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As crazy as it sounds considering they're a young team, this might have been the best chance the Pacers have ever had for a title.  No Jordan.  No Shaq and Kobe.  No Lebron. No Curry.  They should be up 2-1, possibly headed to the finals to play a very beatable Dallas team.  In another year or two, a new dominant player and team might emerge.

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36 minutes ago, #12. said:

As crazy as it sounds considering they're a young team, this might have been the best chance the Pacers have ever had for a title.  No Jordan.  No Shaq and Kobe.  No Lebron. No Curry.  They should be up 2-1, possibly headed to the finals to play a very beatable Dallas team.  In another year or two, a new dominant player and team might emerge.

I still think the window will be wide open next season too. Haliburton will only get better and we are young and deep. No 1 player is going to emerge to be an all-time great in 1 year. People have to remember, Bennedict Mathurin is out and he was the Pacers 4th best player when he was playing averaging 15 points a game. Denver will still be tough with Joker, Knicks will be healthier, Boston is Boston but nothing unbeatable stands out. I think Dallas can beat Boston.

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I do want to say, although this series isn't going the way I thought it would down 0-3, this has still been a very fun ride. Making the Final 4 isn't easy no matter how you get there. If the season ends Monday, I will tip my hat to Boston and acknowledge they have the better team. Who knows maybe we will win Monday and at least extend the series.

 

Once you reach the Final 4, you play the elite teams and Boston has been the best team all season in reality. Losing Game 1 to Boston was a gut punch because we had it won, but really the only gut punch I have felt all playoffs. Pacers had a chance last night as well, was up 18 at one time (only lost by 3) but the experience of the Celtics on how to close games at this stage was glaring. 

 

Great moments during this run have been

*Game 3 vs the Bucks: Haliburton makes game winning shot to give the Pacers a 2-1 series lead. That 121-118 win in overtime was the series pretty much. Pacers beat a division rival in Round 1 of the Playoffs 4-2.

 

*Game 3 vs the Knicks: With season on the line, down 0-2 in the series, Nembhard makes a 32-foot 3 pointer with the game tied at 106-106 to help the Pacers win 111-106.

 

*Game 4 vs the Knicks: Is now called the Mother's Day Massacre, Pacers blow Knicks out 121-89, series tied 2-2.

 

*Game 7 at New York: ESPN's Knicks = Stephen A. Smith, Molly Qerim, Monica McNutt, Big Perk, Mike Greenberg, Doris Burke, and celebrities = Ben Stiller, Jon Stewart, Tracy Morgan, Spike Lee, John McEnroe - we ruined your summer! Pacers set an NBA record and shot 67% from the field and 54% from 3 in a Game 7 on the road to take down the mighty Knicks in Madison Square Garden Season 1 Episode 10 GIF by The Simpsonshomer simpson laughing GIF. I hate Boston but hate the Knicks more.

 

The 2024 season achievements

*Won 47 games (47-35) and clinched that vital 6th seed, stayed out of the playin game.

 

*Beat the Knicks in the Semi-Finals to advance to the Final 4.

 

*Pacers had the #1 offense in the entire league scoring wise.

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8 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Difference in the game was, they made 16 3s to our 5. That is a 48-15 advantage. It's miracle we only lost by 3 with that crazy stat + Haliburton was out. Pacers could be up 2-1 in this series but shoulda woulda coulda as some say. This has been a very good season regardless, and other than Game 2, Pacers have played Boston tough. We at least made the Final 4 and beat NY in the Semi's so those are very bright points.

I find it interesting that Pacers fans have completely ignored Porzingis being out.  If Porzingis were playing, none of these games would have been remotely close.

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Everytime the pacers made a shot down the stretch, the Celtics would come back and make a 3... 🫣 Sorry guys..

 

And Dallas is absolutely shocking me against the wolves.. I don't know about them in the finals

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And let’s also remember that the Pacers have had, BY FAR, the easiest road perhaps ever to the ECF.

 

Bucks:  missing Giannis and Lillard for significant time.

Knicks:  missing what, 3-4 starters?  Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic missed all seven games. Mitchell Robinson got hurt in Game 1. OG Anunoby got hurt in Game 2, though he suited up in Game 7 but was pulled after just 4 minutes of play. Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson played while injury throughout the series.
 

Celtics:  no Porzingis, their 2nd or 3rd most important player.

 

Yes, injuries are a part of sports, but the Pacers’ run is a mirage.  Against healthy teams they probably wouldn’t have gotten past the first round. 

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7 minutes ago, NFLUp said:

I find it interesting that Pacers fans have completely ignored Porzingis being out.  If Porzingis were playing, none of these games would have been remotely close.

Bennedict Mathurin has been out, he was 4th best Pacers player out there. Just like Porzingis is for Boston. Porzingis might even be 5th behind White. White scares me more from 3. Tatum, Brown, and Holiday are definitely their top 3 players. Tatum is overrated IMO though, he chokes in big games a lot. I like Brown better as a player.

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5 minutes ago, NFLUp said:

And let’s also remember that the Pacers have had, BY FAR, the easiest road perhaps ever to the ECF.

 

Bucks:  missing Giannis and Lillard for significant time.

Knicks:  missing what, 3-4 starters?  Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic missed all seven games. Mitchell Robinson got hurt in Game 1. OG Anunoby got hurt in Game 2, though he suited up in Game 7 but was pulled after just 4 minutes of play. Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson played while injury throughout the series.
 

Celtics:  no Porzingis, their 2nd or 3rd most important player.

 

Yes, injuries are a part of sports, but the Pacers’ run is a mirage.  Against healthy teams they probably wouldn’t have gotten past the first round. 

Boston played the Heat with no Jimmy Butler; last season Miami beat them with a healthy Jimmy. Then the Celtics beat the Cavs and the Cavs didn't have Mitchell for the last 2 games and Allen missed the whole series. Then last night, no way you guys win if Haliburton is out there, not the way we were playing offensively. 

 

Talk about playing teams with injuries, every team Boston has beat has been missing their best player for at least some time in each series.

 

Good luck against Dallas because you won't beat them. Luka is better than Tatum, Irving is better than Brown. Dallas has star power and you guys won't get REF help against them either, not with Mark Cuban on the sideline chuckling homer simpson GIF

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16 minutes ago, Chrisaaron1023 said:

Everytime the pacers made a shot down the stretch, the Celtics would come back and make a 3... 🫣 Sorry guys..

 

And Dallas is absolutely shocking me against the wolves.. I don't know about them in the finals

Dallas will win it all, Tatum chokes every year. Tatum was choking in Game 1 of our series but Brown bailed him out with a lucky 3 and we bailed him out by playing dumb in the last 10 seconds.

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14 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Dallas will win it all, Tatum chokes every year. Tatum was choking in Game 1 of our series but Brown bailed him out with a lucky 3 and we bailed him out by playing dumb in the last 10 seconds.

Tatum didn't choke last night, with 36 points and 10 rebounds. I was impressed with Andrew Nembhard, filling in for Haliburton. Nembhard had 32 points, just wasn't enough to overcome. Good effort by the Pacers, but they couldn't stop the Celtics last minute run. 

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1 minute ago, teganslaw said:

Tatum didn't choke last night, with 36 points and 10 rebounds. I was impressed with Andrew Nembhard, filling in for Haliburton. Nembhard had 32 points, just wasn't enough to overcome. Good effort by the Pacers, but they couldn't stop the Celtics last minute run. 

That is the best game Tatum has played all playoffs long. I am going back 6 years full of chokes where he has played lousy vs the Cavs, Heat, and Warriors. In Game 1 vs the Pacers he was short arming everything in the 4th Qtr too and got bailed out, everyone knows it.

 

Pacers have a young team and haven't been on this stage yet with this core so for anyone to put the Pacers down for losing is comical. Boston has been here 6 times with Tatum and Brown, you would think they would've won it all by now. I mean 1-4 in Conference Finals is pathetic and 0-1 in the Finals. Yes, they are going to beat Indy and they should, hell Vegas had them a 10-point favorite in Game 1 and had the series only going 5. 

 

Dallas is a different animal. Irving has Championship experience against the Warriors by beating them on a last second shot and Luka is arguably the best player in the league. 

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I’m rooting for Boston the rest of the way bc of Brad Stevens being an Indiana guy and played ball at Depauw in Greencastle. Read that he quit his job at Eli Lilly to take an intern coaching position at Butler and worked his way up to running the Celtics. Great story and a great basketball mind. 
 

As far as best player in the NBA it’s clearly Jokic.  The new emerging player to watch is Anthony Edwards. I believe the rest of the league is watching that guy knowing he is going to hard to beat the rest of his career. Of course, no denying Luka is a star and will be a force for years to come too. 

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After Denver lost, I was praying Dallas would come out of the West because I know Minnesota would get the short end of the officiating against Boston. Dallas hasn't won yet but up 2-0 with HCA advantage, they have a 96% chance as of now of winning the series.

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5 minutes ago, AwesomeAustin said:

I’m rooting for Boston the rest of the way bc of Brad Stevens being an Indiana guy and played ball at Depauw in Greencastle. Read that he quit his job at Eli Lilly to take an intern coaching position at Butler and worked his way up to running the Celtics. Great story and a great basketball mind. 
 

As far as best player in the NBA it’s clearly Jokic.  The new emerging player to watch is Anthony Edwards. I believe the rest of the league is watching that guy knowing he is going to hard to beat the rest of his career. Of course, no denying Luka is a star and will be a force for years to come too. 

Joker is the best player (I agree) in the league but out of the players playing right now in the playoffs, it's Luka.

 

As far as Brad Stevens goes, love the guy, love what he did at Butler but no way in hell will I ever root for Boston, unless they played the Knicks, and I still wouldn't care who won that lol.

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If you look at all the Final 4's that the Pacers have been in, they have been favored only twice, underdog in the rest. They are 1-1 in such series when they were favored. So, they were supposed to lose unlike this current Boston Celtics core. Where they have been favored in most of theirs. They have been underdog only twice, that was vs LeBron's Cavs in 2017 and 2018.

 

1994 vs NY - underdog vs Ewing and the baddest team on the planet with bruisers, and it still went 7. They had HCA.

 

1995 vs Orlando - underdog vs Shaq and Penny, it still went 7. They had HCA.

 

1998 vs Chicago - major underdog vs Jordan/Pippen/Rodman/Kukoc/Phil and the Pacers had them crapping their pants in a close Game 7 loss. They had HCA.

 

1999 vs NY - Ok we choked there, we were favored, the only outlier. Lost in 6.

 

2000 vs NY - Pacers were favored, and won in 6. Huge underdog in the Finals though. No team was beating Shaq at his best, Kobe in his prime, with Phil coaching. Pacers still took them 6. Lakers had HCA.

 

2004 vs Detroit - underdog, still took them 6. Pacers had the better record that season, but Vegas had Detroit a slight favorite.

 

2013 vs Miami - huge underdog against a paid for team and stars getting together. Pacers lost in 7 to LeBron, Wade, Bosh, and Allen lmao . It took them 7 to beat us.

 

2014 vs Miami - underdog again, Miami was the Champs and Pacers still took them 6.

 

2024 vs Boston - huge underdog, Vegas had this series going 5 and the Pacers were even 10-point underdogs in Game 1.

 

Point to all of this, Pacers really don't choke, they just come up against loaded stack teams every time they go deep in the playoffs. 

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1 hour ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Joker is the best player (I agree) in the league but out of the players playing right now in the playoffs, it's Luka.

 

As far as Brad Stevens goes, love the guy, love what he did at Butler but no way in hell will I ever root for Boston, unless they played the Knicks, and I still wouldn't care who won that lol.

Totally understand!!  I guess I’ve always rooted for the Celtics since watching Larry Bird as a kid. Even though it was towards the end of his career,(I was 10 when he retired) I knew he was from Indiana so liked them. Also helps that I’m not a huge basketball fan and only root for the Pacers bc they are the home team. I will admit I’m a fair weather fan when it comes to Bball so won’t really watch them when they are bad. I kind of root for greatness in the NBA and just enjoy watching good basketball no matter the team

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2 minutes ago, AwesomeAustin said:

Totally understand!!  I guess I’ve always rooted for the Celtics since watching Larry Bird as a kid. Even though it was towards the end of his career,(I was 10 when he retired) I knew he was from Indiana so liked them. Also helps that I’m not a huge basketball fan and only root for the Pacers bc they are the home team. I will admit I’m a fair weather fan when it comes to Bball so won’t really watch them when they are bad. I kind of root for greatness in the NBA and just enjoy watching good basketball no matter the team

I was a Magic Johnson guy, yeah, I know odd but loved his style of play as a young kid. I thought he was the best thing ever with his passing and just his love for the game and will to win. He could score anytime he wanted, get teammates involved, Rebound, and control a game much like Bird could. Bird was a better shooter and from here, so I didn't dislike him by no means.

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If someone wanted to put Bird in their top 5 ever, I would be ok with it. I think Jordan and Magic were better but after that Larry Legend has an argument with anyone else. LeBron and Kobe are up there, Shaq as far as dominance as well. Kareem is the best Center of all-time IMO. Curry is the best 3-point shooter of all-time, not by much though, Reggie is right there.

 

@NFLUp, don't even give me Bill Russell is in the top 5 because he won 11 Championships. His offensive deficiencies' alone takes him out of the top 5. 11 of his championships won, he and Boston only had to win 2 series in 8 of those. They played cream puffs back then. If they played a team the 80's Lakers, that Lakers team would run them off the floor and wouldn't lose a game, it would be 4-0. James Worthy would dominate those Celtics teams from the 60's lmao .

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8 hours ago, #12. said:

As crazy as it sounds considering they're a young team, this might have been the best chance the Pacers have ever had for a title.  No Jordan.  No Shaq and Kobe.  No Lebron. No Curry.  They should be up 2-1, possibly headed to the finals to play a very beatable Dallas team.  In another year or two, a new dominant player and team might emerge.

This is pretty much how I feel… you never know what the future holds. It’s easy to say “we’ll be back next year”, but will we? 
 

We’ve had two games so far we should have won, and have not been able to finish the deal… we should be 2-1 right now. 
 

It’s just frustrating… 

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28 minutes ago, RollerColt said:

This is pretty much how I feel… you never know what the future holds. It’s easy to say “we’ll be back next year”, but will we? 
 

We’ve had two games so far we should have won, and have not been able to finish the deal… we should be 2-1 right now. 
 

It’s just frustrating… 

Yeah, that's the thing, you never know when you'll win a championship or make it to the finals. Nuggets were up 3-2 and blew the series to the Wolves. One game was a blowout, and the other we just blew the lead. I'm one of the Colts fans who says the Colts underperformed with Manning only winning 1 SB, but it's hard to win championships. My Braves took 26 to win another championship after 95, and we were winning the division and making the playoffs every year. Nuggets were probably the best team in the West and we faced the wrong opponent in the playoffs. Injuries can kill a playoff run as well. 

 

I hope you win 4 in a row, but if it doesn't happen, just think of the Pacers season as the 2014 Colts where you made the final 4. It's a season you should be proud of and hopefully you can build upon it. :thmup:

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4 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

Yeah, that's the thing, you never know when you'll win a championship or make it to the finals. Nuggets were up 3-2 and blew the series to the Wolves. One game was a blowout, and the other we just blew the lead. I'm one of the Colts fans who says the Colts underperformed with Manning only winning 1 SB, but it's hard to win championships. My Braves took 26 to win another championship after 95, and we were winning the division and making the playoffs every year. Nuggets were probably the best team in the West and we faced the wrong opponent in the playoffs. Injuries can kill a playoff run as well. 

 

I hope you win 4 in a row, but if it doesn't happen, just think of the Pacers season as the 2014 Colts where you made the final 4. It's a season you should be proud of and hopefully you can build upon it. :thmup:

Pacers window is still wide open. This is really the 1st season this team has played together as a unit, they are young and everyone will be back next season assuming we re-sign Siakam which I am certain it will happen. It even took Joker and Murray a few years together to win it all, they failed in 2020-2022 for 3 years until last season in 2023. 

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3 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

If someone wanted to put Bird in their top 5 ever, I would be ok with it. I think Jordan and Magic were better but after that Larry Legend has an argument with anyone else. LeBron and Kobe are up there, Shaq as far as dominance as well. Kareem is the best Center of all-time IMO. Curry is the best 3-point shooter of all-time, not by much though, Reggie is right there.

 

@NFLUp, don't even give me Bill Russell is in the top 5 because he won 11 Championships. His offensive deficiencies' alone takes him out of the top 5. 11 of his championships won, he and Boston only had to win 2 series in 8 of those. They played cream puffs back then. If they played a team the 80's Lakers, that Lakers team would run them off the floor and wouldn't lose a game, it would be 4-0. James Worthy would dominate those Celtics teams from the 60's lmao .

I find basketball top 5 one of the hardest to rank. It really is in my eyes, Jordan/Lebron and then everyone else.   How do you really rank players like Kobe, Duncan, Bird, Magic, Wilt, Malone, Dr J, Pistol Pete, Dirk, Shaq, Hakeem etc  There have been so many good ones with arguments for them all. Put these players on different teams and so much could change. Heck, in 20yrs there will be someone else that will change the game.  Like I said, I’m more of a fan of greatness. I loved watching the GSW teams, the Bulls 3pts, the Lakers with Shaq and Kobe, those Spurs teams that seemed to win every 3/4 years etc. I love just sitting back and seeing a star take over a game and just enjoy it for what it is. This next group coming up looks awesome. While the game has changed, it’s still just as exciting in the playoffs as when I was a kid. 

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1 hour ago, AwesomeAustin said:

I find basketball top 5 one of the hardest to rank. It really is in my eyes, Jordan/Lebron and then everyone else.   How do you really rank players like Kobe, Duncan, Bird, Magic, Wilt, Malone, Dr J, Pistol Pete, Dirk, Shaq, Hakeem etc  There have been so many good ones with arguments for them all. Put these players on different teams and so much could change. Heck, in 20yrs there will be someone else that will change the game.  Like I said, I’m more of a fan of greatness. I loved watching the GSW teams, the Bulls 3pts, the Lakers with Shaq and Kobe, those Spurs teams that seemed to win every 3/4 years etc. I love just sitting back and seeing a star take over a game and just enjoy it for what it is. This next group coming up looks awesome. While the game has changed, it’s still just as exciting in the playoffs as when I was a kid. 

It's tough to rank all-time players because of the different era's, same for football as people have pointed out to me. Football wise, how can you compare Otto Graham to Peyton Manning realistically? You almost have to go by era. IMO, the 80's is when players as a whole started to get more athletic, stronger, faster, quicker, and all the Centers were mostly around 7'0 tall. Bill Russell at 6'9 220 would have been a PF in the 80's. Magic was 6'9 220 and was a point guard. The only player back in the 50's/60's that was a freak of nature was Wilt Chamberlain.

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If I just ranked players since the 1977 merger, my top 10 would be:

1. Michael Jordan

 

2. Magic Johnson

 

3. LeBron James

 

4. Abdul-Jabbar would still be 4th. Since 1977 he did win 2 League MVP's (77 and 80), a Finals MVP vs Boston in 1985, and dominated his Center position up until really his last season which was 1989 when he was a shell of himself.

 

5. Kobe Bryant

 

6. Larry Bird

 

7. Shaq O'Neal

 

8. Tim Duncan

 

9. Steph Curry

 

10. Hakeem Olajuwon

 

5 Best 3-point in game shooters I have seen since the merger:

1. Steph Curry

2. Reggie Miller

3. Ray Allen

4. Larry Bird

5. Dirk Nowitzki

 

 

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1 hour ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

If I just ranked players since the 1977 merger, my top 10 would be:

1. Michael Jordan

 

2. Magic Johnson

 

3. LeBron James

 

4. Abdul-Jabbar would still be 4th. Since 1977 he did win 2 League MVP's (77 and 80), a Finals MVP vs Boston in 1985, and dominated his Center position up until really his last season which was 1989 when he was a shell of himself.

 

5. Kobe Bryant

 

6. Larry Bird

 

7. Shaq O'Neal

 

8. Tim Duncan

 

9. Steph Curry

 

10. Hakeem Olajuwon

 

5 Best 3-point in game shooters I have seen since the merger:

1. Steph Curry

2. Reggie Miller

3. Ray Allen

4. Larry Bird

5. Dirk Nowitzki

 

 

Bird didn't take many 3s, so stat wise people will say he doesn't belong in the top 5 regarding in game makes. Having said that, back in the 80's players didn't shoot a lot of 3s. When he shot a 3 it was usually at a crucial time in the game or even for a game winner. I would trust him to make 3 at the end of the game if my life depended on it. He also won 3 straight 3-point shooting contests and toy'd around doing it from 1986-1988. He is one of the greatest shooters ever easily.

 

@Yoshinator FWIW: I think Joker is a Top 20 player of all-time already - since the 1977 merger anyway. He has the Championship, Finals MVP, 3 League MVP's, and is dominant. He plays like a Point Guard at times and is an exceptional passer. Sorry that Denver lost, I was shocked actually. 

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3 minutes ago, Chrisaaron1023 said:

Good lord.. we won't have basketball for a week. Both conferences will be done by Tuesday..

June 6th is Game 1 of the Finals. Porzingis will even be back for Boston so they will have no excuses, I can't wait for the Tatum choke again. It's coming. Luka is toying around with Minnesota and Uncle Drew taking Edwards to school. Hell Pacers may even win tomorrow, we should be up 2-1 in the series.

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14 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Bennedict Mathurin has been out, he was 4th best Pacers player out there. Just like Porzingis is for Boston. Porzingis might even be 5th behind White. White scares me more from 3. Tatum, Brown, and Holiday are definitely their top 3 players. Tatum is overrated IMO though, he chokes in big games a lot. I like Brown better as a player.

Clearly you don’t understand how the Celts work.  Porzingis’ plus/minus is freakin’ +417 for the season.

Jalen Brown:  + 413


Mathurin:  -92.

 

its hilariously not a contest.  Porzingis is arguably the second most important Celtic.  
 

Mathurin, hahahaha.

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13 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Boston played the Heat with no Jimmy Butler; last season Miami beat them with a healthy Jimmy. Then the Celtics beat the Cavs and the Cavs didn't have Mitchell for the last 2 games and Allen missed the whole series. Then last night, no way you guys win if Haliburton is out there, not the way we were playing offensively. 

 

Talk about playing teams with injuries, every team Boston has beat has been missing their best player for at least some time in each series.

 

Good luck against Dallas because you won't beat them. Luka is better than Tatum, Irving is better than Brown. Dallas has star power and you guys won't get REF help against them either, not with Mark Cuban on the sideline chuckling homer simpson GIF

Your ignorance of NBA basketball is fannnntastic.  
Celtics were beating Cleveland handily even with Mitchell. 
Celtics last year didn’t have Holiday or Porzingis.  
 

Celtics will crush the Mavericks.  They have won their last four against the Mavs, including a butt whooping on March 3rd.

 

Absolutely hilarious. 

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13 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

That is the best game Tatum has played all playoffs long. I am going back 6 years full of chokes where he has played lousy vs the Cavs, Heat, and Warriors. In Game 1 vs the Pacers he was short arming everything in the 4th Qtr too and got bailed out, everyone knows it.

 

Pacers have a young team and haven't been on this stage yet with this core so for anyone to put the Pacers down for losing is comical. Boston has been here 6 times with Tatum and Brown, you would think they would've won it all by now. I mean 1-4 in Conference Finals is pathetic and 0-1 in the Finals. Yes, they are going to beat Indy and they should, hell Vegas had them a 10-point favorite in Game 1 and had the series only going 5. 

 

Dallas is a different animal. Irving has Championship experience against the Warriors by beating them on a last second shot and Luka is arguably the best player in the league. 

Two players make a championship team?  Two small forwards, in fact?

again, you’re showing your basketball ignorance.  

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11 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

If someone wanted to put Bird in their top 5 ever, I would be ok with it. I think Jordan and Magic were better but after that Larry Legend has an argument with anyone else. LeBron and Kobe are up there, Shaq as far as dominance as well. Kareem is the best Center of all-time IMO. Curry is the best 3-point shooter of all-time, not by much though, Reggie is right there.

 

@NFLUp, don't even give me Bill Russell is in the top 5 because he won 11 Championships. His offensive deficiencies' alone takes him out of the top 5. 11 of his championships won, he and Boston only had to win 2 series in 8 of those. They played cream puffs back then. If they played a team the 80's Lakers, that Lakers team would run them off the floor and wouldn't lose a game, it would be 4-0. James Worthy would dominate those Celtics teams from the 60's lmao .

Once again showing your ignorance .  Just like in your Peyton vs Brady arguments.

 

Russell and his fellow Celtics were clearly the best basketball team of the 50s/60s.

 

if that’s the case (and try following the logic), that would stand to mean that if they had the same advantages as those 80’s teams had in terms of training, true professional training facilities, etc, then they would have just been just as good as any 80’s team.

 

It’s the same when young people today say that Magic/Larry, etc, would have no shot against kids who have played AAU and been groomed since 10 years old.  Of course they would have, given the same opportunities.

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11 hours ago, NFLUp said:

Once again showing your ignorance .  Just like in your Peyton vs Brady arguments.

 

Russell and his fellow Celtics were clearly the best basketball team of the 50s/60s.

 

if that’s the case (and try following the logic), that would stand to mean that if they had the same advantages as those 80’s teams had in terms of training, true professional training facilities, etc, then they would have just been just as good as any 80’s team.

 

It’s the same when young people today say that Magic/Larry, etc, would have no shot against kids who have played AAU and been groomed since 10 years old.  Of course they would have, given the same opportunities.

The difference between Magic and Larry, they played legit tough competition every night and had to win 4 series to win the Championship The BIG's were all 6'9-7'0 foot tall they went against. Also the athletes in the 80's and 90's are just as good as today. I can make an All- 80's/90's team that none of the athletes could beat today or what the 60's could beat. Like JJ Redick said back in the 50's and 60's it was like a bunch of plumber and fireman playing. BOB COUSY shot 38% for his career and everyone thought he was a top 5 player in the league back then. 

 

PG - Magic

SG - Jordan

SF - Bird

PF - Karl Malone 

C - Kareem

My bench would consist of guys like Olajuwon, I. Thomas, Pippen, Barkley, Miller, C. Drexler, and for craps and giggles, Rodman would be on my team - he is the greatest Rebounder of all-time. All those guys played the balk of their games in the 80's and 90's. That gives me a 12 man roster.

 

One last thing, when you brought up Mathurin, that +/- stat is the most flawed stat out there, it is garbage. I have seen players score 40 points and have a -.. Mathurin averages 15 points a game and plays good defense but keep hating. You are probably one of one's that thought NY would kill Indiana lol. When The Pacers won Game 7 at NY, we ruined over million peoples summer. NY had Brunson and Divincenzo 100% in Game 7 and we still won by 21 points.

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24 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

The difference between Magic and Larry, they played legit tough competition every night and had to win 4 series to win the Championship The BIG's were all 6'9-7'0 foot tall they went against. Also the athletes in the 80's and 90's are just as good as today. I can make an All- 80's/90's team that none of the athletes could beat today or what the 60's could beat. Like JJ Redick said back in the 50's and 60's it was like a bunch of plumber and fireman playing. BOB COUSY shot 38% for his career and everyone thought he was a top 5 player in the league back then. 

 

PG - Magic

SG - Jordan

SF - Bird

PF - Karl Malone 

C - Kareem

My bench would consist of guys like Olajuwon, I. Thomas, Pippen, Barkley, Miller, C. Drexler, and for craps and giggles, Rodman would be on my team - he is the greatest Rebounder of all-time. All those guys played the balk of their games in the 80's and 90's. That gives me a 12 man roster.

 

One last thing, when you brought up Mathurin, that +/- stat is the most flawed stat out there, it is garbage. I have seen players score 40 points and have a -.. Mathurin averages 15 points a game and plays good defense but keep hating. You are probably one of one's that thought NY would kill Indiana lol. When The Pacers won Game 7 at NY, we ruined over million peoples summer. NY had Brunson and Divincenzo 100% in Game 7 and we still won by 21 points.

Man, I was happy that the Pacers won!  I loathe NY far more than I do Indy, and I knew the Celts would have an easier time with Indy.  Not that this series has been easy (well, except game 2).  
 

I don’t disagree with you regarding your lineup; my only point before was that Russell would have been phenomenal as a NBA player today just as he was 60 years ago.

Keep in mind that he was a two-time NCAA champion as well as an Olympic gold winning captain.  
Russell with today’s training would have still been the best defensive player perhaps ever, and would have been a more proficient scorer.  

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All of the good Pacers teams with Reggie, George and now with Haliburton are somewhat similar.  At their very best, they're always still just a step below elite, a step below the the Jordan, Kobe/Shaq and Lebron teams.  The one time they did have supreme talent they threw it away in Detroit.

 

The good news is there currently is no great team.  Boston could get a lifetime achievement award championship - just stick around long enough and you might win one - but the Celtics scare no one.  Compared to great teams from the past, Dallas isn't much.  

 

The Pacers shouldn't be thinking 3-4 years from now.  While the NBA is weak, they should make a push in the next year or two.

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2 hours ago, NFLUp said:

Man, I was happy that the Pacers won!  I loathe NY far more than I do Indy, and I knew the Celts would have an easier time with Indy.  Not that this series has been easy (well, except game 2).  
 

I don’t disagree with you regarding your lineup; my only point before was that Russell would have been phenomenal as a NBA player today just as he was 60 years ago.

Keep in mind that he was a two-time NCAA champion as well as an Olympic gold winning captain.  
Russell with today’s training would have still been the best defensive player perhaps ever, and would have been a more proficient scorer.  

I will agree a handful of players back in the 60's could play in decades like the 80's and 90's and today and be good. Russell is one of them because of his great defense and superior Rebounding. I just know most Celtics fans will try to rank him as a top 5 player of all-time because of his championships, that is what I don't agree with. Russell, Wilt, Robertson, West, Baylor all would be good today but that isn't many. The NBA started to blossom in 1980 and the 84 draft was the best draft ever. 

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2 hours ago, #12. said:

All of the good Pacers teams with Reggie, George and now with Haliburton are somewhat similar.  At their very best, they're always still just a step below elite, a step below the the Jordan, Kobe/Shaq and Lebron teams.  The one time they did have supreme talent they threw it away in Detroit.

 

The good news is there currently is no great team.  Boston could get a lifetime achievement award championship - just stick around long enough and you might win one - but the Celtics scare no one.  Compared to great teams from the past, Dallas isn't much.  

 

The Pacers shouldn't be thinking 3-4 years from now.  While the NBA is weak, they should make a push in the next year or two.

The window is open for the Pacers next year simply because their whole team will likely be back and there is no Jordan or Lebron blocking anyone.

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