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June 6, 2025 • 34 mins

Jason McIntyre steps in for Colin after a thrilling finish to game 1 of the NBA Finals with the Pacers pulling off another furious comeback to steal a win on the road to open the series. He reacts to Aaron Rodgers signing a 1-year contract with the Steelers and what this means for Mike Tomlin's streak of winning seasons. He also talks to former NBA executive John Hollinger about Tyrese Haliburton's incredible clutch time performances this postseason

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
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or FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hello, and welcome to the Herd. It's a beautiful Friday.

Speaker 4 (00:31):
The Choklahoma City Thunder they go down, overrated SGA checks
it out, Oh ladies, and John be on a great
show today.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'm fired up.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
I am extremely excited. What the helly happened last night
in okayc It's me Jason McIntyre in for Colin Cowherd.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
He's back next week. I know you're yeeked. I know
you're excited at Coward's back. Joy Day as always by
Alex Curry.

Speaker 5 (00:55):
Alex No No, No, No, Blake, what a bang your way?
That and the league like Holy Halliburton game winner, your boy,
Aaron Rodgers finally finding with this Steelers and Happy Friday.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Let's go, Yeah, I Let's go. I thought I was
gonna make time.

Speaker 4 (01:12):
The theme for today squabble up and talk about a
billionaire and the president going, that's a no fly zone.
J mc okay, fine, fine, we'll talk about Game one
of the NBA Finals, and guys, listen, I could probably
do thirty minutes right out the gate on that gate.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
It was bonkers.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
But the one obvious thing we have to start with
is death taxes and Tyrese Haliburton. Nobody has had a
clutch postseason like Halliburton has. Folks, he did this against
the Bucks in the opening round, the driving layup. He
did this against the Calves to basically squash them in

(01:50):
Game two, and of course against my New York Knicks.
Tyrese Halliburton is the man, the pull up jumper. With
three tenths of a second left, he gives the Pacers
to win. They were ten point underdogs on the road
and Haliburton delivers.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Now, there's so many layers to this.

Speaker 4 (02:07):
I will try to contain myself, but first let's get
this out of the way early. Here's the audio from
the Indiana Pacers radio call of Tyrese Haliburton vanquishing the
thunder eight.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Seconds to go.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
The Pacers are not gonna call the time out. Haliburton
has it with three driving.

Speaker 6 (02:24):
With two pulling up and heading with three tenths of
a second to go.

Speaker 7 (02:30):
How many more times can this team do that?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
You gotta love it.

Speaker 4 (02:37):
You see all those OKAC fans hit the surrender cobra
hands on their head.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
What did I just witness?

Speaker 4 (02:43):
But here's the best part about Haliburton beating OKAC last night.
So Tyrese was in the Dorcher chamber all night. Lou
Dort locked him up.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
I'm not gonna lie.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
Ludort did a tremendous job on Halliburton, and Haliburn had
a quiet game and you're like, oh, where's Haliburton?

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Am I guy?

Speaker 4 (03:00):
Richard Jefferson, you know, play with me in a men's league.
He's a great human being. He's talking about in the
fourth quarter. Hey, Tyrese, Haliburton, you can't shoot tour dates
okay in Game one of the NBA Finals and Haliburton
not a quakey, but he wasn't forcing anything.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
And that's important because as soon as.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
They got a chance to win, just keep it close,
keep it close, OKAC.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Was gonna fold.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
And there is an element to OKC and We'll get
to them later. Trust me plenty to do on Okay,
see what we're gonna focus on the positive. You're at
the outset, But there is a Mike Tyson element to
the Thunder, Right.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
They want to knock you out. That's what they do.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
They had the most double digit wins I believe in
NBA history. Our guest Anthony Slater had that yesterday, something
like sixty one wins by double figures. That's more than
the KD. Curry Warriors. They want to knock you out,
but they couldn't knock the Pacers out.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
They attempt.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
They were up fifteen in the fourth quarter. This game
was eerily reminiscent of that choke by the Thunder in
Game one against Denver. A lot of self inflicted wounds.
We'll talk about the coach a little bit later. Dag
Naalt coached a terrible game. Only way to grate him
on that was an f from the starting lineup to
the closing lineup. He was awful. But I do want
to focus on the positive in the Pacers here. Folks,

(04:11):
when you look at the box score, you don't understand
it kind of breaks your brain a little bit. Okay,
Indiana averaged twelve turnovers a game. They had twenty four.
Last night they had eighteen in the first half. I
mean they were on pace for thirty six turnovers. However,
Rick Carlile, who I hyped up when I picked the
Pacers four too yesterday?

Speaker 3 (04:32):
I hyped up Rick Carlisle.

Speaker 4 (04:33):
I said, listen, this guy's good. Look what he did
to Lebron and the Heatles fourth quarter. Pacers had one
turnover early on. They could not handle the pressure. They
made adjustments. Carlisle's a master.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
So not only did they turn them ball over twenty
four times, but did you see.

Speaker 4 (04:48):
The steals in this game? Fourteen steals for OKC, one
for the Pacers.

Speaker 3 (04:54):
How do you win a game like that?

Speaker 4 (04:55):
Well, it's a three point shooting And again this was
one of the keys to victory for the Pacers, number
one three point shooting team in the playoffs forty percent
last night, seven more threes than the PA than the
Thunder seven times three twenty one in a one point game.
You win threes by that much, folks. I mean, you're
looking on the screen here that Andrew Nemhard banger. Now

(05:17):
some of it was luck, obviously, but look at Nemhard
between the legs, bang right in Wallace's face, and then
he did it to his fellow countryman, shake gilges Alexander.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
By the way they got into it, we'll also talk
about that.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
But like, was there some flukiness? Yep, Myles Turner ain't
gonna bank in threes right right? Obi Toppin turned into
Steph Curry there in the fourth quarter. But ultimately it
came down to Tyrese Haliburton. Here's Tyrese after the victory, and.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
We got to stop.

Speaker 8 (05:45):
Uh and coach trust us in those moments to not
call timeouts, trust me in those moments. God's trust me
and just trying to make a play. So uh, man,
that's the Basketball's fun.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Man, win in is fun. That's that's a great win
for us. Basketball is fun.

Speaker 4 (05:59):
I was watching my kids last night and when Sga
bricks an eight footer, yeah, the mid range is back
right and the Pacers get a shot. I'm watching my
kids were all standing up. I'm like, do I get
video of myself? Do I do one of those nerdy
reaction videos.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Now, let's just watch it.

Speaker 4 (06:16):
And you Halliburton got the ball and you're like, oh,
there's a problem, and it's interesting because against the Bucks,
he drove for the layup. Against the Calves, step back
against ty Jerome, against the Knicks, mister Robinson, step back three,
he didn't the thunder, it scattered him.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
They knew what was coming, they knew time and situation.

Speaker 4 (06:33):
Just a pull up jumper, twenty one foot bag from Haliburton,
And as soon as it went up, I was like, oh,
that's cash, it's over and he hits it.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
And my kids don't really know Terrese Haliburton.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
You know, he's not a well known superstar, but the
legend is growing pretty quickly. And I don't know if
you guys have seen this on the internet, but there's
this funny mashup because Terrese Haliburton is he's kind of different, right,
He's just like kind of a little goofy at times.
He's got a funky looking shot. He's always smiling and happy.
And there's a mashup of Tyrese Haliburton and Steve Verkele

(07:05):
on the internet. I don't know if you guys have
seen that, but Steve Verkle of course, Family Matter is
Julil White Iconic TGIF show. I don't even know if
Alex was born at the time I watched tgif you know,
Nerdy Jason, sixth grader watching Steve Rkele, and there should
be a new nickname for Tyrese Haliburton. Why not Halliburkele,
Because once you see the video of Steve Rkle, remember

(07:28):
there was one game where Steve Verkle's going off, Tyrese
Haliburton kind of doing the same thing. Halliburkele. Is that
gonna stick? Much more on this game later? I promise
you we'll come back to it, because I haven't taken
my jabs at okay see, and they're coming, folks. But
I do need to pivot because there was some big
news in the NFL on Thursday. Our long national nightmare

(07:50):
mercifully is over. Aaron Rodgers is flying to Pittsburgh today
to sign a contract and play for the Pittsburgh Steve
next year.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
Whew, it's over. I mean, we had to deal with.

Speaker 4 (08:05):
What four months of reporters saying this is the week
Aaron Rodgers probably said, no, no, not this wee it's
next week. I mean, you know, guys just whiffing all
over the place because nobody knows what Aaron Rodgers is
gonna do.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
But you gotta be honest.

Speaker 4 (08:17):
Guys, if you're a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, you have to
be thrilled, absolutely geeked that Aaron Rodgers waited until the
very last moment possible before mandatory appearances were required to.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
Sign in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
You know, usually your quarterback, he's showing up in a
new city, showing up with a new offensive coordinator, new
wide receiver, new running.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
You've got a lot of newness.

Speaker 4 (08:44):
He wants to get in the building early, got to
hit the ground running, gotta beat my guys.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
I'm here first in last out. Uh huh.

Speaker 4 (08:51):
Aaron Rodgers is letting you know, right out of the gate,
I'm calling the shots.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
You guys.

Speaker 4 (08:57):
Obviously remember that great Tom Cruise movie with the Somali
pirates and the guy goes, I'm the captain now, Tom Hanks,
Tom Hanks, I'm sorry, Tom Hanks. This was Aaron Rodgers
essentially saying, Hey, this is my show, Mike Tomlan You're
a great coach.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Arthur Smith.

Speaker 4 (09:14):
I don't know why I'm gonna deal with you, but
I'm running the show to Aaron Rodgers said, I'm signing
now here.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
I am, and folks, I don't know how this is
gonna go.

Speaker 4 (09:25):
We got we got a lot of newness in Pittsburgh,
and our our staff put together a little chart. So
Najie Harris, he gone their number one running back, number
one wide receiver. Pickens he just got shipped tight end
is the same. They're number two wide receiver.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
He's also new.

Speaker 4 (09:40):
They're left tackle Broderick Jones. He was not the full
time starter last year. Look at all this newness in Pittsburgh.
If you guys are looking for a team that's going
to be potentially rocky, I think the Pittsburgh Steelers are
the one.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
Now.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
We remember Brett Favre when he left Green Bay. He
had a pit stop in New York. It went great
for half a season, and then oh he goad Zookes,
it totally nuked. Then he left for Minnesota found his
groove again. I mean, I think he was nearly the
MVP of the league. And they lose in the conference
championship game. That fateful interception over the middle. One wonders

(10:18):
Aaron Rodgers leads green Bay pitstop in New York not great?
Will he find the fountain of youth in Pittsburgh. I'm
here to tell you that's not happening, and all this
Aaron Rodgers far of comparisons, I think we're gonna have
to put them in the rearview mirror. Yes, Rogers incredible career.
It was a time when he won the two MVPs

(10:38):
in Green Bay. I was like, oh, it is a
top five quarterback all time.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
He doesn't have the.

Speaker 4 (10:42):
Super Bowls, but man, the arm strength, the stats, the
lack of interception.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
I mean, Aaron Rodgers is great, and then in New
York you're like, hurt, not awesome.

Speaker 4 (10:52):
Final year in Green Bay, and Mike Tomlin has this long, amazing.

Speaker 3 (10:58):
Track record of never having a losing record.

Speaker 4 (11:01):
I have it as eighteen seasons without a losing record
for Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. That's the most consecutive non
losing seasons, only behind Bill Belichick, as you can see
on the screen of nineteen and Tom Landry, the great
Cowboys coach of twenty one. Here's the thing with Tomlin,
I think this is gonna be the year they don't

(11:22):
hit five hundred.

Speaker 3 (11:23):
And that's tough because it's gonna reflect poorly on Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 4 (11:26):
I mean, remember Tomlin has stayed five hundred or better
with a pooh pooh platter of quarterbacks since Ben Roethlisberger retired.
I'm talking, you know, some jokers out there, okay, and
I'm not really feeling this Rogers vibe. We already have
seen reports. Hey man, you know Arthur Smith's personality, you
know Aaron Rodgers, They're gonna be button heads out of

(11:47):
the gate. Okay, Aaron, when he went to New York,
they just gave him everything he wanted. Oh you want
Randall Cobb, you want Alan Lazard, come on down, you
want Nathaniel Hick.

Speaker 3 (11:55):
Oh yeah, let's do it. Steelers ain't doing that.

Speaker 4 (11:58):
So Rodgers is now not going in to a comfortable setting,
newness all over the place. I'm very reluctant that the
Steelers are a five hundred team. This is signing by Rogers.
Win total didn't move. You know, it was probably baked
in that he was gonna sign there. But the opener
against my Jets is interesting because it pits Justin Fields

(12:22):
against Aaron Rodgers. Justin Fields was in Pittsburgh last year
Rogers was at the Jets. The line did bump up
to Steelers minus three in New York. I'm gonna be
heading to Vegas. This weekend, and I would love to
bet the Jets not. I'm not gonna unload the bank account,
but I'm just telling you right now that Jets pass rush.
You don't think those Jets are going to be motivated
to go after Rogers the way that tenure went in

(12:43):
New York, Folks, it's not gonna be pretty for Aaron
Rodgers in Pittsburgh. I mean, I asked the staff ranked
the quarterbacks in the division. I mean, he ain't better
than Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow, that's for sure. So
at best you've got the third best quarterback. Pro Football
folk had Pittsburgh twenty first best roster in the league.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
That's not great. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (13:06):
This smells to me like seven and ten Pittsburgh and
Aaron Rodgers feels like it's over all right. We have
a phenomenal show ahead and coming up next? How can
the Thunder bounce back? In Game two Sunday night? They
had a lot of mistakes. I'll tell you everything that
went wrong next here on the Herd.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 4 (13:35):
Back here on the Herd, I will say, having a
game last night, extra bounce on my step this morning,
couldn't sleep Whileston. I was so geeked over Tyrese Haliburton heroics.
We'll have some interesting stories in herdline coming up at
about eight minutes. Okay, so I glazed as the young
kids say, Haliburton the pacer. So now let me take

(13:58):
some shots at OKC. So, growing up, one of my
favorite coaches in all of sports was this guy named
pat Riley. Had the slick back look on the sideline
with the Lakers Armani suits.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
He was the man.

Speaker 4 (14:09):
He had a cool mantra. No rebounds, no rings. It's
pretty simple, right, rebound the basketball, don't get second chances. O.
Casey did something so stupid last time. I just I
don't know what they did here. So I even mentioned yesterday.
I don't see Hartenstein playing a lot in the series.
I don't anticipate a lot of double bigs. Pacers can

(14:29):
play five out, everybody can hit threes. So Dagnau pulls
his starting center Isaiah Hartenstein and starts keyson Wallace.

Speaker 3 (14:40):
So on the surface, okay, I guess that makes sense.
Here's the interesting part.

Speaker 4 (14:45):
They never started that five man unit before as the
starting group in the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
I think it will be sixteen.

Speaker 4 (14:51):
Games to get to the finals. Never use that starting
group once, okay, but they still led about fifteen in
the fourth right, and then on the stretch for reasons
I haven't seen a logical explanation, dag Nault pulled chet
home run for Kesem Wallace. So now you have no
Heart and Steen and no Chet. So what happens in

(15:13):
the final three minutes? The Pacers go on a thirteen
to four run score inside at Will grab two offensive boards,
put him back.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
It's like, what was he thinking? And you know, listen,
you never want to overreact after one game.

Speaker 4 (15:27):
I think I referenced the Allen Iverson Lakers game where
Iverson hit that shot in overtime steps over Tyron Lou
and the Sixers win.

Speaker 3 (15:36):
It was a shocker. I remember with my family we
were on a family.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
Vacation and cause school had just let out, and I
was watching it at like wherever we were. I was like,
oh my gosh, are the Lakers in trouble? And Lakers
steam rolled them the rest of the way. However, here's
SGA after the loss.

Speaker 9 (15:52):
How you lose doesn't really matter. Obviously it sucks last
second shot, but the energy and they're in and stuff
like that. But at the end of the day, the
series is in first to one. It's first of four,
so we have four more games together, they have three,
and that's just where we are. We got to understand
that and we got to get to four before they
get the three if we want to win NBA Championship
and then is that simple. It's not rocket science. We

(16:14):
lost game one. We have to be better.

Speaker 4 (16:18):
So the Pacers out rebounded the Thunder fifty six thirty
nine plus seventeen. The Pacers were on the glass. Shout him,
out shot him from three. Now, let me take a
quick moment. You talk about everybody's favorite basketball player, shake
gilges Alexander. Okay, yesterday I compared him to James Harden.
I had former NBA players coming at me on social

(16:39):
media for this take. I'm like, oh, we guys, settle down, hey, relax.
Last night during the game, SGA cooking from the mid range.
My buddies are texting me, boy, SGA better than James
Harten j Mac all Right, what happened down the.

Speaker 3 (16:54):
Stretch ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 4 (16:57):
SGA bricks an eight footer Tyreese Haliburton comes down Clutch City. Okay,
I'm not a Tyreese Haliburton hater.

Speaker 3 (17:05):
I'm not. I'm just a realist.

Speaker 4 (17:08):
On on what planet is forty minutes and three assists
for your point guard?

Speaker 3 (17:14):
Like a good game?

Speaker 4 (17:15):
Is he making anybody better? Thirty eight points on thirty shots.
That's not efficient, guys. He had a good scoring game
for three quarters and in the fourth quarter folded.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
He was not great.

Speaker 4 (17:30):
And this is what's interesting. He was getting frustrated. Our
staff came up with some numbers.

Speaker 9 (17:35):
Here.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
SGA, aka the free throw merchant, gets to the line
like nobody's business.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
He could not get to the line last night. He
only got to.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
The free throw line eight times, and eight is the
line of demarcation.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
The thunder are four and three in the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (17:51):
When SGA attempts eight or fewer free throws eight or more,
they're unstoppable. They're eight and two. One of the keys
to this offense is SGA getting in your head, getting
your guys in foul trouble. And there was a small
moment in the fourth quarter. I don't know if you
saw this, the announcers didn't make a big deal out
of it. SGA's going against his guy, Andrew Nemhard and

(18:13):
you see this play by Netmhard and he was upset.
Look what SGA does, reacts with a shove. Referee didn't
step in or anything. SGA goes to the foul line.
Nemart goes and bumps him off the spot. You like that, boy.
Nemhart is a dog. He is becoming one of my
favorite guys. But this SGA moment reshoves him. That's the
opposite of what happened in the Minnesota series. Remember Jaden
McDaniels were so pissed he just shoved SGA and then

(18:36):
his comment afterward was like, oh, yeah, you can't really
foul him. I wanted to see if you could really
out to shove him or whatever it was.

Speaker 9 (18:44):
And I just.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
I don't want to crush SGA. They may come back
and win the series. The Thunder may win the next four.
But I was talking with Shady McCoy show before US.
I said, I might take Haliburton over SGA if I'm
starting a team. Halliburton makes everyone better. And he's like,
I don't think I could talk to you anymore.

Speaker 3 (19:04):
J Mac and we're friends. But I'm being honest here.

Speaker 4 (19:08):
Tyrese Halliburton. There's something about this guy, and I don't
know it's SGA. I don't want to say.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
Has that clutch gene?

Speaker 4 (19:15):
But people love to say, like, what is the guy's
defining moment? Oh, Michael Jordan with the shot against the
Utah Jazz, Magic Johnson the hook shot against the Celtics.
A lot of guys have defining shots. I mean Tyres
Haliburton has an entire postseason or something right now, Okay,
has SGA had his moment? Maybe it's coming in the

(19:36):
series as possible, But just watching.

Speaker 3 (19:40):
Last night, he got a little frustrated.

Speaker 4 (19:43):
He missed a potential shot to put him up three
with eleven seconds left, and all Tyrese Haliburton does his deliver.
So I have some real questions about Okay, See, I
did pick Indiana in six and just watching Tyrese operate
when it mattered most versus watching SGA is great in
that Mike Tyson role. Hey, we're gonna knock you the bleepout,

(20:04):
We're gonna put you down twenty.

Speaker 3 (20:05):
It's game over. It's laughing on the sidelines.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
If they don't get to that they have had problems
in close games, SGA might be time to step up
in game.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
Two, Buddy.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern non am Pacific.

Speaker 10 (20:20):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 11 (20:25):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 10 (20:32):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.

Speaker 7 (20:34):
We talk about.

Speaker 11 (20:35):
Everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world.

Speaker 10 (20:38):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well other shows don't seem to have the
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Speaker 11 (20:47):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
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Speaker 10 (20:51):
So check us out. We like to get you involved too,
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports, maybe
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to four Pacific, and if you miss any of the
live show, just search Covin on Rich wherever you get

(21:12):
your podcasts, and of course on social media that's Cavino
and Rich.

Speaker 4 (21:16):
No, you've made it when not only did you work
for an NBA front office, but you created a stat
that everybody references all the time, peer player efficiency rating.
Let's bring on John Hollinger of The Athletic, one of
the sharp reminds in the NBA. John, good to finally
talk to you, man. I was rattled after last night's game.
I'm curious your your thoughts in the moment, and now

(21:39):
that you've had, you know, twelve hours or whatever to
sleep on it.

Speaker 6 (21:43):
Yeah, I thought it was the most Thank you for thinking.
I got twelve hours of sleep last night. This about
six times as much as I actually got. But the
most shocking Game one Finals game since Nick Anderson thirty
years ago. Right just the way it played out, with
Oklahoma City seemed in total control and then Indiana rallying

(22:04):
right at the end, and Halliburton again at the finish.

Speaker 4 (22:09):
It seemed like the Denver game. I don't know if
you remember the Denver game one comeback. Absolutely, this was
like a carbon copy. Denver dominated the glass, Pacers dominated
the glass, and then a bit of a coaching meltdown.
Were you surprised John that he pulled chet Holmgren with
like three minutes left down the stretch and they went
no bigs?

Speaker 3 (22:27):
I was not at all.

Speaker 6 (22:28):
I rewatched the game this morning. Chet Holgrin was terrible,
so that was one of the reasons he couldn't stick
with him. The other thing was he did the same
thing at the end of the first half and the
Pacers couldn't even run anything against their five smalls. They
just turned it over every single time. So I thought
that was fine. If you look at the shots they
got and the shots Indiana made those last few minutes,
I think Oklahoma City lives with that. The problem was

(22:50):
they should have been up by twenty five at the.

Speaker 7 (22:52):
Time, and they were only up eight.

Speaker 6 (22:54):
The game was still close enough for Indiana to get
by making a couple of unlikely shots, and the thunder
missed a couple of open threes and had the lane
violation on Siakam's free throw. But those mistakes, it was
possible for those to flip the game because Oklahoma City
in the first forty five minutes didn't stick the knife
all the way in.

Speaker 4 (23:14):
So that's a good point because this whole knockout punch,
this Mike Tyson element.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
That Okaye has.

Speaker 4 (23:20):
Usually they go up twenty twenty five at slights out,
but they got stuck around the thirteen fifteen.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
They could not push it more than that.

Speaker 4 (23:28):
Is there anything the Pacers were doing to prevent themselves
from getting knocked out?

Speaker 3 (23:32):
Was it just hustling back on defense, no transition points?
What was it?

Speaker 6 (23:38):
Oklahoma City shot really poorly at the rim, and I
think Miles Turner was a big factor of that. When
I rewatched the game, he had several really good contests
at the rim.

Speaker 7 (23:47):
Jalen Williams shot six and nineteen.

Speaker 6 (23:51):
Some of them were a little rushed, but some of
them were shots that I think would he would be
okay taken and he just didn't get to go down.
You're shown one of the worst ones there, and again
they got nothing from home grid. You're right, the points
off turnovers were very low. It was just that they
didn't quite get They weren't quite the turnovers that lead

(24:13):
to runouts, just the way they happen.

Speaker 7 (24:15):
It's just lucky the draw sometimes with that.

Speaker 6 (24:19):
But I think if Oklahoma City looks back at this game,
they're going to be really disappointed with their offense and
especially in the first half, that they just left money
on the table.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
Yeah, I'm looking yet.

Speaker 4 (24:29):
Chet Holmgrend two of nine, J Dubbs six of nineteen,
So essentially John their number two and three guys, whatever
order you put those two in. They were eight of
twenty eight, but they combined to take fewer shots than SGA.
Now I know Sga is bulletproof. You can't say anything
negative about him. Everybody loves him. He's like a media darling.
I didn't think he was particularly efficient. Thirty eight points

(24:51):
on thirty shots, didn't get to the line as many
times as you'd expect, and he looked rattled there when
he shoved nem Haard in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 3 (24:59):
Almost looked frustrated.

Speaker 4 (25:00):
I don't know any takeaways watching the game a second
time on SGA.

Speaker 6 (25:06):
Yeah, I thought again, in that first half they were
going too quick on offense, too much one on one
and there, and there were some forced polls in there.
They did a really good job of actually not letting
him get all the way to the rim.

Speaker 7 (25:18):
He's a good two point jump shooter.

Speaker 6 (25:21):
Uh, this is an outstanding finish he had actually over
Sea Oakham that was one exception to that. But yeah, uh,
it was relying a lot on his MIDI though, which
gonna you're gonna live with that, and then they were
able to single cover him too. So one of the
reasons it was so much one on one from Oklahoma
City was because Nee Smith was able to just stay

(25:41):
with Jalen Williams, Nemhard was just able to stay with
Shay and they didn't have to bring over help defenders
that much.

Speaker 4 (25:47):
Yeah, I noticed that thirteen assists feels criminally low, only
three for SGA. So is again I'm just guessing, but
Rick Carlisle a master, might be saying, Hey, we're gonna
give SGA whatever he wants.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
We're not gonna let everybody else in a billion threes?
Is that Do you think that might be the strategy?

Speaker 7 (26:06):
I think that's definitely part of it.

Speaker 6 (26:07):
The other thing with Oklahoma City was with them matching
up small Heartstegin only played seventeen minutes. A lot of
them were with the second group. He's their best screener,
he's the guy who can get Neamhard off of SGA's body,
who can get Nie Smith off of j Dubb And
you know, were they too cute by half not going

(26:28):
with Heart and Signed. I know they they've been going
away from those two big lineups, but I just wonder
Casey Wallace ended up playing I think thirty two minutes
to Heart and Sign seventeen. Wallace wasn't good at the
offensive end either, and so I think if when Mark
Dingall rewatches this game, I think he's gonna think I
should have gotten Heart Signed in there more, and that
if I was gonna stay small. The other guy we

(26:50):
didn't really see, just for ninety seconds was Kenrich Williams,
who played a ton when these teams played in March
and Oklahoma City blew them out. So I could see,
even if he doesn't go that much more to Heartsteinn,
I could see a lot more of Kenny Hustle and
uh less of Wallace.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
I think, all right, so you were in an NBA
front office.

Speaker 4 (27:11):
I'm just curious if you're having a great postseason run,
your coach is pushing all the right buttons, and he
comes to you before Game one of the finals and says, hey, guys,
I'm gonna go with the starting lineup that we haven't
started in this postseason. Is there gonna be pushback? Would
you have said, wait, what are we doing here? Because
I know it looked good for you know what they
led for forty six minutes or what have you. It
just felt like they were we're gonna adjust to the

(27:34):
pacers as opposed to make the pacers adjust us.

Speaker 6 (27:38):
You know, I would rather have a coach do it
too early than too late, though, where the coach doesn't
make the adjustment until the team is already down two
to oh and they have one foot in the grave,
which I've seen so many times that way, So I
would live with that.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
You know.

Speaker 6 (27:54):
Should he have maybe tried it for a half and
then you know, gone to it coming out a halftime,
which he has already done a couple times this playoffs.
He started this lineup in third quarters before, so I
didn't have a big problem with that. And again they
dominated the first half. I just think they needed to
get back to Hartenstein at some point, especially with Chet
having such a bad game.

Speaker 4 (28:15):
Yeah, any idea why Chet played so poorly? Is it
just like, hey, you know, is his game one of
the finals. He's a young guy, him and Ja Dove.
I don't want to say the moment looked too big,
but were they wide eyed or was it just the
Pacers harassment.

Speaker 6 (28:28):
On defense, I think we have to give Miles Turner
some credit for the defense he played on Chet. If
you look at some of the shed is really effective
off the dribble, usually attacking bigs, and he was.

Speaker 7 (28:38):
He wasn't able to get.

Speaker 6 (28:40):
Anything on Turner that way, So give Miles his flowers
for that. The other thing, I think again, because there
was so much one on one. You know, Chet's guy
who's getting his baskets in the flow. There's a pass,
there's another pass, the ball kicks out to him, or
he's cutting to the rim. He flies in for a dunk,
and those players weren't there because it was just one

(29:01):
on one. And okay, so he's shooting a jump shot,
so I think schematically it kind of took him out
of the game a little bit.

Speaker 4 (29:07):
All right. Speaking of Flowers, John, let's give some to Halliburton,
who is having the most plus postseason run we've ever.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
Seen in basketball.

Speaker 4 (29:15):
I mean, it's fair to say that he just is
unstoppable when it matters most. This is a guy who
was on the Olympic team but barely played, kind of
laughed about barely playing.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
Then he was voted most overrated in.

Speaker 4 (29:27):
Some goofy pole I think by the Athletic and now
he is, I mean, he's a top ten player in
the league.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
I don't know what's going on here.

Speaker 7 (29:38):
Yeah, you know he was.

Speaker 6 (29:40):
He was dealing with that hamstring injury the whole second
half of last year. I think it carried into his
summer and then even into the beginning of this year
when the Pacers started nine to fourteen, and somewhere around
the middle of the year he turned into the old
Halley that he was in the first half of last
season and their offense got to another gear. And what

(30:01):
I love about Haliburton is he such a killer. If
you look like the Cleveland game, the New York game,
he tried to do it.

Speaker 7 (30:09):
They were down too, He went for the three to
get the win. They were down one.

Speaker 6 (30:12):
Last night, he drove, He drove a little closer and
got to the pull up two pointer for the win.
Like he's playing to the score in these situations too,
which I think is really impressive. That drive against Milwaukee
was another one there there you see the step back.
You see he didn't go into the pain because he
knew they were down too. If he got the three,
he'd get the win. It's just been so impressive to

(30:33):
see him do this this whole offseason, offseason, postseason.

Speaker 7 (30:40):
Again his historic Yeah.

Speaker 4 (30:42):
Now, obviously you're an analytics guy. This is one of
those things like, I mean a pull up twenty one footer.
I know that's probably a good shot for him, but
not a great shot in the NBA currently.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
Just is this sustainable at all?

Speaker 4 (30:54):
Or I mean, it's just just a historic run in Hey,
this is who was the guy in the bubble who
was averaging like fifty points a game.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
I'm spacing on.

Speaker 7 (31:04):
His name, TJ Warren.

Speaker 4 (31:06):
TJ Warren, thank you he went off for the Bubbles. Like, oh,
you got to give this guy a MAX deal. Is
this one of those historic runs that halla Barton's on.

Speaker 6 (31:16):
Yeah, I mean, obviously he's gonna miss one of these
at some point, right, Like nobody's say this forever. But
one of the things is like, when you're down one,
the extra point of the three doesn't matter anymore. So yeah,
it's okay to dribble in and take that twenty won
footer then, and I think he's he's really smart about
playing to the score that way.

Speaker 3 (31:35):
All right, macro big picture.

Speaker 4 (31:37):
You know, Pacers and Thunder both built differently than most
of the loaded teams in the league. A lot of guys,
I mean, Memoir it's making two million dollars a year
and he's playing phenomenal. Do you think we'll see that
transition over to the off season when it comes time
to make a play for Giannis, make a play for
Kevin Durant. Nobody's given five first round picks for KD

(31:58):
the way McHale Bridges got five.

Speaker 6 (31:59):
You know, I think Giannis could easily get something in
in that range. Yeah, if he becomes available, you're you're gonna, yeah,
You're gonna see some crea. I mean, Katie is in
his late thirties, he has one year left on his deal.
I p assume he'll get extended as part of any trade.
But yeah, the market for him is isn't gonna be
like that?

Speaker 3 (32:19):
What do you think that we could see Yannis?

Speaker 4 (32:21):
I mean, somebody floating Henry Abbott floated to me, like, listen,
Jannis makes the most sense in OKC because they have
the assets and the young guys, and they can afford him.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (32:31):
I mean, we think Oklahoma stait. He's probably gonna still
win the finals. But do they do something dramatic if
this falls apart.

Speaker 6 (32:38):
I don't think that's Sam Press's DNA at all. I
think he'd run it back with these guys, make one
or two deals around the edges.

Speaker 7 (32:44):
But this is Shay's team. I think that's too.

Speaker 6 (32:51):
Almost too much like you're building a team around Giannis
instead of Shay at that point.

Speaker 7 (32:56):
So I don't see that happening.

Speaker 6 (32:58):
I think the end game for Gianni is to if
he's gonna leave Milwaukee's probably San Antonio or Houston. I mean,
they have the assets to do the deal. The teams
are good enough now where he's joining, he'd be joining.

Speaker 7 (33:12):
A really good team. Those are the two that make
the most sense to me.

Speaker 3 (33:15):
And what about Kevin Durant?

Speaker 4 (33:17):
Is there a team out there that you I mean,
it feels like Kevin Durant's agent is just trying to
get him out of there as soon as possible. He's
floating the Spurs, And then we were hearing, oh the Knicks,
one of them at the deadline. Meanwhile, four months ago,
nobody had that. It just feels a little suspicious. This
gave the stuff.

Speaker 7 (33:34):
I could see a fit there with Minnesota.

Speaker 6 (33:36):
It's a little tough with the tax Aprons, but it
can be done, especially if it ends up being a
three team deal. And Minnesota did tribes it did at
least make some effort to get him at the trade deadline.

Speaker 7 (33:49):
I do think they need.

Speaker 6 (33:50):
One more elite offensive player to go with ant. It's
one of the things they missed not having Towns this year.
And they're definitely like a win now team too, So yeah,
I think Minnesota is a place for him.

Speaker 4 (34:02):
All right, John Hollinger The Athletic Great Stuff Analytics, Maven Day,
you rewatched the game this morning. That's dedication, man, I
probably should do that after the show.

Speaker 3 (34:11):
We're I'll sleep one of those two. Thanks a lot, John,
thanks for having me on the show. All right, good stuff,
interesting takes from mister Hollinger.

Speaker 4 (34:19):
I'm trying to crystallize some of it in my head,
Alex and think, like, huh, why was Chet Homeward so bad?

Speaker 3 (34:25):
Lesson?

Speaker 4 (34:26):
Like, I mean, if he's your third best player and
you're kind of benching him. That's weird, all right, coming
up next, it's risky.

Speaker 3 (34:35):
You know.

Speaker 4 (34:35):
People look at me like I got two heads. Yeah,
Halliburton over SGA.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
Why not.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
We'll do that next year, probably on the hurt
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