[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

Heat lose 3 straight, Spurs lose 3 straight, Garnett playing like he did in Minny and throwing a tomahawk dunk down at the end of the 3rd quarter.  Celtics with major heart.  The funniest thing was the kid screaming "good job, good effort!" as the Heat walk defeated into the locker room.  Just, WOW!!!

[FUNKYBUNCHParticipant]

playoffs are CRAZY right now!!!

[mgreener_34Participant]

 When Pierce got the ball and saw LeBron switch onto him you knew the TRUTH wanted that shot. These have been some of the best conference finals I’ve ever seen. I hope they close out just as well too. 

[KayjayParticipant]

I’d be lying if I said I saw this coming. Damn I didn’t exactly over-estimate the Spurs like everyone else did. But I did over-estimate the Heat. They should be feeling defeated, they go back to Boston lolol and ain’t no love on that court.

The question is, who do we think has the best chance to win the next game on another teams court. The Spurs? Or the Heat?

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

 my day just got better and its almost midnight

[draft2017Participant]

PLAYOFFS WHERE THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENS, i can say nobody thought boston would be in this position and guess what here they are. People thought the spurs couldnt lose after game 2 guess what okc is in position to take the series

[B-ball fanParticipant]

 I think the Heat have a better chance of winning game 6 than the Spurs, but it is close.  Each should be big underdogs.  The thing is, the Celtics didn’t even shoot that well tonight.  They struggled big time to finish at the rim, even more than normal, and they didn’t exactly tear it up from the perimeter.  They made timely shots, but they easily could shoot better in Boston.  

Miami has to keep moving LeBron around without the ball.  They got their best offense when LeBron attacked the rim with or without the ball.  Maybe the Heat should run some pin downs for LeBron and Wade to free them up for drives to the rim.  They could also break out the Wade/James pick and roll to help create separation for their stars.  They just need to limit the number of possessions in which Wade settles for pull-up long twos or when they swing the ball around the perimeter with nobody cutting towards the rim.  This was a winnable game for them if they were more disciplined on offense.  That is something that could be said for a lot of their losses.

I have to give the Celtics credit, though.  They really did a good job denying dribble penetration for the most part and they did run their offense well, they just missed shots.  Rondo didn’t look confident as a scorer and probably should have attacked the rim harder, but he still had a good game, playing good D and making some outstanding passes.  Sub-par by his standards, but his standards are extremely high.  Also, Paul Pierce is clutch. Just wanted to point that out

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Even if the Heat do somehow pull this out, I don’t think they can beat the Thunder or even the Spurs.

I actually think the Spurs have a better chance to win game six. Despite the fact they’ve lost three straight to the Thunder, they’re still an amazing basketball team at just about every facet of basketball. I’m actually expecting the Spurs to force a game seven.

The Heat on the other hand… This team doesn’t look hungry to me. Plus they’re being outcoached.

 

[B-ball fanParticipant]

 You’re right that the Spurs are an amazing basketball team.  But the Thunder are pretty incredible.  I just think the Celtics are more likely to have an off-game than the Thunder because the Celtics offense can be so hit-or-miss at times.  

Good point about the Heat not looking hungry.  They just don’t play with the same sense of urgency that the Celtics do.  They went through too many spurts where they didn’t attack the rim.  Garnett would leave and they would attack, the Celtics would turn it over and they would attack, but when the Celtics were on top of their game, the Heat would just seemingly be too content to shoot jumpers at times.  Then again, it is tough to continually get to the rim on a defense as good as the Celtics when Garnett is lurking back there.  I would say he still is the top defensive player in the league.  The Celtics look like a completely different team when he is on the bench.

[KayjayParticipant]

Pretty much hit the nail on the hammer.

"The Heat on the other hand… This team doesn’t look hungry to me. Plus they’re being outcoached."

I do give the Heat a slight advantage, but thats only if Bosh starts though. And I mean advantage over the spurs to win against the Thunder. Any advantage Miami had going into this series is gone now.

[aamir543Participant]

Yeah, I nearly fell out of my seat laughing at that kid chanting in the crowd, I honestly thought that Dexter Pittman was going to jump into the stands and give him a forearm shiver.

And am I the only one that noticed in one of the huddles they were zooming into, Rondo or Pierce or one of them were talking, and Peitrus is wandering off looking at the other bench and Garnett grabs his arm and puts it in the huddle. Miami just didn’t have that kind of leadership, their offense is pretty pathetic, they have no real plays, it’s all isos, their out of bounds plays involves no one other than Lebron and Wade as well. I don’t know whether Pat Riley will break them up, but Erik Spoelstra is not the coach for this team. I usually try to refrain from blaming coaches but we’ve seen too much of this. Every other good team has a great coach that has somthing to hang their hat on. Scott Brooks made some huge adjustments when the series shifted back to OKC. Don’t need to say anything about Pop or Doc, but today I loved how Doc kept changing the defenses, and their out of bounds plays are amazing. They’re garunteed a good shot out of a timeout. I don’t know who would be a candidate if Miami does infact chose to go another direction, but I’ll bet you that Pat Riley will get on a plane to Montana and do everything he can to get Phil to go to Miami. I don’t think Pat wants to coach this team himself, he seems content on chilling on the sideline. 

[Jlv2012]

it’s the Celtics and Thunder.  Who would have thought these two teams would be the Finals matchup?  Congrats to both.

[aamir543Participant]

^Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, while I do believe both Boston and OKC should be able to go home and take care of buisness, the Spurs and Heat are still going to come out fighting, both OKC and Boston will have to play their A game, nothing less will sufice. Both series are far from over, a lot can happen in 48 minutes, but I do predict that the home teams will prevail tommorow and Thursday.

[akhan786Participant]

I’d caution people from getting too hyped up after one game.

There’s still one possibly two games left to be played. It very well could be the Heat and Spurs in the Finals.

[aamir543Participant]

I told myself to wait until the Heat were eliminated to send an email to this Lebron bandwagoner talking about how the Heat choked again. I’m usually not that childish but that guy was so annoying freshman year when the Big Three was first formed, he would blame Erik Spoelstra on every loss, and would brag when the Heat would win, and tell you to shut up if they lost. After tonight’s game, I couldn’t stop myself. I hope the Heat don’t reel off two straight victories and end up making me look like this guy.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Nothing is final yet, but if you guys remember correctly I said Celtics vs Thunder in the finals. Check the archives. Most underrated user on this site. Kidding nothing is final until the series are over but I called those two teams in the finals as my pre playoff bold prediction.

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

Hahahaha @scout4real…self proclaimed the most underrated poster on the site. Nothin like hyping up yourself

#humblesoul

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Lebron and Wade need

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Pat Riley needs to hire a full time coach..So Lebron and Wade can stop being player/coaches

[NYK2010Participant]

The last 4 game have been really close in the Conf. Finals.

Also no one mentions the Technical on Chalmers that and Haslem missing a big free throw were 2 huge points.

[TomShoeParticipant]

THUNDER AND CELTICS TRYING TO CLOSE OUT?

 WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODATHUNKIT????

Still, I think that at least 1 team will get their butts in gear and force a game 7.

These are some playoff series ever, in my opinion.

 

 

 

[rwd5035Participant]

I really hope San Antonio and Miami can force Game 7s. These have been fun to watch, and I don’t want it to end in 6.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

I was right about the Celtics and OKC all year. Only person on this site saying C’s had a shot all year. Eveyone picked Spurs not me. These series ain’t over though but yeah I know my sh!t.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I said earlier that it wouldnt shock me at all,if the Celtics or Lakers made it to the Finals…Becuz most of the players on that team know what it takes to get the job done..Celtics problem the last 2 years is not everyone has been healthy at once…

Win or Lose Miami needs a coach that know how to properly use Lebron and Wade’s talents…

[Cosbysweater7Participant]

It’s crazy how just a few months ago on all the radio stations in Boston all the callers were saying to "blow up" the team, rebuild, and how old the Celtics are, when they were 14 or 15-17 going into the all-star break. Look at them now: one game from the NBA Finals. Kevin Garnett playing like the best player in the playoffs, Rondo playing out of his mind, Pierce still hitting clutch shots (#1 clutch player in this years playoffs according to a stat I saw on ESPN.) Just an absolutely incredible turn around. Gotta give Doc a lot of credit for believing in this team.

[joecheck88Participant]

 I noticed that too with Garnett and Pietrus. He not only pulled him back into the huddle but held his arm there until they broke. Nobody on the Heat has shown even close to that leadership. And it can’t get much more obvious that Spielstra us being out coached and it’s not close. Doc makes these subtle moves out of tone outs that confuse the other team and they always get good shots out of timeouts. 

[Author]

Posts