1
00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:06,200
Speaker 1: The volume. We're this close to crowning a new NBA champ,

2
00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:07,960
Speaker 1: and with the action heating up on the court, it's

3
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:10,600
Speaker 1: even hotter. At DraftKings sports Book, an official sports betting

4
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,200
Speaker 1: partner of the NBA. There's only so many games left,

5
00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,160
Speaker 1: and Draftking Sportsbook has you covered with same game parlays,

6
00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,319
Speaker 1: live betting odds, boosts in so much more. Don't miss

7
00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:21,320
Speaker 1: out or you'll have to wait until next NBA season

8
00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,200
Speaker 1: to place your bets. It's super easy for first timers

9
00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:26,880
Speaker 1: to get started. Try betting on something simple like picking

10
00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 1: a team to win. Go to the Draftking Sportsbook app,

11
00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,519
Speaker 1: select your squad, and place your first bet. It's that simple.

12
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:34,920
Speaker 1: The championship odds right now as we head into the

13
00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,479
Speaker 1: conference finals according to DraftKings, Boston's at minus one point fifty,

14
00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,640
Speaker 1: the Timberwolves at plus two to seventy five, the Mavericks

15
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,920
Speaker 1: at plus five hundred, and the Indiana Pacers a long

16
00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,519
Speaker 1: shot at plus twenty five hundred. New to DraftKings, listen up.

17
00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,000
Speaker 1: New customers can get a no sweat bet up to

18
00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,560
Speaker 1: fifteen hundred bucks. Just deposit at least five bucks and

19
00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,080
Speaker 1: you'll get a bonus bet back equal to your first

20
00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,400
Speaker 1: bet if it doesn't hit alough the DraftKings sportsbook gap

21
00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,520
Speaker 1: now and use code hoops that's h oops. That's code

22
00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,840
Speaker 1: hoops for new customers to get a no sweat bet

23
00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,760
Speaker 1: up to fifteen hundred bucks if your first bet doesn't

24
00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,080
Speaker 1: hit only on DraftKings, the Crown is yours. Gambling problem

25
00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,199
Speaker 1: called one eight hundred gambler or in West Virginia, visit

26
00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,839
Speaker 1: www dot one eight hundred gambler dot net. In New York,

27
00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,240
Speaker 1: call eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text

28
00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,279
Speaker 1: hope and why to four six seven three sixty nine.

29
00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,920
Speaker 1: In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling called eight

30
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,680
Speaker 1: eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or

31
00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,880
Speaker 1: visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of

32
00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,559
Speaker 1: Boothill Casino and resort In Kansas twenty one plus age

33
00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,520
Speaker 1: varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. One no sweat bet

34
00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,800
Speaker 1: per new customer issued as one bonus bet based on

35
00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,320
Speaker 1: amount of initial losing bet. Bonus bets expire one hundred

36
00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,240
Speaker 1: and sixty eight hours after issuance. See DKNG dot co

37
00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:03,440
Speaker 1: slash bball for l eligibility, wagering and deposit restrictions. Terms

38
00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:16,400
Speaker 1: and responsible gambling resources. All right, wellcome to Hoops and

39
00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,359
Speaker 1: Night here at the volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody, hope love

40
00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,840
Speaker 1: You guys are having a great week. Well the Minnesota Timberwolves,

41
00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:22,800
Speaker 1: they're back against the wall, get a huge win on

42
00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,720
Speaker 1: the road in Dallas to extend the series. Now we're

43
00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,560
Speaker 1: headed to Game five on Thursday night back in Minnesota.

44
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,080
Speaker 1: I'm excited to break Game four down from the perspective

45
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,079
Speaker 1: of both teams. You guys are the joke before we

46
00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,040
Speaker 1: get started. Subscribe to the Hoops and I YouTube channel

47
00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,800
Speaker 1: so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow

48
00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,120
Speaker 1: me on Twitter at underscore JCNLTS. You guys don't miss

49
00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,120
Speaker 1: show announcement. So forget about our podcast feed where if

50
00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:44,960
Speaker 1: you get your podcast on our hoops tonight and keep

51
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,360
Speaker 1: dropping mail bag questions in those YouTube comments. We keep

52
00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,200
Speaker 1: hitting them throughout the rest of the postseason. All right,

53
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,560
Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So obviously there's an important kind

54
00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:55,720
Speaker 1: of like, you know, sub subtext, a little bit of

55
00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,800
Speaker 1: footnote on tonight's game. Right, Like Derek Lively, who is

56
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,160
Speaker 1: a very important piece piece of this Dallas Mavericks team,

57
00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,320
Speaker 1: missed the game. You could argue he's probably their fourth

58
00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:10,160
Speaker 1: best player I think behind PJ. Washington and Kyrie Irving

59
00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,160
Speaker 1: and Luka Doncic, and I want to be clear that

60
00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,040
Speaker 1: certainly plays a role in what happened tonight, But I

61
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,959
Speaker 1: want to give Minnesota credit because I thought even if

62
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,440
Speaker 1: Lively had played tonight, it might not have made that

63
00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,200
Speaker 1: much of a difference, because I thought Minnesota outplayed Dallas

64
00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,839
Speaker 1: in this particular game. And even though Lively is super

65
00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:27,799
Speaker 1: important and he's going to return to this series and

66
00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,920
Speaker 1: Minnesota will have to beat the MAVs with Lively on

67
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,040
Speaker 1: the floor in all likelihood to advance to the NBA Finals,

68
00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,400
Speaker 1: Minnesota just played a really good basketball game today, and

69
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,360
Speaker 1: I think just overly focusing on the Lively pieces missing

70
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:42,920
Speaker 1: the boat, and it's a disservice to a really good

71
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 1: game that they played. I thought they just outplayed Dallas.

72
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,360
Speaker 1: They came out, they punched him in the mouth early,

73
00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,120
Speaker 1: they responded to every Mavericks run, and they flipped a

74
00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,320
Speaker 1: couple of key factors that they had been losing earlier

75
00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,400
Speaker 1: in the series. First of all, they finally won the

76
00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,000
Speaker 1: half court battle for the first time in the series.

77
00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,360
Speaker 1: They outscored Dallas ninety eight to eighty six in half

78
00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,920
Speaker 1: court points per one hundred plays. A big part of

79
00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,960
Speaker 1: that was the over the top shot making. Anthony Edwards

80
00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,240
Speaker 1: made seven jump shots, Kyrie Irving and Luca combined to

81
00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,320
Speaker 1: make six jump shots between the two of them. Kat

82
00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,600
Speaker 1: made four of his own. So you got out shot

83
00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:21,919
Speaker 1: in terms of your over the top shooting from your stars.

84
00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,800
Speaker 1: Eleven made field goals to six and again, like that's

85
00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,640
Speaker 1: not unlively, that's just those guys missing shots. It's a

86
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:30,800
Speaker 1: credit to the defense. It's a credit to ant in

87
00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,960
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns making shots over the top or excuse me,

88
00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,760
Speaker 1: overall jump shooting for both teams one point one to

89
00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,479
Speaker 1: nine points per jump shot for Minnesota, one point zero

90
00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,839
Speaker 1: two for the Dallas Mavericks. In the clutch situation that

91
00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:45,719
Speaker 1: we got that we've had in every single game in

92
00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,520
Speaker 1: this series, for the first time in the series, ant

93
00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,000
Speaker 1: actually out executed Luca in the clutch. Aunt hit two

94
00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,640
Speaker 1: jumpers and he had three separate assists to Karl Anthony

95
00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,160
Speaker 1: Towns and Luca hit that three. He had that one

96
00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:00,000
Speaker 1: to three in garbage time, and he drew that foul

97
00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,720
Speaker 1: on the pump fake against Carl Anthony Towns. But other

98
00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,720
Speaker 1: than that, an assist to PJ Washington. He wasn't generating

99
00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,280
Speaker 1: baskets the same way that Anthony Edwards was. That was

100
00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:10,240
Speaker 1: the first time in the series. There are four games

101
00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,279
Speaker 1: that I thought Aunt actually outplayed Luca in this game,

102
00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,200
Speaker 1: so credit to him. Again, Like they won the rebounding battle,

103
00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:19,520
Speaker 1: Minnesota dominated points in the paint, and so like, I

104
00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,640
Speaker 1: want to just give Minnesota credit. Obviously, there's a bunch

105
00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,360
Speaker 1: of factors. You've got a classic close out type of game, right.

106
00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:28,800
Speaker 1: Kyrie straight up said it in his shoot around before

107
00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:31,560
Speaker 1: the game. He's like, tonight's their super Bowl for us,

108
00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,800
Speaker 1: it's just another basketball game, which, by the way, that's

109
00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,800
Speaker 1: not necessarily the attitude you want to project before the game,

110
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,440
Speaker 1: but that said, like that's the truth. Like Minnesota is desperate,

111
00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,480
Speaker 1: Dallas has four chances to get this one game right. Obviously,

112
00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:51,120
Speaker 1: the Derek Lively injury, Carl Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards,

113
00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,680
Speaker 1: they are both coming off of a really rough first

114
00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:55,640
Speaker 1: three games of the series. So those two guys, they

115
00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:57,640
Speaker 1: got their pride on the line in a lot of

116
00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,080
Speaker 1: different ways, and they just bounced back tonight. And so

117
00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,000
Speaker 1: again I want to give Minnesota credit. I thought they

118
00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,320
Speaker 1: just outplayed Dallas, and I thought they deserved to win.

119
00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:08,520
Speaker 1: That there was a key adjustment that we saw in

120
00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,359
Speaker 1: this game that I thought was fascinating. Minnesota decides to

121
00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,880
Speaker 1: put Jaden McDaniels on Kyrie Irving and move Anthony Edwards

122
00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,599
Speaker 1: over onto Luka Doncic. I like this for a couple

123
00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,599
Speaker 1: of different reasons. Right Like, in the big picture, you

124
00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,160
Speaker 1: don't love the idea of Ant on Luca because Ant's

125
00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,520
Speaker 1: defensive effort has been somewhat inconsistent in this postseason run,

126
00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,520
Speaker 1: even on the ball right and early in this series,

127
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,240
Speaker 1: a lot of Kyrie getting off was Ant just not

128
00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,200
Speaker 1: doing a very good job. But the desperation of the

129
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,560
Speaker 1: situation actually brought Ant's best defensive game of the series

130
00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,799
Speaker 1: out on Luca. One of the nice things with Ant

131
00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,360
Speaker 1: he has a little bit more strength and a little

132
00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,760
Speaker 1: bit more quickness in short bursts of movement to be

133
00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,599
Speaker 1: able to recover against against Luca when he's working in

134
00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,240
Speaker 1: ball screens and then the major pieces. Jaden McDaniels is

135
00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,320
Speaker 1: an entirely different level of perimeter defender than Anthony Edwards

136
00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,120
Speaker 1: in terms of total commitment for forty eight minutes and

137
00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,200
Speaker 1: a lot of length on Kyrie Irving in a weird way.

138
00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,000
Speaker 1: I look at it like this, even moving forward to

139
00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,679
Speaker 1: game five. I like this matchup because do I expect

140
00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:09,680
Speaker 1: Aunt to have the same level of impact on Luca

141
00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:11,400
Speaker 1: in Game five that he did in Game four? No,

142
00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,840
Speaker 1: I think Luca will have a big bounce back game

143
00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,040
Speaker 1: in game five. That said, Jaden McDaniels on Kyrie Irving

144
00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,280
Speaker 1: is really a tough matchup. That's a matchup that Kyrie

145
00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:24,120
Speaker 1: might struggle with continuing forward in the series, we will see.

146
00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:26,800
Speaker 1: I thought that, like, look at it from the perspective of, like,

147
00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,880
Speaker 1: if you can't cut off like the head of the snake,

148
00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:32,760
Speaker 1: if you can somehow cut off the second most important

149
00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:35,920
Speaker 1: piece of the team, right, like if you can somehow

150
00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:41,400
Speaker 1: minimize Kyrie realizing that Jaden can't guard Luca anyway, So

151
00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,480
Speaker 1: even a bad defensive effort from Ant isn't going to

152
00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,800
Speaker 1: have that much of a different impact on Luca than

153
00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,040
Speaker 1: Jaden McDaniel's trying his ass off, right, because Luca just

154
00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,480
Speaker 1: throws Jayden around like a rag doll. Right. So I

155
00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,080
Speaker 1: kind of liked that idea from the standpoint of, like,

156
00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,400
Speaker 1: put your defensive specialist on a guy he can actually

157
00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,360
Speaker 1: make strugg a little bit, and then put in a

158
00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,480
Speaker 1: situation where if he struggles, it's the same struggles that

159
00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,520
Speaker 1: you were having with your primary perimeter defender. Anyway, I

160
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,440
Speaker 1: liked that adjustment. I think they should continue that forward

161
00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:18,040
Speaker 1: into Game five. The big bounce back game from Karl

162
00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,560
Speaker 1: Anthony Towns took more of an inside out approach, was

163
00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,200
Speaker 1: really attacking the basket early, just kind of putting his

164
00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:24,800
Speaker 1: head down getting to the rim. Hit that little bank

165
00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,000
Speaker 1: shot driving towards his left hand side against PJ Washington

166
00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:29,640
Speaker 1: early in the game. That kind of set the tone

167
00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,240
Speaker 1: a little bit. He didn't even attempt a three point

168
00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,680
Speaker 1: shot until the second half and then got red hot.

169
00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,560
Speaker 1: Really impressively too, considering he was in foul trouble most

170
00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,160
Speaker 1: of the night. Classic Karl Anthony Towns doing stupid shit

171
00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,160
Speaker 1: to get into foul trouble, but he persisted through that

172
00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,679
Speaker 1: and hit a bunch of big shots. Anthony Edwards another

173
00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:48,520
Speaker 1: big bounce back game from him again. I thought he

174
00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,680
Speaker 1: was really good on defense against Luka Dancic for the

175
00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:53,599
Speaker 1: most part, and then the big thing from him in

176
00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:55,800
Speaker 1: this game was hitting all of those pull up jump

177
00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,360
Speaker 1: shots that he was hitting in pick and roll again,

178
00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,960
Speaker 1: Like you guys, everyone's talking about, Oh, Derek Lively, he's

179
00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,120
Speaker 1: out of the game, there's no rim protection. That's not true.

180
00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,240
Speaker 1: You just scaled up Daniel Gafford's minutes. He played thirty

181
00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,480
Speaker 1: one minutes. Maxi Kliba played what thirteen minutes in this

182
00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:12,480
Speaker 1: game and he was plus two. So, like you got

183
00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:14,840
Speaker 1: Kaleba back and you scaled up Gafford's minutes, there were

184
00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:18,480
Speaker 1: still quite a bit of elite defensive personnel on the

185
00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:20,679
Speaker 1: back line. Do you guys remember that play where Aunt

186
00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,280
Speaker 1: beat Derek Jones Junior off the dribble and elevated right

187
00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,520
Speaker 1: into Gafford's chest and Gafford walled him up and he

188
00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:28,199
Speaker 1: just kind of tried to wiggle around and he couldn't finish. Like,

189
00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,680
Speaker 1: there's still elite rim protection there. Daniel Gafford blocked Karl

190
00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,800
Speaker 1: Anthony Towns twice in that second half stretch, right, So,

191
00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,320
Speaker 1: like they still have rim protection in there. And the

192
00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,400
Speaker 1: reality is is even regardless of whether Lively comes back

193
00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,079
Speaker 1: in game five, or if it comes back in game six,

194
00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,360
Speaker 1: or he doesn't come back at all, there's just a

195
00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,000
Speaker 1: lot of rim protection in there. And so what's happening

196
00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,840
Speaker 1: is as Lucas getting past the first layer of the defense,

197
00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,559
Speaker 1: there's an opportunity for him to have some success in

198
00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,480
Speaker 1: that mid range and specifically because of the go bear

199
00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,160
Speaker 1: problem and the fact that he can't catch or finish

200
00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,560
Speaker 1: anything around the basket unless it's a wide open and dunk.

201
00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 1: Because of that, you need to be able to make

202
00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,760
Speaker 1: those little mid range jump shots and pretty consistently in

203
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,000
Speaker 1: this game, and was able to get to those spots

204
00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,280
Speaker 1: and knock him down again. He made seven jump shots

205
00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,360
Speaker 1: between pull up threes and pull up twos in this game.

206
00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:17,360
Speaker 1: I thought that that was, you know, kind of like

207
00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,120
Speaker 1: the missing piece for him with this particular roster. Now,

208
00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,599
Speaker 1: ideally in the big picture, we'll get to that in

209
00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,160
Speaker 1: the offseason. I don't love the idea of Anthony Edwards

210
00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,040
Speaker 1: needing to make pull up jump shots in order to

211
00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,160
Speaker 1: have success because he's got a stonehand center that can't

212
00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,439
Speaker 1: catch and finish anything around the basket. But with this

213
00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,280
Speaker 1: particular roster, that's just what he's gonna have to do.

214
00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:40,880
Speaker 1: And so again, Carl Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, we'll see.

215
00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,080
Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna be enough. We're gonna talk

216
00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:44,720
Speaker 1: about it in a minute, I still feel very confident

217
00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,199
Speaker 1: that Dallas is gonna win this series. But like again,

218
00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,960
Speaker 1: this was a big bounce back game and persistently throughout

219
00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:52,520
Speaker 1: this playoff. R and I talked about this in our

220
00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,520
Speaker 1: mail bag this morning. I've been pretty consistently impressed with

221
00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,679
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards and how he's managed to kind of confront

222
00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,679
Speaker 1: his weaknesses over the course of this playoff run and

223
00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,120
Speaker 1: have some success in spite of those weaknesses. Typically we

224
00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,400
Speaker 1: see players have to have multiple playoff runs where they struggle,

225
00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,400
Speaker 1: or multiple off seasons to work on specific things. And

226
00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,000
Speaker 1: ant keeps like running into that brick wall, but then

227
00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,360
Speaker 1: like just continuing try to force his way through and

228
00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,520
Speaker 1: having some success. And again I don't think it'll be

229
00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:22,920
Speaker 1: enough to turn the series around, but I was really

230
00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,640
Speaker 1: impressed by the bounce back performance from Ant and from

231
00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:27,959
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns Tonight. One other guy I wanted to

232
00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,760
Speaker 1: shout out for the Wolves, Kyle Anderson that more defense

233
00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,360
Speaker 1: on Luca. He's another guy that kind of had He's

234
00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,480
Speaker 1: like a bigger, stronger version of Jaden McDaniels in the

235
00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:40,920
Speaker 1: sense that like he actually can absorb some of those

236
00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,760
Speaker 1: blows from Luca and actually has the length to bother

237
00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:46,120
Speaker 1: him on his pull up jump shot a little bit. Now.

238
00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,400
Speaker 1: He has some issues on the offensive end of the floor,

239
00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:50,760
Speaker 1: as we have talked about at nauseum over the course

240
00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,840
Speaker 1: of the season, but he was actually really active off

241
00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,680
Speaker 1: the ball in tonight's game, which allowed him to remain

242
00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,320
Speaker 1: at positive on the offensive end. Really good screen he

243
00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,800
Speaker 1: freed up Karl Anthony Towns a few times for threes.

244
00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:07,520
Speaker 1: Was smart screening. He had three offensive rebounds. Was obviously

245
00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:09,679
Speaker 1: super impactful on the defensive end of the Florida at

246
00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:11,199
Speaker 1: three steals in this game. A bunch of really good

247
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,400
Speaker 1: contests on Luka Doncic. Really nice game from Kyle Anderson.

248
00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,320
Speaker 1: Big bounce back win for the Minnesota Timberwolves. So looking

249
00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,320
Speaker 1: forward to Game five, you know, I was talking with

250
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:26,840
Speaker 1: our production staff because we obviously were I thought Dallas

251
00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:29,040
Speaker 1: was gonna get it done tonight. So shout out to

252
00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,480
Speaker 1: Minnesota for getting it done or for extending the series.

253
00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,280
Speaker 1: But like we were talking, we were just kind of joking.

254
00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,480
Speaker 1: We're like, oh, we we were expecting to have Thursday

255
00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:40,040
Speaker 1: night off and have this like magical eight days off

256
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:42,720
Speaker 1: before the NBA Finals, which obviously for myself and for

257
00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:44,760
Speaker 1: the team here at hoops tonight. It would have been

258
00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,440
Speaker 1: very nice because we've been going like absolutely insane for

259
00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,320
Speaker 1: the last two months. Right. But like you know, Paul,

260
00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,760
Speaker 1: our lead producer, he goes, He's like, oh yeah, I

261
00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,680
Speaker 1: think Minnesota might kill him in Game five, And you know,

262
00:12:57,920 --> 00:12:59,880
Speaker 1: I kind of feel the opposite about that, Like I

263
00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,240
Speaker 1: think Game five is going to be another crazy close

264
00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,120
Speaker 1: game that kind of ends up around one hundred to

265
00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,439
Speaker 1: one hundred with a few minutes left, and I think

266
00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,000
Speaker 1: it's gonna come down to shot making. Because here's the

267
00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:13,880
Speaker 1: thing I keep talking about. You know, remember that the

268
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,439
Speaker 1: bit that I did before the earlier in the series

269
00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,920
Speaker 1: where I was like, momentum is only as good as

270
00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,280
Speaker 1: whatever your matchup advantages are in the next series. That's

271
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,280
Speaker 1: kind of the way I look at the idea of

272
00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,319
Speaker 1: Dallas's rim protection. It's like the cliche like momentum is

273
00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,480
Speaker 1: only as good as the next game starting pitcher in baseball,

274
00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,880
Speaker 1: Like it doesn't matter how good you feel, how stoked

275
00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:36,760
Speaker 1: you are, whether or not you're on the home at

276
00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,480
Speaker 1: home or on the road. If that dude's you know,

277
00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:44,120
Speaker 1: a two seamer and slider is flummixing all your hitters

278
00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,199
Speaker 1: and nobody can get on base, like it just doesn't

279
00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,920
Speaker 1: matter if nobody can actually hit the pitches that are

280
00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:50,880
Speaker 1: being thrown. And that's kind of the way I look

281
00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,880
Speaker 1: at Game five, like the problems still there. It's still

282
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,520
Speaker 1: there that every single time Anthony Edwards comes off a

283
00:13:56,559 --> 00:13:59,719
Speaker 1: ball screen, the pain is completely packed every single time

284
00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,320
Speaker 1: just drives by his man in Iso because Go Bear

285
00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:06,840
Speaker 1: can't catch or finish anything. It's just Gafford or Lively

286
00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,640
Speaker 1: just standing right under the basket waiting for him. There.

287
00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,960
Speaker 1: That problem's not going away. And again I talked about

288
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,439
Speaker 1: it earlier. I do think Jaden McDaniels could have some

289
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,679
Speaker 1: continued success against Kyrie. But I do think that Luca

290
00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,760
Speaker 1: will have a big bounce back offensive game in Game

291
00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,800
Speaker 1: five on the road in Minnesota. So I expect Game

292
00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,760
Speaker 1: five to be very close. And the bottom line is

293
00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,600
Speaker 1: in order for Minnesota to win this series, they have

294
00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:34,200
Speaker 1: to win on Thursday in Minnesota, then go back on

295
00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,000
Speaker 1: the road to Dallas on Saturday and they have to

296
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:39,080
Speaker 1: win again, and then they have to come home and

297
00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,200
Speaker 1: close them out in Game seven at home on Monday,

298
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,320
Speaker 1: when they've already lost two games at home to Dallas

299
00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:47,240
Speaker 1: and every single one of these games has more or

300
00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,120
Speaker 1: less been the same kind of pathway. I actually thought

301
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,320
Speaker 1: Minnesota outplayed Dallas tonight, but in the other games they

302
00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,920
Speaker 1: still managed through attacking the offensive glass, through just making

303
00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,480
Speaker 1: a lot of jump shots, Minnesota mana to kind of

304
00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,560
Speaker 1: hang close. But the same problem persists in these late

305
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:08,560
Speaker 1: game environments. Is gonna have to make pull up jump shots.

306
00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,920
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns is gonna have to make contested threes,

307
00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:14,960
Speaker 1: whereas on the other end of the floor you have

308
00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,960
Speaker 1: professional over the top shot makers and Kyrie Irving and

309
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,080
Speaker 1: Luka Doncic and Luca just seems to be able to

310
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:26,200
Speaker 1: manipulate the defense to get wide open threes for guys

311
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,720
Speaker 1: like PJ. Washington in the corner and easy lob dunks

312
00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,160
Speaker 1: for guys like Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively. It just

313
00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:37,520
Speaker 1: seems in the aggregate easier for Dallas to generate quality

314
00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:39,920
Speaker 1: shots in a half court than Minnesota. And so again

315
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,840
Speaker 1: it's out there. If they go home in Game five

316
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,640
Speaker 1: and it's a close game and ant makes two or

317
00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,960
Speaker 1: three more huge clutch pull up jump shots, then they

318
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,440
Speaker 1: and Luca happens to miss a couple, then yeah, they

319
00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:54,080
Speaker 1: have a chance to win that game. But do I

320
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,720
Speaker 1: see that happening in Game five and then again in

321
00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,320
Speaker 1: Game six on the road, and then by the way

322
00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:01,600
Speaker 1: game six, you're gonna feel a bit of desperation because,

323
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,400
Speaker 1: like Kyrie said, just another basketball game in game four.

324
00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,480
Speaker 1: If Dallas loses Game five in Minnesota, you bet your

325
00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:10,720
Speaker 1: ass Dallas is gonna come out ready to play incredibly

326
00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,000
Speaker 1: desperate basketball in Game six at home, and so, like

327
00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,760
Speaker 1: shout out to Minnesota, big bounce back game. But I

328
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,280
Speaker 1: still feel very confident that Dallas is gonna get this done.

329
00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,560
Speaker 1: I think they have at least a coin flip chance

330
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,920
Speaker 1: to get it done on Thursday. And I would just

331
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,240
Speaker 1: be very very surprised if Minnesota was able to go

332
00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:31,600
Speaker 1: on the road on Saturday night and win in Dallas.

333
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,760
Speaker 1: And so sticking with Dallas is my prediction. But I

334
00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:36,680
Speaker 1: just I just want to tip the cap to Minnesota.

335
00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,080
Speaker 1: It was a big, big back against the wall, gutsy

336
00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,280
Speaker 1: performance from them to extend the series. All right, guys,

337
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:44,040
Speaker 1: that is all I have for tonight. I'm gonna be

338
00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,360
Speaker 1: back tomorrow morning. We're gonna do a film session. We'll

339
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,880
Speaker 1: dig a little bit further into the basically my goal

340
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,440
Speaker 1: for tomorrow morning is to rewatch the game and try

341
00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:57,040
Speaker 1: to identify anything that is sustainable from Minnesota going on

342
00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,040
Speaker 1: the road, Because if you're gonna win this series, if

343
00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,680
Speaker 1: you're gonna win three three additional games in a row,

344
00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:06,320
Speaker 1: you better have flipped the script on some key advantages

345
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,600
Speaker 1: for your team that you can replicate on a night in,

346
00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:11,760
Speaker 1: night out basis. And so I'm gonna be digging in

347
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:13,560
Speaker 1: the film to try to find something like that. So

348
00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,200
Speaker 1: keep an eye on the feeds. Tomorrow we'll have a

349
00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,560
Speaker 1: film session and then we'll get back into it on

350
00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,200
Speaker 1: Thursday night for Game five. I will see you guys.

351
00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:46,640
Speaker 1: Then the volume