NBA Playoffs Thread (non-Magic games discussion)

[drsd]

Nice to see that Chicago is going to pay Lonzo Ball 21M to not-play basketball. I am sure I would agree to not-play for Chicago on a vet-min deal. So this is sweet for him!

[pepe1991]

Nuggets v Wolves will be hellof a series.

Game one was very good, Nuggets made some dumb decisions down the line, Reid was making off glass 3s in 4th quater but Wolves defense was really, really good.

Nuggets have to find ways how to defend Edwards with more efficiency, he did make some crazy shots.

Several of you mentioned how good he is for his age, but in general 6'4 athletic freaks don't really peak in late 20s like other players, most of smaller players who play off athletics tend to peak in mid 20s, until injuires don't take their leaping & burst away .
For example, to me, best Wade ever was 24 years old Wade. I'm not sure what execlly Edwards can "learn" , ,maybe be better decision maker? But he can pass, shoot, dribble, go left, go right, plays defense, understands angles. He is as good as he can be, it's just matter of sustaining this level of play year after year after year.

[Rainwater]

Nice to see that Chicago is going to pay Lonzo Ball 21M to not-play basketball. I am sure I would agree to not-play for Chicago on a vet-min deal. So this is sweet for him!

He should be playing next season, how impactful he will be is the real question.

[ogmagicfan]

Ant has been killing it these playoffs

He has easily cemented himself as a top 10 player in the NBA, question is, is he top 5? If the Wolves beat the Nuggets I'd be inclined to say yes.

Looking forward to the game tonight

[Optimus_Steel]

Defending champs getting worked over a big time by Minny at home. I guess they are for real.

[Optimus_Steel]

Nuggets v Wolves will be hellof a series.

Game one was very good, Nuggets made some dumb decisions down the line, Reid was making off glass 3s in 4th quater but Wolves defense was really, really good.

Nuggets have to find ways how to defend Edwards with more efficiency, he did make some crazy shots.

Several of you mentioned how good he is for his age, but in general 6'4 athletic freaks don't really peak in late 20s like other players, most of smaller players who play off athletics tend to peak in mid 20s, until injuires don't take their leaping & burst away .
For example, to me, best Wade ever was 24 years old Wade. I'm not sure what execlly Edwards can "learn" , ,maybe be better decision maker? But he can pass, shoot, dribble, go left, go right, plays defense, understands angles. He is as good as he can be, it's just matter of sustaining this level of play year after year after year.

Yikes what looked like a great series looking like a total blowout dud so far. Denver getting worked over significantly. Now their lack of depth getting exposed.

[Bensational]

Man, Wolves are looking incredible. They are in top form.

Ant is just incredible. Complete package. His footwork is great and very crafty for a guy who has the athleticism to beat most players. And his off-ball work is where he sets himself apart as a #1 option who isn’t too proud to make a cut to get a bucket.

[Optimus_Steel]

Man, Wolves are looking incredible. They are in top form.

Ant is just incredible. Complete package. His footwork is great and very crafty for a guy who has the athleticism to beat most players. And his off-ball work is where he sets himself apart as a #1 option who isn’t too proud to make a cut to get a bucket.

I don’t think anyone expected this.

[pepe1991]

Nuggets v Wolves will be hellof a series.

Game one was very good, Nuggets made some dumb decisions down the line, Reid was making off glass 3s in 4th quater but Wolves defense was really, really good.

Nuggets have to find ways how to defend Edwards with more efficiency, he did make some crazy shots.

Several of you mentioned how good he is for his age, but in general 6'4 athletic freaks don't really peak in late 20s like other players, most of smaller players who play off athletics tend to peak in mid 20s, until injuires don't take their leaping & burst away .
For example, to me, best Wade ever was 24 years old Wade. I'm not sure what execlly Edwards can "learn" , ,maybe be better decision maker? But he can pass, shoot, dribble, go left, go right, plays defense, understands angles. He is as good as he can be, it's just matter of sustaining this level of play year after year after year.

Yikes what looked like a great series looking like a total blowout dud so far. Denver getting worked over significantly. Now their lack of depth getting exposed.

Yea, i woke up 45 min earlier to watch it before work, just to find out that Nuggets are down by almost 30 at half. Second half, one i watched, it never looked like Nuggets had a chance. Still there are some "Warriors " problems i have with Nuggets, when they overcomplicate simple stuff like somebody passing between legs while down by 15 in possession that can give them some momentum, just to lose ball.

Murray looks like Garland in game 7 vs us. When you have smaller player who misses lot of shots and starts questioning everything, to be in position where even not very contested layup is being overthinked and bricked. Without Murray Nuggets can't beat Wolves, and in same time they have no clue how to deal with Edwards.

Looked like only thing that sometimes worked for Denver is ultra high pick&roll where handler went all the way to a rim.
Also decision to go away from 1 on 1 of Jokic on Towns was idiotic, they could have easly kill two flies with one swat, - get offense going and put pressure on Towns via fouls. Instad, they score in that fashion twice in second half and for next several possessions you have contested 3s bricked and Gordon attacking 4 men off dribble...
Than Wolves switch by putting Reid instad of Towns, who is way better defender, and after that they go 1 on 1 vs Jokic but Jokic is being double teammed and Reid blocks him like 3 times in same possession.


I guess having no bench, no depth and having to play starting 5 whole year long is now taking tool on Nuggets who look tired & lost. Their only hope is to win game 3 and hope for Wolves to start missing shots.

Oh and it just feels like Wolves and Celtics are best defensese in nba, and it shows.

I have Celtics as my title winner since probably January, but i still did not expect Nuggets to fold like this.

[Optimus_Steel]

Nuggets v Wolves will be hellof a series.

Game one was very good, Nuggets made some dumb decisions down the line, Reid was making off glass 3s in 4th quater but Wolves defense was really, really good.

Nuggets have to find ways how to defend Edwards with more efficiency, he did make some crazy shots.

Several of you mentioned how good he is for his age, but in general 6'4 athletic freaks don't really peak in late 20s like other players, most of smaller players who play off athletics tend to peak in mid 20s, until injuires don't take their leaping & burst away .
For example, to me, best Wade ever was 24 years old Wade. I'm not sure what execlly Edwards can "learn" , ,maybe be better decision maker? But he can pass, shoot, dribble, go left, go right, plays defense, understands angles. He is as good as he can be, it's just matter of sustaining this level of play year after year after year.

Yikes what looked like a great series looking like a total blowout dud so far. Denver getting worked over significantly. Now their lack of depth getting exposed.

Yea, i woke up 45 min earlier to watch it before work, just to find out that Nuggets are down by almost 30 at half. Second half, one i watched, it never looked like Nuggets had a chance. Still there are some "Warriors " problems i have with Nuggets, when they overcomplicate simple stuff like somebody passing between legs while down by 15 in possession that can give them some momentum, just to lose ball.

Murray looks like Garland in game 7 vs us. When you have smaller player who misses lot of shots and starts questioning everything, to be in position where even not very contested layup is being overthinked and bricked. Without Murray Nuggets can't beat Wolves, and in same time they have no clue how to deal with Edwards.

Looked like only thing that sometimes worked for Denver is ultra high pick&roll where handler went all the way to a rim.
Also decision to go away from 1 on 1 of Jokic on Towns was idiotic, they could have easly kill two flies with one swat, - get offense going and put pressure on Towns via fouls. Instad, they score in that fashion twice in second half and for next several possessions you have contested 3s bricked and Gordon attacking 4 men off dribble...
Than Wolves switch by putting Reid instad of Towns, who is way better defender, and after that they go 1 on 1 vs Jokic but Jokic is being double teammed and Reid blocks him like 3 times in same possession.


I guess having no bench, no depth and having to play starting 5 whole year long is now taking tool on Nuggets who look tired & lost. Their only hope is to win game 3 and hope for Wolves to start missing shots.

Oh and it just feels like Wolves and Celtics are best defensese in nba, and it shows.

I have Celtics as my title winner since probably January, but i still did not expect Nuggets to fold like this.

Wolves are suddenly title favorites. J and J will fall apart vs Minnys tough defense. They are going to take turns taking contested jumper after contested jumper and they have nothing else to counter. Early congratulations to Minny, certainly a long suffering fan base that has built up plenty of good karma after many pathetic years, not unlike Denver last year.

[pepe1991]

Yikes what looked like a great series looking like a total blowout dud so far. Denver getting worked over significantly. Now their lack of depth getting exposed.

Yea, i woke up 45 min earlier to watch it before work, just to find out that Nuggets are down by almost 30 at half. Second half, one i watched, it never looked like Nuggets had a chance. Still there are some "Warriors " problems i have with Nuggets, when they overcomplicate simple stuff like somebody passing between legs while down by 15 in possession that can give them some momentum, just to lose ball.

Murray looks like Garland in game 7 vs us. When you have smaller player who misses lot of shots and starts questioning everything, to be in position where even not very contested layup is being overthinked and bricked. Without Murray Nuggets can't beat Wolves, and in same time they have no clue how to deal with Edwards.

Looked like only thing that sometimes worked for Denver is ultra high pick&roll where handler went all the way to a rim.
Also decision to go away from 1 on 1 of Jokic on Towns was idiotic, they could have easly kill two flies with one swat, - get offense going and put pressure on Towns via fouls. Instad, they score in that fashion twice in second half and for next several possessions you have contested 3s bricked and Gordon attacking 4 men off dribble...
Than Wolves switch by putting Reid instad of Towns, who is way better defender, and after that they go 1 on 1 vs Jokic but Jokic is being double teammed and Reid blocks him like 3 times in same possession.


I guess having no bench, no depth and having to play starting 5 whole year long is now taking tool on Nuggets who look tired & lost. Their only hope is to win game 3 and hope for Wolves to start missing shots.

Oh and it just feels like Wolves and Celtics are best defensese in nba, and it shows.

I have Celtics as my title winner since probably January, but i still did not expect Nuggets to fold like this.

Wolves are suddenly title favorites. J and J will fall apart vs Minnys tough defense. They are going to take turns taking contested jumper after contested jumper and they have nothing else to counter. Early congratulations to Minny, certainly a long suffering fan base that has built up plenty of good karma after many pathetic years, not unlike Denver last year.

We found nba title formula, just win 3 first overall picks in 6 years, trade for DPOY and you are good to go

[ogmagicfan]

Not surprised at all, even if the Nuggets had the increased depth they had last yr I still would take the Wolves

They are built to be matchup nightmare for the Nuggets. Jokic's weakness is alot of size/length/athleticism on a team. The Lakers had Anthony Davis, Dwight, & Javale. The Wolves have Gobert, KAT, & Naz Reid.

I never bought into the "yeah that stopped Jokic back then but now Jokic is too good to lose to that setup".

[pepe1991]

Not surprised at all, even if the Nuggets had the increased depth they had last yr I still would take the Wolves

They are built to be matchup nightmare for the Nuggets. Jokic's weakness is alot of size/length/athleticism on a team. The Lakers had Anthony Davis, Dwight, & Javale. The Wolves have Gobert, KAT, & Naz Reid.

I never bought into the "yeah that stopped Jokic back then but now Jokic is too good to lose to that setup".

What execlly are you refering to?

Lakers beat them 4 years ago, since that point, Nuggets have beaten them 8 times in 9 playoff games.

Nuggets at that point were starting Millsup, Jeremy Grant and Gary Harris, that team is nothing like team that won championship ( pretty much 3 out of 5 starters changed).


Wolves lost to Nuggets- last year- in first round, in quick 5 games, with exect same team.

Last year Murray averaged 27 ppg on near 50-45 splits, this year he is off to a 12 ppg ,28% FG start.


In theory, yes , Jokic can be bothered by "lot of size & lenght", but in reality, Nuggets played closer game when Gobert did play, than in this game, where Gobert didn't play at all, and Jokic scored less points.
And once again, if you go back to last year's series, Jokic averaged 26-12-9 on 50-50 splits against same Wovles.

Jokic is best player in basketball, by far, but Nuggets play like a** and should be eliminated fast if they continue to play like they did in game 2.

[ogmagicfan]

Not surprised at all, even if the Nuggets had the increased depth they had last yr I still would take the Wolves

They are built to be matchup nightmare for the Nuggets. Jokic's weakness is alot of size/length/athleticism on a team. The Lakers had Anthony Davis, Dwight, & Javale. The Wolves have Gobert, KAT, & Naz Reid.

I never bought into the "yeah that stopped Jokic back then but now Jokic is too good to lose to that setup".

What execlly are you refering to?

Lakers beat them 4 years ago, since that point, Nuggets have beaten them 8 times in 9 playoff games.

Nuggets at that point were starting Millsup, Jeremy Grant and Gary Harris, that team is nothing like team that won championship ( pretty much 3 out of 5 starters changed).


Wolves lost to Nuggets- last year- in first round, in quick 5 games, with exect same team.

Last year Murray averaged 27 ppg on near 50-45 splits, this year he is off to a 12 ppg ,28% FG start.


In theory, yes , Jokic can be bothered by "lot of size & lenght", but in reality, Nuggets played closer game when Gobert did play, than in this game, where Gobert didn't play at all, and Jokic scored less points.
And once again, if you go back to last year's series, Jokic averaged 26-12-9 on 50-50 splits against same Wovles.

Jokic is best player in basketball, by far, but Nuggets play like a** and should be eliminated fast if they continue to play like they did in game 2.

I'm referring to size/athleticism/defense being the answer to slowing down the Nuggets, not only just for Jokic but the Nuggets team as a whole

Lakers also have lacked a consistent 3 man rotation of athletic size since the bubble when they beat the Nuggets and over time have let go of defensive talent at guards (Caruso, KCP) over time as well

Wolves team last yr never got the opportunity to develop chemistry together due to KAT injury causing him to miss 53 games and when he came back at the end of the season he only got to play 8 games before they entered the playoffs.

Not only that, but Jaden McDaniels & Naz Reid were both didnt play that series.

The adjustment of Ant on Jamal Murray was a great decision as well

I don't disagree that its confusing that they beat them worse with no Gobert, but if there was no Gobert for the series I'd think the Nuggets would comeback.

Jokic is the best player in the NBA but I dont think being the best player is enough to overcome the best defense in the NBA, particularly one that's built like this

[pepe1991]

Not surprised at all, even if the Nuggets had the increased depth they had last yr I still would take the Wolves

They are built to be matchup nightmare for the Nuggets. Jokic's weakness is alot of size/length/athleticism on a team. The Lakers had Anthony Davis, Dwight, & Javale. The Wolves have Gobert, KAT, & Naz Reid.

I never bought into the "yeah that stopped Jokic back then but now Jokic is too good to lose to that setup".

What execlly are you refering to?

Lakers beat them 4 years ago, since that point, Nuggets have beaten them 8 times in 9 playoff games.

Nuggets at that point were starting Millsup, Jeremy Grant and Gary Harris, that team is nothing like team that won championship ( pretty much 3 out of 5 starters changed).


Wolves lost to Nuggets- last year- in first round, in quick 5 games, with exect same team.

Last year Murray averaged 27 ppg on near 50-45 splits, this year he is off to a 12 ppg ,28% FG start.


In theory, yes , Jokic can be bothered by "lot of size & lenght", but in reality, Nuggets played closer game when Gobert did play, than in this game, where Gobert didn't play at all, and Jokic scored less points.
And once again, if you go back to last year's series, Jokic averaged 26-12-9 on 50-50 splits against same Wovles.

Jokic is best player in basketball, by far, but Nuggets play like a** and should be eliminated fast if they continue to play like they did in game 2.

I'm referring to size/athleticism/defense being the answer to slowing down the Nuggets, not only just for Jokic but the Nuggets team as a whole

Lakers also have lacked a consistent 3 man rotation of athletic size since the bubble when they beat the Nuggets and over time have let go of defensive talent at guards (Caruso, KCP) over time as well

Wolves team last yr never got the opportunity to develop chemistry together due to KAT injury causing him to miss 53 games and when he came back at the end of the season he only got to play 8 games before they entered the playoffs.

Not only that, but Jaden McDaniels & Naz Reid were both didnt play that series.

The adjustment of Ant on Jamal Murray was a great decision as well

I don't disagree that its confusing that they beat them worse with no Gobert, but if there was no Gobert for the series I'd think the Nuggets would comeback.

Jokic is the best player in the NBA but I dont think being the best player is enough to overcome the best defense in the NBA, particularly one that's built like this

Yea i dig that, in general it's probably way harder to repeat a title than win it first time because motivation level probably isn't there no matter how much you try to hype yourself up.

Maybe this nutslapping will wake them up. Maybe they simply don't have horses for another title this year. Who knows.

I agree that Wolves are most "anti Nuggets" team out there.

I kind a hope for Wolves v Boston now, they went to OT in both games in regular season.

[tiderulz]

Wolves played with great defensive intensity, but something I have noticed this year, im not seeing quite as much ticky-tack stuff and the refs are letting them play more handsy and play through contact. That means sometimes people are "fouled" whether legit or flopping, but i kind of like it. That said, there are some obvious calls that are wrong, but overall I like the action. They just need to call it the same for both teams.

[Optimus_Steel]

Murray throwing heat packs on the court…yea the Nuggets are done.

[pepe1991]

Wolves played with great defensive intensity, but something I have noticed this year, im not seeing quite as much ticky-tack stuff and the refs are letting them play more handsy and play through contact. That means sometimes people are "fouled" whether legit or flopping, but i kind of like it. That said, there are some obvious calls that are wrong, but overall I like the action. They just need to call it the same for both teams.

Problem is that they still call slightest touches on stars as fouls. And other players are getting hammered.

[Fortune Teller]

Ant Edwards is 22. Same as Franz and Suggs. I guess Welt would say the Wolves are “skipping steps” by trying to win now.

[p0peye]

If NBA persist in the way that are calling games now in playoffs (it goes back ever since All Star weekend, but now seems even more noticeable), it is actually playing to our strengths going forward. However, if Weltpark is reading this - it is not an excuse to sit on their hands again! We need some serious scoring without compromising defense. Also, whoever said that midrange game is dead clearly isn’t watching this playoffs.