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West Semis: (1) Jazz vs (4) Clippers


NYRaider

Who wins the series?  

15 members have voted

  1. 1. Winner?

    • Jazz in 4
      0
    • Jazz in 5
      0
    • Jazz in 6
      1
    • Jazz in 7
      5
    • Clippers in 4
      0
    • Clippers in 5
      0
    • Clippers in 6
      5
    • Clippers in 7
      4


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38 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

We started like 0-21 and still beat them without our All Star PG. 

There were many nuances to this game that likely won't be duplicated again in the series. It was a good game and the Jazz played really well down the stretch from what I read and highlights (only saw the first half). 

It should be a good series. This could be Mitchell's coming out party similar to Booker, Trae, etc. Fits the "changing of the guard" narrative. With that said, I don't expect to see the same Kawhi in Game 2. 

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1 minute ago, BStanRamFan said:

There were many nuances to this game that likely won't be duplicated again in the series. It was a good game and the Jazz played really well down the stretch from what I read and highlights (only saw the first half). 

It should be a good series. This could be Mitchell's coming out party similar to Booker, Trae, etc. Fits the "changing of the guard" narrative. With that said, I don't expect to see the same Kawhi in Game 2. 

Did you miss him averaging 40 in the playoffs last year?

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7 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

Can't believe I'm engaging in this, but work is slow....

Mitchell is good. He's a great volume scorer. He's playing a notch above last year which is impressive in itself. He's also 14-14 playoff record and blew a 3-1 series lead last year over Denver.  Through his first 28 playoff games he's averaging 28ppg on 43% FG. 

Know who else was a great playoff scorer who never won anything? Dominique Wilkins. Through is first 28 playoff games he was 13-15 and averaged 25PPG in the old NBA on 41% FG.

Nearly identical when you factor in todays PACE. Now is Dominique one of the greats? Top 30-40 ever maybe, but he never won anything. So again, this Jazz team can be that good, but until they actually win anything, skepticism is warranted. 

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26 minutes ago, BStanRamFan said:

Can't believe I'm engaging in this, but work is slow....

Mitchell is good. He's a great volume scorer. He's playing a notch above last year which is impressive in itself. He's also 14-14 playoff record and blew a 3-1 series lead last year over Denver.  Through his first 28 playoff games he's averaging 28ppg on 43% FG. 

Know who else was a great playoff scorer who never won anything? Dominique Wilkins. Through is first 28 playoff games he was 13-15 and averaged 25PPG in the old NBA on 41% FG.

Nearly identical when you factor in todays PACE. Now is Dominique one of the greats? Top 30-40 ever maybe, but he never won anything. So again, this Jazz team can be that good, but until they actually win anything, skepticism is warranted. 

44/38/84 splits are not bad at all. He DEFINITELY struggled big time against the Rockets in both those series. 

In the other series he has played?

vs OKC in 2018: 29/7/3/2/1 on 46/36/92

vs DEN in 2020: 36/5/5/1 on 53/52/95 

vs Mem in 2021: 29/3/6/1 on 45/40/90

Obviously you can't eliminate the Rockets series since he's only played five series in total, with the Clippers being the sixth series of his career. If he balls against the Clippers the rest of the way, then that would be four really good series he has played. Clearly the Rockets were his kryptonite though. 

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34 minutes ago, BStanRamFan said:

Mitchell is good. He's a great volume scorer. He's playing a notch above last year which is impressive in itself. He's also 14-14 playoff record and blew a 3-1 series lead last year over Denver.  Through his first 28 playoff games he's averaging 28ppg on 43% FG. 

Mitchell's numbers are skewed because he had two bad series against the Rockets with a pretty weak supporting cast around him. We were starting Ricky Rubio, Joe Ingles, Derick Favors, and Rudy Gobert therefore had zero spacing and very little perimeter shooting around him. He was a 1st/2nd year player without a ton of help and they keyed on him. 

In those 10 games against the Rockets he averaged 20.4 ppg on 33.9% FG. 

In his other 18 playoff games he has averaged 32.4 pg on 49% FG. 

I think what we've done has been so overlooked, we really went out and built a championship caliber team around Mitchell within 4 years by adding guys like Bogdanovic and Conley. 

Kobe Bryant in his first 28 playoff games averaged 11.7 ppg on 41% FG. And got swept twice and lost the other series in 5. 

The playoff loss to Denver sucked but you have to account for the fact Bogdanovic wasn't playing and he just scored 48 points on them a couple of weeks ago. 

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8 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Clearly the Rockets were his kryptonite though. 

His kryptonite was that he was a 1st/2nd year player on a team that overachieved without a ton of talent. Our starting lineup in those series featured Rubio, Favors, and Gobert so the Rockets were able to just key on him. Losing those series was honestly a blessing in disguise though because it forced us to make moves for guys like Clarkson, Bogdanovic, and Conley. We have multiple guys that can create and just set the record for most 3P FGM by a team in NBA history. Mitchell needed better spacing, more shooters, and more playmakers around him and we went and did that even as a small market team. 

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Just now, NYRaider said:

His kryptonite was that he was a 1st/2nd year player on a team that overachieved without a ton of talent. Our starting lineup in those series featured Rubio, Favors, and Gobert so the Rockets were able to just key on him. Losing those series was honestly a blessing in disguise though because it forced us to make moves for guys like Clarkson, Bogdanovic, and Conley. We have multiple guys that can create and just set the record for most 3P FGM by a team in NBA history. Mitchell needed better spacing, more shooters, and more playmakers around him and we went and did that even as a small market team. 

Talent level and spacing is better now no doubt but those were difficult match ups for Mitchell since there was really no easy switch on those Rockets teams. He in particular really struggled vs Tucker/Ariza/CP3. It happens, he's a better player now with a better supporting cast. 

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@BStanRamFan through their first 28 playoff games. 

Lebron James: 28.3 ppg on 45% FG

Kobe Bryant: 11.7 ppg on 41% FG 

Dwayne Wade: 23.1 ppg on 46% FG 

Kevin Durant: 27.4 ppg on 43% FG

James Harden: 12.8 ppg on 46% FG

Kawhi Leonard: 10.8 ppg on 53% FG 

Steph Curry: 24.7 ppg on 43% FG 

 

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3 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Talent level and spacing is better now no doubt but those were difficult match ups for Mitchell since there was really no easy switch on those Rockets teams. He in particular really struggled vs Tucker/Ariza/CP3. It happens, he's a better player now with a better supporting cast. 

Mitchell was also in his 1st and 2nd seasons in the league and being asked to carry the offensive load for a team that had pretty much no one that could shoot or create their own offense. As we've seen, Mitchell has made major strides with better spacing and not having to carry the offensive load. 

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1 minute ago, NYRaider said:

@BStanRamFan through their first 28 playoff games. 

Lebron James: 28.3 ppg on 45% FG

Kobe Bryant: 11.7 ppg on 41% FG 

Dwayne Wade: 23.1 ppg on 46% FG 

Kevin Durant: 27.4 ppg on 43% FG

James Harden: 12.8 ppg on 46% FG

Kawhi Leonard: 10.8 ppg on 53% FG 

 

When Donovan Mitchell makes it to a NBA Finals, I'll give him and the Jazz credit. Until then...

 

No Way Abandon Thread GIF

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