WES2006AG said:

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I thought our seed was locked in...so why are James and PJ playing?

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Probably just gonna play 10-15 total minutes

Staying fresh

Dantoni said before the game that since we play Tuesday and not Monday, he wanted the guys to get some more work in. Playing the first half and maybe some of the 2nd.

Aggie09Derek said:

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WES2006AG said:

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I thought our seed was locked in...so why are James and PJ playing?

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Probably just gonna play 10-15 total minutes

Staying fresh

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Let's hope. We know James hates to sit.

k20dub said:

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Dantoni said before the game that since we play Tuesday and not Monday, he wanted the guys to get some more work in. Playing the first half and maybe some of the 2nd.

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That makes sense.

Rockets-Thunder First Round Playoff Poll. Make your picks before Game 1 starts on Tuesday. Winner gets to pick which Rockets' close encounter story I tell after the series is over.

A) The time Charles Barkley "hung out" in with me and other guys at Rice University during the Comets' first-ever exhibition game because he was tired of watching them play.

B) The time I saw Othella Harrington order 2 dozen donuts at Shipley's and eat about 8 of them while waiting to pay.

C) The time Cuttino Mobley was supposed to come to an event at a high school when I was a sports reporter and he showed up 5 hours late.

Question #1: Who wins the series and in how many games?
A) Rockets in 4-5
B Rockets in 6-7
C) Thunder in 4-5
D) Thunder in 6-7

Question #2: How many games does Westbrook play in?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D)6+

Question #3: How many times in the series is Harden NOT the game's leading scorer (both teams)?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D) 6+

Question #4: How many points does Harden average per game in the series?
A) <28.0
B) 28.0-31.0
C) 31.1-34.9
D) 35.0+

Question #5: How many points does Chris Paul average per game in the series?
A) <17.0
B) 17.0-22.0
C) 22.1-25.0
D) 25.1+

Question #6: How many rebounds is Steven Adams going to average against Team Small Ball?
A) <9.0
B) 9.1-12.0
C) 12.1-15.0
D) 15.1+

MuckRaker96 said:

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Rockets-Thunder First Round Playoff Poll. Make your picks before Game 1 starts on Tuesday. Winner gets to pick which Rockets' close encounter story I tell after the series is over.

A) The time Charles Barkley "hung out" in with me and other guys at Rice University during the Comets' first-ever exhibition game because he was tired of watching them play.

B) The time I saw Othella Harrington order 2 dozen donuts at Shipley's and eat about 8 of them while waiting to pay.

C) The time Cuttino Mobley was supposed to come to an event at a high school when I was a sports reporter and he showed up 5 hours late.

Question #1: Who wins the series and in how many games?
A) Rockets in 4-5
B Rockets in 6-7
C) Thunder in 4-5
D) Thunder in 6-7

Question #2: How many games does Westbrook play in?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D)6+

Question #3: How many times in the series is Harden NOT the game's leading scorer (both teams)?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D) 6+

Question #4: How many points does Harden average per game in the series?
A) <28.0
B) 28.0-31.0
C) 31.1-34.9
D) 35.0+

Question #5: How many points does Chris Paul average per game in the series?
A) <17.0
B) 17.0-22.0
C) 22.1-25.0
D) 25.1+

Question #6: How many rebounds is Steven Adams going to average against Team Small Ball?
A) <9.0
B) 9.1-12.0
C) 12.1-15.0
D) 15.1+

---

Rockets in 6.

MuckRaker96 said:

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Rockets-Thunder First Round Playoff Poll. Make your picks before Game 1 starts on Tuesday. Winner gets to pick which Rockets' close encounter story I tell after the series is over.

A) The time Charles Barkley "hung out" in with me and other guys at Rice University during the Comets' first-ever exhibition game because he was tired of watching them play.

B) The time I saw Othella Harrington order 2 dozen donuts at Shipley's and eat about 8 of them while waiting to pay.

C) The time Cuttino Mobley was supposed to come to an event at a high school when I was a sports reporter and he showed up 5 hours late.

Question #1: Who wins the series and in how many games?
A) Rockets in 4-5
B Rockets in 6-7
C) Thunder in 4-5
D) Thunder in 6-7

Question #2: How many games does Westbrook play in?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D)6+

Question #3: How many times in the series is Harden NOT the game's leading scorer (both teams)?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D) 6+

Question #4: How many points does Harden average per game in the series?
A) <28.0
B) 28.0-31.0
C) 31.1-34.9
D) 35.0+

Question #5: How many points does Chris Paul average per game in the series?
A) <17.0
B) 17.0-22.0
C) 22.1-25.0
D) 25.1+

Question #6: How many rebounds is Steven Adams going to average against Team Small Ball?
A) <9.0
B) 9.1-12.0
C) 12.1-15.0
D) 15.1+

---

I'm not confident a Westbrook-less small ball team can even compete. I don't see this going well.

The worst part is that we traded CP3 for Westbrook because we couldn't count on his health during the playoffs. I'm pretty sure old man CP3 is going to destroy us...

Petty af

MuckRaker96 said:

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Rockets-Thunder First Round Playoff Poll. Make your picks before Game 1 starts on Tuesday. Winner gets to pick which Rockets' close encounter story I tell after the series is over.

A) The time Charles Barkley "hung out" in with me and other guys at Rice University during the Comets' first-ever exhibition game because he was tired of watching them play.

B) The time I saw Othella Harrington order 2 dozen donuts at Shipley's and eat about 8 of them while waiting to pay.

C) The time Cuttino Mobley was supposed to come to an event at a high school when I was a sports reporter and he showed up 5 hours late.

Question #1: Who wins the series and in how many games?
A) Rockets in 4-5
B Rockets in 6-7
C) Thunder in 4-5
D) Thunder in 6-7

Question #2: How many games does Westbrook play in?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D)6+

Question #3: How many times in the series is Harden NOT the game's leading scorer (both teams)?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D) 6+

Question #4: How many points does Harden average per game in the series?
A) <28.0
B) 28.0-31.0
C) 31.1-34.9
D) 35.0+

Question #5: How many points does Chris Paul average per game in the series?
A) <17.0
B) 17.0-22.0
C) 22.1-25.0
D) 25.1+

Question #6: How many rebounds is Steven Adams going to average against Team Small Ball?
A) <9.0
B) 9.1-12.0
C) 12.1-15.0
D) 15.1+

---

Rockets in 6. Really excited to see the small ball in a playoff series. Let's all hope Russ is feeling good by later this week. We are much better than them with Russ but this will be a tough series if James has to go it alone.

Aggie09Derek said:

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Petty af

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China acting like a 4 year old.

mAgnoliAg said:

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Wow you are so negative

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More being a realist than being negative. I can't put words in anyone else's mouth, but last November 1, I was thinking the Thunder would be lucky to win 20 games and they'd be lucky if Chris Paul played 50 games. Instead they finished with the same record as the Rockets and Paul played 70 out of 70 games. They've got 4 guys averaging 17-19 points per game and Steven Adams is my favorite kind of player as a very old defense/rebounder type myself.

They were 15-15 on December 26, meaning they went 25-9 the rest of the season before the shutdown. That's pretty salty - and beat the Rockets 2 out of 3 with both teams at relative full strength. I really want the Rockets to win the series because i want to root for them to beat Bronnie, but OKC is going to be fiercely competitive, especially with Westbrook limited.

Harden is better than anyone on okc. We will win the series okc with or without westbrook

MuckRaker96 said:

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Question #1: Who wins the series and in how many games?
B) Rockets in 6-7


Question #2: How many games does Westbrook play in?
B) 2-3

Question #3: How many times in the series is Harden NOT the game's leading scorer (both teams)?
A) 0-1

Question #4: How many points does Harden average per game in the series?
C) 31.1-34.9

Question #5: How many points does Chris Paul average per game in the series?
B) 17.0-22.0

Question #6: How many rebounds is Steven Adams going to average against Team Small Ball?
C) 12.1-15.0

---

MuckRaker96 said:

---

Question #1: Who wins the series and in how many games?
A) Rockets in 4-5
B Rockets in 6-7
C) Thunder in 4-5
D) Thunder in 6-7

Question #2: How many games does Westbrook play in?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D)6+

Question #3: How many times in the series is Harden NOT the game's leading scorer (both teams)?
A) 0-1
B) 2-3
C) 4-5
D) 6+

Question #4: How many points does Harden average per game in the series?
A) <28.0
B) 28.0-31.0
C) 31.1-34.9
D) 35.0+

Question #5: How many points does Chris Paul average per game in the series?
A) <17.0
B) 17.0-22.0
C) 22.1-25.0
D) 25.1+

Question #6: How many rebounds is Steven Adams going to average against Team Small Ball?
A) <9.0
B) 9.1-12.0
C) 12.1-15.0
D) 15.1+

---

My heart says Rockets in 5, but my head says Rockets in 6. I know we don't have Westbrook to start the series, but I think Harden is about to go off. Getting Gordon back, and having some of the role players step up like B-Mac and Jeff Green will prove to be huge.

We needed one more question (maybe an O/U):

Question #7: How many times will Harden and Paul get into some form of a confrontation this series?
O/U 2.5

CFTXAG10 said:

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Question #7: How many times will Harden and Paul get into some form of a confrontation this series?
O/U 2.5

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Over, just because CP is so good at getting under peoples skin and he surely knows what buttons to press for James.

Some optimism on the Westbrook front.

CFTXAG10 said:

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I wish we could get an adults only broadcast in the bubble with the players mic'd up. The trash talking is going to be legendary.

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I've always thought there was a market for an uncensored sports channel. You'd get to hear players mic'd up with no censoring and the broadcasters could also use cuss words. People would pay a lot for it. These days, too many players would be worried about their "brand" so I don't think it'll ever happen.

We really need to come out of the gates strong tomorrow. If we can win 1 of the first 2 or both, then we can let Westbrook rest. But if we get down 0-2, I think they'd have to throw Westbrook out there.

I agree, the handful of times that I have been courtside for a game it has been very entertaining to hear all the back and forth jabs between the players. I recall pretty vividly Amare Stoudemire being quite the **** talker.

Winning game 1 is huge.

Quote:

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This year, Harden became only the third player to win three consecutive scoring titles since the league added the 3-point line in 1979. The other two: Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant.
Harden owes his remarkable three-year run to his patented step-back 3. Dating to 2017-18, when Harden won his first scoring title, he has made an absurd 589 step-back triples, per Second Spectrum. In that same period, no other NBA player has made more than 178.
Harden's step-back is this generation's answer to Kareem's skyhook. With Russell Westbrook banged up, it looks to be on full display as the Rockets try to eliminate a very strong Oklahoma City Thunder squad in Round 1.
Harden is an unmatchable scoring machine, and while his game is quirky (and, yeah, kind of annoying at times), it's positively unstoppable. He's had his playoff misses, but this time around he's well rested, there's no Warriors juggernaut present and his team has doubled down on his phenomenal abilities. Expect those step-back 3s to be even more frightening than usual.

---

ESPN Article

k20dub said:

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Quote:

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This year, Harden became only the third player to win three consecutive scoring titles since the league added the 3-point line in 1979. The other two: Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant.
Harden owes his remarkable three-year run to his patented step-back 3. Dating to 2017-18, when Harden won his first scoring title, he has made an absurd 589 step-back triples, per Second Spectrum. In that same period, no other NBA player has made more than 178.
Harden's step-back is this generation's answer to Kareem's skyhook. With Russell Westbrook banged up, it looks to be on full display as the Rockets try to eliminate a very strong Oklahoma City Thunder squad in Round 1.
Harden is an unmatchable scoring machine, and while his game is quirky (and, yeah, kind of annoying at times), it's positively unstoppable. He's had his playoff misses, but this time around he's well rested, there's no Warriors juggernaut present and his team has doubled down on his phenomenal abilities. Expect those step-back 3s to be even more frightening than usual.

---

ESPN Article

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Of course a jab at his offensive game. I don't understand why people hate it so much.

Beat40 said:

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Of course a jab at his offensive game. I don't understand why people hate it so much.

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Same reason they didn't like the Run N Shoot or the A's analytical approach to walks and runs or the Hack-a-Shaq or the four corners or using an opener instead of having a starting pitcher. It messes with their view of what the sport "should" look like.

Personally, I find coaches/players who can find other ways to be efficient that defy the "proven logic" of the game to be absolutely fascinating.

In the 1940 NFL Championship game where the Bears famously beat the Redskins 73-0, the majority of that blowout was because the Bears were the first team to use a man in motion out of the T formation before the play started.The Redskins had no ****ing idea what the Bears were doing. They had beaten the Bears 7-3 less than a month earlier.

When I was prep sportswriter 20 years ago, one of the high schools I covered had a softball coach who most people thought was an a-hole because he had his team hyper-competitive. They had a number of trick plays they ran that got them extra outs and extra bases against mentally inferior teams. For instance, if they were batting and they had a girl on first and a girl at the plate with at least 2 balls in the count, if the next pitch was ball 3, the batter would drop the bat and run to first like it was ball 4, and the runner on first would run to second.

The ump would make the runner go back to the plate as it was only ball 3, at which point the opponent would realize that the runner on first had just stolen second without a throw.

I can readily admit that the Beardo's 3-pointers and free-throws offense is not exactly my cup of tea after growing up in the era of Olajuwon, but I would like another Rockets' championship before I'm dead, and this seems like the best shot we've got.

Gameday

that was hot

Six to midnight

Almost forgot myself.

Question #1: Who wins the series and in how many games?
Rockets in 6-7


Question #2: How many games does Westbrook play in?
C) 4-5


Question #3: How many times in the series is Harden NOT the game's leading scorer (both teams)?
A) 0-1


Question #4: How many points does Harden average per game in the series?

D) 35.0+

Question #5: How many points does Chris Paul average per game in the series?

D) 25.1+

Question #6: How many rebounds is Steven Adams going to average against Team Small Ball?

D) 15.1+

Question #1: Who wins the series and in how many games?
A) Rockets in 4-5

Question #2: How many games does Westbrook play in?
B) 2-3


Question #3: How many times in the series is Harden NOT the game's leading scorer (both teams)?
A) 0-1

Question #4: How many points does Harden average per game in the series?
C) 31.1-34.9


Question #5: How many points does Chris Paul average per game in the series?
C) 22.1-25.0


Question #6: How many rebounds is Steven Adams going to average against Team Small Ball?
C) 12.1-15.0

Any of yall sitting "virtual" tonight?