It's good that it was close but both teams were sloppy and not smart on offense. The Rockets should have won that game though.

(05-10-2017 12:42 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  It's good that it was close but both teams were sloppy and not smart on offense. The Rockets should have won that game though.

I can't believe the Rockets let that one go.

(05-10-2017 04:51 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 12:42 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  It's good that it was close but both teams were sloppy and not smart on offense. The Rockets should have won that game though.

I can't believe the Rockets let that one go.

The Rockets lost to an overtime lineup of LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Jonathan Simmons, and 39-year-old Manu Ginobili.

(05-10-2017 08:50 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 04:51 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 12:42 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  It's good that it was close but both teams were sloppy and not smart on offense. The Rockets should have won that game though.

I can't believe the Rockets let that one go.

The Rockets lost to an overtime lineup of LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Jonathan Simmons, and 39-year-old Manu Ginobili.

But that was 20yr old Manu out there tonight LOL.

Spurs took the Rockets' heart last game and aren't giving it back tonight.

Yeah, the Rockets were empty tonight.

Holding Kawhi out of this game turned out to be a really good move, if he's good to go on Sunday.

Rockets are a joke as a franchise.

(05-12-2017 04:45 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  Rockets are a joke as a franchise.

Still have two more titles than a lot of other franchises in the NBA though....

But, that was an inept performance last night....

In bicycle racing, what the Rockets had is called a jour sans (French for "a day without") - a rider is ready, thinks he's fine, then the race starts and he's got nothing, no legs, no energy, no drive, and pretty soon he's 10 or 15 minutes behind the pack.

I read this report as, "Don't be too sure he's going to play on Sunday."

Quote:Adrian Wojnarowski‏
@WojVerticalNBA

Sources: There's strong optimism within the Spurs that Kawhi Leonard will be prepared to play Game 1 on Sunday vs. Golden State.

8:06 AM - 12 May 2017

The Wiz force Game 7...good game.... John Wall and that 3....

(05-12-2017 09:42 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  The Wiz force Game 7...good game.... John Wall and that 3....

Should be an interesting decider. I think the Wizards have a decent chance to pull it off. Celtics will be deflated they let their chance to close it out last night slip away.

Wiz choke.... then again the home team won every game in the series.

I was really surprised the Warriors could get that far down against the hobbled Spurs... maybe it was the rust from being off such a long time....

Warriors were way down (before Kawhi had to leave) in part because of rust, but also because of good coaching moves by Popovich and bad coaching moves by Mike Brown. Pop came up with some defensive wrinkles that frustrated the Warriors early. It was 14-11 at that point, and then Brown put in a bad lineup when trying to rest some starters, and the Spurs went on a big run.

NBA draft lottery results:

1. Celtics
2. Lakers
3. 76ers
4. Suns

then other teams in reverse order of W-L record

If the Celtics draft Markelle Fultz, then the Ball circus/farce will move from Westwood a few miles east to Staples Center. Good luck with that, Magic, you'll need it.

Ball may not even work out for anyone but the Lakers. LaVar is headstrong enough to believe he can strongarm the Cetics into believing they shouldn't draft Lonzo, and Magic is headstrong enough to believe he can manage LaVar. It's gonna be a spectacular success or a spectacular failure. Either way, fun to watch.

Sidebar: All the sports talk guys around town today were breathless in their evaluations of the lottery and their hand wringing over the Lakers potentially losing the pick entirely. It's funny, because they all called the last two draft lotteries the same way ("A FRANCHISE MAKE OR BREAK!!!). The kicker was listening to two idiots stumble their way through the odds by figuring the number of times a team with a bottom 3 record has not received a top 3 pick, and then calling THOSE numbers the odds the Lakers would drop out of the top 3 picks. It was enough to make me eat my old Prob and Stats textbook.

Those guys apparently don't know the correct answer to the question, "If you flip a coin several times and it lands on heads the first five times, what is the probability it will land on heads when you flip it one more time?"

Here's Celtics homer Bill Simmons (writing before the lottery) on the Lakers and Ball:

https://theringer.com/2017-nba-draft-lot...12bc51c4f9

Quote:If the Karma Gods wanted to go full “Spacey Putting Paltrow’s Head In A Box For Brad Pitt” evil with this lottery, maybe they’ll give the Lakers a top-three pick so the Ball family can destroy them from within. What’s in the box? WHAT’S IN THE BOX? It’s LaVar Ball … and he has some thoughts on D’Angelo Russell and how Magic is running the team, coming up next on the Mason and Ireland show!!! Lonzo and LaVar hijacking the dysfunctional Lakers would be the funniest running NBA story in a long time. (Well, unless Lonzo made them great again. Then it wouldn’t be so funny.)

Timberwolves the unluckiest team in the NBA draft lottery. Proven fact. Reaffirmed.

(05-16-2017 10:57 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Those guys apparently don't know the correct answer to the question, "If you flip a coin several times and it lands on heads the first five times, what is the probability it will land on heads when you flip it one more time?"

Here's Celtics homer Bill Simmons (writing before the lottery) on the Lakers and Ball:

https://theringer.com/2017-nba-draft-lot...12bc51c4f9

Quote:If the Karma Gods wanted to go full “Spacey Putting Paltrow’s Head In A Box For Brad Pitt” evil with this lottery, maybe they’ll give the Lakers a top-three pick so the Ball family can destroy them from within. What’s in the box? WHAT’S IN THE BOX? It’s LaVar Ball … and he has some thoughts on D’Angelo Russell and how Magic is running the team, coming up next on the Mason and Ireland show!!! Lonzo and LaVar hijacking the dysfunctional Lakers would be the funniest running NBA story in a long time. (Well, unless Lonzo made them great again. Then it wouldn’t be so funny.)

I don't like Simmons much (nothing to do with his Boston-centric fandom) but this is pretty good - LaVar hijacking the team WOULD be pretty damned entertaining. The Lakers are not what you'd call a very stable organization right now. The Buss family is coming apart, they've got a loved but inexperienced guy in charge of basketball operations, and it looks like they're about to invite a scheming, borderline irrational narcissist into the fold via his kid. If Jerry Buss was still alive the organization could withstand the fallout from a Ball meltdown but I'm afraid the Jeanie/Magic/Pelinka team just isn't equipped for that kind of thing.

(FYI, Mason and Ireland is a local ESPN talk show; Ireland is Lakers radio play-by-play guy.)

Aside: Not sure what Simmons' deal is with the Lakers. They've been terrible for a while now, and the Celtics are playing in the very top tier of the NBA. I certainly am not a Celtics fan but they're hard to hate. Nice guy coach, fun team leader. With Kobe gone I'm not sure what's left to be so gleeful about stepping on a team that is down with the absolute dregs of the NBA and no vision for how it can be anything better than a playoff contender for the foreseeable future. The 80s really left a mark on that guy I guess.

Maybe raw talent rules all, and compels the Lakers to draft Lonzo, but I think if I was in their shoes I'd trade the pick -- assuming they can find a team that wants it.

If I were them I'd be very happy to send the 2nd pick to Indiana for Paul George, but the Pacers would have to be crazy to think the Ball show would play well in Indianapolis.