Chat! culturecrossfire.slack.com

2020 NBA Finals: Pat Riley's Revenge (Presented By Disney)

King Kamala

Integral Poster
Messages
60,451
Reaction score
8,296
Points
293
Location
Vacationland
Wednesday Night! It's the beginning of the NBA Finals that we all expected in the early 2010s but are getting in the early 2020s instead. Los Angeles Lakers take on the Miami Heat. Will LeBron's old (literal) flames get revenge? Or LeBron's talent take down South Beach?

Miami Heat give off real '03-'04 Pistons, team of destiny vibes but it's hard to pick against a team with TWO top 5 players. I'm going to say L.A. Lakers win it for Kobe in 6.


Los Angeles Lakers vs. Miami Heat
Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 30: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET
Game 2: Friday, Oct. 2: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET
Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 4: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 7:30 ET
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 6: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 9 ET
Game 5*: Friday, Oct. 9: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET
Game 6*: Sunday, Oct. 11: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 7:30 ET
Game 7*: Tuesday, Oct. 13: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET
 

Brocklock

Integral Poster
Messages
9,187
Reaction score
1,593
Points
228
Location
Illinois
They got some guys that have given LeBron fits in the past in Jimmy and Iggy, but I think AD is gonna feast on them. I'd say Lakers in 5, but I'd absolutely love for the miracle upset to see Jimmy Butler get a championship.
 

King Kamala

Integral Poster
Messages
60,451
Reaction score
8,296
Points
293
Location
Vacationland
I was thisclose to picking Lakers in 5 but at some point, I would think fatigue would set in for L.A. and Heat's youth will be able to win a couple.

Who was the last team to plow through the NBA Playoffs in 20 games or less? '02 Lakers?
 

King Kamala

Integral Poster
Messages
60,451
Reaction score
8,296
Points
293
Location
Vacationland
I feel like a dumdum (or subconsciously biased against superteams) for forgetting that. People vastly prefer talking about the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead in the Finals the year before than the fact they plowed through the playoffs the next season.
 

cobainwasmurdered

Waiting for Kamala to honour bets since June 2020
Staff member
Messages
24,571
Reaction score
3,859
Points
333
Location
Abbotsford, BC
the warriors not winning the championship the year they had the greatest regular season of alltime was pretty embarrassing. They pretty much made the case for why you don't blow your load during the regular season.
 

MFer

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
7,864
Reaction score
255
Points
228
Location
Ann Arbor, MI
I feel like the Heat have a real shot in this series, but my mind keeps coming back to LeBron and the way he's developed this MJ-like trait of controlling the game, striking in the big moments, etc. Like when he couldn't hit the midrange for shit in the Denver series, but buried them in the waning minutes of the closeout game. Now Miami does have a lot of bodies to throw at LeBron, but that's when AD comes into play. I feel like Bam is the only realistic option to guard him, but I worry about him getting tired out and/or getting into foul trouble.
 

King Kamala

Integral Poster
Messages
60,451
Reaction score
8,296
Points
293
Location
Vacationland
I was just informed that the Lakers will tie Celtics' all time NBA Championship record if they win this year. C'MON JIMMY BUTLER, BAM ADEBAYO, AND STRANGE LOOKING WHITE GUYS! MIAMI HEAT FOR LIFE BABY!!!
 

909

909
Staff member
Messages
40,059
Reaction score
3,860
Points
313
Location
West Point
tenor.gif
 

King Kamala

Integral Poster
Messages
60,451
Reaction score
8,296
Points
293
Location
Vacationland
There's no way that last night wasn't one of the lowest rated NBA Finals games of all times with POTUS going to the hospital.

I imagine the only people watching Game 3 and 4 will be Gloria James, Stephen A Smith, and @909. @Magic Johnson will watch Game 3 but channel flip during Game 4 between that and Don Lemon.
 

King Kamala

Integral Poster
Messages
60,451
Reaction score
8,296
Points
293
Location
Vacationland
Jimmy Butler generated more offense for his team than any single player in an NBA Finals game since Clyde Frazier in Game 7 of the '70 NBA Finals last night.

If you get really quiet, you can hear @Brocklock cursing GarPax from halfway across the country rn.
 
Last edited:

Brocklock

Integral Poster
Messages
9,187
Reaction score
1,593
Points
228
Location
Illinois
Jimmy Butler generated more offense for his team than any single player in an NBA Finals game since Clyde Frazier in Game 7 of the '70 NBA Finals last night.

If you get really quiet, you can hear @Brocklock cursing GarPax from halfway across the country rn.

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/7/21/16012988/kyrie-irving-chicago-bulls-jimmy-butler-trade-rumors

Had to remind myself that Jimmy never wanted to leave Chicago, was actively recruiting stars to come to the Bulls, and almost got Kyrie Irving over here in 2017. But, GarPax and Reinsdorf were being typically cheap and were worried about paying him the supermax, didn't think he could take a team to the finals, and traded him. Okay I reminded myself

tenor.gif
 

MFer

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
7,864
Reaction score
255
Points
228
Location
Ann Arbor, MI
Jimmy Buckets not bowing down to King James has been something special to see. Still a huge uphill climb for Miami, but the Lakers have to be feeling pretty beat up at this point (AD literally hits the floor hard every game).
 

Brocklock

Integral Poster
Messages
9,187
Reaction score
1,593
Points
228
Location
Illinois
It's getting hard to leave Jimmy out of top ten player lists as he's putting up huge offensive numbers while playing great defense in the NBA Finals. If you took this same Heat team and put them around Harden, Dame, Westbrook, Paul George, Kyrie, Embiid, KAT, or even current Curry (Players frequently ranked over him) I doubt they win two games. None of those players can do it on both sides of the floor like Jimmy at least imo.
 
Last edited:

King Kamala

Integral Poster
Messages
60,451
Reaction score
8,296
Points
293
Location
Vacationland
I knew Jimmy Buckets was a great player before this series but I think this Finals cements him as Top 10 guy maybe even Top 5. How many guys could lead a good but not great team to smoking the Eastern Conference then going toe to toe with Lakers?
 

Brocklock

Integral Poster
Messages
9,187
Reaction score
1,593
Points
228
Location
Illinois
He was a shot going in away from the finals last season. Embiid and Simmons were pushed as the stars in the media, but Jimmy was leading that 76ers team
 

Brocklock

Integral Poster
Messages
9,187
Reaction score
1,593
Points
228
Location
Illinois
Fact that three different teams got rid of him really kind of illustrates that most NBA front offices are fucking dumb.

Look at The Timberwolves reddit and there's still a bunch of people calling Jimmy overrated and saying they were right to trade him. There's still Bulls fans passively dissing Jimmy by saying he's nowhere near as good as Rose was pre ACL injury. Honestly, Jimmy's had like 3 seasons as impressive as Rose's MVP season and Rose even if healthy would never ever get to the level Jimmy has been his entire career defensively. It's getting absurd that people are still going out of their way to discredit him because he's not as flashy as some of these other guys. His legit two way ability (And there's really only like 6 incredible two way players in the NBA and the Lakers have two of them) coupled with having the Mamba Mentality makes him a better player than a lot of superstars. I don't even know if the current two time MVP could win two games against this Lakers team.
 
Last edited:

909

909
Staff member
Messages
40,059
Reaction score
3,860
Points
313
Location
West Point
This is the best Lakers team defensively that I've ever seen. They've given up maybe two open shots in 24 minutes.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Representing Blacks Without Soul since 1975
Messages
7,960
Reaction score
1,116
Points
218
Location
Riverdale, GA
Much to my personal chagrin, this isn't even the most anticlimactic closeout game in a basketball championship series I've watched, this week.
 
Top