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NBA: *** Official 2015 NBA Playoffs Thread ***

I had to watch the games late after work so I didn't want to come on here and spoil any of the results but all I have to say is:

Chicago/Cleveland: Pau is playing pretty well, when he has the hot hand Derrick needs to facilitate the offense and get him the ball. Rose ended up having a decent game but for awhile there he was struggling and killing a few possessions quickly.

Los Angeles/Houston: Prigioni and Ariza had monster first and second quarters. Houston's offense (and defense) is so much more efficient with Harden off of the floor. He may be a top 5 talent in the league, but Harden was killing them last night just like he always does. He does not distribute the ball and he continues to kill possessions before they can even start by either A. Turning the ball over or B. Trying to go to his ridiculous iso moves and then pulling fade away jumpers and going for low percentage shots. He is basically all of the negative criticisms of Russell Westbrook from a few years ago without any of Westbrook's positives. In a weird way it reminded me of Korie Lucious. Another comparison to Iowa State: Brewer plays a lot like Hogue. He is a very scrappy guy that always gives 100%.
 
HawkAssassin said:
Cleveland hasn't proven they can defend at a high level all year long(20th in Def Eff). Don't know why you would expect them to transform into a great defensive team at this point.

Other than a couple by Derrick, most of the shots the bulls made were open. Even saying that Rose only shot 2 percentage points above his season average in this game. Dunleavy has been on fire pretty much the entire playoffs(54.8% from three) and if you give players like him, Butler, Gasol room, they're going to make more than they miss.

If Blatt starts Miller again in Game 2 he should be fired on the spot.
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Yep, there's nothing fluky about Dunleavy and Pau knocking down open jumpers. That's what those guys do. Rose and Butler hit some tough jumpers, but Gasol was getting great looks all game. Expecting Cleveland to just start playing lockdown defense is unrealistic like you said, they haven't shown the ability to do that yet and trying to get that figured out on the fly with a limited rotation in Game two is tough to do.
 
I'm really surprised how dismissive most people on here are of the Bulls chances to knock off the Cavs, they have passed the Cavs as the favorites to win the East now. Vegas usually knows what they're doing.
 
CyJack13 said:
I'm really surprised how dismissive most people on here are of the Bulls chances to knock off the Cavs, they have passed the Cavs as the favorites to win the East now. Vegas usually knows what they're doing.
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Allow me to wait longer than one game to crown them.
 
Cleveland is favored by 6 Wednesday. Vegas does usually know best. And once the Cavs get Smith back they will have a great shot to steal one in Chicago
 
Rhoadhoused said:
Allow me to wait longer than one game to crown them.
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I'm not crowning them yet, but just saying it's going to require LeBron to pull out some great games to win the series, just having really good games isn't going to be enough and he's going to have to play 40+ hard minutes every night. It says a lot that everyone is counting on JR Smith to swing the series when he comes back at this point.
 
CyJack13 said:
I'm not crowning them yet, but just saying it's going to require LeBron to pull out some great games to win the series, just having really good games isn't going to be enough and he's going to have to play 40+ hard minutes every night. It says a lot that everyone is counting on JR Smith to swing the series when he comes back at this point.
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I don't see why there needs to be this heroic feat. The Bulls are not that good.

Now if they make the finals and go against Golden State....
 
Just finished watching the games. Wizards need Wall back soon, Sessions played well but it is not the same product at all. Much similarly, Conley was a beast and the Grizzlies clicked as normal with him out there. Allen played a great defensive game and Randolph did a good job of containing Green. First home loss for Golden State since January. Will be a great series to watch in Memphis.

Also: Curry and Thompson couldn't hit the hoop with a stability ball if they tried with that kind of shooting tonight. I expected more from Steph especially considering the pregame MVP ceremony. Bogut and Barnes played their typical game and Green was still somewhat there, but I guess we saw it is possible to not only shut down their shooters but to shut down the Warriors. I can't even recall if they ever led in the game.
 
Rhoadhoused said:
I don't see why there needs to be this heroic feat. The Bulls are not that good.

Now if they make the finals and go against Golden State....
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Actually, right now, the Bulls are in a much better place than the Cavs.

Butler, Rose, Gasol, Gibson, Mirotic,

vs.

Lebron, Kyrie, and.........
 
Have to laugh at the difference in reaction between LeBron intentionally being fouled and Gibson being fouled much harder. LeBron ready to start WWIII and Gibson barely notices. Type of thing Noah was likely alluding to with his colorful commentary last month.

Chicago can't shoot any worse than this, even if the D is great. It's not like the D makes you 2 for 6 at the line.

Think they will come back and make it competitive but series will go back to Chicago 1-1.
 
somebody better get "Lebronshyperbolicchamber" twitter username
 
Not surprised at this game. Knew Cleveland would come out like a bat out of hell.

Which is fine. Will go back to Chitown 1-1. Bulls win both, up 3-1 and in full control.
 
HFCS said:
Have to laugh at the difference in reaction between LeBron intentionally being fouled and Gibson being fouled much harder. LeBron ready to start WWIII and Gibson barely notices. Type of thing Noah was likely alluding to with his colorful commentary last month.

Chicago can't shoot any worse than this, even if the D is great. It's not like the D makes you 2 for 6 at the line.

Think they will come back and make it competitive but series will go back to Chicago 1-1.
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I didn't see the Gibson foul, but I thought the announcers handled the Heinrich/LeBron situation perfectly.

It was a good hard foul, LeBron doesn't have to be happy about it, Heinrich doesn't have to be sorry about it, and LeBron went over to him right after to make peace a little bit.
 
Rhoadhoused said:
I didn't see the Gibson foul, but I thought the announcers handled the Heinrich/LeBron situation perfectly.

It was a good hard foul, LeBron doesn't have to be happy about it, Heinrich doesn't have to be sorry about it, and LeBron went over to him right after to make peace a little bit.
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Exactly.
 
CRcyclone6 said:
7/10 from 3 for Cleveland. Smoking
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I am resisting quoting myself from Monday.... Cavs probably can't keep this up but they definitely have the huge upper hand.

The real question is when both teams are closer to average than they are really bad or really good, who comes out on top?

I think JR Smith coming back will be a big piece to that, because he immediately lifts that average for CLE up.
 
Rhoadhoused said:
I am resisting quoting myself from Monday.... Cavs probably can't keep this up but they definitely have the huge upper hand.

The real question is when both teams are closer to average than they are really bad or really good, who comes out on top?

I think JR Smith coming back will be a big piece to that, because he immediately lifts that average for CLE up.
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good question. I think the Cavs have the two best players on the floor, but overall Chicago might be better. Wish this was the East finals, not semis.
 
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