LA's being out-played and out-coached by a hungry Denver team that won't settle for less.

Jokic and Murray have grown into one of the most formidable tandems in the league and their supporting cast has been stellar.

'Bron & AD were already facing difficult odds to start the playoffs, but this current deficit has never known a positive outcome.

The only question remaining:

Do the Lakers have what it takes to pull off the upset?



*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

We need Bron to go back, say, five years at least, and for AD to go absolutely nuclear from here- with AR, Hibachi and DLo all being their best selves to even have a chance.

I love this team.
But this mountain is too big for them to climb.

All will be better in the morning. It will be as if none of this happened.

Have a great summer!

No, that happened.

You really do suck at this.

If you want to make people mad, you need to be at least somewhat competent.

You’re not even close.

Nobody gets mad at the bumbling oaf who keeps tripping over his own feet.

Scrappy underdogs knocked off the 2 seed Grizz and defending champion Warriors!

Only one miserable has been you, and now you’re pressed and weird about it.

You lost this one a long time ago. Have some integrity.

>, and now you’re pressed and
>weird about it.

Here’s the attention you clearly aren’t getting in other parts of your life

But it would be pretttttay cool if that came at LAL's expense in light of '85, '09, and '20. Well, I wasn't around in '85. But the other two hurt badly.

and get one. Yall will close out Wednesday at home.

Put the ball in Reaves hands and let him have 20 shots tonight. At least entertain us on the way out I want to see my boy cook at the PG spot

Nuggets just too good, Lakers still too stubborn with lineups. D-Lo should be benched, Vando is unplayable vs Denver.

If he DOESNT get going on offense, they can't win. So fuck it. Throw him in. Ultimately, they're probably going to have to re-sign him...so might as well keep him happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

=======================================

so 8 straight sweeps in those circumstances.

but the nuggets have never swept a series (or went to the nba finals for that matter).

historical headwinds for both franchises but the nuggets obviously have the better hand.

Flopping ass

very surprised he didn't get burn til now.

.

but Denver's been fouling the shit out of the lakers. Clear fouls they are arguing against. They also got away with a goal-tending call. Also, Jokic has been flopping as badly as anyone, trying to sell every time he puts the ball on the floor.
-->

in

2 steals.

About as perfect of a half as you can play, at any age.

-->

Someone finally convinced 'Bron to be the bull and attack the rim. He lead the charge and the rest of the roster followed suit. Smart defense, control the paint. Everything flows from that point.

The refs haven't called a great game, but Denver isn't helping themselves by constantly complaining. I'm sure some of those perimeter shots will start to fall, but LA needs to remain poised.





*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

he seems so flimsy anybody that's guarding him.

lol

that was dumb.

As I said after game 2 - Denver is just a better team top-to-bottom.

Lakers only chance is hero ball. Denver just beats you 1-8 at every position.

-->

God damn.

I have never seen anything like this.

It’s insane.

The most triple doubles in a post season….he just broke a 50 year old record.

dude just always jogging his ass up the court like they aren't in the fight of their lives.

whole series it's been like this.

countless times that AD has still been in the back court while Jokic is already in the post scoring over someone smaller.

-->

FOH

He ain’t saving Lebron no more.

>He ain’t saving Lebron no more.

LMAO. It's just you and Skip Bayless against the world.


-->

even if they sign him straight up...its gonna be a significant cap hit that makes it harder to build out the rest of the team. even moreso under the new cba.

and if kyrie wants a sign and trade so he can get the most money possible...then the lakers depth is really getting gutted with the pieces they have to send to the mavericks.

its gonna be like phoenix. but instead you got bron/a.d./kyrie having to log those big booker/kd minutes.

But they would have to give up on some depth. I actually don't think the Lakers FO wants to make the Kyrie move, but I don't see a better option for them when it comes to adding firepower. LeBron needs to continue to play off the ball and Kyrie is a far superior option to Dennis or D Lo at PG.


-->

-->

He’s got one quarter to prove otherwise, IMO.

>He’s got one quarter to prove otherwise, IMO.


dude stands around all play, doesnt cheer for teammates on the bench, is passive as hell, doesnt play fast/hard/aggressive

he signed a deal with that ugly ass chinese shoe company D wade is linked to, might be playing close to his manufacturer next season

and it's crazy how effective he is as primary defender on Jokic.

-->

-->

smh.

-->

Bron walking it up. no urgency at all.

Reaves has been the best thing this half.

Jamal Murray wins finals MVP

His casual / lackadaisical/ slow operating makes him seem careless and no dog in him

But yea they didn’t let him play PG very much , lot of standing around and watching Bron

Miami gets their 1 win in South Beach.

>

but he drove right into the double team and tried to get a shot off despite having 2 open teammates.

but i mean, they also would have gotten destroyed w/out his game tonight so whaddaya gonna do.

AD should get deep fried for this series.

Said it last round. They’re just too damn good.

..Still not sure why the Lakers stopped attacking the paint.

I'm sure plenty will be rehashed about 'Bron not attacking the paint as much in the 2nd half, but it wasn't all on him. Schroder, Rui, etc had trouble finishing at the rim in the 2nd half as well. By the 4th qtr, I still thought the path to victory was to continue to attack Jokic in the paint (esp after the 4th foul).

Jokic was/is the MVP of the league this year and everyone knows it.

Shoutout to Jamal Murray & KCP.

Helluva ride, but my beloved Lakers came up short.

Props to the entire Lakers team & coaches. Respect to 'Bron for an incredible effort.




*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

if he gonna be an every other night man then yeah lets go trade him

LaLa Land!

This house is clean!

I am done. Laker hate completed forever.

Vex, your man loses again!

What Jersey you wearing next season??

Because it’s over for the purple and gold.

wouldn't be surprised if the ratings were at their lowest in 20+ years. too bad because jokic is an all-timer and denver is great.

gonna assume silver figures out a way to combat such a long layoff in the future.

that they finals are contractually obligated to start on June 1.

you'd think they could move that up in a case like this, assuming the Heat sweep.

also, do you want to rest and be "fresh" or do you want less rest and to be "in rhythm"?

these guys have been playing every couple of days since October or whatever. that first game is gonna be a complete shitshow. maybe the second too.

combine that with everyone outside of Denver and Miami losing interest over the span of 10 days and it's lining up to be a major L for the league

>also, do you want to rest and be "fresh" or do you want less
>rest and to be "in rhythm"?

was kinda like joking on some "don't worry we have some shows lined up for y'all even though we won't have hoop to talk about for over a week"

just seems like really poor planning on the part of the league.

HOw can you plan for two sweeps in the conference Finals. LOL

But you can have some sort of contingency where if that does happen, you can start the Finals in say, oh, any number of days less than 10.

We got our asses whooped by a better team. Hats off.

Just being here was special and I love this team.

Now the work begins to see if we can contend next year.

Lakers got way further than I expected. AD is so frustrating. For all Brons mistakes in this series at leat it wasn't lack of heart. I really hope we keep Reaves and Hachimira.

as i said before, the lakers could have won all them games, but their margin of error was just way lower.

the level they would have had to been locked in at all times? pretty much unachievable especially with how AD showed up (or didn't) this series.

4 more to go.

It would’ve been nice if Lebron showed up in the first 3 games. Oh well…. Gordon and Murray clamped him at the end.

he ain't cooked. plus he has help. and a good/great defense.

not saying the lakers should have beat denver (denver is better), but a sweep should get more criticism instead of this OMG HE'S 38 WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OF HIM narrative. the numbers suggest he's still top-5 with respectable pieces around him. again, the excuses for the sweep are minimal and borderline non-existent.

at Lebron.

i'm mad y'all even in here making me defend him.

he averaged 28 points, 9 boards and 10 assists for the series.

this ain't on him and i'm a lifelong Bron hater.

this is on AD and the Lakers not having the level of outside shooting you need these days.

doesn't help that DLo might as well have been in the D League this whole series.

While Lebron was chucking up 3s and blowing leads,

while Jokic was already in the post abusing a mismatch this entire series (because the guy who should have been guarding Jokic, named Anthony Davis, was still jogging around in the back court)?

maybe you didnt, since it sounds like you didn't watch the series since in game 2 AD was 4-15 FGs, so clearly he was NOT the best Laker games 1-3 on both ends.

y'all so blinded by some Bron hate y'all look stupid, and this is coming from someone who has been a serious critic of LeBron his entire career.

do better.

AD had some good moments for sure - but Bron was hands-down the most consistent performer for the Lakers - not just in this series but throughout the playoffs. But that's not a recipe for success when a 38 y.o. is your most consistent output performer.

-->

.

Go get ‘em, Denver.

compared to the guy from Long Beach now?

trying to get that last rebound

With the series-winning shot, even

But that was more of a Mike Malone thing iirc.

in the locker room, and the Lakers going from floundering also-rans to contenders once they got rid of him.

they started 2-10
had an unreal deadline
rid us of the Rice-A-Roni Jabronis in playoffs
but Denver is just too good. they're finally healthy.
and Joker gonna joke.

Bring on the Heat. Celtics are drinking NyQuil.

I think Denver wins the title.

Lakers aren't done IMO, but they will need to do further filtering.

https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1660875267332788224

haynes is a klutch guy so this is brons camp leaking it.

bron couldnt even let denver and miami get their shine before starting this circus lol.

dude not damn well he aint thinking about no retirement. Sent they mouthpiece out there for Bron on some "Don't you....forget about meeeee", LOL. I love Bron, but STOP. We'll see you in November, fam.

know how vain is he's not got to be out here half ass just to play with Bronnie

he knows they're not gonna beat the Nuggets next year.

he's accomplished just about everything.

why not "retire" and rest for next season, go watch your son play college ball, and then come back for a farewell tour on whatever team drafts Bronny.

i still think this is just talk, but i could see it.

ive been watching that guy give pressers for a good 15+ years now..not sure id rule out this being a legit thing he's considering (especially if he literally filmed his last standing draft-classmates' retirement message a week earlier)--but yeah his vibe seemed slightly looser than usual from him after a season-ending loss, like he was giving a "im slightly happy its over" performance? (the actual physical tipping of his cap/mugging to camera, and the way he talked about jokic..the larry bird quip, the "it's his mental game..most dont see it, but i see it"..like he was giving his "welcome to my im-yoda-of-this-shit next phase" notice..vs the expected "kudos to them, now we just gotta figure out how to top these fucking guys next season..")

just my isolated take.. id bet on his being back too, but i wouldnt be completely surprised based on what i saw/he said *shrug*

got all the shows today talking about retirement while denver dominating is a footnote.

smart move by klutch but super lame move be a self-professed student of the game. gotta have more respect for your opponents than this.

"this roster is not it. bring in another superstar or else"


>https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1660875267332788224
>
>haynes is a klutch guy so this is brons camp leaking it.
>
>bron couldnt even let denver and miami get their shine before
>starting this circus lol.

He wants a farewell tour.

He might have been frustrated in the moment, but ultimately all this did is overshadow the finals and that's stupid.

playing with Bronny the other day he said 'though its my dream to play with Bronny that may not be what he wants. And if thats his wishes I just have to accept it.' Wonder if Bronny (and Savannah) told him they aint want Bronny to be in his shadow even more than he already would be coming into the league. You had your moment let him naturally enjoy his. If thats the case I could definitely see him tapping out now. Barring some major moves I dont see LA competing for a ring in the next few finals, so whats the point. Staying one more year for a farewell tour wont be a good look if you end up missing the playoffs or getting swept again for the second year in a row. He would have to out do Kobe's last game and drop 81 or something like that to redeem his self.

If anything he could always pull a MJ on the wizards if he wanted to a few years from now.

Please ignore the Boston part, though...that was all Monte's idea LOL

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2788663&mesg_id=2788663&listing_type=search#2788840

..Ellis talking about himself in 3rd person will always be a classic.


*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

for at least the next couple years

>for at least the next couple years

He’s an UFA and set to make a 💰 this summer

But I agree. Braun is the obvious replacement when that comes to pass.

* - I forgot about the player option. He's opting out for sure lol

>But I agree. Braun is the obvious replacement when that comes
>to pass.
>
>* - I forgot about the player option. He's opting out for sure
>lol


https://www.forbes.com/sites/mortenjensen/2023/05/20/the-unknown-future-of-bruce-brown-in-denver/?sh=aa7d5e0448c4

breaks down his dilemma perfectly...i should post the swipe just to piss off all_stah lol

just another in a long line of 2nd rd picks that go on to really nice careers in other coties

all those guys are in their mid to late 20's and locked in for at least the next couple of years, it'll be easy to find pieces to fit around them

..I'm one of those people that actually like crunching the numbers when it comes to salary cap moves. Even if that's not your thing, this was a solid breakdown of the options available.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mortenjensen/2023/05/20/the-unknown-future-of-bruce-brown-in-denver/?sh=54e79c5e448c


*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

Incredible performance but he was obviously gonna be spent come Q4. And indeed he was.

Respect to the Lakers, every game was extremely competitive. Will be interesting to see if they can build on this as Bron continues to physically decline.

As for us, what more can be said? 4 more.

39 PTS, 16 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 56% FG
30 PTS, 17 REB, 17 AST, 58% FG, 50% 3P
53 PTS, 4 REB, 11 AST, 66% FG, 50% 3P
29 PTS, 13 REB, 12 AST, 60% FG, 66% 3P
32 PTS, 10 REB, 12 AST, 3 STL, 72% FG
34 PTS, 21 REB, 14 AST, 70% FG, 100% 3P
23 PTS, 17 REB, 12 AST, 3 STL
24 PTS, 6 REB. 8 AST, 1 STL
30 PTS, 14 REB, 13 AST, 3 BLK


Absurd

>39 PTS, 16 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 56% FG
>30 PTS, 17 REB, 17 AST, 58% FG, 50% 3P
>53 PTS, 4 REB, 11 AST, 66% FG, 50% 3P
>29 PTS, 13 REB, 12 AST, 60% FG, 66% 3P
>32 PTS, 10 REB, 12 AST, 3 STL, 72% FG
^^^in the game up 30 with 2 minutes to go

>34 PTS, 21 REB, 14 AST, 70% FG, 100% 3P
>23 PTS, 17 REB, 12 AST, 3 STL
>24 PTS, 6 REB. 8 AST, 1 STL
>30 PTS, 14 REB, 13 AST, 3 BLK
>
>
>Absurd

>>39 PTS, 16 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 56% FG
>>30 PTS, 17 REB, 17 AST, 58% FG, 50% 3P
>>53 PTS, 4 REB, 11 AST, 66% FG, 50% 3P
>>29 PTS, 13 REB, 12 AST, 60% FG, 66% 3P
>>32 PTS, 10 REB, 12 AST, 3 STL, 72% FG
>^^^in the game up 30 with 2 minutes to go
>
>>34 PTS, 21 REB, 14 AST, 70% FG, 100% 3P
>>23 PTS, 17 REB, 12 AST, 3 STL
>>24 PTS, 6 REB. 8 AST, 1 STL
>>30 PTS, 14 REB, 13 AST, 3 BLK
>>
>>
>>Absurd
>

and if it happened once I'm sure its not the first time. I'm not denying Jokic is a great player its just funny to me that players from Long Beach get labeled as "stat padders" but players from Serbia and Slovenia do not. You have to be great to average double-doubles or triple-doubles regardless. Do players that have the talent sometimes get help from teammates/coaches to reach certain statistical milestones? Yes, i just hate the double-standard.

>and if it happened once I'm sure its not the first time. I'm
>not denying Jokic is a great player its just funny to me that
>players from Long Beach get labeled as "stat padders" but
>players from Serbia and Slovenia do not. You have to be great
>to average double-doubles or triple-doubles regardless. Do
>players that have the talent sometimes get help from
>teammates/coaches to reach certain statistical milestones?
>Yes, i just hate the double-standard.

Јеси ли љут?

He had... 30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists. In 3.5 quarters of basketball.

Take away the ENTIRE FOURTH QUARTER... and he had 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists. IN THREE QUARTERS. In a deciding playoff game on the road!

Like... who looks at that game and thinks "boy, what empty stats"? lol

>He had... 30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists. In 3.5 quarters
>of basketball.
>
>Take away the ENTIRE FOURTH QUARTER... and he had 24 points, 8
>rebounds, 8 assists. IN THREE QUARTERS. In a deciding playoff
>game on the road!
>
>Like... who looks at that game and thinks "boy, what empty
>stats"? lol

I was actually watching the game as a fan of neither team and I just remember thinking "the Nuggets are up 30, why do they still have their starters on the floor?"

If the question is "is Jokic stat padding in that game?" then the answer is very clearly no, because the production through three quarters and how it contributed to their massive lead is painfully obvious. I also watched that game.

If you're wondering why Denver played Murray and Gordon and Jokic until under 3 minutes left when the Suns pulled Durant around the 8 minute mark and Booker around the 6 minute mark... I don't really know. The win probability at that point was obviously like 99.9% for Denver. I get leaving them in until the Suns toss in the towel just to not allow two MVP-caliber players to get cooking... but sure, beyond that, seemed like an unnecessary 3-3.5 minutes of play.

But, to the actual point, Jokic already had a triple double by that point anyway, lol. So, like, I don't know why there's any suggestion that Jokic is stat stuffing. His stats contribute to wins.

as soon as he got it he came out lol

Presumably Malone also left them in the game to pad? Or was their inclusion in the late game rotation up 30 part of a vast conspiracy to hide Jokic's nefarious stat-stuffing plot?

>Presumably Malone also left them in the game to pad? Or was
>their inclusion in the late game rotation up 30 part of a vast
>conspiracy to hide Jokic's nefarious stat-stuffing plot?

That’s exactly what it was, it would’ve been extra weird to take the other starters out and leave Jokic on the floor

I tried.

at it you’re just googling numbers on the internet lol

PAD ON 'EM!!!!

you know it's real.

Give him (and Denver) their flowers - they've been the best team in the league (regular and post-season) by far.

-->

is that partially because of the Rui Hachimura defensive adjustment, Jokic shot the ball poorly in those last three games, outside of that third quarter in game four. He was still able to get double digit assists in two of the last three games when he shot the ball poorly en-route to getting a sweep in the Western Conference Finals.

It's a shame the Nuggets don't tend to get more nationally broadcasted games. Jokic's playmaking is nuts to watch. My memory could be off and could be falsely guided by nostalgia, but his passing brings to mind Arvydas Sabonis when he was on the Trailblazers.

>is that partially because of the Rui Hachimura defensive
>adjustment, Jokic shot the ball poorly in those last three
>games, outside of that third quarter in game four. He was
>still able to get double digit assists in two of the last
>three games when he shot the ball poorly en-route to getting a
>sweep in the Western Conference Finals.
>
>It's a shame the Nuggets don't tend to get more nationally
>broadcasted games. Jokic's playmaking is nuts to watch. My
>memory could be off and could be falsely guided by nostalgia,
>but his passing brings to mind Arvydas Sabonis when he was on
>the Trailblazers.

Sabonis was a good passer as a center but he was nowhere near Jokic.

What's wild to me is all the people that claim to watch euro ball and the "experts" and that are over there this dude lasted until the 2nd round? NBA teams need to fire all their European scouts lol

At one point they were trying to decide between Nurkic and Jokic


>>is that partially because of the Rui Hachimura defensive
>>adjustment, Jokic shot the ball poorly in those last three
>>games, outside of that third quarter in game four. He was
>>still able to get double digit assists in two of the last
>>three games when he shot the ball poorly en-route to getting
>a
>>sweep in the Western Conference Finals.
>>
>>It's a shame the Nuggets don't tend to get more nationally
>>broadcasted games. Jokic's playmaking is nuts to watch. My
>>memory could be off and could be falsely guided by
>nostalgia,
>>but his passing brings to mind Arvydas Sabonis when he was
>on
>>the Trailblazers.
>
>Sabonis was a good passer as a center but he was nowhere near
>Jokic.
>
>What's wild to me is all the people that claim to watch euro
>ball and the "experts" and that are over there this dude
>lasted until the 2nd round? NBA teams need to fire all their
>European scouts lol
>

The Nuggets traded Jurkic and a first for Plumlee (and a second) to clear up a prospect logjam. And looking back at 2016, the last year they split time before the trade, it looks obvious and easy to make that choice. Even a lot of the 2015 numbers, from games played down, make choosing Joker obvious. But I vividly remember the argument that Jurkic had more defensive acumen, and their PPG wasn't that different (it cratered the next year) so the Nuggets better decide.


Yet another pain point in the saga of Portland and woulda-coulda big men.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

>At one point they were trying to decide between Nurkic and
>Jokic

golden state.

nba media is a trip.

>golden state.
>
>nba media is a trip.

.

cuz if he leaves, the Warriors are blown up.

i think it's more likely LeBron comes to GSW i just don't know how. cuz he wants to play with Steph, and Dray is his boy.

now, how that move gets pulled off? i have no clue.

>cuz if he leaves, the Warriors are blown up.
>
>i think it's more likely LeBron comes to GSW i just don't know
>how. cuz he wants to play with Steph, and Dray is his boy.
>
>now, how that move gets pulled off? i have no clue.

That’s why it’s not likely, GS is not likely to give up one of the big 3 nor all their youth and draft capital for a couple of years of 40y/o Bron