****OFFICIAL 2012 NBA PLAYOFFS THREAD****

[dirk digler]

Great sports weekend with the draft and now the NBA Playoffs starting today

First Round Matchups Today:

76ers vs Bulls
Knicks vs Heat
Magic vs Pacers
Mavs vs Thunder

Sunday:

Jazz vs Spurs
Celtics vs Hawks
Clippers vs Grizzlies
Nuggets vs Lakers

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

If what he did against the Celtics is your definition of domination (one of the greatest games in NBA postseason history) than no player has dominated in this series at all (or any other player in any other playoff series in a long, long time). So I don't quite agree with that. There are different levels of domination and both LeBron and Durant have showed it over the first two games.

My view of domination is that the player is an unstoppable force.

off the top of my head

ie: 1. KD in the 4th quarter tonight
2. Rondo in game 2 of the conference Finals
3. Lebron in Game 6 of the conference Finals
4. Wade has had a couple of those games in the playoffs
5. Jordan's 63 points against the Celtics

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

My view of domination is that the player is an unstoppable force.

My view of domination is making a major impact in a huge situation over the course of a game and imposing your will on the other team, which he certainly did all night (and Durant did too, at least in the 4th).

[okcchief]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Yeah, Collison is way more productive than Perkins. Much better defensively, gets extra possessions often with his effort, and is far more efficient. Don't understand why he's only playing 15 minutes a game.

Collison is +21 this series, BTW, and Perkins is -18.

JFC it's as bad as I thought.

There is no post player the Heat has that makes Perkins Necessary. He's good at setting screens, but so is Collison.

This came down to the Heat getting most of the 50/50 balls etc. I've been disappointed with our energy and defense. They hit big shots to stop runs and we couldn't hit big shots to cut down the lead. Their role players played better.

LeBron and KD are stellar players no matter who wins this series.

I'm sure Westbrook will take the beating for 3 days now. He got off to a slow start but I thought he played ok. The media is so predictable. They must be jacking off right now with a whipping boy to pick on regardless.

[okcchief]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Going back to okcchief's point earlier:

JALEN ROSE ‏@jalenrose
Game 3. OKC needs Collison to play quality mins. He does the intangibles & plays pick roll better than Perk. Heat will play better at home.

Jalen Rose is spot on about the Thunder all the time. My favorite analyst on ESPN by far.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

My view of domination is making a major impact in a huge situation over the course of a game and imposing your will on the other team, which he certainly did all night (and Durant did too, at least in the 4th).

I agree with you up to the point of where you said he dominated.

I don't consider going 10/22 and having quarters of 8-6-13-6 dominating especially when you get stuffed 2-3 times. I don't even consider KD dominating any part of the game except in the 4th quarter.

Lebron has had alot better games than this one, like in Cleveland going 1 vs 5 in the 4th and just killing teams.

[okcchief]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

I don't even want to imagine what the reaction would have been if LeBron was a virtual no-show for three quarters like Durant was tonight.

The point is these guys can't take over every quarter. They aren't robots.

[okcchief]

I just saw the replay for the first time. I think it was probably a foul but I've seen worse calls.

Miami deserved to win the game. If we played harder throughout and managed lineups better one call wouldn't matter.

I didn't realize Durant had 17 in the 4th again. Wow!

We'll be back

[okcchief]

OKC has out-scored the Heat 6 out of 8 quarters. You can guess the 2. Good job Scotty. A third grader could figure out what's wrong.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by okcchief

JFC it's as bad as I thought.

There is no post player the Heat has that makes Perkins Necessary. He's good at setting screens, but so is Collison.

I said this a couple of times earlier in this thread. It's been obvious since the first five minutes of Game 1. Battier has blown up in the first quarter of both games. Who was guarding him? Perkins. It's not fair to him (he's no perimeter defender) and it certainly isn't fair to the team. If he could punish the Heat by taking Battier down into the post on the other end, fine. But he's awful offensively, with oven mitts apparently taped to his hands. He hurts the Thunder on both ends in this series. He can't play significant minutes or the Thunder will lose this series.

[DaKCMan AP]

Collison has been great on the board and in the post but I'm not sure he's going to be a big improvement over Perk on perimeter defense.

If the Thunder give more minutes for Collison, Miami probably counters with more minutes for Haslem and possibly a Joel Anthony sighting. Probably a good move for OKC to remove a 3pt threat (Battier/Miller) from the floor.

[DaKCMan AP]

Both teams still have much room to improve.

OKC can get a full game from Durant/Harden instead of a quarter here and there. A lot of that, unfortunately, falls on Westbrook who needs to distribute to Durant early. Harden got himself going when KD/Westbrook got in foul trouble early, but he needs to sustain it throughout the game. Westbrook shot a poor 37%.

Wade, while much better and aggressive last night, can improve a lot. Chalmers was a putrid 1-7 last night.

I'll take 16 & 15 from Bosh every night, though! Especially when he's active on the offensive boards (he had 7 last night). He can be a little more efficient offensively and get a better handle on the ball receiving passes. All of his makes except 1 were right at the basket.

[DaKCMan AP]

Hyde5: Can Shane Battier keep up this shooting streak?

By Staff Writer June 15, 2012 02:49 AM

1. Can Shane Battier keep this up? The Duke grad is big on the mathematical idea of "regression to the mean." Meaning, if a statistical number is out of line it will eventually return to its norm.

Well, Battier has scored an impressive 17 points each of the first two games of the NBA Finals. But he averaged 4.9 points this year. He also is shooting 69.2 percent on 3-pointers (9-13) in the first two games against Oklahoma City. He's shot 33.9 percent from distance this year.

Logic, not to say numbers, say this can't keep up. No one shoots that big a number from the 3-point line. Do they?

"I'm just doing what the guys here say - 'Just let it fly,' '' Battier said.

OK, one shot was luck. He banked in a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter Thursday.

"I was just trrying to hit the rim,'' he said. "The shot clock was winding down. I knew I threw it hard. I didn't see it - I got knocked down and was laying on the ground."

But the Thunder are leaving Battier unguarded in parts of the game. Serge Ibaka had him one series and just stayed under the basket as Battier rotated to the top. He knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer at that point.

He can't keep shooting 69.2 percent on 3's. But if he can keep knocking down some it's an added and overdue weapon to the Heat offense and something Oklahoma City eventually will have to adjust to.

2. The Heat reversed the pattern from Game 1 by winning rebounds and fast-break points. The margins weren't huge. But they were telling. In Game 1, Oklahoma City outscored the Heat on fast break by 24-4. They won by 11-10 in Game 2. The Heat had more rebounds this night, 40-36.

"Guys, they're playing harder than us,'' Oklahoma State Scott Brooks said in one time-out.

By the end, you couldn't say either team was playing harder. That was a change from Game 1.

3. The five Heat starters played at least 39 minutes. No one player on Oklahoma City played that much. There's a two-day break now so they get some rest. But the question becomes if the Heat got outscored in the fourth, 29-22, as Oklahoma City nearly stole the game because the Heat players are getting tired. Erik Spoelstra doesn't have a lot of choices. He got 13 minutes out of Norris Cole. Udonis Haslem played 16 minutes (four rebounds, 2 points) and five minutes from James Jones and one minutes from Mike MIller. In a long series, this is something to watch.

4. Retired referee Steve Javie said on ESPN the ref was out of positon on the final play of the game and so didn't see LeBron James foul Kevin Durant. "I missed the shot,'' Durant said

5. One of the interesting matchups this series is how the Heat are doing to Kendrick Perkins what teams typically do to Joel Anthony. They're not really treating him as an offensive threat. LeBron started on him in Game 1 so he could rove on defense. Shane Battier started him in Game 2. Perkins has a big strength and size advantage. But he's not much of a presence as he played 19 minutes Thursday with eight rebounds and four points on one-of-five shooting.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/spor...e_battier.html

[DaKCMan AP]

FYI

Tonight starting at 9PM on NBA TV are back-to-back documentaries. First The Announcement at 9PM and The Dream Team at 10:30PM EST.

[KevB]

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

Collison has been great on the board and in the post but I'm not sure he's going to be a big improvement over Perk on perimeter defense.

If the Thunder give more minutes for Collison, Miami probably counters with more minutes for Haslem and possibly a Joel Anthony sighting. Probably a good move for OKC to remove a 3pt threat (Battier/Miller) from the floor.

Collison is more mobile than Perkins, so he's got a better chance to run Battier off the three. Perkins is lost trying to recover to the three point line.

On the other end, Collison is more accomplished than Perkins. He can at least catch and finish around the rim. If he sets the pick on a pick and roll, he's a threat on the roll. They're basically letting Perkins go on that play.

[Mr. Arrowhead]

Prediction: OKC wins 2 out of 3 in Miami