It was a night and day difference to see the defensive intensity drop off from the Thunder to the Lakers. The Thunder made the Rockets work hard for every inch of the court with grabbing, pushing, elbows, shoulders, and very quick feet. And they hid all of that under a veil of "not fouling." The Lakers haven't gone to school on all that. They probably thought they could make enough 3s, crash the boards, and get out on the break. Houston looked relieved to be playing someone else. Maybe they've grown through that experience of a seven-game series.
BS. AD had successes against Harden early. The Rockets made adjustments. Lakers were not trying to win narrative is foolish mainly propagated by arrogant Lakers fans today. We beat them by being scrappy defensively and MDA coached one heck of a game last night
It's mind-boggling that the Lakers and Bucks won so many regular season games. The Bucks had one of the easier schedules in the league, so that definitely helped them, but the Lakers played the toughest schedule and still managed to win more than any WC team. And like OP says, they're 2 great players and a bunch of journeymen, knuckleheads, and journeymen-knuckleheads. WTAF?
Correction: Single game +- is worthless. Over the course of a few weeks, or months, it can be very telling.
Lol, funny I know. I used to live and die with the Rockets, but Ref bullshit and life priorities have shifted where I spend my time. I can flip this in a friendly way: Did you look at your phone even once during live action play? Probably. There are people would call you a fair weather fan for that. Did you blink? If so, why didn't you get those eye-opener things like in Clockwork Orange? Oh, you didn't blink? Why aren't you in the bubble then, somehow, courtside? Oh, you're courtside by some great Machiavellian scheme? Well, a true fan would be in the huddles. You were in the huddles? Why weren't you on the floor, bro? What's wrong with you??? You were on the floor? Why weren't you on the court, slacker! A true fan is a top tier player so they understand everything. You were on the court? Did you start? No? Loser. You started? Is your name James Harden? I didn't think so. You're James Harden? Get your **** together, Harden!!! It's all subjective. I've watched hundreds of playoff games, thousands of regular season games. ....but it were a game 7 my family would be in the rain.
From what I see so far, nowadays, teams can't rely heavily on 2 or even 3 super stars to win. It has to be a real balanced effort. Look at Miami, Celtics and off course, Houston.. Every player plays big roles. Bucks and Lakers depend on their super stars... Not gonna be easy to win
You literally said AD is more skilled than Giannis, that is factually incorrect. I didnt say he was a better jump shooter. I hope you don't think if AD were on the Bucks youd be seeing a different result...you would not. Lol I really don't think you understand how bad Portland's defense is...like at all. They are terrible defensively. AD can shoot mid range jumpers all he wants, we will live with that. If you think that's gonna produce good team offense, keep dreaming.
Because he isnt a good post player. In the regular season he is at .90 PPP, that is bad offense. Let them force feed it to Anthony Davis, I will gladly take it.
I thought I read somewhere that the Lakers had one of the easiest schedules before the bubble as far as Western Conference teams went. I think their schedule was getting tough just as the season got cancelled. They are also missing a very important piece to their team. Avery Bradley opting out really killed their chances.
yes it is mind boggling to me... the most logical explanation i am living with is they prolly took every game seriously...rockets, especially harden, didnt take things so seriously and experimented and played lackadaisical...
He was tired in the 4th quarter because he didn't get his usual rest. He expended extra energy running up and down the court because his Laker teammates tried to match our pace instead of trying to force us to match theirs. There's no way they can win at our pace. In the first half, he looked sharp. At one point, he scored 3 consecutive baskets. And then the Lakers inexplicably decided to go away from him.
There are no adjustments we can make that can prevent AD from getting the ball if the Lakers want him to have it.
Come on. AD isn't comparable to Yao AT ALL. The mobility, length, reaction times, coordination......AD is an a completely different level.
AD is absolutely more skilled than Giannis. How can you possibly argue against this? Sure, let's let AD shoot all the mid-range jumpers he wants. He's only shooting them at 80% this postseason....
I didn't say that nor did I say that was the only adjustment. I said Rockets made adjustments and instead of AD going against Harden in the post, he was going against PJ. I just can't understand a Rockets fan on Rockets forum propagate Lakers lies that Lakers weren't trying to win. Rooting for both teams?
Its not true. Davis can't pass or handle the ball like Giannis. Giannis is a more skilled finisher around the rim too. Yea AD has jump shooting but..thats it. Oh yea and Giannis is a better defensive player than him too. All the metrics point to that. Umm...is that true even? Where did you get that number? That is definitely not sustainable even if it's true which its not. And also whatever number it is inflated by playing soft Portland defense.
