2024 NBA Playin and Playoff thread.

SanctionII

Your thoughts.

erikthredd

The Play-ins and the ultimate 7-8 seeds are tough to predict. I could see all four of the west PI teams each winning their games. Really wanted to see that LA-GS matchup had it been a loser go home situation but if they both win tomorrow then their next game would just be deciding which team is 7th & which 8th.

I am looking forward to seeing how the Thunder (likely GS or LAL) and Wolves (Phoenix) play in round one.
OKC-LAL could come down to how the Thunder control Lebron & AD with really just super skinny Chet.
OKC-GS, if GS is in full health then this should be a very entertaining series.
MIN-PHO will likely come down to can the Wolves length on defense make life much harder for Durant & Booker.

Denver likely gets GS or LAL and while each team is good enough to take it to a 6th game,I just can't see either one beating Joker's crew unless Lebron or Curry each have a turn back the clock type of series.

The Clippers-Mavs series should be a great one too where these two teams have already met twice in the playoffs since Luka was drafted and those two series were so much fun to watch.

In the East, I think Milwaukee's final week of the season couldn't have gone any worse. First Giannis gets hurt and he might not be back by game one and then your final seeding has you playing the Pacers who beat you 4/5 times. Plus there's the whole Pacers stole the gameball after Giannis sets the Bucks scoring record for a game drama. Things could get real chippy at times but should be a very entertaining series.

Most would assume that Philly & Miami both come out of the PI and wherever they land seedingwise,should be a tough opponent. Whether its Boston-Philly or Boston-Miami, I could possibly see where they both could be long series. This year's Celtics have looked like a completely different team after making major offseason changes in the starting lineup but until we actually see them do the same in the playoffs,it won't matter much.

Philly may end up being the easier matchup but it might be better if they got Miami. Like Indy-MIL this would also be a very chippy series right from the opening tip of G1 but if you could knock off arguably your biggest nemesis in recent years,what a confidence boost that would be. Similar to when Boston swept Brooklyn in round 1 the season after the KD-Harden_Kyrie Nets destroyed the Celtics in 5 games the season before. That Nets confidence boost was the begining of a Finals run that season.

NY-PHI should be a great Embiid vs Brunson battle. Jaylen is almost a foot shorter than Joel but he has that same type of impact on both ends.
NY-Miami should be a good series when it was the Heat beating the Knicks in a hard fougt 6 game series in 2022-23.

Orlando & Cleveland both have some of the best big man depth but I think the backcourts will probably decide this series. Donovan Mitchell is the one player from either team who has played in some really tough playoff games and he's the one guy that should be expected to play well. The question is, will there be someone on the Magic that can step up to Mitchell's level? 🤷‍♂️but my vote would go to Jalen Suggs who has had his momemts in the NCAA tournament.

PHI & MIA have to both get the job done though before any of that happens above. I don't see the Bulls really being a threat to anyone but Atlanta sneaking into the top 8 and possibly facing the Celtics in round one would make for a very intriguing seres. The fans stress levels in New England may set some records. 🤣

SanctionII

This morning on one of the SF Bay Area sports talk radio shows the local hosts had a guest who is their counterpart in Sacramento. The guest mentioned that Kings' fans are dreading having to play GS in a winner take all play in game tomorrow night in Sacramento.

The Kings were 4-6 in their last 10 games, falling into the play in spots. They tied GS with a 46-36 record and have the tie breaker in the season series. Thus the Kings got spot #9 and get to host a play in game. GS was 8-2 in their last ten and I think they went 27-12 since January 30.

However the dread being experienced by the Kings fans is the thought of Curry going nuts like he did in game 7 in Sacramento last year in Round 1 (Curry carried the Warriors to a game 7 win by scoring 50 points).

Sacramento has players our with injury (Monk and Huerter?), while GS is fully healthy.

I think the 2024 post season in the NBA is going to be really, really good.

erikthredd

Oh, no doubt about Kings fans not wanting any part of GS lol, those two franchises are literally right next to each on the map. I'd say that most Sac fans probably watch just as many Dubs games as the Kings when they're local like that.
The team finally made the playoffs last season after a long playoff drought and had to face the defending NBA champs in round one where they ultimately lost the series with the games 5&7 losses coming at home.

I think that a healthy GS team is really capable of beating anyone and stopping them comes down to either 1) shutting down Steph, not likely or 2) beat them by controlling the boards & paint. The Warriors are a really great rebounding team but they really don't have a lot of length in the frontcourt. Its really just Draymond & Looney so someone like AD or Jokic will probably hold their own against them. That all being said,Steph & Klay can still knockdown threes at incredible rates. Looks like Klay has been starting games again after coming off the bench for a bit,does he start or not in the playoffs?

Its also going to be interesting to see if CP3 steps up as their primary distributor on that second unit. GS has never really had this type on playmaker coming off their bench. Iggy & Livingston where both great in their own ways but Paul can run an offense like very few NBA point guards have ever had. He was brought in with the thought of how could he help us come playoff time and we're going to soon findout.

erikthredd

This Lakers/Pelicans game should be a good one. The Pelicans should have a healthy Zion & Brandon Ingram while Lebron & AD are a go for LA. With a Pelicans win, LA would then have to face the winner of the Dubs/KIngs game in a one & done scenario so maybe there is still hope for a Lakers/Warriors PI game.

erikthredd

Not looking good for the Dubs down 15 heading into the 4th quarter. They're going to need some of that magic from the Chef unless the Kings somehow blow this.

erikthredd

Hats off to the Kings for finally slaying their biggest foe. That was a really tough way to end the season for both the Warriors and Klay Thompson who went 0-10 from the field & 0-6 from the line in 32mins. Not the type of last game that you want to be remembered for heading into free agency. The GS front office will have some tough decisions to make this offseason.

The Kings did lose 5 times to the Pelicans this season but if Zion misses this next PI game due to injury and Ingram is still on a minutes restriction like he was tonight (25 total but didn't play in final 7:30) then Sactown may erase some more demons this week. Regardless of Zion playing or not the pelicans can't afford to see Ingram & McCollum combine for just 20 points again and expect to win.

SanctionII

Congrats to the Kings.

Last night's game is Exhibit A in support of the undeniable truth the father time always wins.

The older players on the Warriors simply were overmatched and outplayed by the younger, faster, quicker and more aggressive Kings players. For GSW fans the game was painful to watch.

It would not surprise me to see the GSW roster blown up this off season.

erikthredd

Looks like the Celtics & Heat are on course for a round one meeting unless the Hawks/Bulls winner can prevent that. if Miami does win their next PI game it would guarantee that both conference finalists in 2022-23 are meeting up in round one this year with LA playing Denver also pairing up.

erikthredd

Jimmy Butler is going to miss several weeks with an MCL injury.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39967879/sources-heat-jimmy-butler-expected-miss-several-weeks

erikthredd

The Cavs got off to a great series start beating the Magic in game one. Mitchell had his way getting to the rim, Mobley & Allen both had double doubles along with a combined 5 stocks and Garland did his thing finding his teammates on drives then called his own number when it was there. Their three wing shooters (Strus/Merrill/Niang) combined to go 1-11 from three but those shots will start falling soon enough.

Hearing the Cavs fans scream "Refs you suck!" makes a Celtics fan feel proud. There was one guy sitting right behind the two announcers and you could hear him yelling at the refs all game. He definitely had money on this game. 🤣

BLUEJAYWAY

Denver looks tough.

erikthredd

Good playoffs opener for Boston. This is what we need to see from them every single game.

Darin

last second shot by Murray wins it for the nuggets. Great second half.🍺🥳😱👍

SanctionII

Heartbreaker for Laker Nation last night.

I wonder if Denver's recent dominance of the Lakers (currently Denver is on a winning streak against the Lakers of 10 games) will extend to 12 games.

erikthredd

I don't see LA beating this Nuggets team after a game like that. AD had a monster game on both ends, Lebron finished with 26/12/8/2/2 and was doing it on both ends too and D'Angelo Russell hit 7 threes to go with 6 assists and it wasn't enough to win.
That Nuggets rotation is so good and battle tested that they're never really out of any game, its going to be tough beating them once let alone four times.
Then to have a guy like Jamal Murray, who was having an off shooting night, calmly get to his spot and drain a midrange jumper along the baseline over a DPOY candidate in AD for the win, its going to be very hard to beat this team in a series.

SanctionII

As the Denver/LA game progressed through the fourth quarter you could see Denver playing better and better. You could also see LA begin to falter and wilt.

When Denver rallied to tie the game multiple times and I saw that it had the ball with about 8 seconds to go (after a 3 point shot by James missed) my thought was Denver would win with a walk off shot as time expired.

Jamal Murry made me look like a fortune teller.

erikthredd

I watched most of the Philly/NY game before that late LA/Denver game and the ending in that one was just as exciting as Murray's game winner. Both teams fought hard till the very end and I expect every game in that series to follow script.

So far the home teams are handling their business right now and haven't lost yet, its going to be interesting to see if that holds true once they get into games 3-4. There's so much parity within these playoffs and I could see some series going the full 7 just in round one.

SanctionII

OKC looked like it could beat anybody in yesterday's game 2.

SGA may be he best player in the league in the very near future.

erikthredd

Denver up 3-0 now while Orlando & Philly notched their first home wins. I haven't seen the highlights yet but Embiid dropped 50 in the win,the Sixers may need him to do that in every game and physically I'm not sure he'd be able to hold up like that this late in the season.

Boston just came out and laid a huge egg in game 2, it was pretty disappointing. On the plus side,they own it in Miami as much as Miami owns it in Boston so G3 should be a good one.

SanctionII

The Lakers have been up double figures in each of the three games, including up 20 in Game 2.

They then self destruct. Last night in game 3 in the second half you could see that the Laker players had checked out.

erikthredd

LA gave Denver their best punch in G2 and they're not likely to repeat a similar game. D'Angelo Russell can't go from 23pts/6ast w/7 threes game to one with this statline:
24minutes
0-7 overall FG
0-6 from three
2 assists
0 Points

How can your primary ballhandler/secondary playmaker behind Lebron finish with zero points and just 2 assists in a playoff game? Maybe he had an injury and was fighting thru it but you're in bad trouble if your starting point guard plays a game like that. Hopefully he bounces back in G4 just for his own sake.

This Mavs/Clippers game tonight should definitely be a good one.

erikthredd

Big game tonight for the Bucks too. No Giannis and they've already lost a home game, Dolla Dame has put up 34 in each game, he may need to go for 50 tonight to keep the Bucks out of a hole.

bgr

@erikthredd said:
Big game tonight for the Bucks too. No Giannis and they've already lost a home game, Dolla Dame has put up 34 in each game, he may need to go for 50 tonight to keep the Bucks out of a hole.

The Bucks have been frustrating all season. I do like Middleton, but I also think that he's a big problem in that lineup -- not sure he will play in Gm. 3, so they better be dropping lots of 3s.

erikthredd

@bgr said:

@erikthredd said:
Big game tonight for the Bucks too. No Giannis and they've already lost a home game, Dolla Dame has put up 34 in each game, he may need to go for 50 tonight to keep the Bucks out of a hole.

The Bucks have been frustrating all season. I do like Middleton, but I also think that he's a big problem in that lineup -- not sure he will play in Gm. 3, so they better be dropping lots of 3s.

The injuries have really caught up with him in recent years. He was a very good #2 behind Giannis for the longest time and when they got Jrue he was a 2/2A but lately he hasn't been the same player. With Giannis out They need Lillard, Middleton & Portis to show up every night offensively but Indy is a fast paced high scoring team so Milwaukee really needs to put up some points.

erikthredd

Tough break for Milwaukee and Dame Lillard. They not only lose last night to go down 1-2 but Lillard has an achilles strain and may have to miss G4 at the very least.

erikthredd

I didn't see any of the highlights from the Indy win in OT but Kris Middleton and Tyrese Haliburton each hit incredible shots in the closing seconds. Middleton's 3 from 30+feet put it into overtime while Haliburton's floater just inside the FT line in between three defenders won it OT.

SanctionII

Tonight the Lakers vacation may start, assuming Denver extends its win streak against LA to 12 games.

erikthredd

LA prolonged their season but i doubt that it lasts much longer.

BLUEJAYWAY

@erikthredd said:
LA prolonged their season but i doubt that it lasts much longer.

Least they gave the fans one win.

galaxy27

Durant:

"welp, this team sucks. who can i go play for next?"

bgr

@erikthredd said:
I didn't see any of the highlights from the Indy win in OT but Kris Middleton and Tyrese Haliburton each hit incredible shots in the closing seconds. Middleton's 3 from 30+feet put it into overtime while Haliburton's floater just inside the FT line in between three defenders won it OT.

Kris played a great game in Gm. 3 and Gm. 4. That's about the best they can play in Gm. 4 and it just wasn't going to happen.

erikthredd

@galaxy27 said:
Durant:

"welp, this team sucks. who can i go play for next?"

There's already reports that Booker wants to go play for the Knicks. Pretty soon Matt Ishbia will start asking himself WTF did I get my self into?🤣

erikthredd

@bgr said:

@erikthredd said:
I didn't see any of the highlights from the Indy win in OT but Kris Middleton and Tyrese Haliburton each hit incredible shots in the closing seconds. Middleton's 3 from 30+feet put it into overtime while Haliburton's floater just inside the FT line in between three defenders won it OT.

Kris played a great game in Gm. 3 and Gm. 4. That's about the best they can play in Gm. 4 and it just wasn't going to happen.

Between Giannis & Dame getting hurt their season is pretty much over. You could kind of see some of that frustration come out when Portis got ejected.

They may need to move one of Middleton, Lopez or Portis in a trade to try improving the team, I doubt that its Giannis or Lillard.

SanctionII

I wonder how things would have turned out if Durant had stayed in GS? Assuming all players on the team could get along with each other.

erikthredd

Huge game for Boston tonight, a win puts them up 3-1 heading back to Boston, a loss guarantees that you're coming back to Miami for a G6.

erikthredd

@SanctionII said:
I wonder how things would have turned out if Durant had stayed in GS? Assuming all players on the team could get along with each other.

Had the Dubs w/Durant won a couple more rings, that would have been awesome for most players but KD would probably still have former players & fans saying his rings should have asterisks because he couldn't win them on his own. His ego probably would have prevented that from happening in GS.

SanctionII

Lakers and New Orleans going on vacation. Denver and OKC advance to join Minnesota in the second round out west.

Denver plays Minnesota and OKC will play either the Clippers or Dallas.

Yesterday and today Durant and James joined Curry on the Superstar OG's fishing trip.

The young stars are taking center stage in the Western Conference playoffs.

How is the second round of the Eastern Confernce shaping up?

I assume Boston, Indiana and the Knicks will advance to round 2, while Miami, Milwaukee and Philly will go on vacation. I have no idea who will win the Orlando v. Cleveland series.

erikthredd

That Nuggets late comeback was pretty sweet and the Denver/Minnesota series is going to be Finals worthy.

Your assessment of the East is pretty much how its been playing out.
Indy is probably going to wrap their series up soon.
ORL/CLE may go the full 7 but I still think the Cavs make it into R2.
Philly won't go down without a fight and maybe that one goes 6 games. NY is looking real good and their fans are going crazy
right now. If anyone reading this hasn't seen it yet, go to Youtube and check out the Knicks fans chanting F@#$ Embiid inside the 76ers stadium. The vid is NSFW so I don't want to post it here. Funny as hell.

Boston handled their business tonight but Kristaps Porzingis rolled an ankle then tried playing on it and had to leave the game. They're calling it a calf strain and should have more answers later today.

Shoutout to Derrick White who had a monster game with a career high 38pts/4reb/3ast/3blk & 8 made threes. He's gotta be the most underrated player in the NBA.

galaxy27

this is Luka's mom

you're welcome

erikthredd

Great finish to the NY/Philly game. NY is up 6 with 25 seconds left and Maxey gets fouled on a 3 for a 4pt play, the Sixers then get a stop on D then Maxey hits a 35ft 3 to put into OT. Then scores another 5 in overtime giving him 15pts in the final 1:30 of regulation & OT. Very reminiscent of Reggie Miller's Spike Lee choke game.

perkdog

@galaxy27 said:
this is Luka's mom

you're welcome

Umm thank you 😅

erikthredd

Porzingis has a similar calf strain that Giannis is dealing with and he's doing to be sidelined for at least the rest of the series and likely most/if not all of the next one if Boston moves on. Miami is missing Jaime Jaquez too tonight.

C'mon Boston, just handle your business tonight and close this one out!

erikthredd

Don't know how this hasn't ever happened before but Boston just became the first team in playoffs history to win three straight games scoring over 100pts while holding their opponent to under 90pts. You'd think that that would have happened numerous times back in the 90's but it hasn't.

erikthredd

NY sent Philly home for the summer but that series was an all time great. Five of the six games came down to the closing moments and Maxey & DiVincenzo each had big time game winning/tying shots that are probably going to live on in playoff history highlights. The Knicks look like their going to be a really tough out in these playoffs for any team including the favorites.

Tonight's Cleveland at Orlando should be a good one with the Magic trying to prolong their season by one more game. Boston faces the winner and the if CLE/ORL can go to a G7,it lets the Celtics players to rest up a bit. Porzingis is out no matter what but Tatum also rolled an ankle in G4 and could probably use an extra day or two. 37yr old AL Horford too.

I'm not really sure which team I would want to face the C's when each one has had recent success against them. Orlando has a ton of length and without KP that could play a huge factor in who wins the series. Cleveland's bigs are mainly just Mobley & Allen but each is a good to great player then you have to deal with their All Star backcourt in Garland & Mitchell who can both control the pace to a game. The Cavs also has numerous shooters off the bench. That last time Boston faced Cleveland was the great Dean Wade game where he went into NBA Jam He's On Fire mode and hit a million threes in a late Cavs comeback win.

SanctionII

Two of the four conference semis are set.

Denver v. Minnesota

New York v. Indiana

Boston will play either Orlando or Cleveland

OKC will play either Dallas or the LA Clippers.

If the Clippers lose to Dallas then OGs Paul George, Kawai Leonard, Russel Westbrook, and James Harden will join OGs Lebron James, Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez, Chris Paul, Chris Middleton, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Jimmy Butler on an early vacation fishing trip.

I think that the conference semi finals will be really good.

As has been said, the playoffs see the quality and intensity of play elevate to a level much higher than in the regular season. Last night's game between New York and Philly was a prime example. My wife commented on how much more intense that playoff game was compared to regular season games.

erikthredd

@SanctionII said:

As has been said, the playoffs see the quality and intensity of play elevate to a level much higher than in the regular season. Last night's game between New York and Philly was a prime example. My wife commented on how much more intense that playoff game was compared to regular season games.

One thing that really stood out during that NY-PHI series was how loud it could get in Madison Square Garden. Its been a long time since Knicks fans have had a chance to get behind a team that is a legit contender. Off the court, NY vs Philly lived up to the hype (fans & owners got into the act) and I can just imagine what a BOS vs NY Conference Finals would be like.

erikthredd

Lakers just fired Darvin Ham, I guess he's their fall guy for losing to a much better overall team in the Nuggets.

SanctionII

The off season drama of the NBA (after the 2023-2024 champion is crowned) will be challenging the various Housewives shows for ratings. What will happen to the rosters of team with aging superstars????? Will they stay or will they go?

Is LeBron James going to stay with the Lakers or move on somewhere else? Is he going to succeed in playing with his son Bronny next year and with his younger son Bryce in two years?

erikthredd

I think Lebron heard back that not many teams would be interested in drafting his son in this next draft and he's sort of backtracking on the "playing with his son" rumors now by saying its not that big of a priority. Bronny is likely going to stay another year in college which is probably the best thing for the development of his game.

erikthredd

Gutsy win by the Magic even though Donovan Mitchell dropped a 50 burger. He scored all 18 Cavs points in the 4th and the rest of the team took a total of 5 shots in that quarter,1 that was an attempted tip-in after an offensive rebound. You can't be that one dimensional and expect to win.