June 12, 2025 • 41 mins
Jason Smith & Mike Harmon discuss how the Indiana Pacers are starting to feel like a team of destiny as they take a 2-1 lead over the OKC Thunder in the NBA Finals.
Jason Smith: "We just watched the Pacers beat the Thunder in a game in which the Pacers didn't do their best things really well, which is hit threes and get superstar games from their star players, but it didn't matter. They were still able to win...they seem like a team of destiny."
Mike Harmon: "It has been a magical run. No question about it in terms of balance and definition...they are there at the end and they're all fresh because everybody contributes. They are just hungrier, the overlooked players are always hungrier, and this is a perfect moment in time where the Pacers have all of these players at one time."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hello, Welcome inside Final Hour tonight The Jason Smith Show
with my best friend Mike Harmon. Paces take Game three
of the NBA Finals one sixteen, one oh seven. They
lead the series two games to one. We'll have more
on this game coming up in about twenty minutes. Meanwhile,
you know, the more I think about it, I need
(00:50):
to stage an intervention. I need to stay. I need
to be the one.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
You need to be the.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Guy that gets the Internet generate guys leading it. I
need to give the intervention. You're giving the idy to
give the intervention.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So like a sermon or a graduation ceremony speech. You
got your tassle and everything. No, it's gonnause. I didn't
say tassoles. It's tassle.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
It's gonna no it's gonna be it's it is graduation season,
but it's gonna be much more pointed than that. It's
not gonna be. As you walk from our halloaed hauls
into your futures, understand that the world, no, no, it's
it's gonna be a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
You have one of the things already written in case
someone asks you to do it right and break glass
in case of emergency.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And here's the best part. I don't need other people
because you the intervention. You get a whole bunch of people,
like we're all gonna sit down, all the friends or family.
I just I just need me, I just need You're enough?
Is anybody else coming? Just one chair? I to sit down.
I got to sit down. I gotta sit down with you,
James Dolan and you Leon Rose, and I gotta tell you, hey, Nix,
stop embarrassing yourselves. Okay. In thirty six hours, thirty six hours,
(01:55):
the Knicks went from boy, we are an absolute destination.
We have a head coaching opening. We need that next
coach to take us to the next level. That may
here we are. We have a superstar that everybody loves coaching.
Everybody loves Jalen Brunson. We have a star studded roster.
Look how far we got, boy, we just need that coach.
(02:15):
This is gonna be anybody's gonna want this job. And
in thirty six hours it's become an absolute embarrassment, an
absolute embarrassment. And now the Knicks are oh for seven
seven I think now the number of teams or coaches
who have told them, yeah, we're not going to give
you permission to talk to our guys, Well, that's just
what that we know about, right, That's what I mean. Right,
(02:36):
So I mean right, it's it started to at least
it's it started. Look, we talked to Mark Stein last
night and mark Stein said, look, I reported right after,
you know, the day Tims got fired. The two names
he was hearing the most were Jason Kidd Emeodoka right
at both their teams, the Rockets and the Mavericks said no,
you can't talk to our head coach. Okay, no permission.
(02:57):
So oh for two Timberwolves they wanted to talk to
Chris Finch. Oh for three Quinn Snyder, head coach to
the Hawks. Yeah, because Trey Young plays well in MSG
once a year. H the Hawks said, no, can't talk
to our guy. Okay, the Bulls and Billy Donovan not
even Billy Donovan from like two thousand and nine. Billy
(03:18):
Donovan now and the bull said no, Jay Wright, head
coach of Villanova, come coach, and Novia Nicks No, I'm
pretty much retired, non starter. Yeah, this is an absolute
embarrassment because you can you can try to dress it
up and say, well, the Knicks aren't being told no
by the code, being told no by the teams. No, no, no.
If any of these guys wanted the job, they would
(03:40):
say no, no, I'm interested, I want to talk to
this I want this job. And once a coach says
that we talked about this last night. Once a coach
says that he's not going back to coaching that team.
Now you have to take that leap and go, okay, no, no,
I want to talk to you. And I know that
I'm comfortable if I want this job, bat that I
(04:00):
know that if I don't get it, I know I'm
not going back to my old team. That's okay, right,
because there's no way. Jason Kidd says, Hey, I really
want this job. I really want to talk to the
next or. Chris Finch says it or email Udoka and
it doesn't work out and they go back to coach
their teams. It doesn't happen. I mean, you can always
take me call, doesn't you know? It doesn't happen these
code because the players would say the coach wants to go,
(04:22):
there'd be no confidence that they would rip. Whatever relationship
they had with the players is done. The fan base
would revolt. It would be an awful situation. All you
have to do is say I'm interested, and the team
loses their trump card and it's okay. Now we're just
we're trying to figure out compensation because so and so
said they want to go, right. But that's how this
(04:42):
is such an embarrassment. And I really the Nicks, I'm like,
stop calling teams and asking for permission. Okay, just because
you're single doesn't mean you can start calling people saying, hey,
I'm single now, and I really I really like your
girlfriend guy permission to ask her to the problem. No,
I'm not stop doing it. Stop doing it right, it's
not going to happen. And all you're doing is going over.
(05:04):
The Knicks are now for six, oh for seven because
none of these guys have said yes. Now, maybe Jason.
I agree with Rick Bucker. We've talked about this in
the first hour of the show. I agree that I
don't think Jason Kid the know from the Mavericks is
an absolute no, because Kid, there are reports that there
was mutual interest. So maybe this could be the Mavericks
drawing a line in the sand saying you want Jason Kidd,
we want Karl Anthony Towns, or we want Oganno Nobi
(05:26):
or whatever it's going to be. So that could be
part of it, but it's so incredibly embarrassing for the
Knicks who now can't see Now it looks like you
can't find a guy. Now looks like there's nobody who
wants the job. And worse than that, I don't know
anybody you would call right now and say we want
you where you feel like you're the solution. You're at
(05:48):
the point where it's like, okay, maybe we get an
up and coming assistant that we think might be good.
Because everybody wants to feel special. Right when you get
interviewed for a job, you want to feel special. You
don't want to know that, hey, I'm one of seventeen candidates. Well, okay,
that sounds great. On theory. But if you're the seventeenth
candidate and the other sixteen guys all said no, you
don't feel great about taking that job? Chris Finch and
(06:10):
kid and U don't, guy? How special can you feel
when it's like, well, they asked me for permission, but
they also ask seventeen other teams. Fine, I'm not special.
Why would I risk losing this job when the team
asked for permission to talk to me, when they ask
for a whole bunch of other people as well. I'm
not gonna put my career at risk with this team,
(06:31):
with the Mavericks or the Rockets or the te Wolves,
when clearly the Knicks are okay talking to me. But
am I their guy? I know that I'm their guy.
If one of those guys knows, hey, we want you,
all right, it's a little bit easier for that coach
to say, yes, I want to go there because I
know i'll interview and I'm going to get that job,
and I'm going to go to the Knicks and I'm
gonna have a great coaching job. None of these guys. Now,
(06:53):
I'm not commid from any of these guys going, well,
do they really like me? Or did they just blanketly
throwing out they did. They send a mass email out
to all the different owner PCs and everybody. Oh wait,
Cuban doesn't make those calls where hey, delete, delete, delete,
delete the lead. Who else do I send that to?
Do I send it to Nico Harrison? Do I gotta
go up? But what do I do? Like, so they've
biffed the part of the special part where the candidates
(07:14):
want to feel like, Hey, I'm okay taking this risk.
The Knicks of in thirty six hours went from we're
at destination to really don't know what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I think some of it though, like from the team
perspective of you like your coach, but if you're looking
at the Knicks roster and you know it's now open
season and you can start asking for the world if
they do decide they want your guy players make the team, right,
I mean, we could talk about the coach being the
difference maker, you know, if you're on the edge, like
we're talking about with Rick Carlisle. And we'll get back
(07:43):
into it with the NBA Finals in a minute, But
in general, it's like, wait, I can get an All
Star player perhaps and some draft picks for my guy.
I mean I like him a lot, Unlike in Dallas.
He just re signed Jason Kidd on the strength of
what going on. Well, that deal was signed before you
trade it away. Luca Daci, Yeah, so does he love
(08:05):
the job the same as he did six months ago.
I'm gonna go out of the limb and say, even
with Cooper Flag coming in, he doesn't. Kyrie Irving may
not be back. Klay Thompson's old gives you the old
college try stay healthy, shaky. I mean, look, you're looking
at the basketball gods and you built a giant shrine,
you built a megachurch praying to all the basketball gods
for those guys to stay healthy, to get you through
(08:27):
a season.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
The only way the Knicks and bringing up the only
way the Knicks get a win in this situation is
if they come back and it's Jason Kidd, if all
this goes through, because Kid was one of the first
names out there, Look, the first name there, but you
didn't know if you were gonna get him. So the
Knicks talk to some other people and want and look,
and that's why you look having guys like Mark stein
on because they break it down so well for saying that. Hey,
(08:49):
the next phase with Jason Kidd is that the Knicks
are gonna then say they're moving on to other people.
And that's gonna either force the Mavericks to act or
force Jason Kidd to act. And if they do and
they say, wait a minute, I want this job. Okay,
that's different, or the Knicks will move on. And that's
exactly where we're at right now. Where okay Jason Kidding,
the Mavericks officially say no, because the Knicks had to
get to this point they kind of if kids your guy,
(09:12):
you have to ask the Mavericks because when they say no,
then that forces Jason getting Okay, dude, it's up to you.
If you want this job, you gotta tell them. So
that's the that's the only win they get is if
they go back and get the guy who was there
from the beginning and it just turns out to be
a long thing. But I don't feel confident about that
right now. I know the Knicks have a plan other
than hey, we needed to move on from Tibbs, which
(09:32):
I get you did, but at the same time, it's well,
you can't be told no by all of these teams.
Got to channel the hell out of this and that
who's gonna say yes? And where you're gonna go, So
it looks like you're in charge of this and you
make the Knicks seem like they're still a destination. That's
the thing.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
The back channeling that clearly has not been done, or
trenches that got built and someone saw it and covered
it up. Well, I don't know what's going on here.
Why is this dirt? Like, no, let's put it back,
like you just ruined my days of planning. Uh, and
what I was doing because it wasn't communicated. Well, But
for all these teams, I can understand saying, look, I
(10:09):
like my coach, but let's see how desperate they are. Right,
whether it's the Mavericks or even if it was Houston
or any of these other teams, the Bulls. How desperate
are they to get my guy into their coach's chair. Yeah,
because it's not a Hey, let's see if we can
screw them and this guy will become the first assistant
(10:29):
and now they're without they're ruddless without a coach. No,
there's plenty of guys that are available. So I'm curious
of the strategy. Like if you got to sit down
with Rose and Doligun. So let's let's let's talk about this.
Why just guys that already have jobs, you like that
they signed a contract, that they were able and amenable to.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Come to terms. Well, they must be good because they
have jobs. I mean, I'm just saying they're better than
guys that don't have jobs, so they must be good. Like,
what have you heard about Taylor Jenkins?
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Because I tried to Chance and Jenkins at the beginning,
we're talking about offense, like and we say, to hell
with defense enforcing Bruns and Carlson. Let's run up the
offensive side as best we can, and then again the
backfilling to the defensive guys when it comes down to
the rest of your starting rotation, all the way.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Into your bench.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
But you've got a lot of guys with great resumes
that are sitting out there. So what is it about
a guy with the job that really attracts you. It's
like I love a man in uniform or what.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Ones was a suit. It's kind of like this is
kind of how people see How do I okay, people
who are married and have been like you get in
your forties and fifties, and people who are married, and
you think, oh, well, that person must be really a
really good husband or wife because they've been married for
twenty some odd years. Meanwhile, they could be absolute lunatics.
(11:56):
You don't know what happens behind closed doors, but the
general perception is, well, they have to be okay to
be mad because you look, getting divorced now happens. It happens.
I mean what I read some I read somewhere that like,
in the next twenty years, it could be more step
families than actual you know, nuclear families. Like it's crazy,
but you know, well, okay, they must be okay if
they're married for the you know, for twenty years, but
(12:17):
they gave he must be redeemable somehow or she must
be redeeable somehow, and you have to look, you know,
I'm gonna catch obviously, but like, but you know, not
behind closed doors, like you know, oh my goodness, you
don't know what goes on with that relationship. It's absolutely insane.
It's like War the Roses. So I gotta explain the
millennials of the movie War the Roses. Kathleen Turner and
Michael Douglass. They hate each other, they stay married at
(12:37):
the end and they both die, they kill each other basically,
and Kathleen Turner's anyway, great movie, great movie. I love
the end where where Michael Douglas puts his arm on
on Kathleen Turner show, like, hey, everything is gonna be great,
and she puts her hand there and just flicks his
arm up. Still reads them. But that's kind of the
philosophy of well, they must be, you know. But at
the same time, it's like, okay, maybe not now if
(13:01):
you're going big game hunting, right, Like I get Jason Kidd,
I get Eric spolstra I get you know which, I
keep trying to make Eric Spolstrapp the one guy what
they're calling everybody, the one guy they haven't called his spolster,
but get stop stop but that stop you stop. That's
not gonna stop me. But I joked about it yesterday.
I stop.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
They they should call Billy for Billy Donovan because he's
been there for a long time.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
And they did. He's underachieving in Chicago for a long time.
Like I get the big Game. That's an extension at
the Ryan's door. But really, but I'm like, okay, Donovan
and Quinn Snyder, like really, that's we're at so far,
we're down. We're down to Quinn Snyder and Billy Donovan.
That's where A ran well. I mean Quinn Snyder.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
You saw how he was able to get the best
out of Trey Young at the garden. If you could
do that at home forty one times a year with
whatever magic words he had, it's sarcasm, Bucket.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I really the Knixt, I mean they. I can't get
over how fast they went from We're the next to
now Yeah, no, same old, We're back to being the
same old next man, same old next. We can't get
anybody to come in and be the head coach. It
doesn't matter where. We're gonna biff this search entirely right
from the beginning, and we're going to show you we
really don't know what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
There's still like thirty five guys that are waiting for that.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
How many more names tomorrow? Three more names tomorrow? Four
more names tomorrow? How many wait? Tomorrow is only Thursday.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
We still have two more days of this just for
this week, only fifteen.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
More days to the draft. So I would say tomorrow,
maybe we find out the Cavs say no for Atkinson.
The Celtics say no. From Missoula. I think that tomorrow
that might work outright, very good? Yeah, find out. I
mean they got to go in thirty six hours. How
do you completely ruin your image in thirty six I
mean we've seen it at Hollywood h here, but you
(14:45):
can do that pretty fast. Thirty six hours you've done that.
Oh my goodness. Exit out about at Fresco Exit Swallen Dome.
Jason Smith, Mike Carman live from the Fox Sports radios. Dude,
forget docs here too. Stop. Okay, we're going to talk
about that because you need to stop trying to make
doc Rivers happen. One guy can't stop. Not gonna call
him right now. You never stopped, never stopping. Look, we'll
get you there, We'll get we'll get to that, and
(15:07):
I'm gonna get doc rivers phone over from you. Also,
we got that coming up next. And how are the
Pacers two games away from winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
We tell you the two reasons why, and it's something
you haven't heard. Break down of the Pacers up until
this point of the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Thanks all, it's very good, very good. Those are the
two reasons. That's number one headway number two.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Two reasons you haven't heard up until this point in
the playoffs, and I'm sure you'll now hear him tomorrow
and on TV and on the radio. Destiny that's coming
up next right here, Jason and Mike, this is Fox
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Speaker 2 (16:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Fox Sports Radio. On The Jason Smith Show with my
best friend Mike Harmon. Now, I guess it goes to
say something where after Game three, Pacers come from behind,
they beat the thunder take a two games to one lead.
The person I was most interested in hearing from following
(17:06):
the game tonight, it's probably Kelsey Plum. Yeah, No, you're right,
what's Carlisle gonna say? You know, what's SGA gonna say?
What's Halliburton gonna say? You know, maybe Halliburton says something funny,
But Kelsey Plumb has become Hey wait, I want to
see what she has to say after game. You like
that video I sent you from the last game, Oh
my goodness, that was outstanding.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I don't know that we could have edited that properly
to where it's still had meaning. There were so many
explotives thrown in about officiating.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, and I'm like, wait a minute, you know she
played her old team tonight and the Sparks beat the Aces,
and the Aces are just absolutely foundering right now. And
oh okay, you know what, what what did Kelsey Plumb
have to say following the She's become like must listen TV?
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Well, I mean you look at the talking about falls
and officiating all the way through, I mean tonight, as
you look at the game in ninety seven eighty nine,
is your fine? Don't uh did get to the free
throw line nine times? Had been complaining she only got
there you know six? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so you
took the.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Over yeah yeah, tonight that yeah, And that's what makes
her so much fun? Is that? Look for part of
the WNBA waiting for Kitlyn Clark to come back and
maybe scares back on something was that the Indiana Pacers
PACs are undefeated when Clark is at games. Kelsey Plump,
did she take her time to heal?
Speaker 5 (18:23):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yeah on the beach and then she stabs him in
the back and go uh? Is that looked so much
of the of what said right now, we're looking at
the personalities of the players in the w right, We're
putting the personalities of Kitlyn Clark and Angel Reese and
and Asian Wilson and all these players and Brianna Stewart.
But you know, the the the discussion really has been
in an area that gets a little tired, you know,
(18:47):
the jealousy and the race angle of different things. And
it's a conversation that you know, w NBA doesn't want
this to happen, right, But this has been the conversation
of jealousy for Kitlyn Clark and and and that's been
a story now for all over the past. Like Kelsey
Plumb is, Hey, I got stuff to say about what
goes on on the court, and I'm really pissed off,
like you had the big posters were saying, I can't
(19:08):
believe Paige Becker's is talking smack to me, like these
rookies are saying, I don't believe it. Like that went viral.
And then what she said after last game, I get hacked,
I get hit, I got scratched over me and they
don't call blank and fouls and I blank don't get
to the free throat line. And you see coach is
just sitting next to her nodding your head.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
You said, I'm banking done, but it sits back and
Coach leaning.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Like, all right, how do I follow what Kelsey Plumb is.
I want to hear. I want to hear more about this.
This is outstanding. I got some thoughts, Kelsey Plumb, maybe
is gonna be that that loose cannon that part. I'm
just going to tell you what I thought. Okay, it's
on the court, and this is what I don't like,
and this is out it's being officiated. Yeah, give me
more of that.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Well, I mean, look, the veteran players want their dam
and the sun now too, right, I mean, everybody paying
attention to the rookies and second year. I'm still trying
to translate what all went down in that back and
forth with Paige Beckers, because I couldn't quite understand what
Becker's was saying.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I think the next time I play, I'm gonna score
on you from right here, something like that. This is
my spot on the court were I'm gonna score on
you on. And that's why Kelsey Plump said, okay, you
heard it right here first whatever it was, okay, that's well,
she was clear what she was saying, like with Becker's
trying to translate because she was kind of covering up
her face almost like she didn't want the person.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
With the camera to hear what she had to say.
But all of that, you know that the veterans want
their day in the sun too. Write with the new
found audience and exposure and everything else, like here's my
opportunity to shine, and after the last game, she certainly
took every opportunity.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I don't I don't know what the find was. Did
you see a disclosure of that I know, or did they.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Just applaud her saying we got something else that was
an angel recent gatelin.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I think they just said, hey, don't do it again,
because that's like as bad. You know, that's like a
now that's like what the maximum fine in the NBA,
like how she went off of appreciated like the maximum
find you.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Because it wasn't just that wow that you know, there
were a couple of calls I didn't like. It was
blank this guy and that I.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Found every single time I go to the wreck, I
got scratches all over me and I only got six
free throws. That was the best.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
I'm nice to the guys, I pray before they get like.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
You went and full in Oh yeah, yeah, great speech
exit out about a Fresca exit Swallen Dome, Jason Smith,
Mike Harmon live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Now
game three, I did not a lot of crazy stuff
was said after Game three. Look, the Pacers, you know,
talked about, you know, being halfway to their goal. And
you know, there's two big things about Indiana to saying
the next few minutes. Number one thing is something that
(21:39):
we kind of said half kiddingly a week ago, and
that is that, you know, hey boy, that the Pacers
kind of seem like maybe they're a team of destiny.
And now after tonight it's, oh, maybe the Pacers are
a team of destiny, Like they have everything you would
need in a team. Like at the end, if they
win the title with the back and go, how are
we so stupid? All the signs were there, all the
(22:02):
comebacks the first round against the Bucks, right, sending the
Cavaliers home, that's not enough. Beating the Knicks with an
all time comeback we've never seen before in NBA history.
In Game one, right, Halliburton's dad is allowed to come
back to the games, and Halliburton has the best game
of his career. In Game four, right, I talked about
Caitlin Clark. There undefeated when she comes to the games.
Reggie Miller broadcast in the games. Here they are in
(22:24):
the NBA Finals. Now they're winning a big shot by
Halliburton in Game one. Whenever they need something, Benedict Mathrin
comes off the bench and scores thirty eight points in
four minutes like he did tonight. Like it really seems
like they're the Team of Destiny, like and you couldn't
write it out more. And it's like they went from
this little engine that could what a great story. They
are small market Indiana patients. Now, oh wait a minute minute,
(22:46):
they're doing everything you would expect of a team. And hey,
we're a team of Do you look up Team of
Destiny in the dictionary. It's a picture of our guys
on that page.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
It's funny. Six days ago I retweeted it a little
bit earlier. You posited that. Five days ago it started
to make the round. So thanks for listening, y'all for
being on board with the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon.
Evangelize to your friends and neighbors. But it is a
curious squad right fourth quarters the ice in the veins
(23:15):
from Haliburton on down, and we know his just insane
stats in the final two minutes of games to tie
a game or go ahead, just his his shooting percentage,
just through the roof, and he's gotten all the accolades
for that. As a he fills the box score across
the way. There's there's no question about it. But the
(23:36):
number of other players, whether it be Nie Smith, your
nemesis and nem hard Obi Toppin as a guy with
the flush on the put back dunks or a guy
piling up three point shots as we've seen him do
in other games throughout these playoffs. It's just a hero
(23:57):
all the way down the roster going ten d And
we talked with Rick Buker about it.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
When you talk about.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
What you're able to do with Carlisle and how he
was utilizing the bench and monitoring minutes and getting guys
rest early, knowing that late they were going to need
a surge to take care of business at home. I mean,
it's been a masterclass all across and for a roster
that was.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Middling in the regular season, fifty wins.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Well from January first on down, only one team had
more wins and right now they're up on two games
to one, So.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Why are they up two games one. Why is suddenly
this Pacers team? Why have they gone from Hey, they're
a great story too. Woll wait, they're two games away
from winning the title. This is a team and getting
to Halliburton because this is another top we talked on
the show. Is that. Listen, if you're a great player,
I need you to be motivated all the time, not
just motivated when someone says you're overrated, or when you're
(24:53):
coming off you have a bad game because you're just
brain cramp, whatever it is. So I need a little
bit more from Tyrese Halliburton as far as that goes, right,
if you're a great player, you can't take a couple
of games off in the series where you just don't
get into it right. Anthony Edwards did that and that's
why he's home. Well, but most of his work is
done at the in the scoring right.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Sure, as at least with Haliburton, you see you're seeing
other contributions.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
But the two big words I'm gonna throw at you
in the next couple of minutes. Number one is overlooked
because this is a Pacers team that is filled with
guys who have been overlooked at some point in their career,
including their head coach, Rick Carlisle, who's got a championship,
but nobody talks about him as one of the great
head coaches in the NBA. You get a list a
(25:35):
great head coach and we go is Steve Curry, Eric Spolstra,
and then you look for, well, Mizula just won the
title last year, and you go, you don't. Rick Carlisle
never comes to mind, right, But this is a team
that he has put together that is deep, that is
able to play at a high tempo all the time
because you can play. He plays nine guys coming off
the bench a lot of minutes. But you look at
(25:55):
the players that he relies on. Over half the guys
on the team have all been overlooked at some point
in their career and they are feeding off of that.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
Now.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Look, Halliburton's been feeding off the players who said he
was overrated for the entire playoff right now. He is
a guy that got drafted by the Kings, got traded
to the Pacers, and then we got to the Pacers. Bang,
he became an elite level player. Right He's been dealing
with overlooked in his career. Pascal siakam dealing with being
overlooked in his career because on those great Toronto teams, well,
(26:25):
it was obviously Kawhi Leonard, it was also Fred van Vliet,
Pascal Siakam. He's playing like Pete Kevin Durant in this playoff, right,
TJ McConnell, who's been overlooked throughout his career. Hey, no
one's gonna give him a starting job and be a
guy playing twenty nine minutes a game. But in the
ten to fifteen minutes he plays off the bench, he
comes on with a motor that he becomes instantly the
(26:45):
most dislike player on the court. Like he's a guy
in pickup that you just want to foul hard all
the time because he just buses you off. That he's
always yeah, yeah, yeah, give me the ball, yeah yah
yeah yeah. Like that's TJ McConnell. But that's what players
who were overlooked look like. Mathern, who's coming off the
bench still for the Pacers, even though he was a
big scorer coming out of Arizona. He's always done this.
You know, he's coming up on the end of his
(27:06):
rookie deal. He wants a big contract. Wait, I'm more
than just a bench player. I gotta show you what
I can do. It's a perfect moment in time for them,
because this is not something that you can sustain for
season after season and play. Hey, I've been overlooked. I've
been overlooked. But this is you're talking about four or
five players, and I could throw Niesmith in there too,
and I can throw Nembard and Miles Turner, who's been
overlooked his entire career. He's played with the Pacers and
(27:28):
he's been pretty good and pretty consistent. He'll always hit
a three now at the end of the game, and
you think, why that was this guy hitting a three
right now? No, and it's an awkward looking bank. But
this is one moment where you can play that card.
And they're all playing the overlooked card. And nobody is hungrier,
because that's the second word I'm gonna give you. Nobody
is hungrier to win a game and the Pacers are.
(27:49):
Doesn't mean other players other teams don't want to win
and there lazy and they quit. But the Pacers just
take that to the next level. Like you see when
you see Halliburton go to the bench, go to the bench,
You think, okay, most teams it's let's try to play
the next few minutes even right, Let's not get let's
not give the lead away. Like Jalen Brunson when he
goes to the bench, the Nick say, well, maybe with
(28:09):
Duce McBride, we keep the lead at you know, where
we are at eight, or maybe you know, if we
lose one point, maybe we gain a point. But the
Pacers bench comes out and it's we're going to extend
this lead. And it's Matherin coming in and taking all
kinds of shots and hitting them, and it's McConnell being
a ten to five guy, and it's obi Topping talk
about being overlooked. Another guy that couldn't even get on
(28:30):
the court with the Knicks because well they brought him
along slow and he played Julius Randall's position. The Knicks thought,
you know, we have a guy who's really good to
plays your position. There's nowhere to go for you, so
we'll trade you away. Top and wants to show I
want to start someplace. I've been overlooked my whole career.
The overlooked and the hungry in it, and the hunger
that these guys have when they're out there, like they
(28:50):
out hunger everybody. They out hunger everybody they play against.
And again it's not like the Thunder, I feel like
they're flat. But it's just that this Pacers team, this month,
moment in time, is taking that chip on their shoulder
of being overlooked in the hunger and they are manifesting
it in the best way possible.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yeah, Coddle the first ten to five and five off
the bench in finals history. So there you go, because
we have a stat for everything, don't you know, ten
years in long career to get to this point. But
to go back to Rick Carlisle, let's go back to
the head of the snake as it were.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Would you realize that he if they equaled their win
total from this year the Pacers, he will pass Rick
Adelman to be the tenth winningest head coach in NBA history. Yeah,
very quiet, Oh yeah, yeah right, because twenty eleven is
a long time ago. Back to see what he looked
like in twenty eleven compared to what he looked like now,
(29:44):
and you go, oh, he has been around a long time. Wow,
Rick Carlisle, Robert Carlisle, I mean, you know, you go
for twenty eight days later, twenty eight weeks later, you
see the difference in Robert. No, that's it. But just
to say the consistent Robert Carlin.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Stuff didn't start getting a little lot stuff. That's nicely
done everybody. But yeah, he's got nine hundred and ninety
three career regular season wins. So the models of consistency
and why he's been through every test, and you see
it in this squad in the fourth quarter. Go back
to Game one, right, the shooting acumen, but taking care
(30:22):
of the basketball after a miserable start. You know, in
game adjustments. We can joke about it and chuckle about,
you know, the whiteboard and whatever else. It's clear time
and again that when it comes to the fourth quarter
this team has a focus. They were down again today.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
What happened.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Great possessions defensively, great rotations limiting the thunder to bad
looks and a bunch of free throws right, and taking
care of business on the offensive end. Again, it doesn't
matter who the star of the day is. Everybody gets
fed and everybody gets him into the winning circle. So
like you're looking at a squad that it's pretty fun.
(31:01):
So six days ago kind of ingest about the pick
of destiny, the team of destiny picked up a bunch.
Thank you again for listening. But here we are on
the cusp of the Indiana Pacers. Someone out there is
holding one hundred and twenty five to one diket.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Telling you overlooked hunger, two biggest things about the Pacer.
I'm hungry. Let's get a taco. Tell you how to
find out what's trending in the wide world of sports.
So someone who's been called the John Halliburt and the
Fox Sports Radio. Huh, she's been banned from NBA arenas. Oh,
it's Monty Belaga, but they've let me back in. Okay, good,
So we're good. Joe sitting a booth behind glass like him.
(31:38):
You know, I'm not.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
Allowed to give you the full details of my many
situation is exactly you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah, I got it exactly. Yeah, guys, I'm with you.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
I did not think that the Pacers could get this far,
scoring by committee, and that's really what it's been. It
does seem like a team of destiny, hunger, desperation, underrated
over whatever it is. But Pacers now have a two
to one lead over the Thunder in the NBA Finals,
coming out on top one sixteen to one oh seven. Yeah,
Pacers were down in the fourth quarter and we've seen
(32:10):
them come back and still win the game, outscoring OKC
thirty two to eighteen.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Tyrese Haliburn was just shy have a triple double.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
But ben Adict Mathrin off the bench, was the leading
scorer of the game. He had twenty seven points. Shake
Gil just Alexander twenty four points, only three came in
the fourth quarter. He also had eight rebounds and four assists.
Okase made one shot in the final like six minutes
of the game. It was a Jayalen Williams shot that
put them up to one hundred and they ended one
oh seven. Those other seven points were just free throws
(32:39):
that they hit. Here is Rick Carlisle, head coach of
the Pacers after the game.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
TJ just brought a will, competitive will to the game.
You know, Mathurn jumped in there and immediately was aggressive
and got the ball in the basket. And you know, look,
this is the kind of team that we are. We
need everybody to be ready. It's not always going to
be exact eactly the same guys that are stepping up
with scoring and stuff like that, but you know this
(33:04):
is this is how we got to do it, and
we got to do it as a team, and and
you know, we got to make it as hard as
possible on them.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Yeah, Team of Destiny and Game four will be on Friday.
Not to be confused in some games have had three
days of rest in between.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Other Friday Friday, the fourth Friday. Yay Friday, Friday, July
fourth is the next game. Yeah, sure sure.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
Chicago Sports Network reports that the Knicks requested to speak
to Bulls head coach Billy Donovan about their head coaching vacancy,
but we're denied.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
So added the Bulls to the list. Also were denied.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
Yes, so it's not looking so hot for them. And
Baseball Met's pitcher David Peterson toss a complete game shutout
in New York defeated the Nationals five zero. Juan Soto
has also had a two run homer. The Dodgers top
the Padres in San Diego five to two. The Giants
have won seven in a row after rolling past the
Rockies ten to seven.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
So, with all that being said, manci who has the
best record in baseball? Right now? You know who has
the best record in baseball? Now?
Speaker 5 (34:08):
I don't have that in front of me, right, the Dodgers.
If you don't have the Mets have the best record
in baseball, I have forty four and twenty and twenty four.
The Tigers are right there.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
They're forty four and twenty five. The Tigers. Yeah, the Tigers.
Not the Tigers.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
The Tigers say. Lost to the Orioles.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
It got crushed by Baltimore ten to one. Aaron Judge
did his twenty fifth homer of the season as a
Yankees outscored the Royals six to three. Angels completed a
three game sweep of the A's with a six to
five win. In the WNBA, the Storm outscored the Links
ninety for eighty four. Handy Minnesota their first loss of
the season, and the NFLPA says that Eagles running back
Saquon Barkley led all NFL players in sales of officially
(34:50):
licensed products from March twenty twenty four to February twenty
twenty five, the first running back to take the number
one spot since Ezekiel Elliott in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Way back when he was good. Ago.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Yeah, it seems like a like a whole lifetime ago.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Right, Oh, guys, that was fun. Back to you. Thanks
a bunch of monsie yes. Coming up next, well, we'll
have a big bold prediction for Game four of the
NBAF I mean a big bold prediction for one star
for Game four of the NBA Final. I'll tell you
why this series is going seven. That's next. Jason to Mike.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Fox Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with My best
friend Mike Harmon. Can't get away pace, just take Game three.
We'll have a big Bowl prediction for Game four coming
up in a minute. But the Thunder to a man
after tonight's game, talked about the unforced errors they had
tonight that you know, SGA saying, listen, we made a
(35:52):
lot of mistakes and the Pacers are a good team.
They took advantage of them. Not a lot of panic,
which is good. But you want to ride that line
a little bit from everything is fine to we have
to have the biggest sense of urgency right now. You
don't want to go down three to one, clean up, sloppiness,
all that. So you want to be able to do that.
And I get it and look, and this is why
this series is going seven, which is great for everybody. Right,
(36:13):
the series goes seven because neither team has the ability
to just throw the hammer down and say we're we
after a couple of games, we got the lay of
the land. Now we're gonna outdo you and we're taking
control of this series. Right. It's a game by game
thing where a team is gonna win a game. The
next game the other team is gonna adjust because these
are two best teams in the NBA. Now, the Thunder
(36:35):
been the best team all season. What I said after
Game two, Hey, the bench is gonna play big for
the Pacers. They're going home mathering tonight, tuddah. But eventually
game four, the Thunder will find a way to adjust
to the Pacers and you're gonna get a big performance.
It's gonna be two two going back to Oklahoma City.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Well you're going big with SGA and I saw you
scrolling forty down on your.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Sh that's the thing, that's my bolt. But for game four,
Gildas Alexander knows he didn't have a great game tonight.
Now for everybody, which I'd love to have a bad
game where I score twenty four and shoot basically forty
eight percent from the floor. But you saw big misshots late,
you saw turnovers, you saw a couple of plays where
defensive league. That's right. He just didn't look like he
(37:20):
even cared. You know, the big in your face. I know, hey,
he's gonna give me forty eight minutes. Now I know
what I expect. Like, now, that was not it. Why
did I pick the thunder because I know SGA is
always gonna compete, And what did I see him do tonight?
Sometimes he quit like he missed that big shot in
the final minute and then just watched Sakham run down
(37:40):
behind him for a layup that was an eight point
lead and the game was over right, Like, that's not
what SGA does. This guy is the MVP of the league,
and I have confidence that he understands the kind of
game that he had and he can't have that again.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
No, otherwise you're gonna look at people verbally, they're gonna
get him. Billy Batch treatment verse read that you've got
to come out with a sense of urgency, Like the
turnovers were.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Terrible, like they were unforced and the only loppy play
he got to the free throw line six times tonight,
which is not what he does, and so I feel
pretty confident MVPs know when they got an MVP, right sga, Hey,
MVP got an MVP. Game four, he scores forty a
near triple double, the Thunder win, and they go back
(38:28):
to Oklahoma City tied to to like this is this
is this is when MVP's MVP and he's going for
a forty burger near triple double. Game five will be
okay now to the Thunder out control of the series.
It'll be too two going back. But watch the game
he has in Game four.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
Yeah, Thunder with an imperfect game, no doubt. Even through
the three quarters, right had a five point lead. You
saw Chet started fast, didn't have much late. Lou Dord
had his four to three point shots very quiet once again.
Fourth quarter Pacers defense and pace on offense creating issues
and bad possessions for the Thunders. So uh yeah, I
(39:07):
wrapped attention. The Thunder are a six point road favorite,
up from five and a half for Game three.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Which is a little weird and it's kind of a
trap line that whoa wait, so the Pacers have to
winning this game. They're dogs for Game four. Oh, I'm
going Pacers and say, hey, let's rake this.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Still he is still dogs for the series, but it
feels like a trap game thirty.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Yeah, it feels like a trap game clear, But it's
like they could take it. They could win the series
basically if they take Game four at home where they
just won. And still that's where we're at under minus
six thunder thunder and Game four SGA forty and a
near triple double. And he does it, and we're talking
about wow, MVP man, the MVP stands up, the MVP
(39:47):
has a great game, and what do we get. That's
what's gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Well, and Alex Krusolli have a much better game than
he did today. Minus fifteen and a non factor off
the bench.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Not many people were big factors, not the very quiet
only eighteen bench points. Yeah, the thunder and and and
and the other thing the Pacers have done that that
I think you're gonna see a bit of a change
in Game four is that nobody has navigated the final
six minutes of playoffs like the Pacers out in recent history.
Nobody does it. Nobody dominates the final six minutes like
(40:19):
the Pacers do. Right tonight, the Thunder had one bucket
in the final six minutes, but six minutes coming and
again ten years I think I've seen since led go
back to the Warriors the first time with their dynasty
where they were able to control the end of games
like this, the Pacers have been able to do it.
Thunder flip the script in game four. In the end,
(40:39):
they throw the hammer down. They take Game four, and
then it's all about Carlisle. Oh well, the Knicks call
h Randy Carlyle, former defenseman of the Pittsburgh Penguines. Don't Carlisle,
You know.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
Carlisle, former point guard for the Northwestern Wildcat Carlile who.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Ran the Vampire family in the In the Flight Carlisle
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Foxsports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every night on the
iHeartRadio app by searching FSR ever give.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hello, Welcome inside Final Hour tonight The Jason Smith Show
with my best friend Mike Harmon. Paces take Game three
of the NBA Finals one sixteen, one oh seven. They
lead the series two games to one. We'll have more
on this game coming up in about twenty minutes. Meanwhile,
you know, the more I think about it, I need
(00:50):
to stage an intervention. I need to stay. I need
to be the one.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
You need to be the.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Guy that gets the Internet generate guys leading it. I
need to give the intervention. You're giving the idy to
give the intervention.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So like a sermon or a graduation ceremony speech. You
got your tassle and everything. No, it's gonnause. I didn't
say tassoles. It's tassle.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
It's gonna no it's gonna be it's it is graduation season,
but it's gonna be much more pointed than that. It's
not gonna be. As you walk from our halloaed hauls
into your futures, understand that the world, no, no, it's
it's gonna be a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
You have one of the things already written in case
someone asks you to do it right and break glass
in case of emergency.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And here's the best part. I don't need other people
because you the intervention. You get a whole bunch of people,
like we're all gonna sit down, all the friends or family.
I just I just need me, I just need You're enough?
Is anybody else coming? Just one chair? I to sit down.
I got to sit down. I gotta sit down with you,
James Dolan and you Leon Rose, and I gotta tell you, hey, Nix,
stop embarrassing yourselves. Okay. In thirty six hours, thirty six hours,
(01:55):
the Knicks went from boy, we are an absolute destination.
We have a head coaching opening. We need that next
coach to take us to the next level. That may
here we are. We have a superstar that everybody loves coaching.
Everybody loves Jalen Brunson. We have a star studded roster.
Look how far we got, boy, we just need that coach.
(02:15):
This is gonna be anybody's gonna want this job. And
in thirty six hours it's become an absolute embarrassment, an
absolute embarrassment. And now the Knicks are oh for seven
seven I think now the number of teams or coaches
who have told them, yeah, we're not going to give
you permission to talk to our guys, Well, that's just
what that we know about, right, That's what I mean. Right,
(02:36):
So I mean right, it's it started to at least
it's it started. Look, we talked to Mark Stein last
night and mark Stein said, look, I reported right after,
you know, the day Tims got fired. The two names
he was hearing the most were Jason Kidd Emeodoka right
at both their teams, the Rockets and the Mavericks said no,
you can't talk to our head coach. Okay, no permission.
(02:57):
So oh for two Timberwolves they wanted to talk to
Chris Finch. Oh for three Quinn Snyder, head coach to
the Hawks. Yeah, because Trey Young plays well in MSG
once a year. H the Hawks said, no, can't talk
to our guy. Okay, the Bulls and Billy Donovan not
even Billy Donovan from like two thousand and nine. Billy
(03:18):
Donovan now and the bull said no, Jay Wright, head
coach of Villanova, come coach, and Novia Nicks No, I'm
pretty much retired, non starter. Yeah, this is an absolute
embarrassment because you can you can try to dress it
up and say, well, the Knicks aren't being told no
by the code, being told no by the teams. No, no, no.
If any of these guys wanted the job, they would
(03:40):
say no, no, I'm interested, I want to talk to
this I want this job. And once a coach says
that we talked about this last night. Once a coach
says that he's not going back to coaching that team.
Now you have to take that leap and go, okay, no, no,
I want to talk to you. And I know that
I'm comfortable if I want this job, bat that I
(04:00):
know that if I don't get it, I know I'm
not going back to my old team. That's okay, right,
because there's no way. Jason Kidd says, Hey, I really
want this job. I really want to talk to the
next or. Chris Finch says it or email Udoka and
it doesn't work out and they go back to coach
their teams. It doesn't happen. I mean, you can always
take me call, doesn't you know? It doesn't happen these
code because the players would say the coach wants to go,
(04:22):
there'd be no confidence that they would rip. Whatever relationship
they had with the players is done. The fan base
would revolt. It would be an awful situation. All you
have to do is say I'm interested, and the team
loses their trump card and it's okay. Now we're just
we're trying to figure out compensation because so and so
said they want to go, right. But that's how this
(04:42):
is such an embarrassment. And I really the Nicks, I'm like,
stop calling teams and asking for permission. Okay, just because
you're single doesn't mean you can start calling people saying, hey,
I'm single now, and I really I really like your
girlfriend guy permission to ask her to the problem. No,
I'm not stop doing it. Stop doing it right, it's
not going to happen. And all you're doing is going over.
(05:04):
The Knicks are now for six, oh for seven because
none of these guys have said yes. Now, maybe Jason.
I agree with Rick Bucker. We've talked about this in
the first hour of the show. I agree that I
don't think Jason Kid the know from the Mavericks is
an absolute no, because Kid, there are reports that there
was mutual interest. So maybe this could be the Mavericks
drawing a line in the sand saying you want Jason Kidd,
we want Karl Anthony Towns, or we want Oganno Nobi
(05:26):
or whatever it's going to be. So that could be
part of it, but it's so incredibly embarrassing for the
Knicks who now can't see Now it looks like you
can't find a guy. Now looks like there's nobody who
wants the job. And worse than that, I don't know
anybody you would call right now and say we want
you where you feel like you're the solution. You're at
(05:48):
the point where it's like, okay, maybe we get an
up and coming assistant that we think might be good.
Because everybody wants to feel special. Right when you get
interviewed for a job, you want to feel special. You
don't want to know that, hey, I'm one of seventeen candidates. Well, okay,
that sounds great. On theory. But if you're the seventeenth
candidate and the other sixteen guys all said no, you
don't feel great about taking that job? Chris Finch and
(06:10):
kid and U don't, guy? How special can you feel
when it's like, well, they asked me for permission, but
they also ask seventeen other teams. Fine, I'm not special.
Why would I risk losing this job when the team
asked for permission to talk to me, when they ask
for a whole bunch of other people as well. I'm
not gonna put my career at risk with this team,
(06:31):
with the Mavericks or the Rockets or the te Wolves,
when clearly the Knicks are okay talking to me. But
am I their guy? I know that I'm their guy.
If one of those guys knows, hey, we want you,
all right, it's a little bit easier for that coach
to say, yes, I want to go there because I
know i'll interview and I'm going to get that job,
and I'm going to go to the Knicks and I'm
gonna have a great coaching job. None of these guys. Now,
(06:53):
I'm not commid from any of these guys going, well,
do they really like me? Or did they just blanketly
throwing out they did. They send a mass email out
to all the different owner PCs and everybody. Oh wait,
Cuban doesn't make those calls where hey, delete, delete, delete,
delete the lead. Who else do I send that to?
Do I send it to Nico Harrison? Do I gotta
go up? But what do I do? Like, so they've
biffed the part of the special part where the candidates
(07:14):
want to feel like, Hey, I'm okay taking this risk.
The Knicks of in thirty six hours went from we're
at destination to really don't know what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I think some of it though, like from the team
perspective of you like your coach, but if you're looking
at the Knicks roster and you know it's now open
season and you can start asking for the world if
they do decide they want your guy players make the team, right,
I mean, we could talk about the coach being the
difference maker, you know, if you're on the edge, like
we're talking about with Rick Carlisle. And we'll get back
(07:43):
into it with the NBA Finals in a minute, But
in general, it's like, wait, I can get an All
Star player perhaps and some draft picks for my guy.
I mean I like him a lot, Unlike in Dallas.
He just re signed Jason Kidd on the strength of
what going on. Well, that deal was signed before you
trade it away. Luca Daci, Yeah, so does he love
(08:05):
the job the same as he did six months ago.
I'm gonna go out of the limb and say, even
with Cooper Flag coming in, he doesn't. Kyrie Irving may
not be back. Klay Thompson's old gives you the old
college try stay healthy, shaky. I mean, look, you're looking
at the basketball gods and you built a giant shrine,
you built a megachurch praying to all the basketball gods
for those guys to stay healthy, to get you through
(08:27):
a season.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
The only way the Knicks and bringing up the only
way the Knicks get a win in this situation is
if they come back and it's Jason Kidd, if all
this goes through, because Kid was one of the first
names out there, Look, the first name there, but you
didn't know if you were gonna get him. So the
Knicks talk to some other people and want and look,
and that's why you look having guys like Mark stein
on because they break it down so well for saying that. Hey,
(08:49):
the next phase with Jason Kidd is that the Knicks
are gonna then say they're moving on to other people.
And that's gonna either force the Mavericks to act or
force Jason Kidd to act. And if they do and
they say, wait a minute, I want this job. Okay,
that's different, or the Knicks will move on. And that's
exactly where we're at right now. Where okay Jason Kidding,
the Mavericks officially say no, because the Knicks had to
get to this point they kind of if kids your guy,
(09:12):
you have to ask the Mavericks because when they say no,
then that forces Jason getting Okay, dude, it's up to you.
If you want this job, you gotta tell them. So
that's the that's the only win they get is if
they go back and get the guy who was there
from the beginning and it just turns out to be
a long thing. But I don't feel confident about that
right now. I know the Knicks have a plan other
than hey, we needed to move on from Tibbs, which
(09:32):
I get you did, but at the same time, it's well,
you can't be told no by all of these teams.
Got to channel the hell out of this and that
who's gonna say yes? And where you're gonna go, So
it looks like you're in charge of this and you
make the Knicks seem like they're still a destination. That's
the thing.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
The back channeling that clearly has not been done, or
trenches that got built and someone saw it and covered
it up. Well, I don't know what's going on here.
Why is this dirt? Like, no, let's put it back,
like you just ruined my days of planning. Uh, and
what I was doing because it wasn't communicated. Well, But
for all these teams, I can understand saying, look, I
(10:09):
like my coach, but let's see how desperate they are. Right,
whether it's the Mavericks or even if it was Houston
or any of these other teams, the Bulls. How desperate
are they to get my guy into their coach's chair. Yeah,
because it's not a Hey, let's see if we can
screw them and this guy will become the first assistant
(10:29):
and now they're without they're ruddless without a coach. No,
there's plenty of guys that are available. So I'm curious
of the strategy. Like if you got to sit down
with Rose and Doligun. So let's let's let's talk about this.
Why just guys that already have jobs, you like that
they signed a contract, that they were able and amenable to.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Come to terms. Well, they must be good because they
have jobs. I mean, I'm just saying they're better than
guys that don't have jobs, so they must be good. Like,
what have you heard about Taylor Jenkins?
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Because I tried to Chance and Jenkins at the beginning,
we're talking about offense, like and we say, to hell
with defense enforcing Bruns and Carlson. Let's run up the
offensive side as best we can, and then again the
backfilling to the defensive guys when it comes down to
the rest of your starting rotation, all the way.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Into your bench.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
But you've got a lot of guys with great resumes
that are sitting out there. So what is it about
a guy with the job that really attracts you. It's
like I love a man in uniform or what.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Ones was a suit. It's kind of like this is
kind of how people see How do I okay, people
who are married and have been like you get in
your forties and fifties, and people who are married, and
you think, oh, well, that person must be really a
really good husband or wife because they've been married for
twenty some odd years. Meanwhile, they could be absolute lunatics.
(11:56):
You don't know what happens behind closed doors, but the
general perception is, well, they have to be okay to
be mad because you look, getting divorced now happens. It happens.
I mean what I read some I read somewhere that like,
in the next twenty years, it could be more step
families than actual you know, nuclear families. Like it's crazy,
but you know, well, okay, they must be okay if
they're married for the you know, for twenty years, but
(12:17):
they gave he must be redeemable somehow or she must
be redeeable somehow, and you have to look, you know,
I'm gonna catch obviously, but like, but you know, not
behind closed doors, like you know, oh my goodness, you
don't know what goes on with that relationship. It's absolutely insane.
It's like War the Roses. So I gotta explain the
millennials of the movie War the Roses. Kathleen Turner and
Michael Douglass. They hate each other, they stay married at
(12:37):
the end and they both die, they kill each other basically,
and Kathleen Turner's anyway, great movie, great movie. I love
the end where where Michael Douglas puts his arm on
on Kathleen Turner show, like, hey, everything is gonna be great,
and she puts her hand there and just flicks his
arm up. Still reads them. But that's kind of the
philosophy of well, they must be, you know. But at
the same time, it's like, okay, maybe not now if
(13:01):
you're going big game hunting, right, Like I get Jason Kidd,
I get Eric spolstra I get you know which, I
keep trying to make Eric Spolstrapp the one guy what
they're calling everybody, the one guy they haven't called his spolster,
but get stop stop but that stop you stop. That's
not gonna stop me. But I joked about it yesterday.
I stop.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
They they should call Billy for Billy Donovan because he's
been there for a long time.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
And they did. He's underachieving in Chicago for a long time.
Like I get the big Game. That's an extension at
the Ryan's door. But really, but I'm like, okay, Donovan
and Quinn Snyder, like really, that's we're at so far,
we're down. We're down to Quinn Snyder and Billy Donovan.
That's where A ran well. I mean Quinn Snyder.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
You saw how he was able to get the best
out of Trey Young at the garden. If you could
do that at home forty one times a year with
whatever magic words he had, it's sarcasm, Bucket.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I really the Knixt, I mean they. I can't get
over how fast they went from We're the next to
now Yeah, no, same old, We're back to being the
same old next man, same old next. We can't get
anybody to come in and be the head coach. It
doesn't matter where. We're gonna biff this search entirely right
from the beginning, and we're going to show you we
really don't know what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
There's still like thirty five guys that are waiting for that.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
How many more names tomorrow? Three more names tomorrow? Four
more names tomorrow? How many wait? Tomorrow is only Thursday.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
We still have two more days of this just for
this week, only fifteen.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
More days to the draft. So I would say tomorrow,
maybe we find out the Cavs say no for Atkinson.
The Celtics say no. From Missoula. I think that tomorrow
that might work outright, very good? Yeah, find out. I
mean they got to go in thirty six hours. How
do you completely ruin your image in thirty six I
mean we've seen it at Hollywood h here, but you
(14:45):
can do that pretty fast. Thirty six hours you've done that.
Oh my goodness. Exit out about at Fresco Exit Swallen Dome.
Jason Smith, Mike Carman live from the Fox Sports radios. Dude,
forget docs here too. Stop. Okay, we're going to talk
about that because you need to stop trying to make
doc Rivers happen. One guy can't stop. Not gonna call
him right now. You never stopped, never stopping. Look, we'll
get you there, We'll get we'll get to that, and
(15:07):
I'm gonna get doc rivers phone over from you. Also,
we got that coming up next. And how are the
Pacers two games away from winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
We tell you the two reasons why, and it's something
you haven't heard. Break down of the Pacers up until
this point of the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Thanks all, it's very good, very good. Those are the
two reasons. That's number one headway number two.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Two reasons you haven't heard up until this point in
the playoffs, and I'm sure you'll now hear him tomorrow
and on TV and on the radio. Destiny that's coming
up next right here, Jason and Mike, this is Fox
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Speaker 2 (16:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Fox Sports Radio. On The Jason Smith Show with my
best friend Mike Harmon. Now, I guess it goes to
say something where after Game three, Pacers come from behind,
they beat the thunder take a two games to one lead.
The person I was most interested in hearing from following
(17:06):
the game tonight, it's probably Kelsey Plum. Yeah, No, you're right,
what's Carlisle gonna say? You know, what's SGA gonna say?
What's Halliburton gonna say? You know, maybe Halliburton says something funny,
But Kelsey Plumb has become Hey wait, I want to
see what she has to say after game. You like
that video I sent you from the last game, Oh
my goodness, that was outstanding.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I don't know that we could have edited that properly
to where it's still had meaning. There were so many
explotives thrown in about officiating.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, and I'm like, wait a minute, you know she
played her old team tonight and the Sparks beat the Aces,
and the Aces are just absolutely foundering right now. And
oh okay, you know what, what what did Kelsey Plumb
have to say following the She's become like must listen TV?
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Well, I mean you look at the talking about falls
and officiating all the way through, I mean tonight, as
you look at the game in ninety seven eighty nine,
is your fine? Don't uh did get to the free
throw line nine times? Had been complaining she only got
there you know six? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so you
took the.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Over yeah yeah, tonight that yeah, And that's what makes
her so much fun? Is that? Look for part of
the WNBA waiting for Kitlyn Clark to come back and
maybe scares back on something was that the Indiana Pacers
PACs are undefeated when Clark is at games. Kelsey Plump,
did she take her time to heal?
Speaker 5 (18:23):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yeah on the beach and then she stabs him in
the back and go uh? Is that looked so much
of the of what said right now, we're looking at
the personalities of the players in the w right, We're
putting the personalities of Kitlyn Clark and Angel Reese and
and Asian Wilson and all these players and Brianna Stewart.
But you know, the the the discussion really has been
in an area that gets a little tired, you know,
(18:47):
the jealousy and the race angle of different things. And
it's a conversation that you know, w NBA doesn't want
this to happen, right, But this has been the conversation
of jealousy for Kitlyn Clark and and and that's been
a story now for all over the past. Like Kelsey
Plumb is, Hey, I got stuff to say about what
goes on on the court, and I'm really pissed off,
like you had the big posters were saying, I can't
(19:08):
believe Paige Becker's is talking smack to me, like these
rookies are saying, I don't believe it. Like that went viral.
And then what she said after last game, I get hacked,
I get hit, I got scratched over me and they
don't call blank and fouls and I blank don't get
to the free throat line. And you see coach is
just sitting next to her nodding your head.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
You said, I'm banking done, but it sits back and
Coach leaning.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Like, all right, how do I follow what Kelsey Plumb is.
I want to hear. I want to hear more about this.
This is outstanding. I got some thoughts, Kelsey Plumb, maybe
is gonna be that that loose cannon that part. I'm
just going to tell you what I thought. Okay, it's
on the court, and this is what I don't like,
and this is out it's being officiated. Yeah, give me
more of that.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Well, I mean, look, the veteran players want their dam
and the sun now too, right, I mean, everybody paying
attention to the rookies and second year. I'm still trying
to translate what all went down in that back and
forth with Paige Beckers, because I couldn't quite understand what
Becker's was saying.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I think the next time I play, I'm gonna score
on you from right here, something like that. This is
my spot on the court were I'm gonna score on
you on. And that's why Kelsey Plump said, okay, you
heard it right here first whatever it was, okay, that's well,
she was clear what she was saying, like with Becker's
trying to translate because she was kind of covering up
her face almost like she didn't want the person.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
With the camera to hear what she had to say.
But all of that, you know that the veterans want
their day in the sun too. Write with the new
found audience and exposure and everything else, like here's my
opportunity to shine, and after the last game, she certainly
took every opportunity.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I don't I don't know what the find was. Did
you see a disclosure of that I know, or did they.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Just applaud her saying we got something else that was
an angel recent gatelin.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I think they just said, hey, don't do it again,
because that's like as bad. You know, that's like a
now that's like what the maximum fine in the NBA,
like how she went off of appreciated like the maximum
find you.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Because it wasn't just that wow that you know, there
were a couple of calls I didn't like. It was
blank this guy and that I.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Found every single time I go to the wreck, I
got scratches all over me and I only got six
free throws. That was the best.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
I'm nice to the guys, I pray before they get like.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
You went and full in Oh yeah, yeah, great speech
exit out about a Fresca exit Swallen Dome, Jason Smith,
Mike Harmon live from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Now
game three, I did not a lot of crazy stuff
was said after Game three. Look, the Pacers, you know,
talked about, you know, being halfway to their goal. And
you know, there's two big things about Indiana to saying
the next few minutes. Number one thing is something that
(21:39):
we kind of said half kiddingly a week ago, and
that is that, you know, hey boy, that the Pacers
kind of seem like maybe they're a team of destiny.
And now after tonight it's, oh, maybe the Pacers are
a team of destiny, Like they have everything you would
need in a team. Like at the end, if they
win the title with the back and go, how are
we so stupid? All the signs were there, all the
(22:02):
comebacks the first round against the Bucks, right, sending the
Cavaliers home, that's not enough. Beating the Knicks with an
all time comeback we've never seen before in NBA history.
In Game one, right, Halliburton's dad is allowed to come
back to the games, and Halliburton has the best game
of his career. In Game four, right, I talked about
Caitlin Clark. There undefeated when she comes to the games.
Reggie Miller broadcast in the games. Here they are in
(22:24):
the NBA Finals. Now they're winning a big shot by
Halliburton in Game one. Whenever they need something, Benedict Mathrin
comes off the bench and scores thirty eight points in
four minutes like he did tonight. Like it really seems
like they're the Team of Destiny, like and you couldn't
write it out more. And it's like they went from
this little engine that could what a great story. They
are small market Indiana patients. Now, oh wait a minute minute,
(22:46):
they're doing everything you would expect of a team. And hey,
we're a team of Do you look up Team of
Destiny in the dictionary. It's a picture of our guys
on that page.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
It's funny. Six days ago I retweeted it a little
bit earlier. You posited that. Five days ago it started
to make the round. So thanks for listening, y'all for
being on board with the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon.
Evangelize to your friends and neighbors. But it is a
curious squad right fourth quarters the ice in the veins
(23:15):
from Haliburton on down, and we know his just insane
stats in the final two minutes of games to tie
a game or go ahead, just his his shooting percentage,
just through the roof, and he's gotten all the accolades
for that. As a he fills the box score across
the way. There's there's no question about it. But the
(23:36):
number of other players, whether it be Nie Smith, your
nemesis and nem hard Obi Toppin as a guy with
the flush on the put back dunks or a guy
piling up three point shots as we've seen him do
in other games throughout these playoffs. It's just a hero
(23:57):
all the way down the roster going ten d And
we talked with Rick Buker about it.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
When you talk about.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
What you're able to do with Carlisle and how he
was utilizing the bench and monitoring minutes and getting guys
rest early, knowing that late they were going to need
a surge to take care of business at home. I mean,
it's been a masterclass all across and for a roster
that was.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Middling in the regular season, fifty wins.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Well from January first on down, only one team had
more wins and right now they're up on two games
to one, So.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Why are they up two games one. Why is suddenly
this Pacers team? Why have they gone from Hey, they're
a great story too. Woll wait, they're two games away
from winning the title. This is a team and getting
to Halliburton because this is another top we talked on
the show. Is that. Listen, if you're a great player,
I need you to be motivated all the time, not
just motivated when someone says you're overrated, or when you're
(24:53):
coming off you have a bad game because you're just
brain cramp, whatever it is. So I need a little
bit more from Tyrese Halliburton as far as that goes, right,
if you're a great player, you can't take a couple
of games off in the series where you just don't
get into it right. Anthony Edwards did that and that's
why he's home. Well, but most of his work is
done at the in the scoring right.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Sure, as at least with Haliburton, you see you're seeing
other contributions.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
But the two big words I'm gonna throw at you
in the next couple of minutes. Number one is overlooked
because this is a Pacers team that is filled with
guys who have been overlooked at some point in their career,
including their head coach, Rick Carlisle, who's got a championship,
but nobody talks about him as one of the great
head coaches in the NBA. You get a list a
(25:35):
great head coach and we go is Steve Curry, Eric Spolstra,
and then you look for, well, Mizula just won the
title last year, and you go, you don't. Rick Carlisle
never comes to mind, right, But this is a team
that he has put together that is deep, that is
able to play at a high tempo all the time
because you can play. He plays nine guys coming off
the bench a lot of minutes. But you look at
(25:55):
the players that he relies on. Over half the guys
on the team have all been overlooked at some point
in their career and they are feeding off of that.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
Now.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Look, Halliburton's been feeding off the players who said he
was overrated for the entire playoff right now. He is
a guy that got drafted by the Kings, got traded
to the Pacers, and then we got to the Pacers. Bang,
he became an elite level player. Right He's been dealing
with overlooked in his career. Pascal siakam dealing with being
overlooked in his career because on those great Toronto teams, well,
(26:25):
it was obviously Kawhi Leonard, it was also Fred van Vliet,
Pascal Siakam. He's playing like Pete Kevin Durant in this playoff, right,
TJ McConnell, who's been overlooked throughout his career. Hey, no
one's gonna give him a starting job and be a
guy playing twenty nine minutes a game. But in the
ten to fifteen minutes he plays off the bench, he
comes on with a motor that he becomes instantly the
(26:45):
most dislike player on the court. Like he's a guy
in pickup that you just want to foul hard all
the time because he just buses you off. That he's
always yeah, yeah, yeah, give me the ball, yeah yah
yeah yeah. Like that's TJ McConnell. But that's what players
who were overlooked look like. Mathern, who's coming off the
bench still for the Pacers, even though he was a
big scorer coming out of Arizona. He's always done this.
You know, he's coming up on the end of his
(27:06):
rookie deal. He wants a big contract. Wait, I'm more
than just a bench player. I gotta show you what
I can do. It's a perfect moment in time for them,
because this is not something that you can sustain for
season after season and play. Hey, I've been overlooked. I've
been overlooked. But this is you're talking about four or
five players, and I could throw Niesmith in there too,
and I can throw Nembard and Miles Turner, who's been
overlooked his entire career. He's played with the Pacers and
(27:28):
he's been pretty good and pretty consistent. He'll always hit
a three now at the end of the game, and
you think, why that was this guy hitting a three
right now? No, and it's an awkward looking bank. But
this is one moment where you can play that card.
And they're all playing the overlooked card. And nobody is hungrier,
because that's the second word I'm gonna give you. Nobody
is hungrier to win a game and the Pacers are.
(27:49):
Doesn't mean other players other teams don't want to win
and there lazy and they quit. But the Pacers just
take that to the next level. Like you see when
you see Halliburton go to the bench, go to the bench,
You think, okay, most teams it's let's try to play
the next few minutes even right, Let's not get let's
not give the lead away. Like Jalen Brunson when he
goes to the bench, the Nick say, well, maybe with
(28:09):
Duce McBride, we keep the lead at you know, where
we are at eight, or maybe you know, if we
lose one point, maybe we gain a point. But the
Pacers bench comes out and it's we're going to extend
this lead. And it's Matherin coming in and taking all
kinds of shots and hitting them, and it's McConnell being
a ten to five guy, and it's obi Topping talk
about being overlooked. Another guy that couldn't even get on
(28:30):
the court with the Knicks because well they brought him
along slow and he played Julius Randall's position. The Knicks thought,
you know, we have a guy who's really good to
plays your position. There's nowhere to go for you, so
we'll trade you away. Top and wants to show I
want to start someplace. I've been overlooked my whole career.
The overlooked and the hungry in it, and the hunger
that these guys have when they're out there, like they
(28:50):
out hunger everybody. They out hunger everybody they play against.
And again it's not like the Thunder, I feel like
they're flat. But it's just that this Pacers team, this month,
moment in time, is taking that chip on their shoulder
of being overlooked in the hunger and they are manifesting
it in the best way possible.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yeah, Coddle the first ten to five and five off
the bench in finals history. So there you go, because
we have a stat for everything, don't you know, ten
years in long career to get to this point. But
to go back to Rick Carlisle, let's go back to
the head of the snake as it were.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Would you realize that he if they equaled their win
total from this year the Pacers, he will pass Rick
Adelman to be the tenth winningest head coach in NBA history. Yeah,
very quiet, Oh yeah, yeah right, because twenty eleven is
a long time ago. Back to see what he looked
like in twenty eleven compared to what he looked like now,
(29:44):
and you go, oh, he has been around a long time. Wow,
Rick Carlisle, Robert Carlisle, I mean, you know, you go
for twenty eight days later, twenty eight weeks later, you
see the difference in Robert. No, that's it. But just
to say the consistent Robert Carlin.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Stuff didn't start getting a little lot stuff. That's nicely
done everybody. But yeah, he's got nine hundred and ninety
three career regular season wins. So the models of consistency
and why he's been through every test, and you see
it in this squad in the fourth quarter. Go back
to Game one, right, the shooting acumen, but taking care
(30:22):
of the basketball after a miserable start. You know, in
game adjustments. We can joke about it and chuckle about,
you know, the whiteboard and whatever else. It's clear time
and again that when it comes to the fourth quarter
this team has a focus. They were down again today.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
What happened.
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Great possessions defensively, great rotations limiting the thunder to bad
looks and a bunch of free throws right, and taking
care of business on the offensive end. Again, it doesn't
matter who the star of the day is. Everybody gets
fed and everybody gets him into the winning circle. So
like you're looking at a squad that it's pretty fun.
(31:01):
So six days ago kind of ingest about the pick
of destiny, the team of destiny picked up a bunch.
Thank you again for listening. But here we are on
the cusp of the Indiana Pacers. Someone out there is
holding one hundred and twenty five to one diket.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Telling you overlooked hunger, two biggest things about the Pacer.
I'm hungry. Let's get a taco. Tell you how to
find out what's trending in the wide world of sports.
So someone who's been called the John Halliburt and the
Fox Sports Radio. Huh, she's been banned from NBA arenas. Oh,
it's Monty Belaga, but they've let me back in. Okay, good,
So we're good. Joe sitting a booth behind glass like him.
(31:38):
You know, I'm not.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
Allowed to give you the full details of my many
situation is exactly you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah, I got it exactly. Yeah, guys, I'm with you.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
I did not think that the Pacers could get this far,
scoring by committee, and that's really what it's been. It
does seem like a team of destiny, hunger, desperation, underrated
over whatever it is. But Pacers now have a two
to one lead over the Thunder in the NBA Finals,
coming out on top one sixteen to one oh seven. Yeah,
Pacers were down in the fourth quarter and we've seen
(32:10):
them come back and still win the game, outscoring OKC
thirty two to eighteen.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Tyrese Haliburn was just shy have a triple double.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
But ben Adict Mathrin off the bench, was the leading
scorer of the game. He had twenty seven points. Shake
Gil just Alexander twenty four points, only three came in
the fourth quarter. He also had eight rebounds and four assists.
Okase made one shot in the final like six minutes
of the game. It was a Jayalen Williams shot that
put them up to one hundred and they ended one
oh seven. Those other seven points were just free throws
(32:39):
that they hit. Here is Rick Carlisle, head coach of
the Pacers after the game.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
TJ just brought a will, competitive will to the game.
You know, Mathurn jumped in there and immediately was aggressive
and got the ball in the basket. And you know, look,
this is the kind of team that we are. We
need everybody to be ready. It's not always going to
be exact eactly the same guys that are stepping up
with scoring and stuff like that, but you know this
(33:04):
is this is how we got to do it, and
we got to do it as a team, and and
you know, we got to make it as hard as
possible on them.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Yeah, Team of Destiny and Game four will be on Friday.
Not to be confused in some games have had three
days of rest in between.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Other Friday Friday, the fourth Friday. Yay Friday, Friday, July
fourth is the next game. Yeah, sure sure.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
Chicago Sports Network reports that the Knicks requested to speak
to Bulls head coach Billy Donovan about their head coaching vacancy,
but we're denied.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
So added the Bulls to the list. Also were denied.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
Yes, so it's not looking so hot for them. And
Baseball Met's pitcher David Peterson toss a complete game shutout
in New York defeated the Nationals five zero. Juan Soto
has also had a two run homer. The Dodgers top
the Padres in San Diego five to two. The Giants
have won seven in a row after rolling past the
Rockies ten to seven.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
So, with all that being said, manci who has the
best record in baseball? Right now? You know who has
the best record in baseball? Now?
Speaker 5 (34:08):
I don't have that in front of me, right, the Dodgers.
If you don't have the Mets have the best record
in baseball, I have forty four and twenty and twenty four.
The Tigers are right there.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
They're forty four and twenty five. The Tigers. Yeah, the Tigers.
Not the Tigers.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
The Tigers say. Lost to the Orioles.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
It got crushed by Baltimore ten to one. Aaron Judge
did his twenty fifth homer of the season as a
Yankees outscored the Royals six to three. Angels completed a
three game sweep of the A's with a six to
five win. In the WNBA, the Storm outscored the Links
ninety for eighty four. Handy Minnesota their first loss of
the season, and the NFLPA says that Eagles running back
Saquon Barkley led all NFL players in sales of officially
(34:50):
licensed products from March twenty twenty four to February twenty
twenty five, the first running back to take the number
one spot since Ezekiel Elliott in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Way back when he was good. Ago.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Yeah, it seems like a like a whole lifetime ago.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Right, Oh, guys, that was fun. Back to you. Thanks
a bunch of monsie yes. Coming up next, well, we'll
have a big bold prediction for Game four of the
NBAF I mean a big bold prediction for one star
for Game four of the NBA Final. I'll tell you
why this series is going seven. That's next. Jason to Mike.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Fox Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with My best
friend Mike Harmon. Can't get away pace, just take Game three.
We'll have a big Bowl prediction for Game four coming
up in a minute. But the Thunder to a man
after tonight's game, talked about the unforced errors they had
tonight that you know, SGA saying, listen, we made a
(35:52):
lot of mistakes and the Pacers are a good team.
They took advantage of them. Not a lot of panic,
which is good. But you want to ride that line
a little bit from everything is fine to we have
to have the biggest sense of urgency right now. You
don't want to go down three to one, clean up, sloppiness,
all that. So you want to be able to do that.
And I get it and look, and this is why
this series is going seven, which is great for everybody. Right,
(36:13):
the series goes seven because neither team has the ability
to just throw the hammer down and say we're we
after a couple of games, we got the lay of
the land. Now we're gonna outdo you and we're taking
control of this series. Right. It's a game by game
thing where a team is gonna win a game. The
next game the other team is gonna adjust because these
are two best teams in the NBA. Now, the Thunder
(36:35):
been the best team all season. What I said after
Game two, Hey, the bench is gonna play big for
the Pacers. They're going home mathering tonight, tuddah. But eventually
game four, the Thunder will find a way to adjust
to the Pacers and you're gonna get a big performance.
It's gonna be two two going back to Oklahoma City.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Well you're going big with SGA and I saw you
scrolling forty down on your.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Sh that's the thing, that's my bolt. But for game four,
Gildas Alexander knows he didn't have a great game tonight.
Now for everybody, which I'd love to have a bad
game where I score twenty four and shoot basically forty
eight percent from the floor. But you saw big misshots late,
you saw turnovers, you saw a couple of plays where
defensive league. That's right. He just didn't look like he
(37:20):
even cared. You know, the big in your face. I know, hey,
he's gonna give me forty eight minutes. Now I know
what I expect. Like, now, that was not it. Why
did I pick the thunder because I know SGA is
always gonna compete, And what did I see him do tonight?
Sometimes he quit like he missed that big shot in
the final minute and then just watched Sakham run down
(37:40):
behind him for a layup that was an eight point
lead and the game was over right, Like, that's not
what SGA does. This guy is the MVP of the league,
and I have confidence that he understands the kind of
game that he had and he can't have that again.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
No, otherwise you're gonna look at people verbally, they're gonna
get him. Billy Batch treatment verse read that you've got
to come out with a sense of urgency, Like the
turnovers were.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Terrible, like they were unforced and the only loppy play
he got to the free throw line six times tonight,
which is not what he does, and so I feel
pretty confident MVPs know when they got an MVP, right sga, Hey,
MVP got an MVP. Game four, he scores forty a
near triple double, the Thunder win, and they go back
(38:28):
to Oklahoma City tied to to like this is this
is this is when MVP's MVP and he's going for
a forty burger near triple double. Game five will be
okay now to the Thunder out control of the series.
It'll be too two going back. But watch the game
he has in Game four.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
Yeah, Thunder with an imperfect game, no doubt. Even through
the three quarters, right had a five point lead. You
saw Chet started fast, didn't have much late. Lou Dord
had his four to three point shots very quiet once again.
Fourth quarter Pacers defense and pace on offense creating issues
and bad possessions for the Thunders. So uh yeah, I
(39:07):
wrapped attention. The Thunder are a six point road favorite,
up from five and a half for Game three.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Which is a little weird and it's kind of a
trap line that whoa wait, so the Pacers have to
winning this game. They're dogs for Game four. Oh, I'm
going Pacers and say, hey, let's rake this.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Still he is still dogs for the series, but it
feels like a trap game thirty.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
Yeah, it feels like a trap game clear, But it's
like they could take it. They could win the series
basically if they take Game four at home where they
just won. And still that's where we're at under minus
six thunder thunder and Game four SGA forty and a
near triple double. And he does it, and we're talking
about wow, MVP man, the MVP stands up, the MVP
(39:47):
has a great game, and what do we get. That's
what's gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Well, and Alex Krusolli have a much better game than
he did today. Minus fifteen and a non factor off
the bench.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
Not many people were big factors, not the very quiet
only eighteen bench points. Yeah, the thunder and and and
and the other thing the Pacers have done that that
I think you're gonna see a bit of a change
in Game four is that nobody has navigated the final
six minutes of playoffs like the Pacers out in recent history.
Nobody does it. Nobody dominates the final six minutes like
(40:19):
the Pacers do. Right tonight, the Thunder had one bucket
in the final six minutes, but six minutes coming and
again ten years I think I've seen since led go
back to the Warriors the first time with their dynasty
where they were able to control the end of games
like this, the Pacers have been able to do it.
Thunder flip the script in game four. In the end,
(40:39):
they throw the hammer down. They take Game four, and
then it's all about Carlisle. Oh well, the Knicks call
h Randy Carlyle, former defenseman of the Pittsburgh Penguines. Don't Carlisle,
You know.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
Carlisle, former point guard for the Northwestern Wildcat Carlile who.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Ran the Vampire family in the In the Flight Carlisle
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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