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NBA Playoffs 2022


Vic Mackey

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Jimmy Butler Gave the Camera the Middle Finger After a Huge Fourth Quarter Basket

Jimmy Butler had another great performance in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Butler made a tough layup to cut the Boston Celtics lead to three early in the fourth quarter. The Celtics called timeout as Miami Heat fans in attendance went crazy. As Butler walked over to high five some teammates he appeared to give the television camera the middle finger

Now, Butler and Max Strus have a history of giving the middle finger during games. Considering ESPN was cutting away from fingers earlier in this series, they probably aren't thrilled Butler chose to do this right here.  

Edited by LTtxfan
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The texting Kobe thing is weird to me because they had no chat history. Normally people who know each other and talk to each other have some texts back and forth. Did Tatum ask someone for Kobes number so he could make this text public as some sort of marketing for himself?  Are we going to see other players start doing this for lost loved ones? Is this a trend?

Edited by Dutchrudder
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The media is so petty. Just trying to stir up shit. I see this so often. I listen to a lot of podcasts, mostly about hoops. They will take literally 1/20th of a pretty good take from a player, throw it onto an infographic with quotes and none of the original context, and then put it out on IG or FB for people to gobble up. 

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The media is so petty. Just trying to stir up shit. I see this so often. I listen to a lot of podcasts, mostly about hoops. They will take literally 1/20th of a pretty good take from a player, throw it onto an infographic with quotes and none of the original context, and then put it out on IG or FB for people to gobble up. 

They need something to do when there’s a week and a half between games.

I’m not opposed to these long breaks because we’re about to enter the sports abyss unless you follow baseball or soccer closely. I need something to look forward to watching, sports wise, until college football kickoff weekend
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the celtics are the last team that GS would want to meet in these finals, because of their size and ability to defend. o read yesterday that steph has shot 29% when marcus carr has been his primary defender. and GS doesn't have talented big men to contend with Williams and Horford. still, 86%? that seems a bit...insane. 

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1 hour ago, shadow_operative said:

the celtics are the last team that GS would want to meet in these finals, because of their size and ability to defend. o read yesterday that steph has shot 29% when marcus carr has been his primary defender. and GS doesn't have talented big men to contend with Williams and Horford. still, 86%? that seems a bit...insane. 

I assume you meant Marcus Smart 

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Yeah... I don't get the narrative. Everybody keeps citing those stats when they only play twice a year and the teams supporting casts have changed drastically over time. Not to mention covid, bubble, random schedule stuff, injuries (Klay) etc. How anybody could make any generalizations from that small of a sample size is beyond me.

I've also seen folks discount the Warriors playoff run because Ja got hurt and Dallas is a one man band. We can just ignore that the Celtics had to go to seven games against a Middleton-less Bucks and an extremely beat up Heat that was without Herro, Butler and Lowry at different times. Tucker could barely move. 

I do think the Celtics match up on paper very well defensively but they haven't faced a team in this playoffs who can attack you in as many different ways as the Warriors. The Nets were KD, Kyrie and garbage. The Bucks were Giannis and some shooters and nothing else. The Heat are challenged offensively to begin with and essentially were Butler and some shooters. The Warriors are a much different animal and the way that they play with their cutting and off ball movement is much more difficult to defend than your typical pick and roll offense or one on one stuff that most teams run. Look what they did to a Dallas defense that completely smothered the Suns. 

The other thing that no one is talking about is how well the Warriors match up on defense against the Celtics. They are nearly as position less as Boston with regard to switching. You can get Curry at times but they've gotten really good at hedging and not letting teams take advantage of him. 

I desperately want to see a tight competitive series but I think the Warriors run them in 5 or 6. I hope I'm wrong. 

 

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the celtics are the last team that GS would want to meet in these finals, because of their size and ability to defend. o read yesterday that steph has shot 29% when marcus carr has been his primary defender. and GS doesn't have talented big men to contend with Williams and Horford. still, 86%? that seems a bit...insane. 

Antoine carr’s kid?
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There are really some intangible/experience related advantages here for the Warriors that one would think would go a long way. The practice structure is different. According to some of the stuff Draymond was talking about on his show yesterday it's a circus because the media is on top of you for half of it. You are mandated to practice in the arena, the media gets to watch a half hour of it and then you have media availability immediately after or before. He said it's not like a real practice that you can get through. This is something one team is intimately familiar with but the other is not..In addition, the mindset is just noticably focused and locked in. Hard for me to explain but Draymond isn't on court Draymond on his show and I came away from listening yesterday thinking wow these guys know exactly what they need to focus on. Half of their team has been in the Finals a handful of times. I think that is an underrated edge that is going to play a major factor. 

Nothing surprises me in sports but to me looking at the matchups, the experience, the intangibles, the home court and just the overall talent level it is hard to think that GSW doesn't wrap this up in 6 or less. But crazier things have happened and this is why we watch. 

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If the Celtics were healthy, I think they'd make it really close.  But Robert Williams is so hobbled he looked to be in pain even jogging up the court.  He won't be healthy until the off season.  Smart is injured, but playing.  I think Golden State's main core is mostly healthy.  I have Warriors in 6. Boston wins one in GS, but loses at home to offset. 

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8 hours ago, RabidM said:

If the Celtics were healthy, I think they'd make it really close.  But Robert Williams is so hobbled he looked to be in pain even jogging up the court.  He won't be healthy until the off season.  Smart is injured, but playing.  I think Golden State's main core is mostly healthy.  I have Warriors in 6. Boston wins one in GS, but loses at home to offset. 

If Boston gets one in San Fran, then the Warriors would have to win twice in Boston to end it in 6. Still an achievable task considering both the Bucks and Heat managed it.

Conversely, Boston has to win 2 games on the road to win this series. The Warriors are going to win at least one game on the road because they always do. It's a small sample size of 9, but the next road team to win a game in the Chase Center will be the first.

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4 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

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I can't remember if I posted this here or not, so forgive me if this is a repeater.... but I have a very good friend who played poker with Ime Udoka multiple times. My friend thought he was completely unimpressive, a total dud, and he couldn't imagine him being even a marginally effective head coach. He couldn't believe that the Celtics hired him at all after interviewing him, and then he went out and bet heavily on the under on their season win total. And he lost his ass.

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Well tonight is game 1, and I don't see why anyone would favor the Celtics to win this. If anything, losing this series would be the worst thing to happen to Curry and his legacy, this matchup should be a layup. GS in 5 seems reasonable, unless they really do suck and were never really tested by the West teams they played. Tatum is really good, but he's the best player on that team and isn't even a top 10 player in the league. Curry should be gunning for MVP to help solidify his legacy, and anything short of an overwhelming win will be an embarrassment to Golden State. 

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2 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

Well tonight is game 1, and I don't see why anyone would favor the Celtics to win this. If anything, losing this series would be the worst thing to happen to Curry and his legacy, this matchup should be a layup. GS in 5 seems reasonable, unless they really do suck and were never really tested by the West teams they played. Tatum is really good, but he's the best player on that team and isn't even a top 10 player in the league. Curry should be gunning for MVP to help solidify his legacy, and anything short of an overwhelming win will be an embarrassment to Golden State. 

In what world is Boston a layup for GS when Boston has CLEARLY been the better team for the 2nd half of the regular season? This seems like a foolish take. The Celtics might be the worst possible matchup for the warriors, but I still think they win in 7. But this ain’t no fucking layup for anyone 

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1 hour ago, Vic Mackey said:

FB_IMG_1654216431397.jpg

Golden State drafts the greatest shooter ever at pick 7, one of the 5-10 greatest shooters ever (and a great defender) outside the top 10, and then a first ballot HOF guy in the second round, back when second rounders even stuck in the league at like a 10% clip. that's outstanding work by the GS front office.

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