2013 NBA Playoffs

[cameroncrazie07]

Wow, Knicks could not make a shot tonight. Terrible game no two ways about it, Boston beat them at their own game. But I'd still rather be the Knicks up 3-2 right now. Boston can't keep this up for two more straight games can they?

Can they?

*Rapidly paces around back and forth in denial*

[Kramerica Industries]

All the references to 2004...g'ah.

Bite me, TNT.

[Lights Out]

Stunningly, there looks to be a good chance that at least one team manages to come back from an 0-3 deficit to win their series, possibly two. Though I think Houston has the far better chance of pulling it off.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Yeah... New York is healthy, just stupid. Oklahoma City could very well be on the other side of that 3-2, and Westbrook isn't coming back. Durant had a hissyfit on the court tonight, and his former help is either on the bench or playing for the other team. Doesn't look good for the Thunder.

The Knicks might well lose to Boston too, but I have a harder time seeing it. They had a bad game from JR Smith and still only lost by 6; that and their last loss was in OT. Their losses have been much closer than Boston's, and they still have another home game to go. I think they looked past Boston tonight and paid the price. I don't think that'll happen again. Plus Kenyon Martin will kill someone during game six and it's going to be great.

[NJTank]

I think the Thunder will win Game 6, but I think the longer this series goes the better things get for the Grizzlies or Clippers.

It also brings the Heat closer to going fo-fo-fo-fo

[dbadefense1990]

And with the Nets win tonight, there will be at least one Game 7 played in the NBA Playoffs for the 14th year in a row. The last time no Game 7 was played in a single postseason was in 1999.

[pmoehrin]

David Lee doing his best black knight impression tonight.

[See Red]

These refs are horrible. You can get mauled on your way to the rim and not get a call, then they call some ticky tack foul. I know you're never going to get every call right, but a shred of consistency with how a game gets called would be nice.

Edit: and while it at least went both ways in the first, it's completely one sided to start this second half. Why do I bother watching the NBA anymore?

[Billy B]

Man, the Bulls really tried tonight. Noah and Boozer both put up double-doubles and Jimmy Butler played the entire game. But when Marco :censored:ing Belinelli is your leading scorer, there's just not much you can do. And I know during the regular season I said I wouldn't mind if Derrick Rose sat out the whole year, but my mind's changed. Man up and get out there with your team. Do you think Michael Jordan would be sitting on the bench in a suit while guys like Marco Belinelli and Nate Robinson are playing huge minutes? Kirk Hinrich is hurt, Luol Deng is too sick to play, Nate Robinson and Taj Gibson are sick but played, Joakim Noah has been playing hurt, and Rose still doesn't want to get on the court. These guys are playing their assess off and are right in there at the end against the Nets with a roster that has no business being in these game. I think Steve Kerr was right, Rose owes it to his teammates to play.

[Lights Out]

Derrick Rose is just pathetic at this point and the fact that he was ever given an MVP (emphasis on given, since LeBron and Dirk were more deserving that year) makes a mockery of the award. Yes, I feel that strongly about how he's screwing over his teammates and basically stealing money from his franchise. He's part of the reason why NBA players are the athletes most often stereotyped with the "money over everything, screw my team" image.

I mean, Nate Robinson was literally puking into towels during timeouts tonight and he still played. How can Rose just sit there in a suit after being medically cleared for months, watch his teammates give their all and not feel like the biggest loser on the planet?

[The_Admiral]

There are more complicated dynamics at play here than just Derrick Rose being a bitch, though he is being a bitch. His agent is B.J. Armstrong, who has hard feelings for the Bulls organization for exposing him in the expansion draft right before Threepeat II and also for choosing John Paxson to take over for Jerry Krause when Armstrong thought he himself was the heir apparent. There's also the matter of Adidas being so invested in him as a star player that they're micromanaging his rehab process. None of this absolves him, though. The NBA is all about the singularity of its greats, and it's time for Rose to be singular and get himself back on the court for his teammates and for himself, rather than just be a pawn of these outside forces using him as leverage. The local narrative here is that Rose is some sort of idiot manchild who if not for his brothers and associates would literally be too functionally retarded to feed himself (then again, there was the apple incident), but I'd like to give him a little more credit and agency than that and say that he could do what great players do and will himself back for the sake of the game. Oh well, it was fun to think we had another superstar!

[pmoehrin]

Man, the Bulls really tried tonight. Noah and Boozer both put up double-doubles and Jimmy Butler played the entire game. But when Marco :censored:ing Belinelli is your leading scorer, there's just not much you can do. And I know during the regular season I said I wouldn't mind if Derrick Rose sat out the whole year, but my mind's changed. Man up and get out there with your team. Do you think Michael Jordan would be sitting on the bench in a suit while guys like Marco Belinelli and Nate Robinson are playing huge minutes? Kirk Hinrich is hurt, Luol Deng is too sick to play, Nate Robinson and Taj Gibson are sick but played, Joakim Noah has been playing hurt, and Rose still doesn't want to get on the court. These guys are playing their assess off and are right in there at the end against the Nets with a roster that has no business being in these game. I think Steve Kerr was right, Rose owes it to his teammates to play.

My thoughts were Rose would have a free pass on not playing until the second round.

Well we're just about at the second round now and still no Rose. Understand its a bad injury, but how bad is it really? Were over a year now. If he came out and said the best I can give you is 20 minutes, I think most people would take that. But to not even attempt to give it a go, I don't see how you can not at least question that, even if you agree with Rose's decision.

What's probably the knock on him right now is that he's letting his brother do all the talking. Name me one other player in the NBA that has somebody else do their media interviews for them? That's a cop out. And okay maybe his brother is a little overprotective of him and it may not be in Rose's nature to question him. But he's 25 years old. He's a man now. He should be able to speak for himself. Nobody cares about what Reggie Rose thinks about this. In that regard I don't think Rose has any defense. Your too hurt to play, okay then explain it yourself why that is like every other player in the league.

As for the Bulls, its gotta be frustrating. The worst you can have happen to you in a series is to lose to an inferior team. I'm not sure if that's the case with the Bulls, but the second worst thing you can have happen to you is lose a series because of injury. And I get at this time of year everyone is hurting, but there's still a difference between what Chicago is going through and what a team like the Knicks are going through. I don't buy into that injury is not an excuse. Can anyone honestly say this would be going to a game seven with a reasonably healthy Chicago team (ie. half the team doesn't have the flu)?

Its one thing to go down in a playoff series to a team you know is better then you, especially in the early rounds. But when your losing to a team that isn't better then you, those are the series that eat at you.

[ninersdd]

I don't really want to criticize him, especially because I haven't suffered that type of injury(and I don't want to). However though, something is up when AP came back in 9 months in a sport where 300 lb guys try to kill you, and let's not forget Malkin who tore 2 ligaments, yet came back in 8 months in another very dangerous sport. Both those guys won MVP. Something is probably up that we don't know about.

[The_Admiral]

I wonder if the Disciples have anything to do with Rose not coming back yet, lol

[dbadefense1990]

Stick a fork in these Chicken Nuggets and get the buffalo sauce dip ready. These guys are done. Onto San Antonio goes the Warriors.

[The_Admiral]

Nuggets were 19-22 away from Denver? Ick, no wonder they're out in the first.

[pmoehrin]

Nuggets were 19-22 away from Denver? Ick, no wonder they're out in the first.

To me it has a lot more to do with Gallinari going down then anything else.

That was their second leading scorer. I don't know too many teams that can absorb that kind of loss.

At the same time, Golden State had their second leading scorer in David Lee go down as well, so how much of an excuse does Denver really have? This is also a Warrior team that I've waiting to break through for a few years now and this series may be it. Even if they lose to San Antonio, given the Lakers situation and how the Clippers have been looking against Memphis, you have to think next year may be Golden State's best chance to take control of the Pacific division since the Run TMC days. And even in those days, they still were unable to get past Portland or the Lakers.

[Lights Out]

I don't really want to criticize him, especially because I haven't suffered that type of injury(and I don't want to). However though, something is up when AP came back in 9 months in a sport where 300 lb guys try to kill you, and let's not forget Malkin who tore 2 ligaments, yet came back in 8 months in another very dangerous sport. Both those guys won MVP. Something is probably up that we don't know about.

I'm starting to wonder if Rose wants out of Chicago (or his jackass brother has talked him into wanting out), and he's just doing this to prove a point/poison the well.

Even if they lose to San Antonio, given the Lakers situation and how the Clippers have been looking against Memphis, you have to think next year may be Golden State's best chance to take control of the Pacific division since the Run TMC days.

Lakers will still be a mess for the foreseeable future, but the Clippers are immediately firing the dumbest coach on the face of the planet and getting rid of the dead weight holding the roster back *coughDeAndreJordancough* if they lose this series. I wouldn't extrapolate too much from small playoff sample sizes.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I would extrapolate much from nearly 30 years of LA Clipper-dom. They have good years every once in a while but then they Clipper it and that's that. Remember how excited we all were during the Sam Cassell run?

[ninersdd]

LeBron: Back to back MVPs!