NBA Finals Thread v1: Lakers vs Heat

[NYRaider]

32 minutes ago, BStanRamFan said:

Disagree with ya there.

Portland>Pacers

Houston=Bucks (until I see Giannis show me something, I can't give him the nod over Harden and Russ. Rest of the Bucks team was not good regardless of regular season success)

Nuggets>Boston. What Denver achieved in the playoffs this year was historic and they took down the favorites to win the title at the time. 

Funny, we bash the East for years when LeBron was there and now it was a tougher road to the FInals than the West? lol Can't make this stuff up.

31 minutes ago, Oregon Ducks said:

Based on what?

Revisionist history at its finest. 

Portland was the only team in the last 6 years to make the playoffs in the West with a losing record and had to beat Memphis in a play in game to even make the playoffs. The Pacers won 45 games, were the 4th seed in the East, and got their best player back in Oladipo when the playoffs started. 

The Bucks had the best record in the league, the MVP/DPOY, and were the best defensive team in the league during the regular season, not to mention they were in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. There's no way you can justify saying Houston was equal or better then Milwaukee this season especially with their small ball lineup that barely squeaked by OKC.

That one's close but I'd say those two teams are pretty evenly matched. Boston had 48 wins in the regular season while Denver had 45. Boston ranked 4th in offensive rating and 4th in defensive rating while Denver ranked 5th in offensive rating and 16th in defensive rating. 

Edited September 30, 2020 by NYRaider

[Mox]

2 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

Revisionist history at its finest. 

Portland was the only team in the last 6 years to make the playoffs in the West with a losing record and had to beat Memphis in a play in game to even make the playoffs. The Pacers won 45 games, were the 4th seed in the East, and got their best player back in Oladipo when the playoffs started. 

The Bucks had the best record in the league, the MVP, and were the best defensive team in the league during the regular season, not to mention they were in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. There's no way you can justify saying Houston was equal or better then Milwaukee this season especially with their small ball lineup that barely squeaked by OKC.

That one's close but I'd say those two teams are pretty evenly matched. Boston had 48 wins in the regular season while Denver had 45. Boston ranked 4th in offensive rating and 4th in defensive rating while Denver ranked 5th in offensive rating and 16th in defensive rating. 

What?

The Pacers didn't have their best player the entire series (Sabonis), Jeremy Lamb was out all series and Oladipo had to be talked into playing in the Bubble at all, where he was terrible. The Blazers on the other hand, were regarded as the hottest team in the Bubble and brought back their starting center who had been missing all season. They were completely healthy and peaking. Round 1 clearly goes to the Lakers. 

The Bucks are definitely better than Houston. Houston definitely played better in the Bubble. Both opponents matched up really well against these guys. You could make the argument for LA but I say round 2 goes to the Heat.

Denver is straight up better than Boston. They beat better opponents. They have a far more reliable and legitimate championship caliber #1 option. They had better depth. Utah won more games than Philly, had a better SRS, and Philly was dealing with injuries including Simmons missing the entire series. Clippers were better than Toronto. Worse record mostly due to load management, yet still had a better SRS, and for as much as we want to rip Paul George, the real Pandemic P was Pascal Siakam. If his play didn't fall off a cliff, Boston goes down last round. Round 3 goes to the Lakers.

[BStanRamFan]

22 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

Revisionist history at its finest. 

Portland was the only team in the last 6 years to make the playoffs in the West with a losing record and had to beat Memphis in a play in game to even make the playoffs. The Pacers won 45 games, were the 4th seed in the East, and got their best player back in Oladipo when the playoffs started. 

The Bucks had the best record in the league, the MVP/DPOY, and were the best defensive team in the league during the regular season, not to mention they were in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. There's no way you can justify saying Houston was equal or better then Milwaukee this season especially with their small ball lineup that barely squeaked by OKC.

That one's close but I'd say those two teams are pretty evenly matched. Boston had 48 wins in the regular season while Denver had 45. Boston ranked 4th in offensive rating and 4th in defensive rating while Denver ranked 5th in offensive rating and 16th in defensive rating. 

Portland was decimate with injuries the entire season and when Nurkic returned they were pegging the Blazers, when healthy, could possibly take down the Lakers. 

see link: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29667003/damian-lillard-blazers-not-your-typical-no-8-seed 

The Bucks were the best team in the regular season with the MVP/DPOY and that's great for the regular season. They dropped game 1 to the Magic. Giannis completely shrunk in the playoffs and the rest of that team followed suit. We got one impressive game from Middleton, but as far as #2 options go, he's probably one of the worst in the league and the reason that GIannis could very well push to be traded. Bucks were fools gold and the playoffs proved that. 

Most logical people would agree the West is stronger than the East and has been for quite some time. 

Regarding tonight, this is Miami's chance to make it a series. If they drop game 1, it's a wrap. If they win, it could go 6. Excited to find out.

[Mox]

3 minutes ago, BStanRamFan said:

Portland was decimate with injuries the entire season and when Nurkic returned they were pegging the Blazers, when healthy, could possibly take down the Lakers. 

see link: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29667003/damian-lillard-blazers-not-your-typical-no-8-seed 

The Bucks were the best team in the regular season with the MVP/DPOY and that's great for the regular season. They dropped game 1 to the Magic. Giannis completely shrunk in the playoffs and the rest of that team followed suit. We got one impressive game from Middleton, but as far as #2 options go, he's probably one of the worst in the league and the reason that GIannis could very well push to be traded. Bucks were fools gold and the playoffs proved that. 

Most logical people would agree the West is stronger than the East and has been for quite some time. 

Regarding tonight, this is Miami's chance to make it a series. If they drop game 1, it's a wrap. If they win, it could go 6. Excited to find out.

LeBron's never won a title where he won game 1 of the finals. How weird is that? He's 1-8 in finals game 1's.

[NYRaider]

7 minutes ago, Bullet Club said:

What?

The Pacers didn't have their best player the entire series (Sabonis), Jeremy Lamb was out all series and Oladipo had to be talked into playing in the Bubble at all, where he was terrible. The Blazers on the other hand, were regarded as the hottest team in the Bubble and brought back their starting center who had been missing all season. They were completely healthy and peaking. Round 1 clearly goes to the Lakers. 

The Bucks are definitely better than Houston. Houston definitely played better in the Bubble. Both opponents matched up really well against these guys. You could make the argument for LA but I say round 2 goes to the Heat.

Denver is straight up better than Boston. They beat better opponents. They have a far more reliable and legitimate championship caliber #1 option. They had better depth. Utah won more games than Philly, had a better SRS, and Philly was dealing with injuries including Simmons missing the entire series. Clippers were better than Toronto. Worse record mostly due to load management, yet still had a better SRS, and for as much as we want to rip Paul George, the real Pandemic P was Pascal Siakam. If his play didn't fall off a cliff, Boston goes down last round. Round 3 goes to the Lakers.

That's a fair assessment of the Pacers/Blazers. 

I don't see anyway anyone could say that Houston was better than Milwaukee. 

And I think that one is close. Denver beat Utah in 7 games but Utah was also without Bogdanovic and essentially had a 6 man rotation in the series. Which was one of the biggest reasons they imploded the last three games and why Denver was able to come back. But I could see why you'd give the edge to Denver.

Regardless though both teams have been dominant in the playoffs and they've had a similar road in terms of toughness. 

[Mox]

1 minute ago, NYRaider said:

That's a fair assessment of the Pacers/Blazers. 

I don't see anyway anyone could say that Houston was better than Milwaukee. 

And I think that one is close. Denver beat Utah in 7 games but Utah was also without Bogdanovic and essentially had a 6 man rotation in the series. Which was one of the biggest reasons they imploded the last three games and why Denver was able to come back. But I could see why you'd give the edge to Denver.

Regardless though both teams have been dominant in the playoffs and they've had a similar road in terms of toughness. 

Personally I have it:

Blazers >>> Pacers

Rockets << Bucks

Nuggets > Celtics

Regardless, it's going to be a fun series. I don't think the road to get here matters. These are both great teams. Miami matches up well with the Lakers. The Lakers have the two best players in the series. We'll see which wins out. I think I picked LA in 7.

[Spartica4Real]

2 hours ago, RavensTillIDie said:

On one hand, I love Kobe.

On the other hand, LeBron plays for the Lakers.

On the flip side, I love Jimmy Buckets and the Heat culture.

Then again, AD did leave my Pelicans.

Ugh, so conflicted. I just want to see some good basketball be played, but I guess if I had to choose a side, I would love for Jimmy Buckets to win his first ring. Probably my favorite player from a pure attitude standpoint since Brandon Roy. Kid deserves it.

My Pels brethren, we must root for AD to lose. I don't really hate the guy or anything and we got a good trade package for him (total win win trade) but just off of principle.

[NYRaider]

Another interesting statistic going into the series is that Miami has a +4.6 point differentia while the Lakers have a -0.4 point in the 4th quarter. One of Miami's biggest emphasis under Riley this year has been their conditioning and it's why they've been able to pull away from teams in the 4th all postseason. The Lakers on the other hand have built their lead in the first half and have actually been played pretty evenly in the 2nd half of games. 

 

[NYRaider]

11 minutes ago, Bullet Club said:

Regardless, it's going to be a fun series. I don't think the road to get here matters. These are both great teams. Miami matches up well with the Lakers. The Lakers have the two best players in the series. We'll see which wins out. I think I picked LA in 7.

This is honestly the most excited I've been about a Finals series in a long time. Interested to see how Miami deals with the Lakers size inside.  

[Mox]

Just now, NYRaider said:

This is honestly the most excited I've been about a Finals series in a long time. Interested to see how Miami deals with the Lakers size inside.  

Most excited I've been since 2016. 

[Spartica4Real]

13 minutes ago, Spartica4Real said:

My Pels brethren, we must root for AD to lose. I don't really hate the guy or anything and we got a good trade package for him (total win win trade) but just off of principle.

Plus, we can still root for a Pels legend. The king himself, Solomon Hill.

[J-ALL-DAY]

I'd go with Blazers>Pacers, Rockets = Bucks and Celtics>Nuggets. But the last two are close. Bucks did not play well in the bubble, were struggling a bit before Covid and Giannis is almost a complete non-factor in these close playoff games. Rockets had their own flaws of course, but that's why I have those teams as even. If those two teams played in a series, it would be very competitive and likely go 7 games. The Celtics and Nuggets are very close, but think the Celtics are a bit better. Better defensive team and have their fair share of offensive weapons. Of course, they struggled against the zone at big stretches vs the Heat and the Nuggets could have replicated that game plan. 

Either way, not much is separating the opponents both finals teams just got done playing. We got the rightful finals match up with the two clear best teams in the bubble. 

As for LeBron only winning one game 1 in his finals career? Not that surprising considering he's only had homecourt in two of those series (Dallas/SA). And he won game 1 in one of the two games his team had HCA. 

Really curious to see how early Spo drops the zone this series. I want to see how his perimeter defenders fare against LeBron in man first. Problem is that LeBron is going to hunt Dragic/Robinson/Herro any chance he can. Going to be a nice chess match between the two coaching staffs. 

LeBron's numbers in the Nuggets series were better than his actual play. His jumper abandoning him until the last game led to some pretty ugly/mediocre stretches. He's going to have to be confident in his jumper all series long and can't get discouraged if he goes on a dry spill. 

Edited September 30, 2020 by J-ALL-DAY

[11sanchez11]

1 hour ago, Bullet Club said:

The Blazers on the other hand, were regarded as the hottest team in the Bubble and brought back their starting center who had been missing all season.

the blazers were doodoo in the bubble

they had the worst drating (wizards don't count) in the bubble, playing against mostly backups (especially in 4th quarters), while they were basically playing playoff gms. they almost lost like 4x to randoms with their szn on the line. they sucked

they almost missed the playoffs because they couldn't stop joe harris, and timothe luwaranjern cabarppeno (whatever his name is). they almost lost to Josh richardson and alec burks. they did lose to terrance mann and landry shamet. bol bol and mpj made a close gm, etc

Edited September 30, 2020 by 11sanchez11

[TheRealMcCoy]

3 hours ago, Spartica4Real said:

My Pels brethren, we must root for AD to lose. I don't really hate the guy or anything and we got a good trade package for him (total win win trade) but just off of principle.

Lakers fans would root for Ingram/Ball/Hart lol.

[TheRealMcCoy]

5 hours ago, NYRaider said:

11 hours ago, BStanRamFan said:

Lakers in 5.

How salty will you be if the Lakers lose? 

Are you a Heat fan or a LeBron hater?

How salty will you be if the Lakers win?

Edited October 1, 2020 by TheRealMcCoy