[sosawestbrook]

1. Kawhi Leonard
2. Nikola Jokic
3. Jamal Murray

[pilebuck13]

Lol no lillard or Durant come on man

[James Randall]

Obviously Kevin Durant

[lakerboy]

Lol no lillard or Durant come on man

Lillard yes.
Durant no because he plays on an all Star team

[sosawestbrook]

Lillard hell no. Just got outplayed by young cuthroat 22 years old at home.

KD not impressive cuz all his big games = losses

I am impressed by WINNING

[sosawestbrook]

Jamal Murray aka young cuthroat is outplaying the hell out of lil ol Dame this series.

Btw, is there a play EVER where Dame Lillard doesn’t flop or make a noise? I’ll sip my tea though

[ChiLLx]

Leonard. Everyone else playing for second place to him

[lakerboy]

Leonard. Everyone else playing for second place to him

You might want to check with Brett Brown. He doesn't agree. You might have to wait for him to answer. He is busy Changing Mr embiid diapers.

[JayLA]

Embiid's gotta be considered, no?

[sosawestbrook]

Embiid's gotta be considered, no?

Need more

[asiagambler]

Murray's defense has been horrific. I don't think you can put him up there for that reason.

Gary Harris doing a good job on Lillard this series.

[Auto Donk]

according to iguodala , this guy:

[Auto Donk]

Lillard yes.
Durant no because he plays on an all Star team

playin heads and shoulders above those other limp wristed "all stars"

[Sledge187]

Everyone keeps saying KD because the media narrative is that he is outplaying Harden in this series.

Series Stats - Games 1-3
KD - 110 Points - 78 Shots - 13 Rebounds - 13 Assists
Harden - 105 Points - 79 Shots - 19 Rebounds - 16 Assists

Those 5 points make a huge difference....I guess. What would Harden's stats be if he had 3 other all-stars to take pressure off of him?

[sosawestbrook]

Yes indeed I am a little bit cinco de turnt up & am Jamal Murray fanatic. Might be in my feelings here

[sosawestbrook]

Everyone keeps saying KD because the media narrative is that he is outplaying Harden in this series.

Series Stats - Games 1-3
KD - 110 Points - 78 Shots - 13 Rebounds - 13 Assists
Harden - 105 Points - 79 Shots - 19 Rebounds - 16 Assists

Those 5 points make a huge difference....I guess. What would Harden's stats be if he had 3 other all-stars to take pressure off of him?

Excellent deep dive analysis work by sledge187

[kingdom]

Everyone keeps saying KD because the media narrative is that he is outplaying Harden in this series.

Series Stats - Games 1-3
KD - 110 Points - 78 Shots - 13 Rebounds - 13 Assists
Harden - 105 Points - 79 Shots - 19 Rebounds - 16 Assists

Those 5 points make a huge difference....I guess. What would Harden's stats be if he had 3 other all-stars to take pressure off of him?

true. but its the eye test with kd. its like watching dwade against the mavs the first time. and jordan against the knicks. you just see them make shot after shot and can't be guarded by anyone. now this kawhi is on another level too. alot of jordan in his game and plays both ends as well. if he would maintain consistency he could be on a lebron/kobe/jordan level. he has shown a lot more aggression outside of pops system.

[asiagambler]

To be fair to Durant, some of those other All Stars aren't really performing too well. Curry has been horrible. Thompson's been pedestrian. Green and Iguodala have been good but more for their defense and other things that don't always show up on the scoresheet.

[kingdom]

To be fair to Durant, some of those other All Stars aren't really performing too well. Curry has been horrible. Thompson's been pedestrian. Green and Iguodala have been good but more for their defense and other things that don't always show up on the scoresheet.

carrying em like luggage. but to be fair to them, kd has them playing out of their usual system as he is playing more one on one than previous seasons. he looks determined to take the torch if this is his last season there. steph doesn't have the ego where he wants all the shots. but in houston van gundy is right. when cp has the ball, harden hides out at half court. and when harden has the ball cp just sits in the corner. dantoni has to be more assertive and not allow his best players to play individually.

[sosawestbrook]

carrying em like luggage. but to be fair to them, kd has them playing out of their usual system as he is playing more one on one than previous seasons. he looks determined to take the torch if this is his last season there. steph doesn't have the ego where he wants all the shots. but in houston van gundy is right. when cp has the ball, harden hides out at half court. and when harden has the ball cp just sits in the corner. dantoni has to be more assertive and not allow his best players to play individually.

You got it backwards cat daddy. Golden State built their team on sharing the ball. If KD is playing 1on1 each time, they are out of their element. On the other hand, Houston was built to have either Harden or CP handle the ball each possession. This is their game

[seaborneq]

Houston's offense could be much better if the point guard had the ball as much as the 2 guard. Harden is not a point guard. Everyone would get better shots if the Rockets would stop running the 1-4 offense.

[sosawestbrook]

Houston's offense could be much better if the point guard had the ball as much as the 2 guard. Harden is not a point guard. Everyone would get better shots if the Rockets would stop running the 1-4 offense.

Label terms mean nothing. Harden is an elite level playmaker. Call him whatever position you want. But if u mean they need to get it to CP more then yeah I agree. Unless Harden has the hot hand then get out of the way

[kingdom]

You got it backwards cat daddy. Golden State built their team on sharing the ball. If KD is playing 1on1 each time, they are out of their element. On the other hand, Houston was built to have either Harden or CP handle the ball each possession. This is their game

they are out of their element when kd takes over the offense as opposed to being part of their typical stuff. and true houston is built that way, but imagine how much better they can be if they play 5 on 5 offensively. james hits some crazy shots to make it work but cp is mr. efficiency. if harden can be part of the plays when cp has the ball, they are a stronger team.

[asiagambler]

carrying em like luggage. but to be fair to them, kd has them playing out of their usual system as he is playing more one on one than previous seasons. he looks determined to take the torch if this is his last season there. steph doesn't have the ego where he wants all the shots. but in houston van gundy is right. when cp has the ball, harden hides out at half court. and when harden has the ball cp just sits in the corner. dantoni has to be more assertive and not allow his best players to play individually.

Exactly right. Kerr is either fine with it or doesn't care at this point which can be an indictment on his coaching unless they win a title- still likely because of their overall talent.

But I think a big reason for Curry's disappointing postseason is because there's tension in the locker room against Durant who's probably leaving at the end of the season. Basically feels like Durant came here to pad his legacy, pick up finals MVPs and then bolt to another team and that can't be sitting too well with everyone.

Looks like Green and Iguodala have moved beyond it as they're playing fantastic but Curry and Thompson don't seem quite as engaged. I still go back to Livingston's mysterious comment last year where he indirectly talked about Durant along those lines you referred to. Lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that we're not aware of.

[sosawestbrook]

they are out of their element when kd takes over the offense as opposed to being part of their typical stuff. and true houston is built that way, but imagine how much better they can be if they play 5 on 5 offensively. james hits some crazy shots to make it work but cp is mr. efficiency. if harden can be part of the plays when cp has the ball, they are a stronger team.

No bro this is impossible think about it. If Harden or CP have the ball there is only 2 options: 1) three point shot off iso 2) drive to the lane which either leads to a layup/floater, a lob/drop off to the big man(Capela) or kick out to a three point shooter(Green, Gordon, Tuck, etc)

This is their offense though. The reason this works(or used to work) for a team like Golden State is because you got guys(Steph & Klay) coming off screens ready to go. This is why State offense is so brilliant(or used to be brilliant)

Rockets cannot run this type of offense because they lack the personale. This is why starpower is everything in NBA & why coaching has little to no influence. The players ARE the offense

[sosawestbrook]

I am cinco de turnt up boys. Quite a few Dos Equis in my vessel. I hope I make sense

The morning shall be of much intrigue

[kingdom]

No bro this is impossible think about it. If Harden or CP have the ball there is only 2 options: 1) three point shot off iso 2) drive to the lane which either leads to a layup/floater, a lob/drop off to the big man(Capela) or kick out to a three point shooter(Green, Gordon, Tuck, etc)

This is their offense though. The reason this works(or used to work) for a team like Golden State is because you got guys(Steph & Klay) coming off screens ready to go. This is why State offense is so brilliant(or used to be brilliant)

Rockets cannot run this type of offense because they lack the personale. This is why starpower is everything in NBA & why coaching has little to no influence. The players ARE the offense

i get it. and harden can be superman at times. but sometimes their game looks better for everyone when cp3 has ball in his hands. and to beat the warriors you are going to need a team. but with these 2 teams coaching means more than most. kerr is smarter at basketball than most give him credit for. and dantoni is a proven offensive genius. kerr has an understanding of egos and managing them similar to phil jackson, but more hands off. if he was in boston the celts would be a well oiled machine.

[Cuse0323]

Jokic is a rare breed. Gonna be a force in the league for a decade barring injury.

[jtoler]

kd has looked like wilt out there nobody can guard him

[ChuckyTheGoat]

I think this thread is pre-mature. The $$ games are yet to come.

I will say that Giannis was stifled by Celtic size in gm1 + he responded in games 2/3. In game3, Hill + Connaughton were key off the bench.

[kingdom]

Jokic is a rare breed. Gonna be a force in the league for a decade barring injury.

he is a good player. i just don't want to hear people compare him to Bird. Larry could get buckets with anyone. if you needed 40 he could get you 40. and was a rebounding genius at 6'9 with limited ups. jokic is a great passer. but he has to be more consistent and aggressive with his scoring. murray is gonna be a kobe type of player and is talented. jokic may fall into the passive role and let murray take the reigns and be a gasol to his kobe.

[jjgold]

all great

Durant the best though

[diablozz]

Your theory is flawed. All those teams were down in their series when your criteria is based it on WINNING.

1) Kevin Durant
2) Damian Lillard
3) Giannis

[WildCelticsFan]

Barton was huge last night late in the 4th

[IBetYou]

1. Leonard
2. Durant
3. Butler
4. Lillard
5. Jokic