****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

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Miami's dealt with this pressure before just last year and are probably better for it (LeBron is certainly having a much better series than in 2011). OKC hasn't, it's a new experience for them.

It's going to be tough to pick up one of the next two games in Miami, but the Thunder are capable of it if they play their best basketball. We saw them do it in San Antonio...they can do it again.

Totally. I'll actually be very surprised if the Heat win Game 4. OKC is just going to be so difficult and at an entirely different energy level.

Already they improved their 1st quarter this game, and I think we'll see actually a sizable lead. Getting an early advantage is going to be so crucial and necessary for them.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by milkman

I think that's one that might be hard to see in real time.

Then they are the 3 blind mice.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Then they are the 3 blind mice.

Sorry, rooting for the Thunder here, but I disagree.

That ball didn't hit the back of the board and go directly backwards.

It hit the just at the edge, and on the bottom.

On the replay it was clear that it did hit behind the board, but it was simply too close to call in real time.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by okcchief

Free Throw shooting is the difference in the series. Miami is improved from the line and OKC is missing them all over the place. Tonight is the first time this playoffs where I felt we were crushed by the pressure.

Also the lineups Brooks is throwing out there. Everyone can see it but him. Stubborn POS.

Yep, OKC is choking away some big opportunities..

[DBOSHO]

Russell trying to be Mr. Hero is going to end up killing the thunder. He has incredible talent but has the dumbest posessions ive ever seen

[DBOSHO]

Also, the foul on harden for being in the area when lebron checked him with the elbow at the top of the key that sent him to the line was cute.

How the **** are you gonna call that, not only because lebron initiated the contact, but in that situation? Im not one for conspiracies but after that call and the durant no call last game im starting to wonder.

[KC_Connection]

Harden was all over LeBron there, it was an obvious defensive foul.

[KC_Connection]

Instead of the "LeBron is a choker" narrative this playoffs (which clearly isn't working for them right now), it appears that the LeBron/Heat haters are setting up "The NBA is rigged/helping LeBron win a championship" narrative in the event that the Heat actually win this series.

Always has to be something, I guess. No credit can ever be given.

[DaKCMan AP]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

As I said, OKC and Durant had unbelievable momentum, and then the air just completely went out of their sails when Durant got called for his 4th. Nobody seemed to get in sync.

You've said this multiple times, and it's just not true. When Durant picked up his 4th OKC was up 6 with 5:41 left. They extended that lead to 10 and were still up 5 with 2:06 left. Miami closed out the final 2 mins of the quarter to go up 2.

[okcchief]

Originally Posted by DBOSHO

Russell trying to be Mr. Hero is going to end up killing the thunder. He has incredible talent but has the dumbest posessions ive ever seen

How did Westbrook play hero tonight? Taking a wide open 3 when Durant couldn't get an open look? That's bullshit. It was a team loss tonight. You should work for ESPN. If you are going to single out one player there are better choices than Westbrook. Missed free throws and coaching are why the Thunder are down.

[DBOSHO]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Instead of the "LeBron is a choker" narrative this playoffs (which clearly isn't working for them right now), it appears that the LeBron/Heat haters are setting up "The NBA is rigged/helping LeBron win a championship" narrative in the event that the Heat actually win this series.

Always has to be something, I guess. No credit can ever be given.

Lebron hit harden, harden stumbled backwards, lebron was shooting freethrows. Thats all im saying.

Credit to lebron for not hitting a jumper late in the game though. Mvp.

[DBOSHO]

Originally Posted by okcchief

How did Westbrook play hero tonight? Taking a wide open 3 when Durant couldn't get an open look? That's bullshit. It was a team loss tonight. You should work for ESPN. If you are going to single out one player there are better choices than Westbrook. Missed free throws and coaching are why the Thunder are down.

Its not just this game. He was a big reason they lost game 2

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by DBOSHO

Lebron hit harden, harden stumbled backwards, lebron was shooting freethrows. Thats all im saying.

Credit to lebron for not hitting a jumper late in the game though. Mvp.

I hate Lebron, and it was an obvious flop by Harden.

[DaKCMan AP]

Whitlock:

Wrong time to teach Westbrook lesson

MIAMI
Remember 48 hours ago when Scott Brooks and the Oklahoma City Thunder were determined not to change Russell Westbrook’s hyper-aggressive playing style?

No worries. Scott Brooks doesn’t remember either.

Sunday night, with the Thunder up six points midway through the third quarter and flirting with taking control of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Scott Brooks decided to temper Westbrook’s hyper-aggressive playing style. He benched his All-Star point guard and quite possibly irreversibly changed the momentum of this best-of-seven series.

In the matchup of young head coaches being dragged through the Finals by trios of superstars, Scott Brooks blinked before Erik Spoelstra.

With Kevin Durant already on the OKC bench nursing his fourth foul (a Joey Crawford phantom call on a Dwyane Wade drive) and James Harden in the nasty throes of another miserable Finals shooting performance, Brooks sat Westbrook the last five minutes of the third quarter, foolishly tossing away the Thunder’s momentum.

“I took him out a couple of minutes early just to settle him down, and put him right back in,” Brooks misremembered. “He had a bad stretch. He turned it over, and he took a tough layup.”

He was typical Russell Westbrook, the occasionally out-of-control point guard the Thunder swore they weren’t going to change. Well, that all changed Sunday night when Brooks sent Westbrook to his room in front of a national television audience.

“That’s the coach’s decision,” Westbrook said. “You gotta live with it.”

The Thunder died with it inside AmericanAirlines Arena, losing 91-85 and falling behind the Heat 2-1 in the series.

It was a risky decision based on the hyper-aggressive bet that the Thunder could out-execute the Heat in the fourth quarter. Brooks flew to Miami convinced that if the Thunder kept the game respectable in the first half and within a bucket or two heading into the final 12 minutes, Durant would “out-close” LeBron James and Wade.

Brooks learned a tough lesson Sunday night. Every NBA Finals possession is valuable, the ones in the third quarter matter just as much as the ones late in the fourth. Shortly after Brooks benched Westbrook, Derek Fisher completed a four-point play — drained three and a free throw — to put the Thunder up 10 points. From there, the Thunder melted the final minutes of the third quarter. OKC’s offense — Durant and Westbrook — sat and the Thunder couldn’t score. Spoelstra left James and Wade on the court and the Heat finished the final 4 minutes, 33 seconds on a 15-3 run. Miami led by two at the end of the third.

Brooks had his one-possession game going into the fourth. He needed a four-possession game in his favor to win.

Oh, Miami was its usual shaky self in the fourth quarter. The Heat turned the ball over eight times and gave OKC multiple opportunities to steal Game 3. But Durant, perhaps frustrated by the foul trouble that is plaguing him throughout this series as he tries to defend James, was off his normal fourth-quarter game. Durant was 2 of 6 from the field and 0 for 2 from the line in the fourth. The Thunder turned the ball over five times. Fisher turned cold in the fourth, missing three of four shots.

OKC needed the hyper-aggressive Russell Westbrook to bail the team out in the fourth.

Brooks benched that Westbrook in the third quarter over a couple of bad possessions.

Absolutely crazy. Westbrook actually was playing a very good game on Sunday. He wasn’t out of control. Had Brooks sat Westbrook and “put him right back in,” there wouldn’t have been a problem. The Fisher four-point play and Miami’s bad fourth quarters in Games 1 and 2 fooled Brooks into believing he could get away with punishing Westbrook for five minutes.

You have to live and coach in the moment. Durant had to sit because of the four fouls. Harden is in the toilet. Fisher is 37. What he gives OKC is a bonus, not something the Thunder should rely on. Brooks has to win this series with Durant and Westbrook free to screw up. Brooks has to ride or die with Westbrook. Brooks has no choice.

He screwed up Sunday night. Will his mistake linger? Did he damage Westbrook’s psyche? Did Brooks add to Miami’s confidence?

What was obvious from Westbrook’s short, postgame answers to any question is that he’s frustrated and pissed. He didn’t agree with Brooks’ handling of the third quarter. What was also obvious in the post-game media session is that Durant is frustrated with the officiating that keeps limiting his court time.

Adversity in Game 4 could mentally break the Thunder. If James and Wade keep driving the lane and drawing fouls and knocking down free throws, Durant, Westbrook and the Thunder will start believing in the inevitability of LeBron’s coronation.

Yep, Scott Brooks’ awkward attempt to “change” Russell Westbrook might’ve changed the entire series. We’ll find out Tuesday.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/R...-Game-3-061712

[okcchief]

Originally Posted by DBOSHO

Its not just this game. He was a big reason they lost game 2

The only thing he did game 2 was miss open shots to start the game. He also helped them get back in the game. Westbrook is a score first point guard because there aren't a lot of other options. He takes more shots than Durant because he gets more open looks. People that shit all over him don't know what they are talking about. If he went on the block tomorrow plenty of people would be in line. Harden had 2 bad games. Nobody is lining up to kill him. It's the bullshit sheep mentality. The Thunder lost as a team because the Heat are playing better as a team.