Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 162. (Read 902323 times)

Same here, I thought that they are going to take game 2 with D'Lo shooting and then AD and Lebron combining for big points. There were moments that AD was in rhythm and no one can stop him and Murray has a terrible shooting night.

I think the Lakers can get at least 1 game in this series and break their losing streak. Other Lakers like Austin Reaves have to stop up and help. Although Rui and Reaves has the task of guarding Jokic and Murray and that is big already and perhaps them concentrating on defense put their offense at the back seat as they didn't score double digits. Usually their starting five scores at least 100 points, but not in this series yet.

Yeah, it was a tight game. However, I wouldn't say the Lakers have no chance in this series, even though they have lost 2 games in a row. In fact, if you look at the stats, you can see that now the chance of the Lakers recovering from a 0-2 deficit is only 7.3%. It's not much, but I hope the Lakers will do their best in the next game.

That was an epic game 2 and arguably the most interesting series of the first round so far. It was a true show of class, character and a great sense of urgency from the defending champions. LA Lakers only have themselves to blame after letting what could have been a great advantage before the series heads to Los Angeles slip through their fingers.

Davis issue began when the fouls started to mount up for and he became less physical and aggressive after picking up his fourth personal foul and had to sit at the score table for some while, when his presence on the court could have been well needed.

Nikola Jokic with yet another that performance that will further cement his name as one of the NBA players' all time best while still playing, It was a triple double performance, having scored a double-double in the 1st 12 minutes of the match, he was significantly quiet for majority of the 3rd but was able to find his stroke at the perfect timing while an all-night struggling Jamal Murray nailed the Lakers coffin with an impressive clutch time performance and buzzer beating dagger to heart of the Lakers faithfuls.

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I don't think Lakers stands a chance in this series now, as I'll be backing the Nuggets to steal at least one of the next two games in LA on the road, however, Lakers have also shown that they can put any team on their toes and a run for their money too.

Crazy game 2 between the Lakers and the Nuggets. Everyone thought the Lakers are gonna steal the game 2 as they lead 20 pts at some pt in the 3rd quarter, but the Nuggets didn't give up, was able to establish momentum in the 4th. Though they did not take the lead, but Murray just made a buzzer beater to beat the Lakers by 2 pts.
Man, it looks like the Lakers really stand no chance against the Nuggets. They have not won against them for 2 years straight now lol.
Davis was almost perfect in the 1st half but totally disappeared in the 2nd half.
It looks the Lakers' chance to win this series is by miracle lol.

Celtics today is the favorite to win the championship if they don't face the Nuggets in the finals because they are the ones who top all the teams in the Eastern Conference and they are not those who choke in the playoffs. If they can easily sweep the Heat and their next opponent, them there chance are even higher than expectations. I really hope that they can actually win one since they have been battling so hard to stay on the top and keep improving their games just to head back to the finals and try once again for the championship.

Without Jimmy buckets they are cooked.  They are an average team at best against the Celtics I'd be surprised if Miami wins one.  Celtics have so many ways to beat you and are even better than they have been in years past.  Even with Jimmy I don't think they could contend over a seven game series against them. 

Zion better hope his teammates get at least one win hehe. It's likely going to be a sweep unless Ingram does something great. I think the young Thunders grinding a win over them was a huge confidence boost and they will only dominate from here. I personally wouldn't bet against OKC in this series.

That's their situation and it's a sad one.

I have no updates yet if Butler is going to play for the next match but maybe, they're just going to surprise us if he's ready. I remember last season when the entire playoffs, there's also one key player that wasn't able to play and that's Tyler Herro.

This time, I don't want to think of the same unfortunate situation for the team as another key player isn't there yet. I want to see Heat in the playoffs as I used to be but whatever happens, we have to accept it if they lose.

I thought of the other way around. I think they are better with Zion as he can help create an open shot in the perimeter or beyond the arc when he's crashing the paint since he is difficult to defend with just one defender in front of him. They could have even win that game against the Lakers if he was not injured in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. They were down by double digits, but Zion was a big help as he lead their way to take the lead at one point in the 4th quarter.
Hope he'll get a chance to play in the 1st round as the latest injury report states that he might be cleared to play in the game 5 of the series. Unless they don't get swept in this series, Zion will most likely going to play in the 1st round.

For sure the Dallas Mavericks will adjust their strategy sure all teams will do the same I think that it is good for Luka Doncic to be on standby and be more on the passing side or likely he will be the one that is making the plays the Mavericks had a range of players that they can use and this is the play-offs they need to focus in building their bench guys while the Los Angeles Clippers is playing with their limited team but the Clippers still won the game, I think it is a good strategy to rotate the ball and let the other teammates get the heat and not just Doncic and Irving who would get the heat because that will be exhausting to their part.


You actually have a point the Cleveland Cavaliers don't have any experience with the play-offs but they still have a chance of winning against the New Orleans Pelicans even though some of the main players in the Pelicans had some experience with the play-offs we can not say the least as it is just the start of the playoffs and anything can surely happen I would really like the Cavaliers to show their fangs against the Pelicans as I think they can really do it even though they already won the 1st game the Pelicans can change their strategy next game and could tie the game for this play-offs.

It seems like the Pelicans play strong or let's say they perform well when Zion Williamson isn't playing. Honestly I thought they will lose in Play-in Tournament against Kings because Zion is not playing. Do you think the game would still be this close if he played? Will Zion be able to play in this playoffs 1 round series? It might be better if he doesn't because the Pelicans seem to be playing well. They're also strong in offensive rebounds without Zion Williamson. If CJ McCollum had made his last shot, the Pelicans would have won.

It's the Pelicans who have the most playoffs experience, maybe in terms of team comparison there's only few difference but in terms of player, these two players of the Pelicans have been consistent in the playoffs before.

If you look at the statistics,

CJ - https://basketball.realgm.com/player/CJ-McCollum/Playoffs-History/17251... 10 playoffs appearance.

Jonas Valanciunas - https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Jonas-Valanciunas/Playoffs-History/24239 8 playoffs appearance.

So by just basing on that stats above, we know they are not close in terms of experienced.

I like your analysis. This is what I’m actually thinking when I watch their match. Regular season records is just a number and doesn’t matter if you are lack of experienced. OKC roster is full of young talent that doesn’t have much exposure on games like playoffs which they face same team multiple times for a series of matches.

Pelicans having veteran players on their line up makes them a bit in advantage against a young gen team. I will not be surprised if the Pelicans can eliminate them especially when the match is already move to the Pelicans home. OKC should finish the game as quickly as possible since Zion will come back potentially on game 5. Having 2-2 record will be bad for them.

I think both of them being young and inexperienced teams in the playoffs makes this matchup more exciting. Thunder last made the playoffs in the 2019–20 season, where Chris Paul and Steven Adams are still on the team. On the other hand, the Pelicans last playoff appearance was in the 2021–22 season, and before that, 2017–18 was their last playoffs. With them battling each other on a playoff level, it is really exciting to see. When the playoffs come, it is 0-0, back to square one, so it doesn't really matter if you're a first seed or not; the important thing is to get the win every game. I hope this series will go to Game 7, so it will be worth watching. Pelicans, on the other hand, can really take over that game if Brandon Ingram gets going, but unfortunately, he has been in the Dorture Chamber and struggles to get some buckets on the first game. Looking forward to the next game, I hope it will be a close one again.

That's how it work in the playoffs, it's like a chess match, adjustments after adjustments and that for sure the Dallas are rooting to win game 2 to even the series. As they keep losing, their chances of winning gets slimmer, and as per statistics, when a team is down 2-0, the chance of winning the series is below 50%, so as much as possible, Dallas will try to avoid that as IMO they have the best season now with Kyrie on board.

Usually, they will adjust including center play time during playoffs since it’s pretty obvious what’s their error on this game if Luka is not performing like as scoring machine. Mavs is very strong in terms of offense but this strength is neutral when the opponent team can answer evenly.




Exactly, this is the problem if the team is only dominated by few players while the enemy team has same fire power like what I mention above. Mavs bench needs to step up to give space for Luka to do his own magic to carry the game. It’s very hard to carry the game if your teammates doesn’t have any contribution even small to help you catch a break.

Yeah, the Pelicans really did great tonight. I thought they were going to win it. It's not like OKC Thunder is too much for them, they can absolutely win it even without Zion Williamson.
They gave the Thunder a difficult time and I am sure this will be a confidence booster for the Pelicans players. They are so close and that last 3 minutes were teeth-clenching, you can feel the competitive spirit of both teams and I bet the OKC also felt that they almost lost that game.
This is the playoffs that I want, it doesn't matter if you are the 8th seed or the 1st seed. Fight back as much as possible and the Pelicans will probably adjust some things so they will have an upper hand next time. A higher level of defense will probably make a big difference next time although they did that good today.
Great game in Oklahoma. Loved it.

If the Heat will not have Butler and Rozier back on at least on Game 3, I'm afraid they might get swept by the Celtics.

Last season, the Heat was carried by Butler and of course it created a domino effect towards other Heat players. This time, their main player is out due to an injury hence, it affected the whole team. We've seen these 2 teams fought 3 times in the last 4 playoffs so they pretty much know the strengths and weaknesses of both teams already. It all comes down to how healthy your players are and this time, the Celtics have the upper hand. Like I said, if Butler will not play in Game 3, they have a high chance of being swept in the first round.

Gafford got in foul trouble and played only 14 minutes, and I think that's the reason why Zubac really dominated the paint getting 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Playoff Experience is also a problem with the Mavericks. They might be one of the best teams post all-star game, but in the playoffs, most of their roster doesn't have any playoff experience whatsoever. I always believe that playoff experience is a big factor as well because of the decisions that they can do during the game. Well, you said it already that most of the offense comes from both Luka and Kyrie whereas the Clippers distributed the offense.

If there's a problem with the Clippers currently, it's Kawhi being out again when they needed him the most.

They almost lost to an 8th seeded team. This is where playoff experience comes to play.
We know that the Thunder are very inexperienced when it comes to playoffs. Both the players and the coach doesn't have that much experience compared to the Pelicans that has been in the playoffs for the past 2 years I think. Last minute decisions can change the game. If only Ingram and McCollum are more efficient in this game, they might steal Game 1 on the road TBH.

They are at advantage right now so, they can say what they want to say right now. But we all know how Miami goes into these kind of draining playoffs.

They might turn into a saiyan and turn the tides into their favor. Yeah, there's still a long haul for this playoffs not just for them but also in other brackets.

So, wishing all of them good luck.

They have one of the most underrated center though in the league, but he didn't have enough minutes in the game and that's why Zubac dominated. Luka is going to adjust in this game 2 for sure, I'm seeing him erupted for a double double.


They have in game 1, only 3 players scored in double digits and it was Luka and Kyrie 2/3 of the scoring on the Mavs. So there are no contribution whatsoever from their bench like Jones Jr, Exxum and Time Hardaway.