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dinohealth's avatar

INDIANA IN THE EAST CF as they KNOCK off the #1-seeded CAVS 4-1. Soon to be joined by the KNICKS METHINKS who will finish off the #2-seeded BOSTON CELTICS...

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dinohealth's avatar

LIGHTS dimming for the CAVS...

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dinohealth's avatar

INDIANA about to turn them off, up 114-105 with 23 seconds left...

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GlennR's avatar

Night night

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Tookie007's avatar

What if we never make it to the playoffs again in Steph’s career. That this was the last shot for the ring. I’m sure Steph would try playing if he knew. Now we can’t predict the future or take anything for granted. I just think if Steph is good enough at least 90% health-wise he should play in game 5. The West is always going to be tough out, teams are ‘t even in their primes yet and are ascending. We’re an aging core, to not expect even a slight decline from our big 3 next year is being too optimistic and I’d say unrealistic. We need to take the opportunity that presents itself, it might be his last chance at a ring for all we know.

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Asher B.'s avatar

Sports wouldn't be fun if we always won. It's only fun if it's competitive. So let's see

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Tookie007's avatar

I HAvE AloT oF FuN wHEN wE WiN X.x

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TwoRingTest's avatar

The odds of us making the playoffs next year are high, assuming moderate health on the team. Also, we may not need to treat the last quarter of the season as a pre-playoff, and enter the playoffs a little better rested than this year. Plus the roster can be tweaked to better fit around Butler, perhaps.

The odds of winning everything next year are low, but I'm not sure they are lower than the odds of winning 3 games in a row, then winning 4 out of 7 twice when your best player has a hamstring that could be re-injured at any time if he rushed it back, and your second best player is beat up and tired.

The odds on both are pretty crappy. I'd tend to stick to medical advice, myself.

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vignette17's avatar

The West is getting better unfortunately. The Spurs and Mavs are both teams likely to take a step forward from the teams that missed the playoffs. The Pels are an enigma. OKC and Houston are the only teams I'd guarantee make the playoffs in the West next year.

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Hoops2518's avatar

A big problem potentially is that Houston and OKC have a lot of draft picks and good desirable young guys if they want to make a big move.

SA landing the 2nd pick to add to all their others gives them the option to really get better. Memphis has a chance to really improve. Denver is still young with all their key guys. Minnesota I think should have the same group but not sure.

It looks like next year is going to probably be even tougher next year even if Steph, JB and DG don’t lose a bit more to Father Time.

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Tookie007's avatar

that was very sensible

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GlennR's avatar

I'd like Steph to be able to walk in his 60s. When I look at how Shaq and Kenny can barely shuffle to the board during the Inside NBA show, I feel a twinge of sadness.

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Tookie007's avatar

I think it’s bound to happen regardless. Gravity over time vs overused joints.

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GlennR's avatar

Yes. All the more reason not to chance a severe injury that worsens gravity's work.

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vignette17's avatar

It might be - but it's not ring or bust. We have 2 more years with Steph/Jimmy/Dray and they just won a fun playoff series. We may never summit the mountain again, but the journey to base camp is adventure too. I wouldn't risk a Steph career-ending injury just because we can see the summit today.

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Tookie007's avatar

Even if it’s the last chance they’ll be able to approach the summit?

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vignette17's avatar

Even still. Steph might come back and not be able to cut/sprint in his normal ways anyways.

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stopnpop's avatar

Has any team ever made it all the way with a hamstrung #1 and a gimpy #2?

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Tookie007's avatar

How do we even look something that specific up haha. I can say teams can win it all being banged up and have done so.

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stopnpop's avatar

Every team is banged up at this point. A hamstring injury and whatever turned JB into PHI Ben Simmons is more than just banged up.

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Tookie007's avatar

We won it with a buttpad steph maybe JB should start wearing that.

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Captain Jack's avatar

A bad hamstring isn't the same as say... a bad ankle. It's not just the possibility of re-injuring that's a problem but if you don't give it enough time to heal you can't even physically make basic movements needed for high level basketball

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Tookie007's avatar

if he’s good “enough”, should he try to play?

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Captain Jack's avatar

Problem is he won't actually be "good enough" until at least Sunday with the way his rehab is currently being reported. Trust me you don't want him back tomorrow in his current state.

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AttilaTheHun's avatar

Also Steph's game isn't just long-range shooting. Even if it was okay that he couldn't drive in for layups, his constant movement is a big part of what makes him effective. And if he can't keep up on defense, the Wolves will pick us apart at the POA. So if you define "good enough" as "he can go out and shoot some," that's not good enough.

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Captain Jack's avatar

That extra 3 days if we win tomorrow will make a huge difference

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Tookie007's avatar

He’s playing game 6 for sure if we get that far.

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fzwinter's avatar

I'll trust Steph and Celebrini to make that call, rather than your evidence-free medical opinion

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Captain Jack's avatar

See you in the Game 6 game thread on Sunday!

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SabWrites's avatar

Steph, Draymond and Jimmy have another championship run in them. No doubt about it. But they do need to make changes to the roster. They need a center.

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Tookie007's avatar

But they’re also 38, 36, 36 next year. Making 80% of all our salary cap. We might have another year or two of playoff hopes but there’s no guarantee we even get out of the first round or get into the playoffs. Will we be fun to watch? Yes. A better well rounded roster? I hope so. Say we don’t have the luck with good health like this year. Our window is way too short.

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GlueAndBold's avatar

Respect the hammy

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hammystyle's avatar

Thanks Glue. I respect you too

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AttilaTheHun's avatar

This. And with the Dubs, Dr Celebrini gets the last word, not Kerr and not Steph.

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Captain Jack's avatar

I hate the Celtics and their only fanbase can suck it but I'm truly bummed for Tatum. Can't remember the last time a star as young as him tore their achilles in the middle of their physical prime.

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Captain Jack's avatar

I guess Klay counts. I thought he was older when it happened but he was only 30

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SabWrites's avatar

r/celtics used chat gpt to list all the players who tore their achilles and their ages. Cousins was 27 but the youngest was Brandon Jennings (2015) at 25.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bostonceltics/comments/1klx2gb/history_of_nba_achilles_injuries/

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Captain Jack's avatar

Oooo totally forgot about Boogie's achilles. That was pretty much a career ender

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SabWrites's avatar

And just like that the r/celtics mods took down the post. Sorry y'all.

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dinohealth's avatar

Truth hurts sometimes....

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Dan goutz's avatar

It sucked seeing the guys visibly lose belief in that 3rd quarter. Might’ve started just before when Ant hit that 3 before half

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GlennR's avatar

I'm hoping the series gets extended past Game 5. Not because I think we can win, but for pride and to give the young guys more playoff experience. They fell off this time because it's pretty much the first real run for all of them. Time in the arena is an investment for next year.

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GlueAndBold's avatar

I would love to see us make a miracle run, but not at the expense of Steph's health. If they win tomorrow, I hope that doesn't make anyone want to rush Steph back. Hammies are so easy to re-injure, and re-injuries can be so much more destructive in the long term.

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GlennR's avatar

In Celebrini we trust.

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GlueAndBold's avatar

The story of this series is that our star world-beater got injured and our secondary guy is still dealing with the fallout of an injury. The other team's stars are not injured.

That's it. That's the story.

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Tookie007's avatar

dont forgot about our role players (if we can even call them that) are playing like garbage

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GlueAndBold's avatar

I'm not forgetting anything. Read my comment again.

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Tookie007's avatar

I read it 3 times. You didn’t mention role players. Wolves got consistent production from their role players all series. We didn’t, I for one believe that makes a difference.

I don’t fully disagree with your original comment, but that’s not the full story.

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Abaddon's avatar

> Wolves got consistent production from their role players all series.

Not really

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Tookie007's avatar

please do explain why you think so, i looked at box scores from every game and they had good production outside of randle and antman

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stopnpop's avatar

When the top of your roster is injured, it changes things for everyone. Fewer open looks, more responsibilities, etc.

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Tookie007's avatar

Yes indeed it does. Rotation are different etc.

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fzwinter's avatar

Reluctantly, I have to give kudos to Julius Randle this series. I've always thought of him as a high-usage, low efficiency player who would put up stats that wouldn't contribute much to his team winning. The Knicks seemed to play better when he was hurt at the end of last season. But the dude has turned into a monster against the Dubs - scoring, rebounding, and assisting well beyond what might be expected of him in the playoffs. Of course, maybe he's due for one of his 4-19 nights from the floor

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Lightsx3's avatar

This is the hope for most Kuminga fans, that one day he kind of puts it all together and becomes unstoppable. Randle got a lot of flack every single year like he's some blackhole that can't play winning basketball, even earlier this year wolves fans wanted him gone asap

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AttilaTheHun's avatar

He has been beasting all season for the Wolves. Honestly when he came in the league with the Lakers, this is what I thought he would be. I don't know why it took him this long to get there but he's formidable now.

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SabWrites's avatar

r/bostonceltics

19 min. ago

3250Knight

[Charania] BREAKING: Boston Celtics All-NBA star Jayson Tatum underwent surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon. Catastrophic season-ending injury for one of the NBA's young faces and the Celtics, with a long rehab awaiting.

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Bel's avatar

wow, he already had surgery. i guess it's normal to do the surgery immediately.

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Tookie007's avatar

Wonder where theyll ship Jrue holiday to to get under the second apron. At this point it’s guaranteed that him or KP will be shipped off in the summmer to lower their payroll.

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TwoRingTest's avatar

Expected, but still sad news.

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SabWrites's avatar

It's 2025. It's time to develop a safer playing surface for basketball players than hardwood.

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stopnpop's avatar

Too many games is the problem.

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SabWrites's avatar

Yeah you're right.

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Tookie007's avatar

with additional playin games, the in season tournamnet, and too many back to back in a game that’s more dynamic than ever. They need to look into it as a league wide issue. The same thing they need to do in the MLB is figure out how to prevent so many TJ elbow injuries for pitchers.

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Abaddon's avatar

The surface had nothing to do with the injury.

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GlueAndBold's avatar

Including the playoffs, for this season the Dubs are 6-7 when JK scores 20 pts or more (according to ChatGPT).

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GlennR's avatar

So, are we thinking -- given the way the playoffs are unfolding, IF Steph had not gotten injured -- Draymond's prediction of a championship wasn't as crazy as it seemed at the time? Just from a team competitive standpoint.

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GovernorStephCurry's avatar

If Denver gets the the WCF, I think a healthy Warriors would be the championship favorites. Won't happen though. Sad.

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Bel's avatar

A healthy Warriors could have gone to the WCF finals.

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NoOneEverGotFired4GuardinSteph's avatar

And gotten cash out of the ATM machine?

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Nellie's avatar

Yes

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DFiB's avatar

You never know… it is plausible, tho

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GlennR's avatar

Lakers, Clippers, Rockets out. Denver gasping for air. Cavs, Celts collapsing. Wolves would not be walking the Dubs with Steph. OKC not looking quite so invincible. Warriors match up well with Knicks. Only Pacers have the legs to outrun our guys.

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Bel's avatar

Butler is being roasted out there in social media for being a non-show yesterday. He is still nursing the pelvic injury. He said so himself after game 3. So, at this point, I don’t really know what to expect from him.

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Tookie007's avatar

He gets paid a third of the payroll and is the number 1 option with Steph out. I think the criticism against him is justifiable. He has to look for his own shot more for us to have a chance.

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Houseofprime's avatar

Love what Jimmy has done for us but in a game without Steph, I can’t defend only shooting 9 times. Had to look for his shot more

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DFiB's avatar

Minny is helping off all the non-shooters we’re playing… when we’re coming out of timeouts with a play that ends in a Dray corner 3, that tells you what you need to know… Jimmy shouldn’t be challenging Gobert at the rim, or Randle/McDaniels helping…

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TakeUrZoloft's avatar

Been playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 before and after games during the playoffs and been having a blast.

The phrases "For those who come after." and "Tomorrow comes." always applies.

Total banger of an soundtrack and game, if you're looking to sink some time into something fun.

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Alex's avatar

Thanks for reminding me ! I wanted to try this one then forgot about it.

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Alex's avatar

No I didn’t! Oh wait, I forgot there are two of us…

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TakeUrZoloft's avatar

GOTY 2025 for me so far.

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WCoastD's avatar

Why Everyone’s Playing Zone all of a Sudden - The F5

https://open.substack.com/pub/thef5/p/zone-defense?r=4v5gg&utm_medium=ios

Looks interesting.

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Chaos_Samedi's avatar

I do believe we have some adjustments we can make to pull this off.

Post has to play, less GP2, start JK, more zone and double teams on Ant.

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dubbletrubble's avatar

At this point, I’d like to see some desperation moves. A starting lineup of JK-Dray-Jimmy-Hield-QP could be interesting.

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Asher B.'s avatar

Jimmy attack more.

I did like Draymond pushing the pace thought that was exciting.

Maybe give Moody and Gui a look, they seemed energized in garbage time. Kerr said he loved that part and hinted he might use some of that energy.

Imagine if Gui comes in and goes 9-9 from three and we win it.

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Being's avatar

Gui 9/9? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Asher B.'s avatar

Sorry I meant 12-12 that's my bad

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Asher B.'s avatar

"Paul Allen estate says Trail Blazers officially for sale"

This is an amazing opportunity for all of us here.

How many users does DNHQ have? I'm guessing not too many of us have huge amounts of disposable income -- but if we all chip in, say $75-$100 million each, I think we could get a cool collective going, a democratically owned, player involved team model. We would have to give up any ownership in the Dubs, but think of it: instead of one megalomaniac tech kajillionaire swooping in, we could bring the good people of Portland a product they can believe in. And build upon their exciting young roster pieces like ... um ... like... hold on a sec, ChatGPT ...

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PointGawd's avatar

I'm in. But we have to sign Kuminga as soon as possible.

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