Lowe Post : Bucks Collapse

Interesting to see how he listed all the mistakes that Bucks did in their playoffs against Miami despite being the far better team

Clippers collapse against the Nuggets in Game 7

An Article in CBS Sports by Colin Ward-Henninger

The Denver Nuggets once again thoroughly dominated the second half to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers, 104-89, in Tuesday night's Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference finals. It was the second straight series that Denver erased a 3-1 series deficit, something no NBA team has ever done, and they'll now meet the Los Angeles Lakers with a chance to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Denver was led by its dynamic duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Murray led all scorers with 40 points on 6-of-13 3-point shooting, while Jokic finished with 16 points, 22 rebounds and 13 assists. Montrezl Harrell led the Clippers with 20 points off the bench, with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combining for just 24 points on 10-for-38 shooting.

The Clippers held a 12-point lead in the first half, but just as they did in Games 5 and 6, the Nuggets went to work in the second half to put the Clippers away. With Leonard, George and a deep supporting cast, the Clippers were considered the NBA title favorite for much of the season. They'll now leave the bubble after three straight disappointing losses.

Below are four takeaways from a wild series finale.

1. Jokic and Murray are a superstar duo

Last summer was all about the NBA's superstar duos. There was Anthony Davis and LeBron James with the Lakers, Leonard and George with the Clippers, MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook on the Houston Rockets, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn -- even Portland's Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in some people's eyes. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone outside of Denver who listed Murray and Jokic in that group, but they've proven without a doubt during this postseason run that they belong in the middle of the conversation.

Jokic was an absolutely unwinnable matchup for the Clippers all series, with his full offensive arsenal on display from shooting to posting up to his unparalleled passing and playmaking. He set the tone early in Game 7 and never relented.

Nikola Jokic (16 PTS, 22 REB, 13 AST) becomes the first player in NBA playoff history to record a 20+ rebound triple-double in a Game 7

Murray, who averaged 31.6 points in Denver's opening-round series win over the Jazz including two 50-point outbursts, was held in check as a scorer for most of the Clippers series while being defended by their wide array of strong wings, but he didn't force the issue, shooting 45 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range for the series. He also showed improved playmaking and patience, averaging 6.4 assists per game.

Jamal Murray (@BeMore27) pours in 40 PTS (25 in 1st half) to help the @nuggets win Game 7 and advance to the Western Conference Finals! #Drop40

There was no better apples-to-apples comparison than watching Murray and Jokic put up huge performances in the biggest game of their careers, while Leonard and George missed shot after shot down the stretch. There's no more talk about what Murray and Jokic can one day be as a duo -- they've proven they're here now, and they're here to stay.

2. Another Clippers collapse?

All credit goes to the Nuggets for snatching this series from the clutches of defeat, but it's impossible to ignore Clippers history in light of this devastating loss. After leading by 16 points in Game 5, 19 points in Game 6 and 12 points in Game 7, the Clippers had every opportunity to slam the door shut and advance to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. They looked out of sorts in the second half of each of the last three games, and despite Denver's strong defense, missed a lot of makeable shots down the stretch. They missed their first 10 shots of the fourth quarter in Game 7 as the Nuggets pulled away, and were never able to recover.

When the Clippers were at full strength this season they looked like a championship favorite, but their inconsistent effort finally caught up to them against the Nuggets. The loss hearkens back to previous Clippers collapses, notably against the Houston Rockets in 2015, and there will be lots of talk about the "Clipper Curse" as the team heads into the offseason.

3. Welcome back, Gary

After missing the seeding games and most of the Utah series, we weren't quite sure what we'd see from Gary Harris. It turns out, he was one of the main factors in the Nuggets advancing to the Western Conference finals. Harris gave Denver another much-needed reliable wing defender alongside Jerami Grant, and he also gave them the offensive boost they needed. Without a bonafide third scorer, Denver generally has to piece things together, but Harris was consistent throughout the Clippers series, averaging 10.7 points per game on 50 percent shooting, including 42 percent from 3.

Harris played just over 31 minutes per game in the series, including 42 and 37 in Games 6 and 7, respectively, and he's looking more comfortable every night as he returns from a hip injury. He's clearly confident enough to take, and make, big shots, which has been huge for the Nuggets and will continue to be against the Lakers.

4. Nuggets have nothing to lose

People counted the Nuggets out when they were down 3-1 to the Jazz. They were left for dead and labeled outmatched when they went down 3-1 to the Clippers. Now they find themselves in a Western Conference finals matchup where they'll be the underdog once again -- and at this point that absolutely plays to their favor. Jokic even invoked the "nobody believes in us" motivation during his on-court interview after Game 7, while talking about how much he treasures this team.

"Whatever we do, I'm gonna remember this team. ... I'm going to remember every single one [of the players] because this is a special crew," Jokic said. "Nobody wants us here. Nobody thinks that we can do something. We proved to ourselves and proved to everybody that we can do something."

Murray also said he thinks the Nuggets have been dismissed as a legitimate title threat.

"All y'all better start giving this team some damn respect," Murray said after the Game 7 win over the Clippers. "Because we put in the work and we've got a resilient team. We shouldn't have been down 3-1, but to come back from 3-1 against the Clippers, it was a big achievement. It's fun just to change that narrative. Y'all can finally start changing the narrative and looking at us in a better light."

There's nothing more dangerous than a team with nothing to lose and a chip on its shoulder, and that's exactly what the Nuggets are right now. They'll run into a tough matchup against LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the next round, but Jokic and Murray have proven time and time again that they can be the best duo on the court in any matchup and we know this team will never, ever quit.

NBA Playoffs 2018 preview - Western conference

By Rob Mahoney of SI.com

one of the four Western Conference playoff matchups were decided until Wednesday night, the official end of the regular season. Every hour since has been a mad scramble for the coaching and video staffs involved—a frantic turn from focus on their own team to a specific opponent.

The playoffs yield the best basketball because of how tailored every challenge is to the team involved. Teams no longer run a base offense or defense, but one customized to their opponents limitations. It’s a deeply personal means of competition. If a player can’t shoot, the defense will refuse to guard them, broadcasting their disrespect to a national TV audience. If a player can’t guard, they’ll be picked on relentlessly until they’re removed from the game entirely.

What makes the Rockets and Warriors so frustrating is how few weaknesses they present—and how effectively they cover for them. The Timberwolves and Spurs, respectively, will have their work cut out for them. Yet in the middle matchups, we find two series ripe for tactical experimentation. The Blazers, Thunder, Jazz, and Pelicans all wear their limitations on their sleeve; each is so reliant on their top players as to be put at a precarious balance. The coming weeks will see all four pushed from every angle, testing their balance and their capacity to respond. And the lucky winners will have the privilege of enduring that same scrutiny once more—this time from the Rockets and Warriors themselves

. Most Intriguing Storyline: Can the Thunder hit their highest gear?

No team in the West has embraced variance quite like the Thunder, who have managed to dominate and implode in almost equal measure. The best of OKC—something we haven’t seen consistently or often enough this season—would scare any opposing coaching staff. Gameplanning against Russell Westbrook is always an ordeal. The ferocity of his driving game is such a unique test for a defense, and when perfectly calibrated it can be overwhelming. Factor in Paul George, Steven Adams, Carmelo Anthony, and a punchy cast of reserves, and the Thunder have the personnel necessary to mount a challenge to any team in the field.

At issue are the conditions to make that challenge a reality. Oklahoma City’s defense has been flaky ever since Andre Roberson went down for the season with a ruptured patellar tendon. Its offense—while efficient overall—is prone to the kinds of fits and starts that can derail a playoff run. The Thunder aren’t a team waiting to flip the switch so much as one veering desperately to find their groove. If they do, it could change the outlook of the entire Western Conference bracket.

Biggest X-Factor: Rajon Rondo, Pelicans

There has never been a clean fit for New Orleans’ mercurial point guard, which makes his most effective stints all the more noticeable. His game remains fundamentally unchanged; the Rondo we’ve come to know from years of over-passing and hesitant shooting remains a glaring presence in the modern NBA. Yet when his game is working—as is periodically the case with a team that relies on his mid-play facilitation—it elevates the Pelicans beyond their standing. New Orleans needs the version of Rondo that slowed Isaiah Thomas in the playoffs last year to do the same to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. They need a creator who can alleviate some of the pressure on Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, even if he won’t often be knocking down shots himself. Rondo coming up big could change the complexion of the Pelicans’ series—in part because the alternative would leave an already shallow team short yet another viable rotation piece.



The Wolves aren’t exactly the picture of defensive discipline, which is pretty much the only way to keep competitive in a series against the Rockets. Every layer of your coverage needs to be in order. Whichever defenders are assigned to cover James Harden and Chris Paul—or are switched into covering them mid-play—face the most challenging isolation matchups in the league. The pick-and-roll defense has to be so impeccably timed as to disrupt the rhythms of Clint Capela, but without favoring him so much as to give up lanes to Harden or Paul. The help has to come quickly, but the second level of help even more so; if you’re the sort of team that can only make one rotation reliably (as is often the case with the Wolves), you have no shot of stopping Houston’s initial actions and keeping their arsenal of three-point shooters under wraps. It’s for that reason that the Rockets literally doubled up the Wolves in made threes during the season series, turning a strength into an overwhelming mathematical edge. Whether Minnesota can keep any of these specific elements contained will dictate how long they survive in this series. Great as it is to see the Wolves in the postseason again, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be long for it. The pick: Rockets in 4.

(2) Golden State vs. (7) San Antonio: How vulnerable are the Warriors?

There is an incredible amount of respect for the Spurs around the league, and in the Bay Area in particular. Players and coaches with the Warriors have spoken candidly over the years about the trouble the Spurs have caused them—a glowing endorsement from one of the greatest teams of all time. But let’s get one thing clear up front: these are not those Spurs, in the sense that they don’t present the full-strength Warriors any real threat.

The injured, short-handed Warriors, on the other hand, have shown that they can fall out of their groove against pretty much anyone. And that’s what the rest of the league will be watching—not for a potential first-round upset, but as a stress test of a defending champion that hasn’t been healthy in months. Stephen Curry will likely miss the entire series. Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston are working through some nagging issues. Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are only a few weeks removed from missing time themselves. A defense like San Antonio’s will make Golden State earn everything, and it can be especially stifling with Dejounte Murray and Danny Green at the point of attack. This is a low-risk series for the Warriors, but the kind that should hint at how they might play—both with and without Curry—the rest of the way.

The pick: Warriors in 5.

NBA (3) Portland vs. (6) New Orleans: Which supporting cast shows up?

Both the Blazers and Pelicans have high-level defenders to throw at the other’s stars, but it’s telling that Davis and Lillard had 77 points between them in their last regular season meeting. You don’t hold down players this good for an entire series. You only hope to make their lives difficult enough that you can overcome them by committee. Fittingly, each defense will put that idea to the test. If you’re New Orleans, your goal is to get the ball into the hands of anyone who isn’t Lillard or McCollum as often as possible (even Jusuf Nurkic is preferable).

If you’re Portland, your aim is to deny Davis touches at every turn, thereby forcing possessions into the hands of Solomon Hill, Emeka Okafor, or Darius Miller. Those sorts of contributors will have to knock down shots, lest the integrity of the offense buckle beneath them. The scrutiny of a seven-game series will quickly decide who needs to be guarded and who doesn’t. Outstanding as Davis, Lillard, and McCollum might be, none wants to turn the corner to find multiple defenders and a crowded lane waiting for them. The winner of this series will be the team that best alleviates that pressure—whether through role players stepping up as contributors or stars, through some creative quirk, circumventing the premise entirely.

The pick: Trail Blazers in 6 (4) Oklahoma City vs. (5) Utah: Who dictates the matchup game?

What makes both the Thunder and Jazz such an interesting pair is that both teams have their options. There is the flexibility to play big and small, to cross-match between positions, and to put skilled players to use in unconventional ways. In the broadest sense, their series will be decided by the intersection of what both teams do best: OKC’s explosive offense working against the grain of one of the best defenses in the league. Yet the terms of engagement are all up for grabs, starting with how each team elects to match up. Who should guard Russell Westbrook between Donovan Mitchell and Ricky Rubio, and who should wreak havoc off the ball? How much should Paul George check Mitchell, the engine of Utah’s entire offense, after barely guarding him in the regular season? How might Derrick Favors look to attack Carmelo Anthony and vice versa?

This promises to be a fun, competitive series, which makes the strategic choices on the margins that much more meaningful—and also quite challenging to predict. The Jazz have the more trustworthy baseline, but the Thunder have more dangerous potential. My lean is toward security after watching OKC waffle all season, in particular because no matchup play on the board can easily get Rudy Gobert out of Westbrook’s way.

The pick: Jazz in 6.

It is time for the playoff again!!

It is time for the NBA playoffs and me getting up early for watching the live matches.On the ongoing series 2 of them are interesting, Grizzlies Vs Warriors and Bulls Vs Cavaliers.

Here is an article from SBNation's Tim CaTO on a pivotal Game 3 at Memphis

That the Golden State Warriors would make a fourth-quarter comeback and narrow a 20-point lead to just a few was inevitable. The only question was if the Memphis Grizzlies could weather the storm.

They did. The Warriors cut what was once a 19-point deficit to four thanks to a parade to the free throw line, but Memphis never gave up the lead on its way to a 99-89 win on Saturday. With another game in Memphis looming on Monday, it's the Grizzlies who hold a surprising 2-1 lead over the NBA's best regular season team.

It was a tough night for the Warriors shooters, who missed both open and contested shots without discretion. Golden State is renowned for its ability to make shots this season, but 43 percent from the floor and just 25 percent from behind the arc through three quarters wasn't enough, not for the quality of looks the Warriors



The Warriors will blame themselves for missing those looks, but it was also clear they were rattled. Arriving in the Grindhouse in the raucous Memphis arena, and facing Tony Allen and Marc Gasol defensively, the Warriors had to work for everything. Memphis' identity isn't rooted in transition three-pointers or superb athleticism, but grit and toughness. Their goal is to make opposing teams feel it for 48 minutes and it took most of the game for the Warriors to react appropriately.

Let's say the Warriors felt it for at least 40, since they did make that fourth-quarter comeback. After pushing Memphis into the penalty, they closed the gap at the free throw line and found some easy shots inside. Down 91-85 with 2:05 to play, Golden State played great defense and forced a Gasol back-breaking prayer.

Here are three things we learned. 1. There is no one tougher than Mike Conley It wasn't a great offensive night, but it didn't matter. Conley's main impact came from relentless, physical defense on Stephen Curry throughout the game, bothering him around every screen and on every screen. He knew exactly what he could get away with from the refs on his home court, and he faced up and took a charge even with his face injury. Without Conley, the Grizzlies wouldn't have a 2-1 series lead, and in true Memphis fashion, he's fighting through the pain when he team needs it most.

2. You have to make shots to win The best three-point shooting team hit 6-of-26 from deep. There are surely technical adjustments for Steve Kerr to make, but the main thing for Golden State is simply to hit some shots going forward. Curry was just 2-of-10 while taking the same mix of pull-ups that he does every game. Taking nothing away from the Grizzlies, the Warriors just aren't playing like themselves.

3. Zach Randolph just keeps going Once again, the big man led the Grizzlies with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, plus eight rebounds and three steals. Memphis' style is to never adjust from its big-man heavy, grind it out lineups. There were questions whether they might have to against a killer small-ball Warriors team, but Randolph has more than held his own and punished Golden State at its own game all series.