ITS THE OFFS BABY THE 2023 NBA PLAYOFFS

well this rules

so what’s minnesota’s plan for competing in this series

seems like the kind of game where a few very key things have gone wrong for the nuggets (foul trouble for their bigs primarily) and yet they’re up 25

it feels like they’re shooting 50% from three but it’s only 40%

not sure kyle anderson was really the good guy in the gobert exchange…

Not bad pic.twitter.com/MPJ7dsTOQP

— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) April 17, 2023

nuggets defense out here holding the wolves offense to the 0th percentile. the ohth!!

I’m having a good time but I am very ok with taking the key guys out now

so naturally malone subs jokic back in up 30 with less than 8 minutes left. and jokic all but picks up 2 immediate fouls on purpose and fouls out. he’s seen enough

not sure kyle anderson was really the good guy in the gobert exchange…

― J0rdan S., Sunday, April 16, 2023 9:39 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

he's def got a short fuse / sharp tongue

one of these russ interactions is not gonna end well.

@Suns we’re gonna need better security. pic.twitter.com/AIF6ND2xQX

— Blake Christopher (@BCH66223) April 17, 2023

wtf

J0rdan S. at 11:34 16 Apr 23

so what’s minnesota’s plan for competing in this series


Naz going down was tough, but with Jaden out they never had a slight chance, which would have been slight even with him

was wondering what russ was doing in that lounge and well he was taking a shortcut lol

I'm sure you've seen the Russell Westbrook/#Suns fan interaction by now, but visiting players have been going through the club area to the visiting lockerroom all season.

It's been used as a short cut to the visiting lockerroom. #ClipperNation #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/HGpOUu0105

— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) April 17, 2023

was thinking he went back there to track the guy down for some shit he said courtside but no seems like the guy said something while he walked past which is much more reasonable from the russ pov

cannot imagine eating some halftime snacks on a couch and heckling a very powerful and combustable nba player from ten feet away lol, personal safety issues aside its just very rude

wonder what he said

Clippers don't need plays. Kwahi scored 38 pts and, per the ringer article, "According to Second Spectrum, all of Leonard’s 24 field goal attempts were contested and 16 were not assisted by a teammate"

feels like their strategy for winning the series begins and ends w/ kawhi putting the whole team on his back. not like they have much other choice

theyve got a depth advantage to leverage need to play fast and physical

arent kawhi teams slow paced tho?

he does play quite deliberately but theres no reason the other guys cant speed it up tho tbf many of them are pretty slow too still i think they should try their best

watched the fourth q of suns-clippers

the clippers weren’t exactly playing the greatest defensive line up known to man but in a shocking turn of events the suns have a very easy time getting good shots in crunch time. i also thought they looked good defensively at the end too. booker being above average at D + KD means they have a pretty strong defensive backbone out there w/ their main 4 while also being elite or close to it offensively

i thought the stuff that killed them was just like… new team stuff. leaving guys incl kawhi wide open for threes off scramble type plays & offensive rebounds. not all out gang rebounding. in general rebounding seems like their biggest flaw to me… they’re a small team and ayton is only an ok rebounder for a guy his size. they were def getting outhustled by russ & there was some bad bounce luck, but i also thought russ exposed phx’s size/athleticism a bit. their guards are small, they’re kinda small at forward too, and ayton plays smaller than he is

all that said tho i’m still looking at a crunch time 5 of kawhi + westbrook, mann, gordon & zubac and thinking this is still a pretty tall task for the board man. even w PG hurt their roster has really gone backwards in the last year or two

they are at a talent disadvantage for sure but the lack of cohesion from the suns, a weak bench and shaky coaching gives them a chance.

the minutes situation for the suns is very worrying feel like cp3 and kd will probably die if it continues

they will perish

the west doesn't have the highest ceiling teams, but it does have a lot of teams with depth. i don't see how phoenix is going to get through multiple series where they lose every bench minute.

In Game 1, Miami had the 5th best shotmaking game of any playoff team in the past 10 years, as far as actual eFG over expected eFG.

But Milwaukee also had the best shotmaking game on *two pointers* of any playoff team in the past 10 years.

— Couper Moorhead (@CoupNBA) April 17, 2023

thats nuts

bucks only shot 50% from two too heats d was everywhere

they deserve eachother

Game 1 Bucks are a weird phenomenon they come out so flat every time idk why they can't seem to fix it

in other news looks like the MRI on Giannis came back clean, so he'll probably be back for Game 2. would be nice if they can take care of business as the 1 seed and give him some time off

Sixers are just stone cold so far - not even close on their 3s.

Maxey just scored 7 quick points to right the ship.

feel like this is the least competitive series sixers dont have to adjust to the nets at all they can just play their game

Really sloppy game so far.

Refs on a heater.

i think the nets are showing the blueprint on how to attack the sixers in this game. spread them out, make them run a lot on defense, shoot threes, swarm on D, make embiid pass to role players, and run in transition off rebounds

Dunno how widely it's been remarked on but this offs is the first ever to feature all 4 California teams.

and the first to feature zero texas teams since they got three

california uber alles

damn not sure i’ve ever seen someone smash one on embiid like cam johnson just did

lol embarrassing and he talked to him after

have no idea why the nets are doubling embiid on the catch at the 3pt line sixers can just swing the ball and get a good look at least make him get to a spot where hes dangerous

You had to think the Sixers weren't going to shoot 25% from 3 given the wide open shots they were getting. Nice ball movement this half.

also one of the keys to beating embiid is making him work and hes not working if hes just swinging it around the perimeter

steaming pile of shit kinda game from harden tonight

if you double when embiid goes into his move he has a tendency to turn it over too

Yeah, Harden just a mess. Maxey on the other hand saving their bacon this game.

grant hill asking the question on everyones mind why arent the sixers putting embiid on the low block he says its cause its easier to double there wrong theyre not doing it cause they dont have to

that foul maxey just got on johnson — the ball handler careening into the defender’s space when they’re parallel with each other — shouldn’t be a foul and happens like 5 times per game