NBA Finals

ChiRish

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Anyone else watching? As a bulls fan, it brings me great pleasure to see LBJ no show the 4th quarter again. Durant absolutely dominated. This game was awesome, and the series is going to be epic.
 

KPENN

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The Thunder are gonna eat the Heat alive in transition. Seriously if you can't figure it out against Rondo and 3 old dudes then it ain't gonna happen against OKC.

Also it would be amazing to watch Durant knock the Heat out. I don't like to many NBA players but he is awesome
 

yankeeND

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Game was great, had to leave before the 4th qtr. Got home saw the final score, can you say meltdown? Unbelievable, Durant is for real!
 

ChiRish

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Seriously. I love watching Miami lose. I especially love watching Durant go off in the 4th, while LBJ does nothing.
 

NDinL.A.

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Durant straight killed it..love seeing LJ lose..

I used to agree with you guys...I've rooted against LeBron James harder than any athlete I've ever rooted against.

But in this play-offs, hell, this whole season, he's playing at a completely insane level. I'm the biggest Kobe fan alive, but I've gotta give LBJ his props for taking basketball excellence to a different level (save for the 4th quarter, that is).

But that's not why I feel for LBJ. I feel for him because his team just isn't very good..at all really. Wade must be banged up (knee). because he disappears for GAMES at a time, and Bosh is banged up as well. That leaves Lebrick with a spot-up 3 point shooter in Battier, a serviceable pg in Chalmers, and NOTHING else. Boston had a much more cohesive unit, and OKC? Forget about it - they are MUCH better than the Heat's collective unit.

Why it sucks to be LeBron is that he'll put up 30 and 12, and yahoos like Skip Bayless STILL put the loss on him. And yes, he's tanked in the 4th quarters (will he ever get over that hump), but this play-offs, I don't blame him - the dude's gotta be friggin' exhausted!!! Spoelstra has him guarding everyone from Rondo to KG, has him carry the team on his shoulders through 3 quarters offensively, and then never takes him out of the 2nd half! This entire playoffs LeBron has to be averaging 45 minutes a game (played 46 mins last night). There's no way a human being, after playing a condensed schedule in the most statistically dominating season ever played in modern basketball, can then be expected to carry his inferior team night after night after night without hardly any breaks, and be expected not to get tired. Just look at him in the 2nd halves of games - he physically looks worn the hell out. Well done Coach!

Now, LeBrick brought this hate on himself, no doubt. But for the first time in his career, I actually feel for the guy. He plays his arse off every night, and still gets the 'heat' if they lose despite Wade sucking for much of this playoffs.

Oh, and Durant = unbelievably clutch superstar. What a beast. He too played 46 minutes, but fortunately for him, throughout the playoffs and the throughout the year, he hasn't had to be superhuman every night for his team to win, so he looks much fresher. Hopefully he'll bring home his first title.
 

Who'saWildManNow

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I used to agree with you guys...I've rooted against LeBron James harder than any athlete I've ever rooted against.

But in this play-offs, hell, this whole season, he's playing at a completely insane level. I'm the biggest Kobe fan alive, but I've gotta give LBJ his props for taking basketball excellence to a different level (save for the 4th quarter, that is).

But that's not why I feel for LBJ. I feel for him because his team just isn't very good..at all really. Wade must be banged up (knee). because he disappears for GAMES at a time, and Bosh is banged up as well. That leaves Lebrick with a spot-up 3 point shooter in Battier, a serviceable pg in Chalmers, and NOTHING else. Boston had a much more cohesive unit, and OKC? Forget about it - they are MUCH better than the Heat's collective unit.

Why it sucks to be LeBron is that he'll put up 30 and 12, and yahoos like Skip Bayless STILL put the loss on him. And yes, he's tanked in the 4th quarters (will he ever get over that hump), but this play-offs, I don't blame him - the dude's gotta be friggin' exhausted!!! Spoelstra has him guarding everyone from Rondo to KG, has him carry the team on his shoulders through 3 quarters offensively, and then never takes him out of the 2nd half! This entire playoffs LeBron has to be averaging 45 minutes a game (played 46 mins last night). There's no way a human being, after playing a condensed schedule in the most statistically dominating season ever played in modern basketball, can then be expected to carry his inferior team night after night after night without hardly any breaks, and be expected not to get tired. Just look at him in the 2nd halves of games - he physically looks worn the hell out. Well done Coach!

Now, LeBrick brought this hate on himself, no doubt. But for the first time in his career, I actually feel for the guy. He plays his arse off every night, and still gets the 'heat' if they lose despite Wade sucking for much of this playoffs.

Oh, and Durant = unbelievably clutch superstar. What a beast. He too played 46 minutes, but fortunately for him, throughout the playoffs and the throughout the year, he hasn't had to be superhuman every night for his team to win, so he looks much fresher. Hopefully he'll bring home his first title.

Good points.. LBJ just looked exhausted in the 4th last night. In fact the whole team did. I noticed a handful of times in the 4th where a heat player should have been diving for a ball or hustling to steal a mishandled ball and they just didn't.

OKC was playing smart and tactical in the last 10 minutes while the Heat played sloppy, slow and uninspired.

Durant is unstoppable too.. I mean wow.
 

ChiRish

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I used to agree with you guys...I've rooted against LeBron James harder than any athlete I've ever rooted against.

But in this play-offs, hell, this whole season, he's playing at a completely insane level. I'm the biggest Kobe fan alive, but I've gotta give LBJ his props for taking basketball excellence to a different level (save for the 4th quarter, that is).

But that's not why I feel for LBJ. I feel for him because his team just isn't very good..at all really. Wade must be banged up (knee). because he disappears for GAMES at a time, and Bosh is banged up as well. That leaves Lebrick with a spot-up 3 point shooter in Battier, a serviceable pg in Chalmers, and NOTHING else. Boston had a much more cohesive unit, and OKC? Forget about it - they are MUCH better than the Heat's collective unit.

Why it sucks to be LeBron is that he'll put up 30 and 12, and yahoos like Skip Bayless STILL put the loss on him. And yes, he's tanked in the 4th quarters (will he ever get over that hump), but this play-offs, I don't blame him - the dude's gotta be friggin' exhausted!!! Spoelstra has him guarding everyone from Rondo to KG, has him carry the team on his shoulders through 3 quarters offensively, and then never takes him out of the 2nd half! This entire playoffs LeBron has to be averaging 45 minutes a game (played 46 mins last night). There's no way a human being, after playing a condensed schedule in the most statistically dominating season ever played in modern basketball, can then be expected to carry his inferior team night after night after night without hardly any breaks, and be expected not to get tired. Just look at him in the 2nd halves of games - he physically looks worn the hell out. Well done Coach!

Now, LeBrick brought this hate on himself, no doubt. But for the first time in his career, I actually feel for the guy. He plays his arse off every night, and still gets the 'heat' if they lose despite Wade sucking for much of this playoffs.

Oh, and Durant = unbelievably clutch superstar. What a beast. He too played 46 minutes, but fortunately for him, throughout the playoffs and the throughout the year, he hasn't had to be superhuman every night for his team to win, so he looks much fresher. Hopefully he'll bring home his first title.

I see your points. I'm not going to ever deny that LeBron is an incredible basketball player. The things he does are simply incredible. But whether it's his or the media's fault (probably both), the expectations for LBJ are insane. Every game he plays is under the microscope.

Now, I understand that it's why some feel bad for him. But for me, once you've elevated your game to that level, and you are vying to be considered among the all time greats, you have to be able to perform under the pressure. Kobe does it. And for damn sure I watched Jordan do it constantly. Look no further than the 1998 finals, when MJ had bad knees, and the rest of his team was ineffective (Pippen being hurt and all). Yet MJ, on the biggest stage, put the team on his back and single-handedly took down a team with two hall of famers. Think MJ didn't face that pressure? He put it on himself to begin with. But he had that mental attitude, that competitive edge, whatever you want to call it, that wouldn't allow him to fail. That, even more than his talent, drove his success.

It's yet to be seen if LBJ has that. His minuscule numbers in his NBA Finals career suggest otherwise. Jordan has 6 NBA Finals MVPs, and he averaged over 40 PPG in the 93 finals alone. Think about that. Now, if Bron goes HAM the rest of the series, he'll put some doubters to rest. But if he continues to shrink from the moment in the 4th, the pressure is only going to continue to mount, and deservedly so in my opinion.
 

Chris P. Bacon

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By no means a Lebron fan, and it wasn't because of what he did to Cleveland, not a cavs fan either, grew up going to bulls games and watching Jordan dominate. When I watch Lebron, I don't see that same level of play out of Prince James, yeah he will have games here and there, spurts here and there, but he needs to be able to maintain that level of play in every single playoff game he plays, just like Jordan did. He is obviously the best player once he gets on the court, talent wise, but he settles for these jump shots that, yeah he will make, but with his physical abilities, there isn't any reason why he shouldn't drive to the whole every time. There is no ref that is not going to call a defensive foul when Lebron drives and just gets looked at wrong. He's got the superstar mantra that he gets those kind of calls, just like Kobe gets. Just drive and score, drive and score, stop these 30 jump shots in a game, there is no one in the NBA that is going to consistently stand and defend against him down in the paint if he continues to drive to the whole. He works to hard to be a basketball player that he isn’t, then just being the basketball player he is. You never know what kind of game he’s going to have, with Jordan you knew he was going to have a good game even if he didn’t, he found ways to get his sub-par team involved. Yeah Jordan had Pippen, but lets all be honest, Jordan elevated the rest of the teams play, more than I’ve ever seen Lebron elevate his teammates play. He’s got Wade who was a superstar before Lebron got there, Bosh has the talent to be a good forward, not a center, but a forward. I hate hearing the excuses that the rest of the team is not that good, Jordan never had the same star power that Lebron and Wade have together. I hate to compare Jordan and Lebron, but Lebron wants to be one of the best ever, so you got to compare him to the best ever, and it’s to much of a discrepancy between the two, to give prince the same kind of credit.

Go OKC! Over in 6 games.


Maybe next year Prince James
 

TDHeysus

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Dwyane Wade said it best: "All is right with the world when the MIA Heat loses."

Yep, I have to agree with D-Wade
 

theclassickiller

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I see your points. I'm not going to ever deny that LeBron is an incredible basketball player. The things he does are simply incredible. But whether it's his or the media's fault (probably both), the expectations for LBJ are insane. Every game he plays is under the microscope.

Now, I understand that it's why some feel bad for him. But for me, once you've elevated your game to that level, and you are vying to be considered among the all time greats, you have to be able to perform under the pressure. Kobe does it. And for damn sure I watched Jordan do it constantly. Look no further than the 1998 finals, when MJ had bad knees, and the rest of his team was ineffective (Pippen being hurt and all). Yet MJ, on the biggest stage, put the team on his back and single-handedly took down a team with two hall of famers. Think MJ didn't face that pressure? He put it on himself to begin with. But he had that mental attitude, that competitive edge, whatever you want to call it, that wouldn't allow him to fail. That, even more than his talent, drove his success.

It's yet to be seen if LBJ has that. His minuscule numbers in his NBA Finals career suggest otherwise. Jordan has 6 NBA Finals MVPs, and he averaged over 40 PPG in the 93 finals alone. Think about that. Now, if Bron goes HAM the rest of the series, he'll put some doubters to rest. But if he continues to shrink from the moment in the 4th, the pressure is only going to continue to mount, and deservedly so in my opinion.

Actually ESPN did a study on clutch shooters. Kobe isn't what we think he is. He's actually never really been a very clutch shooter, he just takes every single shot in crunch time so it feels like he makes a lot of clutch shots. I can't remember what the numbers were, but they were pretty eye-opening.

This year alone he was dead last (in the top-10 scorers) in clutch field goal percentage. And second to last really wasn't close.
 

theclassickiller

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Also, can someone else back me up in what I saw last night? Was that not the most ticky-tack-crap-call filled game you've seen in the playoffs in a LONG time?

I mean, I like both of these teams a lot. I like Durant and Lebron. But I'm starting to lose a little respect for the way OKC plays basketball. The way they keep their head on a swivel looking for a foul is ridiculous. Like Westbrook running in front of Bosh last night. That put me over the edge. Is it smart? Sure, but that doesn't mean it's not a cheap play and a gimmick. And the way that the Heat intentionally move out of the way of a foul at the last second to throw the shooter off is brilliant. And it works. Sefolosha and Ibaka and even Westbrook were missing layups and dunks because they were expecting fouls that didn't happen. The only problem is the refs kept calling the foul. That's garbage and Spoelstra needs to start telling his guys to actually commit the foul, because they aren't getting away with avoiding the contact.

I believe it was Sefolosha that went in for a dunk with Wade guarding him. Wade moves and Sefolosha kicks him while dunking and it's a foul? Wade had to protect himself and still gets a foul called. And Durant tripping over Collison and falling into Bosh is ridiculous.

This is the NBA Finals. Can we put aside the superstar personas and quit protecting the big names? Let the teams play.

Sorry to any die-hard Thunder fans or Lebron haters, but that's what I saw as a fairly unbiased source.
 

ChiRish

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I cannot believe there wasn't a foul called at the end. LBJ clearly fouled KD. What a joke. It pisses me off.

I think Miami deserved to win, but nothing should ever be decided or ended like that. OKC had a furious comeback, and to not allow that to fully play out is disgraceful. But alas, that is the case in the NBA, where corruption with officials and incompetence with league leadership reigns supreme.

At least we have two good teams facing off. From a purely basketball standpoint, we're in for one hell of a series.
 

GoldenIsThyFame

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And Kd bulldozed Battier 3 minutes earlier and the refs waited until he missed the shot to call a block.
 

irishfanjho15

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I cannot believe there wasn't a foul called at the end. LBJ clearly fouled KD. What a joke. It pisses me off.

I think Miami deserved to win, but nothing should ever be decided or ended like that. OKC had a furious comeback, and to not allow that to fully play out is disgraceful. But alas, that is the case in the NBA, where corruption with officials and incompetence with league leadership reigns supreme.

At least we have two good teams facing off. From a purely basketball standpoint, we're in for one hell of a series.

I'm with on the foul, but we do get to see it from a perfect angle in slow motion. Not such an easy call for any ref in proper position based on where the ball was thrown in. There were a lot of fouls not called in that game, including what was most certainly a charge Battier took on Durant with about 3 or 4 minutes left that would have been his 6th foul. OKC would have been dead had that call been proper. Again the benefits of a perfect TV angle and slow motion.
 

yankeeND

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And Kd bulldozed Battier 3 minutes earlier and the refs waited until he missed the shot to call a block.

I will say this, I think the officiating in the NBA is atrocious. It's gotta go both ways, but like I said in the other thread Durant at home with a chance to tie in the last few seconds, deserves that call.
 

ChiRish

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I agree with all of you. I guess my overall point is similar to what Yankee said - have it go both ways. The officiating goes with the flow of the game as much as the game does... the refs need to be better. I understand that the game is unbelievably fast, but I just hate to see bad calls go both ways in any sport, especially in that sport's championship series.

More importantly though, this was another great game in the series. These two teams are both ridiculous... it's unreal how even matched they are. I can't wait to see the rest of the series unfold.

And to show it both ways, you first have the terrible blocking call on Battier, where Durant should have fouled out. Bad call.

But as for the game is too fast... I just watched the replay of the last play again, and there's a ref no more than 3 feet away from KD and LBJ. No way you miss that call. Sorry.
 
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irishfanjho15

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But he is at an angle seeing Durant's back. He can't see LeBron's hand slip between Durant's elbow and thigh which was where the foul was. Or am I thinking wrong and the ref was on the other side of the hoop?

No I was right on where I saw the ref. He has a tough angle and doesn't move to get a better view of the frontside of Durant and Lebron.
 
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clashmore_mike

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I will say this, I think the officiating in the NBA is atrocious. It's gotta go both ways, but like I said in the other thread Durant at home with a chance to tie in the last few seconds, deserves that call.

So because battier plays for the road team he doesn't deserve to draw the charge for Durant's 6th? It doesn't work that way, or at least it shouldn't.
 

CTIDANDREW

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Hate to be that guy. But NO WAY was that Battier attempt a charge. He was still slightly moving after KD left the ground. Good Call IMO. However, I have seen the same play called a charge more times than I can count. The charge/block foul might be the most controversial call in all of competitive sports along with defensive pass interference. Hate them both
 

yankeeND

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So because battier plays for the road team he doesn't deserve to draw the charge for Durant's 6th? It doesn't work that way, or at least it shouldn't.

That call was debateable, looked to me like Battier was still sliding over. Either way it's a Heat win and that is huge for them to steal a game in OKC.
 

IrishLax

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Hate to be that guy. But NO WAY was that Battier attempt a charge. He was still slightly moving after KD left the ground. Good Call IMO. However, I have seen the same play called a charge more times than I can count. The charge/block foul might be the most controversial call in all of competitive sports along with defensive pass interference. Hate them both

Agreed. I reffed basketball for years and if you move at all towards the contact.. which replays did show him leaning... it's a block. Reallllllly late whistle though.

Refs blew a lot of calls this game. That last one was outrageous if you ask me... refs tend to hold their whistles at the end of games and I don't get it. Lebron gets away with absolute murder on defense yet gets incredibly ticky tack calls going to the hole. A couple foul calls he "earned" were total laughers. The goaltending call they made against OKC was also beyond horrendous. First, it was blcoked on the way up. Second, the ball was partially below the rim when it was grabbed.

The game certainly didn't seem intentionally thrown to Miami... but they sure did get some breaks.
 
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yankeeND

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LAX, that goaltending call was the worst call I have ever seen. Great point!
 

ChiRish

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The best thing to come out of these finals

boshshower.gif


No joke needed.
 

NDPhilly

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Hahahaha when I saw this live my first thought was "that's gonna be a gif"
 

yankeeND

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I gotta give the Heat, but most deservedly James credit. He came through and got his championship. No excuses, he did it, I hate it, but he earned it. Crow eaten.
 
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