04-16-2022, 10:43 AM
(04-16-2022, 07:24 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: Trae Young was straight fire down the stretch last night. I was rooting for Cleveland just for a reward for a nice season. But as far as interest goes, having Young go against the top seeded Heat is the better story.
Quite a turnaround for the Pelicans. They will probably be quick work for the Suns in round one. I thought a healthy Clippers team would have given the Suns a better series, but man they had a really tough year. Watch out next year though.
The Pelicans may get Zion back next year (if they don't move him) and now have a 1 and 4 chance of a top four pick via the Lakers. Not only teams like the Clippers and Nuggets should be better next year but we also need to watch teams like the Wolves and Pelicans with young a nucleus.
I was watching the Haws game. Trae was horrible for 3 quarters on both sides of the floor. Cleveland kept running/switching at him on offense, and just about every time they could get easy penetration and score. There is no way to hide a player like that on defense against great teams long term. Cleveland was up about 10-15 points most of the game. Only thing that kept Hawks in the game is getting Delon Wright instead of Trae to stop the penetration, which worked and they came back until the 4th quarter mostly due to the bench unit. Yet, Hawks managed to hide Trae in late 3rd and entire 4th quarter to the blind side of the defense, and Cleveland was just not good finding ways to switch to Trae in 4th. Hawks found a way to hide him on defense, and during 4th he had a terrific offensive quarter. Really strange game. Cleveland should have closed the game in 3rd, could have build a large lead.
Cleveland has a lot of potential to build a championship team. The two bigs they have, is the future Allen and Mobley, and Garland as well. They have something to look forward for in the future. The way they play defense, it could translate to a winning franchise. They need more pieces however.