NBA and WNBA thread

I don't think you can trade him and get equal value really, or another superstar player. Plus in a small market like OKC I think that would do them massive harm with the fans, especially after Russ stayed loyal in the face of Durant taking the easy path to success.

Just read a good article on ESPN that detailed the best part of the season was around December/January when RW deferred and it became Paul George's team. He was the go to guy, he was the one starting to appear in MVP discussions. Then he hurt both his shoulders and played through the pain but needed more help. At this point it slowly transgressed back to being Westbrook's team and running through him, and that never really went away again.

So perhaps that's the answer - a healthy PG13 and Russ willing to play 2nd fiddle.

Talking of G5 Clipps @ GSW what a great win for the Clips.
I cannot help but think though that GSW arrogance played a part in that. The Clippers started really well and all game it felt like the Warriors expected to get back in to the game and for the Clippers to crumble.
Lou Williams was brilliant down the stretch but there was a key sequence of play when the score had been reduced to 3 when Curry missed a very deep 3 (having just dribbled over the halfway line) Thompson then missed one and then Durant missed one (after I believe both Iggy and Green had been intimidated into missing at the hoop by Harrell). All 3 of those plays should have been directed towards Durant to get to the basket or get fouled. As good as they are from deep they were poor shots and actually felt like a case of "my turn".

I hope Warriors close this out now because I want to see a rematch with the Rockets and I don't believe the Clippers can sustain this. They deserved that one though. Amazing effort and Rivers should get credit for a great job as well

I don't want a rematch though! I don't think we'll even win a game in that series!

Well that was a horrible game 7, at least up to the 4th quarter, then it got interesting. Spurs missed a trick here, playing so badly. They could easily have won playing how they normally do. Didn't understand the final 25 seconds either, down 4 but chose not to foul and let Denver run the clock down. Very odd.

So a few 2nd round predictions:

Bucks 4-1 Celtics
Raptors 4-2 Sixers

Warriors 4-3 Rockets
Blazers 4-2 Nuggets

The Warriors Rockets series feels like the conference final though!

That issue was discussed by the commentators several times but the only saving grace was that it was the same both ways. They also had Curry on 5 fouls early in the 4th so he had to sit out most of it. I think in the end it could have gone either way, but it wasn't an especially good game so I agree, both teams can and will play better. I think it's going to be 6 or 7 games too.

The closest player I can liken to Durant from back in the day would be Scottie Pippen but it wasn't just hand checking, the game has totally changed now. As we've discussed before, its all 3 point shooting now. Pip could shoot 3s of course, but the sheer volume now is a world away from back then. Obviously Durant is putting up better numbers than Pippen did but I can't think of anyone else in quite the same mold. The skillset isn't that different to MJ's really but I stop short of putting KD on THAT pedestal!

Turns out Houston may have been right to have a gripe, but not about the no calls that led to CP3's ejection. The league have confirmed Curry should have fouled out, he stayed in and hit that big 3 to pretty much win the game. That hurts if you're Houston. They have done a lot of whining about the refs all season though, they seem to have taken the mantle off Doc Rivers and the Clippers as whiniest team. I'm sort of hoping they get their old pal Scott Foster for one of the games, if he's doing this round.

I didn’t catch Game 2, and I’ll need to watch the highlights, but series over for the Rockets now sadly. We really had to win one of the first two games to have a chance.

The funny thing is people barely even remember Cousins is out. Ok he wasn't back to his best but when you can lose a big man of his ability and hardly even notice it, you know the team is loaded.

Really Connors, a Celtics sweep?! I know I'm not great at these predictions but damn, that's way out there! I wonder what odds you could have got on that before game 1!

Those two missed layups in OT bySteph Curry..........

Warriors will win the next two.

Would also back either the dubs or rockets to comfortably handle the nuggetts/blazers in a finals series. This is effectively the conference finals imo.

It feels like the Rockets have established good momentum now. The Warriors have been forced to massively shorten their rotations and this is causing them some issues. I can see the Warriors taking the next two games, if Durant keeps playing like he has and both Curry and Thompson get going, but I hope not. That scenario has not yet happened in this series.
The Rockets have been shooting the lights out the last two games....up until the 4th quarter where things got a bit squeaky bum time for them.
I hope this goes 7 because its turned into a real battle. I also hope there are no injuries or suspensions to give anyone excuses!

In general it is great the way all bar the Celts Bucks series is poised at 2 each. Really competitive.
Talking about the Celtics...who was the numpty who said Celtics would sweep the Bucks behind stella play from the big game maestro Kyrie? Was that you Sam? :-)