The Ringer NBA Show - Can the Celtics Extend the Series at Home? | Real Ones

Episode Date: May 25, 2023

Logan and Raja kick things off with a brief discussion of LeBron alluding to retirement, before taking a moment to put respect on the Nuggets' name (17:00). Later, the guys predict what’s to come in tonight’s Game 5 between the Heat and Celtics in Boston (37:00). Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Producer: Jonathan Kermah Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, I'm Joanna Robinson. Join us every week on the Prestige TV podcast feed is your favorite ringer hosts like Bill Simmons, Van Lathen, Mallory Rubin, Sean Fentasy, Chris Ryan, Julia Limon, and many more, cover the latest episodes of your favorite TV obsessions. From boardrooms to throne rooms to courtside

and through the mushroom apocalypse, we'll be here throughout the week breaking it all down. Subscribe to the Prestige TV podcast feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It was popping. Real ones. Logan Burdock here, Roger Bell, there. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

You don't know anything about that as some Larry June shit. But anyway, Raj, pre-pod meeting. It's a slow newsday, guys. Bear with us. But pre-pod meeting for real ones. Roger came up on this motherfucker. First of all, last night he sent us a very poignant stat from the playoffs in which, let's get the hat tip here.

Let's get here. Taylor Snow, hat tip to stay. Taylor Snow. The tweet said, Grant Williams has a career playoff three point percentage of 45% on 143 point attempts. That's the third highest clip in NBA history among players with at least that many attempts. And she put out, she provided a list. Number one on that list is Seth Curry with 46.8%. Number two was Roger Bell with 46.6% just above Grant Williams.

And so Raja took that upon himself. He needs to get cardio, right? He needs to get cardio and, you know, stay in shape, you know, as he dwindles into his 30s. So he has to go get into it. I wish I was in my 30s. So instead of running, you know, in the Florida heat, he went out and back and was like, I'm going to go get some shots up.

And Raja, what ended up happening? Because you were filling yourself off of the tweet. And then you went to go, go hoop. What was the results of that, Ra? It makes me regret sharing things with you in the pre-pod. The prepod discussions. It's not really a meeting. The pre-pod discussions, it makes me regret that.

But there's no shame in my game. Well, I will tell you what happened. For the first time in my life, as I got out back, now, mind you, this was fresh off a lift. All right? So, like, I got a good lift as I'm trying to get back in shame. What's you bitching these days? You're like 225? You're hitting the 315?

Like, where are we at? Yeah, I rarely. I don't put, I mean, I'm reping, I rep to, what, 15? You know what I mean? Like, I don't like to get too, too heavy on it. I ain't got nobody out there spot me. I'm 46 years old. So, you know, 215, I put up and get a couple sets of that for some good reps.

But, you know, and then I got my push-ups and all my other kind of stuff that I'm trying to do to get in shape. So my arms were shot. But having said all of that, like, because I'm just setting it up. Those are excuses. I set the shooting machine up. I put the beats on, set the phone up just in case

You play a body to trunk? You play body to trunk You've played the dory, what's your pocket? As a matter of fact, I had the Sonos in the backyard going on So the whole backyard was lit up And it was the Norrie station.

So body and the truck did not come on But I was in my element. Yeah, he was locked in. For the first time in my life, bro, I just could not string together any sustainable amount of shot, like any real, run of shots and my jumper was all over the place. I was talking to myself. Like I, I,

man, I, this could be a one-off. So I'm going to have to go back in the backyard again this week and I will let you know. But it was for the first time in my life that that thing was not really working and I couldn't find it. That net wasn't singing at all, huh? It wasn't singing at all. The rim was hurting. Damn. Because I beat it up. damn bro like you it's like a funny because you were talking about your workout and shit and how you be reping you know two two 15 and then you're you're you're fucking doing pushups bro i do 30 minutes on the peloton and i'm out that's my that's my contribution to society for the day so you're still kicking ass roger yeah but like i told like i told i appreciate that and all jokes aside

i mean what i was out there for was the workout and i did get that so like you know mission accomplished But man, it makes, when there's something that you used to do at a high level and then you go back out there after a while and you can't do it like that, that kind of hurt my soul. But Logan, like I told my son the other day as we were leaving the house and anyone who's a former athlete will know this. Like, you're not at that stage yet, man. How old are you? I'm 29. Yeah, dog. Like, you still won't be in shape.

Metabolism still high. Like that, you ain't tripping off of that. But when you get mid-40, don't, like I told him, don't fall out of shape. Just stay in shape. because once you get out of shape and you get up in years and that metabolism's not working you don't got the same testosterone

bro, it is hard as fuck to get back in shape and that's where I'm at. Like, I'm watching that scale like, damn, bro, we've been working like a month and a half bro, that's only six pounds, dog? Yeah. Hey, so that's what I know. You know who else is feeling that way right now?

Go ahead and segue way, yes, dog, do it. Leberon, James. That motherfucker is getting there four hours early to the arena and he's out here getting shots up just like you, Roger, but he sees that 46 right now. He sees that. He's still hitting jumpers and stuff, but he's feeling that soreness, bro, which is why he's out here sprinkling little anecdotes and little tinktings of retirement. Yeah. I don't want to, I know we on this ringer staff have talked at length about LeBron's retirement, so I only want to give us like five minutes because we haven't discussed it

Yeah, Raja, when you hear him talking this talk, what do you think? Are you thinking, Raja, that he's trying to set a plan? Do you think that he's trying to send a message? Is he trying to get traded, Roger? Or is he just dog fucking tired? Man, I feel you, LeBron. First of all, how it made me feel was a little sad, because I think we've taken for granted the greatness

that has been LeBron, you know, and just threw it into so many debates about the goad and and tried to either prop him up or, or tear him down, depending on what side of that debate you fell on. And we should have just been soaking it all up and appreciating it because, you know, everything comes to an end. And it made me a little sad that either, in either case scenario, whether it's, you know, him really honestly bearing his soul and thinking about it or trying to vie for one more move before it's over. Like he's letting you know the end is really, like it's really close.

It's near. And I tend to think that he was really giving you a glimpse into the way he felt post-post game, post-playoff run, post-season in which I had to overcome a few injuries at this age and am starting to realize how much work it is now. Every year it becomes harder work as that body doesn't want to respond the same way, right? And so I think he'll go back and what a lot of older players have to do and you see it across the span of sports when you're dealing with all-time greats is they need that period of time.

Like Tom Brady would tell you, Aaron Rogers would tell you, you know, different players to tell you, hey, I need a little moment to think about it. Because fresh off of the loss, especially greats. that are vying for championships, fresh off of the loss, understanding everything that it took and your body feeling the way it does at this advanced age,

you know, the human emotion is like, man, I don't know if I want to do this shit again. And then the intercompetitor kicks in and the legacy starts going through your mind. And LeBron will be back. But I think he was giving you a real glimpse

into what was going on in his soul at that point. And I understand it, man. Like, also you talk to anybody like, remotely around LeBron James. And I'm not even just talking about his people necessarily, just people that see him on a day-to-day basis. They will tell you that the man's body is breaking down at a rapid pace. And that's not even like a,

that's not a shot of LeBron. He's fucking 38 years old and played 20 years in the league. And it's somehow averaging 25, 5, and 8. You know, like it's unreal. It's unreal. But you start to see where that was a hard, 40 to get in that game four. That was a tough 40.

It was like, remember when you saw Kobe get 60 in a game and just like, it just, it almost killed him, right? That's where LeBron, that's the path that LeBron is kind of inching towards. He's inching towards that territory. He's just better than Kobe, better, one of the best we've ever seen so we can mask it a little bit more, but he can't carry a team anymore. And how I feel about it, again, I don't want to get too much into this because we've talked about this at length.

but it just seems like he's he's kind of just seeing the landscape of the league and where he can do. He wants to win. And if he can't win at a high level, what is there to play for at that point, right? Like with the team currently constructed and how he is right now, with Anthony Davis not taking that step,

and I have to give you your flowers, Roger, because you were out here in these streets saying this very early, you were in the underground streets, you had your backpack on or your Tim's laced up tight talking about how AD was not a number one option. And he's never going to graduate into that. You see the landscape of that team. While it's good, at best it's probably with this Western conference,

it's probably best that this team got to the conference finals. That's probably their ceiling and losing to the Denver Nuggets. So he sees a landscape of that. And he's like, fuck, what could I do in this stage? and then your body feels like shit after a clean sweep. And that's probably all you're thinking about. Now, personally, I think that he's probably going to at least stay one more year because greats like LeBron James don't just suddenly leave in that way when they're healthy.

LeBron is seeing Jordan have the farewell tour. He's seen Kobe have the farewell tour. I can't imagine LeBron doesn't want that either, right? He wants that adulation and he deserves it. that adulation from this league, especially being the best player of this generation and arguably of all time.

So I think he's going to stay at least one more here. And I think that's how I feel on the whole situation. And I think he's going to do it in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. And that's that on that. I agree. I agree 100%. I hadn't even factored in the farewell tour

that he so rightfully deserves. And I think that is going to be a part of it. I don't, LeBron doesn't strike me as the type of, you know, recluse type of star that might just say, hey, I'm not interested in that. Thank you guys very much. I'm out. And that's not a shot. He just, he deserves to soak that up and be recognized from city to city and be gifted and all of that type of stuff.

And I hadn't even factored that in. I don't know when that's coming, but I certainly believe he would partake and want to be, and have that, you know, as part of his NBA farewell. I will say this, though, because I want to get to the nuggets really quickly, but I will say this. It's interesting, and this is just why I don't buy it. There was like some, there was some, there was some, curb was telling me, like, even on like the, it's such a slow newsday that people are speculating, even if he's going to go to the Warriors, right, or get traded up to the Warriors. Or any team, right, as a leverage point. if if LeBron wants a farewell toward next year

what better place to do that than a Los Angeles Lakers bro like why would I want to do that anywhere else that come on well I mean the only the only reason that yeah I'm with you except you know Golden State if you plug him in I don't know what you have to get up but

what you give up but he might be saying that gets me one step maybe he wants to go out on best opportunity But he's not saying that that's other people speculating. That's not him saying. All he said was that he was going to retire and everybody was like,

yo, he's going to do this, this, this and this and it just, it seems, it just didn't seem right. Yeah, that's craziness.

I mean, you know, given the opportunity, but you want to marry your swan song and your farewell tour with the best opportunity to win a championship. So,

I mean, that's, why not? But that ain't the case. And I think, uh, Bigger picture, I talked about this. I said, I've heard a lot of people talk about the Lakers and what they need to do and,

and, you know, Austin Reeves and Rui and all of these. I'm telling you again what I think they need. The best defensive team in the league situation is cool, but this isn't a defensive league anymore. It's not a defensive league. Like, it's, it's, you got to be able to score the ball. Now, you have to have a proficiency level defensively for sure, but you got to be able to score the ball. And if AD's not a number one and LeBron's passed that point in his career

where he can be the number one, you need a dude. You don't need any more pieces. The pieces, hear what I'm saying to you. Pieces. Rui is a piece. I know we all have this thing with Austin Reeves or you guys have all of this.

Austin Reeves is a piece. I like him. He's a piece, though. You need a dude. I think I know what you're saying. You just haven't said it yet, rather than. You've said it on previous episodes,

but you haven't said. said it, what I know where you're getting to right now. I know what you're saying. What do you, what do you, what do you, tell us, tell the people what you're saying, Rob. No, I'm not, not, not that name necessarily. I mean, I've said Kyrie before, but as a, Kyrie as an idea, not Kyrie as a human being necessarily, but Kyrie as, no, no, I thought you were saying that you need to trade a certain someone is what you have been saying for years. Oh, no. I mean, hey, no, I don't, I'm not, I'm not fully in my bag is too early for that. I'm just, All right.

It's like, oh, we're here. Are we here? Let's do it. No, I'm not all the way. But you have to, look, when you have two guys like that, and AD has not taken that baton in a way that would make you feel comfortable about championships, you know, in LeBron's twilight, you have to get somebody in there that can dance. I got a vibe.

Just dance. I got a vibes question for you really quickly. Do you think if Anthony, David Davis wasn't rep by clutch. Do you think he'd be on the Lakers right now? No, but and not. It's a slow news day, people, we're here. Let's lock it.

No, but, but not, not off, not coming off of just this playoffs, like, because that's not, you know what I mean? Like, it's not like, hey, we didn't, we didn't do what we were supposed to do in this playoffs. We got to move. Not off of that, but just off of overall since the, the experiment, I think, I think probably there would have been some, uh, some uneaseless. and some frustration and probably

probably no. You ask the question. I mean, that's not my take on it. I agree. That's the question I answer. I agree with you. I agree with you. Now, enough Laker talk. Until next season. Hey, also real quick, before I get to the next thing, hey, Jomey, Jomey, I'm looking in the camera right now.

Stop ducking. Stop ducking the packwatch on the Los Angeles Lakers. I know you're out of the country, sir. But you ducking to fade right now. You talk all that big mess about every other team. And when your team is here and out of the playoffs, you don't want to talk to us? You don't want to talk to the people? Is that what you're saying?

Hey, all my real ones, tell Jomey he need to pay to Piper, all right? All right. So, um, disappointing, Jomey. Disappointing, Jomey. Wow. Wow.

I texted him a couple of times. Yo, man, you know, what's up with the Pachwats? Crickets. Cricket. He's not locked in. Hell no, Jomey. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We hear you, Jomey.

Jomey, lock in. Anyways, I want to talk about the Diver Nuggets for a little bit, right? And I even think about us starting the pod is just a mirror of what the coverage has been like since the Denver Nuggets clinched a finals appearance, Raja, right? We haven't even, all we've talked about is LeBron James. We have not even said a word about the Denver Nuggets other than

oh, they made it to the finals. Let's talk more about LeBron James. Roger, what does that say about us as a staff record label and a crew of media? What we've done and how we have... I mean, we're on some bullshit. Like, we are, but I mean, I think it says more about society

and sports fans than it does about us because while I'm not the one sitting behind closed doors deciding necessarily what we talk about, I mean, it's pretty much every show outside of Denver that's doing the same thing. So that would probably tell you that all of these outlets and publications have a finger on the pulse of what people want to talk about. And it ain't necessarily the damn Denver Nuggets. So I think it says less about us and more about what people want to consume. But I digress. We are still on some bullshit because

the Denver Nuggets, you know, like that's pretty, that's pretty damn cool. First time, you know, in their history as a franchise. You're talking about Yokic coming off of an opportunity when his third straight MVP. And even myself, I thought there were other candidates that may have been more deserving this year. But certainly, you know, now that you're looking back,

and if you had included the playoffs in that, what his case would have been, like, do you know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of stuff going on around that Denver story that's really, it's really meaty. and you could, you could, you know, segment off of it for a while. One of the segments that I think is, it's really interesting about the Nuggets is, I think, like, they are who they are, who they were throughout the regular season.

What I mean by that is they were the most consistent team in the Western Conference throughout, right? They weren't in a roller coaster Western Conference where you have all these teams and these variants of other things. They just stayed steady, right? And if I have to apologize, it is to the Denver Nuggets because what do we say throughout the regular season, Roger? What did I say in particular? You guys can roll back the tape. I was just absolutely wrong. Saying that I don't trust the Denver Nuggets, right?

Because of all of the things in the past years and all of these things, right? And I think what I thought was kind of a mirror into what a lot of other people thought. and how the coverage was of the Denver Nuggets, right? I think Charles Barkley said this the other night where when the Warriors won a grueling seven-game series, it's, oh, the Warriors are back, right? Oh, when the Sons made that big trade for KD, oh, the Sons are the preeminent favorites in the Western Conference, right? All that throughout all that time, the Nuggets were on this little spurs-like low-key run,

right? And not to say that they didn't have curious losses, because they had. had a few down the stretch that made you think like, is this team for real or are they just the best out of a wonky conference that we haven't seen in a long time, right? And I think, and this is what teams have to do, you know, especially as they progress. They have to go through the doubts. They have to go through all these things, right? But what they did in that Western Conference championship is they showed them, nah, we're not only here this year, but you're going to have to deal with us for years to come.

What did you think when you saw them win that series so handily? And what does it say about how they're going to be in the finals? Well, simply put what it said beat in the Lakers like that was they, you know, they were clearly the better team. And I think to some degree getting tested in that Phoenix series, I think a lot of their fate hinged on how they performed in the Phoenix series. when they got their first real test. And if they were able to get over that hump,

the type of confidence that it would breed, you know, amongst them, not that they weren't confident, but, you know, once you get over that test, you're like, oh, shit, no, we're good. Like, that's a major hurdle for a young team looking to take that next step into championship level team. And so once they cleared it, I thought you saw them relax.

They looked like they pressed a little bit in the Phoenix series at times. But you saw a more relaxed, and confident version of Denver coming into that Lakers series. Like, yeah, we're the better team. We'll just do what we do. Even if we get down, doesn't matter how many punches, you know, the Lakers throw, you know, AD can go for 40.

LeBron can go for 31 and a half and have us down. And we're still just going to do what we do. We are the better team. That speaks to a level of kind of zen, of like, relaxation, of understanding of who we are, confidence in what we do. And that's a scary thing for a team that's as talented. and as well-rounded as Denver is because we've talked at length

about the ways that they can play, the things that they can do to you stylistically, even from quarter to quarter, that poses a lot of different challenges for defenses, making game planning for them difficult, right? Like, how are they coming out? Is it a Murray night? Is it a Yolkich night?

Is it a free-flowing? We run it through Yokich and everyone's flying around and it's a supporting cast night. They've got a lot of things to do they. Are they going one five pick and roll with the five handling the ball? What are they? There's a lot to worry about with them, right? A lot of different variances to the way they can play offensively.

And that spells trouble. And what spells, what spells even more trouble for whoever comes out of that east, quite frankly, is how expeditiously they got rid of the Lakers. And now they're sitting there with Yokic and everybody just chilling, banking rest. Yeah, man. One of the things, though, that has, there were two things in this postseason that really, like, I guess gave Denver its mojo, right?

Overcoming all that shit in the Sun series. And also, man, closing the fucking deal in the Lakers series where they're down double digits and they could have easily just sunk it in and be like, oh, this is a loss, right? We're going to win this series where we're the most talented team. Nah, they reached another level and they said, no, we're going to end this series. night. Fuck that. We're ending it tonight in LA because we want to party out here. All right.

We got a whole fucking nine days off. We're going to lock the fuck in so we can celebrate this the right way. But the biggest story of this, though, is I wouldn't even say the coming of age of Yokic. I would say the coming of age of the coverage and how much we look at Yokic. Now we're talking about him as an all-time great. Roger, what are we now seen from Yokic? And this point, because I think, like, I forgot where I was, where I was, who I was listening to, forgive me. But there was somebody that was talking about how Yok is.

This is like the graduation. This is the natural progression from an all-time grade that they have to, every, every all-time grade has to have, right? Where you won the MVP, but you validate that with a finals appearance, and you validate that finals appearance with a finals win. Yonis went through this a couple of years ago, right? where you just have to graduate into this group and just walk over the velvet rope of a title, right? It seems like Yolkich is on one of those types of tears this postseason, I think, about Dirk in 2011, right?

Where it doesn't matter. This team just has a magic to it, right? We just talked about, we just referenced Janice a couple of years ago. But where is Yokic right now, Ra? What are we seeing from him? What have you seen? from him, is this a, if they do win the title or if they do do great, how sustainable is this over years to come for this Denver Nuggets organization or is this one where it's like,

yeah, we got to get this title right now? There's a lot. There's a lot there from Yolkich. I mean, he's just playing fantastic. I don't, I don't necessarily in my mind think that just because he got through the Lakers and he's going to play in the finals. I don't think that it changes him in any way for me. I mean, he's still who I thought he was.

I mean, he's a great player. He is going to be, you know, mentioned when it's all set and done for being one of the all-time greats. And not just because he made the finals, but because, you know, he's in the middle of a run. This isn't new. He's been doing it. And he's not old. He's not going to stop next year. You know, so his body of work is going to be incredible when it's all set and done.

and his ability to score, pass, you know, and his shot making some of those shots. You see the faces of AD and LeBron when he's making some of those shots. Bro, real quick, real quick, bro. You referenced that 40 ball to AD got? I watched that game. It didn't fucking matter, bro. You brought us, you, if you, when they told me that AD had 40, I was like, oh, okay, because it largely was like disappeared because Yokitz was that good in game one of that series,

bro. Like, he, AD is one of the all-time greats. It was one of those old-school matchups, Raja, where you have two bigs and they just better just going at each other two all-time great bigs. And Yokic just destroyed AD, which is hard to do when AD is locked in the way he was during stretches of this postseason series. And it didn't matter to Yokic at all. No, Yokic just has more, I mean, they're completely different players offensively. And AD is obviously a much better defender than Yokic is. But offensively, Yokish just has a much deeper bag.

You know, he's a primary playmaker. He's doing things that if you're, if you're talking about similar stat lines in terms of points, I think in a lot of instances, Yokic's skill set is going to make it look cooler, if that makes sense. You're probably going to be talking about his because he's

doing way more shit. I just had an idea and I want to throw it your way really quickly. If we inserted Yokic into the 2006 Phoenix Suns, how would that have worked out, bro? You put him with you, with Steve, with Boris, just a lot of different fucking passers, dude. Like, how would, what, how's plug and play? How would he have done with you guys' style, you think? Um, he would have, no, he would have, bro, with our style, I mean, I would have made even more threes than I did, you know?

and I was making more three than I thought I could ever make. He would have been a perfect fit into what we did. And probably, as is as crazy as this is going to sound, he might have had more value to us on the defensive end than he would on the offensive end. Because we didn't have that big body to match up with Tim Duncan. We didn't have that. You know what I mean?

So we were asking Amari to go down there and play Timmy one-on-one or, you know, Kurt Thomas was kind of advanced. They did great jobs, but having that big center that didn't necessarily have to clog the paint and play like a center on offense, but could just be that body down there on Tim and be around the rim. That might have helped us as crazy as it sounds.

Instead of trading for Shaq, you just get, you drafted Yolkich, right? Well, it extends that window, right? Like that window of the stylistically the way you want to play you know that the Terry Porter thing probably doesn't have to happen because you don't have to pivot and think about incorporating Shaq's skill set, which was great, but didn't really fit what we were doing. Yeah, that would have been incredible, man. But Yolkich is a plug and play with that skill set you can plug and play with just about anything. And so as we go back to their Denver and the way they feel about having to win, yeah,

they have to win. But they have to win because, you know, circumstances are so in their favor that it would be a shame not to win right now. I mean, you're sitting there. You're waiting. You've been, you've been, you know, statistically, at least in the Western Conference, the best team all year. The best team left in the playoffs, at least from a statistical perspective and win loss in the regular season, Boston is not playing great. The other team, the Miami Heat, are a kind of hobbled and, you know, they're an eight seed that would be unprecedented for them to get there and win a championship. There's so many things in your favor that you want to win it, but if they weren't to win it for whatever reason, they're not falling off a cliff. No. They're not falling off a cliff. Like they're in the middle of this. They're kind of, you know, in their prime or even approaching it. If that's scary. Now, I don't know contractually what they have and who's locked up, but, I mean, they look to have legs as a team. Yeah, man, and to your point, man, like, I totally agree with you with the, if they're looking at the final, or like a finals matchup right now, they see one team in the Celtics that's fractured as a, as a locker room for sure, right? And then they go in and we'll see what they do. We'll talk about that series next, next, next segment. But like, inconsistent at worst and fractured at best, right? Like, or however you want to put it with the Celtics. And then you look at the fucking Miami. He, he, he,

I don't know if they have the depth enough to fuck with the Nuggets. I just don't see it. That will be tough. But you see that. You got to think like they're in Denver. They're probably in, you know, chilling in Colorado Springs or Boulder, whatever the hell you guys do in Colorado, the beautiful state that is. They're probably just thinking, yo, we can go get this.

And think, bro, I do love what I see out of the Nuggets, man. because also it's early, but a real one of the weak candidate, Mr. Michael Malone, who has been through some shit. You go look back at what he is done, not only with the nuggets, but also the shit that he had to go through and go.

I remember I was in Sacramento when he got fired midway through the season for no other reason than the ownership group wanted a run-and-gun style. So they said, we're going to, Michael Malone does it fit that mold? We're going to fire him midseason for no other reason than that, right? And that's just insane. So for him to get another shot and then build this from the ground up, it's great to see, man.

I just love what we're seeing from them. And I just, this is this a great team? I can't wait for America to see the personalities on this team because they have a lot of, Bruce Brown, dude. like, wow, you know, just rounding out, Jeff Green. They just have personalities in people, man. It would be great for the city of Denver if that happened. You know, listen, I think that, you know, for small market teams in the NBA, what a win.

I agree with you, you know, on Coach Malone. The redemption song for some of the players on that team, Jamal Murray coming off an injury, you know, Michael Porter Jr. A lot of injuries and question marks around the beginning of his rear. You talk about Bruce Brown, who's good, you know, good, good player, but has kind of had to bounce around and figure out different roles. You remember the role he was playing for Brooklyn last year? Yeah. Stand in the corner. Or be like a screen and roll four. And he's like, wait a minute. I have more in my game than that, but just, you know, did what good pros do and

tried to be the best in that role. And they've just got a lot of guys that, that you'd be happy for and love to see in the finals. And I, you know, it's a dangerous thing to be sitting there feeling like, yo, this shit is ours. Like, we should win it. It's the way you have to feel. But if you start getting too comfortable with that, it can be dangerous. But man, the way things are shaking out in that Eastern Conference, if you were sitting there in a Denver uniform, it would be hard for me not to be saying, man, we just do what we do. Man, we'll win this shit. Let's take a quick break and talk about the East. Make a fast break to Fanduel during the NBA Because right now, new customers can get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000.

That's $1,000 back in bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win. Personally, I like spreads. I'm going to take Miami with the points tonight. I also like player props. I'm probably going to take Jason Tatum on the over. Hey, regardless of what you like to bet, you know, it's a safe and secure app. They got great promotions every day. And the biggest reason I love to app is you get paid instantly.

You don't have to wait for your bread. There's no better place to bet all the play. off action than America's number one sports book. Visit Fandual.com slash ringer NBA and get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's Fandual.com slash ringer MBA. Fandual, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Gambling problem?

Call 1-800 gambler. Hope is here. Gambling helplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts. Call 1-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope N.Y. in New York. 21 plus in select states. First online real money wager only, $10 deposit required. Refund issued as non-wadrawable bonus bets that expire in 14 days.

Restrictions apply. See full terms at fanduel.com slash sportsbook. Van Duel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit fanduel.com slash RG. That's in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Virginia. 1-800 next step or text next step to 53342 in Arizona.

1-888-789-777 or visit CCPG.org slash chat in Connecticut. 1-8009 with it, Indiana. 1-800-522-470 or visit KSgamblinghelp.com and Kansas. 1-877-750 stop. That's in Louisiana. Or visit W.W.W.W. MD gambling help.org in Maryland. 1-800 522-470-470 in Wyoming or visit

www.1-800 gambler.net in West Virginia. And we are back. Let's preview this game 5 in Boston. Roger, the series has been fucking hilarious. Just, I don't know how else to say it, this Heat Celtics series. Well, like, for most of the series, the Celtics have quit. And then they go into game four

where it's just expected after a game three where we already talked about and we have lamented just how bad that was. Going into game four, they face adversity and overcome adversity in that third quarter. And then they force a game five. But, Raja, I still don't believe their wraps.

Do you believe the Celtics raps going into game five? And do you think that we're going to extend this series? Short answer. All right. I don't know. There's no short answer to this. I really don't know. I don't know. Because I've been deliberating over this and contemplating, you know, how this could play out since they won game three. And, you know, one hour I convinced myself that I believe in the heat and I won't bet against them anymore, like I've come on here and said and that they will close this out.

and ultimately 3-0 it having never been done, it's not going to change with this Boston team that's been this inconsistent. And so Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, why would I think they'd be the first team to overcome that? And so I convinced myself of that one moment. And then, you know, the next hour or so, I convinced myself that, you know,

that 3-0 lead is typically in favor of the team that is the higher seed and that is on paper the more talented team. And so that's why it's never been done, right? Because you're asking a true underdog to overcome all odds and beat a team that that has them outmatched. And that's not the case in this one.

You know, this is a Boston team that I could make, I don't think they quit in games game two and one necessarily. I think they got beat. I think Jimmy Butler and the heat took it from them. They quit a game through it for sure. No, no, no, I know. So what I'm saying, I guess, is like, you know, this is so, I write around Miami

all day, shuttling kids to shit, right? And I'm locked in the local media on a little bit, and I'll listen to some national stuff. And I heard a cat the other day saying, and this was their argument, that Boston shot the lights out in game three, and the heat couldn't make a shot in game three. And that's not sustainable for Boston or the heat. So the heat will shoot better and Boston will shoot worse. But I listened to that, And I was like, well, there's a part of me that says that the heat have been getting like the best version of themselves from not just one player, but a lot of players. You got you had Duncan Robinson flying through the lane looking like George Gervin in one game. Yeah.

Do you know what I mean? Like they were getting a great performance from a lot of people, Logan, and shout out to them. And Boston, I mean, there's a reason those two jokers are first team all NBA and second team all. NBA and Marcus Smart was the defensive player of the year last year. And the fact that they're not getting that from them, it seems very out of character for them. So if we're going to like say, all right, we're out of character for both teams a little bit and we're going to have a regression to the norm or to the mean in the next few games,

well, then advantage goes to Boston, I think. Because Boston's going to get better and shoot better. And Miami, in theory, would get slightly worse and shoot worse. And that concerns me. So in that space, I'm like, well, shit, if they go home, I know Boston hasn't played well at home, but it is going to be electric. And if for whatever reason Boston can figure out how to get rid of Miami in game five, well, let me tell you what that feels like for the late, for the, for the, for the heat in game six. You talk about being tight and feeling pressure mount. Svictors will be tight, Raja.

So, so, dog, I've convinced myself on both sides of the ledger here. I have no real feel for it. I'm sorry if you tuned in for a great take. I don't have one. I just, man, a lot hinges on tonight in Boston. And if the heat, if the heat want to get out of this, I think, I think they could win game six at home. Let me say that. They're built to do that.

They have the type of shit that, that, you know, has proven they could get that done. But, man, it gets really, really tough. And it doesn't just become about the physical at that point if you let two slip away. It becomes, you know, national narrative. It becomes tightness, not from Jimmy Butler necessarily, but from some of these other players that are playing in a real space of comfort right now. You've seen them, for the most part, play from a power position, from a place of like, we got nothing to lose because we're up.

We ain't supposed to be up. So we'll just press the winnings. well, that flips if they were to go back in game five. The pressure starts to mount on players that haven't really felt it in this playoffs in that way. I tell you what, man. All you said is right on the money. Here's a thing, though.

And you touched on it towards a little bit, a little bit towards the end, Raja, which is the pressure is still on the Celtics, man. Like Miami, even if they, bro, even if Miami had like this catastrophic collapse and lost the series, it doesn't matter because they weren't supposed to be there. They're still not supposed to be there.

Like, and this is another thing that I, it's one game. It's one game. Yeah. That it's one game with the Celtics one, right? Like, finally thank you for becoming alive

and just be, and finally being the team that you were after three games. But that doesn't erase. all the feelings that that Celtic locker room has had, right? That isn't a, that isn't erase the periodic mind control that, that Hibby Butler has had on the, on the Celtics franchise and Boston in general over the last week and a half. That doesn't, that doesn't change anything.

So let me, let me just, let me say this, I don't mean to interrupt you, but because you're right, but I saw something in Boston. Now, I don't know what Boston's going to come out and do. If anything, you know, they've proven to me through the course, of this playoffs that I can't count on them for shit. So I'm not telling you what they're going to do. And Miami is just the opposite.

So, you know, I'm not, this isn't a projection or a pick or anything like that. But I did see in that game, in that game four, an understanding from Boston, I'll be at late of the level of intensity that we have to come out here and play with, of the level of aggressiveness and scrap that we have to have for everything out there on the court, every loose ball, every rebound, challenge every shot, even though I'm beat over that pick and roll,

still come from behind and try to get the block in ways that they weren't. And if they can tap into that, albeit it's late and it's a damn shame that I got to say, I just saw it. And that's super concerning that it just showed itself in game four of the fucking Eastern Conference Finals. I saw it.

And so if there's any part of them that can duplicate that and say, well, there it is, guys. I don't know where it's been. And we certainly have been chasing it and, heck, couldn't find it, but we just did it. So let's go to the crib. We'll have energy. We'll have fans. Let's do it again. And it's really, really difficult.

That mind control you speak of? I got on here and said it looked like Jimmy Butler had it on the heat. I mean, had it on the Celtics last pot because it looked like it. But typically we've grown-ass men that are professional. I mean, you don't just keep it like that. Do you know what I'm saying? Like you just, these are professional basketball players. These ain't no little boys that are coming around the corner looking at you

like scared to walk to school because you're going to beat them up and take their lunch money. No, these are first team, all NBA, second team all NBA. These are dudes that have families and shit like that. And so it's not that easy. Now, the heat have made it look easy. But it's not that easy. And I think, you know, when you heard Jalen Brown and them, dudes talking about don't let us get game one don't let us get one well at the time i'm like bro

that sounds so stupid like you guys are down oh three and then they got one and i saw the way they kind of got it because they were down in that third quarter nine and they tightened up if they can tap in and if it was a fifth i know and i'm not sitting here telling you they can but if they can tap in in that way it gets real i'll say this man i got two points on this one one I could not imagine being a Celtics fan this season. Geez. Wow. Number one.

Number two. If the Celtics run the table on this, Roger, the Boston propaganda will be insane. If I, if I am Boston and I'm in their ticket staff or however the event staff or whatever, I'm getting Poppy Ortiz front row seats tonight. Put them front row.

tonight. We're running the table, baby. You know what I mean? All Boston legends. All Boston legends. Okay, KG, get on a PJ. Paul Pierce, tap in. Ray Allen, tap in.

All right? We locked in. This is the ball. Parrish. McHale. Yes. Like, where are you? We're going back to the intros from the 80s.

Like, we're running the intros from when y'all used to what Michael Jordan to Bulls ass, that old school. our intros. We're flipping the whole thing. It's going to be nostalgia night in Boston. There's nothing like, and I lived it earlier this season, bro, and like at the finals last season, there's nothing like Boston basketball elitism. There's nothing like it in the fucking world.

All right. I was there when McCale and Byrd, all right? I was there. I was fucking there. I was there when they did it, right? There's nothing like it. Get your fucking feet off of the hell. head of the leprechaun.

Get your fucking feet off of Lucky. That is how they are. They're locked the fuck in at all times, all right? So I will say this. Their team better be locked in like that. But it's going to be popping in that TD Garden though. It's going to be popping. They're going to be playing that.

That fucking song that they plays it, whatever the fuck. You know what I'm saying? The one that they played on the Departed, they're going to be playing at that shit because it gets fucking turt, bro. that's like fucking dog that do do do do do is like hit him up for like how it is for L.A. Hit him up for how it is on the West Coast

that's that shit in Boston. That's how the same effect, all right? They're locked in. And and I mean all propaganda aside Gabe Vincent's going to be a huge a huge

missing piece for an already depleted back court for the heat. So it's going to be really interesting to see how they come out and work offensively the heat where they get that point production from, you know, because he's been playing phenomenal. And then on the flip side of that, how aggressive are Boston guards offensively trying to make the heat work and maybe get into foul trouble because there's no depth there and just trying to keep the pressure on the heat? Like it's going to be a really interesting little chess match to watch unfold in the first half of that game.

Another thing, too, Roger. And you kind of just alluded to it in what you just said, but just also the coaching matchup between Spoe and Joe Missoula, right? And I think Missoula took a big step in game four. I really did with the timeouts and just taking control of the game. Kudos to him. Kudos to him. Kudos, dog.

Who knew you could call a timeout? wait these are here for me to use well fuck I thought I didn't wait a minute I get to call these oh shit hey let me get one

let me get one good for him what's this your film thing time out Timark time let me let me try let me get one of those

let me see what that tastes like let me get that time out I'll horn for call more timeouts but I see web called more timeouts at the end of damn NCAA games. He ain't even have them and he's calling him. Joe Mazzoula got a pocket full of him. He's over there like, nah, uh-uh.

He got a pocket full of timeouts. Bro, but anyway. But wait, wait, hold on, hold on. Because I didn't have a thought. I didn't mean to, my bad, Joe, because I agree with you. He took, he did take a step. And, you know, I'll just add this

to the rant that I had before about regression to the mean for both teams and and how that probably played into the Celtics favor and I'll add one more piece to that and it is that coaching piece. Spoh has thrown all kind of shit at Boston.

Been in his bag. He's been in his bag and it's produced. But how much deeper is the bag though? How many more things do you have to throw at Boston to confuse them? Like, you know, the zone had him befuddled for a minute. Well, we got Jason Tatum behind it a little bit, and we seem to have found a little bit of an answer

if you want to go look at the tape to it. Like, what else does Spoe have? And if that answer is like he's shot a lot of bullets and doesn't have a lot left, that also plays into Boston's hands. I don't know that to be the case. I'm just saying, though, like that's a very interesting point, Logan.

I'm glad you brought it up. I think this is, as this series progresses, the Celtics are winning it. Just for all the things that you laid out, gave Vincent, injury, He's just not having the legs. We talk about that throughout the postseason with other teams. The heat need this game.

They need this game. Because it's a series on Wines, man. You don't have the depth, bro. You're an older team. You're not also, I'm sure if you ask Jimmy Butler in the offseason, he's probably going to tell you they are the more talented team. The Celtics are the more talented team in this situation. All that being said, they need a hemi-butler,

performance tonight. They just, they need that. Yeah, they need a Jimmy Butler. Yeah. I,

you know, I can't figure out what, if you are a heat fan or a Boston fan, what would be in your best interest, right? Like, if you're Boston, you want to come out and hit them and go up like 15 to 4,

they haven't played great from that position. You know, like you're in there. You want to see them come out swinging and punching, but they have not played well from the lead. And from the, In the series as well, too. No word.

So, like, I don't know if I'm, if I'm Boston or the heat. Like, the heat, the heat, yeah, I don't know. This is, I guess, you know, the answer to this whole segment is I don't know shit about this. I don't know. I said, I don't believe the Celtics raps. And we just went in, like, 17 different directions. And now I suddenly believe their raps, even after they're down one, three. Like, this is where we're at right now, the stream of consciousness.

this. It's just, I can't wait to watch this game, bro. I can't wait. So let's, let's do what we do, Ra. Let's get to fucking predictions, bud. Who you got? Well, I mean, I have to take the heat. I told you, and I'm a man of my word. I'm not going to come on here and not take the heat.

You know, in situations like this, they've, no, I'm taking the heat. And I don't really believe it, but I'm still taking them. Taking the Celtics. Take the Celtics, Ra. I want chaos. I want some fucking chaos. Listen, everything in my heart says the Celtics win.

And I've been wrong every time I'm going with my heart. That's why you're doing it. That's why you have a point-saving and you're going the other way. You're doing the back door cover. I am. I told you I got to take the heat. But man, I'm telling you, I think I'm 52-48 Celtics win tonight. But I'm taking a heat.

That's some dumb shit, right? You've done that before. No, no, no, no, no, no. rarely. You've done that before, Roger. You're Mr. Devil's advocate. You do this all the time. I may, but you do. Okay, I may. Fair, fair. I may. But I'm telling you that the internal dilemma that I have over games is rarely, you know, this significant. It's, I'm rarely like this where I'm like, yo, man, I have, I am just torn because I really think Boston wins the night. But I do not try. trust them. And I, everything that the heat

represents seems to be kryptonite-ish to this version of the Boston Celtics. So I, and I made you guys a promise. I'm going with the heat. I'm going with the Celtics. And if the Celtics win this game, I think they win the series, Raj.

Really do. I really do. I do. I do. And we'll never, and I'll tell you one thing. Celtics won the fucking win this series. You'll never hear the end of it from this site. I can tell you that right now. I can tell you that right now. That's all I'll say on that matter.

Let's get to a little segment we like to call a real one of the week. We point out a person, entity, or an organization that won the week. Roger, I have no idea who I'm picking, so I'm going to let you go first, but. All right. Well, I've done this before. They've been a real one.

They'll continue to be a real one. It's the one Florida Panthers that just advanced to the Stanley Cup on another sweep in the NHL playoffs. Matthew Kachup, Sergey Brabrovsky, Brandon Montour, Alexander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Carter Verhege, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhardt. Let's fucking go. I'm not even in. I'm not even in. these NHL streets like that.

But I live right up the block from where the Florida Panthers play. And it's a pretty cool damn story to have the Panthers in the Stanley Cup. So shout out, real ones. Panthers and all the brothers holding it down. Hashtag get Roger to a game

because he ain't paying for shit. It's weird. It's not the paying, man. Listen, do you know, there's a mall up the block from me, bro? There's a mall at the block from me. Aventory Mall? No, no, I grew up around Aventory.

But no, this is, this is a, what's it called? Sunrise. Sunrise, they're like outlets, but the, the stadium is, you know, I don't know, half a mile from that. So on any given night, the parking for the stadium, they all park and, and do their like tailgating in the mall parking lot and shit like that. And so when you say, it's not, it's not about, it's about that. I want no part of that. I've told you. Traffic, crowds. Traffic, crowds. Waiting in lines. I know I'm out. Roger, I got a little story for you,

but I had to be Mr. concert drop offer last week. And it was a show, so the show was at Oracle Arena in East Oakland, right? And Roger, bro, when I tell you, it sucked. It fucking sucked. All of it sucked,

because I had to drive fucking 30 minutes through Bay Area traffic to get to the Coliseum, then drop off takes equally 30 minutes to get back home, right? And then go pick up motherfuckers from late at night.

I hated every second of it. You know why? Because, you know, there's no parking at Oracle. You know, there is parking, but you don't want to pay $50 for parking, right? So, you know, Lolo had to go go do what he had to do. And man, I fucking hated it. I hated every second of it.

Oh, I hear that, bro. And I feel you, bro. My boys went to Rod Wave at this very arena that I'm talking about, the one right up the street. They went to Rod Wave a few months ago. It was one of the worst nights in my life. Adulting fucking sucks, Roger. It fucking sucks.

There's great stuff about it. There's some good shit about it. But the thing about, like, the concert drop-offs are just poo-pooh. Anyways, I ruin the week. I'm just going to go. We said it. I'm going to go with Michael Malone, bro. I see you, champ. I see what you doing, man.

You know what I mean? Respect to you. I see what you've gone through. I seen how you picked it back up off your bootstraps and you got them back to the finals. So Michael Malone, all right? Facts. Hey, can I piggyback? Can I give a real one B for me?

Because you said Michael Malone? My man, Cal Booth. My man, Calvin Booth is out there with the Denver Nuggets. Yeah. Cal Booth is my guy, man. Like, he's really good friends with one of my best friends. and he's done a great job out there in that front office and managing that team. So shout out.

Just to tag on to your Michael Malone. That's what's up, man. That's what's up. Now, we've got to get the hell out of here because it's the season premiere of the Kardashians on Hulu, and I got to get the fuck out of here. So that has been the Thursday edition of Ruins. You catch us on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Tap in, ah, all the shit.

R-I-P-T turn to the God. We'll see you guys next week. Tap in. Holla.