2015 Playoffs: (1) Atlanta vs. (5) Washington

[[Q]]

It was curious to see Atlanta take the 2 on 1 easy bucket instead of playing it safe and playing for the last shot. It almost burned them in the end. What's the right call there?

Do you take the points or the last shot? If that was the situation in NBA Live, I'd probably pull back and hold

[Andrew]

That's always going to be a tough call. I don't think you can pass up the easy shot if it presents itself, though.

Do you take the points or the last shot? If that was the situation in NBA Live, I'd probably pull back and hold

I'd probably do the same. As of the latest patch though, you might wind down the clock, but you'd definitely be driving.

[stereoxide]

When the Wizards are up 9 in the 4th I said to myself if no one on the Hawks steps up the Hawks will lose very bad, then Al Horford happened.

[bowdown]

Al Horford was picked 3rd overall in the Oden/Durant draft. Turned out pretty good even with 2 seasons wasted with the weird torn pectorals.

[NovU]

It's still disappointing. The Hawks don't seem to be really that good. Banged up Cavs still look better than these over achievers.

[Andrew]

Last year, the Spurs had a tough seven game series with the Mavericks in the first round, yet went on to defeat better teams more handily on route to the championship. There's something to be said for a team that presents a tough match-up, or a series that ends up being more competitive than it appears on paper. It doesn't automatically mean that a team that was expected to win more easily is actually terrible.

At the same time, the Hawks probably aren't quite as good as they appeared to be during the regular season. It's fair to suggest that they're not quite where they need to be, just yet. Of course, that doesn't mean that praise for their earlier performance was unwarranted, or that they're complete rubbish. They had a great regular season winning 60 games, but they're not a dominant force to be reckoned with in the postseason...at this time.

[stereoxide]

So it will be Hawks-Cavs in the ECF. That Pierce game tying three was just 0.1 second to late.

[Andrew]

So close, and yet so far. A shame for Pierce and the Wizards, but it was clearly still in his hands.

[NovU]

I'm a disappoint.

Wizard had all the momentum coming into this series and had an awesome start. Then everything fell apart.

Looks like it's #1 seed vs #2 seed for ECF.

EDIT: were lamrock at? need a thread, and do a better poll this time

[JAWSFreelao]

Fuck Atlanta. Really was pulling for the Wiz.

[Mandich]

Nice shot PP, nice shot. Too bad for the Wizards.

[Lamrock]

Pierce was insanely clutch in this series. We'd be looking at a game 7 tomorrow if Nene weren't a terrible rebounder.

[koberulz]

A bit late, but jumping into the game-winner discussion: I had much the same reaction as bowdown to Rose's shot in particular, but also Pierce's, despite the fact that I was pulling for the Bulls in that game.

The thing with shots banking in is if you move the player to a different position on the floor and they shoot the same shot, it's an airball. A shot that goes straight in goes in regardless of where they are. So yeah, it's luck, not shooting on target.

The other thing with Rose's shot is they horribly screwed up, fumbled the ball, and ended up just hurling it at the basket. It's hard to be excited by someone screwing up and getting the right result anyway.

For me, it's also disappointing to see someone play great defense and the shot happen to go in anyway, and that takes away from my enjoyment of the shot going in. So if I put myself in the defender's shoes, and I'm happy with what I did on the play, it makes it difficult to enjoy the shot. Whereas if the offense is well-executed and someone gets a good look, I enjoy that more.

So Kobe getting a good look off a screen:

phpBB [video]

Is better than a well-contested fifteen-footer off a nothing play:

phpBB [video]

Which is better than Kobe fumbling the ball, throwing it up, and getting lucky:

phpBB [video]

And they're all Kobe, just to show that bias towards or against the player involved has nothing to do with it.

[Kevin]

Kobe GOAT.