NBA playoffs

[Treeshepherd]

Who do the Lakers have. They have nobody except LeBron, who I hate by the way, but respect is due.

Lakers are currently beating the Rockets with no star players other than old man LeBron

 

[leftwinger]

DEN Nuggets or OKC is the chalk pick. SA or BOS?

I went with DEN. Not watched one min of regular season, but all play in games on Prime.

Orlando finally had a good game. Really good beating CHAR by over 30pts I think.

 

[Treeshepherd]

DEN Nuggets or OKC is the chalk pick. SA or BOS?

I went with DEN. Not watched one min of regular season, but all play in games on Prime.

Orlando finally had a good game. Really good beating CHAR by over 30pts I think.

OKC is the favorite to repeat. Orlando has a great squad.

I'm curious how the #2 in the west Spurs will do. Are they for real?

 

[MarathonMike]

I'm going with the Spurs. OKC struggled against them this year. Wemby is quite a unique problem to defend.

 

[odanny]

OKC will repeat, most likely. Boston could make a run in East, but my pick there is Detroit.

OKC-Detroit, OKC 2 time champions.

 

[leftwinger]

Well, MarathonMike hope the best for your SUNS today. They got one of the toughest draws (at OKC). They put on a good showing dismantling GS the other night.

Last night Lebron put the ball in the bucket. I still have my doubts they will beat HOU? Is it a 7 game series?

And I have to say it. LA gets all the calls early on. I lived up in GS area when I used to watch. I could tell you stories about getting LA into the #8 playoff spot one year the final game vs. GS.

Last night Lebron running down the court w/o the ball veers over to ram into a HOU guy (also running down court) Lebron Smashes his shoulder into the guys chest. FOUL on HOU? You got to be kidding me. It is borderline ridiculous at times. At least 5 clear traveling violations, without trying to look for it. Maybe it is easier to see wide angle on TV? Not just Lebron but he is the King of traveling. They happen fast. it would be hard for the REFs to call them all.

 

[leftwinger]

I said I went for the Nuggets. Because I just saw them yesterday.

I saw them last year take OKC to G7. I thought they were just as good as OKC. Jockic is the best player in the world arguably with the new guy Wemby. I have never seen Wemby play. Last years playoffs was the first look I ever had at Jockic. Yesterday he was bombing in 3s' if MN did not come out on him. He moves with the grace of a 400lb ballerina. Kind of a well-rounded SHAQ.

 

[MarathonMike]

Well, MarathonMike hope the best for your SUNS today. They got one of the toughest draws (at OKC). They put on a good showing dismantling GS the other night.

Last night Lebron put the ball in the bucket. I still have my doubts they will beat HOU? Is it a 7 game series?

And I have to say it. LA gets all the calls early on. I lived up in GS area when I used to watch. I could tell you stories about getting LA into the #8 playoff spot one year the final game vs. GS.

Last night Lebron running down the court w/o the ball veers over to ram into a HOU guy (also running down court) Lebron Smashes his shoulder into the guys chest. FOUL on HOU? You got to be kidding me. It is borderline ridiculous at times. At least 5 clear traveling violations, without trying to look for it. Maybe it is easier to see wide angle on TV? Not just Lebron but he is the King of traveling. They happen fast. it would be hard for the REFs to call them all.

Williams is out and Greyson Allen has a hammie so I expect OKC will blow them out today. Suns maybe win one but OKC is healthy so yeah good luck with that! You know Lebron is going to get the benefit of the doubt with the Refs. Not a fan but you got to hand it to a 41 year old still being a force in the NBA.

 

[DGS49]

I think the Spurs are the team to beat. I don't know what the opposite of "showcasing" a player is, but that's what is happening with Wemby. His impact is only allowed to shine on occasions, but is often minimized.

In the playoffs he will play as many minutes as it takes to win each series.

He is a "monster" talent, as impactful as Chamberlain and Jordan in their prime.

Mark my word.

 

[Rocko]

This is the year of the Knicks!

 

[leftwinger]

Williams is out and Greyson Allen has a hammie so I expect OKC will blow them out today. Suns maybe win one but OKC is healthy so yeah good luck with that! You know Lebron is going to get the benefit of the doubt with the Refs. Not a fan but you got to hand it to a 41 year old still being a force in the NBA.

Not talking about old fashioned 50-50 calls going to Big Narket teams. These are egregious like a street mugging totally ignored or missed repeatedly. Because its' LA? Or LeBron?

I have to add that. A big reason so many quit seiously watching the NBA (back to refs in 02') I went to SAC playoff game vs. LA. I saw first hand 2 quci touch fouls on Divac (to the bench he went). Shaq had free reign. LA won. Excuse me for being jaded. I know what I see and have lived thru.

******
, a former NBA referee, was convicted in 2007 for betting on games he officiated, including those involving the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, though he did not officiate the controversial 2002 playoff series between them. Donaghy admitted to using insider information to place bets during the 2003–04 to 2006–07 seasons and passing "picks" to gamblers in exchange for cash, leading to his 15-month federal prison sentence.

Donaghy later claimed that Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals was manipulated by referees to extend the series to seven games, alleging two of the three referees were "company men" favoring the Lakers. While Donaghy was not officiating that game, his claims fueled long-standing suspicions in Sacramento, though the NBA and Commissioner David Stern dismissed them as attempts to reduce his sentence. The league maintains there is no evidence of sanctioned officiating bias, but critics continue to cite the series as emblematic of broader integrity concerns

 

[MarathonMike]

Not talking about old fashioned 50-50 calls going to Big Narket teams. These are egregious like a street mugging totally ignored or missed repeatedly. Because its' LA? Or LeBron?

I have to add that. A big reason so many quit seiously watching the NBA (back to refs in 02') I went to SAC playoff game vs. LA. I saw first hand 2 quci touch fouls on Divac (to the bench he went). Shaq had free reign. LA won. Excuse me for being jaded. I know what I see and have lived thru.

******
, a former NBA referee, was convicted in 2007 for betting on games he officiated, including those involving the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, though he did not officiate the controversial 2002 playoff series between them. Donaghy admitted to using insider information to place bets during the 2003–04 to 2006–07 seasons and passing "picks" to gamblers in exchange for cash, leading to his 15-month federal prison sentence.

Donaghy later claimed that Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals was manipulated by referees to extend the series to seven games, alleging two of the three referees were "company men" favoring the Lakers. While Donaghy was not officiating that game, his claims fueled long-standing suspicions in Sacramento, though the NBA and Commissioner David Stern dismissed them as attempts to reduce his sentence. The league maintains there is no evidence of sanctioned officiating bias, but critics continue to cite the series as emblematic of broader integrity concerns

I agree with you about the bias and outright cheating linked to sports betting in the past. It may still be going on, but with the increased scrutiny on sports betting and replay reviews, it is much less than it was IMO. Does it still happen? Probably to some degree.

 

[odanny]

I'm changing my vote to Boston in the Eastern Conference, who I think have an excellent chance of beating OKC, as it is not easy to repeat, and Boston flamed out last year, so never had to try.

Detroit has lost 11 playoff games in a row at home, that is insane! They have not won a home playoff game since they won the championship in 2008, what a weird record, not sure if that is a record but it has to be close if not.

 

[leftwinger]

I'm changing my vote to Boston in the Eastern Conference, who I think have an excellent chance of beating OKC, as it is not easy to repeat, and Boston flamed out last year, so never had to try.

Detroit has lost 11 playoff games in a row at home, that is insane! They have not won a home playoff game since they won the championship in 2008, what a weird record, not sure if that is a record but it has to be close if not.

DET is not bad, good defense mostly. In crunch time last night only the one guard is a threat to score. ORL has 2 or 3 scorers. ORL now has 2 good games in a row. I've never seen them jhave one good like these two.

DET cost me my parlay bet. I had DET +10.5 and they lost by 11. Deeply sighing.

 

[odanny]

DET cost me my parlay bet. I had DET +10.5 and they lost by 11. Deeply sighing.

Orlando is the biggest disappointment in the league this year, now if they start playing like everyone had been expecting them to, they could cause problems for Detroit. Detroit is laying 9.5 on game 2. I think you had Detroit -10.5.

Teams up 2-0 are 283-23 in first round

 

[leftwinger]

Orlando is the biggest disappointment in the league this year, now if they start playing like everyone had been expecting them to, they could cause problems for Detroit. Detroit is laying 9.5 on game 2. I think you had Detroit -10.5.

Teams up 2-0 are 283-23 in first round

No I had DET to not lose by more than 10.5. +10.5. Going in you think it's a sure thing. It failed. My only miss on a two-game parlay creation. You can dig in the bet sites and see what you can get to build (increase) payback level.. I think I had ORL +21.5 in parlay bets.

 

[odanny]

That's a bad beat to lose by 11 at home when you are getting 10.5.

 

[leftwinger]

Orlando is the biggest disappointment in the league this year, now if they start playing like everyone had been expecting them to, they could cause problems for Detroit. Detroit is laying 9.5 on game 2. I think you had Detroit -10.5.

Teams up 2-0 are 283-23 in first round

No I had DET to not lose by more than 10.5. +10.5. Going in you think it's a sure thing. It failed. My only miss on a two-game parlay creation. You can dig in the bet sites and see what you can get to build (payback level.. I think I had ORL +21.5.

I try to build CAN'T MISS bets that pay something like 30% 20% q0%. I want all winners. I'll take smaller payback.

 

[leftwinger]

I've figured it out (traveling). Today's players are so big, hands so big that they can literally run full speed with the ball stuck in one hand.

The refs and league let it go across the board anymore. They call it "GATHERING". If you run with two hands on the ball they might call it.

 

[Treeshepherd]

I'm changing my vote to Boston in the Eastern Conference, who I think have an excellent chance of beating OKC, as it is not easy to repeat, and Boston flamed out last year, so never had to try.

Detroit has lost 11 playoff games in a row at home, that is insane! They have not won a home playoff game since they won the championship in 2008, what a weird record, not sure if that is a record but it has to be close if not.

Jason Tatum came back and played 16 games this year. His full return puts Boston back to where they were before he was injured, the best in the East