The Mismatch - Kawhi’s Reintroduction, Silver’s Discipline, Cade’s Arrival, and More Things to Look Forward to in the First Round of the NBA Playoffs

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

Verno and Jacoby briefly discuss tonight’s round of play-in games, starting off with the Heat and Hawks, before turning their attention to the Mavs and Grizzlies matchup (01:25). Which of these four teams would make for the most exciting 8 vs 1 seed in the first round? Next, the guys each share four things that they are looking forward to in the first round of the NBA playoffs (15:12). Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone]The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez and Tucker Tashjian Social: Keith Fujimoto Music: "New Frontier": JG1MFMNUC8ZGQBSA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are listening to The Mismatch, presented by Fandul, America's number one sportsbook, and the best place to bet on the NBA. Because not only does Fandual have all your favorite player props, but now you can even check out stats and recent performance trends right in the app before you make your picks. Just download the Fandual Sportsbook app today to get in on the action. The Ringer is committed to responsible gambling. please visit rg dash help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details remember you must be 21 and over and present in select states gambling problem called 100 gambler or visit rgge dash help dot com welcome to the mismatch up chris vernon joining me see us every week from the ringer dot com is d'aacobie it's here verno it is here the playoff weekend is upon us and i can't wait

I am going to be in a basketball arena on a Friday night at 8.30 central time watching a play-in game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks. If you would have told me two months ago that I was going to be doing what I am doing this Friday night, I probably would have yelled at you. But here we are. Let's start with the early game, which is going to be the winner of Atlanta versus Miami, gets the right to. face the Cleveland Cavaliers. The home team won all four matchups in this this year. I will say there was a part of me that the other night when the 9-10 games were on, and you had said you hated the 9-10 games, I gave up at 7147. I made it all the way to 71-47.

and then I was like, you know what, I'm done here. I can't do this. It was 71.47 in the first half. Yeah. And then, you know, flip back and went, pulled up Netflix, watched the Elvis 68 comeback special documentary. Oh, okay. And then flip back in time to see the Trey Young meltdown with Brian Anderson,

and my guy saying kids are watching this. And it was brilliant. And so we got the Tray Young belt down as they lost the first of the play-in games. I mean, look, I guess we got Dyson Daniels, who is one of the best defenders in the entire NBA. He'll, they're going to be trying to get, you know, how many times can they get Dice of Daniels off of Tyler Hero and free him up so he could get the match up with Trey Young?

It's really just a matter of who would you, rather see play Cleveland? To he? Without question. And I thought that I was actually in Chicago for a Spotify thing on Wednesday night. And I was like, do I go to this game? It was like, I would get there in like the second quarter. And it were like $300 tickets.

I was like, I can't do this. But I'm glad I didn't go to the game. But the Tyler Hero performance was just, he was, he came out smoking. Like he had it working against the Bulls. And I was like, all right, if I'm, if someone. Someone's going to have a puncher's chance against the calves. I would like to see it be Tyler Hero in this heat team. And you can say the same for Trey Young.

But I think tonight is intriguing because you've got off night on Trey Young and then Daniels on Hero. And, you know, those are two of the best perimeter defenders against two of the best perimeter creators. So that'll be fun to watch. But I just want to see more Tyler Hero. I enjoyed watching that first half against Chicago. That's what got him up 71 to 47. So that's who I pick. And you also feel like, you know, the heat have got real players.

And between Spalstra prepping for you, that we might at least get a game five, you know, maybe get a game six in a Miami Cleveland series, whereas we'd be lucky to get five in an Atlanta series. Is that fair? I think that's fair. I think they've got a better chance. I don't think either of them will, you know, put up a real five. but I'd just rather see the heat. I had so much fun watching here

when the first half of that game. And we've got a better chance at like competitive games in that series. The Dallas Mavericks are in Memphis to play the Grizzlies tonight by virtue of beating the Sacramento Kings who then had they had already fired their coach early in the year in Mike Brown.

And then there's a story that comes out after they lose that they got rid of their GM, Monty McNair. Well, I guess a mutual parting of the ways. But the funniest part about that was that they had the Monty McNair story comes out, which you assume things like that can happen after your season is over. But like within an hour, Shams reported that Scott Perry is taking over. And I'm thinking to myself, if I'm Monty McNair, I'm like, can you at least fake it?

Can you at least act? Can you at least act like you didn't already have my guy, like my replacement ready to go? Like can we at least have like a job search or something? Like how long have you been knowing that this guy was taking over for me? Like this is not one of these things that was obviously like, hey, if this doesn't go this way, then we're going to have to do this. Like within an hour, you already, I mean, the same thing went with the David Griffin thing with the Pelicans. It was like David Griffin's out.

Hey, watch for Joe Dumars. Like they've already negotiated with Joe Dumars and Scott Perry before the first guy's even gone. It's just kind of crazy to me. I don't know. A little bit. Scott Perry used to be with the Knicks. He was part of the previous Nix regime. There's some overlap with the current regime.

I thought he did good work in New York. And, you know, they need to make some changes with the Kings. And one of my favorite things about King's decision making is, remember like in half a way through the season? and there's that story about Jeremy Lamb's influence on the Kings. And you're like, oh, wait, Jeremy Lamb, it's off because his girlfriend is the daughter of the Beck. And you're just like, wait, Jeremy Lamb is making decisions. That guy, Jeremy Lamb?

It's just such a sad story of how fast this stuff can go. When you think about these teams that we catch a wave and we're so excited, you know, a few months ago, I mentioned to you on the mismatch, I said, you and I were early on the Pistons. and loving to watch the Pistons. And I told you at that time, I said, they're catching this wave, you see this fan base who's been downtrodden, feeling it, you see the vibes,

you know, with that team. This feels a lot like what we went through with the light of beam Kings, and where that team that, you know, has been downtrodden for some time is finally finding the success that they've wanted for so long, whether it's that franchise, whether it's that fan base,

everything. And then to see that we're just a few years removed from Deeran Fox hurting his hand, them having to deal with Steph Curry dropping 50 in a game seven, right, in the first round and it's like, that was not long ago. And like you look at it now and like the new coach, a new GM and where's the future? What are they going to do with their roster? And it's like, geez, man, this stuff is so fleeting and can be so fleeting. Look, if I'm being fair, another team that had all those vibes is the one I'm going to witness tonight. The Grizzlies were riding high. You're right.

Everybody was on that Grizzlies wave. They were the two seed two years and ago. And next thing you know, you wake up one morning and you're playing in the play end. We kind of saw the Grizzlies playing thing coming. And I thought they played really well against the Warriors, which is by the time you're listening to this feels like three years ago. but tonight's game, you're going to be there. You're in Memphis. I want to hear from you, Chris Vernon.

You're the Memphis Grizzlies guy. Like, how does Jha feel? What's the injury up to? We have no idea. He did not practice yesterday. No, he didn't practice yesterday. And so then they said game time decision. But, I mean, you saw him.

He couldn't even move in the second half of that Warriors game. Not like Jah Moran can move. And so that's just a huge question mark. Obviously, there's a lot of people that are going to listen to this after the game. takes place. But nobody knows if John Moran's going to be out there or not, what we do know is that the Dallas Mavericks have this intense amount of size. And they are also going to be more than willing to drag that game. The more half-court basketball, the Grizzlies cannot beat that team in a half-court basketball game. So it is going to be decided whether or not they could get

the requisite stops and they could get out in transition and run. If that is the case, then they can beat the Mavericks. If that turns into a we run a play, you run a play, they've done that. They've done that dance with Anthony Davis. And Anthony Davis has averaged like 32, 15. What about Jared Jackson Jr. defensive player in the year candidate? Davis has been horrible for the Grizzlies,

like a nightmare matchup for them. His last three outings, I mean, the last three times he's played the Grizzlies, he's averaged like 32 and 15. So he has been a uniquely terrible matchup. So you mentioned the size that they have. And I thought one of the biggest things that I took away from the Grizzlies performance against the Warriors was this the full Zach Edy experience was on display. You know what I mean? The best parts and the worst parts.

It was just like he's just such a unique player in these games that like he's being, he's being targeted on defense. But he's getting seven offensive rebounds that were huge. Like is in and you mentioned the size. But if you put Jaron Jackson Jr. and Eadie out there, that's a big team too. It is. And I tell you this, that game was very instructive towards what we might be able to see in the Rockets Warriors. Because if there is anything that the rockets can bring to the table, it is size that could be a disadvantage on one end, but a monstrous advantage on the other end. Where you're just playing, we miss it, we get the ball back, you miss it, we get the ball.

Right, and you're playing a possession game. Like, you don't have to shoot as high a percentage if you get to shoot the ball a lot more times, right? Now, it might be they keep kicking it out of missing it, kicking it out of missing it. I've seen him do that. So before we move on to the actual playoffs, like, what's your level of concern for tonight? Like, what do you feel? What does the city feel? Intensely high.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because you're on the edge of disaster. You're on the edge of disaster. Now, it's weird. If you flip the coin, if you win. Well, no, if I'm being fair, there is a, I wouldn't say it's a, it's not a 50-50 split, but there is a splintering of the fan base.

One part of the fan base is so over it that they don't, like, they actually might be happier if they lost tonight's, no, no, no, because they gave up the, because here's the deal. They gave up the pick and the smart deal. If they lose tonight, they're going to keep their lottery pick. So there's always those kind of fans. They'd rather have the lottery pick than get beat, get swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But listen, would you be down 02 playoff game at home in Memphis? What fan wouldn't want that? I agree. What fan would be? That's silly. That's absolutely silly. Look, again, I think if you are, it's a loser mentality. Yeah.

And I don't like, I don't like it. I don't care. Again, I understand the asset. a thing aside of it. And so I guess you could convince yourself like, hey, it's not the worst thing in the world if you lose. At least you get to keep your pick. But the idea that you were the two seed six weeks ago or whatever it was,

and now you are playing in the play in for the right to get fed to the wolves. Well, not the wolves, the thunder. But they are wolves. And, you know, look, the idea that the warriors, the warriors, loss is the killer one. Because you feel like, look, probably wouldn't have beaten the Rockets either. You have shown no

ability to beat good teams in a long, long time. But you're probably getting a game six at home. Right? And then it's going to be decided, like if you play death. Whereas now, the only thing you would be guaranteed is a game three and a game four.

Maybe. They'd be called off. Surely they wouldn't call it off before it. I'm sure, John, give it a shot. In a winter go home game with an ankle, he'll do everything he can't get out. Sure. Would you rather see Memphis, Oklahoma City or Dallas Oklahoma City? You would rather see John SGA. Listen, I think the vibes, like the whole like Dallas season has been so wacky.

Both of these teams, one of them, both of them are so disenchance. candid with their teams. Now, at least the Grizzlies didn't trade John Morant. They might. They might. Come on. They might. He's already come out and said they're not.

Their GM already made a very serious statement about it. Okay. No one's ever, the GM's never made a public statement and then done the opposite a couple weeks later. Look, just because Nico Harrison is goofy doesn't mean the rest of the league got goofy. That's fair. That's fair. Well, those games will be tonight.

We know, we'll see the winner of those games. The winner of both of those games tonight are going to have a real uphill climb against the number one seeds. I will say this. And again, it might be famous last words, but Memphis was 36 and 9 versus teams 500 or below. That's the only teams they did beat. And this does apply. The Mavericks are indeed below 500. It would be crazy for a team below 500 to be in the playoffs.

But it's happened before. Anyways, let's get to every other NBA podcast has done great big playoff previews going series by series. We are going to go a different route and we are going to do four things we are looking forward to in the first round of these NBA playoffs. Do you want to start or you want me to? You start. All right. Number one, the Cade Cunningham trial by fire. So every time, and it was a few months ago, we gave our predictions, you know, people, we did the people who don't think so now, but they will.

And I did that Cade Cunningham is going to be a superstar. And so it has it, it started to get a little bit of the wave, but this is the true coming out party. If we're being fair, hardcore fans like us, we're watching League Pass. we have an awareness of Cade Cunningham. We have been watching the Detroit Pistons throughout the year. But this is a team that, you know, the rest of the world. I mean, if you're not a league pass officianto, you don't know this team. They're not on TV ever.

They're never on. And so this is going to be the first time. And not only are they on, they're on versus the New York Knicks. A team that Cade Cunningham this year averaged 31,8, and 5. while shooting 56% from the field and 52% from three versus. He was outstanding against New York this year. And a lot of times New York can cause very serious problems for diminutive guards because they've got these outstanding wings.

O.G. Annanobi, McKell Bridges. Hart. On and on. Kate is so big that it is not necessarily the same advantage. But you know that Tibbs is going to game plan specifically for this team. And the head of the snake is Cade Cunningham. And so the idea of here's this been this big coming out party for Cade Cunningham this year, where he has ascended to a different level of NBA player. But now is the trial by fire, right?

now you are playing as an underdog on the road in the biggest market in the world. And so this is going to go one way or the other. And how he comports himself throughout this series, I think is one of the things, certainly, that I'm looking most forward to in the first round. I mean, as a Knicks fan, I've been doing a lot of prep for this series. And I'm very confident in the Knicks success. but I will not overlook the success that Kate has had against this team this season. And they basically just start every possession with a pick and roll.

And then Kay just sort of operates from there. And it's, he's done really, really well with that. And a lot of it has to do with the shooting on Malik Beasley and, you know, finishing of Dern. But one of the things that I would just counter with because everyone, everyone's pointed out Cade's success against the Knicks this season. And I would counter with who's going to cover Kat? Who's covering Kat? Dern, Beef Stew?

I don't know. You know, I don't want to see those guys, you know, dancing around the perimeter, around the three-point line. Like, it's going to be really, I think it's going to be a big cat series. And, you know, and I also think that Cade's size poses a lot of trouble for Brunson, too.

Because Brunson is not the tallest fellow in the league. And I think Cade will play well, but I really think the Knicks will take the series pretty easy. Well, they might actually deploy Thompson. In the same way that they deployed the brother on Steph Curry, you might get a little Asser Thompson on him. Oh, for sure. That's going to be the plan.

That is going to be the plan. I don't think this is a big Brunson series. I think this is a big cat series. And OG with Brunson. You have been highly confident in the Knicks being able to handle Detroit. I have. I've been looking at it. Just that the Detroit might have, if we can argue about who's the best player in the series,

let me just say, what if I just concede that? Like, all right, Cade's the best player in the series. Let's start going down. Who's the second best player? Who's the third best player in the series? Who's the fourth best player in the series? who's the fifth best player in the series. Like when do you get to another piston?

That's totally fair. Like you might get to five or six before you even get to another piston. And who are you going to put there? Beasley? You know, like. Right. And is this so dependent on Cade being amazing? Yes.

And I also think with Tibbs to coach him up. And, you know, like I said, the trio, OG has been with Brunton out, OG has taken a leap offensively. And I think that he is overlooked. looked defensively. He's fantastic defensively. He's so strong. And I think with OG and Bridges and Heart,

I think they can bottle up Cade, you know, contain Cade. Well, and this is the thing, right? With all of these guys, that's why it's going to be fascinating. It's because this is what makes you a great player, is you will have to go through these struggles when somebody is strictly game planning for you. And whether that is Morant, or whether that is Anthony Edwards or whether that is any of the young stars that we have seen coming to the league,

Shea Gilders Alexander, over the last couple of years, there is always the trial by fire. And then the next time, theoretically, you are better for it. But somebody is now, when they're looking at that whiteboard, A number one is we are making your life hell. We're making your life hell. And then we're going and these other guys, they're going to have to do. They're going to have to make the play. And that's your point is you don't think that those other guys are up to par to be able to make those plays in a very high level game. Yeah.

And I think they're going to. Yeah. I'm confident. I'm pretty confident in this one. I am. Fair enough. Another thing I'm looking forward to. So this isn't always looking forward to.

For me, it was this more like intriguing, sort of could go either way, just sort of like big variance X-factor type of guy. that I picked. And one is Tyrese Halliburton. And I think that Tyrese Halliburton is, we've all tracked his sort of like last two seasons of like the high peaks of the beginning of last season and then the lows going into the playoffs, starting slow this year, amazing for the past couple months. But he's also like that in the playoffs themselves. I remember thinking to myself, I was like, he had some real stinkers last year against

the Knicks. So I went back to look at it. And game three against the busks last year, he was one for 12 from three. Right. In the Nick series, he had six points and six shots in game one. Do you remember that? Six points and six shots from like your main guy. Now, to be fair, you had 34 and 35 in game two and three.

And then he had 13 points in game five. And everybody got hurt in game six and game seven. But it's just like he is such like his career and his playoff performance. performance are a microcosm of each other because he is so up and down. And the Pacers go as Halliburton goes that I'm just, I was like, which Halliburton are we getting? Are we getting like one for 12 and 3? Are we getting six points? Or we getting 34 points? Like I just what, which one are we getting? Well, and I don't remember the exact stat, but it was something that I gave out in the last show, something like they're like 20 and three when he

scores 20. Like it wasn't even a big number. It wasn't even like some kind of super high number that he has to score. And obviously he has taken a massive leap over their last really 56 games. You know, he became a different player. And again, it's such a weird arc. We went into last year. He was one of the best players in the entire NBA. The whole in-season tournament thing was about him. He's doing the dame time thing to the bucks. And then he had that injury, came back, kind of fought through it so that he could get to the 65 game threshold, but was honestly just never himself start this season, not himself again. And it's like, was that just a flash in the pan? Like, was that just the first three months of the 23, 24 season? And now we're settling into whatever.

But these last 50 games, it's been like, oh, there's the guy that can be the best player on the floor in these games. With last season, you can just point to the injury because you never really came back same. So there's like a logic path to it. But this season, he had a whole off season to heal. And he starts and you're like, well, where's the injury I can point to? Like, where, where, what's the reason for this? It didn't really, it wasn't as explainable as it was last season. But I think there's, there's some parallels with the Pacers Buck series and the Clippers Nugget series where it's like, well, obviously one team has one of the best three players in the world.

And the other team is one of the hottest teams going into the playoffs. And that's sort of, as I'm trying to parse these series and sort of figure out my pick, it's like, I mean, you're picking against Janus, but then you look at the paces, you're like,

the paces have been of fire. They've been on fire. But also another one of those teams that if I told you, Tyrese Halliburton is going to suck. You would hate their chances. And that is the goal. If you're Doc Rivers in the Milwaukee Bucks, it is,

we're cutting off the head of the state. Like we're going to make Halliburton's life hell, and we will live with Gary Trent Jr. and Tari, or I'm sorry. We will live with Benedict Matherin and we will live with Pascal C. Akum and the rest. Nemhard. Yeah. So be it, right? But what we're not going to do is let this guy go out there at freewheel.

But they've got, they've got more depth than you would think. With all those guys you named and like TJ coming in off the bench and the Knicks series last year, like he would score like eight points and four minutes. You're like, what happened? What is this? But it's a really interesting series. And again, another one of those where it's like, you know who the track meet favors.

The bucks are either going to be able to make that game, a half-core basketball game, where they take their chances in transition with Janus or whatever, but generally being able to bully them on the strength of Janus and Lopez and Portis and that group. Or because if they're going to try to try to, play an all-star game. They're going to get to a shootout.

They're smoked. They're smoked. They can't play that. They're not playing that. And one of the, one of the bucks strengths is certainly not perimeter defense. Right. And they can make the Pacers uncomfortable.

I mean, we've seen it. We've seen it before. And we've seen them be able to make other better teams uncomfortable, i.e. this year's in season tournament when they beat the thunder. It's like, that's the thing here, right?

Play grown men, basketball. Like, no, you don't. get to fly up and down the court and and have fun and space and uh you're just not going to rim run and three ball us to death and go out there and everybody's having a good time this is going to be a bitch you know what I mean. And so we'll see how Halliburton reacts. My second thing I'm looking forward to the reintroduction of playoff Kauai Leonard. Now it is crazy when I went back and did the research on this and you think about the way this has taken place. He has played in two playoff games over the last two seasons.

Now, the Clippers now have won 18 of 21 games, and in that time, I've had the number one offense in the league. In 20 and 21, he hurt his knee in game four of the Western semis against the Utah Jazz. In 21, 22, he was out. He sat out with the knee. In 22, 23, he tore his meniscus in round one. Then last season, he probably shouldn't have even played. in the two games that he played against Dallas, right?

He was a hobbled. He never really got hurt. Yeah, he was a hobbled version of himself. And so as the stories go, the stories that have come out as this, the media availability for the series preview, it says the Clippers told him he could use like his own guys, right? Like his health guys.

And then they have a person who was in charge of health and development. And they gave him all these exercises. They gave him all this protocol. to do, and he did all of the protocol. And he is, now again, knock on wood, but he says, like, I've done this. I've gotten healthy. And between 2017 and 2020, that is a long-ass time ago, Jacoby. This guy played in 60 playoff games.

he averaged 29 points a game on 63% from the fields in 60 playoff games and you can say well he ain't that guy anymore

we just saw him in a do or die situation like they're either getting to be in the position they're in the playoffs or they're having to play their way in he went and played against the warriors

he was 13 of 20 with 33 points in the overtime win against Golden State. So like this is our, it did. Like that was the first like, quote, playoff game, right? The stakes are, the stakes are mega high. Now we're going to see. But it is,

it's wild to look back and go, this guy, he's not like, oh yeah, Gwai Leder was great in the playoffs. He's truly. amongst the greatest playoff performers ever. In the history of the NBA,

there is a very, very small list of players better than Kauai Leonard. And so now everybody's doing the whole, well, it all depends on Kauai. Like, is Kauai got to be able to stay healthy through this or whatever? Like, again, we're going to see. But it appears as if we are on a track to be able to get, like, the actual play. playoff Kauai back. And if we get actual playoff Kauai back, that is a different animal,

brother. That is, that is, I mean, I just gave you the numbers. Who averages as a perimeter player, he shot 63% from the field, scoring almost 30 points a game. And a lot of those like turn around mid-range jumpers, you know what I mean? Like, it's not like he's just like getting it to the rack. I, here's, here's what I, the sort of, the, the sort of, the, the, the, the realization that I came to while I was prepping for this series, right? This is obviously a tough one to pick. We've discussed it. And I said to myself,

am I really going to trust James Harden and Quai Leonard in a playoff series? Here's what I, here's what I came to when I was prepping this. Kauai Leonard has given me absolutely zero reason to believe that he will not be available during these playoffs. Like, he's playing, when he first came back,

the first thing I said to myself, he looks skinny. You know what I mean? He looks a little, he just looks like he's in shape. and he's playing 38 minutes, 36 minutes. He's getting buckets. I think he's missing some back-to-backs or whatever,

but he looks fresh. He looks spry. He looks like old Kauai. In previous seasons, he's been dealing with injuries in a different way than this season. So I said to myself, when I was prepping it, I was like,

why wouldn't Kauai Lennar be available, right, barring some sort of, like, freakish injury? Because he's not doing, he's not doing the like, oh, Kuai Leder play one game, so now he's going to miss some games. Yeah. Or he's not doing this. Like,

oh, shut him down for 20 games so he's ready for the playoffs. Like he's ramped up. He's healthy. He looks good. I've got no evidence that he won't be available,

which is why I'm picking the Clippers in this series. We've got no evidence. And the same thing with James Hardin. Like, we all know James Hardin's playoff history, but like, what has he done this season to make me believe that he will not perform in the playoffs?

Well, and as I mentioned, they're 18 and 3 in their last 21 games. That's not a small, that's a fourth of the season. Yeah. It's a fourth of the season. And they mauled people and at the number one net rating and the number one offense in the league and the top three to five defense in the league.

Like the number two defense in that stretch, I believe. It's crazy. And I'm just going to go with another one of mine because it has to do with the clippers in this series. And that is a gentleman who's going to be thrust back into the spotlight. Jeff Van Gundy. Oh. I remember it was like the first week of the season.

Yeah. I was watching a Clippers game and I was like, I forgot. Jeff Van Gundy's an assistant coach on this team. And Ty Lou is the head coach and deserves a lot of credit. But I really feel Jeff Van Gundy has been explained to us as like the defensive coordinator of the Clippers. And we all know his history. I don't know him personally. We work together.

I would like say hi to him for us on the hallway or whatever, but like we're not friends. But I love him on broadcast. He's obviously like a legendary Knicks head coach. And I just think he's a great coach. And I think that with him just focused on stopping Yokic, which is basically all you have to do against the Nuggets, which is, you know, a hard task. I think that we're going to get him thrust back into the spotlight. Because I'm predicting the Clippers to win this series. And they get a couple early wins and they make life tough for Yokic, you're going to start hearing like, you're going to get that like, you know, that when they kick it down to the sideline,

reporter and be like, Jet Van Gundy is, you know, they're going to do the whole thing about him. Right. It's going to be, it's going to come back. That's one of my predictions is like the Jet Van Gundy is going to come back into the spotlight. Well, and here's the deal with that, Jacoby, is because there are some of these guys and we can tilt back to what you were saying about feeling good about the Knicks. Tibido, I would put Chris Finch in this class. Obviously, when we gave the credit earlier to Eric Spolstra in this class, maybe even Quinn Snyder, the guy that he's going to be coaching. against. There are certain guys that we think that like, okay, even if they get mauled in

game one, you know they're going to come back at game two. There's going to be, they are not going to be at any kind of schematic disadvantage and in fact may create themselves an extreme schematic advantage, you know, and that's part of what you're talking about with the clippers. that's also the problem with like getting rid of your coach with three games left to go. Yeah. You're putting an awful lot on David Adelman to, okay, guys, here's what went wrong for us in game one. Now we are, right? Like there is an institutional knowledge of here's how we have been defended by all of these different teams.

Okay, here's what you, here's, here's what is unique about what the clippers are doing this time. here's how we are going to deal with it, right? And that is where when you talk about the Tailu Van Gundy tandem, you sit there and go, if I'm going into a playoff series, there's nobody I'd rather have drawing up my game plan. I don't know if my players are going to be able to execute it to the point that I'm going to win, but I also know I am going to be able to have a schematic advantage because they are going to have the best possible scenarios for me to be able to compete.

I think when you look at the tail of the tape, you know, you match up, point guard versus point guard, shooting guard for shooting guard, when you get to the coaching matchup in the series. It's right. We've seen it. Tailu himself was like a first year head coach won a championship and Joe Mazzula. You know, we've seen, I'm not going to sit here and say it can't happen. But if you're looking at the matchups, I have a lot more faith in Tailu and Jeff Van Gundy than I do in David Adam. Absolutely. And I think it's going to be, that's going to be very interesting because people are,

going to see Jeff Van Gundy on TV. They're going to be like, what? Well, yeah, a lot of people on the East Coast aren't tuning into Clippers games. They don't do a ton of national TV games either, but they're going to be some Knicks fans. Like, wait a second. Is that Jeff Van Duel is letting you get in

on the NBA playoffs action right from the first tip. Because right now, all customers can get a no sweat, same game parlay every weekend when you bet the NBA playoffs. That's right. Just use your token on three plus legs, same game parlay or same game parley plus on any NBA playoff game and you'll get bonus bets back if you don't win. I am so excited about this weekend in the NBA playoffs.

I'm not going to see my family all day, Saturday, all Saturday night, Easter Sunday. I might say hi to the family, but I'll be watching NBA all weekend long and there's some great fan duels that you can put together. Luca, I think, is going to score a lot of points. I'm kind of down on Anthony Edwards and his point production. I think that they're going to make it really tough on him. I think that Carl Anthony Towns is going to absolutely go off and the Knicks are going to win. There's so many ways that you can put together a same game parlay.

And now you get a no sweat same game parlay. And I love betting on Fandul with their great promotions every day, safe and secure app, instant payments. There's no better place to bet all the playoff action than America's number one sports book. Visit Fandul.com slash mismatch and get a no sweat same game parlay

every weekend of the NBA playoffs. That is Fandul.com slash mismatch. Fandul official sports betting partner of the NBA. Remember, you must be 21 and over and present in select states or 18 and over and present in D.C. Often required.

Minimum three leg parlay required refund issued as a non-withdrawable bonus bet that expires seven days after receipt, max refund $5 and less otherwise specified. Restrictions apply, including token expiration. See terms at sportsbook. Bandool.com gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG dash help.com. My third one.

So I just mentioned Chris Finch and I was effusive in praise towards him. I think he does a very good job preparing his team to play. They're playing against the Los Angeles Lakers. and now Chris Finch is charged with, I think it is certainly, I'm confident that they will be able to have a good defensive game plan. They've got really good defensive personnel. It's the offensive side. And what happens if they start making Ant super uncomfortable?

We have seen Ant does not want to be double team. He has made that very, very clear. So if they start to run to at him on the touch, And now it gets in scramble mode. And whether they do that or not, we know that they are going to be in a position where they've got to have that second guy step up. You have, in the past, goofed about get ready for the Julius Randall experience. I will say this. Julius Randall.

I was not joking. I got it. But Julius Randall, post-all Star break, has been 52% from the field, 40% from three. he's averaged 18, 7, and 5. The 5 is the big one because he has been functioning as a passer in that offense a great deal. And the question is, who's that guy that comes along with Ant? When we're looking at the box scores, the next morning, is Randall the second leading score regularly? Is it Nas Reid?

Is it Dante D. Vincenzo? Like, there has to be somebody else to come along, right? If you're counting on Anthony Edwards and you even think Anthony Edwards could have a really good series against the Lakers, there still has to be who's that other guy for the wolves that is going to be reliable. That second player, we always know that that second guy, we mentioned with it when it was, you know, if they're going to try, it's what you question with Detroit. It's what we wonder with, say, Indiana, when it comes time for. them to decide we're getting the ball out of Halliburton's hands now okay Pascal C. Ackham take us home right like that's the that's the next natural guy here's the deal who's that guy for because on the other side you know right oh that thing's gonna be yeah and will you even know the third

third yeah I was about to say yeah whereas in this case it's like who is going to be that second guy and the answer is it has to be Randall. It has to be. And I know you have your questions as to whether or not he is going to be able to do that. But if the attention goes towards

Anthony Edwards, Randall is the guy that has to make you pay for that. End of story. And so the playoff hopes of the Timberwolves in many ways resting upon Julius Randall is something I know you roll your eyes at. But

he's going to get his chance. I really think he will. And I will say this positively about Julius Randall. And at his peak as a Nick, you know, when he was like really cooking, he was just hitting tough shots. Like he's a tough shot maker. He's not one of those guys that needs like a swing, swing, catch and shoot open three. And that's how he gets his points.

Like he is defended, turning away from double teams, hitting mid-range shots, tough finishes around the basket. And what I've seen in the past with him in the playoffs is, a tough shot maker just missed those shots in the playoffs. But he's going to have his opportunity. And I think the frustrating part is, is he dribbles the air out of the ball sometimes, backs down his defender,

and then shoots a turnaround fade away. It's a tough shot with a guy in his face. And he does sometimes. He does so much from the perimeter that what's going to be interesting is there's really just one, like you're going to be able to target Lakers. There are, look, Finney Smith is the only, like, high level

defenders that they have on the perimeter. Okay. And then they've got Van Doe, who's been way much, way better, who is actually, he's got a revenge factor too, being a formal wolf.

But you would be able to mix a match to get him some very good matchups possibly, right? Where Randall is now getting the switch onto Reeves. He's getting the switch onto Luca, right? We'll see the level of interest that LeBron has

and being a high caliber defender. but it's not some kind of, it's not some team that's got defenders all across the board. You're going to be able to manipulate this to get good matchups for, and Randall theoretically should be the big benefactor of that if the extra attention is paid to Edwards. It's just a matter of whether you think he can deliver on that or not. I think you make a good point focusing in on this

because you mentioned Chris Finch and Anthony Edwards, he's going to try to do it himself, right? And at some point, they're going to call time out and be like, eh, like, we're not going to win like this. You know what I mean? And I think I am critical of Randall, just because of his playoff history, right? But the point that you're making that I want to bring home is it's not that it's not going to happen because Dante can hit six threes in a game. And Nasreid sometimes looks like the best player on the planet. Right.

Sometimes I'm watching Nasree, I'm like, this is a seven foot tall dude that just did like a crossover spin? dunk like what is happening and it can hit threes and i'm not saying that it's not going to happen but i think the point is is other people are going to have to dramatically contribute offensively for them to be successful in this series and there's going to be opportunity there's going to be opportunity yeah yeah and randall's playmaking that's the thing about the whole post all-star break and those assist numbers getting so much better because with the extra attention paid to edwards we've seen this for years with golden state it's like if you want to pay the extra attention to Steph Curry, well, now we're going to throw it to Draymond and we're going to

play four on three. And Draymond's going to make the right pass every time. That is the thing that has been impressive about Randall. It's like, all right, well, if Ants got to get the ball out of his hands, now Randall, it's not, it hasn't been just black hole offense. He has, he has found guys, he has found shooters. He has been a much better playmaker post-all-star. But again, that's got to hold up when it comes when it matters most. One of the things I'm looking forward to Key on in this series in particular is a gentleman that we speak a lot about. It's got a great place in my heart, Austin Reeves. And you mentioned that there are Lakers to target.

There is no Laker with a bigger target on him than Austin Reeves. And I think Chris Finch knows that, and J.J. Reddick knows that. LeBron James knows that. And Austin Reeves has spent the last week, and they've been working on defensive schemes. They're going to do pre-switching. they do everything they can to make sure that it's not Austin Reeves on an island standing in front of Anthony Edwards because that is not going to end well. It's not. And you saw like the sort of Austin Reeves breakout series two years ago against the Grizzles. Do you remember that series? Of course you do. And that was when it was like, who is this kid? Why is why does he look better than LeBron James at the end of the game in that series? And he's been up and down in the playoffs since then. He has not been consistent, but we know what he can give you offensively with so much attention being paid to LeBron and Luca. He's going to have a lot of opportunity,

but I'm going to really be watching what he does on the other end of the floor. And if Finch and Edwards, if Edwards can get Austin Reeves in front of him consistently, they're going to have to do something else. Well, and they also, on the, on the defensive end, one of the things we have talked about regarding the Austin Reeves offensive assent is that, you know, sometimes as it's a adage I repeat all the time sometimes it's not just the individual player it's how the individual player affects the group

and if you have one defender to deploy to LeBron James and you have one defender to deploy to Luke Dodgich now you're down to third best perimeter defender on your team and if he's going to face that you're dead

the wolves are uniquely they've got guys they're uniquely their third best you're like Dante and Dante M-A-D or Nau who is a very good defender

right Alexander Walker can really get I mean he can really bother you and so they are uniquely prepared for this in a way most people most teams

third best perimeter defender is awful is targetable. And they shoot 45% from three. That's usually how it goes. The third best perimeter defenders shoots 45% from three. And in fact,

that is true of the Lakers. Right? Like they don't have a myriad of perimeter defenders. Like if there's one thing that Minnesota does have, they can bring to the party a third, like they are not going to,

they're not putting a guy out there that Austin Reeves can just demolish. And most teams, because you have to pay the attention to LeBron and Luca, the great benefactor has been Austin Reeves. And if he, I mean, it's almost like you're getting to play against second string. It's like these six men that come in and score, you know, 26 off the bench because now they're playing against some backup or whatever.

Like, team's third best perimeter defender is usually a massive minus for you. Whereas the wolves do have that. They do. I don't know if they're going to be able to do it. And we'll see. Their offense has been great the last 15 games, but they are uniquely equipped to not get torched by that guy, theoretically. I remember.

I was thinking back. I was like, I don't really remember Austin Reeves' impact last year in the Denver series. And I looked it up. From three, he was two for six, one for five, two for five, one for six, one for four. And I would say that that is not a good series from Austin, but I would also say that he is a different basketball player this season. He's mini-leaped.

He's definitely mini-leaped this season, and I expect him to perform better in this series. My fourth one that we look forward to in the first round of these NBA playoffs, I wish Fanduel could put odds on this. Who is the first meltdown? Is it a player? Is it a coach? Who's like the ejection?

What are we mean by meltdown? Like bad game? or just like, no, no, no, like ejected, like an ejection or a press conference for the ages. Who has the first meltdown? Like when it got, you got to think the odds on favor is something that happens in Warriors Rockets, right? Well, this is. That's got to be, right, like you've got the whole, you just had them in the hot, hotly contested national TV game about a week ago where, Ema Yodoka's calling them cry babies.

And he's saying when you get physical, if they start crying, get more physical with them. You're going to have Ahmed Thompson flying around trying to guard Steph Curry. Stephen Adams and Dremond going at it against each other. Or you know Dremont's going to go after Schengun. Like that will be the guy that he tries to punk because he always goes about anybody that's big and from overseas is who his target is. And so Schengun will be the guy. I think, look, I could see it happening. Pistons have a very short fuse,

so I could see it happening in that one. I think our best candidates are Pistons, Knicks, and Warriors Rockets for who has the first true meltdown. So this was also my fourth, and I had Adam Silver in sort of the discipline section of the league office. Because you mentioned, it's well documented the history between the Rockets and the Warriors, right? If you watch the games and you look or listen to any coverage, we know what's going on there with those teams.

Same thing with the Pistons, right? And beef stew and Ron Holland, and they're mixing it up once every three games. And then let's not forget the bucks and pastors also have a history. Oh, yeah. Ballgate. Yeah. So we've got,

we've got three series, which before the jump ball in game one, they're coming into it, with static, right? Oh, no, and we have needed this. We have needed this. And it's fun. It's fun for fans.

I love it. But let's also not forget is over the course of series, they just naturally develop tension and static. So that doesn't mean there's no potential in the other series. So I was thinking about the disciplinary sort of arm of the league office. Who's first? Dylan or Draymond? Dremont.

I bet this is what you're, when you're saying Adam Silver, I'm going to give you names of which he's going to have to decide what to do with. When I think about all the time is this, is we always talk about Draymond, punching LeBron in the dick in Game 4, suspended for Game 5, right? But people always forget this.

And I'll never forget this moment. At the end of Game 6, the Warriors are down like 13. And Steph tries to get a steal in the back court from LeBron. And they call a foul on him. And it looked like it was a bad, call, but Steph is frustrated anyway, and he takes out his mouthpiece, and he throws it as hard as he can at a fan, at a fan. And I remember sitting there being like, there's, you can't not suspend him. He assaulted a fan with a, with a projectile. Now, to Steph's credit, he did go over

to the fan and, like, apologize immediately afterwards. But I remember on my couch saying, like, how does he play in game seven? And then I bring up the disciplinary arm in Adam Silver, because, like, how does he not play in game seven? You know, You know what I mean? It's like, well, he just kind of assaulted a fan through a projectile at him, a mouthpiece. Kind of gross, too. He's got saliva on it.

But you can't suspend Stefan Curry for game seven in the bay. So like these type of decisions. So do you suspend Dremont if they're down O2 to the rockets and he blows up? You know what I mean? They're going to have to make just calls that are going to swing series based on some of these expected skirmishes. And I think that there's going to be a lot of. attention. There's going to be skirmishes and there's going to be difficult decisions that they have to make. Especially in the Western Conference where outside of Oklahoma City and whoever their opponent

is who we expect them to ball whether it is the Grizzlies or it is the Mavericks. Tell me if you agree with this. In the East, I don't feel this way and we've never felt this way all season, that we are going, that we were going to be set up to get a bunch of good series. The other three series in the Western Conference, I would not be surprised. In fact, I think I would, I think I'd be surprised if all of them didn't go at least six games. Oh, yeah. And truly, one person that needs to be mentioned in this discussion is Luca Donchitz,

who is like constantly on the edge of a technical foul the entire time when he's in a game. And he's going to get a couple. What if you said the wrong thing? And so if we're right and these series are all going to go six or seven, the Adam Silver discipline could very well swing these series. And what do you get six texts? You get a clean slate. I think you get six or seven texts through the run of the playoffs, right?

And if, let's say the Lakers make the finals, I can't imagine a scenario in which Luca doesn't have six texts. I can't. Same with Draymond. Oh, yeah, exactly. Same with Dylan. Same with Dylan Brooks. So you're saying, let's say these are seven games series.

You know who led the league in text? Anthony Edwards. And that is meltdown city if the Lakers start getting every call. Well, I mean, it's not hard to, it's not hard to imagine a scenario. No, no, no, no, no. The Lakers are getting every call. And Anthony Edwards is getting doubled on the touch. And he's, he's two for 12, and he's pissed.

And he just blows up. And then you're like, am I really going to suspend Anthony Edwards for a game? Anthony Edwards? Future faces the league. This is all going to come into play in the first round. Yes. Like these things are going to, that's the great thing that we're getting with the intense competition that we will have is once the competition becomes this good, the players are going to become so much more heated. If beef stew picks up cat by the throat and holds them in the air against the stanchion, do you suspend cat?

You know what I mean? Like, like, sometimes, sometimes like the person who is sort of like on the other end of the assault is also disciplined. That's one of the things I'm worried about as a Knicks fan. Like Jalen Dern and beef stew, it might just be like an enforcer and hockey being like, just get into a skirmish. But we don't need you. They need him. I cannot. When I tell you this, I cannot wait for Dylan Brooks and and Draymond Green to grab the same loose ball.

Oh, my God. I mean, neither is going to give an inch and it's going to end up with somebody getting need in the penis. That's happening. That's happening. And Stephen Adams. Stephen Adams and Traymond. Oh, I mean, I, I think, there's like, it's on the table that I may Utoka gets in like a physical conversation with somebody for warriors. It's not off the table.

It's on the table. It's not off the table. Listen, I don't, I don't love violence. I don't think it's a good thing for the kids to watch or whatever, blah, blah, blah. I don't care about that. awesome to watch. I like watching teams that don't like each other. I like it when guys are getting each other's face.

I like it when they're calling each other's names. I like it when there's disrespect going back and forth. I think it makes for a better watch, better basketball watch. And you have two of these teams, especially in the West, that are so, like, they're competitive teams. And everybody knows going into this. Like, look, you don't have to have the bracket hung up in your office, like the NBA office to know that there's a possible LeBron James

Steph Curry collision course. Yeah. And so good luck to the Rockets of the Wolves getting their fair shake from the zebras because I mean, they've got the, look, they've got, they've got stars on those teams. Those teams already get calls. And now you are going to have these smaller market, well, not smaller market, but up and comings with the, with the wolves and the rocket.

that are having to play these, you know, 15-time All-Star-laden teams and the idea that they're going to be on the right end of the whistle. And then the meltdowns that that's going to cause, oh, brother. Oh, brother. And the other thing is it's not great. Like, we're all going to be doing this as it plays out. Where it's like, dude, come on. Like, you may press conference after like game three when they're down to one.

and the free throw discrepancy. The Lakers have taken 46 free throws to 17. Well, and like, let's not forget this is Jimmy Butler. He's trying to get to the line. I mean, that's what he does. It's, it's kind of frustrating if you're rooting against him, but it's, you know, he's an absolute, an absolute master at getting to the line. Let me say this, because I'm going to give him a little bit of a break on one thing.

look, it happened to my team. And at one point, Jimmy Butler had 18 free throw attempts, and the Grizzlies had 15. That was a real thing that happened, which is an absolute outrage. That should never happen. That EAD foul, it was like, what? It should never happen. That being said, the one thing I will say for Jimmy Butler and the reason, I thought about this a lot, especially after I watched Trey. because when

Trey, when they get into the bonus, and this is what always drove me crazy about Hardin. And Chris Paul is like an elder statesman of this. When they get into the bonus, now my intention on the play is to get foul. My intention is not to actually score. The goal of my move is for you to foul me. And that is the difference

that I will give Butler a break on. He is a foul merchant, but his intention is to score, right? He's not just playing for the foul. He's trying to get the and one against you. Like, he is making the move to score. He's just great at getting fouled, whereas many of these guys, I feel like they are only, their intention on the play is not to score. Their intention on the play is to draw a foul.

And I do at least feel like his intention isn't to draw the foul. It does happen. But his intention is actually to score in a way that doesn't annoy me as it does with a lot of other guys, even though he goes to the line an absurd amount of times. I think you make a good point, but you're giving him a little too much credit. Like he aggressively goes. Probably. You make a good point.

It's not like he's not like Chris Paul in the back court getting someone on his back and then falling over and making the ref call it. He also does it flop and flail. No, he does it. He aggressively goes into guys, gets the contact, sort of like gets that done and then tries to score. You never see Jimmy Butler whipping his head back, like his neck's broken or going, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Or doing the LeBron and lay on the ground for 20 minutes. You know, like, oh my God. Luca does this thing where he gets the guy in the air and then he gets the contact on the way up and tries to get the N-1. There's going to be, they're officiating, unfortunately, is going to be a point of, discussion as it often is. Good luck, Adam Silver. Yeah, Adam Silver is going to have a lot of decisions to make. He's just going to have his head

in his hands a lot of times, be like, what do you make? Like, I just suspend Luca Donchich. He's like, well, he punched the referee in the chest. You know what I mean? Right. Because Draymond and Luca are liable to do things that just don't make sense. Like the two of them, sometimes they sort of like short circuit. You're just like, why are you behaving this way? There's too much on the line. Like, why are you doing this? And that's all going to happen and then if Memphis wins tonight in game one when John Morant hits a three and pretends like he's driving a tank he'll be suspended for the rest of the playoffs. That's when the hammer will really come down.

I mean, forget these guys, forget everything else. The hammer is really going to come down. If we, if the job of rant celebration discussion continues, I might quit the pod. I might quit the pod. I might just be like, I can't do this, right? I can't do this anymore. That's what, that's when Adam Silver turns into,

Buford Pusser from Walking Tall. All right. All right. Well, I cannot wait for this. This is going to be great. I am so, I am so looking forward to this.

Last year's playoffs were terrible. They, I, I would enjoy the next. I was, I was like fully in the Nick Sixers series, which was awesome. That was the only good one, though.

But, like, I think that it's easy to forget that the last year's playoffs, like, by large, Like even the finals. I know. And I am so hopeful that this is going to be great starting out Saturday. How could it not?

In the Western Conference, I can't imagine a scenario in which three of those series are not just absolutely excellent. I can't imagine a scenario, barring injury. I think it's also worth mentioning as we start the playoffs. Like, people get hurt. It happens every year. It's swing series. It sucks. But it just happens.

So whatever you think, whatever you bet on. Whatever you prep for, wherever you think a series is going to go, a few of them are going to get swung because X player went out. That's just the way it goes. We're going to get to talk about it after we have a couple of games played already. Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always. And Jacoby, I'll talk to you next week. Must be 21 and over in present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino

or 18 over and present in D.C. You got a gambling problem? Call 100 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. Call 1-88-7-89-77-7-7 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit MD gamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling help line m a.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts. Or call 878-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope N-N-Y in New York. Thank you.