Speaker 1: On this bonus episode of the Check, time to lay
Speaker 1: down the wall on the Clippers. As Clippers Insider are,
Speaker 1: Law Murray is here to break down the Clippers chances
Speaker 1: in the Mavericks series as well as to give his
Speaker 1: opinion on the rest of the NBA playoffs and play
Speaker 1: in very insightful stuff. He gives us the really real
Speaker 1: never holds back his opinion, which is why we love him.
Speaker 1: We busy all week, Anthony, So drop that motherfucker beat
Speaker 1: that should be Rihanna all right on this special bonus
Speaker 1: episode Clippers Insider, who's been on the beat for fucking forever.
Speaker 1: He joined my other show bet MGM Tonight, which airs
Speaker 1: seven to eleven Eastern on the radio in most major
Speaker 1: markets as well as live on YouTube and TWI, which
Speaker 1: I was joined by my co host Ryan Horbot, who's
Speaker 1: the other voice you hear in this interview. Let's get
Speaker 1: right into it.
Speaker 2: Talk about the playing tournament and the playoffs. We walk
Speaker 2: come out now, Law Murray from the Athletic thanks man
Speaker 2: for giving us some time. How you doing.
Speaker 3: I'm doing well. I'm glad to not be in the
Speaker 3: plays towards me, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I actually wanted to start with that Lakers Pelicans matchup.
Speaker 2: I just the more I think about this, man, I
Speaker 2: actually like Los Angeles in this game. They're one and
Speaker 2: a half point underdogs. How do you see this one
Speaker 2: playing out? And who would you lean with?
Speaker 3: I don't understand why the Lakers are underdogs, Like we've.
Speaker 4: Seen this matchup in high profile situations multiple times already,
Speaker 4: and unless the Lakers, maybe that's what it is, Like
Speaker 4: people think the Lakers are ducking smoke, but like, if
Speaker 4: it's strictly going to be a legitimate game competition between
Speaker 4: the Pelicans, the Lakers understand what they need to do to.
Speaker 3: Beat the Pelicans.
Speaker 4: So I really that the only reason, the only reason
Speaker 4: they would be underdogs is because obviously beating the Pelicans
Speaker 4: would lead to a first round series against the Denver Nuggets,
Speaker 4: who are the only team that the Lakers probably have
Speaker 4: an issue within the Western Conference overall. I believe that
Speaker 4: I'm not sure there was another team, well, Sacramento, but
Speaker 4: obviously Sacramento.
Speaker 3: Is just hoping to get to the playoffs.
Speaker 4: But the risk that you take is, let's say you
Speaker 4: throw the Pelicans game. Sacramento Kings are you know they're
Speaker 4: one win away? From meeting you there. And then you
Speaker 4: got the Golden State Warriors, who the Lakers struggled with
Speaker 4: this year. They only beat them once out of four times,
Speaker 4: and that took double overtime and a ridiculous level of foul.
Speaker 3: So, I mean, the easiest path to the playoffs for.
Speaker 4: The Lakers and if they want to get a seven
Speaker 4: game series is to just do what they've done all
Speaker 4: year against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Speaker 1: Yeah, beat the hell out of them. Yeah, that's pretty
Speaker 1: much in hype. I think the Pelicans beat them once
Speaker 1: at the crowd, but it was like not a high
Speaker 1: stakes game at all. The play in turn of the
Speaker 1: n season tournament and then the last game of the season,
Speaker 1: which the Pelicans very much needed to win, they just
Speaker 1: could not show up. I want to get your thoughts
Speaker 1: on Kawhi Law because there's now reports like you can
Speaker 1: make whatever you want to make out of what Chris
Speaker 1: Broussard says. But Chris Bouchard says that he is hearing
Speaker 1: that Kawhi has a lot of swelling in his knee.
Speaker 1: He was in contact with someone in the know and
Speaker 1: they said they are concerned. Don't know what to make
Speaker 1: of that. What do you make of that reporting and
Speaker 1: what do you know.
Speaker 4: I mean, he probably does have swelling. He's dealing with
Speaker 4: inflammation and a need at ended. Last year because of
Speaker 4: the meniscus tear, he had a recedure on his knee
Speaker 4: over the off season, and then obviously in twenty twenty
Speaker 4: one you tour the Aco.
Speaker 3: It was a partial tear.
Speaker 4: But when you get surgery, doesn't matter if it's a
Speaker 4: partial tear, complete tear, whatever, like, it's still surgery and
Speaker 4: you still need a rehab and you still need to
Speaker 4: get it back. And the perspective that I have is
Speaker 4: the last time that we've had Againstance where Kawhi was
Speaker 4: on a road trip got sent home for treatment because
Speaker 4: of the new discomfort. It was to start the last
Speaker 4: year when he came off the Benks for a couple
Speaker 4: of games and then they went to Oklahoma City. It
Speaker 4: was supposed to be for a mini series. He wind
Speaker 4: up going home in the middle of that mini series.
Speaker 4: He didn't come back to play for another three weeks.
Speaker 4: So the best case scenario, or not even the best
Speaker 4: case scenarios, he's practicing, he plays Game one, there's nothing
Speaker 4: to talk about. But I'm thinking that we got to
Speaker 4: see him practice and that will assuage any concerns that exists.
Speaker 4: You want to see him play. But if that timeframe
Speaker 4: matches up with the timeframe that I described back in
Speaker 4: October and November twenty twenty two, then that puts his
Speaker 4: status for Game one in some jeopardy and that's obviously
Speaker 4: going to be a concern for Kawhi. Now for the Clippers,
Speaker 4: Toronto Loo doesn't seem to be super bothered. I'm not
Speaker 4: sure if that's because of an opportunity to have some
Speaker 4: gamesmanship here with the Mavericks, Like no one quite knows
Speaker 4: the status of Kawhi as well as the readiness of
Speaker 4: the Clippers to play without Kauai more than Toronto Lou.
Speaker 4: So if Toronto Lou's saying that he's not as concerned,
Speaker 4: then Burger's just going to have to wait and see.
Speaker 3: How it is with Kawhi.
Speaker 4: But it definitely helps to run that the Clippers that
Speaker 4: played well without him.
Speaker 1: Don't you feel like Kawhi is one of those players.
Speaker 1: I've said this before. You came on last segment where
Speaker 1: it's like Kawhi Leonard questionable day to day knee inflammation,
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard questionable knee inflammation. Kawhi Leonard all of a
Speaker 1: sudden has entered like has season ending surgery. Like that's
Speaker 1: kind of how they approach That's kind of how they
Speaker 1: approach Kawhi. That's what happened in twenty twenty one when
Speaker 1: he was supposed to play the Suns. That's what happened.
Speaker 1: And the last time he got injured as well, where
Speaker 1: they don't really give us any real information until he's
Speaker 1: like shut down.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, and that's what I'm used to. Is like,
Speaker 3: the difference here is we knew.
Speaker 4: That he was dealing with a serious injury last year
Speaker 4: and the year before.
Speaker 3: When they call it a spring, like you can dig
Speaker 3: as much as you want to. It's like, Okay, he.
Speaker 4: Tore something, so you guys can let us know what
Speaker 4: he tore. But they're not describing this as a spring.
Speaker 4: They are describing this as inflammation. And that's why I
Speaker 4: always use the previous reference because I've been covering this
Speaker 4: team for way too long and have been dealing with
Speaker 4: this way too long. It's like, I'm never comfortable. I'm
Speaker 4: never content with what we have. You know, the best
Speaker 4: version of Kawhi is the guy playing on the floor
Speaker 4: and even then you're like, you know, I remember being
Speaker 4: on the road, being in Philly, being Orlando.
Speaker 3: It's like, man, every time he gets the ground, he's
Speaker 3: getting up, flex in his hands, flexing his wrists and whatnot.
Speaker 3: And had to ask him about that. That's the last
Speaker 3: time I talked to him.
Speaker 4: So when it comes to this, I don't believe that
Speaker 4: Kawhi is dealing with us an injury that's going to
Speaker 4: end his season.
Speaker 3: I don't think we're dealing with that right now. Obviously
Speaker 3: you don't want him to have a setback, and I don't.
Speaker 4: Think he's dealing with that either. But I don't think
Speaker 4: this is load management. I don't think that this is
Speaker 4: the team hiding something. I think he's dealing with, you know,
Speaker 4: a case where that knee has flared up on him
Speaker 4: and he's in a bit of a race right now.
Speaker 3: To be ready. And I think that that's the tricky part.
Speaker 4: Is you're so used to the misinformation, or at least
Speaker 4: the lack of transparency. But I don't think that they're
Speaker 4: hiding anything more serious than that.
Speaker 2: Another injury is obviously Giannis, and it looks like he's
Speaker 2: doubtful for Game one with the calf strain. I hate
Speaker 2: this matchup for the Box against the Pacers. They can't
Speaker 2: stop him. I think the Pacers have scored like two
Speaker 2: or one hundred and thirty five points in every single
Speaker 2: game against Milwaukee this year. How do you see that
Speaker 2: series playing out? Do you give Indiana any chance, especially
Speaker 2: if Giannis isn't one hundred percent?
Speaker 4: I give Indiana a great chance to win that series
Speaker 4: of like a great chance even if Giannis was there.
Speaker 4: And the reason for it is because the Pacers have
Speaker 4: been one of the best offenses in the NBA all
Speaker 4: season long.
Speaker 3: I mean, are league.
Speaker 4: The best if you want to look at the how
Speaker 4: the whole season played out, I mean you're talking about
Speaker 4: a team that is confident scoring the basketball and they
Speaker 4: don't do it in ways that like the Boston were
Speaker 4: the best offense, but the Boston Celtics they were the
Speaker 4: best offense in league because they pretty much were like,
Speaker 4: as talented as we are, we're just gonna line up
Speaker 4: an entire rotation of shooters. And that's not to take
Speaker 4: away from what Boston can do. Besides that, I mean,
Speaker 4: Jason Tatum Jylen Brown are obviously buckets Beyond shooting. Three
Speaker 4: is but those guys are the worst shooters in the rotation.
Speaker 4: That says a lot. What the Indiana Pacers do is
Speaker 4: a little bit more complex. Tyrese Haliburn gets his guys
Speaker 4: incredible shots every time down. They're the only team in
Speaker 4: the league that made more than fifty percent from the field.
Speaker 4: Why that matters for the Bucks. The Bucks basically changed
Speaker 4: head coaches twice in the last year because they weren't
Speaker 4: sure how they wanted to play basket Paul, they weren't
Speaker 4: sure who they wanted to be led by. And now
Speaker 4: you're at a situation where they're not playing well, their
Speaker 4: stars hurt, which this always happens to DCS teams, Like
Speaker 4: just talked about the Clippers. Well, Doc is very.
Speaker 3: Used to playing shorthanded at some point.
Speaker 4: Plus he just got done with with Joe l you know,
Speaker 4: in Philadelphia, being compromised injury all three of those years
Speaker 4: in Philadelphia. Now he comes to the Bucks and Giannis
Speaker 4: might not be ready to start the series. It's this
Speaker 4: is a great matchup for the Indiana Pacers, but they
Speaker 4: know that Damian Lillard, as great as he is, as
Speaker 4: far as having the reputation of being a killer in
Speaker 4: the playoffs, he also is one of those guys who
Speaker 4: defensively you can attack and if Tyrese Halibergan has a
Speaker 4: whole series where a Bucks team that struggles to force
Speaker 4: turnovers where they're definitely not forced turnovers against Indiana, And
Speaker 4: if you don't force ERNs against Indiana, they're just going
Speaker 4: to get to their spots and those spots are likely
Speaker 4: going to end up with Buckets And that's going to
Speaker 4: be tough on the Bucks for a full seven game series.
Speaker 1: Not to jump around too much to go back to
Speaker 1: the Clippers, because I do want to get your insight
Speaker 1: on the rest of the league in the playoffs in general,
Speaker 1: but you know James Harden, Like we're getting playoff James
Speaker 1: Harden early last twenty four games, he's averaging fifteen nine
Speaker 1: to five, and I know, like that's probably wrong to
Speaker 1: pick on him in that way, in that general of
Speaker 1: a way, but like, what is explaining the declining productivity?
Speaker 1: What do you think Paul George is perplexed by it?
Speaker 1: Like what should we expect from him? And like just generally,
Speaker 1: how do you expect this matchup to go?
Speaker 3: When it comes to James. I'd be more concerned.
Speaker 4: If one Kawhi is not there, putting more pressure on
Speaker 4: James to score to basketball, but also too, like I
Speaker 4: feel like I was more concerned before the Clippers won
Speaker 4: seven out of eight. I think Russell West Were coming
Speaker 4: back was huge for someone like James because it gave
Speaker 4: James another guy who you can take some pressure off
Speaker 4: from a.
Speaker 3: Ball healing standpoint, a guy who.
Speaker 4: Can push James on the floor, off the floor in
Speaker 4: the huddles and all that, and a guy who can
Speaker 4: just another guy who can guard like Russell West were
Speaker 4: coming back helped the team win seven out of eight games,
Speaker 4: games that they needed to clinch, everything.
Speaker 3: They needed to clinch.
Speaker 4: So that's that's the that's going to help James out
Speaker 4: in this playoffs series. If James is going to play
Speaker 4: with Kawhi and Paul, you're talking about James is the
Speaker 4: third best guy, which is a situation he hasn't been
Speaker 4: in since maybe Oklahoma City. That is that's gonna be
Speaker 4: huge for him because now James job is pretty simple. Offensively,
Speaker 4: get the ball to Paul and Kawhi and to the
Speaker 4: role man and then hit just a couple of those
Speaker 4: step back three is a game, and then defensively, just
Speaker 4: be there, just be a presence, and I think James
Speaker 4: can do that.
Speaker 3: He is.
Speaker 4: I feel like James is going to be ready for
Speaker 4: this plostseason. I feel like James from a coaching standpoint
Speaker 4: is going to be ready. He's got one of the
Speaker 4: best head coaches that he's gotten to work with in
Speaker 4: a playoff series. The relationship is good there, which it
Speaker 4: wasn't always good with Doc in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3: The pedigree and the accolades to challenge James.
Speaker 4: But the connection wasn't quite there. I think the connection
Speaker 4: is better there and this is a good series for James.
Speaker 4: Harden like Dallas is not the type of defense that
Speaker 4: is going to be focused on taking a player like
Speaker 4: James away.
Speaker 3: I think Dallas is.
Speaker 4: A physical Dallas is upgraded at the rim incredibly well,
Speaker 4: and that's going to be a consideration. But because Daniel
Speaker 4: Gafford has been so instrumental to Dallas, I feel like
Speaker 4: that's actually going to help the Clippers because that helps
Speaker 4: a guy like a visinss Zubat say on the on
Speaker 4: both ends as well. So I feel like it's going
Speaker 4: to be a tough series. I think that the Kawhi
Speaker 4: is uncertainty is going to be something that makes things
Speaker 4: way hard on the Clippers, then it should be if
Speaker 4: he was completely fine.
Speaker 3: But I think if this does go seven, the Clippers.
Speaker 4: I feel like, getting home court advantage, they can win
Speaker 4: that game seven like they did back in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I in terms of like the Kyrie Luca pairing,
Speaker 1: do you think that's working? Do you think that is
Speaker 1: something that's going to be a problem for the Clippers
Speaker 1: to stop? I guess, like, what if you're covering the Clippers,
Speaker 1: which you are if you're a Clipper fan, Like, what
Speaker 1: scares you the most about the mass I think.
Speaker 4: What scares you the most is the fact that you
Speaker 4: don't know exactly how well they match up against the
Speaker 4: Mavericks because you haven't seen the version of the team
Speaker 4: that they are now, So you're betting on just your
Speaker 4: team being better than them.
Speaker 3: It's really that simple.
Speaker 4: Dallas has played the best basketball in the league in
Speaker 4: the Western Conference over the last quarter of the season,
Speaker 4: and they've done it in a way that we've never
Speaker 4: seen the Mavericks win before with Luka Doncic, and that's defensively,
Speaker 4: like they actually defended well. So when you look at
Speaker 4: that level of success, if nothing else, it gives Dallas
Speaker 4: a lot of confidence, and that when the way that
Speaker 4: they're playing, what gives the Clippers confidence is that the
Speaker 4: Mavericks were playing teams like the Clippers. From a personnel standpoint, yes,
Speaker 4: the Mavericks have Kyrie Irving, they did not have that
Speaker 4: level of shot creation to help Luca in. We're talking
Speaker 4: about guys like Trey Burke and the not all NBA
Speaker 4: version of Jalen Brunson, like Jalen didn't play in the
Speaker 4: bubble and Jalen let's just say that my vivid memory
Speaker 4: of Jalen Brunson in the twenty twenty one playoffs is
Speaker 4: Luke Canard coming into the game and stealing the ball
Speaker 4: from him, like not the Jalen Brunston that you saw
Speaker 4: against the Jazz and the Maverick or against the Suns
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty two, or the guy seeing one the
Speaker 4: Knicks right now. So Kyrie's an upgrade there, But the
Speaker 4: Mavericks don't have a Chris as brasigis either. And even
Speaker 4: the version of Christafs that in twenty twenty one was
Speaker 4: basically diminished by his own coaching staff. You know, no
Speaker 4: post offs, they weren't going to give him the ball
Speaker 4: in his spots. Is everything catered to Luca everything?
Speaker 3: Now, like you don't you don't have that mismatch up front,
Speaker 3: Like as good as.
Speaker 4: Gafferd's playing as just better than Pj's ben in Dallas
Speaker 4: compared to Charlotte, guys are to.
Speaker 2: I gotta ask you really quick. I played before the
Speaker 2: season for the second consecutive year, actually third Clippers NBA
Speaker 2: Finals prices eighteen to one. How nervous? Just should I
Speaker 2: be about this series against Dallas? I'm thinking about hedging
Speaker 2: and betting from Dallas? Man, Yeah, just tell me the
Speaker 2: truth because I want to believe. Man if Kawhi is healthy,
Speaker 2: I still believe, but I don't know. The last couple
Speaker 2: of weeks, I just don't feel as good.
Speaker 3: Should I had?
Speaker 2: Should I play some Dallas? Or do you feel good
Speaker 2: at least about the first round here?
Speaker 3: Honestly?
Speaker 4: If I I've hedged, like this is as toss up
Speaker 4: a series as it gets, I still feel like the
Speaker 4: Clippers can win it. I even feel like they can
Speaker 4: get a game or two if Kawhi is not there,
Speaker 4: Like that's how good the matchup I feel like is
Speaker 4: from a personnel standpoint for the Clippers. But that's no
Speaker 4: disrespect to the Mavericks. There's no disrespect to Luka Dacic. Like,
Speaker 4: the fact is this is going to be a really
Speaker 4: tough series. Toughest series to call, I feel like of
Speaker 4: all of them in the first round, no matter how
Speaker 4: the playing tournament winds up. So I think the Clippers
Speaker 4: will win it. I wouldn't want to bet on it.
Speaker 4: That's that's my takeaway.
Speaker 1: So the Timberwolves play the Suns in the last game
Speaker 1: of the season, and the Suns have been very erratic
Speaker 1: and now they have to play the Suns again. Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards for whatever reason, law is just awful against the Suns.
Speaker 1: Feels like they got probably the worst matchup that they
Speaker 1: could have gotten in the first round. Oh, what do
Speaker 1: you think about this series? Like what are the key matchups?
Speaker 1: And like what makes the Sun so difficult on Minnesota.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna just say this, this is the series where
Speaker 4: Anthony Edwards mid range game. This would be a great
Speaker 4: time for him to find it, and every nine again
Speaker 4: you see him had it. But I feel like the
Speaker 4: way that the Timberwlves play defense, this is the best
Speaker 4: defense in the NBA, and the Timberwolves, they they take
Speaker 4: the three ball away. They take a lot of what
Speaker 4: you want to do in isolation away. They have really
Speaker 4: Gobert waiting for you.
Speaker 3: They have the.
Speaker 4: Size right, but they give you the entire mid range
Speaker 4: because of all the things that they take away. And
Speaker 4: guess what, the Phoenix Suns live in the mid range.
Speaker 3: So that's a problem the quarter.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like the Suns are they they've become the most
Speaker 4: accurate three point shooting team over the last quarter of
Speaker 4: the season, and so that makes the Suns a little
Speaker 4: bit harder to defend because again, as good as Minnesota
Speaker 4: is taking the three ball away, it's still the three
Speaker 4: point shot in this era of the NBA. Like you
Speaker 4: got guys who can hit them. It's obviously a lot
Speaker 4: harder to defend the Suns. Really, they just haven't been
Speaker 4: shooting threes for most of the year, but now they're
Speaker 4: starting to take more threes. This is their their jump
Speaker 4: shooting team and the way they can get those shots. Again, Minnesota,
Speaker 4: they want you to shoot in the mid range. But
Speaker 4: the problem with the Suns is they hit those shots.
Speaker 4: That's going to be a challenge for Minnesota defense. But
Speaker 4: again coming back to Minnesota's offense, they're inconsistent. They're trying
Speaker 4: to work Karl Anthony Talons back. That's always hard when
Speaker 4: you played so long, and they played reasonably well without Cat,
Speaker 4: but now to get him back, they got to reintegrate that.
Speaker 4: And the thing with an is and is really good
Speaker 4: when he can kind of ease his way into games,
Speaker 4: he can eat his way into a series.
Speaker 3: Probably you can't really do that.
Speaker 4: He's gotta be a one from day one and wear
Speaker 4: number five. Let's see what he's got for the people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm surprised that the Sixers, I mean, I'm surprised
Speaker 1: that the Knicks wanted that two seed to play the
Speaker 1: loser of the or the winner of the Heat Sixer
Speaker 1: series instead of just playing the Pacers in that three
Speaker 1: to six matchup.
Speaker 3: But here we are.
Speaker 1: I placed a little Heat Future plus sixteen hundred to
Speaker 1: win the East just because it's April and that's when
Speaker 1: the Heat Thrive placed the Little Sixers Future just because
Speaker 1: you never know when Embiad's gonna be healthy. But like say,
Speaker 1: it's Heat versus the Celtics kind of feels like do
Speaker 1: or die for the Celtics in this one. Do you
Speaker 1: give the Heat a chance?
Speaker 4: I think the Heat a chance simply because they're comfortable.
Speaker 4: You know, they would be comfortable in any playoff series
Speaker 4: like this is where exposor as you mentioned, this is
Speaker 4: where X sposter Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 3: They thrive.
Speaker 4: But my thing with the my thing with the Heat
Speaker 4: is they're so inconsistent. I'm not sure if they're going
Speaker 4: to survive the playing tournament. We saw last year they
Speaker 4: were the seven and dropped to eight and the Bulls
Speaker 4: were one quarter away from keeping them out of the playoffs.
Speaker 4: Now from there, he had a fortuitous run all the
Speaker 4: way to tying the NBA Finals, So the Heat are
Speaker 4: always going to have that benefited the doubt publicly and internally.
Speaker 4: But I feel like it's hard to bottle that up
Speaker 4: every time. And this ain't the same Heat team. They
Speaker 4: don't have the same guys, Like I'm not sure how
Speaker 4: healthy Terrors here is. His neck has been an issue
Speaker 4: for a good week now, Duncan Robinson has been dealing
Speaker 4: with some things physically as well.
Speaker 3: Tyler Herro is back.
Speaker 4: But I just feel like the Heat, as much as
Speaker 4: their reputation precedes them.
Speaker 3: It's going to be tough for them. It's going to
Speaker 3: be tough for.
Speaker 4: Them to get by Philadelphia in the playing tournament, and
Speaker 4: if you got heat Celtics.
Speaker 3: The Celtics are just so much better this year. They
Speaker 3: are so.
Speaker 4: Much better equipped to make the Heat pay for the
Speaker 4: things that the heat will give you. They're another team
Speaker 4: where the heat they'll give you threes against certain teams
Speaker 4: that you know aren't great shooting teams. That's one thing
Speaker 4: against the most lethal three point shooting team in the
Speaker 4: entire league. I just think it's a bad matchup this
Speaker 4: year in the way that it wasn't last year.
Speaker 2: Sticking in the East, what are your thoughts on Calves Orlando?
Speaker 2: Do you think Orlando's too young? Do you think that
Speaker 2: they could win this series? Where would you go in
Speaker 2: that one?
Speaker 4: The Magic certainly aren't too young against a team like Cleveland.
Speaker 4: The Cleveland Cavaliers haven't done anything in the playoffs, So
Speaker 4: if you're a Magic, you're thrilled to face a team
Speaker 4: like the Cavaliers because there's no intimidation factor there. There's
Speaker 4: no like, oh, we're playing against a team like the Cavs.
Speaker 4: Are absolutely going to be playing desperate and hungry because
Speaker 4: of the experiences that they've had the last two years.
Speaker 4: But the Magic that's I don't think that's a factor
Speaker 4: in a way that it would be if they're playing
Speaker 4: another team. I also think that the Magic they're a
Speaker 4: mature team, at least on the defensive end, beyond their years,
Speaker 4: like for a team to be that young. I mean
Speaker 4: the Thunder rightfully, so get the credit that they've gotten
Speaker 4: for the way that they've played with a young roster.
Speaker 4: But Orlando is the Eastern Conference version of that, and
Speaker 4: that's gonna make things hard on the Cleveland team that's
Speaker 4: been rocky offensively, whether Donovan's been there or not. So
Speaker 4: I get the Magic more than a chance. I think
Speaker 4: that'll be a seven game series as well. It's gonna
Speaker 4: be a really difficult series to watch if you like
Speaker 4: offensive basketball, So apologies in advance. I think the NBA
Speaker 4: knows that too, so you might see that reflected in
Speaker 4: some broadcast decisions.
Speaker 3: But I think the Orlando Magic don't be surprised if
Speaker 3: they squeaked that series out in the game seven.
Speaker 1: What do you think about the Knicks? How far can
Speaker 1: they go? Because with Ogi and Obi they've been absolutely unreal.
Speaker 4: I think that the Knicks got a great draw as
Speaker 4: far as how the bracket Brooks, So I mean they're
Speaker 4: gonna have a tough first round series anyway you look
Speaker 4: at it, dealing with either Joel Embiid or I think
Speaker 4: the Miami Heat would love to play the play the Knicks.
Speaker 3: Obviously.
Speaker 4: You saw last year, even with Julius Ranald there, it
Speaker 4: was a tough series and the Heat wound up winning it.
Speaker 4: Julius isn't even there, and I don't think that the
Speaker 4: Knicks have another level. The good thing is that they've
Speaker 4: been extremely good with og playing and I think that
Speaker 4: their ability to defend a lot more versatilely than they
Speaker 4: did when they had Julius that's gonna help. But like,
Speaker 4: I just feel like the Knicks played too many of
Speaker 4: those guys. Like the minutes are crazy, and I think
Speaker 4: if there's one team that you can bet on to
Speaker 4: have some breakdowns due to fatigue, it's the New York Knicks.
Speaker 4: And that's not something that it's like, I don't want
Speaker 4: to be right here. It's just that if you're reasonably
Speaker 4: looking at the playoffs and looking at workloads and seeing, okay,
Speaker 4: who has another level because they were man into a
Speaker 4: certain way because a team used their depth, well, the
Speaker 4: Knicks had to play guys forty minutes for most of
Speaker 4: the last quarter of this season, and I wonder how
Speaker 4: much of a toll that's going to take on a
Speaker 4: guy like Jalen Brunson who's been in absolute fulcrum of
Speaker 4: offense for so long. Like, Okay, in the playoffs, let's
Speaker 4: just be real, it's easier to be physical with smaller guards.
Speaker 4: Take those guys out of their rhythm, make them more inefficient.
Speaker 4: And so I think the Knicks they can get.
Speaker 3: To the conference finals.
Speaker 4: But I don't expect any of those guys that you
Speaker 4: saw the way they played in the regular season have
Speaker 4: another level to be significantly better in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Got about a minute. Just want to go back to
Speaker 1: the West really fast about Oka. See, say they play
Speaker 1: a team like the Warriors, which kind of feels like
Speaker 1: the matchup they're gonna get, maybe even the Kings, But
Speaker 1: I think the Warriors, Like, how do you think OKAC
Speaker 1: matches up with them? Say they end up playing the Lakers.
Speaker 1: Obviously Lakers are much bigger team. Like, what do you
Speaker 1: think about the Thunder in this West?
Speaker 4: I think the Thunder will be thrilled to just avoid
Speaker 4: the Lakers. I think the Lakers are the only team
Speaker 4: that gave the Thunder a real problem because.
Speaker 3: Of the size, because of the fact that.
Speaker 4: The Thunder they want you to shoot, but the Lakers
Speaker 4: don't really care, and the Lakers are a little bit
Speaker 4: more virtual offensively. Anyway, that size and the respect of
Speaker 4: the officials whistle, let's just call it what it is.
Speaker 4: That's that's tough on a team like the Thunder. Like
Speaker 4: the Thunder, or they're gonna struggle defensively against that level
Speaker 4: of expertise, Like that's the one team where you go, Okay,
Speaker 4: the years are gonna matter, the experience is gonna matter.
Speaker 4: Everybody else, they're gonna be fine. And that's scary for
Speaker 4: the Western Conference that that team is.
Speaker 3: They're gonna be fine. Golden State.
Speaker 4: We saw early in the season when the courts were
Speaker 4: painted with the end season tournaments. We saw early how
Speaker 4: good that the Thunder were going to be in a
Speaker 4: matchup with those guys. Steve Kerr thought that there was
Speaker 4: confidence there, and it took the rest of November for
Speaker 4: the Thunder to make it clear that that.
Speaker 3: Was in the case. So watch out for you them.
Speaker 2: Low, Thanks so much, man, and join the playoffs. We'll
Speaker 2: talk again soon, all right.
Speaker 3: Thank you guys.
Speaker 1: That's all the time when we ask for this episode
Speaker 1: of the Heat Check. Thanks to law Murray for swinging by.
Speaker 1: Come back on tomorrow as we have more information breaking
Speaker 1: down the playoff seedings and the playing teams. Check out
Speaker 1: the feeds for past episodes as many episodes which drop
Speaker 1: onexpectedly like Tyrese Maxi and the Most Improved Player award standings.
Speaker 1: Do not forget the follow the Heat Check as we
Speaker 1: head into the playoffs. That means download, let me subscribe.
Speaker 1: Let me tell your friends, all of them, even Kaitler
Speaker 1: and Clark. Tell her, Yo, Caitlin Clark, I know you
Speaker 1: were nervous as fuck for the Snel appearance, but you
Speaker 1: killed it, girl. And then you became the first basketball
Speaker 1: player ever met or women to be dressed by Prada
Speaker 1: for the WNBA Draft. You low, girl, Prada is legit.
Speaker 1: You got your product, you dressed to the nines, and
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Speaker 1: ready for the playoff season. Also, I think you have
Speaker 1: a first game.
Speaker 4: Of like seventeen days.
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