As a Redditor reminded the world, every team has endured heartbreaking injuries in this year's playoffs....except for the Bucks. So...wtf, guys? Kyrie is out, Harden is playing on one leg (and not playing particularly well), and, even though he's healthy, Joe Harris has been kinda useless so far. So why haven't the Bucks taken control of this series? Giannis just doesn't have the killer instinct (*), Middleton is still not shooting well enough to be a strong second banana, Holiday has been nice but hasn't added much, PJ Tucker has had moments but also seems like a weakness, and Coach Bud has not stepped up his game (though he looks to be well in touch with his inner Nick Nolte). The Bucks had Game Five in hand and they let it slip away in the wake of KD's brilliance (damn, that dude went off I didn't even think he was capable of taking over a game the way he did last night) and Jeff Green returning from injury and balling out. If this Bucks team can't beat this depleted Nets team, then it ain't gonna happen. Blow it up, Milwaukee, the obvious next step is pure panic.
Sixers 2-3 Hawks
Oooohhh, Sixers. Two games in a row where they were thumping their way to the Eastern Conference Finals and then gave it up in the 4th quarter. Game Five, I'm sitting there watching the 18 point lead shrink and shrink and they're up by 2, Trae Young comes down, fakes a shot, gets fouled, drills three straight FT's and the game was over. I hate to be that guy....but do you know who can't do any of that? Yeah, Ben Simmons can't do any of that. The Sixer defense has been solid but in Game Five they needed to continue the scoring and they couldn't do it. Embiid wears out in the second half, Tobias Harris got marked out of the game (John Collins, DPOY guy now?), Seth Curry carried the scoring as long as he could and....well....nothing else. Man, they're gonna lose to the fuckin' Atlanta Hawks (**). The Hawks have impressed me so much by just hanging around. This series should be over, the Sixers should have won Games Four and Five, but the Hawks have found the Sixers weakness: they have no staying power, they can't go 48 minutes in a row and there's no reservoir of offense, they can't dig down and get points. The Hawks, on the other hand, have offense to burn and just the right mix of vets (who don't give a fuck) and youngsters (who don't know any better) and they look like a nice little squad, man. The Sixers should be nervous, they could still win the next two games and move on, but I wouldn't bet on it. The Hawks have taken control of this series and there's just no reason why that should've happened.
Jazz 2-3 Clippers
The Jazz missed their chance in Game Five. With Kawhi out, the Jazz at home should've throttled the Clippers and taken command of this series. But they didn't bring their best effort, gimped in the 4th quarter, couldn't stop Reggie Jackson and, oh yeah, Paul George was fuckin' amazing. I really didn't think PG had that in him without Kawhi. I've long thought PG is built to be a second banana and relying too much on him is only going to be disappointing and perhaps that's what the Jazz thought, too. But he showed up in this game in a big way and he took the series away from the Jazz, who have yet to win in a game in Staples (where the Mavs won 3 out of 4). It's not over, I still believe in the Jazz but winning two in a row ain't gonna be easy.
Suns 4-0 Nuggets
I thought the two teams would have similar offensive outputs but the Nuggets just couldn't hang without Jamal Murray. When Murray is the first option (Jokic being the second), it allows Michael Porter to be the third option and Aaron Gordon to be a rover; but without Murray, Porter is not ready to be a #1 option in a playoff series and Gordon is nice but not really built to be more than the 4th best guy on a squad. The loss of Murray creates a cascade of offensive inefficiency and as great as Jokic is, he can't make up for all that by himself. The Suns, on the other hand, are led by Devin Booker, who I'm completely convinced now is the most Kobe-like player in the game today: when Booker gets the ball in his hands, all he contemplates is how to get the ball in the basket; that's the "Kobe": it's not about flash, its not about winning, its not about last time or next time, its not about impressing people or showing anyone up, it is about putting the ball in the basket right here, right now. And the Nuggets don't have anything that can hang with that, so the Suns rolled them soundly. Chris Paul has been great, I've been blown away by Deandre Ayton--really much better at both ends than I ever gave him credit for--and the rest of the cast has been just fine so far. This isn't about Suns dominance, though, this is about the Nuggets being short-handed. The Suns would have home court against the Clippers.
(*) Dude, I'm not complaining about your slow FT technique but it isn't working. So try picking up the pace instead of fetishizing your bad habits.
(**) You know the Hawks were the one team that actually played really well against Brooklyn in the regular season. Just throwin' that out there...
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