2006Coltsbestever

Denver just has too much for Miami. They have close to no weaknesses. Gordon had 27 tonight and Brown killed it in the 4th. It seems almost every game they have a different role player that has a career night and Joker and Murray never have a bad game. You can't defend a team that has 4 or 5 role players on any given night that can score 20. Congrats to Denver, it is their year.

Tonight is the night if we find out if Denver is really elite or will struggle their way to a Championship. They better not let Miami win tonight. Miami is a strange/resilient team, let them breathe and they can be dangerous.

I will stick with a 41 game suspension. I think that will give Ja time to reflect on what he has done to himself and his teammates. 41 games is half a season, that would put him out until January. During that time he should be ordered to go to counseling at least 3 times a week and should be denied any access to the arena at Memphis. He's rich but 41 games missed is still a lot of money to lose.

Game 4 will be the tell all to me. If Denver is clearly the better team and I think they are, they should win Game 4 and then win in 5. If Miami wins Game 4 then it is anyone's series because at 2-2 anything can happen. Injury, 1 bad game, etc.. I had a friend of mine ask me at work last night where do I rank Joker all-time. He knows I do all-time lists a lot. Honestly, I am not sure, I have to wait and see bow this series ends up 1st. In the Modern era which I call post-merger = ABA and NBA came together in the 1977 season, my top 10 would be: 1. Michael Jordan = 6 Championships, 6 Finals MVP's, 5 League MVP's. 6-0 in Finals. 2. Magic Johnson = Won Finals MVP as a rookie, still the best accomplishment I have ever seen. 5 Championships overall. 3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - If you go by just since 1977, he would still be 3rd as he has won 5 Championships since that time, 2 League MVP's, and a Finals MVP. He also played against tough legit 7'0 Centers every night. His SkyHook was the most unstoppable shot in NBA history. 4. LeBron James 5. Kobe Bryant 6. Larry Bird 7. Shaq O'Neal 8. Steph Curry 9. Tim Duncan 10. Hakeem Olajuwon -At this point if Joker does win his championship, who do you kick out of that top 10? Hakeem and Timmy would still have to be ranked higher right? To me Steph Curry changed the game and is the greatest shooter ever + he has won 4 Championships. Then we have had players like Moses Malone, Dwyane Wade, Karl Malone, Isiah Thomas, Dr J, Dirk Nowitzki as well. Joker is playing like Larry Bird on steroids right now though - I have had eye test on all these players which helps my analysis besides accomplishments.

Joker 32-21-10, best player in the league and not even close. @Jared Cisneros, 2 more wins but don't be surprised if Miami wins Game 4 - you know how the NBA is lol. I picked Denver in 7 and feel good about it, they have the better team, especially with the way Murray is playing.

This finals has been too predictable. Miami will win game 4 and get close calls by the refs because they won't lose 2 in a row at home. The league would prefer a long series.

I figured Denver would win tonight, they got HCA back. This series is going to go back and forth. I am 3-0 in picking finals games so far.

I have Denver winning Game 3. So far I have called the 1st 2 games right. I had Denver in Game 1, Miami in Game 2. We will see if I can keep my streak going. I just have a feeling Denver won't lose 2 in a row.

I can't really disagree with much you are saying because I have even stated the REFS can dictate certain plays when the play is close. I 100% agree with you that was a Goal Tend on Bam as well. I just think Denver still beat themselves by doing certain dumb things late in the game. They almost rely on the 3 too much but so does Miami. The key stats was Denver only made 11 3's, Miami made 17. Had Miami shot like 10 more FT's I could buy the REFS being really lousy but Denver even shot more FT's. Regarding games, I won't list them (that would take all day) but I can list at least 10 games in the Finals or Conference Finals play over the years where the REFS were worse than last night. IMO, I thought the 2004 Finals was borderline rigged when Detroit beat the Lakers. For that series the FT differential was 141-79 in the 5 games played so that was outrageously obvious that the REFS were on Detroit's side. Detroit won 4-1. The REFS let Detroit get away with everything when defending Kobe and Shaq. I see why you think like you do though, I felt like Miami got a few calls so no debate there.

Miami only shot 20 FT's, Denver shot 22 FT's. Miami made 17 3's, they deserve credit and that is the main reason why they won. Making 17 3's had nothing to do with the REFS.

You and I have talked about this a lot on how REFS can alter games. I will say this I have seen much worse Reffing in the past. Games where the Pacers got screwed playing the Knicks and Bulls in the playoffs. Kings/Lakers in 2002, etc.. This wasn't even close to that. I am not really disagreeing with you but I have seen worse. To me Denver just went cold, they had an 8 point lead in the 4th Qtr, Miami was making everything in the 4th. Guys like Bruce Brown and Porter have been playing like Hall of Famers these whole playoffs and finally they came back down to earth. Regarding Morant I will predict he gets 41 games. To me that seems appropriate for what he did, that is half a season. Hopefully he gets the help he needs and learns a valuable lesson.

I listen to CBS sports radio a lot, this guy name Shep is a joke. Last series every time Tatum would have a bad game vs Miami, he would say the guy will never lead a team to a championship, then when Tatum would have a great game he would say, Tatum is a franchise player. He said Boston was going to destroy Miami after Miami lost game 6, WRONG. Last night he was saying Miami had no chance in this series and they were toast, WRONG! He was calling Denver a Dynasty - I mean come on dude! He also said he could beat Mike Tyson in a Boxing match because he is 36 years old and Tyson is old. He wants to fight Tyson. I wish he would so I don't have to hear from him anymore . Tyson would knock this guy out within 2 minutes, this Shep guy is thin and weighs maybe a buck 80. Who hires these fools? I weigh 200 pound, I will train for 3 months as far as running and hit the heavy bag and I would take that dude on. I used to run 7 miles a day up until I was roughly 40 and I can still bench 225 pound down to chest and up and I am 51. Back in the day I put up 275 once. I would put the ol' Homer on him - Homer in 3 . I love JR who does the Sport Brief, that guy knows his stuff and is smart, his side kick Shep is a different story.

If it does come down to a game 7, I would put huge money on Denver. Well not huge but maybe 200 or so. I think Denver will win game 3 to get HCA back but Miami gets game 4 just to be a pain . Just my gut. I have been right so far on the 1st 2.

I had Denver in 7 before the series started. I think it will come down to game 7 and Joker and Murray will dominate at home.

Thing is, I thought the REFS were terrible in game 1, they favored Denver bigtime there. How does a team only shoot 2 FT's. I thought tonight Miami got a lot of calls but after game 1 I expected it.

I won 100 dollars tonight, I bet on Miami. I knew they would win tonight because Denver was due for a loss and Miami only shot 2 FT's last game so I figured the REFS would help Miami out more tonight. Joker still did his thing looking like Magic Johnson . Having said that, Denver does have the better team and still should win the series but this makes it interesting at least.

@Jared Cisneros, you ok? Miami is no joke. Series tied 1-1.

Cubs in 3rd place in the NL Central somehow as of now = June 4th: 1. Brewers 32-27 2. Pirates 31-27 (.5) 3. Cubs 26-32 (5.5) 4. Reds 26-33 (6) 5. Cards 25-35 (7.5) -Cards still struggling which is shocking. Cubs only 5.5 games back out of 1st, who knows

I will stick with 8 wins. 8-8-1, that is as of now. I have us tying the Patriots lol.

One thing I have noticed too is, the players have kept politics out of the sport. I haven't heard 1 player talk about politics these whole playoffs which has been also refreshing.

This too. Forming super teams is something I am against, basically cheating the salary cap and big markets can pay the luxury tax. I hated what Lebron did going to Miami in his prime. It assured him that he would win a Championship. Made it easier for him. Having said that, I still think Lebron would have won at least one Championship without doing so. The one he won in Cleveland was his best by far In beating the Warriors when he went back. Lebron earned that one.

Bill Russell is a top 10 player of all-time just based off his defense, rebounding, leadership, and winning but the people that rank him top 5 put too much weight on his Championships. Back when he played it was easier to win a Championship, 8 of his 11 Championships won his teams only had to win 2 series to do so and the league had a lot less teams. Some don't even know that. Boston had all the great players, only competition they had was Wilt and Wilt couldn't do it by himself. The Lakers had Elgin Baylor and Jerry West but after that were thin. Boston had several all-stars on their teams every year. Put Wilt on the Celtics (take Russell off) during the 60's they would have never lost.

ESPN came out with a new top 5 of all-time players list as of 2023, their list is: 5. Magic Johnson 4. Bill Russell 3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2. LeBron James 1. Michael Jordan - There panel consist of the guys that work there and analyze all the games = people like Stephen A. Smith, Mike Greenberg, JJ Redick, Tim Legler, Brian Windhorst. It was a list that those guys ended up agreeing on. Bill Simmons who wrote a book on the top 100 players of all-time, came out with his recent top 5 (2023) - it has changed from his book which he wrote in 2010, he has: 5. Magic Johnson 4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 3. Bill Russell 2. LeBron James 1. Michael Jordan Mine as of 2023 is: 5. Kobe Bryant - what put him in my top 5 was, him winning the Back to Back Championships without Shaq = 2009, 2010. His 2nd best player was Pau Gasol and the rest of the team were role players that were ok but weren't great. (Associated with the LA Lakers) 4. LeBron James (associated with the Cleveland Cavaliers) 3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (associated with the LA Lakers) 2. Magic Johnson (associated with the LA Lakers) 1. Michael Jordan (associated with the Chicago Bulls) -I think both ESPN and Bill Simmons rank Bill Russell way too high. Simmons is from Boston though and loves the Celtics. It is because of Championships so I get it but he wasn't even better than Shaq O'Neal IMO. Shaq was way more dominant offensively. I do have Bill Russell in my top 10 but not top 5. I think Wilt Chamberlain was actually a better player compared to Russell as well, he just didn't win like Russell. When it comes to Larry Bird, that was my toughest top 5 omission, but IMO Kobe was a hair better. Bird is the greatest Celtic in NBA history not Russell.

I may now get back to watching the NBA more next season. What these playoffs have shown me that the game is definitely not rigged. I never thought it was anyway but I thought for sure the Refs would help the Lakers and Celtics a lot to get to the Finals = (which means altered, different from rigged). If the game was rigged there would never be a Nuggets vs Heat series. Nuggets are a small market team that have 1 Superstar in Jokic that gets overlooked league wise and the Heat have 1 semi-superstar in Butler and a bunch of role players. I will watch these Finals and hope for some great NBA basketball. I have no dog in the fight here. I am not even going to bet on the series either, I just want to sit back and watch 2 teams that nobody thought would be here. I hope the series goes 7. I was looking at the players over the years that have been considered great that don't have a ring. To the novice fan, some would be shocked at how many players haven't won one. Since 1980 Karl Malone Charles Barkley John Stockton Reggie Miller Patrick Ewing James Harden Joel Embiid CP3 Paul George Jayson Tatum Steve Nash -Those are just 11 names off the top of my head that haven't won a ring. Now you have Nikola Jokic (Joker) and Jimmy Butler, who gets the ultimate prize? Neither have a ring. My early pick, Nuggets in 7 but the Heat are gritty and scrappy. This will be an interesting series. The Nuggets don't want to give the Heat any life early in the series as in, they better win the 1st 2 games in Denver. If the Heat get a split going back to Miami, look out.

How about those mighty Heat? This made my whole week watching the Celtics get punked in a Game 7 on their home floor when nobody gave the Heat a chance tonight . The east coast biased is sickening and Boston fans in general are rude and snobs. Jimmy Butler sent them fishing