NBA 2022-23 Season

[pete6032]

Well congrats Heat. On to Denver. Wonder how much the Heat have left in the tank at this point?

 

[MrSquished]

LeBron or Jordan. Personally I say it's a tie for GOAT. Between all the differences between them and their teams and their eras, it works out to even steven.

I gotta say the amount of LeBron haters though is insane, and they are wackadoos too.

 

[purbeast0]

LeBron or Jordan. Personally I say it's a tie for GOAT. Between all the differences between them and their teams and their eras, it works out to even steven.

I gotta say the amount of LeBron haters though is insane, and they are wackadoos too.

Who cares about comparing across eras? it is 100% pointless.

You can't compare Babe Ruth to anyone now a days. Same with the steroid era.

Are we really going to compare Johnny Unitas to Brady or Mahomes?

it's just dumb.

As a DC sports fan, I'm watching Ovi chase Gretzky's total career goals. At least most NHL people seem to understand that you can't really compare players across eras. I've pretty much heard everyone in the NHL field say that Ovi is the "greatest goal scorer of his era" since the games are just different across eras.

 

[Captante]

Moving along. *(if possible lolol)

Nuggets in 6. (maybe 5)


And LeBum WILL be at the finals again no worries .... in a courtside seat! (after being EMBARRASSED by Denver)

MY only "regret" is that if the Fakers had somehow won (it could have happened... maybe Jokić gets hurt?) the Heat would likely have had another NBA title in-hand for my daughter.

Anyway .... 100% irrelevant now.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Nugs in 5 -

Who on the Heat is gonna guard Jokic at 6'11 and 285lbs? If Spo attempts Zone defense, Jokic will be passing to an easy cutter and it will be a lay-up line and lob city. Herro can't play defense so him coming back is a non-factor.

Miami gonna struggle in the low-oxygen mile high air as well.

Playoff Jimmy gets em 1 game at home.

 

[manly]

Well congrats Heat. On to Denver. Wonder how much the Heat have left in the tank at this point?

Let's go Nuggets! I stopped doubting the Heat during the ECF, so hopefully it'll be an exciting series.

 

[pete6032]

Nuggets coming out hot.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

First half playing out pretty much how I expected the entire series to be. Denver with too much talent and too much size for Miami.

 

[pete6032]

First half playing out pretty much how I expected the entire series to be. Denver with too much talent and too much size for Miami.

Yep

 

[pete6032]

What a waste of a game thus far. Really hoping it gets more competitive in game 2.

 

[pete6032]

Heat keeping it close tonight, up by 8 in the 4th. Anyone else watching?

Edit - Great game. Heat steal one on the road.

 

[Captante]

Saw most of the 4th .... surprising but I picked Denver in 6 so Miami was going to have to do SOME winning!

(after game one a sweep wouldn't have shocked me!)

 

[pete6032]

Denver offense just too good.

 

[pete6032]

Not watching live but reading the box score, yikes. Jimmy Butler 2/10 8pts. Denver 2/22 from downtown and shooting 53% at the line, keeping Miami in it.

 

[manly]

Not watching live but reading the box score, yikes. Jimmy Butler 2/10 8pts. Denver 2/22 from downtown and shooting 53% at the line, keeping Miami in it.

I've been rooting for the Nuggets for all of the playoffs and expected them to close out tonight. They made it really difficult (they were super nervous all game long), but the Heat lost a very winnable game. I have tremendous respect for Spoelstra, but I feel he let his team down a bit in the 4th quarter:

• Rested Bam Adebayo to start the 4Q, putting in Cody Zeller for the first time all game. Nuggets quickly score 5 and the Heat call a timeout and end this experiment. Although the game ultimately came down to a few late plays, this was the wrong time to steal a couple minutes of rest. I felt it was a turning point of this game just as game 3 was an inflection point when Michael Malone rode Jokic/Murray for the ENTIRE 4th quarter while Butler/Adebayo got their normal rest. Your star players go as long as they can go, until they are visibly laboring. And then you can just call a timeout to get them rest. You cannot afford to rest your best guys if you don't have a decent lead on the road.
• He wasted 5 games on Gabe Vincent, who had shined in the previous series. In game 5, he finally went to Lowry a lot more but again he subbed in Vincent midway through the 4th to steal some rest for Lowry. Lowry basically substituted himself back into the game shortly thereafter. Contrast this to Malone benching MPJ in game 4 crunch time because Porter was awful. Although you have to ride your elite players, there is no shame in benching your 5th best player who is hurting the team.
• Down by 3 points with 24 seconds to go, I fully expected the Heat to drive hard to the rim and try to score quickly or get free throws. Instead, Butler jacked up a contested 3, missed, and that was the ballgame.

Butler had a late flurry that closed the gap and briefly took a 1 point lead, but he clearly didn't have the focus and desire for much of the game. In the second half, the Heat kept relying on players not named Butler and Adebayo to make plays, and that was their downfall. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to manage huge egos making multi millions of dollars. If you bench Vincent in game 3 or 4, you might just lose him mentally for the series. But that's why head coaches are paid big bucks to lead men.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Nugs in 5 -

Who on the Heat is gonna guard Jokic at 6'11 and 285lbs? If Spo attempts Zone defense, Jokic will be passing to an easy cutter and it will be a lay-up line and lob city. Herro can't play defense so him coming back is a non-factor.

Miami gonna struggle in the low-oxygen mile high air as well.

Playoff Jimmy gets em 1 game at home.

Just sayin!