LIVE: Celtics Playoff Preview | Garden Report - video Dailymotion

CLNS Media Sports Network

The Garden Report goes live to preview the Celtics first round matchup.  This episode of the Garden Report is brought to you by:  Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS  Elevate your style game on and off the course with the PXG Spring Summer 2024 collection. Head over to https://PXG.com/GARDEN and save 10% on all apparel.  Nutrafol Men! Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/MEN and enter the promo code GARDEN!  #Celtics #NBA #GardenReport #CLNS

Transcript

00:00:00 (upbeat music)

00:00:02 - Can you say hard hats folks?

00:00:05 Hard hats, lunch pails, steel tool, boots.

00:00:08 - Anything short of a championship this year is a failure.

00:00:10 - It's time to look at this boomer right here.

00:00:12 - You've just got so much talent here.

00:00:14 - Somebody said we need to apologize for Jaylen.

00:00:16 - Can I pull the John?

00:00:17 What are we apologizing for?

00:00:19 What'd we say?

00:00:20 What'd we do?

00:00:21 (upbeat music)

00:00:27 (humming)

00:00:30 - Yeah.

00:00:32 - What's going on everybody?

00:00:35 Garden Report.

00:00:36 Sorry for those in the chat waiting for the show to begin

00:00:39 and wondering why we're so late.

00:00:41 We had guesstimated 1030 would be roughly half time

00:00:44 of that second game, but it went a little long.

00:00:48 We are at halftime now with the Bulls leading the Hawks

00:00:52 by six, bit of a surprise.

00:00:53 Teeny bit of panic happened earlier

00:00:57 'cause as soon as the Sixers beat the Heat

00:00:59 and that's the game we were all watching tonight

00:01:01 and interested in, everyone's like,

00:01:04 "Wow, you know, Atlanta's a tougher matchup anyway."

00:01:07 And Atlanta right now is struggling against the Bulls.

00:01:09 That game, as we said at halftime, still anybody's game,

00:01:12 but okay, we dodged Philly, I guess, right?

00:01:16 That was the thing everybody was concerned with.

00:01:18 - Yeah, toughest team out of the way

00:01:21 by far out of the four here.

00:01:23 And they didn't show it today.

00:01:24 Certainly the Embiid injury came into play in a big way.

00:01:27 Jimmy, he did not look right at all today.

00:01:30 So I think that gives the Knicks some relief

00:01:33 going into that series.

00:01:34 What looked like it could have been

00:01:35 an East finals level series,

00:01:37 maybe gets a little bit easier for them.

00:01:39 But Philly still found a way to defend when they needed to.

00:01:43 Batum had some timely shots and they're still dangerous.

00:01:47 I think that's the team you want to avoid here.

00:01:48 And by contrast, I thought the Heat

00:01:50 looked horrible tonight, Jimmy,

00:01:51 as they have for a lot of this season.

00:01:52 It's not the playoffs yet.

00:01:54 So once again, the round one,

00:01:56 maybe they'll flip that switch,

00:01:58 but they didn't do it tonight.

00:01:59 They just had that nice start,

00:02:02 mucked it up with the zone

00:02:03 and fell apart in the second half.

00:02:06 - This was the Batum game.

00:02:07 He had a massive, massive one tonight for them.

00:02:11 And it's like one of those players

00:02:12 you don't really think,

00:02:13 he's not like the first guy that comes to mind

00:02:15 as a guy that's going to have an impact

00:02:16 in a game or in a series,

00:02:18 but that's when players step up.

00:02:19 So credit to him.

00:02:22 - You're right though.

00:02:23 I mean, the Sixers, they obviously escaped,

00:02:25 but there's definitely, if you're a Sixers fan,

00:02:29 there's some concerns tonight after watching them beat play.

00:02:32 I think the Knicks, obviously being a physical team,

00:02:34 they're going to be a tough matchup for Philly.

00:02:36 If they can, even if they can like,

00:02:38 just be physical with them,

00:02:39 beat game and foul trouble early.

00:02:41 And like, that's kind of the end of it.

00:02:42 I feel like the Knicks are going to roll,

00:02:44 but good on the Celtics for, again,

00:02:47 missing that Sixers matchup that you,

00:02:49 if you had to choose,

00:02:50 you wanted to miss that from a competitive standpoint.

00:02:54 I think it would have been a way more interesting series.

00:02:57 I like the Boston Philly matchup.

00:02:59 I think- - That's what you wanted?

00:03:01 - That's what I wanted.

00:03:02 Yeah, I mean, I just want to see a fun, interesting series.

00:03:05 So I'm not sure Miami, Chicago, or Atlanta

00:03:09 provide that same amount of, I don't know.

00:03:12 Like there's just been a lot of moments

00:03:14 through all the years, Boston Philly,

00:03:15 and beat obviously being a great player.

00:03:18 And it gets emotional on both sides.

00:03:21 Al Horford always gets in a way with the Philly fans

00:03:25 and all that.

00:03:26 So I think we'll miss that a little bit.

00:03:29 And then you've got the Butler injury now.

00:03:31 Apparently he's got a knee.

00:03:33 They're going to do some tests on it

00:03:34 when they get back to Miami.

00:03:36 Obviously they have a must-win situation

00:03:38 before they can even think about going any further.

00:03:40 But if they are able to win the next game,

00:03:45 whether it's Chicago or Atlanta,

00:03:48 if you're playing a heat team,

00:03:49 I already thought the Celtics would roll against the Heat,

00:03:50 even with Butler this year.

00:03:52 The Heat just don't scare me that much.

00:03:54 But if Butler's- - I can't believe

00:03:55 you're saying that.

00:03:55 - I know, it sounds like I'm like-

00:03:59 - How many times have we said that

00:04:01 in the history of this show?

00:04:03 - Right, but this year feels different

00:04:05 because I don't think the Heat are as good

00:04:07 as they were in previous seasons.

00:04:09 And I also think the Celtics are better

00:04:10 than they were in previous seasons.

00:04:11 So I just feel like the gap is too wide now

00:04:15 between those two.

00:04:17 But we'll see, we shall see.

00:04:20 - So, counterpoint, Jimmy, to Philly looking weak

00:04:27 and this, you know, they've basically won every game

00:04:31 since Embiid returned.

00:04:32 They have a better- - Yeah, it's great, right?

00:04:36 - Yeah, they have a better record.

00:04:38 They have a better winning percentage

00:04:39 than the Celtics when Embiid is healthy,

00:04:41 which I am not saying they're as good as the Celtics.

00:04:43 All I'm saying is they were really good with him there.

00:04:45 He's clearly not himself, but like counterpoint,

00:04:50 while they got a, they might've gotten,

00:04:52 I wouldn't say a cream puff, you know, draw,

00:04:56 but they avoid the Celtics.

00:04:58 That's really good.

00:04:59 They, so when they get the Knicks,

00:05:02 so that's as good as they could have hoped for

00:05:04 given their positioning, right, where they were.

00:05:07 So they get into that slot.

00:05:09 I mean, would it have been nice to get into the sixth

00:05:11 and potentially get an Embiid-less Milwaukee team?

00:05:16 Definitely, but they might get- - Yeah, Giannis-less.

00:05:19 - Giannis, rather, Giannis-less Milwaukee,

00:05:21 but they might get Indiana in round two before they,

00:05:25 and then you're looking at a healthy Embiid

00:05:27 in the conference finals.

00:05:30 So again, I think we forget a little

00:05:33 that Philly was easily a top two, top three team,

00:05:37 you know, threatening for the, you know,

00:05:40 top of the conference before Embiid went down.

00:05:42 So I don't think you can dismiss them

00:05:44 completely out of hand for that.

00:05:47 - I won't.

00:05:48 I think it was more to do with,

00:05:49 it all hinges on Embiid, right?

00:05:51 So, I mean, if you think that he's gonna keep playing,

00:05:55 you know, at the top of his game,

00:05:56 then yeah, they're gonna be competitive against the Knicks.

00:05:59 I like the Knicks.

00:05:59 I just think that they're a team that,

00:06:02 I mean, it would be so Knicks for them

00:06:03 to just like completely fade out of nowhere,

00:06:05 I guess, in the first round,

00:06:07 but it just feels like they've got a lot of momentum.

00:06:09 Brunson's playing like MVP caliber basketball.

00:06:11 He's got the city on his shoulders

00:06:13 and I would just be surprised if they lost.

00:06:16 But yeah, if you're Philly,

00:06:18 you're happy to be going to New York and not Boston.

00:06:20 And if you're Boston,

00:06:22 you're happy that Philly's going to New York,

00:06:26 probably too, because you've got, you know,

00:06:28 three options now,

00:06:30 and I guess we'll find out shortly if down to two,

00:06:32 but whether it's Miami, Chicago, or Atlanta,

00:06:35 I know they've had a couple of tough ones

00:06:38 against Atlanta this year,

00:06:39 but I mean, that series shouldn't go past five games.

00:06:43 And I know, maybe it sounds like

00:06:44 I'm just writing the heat off

00:06:45 and I should just look at previous seasons,

00:06:48 but I'll go back to what I said.

00:06:49 I mean, if you're just looking at based on talent,

00:06:52 the Cilics are a different team this year.

00:06:53 The heat didn't make,

00:06:54 they didn't just didn't really do it for me

00:06:56 that much this year.

00:06:57 I know Bam is Bam and Jimmy is Jimmy,

00:06:59 but this whole neat thing with Butler now,

00:07:02 if he's at 75%,

00:07:04 I mean, that's not enough for the Heat.

00:07:06 They need 110% out of Butler.

00:07:09 - Does it feel like, what's funny about the Heat,

00:07:11 'cause I look at it a couple of different ways.

00:07:13 One, how much of it is PTSD?

00:07:15 You know, a lot in terms of who they are.

00:07:20 Two, Jimmy hurt or not hurt,

00:07:22 and somebody had kind of messaged me this too.

00:07:25 Something's missing with his overall swag this year.

00:07:28 I can't quite figure out what that is.

00:07:30 And yeah, playoff, Jimmy's a totally different animal,

00:07:33 but if he's banged up here,

00:07:35 I mean, who knows if they even get out of the play

00:07:38 and at that point.

00:07:40 So it might be mood, but watching this game,

00:07:43 yeah, I'm turning into Bobby Manning here.

00:07:45 Like, I'm looking at this Heat team and I'm like,

00:07:51 who's good here?

00:07:52 You know, like, it's like-

00:07:54 - A lot of Kevin Love, a lot of Wright.

00:07:56 - They just don't have the horses, man.

00:07:58 You know, like- - Go on, Wright.

00:08:01 - Yeah, I just don't see it.

00:08:03 I just don't see it.

00:08:04 They just don't have the horses.

00:08:05 - They don't, they play a system.

00:08:08 - And even tonight, right,

00:08:10 Spolster is probably the MVP of the first half.

00:08:12 He goes into that zone, he messes things up.

00:08:15 That only works for how long?

00:08:16 Until some team's like, oh, you know?

00:08:18 And like, that's what happened.

00:08:20 It's like, it's a cute tactic you do when you're overmatched

00:08:24 and like, it's great.

00:08:25 And like, if you were the Celtics, yeah,

00:08:27 you allow it to completely break your brain

00:08:30 and destroy a whole series.

00:08:32 But like, even the Phil, after a while,

00:08:34 Philly's like, oh, let's just drive the paint.

00:08:37 You know, like, I'm Tyrese Maxey.

00:08:39 I'm much faster than all of you.

00:08:41 What am I doing here?

00:08:42 And they started to attack

00:08:43 and then they started to find their shooters

00:08:45 and then Batum got hot.

00:08:47 And you know, that was that.

00:08:49 It lasted, you know, the little zone spell lasted like a half.

00:08:54 That's it, that's their game.

00:08:56 That's the gimmick, that's what you got.

00:08:57 You got that and hoping Caleb Martin goes frigging nuclear

00:09:01 and shoots 50% from three and that Butler is,

00:09:04 you know, is off the charts good.

00:09:06 - Yeah, and they're missing Richardson and Roger

00:09:10 potentially into this first round.

00:09:11 He missed tonight's game.

00:09:13 So they're missing pieces already

00:09:16 off of what they missed last year too.

00:09:17 I think they missed Struce a ton.

00:09:19 I think they certainly missed Vincent.

00:09:22 So it's not the same team.

00:09:23 It's not the same Butler.

00:09:25 There's plenty of reason to go into this series confident.

00:09:29 Number one being what you've accomplished this year

00:09:31 and what you added and the level you've reached on offense

00:09:35 to be able to execute against a defense like that.

00:09:37 And they went three and O against Miami this year.

00:09:39 One in a blowout, one in clutch finish down there

00:09:44 on the Superbowl Sunday that you probably should have lost

00:09:47 late on that Haywood Highsmith three,

00:09:50 but he can't hit threes.

00:09:51 And that's part of the reason that they struggle.

00:09:53 - Bobby.

00:09:54 - And then you go to that crunch time finish

00:09:56 in the second game of the year, that was pretty good too.

00:09:58 So you took care of the business during them

00:10:00 during the playoffs.

00:10:01 You're just wondering how different it's

00:10:02 or during the regular season,

00:10:03 you're just wondering how different

00:10:04 it's gonna be during the playoffs.

00:10:06 - Gotta interrupt you.

00:10:07 Gotta interrupt you for some Twitter breaking news.

00:10:10 - I'm trying to get a graphic.

00:10:12 - Shams just tweeted,

00:10:15 Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is feared to have an MCL injury

00:10:18 in his knee sources tell the Athletic and Stadium.

00:10:21 The injury could sideline Butler

00:10:23 for an indefinite period MRI to come.

00:10:26 - He's out for the first round then.

00:10:28 - The indefinite period might be one more game

00:10:32 at this point for Miami.

00:10:33 So, you know, that's it.

00:10:35 That might be all she wrote.

00:10:37 You know, you might be-

00:10:38 - Wow, that's tough.

00:10:39 That is tough.

00:10:43 - Whew.

00:10:44 Well, turn out the lights.

00:10:45 - These guys are dropping like flies.

00:10:47 Giannis last week, you had Zion last night,

00:10:50 you have Butler tonight.

00:10:51 - It's because of the pitch clock.

00:10:53 - It's a pitch clock. - It's a pitch clock,

00:10:55 but these playing games now,

00:10:57 it's like unnecessary injury in a play-in game

00:11:00 against a team that, you know,

00:11:02 could have just made the playoffs.

00:11:03 You could have just,

00:11:05 two teams that theoretically

00:11:07 could have just made the playoffs.

00:11:09 Instead, you just got one hurt.

00:11:12 - That's why you want to avoid this thing.

00:11:14 Whew.

00:11:15 So what are we talking Chicago, Atlanta now?

00:11:18 - Apparently, I would think so.

00:11:22 I mean, it sounds like he's not going to be playing,

00:11:24 he's not going to be playing Friday.

00:11:26 - Yeah, indefinite seems to be at least one game

00:11:31 and everyone making fun of my, you know,

00:11:34 my wifi and all of that.

00:11:37 Yeah, I look, it is what it is.

00:11:38 I'm in a hotel.

00:11:40 I got, the wife finally kicked me out

00:11:42 and that's it.

00:11:44 - I'm not gonna say anything.

00:11:46 Yeah.

00:11:46 (laughing)

00:11:47 Yeah, he's in a holiday inn down the street, guys.

00:11:50 (laughing)

00:11:52 - I still get to see,

00:11:53 I can drive by and see my kids as they go off to school.

00:11:56 It's not too bad.

00:11:57 I'm close by.

00:11:58 I'm still close by.

00:12:01 - Well, no, I thought it was that,

00:12:03 I thought it was that you told--

00:12:05 - Mommy, is that daddy crying in his car outside?

00:12:08 - You told her that you needed to give

00:12:10 your undivided attention to the South extreme, the playoffs.

00:12:12 She said, yeah.

00:12:13 - Yes.

00:12:14 - I have it as low, yeah, I'm at Joe Sway's guest house.

00:12:19 It's as low a resolution,

00:12:21 lower resolution as possible

00:12:23 so I don't completely glitch out and turn into,

00:12:26 I couldn't tell if Joe Sway was Max Headroom last show

00:12:29 or, you know, like the,

00:12:31 what the predator sounds like when it makes that

00:12:33 (imitates growling)

00:12:34 sound, like every time he was talking,

00:12:36 that was--

00:12:39 - I had pretty bad connection that day too.

00:12:41 - Oh, that killed me.

00:12:43 - That was a bad day to be at the garden.

00:12:45 - Yeah, so Jimmy--

00:12:46 - There's just like footage of Butler

00:12:47 like barely being able to walk out of the garden,

00:12:50 like on his own power.

00:12:52 - Yeah, well maybe he played--

00:12:53 - I mean out of the stadium.

00:12:54 - The Philadelphia Garden.

00:12:56 - Here's again, alternate opinion.

00:12:58 Jimmy Butler suffers sprained MCL.

00:13:01 Butler's gonna go 44 minutes in the play-in game

00:13:03 and score, you know--

00:13:05 - Yeah, who knows?

00:13:06 It's tough to make any assumptions here.

00:13:07 Usually MCL was pretty bad.

00:13:09 - He does that shit all the time.

00:13:12 - You know, that's an injury that knocked Durant out

00:13:14 the last few years there in Brooklyn for weeks

00:13:17 and I'm trying to think of some other examples too.

00:13:20 There's been a bunch of these over the years

00:13:22 and they're usually on the longer side.

00:13:23 But like you said, John, do or die game.

00:13:26 Do you just got through it?

00:13:27 Just get out there, be a diversion and pass the ball.

00:13:31 I don't know.

00:13:33 They're gonna challenge him if he is though

00:13:34 and they certainly did tonight at times, Philly

00:13:36 and he just didn't look like himself.

00:13:38 He wasn't able to get shots off.

00:13:40 They went to hero on the ball, which didn't go well either.

00:13:43 So this is a real concern.

00:13:44 We're gonna see what's happening with this--

00:13:46 - What happened to Duncan Robinson today?

00:13:49 - They went with, you know, he just phased out.

00:13:54 - Yeah.

00:13:54 And that's the difference too this year.

00:13:58 You have Robinson--

00:13:58 - They went with Jovich, yeah.

00:14:00 - You have here who you can go after.

00:14:02 So the real team you wanna avoid at this point,

00:14:05 honestly, is Atlanta 'cause--

00:14:07 - Hero might be the worst player in the league.

00:14:09 I mean, also he can light it out.

00:14:12 Hero's brutal, man.

00:14:14 He's really brutal.

00:14:17 - They went on that East Conference run without him.

00:14:20 - Yeah.

00:14:21 - So, and Hawks are trying to reintegrate Young now too.

00:14:26 Similar story, a great offensive player in many ways.

00:14:29 He's that guy you can target though.

00:14:31 - I know Robinson had a back injury.

00:14:33 Rozier was out.

00:14:34 I don't know if he's back for the next game,

00:14:36 but yeah, I don't know.

00:14:39 They might be screwed.

00:14:41 He's not the worst player.

00:14:42 I'm not saying he's the worst player.

00:14:43 Hero, I think Hero just, Hero's just,

00:14:47 he's a problem for Miami.

00:14:49 He's a problem for his team more than he is

00:14:51 for other teams a lot of times.

00:14:54 He just, I don't know.

00:14:56 You're just gonna attack him, attack him, attack him.

00:15:00 I don't know.

00:15:01 - That's the name of the game for the Celtics, Jimmy.

00:15:03 If they have a guy they can go after on the other side,

00:15:06 they're not gonna let that guy off the hook.

00:15:08 Whether it's Kobe White with Chicago,

00:15:10 whether it's Trey Young,

00:15:12 whether it's Hero or Robinson,

00:15:16 that's how they're gonna win this series.

00:15:18 And now that you're seeing Heat not look the same,

00:15:20 have this injury, these two teams

00:15:22 that honestly shouldn't even be in the playoff mix,

00:15:25 you're in Chicago and Atlanta.

00:15:26 - I know.

00:15:27 - Again, I think you give a little bit of credit

00:15:29 to the Hawks based on what they did a couple of weeks ago

00:15:31 to make it tough on you.

00:15:33 But tough this year, Jimmy, should mean

00:15:36 you play a game or two that goes down the wire

00:15:38 and you pull it out and you still win the series in four

00:15:40 or five, not the series goes six, seven

00:15:43 because you blew a game or two.

00:15:45 So this is stacking up pretty well

00:15:47 for the Celtics right now.

00:15:48 These are still tough teams,

00:15:50 but you went undefeated against Chicago,

00:15:52 you went undefeated against Miami,

00:15:54 and you probably should have gone undefeated against Atlanta

00:15:57 save for those screw ups down there.

00:15:58 But those were late season games

00:16:00 that you probably weren't taking super seriously.

00:16:03 So it's shaping up well.

00:16:05 You should not have an issue in this first round.

00:16:08 And honestly, looking ahead to the second round,

00:16:10 you ended up on the right side of the bracket there too.

00:16:13 So this is looking pretty good for Boston right now.

00:16:16 - You avoid New York, Philly,

00:16:19 and Milwaukee in the second round too.

00:16:21 - And Indiana, yeah.

00:16:22 You worry about them a little bit too.

00:16:24 - And Indy, yeah.

00:16:25 - I mean, could you have a clearer path?

00:16:28 You know, I mean, again, it's, you know,

00:16:31 you don't wanna jinx it, but like, holy crap,

00:16:33 are things just, I mean,

00:16:34 and Bede's on one leg, Giannis is out.

00:16:38 You just-- - That's the crazy thing.

00:16:40 Everyone's banged up. - You just lost Butler.

00:16:43 - The whole thing is whacked.

00:16:45 - You gotta wrap the Celtics team up

00:16:48 in like bubble wrap right now.

00:16:50 - Play the stay ready crew round one.

00:16:51 - Just stay healthy,

00:16:53 and then you're gonna go to the finals at this point.

00:16:55 - Yeah.

00:16:56 - Caruso dinged himself up here in this game too.

00:16:59 I'm not sure exactly what happened,

00:17:01 but he was on the bench.

00:17:02 It looked like he had ice around his foot,

00:17:05 a rolling ankle or something.

00:17:07 I don't know if I missed it, but.

00:17:08 - I haven't seen that either.

00:17:13 - Yeah.

00:17:15 Yeah, so-- - What's the score

00:17:15 to that one right now?

00:17:17 We know? - It's a five point game.

00:17:18 Chicago's up five, the third quarter just got underway.

00:17:21 So again, that was a little bit,

00:17:22 just in terms of matchups here,

00:17:25 we know Celtics three and O against the Heat

00:17:27 in the regular season.

00:17:29 This year, they went three and O against Chicago.

00:17:31 And then as everybody knows,

00:17:33 and everybody remembers all too well,

00:17:35 the two and two versus Atlanta

00:17:36 with those two wins coming back to back

00:17:39 on that ill-fated road trip

00:17:41 that we sent Bobby and Ahmed on,

00:17:42 where they went there and the Celtics fell apart,

00:17:45 with those two games, four days apart.

00:17:48 - With a 30 point lead,

00:17:50 and then played a disastrous--

00:17:53 - Drum and ran in. - Fourth quarter.

00:17:56 - Yeah, yeah.

00:17:57 - Lost in overtime. - But again,

00:17:59 it's nuts.

00:18:01 - So I think you give a little bit of thought to Atlanta

00:18:06 giving you some problems.

00:18:08 And were they better without Young?

00:18:10 - Probably in some ways, yes.

00:18:12 Probably in other ways, no.

00:18:14 And he's just back for his fourth game tonight.

00:18:16 So he's super early in his return,

00:18:19 but conditioned, it was a finger injury.

00:18:22 So he's probably doing some stuff with his strong hand

00:18:24 and able to stay on the treadmill

00:18:27 or whatever that might be, strength training, all of that.

00:18:29 So it's not like he's gonna come in out of shape

00:18:31 and not have his footing under him in this series.

00:18:34 I can be in his return to action

00:18:37 since he's been back with a knee injury.

00:18:40 This team does a lot of things that bother you.

00:18:43 Intense on the offensive glass.

00:18:46 They have perimeter defenders

00:18:47 that they can throw at Brown and Tatum.

00:18:50 They launch a ton of threes.

00:18:52 They're gonna match your 53s a game.

00:18:55 So especially with Butler out, if he is,

00:18:59 this might be the team you wanna avoid

00:19:02 out of the three here, amazingly enough.

00:19:04 The 10th seed that struggled all year,

00:19:06 just because they've given you so much trouble

00:19:08 in this matchup, even those first two matchups that you won,

00:19:11 I feel like they played you well and young,

00:19:13 like you did last year, can steal a game

00:19:15 by hitting five, six threes.

00:19:18 So this is a team that's missing Jaylon Johnson,

00:19:20 Onyeko Okonogwu.

00:19:21 They're probably gonna miss the first round

00:19:22 based on their timelines right now.

00:19:25 So they're shorthanded too here,

00:19:26 but they still have enough to at least bother you.

00:19:29 And they have a really good coach too in Quinn Snyder.

00:19:32 So again, you shouldn't be going six, seven games here,

00:19:37 but maybe each individual game in this series

00:19:39 ends up being a little tougher than you want it to be.

00:19:41 If you're looking at these three teams,

00:19:42 you'll probably choose Chicago,

00:19:44 just based on how you played these three teams

00:19:46 during the year.

00:19:46 - Yeah, I think so.

00:19:51 You know, I think so.

00:19:52 But, you know, to Jimmy's point,

00:19:55 you kind of wanna get fired up about Chicago, right?

00:19:56 - If you want Chicago?

00:19:59 Yeah. - Yes.

00:20:00 If you want an easy win. - You do.

00:20:05 - You're on track for some snooze fest matchups at this point.

00:20:08 I mean, you could end up with.

00:20:09 - I know, that's why I was playing with you, Jimmy.

00:20:11 - Orlando, freaking.

00:20:13 - That's what you deserve though, when you win 64 games.

00:20:16 - I know, but that's what I was saying,

00:20:17 what Jimmy was saying.

00:20:18 There's some merit to like, ah, screw it.

00:20:21 Give them the toughest matchup so you can freaking,

00:20:24 it's like, I just wanna feel something, you know?

00:20:26 Like, it's been so- - Yeah.

00:20:27 We just trudged through the last two months

00:20:30 of this regular season, Bobby.

00:20:31 - It's been so long since we've felt anything

00:20:34 at this point, you know? - I know.

00:20:35 - Just throw them in the arena and, you know,

00:20:37 with the Lions and just, you know, a net

00:20:40 and just have at it.

00:20:42 - Yeah. - You just wanna see

00:20:43 something happen. - Maybe that's Atlanta.

00:20:45 - Yeah. - You wanna see

00:20:46 something happen. - You gotta get battle tested.

00:20:47 You don't wanna just cruise to the, what, the NBA finals

00:20:51 and then run into a buzzsaw and be like,

00:20:53 you weren't ready for an actual game?

00:20:53 - I think it's a fair point.

00:20:54 We said that and that's why we wanted Miami,

00:20:57 as some of us did here.

00:20:58 And now that Atlanta could be the biggest challenge to you,

00:21:01 if Foley's hurt, test your rebounding out,

00:21:05 test your defense. - If it's Chicago,

00:21:07 if it's Chicago, we're not even doing garden reports

00:21:10 for the first round.

00:21:11 I'm just, we're not doing it.

00:21:12 - Bobby's, we're not sending Bobby.

00:21:14 We're not, we're not, I'm not producing.

00:21:17 - If they go Chicago, Orlando,

00:21:18 we're gonna take two weeks off.

00:21:20 We're gonna come back refreshed for the conference finals.

00:21:23 (laughing)

00:21:24 - It's gonna feel like glorified regular season game.

00:21:27 Like, ah, Orlando, another one with Orlando.

00:21:31 Okay. - Chicago, Orlando

00:21:32 would be some first, second round combination.

00:21:35 - NBA would wanna die too.

00:21:38 I mean, those are not the markets you're looking at.

00:21:41 Toss in the limelight.

00:21:44 - Maybe they knew they're throwing Celtics

00:21:46 on one o'clock Sunday.

00:21:47 - Yeah, we'll see.

00:21:48 We'll see.

00:21:49 We're gonna have you guys deliver you guys

00:21:52 a couple of promotional messages here

00:21:54 as this game kind of rolls along

00:21:55 and get involved here with PXG.

00:21:58 It is golf season, my friends, okay?

00:22:01 And you wanna play well, that's fine.

00:22:04 Go get your nice clubs.

00:22:06 They've got some awesome clubs, custom made.

00:22:09 If that's what you think you need, get after it.

00:22:12 But you wanna look good all the time

00:22:15 and PXG is the way to do so.

00:22:18 That was mine, that guy, that last guy.

00:22:21 That was my shirt. - Nice.

00:22:21 - Awesome.

00:22:22 Great apparel, fun, you know, light, breathable.

00:22:27 Really good stuff over at PXG.

00:22:30 Go to pxg.com/garden and save 10% on all apparel right now.

00:22:35 You wanna look good.

00:22:36 This is a terrific discount on some high quality merch.

00:22:40 Really, really, really good golf attire.

00:22:44 And it's not just the stuff that you would wear

00:22:45 while golfing, stuff that you could wear out,

00:22:48 cool looking quarter zips, you know,

00:22:51 pants, sweatshirts, polos, whatever it is.

00:22:54 - 19 hole action, yeah, absolutely.

00:22:57 - It's awesome, it's awesome.

00:22:58 - Carry it out after.

00:22:59 In addition, the play in, the round is here

00:23:03 and you wanna get down with PrizePix.

00:23:06 Real playoffs start on Saturday,

00:23:08 but you can get in on the action now with PrizePix.

00:23:10 Just download that app,

00:23:12 America's number one DFS fantasy platform.

00:23:16 All you have to do, pick some of your players,

00:23:19 favorite players, players you hate, doesn't matter.

00:23:21 Select more or less and watch the winnings roll in.

00:23:24 Use that promo code CLNS.

00:23:26 When you download the app,

00:23:27 you get a deposit match up to 100.

00:23:30 Once again, download that app, boom,

00:23:33 a little box right there.

00:23:34 What's your code?

00:23:34 CLNS, deposit, bing, 100 right in your bank account.

00:23:39 You get to use it for whatever you want.

00:23:42 More or less, get after it.

00:23:44 You can win up to 10 times your money here.

00:23:47 CLNS content, Bobby "Tiger" Manning, I love it.

00:23:52 And then again, that's PXG.

00:23:54 - Hopefully not Tiger from the Masters, Leslie.

00:23:58 - Yeah.

00:23:59 - Yeah, that might look more like it.

00:24:00 - Jimmy, you said it at the top of the show,

00:24:05 especially now that we know this about Butler.

00:24:09 Man, Philly winning that game was big.

00:24:12 You just didn't want to have to deal with it.

00:24:16 You didn't want to have to deal with the Embiid thing.

00:24:18 You didn't want to have to deal with Nick Nurse,

00:24:20 all of their perimeter defenders flying around.

00:24:23 It's just too much for round one.

00:24:26 - Yeah, Sellers didn't deserve that.

00:24:30 - Yeah.

00:24:30 - After the regular season.

00:24:31 - They're not a playing team.

00:24:33 And they showed it again tonight.

00:24:34 They had a guy step up off the bench and hit six threes

00:24:37 and win the game for them.

00:24:39 And Embiid wasn't great, but he was still good as a passer.

00:24:42 He still cut up that zone at times.

00:24:43 They were a turnover mess in this game early

00:24:46 and they cleaned it up a little bit in that second half.

00:24:49 Got some good contributor performances.

00:24:51 Maxi Oubre had that big and one inside.

00:24:55 So if Embiid's out there,

00:24:58 they should be a fourth, fifth seed at worst.

00:25:01 And here they are as the seventh seed playing the Knicks.

00:25:03 So good luck to both of them.

00:25:05 Ticket prices are going to be a million dollars.

00:25:08 - Yeah.

00:25:09 (laughing)

00:25:10 - They're both going to be playing against each other's arena.

00:25:12 - That's going to be the series that people are going to want

00:25:16 to watch, tune into is that one.

00:25:19 Knicks Sixers.

00:25:20 - It's good for Mike Gorman fans

00:25:24 because the Celtics, if they end up drawing Chicago

00:25:26 or Atlanta are not going to get a lot of national attention

00:25:28 off of that matchup.

00:25:29 (laughing)

00:25:32 - Mike Gorman's final run extended.

00:25:34 - Yeah, fewer national games.

00:25:36 Might be fewer total games, but fewer national games

00:25:39 for sure because who cares?

00:25:42 Who freaking cares?

00:25:43 Once again, Chicago-

00:25:44 - Yeah, when the Celtics go up three, zero

00:25:46 on the freaking polls, no one's going to be-

00:25:48 - Chicago hanging on, they're up six.

00:25:50 So while we wait to figure out who they're going to be

00:25:52 potentially playing, and again, it'll only be narrowed

00:25:55 to two tonight, we're not going to know until Friday.

00:25:57 The playoffs of course begin Sunday.

00:26:00 You know, we're a little bored here on the Garden Report.

00:26:04 We figured we would revisit some of our bold predictions

00:26:08 from a year- - Yeah, very bold.

00:26:11 - From the beginning of the year.

00:26:12 And I want to throw out the caveat again.

00:26:15 These are bold predictions, which are meant to be ridiculous.

00:26:19 - John's saying this because he got none right.

00:26:22 - I get that.

00:26:23 - You didn't either, bud.

00:26:24 (laughing)

00:26:25 - I might've got one.

00:26:26 I think I did have one right.

00:26:27 - Listen, again, in the spirit of,

00:26:30 and not to trash them while they're not here,

00:26:32 in this, Jimmy's the only one that gets it.

00:26:35 And Bobby, you get it.

00:26:37 But in the spirit of bold predictions,

00:26:39 it's supposed to be bold, outlandish, unlikely to happen.

00:26:44 In my case, I-

00:26:45 - But you're still able to make your point.

00:26:47 - You're trying to make a point, exactly.

00:26:49 I'm trying, it's a talking point.

00:26:51 It's more, I feel this,

00:26:53 so I'm going to say something outlandish

00:26:54 to over make my point.

00:26:56 But then Joe Sway and Sherrod are like,

00:26:59 Jason Tatum's going to score

00:27:00 at least 25 points a game this year.

00:27:02 I'm like, no way, really?

00:27:04 (laughing)

00:27:06 - Yeah, Tatum and Brown are going back to the All-Star game.

00:27:09 (laughing)

00:27:10 - By the way, I was reading through it.

00:27:12 I was reading through it yesterday and we're all like,

00:27:14 oh, you know, John goes Celtics over Warriors

00:27:17 and blah, blah, blah.

00:27:18 I think, Jimmy, you had the Suns in there, right?

00:27:20 Or something like that.

00:27:21 - I still had the Suns, so did Joe Sway, yeah.

00:27:23 - Sherrod just goes NBA champions in six.

00:27:27 - Yeah, that's it.

00:27:28 - First of all- - You might be right.

00:27:30 - No, John did not say this, but someone did.

00:27:35 - I'm glad you asked, Luke.

00:27:37 - Let me just say-

00:27:39 - Here we go.

00:27:42 - Horford coming off the bench this year worked out great.

00:27:46 I didn't like it.

00:27:47 I didn't think it was going to work, but it worked great.

00:27:50 So credit to-

00:27:51 - Well, let's just start with Bobby's first prediction.

00:27:52 - Very big of you, Bobby, as they won 80 games.

00:27:54 - This is just to show how little Bobby thought of Holiday

00:27:58 to begin the year.

00:27:59 Holiday will start fewer than 50 games.

00:28:03 So that was the first bold prediction,

00:28:04 which was in Bobby's estimation,

00:28:07 I think this meant that they're going to start with him

00:28:10 out of deference because they just traded for an All-Star

00:28:13 and you want to bring him in here and keep him happy

00:28:15 and Horford's going to be the good soldier,

00:28:17 but that they kind of see the error of their ways

00:28:20 and want to go to a double big lineup.

00:28:22 And maybe it was lack of faith in Chris Stapps

00:28:24 to hold down the middle,

00:28:25 but why was it you thought this

00:28:27 and what changed here, Bobby?

00:28:28 - Horford had never come off the bench before this year.

00:28:32 And when he got asked in camp, didn't seem to love it,

00:28:35 didn't seem to fully commit to it.

00:28:37 And then they had that starter meeting

00:28:39 with all the top six there and he embraced it at that point.

00:28:44 And it was a struggle early on.

00:28:45 Remember, John, he wasn't playing well

00:28:47 the first few weeks of the season, Horford.

00:28:50 And Drew, he didn't know how he was going to adjust

00:28:52 to being a fifth option in there.

00:28:54 And what'd he do?

00:28:55 He goes and hits 60% of his corner threes

00:28:57 and grabs two offensive rebounds every night

00:29:00 and just becomes this three and D guy for them.

00:29:04 So it worked great.

00:29:06 The small ball lineup still defended amazingly.

00:29:09 They still got to double big in rotation

00:29:12 because you had some Luke minutes,

00:29:13 you ended up getting Tillman,

00:29:14 you were playing Kada at different points.

00:29:17 So it just worked.

00:29:18 You didn't know if all of these things were going to happen,

00:29:20 but they did.

00:29:21 And Horford, by the end of the year,

00:29:23 still ends up shooting 42% from three

00:29:25 and playing at the level of defense he can

00:29:28 and still being a strong part of their lineup

00:29:31 so late into the season.

00:29:32 So I thought Holiday could be the guy

00:29:35 to run the second unit to sacrifice with that group,

00:29:40 but he found a way to sacrifice

00:29:41 and still contribute with the starters.

00:29:43 And it became one of the best starting lineups in the league.

00:29:46 So I'm happy to be wrong about this one.

00:29:49 - It became, it became, it got there.

00:29:52 It got there eventually, right after game one.

00:29:54 - Yeah, it took a bit.

00:29:58 It took a few possessions, but they figured it out.

00:30:03 - But the bench didn't come together for a little while.

00:30:05 And then it did.

00:30:06 - 'Cause they didn't have a bench, but yeah.

00:30:10 - Five minutes in, this is the best starting lineup ever.

00:30:13 (laughing)

00:30:15 - We'll move on to Jimmy, speaking of the bench,

00:30:19 one of Jimmy's bold predictions,

00:30:21 Peyton Pritchard wins the three point contest.

00:30:23 - Where was he?

00:30:24 - Okay, this didn't happen,

00:30:25 but the spirit of this prediction was rooted in what, Jimmy?

00:30:29 - In the fact that he was going to come into his own

00:30:31 this year and be a lethal shooter from beyond the arc.

00:30:34 And you know what?

00:30:36 If they named him to the three point contest,

00:30:39 he probably would have won the damn thing.

00:30:41 'Cause I don't think this guy's missed since the All-Star.

00:30:43 - Hold on, Jimmy, say it with me.

00:30:45 He had a phenomenal year.

00:30:47 - He had a phenomenal year, Bobby.

00:30:49 - The irony of it was,

00:30:52 it wasn't that he had a good three point shooting year.

00:30:55 The irony of it is, it was down,

00:30:57 I think, year over year, right?

00:31:00 This year.

00:31:01 - Let's go, let's talk about that.

00:31:03 - No, no, no, it wasn't.

00:31:04 It was up over last year,

00:31:05 but his career mark is still slightly higher.

00:31:07 But actually, almost everything else about his game

00:31:09 improved, right?

00:31:11 His defense, his ball handling,

00:31:13 and the passing was crazy.

00:31:15 So he announced his presence with authority.

00:31:18 - Yeah, his role just grew exponentially.

00:31:21 I think he played all 82 this year, correct?

00:31:24 One of a handful of guys.

00:31:25 So that's it for that.

00:31:27 - He was terrible to start.

00:31:28 This one looked really bad early

00:31:30 'cause he couldn't hit anything.

00:31:31 - Oh, it was painful.

00:31:33 Yeah, it was painful.

00:31:34 - I don't remember what his exact splits were,

00:31:36 but it was so full of things.

00:31:38 - I'd like to know his post All-Star break numbers

00:31:40 because- - Let's pull it up actually.

00:31:42 - I mean, listen, I mean, they're not gonna be,

00:31:46 they probably won't blow you away,

00:31:47 but I mean, we can all recall some of these games

00:31:49 where he really took control,

00:31:52 stepped up on games where players were sitting

00:31:56 or resting or whatever.

00:31:57 And he showed that if you do give him a big enough role,

00:32:00 he's capable of giving you 20 plus points a night.

00:32:03 And so that's what we started to see from him

00:32:06 in the second half of this year.

00:32:07 So credit to me for in a roundabout way,

00:32:12 my bold prediction kind of predicted this happening.

00:32:15 - It was the, April was Pritchard's month.

00:32:18 He finished that month averaging 19 points per game,

00:32:21 including a 38 and a 31 spot to close the season

00:32:24 on 56, 40, 88 splits.

00:32:31 Also averaging seven assists and 1.1 turnover per game

00:32:37 in the month of April.

00:32:39 And again, a lot of garbage time play

00:32:41 and some garbage time opponents,

00:32:43 but some of that stuff was real

00:32:45 and inserted into starting lineups with people sitting.

00:32:48 It was something.

00:32:50 - He's still gonna do it.

00:32:51 - So he did it, so he did it.

00:32:54 I'm missing one of my-

00:32:56 - That's a win, I'll give myself a win for that one.

00:32:59 - I'm missing Hauser, so we'll have to,

00:33:01 'cause I'm not gonna do mine yet.

00:33:06 - He had a Boston P party.

00:33:07 - You can do my other one.

00:33:08 I think my other one's there, right?

00:33:10 - Okay, let me go here.

00:33:11 This was gonna play nice.

00:33:14 There it is, Sam Hauser.

00:33:15 This was one of mine.

00:33:17 Hauser, I wasn't sure.

00:33:19 I wasn't sure.

00:33:21 This one was not, this one was not a bold.

00:33:24 Well, I'll put it this way.

00:33:26 This one was not a bold prediction.

00:33:27 This one was a,

00:33:29 I don't know that his minutes are guaranteed this year.

00:33:32 I wasn't sure.

00:33:33 And that was because-

00:33:35 - You didn't like the bench until the very end.

00:33:37 - It wasn't just that.

00:33:39 I thought the bench was people,

00:33:42 I made my case on the bench.

00:33:44 The bench had good overall numbers

00:33:47 because they were consistently playing

00:33:48 with three all-star level starters

00:33:50 or three high level guys.

00:33:52 And most people aren't doing that.

00:33:54 Most people's bench, you know, and again,

00:33:56 I realize it's not sub five in and five out.

00:33:58 So you're not really worried about like,

00:34:00 ooh, what's the next five look like?

00:34:02 But they were just always playing with two starters,

00:34:04 which is why I wasn't worried about the bench,

00:34:06 but I didn't like the bench.

00:34:08 Hauser, I thought was vulnerable only because

00:34:10 I wasn't sure he was guaranteed minutes

00:34:13 because they brought in guys like Stevens

00:34:16 and Brissett and Banton and guys who,

00:34:19 if they were able to knock down a three or two

00:34:23 consistently their defense and, you know,

00:34:26 what Missoula might be looking for out of them

00:34:28 might have replaced him

00:34:29 or at least made it situationally dependent.

00:34:32 I'll play him some games, but some games were gonna sit him.

00:34:35 So I didn't think he was guaranteed locked

00:34:37 into that top eight slot as he was.

00:34:41 And he was, absolutely.

00:34:43 But it was uncomfortable,

00:34:46 at times uncomfortable getting there.

00:34:48 He had some cold stretches

00:34:51 and then when the shot was falling, it was great.

00:34:53 But like he does the other stuff much better

00:34:56 than we give him credit for,

00:34:57 or than a lot of people give him credit for

00:34:59 in terms of, you know, playing competitive.

00:35:02 - He's not getting played off the floor, I guess.

00:35:04 That's the main thing. - He became a three and D guy.

00:35:06 - That's a rule. - In a lot of ways.

00:35:07 - And he's fine on D.

00:35:09 I mean, he's a specialist, but he's not killing you.

00:35:12 He's not killing you.

00:35:13 - He had nine games this year with five plus threes.

00:35:16 - Yeah. - One six point game,

00:35:18 six three pointer game, two seven three pointer games.

00:35:21 And then of course the 10 three pointer game

00:35:23 where he probably should add like 15.

00:35:25 - Right. - He was incredible.

00:35:27 - He's the guy that when he's in the game,

00:35:29 you have to pay attention to him.

00:35:30 He's absolutely on every, he's going to be

00:35:32 on every scouting report.

00:35:34 Don't leave this guy open.

00:35:35 Don't lose sight of him in the corner, whatever it is.

00:35:37 Like you can't just, you can't just say,

00:35:40 oh yeah, they're throwing in a couple of bench guys.

00:35:43 You know, let's, let's, let's try.

00:35:45 - I love this stuff, John. - This deficit.

00:35:48 - What?

00:35:49 - If he ever did this for the Celtics,

00:35:51 you think they'd be saying that?

00:35:52 - What?

00:35:54 - The Banton?

00:35:57 - Doesn't count.

00:35:59 - I mean, it doesn't, it doesn't.

00:36:01 - I get it, but like you would never say that

00:36:04 if he was catching fire on the Celtics.

00:36:07 - Yeah.

00:36:09 Yeah, no, I know, but it's just,

00:36:12 it's different situations here.

00:36:14 12 point game right now.

00:36:17 - Chicago? - Late in the third.

00:36:18 Chicago is pushing it, pushing it.

00:36:21 And honestly, and I think this is a good comment by DJ.

00:36:24 Thank God it did work because they did need him, right?

00:36:27 Like, I just didn't think you were getting to eight solid.

00:36:32 The reason I made the prediction, again, not to defend it,

00:36:35 it was, I thought they'd be searching.

00:36:37 I thought they'd be searching for that rotation.

00:36:40 I thought the beginning of the year, the six is fine.

00:36:44 No love for Pritchard.

00:36:45 You play him 'cause you have to.

00:36:46 No love for Howard.

00:36:47 You play him 'cause you have to.

00:36:49 And that's it.

00:36:50 That's where I thought they were.

00:36:51 And no, no love for anybody else behind that.

00:36:53 You almost were hoping one of these guys

00:36:54 would win some minutes.

00:36:55 Like, you like Hauser in there knocking down threes,

00:36:58 but part of us and part of a lot of people

00:37:01 wanted a couple of these other guys to step up

00:37:03 and like do something.

00:37:05 And you weren't expecting dynamic performances

00:37:09 out of guys like Persett and Stevens,

00:37:12 but you were hoping they'd be a little bit more

00:37:13 than they were.

00:37:15 No one got enough of a chance.

00:37:17 Joe trusted Hauser and he got it.

00:37:19 We're gonna move on.

00:37:21 What else we have?

00:37:22 Bobby, this segues well,

00:37:27 'cause he wanted it to happen.

00:37:28 - I like them.

00:37:30 - Banton becomes the surprise wing.

00:37:32 This was a terrible take that now has become a good take

00:37:36 because of how Banton played in Portland.

00:37:39 This was the worst take that now is absolutely like-

00:37:43 - He didn't say that it would be a backup wing

00:37:45 on the Celtics.

00:37:46 He just said backup wing.

00:37:48 - This is now defensible.

00:37:50 - He had a preseason game.

00:37:52 - It is an 18 point game right now.

00:37:56 Bulls up 18, timeout.

00:38:00 - Bulls heard that Butler's down.

00:38:02 Bulls heard Butler's not coming back.

00:38:04 - They're like, start trying again.

00:38:06 - Yeah, this is for the playoffs, boys.

00:38:09 - Holy wow.

00:38:10 Shit's getting real.

00:38:12 - Banton had a great camp.

00:38:13 Banton learned this system pretty quickly.

00:38:16 - Banton's the first guy they tried.

00:38:19 He's the first guy at the table

00:38:22 of the three, of the, let's throw Svee in the mix too,

00:38:26 with like the four rando guys who played

00:38:28 for other NBA teams last year

00:38:31 that like 90% of casual basketball fans

00:38:34 had never heard of before.

00:38:35 They got four of those guys.

00:38:38 So everyone was trying to figure out what they were about

00:38:40 and wondering if they were about a little bit more

00:38:42 than they appeared.

00:38:43 Banton was the first guy that he was given reps to.

00:38:45 Didn't he start a preseason game

00:38:47 and everyone was like, what?

00:38:49 - He started a regular season game at one point.

00:38:52 - Yeah, but everyone was like, this guy?

00:38:56 They were trying to force Banton in there

00:38:57 and it wasn't working.

00:38:58 His shot was so bad in the beginning, Bobby,

00:39:02 that he made himself unplayable.

00:39:04 He shot like 10%.

00:39:06 - Listen, I still think it was a mistake to let him go.

00:39:08 Not a big mistake.

00:39:09 - We know.

00:39:11 - Not a mistake that's gonna hurt them,

00:39:13 but he's a good player and you keep good players around.

00:39:16 You try to figure things out.

00:39:18 Maybe some guys end up leaving down the line.

00:39:20 He has a team option next year.

00:39:22 It's too bad.

00:39:23 And he didn't know he was gonna do this.

00:39:25 There was no way to know that.

00:39:26 And he wasn't gonna do that here,

00:39:28 certainly to all the commenters who are about to say that.

00:39:31 But he's got scoring in him.

00:39:33 You said it, John, in our chat at one point.

00:39:35 This is the kind of guy you need,

00:39:37 a burst scorer off the bench who can come in

00:39:41 and give you some offense if you need it,

00:39:43 and injured guys down.

00:39:45 He fits into the rotation at that point,

00:39:47 gets that extended run where you can find some rhythm.

00:39:51 And who knows, maybe this is what he needed

00:39:53 to show this part of his game.

00:39:56 There's certainly an argument for that.

00:39:57 But what'd you get for him?

00:39:59 Nothing.

00:40:00 And who'd you fill in his spot with?

00:40:02 Kada, a guy who was already here.

00:40:04 So in the end, it probably is a small mistake.

00:40:07 - It was really more, what's his name?

00:40:09 - Springer, yeah, who didn't show a ton

00:40:11 down the stretch of the year either.

00:40:13 - What's his name?

00:40:14 Yeah, that guy.

00:40:14 - Yeah, I'm not a big--

00:40:16 - Sprint.

00:40:16 - I mean, maybe it'll change--

00:40:17 - But Springer, Steven said it about Kada.

00:40:20 Steven said it about Kada.

00:40:21 It's the same thing about Springer.

00:40:23 These are bench guys two years from now.

00:40:25 You know, like that's how they're viewing these guys.

00:40:27 Not for this year's contribution.

00:40:29 So it was a peak ahead at what we're gonna--

00:40:34 - We're fine.

00:40:36 We're ready to judge.

00:40:37 - Because again, you're not,

00:40:39 and Brad said it regarding Kada,

00:40:41 like your 15th guy isn't expected

00:40:44 to do anything in the playoffs.

00:40:46 - I was gonna bring that up later, John.

00:40:48 - Well, because I think--

00:40:50 - You think Brad was watching?

00:40:52 - I think the reason Brad said that is because,

00:40:54 so it's gonna be really awesome when he does.

00:40:57 He just didn't finish the sentence.

00:40:59 But that's the point.

00:41:01 That's what those guys are supposed to be.

00:41:03 Start, Nemus.

00:41:04 You wanna go double big?

00:41:05 Yeah, I'll do it with Kada.

00:41:06 Kada versus Embiid is gonna be awesome

00:41:09 in the conference finals.

00:41:11 - Yeah.

00:41:12 - It is, it is.

00:41:13 So a reasonable take that Bobby ended up

00:41:15 being vindicated before too long.

00:41:18 This was a Jimmy take.

00:41:20 Chris Epps-Porzingis saves a baby

00:41:21 from a burning building on way to TD Garden

00:41:24 and proceeds to drop 25-10-7 that night.

00:41:27 This was basically the sequel to

00:41:30 who got left behind on the bus and everybody forgot?

00:41:34 - Derek White left in a plane.

00:41:37 - Derek White.

00:41:38 Derek White would get left behind in a city

00:41:40 and nobody would know.

00:41:40 - That was awesome.

00:41:42 That was our best prediction ever.

00:41:42 - And he did get left behind, remember?

00:41:45 - Yeah, but the ear.

00:41:46 - He actually got left behind.

00:41:48 He got left in Milwaukee, right?

00:41:49 - Yeah, he burst his ear and he had to stay.

00:41:51 - 'Cause he burst something.

00:41:53 Yeah, when shit bursts all the way.

00:41:56 - Yeah.

00:41:57 - We're not entirely sure that Porzingis didn't save a baby

00:41:59 and just maybe just didn't make it to the news.

00:42:00 - It's possible.

00:42:02 He's a humble guy.

00:42:03 - Honestly, it's quite possible.

00:42:04 Based on the way he's played this season,

00:42:06 and again, don't, like the 25-10-7,

00:42:08 I know that like the 10,

00:42:10 I know that he's not in a seven assist a night guy,

00:42:12 but on any given night,

00:42:14 he could have given you 25, 10,

00:42:17 three blocks or whatever it is.

00:42:19 You know what?

00:42:20 He had one of those types of years.

00:42:21 So it's not out of the round possibility

00:42:23 that he would have saved a baby on the way to work that day.

00:42:27 This guy has been unreal for them.

00:42:29 This is not a hot take,

00:42:31 but he is my X factor in this playoff run.

00:42:36 He is the biggest difference between this year and last year.

00:42:39 And they're gonna need him to unlock playoff P mode,

00:42:44 playoff Porzingis mode.

00:42:45 We haven't even seen that.

00:42:47 So I'm excited to see Porzingis ratchet it up

00:42:51 even another notch.

00:42:52 - His playoff P?

00:42:53 - He's the new playoff P, yeah.

00:42:55 We have playoff PP and we have playoff P.

00:42:59 Paul George, he had his chance and he blew that.

00:43:01 So he's no longer playoff P.

00:43:03 But Porzingis, this is,

00:43:07 every next game for Porzingis

00:43:09 is gonna be the biggest game of his life.

00:43:11 So I'm really interested to see how he changes up,

00:43:16 how he plays harder and how effective he is.

00:43:19 And I mean, he's said and done

00:43:21 all the right things this year.

00:43:22 And it seems like he's kind of got like new life on this.

00:43:25 - That's why you got this right, Jimmy.

00:43:28 The connection with the fans, the joy,

00:43:31 the instant fit he became here.

00:43:35 - Right.

00:43:36 - And you talk about it all the time,

00:43:37 guys who get the experience here, guys who don't.

00:43:40 - Yeah, he got it right away.

00:43:42 - He got it from day one.

00:43:44 - It's so, I mean, again, it's hard to say it

00:43:49 without it sounding like a,

00:43:50 and Trey Young, by the way, three of nine tonight, minus 30.

00:43:54 It's an 18 point game.

00:43:54 - How is he only three of nine?

00:43:56 He only took nine shots.

00:43:57 - Entering the fourth quarter.

00:43:58 Murray's still jacking.

00:44:00 Murray's got the 44 shotter still in his mind

00:44:02 and he's still out there frigging letting it fly.

00:44:05 - It's gonna be an ugly block, bro.

00:44:07 - DeRozan snatching souls.

00:44:09 He just hit a 23 foot contested jumper

00:44:13 with both feet like square on the three point line.

00:44:19 He wasn't even pretending to try to get behind it.

00:44:21 He's like, it's a good shot for me.

00:44:24 He just pulled up top of the key

00:44:25 and just drilled it in someone's face.

00:44:27 Kobe White, 28 points for the 14 shooting.

00:44:29 - DeRozan is nice.

00:44:32 - I love the middie, I always have.

00:44:34 It's just, I just love it.

00:44:35 - No Atlanta, sorry.

00:44:37 - So, well, the thing about Porzingis,

00:44:41 and again, why this is a-

00:44:42 - For the best.

00:44:44 - It's the getting it thing.

00:44:45 He got it instantly, Bobby, as you said.

00:44:47 He feels like he's been a Celtic for 10 years

00:44:50 in one, in almost in a month or two.

00:44:53 And it's like, again, oh, here goes John taking shots

00:44:57 at the, you know, Tatum and Brown.

00:45:00 It's the stuff we kind of begged,

00:45:01 you begged and wanted to hear from Tatum and Brown

00:45:03 a little bit more.

00:45:04 Like, you do like us, right?

00:45:06 You know, like, you know, like fans are just,

00:45:10 fans are just pouring all their love into these guys

00:45:13 and like buying their jerseys and like, you know,

00:45:16 naming their kids after them.

00:45:18 And like, I love them, I love them, I love them, yeah.

00:45:20 And at any point in time, you're like, just like,

00:45:25 you guys like it here, right?

00:45:26 Like, you like, you kind of like it?

00:45:28 Do you like it a little?

00:45:29 Like, and yeah, you get drips and drabs,

00:45:32 but not the vibe, not the feel.

00:45:34 - You like me, right?

00:45:36 - Yeah, you know, you know the difference, right?

00:45:39 Like how quickly KG took it.

00:45:41 Porzingis is kind of like that, you know,

00:45:43 he didn't have the impact KG had

00:45:45 because KG turned everything around.

00:45:47 The alphas on this team are still the guys

00:45:49 who were here before.

00:45:50 KG came in and completely took over

00:45:52 and was the center of the Celtics universe in 2008.

00:45:56 But Porzingis kind of came in immediately

00:45:58 and was like, I'm all in.

00:46:01 - This is awesome. - This is what I do.

00:46:02 Yeah, I'm better than what you guys thought.

00:46:05 - Holiday too, in a very quiet way.

00:46:07 Like, oh yeah, yep, I dig this.

00:46:09 And he was heartbroken.

00:46:10 - Oh, it is about his business.

00:46:12 - He was heartbroken to have left.

00:46:14 And he was like, I like this vibe, man, I really dig it.

00:46:17 Porzingis right away, and then he opens up Jalen Brown

00:46:20 and they become roommates and they're like, you know,

00:46:23 best buddies and all of that stuff.

00:46:25 And it like, the culture was great.

00:46:27 He was awesome with the media all year.

00:46:29 He was just like a good dude.

00:46:31 And like, one of the potential fears of this guy coming in

00:46:34 is like, to quote Jimmy, I heard he's kind of a dink.

00:46:39 Yeah.

00:46:41 - Complete pleasant surprise.

00:46:44 - That is a direct quote, actually.

00:46:45 (laughing)

00:46:48 I was wrong, stand up.

00:46:49 I got the guy saving babies now.

00:46:51 So you can see how I'm gonna 180.

00:46:53 - I don't think I've ever been more pleasantly surprised

00:46:58 with an addition.

00:46:59 This was an A plus.

00:47:01 Couldn't have worked better.

00:47:02 It unlocked the team.

00:47:03 And who would have thought?

00:47:05 He was right there, Jimmy.

00:47:06 He was in Washington for two years.

00:47:08 Three years ago, we were debating trading Kemba for him.

00:47:12 And we all said, no way, awful contract, not good anymore.

00:47:17 And here he is these years later, rejuvenated.

00:47:20 He had to go through all of that, obviously,

00:47:22 and look in the mirror, as you said.

00:47:24 But just a very self-aware guy.

00:47:25 - Perspective is key.

00:47:26 I think he has a lot of better perspective on basketball

00:47:31 and being a good teammate and being on a good organization

00:47:36 and growing up and understanding who he is as a player

00:47:40 and maybe off the court too.

00:47:41 And all those things kind of happen at the right time.

00:47:44 We may have not have liked him three years ago.

00:47:45 Maybe we still would have.

00:47:46 Maybe I would have said he was a dink

00:47:48 and I would have stood by it.

00:47:49 But I honestly have no, we don't know enough about him then,

00:47:53 but all that matters is now.

00:47:54 And he's exactly what this team needed.

00:47:58 I mean, and they've got him for another couple of years here.

00:48:03 And so I just think that, like you said,

00:48:06 probably A plus addition.

00:48:08 And all that being said though,

00:48:12 you'll wanna see what he's made of in the playoffs.

00:48:17 For all you see, KG and all those guys,

00:48:21 they brought it when they sealed the deal.

00:48:24 They did what they came here to do.

00:48:27 Unfortunately only once, but they're at least able to do it.

00:48:30 And that's really how it's ultimately going to go down

00:48:33 for all these guys is what happens in the end.

00:48:35 But to date, they've been everything and more

00:48:39 than what you've wanted from the two additions,

00:48:42 Porzingis and Hart.

00:48:43 - Yeah.

00:48:45 And I did wanna see just for the sake of Porzingis

00:48:53 just shattering Spolstra's little gimmicky zone in round one.

00:48:57 It's one of the reasons I wanted to see the heat.

00:49:00 'Cause that didn't work this year against the Celtics

00:49:04 when they tried it.

00:49:06 - No, Porzingis is great against them.

00:49:09 - Yeah.

00:49:10 So I didn't wanna see that here.

00:49:12 Again, it's a 20 point game, 10 minutes left.

00:49:16 Bobby, you know what?

00:49:18 We talk about sad girls.

00:49:19 We're gonna talk about sad Bobby.

00:49:21 Bobby was sending Palm tree emojis.

00:49:24 - Yeah, he was.

00:49:25 - And like beach emojis, Miami.

00:49:28 He had already booked.

00:49:29 - You think they're done?

00:49:30 - He already had booked dinner plans at a couple of spots.

00:49:33 I think he was going to.

00:49:34 - You're going to the middle of America, buddy.

00:49:36 Yeah.

00:49:38 - I think that he can still win that game.

00:49:40 - We'll see.

00:49:42 - Without Butler.

00:49:44 - At home.

00:49:45 - Come on.

00:49:46 - At home, we got big home court advantage in Miami.

00:49:51 - Don't have to travel though.

00:49:53 - Really get that one.

00:49:54 Really get that big home court advantage.

00:49:56 All right, we'll throw up mine.

00:49:57 - Highest reporting coming out right now.

00:49:59 - Oh, here we go.

00:50:00 Let's go.

00:50:02 Two years in a row I won this one.

00:50:04 - Why did I do this one?

00:50:06 It's called trolling.

00:50:07 - Just to try it again.

00:50:07 You're gonna try it again next year, be back.

00:50:10 - This is an evergreen prediction.

00:50:14 - And I'll do it again next year.

00:50:16 I will roll this one out.

00:50:17 - Someday he will be right.

00:50:18 Someday he will be right.

00:50:21 - Until I'm right.

00:50:22 I'm gonna roll it out again and again and again and again.

00:50:25 Yeah, Luke Cornett played in 63 games this year.

00:50:28 He was actually legitimately hurt for some of them.

00:50:31 He would only have been a healthy scratch

00:50:33 in maybe eight to 10 games, I think all year long.

00:50:36 So yes, Luke shatters this prediction

00:50:38 and makes it wrong for a second year in a row.

00:50:41 And that's fine, I'll read it.

00:50:43 Because I'm doing it mainly

00:50:45 because it's fun to mess with Bobby.

00:50:48 But two, my overarching point is I never thought

00:50:52 and I still don't think Luke is a set part

00:50:55 of a rotation that deserves minutes.

00:50:57 And I don't say this in any way to disparage Luke

00:50:59 who I thought played.

00:51:01 He was the best version of Luke Cornett

00:51:03 that he could possibly be this year.

00:51:05 And that could both be a compliment and an insult.

00:51:10 But he was great for Luke Cornett.

00:51:12 - He's your third center.

00:51:13 (laughing)

00:51:16 - Your third center put up 12 points, nine rebounds,

00:51:19 two bucks per 36.

00:51:22 - Per 36, there it is.

00:51:24 - Yeah, here comes Luke.

00:51:26 - He had a phenomenal season.

00:51:29 - He did, we'll give it to him.

00:51:33 We will give it to him.

00:51:34 - Luke is as good.

00:51:36 - Stronger too, John, come on.

00:51:38 Played stronger, got on the boards

00:51:40 a little bit more this year.

00:51:42 Played with some force.

00:51:44 He didn't play a total finesse game,

00:51:46 which you've seen him do in the past.

00:51:48 I thought he had a great year.

00:51:51 - He became their lob threat.

00:51:52 He became their lob threat.

00:51:54 - Shot 70%.

00:51:56 - He took Rob's role, he took Rob's lob role, you know,

00:52:03 away, not away, but somebody had to.

00:52:06 That he was a good little weapon there.

00:52:08 They ran a good little, running those pick and rolls

00:52:10 and those guys would find him, you know, and set it up.

00:52:13 That was an effective play for them.

00:52:15 Again, he maximized being tall in that role,

00:52:20 and I thought it was great, but also he has good hands.

00:52:24 He can move the ball, and I think most importantly--

00:52:26 - Smart player too.

00:52:28 - The thing that keeps him in the thing

00:52:29 is he doesn't get smoked on rotations,

00:52:31 and I think trusting somebody on defense

00:52:34 that they're not gonna absolutely kill you

00:52:36 is probably more valuable to the team

00:52:40 than, you know, the occasional spectacular

00:52:42 Nemus-Kata block, and again, we talk about the comps

00:52:45 between Kata and Rob.

00:52:47 It's the thing that kept Rob off the court

00:52:50 for a couple of years is,

00:52:51 I don't know what this guy's gonna necessarily do.

00:52:54 With Luke, you know what you're gonna get.

00:52:56 It's unspectacular, sometimes not great,

00:53:00 but more often than not, good enough,

00:53:03 and that's what he got from him this year,

00:53:05 and he was pleasant, and again,

00:53:06 I'm not saying any of this to be mean.

00:53:08 I think it's an honest assessment.

00:53:09 He was--

00:53:10 - We won't be in third center!

00:53:12 - For Luke, yeah.

00:53:14 You found it?

00:53:16 It's in third center!

00:53:20 Oh, really?

00:53:21 - Yeah. - Naturally occurring?

00:53:23 - Poking around.

00:53:24 - Yeah, naturally occurring.

00:53:28 It is 114-196 here.

00:53:31 That's gonna have to be a serious comeback.

00:53:33 Caruso has not reentered the game.

00:53:35 We'll say this here too for people.

00:53:38 - Oh, jeez.

00:53:39 - When you're a 500 team, though,

00:53:41 you win one, you lose one.

00:53:42 I still got Miami.

00:53:43 - All right, it's possible.

00:53:45 I'll say this.

00:53:46 - What's Miami without Butler, Bobby?

00:53:48 - Still got here, still got Bam.

00:53:50 He's still a team.

00:53:51 It's not like Butler's the MVP.

00:53:53 They can still win a game.

00:53:55 - He's their MVP.

00:53:56 - Bam will take more control of things,

00:54:00 and they'll stack the,

00:54:02 now, listen, if it's Butler, Robinson, and Roger,

00:54:09 at that point, you're getting a little deep

00:54:10 in your depth chart, but.

00:54:12 - Roger.

00:54:13 - I think generally they could win a game.

00:54:17 I have to see who's gonna be out there, though.

00:54:19 If it's the G League crew, it's gonna be tough.

00:54:21 - Alex Caruso most likely out

00:54:27 for the rest of the game, they're saying,

00:54:28 but again, they've got a lead here,

00:54:29 so it doesn't really say anything.

00:54:31 I mentioned Caruso.

00:54:32 He's a real X factor.

00:54:34 There's two X factors in that Chicago series, potentially.

00:54:39 No, I mean, he's gonna mess with somebody, Tatum or Brown,

00:54:44 'cause he's that good, and again,

00:54:48 we're not talking about shutting somebody down

00:54:50 or out completely, but he's one of those guys.

00:54:55 He's an absolutely ferocious defender, and that's great,

00:55:00 and then Kobe White, again, I think they'll attack him,

00:55:04 and they'll hunt him, and he's little.

00:55:06 That's the type of guy that the Celtics guards

00:55:08 are gonna have a difficult time staying in front of.

00:55:10 That is if they end up with Chicago,

00:55:12 and Vucevic killed them last time.

00:55:15 - Yeah, he's a tough matchup for Porzingis.

00:55:18 - He killed Porzingis last time.

00:55:21 Celtics won that game, but he killed Porzingis.

00:55:24 - I always thought he'd end up on the Celtics,

00:55:25 but he never did.

00:55:27 - Yeah, yeah.

00:55:29 So you definitely have a couple of things

00:55:33 that you don't love, but again,

00:55:34 what are we talking about here?

00:55:35 It almost feels like cheating to have this type of road.

00:55:39 - They earned it with the regular season.

00:55:43 - You did, you're right.

00:55:45 You're supposed to have a cupcake in round one,

00:55:47 but that wasn't the case out West.

00:55:50 I mean, look at those first round matchups.

00:55:53 That's not gonna be fun.

00:55:53 - Well, the East is kinda garbage compared to the West.

00:55:56 - It turned into garbage for sure.

00:55:59 - The Thunder get the Kings.

00:56:00 That's comparable to what the Heat would have been

00:56:02 or something like that.

00:56:03 The Thunder went out and got that one seed,

00:56:04 and that's a huge boon for them.

00:56:07 And I think the Nuggets are probably not gonna have

00:56:11 too much trouble with the Lakers,

00:56:13 but the Lakers are still tougher

00:56:16 than what the Thunder are gonna see.

00:56:17 So we'll see how that stacks up.

00:56:19 - So it's Thunder, what is it now?

00:56:22 - Thunder versus Kings or Pelicans.

00:56:26 - Gotcha.

00:56:26 - And there's no Zion.

00:56:27 - So.

00:56:29 - Right.

00:56:30 - Hey, I said it after they beat the Celtics

00:56:32 earlier in the year.

00:56:33 I would not be shocked if the Thunder make the finals.

00:56:36 You just can't believe it.

00:56:37 - Jimmy, where's your head right now?

00:56:39 - My bad, I was looking at something.

00:56:44 I don't think you can be shocked, Bobby.

00:56:45 There are two seed.

00:56:46 - There are one seed.

00:56:48 - Sorry, there are one seed.

00:56:48 So how can you be shocked?

00:56:49 I was like, you can't be shocked.

00:56:51 - Yeah, but people haven't believed in them.

00:56:52 But you have people saying Lakers should tank to eight

00:56:55 to play the Thunder.

00:56:56 That's the level of belief in the Thunder.

00:56:58 - I think it has more to do with trying to avoid Denver.

00:57:01 - Yeah.

00:57:02 - And likely so.

00:57:04 You know, you've got the,

00:57:05 obviously, Yoakich is gonna be the MVP.

00:57:07 They are the reigning champions.

00:57:10 The Thunder, kind of shot out of a cannon,

00:57:14 but we talked about it on previous shows,

00:57:16 but I think it was maybe after that Celtics-Thunder game.

00:57:20 They're a roster of guys that are just unheralded.

00:57:24 So like Jaylin Williams, for example,

00:57:26 like he does a hell of a lot for that team,

00:57:28 but you only hear about SGA, right?

00:57:31 You know, Giddy's a guy that's really coming into his own.

00:57:34 - Giddy killed them in that last game.

00:57:35 - Yeah, Holmgren's having a great year.

00:57:37 So they have, they've got enough-

00:57:43 - Athletes, every position, young athletes.

00:57:45 - They've got talent to be in the position that they're in.

00:57:47 Now they might still be a year,

00:57:49 maybe they need to lose in the Western Conference Finals

00:57:52 or whatever, you know, in order to get over that hump.

00:57:54 You know what I mean?

00:57:55 Like they are still obviously a young team

00:57:56 and they lack that experience.

00:57:58 So that's one thing that's definitely going against them.

00:58:01 But as far as talent's concerned,

00:58:02 like they deserve to be,

00:58:04 they deserve to be where they're at.

00:58:09 And, you know, they can outrun teams,

00:58:14 they can out-hustle teams, you know,

00:58:15 they can outlay, like they've got those young legs.

00:58:18 Like when you get to the end of the year,

00:58:21 and especially now we're seeing guys drop

00:58:23 in left and right,

00:58:24 some of them are a little bit older in age too.

00:58:25 Like these young cats, they can go longer.

00:58:30 - You have an MVP candidate too.

00:58:32 John, you got Jokic or SGA?

00:58:34 - Jokic by, Jokic by, it's not even SGA.

00:58:39 It's Jokic, Luka, a drop.

00:58:42 - Oh, you're not going SGA too?

00:58:44 - No.

00:58:45 - I don't even think it's a debate.

00:58:46 I think it's like a heavy, heavy favorite Jokic.

00:58:50 - It's Jokic, then Luka, then a drop to three.

00:58:53 And honestly, I think that's-

00:58:56 - What's that?

00:58:56 - Do you have Shea second?

00:58:58 - Yeah, I'll be honest, I love Brunson,

00:59:03 but I don't think he's done enough to-

00:59:05 - He's probably top five.

00:59:07 - Yeah, but-

00:59:07 - Brunson took all of Tatum's juice.

00:59:12 He did.

00:59:14 He took it all.

00:59:15 - I like the fact that SGA getting that one seed

00:59:18 or leading his team to that one seed,

00:59:20 I just talked about the other players on that team,

00:59:22 obviously, but I think that's going to count for a lot too.

00:59:25 You know, if you're talking about-

00:59:26 - It's going to be interesting, the awards,

00:59:28 especially the big one, all the Celtics fans

00:59:31 are going to look at is Jaylon All Defense.

00:59:34 He's probably not going to get in.

00:59:36 - Oh, come on.

00:59:37 - I love his case.

00:59:38 He's probably not going to get in.

00:59:40 Everyone's going to-

00:59:41 - You love his case?

00:59:42 - Yes.

00:59:43 I thought he had an excellent year on that end.

00:59:46 - I thought he had a good year.

00:59:47 I think excellent is taking credit away from some people.

00:59:51 - I don't think it was consistent.

00:59:52 - I'm not saying he should be in, John.

00:59:54 I'm just saying he had an excellent year.

00:59:56 - Some people make defense their everything.

00:59:58 I think Jaylon Brown, hats off to him

01:00:01 for having the focus and the desire

01:00:06 to be consistently a good on-ball defender.

01:00:09 And the weakest part of his defensive game

01:00:12 is an off-ball defender.

01:00:16 What he's doing just in the team scheme,

01:00:21 far less falling asleep, missing assignments,

01:00:24 over-helping, letting guys backdoor him

01:00:28 and this and that, losing sight and losing track of people.

01:00:32 That's always been the knock on him.

01:00:34 It was, in years past, an infuriating trait of his

01:00:38 where he would just completely disappear mentally

01:00:41 from the defensive end of the floor in critical times.

01:00:45 And this year, way less of that in the on-ball defense.

01:00:49 He locked up some guys.

01:00:51 He changed some games with his defense.

01:00:53 I just don't think it's enough for the all-defense.

01:00:55 I think if people are looking for something here,

01:00:58 it's gonna be this Jaylon with reduced scoring.

01:01:00 - I guess so, but yeah, I don't see him getting that.

01:01:02 - Sneak into all NBA.

01:01:04 I think that's his thing.

01:01:05 Also, positionless all NBA defense

01:01:07 is gonna have like four centers,

01:01:09 including Wemby and Gobert.

01:01:11 Yeah, so I don't know.

01:01:13 We'll see.

01:01:13 - They will have two all-defensive guys though,

01:01:16 which I did predict in our predictions article.

01:01:19 Maybe not a bold prediction there,

01:01:21 but White and Holiday. - They will?

01:01:23 They will?

01:01:25 - White and Holiday.

01:01:26 - I don't think Holiday makes it.

01:01:28 I think it's just White. - Holiday will.

01:01:29 - White second team and that's it.

01:01:31 - Wow, no Holiday?

01:01:34 - No, not this year.

01:01:36 I don't think so.

01:01:37 I have, I'm told, I have a little bit of--

01:01:39 - Maybe Team USA though.

01:01:42 - I'm told I have a little bit of Eric Spolstar sound.

01:01:46 We'll throw that in here right now.

01:01:48 Just talking about kind of the heat once again,

01:01:50 not making life easy on themselves.

01:01:53 - The hard way.

01:01:55 That's just, that has to be the path right now.

01:01:58 We're gonna rest up, treat up,

01:02:00 rally around each other up, get ready for Friday.

01:02:06 And again, embrace these competitive games.

01:02:10 It'll be competitive in front of our home fans.

01:02:14 And then we're going to bring a hell of a game

01:02:19 on Friday night lights.

01:02:22 - Friday night lights.

01:02:25 - And do this the hard way.

01:02:26 You know, that's just the way the deal is right now.

01:02:28 - You must be so tired of doing it the hard way.

01:02:33 - Yeah.

01:02:34 - This is three straight years of it.

01:02:38 - Yeah, no, they're,

01:02:40 they might, maybe they'll sneak it out on Friday,

01:02:45 but there's a dead team walking here.

01:02:47 The Heat are not, they don't have the dogs right now.

01:02:52 - We'll see.

01:02:53 - I hate to rule them out.

01:02:55 You can never rule them out.

01:02:57 - You can't without Butler.

01:02:59 - They're playing the Bulls.

01:03:00 - I'm saying they might get by the Bulls,

01:03:03 but like what's the end game, right?

01:03:05 You know what I mean?

01:03:06 - Well, you get--

01:03:08 - Winner gets to get their doors blown off by themselves.

01:03:10 - MCL, John, I've never seen MCL out

01:03:15 like a day or two and back.

01:03:17 MCL sounds like weeks.

01:03:19 - It all, it's like everything, it's the grade.

01:03:25 - Yeah.

01:03:26 - There's some videos of like barely being able to walk.

01:03:30 - But like the, and a legit MCL sprain

01:03:34 is like two to three weeks,

01:03:36 like the mildest you could possibly have.

01:03:38 Like, so like, I don't know, man.

01:03:40 - It doesn't sound good.

01:03:43 - Spode didn't sound like a guy

01:03:45 who was about to get Jimmy Butler back for the game,

01:03:48 for Friday.

01:03:50 Sounded like they were gonna have to really dig deep.

01:03:54 - Talk about Butler, I mean, the guy's 33, 34.

01:03:57 You have to coast at that age.

01:04:00 You can't go hard all season.

01:04:01 - The irony is like of the whole like Heat,

01:04:04 you know, were bad this year.

01:04:06 They were worse, I mean, they were worse last year,

01:04:09 the record wise, you know, they were still an eight seed.

01:04:12 I think they had two more wins this year

01:04:14 than they had last year.

01:04:15 - Actually they were a mess in the regular season.

01:04:17 - Yeah, they were a mess, but yeah, I don't know.

01:04:22 - It's to me, it's not even so much about the Heat.

01:04:27 It's like, if you think the Celtics are much better this year

01:04:31 than they were last year, then it shouldn't,

01:04:34 it shouldn't even matter.

01:04:35 Like the Heat aren't that,

01:04:35 the Heat aren't better than they were last year.

01:04:38 - Yeah, like Butler's knee will swell up

01:04:40 and then it's whether or not it comes back down.

01:04:44 I think if he, he played the rest of the game on it.

01:04:47 So.

01:04:49 - I don't think that, yeah.

01:04:51 - 20s, you know.

01:04:52 - Yeah, he played the rest of the game on it, so.

01:04:56 - I don't think that makes a lot of sense

01:04:58 going forward, but we'll see.

01:05:00 - I don't know, he might be invincible.

01:05:05 - It doesn't matter.

01:05:05 - Hey, if you're gonna play through something now,

01:05:08 one game, do or die is the time to do it, so.

01:05:10 - Yeah, quick update before we wrap.

01:05:13 It is a 21 point game now.

01:05:15 It looks very much like Celtics.

01:05:17 - It's over, let's just crown the Celtics.

01:05:19 - We'll play the winner of the Heat and the Bulls,

01:05:22 which will be Friday night.

01:05:23 So that's what we got there.

01:05:26 - All that hawk talk.

01:05:27 All that worry about the hawk.

01:05:29 - Chicago, Miami.

01:05:30 - Yeah, oh no, the Hawks.

01:05:34 - Hawks super well.

01:05:34 - I like Chicago.

01:05:35 You are not gonna see me crying about going to Chicago.

01:05:38 - 22 points, yep.

01:05:40 - I like Chicago a lot.

01:05:43 - I like Chicago a lot.

01:05:44 Last thing somebody in the chat asked us to talk about,

01:05:46 so we'll throw it out there.

01:05:47 Big news coming down, was it today?

01:05:50 I'm all messed up day-wise.

01:05:51 - It was. - Yep, today.

01:05:53 - Jontae Porter, lifetime ban from the NBA

01:05:56 for violating gambling rules.

01:05:58 - Can't do it. - Good.

01:06:01 - Yeah. - Can't do it.

01:06:02 - Couldn't be any stupider.

01:06:03 Bet on Toronto Raptors games.

01:06:06 Bet on his own performance.

01:06:09 - There's nothing worse than clearly taking the money.

01:06:14 Like he took money to underperform.

01:06:17 It's not even the betting.

01:06:19 He clearly took dough and then faked an injury

01:06:24 so his unders would hit.

01:06:25 That's, there's nothing worse than that.

01:06:27 - Is that him? - Is that him?

01:06:28 - Okay, so you think he faked it?

01:06:30 - Meanwhile, Jimmy.

01:06:31 - That's what tipped him off.

01:06:33 The two games where the heaviest money came in on--

01:06:36 - Oh yeah, there's a guy, yeah, I saw that.

01:06:39 - Jontae Porter unders and he faked,

01:06:41 he opted out of both games.

01:06:44 And the number one bet in the entire league

01:06:47 are Jontae Porter three-point attempt unders.

01:06:51 And he asked out--

01:06:52 - It was like a $80,000 parlay.

01:06:54 (laughing)

01:06:55 - How did they think this was gonna work?

01:06:56 - It's a guy that no one's ever heard of.

01:06:58 - To win a million.

01:07:01 - Yeah, like the book, like the book--

01:07:04 - It's the dumbest thing ever.

01:07:05 - They were like, yeah, we're not gonna let you bet this,

01:07:07 dude.

01:07:08 - How did they think this was gonna work?

01:07:10 - 'Cause they're fucking morons, man.

01:07:13 Yeah, I mean, that was a layup, no pun intended.

01:07:16 - 80K for 1.2 million, they were like, oh my God.

01:07:21 - Yeah, they're like, yeah,

01:07:21 we're just not gonna take that bet.

01:07:23 And oh, by the way, we're gonna report you for being sketchy.

01:07:26 - It's the dumbest shit.

01:07:31 It's so dumb and so obvious.

01:07:33 And honestly, stupid, it's every once in a while,

01:07:36 stupidity is punished.

01:07:39 A lot of people get away with being stupid forever.

01:07:42 And this is great 'cause this was so blatant and so dumb.

01:07:45 And honestly, it's dangerous.

01:07:47 Like, I don't wanna sermonize here about it,

01:07:50 but you're on shaky ground here with things.

01:07:54 Like, you already have a ref scandal.

01:07:56 You've got Gobert doing this to refs.

01:08:00 You had Shaq in a podcast the other day,

01:08:02 like, oh, I knew which refs were on the take.

01:08:05 Like, there's an underlying vibe

01:08:07 that like money's in this game

01:08:09 and it's affecting how games are called.

01:08:12 And like, when you start talking about

01:08:13 affecting how games are played,

01:08:15 that's massive integrity issues.

01:08:17 You know, like the last thing you wanna do-

01:08:18 - You have injury reporting issues right now.

01:08:20 You have guys sitting at games, you have-

01:08:24 - But there's nothing worse than this.

01:08:27 Losers like us spend our entire lives

01:08:30 either making a career or just spending

01:08:32 an inordinate amount of our personal lives

01:08:35 paying attention and caring way too much about sports.

01:08:39 Imagine how shattering it would be

01:08:40 if you found out that the whole thing

01:08:42 was bullshit and rigged,

01:08:43 or it's just not on the up and up.

01:08:45 Like, what's the point of this?

01:08:47 You know, it would just kill it.

01:08:49 You can't have that.

01:08:51 Can't have it.

01:08:52 It's so bad.

01:08:53 - My entire life was a lie.

01:08:55 - I've totally lived a lie.

01:08:57 I've wasted my life. - How could you do it?

01:09:00 How could you do it?

01:09:01 - We already know we've wasted our lives,

01:09:04 but like, you don't have to hammer-

01:09:05 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:09:06 - To make up a point.

01:09:06 Yeah. (laughs)

01:09:08 - And by the way-

01:09:09 - Yeah, let me just live and die by this game

01:09:12 and just think that it's like actually happening

01:09:14 and not a big farce.

01:09:17 Like WWE or something.

01:09:19 - We understand the pitfalls of gambling here too,

01:09:22 and the association and all that with the league.

01:09:26 But at the same time,

01:09:27 and to give some credence to Adam Silver,

01:09:30 who I know has gotten a lot of criticism for this,

01:09:33 this is the legal system working.

01:09:35 You do something like this, an alarm goes off,

01:09:39 boom, you're banned for life.

01:09:41 Now, how would they have handled this if it was X-Star?

01:09:45 I don't even want to-

01:09:46 - Yo, hey, Ohtani?

01:09:47 They'd blame it on his interpreter.

01:09:49 - Yeah.

01:09:50 So I guess that's what you're gonna get into here.

01:09:52 It's easy to ban John T. Porter for life.

01:09:55 What if this happens with someone a little more notable?

01:09:57 - John T. Porter-

01:09:58 - It's a slippery slope with all this stuff.

01:10:01 But I guess in this situation,

01:10:02 you saw the legal system work.

01:10:05 'Cause guess what?

01:10:06 If betting wasn't legal, he could still do this.

01:10:10 So-

01:10:12 - He could still do it, but he couldn't do it on an app.

01:10:13 Like he was probably some,

01:10:15 I don't know where he was doing it from,

01:10:16 but it's so much more attainable now

01:10:19 and available to people to do

01:10:21 where it's like you're bound to get in more trouble.

01:10:23 But yeah, John T. Porter, I mean,

01:10:25 what was gonna happen first?

01:10:26 He was gonna get banned from the league

01:10:28 or he just wasn't good enough to be in the league.

01:10:30 Like one of those things was gonna happen

01:10:32 like this year anyways, I guess.

01:10:33 But Michael Porter's brother.

01:10:37 How about that?

01:10:38 That's kind of a awkward dinner table discussion

01:10:42 at the next-

01:10:42 - Yeah, like just ask your brother for some-

01:10:45 - Yeah, dude.

01:10:46 Like what are you,

01:10:48 like just make a couple of simple investments.

01:10:50 Like CD rates are like 5% right now.

01:10:52 Like you could have just taken a paycheck,

01:10:54 like roll that over.

01:10:55 Like, what are you doing?

01:10:57 Like now you gotta go to China.

01:11:01 Now you gotta go to China.

01:11:02 - And again, someone's saying,

01:11:04 of course, like no good player's gonna do it.

01:11:08 It has to be the John T. Porter level,

01:11:10 but also that makes it so much more,

01:11:12 so much more sketchy because you can't bet,

01:11:17 like a star player can predict the outcome of a game, right?

01:11:21 A guy playing 12 minutes a game

01:11:24 really only has minimum amount of control over what they do.

01:11:29 It's about it.

01:11:30 And really the only thing that you can guarantee

01:11:32 is that they go under some of their props.

01:11:35 That's about it.

01:11:37 And it has to be a guy signed on a two-way

01:11:41 whose future isn't guaranteed.

01:11:43 Or as Shaq said on the podcast a couple of weeks ago,

01:11:46 or a week ago,

01:11:47 or a ref 'cause they don't make enough money.

01:11:49 It's never gonna be a player.

01:11:50 So those are the guys who are susceptible here to this.

01:11:53 And again, we're gonna wrap it up.

01:11:54 We're just counting down officially

01:11:56 as you see the banner on the screen.

01:11:58 It is a minute left in this game,

01:12:02 down to 16, but who cares here?

01:12:03 It's OVA, Celtics playing the winner

01:12:06 of Heat versus Bulls on Friday.

01:12:08 The Sixers get seven seed.

01:12:10 They are taking on the Knicks.

01:12:11 - Hawks go home.

01:12:13 - Hawks?

01:12:14 - Yeah, but like what happens?

01:12:15 - The Hawks try to figure out where they're gonna send.

01:12:18 They send Trey Young to the Lakers.

01:12:20 - Or the Spurs, something like that.

01:12:23 - So you dodge Philly.

01:12:28 If you get the Heat, you get Butler.

01:12:31 Look at everything coming up for Celtics, right?

01:12:34 You dodge the Sixers.

01:12:36 You might get the Heat, but if you do,

01:12:38 it might be without Jimmy Butler

01:12:40 or with a severely hobbled Jimmy Butler.

01:12:42 And Atlanta's dangerous.

01:12:45 Atlanta shits the bed, they go down.

01:12:49 So now you're looking at

01:12:50 old Heat team or the Bulls.

01:12:55 I don't know what else.

01:12:56 I don't know what more you could have asked for out of this.

01:12:58 And then that's ridiculous Cleveland or Lantern bracket.

01:13:01 - Just take care of your business.

01:13:05 - It won't be, you know what's not gonna be fun?

01:13:07 You know who won't have fun?

01:13:08 Who might not have fun?

01:13:11 Jason Tatum, Caruso and Isaac.

01:13:15 Won't necessarily be fun.

01:13:18 Celtics still win those series going away,

01:13:20 but that's not super fun.

01:13:21 - Not for them.

01:13:24 - Should bother them too much.

01:13:26 - We'll have fun.

01:13:27 Sunday, one o'clock, we'll have some fun.

01:13:29 We got a post-game show.

01:13:31 - I still hope it's the Heat.

01:13:33 - See who it is against.

01:13:34 Bobby will be there regardless.

01:13:36 Joe Sway will be there.

01:13:38 Sherado will be there.

01:13:39 I'll be right here.

01:13:41 - Yeah, yeah.

01:13:44 And again, Heat has a little bit more juice

01:13:46 because there's history and some good tests here.

01:13:49 Great to see how Joe reacts to different things.

01:13:52 Spolstra again, I think is clearly in a class of his own

01:13:55 as far as coaches go.

01:13:56 So-

01:14:00 - Ruin Saturday.

01:14:01 - Two years ago today, that great game won,

01:14:05 that Celtics with the Tatum game winner.

01:14:08 Talk about juice.

01:14:10 - That's the winner we never hit.

01:14:11 - Maybe.

01:14:12 I don't remember any game having more juice than that one.

01:14:16 So again, I was hoping Heat-Celtics rematch,

01:14:19 a little similar juice to that,

01:14:21 but I can get back out there.

01:14:24 I'm still holding out hope.

01:14:25 I don't want a four nothing boring game round one

01:14:29 where we're all sitting at home for six more days

01:14:31 waiting for round two.

01:14:32 Give us a little juice.

01:14:35 - As it is, what's the schedule?

01:14:36 Sunday, Wednesday?

01:14:38 - Saturday.

01:14:39 - Right.

01:14:40 What? No, is it Sunday?

01:14:42 - Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday.

01:14:43 So two days between each game.

01:14:46 - That's really stressing.

01:14:47 Anyway, game is over.

01:14:49 It is the Heat or the Bulls.

01:14:51 That's who the Celtics play.

01:14:52 Thanks for hanging out with us here.

01:14:53 I know some people were watching this game as well.

01:14:57 We might have one more garden report

01:14:59 before the playoffs begin,

01:15:00 but otherwise we will definitely see everybody on Sunday.

01:15:02 Late night, look at Bobby.

01:15:04 We're ending it with these guys yawning.

01:15:06 - I'm tired, man.

01:15:07 I gotta get up for work.

01:15:08 Let's get the hell out of here.

01:15:10 - It's only 9 p.m. where I am out West here.

01:15:12 So I'm on my way to dinner, guys.

01:15:14 I'll see you guys later.

01:15:15 - Oh, continue on.

01:15:17 - I wasn't down the street at the holiday and I lied.

01:15:20 Anyway, thanks.

01:15:21 Thank you guys for watching.

01:15:22 We'll see you guys later.

01:15:23 Take care.

01:15:24 - Wait, Ahmed's got an outro for us, I think.

01:15:25 - No, he doesn't.

01:15:26 - He said he was gonna work on an outro.

01:15:28 - Hey, he had a phenomenal game.

01:15:31 - Phenomenal.

01:15:32 (laughing)

01:15:34 - Poor Fritz out.

01:15:35 I think it's an outro.

01:15:36 (laughing)

01:15:39 - That did not sound like a chair.

01:15:41 - It was a freaking chair.

01:15:43 It does sound like a chair.

01:15:44 (upbeat music)

01:15:46 (upbeat music)

01:15:49 (upbeat music)

LIVE: Celtics Playoff Preview | Garden Report

Category

Transcript

Recommended