Gaming The RedCafe NBA Simulation 30/31 | Season Review | NBA Final | BasketballGM

25/26 All Star Weekend Part 2
25/26 All Star Weekend Part 2

@BenitoSTARR @Dan @reelworld @P-Nut @sebsheep @weetee @Heine @hobbers @The Cat @V.O. @Solius @oneniltothearsenal @Skizzo @Salt Bailly @altodevil

Three Point Contest

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Seems like three players have really monopolized the 3 Point Contest. The last time we got a winner who wasn't called reelworld Ii, BenitwoSTARRLET or Dan II was in 2015 when P-Nut won, and before that again it was Solius. Time for a new winner, maybe?

1st Round - 4 advance
Cam Whitmore: 21
Jalen Green: 19
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Thank god, no tiebreaks. The shooting so far is better than it's been the last few years. Only 27s and 28s are through, so that means we'll see Dan II, reelworld II, Lil-Nut and weeweetee in the 2nd Round.

2nd Round - 2 advance
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Dan II is almost certainly through with that one.
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It'll be weeweetee to face Dan II!

Final Round
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Well, I guess we're not getting a new winner this year either! That's Dan II's 4th win, equalling reelworld II and BenitwoSTARRLET, and only trailing Solius and BenitoSTARR's 5.

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All Star Game

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The West takes it! And that's without MVP candidate Josh Giddey, who was out injured. This means the West has won all three All Star Games since the change back to conference teams. I'll include the full All Star Weekend history below (and also put it in the 1st post along with the other league history).

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Pretty sure I‘ve won every single All-Star game they threw me in. Dedicated to ol‘tee
 
25/26 End of Regular Season
25/26 End of Regular Season

@BenitoSTARR @sebsheep @weetee @V.O. @Dr. Dwayne @Heine @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld @Solius @Skizzo @Dan @Salt Bailly @altodevil @P-Nut @hobbers

Final Standings

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Playoffs: Two Nil and reelworld II get the Knicks to the top spot in the East for the 7th season in a row. This is the only first time they've got fewer than 60 wins, however, and only 3 wins separate the top 4 seeds. That includes the reigning champions, the Hawks. Though it might seem a cause for concern that Skizzlet's team only finished 3rd in the East, their 56-26 is Atlanta's best record since 1994. If they can win the championship with 51 wins, why not 56 wins? The Pacers are a bit behind the top 4, but 51 wins for Sonius is actually a 7 win improvement over last year. Finally we have the Magic in 6th, with a decent record but a very poor recent record. SebJr will actually have to be the assist king this time.

Play-in: Stobzilla II and the Hornets have had a good season, and both record and MOV seem to suggest we should be seeing them in the playoffs. The same can't necessarily be said for BenitwoSTARRLET's Nets. The 76ers have an even worse record, but they have a top 4 record in the East since the last update. Let's see if that counts for anything in the play-in.

Better luck next year: Another 11th place for Pepper Bailly and the Bucks. It's a 1 win improvement over the year before, but that's like saying you've got one less haemorrhoids than yesterday. Which might be an improvement for sontodevil, who has been having an absolute torrid time with the Heat at the tail-end of the season.

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Playoffs: Here's some shocking news... it's the Spurs and the Rockets, in that order! Heine finds himself with the best record, and the second best MOV, but the recent form is nothing to write home about. For weeweetee and Lil-V.O. it's the opposite, at least as far as MOV and recent form go. +2.7 just about matches the 5th best team in the East, though 49 wins would actually put them 6th. The West's been dominating for a while, but maybe it's the East's time?

Play-in: Lil-Nut and Nobbers are coming into this play-in with quite different expectations. The Heat are on pretty decent form, and have a winning record, just about, while the Pelicans have a losing record and losing form.

Better luck next year: I'm not surprised to see the Nuggets in this section, but I'm a little surprised to see the Thunder here. Last year Dr. Junior's team finished with a good 46-36 record. Going 8-16 to close out the season surely didn't help. In fact, if they had just gone 12-12 instead they would have made the play-in with a game to spare. If The Cub's Nuggets can go 13-12, the Thunder should have been able to as well. Though unlike the former, the latter are actually moving in the right direction.


Player stats

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League Leaders

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Play-in tournament

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Phoenix and Charlotte are through as the 7-seeds. Golden State will play New Orleans for the 8-seed in the West, and Brooklyn will play Washington in the East.

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Golden State and Washington are through to the playoffs! Their reward is getting to play San Antonio and New York.

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Playoff bracket

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Injuries

Memphis Grizzlies
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Washington Wizards
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San Antonio Spurs
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1st seed actually... Don't really understand it as we seem to be getting weaker every season, at the same time it looks like I had an MVP season and that might explain it

With Murray out injured this could be a tougher match than it should be against a play-in team
 
I'm done hoping for a title. I'll just take not being embarrassed before reaching the finals. So far, we have to be one of the most underperforming super teams of the whole experiment.
 
25/26 Playoffs - 1st Round (Games 1-3)
25/26 Playoffs - 1st Round (Games 1-3)

@Heine @P-Nut @weetee @V.O. @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld @Solius @Skizzo @sebsheep @Stobzilla

With two Caf teams in the West and four in the East, I'm going to split this update into games instead of conferences. Sorry (not sorry) for all the cliff-hangers!

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34/9/15/6/6 from Heine, and that's that. Easy 1-0 for the ring-hungry Spurs.


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The Big Three of weeweetee, Lil' V.O. and Tyus Jones make short work of the Suns. Nothing else to say, is there?


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The Knicks holding the Wizards to only 81 points - at that point it hardly even matters that Two Nil went 1-7 for 5 points, or that reelworld II only got 11 points.


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If there's one thing I've learned from watching the Pacers in the playoffs the last few seasons, it's that Kevin Knox is a very valuable player. Put him next to a defensive giant like Sonius and they have at least a chance at beating anyone.


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6 points is closer than the reigning champions would have hoped for, perhaps, but a win is a win. Though Skizzlet probably isn't scoring a ridiculously efficient 38 every game, so hopefully other players can do their part next time. If they don't, SebJr and the Magic might have an actual part - and certainly if SebJr keeps scoring and assisting at that rate.


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Ideally Stobzilla II would have more points than rebounds, assists and, particularly, fouls. They didn't really give him the shots for that to happen, to be fair.

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The closest of margins, but the Warriors get one back!


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The Rockets aren't crushing the Suns, but a 16 point win is a 16 point win. This one might be over already.


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Easy win for New York, despite another relatively low-scoring showing from reelworld II. Two Nil with only 14 himself, but also 17 rebounds and 13 assists. The real hero is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, with a very efficient 41 points.


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A pretty good game by Sonius, but it's not enough - it's 1-1!


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Atlanta holding Orlando to 64 points. SebJr with one to forget, going 0-12 from the field.


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Charlotte win - but Stobzilla II is knocked out of the tie altogether. The Hornets might come to regret the loss, methinks.

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A very close game indeed, but the Spurs take the narrow lead. Lil-Nut could have scored more (story of his career so far), but provided a fantastic 19 assists (with only 2 turnovers).


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First sweep coming up, surely?


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The bad news is that the Wizards won game 3. The worse news is that reelworld II will miss the rest of the tie, and at least 2-3 games in the next round. If they make it that far. Now Two Nil really needs to find his scoring.


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A stupid 12 blocks from Sonius, and clearly they needed every single one of them. Indiana regain the lead, but this tie is far from over.


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After getting trounced in game 2, Orlando do a much better job in game 3. The end result is still a win for the Hawks, but... it's something, isn't it? I reckon the Magic coach might have to answer some questions after that. For example: "why didn't you play SebJr more than 20 minutes, when he was the only player in the starting 5 with a positive +/-?"


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Easy win for the Celtics over the Stobzilla II-less Hornets.


Other games: The injury-stricken Memphis Grizzlies are in the process of getting swept by the Los Angles Clippers, and the inevitable Utah Jazz are in the process of sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Damn @nimic you make it sound like we‘re gonna lose this one 3-4.
 
6 3pts after 3 games is a joke :lol: If I could shoot we'd be doing alright.
 
25/26 Playoffs - 1st Round (Games 4-7)
25/26 Playoffs - 1st Round (Games 4-7)

@Heine @P-Nut @weetee @V.O. @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld @Solius @Skizzo @sebsheep @Stobzilla

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3-1! There just seems to be a clear quality difference here, and it's hard to overcome for the Warriors.


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A close game, but who cares as long as the end result is a sweep? It's a decent sign that the Rockets can win when everyone who isn't called weeweetee or Lil' V.O. can have awful games (at least in the starting 5), and when even those two only have good games themselves.


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Another good playoff triple double from Two Nil, but 19 points isn't going to be enough with reelworld II's injury. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can make up for it, but if he doesn't then our man has to do it. If he doesn't... well, the Wizards have a chance, don't they?


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A great 28/23/6 from Sonius, and it looks likely that we're going to get the upset. Not that a 5-seed beating a 4-seed is much of an upset, and I favoured the Pacers to begin with in any case. Sonius has that playoff experience.


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The Magic get one back! SebJr and his teammates weren't going to accept getting swept, it seems. Our man had a good game, though again he's playing less than he maybe should, and shooting less than he maybe could. But if the result is a win... fine, I guess?


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Stobzilla II's teammates take this one back to square one!


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Well, it wasn't a sweep, but the Spurs take the series. A pretty monstrous performance by Heine, but we also finally saw what Lil-Nut is capable of. The series win was probably never on the cards, if we're being honest.


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Speaking of monstrous performances: here's the Two Nil we need with reelworld II out injured! 29/18/16 is just a nice-looking stat line, isn't it?


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The Pacers win, as expected. It was a very low-scoring game. Sonius had a good game, but picked up 5 early fouls and so ended up only playing 28 minutes. Probably for the best, since we've seen some Cafites have playoff runs ruined by injuries.


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And the Hawks are through as well. There were many good performances on the Hawks, including Skizzlet himself. I don't know if they're favourites to repeat their championship run from last year, but if nothing else it's clear that they're still a very deep and capable team. SebJr might not be happy about the result, but I never thought the Magic had a real chance.


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And the Hornets are in the lead!


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The very closest of margins, but the reelworld II-less New York Knicks manage to despatch the Washington Wizards. Two Nil gave his all, as you can tell by both the ridiculous 34/24/8 stat line and the fact that he fouled out and still managed to play the most of anyone on the team.


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So close, but Boston take it to 3-3. We're at least getting one game 7 this round!


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Heartbreak for Stobzilla II and the Charlotte Hornets. Though the Celtics were the very clear favourites going into the first round, and doubly so after Stobzilla II went out injured. It seems like old man Anthony Davis still has some tricks up his sleeves.


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Exactly the same Cafites in the 2nd Round as last year. The only difference is that the Knicks and the Hawks swapped positions this time. By both regular season record and MOV (margin of victory), the East has the three best teams remaining in the playoffs - and it would be all 4 if Indiana hadn't eliminated Chicago already.
 
5 assists in the last game. Feel like I let the lads down.
 
25/26 Playoffs - 2nd Round (Games 1-3)
25/26 Playoffs - 2nd Round (Games 1-3)

@Heine @weetee @V.O. @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld @Skizzo @Solius

I'm cutting this one in two as well, because I'm such a drama queen.

All the Cafites still in this have already won at least one ring, except for Two Nil and reelworld II. They're probably favourites here, together with Skizzlet, but we've seen how that's gone in the past.

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A close game, but the Clippers take the lead! That's not what I expected - at all. Heine has a very good game, but it wasn't quite enough to overcome a much more broadly solid Clippers.


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I did not have "the reigning champions lose by 30 points in the 2nd Round". It's not like Boston had any stand-out performances either, it's just that the Atlanta ones were even worse. Significantly worse, to be fair.


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The Knicks take the lead! This is exactly the sort of series Two Nil and reelworld II have lost in the past, and by that I mean they literally lost this exact series two years ago. New year, new me? reelworld II is still out with patellar tendinitis, but he should be back in a game or two.


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Big and expected win from the Rockets. As always it's Lil' V.O., weeweetee and Tyus Jones doing the heavy lifting, though Kirk Snyder (surely the best name in the league) and Jay Scrubb (maybe the worst name in the league) contribute as well.

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The Spurs take game 2, and by the slimmest possible margins!


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Anthony Davis with the monster performance to put the Celtics 2-0 up over the reigning champions. Skizzlet with a 23/23/1, but it wasn't enough. This one went to OT, though, so the Hawks are definitely not giving up quite yet.

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Sonius could have scored 63 points in this one, and the Pacers would still have lost. Five different 11+ point scorers on the Knicks, and all starters scored at least 16. What to do against that?


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Another easy win for Houston. weeweetee and Lil' V.O. are both staying sharp, importantly. RJ Barrett is trying his darndest to make this interesting.

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After a close game 2, game 3 is another big win for the Clippers over the Spurs. Winning comfortably when your nominal star goes 3-17 from the field is... comfortable. Not if your name is Heine, perhaps, but he's been here before. This one is far from over.


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The champions get a game back! This is more like the Hawks of last year, with almost everyone contributing. They'll need to string a few wins together now, before Okogie and Williams are back and healthy.


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Is this the sweep of the series, then? The return of reelworld II doesn't seem to have changed things much, certainly in favour of Sonius and Indiana. The refs don't seem to be in Sonius' favour either, fouling him out after only 21 minutes played. With 23 points in that time, it makes you wonder what he could have done. Could have, would have, should have.


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Just a casual 42/5/7 from weeweetee, and an equally casual 20/18/9 from Lil' V.O.. This time the Jazz had many contributors, but they still couldn't get within single digits of the Rockets. I'm betting this will be another sweep, in which case it would be the first time the current iteration of Houston have swept both the 1st and 2nd Rounds. Not even at their supposed height did they ever manage that.

Be a shame if they were reverse swept after I made that point, wouldn't it?


After game 3:

San Antonio Spurs 1-2 Los Angeles Clippers
Houston Rockets 3-0 Utah Jazz
New York Knicks 3-0 Indiana Pacers
Boston Celtics 2-1 Atlanta Hawks
 
25/26 Playoffs - 2nd Round (Games 4-7) New
25/26 Playoffs - 2nd Round (Games 4-7)

@Heine @weetee @V.O. @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld @Skizzo @Solius

After game 3:

San Antonio Spurs 1-2 Los Angeles Clippers
Houston Rockets 3-0 Utah Jazz
New York Knicks 3-0 Indiana Pacers
Boston Celtics 2-1 Atlanta Hawks

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Another close game, and again the Clippers come out on top! A fantastic game by Heine, but again it's not enough.


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Closer than the other games, but the first sweep is in! As expected, to be honest. Lil' V.O. decided that he's seen enough scoring from weeweetee; he wanted to see what all the fuss is about. They both also decided to see what all the fuss was about when it comes to fouling out. Evidently.


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And there's our second sweep. Also as expected, at this point. This one was close enough that Sonius might be wondering what could have been if he been in his usual scoring mood. Still, "what could have been" would in all likelihood have been 1-4 instead of 0-4. Two Nil and reelworld II seem to have participated in the "multiple of 8 challenge", and Two Nil came out on top (actually, I think Deandre Ayton might have won).


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That's more like the champions I know! Double digits from all starters, and a smashing victory over the Celtics.

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Coby White proving that you don't need a K or an E to spell Kobe. The Spurs are in trouble.


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Another solid Atlanta win, and suddenly they have the series lead. Skizzlet had an okay game, but clearly more wasn't required of him this time.

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Heine and the Spurs are not giving up!


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Only 4 points in it, and we're going to game 7!

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The Clippers have taken down the heavy favourites! The Spurs can't point to injuries either; if anything, the Clippers were the team plagued by them. Heine can plausibly point to his teammates, though. Then again, if you're going to be the superstar, you've got to accept responsibility for anything and everything.


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Boston wins it! I can't really call it an upset - the Celtics were the higher seed - but I really thought we'd see Atlanta in the NBA Final again this year. The Celtics outplayed them, and that's with them having the injury problems in the series. Are they an actual championship contender, I wonder?


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Well! The last time the West had a Conference Final with both teams below 50 wins was in 1981. The Kings and the Rockets were both 40-42 that year, which makes me wonder what the feck the rest of the conference was doing. The Rockets won the tie, but would go on to lose to the Celtics in the Final. Wait a minute...
 
weetee said:
@V.O. are you enjoying this as much as I do?
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Too busy seething about United to be honest. :mad:

But yeah, walking through the playoffs undefeated and playing someone other than the fecking Spurs in the conference finals is pretty sweet!
 
25/26 Playoffs - Conference Finals New
25/26 Playoffs - Conference Finals

@weetee @V.O. @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld

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Preview

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Easy win for the Knicks! reelworld II with a great playoff performance.


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The Rockets really spreading the points out equitably here. A game to forget for weeweetee, but the win probably makes it easier to forget.

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Not such an easy win as game 1, but the Knicks take the 2-0 lead after a monster game by Two Nil: 37/21/8! They're taking turns, it seems.


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Also a close game, but also a win for the favourites. Jay Scrubb with +27 in a 4 point game - maybe play him more?

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The three New York stars all do their job, and this one looks over!


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The Houston Rockets have won by 9, 4 and now 3 points. A 3-0 lead is a 3-0 lead, but they should make sure they don't fade here. It doesn't hurt that weeweetee and Lil' V.O. are so good both offensively and defensively, though; this time they got 6 steals and 8 blocks respectively.

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The sweep has been called off! Two very good team performances, honestly, it's just that the Boston one was ever so slightly better than the New York one. Two Nil with the 31/16/15 triple double (and also the 6 fouls).


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No sweep for you!
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It looked like the Clippers were getting closer and closer to a win, but I don't think I expected them to win by 30.

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Not a massive win, but a win is a win! And particularly when that win gets you straight to the NBA Final for the first time since you lost three of them in a row to the Spurs. But whoever they face this time, it won't be the Spurs.


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Only 2 points in it, but the Clippers force another game! weeweetee with 27 points in 29 minutes, which makes me think maybe he shouldn't have fouled out after 29 minutes.

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Oh my, it's 3-3! And it wasn't even close!

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The Clippers have only gone and reverse swept the Rockets, who had swept their way to the Conference Finals! I actually can't believe it. They've now beaten the 4th seed, 1st seed and then 2nd seed. What's another 1-seed? The East is on paper significantly stronger than the West, though, and the Knicks have rolled their way through that Conference.

This should be good.


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Nah, actually feck off. Can't we just play the Spurs again?
 
Never liked the Clippers to be honest.
 
weetee said:
Never liked the Clippers to be honest.
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What is a clipper anyway? A boat? What does that have to do with LA?

Easily like the second dumbest LA NBA team name.
 
V.O. said:
What is a clipper anyway? A boat? What does that have to do with LA?

Easily like the second dumbest LA NBA team name.
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They were originally from San Diego which had a community around sailing and sailboats.

Just like the Lakers come from Minnesota the "land of a thousand lakes".
 
nimic said:
Just pick a new name. This feels almost obscene.
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They probably should have when they moved but its too late now because they've won titles under the new name so its embedded in the culture at this point. Well for the Lakers at least, no one cares about the Clippers.

Also fun fact, the baseball team the Dodgers have that name because they were from Brooklyn and named after the trolley car dodging that was common 100 years ago there.
 
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