2015-16 Raptors and General NBA Thread

[Senator Clay Davis]

Lol

Nate Silver ‏@NateSilver538 6h6 hours ago
Clear that Kobe's unselfishness hurt the Lakers, who went 16-65 this year in games where he took fewer than 50 shots.

But of course it was a bit of a farce, people weren't paying $25,000 courtside tickets to see the bleak future of the Lakers jack up shots all night, they wanted Kobe and Kobe and even more Kobe after that. Kobe is the first player since they started tracking in 1983 to have 50 FGA in a game, though not shockingly he holds 6 of the top 8 FGA attempt games ever. Hopefully we get Steph's final game as shooting 50 threes. I think he'd have a decent chance to get to 100.

[Senator Clay Davis]

1st round dates and times for the Raptors.

Game 1 - Sat April 16 Indiana at Toronto 12:30PM

Game 2 - Mon April 18 Indiana at Toronto 7:00PM

Game 3 - Thu April 21 Toronto at Indiana 7:30PM

Game 4 - Sat April 23 Toronto at Indiana 3:00PM

Game 5 * Tue April 26 Indiana at Toronto TBD

Game 6 * Fri April 29 Toronto at Indiana TBD

Game 7 * Sun May 1 Indiana at Toronto TBD

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by dino7c

50 shots for Kobe...that was a bit of a farce if I'm being honest. Both teams conspired to give him a good send off

Pretty much. It would be like Iginla's last game being against the Flames in a nothing game where the Flames gave him free reign to skate up and down the ice and pull the goaltender every time he's on the ice the last 10 minutes. NBA has always been the WWE of North American professional sports so I can't fault them too much for giving the fans what they want to see and a big sendoff but they manufacture artificial hype like no other league.

[SuperMatt18]

I'm not sure that Utah was in on it - especially in the 4th quarter.

Earlier on in the game sure - but in crunch time he was putting up contested shots, that he had no business even taking, and he was draining them.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yeah no way was Utah "in" on anything. They simply came into the night hoping for a meaningful game since they were still in the playoff hunt, and once they were eliminated you knew you weren't getting the top level effort/intensity for the whole game. I don't think Kobe does as well (or even close maybe) if Utah had everything to play for, but once they were eliminated a let down is to be expected. Kobe still did have to make the shots, and even though he took 50 he did shoot well above his season average and close to his career average with 44% shooting.

[octothorp]

Raptors kick of the playoffs with the 10:30am (Calgary time) Saturday game.

[Hockey Fan #751]

That Kobe game reminded me of Ryan Smyth's last game as an Oiler which equally a farce. I think he had a 7 minute shift at one point in pursuit of a record-breaking power play goal that never happened.

[kmart]

All you have to do is watch the fourth quarter highlights and you'd see that Kobe was making ridiculous shots, he really turned back the clock in the fourth and only had about 43 points with 10 minutes left. Having a "send off" seems over the top to me.

[Drake]

NBA Playoff Predictions...

Cleveland in 4 over Detroit
Indiana in 7 over Toronto
Boston in 6 over Atlanta
Charlotte in 7 over Miami

Golden State in 4 over Houston
San Antonio in 4 over Memphis
OKC in 5 over Dallas
Clippers in 7 over Portland

[savemedrzaius]

Anybody know where I can watch this online?

[savemedrzaius]

Players' Tribune article by Patterson.

I’ll never forget the first time I got lost in the cold-ass weather up here.

It was a few weeks after I was traded from Sacramento, and the Google Maps app on my phone was messing up. I didn’t know that phones freeze in cold weather. My bad. I was in downtown Toronto, going in circles. I’d walk two minutes up the block one way, look around and then the map would flip and send me two minutes the other way. Mind you, my wardrobe was still not fully winter-proofed at this point, so I was freezing my ass off out there.

I was about ready to pack it in, when this guy walks up to me and sort of shyly asks,“Hey, are you Patrick Patterson? The guy on the Raptors?”

I nodded.

He didn’t ask for a picture or an autograph. The first thing he did was thank me. He thanked me for what the team was doing for the city. He told me how much he appreciated us for representing Toronto so well and playing so hard. And the thing was, I could tell how genuine it was. He really meant it.

Then he paused, and asked what I was doing out here in the cold.

I told him I was trying to go some place that I thought was just down the street, but I was lost. So he asked me where I was headed, I told him, and then he goes, “Oh, yeah, that’s this way.” And then this total stranger proceeded to walk me all the way to my destination, 20 minutes away, in subzero weather.

I think that’s probably the moment when I was fully sold. I knew that we had a good team, but that’s when it became clear that this was a place I wanted to win for. This was a place worth winning for.

This was The North.

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/pat...onto-playoffs/

[Senator Clay Davis]

Cleveland in 6
Toronto in 6
Charlotte in 7
Atlanta in 6

Golden State in 5
San Antonio in 4
OKC in 7
Portland in 6

[Da_Chief]

Cavs in 5
Raps in 5
Heat in 7
Celtics in 6

Warriors in 4
Spurs in 4
Thunder in 5
Clippers in 6

[kmart]

Cleveland in 5
Raps in 5
Miami in 7
Boston in 6

Warriors in 5
Spurs in 4
OKC in 5
Portland in 7

[savemedrzaius]

Anyone have a link to watch the game online?

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by savemedrzaius

Anyone have a link to watch the game online?

Should be on sportsnet's website if you have Shaw/Telus etc. Login thtough your account and watch it there.

[savemedrzaius]

I'm watching on a Youtube feed and it's hilarious during the commercial break they show the in arena feed. I guess these guys are supposed to get the crowd pumped...it's pretty embarrassing. They say stuff like "Let's here some Canadian noise!" and they did a top 10 things about Indiana..number one was "only 8 hours from the greatest city in North America, Toronto"

[TheAlpineOracle]

Ridiculous call to get JV his 3rd

[savemedrzaius]

JV is playing a heck of a game. Lowry and Derozan need to get it going. They have been brutal .

[OzSome]

Terence Ross I think is the weakest link for this team. The guy is lazy and his decision making sucks. Norman Powell already took his spot and he is still messing up. I wouldn't mind them trading him for a draft pick or another young prospect next season.

Bad call by the referee on JV's 3rd foul. I didn't know that you get a foul when someone is pushing you. Lowry's 3-pointer is not that good today. I hope he gets hot in the 2nd half. I really think the Raptors is outplaying the Pacers today they just have to a lot of smarter especially the offense. Defense are playing well.