Nick Wright breaks down the Boston Celtics’ back-to-back meltdowns against Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks. Where has Jayson Tatum gone? Nick shares why he believes Tatum will never be the best player in the NBA. Later, Nick explains why James Harden is the biggest choker in modern sports history before debating whether the Golden State Warriors will survive the Minnesota Timberwolves without Steph Curry. #Volume #Herd
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Best of the Week for What's Right
with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this
week on the show. Enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
So, yeah, you went.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Off on your on your show yesterday, you called James
Harden the biggest choker in modern sports history?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Was that what you called him? Yeah? Yeah, do you
think that's you think that's fair?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Who else is in the argument? Just tell someone. I
just need someone to tell me who the other contenders are.
And here's the deal. I'm going to pull up these
I'm going to pull up these numbers real quick. So Harden, Lebron,
Steph Durant, those are the four guys of the era.
(00:48):
And as far as just having uh okay, sure, yeah,
maybe I should have included Chris, but I didn't. But
that's and that that's a fair one. But I just
want to give you these numbers. Career playoff games Demons
(01:11):
less than four made baskets. Durant has two, Steph has three,
Lebron has five. Give me a guess for Harden, Just
give a number Harden.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
All right, So you said those guys numbers, I'll go
nine thirty five. Yeah, and those guys have obviously played
a lot more than well.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I don't Harden's played a bunch. I don't Lebron's played
a lot more. But yeah, but you know Harden was Okay,
hold on, that was so again? Thirty five career playoff
games with less than four making How many of those?
Uh A hand? A decent amount? But again he the
(02:01):
only one you can really throw out is the like
his for you want to throw out you know, ten
of those games because it was young, young James Harden,
but he was you know, sixth Man of the year
and going two for ten in the finals. All right,
hold on, I got a couple more for you. Career
(02:21):
playoff games with with under five made baskets. Again, I'll
give you the numbers for everyone else. KD four, Steph eight,
Lebron nine, James Harden fifty five. Okay, yeah? And then
(02:41):
last one career playoff games where you have at least
as many turnovers or more turnovers than made shots Durant seven,
Steph thirteen, Lebron's seventeen James Harden.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
More turnovers than made shot Yes, all right, yeah seven
Steph thirteen, Lebron seventeen, James Harden forty two.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Forty two more turnovers than made shots.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
It's the biggest, right there.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Or as many turnovers as made shots, as many or more.
Uh So, here's the thing. So even if you want
to be like, well, those first two stats were about
you know, he wasn't playing as many minutes he's off
the bench. That clears that up. And it's just demons.
I used to be the biggest hardened defender. He had
(03:41):
such a horrific Game six against San Antonio in twenty
seventeen when Kawhi and Tony Parker were out and the
Rockets lost by thirty nine points that I said, I
thought he had an undiagnosed concussion. It's just and so
(04:02):
there is there is no comp for it. And so
if people want to, we don't have to. It's just
at this point who he is, the moment gets too big.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
It was turning around there for a second.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
He always has these moments. And then it's the game
six or a game seven, and he takes seven shots,
he takes eight shots. He has he has I think
six playoff games where he was two for ten, two
for eleven or two for twelve from the field. Ask
this follow up about Russ and then we'll get to
(04:36):
the Warriors.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
So who do you think will end up having a
better legacy when it's all said and done between Russ
and Harden.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
So I think this is really it depends on what
your value. So Harden's a better all time player, and
like he has, he's gonna have better numbers on better teams,
more of a part of winning. They both won one MVP.
(05:03):
But Russ is going to be an icon and Harden
is going to be a placeholder for choking like to
like in the future. And so the answer is Russ.
(05:25):
Like the answer is definitely Russ.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
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Speaker 1 (06:15):
The Knicks deserve, They deserve to be the story, but
they are not the story. The Knicks deserve to have
us talking about how they have gone to Boston. They
have been down twenty points in the second half in
both of these games. They have not played great, honestly,
(06:37):
in either game. Yesterday, Mikhale Bridges is terrible for the
first three quarters before being awesome. Jalen Brunson is six
of nineteen in the game. With a few minutes left
in the game, he had made four shots and it's
not like he was getting He had made four shots
(06:58):
and gotten to the free throw line once. And they
found a way to win, and they deserve credit for that.
But the story, and we will, I promise we'll spend
a lot of time on the Knicks, but the story
is Boston. The next story is about what I said
on Tuesday, planning for this moment for more than a year,
(07:24):
and there being a lot of similarities to what how
Minnesota was able to beat Denver to what we are
seeing with the Knicks and the Celtics. Let's table those
and we will get to those shortly, because the story
(07:46):
really is the defending champs falling apart in real time
physically and mentally. And now let me make this clear,
I don't think it's over. I don't think like, oh,
no chance the Celtics come back. The Celtics are talented
(08:09):
enough and good enough obviously to win four out of
five against New York. In fact, most people thought they
were going to win four out of five against New York.
They just thought it was gonna be the first five games.
This is gonna be a nice, friendly, gentleman suite. But
we are now here. Everyone's gonna focus on the three
(08:32):
point variants, and I get it, twenty five of one
hundred from three fifteen of sixty in Game one, the
exact same percentage in Game two, except they were ten
of forty. I actually don't think that is that might
(08:53):
be the biggest reason they're down. I don't think that
is the biggest story surround them being down. The biggest
story surrounding them being down is Jason Tatum. And we
gave him all his flowers and all the credit for
(09:15):
what was, without a doubt, at least to my eye,
the best regular season of his career. I understand he
didn't even have. It wasn't the best numbers. He's averaged
almost exactly this many points. He's averaged twenty six point
eight or twenty six point nine points three of the
last four years his you know his numbers in the
(09:36):
one year he did and he averaged thirty. His numbers
have been consistent, his field goal percentage has been consistent.
And it wasn't that he played more games. It was
just this felt like the best Tatum year because you
didn't get a great year from Jalen Brown by his standards,
Horford's a year or older. You saw some real deterioration
(09:58):
from Drew Holliday over the course of the year. And
yet Tatum answered the bell on both ends of the
court every night. And and this is the key piece,
not vkey, but one of the key pieces of it.
Responded from what was a really weird few months for
(10:19):
him where he finally wins a championship, but he's not
the Conference finals MVP. He's not the Finals MVP. He
actually plays some of his worst basketball of the season
last year in the biggest games, most notably those two
(10:40):
series the Conference finals in NBA Finals. Still, it's not
like he was bad, but he just dropped a level
that then was compounded by the fact that Steve Kerr,
who obviously is despite what lunatic Warrior fans would try
to tell you. Steve Kerr, who obviously is one of
(11:03):
the best and smartest basketball minds we have. Steve Kerr
saw Jason Tatum in the Olympics and said, can't use you. Sorry,
would love to, but actually you're not one of our
eight best. And he responded to all of that with
(11:23):
a year where he had an argument he was the
third best player in the league and where there was
no argument whatsoever, he was one of the four best
players in the league. And for that to then and
then let me add another piece to it. After a
(11:47):
kind of rocky game one of the playoffs, but who cared?
They won? It was easy where he got hurt. He
then came back after missing a game, averaging thirty six,
eleven and six the rest of the series. It's like,
(12:10):
holy shit, Jason. This extra level that Bill Simmons has
been swearing on his children exists for years. For Jason Tatum,
we're seeing it. And then in back to back games,
he is twelve of forty two from the field. He
(12:33):
is five of twenty from three. He is a total
and complete non factor in the fourth quarter of these games.
The only play he made last night was when the
Knicks screwed up a switch and he got a wide
open dunk. And now, listen, I'll just tell you what
(12:59):
I say to Kevin Wilds when I face timed him yesterday.
And I know this is going to sound unfair, but
it's just how I feel, and it's not prisoner of
the moment, because I have felt this way about Tatum forever.
(13:20):
He's an excellent player. But what I said to Wilds
is I don't care if the Celtics win the next
three championships, He's never gonna be the best player in
the league. That guy is not the best player in
the league. And I don't even think the reason I
said that to Wilds is because he keeps trying to
(13:41):
force the conversation of Jason Tatum's going to force us
into some really tricky conversations. What do we do with
the twenty seven year old with two rings and four
first Team All nbas and all of this, What does
that mean for where he is historically? And my answer
(14:04):
to that is Tatum is an excellent player. He is
not yet in the We need to evaluate his historical
greatness level, and I don't know that he is going
to be in that conversation. There is and I can't
put my finger on it, but there's something that's just
(14:26):
not there.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yes, and it gets a little tight in big spots,
is what it seems like to me.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Watching the game. It feels to me like if his
three isn't falling, it knocks him off the rest of
his game. And what is And here is the Celtics piece.
And I just did Levotard Show and this is the
point I was trying to make. The Celtics bum three
(15:02):
strategy over the long haul, obviously is just a smart
mathematical strategy. As sample sizes get smaller, you put yourself
more at you know, the mercy of the variants. It's
you know, the team that really originated this strategy was
(15:25):
Darryl Moury's Rockets. But here's why. For Darryl Moury's Rockets,
it made total sense. The team they were trying to beat,
the KD Staph Warriors, was flatly better than them, so
(15:48):
they needed to shake up the snow globe and add
some damn variants. Because if we just go go to
the middle of the rain and trade jabs, we got
no shot. So instead we're gonna throw some wild Haymakers
(16:09):
and risk getting knocked out because that's our chance. This
strategy for the Celtics maybe wouldn't make sense if this
were the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City and they feel
like they're better than us. All year long, they've been better,
(16:31):
they have the better resume. They they're best players, better
than our best player. They're better than us, So let's
add some uncertainty to it. Up twenty points in the
second half against the New York Knicks. The last thing
you want is to add uncertainty. It's it's an insane
(17:03):
It's not an insane way to play. It's insane. Demon's
not to adjust, Yeah, and not to have It's a team,
it's a football team that their identity is chucking it
deep and up ten in the fourth quarter. They refuse
(17:25):
to run the ball that and here's the other piece
of it.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
You've got Jason Tatum. He's six eight, he's an amazing shape.
He can get to the hoop, and it is.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
It is stubbornness that at this point might cost him
their title defense to lose both and it's the first
twenty point lead. I said it tuesday. The Knicks made
that a game faster than any team. I can remember,
(18:06):
it was twenty points, Boston up by twenty with five
and a half left in the third, and it was
a six point game with a minute left in the third.
So the Knicks just in the span of ten possessions
made it a game again. Yesterday was different in that, Yes,
(18:28):
it was twenty and then the Knicks chipped away, but
it was go ahead.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
We were holding it like we stayed out in front,
in front for a minute, and we just kept shooting
the three, and they just kept chipping it away.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
It was fourteen with seven minutes left. And so I
if you look at the Celtics fourth quarter shot chart,
they did, you know, they didn't just shoot threes. It
wasn't the third order in Game three. But there were
(19:02):
just these moments. Most notably was the one Wild's took
the picture of but it is it's a jarring image
where it is eighty six seventy seven. Is that I
want to make sure I have it. I think it's yeah,
(19:25):
or the let me try to pull out I should
just pull up Wild's tweet because it is it's a
wild decision by it's eighty six seventy nine. Pardon me,
and I don't know why this isn't showing me that,
(19:47):
but regardless, don't worry about it. Oh here's why, because
it wasn't. I was like, I thought it was eighty
six because the score. Remember, and here's a sneaky important
part of the game that will be forgotten the history.
The Knicks got an extra point during a time out
because they had called a Jalen Brunson three a two
(20:07):
and then they fixed it. Oh on, Mikale Bridges, pardon me,
And so the score the scoreboard says eighty six seventy nine,
but it was actually eighty six eighty and Derek White
misses a three. McHale Bridges then goes down misses a three,
(20:30):
and Josh Hart tries to save it and starts the
fast break, and all of a sudden and we can
put the image up. Jason Tatum finds himself in this position.
I don't think demons I like it. I well, I
(20:53):
don't think I like shooting that three if I'm the
team trailing by seton seven, Like I, I don't think
it's the smarter move.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
You got a dunk right there, it's not recovering.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
He's probably gonna try to get recovering. And by the way,
it's and here's the other thing. If Jalen Brunson is upright,
you might have a dunk there. Oh yeah, you're seven
inches taller than him. Horford's there. You have a full
(21:29):
head of steam. That is an impossible decision. Now you
can be like, listen, what does Jason Tatum shoot on
corner threes? Blah blah blah. Again, you're ups You're actually
up six, but you think you're up seven. It's bananas.
And the very next possession, we don't have a picture
(21:50):
of it, but Jalen Brown has an alley to the
basket and he takes a pull up three. And so
it's just.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
It is the Knicks just finally want it more, is
what it seems like.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Well, they just wanted certainly more comfortable demands. If it's
close late, yeah, that is undeniable. And the fact that
the Knicks have now won five road playoff games and
they have won them. They have played five road playoff games,
(22:32):
they are five and zero, and they have won those
five games by a combined This is really unbelievable, situants.
They have won those five games by combined ten points
ten one in overtime. They won Game three against Detroit
(22:57):
by two, Game four against Detroit by one, Game six
against Detroit by three, Game one against Boston by three,
and in overtime in Game two against Boston by one.
It is uh. It is a remarkable turn of events.
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slash b ball. All right, let's get on. Go on
to Warriors Sea Wolves.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Warriors won game one on the roll without Steph think
he went out like eight minutes left in the second quarter.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
They still pulled that off. I think he suffered a
hamstring strain. It's gonna be out at least a week.
Do you give the Doves any chance to win without Steph?
Speaker 1 (25:55):
No? And I thought that was a great win by
and I thought Steve Kerr was brilliant and playing thirteen
guys adjusting on the fly, and Buddy healed. Like these
last two games with Buddy Heeld, it reminds you of
how great the Warriors were when they had prime Klay Thompson.
(26:18):
Because the last two games Buddy held has been prime
Klay Thompson. It's been really it's just impressive.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
You give them no chance to win this series? If
Steph is out? Call it? I mean, this is seven
more days? Is the series over by then?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
No?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
They the Warriors could lose like one game.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
The earliest he could be back, realistically is game six
because they play tonight Saturday, so that's game Uh so
let me do it like this. They already played game one.
Tonight is Game two, Saturday is Game three, Monday is
Game four, Wednesday is game five. Then they don't play
(27:02):
Did I do that wrong. They play Thursday, Sat. Yeah,
I did do that. No, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, and
then the next game is Sunday. I think the.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
If the Knicks can go out there and do that
to the Celtics and win the second game, I think
the Warriors can go back and beat them without Steph Curry.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
But it's just I just don't listen. I I don't.
I think Jimmy's been good but not unbelievable by keep hitting. Yes,
I don't. I think Buddy healed is you know, going
to regress more to the mean there? And uh, I
also think and this was, do you guys remember when
(27:51):
the Lakers went down three to one to Minnesota and
I came on here and said, I don't think necessarily
the series is over. It obviously was, but the Lakers'
title hopes are done. And the reason I said was
because now the only way to get out of Round
one is they have to play every other day, win
(28:15):
a Game seven, and then start a series where they're
playing every other day for the entirety of it, basically,
and there are too old and too thin of a
team in order for that to be an effective path. Essentially,
that is now where the Warriors are, and you saw
(28:40):
it immediately. Bite Steph, a player who has never had
a hamstring injury in his life, ended up having to
play every other day against that Rockets defense running around
like that. Windy said that since they've started tracking, this
game seven against Houston was the most like mileage Steph
(29:02):
has run on the court in a game in his career,
and a quarter and a half into the next game
he suffers his first ever hamstring injury. Like that, every
game matters, and the Warriors kind of punted game five
against Houston and then let go of the rope in
(29:23):
the fourth quarter of Game six, and all of a
sudden they find themselves in a Game seven. And then
all of a sudden, you find yourself two days later
playing in a Game one, and even though you win it,
that's the ultimate when the battle lose the war. And
so no, I listen. I think the Timberwolves. We were
talking about three point regression with the Celtics. Timberwolves are
(29:47):
now like twelve of seventy over their last two games
or something insane. And so I don't I think that
when we get it to Game five, it's gonna be
three to one. I think we're gonna be I think
(30:09):
the Minnesota's gonna win. The next three is the short
version of it, and I think it's gonna be three
to one going back to Minnesota. And here's the other piece.
They ruled Steph out a week immediately, so game six
is the earliest he could come back. That's probably not realistic.
(30:29):
But even if he is back for game six, are
you gonna get a fully healthy, fully functional Steph? I
don't know, so, yeah, I think though. I think the
Warriors are done. I think Kur has done a great job.
I think Jimmy's been good and Draymond the last two games,
to go along with what had been great defense, he
(30:49):
actually provided some offensive punch. I don't think any of
that's sustainable. What are your follow ups here?
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Oh, a couple follow ups.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
So Chris Finch, head coach, came out and said, we
had one and a half one point in the first half.
You're the leader of the team and you've got to
come out and set the tone. If your SHOT's not going,
you still have to carry the energy.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
I so.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Chris Finch is not afraid to kind of call out
his star player, and Aunt clearly disagreed with him. Ant said,
you know, I thought I just my shot wasn't falling.
I was still there on defense. I I think Chris
Finch has done a really good job. I also think
that I it wouldn't make sense for Aunt to be tired.
(31:43):
They only played five against the Lakers. It's only round two.
He's twenty three years old. We did see last year
he said he got exhausted by the conference finals. I
am not yet ready to say I think that is happening.
I am ready to say it is something to monitor.
But I think Ant's gonna come out and be outstanding tonight,
(32:04):
and you know, he finally hit some shots and he'll
be fine. So I'm not I'm not panicked about that.
And I also am not as angry at Aunt for
the laughing about the three point shooting. Bru was pissed.
Brew is like he's gotta be more serious. I just
think Ant is so overly confident, that is so incredibly compident.
(32:28):
I should say that sometimes he feels like everything's gonna
be fine, and that can be a gift and a curse.
I think he'll be fine.
Welcome to the Best of the Week for What's Right
with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this
week on the show. Enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
So, yeah, you went.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Off on your on your show yesterday, you called James
Harden the biggest choker in modern sports history?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Was that what you called him? Yeah? Yeah, do you
think that's you think that's fair?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Who else is in the argument? Just tell someone. I
just need someone to tell me who the other contenders are.
And here's the deal. I'm going to pull up these
I'm going to pull up these numbers real quick. So Harden, Lebron,
Steph Durant, those are the four guys of the era.
(00:48):
And as far as just having uh okay, sure, yeah,
maybe I should have included Chris, but I didn't. But
that's and that that's a fair one. But I just
want to give you these numbers. Career playoff games Demons
(01:11):
less than four made baskets. Durant has two, Steph has three,
Lebron has five. Give me a guess for Harden, Just
give a number Harden.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
All right, So you said those guys numbers, I'll go
nine thirty five. Yeah, and those guys have obviously played
a lot more than well.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I don't Harden's played a bunch. I don't Lebron's played
a lot more. But yeah, but you know Harden was Okay,
hold on, that was so again? Thirty five career playoff
games with less than four making How many of those?
Uh A hand? A decent amount? But again he the
(02:01):
only one you can really throw out is the like
his for you want to throw out you know, ten
of those games because it was young, young James Harden,
but he was you know, sixth Man of the year
and going two for ten in the finals. All right,
hold on, I got a couple more for you. Career
(02:21):
playoff games with with under five made baskets. Again, I'll
give you the numbers for everyone else. KD four, Steph eight,
Lebron nine, James Harden fifty five. Okay, yeah? And then
(02:41):
last one career playoff games where you have at least
as many turnovers or more turnovers than made shots Durant seven,
Steph thirteen, Lebron's seventeen James Harden.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
More turnovers than made shot Yes, all right, yeah seven
Steph thirteen, Lebron seventeen, James Harden forty two.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Forty two more turnovers than made shots.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
It's the biggest, right there.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Or as many turnovers as made shots, as many or more.
Uh So, here's the thing. So even if you want
to be like, well, those first two stats were about
you know, he wasn't playing as many minutes he's off
the bench. That clears that up. And it's just demons.
I used to be the biggest hardened defender. He had
(03:41):
such a horrific Game six against San Antonio in twenty
seventeen when Kawhi and Tony Parker were out and the
Rockets lost by thirty nine points that I said, I
thought he had an undiagnosed concussion. It's just and so
(04:02):
there is there is no comp for it. And so
if people want to, we don't have to. It's just
at this point who he is, the moment gets too big.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
It was turning around there for a second.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
He always has these moments. And then it's the game
six or a game seven, and he takes seven shots,
he takes eight shots. He has he has I think
six playoff games where he was two for ten, two
for eleven or two for twelve from the field. Ask
this follow up about Russ and then we'll get to
(04:36):
the Warriors.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
So who do you think will end up having a
better legacy when it's all said and done between Russ
and Harden.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
So I think this is really it depends on what
your value. So Harden's a better all time player, and
like he has, he's gonna have better numbers on better teams,
more of a part of winning. They both won one MVP.
(05:03):
But Russ is going to be an icon and Harden
is going to be a placeholder for choking like to
like in the future. And so the answer is Russ.
(05:25):
Like the answer is definitely Russ.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
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Speaker 1 (06:15):
The Knicks deserve, They deserve to be the story, but
they are not the story. The Knicks deserve to have
us talking about how they have gone to Boston. They
have been down twenty points in the second half in
both of these games. They have not played great, honestly,
(06:37):
in either game. Yesterday, Mikhale Bridges is terrible for the
first three quarters before being awesome. Jalen Brunson is six
of nineteen in the game. With a few minutes left
in the game, he had made four shots and it's
not like he was getting He had made four shots
(06:58):
and gotten to the free throw line once. And they
found a way to win, and they deserve credit for that.
But the story, and we will, I promise we'll spend
a lot of time on the Knicks, but the story
is Boston. The next story is about what I said
on Tuesday, planning for this moment for more than a year,
(07:24):
and there being a lot of similarities to what how
Minnesota was able to beat Denver to what we are
seeing with the Knicks and the Celtics. Let's table those
and we will get to those shortly, because the story
(07:46):
really is the defending champs falling apart in real time
physically and mentally. And now let me make this clear,
I don't think it's over. I don't think like, oh,
no chance the Celtics come back. The Celtics are talented
(08:09):
enough and good enough obviously to win four out of
five against New York. In fact, most people thought they
were going to win four out of five against New York.
They just thought it was gonna be the first five games.
This is gonna be a nice, friendly, gentleman suite. But
we are now here. Everyone's gonna focus on the three
(08:32):
point variants, and I get it, twenty five of one
hundred from three fifteen of sixty in Game one, the
exact same percentage in Game two, except they were ten
of forty. I actually don't think that is that might
(08:53):
be the biggest reason they're down. I don't think that
is the biggest story surround them being down. The biggest
story surrounding them being down is Jason Tatum. And we
gave him all his flowers and all the credit for
(09:15):
what was, without a doubt, at least to my eye,
the best regular season of his career. I understand he
didn't even have. It wasn't the best numbers. He's averaged
almost exactly this many points. He's averaged twenty six point
eight or twenty six point nine points three of the
last four years his you know his numbers in the
(09:36):
one year he did and he averaged thirty. His numbers
have been consistent, his field goal percentage has been consistent.
And it wasn't that he played more games. It was
just this felt like the best Tatum year because you
didn't get a great year from Jalen Brown by his standards,
Horford's a year or older. You saw some real deterioration
(09:58):
from Drew Holliday over the course of the year. And
yet Tatum answered the bell on both ends of the
court every night. And and this is the key piece,
not vkey, but one of the key pieces of it.
Responded from what was a really weird few months for
(10:19):
him where he finally wins a championship, but he's not
the Conference finals MVP. He's not the Finals MVP. He
actually plays some of his worst basketball of the season
last year in the biggest games, most notably those two
(10:40):
series the Conference finals in NBA Finals. Still, it's not
like he was bad, but he just dropped a level
that then was compounded by the fact that Steve Kerr,
who obviously is despite what lunatic Warrior fans would try
to tell you. Steve Kerr, who obviously is one of
(11:03):
the best and smartest basketball minds we have. Steve Kerr
saw Jason Tatum in the Olympics and said, can't use you. Sorry,
would love to, but actually you're not one of our
eight best. And he responded to all of that with
(11:23):
a year where he had an argument he was the
third best player in the league and where there was
no argument whatsoever, he was one of the four best
players in the league. And for that to then and
then let me add another piece to it. After a
(11:47):
kind of rocky game one of the playoffs, but who cared?
They won? It was easy where he got hurt. He
then came back after missing a game, averaging thirty six,
eleven and six the rest of the series. It's like,
(12:10):
holy shit, Jason. This extra level that Bill Simmons has
been swearing on his children exists for years. For Jason Tatum,
we're seeing it. And then in back to back games,
he is twelve of forty two from the field. He
(12:33):
is five of twenty from three. He is a total
and complete non factor in the fourth quarter of these games.
The only play he made last night was when the
Knicks screwed up a switch and he got a wide
open dunk. And now, listen, I'll just tell you what
(12:59):
I say to Kevin Wilds when I face timed him yesterday.
And I know this is going to sound unfair, but
it's just how I feel, and it's not prisoner of
the moment, because I have felt this way about Tatum forever.
(13:20):
He's an excellent player. But what I said to Wilds
is I don't care if the Celtics win the next
three championships, He's never gonna be the best player in
the league. That guy is not the best player in
the league. And I don't even think the reason I
said that to Wilds is because he keeps trying to
(13:41):
force the conversation of Jason Tatum's going to force us
into some really tricky conversations. What do we do with
the twenty seven year old with two rings and four
first Team All nbas and all of this, What does
that mean for where he is historically? And my answer
(14:04):
to that is Tatum is an excellent player. He is
not yet in the We need to evaluate his historical
greatness level, and I don't know that he is going
to be in that conversation. There is and I can't
put my finger on it, but there's something that's just
(14:26):
not there.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yes, and it gets a little tight in big spots,
is what it seems like to me.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Watching the game. It feels to me like if his
three isn't falling, it knocks him off the rest of
his game. And what is And here is the Celtics piece.
And I just did Levotard Show and this is the
point I was trying to make. The Celtics bum three
(15:02):
strategy over the long haul, obviously is just a smart
mathematical strategy. As sample sizes get smaller, you put yourself
more at you know, the mercy of the variants. It's
you know, the team that really originated this strategy was
(15:25):
Darryl Moury's Rockets. But here's why. For Darryl Moury's Rockets,
it made total sense. The team they were trying to beat,
the KD Staph Warriors, was flatly better than them, so
(15:48):
they needed to shake up the snow globe and add
some damn variants. Because if we just go go to
the middle of the rain and trade jabs, we got
no shot. So instead we're gonna throw some wild Haymakers
(16:09):
and risk getting knocked out because that's our chance. This
strategy for the Celtics maybe wouldn't make sense if this
were the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City and they feel
like they're better than us. All year long, they've been better,
(16:31):
they have the better resume. They they're best players, better
than our best player. They're better than us, So let's
add some uncertainty to it. Up twenty points in the
second half against the New York Knicks. The last thing
you want is to add uncertainty. It's it's an insane
(17:03):
It's not an insane way to play. It's insane. Demon's
not to adjust, Yeah, and not to have It's a team,
it's a football team that their identity is chucking it
deep and up ten in the fourth quarter. They refuse
(17:25):
to run the ball that and here's the other piece
of it.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
You've got Jason Tatum. He's six eight, he's an amazing shape.
He can get to the hoop, and it is.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
It is stubbornness that at this point might cost him
their title defense to lose both and it's the first
twenty point lead. I said it tuesday. The Knicks made
that a game faster than any team. I can remember,
(18:06):
it was twenty points, Boston up by twenty with five
and a half left in the third, and it was
a six point game with a minute left in the third.
So the Knicks just in the span of ten possessions
made it a game again. Yesterday was different in that, Yes,
(18:28):
it was twenty and then the Knicks chipped away, but
it was go ahead.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
We were holding it like we stayed out in front,
in front for a minute, and we just kept shooting
the three, and they just kept chipping it away.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
It was fourteen with seven minutes left. And so I
if you look at the Celtics fourth quarter shot chart,
they did, you know, they didn't just shoot threes. It
wasn't the third order in Game three. But there were
(19:02):
just these moments. Most notably was the one Wild's took
the picture of but it is it's a jarring image
where it is eighty six seventy seven. Is that I
want to make sure I have it. I think it's yeah,
(19:25):
or the let me try to pull out I should
just pull up Wild's tweet because it is it's a
wild decision by it's eighty six seventy nine. Pardon me,
and I don't know why this isn't showing me that,
(19:47):
but regardless, don't worry about it. Oh here's why, because
it wasn't. I was like, I thought it was eighty
six because the score. Remember, and here's a sneaky important
part of the game that will be forgotten the history.
The Knicks got an extra point during a time out
because they had called a Jalen Brunson three a two
(20:07):
and then they fixed it. Oh on, Mikale Bridges, pardon me,
And so the score the scoreboard says eighty six seventy nine,
but it was actually eighty six eighty and Derek White
misses a three. McHale Bridges then goes down misses a three,
(20:30):
and Josh Hart tries to save it and starts the
fast break, and all of a sudden and we can
put the image up. Jason Tatum finds himself in this position.
I don't think demons I like it. I well, I
(20:53):
don't think I like shooting that three if I'm the
team trailing by seton seven, Like I, I don't think
it's the smarter move.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
You got a dunk right there, it's not recovering.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
He's probably gonna try to get recovering. And by the way,
it's and here's the other thing. If Jalen Brunson is upright,
you might have a dunk there. Oh yeah, you're seven
inches taller than him. Horford's there. You have a full
(21:29):
head of steam. That is an impossible decision. Now you
can be like, listen, what does Jason Tatum shoot on
corner threes? Blah blah blah. Again, you're ups You're actually
up six, but you think you're up seven. It's bananas.
And the very next possession, we don't have a picture
(21:50):
of it, but Jalen Brown has an alley to the
basket and he takes a pull up three. And so
it's just.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
It is the Knicks just finally want it more, is
what it seems like.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Well, they just wanted certainly more comfortable demands. If it's
close late, yeah, that is undeniable. And the fact that
the Knicks have now won five road playoff games and
they have won them. They have played five road playoff games,
(22:32):
they are five and zero, and they have won those
five games by a combined This is really unbelievable, situants.
They have won those five games by combined ten points
ten one in overtime. They won Game three against Detroit
(22:57):
by two, Game four against Detroit by one, Game six
against Detroit by three, Game one against Boston by three,
and in overtime in Game two against Boston by one.
It is uh. It is a remarkable turn of events.
(23:32):
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to Warriors Sea Wolves.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Warriors won game one on the roll without Steph think
he went out like eight minutes left in the second quarter.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
They still pulled that off. I think he suffered a
hamstring strain. It's gonna be out at least a week.
Do you give the Doves any chance to win without Steph?
Speaker 1 (25:55):
No? And I thought that was a great win by
and I thought Steve Kerr was brilliant and playing thirteen
guys adjusting on the fly, and Buddy healed. Like these
last two games with Buddy Heeld, it reminds you of
how great the Warriors were when they had prime Klay Thompson.
(26:18):
Because the last two games Buddy held has been prime
Klay Thompson. It's been really it's just impressive.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
You give them no chance to win this series? If
Steph is out? Call it? I mean, this is seven
more days? Is the series over by then?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
No?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
They the Warriors could lose like one game.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
The earliest he could be back, realistically is game six
because they play tonight Saturday, so that's game Uh so
let me do it like this. They already played game one.
Tonight is Game two, Saturday is Game three, Monday is
Game four, Wednesday is game five. Then they don't play
(27:02):
Did I do that wrong. They play Thursday, Sat. Yeah,
I did do that. No, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, and
then the next game is Sunday. I think the.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
If the Knicks can go out there and do that
to the Celtics and win the second game, I think
the Warriors can go back and beat them without Steph Curry.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
But it's just I just don't listen. I I don't.
I think Jimmy's been good but not unbelievable by keep hitting. Yes,
I don't. I think Buddy healed is you know, going
to regress more to the mean there? And uh, I
also think and this was, do you guys remember when
(27:51):
the Lakers went down three to one to Minnesota and
I came on here and said, I don't think necessarily
the series is over. It obviously was, but the Lakers'
title hopes are done. And the reason I said was
because now the only way to get out of Round
one is they have to play every other day, win
(28:15):
a Game seven, and then start a series where they're
playing every other day for the entirety of it, basically,
and there are too old and too thin of a
team in order for that to be an effective path. Essentially,
that is now where the Warriors are, and you saw
(28:40):
it immediately. Bite Steph, a player who has never had
a hamstring injury in his life, ended up having to
play every other day against that Rockets defense running around
like that. Windy said that since they've started tracking, this
game seven against Houston was the most like mileage Steph
(29:02):
has run on the court in a game in his career,
and a quarter and a half into the next game
he suffers his first ever hamstring injury. Like that, every
game matters, and the Warriors kind of punted game five
against Houston and then let go of the rope in
(29:23):
the fourth quarter of Game six, and all of a
sudden they find themselves in a Game seven. And then
all of a sudden, you find yourself two days later
playing in a Game one, and even though you win it,
that's the ultimate when the battle lose the war. And
so no, I listen. I think the Timberwolves. We were
talking about three point regression with the Celtics. Timberwolves are
(29:47):
now like twelve of seventy over their last two games
or something insane. And so I don't I think that
when we get it to Game five, it's gonna be
three to one. I think we're gonna be I think
(30:09):
the Minnesota's gonna win. The next three is the short
version of it, and I think it's gonna be three
to one going back to Minnesota. And here's the other piece.
They ruled Steph out a week immediately, so game six
is the earliest he could come back. That's probably not realistic.
(30:29):
But even if he is back for game six, are
you gonna get a fully healthy, fully functional Steph? I
don't know, so, yeah, I think though. I think the
Warriors are done. I think Kur has done a great job.
I think Jimmy's been good and Draymond the last two games,
to go along with what had been great defense, he
(30:49):
actually provided some offensive punch. I don't think any of
that's sustainable. What are your follow ups here?
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Oh, a couple follow ups.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
So Chris Finch, head coach, came out and said, we
had one and a half one point in the first half.
You're the leader of the team and you've got to
come out and set the tone. If your SHOT's not going,
you still have to carry the energy.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
I so.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Chris Finch is not afraid to kind of call out
his star player, and Aunt clearly disagreed with him. Ant said,
you know, I thought I just my shot wasn't falling.
I was still there on defense. I I think Chris
Finch has done a really good job. I also think
that I it wouldn't make sense for Aunt to be tired.
(31:43):
They only played five against the Lakers. It's only round two.
He's twenty three years old. We did see last year
he said he got exhausted by the conference finals. I
am not yet ready to say I think that is happening.
I am ready to say it is something to monitor.
But I think Ant's gonna come out and be outstanding tonight,
(32:04):
and you know, he finally hit some shots and he'll
be fine. So I'm not I'm not panicked about that.
And I also am not as angry at Aunt for
the laughing about the three point shooting. Bru was pissed.
Brew is like he's gotta be more serious. I just
think Ant is so overly confident, that is so incredibly compident.
(32:28):
I should say that sometimes he feels like everything's gonna
be fine, and that can be a gift and a curse.
I think he'll be fine.
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Colin Cowherd
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