Speaker 1: On this episode of this league, the playoffs are here,
Speaker 1: and we have a special Saturday playoff episode to get
Speaker 1: you ready. In this episode, we recap my terrible predictions
Speaker 1: for the playoffs play in tournament. I mean, his who
Speaker 1: are just awful. I put a max bet on the Pacers.
Speaker 1: They got blown out. I mean it was just so bad.
Speaker 1: So we discuss what actually happened to create such a disaster,
Speaker 1: and then we also preview the first round of the playoffs.
Speaker 1: The regular season is over, baby, it is playoff time.
Speaker 1: It is here. Intensity is here. My intensity is up.
Speaker 1: Is your fucking intensity up party?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah? Oh yeah, oh yeah, I can't wait.
Speaker 1: Intensity is up. So let's drop the motherfucking beat end
Speaker 1: of a play and I go.
Speaker 2: Let me go too.
Speaker 1: Oh man, let's start off with the recap of that
Speaker 1: eight seed playing game. I mean, what are we gonna say?
Speaker 1: It was bad? My predictions were bad. They were so bad.
Speaker 1: I think I'm one in three in the last four.
Speaker 1: So that's a twenty five percent accuracy level winning probability
Speaker 1: right now for me. Not good, Marty, not the best.
Speaker 2: Not yeah. Yeah, we could aim for better, we could
Speaker 2: aim for better.
Speaker 1: Let's just talk about last Night's game first, because I
Speaker 1: think that's the more interesting one to talk about. The
Speaker 1: Grizzlies game was a fucking nightmare. I think it was
Speaker 1: just so bad, so sloppy. What did you think?
Speaker 2: I mean?
Speaker 3: I could not believe that the Warriors out turnover to
Speaker 3: themselves from the Lakers game. They had twenty one in
Speaker 3: this game, and yeah, it was just more of the same,
Speaker 3: Like they were in there, they should have won, and
Speaker 3: they just didn't allow themselves to be in the position
Speaker 3: to win the game. It was like they purposely, not purposely,
Speaker 3: but they literally took it from themselves.
Speaker 1: Yes, though it did feel something purposeful, It felt like
Speaker 1: a team that had been deflated right, Like had mustered
Speaker 1: up all the energy for the first half of the
Speaker 1: Laker game, and then as soon as they lost that one,
Speaker 1: they really came out sloppy and slow against the Grizzlies.
Speaker 1: They got punched in the mouth so early, and then
Speaker 1: it was only felt like Steph and Draymond were the
Speaker 1: ones that wanted to win. Like we saw Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 1: return to the Andrew Wiggins that we know him to be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, and he played pretty good against the Lakers.
Speaker 3: If he had if he had shot at all against
Speaker 3: the Lakers. They win the game easy, but uh, I
Speaker 3: mean shot his threes at all. But yeah, no, he
Speaker 3: was not really very noticeable last night.
Speaker 1: They I mean he was very noticeable to me in
Speaker 1: the worst possible way. Yes, that one against the backboard,
Speaker 1: didn't even touch the rim. That three pointer in overtime
Speaker 1: where it was like Tillman made his three and then
Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins just it was all like what and that,
Speaker 1: like he missed so many layups, turnaround jumpers. He's like
Speaker 1: doing turnaround fadeaways, and I'm like, Andrew Wiggins, You're not
Speaker 1: that guy, Like you're not Kevin Durant. It was so gross.
Speaker 1: Steph Curry and listen, like he had thirty nine points,
Speaker 1: so there's no slouch on Steph Cree. Steph Curry is
Speaker 1: a very fucking the pit player. I love him like
Speaker 1: he was he was getting triple teamed at times and
Speaker 1: still got his so offensively from a shooting perspective, he
Speaker 1: did everything that he needed to do, but like you
Speaker 1: just can't. He turned the ball over seven times.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, we're seeing what happens when Steph Curry
Speaker 3: doesn't have help in the backcourt. It becomes really hard
Speaker 3: for him to be able to do anything in crunch
Speaker 3: time minutes when they just you know, deny him the
Speaker 3: ball and then he has to kick it out to
Speaker 3: Jan Tuscano Anderson or Jordan Poole, who Jordan Poole actually
Speaker 3: hit some big shots, but like you just.
Speaker 1: Also turned it all over a couple of times in
Speaker 1: crucial moments as well. Welcome Steph cray Welcome to Damian
Speaker 1: Lillard Land. Welcome to what life is like for Damian
Speaker 1: Lillard at all times. So he they missed Clay so much.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they just missed him so much. And when
Speaker 1: Clay comes back, this team is going to be very different.
Speaker 1: But you can tell that the Warriors now know like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is the Wiggins, this is the Wiggins. We know
Speaker 1: we can't build around Wiggins.
Speaker 2: No, I agree completely.
Speaker 1: Thirteen turnovers between Draymond and Steph thirteen. The NBA average
Speaker 1: for an entire team is thirteen point eight. So I mean,
Speaker 1: it was very bad. It was very bad. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about Memphis later. Josh showed up in huge moments.
Speaker 3: John was awesome. Yeah, I have a lot to say
Speaker 3: about jos that dude. Yeah, I think I think he's arrived.
Speaker 1: He is. This is Jaw's moment, Like when he flexed
Speaker 1: and it was like, you know, you're like, okay, Jaw
Speaker 1: is here.
Speaker 3: I mean that little floater where he's like leaning left
Speaker 3: and puts it up with his right hand. When he
Speaker 3: gets the space to shoot that, it's like a ninety
Speaker 3: percent shot. And he's in year two, like he's The
Speaker 3: potential for Jaw is pretty unlid. I've always thought he
Speaker 3: had All Star potential. I think he definitely has all potential.
Speaker 3: He's got all NBA potential. Yeah, first team.
Speaker 1: Yeah. The thing that I think that Jaw is getting
Speaker 1: very good at is kind of what Devin Booker does
Speaker 1: very well and what Chris Paul does very well is
Speaker 1: for how small that they are, they can get space
Speaker 1: using their body and then they back up and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden there's three feet of space and
Speaker 1: then that floaters ninety percent. Speaking of floaters, Steph Curry
Speaker 1: should not shoot them for a while. So we'll just
Speaker 1: just that was bad. It's been bad for two games. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Also, also Draymond's floater to tie the game. Can we
Speaker 3: talk about that for just two seconds?
Speaker 1: Can we talk about how you got nine point eight
Speaker 1: seconds left, They're on their heels. Draymond, there is no
Speaker 1: one to pass to. You are not a playmaker in
Speaker 1: this moment. It is time for you to fucking go
Speaker 1: and try to yam that not not. It was like
Speaker 1: a lob floater. It was like maybe someone's coming up
Speaker 1: to dunk. No, there's no one. No one's coming up
Speaker 1: to dunk this.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I didn't hate the decision to shoot a floater. It's
Speaker 3: just how how do you miss rim in that situation?
Speaker 2: That was I didn't like that.
Speaker 1: I did hate the decision for the floater because what
Speaker 1: you have is the ability. Now you've got people on
Speaker 1: their heels. It was what Jaron Jackson on his heels.
Speaker 1: You draw contact when you are down, when you it's
Speaker 1: entire game, worst case, you go to overtime, draw fucking contact.
Speaker 3: Basically, I just I don't think it was a bad shot.
Speaker 3: But if you if you missed that bad then it
Speaker 3: clearly was bad shot.
Speaker 1: I guess, oh, so good.
Speaker 2: So I mean, before we move.
Speaker 3: On, before we move on from the game, I just
Speaker 3: want to talk about how them the Grizzly's actually winning
Speaker 3: saved them from making one of the worst coaching decisions
Speaker 3: ever by not challenging that call when Pool stuck his
Speaker 3: leg out, I don't I still don't get that to
Speaker 3: this day. If they had lost, that's all we'd be
Speaker 3: talking about everything that would be.
Speaker 1: I don't know that, Like it wasn't a natural kickout.
Speaker 1: I don't think it really felt aggressive, But I do
Speaker 1: think you did need to challenge it, just because like
Speaker 1: you never used.
Speaker 2: Your challenge the minute and a half left, Yeah, what
Speaker 2: are you waiting for? That? That's literally why you have
Speaker 2: the rule.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean the whole thing, The whole thing was wild.
Speaker 1: I do love this Memphis team because there are a
Speaker 1: bunch of guys who have been underdogs their whole life,
Speaker 1: like Xavier Tillman hitting that big three. Like I fucking
Speaker 1: hate Grayson Allen, but he even is somewhat likable on
Speaker 1: this Grizzlies team because back to back huge threes and
Speaker 1: overtime huge, like that decision by Taylor Jenkins to put
Speaker 1: him in instead of whoever else would have been there.
Speaker 1: Because there's a bunch of others and like they're all
Speaker 1: like Desmond Bane, like they're all pretty good, but like
Speaker 1: that decision in overtime was really huge, and uh, when
Speaker 1: you paradoxic. Paradoxically, compare that to the terrible decision not
Speaker 1: to call the challenge. You know, just that was a
Speaker 1: good coaching call compared to that terrible coaching fall. Run
Speaker 1: okayld on out East. I predicted a blowout, did I did?
Speaker 2: I not predicted a blowout?
Speaker 1: You did?
Speaker 2: You got that part of it right.
Speaker 1: An over twenty point? Whoa? I did? I just got
Speaker 1: the wrong team. I just thought that the Wizards were
Speaker 1: way too injured. I don't know if they like shot
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook up with something. People are very mad at
Speaker 1: me saying that Russell Westbrook is injured? He is he
Speaker 1: there is something wrong?
Speaker 3: Certainly, certainly no, I mean there definitely wasn't. It showed
Speaker 3: a lot in that Celtics game. But I guess he's
Speaker 3: just still got that in him where we got to
Speaker 3: win this game or we're done, Like that's not happening.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So the Pacers turned back into a pumpkin. They've
Speaker 1: been up and down and up and down and up
Speaker 1: and down all year. I texted the GM of the
Speaker 1: Pacers when they blew the fuck out of the Hornets,
Speaker 1: and I was like, Yo, you guys look like one
Speaker 1: of the best passing teams in the NBA, you guys
Speaker 1: look phenomenal, and he goes right now, he said, right now,
Speaker 1: like he knew that this team was inconsistent, and they
Speaker 1: are very inconsistent. And I think that that. I mean,
Speaker 1: you don't have three out of your five starters, three
Speaker 1: of them are gone, the other two injured and playing
Speaker 1: Broggen and Jamon some bonus both playing and very hobbled.
Speaker 1: So the problem to me was, like, Okay, what happens
Speaker 1: when all the other guys that should be shooters, like
Speaker 1: TJ and Justin Holliday and Dougie Buckets, Like when they
Speaker 1: start going cold, Like you don't have Karris Lavert to
Speaker 1: go and get you a bucket, right, you don't have
Speaker 1: Iso Lavert and all you have is Brogden and some
Speaker 1: bonus who were sort of hobbled. And then you know
Speaker 1: it's night night sleep mask in BC, like.
Speaker 2: Night night mm hmm, tough, tough.
Speaker 1: I do think that the future is so bright for them,
Speaker 1: so bright.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's to get TJ.
Speaker 1: Warren back and Miles Turner's back, turn back at Kris
Speaker 1: Lavert back, like that is a squad.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no reason to be down on them, uh,
Speaker 3: moving forward, I know not at all.
Speaker 1: I agree that's for the Wizards, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know what to make of them.
Speaker 1: I don't know what they're going to be. I don't
Speaker 1: know what I don't feel like I know anyone is
Speaker 1: going to be.
Speaker 2: It's like a rented team at this point.
Speaker 3: You know, it's like this, this version, I guess is
Speaker 3: sort of cool. There's some cool things that come out
Speaker 3: of it, but like, these guys aren't going to be
Speaker 3: teammates very long.
Speaker 2: Like so what you don't think that.
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook is going to stay stay around?
Speaker 2: I mean he could.
Speaker 3: I'm not going to act like I'm making any like
Speaker 3: serious projections here, but it doesn't it done to me.
Speaker 3: I just I can't see Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal
Speaker 3: being teammates for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 1: I guess, I said, another couple of years. Maybe think
Speaker 1: another couple of years. Bradley Beal said this, Russell Westbrook
Speaker 1: has shown me what it means to show up night
Speaker 1: after night after night after night. And that is a
Speaker 1: that is a tool, that is a skill that only
Speaker 1: a few players in the league have, which is like
Speaker 1: that you bring it no matter what like that, no
Speaker 1: matter what intensity, and that trickles down to the role
Speaker 1: players like ruy Hachi Mura, Like you can't teach dog,
Speaker 1: but if you could, Russell Westbrook would be the fucking
Speaker 1: mister Miagi.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean his imprint is all over that team.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. Okay, let's head out East and preview these
Speaker 1: playoff series. If the Sixers don't go to the Eastern
Speaker 1: Conference Finals, this will be an all time franchise disaster, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I fully expect them to get there, but
Speaker 1: if they don't, that would be yeah, yeah, the easiest
Speaker 1: path to the Extern Conference Finals I have ever seen.
Speaker 1: You've got the Wizards, which you just called a rented team,
Speaker 1: which could be their toughest matchup, right, it could be
Speaker 1: their most interesting matchup compared to the Hawks and the Knicks.
Speaker 2: You think so?
Speaker 1: I do, because I think that Russell Westbrook n Embiid
Speaker 1: are very like emotional creatures. They're gonna go at each other, right,
Speaker 1: Like Russell, I don't know if you remember it, I
Speaker 1: was gonna put the saw in, but I'll just say
Speaker 1: what he said where it was like Embiid hit Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook very hard, and the it went viral and then
Speaker 1: the media member was like, hey, like what happened with you?
Speaker 1: And MB like he hits you and he's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he was trying to hurt me. It's all good, like
Speaker 1: kind of he kind of like played it off. And
Speaker 1: then they go, so are you guys cool and he
Speaker 1: looks at it he goes, fuck, no, we're not cool.
Speaker 1: So I think that's going to be a thing. I
Speaker 1: think that the Wizards team, this Wizard's team is the
Speaker 1: only one out of those three with multiple big men
Speaker 1: that can get into foul trouble, right, Like you've got Gafford, Rolo,
Speaker 1: Hachi Mura, Alex Linn all can can share Guardigan Beide
Speaker 1: and you don't worry about like one of them fouling out,
Speaker 1: Like they're all not like great, but like you're just
Speaker 1: talking about bodies.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we have opposing opinions on this. I
Speaker 3: think I think em Beid's looking at who's gonna have
Speaker 3: to guard him and he's just like licking his lips
Speaker 3: with that. I expect him Bide to average like thirty
Speaker 3: four points in this series and a suite.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he should average more, though he should
Speaker 1: average more because you're talking about I think he had
Speaker 1: thirty five in the first matchup. They only played early
Speaker 1: in the season, and they only won by like five
Speaker 1: or six both times, so I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: much And that was before them getting Daniel Gafford. And
Speaker 1: I know you're probably not super high on Daniel Gafford
Speaker 1: because he's like a nobody right now, but I think
Speaker 1: he he is a body that wasn't there in that
Speaker 1: game and body sure.
Speaker 3: I just and I'm not saying I have anything like
Speaker 3: crazy to say about it.
Speaker 2: I just think MB is just gonna cook this series
Speaker 2: so hard.
Speaker 1: You know who I think is going to cook. I
Speaker 1: think Bradley Beal is going to cook. He put up
Speaker 1: sixty against them, sixty, so I think it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: I think the matchups to me that are the most
Speaker 1: intriguing is really Bradley Beal versus Matist Saible and Ben Simmons. Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: Bradley bil has one leg, but like, I think he's
Speaker 1: got an additional like gear for this matchup he's at
Speaker 1: He averaged forty five points against the Sixers this.
Speaker 2: Year, so yeah, no, I am. I am excited to
Speaker 2: see what beial does.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be a shootout. It's gonna be very fun. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Berton's also as an X factor. He averaged seventeen points
Speaker 1: in those two games. Simmons averaged sixteen and a half
Speaker 1: in those two games, but he also had almost four turnovers.
Speaker 1: So I think Simmons will average like ten in these games.
Speaker 1: I don't think average. Yeah, I think he's gonna average
Speaker 1: ten in these games. I don't think he's gonna do shit.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be not doing shit. That is
Speaker 1: my prediction. Embiid in those two games average thirty three
Speaker 1: and a half points. I think he's got to average forty.
Speaker 2: So he's going to turn them all over minimum forty times.
Speaker 1: Who I said he's gonna average ten points per game.
Speaker 1: Oh my bad, bad, bad hugovers per game. So the
Speaker 1: things to watch for me is that, like, can you
Speaker 1: take embiid out? I think the book on MBT is this,
Speaker 1: can you make him emotionally frustrated early? That's the only
Speaker 1: way it becomes a series, an interesting series kind of
Speaker 1: almost like how you have to play a d right now,
Speaker 1: which is like get him out of his rhythm being
Speaker 1: irritant because that's the only that's literally the only flaw
Speaker 1: that Joel Embiid has is his mind. The only thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I just you don't agree, you don't agree.
Speaker 2: I do a little bit.
Speaker 3: I just when it comes to this series, I just
Speaker 3: I guess we have just different ideas of this series.
Speaker 3: I don't expect this to be much of anything in
Speaker 3: terms of competition. I think if beal, yeah, it can
Speaker 3: be just extreme awesome beal. Like they maybe get two,
Speaker 3: but I don't know. I think if they get one,
Speaker 3: that's an accomplishment.
Speaker 2: Honestly, Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1: The Sixers win in five or six, but I wouldn't
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if it went longer. So, but
Speaker 1: the Sixers should make they should make easy work out
Speaker 1: of the Wizards. But hey, I've been super cold, so
Speaker 1: who knows. Yeah, next up is two seven Nets versus Celtics.
Speaker 1: I think this is a fucking sweek, Like this's night night.
Speaker 1: There's no scenario I see the Celtics doing anything. I
Speaker 1: don't care if Jason Tatum's score seventy, Like, don't.
Speaker 2: Care, Like I think he's gonna have to.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to score seventy because like it's hardened
Speaker 1: it to. I mean, it's Harden's ran, It's Kyrie, like,
Speaker 1: don't eat score thirty.
Speaker 3: They're gonna get so many easy baskets. It's it's just
Speaker 3: it's it's insane. I would the overs in this game
Speaker 3: is gonna the totals in these games are gonna be
Speaker 3: very hot.
Speaker 1: I would think, what do you think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: like two forty nine and a half?
Speaker 2: Probably not that much, but.
Speaker 1: It's a minute's high. Like this Celtics team can't I
Speaker 1: expect like two forty two because it's like playoff at
Speaker 1: but like the Celtics can't can't defend. No, there's the
Speaker 1: worst defensive teams in the league. Yeah, and they are
Speaker 1: decimated like Marcus Smart guards whoever, and then like everybody
Speaker 1: else goes off. So I think if you're if you're
Speaker 1: Steve Nash, you're like, you're just hoping that we can
Speaker 1: we can literally crush them so easily. We can just
Speaker 1: rest the stars in the second half. Like that's my
Speaker 1: mindset as Steve Nash. Steve put their foot on, put
Speaker 1: your foot on their throat. So I think it's I
Speaker 1: think it's broomtime. Broom time three three, six Series most intriguing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, I would say this series go seven.
Speaker 1: If the Heat do what the Heat should do, they
Speaker 1: should go seven. This is very exciting, like there's a
Speaker 1: lot of wrinkles and matchup things to watch. I think
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday is my most intriguing player to see what
Speaker 1: he does, Like, I think he's gotta be on Jimmy
Speaker 1: Butler pretty much like five flavor right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and he makes such a difference.
Speaker 3: Like I was thinking about it after recorded uh whatever
Speaker 3: episode it was where we were talking about Spolstra and
Speaker 3: what they could do. Uh, I was thinking about betting
Speaker 3: on them maybe, but and then I just started thinking
Speaker 3: more about it. Drew Holliday over Eric Bledsoe's such a
Speaker 3: big difference. It's such a big difference. And like just
Speaker 3: them having home court. I think I think the Bucks
Speaker 3: get it. I think the Bucks get it in six.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be so excited. I'm very interested to watch
Speaker 1: Bam versus Jianness. I think that will be very intense basketball,
Speaker 1: like those two guys are very intense. Tyler Hero I
Speaker 1: think is a bit question mark, like which Tyler Hero
Speaker 1: is actually going to show up? Are we going to
Speaker 1: see the Tyler hero In the bubble last season or
Speaker 1: are we going to see Tyler hero In this regular season?
Speaker 1: Because those are one guy is like you keep them forever,
Speaker 1: and another guy you shop on the trade block right now,
Speaker 1: right like so Goran Dragicic and Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn.
Speaker 1: When they're all crisp, they all can shoot from everywhere.
Speaker 1: So this Miami Heat team either scores ninety or they
Speaker 1: score one twenty and it's just like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just don't know what's going to happen. So I
Speaker 1: think that the main issue is like whether Budenholzer can
Speaker 1: keep up with Eric Spolstra's you know, mind games and
Speaker 1: chess smatch and all the weird things he's going to
Speaker 1: try to put because you know, Spoe has been thinking
Speaker 1: about Drew Bledsoe, I mean Drew Drew Holliday or Drew Holliday.
Speaker 1: I was thinking about Drew. I was thinking about Drew
Speaker 1: Holiday and Eric Bledsoe combined.
Speaker 3: You remember a few years ago there a few years
Speaker 3: ago in the playoffs and they were playing the Celtics
Speaker 3: and Terry Rozier called him Drew Blodsoe. Oh yeah, I
Speaker 3: think it came a big thing did Drew Bledsoe showed
Speaker 3: up to the game in Boston.
Speaker 1: Well, you know what was funny to me was something
Speaker 1: that Steve Curse said right before the Laker game, and
Speaker 1: he was like, you know, adjustments in the playoffs really
Speaker 1: start at game three. He was like, you really won't
Speaker 1: see anything after one or two, Like it's really like
Speaker 1: the second or third game after that where real coaching
Speaker 1: adjustments start to take shape, which I didn't actually know, Like,
Speaker 1: I wasn't aware of that philosophy at all. I thought like,
Speaker 1: maybe after the first game, if matchups weren't going the
Speaker 1: way that you want, you might change your rotations. But
Speaker 1: I think for Eric Spolstra, I don't think he subscribes
Speaker 1: to that mindset. I think he's like, first quarter things
Speaker 1: aren't working, We're changing things up, you know what I mean. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I think Drew Holliday is firmly in his mind.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna try to find ways to scheme
Speaker 1: to kind of try to get his guys open. So
Speaker 1: I know this is a wild take, but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: sick where I was. I think Miami and seven, I
Speaker 1: think Spoe is that good, got four or five Knicks Hawks.
Speaker 1: I love this. I love this like it's this is
Speaker 1: a fun matchup, is it not.
Speaker 3: It's great, It's great, like young young players, young teams.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I'm stoked.
Speaker 1: Nobody expected either one of these teams to do anything
Speaker 1: and they're in the middle of the pack. Nick McMillan
Speaker 1: talking shit about how the NBA is already conspiring for
Speaker 1: the Knicks to win. He is like trying to create
Speaker 1: bulletin material for his team by basically getting himself fined
Speaker 1: already saying that they're never gonna get me calls and
Speaker 1: nobody's gonna want us to move on, and how the
Speaker 1: league's gonna do everything they can to keep the Knicks
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, and you know what, like really to
Speaker 1: me what this said, and like you know, you know,
Speaker 1: like the writing on the wall when you know these
Speaker 1: little details, right, Like Nate McMillan is one in nine
Speaker 1: getting out of the first round of the playoffs, so
Speaker 1: he's already setting the stage for the Atlanta Hawks GM
Speaker 1: Travis Schlink to basically Travish Slink basically to say, you know,
Speaker 1: they inspired against us. So this is his tenth playoff appearance,
Speaker 1: He's one in eight, and I think he's gonna go
Speaker 1: one and nine. So it's just how much to do
Speaker 1: about nothing? Yeah?
Speaker 3: No, if I had to predict it, I think I
Speaker 3: think the Knicks take it. I just think they're more
Speaker 3: cohesive team. I would say I think Trey's gonna cook.
Speaker 3: Don't get me wrong. I think Trey is going to
Speaker 3: have a really good series, but I think it's just
Speaker 3: going to not be quite enough.
Speaker 1: Trey averaged twenty four against the Knicks in the games
Speaker 1: that they played this year, but who cooked in that
Speaker 1: in those three matchups were it was Julius Randall. He
Speaker 1: averaged thirty seven against the Hawks this year, thirty seven.
Speaker 1: I think the Knicks are three and zero against the Hawks.
Speaker 1: Tibbs is gonna want to play slow. I think Julius
Speaker 1: Reynolds probably get like forty. It's just I don't know
Speaker 1: who ends up guarding him. The Hawks want to score
Speaker 1: a lot, they have a ton of high octane guys,
Speaker 1: and then Tibbs wants to do something different. So I
Speaker 1: think the Nicks in five.
Speaker 3: Well, did DeAndre Hunter play in any of those games?
Speaker 3: He probably didn't, right.
Speaker 1: Uh, I'd have to look, yeah, he probably he probably didn't.
Speaker 2: I think he's going to get the Randall assign and
Speaker 2: that we'll see.
Speaker 1: Well that's a big boy matchup. Let me just say
Speaker 1: that as a big boy matchup for DeAndre Hunter. The
Speaker 1: Hawks drafted DeAndre Hunter as a defensive specialist and like,
Speaker 1: I guess three and D guy you could call him
Speaker 1: and we'll see. We're gonna have to see if history
Speaker 1: repeats itself. Nate McMillan gets bounced out of the first
Speaker 1: round once again. I bet my beating heart on it.
Speaker 1: Just to like recap, DeAndre Hunter did play in Game
Speaker 1: three of that series, played thirty seven thirty seven minutes
Speaker 1: and they got cooked by like ten ah. Okay, so
Speaker 1: all right, so let's go out West, look out West,
Speaker 1: number one Jazz against not the Warriors. So by the way,
Speaker 1: let's just can we just put it in stone that
Speaker 1: a Warrior is not going to the finals this year?
Speaker 2: So no, they're not that prediction.
Speaker 1: That prediction got ended very fast. It would have been fun.
Speaker 1: They play the Grizzlies. I am excited about this matchup,
Speaker 1: like very excited. You're not excited. You don't like Dylan
Speaker 1: Brooks trying to do down Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 3: I do like Dylan Brooks a lot, actually, but no,
Speaker 3: I wanted them to play the Warriors.
Speaker 2: I'll be honest. It's this is honestly insane, the.
Speaker 3: Advantage discrepancy between one seed and two seed. It's the
Speaker 3: biggest ever in the history of sports, especially now that
Speaker 3: it's like this, And so yeah, no, I wanted them
Speaker 3: to be tested similarly to how the Suns are gonna
Speaker 3: be tested. Granted, I just thought the Warriors would have
Speaker 3: been a funer series, but this, this could be fine.
Speaker 3: And I am excited to see playoff joh because again
Speaker 3: I think last night he showed me he's here and
Speaker 3: he's ready. So yeah, no, I am excited to see John.
Speaker 1: I'm excited. This is what I'm thinking about seeing, right,
Speaker 1: Can Brooks shut down Spider Mitchell, which he is coming
Speaker 1: off of the lowest grade ankle injury for the most
Speaker 1: amount of games that he's missed, like he literally twisted
Speaker 1: his ankle like off of a curb and has missed
Speaker 1: like fifteen games. So like, I hope he's one hundred
Speaker 1: percent healthy. So like, I hope whatever that was that
Speaker 1: the Jazz did like was worth it. But Dylan Brooks
Speaker 1: made things very tough for Steph very tough. I know
Speaker 1: we got forty, but it didn't look easy. I think
Speaker 1: Donovan is obviously a lesser player, a different player, but
Speaker 1: a lesser player than Steph. I think he's basically neutralized.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to double them the same
Speaker 1: way that they would Steph. So I think that who's
Speaker 1: actually going to go have to go off of this
Speaker 1: game is like Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson and those like
Speaker 1: key corner threes from Joe Ingles, Like that's the difference
Speaker 1: between this Warriors team and this Jazz team is like
Speaker 1: they're just a high octane three point shooting team. To
Speaker 1: shoot the most threes in the NBA, it should not
Speaker 1: be close. But I just like some of the interesting matchups,
Speaker 1: like Valanchotis versus go Bear. I think those two guys
Speaker 1: like get into it, like I want to see like
Speaker 1: some fire and some intensity, Like I think the Griz
Speaker 1: are going to bang on go Beart, like I think
Speaker 1: Valentiss is going to try to like get in his head,
Speaker 1: trying to get him in and foul trouble, like I
Speaker 1: want to know who's stopping Jaw, Like Gobert is going
Speaker 1: to be that interior threat that John didn't see last night,
Speaker 1: but I think then you kick it out and see
Speaker 1: what Xavier Tilma is nor Grayson Allen can do. They're
Speaker 1: gonna need to hit breeze and Jaws need to get
Speaker 1: a hit breeze. I think like the Jazz probably win
Speaker 1: in five, that's my guest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's what I was definitely thinking.
Speaker 3: Like, I think the Grizzlies will have one of those
Speaker 3: games where just everything's clicking and Jaw yeah puts up
Speaker 3: late thirty four and ten or.
Speaker 2: Something like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they do get a game, but I don't
Speaker 3: see him getting more than one game.
Speaker 1: I agree. Two seven Lakers Chub Gurw is in here
Speaker 1: in Phoenix right now, that will be there tomorrow games
Speaker 1: one and two. If you were a Suns fan, Marty, uh,
Speaker 1: this is a game, nobody, this is a series nobody wanted.
Speaker 1: No Suns fan wanted this matchup because Ad could beat
Speaker 1: you all by himself and now you have Lebron James.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's it can do a four times.
Speaker 1: It's pain. But here's the thing. Two guys. One guy
Speaker 1: is soft, Like we do know that, Anthony Davis, he's
Speaker 1: very inconsistent emotionally. This way like he says he's playing
Speaker 1: through pain. His shoulder is injured, like he can disappear
Speaker 1: for long stretches. Lebron very clearly looks tentative. That's good
Speaker 1: for you. That's good as a Suns fan, like because
Speaker 1: hear this if the Suns get out fast and Ad
Speaker 1: and Braun are both tentative, which I think is totally
Speaker 1: possible for these first two games. I think, once you're
Speaker 1: up by ten, you're a different team than the Warriors.
Speaker 1: You're not turning the ball over fifteen times. No, Paul
Speaker 1: is not the same. Yeah, Chris Paul's not like Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: He takes very good care of the ball.
Speaker 3: I think Chris Paul was like third in turnover efficiency
Speaker 3: or something like that. Like he yes, does not turn
Speaker 3: the ball over for no reason like ever.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna be able to get into your offense
Speaker 1: and keep the ball in your hands for a long stretches,
Speaker 1: and that keeps the Lakers from getting out into transition,
Speaker 1: which I think is the way that they come back.
Speaker 1: Like I think they're gonna have to play Ad at
Speaker 1: the five a lot, and so then it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: try to take a d out and make you know
Speaker 1: Ksey PB two, I'm okay with that. It's possible. I
Speaker 1: think it's possible you could win the series.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh yeah, I'm by no means laying down on it.
Speaker 3: I saw some things, especially in that Warriors game, that
Speaker 3: made me think we're going to be able to do
Speaker 3: some things, make them uncomfortable, definitely take some games.
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 3: I think Mikhale Bridges is going to be huge in
Speaker 3: the series. How he's able to keep up with Lebron,
Speaker 3: you know, make him uncomfortable, like Lebron's gonna get his
Speaker 3: but make him, you know, work insanely hard for it
Speaker 3: and maybe not put forth the effort on defense that
Speaker 3: we sometimes see him, you know, take off like that.
Speaker 3: I think DeAndre Ayden staying out of foul trouble is
Speaker 3: going to be probably the biggest factor in the entire series,
Speaker 3: because if he's on the floor, then we're throwing Frank
Speaker 3: Kaminski and Dario Sarich up against a d and that's
Speaker 3: just that's not going to be good.
Speaker 1: No, that's not good at all. And I think what
Speaker 1: you could probably try to do to neutralize that is
Speaker 1: get ad into some foul trouble too. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: think is an also an interesting matchup where an interesting
Speaker 1: X factor is just the Jay Crowder factor just because
Speaker 1: like he knows Braun, like he's played with Braun, He's
Speaker 1: he comes up big in playoff moments and has for
Speaker 1: multiple teams. You know, So I I really like that
Speaker 1: addition for this playoffs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I also just like adult.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, he is, and I expect him to shoot well,
Speaker 3: which is gonna be very important, especially uh in a
Speaker 3: series like this where no one is really I don't
Speaker 3: want to say no one, but we don't have a
Speaker 3: whole lot of playoff experience, and we have a guy
Speaker 3: who's made big shots, has done been in these moments.
Speaker 3: I just I, yeah, no, I expect I expect Jay
Speaker 3: to play uh very well. And also I think, uh,
Speaker 3: I think Campaign. This is my bold prediction for the game.
Speaker 3: I think Campaign is going to single handedly win one
Speaker 3: game of this series.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I love Campaign. I love Campaign.
Speaker 2: He's awesome.
Speaker 1: Uh. I have a hard time with predicting this, so
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna go with the favorite and say, Sons and.
Speaker 2: So are the the fan. I don't think we're the favorite.
Speaker 1: I mean, no, you're not the favorite. You're not the favorite,
Speaker 1: but you are the favorite. Does that make sense? Like,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna go with the two. I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: get the chalk, right, Yeah, I'm just gonna go with
Speaker 1: the chalk. I know it's tough, you guys are. They
Speaker 1: even did a whole article about how you're you know,
Speaker 1: the Sons and the Jazz are the two worst one
Speaker 1: in two seeds of all time. So in terms of
Speaker 1: like there was like an ESPN article basically that was
Speaker 1: like how it was summed up. There's like a lot
Speaker 1: of uh, you know, probabilities and percentages and historical information,
Speaker 1: but that was basically the take home message. So like whatever,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna give it to the Suns and seven.
Speaker 1: I'm rooting for you. I'm rooting against Laflop like I think,
Speaker 1: you know, that's just what I want to see. I
Speaker 1: fucking hate the Lakers. I always have it, always will.
Speaker 1: So that's the deal.
Speaker 2: I would love it.
Speaker 3: Before we move on, can we talk for just a
Speaker 3: second about the Lebron Drake tequila party just for a second.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, let's do it.
Speaker 2: I'm here for this, okay.
Speaker 3: Here, So we knew about this. This was the night
Speaker 3: before the play in game against the Warriors. I tweeted
Speaker 3: about it jokingly because just obviously I'm going to do that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And then this morning Dave mcmanimon writes a story that
Speaker 3: says the NBA has notified the Lakers or whatever that
Speaker 3: Lebron violated COVID protocol, which has been a huge deal
Speaker 3: within the league this season. Guys getting suspended ten twelve days,
Speaker 3: like shit like that.
Speaker 2: And then the NBA And this is a personal thing
Speaker 2: to me.
Speaker 3: Going back to two thousand and seven, Amaras Stottamarer takes
Speaker 3: two steps onto the aborsty, I'll take two steps onto
Speaker 3: the floor.
Speaker 2: They get suspended.
Speaker 3: The NBA recites rules are rules, it's not about what
Speaker 3: is it? What did they say? They said, it's not
Speaker 3: about fairness, it's about correctness. And that's the only time
Speaker 3: in the history of the league that that's ever been
Speaker 3: the case. And it ended up. So they come out
Speaker 3: and they say we're not going to suspend him. They
Speaker 3: did a similar thing in twenty eleven in the finals
Speaker 3: where they said we wouldn't have suspended Lebron.
Speaker 2: It's I don't know.
Speaker 3: I mean, I was never expecting them to suspend him,
Speaker 3: but going through what I went through in two thousand
Speaker 3: and seven. My reward for that is that I get
Speaker 3: to bitch about things like this every time they happen.
Speaker 1: So let me ask you this. If Dennis Shrewder goes
Speaker 1: to a party with Drake, does Dennis Shrewder get suspended
Speaker 1: for one game?
Speaker 2: Probably?
Speaker 1: Okay? So yeah, I mean I would say that this
Speaker 1: is the Lebron effect on ratings, which then they say, well,
Speaker 1: it was an outdoor event. And by the way, like
Speaker 1: the story also said that the Lakers are not eighty
Speaker 1: five percent vaccinated, so they do not fall into loosened
Speaker 1: rule sets that the rest of the NBA teams who
Speaker 1: have vaccinated eighty five percent of their players are allowed
Speaker 1: to do. So yeah, I mean it almost feels like
Speaker 1: NBA gas lighting, you know what I mean, Like they're like,
Speaker 1: you're just like, am I crazy? Or is this a
Speaker 1: really big deal that they're trying to say is not
Speaker 1: a big deal? Yeah?
Speaker 3: No, I mean they came out and they instantly said
Speaker 3: there will be no suspension. Uh there was the the
Speaker 3: event did not warrant there was not like a risk
Speaker 3: of spreading or something like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, so who are you to say, like really, like,
Speaker 1: how do you know, like did you contact trace, like
Speaker 1: have you done anything?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think it was like you had to
Speaker 3: be vaccinated or like negative tests or something like that.
Speaker 3: It just I believe he wasn't actually putting people at risk.
Speaker 3: I'm not one of those like crazy people that think
Speaker 3: he was. But yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2: But it just right, right exactly.
Speaker 1: Rules are rules correctness over fairness. Three versus six Nuggets,
Speaker 1: Portland Trailblazers. This is a This is a hard one
Speaker 1: for me to discuss personally. I don't really If I
Speaker 1: could just avoid talking about it all together, I would.
Speaker 1: I would just say nothing about the mass matchup at all.
Speaker 1: I would pretend like it doesn't exist. I would never
Speaker 1: tweet about it. I would never make a prediction. But
Speaker 1: but since this is my podcast and we must discuss
Speaker 1: every matchup, like CJ has consistently cooked against this team,
Speaker 1: just CJ. Even in the Western Conference finals when they
Speaker 1: shut down Lebron Lebron, even when they shut down Dame.
Speaker 1: CJ destroyed the Nuggets. Evan Turner was able to go
Speaker 1: off like this Nuggets team is hampered. You've got Austin
Speaker 1: Rivers who couldn't even find minutes on the New York
Speaker 1: Knicks starting for the Nuggets. Uh, and he is now
Speaker 1: sick and questionable. PJ Dojer, who's another big role player
Speaker 1: for these guys, not playing like for the entire series. So,
Speaker 1: if there's any any matchup that I like in the West,
Speaker 1: if this one, this is the only one the Nuggets
Speaker 1: will allow us to score. They are not going to
Speaker 1: stop us from scoring. So I hate predicting Blazers, but
Speaker 1: I think we pull the upset. I think it's Blazers
Speaker 1: in six.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: Wow, I uh, I think I think I'm saying Nuggets
Speaker 3: in six and it honestly has nothing to do with Portland.
Speaker 3: I think everything you said makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3: I mean that guard, uh, that open guard position on
Speaker 3: the Nuggets is definitely a cause for concern. But I
Speaker 3: just like how they played to close the season out.
Speaker 3: I just think they're playing well and I expect their
Speaker 3: offense to hum in a similar way it has been MPG.
Speaker 2: You know, serious playoff minutes. Now I'm excited.
Speaker 3: I think I think the Nuggets pull it out and
Speaker 3: then lose to Utah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so my prediction is probably how you know that
Speaker 1: your predictions probably right. That Terry Stotts gets fired and
Speaker 1: Blazers don't get out of the first round, maybe we
Speaker 1: get swept Pinos five four Clippers, very very interesting series
Speaker 1: that last year should be an easy series for the Clippers,
Speaker 1: but somehow I think it won't be. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean Luca told stole two games himself last year and
Speaker 1: Porzingis was pretty much nowhere to be found last playoff
Speaker 1: series between these two, and I think that they're better
Speaker 1: than that. I think that the MAVs are slightly better
Speaker 1: than they were last time this year, last last time
Speaker 1: this time last year. That was hard to say, and
Speaker 1: I think like we always are going to be worrying
Speaker 1: about like playoff P. Like playoff P was healthy last
Speaker 1: year at this time and he's not healthy now, and
Speaker 1: he averaged what eighteen and a half and thirty five
Speaker 1: percent from the field, and he was twenty seven percent
Speaker 1: from from three point line last year in that series.
Speaker 1: And now they've got Josh Richardson, who I think will
Speaker 1: probably match up against him and try to make things difficult.
Speaker 1: So I think that's really in There's a big article
Speaker 1: that came out this week about like the chemistry issues
Speaker 1: potentially between Luca and Porzingis, So like I'm curious to
Speaker 1: see how that's going to play out. Tim Hardaway Junior
Speaker 1: is actually a lot better this year than he was
Speaker 1: last year. Yeah, those are my keys? What are your keys?
Speaker 1: To watch?
Speaker 3: Before I hop into this, I just want to correct myself.
Speaker 3: I said I expected the Nuggets to lose to Utah.
Speaker 3: I meant lose to winner of Suns Lakers. But yeah, no,
Speaker 3: I'm very I think you kind of covered it. I'm
Speaker 3: excited to see what Paul George does to respond to
Speaker 3: his weak playoff run last year, because he in big
Speaker 3: moments this season. In the regular season played well and
Speaker 3: he does tend to do that, and we've seen him
Speaker 3: play well in the playoffs, really well. I would love
Speaker 3: to see them struggle mightily against the MAVs. I think
Speaker 3: that would be so funny. Same, but I just I
Speaker 3: just don't. I think they're I think, like you say,
Speaker 3: the Mavericks are better. I think the Clippers might be
Speaker 3: a little better. I think Surge makes a big difference
Speaker 3: for them.
Speaker 1: Absolutely does.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think I'll go Clippers six.
Speaker 1: I think it's Clippers seven. Uh, but I think that's
Speaker 1: the only the reason is because pandemic p slash injured
Speaker 1: toe Pee and Kawhi is even less healthy this year.
Speaker 1: He looks slightly less explosive and bouncy. So I don't
Speaker 1: know what to make out of them. This is the best,
Speaker 1: one of the best three point shooters shooting teams in
Speaker 1: the league. What happens when they go cold? So I
Speaker 1: think Luca is gonna it's just gonna be exciting. It's
Speaker 1: gona be fun just because it's Luca and Lucas. Luca
Speaker 1: is gonna feel a little extra because it's the same
Speaker 1: series as it was last year that they got bounced
Speaker 1: in six. So I think it's I think they take
Speaker 1: it one more game a Clippers win.
Speaker 2: We're gonna get some cool Luca moments. That's no no
Speaker 2: doubt about that.
Speaker 1: Great Luca moments, Great Luca moments. Well, that's all the
Speaker 1: time that we have, more us fun that we will
Speaker 1: be back Monday. That is all the time that we
Speaker 1: have for this league podcast. Please subscribe, Please rate, please review.
Speaker 1: By the way, I am hearing some vicious rumors that
Speaker 1: positive reviews are not showing up on Apple podcasts. I've
Speaker 1: gotten some DM saying I have left the positive review
Speaker 1: and all I see or the negative reviews. So I'm
Speaker 1: not sure what's going on, maybe a conspiracy that needs
Speaker 1: to be checked out, but please try to rate and
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Speaker 1: episode of This League.
Speaker 4: It's sound to risk it all.
Speaker 2: Say hello to.
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Speaker 3: Biscuit?
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Speaker 2: Oh my, oh my, so fly Fly said, mouff you up.
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