Post by Keyser Soze on Apr 10, 2024 2:26:10 GMT -6
Who's Hot
The Cinderella story continues for the #7 seed Golden State Warriors as they are headed to the Western Conference Finals. In round 1 they took out the #2 seed Minnesota Timberwolves in a tough seven game series. Then in Round 2 they made easy work of the #6 seed Supersonics, knocking them off in 5 games. They won Game 1 on the road (115-89) in dominating fashion. Speaking of dominant, Anthony had 25 points 24 rebounds 6 blocks. He chopped up Erick Dampier and Michael Olowokandi like the Gabagool in Satriale's. Allen Iverson added 25 points. Game 2 went the same exact way, Warriors came to the Sonics house and beat them so bad all the Seattle fans headed to the parking lot crying their eyeballs out. The final score was 111-75. A 36 point road smackdown. Drazen Petrovic was single handedly the reason for that deficit with 37 points scored. He hit 8 of 11 three pointers. Soprano was once again the force in the paint with 19 points 11 rebounds 5 blocks. Game 3 was played in Golden State, and what do you know? Another blowout victory for the Warriors (113-92). GSW are beating the Seattle out of the Supersonics. They're bout to be known as the Oklahoma City Thunder after the Warriors are done with them. And the Warriors were done with them early in Game 3. They outscored the opposition 30-13 in the 2nd quarter, jumping out to a 21 point 1st half lead. And they never looked back. This time it was Iversons turn to shine with a 30 point 15 assist 11 rebound Triple Double. Also throw in zero turnovers in 42 minutes. Soprano flirted with a Triple Double of his own (14 points 8 rebounds 7 blocks). In Game 4, the Warriors took their foot off the gas. As a result the Sonics were able to win this one (132-115). But it was too little too late, because in Game 5 the Sonics were read their eulogy. The Warriors once again came to Seattle and won (120-117). Now it was Jimmy Jackson's turn, as he lead all scorers with 29 points (10/15 FG, 5/6 3PT). Every night there was a new hero for the team. Incredible balance. They finished the series going a perfect 3-0 in road games. And overall they are now 5-2 on the road during the playoffs. The Road Warriors. Watch out for them. They're gonna come to your house and wreck your Shit next.
Who's Not
The #1 seed in the Western Conference has fallen. The Los Angeles Clippers season is over. It was a great year. They won 58 games. Their highest win total since the Kong era. But they will not be advancing to the Conference Finals, after losing 4-2 in the 2nd round vs Utah. Coming in the Clippers knew they were in for a dog fight. The Jazz are a legitimate star studded team, and the Clips didn't take them lightly. That's why they came out the gates firing. Game 1 LA prevailed with a 122-110 victory. Arvydas Sabonis scored 34 points. Moses Malone had himself a 20-20 Game with 24 points and 21 rebounds. While Jason Williams put together a Triple Double (17 points 13 assists 10 rebounds). It was a great start to the series. But it's not how you start. It's how you finish that counts. In Game 2, LA started to sputter. Defensively they struggled, allowing Utah to shoot 48 % from the field. They let Shawn Marion go off for 37 points. Offensively they scored just 100 points (12 points below their season average). They committed 16 turnovers. 7 of which came from Jason Williams. Who now had 15 turnovers in the first 2 games of the series. Game 3 was the same story. Horrible defense and turnovers resulting in a 134-93 massacre. Utah shot 50 % from the field and Marion scored 52 this time. While Jason Williams had another 4 turnovers (17 total for the team). Dwyane Wade shot a putrid 5/16 from the field. Overall LA shot 41.5 % as a team. The Jazz were now in control of the series up 2-1. Wanna guess what happened in Game 4? You guessed it. Poor defense and turnovers fucked the Clippers once again. They gave up 123 points to Utah in route to a 123-112 loss. Marion scored 38. Pee Wee Kirkland scored 31. As the Clips had no answers for the 1-2 punch. While Jason Williams just keeps turning the damn ball over (5 turnovers). Heading back home down 3-1, LA showed some heart. They came back from a 12 point half time deficit to win 112-110. Of course they still had no answer for Shawn Marion (48 points). But they were able to lock up everybody else. The non-Marion Jazz players combined to shoot 22-66 from the field (33 %). Sabonis had 29/17. Jason Williams had another 4 turnover game, but he off set it with 28 points (11/22 FG). So now the series is at 3-2. Can the Clippers go to Utah and force a Game 7 back in LA? Their defense held their end of the bargain, holding the Jazz to 98 points. 90% of the time if you hold a team under 100, you're gonna win. But not this time. As the Clippers scored 96 points. Causing them to lose this 98-96 heartbreaker. Speaking of breaking hearts. Breaking remotes. Breaking TVs. That's what the Clippers fans all across the country were doing watching Jason Williams (11 points 4/16 FG and 6 turnovers). Jason Williams committed 34 turnovers in 6 games this series (5.6 TPG average). Overall they had 22 turnovers in Game 6, which was more than their team assists (19). Turnovers were an issue during the regular season as well (13.4 TPG, ranked 16th in the league). It hurt them during the regular season, but it killed them in the playoffs. Fixing the turnovers gotta be the #1 priority for the Clippers this off-season. And that's where they're headed. The off-season. Because their postseason is over.
More News Around The League
- After torching the Clippers, Shawn Marion is up to 32.9 PPG during the playoffs. Which ranks him 3rd behind only Ray Allen and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
- Marion might see that average go up even higher in the next round. His Jazz are slated to play the Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. And you gotta ask yourself 1 question. What the hell is about to happen to Jimmy Jackson and his C+ defense? If Marion was scoring 52 on Sabonis, what's he gonna do vs Jimmy? 72?
- But the matchup I'm looking forward to in this Warriors/Jazz series is the point guard matchup. On one side of the ring you have the answer Allen Iverson (GSW). On the other side you have Pee Wee (Jazz) who's averaging 11.7 APG during the playoffs.
- Speaking of point guard matchups. We're about to get another one of LaMelo Ball vs Killian Hayes. Hayes just had a marvelous 29 point 10 assist performance in the Raptors Game 7 victory vs Philadelphia. While LaMelo had a 44 point Triple Double in his series clincher. These two have had a storied rivalry that dates back 7-8 years ago. They haven't seen eachother in the playoffs lately. Until now. LaMelo vs Hayes is back.
- But if you don't care for PG battles, and you're more a fan of the post work. Well the Conference Finals have something special for you. Anthony Soprano vs Karlton Hines. Hines is #4 in the playoffs in rebounding (14.4). While Soprano is #5 (14.3). Soprano is also #3 in BPG (4.4). It's gonna be physical. It's gonna be messier than Alien vs Predator. Guts, blood, human heads. All types of Shit. These two are gonna battle the Shit out of eachother.
- Of the top (or bottom) 10 players in postseason turnovers per game. Zero of them belong to teams that are in the Conference Finals. 7/10 are on teams that were knocked out of the first round. Just like the Clippees learned in Round 2, turnovers are a motherfucker. They lead to nothing good. Stay away from the turnover prone assholes.
- Speaking of assholes. The Knicks have two of the top 3 scorers remaining in the playoffs. Marion as we mentioned of Utah is the highest playoff scorer remaining. The next two are LaMelo (29.7) and Rudy Fernandez (27.8). It's been a nice postseason debut for the Spaniard Fernandez.
- Rudy and the Knicks will have an extremely difficult matchup vs the Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals. Toronto went 3-1 vs New York in the regular season. And won the first 3 head to head matchups. It makes you wonder if Toronto is just a bad matchup for NY, and rheyre primed for the upset victory. Their starting 5 is well put together from top to bottom: Robert Traylor, Alonzo Mourning, Joe Smith, , Brandon Roy, and Killian Hayes.
- One area of stength that the Raptors have over New York is rebounding. Toronto finished the regular season with a +4.2 RPG differential. The Knicks were at -0.3.
- A similar case of strength vs weakness exists in the WCF matchup. The Utah Jazz committed the fewest turnovers in the league during the regular season. While the Warriors were 23rd in the league in turnovers forced.
- Also watch out for the three point shooting in this series. Jazz were #5 in the ITP in 3PT percentage. Warriors were #27 in three point field goal defense.
- Anyways the Conference Finals are set. In the East it's gonna be the New York Knicks vs the Toronto Raptors. In the West it's gonna be the Utah Jazz vs Golden State Warriors. Who you got advancing to the Finals?
The Cinderella story continues for the #7 seed Golden State Warriors as they are headed to the Western Conference Finals. In round 1 they took out the #2 seed Minnesota Timberwolves in a tough seven game series. Then in Round 2 they made easy work of the #6 seed Supersonics, knocking them off in 5 games. They won Game 1 on the road (115-89) in dominating fashion. Speaking of dominant, Anthony had 25 points 24 rebounds 6 blocks. He chopped up Erick Dampier and Michael Olowokandi like the Gabagool in Satriale's. Allen Iverson added 25 points. Game 2 went the same exact way, Warriors came to the Sonics house and beat them so bad all the Seattle fans headed to the parking lot crying their eyeballs out. The final score was 111-75. A 36 point road smackdown. Drazen Petrovic was single handedly the reason for that deficit with 37 points scored. He hit 8 of 11 three pointers. Soprano was once again the force in the paint with 19 points 11 rebounds 5 blocks. Game 3 was played in Golden State, and what do you know? Another blowout victory for the Warriors (113-92). GSW are beating the Seattle out of the Supersonics. They're bout to be known as the Oklahoma City Thunder after the Warriors are done with them. And the Warriors were done with them early in Game 3. They outscored the opposition 30-13 in the 2nd quarter, jumping out to a 21 point 1st half lead. And they never looked back. This time it was Iversons turn to shine with a 30 point 15 assist 11 rebound Triple Double. Also throw in zero turnovers in 42 minutes. Soprano flirted with a Triple Double of his own (14 points 8 rebounds 7 blocks). In Game 4, the Warriors took their foot off the gas. As a result the Sonics were able to win this one (132-115). But it was too little too late, because in Game 5 the Sonics were read their eulogy. The Warriors once again came to Seattle and won (120-117). Now it was Jimmy Jackson's turn, as he lead all scorers with 29 points (10/15 FG, 5/6 3PT). Every night there was a new hero for the team. Incredible balance. They finished the series going a perfect 3-0 in road games. And overall they are now 5-2 on the road during the playoffs. The Road Warriors. Watch out for them. They're gonna come to your house and wreck your Shit next.
Who's Not
The #1 seed in the Western Conference has fallen. The Los Angeles Clippers season is over. It was a great year. They won 58 games. Their highest win total since the Kong era. But they will not be advancing to the Conference Finals, after losing 4-2 in the 2nd round vs Utah. Coming in the Clippers knew they were in for a dog fight. The Jazz are a legitimate star studded team, and the Clips didn't take them lightly. That's why they came out the gates firing. Game 1 LA prevailed with a 122-110 victory. Arvydas Sabonis scored 34 points. Moses Malone had himself a 20-20 Game with 24 points and 21 rebounds. While Jason Williams put together a Triple Double (17 points 13 assists 10 rebounds). It was a great start to the series. But it's not how you start. It's how you finish that counts. In Game 2, LA started to sputter. Defensively they struggled, allowing Utah to shoot 48 % from the field. They let Shawn Marion go off for 37 points. Offensively they scored just 100 points (12 points below their season average). They committed 16 turnovers. 7 of which came from Jason Williams. Who now had 15 turnovers in the first 2 games of the series. Game 3 was the same story. Horrible defense and turnovers resulting in a 134-93 massacre. Utah shot 50 % from the field and Marion scored 52 this time. While Jason Williams had another 4 turnovers (17 total for the team). Dwyane Wade shot a putrid 5/16 from the field. Overall LA shot 41.5 % as a team. The Jazz were now in control of the series up 2-1. Wanna guess what happened in Game 4? You guessed it. Poor defense and turnovers fucked the Clippers once again. They gave up 123 points to Utah in route to a 123-112 loss. Marion scored 38. Pee Wee Kirkland scored 31. As the Clips had no answers for the 1-2 punch. While Jason Williams just keeps turning the damn ball over (5 turnovers). Heading back home down 3-1, LA showed some heart. They came back from a 12 point half time deficit to win 112-110. Of course they still had no answer for Shawn Marion (48 points). But they were able to lock up everybody else. The non-Marion Jazz players combined to shoot 22-66 from the field (33 %). Sabonis had 29/17. Jason Williams had another 4 turnover game, but he off set it with 28 points (11/22 FG). So now the series is at 3-2. Can the Clippers go to Utah and force a Game 7 back in LA? Their defense held their end of the bargain, holding the Jazz to 98 points. 90% of the time if you hold a team under 100, you're gonna win. But not this time. As the Clippers scored 96 points. Causing them to lose this 98-96 heartbreaker. Speaking of breaking hearts. Breaking remotes. Breaking TVs. That's what the Clippers fans all across the country were doing watching Jason Williams (11 points 4/16 FG and 6 turnovers). Jason Williams committed 34 turnovers in 6 games this series (5.6 TPG average). Overall they had 22 turnovers in Game 6, which was more than their team assists (19). Turnovers were an issue during the regular season as well (13.4 TPG, ranked 16th in the league). It hurt them during the regular season, but it killed them in the playoffs. Fixing the turnovers gotta be the #1 priority for the Clippers this off-season. And that's where they're headed. The off-season. Because their postseason is over.
More News Around The League
- After torching the Clippers, Shawn Marion is up to 32.9 PPG during the playoffs. Which ranks him 3rd behind only Ray Allen and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
- Marion might see that average go up even higher in the next round. His Jazz are slated to play the Golden State Warriors in the Conference Finals. And you gotta ask yourself 1 question. What the hell is about to happen to Jimmy Jackson and his C+ defense? If Marion was scoring 52 on Sabonis, what's he gonna do vs Jimmy? 72?
- But the matchup I'm looking forward to in this Warriors/Jazz series is the point guard matchup. On one side of the ring you have the answer Allen Iverson (GSW). On the other side you have Pee Wee (Jazz) who's averaging 11.7 APG during the playoffs.
- Speaking of point guard matchups. We're about to get another one of LaMelo Ball vs Killian Hayes. Hayes just had a marvelous 29 point 10 assist performance in the Raptors Game 7 victory vs Philadelphia. While LaMelo had a 44 point Triple Double in his series clincher. These two have had a storied rivalry that dates back 7-8 years ago. They haven't seen eachother in the playoffs lately. Until now. LaMelo vs Hayes is back.
- But if you don't care for PG battles, and you're more a fan of the post work. Well the Conference Finals have something special for you. Anthony Soprano vs Karlton Hines. Hines is #4 in the playoffs in rebounding (14.4). While Soprano is #5 (14.3). Soprano is also #3 in BPG (4.4). It's gonna be physical. It's gonna be messier than Alien vs Predator. Guts, blood, human heads. All types of Shit. These two are gonna battle the Shit out of eachother.
- Of the top (or bottom) 10 players in postseason turnovers per game. Zero of them belong to teams that are in the Conference Finals. 7/10 are on teams that were knocked out of the first round. Just like the Clippees learned in Round 2, turnovers are a motherfucker. They lead to nothing good. Stay away from the turnover prone assholes.
- Speaking of assholes. The Knicks have two of the top 3 scorers remaining in the playoffs. Marion as we mentioned of Utah is the highest playoff scorer remaining. The next two are LaMelo (29.7) and Rudy Fernandez (27.8). It's been a nice postseason debut for the Spaniard Fernandez.
- Rudy and the Knicks will have an extremely difficult matchup vs the Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals. Toronto went 3-1 vs New York in the regular season. And won the first 3 head to head matchups. It makes you wonder if Toronto is just a bad matchup for NY, and rheyre primed for the upset victory. Their starting 5 is well put together from top to bottom: Robert Traylor, Alonzo Mourning, Joe Smith, , Brandon Roy, and Killian Hayes.
- One area of stength that the Raptors have over New York is rebounding. Toronto finished the regular season with a +4.2 RPG differential. The Knicks were at -0.3.
- A similar case of strength vs weakness exists in the WCF matchup. The Utah Jazz committed the fewest turnovers in the league during the regular season. While the Warriors were 23rd in the league in turnovers forced.
- Also watch out for the three point shooting in this series. Jazz were #5 in the ITP in 3PT percentage. Warriors were #27 in three point field goal defense.
- Anyways the Conference Finals are set. In the East it's gonna be the New York Knicks vs the Toronto Raptors. In the West it's gonna be the Utah Jazz vs Golden State Warriors. Who you got advancing to the Finals?