For a third consecutive season, OKC failed to win a best of 7 series in the playoffs. Despite an expensive tax luxury payment, Sam Presti, General Manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder, has failed to derive the championship formula – or even a series winning formula for that matter.
Two teams that continue to surprise from the beginning of the season even to now as we get into the Western Conference Semifinals are facing off in the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs. The Nuggets find themselves in a place the franchise hasn’t been in a decade, the second round. It wasn’t a pretty series, but they now have the playoff experience that they lacked after going seven games and getting past the San Antonio Spurs. The Portland Trail Blazers are another team that is seeming to get hot at the right time. Damian Lillard is looking nearly unstoppable – watch his game five buzzer beater over Paul George to win the series against the Oklahoma City Thunder if you need an example. CJ McCollum is healthy and playing well. Those two playing well together is making them one of the most dangerous backcourt duos in the league today. These two teams are divisional rivals and always play competitive and spirited games every time the two teams are on the court. Here’s what to expect in this matchup of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Last year, the Golden State Warriors needed a Chris Paul injury in order to eke out a Western Conference Finals victory against Houston in seven games. This year, they showed weakness in a first-round series for the first time in recent memory – needing six games to advance past their first-round opponent for the first time in the Steve Kerr era. Meanwhile, James Harden is heavily involved in the MVP conversation for the fourth time in the last five years after putting up historic numbers and his team finished their first-round series against Utah in a convincing five games. Yet none of that seems to matter.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics both swept the first round to set up a rematch of last year’s series between the pair in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. How each team defends the other’s superstar, coaching strategy and injuries will all play a significant part in this highly-anticipated clash.
There is more skepticism around the Denver Nuggets than your typical two-seed. Despite challenging the Golden State Warriors for the top spot in the West for much of the year and finishing with a 54-28 record, the Nuggets’ inexperience led to many questioning whether their playoff acumen, especially when they matched-up against the wily, veteran-laden San Antonio Spurs in the first round. And although the Texas outfit forced a game seven last night with a 120-103 victory at home, the performance of Nikola Jokic should give Denver heart that they have a superstar who can shine in the postseason for years to come.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, I like to keep my finger on the pulse of the current NBA topics of conversation and write about such things as “Hank Gathers has been dead longer than 79% of the NBA has been alive” and “Rodney Rogers was a thing once, I wonder what happened to – oh. Damn.” It’s time to keep that trend going and interrupt the most important month of the season to talk about a bunch of guys whose years are over.
We keep waiting for the post-Kevin Durant Oklahoma City Thunder to become true contenders, but their hopes of a title are, if anything, dwindling by the year. And after a season which once promised so much, they find themselves on the brink of a third consecutive first round playoff exit. So, is this who OKC are?
Clint N’Dumba Capela was born in Geneva, Switzerland. Capela’s parents are from Angola and Congo. Capela had a passion for soccer during his childhood. But, he was 6 feet 3 inches when he was 13-years-old, so his brother suggested for him to play basketball. He went to INSEP in Paris, France for high school.
The Los Angeles Lakers were expected to do big things after acquiring LeBron James in free agency at the beginning of the season, but an unexpected groin injury knocked him out for 18 games and changed the course of the Lakers season. After the tumultuous turn of events that knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs, Magic Johnson decided it was best for him and the organization if he stepped down from being president of basketball operations. Magic Johnson helped the Lakers get LeBron James and he was set to pitch the plan to recruit free agents like Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson to try and get them on the Lakers, but the pressure was too much. Magic always seemed to be tampering and getting fined for it and it got to the point where he couldn’t even congratulate a player on his accomplishment, which led to Magic getting frustrated.
Earlier this month, Los Angeles Lakers legend and President Magic Johnson abruptly stepped down as President of Basketball Operations. Since then, the Lakers have been interviewing coaching candidates to replace the recently fired Luke Walton.
Steven Adams was born in Rotorua, New Zeland. Adams is the youngest of 18 children. Yes, he has 17 siblings. Adams had a rough childhood, due to the way his father treated him. In Adams’ family, the average males “clan” stand was about 6’10”, Adams grew to be 7’0″, just above the average height of his brothers.
Going from being a bench warmer for the Rockets, to being one of the most important players for the Clippers.
Montrezl Dashay Harrell was born in Tarboro, North Carolina. He attended North Edgecombe High School, where he was the star player. After high school, he was prepping for a year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. He led that team to a 38-1 record, averaging 25.2 points and 13.6 rebounds per game.
For a third consecutive season, OKC failed to win a best of 7 series in the playoffs. Despite an expensive tax luxury payment, Sam Presti, General Manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder, has failed to derive the championship formula – or even a series winning formula for that matter.
Two teams that continue to surprise from the beginning of the season even to now as we get into the Western Conference Semifinals are facing off in the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs. The Nuggets find themselves in a place the franchise hasn’t been in a decade, the second round. It wasn’t a pretty series, but they now have the playoff experience that they lacked after going seven games and getting past the San Antonio Spurs. The Portland Trail Blazers are another team that is seeming to get hot at the right time. Damian Lillard is looking nearly unstoppable – watch his game five buzzer beater over Paul George to win the series against the Oklahoma City Thunder if you need an example. CJ McCollum is healthy and playing well. Those two playing well together is making them one of the most dangerous backcourt duos in the league today. These two teams are divisional rivals and always play competitive and spirited games every time the two teams are on the court. Here’s what to expect in this matchup of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Last year, the Golden State Warriors needed a Chris Paul injury in order to eke out a Western Conference Finals victory against Houston in seven games. This year, they showed weakness in a first-round series for the first time in recent memory – needing six games to advance past their first-round opponent for the first time in the Steve Kerr era. Meanwhile, James Harden is heavily involved in the MVP conversation for the fourth time in the last five years after putting up historic numbers and his team finished their first-round series against Utah in a convincing five games. Yet none of that seems to matter.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics both swept the first round to set up a rematch of last year’s series between the pair in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. How each team defends the other’s superstar, coaching strategy and injuries will all play a significant part in this highly-anticipated clash.
There is more skepticism around the Denver Nuggets than your typical two-seed. Despite challenging the Golden State Warriors for the top spot in the West for much of the year and finishing with a 54-28 record, the Nuggets’ inexperience led to many questioning whether their playoff acumen, especially when they matched-up against the wily, veteran-laden San Antonio Spurs in the first round. And although the Texas outfit forced a game seven last night with a 120-103 victory at home, the performance of Nikola Jokic should give Denver heart that they have a superstar who can shine in the postseason for years to come.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, I like to keep my finger on the pulse of the current NBA topics of conversation and write about such things as “Hank Gathers has been dead longer than 79% of the NBA has been alive” and “Rodney Rogers was a thing once, I wonder what happened to – oh. Damn.” It’s time to keep that trend going and interrupt the most important month of the season to talk about a bunch of guys whose years are over.
We keep waiting for the post-Kevin Durant Oklahoma City Thunder to become true contenders, but their hopes of a title are, if anything, dwindling by the year. And after a season which once promised so much, they find themselves on the brink of a third consecutive first round playoff exit. So, is this who OKC are?
Clint N’Dumba Capela was born in Geneva, Switzerland. Capela’s parents are from Angola and Congo. Capela had a passion for soccer during his childhood. But, he was 6 feet 3 inches when he was 13-years-old, so his brother suggested for him to play basketball. He went to INSEP in Paris, France for high school.
The Los Angeles Lakers were expected to do big things after acquiring LeBron James in free agency at the beginning of the season, but an unexpected groin injury knocked him out for 18 games and changed the course of the Lakers season. After the tumultuous turn of events that knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs, Magic Johnson decided it was best for him and the organization if he stepped down from being president of basketball operations. Magic Johnson helped the Lakers get LeBron James and he was set to pitch the plan to recruit free agents like Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson to try and get them on the Lakers, but the pressure was too much. Magic always seemed to be tampering and getting fined for it and it got to the point where he couldn’t even congratulate a player on his accomplishment, which led to Magic getting frustrated.
Earlier this month, Los Angeles Lakers legend and President Magic Johnson abruptly stepped down as President of Basketball Operations. Since then, the Lakers have been interviewing coaching candidates to replace the recently fired Luke Walton.
Steven Adams was born in Rotorua, New Zeland. Adams is the youngest of 18 children. Yes, he has 17 siblings. Adams had a rough childhood, due to the way his father treated him. In Adams’ family, the average males “clan” stand was about 6’10”, Adams grew to be 7’0″, just above the average height of his brothers.
Going from being a bench warmer for the Rockets, to being one of the most important players for the Clippers.
Montrezl Dashay Harrell was born in Tarboro, North Carolina. He attended North Edgecombe High School, where he was the star player. After high school, he was prepping for a year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. He led that team to a 38-1 record, averaging 25.2 points and 13.6 rebounds per game.
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