This. Baynes largely outplayed Drummond on both ends of the floor yesterday, and pretty much has been for the second half of the season. Drummond’s a hell of a rebounder, but his defensive prowess is certainly overrated, inflated by gaudy block totals. I’m interested to see if SVG ever pulls the trigger during this…

Not sure that counts if it’s after 3 Phases of the MCU and a lot of backlash against the MCU/the MCU’s marketing over the lack of/poor advertisement of female characters. Remember, they’re being beaten to the punch by DC of all people, with the Wonder Woman / Captain Marvel conflict.

Drummond is one of the NBA’s best rim defenders...

I see it as a greater version of Jeter’s last game — the come-from-behind win with a feat from a player/5-time champion with longevity and sustained greatness but never the “best” at his position, channeling his mystified/debunked “clutch” reputation to garner a meaningless win for a team outside of the playoffs. If…

The most interesting part is not just that the Lakers won, but that in shooting 50 times, including abysmally from 3, he still shot 44% overall. What an ending.

It was such an odd yet prescient Kobe game, too. Like the rest of this season, he shot abysmally from 3-point range, barely got to the free throw line, hijacked the offense (with 50 shots!) and yet, at the end of the day, he ended up shooting 44% and got his team the win.

Love’s injury helped, but I’d argue Kyrie’s did not — his defense was pretty admirable during Game 1 of the Finals, and though it was a small sample size, the Cavs have to be hoping it wasn’t just a fluke.

You say Kobe could not, but I say you’re looking at the wrong seasons. Sure, he was toast after popping the Achilles — nobody will argue that. And yes — he has not, nor would he ever, accept a role as anything but the top of the pecking order on HIS team. So, in that respect, he clearly hasn’t aged as well as Duncan,…

You’re right — I forgot about Thibs’ hard-on for him!

1) I don’t think you can claim this after just over two years of Butler breaking out. But the fact is he’s a legitimate two-way stud that plays SG, a position that’s got a bit of a dearth at the very top.

The sad part is — he’s barely an average PG anymore. Here’s the list of PGs I’d slot ahead of Rose (in no particular order):

I’m not a Bulls fan, but I wanted them to do well in the East (to challenge the Cavs). I laughed at 3-6, by the way — I predicted how the Gasol signing would go down. Glad that last season’s stat-stuffing numbers have given way to show that he’s a sieve on defense (not just to fans and advanced stat guys, but also to…

I’ll agree with pace (especially on the offensive end), but saying he can’t hang on defense is a bit of a stretch. The man is an ageless wonder on the defensive end of the floor; I agree that Diaw is definitely a bigger focal point against the Dubs, but I’ve got a feeling that Pop has some tricks up his sleeve…

And then right after that is Kobe’s farewell. Love him or hate him, it’s still going to be a monumental night in the NBA.

Also worth noting that while the OP noted that the Warriors won “straight up”, Tim Duncan didn’t play last night due to rest.

Are you trolling? If so, I apologize for failing to pick up on it. If not — I’d advise you to take a look at their run from 2003-2008. They made the ECF every single year, went to the Finals back-to-back in ‘04 and ‘05, including a win over the Lakers for the title in ‘04.

In the words of the immortal Dion Waiters:

I would even say that they’ve recently fallen ass-backward into quality draft picks.... Kupchak’s decisions as a drafter have ranged from “bad” to “suspect at best,” and yet, in the last two years, he’s picked up some solid young players — Clarkson, Randle, Russell, Nance Jr, etc.

Exactly. And Jordan wasn’t even the #1 pick!

Bryant was basically drafted by the Lakers — the trade for the pick was pre-arranged, and Charlotte was instructed to draft Bryant by the Lakers.