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I think okc and utah, portland and nop, and the washington toronto series has the potential to be really great series!

Especially the washington one because washington have beat the raptors (twice?) now in the playoffs in consecutive years. That's probably wrong but they do have small budding rivalries.

Congratulations Portland Trail Blazers! You just got swept by a team with one good player and a bunch of injury woes! I mean aside from Anthony Davis and something called a play-off Rondo, what was really so hard about having to play the damn Pelicans? You had the northern splash brothers in Lillard and McCollum, and a pretty good big man to match up with Davis too, what else did you need to compete with?

I wouldn't even be pissed if you lost in a competitive series, but you took it one step further and got swept in a series that almost every analysis predicted you were going to win! How do you fail on such an epic level that you lose four straight games where you were the favourites? Don't worry though, you do win a consolation prize Portland... the LOLCOW of the season award!

Jrue averaged 19/6 for the season and is in contention for DPOY? Wouldn't call it AD and playoff Rondo. Give credit where it's due.

I stand corrected. I often forget about Jrue Holiday because, aside from that one ASG selection, he's not 'the' star player, but never plays badly enough to be a punchline, nor does he gain exposure from being on a title contending team. That may change next season, pending NOLA's ability to re-sign Cousins and fully utilise him alongside what the rest of the team has proven capable of already.

Last edited by Jay (OTT) at 4/22/2018 9:58:06 AM

Mid 1st round comments:

Houston 2-1 Minnesota: Thanks for keeping the series competitive Wolves. I'd still be shocked if you somehow advance, but as long as Towns and Wiggins continue to improve from experience I can see this becoming a 50+ win team next season.

Oklahoma 1-2 Utah: Utah were the team in form leading into the play-offs, and so far they've carried that over into play-off success. Even after a full season of playing together, OKC are still struggling to turn talent into wins, but it's not too late just yet.

Portland 0-4 New Orleans: Here lies Damien Lillard. He never scored.

Golden State 3-1 San Antonio: Whilst the win only delays the inevitable for SA, it may have a lasting impact on the play-offs. That's already one loss more than GS had in the West last year, and it reduces their rest days whilst also proving that they can be beat, though they were still missing Curry.

Toronto 2-2 Washington: Well done Toronto, you've gone 2-0 up and are shaking off the stigm- oh darnit, they've gone full Raptors again and let an 8th seeded Washington level it. Can you at least put this one away in 6 please?

Cleveland 2-2 Indiana: So does this mean I was right to criticise the Cavs for those panic trades at the deadline? Indiana haven't just done better than last year, they now have a genuine chance of ending LeBron's reign in the East by themselves, despite the narrow game 4 loss.

Philadelphia 3-1 Miami: If Toronto loses another game to Washington I'm jumping off that horse and trusting the process. Since Embiid's return, Phili's looked like the strongest team in the conference, and it's reflected in the series scoreline. There's still question marks, but they have the talent and know how to use it.

Boston 2-2 Milwaukee: I was getting really worried that the Bucks would once again under-perform and get stomped by some young guys and a point center, but a big home stand has levelled the series. As for what happens next, who knows?

EDIT: Houston and Utah easily go 3-1 up. The western conference semi-finals is now set unless someone chokes hard (UTA vs HOU, NOLA vs GS).

Last edited by Jay (OTT) at 4/24/2018 2:03:08 AM

Phew. Despite a slow start that saw them down by 12 in the first, the Raptors did indeed finish it. No game seven needed, and meanwhile the Pacers have a double digit lead and are on course to force a game seven with the Cavaliers.

It does come with a small caveat; the Raptors didn't have to play Otto Porter in the closeout game. Certain metrics and analytics say that Otto Porter is an unsung all-star, and possibly even the best player on the Wizards, so not having to deal with him was a big boost.

Last edited by Jay (OTT) at 4/27/2018 9:29:41 PM

Indeed, in these play-offs Otto Porter was shut down, whilst John Wall stepped up, and Mike Scott became the unsung hero for much of the series.

But in the regular season... I'm going to use the On-Court and Off-Court comparison to make my case here. When Otto Porter was on the court, the Wizards were a +5.2 per 100 possessions for the season. Take him off the court, and the Wizards regressed to a -6.0 per 100 possessions. This 11.2 point swing was the difference between the Wizards making the play-offs, and them having an expected W-L of 26-56 if we extrapolate that -6.0 across the whole season.

The comparison does have flaws (Porter played most of his minutes with the starters and not the bench), but it does give you an idea of why I think Washington were forced to match Brooklyn's albatross offer to keep him.

Last edited by Jay (OTT) at 4/27/2018 10:29:09 PM