Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 169. (Read 914582 times)

Exactly, when Kyrie was traded and he is supposedly paired with Luka, many critics dismisses this team as two ball hog will not end very well for any team. But it's different, Kyrie might have matured already since he has also team with superstars in the past and now knows when to go to the background and let Luka do the work and then score points when needed.

I think a sweep is imminent here, we have seen games in this series that the Wolves will take the lead and have 90% win the game until Luka or Kyrie takes over. Also good decision to get two players, Gafford and PJ Washington in the trade deadline this February as this two is also part of the core now. And then the rookie Lively, a good pick as well. So everything is falling into pieces for them.

I also don't think that there will be another match after the upcoming one. Well, I was optimistic that I'd thought it will be easy for the Minnesota Timberwolves to win this series against the Dallas Mavericks, I am one of people that have thought they're currently the strongest team now because of how they've won against the Denver Nuggets. I think that this is a different story if the Dallas is playing against the Nuggets.

I remember this when Kyrie was traded to the Dallas and many have thought that they're not going to work together because they're both superstar. But look, with just some few games after the trade, a chemistry has been made and here they are, looking to give the Wolves a sweep in the conferences finals. That's even more painful than a heartbreak but even so, we'll still have to wait and see for the game 4.

No team has comeback from 3-0 and win, the best that they can do is force a game 7, but that is a tall order. They really have a huge chance to steal this game from the Mavs, but we can say that Luka is really one of the best player in the league right now as he lead his team.

And when we thought that Luka and Kyrie are not going to blend, they proved almost everyone wrong.

Irving saving his best performance in the conference finals, and with that he might go on another championship game and perhaps it will be against his former team the Boston Celtics.

It's unbelievable how the defending champions lost to Minnesota. While Minnesota is having the most difficult series in this playoffs. I did not expect Dallas to lead 3-0 especially during the time when they stole the two homecourt games at Minnesota. The games were close but at 3-0 and knowing history, I don't know if Minnesota has the heart and determination to continue fighting and giving their best. Minnesota deserved a win but I won't be surprised if Dallas will close this series at home. Somehow, I am giving the Pacers the better chance of winning the 4th game than Minnesota.

Both Irving and Doncic want to become champions, they played great again in the last match and managed to win the match. Minnesota Timberwolves can't win a game this time, Edwards and KAT should have been able to win at least one game in this series.
I don't think the conference finals will be extended, both series seem to end in the 4th game. Then we will see the real champion

I don't know if it's only me, but I feel that this is one of the most boring Conference Finals.
Both the Celtics and the Mavericks are just one win away from reaching the NBA Finals.

I mean I know that games are pretty much a close one especially in the Western Conference, but I didn't expect in the first 3 games of the series to end up with a 3-0. I expect that the other team will get one win at least after 3 games. We know the history of playoffs with regards to 0-3 deficits. No team has ever won after trailing the series 0-3. The Celtics almost made history last year against the Heat when they extended the series into a Game 7 but lost on their own home.

Do we see a history in a making this playoff? Do we see the Pacers or/and Timberwolves winning against the Celtics/Mavericks?

This is a good learning experience for the young Pacers team, but the Celtics is just too much for them. Even with Haliburton playing, I don't see them winning the whole series, and now that he might be out again, I don't see them winning at least a single game. There's a chance though that the Celtics will not go all-in in Game 4 because they want to celebrate their Eastern Conference champion program on their home. What do you think? Is it worth the risk to bet on the Pacers in Game 4?

Two great game-closers did it again.

It's sad to see Lively going down like that and not coming back to the game because the lob game is one of the strengths of the Mavs but Gafford stepped up his game which is what they needed while the rookie is hurt.
PJ Washington too made a big shot on the three-point line that put the gap and made it hard for the Timberwolves to go back. And then, Kyrie and Luka, know their jobs and that's to close the game. Luka made some difficult shots and Kyrie kept on being aggressive, he made some errors but he went back great. Massive victory for the Mavs putting the series to 3-0. We all know no team has recovered from that deficit.

I have been watching different clips of basketball analysts in this series and most talks are about Kyrie being entirely different. He is playing with joy and freedom in Dallas unlike how he played on other teams. I guess he found his home.
I criticized that man for his drama before, but this year, I became a big fan of that dude. Truly, he is a different man now. Luka might've been one of the reasons why.

Even though the Indiana Pacers played a close game with the Celtics last night, I never really had any hope for the Pacers having any sort of chance with the Celtics this series.  However, even though the TWolves are down two game, I still think they've got a chance. I guess I'm a bit biased as I find this series to be a lot more interesting than the other.  Though if they can't pull of at least one win, will kind of be embarrassing for Edwards, no?

I just don't think you can beat Kyrie and Luca..just can't see it happening.  That's where my satoshis are going tonight.

We might even see that Dallas and Wolves match later as a decider.

If the Dallas wins the game later then it's all completely the end of these conferences finals.  Dallas for the West and Boston for the East.

It's very likely that it's what the stats are showing right now.

Yeah if porzingas is in the game there is no way the Pacers can hold them up.  Who is gonna cover him out in the perimeter, myles?  Jalen brown and tatum will have a field day driving to the bucket.  Hate to see Boston go to the finals but this year it's inevitable.  The real race is put in the west between Dallas and the wolves.

Boston almost guaranteed the series now thanks to this, 3-0 means that it's nearly impossible to have a loss there, I think nobody ever came back from 3 down right? If that is the case, Pacers do not look like they could do that. In fact, Boston should fight harder on the fourth game, so that they could get the win and relax until the finals, that could give them the much needed rest and would allow them to do better, it would be a great situation for them and I would be able to say that they could have advantage on the finals.

I see that Wolves will probably win some games, if Dallas wins again then it is going to be quite hard but I feel like Wolves may get a win or two, or maybe even make a comeback and get two in a row to tie, in that case both Wolves and Dallas will be tired when they face Boston.

Then that's going to be 4-0 for the Boston Celtics.

Pacers need to learn more. I think that they're not yet ready for the finals. It's hard to see them lose with that kind of lead. But this is Celtics.

Are there still folks that can't move on that our Jordan's boy(Butler) is the Celtics weakness? But kudos to the Celtics, they might sweep Pacers.

The Pacers narrowly lost both the first and third games. Now all they can do is win Game 4 to avoid getting swept. The Celtics will end this series 4-0 or 4-1. One game for Tatum, one game for Brown. The Celtics were tough to deal with, Pacers fought well. They played very well without Haliburton, but they made the wrong decisions in critical moments. Players like Nembhard and McConnell exceeded expectations. Siakam and Turner were good. They were efficient in the paint. But it's hard to win when you shoot 5/22 from three. It's over in the East.

This is good, but I think the Celtics played better with KP. Maybe don't give him a lot of minutes, as they are still grabbing rebounds. They have Horford, who played some quality minutes and was the main reason for that big win in Game 3, as he was able to make open three-point attempts. Just like the old days, Horford is at it again. Come playoff time, he plays with great composure and remains very competitive.

nah, this is will be Mavs in the Finals vs Celtics, KP will be back in Dallas as an opponent, but I wonder what can he do against a the two big men of Dallas who have been contributing very well in the series with the Wolves so far, if Gobert and KAT can't stop them, I'm not sure with KP now.

And what's scary is that there are reports that KP might be back in Celtics line up in the next game,



https://x.com/CelticsUnite18/status/1793065185768358093

This is good news for Celtics fans, and for sure they are looking for a sweep next game in Indiana. Although it could backfire or disrupt the chemistry of the team, but I think it was a good plan in preparation for whoever they will face in the NBA finals. He will have his hands full as either the Mavs and the Wolves had bigger man.

They are so exhausted and losing two consecutive games in a row for sure drain their spirit especially if they see that both Kyrie and Doncic is doing good plus their Gafford,Lively and rest of the crew is doing so well. I don't know what adjustment will be made by Wolves since they really see that Ant can't guard Kyrie so that would really a problem for them especially for continue chasing him to defend will totally exhausting for the part of ANT. So maybe they should adjust and assigned other perimeter defender so ANT can do other thing and save up his energy so he can score more or work well inside the court.

They need to recover and get a win since if they fall again and let Dallas win then take a 0 - 3 advantage then maybe we could really agree that they are already done. I'm not expecting this result for wolves since they are really so good and have a lot of potential but they fall so bad on Mavs.

Totally agreed, those height advantage is only working for players that doesn’t have any accurate perimeter shots like Nuggets during their match against their Wolves that’s why Wolves looks like overwhelming strong against Nuggets because they can’t forced the paint points.

Now with Dallas line-up which Luca is a great outside shooter, any big man guard from Wolves is useless since he can always use screen, dribble or fadeaway shots just to avoid blocks from this slow big man. The way to defend Luca is to provide a defender that can match his speed or put him on double team which is not a good choice for Wolves because they have slow line-up while Dallas has a lot of shooters aside from Luca that can be another threat.

The WCF shows that having a big line-up can dominate basketball. 3 points accuracy and speed is still the best strategy which is being popularized by Warriors before.

But matchup, I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you on putting Kat or Naz Reid on Luka. Doncic will just take advantage of that "mismatch" all night, taking outside shots like he did against Gobert, or going inside to bait for a foul.

Wolves are doing good, until that switch and Luka with his trade mark step back 3, and I think that is hard to guard as if you try to get close, he could illicit a foul on you or just pass and then get the ball back. Turnovers though will be the key for the Wolves to win in next game. They have to limit their turnovers and not just give up easy points inside.

I hope it's a different Wolves that we will be witnessing in game 3 as it's a must win for them. They can't go down to 0-3 as that's automatic elimination due to the fact that no team has ever came back from that deficit. ANT was a major problem honestly, his shots aren't falling like its usual, so really need some big help and I guess improve his game as well, after all he is the best player of the team, if he'll struggle, we can't expect the team to win.

I'm not sure that would work, yes Reid and KAT are both taller than Luka, but the speed though, they can't cope up with Luka Magic for sure.

"I would agree for Boston, but not for the Wolves right now. If the Mavs make it 3-0, then maybe I can say yes to this. I don't think the team that beat the Nuggets will just allow that to happen. If ANT still has a low field goal percentage in game 3, then it's not good for them since KAT is also not consistent. Also, I would put Reid or KAT on Luka instead of Gobert.