General NBA thread

[jgb191]

Has LeBron "The King" James walked off the court for the last time tonight??   Will he call it a career now? 

Maybe the Lakers might have won the series if Luka had played...remember the last time SGA's OKC team was eliminated from the playoffs was indeed by Luka Doncic.

[KeithE4Phx]

From a FB post I made after the game ended:

OK, LeFlop, how much embarrassment can you take?  Not only did you get swept by OKC tonight, and you weren't the high scorer on your team, but the game wasn't even on TV other than for Amazon Prime subscribers.

Dude, it's time to call it a career and wait your 5 years for the call to the Hall.  That is, unless you are in some kind of a war with Aaron Rodgers to see who can be the washed-up geezer who hangs on the longest for no reason whatsoever.

[Ted$8roadFan]

The Lakers would still have lost to OKC even with Luka - like the Celtics would have lost to the Knicks had they not blown a 3-1 series lead for the first time in their history. But neither would have been swept.

[bing101]

https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-brandon-clarke-dead-18b73f8f89bc727435f8842df56ac374

Brandon Clarke one of the stars of the Memphis grizzlies dead at 29.

[bing101]

https://apnews.com/article/jason-collins-dies-nba-3675a6c2263f9ae6858ccab3982bfbdb

Jason Collin's former NBA star dead at 47.

[jgb191]

For the first time since 2022, the NBA is presenting consecutive MVPs to the same player:  Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA)

The last time since a player won back-to-back MVPs, you have to go all the way back to 2022 when Nikola "The Joker" Jokic won it two years straight (2021 & 2022).

While MVPs are always up for debate virtually every year -- except the 1999-2000 season -- by virtue of the Thunder racking up the best regular season record, SGA is their best player which makes his case in any MVP conversation....doesn't have to necessarily win the award but makes his case for consideration at least.  By the way, I would have voted for the Joker again this year, he is still the best basketball player in the world right now.

Maybe next year Victor Wembanyama looks to be the prime candidate for next year's MVP award.

[Buck87]

The Cavs are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 9th time in franchise history.

And for anyone wondering, it'll be the 3rd appearance without LeBron on the team, and the first of those since 1992.

[NWI_Irish96]

The Cavs are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 9th time in franchise history.

And for anyone wondering, it'll be the 3rd appearance without LeBron on the team, and the first of those since losing to the GOAT in 1992.

[jgb191]

In the de facto NBA Finals, the Spurs take Game One in 2OT.  As much as I would love to see my Spurs win their sixth NBA title, I expect the Thunder to bounce back and take the series in six games.  I predict both teams split the first two games in OKC and split the next two in SA, then the Thunder hold serve at home in Game Five and win a very close, tightly-contested down-to-the wire Game Six in SA to advance to their second consecutive NBA Finals and win their second Larry O'Brien easily in June.

I can't remember a Western Conference Finals that was the actual NBA Finals since Lakers at Kings in 2002.....everybody in the sports world knew the winner of that series was going to win the title.  I expect the same in this year's WCF as well.

[Ted$8roadFan]

It may not have been such a good idea to give SGA his award on the night his team played their archrival.

[jgb191]

Was Game One more a comeback by the Knicks or a choke-job by the Cavs?

I had brought some take-out food from Wingstop and brought it home shortly after the fourth quarter began and turned on the TV and tuned into ESPN to watch the game....to my underwhelming mood by seeing the score, the Cavs were stomping the Knicks in a blowout.  I had thought about changing the channel because I assumed the Cavs would hold-on to the lead (even assuming the Knicks went on a mini-run to reduce their deficit).  But as Jalen Brunson started catching fire, the lead was cut to single-digits, my eyes were super-glued to the game and my mind completely forgot about my hot wings.  By the time the Knicks sealed the game after OT, my food had gone cold and unsalvageable.   

The Knicks finished the game by quadrupling the Cavs' scoring 44-11 since I tuned into the game.  Going to be a lot of sleepless residents in Ohio tonight and probably tomorrow night as well.  I wonder how the Cavs are going to recover from this heartbreaker.

In other news:  Jason Kidd out as Mavericks Head Coach.

[jgb191]

Congrats to the NY Knicks for making it to their first NBA Finals in over a quarter-century; they await the winner between SA & OKC.  Only one potentially major factor in this years NBA Finals is:  How badly/desperately does the NBA want the Knicks to be crowned with the Larry O'Brien trophy?  Stay tuned....we'll all find out the answer to that question next month.  Let's see if "business sense" gets in the way of true competition.

[Max Rockatansky]

Are you suggesting a conspiracy?  Both western conference teams are generally considered to be way better than the Knicks.  Sweeping the Conference Finals and sitting for a sustained period of time might be a problem also.

[jgb191]

Are you suggesting a conspiracy? 

Let's just say I am wary of something possibly brewing.  New York City probably generates more money than OKC and SA combined; and this year could be the NBA's one and only chance to see parade around Madison Square Garden, and with NYC waiting over half-century for a Larry O'Brien trophy.  The league officials could be staring at a "Now or Never" ultimatum.  Or maybe I could be just needlessly worried.

[Max Rockatansky]

Are you suggesting a conspiracy? 

Let's just say I am wary of something possibly brewing.  New York City probably generates more money than OKC and SA combined; and this year could be the NBA's one and only chance to see parade around Madison Square Garden, and with NYC waiting over half-century for a Larry O'Brien trophy.  The league officials could be staring at a "Now or Never" ultimatum.  Or maybe I could be just needlessly worried.

If the NBA was actually rigging games the Knicks would have had lots of championships between now and the 1970s.

[Road Hog]

The Knicks were in position in 1999 and got beat by the Spurs. Looks like history is going to rhyme.

[Max Rockatansky]

The Knicks were in position in 1999 and got beat by the Spurs. Looks like history is going to rhyme.

Those really good Knicks teams in the 1990s also got beat several times by all-time great Chicago Bulls squads.  They absolutely blew it in 1993-1994 when Michael Jordan was out of the way as they lost to the Rockets in the Finals.

[jgb191]

The Knicks were in position in 1999 and got beat by the Spurs. Looks like history is going to rhyme.

The Latrell Sprewell trade was a great trade by the Knicks, even after Patrick Ewing went down with his nagging injuries the Knicks were still able to power their way to the Finals due to Latrell's explosive firepower, even more than Patrick's, and gave the Knicks a new identity as a running team.  Indeed I thought the new Knicks were even more potent on offense since that trade.

[Ted$8roadFan]

The Knicks have beaten the listless Cleveland Cavaliers to make their first finals appearance since 1999.

[jgb191]

It is rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals....New York Knicks at San Antonio Spurs.  The Spurs are well ahead of schedule; no predicted them to make it to the Western Conference Finals, let alone the NBA Finals.

Congrats to the OKC Thunder for making it this far in the playoffs; they have been extremely dominant at home the last three playoffs, having only lost a total of six home playoffs games since 2023 -- four of those six against Texas teams (twice vs Mavs in 2024, and twice more this month vs Spurs).