Who steps up game 5 against the Warriors. I am hoping Smith has another big game but it's so hard pinpointing someone so inconsistent. Who will rise to the occasion because we'll need it!
I don't know who it's going to be, but dammit...Brewer and Terry have been atrocious this series. It'd be nice if one of them showed up.
Everyone has to step up, or we lose. Seriously though, it may be weird to use this analogy since we're down so big, but our foot is on the Warriors' neck right now. Keep it there until we win out.
Right on JJ. Everyone must step up. Superstars play like superstars. No stupid **** Dwight. Smith & Jones cannot be zeros Shooters must make shots. I die a little inside when they're wide open and miss. Don't forget defense. Win or go home. Up to them if they want to make that win AND go home.
Everyone has to be playing at their best level. This is going to be the toughest game of the season and the team just cannot afford any mistakes or no shows.
Dwight's gonna get his game tonight! He goes for 36 and 21with 4 blocks... #playoffDwight sends us back to Houston and then James will part the flooded streets of Houston and lead us to the promised land Of Cleveland
Surprising/scary hearing Pablo's 3 was the first made by a bench player in this series. Then TJ hit one, so I guess we're up to 2? Yikes. Anyway, we seem to have our best results when we get good production from the 4 spot. Both Josh & TJ were solid last night -- if Corey and Jet could join them, I'd put $$ on us all day. I don't even expect Jet to make open 3s anymore, and Corey just... IDK what's going on there, but it's very frustrating. I think one or both of them will have to come up big, Josh/TJ/Ariza will have to maintain their current levels of play, Dwight will have to continue to be great, and Harden will have to keep being Jordanesque. A tall order, but I know it can be done b/c we've seen it before.
The role players are equally as important as Harden for this game, if not a little bit more. If Harden isn't feeling it, then they HAVE to be able to hit down shots when he gets it to them. Terry Ariza Smith Prigs Brewer These guys NEED to make some of their 3's for us to have a chance. Perfect world has both Harden cooking and these guys nailing them. I feel like we don't hit enough wide open shots and every other team does. A side note for Brewer is that he needs to pick up his play in general, not just shooting. I'm not seeing the regular season Brewer in this series and that is part of the reason we are down 3-1. Need him to show up. Smith has got to stop making boneheaded turnovers. Cut the behind-the-back passes and just play smart basketball. He's a vet, he should know this. Last thing is free throws. If Dwight and Smith can both hit at a 60% clip, that is a day and night difference to 40%. HAVE to knock the free ones down. Let's take this game.
Josh smith will probably be known as the greatest player when it comes to elimination games. He can hit more threes than free throws
We need Harden, Howard, TJones, Smith and Brewer to all show up and play well. Prigioni, Terry and Capela need to be aggressive. We just might be able to do this.
If harden stays in front of his man on defense we win. If he keeps gambling on the steal then we lose.
Its also very important that they hit their shots, because if they don't, the Warriors will just pack the paint as they did in Game 3. Maybe it was partially Harden's effort as many believed, but the Warrior's left no room for him to penetrate the paint in the third game. And they had at least two defenders close when he was outside. We must spread the floor for Harden to have any chance of having another great game.
Howard and Harden will combine for 70 points and double digits from josh, brew, and ariza. Jones will have a monster rebounding and shot blocking game. Capela will play a solid 15 mins. Smith will get his threes out of the way early and will gamble at the right times. Brewer is gonna light it up in the third. Harden will score 17 in the 4th to take us back home.
