2018-19 NBA

[lansdale]

Originally Posted by lansdale

Durant had a short practice with the bench guys yesterday and a longer one with the full team today, without any apparent problems. so looking good. Supposedly, his eligibility to play is a game time call by the trainer. But since he's listed as having no minutes restriction, it looks like he will play and even start. Hints dropped by Iggy suggests he's about 70% of his usual self, which is still pretty good. Line on the game has moved from TOR -2 to PK, which seems about right to me -- and another sign that KD is really playing.

Scotiabank Center will be rockin' for what should be the best Finals game since the great 2016 GSW/Cavs series. LA friend who's a GSW fan trying to conjure Game 5 of the 2016 WCF that began the GSW backdoor sweep of OKC, where Klay had 11 threes, but I reminded him that this is now an older, much more battered group of players -- that truly would be miraculous. But I would love to see this series go at least twenty more games ;-).

P.S.

Thinking KD's contribution on D may be more important (and probably more reliable) than his shooting tonight. E.g. he's the only GSW big with the athleticism to hang with Siakem -- will be waiting to see if KD can block his shot.

[parlay]

Both teams will be looking to exert their dominance off the hop, but this series seems to hinge on who can get the run starting the 3rd quarter. This game can go anyways and not surprise anyone. Go RAPS

[thaskalos]

Can a 70% Durant justify the favoritism siding with the Warriors in tonight's game?

[lansdale]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

Can a 70% Durant justify the favoritism siding with the Warriors in tonight's game?

Don't gamblers always have to work with incomplete information? ;-)

[ReplayRandall]

The heart of a Champion, despite Boogie Cousins....

[cj]

KD's injury is the achilles. Bob Meyers just confirmed what was pretty obvious watching.

[lansdale]

I was sidetracked after the game, but just wanted to add, for those who don't follow hoops, that if the MRI reveals KD's injury to be a complete rupture of the achilles, which seems likely, he has all but certainly destroyed a large part of his career, if not all of it, to possibly win one game. The achilles tendon is the strongest muscle in the body, and crucial for the lift and explosiveness required by basketball.

For those ridiculing Cousins' play in this series, until last year, he was one of the best centers in the league -- having monster games as late as last spring, when he blew out his achilles. Following surgery, he has returned as basically a journeyman-level player.

[JustRalph]

Saw this on Twitter.......yikes!

Twitter

__________________
WE ARE THE DUMBEST COUNTRY ON THE PLANET!

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by lansdale

I was sidetracked after the game, but just wanted to add, for those who don't follow hoops, that if the MRI reveals KD's injury to be a complete rupture of the achilles, which seems likely, he has all but certainly destroyed a large part of his career, if not all of it, to possibly win one game. The achilles tendon is the strongest muscle in the body, and crucial for the lift and explosiveness required by basketball.

For those ridiculing Cousins' play in this series, until last year, he was one of the best centers in the league -- having monster games as late as last spring, when he blew out his achilles. Following surgery, he has returned as basically a journeyman-level player.

That's terrible.

Durant is one of the guys I root for. He came up in the DC-Area, PG County where I had played a lot of basketball.

I haven't followed basketball closely.

Read a comment about the point spread movement yesterday morning (on PA), and was interested enough to do some quick google/web-surfing.

-In that search, I came across several (what I would consider unreliable, especially in that context/before-the-achilles-injury) low-value sources, proclaiming that it was actually his achilles, and that by playing, he was risking a free-agent payday etc...

I dismissed that content as low value.

Then, last night, I checked score before falling off to sleep, and I see the terrible injury, and I see guys like (former NFL player) Sharpe, and Charles Barkley blabbing and tweeting 'i told you so' type of perspectives...

Kind of shocking. I don't know if these were just vulgar 'gossip' types, or if there really was an 'elephant in the room', regarding an obvious serious achilles risk. I can't imagine Durant and his team/agents giving the green light to play in such a situation, even with the possible heroics of helping Golden State reverse momentum in the championship series. But it happened. In hindsight, the vulgar gossipers look like they knew all along. I haven't followed his condition at all, outside of half-hour window yesterday/today.

[reckless]

Originally Posted by cj

KD's injury is the achilles. Bob Meyers just confirmed what was pretty obvious watching.

You're a bigger fan and expert than I am CJ, but does this injury mean Durant is out for the 2019-20 season? How about career-ending??

I recall years ago that achilles injuries were career ending. Thanks.

[Valuist]

Originally Posted by Valuist

Riding in the car today, I hear the ESPN voice over guy say "Monday Night is a must win for Golden State". Well, that's kind of obvious. But then I thought about it......couldn't one make the case it's also a "must win" for Toronto? If Golden State goes into Canada and wins game 5, they now have momentum. They head back for the final game ever at Oracle and the crowd is totally jacked, and the Dubs take that. So if it gets to game 7, then the narrative becomes "will the Raptors choke this away", just like OKC in 2016?

The Raptors did face some pressure against Philly and Milwaukee, but nothing like they will face Monday night. They better not tread lightly, and step on the Warriors throat while they have the chance.

Here we go. Toronto had their chance to close out the Warriors and they couldn't do it. Are the Warriors in their heads? Will the Raptors choke it away? If it gets to game 7, there is going to be a TON of pressure on Toronto.

[cj]

Originally Posted by reckless

You're a bigger fan and expert than I am CJ, but does this injury mean Durant is out for the 2019-20 season? How about career-ending??

I recall years ago that achilles injuries were career ending. Thanks.

Career ending, no, but will probably miss the whole season and definitely cost him a step and some spring.

[Valuist]

I'm playing two player props for game 6:

Klay Thompson Over 23.5 points
Boogie Cousins Under 11 points

While I think Toronto is probably the right bet tonight, if they lose tonight, they will go down in game 7, so I grabbed some Golden State +255 to take the series.

[lansdale]

Don't have quite the same level of interest in this series after watching KD blow out his Achilles the other night. Amazed that GSW medical staff gave him the green light to play -- guessing a suit is a possibility, especially since it seems as though a few teams still want to max KD despite the injury.

I was pretty depressed when posting about the possibile damage to KD's career after Game 5, but the linked Nate Silver piece below on the implications of KD's injury has a more objective take about its possible effect on h is career, ncluding a chart of some of the results of Achilles blowouts of NBA players of recent years. It seems that, except in the case of Dominique Wilkins, the better the player, the more unlikely they were able to recover anything close to their previous level of performance.





https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...d-free-agency/

[lansdale]

Originally Posted by Robert Fischer

That's terrible.

Durant is one of the guys I root for. He came up in the DC-Area, PG County where I had played a lot of basketball.

I haven't followed basketball closely.

Read a comment about the point spread movement yesterday morning (on PA), and was interested enough to do some quick google/web-surfing.

-In that search, I came across several (what I would consider unreliable, especially in that context/before-the-achilles-injury) low-value sources, proclaiming that it was actually his achilles, and that by playing, he was risking a free-agent payday etc...

I dismissed that content as low value.

Then, last night, I checked score before falling off to sleep, and I see the terrible injury, and I see guys like (former NFL player) Sharpe, and Charles Barkley blabbing and tweeting 'i told you so' type of perspectives...

Kind of shocking. I don't know if these were just vulgar 'gossip' types, or if there really was an 'elephant in the room', regarding an obvious serious achilles risk. I can't imagine Durant and his team/agents giving the green light to play in such a situation, even with the possible heroics of helping Golden State reverse momentum in the championship series. But it happened. In hindsight, the vulgar gossipers look like they knew all along. I haven't followed his condition at all, outside of half-hour window yesterday/today.

Hi RF,

I think you mentioned your own recovery from a sports-related injury, so I'm sure you can to relate to some of what KD is going through right now. Gotta be rough.

Re the media voices telling KD to back away from playing, they obviously were right. And it wasn't only in the public sphere that he was hearing this -- apparently a number of ex-players, including Sam Perkins called him and gave him the same advice. In the end, it's your body, and the interests of the individual athlete in protecting his ability to play at a high level for as long as possible, are not aligned with those of the either the team or the fans, who are intent on winning 'now.' I hope this incident will shut down some of the voices that demand that injured athletes play regardless of their condition.

Cheers,

lansdale