#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

East

#1 Hawks
#8 Pacers

Series Outcome: Hawks 4-0

Reaction:

Summary:
In a series that had maybe the league's most talented team versus a rag tag group of guys put togther to be compeitive during the regular season, this really turned out like you'd expect. They get the reaction because it would have been nice for the league for the Pacers to show a pulse at least. Instead the Hawks trounced them and that's all that's really worth talking about.

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#2 Pistons
#7 Wizards

Series Outcome: Wizards 4-0

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Summary: I think this is the upset of the history of the playoffs. Pistons walked in having dominated the seocnd half of the season with the best player in the history of our league, versus a team with a series of WTF are you doing trades by the Wizards... Well i think the Wizards just explained what the... 'FRYE' they were doing with that win. Davis did not disappoint averging an astounding 46-13 along with 3 blocks, 2 assist, and 1.5 steals a game. One has to wonder if GM wombat got cocky with AD's skills after his beginner's success with a championship. We've all heard about the turned down trade for Rubio which would have put the best PG in the league with the best player. Somewhere the Bucks GM is taking far too much pleasure in this one.

Let's talk about the Wizards for a minute. They put togther a terrific team that ... hell i'm not even sure how they won this series, much less 4-0. Great job Xist!


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#3 76ers
#6 Knicks

Series Outcome: 4-3 76ers

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Summary: Anyone who's a sim-basketball fan had to love watching this series go down, that is until Gary Harris went down. The Knicks started the series early by breaking the 76ers of home court advantage and eventually going up 3-1. The 76ers fought back to tie it 3-3 but an injury in game 6 ultimately ruined what could be considered one of the best 1st round match-ups (respect the hyphen isn't getting me) ever. The Knicks stifled soon to be all world PF Ben Simmons all series. On their side, the blown lead can be attributed to 2 things. Evan Turner's terrible shooting (38% FG and 19% 3 Point) and Gary Harris' injury. The silver lining for Knick's fans is Jokic's break out season extended to the playoffs , where he averaged 24-11-3 on 51% shooting.


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#4 Bobcats
#5 Bulls

Series Outcome: Bulls 4- 3

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Summary: The Bobcats were built for 1 thing: win a championship. Welp, that was fast because they're out in round 1 after a 300 something point luxury tax. The Bobcats bad luck didn't start in the playoffs. Who could forget the spurning by way of John Wall. Even then, the Bobcats were extremely formidable. The Bulls on the other hand didn't start out the season with a particularly strong team, but decided to put themselves in the fold with a RWB trade mid-season. Since then they've been among if not the top team in the league. This series started off with the Bulls taking home court to tie the series 1-1 then blowing their own home court in both games. Being down 1-3 seemed impossible, but a DeAndre Jordan injury made hopes better than none. The Bulls then pull off 3 blow out wins against the bobcats to win 4-3. The fact that we now have had two 3-1 blown leads due to secondary blown leads. One thing we know, is the Bobcats GM will be ready to roll next year with this premade squad.



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West:

#1 Suns
#8 Jazz

Series Outcome: 4-1 Suns

Reaction:

Summary: This series gets the because this is what we expected. Kevin Love before AD and after Kempwas widely considered the most talented player the league has seen. He's won his ring and has carried the Suns' dead corpse of a roster again and again.this year was a little different though, the Suns saw the window slowly closing on the Love era, and made a move for another former champion in James Harden, and boy did it pay off. The suns with a little help managed to grab the #1 seed in the West and tore through like no one was in their way. The upstart Jazz are a different sotry. years after being pillaged by the Bucks, they moved on from Paul George and restarted. It was a long and tedious rebuild, but they've finally got their feet under them. They had a series they could be mildly proud of and are ready to take that talent to next year. Hats off to both teams in this one.

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#2 Nuggets
#7 Timberwolves

Series Outcome: 4-3 Nuggets

Reaction:

Summary: The reverse curse battle of "i suck in the first round" versus "my guy is injured i have no shot" was an epic one. The sim-god's were confused, as we can see by the close series, but ultimately the injury reverse curse provided more ammo for the sim-Gods than did the i'm bad reverse curse. This one is a little shocking to me, all jokes aside. The Wolves brought back a team minus Lopez that almost won a championship and the Nuggets lost Blake Griffin for a couple of series. I would have pinned my bets on the Wolves eeking this out. This really puts a stamp on the end of that initial Wolves run and puts GM JNR in a spot where he has to make moves to restructure around Wiggins and Porter. The Nuggets on the other hand aren't done yet and only get more dangerous as these playoffs go on. They now get to face a 6 seed rockets whom they still have more talent then without Griffin.




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#3 Mavericks
#6 Rockets

Series Outcome: Rockets 4-0

Reaction:

Summary: Another shocked face for what should be the GMOY in 78. What a season he's had. He basically took a team with very average talent to Round 2 over the Mavs who went all in with the Whiteside trade. On paper, this one looked like a sure thing for the Mavs. their best defender played against the Rockets best scorer, but ultimately he couldn't really hold Horford under his regular season totals. The Mavs also had Beal and Rubio, but neither could make extraordinary performances for the playoffs. Rubio's lack of a scoring punch really let the Mavs down in this one. The trade deadline acquisition of Bob Covington for the Rockets has really paid off on their defense as we saw them hold the mavs under a 100 for 3/4 games.


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#4 Trailblazers
#5 Kings

Series Outcome: 4-2 Blazers

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Summary: After the Duren injury, the the wind in the Kings' sails deflated. They gave it their best attempt but ultimately fell 4-2. The Blazers did a great job winning a series they should have, after years of playoff disappointment. This shouldn't solely be chalked up to 'Duren was injured' though. The Blazers has a significant injury of their own in Lavar Ball. Still they managed to pull though, and like the Nuggets, they only become more dangerous as the playoffs go on. Their reward? Playing a near unstoppable looking Suns squad.


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