Speaker 1: If you're tuned into Heat Check with Trystal Quick.
Speaker 2: On this episode of the Heat Check, James Harden goes
Speaker 2: from stink mode stink mode.
Speaker 3: To god mode. Had another legendary game.
Speaker 2: Now the Celtics are tied up with the Philadelphia seventy
Speaker 2: six ers, who would have sold that.
Speaker 3: Son's also even it up with the Nuggets.
Speaker 2: Jokic maybe might get suspended for shoving an NBA owner.
Speaker 3: It's true. That's a real sentence. Crazy.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 3: We'll get into all the.
Speaker 2: Storylines from around the league, and I'll break down the
Speaker 2: All NBA Rookie team and what makes no sense on
Speaker 2: that list as well. Let's get right into it, Nick,
Speaker 2: There's a lot to do, so let's drop that generic
Speaker 2: ass beat that should be Rihanna. Let's start with the
Speaker 2: Philly Boston series Sixers tied things up to Tod Azer
Speaker 2: thin margin of going down three to one. I don't
Speaker 2: know why, but Marcus Smart is now in charge of
Speaker 2: hitting or just missing or just taking game winners.
Speaker 3: That's just what his.
Speaker 2: Role is now on this Boston Celtics team. Never Mind
Speaker 2: that there's Jason Tatum there. Never mind that there's Jalen
Speaker 2: Brown there. Never mind that he's just one of the
Speaker 2: all time greatest chucker inconsistent shooters in the league. One
Speaker 2: miss three that could have won the Boston Celtics the game,
Speaker 2: and another May three of Marcus Smart's in overtime that
Speaker 2: he actually got off after the buzzer, so it went in.
Speaker 2: It was very close and it was not good. That
Speaker 2: was very very razor thin. But the biggest story, I think,
Speaker 2: to me, feels like James Harden. James Harden as a
Speaker 2: roller coaster is in full effect this playoffs. Usually we
Speaker 2: can somewhat expect a level of consistency for him in
Speaker 2: the playoffs and it's usually not great. But he has
Speaker 2: made headlines all series long. His fashion whatever, the kind
Speaker 2: of electric factory type fashion that he has, going to
Speaker 2: Vegas during an off day for a little baby party.
Speaker 2: Like James Hard and little Baby are like the best
Speaker 2: of friends. Like they're a little too close, if you
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying, Like there's nothing wrong with it,
Speaker 2: but they are like white on rice. They are peas
Speaker 2: and carrots. James Harden and little Baby. And then to
Speaker 2: putting up the best and worst games of his playoff
Speaker 2: career in the same series, back to back to back
Speaker 2: to back. Yes, forty five points Game one without MBID
Speaker 2: at that point was probably his single best performance of
Speaker 2: his playoff career, which he then followed up with the
Speaker 2: two worst shooting performances of his entire career playoffs and
Speaker 2: regular season combined. That's true as well. And then how
Speaker 2: did he follow that up? Forty two points, eight rebounds,
Speaker 2: nine assists, four steals, one block, and a corner three
Speaker 2: to win the game? Catch and shoot, James Harden?
Speaker 3: Who are you?
Speaker 2: James Harden? He had a game tying three in regulation
Speaker 2: and a game winning three in overtime, So two best
Speaker 2: games of his career bookending the two worst shooting performances
Speaker 2: of his career. That is the James Harden experience, folks.
Speaker 2: Another fun fact about James Harden he has now hit
Speaker 2: two game winners in the same series, which is absurdly
Speaker 2: rare and the only other player to do that. The
Speaker 2: last player to do that was Boo his teammate, former
Speaker 2: teammate Kevin Durant back in twenty twelve against the LA Lakers.
Speaker 2: Been that kind of playoffs for James Harden, And the
Speaker 2: funniest part to me was that James Harden got the
Speaker 2: strangest inspiration for that performance from none other than Doc Rivers,
Speaker 2: in the form of an inspirational song sent to him
Speaker 2: via text message before he got to the ear an
Speaker 2: eight minute gospel song sent to James Harden. I didn't
Speaker 2: think James Harden was into that kind of thing, but
Speaker 2: I guess whatever works, right. Harden said he was in
Speaker 2: the car with his friends, probably a little baby, and
Speaker 2: and got the text message from Doc Rivers and then
Speaker 2: asked his friends to put the song on. Hey, let's
Speaker 2: just put the song on. Let's listen to the whole
Speaker 2: thing through was a little baby driving. It gets unclear
Speaker 2: does he have a chauffeur, because nobody who's driving asks
Speaker 2: their friends, hey, let's just put this on. They just
Speaker 2: put it on, right, That's just what you do when
Speaker 2: you're driving. Anyway, All these things run through my head.
Speaker 3: So he listens to it all the way through.
Speaker 2: And he thought at that point, and he said this
Speaker 2: in his postgame presser, that he thought that this song
Speaker 2: had to have some good juju. Then, as we know,
Speaker 2: he went on put on a show, game tying three,
Speaker 2: game winning three, and PJ. Tucker said it perfectly in
Speaker 2: the postgame presser with James Harden, you better play that
Speaker 2: fucking song again before Gay five because whatever that song did,
Speaker 2: it got it. Which brings us to PJ. Tucker, one
Speaker 2: of the more fascinating glue guys I think in the league,
Speaker 2: big time dog, I would say, one of the biggest
Speaker 2: dogs in terms of the role player position. Like if
Speaker 2: you have the he's got that dog in a meme,
Speaker 2: that's PJ Tucker and a guy that the Sixers have
Speaker 2: desperately needed in the post Jimmy Butler era, because as
Speaker 2: we know, Jimmy was that guy that instilled confidence and
Speaker 2: grit and once he left, the team got soft as
Speaker 2: baby shit, right, So it is time that we do
Speaker 2: break down a little bit of PJ Tucker. I asked
Speaker 2: Philadelphia podcaster Ryan Rostein. I was asking him, Hey, like
Speaker 2: tell me about PJ Tucker and how impactful he is
Speaker 2: on this team. His response, in my opinion, was fascinating everything.
Speaker 5: But points it's you know, he's it was frustrating in
Speaker 5: the regular season and because he did that often and
Speaker 5: the value couldn't be seen in the regular season because
Speaker 5: you know, those games don't matter and the style is
Speaker 5: significantly different.
Speaker 6: But he brings everything to this team. He brings toughness,
Speaker 6: he brings leadership. I look at PJ Tucker as the leader.
Speaker 6: I talked about it for years about how this Sixers
Speaker 6: team lacked leadership and Beans not a leader, and Bean's
Speaker 6: not a grab your shirt, what are you doing? Let's
Speaker 6: go guy like he's not raw raw, He's not gonna
Speaker 6: say anything or lead. Neither really is to Bias or Harden.
Speaker 6: So Tucker's providing leadership and toughness that this Sixers team
Speaker 6: has been lacking for a long time.
Speaker 2: Facts has been lacking for a long time. And of
Speaker 2: course PJ. Tucker went out and did what PJ Tucker does.
Speaker 2: Six points, three rebounds, one assists, four fouls, impactful, probably
Speaker 2: hard fouls, still managed to be a plus one in
Speaker 2: thirty one minutes in a game they won by checks
Speaker 2: notes one. That seems absurd, but no one has crazy
Speaker 2: stat lines like PJ Tucker. You look at Game one
Speaker 2: when there was no embiid, when the Sixer stole Game
Speaker 2: one and TD Garden Tucker in that game thirty seven
Speaker 2: points without attempting a single field goal, ubsurd, five and one,
Speaker 2: two steals, and in a four point win, PJ Tucker
Speaker 2: was a plus six, exactly the amount that they're winning
Speaker 2: by PJ. Tucker is a plus of that same amount.
Speaker 2: That's how impactful and important PJ Tucker is. I think
Speaker 2: what we call PJ Tucker is Jimmy Butler if Jimmy
Speaker 2: Butler couldn't score.
Speaker 3: That's what he is.
Speaker 2: He does all the same things that Jimmy Butler does,
Speaker 2: except for put the basketball in the hoop. One minute,
Speaker 2: he's deflecting a pass. The next sea's in b ball
Speaker 2: Paul's face imploring him, uh, just furiously telling him YO
Speaker 2: play defense, get some rebounds. One of the best moments
Speaker 2: I think that highlights PJ. Tucker in this particular instance
Speaker 2: is so Joel Embiid has been known to be a
Speaker 2: little lazy in all moments, not just regular season moments.
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid sometimes doesn't have the most consistent motor in
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter when they are razor thin in the fight.
Speaker 2: In the thick of the battle with the Boston Celtics,
Speaker 2: he watches Joel Embiid take multiple plays off.
Speaker 3: So what does he do. He gets into.
Speaker 2: Inside of Joel Embiid's asshole, just reaming him, just yelling
Speaker 2: at him, grabbing onto his jersey, like like, that's not
Speaker 2: the MVP, and they ask him about it after the game,
Speaker 2: and this is what he had to say.
Speaker 1: No Viking guards oh, one on one. There's no way.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. It's not the Spected or anybody else about
Speaker 1: guard him for a lot of years and when he's
Speaker 1: aggressive in assertive, it's impossible. And I've seen him two
Speaker 1: or three plays in a row not do that, and
Speaker 1: we can't add it. We can add it now with
Speaker 1: a season on the line, we can't have it.
Speaker 3: Can't have that he's taking plays off. Can't have that, No, sir.
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid one of the most dominant scores, physically imposing,
Speaker 2: has some of the best footwork you'll ever see, like
Speaker 2: very light touch around the rim, hits, his free throws,
Speaker 2: can shoot threes. You're not stopping that, man. The only
Speaker 2: thing stopping Joel Embiid is Joel Embiid's motor. So if
Speaker 2: the motor is going at full blast, Sixers could win
Speaker 2: a title.
Speaker 3: And that is what PJ.
Speaker 2: Tucker is there to wind a little Joel Embiid up
Speaker 2: and to get the motor to restart in critical moments
Speaker 2: when he is taking time off. Also listen if he
Speaker 2: didn't do that. Sixers are probably down three to one.
Speaker 2: That's just the fact. One final point though about the Sixers,
Speaker 2: Doc Rivers, I ever thought i'd say it, folks. Doc
Speaker 2: Rivers has been really good. His coaching has been on
Speaker 2: tippy top shape, the type of Doc Rivers coaching that
Speaker 2: we thought he was when he was in Boston, right
Speaker 2: handling things perfectly, adjusting the lineup to make up for
Speaker 2: no and beating Game one, keeping some of the players
Speaker 2: out from the lineup that we thought might get significant
Speaker 2: minutes using Harden in a catch and shoot situation.
Speaker 3: What has James Harden ever done that?
Speaker 2: Looking at the film to get this team to have
Speaker 2: better spacing, better ability in the pick and roll Game four,
Speaker 2: you see this changing. He is having some of the
Speaker 2: best coaching playoffs I've ever seen, obviously sending Harden the
Speaker 2: eight minute long gospel song. Something has gotten into Doc Rivers.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's just because of how bad
Speaker 2: Joe Mozula is, but Doc Rivers is coaching circles around
Speaker 2: Joe Mizula. Another thing that's impressive in terms of Doc's coaching,
Speaker 2: he is doing something very underrated.
Speaker 3: Kerr does this, Spoe does this?
Speaker 2: Even after a win. He's just moving the chess piece
Speaker 2: calling out the refs, getting very mad because Jason Tatum
Speaker 2: pushed off on a three point that he made that
Speaker 2: could have lost the Sixers the game to set up
Speaker 2: more favorable calls in game five.
Speaker 7: Jason Tatum's three was awful. That that wasn't called awful?
Speaker 7: Did you did you think it was a push off?
Speaker 7: I'm asking you no, no.
Speaker 8: Be committed.
Speaker 1: Did you think it was a push off?
Speaker 7: It was a push off?
Speaker 2: You can't.
Speaker 7: And the reason that it bugged me because at the
Speaker 7: end of the game, they were the touch files. You know,
Speaker 7: Jason Tatum has a three sixty foul, Marcus Martin Tuck
Speaker 7: gets tangled up touch foul, So we're gonna call it
Speaker 7: that way. Then you have to call that to me
Speaker 7: that you got to call that play. I know it's
Speaker 7: a big play, and I'm a big fan of refs
Speaker 7: not deciding, but that could have decided the game.
Speaker 3: That could have decided the game. Good job, Doc, Is
Speaker 3: he wrong?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: That was an absolute push off. And I love the
Speaker 2: fact that Doc Rivers forced the reporter to also admit,
Speaker 2: do not be going both sides of the line with me. Reporter.
Speaker 2: Did you think it was a push off or was
Speaker 2: it not? Okay, Doc is on one in this series.
Speaker 2: Is that enough to put him over the top? I
Speaker 2: don't know, Probably maybe. Joe Mizula continues to be asked
Speaker 2: at the end of games and came out and admitted that, yeah,
Speaker 2: I fucked up. At the end of game four, he
Speaker 2: had this to say after the game.
Speaker 3: Hindsight is twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: I should have called the time out at the end
Speaker 2: of ot to help us go for a two for
Speaker 2: one situation for a couple more possessions. Obviously, fourteen seconds
Speaker 2: left down one. You want as many chances as you can.
Speaker 2: So definitely learn from that. Ooh, Joe Mizula, how Mike
Speaker 2: Budenholzer of you. That is something else, especially considering that
Speaker 2: Joe Mazula literally just after game three came out and
Speaker 2: was like, what about those adjustments? What about those adjustments?
Speaker 2: I had wow while.
Speaker 3: Walking out the door. Not just the end of the
Speaker 3: game management. It's what Marcus said also last week.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, speaking of Booonholzers, sounds exactly like Booonholzer here too. Yeah,
Speaker 2: most of our offense is just random. We're just getting
Speaker 2: random out here. That's why Jalen Brown's postgame comments were
Speaker 2: so telling.
Speaker 9: I guess I got to demand the ball a little
Speaker 9: bit more. I thought good things happened when I had
Speaker 9: it in my ass, But I thought our offense was
Speaker 9: was was.
Speaker 8: Okay.
Speaker 9: I thought we we may, we chipped away, we made
Speaker 9: big time shots, we got great looks all game long,
Speaker 9: and we just came up short.
Speaker 3: And that give me the fucking ball.
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown should like not be only shooting the ball
Speaker 2: through three times in seventeen minutes of any game, very
Speaker 2: very like clearly let alone in a winnable game to
Speaker 2: go up three to one and take the sixers and
Speaker 2: put them to sleep. That is on the offense, and
Speaker 2: that offense is directed by who Joe Missoula. If this
Speaker 2: series comes down to who's coaching better, Doctor Joe. I
Speaker 2: hate to say it because it is a wild thing
Speaker 2: for Doc Rivers to have a coaching edge in any series,
Speaker 2: in any playoff series at all, but listen, I think
Speaker 2: Doc is heading shoulders a better coach right now than
Speaker 2: Joe moi Azula. So that means Boston may be out,
Speaker 2: and that is saying a lot about the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 2: I thought Phoenix was gonna get swept, didn't you. I did,
Speaker 2: I really did. I thought it was it was over.
Speaker 2: They were getting their asses beat multiple games. The ghost
Speaker 2: of Chris Paul just pulled his groin and then the
Speaker 2: series flipped on its head. Truthfully, everything changed. Phoenix now
Speaker 2: ties the series with the number one seed Nuggets behind
Speaker 2: the usual suspects. Of course, we wanted big performances from
Speaker 2: Devin Booker. We got thirty six from him. Of course,
Speaker 2: you get thirty six from Kevin Durant and then.
Speaker 3: Nineteen from Check's notes.
Speaker 2: Landry Shammitt's Landry Shammitt four four threes in the final
Speaker 2: quarter of action, just nail in the coffin.
Speaker 3: After nailing the coffin.
Speaker 2: Forced the Denver Nuggets himself two big threes, two separate
Speaker 2: timeouts called by Denver like, oh shit, we cannot be
Speaker 2: letting Landry Shammitt's little last be sending us home, and
Speaker 2: he did. Shammitt was just in absolute sniper mode. Every
Speaker 2: time Denver got close. Landry Shammitt pulled up from deep
Speaker 2: and it was wet. I don't understand it, and the
Speaker 2: bench showed up for the first time. Pretty much all
Speaker 2: series scored forty. The bench scored forty. They were getting
Speaker 2: like four points off the bench before Chris Paul got injured.
Speaker 2: All of the bench was in plus numbers. All of
Speaker 2: this Sun's starting lineup was negative. Wild that the series
Speaker 2: was saved by its shallow bench, But props to Jock Landell, TJ. Warren,
Speaker 2: Terrence Ross, and of course Landry Shammitt. Landale was an
Speaker 2: impressive plus sixteen for the game. He was ballin', which
Speaker 2: brings up an interesting point.
Speaker 3: I need to know.
Speaker 2: Is this Phoenix Sun's team better without Chris Paul. I
Speaker 2: don't mean it in a stephen A. Smith way. I
Speaker 2: actually mean this. I actually think this team is better
Speaker 2: for whatever reason, MANI would not go to Terrence Ross,
Speaker 2: he would not play them. He would not play Landry,
Speaker 2: he would not play Campaign. He was running out six
Speaker 2: deep getting no produce. I think Landry had like two
Speaker 2: minutes in game one. I think Terrence Ross got a DNPCD.
Speaker 2: I think our man TJ. Warren DNPCD. And then all
Speaker 2: of Monnie's plans went to hell in a handbasket, and
Speaker 2: now he had to make adjustments and find some guys
Speaker 2: on the bench who he knew could score buckets and
Speaker 2: now it's tied to two. It might have saved Monny's job.
Speaker 2: Chris Paul's injury might have saved Monny's job. And I
Speaker 2: think it's this is why Chris Paul is a turtle.
Speaker 2: He is slow, Let's be honest. His playoff pedigree is
Speaker 2: built off of slow, playing it up the floor, putting
Speaker 2: his butt into someone's chest when he's backing him down,
Speaker 2: even ninety four feet away from your rim, and just
Speaker 2: setting up this offense slow, methodical point god shit. But maybe,
Speaker 2: just maybe that makes the Phoenix Suns worse. Maybe just
Speaker 2: maybe they need to be playing faster, They need to
Speaker 2: be getting easier buckets in transition. Maybe Dean thrives in
Speaker 2: a faster, up tempo offense. Same thing with Devin Booker,
Speaker 2: same thing.
Speaker 3: With Kevin Durant.
Speaker 2: Maybe half court offense is hard because the defense is set.
Speaker 2: They have had all this time to settle their defense
Speaker 2: down and figure out what you want to do. But
Speaker 2: the big story, though, really revolves around Yokic and this controversy.
Speaker 3: Have you heard about it?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 3: He put up fifty three.
Speaker 2: He was incredible, twenty of thirty from shooting, but he
Speaker 2: also managed to get himself squarely involved in some conflict
Speaker 2: that could possibly affect the entire series. With two and
Speaker 2: a half minutes left in the first half. Is what happened.
Speaker 3: Jokic was scrambling out of balance for the ball.
Speaker 2: Jokicic tried to get the ball, which happened to fall
Speaker 2: into a fan's hand.
Speaker 3: The fan refused.
Speaker 2: To give up the ball, literally was holding onto it
Speaker 2: like it was his baby. Jokic grabbed it, pulled it
Speaker 2: away from him, shove the fan down, tried to get
Speaker 2: the ball thrown to him, squirt it into another fan,
Speaker 2: tried to get the ball. Then that first fan got
Speaker 2: into his face and Yokic seemed to put his shoulder
Speaker 2: into him.
Speaker 3: And the fan flew to the ground. Who's a flop?
Speaker 3: It was an egregious flop.
Speaker 2: In other words, the video showed that he maybe sort
Speaker 2: of kind of went into the stands and malice in
Speaker 2: the palace them, you know what I mean, just a
Speaker 2: little shove in the stands, put his shoving into the guy.
Speaker 2: Who was this fan that Jokic shoved This guy a
Speaker 2: matthew Ishbia. Turns out matthew Ishbia is the new billionaire
Speaker 2: owner of the Phoenix suns. So Jokic shoves an NBA
Speaker 2: owner courtside for refusing to give the ball up and
Speaker 2: get out of the way, and that owner, matt Isshbia,
Speaker 2: flopped like a La Liga forward dating one of those
Speaker 2: supermodels that never smile.
Speaker 3: It was a very soft move.
Speaker 2: I respect the hell out of matt Ishbia, former spartan
Speaker 2: for pulling that. That's something that only Tom Izzo can teach.
Speaker 2: Matt Ishbia, Draymond Green, same guy, same guy. The big
Speaker 2: problem though, is that the league's kind of fucked because
Speaker 2: they're not gonna want to suspend Jolkic for that bullshit.
Speaker 2: But it was against the rules. It was The rules
Speaker 2: are very clear. You can one not go into the
Speaker 2: stands period. You cannot put your hands on a fan
Speaker 2: for any reason. There's a tiny bit of wiggle room
Speaker 2: because they say that Jokic wasn't really in the stands,
Speaker 2: he was court side, he was on the sidelines.
Speaker 3: Very thin argument. He did kind of sort of push
Speaker 3: a fan.
Speaker 2: Even Ishbia was like, Hey, I'm not trying to get
Speaker 2: I want us to win with Jokic.
Speaker 3: We don't want him to get suspended.
Speaker 2: But I am not sure what the league is going
Speaker 2: to do. It is a conundrum. The question is what
Speaker 2: would have happened if it was Draymond and not Jokic.
Speaker 2: Booker said after the game, when asked about it, he
Speaker 2: got us a point.
Speaker 3: He did his job, he did. It was a technical foul.
Speaker 2: And they got a point out of it. In a
Speaker 2: series that could be swayed very easily by a suspension
Speaker 2: by a star player. But listen, those Yoks non Yoks
Speaker 2: minutes are rough. A non Yoks game is pretty much
Speaker 2: a win for the Phoenix Suns, and we got some
Speaker 2: drama on our hands and it's not been on the court,
Speaker 2: and that is a shame because after two ugly gross
Speaker 2: first two games, this series has gotten very fun, very fast.
Speaker 2: So no one wants to see the Joker suspended. But
Speaker 2: it is all in Adam Silver's hands now and we
Speaker 2: will see what he does. The other two games are
Speaker 2: on Monday night, which is when I am recording right now.
Speaker 2: The games have not gone underway yet and I am
Speaker 2: not sure what is going to happen, so I'm going
Speaker 2: to keep my comments very general until we get back
Speaker 2: into the studio. Nick's heat, I think the Knicks are
Speaker 2: very much in trouble. I think that this team cannot shoot.
Speaker 2: If they come out in Game five and shoot like
Speaker 2: the snipers that they wanna be, then maybe that changes,
Speaker 2: but I don't think so. A lot of this has
Speaker 2: to do though, with Julius Randall. He didn't single handedly
Speaker 2: lose the game on Saturday for the Knicks, but.
Speaker 3: He was not great.
Speaker 2: He was not who they need him to be if
Speaker 2: they want to win and move on. He's injured. I
Speaker 2: know that he's injured, but you can't shoot thirty five
Speaker 2: percent from the field from the field from the field
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. That is eleven percentage points lower than
Speaker 2: his regular season numbers, and when he was asked about it,
Speaker 2: he said, well, some of the looks are different. The
Speaker 2: defense is a bit tighter, so I've got to do
Speaker 2: a better job of finding ways to execute off of that.
Speaker 2: But I'll be fine. Will he be fine? Though, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't know if he will be I don't know
Speaker 2: about that, chief, Like I know everyone says I'll be fine,
Speaker 2: I'll be fine, but in this moment against the heat
Speaker 2: against Jimmy Butler, I'm not sure on a bum wheel
Speaker 2: if you're gonna be All I know is that the
Speaker 2: Knicks cannot afford another negative thirty four performance from our
Speaker 2: man are Jay Barrett Ronan, We're gonna need more from you, sir.
Speaker 2: That is a season killing number right there. And if
Speaker 2: the Knicks can't hit threes, they are dead. Miami's going
Speaker 2: to pack the paint. They're going to make it very
Speaker 2: difficult for Mitchell Robinson and all them young boys underneath
Speaker 2: the basket to get rebounds and to score. And they're
Speaker 2: gonna let all these chuckers who are bricking consistently shoot
Speaker 2: from three. Randall oh for five from three last game,
Speaker 2: Brunson oh for five from three Topping and Grimes combined
Speaker 2: one for eight. That is one for eighteen right there.
Speaker 2: That is no bueno. Bam Adebayo was absolutely dominant in
Speaker 2: Game three. Eric Spolster had some big time flowers to
Speaker 2: give to bam Adebayo.
Speaker 10: Man I thought bam was a major part of that.
Speaker 10: He was all over the place both ends of the court.
Speaker 10: Uh And the stat line probably doesn't do it any
Speaker 10: justice of.
Speaker 8: The impact.
Speaker 10: You know, to be able to take a challenge on
Speaker 10: on a great player like Randall's limited help and then
Speaker 10: Raill's so clever. He knows how to draw fouls as well,
Speaker 10: so he can't be overly physical. And then we're also
Speaker 10: asking him, you know, to play pick and roles and
Speaker 10: then rebound and finish our defense.
Speaker 8: He's our best rebounder and we need him to do
Speaker 8: that as well. And he did all of that.
Speaker 10: And then offensively, he was just so active on the
Speaker 10: offensive glass, the random stuff in the paint, and some
Speaker 10: of these didn't lead to his.
Speaker 8: Scores, but they set the table.
Speaker 10: Just that aggressiveness, you know, for our team.
Speaker 8: And that's why he is who he is. He's just
Speaker 8: a winning player.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, bam Adabay is doing everything for this team.
Speaker 2: For a small ball five who's probably really more of
Speaker 2: a four, he has been incredible. My question is, really
Speaker 2: is this the ugliest series in the playoffs, because it
Speaker 2: feels like it is both teams last game shot under forty.
Speaker 3: P a field.
Speaker 2: Thirty six percent from the field for a team and
Speaker 2: the other team also below forty percent. All I know
Speaker 2: is the Knicks need to win to night or they
Speaker 2: are dead dead in the water. How is Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: the best player in the NBA and also the most
Speaker 2: disappointing player in the NBA at the same time. I
Speaker 2: don't understand it. I really really don't. Uh. The Lakers
Speaker 2: blew out the Warriors by thirty uh, and they took
Speaker 2: a two to one lead. But the question is, do
Speaker 2: you think that Steph Curry, the Steph God.
Speaker 3: The babyface Assassin, is worried at all?
Speaker 4: I mean, they made an adjustment in terms of their
Speaker 4: matchups to try to take away a pick and roll
Speaker 4: in the pocket passing at four on three advantage we
Speaker 4: having the backside and Draymond being in a sweet spot
Speaker 4: like they have is understand, that's when we're at our best.
Speaker 4: So we'll make adjustments.
Speaker 2: Will make adjustments with a wink and a head nod.
Speaker 3: I know what I'm gonna do. I'll figure it out.
Speaker 2: I wish I could show you this arrogant smirk that's
Speaker 2: on Steph Curry's face that you if you are playing
Speaker 2: against him, you always want to smack.
Speaker 3: I love Steph Curry.
Speaker 2: Also, you know, really quickly, is are these the most annoying?
Speaker 2: Is this the battle royale of most annoying fan bases
Speaker 2: complaining about the same thing to one another into the
Speaker 2: void every single game, whoever wins, the losing team is
Speaker 2: always complaining about how the other team is babied and
Speaker 2: protected by the referees in the league. Like it's like
Speaker 2: the Lakers win and the Warriors fans like, do you
Speaker 2: see this is the Lakers purple and gold Lebron James.
Speaker 2: They're always getting every single call? Is this bullshit?
Speaker 3: Ah? And then the Warriors win the Lakers.
Speaker 2: Like it's Steph.
Speaker 3: Steph is getting every call.
Speaker 2: It's so annoying the Dub nation they're just the champions,
Speaker 2: They've got championship pedigree and they get every call.
Speaker 3: Do you see this?
Speaker 2: This is bullshit? It's literally like a ping pong of
Speaker 2: rage between the two fan bases. I can't fucking stand
Speaker 2: either one. I wish they could both lose. I really
Speaker 2: wish they could both just be done at home. Can
Speaker 2: cooning mock drafting their way into oblivion right now? Because
Speaker 2: watching those two fan bases square off in the Twitter
Speaker 2: verse is like, on one hand, hilarious because it's like, yeah,
Speaker 2: every other team feels like this about both of you guys,
Speaker 2: Like that's what, Yes, you're right and you're right.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 2: The last eight times though that the Warriors got beat
Speaker 2: by fifteen in the playoffs, they came back and won
Speaker 2: the next game.
Speaker 3: Our Dubs always make adjustments. You've been warned.
Speaker 2: The twenty twenty two twenty twenty three Kia All Rookie
Speaker 2: List has been released. It's always a lot of fun
Speaker 2: to see if they've gotten it right. And lordy, lordy,
Speaker 2: they finally got the first team All Rookie team down,
Speaker 2: like dead on first team. Here it is Paolo ben Cerro,
Speaker 2: as they would say, Orlando Magic, Walker Kessler from the
Speaker 2: Utah Jazz, Benedict Mathern from the Pacers, Keegan Murray from
Speaker 2: the Kings, and Jalen Williams with an E from the
Speaker 2: Thunder Perfect list. No changes, absolutely the five best rookies
Speaker 2: this year. Paalo, of course, Rookie of the Year. He
Speaker 2: was always gonna get it. We've talked about him a
Speaker 2: lot on the pod. He exceeded the hype. He's going
Speaker 2: to continue to exceed the hype. I think he's an
Speaker 2: MVP at some point. I think he's a champion at
Speaker 2: some point. He was the best rookie from day one
Speaker 2: all the way through the end of the season. Even
Speaker 2: if he did have like fifteen games where you just
Speaker 2: he just couldn't make a three, you just couldn't hit
Speaker 2: the broad set of a Barn. Ben Mathern was a
Speaker 2: guy that I've always loved. I saw him at Arizona.
Speaker 2: I wanted Portland to draft him. He's been electric. The
Speaker 2: only thing that really kept him back was the fact
Speaker 2: that Rick Adelman was hiding him on the bench for
Speaker 2: pretty much most of the season until Tyrese Haliburton got
Speaker 2: injured because he had to earn his starting spot. Absolutely
Speaker 2: fucking stupid thing to do, don't know, especially on a
Speaker 2: team that had many injuries and particularly wasn't gonna.
Speaker 3: Win many games.
Speaker 2: I love Ben Mathern. He definitely earned that spot.
Speaker 3: Keegan Murray was a lock.
Speaker 2: He hit the most threes of any rookie, broke a
Speaker 2: record for a guy kind of with like an interesting shot.
Speaker 3: He is a bucket.
Speaker 2: I think he has one of the best catch and
Speaker 2: shoot percentages in the NBA. Came alive in the playoffs,
Speaker 2: huge performances, announced himself to the wide wide world now
Speaker 2: that Sacramento got on national TV for the first time
Speaker 2: all year, and he showed that the moment wasn't too big.
Speaker 2: Jalen Williams Jalen with an E kind of a surprise
Speaker 2: to me. Definitely thought he had huge upside when the
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City Thunder drafted him, knew that he would contribute,
Speaker 2: but oh my god, like he was probably the most
Speaker 2: consistent rookie next to Paolo all year, showed up game
Speaker 2: in game out part of a very super exciting team
Speaker 2: in OKC. He can do a little bit of everything.
Speaker 2: He can score, he can defend, he can rebound, he
Speaker 2: can pass. He's just one of those glue guys who
Speaker 2: can give you whatever you need as a team, as
Speaker 2: in his side. I think the funny thing about the
Speaker 2: Jalen Williams Jalen Williams thing is that Jalen Williams with
Speaker 2: a why and an I Jalen the bigger one. He
Speaker 2: got one vote for the first team All Rookie Team,
Speaker 2: which means obviously someone misspelled it. They just got the
Speaker 2: wrong Jalen. They meant Jalen with a knee, and they
Speaker 2: fucked it up and did a very honest mistake.
Speaker 3: Anyone bet it was a voter who just mistook him.
Speaker 2: That was me. I think that happened. The biggest surprise, though,
Speaker 2: I think is Walker Kessler. I tweeted out something earlier
Speaker 2: that maybe people forgot, but he was the number twenty
Speaker 2: two to pick in the draft, and that number twenty
Speaker 2: two pick actually belonged to the Memphis g Hzlies. How
Speaker 2: was the Memphis Grizzlies pick, which I am sure they
Speaker 2: would have loved to have, that they turned into Jake
Speaker 2: Lauravia and a future second round pick. The question is,
Speaker 2: could you imagine Walker Kessler on that team when Steven
Speaker 2: Adams went down, when Brandon Clark went down? Can you
Speaker 2: imagine a scenario where Walker Kesler, who can shoot threes,
Speaker 2: was on the court with Jaron Jackson Junior at the
Speaker 2: same exact time. Would that have made a difference in
Speaker 2: the Lakers Grizzly series. I fucking think so yes, Memphis.
Speaker 2: Memphis made a big mistake, so did Minnesota when they
Speaker 2: let him go. Honestly, Utah should have paid them draft
Speaker 2: picks in order to get Walker Kessler because he's cheaper,
Speaker 2: he's going to be better, and he's a lot less
Speaker 2: drama and now he's going to be a key piece
Speaker 2: to the Utah Jazz build around for years. The twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two twenty twenty three All Rookie second list a
Speaker 2: little suspect. We got four guys on two teams on
Speaker 2: the We got two Detroit Pistons on this list, and
Speaker 2: we got two Houston Rockets on this list. That is troubling.
Speaker 2: Those two teams not complete. They have a bunch of
Speaker 2: just chuckers. They were not good. Nothing, no bright spots
Speaker 2: on those teams. I take a lot of exception to
Speaker 2: the fact that Shayden Sharp was not on this list.
Speaker 2: Shadon Sharp is better than I would say all five
Speaker 2: of these players. Andrew Nemhar probably deserved he is. He
Speaker 2: just is like he is. Andrew Nemhar deserved also to
Speaker 2: be on this list, I think, above Jabari Smith and
Speaker 2: Tarry Eason. The list is as follow us Jalen Duran,
Speaker 2: Tarry Easton, Jaden Ivy, Jabari Smith, Jeremy Sohan, Detroit Detroit, Houston, Houston,
Speaker 2: San Antonio Spurs just three of the worst teams in
Speaker 2: the league.
Speaker 3: That's all no problem.
Speaker 2: Shaydon got better as the season got along. He had
Speaker 2: many games where he was putting up over thirty doing everything, rebounding, assisting,
Speaker 2: het multiple threes, dunking on your eyeball. He deserved to
Speaker 2: be the second team. Nemhard could have could be a
Speaker 2: real sleeper moving forward as well. Some players who who
Speaker 2: got votes who I think will impact winning in the
Speaker 2: new year future. I think Christian Brown is deserved. Denver's
Speaker 2: playing really well and he's playing important minutes in important
Speaker 2: games for them. Jayden Hardy and Dallas could easily find
Speaker 2: himself to be a starter next year. Dyson Daniels didn't
Speaker 2: have much time to prove himself in the lineup, but
Speaker 2: I think he's gonna be really good moving forward New Orleans.
Speaker 2: He will definitely contribute moving forward. Who else got some?
Speaker 2: Aj Griffin in Atlanta. I think he's going to be
Speaker 2: really impactful moving forward. And that's pretty much it. Mark
Speaker 2: Williams trash. He was not good. The only time he
Speaker 2: got better was after they made some trades. He's got
Speaker 2: some real defensive deficiencies. But a lot of fun players
Speaker 2: on this list. Like I said, AJ Griffin, Marshawn Beauchamp.
Speaker 2: Will have to see whether Chris Middleton goes and whether
Speaker 2: he can get some some points. But pretty much that's
Speaker 2: the list makes sense to me.
Speaker 3: But that is all the time that we have.
Speaker 2: If the heat check will be back Thursday with an
Speaker 2: all new episode which will come out Friday. Check for
Speaker 2: past episodes and many episodes which drop almost every single day,
Speaker 2: we have an interview with Keith Smith. Maybe we'll put
Speaker 2: on the pod that comes out tonight. Follow the heat
Speaker 2: check as the NBA Playoffs are in full swing and
Speaker 2: we're getting closer and closer to the finals. Do not
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