quote:

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They're 21-4 with him.

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3-5 since his return.

I know it has been assumed that Pacers v HEAT for the ECF, but this Nets team could up end one of them.

Since the new year, they have gone 23-9.

In that time the Pacers and Raptors have gone 22-12, and the Bulls 23-11.

Just saying there might be 2 good rounds in the East, not just 1.

the knicks went 3-1 against the heat last year. how did that help them in the playoffs

Decent write up on Kyle Lowry's maturation this past year in Toronto.

quote:

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Someday, Ujiri told him, this will be you walking up to NBA general managers at the Chicago predraft camp, trying to get a scouting job. They'll want no part of you, no part of your reputation. Ujiri told Lowry he'd be playing out his career on one-year deals on the low end of the NBA's salary scale.

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quote:

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Only Adelman left, and Lowry couldn't get over it. He fought new coach Kevin McHale on everything – and relationships were even worse with the assistant coaches. Lowry lost his starting job and lost the clear-mindedness to lead the locker room.

"He never gave the coaching staff a chance"

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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-kyle-lowry-transformed-the-raptors-and-became-of-the-nba-s-top-point-guards-225543400.html

From Grantland: NBA Sweet 16 Playoff (if seeded today)

So Spurs/Heat, Pacers/Thunder conference finals. Same final four, only change would be the two teams in the finals.

Maybe. Of those 4, Indiana would be the most vulnerable to not making it, as I would like Houston's chances.


That Clippers-Heat series would be pretty good to watch, well, it would if it wasn't a flop fest.

OKC would have the easiest "region".

Boy, those Knicks are fighting hard to get into the playoffs...Lakers just scored 51 points in the THIRD QUARTER, Knicks down 28.

The 76ers are back! More important if they beat the Hawks today and if the Knicks beat Utah, NY will be in the 8 spot.

anyone see Paul George's "fluck it" 3? sick!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXaDexwIyk

edit: found a gif. the shot clock hadn't reset yet



[This message has been edited by johnsy3 (edited 4/2/2014 9:11p).]

That's crazy. Essentially a spot-up jumper with no running start.

Knicks back into the playoffs!
That Phil Jackson magic is ready to take on the Heat for some magical ESPN overhype coverage.

This might be just the matchup needed for America to catch up on what Carmelo might do next year, why is Phil not with the Lakers, and/or how good would Lebron be in New York.

It is too early to start a Draft thread, but here is a solid highlight.

Cleanthony Early from the college slam dunk contest.

Good god man, did you rehearse this at all?

LeBron James became the youngest to 23,000 career points (29 years, 95 days). Previous youngest was Kobe (30 years, 171 days).



In the top 10 scoring list of current players, there is 1 player there that I would not have guessed.

Kobe Bryant 31700
Dirk Nowitzki 26678
Kevin Garnett 25604
Paul Pierce 24970
Tim Duncan 24849
Ray Allen 24444
Vince Carter 23135
LeBron James 23003
Antawn Jamison 20042
Carmelo Anthony 19898

Pacers down 32 at the half to Atlanta...scored a whopping 23 points. They are a total mess.

Token disagrees with that assessment, and will point out that the Knicks went 3-1 against the Heat last year.

JR Smith took an NBA-record 22 threes against the Heat. He made 10 of them (45%) though. But still only had 32 points. 1/6 on twos, and his closest attempt was about 10 feet. And the Knicks lost.

quote:

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Pacers down 32 at the half to Atlanta...scored a whopping 23 points. They are a total mess.

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This doesn't even make sense. Defensive teams can lose games and even go on skids, but they shouldn't get smoked by the likes of Atlanta.

Every team has between 4-6 games left, and as of right now, only two teams from the east would make the playoffs if they played in the western conference, and one of those teams could only muster 23 points in the first half last night.

There is a couple issues with the Pacers, I think.

A. Lance Stephenson is turning back into Lance Stephenson, guy who was "snubbed" at the All-Star break and wants everyone to know how good he was.

B. Paul George's personal issues (thread on this) hasn't exactly made him a more confident player.

C. I think there was a disruption in camaraderie in trading Danny Granger for Evan Turner.

D. I wouldn't be surprised if a player on the team was nailing somebody else's girlfriend or wife.

This isn't a talent issue, and it will be interesting to see if the playoffs magnifies the problems or helps the team re-focus.

If Indiana don't make the NBA finals, its a failed season period. But they've long been pretenders. 17-12 against the West; good enough for 5th in the West. Even if they make it by some miracle, the Western champions would be elated.

The team chemistry issues get real old for me. This isn't my rec league weekend team. This is professional basketball. So I think the reality is that the Pacers are a 47 win team in a normally weak east who started off lucky combined with the weakest conference ever to win about 55 games. Now they're coming back to the mean.

And I'd like to appreciate Lebron's genius sucka path some more. Not only did he put all the best players on him team. He made sure to stay in the weaker conference, knowing that it would only weaken further. The man has basically guaranteed his spot in the finals without any resistance. He could win 7 titles and play only 9 challenging playoff series. I won't give him as much credit for this as MJ, but everyone else will. Hats off to you sir, you've beaten the system!

Mason Plumlee blocks LeBron at the rim for the game winner with a couple seconds left.

Nets beat Heat by 1.

Really a good game.

[This message has been edited by Iowaggie (edited 4/9/2014 10:02a).]

Apparently ESPN debate-worthy as to whether this is a foul or not.

I really dont see how that is a foul. I was watching this live and the way Lebron complained on the floor rather than fouling Brooklyn to extend the game was hilarious.

And then they show LeBron standing in the tunnel watching the replay after the game. He was acting like a 4 year old when you take away a toy. It was pretty embarrassing.

But he's a winner.

Tough call for the ref to make there on Plumlee and I think he got it right. If anything you might have called a reach on Joe Johnson.

That's what I was going to say. Plumlee got ball and hand, but Joe Johnson got him across the arm going up. Still don't think Lebron has much to complain about there, it's not like Joe Johnson is strong enough to knock his timing off.

I think it is safe to say that if the roles were reversed and Mason Plumlee was going for the dunk, and Lebron blocked him like that, there would have been no call on the play, at any point in the game.



…except maybe if the Nets were down 17 and Dick Bevetta was trying to get them back into the game.

All 5 starters to sit for Indiana tonight. Donald Sloan to start.

DJ with a decent game last night, and that OKC v Thunder series will be pretty good (with apologies to Warriors and Mavs)

Seems like PG cooling off offensively is the biggest thing to hurt the Pacers lately.

Like PW mentioned above, I think the Pacers have greatly benefitted from a hot start combined with Eastern Conference schedule.

They are a solid team, but they are an average WC playoff team.

Congrats to the Atlanta Hawks for riding a red hot 10-20 vs the Western Conference and stumbling backasswards into the playoffs.

4 of the EC playoff teams will have a sub .500 record going against the WC.

Joe Dumars makes it official and mercifully steps down as president of basketball operations.

He will stay on in another role, but first wants to extend Josh Smith and re-sign Ben Gordon.

http://www.nba.com/2014/news/04/14/joe-dumars-steps-down-as-detroit-pistons-president.ap/index.html

Bogut is out indefinitely with a fractured rib. If he was from France, he would be nicknamed Fragile (pronounced like the dad from Christmas Story)