The 2017 NBA Playoffs: This Is A Recording

[Unocal]

After last year, I won't believe the Cavs are dead until the final buzzer sounds.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

53 minutes ago, Wings said:

 

You might want to re-word that or you just have a weird uncle. 

 

Shoot.

[truepg]

This series is one boneheaded play by Kyrie away from being 2-2.

[dfwabel]

21 minutes ago, truepg said:

This series is one boneheaded play by Kyrie away from being 2-2.

And yet it isn't!

[HedleyLamarr]

5 hours ago, truepg said:

This series is one boneheaded play by Kyrie away from being 2-2.

It would be a 2-2 series if DG's uncle had a penis.

[Lights Out]

Well, it's not over yet. Warriors seem to be getting worse as the series goes on, Cavs seem to be getting better. We may very well be witnessing history in the making again. I wouldn't be saying this with any other player or team, but LeBron can do this.

[IceCap]

Curiouser and curiouser... 

[Lights Out]

9 hours ago, Bucfan56 said:

 

This game reminded me of game 4 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals vs the Rockets. Dubs had a 3-0 lead and things looked pretty comfortable, but then Houston came out and went absolutely kryptonic from 3 point range and kinda buried Golden State. Houston dropped 45 in the first quarter, and hit like 20 three pointers. It was ultimately unsustainable though and Golden State cruised to a game 4 win by around 15. I think this is probably pretty similar. 

There's a big difference between a Harden "led" team in the playoffs and a LeBron led team, though.

 

Additionally, the Warriors had won Game 3 by 35 against the Rockets. It was obvious that Game 4 was a blip on the radar. In contrast, in this series, the Warriors stole Game 3 by a hair and didn't look too impressive doing it. It feels like the momentum is shifting.

[EvilChameleon]

I quite enjoy all the angry reactions from people who aren't Warriors fans that wanted to see history.

 

Hell, Warriors fans are taking the loss better than non Warriors fans. They might get to see their team clinch at home for once.

[HedleyLamarr]

It took a hot-shooting 3-point effort from the Cavs, a cold-shooting 3-point effort from Golden State, 20+ free throw attempts in the first quarter for the Cavs, and a piss-poor night from the refs in general for Cleveland to have an insurmountable lead to get them the win.  That first quarter was one of the shoddiest officiating efforts I can recall in recent memory.  Golden State had no shot once it was obvious that they were playing against Cleveland and the league.

 

What's the best way to disguise a fix-up?  Make the overall product look cleaner by giving make-up calls at the times when it's least-beneficial to the team being screwed.  The NBA has long lost the benefit of the doubt of not arranging their outcomes of games.

[BBTV]

I read somewhere that the Warriors stood to profit $11M by losing that game since it would send them back home for one more.  

 

I totally believe there's some level of fixing (or "influencing") in pro sports.  I think it's naive to believe otherwise.  The entire business is built around building interest in the product, and as TV deals and contracts continue to rise, the line between legit sports and pro wrestling will continue to shrink.

 

In this case, I'm not sure why the league would "influence" the outcome this way, because wouldn't it make more sense for the league to encourage a 7-game series, not just 5?  On the other hand, it wouldn't shock me if the Warriors maybe didn't pull out everything in an attempt to win.  Not saying they tried to lose, but maybe there were some moves or yellings-at or something that could have been done and the coaches were like "F-it" (based on input from ownership obviously.)  If they are so good that they just win anyway then so be it, but maybe they dind't go above-and-beyond in an attempt to win (like you'll see in the next game.)

 

Of course, I didn't see any of this game, so I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about.  

[Alex Houston]

12 hours ago, dfwabel said:

Guess you hate when a LB has to cover an undersized RB too, rather than the offense just running the ball.

 

That doesn't strike me as apples to apples since LBs are designed to provide extra run protection after the line, hence "linebacker." Sure, give credit to the Warriors for drafting and crafting a team who can adapt to different positions without much problem, but when the winning team of the series has averaged 123 points in the last three games, it feels more like an all star game level battled, not one where teams are making good defensive adjustments. Once again, just my preference.

[OnWis97]

Whenever NBA legitimacy is questioned fans and media treat it as black-and-white, which leads to "if it was fixed, the scandal would come out eventually."

 

Well, yeah, the outcome is not pre-determined.  I don't think Adam Silver called the officials and said "Cleveland wins tonight."

 

But while they don't fix the games, they seem to hedge their bets through practices that most fans accept...favoring superstars and home teams.  The latter can certainly help extend a series.  The former has advanced ratings-grabbing teams and players to the next round.

 

So in that Lakers/Kings series, had the Kings come out and smoked them, they would have won.  But if it's evenly played, superstar treatment can be the difference.  That's why I say the league "hedges its bets."

 

Is the NBA 100% fixed?  No.  But that doesn't make it 100% legitimate.  There's a ton of room in between those absolutes.

 

It is the league with the most questions about legitimacy.  And it should be.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

If the fix was in, Draymond would have been tossed out and Kevin Love wouldn't have received a flagrant foul.

 

Also, no one is making the Cavs hit 24 threes and the Warriors half that amount. Yes, free throws help, but threes are game changers, as the Warriors have been showing since 2014/15.

 

EDIT:

If Love grazing Durant was a flagrant, WTF was this?

 

For comparison:

 

 

Draymond could have done a sweet tornado DDT though.

[Lights Out]

The Warriors shot more free throws than the Cavs overall, the refs took a technical away from Draymond mid-game so they didn't have to eject him, Kevin Love was given a flagrant foul for making a play on the ball against Durant, and Iman Shumpert was T'd up for getting punched in the nuts by Zaza. The Cavs were the aggressors from the opening tip and the Warriors kept committing obvious fouls, and that's why the Cavs were shooting so many free throws early on in the game.

 

How on Earth does this add up to the game being rigged for the Cavs? The Warriors have been given the friendly whistle all series, and from what I saw, that didn't change last night. The Warriors were simply outplayed. They were undisciplined and they got picked apart defensively. You can't blame the refs for that.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Semi-serious question. Oracle Arena is tiny, so both fans and players are right on top of the game.

 

Here's a clip of highlights in Oakland, that should start in the right place (6:36):

 

The Warriors bench isn't technically on the court, but they're basically there. Is there any rule about how much room the bench should have? There are times when it looks like they completely crowd out the corner three on their side of the court.

[Wings]

Don't worry the Warriors will get all the calls on Monday and it will be mercifully over and we can all move on to the new Summer Jam. 

[HedleyLamarr]

The key to influencing outcomes is to not make it look like you're doing so.

 

"But Golden State shot more free throws!!!!!"  Great. Glad you pointed that out.  How many of those came after the first quarter (which took nearly an hour, by the way)?  Cleveland shot 20+ free throws in the first quarter.  There was absolutely no rhythm to that game, which hinders a team where 3-point shooting is all about rhythm.  Call a couple fouls on their key guys to make them sit on the bench.  And Cleveland jumps out to a 16-point lead.  Now that Cleveland has that nice-sized buffer, squeeze in some fouls on Cleveland and free throws for the Warriors to give that overall appearance that the game was on the up-and-up.  Pairs of free throws are pretty empty in the second half of games featuring double-digit and 20-point leads.  Those leads don't get coughed up by great teams very much.

 

If you're going to rig a game, you're not going to rig the entire 48 minutes.  You're going to rig a big enough chunk to where the complexion of the game is totally different and hope the talent of the team that's getting the benefits does just enough to finish the deal.  The final three quarters were much cleaner and equal than that atrocious first quarter.  Hell, there were physical plays that were being called in the first quarter that weren't being called in the second half.

[Wings]

2 hours ago, EvilChameleon said:

I quite enjoy all the angry reactions from people who aren't Warriors fans that wanted to see history.

 

Hell, Warriors fans are taking the loss better than non Warriors fans. They might get to see their team clinch at home for once.

The last time a Bay Area team clinched a championship in their own stadium was the 1974 Oakland A's.

[Lights Out]

29 minutes ago, HedleyLamarr said:

The key to influencing outcomes is to not make it look like you're doing so.

 

"But Golden State shot more free throws!!!!!"  Great. Glad you pointed that out.  How many of those came after the first quarter (which took nearly an hour, by the way)?  Cleveland shot 20+ free throws in the first quarter.  There was absolutely no rhythm to that game, which hinders a team where 3-point shooting is all about rhythm.  Call a couple fouls on their key guys to make them sit on the bench.  And Cleveland jumps out to a 16-point lead.  Now that Cleveland has that nice-sized buffer, squeeze in some fouls on Cleveland and free throws for the Warriors to give that overall appearance that the game was on the up-and-up.  Pairs of free throws are pretty empty in the second half of games featuring double-digit and 20-point leads.  Those leads don't get coughed up by great teams very much.

 

If you're going to rig a game, you're not going to rig the entire 48 minutes.  You're going to rig a big enough chunk to where the complexion of the game is totally different and hope the talent of the team that's getting the benefits does just enough to finish the deal.  The final three quarters were much cleaner and equal than that atrocious first quarter.  Hell, there were physical plays that were being called in the first quarter that weren't being called in the second half.

Before any of this, the key to influencing a game is actually influencing the game. If the refs had swallowed their whistles on all the obvious fouls that the Warriors were committing, that would have influenced the game. Instead, they resisted the impulse to give the Warriors superstar treatment, which is what every fan claims to want, and people are still complaining about that.

 

Later on, the refs did try to influence the game by making several bogus calls and no-calls that all favored the Warriors. But by that point, it was clear that the Cavs weren't going to be denied.

 

I may be wrong, but I don't remember you complaining when Curry alone shot 10 free throws in the first quarter of Game 2. And those calls were a lot more questionable than the ones that were being called on the Warriors early on last night. At the same time, LeBron was driving to the hoop at every opportunity, getting hacked and not getting the calls.

 

Honestly though, with the roster that the Warriors have, the refs should never even be a factor.