NBA Playoffs

[SHAFT]

I do find it interesting the only 2 teams that run an offense with any semblance of the triangle are the spurs and pacers.

[Latrinsorm]

We're not under the bright lights of big city Indiana, Pacers. This was a game straight out of the dirt courts of Miami. You can't just run out to an early lead and think it'll hold up against the grind-it-out, blue collar Heat.

It was unbelievable how poorly both teams played to start. IIRC two players missed the backboard entirely, the Pacers missed at least 5 layups, a bunch of ham-handed ball-handling. They're both fine defensive teams but this looked almost like disinterest, I quarter-way expected both teams to just walk off the court to express some grievance a la the 1964 all star game.

It's really, really crazy that Battier is now the one killing the Heat while Haslem is untouchably hot. Haslem shot 36.7% on jumpers in the regular season and is shooting approximately 2,000% in this series, Battier has gone from a dangerous 43% on 3 to 22%, 28%, and 15%(!!!) in the three playoff series.
I do find it interesting the only 2 teams that run an offense with any semblance of the triangle are the spurs and pacers.I don't think the Pacers run the triangle, I think they are (justifiably) petrified of letting D.J. Augustin ever handle the ball and figure having Paul George throw the ball directly out of bounds is preferable to giving up a transition opportunity. Then George Hill isn't a point guard, which makes it all the more amazing that he once started over a healthy Tony Parker in the playoffs.

And I would guess Hansbrough got a tech for doing whatever it was that provoked Birdman. It's the same quality of play (with less severity) as when Chalmers took a little dig at West walking down the court, then West marched over in offense while Chalmers stood there innocently. West doesn't roll up on people unless they do something, Birdman doesn't clobber people unless they do something.

As to whether he should have been thrown out, no Indiana fan can talk until they personally apologize for David West's legitimately dangerous flagrant on Wade in game 4.

As to the larger question of who the officials are in the bag for, here is a list of players that have fouled out in this series:

Dwyane Wade
LeBron James
Lance Stephenson

Here is a list of players who have accumulated 5 personals:

James
Wade
Bosh
Battier
Chalmers (three times)
Andersen

West
Hibbert
Stephenson

2 to 1, 8 to 3. Just stop.

Just stop.

[Latrinsorm]

Or this: the Pacers have had more free throws than Miami in every single game, and are currently +38 over 5 games.

You have no beef whatsoever over the officiating. Just stop.

[AnticorRifling]

We're not under the bright lights of big city Indiana, Pacers. This was a game straight out of the dirt courts of Miami. You can't just run out to an early lead and think it'll hold up against the grind-it-out, blue collar Heat.

I'm beginning to think those words don't mean what you think they mean.

[Keller]

It is not my problem that the Pacers play fundamentally sound defense and the Heat need to foul to contain the likes of David West, Paul George, and George Hill.

[Keller]

And I would guess Hansbrough got a tech for doing whatever it was that provoked Birdman. It's the same quality of play (with less severity) as when Chalmers took a little dig at West walking down the court, then West marched over in offense while Chalmers stood there innocently. West doesn't roll up on people unless they do something, Birdman doesn't clobber people unless they do something.


You're joking, right?

[Atlanteax]

And I would guess Hansbrough got a tech for doing whatever it was that provoked Birdman. It's the same quality of play (with less severity) as when Chalmers took a little dig at West walking down the court, then West marched over in offense while Chalmers stood there innocently. West doesn't roll up on people unless they do something, Birdman doesn't clobber people unless they do something.

Nice trolling.

I did not see the Birdman/Hansbrough sequence until this morning watching 'highlight clips' ... I think a case probably could had been made for Birdman being ejected for that, the knock-down followed by shoving. I'm thinking the referee missed seeing the knockdown part. In the meantime, if Stern is serious about intolerance for bad behavior, I'm expecting to read about a major fine or possibly a 1-game suspension.

[Keller]

So my prediction is that Birdman gets bounced for game 6. The law of averages kicks in for LBJ's shooting. Pacers win game 6 by double digits and win game 7 by 2 pts with a missed game-winning three by James.

[Drew]

So my prediction is that Birdman gets bounced for game 6. The law of averages kicks in for LBJ's shooting. Pacers win game 6 by double digits and win game 7 by 2 pts with a missed game-winning three by James.

Aren't Battier and Ray Allen due for a law of averages uptick?

[Latrinsorm]

I'm beginning to think those words don't mean what you think they mean.I'm not a big city wordamobab like mister Rifling here. I didn't get my learning in the ivory tower libraryversities of the Marine Corps, whose NCOs are world-renowned for their generous scheduling of office hours - show me one source complaining about a gunnery sergeant's office hours, go ahead. You can't. My mama always told me that alligators are so mad 'cuz they got all them teeth but no toothbrush, therefore the Pacers are froo froo la di da get me over helicopter sliders and the Heat are the working man's blue collar small town honest to God American team. Not even So-crats could argue with that. I rest my case.
You're joking, right?
Nice trolling.

I did not see the Birdman/Hansbrough sequence until this morning watching 'highlight clips' ... I think a case probably could had been made for Birdman being ejected for that, the knock-down followed by shoving. I'm thinking the referee missed seeing the knockdown part. In the meantime, if Stern is serious about intolerance for bad behavior, I'm expecting to read about a major fine or possibly a 1-game suspension.They video reviewed it and upgraded it to a flagrant, therefore they obviously saw the knockdown. The key is that Andersen was facing away from Hansbrough at the conclusion of the flagrant, then suddenly whirled around and went at him. Obviously Hansbrough said something, which the refs heard, therefore double technical and no ejection.

The two explanations we are considering are the refs are (very ineptly) fixing the games or Tyler Hansbrough is an asshole. I humbly submit that one of these explanations has considerably more empirical evidence backing it up.

[SHAFT]

Don't cross anticor man, you'll lose.

[Latrinsorm]

So my prediction is that Birdman gets bounced for game 6. The law of averages kicks in for LBJ's shooting. Pacers win game 6 by double digits and win game 7 by 2 pts with a missed game-winning three by James.Let us consider regression to the mean.

Regular Season
Heat
55.2 eFG% (1), 48.7 on defense (9)
13.7 TOV% (13), 14.8 (4)
22.2 ORB% (26), 73.0 (23)
.224 FT/FGA (6), .200 (13)

Pacers
47.9 (22), 45.3 (1)
14.3 (28), 12.9 (26)
30.3 (4), 74.6 (5)
.219 (7), .197 (10)

Actual outcomes over the first 5 games, listing Heat first:
52.0, 49.2
11.0, 14.4
25.7, 35.9
.228, .326

Shooting, turnovers, and rebounds are all about where we'd expect them to be, though both teams are slightly higher eFG% and ORB%. The enormous outlier is the Pacers FT/FGA rate. Excluding teams from before and during the introduction of the shot clock, their rate would be higher than all but 2 teams all-time: 1998 Utah and 1985 Philly. Paul George is a fine player - is he Charles Barkley? David West is a fine player - is he Karl Malone? Roy Hibbert is a fine player - but is he Moses Malone?

The answer to these questions is no. If you honestly believe the officiating was biased against the Pacers these first five games, I advise you not to watch the next one. Regression to the mean might not occur, but it probably will, and you might feel compelled to hurl objects at your (big city) plasma-def high-LED screen television.

[Latrinsorm]

And for some levity: Linda Cohn today referred to Juwan Howard as an assistant coach for the Heat. Even though he is older than the head coach (okay, okay, 2 years younger), he is in fact a player. Fun fact: Howard and Spo came into the league the same year; Howard as a second team All-Rookie for the Washington professional basketball team, Spoelstra as the Heat's video coordinator.

[Keller]

What do you think Tyler said? "Watch where you're going!" "What the fuck, man!" What words do you think allow a player who has incited a reaction to shove another player after getting the reaction he was trying to get?

I understand you want to troll me, Eric, but I am untrollable about retarded shit like "he probably deserved it for what he said." These are grown ups who are professional athletes. One professional athlete behaved like a professional (took a shoulder, didn't react physically, took a shove, didn't react physically) while another professional athlete acted like a little bitch. Birdman should have been ejected for game 5. End of story.

[Latrinsorm]

I don't have any idea what he said. If I were an asshole like him I would make a remark about being an orphan, or cocaine, or pedophilia.

I didn't say deserved. What I implied was "provoked", and if you provoke someone (and the ref catches you doing it) then you get penalized as well, or the response is not penalized as harshly.

It's also worth reiterating that the shoulder block wasn't the first play of the game, or for that matter the series. Chris Andersen has shoulder blocked one other guy in these playoffs: Marco Belinelli, after Belly got a mostly legal but still pretty nasty hit in on Wade with a screen. It stands to reason that Hansbrough did something to provoke the initial flagrant. And if you look at the video, Cole goes up for a layup and falls awkwardly. Did Hansbrough hit him? It doesn't look like it to me, but again, Chris Andersen doesn't blow people up for the hell of it: in his career he had 0 flagrant fouls before this postseason in about 10,000 minutes played. Hansbrough (now) has the same number of flagrants in half as many minutes, you tell me which guy should get the benefit of the doubt.

[SHAFT]

Anthony is going to be trouble for the pacers. If only he get get the round ball in the round hoop.

[Keller]

you tell me which guy should get the benefit of the doubt.

The guy that acted like a professional.

[Keller]

The guy that had a prop bet that a technical would be assessed against David Fizdale is pretty happy right now.

Fuck LeFlop.

[Keller]

Dwayne Wade needs to hang 'em up.

[Keller]

Also, Eric, although I appreciated your teamwide stats, could you give me a recap on whether LEBRON JAMES (whom I specifically mentioned) regressed to the mean on shooting percentage in game 6?

Thanks in advance.

[Keller]

Game 7. #necessary

[Latrinsorm]

The guy that acted like a professional.As far as you know. I'm more comfortable judging on thousands of minutes of verifiable conduct than 1 play of unverifiable conduct.
Also, Eric, although I appreciated your teamwide stats, could you give me a recap on whether LEBRON JAMES (whom I specifically mentioned) regressed to the mean on shooting percentage in game 6?

Thanks in advance.Individuals (even high volume individuals) never put up a statistically significant number of shots. LEBRON JAMES' 10 for 21 is statistically indistinguishable from everything from 26% to 70%, it really doesn't tell us anything. (That people will eagerly conclude whatever they want from a similarly sized sample tells you more about them than the data.)

I saw a lot out of Spo in this game, being willing to bench your stars when they are clearly not producing is a sign of a strong coach. Even without that threshold passed, I don't see any reason to believe Miami doesn't close it out at home. This game was much closer than the margin indicates, the Pacers scored on consecutive bad looks after it was cut to 4, and we all know what happened after that.

[Keller]

Pressure is entirely on Miami.

Pacers playing with house money.

Can't lose.

[Ardwen]

I wanna know when Miami traded for the 2008 cavaliers to go with Lebron?

[RichardCranium]

MJ would never have let this happen.

[Keller]

Lebron should have gone to Chicago to play with Rose/Noah.

That would be scary as hell.

[RichardCranium]

Lebron should have gone to Chicago to play with Rose/Noah.

That would be scary as hell.

They have a better coach too.

[Latrinsorm]

Pressure is entirely on Miami.

Pacers playing with house money.

Can't lose.You could have said the same about this game, but both teams played very poorly.
Lebron should have gone to Chicago to play with Rose/Noah.

That would be scary as hell.I really don't think people who say this think it through.

1. Remember that LeBron didn't even set screens in Cleveland, and didn't become a legitimate spot-up shooter until this year. What's he doing when Rose has the ball?

2. Rose is a .310 career three point shooter, and at the time that number was .242. What's Rose doing when James has the ball?

3. James and Rose don't know each other, who defers?

4. The Bulls only had room for one max contract. Who else are they getting? The 2011 Heat were 2 superstars, 1 star, and stiffs, and they came up short. Derrick Rose was not a superstar in 2010 - 21 points and 6 assists are good but not great stats, terrible defensively. Noah was not a star - hadn't been named to All-Defense yet, hadn't developed his playmaking.

You could roll out Deng and James and murder people on defense, but offensively with Keith Bogans at 2 teams would put 5 guys in the paint and you'd be lucky to break 70, so Deng's out. That frees up cap space, but who are you getting? Ideally you'd snag Bosh in a sign and trade with Deng and probably Miller and complement Noah beautifully, but there are still a lot of question marks. Do you still have room for Korver/Asik/Watson, do you have to lose Gibson in one of these trades, do you have to lose the pick that becomes Jimmy Butler.

If you could just plop LeBron on a team and win championships, he would have won in Cleveland. It doesn't work like that, and it never has.

[Keller]

Noah and Rose are all stars now.

Wade and Bosh are role players.

Lebron should have signed with Bulls.

Why argue with the truth?

[prance1520]

So, since its impossible to understand basketball rules because there is no consistency in officiating, can someone explain why no one on TV is complaining that Hibbert was inside the 'no charge' ring when he took the charge from LeBron in the 4th? I'm sure I'm missing something, but he was well inside that line when he took off, so I thought it was impossible to draw an offensive foul there.

[SHAFT]

Noah and Rose are all stars now.

Wade and Bosh are role players.

Lebron should have signed with Bulls.

Why argue with the truth?

Bosh isn't a role player! The pacers win tonight and you're acting like the heat are washed up. They'll be overwhelming favorites at home and with the birdman birdman back.

Keller, how about you let your 2m debt with me ride on the game Monday? Once the point spread is released we can discuss it if you wish. I'm assuming the heat will be favored by 3-5 points and I will gladly take that.

[Keller]

Bosh isn't a role player! The pacers win tonight and you're acting like the heat are washed up. They'll be overwhelming favorites at home and with the birdman birdman back.

Keller, how about you let your 2m debt with me ride on the game Monday? Once the point spread is released we can discuss it if you wish. I'm assuming the heat will be favored by 3-5 points and I will gladly take that.

Spread is 7. Done.

[SHAFT]

7 is acceptable. Game on. Go heat!

With the birdman birdman back I can't lose.

[Latrinsorm]

So, since its impossible to understand basketball rules because there is no consistency in officiating, can someone explain why no one on TV is complaining that Hibbert was inside the 'no charge' ring when he took the charge from LeBron in the 4th? I'm sure I'm missing something, but he was well inside that line when he took off, so I thought it was impossible to draw an offensive foul there.An exception to the restricted area is if you jump straight up into the air (from legal guarding position). This is a technique Hibbert has embraced and mastered, and much like others with expertise (e.g. Battier/Haslem and drawing charges), he will often get the benefit of the doubt on plays where he is in fact fouling the other player. If you happen to still have game 4 on tape, you can look at LeBron's fifth foul for an example of this benefit of the doubt in reverse: LeBron actually goes straight up (and as a bonus is outside the circle), but is called for the defensive foul. Hibbert's arms are at least 30º declination and hit LeBron in the face, but he gets the no-call because he's Roy Hibbert and Roy Hibbert goes straight up. Verticality is an unusual play, so I can't say for sure, but I've never seen the offensive player get called for a foul during such a collision, which is big because a complete no-call would have given Joel Anthony an uncontested lay-in, which he puts in at least 40% of the time.

I really expect David Stern to nuke the rule this offseason, it's in good spirit but the officials are really blowing the implementation in this high profile series, and David Stern has been known in the past to blow small samples out of proportion. Consider how Ron Artest goes in the stands one measly time and the resulting bench area rule gift-wraps the Spurs' fourth title.
Noah and Rose are all stars now.

Wade and Bosh are role players.

Lebron should have signed with Bulls.

Why argue with the truth?Until you can answer the questions I put forth, you are making a fantasy team. Rose and LeBron would have been a (very) rich man's version of Lin and Carmelo: unsuccessful, and crushing Rose's stats by taking the ball out of his hands so much.

I expected the Heat to win, but I expect them to win convincingly after Hibbert's remarks. A classic "let's not suck each others' popsicles just yet" moment, of similar kind to the Shrek and Donkey interview although of course Hibbert has a brighter career ahead of him than either (or even both combined).

[Atlanteax]

Anyone else waiting for the animated gif of LeBron running around going "ZOMG WTF" in sheer disbelief, should the Pacers win Game 7, to be 'as popular' as the flopping one?

I called the Birdman suspension, but it seemed last minute -ish. I wonder with how media can show animations over and over again, *that* is what got them to do "okay, we're gonna suspend him for Game 6".

In that regard, I wonder if any NBA players (Kobe maybe?) tweeted to LeBron links of the animations of his flopping. He certainly seemed sore about that.

As for Game 7, if the Pacers can avoid poor offensive play, I am expecting them to pull out the win. I am expecting little help for LeBron from Wade (Bosh may contribute more than usual). After that, the variable is whether Heat 3-pointers are hot or cold. If cold, Pacers will assuredly win.

[Atlanteax]

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/9333733/2013-nba-playoffs-dwyane-wade-says-chris-bosh-need-bigger-role

Either he is looking to deflect blame for playoff woes, or it is 'evidence' of him not quite accepting of being the beta to LeBron's alpha and that it is indeed affecting his play (and nullifying the thoughts of him being the prototypical superstar who can play as a sidekick).

[Keller]

Until you can answer the questions I put forth, you are making a fantasy team. Rose and LeBron would have been a (very) rich man's version of Lin and Carmelo: unsuccessful, and crushing Rose's stats by taking the ball out of his hands so much.

I expected the Heat to win, but I expect them to win convincingly after Hibbert's remarks. A classic "let's not suck each others' popsicles just yet" moment, of similar kind to the Shrek and Donkey interview although of course Hibbert has a brighter career ahead of him than either (or even both combined).

Call me crazy, but James + 24 year old superstar PG + 28 year old all-star defender/rim protector is better than James + 31 year old declining all-star SG + 29 year old stretch four. Phil Jackson (or more likely Brian Shaw) would have won 3 straight titles with Rose/James/Noah.

It is sort of disingenuous to say Rose's stats/touches would be affected by playing with James but ignore that Rose brings everything Wade brings, but is a better defender, penetrator, passer, and ultimately is three quarters of an NBA career younger.

[DoctorUnne]

The LeBron flop hand red twister photo (which I can't find a shortcut to) is pretty funny

[Keller]

I can't focus for anything today. So excited. !!

[DoctorUnne]

Here's one thing I never really understood. Why can't all of Indiana's starters play 48 minutes or close to it tonight? Indiana's bench is such a disaster, and I was reading that Indiana's starting five has outscored Miami by an average of 16 points per 48 minutes so far this series. It's pretty obvious based on the results we have that Indiana's five best > Miami's five best given how they're playing now. These guys have been playing 40-42 minutes per game. Why can't they play 48 for ONE GAME, assuming no foul trouble? It can't be that much of a difference given all the TV timeouts and other stoppages in play. They're all young guys with the exception of West, but even he's only 32 and he's a warrior. Maybe you need to give Hibbert a couple of well-timed minutes of rest, and obviously foul trouble blows this up, but Augustin shouldn't even sniff the floor tonight.

For that matter LeBron should be playing 48 too. If you're bionic then you have that in you for one night. If I was running a basketball team, I would invest a ton of money in a way (nutritional, fitness etc.) to get my best five players to be able to play 48 minutes when I need them to, such as playoff close-out games. Just seems like it would be a huge ROI.

[Keller]

It is crazy that the Pacers are playing a game 7 against the Heat in the ECF without their "best" player.

Imagine if Granger were healthy and we could not dress Augustin (Lance is 6th man and soaks up all the back-up PG role) and never have to play with any combination of Young/Mahimi/Hansborough. He'd provide another outside scorer and make up most of the shitty bench minutes we're having to use now.

[Drew]

Imagine if Dwyane Wade was healthy.

[Keller]

Imagine if DJ Augustin could defend the pick and roll.

[Keller]

PS - are we ready to admit that Dwayne Wade, a player that relied on athleticism and toughness, is declining? He might be injured, but let's not pretend he's coming back as old DWade next year. Unless he spends some time in Germany.

[Latrinsorm]

Call me crazy, but James + 24 year old superstar PG + 28 year old all-star defender/rim protector is better than James + 31 year old declining all-star SG + 29 year old stretch four. Phil Jackson (or more likely Brian Shaw) would have won 3 straight titles with Rose/James/Noah.

It is sort of disingenuous to say Rose's stats/touches would be affected by playing with James but ignore that Rose brings everything Wade brings, but is a better defender, penetrator, passer, and ultimately is three quarters of an NBA career younger.1. Rose is not a good defender, Wade is an excellent defender (in both cases - when healthy). I cannot take your opinion on this even slightly seriously if you disagree with that.

2. Rose is a slightly better passer. 2009 Wade: 30 points, 7.5 assists, 3.4 turnovers. 2011 Rose: 25 points, 7.7 assists, 3.4 turnovers. Pre-2011 Wade: 25, 6.6, 3.7. Rose career: 21, 6.8, 2.9.

3. The most important thing Rose does not bring is a pre-existing relationship with LeBron. It really makes me question your understanding of basketball that you keep ignoring this.

4. When neither guard can shoot, a stretch four is much more important than a rim protector. We know LeBron did develop a post game and shooting ability, but it's impossible to say he would have in a different situation.

5. The future may or may not be brighter with the younger core. ACL injuries have ended careers (Michael Redd for a recent example), let's see what Rose can do before we crown the Bulls' asses. As to the Heat's future, let me just point out how the Spurs are back in the Finals with the same core after 6 years away, including 2 first round exits (1 as the #1 seed) and benching their star "point" guard in favor of George Hill.
It is crazy that the Pacers are playing a game 7 against the Heat in the ECF without their "best" player.

Imagine if Granger were healthy and we could not dress Augustin (Lance is 6th man and soaks up all the back-up PG role) and never have to play with any combination of Young/Mahimi/Hansborough. He'd provide another outside scorer and make up most of the shitty bench minutes we're having to use now.Here's the problem with that theory: Sam Young accepts Sam Young's role. Danny Granger does not, and every touch he takes away has to come from somewhere: one less Hibbert post up, one less George dribble drive. He's a decent 3 point shooter, but not enough for that to be a good trade, and his shot selection of contested 20 foot 2s is nowhere near a good trade. If you could have some kind of device or controller and operate Danny Granger's body, sure, that would be great.
Either he is looking to deflect blame for playoff woes, or it is 'evidence' of him not quite accepting of being the beta to LeBron's alpha and that it is indeed affecting his play (and nullifying the thoughts of him being the prototypical superstar who can play as a sidekick).I think it's people (y'all mfers in the media) creating a story where there is none. Wade's comments could just as easily be interpreted as "stay the course", the Heat are ahead on points in this series and are 2-1 at home.
Here's one thing I never really understood. Why can't all of Indiana's starters play 48 minutes or close to it tonight? Indiana's bench is such a disaster, and I was reading that Indiana's starting five has outscored Miami by an average of 16 points per 48 minutes so far this series. It's pretty obvious based on the results we have that Indiana's five best > Miami's five best given how they're playing now. These guys have been playing 40-42 minutes per game. Why can't they play 48 for ONE GAME, assuming no foul trouble? It can't be that much of a difference given all the TV timeouts and other stoppages in play. They're all young guys with the exception of West, but even he's only 32 and he's a warrior. Maybe you need to give Hibbert a couple of well-timed minutes of rest, and obviously foul trouble blows this up, but Augustin shouldn't even sniff the floor tonight.

For that matter LeBron should be playing 48 too. If you're bionic then you have that in you for one night. If I was running a basketball team, I would invest a ton of money in a way (nutritional, fitness etc.) to get my best five players to be able to play 48 minutes when I need them to, such as playoff close-out games. Just seems like it would be a huge ROI.The biggest concern I would have is that Roy Hibbert has never averaged 30 MPG for a season. That he's up around 40 for the series is already a huge increase, and exhaustion (especially for someone who is relatively clumsy already) can be enormously dangerous in addition to just plain ineffective. The best example of this is young pitchers used to 100 pitch counts going for no-hitters in baseball, but the same applies to every physical activity. He's a young, legitimate two-way center in a league with maybe 3 others, I would be very very leery of risking that career on the chance you win tonight, especially when I don't see any way the Pacers beat the Spurs this year anyway.

I wouldn't be surprised if LeBron goes the distance, he's already done so 7 times (or at least within 30 seconds).

To your comment about investment, it seems like better scouting so you didn't have such a lousy bench would be easier money. D.J. Augustin wasn't good enough to make the Bobcats, for God's sake.

[Latrinsorm]

PS - are we ready to admit that Dwayne Wade, a player that relied on athleticism and toughness, is declining? He might be injured, but let's not pretend he's coming back as old DWade next year. Unless he spends some time in Germany.I would wait and see what happens after the season ends, treatment-wise. Sager once referred to the injury as a "bone spur........... or bone bruise", and there have been rumors that surgery is coming.

It's certainly the case that he is in general aging out of his prime and has been for longer than the last week. He's played 30k minutes regular season and playoffs, this is his 10th year in the league, he's had multiple major injuries, he continues to play defense. This does not mean he is no longer effective, or even that he is no longer as effective. Chemistry can go a long way to cover up for biology.

[SHAFT]

Birdman birdman!

[SHAFT]

How would you say wade looks tonight Keller?

[Atlanteax]

Well, haflway thru the 3Q, I dare say that Miami has this game in the bag, Spurs up next.

[SHAFT]

This thing is a wrap. All they needed was birdman birdman

[SHAFT]

I just hope Keller will pay me in this calendar year.

[Keller]

I just hope Keller will pay me in this calendar year.

Put it on my calendar for December 28.

[SHAFT]

Log in dude. Or pay pal works whatever

[Latrinsorm]

Steve Kerr replaced Doug Collins as announcer (which is big shoes) but I've liked him since the start, and he really killed it on two points tonight:

1. Hibbert not getting the benefit of the doubt on verticality as much. Maybe some of it was the triumphant return of Wade's Eurostep, or the "Bosh just dribble drive at Hibbert over and over, we don't care if you miss every shot, you'll get foul calls sooner or later and we'll work Mahinmi like a speed bag", but I hope most of it was the refs reviewing tape of this series and seeing how badly they were calling it. Obviously we'll never know for sure.

2. Miami going max effort on defense, which they can't do for 82(+16) games a season. Drew talks about this a lot too, and it's right on. It also lends more credence to Spo starting Haslem all season over Battier and thus not going full small the way they did(/had to) in last year's playoffs. "We'll flip the switch" is very dangerous, but as we saw tonight sometimes it's most dangerous for the other team. Indiana was at their ceiling throughout this series, they didn't have any better, and became clearly and visibly frustrated by being dominated.

Not mentioned by anyone on the telecast, Wade went back to the chewing gum after rocking the football style mouthguard for the first 6 games of this series. Coincidence or PED?

.

I'll look into it in more detail tomorrow, but my gut is Heat over Spurs in 5. The Spurs are clearly a better team than the Pacers, but the matchup isn't nearly as problematic. The Spurs are even worse than Miami at ORB%. Even though they're fifth at eFG% allowed, the gap between them and the #1 Pacers is the same as the gap between the Spurs and the #22 Magic. We think of the Spurs as methodical and polished on offense, which they are, but it turns out they're almost as bad at TOVs as Indiana. Do I think Tony Parker is getting trapped in the backcourt by Chris Bosh - no, but the point stands.

Speaking of Chris Bosh and getting back to Steve Kerr, he (Kerr) went on the BS Report and talked about the Finals of one of the Bulls titles was a "get out of jail" series after grinding through a number of bruising Eastern Conference opponents. The Spurs aren't bruising. Tim Duncan is an all-time great, but David West gives out more hits in a quarter than Duncan has in his life. (I fully expect David West to receive a retroactive flagrant for doing the same shoulder block Andersen did, by the way.) Bosh is nearly as long if not longer than Splitter and Duncan, then the Spurs bench is Ginobili, Bonner, Neal, Diaw, Joseph. Fine players, yes, but not bangers. I expect a huge bounce back series from Bosh and for the same reasons Battier.

[Latrinsorm]

And just throwing this out there, the Pacers were +19 FTA on -32 FGA for the series.

[Latrinsorm]

Ok last thing for tonight: we know the Spurs are the boring grind-it-out team, except they were 6th highest pace this year at 94.2. We know the Heat live and die on transition, except they were 23rd highest pace at 90.7, barely faster than the plodding Pacers' 90.2.

[DoctorUnne]

It was fun to see Indiana take Miami to the brink, but I'm glad we're not seeing a Pacers / Spurs finals. At this point I don't really like either team but I appreciate greatness so I'll be rooting for Miami in 6 or 7 and for LeBron to have a transcendent series.

[Stretch]

Matt Bonner has the greatest job in the world.

[Keller]

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2733607/lewhine.gif

:lol2:

[Malgaftan]

While watching the game yesterday, I knew this was inevitable. Somewhere, at some point in time today I would see this gif.

It's like you can see the sudden realization of failure and that the known consequences are a game 1 loss.

I bet The Heat win the next 3 straight.

[RichardCranium]

At least James and Wade had their excuses ready.

[SHAFT]

At least James and Wade had their excuses ready.

No shit huh? They don't have time to be tired.

[Keller]

I bet The Heat win the next 3 straight.

Stern is still the commissioner, so it will be at least a little crooked.