The Mismatch - Not Taking LeBron for Granted, Jimmy Buckets at It Again, and the Kings' Missed Opportunity

Episode Date: April 25, 2023

The Lakers win Game 4 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Grizzlies as Verno and KOC recap the Lakers' overtime win (01:06). The guys discuss the unbelievable performance that Jimmy Butler had as the Heat took down the Bucks and a returning Giannis to also take a 3-1 series lead (23:44). Despite sweeping the Nets, the 76ers still don’t look impressive when compared to their next potential playoff opponent, the Celtics (43:10). The Timberwolves avoided a sweep against the Nuggets thanks to the efforts of Anthony Brown, and the guys rave about Ant’s performance as well as the T-Wolves' future with him as the focal point (53:39). Next, they discuss how the Knicks have exploited the Cavs' weakness en route to a 3-1 series lead (01:03:00). The Kings missed their opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead against the Warriors over the weekend and now have to deal with an injury to De’Aaron Fox (01:12:58). Also, the guys congratulate Lauri Markkanen for winning this year’s Most Improved Player award and discuss the Rockets' hiring of Ime Udoka (01:23:59). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Sean Fennessey, one of the hosts of the Prestige TV podcast. HBO's Barry is back for a fourth and final season. And that means I'll be back recapping the show with co-creator and star Bill Hader to dive deep on the themes, scenes, and major moments in the series. Bill will provide insight into how every episode was made and why it's ending. New Prestige TV Barry recaps will go live every Sunday night when the episode ends. So make sure you're subscribed to the Prestige TV podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon.

And joining me, she does every Tuesday from the ringer.com. It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O. Bomber. Kevin O. Conflick. Kevin O. Candy Land. Kevin O. Climer. Kevin O. Characters. Kevin O. Kevin O.

Berdo! Surprised you had to drop like a Kevin O. Laker in there or something like that tonight. I didn't. And I am here for my post-game media availability. We have just watched the Lakers win. Game four and take a commanding three to one lead in the series against the Memphis Grizzlies. With about 10 seconds left to go in the game, the Grizzlies held a two-point lead. LeBron James has Xavier Tillman guarding him.

Tillman allows James to drive right. James throws it high off the glass just out of the outstretched arm. the reigning defensive player of the year, Jared Jackson Jr. And then the game goes into overtime. And LeBron makes a play again. In the words of Demardo Rosen, once upon a time,

they have LeBron James and we don't. And, you know, the biggest possessions of the game, it's you got to tip your cap. That's year 20. And the guy is making huge, crucial game-winning. shots. And he did it twice. You know, to tie it and to put it into overtime. And the

Grizzlies will be kicking themselves till the end of time. Because despite the fact that they did not play very well in terms of shooting the ball, they had that two-point lead with, you know, it's there. And they shot nine of 42 from three for the game. They generated all types of open. threes against this Laker defense and just could not connect all night. So 21% from three. And the fact that game even went to overtime is crazy. Yeah.

Yeah. But it's nuts. It really is, considering how poorly the Grizzly shot. But the Lakers themselves only 10 of 36 and 3, 27.8%. Both teams, you know, that entire fourth quarter going into overtime, just tired legs. Yeah. Both those teams were exhaust. heavy minutes for all their key players.

Every grizzly starter player played 41 plus minutes. Three Lakers starters did. Like it just like they were all exhausted down the stretch. And yet, you know, LeBron James, you said it, Chris. You know, you quoted DeMar de Rousse and I'm going to quote myself, don't take LeBron James for granted. It's still true today. And LeBron, he, you know, in that fourth quarter,

I was thinking to myself, man, this is like one of those games where you feel like LeBron just can't reach that gear the same way that he used to. And that's true, even despite everything that happened. Like LeBron, he scores with 47 seconds left in the third quarter and then takes five shots, goes O for five in overtime. Granted, two of them, I think, were tip-ins and those count as misses, but then doesn't score again until 0.8 left. And then he scores twice in overtime with big driving shots. He shows that he can do what he needs to do. He has 20 rebounds tonight, five offensive. He's playmaking seven assists and one turnover.

He takes the two charges. He's playing good defense, two blogs. He's hustling. And he scored when he had to. LeBron James, like what we're really witnessing is not the decline of this, you know, megastar, one of the greatest players of all time. It's really just an evolution of LeBron James to take this new shape and adapt his diminishing athleticism to still impact.

the game at an extremely high level is one of the best players on the floor. You brushed over 20 rebounds. 20 rebounds is an insane number. It's an insane number. And, you know, when I said, look, you see the graphic on T&T, first in Shaq in 04 for Lakers playoffs? That's wise. Well, and in fairness, I was upset that they allowed him to just drive right to

his dominant hand to get that shot off to force an overtime. but in the overtime, the and one that was absolutely crucial. He was going to his left. Yeah. He did go to his left, right? That was the Brooks one. Oh, my, how fitting was that? I mean, Dylan Brooks, all the trash talk, and then he drives by Brooks when, I don't know,

it was really an incredible moment. It was, like, regardless of your fandom and all that, like, from a pure basketball standpoint, that was, like, incredible to watch. Oh, I totally understand everybody hating Dylan Brooks. For sure. The Grizzly somehow got him to not take any shots in the second half. Grizzly's fans hate Dylan Brooks. I don't know how, but they somehow, for the first time in history, got him to not take shots in the second half.

And the way they did that was by not passing him the ball. Overdo. I mean, look, I don't know what it says. I don't know what it says about Taylor Jenkins, but I don't think you should be allowing or empowering. drawing Dylan Brooks to shoot as much as he does. This guy stinks at scoring the ball. And he hurts your team off. And that's probably why the game went to overtime.

He still is one for seven from three. That's still like seven too many three pointers. He should be taken, you know, maybe one or two wide open ones. I just don't get it. Like there's that clip of him talking pre-drafts saying, I want to be like Draymond Green. If you really wanted to be like Draymond Green, you wouldn't shoot this many times. They put them in the corner, you know, in the second half of the game.

And pretty well just played four on five offense. Oh, yeah. And they still had success. And they still generated. Again, their offense is to generate. They are your modern offense. Like so many of these NBA teams, lay it up or tray it up. And so you're trying to generate yourself good looks from three.

and they generated a ton of them. I am going to throw up when I see the shot quality report on here's, if these players shot, even close to the percentage that they typically shoot on these type of shots, here's the expected result. And 9 of 42, 21% when that's taking up basically half of your shots. And while we talked about LeBron James having 20, rebounds in the game, they actually won outside of, you know, his 20, they kept, they didn't get

destroyed on the boards. They kept that close, you know, is I think it ended up 52-49 and had the offensive rebound advantage because AD was just not that guy tonight, you know. I mean, he came back in the board. He made a couple plays down the stretch, some big offensive rebounds, tip-ins. But yeah, he just, he was out of sorts

for basically the first three quarters of that game. It made some big plays down the stretch, but he was not himself. Like there was that Chris Haynes report saying he's grabbing at his hip. He's not 100%. I mean, clearly he wasn't 100%. And by the way, on shot quality,

I don't have the at shot quality metric. You know, you're mentioning from that Twitter channel, but I did look it up on second spectrum. The second spectrum has them at minus 4.3 QSI, which is their metric to show how much worse or better the team shot against their expected shot quality. And for the Grizzlies, that's second worst of this postseason. Game three, they shot worse. They was minus 7.3 for game three, and it would have ranked for what it's worth. The 12th worst stacked up against every regular season game. Crazy.

So that is, you know, one of the worst shooting performances compared to their expected percentages, at least according to Second Spectrum's shot quality statistics. Well, I even got the, you know, they send it out at halftime, and the Grizzlies were down by two, and it played pitifully. in the first half of that game. And the shot quality number was that they should be up by 10 based upon the shots that they got. So, like, you know, and I know that can be,

it's got to be just driving you crazy if you're a coach. You make your adjustments. Here's how we're going to generate our shots. Here's what we're trying to get to on our offense. And then you get to it, and nobody can make any shots. I mean, isn't this part of this? This is the NBA now. But isn't this part of it, though, Chris?

I mean, like, there is, there is something different about the playoffs in the sense that like you know the grizzlies are 23rd and three point percentage on the season so they're not a great three point shooting team collectively anyway and then in the postseason like you're playing on tired legs you're working harder every single possession on defense you get to work harder on offense to set solid screens to rotate to relocate you know to get yourself open everything everything's harder on the body and so I I think for, you know, it's true for a lot of different teams right now. The pressure is higher. That does factor in there, which is why, like, sometimes the shot quality stuff, I'm a little bit, you know, I'm interested in it. But a lot of the time, I just kind of, you know, it's a different monster in the postseason. Look, we can talk about another game, though, but I mean, like, we're going to talk about the Bucks in a little bit.

Bucks made like 20-something threes in that game that they ran out the heat. tonight they made 13. Like, yeah, sometimes these teams make a punch, sometimes they miss. Sometimes that's all it is is make miss. That's true.

Ask a Houston Rockets. Yep. I mean, that's true. It might have been an NBA champion. They would have beat the Warriors. They're one for a thousand, you know,

in the most important game. And so, I don't know. I do think that. Also, coaching's part of it, too. Like, with the little adjustments they make, like we'll talk about bucks later but mike boodenholeser you know you got mike boodinholzer in that bucks

game not calling a time out during the heat's fourth quarter on to tie the game and take a lead you don't have him making adjustments on jimmy butler you know you're you're going under on screens you're unwilling to switch against butler while he's going off with the kyle lorry screening action for him and then you got taylor jenkins you know using his challenge on some wasteful call in the first half he said after the game that it was a mistake to use it like you got to know that in the the moment. And that's where Bud or Jenkins, like, sometimes coaches in the postseason can also, you know, show their weaknesses versus the coaches are like an Eric Spolstra, you know, a Greg Popovich, you know, whoever it might be that can show that they can give their team a real

edge. No, I mean, these guys, the coaches and many times the players can just lose their minds, do things that are so wildly out of character. I mean, we'll talk about it later, but I mean, Steph Curry calling a Chris Weber-esque timeout. Wildly out of character. You just lose your mind. You know what I mean? And Taylor Jenkins, I saw it coming from a mile away. So John Goebel is the referee, just for a little backstory.

He is the referee that Taylor Jenkins got fined $15,000 because he called a game last year in the playoffs, the most arrogant and what was it? It was the most incompetent and arrogant or it was something, some of that I'm afraid. I mean, it was rough. That's a heck of a quote. He was willing to take the hit. And so, look, everybody got the John Goldwell experience tonight. This is when you know that it's a poorly officiated game,

when both fan bases think it was awful towards the other team. That's when you know. And it's just always, it's constantly like that. John Goebel should not be crew chief on big playoff games. It's always something. Is that why you lost, though? I mean, can you blame the officials? No, absolutely not.

No, no. What I'm saying is, as a backstory, right? So now you're Taylor Jenkins, you put together this game plan that you feel so confident about. You go out there, nobody can make a shot. You're stuck on, I think it was 30 at the time. It's 42 to 30 or something like that. It's a 12-point game.

And then there's the cross-court pass that goes out of bounds and out of frustration It's a frustration. Players do things out of frustration, and this was a coach doing something out of frustration. He walks out and twirls his finger, like, because Xavier Tillman says he didn't touch the ball. And so he's just so mad about the stuff that's built up.

A, his team's not making any shots, and now he thinks he's getting a raw deal from the officials, and so he just loses it. And obviously, you have to keep your head in that portion. But it was a mistake, for sure. It was a mistake. Yeah, it was. And unfortunately, coaches sometimes are human just like everybody else, just like players are.

And you could just see it. You could see the frustration building up. Nobody's making any shots. Nothing's working. And now the refs are screwing me. Challenge it. And it wasn't to, it really really wasn't even about that possession. It was just the frustration of, I'm going to send a message, you know, to these guys that they just didn't screw us tonight,

even though they were not getting screwed. You know, Chris, I mean, you know, we'll talk about it more once the series is officially over. You know, whenever that is, they get game five on Wednesday in Memphis. If there's a game six, that'll be Friday. So at some point, we'll be talking about it in the coming week. I just feel like this young Grizzlies team, their weaknesses have been completely exposed. They need more shooting. They need more consistency.

Dylan Brooks, as good as he is on defense, either needs to leave or he needs to just stop shooting so much. They got to find a replacement for Stephen Adams or make Stephen Adams have a more limited role and have a bigger, beefier guy who can be relying on to stay healthy next to Jaron Jackson Jr. And Adams has been mega durable, though.

This is freakish. Yeah. This is a freakish injury. And he was amazing this season. He's got a lot of miles on him, though, Chris. I mean, he's an old 29. He was amazing, though. They led to, I mean, they were the best offensive rebounding team in the world and became a non-offensive rebounding team.

But can you realistically rely on 30-year-old Stephen Adams with all the miles that he has on him? I mean, he's played through injury. He's durable, but he's always playing through something. Those types of guys, sometimes when they're on the wrong side of 30, they fall. I just feel like this Grizzly's team, the Lakers, you know, I picked him to win the series. I said they were finals contenders after the deadline. They're beating the Grizzlies more handedly even than I could have anticipated. That's partially because of Jha, you know, missing a game.

You know, he's got an injury and all that. But I think the Grizzlies are a bit further away than I even expected. Well, I think what you're going to see, though, is, and we'll see what happens with game five. I told you, A, the Grizzlies needed to win this one, and they had it. So to me, I don't know, if LeBron... If LeBron's shot rims off, let's just say. Let's say it doesn't go in, right? Do you think they're that far off?

Grizzlies? Yeah. Yeah, I think they lose next round. If it rims out, if it rims out. I mean, if the Grizzles were to win the series, I'd pick against them next round too. No, no, but I'm saying, would they be that far off if that shot didn't go, come on, it's 2-2, and then two of the next three are in Memphis?

No, but, I mean, it still doesn't change the way, like, I'm viewing the roster overall. I still don't think they'd, whether they win the series or not, I'm thinking, like, this team has just shown they're further away. I mean, they're the second youngest team in the NBA. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. They're a young team. And sometimes, like, this team has exceeded what a young team can do so often.

51 wins, playing at the level that they have with or without jaw on the floor is a testament to that entire roster and the youth and the talent that this team has. They're a really great young team, but young teams usually don't go to the conference finals or go to the NBA finals or hoist Larry O'Brien trophy. It has just shown how young this team really is. This is what's going to be interesting because I do think you'll probably see a game six that'll be in L.A. And what's going to be interesting about this? I want to go to that one. Game three was fun. I went on Saturday.

It was a fun atmosphere. I told you that as the series went on, that's where the advantage could be. To just keep an eye out for it, look, you're probably not beating that team three times in a row. But you're about to play Wednesday and then you're going to turn around and you're going to play on Friday. Yep. And LeBron Jay's just played 45 minutes. And Anthony Davis was out of it. So, I mean, they got to amp up.

You're playing. Look, that's three games in five. days, three games in five days, that they're going to be playing. And so, you know, it's still going to be a very difficult task. Totally. I'm with you. I agree. You're probably, you're probably getting a game six in L.A. because it's a quick turnaround. And most teams, again, one team's got their season on the line and the other doesn't. The other has that parachute of, we'll just close it out at home. I saw it last year. Three one, same exact situation. Remember with the Warriors? And then game five, and this is when Morant was out. Game five, the Grizzlies just absolutely

destroyed them, beat them by a thousand. And then they went and lost game six in Golden State. I wouldn't be surprised if you see Memphis win five and make it interesting for six. Yeah. And that's going to be the task. Being able to make that. team in L.A. with their season on the line. But as we said, it's an every other day thing. And they're running these guys. I mean, you got a guy in year 20 playing 45 minutes tonight. That is a lot, man. He was exhausted. They were all exhausted. Everybody on the court was. So if you could get it to Friday, what's it going to be like on Friday? You know? I mean, he is, he is the king.

He is? He's the king. He came, he came, he came up with it. He's got his German doctors, his hyperbaric chamber. He's got everything. And he might be the most well-rested one come game five. Let's just be honest here. I'm not kidding you.

Come on. I'm not joking. Come on. What reason has he given to think otherwise? I'm serious. Nine for 42 from three. Just unbelievable. Something else.

Oh, and all the Laker fans could shut the hell up about Rui Hachamura. This is just what he does. He finally missed some shots. He finally turned back into Rui Hachamura. Yeah, you're fortunate. Not the 25 point per game scorer. Talk about shot quality percentage. Rui, you're lucky Rui that go off even more.

By the way, you know what you're really lucky? about Chris is Darvin Ham not playing Mo Bomba anytime Anthony Davis is on the floor. I'm not joking you.

The Lakers have no room protection with AD off the floor. They're too small. Give Bomba an opportunity. What is Ham doing? Hands in his pockets on the sideline. Put Bomba in the game.

I'm not joking you. They should give bomb an opportunity. in those minutes. Anyway. Wow. I didn't think we were going to be talking

about Mo Bomba tonight. Yeah, he's got a, no, he had a DNP I had to get him in there. Here we are. It's bull. Bomba's time will come. The NBA playoffs are here

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I don't know how many times we've come on the air and said this during playoff time. But if we're doing a regular season draft, and we're doing a postseason draft, there's no greater disparity in when a player is drafted, the Jimmy Butler. My God. Jimmy Buckets showed up tonight. And the Bucks are now fighting for their playoff lives,

a team that everyone considered. The favorite. Everyone. Overwhelming. I picked the bucks to sweep. And it just goes to show how many times we talk about, do you have the best player on the floor? But he do.

Even in a series that is including Janice Hansa Tukupa on the other side, you still have a chance of having me the best player on the floor for an individual game. I'm just talking about, for that night, did you have the best player on the floor? And Jimmy Butler is a guy that no matter who is on the other team,

you could feasibly have the best player on the floor. And that was one of the absolute all-timers. I mean, pumping up the crowd, dangling off the rim, pulling up for threes in transition. When he pulled up for the second three in transition, I lost it.

I mean, too. I screamed so loud. That was my God, Kevin. What an unbelievable performance that was. What a heat check that was, right? He's like, I know I'm feeling it. Let's find out how much I'm actually feeling it. And what's crazy is they don't have Tyler Hero.

They're running out. I think they said on the broadcast seven undrafted players. Isn't that wild? Duncan Robinson out there. Hi, Smith. getting minutes off the bench. They started Kevin Love. Yeah, old man, Kevin Love.

Kevin Love was just an outcast. Like, they just got rid of him in Cleveland. They could use him. Yeah, Caleb Martin hitting big-time shots down to stretch another undrafted guy. I mean, my goodness, dude, that heat roster. It all comes down to Jimmy Butler ultimately, though. I mean, that was, like you said,

a historic performance, especially that fourth quarter, was absolutely special. because look, Janice is the best player in the world. He was great in his return. He makes that defense click. He is what he is on offense as an energizer, a dominant interior score. He's playmaking. He's doing it all, as he always does.

And yet you come away from that thinking like, damn, Jimmy Butler, any night he wants to, and it's often in the playoffs, he can look like the best player in the world. Like, if you're turning on, if you, can you imagine what it's like for an a casual NBA fan who only watches the playoffs. They must think like Jimmy Butler is like, yeah, like he's like Charles Barclay, Malone. Like how does this guy never want a championship? You know, like they must think that about him.

And, you know, because of Jimmy's performance, it's going to overshadow so much of what took place. You know, the Bucks did use their size to their advantage. Brooke Lopez at 36 points in the frigging game. Somehow he's a minus nine in the game, which just tells you all you need to know. But he is 36. Janus has 26. And we've talked so much about the lack of rim protection for Miami. And there it showed up again.

Just not, you know, you got a 6 and 19 from Holiday. You got a 4 of 12 from Chris Middleton. Man, Middleton, Chris. That's like that game won. he had that felt like a positive silver lining for the heat. He's 33 points in game one. Since then, 16 points on 16 shots, 23 on 14 shots, not bad, 14 points on 12 shots. He's just not consistent going back to whenever he returned back in what? February, early February when he came back. He just hasn't been consistent as a scorer as all, nowhere close to the heights that we've seen him reach in the past.

That's a problem. Like when you talk about can the bucks come back from 3-1, Chris Middleton's got to find, you know, the old Chris Middleton. Well, and this, it really just felt like they've got Jimmy Butler. Like that was just a refuse to lose unstoppable force of nature. 56 in a freaking playoff game against a team that's supposed to be the favorite who's like whose season feels on the brink if they lose. Like they have to have that game.

They have to have that game. Just incredible. Absolutely positively incredible. Because there's nobody else on their team like you can say. Like Caleb Martin made some shots. And they've dusted off the $90 million man, Duncan Robinson. And they've, you know, they got 10 points out of Gabe Vincent. but nobody else on the team had more than 15 points.

He had 56. And this puts them in a very precarious situation, the Bucks. You would assume that they will, you know, I think probably with both of these series, you're going to see situations where these teams now have put themselves in the position where they're going to be able to close out their opponents at home.

I would be surprised if Memphis didn't win game five. I'd be surprised to Milwaukee didn't win game five. But then you've got to go to their place in order to keep your season alive. And that's going to be the case. Jimmy's going to get to do that in Miami and LeBron's going to get to do that in L.A.

That's what I guess probably takes place. The Bucks clearly have the better chance of coming back, but I don't know, man. am I beating that guy three times in a row? That's what I'd be thinking. I know, I know. Same way I think about it with the LeBronthe. You're probably not beating that guy three times in a row.

Jimmy Butler, you've beaten him three times in a row to be able to win a series? Well, I mean, think about that performance. I looked this up on stat news earlier tonight because, like, the efficiency, he shoots 67.9% from the field scoring 56 points. That was like, that feels absurdly high, you know, for a field goal percentage for that amount of points. In playoff history, only Jimmy Butler, Charles Barkley, and Michael Jordan have ever scored 56 plus points while shooting 65 plus percent from the field.

I don't believe. I mean, you look at this, Kef, too. Look at the point totals they put up in this thing. They put up 130 in game one. They put up 122 in the game they lost, where the bucks made like 25 threes in the game. They put up 122. They put up 121. Then they put up 119, you know, tonight in that.

And you have do they have? Like, how is this team scoring 120 points against you? They got one guy. They've got one guy. How? How? You know, kudos to Gabe Benson and Caleb Martin

and Duncan Robinson and Kevin Love and Kyle Lowry and the rest of them. But like, I sit there and I go, how is this happening? They have one guy who's like amazing. There's one guy to game plan against

theoretically. I mean, listen, isn't that what that's so embarrassing about the bucks? Yes. I mean, like I said, aren't you thinking if this guy doesn't kill us, it's got to go a long way towards us winning? It's a joke. Like, they're just going under, under, under, under, under, under every time a screen is set for him by Kyle Ari. And like, they're not doing anything different. They're not sending two at them.

They're not switching. They're just doing the same thing every single freaking time. And it's just it's coach Bud's lack of adjustments showing up again. It's happened many times. The bucks feel like a team that could have even more than one finals already if they had a better head coach. That's just the way I feel watching the game. Four games, 35, 25, and 56. Unreal.

And he does it all on good efficiency. Like it doesn't even take him The most shot attempts he has Is the first one Where he took 27 shots But he still made He was 15 of 27 So you'd at least

You know say oh well At least if he scored 35 points It took up 27 shots to get there But I mean He's 19 of 28 tonight For 56 points And he goes to the free throw line 18 times

It makes 15 of those. I just don't get the lack of switching. I don't get, I just don't get that. I don't. You know, like, you're facing this guy. You're spitting out all these numbers. You know who Jimmy Butler is. You know what he can do.

He was doing it right in front of you. And yet you're not even, you're not sending two at him. You're not forcing him to be a passer. You're not trying to make somebody else beat you. I get it, but look, Kemp, he was a shot away from doing in the Celtics last year. I know. He's amazing. And they got wing defenders all over that roster and a coach that everybody thought was good. He's just that guy, man.

I know he's that guy. But this series, they're not pressuring him and picking rolls. They're letting they're not switching. It's just strange. It's strange. Well, and this is, Janus got that back against the wall now. And you and I are both in agreement that Yon, as the guy we would want.

But I mean, he's the guy that's got to have the 56. But who's the coach you want? It's Spolster. Who's the coach you'd want? It's Eric Smolstra. There's no question. Eric Spolster's a great coach.

Yeah. Right. But, I mean, like, to me, you've got the, like, is it Boonehouser's fault

that Drew Holiday 6 for 19? No. Is it his fault? Chris Middleton's 4 for 12? I mean... Well, it is his fault, that Janus isn't getting touches during that 12-0 run, it is his fault that he's not calling a timeout.

Those things are his fault. Like there's certain things that aren't his fault. Players play coach's coach to take an old Bill Belichick line. There's certain stuff that you cannot control as a coach. There are certain things that you can. And I feel like he failed at the things that he can control in that fourth quarter. They had a, what, I guess it was an 11-point lead. I think it was an 11 point lead.

It was 13 at one point, I think. Okay, well, they're up, they're up 101 to 89. They were up a lot, put it that way. Jeez, Louise. It was 9885 with 856 to go. So that's when it was 13. And then it was 12 a couple minutes later, as you're saying. Yeah.

And it's just stop, transition bucket, stop. I mean, the guy just called absolute. fire. No time out. And Yannis is not getting touches in the middle of that fourth quarter. And they're playing the same defense every single time against that Butler-Lowry pick and roll. It was terrible coaching in that fourth quarter, some of the worst that I've seen in the playoffs in recent memory. They're up against it now, man. They are up against it. This is where legends write their story. It's an opportunity for Yannis. He comes back from a major injury. He does it in the finals. And he leads us.

his team to victory over the suns, despite looking like he's going to be out forever. And now he's coming back in the first round against the heat. He comes back as a great individual game. His team loses. Now is his chance to lead them to a historic 3-1 comeback, something we've only seen, I believe, 13 times in NBA history. The Nuggets did it twice most recently a couple of years ago. Oh, it's not 13 times. No way.

No, it's got to be probably eight or nine times. I think it's 13. That an eight seed has beaten a one? No, no, not eight. I'm saying a three one comeback. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, three one comeback. Yeah, the Nuggets did it twice in 2020,

calves in 2016, Warriors in 2016, and, you know, don't need a list them all. I mean, eight beating a one on the flip side of that has only been done. It's been done less than ten times. I mean, too bad they're not facing Doc Rivers and the Sixers. You should figure it's a guarantee that they come back. I do think we're going to see a game six. in Miami.

I would be surprised of Milwaukee doesn't get the next one. I'd be surprised if we don't see one too. But that's an all-time performance. And Jimmy Buckets is that guy. Dog Rivers is on the side of three of those 13 blown 3-1 comebacks. Just putting that out there.

I can't wait to see. This is a big moment for Janus. It is. It is. Down 3-1. Can't do it all yourself. There's no question. Need Middleton to step up.

That's the guy. If Middleton can turn it on, I like the buck's chances to at least send us to seven. But without Middleton, I don't know. Well, and Holiday, too.

I mean, just you can't have both of those guys being trapped. Yeah, you need a least one of them. They're, something like that. 10 for 31? That can't be.

And you do have such an advantage going to the basket. I mean, that's why you've got, the combo with Janice and Janice and Brooke. I'm excited, though, to see kind of how they handle this.

This would be a disaster. You've got Janus in his prime, and you're paying the money for that roster. You get ousted by Miami in the first round. Oh, boy. 8-1. I know, because the thing is,

even with Janus being out, people were still rightfully saying, hey, maybe the Bucks could win this series, and not have to bring Yannas back. They had to smash that emergency glass and take Yannis out a lot quicker than a lot of people, including me, anticipated. And I think that

is a, you know, don't want to beat a dead horse here, but I think it says a lot about the coaching. Well, we're about to find out if Jimmy can go ahead and finish them off. Because, I mean, if it gets done, it's him. Maybe, wouldn't it be hilarious

if they came out and this triple team his ass, just said fine. Oh, I know. If you want to, if Gabe Vincent scores 30, fine. I mean, something works with strategy. Yeah, I know.

It's kind of, it's so interesting. Like, you know, we got, you know, the heat, they're up 3-1. The Knicks are up 3-1. We got the, the warriors, like right now, they're facing a Kings team

without Fox. The Lakers are up 3-1. A lot of underdogs could be advancing. Not underdogs, necessarily, but lower seeds. This would be by far the most shocking. Not even close. Yeah, by far.

Heat over Bucks would be something else. That is the type of thing. We've talked a lot about all these teams. They're going to have to look in the mirror and reevaluate this offseason. I think the Bucks, you're going to take a long, hard look if you lose this series, especially considering the age of this roster. What can we do to maximize the coming years with the honest? and then we are going to have to delete me laughing at Sean Fennessey during our live L.A. show

because my God, they would legitimately have a chance. I know. Against the heat, they could go all the way to the East Finals. And then they play great against the Celtics. I know. Yep. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Well, with Sean's line, if you will it, it is no dream. Yeah. Yeah, if you will, it is no dream. With the way this is, I mean, if the heat do it, can you imagine what a war Nick's heat would be? Oh, man. Oh, we might get, we might, we would get literally old school Jeff Van Gundy hanging on to Alonzo morning replays from back in the day. Did you hear, speaking about the Van Gundy's, Stan Van Gundy on the Lakers Grizzlies broadcast tonight? I mean, he did not sound great.

Like, his voice was hoarse. No, I was watching. I was watching the Lerzies broadcast. Oh, yeah. That's like local, like you, I think locally you only have that choice anyway. No, no, I could have watched on T&T. I guess so.

But I mean, I would rather, I would, I would rather listen to a cat vomiting over and over again than listen to Stan Van Gundy. No interest. No interest. All right. That cat was sick tonight. I'll just say that.

He needed some cough drops. Hate to hear it. Get well soon. All right, Kevin. We got a lot of other series to get to. Unfortunately, most of them have not been very good. Let's knock out the three ones. Well, before we get to the three ones,

there has been a suite. There's a series that is already done. And that is the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn, nets. Any takeaways from that? Obviously, we've got the M-Bed injury that's hanging out there.

Hardin wasn't very good and got kicked out of one of the games. Some nice performances by some of their bench guys. Maxie clearly had some monsters. Paul Reed. Melton. Paul Reed.

But, you know, with setting up against the Celtics, assuming they take care of business, against Atlanta, which I think both of us expect that they will. You know, I didn't walk away from that one feeling better about the 76ers chances against the Celtics. And I think that's because M.B. did not dominate in that series. And I feel like it's putting a lot on Maxi to be that other guy. if Hardens not going to be that other guy that's going big for them.

And it's a tall task to knock off that Boston team who has looked fantastic. So I guess that was it. I mean, it was not great competition. Brooklyn was ill-equipped to deal with Philadelphia. I don't know. Am I overreacted to that? I just didn't. It's crazy.

You are not. They swept them, but I didn't feel great about them after they got done with it. No, I mean, you're not overreacting at all. I think with Philadelphia, it comes down to two things. It comes down to James Hardin and his level of performance. He was not the same guy finishing inside the paint, drawing fouls. Of course, he's playmaking. It's impressive what he is right now as a passer for that team,

but the finishing and the scoring is not the same. That's number one. And then number two, the biggest one is Joan LaBeat. That knee sprain that he has, they've already said he's 50-50 for the start of series against the Celtics. even if he does come back starting for game one, whenever that will actually be, depending on how long the Boston-Atlanta series goes, how effective is Joel Embed going to be?

And even then, if he's 100%, 100%. I still like the Celtics in the series. And I think that speaks to the level that Boston is at over Philadelphia. Milwaukee, you know, if Yannas can stay healthy, you know, continue to, thrive, a Boston Milwaukee series potentially looking far ahead in the Eastern Conference

finals, that's the true threat to Boston. I think for Philadelphia, they are a very good team, but that hard an injury is what limits their ceiling, man. Yeah, I just thought Boston, Philly, that we were just setting up for a second round in the Easter conference. We talked about it so often. And by the time that series was done, I didn't feel like, oh, wow. I mean, clearly I'm going to watch all the games, and I'm excited to see it.

I just, the fun thing about sports is not knowing the outcome. And obviously things can happen within a series. And we were already seen a bunch of injuries so far in these playoffs. We've seen Kauai Leonard's injury, you know, probably swing a series. We've seen Janice out. We've seen John Nass out. We've seen Joe L&B, as we mentioned. And everybody is a sprained.

or an ejection away from maybe their season or their series changing. That being said, just watching their level of play against that Brooklyn team, and I just didn't think much of that Brooklyn team. I don't think Brooklyn would have beaten any team in the playoffs. None. I don't think there's 15 other teams in the playoffs. They would have lost to all of them. so I need you to kill them.

You know, if you're going to be playing against Boston, I need, I need you to mangle them, not blocking Spencer Dinwiddie at the buzzer, you know, to preserve victory. And so I hope that I'm wrong. I hope that we're going to end up with unbelievable competition in this next round. Because as we move on, the Celtics, I feel. like have looked really good. I don't take anything away from them dropping that game at Atlanta, the one that they did drop, because they rebounded from that clearly. And that was your typical,

hey, this isn't going to be a sweep. The other team's up two-oh. So it's do or die for the home team. must win, no matter how much psychologically you want to amp yourself up, it's not a must win for you, and then you could take care of business in game four, and then go close it out in game five. And I think that both of us figure that that's what's going to take place. I thought that was going to take place before Dejante Murray got chucked. What a dumbest state by hand?

What is he doing? I know. What is he doing? I mean, what's, what's that end game? It's immature. I get it. You know, I mean, like, you know what the consequences are potentially of doing something like that, and then you just full-on bump the referee to what, intimidate them, be a tough guy?

It's ridiculous. I mean, and now for the Hawks, I mean, DeJante Murray, you know, now even more pressure is going to be on Tray Young. He's going to garner even more defensive attention, and Trey's going to have to have game of his life to extend this series. And the Hawks, again, I mean, they shoot 50 plus percent from the floor in that game three win, 44% from three. They shot the lights out. They were finishing everything.

They're going to have to do that again. And Trey is going to have to be awesome again. It's just so unlikely that they extend this series any further. Well, and how crazy it is what we've seen from the Celtics. And I think the people that have not been watching them on a daily basis throughout the regular season, have all had the same reaction, which is, when did Derek White turn so awesome? You know, we're so used to Jason Tatum.

We're so used to Jalen Brown. But it feels like White, if this is sustainable, and we'll see, because Derek White didn't have the greatest finals last year. So far, looks like a different guy, looks very sustainable, very good on the defensive end, and just having that third guard that's in there, another guard that's in there,

he has caused real problems for opponents. And I'm fascinated to see how sustainable the incredibly high level that he has played. He has played at like an all-star caliber level. And is that, maybe that, maybe that's not sustainable, but do they still get that massive contribution

out of him as the opponents and the pressure gets higher and higher? But he's kind of been the revelation to me, right? I mean, Derek Roy has given it to him all year long, really, as a shooter and as a defender. He was so inconsistent from behind the arc going back

to San Antonio last year with Boston. Obviously, you know, shots were not falling for him at all, especially in the finals. He was just a non-threat, but you know, 38% from three on the season right now, 52% in the playoffs, you know, doing everything as a connective, you know, playmaker as a defender. That's the thing with the Celtics roster, Chris. It's like up and down, you know, even the guys that aren't playing.

Like Grant Williams isn't getting minutes. Mike Muscal is not getting minutes, but these guys who get out come off the bench, Brogden, Hauser, you know, their role players, Marcus Smart, Al Horford, up and down the roster, one through 11, one through 12. This team has playable guys, and they're only leaning on eight right now. And I think for somebody like, you know, I mentioned Grant Williams. He, you know, he's played 18 minutes in the series. You know, he played a lot in their loss.

He's somebody that they could use moving forward, potentially against an Embed, or against the Janus, regardless of the opponent that comes in the rounds to come. And I think that's what makes this Boston roster special is their day. and mostly with Derek White being the face of that right now. Well, one of the things that we talked about throughout the year was, because you think about these championship contenders at the highest level, who is going to be the third guy? And is it going to just rotate?

Is it going to be a consistent guy? Because you know that Tatum's there for it. You know that Brown's there for it. And so who's that third guy? And in at least three of these last four games, you've gotten high field goal attempts and high efficiency out of Derek White. He's gone for 24, 26. Then he had 11, where he's only taking seven shots. He's four of seven from the field. So still deficient in three or four from three. And then the last game, he's 18 points. He's four of nine from three, seven of 14 from the field.

So, like, I think that's the trick. Who is that third guy? Because championship teams typically have a third guy that's stepping up regularly. And maybe it is a rotating cast. Maybe one night it'll be a smart game. Maybe one night it'll be a Brogden game. Maybe one night it'll be a, maybe that's the answer. But at least recently, he's been that third guy when you know kind of that it's going to average out

that you're going to get big, big Tatum and big brown performances. And he is the benefactor of teams you've got to load up on them. Those guys command so much attention. And when they drive and they kick, somebody's just got to be able to knock down the shots. And it appears that Derek White's that guy right now. But it's got to be somebody. I'm talking about when you're playing, like, when we're talking about the playing against Philly, playing against Milwaukee, playing against whoever they would play.

from the West. But I was impressed. I've been impressed with them against Atlanta, and I just figured they're going to close that thing out. And I think they would have, regardless of the Murray status. I think so, too. Other three ones,

Minnesota staved it off. Anthony Edwards said we're not going to get swept. Ants is something, man. You can say whatever you want about that Timber Wolves roster, Anthony Edwards. I mean, that dude is, is stepping up big time on both ends. It's not just the scoring, Chris.

I mean, it's the defense. It's the intensity. It's the way he kind of sets a tone for his team. Never mind, the 41, 36, 34 points. You know how much I think of him. He is a future superstar worthy of building out around. Like, he can be the best player on an amazing team. He can be one of the best players in the entire NBA.

But my God, did they stave off what would have been the absolute worst of the worst playoff losses? Up 12 after an ant jumper. Crowds going crazy, all excited, 9684, less than three minutes to go, and give up a 12-0 run, which frankly should have been a 13-0 run if Yokic not. down that other free throw. And that would have been the absolute worst to lose a playoff game like that. I mean, it's all I feel bad for the Minnesota fans because it's like they win that game in overtime. And you should be elated.

But it's like, it's just relief at that point. I've been in arenas like that and you're walking out and you're going, God, that would have sucked. Yeah. Like that's your overwhelming feeling because you have mentally prepared yourself for like, what just happened? I was having so much fun. And then somebody just ruined my night. But then it turned out okay at the end.

You just don't know how to compute at all. But, you know, Yogids did split the free throws and Ant hit that massive three in overtime. step back with 11 seconds left. And that was what the cool moment was because he's the guy that said they wouldn't get swept. And in a one point game with 11 seconds left, he delivered. He delivered the knockout punch to make sure that they wouldn't get swept. And so I'd imagine they'll probably get, it'll be the gentleman sweep and they'll probably lose game five. but at least if I'm a Minnesota fan

I'm holding on to the fact that we'll probably move towns in the offseason we'll start building out better around and that that is that's like a big like moment of like I remember when he was really young in the league and he hit that huge shot it is a playoff moment for him

and that's about the best thing you could say And Yolkish, Jesus, I mean, the guy looks like the best player in the world. He looks like the best player in the world. Well, we'll talk about, I mean, we could talk about it now, but I'm sure we'll talk about it now once the series is officially over. Because game five is Tuesday night. The scheduled game six is Thursday night.

But I just want to ask you quick, Chris, like Denver down the stretch of that game, the 12-0 run, granted they're hitting threes, Michael Porter Jr., coming off a handoffs, the Yokic, you know, his fade away from mid-range. There was amazing shot making, but also defensively, you had Yokic, you know, picking off the little entry pass to Gobert. You had a block shot by Aaron Gordon. You had Contavius called.

Wait, wait, you're not going to mention who the black shot was on. I was on Gobert. But I'm just listening all the defensive flip plays that they all made in different situations. Do you feel like Denver's uptick and defense? in this series against Minnesota is a positive indicator for them against the team. Like, does it apply against the Sons?

Does it apply? No. Okay. So this is more like, this doesn't matter right now. It's a totally different test against Phoenix. It's not applicable. Two things I'd worry about.

Getting pick and rolled to death. Yep. That's not Minnesota. Jumpers, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, which Minnesota, say what you want about Ant, Their shooting is terrible. Yeah, I know.

How many shooters are on the floor? Yeah. Seriously. But do you think the effort is at least applicable, even if the results aren't? Yes. The fact that, look, to me, that is more about, we talk about this all the time,

it's why I always lend myself towards the teams that have gotten the playoff scars. I always talk about that. How many times you've been in those spots before? And there's a lot of teams down 12. They're not making that last run at you. And that they know what they want to do. They know what they want to get to.

And they just keep plugging away because they've got this level of confidence. They've just been in those spots, all manner of different spots. And so they just keep plugging away. And I do think that that's going to serve them very well against Phoenix or anybody else. I do think, do I think that they are going to play at a super high level defensively in the same way against Phoenix that they do against Minnesota? No, because I think Minnesota is easier to scheme. But they've got real advantages against Phoenix. They've got real advantages against Phoenix.

not the least of which is the guy who might be the best player in the world playing at best player in the world level and the best player in the world. I'm just saying this guy is up there. This guy's right there. He's right there. You know what I mean?

This guy's right there. And he's got a group of guys that he's logged a ton of minutes with. And they've got some guys off their bench that actually give him something. Well, I mean, that's what I'm saying. Like with Denver, you know, Aaron Gordon and Mike.

Michael Porter Jr. and Contabious Caldwell Pope, even like Bruce Brown and Jeff Green coming off the bench. I get it. Christian Brown for that matter. The nuggets, they have constructed a team that gives Yokic a better chance than he's ever had of leading a finals championship team because of the supporting cast and how those guys can operate as a collective defensively and how they are individually in man-to-man situation. So for their likely inevitable matchup against Phoenix, like what more could you ask for from a supporting cast in that series? Like this is as good as it can realistically get for a supporting cast around Yokic right now. I think you're just going to see a totally different Denver defense. I mean, they got they got guys that can knock down shots for the Phoenix team. I mean, I can't wait, man.

That's going to be a fun series. It's too bad. It's too bad that, like, we're already looking ahead. I know. Instead of, you know, oh, no cool I Leonard for game five, it's announced on Monday night. No Paul George, we knew that, you know, listeners of this show have known. We've known that for a month now that there be, you know, no Paul George for a long time now. That is just ripped away from us.

That, that, it sucks. After game two. Especially with Russ, your guy. Ross is playing better than he has in two years. That series had a chance to be a classic. I know. Especially with Russ playing the way he is. Like a real war.

It could have been Katie versus Russ in a game seven, you know, pressure on in Phoenix. Well, it would have been Katie versus Kauai. Kauai was playing like the best player in the world. But I'm just saying the narrative, I mean. Oh. It could have been like Russell Westbrook, this guy is a castaway where the Lakers, goes to the Clippers and he's on the court end of the game, possibly defending Katie on a switch. You never know. bodying Booker

the former team heads that last game it's like I know I know I appreciate you know I appreciate Russell Westbrook forget the scoring forget about the scoring it's the defense the energy

like he is stepping up his game in other ways in addition to carrying a high scoring mode without their two star players it's cool to watch yeah and I just I look at that series and I just resent it so much

I really do It's disappointing. That first game and that second game were so good. Hey, I mean, you never know. Maybe Clippers have a game. They shoot 55% from three and they extend it to six and then Kauai returns. You never know. Maybe.

You never know. I guess we could keep our fingers crossed. Look, the most shocking 3-1 that we have is Nick's Cabs. Oh, yeah. That's the one we thought was going to be great. Yep. and it has not been great. It has been the Cleveland win.

Well, obviously, look, one, game one was good. And game two, Cleveland was able to get it back, but then losing these last two and now being down 3-1, going back to Cleveland, they've got to try to keep their season alive in game five. I just think that the Knicks have been so, well prepared for these games and you see what they've done

defensively to this Cleveland team and just wrecked it. They have wrecked them as a collective and they have wrecked Mitchell. And we talked they're helping hard off those non-shooters, man.

Like it's starting to show when you have Mowbly and Allen on the floor two non-shooters. Then you've added on Coro for 20 minutes. I mean, sometimes there's three non-shooters. Rookie Rubio is playing minutes with Okoro in the first half, which made no sense at all in that

game for. They have too many non-shooters that the Knicks are just sagging off of and making things so hard on Mitchell and Garland. And because those are the guys that have to create for the other two. Everything. So it's like you can't throw it to them and then just go get you a bucket. Because they're not those

tight. You talk so much about Mowgli and is he going to extend it out? No, not yet. That would change their offense completely, but the fact that he can't, he's not a threat to extend the floor, now makes it very difficult to play those two together

because this is where we see what works in the regular season versus what works in the playoffs. When a team is just scheming against you, then your weakness, whatever it may be, is coming to life. end of story. And Tibbs is great at that. He is great at making you uncomfortable. I can't tell you how many times, even though they only play them a couple times during the season, watching, I remember two years ago, a game between the Knicks and the Grizzlies where Moran had

started to like get some love and he was starting to like, people were starting to think of him as like an all-star caliber player or whatever. and went to New York and he had like Mitchell Robinson basically up at the elbow like free throw line extended and Morant it was like

it was like you had just never seen anything like this like he made him C2 he made him C3 he threw so many and this is just a regular ass regular season gang I'm thinking to myself this is the kind of stuff that makes you better because now you're having to see

what it looks like, because this is exactly what's going to look like, and then didn't really see it much again until Finch used it in the Minnesota series last year. And if you go back and look, people were like making excuses for John. Like, is he hurt? Is he hurt? It was like, this is the book. But Tibbs, even in regular season, he always has his team prepared. He's always trying to make you uncomfortable. But my God, is Cleveland uncomfortable. And the problem is, there ain't nothing to go to. They don't have a lot of options here. Look at their bench. Their bench is shallow. You can't play Rubio because he's a non-shooter.

To me, I think with Cleveland, I picked them to win the series. I was wrong. I overestimated their offense and the way they progressed over the second half of the season. They were top 10 in offensive rating. It really shows the difference between regular season and how fake it is when it comes to applying it to play off basketball. when you're facing a prepared game planning defense, when the entire roster is locked in, and they know every tendency, and they know every play, and everything.

It shows the difference between the season and the playoffs, to me, this Knicks-Cab series more than any other, because the tough part for the Cavs here, they're going to lose the series. I'd be shocked if they won three in a row to come back here, not just because it so rarely ever happens, but just because of the way the Knicks are playing and they're exploiting these flaws with the Cavs,

roster. It shows, like with Boston, when Tatum and Brown were younger, not that Cleveland is ever going to continue trending up. There's never a guarantee a team trends up like that. But it shows Mobley is 21 years old and that his growth has yet to really occur in the offensive end. He needs to improve as a shooter. He needs to improve as a ball handler because he needs to add that other weapon to the team. So they're not so solely reliant on Mitchell and Garland, guys on that perimeter smaller guards to generate every source of offense. And, I mean, look, like Mitchell Robinson is outplaying both Jared Allen and Evan Mowdly, and then Jalen Brunson is outplaying both Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.

So you can talk about how the calves don't have a wing when they're getting outplayed elsewhere. But they do need a wing. I mean, like they need something in between. It's to really fill out this roster and provide more creation other than what you hope Mobley becomes, which he may not, no guarantees. And then also what Mitchell and Garland already provide. They have a roster that needs change and some major tweaking in order to take the leap moving forward. Yeah, and we talked about it all year.

Are they going to fix this thing? Because they just need somebody that can space the floor that you could kick it out to. They can reliably knock down a shot. That's the thing, though, Chris. This series, to me, has shown that they need more than that. And it's like the issue for them is Mobley, as great as he is, you can't use him as a five over a full season. You need to pair him as lean as he is with a big like Jared Allen. And if you're pairing him with a big like Jared Allen, but Mobley isn't shooting, that means you have two non-shooters, two non-creators.

So like it's, to me this comes down to will or will not Evan Mobley blossom on the offensive end of the floor. He's shown flashes. There's been moments, but he is not there yet. Or just have another stretch big. Just somebody that can, you know, go set up. How many times are we going to say, Chris? There's only one Brooke Lopez. I know. Look, Kevin Love started for the heat tonight. Yeah, he would have been useful. He would have been useful for Cleveland. Yeah, sure, I guess, you know, I guess. He would have. It's not about the individual quality. of the player as much as it is the spacing. Do you have to be honored

away from the basket? But Kevin Love would just be another defensive player that the Knicks could work to exploit. I mean, the Knicks in that game forward. Nicks ain't dropping 120 on you, though. They're dropping 100. I know. I know. I know. But they're finding edges by exploiting

certain weaknesses on the roster. They're avoiding running picket rolls against Jared Allen and Evan Mowley and they're instead tacking. They're blitzing, they're pressuring, Jalen Brunson by using R.J. Barrett or Josh Hart as a screener. It's like they're attacking the weaknesses. And if Kevin Love were on the cabs, which he isn't.

They got dogs. The Knicks are tough, man. They really are in the, they are in the mold of Tibbs. That Nick, that Knicks team is so damn fun to watch. They are. Like that that team across, like I love, I love that RJ Barrett has had some moments as a scorer because he's been grinding so hard on defense, working as ass off that even when the shots aren't falling,

like they have the last two games, game one and two, you still watch RJ Barrett and you come away feeling. He's still making a positive impact. He's making the right plays as a passer. He's working hard on defense. So for him to be rewarded with the scoring is really cool to see. When do you think IQ's going to get out of witness for character?

What the hell happened? I know. It's strange. Seriously, what happened to this guy? I know. I mean, he's, he had, you know,

game three. was pretty solid for him, but he hasn't had that explosive IQ game yet. I wonder when that's coming. He has been over the course of a season, like a guy that swings games. Yeah. He hadn't swung nothing. He averaged 14.9 points on the season. So far the series, he has 3, 12, 11, and zero.

That's tough. Yeah, I know. I'd imagine Cleveland keeps their. season alive in five, but they ain't winning six at the garden. I don't know. That's why that last game felt so immense to me. It's because it sets up you being able to win the series at home for the next. I'd love to be able to go to a game at Madison Square Garden.

Those crowds look so awesome. They do. Oh. Can you imagine what that is going to be like? for six if they drop five. Oh my God, yeah, it's going to be awesome. That will be an electric atmosphere. Absolutely electric.

And I really thought that series is going to be better. I know. It hasn't been very good. Hey, we'll see. We'll see what happens on a game five of that is Wednesday night, right? Wednesday night. The one that we bargained for, Kings Warriors has been amazing.

And then we get this news today. that probably just marred it because Fox, Fox is broken his finger. My heart sunk when that notification came through. The worst. Fox is averaging 31.5.7 assists, six rebounds. And what was crazy is in the story that I was reading, they had like this video clip.

It was like almost five minutes left in the fourth when he gets hit and he starts grabbing his hand. And I'm like, damn, man, he played the rest of that thing. Like, he hit that shot on Dremont with a broke finger. Well, I mean, that's what makes you wonder is this, is this gamesmanship saying that he's doubtful? That he'll end up playing and just dealing with it. I don't know.

But the guy fractured a finger and clearly made plays after the fractured finger. Now, that could be just full adrenaline. Full adrenaline. Well, I mean, he could, I mean, Chris, there's going to be a finger. adrenaline for game five, too, at home. You know I love this Kings team. When Harrison Barnes missed that shot, I thought that was your chance. That was your chance.

I suppose it could end up being 27 and 1, but we know the 27 series in a row, the Warriors, and now they've never been as putrid on the road as they are now, but they've won a road game in a series. And so you just kind of chalk that up as they're probably going to win a road game. That's what history tells us. So you had to get that one if you're the Kings. You had to get that one. Because if it's true and they are going to win a road game, I know it's best two out of three and you got two of them at home.

But I don't know, man. The crazy thing was I say the benefit of these playoff scars being in these situations, watching the Warriors just throw up all over themselves with the curry timeout. Just, I mean, just a mess. And then his last shot was awful. Taking like the running two with like 12. This is like, you know, infant playoff roster stuff. Not we've got a million playoff wins under our belt stuff.

Chris, Chris, this is who the warriors are sometimes, though. Curry had like the behind the back pass and the finals goes out of bounds. I mean, they've had sloppy moments and plays throughout their entire dynasty. That's part of what defines them.

But for them, no, he got off the hook with that time out. Oh, I know. That's a all-time blunder. Chris Weber moment. This is what it almost was.

But I'll just, It's not the thing that teams like that do. I mean, but here's the thing, though, Chris, I mean, part of their, what's to find them as well is sometimes injury luck going for them or going against them in their finals runs. And here in the first round series against the Kings, this could be one instance where it goes in their favor. Because with Aaron Fox, he's been the toughest guy for them to stop. He has been carrying that King's offense far more than DeMont de Sabonis. He has been the engine.

the creator, because the Warriors have done a pretty good job, I think, defending Sabonis. The bonus is shooting under 50% for the series, despite shooting 62% on the year. They're doing a great job defending those dribble handoffs, actions that we've seen Sabonis run all year long. It's Fox is the guy they've had a hard time staying in front of. So Fox is limited in any way, never mind if he's out. I have a hard time seeing how the Kings would have any chance at winning game

or winning the series without Fox, which is what makes this such an absolute freaking bummer. When I was so hyped up for that game, so hyped up, I was thinking, oh, maybe I'll fly out for one night, you know,

but it's tough with my schedule right now. Let's hope that he can play. If it goes to seven, I'm going to go. Let's hope that he can play. The environment's going to be amazing. If it's seven, I'm going to go because it's on a Sunday.

That's like a good day for me to go. you just feel like maybe you're just a... I hope Fox can play. You're one shot away. Oh my goodness. I hope Fox can play any of these not super limited. I mean, you're so in control. You're so in control.

You're up three one. I know. You're up three one. They got to beat you three straight times. One shot away. It just felt, I mean, I just felt like, oh, God, you had them. You had them. You were going to do this.

Oh, my God. And you let them off the hook. And now these, gah! And now they catch the break with the Fox injury. And it's like, oh, for God's sake. I mean, this, here's the thing about this Kings team, though. They are resilient. Like, there are so many times in that game, like Clay Thompson hits a three.

You know, warriors make a big play and teams fold. But the Kings never fall. I know. They keep punching back and fighting back. So if Fox plays, which like we're saying, maybe it was adrenaline after he hurt his finger midway through that fourth quarter, but he hit shots, he hit free throws, he hit the big three pointer to cut the lead to one with 28 seconds left. He made shots.

I know. So I hope that for him it's just a pain tolerance thing to play through this injury. And it's just another example of how tough this team has been all year long. mentally and physically. He's able to play. I hope so. You know me? I love him.

I love him too, yeah. But. I mean, he's better than John Moran. Man, I've lived this. I've lived this. Oh, shut up. You said Lamello ball was better than John Moran. He'd been out of the NBA for four years as far as I concerned.

I've lived this. Let's give Lamello some time before you. You get two-headed yourself there, Chris. I've lived this. I've covered a bunch of Warrior series. It's going to be so funny a year from now when Labello Ball is like consensus better than Ja. We'll see. Oh, God.

You are nutso. Nutso, truly. At least La Mello Ball can consistently shoot threes, make himself a threat from the outside. Oh, all right, you're saying this after you've seen Morant knocked down, what, six or seven in the last one? In garbage time. Come on. Every game that La Mello Ball has ever played is garbage time. Every game.

He's never played a non-garbage time game. His whole fucking career has been garbage time. You're right. I have nothing to set. You're right. Let me say real quick. when you've got them down, you've got to kill them. And they didn't kill them.

And now this is where we've been in this spot 700 million times. That's why I want the Kings to win. I feel like Harrison Barge had to hit that shot. And he didn't. And now you let them off the hook. And what happens when you let them off the hook is they make you pay for it. And that's been the mark of their franchise for many years. I don't know if you saw this stat at the end of that game.

It's crazy. He said that Draymond, Steph, and Clay have 94 wins as a trio, 94 playoff wins as a trio. And that that is third most in NBA history. And I was like, wow, I would have thought, I mean, look, they're trying to get a fifth title. You know, I would have thought, I don't know, I guess I didn't know what the number would be, but 94 playoff wins. And then they put up who were first and second in trios. Second was Kareem Magic and Michael Cooper at 110 playoff wins as a trio.

Okay? Obviously they won a ton of titles. First, Parker, Genoble, and Duncan, a hundred and twenty-six playoff wins Wow That is insane Wow

Wow The warriors You feel like they've been together forever And been winning forever They'd have to win 33 more playoff games As a trio Surpass the Spurs trio that's insanity

insanity insanity a hundred and twenty-six playoff wins they always say right you got to win 16 to win the title right I mean

that's what do the quick math that's another that's another you know finals run next year after a finals run this year sprinkled in a couple more playoff games as well

that's just that's crazy That is crazy to me. Just the number that I saw because I figured that it would be a lot closer than what that number ended up being. 126. So if you had to win 16 playoff games, that would mean you won almost eight titles to get to that number. You'd have to win almost 7.8. 7.8 title runs of winning 16.

playoff games. You would have to do that almost eight years in a row to get to that number of Parker, Genoblee, and Duncan. That's insane. It's hard to imagine anyone ever

comes even close to that, ever, especially with player movement and the salaries, and you just, it just, it marks how ridiculously special that was. All right, a couple of other notes we've got to get to before we get out of here. Lori Marketing won most improved, well deserved.

I believe that was your vote. 69 first place votes. That was nice to see. He deserved it. It was the right choice. Shout out to Finland and all of our Finnish listeners. I know there are millions. Millions, yes.

Millions of Finnish listeners. Please reach out to us. We always love our international audience when they say hello. It always blows our minds. Still does to this day. And we love Finland. And Lori Markinen, to me, they always give this. Look, Morant won most improved last year.

This year, I think Gildes Alexander was second. He was, yeah, like 24, 23 first place votes, I think. And a lot of times, to me, this is like the perfect most improved. Somebody that we didn't think nothing about that became awesome. That's what I feel like. I feel like it should always be. Like this, this is it.

Like this is the guy. Yes. I always feel like it shouldn't be somebody that was already kind of awesome and became super awesome. See, I don't, I don't mind that in a year where there's not a guy who went from, hey, yeah, he saw this. He's okay to,

oh, is this guy going to be on my all NBA ballot? Like, Lowry marketing and the skill improvement in changing teams and filling in a brand new role To me, Lowry Markeran shows the importance of role and opportunity in addition chooses his own individual improvement. He epitomizes what the award is for. And I know this guy didn't get any love for a coach of the year, but the job of a coach

is to prepare his team and to also put his guys in the best position to succeed. And that guy did an unbelievable job in Utah. He really did. Yeah. They probably make the playoffs if they were to just not recognize. their roster. If they would have kept Vando and Beasley and Conley and that whole crew, they probably would have made the playoffs. I mean, they might win the finals next year after they trade 10 first for Luca this summer. I'm just fantasizing. I mean, like, Danny Age is going

to go for something. Oh, man. Maybe they'll win the lottery and get Victor 1, Ben, Yama. You never know. What do they have, the ninth best odds? Ninth best odds, a 4.5% chance. You Todd's going to do something. And they played it out. They played it out. I respect them. It'd be good basketball karma if they were to move up. You think he could play next to Walker Kessler, the sheriff?

Wemby? Is it a good fit? I think, well, the cool thing with Lowry is he proved that he could play the three a little bit last year again in Cleveland with Jared Allen and Evan Mowgli. If you did add Victor Wenbanyama next to Walker Kessler, Kessler's the perfect big to pair Wemby with. you'd be like jumbo sides can you imagine that front court marketing kepler webbenyama oh my goodness dude like that that's a dream like i'd love to see wem being in a place like that like Orlando you can do some of that too with the bigs Utah you can do that but maybe Detroit a little bit with Jayland Durand and some of their bigs there but Utah Orlando those two teams they stand out like the

Oklahoma City too yeah that'd be so cool I'd love see that. Last thing, one of those other lottery teams is going to have a new coach. The AAU era is over in Houston. Well, I mean, you assume it is. You may have a dog game putting up with that crap. No, I don't think so. I think it's not, look, if we just talk about it just as a basketball coach, he's no shrieking violent when it comes to coaching these guys. Well, that's part of what Silas signed up for. Like, I mean, he signed up for, you know, this could be a young team

depending on what happens with James Hardin and James Hardin and then push his way out. Westbrook wanted him and then they got rid of Westbrook and then they got rid of Hardin and he was just stuck with I mean that is not the job he ended up with

is not the job he took. Yeah but I was saying like didn't they have one year left on their deals at that point or am I misremembering their contract timing? Am I off on that at the top of my head? Yeah well Westbrook was going to what? That was the Washington one. That's five teams ago for us.

I mean, I mean, listen, like Silas undeniably got screwed by the timing of Hardin pushing his way out. But yeah. And then also, they didn't ever bring them any vets. They never had any vets. And the ones they did have had bad attitudes about it. Christian Wood and then Eric Gordon, you know,

regardless. Regardless. Now it's Udoch. Enough about looking back, looking forward with Udoca. Yeah. I mean, this is a guy who installed a defensive mentality with the Celtics had buy-in from across the roster loved by his players the players in Boston loved Udoca.

And so for now for this young Houston team, they're entering a summer where I know Woj reported how, you know, the chance in a number one pick, young talent, cap space were part of the case to lure Udoca to Houston. It's going to be very, very interesting to see what the Rockets do this offseason. ever since that Hardin stuff has come out back in December about him possibly targeting Houston for a return. I've reported on this show and other places. Houston's desire to get Hardin will depend on what else they can do. I don't think that they would just get Hardin and call it a day. I think it would be Hardin plus a trade for a star or Hardin plus, oh, we got the number one pick. We're keeping Wemby or Hardin plus, oh, we have the number three pick.

we're going to flip this for this guy. I think it's that type of situation for Houston. What other veterans can we add through free agency? But Udoca is in a situation where whether it's the young team path or whether it's this team that suddenly goes from crappy to, oh, they're competitive. Udoca has proven he can coach either of those types of teams from his time at San Antonio developing guys off the bench or whether it's Boston with a young team that, you know, prove that they could compete at a high level.

who dogo could have gotten jobs though kev and you know they even you know his name was out there with the Toronto job his name would have been out there with probably most jobs and I think he was given some assurance that they're going to commit to trying to win well yeah that enough with this there's no way he takes that job and just says hey yeah we're just going to keep another we're not having another he didn't sign up to have another tanking year they've tanked enough but maybe he feels the same way about that young talent on the roster as I do I'm I mean, I like Houston's young guys. I love Shen Gune.

I like Jalen Green. I know people are so down on Jalen Green, but I feel the way about him now that I did about Devin Booker when the sun sucked. I think Jailin Green has major star talent. He just needs to mature and get the right supporting pieces around him. I mean, Jabari Smith, he really came on late. That's the one everybody bailed on that I was like, so fail on him. Way too soon.

Easily the worst situation in the history. of the world to fall into. A big on that team. In the history of the world? I mean, terrible. That's just a career record. It's definitely top ten. Truly.

Terrible. Awful. If you're like trying to develop a player with his skill set, just an awful spot. But there'll be, look, here's the other thing that I thought. Do you think it, do you think that there's going to be,

the article that comes out where somebody finally now that he's not going to be, you know, he's obviously not going back to the Celtics. They gave Missoula his extension and he's not going to a rival.

Do you think that do you think that someone's going to open up the notebook or do the hardcore investigative what really happened? Because it did just kind of Go away, right? Like, it was...

I don't know. I'm doubtful. You don't think so. You don't think it ever comes out? I don't know. It more than likely come out of Boston. I mean, if anybody... I mean, like, that...

There's, like, a lot of stuff that I don't think people are going to write about. I mean, it's like, with Andrew Wiggins, like, there's no reporting on that for months, you know, with O'Doka. I don't know. I'm not sure. I just wondered if there was ever going to be a time where when he got the job, somebody then, like, is like, oh, okay, we got another job. Now let's now let's unload it. Because it would have to, I mean,

you come from the Boston side thing. Like, you know, somebody saying, this is what really happened. This is the salacious nature of this, why he's no longer the coach there. And then Houston would have a whole, you know, mess on their hands. Typically this stuff just doesn't stay out of the public eye.

It was very public that the guy got, I mean, the guy was coached. The guy was coaching in the NBA finals, and then he wasn't the coach anymore. And everybody knows why he got fired for this inappropriate relationship and whatever else. But that's kind of where it ends. Yep, I haven't heard anything about it since then. Yeah. I look forward to seeing how he fills out his coaching staff because, you know, with Boston,

he underneath him, he had Joe Missoula, you know, who's now coaching the Celtics. He had Will Hardy, who is now one of the best coaches in basketball for the jazz. Like when those guys, he had my buddy, he had my buddy Damon Stademeyer, who's now the coach of Georgia Tech. I mean, Will Hardy, when Will Hardy got hired by the jazz, I had multiple people around the league tell me,

this is a big loss for Boston. It's a huge loss. And I was like, okay, you know, sometimes you hear things about coaches and, you know, they fail anyway.

But, but like the way it was framed to me was like, this guy was huge to game planning, you know, adjustments in game between games. And this is stuff that he has yet to be able to prove because the jazz haven't been in the playoffs. But it seems like people are really high on Hardy League-wide.

So I wonder with Udoca, who does he choose to be on his staff, his assistants, because sometimes that's of the utmost importance for the success of a coach as well. He'll grab guys from that San Antonio pipeline. I think he will. It'll be somebody you've never heard of that's the new genius. That's awesome. Yep. Right?

For sure. They're all interconnected. It's all incestuous. And you always end up with a bunch of guys that are smart. Yeah. Like really? They just keep, they've turned them out for 30 frigging years.

They're all cloned. They just download the information into their brain. First he calls Pop and he's like, all right, who should I hire? And Pop's like, ah, you know, we got this guy down at the Austin Toros or whatever. And like, yeah, he was really good. But I don't want you to take him. But he's got an assistant really sharp. guy, whatever.

And he's like, all right, you ain't got anybody. So I'll call up Bud. He's like, hey, Boodenholzer, who you got? And then they're all, they all end up knowing each other, they coach with each other at some point. And I'm, I'm sure he'll be fine. Frankly, all those staffs end up all being guys that have worked together at some point from that either the Boodenholzer or the Popovich tree.

They're all interconnected. And there's no shortage of them. Like I said, they just keep churning them out. There's somebody that's 25 who's the Wonder Kid right now, guaranteed. You know, it's crazy. But, yeah, they got their coach. And kind of the word was that Nick Nurse was going to get that. So Nick Nurse is still out there.

And you know what, Kev, you never know what that owner in Cleveland. They get wiped out by the Knicks. Yeah, could open. That could be a job that opens. if Philly gets worked by Boston What happens to Doc Rivers and Daryl Morey for that matter You know That job could be open

What does Steve Ballmer do with the Clippers You would think he would want to keep Ty Lou One of the best coaches in basketball But what if he hires a new front office Will they want to keep the... You can't blame Ty Lou for this What if Ty Lou decided to leave on his own? Like that could potentially happen to

you never know what how things could unfold, you know, for these teams. There's always these surprise openings. Monty. I doubt it. Depending on what happens against Denver. I mean, yeah, they get a new owner too who's like, we're giving McElbredges. It's new owner stuff, you know? Yep.

So you never know. Certainly going to be fun, but obviously it would be a ton going on in the offseason. Kevin, it's always a pleasure. I will talk to you later this week. Looking forward to it.