[NBA] Unofficial Discussion Thread

[Zed0X]

There's a circulating report that Lebron, I mean Lakers, fired coach Ham and the entire coaching staff after getting eliminated in the first round. Is there anyone surprised by this news? Definitely a few if there were. They should remove whoever is responsible for trading too.

On Magic's win over the Cavs (game 6), the series really turned out to be a battle of the home courts.

On Mavs vs. Clippers (game 6), not over yet but it looks like another blowout win for the Mavs. I think the Clippers early exit is more embarrassing than the Lakers.

[bisdak40]

On Mavs vs. Clippers (game 6), not over yet but it looks like another blowout win for the Mavs. I think the Clippers early exit is more embarrassing than the Lakers.

It's final, the Clippers is on vacation mode hehe but i do disagree that the Clippers exit is more embarrassing than that of the Lakers because the Clippers is battling player injuries and also the Mavs is really a tough opponent to beat. This year's version of the Mavs have the high chance of making it to the finals at least for me.

[Baofeng]

On Mavs vs. Clippers (game 6), not over yet but it looks like another blowout win for the Mavs. I think the Clippers early exit is more embarrassing than the Lakers.

It's final, the Clippers is on vacation mode hehe but i do disagree that the Clippers exit is more embarrassing than that of the Lakers because the Clippers is battling player injuries and also the Mavs is really a tough opponent to beat. This year's version of the Mavs have the high chance of making it to the finals at least for me.

Bad that I skipped this one, but all good, yeah, Luka + Irving, it's like watching Lebron and Irving during their Cavs day. You can see the Luka really appreciates Kyrie as a team mate.

I'm going with the Orlando Magic -3.5 against the Cavs. The game will be at their homecourt, so I think they will have the advantage. This series though is very close and we thought that the Magic is done when they got themselves as 0-2 hole.

But now they have comeback, and they almost steal one from the Cavs homecourt the last game.

Game is about to start in less than 10 minutes, and I might sit and watch this game and cheer for the Magic not just to win but to cover this spread. For the Clippers vs Mavs, hard to predict so I will skip that one although I wanted for the Mavs to move on the second round and face OKC.

I put Magic at -5.5 before the game, and because of Carter's free throws, I won on that bet.
I'm betting again after months of not gambling. Just for this playoff I guess.

+1 to you mate, yeah, I was even thinking to go as high as -4.5, but at @1.89, it's already attractive so I will take it anytime of the day.

Series is now tied to 3-3 and going back to Cavs homecourt, so let's see. Mitchell monstrous game with 50 points but he didn't have any good support specially in the 4th quarter.

[Zed0X]

Great opening to the series for the Wolves as they steal one from Denver's home court. Congrats to those who bet on them, I forgot to check the odds here but the Nuggets were most likely the slight favorite. The rival fans (Lakers) are probably celebrating right now and I've also seen some switching to the Los Angeles Timberwolves (I cannot find the it but someone made a Laker logo with a howling wolf on it)

[bisdak40]

Great opening to the series for the Wolves as they steal one from Denver's home court. Congrats to those who bet on them, I forgot to check the odds here but the Nuggets were most likely the slight favorite. The rival fans (Lakers) are probably celebrating right now and I've also seen some switching to the Los Angeles Timberwolves (I cannot find the it but someone made a Laker logo with a howling wolf on it)

It's +4.5 @1.95 for the Wolves as per my local sports bookies but i have not bet for the Wolves yet as i'm still observing game 1 if the Wolves have an answer for the duo of Murray and Jokic. Gobert and KAT were having problems guarding Jokic but luckily for them they have Naz Reid who defended him well and also contributed big on the offensive end.

[LogitechMouse]

Great opening to the series for the Wolves as they steal one from Denver's home court. Congrats to those who bet on them, I forgot to check the odds here but the Nuggets were most likely the slight favorite. The rival fans (Lakers) are probably celebrating right now and I've also seen some switching to the Los Angeles Timberwolves (I cannot find the it but someone made a Laker logo with a howling wolf on it)

This Timberwolves team right now is very different from last season. When these 2 faced each other, the Nuggets easily won on the series 4-1. Now they stole one on the road. It seems like the Nuggets must watch out because the Wolves are coming.

They have nothing to stop ANT and even in the first round, he's just unstoppable. He got his playoff-career high 43 points in this game, and shot 17/29. Jokic almost got a triple-double as well, but Murray's performance is the one that went down. 17 points with 6/14 shooting only. I hope he will make some adjustments because the Timberwolves are also one of the best defensive teams in the league. On the other hand, the Nuggets need to at least lessen the production of Edwards because if he plays like this all throughout the season, I'm afraid they might lose to them.

Anyway, congratulations to the Timberwolves for stealing one on the road. In a few hours from now, we will see the Magic and the Cavaliers facing each other. I already put my bet on the Cavaliers because of the trend of "whoever has the home court wins the game" in this series.

[Baofeng]

Great opening to the series for the Wolves as they steal one from Denver's home court. Congrats to those who bet on them, I forgot to check the odds here but the Nuggets were most likely the slight favorite. The rival fans (Lakers) are probably celebrating right now and I've also seen some switching to the Los Angeles Timberwolves (I cannot find the it but someone made a Laker logo with a howling wolf on it)

It's +4.5 @1.95 for the Wolves as per my local sports bookies but i have not bet for the Wolves yet as i'm still observing game 1 if the Wolves have an answer for the duo of Murray and Jokic. Gobert and KAT were having problems guarding Jokic but luckily for them they have Naz Reid who defended him well and also contributed big on the offensive end.

And we have seen game 1 already and it was dominated by the Wolves. I never thought that the Wolves are going to steal game 1 from them, but ANT plays Jordan like again, with his fadeaway and no one can stop him.

Although Murray also played well in my opinion, but it was ANT who takes over the game.

The Cavs advance to the next round by defeating the Magic, so it will be Cavs vs the Boston. And most likely the Boston Celtics are going to go for the East finals.

[Zed0X]

~
The Cavs advance to the next round by defeating the Magic, so it will be Cavs vs the Boston. And most likely the Boston Celtics are going to go for the East finals.

Yeah, in terms of offense, Celtics definitely have the advantage but the Cavs are a pretty good defensive team as well.

In this series, I'm looking at the lines for total score as it looks like it's going to be low again. Both teams will probably average bellow 110 points.

[yahoo62278]

~
The Cavs advance to the next round by defeating the Magic, so it will be Cavs vs the Boston. And most likely the Boston Celtics are going to go for the East finals.

Yeah, in terms of offense, Celtics definitely have the advantage but the Cavs are a pretty good defensive team as well.

In this series, I'm looking at the lines for total score as it looks like it's going to be low again. Both teams will probably average bellow 110 points.

I feel like Boston is going to look to make a statement in this series. Porzingas will be out, but that's not going to make a difference. Tatum and Brown are going to come on strong.

[bisdak40]

Anyway, congratulations to the Timberwolves for stealing one on the road.

Game 2 of this series will be in the next few hours, do you think the Wolves could duplicate their performance in game 1 and steal game 2 again? I have a hard time choosing on whom to bet because the spread is quite high with -5.5 for Denver Nuggets. For sure the Nuggets will make some adjustments and will try to contain the Ant man.

edit: have bet for Denver -7.5 @1.92, Rudy Gobert is out for the Wolves to attend to his wife who is giving birth to their first child.

[Zed0X]

Damn, I think everyone would agree that nobody expected what the Wolves are doing to the Nuggets right now. No Gobert? No problem (so far). KAT and ANT are playing with great confidence and I don't think the Nuggets can recover from 20+ points with just 1 quarter remaining. Not with Murray and Jokic's poor shooting.

[Baofeng]

Damn, I think everyone would agree that nobody expected what the Wolves are doing to the Nuggets right now. No Gobert? No problem (so far). KAT and ANT are playing with great confidence and I don't think the Nuggets can recover from 20+ points with just 1 quarter remaining. Not with Murray and Jokic's poor shooting.

Yeah, I never expect that the Wolves will be up 2-0 and win at the Ball Arena and Jokic and Murray has no answer. ANT is really playing very well in this playoff, and who knows, maybe another sweep are in the air right now, hehehe.

But let's see how the Nuggets are going to adjust in game 3, they will be in a hostile crowd so very difficult to score when everyone is against you. But they are the defending champs and for sure they are being tested by the Wolves and see how they are going to respond.

[LogitechMouse]

Damn, I think everyone would agree that nobody expected what the Wolves are doing to the Nuggets right now. No Gobert? No problem (so far). KAT and ANT are playing with great confidence and I don't think the Nuggets can recover from 20+ points with just 1 quarter remaining. Not with Murray and Jokic's poor shooting.

They just got overwhelmed by the suffocating defense of the Timberwolves. I don't know if this is the correct term, but they got exposed in this one. Well, this is why the Wolves have the best defensive rating in the regular season. This is the reason.

TBH, I completely underestimated the Wolves, and I thought that this will end in 5 games at least favoring the Nuggets, but I'm completely wrong. If you're superstar duo is shooting only 8/31 from the field the whole game, there is a problem already. Their 3 main scorers in last series against the Lakers namely Jokic, Murray and MPJ got completely shut down in the first 2 games. Gordon, who isn't an offensive threat, is their top scorer with 20 points.

With what we saw in Game 2, I will not be surprised anymore if this will end up in a sweep or at least in a gentlemen sweep (5 games). Kind of disappointing if you're a Nuggets fan, but that's how good the Timberwolves is in terms of defense.

[Zed0X]

It's impressive how the young Thunders team aren't intimidated at all. The Mav's Irving and Doncic duo will have a tough time beating the scoring distribution of the Thunders.

For Game 3, Nuggets are lucky that Murray was only fined $100K for throwing stuffs in game 2 and was not slapped with a suspension.

[bisdak40]

It's impressive how the young Thunders team aren't intimidated at all. The Mav's Irving and Doncic duo will have a tough time beating the scoring distribution of the Thunders.

Bad shooting night for Luka while 3's from the Thunder were falling in the third canto thus giving them some sort of separation. Hope that game 2 will be a bit competitive with Luka hitting those trademark step back 3's. Lost my bet on the Mavs but will still back on them on game 2.

For Game 3, Nuggets are lucky that Murray was only fined $100K for throwing stuffs in game 2 and was not slapped with a suspension.

That throwing of a heat pack should be sanctioned at least by a suspension hehe but it's good that they let him play so as to not take away the merit from the Wolves when they beat the Nuggets in game 3.