NBA2K Remix: Retro Stars in the Modern Era

[trekfan]

The High Post: The Playoffs, Round 2

By Sam Gray

The Bracket:

Injuries:

Round 1 Recap:

The 2021 playoffs is the first year with the new format and cross seeding has resulted in two huge upsets that no one would have predicted going in. In the West bracket, the Bucks were up 2-0 on the Grizzles before Memphis found their footing, playing their vets — Marc Gasol and Rudy Gay — heavy minutes as Milwaukee struggled to counter Memphis’ deep bench. That led to the series being tied, then the Bucks won Gave 5 thanks to a 25-point night from Middleton (after Giannis had fouled out). The last two games were nightmare scenarios for the Bucks — no one other than Giannis scored 20 or more, as the rest of Milwaukee went ice cold and Giannis tried to carry them to a Round 1 win; he could not. Memphis pulls off the upset of the decade but more than that, their win will likely change the face of the NBA as Giannis — leaning strongly towards re-signing with Milwaukee before the playoffs — is reportedly “distraught” at how his team failed him, again. He’s a free agent this summer and Milwaukee now believes he’s going to ultimately sign elsewhere, dealing a crippling blow to their franchise.

The Suns had their nightmare scenario of their own after going up 3-2 themselves, but then watching as the 76ers adjusted; prior to Game 6, Philly switched Josh Richardson to guard Magic (instead of Simmons) and Richardson completely disrupted Johnson’s game, who scored 13 points in a Game 6 loss and then had an even worse Game 7 with just 8 points as Philly walked away with a big win on Phoenix’s home floor.

The Celtics matchup with the Raptors was a series of blowouts up until Game 5, when Toronto narrowly won 115-111 thanks to some big fourth quarter numbers from DeRozan (who is having a great playoff run so far). Boston answered back with a close win of their own in Game 6 but fell flat on their face in Game 7 as Toronto walked into TD Garden and shut up the crowd early with a huge first quarter (42-24); that got them the big win, 123-102 in Boston as Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum vanished.

Finally, the Nuggets were the only team in the West bracket to put away their opponent in less than seven thanks to a 20-13-10 night from Jokic in Game 6, sending Houston home sooner than the Rockets would have liked; stuck with little cap flexibility, the Rockets will need to make some tough choices in the offseason in order to really improve their roster.

In the East bracket, the Lakers easily took care of an overmatched Magic squad who could not slow down LeBron at all (to no one’s surprise, LBJ averaged 25-9-9 all series) and LAL rolled over Orlando, getting plenty of extra rest while they waited for the winner of OKC/BKL.

The Thunder and Nets made their series one to remember. OKC again went up 3-1 on the Nets before dropping Game 5 and 6 by big margins (they lost by at least 20) and then there was Game 7, where the Thunder watched as they chipped away all fourth quarter at a huge lead — they won the quarter, 44-38, but lost the game on a Durant step-back two from the top of the key as KD killed them on the last shot, ending his old team and sending his new one to face LeBron and AD in Round 2.

The Spurs faced off against the Hawks in a series many thought had ATL upset written all over it — San Antonio hadn’t performed well all year against the Hawks, but took Game 1 comfortably 112-100 behind a triple-double from Bird. Game 2 saw SA disappoint as they lost big 114-99 as Young caught fire (7-12 from three, 35-4-9 stat line) and the Spurs couldn’t slow him down. Game 3 saw SA win in a closer than it looked score, but after that the Spurs made a big lineup change as they benched Aldridge and started Baynes; the move paid huge dividends as Baynes grabbed multiple key rebounds (Aldridge’s weakness) in a 129-123 win in ATL. Game 5 saw the Spurs blow out the Hawks as Aldridge’s minutes again got cut (this time as Trey Lyles came off the bench and cut into Aldridge’s minutes) and the Spurs won in five.

The defending champion Clippers will not be making into Round 2 as Miami went up 3-0 on LAC, then watched as Harrell’s return got the Clippers to tie the series up 3-3 … and then Harrell went out again with a knee injury, forcing the Clippers to play their bench more and the Heat decimated them. Miami won Game 7 123-111 a near triple double from Butler (27-9-11) and a 20 rebound night from Christian Wood and Miami — only 2 games above . 500 — go onto face the Spurs in Round 2, sending the Clippers home and likely sending Paul George to a new team this summer.

Round 2 Preview:

Out West, it’s the 76ers versus the Grizzlies; Philly expected to be here, Memphis did not, and the Grizzlies have the added heartache of potentially playing Mike Conley (slated to miss this series but if it goes the distance, he could show back up) for a chance at a West Finals berth. Memphis has gone further than anyone would have expected, so it’s playing with house money but Philly — burdened with expectations and tough playoff losses in recent years — is the more veteran team who knows what it takes to survive and advance. Philly should win this series, though it wouldn’t surprise many if it went the distance.

In the second series, Denver gets to matchup against Toronto — Jokic versus Serge, Murray versus Lowry, Porter versus DeRozan, Millsap versus Siakam. Both teams are fairly evenly matched, though Toronto should get the nod just based on the fact they still have many players from their 2019 Finals win. Denver has a wide-open path to the Finals if they can get past Toronto and with how well Jokic has been playing, they may be able to take advantage of Ibaka.

In the East bracket, the Lakers and Nets face off in a star-studded battle. The NBA gets what would be a potential Finals berth last year in Round 2, but no one is complaining due to the massive ratings the cross-seeded series are drawing. Does LeBron have enough left to take on (and beat) Durant? Can Irving fell the man who helped him get a ring back in Cleveland? It’ll be up to LeBron’s newest superstar teammate in Davis to be the difference here.

In the East’s other series, the Spurs battle the Heat — two of the league’s best defenses go at it in a series no one expected. Miami pulled off the huge upset over LAC, surviving a spirited comeback bid in an exhaustive seven game series. San Antonio has rested up in the extra days they had off but the Heat are a tough team to score against with Bam prowling the paint … Miami has momentum and the Spurs have rest, which should make for an interesting dynamic.

(The random number generator has assigned me Games 1 and 4 of the series. The Heat just beat the defending champs … I don’t know what to do about Miami.)

[studbucket]

The Clippers and Bucks losses are absolute gut punches. Both teams were well set up to succeed this year and I am not sure what the future holds for them.

[kibaxx7]

Clippers coming back from 0-3 would have made them unstoppable.

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

The Clippers and Bucks losses are absolute gut punches. Both teams were well set up to succeed this year and I am not sure what the future holds for them.

Quote: Originally Posted by spiderxx7

Clippers coming back from 0-3 would have made them unstoppable.

Yeah, the Clippers going down could break up the team -- same with the Bucks, Milwaukee has got to make big moves in the summer to convince Giannis they're serious about winning titles. Clearly his supporting cast can't do it, that first round loss proves it.

[trekfan]

The High Post: Spurs Pull Away From Heat in Game 1 Win

By Sam Gray








The Spurs made the call to bench Aldridge for Baynes in the previous series and that change to the starting lineup continues here; Aldridge’s minutes have been severely reduced now as Baynes gets the starter minutes and Lyles gets the big man minutes off the bench.



That may cause drama on other teams, but Aldridge has taken the reduced role well.



“Of course I’d like to be out there, but Coach believes this is best for the team and he explained his thought process to me in detail … it’s not something he likes, but he was honest about it and that’s what I want, just honesty. We both want to win the whole thing and if this is the call, this is the call,” said Aldridge before the game.



The Miami Heat survived their series with the Clippers and entered Game 1 tired, but motivated.



“We upset the defending champs — the title can be ours, just like anyone else,” said Jimmy Butler.



It was tight game between two of the best defensive teams in the NBA. In the first, both teams hunted mismatches — San Antonio took advantage of Miami on switches, while the Heat ran Butler and Curry off screens, resulting in a first frame that felt like tense, playoff basketball from the early 2000s — no shot was automatic, every miss hurt more than the last, and every make was that much more important.



The Spurs were up 23-20 at the end of one and then brought in some of their bench players — one, in particular, who had an ax to grind with Miami. Justice Winslow was, to hear Miami fans tell it, supposed to be what Jimmy Butler became — a defensive force, a team leader, someone who epitomized the Heat’s culture. But Winslow’s career was up and down, altered by injures and an inability to consistently shoot.



When he came in, the Heat paid him little mind from deep — that was a mistake as Winslow, like many past and current Spurs, worked on his shot in Texas. His first shot of the game was a triple as Butler looked on.




Winslow hit two threes all game and both came in that second quarter as the Spurs scrapped for a lead — they barely managed one as San Antonio entered the half.







The third quarter saw the Heat decide that if anyone was going to beat them, it wasn’t going to be Larry Bird, and so anytime he touched the ball two members of the Heat were on him. The attention Bird drew allowed the Spurs to let Murray command the offense, as the pass went to Bird — drawing the Heat to him briefly — before he fired it back off to Murray, who then whipped the pass to whomever was open.







Murray’s second-half passing display was majestic — Dejounte wasn’t scoring a lot, but his assists were piling up at such a rate the Heat spent two timeouts in the third quarter just trying to break the man’s rhythm. The home crowd was fully behind Murray’s play.







The fourth saw Murray continue to sling the ball (he finished with a franchise playoff record in assists, 5th on the list) but it was Bird who put the dagger in the Heat as he took a couple of triples in the fourth, none deeper than this beauty.







San Antonio walked away with a huge Game 1 win, throttling Miami in the fourth.














Around the NBA:



The 76ers are up 1-0 on the Grizzlies and it’s not because of Ben Simmons or Embiid, but because of Demarre Carroll. Carroll was forced into action off the bench as Dwight Howard had to sit the game out with a strained quad and Carroll was so hot from the field Brett Brown let him play out the night — and Carroll rewarded that with a 26 point outing in just 29 minutes. Memphis was unprepared for Carroll.



The Lakers got a close Game 1 win over the Nets, while the Nuggets got thrashed in their Game 1 loss to the Raptors — DeRozan had 30-4-3 in the Raptors win, putting Toronto in command of the series early.

[dfsJunkie]

Nice win. Jimmy had no help, and Bam was completely neutralized in the second half. Just one of his 13 boards in the 3rd and 4th quarters, wow.

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by dfsJunkie

Nice win. Jimmy had no help, and Bam was completely neutralized in the second half. Just one of his 13 boards in the 3rd and 4th quarters, wow.

Yeah, we managed to pull away in the third -- the game was really tense and close in that first half, I was certain that the Heat were going to come out swinging but they were ice cold in the start of the second half and that helped us maintain and grow the league.


I think that 7 game series took it out of them, but I'm not gonna write them off yet.

[kibaxx7]

The Murray-Bird combo will take you a long way.