The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Nerd Sesh - Doncic GAME-WINNER carries Mavericks past Edwards & Timberwolves

Episode Date: May 25, 2024

The nerds discuss Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals between Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks against Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Timestamps 00:00:23 - Mavericks-Timberwolves #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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As always, I'm Carson Brever. And alongside me is Logan Camden. And what an incredible basketball game we just saw the Dallas Mavericks take a two O lead over the Timberwolves take both games on their home floor in the Western Conference finals. And this one ends on a big time game winning step back three from Luca Dodgich to cap off a very, very impressive night from him. Logan, what's your biggest takeaway from this game? I mean, we can just start with the Timberwolves. They have now lost their first two games at home by a total of four points. And I put this squarely on the shoulders of Anthony Edwards.

and Carl Anthony Towns, more specifically Anthony Edwards. Like, he just has to be better. Carson, in round one versus the sons, Ant was giving you 31, 8, and 6 on 65% true shooting. Against the Nuggets, he gave us 28, 5 and 6 on 61% true shooting. In the first two games of this series, he's at 20 points, eight boards, eight assists on 52% true shooting. Like, he has been a complete and utter lead down,

and it's all in the fourth quarter, dude. like him not wanting to get downhill. When he does get downhill, he is passing out of point blank opportunities at the rim where he could at least get an attempt up and maybe get fouled. Being more passive, letting the shot clock dwindle down. And dude, he makes the two most crucial turnovers in this basketball game. The first one, the kick to Jaden McDaniels where he's scrambling. And you can say what you want about that foul.

I don't agree with the outcome, right? Kyrie clearly hits McDaniel's hand. it should be Minnesota ball. It should have been a foul on Kyrie, whatever. Ant makes that errant pass that forces Jaden McDaniels to make that adjustment. That's on Anthony Edwards in his passing. And then he makes the crucial error at the end where he throws the ball out of bounds to Nas Reed. Like those are two possessions where you can at least get up a shot,

maybe get downhill to the rim and get some free throws. You just piss those possessions away. Like this is all on Anthony Edwards, man. The Timberwolves shouldn't have been in this game. Mike Conley and Nas Reed give you a. the superhero performances of the night, man. Mike Connolly's getting into the teeth of the defense, hitting big floaters, playmaking.

Nas Reid is spraying threes all night. Like, I don't know, man. I was really encouraged by the Timberwold's first half. They had made some crucial defensive adjustments. They were humming. They were turning defense into offense. And they absolutely crumble in the fourth quarterman to Luca and Kyrie. To me, this is the most embarrassing loss.

the playoffs for them, man. They had some bad losses in Denver. This is the worst one, dude, and I put it squarely on the shoulders of the stars. And like, even Carlin County Town is not being on the floor in the fourth Carson. Like, that's, that's big, right? Your second best player should never be off the court. But I get that one a little bit, right? Nass Reed is spraying the hell out of the ball. You got to have Nas out there. But I put it on those two guys, man. Like this is an embarrassing loss for for Minnesota, but more over, man, the two stars here. Like, I don't know. There's a small part of me that feels like this is going to be too much to overcome.

Dude, losing two at home. I don't know, man. This is a real demoralizing loss. And like I said, dude, I put it all on the shoulders of aunt, dude. I don't think it's an overstatement to say that this two-oh deficit, just in terms of what's gone wrong with Minnesota. I want to give a bunch of props to Lucan, particularly. and Kyrie and this Dallas team. But Minnesota facing this 2-0 deficit is 100% on Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns.

Because they have just proven. They have cemented how awesome this roster is, how good up and down this roster is, how complete they are, the advantage that they have over every other team in the league in terms of like your 6th through 8th guys, the lineup versatility, the contributions they get from Jane McDaniels in game one, Kyle Anderson in game one. Nas read in both these games. Mike Conley in this game.

Everybody around them is doing their job at a very high level. These two are getting absolutely dogged and they are getting embarrassed by the two best dudes on the other side of the court. And that was the biggest concern for this Minnesota team really throughout the regular season, man. It was, yes, they have this phenomenal team defense. Yes, they check boxes in terms of depth, in size, in rebounding.

Do they have that tier one sort of guy that you need to win titles? And my thought throughout the regular season was I really like Minnesota. I don't think that they have that guy yet. And then in this playoff run, Aunt moved me. He was so consistently through the first two rounds playing as well as just about anybody in the field. I thought he's playing like a top five sort of guy right now. And then considering the collective strength of this roster, I was like, yeah, I think they can win this series.

I think they can win the title, like very legitimately. And he has just been a complete letdown. There's so many areas in which he's struggled. obviously game one was just brutal for him defensively, but in this one, he comes out with the right approach in that he is very aggressive downhill early, particularly in transition when he can take advantage of not having to face a set defense that is loaded up on all his drives, and he's eating up free throws. Now, he really struggles to finish around the rim in this game, and I want to give props to Gafford and lively there for just their constant presence as deterrence.

He also just misses some good looks at layups in this game. So that's costly. But as you mentioned, like, you have to remain aggressive getting downhill because there is always value in doing so. Even if you aren't finishing at the rim, the various outcomes are mostly positive, right? You draw help. You get a shot up on the rim. That's an offensive rebound for your team.

That's another possession, very likely a putback. You just drive hard. An athlete like aunt is very likely going to draw a foul. And, like, he figured that out for brief stretches of this game at the start of the game, a couple possessions late in the fourth quarter, but for the most part, he's just overwhelmed. Like, he is way too overwhelmed,

seeing the levels of help that he is right now, where he is literally just throwing the ball all around the floor, as you mentioned. And he passes up a wide open short-range jumper at one point in the fourth quarter, out of drop, just like a gimmee look for him throughout these playoffs. And he's consistently passing out without creating an advantage whatsoever, just reset the offense. Hey, Mike, can you do something?

Can you bail us out? Mike Conley was way better offensively in this game than Anthony Edwards Logan. Like that is so, so inexcusable. I know that he's 22, but come on, man. Your roster is there. We have given you the respect of being one of these dudes. You are not playing anything close to that right now. If Nas Reid doesn't make seven threes in this game,

if he doesn't bail you out on several possessions, like you wouldn't be in position. And the possession where he throws the ball away trying to get it to Nas after the Jaden McDaniel's one that you mentioned, it's like, I get that he and not. miscommunicate whatever he wants Nas to stay in one spot. But like think about where that possession was at. He picks up his dribble against Derek lively and he's just pivoting.

He's just pivoting without a plan. Like it is so, so bad for Anthony Edwards. These are consecutive chokes. Like these are bad performances all around, but particularly in the fourth quarter, just nothing close to what this Timberwell's team needs him to be. There's no excuse for passing up good looks. There's no excuse for being this uninvolved,

offensively. And Dallas's defense is really good. But again, Mike Conley is kind of torching the drop coverage and you can't figure it out. There's no excuse. SGA Logan was facing incredibly packed pains. Nobody else on his team could make a shot. It was the inverse where you're getting the help right now in terms of your supporting cast. SGA, nobody was stepping up. And guess what? He's still balled out. He created those good shots for his teammates consistently. He dazzled as a shot maker. He found a way to dominate that series offensively. James Harden. was way better offensively than you have been, Anthony Edwards in this series. And now it's like you've lost your opportunity.

I tweeted out with 30 something seconds to go after the second bad aunt turnover in those last couple minutes like win or lose, Ant is completely overwhelmed right now. And he has to be 100 times better if Minnesota wants to win this series. And ultimately, his mistakes were too costly. And now you're down to, oh, you're going on the road. It's an incredibly difficult spot to come back from. and without stepping his level up multiple times over, like you obviously just don't have a chance.

Because this roster is so good, and you are the dude letting your team right now, you are not ready. That is the thing holding this team back. And at the same time, Kat also just sucked. And particularly to me, it was his offensive approach in this game. We talked after last game about how just straight up going at PJ Washington with these isolations is not really the move.

Cat is not a good isolation player. He's a very good post-up player when it comes to mismatch attacking. And generally, he's really good when he has a clear, overwhelming size and strength advantage. When he is dealing with somebody who can match up physically, there's a lot of ways for those possessions to go wrong. If he just gets stonewalled, loses his handle, over dribbles, settles for a tough floater. In this game, multiple times is settling for these tough one-legged followways. You see that on the first two possessions of the game. and it's like, this should not be the offensive direction for Minnesota,

that's just not a matchup for him to be aggressive in. And that was where the overwhelming majority of his shots in this game came, straight up isolating against PJ Washington. He's not winning that matchup. He lost it convincingly in this game. So shout out, Nas Reid again for keeping you in this game because Kat could have played you right out of it single-handedly, and he didn't deserve to be on the floor in the fourth quarter of this game. So it's funny because I think back to my prediction for this series beforehand.

and I talked about some of the precedents that I normally lean on. And I'm like, normally the team whose offensive formula I trust more, normally the team that has clearly two of the three best players in the series, I'm going to pick them. And that would be Dallas. But I said, Minnesota is so great at this other stuff, so great defensively, so huge, such great depth that I think that they can pull through. And I was wrong.

But it wasn't about the supporting cast. It wasn't about the totality of this roster. It's about the two dudes. It is about two dudes in Dallas, staring down two dudes in Minnesota, and absolutely dogging them. That is the story of this series. Completely, man. You have to recognize the moment and know that there's not margin against these two dudes.

These are veterans and more importantly, they are killers. They're assassins. Like these are the guys that you want to go to in the fourth quarter and you just have to feel the gravity of the moment. It's all Kyrie Irving in the fourth quarter. I know Luca hits a big shot. We'll get to that in a minute. Kyrie has 13 fourth quarter points and generates all kinds of offense for them.

comes out three over Conley. Next time down, hits over Nas Reid, has that trailing, catch and shoot three from deep, has a couple of drives, leads one to a Daniel Gafford, Easy Dunk, has another one where he gets downhill and it's a Derek lively alley-oop. And then, of course, he relocates off of what, and Minnesota's playing such great defense and Kyrie just slinks right out to the corner. Which everything possession, that was, I thought, a really good adjustment for that one possession, too, take him out of their rhythm a little.

And Luca still finds him for the corner three. And it just felt like, oh, man, Kyrie missed those free throws. He's not missing this one, man. He's going to take advantage. And that's exactly what he does. And then the final possession, you know, I don't even mind having Gober on the floor in that situation. I get it a little bit. If you're going to funnel him into the rim, like if you're going to blitz Luca off of the three.

Like, dude, I just got PTSD from Big Zoo Garden him in the Clipper series. It's what you feel. it coming through the screen. I literally told my boy who's sitting on the couch. We're watching it. I said, that's in. The second that Gobert got switched on Luca, I told him the three is in and bam.

Like, everybody in the building, everybody watching their TV knew that Luca was putting that ball up. I don't get how Minnesota doesn't blitz him in that situation, how Gobeyer doesn't just get up in his mouth and try to run him off the line. Man, dude, like, you're right. dude, the two dudes were just better tonight, man, and they clicked into gear. Like, and this is not about the supporting cast. Like, shout out to Gafford and lively for big play finishing and great defense throughout.

I think you're exactly right. Their rim protection has completely changed this series. It's not just being passive. It's a mental thing now, right? And it's facing all of these crowded paints with these long arms, this great collective Dallas defense, something that he hasn't faced in the first two series. Phoenix and Denver just don't have these kind of deterrence. or defensive schemes that can really deter him at the rim.

Dallas does. And so part of ants passivity is in effect of this awesome Dallas interior defense. And so I do want to give a ton of credit to those guys for what they have done in finishing plays of locking up and playing great defense on the inside. But it is Luca and Kyrie dragging them across the finish line in schooling these young boys. I use the word schooling because it's like they feel like they're at. This is elementary shit, man. This is a teachable moment. It's also a teachable moment.

A very teachable moment, man. So impressive from both Luca and Kyrie. And Kyrie absolutely stepped up in the wait stages of this game. You mentioned, like, his pure shot making dude, you just have such immense faith in him. Like, there is not a pull-up jumper. There is not a catch-and-shoot three that I see from Kyrie Irving in the wait stages of a game that I don't think is going to go in.

And he was also facilitating, as you mentioned, and 13 points and three assists in that fourth quarter. It was a rough start, but boy, did he come in huge. And you always knew that there's the possibility that these two would be the best offensive players on the floor. And they have been by far in this series. But I do want to give the most props to Luca because he was absolutely phenomenal. And he was phenomenal in game.

One of this series, he has been on a tear over these last four games. Shot making was sensational all night long. He's raining step back threes. and he carried them in the first half when Kyrie was struggling considerably. And then the game winner over Gobert, you talk about the different coverages. I thought Minnesota did some really good creative things defensively in the fourth quarter, like taking Gobert off the floor for that one possession, switching everything. Kyrie hits a three, but you get that possession into the final couple seconds of the shot clock.

It's a contested corner three. Like that was well defended. And then the possession before when they switched Gobert onto Luca, I thought that was really well done because once Luca gets a step, Gobert peels switches off to the roller. Nas Reid steps up, challenges Luca. It's just an unexpected look and it's a way for them to still get a great contest, even when Gobert gets beaten off the dribble by obviously a quicker, better offensive player.

But then the next possession, it's like, you cannot just leave him on a complete island with Luca. I'm not cool with that. I get that Rudy holds up well on switches, man. this is Luca Donchich, and he just had him on skates on that possession. He's just too great an offensive player. The scoring was really, really impressive. But my favorite part of this Luca performance was just how surgical he was as a passer. And we saw him absolutely toast Minnesota in drop in game one of this series,

where he is just consistently getting into that painted area. And he's so great as a touch shot maker. He's getting deep into the teeth of the defense and then still feeding the bigs with these lobs. And we saw a decent amount of that. this game as well. But it was dealing with the other coverages as well where we've talked about something that we saw in the OKC series, something that we saw even a couple times in game one of this series where you send two to the ball if you're playing Rudy in a higher drop or if you're blitzing, some sort of coverage where the big is up at the level.

You can basically challenge Dallas's Bigs to make good decisions and maintain their composure when they're confronted with a low man. Luca basically negated that just by moving the low man so many times in this game, where he is staring down that skip pass. And so the low man eventually is going to leave his spot. And he is going to think that ball is going to the weak side shooter. And then it just opens up a wide open role for the big. And Luca's delivering these no look jump passes like they're nothing with perfect accuracy every time.

I just thought that that was absolutely outstanding. He made it impossible to guard. the pick and roll, regardless of what coverage you played in this game. He's just an offensive maestro at his absolute best right now. And he is playing a level above everybody else in the field. And he has had his struggles in this playoff run, but he has worked his way completely out of that. The jumper is looking as good as ever.

And obviously, he's still dealing with the knee thing, which makes this so impressive because we see him going to the locker room in multiple stretches of this game. But I sure didn't seem to matter in this one. man. He was just completely, completely dominant. Last four games, averaging 31, 9 and 10 and a half on 65% true shooting. I just wasn't sure if we would see this Luca, considering the trouble that he had had with his knee in these playoffs. I thought that his mobility looked too hampered earlier in this run. He was too tentative getting downhill and he has risen to a special level. And that's the

difference in this series. Like, he is truly one of the best offensive players ever. I've said many times that he's off to probably the best offensive start to a career through six seasons we've ever seen. It's him and Oscar Robertson going neck and neck. But when you factor in how young Luca was coming into the league, like if you want to say best offensive start to a career by 25 years old, then it's Luca. The stuff that he has accomplished regular season and postseason is just so, so historically impressive. And this is now a real opportunity for him to continue to build on that special start. We've seen all the stuff about how he's made five straight all-NBA first teams.

And there are great all-time NBA players who haven't even accomplished that. I think Dirk is four-time first team all-N-Ba. I think Steph is four-time first team all NBA. But now it's like you put a championship caliber roster around him and honestly, still a roster that in terms of offensive skill is lacking outside of Kyrie and Luca, but they're defending at a high level. They have good enough athletes. and those two are so great, and he's taking you to the Promise Land right now.

It's just a really impressive flip as well, because last series was so much about that supporting cast stepping up, and this series so far through two games has just been about Luca and Kyrie being overwhelmingly great. It's a hell of a formula to have two shot makers, two shot creators of this caliber, and a team defense that is playing at this level. I was optimistic about this Dallas team. I thought they did to get them to the conference finals. That was my pick.

But again, I thought that Minnesota had the more complete team, and I thought that that would pull them through. But these dudes are just too damn good. And they're doing it against a really great defense, a defense that made some costly mistakes in game one, didn't play their best. But I thought played considerably better tonight, and you still get this sort of performance from Luca Donchich.

Again, it's just one of the best scores alive, one of the best passers alive. There isn't a read. There isn't a shot that he can't make out of pick and roll. and ultimately great offense, oftentimes beats great defense. And that's what we're seeing. We are. And I want to give him extra props too, Carson.

You mentioned that he's clearly hampered. And I think I downplayed that through the first two rounds. Like, I was flabbergasted, for lack of better term, watching him cook. He's so tired at different points in this game. And it just, like, I really don't think he's anywhere close to 100% at all, man. and the fact that he is still capable of doing this, and it's the brain, man. Some of this is the IQ, the manipulation.

Like, that's the beauty. It's like Luca hampered like this. He's injured, but he's still freaking strong. You can't turn, you know, you can't take that away. The way he operates, like his game, that's the beauty of it, is that even though he's at 70 to 80 percent, whatever number you want to put on it, he can still be this effective in a single game

because his game isn't predicated on athleticism and explosiveness. It's being methodical. It's making great decisions. It's opening things up. It's manipulating guys with his eyes and playmaking. It's phenomenal stuff. And he is the best guy in the field. You talk about some of the adjustments that Minnesota made Carson.

And that's where I'm really worried about Minnesota, right? I think they can continue to make these adjustments and slow down Dallas. But if Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns aren't going to play at a different level, Like you are literally crossing your fingers, praying to the basketball gods that Kyrie and Luca are missing shots. Like if they're not going to carry your offense, that is what you're left to, right? I liked a lot of the adjustments that Minnesota made in this game. Gobert coming out in a higher drop, mixing in more blitzes and traps. I think you made a key point.

I think the low man has to be so much better off of Luca in big pick and roll. I get it's tough when Luca's manipulating you with that weak size. guy, but at a point, like Carl Anthony Towns got picked on bad a couple of times in this game, where I'm just screaming at my television going, dude, you have to recognize that you're the hot guy. You got to slide. And well, also, you just have to be more willing to concede a corner three to Derek Jones Jr. Like as opposed to a wide open dunk over and over again. Like, I get it's tough, man. He is selling the shit out of these passes. But like, you just have to be more disciplined in that spot. You have to understand, okay, my responsibility is,

to tag the roller. And if Luca is looking towards that skip pass, let him make it, let Derek Jones Jr. make a three. Let PJ Washington make a three. I'm not giving up a 99% dunk attempt to Daniel Gafford or Derek lively. And too many times, Lucas just been too good. He's outsmarted them. And he's gotten exactly what he wants.

Like he always does, man. And it's hard guarding the pick and roll, right? Like if you step up too far, lively and Gafford are flying in behind you at all kinds of speed, ready to jam it in. Like, yeah. And I honestly wondered, because I thought, I want to give credit to Nas Reid on one of the final possessions.

I was also screaming at my television as I was throughout this game. You're hot. You're hot. Like, you've got to be the slide guy. And I thought he made a really good slide on a Luca floater at the end of the game. I wonder if it's worth having, I don't know, man, just a smarter if Nas might be better in that situation instead of Carl Anthony. Nas made a lot of mistakes in game one, though. He got Nas bad a few times.

It's tough, man. It's against Luca. Great offense, man. It's great offense. Yeah. And the point is that it did work for a little bit, right? Like in the first half, Minnesota holds Dallas scoreless for four plus minutes at a point. Like it was working.

They were turning defense into offense. They were crashing the hell out of the glass. They were out working them. But at the end of the first half, man, Dallas clicked into gear. Their defense started playing better. They got a ton of transition buckets and they carried it over. But that's my point, man, is that all these great defensive adjustments, no matter how bad they battle on offensive class.

Like Minnesota can do all the little things. They can do all of them. And they can limit the Dallas offense by that much. But it really is not going to matter whatsoever if Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns snap out of this. And my biggest concern, Carson, is something that you mentioned earlier. Is it that they're too young, man?

I wonder if this is just going to be a growing experience for both of these two. Like that was one glaring thing that stuck out to me in the fourth quarter is just the composure of these players. I didn't like Anthony Edwards, body language. Like there was one where he went to the rack in a transition layup and I think he got fouled, right? And he's complaining to the refs and he puts his head down. And like, you can just tell he's a little frustrated and that's a little detail, right? But it's just something I don't like. Kyrie and Luca, the entire game are scanning. They are looking. They are locked in. And I just feel like that slipped a little bit with that, man. Like the first two

series, uh, Dremont mentioned, I saw a slight bit of weakness and Ant and the presser right when he was talking about he's tired. And I just wonder if Ant is mentally ready for the situation, man. The first two series made it seem like he was. Like, you know, he's locked. And through these first two games, I have not gotten the composed Anthony Edwards that, you know, the Timberwolves need to win this series. Not even close, dude.

Not even close. And it's really hard to go through your first extended playoff run as a number one option. We know that. There's no denying that. It wears on you physically. You are seeing coverage after coverage that are different, but are all in some way designed to take you out of rhythm, force the ball out of your hands, take the rim away, which is his greatest strength as a score. But you just have to be way better than this. And like you said, you have to hang in there mentally and you have to remain the aggressor. Once you stop attacking, the defense is won. The other team has won and it really just comes down to that one fact.

This doesn't say anything final about who Anthony Edwards can be, but it does say something very real about the gap between him and a Luca Donchich right now. And there is a big old gap there right now. And because of the knee, I thought, well, in this specific series, there might not be that big of a gap. There's a big old gap, man. Like Luca just, again, is infallible as a decision maker. He is in such complete control of the game, whereas Ant, it is very.

much the opposite. He is out of control. He is the one who feels as though he is being hunted. And dude, I just want to give you the combined stats between these two star tandoms through two games. Luke and Kyrie are combining for 57 and a half points per game on 58% true shooting. Ant and Kat are combining for 35 and a half points per game on 46% true shooting. Carl Anthony Towns, Logan, is 28% from the field in these two games. You never have a chance. You never have a chance if that's the case. The final thing I was going to mention, those are absurd numbers.

Again, that just speaks to the fact. Like, they are getting so clearly outplayed by these guys. The one final thing I was going to mention, man, it just feels like you hit on the key there, man. The reason that I had faith in this matchup specifically and in this series was because of Luca's knee injury. And ironically, I think Luca has played himself up to the Western Conference finals and into being ready for this matchup.

And I wonder if Anthony Edwards blew his wad in the first two series going all out. And it's tough, right? Like you are going to be a little spent at this point in the playoffs, right? You don't battle through two really hard series. You just went through a game seven in Denver. But I wonder if like this is first run. Like I wonder if the exhaustion and the toll is just taking too much on him, man, at this point in these playoffs.

But Luca has played up to here, man. And he's been here before too. man. That is a component of it, the experience aspect. Like Kyrie mentioned it in game one. I knew I had to put the offense on my back out of the gates here and we had to get it started. And they just have such a better feel for the moment, man, even like a Mike Conley. Mike Conley steps up in this game because he's pinier before. He knows it. And I wonder if their youth is going to get them, man. We harped on Oklahoma City being the young team in these playoffs and it was going to cost them.

And I wonder if we overlooked that aspect a little bit with this Minnesota team, man. Dude, I feel like I was concerned about it in the regular season and then just wiped my concerns. And the sample size ultimately just wasn't big enough with what he was doing in those first two rounds. But my goodness, like, just the consistency with which he stepped up to the moment. That's not to say that he was perfect every single game, but there were a lot of dominant ant games. And he's still going to be a top three player in the world down the line, in my opinion. And again, I think that there's clearly three dudes you would want to build your franchise around going forward. It's Wembe, it's Luca, and then to me, it's Ant.

But there is a very clear precedent throughout NBA history that teams with 22-year-olds as their best player, just don't win it all. And Minnesota does a lot at an exceptional level. But if Ant just isn't that guy at this moment, if he's not ready to be that in this series, then that's kind of it. That's final. outside of hitting shots, is there anything you think that Aunt or Cat, both of them, the payer, that they can do differently schematically or mentally offensively to do better things moving forward in the series? Absolutely.

I think Ant just needs to be more relentless downhill. Ant just needs to take more shots also, right? He is seeing some really good pull-up looks out of drop, and Rudy is setting some really good screens to spring him free. And he's not taking all of them. But I really want to see him asserting himself physically because when he attacked the bucket, even without making his shots around the rim, he saw good results in this game. He also just needs to be way more composed as a playmaker. And that's been inconsistent for him.

But it was really, really bad. Some of the decisions that he made late in this game. Kat, it's just stop going at PJ Washington one-on-one. It's pretty simple. Like if you have a legitimate mismatch, fantastic. go to work as a post-up player. Other than that, I want you spotting up. I want you attacking the offensive glass.

Like the worst thing that Kat can do as an offensive player is start forcing the issue and kind of wasting these possessions with these out of control isolations. And there was just too much of that in this game. All right, guys, we're going to take a quick break. Then on the other side, we'll talk about some of the other keys and things that stood out to us from this game after some quick words from draft Kings. We are this close to crowning an NBA champ. And with the action heating up on the court, it's even hotter at Draft King's Sportsbook,

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211 and over, age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See dkng.com slash B-Ball for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms, and responsible gaming resources. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the

athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being,

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Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conkey, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA.

Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I do want to give some props to the supporting cast for this Dallas team because I just love how they've built this team. We've talked about it many times throughout these playoffs, but the value ads

that they have made with all of these wings and these bigs, adding athletes, adding defensive-minded guys, just so many diamonds in the rough that they found. Derek Jones Jr. has been so great. PJ Washington has had some really big moments. But this game is just about the bigs. And they completely overhauled that group.

And you can look at these two. And I don't think anybody diminishes what they do. But you can view some of the things that they do as being just like rudimentary, like classic big man stuff, right? Rim running, rim protection, not necessarily skills on their own that are uncommon and for starting level replacement level bigs. These two are just really, really damn good at both those things, man. And the vertical spacing is so valuable, so valuable.

Luca has always been one of the absolute best lob passers in the league. Now he has two of the best lob finishers in the league. And it really doesn't require much of a window at all. Like we have seen it many times against drop, which by design is meant to take. take away shots around the rim, right? And it's meant to keep the roller from getting behind you and keep the pick and roll ball handler in front of you.

So you're forcing guys into those intermediate shots. And yet it's like Rudy is in good position to play both of these dudes at various points. And Luke and Kyrie can just throw the ball up so obscenely high that it's like Rudy can't play it. You just put that ball anywhere in the vicinity of the rim and Gafford and lively both can go up there and get it. That is incredible. And Gafford, his touch was good in this game. The sequence where he had like the skilled catch and finish off the lob, then blocks the

Conley three out of drop, which was so impressive. Then it's that falling layup in transition. And he has five blocks in this game. This has been the best interior defense in the playoffs. Opposing teams are shooting something like 55% inside of six feet against Dallas, which is a really, really low number. and it's about the collective of those two. And really, depending on the night,

we've seen one of them step up and be the stud. It's mostly been lively recently. I do think he's a more complete defensive player and a better playmaker offensively, but Gafford was awesome in this game. And I mentioned their combined stats last game. This one, they combined for 30 and 14 on 14 of 16 shooting. They're getting a lot of good looks around the rim,

spoon fed to them, but that vertical spacing, Logan, there's not a lot of bigs in the league who can actually just throw a lob up to no matter what like that, and they'll catch and finish. And both these dudes do that. And it really adds an incredibly valuable dimension to this offense. It's huge. You can't, you can't understate it. And what I really like to Carson is you mentioned how Luca is one of the best

lob pastors in the league. It's really permeated to the rest of the roster too, right? Kyrie will do it. Jaden Harvey gets a lob in this one. Yeah. And what's so crazy to me, man, is that it's at any angle. Like, dude, Kyrie's falling out of bounds at one point. in this game and just lobs one up and you see them flying in.

The handle? Yeah. Well, two of them actually. I forgot about that play. Yeah, the other one where he almost loses the ball and still gets it up there. To me, it's like must watch basketball. Like, I assume if you're here, you love basketball, but like it's can't miss. It is a, it's a freaking circus out there.

And I want to give extra props to lively too, just how long he is. Like, dude, that dude vacuums in, just rebounds and, uh, If you throw it in his vicinity too, like he's just so freaking long, man. That's a real weapon. I also like, I did think that Timberwolves did a good job of blitzing and getting the ball in his hands.

Lively's a good short roll passer too. Like, I don't know if he gets an assist in this game, though, but he's got a nice swing to the wing. It opens up a PJ Corner 3. Obviously, that's what Minnesota's defense is conceding. But having a big that is looking for that pass after the catch immediately is really valuable. And he's been better at it later in this run. Because early in the OKC series, he really struggled there.

And I think he's gotten definitely better and more comfortable as a decision maker. Just because he's ready for it. Yeah. Carson, I have one idea for the Minnesota offense to open up maybe easier shots or something to exploit. I want to run it by you and hear what you think. I just had a thought during this game that, you know, Luca has been kind of deteriorated, right? His knee is banged up. what about just going at him like every defensive possession man and trying to wear him down throughout the game one i thought in the first half there were a lot of open threes where lucas not even trying on defense like his man just gets lost in the corner where he's not trying

what do you think about Minnesota's offense, like setting screens with his man and deliberately attacking him or trying to wear him down as the game goes along, maybe just to limit his effectiveness and just wear him out as the game and series goes along? We haven't seen a ton of success for Minnesota doing that yet. And we do know that Luca is better as an isolation defender than I would say he is consistently as a team defender. That's not to say that he doesn't make like his high impactful roamer free safety plays where he just has really good instincts

and he jumps a passing lane. But ultimately, that's just going to come down to Ant being super aggressive, like if he hunts that switch because the problem has been that regardless of the matchup, like there's a couple spots where he gets Luke on him in this game. And it's the packed paint that is deterring him from getting downhill. So I don't think that that's a bad strategy at all, simply because putting the other team's best offensive player in the action defensively repeatedly,

like unless they're a really good defensive player, just generally a good strategy, right? Try to wear down the opposing team's best offensive player. But ultimately, like all of this stuff to me is just going to come down to and changing his mentality and being better because he's had better offensive opportunities in this series than he's shown. And that's not even saying that like he should be feasting right now. It's just the dude's been like really. really, really bad.

I do want to give some more props to the Minnesota supporting cast, even though they don't win this game. And I feel bad for these dudes because like the story of three quarters, at least of both these games has just been, oh my God, Aunt and Katz suck in Minnesota might still win because everybody else is stepping up. And then it ends up being that you just have two special closers, two special shot makers,

which again, the ability to get a self-created shot of the quality that either Luca or Kyrie can to have two dudes like that. It's invaluable and Ant hasn't shown that he's capable of that. And certainly nobody else on this Minnesota roster is. But what Conley did, man, against drop, he's just getting fantastic looks. I mean, he's such a good pull-up shooter. He's so comfortable with the floaters.

Everybody's been enamored with his righty floater for over a decade. Oh my God, he's a lefty and he shoots righty floaters, but he hits a big one in this game. Like in the most important stretches of this game, it was mostly Conley holding down the offense. He has that given go with Ant, which honestly I thought was a smart way of utilizing a lack of offensive aggression, just being like, hey, what if we got our our best offensive player of the ball?

But he's obviously not going to shoot it. But at least the defense will have their eyes on him for a second. I just thought in a game where Ant clearly wasn't ready, Conley did a lot to put them in a position to win regardless. And then Nasree, dude, seven three is in this game. It's tied for the most ever by a center in a playoff game. I saw some people say that he's not a center when I tweeted that out. He's a big guard.

I understand. He identifies as a big guard. He is the bench center for this team, plays a lot of minutes at the four in the playoffs, because why would they have a lineup that doesn't have Gobert or Cat out there? They're like they just don't do that very much at all. But his versatility is a shooter. It's just outstanding.

Like you see it in this game coming off a screen, off kickouts, opposite side picking roll, from really anywhere above the break. I mean, this is what you've talked about, Logan. You love the stat that he shoots 40% or better from three from every area above the break, both corners, and you see it from the corners, like from deep. And it's the release speed, dude.

I mean, the guy doesn't have to even leave his feet. Like, that ball is just immediately up and at his size, you can't affect it. He puts the ball on the floor, attacks a closeout, gets a big dunk in this game. Minnesota is so, so good, dude. They are so, so good. They are so well constructed. And I think that that's probably the toughest thing for Timberwolves fans to stomach, seeing all of these guys who are key players.

who are key players for your team delivering. And it's not enough because your two guys are letting you down. And I don't want to sound like a broken record, but like that's the story, man. All these other dudes, Jane McDaniels doesn't have a good offensive game in this one. Neither does Nikiel Alexander Walker. But like they've both had huge moments.

McDaniels especially, obviously, has been huge offensively in the last few games. I was just going to add you look at all of the stretches where Minnesota doesn't have it offensively, where they let go with the rope. It's all minutes without my. Mike Conley. They were going, Anthony Edwards and NAW on the court. And look, I understand it for maybe defensive purposes. That's what was so frustrating about those stretches is it's like, okay, well,

Mike Conley's out and you hear SVG on the broadcast mentioned. Anthony Edwards is the only ball handler on the group. And what is Anthony Edwards doing? Not taking the ball and taking over on offense. We get cat iso possessions. We just get foolish offensive process that you cannot have in the Western Conference finals, man. And huge shout out to Nazare. I'm so glad you mentioned the release down to the last shot of this game, which just catches from super deep, top of the key, ends up getting it off and all those goes in. It was do-du-up, you know, in and out.

Nah, as a special, special weapon, man. Shout out, shout out Big Jelly. Shout out Nas Reed, man. And those are the only, again, not to beat a dead horse, not to be a broken record, but back-to-back games now. You don't get special role players' performances like this every game. got it from Jaden McDaniel's last game. You get it from Nas read this game and they are completely gone to waste. Do you think that Minnesota is completely shocked, Carson? Are they cooked?

Well, I think it's pretty unlikely that any team comes down from two nothing when they lose both games on their home floor. We saw Denver nearly do it last series. But winning four out of five against a really good team is just hard. And it's especially hard when they simply have the better offensive formula right now. And when they have at this moment, the two best players on the floor in this series, I definitely see avenues to Minnesota getting back into this because I do think top to bottom, they are the more complete basketball team. And that's where I think people will probably freak out about the composition of this team,

even though they're in the conference finals if they lose, because that's just what tends to happen. and maybe Cat is so brutal that you are like, okay, can he really be a number two? But Gobert, by the way, I thought it was really good in this game. I thought he played a really good basketball game, was awesome on the offensive glass, was generally efficient offensively. Yes, he has some tough misses, but he draws his fouls. He gets a mismatch and transition, seals the guy off, and he was really good defensively. Like, I understand that the meme is going to be Luca putting him on skates on the last possession.

And that's a crazy thing to ask any center of basketball to do. If it's not bam out of bio, like anybody could look silly. Think about Anthony Davis, who's one of the most switchable bigs, Jamo Murray, how many times has he out in space just been a little bit too shifty, right? That threat of the downhill drive when you just are at a quickness disadvantage opens up a lot for the pull-up shooting. Rudy looks a little bit goofier. There's no deny. It's a bit more giraffe-like than AD, more graceful.

But that just can't possibly define this. He played a really good game. I still think the construction of this team is correct. It is going to be, okay, can I get to the level necessary? And also, can he do it fast enough? Because Mike Conley, Logan, as you say, is so important, so, so important. That's just a consistent secondary ball handler in this game, primary ball handler, just the decision making, the shot making.

It's something that this Minnesota offense desperately needs. And obviously, the man was drafted in 2007. So he just doesn't have that much time left in the league. It's not an impossible role to supplement. but he is really, really good at it. And just even though his shot making hadn't been very good over the last couple games is generally such a steady basketball player. So I can't say that they're totally done because it's like if Ant and Cat had played

decent basketball, they would be up to nothing right now. But obviously, I think that they have a very, very long road to climb back. And there's just no reason not to have the utmost faith in Luke and Kyrie right now. And you can't say that about Ant and Cat. whatsoever. For real. Big, dude, Gober blew up a ton of stuff defensively. Like, it is going to be the meme.

Like he looks like Big Bambi out there trying to guard. Luca, it's tough. Like you said, that's going to happen to anybody you put on Luca in that situation. And Mike Connell, even though he's missing, dude, he's stepping into amazing, great high quality shots. That's all you can ask out of the guy. They're all open, pull-up threes off screens where he's facing drop coverage. They're all open floaters in the lane, which are valuable shots against drop.

they're steadiers, man. And to me, yeah, you're right, bro. Like, I think this team is really well equipped to stay here. It's about the young guys getting better and doing their thing, man. I know they're young, and these first two games are really discouraging, but I got to think that I got to see that fire, man, that like angry, P-Oed, we got to go take it. And I think Minnesota's response in game three, obviously, is massive.

This is the game where, like, you need a, a resounding, just mean kind of response, man. Like Minnesota has to come back with a vengeance. And every time Anthony Edwards has been faced with it, he has answered to call. I'm waiting on it. I can't imagine they go out without a fight. This is a team that has more competitive fire than they know what to do with. This is a team that has come out, tenacious and vicious.

And they were underdogs against Denver. And once they went down three, two, it's like, boy, that is difficult to overcome mentally. and they did it and they dog Denver in game six and they came back from down 20 in game seven. So you can't count out the mental fortitude of this team and just how the physicality and defensive intensity can be so valuable to them. And by the way, I do want to address that this was a physical basketball game. And that's something that should favor Minnesota. And they still don't win this one.

But I did think that that was beneficial to their defense and they were just sharper defensively in this game than they were last game. I want to be clear, like, this roster construction isn't perfect because you are sacrificing some offensive skill, just inherently having Rudy out there. And you're big and it's clunky sometimes. But again, like those physical advantages having so much size, like it's not always the prettiest offensively, but for the most part, it's been good enough. And then you ride that great defense just comes down to the best dude, not playing up to their level.

So we'll see if they can get there. But as of right now, it's on them. So huge win for Dallas. Props to them. What a season for the Mavericks. What a season and a half of front office work, dude. I mean, just home run after home run. And I will just say that when they made the Kyrie trade,

I did not think they could be in this spot this quickly. When they let Jalen Brunson walk, that is like supposed to be the nail in the coffin. You can't just survive letting a top 15 player walk with no value. could have had on the best value contract imaginable, and they're doing it. They have built, to me, a significantly better team than the one that went to the conference finals in 2022, a team that has a much realer chance of winning the NBA title, and they just continue to impress me more and more and more.

Shout out to Dallas. Shout out all you guys for joining us on this journey. Appreciate you listening. As always, if you want more of our content, I did a video on how Kyrie and Luca destroyed this Minnesota defense in game one that you can check out, dive in deep with some film. You can watch all of our full shows. We're consistently going live with these nightly reactions throughout the playoffs. On our YouTube page, you can listen to them across all audio platforms.

You can follow us across social, TikTok and Instagram at NerdSesh, Twitter at Nerd underscore Sesh to see our trivia content to see clips from the full show. And you can check out our merch if you want at thevolume.com. You can also join our Discord at the link, that is across our social media bio. So with that, as always, appreciate you guys. I have been Carson Braber. I have been Logan Camden.

And this was NerdSash. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band

with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs.

We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.