WEBVTT - What's Wright - Nick Wright reacts to Thunder DOMINATING Timberwolves, SGA's RIDICULOUS foul calls | NBA Playoffs 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.200 Welcome in What's Right with Nick Wright A quick emergency 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:09.920 reaction show to Thunder one fourteen Timberwolves eighty eight in 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.800 a game that sounds like a blowout because it was 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:15.960 a blowout, but for the better part of three quarters 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.040 it certainly didn't feel like and it wasn't a blowout 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:22.640 as Minnesota went in, went into halftime with a four 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.440 point lead, had a four point lead around midway through 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:29.680 the third quarter, and then the Thunder did what the 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:35.080 Thunder do, which is go on these defense generated runs. 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:38.239 We talked about it last week that they have the 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:41.920 ability to go on these fifteen to two runs without 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.519 running any offense. That just forces steel, get a lay up, 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:48.360 forces steel, get a lay up, force a bad shot, 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.880 get out in transition, and that seemingly is what happened 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:54.000 the entirety of the second half as they beat the 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:58.640 Timberwolves seventy to forty in the second half in route 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:04.120 to a twenty six point victory. And here is the 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:10.560 problem with discussing that game. The Thunder deserve a ton 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:18.920 of credit. I compared them glowingly to the nineties Bulls, 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:23.560 the second version of that, those teams that had Pippin 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:29.760 and Rodman and Jordan defensively, and that they could just 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:33.360 swarm you as you had tried to just move the 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:37.240 ball up the court and wreak so much havoc on 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:42.360 defense that they could win games that way. I said 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.039 on this show and on the TV show back in 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:49.600 November after seeing the Thunder in person for the first 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.480 time this year when I was in LA and watched 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:57.000 Lakers pre Luca, Lakers against the Thunder, that I thought 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.160 the Thunder were the best team in the league. That 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:03.960 what made me pick the Lakers to win the championship 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:08.680 was seeing that the Lakers dealt with the Thunders so 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:12.720 well in their two regular season matchups at the end 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.960 of the year when they got Luke a d Ancic, 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:18.919 Because I thought the Thunder were the team to beat 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.919 and I thought the Lakers could beat them. And there 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.919 last night, even if you remove just remove garbage time, 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:32.760 the Thunder played ten guys and got solid contributions from 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:35.959 nine of the ten. Really, Aaron Wiggins is the only 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.400 one who didn't do much, but Isaiah Joe gave him 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.519 good minutes. Obviously, Cason Wallace gave them good good minutes. 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:47.760 They didn't even play the other Jalen Williams in that 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.320 man rotation they were running. So you would like to 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:57.560 have this story be a team that has been intelligently built, 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:02.800 that has a souper star scoring champ about to be 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:08.200 League MVP, a you know, kind of up and coming 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:12.160 second and third options in JDub and Chet and this 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:20.920 team just absolutely annihilating Minnesota in the Thunder's first conference 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:26.560 finals game since KD was there. You'd love for that 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.799 to be the story, but it's not the story. The 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:37.880 story is and there's no way around it. And I 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:43.520 think you guys know from as I interrupt myself my 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:49.960 hesitation across sports to blame officials, and I'm not blaming 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:54.760 the officials for this one, but the officiating is the 0:03:54.800 --> 0:04:04.000 story because the dyke between how the thunder Guard, which 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:12.080 is awesome playoff physical defense, and the way Shae is 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:17.920 allowed to be guarded, and the way Shae courts contact 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:23.440 or initiates contact and then reacts as if there were 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.960 a sniper in the crowd and just flails to the 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:33.720 ground and time after time after time gets rewarded for 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:44.000 it is utterly maddening. And we have seen listen, James 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:48.080 Harden was different stylistically than Shae, but did a lot 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:55.480 of this same stuff. Obviously, maybe this feels more jarring 0:04:56.040 --> 0:05:02.680 because Harden's teams were not the best defensive team we've 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:07.640 seen in a quarter century or at least twenty years. 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.719 That was on the other end of the court, roughing 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:17.040 everyone up. But it is impossible to watch, and I 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:22.400 like it. By the way, the way Caruso and Dort 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:27.599 and Wiggins and Wallace and j Dubb are allowed to 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:33.279 guard and then see on the other end of the court, 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:40.320 how Shay gilgeses Alexander is treated by the refs as 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:45.880 if he's playing by a different set of rules. Miles Brown, 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:50.559 who is someone I quote a lot on this show 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:52.640 because I think he's a smart guy, and I also 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:57.440 think he has very funny twitter. He's at Mt Brown. 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:02.159 He tweeted, the way gets to play football on one 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.480 end of the court and behind museum glass on the 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.200 other is infuriating, And that is exactly how I feel. 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.400 And I do think there is a knock on effect 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:20.200 from when Shae gets When Shade draws four fouls in 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:24.720 the first five minutes of the game, not only does 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:29.600 Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert and others get in foul trouble, 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:34.280 but and go beart. Listen, go Bert got two fouls early. 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:37.039 One was offensive, so maybe he's the wrong example. He 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.520 actually didn't fall again after that, but he was kind 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:43.080 of seemingly knocked out of the game impact wise after 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.000 those opening two fouls. But the knock on effect is this, 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:51.760 when the refs make it clear immediately we are going 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:56.280 to reward Shay's flopping because that's what it is. It 0:06:56.400 --> 0:07:04.160 is shameless flopping. Then later in the game and you 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.880 saw it in the second half, guys feel like, well, 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.720 I have to give him space or else he's going 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.840 to draw the foul even if the foul didn't exist, 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:20.440 and all of a sudden, shaken totally comfortably step into 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.200 that seventeen footer that he's the best in the league 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:37.080 at and we have the the bad acting, dopey agenda Layden, 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.840 folks who have been trying to tell you for the 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.240 last five years the league is dying because the league 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.840 had the audacity to be to try to have some 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:50.320 type of social conscience. Those folks who've been in hiding 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.840 this postseason because the ratings have been off the charts, 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:59.520 because the games have been great. Those folks obviously have 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.880 not ign knowledge that the first two rounds of these playoffs, 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.640 the ratings were some of the best we've seen in 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.840 more than ten years in this league through the first 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:13.480 two rounds. Now, part of that is the games have 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:17.400 just been awesome, but it have that type of rating 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:22.160 when Steph really only played around, when Lebron only played around, 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.600 when Durant didn't make the playoffs at all, when Giannis 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:28.640 only played one round is a testament to the fact 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:33.880 that the audience has enjoyed the way these games have 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:39.520 been played and officiated. That this postseason we are allowing 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:45.679 a level of physicality and a level of contact that 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:49.160 is so unlike what is allowed in the regular season. 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:54.600 The audience likes it, and the teams have adjusted. And 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:58.040 it's not even accurate to say that that has applied 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:03.840 to every team, accept the Thunder, because it absolutely has 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:10.040 applied to the Thunder's defense. Alex Crusoe's awesome and I 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:15.679 give him massive credit. Alex Crusoe was basically allowed to 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.400 take out a police baton on Nikola Jokic. The refs 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.400 are like, whatever, man, you're six inches taller than him, 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:26.880 deal with it fine. I am not complaining about that. 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:33.640 I thought that was great. But when you compare that 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:36.720 to the way the refs are saying you have to 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:44.200 guard Shay and these are laughable plays. And credit to 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:50.079 Doris and to Richard Jefferson for acknowledging it during the broadcast, 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:56.600 but these are Shay. It's not even like the old 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:59.720 hard and hook the guy's arm and then go up it. 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:05.840 Just take a take a step and act like you 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:10.120 got hit and collapse to the floor while tossing up 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:14.440 a shot. Some of the most egregious ones yesterday he 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:20.360 actually made the shot while falling. There was one truly 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:26.160 egregious one that the Timberwolves challenged in won. But you 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.679 don't have endless challenges and you don't want to use 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:41.080 them early, and it's just unbecoming. And I was one 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:45.920 of the reasons I had a level, not huge, but 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:52.200 a level of thunder skepticism. Was I wondered, was Shay 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:56.800 going to get the whistle and the playoffs that he 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:59.920 got in the regular season and up to this point 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:05.200 the answer is absolutely yes, if not a better one, 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:08.840 because he's averaging this well, probably about the same whistle 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:14.720 his free throws in each game of these playoffs. Seven 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.319 in the first game of the playoffs, he only played 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:21.400 twenty three minutes because they won by fifty four. In 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:25.040 game two of the playoffs, when they won by twenty 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:32.240 nine in Game three, thirteen in the deciding game against Memphis, 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:37.800 and then nine in Game one against Denver, eleven in 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:43.480 Game two against Denver, just five in the overtime loss 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:48.480 to Denver, than twelve, then six, then eleven, then nine, 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:58.200 and last night fourteen. And this is going to sound 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:06.360 und sportsman of me, but it is sports and this 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:10.960 is part of it. If I am Minnesota and this 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:16.280 is how they are going to I'll give it game 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:20.200 too and see what type of whistle he's getting. But 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:27.080 if it's clear any type of contact he is going 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:31.760 even if he generates it, even if it's borderline fraudulent, 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:38.600 he's just going to get that whistle, then you guys 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.800 need to decide as a team if we're going to 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:46.040 get our money's worth on these fouls, because right now 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:51.040 he is getting the best of all worlds. He's living 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.360 at the free throw line, and he's leaving the game 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.720 physically feeling better than he came into the game. Because 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:03.920 there's no hard contact. Last night. There wasn't a single 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.960 foul that was like, oh, that's a hard playoff foul. 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.240 And I'm not talking about dirty plays. I'm not talking 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.040 about undercutting him anything like that. The audience knows what 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:18.000 I'm talking about here, and I hate that that's the story. 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.640 But that's the story of Game one, and it is 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.679 why people got And I sometimes I say things on 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.600 the TV show were on here, and I say ahead 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.360 of time that I know I'm gonna get killed for this. 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:38.160 Don't care. It's just how I feel. I owe the 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.079 audience honesty. So I'm gonna give him honesty. And when 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:45.000 I sat on the show yesterday, I think the thunder 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.520 of the best team, I think they're going to win. 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:52.439 I hope the Timberwolves win. Part of it was because 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:58.319 I do not like this style of play being rewarded. 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:07.280 I just don't the foulbating, flopping nonsense. And I'm glad 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:12.760 I got that takeout prior to Game one because I 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:17.160 feel like a lot of America watching that game joined me. 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:22.680 And here's the other part of it. He doesn't have 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:32.200 to do this, So take later stage, Jimmy Butler, who 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:36.240 was not a volume or a good three point shooter 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:44.520 who was not a crazy explosive athlete, and in order 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:49.000 for him to be peak effective, he had to be 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:54.200 drawing fouls. But he drew fouls kind of the old 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:58.400 fashioned way. He would pump, fake, get you in the air, 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:02.960 and go up and that can be annoying, but that's 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:08.280 not grifting. That is it's a frustrating guy to go 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.360 against because you're like, just stay on the ground. He's 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:14.840 not going up with his first shot, and guys would 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:21.000 have a hard time with it. Shay is just kind 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:27.800 of wildly throwing himself into the lane, falling sideways, looking 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:36.800 for minimal contact, selling it like Daniel day Lewis, and 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:41.240 being rewarded by it in a playoffs when for other 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:47.160 guys it has been if you're not bleeding from the nose, 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:56.560 it probably wasn't a foul and it's just wildly frustrating. Now, 0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:00.240 was that again? Was that the reason the Thunder won 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.440 by twenty six? They outscored him seventy to forty in 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:07.720 the second half, So was that that was the story 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.360 of the game. But was that the reason the Thunder one. No, 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.080 And we'll get into the reason the Thunder one right now, 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:19.240 which is every single player on Minnesota except for Julius Randall, 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:24.880 played poorly, every single one. If you just go down 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:30.760 the box score, Jaden scored I think five immediate points 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.960 to the rest of the way, got in foul trouble, 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:39.360 couldn't be as effective, fouled out. Rudy got two thousand 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.400 the first one hundred seconds of the game, went to 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:47.080 the bench, finished the game twenty minutes, two points, three rebounds, 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:52.280 no impact. Conley hit the one big three in the 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.520 four in the third quarter to I think put them 0:16:55.600 --> 0:17:02.920 up three, up four. Other than that, nothing A man. 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:08.480 I think Ant, I'm gonna look real quick. I think 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:14.320 Ant had sixteen in the first half and then finished 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:19.600 the game with eighteen. I should have had that in 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.679 front of me. But I can get it right now. 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:26.480 Series stats for this that game. I want to see 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:28.640 what Ant had in the second half of this game. 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:32.399 Ant had five points in the second half, so we 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.520 had thirteen at halftime in the third, yeah, he had 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.680 zero in the fourth. I mean they were getting blown out, 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:41.560 but I mean going into the fourth, No, they weren't 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:43.639 getting blown out. That's wrong. They got blown out in 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:45.960 the fourth. Going into the fourth, they were down ten 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:51.960 he had, so Ant didn't attack enough. Ant took five 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:56.560 two point field goals, and you know, wasn't getting teammates 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.000 involved the way he had earlier in the postseason, so 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:05.639 he wasn't great. Naz Reid has been on I don't 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.240 I think it's too strong to say he's cost himself 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.840 a ton of money. I think that's too early, but 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:16.240 because he's a free agent this offseason. But nas Reed 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:24.120 has had two good playoff games this year, Game one 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:30.160 against the Lakers and Game one against the Warriors, which 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:35.080 they lost. He was so big for them in last 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:42.320 year's postseason and in this year's postseason, he has just 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:46.520 not delivered the way I expected him to. Now, maybe 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.719 that bounces back, but last night was another game. I mean, 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:54.080 he's won for eleven, zero for seven from three. Dante 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:58.760 came in hit two big threes at various times when 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.520 the thunder were running away to kind of keep the 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:06.159 Timberwolves attached. But he's three for fourteen, three for twelve 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:12.520 from three. And Nikil Alexander Walker, Shay's cousin, they were 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:17.719 just content leaving him wide open and he couldn't make 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:25.919 him pay. So nas Dante and Nikile Alexander Walker combine 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:30.600 to go what is that five for twenty six from three? 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.160 The Thunder as a whole go fifteen to fifty one 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:38.440 from three. Julius the only one, I mean outside of 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:44.720 Julius Randall, they're ten of forty five from three. So 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:47.840 that's not gonna be good enough. Obviously, so none of 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:53.000 their guys played well enough. But the story is how 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:59.840 honestly unattractive of a game that was thanks to the way, 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:06.280 in my opinion, the reps called it with sha and 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:08.919 how that impacted how they were able to guard him 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.520 the rest of the game, how they instantly rewarded it 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:15.880 in the opening minutes of the game, and how they 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:19.520 didn't then decide, all right, we're just gonna call it 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:24.280 super tight on both sides. That's not what happened. And 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:28.159 this was a game you can't call it a must 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:33.560 win for the Timberwolves. But when you're more rested, when 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:39.280 Oklahoma City's coming off of seven game war, when rust 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.760 wasn't a factor like it was in Game one against 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:46.719 Golden State, you're up for at halftime, to just fold 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:50.200 in the second half like that, it does not bode 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:56.280 well for your chances because now if you're Minnesota. You 0:20:56.400 --> 0:21:01.359 either have to win four of the next five or 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:06.399 three of the next five plus a game seven in 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:12.640 Oklahoma City, which is a hell of an ask. But first, 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:15.520 let me tell you guys, NBA's eighty two game grind 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:19.160 is done and the real fun has begun. The NBA 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:22.119 Playoffs are here. Time for all the high stakes drama, 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.680 clutch moments, jaw dropping plays. 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Go to vicetv dot 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:51.600 com to find your cable channel. 0:23:56.280 --> 0:23:58.720 All right, the other thing I want to do quickly 0:23:58.840 --> 0:24:03.480 here is just talk for a moment about Pacers Nicks, 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:09.399 which is I want to be like very clear, I 0:24:09.440 --> 0:24:12.880 think the Pacers are really good. I think they are. 0:24:14.160 --> 0:24:19.199 They they have been. What did they start the year like? 0:24:19.240 --> 0:24:22.080 Because the Pacers, I'm gonna again this was something I 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:25.720 probably should have pulled up before, but I'll just do 0:24:25.840 --> 0:24:31.960 it in real time after. So they started the season 0:24:33.480 --> 0:24:39.960 ten and fifteen. Okay, since then they finished the year 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:42.919 with fifty wins. They're eight and two in the postseason, 0:24:43.359 --> 0:24:49.159 so they are now fifty eight and thirty four. So 0:24:49.280 --> 0:24:54.760 after starting ten and fifteen, they have gone. They have 0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:59.119 They're forty eight and nineteen. Is that right? Yeah? That 0:24:59.240 --> 0:25:02.480 is right. Let me figure out what that is. Over 0:25:02.520 --> 0:25:07.240 the totality of a season, forty eight divided by sixty seven. 0:25:08.040 --> 0:25:10.960 That's right, forty eight nineteen. Yeah, that's a seventy one 0:25:11.960 --> 0:25:14.760 winning percentage. Over the course of eighty two games. That's 0:25:14.800 --> 0:25:18.720 a fifty nine win pace. So they have been an 0:25:18.880 --> 0:25:24.120 excellent team basically for the totality of the season after 0:25:24.160 --> 0:25:26.840 the first twenty five games, so not the totality of 0:25:26.880 --> 0:25:28.840 the season. But you guys understand what I mean. Since 0:25:28.920 --> 0:25:36.040 mid December they've been awesome and since you know, they 0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:39.240 went into the new year sixteen and eighteen, and so 0:25:39.359 --> 0:25:43.359 you guys, they have been again playing at almost a 0:25:43.400 --> 0:25:47.080 sixty win pace for quite some time. And obviously they 0:25:47.119 --> 0:25:52.399 were awesome in Round one and Round two of the playoffs. 0:25:52.760 --> 0:26:03.240 They also have seven guys they really trust and an 0:26:03.280 --> 0:26:06.240 eighth they'll play in a pinch, not I mean they'll 0:26:06.240 --> 0:26:07.960 play more than in a pinch, but an eighth and 0:26:08.040 --> 0:26:12.920 Obi Top and that they're fine with. But Haliburton Siakam Turner, 0:26:13.800 --> 0:26:19.720 that is in today's NBA more than competent top three. 0:26:20.240 --> 0:26:25.920 When you have nemhar Nies Smith, Mathin McConnell rounding out 0:26:25.960 --> 0:26:29.480 your real seven man rotation and Obi Top and when 0:26:29.520 --> 0:26:35.280 you need him, that's plenty. So I think the Pacers 0:26:35.280 --> 0:26:41.920 obviously can win. I, however, do not think that they 0:26:41.960 --> 0:26:45.399 are better than the Knicks, and I will take the 0:26:45.480 --> 0:26:48.679 Knicks in this series. I will take the Knicks tonight, 0:26:49.119 --> 0:26:51.359 and I will take the Knicks in six games for 0:26:51.400 --> 0:26:55.880 the series. And I do think last year's series against 0:26:55.880 --> 0:27:01.560 the Pacers for the Knicks is instructive in that that 0:27:01.760 --> 0:27:06.399 series went seven. Julius Randall, who obviously doesn't play for 0:27:06.440 --> 0:27:08.800 the team anymore, but he was out for the series, 0:27:09.520 --> 0:27:14.119 and they didn't have Karl Anthony Towns in that game seven. 0:27:14.640 --> 0:27:22.119 Og Ananobi, you know, was attempted to play, made two shots, 0:27:22.359 --> 0:27:24.760 then could do nothing. You can be like, well, but 0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:27.720 they don't have Hartenstein like they used to. That's true. 0:27:27.760 --> 0:27:31.640 But Hartenstein in that game seven was a total non factor. 0:27:32.040 --> 0:27:36.040 I think he had zero points. And Mitchell Robinson was hurt. 0:27:36.359 --> 0:27:40.120 And obviously Jalen Brunson got banged up in that series, 0:27:40.200 --> 0:27:42.879 and in that game seven, the Knicks were in a 0:27:42.920 --> 0:27:46.920 position in that game seven were precious and Alec Burks 0:27:47.400 --> 0:27:52.440 combined for like fifty some minutes. Duce McBride, if I remember, 0:27:52.480 --> 0:27:56.120 correctly led the team in minutes that game. So they 0:27:56.160 --> 0:28:01.840 are a very different team. He didn't obviously, didn't have bridges, 0:28:02.080 --> 0:28:06.679 didn't have towns. Randal was hurt, so you it's not 0:28:06.760 --> 0:28:08.719 a wash like, well, they didn't have towns, but they 0:28:08.760 --> 0:28:15.439 had Randall, no the and so I think last year's 0:28:15.480 --> 0:28:19.800 series of anything should give the Knicks a little more confidence. 0:28:20.640 --> 0:28:26.080 I also think that the Knicks' demolition of Boston the 0:28:26.119 --> 0:28:29.720 way they did in that Game six should give them 0:28:30.400 --> 0:28:37.360 a little more confidence. And the other thing about that 0:28:37.480 --> 0:28:43.840 playoff series or that Game seven against the Pacers was 0:28:44.960 --> 0:28:50.280 the Pacers, if you remember it, were just shooting lightning 0:28:50.320 --> 0:28:54.720 bolts out there ass the entirety of that game. I 0:28:54.720 --> 0:28:56.760 don't know if it was like the best percentage from 0:28:56.760 --> 0:28:58.560 the field of any team in a Game seven. Ever, 0:28:58.600 --> 0:29:01.960 it was something insane. They scored one thirty, They shot 0:29:02.000 --> 0:29:05.240 like sixty five percent from the field. And so I now, 0:29:05.240 --> 0:29:07.440 maybe that's too much time talking about Game seven, but 0:29:07.520 --> 0:29:10.360 we haven't seen Game one yet when we're recording this. 0:29:10.480 --> 0:29:13.360 I like the Knicks tonight. I like the Knicks in 0:29:13.400 --> 0:29:17.680 the series. And now I will say fair is fair 0:29:20.280 --> 0:29:26.320 A lot of the foul baiting stuff that we that 0:29:26.400 --> 0:29:31.040 I just ranted about with Shae if Shae is the 0:29:31.080 --> 0:29:37.920 gold medalist of it this NBA season. Obviously, Brunson is 0:29:38.000 --> 0:29:44.920 the silver medalist, but Brunson has not been rewarded this 0:29:45.040 --> 0:29:48.440 postseason the way Shay is Man. Brunson didn't have a 0:29:48.480 --> 0:29:52.760 single game against the Pacers. I'm sorry against the Celtics 0:29:53.080 --> 0:29:58.480 where he got to ten free throws, shot seven four seven, 0:29:59.800 --> 0:30:04.040 and and so listen, Brunson will do more of the 0:30:04.080 --> 0:30:07.280 hardened stuff, try to hook your arm and do it. 0:30:07.720 --> 0:30:12.000 He'll do less of the I just fell down. But 0:30:12.200 --> 0:30:15.720 that could be a very annoying and very difficult for 0:30:15.760 --> 0:30:19.080 the reps NBA Finals if that's what we get, and 0:30:19.280 --> 0:30:22.160 I think that's what we're gonna get. I think it 0:30:22.280 --> 0:30:26.160 is going to be OKC versus the Knicks, and to 0:30:27.120 --> 0:30:29.440 kind of circle back to where we were on this. 0:30:30.320 --> 0:30:33.880 If this is how the rest of this series is 0:30:33.920 --> 0:30:37.760 going to be officiated, in the Western Conference Finals, you 0:30:37.840 --> 0:30:43.280 are going to have the incredibly rare event of the casual, 0:30:44.080 --> 0:30:49.800 uninvested NBA fan or sports fan rooting for the team 0:30:49.880 --> 0:30:53.920 from New York over the team from Oklahoma City, because 0:30:53.960 --> 0:31:00.640