Yeah, and I think that might be part of what they’re (unfortunately) trying to get away from — the drug problems of the old days in the NBA that were associated with road trips on Oakland.

One of the more underrated storylines, in my mind, is how the national media seemingly ignores or refuses to acknowledge that they’re located in Oakland. On every ESPN/TNT broadcast I’ve heard since 2014, they always mention the “Bay Area” and “Golden State” and “sunny California”, without saying the word “Oakland”.

Even if Curry is 100%, there is absolutely NO reason to put your worst defender on the opposition’s 2nd-best/most-explosive player. Curry’s a better defender than many people give him credit for, but for fuck’s sake, why not just hide him on someone like Roberson or Waiters? Either one is a better option than tossing…

To be honest, I think that Cleveland is better off without Love against GS. They don’t need his offense, and Golden State is salivating to go against him on the other end with the endless PnR’s that they put him through.

Yeah, I’m expecting Game 5 or Game 6 to be similar to LeBron’s performance in Game 6 against the Celtics in 2012.

Biyombo’s getting paid this summer, and if he doesn’t fetch a price in the same range as Dwight, it’ll be criminal. I think the Raptors let DeRozan walk.

Even if they steal Game 5 in Cleveland, I wouldn’t be so sure of them being able to clinch it in Game 6.... we’re due for another superhuman LeBron game or two.

To be fair, that’s because your data was based on the season series, which is a “suspect at best” indicator given how improved the Cavs have looked throughout the playoffs, and how shaky the Raptors looked until Game 3 of this series.

Don’t worry, they’ll go back into hiding if LeBron stomps them in Game 5 like he did to Boston in Game 6, in 2012.

all tied up with the Cavs heading back to Cleveland for a best of three series finish with all the momentum.

Yep, though to be fair, 5-6 weeks ago it didn’t quite seem like the Thunder were markedly better than last year’s iteration. The team has really coalesced since the start of the playoffs, and Donovan’s coaching has been a huge reason as to why.

Some people have certainly mentioned it, but there are still many that have overlooked the Thunder’s coaching and how much of an impact it’s had over the last two series. Donovan looked shaky as recently as Game 1 of the Spurs series, but from that point on, he’s been solid.

As many noted sportswriters have pointed out, OKC’s switching defense was on-point yesterday, and GSW’s transition defense was a mess. I think a really interesting thing to pay attention to, going forward, is how good the small-ball counter of KD at PF with Ibaka at C can continue to be. Donovan’s resisted playing KD…

It’s also hilarious because Green has a notably strong core and low CG — it’s part of what allows him to be such a solid defender against PFs and centers that are much larger than him, and why he’s such a bully in the post.

This. I think that Green won’t retroactively be suspended because he was already punished in-game; I think Jones got suspended because the refs missed the call in the heat of the moment. But it’s certainly going to look inconsistent, in my opinion. For example — if you call a foul on Jones in-game, would it be a…

Your argument is a grammatically correct version of what Charles Barkley spewed out multiple times a day until the Warriors won the title last year. Shooting a bunch of outside jump-shots (and being excellent at shooting them) is part of why the Warriors would be competitive/could win against the Bulls.

Yeah it hurts me to say it, especially given that he showed up to the start of the season out of shape and quit on McHale/got him fired. But from January-onwards, the dude flat-out balled, and singlehandedly dragged his team into the playoffs.

I agree. And he deserves a lot of flak for showing up out of shape to start the season, quitting on McHale, etc. But the guy buckled down and dragged his team singlehandedly into the playoffs this year.

Eh, I don’t know if I’d even put Aldridge in the Top-10. Top 15, yes, but I don’t know if I’d slot him above (in no particular order) Curry, James, Harden, George, Leonard, Westbrook, Durant, Paul, Lillard, and Davis. I consider LMA to be in the next tier with Draymond, Klay, Griffin, and Big Spain.

Yeah, but he should have said “Eastern Conference” instead of “weak division” — remember that each conference plays within itself 50 times vs playing the other conference 32 times. I don’t think you can compare the West/East split with records, especially this year — aside from the Rockets, I think the…