aggie7911 said:

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Zaza no dirtier than Bruce Bowen.

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**** stupid people say

You rockets fans are so salty y'all are willing to defend a dirty player that tried to injure your own All star

To be fair, it didn't look like Zaza tried to injure Harden. Even if bumping into him was intentional, that happens all the time and he was going at a snail's pace.

I don't even like the Rockets so no dog in either fight.

03_Aggie said:

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Not dirty

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im not denying Bowen was a dirty player

EAT CROW

grapespda2525 said:

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I have no respect for Draymond green. The guy is a ***** who spends more time yelling at the refs than playing basketball. I'm always disappointed when guys get injured in sports, but I secretly wish he would get hurt so I don't have to see his ugly face yelling at the refs 50 times a game. They should just give him a technical, no tolerance. Just T him up.

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Haha. Dray is awesome.

I'm a Rockets fan, I don't think the injury was intentional, I like Kawhi Leonard and want the Spurs to win. These are all opinions not dependent on one another.

Also, Kawhi doesn't get hurt bad enough to miss a game if his ankle isn't already below 100%. Players land on someone's foot or tweak an ankle all the time, get up, and play through it. Unfortunately, it has just happened too often to Kawhi in the last couple of games. Acting like this is some malicious conspiracy against the Spurs is a joke.

Enzo The Baker said:

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I don't see how the Spurs' loss was choking. The 25 point lead was in the second quarter. The Spurs' lead was cut down to 14 in the 3rd with Kawhi still in the game. When Kawhi left, the Spurs were up 20. Then Golden State slowly chipped away. You had a team with 4 all-stars (2 of which were the last MVPs for goodness sake), against a team with zero all-stars (current). The Spurs were still in position to win the game in the final minute. GS just got some good rebounds and made some big shots. And they played terrific defense down the stretch. When you're completely outmatched without THE franchise, it's not a choke job.

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The Spurs had a 23 point lead when Kawhi left the game with about 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

The Warriors then immediately went on an 18-0 run. They ended up outscoring the Spurs by 25 points those last 21 minutes of the game without Leonard.

Near the end of the season, the Warriors also erased a 22 minute lead by the Spurs in San Antonio to pretty much wrap up the #1 seed for the West.

Per articles like this recent one linked below from the popular analytical site FiveThirtyEight, the Warriors are the best in the NBA at still winning games where they are trailing big. They still won nearly 40% of the games where they trailed at some point in the game by 15 or more points. They are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA plus have lots of offensive firepower, so even with a 20+ lead you keep watching because they are so explosive and good at coming back (as the Spurs have seen themselves in their past two games with the Warriors).

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-warriors-dont-start-trying-until-theyre-down-15/

All that said, it seems VERY likely that the Spurs would have hung on for the win on Sunday had Kawhi not gotten hurt. At least one more big Golden State run probably would have happened, but seems like a really good bet that the Spurs would have withstood that punch with Leonard. Obviously, once Leonard went out, the Warriors made their move and the Spurs basically melted down. Without either Kawhi or Parker, they just don't have the offensive firepower to keep up, plus it seems like Kevin Durant went nuclear along with Curry once the Spurs no longer had Leonard to keep him contained.

leftcoastaggie said:

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Interesting Pop rant. Sounds like he's defending a manslaughter.

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Comparing ZaZa's clumsy defense on the perimeter in a basketball game causing a guy to land on his foot and sprain his ankle to somebody committing manslaughter (accidently killing somebody) was a bit overboard dramatic comparison by Popovich.

But Pop is understandably really frustrated because if Kawhi is hobbled then the Spurs chances go from already pretty tough to almost nil. And as Pop said the Spurs were playing really well until Kawhi went out.

It really seemed like the defensive gameplan was built around Kawhi's ability to control a whole side of the court, plus he's custom built to defend forwards like Durant one-on-one. Losing him was huge on both ends, especially since Aldridge shriveled up in the spotlight.

Ulrich said:

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It really seemed like the defensive gameplan was built around Kawhi's ability to control a whole side of the court, plus he's custom built to defend forwards like Durant one-on-one. Losing him was huge on both ends, especially since Aldridge shriveled up in the spotlight.

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I though LA actually played really well for him. He's been crap through most of the post season.

Aldridge started getting bodied up by durant, nobody else was scoring. Yea it sucks kawhi went out, but we should have been able to hold on to the lead at for another quarter

Ulrich said:

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It really seemed like the defensive gameplan was built around Kawhi's ability to control a whole side of the court, plus he's custom built to defend forwards like Durant one-on-one. Losing him was huge on both ends, especially since Aldridge shriveled up in the spotlight.

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I think you are right. There was a possession once Kawhi had gone out injured where Anderson got switched to Durant who was at the top of the key. Blew right by him for an easy dunk. That doesn't happen with Kawhi in the game.

QBCade said:

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Ulrich said:

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It really seemed like the defensive gameplan was built around Kawhi's ability to control a whole side of the court, plus he's custom built to defend forwards like Durant one-on-one. Losing him was huge on both ends, especially since Aldridge shriveled up in the spotlight.

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I though LA actually played really well for him. He's been crap through most of the post season.

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Early in the game, absolutely. After Kawhi went out and the Warriors smelled blood, he was throwing up junk even when he was single covered with great position. He looked rushed and panicky.

I don't expect him to beat the Warriors all on his own, but he has to at least hold his own against a roster that is NOT built to contain players with his size and skill. Especially when Manu is balling out against the strength of the Warriors roster. If he had converted 2-3 more of the great low post possessions he got in the second half it could have easily been a spurs win. That's why he's paid what he is.