Nba champs come out of minnesota/denver series: True or false?

[TAZORAC]

I said BEFORE the playoffs that whoever wins between Minnesota and Denver when they meet is going to have an easy path to the championship once the series is over. I believe its about 6 teams in the West that could have come out of the EAST if they were in that conference.

TRUE OR FALSE, the Minnesota/Denver winner will be the champions?

[Real Men Wear Green]

6 western teams better than anyone in the East seems like a lot.

[red1]

you could just shorten that to denver


wolves put up a good fight but nuggets are coming out of the west and repeating.

[FultzNationRISE]

Unequivocally false, because this years "Nba champs" have already been decided by a tournament held during the season. This post season exhibition stuff is something else entirely.

The Nba champs have already come out of Los Angeles. Period, end of story.

[plowking]

I think Boston wins unfortunately.

They might be the most boring team in NBA history though.

[red1]

I think Boston wins unfortunately.

They might be the most boring team in NBA history though.

jokic is shitting on them - its smooth sailing for him after he survives minnesota's twin towers


dallas nor boston have anyone that can slow him down and his supporting cast of aaron gordon and murray and KCP and mpj will come through again like last year

[fourkicks44]

Healthy Boston will beat Minnesota convincingly but I would definitely pick Denver over Boston.

Finch and Malone are obviously much better coaches than that dumb ass Muzzula tho.

[White Hammer]

I think Boston wins unfortunately.

They might be the most boring team in NBA history though.

Same. They have a lot of doubters, but I think they should be seen as the favorites.

[Gohan]

As long as Denver has chokic they won't be winning championship this year

[ImKobe]

It's not going to be easy. Mavs are not lacking in anything against either team in a match-up. They got size, defense, 3PT shooting, two of the best scorers in the league who are also playing unselfish basketball when they need to.

[90sgoat]

30 to 1 on Mavs coming through :cheers:

[fourkicks44]

It's not going to be easy. Mavs are not lacking in anything against either team in a match-up. They got size, defense, 3PT shooting, two of the best scorers in the league who are also playing unselfish basketball when they need to.

I hate tell you this man but the Mavs are getting swept.

MAYBE Luka magic can win them a game at home but it doesn't look good for them.

Goofy ass Gafford, rookie Livley and little PJ are going to get raped by either team.

[ImKobe]

I hate tell you this man but the Mavs are getting swept.

MAYBE Luka magic can win them a game at home but it doesn't look good for them.

Goofy ass Gafford, rookie Livley and little PJ are going to get raped by either team.

Post-Gafford trade they had the best defense in the league and they have the two best closers left in these POs. Anyone taking them lightly has not been paying attention to this team these past few months.

[AlternativeAcc.]

Denver or Boston

I refuse to believe 22 yo Edward's is ready to lead a team to a title eliminating juggernauts in the process.

Boston or Denver are the only choices

[BarberSchool]

Dallas, even though clearly not operating anywhere near 100%, has a chance against either Minny or Denver.

The matchups favor different lineups.

If Dallas has to face Minnesota, Jones, Lively, Gafford will not get many lobs/dunks/scores at all.
But in the flip side, Luka, Kyrie, and others will get lots and lots of good looks at 3’s when Towns or especially Rudy is on Luka or Kyrie. Recall Luka & Brunson both played Goebert off the floor in embarrising fashion just two years ago, to advance.

If Dallas has to face Denver, Gordon is gonna be really limited by Lively and Gafford, and Jokic is gonna get dunked on a lot, by the same dudes Towns and Rudy would stifle at the rim . But Gordon, KCP, Braun can all do a really good job on Luka, so that series might prove to be even more difficult, since Dallas can’t just double a single player and outscore Denver, like they might be able to do against Ant/Minnesnowta. Towns and Conley cannot possibly create/generate the same totals Luka and Kyrie can.

Clearly Denver is the favorite, if Murray’s but too hurt.

[basketballcat]

Boston could win it, so no.

[Naero]

I hope so, but neither would be comfortably favored against the Celtics.

If a Western team wins it all, though, it's obviously bound to be either Minnesota or Denver, who're faraway the two best teams in the conference. This series is effectively the WCF.

[j3lademaster]

Boston could win it, so no.this. Boston is becoming underrated. They’ll have to suffer a big loss in the finals to wake up, because they’ve been sleepwalking through the east, but when they do they’re as talented as anyone, if not more.

[NBAGOAT]

I won’t pick Dallas but they should not be overlooked. Their defense is elite now with their size and Luka/Kyrie trying on defense. Minnesota still has scoring issues and Dallas can throw multiple wings on ant with better rim protection than denver has. Lively looking like tyson chandler 2.0 gafford been really good too. Gobert will be facing a team that stylistically has given him trouble in the past Luka and Kyrie will score really well vs Denver too. Kyrie will likely have his best playoff series. Denver only has Gordon and kcp to throw at Luka/Kyrie no flexibility there compared to clips or okc.

[Axe]

you could just shorten that to denver


wolves put up a good fight but nuggets are coming out of the west and repeating.
Apparently, they aren't repeating unless they already won b2b last year. At least somebody told me before. :(

[Phoenix]

I hate tell you this man but the Mavs are getting swept.

MAYBE Luka magic can win them a game at home but it doesn't look good for them.

Goofy ass Gafford, rookie Livley and little PJ are going to get raped by either team.

Nah Mavs have a punchers chance. Production wise Luka and Joker will mostly cancel each other so it comes down to who controls those critical moments. Anything Murray does will be matched and exceeded by Kyrie, that's a good match up. How well the Mavs 'others' do will likely play the biggest role.

[3ba11]

Nah Mavs have a punchers chance. Production wise Luka and Joker will mostly cancel each other so it comes down to who controls those critical moments. Anything Murray does will be matched and exceeded by Kyrie, that's a good match up. How well the Mavs 'others' do will likely play the biggest role.


Jokic and Luka cancel out statistically, except Jokic holds the ball for half as long per game, so he's getting the same stats as Luka but giving teammates more time to have the ball in their hands, thus allowing them to produce more than Luka's teammates.. i.e. if Luka holds the ball for 10 minutes and Jokic for 5, then that's 5 minutes that Jokic's teammates can have the ball in their hands to produce, which Luka's teammates don't get.

And I'm not sure their stats "cancel out".. Joker's will probably be distinctly better

[ImKobe]

Jokic and Luka cancel out statistically, except Jokic holds the ball for half as long per game, so he's getting the same stats as Luka but giving teammates more time to have the ball in their hands, thus allowing them to produce more than Luka's teammates.. i.e. if Luka holds the ball for 10 minutes and Jokic for 5, then that's 5 minutes that Jokic's teammates can have the ball in their hands to produce, which Luka's teammates don't get.

And I'm not sure their stats "cancel out".. Joker's will probably be distinctly better

I don't think that's how it works. Jokic has the ball less in his hands because they play faster tempo and you can only get 1 shot out of a possession. Luka & Kyrie share playmaking duties so it's not like it's just Luka doing all the work here.

Jokic has a much higher usage rating in the Minnesota series than Luka did vs OKC (33.1 vs 28). Kyrie has done a lot of the facilitating and Luka only took 19 shots & 6.3 FTA per game. I think you might have to change your narrative on Doncic.

[Phoenix]

Jokic and Luka cancel out statistically, except Jokic holds the ball for half as long per game, so he's getting the same stats as Luka but giving teammates more time to have the ball in their hands, thus allowing them to produce more than Luka's teammates.. i.e. if Luka holds the ball for 10 minutes and Jokic for 5, then that's 5 minutes that Jokic's teammates can have the ball in their hands to produce, which Luka's teammates don't get.

And I'm not sure their stats "cancel out".. Joker's will probably be distinctly better

For the Dallas-OKC series all 5 starters were in double figures vs Denver having 4 of their starters. Dallas also averaged 24.7 assists, Denver 23.8 vs Minny thru 6 games. Luka is neither stiffling scoring or the teams total assists right now.