Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA Pulse production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Coustack, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and
Speaker 1: today is Wednesday, May twenty fourth, and from our extraordinary
Speaker 1: core group of NBA journalists, we're joined now by NBA
Speaker 1: dot Com Senior writer Sean Powell.
Speaker 2: And Sean, you.
Speaker 1: Got a chance to get back home for a quick
Speaker 1: second after spending some time in sunny Los Angeles covering
Speaker 1: that Denver Nuggets in Los Angeles Lakers Western Conference Final,
Speaker 1: which we will get into that in just a bit,
Speaker 1: but let's first talk about the Boston Celtics living to
Speaker 1: see another day after their win in South Beach last
Speaker 1: night beating Miami one sixteen ninety nine. The series now
Speaker 1: has a heat with a three to one lead as
Speaker 1: they will head back to Boston playing Thursday at a
Speaker 1: thirty pm Eastern on TNT.
Speaker 2: But let's get into last night.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things to look at, sewn Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum getting his first field gold made in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter in that win, thirty three points for him, eleven rebounds,
Speaker 1: seven and assist. All the starters were in double figures
Speaker 1: and including Grant Williams, off the bench with fourteen and six.
Speaker 1: But the big stat you look at is a three
Speaker 1: point line. Boston finally was able to connect from deep
Speaker 1: forty percent on eighteen to forty five shooting. And it
Speaker 1: was the opposite story for Miami, who was shot the
Speaker 1: three so well throughout the course of the postseason and
Speaker 1: this series, but they shot just eight to thirty two
Speaker 1: from the three point line. Jimmy Butler with twenty nine points.
Speaker 1: There was four players in double figures for the Heat,
Speaker 1: but wasn't enough for them to close out the series
Speaker 1: with a sweep. So, Sean, your takeaways from this game?
Speaker 1: A Celtics team who we saw in Game three pretty
Speaker 1: much just lay down. It looked like they had nothing
Speaker 1: left and waved the white flag, but did do their
Speaker 1: best to now try and extend this series.
Speaker 2: How do you frame what this meant for the Celtics
Speaker 2: team here moving forward?
Speaker 3: Well, I think you nailed it with your game summary,
Speaker 3: just in terms of the Dynamics and why they were
Speaker 3: able to win that game. The only thing I would
Speaker 3: really like to add is when you lose a game
Speaker 3: like the Celtics loss in Game three, really first three games,
Speaker 3: no shows among your stars. You talk about Jason Tatum
Speaker 3: fourth quarter or all that, and then you invite the
Speaker 3: general public, the media, everybody, your fans to just dump
Speaker 3: all over you. And so when that happens and you're
Speaker 3: just buried under that avalanche, I think you find out
Speaker 3: who you are. And I think you can go one
Speaker 3: of two ways. You can basically just surrender and just
Speaker 3: move on, just really want to get away from it all,
Speaker 3: or you want the dog in you comes out, you know,
Speaker 3: and you say, you know what, I'm not going out
Speaker 3: like that. Jason Tatum was not going out like that.
Speaker 3: The Celtics defense not going out like that, particular remen
Speaker 3: and shooting, and you know they were under siege. You know,
Speaker 3: Joe Missoulu, he was already fired. I wonder why he
Speaker 3: even showed up at the game. They already had him fired,
Speaker 3: you know, they already had you know, Tatum and Brown separated,
Speaker 3: but Jaylen Brown, why was he in a Celtic uniform yesterday?
Speaker 3: They already had these guys dead and buried in Look.
Speaker 3: I mean, the Celtics responded the way they had to respond.
Speaker 3: They're the more talented team in the series. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's plain and simple. You know, Jimmy Butler. Yeah, he's
Speaker 3: great and everything, but you know, the Celtics have more talent,
Speaker 3: you know, from one to fifteen, particularly the starting five.
Speaker 3: They were in the NBA Finals last year, so they
Speaker 3: had to respond and this is the way they responded.
Speaker 3: Now it sets up a very interesting scenario. Now you
Speaker 3: go back to Boston. It's going to be a very
Speaker 3: favorable environment for the Celtics. At least it will be
Speaker 3: as long as the Celtics are up in that game.
Speaker 3: If they fall behind by twenties there, I don't know.
Speaker 3: So they have a chance. And I think if you
Speaker 3: look at this from basketball's perspective, all signs point to
Speaker 3: a Game six in Miami as being the pivotal game.
Speaker 3: I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
Speaker 3: And please don't tell Jimmy Butler I said that, because
Speaker 3: you know he's going to give me the Grant Williams treatment.
Speaker 3: And I don't want that, Sarah. I'm a nice guy.
Speaker 3: I don't want Jimmy on my case and you know
Speaker 3: how he's going to respond. But if we just take
Speaker 3: the Celtics for what they are, a town team, a
Speaker 3: team that went to the NBA Finals last year, a
Speaker 3: team that really played very well all season, no major injuries.
Speaker 3: This is a healthy team. And I know Jayden Brown
Speaker 3: his elbows bank a little bit, but this is a
Speaker 3: healthy team. So if we take him for that, we
Speaker 3: would like to think for their sake that they will
Speaker 3: win the next game in Boston, bring this back to Miami,
Speaker 3: and then things get really really interesting.
Speaker 2: And that is the question about this team, because you
Speaker 2: said it at some point in discussing which we can
Speaker 2: all look at on paper, the Boston Celtics are a
Speaker 2: more talented team. However, they have not produced in that way,
Speaker 2: especially during the course of this series. But you even
Speaker 2: look at the way some of the other series that
Speaker 2: they have won early on have been extended. They have
Speaker 2: lost five games at TV Garden throughout the course of
Speaker 2: this postseason. So while you would think the fact that
Speaker 2: they have two of the next three at home, will
Speaker 2: they take advantage of that? Though Miami, it's wild to think.
Speaker 2: You know, no team in NBA history has come back
Speaker 2: from a three to zero series deficit. But with all
Speaker 2: of those factors, with the way that they have been playing,
Speaker 2: do you think the heat at this point, now that
Speaker 2: we heard it from a handful of Celtics players yesterday
Speaker 2: had shoot around saying don't let us get one, don't
Speaker 2: let us get one. Did they find something or find
Speaker 2: themselves in a way that Miami should be nervous at
Speaker 2: this point despite having this three to one series lead.
Speaker 3: Well, Sarah, I wasn't witnessed to the previous one hundred
Speaker 3: and fifty examples where a team fell behind three to
Speaker 3: zero in a playoff series and how they tried to
Speaker 3: come back and everything that goes back to what the
Speaker 3: forties and fifties. I think I was only one year now.
Speaker 3: I wasn't even born by then. I'm not trying to
Speaker 3: play you there, Sarah. So but look, if it would happen,
Speaker 3: then the ingredients are there for this series to happen.
Speaker 3: And I'll just say what number one we stayed at
Speaker 3: the obvious Boston is the more talented team, Okay, well okay, yeah,
Speaker 3: and they do have two of the next three at
Speaker 3: home if it goes that far, So that's in their favor.
Speaker 3: The other thing in their favor is Miami. I mean, look,
Speaker 3: this is a play in tournament team, and you wonder
Speaker 3: if all those all those players not wearing sneakers and
Speaker 3: wearing glass slippers, you know, Gabe Benson, Max Strews, Duncan Robinson,
Speaker 3: all those non drafted players that you've heard about, what
Speaker 3: oh about one hundred and fifty times since the series started.
Speaker 3: Suppose all of a sudden, you know, those guys start
Speaker 3: playing a little down to their so called credentials, and
Speaker 3: maybe something happened. Jimmy Butler's not as dominant and something.
Speaker 3: So the bottom line is this, in this series where
Speaker 3: on paper, the Celtics should should it should flip. The
Speaker 3: Celtics should be the one up three to zero. If
Speaker 3: it could happen, it could happen in this series. I still,
Speaker 3: for the life of me, don't believe that Jimmy Butler
Speaker 3: will allow his team to lose four straight games. I
Speaker 3: just don't think that. I mean, just the way he's
Speaker 3: played in these playoffs, the way he's elevated his game,
Speaker 3: and you've got Eric Bolster on the other bench, he
Speaker 3: would find a way. Miami is great at making adjustments. Look,
Speaker 3: I still don't I think it's gonna be one hundred
Speaker 3: and fifty one straight series where a team can't come
Speaker 3: back from a three to zero deficit. But if it's
Speaker 3: going to ever going to happen, it could happen in
Speaker 3: this series.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be fun to watch. As I said that,
Speaker 2: Game five will be at Boston on Thursday, a thirty
Speaker 2: pm Eastern on TNT. And you got a team just
Speaker 2: sitting at home, feed up, waiting to see who their
Speaker 2: opponent will be. That's a Denver Nuggets led by Nicola
Speaker 2: Jokic breaking some more records in getting himself and his
Speaker 2: team to the finals. We'll get to that right after
Speaker 2: the break. Welcome back to NBA.
Speaker 1: Paul Sarahustak joined by the great Sean Poll and Sean
Speaker 1: This was a series the Western Conference Finals that you
Speaker 1: got to witness up close in personal Denver Nuggets with
Speaker 1: the sweep against the Lakers, first sweep in Denver Nuggets
Speaker 1: franchise history, first trip to the NBA Finals for the
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets, and led by Nicola Jokic, who was exceptional
Speaker 1: thirty points, fourteen rebounds, thirteen assists.
Speaker 2: What does that mean? That's his eighth triple double throughout
Speaker 2: the course of this postseason run. You know you're doing
Speaker 2: something exceptional when you were breaking records held by Wilt Chamberlain,
Speaker 2: and that's exactly what he did. And Michael Malone this
Speaker 2: whole group, they're just playing some beautiful basketball together. What
Speaker 2: did you see out of that series and throughout the
Speaker 2: course of what not just Nikola Jokicic was able to do,
Speaker 2: but this entire group, what they showed us in the
Speaker 2: regular season now translating into the postseason as they make
Speaker 2: this trip to the finals.
Speaker 3: Well, I just like the way the Nuggets responded on
Speaker 3: the big stage. And I know it's not the biggest stage,
Speaker 3: it's not the NBA Finals yet, but it was a
Speaker 3: big stage. It's a big stage when you have to
Speaker 3: share with Lebron James. Okay, so everybody's watching, and Lebron
Speaker 3: James is such an accomplished player. I'm not going to
Speaker 3: run that. This is the obvious. He's one of the
Speaker 3: greatest players ever played. Even at age thirty eight, you're
Speaker 3: a number twenty, he still played at a high level
Speaker 3: and people wanted to watch to see him, you know,
Speaker 3: you know, succeed or fail. And usually when Lebron James
Speaker 3: gets this deep in the playoffs, he castes an he
Speaker 3: goes to the NBA Finals. Is a guy who hasn't lost
Speaker 3: the conference finals. In two thousand and nine, when he
Speaker 3: was with Cleveland lost to the Boston Celtics, so the
Speaker 3: Denver Nuggets that they felt a little bit disrespected, And
Speaker 3: let me get into that for a minute, and I
Speaker 3: get it, you know, if you're a coach, Michael and
Speaker 3: who by the way, I love Michael Malone, but if
Speaker 3: you're a coach, you know he beat that drum beat
Speaker 3: a little bit too much. First of all, Nicola Jokic
Speaker 3: is not disrespected as a player. The guy was voted
Speaker 3: MVP two straight years. That doesn't sound like he's getting
Speaker 3: a lot of disrespect from the national media. And I
Speaker 3: also think Michael Malone is he's addicted to the TV
Speaker 3: debate shows and he's judging the national media based on
Speaker 3: a couple of debate shows on TV. He doesn't know
Speaker 3: what I write or other national people are writing or saying.
Speaker 3: He's just addicted to those shows. And it's a shame
Speaker 3: that their perception of themselves from a national media standpoint,
Speaker 3: and their perception of Nicola Jokic from a national media
Speaker 3: standpoint comes from a couple of TV shows and a
Speaker 3: couple people yelling on TV shows. That's not the case. NICOLEA.
Speaker 3: Yogis has great respect around the NBA and within the
Speaker 3: national media, and the same thing for the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 3: I would say that the one thing about the Denver
Speaker 3: Nuggets is even though they've had this core together now
Speaker 3: for about four or five years, the last two years
Speaker 3: were basically a wash because you know, Michael Porters Junior
Speaker 3: was injured, Jamal Murray was injured. We didn't see this team.
Speaker 3: We saw this team in the bubble, but they weren't
Speaker 3: ready to win. They played the Lakers in the conference
Speaker 3: final in twenty twenty, but they weren't ready to win yet.
Speaker 3: Not against Anthony Davis at that point he's healthy, Not
Speaker 3: against Lebron James, who was laser focused on getting another championship.
Speaker 3: They were probably ready to last couple of years, but
Speaker 3: they were hurt. They didn't have Jamal Murray for you,
Speaker 3: they didn't have Michael portgif you're now their hole, and
Speaker 3: they showed what they're capable of doing. And the joker,
Speaker 3: what can you say about them? Lebron and I thought
Speaker 3: gave him the ultimate of respect. Lebron said, he plays
Speaker 3: the game like I do, and that's all that needs
Speaker 3: to be said. He said, he's a smart player who
Speaker 3: plays a game like I do. About making the winning
Speaker 3: play and we saw this time and time again the
Speaker 3: entire playoff series, and we saw in the elimination game
Speaker 3: against the Lakers he has that step back three point shot. Sarah.
Speaker 3: I know you were watching the game. You're like, oh, no,
Speaker 3: that's not going to go in. It's launched way, but
Speaker 3: it's not going to go in. Anthony Davis said that's
Speaker 3: not going to go in. He turned around and guess what.
Speaker 3: You know what happened. It went in, Sarah, so critical
Speaker 3: shot absolutely shot clock at four, Yoka tries to put
Speaker 3: it up, pulling away, puts it up. Congratulate the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 3: A team, a complete team, Contavious Cardwell, Pope coming off
Speaker 3: the bench, hit and some big shots. Aaron Gordon playing deep.
Speaker 3: The guy had to d up Kevin Durant and then
Speaker 3: Lebron James. He didn't get a break, Sarah, and he
Speaker 3: played pretty well. He played well offensively in the clinching game.
Speaker 3: Congrats to him. I just think this team played well
Speaker 3: when it had to play well. And guess what, Michael
Speaker 3: Malone and the Denver Nuggets, you're getting all the respect
Speaker 3: now because you're going to go in to the NBA Finals.
Speaker 3: As the basically I would think no matter what happens
Speaker 3: in the Boston Miami series, Devora Nuggets will go in
Speaker 3: as a favorite.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, it's been extraordinary to watch. And I
Speaker 2: copy all those things that you say because that is
Speaker 2: the truth. I think. You know, the fact that Nicole
Speaker 2: Yokhich has been the two time MVP prior to last
Speaker 2: season also speaks to a lot of the respect that
Speaker 2: he is garnered continues to garner. But on the flip
Speaker 2: side of things, you're talking about Lebron James and he
Speaker 2: put it all on the line one assists shy of
Speaker 2: a forty point triple double in that game, played all
Speaker 2: but four seconds. We've seen what he's done with that
Speaker 2: seven seeded Lakers team in his twentieth season, thirty eight
Speaker 2: years old. You can't say enough about the performance that
Speaker 2: he gave, not just in that game but throughout the
Speaker 2: course of the postseason. But some interesting post game comments
Speaker 2: about him having a lot to think about in regards
Speaker 2: to his future, in regards to wanting to come back
Speaker 2: and play. What do you make of his comments in
Speaker 2: that moment and putting in perspective if we will, in
Speaker 2: fact see Lebron James continue to play more in this league,
Speaker 2: as he's not only became the all time scoring leader
Speaker 2: this season, but has an opportunity to become the old
Speaker 2: time minutes leader in NBA history. The miles that he
Speaker 2: has put in throughout the course of his.
Speaker 3: Career number one. I wonder if he was sending a
Speaker 3: message to the Lakers, as in, Hey, you know what,
Speaker 3: I'm on the clock here. You guys got to do
Speaker 3: something this offseason to really give us a shot. I
Speaker 3: actually thought Rob Link did very well at the trade
Speaker 3: deadline this year too, essentially give Lebron a shot. I mean,
Speaker 3: they went to the conference finals, you know, Sarah. It
Speaker 3: brings up an interesting point here.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I once asked Michael Jordan when he was playing. I said,
Speaker 3: I said, when will you retire? And he said, you
Speaker 3: know what I tell you. I tell you what what's
Speaker 3: not going to happen. I am not going to be
Speaker 3: playing and being a role player, okay in this league
Speaker 3: and having guys dunk on me, you know, and get
Speaker 3: their paybacks and everything. I Am not going to let
Speaker 3: my skills appreciate that far. I will retire before that happens.
Speaker 3: And I think that there's also a sense of pride
Speaker 3: within Lebron James, as much as he loves playing his game,
Speaker 3: as much as he has a fantasy of what one
Speaker 3: day being teammates with his son Brownie, as much as
Speaker 3: he he is still I would probably say top ten
Speaker 3: player in a game right now. I think there's an
Speaker 3: element with Lebron that says, you know what, I don't
Speaker 3: want to stay in this game too long. I don't
Speaker 3: want to be one of those guys sitting on the
Speaker 3: end of the bench. You know, you know, have people
Speaker 3: you know dunk on me and talk trash to me,
Speaker 3: and you know, you know, have me get my scalp,
Speaker 3: you know, my pelt on their wall, all those things.
Speaker 3: I still think that there's a sense of pride when
Speaker 3: you're this great. You know, like the late Jim Brown
Speaker 3: retired after nine years after he had led the NFL
Speaker 3: and rushing he wasn't going to carry the ball and
Speaker 3: get you a three yard game and you know, just
Speaker 3: rush for two hundred yards and see it. That wasn't
Speaker 3: gonna happen. The greats want to leave the game while
Speaker 3: they're still great, and that's why I do think it's
Speaker 3: possible that Lebron James could walk away from the NBA
Speaker 3: this summer. My gut feeling is that he'll play at
Speaker 3: least another year. But if he were to walk away
Speaker 3: from the game this summer, I would not be shocked,
Speaker 3: because he walks away with that scoring record, with his
Speaker 3: head hell high. We all have such great respect for
Speaker 3: what he is meant to the game and has done
Speaker 3: for the game. If he indeed walks away, I just
Speaker 3: think it would be a great moment because he walks
Speaker 3: away while he's still on top of this game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been a beautiful thing to witness and watch,
Speaker 2: and only his career, but in particular this postseason. What
Speaker 2: a fun postseason that still has got lots more action
Speaker 2: to come. We will see who the Denver Nuggets will
Speaker 2: be facing after that game, or at least we'll see
Speaker 2: throughout the course of the rest of the Ceastern Conference Final. Sewan,
Speaker 2: As always, we appreciate your time and we look forward
Speaker 2: to reading all your stuff on NBA dot Com and
Speaker 2: talking to you again.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you, Sarah as always.
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