NBA 2015 Playoffs Thread

Slaythe

<Bronze Donator>
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I give the Cavs a good chance. Especially if they play dirty and go after curry and klay. Lebron will be able to do whatever he wants against them.
See, I don't think this is true at all. LeBron is certainly almost in the unguardable category but it's not about stopping him entirely. Between Klay, Iggy, and Green they'll be able to throw a ton of different defensive looks at him. I'm not sure there's a team outside of the Spurs that are more equipped to guard LeBron.
 

Slaythe

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I think LBJ will be seeing plenty of Barnes too.
I originally had him in my list but I don't really consider him a good defender so deleted his name. Those other guys are all great defensive players (great maybe an exaggeration for Klay but he's certainly not bad on that side of the ball. Underrated for sure).

Still you can't ask for a much better wing man defender than Iggy to body up a big player like LeBron (Kawhi is probably the only obviously better answer) and combine that with the ability Green and Klay have to switch and you just have a team built to defend him. That doesn't mean the Warriors stop LeBron. No one can do that, but he doesn't run over this team like he did a Hawks squad missing their best defender (Thabo) and running a hobbled Carroll for most of the series.
 

Jovec

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I can't see LeBron leaving. He survived "The Decision" and the "not 1, not 2, not 3..." hit to his rep. He overcame the (mostly unwarranted) rep that he played scared at the end of games.

If he leaves the Cavs, he goes back to being the guy that needs a super-stacked team to win. Instead of coming home to Cleveland, he's bailing on an aging, cap-constrained Miami team and going to a team that had three #1 picks, a #2, and #4 over a four year span (IOW, another loaded team). And while people believe that Riley had control of the team in Miami with respect to coach and personnel, everybody is going to believe that LeBron has near full control over the Cavs organization, and a move like shipping out two #1's for one year of Love (if it happens) is going to be laid squarely at LeBron's feet if he also bails.
 

Springbok

Karen
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Hope it goes 7, don't care who wins but think veteran experience w cavs could prevail. Should be good
 

Angelwatch

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Defense wins championships and the Cavs have had the best defense in the playoffs so far. I'm not prepared to count them out yet.
 

popsicledeath

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Defense wins championships and the Cavs have had the best defense in the playoffs so far. I'm not prepared to count them out yet.
I agree. This really is a good point. The cavs shut down some really great offenses, and with such a great defense the Warriors have no chance. The Cavs will shut down the Warriors the same way they shut down those strong Bulls and Celtics offenses! And the Hawks were a really, really strong offensive team that is pretty much just like the Warriors in talent and execution and look how the Cavs dismantled them!

Cavs sweep in 3!
 

Drakurii

Golden Baron of the Realm
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None, really, because their defense is so great they turned everyone into chumps! Check the stats! Best defense these playoffs!
More like LBJ, he leads the team in everything outside of blocks per game...without his effort the Cavs defense is mediocre at best.
 
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Cleveland fans letting their homer hang out. It won't be a sweep, but talking like the Cavs have any obvious advantage over golden state aside from LeBron is pretty funny.

Warriors in six. LeBron being the best player on the planet gets the Cavs two.
 

Convo

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Lol at people getting trolled by PSD

A healthy Kyrie is an advantage that's not being talked about. Have to see how this break helped his injuries
 
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Lol at people getting trolled by PSD

A healthy Kyrie is an advantage that's not being talked about. Have to see how this break is for Hsi injuries.
Was talking about angelwatch and earlier posts from pigbenis. There is no sure thing for kyrie to be healthy. With love and a health Kyrie it would have been a seven game series. Without its kind of lopsided.
 

Convo

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Was talking about angelwatch and earlier posts from pigbenis. There is no sure thing for kyrie to be healthy. With love and a health Kyrie it would have been a seven game series. Without its kind of lopsided.
I don't know...Tristan Thompson has been awesome defensively and grabbing offensive boards. I'm interested to see how he does against green.
 
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Their toughest playoff opponents have been a bulls team who gave up after game four and the ghost of the Atlanta hawks. Nothing is for sure but I wouldn't take those series as indicative to what Cleveland can do against a top tier team.