Speaker 1: Welcome into the NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Kustak, NBA analyst for the S Network, and
Speaker 1: today is Friday, May seventeenth. From our extraordinary core group
Speaker 1: of NBA journalists were joined now by NBA dot Com
Speaker 1: senior writer Sean Pile. And Sean Pile, you were there,
Speaker 1: you were there for the beatdown. The Minnesota Timberwolves facing elimination,
Speaker 1: just absolutely destroyed a Denver team that went up quick
Speaker 1: early nine to two. But twenty nothing run for the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves just sparked them to come away with a
Speaker 1: forty five point win. Everyone contributed. You take a look
Speaker 1: at the extraordinary defense that we saw in the early
Speaker 1: part of the season, and that was present Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 1: Nineteen of his twenty seven points came in the first half.
Speaker 1: Struggles for Jamal Moore Murray, he was four of eighteen
Speaker 1: from the field ten points. Same goes for Nikola Jokics
Speaker 1: twenty two points. But the fact that really sticks out
Speaker 1: for him just to assist. So it's gonna be interesting
Speaker 1: because as Denver team, they had dropped the first two
Speaker 1: at home. Now get an opportunity to see a game
Speaker 1: seven on Sunday, certainly hard to continue to reel off
Speaker 1: four straight wins, but the way in the manner in
Speaker 1: which Minnesota took care of business at home, no less,
Speaker 1: was extraordinarily impressive. You being there, being in the environment,
Speaker 1: what stood out to you about the way that Minnesota
Speaker 1: took this game six.
Speaker 2: Well, basically they played outplayed Denver on both ends of
Speaker 2: the floor. You thought, okay, you know, maybe their defense
Speaker 2: could come back to the level they had in Game
Speaker 2: two and it had that blowout when in Denver. But
Speaker 2: the offense that Minnesota had, you know, Jane McDaniel's coming through, obviously,
Speaker 2: you had call Athny Towns, Mike Conley coming back after
Speaker 2: missing a game with a cast injury. All those things
Speaker 2: were beneficial to Minnesota. So what we saw in Game
Speaker 2: six was a very balanced Minnesota team, and before it
Speaker 2: was just really Minnesota just shutting Denver down. And again,
Speaker 2: you know, when I look when you look at the score,
Speaker 2: the margin of victory, you know you got to just
Speaker 2: cast out of side because the fourth quarter was really
Speaker 2: just about garbage time and you know, guys coming off
Speaker 2: the bench and whatever. I just think, as you said
Speaker 2: in your opening, the twenty to oh run, the hard
Speaker 2: response after a time out where at that point in
Speaker 2: Carl Anthony Town said, he says, you know, it felt
Speaker 2: like deja vu, you know, all over again. We're in trouble.
Speaker 2: They had to come with a response, and that twenty
Speaker 2: to old run is really what separated Minnesota from Denver.
Speaker 2: And again, you know, you look at the way Anthony
Speaker 2: Towns defended, you know, Nicola Jokic as opposed to Rudy
Speaker 2: Gobert being the front line of events in the previous game,
Speaker 2: Karl Anthony Town has a little bit more, bigger body.
Speaker 2: He really played. I thought that was probably his best
Speaker 2: defensive game, maybe not only of the series, probably of
Speaker 2: his life. You know, I'm sure we can cut it
Speaker 2: up there. All things well, all things considered, Joker was
Speaker 2: coming off a forty piece and it was so epic
Speaker 2: and this team was, you know, on the brink. So
Speaker 2: for Carl Anthony Town to come in and play that
Speaker 2: level of defense helped shut down the passing lanes where
Speaker 2: Joker only has two assists. You know, Joker. Here's the
Speaker 2: thing about Joker, He's going to hurt you two ways.
Speaker 2: He's gonna hurt you with his scoring and he's gonna
Speaker 2: hurt you with his passing. In this game, he really
Speaker 2: didn't hurt them with either either. And I think you
Speaker 2: got to give Carl Anthony town some credit. Obviously. Rudy
Speaker 2: Gobert also served as a floater, and in this series,
Speaker 2: I think that's his best role. That way, he steers clear,
Speaker 2: there's a foul trouble, he can come in after say
Speaker 2: what shot comes around eight seconds Now he's coming in
Speaker 2: and providing the double team, helping out call Anthony Towns,
Speaker 2: also keeping Aaron Gordon at bay. He did a very
Speaker 2: good job that overall. Look, it was a triumphant night
Speaker 2: for the Wolves. It was a night they had to have.
Speaker 2: There's really no choice. They had to have that type
Speaker 2: of night. And of course Anthony Anthony Edwards was tremendous.
Speaker 2: You know in the first half, we took that little
Speaker 2: spill there in second half. You know, there was a
Speaker 2: big hush in the crowd when he fell on the floor,
Speaker 2: fell on his tailbone. He says, hey, I'm not a
Speaker 2: football player anymore. I don't have any paths anymore. So
Speaker 2: I kind of felt that one. But the triumphant night,
Speaker 2: Anthony Edwards is on the floor for a minute, But
Speaker 2: to be honest with you, the Denver Nuggets were on
Speaker 2: the floor ball game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it's important you brought up early
Speaker 1: on Mike Conley. The numbers may not show it. He
Speaker 1: of course missed Game five with that sore calf, but
Speaker 1: just his ability to set the tone, the ten or
Speaker 1: the leadership, all of those things I thought felt so valuable.
Speaker 2: And Jade McDaniels.
Speaker 1: When you talk about Minnesota dominating on both ends of
Speaker 1: the floor, Jade McDaniel. McDaniels so often is the key
Speaker 1: to that twenty one points four rebounds. But I think
Speaker 1: to just how he's able to really do such a
Speaker 1: nice job, whether it's on Porter or whether it's on Murray.
Speaker 1: So it just overall a nice team effort. They will
Speaker 1: play Game seven exciting for us on Sunday, and there
Speaker 1: could be another potential Game seven on Sunday, but we
Speaker 1: will see as Tonight at eight thirty pm Eastern on ESPN,
Speaker 1: the New York Knicks will take on the Indiana Pacers.
Speaker 1: They're one went away from reaching the Eastern Conference Final
Speaker 1: for the first time since two thousand Seawan and they
Speaker 1: pounded the Pacers. It's been interesting to watch the back
Speaker 1: and forth of these teams and how they've played at
Speaker 1: home versus on the road. But Jalen Brunson was once
Speaker 1: again special forty four points. He has averaged thirty two
Speaker 1: in this series. It was a big game for Josh
Speaker 1: hart isay A Hertenstein with seventeen rebounds. That was certainly
Speaker 1: a huge factor. Tyrese Haliburton has been still trying to
Speaker 1: find his groove. He had thirteen points, Pascal Siakam with
Speaker 1: twenty two. But it felt like a Pacers team that
Speaker 1: didn't come out with that same punch, same physicality. The
Speaker 1: pace was something that did not necessarily factor in quite
Speaker 1: as much as we saw in the previous wins. So
Speaker 1: you look ahead here to tonight back in Indiana, what
Speaker 1: do you anticipate with this game and do you think
Speaker 1: the Pacers will be able to extend it to a
Speaker 1: game seven?
Speaker 2: Well, obviously everything is about Charrees Haliburton, as you know
Speaker 2: with the Pacers, he is there, Nikola Jokic from the
Speaker 2: sense that he gets everybody involved when he's having a
Speaker 2: big night scoring and passing. Usually the Pacers are dangerous
Speaker 2: and probably on most nights, the best team on the floor.
Speaker 2: But Halliburton has only had impact in two of these games.
Speaker 2: Otherwise he's sort of disappeared, been a non factor. And again,
Speaker 2: when he's a non factor, that team struggles because everything
Speaker 2: is dependent on him, his scoring, his floor vision, his passing.
Speaker 2: You know, it's sort of like, you know, the spokes
Speaker 2: in the wheel, they're really dependent on that core. And
Speaker 2: if you shut down Halliburton, you have a pretty good
Speaker 2: chance of shutting down the Pacers. Conversely, you're talking about
Speaker 2: Jaylen Brunson. If you shut down Jaylen Brunson, you have
Speaker 2: a good chance of shutting down the Knicks. The problem is,
Speaker 2: Jaylen Brunson has five forty pieces in these playoffs. He's
Speaker 2: averaging thirty four points in these playoffs. Arguably, you know,
Speaker 2: he's one of the top three players in the playoffs
Speaker 2: with Anthony Edwards and Nicole Jokic. He's had that much
Speaker 2: of an impact only in his team. And in this series,
Speaker 2: I think with the Knicks, number one, is og Anenobi
Speaker 2: going to be able to play? I mean that's going
Speaker 2: to be a big key. And again, obviously how Burton
Speaker 2: is he going to show up? And how much does
Speaker 2: this home court advantage mean in this game? Coming up.
Speaker 2: It could go either way. I'm going to give the
Speaker 2: Pacers the benefit of a doubt. I have a kind
Speaker 2: of a hard time thinking with their season on the
Speaker 2: line and back home and coming off a bad game,
Speaker 2: that Tyre's Halliburton will have a tough night. I think
Speaker 2: he'll probably figure it out for a Game seven. I
Speaker 2: think the series deserves a game seven. Again, you're talking
Speaker 2: about two teams who are sort of evenly matched, two
Speaker 2: teams that are a bit of a surprise to go
Speaker 2: this far. And I know the Knicks have had a
Speaker 2: decent season, but they've had some injuries and you felt
Speaker 2: that at some point they would reach a day of reckoning.
Speaker 2: Well that hasn't happened. And for the Pacers, they've been
Speaker 2: a little lucky to get this far. You know they
Speaker 2: played Milwaukee, know Jannis and Dame missed two games, obviously
Speaker 2: that was a factor. So I think, again, this series
Speaker 2: deserves a game set. I'd like to think that Halliburton
Speaker 2: will not have a bad game, and I just think
Speaker 2: it would be fantastic just to see the crowd potential
Speaker 2: Game seven off the charge. You know, the atmosphere, and
Speaker 2: I don't know anyone who doesn't root for a decisive, winner,
Speaker 2: take all game.
Speaker 1: We certainly do. Sean, maybe the team that's up three
Speaker 1: to two in the series is not rooting sure that
Speaker 1: Game seven, but otherwise you better believe we do and
Speaker 1: it will be fun. It'll be interesting to see just
Speaker 1: how the Pacers respond. Have been perfect at home so
Speaker 1: far the season and some decisive wins, most recently against
Speaker 1: the Knicks in this one. So yeah, but for all
Speaker 1: of us, I think we do root for Game sevens
Speaker 1: will we see a Game seven out West again? Tomorrow Saturday,
Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks will play the Oklahoma City Thunder. The
Speaker 1: Mads currently up three to two in that series, and
Speaker 1: it's been interesting. The last win the Dallas had. It
Speaker 1: was a complete team effort, but so much sometimes with
Speaker 1: Dallas is also predicated on how they can play on.
Speaker 2: The defensive end.
Speaker 1: That's been a big shift of what we've seen out
Speaker 1: of them this season. Luka Doncic was excellent triple double
Speaker 1: thirty one points, ten rebounds, eleven assists. Derek Jones Junior
Speaker 1: really really supporting cast in a big night, and how
Speaker 1: he was able to contribute as the starting lineup nineteen points.
Speaker 1: Shay Gills Alexander terrific once again thirty points, eight assists,
Speaker 1: six rebounds. But as we kind of fast forward and
Speaker 1: look ahead, the way we've seen this series gone has
Speaker 1: gone in just how it's kind of changed throughout the
Speaker 1: course of it. I think so often we talked about
Speaker 1: the veteran presence or just the experience that Luka Doncic
Speaker 1: and Kyrie Irving have, but so much of it has
Speaker 1: been some of the other complimentary pieces in how Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City is able to combat that with who else is
Speaker 1: helping SGA. Do you think Dallas closes things out on
Speaker 1: Saturday or do you think we once again will have
Speaker 1: another game seven here between these two teams in the West.
Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you what I want. I want
Speaker 2: what you want? You want a Game seven, But let's
Speaker 2: just look at this from you know, and it could happen,
Speaker 2: by the way, But I think the Mavericks are a
Speaker 2: little bit in the driver's seat. We know, first of all,
Speaker 2: Kyrie Irving, he brings championship experience in this situation, he
Speaker 2: knows how to hit, you know, big time game winning shots.
Speaker 2: In this situation, I'm going to give him a bit
Speaker 2: of an advantage over any other player. On the floor
Speaker 2: for that very reason, and the fact that he is
Speaker 2: on the Dallas Mavericks speaks well for the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 2: Luca Dantis. First of all, I'm not so sure Luca
Speaker 2: is one hundred percent, and I know nobody's one hundred
Speaker 2: percent at this time of year. But if he can
Speaker 2: move around the floor, get to his spots and not
Speaker 2: grab a body part in the process, I mean, that's
Speaker 2: a huge, huge advance. Now, look, if you look at
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City, everyone's going to say, well, you know, maybe
Speaker 2: this is just going to be choked up. There's a
Speaker 2: great learning experience. You know, it's a youthful new nuclear is.
Speaker 2: They'll have their moment and everything. I think every player
Speaker 2: on that floor does not want to be in that position.
Speaker 2: I think every player in that floor for Oklahoma City
Speaker 2: feels that our time is now right. Remember they got
Speaker 2: to the NBA Finals with a young Kevin Durant, a
Speaker 2: young James Harden, a young Russell Westbrook, and no one
Speaker 2: was saying, well, you know, you got to pay your
Speaker 2: dues all that sort of thing. So it's happened before,
Speaker 2: not only in the NBA, it's happened to this franchise
Speaker 2: I think Shay Gillis Alexander is a gamer. You know,
Speaker 2: he is a money player, and I know he doesn't
Speaker 2: have a lot of experience, but I'm going to give
Speaker 2: him a little bit of edge over players who lack
Speaker 2: that type of experience because his game is so methodical,
Speaker 2: his game is so mature. He's a type of guy
Speaker 2: who's going to find his spots, you know, draw foul
Speaker 2: trouble on the defense, you know, break down defenses, get
Speaker 2: his teammates involved. Probably not as much took level as
Speaker 2: Luka Doncis or Nikola Jokic, but again they sort of,
Speaker 2: you know, look to his queue and fall in line.
Speaker 2: I'm a little worried about a guy like Chet Holmgren,
Speaker 2: who you know, now his season is really being extended.
Speaker 2: Is he going to be able to hit some big shots,
Speaker 2: have some big moments against a Dallas front line is
Speaker 2: also kind of young. But they're gonna need Chet to
Speaker 2: be probably at the level of Shay Gillis Alexander for
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City to brave you know, the crowd on the
Speaker 2: road and everything, and to take this series back to
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fun. I certainly wouldn't argue if we
Speaker 1: have multiple game sevens throughout the course of this second round.
Speaker 1: One that did not go to seven games was that
Speaker 1: Boston Cavalier series at the Celtics did advance, we get
Speaker 1: a little bit more. We're gonna take a quick break,
Speaker 1: Sean and talk about what is next for the Lakers
Speaker 1: in their head coaching higher. Welcome back to me a
Speaker 1: post Sara Kustak, joined by the Great Sean poll in Sewan. Obviously,
Speaker 1: this is a time of year that teams are starting
Speaker 1: to make decisions pending where they're at and what has
Speaker 1: happened with elimination. The Los Angeles Lakers did part ways
Speaker 1: with Darvin Ham. So now it's been on the coaching surfich.
Speaker 1: There's been reports, there's been names, there's been interviews taking place.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts and perspective on what you think
Speaker 1: the Lakers should do and what you anticipate them doing.
Speaker 2: Well, let me give you the perspective from some of
Speaker 2: the prospective candidates. I'm a little troubled by this situation
Speaker 2: for two reasons. Number One, you have a pretty good
Speaker 2: idea You're only going to have Lebron James for two years,
Speaker 2: two more years, So if you sound like a four
Speaker 2: year contract and you're only getting Lebron James for half
Speaker 2: that contract. What's going to happen after he is at
Speaker 2: that he retires and you're assuming that Lebron James would
Speaker 2: come back and play those two years at the level
Speaker 2: in which he's played this past year. Eventually, father time,
Speaker 2: you know, catches up to everyone, even the great Lebron
Speaker 2: James Number two. I want to know who's going to
Speaker 2: be on my team? I mean the Lakers right now?
Speaker 2: Are they going to try to you know, put a
Speaker 2: package together get a third star? You know, I'm not
Speaker 2: so sure. And finally, one other thing, The Lakers just
Speaker 2: got finished hiring and then firing a first time head coach. Right,
Speaker 2: So if I'm a first time a potential first time
Speaker 2: head coach, like say JJ Reddick, I'm like, wait a minute, now,
Speaker 2: they got rid of Darbenham pretty quickly. Who's to say
Speaker 2: that won't happen to me?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: And the other thing, one other thing about being a
Speaker 2: first time head coach. Everyone brings up, well, you know
Speaker 2: pat Riley did it, well, you know Doc Rivers did it. Okay, Well,
Speaker 2: those are more exceptions to the norm. I'm thinking if
Speaker 2: I'm the Lakers, and I have Lebron James Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2: All Right, Lebron James is on the clock. He wants
Speaker 2: to try to win another championship before he retires. I've
Speaker 2: got to put this team in the hands of an
Speaker 2: experienced coach. And I know they're not all out there
Speaker 2: waiting for the phone call and everything and all the
Speaker 2: good ones are taken. I get that, But I have
Speaker 2: to think really long and hard before I give this
Speaker 2: team in this current situation to a first time head
Speaker 2: coach and say, halfway through the season, things are going wrong. Right.
Speaker 2: We saw at Milwaukee this past season, right, we saw it.
Speaker 2: Hear it with the Lakers with Darvin Ham, and I
Speaker 2: think they have to think very hard about that, about
Speaker 2: who you're potentially getting in, how he's going to mess
Speaker 2: with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, and how can he
Speaker 2: get over the speed bump bumps that are definitely going
Speaker 2: to come this season. The Lakers are not an elite team.
Speaker 2: They're a good team, but they're not an elite team.
Speaker 2: And I'm not so sure a first time head coach
Speaker 2: is going to get them over that hump.
Speaker 1: It got to be interesting to watch and monitor and
Speaker 1: obviously important decisions to be made, not only for the Lakers,
Speaker 1: but some other teams around the league. And in the meantime,
Speaker 1: we are going to have fun. We're going to enjoy
Speaker 1: the playoffs, the postseason. I know you will, Sean Pal,
Speaker 1: be very safe in your travels. We will continue to
Speaker 1: read all your stuff on NBA dot com, watch all
Speaker 1: you stuff on NBA TV, and until next time, have
Speaker 1: a good one.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you. Always is Sarah.
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