WEBVTT - What’s Wright - Reaction to LeBron & Lakers beating Timberwolves in Game 2 of NBA Playoffs 1st round 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:18.040 Welcome in What's Right with Nick Wright quick reaction pod 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:23.960 to last night's NBA playoff games one. Listen, Grizzlies thunder 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:27.520 just sim to the end. We'll get to that briefly 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:33.479 at the end of the pod. Somewhat interesting momentarily or 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:37.279 at least briefly interesting game between the Bucks and the Pacers, 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:41.640 a fifteen point lead trimmed to two in the waning moments, 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:43.400 but the Bucks not able to get over the top 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:45.960 and what that means for Giannis. But the game of 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.600 the night, which turned into the rock fight of the 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:53.080 night Lakers ninety four Timberwolves eighty five. I don't think 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:58.000 anyone is actually surprised by the result. Home team loses 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:01.440 game one, they are going to come out more urgent, 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:06.000 more focused, better in game two, and the Lakers did 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.679 and blitzed him in the first quarter thirty four to fifteen, 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.120 and then really just held on the rest of the way, 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.840 culminating in a fourth quarter where neither team could hit shots, 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:19.240 where the Lakers were just kind of limping to the 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.880 finish line and everyone seemed a little out of gas 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:26.319 except for the oldest guy on the court. And we 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:31.319 can do big picture stuff shortly. And I understand that 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:34.199 some folks will hear this and be like, you gotta 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:39.520 be kidding me. Lebron scored twenty one. His jumper wasn't falling. 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.040 He was eight of nineteen from the field, one of 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:46.319 five from three. And you're gonna wax poetic about the 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:48.840 game Lebron James had And the answer is yes, I am, 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:55.520 because there was one play late in the fourth quarter 0:01:56.160 --> 0:02:02.680 that to me symbolized who Lebron has been since they 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:07.240 acquired Luca, and who he has been is whoever they 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:10.480 need him to be. That night, I will mold my 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.560 game accordingly. Three minutes left Lakers with the smallest lead 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.320 that they've had since it was fifteen to eight. They 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:21.760 are up nine. The Lakers were up at least nine 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:26.639 points for the final forty minutes of this game, and 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:33.000 the Timberwolves, however, in the fourth quarter, were slowly trying 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.800 to make it a game, and the Lakers had a 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:40.720 bad possession. Luca got caught up in the air through 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.680 the ball to basically nowhere, and Luca was excellent. More 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.440 on him in a moment, and all of a sudden, 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:51.400 the Timberwolves are in transition. Three minutes down nine, chance 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.680 to cut it to six or seven, and all of 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.280 a sudden, all the pressure will be on La and 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:03.560 Lebron circles around to where Anthony Edwards is getting the 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:08.639 ball at mid court in a semi transition situation, steals 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:12.399 it from Anthony Edwards, burst to the basket, lay up 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:19.760 up eleven, Game over. And what is to me so 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:25.680 remarkable about the best player I've ever seen, if people 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:30.959 are being honest, the best player anyone's ever seen this 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:37.520 year has been his ability to the instant they got 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:39.880 Luke Adancic him saying, Okay, I have to be a 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:42.760 totally different type of player because we're a totally different 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:50.280 type of team. After for the entirety of my Lakers tenure, 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:54.840 which at this point is as long as he has 0:03:54.960 --> 0:04:00.520 ever stayed with one team consecutively seven years, he had 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:06.640 to be on the ball, ball dominant, running the offense. 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:18.080 His transition from that to a do it all, jack 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:26.000 of all trades player who in this game said, defense 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:29.480 is what we needed to lock in on. Defense is 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:33.599 what we drastically needed to improve on, and in the Lakers' 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.720 best defensive game of the year, at least as far 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.839 as how many points their opponent scored. He was the 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:45.080 best defender on the court, and get in where you 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:49.560 fit in on offense, crash the boards, try to get 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:54.920 other people involved, and lock down defensively to the tune 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:58.120 of Anthony Edwards, and not that he was on Anthony 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:04.520 a lot. After having nine assists in game one, zero 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.839 no one other than Julius Randall getting going at all, 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:13.400 and the Lakers winning a game they had to have 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:18.080 where they only hit six three pointers now the Timberwolves 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:20.880 only hit five, where neither team could hit a three 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.760 because it was their best defensive game of the year, 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:28.080 and the best defensive player for the Lakers, by Jared Vanderbilt, 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:32.120 was excellent in his very limited defensive moments. He only 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.560 played eight minutes. But the best defensive player for the 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:39.680 Lakers was Lebron James. And you can get away with 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:46.120 Lebron only scoring twenty, no one else scoring more than sixteen, 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.120 and hell other than Austin's sixteen Rui who might have 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.599 broke his nose in this game, which is something to 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:57.039 watch because guys do not like wearing that mask. The 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:59.840 only player who seems to not mind wearing that mask 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.560 Jordan Goodwin, who's been wearing it for months. If he 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:05.360 has to wear that mask the rest of the playoffs, 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.200 that's a concern. But the reason they were able to 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:10.840 win that game when no one had it going offensively 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:15.080 was because they locked in on the defensive end, led 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:20.119 by Lebron, and because they hit all their free throws. Now, 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.679 I understand folks are going to bitch and moan about 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:27.560 the officiating. I thought the officials took too big of 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:32.000 a hand in this game. However, it was so physical 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:36.120 and so such a slog on offense. I don't know 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.240 what it would have been if they would have let 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:43.320 them play even more for folks that care about the 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:47.479 actual numbers, twenty four fouls on LA, twenty two on 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:51.799 the Timberwls, twenty free throws by the Lakers, twenty five 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:54.960 by the Timbrels. Now, the Lakers went twenty of twenty 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:59.000 from the free throw line, which was damn important when 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.160 the tar Les are trying to cut into the lead late. 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:08.480 But I am I have just been really taken aback 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:20.680 by Lebron having the opportunity kind of unexpectedly to prove 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:25.760 to the world that what he has said his entire career, 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:31.440 I'll be whatever player this team in this moment needs 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:37.800 me to be Ego aside that that is actually exactly 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:43.360 who he's going to be. Usage rate plummets, being on 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:49.320 the ball plummets, and he just then can expend that 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:56.120 energy in different places. And so I thought, I have 0:07:56.240 --> 0:08:00.640 thought for the last few years that the fact that 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:07.480 there is more commentary about Lebron James's defensive failings than 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.080 two of the other, probably not two of the other, 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:19.200 the two other all time legends in our midst who 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:26.480 carry a massive offensive workload for their teams. And because 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.280 of that, and because of for those guys, their own 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:35.079 physical limitations, their downright negative defenders. In Steph Curry, in 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:40.440 Nikola Jokic, nobody gives a shit. Everybody just recognized as well. 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:46.160 Steph's undersized, and he's expending so much energy on the 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:50.559 offensive end, he's got to kind of hide him defensively. 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:57.080 Joker is doing everything for the Nuggets offensively and is 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.840 so limited athletically that you got to just kind of 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.880 work around that. On the defensive end. Those guys nobody 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:11.280 ever complains about their defense. Lebron, who has played twenty 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:16.320 some thousand more minutes maybe thirty thousand now twenty thousand, 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:20.040 probably more minutes than Steph who's damn near a decade 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:26.040 older than Joker, who for the Lakers pre Luca carried 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:31.560 the exact same offensive responsibility on his team as those 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:36.280 guys did on theirs. Half the commentary seemingly around the 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:38.880 last couple of years as well, he's not the defender 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:44.840 he once was, and what he is showing you in 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:51.160 real time is, yeah, that's been out of necessity. But 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:56.840 if that role or responsibility shifts, he can still ratchet 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:01.400 it up to not the defense he was in Miami 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:03.480 because he's not the athlete he was in Miami, but 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:12.200 still an excellent, impactful, disruptive, versatile defensive player, and the 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:15.920 Lakers had to have that yesterday. I'm still waiting for 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:21.040 the Lakers' offense to show up to this series now. 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:24.960 The Timberwolves have done a great job of getting out 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.640 on shooters, of not letting anyone other than Luca really 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:33.440 kill them, of staying connected. They have been able to 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:38.080 hide Mike Conley, who had a really rough game, and 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:42.200 other than Mike Conley, anyone and everyone they put out 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:50.560 there is somewhere from passable defensively, and Julius Randall on 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:55.920 the scale from passable to excellent. Jaden is obviously excellent. 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:01.479 Rudy is obviously excellent with a few, you know, glaring weaknesses, 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:05.880 but his strengths are just massive. Nikhil Alexander Walker when 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.720 he gets out there as great defensively, Anthony Edwards is 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:11.959 one of the best two way players in the league. 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:15.240 So this is And by the way, in the next round, 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:19.880 you are going to be playing an excellent defensive team 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.320 if you're the whoever wins this series, no matter whoever 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.520 wins that series, because the Rockets and the Warriors might 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.800 be the two best defensive teams in the league not 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:33.320 named Oklahoma City. And in Round three you're probably playing 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:40.360 Oklahoma City. And so the Lakers locked in defensively, got 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:44.240 just enough from the offense, had a first quarter that 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.160 the Timberwolves were not ready for, and then held on 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:52.760 the rest of the way. On Luca, I give Luca 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.480 an a minus for this game, and the only Luca 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:02.160 was really strong defensively himself. Everyone on the Lakers, everyone 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.560 on the Lakers should feel good about their performance yesterday, honestly, 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:12.320 except for Jackson Hayes, who at this point you have 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:16.360 to I think you you keep giving him a chance. 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.160 But that sequence at the beginning of the fourth quarter 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:23.839 was just as dumb as it gets a totally unnecessary 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.600 illegal screen in the back court and then following that 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.360 up with one of the most obvious goaltends on a 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.480 shot that had no chance of going in and then 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:39.720 seeming shocked by it. That's that's a maddening sequence. He 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:44.680 played nine minutes, had five fouls. It was just brutal. 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.319 But what I was trying to get to before I 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:54.760 interrupted myself on Luca Luca. The reason it is only 0:12:54.800 --> 0:13:02.760 an a is because and you saw bubbling. He almost 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.840 let the refs take him out of this game. And 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.080 I'm not saying Luca got a bad whistle. Luca got 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:13.800 to the line eleven times, but there was a sequence 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:18.120 when he thought he was getting hit, didn't get the call, 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:27.880 and then, in a borderline dirty moment, Jaden McDaniels is 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:33.040 on the ground and with his own ankles, grabs Luca's 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:37.520 ankle and Luca tumbles, and Luca was livid, and I 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:39.760 thought he was going to get a technical. If I'm 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:45.079 being honest, probably deserved a technical. Maybe the ref knew 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:47.800 he had missed it and so he didn't want to 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.200 give him a technical after the ref missed what was 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:55.480 honestly in today's NBA a flagrant foul. That's a non 0:13:55.600 --> 0:14:02.560 basketball dangerous play, and Luca you saw him starting to 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:07.840 unravel a bit emotionally, and the Lakers I think then 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:12.960 called time out. His teammates got him under control. But 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:19.160 aside from that brief moment, Luca was unbelievable. Now he 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:25.320 needs to stop trying so often to just embarrass Rudy Gobert. 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.360 I think that takes the Lakers out of their offense 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:33.280 to a degree. But thirty one, twelve and nine in 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:38.440 a game his team scored ninety four points, and he 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.480 was the engine and the catalyst and the guy that 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:45.320 had it going in the first quarter. He had to 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:51.000 have almost outscored Minnesota himself in the first quarter. I'm 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:56.320 gonna actually check that real quick. That the Timberwolves had 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:00.200 fifteen in the first quarter the Lakers in that game. 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.760 In this game, I should say, let me just go. 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.560 My friends at Basketball Reference are good with this quarter 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:11.800 one Luca had. Luke had sixteen. So he didn't almost 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:14.640 outscore the Timberwolves in the first quarter. He did outscore 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:17.480 the Timberwolves in the first quarter. And we've now had 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:24.960 thirteen playoff games this year. The best one anyone has 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:30.680 played is Kawhi's Game two against the Nuggets. The second 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:35.080 best one anyone has played, given the context of everything, 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:39.120 was either Steph Curry's Game one against the war against 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:45.440 the Rockets or Luca Game two against the Timberwolves. Now, 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:47.600 Giannis might be like, what more do I have to do? 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:50.000 And more on him in a minute, because the answer 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.000 is I don't know what more he can do, man, 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:56.800 and you feel sick for him. More on Jannis just momentarily. 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:02.120 But the Lakers now have the opperation coortunity to take 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:08.160 a breath. They because of how the schedule falls. They 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:13.600 don't play tomorrow, which I think is nice. Travel today 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.600 or maybe they maybe they travel tomorrow. Actually I don't 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:22.840 know who cares when they'll travel. But they play Saturday night. 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:27.440 Is that right? No? What day is today? Sorry? Today's Wednesday. 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:34.920 They play Friday, So they go Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday for 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.960 the Friday for this series, I'm screwing this up. I 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:42.480 apologize it's early in the morning. Point is they get 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:49.160 two days between between Game one and two, and two 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:56.160 days between games two and three. Game three is Friday. 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:58.920 They then have one day between Game three and four, 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:03.800 and then again in two days between games four and five, 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:07.800 and then it's every other day however much longer the 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:10.440 series goes, so I think those will be two important 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.960 days off. I think the offense needs to get rolling. 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:19.200 I'm gonna check with our friends at what the updated 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:25.879 series price is. This opened Lakers minus two hundred. Then 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:32.640 it quickly shifted, obviously after the after the Game one 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:37.879 win to the Timberwolves as slight favorites. It is now 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.959 a Pickham series, so you would expect it not to 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.360 have shifted a ton from where it was before Game 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:50.280 two because the Timberwolves were the series' favorites, despite the 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:54.840 fact the Lakers were big favorites in Game two. My 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:59.080 if you guys remember what I said, was my favorite 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.280 bet of the Lakers minus a game and a half 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.000 in the series, meaning Lakers to win in four. That's 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.840 off the board. Five or six was plus one twenty. 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:13.480 It is now after last night, back to plus two 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:17.520 fifty five. I still like I still think a Lakers 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.800 in six is very on the board. They obviously need 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:25.720 to win Friday in Minnesota and then a quick turnaround 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.520 because they played Friday late night and then Sunday afternoon. 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:31.560 We'll see how that one goes. But this was a 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:37.440 huge win. I thought Lebron was exactly who they needed 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:44.280 him to be. I thought Luca was exceptional. I thought Austin, 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.000 after a rough first quarter, got it going. Now, Austin's 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.320 gotta stop trying to throw these lobs thirteen feet in 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:53.560 the air, as Dragonfly Jones wrote, he's trying to throw 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:55.760 lobs to two thousand and nine Lebron. That guy's not 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.760 walking through the door. And they got to figure out 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:04.000 what gonna do with Jackson Hayes. On the Timbrewl side 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:08.640 of things, it is even though I didn't expect him 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:12.720 to feature Rudy Gobert offensively, it is remarkable to me 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.720 how little they will give him the ball when he 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:21.480 has a mismatch, and I think that that's good for 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.600 the Lakers. Dante wasn't able to get into this game 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:30.199 really because of foul trouble. Now, the foul trouble was 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:34.520 hard to figure out because Reggie kept telling us guys 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.159 had four fouls, and then the graphics kept telling us 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:40.159 they had three. I didn't know who to believe, but 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.200 nas Reed got in foul trouble as well. Julius Randall 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:48.160 obviously was exceptional exceptional strong. Julius Randall was the one 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.600 guy on the Timbrels that had it going. They as 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.640 a team had fourteen assists. He had six of them. 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.760 The rest of their starting lineup had two assists, Jayden 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:04.000 with one, Conly with one. And their ability, which is 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:07.280 what I begged them to do before the series, to 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:11.680 listen ant, you're gonna get to the basket sometimes we'll 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:15.120 deal with that. We are not going to collapse on 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:18.359 you to all of a sudden leave other guys open. 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:21.760 I thought they did a way way better job of that, 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:26.520 which made Aunt have a quiet twenty five point six rebound, 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:33.000 zero assist game. And so that's the Lakers game. Let 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:35.719 me remind you guys, the NBA eighty two game grind 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.680 is done. Now the real fun has begun. 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All right, 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:37.680 the other and again, I'm not gonna spend much time 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:42.159 really at all on Timberwolves Grizzlies. Just quickly if you 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:47.760 didn't those that game was on simultaneously with Ice Timberwolves 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:53.160 Grizzly sorry Thunder Grizzlies of Pacers Bucks. I was watching 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:56.520 much more of Pacers Bucks. So I don't really have 0:22:56.640 --> 0:23:02.040 great analysis for you, except for the fact that after 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.360 the you know, not scoring twenty points for the first 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:10.000 time in like seventy five games, scored twenty seven, but 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.320 on twenty nine shots. He actually has had a rough 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:16.520 couple of games start this series, and it does not 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:20.639 matter at all because the Grizzlies have no shot and 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:23.720 don't seem to have a ton of interest in competing 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:27.399 in this series. So that one's done, the question is 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:30.160 will the Grizzlies get a game? My answer to that 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:34.800 is almost assuredly not. If you look at the Thunder 0:23:34.880 --> 0:23:41.080 this year against the Memphis Grizzlies, it is start to 0:23:41.200 --> 0:23:48.720 finish all year long utter domination game one of not 0:23:48.920 --> 0:23:53.400 this series, but this season Thunder Grizzlies, thunder by twenty four, 0:23:54.160 --> 0:24:00.200 game two, thunder by thirteen, game three, thunder by seventeen, 0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:06.520 game four, thunder by twenty one, game five, thunder by 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:13.119 fifty one, game six, thunder by nineteen. The Thunder against 0:24:13.160 --> 0:24:17.120 the Grizzlies this year have scored one thirty one, twenty 0:24:17.160 --> 0:24:23.880 five one, twenty one, twenty five, one, thirty one one eighteen. 0:24:24.440 --> 0:24:27.120 So the Grizzlies drawing dead in the series. And then 0:24:27.160 --> 0:24:35.440 we get to Pacers Bucks, where, if I'm a Bucks fan, 0:24:37.320 --> 0:24:43.960 I'm really worried. And it's not that I'm worried that 0:24:44.040 --> 0:24:47.720 I'm going to lose this series. I'm worried about something 0:24:47.800 --> 0:24:52.639 far more important. And so Dame came back. I was 0:24:52.680 --> 0:24:56.640 saying on the TV show all week once we heard 0:24:56.720 --> 0:25:02.240 Day might come back, imploring people that We need to 0:25:02.320 --> 0:25:05.080 not act like when a guy has missed a month, 0:25:05.119 --> 0:25:08.960 he's going to come back and look like himself. I know, 0:25:09.080 --> 0:25:11.399 Dame hit, you know, a couple big shots late, but 0:25:11.560 --> 0:25:13.560 he's four of thirteen, he's two of eight from three, 0:25:13.600 --> 0:25:18.520 He's fourteen points, seven assists. He was fine, but it's 0:25:18.560 --> 0:25:23.040 gonna take him time that they don't have to get 0:25:23.080 --> 0:25:30.200 back rolling. Kyle Kuzma after the twenty trillion game showed 0:25:30.280 --> 0:25:33.200 up and Port has played a really good game. Port 0:25:33.200 --> 0:25:35.160 has had almost thirty off the bench. Not a really 0:25:35.200 --> 0:25:40.359 good game, a great game. But the Bucks do not 0:25:40.640 --> 0:25:46.080 have the ability to guard the Pacers, and it's why 0:25:46.119 --> 0:25:50.560 the Pacers scored forty in the first quarter, won twenty 0:25:50.600 --> 0:25:55.320 three for the game. And yeah, there was a moment 0:25:55.920 --> 0:25:58.800 because it was one fifteen to one hundred. I think 0:25:58.840 --> 0:26:00.760 I have that right. I'm gonna double check, but I was. 0:26:01.040 --> 0:26:04.359 I think it was one fifteen, one hundred with five 0:26:04.440 --> 0:26:07.760 minutes five and a half minutes left, and then Milwaukee 0:26:07.800 --> 0:26:12.560 goes on a thirteen nothing run, culminating in a deep 0:26:12.680 --> 0:26:15.159 littard three to make it one fifteen to one thirteen. 0:26:15.200 --> 0:26:19.520 It's like, oh my god, they might steal it. Then 0:26:19.560 --> 0:26:21.919 Siakam hits a three, nim Hard hits a three in 0:26:22.000 --> 0:26:26.119 game over, and so here's where I'm talking about being concerned. 0:26:28.160 --> 0:26:34.399 Janis had thirty four, eighteen and seven. Okay, Yannis in 0:26:34.520 --> 0:26:42.919 this series is averaging thirty five, fifteen and four on 0:26:43.240 --> 0:26:48.159 sixty five percent from the field, and they haven't really 0:26:48.200 --> 0:26:51.560 been competitive in either game. Again, they got this one 0:26:51.600 --> 0:26:54.640 to two with a few minutes left, but the Pacers 0:26:54.640 --> 0:26:59.480 were in have been in firm control for ninety percent 0:27:00.240 --> 0:27:04.879 of the minutes played in this series. And if Giannis 0:27:05.000 --> 0:27:08.600 is you know how after the game guys usually have 0:27:08.640 --> 0:27:12.679 the box score in their hand. If he's looking at 0:27:12.680 --> 0:27:16.679 the box score and he's like, Torrian Prince is in 0:27:16.720 --> 0:27:22.400 my starting lineup. Kyle Kuzma's in my starting lineup. Brook Lopez, 0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:26.040 who I won a championship with God love him, but 0:27:26.440 --> 0:27:31.320 was in the two thousand and eight draft and is 0:27:31.480 --> 0:27:37.159 thirty seven years old, is in my starting lineup. My 0:27:37.320 --> 0:27:41.240 best guy off the bench other than Gary Trent Junior, 0:27:41.280 --> 0:27:47.840 who's a nice player, is Bobby Portis. He's thirty years old. 0:27:49.119 --> 0:27:56.080 We're leaning on Torrian Prince. What is my Kevin Porter 0:27:56.240 --> 0:28:04.280 Junior has become shockingly important to this team. Ryan Rollins, 0:28:04.760 --> 0:28:09.080 who played real minutes in the first game of this 0:28:09.240 --> 0:28:12.560 series because Dame was out. Now that Dame's back is 0:28:12.600 --> 0:28:16.640 a DMP coach's decision. AJ Green's part of the rotation. 0:28:16.840 --> 0:28:20.439 Jericho Simms, who was like the number four center for 0:28:20.520 --> 0:28:22.920 the Knicks a couple of years ago. He's in the road. 0:28:23.760 --> 0:28:27.200 My roster is not good enough and it's not going 0:28:27.240 --> 0:28:32.840 to be good enough. And I understand I am not 0:28:32.920 --> 0:28:36.360 a guy. Listen, you guys know this. I'm from Kansaity, Missouri. 0:28:36.760 --> 0:28:42.560 I'm not into trying to, you know, force guys out 0:28:42.600 --> 0:28:47.880 of small markets. And Giannis has two guaranteed years left 0:28:47.920 --> 0:28:53.840 on his contract with Milwaukee before a player option. But Jannis, 0:28:55.080 --> 0:28:58.520 if it is, it's been a long time since Giannis 0:28:58.640 --> 0:29:04.800 won a playoff game. The last playoff game Yannis won 0:29:05.360 --> 0:29:10.720 was on the court for a win was the twenty 0:29:10.960 --> 0:29:20.440 twenty two Eastern Conference Semifinals Game four, Game five to 0:29:20.560 --> 0:29:25.920 go up three to two on Boston. The next year, 0:29:25.960 --> 0:29:28.240 they lost to the Heat in the first round in five. 0:29:28.400 --> 0:29:31.640 He missed the one win. The next year he was 0:29:31.680 --> 0:29:35.160 injured for the playoffs. This year, they're down oh two, 0:29:35.720 --> 0:29:48.080 and I just I don't know the right places for Giannis. 0:29:48.560 --> 0:29:52.120 And I'm not saying he definitively is going to ask out, 0:29:52.680 --> 0:29:58.200 but I don't know how credibly he can feel about 0:29:58.280 --> 0:30:03.040 the Bucks as contenders next year, when Dame turns thirty five, 0:30:03.200 --> 0:30:06.840 brook is thirty seven. They they traded a bunch of 0:30:06.880 --> 0:30:12.000 their stuff to win that championship. They then made probably 0:30:12.040 --> 0:30:14.520 a trade they would like back, in the Dame trade, 0:30:15.400 --> 0:30:18.320