My Suns are looking to go one better than last year and win it all, and that extra experience from last season's run will stand them in good stead, with Ayton stepping up more, Booker looking even better than last year, and Bridges being an absolute defensive monster, all complimenting CP3.
Oh and Jar Crowder starts too, the only man in NBA History to post up a playoff Quadruple Single!
I watched the Nets v Celtics the other night, brilliant game. East i think is wide open, no stand out side at all. Bucks as holders will be very tough to beat over 7 games, but i think if the Celtics can beat the Nets and get Robert Williams back for round 2 they've got a great chance. I think whoever comes out of that half of the east draw will go to the finals.
In the west i can't see beyond a Suns v Warriors final. Warriors are firing right now, with Poole emerging alongside Steph and Klay, so they'll be tough to beat. Steve Kerr has a (good) dilemma on whether to start all 3 though.
Suns v Bucks final again IMO, Milwaukee still have another gear to find. Williams III back for Boston would indeed make it very interesting but I think Milwaukee would still beat them in 7.
There will probably be an injury or two and changes of course along the way though. Am looking forward to seeing GSW's strongest lineup when they next feature on Sky.
Suns lose to the Pelicans and Booker goes off with a hamstring injury. Doesn't sound too serious, but pressure will be on if he doesn't make game 3 and they lose.
Embiid and Khris Middleton look out for their 2 series unfortunately.
So I would go for Miami v Boston and GSW v Phoenix in the finals, but those 2 ties in the west feel particularly close. Memphis have a good record against Golden State.
I'm absolutely shocked at that Suns performance. Where do they go from here? Especially with Chris Paul's age.
At least Milwaukee were away and missing a big player.
Even without Middleton I didn’t see it being as comfortable for Boston as it turned out to be. Saying that, the Celtics were just nailing shots from everywhere and putting so much scoring pressure on.
Closely follow the both the Bucks due to having family from Wisconsin sending me all kind of merchandise for younger years birthday/Christmas presents, and the Warriors. Now I’ll go to my second team and hope Golden State pull it off. After all with how shite Charlton have been I want to experience glory somewhere.
Boston for me are the better team. Smart and Horford missed game 1 but return for game 2 and Boston win easy. Even with a weaker team i think Boston should've won game 1 but had a shocker in the 3rd quarter and threw it away.
Agree. I don’t think Dallas have enough outside of Doncic to really hurt GS. Doncic also spent most of the first half stretching out his right shoulder. Anyone seen anything re injury concern? Can he really carry Dallas to 4wins? Likewise in the East it’s almost like can Butler carry against a team that has Smart, Williams and Tatum all playing at a high level?
Guess Dallas took it personally. Brunson and Bullock shooting at a high level. Officials have been awful for both teams and so far GS are getting too wound up by calls going against them; Dallas handling it better.
Indeed. Dallas were scoring at a ridiculously high rate in the first. Difficult to sustain that. Warriors should’ve kept Draymond off for longer, he was just asking to be fouled out as early as the second quarter!
Klay Thompson waiting until game 6 to spark, he’s been very quiet by his standards.
Warriors up 103-100 with 6 minutes left of the game, then somehow went 5 minutes without scoring a point and the Celtics hit everything to steal the win in a game they should've been buried in.
For me questions should be asked of Steve Kerr as he really does make some strange decisions at times. Curry was shooting like a mad man in the first quarter hitting almost every 3 and was red hot.......so Kerr then sits him for half the second quarter and he lost all his momentum. Then he started the 4th quarter with half the bench.
It’s the finals, you surely don't really need to worry so much about rest. These guys often play every 2 days during the season and sometimes play on back to back nights, but in the finals here they play every 3 days. Get the game sewn up and then rest them late on if you have to.
Kerr is a great coach. The Celtics were just surreal towards the end of the 4th quarter. They sunk every 3 pointer. Surreal. Will they be able to keep that up? They’ll probably need to if they are to beat the Warriors. I thought both teams played well but that final 4 or 5 minutes from the Celtics was unbelievable.
Is he a great coach or a lucky coach? He's obviously good but he's fortunate that he took charge at a time when the Warriors had 3 future hall of famers all coming through together. A coach can only be as good as his players, hence they were terrible when Steph and Klay were injured the last 2 seasons.
Would he have been called a great coach if (for example) he'd taken over the Knicks?
That’s a good question and who knows what he would have done with the Knicks. But he is a very good man manager and tactically he’s very aware. He was the Head Coach of the USA Olympics team so he’s gaining a reputation. I think the Warriors have a gem with Steve Kerr.
A much better game tonight for the Warriors. Their defensive game was huge this evening. That was the major difference over the other night. The Celtics just couldn’t get their 3 point game going.
Great win but i kind of expected it. In closely matched series, home teams who lose game 1 nearly always tend to come back firing in game 2 as you can't head into the 2 away games 2-0 down.
You're right the Warriors were superb on defense, way too many turnovers from Boston. Also some of the 3s Curry and Poole hit were outrageous as well.
Interestingly, all 3 of Curry, Thompson and Green were drafted by the Warriors a few years before their 2015 win but it was only when Kerr joined in 2014 that they really started putting things together. Their coach before him was Mark Jackson who’s now the finals commentator.
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I can fully see why American's thought you were mad though, as behind Lebron he's probably the most famous basketball player currently playing.
But then if you asked the average American if they'd heard of Kane, Foden or Grealish they'd probably say no.
In the west i can't see beyond a Suns v Warriors final. Warriors are firing right now, with Poole emerging alongside Steph and Klay, so they'll be tough to beat. Steve Kerr has a (good) dilemma on whether to start all 3 though.
There will probably be an injury or two and changes of course along the way though. Am looking forward to seeing GSW's strongest lineup when they next feature on Sky.
So I would go for Miami v Boston and GSW v Phoenix in the finals, but those 2 ties in the west feel particularly close. Memphis have a good record against Golden State.
Dallas Mavericks destroyed Phoenix and will play GSW.
Boston did the same to the Bucks and will play Miami.
At least Milwaukee were away and missing a big player.
NBA: Steph Curry helps Golden State Warriors fight back to beat Dallas Mavericks
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/basketball/61533330
Warriors up 103-100 with 6 minutes left of the game, then somehow went 5 minutes without scoring a point and the Celtics hit everything to steal the win in a game they should've been buried in.
It’s the finals, you surely don't really need to worry so much about rest. These guys often play every 2 days during the season and sometimes play on back to back nights, but in the finals here they play every 3 days. Get the game sewn up and then rest them late on if you have to.
Would he have been called a great coach if (for example) he'd taken over the Knicks?
You're right the Warriors were superb on defense, way too many turnovers from Boston. Also some of the 3s Curry and Poole hit were outrageous as well.