Forum ZDF

autor: **BessLineberger** » 30 lis 2020, 9:59

"In a decisive and momentum-shifting Game 5 of the NBA playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks fell to the LA Clippers, allowing a record scoring night in the loss.
Just when it seems the series was just beginning to get even more interesting the Dallas Mavericks collapsed and the momentum shifted back in favor of the LA Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The Clippers came full force Tuesday night and refused to let their foot off the gas in an absolute throttling of the Mavs in Game five.

Prior to Tuesday’s loss, in which Dallas gave up 154 points, the most points the Mavs allowed in a playoff game were: 1) 137 points against the Sacramento Kings on May 10, 2003, 2) 134 points against the LA Lakers on April 28, 1984, and 3) 133 points against the LA Clippers in Game 4 of this series on Sunday night. It also ties for the largest playoff loss in franchise history at 43 points, which happened at the hand of the LA Lakers on April 28, 1984, at Staples Center.

Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

In fairness, the Clippers had a historic night on the offensive end, being the first team in NBA history to score 150+ points on 60+ percent from the field and 60+ percent from 3-pt range in a playoff game. They also set multiple franchise records: most threes in a playoff game (22), most field goals in a playoff game (53), highest field goal percentage in a playoff game (63.1 percent) and their biggest playoff win (43 points).

Though this was just a blip on the radar on social media once video surfaced of Clippers’ Marcus Morris Sr. appearing to purposely step on the injured ankle of Luka Doncic."Washington Wizards Face Masks

"The Miami Heat swept the Indiana Pacers 4-0 in the first round of the NBA playoffs, leaving the Pacers searching for answers.
Before the playoffs began, all the NBA playoffs matchups were laid out and the Indiana Pacers vs Miami Heat series seemed to be on the top of the list as the evenest matchup along with the Jazz-Nuggets series. It turns out that Pacers vs Heat wasn’t anything like the series between Denver and Utah who went to a crunching Game 7 and ultimately Denver came out on top. In four games, the Miami Heat had swept their competition and it was a shock.

The shock wasn’t so much at Miami’s success as it was at Indiana’s failure. The Heat looked to be serious contenders in the East when they almost beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA bubble seeding games until Milwaukee climbed back from their 20-point deficit. Likewise, we watched the Pacers all season and were impressed with how they played.

They even finished ahead of the Heat in the regular season in the fourth and the Heat being the fifth. The Pacers finished the season at 45-28 and the Heat 44-29. So, they were pretty even – very even – at least during the regular season, but this wasn’t the case in the playoffs.

The entire series was cringe-worthy. As we take a look at each game one-by-one, the Heat managed to come out the winner and the Pacers sat dazed and confused on how to approach their competition. It is not easy to see how this happened, but it is worth taking an analytical look at the series now that it is over. The expectations for the Pacers, to say the least, had dropped drastically by the end of it all." Golden State Warriors Face Masks

Enes Kanter traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in three-team trade with Memphis Grizzlies
"The Boston Celtics finally completed their draft night trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, but with a twist. Boston will send Enes Kanter, who recently opted in for just over $5 million for the 2020-21 season, to the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-team deal.

The deal will also see Boston send the draft rights to Desmond Bane to Memphis. Bane was drafted with the 30th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The Celtics will reportedly receive two future second round picks from Memphis. The Grizzlies will also acquire Mario Hezonja from Portland.

Kanter played one season in Boston and averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He played 16.9 minutes per game, mostly as a backup to Daniel Theis.

For his part, Kanter seems excited to be headed back to Portland:

In 23 games with the Trail Blazers at the end of the 2018-19 season, Kanter averaged 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds. He then started for Portland during the 2019 playoffs after Jusuf Nurkic was injured.

Boston will create a trade exception of $4.767 million in this deal, as they are taking no salary back for Kanter.

This deal, combined with the recent opt out decision by Gordon Hayward, has Boston well below the luxury tax. That gives Boston plenty of wiggle room to use the full Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception of $9.258 million, as well as possibly the Bi-Annual Exception of $3.623 million.

In addition, the increased flexibility creates room for a potential sign and trade involving Gordon Hayward. That would allow the Celtics to take back additional salary in a deal. Or if Hayward re-signs in Boston, the Celtics could still have the ability to use the full MLE without worry of crossing over the hard cap.

Because this transaction between Boston, Memphis and Portland is taking place at the tail end of the 2019-20 league year, it is now official. Free agent negotiations open at 6:00 PM ET on Friday evening, and then the league year changes over on Sunday, November 21 at 12:01 PM ET."NBA Face Masks & NBA Face Covers

"Monday night saw the No.1 seed Milwaukee Bucks open their Eastern Conference semi-final matchup in the NBA playoffs with the Miami Heat. For anybody who has watched the Heat play this season, especially in Orlando, you’ll know that we were going to be in for an exhilarating series here. And Game 1 was just that.

There was plenty going on in this one, and if this game was a benchmark for the rest of this series then it’s going to be a special one. The Bucks haven’t looked themselves through their time in Orlando and that’s pretty worrying. But, when you have Giannis Antetokounmpo on your team, surrounded by the depth that he is, then all form goes out the window. The Heat, however, had different ideas, and the area of the game that effectively gave them the basis to go on and clinch this opening game was a surprising one.

The Milwaukee Bucks have the best interior defense in the entire NBA this season, allowing just 38.7 points in the paint per game, while the Heat rank 28th in scoring in the paint, with 43.9 points per game coming in that area. So you’ve got the best defense inside against one of the worst offenses inside. That doesn’t seem like a great thing considering the task that the Heat was coming up against in Giannis and the Bucks. But, that narrative didn’t seem to matter to head coach Erik Spoelstra and his team."

Five biggest losers of the 2020 bubble’s NBA playoffs
"The NBA playoffs were a positive experience for some. Plenty of others left earlier than they’d hoped with a dejected spirit weighing them down.
Having previously broken down the winners of the most unique undertaking in NBA history, it’s now time to move to the loser’s bracket of the 2020 NBA playoffs.

Only one true winner exists in any NBA season. That’s the team left with the Larry O’Brien trophy. While silver linings do still exist in the form of breakout performances or unexpected runs, they come in short supply. By season’s end, more are disappointed in their efforts than not.

The premise certainly applies to the results of these playoffs, maybe more so this season than ever before. The bubble’s neutral setting closed the advantage gap between matchups, creating even greater opportunities for upsets, of which we saw several, including the fall of two of the four best records in the NBA.

The disappointments that appear in the following slides come in varying forms. Championship expectations fell short. Bright futures became a touch darker.

Given the sacrifices these players, coaches and teams made by leaving their families to sequester on Disney’s campus, it’d be nice if they could all leave on a higher note than what many did. That didn’t happen and the future ramifications could be costly."