mr. furley
Footballguy
Bucks looking amazing right now
champeeeeenship
champeeeeenship
Agreed. Crazy to think both 1 seeds are going to lose today.This is wild
Bucks played this same way throughout the seeding games. Since joining the bubble in Orlando the Bucks have really only played well in bursts and during the 2nd half against the Heat.Bucks looking amazing right now
champeeeeenship
Gotta give it to the Magic. This wasn't a game they won by dominating in any one category on the stat sheet (hot from 3, forcing turnovers, huge foul discrepancy, etc). Orlando won by being slightly better across the board this afternoon. Where they dominated was urgency. Coach Bud better light a fire under this Bucks team or they'll end up in a first round dogfight rather than winning in 5.This is wild
what's crazy is Orlando went down quickly and then won the 1st quarter by 10 pts. the rest of the game was even (points-wise) though it never, ever felt like the Bucks were in it.Bucks played this same way throughout the seeding games. Since joining the bubble in Orlando the Bucks have really only played well in bursts and during the 2nd half against the Heat.
Gotta give it to the Magic. This wasn't a game they won by dominating in any one category on the stat sheet (hot from 3, forcing turnovers, huge foul discrepancy, etc). Orlando won by being slightly better across the board this afternoon. Where they dominated was urgency. Coach Bud better light a fire under this Bucks team or they'll end up in a first round dogfight rather than winning in 5.
The Bucks did cut it to 69-68 mid/early 3rd, but the Magic continued to execute their game plan. They were the better team today, nothing cheap about their game 1 win.what's crazy is Orlando went down quickly and then won the 1st quarter by 10 pts. the rest of the game was even (points-wise) though it never, ever felt like the Bucks were in it.
when they cut it to 1 there i was thinking "gotta get the lead right now or you've lost this one". they just couldn't get over the hump with any momentum. they'd chop the lead by a couple, then cede back more than they'd gained. over and over.The Bucks did cut it to 69-68 mid/early 3rd, but the Magic continued to execute their game plan. They were the better team today, nothing cheap about their game 1 win.
So far my assessment has been pretty spot on. Regardless of who wins the game--it has been ultra competitve, the Lakers outside shooting has been horrid, and Portland has relied on interior defense from their bigs to make life difficult for the Lakers.The problem is that the Lakers won't shoot wide open 3's at anywhere near that clip. The Lakers are a horrid 3pt shooting team. Honestly--I'm expecting a far better and more competive series than you are predicting. While I think the Lakers will win--I think it'll most likely be 4-2 and most of the games will be very competitive . The strength of the Blazers (their guards) is exactly the weakness of the Lakers. A lot of the series will be dependent on if Zach Collins is healthy enough to play. The Blazers might very well choose to sag their defense in to tempt the Lakers into shooting long range shots. They just can't be giving up both the interior and the 3point line--and because of this--I think they will need Nurk, Whiteside, and Collins to protect the rim without fouling as much as possible. Even with their poor defense--don't get fooled by Portland. If they were healthy all year--they would not be an 8 seed. This is a team with 4-5 seed talent that through injury and a lockout ended up being an 8 seed.
Lakers playoff game.28 fouls on Portland, huh. Ok.
Amazing hahaAgreed. Crazy to think both 1 seeds are going to lose today.
“You guys is chumps”I'm not even mad if someone says Dame is as good or better than Curry.
Dude is a winner and killer.
No idea what Kobe has to do with any of that.Stolen from reddit, but can you imagine if Lebron loses to the 8 seed as the 1 seed his first year in the West in the same year Kobe died?
That would be like handing Skip Bayless and every other Lebron critic straight gold.
Them announcing that they are wearing Mamba jerseys after winning round 1 is a huge slap in the face.Stolen from reddit, but can you imagine if Lebron loses to the 8 seed as the 1 seed his first year in the West in the same year Kobe died?
That would be like handing Skip Bayless and every other Lebron critic straight gold.
It was a bad trade then even before the weird stuff. At least they got that 1st rounder from okc.on one hand i am happy for Fultz that he will be able to have an NBA career and likely be a starter for the next 5-7 years. But man oh man, Sixers
I actually thought Trent did a good job staying in front of Lebron. Lebron needs someone who can make a 3 that he can kick it out to when he drives.No idea what Kobe has to do with any of that.
LeBron could have scored every possession last night. No idea why he didn’t just score 101 points and break Wilt’s record. Nobody on that team can guard him. That’s the best way for them to win vs Portland. If LeBron doesn’t change his approach, the Lakers are in a tough spot.
I thought Whiteside did a pretty good job of providing help D on Lebron. I felt like the Lakers had no answer for Portland after the Blazers adjusted their D to have Nurk and Whiteside both defending the paint, with Nurk glued to AD while Whiteside became a roving help defender/rebounder. They dared the Lakers to shoot 3's and the Lakers couldn't hit any of them. Will be interesting to see if the Lakers shooters can be better consistently the rest of the series (I'm a bit skeptical of that to be honest), but imo the better solution would be for the coaching staff to find a solution to the AD vs Nurk match-up on offense. Fun seriesNo idea what Kobe has to do with any of that.
LeBron could have scored every possession last night. No idea why he didn’t just score 101 points and break Wilt’s record. Nobody on that team can guard him. That’s the best way for them to win vs Portland. If LeBron doesn’t change his approach, the Lakers are in a tough spot.
So Bill Simmons said in his pod this week that LeVert will definitely be traded this offseason. He's been pretty great since the restart. But doesn't seem like there is enough ball to go around if Kyrie and Durant are there.Unless they plan to have him come off the bench as a 6th man, it's an absolute no brainer IMO for them to deal Levert. He's not going to be a "3rd star" in a role playing off the ball with Durant & Irving.
He did a pretty good job of rehabbing his value after Kyrie went down.
Lakers desperately need some people to step up on offense. Kuzma somehow managed 14 despite (IMO) looking really awful and taking some bad looks. Caruso should not be throwing up off-balance threes in crunch time. Once again, Lebron is deferring too much for the talent around him.Man the Blazers are really good. And the Lakers are awful.
DAME TIME.
Agreed, as others have said, Lebron should be able to beat the Blazers just by looking to score every time down the floor.Lakers desperately need some people to step up on offense. Kuzma somehow managed 14 despite (IMO) looking really awful and taking some bad looks. Caruso should not be throwing up off-balance threes in crunch time. Once again, Lebron is deferring too much for the talent around him.