FULL Western Conference Playoff Preview – Spurs Upset Alert?? Big Advantage For LA
Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to preview everything you need to know about the Western Conference playoff matchups. We tackle if anyone can challenge the Thunder, discuss a major upset prediction, what advantage LA may have gotten and much more.
00:00-Western Conference playoff preview
00:19-Can anyone challenge the Thunder?
05:06-#7 Blazers vs #2 Spurs breakdown
16:17-#6 Wolves vs #3 Nuggets breakdown
20:29-#5 Rockets vs #4 Lakers breakdown
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27 Comments
I love how they say actions over words, when the action Denver took was beat the Spurs and become 3rd seed, but they want to acknowledge something Denver never said lmao
Wemby has never lost to the Blazers he’s 5-0
Everyone looking past Denver. Best nuggets team in joker era. Nuggets defeat Boston in championship game!
Spurs aren’t gonna last long
I'm friends with this couple. Each of them separately is AMAZING, really informed, interesting, funny. Great at their jobs and really respected professionally. Problem is, when they're together, they are really hard to take. They interrupt each other, contradict each other, seem to revel in the other's mistakes, and genuinely get on each other's nerves. At this point, I just want to ask them, "Why are you guys even a couple? You're just making everyone around you uncomfortable."
All those guards u mentioned that need to “make shots” for the Spurs have been HOT from 3 since the All-star game. Lmfao!
18:03 the thing about the playoffs two years ago.. Jokic didn't have so many perimeter shooters to pass to. Completely different situation this year. In fact, Jokic seems to be avoiding huge scoring games this season in favor of assists.
Bontemps not watching games but watching stats.
The Blazers already struggle to score against the Spurs (and in general) and they haven't seen Wemby this year.
I respect what the Blazers and Tiago Splitter have done, but I don't see this series as all that close.
Tim okc thunder Bontemps
I hope the Spurs win though… Denver really needs to beat the Spurs and OKC on the way to the title to shut up the morons who disrespect them.
Can someone tell Bontemps to stop cutting the other two guys off mid sentence? People come to listen to them too. Then when he goes on with his takes he trails off towards the end like he expects the other two guys he just cut to keep catching him. Relax bud, there’s 60 seconds in a minute, split that into three and you have 20 for yourself.
Let's go Lakers-Celtics finals o/
Suns!! Hurray!!!
CIA conspiracy theory coin this term. Luka out Cooper in with a few percent chance. Ridiculous, NBA fraud.
that's a silly take because Portland has a far better matchup against OKC. If you think Portland has some change to take the series from the Spurs, it only makes sense to assume they have a good chance to do that against OKC, which we know ain't happening.
The World Champs OKC Thunder starting 5.
This season games not started together: 77
Started together: 5
Total minutes: 42
SGA, Chet, JDub, HStein and Dort: combined 111 games missed.
Still #1 seed and 64-18
Portland have some chances vs SAS I guess!! and Deners two last games says more than anybody thinks..that bench become efficient
Yes Silver rigged the draft for the mavericks don’t remind me.
Sours winning you clown
Stop hating on spurs you little bloodklaat
I'm still so confused by their Nuggets take. It is "actions over words", and the action was they won the game. If they were trying to throw it, surely it's not that hard to accomplish.
Blazers beating the Spurs isn't as crazy as it looks on paper. Wemby has NEVER played 40 minutes. Ever. At any level. He averaged 29 minutes per game in the regular season never eclipsing 36 minutes and only playing a 'full load' a few times. In order to win in the playoffs, even against the 7th seed, he'll HAVE to play 36+ minutes EVERY game. His ribs are already sore. We don't know 'how' sore, but everybody blasted Mitch Johnson for not playing Wemby in that last game and ending up with Denver in their side of the bracket. What if he really did need to take the game off? What if that week of rest after wasn't going to be enough in the doctor's mind? The Blazers front-court is no joke. That has not been there issue this season at all. Clingon, Robert Williams III, Jerami Grant, and Matisse Thybule were built to play in the West. They're large. Can Wemby deal with a rotation of those four guys on him across 7 games playing at least 36+ per game? We'll see, but betting against it isn't exactly 'what are you crazy?' thinking honestly.
Julius Randle is 6'7" not 6'9". That 6'9" number has been winked at since he came in. That's 'in shoes'… he does have long arms though. A 7' wingspan at 6'7" is impressive and will help with guarding the passing lanes, but not as much as Gobert at 7+ / nearly 8' wingspan. Unfortunately for the Twolves Gobert can't guard Jokic or AG by himself so they HAVE to let him play centerfield or he will foul out. Randle can't handle either one by himself either. Denver has a big edge in the front-court simple as that. They also have the advantage on the back-court with AntMan having a knee that keeps swelling up after games… that kind of injury is a bigger problem when it comes time to need to play more minutes. You don't play 40 minutes on a swollen knee 2 nights in 3. You don't do that… Denver is just better at this moment in basically every position. Certainly physically stronger (with Ant hurt) at every position. This is a gentlemen's sweep or a true sweep in 4 for Denver.
I'm not sure why anyone thinks Luka coming back is LUKA coming back. He's taking shots just to function on a hamstring. That utterly guts his game if that hammy isn't at LEAST 90% the entire time he plays. It was only about 90% when he hurt it. The Laker organization's front-office would be utterly falling down on their job if they don't seriously just look at this as over and not play Luka no matter what. Reeves with a oblique? That's a weird injury to deal with. You can't 'brace' or 'bandage' that area and play. You wrap your ribs like you would a cracked or broken rib. Unfortunately, having had both of those injuries, there is a predictability to the movement of the rib bone and you can either go or not depending on which rib, etc. The soft tissue? I've 'strained a rib'; which is what they used to call that oblique injury, once. Everything felt fine except for certain movements were sharply painful and there was no 'build up' like you get with a strained calf and you know to back off a bit. Nope. You would feel fine then twist or stretch up for the ball or something and just a knife right in the ribs and you risk SERIOUSLY ripping it and if you do that my understanding is that is a 2 year ordeal to fully heal from as you can't 'still' that area because you have to, well, breathe after all and that expands and contracts every few seconds no matter what. So, unless that was a really minor 'tweak' (and those do happen) and he can move completely freely with no discomfort or 'binding' sensation… I sit him too. Just eat it and go to Cancun. Let your young guys play their butts off and audition for you and 29 other GM and HC and focus on what moves in the off-season you need to do to stay near the top in the West next year or be the favorite. GMs think in an arc measured in multiple seasons. Owners think of 'this decade' wanting Championships and a Ring. Players think of this game and ALWAYS want to play if they are at that level. The kind of competitor you have to be to make it and stay in the NBA for more than a season or two is… let's just call it 'top shelf'. So the GM has to talk to the docs and the Coach. 'What are our realistic chances with XYZ player playing at say 80%?' If the chances are basically zero and then DEFINITELY zero in the next round. Go to Cancun and rest up fellas see you next year.
I’d like to buy Stats Williams a beer when the Blazers win the series 🤝
Y'all keep trying to force this weak "Portland could beat the Spurs" narrative just to have something to talk about.
It's not gonna be close. Spurs are about to demolish the Blazers. They'd beat them handily without Wemby, just like they did all season. With Victor? Gentleman's sweep, at worst.