NBA Playoffs Season 2014-2015

[Endless Paradise]

There's absolutely zero chance that a Blazers team missing all of Wes Matthews, Dorell Wright and Arron Afflalo (aka, the majority of their wing rotation) and with an injured Aldridge was beating a healthy Cavs team in the first round. Come on, let's not be silly.

We're not talking about the injured Cavs playing right now, but a healthy Cavs team that was only missing Varejao at that point. Portland was getting dominated by an offensively-challenged Memphis team that managed to average over 100 PPG against them.

[staticcc]

Think about this: the Cavs might have lost in the first round if they were in the West.

Doubt it. Look up their record against West playoff teams

Regular season.

If they had faced, say, the Blazers or Grizz in the first round, I think it's very possible they would've lost.

The East is an utter joke.  This Cavs team is not very good.
In the Finals, Dray covers Bron, who covers Curry?  Should be a bloodbath.

They can take the Blazers. Definitely would have beaten a Conley or Tony Allen-less Grizz team too. Swept the Grizz in the season btw.

If Lebron can beat OKC in 2012 with Durant averaging 31 PPG and Westbrook averaging 27 PPG with Ibaka and Harden while his man Bosh averaged less than 15, AND BEAT the Spurs in 2013 with gimpy Wade not even cracking 20 PPG and Bosh scoring ZERO POINTS in Game 7, he can get out of the first round come on now.

If the Clippers can do it (got out of the first round 3 times the past 5 years), you're saying Lebron can't? You're underestimating him imo.

I agree they probably can't beat the Warriors unless he dominates and his teammates don't miss from three, but lose in the FIRST ROUND? Don't think so unless it's vs the Spurs or Warriors. And even those series wouldn't be sure losses. Oh and the last time Dray guarded Lebron, he dropped 40 and beat the Warriors.

The Hawks beat the Cavs 3-1 in the regular season and you know how that is turning out for them now.

Sure. Because LeBron's playing now. He wasn't in one or two of those Hawks wins. So yeah definitely.

[PhoSita]

The Blazers still had LMA and Lillard.

Memphis was probably the second best team in the playoffs this year.  The only team that made the Warriors sweat even a little.  That series would've been a grind, as all Grizz series are, but the Cavs would have had no chance.

I'm telling you, the Cavs will be one of the weakest Finals teams in years.  LeBron, injured Kyrie, Tristan Thompson, and JR Smith.  That's a Conference Champion?  Yuck.

Playoff seeding reform please.

[Endless Paradise]

Aldridge was reduced into a grossly inefficient chucker in the playoffs (seriously, check his stats) and Lillard - who'd already been struggling with his shot since around the All-Star Break - was exposed as being relatively easy to shut down. Portland absolutely would not have taken out Cleveland. They had no depth by the time they reached the playoffs. They had an injured LMA and a struggling Lillard who shot 16% from 3 on 31 attempts? Cool, the Cavs had a healthy big 3 AND depth.

And again, the Finals version of the Cavs team isn't the same Cavs team that was playing in the first round: neither Kyrie nor Love were injured. Portland couldn't score, nor could they stop anyone from scoring. The Cavs would've destroyed them.

[staticcc]

The Blazers still had LMA and Lillard.

Memphis was probably the second best team in the playoffs this year.  The only team that made the Warriors sweat even a little.  That series would've been a grind, as all Grizz series are, but the Cavs would have had no chance.

I'm telling you, the Cavs will be one of the weakest Finals teams in years.  LeBron, injured Kyrie, Tristan Thompson, and JR Smith.  That's a Conference Champion?  Yuck.

Playoff seeding reform please.

Ok then. Lebron loses to those guys. Even if he's beaten OKC and SAS with gimpy Wade and 15PPG Bosh.  Sure.

[SHAQATTACK]

Until LeBron can't reach down and call upon his athleticism to bring down his foes because of age or he finally experiences a serious health setback .

The dude is an dangerous opponent as the Warriors could want.   Just him being on the floor gets everybody else better looks .

Warriors will need to run LeBron up and down the court unmercifully .   Never give him a moments rest .

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Until LeBron can't reach down and call upon his athleticism to bring down his foes because of age or he finally experiences a serious health setback .

The dude is an dangerous opponent as the Warriors could want.   Just him being on the floor gets everybody else better looks .

Warriors will need to run LeBron up and down the court unmercifully .   Never give him a moments rest .

I think the key is to NOT double on LeBron so anyone else on that team can't beat the Warriors. Offensively, the Warriors have enough firepower to counter LeBron James, even if he goes nuts.  They have bodies with size, length and overall desire to play defense to throw at him and give him different looks to tire him out.

If he drops 34 a game, so be it, but the Cavs won't win without JR Smith, Kyrie Irving and the rest playing on par. Play him straight up and make sure everybody else on Cleveland is contained.

[PhoSita]

The Blazers still had LMA and Lillard.

Memphis was probably the second best team in the playoffs this year.  The only team that made the Warriors sweat even a little.  That series would've been a grind, as all Grizz series are, but the Cavs would have had no chance.

I'm telling you, the Cavs will be one of the weakest Finals teams in years.  LeBron, injured Kyrie, Tristan Thompson, and JR Smith.  That's a Conference Champion?  Yuck.

Playoff seeding reform please.

Ok then. Lebron loses to those guys. Even if he's beaten OKC and SAS with gimpy Wade and 15PPG Bosh.  Sure.

Wade and Bosh are better than anybody on his team now, and he also had superior complementary players backing up Wade and Bosh, as well.

In particular the 2012 team was much, much deeper than this Cavs squad.

I'm not saying the Cavs WOULD have DEFINITELY lost in the 1st round in the West.  Just pointing out that it is plausible that if they were in the West, they'd have been out in the 1st round.  With the exception of the Pelicans and the Mavs, any of the teams out West could have given the Cavs a tough time of it, because those teams have multiple stars. 

The toughest individual opponent the Cavs have faced so far is probably Jimmy Butler.  That's it.

As a result, in the East the Cavs will make it to the Finals without getting to a Game 7, despite losing one of their key guys and the second best player on the team operating at 50-75% since the second round.


It is just frustrating to see LeBron cake-walk his way to the Finals yet again without having to go mano-a-mano with another player even close to his level.  He's a historically great player, but his historic greatness will be exaggerated by the fact that for much of his career there hasn't been a proper rival in the same conference.  The Big Three Celtics were really the only team that pushed him in that way, and since 2012 all we've had is the Pacers, which has really been more of a tease than anything else.

[Roy H.]

Until LeBron can't reach down and call upon his athleticism to bring down his foes because of age or he finally experiences a serious health setback .

The dude is an dangerous opponent as the Warriors could want.   Just him being on the floor gets everybody else better looks .

Warriors will need to run LeBron up and down the court unmercifully .   Never give him a moments rest .

I think the key is to NOT double on LeBron so anyone else on that team can't beat the Warriors. Offensively, the Warriors have enough firepower to counter LeBron James, even if he goes nuts.  They have bodies with size, length and overall desire to play defense to throw at him and give him different looks to tire him out.

If he drops 34 a game, so be it, but the Cavs won't win without JR Smith, Kyrie Irving and the rest playing on par. Play him straight up and make sure everybody else on Cleveland is contained.

I don't think that will work with most teams, but the Warriors have both the defenders and the scorers to beat Lebron and his current supporting cast.

[RockinRyA]

Think about this: the Cavs might have lost in the first round if they were in the West.

Doubt it. Look up their record against West playoff teams

Regular season.

If they had faced, say, the Blazers or Grizz in the first round, I think it's very possible they would've lost.

The East is an utter joke.  This Cavs team is not very good.
In the Finals, Dray covers Bron, who covers Curry?  Should be a bloodbath.

They can take the Blazers. Definitely would have beaten a Conley or Tony Allen-less Grizz team too. Swept the Grizz in the season btw.

If Lebron can beat OKC in 2012 with Durant averaging 31 PPG and Westbrook averaging 27 PPG with Ibaka and Harden while his man Bosh averaged less than 15, AND BEAT the Spurs in 2013 with gimpy Wade not even cracking 20 PPG and Bosh scoring ZERO POINTS in Game 7, he can get out of the first round come on now.

If the Clippers can do it (got out of the first round 3 times the past 5 years), you're saying Lebron can't? You're underestimating him imo.

I agree they probably can't beat the Warriors unless he dominates and his teammates don't miss from three, but lose in the FIRST ROUND? Don't think so unless it's vs the Spurs or Warriors. And even those series wouldn't be sure losses. Oh and the last time Dray guarded Lebron, he dropped 40 and beat the Warriors.

The Hawks beat the Cavs 3-1 in the regular season and you know how that is turning out for them now.

Sure. Because LeBron's playing now. He wasn't in one or two of those Hawks wins. So yeah definitely.

The Cavs dont have love now and Kyrie is gimpy, so what's your point? 
The Hawks beat the Cavs at almost full strength, albeit just one game, but now the Hawks cant beat the Cavs with their 2nd and 3rd best players injured or playing injured. The Celtics defeated the Heat 3-1 in 2012 reg season, yet the Celts lost against the Heat 4-3 in the ECF. Regular Season is different than the playoffs, period.

See how terribly biased your logic was? You used their regular season games against Golden State and Memphis while I can't make the same for the Hawks? What a joke 

[PhoSita]

The Warriors almost seem perfectly built to counter the Cavs.

In the backcourt, they have two stupendous shooters who can catch on fire in the same game.  Nowhere to hide Kyrie defensively.

On the other end, they've got a big guy to deter shots at the rim, and a cocky inside-out defender who can hang with LeBron and also easily switch onto either Thompson or Mozgov and effectively box out.

As if that weren't enough, they've got four starting caliber wing defenders with the size to check LeBron on the perimeter (in addition to Livingston, who has good length) and also punish J.R. or Delly if the Cavs go small, or run past Marion or James Jones if the Cavs go bigger.

[SHAQATTACK]

Wonder if this sorry blank Hawks team has enough pride to at least win one game .

[SHAQATTACK]

Hawks ...smh

[Celtic Fan Forever]

Someone needs to lay out Delevadova 80's style.

[Endless Paradise]

Horford dropped a People's Elbow on Delly.