I agree, it was a huge call. but I hope the league at least fines him for it. re: The East it didn't used to be so weak, like displaced was saying. West has been better every year for a while, but it wasn't this lopsided. This year the East had only two good teams. That's ridiculous.
It's cyclical...we are in a period of where the west is clearly dominant. No one could have foreseen that 4 years ago.
The Celtics were on the way out and there was no way Dwight was staying with Orlando, the Bulls seemed like their lone competition in the future. Turned out they had even weaker competition than that.
http://nba.si.com/2013/06/14/chris-bosh-flop-2013-nba-finals-miami-heat-san-antonio-spurs-game-4/ That's not the most recent one, I remember someone, I think Cole or Mario getting fined earlier this year. But obviously in the finals is the most noticeable.
The Celtics were on the way out because Wade ended up hurting Rondo and KG declined faster than expected. They were still a challenge because somehow Doc always got the best out of them. They really shouldn't have pushed Miami to 7 but they played them decently enough. The Magic were two years off the finals, what started the big downfall was the early round exit to the Hawks later that year. The East was actually probably strongest the year Lebron signed in Miami, and of course that was Miami's easiest stroll through the playoffs. Well this year might pass it if they end up wrapping things up next game
Paul George said the Pacers outplayed the Heat and complained about home cooking the Heat got again. IND still has a FT advantage on the series and IND shot more free throws in game 3. Game 1: IND +22 attempts Game 2: MIA + 3 Game 3: IND + 5 Game 4: MIA +17
SMH to all those who said the Miami Heat were in trouble after 1 game, because the Pacers were supposedly bigger and stronger. C'mon! Just like that, they're 1 win away from their 4th consecutive finals trip. I don't know how much more evidence we need, but, LeBron/Wade combination is too good. Also, when the rest of the team are hitting wide open shots which LeBron/great ball movement creates for them, it becomes that much more difficult to beat them. Again, size becomes next to irrelevant when you are talking about 1 of the top 5 greatest SG, and the greatest SF to ever play the game are on the same team playing at an incredibly high level. They can make up for any disadvantages they have offensively and defensively.
Oh wow, PG please stfu man. Pacers got slapped around by the better team. Pacers are actually +FT over the series. They lost home court, end of story. All season they kept going on about how important home court was for them. Don't cry about the officiating now that you are down 3-1. When the Pacers are getting calls, its because they're big and are "dominating" the paint, but when they aren't, its because the ref's are favoring the other team? come on. I didn't hear him complaining when they shot something around 70 more FTs than the Knicks last season. They were something like +20 vs Miami last season as well.
The issue with the East has been Derrick Rose getting injured. Now I am not saying that the Bulls would have actually beaten the Heat, but they would have been a bigger threat than what the Celtics were in 2012 and the Pacers were in 2013, both of which took the Heat to 7 games. (And yes I know the Heat beat the Bulls up in 2011 but they probably would have grown from it) A Bulls-Heat series would have been very entertaining because the Heat have the good SG-SF-PF combo while the Bulls have the PG-C combo.
As for tonight, Thunder 106 Spurs 100 I hope I am wrong but OKC has become a house of horrors for the Spurs....
How much money have the Bulls thrown down the toilet for Derrick Rose? I think he will most likely be on the Knicks next year. The Knicks have a thing for players with injury issues that will be a bargain. A cheaper Rose plus Melo and Stats could be a killer combo if they stay healthy. Last time they met in the playoffs, the Spurs won the first 2 then lost the next 4. It could happen again, but ya never know!
There would have been a lot of cross matching. Lebron would guard Rose in crunch time and it would probably work. Nobody else is scary on offense for the Bulls. Defensively, who knows how they would have done vs this type of Miami offense. I thought IND could slow down Miami a bit but their offense would be the problem. Well their offense is the problem by their D is getting shredded to pieces. Zach Lowe@ZachLowe_NBA Heat have scored 111.5 points/100 possessions vs IND's league-best D. Would have been best mark in league in regular season -- and easily.
