Blake Griffin ---> Detroit :eek::popcorn:



How does this tie in to Embiid/Simmons / Philly 76ers / "The Process", you ask??
Detroit is 2 1/2 back from Philly for the last playoff spot in the EAST. Griffin hopes to work a 2-man game with big man Drummond to take that spot ( also - we don't have an '18 NBA thread ;) )

Clippers unload a BIG bloated contract for Griffin 30M++ guaranteed/yr... Helps Clips rebuild, and potentially gets Detroit into the playoffs, while generating media (this is perhaps the first time I checked on the Pistons since watching a Dennis Rodman career highlight youtube...).

the team is hotter than an august weekend at the vegas blu pool... :jump:

pics or it didn't happen.

Simmons is for real.. his stats are with the goat.. if embiid stays healthy (big if)
WOW

Game one of the Sixers/Celtics was simply about the variance in 3 point shooting. The Celtics hit 17, the Sixers only 5. That's a 36 point differential right there.

I did notice when Philly did get the ball inside to Embiid, there was nothing Boston could do to stop him. The guy is scary good, with finesse to go with his power.

I was shocked to see how ignorant Charles Barkley was in his post-game assessment of this game. He announced that Philly had terrible matchup problems against Boston...when the simple fact was that the Sixers had their worst shooting performance on the same night when the Celtics shot lights-out.

No wonder Barkley blew all that money gambling... :)

Barkely is entertaining but clueless. You can tell most of those guys only watch a few games year, probably the ones where they're on the air. Some of the stuff I hear the in game announcers and the studio hosts are comical.

Embid was pretty hard to stop once he got into the paint - even with Horford covering him. Imo moreso in the 2nd half. Definitely fun to watch. Kind of amazing (at least to me) how much the Sixers have improved. Hadn't really watched them this year (until last night's game.)

But imo, the Sixers mailed it in on defense too many times. Too many Boston possessions with Embid occupying the paint and no Boston player within several feet of him. Every time that happened it seemed somebody in a white and green jersey ended up with a wide open shot. (Imo, a contributing factor in Boston's 3 pt fg %.)


-jp

.

Generally agree re 3-pt. variance -- no way Celts shoot 50% in the rest of this series and Rozier's 7-9 was a Halley's Comet event. But it was also obvious from the jump that not only were the Sixers rusty from the time off, but that they weren't taking Boston's offense seriously -- very often no rotation to shooters open after the fourth or fifth pass, and they were caught napping a few times in transition -- that Celt score off the dead ball made me laugh. Brown, who's a good coach, should take some of the blame for having Reddeck on Tatum so much of time -- don't think we'll see that in the next game -- and as Haralbob (who, as always, had the best take on the game) said, for playing two matador defenders like Belinelli and Reddeck at the same time. Still, all the Sixer starters except Reddeck are young guys who've never been in the playoffs before, and haven't yet completely grasped how much more intense and difficult the games are, round by round. As Jordan said, it's two different seasons.

Give these young guys credit though -- I thought they'd win ca. 45 games -- now they're throught the first round of the playoffs, after ending their season with a 16-game win streak -- the longest in the league this year. Embiid (with 31/13/5 last night) and Simmons are unstoppable players who should take the Sixers past the injury-depleted Celtics in this series. Looks like a match-up w/Lebron after that. Should be fun.

It definitely got their (Philly's) attention. Good thing they weren't at home. Losing a game 1 at home is trouble (see Toronto) after the first round. Embiid is a great talent with a big ego so game 1 was a good reminder they have to be better focused on defense. I think they will, and ultimately will win the series. But Stevens' team will play hard and make them work for it.

It was almost uncomfortable to see Toronto crumbling last night. Many suspected it would happen, and they are really in a tough spot now. IMO, game 1 was a MUST win for Toronto, given the setup, being at home against a tired Cleveland team.

Agree re Sixers -- as Embiid said today, '...our defense was trash', so I think the screws will be tightened in Game 2. Interesting if we see more of Fultz, who looked like the real deal in the few games he played -- possibly checking Rozier.
Guessing that this is the game they're looking to steal.

Surprised that the Raps were so pathetic in crunch time in their own building, especially against this weakened Cavs group -- doesn't bode well. If Lebron and Korver can get through the series without collapsing (forget about Love, who's really hampered by hand injuries), I think the Cavs hang on for the ECF.

Interesting thread.

Will watch more.

Boston has done a masterful job of exposing 76ers weakness and inexperience, right out of playbook of bill belichek, I think Simmons will rebound today.. at 6’10 and can handle and pass the ball better than guards a foot smaller, he’s a special talent... we’ll see?

i think we need to pump the brakes on simmons a little. guy is an athletic freak i agree but lets see how long it takes for him to develop an acceptable game from beyond 10 ft. to go a whole season without a 3 pt field goal and to shoot ft’s like he does is a disgrace.

Sayonara Sixers
 

Agree that this series really has been Sixers vs. the brilliant Brad Stevens and a quicker team with near-perfect execution. This was especially true in games 2 & 3, where a few key moves by Stevens and dumb mistakes by Sixers made all the difference. Yesterday, every time the Celts hit a scoring drought, Stevens would call time, draw up a play, and they would score off it. Even as a Sixer fan, that last lob into Horford was a thing of beauty, with a characteristically stupid swipe at the ball by Covington, who, although a great defender, has made a lot of dumb plays during this series -- and all year, for those who have been following -- aside from being 0-fer for two of these games.

Re Simmons' shooting limitations, this is no secret and hasn't stopped from scoring, but that has never been his calling card and isn't the reason that the Sixers are going to be knocked out of the playoffs. They're going out because they still lack the experience and hoops IQ to compete at this level -- not really that shocking if you think about it. They also need at least one all-star level player to move to higher levels -- that might be Fultz, or less likely Saric, but still too many unknowns to make a call. Right now, the Sixers have one too many one-way scorers (Reddick, Belinelli, to an extent Saric and Ilyasova) who can't play much D. Covington is a decent 3-and-D journeyman, but still screws up a lot despite years in the league. They have another lottery pick coming up this year, and possibly more wheeling and dealing to be done re Fultz and that pick. Still, a very promising year for this young team.