Boarman
Years ago
I've been wondering about this question for some time
Would the Raptors still win with Serge Ibaka starting and having Valanciunas come off the bench?
Will never know, would they win it if Klay and Durant don't get injured?
J Bags
Years ago
LOL! What you should be pondering is would those clowns have ever won the championship if:
1) Klay and KD were playing in the finals. Would've been a sweep if both teams were 100%.
2) The Bucks hadn't choked after being up 2-0.
3) Kawhi didn't get the luckiest bounce (x4) I've ever seen in Game 7 of the Semis.
LoveBroker
Years ago
They won the Championship fair and square.
Injuries are part of the game.
Warriors won their first one against a Cavaliers sans Kyrie and Love.
And when the Warriors finally faced a full strength Cavaliers, they lost from 3-1 up.
LV
Years ago
So many interesting hypotheticals
The Warriors made 5 trips to the Finals and all of them, you could argue, were strongly influenced by injuries:
- 2015 Kyrie missed most of the finals, Kevin Love missed the entire finals. Warriors win 4-2.
- 2016 Bogut misses the last 3 games, allowing Kyrie and Lebron to attack the hoop in a way they werent able to with rim protector Bogut there earlier in the series. Cavs come from 3-1 and win.
- 2017 Spurs beat Warriors 2-1 in regular season- both wins by over 20 points. Fast forward to Western conference finals, Spurs up 20 at the half of Game 1. Kawhi goes down in the 3rd quarter. Warriors come back to win Game 1 and the series.
- 2018 WCF- Rockets up 3-2. Chris Paul misses games 6 and 7- Warriors win Game 7 in Houston.
- 2019 Durant, Klay, Cousins all variously impacted by injuries.
This is the norm- it's an 82 game season, 2 months of playoffs. Injuries happen, there's a million hypotheticals.
In 2010 Boston enforcer Kendrick Perkins missed game 7. The Lakers bullied Boston in the decider, grabbing 23 O boards, putting up 83 field goal attempts.
Does Kobe win his 5th title if Perkins had played? Probably not.
But that's just another playoffs hypothetical, isn't it!
LV
Years ago
In fact, Perkins got injured in Game 6, only playing 6 minutes in that game- Lakers won games 6 and 7.
Just shows, injuries happen every year.
Most champions have a bit of luck.
"2016 Bogut misses the last 3 games, allowing Kyrie and Lebron to attack the hoop in a way they werent able to with rim protector Bogut there earlier in the series. Cavs come from 3-1 and win"
Bogut played 71 minutes in the first three games in 2015, three in game 4, and none in games 5 & 6. GSW won the final three games.
These hypothetical questions are stupid, can never know the answer. Odds improve or lessen, do Raptors win with Derozan instead of Leonard, probably not. Do Raptors win if LeBron stays in East?
Paul doesn't get injured the rockets are 017/18 champions
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