The Ringer NBA Show - Playoff Basketball Is Back: Breaking Down Jazz vs. Nuggets, Raptors vs. Nets, Sixers vs. Celtics, and Clippers vs. Mavericks | The Mismatch

Episode Date: August 18, 2020

Verno and KOC break down the first day of playoff games, including Donovan Mitchell’s 57-point performance that still couldn’t save the Jazz (2:42), the sleepy Raptors vs. Nets series (20:58), the continued problems with the Sixers (28:29), and the flagrant call on Kristaps Porzingis that could have tipped the Clippers vs. Mavericks series (44:20). Plus, some predictions for the next round of games (59:20). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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21 plus and present in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, and Colorado. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. Or in West Virginia, visit www.8800 gambler.net. In Indiana, call 1-800-9 with it. Or in Colorado, call 1-800-5-2-2-470-7-0.0. And now, time for the mismatch. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon, and joining me as he does every Tuesday from the Ringer.com.

It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O'O. Bomber. Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'O. Kahntyland. Kevin O'Clymer. Kevin O. Camera. Kevin O. Sherer. Oversharer. Kevin! What's going on, Chris?

Man, I will tell you this, Friday's episode. Got a tremendous amount of response, Kevin. Hopefully this one will about the NBA playoffs. I did not use a lot of the Kevin O. Different nicknames that I received, but I would tell you that our listeners are very good about coming up with Kevin O's in regards to some of the subjects

that may be broached on this very podcast. This NBA show. Yeah, NBA show. So yesterday, we started the NBA playoffs, and right out of the box, I must tell you that the Jazz and the Nuggets, which is the first game of the day, was, I think,

much, much, much better than I had anticipated it being. I say this because the jazz were going to walk into this thing really short-handed. They're already shorthanded with the loss of Bogdanovich, and congratulations to Mike Conley on the birth of his son, but he had to leave the bubble. And so that takes another offensive weapon out of their arsenal, and they're playing against a Denver team that is extremely deep and is utilizing. that depth. I mean, they still don't have Gary Harris back. They still don't have Will Barton back. These are two 30 plus minute per game guys. And so I thought Utah really up against it.

And maybe they would have been really up against it if not for this just insane, literally historic performance by Donovan Mitchell yesterday, but it's still not enough. And this two-mad game of Murray and Yokic kind of takes over in overtime for the nuggets. I was pleasantly surprised. at the competition level of that game. And obviously Mitchell, that is a, that's an all-timer for sure. Yeah,

I mean, it literally is an all-time. Yeah, 57 points, only the fourth guy in league history to score over 50 in a playoff game when they're under 24 years old. Yeah.

Remarkable stuff that we saw from him last night. And the fact is, is like, with Mitchell, scoring 57 points, he just didn't have enough support there. He didn't have Mike, calmly there for me, didn't have Boyan Bogdanovich, as we've been talking about how that

lack of the secondary presence would hurt them in their postseason chances. With that said, Jamal Murray going off at the end of that game, scoring 36 points, hitting a continuous run of shots, I was perplexed why Quinn Snyder kept Joe Ingalls on Murray instead of putting Royce O'Neill on Murray. O'Neill is a better man-to-man defender, and Engels was trailing him in virtually every single shot that Murray took, whether it was a floater near the lane or a layup or a pull-up jumper. Ingalls was behind.

O'Neill had five fouls at certain points during that stretch. But so what if he falls out? So what? So what? You need to get some stops here. And Ingalls isn't quick-footed enough in order to keep up with Murray.

Quinn Snyder's a good coach, but I'm really surprised that he stuck with that when Murray was just going off down the stretch of that game. This is not Joe Ingalls that, you know, did a yeoman's work on Paul George a few years ago. You know what I mean? Like, that guy, that guy doesn't exist anymore.

And if you're expecting him to be able to man up against a shifty guard like that, I agree with you. That's troublesome. You do wonder if, I mean, they put up 125 in the game that went to overtime. But, you know, like, outside of Jordan Clarkson, you really didn't have another guy that's going to, you could throw the ball to and he can go get a shot. And that's what you need in those moments.

So it kind of felt like either Donovan Mitchell is going to go for 65 points in this game or the jazz are going to lose because who else is going to score? I mean, when you're really your second best option to throw the ball, like that does not have to have the shot created for him is Jordan Clarkson. I'm shocked. Again, I get it. He had 57. So that's why they're in it. I'm shocked that they were in it like they were, and hell, they had a good lead going into the fourth quarter. I do think, you know, though we busted Quinn Snyder for a minor decision,

that guy is an outstanding coach because the truth is, yes, he got this great performance from one guy. But that team has no business, in my estimation, competing with the Nuggets right now, especially with How Conley. That Nuggets team is so much better than them. I mean, when you see the guys they bring in off their bench, it's just, it's night and day from what Utah has to bring in off of their bench, you know? And I mean, for goodness sakes, look who they started at point guard yesterday. Most people looked him up.

They're like, who is this guy? It was Joam Morgan. I mean, he's undrafted out of Indiana. It's like, this is what you have to start in a playoff game. This is crazy. They need more from Gobert. They need more from Gobert. Gobert is one of the best ever to do what he does.

And that's protect the rim. That's be an enforcer. That's to drop on pick and rolls and play the style of defense that he's best at. But there were times watching last night's game where I'm like, the drop isn't effective. You've got to come out and show on the pick and roll. You've got to come out and hedge or even blitz against some of the two-man game that we saw from Yokic and Murray. But he didn't do that. Either that's on him for not making that adjustment on the,

floor or that's on Quinn Snyder for not having the trust in him to make that adjustment. And not only that on the offensive end of the floor, there are certain times where Robert caught the ball around the elbow or near the wing. And he's not a threat to shoot. And he's not a threat to pass either. He's not a guy who does a lot for you on the offensive end except for finish around the rim and set some really good screens. I'm not taking anything away from him.

But Gobert, you know, on a night where you don't have Conley, you're starting Morgan, you're mentioning their lack of creators. That's when you would hope that the guy that is coming. up for a supermax extension can show a little bit more for you on the offensive end of the floor than he usually needs to when he's with the other guys. And he doesn't have that in him and he didn't have it in that game. Well, he is what, you know, and we talked about this, what is going to be. And I know you said, you still think you could be a championship level team with a guy like him. And fit is important. But, you know, and you had brought up Brooklyn

as a possible destination that you had talked to some people around the league. And you had talked to. to some people around the league about if he is not to stay in Utah. We know this. He is that mold of the shot and he is a function of the other players on his team, expecting him to be individually very good. That's just not him. I mean, it reminds me of he is better. He's better than this, but it reminds me of D'Andre Jordan when he was on the clippers.

Because, yeah, if Chris Paul is driving and throw in you alley-up, Like, everything's got to be created for you. But I can't throw you the ball and expect you to be doing stuff with it. And I know when he's up for a Supermax, but that's just not. He is the rim runner defensive stalwart, but he's just that supersized. But that's what he is. He is that guy that's going to help you anchor your defense. And then you got to create the shots for him because he ain't creating that thing himself.

Well, I mean, this is, I, don't want to go into like who are the top 15 players in the NBA but this is why I have a hard time with Gobert sometimes it's like the most valuable players in the league are the guys who can get you a bucket who can create buckets for others and of course the guys who can stop buckets from recurring like O'Bare does but it would be nice if he was able to be a bit better in one of those other categories and when it comes to his defense like I said the drop style is normally devastating but in that game they they would have been better off making an adjustment well whether that was putting O'Neill on Murray or whether that was having Gobert change his style of pick and roll coverage as the big man defender.

One of those two things or both, maybe that game ends up resulting differently for the Utah Jazz. And they end up stealing one against the favorite Denver Nuggets despite not having all the guys that we just talked about in Conley and Bogdanovitch. Well, I do wonder too going forward. I thought Doris Burke was great on this. game. And one of the things that she mentioned, she's, she's, she's awesome, man. I mean, we got, we got, we got some good announcers with Stan Van Gundy emerging and, and Doris Burke being, you know, as good as she is. Well, Doris mentioned, and it's something that you and I talk about all the time. I talk about the, the scar tissue you get from being in

big games, from being in big spots and especially in the playoffs. And there was at one moment where they looked so calm and cool and collected running this two-man game with Murray and Yokic down the stretch to end up taking an eight-point lead in overtime. You know, this is the moment where you need it the most. And they knew exactly what they wanted to get to. And they executed perfectly. And they made the shots. And she rightfully said, you've got to remember these are,

These are two guys that last year, they played in two game sevens. So, I mean, these are, they've got a lot of now big game experience, right? And these are the lessons that are learned from being in these kind of spots where you don't panic. And you see so many times, like last night, I'm watching, what game was it? What was the game that would have been right before the Mavs game, before the Tauras game, before the Toronto one. Oh, it was the Celtics and the Sixers. But that game is pretty nip-tucked the last couple minutes of the game.

And there's a possession where the ball gets whipped around. They throw it to Tice at the top of the key. And he just lets the three fly. And I'm thinking to myself like, this can't, like, you're going to get away with this against the Sixers. But when you're down to these possessions, this has to be Tatum. This has to be Jalen. This has to be Kemba.

I know that Hayward had gone out with the sprained ankle, and I know it's an open shot. But again, these are the things. Your best guys are the ones that have the ball in their hands, and now it's time to deliver. And I think being in that position multiple times already, Yokic and Murray, you saw that they were, they're totally ready to deliver when the moment came,

and they were awesome. It was kind of just funny. watching it was just Marian Yokic over and over and over and over and over and over again down the stretch of that game they're two best you want two best players they're monta morris hit a big three monte morris he did monta morris is monta morris is a really really good backup point card yeah i mean he has everything you want he tries hard on defense he makes smart decisions on offense he's a really good passer who can hit you know basic simple passes and make some creative passes too he can hit spot up threes what more do you want for in your backup point guard to really

stabilizer team. I'm kind of left thinking, I mean, I never thought this is going to be some kind of quick series, but there's what, all right, so which side should I fall on more?

The, bro, a dude scored friggin 57, and they still couldn't beat that team. Or the lookout competitive that game was already, if they get Conley back for a majority of the series,

this could be a really long competitive series. which do you side more with? I mean, I think it's going to be competitive anyway, because both sides are missing respective important role players. But I, like I said, with the side of Gobert, I am curious to see what type of adjustments either side actually makes to sort of change what they can do or change what they are. Because with Gobert dropping,

that's not going to change with Murray taking pull up twos, pull up threes. It's not going to change with Yokic catching the ball around the pose. and maybe being able to expose some things from that side. But also, Yokic and Michael Porter Jr. got shredded on the other side of the floor by Donovan Mitchell, by that Utah Jazz offense. So are there things that Michael Malone can do on the Denver side that helps enhance their defense? Because unless their defense improves, they have no chance in the next round. They've no chance against the clippers, assuming the clippers advance, which I, especially after last night to get that win, I think they will. So for Denver, I mean, they need to show as well that they can be better on defense.

I mean, Denver, I'd pick them in this series. But I guess my thoughts don't change too much after game one. Because that game one feels like a singular game that may not have so much that we learn from for the rest of the series. Because are we going to see 57 points again from Mitchell? Probably not. Probably not. I mean, you never know, but probably not. And so I think I want to see game two before really having a full vibe on the series,

except for some of the little things that we've talked about, like pick and roll defense or Yokic's individual defense and stuff like that. You know, as the season goes on, I always talk about guys that you get a different respect for when you see them up close, when you see them in person. And I will tell everybody out there, the idea that Mitchell drops 57, And also, if you go back to that dunk contest, he is not, he is a small guy. He is not, he's not a big guy by any means. And in fact, I met him last year at All Star Weekend and was around him.

And he's just not, he's not a big guy at all. And to watch him go out there and drop 57, you know, there's some of these guys, like the Janus's and the LeBron. I mean, they're absolute physical specimens and freaks. And so, like, you see it. And even some of the other guys that are extremely tall. He's a little guy, Mitchell is. And what a player, man. Seriously.

Now, you and I have been on him since Summer League, you know, a couple of years ago. We were running this bandwagon, but I don't know if I ever foreseen saw a circumstance where he's dropping 57 in a playoff game. I mean, I mean, that's, crazy crazy it's like it's like you can be right but also you can be wrong it's like with mitchell and the draft i remember i wrote some article with a headline of like the you know the the the 2017s draft sleeper uh it's a combo guard from louisville or something like that and and it's like yeah i have a ranked 10th in the draft i feel good about that and i think he's

going to be a good guard you know can run the offense or play off ball and he's a grinder on defense and then he's a guy scoring 57 points in the first round of the playoffs it's just not something that you expect and so like you can see a player becoming a good role player or a really nice piece on your offense and maybe something a bit more than that but you can't foresee things like him scoring 57 you can't foresee things like him being the level of player that he is and still only 23 years old still somebody who should conceivably get only better and better and better as the years go by look with mitchell he can still improve his offensive efficiency his jumper off the dribble he can still get even better around the rim both at finishing and a drawing files to further elevate

his play and his consistency he can still get better as a passer and yet he's already doing this he's already capable of this even at least on just a single night it's he's a special player man and and and we need to flip to the other side because you wonder is this the murray is this the murray is this the murray playoffs is this the ascension where he moves into a different category. Because he's, you know, he's already got his huge contract, but this is much like a McCollum type guy is one of the great players in the league that has not made an all-star team yet. A guy that we look at and think, geez, man, he has, he's kind of got a chance at that

50, 40, 90 thing. I believe is what Doris mentioned yesterday. And I agree with that. Outstanding player, but this could really be, especially if, you know, goes off this series, and then the Clippers will be an ultimate test for him. But you do wonder, there's always some guys that take the big step up in terms of public perception. And at least for the first game, there's a lot of people that watched Jamal Murray and thought, my God. I mean, this guy looks like a star.

Murray's a killer. But, you know, when I did a story on the Nuggets a couple of years ago, I talked to their general manager, Tim Conley. and Tim told me how like him and Jamal get together. They live near each other all the time. And one of the things that he always tries to emphasize with Murray, and this is again, two years ago, he's like, we need more consistency from you. You can't go one night scoring 35 points and then have a 14 point game.

We want to have you score like 26, 27 every night. Consistency with your results, consistency with your points per game, consistency with everything. That's what we need from you for you to take the leap. And with Jamal Murray, we did see a bit more consistency this year, but he still only shot 35% from three. That's not at the level you want for him to be that 50, 40, 90 guy you're talking about. Like, Murray is a really, really good player who's really, really young still. But I do want to see in this postseason for him to take that leap you're talking about,

you got to get some more consistency in that way, whether it's consistency from him shooting threes off the dribble, which has improved, or whether that's consistency with him, like, just, raining threes off screens and handoffs. You got to see him have another 30 point night and then a 25 point scoring night, not a 14 point night next time around. And with Murray, that's what Conley has emphasized to him. And that's what he mentioned to me a couple years back. And I think we're still sort of waiting on that.

And maybe this is the series for that to actually happen because things can click. He's still so young. So as we are making our minds up on series after game one, we move on to the next and no offense to Raptors fans, no offense to Brooklyn fans. But in terms of my notes that I wrote down from this, I mean, I have nothing to analyze. I swear to God, the only thing I wrote down to analyze

is will Fred Van Fleet get the max from somebody? Like, because... They can't let him go. He was absolutely unbelievable. And as I'm watching that game, I'm like, you know, I went through the free agents yesterday just to scan through and his name pops off the page because he's got championship level chops now with the ring. He has, I chronicled the record they have with him in the lineup. Somebody absolutely would make them, you know, their lead guard.

And they would be right to do so. but he's there in Toronto for now and as you say they they need to bring him back he had 30 in the first game the guy hardly missed a damn shot Toronto could win this series in their sleep Brooklyn didn't I mean look they left six guys at home

so this is a poor representation they could win the series without Fred Van Bleet yeah I know I'm not kidding it would be a hell of a series if they just said, you know what, we're resting our starters till the next time. It really would. Like, I'm not so sure. Could the Raptors bench win this series? If I took out Gasol, Abaka, Van Vleet, Seaccom, and Lowry. Oh, okay. So we're counting him as a bench guy. Okay.

And I mean, Norm Powell, I mean, it would be, it would be a really close series. I mean, like, let's not, Let's not disrespect the current net starters, though, with Lavert and Jared Allen and Kruits and Joe Harris. I get some good players. Garrett Temple, your guy. So, I mean, then you're talking about like these backups, you know, that aren't getting any minutes or now. You're bringing in two-way guys for Toronto.

But it would be competitive. But the fact is that like, that's not going to happen. So, like, Fred Van Fleet is a guy who, yeah, I mean, we'll have more time in the future to talk about what Toronto does and what he might do. But for him to blossom into this players, just. just remarkable. You know, seeing him go off and final game of the NBA finals last year against Golden State, what he did in game one against Brooklyn, he's become a reliable point guard who can get buckets for you and a hard-nosed, reliable defender. It's a guy who brings it

every single night, a guy that your coach can lean on to get buckets or lean on to get stops. And those types of guys are insanely valuable. And for Toronto, they can't lose somebody like him, because they need somebody like him to be that shot creator. It's not going to be Lowry every night. It's not going to be Seacum every night. And as the opponents get tougher moving forward, Van Vlead is just a

critical piece to what they are on both ends of the floor because of his ability to get stops and because of his ability to create opportunities for your team, whether that's for himself as a score or for others as a pastor. I mean, what a player, man. Oh, and he's right there in that

conversation of the greatest undrafteds ever. Ben Wallace's name always comes up because of his, you know, he won the title as a defensive anchor, won several defensive player of the year awards. But Van Vleet's, he's certainly in that conversation of the greatest players.

And the crazy thing is he played in monster games in, like that is just a, it's an unbelievable miss because he played for a great team in monster games. He's playing like the Kentucky team when it comes to the NCAA tournament. There were other guys that got Ronnie Baker got, you know, drafted, Cleantany Early got drafted.

I mean, there were guys from the Wichita system that got there. And even sham it after he was gone. But he's like the one Wichita guy that everybody passed on. And sure enough, he ends up being the best one. And clearly one of the great undrafted players. I miss so hard on him. I know everybody did. He went undrafted.

But like I look back at that and I'm like, what was I thinking? What was everybody thinking? What were we looking at to think that this is a guy, a guy who's not going to at least be like an average role player? I mean, with all the stuff that he did at Wichita State, I mentioned like the defense.

I mentioned the shot making. Those are all true things for him at Wichita State. I think, I mean, I look back at my draft guide scatter report in 2016 before I got hired at the ringer. And I look back at that and I look at the negatives. I said lack of foot speed limits his ability to create in isolation. struggle scoring at the rim due to lack of

explosiveness. No floater to make up for at-rim struggles. Subpar lateral quickness gets blown by against quicker ball handlers. Off ball defense is solid but doesn't do a great job of fighting through screens. And like all the positives of the stuff we've already mentioned. You know, all the shot making, the high basketball IQ, the trying hard

on defense, you know, the making winning plays, that's all there. But I feel like with him, I just lean too much on he's six foot one, he's tiny. He hasn't finished around the rimwell, which is true as a guy who played four years in college. He still wasn't finishing well around the rim. But I feel like I looked at those too much and I'm guessing this is true for most people in the NBA considering one undrafted.

And I, and I emphasize the negatives too much instead of looking at who the guy was for four years as a winning player at Wichita State and a guy who works hard off the court and as somebody that you would probably bet on to maximize whatever he would be. So I feel like with guys like that, I'm trying to kind of retrain my brain and be like, these are the guys I want to bet on. late first, early second. Yeah. Rather than the guys who you have questions about their work, but they're great athletes or questions about,

you know, if they can develop a jump shot. Well, there's never any question with him. It's just happened with so many. Now, we're not getting to see Jalen Brunson right now because of injury, but Brunson,

obviously Malcolm Brogden, who's got, who's made a fortune already in the league. Monte Morris, who we mentioned a little bit earlier, a guy that was, you know, really overlooked.

There was one dude, you know, I remember I, I watched this YouTube video or whatever, and I mentioned him, and it felt Fred Van Vlady to me this year. I think it was, God, I haven't thought about this in so long, Kev, so forgive me. I think the kid plays at Charleston. Who is the guard that's at Charleston right now? And I remember looking him up, and I'm like, man, this guy kind of looks like.

Oh, Grant Riller. Yeah, that's him. Yeah, that's him. He's got a little Van Fleet in him. Yeah, Grant Rillers is, I mean, you can check out. By the way, we're going to finally be updating the ringer's 2020 NBA draft guide this week ahead of the lottery. So there'll be new updated rankings and a new mock draft. And Riller, I have ranked 37th on my board.

And yeah, there's Van Vleet-esque qualities to him. I mean, I do think he's a worst offender than Van Bleet was in college. But there's no denying his shot creation ability. And, yeah, there's those Van Vleet qualities. And I do think he'll get drafted. But it's just a matter of where. Will he be a late first round pick? Will he rise up?

Will there be workouts? I'll provide him an opportunity. But yeah, he's a really, really intriguing player for a lot of the same reasons. You're just mentioning. Good call there. All right. So to the next series, which is Boston, Philadelphia. We wondered how competitive this was going to be able to be.

We wondered if Joel Embed was going to be the dominant force that he can be, which could clearly give Boston. a problem given their lack of guy to really match up with him well and make his life difficult. It's what I jotted down while I was watching the game because I'm kind of keeping up with social media as it's all going on. Tatum continued to be awesome. Brown continued to be awesome. They lost Hayward to a sprained ankle, which was tough. But and I know you're doing a video about the Sixers that's going to come out this week. I just felt Like, as I'm watching that game, and it's like the third quarter, fourth quarter,

and you go to the timeline, and it's just this steady stream of people crapping on Brett Brown. And I don't know if it's just the popular thing to do. I don't know if it's just the ongoing joke. But I'm watching the game and I'm sitting there going, okay, it's a four point game right now. This is a four point game. Like, they're not. not favored today. They're not favored to win this series. And frankly, they're being a lot more

competitive than I expected them to be in this thing right now. And I get it. The guy's got his fault, but it just feels like he's become, to me, he's become the standard whipping boy guy. And as I'm watching a game that's a four point game and they're really in, they have a chance to win this game. I'm thinking like, really? Like, the coach is the huge problem here today. Like, that's what's going on. It's not that, you know,

Shane Milton's first playoff game. And like, look at what the, and Josh Richardson's not exactly banging down shot after shot. And it's, I don't, I get like, M. B didn't get the ball enough and whatever, but I just, I'm like, really? Like, everybody thinks the guy on the other side line is a damn genius. He's up by four.

Sixers fans are understandably frustrated. And with Brett Brown, it is a continuation of the same type of problems they've had for years. And you mentioned the end of that game. They're in it. Yeah, they're in it. But they also have continuous possessions where Joe L&B doesn't touch the ball. They have possessions where other guys are taking just dumb shots. Is that partially on Brown?

Yes, it is because of the fact his inability to adjust and run any nice, you know, crisp offense. It's also partially on Elton Brand for putting some of these pieces together. And it's partially on some of the players for failing to either develop or actually just deliver the ball to Joel and Bede in certain situations like this. It's not just Brown, but he is a component of it. No, I'm just saying this Kevin. Just hold a phone for a second.

Name the coach. Whoever you think the greatest coach is. A lot of people think the guy on the other side line is the greatest coach. Bill Belich. Okay, but fine. Bill Belichick. No, just name it. Whoever's in the NBA. Greg Popovich. Popevich. Whoever you want. Nurse, whoever it might be. Okay. Brett Brown's actually a Pavovich guy. That's interesting. If Greg Popovich

is on the sideline for the Sixers, do you think they win that game? Do you think they win this series? I have no idea. Of course not. I have no idea. I have no idea. I, I, I know, I have no idea that this is like, if you're just plopping him on the team today, I don't know. I have no idea. I will say this. I'm glad you brought up pop because last night, and this is one of the key parts of my video that I'll be out tomorrow is I asked Brett Brown yesterday after the game. I said there are certain situations where Joel and Bid is on the post or he's setting a pick and roll and rolling, and you guys have another player on the low block and the dunker spot.

And is that something that you guys would consider changing? Because just to give one example, there was a situation last night where Joelle O'Bee caught the ball on the right block, and Tobias Harris was in the corner three, and he shifted down to the dunker spot on the opposite side of the paint. And I mentioned that to Brett Brown, and he said, no, there is no thought to change. changing that and going to a four out spacing offense where just in Bede is the guy rolling into the

lane and it's all the shooters all around the floor or it's just in Bid posting up and shooters around the court. And he said because what we did with the Spurs, he said it doesn't make me right, but in our years with the Spurs playing with Tim Duncan, that's what we did. And he went on and explained, you know, it can make things harder on the defense because it gives an outlet, you know, that's closer to the rim, more offensive rebounding opportunities, you know, this and that and he explained himself. But he did say, straight up, no, there are no plans to change from a three-out offense to a four-out offense. And I was honestly shocked by that because I feel like when I think about Greg Popovich, when I think about Bill Belichick, when I think about Billichick, whether the greatest coaches of all time like Poppin Belichick or whether it's the greatest coaches today like Nurse, I think the most important quality they have is adaptability.

they don't they don't they don't they don't try to squeeze players into a system they fit the system to the players and if i'm brought brown i'm looking at this roster and i'm thinking to myself like yeah maybe it's not the best idea of tobias harris a 40% catch and shoot you know shooter from three on the low block instead of behind the arc maybe better spacing would help joan b be even more efficient on the post maybe having better spacing would make that pick and roll attack actually be potent because there are certain situations where they do have that spacing and then there are certain ones where they don't and I feel like

there's Sixers fans you know on Twitter last night did respond to that when I think it was um Kyle Newbeck did a story responding to those comments by Brown and they're like you kidding me. This is part of the problem and it is part of the problem. Oh I get it.

His lack of ability to adapt is one of the reasons why he's on the hot seat. I get it. Don't don't don't don't don't get this twisted where I am telling you that Brett Brown's some great coach. Sure. You're just saying it's not all him. It's not all on him you're saying. You're saying the players

can get some blame to there. I'm saying you can replace him on the sideline and you're and you're not going to get a wildly different outcome than being down four with three minutes left to go. I'm sorry. I don't give a shit who you put out there. They're not. They're not better than the Celtics. They're not. They're not better than them. It was proven all year long and the Celtics, you know, lost more games. like they are better than what their record indicates because when they have been healthy and they've had their group together, their point differential is fantastic. And their point differential ended up being good for the season, right?

It is not, they have lost games. They have more losses than a team typically with their differential would have. And I also think, yes, the Sixers underachieved. But in the absence of Ben Simmons, I think that. that everybody should have thought going into this, that I thought, like, I don't know how competitive this thing is going to be, unless Embedd is a superstar. Brett Brown deserves all the criticism in the world for not treating.

Embed is like his shack now. He's got to just do it. Embed being 15 field goals, four of them being threes is, that's abhorrent. It's abhorrent. I'm glad you mentioned that. It's outrageous. I mean, a third of that, he takes 15 shots at a third of, third of them are three.

Like, this is fucking stupid. I'm glad. So he deserves, he deserve, in some sense, he deserves real criticism. I agree. He does deserve criticism. I also think that Brett Brown is not the reason the Sixers are going to end up losing to the Celtics. And I don't think necessarily, because some of the stuff he does may have worked better

than people want to give it credit for. Maybe they're not within four. if he does what everybody wants them to do. I just think the guy maybe deserves a little bit more credit. He's not just some bumbling boob. Of course not. At least when you asked him the questions, it's a well thought out.

He might be wrong, but it's not like he hasn't put thought into it, and he doesn't know more basketball than the people that are killing him. Absolutely. I mean, really, it was a question out of respect, trying to understand the mindset, because so many teams around the league now,

they have a bunch of shooters around the floor, and it seems to be highly effective, whether that's with big guys like an imbid or whether it's with small guys like a james harded the spacing aspect helps you get to the rim and create easier spot-up opportunities and i mean fundamentally i disagree with him with what he does but i i can understand the mindset there when you have a guy like joel embede somebody who is he has previously compared to shack to tim duncan when imb was a young player he saw the talent in Embed. He saw what he's become today, which is one of the league's most dominant post scores of the last 10, 15 years. He's awesome down there. And it's not like he, he's not producing in this offense. He is. And the Sixers went to seven last year against the team that went to the

championship. It's not like they haven't failed hair with Brett Brown as head coach. I just do wonder if there's little things that they can do to give themselves a bit more of an edge. And by the way, I'm glad you mentioned Embedd though, because again, sometimes there's only so much. much a coach or anybody can do to change a player. Sometimes it's on the player to change themselves. I would love to see Joel and B. It's set a screen and roll hard to the rim. So often he sets a screen and he just kind of like, you know, dilly dallys around and like slowly rolls. Or he sets a screen and then he like half-heartedly pops and then he catches the ball and he does the pump fake that everybody knows is coming that nobody falls for because they're not afraid of him shooting at from 30%

from three and then he drives into four defenders in the paint. And I'm like, Embed sometimes feels predictable. I need to see some evolution from him in those two categories. We've seen it a lot in other areas of his game to become the guy he is. Like I said, incredible on the post. He's got to take over the game.

He's got to just decide every time I, every time I touch the ball, you're dead. I'm bully balling you. I mean, you see y'allis do it. He just gets the ball. Even when you don't touch the ball, though. Roll hard to the rim, make the defense, rotate the help defender over. And then give the ball handler an opportunity to make a decision.

I kick out four or three. I kick out to the dunker spot for a layup or a lob to him beat. You never see that from him in the pick and roll. And it's really, really frustrating. How many times could he have gotten offensive rebounds too? I mean, he's bigger than everybody on that court. I mean, he got some nice offensive boards in that game. He did.

He got some nice ones. He had a really good one, you know, doing a swim move around, Tatum, and then just bumped Robert Williams out of the way with his booty. What I'm saying is he can absolutely dominate that game. The numbers ended up being good. This guy could have 35 and 20. I'm serious. Like Shaq stuff,

you know, against that team. That team is little when they play their best players. I wonder, again, I wonder this has been a theme for him for the years. How much of this is conditioning? He seemed tired at the end of the game.

It's sort of like, And in the NFL, sometimes when a defense comes out just firing their defensive line is getting to the quarterback. And you're like, oh, my God, goodness, this is going to be a long day. But then in the second half, they can't even move the offensive line. And in some ways, it felt like that watching a B where at the end of the game, he's huffing and puffing. He's tired. He's not moving as much on offense. He's not even involved in the offense.

And I do wonder how much of that is he can't handle the load playing nearly 40 minutes, protecting the rim with all the responsibility that he has on defense and, you know, be somebody who's carrying that offense. I want to see that from Embed this series because he's got to show that for the Sixers to even get back into this. They've got to get that from Embed for them to win this series. Embed's got to average 35 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, because that means he is just kicking ass on offense. It means he's rebounding at the level he needs to. And it means he's getting enough opportunities to pass the ball and his teammates are actually hitting. shots and 26 points from him, 16 rebounds.

It's nice. He's got to do more than have the one assist to the five turnovers. He's got to be better. Let me say it was not nearly as egregious as what we saw late last night, but the flagraphile they called on Horford was just stupid. Jalen Brown just flopped around everywhere, held his face afterwards. I was like, come on. Like, this can't be.

And the reason I'm saying, the reason I'm mentioning that is because I don't want this to become a trend where these guys, where just every little thing is getting text and flagrants and whatever else. And clearly we saw it ruin a game late last night. One more thing on the Celtics, have we, do we, by the time as we're recording this right now,

is there any update on the Hayward thing? And I'm interested in what you think about his possible absence. Because that is, it's clearly, you know, a big deal if Hayward's out. because he's a big minute player for them. He left the game on crutches yesterday, according to reports.

They said it's an ankle sprain. I mean, we'll see what it actually is today. Maybe by the time you hear this podcast, we'll find out. I know the Celtics have their media availability at 2 p.m. Eastern, and I was going to try to get in on that to ask Stevens a question. So maybe he'll have some update at 2 Eastern. But with Hayward absence, I mean, he was going to leave Orlando at some point anyway to be there for the birth of his child.

and sometime in September, I do wonder if he ends up just leaving earlier to go back to Boston in rehab, to be with family during his wife's pregnancy. We'll see about that. But with Boston, his secondary playmaking presence is really important. His secondary shot creation presence next to Tatum and Brown and Kemba.

That's part of what makes them so hard to defend when they can use lineups and have so many different combinations that they use to attack you. And without Hayward, that's one less guy, which means there's more responsibility on their stars. But they can survive without Hayward. They can beat the Sixers without Hayward. But moving forward, can they beat Toronto without Hayward? Can they beat Milwaukee without Hayward?

You need every piece of help that you can get. And that's a big question for me moving forward. Hey, Chris, before we move on, let's hear from today's sponsor. Today's episode of The Mismatch is brought to you by Buffalo Wild Wings. Playoff basketball is finally here. Catch all the postseason action with Buffalo Wild Wings. There's no fans in the crowd, but that doesn't mean the real fans aren't at home,

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So order at Buffalo Wild Wings.com or through the Buffalo Wild Wings app today. At participating locations for a limited time, bundles only for takeout or delivery through Buffalo Wild Wings app or website and not valid with any other offer. And now back to the mismatch. All right, Chris, where were we? And then we moved to the last series that we, we have seen a game from, and that was last night. It was one of those games that started out. I liken it to win when I was a little kid and I had a Sega Genesis and I would start

the game and the computer would run back the opening kickoff and I would run straight to the Sega Genesis and I would press the reset button and I would go back. I like, all right, we're not doing that. It felt like, oh God, the Mavs need to run up and hit that reset button because they're down like 15, 18 to 2 at the beginning of the game. And I'm like, is this really? And Luca's got five turnovers. And I'm like, is this what this is going to be like?

Because this is not cool. And then they caught absolute hellfire from three and are making, like they made like seven or eight of 10 the rest of the quarter. They flipped being down 16 to being up by the end of the first quarter. And I thought, geez, man. if if the clippers are going to, you know, let this happen, and I'm not saying them shoot this number from three, but they're going to let them fly up and down the court and this is going to be one of these games in the 130s, 140s, you don't want to play this kind of game with the Mavs,

because they will chuck. And if you just add to the extreme randomness of the possible outcome, they also took Beverly out for a long time, and man, Luca got cracking. And once he got, once he got going and got that confidence going, like those last 10 minutes after he had turned it over four or five times, he's got like 15.6 rebounds, four assists in like 10 minutes. I mean, he really got going. And it was a long time until Doc brought Beverly back into that game, which was extremely puzzling to me because he allowed this guy to get going and get that mojo going and getting a lane and it back out to Tray Burke or Hardaway or Porzingis or whoever was knocking out shots.

Seth Curry in the corner. And next thing you know, you got a game on your hands. Great game. Then they throw up Porzengis. And I texted you. I was so mad. Just not that I have some grand rooting interest in this, but this is got a chance to be a great basketball game.

And I felt like we were robbed of it. I didn't watch the game live, as you know, because you're recording the video during the start of that game. but rewatching it this morning, it's, it's amazing. Like you, you, they go down 18 to 2 to start and then they have a 48 to 14 run to take the lead. And suddenly you're feeling like, okay, Dallas can actually make this competitive series. They could steal some wins here.

And who knows? Maybe get an upset with the way they're playing. And then that, the KP stuff happens. And now you're going to win four of the next six games. I don't think it's possible. I don't think it's possible. And it just really, I mean, like I said, I didn't see this live,

but so I wasn't able to partake in the reaction, you know, with you and with everybody on Twitter and all that. But it was just really deflating watching that. Because I understand the rules or the fist pump on the first one, but I also understand that the refs just really screwed up. Poor thing is blocked that Paul George layup attempt and was rightfully pissed off. get called for a foul.

And then on the second one with Markeith Morris, it's, I mean, what did he do? What do you do, man? Okay, here's the thing. Okay, let me just get this.

Number one, regarding what you were saying about the... By the way, Marcus Morris, not Markeef Morris, my bad. Beating them four out of six. It has,

it is a different situation, but it does have a little bit of the feeling of, the J.R. Smith not knowing what the situation was clockwise in that. And I'm only saying this because that was a game one.

You got this crazy effort out of LeBron. Who knows if they make the shot, if they win the game. But that, to me, I'll always believe that if they would have gotten that game, that's a totally different series than what it ended up being.

Because that's a huge game one. win on the road. There's so much momentum. I just believe it plays out differently if they were able to win that game. And I thought it was that crucial. And we'll never know. We'll do the great what if. But I do sense that last night, I feel that way about what took place last night. And let me just say this on the Porzenga Steel. Number one, you're right. He did block that shot. And I don't know what he said to the ref. Maybe if I knew what he's to the ref, it would be an absolute no-brainer. But it was the fist in the air.

Like that often gets called a technical. When you get... It's a natural reaction, though. That's right. But when you get to the playoffs, if you were an official, you've got to be able to take more. I'm sorry. The pressure is so amped up. All these guys are feeling it.

The intensity is so amped up. I'm sorry, but this can't be a no tolerance deal, right? Like, guys are going to get mad if they, They think that the call was wrong. Okay. So that's number one. So this is an accumulation ejection. Because the second one he got is for defending Luca in a situation where there's a little bit of a melee.

The idea behind this is that you don't, you want to discourage guys going into a huddle. And, you know, Steve Javy, who they went to in the, in the boots. to try to explain this. Of course, he always takes the ref side. Propaganda. Yeah, right.

So he goes in and, like, like not to break it up, but rather to defend his team. And so the idea is, unless you're trying to break it up or something, and he's not trying to break it up, then that's why.

All right. Number one, he didn't do shit. Number two, like nothing happened. Nothing happened. Number two, these guys are sitting in like,

a friggin theater room on their benches, six feet of, what, what are you worried about? They're going to jump over chairs for a bench, like the whole idea behind this is to not create a situation where you have a bench clearing brawl, right? You ain't having a bench clearing brawl in frigging Orlando. These guys are,

they're six rows deep. They're six feet away from each other. Like, like you've got to think about this in terms of this isn't a normal situation. And when you've got this heightened intensity and nothing even happens, there ain't even a push, there's not a slap, there's nothing. And you do know that if this guy gets a tech,

he's getting thrown out of the game, for you to take all that into consideration and still throw him out of the game, that's horrible. And people were saying last night, they're dead ass right. Okay, to the Draymonds of the world, this happens. Okay, I get it, right? Or somebody that's got a rep or you think could be up to something in affairs.

But if you think LeBron, if you think that Janus, if you think that Hardin or these guys are getting thrown out for this, you're crazy. Like there's no way they throw those guys out of a game. And I get it. Porzingis doesn't have the swag. He doesn't have the status they do. But it can't be that different, you know? And throwing a guy out of the game, you better have done. something horrendous for you to get chucked out of a game to me in a playoff game.

I mean, it was obviously just BS. It was garbage and it changed the game. My buddy Nick Wright on First Things First this morning had a really interesting stat. He said, the Mavericks have played 304 quarters of basketball this year. They were held under 15 points once last night when Chris Daps got kicked out. Last night was the first time all season long, 3.4,000. quarters that they got held under 15 points because it changed everything. It totally deflated that team. And maybe you could argue that's their lack of experience. They could have the ability to bounce back.

But yeah, that was also some trash last night. There's also a human element to it here. It was garbage. It's garbage. It changed the whole game and series. Because he's getting off in the game. He's having a good game, you know, that night. He's also like the gulf between him.

And whoever you want to say is the third best player on the Mavs is great. Like there might be, I get it, maybe one night, Seth Curry has 22 points. Or maybe it's Tim Hardaway, or maybe it's Trey Berg, or maybe it's whoever you want a name, right? Or Maxi Kleba. Like they've got, but it's going to be you don't know which one is going to be able to knock down the shots that Luca creates for him.

He is clearly the same. second guy on that team. And frankly, he's what Luca's got to roll with. Like, if you put Luca Luca with the rest of those guys, it is just his individual brilliance and his ability to create the shots for those guys. But Porzingis can create his own shot. And if they are going to spend all this attention on Luca, this is his real time to shine. I just, I was so mad. I was so mad watching that game. And, you know, the Clippers, they dick around too much. They really do.

Like, they don't, when they lock in, they're very, very difficult to score against. But they go through long stretches where they don't lock in and you can catch them sleeping. And it's just a matter of, do you bang down all the threes when they become disconnected from shooters or not? Because they will go through these lulls where when they are. on their game, they're devastating. I mean, absolutely devastating. But, you know, there's been a lot of 130s posted on them this year, you know,

because they're not always on their game. It ain't like you're playing the 04 pistons or whatever that every night, you know it's just going to be hell to try to score. Like, they'll let you go. Do you have any faith in the Mavericks to get back into the series? No. No, you don't? None.

To get back in? Zip up. I think they could win a game or two out of the randomness of them taking a million threes. You know? And Luca was absolutely like we talked about, will he be mortal or immortal? He was more immortal than mortal. He had 10 turnovers, which is a lot. But he's got the ball in his hands.

He's also got the ball in his hands every possession. You know what I mean? I just think it's going to become harder on him as the series goes on because they're going to look at that all those guys are going to look at that box score and be and i do think that that was a tremendous wake-up call for the clippers that we can't defend like that because we're really playing with fire if we defend like that because they clearly can defend a lot better than they did but i mean they hit a lot of threes what was their final percentage i mean you said they had a 15 point quarter whatever the hell it was mavericks were 15 of 43 in the game

the 35% from 3 and the clippers were 13 of 38 34% for 3. 433s is I mean you know what I mean what I'm saying is Kev one night they might hit 21 of those

that's a win you know what I mean if they hit 21 of them and there might be a night where Kauai is four of seven from three instead of one for seven too though sure I just think that after last night I think the clippers screw around enough

that they might actually drop a game or two in this thing. Wouldn't shock me, especially you get an MVP candidate on the other side in Luca and a really, really good player in poor Zingas who hopefully doesn't get thrown out again

for some shenanigans. Unbelievable. Like I said, I didn't watch it live. So I feel like my, my feelings of it are a little different. I wasn't able to partake in. In the moment,

but when they showed him, that was like. Oh, oh God, and they kept showing him in the tunnel and Bobon. Boban was like the just go back to the tunnel

just go back to the locker room it's all going to be okay he's the only one that like he walked out there is making sure that he didn't go go crazy over the whole thing but I mean look Waymo if he did

the other thing that makes me so mad kev is I I gained a respect for Porzingas he would my opinion is and I look there'll be some blowback on this my opinion is Marcus Morris would beat the shit out of him.

But I don't care. He was there for it. He saw Luca in the mix. He saw this guy trying to intimidate, trying to roughhouse. I got to be able to have my guys go and do that. Step up and say, you know what I mean? You ain't punking us out, man. Like, I don't think I respect that he walked up in there and he was there for it.

Because there is a lot of, you know, maybe I've got Morris wrong, but he does. They bark a lot and they're trying. to intimidate you. They're trying to punk you out these, the Morris twins. And it works. And it works. You know?

Yeah. And they got a whistle. But Porzingis is right there for it. He's like, yo, I'm in the mix and like, I need that happening. I can't allow,

I can't allow this team to feel like they got some kind of mental edge. Like they're going to little boy me. And so for him to get penalized for that, to me, that's everything I want out of my players is, I don't want my superstar getting in the mix. And Porzingis has got clout himself, but still he's there and like, yo, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you got the wrong, you got the wrong team if you think you're punking us out.

And instead, it gets him thrown out of the damn game. I hate it. God, I hate it. It's ridiculous. It's Kane Fitzgerald, I think. I think that's who it was. Just, just, just, look, there's a line. There's a line where it goes too far and you need to call those texts.

You need to call those flagrants. you mentioned the stupid Horford one earlier when Janlon Brown sold the call and they still fell forward even after looking at the replay. There's a line. That line was not crossed with those penalties we're talking about. Okay. It was not. I am not holding you to these predictions, but we're going to knock these out because we are going to have four series start today. We're not going to be able to talk about them until Friday where we've got more sample sizes.

And we did cover these on the last show on Friday. So if you've listened each week, you know, each episode you did hear us talk about these before the game. games are actually played tonight. So I am, I'm only asking you about these game ones because this is going to be fun. People are going to listen to this after the fact. It was very fun last week when we frigging nailed the Sacramento situation. I'm out on the golf course on Friday afternoon and my phone goes bananas. And with everybody telling me that Vladi's stepping down, Joe Dumars is taking, oh, my God.

I texted you and I'm like, of all the things. Look, we had no idea that was going to happen that afternoon, if we're being fair. But the way it all played out was hilarious. It was really a matter of when than an if for Gentry. For Gentry, it was. And for Devots, that one came as a little surprised to happen when it did. Okay. I'm just going to ask you one question about these, okay?

Okay. All right, one question. One question about all the games that we're going to see today. Do the bucks win by 20 plus? the line is like 12 and a half, which is un-pricin-believable. No, they don't. It's a playoff game, too.

I'm taking the under 20. Is that right? My buddy texts me this morning. He's like, look at these numbers. They're not that great as a double-digit favorite. And the magic have covered all these. I said, bro, the second you bet on that, that game's going to be 123 to 80.

All right. I say yes, they do beat him by 20. All right. Because Janus is pissed from, coming off the suspension. Yeah. You know what I mean? Something to prove thing.

And send a message. Last year they got beat, you know, Magic 1 like game 1 against Toronto or whatever. So they want to stop that. They don't want to let that happen. Yep. Heat Pacers. Who averages more in the series?

T.J. Warden or Jimmy Butler? That's a good question. Let's say T.J. Warren. But Miami wins the series. Butler does more in the series, but T.J. Warren averages more points. I think I'm with you on that. Okay.

All right. Trailblazers, Lakers. Here is the question, Kevin. The vagus number that I'm looking at right now is Damien Lillard over under 34 and a half points. 34 and a half. Give me the over there. Over. I'll take the over. Yeah. I'll take the over on that. 34 and a half. 34 and a half. That's the number. He's always going to get buckets. for you. He needs to get buckets. So give me the over game one.

How many does he need to score for the trailblazers to beat the Lakers? I feel like the real question for me is to really answer that is what are his teammates doing? What's everybody else bringing to the floor there? He probably needs to score like 45, but he could could he score 35 and his teammates are just raining threes off his passes in the pick and roll. Is Nurkich feasting? I mean, is Nurkich picking the Lakers'

defense apart? Is he scoring on the roll? Is he passing out of the short roll? What we need to do. Look, to me, like, Lillard is always going to get buckets. It's just a matter of how many he gets. To me, it's really about what is everybody else doing? Now, here, we need to find the real number. Because I said last week that Anthony Davis

would average like 60 and 20. Oh, God. Davis is over 29 and a half. half. You got to be kidding me. He might have that by half time. He might have a, they played Wendy and Gabriel. What are we talking about here? How was Anthony Davis's number 29 and a half? I'm surprised you mentioned Wenian Gabriel, not that they're not that they're playing Mario's own yeah, regular minutes on their rotation. No, no, but, but they, but he was playing power forward for them because Collins went out. And it's like, really? Like, that's what you're going to, is that what you're

throwing it Anthony Davis tonight, winning Gabriel. Really? Okay. Yeah. All right. I mean, this is, this is if, if you want to read more about the Portland Trail Wazers of the ringer.com, I wrote about them

today and how they are a team that they're missing just a couple of pieces, some really good wings. Very hard to find. So it's a problem for Portland that they're not going to beat the Lakers because they don't have the guys to contain LeBron James. But what we're going to see in this series is that they have

nearly everything you want, except one of the hardest things there is to find with some real high-level wings who can hit spot-up threes for you and defend at a high level and have versatility. They don't have that. They're playing Mario and his own. Carmelo Anthony, as nice as he's been on offense, still is not a good defender. But Kevin, Carmelo Anthony is the 15th leading score in NBA history. I hear it 55,000 times every time he plays in a game.

He can get buckets for you and he's trying harder on D.E. defense and he has in ears, but he's still not a plus defender. I mean, you're not going to win the series with Hizone and Mello at the forward spot. You're probably still not even going to win it with a Riza. You need better. You need better at winging forward. And I'm not sure where they're going to find it. In the article I wrote about, I mentioned the draft for agency options about for Portland, they feel so close and yet so far. That's my main takeaway watching them. Last one, Thunder Rockets. Okay. So is this game who dictates how this game is played? Are we playing this game in the 120s? Are we playing this game in the, you know, more towards 100? I feel like with this series, Hardin is going to be the guy who's going to have to dictate every single game. And Houston, with their small ball, they don't have a choice but to dictate what's going to happen here. Because if OKC is, you know, bringing that score down, you know, with their side.

what is Houston going to do throw out Tyson Chandler Houston has no choice but to dictate terms here they can't play any other way OKC can play smaller if they need to and it's going to be interesting

to see what happens if Adams does somehow get played off the floor can they go small it's going to be fun I mean this is like drastically different styles here OKC has to play this game

half court you know and because that's obviously that creates the advantage for them they punish you Houston for the size. And then Paul's a maestro playing either way. And they don't have the firepower.

They don't have the firepower if they want to, if they want to fly up and down and get in a three-point shooting contest, they don't have the firepower to play like that. So as someone who is, who, who likes the thunder's chances in this, I've got to believe that they're able to grind them down. Big, look, this is a big spot for Billy Donovan.

Big spot for Billy Donovan. This team wasn't expected to be there in the first place. People have praised him a lot. But this is now that this isn't a one-off game. This is how can you punish them for being so unconventional? Or is it just impossible to punish them that you have to play their way? I don't know. This is easily the most fascinating of the series.

It's not even close. I'm so excited for this one today. I mean, I'm going to be glued to my TV watching this. I mean, there's just so many freaking ways this. could go, man. I know it. So many, especially without Westbrook now, because you mentioned like Hardin and, you know, they, they need to continue playing fast, but they do play slower with Hardin than they do with Westbrook. Yeah. And so it's, it's like the size aspect that I'm going to be fascinated by small ball experiment, man. We're about to see it unfold. I'm stoked.

Kevin, we will reconvene on Friday after we have a bunch more games that we have, of God, we're going to be, I mean, look, we're wall to wall basketball until, until we talk again and for the foreseeable future. I love that starting at lunch every day, there's a gay bod. It's the best. It's pretty good. And for the NBA, like people listening overseas,

especially in Europe or Africa, you guys know that you're getting some prime time, you know, eight, nine o'clock start games, which must be beautiful to watch some of these games. It's like, sure, bucks, magic might stink for people on the West Coast, starting at 1.30 Eastern 1030 Pacific. But if you're in Europe, up right now, you're excited today to watch

Janice. You're excited to watch that. Kevin, I will catch up with you on Friday. Thanks as always to everybody listening to the mismatch. And thanks to Kyya for filling in as our producer today. As I guess we're just going to I swear, we

got dumped after one friggin week, Kevin. And then after one day with Erica, one day. One day. One day. If Isaac's out, Erica's out, Kai is going to be out soon. just can't find a producer.

We really can't. Who loves us. The way we deserve to be loved. We're a lot like you. We'll be back on Friday. Look forward on your feet on Friday morning, everybody. Have a good week.