NBA Playoffs…Taking Shots-Hitting Shots’—————–

Where do you begin when discussing the NBA playoffs.

We can start in PHOENIX, where a 64-win Suns team saw its season burned to the ground on their own floor.  The Mavericks are going to the Western Conference finals against Golden State.  The Suns are headed home, following a nuclear meltdown infront of their own fans.  They trailed by 41-points in the third quarter at home.  The Mavs kept hitting 3’s..the Suns hit nothing in a terrible beatdown.  Right before our eyes we saw Chris Paul wake up an old man.  Denvin Booker looks to be a shell of himself.   And if that was not bad enough, the NBA still has to rule on the toxic workplace lawsuit against owner Robert Sarver, that could end badly..

Those DALLAS MAVERICKS can hurt you if everyone around Luka Doncic is hitting shots and they were on Sunday night.  Jarred Brunson has become a hot commodity, as he heads towards free agency this summer.  Jason Kidd has his team believing in every sales pitch he has.

Now this is impressive, this GOLDEN STATE run to the Western Conference finals.  The rebirth of the Splash Brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.  The maturation of shooter Jarrod Poole.  The burning fire that is Draymond Green.  What is most surprising, the Warriors are doing this without any input from their two top draft picks, Jon Kuminga and James Wiseman, both recovering from surgeries..

Is there a better GM-coach combo than what we have in MIAMI with Pat Riley and Eric Spolestra.  This is more than a Jimmy Butler led scoring machine.  They are so gritty on defense and on the board.  And now Victor Oladipo comes off a year and a half or rehab and gives them firepower too.  But it is Riley’s keen eye for talent and team chemistry and Spolestra’s Xs and Os that has made this team so vibrant.

BOSTON is more than a two man team, but those two, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are so explosive.  Then you add in a bench bunch you can go to at either end of the floor, led by Al Horford and Grant Williams, and you know you will be in a war.  And the Celtics have done this without injured big man Robert Williams, who might be about to show up soon in these finals.

No MILWAUKEE and Giannis in these conference finals, with the Khris Middleton knee injury hurting that team.

No BROOKLYN, done in by  Kyrie Irving’s attitude, Kevin Durant’s nagging injuries and the Ben Simmons problems.

PHILADELPHIA could have been there, but the facial fractures impacted Joel Embiid, and James Harden disappeared in games at the most important time of the season.  This will be a rocky off season for the Sixers.

The Ja Morant injury at the end of the playoffs took Ja Morant off the floor and when he left so did the MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES  chances.

Nikola Jokic couldn’t do it by himself and DENVER could not survive the injury ending situations to Michael Porter and Jamal Murray.

UTAH faded badly at the end and nothing seemed right with coach Quinn Snyder and stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.  Changes coming there

It would not be a proper finish to the NBA run, but to discuss the LAKERS square-peg-round hole roster as we wait to see if they purge the roster after purging the coaching staff the week after this (33-49) misery of a season ended.

On we go where teams with good chemistry seem to be carrying the day, while the big personalities and big payroll guys are sitting at home watching it on TV like you and me.

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