NBA Playoffs Thread

Knicks fans are gonna love seeing Nellie, a coach they hated, beat Van Gundy, a guy they loved, in the next round.

 

Semantics my friend.
The Warriors DID have the Mavs number...but Dallas was picked by everyone to roll past them.
When you fail to meet those expectations after nearly winning 70 games...that's a gag-job.
They were supposed to be in the finals...the Warriors were supposed to be watching the second round from home...

 

You could argue the No. 1 seed compared to a No. 8 seed is a lead, of sorts.

Yeah, the Mavs played poorly. Yeah, the Warriors had their number all season. But they also got their ass kicked in this series. It wasn't even close. If at the end these games it could have gone either way, I would agree with you here, but they showed no heart most of this series.

 

It's the first time I was interested enough in a game at 1:50 a.m. to flip between stations, yes.

 

So because everyone picks them to advance, that makes it a gag? I'm sorry, but the next time a NBA or NHL playoff series is determined by talking heads and not players, it will be the first.

A few years ago, gagging was grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory. Now its thrown about every time a higher seed gets beaten in any sport. Miami lost to Chicago? They gagged. Toronto's losing to New Jersey? They're gagging.

The phrase is beaten to death, and very far now from what it actually means.

 

what's your definition of gag then?
I can see the Yankees blowing a 3-0 lead to the Sox being a choke.
But, maybe you're right, it's not a gag if you're not ahead in the series. It wasn't only the talking heads' expectations, though, but the Mavs' own expectations they failed to live up to...

 

Were those 1-8 matchups? Did the losing teams win 67 regular season games, only to become the first No. 1 seed to lose in a best-of-seven first round series.

I agree on your basic premise, but this isn't your typical upset.

 

I can't wait to see the fallout from this. So are the Mavs a one-year wonder like the Heat?

 

It's The Yanks losing when they're up 3-0 to the Sox.

It's Roberto Baggio blazing the ball over the bar in the final of the 1994 Soccer World Cup.

It's Scott Hoch missing a two-footer for the Masters.

It's NOT getting outplayed in a six-game series.

 

I think we can all agree that no matter what words we use, it doesn't change the fact that the Mavs got their ass kicked in this series.

 

And that's the point Oz, It's a huge upset, maybe the biggest the NBA playoffs has ever seen. I think the first time a No.8 beat a No.1 in a seven game series.

But a No.8 seed upsetting a No.1 seed doesn't automatically mean the No.1 team gagged. It could be that the No.8 seed outplayed them, and that the No.8 team coach outcoached his counterpart.

Both of those things happened here.

 

If the title is decided in the second round, how does that make this postseason "weird, great, vital"? The first round was great, yes.