NBA Playoffs

[Gopher]

Man, the Celtics have to be kicking themselves, after dominating Game 1 for three quarters, then losing it in the 4th... only to come back and completely blow out the Cavs in Game 2. They could very easily be up 2-0, going back to Boston for Games 3/4, in which case the series would be basically a done deal. In the first round, all of the drama/upsets were in the West... In the 2nd round, it looks like this series will be very interesting. Don't know what's wrong with Cleveland tonight... Lebron's elbow bothering him more than he will admit?

 

On a side note, the NBA has really become the epitome of the "pussification" of America. Look at somebody the wrong way, and you get a technical. The one they called on Pierce tonight, where Mo Williams fell to the ground from Pierce apparently breathing on him, was a complete joke. Let 'em play.

 

Looking forward to Phoenix/San Antonio later as well... those team have had some nice battles in past playoffs. I'll be pulling for Nash and Phoenix (although I'll take anybody but the Lakers)... I'd like to see Nash get to the Finals, with maybe his most talented supporting cast in quite some time. You never know what will happen next year... Amare is likely to be gone. In the East, I can't help but pull for KG, although I wouldn't be horribly disappointed if Orlando got another shot at it, either.

 

A lot of people want to see Kobe-Lebron, which is probably inevitable. Personally, I think that would be .

[Gopher]

Maybe I spoke too soon... Boston's near 30 point lead is down to 10 with 4:00 to go.

[Chargerz]

Maybe I spoke too soon... Boston's near 30 point lead is down to 10 with 4:00 to go.

They still won!

[frankf]

Yes the Celtics have definitely been dominating the series so far, the Cavs are very forutnate to be evened up. Lebron better get it together.

[loaf]

The Cavs are the better team. They proved it again. And LeBron proved why he's League MVP.

Now to go watch Game 4.

C'mon Cavs!

[frankf]

This has been such an up and down series, domination by the Celts, then the Cavs, then the Celts again what in the world is going on?

[budlitebrad]

Mike Brown has no clue what he's doing. Wouldn't be shocked if this were Lebron's last game in Cleveland.

[Gopher]

Man, KevinL and Loaf have to be right now. Brutal effort by the Cavs tonight.

 

As for the Celtics, I think they really need to look at Game 6 as a must-win (sort of like the Spurs said they did against Dallas). Sure, they've beaten the Cavs twice in Cleveland, but having to win a Game 7 road game usually means you're making tee times within a couple of days.

 

Hopefully, the conference finals are better than the second round has been... Three sweeps, and the only "close" series has been more blowouts than not.

[Azazello1313]

must-see TV tonight....career defining moment for one of the truly elite athletes of his generation.

[KevinL]

Man, KevinL and Loaf have to be right now. Brutal effort by the Cavs tonight.

 

Not sure even what to say. Two weeks ago, ask me if I have any doubts the Cavs can take the Celtics in 2 straight games on any court, and I'm confident. After recent games ... who knows?

[myhousekey]

Way too many turnovers. Welcome to Miami Lebron.

[loaf]

Goodnight and rest in peace basketball in Cleveland. It was a nice dream.

[darin3]

Don't count out Orlando right now. Howard is a beast in the middle, and Jameer Nelson is 100%. One of the best (and most underrated) defensive teams in the NBA. Orlando should oust Boston in 5 or 6 games and will beat the Lakers this time around.

[budlitebrad]

I feel bad for Cavs fans right now. That was an embarrassing end to their season.

[kpholmes]

I feel bad for Cavs fans right now. That was an embarrassing end to their season.

+1

 

Rarely do you see a franchise and their future go down in flames like what we witnessed tonight...

[Gonkis]

I would like that 3 hours back, please.

[loaf]

Witness? Witness Relocation Program

[loaf]

and the fallout begins...

Mike Brown fired

[Gonkis]

Rumor? Or truth?

 

espn reports it is a rumor.

 

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[Gopher]

As a long-time MN fan, I can honestly say that I feel your pain (to an extent). Not that the Wolves were ever the hands-down favorite to win their conference, but they did suffer a couple of crushing defeats in the playoffs, a few years ago. Next thing you know, Garnett leaves, and it's a franchise looking at 20 years without so much as a sniff of a championship, or even a Finals appearance, despite having one of the great players in the game for a significant portion of that time period. I'm a firm believer that the Timberwolves are one player away (KG) from having a worse franchise legacy than even the Clippers. If it weren't for Garnett, there is a very good likelihood that they would have suffered 20 years without even winning a playoff series, much less anything more than that. Can't say for sure, as a lot of things would have been different with no KG, but it was definitely a sad day when the KG trade went down (even though it was somewhat inevitable at that point). And, I also realize that I'm pretty much comparing apples to oranges... Lebron is bigger now than KG ever was, in terms of status, and one is a free agent, whereas the other left via trade. Still, as a sports fan, I rank KG's departure right up there with some of the other terrible moments in the last 20 years of MN sports....

 

Herschel Walker trade - Although that was something that didn't hurt right away... More of a long-term suffering type of thing.

Kirby's early retirement announcement - I remember being devestated when I read about this in the paper.

Kirby's premature death - Just a sad story, all the way around.

Gophers BB program being stripped of its only Final Four appearance during my lifetime - That sucked.

 

Don't even get me started on the Vikings... I wasn't even around for the Super Bowl losses, but the Championship game debacles I have witnessed are bad enough. So, in that sense, I guess I CAN say that I feel the pain of the Cleveland fans. Sometimes, it's tough to say which would be less frustrating... having never had a team in the position of possibly doing something great, or getting there, only to fail miserably.

[Ursa Majoris]

As a long-time MN fan, I can honestly say that I feel your pain (to an extent). Not that the Wolves were ever the hands-down favorite to win their conference, but they did suffer a couple of crushing defeats in the playoffs, a few years ago. Next thing you know, Garnett leaves, and it's a franchise looking at 20 years without so much as a sniff of a championship, or even a Finals appearance, despite having one of the great players in the game for a significant portion of that time period. I'm a firm believer that the Timberwolves are one player away (KG) from having a worse franchise legacy than even the Clippers. If it weren't for Garnett, there is a very good likelihood that they would have suffered 20 years without even winning a playoff series, much less anything more than that. Can't say for sure, as a lot of things would have been different with no KG, but it was definitely a sad day when the KG trade went down (even though it was somewhat inevitable at that point). And, I also realize that I'm pretty much comparing apples to oranges... Lebron is bigger now than KG ever was, in terms of status, and one is a free agent, whereas the other left via trade. Still, as a sports fan, I rank KG's departure right up there with some of the other terrible moments in the last 20 years of MN sports....

I go to 10-12 T-Wolves games each year via a 10 game season ticket pack. The price for 2009 was half what it was in 2008 and likely to drop further. Last year was just a hideous ordeal - we lost every game I went to, some of them in new, clever ways. The team is just horrendously bad across the board. Crowds sometimes only mustered 2,000 bums on seats.

 

Back in the day, it was into our third season of going to games before we saw them lose. IMO, in his pomp and given the crud he was surrounded with every year save one, Garnett was the best player on the planet, singlehandedly carrying the entire misbegotten snakebit franchise for a decade. No athlete I've ever seen had Garnett's work ethic and sheer will. He hit season averages of 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists FIVE YEARS IN A ROW, a feat that has never been achieved before or since. Not only that, I met him too and he's a great guy with fans.

 

I'm glad he won the title he so richly deserved - maybe he's going to get another.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Ursa Majoris

[Gopher]

I go to 10-12 T-Wolves games each year via a 10 game season ticket pack. The price for 2009 was half what it was in 2008 and likely to drop further. Last year was just a hideous ordeal - we lost every game I went to, some of them in new, clever ways. The team is just horrendously bad across the board. Crowds sometimes only mustered 2,000 bums on seats.

 

Back in the day, it was into our third season of going to games before we saw them lose. IMO, in his pomp and given the crud he was surrounded with every year save one, Garnett was the best player on the planet, singlehandedly carrying the entire misbegotten snakebit franchise for a decade. No athlete I've ever seen had Garnett's work ethic and sheer will. He hit season averages of 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists FIVE YEARS IN A ROW, a feat that has never been achieved before or since. Not only that, I met him too and he's a great guy with fans.

 

I'm glad he won the title he so richly deserved - maybe he's going to get another.

I agree... Don't get to go to games much anymore (living 1800 miles away), but I went to plenty of them back in KG's prime. Saw him hit game winners, causing the packed Target Center crowd to go crazy, had a chance to sit next to McHale and wife in first row behind bench once, and also saw some of the lower moments (playoff loss to Portland one year comes to mind). KG is my favorite player of all time. I'm still a Wolves fan (and will always be, or at least for as long as MN still has a franchise), but given that they're so far from being anything close to a playoff contender, I find myself cheering for Garnett the last few years... Not necessarily Boston, but Garnett. He's playing well right now... Not as dominant as in his prime, but not that far off, either, at least in terms of the impact he has on the game, when he's on the court. He may not be able to sustain 20/10/5 anymore, but if he can put up 15/8/3, that's all the Celtics need from him. It's his floor leadership that you can't put a price tag on... Everybody who knows him knows how hard he works, and what a great leader he is. This will be a totally different series than last year's ORL-BOS series... I'm not saying Boston wins it, but KG will make a bigger difference to Boston than Nelson does to Orlando. Still, Orlando is going to be very tough to beat... Boston is going to have to continue to get great production from their bench. Not only the guys who played well against Cleveland (Tony Allen and Glen Davis), but they'll also need some minutes from Sheldon Williams and others, who can at least give them a few extra fouls on Howard.

 

Back to the topic of Wolves tickets... I heard they have a current promotion where you can buy season tickets for the price (per game) of their draft slot. In other words, if they get the #1 pick, you pay $41 dollars for the entire season (41 regular season games). The #2 pick would cost roughly $82, and so on.... That's crazy. Not a bad deal... I'd do it if I still lived there, just to be able to potentially watch a young star like Wall or Turner on a nightly basis, along with Love, Flynn, etc., not to mention it's a small price to pay to see all of the other NBA stars, even if you ARE in the nosebleed seats. The problem is that the parking would cost ten times the ticket price.

[Gopher]

Don't count out Orlando right now. Howard is a beast in the middle, and Jameer Nelson is 100%. One of the best (and most underrated) defensive teams in the NBA. But, ultimately, Boston should oust Orlando in 4 or 5 games and beat the Lakers again, like they did two years ago.

Fixed.