nba playoffs aka the 'offs (which includes the 'ins) 2021

Chris Paul celebrates PatBev's ejection pic.twitter.com/4xSlFqcy7M

— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) July 1, 2021

this is how i want to remember cp3

man I love this suns team

cousins had a lot of great reactions this game

"I used to be a PatBev fan but this is embarrassing and they should throw the book at him"

Same

pat bev's been hunting for injuries this whole series, his whole career really. I enjoy all the other clown shit he pulls on some level, but hurting people isn't cool

cp3 lying prone on the floor like he was just run over by a truck was a great touch

funny how paul george, jokic, and lebron all didn't stick around to congratulate the suns post-series

Booker and PG had words in the past.

Congrats to the suns. Cool young team way ahead of Schedule you just don’t see that.

Everyone otm re pat bev. I used to be an apologist but he showed his whole ass and now we know what he’s really about.

i missed this game (sad!) but had to look up the pat bev thing and HOLY shit, just drop him from the league

the lil bastard did it 🥺

Chris Paul postgame: "To do it here against the Clippers, this is my family too... Billy Crystal, that's my family."

— Sabreena Merchant (@sabreenajm) July 1, 2021

Crystal is the OG Clippers fan, no?

yeah

the very first one

billy "mr clipper (the first clipper)" crystal

little known fact that in the beginning the Clippers only played on Saturday nights as an homage

funny how paul george, jokic, and lebron all didn't stick around to congratulate the suns post-series

he gave ayton a signed jersey

40-point, no-turnover performances in conference finals (via @Stathead):

Michael Jordan
Shaquille O’Neal
Chris Paul

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) July 1, 2021

those are the types of dudes he’s on like every playoff leaderboard with, so happy he’s finally getting a shot

did jokic come back onto the floor after getting ejected? the signed jersey was awesome

I just think it's interesting that the suns somehow piss off the opposing team's best players over a series so much that by the deciding game, those players either take insane rage-fouls or storm off the court

^maybe because no one thinks they should lose to the Suns

and yet

tbf they were a lottery team for like an entire decade & the last few years they were in dead last in the West, it took me half the season to realize they were actually good and even still I thought they were gonna get massacred by the Lakers

the bubble run was a big clue, in retrospect. but I didn't think they'd beat a healthy lakers team either

I just think it's interesting that the suns somehow piss off the opposing team's best players over a series so much that by the deciding game, those players either take insane rage-fouls or storm off the court

― symsymsym, Thursday, July 1, 2021 9:28 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

CP

well yeah. booker, crowder and payne all talk a lot of shit too

none of them seem to care too much about being friendly w the competition

sun are a lil bit feisty, its nice

Paul's antics aside, I actually think the Suns carry themselves really, really well. I'm sure they talk, but Booker, Bridges and Ayton seem like relatively calm, cool and collected youngsters, and Crowder's wily vet moves are reasonable enough. None of 'em look like Pat Bev, Draymond, Boogie or Luka out there.

Booker in particular has evolved into exactly the kind of guy you want leading your team for 20 years. Talented, obviously, but also tough, even-keeled, willing to do the little stuff, says all the right stuff, seems passionate about team and winning. He may never be Kobe but he's definitely a guy you can hang a franchise on, imo.

otm
Ayton is such a refreshing player in so many ways - personality at the podium as well as how he is reviving some old school big man energy but making it work in the era of hoisting

^^^OTM

but don't know that I want Booker to ever be Kobe

CP3 trolling and flopping is funny at least, it was hard to stomach when he was complaining to the refs on every play during the rockets and late clippers years. fortunately he doesn't do much of that on this suns team.

these suns don't whine much, even when the clippers were getting all the calls.

yeah, i didn't even get into Ayton. that interview with him after the game-winning oop was, honestly, unlike any i've seen in a long time. i don't want to insult him but he just had a sort of child-like gentleness about him that was really endearing. and his improvement has been incredible to watch.

and i didn't mean to imply that i want Booker to ever be Kobe. i just think, like ... he is - especially in the world's eyes - the paragon of the "mentally tough alpha dog team leader" thing that i see shades of in Booker. he'll probably end up being less of an asshole and also a rung or two less talented and accomplished than Kobe was when all is said and done. he's an impressive guy right now, tho.

the Suns in the finals makes me want to be...a better man

xxpost might be easier to do less complaining when you're winning games and not trying to beat an unbeatable team every year

yeah there's a funny discrepancy between this platonic ideal of Kobe that NBA players (and lots of fans) worship and what Kobe was actually like on and off the court

Billy's with the Clippers and the crystal meth...

lol sufjan. love it.

xps re complaining - there was some whining last night, but kinda feel like cp is toning down at least that part of his lil bastardism now that he's the elder statesmen and all these young dudes looking up to him. with blake and later harden they kind of gave each other the implicit green light to act like babies

ayton also had some great interviews in the nuggets series gushing about jokic, same energy

(meaning same energy as his interview after the oop)

suns taking the clippers out would be very funny i support it

― lag∞n, Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:41 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

big revenge series for cp3 which means his quad will rip clean off the bone in game 6

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:56 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol

― lag∞n, Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:59 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

lmao

― i was too much listening to your accent (Spottie), Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:59 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

one more series for CP to shake off the curse for good.

the ayton-jokic mutual adoration is fantastic

otm
Ayton is such a refreshing player in so many ways - personality at the podium as well as how he is reviving some old school big man energy but making it work in the era of hoisting

― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Thursday, July 1, 2021 12:25 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

my man was doing honest to god hook shots in the post last night, the traditional C is BYKE

the degree to which he outplayed gobert in the same match up is pretty shocking

offense > defense

he def outplayed gobert but the jazz were badly outcoached in that series. no one was put in a position to succeed.

yeah if a team is going to basically play only guards and wings, it's gonna be really hard to stop them on offense, that's kinda the whole point. but you need able to hurt them on the other end and ayton could do that. that said, he also moved his feet on the perimeter better and was a more willing/better contester imo. reggie jackson went cold in the second half last night and i thought a lot of it was ayton making jackson shoot over him.