The 2022 National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs Thread

we might be having a moment for team basketball who knows giannis finally got going in the 3rd quarter of game two the other night but then was totally gassed in the 4th, maybe the physical demands of the current game are just too much for stars to really run things, and thats giannis who is prob the most physically capable player in the league, obvs the bucks are down middleton but that kinda just highlights the issue, celtics have two stars but they run a more team oriented offense as do the suns theres not much give a guy the ball and let him go to work stuff like the bucks do with giannis in the high post, or i guess this could just be two undermanned teams going against two really good defenses idk interesting dynamic tho

pretty clear the luka centric offense will never win a chip mavs need to figure stuff out which is hard since on any individual play being luka centric makes a lot of sense, luka offense is for instance more successful than trae or harden centrism

the one serious harden run him and cp3 were taking turns driving

interesting argument for eurocentrism

lol

In the second half, Milwaukee switched Antetokounmpo onto White and gave him the job of pressuring White up the floor. Now, there are absolutely no stats to back this up, but Giannis guarding 94 feet for multiple possessions in a row, while trying to create all of the Bucks offense, had him looking absolutely gassed by early in the fourth quarter.

interesting decision

yeah not sure i get that.

pretty clear the luka centric offense will never win a chip mavs need to figure stuff out which is hard since on any individual play being luka centric makes a lot of sense, luka offense is for instance more successful than trae or harden centrism

would def be helpful but they need a different system too IMHO and the players to run it ball movement playmaking and so forth, maybe bruson and dinwiddie are good enough for that, add some shooting maybe a paint protecting rim running center type and it could work

you could play a democratic offense for three quarters then have luka stage a coup in the fourth

i think they stumbled on the right system for luka this year. have 2 other guys aside from him who can create shots but can also play off the ball w/ him, play mobile bigs preferably ones who can shoot, and get as many 3 and D wings as you can. now they just have to find some better talent, which is the hard part

there’s some guys i feel like they could target this offseason. i wonder if they could take olynyk off detroit’s hands. myles turner is also a guy who i think would be great for them. i could see them as a spot for any of the hawks cast offs (huerter etc). bogdanovic from the jazz if utah’s starts selling stuff off. the front office will have to get creative of course but i think they have a template now.

the stuff about them targeting gobert scares me
tho

Luka's usage rate against the Jazz definitely looked lower, they really benefitted from him being able to pick his spots and other guys stepping up. But the suns have much better perimeter defenders. I guess the current Mavs system is well-designed to pick apart the Jazz's specific defensive deficiencies and won't match up as well with a lot of other good teams.

bucks ditching the huge portis lineup

The Bucks are going with a new starting lineup today:
Jrue Holiday
Grayson Allen
Wesley Matthews
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Brook Lopez

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) May 7, 2022

the stuff about them targeting gobert scares me
tho

his contract is brutal tho 4 years of $40m+

it’ll be interesting to see how brunson’s off-season goes. dallas would have to pay him something in the 20M/year range for an extension, and while he’s a solid young player who could continue to improve as a secondary playmaker, that’s a lot of money to commit to a guy with the intention of having him as a core piece for a potential championship window

bucks and celtics both look asleep

there are rumours that carlisle loves brunson so a move to the pacers could be on the cards. im not sure if there would be any room for myles turner to go to the mavs in sign and trade or what

He’s a great fit!

If the Mavs don't mind blowing through the cap and paying beaucoup luxury tax.

lol k-mid has the best style

celtics need to keep this close

tatum needs to find a way to make an impact offensively

man tough defense on both sides so far

dont really understand this challenge

second game in a row with a bad one from bud

yeah keeping this up for 4 quarters is going to be something

this presumptive play review is quashed by….. chipotle

_the stuff about them targeting gobert scares me
tho_


He’s a great fit!

certainly seen flagrants for less than what giannis did to tatum

oh come on that was a completely normal foul

he trucked him bro, elbow to the face to boot

on a vulnerable player

jrue isn’t the prettiest player but he’s a fucking magician if you ask me

jrues a great defender but pretty limited offensively hes struggling pretty hard trying to step up into middletons #2 scorer spot

refs babysitting giannis

league really wants to make sure there's a giannis game, makes sense

smh no one cares about giannis

never mind i guess the refs changed their minds and decided fouls exist now

they got the word that giannis is not famous

that was a fuckin grind

great way to end it for the celtics, giannis with 3 fouls, going up 4

as good as the d has been both teams left a lot of points on the table, just terrible shooting

i mean you all saw it, not sure why i’m doing a recap lol

unless the bucks start hitting threes — and they haven’t had many wide open looks, to my eyes — it feels like giannis is gonna have to put up a 45-15 kinda game to carry them here, not sure where the answers are coming from otherwise.

The Celtics are shooting 6/16 in the paint and are somehow leading 50-46 at halftime. If Grant missed that last shot, both teams would be 3/18 from deep, which is wht Bucks shot in Game 2. Absolute blood bath of a game so far. Celtics 16/17 from the line, 3 fouls on Giannis.

— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) May 7, 2022

oh my god you guys watching on yet NBA app this middle aged lady on the unicycle is incredible - she did this in boston

what she does shoud not be possible

tracer you can blog here! i can’t really abandon baby to watch this so it helps.

yeah thats red panda one of the true stalwarts of nba halftime

i mean you all saw it, not sure why i’m doing a recap lol