No Chill NBA

@HoodiGarland Cavs rested in Game 6 tho

Knicks had a week off while Cavs were playing every other day for 14 straight playoff games

@Lethal2Ks Shouldn’t cash out, just put 20K on Dort‘s under

If this guy doesn’t cash this shit out right now😭😭😭

@PolymarketHoops @ShamsCharania If LeBron really wants one more ring, going East is the obvious move. No reason to fight through OKC and San Antonio when the West might be locked up for years.

REPORT: Every NBA contending team out of the playoffs has made a call to LeBron James, per @ShamsCharania. LeBron also would reportedly be willing to take the minimum with any championship contender if it meant an easier path to a championship. 👀

@Fullcourtpass Funny how “accountability” only gets mentioned when a player speaks his mind. Anonymous texts from “former players” mean nothing.

Kendrick Perkins shared text messages from former Celtics players about Jaylen Brown and claims they don’t ‘rock’ with Jaylen Brown after his recent comments: “I get another text that says ‘hey, JB trippin.’ Another text from a former Celtics player that said ‘JB, lack of accountability.’— JB guess what? It’s a lot of people in the organization, a lot of former players, legends, that don’t agree with you bro! — This instance, I can’t rock with you JB. Guess what? There’s a lot of former Celtic players that’s not rocking with you either.” (Via @FirstTake)

@DetroitPistons That looks forced lmao

GAME SEVEN. HERE WE GO.

Credit to @RealJayWilliams for actually reading the game properly, not just relying on box score narratives, but recognizing real impact like +31, defense, facilitation, and control that only show up if you watched it. So far it’s becoming clearer why Harden is the better fit for this team. He brings a calm presence, leadership, and defensive communication that doesn’t show up in the stats. Not surprising he finished that game with the best defensive rating (87.7)

“That is the reason why you got [James Harden] in that Darius Garland trade.” —@RealJayWilliams on Harden’s impact on the Cavaliers’ Game 7 win over Detroit ⬇️

Sam Merrill honestly swung the game. Not just because of the points themselves, but because every made shot completely changed Detroit Pistons defensive comfort level and spacing decisions. In a game featuring stars like Cade Cunningham, Donovan Mitchell and James Harden narratives, a role player getting hot can completely flip playoff basketball

@HaterReport That's the appreciation for winning Game 3, 4 and 5

James Harden helping the Cavs get to the Eastern Conference Finals

@SportsBoyTony Game high +31 and good defense

Stan Van pulling out Harden’s Game 7 shooting stats while his team is up 35 is just so perfect. Couldn’t say a nice thing about him all night as he’s logged the most minutes on the Cavs. Maybe Stan’s box score watching is why he’s watching this game while Kenny Atkinson is coaching this game

@TheHoopCentral Played through his strengths. TOVs were unforced, but liked his aggressiveness

EVAN MOBLEY TONIGHT: 21 POINTS 12 REBOUNDS 6 ASSISTS 2 STEALS 2 BLOCKS 7/10 FGM +31 +/- 36 MINUTES

@TheHoopCentral He was still pretty impactful. Nice defense, deflections. Game high +31

James Harden tonight: 9 Points 2/10 FGM 0/6 3PM 36 Minutes

@BGNHoops His effort and defense is pretty good tbh

Man it feels so good to see Harden’s teammates carrying him for once. It’s usually Harden doing the carrying and his teammates ghosting him.

@ClutchPoints AD and Westbrook would be perfect fit

Anthony Edwards dragged the Timberwolves out of irrelevance faster than anyone could’ve imagined. A franchise that spent decades searching for direction suddenly became one of the biggest threats in the Western Conference the moment Ant became the guy. Not because Minnesota built some perfect superteam. Because their 24-year-old star kept forcing them further than they were supposed to go. Every season started looking bigger than the last: 🔹 Lottery team 🔹 Young playoff team 🔹 Dangerous playoff team 🔹 Western Conference Finals team 🔹 Legit contender Minnesota’s problem isn’t whether Anthony Edwards is good enough. The real question is whether the Wolves are asking him to do too much. There’s a difference between being the face of a contender and being responsible for every difficult shot, every late-clock possession and every offensive bailout when things collapse. At some point, every superstar needs another star next to them. Who should Minnesota pair with Ant? 🤔

@drenchmansports Definitely Mitchell because he didn’t show up the last games and he’s never been in the Conference Finals

Who has more pressure in game 7? Donovan Mitchell or James Harden? This is a no brainer for me! I also think this game answers some questions the Cavs front office may have about their “franchise player”…

@SleeperCleCavs Not possible because it’s on the road

Jarrett Allen in Game 7 vs. Raptors in the First Round: 22 POINTS 19 REBOUNDS 2 STEALS 3 BLOCKS Will he have a similar performance in Game 7 vs. the Pistons tonight?

@LegionHoops Milwaukee doesn’t matter because he was injured. OKC doesn’t matter because it was in the bubble. Boston was tough. Denver wasn’t that bad, his teammates didn’t convert his assists. Toronto was a good defensive game.

All eyes are on James Harden tonight. His last five Game 7s: 3-for-9 FG vs Toronto 2-for-8 FG vs Denver 3-for-11 FG vs Boston 5-for-17 FG vs Milwaukee 4-for-15 FG vs OKC Harden is running out of opportunities to win an NBA championship, and this season seems like a realistic opportunity, but it all depends on tonight’s game. The Cavaliers’ season depends on Game 7 James Harden. Here we go.

@HargoatMuse Negative 2

How confident we feeling for tn? 1-10 I’ll say 7 #LetEmKnow

@BleacherReport Harden should have been there. Huge robbery

The only players in NBA history with BACK-TO-BACK MVP awards. 🤯 🏆 This is legend status.

Exactly. This series honestly feels like a series where the better offense wins – offense is the best defense here. The moment he is on the floor, Detroit already has a clear defensive gameplan because they know they can ignore him offensively. That alone gives them more confidence defensively and shrinks the floor for Cleveland’s creators.

@ToxicHoops Exactly. Wade’s individual defense on Cade has been phenomenal. A+, huge props to him. But the Cavs strength is their offense. They need to lean into that to win and Wade is actively destroying their spacing with his unwillingness to let it fly, leading to him not being guarded

The problem with Dean Wade is, outside of the obvious offensive limitations, does he ever make a hustle play? The other 4 bench guys, Tyson, Strus, Merrill, Schroder, all provide energy in some way. Charges, loose balls etc. Wade is just not that guy

I don’t even think we necessarily need him to completely empty the clip. We just need him to do whatever leads to winning basketball. Low TOV game, impactful defense, controlling tempo, and creating easy looks for everyone else. Similar to G4 when Donovan exploded in the 2nd half – Harden orchestrated that game beautifully. If he can get hot early in the 1st quarter and keep the crowd from fully getting into the game, that alone would already be a massive step in the right direction.

I need Harden to leave it all on the court in tomorrow’s Game 7. Don’t want him being too passive and trying to get the role players going. I would rather have Harden score 30 on 15-40 shooting than score 15 on 4-4 shooting.