Speaker 1: Game seven, May stand eyed. I with history and they
Speaker 1: did not point.
Speaker 2: The Heat are going to the NBA finalists.
Speaker 1: Welcome man too, NBA pulsa production of iHeartMedia and the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Kustack, NBA analyst for the S Network, and
Speaker 1: today is Tuesday, May thirtieth. From our extraordinary core group
Speaker 1: of NBA journalists were joined now by NBA dot Com
Speaker 1: senior writer John Schumann. Shoe, you were in the building,
Speaker 1: you were in TV garden Game seven. This Eastern Conference
Speaker 1: Finals has been one for the ages, and I think
Speaker 1: a lot of Boston fans, many around the NBA community,
Speaker 1: thought this might be a history setting night, an opportunity
Speaker 1: to see a team for the first time come back
Speaker 1: from a three to nothing series deficit. But never count
Speaker 1: out Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat, Eric Spolster, and of
Speaker 1: course Caleb Martin, which we will get into. And first, Shoe,
Speaker 1: I'm curious. I mean, obviously you're there. You're breaking things
Speaker 1: down basketball wise, looking at the numbers. We have been
Speaker 1: doing that throughout the course of this playoffs, but more
Speaker 1: so the emotional side of it. In Miami four Game six,
Speaker 1: the Heat, it looked like they were headed to the finals.
Speaker 1: Before that, Derek White put in what they had went through,
Speaker 1: what they endured, laying it all on the line, and
Speaker 1: to see heartbreak at home in your own building, and
Speaker 1: to have to turn around two days later after winning
Speaker 1: or after losing the last three games. What stood out
Speaker 1: to you about this Miami Heat team to be able
Speaker 1: to gather themselves together and come away not only with
Speaker 1: a win, but a one to three, eighty four dominant
Speaker 1: win in the building of the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I compared it a little bit to the Spurs
Speaker 2: in the twenty thirteen finals, where they had Game six
Speaker 2: seemingly sewn up. They were up two with the ball
Speaker 2: and the shot clock off, but Kawhi Leonard missed one
Speaker 2: of two from the line, Ray Allen or Lebron James
Speaker 2: missed the three, Chris Bosh got a rebound, Ray hit
Speaker 2: Ray Allen hit that miracle three to tie it.
Speaker 1: James Catchers puts up the three, let go.
Speaker 2: His toilet, and the Spurs lost in overtime. And that
Speaker 2: was just devastating. I mean, they had the championship in
Speaker 2: their hands. The ropes were out right on the side
Speaker 2: of the court. There the trophy presentation was being readied,
Speaker 2: and they had to come back forty eight hours and
Speaker 2: play game seven. And they were good. In Game seven,
Speaker 2: they almost were there. They had Tim Duncan had a
Speaker 2: little jump hook over Shane Battier to tie the game
Speaker 2: in the final minute. So that was a remarkable recovery.
Speaker 2: And then it ended up taking a year, right, they
Speaker 2: came back, and then they absolutely destroyed the Heat in
Speaker 2: the following finals. So Eric Bolsher and the Heat were
Speaker 2: on the on the winning side of that kind of heartbreak,
Speaker 2: you know, ten years ago, and ten years later they
Speaker 2: suffer a sort of a similar heartbreak at the end
Speaker 2: of Game six. I mean, they were winning when the
Speaker 2: buzzer sounded, but you know, Derk White's tippin was in
Speaker 2: the air and so and then obviously they're facing the
Speaker 2: prospect they've lost the three zero series lead, right, they've
Speaker 2: blown it. It's now tied three to three. So the
Speaker 2: resilience and the sort of fight and the mental toughness
Speaker 2: to come back from that Game six loss and the
Speaker 2: way it ended and come back and win Game seven
Speaker 2: on the road, it's pretty remarkable. It's you know, it
Speaker 2: was at all the Boston games in the series, and
Speaker 2: I think this was the third time that I came
Speaker 2: away stunned by what was happening. And those are the
Speaker 2: three Heat wins. I'm you know, it's one of those
Speaker 2: series where it's like the first three. What was most
Speaker 2: surprising the first the fact that the Heat were up
Speaker 2: three zero, the fact that the Celtics came back and
Speaker 2: sighed it, or the fact that the Heat won Game
Speaker 2: seven on the road. I don't know. It's just a rollercoaster,
Speaker 2: and it was all pretty stunning. Nothing was sort of
Speaker 2: by the books.
Speaker 1: Wild variations throughout the course of it, and it was
Speaker 1: incredible to watch. Another part of that, too, probably surprised
Speaker 1: a lot of people, was Caleb Martin. And we can
Speaker 1: gush and gush as we should about what Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: has been able to do throughout the course of these
Speaker 1: playoffs and last night twenty eight points, seven rebounds, six assists,
Speaker 1: But Caleb Martin has been, you know, a individual here
Speaker 1: who we all have now come to learn and know
Speaker 1: his story. We've watched him throughout the course of the
Speaker 1: early part of his career playing for Charlotte, waved by
Speaker 1: the Hornets, picked up here by this Heat team, and
Speaker 1: he has been as steady as they come. Last night
Speaker 1: twenty six points, ten rebounds, eleven to sixteen from the field,
Speaker 1: four to six from a three point line. Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: does win the MVP of the Eastern Conference Final, Shoe.
Speaker 1: I'm curious, did your I think there was a lot
Speaker 1: of thought that maybe that would be Caleb Martin's trophy
Speaker 1: to have. I don't think any of them care as
Speaker 1: long as they are headed to the finals. But did
Speaker 1: what did Caleb Martin show you throughout this not just
Speaker 1: his play last night, with the consistency throughout the course
Speaker 1: of this postseason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the MVP vote was five to four. I was
Speaker 2: one of the four votes for Caleb Martin. It's amazing.
Speaker 2: This is a guy is in his fourth NBA season.
Speaker 2: He's never had his career high average scoring was this year.
Speaker 2: He averaged nine point four points per game. A year
Speaker 2: ago he was so it was less than two years ago.
Speaker 2: He was signed by the Heat late in the summer,
Speaker 2: right like he was sort of almost an afterthought in
Speaker 2: that offseason, but he was in their rotation in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Last year. He played every game until Game seven of
Speaker 2: the Eastern Conference Finals, and he was d MP. You know,
Speaker 2: they shortened their rotation and he didn't play. So then
Speaker 2: exactly one year ago to the date, Game seven again
Speaker 2: and he scores twenty six points. I voted him for MVP.
Speaker 2: You know, Jimmy Butler scored more in the series. I thought,
Speaker 2: you know, Martin was was obviously the more efficient scorer,
Speaker 2: and I just thought he bailed them out of so
Speaker 2: many late clock situations. I think we've spoken about this,
Speaker 2: like he in each of the last two series against
Speaker 2: New York against Boston, they've been living late in the
Speaker 2: shot clock their offense just you know, credit the Celtics defense.
Speaker 2: They've defended like the initial heat actions, you know, pinned
Speaker 2: down screens, dribble handoffs really well, and he'd have been
Speaker 2: living late in the clock. And Caleb Martin has bailed
Speaker 2: them out so many times, whether it be a three
Speaker 2: pointer off the catch or an attack and a crazy
Speaker 2: finish at the rim. And in Game seven, he was
Speaker 2: hitting these fade away turnaround jumpers over Al Horford, it
Speaker 2: over Derek White.
Speaker 1: Onside Martin on.
Speaker 2: One, Caleb Martin is absolutely on five. He was amazing
Speaker 2: so on stat I have so in these playoffs. He's
Speaker 2: been great throughout but obviously he was at his best
Speaker 2: in Game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, but in
Speaker 2: the playoffs overall, he hasn't. Caleb Martin has an effective
Speaker 2: field goal percentage of sixty eight point four percent, which
Speaker 2: would be the best mark, the third best, could be
Speaker 2: the third best mark in NBA history for a player
Speaker 2: with at least one hundred field goal attempts. And that's
Speaker 2: I mean, most of those that sort of the top
Speaker 2: marks are in the last you know, several years because
Speaker 2: of the three point line, and obviously his three point
Speaker 2: shooting has been a big part of that. But that's
Speaker 2: a pretty incredible, uh stat for a guy who is
Speaker 2: just you know, a role player. You know, there's been
Speaker 2: a role player for his entire NBA career, And like,
Speaker 2: I don't know what you can say about the guy
Speaker 2: it speaks, I don't know if it speaks. You know,
Speaker 2: the Hornets chose the other brother, right, but I don't
Speaker 2: know if it speaks more to you know, that being
Speaker 2: a mistake or just the Heat and their system and
Speaker 2: their player development and maybe what's inside Caleb Martin to
Speaker 2: to sort of develop the way he has and just
Speaker 2: step up. You know, the Heat have needed him Tyler
Speaker 2: Hero has been out since Game one of the first round.
Speaker 2: Victor Olodipo has been out since the first round. They've
Speaker 2: needed Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin to score more than
Speaker 2: they ever have, and Caleb Martin especially has has stepped up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and to your point, probably a combination of all
Speaker 1: of those things coming together. So it was glorious on
Speaker 1: the side of the Miami Heat. Not so much for
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics, who have a lot of questions now
Speaker 1: hitting into the offseason. They've had a tremendous amount of
Speaker 1: success with Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, just not reaching
Speaker 1: the pinnacle of hoisting that Larry O'Brian trophy, which is
Speaker 1: the ultimate goal. Jason Tatum gets injured on the first
Speaker 1: play of this game. You could tell he was laboring
Speaker 1: a little bit with that ankle. Ends the game with
Speaker 1: fourteen points eleven rebounds. Jalen Brown struggled nineteen points, but
Speaker 1: was eight to twenty three from the field, one to
Speaker 1: nine from the three point line. Big number that jumps
Speaker 1: out was the eight turnovers that he had. But overall,
Speaker 1: the Celtics struggled, especially against the Miami's zone defense. They
Speaker 1: shot just thirty nine percent from the field, just over
Speaker 1: twenty one percent from the three point line nine of
Speaker 1: forty two. How do you frame not just what Boston
Speaker 1: did throughout the course of this series, the highs and lows,
Speaker 1: but obviously the tremendous amount of disappointment and in particular
Speaker 1: the way Game seven finished, but also for them moving
Speaker 1: forward in the decision that they have to make about
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown, who has an opportunity to be extended here
Speaker 1: five year, two hundred ninety five million dollar contract extension,
Speaker 1: a lot of money that would be put into both
Speaker 1: hate them and Brown still a pair that has not
Speaker 1: quite frankly gotten it done here for Boston in the
Speaker 1: recent past.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean they've been to the Eastern Conference Finals
Speaker 2: five times in the last seven years. And these guys
Speaker 2: are still just twenty five and twenty six years old, right,
Speaker 2: So it's in some ways it's just wow, like that's incredible,
Speaker 2: and wow, they still have several years of contention. But
Speaker 2: then you know, Jail Brown's up for this huge contract
Speaker 2: extension and he's coming off of Game seven where he
Speaker 2: turned the ball over a career high eight times. As
Speaker 2: you said, the zone defense was amazingly the downfall of
Speaker 2: the Celtics. I mean, it's the reason they lost Game two.
Speaker 2: You know, that was the game where the Heat came
Speaker 2: back from two different double digit deficits, and it was
Speaker 2: zone defense that they played to sort of come back
Speaker 2: from both of those double digit deficits. Even in Game
Speaker 2: six the other night, the Celtics were up double digits
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter and the Heat ended up playing
Speaker 2: a lot of zone in that fourth quarter and that
Speaker 2: got them back. And then Game seven, it was zoned
Speaker 2: for almost all the second quarter, almost all the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2: That coincides with Duncan Robinson's time on the floor. Obviously
Speaker 2: they like to play zone to protect him, but they're
Speaker 2: not going to stay in it if it's not working,
Speaker 2: and it was working all the time. In Game seven,
Speaker 2: according to Synergy Tracking, the Celtics had just nineteen points
Speaker 2: on thirty four zone possessions, which is absolutely brutal and
Speaker 2: for the season, for the series overall, they were much
Speaker 2: much more efficient in the half court against man to
Speaker 2: man than they were against zone. It's pretty amazing. Five
Speaker 2: years ago nobody was playing a lot of zone, and
Speaker 2: all of a sudden it is winning the Eastern Conference Finals.
Speaker 2: It's pretty amazing going forward. I think they just I mean,
Speaker 2: these guys are twenty five and twenty six. They're both
Speaker 2: you know, first team and second team All NBA this year.
Speaker 2: I don't know how you can swallow sort of breaking
Speaker 2: them up. At the same time, it's you know, that's
Speaker 2: a lot of money for Jalen Brown, given that he
Speaker 2: hasn't shown that sort of final level of that he'd playmaking.
Speaker 2: I think that he needs to have to be sort
Speaker 2: of a true star in this league. Basically, the one
Speaker 2: question that the Celtics have to face is the Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown question.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of questions to face. Those that will
Speaker 1: be answered for the course of this off season. Is
Speaker 1: they continue on in some answers for some other teams, says,
Speaker 1: we will get to news around the league. Nick Nurse
Speaker 1: hired by the Philadelphia seventy six ers. We will get
Speaker 1: your take on that and gets it for a quick
Speaker 1: little finals preview right after this break. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: mby a Pulse Sarakustik joined by John Schumann and Shoe.
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy six Ers hire Nick Nurse to be their
Speaker 1: new head coach. What's your take on the ways in
Speaker 1: which Nurse can impact the way the roster looks. I
Speaker 1: know there's still questions about James Harden decisions he may
Speaker 1: make in what the roster will look like as a whole.
Speaker 1: But starting with Joel Embiid, what do you think Nick
Speaker 1: Nurse can do on both sides of the ball here
Speaker 1: for this seventy six Ers team.
Speaker 2: I'm really curious to see it. You know, the Sixers
Speaker 2: had a top five offense this year and they may
Speaker 2: you know, they James Harden at point guard made Joel
Speaker 2: Embiid the best offensive player he's ever been. We've talked
Speaker 2: about this, you know, multiple times. I think on this podcast,
Speaker 2: he got him in better positions to score, you know,
Speaker 2: where he was catching the ball twelve ten to twelve
Speaker 2: feet from the basket instead of eighteen or twenty feet
Speaker 2: from the basket. So it will be hard to sort
Speaker 2: of improve on Embiid's scoring or at least his efficiency.
Speaker 2: I think the one thing they could help, but I
Speaker 2: don't know if this is more of a Nick Nurse
Speaker 2: thing just an Embiid thing, is just he's got to
Speaker 2: be a better playmaker when he sees double teams, when
Speaker 2: he sees a crowd out of the post. You know,
Speaker 2: he's got to add a little bit of he doesn't
Speaker 2: have to be Nikolajokic in that in that respect, but
Speaker 2: he's got to add a little bit of that sort
Speaker 2: of Nikolojokic ability to put uh pass out of the
Speaker 2: post for them to sort of maximize themselves offensively. Obviously,
Speaker 2: the James Harden question on that end of the floor
Speaker 2: is huge, and whether he comes back and then defensively,
Speaker 2: you know, Nick Nurse won't be able to do everything
Speaker 2: he did in Toronto when they had you know, a
Speaker 2: great defense both the year they won the championship and
Speaker 2: the following year they were terrific defensively because Bids he
Speaker 2: can't Embiid's got to be able to stay in the paint.
Speaker 2: You know, he can't be you know, I mean he
Speaker 2: could play zone. They could play zone some, which they
Speaker 2: didn't do a lot of this past year, but he
Speaker 2: can't be playing in aggressive style where he's out on
Speaker 2: the perimeter. I mean, shoot Game seven against the Celtics,
Speaker 2: he was you know, the Celtics put him in pick
Speaker 2: and roll all game and he just got torched and
Speaker 2: so and that's a fatigue thing. And again, like if
Speaker 2: you play aggressive defense with MP You're gonna wear him down.
Speaker 2: So I'll be really fascinated to see what happens, because
Speaker 2: you know that team revolves completely about around MB. It's
Speaker 2: a different sort of dynamic than Nick Nurse had in
Speaker 2: Toronto the last few years.
Speaker 1: It will be interesting, especially with all the talent and
Speaker 1: potentially some of the movement across the league, not only
Speaker 1: with players but with some coaches as some very good
Speaker 1: teams still looking to fill positions. Finals, though, we're ready
Speaker 1: and this is a quick turnaround Thursday, eight thirty pm
Speaker 1: Eastern on ABC, it will begin. The Denver Nuggets have
Speaker 1: been sitting waiting to see who their opponent would be.
Speaker 1: Now they know as Miami heads to Denver. When you
Speaker 1: look at the series, you look at the finals in
Speaker 1: the way it's construction. What are some numbers that jump
Speaker 1: out to you that you're looking at and looking for
Speaker 1: when Finals begins.
Speaker 2: It just starts with the Duggets offense. I mean they've
Speaker 2: scored one hundred and nineteen point seven points per one
Speaker 2: hundred possessions in through the first three rounds, which is
Speaker 2: remarkable efficiency. It's the most efficient a team has been
Speaker 2: through three rounds of playoffs in the last six years
Speaker 2: since the twenty seventeen Calves, and it was I mean,
Speaker 2: they were remarkable in the last round. I mean, the
Speaker 2: Lakers had the number one defense through the first two
Speaker 2: rounds one hundred and six point five points allowed for
Speaker 2: one hundred possessions, and then they allowed one twenty two
Speaker 2: point three in the conference finals to the Nuggets. So
Speaker 2: it starts there. It starts with how do you defend
Speaker 2: Nikola Jokic. You know, Bam out of Bayo is a
Speaker 2: great defender, but I don't know if he's a great
Speaker 2: Nikola Jokic defender, And so it starts there. Out of
Speaker 2: Bio hinted in the postgame press conference last night actually
Speaker 2: that they want to take away his assists, so maybe
Speaker 2: they want to make him, you know, more of a score,
Speaker 2: which is tough because, like Nikole, Joki is basically the
Speaker 2: most efficient scorer in the NBA. So he'll be interesting
Speaker 2: to see sort of that dynamic and how aggressive he
Speaker 2: is with his own offense in that series. And then
Speaker 2: you know, you know, putting Jimmy Butler on it on
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray is is great, and then it'll come down
Speaker 2: maybe to you know, how the the other Nuggets shoot
Speaker 2: you know like that, the Heat will sort of show
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray a crowd and pick and roll. They'll pinch,
Speaker 2: you know, off the wings and off the corners and
Speaker 2: and and you know, force other guys to make shots
Speaker 2: and then of course the other end of the floor. Hey,
Speaker 2: if Cale Martin can and can continue to play like
Speaker 2: he is, you know, there's a possibility of Tyler Tyler
Speaker 2: Hero making a return in this series, so that should
Speaker 2: be interesting. But it's tough not to favor the Nuggets
Speaker 2: just given how incredibly good they are offensively, how much
Speaker 2: of a weapon Yokich is, and maybe just how rested
Speaker 2: they're going to be by the time Game one comes around.
Speaker 1: Is that your pick? Is that what we're holding you
Speaker 1: to at this point?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I would say Nuggets in maybe five or six
Speaker 2: would be my pick. But hey, I doubted the Heat before,
Speaker 2: and the Heat have proven themselves to be remarkably resilient
Speaker 2: and remarkably great at finding ways to win. And they've
Speaker 2: won in multiple different ways in these playoffs, shooting ridiculously hot,
Speaker 2: playing great defense, slowing the game down. So nothing would
Speaker 2: shock me. I mean, but hey, if the Miami Heat
Speaker 2: a team that got outscored in the regular season, Can
Speaker 2: can make the finals? You know, anything could happen. I guess.
Speaker 1: Anything could happen, and they believe that. It's been an
Speaker 1: extraordinary story to watch, that's for sure, but it is
Speaker 1: it is going to be something to watch. The difference
Speaker 1: in rest between both these teams as they head into
Speaker 1: Thursday nights Game one. Shoe, You're the best. We appreciate you,
Speaker 1: and we will continue looking and reading all your stuff
Speaker 1: at NBA dot com. Enjoy the rest of these finals.
Speaker 1: As you continue with the coverage, We'll see you soon.
Speaker 1: M VA Pulse with Sarahustak is a production of the
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