NBA Playoffs Thread

Did anyone else notice the non-defense LeBron played on Dirk's last shot? He just stood out on the perimeter and didn't even try to rotate over and help out Bosh, who was overmatched. I mean, everybody on the planet knew that play was coming, and the Heat don't double-team Dirk? And let him drive right down the lane for a layup? Oh, and that was a world-class flop by Wade on the Heat's last desperation shot. Glad the zebras didn't fall for it.

 

@ MileHigh,

While I see your point, 4-3 on the road in the postseason is damn impressive. I bet there isn't another team in the playoffs other than the Mavs with 4 on the road in the playoffs...it's very very hard to win away from home in the postseason

 

The updated Game 3 promo before ABC switched to local news had The Outlaws' "Green Grass and High Tides" playing in the background. Not a chocolate-and-peanut butter combo.

 

A few thoughts before I go back and rewatch the fourth quarter while smoking a cigarette...

* Henry Abbott's wife put down her tea at the end of the game and said LeBron is the next John Starks.

* It'll be interesting to see the Heat recover from this because when they've lost tough games this year, they've piled up a bit. The 9-8 start, then the five-game losing streak after the all-star break and those were the games when they kept losing in the final seconds.

* We've seen the brilliance of Wade and LeBron together but those last six minutes again showed why they looked so shaky at times this year. They're in many ways the same player. They're so damn good and dominant that they can usually just steamroll, but in those final minutes sometimes the whole team looks confused because you have one of them doing everything while the other stands around. Both guys can take over in those moments - and have in the playoffs - but more often than not this year it's been all discombobulated. The biggest three-pointers this season have been made by Bosh - in a game against the Wiz - and Chalmers, not Wade or LeBron.

* Mavs bench players don't look as good when there's a defender within 10 feet of them, which didn't happen against the Lakers except for the first two quarters of Game 1 and for a two-minute stretch in Game 3.

* This comeback was even more stunning than the Celtics rally from 24 down. Of course that put them up 3-1 and basically ended the series. And it had Sasha crying.

* Really impressed by Marion. He looked done a few seasons ago.

* This wet hair look Dirk always has in the post-game press conferences is sort of endearing, sort of creepy.

 

Up 88-73, here is what Miami did offensively.

6:30 -- Wade jacks up a 25-footer with the shot clock running down.

5:50 -- Mario Chalmers jacks up a 24-footer with the shot clock running down.

5:28 -- James comes up short on a driving lay-up, stands around bitching at the referees.

4:54 -- Bosh misses a 21-foot jumper that he's forced to take because the shot clock is running down.

4:09 -- James drives to the hoop and gets fouled. Makes both free throws. At this point, Miami is still up nine.

3:27 -- James dribbles around for 15 seconds before throwing up a jumper from 16 feet.

2:53 -- Bosh tries to go baseline, dribbles off his leg, turns the ball over.

2:20 -- Udonis Haslem (!!!) misses a 16-footer.

1:31 -- Here is where LeBron really fucked things up. He dribbled down the shot clock, and jacked up a 26-footer. Miss. Miami gets the offensive rebound, and again, James misses another 3-pointer. Miami gets the offensive rebound again, but Haslem turns it over. On the other end, in transition, Nowitski makes the tying lay-up. 90-90.

:36 -- Another nothing possession in terms of ball movement. Wade misses a 24-foot 3-pointer.

:24 -- Chalmers makes a 3-pointer off of an out-of-bounds play.

:00 -- Wade misses a 30-foot heave at the buzzer.


Man, that is some awful offense. How do you not get the ball to Wade and get him to drive to the basket?


I'm still not buying Dallas yet. But that was some bizarre play by Miami.

 

The Heat choked so bad on this one I don't even know where to begin, though Double Down hit all the high points about how poorly they executed on offense.

Watching this game it is so clear to me that the Heat are more talented, more athletic, longer and better on both sides of the court.

But I'm also more convinced than ever that they may not get this done this year because they don't have much between the ears.

And it is insane to me that a team with Wade and James could only manage to score five points in six minutes. That's ridiculous.

If the Heat play focused and execute for 48 minutes they are the better team and they will win this thing. I'm not sure they are capable of that, though.

 

Emotion is a big part of it. As a fan who no longer has a dog in the hunt, I don't follow baseball anymore because the business aspect of the game turned me off. For slightly different motivations, I see the NBA starting to head in the same direction despite efforts (salary cap, etc.) to prevent it. It threatens my interest in the game if there are going to be a handful of "destination" teams that are going to attract all the players.

Since you are interested in facts as opposed to emotion, the "fact" is that emotional reaction is a big part of the fan draw. If the feeling is that large numbers of teams have no chance to build into a contender, then it ceases to be interesting. You become baseball and fan interest dwindles.

 

I thought you were going to say that you got tired of watching AAU-bred thugs.....

 

Wonder how many fourth-quarter comebacks from 15 down have happened in the playoffs in the last 20 years. Can't be a ton of them. Mavs have two in the last four games. And both in the final seven minutes.

And the stat of the series going into Game 3...since the 2-3-2 format started the series has been tied 1-1 11 times. The team that won Game 3 has won all 11 times.

 

That was Haslem's rotation and Chandler made a nice, veteran (dirty?) play to chuck him as he came over to challenge the shot. Lebron had a shooter and it would have been suicide to leave him.

 

Oh, I've seen plenty of bad AAU basketball this spring, don't worry. And all of these guys are walking out of gyms thinking the way the Heat played offense in the last two minutes is how you're supposed to play, only Miami missed shots.