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A dominant second half the reminded me a little of the 2003 WCF Game 6 versus the Mavs where we outscored them 34-9 in the 4th to put the series away (the Steve Kerr/Stephen Jackson game).
3-1 series lead headed back home where we will aim to put this one to bed.
Victor Wembanyama - 4.75
@LeBowen - Even when his offense looks rough, he drops and efficent 27 with absurd defense.
@heyheymymy - Vic played incredible in his return from protocols. One of those blocks stayed glued to his palm. Wemby is going to be a playoff heavyweight.
scott - For a franchise that has had it's share of all-world defenders and defensive performances in the playoffs... that one yesterday might have been the best. Truly amazing. His offense was, for lack of a better word, bad in the first half - but he turned it on in the second.
De'Aaron Fox - 5.0
LeBowen - Finally the Fox we've been waiting for. Although I have to say I'm not sure how consistent can he be considering half his shots were 3s.
heyhey - Fox delivered 100% and silenced his doubters. As someone critical myself, this was everything I needed to see. Fox operates so much better off of Wemby's magnitude.
scott - It was a great performance, but I'm going to talk about what was probably the most overlooked part of it: his defense. 2 blocks and 1 steal doesn't even tell the story accurately, he was absolutely stiffling on Deni, the best D I think I've ever seen him play. It wasn't just "Good for Fox" D... it was elite level. If he can do THAT more consistently... look out.
Stephon Castle - 4.50
LeBowen - Not the protagonist, but did his job very well. Didn't force the drives, didn't turn the ball over and had some great passes
heyhey - Castle wasn't perfect; still getting stuffed on dead end drives, early foul trouble and slight composure issues. But in game 4 Steph was an entire warpath. 50% 3PM, 8:1 ast:tov ratio, and gutsy trial by fire staying in with 5 fouls and still playing tough D.
scott - Very solid game for Steph, really good defense to go with some nice distribution and except for a trademark lazy 1st quarter TOV, he took very good care of the ball. His 3 ball has really opened things up this postseason.
Devin Vassell - 4.0
LeBowen - A strong 4, I was beyond wrong about his physicality, defense and rebounding, he's doing great out there.
heyhey - Dev continues to produce solid shifts where it seems either his finishing at the rim and midrange are cooking or his three ball is. In addition he provides good hustle and defense.
scott - Another performance that doesn't fill up the stat sheet but was an underrated solid game. He continues to play the kind of defense we thought would be his calling card when he was drafted. Hit some big shots in the third, as he's been doing the entire series. What a major plus to have Big Game Dev as a release valve.
Julian Champagnie - 3.75
LeBowen - Low rebounds tonight, but his couple of 3s changed the game. As I said at the half, we must get him more shots, we're basically guaranteed to win games when him and Devin get good looks and force the defense to spread out.
heyhey - Champ has done a great job this series playing within the flow of the game. Most surprised how efficient his 3 ball has stayed in brighter lights. Champ looks confident.
scott - Champ isn't getting a ton of usage in this series, but he's putting himself in all the right places and is hitting his shots when they do come his way (8/14 from 3 in the first four games). His defense has been mostly solid as has his rebounding. About as much as you can ask from the 5th guy on the floor.
Keldon Johnson - 2.75
LeBowen - Sorry, but still by far the worst player. A couple of feelgood shots when we already broke them, but was a complete non-factor when we were down and he needed to impact the game. Also gets cooked on defense and didn't rebound well. Let's just hope it's the matchup.
heyhey - Signs of life. A bit of stat padding but I was just glad to see flashes of that old energy. Hope it sparks someting going forward for KJ.
scott - It was Tragic Johnson to start the game, but he came alive in the second half and made some critical buckets while we were on that run to help put it away. Would like to see him be a little more active on the boards if he's not going to be able to do his normal thing on offense.
Dylan Harper - 2.75
LeBowen - Rookie game, should've made a couple of those shots, but he played good defense and took care of the ball.
heyhey - As a rookie Harper is so ahead of schedule. Consistency after a huge game is understandably still in development. Looked like mostly fatigue mixed in with a little hangover from the G3 performance.
scott - Kind of predictable he would come back down to earth this game, but our team success is predicated off diversity of options so that we don't falter when one guy has an off game.
Luke Kornet - 2.25
LeBowen - I guess the last game and a short turnaround exhausted him, he can't play starter minutes without having fatigue issues later on. They went at him in the first half and got everything they wanted.
heyhey - Expected him to be running on fumes. But Luke held the line admirably until reinforcements relieved. With Wemby back Luke's G4 was tolerable.
scott - As Primus once said, They can't all be zingers. Really rough game for Luke, but he did pull down 7 boards, 4 of them offensive, and had a sweet in-bounds play Oop to prove that Wemby's not the only one who can do it.
Harrison Barnes - 2.50
LeBowen - Got just one shot and had a drive, I guess he's the 10th man in the rotation now.
heyhey - I've lowered expectations but would like to see HB give the team a bit more.
scott - His dunk was sweet after a critical offensive rebound. His triples are just popping out... as soon as he sees one fall I think he'll get into a groove.
Carter Bryant - 3.0
LeBowen - I'll say having him not do anything special isn't that bad, he's just a role player. Defense and open shots, that's all we ask for.
heyhey - I think one of those 3's was in total garbage time. But with Wemby back, demands on CB were not as high this game.
scott - A come back down to earth game for CB. Committed the most obvious offensive foul in history, which was stupid. Good to see his triples continue to fall.
Mitch Johnson - 4.25
LeBowen - I'm not sure what has been going on with our 3pt shooting this series, as soon as we got our shooters good looks in the 3rd, it was over. That first half can't happen in the second round because we'd surely take an L.
heyhey - Sticking with Castle on 5 fouls was a gamble Mitch got to pay off. Halftime talk must've been effective. His managment of rotations and in game aspects has been solid. Coach Mitch has impressed.
scott - I thought Mitch was great in this one, knew when to make the right subs and time outs. There was a moment in the second half where Fox did something dumb and Mitch pulled him for a short break. When Fox came back in the game, he was back to having a hot game. Good stuff.
3-1 series lead headed back home where we will aim to put this one to bed.
Victor Wembanyama - 4.75
@LeBowen - Even when his offense looks rough, he drops and efficent 27 with absurd defense.
@heyheymymy - Vic played incredible in his return from protocols. One of those blocks stayed glued to his palm. Wemby is going to be a playoff heavyweight.
scott - For a franchise that has had it's share of all-world defenders and defensive performances in the playoffs... that one yesterday might have been the best. Truly amazing. His offense was, for lack of a better word, bad in the first half - but he turned it on in the second.
De'Aaron Fox - 5.0
LeBowen - Finally the Fox we've been waiting for. Although I have to say I'm not sure how consistent can he be considering half his shots were 3s.
heyhey - Fox delivered 100% and silenced his doubters. As someone critical myself, this was everything I needed to see. Fox operates so much better off of Wemby's magnitude.
scott - It was a great performance, but I'm going to talk about what was probably the most overlooked part of it: his defense. 2 blocks and 1 steal doesn't even tell the story accurately, he was absolutely stiffling on Deni, the best D I think I've ever seen him play. It wasn't just "Good for Fox" D... it was elite level. If he can do THAT more consistently... look out.
Stephon Castle - 4.50
LeBowen - Not the protagonist, but did his job very well. Didn't force the drives, didn't turn the ball over and had some great passes
heyhey - Castle wasn't perfect; still getting stuffed on dead end drives, early foul trouble and slight composure issues. But in game 4 Steph was an entire warpath. 50% 3PM, 8:1 ast:tov ratio, and gutsy trial by fire staying in with 5 fouls and still playing tough D.
scott - Very solid game for Steph, really good defense to go with some nice distribution and except for a trademark lazy 1st quarter TOV, he took very good care of the ball. His 3 ball has really opened things up this postseason.
Devin Vassell - 4.0
LeBowen - A strong 4, I was beyond wrong about his physicality, defense and rebounding, he's doing great out there.
heyhey - Dev continues to produce solid shifts where it seems either his finishing at the rim and midrange are cooking or his three ball is. In addition he provides good hustle and defense.
scott - Another performance that doesn't fill up the stat sheet but was an underrated solid game. He continues to play the kind of defense we thought would be his calling card when he was drafted. Hit some big shots in the third, as he's been doing the entire series. What a major plus to have Big Game Dev as a release valve.
Julian Champagnie - 3.75
LeBowen - Low rebounds tonight, but his couple of 3s changed the game. As I said at the half, we must get him more shots, we're basically guaranteed to win games when him and Devin get good looks and force the defense to spread out.
heyhey - Champ has done a great job this series playing within the flow of the game. Most surprised how efficient his 3 ball has stayed in brighter lights. Champ looks confident.
scott - Champ isn't getting a ton of usage in this series, but he's putting himself in all the right places and is hitting his shots when they do come his way (8/14 from 3 in the first four games). His defense has been mostly solid as has his rebounding. About as much as you can ask from the 5th guy on the floor.
Keldon Johnson - 2.75
LeBowen - Sorry, but still by far the worst player. A couple of feelgood shots when we already broke them, but was a complete non-factor when we were down and he needed to impact the game. Also gets cooked on defense and didn't rebound well. Let's just hope it's the matchup.
heyhey - Signs of life. A bit of stat padding but I was just glad to see flashes of that old energy. Hope it sparks someting going forward for KJ.
scott - It was Tragic Johnson to start the game, but he came alive in the second half and made some critical buckets while we were on that run to help put it away. Would like to see him be a little more active on the boards if he's not going to be able to do his normal thing on offense.
Dylan Harper - 2.75
LeBowen - Rookie game, should've made a couple of those shots, but he played good defense and took care of the ball.
heyhey - As a rookie Harper is so ahead of schedule. Consistency after a huge game is understandably still in development. Looked like mostly fatigue mixed in with a little hangover from the G3 performance.
scott - Kind of predictable he would come back down to earth this game, but our team success is predicated off diversity of options so that we don't falter when one guy has an off game.
Luke Kornet - 2.25
LeBowen - I guess the last game and a short turnaround exhausted him, he can't play starter minutes without having fatigue issues later on. They went at him in the first half and got everything they wanted.
heyhey - Expected him to be running on fumes. But Luke held the line admirably until reinforcements relieved. With Wemby back Luke's G4 was tolerable.
scott - As Primus once said, They can't all be zingers. Really rough game for Luke, but he did pull down 7 boards, 4 of them offensive, and had a sweet in-bounds play Oop to prove that Wemby's not the only one who can do it.
Harrison Barnes - 2.50
LeBowen - Got just one shot and had a drive, I guess he's the 10th man in the rotation now.
heyhey - I've lowered expectations but would like to see HB give the team a bit more.
scott - His dunk was sweet after a critical offensive rebound. His triples are just popping out... as soon as he sees one fall I think he'll get into a groove.
Carter Bryant - 3.0
LeBowen - I'll say having him not do anything special isn't that bad, he's just a role player. Defense and open shots, that's all we ask for.
heyhey - I think one of those 3's was in total garbage time. But with Wemby back, demands on CB were not as high this game.
scott - A come back down to earth game for CB. Committed the most obvious offensive foul in history, which was stupid. Good to see his triples continue to fall.
Mitch Johnson - 4.25
LeBowen - I'm not sure what has been going on with our 3pt shooting this series, as soon as we got our shooters good looks in the 3rd, it was over. That first half can't happen in the second round because we'd surely take an L.
heyhey - Sticking with Castle on 5 fouls was a gamble Mitch got to pay off. Halftime talk must've been effective. His managment of rotations and in game aspects has been solid. Coach Mitch has impressed.
scott - I thought Mitch was great in this one, knew when to make the right subs and time outs. There was a moment in the second half where Fox did something dumb and Mitch pulled him for a short break. When Fox came back in the game, he was back to having a hot game. Good stuff.
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