Durant going to GS definitely took a lot of appeal out of the West playoffs. Until that time, you had a rising Houston, a powerhouse GSW, and a powerhouse OKC team along with usually another legit contender or competitive team like SA, now Utah.

Now it's just GSW cruising through the regular season and maybe one team (this year Houston, last year SA) who has a shot at beating them, albeit likely an underdog shot.

OKC will no longer be a legit threat going forward. SA future depends solely on Kawhi but they have little prospects of improving beyond keeping him. No one else looks like they're building a team capable of contending in the next 2-3 years.

I will say the East has improved quite a bit though. Their playoffs weren't even watchable until the conference finals most years, but teams 1-6 over there all seem to be on an upswing or very strong for the foreseeable future.

After 20 years, the power axis in the NBA looks to finally be shifting back East.

The thing that makes the NBA hard to watch for me is all their SJW / virtue signaling crap they have going on, and that they've purposely altered the racial composition of the broadcast crews and NBA related shows to reflect the racial makeup of the players, even though their viewership demographic hasn't changed that much in 20 years.

Who the hell wants to watch KG and Isiah Thomas laugh their asses off when they're high as a kite and can't even make an intelligible comment?

flashplayer said:

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Durant going to GS definitely took a lot of appeal out of the West playoffs. Until that time, you had a rising Houston, a powerhouse GSW, and a powerhouse OKC team along with usually another legit contender or competitive team like SA, now Utah.

Now it's just GSW cruising through the regular season and maybe one team (this year Houston, last year SA) who has a shot at beating them, albeit likely an underdog shot.

OKC will no longer be a legit threat going forward. SA future depends solely on Kawhi but they have little prospects of improving beyond keeping him. No one else looks like they're building a team capable of contending in the next 2-3 years.

I will say the East has improved quite a bit though. Their playoffs weren't even watchable until the conference finals most years, but teams 1-6 over there all seem to be on an upswing or very strong for the foreseeable future.

After 20 years, the power axis in the MBA looks to finally be shifting back East.

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The western conference finals is probably the only series I'll watch. I'm hoping anyone but GSW wins this year and the rockets are probably the only team who could take them down.

This round is losing some of its appeal...if the Rockets win tonight, all 4 series could end in 5 or fewer games.

Warriors won by 20 today.


Zzzzzz

Bonfired said:

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This round is losing some of its appeal...if the Rockets win tonight, all 4 series could end in 5 or fewer games.

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Need the rockets to win and advance. That's the western conference finals everyone wants to see and the only one that might be competitive.

Bonfired said:

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This round is losing some of its appeal...if the Rockets win tonight, all 4 series could end in 5 or fewer games.

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Well, most people expected the west playoffs to just be a prelude to GSW vs Houston, but the East has been a pleasant journey except for Toronto's absolutely spineless collapse against LeBron.

I semi-agree. I don't agree that Golden State is inevitable. However it does seem like Golden State versus Houston has been inevitable since December. It makes the first two rounds kind of lame. Further it seems a virtual lock that the winner of Golden State versus Houston will win the title. That makes the NBA finals kind of lame as well.

But... The Golden State/Houston series will be damn entertaining.

A Golden State/Houston matchup in the WCF is why the league should consider doing away with the west and East, and just seed the top 16 teams. That should be the NBA Finals matchup, not a western conference finals

CreedBratton said:

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A Golden State/Houston matchup in the WCF is why the league should consider doing away with the west and East, and just seed the top 16 teams. That should be the NBA Finals matchup, not a western conference finals

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Why screw with that? 1-8 matchup is already a waste.

Just do like MLB and NFL and make the playoffs a bit more exclusive. 8 total teams would feel about right. No byes, because those don't help a basketball team usually. Make each series a best of 9 to compensate for loss of the first round if the money isn't made up by the supply/demand changes in playoff games.

The games themselves are entertaining as hell. The playoffs have had an unusual amount of competitive series. The talent pool has never been deeper. 1-8 seeds all have interesting players to cheer on. I mean the 1-8 series in both conferences featured an 8 seed with All-Star and future MVP level talent.

That being said, the league for a few years has had the feeling of being pre-determined. However, the Warriors lost the championship the year they won 73 games and had the air of invincibility so I won't count anything out. Going to 3+ NBA finals takes a toll on players -- the history books are lined with it. ****, Jordan retired after winning 3 championships twice because of the grind.

HotardAg07 said:

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The games themselves are entertaining as hell. The playoffs have had an unusual amount of competitive series. The talent pool has never been deeper. 1-8 seeds all have interesting players to cheer on. I mean the 1-8 series in both conferences featured an 8 seed with All-Star and future MVP level talent.

That being said, the league for a few years has had the feeling of being pre-determined. However, the Warriors lost the championship the year they won 73 games and had the air of invincibility so I won't count anything out. Going to 3+ NBA finals takes a toll on players -- the history books are lined with it. ****, Jordan retired after winning 3 championships twice because of the grind.

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My big issue with it is this:


90% of this board would've been able to predict the conference finals this year in September before the first game tipped off.

GSW vs. rockets

Cavs vs. celtics


The only team hard to guess would've been the Celtics.

GSW and rockets were obvious and you have to bet on Lebron being in the eastern conference finals because it seems like he's made it that far every year of his career.

Between Houston, GS, and the lebrons, no one knows who will win it all. Plus we get to watch the young guns of Boston take on Cleveland next round. This is a fantastic year of playoffs.

500,000ags said:

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I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Eastern conference has saved this postseason. The Western conference, aside from the Pelicans sweeping Portland, has played out exactly how most people would have originally predicted.

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Before the playoffs began, I expected the Thunder to handle the Jazz fairly easily. Maybe that series shouldn't have shocked me, but it didn't play out the way I thought it was going to.

Other than that, I agree completely.

Rockets vs warriors Monday


It's what everyone expected and wanted to see.

Please win harden

Wrighty said:

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Between Houston, GS, and the lebrons, no one knows who will win it all. Plus we get to watch the young guns of Boston take on Cleveland next round. This is a fantastic year of playoffs.

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We aren't getting a lot of 7-game series, but the games have generally been really competitive and well played. The Houston-GS series should be fantastic and I'm really excited to see what Boston can do against Cleveland.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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Maybe it's just me, but I have this feeling that the Warriors and Kevin Durant have " broken" the NBA.

I think those guys are inevitably going to roll to the finals every year.

Every offseason, fans of all the other teams are rooting for the warriors to get weaker or at least less deep, but Durant will probably take a pay cut again even tho a player of his caliber SHOULD be making the max.

I know some people will bring up Lebron in the east, but this feels different.

On Miami : they had 3 superstars

Cleveland : they have 2 superstars.

The warriors have 4 AND a deep bench. The heat were really good, but were mortal, the spurs and Mavericks both beat them.

The Cavs have one championship at the expense of the 3 all star GSW, but the Cavs got crushed by golden state last year.

Anyway, I'm not a rockets fan like the majority of this board, but I'm rooting for you guys like crazy. I can't stand draymond green, he's the most classless player in the league who yells at the refs non stop. I don't want to see curry and Durant get a 3 peat, but I fear it's likely to happen.

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Playoffs have been great this year. And yes, GSW will prob win again. Love Draymond, go Dubs!!

I disagree somewhat - they aren't superstars, but they are all-star caliber. You could take Steph and KD off that team, and they are still a 4-5 seed in the West IMO, on par or better than teams like Portland, Utah, NOLA, and OKC.

At this point, I'm hoping Boston makes some splash moves this off-season. If they add Irving, Heyward, and one more star to Brown, Tatum, and Hortford, they could compete with GSW.

I thought this post was going to be about Harden's "game", traveling and flopping into people to initiate contact is just ridiculous and I can't believe the NBA is letting that crap happen. Also I remember this "superstar" and his stellar game 6 performance last year AT HOME, houston deserves that hero

Why do people keep saying GS has a 'deep bench?' It's the weakest bench they've had with Curry/Klay/Dray. Outside of Livingston, there's no one they can rely on. Iggy disappears with the wind. Javale is just as likely to hurt one of his own teammates as he is someone else. Sw**** P is only good as a klay thompson impersonator (effective if you leave him open, otherwise he's a nothing). I mean...they literally only play 9 guys.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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HotardAg07 said:

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The games themselves are entertaining as hell. The playoffs have had an unusual amount of competitive series. The talent pool has never been deeper. 1-8 seeds all have interesting players to cheer on. I mean the 1-8 series in both conferences featured an 8 seed with All-Star and future MVP level talent.

That being said, the league for a few years has had the feeling of being pre-determined. However, the Warriors lost the championship the year they won 73 games and had the air of invincibility so I won't count anything out. Going to 3+ NBA finals takes a toll on players -- the history books are lined with it. ****, Jordan retired after winning 3 championships twice because of the grind.

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My big issue with it is this:


90% of this board would've been able to predict the conference finals this year in September before the first game tipped off.

GSW vs. rockets

Cavs vs. celtics


The only team hard to guess would've been the Celtics.

GSW and rockets were obvious and you have to bet on Lebron being in the eastern conference finals because it seems like he's made it that far every year of his career.

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90% of casual fans could predict most pro championships. (hell, even amateur sports. Here's a hint: Bama for football and Duke for basketball.) See it's easy? and not some indictment on the league.

Besides, the NBA hasn't changed in this regard. The Lakers were the easy favorite with Kobe and Shaq. The Spurs were easy favorites with Duncan and Parker. The only surprising run was the Pistons in the early 2000s, but that was only because no one really thought those guys would be ready. Before any given year, I bet anyone could predict with good accuracy who the final 4 teams would be (outside of injuries).

M.C. Swag said:

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Why do people keep saying GS has a 'deep bench?' It's the weakest bench they've had with Curry/Klay/Dray. Outside of Livingston, there's no one they can rely on. Iggy disappears with the wind. Javale is just as likely to hurt one of his own teammates as he is someone else. Sw**** P is only good as a klay thompson impersonator (effective if you leave him open, otherwise he's a nothing). I mean...they literally only play 9 guys.

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Disagree about Iggy - he likes the role of defensive stopper and spot offensive guy. I also wouldn't really agree that their bench isn't deep. They have a lot of different options so they can play many different styles. You prob won't even see some of the guys this round. Now, they don't have any superstars on the bench, unless Bell somehow develops into that.

QBCade said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Why do people keep saying GS has a 'deep bench?' It's the weakest bench they've had with Curry/Klay/Dray. Outside of Livingston, there's no one they can rely on. Iggy disappears with the wind. Javale is just as likely to hurt one of his own teammates as he is someone else. Sw**** P is only good as a klay thompson impersonator (effective if you leave him open, otherwise he's a nothing). I mean...they literally only play 9 guys.

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Disagree about Iggy - he likes the role of defensive stopper and spot offensive guy. I also wouldn't really agree that their bench isn't deep. They have a lot of different options so they can play many different styles. You prob won't even see some of the guys this round. Now, they don't have any superstars on the bench, unless Bell somehow develops into that.

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Yea, i know what Iggy's role is but im saying he's just inconsistent. This has been his worst year by far and he's prolly about to be out of the league. Outside of Clev's bench, I think GS' is the worst in the playoffs. They definitely aren't anywhere close to the best.

M.C. Swag said:

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QBCade said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Why do people keep saying GS has a 'deep bench?' It's the weakest bench they've had with Curry/Klay/Dray. Outside of Livingston, there's no one they can rely on. Iggy disappears with the wind. Javale is just as likely to hurt one of his own teammates as he is someone else. Sw**** P is only good as a klay thompson impersonator (effective if you leave him open, otherwise he's a nothing). I mean...they literally only play 9 guys.

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Disagree about Iggy - he likes the role of defensive stopper and spot offensive guy. I also wouldn't really agree that their bench isn't deep. They have a lot of different options so they can play many different styles. You prob won't even see some of the guys this round. Now, they don't have any superstars on the bench, unless Bell somehow develops into that.

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Yea, i know what Iggy's role is but im saying he's just inconsistent. This has been his worst year by far and he's prolly about to be out of the league. Outside of Clev's bench, I think GS' is the worst in the playoffs. They definitely aren't anywhere close to the best.

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I think the point is that the bench is still a strength for GSW. They don't have the best bench in the league, but it still adds to the team.

The big difference between the Lebron heat teams and the GSW teams is this.

Heat - 3 super stars and a crappy bench

GSW- 4 super stars and a decent ( versatile or deep) bench


Heat were really good but mortal

GSW seems like an immortal team. Kind of like they're playing the Nintendo with game shark. Takes a lot of the fun and suspense out of it.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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QBCade said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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Why do people keep saying GS has a 'deep bench?' It's the weakest bench they've had with Curry/Klay/Dray. Outside of Livingston, there's no one they can rely on. Iggy disappears with the wind. Javale is just as likely to hurt one of his own teammates as he is someone else. Sw**** P is only good as a klay thompson impersonator (effective if you leave him open, otherwise he's a nothing). I mean...they literally only play 9 guys.

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Disagree about Iggy - he likes the role of defensive stopper and spot offensive guy. I also wouldn't really agree that their bench isn't deep. They have a lot of different options so they can play many different styles. You prob won't even see some of the guys this round. Now, they don't have any superstars on the bench, unless Bell somehow develops into that.

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Yea, i know what Iggy's role is but im saying he's just inconsistent. This has been his worst year by far and he's prolly about to be out of the league. Outside of Clev's bench, I think GS' is the worst in the playoffs. They definitely aren't anywhere close to the best.

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I think the point is that the bench is still a strength for GSW. They don't have the best bench in the league, but it still adds to the team.

The big difference between the Lebron heat teams and the GSW teams is this.

Heat - 3 super stars and a crappy bench

GSW- 4 super stars and a decent ( versatile or deep) bench


Heat were really good but mortal

GSW seems like an immortal team. Kind of like they're playing the Nintendo with game shark. Takes a lot of the fun and suspense out of it.

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1) I agree that GS has a larger margin of error to work with than the Heat did, but it wasn't as vast as you make it sound. The heat were mortal only in the sense that Lebron was still evolving as a player. When the mavs beat them, he was reluctant to take the ball late in a tight game. (Fun fact; did you know the last time lebron failed to score double digit points was in game 5 of that 2011 finals? he finished with 8pts.) That's clearly not the case anymore. THIS current version of Lebron, would decimate the Mavs in 2011. They'd easily win/contend for 3 or 4 rings. You and I just disagree on the bench strength. GS has 3 decent bench players and the rest are JAGs anyone could sign off the street tomorrow IMO.

And if I'm being totally honest...bench strength doesn't really matter in the playoffs. Toronto had the best bench in the NBA and folded like a cheap prom dress. GS is about to get 4 nights off. Their guys only need about 5-6 min of rest per game.

2) Also, we're getting loose with 'super star' terms. Klay Thompson is good but he's not a super star. He can't be the best player on a playoff team like Bosh, Wade or Lebron could. Draymond is close but this year was a black mark on him. So i'll give ya 3 superstars and a really really good glue guy in Thompson. The biggest difference isn't the QUANTITY of 'stars'...it's the QUALITY. Steph and KD are a better duo than 2011 Lebron and Wade. Plain and simple.

GS is definitely the best team in the league, no question. They might have one of the best starting lineups in league history. But this can all change in an instant and it still makes for compelling bball. Houston had the opportunity to seize momentum late in last night's game but failed to execute on GS missed shots with sloppy play. (Think they were down 6 with like 5 min to go and GS bricked their last 3 possessions and Hou failed to make a bucket and cut into the lead before Klay took an uncontested 3)