[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

Makes 0 sense unless the 76ers are in tank mode (which they appear to be) and don't consider Turner as part of those rebuilding plans.

Yeah it's like the Pacers fleeced them. Turner averaged over 21 PPG in November. To have him as a mere backup now over a worn-down/injury prone Granger is a nice luxury.

It's clear that the Pacers have signaled that they want this to be their year. Perfect time to take advantage of the fact that the Bulls are down. Home court advantage would go a long way toward helping the Pacers get past Miami.

Hopefully Bynum and Turner can give the Pacers more scoring off the bench. Scola was doing that earlier in the year but he's had a rough stretch lately.

Regardless, those two guys have given us quality depth for the post-season.

[MediaArtist]

Yeah it's looking less likely that Miami will manage to stay on top. OKC is becoming a powerhouse, and Indiana looks like it has more depth than Miami now. Things will be interesting come April!

If the playoffs started today, Miami and Indiana wouldn't even face each other until the Conference finals (which will happen because the East is so bleak).

The West is the real battle ground. Just look at these matchups:

OKC vs Dallas (1 vs 8)
Clippers vs Portland (4 vs 5)
San Antonio vs Warriors (2 vs 7)
Houston vs Phoenix (3 vs 6)

Besides OKC vs Dallas, can you reliable pick the winner of all those match-ups and be confident about it? I know I can't.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

Yeah it's looking less likely that Miami will manage to stay on top. OKC is becoming a powerhouse, and Indiana looks like it has more depth than Miami now. Things will be interesting come April!

If the playoffs started today, Miami and Indiana wouldn't even face each other until the Conference finals (which will happen because the East is so bleak).

The West is the real battle ground. Just look at these matchups:

OKC vs Dallas (1 vs 8)
Clippers vs Portland (4 vs 5)
San Antonio vs Warriors (2 vs 7)
Houston vs Phoenix (3 vs 6)

Besides OKC vs Dallas, can you reliable pick the winner of all those match-ups and be confident about it? I know I can't.

Agreed. The West is definitely leaps and bounds better than the East.

And no I definitely can't say I can confidently pick the winners from those potential match-ups you listed. Lots of fierce competition there.

OKC is phenomenal, both the Suns and the Rockets keep getting better and better (damn you Litos you lucky bastard lol) and Portland is very tough at home.

[JohnSprm69]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

Yeah it's looking less likely that Miami will manage to stay on top. OKC is becoming a powerhouse, and Indiana looks like it has more depth than Miami now. Things will be interesting come April!

regardless of what depth indiana has added and all the moves they've made, they will NOT beat miami in the playoffs, indiana is a really good team and the only challenge for miami but not good enough, miami will make a run at the 1 seed now that they are only 1.5 games behind and we still have to meet indiana twice before the playoffs so the 1 seed is still up for grabs.

if OKC meets miami in the finals again they are bound to suffer the same outcome from the 2012 finals.



btw: heat dominated okc tonight the whole game

[Inspired]

Miami Heat is in a better position right now. They rested Wade all season. Any non-playoff team, Wade sits out. Even with Wade not playing almost half of the season, they are only one loss behind behind the Pacers. The #1 seed is still up for grabs right now. IMO, whoever secures that #1 seed will come out of the Conference Final.

[Inspired]

Originally Posted by JohnSprm69

regardless of what depth indiana has added and all the moves they've made, they will NOT beat miami in the playoffs, indiana is a really good team and the only challenge for miami but not good enough, miami will make a run at the 1 seed now that they are only 1.5 games behind and we still have to meet indiana twice before the playoffs so the 1 seed is still up for grabs.

if OKC meets miami in the finals again they are bound to suffer the same outcome from the 2012 finals.



btw: heat dominated okc tonight the whole game

I agree. It would be difficult for OKC to beat Miami in a 7 game series. I just don't see how they could beat the Heat especially right now they are without their-then 3rd leading scorer of the team, James Harden. They lost Kevin Martin so the only scoring machine on the team left is Durant/ Westbrook.

[MediaArtist]

Originally Posted by JohnSprm69

regardless of what depth indiana has added and all the moves they've made, they will NOT beat miami in the playoffs, indiana is a really good team and the only challenge for miami but not good enough, miami will make a run at the 1 seed now that they are only 1.5 games behind and we still have to meet indiana twice before the playoffs so the 1 seed is still up for grabs.

if OKC meets miami in the finals again they are bound to suffer the same outcome from the 2012 finals.



btw: heat dominated okc tonight the whole game

Yeah it was a good game, but remember OKC just dominated Miami by 17 points only a few weeks ago so let's not act like that didn't happen. Both teams are favorites to head to the Finals, but last night OKC had a horrible game, Westbrook had a bad shooting night coming back from the injury.

As for Miami-Indiana, I'm not so sure why you so easily dismiss the Pacers chances. Yes, the series is 1-1, but the Pacers easily took the first game, and even in the game Miami won, they had to come back after being behind for 3 and a half quarters. Miami hasn't looked dominant at all against Indiana so far. Maybe in the next two matchups things will change, but I could see Indiana winning the season series 3-1 easily.

[IndotagSwizz]

I don't really think it matters whether Miami gets the #1 seed or not, they have proven these last couple of years they can win on the road in the playoffs in the toughest places: Boston, Chicago, OKC, Indiana...

[MediaArtist]

No one has brought up the Warriors fighting tooth and nail to drop the Houston Rockets in a close game? Man, good basketball.

[Litos]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

No one has brought up the Warriors fighting tooth and nail to drop the Houston Rockets in a close game? Man, good basketball.

I stayed up til almost 1 o'clock watching that game.

Harden with a killer step back - then Curry comes back with a sick 50 foot layup over Dwight HAHA !!!!

Rockets 37-18

[JohnSprm69]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

Yeah it was a good game, but remember OKC just dominated Miami by 17 points only a few weeks ago so let's not act like that didn't happen. Both teams are favorites to head to the Finals, but last night OKC had a horrible game, Westbrook had a bad shooting night coming back from the injury.

As for Miami-Indiana, I'm not so sure why you so easily dismiss the Pacers chances. Yes, the series is 1-1, but the Pacers easily took the first game, and even in the game Miami won, they had to come back after being behind for 3 and a half quarters. Miami hasn't looked dominant at all against Indiana so far. Maybe in the next two matchups things will change, but I could see Indiana winning the season series 3-1 easily.

yes okc beat miami a couple of weeks ago but just like they had a bad game yesterday so did miami when they got beat by okc. miami has okc whenever they want, remember okc hadn't beat maimi since game 1 of the 2012 finals, in other words the heat have the thunder measured and will serve them right when the time comes.

as for indiana I'm not dismissing them i just said they are the only challenge miami has, yes so far the season match is 1-1 but that was the first half of the season homie, no more cruise control for miami. indiana will be dealt with accordingly come playoff time wether they get the one seed or not.

[MediaArtist]

Originally Posted by Litos

I stayed up til almost 1 o'clock watching that game.

Harden with a killer step back - then Curry comes back with a sick 50 foot layup over Dwight HAHA !!!!

Rockets 37-18

D12 and J-Lin caught staring!

[KwlAznKid]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

No one has brought up the Warriors fighting tooth and nail to drop the Houston Rockets in a close game? Man, good basketball.

Originally Posted by Litos

I stayed up til almost 1 o'clock watching that game.

Harden with a killer step back - then Curry comes back with a sick 50 foot layup over Dwight HAHA !!!!

Rockets 37-18

great game indeed, warriors didn't play as well as I hoped but it was a great game from my favorite team and a team that I also like very much

[Litos]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

D12 and J-Lin caught staring!

after Harden hit his step back I texted my buddy "Rockets need 7 seconds of sickening defense".

then Curry happened..

I sent another text "that was NOT 7 seconds of sickening D"

buddy texted me back saying "good D, just an incredible shot".

I replied "good D !?!? you can't let Curry penetrate from BEYOND THE 3 POINT LINE and score a game winning layup".

buddy said "they were covering the 3 point shooters"

my last response "there were only two 3 point shooters that could have beaten you - one was driving the ball from beyond the 3 point line and the other one hasn't hit a 3 pointer for the last 3 weeks"

bad bad defensive set.....

[Mr Tonka]

.

[Efini]

Had a suite at staples for last nights laker game. Great 4th qtr comeback and overall good game from teams who haven't been playing good basketball. We love beating the celtics!!!!


Oh yea, and Memphis continues to beat the clippers.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

As for Miami-Indiana, I'm not so sure why you so easily dismiss the Pacers chances. Yes, the series is 1-1, but the Pacers easily took the first game, and even in the game Miami won, they had to come back after being behind for 3 and a half quarters. Miami hasn't looked dominant at all against Indiana so far. Maybe in the next two matchups things will change, but I could see Indiana winning the season series 3-1 easily.

Quoted for truth.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by IndotagSwizz

I don't really think it matters whether Miami gets the #1 seed or not, they have proven these last couple of years they can win on the road in the playoffs in the toughest places: Boston, Chicago, OKC, Indiana...

I think the key difference this year could be the fact that Paul George has emerged as a legitimate superstar. He was just getting comfortable last year and the Pacers took it to 7 games without the luxury of having the #1 seed.

And if Andrew Bynum actually ends up playing well, Ian Mahinmi, Roy Hibbert, and Bynum would be tough to counter. Indy has the capability of playing big throughout the entire game now.

Finally, with the Turner pickup, the Pacers also now have the ability to go small (as Turner can play multiple positions) at 6'7".

I realize the Heat have Oden now but he is going to be very, very rusty come playoff time (if he even plays).

[JohnSprm69]

HEAT beat up on chicago without LBJ

[MediaArtist]

Lob City taking out Kevin Durant and OKC today.

[fatpanda]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

OKC vs Dallas (1 vs 8)
Clippers vs Portland (4 vs 5)
San Antonio vs Warriors (2 vs 7)
Houston vs Phoenix (3 vs 6)

i thk rip n lob city r d teams nobody wants to play against... houston better pray they stay in 3rd to even have a chance pass first rd playoffs...

[squishy]

Originally Posted by fatpanda

i thk rip n lob city r d teams nobody wants to play against... houston better pray they stay in 3rd to even have a chance pass first rd playoffs...

Translation to English, please?