Speaker 1: Put tween in the legs side step What's up another
Speaker 1: grade Banks. Welcome into NBA Pulsive production of iHeartRadio in
Speaker 1: the NBA. I'm Sarah Coustack, NBA analyst for the Yes Network,
Speaker 1: and today is Monday, May fifteenth, from our extraordinary core
Speaker 1: group of NBA journalists. We're joined now by NBA dot
Speaker 1: Com senior writer and Sean. We got the conference finals
Speaker 1: set after a Game seven in Boston and a complete
Speaker 1: collapse by the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. First, let's give
Speaker 1: credit to the Celtics forcing a Game seven with their win,
Speaker 1: and Jason Tatum a huge part of that. At the
Speaker 1: end of Game six, hitting four to three pointers and
Speaker 1: he was extraordinary, sets a all time high game seven
Speaker 1: record for points scored with fifty one to go along
Speaker 1: with thirteen rebounds five assists. He had zero turnovers. Tata
Speaker 1: fires a leg and the Boston Celtics win this one
Speaker 1: one twelve to eighty eight. So, before before we get
Speaker 1: into what's next, Sean for the seventy six ers, what
Speaker 1: stood out to you in this game and the complete
Speaker 1: domination by Jason Tatum and the Celtics team, Well, what.
Speaker 2: Makes the Jason Tatum performance. All the more impressive is
Speaker 2: that when you think of the Celtics in Game seven,
Speaker 2: the historical ramifications, all those great players, you know, Halcheck,
Speaker 2: Bill Russell, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garne, you know, you can
Speaker 2: go on and on. For Jason Tatum to put himself
Speaker 2: right at the top, if not over the top, it's
Speaker 2: just tremendous to watch. To be honest with you, Sarah,
Speaker 2: I was more impressive. I was more impressed by the
Speaker 2: way he finished Game six, and and keep in mind,
Speaker 2: at that point him as fourteen to fifteen shots, and Sarah,
Speaker 2: you know you have a basketball history. You know, confidence,
Speaker 2: even with star players, confidence can go. And with him,
Speaker 2: he just had an unshakable belief in himself. The way
Speaker 2: he finished the fourth quarter hitting those three point shots,
Speaker 2: really saving the Celtics season. I thought that was just
Speaker 2: flat out impressive because he had to overcome himself number one,
Speaker 2: he had to overcome the Sixers defense. Number two, and
Speaker 2: you know the Celtics and they were on the clock
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter. I mean, they lose this game,
Speaker 2: that's it. So to me that was more impressive. But look, Sarah,
Speaker 2: fifty one points in the game seven, fifty one points
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just tremendous. Says a lot about Jason
Speaker 2: Tatum and also says a lot about, you know, players
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. You know, the regular season is and
Speaker 2: you make your fame. The postseason is when you make
Speaker 2: your name. And I think we saw that with a
Speaker 2: lot of players, specifically in this case Jason Tatum.
Speaker 1: Oh you're coming with it this morning.
Speaker 2: Show like that? Oh yeah, I like it.
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. And making a name
Speaker 1: is something that I think there now has become a
Speaker 1: track record in the direction that some individuals do not
Speaker 1: want to have. And that's on the side of the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy six Ers. We talked about it that game
Speaker 1: six Wells Fargo Center. That crowd was spectacular, it was rocking.
Speaker 1: The seventy six Ers have a lead with just over
Speaker 1: four minutes to go, Jason Tatum taking over. But a
Speaker 1: part of that as well joellenbi not getting touches down
Speaker 1: the stretch. The MVP of the league this season, James Harden,
Speaker 1: had a couple masterpieces in the series, but and the
Speaker 1: same token what we've seen out of him at times
Speaker 1: in the postseason, what we've seen out of Doc Rivers
Speaker 1: at times coaching teams that have a three to two
Speaker 1: series lead and not able to advance. Joel Embiid did
Speaker 1: get his MVP trophy this year, but when it mattered
Speaker 1: most here on this stage. Fifteen points, eight rebounds, he
Speaker 1: was five of eighteen from the field, just six trips
Speaker 1: to the line, and you really look down the line
Speaker 1: for this seventy six Ers team. James Harden nine points,
Speaker 1: six rebounds, seven says he was three of eleven from
Speaker 1: the field. He does have a player option this season.
Speaker 1: By all accounts, it has not been expected that he
Speaker 1: would pick it up. But when you look at the
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers, they've had a lot of these core players,
Speaker 1: you know, back year after year and still unable to
Speaker 1: get to the conference finals. What is your expectations of
Speaker 1: what this organization does moving forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a pretty complicated answer right there. First of all,
Speaker 2: let's just let me look at the damage here. I
Speaker 2: just think the Sixers they blew their champs in Game six,
Speaker 2: and I wonder how much of that knowledge followed them
Speaker 2: in Game seven. You know, sometimes you're like, you go
Speaker 2: in there, you got to play the game in Boston,
Speaker 2: and in the back of your mind you're like man,
Speaker 2: we blew it. Now we got to play one more game,
Speaker 2: and and all of a sudden, when that game gets
Speaker 2: out of hand, your body, the body language start. You
Speaker 2: saw with Joe mb He wasn't even hustling anymore, wasn't
Speaker 2: even playing hard. James Harden basically just threw up his hands.
Speaker 2: And those are your leaders. And when your leaders start
Speaker 2: acting and behaving like that, everybody else follows. And now
Speaker 2: you're asking role players to take big shots. You know
Speaker 2: they're not built for that.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: As far as what the Sixers do from from here,
Speaker 2: and like I said, it's complicated because we're not sure
Speaker 2: what James Harden is going to do with his player option.
Speaker 2: I don't think the Sixers are going to give him
Speaker 2: a contract extension. I would be surprised if they did,
Speaker 2: particularly any kind of big money. He's you know, I
Speaker 2: would think we all agree he's not the Houston James
Speaker 2: Harden anymore. And as you go forward, you know he's
Speaker 2: a little bit past his prime. We all know James
Speaker 2: Harden has battle just standing in the right condition and
Speaker 2: now he's a little bit older. So you know, Darryl Maury,
Speaker 2: if he gives them any kind of like three four
Speaker 2: year extension. He's going to have to answer some questions.
Speaker 2: But the ownership group like, hey, you know, really this
Speaker 2: is this is the way we want to go. But
Speaker 2: also with Harden, does he want to be with the Sixers?
Speaker 2: I mean, here's a guy who basically gets tired. Got
Speaker 2: tired in Brooklyn. I think he might be a little
Speaker 2: bit tired in Philadelphia. He wasn't tired in Houston until
Speaker 2: they couldn't win anymore, and after he made all his
Speaker 2: Max money, then he wanted to move on. So it's
Speaker 2: just a weird situation right there. You know, they also
Speaker 2: have Tyrese Maxey. He's free agent. You got to pay him.
Speaker 2: What are you going to do with him?
Speaker 1: Uh?
Speaker 2: And then finally you know it's the the elephant in
Speaker 2: the room, Joe Embiid. Does he get does he join
Speaker 2: the frustrated superstar club. We've seen this club over the years,
Speaker 2: Sarah grow and grow and grow, where all of a
Speaker 2: sudden they feel that they can't win where they are
Speaker 2: and they knock on the door and say, hey, you
Speaker 2: know what, you should see what you can get from me.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying Joe Embiid has gotten to that point.
Speaker 2: I know for a fact that he loves Philadelphia. It's
Speaker 2: the only place he's played and everything. But just when
Speaker 2: you think a superstar wants to stay in town for
Speaker 2: a long time, Damian Lillard, you know, all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: they start making noise that maybe the grass might be
Speaker 2: greener somewhere else. But you know, you know, let's just
Speaker 2: wait on that for a little bit. And obviously there's
Speaker 2: Doc Rivers. What are they going to do with the coach?
Speaker 2: I actually thought Doc Rivers had a very good year
Speaker 2: as coach this year. He didn't have the better team
Speaker 2: in this series, and he went to seven games and
Speaker 2: he had a chance to win in six. But of
Speaker 2: course Philadelphia is a very tough town, is you know, Sarah,
Speaker 2: And you know the patients were stand there and Doc
Speaker 2: rivers history on winning game sevens is not the most stellar.
Speaker 2: Matter of fact, he has more game seven losses than
Speaker 2: any coach ever. And finally, you know, and this is
Speaker 2: what I really don't like that much. It's the blame game.
Speaker 2: When players lose a series, all of a sudden, you
Speaker 2: know that they start saying, well, you need to look
Speaker 2: at that guy, or you need to look at that
Speaker 2: coach or whatever. Rather than taking some accountability. And I
Speaker 2: think we see it all the time, and OL's I
Speaker 2: think we saw it a little bit after Game seven.
Speaker 2: Suddenly no one wanted to say, hey, it's all on me.
Speaker 2: I know Joelnbee said that a little bit, but no
Speaker 2: one just said, you know what it's you know, the
Speaker 2: change starts with me. This is why we lost the
Speaker 2: series because of me, because I didn't play well. You know,
Speaker 2: usually you don't see that because everyone wants to pass
Speaker 2: the responsibility on someone else.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the magnitude of the series, certainly we'll have ripple effects.
Speaker 1: And as you mentioned, just with coaching, we saw Torontal
Speaker 1: part ways with mcnurse, Milwaukee part ways with Mike Budenholzer
Speaker 1: also over the weekend announced that Phoenix was parting ways
Speaker 1: with Monty Williams. So we will see how that all
Speaker 1: continues to play out. But what's playing out next is
Speaker 1: we got the conference final, Sean, and we're going to
Speaker 1: take a quick break and preview the Western Conference Final
Speaker 1: coming up between the Lakers and the Nuggets. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to NBA. Paul Sarakustak, joined by Sean Poll and Seawann.
Speaker 1: It's been fun. It's been a fun postseason. I think
Speaker 1: I say this every pod that we do, and it
Speaker 1: continues to get better and better. On Tuesday night, Game
Speaker 1: one of the Western Conference Finals will take place eight
Speaker 1: thirty pm Eastern on ESPN as the Lakers and the
Speaker 1: Nuggets face off. What are your early early predictions, early thoughts,
Speaker 1: early expectations for what this series may entail.
Speaker 2: Well, this is a rematch of the bubble when I
Speaker 2: don't think the Nuggets back then were really ready to
Speaker 2: take the next step. I mean the Lakers, you know,
Speaker 2: they had Anthony Davis and Lebron James, both of them healthy.
Speaker 2: You know, I think they were that was a team
Speaker 2: on a mission. And Denver at that point they were
Speaker 2: just really starting off trying to be a contender, and
Speaker 2: then the bad thing happened to never next few years
Speaker 2: they had injuries, Michael Porter Junior and Jamal Murray missing
Speaker 2: then entire season, and Yokic had to go about it alone.
Speaker 2: Now they're finally healthy, so now they can issue some paybacks.
Speaker 2: If you look at Nikola Yokich right now, he's averaging
Speaker 2: almost a thirty point triple double, which obviously is this tremendous,
Speaker 2: really unheard of for a big man. Because usually big
Speaker 2: man is this double double guys.
Speaker 1: Who's brown in the way. Yokich the live got the
Speaker 1: offensive rebound and the stick back. He is totally controlling
Speaker 1: this game right now.
Speaker 2: But he's somebody who impacts his offense. It's no question,
Speaker 2: more than any player in the NBA, when he's off
Speaker 2: the floor, his team struggles. When he's on the floor,
Speaker 2: his team is efficient and running smoothly. So really, I
Speaker 2: think it really comes down to this, how long can
Speaker 2: he stay on the floor against Anthony Davis. You know,
Speaker 2: this is the first time that Nikola Yokis is going
Speaker 2: to really play a good functional big man, somebody who
Speaker 2: can score in the paint and at the rim and
Speaker 2: also shoot from the outside. So Nikola Yokis is gonna
Speaker 2: have to play some defense. Does that get him in
Speaker 2: a foul trouble? He cannot afford or to get into
Speaker 2: foul trouble at kids Anthony Davis. And if I'm the Lakers,
Speaker 2: I'm going to Davis as often as possible because I
Speaker 2: do need that to happen. We see what happens when
Speaker 2: Nicola Yogis is off the floor. So if you're the Lakers,
Speaker 2: you try to get that guy off the floor. I
Speaker 2: want Anthony Davis taking a lot of shots. I want
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis drawing contact. And I know, you know you
Speaker 2: worry about Anthony Davis when he does draw contact whether
Speaker 2: he's going to get off the floor. But you take
Speaker 2: that risk in this series because if Nicola Yogis is
Speaker 2: in foul trouble or he's off the floor any stretch
Speaker 2: of time, you increase your chances of winning. So I'm
Speaker 2: looking forward to that situation right there. Also, you know,
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray, are we going to see the bubble Murray?
Speaker 2: A guy who was in that shootout with Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 2: and against Utah and then who really played well against
Speaker 2: the Lakers in the in the next round. What kind
Speaker 2: of Jamal Murray were you going to see? Jamal Murray
Speaker 2: is a very streaky player, and you know, in terms
Speaker 2: of his shooting he does he's not a classical point
Speaker 2: guard where he sets up players. That's probably the weakest
Speaker 2: part of the game. But they don't need that because
Speaker 2: they've got your kitchen to do that. So is he
Speaker 2: going to make his shot and really force the lake
Speaker 2: breakdown the Lakers defense and forcing the garden? And then
Speaker 2: finally we're talking about Lebron James, I mean this is
Speaker 2: a guy who does not lose conference finals. I mean
Speaker 2: he punches his ticket. Last time he lost the conference
Speaker 2: finals two thousand and nine when he played for Cleveland
Speaker 2: the first time around against the Celtics. But ever since then,
Speaker 2: he reaches the conference finals, he gets to the NBA Finals,
Speaker 2: He's one step closer playing for a championship. Aged thirty eight,
Speaker 2: twenty years in the NBA. He knows he gets that
Speaker 2: next championship. All of a sudden, that water cool talk
Speaker 2: of the greatest player ever with him and Michael Jordan.
Speaker 2: All of a sudden, that talk gets really really interesting,
Speaker 2: and I think Lebron might be saying, Hey, you know what,
Speaker 2: this is my last best chance or best last chance,
Speaker 2: however which way you want to phrase it, Sarah. The
Speaker 2: bottom line is the man is close, and you know
Speaker 2: he wants to cash in.
Speaker 1: Well, we will see if he does, and we're rewrecking
Speaker 1: all the bubble matchups. As you mentioned on the Eastern
Speaker 1: Conference side of things, say thing as the Miami Heat
Speaker 1: will face the Boston Celtics. That series begins with Game
Speaker 1: one on Wednesday at eight thirty pm Eastern on T
Speaker 1: and t this Heat team, They've been impressive. Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: has been special. Eric Spolstra does this year after year
Speaker 1: regardless of whatever iteration of a group they have, and
Speaker 1: in Butler has given us team the utmost confidence to
Speaker 1: believe they can win. But Boston looking like probably the
Speaker 1: most complete, deepest team in the play or in the
Speaker 1: postseason on the Eastern Conference side of things, but just
Speaker 1: it feels like they haven't necessarily been able to put
Speaker 1: all the pieces together at certain times throughout the course
Speaker 1: of these series. What about this Heat Celtics matchup intrigues you?
Speaker 1: In what direction do you think it may go?
Speaker 2: No, it's interesting. It wasn't about a year year ago
Speaker 2: right about now that it was a Game seven in
Speaker 2: Miami Celtics Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler had a shot
Speaker 2: to really put Miami in the NBA Finals for what
Speaker 2: the second time in three years, he missed, And it
Speaker 2: just goes to show how tough Miami can play Boston.
Speaker 2: You know, Eric spols Is gonna have something up the
Speaker 2: sleeve for Jason Tatum, Jayden Brown. Basically put those great
Speaker 2: players in position where they have to work extra hard
Speaker 2: for the shots. Let's talk about playoff Jimmy. Come on, Sarah,
Speaker 2: you know, playoff Jimmy. That guy who averaged like twenty
Speaker 2: three points. He averaged twenty three points in regular season.
Speaker 2: All of a sudden, he's averaging thirty two points in
Speaker 2: the playoffs. Man can't be stopped in the fourth quarter
Speaker 2: type game. Just a remarkable, remarkable player this time of year.
Speaker 2: Never been never bet against that guy. I will say this,
Speaker 2: there will not be a player on the floor in
Speaker 2: this series more determined than Jimmy Butler. Okay, maybe they
Speaker 2: might play better than Jimmy Butler. And now I'm going
Speaker 2: to be more determined than Jimmy Butler. And here's the
Speaker 2: other thing. Tyler, he wrote, will he suit up during
Speaker 2: this series? I've heard that it's possible he could probably
Speaker 2: make his playoff appearents. I mean in this series maybe
Speaker 2: game three foursh you know, I don't know. He wasn't
Speaker 2: ruled out of the playoffs when he first got heard,
Speaker 2: So that'll be something worth watching, whether or not. Suddenly
Speaker 2: they have a wildcard, an unexpected wildcard. Tyler, you throw Tyli,
Speaker 2: he wrote the mix. But even aside from Tyler Hill,
Speaker 2: this team has played very well defensively, good coaching, good schemes,
Speaker 2: and Jimmy Butler going against Jason Tatum. That is going
Speaker 2: to be a showdown that I think everyone will enjoy.
Speaker 1: You said it, that three point shot. He has said
Speaker 1: since he would take it again, and next time he
Speaker 1: does have a chance to take it, he will make it.
Speaker 1: So we will see and we will see how this
Speaker 1: all plays out. Sean is always we will continue reading
Speaker 1: all your stuff on NBA dot com and appreciate all
Speaker 1: your time and all your hard work here with us
Speaker 1: this Monday morning as these playoffs continue. NBA pulls but
Speaker 1: Sarahkustak is a production of the NBA and iHeart Radio.
Speaker 1: Please rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.