2025 playoffs

Kelal Ware had a huge impact on that game. On the other hand Zacharie Risacher was horrible. Just missing wide open shots. Ended up getting benched. Not what you want to see from your 1st overall pick.

Its pretty crazy how much Zach Edey has increased his mobility in the past 2 or 3 years. He does not look like a liability on the floor at all. Very happy with how he has developed I’ve been watching him play for a long time now. Its sad that the Raptors traded their pick for Jakob Poeltl thatended up being #8 Rob Dillingham one pick ahead of Zach Edey.

Edey to Raptors with the 8th pick last year would have been a no brainer getting the Canadian guy would have been a good marketing ploy and he’d have been a perfect fit. Playing behind Poeltl and then assuming starting role in due course.

Ware too has had a very solid rookie year, no doubt being with the Heat and their excellent set up has helped him develop.

AD had an excellent game for Dallas but Memphis had more depth.

NBA Draft Room ran a simulation mock this week and had Dallas ending up at 2nd and getting Harper. They probably need some lottery luck to get into the top 4 to be relevant again.

Vintage James Harden tonight. Buzzer beater three to end the 1st quarter with 15.

Kris Dunn has had a huge impact on the defensive end shutting down Jamal Murray and offering resistance to Jokic when they switch. On the offensive end however he’s had some great oppurtunities as a spot up shooter, as a slasher and as a cutter on some pretty tic tac toe passes which he has not been able to consistently convert on. If he were this game would be a blow out. The stats show a different story but hes had a few times where he refused to shoot op[en shots or try to finish at the rim through traffic.

I see VJ Edgecom,be as a similar playstyle. His worst case scenerio is a more athletic Dunn. If he can do what Dunn does defensively and just be able to convert as a high level role player to me thats worth a top 5 pick. The NBA does not have many defensive playmakers at the guard position and even less that are not a liability offensively.

What a game. This might be one of the best series all year. I’m gonna try to watch every game.

Clippers cant keep them off the glass! Westbrook gets a tip on every loose ball he’s still amazing.

The Timberwolves are very impressive vs Lakers. Denver vs Clippers could be a great series.

The Thunder are absolutely slaughtering Memphis.

GSW vs Houston is the series I’m looking forward to the most as despite GSW having to come via the play in if Steph gets his shooting sneakers on and Playoff Jimmy turns up I think they can shock Houston.

Lebron’s playing like a 35 year old tonight.

OKC with the comeback. That one stinks. The Grizzlies have had some real embarassing playoff losses during the Morant era.

Clippers win their first home game. Aaron Gordon maybe injured. Nuggets coach has no impact on his team and seems noticably frustrated.

Gary Trent Jnr and Giannis are pretty much saving the Bucks’ play off hopes on their own.

The Cavs are really impressing me given the Heat you’d feel will always battle hard with their play off pedigree.

The Thunder are through but could easily have lost both games if Memphis if Ja hadn’t got injured. I’ll be interested to see how they go against the more battle hardened Clippers or Nuggets.

What a game. Denver beats the Clippers on a Gordon buzzer beater dunk with 0.01 seconds on the clock. Clippers cqame back down by 22. If LAC took a 3-1 lead in the series Denver probably wouldn’t be able to come back. This series has been fantastic.

Yeah the Clippers ended the season on fire. I forget the actual record but they were the best team the last two months and Kawhi was looking great. Denver on the other hand has been going through things all year. I actually think these two teams are probably my favorites to win it all. I’ll never pick Boston to win it all… I dont trust Cleveland to beat Boston. I dont think OKC is experienced enough, they are just so young. Lakers just have no Center, T-Wolves actually look good as well now that the playoffs have started I wouldnt be shocked if they won the West.

T-Wolves could be dark horses they have size advantage over GSW but maybe not Houston. I’d take OKC to match up well against T-Wolves if it was the conference final.

I just think GSW will go deep. Boston vs Knicks could be a top series too.

Siakam trade has worked out well for the Pacers.

Dame has done his left Achilles tendon in and could miss a chunk of next season too. He turns 35 this summer so would be well into his 36th year before he returns.

The Bucks have a number of veterans with player options for next season too so how their future looks I don’t know.

Giannis is only just 30 and we see other guys being elite into their mid 30’s (LBJ is a freak so I’ll not expect Giannis to be that elite at 40). Giannis has a title so doesn’t need to chase one.

If you look at teams with assets then Brooklyn, Spurs, Utah, Houston and OKC jump out. If OKC win this year I don’t see them going all in for him. Houston might as they have been linked with KD and Giannis has 6 years on him. Brooklyn is a big market and have assets and cap room. They would ideally need a good run of the draft balls and another top free agent to become a contender with Giannis.

The Spurs have the picks and also Wemby. Utah have no real pieces but a load of draft picks and Danny Ainge to make deals.

Toronto is interesting and have assets. If teams miss out on Flagg could they make an offer and trade for Giannis? If the Bucks want to rebuild getting an Ace, Tre, VJ etc could be tempting?

Giannis has two year’s guaranteed on his current deal so his trade value won’t get any higher on this deal. I don’t know when he could next extend as that contract will be a very important one as it could pretty much take him to the end of his career.

The Bucks are pretty much out of draft picks either traded away or rights to swap for the next 5 years so to rebuild around Giannis will be very hard and trading him and tanking won’t be easy. But the risk is he walks in two years time and they get nothing back.

Back to the play offs and the Cavs are totally destroying the Heat. Pat Riley might be making moves this summer.

What a tragedy. 82 to 38 right now Cavs vs Heat. They need to trade everyone.

I dont see them trading Giannis and I dont see Giannis demanding a trade but I doubt he resigns and he’lll probably be pretty open about it. Theres some pretty crazy articles about him that recently released.

Sam Amick:

. I asked Giannis a very blunt question: “Hey, what happens if it just doesn’t work this year?” And he did something kind of wild—he grabbed a nearby staff member by the shoulders. I didn’t even know the guy. Had no idea what his job was. But Giannis grabs him and says: “Hey, if we lose this year, do you think you get fired?” Giannis literally said: “You think you get fired?” And the staffer was like, “Yeah, maybe.”

Now that John Horst has a new contract, I can share this part: I wrote in a story that Giannis alluded to the GM. Well, the “alluded” part was this—he literally looked at John, looked at me, and said: “Sam, if we don’t win…” (Then he drew his finger across his throat.) Yeah, and just to be clear—they have a good relationship. Giannis was being playful

The Cavs won 64 games so it’s no fluke. Just that a lot of us have the thought Boston has more experience and might edge Eastern Conference.

The Heat had a losing season and traded Playoff Jimmy so aren’t the team they were however good their coaching and front office are.

I watched the game. The Heat gave up and the Cavs never let up.

Im just gonna say it. Draymond Green is one of the best players in the world when his shot is falling. Hes one of the alltime greats and I think he will only be truly appreciated when he retires. Guy just makes winning plays.

I love the physicality in these games but the refs gotta stop reviewing every play and skirmish and just realize this is gonna be a physical series. Keep the game moving.

Gotta love Fred having the big night but Houstons young players just arent equipped for this level of ball. Esp3ecially Jalen Green and Jabari Smith. They just make zero IQ plays all game well, feeding the GSW vets.

Draymond and play off Jimmy came up big for GSW last night. I thought Houston might have used their bench depth a bit more though. Jeff Green has over 1.100 games behind him if you need an experienced head he jumps out at me. Cam Whitmore also not seeing any time.

I dont think I’ve ever wanted the Pacers to win more than right now.

Oh no… That was bad. Stay tuned folks theres gonna be some questions for Giannis.

After a phenomenal game by Gary Trent incl;uding 12 points in OT he bobbles the ball out of bounds and Indiana wins the game. Milwaukee blew two leads and kept letting Haliburton get to the rim. The two teams almost started fighting at the end of the game as well.

The Warriors cannot last a full playoff run let alone a series. Even if they get by Houston it seems like the mileage will catch up to them. Everyone of those guys is injured. Stephs thumb, Butler is limping, Back when Toronto beat GSW people said we got lucky because they couldnt get healthy…well they still cant stay healthy.

I don’t think this needs its own post but who would you guys rather have. Luka or Edwards?

I’d take Luka over Anthony Edwards at their current peaks. The Lakers maybe have one more year with LBJ and he has a final run but they then rebuild around Luka.

I like this Pistons team I hope they come back. I’m just a big fan of the Thompson twins in general and enjoy watching Cade play the game.

Cold.

Well thats it for Detroit. Great job by the Detroit fans in this series and also by cheering their team despite the loss. This young Pistons team outplayed their talent level for sure.

Great job by Duren tonight. 9/10 FT’s and as Norrin said fouled KAT out of the game.

But man… Jalen Brunson would not be denied. I remember alot of people questioned the Knicks signing him. Some people thought it was a bad move for the Knicks and a bad move for him. But I yhad him on my fantasy team the year before so I knew he was ready for a larger role and liked the move. I didn’t think it would look like this.

Jalen Brunson probably has the most team friendly contract in the NBA. Detroit will come back stronger next year. I always smile when Lakers come up short as their entitled fans start moaning.

You are sound Norrin but in lots of sports the very top teams almost expect success. The Lakers have Luka who is a top 10 NBA player as their building point and I’m thinking LBJ opts in for next season too.

Nuggets had a huge 2nd quarter and worryingly for Clippers it is a real team effort. Jokic for example hasn’t done it on his own.

How come the Rockets and GSW series always seems a day or so behind the other ones?

Aaron never became the star people had hoped being a top 4 pick but he has had a rock solid career, has an NBA title, has made a stack of money and is such a good team player. He can certainly step up and play the major minutes in the play offs.

My dumbass thought the game was starting at 9:00. Who wouldve thought this wouldve been a blowout. Watch out for the Nuggets.

On a side note have you guys seens Hassan Whiteside’s Peurto Rico highlights? He’s built like Shaq right now. His whole upper body looks like Zion Williamson its ridiculous. Lakers should have signed this guy before the postseason I’m pretty confident he could have at least helped them.

I think Hassan only started playing again in the last month or so. If he is available in the summer I could see team’s looking at him.

We mentioned Gordon as the leagues most underrted player. Myles Turner is defenitely in that conversation as well. He’s never even been on an All Defensive team. This Indiana team would be lost without him.

Jarrett Allen dunks all over Turner. Ouch.

Nesmith is also underrated. He had a 50/40/90 season this year.

Buddy Hield is shooting like peak Steph tonight. GSW up by about 10 nearing HT and Steph hasn’t got a point yet. If Steph finds his scoring boots then Houston could be in real trouble.

Great win by the Pacers at the Cavs too.

Warriors really had to win this game. They basically paid a quarter billion dollars for Jimmy Butler.

Warriors came through but will they have the size to match Gobert and Randle etc. The Warriors would still have had to pay Wiggins for another couple of seasons. They gave Steph the extra year in 26/27 almost as a thank you. If they hadn’t done that then they wouldn’t have needed to have extended play off Jimmy and could have had this season and next with the duo, With an option to extend if things went well.

GSW make a load of money so can easily pay the luxury tax but the extra games all help.

Houston have fallen victim to Steph and GSW several times in the past decade. They are still a young team but there has been talk they might look for another proven star player. FVV is a quality player but he has a huge team option which could be a golden ticket trading chip along with one young player and some future picks they have.

I don’t expect a knee jerk reaction from Houston as it was their first time in the playoffs in 5 seasons and they are still a young team. If they got lucky in this year’s draft lottery it opens up even more options, if they stay where they are they still have options and a trade could possibly happen.

Houston could keep their core together and possibly move FVV and some of the picks they hold. With talk of KD being moved could Houston take a couple of years of him and send FVV and maybe a pick or two they have from Phoenix.

It will be interesting to see where the Brooklyn and Phoenix draft picks end up after the lottery to see if the Rockets did the right deal with the Nets.

Boston vs Knicks could be a really good series and Thibs will make them real hard old school play off games. I just feel that Boston will get through though.

DSW were a borderline play in team before Jimmy Butler trade so it has worked out this season and its keeping Steph interested. They can maybe add a veteran FA or two who wants to be on a contender and try for one more run.

You guys keep calling for them to trade Fred but this team wouldve gotten swept if he didnt play. They wouldnt have even made the postseason without him they were 10W-12L in the games he didnt play. It’s not all about counting stats and analytics, there were plenty of times this series where Fred had to rally his team to stop a run or scream at his guys on the bench and instruct them.

The peice they need to dangle is Jalen Green. He was absurdly bad and his extension kicks in next year which will pay him $33 mil. Jabari Smith has good counting stats but he also looked like a fish out of water all season and was not able to deal with the physicality. With Green, Smith, Sheppard, Whitmore and plenty of picks to sweeten the pot they have plenty to offer to improve their team.

However I don’t think the awnser is to try and bring in the 1st “superstar” that becomes available. I mean if you can reasonably bring in a player like Giannis or Devin Booker then great but realistically I feel if you got what GSW got out of Hield, what DET got out of Beasley or what MIL got out of Trent and replaced Jalen Green that probably would have wonthem the series. Try to find yourself a KCP or Aaron Gordon, just steady and reliable player willing to fit into a role.

With FVV it is just that huge team option that can fund the bulk of any salaries in trades and if a team receiving him is in tank mode they just refuse the option. Otherwise there is no reason for Houston to trade him, he is only about 31 years old, has relatively few miles on the clock and has title winning experience.

Reed Shepherd does need to see more playing time I feel. Jabari Smith is the interesting guy as far as trades go as he is eligible for his 2nd contract this summer so how does that deal look?

Eason is also extension eligible and Jalen and Sengun’s new deals kick in.

Would Stephon Castle have possibly been a better fit for Houston I wonder?

There were the question marks about his shooting but his intangibles and all round game could well have seen him get many more minutes than Reed got or is Stephon too similar to Amen Thompson?

Reed playing behind CP3 and learning from wouldn’t have done him any harm.

Stephon wouldve been benched. He’s a great talent but the Spurs gave him a very long leash. Castle started the season off very slowly like 35% FG and 25% 3pt the first 20 games or so. I missed our Fantasy League Draft and ended up with him through the autodraft and tried to trade him to Norrin 20 times throughout the season he never bit. Castle would not have gotten that same patience from Houston Udoka and also FVV dont have time for that.

That being said even if Sheppard or Castle were able to average 20 and 10 next year your not gonna be able to replace the experience FVV has. 60 playoff games and a championship theres only a handful of guards in the league with that resume. His impact can’t be replaced by a rookie. Look at what happened to all the young players in the playoffs other than a handful of them, they all broke.

Man I hate the Celtics.

Denver’s gonna smoke OKC. Thunder’s just too young imo. We will see if they are the exception but I just don’t think you can win in the NBA without experience. Prove me wrong but thats why the Sam Presti model will never work, at some point you gotta pay these guys to keep them together and thats most likely going to be the same time it takes for them tyo have enough experience to win it all.

I think the Nuggets are gonna win this game.

lol

They are too young. Holmgren lost composure at the end of the game and missed his free throws. He was shooting 86% this postseason but he missed both. I’m not gonna lie I could see it in Chet’s eyes all game, especially when Jokic got that foul for pushing him on the fastbreak and they benched Chet afterwords. The moments just too big for them right now and this Denver teams been there and done that.

You notice how this Championship level competitors start throwing their weight around when things arent going their way. Draymond Green took Jalen Green out of the series by doing it to Houston. Jokic does the same shit. Hes all done it all season too. He broke Scottie Barnes entire face this year when Barnes was talking trash. I didnt watch all 82 Denver games but Im sure theres more cases. He took Chet out of the game mentally. He took Dort out with that elbow. They found a way to break them. Hes a tough guy to play against because you have to guard him, hes the best player in the world and you also gotta be careful he doesnt literally break your bones when you actually find a way to bug him.

Its almost a dark art how to disrupt a game and stay on the court. The likes of Draymond and going back a bit further Bruce Bowen and the Detroit 2004 team were masters of this. Even MJ knew the trash side and he had Rodman.

Of the younger teams I coul;d see Detroit although eliminated this year perhaps getting to grips with this part of the game quicker than lets say the Cavs who are a stronger team.

“Play Off” Aaron Gordon had another big showing and with the favourites both suffering home losses the play offs have suddenly come alive.

OMG Haliburton. They recently voted him the leagues most underrated player. Redo the polls!

Amazing comeback by the Pacers. It’ll be very hard for Cleveland to win the series from here.

The Pacers really play as a team without one guy being the outstanding scorer. Rick Carlisle has really got the team playing some of their best basketball since his earlier JO era stint with them. Kevin Pritchard has built a very good roster too. I always liked his draft day trade deals in his Portland days wondering what he would do.

Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird still there as advisors/consultants – there is a lot of experience and knowledge in their ranks.

Every games been an upset so far in the 2nd round. I think teams like the Cavs, Celtics, Twolves just didnt really get as much competition in the 1st round. Like the Knicks/Pistons series was a war but the Celtics kind of just steamrolled the Magic. Same with the Cavs playing against Miami.

Great point about teams being battle hardened in the first round as opposed to having a clean sweep or winning in 5. I’d always think the team which had the easier opening round and is more rested should be favourites especially the likes of the Celtics who are proven winners and have loads of experience. But maybe the tiredness kicks in more later in the play offs.

GSW scored 54 points with their 3 point shots whilst T-Wolves only scored 15. So T-Wolves are going to need to get an incredible amount of field goals to be competitive in this series if GSW continue to shoot like this.

The second matches for Boston and OKC are both huge tonight.

Steph Curry out for at least a week which would be next 4 games. I think GSW might almost be out if he doesn’t return until game 6 at the earliest.

Boston well ahead in 4th quarter but we know what happened in the last game.

Why didnt they call a timeout. You know some of these NBA coaches tend to outthink themselves. Thats why the best coaches in the league are the Spoelstra’s or Carlisle’s. who keep it simple and structured. Call a timeout and draw up a play!

I dont mind watching the Celtics lose though and the Knicks deserved this win, they just wanted it more.

Still all upsets. I think OKC is gonna blow out Denver in this game though.

It is a very likeable Knicks team. In an era where the league does not want small guards, and doesn’t want an undersized wing like Josh Hart, it is nice to see that there is still a place for guys who just go at it.

Boston has an incredibly talented and versatile team, but have a coach who thinks they have to win by paint-by-numbers tactics. It is just dumb. It is like when a baseball team tries to swing for the fences when the wind is howling in. You have to win the games that are being played. To chalk up losses to randomness is an admission of a coaching failure. Boston is not reliant on shooting variance by limitations of their players’ talent, but by ideological choice. They are now likely to get bounced as a result.

I wonder if Brad Stevens could consider returning to the bench if Boston’s tactics cost them another tilt at the title?

This isn’t Boston’s last chance, but some roster turnover is going to have to take place. Horford is retiring, but they still have $200+million tied up in Tatum, Brown, White, Holiday, and Porzingis alone for next year. The odd illness Porzingis has battled, as well as a history of missing games, might make him harder to move than expected. Three more years on that Holiday contract is not going to be easy to move either. They are certainly going to have to transition their frontcourt without much outside of their picks or a one-for-one plus picks trade involving Pritchard or Hauser. It might take some time. I don’t think Mazzulla gets fired this year, but it does make his status less certain going into a year with greater roster turnover.

Joe Mazzulla will have a lot of people watching his moves if Thibs is winning the coaching battle. Brown is 28 and Tatum 27 so their two best players should be nearing their peak years. If Big Al retires he’ll be a big miss and Porz with a health issue, I don’t know if it is the same one which caused him to miss time a couple of months ago is a concern.

This year’s draft with the 28th and 32nd pick could be a big one for Boston given the depth available. They could easily get a couple of NBA ready guys who can take minutes right away but it might not be the draft to take a punt on an upside guy.

They have their own picks for next couple of drafts so could possibly look to trade one of them for the right player.

Cavs are winning but it feels like the first two games. Pacers just waiting to take it.

Anyone else think winners of Denver and Oklahoma series will be strong favourites to win the West now. I just think both match up well against Minny if we assume Steph doesn’t return.

Aaron Gordon is becoming Mr play off for Denver and Julius Randle for T-Wolves is putting up Jokic level assists for a front court player.

This series is gonna mature OKC. If they can beat this Denver team I do think they win it all, but either way the odds for OKC to dominate the next 10 years of basketball are extremely high. They really only need one championship to fund the dynasty so they can continue to pay these players. But yeah Denver better get their win while this OKC team is still young because the next 5-10 years is looking like its the Thunders league.

I guess the next few years could hinge on what the Lakers do post LBJ, whether Wemby becomes the player we think he can be and the next few lotteries. If the same team lands Flagg and either of AJ or Dane Peterson then that would be one hell of a core.

I think LBJ stays in LA as he has that player’s option with NTC which protects him from what happened to AD. I think AD must have been pretty annoyed at being traded and not given any warning. If LBJ had known about it before AD then that would not have been on.

I’d seen Pacers were up by 15 after first but 41 at HT is crazy.

Problem with the NBA for the past two decades or more is the regular seaoson and the playoffs are officiated very different. Obviously 82 games is a long schedule and to keep players playing, butts in seats and people watching the players gotta stay healthy. These players salararies are huge quarter billion dollar investments at times so of course over the 82 games not tolerating physicality makes sense. But the game is just so much different come the postseason when they start playing real basketball that a team like the Cavs that have thrived in the loose style just arent nearly as competitive.

Teams tighten their rosters in the play offs and stick to 8 to 10 guys. Games are likely “chased” for longer. It is noticeable that the scoring has dropped and teams started playing proper D.

Some players step up in the play offs and I’m sure some do play in “cruise” mode in the regular season on occasion.

Some teams likely sacrifice a few regular season wins for the sake of the play offs too.

Tatum’s ben brought out on a wheelchair. Looks like a possible achilles injury. Very unfortunate.

Its crazy to say but Julius Randle is the best 2nd option in the NBA right now.

Yep. Ended up being a torn achilles tendon. Tatum went through surgery today and now has a long recovery ahead of him. The Champs are down 3-1 to the Knicks and the East is wide open. How quickly things can change.

Cavs are off to Cancun. Indiana comes back from behind again and its over.

Pacers have been very impressive in the playoffs and must have a legit chance of making the finals now.

The Denver vs OKC game coming up is huge as the winner of that series would probably be favourites to win the overall title.

Can we all just agree to give the winner of this series the MVP. I mean I would be fine with Co MVP’s but that doesn’t seem like it will happen.

What a game.

Another great play off game and a team losing a lead. Could the playoffs almost have come down to who makes the best coaching calls. The likes of Rick Carlisle and possibly Thibs going at it head to head over 7 game series is probably as much as a match up as the guys on court.

As a neutral Denver vs OKC going to game 7 would be great for us neutrals.

Im just gonna give you guys a heads up on this one. Right now Toronto has a +5000 odds in Vegas to land Giannis this Summer. That means ever $1 you bet you get $50 back. Reports just surfaced that Giannis wants to stay in the East and Brooklyn and Toronto are his preferred destinations so this number is gonna change very fast. If I had any free money I’d bet the house but the last 2 years have been rough on me.

Okay then Oh Canada what is the deal?

I’d guess Scottie might be the only player off limits?

Quickley and RJ or Poeltl and Ingram pretty much equal Giannis’ salary so those two, 9th pick, 2027 first rounder, 2029 first rounder and either 2031 first rounder or some rights to swap?

Bucks get two proven starters and can take a good player with 9th pick so they stay in play off mix and would have Dame to return too.

Brooklyn could absorb the salary or send Claxton, Johnson and younger guys. They have 4 first rounders this year so would send 8th, 19th and maybe one of 26th or 27th plus future first rounders.

I don’t think they get Scottie and the 9th pick. I think they get one or the other. Dick, Ingram, 9 and future picks would probably be the deal. I think Giannis would want to play with Scottie. He praised him earlier this year.

“I always believed there are phases, and I always felt like that would be my last phase, as a guy that can playmake, and can set up a team, and be a legit point forward out there,” Antetokounmpo told reporters Thursday night. “You see a lot of people playing that way right now from Siakam, from Pablo, Scottie Barnes. You see a lot of people that can handle the ball and put their teammates in the right place and playmake and make the team better.”

All the ESPN reports about Giannis to San Antonio or Houston are great but if Giannis doesn’t want to play there its not happening.

Timberwolves won but minus Steph on GSW it wasn’t a surprise. Steph should return next season and Play Off Jimmy seems to be motivated again so they can have another run maybe.

One wildcard in the Giannis stakes is a certain LBJ has a player option might he fancy jumping to where Giannis could land and even takes a huge pay cut to do so.

They should have been playing Julian Strawther a long time ago. Porters shoulder injury has been hurting the Nuggets.

Denver vs OKC is a great play off series and winners may well be favourites to win the whole thing. Both match up well vs T-Wolves but I wonder how much these extra games are taking out of both sides. If T-Wolves start the WCF strong it will be a big task to peg them back.

Pacers went about regular season quietly as a rock solid team unit and despite making ECF last season weren’t really in discussions to go as far this year but they have downed two more fancied teams by clear margins and are again having a rest period whilst their potential opponents are still fighting it out.

The Knicks have their strongest team this century and Thibs has the knowledge to match any of the other coaches in the play offs. Knicks vs Pacers I’d not like to call to be honest.

The only worry about the Knicks is always have their key starters played too many minutes and could this lead to fatigue against a slightly fresher team in ECF or NBA Finals. Plus they are the Knicks and are probably the biggest underachievers of any sports team in the world given their fanbase and net worth.

While I’m surprised and impressed by OKC I still have Denver winning this game.

OKC look to have made the decisive move in the 2nd quarter. Are they holding fire on MVP winner due to this series?

Pacers vs Knicks will be a huge series for both teams as neither has made the finals in 25 or so years.

The Thunder still have Topic to fit into rotation next season. Plus two first rounders this year, they will be able to add even more depth. Plus have Hartenstein on a huge team option for 26/27 season which could be a valuable trading chip. If they make the pieces balance then they have a nice window to be leading contenders.

OKC looked comfortable with SGA not going into clutch mode. With home court advantage and not looking to have been hindered by long Denver series they look a tough nut to crack.

Kat’s facial expressions are just too much.

Haliburton’s elite at this point. Hen just runs back behind the line and shoots. Foot on the line but still.

The Pacers vs Knicks series could be a classic and game one was higher scoring in normal time than I thought it would be.

OKC do look better than T-Wolves but were home team . Games 3 and 4 are crucial the T-Wolves need to win both as I don’t see Denver losding two home games in this series.

Lol. People found a new nickname for SGA now and are calling him ‘FTA’ because of all the flopping.

I see OKC matching up well vs Pacers but I thought Knicks had slight edge over the Pacers.

Stephen A is no doubt having a meltdown as one of those entitled Knicks fans. I joke the Lakers fans are entitled but they have 17 Championships whilst the Knicks have 2!

The playoffs have been good, I enjoy the physicality and the way teams are utilizing bigs again. But whats up with all these blowouts. I don’t remember a postseason with this many blowouts in the middle of a competitive series.

Do teams just write the match off and not try to chase a comeback I wonder?

Even the Kentucky benchwarmer Dillingham has seen a minute or two?

Knicks have started Robinson to try and shake things up but the Pacers are up by 10 in the 2nd quarter. The Knicks need to step up a gear or this series could be virtually over.

Knicks are a step behind and out of sorts. Bad fouls, no legs in their shots, no communication. Their gonna need a miracle the Pacers just always seemed in control of this series even when they were behind.

The Knicks had that KAT led surge to bring them back into the game and get a precious win. Thibs changed his line up a bit but didn’t go deeper into his roster. There have been a large number of comebacks in this year’s playoffs too. I’d always feel the best teams and coaches would be able to protect leads better but the comeback did happen early in the 4th in this latest game.

Pacers just been on a 7-0 run and pulled a dozen clear. I think whoever wins tonight will take the series.

The Pacers ran out quite comfortable winners in the end with Halliburton having an almost statistically perfect triple double game and Siakam contributing another 30 points. But in this league of superstars we have a team on the verge of the NBa finals with only one player averaging over 20ppg across the play offs and their best rebounder only averaging 6 rebounds per game.

But the players play as a team, have a top coach and all contribute across the board with their lowest scoring starter averaging over 13ppg. Turner is a rock solid defensive anchor and the two ANs provide great support and intangibles as well as providing telling stats across their columns,

The bench gives them useful depth to help match other team’s reserves too. A great effort so far by the Pacers.

Chet and SGA have got the afterburners on and are outscoring Minny as a duo. I cannot see OKC blowing this lead, just look for the best shots and use up the clock in the 2nd half.

So OKC just steamrolls the league for the next 10 years. Fun.

Great achievement by the PAcers to make the final but I’d still favour OLC as they have the MVP and extra depth in their bench. I think the Pacers can make a series of it but I’d say OKC in 6 games.

Siakam trade has proved a great move for the Pacers.

The trade has worked out well for Indiana and I’m very happy for Siakam. I’ve always stood up for Siakam, Raptors fans used to trash him while he was here. Now that hes gone all those same people argue we never should have traded him. Right now in my City people are upset with Masai and saying Toronto would be in the Finals if we didn’t blow it up. I try to explain we were 15-25 at the time and everyone was demanding we tank. They forget.

Fastforward to 2025 we ended up getting Brandon Ingram, Ochai Agbaji and Jakobe Walter for Pascal Siakam and we got Johnathan Mogbo, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett for Anunoby. Both trades net a fringe allstar talent, a young rotation player and a talented prospect. Thats very good. Brandon Ingram is getting slept on here. He’s an allstar calibur player if healthy and has just as much skill and talent as Siakam. Is he as competitive? As of right now the awnser would be no but hes defenitely a good peice to build around.

Pacers are gonna lose in the finals. Toronto’s gonna be good next year. Everyones gonna praise Masai and say hes a genius and forget this moment where a 14-25 Raptors team should have never blew it all up.

Siakam would have been a free agent in summer 2024 so you could have lost him for nothing and as you say the trade gave you an asset to include in trade for Ingram so it worked out pretty well.

Siakam’s regular season numbers have been down on what he achieved for the Raptors but his contribution on the right sort of team shows how good a player he is.

Pacers do it again. If the Pacers win the Finals you gotta think a bunch of teams stop their tank and try to compete next year.

OKC were up by nearly 10 when I went to bed due to time difference in UK. But to see Pacers had come back to win again was a shock. I just didn’t want a blow out in G1 as the Thunder could have steamrollered the series. But it certainly opens things up now.
SGA had a big game and still came out on the losing side. Both teams have 3 home games each now potentially I think OKC will win gam/games in Indiana but the Pacers are a tough nut at home. I could see this going to G7 possibly but still fravour OKC.

OKC have to win game 2 and there is a worry SGA may even have a quiet game somewhere if that had happened last night then OKC could have written it off. But when SGA fires and they lose it hits them harder.

Presti vs Pritchard like in those later 2000 drafts but this time in the final.

People talk about an OKC dynasty and I could see them being favourites for next year too if everyone stays sound. Boston can come again if Tatum gets back. Denver has the best player in the world and took OKC to 7 games but OKC are younger than them.

Does a lot also depend if Wemby regains and retains fitness, I’d back Pops, Burford and co to put a good roster around him just depends on how the post Pops coaching era goes alongside Wemby’s outlook.

Also if Giannis, Booker etc ever get traded the landscape can change overnight.

The Spurs had success over Tim Duncan’s career but never went back to back. Boston under Red Auerbach and Bill Russell was a dynasty with Jerry West’s Lakers often coming up short. The Showtime Lakers and Bird’s Celtics were great dynasties with the blue collar Pistons taking two titles with MJ’s Bulls coming up and then dominating the 1990;s. Hakeem’s Rockets won the two years MJ sat out.

The Shaq and Kobe Lakers were a dynasty, the Pistons reached a load of conference finals or better but never won more than one title. The Kobe Lakers with Pau Gasol and the Miami big 3 were dynasties for a short while.Boston’s original big 3 could possibly have had a 3 peat if KG hadn’t got injured in his 2nd year there and then they lost the finals in 2010. LBJ had another 4 successive finals appearances with the Cavs after he rejoined them from Miami. So LBJ was effectively a one man dynasty in the 2010’s.

GSW had a great run against LBJ Cavs’ and extended their run to another title in 2022. OKC would need to reach the final regularly over the next 5 years and to win it a couple of times to have their own dynasty IMO.

One thing that I didn’t mention about OKC is that they have a lot of cap friendly deals on their roster. They will have to sort out extensions for Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren but hold player options on some good key guys for 26/27. Plus have other good rotation guys on longer deals and will have some other good prospects on rookie deals.

Topic would have been a top 10 pick last year but for his injury, they may even look to consolidate their two first rounders this year to trade up into the lottery or they could take an upside guys and give them time. Chet only played 32 regular season games too this year so if he can stay sound long term could they have a 70 win season. Plus as a top contender with the MVP in situ it will be an attractive landing space for veteran ring chasers which could give them bench depth via MLE or veteran’s min.

Do the Thunder need to win this series to encourage their owners to spend money well into the luxary tax? Are we going to get a repeat of the James Harden situation when they chose not to match Houston’s offer?

The Thunder traded Harden away in 2012 to Houston instead of offering him an extension. With hindsight no-one knows whether they would have won a title given how good Miami with their big 3 was then.

Back to current finals I almost want it to go into game 5 at 2 each to give us a great final. Ideally it goes to 3 all. The Thunder have better depth but Pacers had great bench scoring last night. The game was a real ding dong with both teams having big winning quarters.

Its almost as if the Pacers cannot keep pulling back and winning all these tight games but also the more tight games OKC lose to the Pacers the more doubt sets in.

In some ways losing by well over 20 to accept the defeat and move onto the next game but losing a tight game at the death or in OT could really hurt the losing team and prove the decisive moment.

It defenitely feels like Indiabna is in full control of this game and series,.Does OKC have a run in them or have the Pacers broken this young Thunder teams will?

SGA carries them to the win. Exactly when they needed him.

Series perfectly poised as both teams know they can beat each other home and away. If one team makes a big push or grinds out game 5 win they will know one more huge effort gets them the title.

SGA stepped up last night when Thunder needed him but Pacers play so well as a team this final series could still go either way.

Indiana always seems like theyve got a chance. Cant count them out, they just keep playing one possession at a time.

Jalen and SGA had big games and you have to favour the Thunder to win one of the last two games. But Pacers are a tough nut and I really hope it goes to game 7 as a neutral and then the best team wins.

Is the Pacers side the “least star studied” team to make the finals since Detroit had its grear run in the mid 2000’s. A real hard working all foe one, one for all type team.

Just thinking of the “fun” the Pistons team of Sheed, Big Ben, Billups etc had with the Pacers. How would that classic Detroit team fare against the current OKC team?

I’d say the OKC team has potential to outscore them but Big Ben would be banging them and dominating the boards, Sheed doing his thing and Billups marking SGA could make it a real battle for OKC.

Looking like we have a decider coming!

A real ding dong play off series with no team having won more than two successive games. The momentum seemed to be with the Thunder especially with an injury issue around one of the Pacers best players. But Pacers came out strong and it looked like both teams knew there was only to be one result by the 3rd quarter and neither chased the game.

I had wanted it to be all level after 4 and 6 games so we got a good series and we can then have a great decider.

The Thunder have home team advantage so have to be favourites on that alone but Pacers have matched them superbly in the series. There is talk that the Thunder could be starting a new dynasty and often the first title is the hardest but the Pacers have shown last year’s Conference Final was no fluke.

My head says Thunder my heart says Pacers – they have a very elderly owner and I’ve always had a soft spot for Kevin Pritchard although Sam Presti is an excellent Executive too.

May the best team win!

Looks like Haliburton is out for the rest of the game. Injury looks pretty bad. There was an ESPN anaylyst that suggested he shouldnt play game 6 or 7. Saying his longterm health is more important than one game. He got alot of negative feedback for those comments but looks like the worst case scenerio has played itself out. Might this be another Isaiah Thomas ‘Celtics’ situation? Hopefully hes alright its been fun watching him play this year.

Its still a very tight game too close to call. Can we end up with an OT final game now that would be fun!

Pacers better 3 point shooting keeping them in it.

Torn achilles for Haliburton confirmed. What a damn shame.

Could be anything from the end of the year or whole of next season he is out. Best wishes to him. I wonder if Pacers regret trading 23rd pick now.

Pacers unravelling here in the 3rd.

OKC wins. Best NBA postseason in many years. There were great games from game one of the 1st round all the way to game 7 of the Finals and we got two small market teams in the Finals.

The game was decided when OKC had that big 3rd quarter and their extra depth told. SGA didn’t have a good shooting game but was still top scorer. Haliburton had looked sharp earlier before he got injured and if he had played full game it would have been closer but I think OKC would have still had a few points in hand.

OKC have their title and sometimes the first is the most difficult. The Pacers can still be a good team out East but without Haliburton for some of next season they will likely fall back a bit. Who emerges from the East next year could be fun. Will the Cavs become as good a play off as regular season team, can Orlando or Detroit step up, Philly if Embeast can stay sound. Plus as every Knicks fan thinks there is always next year!

He probably could have won DPOY as well. I understand them giving it to Mobley but OKC was byfar the best defensive team this year, with the best record in the stronger conference and SGA is clearly that teams defensive quarterback. All the advanced stats support him there too.

That would be a real clean sweep win all three in one year.

Kinda karma that a player who was traded ends up a better player than the main one in the deal.

Shai also in the play offs was down a fair bit on his regular season form. If he brings that to post season then I can see why people talk about the Thunder’s upside.

Would people agree SGA is a better player when he won his first title than Steph was when he won his first?

Although Steph was MVP that year too I think Shai has the edge on abilitiy after first respective title. Shai of course needs to win a few more and build a dynasty like Steph did.

You could put peak Steph on Thunder team this year and they’d win. I don’t think Thunder quite win with first MVP Steph though.

SGA is better player of both when 26/27 but has to keep it up to get near Steph’s legacy.

If we took a snapshot of the current NBA who would people rank as their top 5 players still playing based on their careers so far.

I’d go :-

LBJ
Steph
Jokic
KD
Westbrook

Giannis/Harden/Doncic/KD and SGA just miss out.