NBA Official 2026 NBA Playoffs Thread

ambchang said:
I am just flummoxed by the Lakers and the Rockets. Rockets are 6th in defence for the team, but they have have Reed Sheppard playing a rather prominent role, Sengen being their main guy, and JSJ (while being a good defender on paper, being lost on defence frequently) playing some of the heaviest minutes on the team.

Lakers are only 19th in defence, but they have stepped up in the playoffs. Part of it is because the Rockets can't shoot at all, especially without Durant, but Lebron is no longer his younger self, especially on defence. Kudos to him for going all out though. Obviously having Smart play more in place of Reaves helps, and Rui and Kennard stepping up in the absence of Luka is helpful, but they are really locking up the Rockets.

Watching them, I am not sure if it's just horrible offence by both teams, or just good defence coupled with mediocre offence at this point.

P.S. I have no issues with Lebron as a player, and yes, he had questionable comments and actions (the decision, Moreygate after all that social justice stuff, passive aggressive comments all the time, stringing teams along everywhere he goes, LeGM, etc...) but it's not like Jordan was any better as a person (serial cheater, caused his HS coach to go insane, lying all the time to motivate himself, gambler, glory hog, bully). Not many of these superstars are like Robinson or Duncan. They are pretty much all psychopaths.
Click to expand...

The Rockets have one of the worst offenses I've ever seen for a "good" team tbh. Little to no offball movement, minimal passing and it's usually one of Sengun/Amen/Reed getting the ball with like 8 seconds left on the shot clock to go do something.

Lakers have stepped it up defensively in the last few months since it was atrocious for most of the year. But once they advance, their defense is gonna be exposed by OKC tbh.
 
210XSpurs said:
How we feeling about the second round? Seems to me the Spurs will be in prime position to take advantage of a team licking their wounds. I was concerned about both these teams before the postseason. But with the recent health developments it’d be disappointing if the Spurs don’t at least make the WCF.
Click to expand...
I said along the lines of this in another thread in regard to who we might play next:

Game Thread - Playoffs Round 1, Game 5: Spurs vs Blazers (3-1) (Tue 04/28/2026) [8:00 CDT]

Kind of hoping for a 7-game series above favoring a matchup against either team. A six-day layoff will be nice for our guys to heal and get refreshed, and we can talk about practice. I go back and forth. I'd still rather play Minnesota without Ant for at least the first 2 games and without...
baselinebums.com baselinebums.com
Not that I am scared to play Denver, but I hate it because Minnesota looked like the better team when healthy with Ant and DiVincenzo. They're basically going to get a free chance at the next round when they may not have made it there had Minnesota not gotten those devastating injuries. It'd also suck to play a banged up Wolves team if they make it as I don't know how much that would prepare the Spurs for the next round should they play the Wolves instead.

Yeah, this is what I'm worried about. Winning that series in 7 might get them going. Really disappointing for Minnesota that they couldn't finish the series healthy. The Nuggets may just get a reprieve due to those injuries to Ant and DiVincenzo, and really, they don't deserve it with the way they played in those first 4 games. If the Wolves were healthy and they Nuggets still came back and won, that'd be one thing and I'd say congrats (it'd make them a lot more dangerous too), but it looks like they may comeback without having to fight tooth and nail to do it. I watched some of game 5 and their confidence was much better than the first 4 games, and they seemed at more at ease, not like a team that on the brink of elimination. You don't really see that with a team down 3-1 heading into an elimination game where they're comfortable. Hopefully the Wolves bring it in game 6 because they deserve a chance to win the series with all the work they did in the first 4 games before those devastating injuries, they deserve to at least make the next round.

spursistan said:
Kinda crazy how rare is the instance of even forcing a Game 7 from 0-3 down in a series.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2049704524336832686
Click to expand...
Wow. What a crazy performance from the Nuggets in 1994. Isn't that the year they became the first 8 seed to knockout the number one Seattle Supersonics that won 63 games (5 game first round series were more dangerous for top seeds IMO - glad they changed it to 7 games)? If that is correct year, I didn't know they almost came back from 0-3 down the next round.
 
Last edited:
Lot of 3-2 across the board. No one closed out their opponents when up 3-1...yet. I think the Wolves have a better chance than people are suggesting. They're at home for one.
 
BatManu20 said:
When Kobe and the Lakers blew a 3-1 series lead over PHX and Kobe got severely outplayed by Leandro Barbosa in Game 7. Good times tbh.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2049877522381242422
Click to expand...

That Game 6 was wild. Was watching with a bunch of Laker fans and when that Tim Thomas 3 hit, I saw souls leave bodies. Didn't see that again until I saw my soul leave my body when Manu fouled Dirk about 2 weeks later :st-lol:

Kobe quitting in Game 7 doesn't get talked about enough tbh.
 
Mugen said:
That Game 6 was wild. Was watching with a bunch of Laker fans and when that Tim Thomas 3 hit, I saw souls leave bodies. Didn't see that again until I saw my soul leave my body when Manu fouled Dirk about 2 weeks later :st-lol:

Kobe quitting in Game 7 doesn't get talked about enough tbh.
Click to expand...
I'll never forget the feeling I had when Manu fouled Dirk (after Pop spent the entire timeout lecturing them "no fouls and no 3's" :st-lol:). And then that OT was a disaster. Mavs had firm control after Manu's mistake and never relinquished it. Then Pop being all smiles with Avery Johnson right after to make matters worse. Sickening tbh.

We would've beat Miami that year too. That should've been our 3-Peat :st-cry:
 
ambchang said:
He is there purely to make money. My guess of his strategy is to buy a profitable team in a small market with limited competition, cut costs as much as possible to bolster the bottom line and pocket them all. He probably believe that small markets have very low elasticity, where how the team does has little to do with team success, because they are fiercely loyal and don't have many other choices, and I would believe that as well.
Click to expand...

Interesting. So due to lack of competition in the area, they have more loyal fans likely to stick with the team?

I just had a look and it seems that Seattle is a similar distance away from Portland, so I'm guessing that won't make any difference if Seattle gets a team again and it won't cut into any of the fanbase?

ambchang said:
He also owns the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL. The Hurricanes are the only game in town. Charlotte, which is about 2.5 hours away, has professional teams in the NBA, NFL and MLB, but Raleigh only has the Hurricanes. The team has been selling out every game for two years, and were at mid/low 90s capacity the two years prior. While the team is doing good, they severely underpaid their coach, who did a fantastic job. Brind'Amour is being paid around $2M a year (he started at $600K), which is below what top coaches make at around $6M a year, and Dundon is thinking he will use the same strategy with the Blazers.
Click to expand...

Didn't realize that Charlotte is that far away from the Carolina Hurricanes home stadium. So the previous two years, they were still filling their home center up to about ~90% capacity.
I just had a look. I don't know how the standings work in the NHL (couldn't figure it out as I don't watch NHL - been meaning to give it a go, but never got around to it), and it seems that Carolina had a good season? Are they a chance to win it all?

ambchang said:
The Blazers are the only game in town, with MLS (not as popular as the top 4), NWSL, WNBA and WHL being the other professional teams. They have extremely high occupancy rates forever, regardless of how the team is doing. Top NBA coaches make $15M+, so $1.5M is about 10% of that, and that was where Brind'Armour got paid initially (10% of $6M).

There is a pattern, and it's just easy money for the rich. There is a reason why NBA teams are now has a valuation of around $5B or so.
Click to expand...
Darn, didn't realize the Blazers still get pretty good attendance. Wasn't teams like Atlanta getting poor attendance for years? Do they have a lot of other sporting teams around there apart from the NFL's Falcons?
And weren't the Clippers getting poor attendance before Kawhi went there?

As for NBA coaches salary, I had no idea coaches are making anywhere near 15M. I thought 1.5M is underpaying, but I didn't think it was by that much. Is it disclosed how much each NBA coach makes, or can that be kept private?
 
BatManu20 said:
This was a really fun 7-Game First Round series too. Derrick Rose had just been named ROY and he and Ben Gordon were cooking the C's. And the infamous 3OT Game 6 was cinema tbh.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2049866757750354372
Click to expand...
imagine if Ray Allen's entire career was played in today's game... good grief. i think he'd certainly be ahead of Klay/Harden on 3pt leaderboard, and possibly neck and neck even with Curry
 
spurs10 said:
Lot of 3-2 across the board. No one closed out their opponents when up 3-1...yet. I think the Wolves have a better chance than people are suggesting. They're at home for one.
Click to expand...
if they can ride emotions to this win with a hobbled dosunmu and absent ant and donte it bodes well for us in the next series. would much rather face a depleted wolves than the nuggets in any form (obvious ass statement I guess but whatever)
 
I have every rational reason to believe the Wovles are doomed, I know the national media wants a match up of Wemby-Joker in the next round, and honestly it would be more satisfying to beat the Nuggets next round and yet…..

I really, really, REALLY want the Wolves to win tonight!!!
 
BatManu20 said:
I'll never forget the feeling I had when Manu fouled Dirk (after Pop spent the entire timeout lecturing them "no fouls and no 3's" :st-lol:). And then that OT was a disaster. Mavs had firm control after Manu's mistake and never relinquished it. Then Pop being all smiles with Avery Johnson right after to make matters worse. Sickening tbh.

We would've beat Miami that year too. That should've been our 3-Peat :st-cry:
Click to expand...

Came back from like 20 down that game too IIRC. Manu hits a big 3 to put us ahead before that foul.

It's like if you were falling and Superman caught you...only to drop you from a higher altitude :st-lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LeBowen
NBA NBA All-Star weekend, February 13th-15th, Intuit Dome, LA
52 53 54
Replies
1K
Views
19K
BatManu20
BatManu20
spursistan
  • Poll Poll
Analysis What is your expectations from the Wembanyama Era Spurs?
2
Replies
39
Views
1K
ambchang
ambchang
Sugus
  • Poll Poll
Analysis The Race for Home-Court Advantage - 25/26 Playoffs Seed Tracker
121 122 123
Replies
3K
Views
49K
wEmBoY
wEmBoY
ambchang
Analysis Playoff Opponents Breakdowns
Replies
17
Views
463
Arguendo
A
Dex
Analysis Official 2026 Magic Numbers Thread
Replies
23
Views
1K
Dex
Dex
Back
Top