Random Other NBA Teams Discussion

Okay: I'm ALREADY wrong about the Finals. I had OKC in 5. I'm telling y'all: if you want to make bets, maybe have a look at what I'm predicting, and know that that can't possibly be right: Zoyd is always wrong about predictions. (Almost always.) I'm wrong again. It might give you better odds of winning. You're welcome. I hope you all get rich off my piss-poor ability to forecast the NBA.

OKC takes a 5 point lead into the 4th in Indiana; Pacers outscore them 32-19. OKC faced the sort of all feet-movin', hands up, double-team traps, blocking out defense that they've been subjecting the league to all year. A taste of their own meds: really good D by IND in the 4th. OKC is claiming they were guilty of "unforced errors." They should give IND more credit.

Haliburton said in an interview a couple days ago that OKC's D is the best he's ever seen.

Crucial call in the 4th: Bald Mamba gets a steal and goes in for breakaway layup, but Nesmith makes a very hard foul on him, sending him to the line for 2 FTs (he made them both), after it was ruled not a wind-up flagrant. Man, it couldda gone the other way and OKC really needed that call. R-Jeff (who's been really good, I think) disagreed with ex-ref Steve Javie: Javie thought it didn't meet the criteria; R-Jeff thought it did. I thought it did, but what the eff do I know? Nesmith looking like he was tryna hold up Caruso probably saved his bacon there. (He did look like he was grabbing Caruso's crotch from behind: did you catch that? A reach-around on national TV...) Anyway: huge call goes IND's way and I was relieved: couldda changed the game there: down 8, Caruso hit both: down 6 with 2:35 left. But he couldda hit both, then OKC hits a 2 or 3 with ball-outta-bounds/won the challenge: they'd've been down 4 or 3. Not to be...

33 secs later, Chet was wide open for a 3. Or I thought he was wide open when he caught it: Myles blocked Chet's 27 foot 3! Breath-taking block. That wouldda cut IND's lead to 3 with just over 2 mins left. Chet gets the ball back, drives...Myles blocks him at the rim AGAIN! If IND gets the Larry, you look back at plays like those...

Imagine for a moment how high (off the ground) you gotta be to block Chet. Twice. Dude's listed as only 7'1"? He's so beanpole-skinny he looks 7'9" to me, but whatever. Myles be flyin', is what I'm tryna say. Hand/eye...

Two teams can play at that game - swarming, energetic D - and now it's going at least 6. I still have OKC, but Game 3 was huge. IND is up 2-1 and I can see them winning Game 4 and going up 3-1, but only if I squint just right...

...But then again, as I said: How wrong I (usually) am!

Game 2 was predictable. OKC is, as abeer says, a machine. You let your guard down, don't show up with full emotional energy and they steamroll you by 20-30. You show up and play an intense 48 and you have a chance. OKC went to the line a lot in the 4thQ, but that's when they started missing FTs they desperately needed. 'Cuz if they're anything they're YOUNG.

This might go 7?

 

yeah, that's not what i saw. i've seen okc go away from what made them successful starting with the unprompted lineup change. they're basically down to an 8-man rotation after playing 10-11 most of the year. they're not playing hartenstein as much (18 minutes last night), which plays into the pacers' hands, imo. thibs forced them to play their backup centers more--and they did ok, but that's not what carlisle wants to do, imo. he wants those siakam or toppin at center minutes when turner's not out there (just like redick wants those rui/DFS/lebron at center minutes, imo).


also, the broadcast team and some commentators on the internet were marveling about how the pacers don't look tired, but just look at the minutes distribution. okc is playing their key guys more minutes than in the regular season, while indy is sticking closer to what they've done all year. nesmith was flying around in the 4th because he finished with 22 total minutes. now, some of that was foul trouble, but still.

the only pacer that looked tired at the end was ironically haliburton, who missed some shots and uncharacteristically got his pocket picked by the eagle (the most reliable player on okc's roster, laugh/cry gif) on the play zoyd describes above.

yeah, still can't shake that okc will snap into it like they did in the denver series and the greater talent will win out, but imo, their unforced errors are mostly strategic.

anyway, i expected a game like this last night, but with the reverse outcome (okc pulling away in the last few minutes).

watching indy get step up performances from all over the roster at different times has been great. like turner and nesmith both kinda had rough games overall, but in crunch time they were everywhere defensively and each made a crucial bucket.

stray thought--i don't know if holmgren looks scared just because he's so thin and weak, but i feel like he gets nervous in crunch time and thinks too much. and i think he knows it and tries to correct for it, but his heart's not in it. like when he attempted to drive a couple times late, it just felt like he knew he should, but he also knew it likely wouldn't go well. he just sort of gave a half-hearted complaint to the ref on one, but again, he knew he wasn't going to get a ticky tack call on a wild drive at that stage in the game. should have just gotten the ball to guard, but then he'd be accused of wussing out, so i get it...he's just not the star he's billed as yet--i'm not sure if his frame will really allow him to get there, either. love his size, mobility, hoop iq and just desire to play the right way, though.

 

I expect Hartenstein gets more mins in Game 4.

Interesting take on Chet's possible mindset, abeer.

Sorta get the feeling sometimes that any one of OKC's guys could play 38 mins, especially given the days off between games, but then again the Pacers force you to get up and down at a faster...ehhh...pace.

Something about IND this year in the playoffs: they look like all those teams who really weren't the "best" team but who won, because every guy is rising to the occasion and playing their best ball. I've seen it in not only the NBA, but in baseball. Some sorta psycho-chemical bond between the players makes them "better" than they are, right when they need to be playing their best. Ridin' a wave, eyes hungrily on the Larry.

(Now watch them drop 3 straight...)

 

2011 mavs—though there was serious dirk virtuosity that actually dwarfs haliburton, imo. But Carlisle the coach there, too.

told my dad every time I second guess Carlisle I’m wrong lol.

 

Watching Holmgren gets dominated was brutal. He made some really bad plays.

 

yeah, he bounced back after losing them game 1 vs. denver at the ft line, so i'm guessing he'll pull it together here, too. it's just highlighting that he's not really a third star at this point.