OT: 2018-19 NBA Thread.

[jtakeda]

I think Jordan Bell getting the start was a mistake. They should’ve gone with Looney or McKinnie.

I know they want Looney and Iguodala in the 2nd unit and to stay out of foul trouble—but it’s the finals!

[Jaybee]

Looney was pretty much the only effective minutes they got at the 5 last night. I agree that McKinnie should probably be your second option there, and use Bell/Cousins/Bogut/Lee to steal 3-5 minutes a half. Crazy that the Dubs have 5 centers, one of whom is a former all-star, and only one is playable in high leverage situation.

This is symptomatic of the real issue - without KD, there's no spacing in the Dubs' best lineups. After years of going small and blowing teams off the court, Toronto is forcing GS to stay big. Play Iggy and Livingston and Toronto's standard lineups are long and agile enough not to be stressed, then you're trying to guard Siakam/Gasol/Ibaka with small skinny dudes. The most obvious adjustment here is to put the ball in Livingston or Dray's hands and work Curry/Thompson off-ball to keep things moving. If Curry is handling, it's just too easy to load up on him and leave Livingston/Iggy alone.

[FlashUNC]

Last night the better defense won. It'll be interesting to see how Golden State reacts. But Toronto more or less put them in the corner and just kept working them over and over again. Unreal D.

[RonW87]

Raptors fan here. Obviously thrilled with last night's win, but not super-surprised. The ur-narrative has been about the dynastic Warriors team; how could the Raptors possibly win? However, if you analyzed the teams match-up by match-up, last night's game was fully predictable. Siakam had been stymied by Embiid and the Greek Freak. GS has nobody comparable inside. Having said that, I have to say I don't think the Raptors played their best offensive game and they have another gear. We'll see better out of Kawhi, Lowry and Danny Green. Draymond, Klay and Steph all did their thing and GS still lost. I'm liking the Raps chances right now.

[Climb01742]

Props to Toronto. Their D was great last night. But then you get to some glass half-full/half-empty questions: Can Toronto's other players shoot that well in future games? How much of GSW offense struggles were rust vs D? Did Kawhi have just one of those off-games or anything more worrisome?

Now it's adjustments. Cool. A chess game. Well matched teams. I think Kerr will show his coaching worth. And the $64k question: What about KD? Bet the NBA is very happy to say...stay tuned.

[jacobslide]

The officiating was horrendous, I do not want to see a game with 63 free throws and 53 fouls called - especially when it was not consistent.

Can someone other than Curry step up and score on the Warriors?
Can the Raptors not named Kawhi keep it up?
Is Siakam the best player on the court?
Will KD make it back? (Supposedly will be back for game 3.)

[jacobslide]

Originally Posted by RonW87

Raptors fan here. Obviously thrilled with last night's win, but not super-surprised. The ur-narrative has been about the dynastic Warriors team; how could the Raptors possibly win? However, if you analyzed the teams match-up by match-up, last night's game was fully predictable. Siakam had been stymied by Embiid and the Greek Freak. GS has nobody comparable inside. Having said that, I have to say I don't think the Raptors played their best offensive game and they have another gear. We'll see better out of Kawhi, Lowry and Danny Green. Draymond, Klay and Steph all did their thing and GS still lost. I'm liking the Raps chances right now.

This is a bizarre way to look at that game. Did we watch the same one?

Siakam had the best game of his career, and that was predictable? The dude shot 82% from the field, c'mon.

Klay got 21, but looked invisible out there.

Dray shot 22% from the field, and had 6 turnovers.

It'll be interesting to see if it was rust or the great Raptors D.
And, will each prayer shot go in for the Raps in game 2?

[XXtwindad]

So glad we don't have to endure another somnambulistic Dubs-Cavs Death March. I thought the Dubs would lose game one (they did) and win the next four. That's starting to look DUBious...and that's great for basketball.

[jtakeda]

Originally Posted by RonW87

Raptors fan here. Obviously thrilled with last night's win, but not super-surprised. The ur-narrative has been about the dynastic Warriors team; how could the Raptors possibly win? However, if you analyzed the teams match-up by match-up, last night's game was fully predictable. Siakam had been stymied by Embiid and the Greek Freak. GS has nobody comparable inside. Having said that, I have to say I don't think the Raptors played their best offensive game and they have another gear. We'll see better out of Kawhi, Lowry and Danny Green. Draymond, Klay and Steph all did their thing and GS still lost. I'm liking the Raps chances right now.

Yeah I don’t buy this.

Siakam was left wide open on a lot of shots, same with Marc Gasol and they went 20 for 27 on shooting.

I don’t think that’s indicative of a normal shooting night for those two. I also don’t see the warriors falling for the charging Lowry game much longer either

[Climb01742]

Any update on Iggy? His late limp was worrying.

[jacobslide]

Originally Posted by Climb01742

Any update on Iggy? His late limp was worrying.

He was asked after the game and said he is/would be fine.

[RonW87]

Originally Posted by jtakeda

Yeah I don’t buy this.

Siakam was left wide open on a lot of shots, same with Marc Gasol and they went 20 for 27 on shooting.

I don’t think that’s indicative of a normal shooting night for those two. I also don’t see the warriors falling for the charging Lowry game much longer either

You guys haven't been paying attention. Siakam has had no less than six 24+ point games in the playoffs this year (prior to last night), including a 30 pointer against Orlando and 29 against Philly (on 80% shooting). Last night was no crazy outlier for him. If GS ensures that Siakam is not "left wide open", Nurse would love it. As for Gasol, one of him, Lowry, Green, etc. is going to have a good game on any given night. Finally, there's nobody better than Lowry at drawing the charge. Not only that, his charges are often clutch momentum shifters. He's averaged one per game these playoffs. I wouldn't bet on GS no longer "falling for" it.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by jtakeda

Yeah I don’t buy this.

Siakam was left wide open on a lot of shots, same with Marc Gasol and they went 20 for 27 on shooting.

I don’t think that’s indicative of a normal shooting night for those two. I also don’t see the warriors falling for the charging Lowry game much longer either

The thing is that a combination of Ws defensive scheme and personnel left them open. They didn’t get to crazy efficiency on tough contested shots. If they get those shots again, I think they’ve got a great chance at replicating that efficiency. Or the Ws stop selling out on stopping Kawhi and see if he is good enough to win it by himself. Kerr has some choices to make.

Beyond that, Toronto really won this on the strength of their D. Not once last night did trapping Steph on PNR turn into one of those Draymond leading a 4 on 3 that usually ends in a lob to a dunker. GSW is going to have to adjust their attack - this is the best defense they’ve faced in the Kerr era.

[longlist]

toronto had 5 guys in double figures. warriors had 3. they didn't show up. they could've been jet lagged. they arrived the day before. i would've been there more then that. the rest of the team needs to step up. klay was having trouble. iquadala was having trouble. now his leg is acting up again. cousins looked slow and confused. the rest of the team needs to wake up.

[jacobslide]

Originally Posted by RonW87

You guys haven't been paying attention. Siakam has had no less than six 24+ point games in the playoffs this year (prior to last night), including a 30 pointer against Orlando and 29 against Philly (on 80% shooting). Last night was no crazy outlier for him. If GS ensures that Siakam is not "left wide open", Nurse would love it. As for Gasol, one of him, Lowry, Green, etc. is going to have a good game on any given night. Finally, there's nobody better than Lowry at drawing the charge. Not only that, his charges are often clutch momentum shifters. He's averaged one per game these playoffs. I wouldn't bet on GS no longer "falling for" it.

He's the 7th player in the history of the NBA to score 30+ on 80%+ shooting in the finals. It was also double his regular season PPG, and nearly double his career playoff PPG. He also made 11 straight FGs. If you don't think that makes what he did an outlier, then you really are a Raptors fan!