NBA Playoffs 2014

Dublin Red Devil

Big Roy 11 rebounds

Dublin Red Devil

Woohoo! Lance throws it down

Nuri Sahin

JR Smith is playing out of this world.

LOL, and then the Born Ready flop.

NufcNavan

Born. Ready.

Dublin Red Devil

Born Ready

Nuri Sahin

Despite JR Smith channeling his inner MJ, Miami down 1 going into the fourth. Bring home the W, Joey.

Nuri Sahin

Should be ejected.

Nuri Sahin

Nice of LeBron to show up finally.

NufcNavan

PG must be concust..

Nuri Sahin

Our boys did it BQQ , Miami levels the series and takes home court advantage. Wade and LeBron big down the stretch, Big Cole and Born Ready Chris Andersen also played their parts throughout.

White Hot burn in the air tonight.



edit -

Lance flops on the half court line. Acts like he tore his ACL and then pops up magically to airballs a three. Goes back to acting hurt.

Just one of three or four -

BQQ

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Our boys did it BQQ , Miami levels the series and takes home court advantage. Wade and LeBron big down the stretch, Big Cole and Born Ready Chris Andersen also played their parts throughout.

White Hot burn in the air tonight.

Huh? Fans leaving early? I thought only Heat fans did that.

Yeah, wade and Lebron switched on beast mode for the last 6 mins or so and Birdman was great on the glass.
Wasn't a great performance though. Still not forcing turnovers. Thankfully George and West's shooting was pretty cold.

On the plus side, we have taken home court (and it didn't take all season )
Also, Bosh and Chalmers were jacking up less bad 3s. Rio was actually 2-2.
Bench were strong. Birdman was +25 :O

Roll on game 3.

PizzamanIRL

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

That's hilarious He's like a dog being told to play dead at the last second

Alfred Borden

expected tbh, miami to rally at home now and put it beyond the pacers.

Nuri Sahin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDuNV3t9A_4

ButtersSuki

Not many people have good things to say about Tim Donaghy, but maybe they do now:

http://extramustard.si.com/2014/05/19/tim-donaghy-punched-joey-crawford-in-the-face/

NufcNavan

The Heat played great. Anyone saying different watched a different game. Fantastic game from them. As disappointing as it was to watch that replay, at no point was it embarrassing, unfathomable, or even odd. The champs played like it on both sides of the ball. Props to Spo for coming with the adjustments. I just seriously don't get not giving the other team, no matter how much you dislike them, credit when they are good.


I still think this series will be split after 4 games. Get it to a best of 3 with HCA.

D2D

Paul George diagnosed with a concussion

http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/paul-george-update

Tuesday night, Indiana Pacers forward Paul George took a knee to the back of his head during the fourth quarter of the Eastern Conference Finals game against Miami. Immediately after the play, George exhibited no symptoms of a concussion and, in response to questions from the Pacers’ medical staff, he denied dizziness, nausea, and issues with his vision. He was also active and aware of his surroundings. As a result, the Indiana medical staff did not suspect a concussion.

Following the game, George stated for the first time that he “blacked out” on the play. As a result of this statement, the team conducted the NBA-mandated concussion assessment, which did not reveal any active symptoms of concussion.

Because of the statement and Indiana’s ongoing evaluation and management of potential concussions, George underwent further testing and evaluation Wednesday morning. He has been diagnosed by the team’s consulting neurologist with a concussion, based on his post-game reporting that he had briefly lost consciousness during the game. He will begin the NBA-mandated protocol for return-to-participation after a diagnosed concussion.

Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, Director of the NBA Concussion Program, has been in contact with the team medical staff and stated, “The Indiana Pacers medical team followed the NBA concussion protocol and there was no indication of concussion during the game. This case illustrates that concussion evaluation is an ongoing process and manifestations of the injury may not always present immediately.”

Suppose it's lucky on the Pacers end that there's a break of a few days before Game 3 that George can recover

Nuri Sahin

Born Ready Actor fined for his flop(athon) last night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgu7iufAz9Q

buyer95

Had to sky plus the game last night and only finished watching it there. I watched the game with a notepad, and what follows are my own random thoughts from what I saw during the game. I was able to do this as it wasn't live and I didn't mind pausing.

1st / 2nd Quarter

Lebron hesitant to attack Hibbert early on. Inexplicably settling for a 3 when he is matched up with Hibbert off a switch and should have blown by him and got to the rim for the easy 2. Later in quarter he finally attacks rim but Hibbert bothers the shot and he misses. Lebron definitely not going full tilt there, trying to avoid the contact.

Spoelstra putting Allen on P.G for last 5 mins of 1st quarter to get Lebron rest while staying on the floor works well. P.G remains ineffective offensively, although Lebron also playing below par early.

Wade comes out really aggressive, looking for his shot, demanding the ball and getting to the rim.

Heat come out like in Game 1 with zero defensive intensity, Lebron in particular seems totally non-plussed. Heats bench guys turn the tide, Allen, Birdman, and Cole in particular, give the Heat a spark and intensity picks up at both ends.

Heat are trapping effectively all of a sudden, and also scrambling to open shooters off the help very well. Beginning to play Heat playoff defense, and the Pacers offense comes crashing back down to earth. James re-enters the game and continues the good work of the bench guys and is playing with a sense of urgency on both ends again.

On the other hand the Heat are not setting the world on fire offensively either. P.G is doing a solid job on James, and outside of D Wade and boost from the bench, it's been poor fair in that regard. It's the fouls that are killing the Pacers, they're in the penalty with over 4 mins left in the half

It occurs to me that Luis Scola is utterly pointless. He comes into the game, offers nothing offensively, and is nothing short of a disgrace on pick and roll coverage. He never moved his feet well, but even still appears to have lost a step. Remember all the media hacks praising Bird for trading away Miles Plumlee, Gerald Green and a first round pick in the most loaded draft in years? How does that one look now? Scola is left open for a mid ranger and misses badly, and the same thing happens again 2 plays later. Consequently the Heat are happy to help off him, and stifle the Pacers offense even further.

Pacers bench is killing them, going 2-10, with the long forgotten Rasual Butler bringing up the rear with 2 big 3's. It strikes me as strange that Butler is getting minutes ahead of Copeland. Can't really criticise this as he has come in and hit shots, but I do wonder what Copeland has done to find himself completely out of the rotation. I fully appreciate the fact that he doesn't play defense, but Butler is no great shake in that aspect of the game either. Ah shucks, some things will always remain a mystery I guess!
2nd Half


Good screen setting, as coaches have told me my entire life, is the foundation of a functioning offense. I can't believe what I'm seeing in this regard from Hibbert and West. Both players are walking into the on ball screen and/or not actually setting the screen. Instead they are doing that pointless thing where they are not feigning to screen and then diving to the rim, but standing in a position that does not nail the guy and also does not result in a roll to the ring either. I'm talking about this type of crap.




I don't know if that gif came out right. Heres another example, but on the curling screen, this time by Conor's favourite, Luis Scola.

And another



Stephenson, carrying the offense by himself, and how! He is making everything and finding his team mates very well right now too. West hits a few jumpers which helps Pacers to spread the Heat out a bit. In fairness to the Heat here, there is no defense for a guy going all M.J on you!

Bosh should only ever take corner threes. Ade has said this on here, but those long range bombs from the top of the three point line could single handedly bring down the teams offense.

Just when the Pacers get a bit of a lead up, Lebron steps up and make 2 telling plays. Both times he gets into the lane, the defense collapses and he finds the open guy out on the three point line. Bosh hits a 3(from the corner!) and Cole knocks down the other off the Lebron assist. Heat come roaring back.

Vogel starting Scola in the 4th is one of the biggest WTF plays of the playoffs. The guy is killing you on both ends, I know Hibbert is tired but you have to find an alternative, downsize or something...

Lebron's flop on the west "push," embarrassing isn't the word. Sir Lancelot answers back with an epic flop of his own.

Pacers played well but couldn't manage to find buckets in the 4th when they needed to. Lance got tired and/or the Heat managed to slow him down.
Defense was there throughout from Indiana, as always, and they did well to stay with the Heat as Miami was always going to have a reaction after laying an egg in Game 1.

Miami offense was able to get it done in the fourth, Lebron and D Wade both stepping up. They'll take the split, and head back to South Beach relatively happy overall. If pressed, I would predict that Miami will win the series 4-2.


*Sorry, I know this is probably totally unreadable. I just typed exactly what I transcribed from the game, couldn't be bothered editing. Doing it out of interest and love of the game, not monetary gain.

D2D

Little game for those who're watching Inside the NBA for the Spurs/OKC series

Nuri Sahin

Sad panda is sad.

Nuri Sahin

Spurs go up 2-0 after winning 112-77. Durant and Westbrook combined for 30 points on 13-40 shooting. Green went 7-10 from 3, meanwhile.. OKC went 5-10 from the free throw line. A 43-14 run killed this game after OKC won the first quarter.

padraig_f

Probably appropriate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6NbJMq-QfU

PizzamanIRL

They're a great team to watch and very likeable, with no egotistical players on the team. They all just work together to get business done.

They've also just gone favourites to win the championship this year for the first time this season.

Paully D

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

They're a great team to watch and very likeable, with no egotistical players on the team. They all just work together to get business done.

They've also just gone favourites to win the championship this year for the first time this season.

I really hope they win it. A team who were built through the draft, the proper way, unlike their Miami counterparts.

buyer95

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

They're a great team to watch and very likeable, with no egotistical players on the team. They all just work together to get business done.

They've also just gone favourites to win the championship this year for the first time this season.

I got them at 4/1 when the went down 2-1 to the Mavs in round one.:D Still a long way to go, and an injury could easily derail them, but I feel good about the bet.

PizzamanIRL

Paully D wrote: »

I really hope they win it. A team who were built through the draft, the proper way, unlike their Miami counterparts.

Same here. Winning it this year will be a tiny bit of compensation for losing out on it last year.

buyer95 wrote: »

I got them at 4/1 when the went down 2-1 to the Mavs in round one.:D Still a long way to go, and an injury could easily derail them, but I feel good about the bet.

That's a good price and possibly only 6 more wins to go before that bet wins

buyer95

I wonder how Churchill feels about Diaws tweet from last night after the game.

They gave up on the game pretty early.

No surrender!

padraig_f

Adjustments for the Pacers....

I criticised the Nets for not packing the paint on Lebron, I thought the Pacers did the opposite and over-helped. This led to wide open corner 3s where Lebron drove and found the open man, as 3 guys descended on him. The difference? The Nets had no-one who could guard Lebron effectively one-on-one, the Pacers do in Paul George. So no need to help so much. George was guilty of it too on occasion, helping off Lebron to double Wade. Not necessary at this stage of Wade's career, just stay on Lebron. In general I'd just like to see defenders stay with their man more. Let Lebron get his 25-30 points, he won't get 49 like he did against the Nets.

Offensively....it may sound crazy, but I think I hand the keys of the offense over to Lance Stephenson at this point. He was dynamite through 3 quarters in game 2, heading for 30 points in a low-scoring game. They went away from him for some reason in the 4th quarter, and it became turnover central. Stephenson may not be an elite scorer, but he can create his own shot well and won't turn the ball over too much. This is better than what the Pacers have at the moment (in game 2, Lance shot 59%, rest of the Pacers: 35%. in game 1 he shot even better: 66%). Play George as an off-the-ball shooter, where I think he's more comfortable and let West and Hibbert do their thing.

The Heat also played some weird defensive matchups (Ray Allen on George etc.), it was disappointing the Pacers were't able to take advantage of them better. Maybe they weren't expecting them, but can look at the tape and maybe do a better job of exploiting them in game 3.

In general though I do think the adjustments are there to enable them to take a game on the road.

(damn...thought the game was tonight, not 'til Saturday).

Soby

Ibaka's injury updated as "Day to day" according to Yahoo Sports