I thought it was supposed to be Lakers vs Celtics?

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Miami matches up well VS New York. The surprise is how they beat Milwaukee. And how they beat Boston the first 2 games. Down 2 players it's unbelievable how their playing. Spoelstra is out coaching everyone. If I'm facing Miami... I would literally waste 1 game and double team Butler every time down the floor. Wear that fu##er out. I mean... beat him down. Frustrate him. I want to see the outcome... even if I lose... his mental state wouldn't be the same. Then on the offensive end... I go right at Butler. Post him up.... wear him out. Bullsh## if Miami is the same team afterwards. I'm not letting Butler even handle the ball. Everything goes through Butler. Don't let him touch the ball... get it out of his hands.

Shot, that's a GREAT POST. I've been saying that you're SMART.

It's truly amazing how much Spo is ripping thru the Eastern coaches. In the modern NBA, one would think a one-man team couldn't rip thru the conference. But that's what they're doing.

I mentioned that Adebayo is the only other starter that I could call "above average." Some bench players have had their moments, but this is crazy. I'm also of the opinion that the Boston players are exposing themselves as not that good.

[goduke]

I'm simply asking how they rig things nowadays. Like in game 2 denver lakers, game was tied with like 6 min to go or whatever when jamal murray started hitting step back 3s over davis and lebron right in his face with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. I'm just assuming you think there's a magnet in the ball, right? Because if those shots don't go in, Denver loses that game, and Lakers are still in the series. I'm just trying to get clarification here, beacuse we all know games are won based on made and missed shots, especially when there are so few fouls called in big games down the stretch. So is it magnets or some different technology?

Boston was up by 9 against the heat with 6 minutes left when Grant Williams came into the game and started trash talking Jimmy Butler. There's already a magnet in the ball, so the guys upstairs can determine when shots go in or out, but the coach told Grant Williams to trash talk Jimmy Butler and make it look like a switch was flicked. This was Silver making the call down to Mazzoula to tell Williams to do that, of course for TV. They already knew they would start hitting the green button for the magnet to put butler's crazy shots in and complete a crazy comeback. They just wanted to find a way for ppl not to question it, so they used Grant WIlliams as the scapegoat.

Something like that? Of course, every time Boston shot it with 6 min to go, they knew they'd hit the red button, so the rim wouldn't allow the ball to go in. Mazzoula also informed Tatum "make sure you lay an egg these last 6 minutes. I want you to turn the ball over, and dont' attempt many shots."

I absolutely do not believe there is magnets in the balls. That’s equivalent to thinking there are microchips in the covid vaccine

[goduke]

I'm simply asking how they rig things nowadays. Like in game 2 denver lakers, game was tied with like 6 min to go or whatever when jamal murray started hitting step back 3s over davis and lebron right in his face with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. I'm just assuming you think there's a magnet in the ball, right? Because if those shots don't go in, Denver loses that game, and Lakers are still in the series. I'm just trying to get clarification here, beacuse we all know games are won based on made and missed shots, especially when there are so few fouls called in big games down the stretch. So is it magnets or some different technology?

Boston was up by 9 against the heat with 6 minutes left when Grant Williams came into the game and started trash talking Jimmy Butler. There's already a magnet in the ball, so the guys upstairs can determine when shots go in or out, but the coach told Grant Williams to trash talk Jimmy Butler and make it look like a switch was flicked. This was Silver making the call down to Mazzoula to tell Williams to do that, of course for TV. They already knew they would start hitting the green button for the magnet to put butler's crazy shots in and complete a crazy comeback. They just wanted to find a way for ppl not to question it, so they used Grant WIlliams as the scapegoat.

Something like that? Of course, every time Boston shot it with 6 min to go, they knew they'd hit the red button, so the rim wouldn't allow the ball to go in. Mazzoula also informed Tatum "make sure you lay an egg these last 6 minutes. I want you to turn the ball over, and dont' attempt many shots."

As for how they do, it won’t matter what I say, you are on the other side and that’s fine. Like I told Laker I don’t believe it’s on the up and up but no one is going to ever be able to prove it so it doesn’t matter what I think. I use it as a tool and it has helped me make a lot of predictions on this forum and be a profitable bettor. So either I’m the luckiest bettor ever or it’s an effective tool.
But us debating and and me telling you why is just going to lead to a lot of back and forth that goes nowhere.
One thing I learned from this site is everyone is stubborn and set in their ways so you aren’t changing their mind and there is no point in wasting my time doing that

[TheMoneyShot]

Shot, that's a GREAT POST. I've been saying that you're SMART.

It's truly amazing how much Spo is ripping thru the Eastern coaches. In the modern NBA, one would think a one-man team couldn't rip thru the conference. But that's what they're doing.

I mentioned that Adebayo is the only other starter that I could call "above average." Some bench players have had their moments, but this is crazy. I'm also of the opinion that the Boston players are exposing themselves as not that good.

And the funny thing is... everything is rolling well for Miami. Butler not double teamed... he gets to think everything through ever trip down the floor. He's sizing everyone up. It's an absolute miracle how Butler is playing... because he really hasn't had a bad performance. Adebayo is chipping in... everyone is hitting key shots... making the right read. So Mazzulla has a lot of things... not going well for him. I don't think his club is respecting him. Nothing on defense really works down the stretch. This is when you try something desperate. Have 2 guys on Butler... get the ball out of his hands... then switch... single up again. A lot of movement... I get it... but you need to try something out of the ordinary. You got your ass beat in Boston... back against the wall... let someone else beat you. Because whatever defense you were setting up in Games 1 and 2... just didn't work... then Spoelstra shuts you down LATE in the game. Boston should have the most amazing offensive talent.... Miami has 1 guy... Butler. Practically last ranked NBA offense... and you're letting Miami beat you? It's embarrassing.

[Eddy Munny]

And the funny thing is... everything is rolling well for Miami. Butler not double teamed... he gets to think everything through ever trip down the floor. He's sizing everyone up. It's an absolute miracle how Butler is playing... because he really hasn't had a bad performance. Adebayo is chipping in... everyone is hitting key shots... making the right read. So Mazzulla has a lot of things... not going well for him. I don't think his club is respecting him. Nothing on defense really works down the stretch. This is when you try something desperate. Have 2 guys on Butler... get the ball out of his hands... then switch... single up again. A lot of movement... I get it... but you need to try something out of the ordinary. You got your ass beat in Boston... back against the wall... let someone else beat you. Because whatever defense you were setting up in Games 1 and 2... just didn't work... then Spoelstra shuts you down LATE in the game. Boston should have the most amazing offensive talent.... Miami has 1 guy... Butler. Practically last ranked NBA offense... and you're letting Miami beat you? It's embarrassing.

I don't think it's that simple. The Heat have guys who can knock down shots, they're just not the kind of guys that have their jerseys sold at Foot Locker. You can double Butler and someone is going to get an open look on the perimeter, whether it's Martin, Vincent, Strus, Love, Lowry, Robinson.. they are good shooters. It's like saying just double Jokic... it's a pick your poison deal.

[Eddy Munny]

See? Butler is having a very quiet night and the Heat have opened a 20 point lead on the C's.

This is a damn good team, not a one-man show.

[goduke]

See? Butler is having a very quiet night and the Heat have opened a 20 point lead on the C's.

This is a damn good team, not a one-man show.

Monday quarterback. 44-38 all season. So they just kept their talent dormant all year? This isn’t the nhl, before this year that rarely if ever happened(can’t think of a good example, maybe Knicks one year in the 90s)What they are doing is an absolute statistical outlier.

[goduke]

Will gamblers carry the nuggets vs heat finals so that it avoids the lowest ratings in nba history? I can’t see any casual fan caring about this at all outside of those two cities.
Nba banking on degenerate gamblers to watch. Good luck

[stevenash]

^
Yep, you're correct.

Sports fans will watch the Finals.
Sports gamblers will watch the Finals.
Professional media types will watch the Finals, because that's their job.

You know who else will watch the Finals?
Nobody

I'll watch.

[Eddy Munny]

Monday quarterback. 44-38 all season. So they just kept their talent dormant all year? This isn’t the nhl, before this year that rarely if ever happened(can’t think of a good example, maybe Knicks one year in the 90s)What they are doing is an absolute statistical outlier.

Read my prior comment, dumbass... I said they had shooters, that doubling down Butler wasn't going to be the master lock to tie up the Heat. I said that before the game.

Of course the Heat have exceeded expectations, but there comes a point when you have to trust what you're seeing and not preconceived notions. The absence of Herro has given the rest of the team a rhythm it lacked in the regular season. A guy like Duncan Robinson, for instance, has always been a flamethrower and was left to rot on the bench for much of the season.

[JIBBBY]

I vote for the Constellation second prize trophy award for the Celtics vs Lakers match up game later on so both teams don't fell like complete losers.

Both teams ran into a buzz saw and feelings could get hurt now!

[goduke]

Read my prior comment, dumbass... I said they had shooters, that doubling down Butler wasn't going to be the master lock to tie up the Heat. I said that before the game.

Of course the Heat have exceeded expectations, but there comes a point when you have to trust what you're seeing and not preconceived notions. The absence of Herro has given the rest of the team a rhythm it lacked in the regular season. A guy like Duncan Robinson, for instance, has always been a flamethrower and was left to rot on the bench for much of the season.

My response to your comment was in reference to “this is a damn good team”. I didn’t care about your Butler/three point shooters analysis with the other poster. It’s not preconceived notions it’s 82 games.
I’m just saying they did not demonstrate “damn good team” over a large sample and they are just hitting at a statistical outlier rate.

[pavyracer]

Nuggets Heat will be a disaster for ratings. Two of the smallest markets. No NY, LA or Chicago.

[Eddy Munny]

My response to your comment was in reference to “this is a damn good team”. I didn’t care about your Butler/three point shooters analysis with the other poster. It’s not preconceived notions it’s 82 games.
I’m just saying they did not demonstrate “damn good team” over a large sample and they are just hitting at a statistical outlier rate.

Yes, it was 82 games before personnel changed and the rotations streamlined.

A fluke game here and there are bound to happen... But beating the Bucks in 5, followed by the Knicks in 5, followed by 2 straight at Boston, at some point you have to acknowledge that there's something to it. Flukes don't have that long of a shelf life.

[JIBBBY]

Nuggets Heat will be a disaster for ratings. Two of the smallest markets. No NY, LA or Chicago.

Needless to say the Heat will probably get swept like the Lakers soon to be.

Jokic will have a field day against the smaller Heat team. Heat will try to double team and leave open 3 point shooters like the Lakers are doing now against the Nuggets and get burnt.

Jimmy Buckets will try though.

[ThaTopMoron]

I gave up on the Lakers and bet Denver game 3 +5, +185 and alternate spread -4.5 +300 ... the dog has now covered and or won straight up in all 5 conference finals games...

now EVERYONE will assume that both series won't be 3-0 leads.

I'm going to bet Heat first half ML just in case some real shady stuff happens late because the refs did a little of that in game 2 but the Celtics still folded anyways

cashed that shizz easy first half also hit up the alternate spread before game at +200

so easy... figured I was on the right side but didn't expect Celtics to fold that badly and get whooped by 30

[gauchojake]

fukkin magnets how do they work?

[Eddy Munny]

fukkin magnets how do they work?

[gauchojake]

[Goat Milk]

As for how they do, it won’t matter what I say, you are on the other side and that’s fine. Like I told Laker I don’t believe it’s on the up and up but no one is going to ever be able to prove it so it doesn’t matter what I think. I use it as a tool and it has helped me make a lot of predictions on this forum and be a profitable bettor. So either I’m the luckiest bettor ever or it’s an effective tool.
But us debating and and me telling you why is just going to lead to a lot of back and forth that goes nowhere.
One thing I learned from this site is everyone is stubborn and set in their ways so you aren’t changing their mind and there is no point in wasting my time doing that

I actually want to hear what you have to say. Because I have some friends who believe the same, but when I ask them to break down how it's actually rigged, they don't have a response. Like I'll give them a similar scenario. Boston is up 9 with 6 minutes to go when Grant Williams checks into the game, talks trash to Jimmy B, and he proceeds to destroy them over the last 6 minutes. I'll ask questions like, if it's rigged, how do you control if a shot goes in or out? If it's rigged, wouldn't the refs just call fouls in this situation to get the team they want the victory? If it is rigged, why would they wait this late, and why would they allow Boston to take a 9 point lead? What happens if they call every foul they could, and then Jason Tatum hits some miraculous 3 for the win. Are they going to randomly wave it off?

I am actually intrigued by people who think the game is rigged, because there are some things maybe I haven't thought of that I genuinely want to hear. I don't have to agree with your theory, but I would like to actually know what it is, because it's just a fascinating topic.

[Goat Milk]

Read my prior comment, dumbass... I said they had shooters, that doubling down Butler wasn't going to be the master lock to tie up the Heat. I said that before the game.

Of course the Heat have exceeded expectations, but there comes a point when you have to trust what you're seeing and not preconceived notions. The absence of Herro has given the rest of the team a rhythm it lacked in the regular season. A guy like Duncan Robinson, for instance, has always been a flamethrower and was left to rot on the bench for much of the season.

Butler is a top 10 player in the world. Adebayo is top 30. They got a great coach. Their role players are just whatever, but they play hard for their superstar. It's similar to the teams Lebron used to take to the conference finals and they got thumped by boston. When Lebron was on Cleveland, those teams sucked. That was way before irving or love. But I think this is more of a boston issue, these guys just look like they don't like each other. It doesn't matter how much talent you have on a team if guys hate each other. I watched it happen when Kobe and Shaq got dismantled by the pistons in the finals. They made it to the finals off pure talent, and then they got exposed because it was clear, the two best players didn't like each other anymore.

I don't know if it's like that with Boston now, but there's a definite disconnect inside the team. Winning solves everything, and who knows, maybe they still win this series, but they basically need to sit down as a team and decide they are going to play for each other. I've beaten stacked teams at the gym where the 4 best players on the court were all the same team, and it was me and 3 "others." And we just played harder, trusted each other, etc, etc, all the cliches. There's a reason cliches are true.

[TheMoneyShot]

I still don't see how Miami will match up with Denver?

[Eddy Munny]

I still don't see how Miami will match up with Denver?

Well the sooner they put away the C's the better. You don't want the Nuggets getting rest while you're still grinding out a series, especially when your lead dog is 33 years old.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

I still don't see how Miami will match up with Denver?

I looked it up. Denver swept Miami, 2-0.

Adebayo had two OK stat-lines vs Jokic. But that has to be a terrible matchup for Adebayo. Jokic can stretch him away from his comfort-zone whenever he wants.

[homie1975]

Well the sooner they put away the C's the better. You don't want the Nuggets getting rest while you're still grinding out a series, especially when your lead dog is 33 years old.

age is so overrated these days.

[Eddy Munny]

age is so overrated these days.

Really?

A 28 year old Lebron on this same team would probably be up 3-1 on the Nuggets... Absolutely no worse than 2-2

[JIBBBY]

Really?

A 28 year old Lebron on this same team would probably be up 3-1 on the Nuggets... Absolutely no worse than 2-2

Agreed! Young legs work better in basketball.

[homie1975]

Really?

A 28 year old Lebron on this same team would probably be up 3-1 on the Nuggets... Absolutely no worse than 2-2

the same LeBron cleveland teams who could win the East but always got run out of the Finals by the West team 4 out of 5 times (save for 2016)

2007 crushed by Spurs
2015 - beaten by GS
2017 - beaten by GS
2018 - beaten by GS

You think LeBron could make a difference in those series' vs a team like the Nuggets?

his Cleveland teams save for 2016 would have been beaten in Max 6 games by this Nuggets squad.

he is just one guy.

you need a squad.

he has lost 6 times in the finals ALL of which were at or just before his prime, because he was outmanned all 6 times including 2011 and 2014 when he had wade and bosh with him

[Eddy Munny]

the same LeBron cleveland teams who could win the East but always got run out of the Finals by the West team 4 out of 5 times (save for 2016)

2007 crushed by Spurs
2015 - beaten by GS
2017 - beaten by GS
2018 - beaten by GS

You think LeBron could make a difference in those series' vs a team like the Nuggets?

his Cleveland teams save for 2016 would have been beaten in Max 6 games by this Nuggets squad.

he is just one guy.

you need a squad.

he has lost 6 times in the finals ALL of which were at or just before his prime, because he was outmanned all 6 times including 2011 and 2014 when he had wade and bosh with him

Did you even read my post correctly?

If you replace 38 year old Lebron with 28 (doesn't have to be exactly 28, just substantially younger) year old Lebron and give him this same Lakers squad, they'd probably be up 3-1 on the Nuggets.

My point was refuting your point that age is overrated. I didn't even know that was debatable.

The Nuggets/Lakers games have been close enough that a prime Lebron easily could have put his team over in at least a couple of those games. He clearly is a guy who is fighting Father Time as much as he was the Nuggets. Great for 38, sure, but peak years in the rear view.

[homie1975]

Did you even read my post correctly?

If you replace 38 year old Lebron with 28 (doesn't have to be exactly 28, just substantially younger) year old Lebron and give him this same Lakers squad, they'd probably be up 3-1 on the Nuggets.

My point was refuting your point that age is overrated. I didn't even know that was debatable.

The Nuggets/Lakers games have been close enough that a prime Lebron easily could have put his team over in at least a couple of those games. He clearly is a guy who is fighting Father Time as much as he was the Nuggets. Great for 38, sure, but peak years in the rear view.

no way

[homie1975]

phukking magic tragic johnson woke up the C's by his tweet saying they "quit" in game 3.


yes, this is human nature, and all it takes is one loudmouth like idiot magic johnson to wake dudes up.


after the lakers met with kawhi in summer 2019 during the free agency tour, kawhi's camp made it clear to toronto, the clippers, and the lakers, that they wanted no leaks about the meetings.


so what does Tragic Johnson do? does an interview tour telling the media how great the meeting with kawhi went.


failed the test, and the rest is history.

[Eddy Munny]

no way

You say that a lot.

You must've watched a different series than I did. Denver deserved to win without a doubt, but a lot of the Lakers' troubles occurred in the 4th quarters when a man pushing 40 started looking like a man pushing 40... missing layups, bricking threes, hands on hips etc.

Prime Lebron was a different animal. It's a game of inches. Like I said, absolutely no worse than 2-2.

[Goat Milk]

the same LeBron cleveland teams who could win the East but always got run out of the Finals by the West team 4 out of 5 times (save for 2016)

2007 crushed by Spurs
2015 - beaten by GS
2017 - beaten by GS
2018 - beaten by GS

You think LeBron could make a difference in those series' vs a team like the Nuggets?

his Cleveland teams save for 2016 would have been beaten in Max 6 games by this Nuggets squad.

he is just one guy.

you need a squad.

he has lost 6 times in the finals ALL of which were at or just before his prime, because he was outmanned all 6 times including 2011 and 2014 when he had wade and bosh with him

Wade carried the Heat in 2011 when they lost. Lebron was 29 yrs old and went into his shell. He averaged 17 in that series against a pitiful dallas team. If Lebron even gives them 22 a game and better effort, they win. But he sabatoged the series on purpose because didn't want to win a ring and not get finals mvp. He's a baby.