Speaker 1: And here it's Yong that shack spy. It's just Young
Speaker 1: flex It Come.
Speaker 2: Yo, Hi go.
Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarahcustack, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and today
Speaker 1: is Wednesday, April twenty six. From our extraordinary core group
Speaker 1: of NBA journalists, We're joined now by NBA dot Com
Speaker 1: senior writer Steve Ashburner. Steve, I'm excited for you. We
Speaker 1: got a big slate of game four, Game fives, four
Speaker 1: of them here tonight. You're headed to Memphis pretty soon, correct,
Speaker 1: But before we get to that game and preview the
Speaker 1: other four games, let's talk about last night. What a
Speaker 1: win by the Atlanta Hawks, led by Trey Young thirty
Speaker 1: eight points, thirteen assists. They continue to give Boston a
Speaker 1: little bit of a push here. Boston still leads the
Speaker 1: series three to two, but it also extends this series
Speaker 1: of which the Philadelphia seventy six ers Joel Embiid as
Speaker 1: he was hobbled a little bit in their sweep of
Speaker 1: the Nets, get some more time to rest. That series
Speaker 1: won't start until Monday, May first. But what did you
Speaker 1: see out of Trey Young? In particular one nineteen one
Speaker 1: seventeen Hawks win at Boston without Dejonte Murray and what
Speaker 1: he's done for this Hawks group to uh, to give
Speaker 1: the Celtics more than maybe a lot of us expected.
Speaker 2: Well, I think a lot of people will remember, you know,
Speaker 2: how Trey Young went into Madison Square Garden and you know,
Speaker 2: silenced the crowd and became a new century Reggie Miller
Speaker 2: in a sense in terms of taking on that what
Speaker 2: seemed would seem like an insurmountable disadvantage, and he did
Speaker 2: the same thing. He didn't have Jihntay Murray at his side,
Speaker 2: and he went into you know, Tea Garden and you know,
Speaker 2: took it to Celtics fans who had every right, I think,
Speaker 2: to expect that their team would end this series, and
Speaker 2: you know, it would move up the the East Semifinal
Speaker 2: series with Philadelphia a couple of day games, but it
Speaker 2: would certainly ease things for the Celtics had they taken
Speaker 2: care of business last night. You know, Trey Young, I
Speaker 2: threw him an All NBA vote, And he's got as
Speaker 2: many critics as he has supporters, it seems, and people don't,
Speaker 2: you know, like his game. They Siddenly don't like his defense.
Speaker 2: They feel that he's not necessarily a great team player,
Speaker 2: but you know, the guy puts up the numbers. He's
Speaker 2: not an off court issue at all. And for him
Speaker 2: with Murray out to do what he did and that
Speaker 2: shot was unbelievable. I mean I scared. I scared the
Speaker 2: people in my house because I let out such a
Speaker 2: yell when it happened. Now, I will admit that had
Speaker 2: Boston won that game, I would have had to go
Speaker 2: to work immediately write a series preview story about six
Speaker 2: or Celtics. So I was able to kick that can
Speaker 2: down the road a couple of days at least before
Speaker 2: I have to preview that that e semifinal.
Speaker 1: So you're screaming for multiple reasons.
Speaker 2: I was screaming for a much easier night and morning today,
Speaker 2: But mostly I was I was screaming for the drama
Speaker 2: of Trey Young just sort of sticking it in people's
Speaker 2: faces and pushing this thing.
Speaker 1: Young that's a come.
Speaker 2: Go unreal how good he has been just willing this team.
Speaker 2: I do wonder whether and I know you know, on
Speaker 2: paper and by most measures, Atlanta's a better team with
Speaker 2: John D. Murray. There's no doubt about it. He's a
Speaker 2: good player. But you know, does Trey Young get in
Speaker 2: as comfortable a rhythm if you know he's sharing opportunities
Speaker 2: with Murray, you know, the ball it doesn't end up
Speaker 2: in his hands quite as much. I think it's been
Speaker 2: interesting to sort of see how teams respond when they've
Speaker 2: been without a key player, whether it's Golden State without Draymond,
Speaker 2: whether it's Memphis without Jah. I mean, that's the one
Speaker 2: game they've won in that series. Now the Clippers. You know,
Speaker 2: it's one thing to do things without Paul George or
Speaker 2: Kawhi Leonard, but when you don't have either. But I
Speaker 2: just think it's an interesting dynamic. I don't know, maybe
Speaker 2: you can speak to that, but when you're down a
Speaker 2: key guy, what goes on with whoever's left standing standing?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Well, and I think we saw that to your point.
Speaker 1: The big question coming into that season when the Hawks
Speaker 1: acquired de Jonte Murray was how those two not only
Speaker 1: were going to play alongside one another, but the opportunity
Speaker 1: to stagger them a little bit. And I think the
Speaker 1: Murray component was also a defensive component. But those two
Speaker 1: players getting used to playing off the ball, and I
Speaker 1: think that's something that was still a work in progress.
Speaker 1: Obviously the change with Quin Sny coming over as a
Speaker 1: head coach, how he had tried to kind of mix
Speaker 1: and match those players, but that it was a big
Speaker 1: night from John Collins, and that I think is something
Speaker 1: else we were waiting on. Twenty three points bogdan Bogdanovic
Speaker 1: came in. He's always been solid. I also think with
Speaker 1: Boston and off night, you don't see this often from
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, the fact he was nineteen eight and eight,
Speaker 1: but he went eight to twenty one from the field,
Speaker 1: one to ten from the three point line. So it's
Speaker 1: going to be interesting to see. But I think the
Speaker 1: key part of that, as you said, and we talk
Speaker 1: about just Philadelphia waiting in the wings there knowing they
Speaker 1: have a little bit more time to rest up, something
Speaker 1: that Dac Rivers and Joel Embiid, James Harden, I'm sure
Speaker 1: they're very pleased about. There was some clarity and some
Speaker 1: of the other series last night. Denver closed out the
Speaker 1: series against the Timberwolves, and the Suns closed out the
Speaker 1: series against the Clippers. As you mentioned, the team playing
Speaker 1: without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, so Phoenix, Denver. No,
Speaker 1: they're going to play one another, but we're still waiting
Speaker 1: to hear what's going to happen with some of the others,
Speaker 1: and maybe we will see opportunities to close out series
Speaker 1: here tonight, Not sure if will happen. Let's start with
Speaker 1: the seven pm game on NBA TV, the New York
Speaker 1: Knicks at the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks with a three
Speaker 1: to one series lead. The Cavs did win Game two
Speaker 1: at home, but the Knicks have taken care of business
Speaker 1: and all the others. This has been a series that
Speaker 1: has been predicated on defense, rebounding. We haven't seen a
Speaker 1: lot of high scoring games when you look at this
Speaker 1: game at Cleveland, but with the Knicks a chance to
Speaker 1: close it out, what are your expectations for what will
Speaker 1: happen this evening?
Speaker 2: Well, like you just said, another low scoring game. I
Speaker 2: think I think Tom Thibodeau is in his glory with
Speaker 2: these defensive tussles' that's you know, old school TIBs, and
Speaker 2: I just think New York has played harder. I think
Speaker 2: they have a little bit more versatile attack. I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, Julius Randall is not himself, but I just think,
Speaker 2: you know, with with the way they play, Jalen Brunson,
Speaker 2: you know, so far being the better offseason pickup judged
Speaker 2: by the postseason compared to Donovan Mitchell. You know you're
Speaker 2: gonna go with Brunson to this point in this series, Cleveland,
Speaker 2: to me, has I think they've been caught on their heels.
Speaker 2: I don't think they expected the Knicks to be as
Speaker 2: difficult a matchup. I didn't think, you know, they probably
Speaker 2: didn't expect to have as much pushback. They're very proud
Speaker 2: of their talent in Cleveland, their talent level, and they're
Speaker 2: very backcourt dominated, and so you know, if they don't
Speaker 2: get more from the front line, I think they're going
Speaker 2: to continue to get you know, out toughed and and
Speaker 2: ultimately outscored by by the Knicks. And you know, I
Speaker 2: don't know that that makes the Knicks a, you know,
Speaker 2: any sort of a great threat to keep advance. But
Speaker 2: I do expect bulldprick bold pick here. When the team's
Speaker 2: up three to one, I do expect them to get
Speaker 2: things done, and I think it could be as soon
Speaker 2: as tonight. I think that Cleveland is, you know, they're
Speaker 2: playing on eggshells in a sense and their crowd would
Speaker 2: deserve to be highly disappointed if they go out in
Speaker 2: five games, So it could be a funky atmosphere.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and considering they did lose game one at home
Speaker 1: to this next team who's playing confident, playing well, and
Speaker 1: playing with the character that, as you know very well,
Speaker 1: Chicago blood Tom Thibodeau likes, likes to employ and he's
Speaker 1: got a lot of guys that fit the mold of
Speaker 1: how he wants to play. They will await. We will
Speaker 1: get to some interesting things that happened in the East
Speaker 1: between that matchup.
Speaker 2: What it will be.
Speaker 1: We will get to that Milwaukee Miami game in just
Speaker 1: a minute, But first at seven thirty PM on T
Speaker 1: and T, another incredibly intriguing series, one that has had
Speaker 1: a lot of storylines both on and off the floor
Speaker 1: of the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Memphis Grizzlies and
Speaker 1: the Lakers have that three to one series lead. As
Speaker 1: you mentioned, you will be making the drive down to
Speaker 1: cover that game one which has had a lot of
Speaker 1: highlight plays, a lot of fireworks, and a lot that
Speaker 1: have come down to the the end of games, close games,
Speaker 1: six seconds left. Le Bron's got it till them and
Speaker 1: autumn Lakers down too, Chains off the window, run up,
Speaker 1: basket by chains, tied on Memphis.
Speaker 2: We're tied in one oh four.
Speaker 1: Can the Lakers close it out in Memphis tonight?
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely. I think when you're you're a team as
Speaker 2: hobbled as Memphis is, you've already dug down once too,
Speaker 2: you know, to show your resiliency. So that's on the record.
Speaker 2: You know, we give them all due for that, but
Speaker 2: to know that, you know, in the back of their minds,
Speaker 2: you know, we've got to push this thing back to La.
Speaker 2: The Lakers are going home to Los Angeles regardless, because
Speaker 2: there would be time before the next round. And you know,
Speaker 2: it's just it's can you do it again? I mean
Speaker 2: jam Rand, every time he goes to the floor, you're
Speaker 2: wondering how much pain is he feeling. I mean, maybe
Speaker 2: he's not reinjuring, but he's clearly got discomfort in that hand,
Speaker 2: and it's it's kind of painful to watch him play. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And I think I think the Lakers on our old
Speaker 2: are the Lakers team that we saw down the stretch.
Speaker 2: Lebron would be happy to stick it to Dylan Brooks
Speaker 2: and the Grizzlies crowd as an extension of him. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I think I think the Lakers are you know, not
Speaker 2: just by numbers in games one so far, but I
Speaker 2: think I've considered them favorites in this series because of
Speaker 2: no Brandon Clark, no Steven Adams, you know, a half
Speaker 2: capable John Morant. It's just too much to ask.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we talk a lot about lebron Ja deservedly so,
Speaker 1: but to play from Austin Reeves, Ruy Hachimura, Dangel Russell,
Speaker 1: wiss some big play, I mean Jared Vanderbilt, right, some
Speaker 1: of those trade deadline pickups, moves that have been made
Speaker 1: for that team have paid dividends here early on in
Speaker 1: this series. We are going to get to the other
Speaker 1: two games on the slate tonight, including waiting to see
Speaker 1: kind of how these series plays out. Who opponents may
Speaker 1: be Miami at Milwaukee, Golden State at Sacramento. That's coming
Speaker 1: up next. Welcome back to NBA Pulse, Sarah Coustak joined
Speaker 1: by Steve Ashburner and Ash. We got a great slate tonight.
Speaker 1: As we said, four game fives, we already went through
Speaker 1: the first two. Let's look at the latter ones at
Speaker 1: nine thirty pm on NBA TV, Miami Heat at the
Speaker 1: Milwaukee Bucks. Who would have thought Miami with a three
Speaker 1: to one series lead. Jannis did come back to play
Speaker 1: in Game four and Biolic I think we thought that's
Speaker 1: when the Bucks would start to turn things on, but
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler had other ideas. Coming off of an extraordinary
Speaker 1: game playoff. Jimmy is a real thing, Butler one.
Speaker 2: Jimmy Butler has done it again. We talked about the
Speaker 2: big first half.
Speaker 1: He had twenty four points twenty two in the first
Speaker 1: quarter alone, but when the.
Speaker 2: Heat needed him the most, he is absolutely delivered.
Speaker 1: What is your expectation? I will say for tonight, but
Speaker 1: also in the big picture of this series, the number
Speaker 1: one seed playing a Miami Heat team that had lost
Speaker 1: their first playing game, had to win another against the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bulls just to get into that eight seed, and
Speaker 1: now this commanding lead against a Buck team that we
Speaker 1: assumed would roll.
Speaker 2: Let's let's give you know, credit to Eric's bolster, very
Speaker 2: crafty maneuvering to get down to the eighth seed from seven, right,
Speaker 2: lose to Atlanta, then get in his eighth so you
Speaker 2: get to face Milwaukee rather than Boston. I never would
Speaker 2: have thought, you know, I joke like that up until
Speaker 2: the other night. But this Bucks team has has been
Speaker 2: a big disappointment. Now look, I get it, you don't
Speaker 2: have Giannas for two and two thirds games of the
Speaker 2: first of four, you know, but Miami has not had
Speaker 2: Tyler Ira, a guy they rely on for you know,
Speaker 2: a significant part of their offense. Once again, as we
Speaker 2: spoke about with Trey Young and Jent Murray, sometimes it's
Speaker 2: streamlines things when when a guy is out and you
Speaker 2: know Tyler Hero, you know his usageer eight the time
Speaker 2: he takes up in possessions. Miami hasn't had that. They've
Speaker 2: just been able to boom, give the ball to Jimmy
Speaker 2: and count on that. Now, if if the Bucks are
Speaker 2: is good at defense, team, as the numbers during the
Speaker 2: regular season showed, if their individuals are as good as
Speaker 2: the attention that they get. With Brooks Lopez the second
Speaker 2: in the Defensive Player of the Year voting this year,
Speaker 2: Giannis has won that award. Drew Holliday was named recently
Speaker 2: by in a survey of NBA players by The Athletic
Speaker 2: as the league's best defender. They got to figure out
Speaker 2: a way to throttle down Jimmy Butler, So I'll be curious,
Speaker 2: and then what what does that allowed to pop up
Speaker 2: from other guys? I mean, if Duncan Robinson beats you
Speaker 2: at this point after the year he had, you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know how you deal with that. You can say, oh,
Speaker 2: well that's fine, but not when you're the number one
Speaker 2: seed like the Milwaukee Bucks. Chris Middleton has a lot
Speaker 2: of Buck sands as upset with him, nearly as much
Speaker 2: as they're upset with Mike Buttenholtzer. You know, to not
Speaker 2: call the time out during the thirteen oh run is
Speaker 2: for a guy who uses every timeout he has at
Speaker 2: his disposal, you know, the the infant miss use it
Speaker 2: or lose it with just over three minutes left in
Speaker 2: games when he has three for him not to somehow
Speaker 2: break the momentum. Get Giannis a breather. I didn't understand
Speaker 2: that at all. The Milwaukee Bucks look very soft right
Speaker 2: now physically and mentally in terms of what Miami has
Speaker 2: been doing to them. And I would normally say, well,
Speaker 2: they're going to blow out Miami. They're not going to
Speaker 2: take three defeats in a row. Now, you know, in
Speaker 2: game in Game five, but I can't say that with
Speaker 2: any confidence based on the Milwaukee team I saw in
Speaker 2: Game four. So you know, we may end up with
Speaker 2: the Miami Heat upsetting the number one seed and facing
Speaker 2: the New York Knicks in any semifinal series, which would
Speaker 2: be you know, back to the future.
Speaker 1: Back to the future, and man, would that be interesting
Speaker 1: with those coaches going at one another in the characteristic
Speaker 1: of these teams and these players. But as we know,
Speaker 1: can't the Bucks out yet with the talent that they
Speaker 1: have on the roster with Giannis though, it is very,
Speaker 1: very challenging to say the least, to come back from
Speaker 1: a three to one series deficit. The series that is
Speaker 1: tied up here in our Game fives is the Golden
Speaker 1: State Warriors at the Sacramento Kings. That will be a
Speaker 1: ten pm Eastern on TNT. Deerren Fox is listed technically doubtful, yes,
Speaker 1: with a fractured finger, but there has been a lot
Speaker 1: of scuffle and a lot of speculation that he still
Speaker 1: may try to make a go of it, So that
Speaker 1: will obviously be a major factor and significance in what happens,
Speaker 1: and even if he does go how that may affect
Speaker 1: his play. But these games have been extraordinarily close. The
Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors took care of home, as did the
Speaker 1: Sacramento Kings back in Sacramento here for Game five, Ash,
Speaker 1: what do you make of this series? And I guess
Speaker 1: the expectations with the uncertainty whether Fox will play in
Speaker 1: what he may look like.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll be amazed if he doesn't try to play
Speaker 2: at least. I mean, this is this is home court
Speaker 2: advantage at State Care. I mean, they need to defend it.
Speaker 2: If if I feel like if Golden State they're gonna
Speaker 2: have to win one game on the road, if they're
Speaker 2: going to advance, they wait till game seven. You may
Speaker 2: come to that. But if they win it tonight, I
Speaker 2: don't think this goes back to Sacramento. I think I
Speaker 2: think the Warriors would close this thing out in six.
Speaker 2: I mean, once they know they can win on the
Speaker 2: road and get it done at that building they got to,
Speaker 2: they go home and they don't want to take another
Speaker 2: bus ride. So I think the uh, you know, I
Speaker 2: think there Darren Fox, he's just been you know, magnificent,
Speaker 2: and he will try. He's a young guy. I have
Speaker 2: no idea what the discomfort is that he's feeling. Or
Speaker 2: the limitations of you know, having that, you know, finger
Speaker 2: taped and what that would do. He's a left handed shooter,
Speaker 2: so it's it's something I think, if anything, his being
Speaker 2: less than one hundred percent or maybe even at a
Speaker 2: being able to complete the game directly is a challenge
Speaker 2: to demonte Sabonis and he needs to pick it up.
Speaker 2: He needs to sort of just streamline everything, as I
Speaker 2: talked about earlier when he got a key teammate out
Speaker 2: and you just do your thing, and I and I
Speaker 2: think he has a decided advantage in height and in
Speaker 2: skill over you know, Draymond Green certainly the height and
Speaker 2: and Kavan Looney and I just think Sibonis is due
Speaker 2: to to break out. He's had good numbers, but not
Speaker 2: the kind of numbers that will that I gave got
Speaker 2: him a lot of fifth place votes in the m
Speaker 2: v P balloting. I'm predicting I voted for him fifth
Speaker 2: and he hasn't been that player so great series. I
Speaker 2: hate when I have to cover a game on nights
Speaker 2: like this because I really don't get to pay attention
Speaker 2: to the other game the regular It's hard because I'm
Speaker 2: yeah and your your uh, you know, before the game
Speaker 2: he got things to mess with. You can't watch yearly games,
Speaker 2: and after the game, I'm doing my writing and I
Speaker 2: can't watch the late game, and h by the time
Speaker 2: I finish my story, the next game is pretty much over.
Speaker 2: So the viewers, the listeners are in a much better
Speaker 2: position than me tonight.
Speaker 1: Ash. That's why we appreciate you, because you should do
Speaker 1: the you do. You do the sacrificing and the tough
Speaker 1: work for us so we can have the joy of
Speaker 1: reading all your amazing work on NBA dot com. But meanwhile,
Speaker 1: I will be posted up on my couch with the TV,
Speaker 1: the iPad, the laptop, all the games and all all
Speaker 1: the coverage going because it is it should be, especially
Speaker 1: for the first round, a tremendous, tremendous night of playoff basketball,
Speaker 1: and we appreciate you previewing all of it for us.
Speaker 1: NBA Pols for Sarahkhustak is a production of the NBA
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