NBA Playoffs 2006: Conference Semifinals

[naiwf 0]

Anyone care to guess the combined score Detroit, Phoenix and San Antonio win their Game 7's by?

 

I'm going with 37, 16 for Detroit, 12 for the Spurs and 9 for the Suns. Neither game on Sunday will be close after the 5 minute mark in the second half. Phoenix will trail at some point in the second half, but the Clips will make critical turnovers down the stretch and lose a battle of free throws/three point attempts.

 

The next close game will be Detroit/Miami I, and that's only if Shaq hasn't gained 10 pounds since they knocked out the Nets.

[Just John 0]

Good: 3 series going to Game 7's

 

Bad: Increasing likelyhood of the Confrence finals and Finals being exactly the same as last year.

 

I'm hoping at least one road team can pull out a win just to kinda make things interesting. Seven-game series ensure you get the best team winning, but can be painfully frustrating when rooting for an underdog (or 3).

[chaosrage 0]

Shit.. The past two days has sucked for me with basketball. All the teams I wanted to win lost.

 

If the Pistons, Spurs, and Clippers make it to the conference finals, I have no reason to watch because I hate all of those teams.

 

My Mavs/Suns series is not looking too likely now.

[naiwf 0]

Devin Harris was awful tonight. If Jason Terry was in that game, the Mavs would have won by at least 8 to 10 points. None of the road teams have the cojones to win a game 7 and what had been a really exciting postseason is about to hit a brick wall in the next 72 hours when all of the fun stories get stomped out for the same old, same old.

 

Spurs over Suns in 5 again. Yawn.

Pistons over Heat in 6 instead of 7. Yawn.

 

Spurs over Pistons in 7 again. Yawn.

[alfdogg 0]

Thanks for cutting away from Avery's press conference so I could watch Barry Bonds strike out!

[iggymcfly 0]

Why is everybody counting Dallas out here? They sorely missed Terry in Game 6, their role players played terrible, and they still just barely lost. When they played in San Antonio, they lost by 2, won by 22, and lost by 1. I think they have a great chance of winning in a Game 7. If any team's a lock to advance to the conference finals, it's the Pistons, but even in that series, I wouldn't be shocked if LeBron pulled out a miracle in Game 7.

[naiwf 0]

Why is everybody counting Dallas out here? They sorely missed Terry in Game 6, their role players played terrible, and they still just barely lost. When they played in San Antonio, they lost by 3, won by 20, and lost by 1. I think they have a great chance of winning in a Game 7. If any team's a lock to advance to the conference finals, it's the Pistons, but even in that series, I wouldn't be shocked if LeBron pulled out a miracle in Game 7.

 

They had FOUR of the Spurs EIGHT regulars in foul trouble at the half and only led by 6. They then pissed away the game down the stretch despite Dirk being a monster yet again. Dallas will not get any calls at the end of this next game since Pop will cry about how many calls went against the Spurs in the first half tonight, so unless the Mavs are up by 10 or more inside of the last 2 minutes they have no hope. Dallas should have swept San Antonio, now it looks like they will just end up choking away another series.

[iggymcfly 0]

I don't know about the Spurs getting extra calls. If anything, I bet they'll get less since you know Stern wants the Mavs to advance. Also, Dallas played Game 6 without their second best player. I'd say that's a little more significant than Duncan and Bowen missing about five minutes each due to foul trouble.

[naiwf 0]

I don't know about the Spurs getting extra calls. If anything, I bet they'll get less since you know Stern wants the Mavs to advance. Also, Dallas played Game 6 without their second best player. I'd say that's a little more significant than Duncan and Bowen missing about five minutes each due to foul trouble.

 

They had the game in their hands without Terry, but Devin Harris essentially pissed it away. All they had to do was keep doing what they did in the first half and Bowen, Ginobili, Horry and/or Duncan wouldn't have been playing major minutes. That's half of the Spurs rotation, about 80% of their offense and their only defensive threats. The odds of them having the lead with 3+ minutes to go in SA even with Terry is minimal.

[A Happy Medium 0]

Devin Harris was a big reason they even went up 3-1. I can live with his subpar performance tonight.

 

I was dissapointed in Dirk, to tell you the truth. I thought this was the game where he would close the door and then ride it to the finals. But he disappeared at the end of the game. The fact that he didn't call time out in the corner was a bad move. On the other hand, he did make some great assists during the fourth quarter, when he finally figured out how to make the double team backfire.

 

The referees were atrocious for both sides of the game. Inconsistent and makes you think about game fixing.

 

A last thought is that Finley showed more fire tonight than he did in his last two seasons in Dallas.

[Ripper 0]

Finley showed fire in Dallas when he had to the last few years in Dallas. He got shoved to like 4-5 option on offense in the Dirk/Jamison/Walker year, then again in the Dirk/Howard/Stackhouse/Terry year.

 

He still was huge when he was given the chance to show it. They just didn't have room for him anymore.

 

I have to state again that I don't think the NBA is biased towards any one team, but they want to have pressure filled games. Because the playcalling is SO inconsistant and downright laughably bad sometimes now.

 

Its like when you turn on CPU assistance in basketball video games and they assure that the game is going to be close and more competetive. The refs are trying to make good series instead of letting them happen.

[Guest]

I said that San Antonio would come back from the 3-1 deficit and win the series, right? Can't ever count a team that good out.

[Ripper 0]

No way they would have won this game with Terry playing. That has to be taken into account with everyones predictions.

[alfdogg 0]

I picked the Spurs, Pistons, and Clippers at the start, and I'm not going to flip-flop now.

[Adam 0]

I picked the Spurs, Pistons, and Clippers at the start, and I'm not going to flip-flop now.

 

Exactly my thoughts. I was wrong on the Nets, but I'm sticking by my other three predictions of LA, SA and the Pistons.

[dh86 0]

very rarely does a team that chokes twice in a row finishing a team off wins a game 7 on the road again that team

 

Mavs are done

[iggymcfly 0]

They didn't "choke twice" against San Antonio. They lost by one point in a well-played game where no one expected them to win in Game 5. Then, in Game 6, they lost by 5 because their starting point guard and second leading scorer wasn't allowed to play. How hard is this to figure out? If Jason Terry played that game, there was no way in hell that Dallas was losing. Honestly, their offense looked worse than it has all year, (after averaging well over 100 PPG against the Spurs in the rest of the series), and they were still a couple of late shots away from winning the game.

 

Now, a motivated Dallas team goes back to San Antonio (where they've played very well) with a Jason Terry who will be hell-bent on making up for his mistake. I really think they're going to take Game 7.

[alfdogg 0]

Apparently the Suns are going to try to play Kurt Thomas on Monday. Not sure how smart it is to try to work a key player back into your lineup in a Game 7, but then Thomas doesn't have the role offensively that Amare has.

[chaosrage 0]

Apparently the Suns are going to try to play Kurt Thomas on Monday. Not sure how smart it is to try to work a key player back into your lineup in a Game 7, but then Thomas doesn't have the role offensively that Amare has.

 

Using KT for 20 minutes couldn't be any worse than using James Jones for 20 minutes.

[CanadianChris 0]

Cleveland has no chance. This is going to be a repeat of Suns/Lakers game 7.

[The Niggardly King 0]

For some reason... I can see the Pistons choking the game away.

[Damaramu 0]

Hmmm.....the Lebrons have weathered the storm and come back...I can't watch the game b/c I'm at work. I just have to watch this shitty gamecast. How do the Pistons look now guys?

[Just John 0]

Cleveland could very well be leading, but their making some mistakes that are holding them back. Lebron looks great, but what else is new? Someone else needs to step up, though. Detroit's poor free throw shooting could be huge late.

[naiwf 0]

Detroit's still on pace for the 16 point victory I predicted. Cleveland is just the first of the 3 underdogs to get smoked during the next 32 hours or so.

[Just John 0]

Cleveland can't buy a decent shot at this point.

 

Looks like we're well on our way to Boring Conference Finals rematch #1.

[Damaramu 0]

Cleveland can't buy a decent shot at this point.

 

Looks like we're well on our way to Boring Conference Finals rematch #1.

 

To you. I'm quite excited about the possibility. I would be bored and wouldn't watch if the Lebrons made it though.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Clippers might win. Please.

[Just John 0]

You and Pistons fans must be the only people who want to see Detroit/Miami 2.

 

On a side note, I fucking hate the Detroit PA announcer.

[chaosrage 0]

"AUGH this is like watching the world's slowest bullet enter someone's skull."

 

good summary of the game from someone on another board

[Damaramu 0]

You and Pistons fans must be the only people who want to see Detroit/Miami 2.

 

On a side note, I fucking hate the Detroit PA announcer.

 

Yeah well I don't need a big name to get excited about a game like the rest of the nation. As a matter of fact I'd rather not have a big name because I hate the hype.

Plus I like the Pistons so that's even better.