Minnesota-Denver Game 7 Open Thread
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I suppose I could have put one up for the Pacers-Knicks, but really who cares who the Celtics will eviscerate.
A word on the Dallas-Oklahoma City series. Dallas played some big boy basketball and OKC just wasn’t quite there yet. Josh Giddey was totally exposed and I doubt he will be back with the Thunder next year. He’s the kind of guy who is going to score 22 a game on a bad team but can’t be a supporting cast player on a good team–the defense and spacing and shooting just isn’t quite good enough. Chet Holmgren had a fantastic rookie season, but played like a rookie against Dallas. Jalen Williams took a huge step forward this year. It’s just that they need one more piece. They couldn’t have really known this without getting to this point. Luckily for them, they have a zillion picks and salary cap room and they can move Giddey and some of that draft capital for a big time player if they want. Or they can go with a smaller change with some support guys and see how it goes next year. SGA is the Real Deal and they are going to be good for a long time.
As for Dallas, while I would favor either Minnesota or Denver against them, they can absolutely win over either of them. I don’t really want them to, as I loathe Kyrie Irving and Luka is too whiny for my tastes. But this is a solid team with championship potential if everything goes right.
As for this game, who knows! What an astoundingly great series between two outstanding teams. I suppose I think Denver will win–it’s Game 7, at home, and they have more experience in these situations. But the road has intimidated neither of these teams. These might be the two best teams in the NBA and it just so happens they are meeting in a conference semi. I do think Boston is likely to win the whole thing, but this could be the best series of the playoffs. It will be fun.