2018-19 NBA and Raptors thread

[Flamenspiel]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Raptors game (game 1) starts at 9pm EST? NBA is sure catering to the west coast on that start time

So, that’s great for us, why complain?

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Raptors game (game 1) starts at 9pm EST? NBA is sure catering to the west coast on that start time

That is way it should be.

[Hockey]

Pretty sure all finals games in recent memory started at 6pm pst

[transplant99]

This is awesome.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1132658173612036096

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Beninho

What a moment for Canadian basketball, the future of the sport in Canada is only going to continue to rise from here. It’s truly beautiful.

Yup, apparently Montreal is very interested in an expansion franchise with Geoff Molson open to the $1.5-$2 billion expansion fee and of course Seattle will come aboard and make it an even 32 teams.

[transplant99]

Might be the most amazing twitter thread ever

https://twitter.com/user/status/1132705598632538113

[Tsawwassen]

Game 6 final score




94 at 100

http://scores.nbcsports.com/nba/reca...=15&final=true
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball...nals-1.5150142

[Tsawwassen]

vs


Series preview coming soon.

All times Mountain


Thursday, May 30 at Toronto on Sportsnet, SN1, ABC, and RDS 1900h/7:00 pm
Sunday, June 2 at Toronto on TSN, ABC, and RDS 1800h/6:00 pm

Wednesday, June 5 at Golden State on Sportsnet, CityTV, ABC, and RDS 1900h/7:00 pm
Friday, June 7 at Golden State on TSN, ABC, and RDS 1900h/7:00 pm

*Monday, June 10 at Toronto on Sportsnet, SN1, ABC, and RDS 1900h/7:00 pm

*Thursday, June 13 at Golden State on TSN, ABC, and RDS 1900h/7:00 pm

*Sunday, June 16 at Toronto on Sportsnet, SN1, ABC, and RDS 1800h/6:00 pm


Warriors: 57-25 ​third overall
Raptors: 58-24 ​second overall


Regular-season series: Raptors won 2-0 (Warriors 0-2). Games were on November 29 and December 12.

[V]

So as someone who knows nothing about the NBA, but has been interested in seeing some Finals action, do the Raptors even have a chance here? Are they going to get swept?

[Scornfire]

They have a pretty good chance if Kevin Durant is out, the starting defensive matchups all look favorable for the raps and they have the better bench. This'll be the first series where Siakim has a size advantage which should allow for a more balanced offense and there's nobody hard to defend against in the paint. Things change considerably with KD in the lineup, but God-Mode Kawhi with extra rest between games is something any team will struggle against

[Jiggy]

Originally Posted by V

So as someone who knows nothing about the NBA, but has been interested in seeing some Finals action, do the Raptors even have a chance here? Are they going to get swept?

Raps were 2-0 against the Warriors in the regular season. But the Warriors play their best games in the playoffs. I don't think the Raptors win the series, but they will take it to 5 or 6 games I would say.

[pria(kin)16]

Didn't get the chance to blow RESP money on Game 6, blowing it on Finals Game 2 instead, see you Sunday Warriors!!!!!! (Unless Raps win Game 1 and I can make an absolute killing on my tickets, capitalism rules)

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by V

So as someone who knows nothing about the NBA, but has been interested in seeing some Finals action, do the Raptors even have a chance here? Are they going to get swept?

Do they have a chance? Yes. The current moneyline odds are about +240 for the Raptors, which would equate to a 29.4% chance to win the series. They started a bit higher than that, too.

5 or 6 games seems to be what most people are predicting. Which is about what most people were predicting in favour of the Bucks, too (including me). So you never know. But this is a totally different series than the Bucks.

If I were going to guess, I'd say Toronto takes either one or two of the first two at home, and then Durant comes back and the Warriors run away with it, just so that he can prove to everyone that he's necessary to them.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Good summary of the Warriors without Durant. They might not be better without him, although the 31-1 record in their last 32 games without him is extremely compelling evidence they are, but they are still pretty difficult to beat even without him.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...ggernaut-style

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by V

So as someone who knows nothing about the NBA, but has been interested in seeing some Finals action, do the Raptors even have a chance here? Are they going to get swept?

It's what I'd refer to as a "puncher's chance". Here's what needs to happen for the Raptors to win:

GSW needs to continue to give up big runs. They're often careless with the basketball (which the Raptors can take advantage of better than any team), and while the Warriors love taking a quick 3, when they're not falling they spend a lot of time on defense. It's a bit of a cliche to say you can't beat the Warriors, only they can beat themselves; but I think it's true to say that the Warriors can play an absolutely unbeatable style of ball, but too often they don't.

While Warriors are being quiet about Durant's status, I think the Raptors need to assume that he's back at some point. Raptors need to be up in the series before that happens. They need to use this as motivation. If they get up 2-0, they've got a shot the rest of the way even if Durant returns.

Raptors need to at least tie on the glass. Rebounding was unquestionably a weak spot for the Raptors, but GSW doesn't bring waves of offensive rebounders at you like Milwaukee or Philly. The risk with GSW is more the long rebounds off of missed 3s.

Kawhi needs to be the best 4th quarter player in the series. There's no question that GSW is the better team, but it's possible that Kawhi is the best player (when looking at total impact) in this series. If the Raptors can keep games close down to the last 5 minutes of the fourth, they have the closer to give themselves a chance. Iguodala is the smartest individual defender that Leonard will face these playoffs, so the Raptors will need to work to put Leonard in favorable situations.

Raptors should be able to stay out of foul trouble. They were fighting foul trouble all the way through the last two rounds, but those teams had players that directly put pressure on the officials to make calls. Warriors, not so much. Their strength is that their offense doesn't need foul calls to be elite. I don't expect the Raptors to get a favorable whistle, but I do expect them to at least avoid needing to sit guys to avoid foul trouble.

There are lots and lots of reasons to think that GSW wins this series; I won't go into those, except to say that GSW is a clear step above Milwaukee or Philly, and so Toronto will need to be better than they were in those series, too. But there's a definite path to victory for the Raptors.

[corporatejay]

The warriors are also pretty small. Draymond at the 5 is the lineup they go with most of the time and he's only 6 7. the last two series the raps were having to contend with two 7+ footers.

Van Vleet and Powell will need to shoot in the high 40s from 3 to win, which is going to be very difficult but not impossible.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Cousins is expected back before Durant, and he creates a big problem for the Raps. Gasol is the only guy who can match up with him and not get run over, so you probably need to minute match like with Embiid. But since Cousins is likely to come off the bench, you probably have to start Ibaka, who has been the best and most consistent bench performer this postseason. So do you sacrifice an already thin offensive bench for a better matchup? Tough call for Nurse.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Cousins is expected back before Durant, and he creates a big problem for the Raps. Gasol is the only guy who can match up with him and not get run over, so you probably need to minute match like with Embiid. But since Cousins is likely to come off the bench, you probably have to start Ibaka, who has been the best and most consistent bench performer this postseason. So do you sacrifice an already thin offensive bench for a better matchup? Tough call for Nurse.

I didn't know about Cousins. That could be huge, but he's also been sidelined with a career altering injury for basically two years. *fingers crossed*

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yeah you think it's already hard, even without Durant, and then you add in Cousins and it's like what the ####. He probably will be limited, but even in limited minutes he's still one of the best centers in the league. Best hope is coming off the injury he's lazy and/or cautious and chooses to stay on the perimeter instead of banging inside.

[hwy19man]

The series-clinching victory reached 6.8 million Canadians, as Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals now becomes the most-watched NBA game ever in Canada.
http://media.sportsnet.ca/2019/05/ra...ame-in-canada/