2024 NBA Season

[vennali]

Puzzling watching the Celtics in the 4th quarter. It feels like they are missing their star player or something. They all are on the floor but as a team, it looks like they've lost their superpower, collectively. Taking random 3pts, hoping it'll go. Barely passing the ball around, trying to break the defense. Instead, playing 1 on 1 and getting double teamed and still trying to go through. Jayson Taytum looks like a role player in the 2nd half. Barely touching the ball and even when he does, doesn't look like a threat at all. I definitely wasn't expecting the way the game went in the 2nd half of the match. Jimmy Buckets, stealing the ball 6 times and during crucial moments and making clutch shots as usual. Looking great. Heat are 8-2 during game 1's with Butler in the lineup.

[1715100870]

1715100870

[rhomelmabini]

Puzzling watching the Celtics in the 4th quarter. It feels like they are missing their star player or something. They all are on the floor but as a team, it looks like they've lost their superpower, collectively. Taking random 3pts, hoping it'll go. Barely passing the ball around, trying to break the defense. Instead, playing 1 on 1 and getting double teamed and still trying to go through. Jayson Taytum looks like a role player in the 2nd half. Barely touching the ball and even when he does, doesn't look like a threat at all. I definitely wasn't expecting the way the game went in the 2nd half of the match. Jimmy Buckets, stealing the ball 6 times and during crucial moments and making clutch shots as usual. Looking great. Heat are 8-2 during game 1's with Butler in the lineup.

They're getting forced by Butler then double team him, that was selfish defense tbh. They should have a guy that can defend him because he's playing chess out there while defenders are just playing checkers. Tatum two consecutive travels was really a letdown, I guess what the commentators had said was true that he wasn't doing what he did like in the game 7 of ECSF. If they keep doing this phase they'll probably gonna be another laughingstock losing to an 8 seed without Oladipo and Herro. One more thing is that they haven't even used Robinson this time, looks like Coach Spo has some strategy ahead.

I'm glad I taken those juicy handicaps and got a good win and as I've said previously in this thread that Miami wouldn't get away without a fight.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

WOW, what a 3rd quarter by the heat.

Boston had a game plan in the 1st half but it all came crashing down right after halftime!

Jimmy with yet another high scoring game and the over all field goal % of Miami was impressing. 16/31 from 3 !!
Boston also with good numbers and I don't really see a player with bad splits, still they managed to lose.

Guess the 3% chance of winning this series for Miami has no risen dramatically since they stole home court advantage.
Boston will surely bounce back in game 2, just as they did against Philly putting up a show.

But it's nice to see there will be a fight!

[Kelvinid]

WOW, what a 3rd quarter by the heat.

Boston had a game plan in the 1st half but it all came crashing down right after halftime!

Jimmy with yet another high scoring game and the over all field goal % of Miami was impressing. 16/31 from 3 !!
Boston also with good numbers and I don't really see a player with bad splits, still they managed to lose.

Guess the 3% chance of winning this series for Miami has no risen dramatically since they stole home court advantage.
Boston will surely bounce back in game 2, just as they did against Philly putting up a show.

But it's nice to see there will be a fight!

With the outcome of the game, the Heat have now taken the home court advantage, even if the Celtics win Game 2. However, bookies still cannot believe that the Heat will win the series, as the Celtics remain the heavy favorite in the current series betting odds. Perhaps if the Heat can win Game 2, we may see a more even field in the betting odds. But regardless, if you are a Heat fan, you are already ahead in the series, so taking advantage of those underdog odds is a great idea.

[OgNasty]

WOW, what a 3rd quarter by the heat.

Boston had a game plan in the 1st half but it all came crashing down right after halftime!

Jimmy with yet another high scoring game and the over all field goal % of Miami was impressing. 16/31 from 3 !!
Boston also with good numbers and I don't really see a player with bad splits, still they managed to lose.

Guess the 3% chance of winning this series for Miami has no risen dramatically since they stole home court advantage.
Boston will surely bounce back in game 2, just as they did against Philly putting up a show.

But it's nice to see there will be a fight!

Jimmy was great. He’s really something else in the playoffs. The thing that stood out to me as ha I g the biggest impact was his 6 steals. He was also extremely efficient from three point range which is a bit out of character. Kyle Lowry also had an amazing game and Kevin Love pitched in a little to help as well. It’ll be tough for them to keep up this level of play.

[btc_angela]

WOW, what a 3rd quarter by the heat.

Boston had a game plan in the 1st half but it all came crashing down right after halftime!

Jimmy with yet another high scoring game and the over all field goal % of Miami was impressing. 16/31 from 3 !!
Boston also with good numbers and I don't really see a player with bad splits, still they managed to lose.

Guess the 3% chance of winning this series for Miami has no risen dramatically since they stole home court advantage.
Boston will surely bounce back in game 2, just as they did against Philly putting up a show.

But it's nice to see there will be a fight!

Yeah, 45 points in the 3rd quarter? I think they are now the new Golden State as far as 3rd quarters goes as they have been beating their opponents with that huge run, just like what they did tonight against the Celtics.

Big game 1 steal for Jimmy Butler, he was really unstoppable in this game and it carry to his team mates as well, Lowry and another veteran in Kevin Love. Love just play simply, not flashy or anything in his career. But we will get another chance to win a NBA ring again if he will keep up the way he plays in this series. Philly needs to bounce back in game 2 otherwise they don't want to be down against a dangerous team.

[carlisle1]

WOW, what a 3rd quarter by the heat.

Boston had a game plan in the 1st half but it all came crashing down right after halftime!

Jimmy with yet another high scoring game and the over all field goal % of Miami was impressing. 16/31 from 3 !!
Boston also with good numbers and I don't really see a player with bad splits, still they managed to lose.

Guess the 3% chance of winning this series for Miami has no risen dramatically since they stole home court advantage.
Boston will surely bounce back in game 2, just as they did against Philly putting up a show.

But it's nice to see there will be a fight!

With the outcome of the game, the Heat have now taken the home court advantage, even if the Celtics win Game 2. However, bookies still cannot believe that the Heat will win the series, as the Celtics remain the heavy favorite in the current series betting odds. Perhaps if the Heat can win Game 2, we may see a more even field in the betting odds. But regardless, if you are a Heat fan, you are already ahead in the series, so taking advantage of those underdog odds is a great idea.

If you are a Heat fan for sure that sweet odds will be in your favor, especially for those who are betting per game, while waiting for the
series each game wins will add decent profits to their bankroll.

With how we witness the game turn of events, that 2nd half run by Miami really surprise the Celtics, forcing turnovers and making some good plays
and execute it the right way.

Game 2 will be an expected win for Boston though just like what happens in game 1 there's always a chance that Miami will snatch it, handicap
and ML for Miami fans for sure will continue to rise.

[LogitechMouse]

WOW, what a 3rd quarter by the heat.
~

That 3rd quarter alone made 2 histories for both teams.
- 46 points was the most number of points in any quarter for the Heat in the franchise playoff history.
- At the same time, that 46 points was the 2nd most number of points that the Celtics allowed to their opponent in any quarter in franchise playoff history.

I will not forget the taunts that the Celtics, and I will mention it here. The Bang-Bang taunt coming from Tatum, the Flex-a-Muscle coming from Brown, and the Timeout mock coming from Horford. How in the hell they can mock their opponents like that, and in the end they will lose? Do they know that they are facing an 8th seeded team that defeated the top 1 team in the NBA, and the favorites to win the title? They lead as many as 13, and they lose the game. What's worse is that Tatum didn't made a single field goal in the 4th quarter, and that's 5th for them all throughout his career. To add it up, he also made 3 crucial turnovers in the final minutes of the game that caused them the victory.

Now on the other hand, the only thing that the Celtics can do right now is to pray that Jimmy Butler will be having a bad night because they can't stop him. I mean no one can stop him. Even Horford who stopped Embiid in Game 7 can't stop him as well. Playoff Jimmy Butler is now activated. It's good that Coach Spo didn't give much minutes to Duncan Robinson because he knows that the Celtics has a good defense, so most probably he will just be a liability inside the court, and he might not make those threes.

Just for context only, with 14 Game 1's that happened in the playoffs, the team that wins in Game 1 series ending up winning the whole series (12/14) 85.7% of the time. I'm not saying that the Heat will win on this one since they won Game 1, but numbers don't lie.

[yazher]

If you are a Heat fan for sure that sweet odds will be in your favor, especially for those who are betting per game, while waiting for the
series each game wins will add decent profits to their bankroll.

Truly the game was exciting and the Miami Heat needed that win from Boston Celtics's homecourt because they will gonna have strong support from their fans there. The Celtics need to fix their roles and be constant in their intense play throughout the game to secure the win. The Heat has been in this situation before and they know how to compete and win some games which is the Celtics not aware of it and also right now the Heat is not gonna just give them an easy win until the last seconds of the game. These two teams know that if they can get through this round they will have a high chance to win the championship because their opponent is not GSW anymore.

[Velvet78]

Butler is really unstoppable recently. He had another marvelous game against Boston Celtics in the first leg of the semi finals with 35 points. Tatum had a really decent game with 30 points maybe but it wasn't enough to prevent Miami Heat from winning the game. Even the odds were highly favouring Celtics for this one so congratulations to the people who still bet on Heat.

I was expecting many people to bet on Heat anyway because they have been one of the surprising teams of the playoffs considering their regular season performance. I'm not sure if they can win this series as well but even if they don't this effort deserves appreciation.

[Natalim]

Butler is really unstoppable recently. He had another marvelous game against Boston Celtics in the first leg of the semi finals with 35 points. Tatum had a really decent game with 30 points maybe but it wasn't enough to prevent Miami Heat from winning the game. Even the odds were highly favouring Celtics for this one so congratulations to the people who still bet on Heat.

Heat is the right play now I beleive if we are talking of the series betting. If the trend will continue, heat has a huge chance of winning.

How often does the winner of Game 1 win an NBA playoff series?
Historically, Game 1 plays a major factor in determining the winner of a series.

Of all best-of-seven series in NBA playoff history through 2021, the winner of Game 1 went on to win the series 75.6% of the time (433-140).

source : https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/how-important-game-1-deciding-nba-playoff-series

I was expecting many people to bet on Heat anyway because they have been one of the surprising teams of the playoffs considering their regular season performance. I'm not sure if they can win this series as well but even if they don't this effort deserves appreciation.

With the large handicap spread, I'm sure a lot of people bet on the Heat, and they are likely celebrating now. Additionally, the moneyline odds are very enticing, so if they also placed some bets on the ML, that's even more potential winnings for them.

[inthelongrun]

Damn! I am sure Jimmy Butler burned a lot of bettors' money in today's game 1 with Boston. Jimmy Butler looks good in a regular season game but is excellent when it comes to the playoffs where it matters most. And Miami Heat despite a roster with only 1 superstar and less support compared to the other top teams are always a dark horse when it comes to the playoffs. It's a good thing I did not bet against Jimmy and will just watch their games. I still think Boston is the favorite to win the series, they're just too well-rounded and deep.

It's been years now that Miami Heat despite its roster continues to over-perform. I wonder when is the time the management becomes serious in bringing help to Jimmy. Jokic got his reinforcements this season, hopefully, Jimmy gets his next season.

[Pamadar]

Damn! I am sure Jimmy Butler burned a lot of bettors' money in today's game 1 with Boston. Jimmy Butler looks good in a regular season game but is excellent when it comes to the playoffs where it matters most. And Miami Heat despite a roster with only 1 superstar and less support compared to the other top teams are always a dark horse when it comes to the playoffs. It's a good thing I did not bet against Jimmy and will just watch their games. I still think Boston is the favorite to win the series, they're just too well-rounded and deep.

It's been years now that Miami Heat despite its roster continues to over-perform. I wonder when is the time the management becomes serious in bringing help to Jimmy. Jokic got his reinforcements this season, hopefully, Jimmy gets his next season.

Jimmy got the best backup that he needs. We are seeing how his teammates play the way he wanted.

I see how Bam and the rest of the squad support every play Jimmy wants. Look at all of them. They are all ready when Jimmy attacks
they know that there's a chance that the ball will land on their hands.

They are ready to take it and what is good from them. They are confident and not afraid to take the shot, and adding to that, they are
all fighting for offensive rebounds.

[Yamifoud]

Damn! I am sure Jimmy Butler burned a lot of bettors' money in today's game 1 with Boston. Jimmy Butler looks good in a regular season game but is excellent when it comes to the playoffs where it matters most. And Miami Heat despite a roster with only 1 superstar and less support compared to the other top teams are always a dark horse when it comes to the playoffs. It's a good thing I did not bet against Jimmy and will just watch their games. I still think Boston is the favorite to win the series, they're just too well-rounded and deep.

It's been years now that Miami Heat despite its roster continues to over-perform. I wonder when is the time the management becomes serious in bringing help to Jimmy. Jokic got his reinforcements this season, hopefully, Jimmy gets his next season.

Jimmy got the best backup that he needs. We are seeing how his teammates play the way he wanted.

I see how Bam and the rest of the squad support every play Jimmy wants. Look at all of them. They are all ready when Jimmy attacks
they know that there's a chance that the ball will land on their hands.

They are ready to take it and what is good from them. They are confident and not afraid to take the shot, and adding to that, they are
all fighting for offensive rebounds.

The Heat continue to be seen as the underdog, despite their impressive performance in game 1. Currently, they possess an underrated roster that has the potential to return to the NBA Finals. In their previous NBA Finals appearance during the bubble, they lacked veteran support, but now they have players like Lowry, Kevin Love, and even Zeller, who contributes well to make the job of Butler and Adebayo's job easy.

The Heat's performance has been consistently strong, so we can expect them to bring the same level of effort in game 2 as they did in game 1. The Celtics will need to step up their game and make improvements in order to level the series.

[LGD2Business]

The Heat have taken the home advantage but they still have a lot of work to do. Boston was truly unrecognizable. After the legendary 7th game he played, Tatum wasn't mentally prepared for this match at all. They have yet to realize that this is the Conference Final. I expect a better Boston in Game 2 and I think the series will go 1-1. The Heat attacked very well, but they can't always play like this. Players other than Butler also have to give their all.

[danherbias07]

Just for context only, with 14 Game 1's that happened in the playoffs, the team that wins in Game 1 series ending up winning the whole series (12/14) 85.7% of the time. I'm not saying that the Heat will win on this one since they won Game 1, but numbers don't lie.

Thank you for that.
And this is not just a simple Game 1 win. They won it on the road which means they now have a home-game advantage against the Celtics.

Now on the other hand, the only thing that the Celtics can do right now is to pray that Jimmy Butler will be having a bad night because they can't stop him. I mean no one can stop him. Even Horford who stopped Embiid in Game 7 can't stop him as well. Playoff Jimmy Butler is now activated. It's good that Coach Spo didn't give much minutes to Duncan Robinson because he knows that the Celtics has a good defense, so most probably he will just be a liability inside the court, and he might not make those threes.

I've seen him have a rough night offensively but when that happens he focuses on distributing the ball to his teammates or defense. 6 steals is not a joke, and most of them are clean ones.
I am not a big fan of the Miami Heat but I am a fan of Jimmy Butler ever since I saw how he played in the bubble against the Lakers. That's where I witnessed Jimmy will do anything to win. He has the heart, he never stops playing wise, he plays both offense and defense and in that match, he was up against Lebron with an exhausted body.
He played that well without fans watching, what more with fans supporting him when they come back to Miami. I am not underestimating the Celtics but they must have an answer to that and Game 2 will be the best time to bring their confidence back.

[Captain Corporate]

I assumed Butler would be the difference maker and I wasn't wrong about that. Tatum is a great player, and I definitely consider him good enough to be fmvp if they win the title as well, dude plays amazingly at times. However, just look at his fourth quarter stats from this game and you will realize that this wasn't it, it wasn't the game he wants and he just couldn't play. This isn't going to happen all the time, this is the same dude that won them some games on the last seconds as well, so he is a clutch player and normally not like this. Just because they lost and he couldn't contribute doesn't mean that it will be like this for a long time, it will be his time next game and Celtics will get a win on the second game, I am sure of it.

[Yogee]

[....]
The Heat has been in this situation before and they know how to compete and win some games which is the Celtics not aware of it

Come again? Their coach may be different now but this same Celtics team from last year knows the Heat very well. Remember that this is their second meeting in the ECF in just two years so I doubt what you're saying. Heat won game 1 last year as well but it's the Celtics who went to the Finals after seven games. Needless to say that they know how to grind and play hard too.

[Japinat]

You probably saw the Ja Morant apology going around. The funny part you might not have seen is how fans found that the apology was written by ChatGPT. Ja Morant literally had AI write his apology for him so that he wouldn’t be bothered with it. Hilarious. I guess someone in his PR team is probably the responsible party, but it is no less hilarious what these kids are doing nowadays.

His actions are slowly creeping back at him and destroying his much wanted career that he dreamed of.

First, the Grizzlies is not letting him participate in all of their activities and right now, the Nike released a statement as well that they are pulling out Ja Morant's signature shoes in all of their store and online stores. Who knows what is waiting for him in the next few weeks, he might be in for a more surprise.

[freedomgo]

I see Nuggets vs Celtics final. I know that a lot of people have a lot of different opinions and Lakers played as well as they could hope for and almost got a win at Denver, that's good. But I believe that Denver had Jokic advantage that can't be unseen, that is a huge one and the fact that he plays like this at times to give them the edge is something huge, we need to consider that as the most valid opinion at this point.

I know that fans are upset about the current situation but we need to realize that Lakers just can't respond like that, not when Jokic plays like this. Even though if Jokic plays badly for a few games, I do not think that it will be 4 games, it is going to be totally different and we need to accept that.

I actually think the betting majority will see it the same.  Jokic is a complete mismatch for Lakers to defend.  Nuggets have to figure out how to not get Murray switched onto lebron and this should be a quick series.  They will need multiple lights out type performances from their secondary players for multiple games to make this competitive.  And Miami might hang in there but I think the Celtics front court is just too much.  Jaylen Brown is gonna abuse miamis guards.

That's right, both #2 Celtics in the East and #1 Nuggets in the West could be a good matchup for this years finals.

But there could be unexpected events though, Miami is no push over, although they are 3:1 underdog against Boston, we can't discount that they might make this series a very close match. But for this game 1, I'm seeing a big win by the Celtics to make a statement, it could be a double win advantage, I reckon.

Unfortunately, the exact opposite thing happened as the Miami Heat snatched their first win on the Celtics homecourt, although that is not really surprising. The latter commit a lot of mistakes in early second half and let the Miami Heat rally to lessen the gap until they overcome it, even their head coach, Mazulla wasn't happy about what happened as he threw his clipboard during the timeout.

This are getting pretty interesting in the East, later on, the West will be having another showdown. Game 2 between the Nuggets and Lakers, this should be entertaining.