Series Thread: 2nd Round:Portland Trail Blazers (44-38) vs Golden State Warriors (73-9)

[LAD]

Not excuses.... Just facts. The league has admitted that crucial calls at the end of both game 2 and game 5 were blown in favor of the Thunder. Calls which very may have flipped the outcome in there favor. I have no complaints about the other games. Just those 2.

And we just watched a game where the officiating was just as bad....but they didn't let the refs determine their outcome.

NO EXCUSES.

 

[Kingspoint]

Lillard once again shot them right out of this game. While for most of the season he trusted his teammates, he (and McCollum) didn't show faith in the rest of the team when all of them shot better than they did throughout the playoffs.

Olshey added 10 players to four that remained and played this year (Crabbe, Leonard, Lillard and McCollum) for the sole purpose of spreading the minutes around so they could evaluate this Summer, who to keep and who to replace and repeat the process. They were supposed to have a high 1st Rd pick (originally projected to be 4th worst) to add to next years group along with whoever could be added in FA.

They couldn't have gotten a better opportunity to evaluate them, while building a confidence in the team that will make them hungry for another playoff run.

Congratulations to the Warriors. I will be rooting for them in the next two rounds.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Steph now has a lot of rest before they face the Spurs...

...or Thunder.

 

[Kingspoint]

Not only did Portland give the Warriors their worst loss of the year, but they also gave the Cavs their worst loss of they year. Lillard had to sit for 7 games in December because of his Plantar Fasciitis, which he played through all season, and they lost the first 3 games, but won the next 4, including the game where they buried the Cavs without Lillard as the rest of the team got to shoot and touch the ball a lot more on Offense, which led to more energy on Defense. Lillard came back and fit into the team, but with his arch pain gone and a month of home games ahead without a single back-to-back, he went on his 20-game spree where he averaged 30 per night on efficient shooting. Leonard missed all of that because of a dislocated shoulder (Boris Diaw did it on purpose while standing at the free throw line waiting to rebound), so Vonleh was able to be on the floor obtaining a 1000 minutes of fantastic experience. They put him where he'd do the least damage,...with four starters for the first six minutes of each half. They sacrificed the development of Harkless, obviously far more advanced at any point during the season. Harkless was yo-yo'd with his playing time more than anyone, but in the end, got about 1300 minutes counting the playoffs. Crabbe had 2000, speeding up his development. McCollum had nearly 3000. Plumlee had 2000, while Davis had about 1500. Leonard still had 1100, while Aminu had about 2600. Still have no idea what we have in Leonard.

 

[LAD]

Not only did Portland give the Warriors their worst loss of the year, but they also gave the Cavs their worst loss of they year. Lillard had to sit for 7 games in December because of his Plantar Fasciitis, which he played through all season, and they lost the first 3 games, but won the next 4, including the game where they buried the Cavs without Lillard as the rest of the team got to shoot and touch the ball a lot more on Offense, which led to more energy on Defense. Lillard came back and fit into the team, but with his arch pain gone and a month of home games ahead without a single back-to-back, he went on his 20-game spree where he averaged 30 per night on efficient shooting. Leonard missed all of that because of a dislocated shoulder (Boris Diaw did it on purpose while standing at the free throw line waiting to rebound), so Vonleh was able to be on the floor obtaining a 1000 minutes of fantastic experience. They put him where he'd do the least damage,...with four starters for the first six minutes of each half. They sacrificed the development of Harkless, obviously far more advanced at any point during the season. Harkless was yo-yo'd with his playing time more than anyone, but in the end, got about 1300 minutes counting the playoffs. Crabbe had 2000, speeding up his development. McCollum had nearly 3000. Plumlee had 2000, while Davis had about 1500. Leonard still had 1100, while Aminu had about 2600. Still have no idea what we have in Leonard.

The Warriors bigs took plumlee's lunch money in this series. At one point it looked like he was afraid to go in the paint even when no one was guarding him. SMH.

 

[bksballer89]

With Curry ridiculous shot making ability late in games, I feel like teams need to double him just to force the ball out of his hands. Can't make him beat you late in a close game. I would feel much better if Barnes or Iggy is making these 3's instead of Steph or Klay

 

[Shanemansj13]

With Curry ridiculous shot making ability late in games, I feel like teams need to double him just to force the ball out of his hands. Can't make him beat you late in a close game. I would feel much better if Barnes or Iggy is making these 3's instead of Steph or Klay

Yeah double him or just force him to take a 2 and this Portland team did a terrible job on the pick-and-roll. The teams remaining are much better. I cant believe Portland was 16-24 on the road this year bc they didn't look like a terrible road team in this series, most of the games were close.

 

[The Oldtimer]

And we just watched a game where the officiating was just as bad....but they didn't let the refs determine their outcome.

NO EXCUSES.

Totally agree. If one were to dissect every play of every game, they would see quite a few blown calls. No excuses, don't let the refs determine their outcome.

 

[Krispy Treat]

I think it's time I move McCollum higher on my grab list in fantasy basketball next year.

 

[The Oldtimer]

This series was pretty telling tho. I watched most of it. If Portland could hang with the Warriors and almost push them to 6 games, a better team like the Thunder or Cavs should give them more of a fight. This team isn't invinceable.

I agree, but remember Curry didn't play the first two games of this series. Yes like Curry said last night, the Warriors have to play better in the next series. If it's the Thunder it's really going to be a dogfight, as they are very athletic.

 

[CitySushi]

Portland was such a challenge to the Warriors that I'm glad they had to play them. Make no mistake, if Portland can acquire 1 or two other key pieces they're going to be a tough team for years to come. Stotts did an unbelievable job with his adjustments and match ups for the Warriors. They gave them everything the Warriors could handle.

Portland had the best outside shooting, aside from the Warriors in the Western Conference playoffs. They provided a real test to our defense and I think we'll be sharper because of this. Generally this year the Warriors have struggled the most against teams with quick guards or athletic wings (Portland, Milwaukee, Boston).

This was important to close out this game because of the amount of injuries piling up. Livingston wasn't on his game last night and I think the rest will do him well. Bogut is out for a while with that hamstring pull, which is going to be pretty significant no matter who the Warriors play next round. Draymond had his ankle tweak, which according to his mom has been lingering for a few games now. Steph obviously could use more rest. Klay is probably in the best shape on the team but after asking him to be the primary scorer and defender against Portland, it's nice to give him some rest as well.

Overall even though this series ended short, it was still the best of the playoffs to date.

 

[Kold]

With Curry ridiculous shot making ability late in games, I feel like teams need to double him just to force the ball out of his hands. Can't make him beat you late in a close game. I would feel much better if Barnes or Iggy is making these 3's instead of Steph or Klay

I mean, that's what I do in 2K and it works fairly well...

 

[Robotech]

With Curry ridiculous shot making ability late in games, I feel like teams need to double him just to force the ball out of his hands. Can't make him beat you late in a close game. I would feel much better if Barnes or Iggy is making these 3's instead of Steph or Klay

Curry seems to score 90% of the time when a big mam is guarding him on the perimeter. Teams have to avoid that switch as much as possible. What's amazing is that it seems like it's not the threat of the drive that creates space (because I think that the big man would be content to let Curry drive and funnel him to another defender) so much as it is the quick lateral movements that Curry does behind the 3 point line. The big man simply can't keep Curry in front of him. It's almost like a great boxer with great footwork except that Curry also has to dribble at the same time.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Overall even though this series ended short, it was still the best of the playoffs to date.

The OKC-SA series ain't too shabby either....

 

[Robotech]

The OKC-SA series ain't too shabby either....

LOL, we probably need that series to get better and go to a Game 7, as we got some guys banged up.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

LOL, we probably need that series to get better and go to a Game 7, as we got some guys banged up.

Guess we'll find out tonight....

 

[gordontrue]

Crazy stat.

Blazers held the lead for 137 minutes in this series.
Warriors held the lead for 95 minutes... and half of that came in their wire-to-wire game 1 victory.

All that matters is who has the lead at the end of the game, though, and the Warriors have been the best at finishing games all year long.

 

[CitySushi]

Crazy stat.

Blazers held the lead for 137 minutes in this series.
Warriors held the lead for 95 minutes... and half of that came in their wire-to-wire game 1 victory.

All that matters is who has the lead at the end of the game, though, and the Warriors have been the best at finishing games all year long.

The Blazers overall out played the Warriors for much of the series. What we saw was just a lack of experience on Portland's part and a bit of seasoning on the Warriors end. The Warriors never lost their composure even after Portland constantly built up big leads. Hopefully the Warriors start out of the gates faster in their next series because against OKC/Spurs, you can't keep putting yourself in catch-up games.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Crazy stat.

Blazers held the lead for 137 minutes in this series.
Warriors held the lead for 95 minutes... and half of that came in their wire-to-wire game 1 victory.

All that matters is who has the lead at the end of the game, though, and the Warriors have been the best at finishing games all year long.

The Blazers overall out played the Warriors for much of the series. What we saw was just a lack of experience on Portland's part and a bit of seasoning on the Warriors end. The Warriors never lost their composure even after Portland constantly built up big leads. Hopefully the Warriors start out of the gates faster in their next series because against OKC/Spurs, you can't keep putting yourself in catch-up games.

That is interesting, however, had Curry played in the 1st 3 games of the series, I'm sure the 137-95 lead per minutes would have been more evened out, or tilted in the warriors favor....that being said..the dynamics of the their next opponent will be totally different than that of the Blazers. Both have pretty deep benches, are more fundamentally sound,and more experienced... so I don't see that series being so helter skelter, chaotic or frantic.

 

[CitySushi]

That is interesting, however, had Curry played in the 1st 3 games of the series, I'm sure the 137-95 lead per minutes would have been more evened out, or tilted in the warriors favor....that being said..the dynamics of the their next opponent will be totally different than that of the Blazers. Both have pretty deep benches, are more fundamentally sound,and more experienced... so I don't see that series being so helter skelter, chaotic or frantic.

The fact still remains the Blazers out played the Warriors. You can't use "Steph was out" as a defense of that. The Warriors from a talent perspective were still superior to the Blazers, even without Steph being there. The Blazers provided a great challenge to the Warriors because of their offensive fire power.