2016 Playoffs: (3) Heat vs. (6) Hornets

[NovU]

I think you're right on both accounts.

Match up wise, I think the Heat are better off having Bosh as he is a defensive presence, for the playoffs. He'll be greatly missed against the bigger and better teams like Cavs. The Heat seem to have better DRtg when Bosh was playing and defense matters in the playoffs as old saying goes defense wins the championship.

It's offense that improved after Bosh went down and largely thx to Dragic stepping up. But emerging Josh Richardson and addition of Joe Johnson perhaps had something to do with it too. As for Deng, he successfully filled in for Bosh. What a surprise.

[Kevin]

It's just 3 games. Lets see how it turns out for them in the later rounds.

[shadowgrin]

The Heat making it as the 3rd seed shows how weak and a joke the Eastern Conference really is.

[air gordon]

Match up wise, I think the Heat are better off having Bosh as he is a defensive presence, for the playoffs. He'll be greatly missed against the bigger and better teams like Cavs. The Heat seem to have better DRtg when Bosh was playing and defense matters in the playoffs as old saying goes defense wins the championship.

It's offense that improved after Bosh went down and largely thx to Dragic stepping up. But emerging Josh Richardson and addition of Joe Johnson perhaps had something to do with it too. As for Deng, he successfully filled in for Bosh. What a surprise.

Think it will be about the match ups. Haven't seen any of the Miami vs clev games... But who would matchup against Love? Not sure why Detroit is doubling him in the post/mid range but that guy is having a great series. Be curious to see if Spo has whiteside covering shump like Drummond does when cavs go small

Conversely, who does Irving guard and will they guard whiteside straight up? He's clearly a superior scorer than Drummond

[Brave Sir Rubin]

Good game by the Hornets. Playing Frank the Tank more is working out.

[shadowgrin]

Heat allowed themselves to get molested by Kaminski.

Jeremy Lin is such a G.
Heat defense allowed Lin to get inside like he's Steve Nash.

[NovU]

Lin really excelled in Batum's absence. Lakers days are behind, it's good to see him making a difference in the playoffs. If the opponent wasn't the Heat, I would be rooting for the Hornets.

Think it will be about the match ups. Haven't seen any of the Miami vs clev games... But who would matchup against Love? Not sure why Detroit is doubling him in the post/mid range but that guy is having a great series. Be curious to see if Spo has whiteside covering shump like Drummond does when cavs go small

Conversely, who does Irving guard and will they guard whiteside straight up? He's clearly a superior scorer than Drummond

No doubt Cavs vs Heat would be my dream match up in East despite Heat being a distant 3-5th best team in the East statistically. I think the Heat team has nice potential individually to match up well against the Cavs.

imo, challenge will be about containing Irving and LeBron as they have ability to penetrate and make plays. Love sitting in the corner or his post up plays, I think will be easier to deal with than other big three's penetration game. Deng being a speed power forward should be able to follow him around all the way to perimeter.

I have a feeling Winslow/Josh Richardson will be heavily relied upon whenever possible defensively to guard LBJ/Irving. Seems Spo likes playing the rookies as they somewhat built reputation of defensive version of splash brothers.

[air gordon]

aside from toronto, miami is the team i want to see against cleveland in the conf. finals. both teams have excellent back courts and multiple players to throw at lebron james.

[NovU]

Anyone else watching the game?

Great 1st quarter for the Heat. Kinda confirms Kaminsky's huge game was anomaly which probably Hornets need to stay in the series. BTW Lin is having his ways again. I personally think he needs to be starting over Kemba.

EDIT: Good grief. Lin's doing everything. Somebody put body on him ffs. Or at least make a statement flagrant foul on him. Whack his face or pull his hair.

EDIT: Fuck. 11 point lead becomes 2 point deficit.

EDIT: Shit. Hornets are good. Batum was holding them back apparently.

EDIT: Whiteside back to playing shitty ball. Slow on getting back and being non factor. Lin and Kemba are abusing the Heat's paint.

EDIT: Linsanity is back. Fuq Lin.

EDIT: Lin is the man of the match so far. Team high 15 +/- to back it up.

EDIT: This is so tough to watch. Everyone's garbage. Heat are bad again.

[Sauru]

you are the living embodiment of cancer

[Kevin]

It's just 3 games. Lets see how it turns out for them in the later rounds.

[shadowgrin]

you are the living embodiment of cancer

Post of the season so far.


Erik Spoelstra being outcoached by Steve Clifford, proving once again that Spoelstra was carried by LeBron to those two championships.

[NovU]

Erik's not making adjustment but going with 'guys needs play harder'. Same Winslow on Kaminsky, the Hornets are daring him to shoot while his defender stays in the paint. Either Winslow makes the shots, take him out. Whiteside needs to get the ball right under the basket. He's no good 2 feet away from paint.

Let's see how game 3 goes.

[[Q]]

Think it will be about the match ups. Haven't seen any of the Miami vs clev games... But who would matchup against Love? Not sure why Detroit is doubling him in the post/mid range but that guy is having a great series. Be curious to see if Spo has whiteside covering shump like Drummond does when cavs go small

Conversely, who does Irving guard and will they guard whiteside straight up? He's clearly a superior scorer than Drummond

No doubt Cavs vs Heat would be my dream match up in East despite Heat being a distant 3-5th best team in the East statistically. I think the Heat team has nice potential individually to match up well against the Cavs.

imo, challenge will be about containing Irving and LeBron as they have ability to penetrate and make plays. Love sitting in the corner or his post up plays, I think will be easier to deal with than other big three's penetration game. Deng being a speed power forward should be able to follow him around all the way to perimeter.

I have a feeling Winslow/Josh Richardson will be heavily relied upon whenever possible defensively to guard LBJ/Irving. Seems Spo likes playing the rookies as they somewhat built reputation of defensive version of splash brothers.

Ultimate jinx: already talking about future opponents.

[air gordon]

Wow what a game. Hornets one game away from sending the heat fishing

Lee should have said the ball don't lie

[Sauru]

It's unfortunate the Heat somehow made the playoffs. It's equivalent to having 76ers for the playoffs. They're bringing down quality of basketball and making the league look bad.

[Andrew]

Hats off to the Hornets. Even if they let the series slip from here, I still think they've performed better than expected. They have a better than decent shot at advancing in six.

Definitely an eventful final minute of basketball, though. The bad non-call on the goaltending, the three by Lee, the good non-call on Wade's shot, the almost-fumbled inbounds pass and subsequent review, and then the two Heat players colliding and letting Charlotte avoid the foul. Just how everyone drew it up, right?

[NovU]

......

Must

Stop
Urge

To

Punch
Sauroo

[[Q]]

Vintage Wade performance. I was obviously rooting for the Hornets, but replay on the goaltending call looked like it was a good non-call as Lee threw it off the backboard hoping for the call but Wade had enough time/was trailing too far and was smart enough not to go for the bait.

[Andrew]

It looked like he caught it to me, but I guess at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Other plays decided the game.

[shadowgrin]

[NovU]

On the bright side fact remains unchanged. The Heat are only 14 wins away from title.

[ThePointForward]

One more loss in this series and they'll be roughly 57+ wins away from the title though.

[[Q]]

Holy shit. Incredible performance by Walker answered by another vintage wade sighting down the stretch fueled by that idiot heckler in the purple shirt courtside

[Andrew]

Kemba was clutch, Wade more so. That was a fun game to watch.

I've seen it suggested that Walker will be an All-Star at some point, simply as a reward for the Hornets having a good first half of the season. Personally, I think that's selling him short. While team records do lead to snubs and questionable selections alike, I think Walker is going to be an All-Star some day because he's playing that well, not just because the Hornets are winning.