bigger upset story these playoffs from the elite...

[iamgine]

No he didn't. He shot like garbage and choked too many FTs which directly led to them losing the series. Literally threw the ball away from his hands like Ben Simmons, something we've never seen before at that level. And as usual in Giannis fashion, the team's half court offense without Middleton going nuclear, was absolute garbagio at the end of the game. Which explains the double digit 4th quarter chokes.

Did you watch the games, or did you just look at the boxscores?

Not sure what people are expecting. He's a 65%FT shooter. There will be games where he miss free throws. i.e game 6 of '21 finals. I think he played quite well despite late game failure.

I think people mostly put the blame on Bud for Bucks fall. So there's not much heat on Giannis.

[bdonovan]

IDK the Warriors losing will be an upset. They've had team chemistry issues all year and have never been dominant during any stretch this year.

Celtics are the best team left in the game so don't think 76ers losing to them would be a surprise.

Bucks losing was the biggest surprise; even if it was injury-related.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks are maybe the biggest surprise.

[DMAVS41]

i think the injury gives him a pass, which I agree with ... but they've tossed the coach already, so they've admitted it being a fire already

Why?

Giannis missed 2 full games. In the first game he missed the Bucks were losing...they could have won, of course, but it isn't like they were dominating with him. Then the Bucks won a game without Giannis...and lost the next.

Then he came back and lost the two biggest games of the year. He was hurt, not injured...and still clearly healthy enough to play a lot of minutes and at a high level.

He didn't even win one game in the series.

I love Giannis and have defended/supported him for years, but I have no idea why he should get a pass for not being able to win one game against an inferior team with a team good enough to win a playoff game without him.

Same things goes for Joel...as a Dirk fan who watched Dirk get crucified at times in his career...I'm sick of giving a pass to players that are supposedly much better that have never been out of the 2nd round like Joel...whose team won a road playoff game without him.

Also, being healthy is part of what makes one a great NBA player. Being hurt or injured is a negative thing and should impact the all-time rankings. Even if we say Giannis lost because he was hurt...which I don't think is true...him being hurt just cost his team a chance to win a title as he probably has the best supporting cast in the league for a star player. That's a negative...

[SATAN]

bias/agenda aside (hard but do try ISH), who do you think faces the most heat ...

Giannis: out in 1st round to the Heat (Giannis hurt 3 games)

Durant: losing to the Nuggets in 2nd round (Nuggets are best team in the league IMO)

Curry: loses to the Lakers in 2nd round (older Lebron and an inconsistent AD)

Embiid: loses to the Celtics in 2nd round (MVP asterisk* ?)

Lebron: loses to the Warriors in 2nd round (defending champs)

"tHe GoAt"

[John8204]

Based on the eye test Durant, Giannis got injured and The Heat are having an all-time run by the true MVP in the league. Durant was once a player who was making a top ten run and the last five years he's fallen out of the top twenty for me.

[r15mohd]

Why?

Giannis missed 2 full games. In the first game he missed the Bucks were losing...they could have won, of course, but it isn't like they were dominating with him. Then the Bucks won a game without Giannis...and lost the next.

Then he came back and lost the two biggest games of the year. He was hurt, not injured...and still clearly healthy enough to play a lot of minutes and at a high level.

He didn't even win one game in the series.

I love Giannis and have defended/supported him for years, but I have no idea why he should get a pass for not being able to win one game against an inferior team with a team good enough to win a playoff game without him.

Same things goes for Joel...as a Dirk fan who watched Dirk get crucified at times in his career...I'm sick of giving a pass to players that are supposedly much better that have never been out of the 2nd round like Joel...whose team won a road playoff game without him.

Also, being healthy is part of what makes one a great NBA player. Being hurt or injured is a negative thing and should impact the all-time rankings. Even if we say Giannis lost because he was hurt...which I don't think is true...him being hurt just cost his team a chance to win a title as he probably has the best supporting cast in the league for a star player. That's a negative...

game 1, he played 10 mins - pretty hard to display entire domination into the 1st qtr only.

and you can be sick of whatever you want, however this series wont remain a negative light or stain on Giannis and that's is because he was injured/hurt. as you said, they had the #1 seed and likely the best supporting cast all year, but the Bucks losing to the Heat this year doesnt even come close to an upset like what the Nuggets did to the Sonics, or Knicks to the Heat in their respective 1 vs 8 upsets.

given all on the list - KD is the bigger story if it were to happen. he put himself and the Suns in a finals, really championship, or bust scenario. anything less than that is a complete failure

[ArbitraryWater]

IDK the Warriors losing will be an upset. They've had team chemistry issues all year and have never been dominant during any stretch this year.

Celtics are the best team left in the game so don't think 76ers losing to them would be a surprise.

Bucks losing was the biggest surprise; even if it was injury-related.

Jalen Brunson and the Knicks are maybe the biggest surprise.

Warriors losing isnt an upset.

The team even last year was never as good as the post-trade Lakers have been.

The team won 53 games last year. The experience and pedigree was just enough for the Grizzlies, but if the Celtics and Tatum hadnt laid an egg in the finals, they probaby lose that series. Never the less if the Bucks had Middleton. They played themselves into a rhythm and were a formidable machine on offense, but part of that was abusing the lowly Nuggets and Mavericks defenses.