NBA 2014/15 Season Thread

[gunnar hendershow]

Then you'll be ecstatic to know that they actually have TWO days off. Next game is Sunday.

Game 5 takes place in 2017 btw.

[Meacon Keaton]

Oh Christ, I looked at the date on my computer and I saw "6/5/2015" and didn't realize it was past twelve.

[maninblack]

 

You had a B+ Curry tonight, an A+ LeBron and Kyrie night, and you still couldn't win. If you're Cleveland what is going through your mind right now? Horrible loss for them since they seemed to be doing everything right.

 

Cleveland's bench isn't deep enough. I thought Miller, Marion and Perkins were brought in for their championship experience.

[HC]

They were brought in to warm the bench with their large frames.

[Monkey D. Lars]

Kyrie was great Lebron should'nt have played hero ball. Great game but hopefully Kyrie will be back for game 2.

I loved his block at the end of the 4th quarter!

[Benjamin]

Yeah that was a beautiful block.

The Cleveland bench is a joke. When James Jones is one of your go-to guys to spread the floor you know you're in trouble.

[gunnar hendershow]

I don't get the criticism for LeBron playing hero ball. You're going to OT if you miss, it's a free shot to win it basically. Last thing you want is to set up a play too early, turn it over or Warriors get the rebound, and then they win on the final shot. Cavs play in OT was terrible and JR Smith was especially bad, but LeBron's the best player on the court and he should be the guy to lead that play. He set it up well where if it did miss Cavs were in position for the put back. And it almost went in too! That shot from Shumpert was so close.

But yeah Cleveland's bench can't hang, and when the Warriors go small there's nobody the Cavs have to counter that. Bogut can get neutralized by Mozgov/Thompson for sure and Speights can score but is a defensive liability, but you can't seriously send out anything to go against a five-man of Curry, Thompson, Iggy, Barnes, and Green. There's nothing the Cavs have to play against that. They're pretty even, and Cavs might have the advantage, when it comes to the big men but Warriors can counter that as we saw in OT last night. Hell Cavs only used 8 men last night in a Finals game. If they lose Kyrie you have to start giving significant minutes to Dellavedova and Miller/Marion have to slot in there too. Not exactly who you want out there in 2015.

[gunnar hendershow]

And unrelated, but entirely necessary:

[Monkey D. Lars]

I like LeBron a lot and yeah he is still the best out there . He played well but with him playing hero ball its iso iso iso. I hope Kyrie can return. They need him.

But the Warriors will win the series either way. Can't wait for next season though. If okc can have a healthy year.

[Mofoticon]

Keith Britton ‏@KeithBritton86 11s12 seconds ago

Kyrie Irving suffered fractured left knee cap. Will have surgery. Out for 3-4 months #Cavs

[HC]

Fuck. Looks like that awesome Game 1 (excluding that OT) will be the peak of this series unless Delly enters God mode. Horrible luck for Cleveland this post-season.

[Quom]

I can't really see where the criticism for LeBron is coming from. At one point (lateish in the 3rd quarter I think) he had better numbers than the Splash Bros combined on a higher percentage. In my mind if you have an exploitable match-up you ride it until it's dry. Which is the only valid criticism as it did begin to run dry. I'd put that more on the other guys on the team though. There is no point passing the ball if nobody else on your team is playing well or able to get it into the basket.

With Kyrie injured and Love out unless Smith starts making his shots the Cavs are fucked. GSW are so dangerous because they have such a balanced roster, they have both a great defender and good scoring for each position either in the one package or in their starter and their bench replacement. Add in their ability to go small and it's a huge task for a team with a limited bench and two major stars out injured.

[Monkey D. Lars]

All those damn injuries this season....poor Kyrie.

[Benjamin]

For me, the only problem I had with LeBron's play is that I hate it when a team does nothing but iso plays. It's kinda boring to me, but he's the best in the world so it's not surprising that's the play they kept going to.

[gunnar hendershow]

That's been their thing all year, they run iso plays and slow the game down. It's a way to mask some of their problems on offense. We criticized Blatt but adopting that strategy turned them into the best team in the East.

It sucks about Kyrie. Cavs weren't winning the series either way but now we might not even have it be competitive once it's in Cleveland. What a cursed city. Sequence of events, LeBron misses the jumper to win it, they go cold from the field in OT, and then Kyrie (who really did a great job on the Splash Bros all game) goes down. They went from being up 1-0 and stealing home court to being down 1-0 and looking like they're finished.

I still don't put it past Bron to have another 40+ point game and carry his team to a win though. In Game 3 or 4 I guess.

[Maxx]

New Bucks unis

Pretty nice, but that blue is such a dumb accent.

[thatshortguy]

Not bad. Simple, which I tend to dig.

The Cavs are boned if they get Bad JR Smith. Good JR Smith at least gives them a chance, at least if Lebron realizes he is twice the size of A Goo Dal Ah

[Quom]

I feel sorry for Portland with the never ending Aldridge stuff at the moment.

[gunnar hendershow]

Those are good Bucks jerseys. The striping down the side is a good touch and a bit of a nod to their old-school Mecca jerseys. Since they got the Mecca court design back, might as well break it out on the jerseys too.

They still need their classic Kareem and Oscar era logo back though.

[Benjamin]

This game has been awfully sloppy.