Board 8 > NBA Playoffs topic 4: The Boston Massacre

(+) Yeah! (+)

Avert your eyes.
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Excellent
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can we just, I don't know, start the NBA finals this weekend?
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So uh, at the start of the playoffs I was really worried about the Cavs chances of matching the Warriors...

This is looking like a very fair fight at the moment.
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I still heavily favor the Warriors. the Celtics can't guard Lebron at all. Durant is one of the only guys in the league who can, and he can sacrifice his offense because he has the best PG in the league on his team too.
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I am curious where we got that Durant can guard Lebron very effectively. The only time they have met in the playoffs Lebron shit on his team.

(Because Playoff and regular season Lebron are very different. I've seen Lebron shit on Leonard in an NBA finals and that man is big time)
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I'm not saying he's gonna lock him down or anything, but Durant can at least stay with him. Boston seems overpowered in every way.
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That's true, I just don't think that's worth heavily favoring the Warriors. The Warriors lost some valuable depth to get KD and of course they can win but the Cavs seem to have really hit a good stride. Should be a good series.
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transience posted...

can we just, I don't know, start the NBA finals this weekend?

If the Cavs and Warriors sweep, it'll be 8 days before the finals start.

Also, I favor the Warriors in the Finals. They play offense and defense. The Cavs' defensive strategy is just to outscore the other team, which works against most teams. It's tough against GS.
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The NBA is going to have to work miracles to make fans think the regular season matters next year
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also looks like ExTha may have undershot what the average margin of victory for this series will be

I looked up the score on my phone and nearly did a spit take when I saw they were up 40 at halftime
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I think suuuuuper highly of this Warriors team, like top 5 ever is my floor with them. if Lebron beats this team, it'll be the greatest finals ever. I think they'll be lucky to push it to 6.
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Also I want to bring back my idea from last season regarding the Warriors

There is no good reason to try against the Warriors or Cavs (in the regular season) so don't! Give your starters the night off, call up a couple players from the D League. Shoot only threes, sub every 2-3 minutes, etc.
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Michael Rosenberg‏Verified account @Rosenberg_Mike 17m17 minutes ago
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The Celtics are the first team ever to tank AFTER winning the lottery.

Some of the other tweets with pictures are fucking hilarious about this game

The Warriors will be a heavy favorite against the Cavs, yeah

If the Celtics trade this pick I'm going to kick myself in the balls. Jimmy Butler isn't turning this into a competitive series, neither is Paul George. There is no short term solution so build for the future
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danny's not trading fultz after this, you don't have to worry about that
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anyway, i was pretty worried about this series after we won the lottery - that's just not a good way to motivate your team

this game 2 though, lol
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Which is what makes the East all the more depressing. The Celtics are the second best team in the East and even getting the number 1 draft pick or their pick of the East all-stars, they still aren;t even close to the Cavs

They were talking about it on Le Batard today. If you had the Cavs vs an All-Star East team, who wins? And the fact that is even a legit question shows how stupid the east is (and NBA balance in general)

East All-Stars without LeBron and Kyrie would pretty comfortably beat the Cavs, it's as bad a hypothetical as "could Bama beat the Browns"
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The topic was non-Cavs East All-Stars against the Cavs, so they get to keep LeBron, Kyrie, and Love.
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ShatteredElysium posted...

They were talking about it on Le Batard today. If you had the Cavs vs an All-Star East team, who wins? And the fact that is even a legit question shows how stupid the east is (and NBA balance in general)

The East All-Stars would massacre the Cavs.

The Warriors on the other hand...
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i think east all stars would be pretty close to the cavs, at least in terms of starting 5. the bench would obviously shred.
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Right. The East all-stars would only win due to bench depth. If it was just starting 5, it would be a close game

If we go with a hypothetical 5 of like Wall/DeRozan/Butler/George/Giannis against the Cavs... it's an easy win for the All-Stars
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look at all those playoff chokers in that starting five

Cavs crush
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i don't think it's easy. it's close. for one thing, the spacing there is pretty terrible - the cavs could zone up and just let thompson hang out in the paint. only paul george is a threat from 3.
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At least we don't have to tank to rebuild
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As a Spurs fan, fuck the Warriors and Zaza for what they did to us. I hope Cleveland wins it again because I can't stand dirty players like that.
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transcience posted...

I think suuuuuper highly of this Warriors team, like top 5 ever is my floor with them. if Lebron beats this team, it'll be the greatest finals ever. I think they'll be lucky to push it to 6.

This is so wrong. Warriors are great but they're not gonna 4-1 the Cavs.
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fortunately this topic will still be around in a couple weeks!
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I'd favor the Warriors in the finals but I'm not going to count Scrappy Underdog LeBron out.

Cavs would have to play amazing though, like they did in the first half against Boston.
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Cavs would beat the East sll stars.
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neonreaper posted...

At least we don't have to tank to rebuild

celtics in 6
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To think the Warriors 4-1 the Cavs you have to think Durant + a weaker bench is worth a 3 game swing on them. The spurs series is competitive with a healthy Kawhi, they're not gonna roll on LeBron like that.
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I think the Warriors are better this year by a pretty large amount. last year they were weaker in the last leg of the finals because they lost Bogut, so the depth argument falls away.

I also think you're underestimating Durant, a guy who I think should have been MVP if he hadn't gotten hurt. he has been amazing. Lebron is otherworldly but he's still only one guy. I'm not saying it definitely goes 5 or anything, but 6 would be a good result for the Cavs. if they win the series, Lebron is at least #2 all time.
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HotDogButts posted...

To think the Warriors 4-1 the Cavs you have to think Durant + a weaker bench is worth a 3 game swing on them. The spurs series is competitive with a healthy Kawhi, they're not gonna roll on LeBron like that.

No, the Warriors would have won in 5 last year if Draymond didn't get suspended and then they proceeded to choke. So it's really a zero game swing in terms of ability. If it wasn't Lebron, I wouldn't rule out a sweep
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And is there any intimation that the finals next year will be anything but another Warriors/Cavs repeat? The NBA sure does suck these days.

Edit: Or, at best, a Spurs/LeBron repeat?
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The Warriors added Durant and somehow became underrated. It's weird.
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

And is there any intimation that the finals next year will be anything but another Warriors/Cavs repeat? The NBA sure does suck these days.

Edit: Or, at best, a Spurs/LeBron repeat?

as always, it depends on free agency

but it's hard to imagine anything but those three teams unless Houston or one of Boston/Washington really improves
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I don't know what the answer is, but the NBA needs to fix its parity problem before people stop giving a shit.
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LeonhartFour posted...

The Warriors added Durant and somehow became underrated. It's weird.

I think it's because their aesthetic game is a lot uglier. The ball is less free-flowing, and that results in more off nights (despite a better point differential, they wound up with a worse record). But yeah, the talent makes them a higher ceiling team.
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there's a lot of talent in the NBA. the problem is that we have two or three superteams right now and it's hard to break through.

the Bucks are on the rise, Houston looks to be good again next year, Minnesota may eventually make some noise -- but for the next 2-3 years, it's really the Cavs and the Warriors.
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LeBron probably has 3 of the top 10 players in the East on his team, right? I'm trying to think of who would possibly make such a list.

- Wall
- Beal??
- Isaiah, probably
- Horford??
- Jimmy Butler
- Paul George
- Kyle Lowry??
- DeMar DeRozan??
- Giannis Antetokounmpo

And only Horford plays the same position(s) that Kevin Love does.
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also kawhi's out for game 3

lol
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Top Players in the East

1. LeBron
2. Giannis
3. Kyrie
4. Wall
5. Butler
6. IT
7. George
8. Love
9. DeRozan
10. Horford
11. Lowry
12. Porzinghis
13. Embiid
14. Whiteside
15. Carmelo
16. Drummond

or something like that
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Kyrie's not better than Wall or Thomas. Cleveland only has one of the top 5, but Kyrie is 6-10 and Love might be on the outside of the top 10. he's probably more like 20 based on how he's used though.
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SeabassDebeste posted...

also kawhi's out for game 3

lol

A repeat of 2000, huh? Oh well. I trust Pop's judgment.
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Imagine how different the Conference Finals are if you switch the top two free agent signings from 2016 (Durant to Boston, Horford to Golden State).
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Pop knows they have no chance.

http://bkref.com/tiny/9W843

this is the metric I would use to judge a regular season team's greatness. GS lost their best player for like 6 weeks and still ended up in the top 5 all-time. crazy.
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