Ok, first of all, some Round 2 schedule updates:
- Preliminary indications are that if the Jazz win tonight, the Warriors would face them on Sunday. It would only give the Jazz one day of rest, but sounds like the priority would be to include our game 1 in ABC’s big Sunday lineup.
- On the off chance that the Chris Pauls somehow manage to survive tonight’s elimination game and push that series to seven, then THAT game will be Sunday and our game one would be Tuesday.
Tonight’s Games
Fun stuff - NOTHING BUT ELIMINATION GAMES TONIGHT!
Wizards at Hawks, 4:30 p.m. PT, NBA TV (WAS leads 3-2)
Celtics at Bulls, 5 p.m. PT, ESPN (BOS leads 3-2)
Clippers at Jazz, 7:30 p.m. PT, ESPN (UTA leads 3-2)
The headliner tonight is obviously the game we care about the most. All the momentum is leaning towards the Jazz. If they can close out the series, then tonight could very well be the end of an era for the Clippers organization. Lob City was built to become an empire, but never managed to make it past being a provincial power due to an unlucky set of injuries, poor personnel decisions, and weird stumbles in the playoffs.
Chris Paul has been playing out of his mind, but he can’t be everywhere. Joe Johnson has been the most shocking performer of the playoffs and the Clippers just don’t seem to have the personnel to stop him and Hayward at the same time.
Last Night’s Results
Raptors 92, Bucks 89 (TOR wins series 4-2)
Spurs 103, Grizzlies 96 (SAS wins series 4-2)
Unfortunately, the Memphis Grizzlies came up just a little short in an elimination game. The Spurs are looking somewhat shaky but probably still sighing in relief to have cleared a Grizzlies team that looked like they almost had the Spurs figured out.
The Spurs get the honor of facing a very dangerous Rockets squad in the rootin’est, tootin’est hee-haw of a series Texas has seen Since Dirk and Duncan met in the semifinals in 2005-6 (ok, I had to look it up). Anyways, for Warriors fans, it’s yet another case of just hoping for a long, tough seven game series (that the worst team somehow wins). My money is on San Antonio in 5.
This also sets the Raptors and Cavaliers as the semi finalists in the east. If anyone out east is going to give the Cavs a run for their money it would be Toronto. I don’t know that any team with Lebron on it is really “vulnerable” but the Raptors have the correct tools to attack the Cavs greatest weaknesses so I’m predicting Cavs in 6 here.
What have the Warriors been up to?
A GSOMer asked for an update, so here you go:
- While the Warriors practiced on Wednesday, Steve Kerr went down to Stanford University for a consultation. Myers confirmed that Kerr was getting medical testing in Palo Alto but didn’t provide any detailed update or timeline on return. Myers said that Kerr “needed to feel better for a string of days, not just one or two” before he comes back to the bench for games so this is not something that’s going to get solved overnight.
- From the same article linked in the preceding paragraph, the Warriors practiced today (Friday)
Brought my boy @KDTrey5 some #Cupcakes today... Good Luck in the Postseason @warriors #BayAreaUnite #ChampionsEatCupcakes #DubNation #SFG pic.twitter.com/Ge68rvh3Ut
— Lou Seal (@LouSeal01) April 27, 2017
also, a couple of late updates from the broader OT thread: