I wrote Deng instead of Noah. I must have been high, somehow. I'll be extremely difficult for Deng to carry the Bulls, and even with Noah they've struggled. I can't see them going through.
Philly looks solid, they did a great job closing the game out. Any team in the East should be worried playing them. They're turning into the Grizzles of the East.
Of course they look solid, they're going against a very handicapped Bulls. In other news, The Knicks stay alive for another game. Which means a very good chance at seeing the return of Lin on Wednesday.
Heat blew a 7 point lead. Disappointing, but holy fuck those closing minutes were amazing. Knicks be raining down dem threes.
Still waiting for the Knicks to play even remotely good. It's amazing how bad they can play and still make it to a game 5.
Stick a fork in the Bulls. Time to heal up and adjust for a run in 2013. Only a few months until Bears camp opens up...
The entire Eastern Conference is handicapped at this point. I'm surprised with how well Boston is playing, too.
The Eastern Conference is particularly interesting this year. I mean, I don't think the Knicks are going to be able to stave off the Heat for another game, especially now that they're going back to Miami. I was impressed but not surprised that they could hold for one game, but they're not on the level that Miami is. Philadelphia is looking good, but the Bulls are making them look good because they're without their leading scorer and their leading rebounder. Unfortunately, the Bulls will not progress and Philly will have to stave off teams that are in better places. Boston is looking really good at this point now that they seem to have most of their players back, and I think they're peaking at the right time. The Pacers are looking like the favorites apart from the Heat coming out of the East. They are stacked.
Yeah, these playoffs are the first time I really got to see the Pacers play since back in 2003-2004 when they had Artest and O'Neil and their biggest rival was the Pistons. Danny Granger is doing well and there are a lot of key roll players on that team that contribute solid numbers. Unfortunately, I think the Heat just have too much star power. With Boston, they have a few aging stars and a few up-and-coming players, but I just pray that no other serious injuries are sustained for any team. This season was riddled with injuries across the board, which is just a product of the shortened season, I suppose.
Apparently Lin isn't looking too good for a possible Game 5 return, but either way, I do recall the Heat taking the Knicks down by 14 in the middle of Linsanity.
Yeah, the Heat broke the winning streak of the Knicks during Linsanity, and it wasn't soon after that the craze died down and he got injured. The Knicks are as good as done, even if he were to play in Game 5. Like Apop said, they have too much star power, and the Knicks can hardly get their two stars to coordinate.
Plus the fact that a fair long absence from the game can definitely stop anyone's stride, I'd say the Knicks should let him recover completely and not 'risk' it.
We've seen Lin shooting around, dribbling, and driving for days now, I don't understand. It doesn't seem like he's too injured, but I guess this craze will have to re-start come next season.
Considering the type of surgery Lin had typically takes about 2-3 months for a full recovery, I'm not surprised. He probably doesn't feel comfortable with having to adjust his play due to the knee. On top of that there's always phantom pain, or the mental notion that a certain body part is still hurt. I've seen many an athlete in my day who have torn ACLs and, years later, feel lingering pain that isn't actually there.
That's definitely true, it's just misleading seeing him warm-up so efficiently then wearing a suit on the sidelines. Either way, the Knicks are playing that one smart because players like Rose and Howard who were playing with nagging injuries ended up making things worse. Better for the team and Lin in the long run if he sits out the rest of the season (assuming Miami ends the series Wednesday night).
So the Bulls, Hawks and Nuggets each take away wins in order to keep their series' alive. Interesting. --- Edit: Heat finally deliver the final blow to the Knicks, but fuck, Indiana could give us some shit.
I hope they do. Because fuck the Heat. Yes, Lebron is a good enough player that he deserves a ring. But guess what? So does Steve Nash. And I'd MUCH rather see HIM get his first ring before Lebron than the other way around. So in order to fulfill that dream, the Heat have to go down to the Pacers this round. In other words, the Western Conference is where I'm at now. OKC or the Clippers for me. Because fuck the Lakers and I'm not a big fan of the Spurs.
They could, but don't rely on it. I hope LeBron hits up with a bazillion points. I am also hoping Chicago can tie the series, I want a game 7! Same with Memphis.
I think we all know who the best team is ;p I've been following the whole season pretty closely since the All-Star break.