2021-22 NBA Thread

[gosioux76]

1 hour ago, spartacat_12 said:

As a T-Wolves fan, I loved the over-the-top celebration. It's been a long time since a Wolves team has succeeding in energizing that fanbase like this. It might be just a play-in game, but that energy and enthusiasm from the team gives me hope that it'll carry over into the next series and, better yet, the next 5 to 10 years. 

[Digby]

11 hours ago, DoctorWhom said:

I would say a Celtics- Nets seemed inevitable, but does anyone even remember that playoff series last year? It was so forgettable. 

I'd give Celtics the edge this time, much better defense & their offense has been clicking too, Ben Simmons is the wildcard in how much he will help or hurt the Nets.  

 

I am not really looking forward to another two weeks of Kyrie narrative, his entire awful schtick and the kinda-gross bloodlust from Boston fans, then with Simmons drama on top of all that. Just really unfun and unpleasant all around. Unfortunate for the Celtics to not have Rob Williams here as he's probably their most irreplaceable player in many ways. Felt like the Nets let the Cavs hang around way too much considering the Cavs were depleted, but outside of KD and Kyrie they're a meh team with an unspecial coach. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

30 minutes ago, Digby said:

 

Yes, we all watched the Lakers rattle off several .300 seasons in a row, and then somehow manage only a 50/50 playoff qualification rate with LeBron Friggin James on their team. 

 

Given their injuries over the past four years, making the playoffs twice and winning a title is pretty good.

 

Also, every team in the league except the Raptors and Bucks would trade their last four years for the Lakers' last four years.

[spartacat_12]

30 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

As a T-Wolves fan, I loved the over-the-top celebration. It's been a long time since a Wolves team has succeeding in energizing that fanbase like this. It might be just a play-in game, but that energy and enthusiasm from the team gives me hope that it'll carry over into the next series and, better yet, the next 5 to 10 years. 

 

I could understand the fans being this excited, but it just seems way too over the top for the players. This is a completely manufactured moment by the NBA, but I guess that's the whole point of these play-in games. Did we ever see teams going this crazy about clinching the 7 seed in the playoffs in the past?  It wasn't even a one & done game. The Clippers lost, and still get to host a sub-.500 team to lock up the last seed.

[gosioux76]

2 minutes ago, spartacat_12 said:

 

I could understand the fans being this excited, but it just seems way too over the top for the players. This is a completely manufactured moment by the NBA, but I guess that's the whole point of these play-in games. Did we ever see teams going this crazy about clinching the 7 seed in the playoffs in the past?  It wasn't even a one & done game. The Clippers lost, and still get to host a sub-.500 team to lock up the last seed.

 

How is it manufactured by the NBA? It's not like they told the players to go out there and celebrate like they won a title. They're excited. Most of them are kids. Let them have a little harmless fun. 

 

It's also worth noting that the tone of that celebration was fueled by Pat Beverly, who very clearly saw the victory over the Clippers as a moment of personal vindication. If that emotion is what it takes to get the rest of the crew fired up, I'm all for it. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

KAT has had an insanely terrible two years. I'm happy for the T Wolves. Good for them!

[Seadragon76]

It is nice to see Minnesota finally break free from the doldrums they've been in for years and reach the playoffs. Yeah, it's a win in the Play-In Round, but it counts all the same... right?

 

As for Brooklyn: *sigh* I honestly expected much better from the Nets then a Play-In Round berth. All that talent and they basically were bogged down by drama all season long - whether it was Kyrie Irving being a selfish dope when it came to vaccines, KD getting hurt and the inevitable third wheel that is now Ben Simmons, all this drama led to a team that didn't achieve what many pundits out there expected from them.

[spartacat_12]

1 hour ago, gosioux76 said:

How is it manufactured by the NBA? It's not like they told the players to go out there and celebrate like they won a title. They're excited. Most of them are kids. Let them have a little harmless fun. 

 

It's also worth noting that the tone of that celebration was fueled by Pat Beverly, who very clearly saw the victory over the Clippers as a moment of personal vindication. If that emotion is what it takes to get the rest of the crew fired up, I'm all for it. 

 

It's manufactured because 3 years ago a 7 seed clinching a playoff spot would be a footnote, not some massive milestone worth throwing a ticker-tape parade over. But the league decided it was a good idea to give teams 10 & 12 games under .500 a chance to play in the playoffs just so they could add a couple more "win or go home" games to the TV schedule.

 

Seeing the players celebrate the way they did just tells me they're satisfied enough with just making the playoffs. 

[FinsUp1214]

It’s every Jazz fan’s favorite time of year!

 

Abbreviated predictions:

 

West Finals

Phoenix 4, Golden State 1

 

East Finals

Philadelphia 4, Milwaukee 3

 

NBA Finals

Phoenix 4, Philadelphia 2

[DoctorWhom]

On 4/13/2022 at 2:25 PM, spartacat_12 said:

 

It's manufactured because 3 years ago a 7 seed clinching a playoff spot would be a footnote, not some massive milestone worth throwing a ticker-tape parade over. But the league decided it was a good idea to give teams 10 & 12 games under .500 a chance to play in the playoffs just so they could add a couple more "win or go home" games to the TV schedule.

 

Seeing the players celebrate the way they did just tells me they're satisfied enough with just making the playoffs. 

It depends on the team. 

A team like the Timberwolves have had little, if anything, to celebrate for a long time. 

For them making the playoffs is a huge deal. Because they are rarely ever that good enough to make it. 

Also on a personal note, Pat probably enjoyed one upping his former team, as well as sticking it to KAT. 

 

It's like the Seattle Mariners, you think they wouldn't be celebrating like they just won the World Series if they ever managed to just clinch a playoff spot? 

 

Obviously a team like the Celtics, Lakers, or Heat wouldn't be celebrating so much over something like that because they're used to that kind of success. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, FinsUp1214 said:

West Finals

Phoenix 4, Golden State 1

 

Steph is out, right?

 

I don't see how the Warriors get past the Nuggets. I can't speak to the Grizzlies, so I have to trust their record, I guess.

[B-Rich]

Pels win! 

 

Amazing what 1st year coach Willie Green has done with this squad, started 1-11 / 3-16, then went 33-30. All this without Zion for the whole year and without Brandon Ingram for 27 games. Kudos also to the front office and GM David Griffin for picking up some unheralded rookies (love how my Georgia Tech guy Jose Alvarado, unsigned and expected to be in Birmingham all year, showed his stuff and earned a roster spot and contract) AND making a great trade for C.J. McCollum.

 

We match up well against the Clips, too; 3 games to one record this season.  We'll see what happens Friday night, but even if they do get that 8 spot we'll still be lucky to not get swept by the Suns.

 

But next year-- especially IF Zion is able to come back to be the player he was was before his injury hiatus-- look out.

 

Oh, and to all those on the board saying N.O. doesn't support it NBA franchise, I hope you saw that sell-out crowd and its energy tonight for a 9 vs. 10 play-in game.  It's like any other team; play decently and win a bit, and the crowds will be there. 

[who do you think]

Half-hearted predictions:

 

WEST

PHX over [whoever]: maybe a Clippers berth and a surprise return by Kawhi could make this interesting

MEM over MIN: not sure either team is "ready for prime time" but the Grizzlies had the decisively better regular season record... celebrationgate indicates that the Wolves are just happy to be here

GS over DEN: Denver hasn't been impressive and they're way too dependent on Jokic, I think GS can win this even if Curry misses the entire series

DAL over UTA: Dallas went 20-7 after ditching Porzingis, Utah is a flawed team that missed their window last year... gonna go out on a limb and predict a round one Jazz meltdown followed by a lot of trade and coaching change rumors

-

DAL over PHX: Chris Paul is guilty until proven innocent

GS over MEM: Grizzlies' breakout season comes to an end against the more experienced team gunning for one more ring

-

GS over DAL: Dallas could win this, but I won't bet against a healthy Golden State

 

EAST

MIA over [whoever]: neither the Cavs or the Hawks look like obvious upset candidates

BOS over BRK: Boston looked good enough without Williams although I still don't fully trust them since they spent over half the season being a bad team, on the other hand Brooklyn's roster is not impressive after Durant and Kyrie... I predict a shaggy dog story akin to last year's Suns-Lakers series

MIL over CHI: Bulls have been fading for a while now and outperformed their expected W-L by 6 games, can't see them pulling an upset here

TOR over PHI: Raptors play well together and are peaking at the right time (and also have the vax mandate boogeyman on their side), Philly joins Utah and the Lakers as main characters of the offseason rumor mill

-

MIA over TOR: people seem to be in a real hurry to write off Miami this year 

MIL over BOS: I have an unofficial "defending champs are innocent until proven guilty through at least 2 rounds unless something looks seriously wrong" policy

-

MIA over MIL: The Heat embarrassed the Bucks in 2020, the Bucks embarrassed them last year, the Heat have home court this time, the Bucks already have their ring and had an underwhelming season even by typical championship hangover standards... leaning toward Miami here

 

FINALS

GS over MIA: The Warriors get (probably) their last ring, Bill Simmons goes nuts with Stephen Curry pyramid podcasts

[Digby]

IDK, I have too many questions about the Warriors being fully healthy, unfortunately. And with how up-and-down they've been this season.

 

Think I'm picking the Suns.

[OnWis97]

On 4/13/2022 at 11:32 AM, spartacat_12 said:

 

I could understand the fans being this excited, but it just seems way too over the top for the players. This is a completely manufactured moment by the NBA, but I guess that's the whole point of these play-in games. Did we ever see teams going this crazy about clinching the 7 seed in the playoffs in the past?  It wasn't even a one & done game. The Clippers lost, and still get to host a sub-.500 team to lock up the last seed.

The only player that really went above and beyond was Beverly. I thought it was over the top...I guess he holds grudges over teams that let him go...

That said, I don't think fans of other teams (except maybe Clippers fans of a certain age) can relate to just how little this franchise has to celebrate...bad play, bad luck, bad management, bad everything.  It was really nice to watch this game unfold and to watch this woeful franchise claw it's way back from down 10 in the fourth. Hard-core Wolves fans (of which I am not; I'm casual) deserved this many times over.

 

As an aside, this game makes this season infinitely more fun than if they'd just been given the seven seed their record would have warranted in the past. It just seems so arbitrary to pick the 7 and 8 seeds to do this for (why not just the 8? Why not 6/7/8?). And in and 82-game season that sends half the teams to the playoffs, it's totally unnecessary from an integrity of the game perspective. Unfortunately it's about entertainment, tickets, and TV and fun games like this are going to validate it.  Some year the 7th-best team is going to lose to a 10th-best team 10 games behind it. I hope that 7th-best team is a Team That Matters from a Market that Matters.  

[IceCap]

Three years is enough time for a sequel to come out. Jurassic Park II let's go 

 

Also...

ahem

 

lol Clippers!

[Ridleylash]

Clippers gonna Clip lmfao

 

Of course it'd be them that loses their playoff chance to a team that was on pace to be the worst team in NBA history earlier this season.

[DoctorWhom]

Nice upset win by the T-Wolves. They might be considered a dark horse team if they can keep this up.

[Wings2]

1 hour ago, DoctorWhom said:

Nice upset win by the T-Wolves. They might be considered a dark horse team if they can keep this up.

 

In one of my pools I have them upsetting Memphis and losing to Golden State in the second round. 

[DoctorWhom]

Yeah, this Celtics - Nets series is about what I expected.  

 

No wonder the Bucks too scared to face them.