NBA FINALS 2019 |——| WARRIORS -vs- RAPTORS |——| USA -vs- CANADA

So Kevin Durant just posted this on his IG story. Interesting to see what happens. Y’all think he’ll try to give it another go? pic.twitter.com/vb74ouBmLH

— King of Kings (@TheBrandofMarc) June 11, 2019

This presser got me steamy eyed

Literally everyone pointed out how risky playing on a calf injury is for this specific reason and it happened. Just awful.

— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) June 11, 2019

KD's injury didn't look catastrophic, but you could tell he was grabbing his Achilles, not his calf, when he sat down.

Kyle Lowry’s last shot. Photo by @ScottStrazzante pic.twitter.com/55hU2F4Mjd

— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) June 11, 2019

Lol at the notion that KD should give it another go xp

Kevon Looney's going to be wrecked for months, too.

Klay on half a hammy balling out too. Love these dudes. Even boogie rushing back to give whatever he can.

Looney apparently saying he expects to play game 6.

Fiber flex that collarbone

i broke my collar bone when i was like 8 and the memory of the pain still haunts me so idk what the heck looney thinks he's doing but jeez what a soldier

im definitely not playing any basketball w/a broken collar bone so dont even ask

ILH is so much more rational and hot take-free than the rest of the basketball internet, i love it

lot to say about that game but there’s no way you can watch draymond’s performances the last 2 times the dubs have faced elimination in the finals and tell me you wouldn’t want him on your team

Looney's in a contract year he needs to sit the fuck down

this has also been the best playoff series of steph’s career when considering the stage... he was the total offensive package for a guard tonight. and had a huge rebound to lead to klay’s go ahead 3

2015 finals he was awesome once he figured out how to smoke the Cavs d. He shoulda been mvp. He was crazy in the 1-3 comeback vs the thunder too. He’s been incredible the last two finals as well but got slightly outshined by Kd.

Siakim didn’t play the last 9 minutes tonight?

The Warriors believe Kevin Durant’s MRI on Tuesday will confirm a torn right Achilles’ tendon, league sources tell me and @wojespn

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 11, 2019

this is the darkest timeline

shout out to the "classy" raptors fans who cheered for kd's injury

what a mess they should just reboot the league after this season

Heard a clip this morning of Stephen A. Smith--who I'm guessing is viewed as something of a joke here--ranting about Nurse's timeout after the Raptors went up 6. I thought the timeout was fine: a perfect moment to step back, think about the situation, and set something up that would virtually put the game away (e.g., work off the fact that everyone knew GS would be sending two or three guys at Kawhi). But they evidently came out of the timeout with a plan that began and ended at "do something, Kawhi."

Based on 50 years of watching sports, I'd say the best thing the Raptors have going for them right now is that just when everything seems crystal clear--GS comes back in 7 against a demoralized team that let it slip away--that's when sports throws up something totally unexpected. But this morning feels about as bad as the Jays' exits in '85, '87, and '15.

I have to say, given the postgame scuttlebutt about the decision to bring KD back potentially coming from above Kerr’s pay grade, it reminds you how many competing interests are involved besides the player’s, and it makes Kawhi’s exit from SA a lot more understandable, assuming of course there were similar pressures.

I like Stephen A Smith, performance artist

i did wonder abt that timeout too

seem like it killed the momentum.

i haven't listened to the game audio, but the pub i was at had some cheering when kd went down and i my friend and i both said at the time it was classless. didn't even occur to me how bad it might have sounded in the stadium.

there's a big elephant in the room here, Durant was awesome in the first quarter and the Dubs won by 1. had he not played they would likely have been eliminated. so the "do u regret bringing Durant back" thing has a bit of a subtext

that game was just a survive if you can type game doesnt matter how much you win by.

i broke my collar bone when i was like 8 and the memory of the pain still haunts me so idk what the heck looney thinks he's doing but jeez what a soldier

apart from nerve pain, most painful injury I've had. it affects your whole body. I couldn't walk for prob a week. Sleep was even painful. Even years after it healed, I'd get a bad ache from it occasionally.

"In a rule that was instituted last season, teams can have only two timeouts inside of the final three minutes in the fourth quarter. Any extra timeouts are lost, causing many coaches to call one in exactly the same spot Nurse did Monday night."

Still not a good reason to call a TO with the Warriors flailing imo

there is only one good reason to call a time out
https://img.beckett.com/images/items/3036691/marketplace/FRONT_custom_sf_794_18396258_1405467235.png

I'll stand by the time out. Basically I'd say, "You're six up and two minutes away from a title. Play smart. Play smart. Play smart." I mean, I know they're not supposed to need such reminders, but they sure didn't play very smart those last two minutes.

It also gives Kawhi a breather after his crazy two minutes.

it was a bad timeout but like... pop benched tim duncan on the ray allen shot. idk. a lot of game happened after that.

the most bizarre coaching decision to me was kerr not changing up their defense at all in the fourth quarter and letting cousins get routinely roasted at the top of the key off very simple switching action. i think nurse's one bad decision was far less damaging than kerr like conceding 5 possessions in the fourth Q of an elimination game but he will escape w his reputation intact

kerr's been making weird decisions all series

I think Nurse's reputation is doing just fine. If Kerr quit and the Warriors wanted to hire him, I wouldn't complain.

It's those kinds of weird decisions that make Kerr "a player's coach", meaning among other things that he dislikes making decisions that imply he doesn't trust a player to make important plays. In the 4th quarter of a close NBA Finals elimination game, that is a pretty shaky idea to stand on, but old habits run deep.

I don't have a problem with Kerr leaving Cousins in too long if it means I don't have to see Quinn Cook in fucking crunch time, sheesh

i don't have a problem w/ kerr playing cousins, clearly he was one of their best options and they prob don't win the game w/o his run right after KD got hurt. i just feel like if you're going to run him out there like that you have to have some other plan on defense beyond "let kyle lowry roast him one on one every play"

i guess the warriors have always played like that... kerr let curry get switched onto the ball for 150 straight possessions in those cavs finals. but...

Curry is infinitely better at defense than boog atm

def but curry took a pounding in those series and was never right offensively really. anyway, i guess the warriors have a strategy of letting the opponent hunt a match up bcuz they just think they're better. but i wish them good luck when it comes to busted up boogie guarding guards 25 feet from the rim.

The Warriors have played 'switch everything' defense for several years now. It has worked out well for them so they've stuck to it. This late in the season, a coach doesn't have the option of suddenly installing a whole new defensive scheme, just because they don't have their full complement of players. It makes for a weakness the raptors can exploit, and that's how you play playoff hoops.

This late in the season, a coach doesn't have the option of suddenly installing a whole new defensive scheme

i don't think the history of playoff basketball really supports this theory. i mean in this series alone nick nurse shut steph curry down for a whole quarter w a box and 1

steve kerr is a great coach and it's a lie to say that he's incapable of summoning a different defensive strategy in the elimination game of an NBA finals

xp are you saying the raptors haven't ever played box and 1 before that game?

this seems like a more reasonable explanation

Our @DanFeldmanNBA w/ perspective on Raps fans cheering Durant injury. "Ibaka got a steal and drew a shooting foul as Durant went down... the telecast immediately noticed Durant’s injury, many eyes in the arena were following the ball... I certainly was.https://t.co/ADXCD17kUX

— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) June 11, 2019

i don't think the history of playoff basketball really supports this theory. i mean in this series alone nick nurse shut steph curry down for a whole quarter w a box and 1

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, June 11, 2019 2:53 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah and like it cld just be a change in emphasis rather than doing something totally new

seems like a more reasonable explanation

that would depend on how long the cheering went on.