Pound The Rock - The San Antonio Spurs

[Knickerbocker91]

Congrats on a good season, and home-court at least for the 1st round. Lakers should be a tough opponent simply because of LeBron but the West is always interesting. How do you like your odds to make a championship run?

[BobbyColtrane]

Bracket incoming, stand by

With the Playoffs beginning this week, here's a look at the top storylines heading into the NBA's real season:

1. How far can the Pelicans go?
With the breakup of the Warriors, the Pelicans were able to step up and fill the power vacuum created when Kevin Durant left Oakland for Seattle. The Pels were the most consistent team all year, and go into the playoffs with home court advantage.

But four of New Orleans' starters are 23 or under, the only exception being the 35 year old Kyle Lowry. Can RJ Barrett and Jayson Tatum lead the young Pelicans to the Finals?

2. Will the Celtics investment in a superteam pay dividends?
Its make or break time for the Celtics, who had the highest payroll in NBA history this year at $165 million, including a luxury tax bill of a whopping $38 million. With Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving on the books next year for $61 million, and Gordon Hayward making $34 million in the final year of his contract, this may be the C's best chance at a title since 2008.

They will face an improved Eastern Conference, with Milwaukee, Philadelphia, New York looking to make strong runs. And don't forget the Minnesota Timberwolves, who made the Western Conference Finals last season before moving to the East as part of NBA expansion this year.

3. Phoenix – real contenders or just another hot streak?
If there is one team striking fear into the hearts of everyone, it's the Phoenix Suns. Since The All-Star break, the Suns are 34-5, which would make them one of the greatest teams of all time if they could sustain that across 82 games.

Seven Suns average double figures, led by Deandre Ayton, who has become one a top-10 player in the league. The emergence of 2nd-year guard Ja Morant and Devin Booker's continued excellence has Phoenix primed for a Finals appearance for the first time since 1993.

4. Giannis versus the MVP

In just his 2nd year in the league, Zion Williamson has captured the league MVP, with averages of 26.3 points, 13.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo probably thought he would have an MVP by now, after losing to Steph Curry and Zion the past 2 seasons. At his peak, Zion is the best player in the game today, a tornado of dunks, rebounds, pinpoint passing and open court brilliance. But at 6'11”, with athleticism to match, Giannis will be a formidable matchup for the young star. The Greek Freak put up stats nearly as good as Zion's – 24.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.

This series may well come down to the supporting cast. Milwaukee traded for Victor Oladipo at the deadline with just this kind of series in mind, but the results in the regular season were disappointing. Oladipo averaged just 14.5 points in March and April, and the Bucks front office have to wonder if they made the right trade. A strong postseason could make Giannis's upcoming free agent decision a slam dunk. But should the Bucks stumble, the rest of the NBA will be licking their chops to court Giannis this summer.

5. How far can the Spurs go?

A second straight treadmill year for the Spurs finds them with the West's 4th seed, staring down LeBron James once again in the first round. Since winning an unlikely title 2 years ago, San Antonio hasn't been able to put together a roster competing at the league's highest level. While San Antonio boasts a strong core of young players in Dragan Bender, Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker and Luka Samanic, none of those players have grabbed the reins of the team and established themselves as a dominant player. Bender's breakout performance this year somewhat covered for Murray's season, which was good, but didn't meet expectations. Despite increasing his scoring average for the 5th consecutive year (2nd on the team at 17.4 points per game), Murray has yet to show that he can be a consistent #1 option on offense.

With $41mm in cap room this summer, San Antonio will have a huge decision to make this summer – whether to try to sign a headline player, or continue to be patient and give Murray another year or two to see if he can become this team's unquestioned star.

[BobbyColtrane]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knickerbocker91

Congrats on a good season, and home-court at least for the 1st round. Lakers should be a tough opponent simply because of LeBron but the West is always interesting. How do you like your odds to make a championship run?

ZERO chance hahaha

I feel like I need a better wing scorer to be any good. Honestly, my makeover the past 2 seasons has had a couple hits and a number of misses. I had hoped that Murray would be a better scorer, something like Oladipo, but that hasn't panned out. Stanley Johnson was a miss in free agency too.

If I could beat the Lakers I would be thrilled.

[BobbyColtrane]

103 100

Lakers slip past Spurs as LeBron struggles

SAN ANTONIO– The Los Angeles Lakers captured Game 1 at AT&T Center over the San Antonio Spurs, 103-100. The Lakers were led by Kyle Kuzma's 22 points on 4-5 shooting from three-point range. LeBron James managed just 11 points and 5 rebounds on 5-12 from the field.

“I didn't play well, but we got the win. Looking forward to getting another one Tuesday,” James said after the game.

For their part, San Antonio got a surprise contribution from Luka Samanic. The rookie finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds on 6-8 from three. Dragan Bender led the Spurs with 24 points.

After a furious rally to go from down 10 to down 3 with just over 26 seconds left, the Spurs elected to play defense rather than foul. The gamble paid off when Josh Hart missed a shot with three seconds left, but Kyle Kuzma grabbed the offensive board over Lonnie Walker and dribbled the clock out for the victory.

PLAY OF THE GAME

DeMarcus Cousins leads the break and finds Kris Wilkes in the corner for 3

Los Angeles Lakers (1-0) at San Antonio Spurs (0-1)
Apr 18, 2021 1 2 3 4 Final Los Angeles 32 26 17 28 103 San Antonio 32 22 19 27 100 Top Performers Los Angeles Lakers Kyle Kuzma 22 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast Josh Hart 20 pts San Antonio Spurs Luka Samanic 22 pts, 8 reb, 6-8 3PA Dragan Bender 24 pts, 6 reb, 3 blk	Team Stats Comparison LAL SAS FG Made-Att 43-83 52% 38-77 49% 3PT Made-Att 7-17 41% 15-33 45% FT Made-Att 10-13 77% 9-12 75% Rebounds 43 42 Assists 30 27 Turnovers 11 15 Steals 12 9 Blocks 3 7

Around the Playoffs:

1 Pelicans 120 Tatum's 34 (10-11 fga) paces Pels past Rockets
8 Rockets 108 New Orleans leads 1-0

3 SuperSonics 123 KD's 42 too much for Kings
6 Kings 92 Seattle leads 1-0

2 Suns 118 Suns overcome 34-15 first quarter deficit to grab Game 1
7 Nuggets 108 Phoenix leads 1-0

8 Bulls 111 Coby White (25 points and 10 assists) shocks Boston
1 Celtics 97 Chicago leads 1-0

4 Bucks 128 Giannis shines in Bucks' rout of Knicks
5 Knicks 97 Milwaukee leads 1-0

2 Timberwolves 114 Saric paces Wolves in rout of Raptors
7 Raptors 82 Minnesota leads 1-0

3 Sixers 116 Embiid dominates in 76ers win
6 Wizards 86 Philadelphia leads 1-0

[BobbyColtrane]

Well boys, the time has come to bring this thread to a close. I finished out my series, falling to the Lakers in six games. It was especially frustrating because after going down 3-1 and winning Game 5, I had a fifteen point lead on them at the half of Game 6. I had visions dancing in my head of a second 3-1 comeback against LeBron's Lakers, which would have been humiliating for my hated rivals.

But my game crashed as soon as the 3rd quarter started.

When I restarted the game, I just couldn't get shots to fall, and I wound up going down by as many as 15 before a late rally fell just short and I lost 104-97.

In the rest of the playoffs, Milwaukee beat the Knicks in the first round, the Celtics in the second, and advanced to their second-straight Finals by beating the Timberwolves. Minnesota fell in the Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row, this time in the East.

In the West, the Pelicans and RJ Barrett blitzed the Rockets in the first round, beat the Lakers in the second, and outlasted the Suns in the WCF to make their first-ever Finals. They captured the championship in a six game series against Milwaukee. Giannis, Oladipo and Middleton played well, but the Pels had an incredibly balanced attack with Barrett, Jayson Tatum, Kyle Lowry and Nasir Little.

I advanced to the offseason, and then I made a mistake. I rushed through the league realignment task before realizing that for some reason, the game re-aligned the divisions. Minnesota was sent BACK to the West, and the newly-crowned Pelicans moved to the East. Not to mention all the divisions were changed. I was operating without a backup file, which was a mistake. And I couldn't go back and change it.

With that being done, I felt like it was time for me to move on from 2K19, for a few different reasons.

1. After playing two full seasons and spending over 1,200 hours in the game (according to Steam), the commentary had worn a hole in my brain. I had to shut it off the last 50 games or so, I couldn't take hearing the same stuff anymore.

2. There are just a ton of “quality of life” improvements that have been added in the last 2 years like new freelances, improved AI, a better shot meter, etc.

3. I need new music. I would give either of my kids for a night with Cardi B but I can't listen to her rap on that Bruno Mars song ONE MORE TIME

4. The jerseys that I created for them two years ago, are actually in the game now! I can just use the real ones instead of the low-res ones I made

5. Last but not least – the Spurs have added a few players over past couple seasons that I really like, and I was tired of playing with the create-a-player versions of Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Luka Samanic. Dejounte wears New Balance now, which aren't even IN 2k19. Lonnie cut his hair.

So all that being said, I'm going to take a little time to learn how to play 2K21, and then come back soon with a new franchise thread. Of course I'm still going to use my Spurs.

Thanks to everyone who followed along through the past 2+ years, I had a blast. I'll look for you guys when I start a new journey for the Silver and Black.

Until we meet again:

[marshdaddy]

Congrats on the run! I don't know how you and others play every single game of every season, I don't have that type of commitment, so props to you for doing that. Getting a title in San Antonio with the cast you did is no easy task. I always thought that upgrading every two years is the best move in 2K, so you're probably making the leap at the perfect time.

Looking forward to seeing what the next iteration of the Spurs dynasty looks like.

[georgiafan]

You had a heck of a run on this and starting fresh on 2k21 should add some new life to you.

[BobbyColtrane]

Quote: Originally Posted by marshdaddy

Congrats on the run! I don't know how you and others play every single game of every season, I don't have that type of commitment, so props to you for doing that. Getting a title in San Antonio with the cast you did is no easy task. I always thought that upgrading every two years is the best move in 2K, so you're probably making the leap at the perfect time. Looking forward to seeing what the next iteration of the Spurs dynasty looks like.

Quote: Originally Posted by georgiafan

You had a heck of a run on this and starting fresh on 2k21 should add some new life to you.

thanks guys! I had a ball. I wanted to sign Jonathan Isaac, spruce up the bench and take another run at a title, but alas.

I've just been playing around with 2K21 the past couple days and its so different than what I'm used to. It is a much better game.

Its so damned hard to score in 2K19!