They are finally here: Eastern Conference Playoffs - Bracket Watch and Who Ya Got ?

[Demographic Shift]

OH Man... Tony Brothers needs to retire... game is just to fast for him.. he is making calls that he isn't in position to make..

and .. after checking... our favourite Special Ed Malloy is on the whistle at the ACC tonight....I wonder if customs could detain him..

[Majesiu]

Is that Cavs vs Indy even a playoff game? 78:74 with 6 min left in 3rd Q, both teams shooting over 50% from the field and notshowing even a bit of effort on defense, Lue "secrit" play on defense seems to be switching Irving on George on every opportunity.

Maybe Indy doesn't give enough on the defense, but Cavs seems even more inept on that end than in regular season. That's enough to win in Ohio, but if that trend continues predictions that this series might go to distance (6 games) and be tied after 4 seems probable.

[ogi]

Indy is missing some wide open shots at the top of the key... but its still a wide open 3 lane hiway in the paint under the Cavs basket....Indy put up 59 in the first half...that isn't lock down defense is it..Monta Ellis is killing Irving .. Irving is killing Ellis by putting up a ton of points but giving it all back on the defensive end of the floor...Lebron played 22 of 24 minutes...

Whats really killing Indy is Tony Brothers... he must be on payroll somewhere other than the NBA....

That Tyron lue secrit defense

[JawsGT]

Indy is missing some wide open shots at the top of the key... but its still a wide open 3 lane hiway in the paint under the Cavs basket....Indy put up 59 in the first half...that isn't lock down defense is it..Monta Ellis is killing Irving .. Irving is killing Ellis by putting up a ton of points but giving it all back on the defensive end of the floor...Lebron played 22 of 24 minutes...

Whats really killing Indy is Tony Brothers... he must be on payroll somewhere other than the NBA....

teague blows too, his D is awful.

[Demographic Shift]

Fucking Indiana giving the Cavs all the confidence in the world with their horrible defense.

Indy is missing some wide open shots at the top of the key... but its still a wide open 3 lane hiway in the paint under the Cavs basket....Indy put up 59 in the first half...that isn't lock down defense is it..Monta Ellis is killing Irving .. Irving is killing Ellis by putting up a ton of points but giving it all back on the defensive end of the floor...Lebron played 22 of 24 minutes...

Whats really killing Indy is Tony Brothers... he must be on payroll somewhere other than the NBA....

[mjt20mik]

Fucking Indiana giving the Cavs all the confidence in the world with their horrible defense.

[Demographic Shift]

Its here !
The brand new and improved Lebrons over the drek last few weeks Lebrons debut in 30 minutes.
Showtime for the Raps in 3 hours

So...

Pacers vs Cavs. Lebron I have no doubt will be ready to go. Thats not the question. The question is.. are the rest of the supporting cast ready ? Looks like everyone is over pink eye, back soreness, knee bobo's. Love is healthy and ready to go... Irving 's knee likely is still sore but its not going to keep him from starting...finishing is another story. Thompson thumb is likely still sore but he will go. The Pacers are also in the building and with no one hurt and flying nicely under the radar they are primed and ready to play. Paul George is one effing good player and he is going to show it in this series in a big way.

So maybe we can call this the switch game. Its the switch game because it really really hard to believe that over the course of the last three days the Cavs will simply play better defense than they have over the last 2 months. AND.. to the surprise of all the Cavs ass kissers on ESPN the Cavs are going to lose this one today because their defense will let them down again.
Lebron is going to be good.... the rest of the Cavs aren't.

Bucks at Raps Winners of 3 of 4 this year (going back to last year is just pointless as its last year ferchrissakes). Physically bigger and tougher. Kidd might have to start Monroe to keep JV from crushing spindling and mutilating Thon Maker. PJ Tucker and Serge Ibalka bring playoff experience and mean streaks. The Bucks are veeery limited in that regard.
Savy all star point guard in a contract year vs a rookie PG.
The Raps wings with DD, Norm and this year lightening rod for fan hatred Demare Carroll are head and shoulders above what the Bucks have.
Yes Giannas is good but the guy scored 20 plus in all four games and the Bucks still lost 3 of them. The one they won the Raps were on the 3rd game in 4 days. Schedule loss.
Yes Middleton is a good shooter but do you see anyone on the Bucks that can put that team on his back and win besides the Alphabet. The supporting cast isn't ready for prime time yet. With a week to get ready Kalamian and Casey will have a scheme to slow the pace of the game down and take out as many transition baskets as they can to make the Alphabet a jump shooter which he is not especially good at .

In a year that's been different in so many ways the Raps break tradition and win the opening game of a playoff series.

[Demographic Shift]

This is so disrespectful though lol

Broussard as impossible as it is to believe has the higher moral ground in this video piece.

The host really looks and sounds like a bitter momma's boy basement dweller.

[The Great One]

This is so disrespectful though lol

[A.I]

Right here...it's the lesser of two evils to cheer for....
Still of the 4 Eastern series..this is the one with plausible upset probabilities..

Agreed. If Rondo focuses and has a good series, Bulls have a good shot at winning. I mean Isaiah will be guarded by Rondo or Butler.

[TrueTorontoFan]

I really think the Hawks will win over the Wiz. I also think there is a punchers chance that Bulls make it.


Raptors will win against the bucks but they need to win in 5 games... and I think they can. We are a more experienced team. We are a better team. Aside form Giannis we have advantages at every spot. Yes Middleton is good ... very underrated and if we had him instead of demarre (couldn't because he was a RFA), we would probably be favorites to win it all. Here are my hot takes for that series for us:

Lowry: They have no answer for our #1 shotmaker and play maker. Their point guard is a rookie. Yes they have Delly but he is on the bench and they will over play Jason Terry and it will come back to bite them.

Derozan: Derozan has seen it all this season. I think it will take him a game or two to figure it out but he will figure it out. That said I don't think he will be the one "going off". That said I have faith in Derozan now. He has learned not to force his shot any more. He has become more of a distributor and I think he will pick his spots wisely and not force the issue like last year vs Indiana.

Ibaka: I feel like we focus on Demar and Kyle. We keep forgetting Ibaka. He has been like an allstar version of 2Pat and thats exactly what we needed. In addition to that he brings the rim protection. He also brings something that they won't be able to beat. We can play small ball and beat them with Ibaka at the 5. I don't think they have answer for Ibaka.


Rebounding: We can dominate them on the boards. Yes they are a long team but they are in experienced and we have bigger guys. Guys like Jakob and Jonas can help us bang down low. The second they put out Greg Monroe they are done.


Bench: This is our biggest strength with Ppat, Delon, Corey, and the rest of the gang I think we have a slight advantage here as well.

Defence: We have the 4th best NBA defence since the break. They are not in the top 10 in either of their metrics. I think that we have more fire power and we have the talent to stop them. It will be a hard fought series, but we can beat them in 5.


All in all I think Ibaka is our x-factor in this series. We have all long talked about our advantages but I have seen people miss out on our advantage at the 4/5 spot. I think everyone talks about how ibaka will help our defence but they dont remember how much of a boon he has had on our offence. He can get you a steady 16 points and 7 rebounds without even thinking about it.

[TrueTorontoFan]

What's Wade's official status? Will he be playing?

Yeah he was practising and he is active .... he will play

[Demographic Shift]

How many people picked the Bulls only because "F*ck Boston"? haha *Raises Hand*

Right here...it's the lesser of two evils to cheer for....
Still of the 4 Eastern series..this is the one with plausible upset probabilities..

[Joey]

How many people picked the Bulls only because "F*ck Boston"? haha *Raises Hand*

[007]

Maybe since we finally beat them the Chicago curse will move on to a fellow Atlantic division victim