2011 NBA Playoffs

[rainmaker17]

All we need is for the Lakers to somehow not make the Finals and this will be the best Playoffs probably ever.

I'm down with that!

[Sport]

Never mind that, I'd like to see how Stern would react to a Hawks/Grizzlies Finals.

Judging by the way so many of my friends bitched about the underdogs in the final four, I'm assuming basketball people would hate that final.

[infrared41]

Apparently the Grizzlies and Hawks don't understand that they're supposed to start losing now.

Is it just me, or are the playoffs already better than they've been in a very long time?

You're not alone. This year has been 10x exciting and intriguing than the past few years, easily. I hope this continues - It'd be a shame for this year to end in yet another Lakers-Celtics Finals matchup. I havent watched a Finals with interest since 2007, and would really like to watch one again. It'd just take an intriguing storyline that isn't "Ooo The Rivalry!" or "Kobe vs. The King!" to do it for me - I'm strange in that I'd much rather watch a Memphis-Atlanta Finals over an LA-Boston Finals. Although as I mentioned in this thread before I think, I'd love an Oklahoma City-Boston series.

If the Lakers don't get there then I'm all for an "anyone but the usual suspects" finals. That said, I can certainly understand fans experiencing "Lakers - Celtics fatigue."

[PurpleRush]

Wow! A Dallas win at LA. And no phantom foul call on Kidd.

Nice.

[DustDevil61]

^^^^^^^^^^

It's about time.

[Kevin W.]

As a Bulls fan, it makes me quite hypocritical tonight, but I am delighting in the Lakers' loss. HA HA!

[TFoA]

I dont expect Joe Johnson to do that every game. Doesnt he usually curl up in a ball come playoff time? Ugh, that was kind of a frustrating loss, but everything fell the Hawks way that game, it hopefully won't happen again. I just hope D-Rose is okay

Joe actually came to play this postseason, and he's justifying that crazy-ass contract the Hawks gave him with his form. Idk how long this is gonna last, but it's awesome.

Plus, this is officially an improvement over the last two seasons where the Hawks just got dumptrucked out of the 2nd round. Pretty huge victory for this version of the Hawks.

[pmoehrin]

You cannot win or lose a series in one game. That being said, I'd be far more concerned about Derrick Rose's reinjured ankle if I was the Bulls then going down 1-0 to the Hawks.

Kind of the same deal with the Lakers. Can't win a series in one game. Wouldn't be concerned about a two point loss to start a series.

[StillS]

Wow! A Dallas win at LA. And no phantom foul call on Kidd.

Nice.

Im going for Dallas in this one, would be cool to see Dirk win a ring.

[Rockstar Matt]

I'm not worried by the Lakers loss, but it frustrates me. For some reason, we decide to stop attacking the basket even though we were having success all night, which is why we lost. Mavs didn't so much as win it, but more of the Lakers letting the Mavericks win it. It would have been nice the refs called Kidd for that foul on Kobe (Kobe tripped on himself, but as he was trying to get away, before Kobe fell, Kidd was literally holding Kobe by the waist) just to be consistent with that "foul" they called on Gasol, but the game shouldn't been this close to begin with if the Lakers had just stuck to what was working instead of taking jumpshot after jumpshot.

The series will be much like the Hornets series. Lakers win Game 2. Mavs win Game 3. Lakers win Game 4, 5 and 6. Lakers have no one to blame but themselves.

[TFoA]

Aaannnnnnnddd the Lakers are officially in trouble. Dirk is absolutely sonning Pau so far in this series.

[Kevin W.]

I love Dallas right now.

[Cujo]

They may be down 2-zip headed back to Dallas, but I'm not writing the Lakers off. Not at all. To start off, the Lakers are your two-time defending champs. You can almost never count out a champion. Plus, they've got this one-man wrecking crew named "KOBE!". He can flip a switch pretty much whenever. And oh yeah, one other thing -- Los Angeles is down 0-2 to the DALLAS MAVERICKS. Yeah, Dirk & Co. have a tendancy to choke/fall apart/lay down qhwn the Playoffs come around. I wouldn't be shocked one bit to see L.A. still make the Western Conference Finals.

[NJTank]

One thing for sure the Lakers should be without Ron Artest for Game 3, that was a dumb move and after the whistle.

[pmoehrin]

You could have written off game one with the Lakers as a no big deal loss, but any time you lose back to back games at home to start of a playoff series, its a big deal, I don't care how many rings their head coach and best player have.

LA pretty much has to win game three to stay alive.

[Still MIGHTY]

So the Lakers lose Game 1 at the buzzer because of too much outside shooting/too much Kobe.

Game 2, Bynum is doing his work down low in the early portion of the game, but then the Lakers proceed to go back outside and go 0-fer from three. Just plain old stupid. If it's not working, here's an idea, stop doing it. If it is working, here's an idea, keep doing it.

I definitely have confidence the Lakers can come back. They just need to pound inside. And Dirk is going to get his points in this series, that's clear. Let Dirk get his points. Stop Marion. Stop Barea. (Seriously?!?! Barea???) Stop Kidd. Give Bynum more down low. Give Odom more. Kobe is going to be Kobe. The Lakers are still in this one, but the bigs need to be fed and the bench has to step up.

[TFoA]

So the Lakers lose Game 1 at the buzzer because of too much outside shooting/too much Kobe.

Game 2, Bynum is doing his work down low in the early portion of the game, but then the Lakers proceed to go back outside and go 0-fer from three. Just plain old stupid. If it's not working, here's an idea, stop doing it. If it is working, here's an idea, keep doing it.

I definitely have confidence the Lakers can come back. They just need to pound inside. And Dirk is going to get his points in this series, that's clear. Let Dirk get his points. Stop Marion. Stop Barea. (Seriously?!?! Barea???) Stop Kidd. Give Bynum more down low. Give Odom more. Kobe is going to be Kobe. The Lakers are still in this one, but the bigs need to be fed and the bench has to step up.

Yeah, that was the worst part. Barea is a decent PG, but for him to shred up the Lakers defense like he did last night was awful on the Lakers part.

They've definitely still got a shot at this; they're the defending champs & like Cujo said, it is the Mavericks...but they're definitely in trouble. Even if it is the Mavs, they've got a tough road ahead of them if they want to advance.

[ninersdd]

Artest is suspended for game 3 for I believe an elbow.

[The Six]

All this is part of the transition of LA becoming a Clippers town. DeAndre Jordan ain't gettin' booed.

[pmoehrin]

Artest is suspended for game 3 for I believe an elbow.

It was basically a closeline and it wasn't one of those maybe it was intentional maybe it wasn't type of plays. Bill Laimbeer would have been proud with that type of cheap shot. You pull that crap on most teams, and you'll spend the next day running the stairs instead of practicing, playoffs or not.

Artest might be the one starting player they could afford to lose and not see it have much effect, because Lamar Odom can step right in, and I see the two as being roughly equal. But it doess take away the Lakers bench depth, which is basically just Lamar Odom.

Game 3 is winnable for the Lakers but they need to step up their inside game. Pau Gasol has been asleep in this series and they need to start giving Bynum the ball more. He may be averaging 14 points a game, but I'd bet you he's averaging 2-4 garbage points a game. He is not getting the ball nearly as much as he should be. Also give Dallas some credit to. I don't think the Lakers have been playing all that bad, and I would describe both games more as Dallas victories then Laker loses. This is the best I have ever seen Dirk Nowitzki look this good and the Mavs are filled with veteran players like Nowitzki, Kidd, Marion and Stojakovic with good to great careers but they've never had a ring to show for it and for alot of them its their last real shot, so I don't think they are going to get the playoff jitters. They could very well be the hungriest team in the playoffs.

I also like how much of a rush the NBA is in the get these games over with. The really need to slow down the pace of these series. 3 games in a week? Dude that is way too much action for me to keep up with.