NBA: 2018-2019 Season

[JohnBM01]

A lot of people are saying that the Toronto Raptors' championship triumph should have an asterisk because of the Warriors being banged up mostly. I say the Raptors took advantage of struggles by the Warriors, not so much in the sense of, "the Raptors won because of a less-than-100% Warriors team." You know, I almost look at the Raptors' 2018-2019 run more like when Toyota won Le Mans outright last year even without the presence of Porsche and Audi in the top level of competition. Some people make it seem like the Raptors aren't all that good because they didn't take on a full-strength Warriors. No- you take what's given to you and make the most of what is there. Surely beating a full-strength Warriors would make the Raptors' title run better, but they still took advantage of the situation and become champs. How do you see this?

As I look back on my Houston Rockets from this past season, I still think this team can be much better than what they've shown. As much as I am awed by James Harden, I still don't think he is really the one who can lead a team to a championship. Failing constantly to Golden State has really befuddled the Rockets. It kind of seems like when there isn't as much pressure in playoff games, they fail. I recall when the Rockets had a chance to put away a weakened San Antonio Spurs team, they ended up being eliminated at home, losing by 39 or so facing elimination. You then had a mostly weakened Golden State Warriors- still failed. The Rockets are going to be around. However, getting over that hump and actually being championship material is still a far-fetched concept. Maybe the Rockets need to blow it up and shake up the core. I am hopeful they can figure it out and put together a team that can actually contend and can return to the NBA Finals instead of always falling short.

Only other things I want to say about this past season is that I have been very sold on Luka Doncic on the Dallas Mavericks. L. Doncic was the truth when he came into the NBA, and he asserted himself quite well in his first season. I actually think he'll be the reason Dallas wins another NBA Championship if indeed Dallas contends for another NBA Championship.


Any other thoughts you'd like to share or answer my question about the Raptors?

 

[MaxAttack]

Let the 2019/20 hype begin!
https://bleacherreport.com/articles...-to-lakers-for-lonzo-ball-brandon-ingram-more

 

[GTV0819]

I have mentioned earlier that the Warriors began to be serious contenders in 2015 when Steve Kerr took over as head coach during the start of that season. For the first time of the franchise history in 40 years, they did face the Cavaliers in the Finals which was led by LBJ, Uncle Drew and Kevin Love.

However, the Cavs had to make do with a hampered lineup that left the former Minnesota star to a season-ending injury to his shoulder during the First Round that year. But it wasn't over yet, as they lost Uncle Drew to a season-ending knee injury after Game 1 of the Finals series. So the Dubs took advantage of this to take their first NBA title in the 21st century, even though LBJ held on to carry his team 2-1 before succumbing to an inevitable defeat. When that happened, nobody seemed to be sympathetic about his lost that time; in fact, many people even took pleasure of seeing him miserable.

Then the Warriors would go on to win another title in 2017 but with KD in their lineup already. Before the Finals, they faced the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. In Game 1, while they were up by around 20 points in the 3rd quarter, Spurs Leonard took a shot but awkwardly landed on Zaza Pachulia's foot that resulted into aggravating his existing ankle injury, which forced him to leave the floor for the rest of the game. The Warriors came back and would sweep them for the rest of the series to succeed in the Finals and grab their 2nd title against Cleveland.

They would advance to the Finals again for the fourth consecutive time after having a tough contested Game 7 series with the Houston Rockets. Game 5 saw the Rockets win to lead 3-2 in the series but lost Chris Paul to a hamstring injury along the way. His absence resulted into Houston having back-to-back losses, while Golden State went on to succeed in the NBA Finals for the fourth time and taking their 3rd title against Cleveland.

Now, the tide has turned. It was now the Warriors's turn to go through the unfortunate. With the addition of Demarcus Cousins in their roster the start of the season, they now have five-all stars in their starting lineup. However, the playoffs was different for them this time, as they saw injuries to key players, notably to Klay and KD but while the latter was ruled out indefinitely after Game 5 of their semifinals series, Golden State would still win against Houston, again, and make their way to the Finals the 5th consecutive time by sweeping the Trailblazers.

This year, they faced the Raptors, led by a newly hard driven Kawhi Leonard after dealing with a tough, emotional season from his recurring injury in his former team last season. And he performs like he's never ever been before, looking to avenge his defeat in their previous meetings while being poised to stop another potential three-peat. With Toronto having a home court advantage, they obviously won Game 1 but Game 2 saw Golden State take away that advantage with a rather small 5-point win after an 18-0 run in the 3rd quarter while losing Klay temporarily. As he was resting in Game 3, Steph had to make do without him and KD, leading in the offense but even with 47 points, it still came short over the Raptors, who won in their court the 3rd time as they remain undefeated in the Oracle Arena this season. With this, he now feels what Lebron has to go through without the help of his team mates, which is a real daunty task, indeed.

With Toronto now leading 2-1 as Game 4 commences, Klay got back from the injury but even if he and Steph combined for 55 points for the rest of the game, it still wasn't enough to tie the series. Now, Toronto was 3-1 already and one win away from their first NBA championship. However, because KD got back for Game 5, he scored 11 points in 20 minutes but he left after tearing his own achilles in the 2nd quarter. People would sympathize for him as he would not come back anymore for the rest of the game and series but regardless, Golden State still won barely by one point, after the Splash Brothers nailed triple 3s while being behind by 6 points for the last 3 minutes in the 4th quarter.

After that game, many people still think that the Warriors would overcome a 3-1 deficit and take their fourth title in 5 years but while they were battling neck to neck for a win with the Raptors to force a decisive Game 7, that came to an unfortunate dead end when Klay Thompson has torn his ACL during a dunk attempt in 3rd quarter with 2 minutes remaining. He left the floor at this point but came back to shoot two free throws, not playing anymore for the rest of the game. And everyone knew what happened after this; an inevitable defeat for the Warriors. And while many people are still upset about it, the Raptors have done a really good job in dismantling them which led this team to their first ever NBA title.

Now, at this point, I know this is very long already as I've summarized here a lot lol but let me continue okay? When Lebron lost in the Finals many times and he left the Cavaliers in order to pursue his goal in playing for the Lakers, many people still make fun of him while remaining antipathetic just because he wasn't able to take his new team to the playoffs even for a last spot. Thus, he missed the playoffs and the Finals after a very, very long time.

As the Warriors have faced the same demise with their injury plagued season this year, it came to haunt them and fans have become so defensive while coming up with the same excuses that the fans of their opponents used to say when they defeated them in the recent years. Prior to that, they even kept mentioning that the Finals would be 'Warriors in 4' or in 5 or in 6, plus 'no KD, no problem', whether it'd be the Bucks or Raptors to represent the East this time. Too bad it didn't happen at all.

By the way, these same fans of the Warriors are the ones who won't even acknowledge the injuries of their rivals' players before and simply dismiss them since their favorite team, which have also become the league's favorites, kept winning and have been to the Finals each time since 2K15. Remember, injuries are part of the game and KD definitely made a notable sacrifice for that Game 5, while Klay did follow in Game 6, even if nobody wanted to see those happen to them.

Finally, if many folks would think that the Raptors have won their first NBA championship with an asterisk, then they must consider how the Warriors began their reign by taking their three NBA titles before in 5 years, starting with the first one in 2015. I sense some egoism here if they, the fans and the analysts, are not going to accept the defeat. Besides, this team has already won back-to-back NBA titles and it'd be ridiculous if they're suggesting that losing is never an option for their favorite team at all. So they shouldn't be ashamed of that lost right away. But like what some legend said, 'no King rules forever'.