Arena The NBA Thread

Man, the Western Conference playoff bracket is a mess. The 1, 4 and 7 seeds are all locked up by the Warriors, Blazers and Mavericks respectively. And with just one game to go, 2, 3, 5 and 6 could go in just about any combination between the Spurs, Clippers, Rockets and Grizzlies. Here's a handy chart:

 

SEASON OVER PACER!!!!!

YOU FINALLY KNOCKED THE HEAT OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS GUYS, BWAHAHAHAHA

(yes I realize the Cavs may soon follow suit but still)

 

Thank god. Cavs are in and Heat are not. That's all I care about.

 

We should all be rooting for New Orleans to nab that 8th seed in the West tomorrow.

 

Tunes edit that post before Russell Westbrook busts in your house and lights everything on fire with his breath

 

Show of hands, who predicted that the Celtics would make the playoffs this year, especially after dealing Rondo?

Edit: I'm glad the Pacers won tonight, because now I can root for the Grizzlies to win tomorrow guilt-free. The Griz are my preferred matchup for the Blazers in round 1, so they need to win to grab the 5 seed. The Clippers need to win tonight too, but I don't think that will be a problem.

 

Russ has 34 points AT THE HALF.

Tunes lock your doors.

 

Pellies still up by double-digits in the 3rd on the Spurs...

 

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO WINS HE IS GOING TO HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU TUNICK LOCK THE DOOR

 

Pelicans! Pelicans! Pelicans!

 

With OKC eliminated, there's no way Westbrook gets the MVP. It's gotta be Curry or LeBron now.

 

There's no way a guy who takes off several weeks to vacation in Miami is your MVP. Ergo, not LeBron.

Also, can we agree to never use the term "Pellies" ever again. As in, Tunes, if you do, I will be the Russell Westbrook Lloyd warned you about.

 

Booo.

 

There's no way Sir Floppybeard gets MVP.

Edit: We finally have our seedings!

Warriors vs Pelicans
Rockets vs Mavericks
Clippers vs Spurs
Blazers vs Grizzlies

Hawks vs Nets
Cavaliers vs Celtics
Bulls vs Bucks
Raptors vs Wizards

 

Celtics in the first round. Great....................
And not the 2nd round like the last two times.
Hoping for the best but we will see.

 

As the caption read in the original version of that pic, 'It's Finally Over'; Thank goodness. Because the Dodgers were on television tonight (what a concept, eh?!), I focused most of my attention towards that, glancing over to the finale of this Laker season essentially only for courtside regular counts***. Fittingly, the last Laker bucket was made by none other...


.



The legend himself, Robert Sacre!







Aside from some wins against good-to-great teams, the highlight for the purple & gold this season was Clarkson's development (especially in the 2nd half of the season). If he can continue to trend upward, then it'll be an absolute steal for the Lakers to have drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2014 draft. Can't wait, obviously, to see what Julius Randle can do next season, and perhaps the Lakers lottery pick won't drift out of a top-5 spot. Then of course there is Kobe's last stand... can he manage one last healthy season, even if his offensive numbers continue to dwindle? That would be nice. Who the hell knows if Lin will be back, what kind of comeback Nick Young can manage and whether or not Byron Scott can survive a season without this expression constantly on his face:


.



Onto 2015-2016!




***Final totals for the bevy of courtside regulars (irregulars, though, for too many on the list):






Jack: 6 games attended, 35 missed.







Lou Adler: 5 games attended, 36 missed.








Yori Saneyoshi (with the glasses) & Kay Harrington: 10 games attended, 31 missed for Yori; 8 games attended, 33 missed for Kay.







Patrick Soon-Shiong: 23 games attended, 18 missed.







Avi Lerner: 31 games attended, 10 missed.








The Smiths (Joe and his wife... I don't know her name. ): 17 games attended together, 20 missed together; 4 games attended by Joe, 4 missed by Mrs. Smith.








Norm Pattiz: 21 games attended, 19 missed.







Dyan Cannon: 30 games attended, 11 missed.






Now onto the MVP of the bunch...








Sign Guy: 40 games attended, 1 missed.






Never change, Sign Guy.

 

LeBron's last playoff game in a Cav's jersey was against the Celtics and now his first playoff game in this stint with the Cavs will be against the Celtics. Let's hope he puts some effort in it this time around.

 

I'm still mystified as to how the Celtics are even in the playoffs this year. I can't think of even one good player they have now that Rondo is gone.

 

Because they're in the Easy Conference...I mean the Eastern Conference.

 

Somewhat disappointed it's not Cavs-Heat in the first round.

That said, there's no reason the Celtics should be able to win this series. Take it to six? Sure, that's feasible. Win it? If so, I'll start a riot.

 

I would be surprised, but not stunned, if it even goes to six.

 

Well, keep in mind, exactly one key cog in the system has any real playoff experience. And that includes the coach, who will need to make mid-series adjustments for the first time. It's not as easy as saying "we have much more talent, therefore we win easily". Boston has, by far, the better coach in the series. That counts for a lot over a seven game series.

Now, mind you, that key cog is one of the ten greatest players of all time. But, still.

 

Generally I would say that's true, and I think the overall lack of playoff experience will come back to bite us in the second round, but I don't see this Cavs team losing more than one game to the Celtics. Of course now that I have said that have condemned us to a seven game series.

 

Ugh. Don't remind me. He has Irving and the rest so we better pull through.