Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers Insiders wherever you get your podcasts. Day everybody,
Speaker 1: I'm seventy six heard all right, Good morning, everybody. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to another Sixers playoff Twitter Spaces, presented by Bett Parks.
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Rosen. Matt Murphy and Devon Gibbons are joining
Speaker 1: me momentarily to talk all things Eastern Conference semifinal matchup
Speaker 1: the Sixers and the Miami Heat will get started this
Speaker 1: evening in Miami. The vibes are high. They were high
Speaker 1: at practice yesterday, they're high this morning at shoot around.
Speaker 1: If you hear ambient noise on my end, some ball
Speaker 1: bouncing noise, perhaps I am in the backup house here
Speaker 1: at the arena. As the Sixers get their shoot around underway,
Speaker 1: the first of potentially many in this series, Matt and
Speaker 1: Devon and I are going to answer any questions that
Speaker 1: you guys have, so send us Send us those in
Speaker 1: our dms. You can also comment on the Sixers latest tweet.
Speaker 1: We want to make sure that you guys get all
Speaker 1: the content you're looking for in the next thirty minutes
Speaker 1: or so, so, without further Ado I think I can
Speaker 1: welcome in my guest Matt Murphy, Devon Gibbons, Good morning.
Speaker 1: How are we feeling guys? Hey, guys, how's it going? Lauren?
Speaker 1: What's the vibe at shoot around? You're there, You're in
Speaker 1: the building. I believe media has concluded. So what is
Speaker 1: the latest being said by the Sixers group? Matt? The
Speaker 1: vibe is pretty similar to what it was yesterday and
Speaker 1: we can get it. Get it right out there. Off
Speaker 1: the top, Joel Embiid not expected to be available for
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers, dealing with that orbital fracture and mild concussion.
Speaker 1: So the Sixers are adopting as they have all season long.
Speaker 1: By the way, a next man up mentality. We heard
Speaker 1: George Ning talk about it yesterday at practice. This morning,
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxie and Bball Paul addressed the media and gave
Speaker 1: similar thoughts. This is a team that's not counting itself out,
Speaker 1: and all those players agree with one. James Harden, who
Speaker 1: also spoke yesterday and is very ready for an opportunity
Speaker 1: like this one. He's a top seventy five player on
Speaker 1: the NBA's Top seventy five list for a reason. He
Speaker 1: has excelled in big moments. He was wonderful for the
Speaker 1: Sixers in Game six. And this is a big opportunity
Speaker 1: for a guy like James Harden, one of the all
Speaker 1: time greats, to step up big. This is why you
Speaker 1: bring a guy like James Harden to the seventy sixers.
Speaker 1: So this is a big, big time opportunity for the
Speaker 1: group as a whole, and they are not scared. This
Speaker 1: is not a group that's feeling like they can't get
Speaker 1: the job done tonight in Miami. In game one, well,
Speaker 1: hey guys, good morning, Glad to always be with you,
Speaker 1: and very excited about tonight looking forward, especially after hearing
Speaker 1: at Lauren of how the team is feeling, how they're
Speaker 1: feeling they come together even in the absence of Joel
Speaker 1: and big tests in Miami against the number one see
Speaker 1: but this is why you make a deal like you
Speaker 1: do around the trade deadline for someone like James Harden,
Speaker 1: for him to step up he did in Game six,
Speaker 1: and now with the unfortunate status of Joel Embid right now,
Speaker 1: James Harden to maybe flash back a little bit to
Speaker 1: that type of player that we saw in Houston as
Speaker 1: much as he can pull that out of his head
Speaker 1: for this team tonight and see everyone else step up
Speaker 1: in the moment as well. Let me be be some big
Speaker 1: five minutes available Terres Maxie to Bias Hairs had a
Speaker 1: tremendous series against the Raptors. Looking forward to see how
Speaker 1: it all now moves over to this round number two
Speaker 1: against the Miami Heat. Before we get into questions and
Speaker 1: comments from the listeners, again, you can click on our
Speaker 1: icons and send us a d M. I feel like
Speaker 1: we owe the podcast audience a little more color on
Speaker 1: the Raptors series. We were here live on spaces, so
Speaker 1: if you're exclusively Twitter spaces listener, we covered a lot
Speaker 1: of the Raptors series and closing thoughts there over the weekend.
Speaker 1: But I think we can go high level. Maybe in
Speaker 1: this space we usually talk about the box score from
Speaker 1: the Vias game and we're on after Sixers wins, but
Speaker 1: in this case, not coming off a game the day before,
Speaker 1: maybe we can audible and call this space a high
Speaker 1: level takeaway from the Toronto series, just so we cover
Speaker 1: that ground for the podcast listeners on the seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: Insiders podcast. So maybe we can go around the horn
Speaker 1: with what we talked about on Saturday and talk about
Speaker 1: maybe our top takeaway or two from the Sixers beating
Speaker 1: the Raptors in the four five round one series before
Speaker 1: we get into questions about the Heat Series Heat Game
Speaker 1: one all of that. Where would you go with that, Lauren? Yep,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. So listen. For those of you
Speaker 1: that are here as Spaces listeners for the first time,
Speaker 1: I had a couple first time listener dms, which we
Speaker 1: really appreciate. If you have to jump off early, this
Speaker 1: will be available, as Matt mentioned, on the seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: Insiders podcast speeds, so make sure you're following that wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts or if you joined us late.
Speaker 1: The beginning of this show will be available on the
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers Insiders podcast feed. Those are also presented
Speaker 1: by Bett Parks. As we go along in this playoff runs,
Speaker 1: We're very much looking forward to having as many of
Speaker 1: you with us as possible on Spaces, on the podcast,
Speaker 1: or wherever we can meet you. Just let us know
Speaker 1: because we love to do this with you. Guys. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and just give you some general stats
Speaker 1: from round one. Joel Embiad obviously was the team's leading scorer,
Speaker 1: leading rebounder in those first six games of this playoff series.
Speaker 1: Joel finished the series averaging twenty six point two points
Speaker 1: and eleven point three rebounds per game. But there were
Speaker 1: other really big time contributors from whom we have seen
Speaker 1: bigger contributions this season when Joel has been unavailable. So
Speaker 1: let's look at the top three contributors outside of Joel
Speaker 1: Embiid in that first series. And as I go through these,
Speaker 1: if you guys have questions, thoughts, anything to add, remember
Speaker 1: to keep sending us those dms in those comments. Appreciate
Speaker 1: the ones that we have. We're going to get to
Speaker 1: a few of them in just a second. But Tyrese
Speaker 1: Maxie was the second leading scorer in Round one. He played,
Speaker 1: He played and started in all six games, twenty one
Speaker 1: point three points per game, four point seven rebounds per game,
Speaker 1: four point eight assists per game. That's the second highest
Speaker 1: assisting total on the team, second only to James Harden,
Speaker 1: who led the team in assists in Round one with
Speaker 1: ten point two assists per game. He averaged nineteen point
Speaker 1: ten assist double double in that first series, but also
Speaker 1: averaged five rebounds and one point two blocks, plus a
Speaker 1: steel per game. Tobias Harris, who Doc Rivers following Game
Speaker 1: six said might have been the MVP of that first
Speaker 1: round series due to how solid and consistent he was
Speaker 1: across all six performances to Bias average seventeen point eight
Speaker 1: points per game. He averaged nine point five rebounds per game.
Speaker 1: A sneaky good rebounding series from Tobias Harris in Round
Speaker 1: one two point eight assists per game, point seven steals
Speaker 1: per game, and one point two blocks per games. So
Speaker 1: between the three of them, a lot of productivity. They
Speaker 1: each had huge nights on different nights as well, so
Speaker 1: more opportunities for the three of them of course. And
Speaker 1: then Nat I know, we'll dive into the bench as well,
Speaker 1: but George Niang showed some great run, Danny Green was
Speaker 1: phenomenal in the starting lineup in Round one. Expect to
Speaker 1: see a lot more Matisse Thybal in this series. Expect
Speaker 1: to continue seeing guys like Shake Milton, and then of
Speaker 1: course we haven't even talked about Beball Paul yet, and
Speaker 1: that's going to be a huge area of focus for
Speaker 1: this team as they dive into that backup center availability
Speaker 1: the bigs that have stayed ready, that's a topic that
Speaker 1: we actually haven't touched yet, and I'll touch really quickly.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan addressed media. Paul Reid has addressed media. We
Speaker 1: haven't heard from Paul Millsap for Charles Bassie lately, but
Speaker 1: both of them also expected to be available in this series,
Speaker 1: and Doc Rivers said it's all about just making sure
Speaker 1: we can put all the minutes together, give Miami as
Speaker 1: many different looks as possible, and be creative with that group.
Speaker 1: DeAndre talked about the fact that this is why you
Speaker 1: stay ready in the NBA. He didn't see much run,
Speaker 1: he hardly saw any in Round one, but he's the
Speaker 1: ultimate pro. He's been ready, He's stayed ready, as has
Speaker 1: Paul Millsap, and Doc Rivers credited all four of them.
Speaker 1: Charles Bassie of course coming back from an injury, but
Speaker 1: Doc credited all four of them for their ability to
Speaker 1: stay ready and the different looks that they can offer
Speaker 1: against a team like the Miami Heat. You cannot replace
Speaker 1: an MVP candidate, but those guys are going to do
Speaker 1: their best to try so. I think I just ran
Speaker 1: through the entirety of the rotation and if I missed anybody,
Speaker 1: if I missed anybody, it's an accident. But Matt, when
Speaker 1: I run through all of that, what jumps off immediately
Speaker 1: to you? And then and then devon what will you
Speaker 1: be looking at sort of reflecting on what happened in
Speaker 1: round one and moving forward into round two. Well, you
Speaker 1: finished with the bench and rewinding back to Game six
Speaker 1: and when we gathered for Sixers spaces after the Game
Speaker 1: six win to advance to this Miami series. Honest sent
Speaker 1: in a note on Friday saying Danny Green was immense
Speaker 1: all Caps in the first half of Game six, so
Speaker 1: I wanted to circle back to that one. And I
Speaker 1: did get a question from Kevin about Paul Reid's time
Speaker 1: with the Bluecoats, which I would like to touch on
Speaker 1: in a few minutes as we fully shift gears into
Speaker 1: this Miami Heat series. I think my top takeaway from
Speaker 1: the Raptor series would be how well the Sixers shot
Speaker 1: the ball. They finished the series two hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: nine for four hundred and sixty nine, better known as
Speaker 1: about forty nine percent, a little less than forty nine
Speaker 1: percent over the course of the series, fifty percent or
Speaker 1: greater in four of the six games. And individuals that
Speaker 1: you spoke about and Bead shot it over fifty percent,
Speaker 1: as you would expect, but Tobias Harris was fifty two
Speaker 1: percent from the field in the series and Tyrese Maxie
Speaker 1: was fifty one percent from the field, and they both
Speaker 1: shot it really well from three point range two. So
Speaker 1: I think it would just be the quality of looks
Speaker 1: and the amount that they knocked down to build that
Speaker 1: momentum heading into round two. What about you, Devon, what
Speaker 1: are you thinking? I'll stay with go with the individual
Speaker 1: and talk about Tobias Harris with his overall solid production
Speaker 1: with the point total Eddie average in the rebounds as well,
Speaker 1: were second on a team behind him beat and rebounding
Speaker 1: because he was so key in helping out on the
Speaker 1: glass and not only because of how he showed in
Speaker 1: what he did, but then also we talked about in
Speaker 1: previous spaces was his defensive play and the effort that
Speaker 1: he gave on that end and arguably his best defensive
Speaker 1: performance that we've seen in the Sixers uniform. Doc Rivers
Speaker 1: spoke about how this is probably the best two way
Speaker 1: play that he's seen from Harris, even dating back to
Speaker 1: his Clipper days. So it's very encouraging because of what
Speaker 1: we're about to walk into tonight with the Miami Heat
Speaker 1: beginning this second round series with multiple players again who
Speaker 1: are versatile, who can do a lot of different things,
Speaker 1: and Tobias Harris has to dig in as that defender
Speaker 1: on the perimeter and continue to do that. He also
Speaker 1: has to help out on the glass with the absence
Speaker 1: of Joel Embiid and scoring. So all three facets of
Speaker 1: the game that we saw of his game that we
Speaker 1: saw in that Raptor series will now have to translate again,
Speaker 1: not only because of the confidence level that he has,
Speaker 1: but now out of necessity with Joel Embiid absent and
Speaker 1: knowing that he can score the ball, rebound the ball,
Speaker 1: and showing us that he can defend. The other part
Speaker 1: of it was as we talked about it on Saturday
Speaker 1: after they clinched these series, which was James Harden setting
Speaker 1: that tone the way that he did with the ten
Speaker 1: points and five assistant the first quarter, and as a result,
Speaker 1: now again in the absence of Joel Embiid, he has
Speaker 1: to take his game to a different level just a
Speaker 1: little bit, still be a facilitator, but now he has
Speaker 1: to score the ball again, and he was very aggressive.
Speaker 1: His only miss was a layup that we typically see
Speaker 1: James harden Meek, So that game also not only close
Speaker 1: out that series, but it gave us a little bit
Speaker 1: of a template of what we could see from those
Speaker 1: players in particular heading into this series. In this game tonight, Hey,
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Speaker 1: want to Overham to Popapo. I think with that we
Speaker 1: can go ahead and start jumping into our questions. We've
Speaker 1: gotten some great ones this morning and they are very
Speaker 1: much appreciated. As always, if you want to send a question,
Speaker 1: you can send a DM to either myself, Matt or Devon.
Speaker 1: You can also comment on the Sixers latest tweet. But
Speaker 1: there has been a lot of great questions so far,
Speaker 1: and I think maybe we should actually start here. John asks,
Speaker 1: even though all of the ESPN analysts say Miami is
Speaker 1: going to win the series, what are your thoughts and
Speaker 1: what do you think the Sixers have to do to
Speaker 1: get it done. It's a great question, and I'm just
Speaker 1: going to go ahead and take a page out of
Speaker 1: their book. This is not a team that feels that
Speaker 1: they can't win this series. This is a confident team
Speaker 1: that has shown by the way that they can beat
Speaker 1: this Miami team even when shorthanded. We'll talk about that
Speaker 1: in a second, but this is a team that knows
Speaker 1: that different guys have been able to step up on
Speaker 1: different nights all season long. They played a healthy stretch
Speaker 1: without Joel embid Well when Joel was not healthy earlier
Speaker 1: in the season, but still was able to cobble together wins.
Speaker 1: And that was pre James Harden. That was before this
Speaker 1: team had jelled to the extent that they now. So
Speaker 1: to me, I'll take a page out of their book.
Speaker 1: I'll ride their confidence as long as we need to.
Speaker 1: And look, the series doesn't start until the away team
Speaker 1: steals a game, right, That's that's something you hear over
Speaker 1: and over and over again during the playoffs. Danny Green
Speaker 1: said it last series after Game three. So when you
Speaker 1: look at the opportunity that the Sixers have tonight Monday
Speaker 1: in Miami and Wednesday in Miami as well, get one
Speaker 1: of those, maybe get both of them. And this is
Speaker 1: an entirely different series from what you're reading on the internet.
Speaker 1: And of course I'm biased. I love this team, I
Speaker 1: cover this team. I believe in this team. But from
Speaker 1: what I've seen, there's lots of reason to believe in
Speaker 1: this team and what they're able to do. So very
Speaker 1: much looking forward to seeing who among that group, like
Speaker 1: we've talked about to Bias, Harris, Tyrese, Maxe, James Harden, one,
Speaker 1: if not all of them are going to have to
Speaker 1: emerge in order to get a win on the road
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. But I have heavy faith that either
Speaker 1: or any of those guys could do it, perhaps on
Speaker 1: the same night. So to me, I have the confidence
Speaker 1: in one of that group emerging either tonight or Wednesday
Speaker 1: or both. And if you get great performances out of
Speaker 1: all three of them, this is a team that's going
Speaker 1: to be tough to be independently of what's going on
Speaker 1: in that backup center rotation. So those are the reasons
Speaker 1: why I feel some confidence and some reason to be
Speaker 1: excited about what's to come for this team. But that
Speaker 1: sort of high level Matt Devona, I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: you guys want to dive little nitty gritty or if
Speaker 1: you guys disagree with me, let me know now I agree,
Speaker 1: And I think that's been the focus of so many
Speaker 1: people's conversations, is stealing one on the road, And I
Speaker 1: think the question then becomes what is the most important
Speaker 1: thing in the effort to do that right Devon, So like,
Speaker 1: how can they get this done? And if people aren't
Speaker 1: listening to this on time, then Game one might already
Speaker 1: be in the books if you're not live with us
Speaker 1: on Twitter. But we know that the Heat aren't perfectly
Speaker 1: healthy themselves. Their injury report is a lot longer now,
Speaker 1: a lot of those guys have played in recent games,
Speaker 1: but we do know heading into Game one that Kyle
Speaker 1: Lowry is out with a left hamstring strains. So everyone's
Speaker 1: talking about stealing a game on the road out of
Speaker 1: the first two, Devon, But the question really is what's
Speaker 1: the most important thing for them, the Sixers to do that.
Speaker 1: For me, number one thing is to value the basketball.
Speaker 1: They cannot turn the basketball over at a higher rate
Speaker 1: and allow Miami to get out in the open floor
Speaker 1: and get easy buckets, or to have ten to twelve
Speaker 1: more field goal attempts than they do. So valuing the
Speaker 1: basketball is important, as we know, we've seen it over
Speaker 1: the course of the season. We saw then in Toronto
Speaker 1: rapped season. That's one thing they have to do. Defending
Speaker 1: and transition. They have two against. Slow down the Miami
Speaker 1: heat and transition. While they're not a big transition team,
Speaker 1: you don't want to give them those opportunities and closing
Speaker 1: out on the three point line because they have some
Speaker 1: really really good guys, especially coming off the bench with
Speaker 1: Duncan Robinson and Tyler Hero arguably the six May of
Speaker 1: the year. You have to make sure that you defensively
Speaker 1: locate those shooters and not allow them to get loose
Speaker 1: behind the three point line. And hey, when we're talking
Speaker 1: about the Sixers, we also have to include gay Vincent.
Speaker 1: For whatever reason, gay Vincent turns into Kyle Lowry when
Speaker 1: he pleas the seventy sixers, and you have to focus
Speaker 1: on him as well, so valuing the basketball and defensively
Speaker 1: doing their part and closing out on those shooters and
Speaker 1: limiting their transition opportunities, and then on the other and
Speaker 1: you just have to simply execute. Doc Rivers talks about
Speaker 1: it all the time. They have to execute their plays,
Speaker 1: their sets that they run, and make sure that they
Speaker 1: get a quality shot with their looks, especially knowing that
Speaker 1: the coaching staff has to change things a bit because
Speaker 1: Joel Embid is not going to be there, so curiously
Speaker 1: see how they do it, how they decided to run
Speaker 1: the offense. It was encouraging also to see them beat
Speaker 1: Miami in the last game in March, so something for
Speaker 1: them to go off of the with Kyle Lowry out
Speaker 1: who was in that game. He bamed out of Bio
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler all scoring twenty plus in that game. They
Speaker 1: found something too in attacking Tyler. Hero you find him again,
Speaker 1: search him, find him, exploit that matchup and get those buckets.
Speaker 1: The other thing about a panel of experts all picking
Speaker 1: against you is that sometimes that can a service bulletin
Speaker 1: board material. But after the fact, if the series goes
Speaker 1: the way the Sixers want it to, go. Some funny
Speaker 1: posts can come out of that on social media as well.
Speaker 1: We've seen that time and time before, when all of
Speaker 1: the analysts are picking against a certain team and the
Speaker 1: other team's logo is up there or the other team's
Speaker 1: name is up there across the board. That's not always
Speaker 1: a good thing. So just something for everyone to keep
Speaker 1: in the back of their mind. Not the players, They've
Speaker 1: got plenty to focus on, but as a fan base,
Speaker 1: when it's nineteen nothing on a certain site in favor
Speaker 1: of the heat, that's something that won't go. Oh wait,
Speaker 1: it won't be erased from the internet as the series progresses,
Speaker 1: But I know we want to keep the questions rolling.
Speaker 1: Is it beball Paul time yet? Lauren? I would say so,
Speaker 1: Matt Murphy, thank you so much for that segue. Chris says, Chris,
Speaker 1: by the way, whose handle is at Phillyball? I like that.
Speaker 1: That's almost as good as the handle of the question
Speaker 1: he asks about at Beeball Paul. Chris says, do you
Speaker 1: think Paul Reid is ready to step up? Also? Could
Speaker 1: Charles Bassie get playing time in this series? Do you
Speaker 1: think it's a great question? Doc Rivers has indicated, Like
Speaker 1: I said, earlier that there's a chance at all four
Speaker 1: of the of the bigs in that backup rotation could
Speaker 1: get some time, and that of course includes Paul Reid,
Speaker 1: who played the primary backup role in Round one, but
Speaker 1: plus DeAndre Jordan, Paul Millsap, and Charles Bassie who has
Speaker 1: been recovering and returning from injury over these last a
Speaker 1: few days. But Matt Murphy is sort of our resident
Speaker 1: Beeball Paul expert. He's been with Beeball Paul from day
Speaker 1: one and nobody knows his game quite like Matt does. So, Matt,
Speaker 1: what do you like about about this opportunity for Paul,
Speaker 1: A the challenge ahead for Paul b and then sort
Speaker 1: of how he could match up with the bigs on
Speaker 1: the other end of the floor in this one. Well,
Speaker 1: a couple of things we know about Paul. Well, the
Speaker 1: top thing is that he has a supreme confidence and
Speaker 1: he is not going to be afraid of the moment.
Speaker 1: And he's not a rookie, so he's had some time
Speaker 1: to kind of feel out the professional game and get
Speaker 1: some reps under his belt. He didn't come into the
Speaker 1: league as the perfect player ready to fill Joel Embiid's
Speaker 1: shoes in a situation like this, no one could could
Speaker 1: do that, and that's not what they're asking. But I
Speaker 1: think the way that he believes in himself is important
Speaker 1: because the stage might not be too big for him,
Speaker 1: and his minutes are in all likelihood going to go
Speaker 1: up again if we're if you're getting us after game one,
Speaker 1: we'll know a lot more about how Paul's impact might
Speaker 1: go in this series, how many minutes he played, and
Speaker 1: all of that. But recording this prior to game one,
Speaker 1: I think the confidence is the first thing. I think
Speaker 1: the shooting is another. If you exclusively have watched Paul
Speaker 1: Reid play on the Sixers, he hasn't taken as many
Speaker 1: threes or made as many threes in less minutes. On
Speaker 1: the Blue Coats, he was taking about four a game.
Speaker 1: And this is over the course of two seasons in
Speaker 1: the G League, not a full season in year two,
Speaker 1: but he was the MVP in year one. He played
Speaker 1: a good amount of games this past season in the
Speaker 1: G League with the Delaware Blue Coats. He took about
Speaker 1: four attempts per game from three in both seasons, and
Speaker 1: he shot forty four percent from three in both seasons.
Speaker 1: This year was a little bit of a slower start
Speaker 1: at the G League level to see that three point
Speaker 1: percentage climb, but that's not the smallest of sample sizes,
Speaker 1: especially when you factor it out over the course of
Speaker 1: multiple years, and to be right on that forty four
Speaker 1: percent number, I think if he can make a couple
Speaker 1: early in the series, it's not going to change the
Speaker 1: way Miami plays. I don't think. I think they'll live
Speaker 1: with Paul taking as many threes as is necessary in
Speaker 1: the way that their scheme sets up. But just know
Speaker 1: that he can knock them down and I think he'll
Speaker 1: shoot it with confidence. So that's where I would go
Speaker 1: with that. And the bottom line is, you know he's
Speaker 1: going to bring the energy, the confidence, maybe an underrated shooter,
Speaker 1: and he's going to bring the energy on both sides
Speaker 1: of the floor. A really good rebounder, especially on the
Speaker 1: offensive end. So I think that all those things coupled together,
Speaker 1: but especially the energy. If the SHOT's following or not,
Speaker 1: there's no substitute for playing hard, and I think his
Speaker 1: energy can be infectious. So that's what I'm looking for
Speaker 1: from Paul Reid, and we'll see how many minutes he
Speaker 1: plays at the start of this series. Lots of questions
Speaker 1: about one James Harden. So I want to go ahead
Speaker 1: and kick this to you. Devon Maher asks, how do
Speaker 1: you think James Harden is going to play in this series?
Speaker 1: And Devon, I know that you've been a fan of
Speaker 1: the game for a long time. You've watched James Harden's
Speaker 1: career as have I. I I grew up in Houston, Texas
Speaker 1: watching him in his MVP days and now seeing some
Speaker 1: flashes of how he looked them now, especially if you
Speaker 1: look at Game six. So to me, there's a lot
Speaker 1: to be excited about from James Harden, who's really focused
Speaker 1: right now. It really struck me in media availability yesterday,
Speaker 1: how seriously he's taking everything, how confident he is, but
Speaker 1: also how meticulous he is in his preparation. Hearing George
Speaker 1: talk about the way that he prepares mentally and the
Speaker 1: way that he studies the game. I'm really looking forward
Speaker 1: to seeing what James Harden is able to do for honestly,
Speaker 1: perhaps the first time as a true primary option for
Speaker 1: this Sixers team. But Devon, what do you think? What
Speaker 1: do you think about about what we're going to see
Speaker 1: from the Beard over these next few important days. That's
Speaker 1: The intriguing car of this whole thing is him kind
Speaker 1: of flashing back to being the primary option and the
Speaker 1: head coach already pointing it out that they're going to
Speaker 1: lean on him heavily in doing so, and I am
Speaker 1: also looking forward to seeing it, because what we have
Speaker 1: seen is we know that he's a facilitator and he
Speaker 1: can set up his teammates and get them some very
Speaker 1: good looks. And he's done that as the point guard
Speaker 1: during his time twenty plus and the regular season the
Speaker 1: six games against the Raptors, averaging the ten assists, but
Speaker 1: he still did so about averaging eighteen or nineteen points
Speaker 1: a game twenty two during the regular season, and I
Speaker 1: don't see it. I don't see any reason why he
Speaker 1: can't do that again. Even with the defensive assignment that
Speaker 1: will probably be on him, which is Jimmy Butler or PJ. Tucker.
Speaker 1: I guess they would lean more towards Jimmy Butler in
Speaker 1: this one. And how he's able to do it. He
Speaker 1: can figure out their defense, and I do believe, because
Speaker 1: it is high basketball IQ that he will be able
Speaker 1: to figure it out. So the point total I think
Speaker 1: will be there. I think he'll up it a little bit,
Speaker 1: and this is what many have wanted to see. I
Speaker 1: know you guys have seen it just on social media,
Speaker 1: here on the spaces and me doing the radio show
Speaker 1: that people want to see that type of games hard
Speaker 1: and flash back to those Houston days, Lauren that you
Speaker 1: grew up watching. And I don't know that that's in
Speaker 1: there to get thirty plus or to even get high
Speaker 1: thirty there, but if he can consistently shoot at a
Speaker 1: high clip and make those good decisions not turn the
Speaker 1: basketball over while still being someone who can assist the
Speaker 1: basketball and manipulate the defense and helping his other teammates
Speaker 1: out that will need it. Matista, I will Danny Green,
Speaker 1: Paul Reid potentially in some of the other centers who
Speaker 1: will be taking those five minutes. That's the part that
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward and seeing how the balance and how
Speaker 1: the balance will be for him and turning that switch on,
Speaker 1: if you will, of getting back to the score and
Speaker 1: balancing it again with the distributor that we know he
Speaker 1: has been with this team. As we get ready to
Speaker 1: wrap up, I want to go ahead and just sort
Speaker 1: of kick it back to you guys as we look
Speaker 1: forward to Game one. This evening in Miami. I'll go
Speaker 1: ahead and actually go through the We haven't talked a
Speaker 1: ton about the Miami Heat, but I think it's worth
Speaker 1: going through their injury report because it's a little bit
Speaker 1: more colorful than the seventy Sixers is. And of course
Speaker 1: you never know exactly how this is going to shake
Speaker 1: out by the time the ball goes up, but a
Speaker 1: lot of sort of optionality potentially for the Sixers to
Speaker 1: take advantage of tonight should anyone on this injury report
Speaker 1: that is listed as questionable currently ends up being out.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to go through the Miami Heat injury report.
Speaker 1: This is what I'm watching for tonight, and then i'd
Speaker 1: like to see Devon Matt what you guys are watching
Speaker 1: for before we wrap this one up. The Sixers, of course,
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid is out due to that facial fracture and concussion.
Speaker 1: Charles Bassie though has been upgraded to questionable. That was
Speaker 1: right shoulder soreness. And now let's talk about the Miami Heat.
Speaker 1: Kyle Lowry is out, We've known that for a day
Speaker 1: or so at this point due to a left hamstring strain,
Speaker 1: and then the following players are all questionable Jimmy Butler,
Speaker 1: Tyler Hero, Caleb Martin, Mark Kief Morris, Max Strus, and PJ.
Speaker 1: Tucker all questionable, and of course you expect some, if
Speaker 1: not most, if not all, of those players to end
Speaker 1: up playing, But not knowing exactly what you're preparing for
Speaker 1: is an interesting challenge for the seventy six ers this morning,
Speaker 1: who are still in their shoot around as we're having
Speaker 1: this conversation, and you never know what that's going to mean.
Speaker 1: For the defenders that you talked about, Devon, What's Danny
Speaker 1: Green going to be tasked with? Where will Tobias Harris
Speaker 1: go after such an important defensive performance in round one?
Speaker 1: Who is he going to be assigned to as these
Speaker 1: days in round two progress? And then of course, what
Speaker 1: role is Michie Steibel going to play? Who are you
Speaker 1: going to stick him on? And for how long? A
Speaker 1: lot of interesting questions that will be answered by the
Speaker 1: time that the game gets underway tonight, but that's definitely
Speaker 1: something that I'm going to be looking at as we
Speaker 1: get closer to tip off. Matt Devona'm gonna let you
Speaker 1: guys tell us what you're watching for before we wrap
Speaker 1: this one up. No, Kyle Lowry to start the series
Speaker 1: for Miami as you just said, So I'm looking at
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxi. Can he build off Game six against Toronto?
Speaker 1: Can he build off the last regular season meeting against
Speaker 1: the Heat? Eighty five points for Tyrese in the four
Speaker 1: regular season meetings against Miami, again, not a whole lot
Speaker 1: that you can take from the regular season series, but
Speaker 1: he did play in all those games. He did have
Speaker 1: the monster outing without Embid and Harden. So I'm looking
Speaker 1: at Tyrese Maxie, especially against the Miami Heat. The way
Speaker 1: that their injury report looks right now, I'm looking and
Speaker 1: leaning more towards Matisse Stable. He's available, He's going to
Speaker 1: be there for the games and the half court set
Speaker 1: that we know that Miami again likes to run a
Speaker 1: lot of split action stuff, the movement that they have,
Speaker 1: the veterans that they have on the floor, and then
Speaker 1: the shooters. Tobias Harris as we talked about, he was
Speaker 1: great in that Round one series as a defender. Danny
Speaker 1: Green is a good team defender as well, has some
Speaker 1: good individual moments as a perimeter defender. But now you're
Speaker 1: gonna need Matisse Stable not only for those starters, but
Speaker 1: as we mentioned earlier Tyler Hero Duncan Robinson coming off
Speaker 1: the bench to sharp shooters that they are and how
Speaker 1: they can score and bunches and score very quickly. Matisse
Speaker 1: stable is extremely important, So hopefully that he can get
Speaker 1: his feet back underneath him after seeing him following three
Speaker 1: games in the first round and be available for them
Speaker 1: this round because they're gonna need him defensively against the
Speaker 1: squad and mixing in whatever he can offensively cut him
Speaker 1: making himself backdoor available, hitting the middle of the pay
Speaker 1: and flashing for some easy looks and finishing and hopefully
Speaker 1: knocking down a couple of outside shots as well, could
Speaker 1: go a long way for this series. And it's an
Speaker 1: interesting player to bring up because of how well Matisse
Speaker 1: was playing alongside James Harden early in James's days, the
Speaker 1: two of them sort of starting to develop a chemistry together,
Speaker 1: and then we talked about Paul Reid as well, watching
Speaker 1: the way that Paul Reid has played with James Harden
Speaker 1: together offensively in that first round series. So very much
Speaker 1: looking forward to seeing, as we've talked about James as
Speaker 1: a more primary option in this series, how he continues
Speaker 1: to gel with those younger players. And figure out ways
Speaker 1: to make them better the way that we've seen him
Speaker 1: do for guys across this roster. That's without even mentioning
Speaker 1: the game that he's developing alongside Tyrese Maxie, the two
Speaker 1: of them developing a really cool mentor mentee relationship out
Speaker 1: there on the court. So for me, it continues to
Speaker 1: be about James Harden, but it also continues to be
Speaker 1: about what he's able to bring out of his other
Speaker 1: players and teammates, and those guys have been really excited
Speaker 1: over the last couple months about James Harden has been
Speaker 1: able to bring out of them and ways that he
Speaker 1: can unlock different parts of their games. So Game one
Speaker 1: tips off tonight at seven thirty pm Eastern Time. This
Speaker 1: one will be on TNT or ninety seven five The
Speaker 1: Fanatic if you want to listen along. Matt Devon and
Speaker 1: I will hope to be back with you guys tomorrow
Speaker 1: for a post sixers when Twitter Space also presented by
Speaker 1: bet Parks, But either way, we will be back with
Speaker 1: you before game to discuss all things Game two and
Speaker 1: the series ahead. Guys, we really appreciate all the questions
Speaker 1: that you have sent us. We have loved engaging with
Speaker 1: you all season long, and we don't intend to stop
Speaker 1: anytime soon. Round one begins tonight in Miami. Guys, really
Speaker 1: appreciate you joining me. I'm Lauren Rosen. This has been
Speaker 1: a Sixers Twitter space in the playoffs, presented by bet Parks.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you all. Guys, I appreciate you, and we
Speaker 1: will talk to you next time. Thanks everyone, Thank you,