June 10, 2024 • 9 mins
Jonathan Von Tobel joined Patrick Meagher and Dustin Swedelson to preview Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Mavericks.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Started talking about the NBA Finals, and we should start
by giving you credit.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
You did lay a game and a half with the Celtics.
You did have the Celtics.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You weren't buying into the MAVs hype specifically with this
matchup through games one and two. So let's start with
what you've seen that maybe would change your mind.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I don't think anything correct.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (00:21):
I think for me, the big takeaway through the first
two games, guys, you know we're going to talk a
lot about Luca and the offense for the Dallas Mavericks
in the shooting for the Boston Celtics. For me, the
Boston Celtics have figured out Dallas defensively through two games,
and that's good. That's a really big problem for the
Dallas Mavericks as we head forward in this series of
their down two games. Dallas came into this series right
(00:41):
with the best paint defense in the NBA postseason. Teams
were shooting under sixty percent at the rim. They were
giving up about forty points of the paint per game.
And the Celtics come in here, guys, they are shooting
eighty three percent at the rim. They went fourteen to
fourteen in game one. They went twenty of twenty seven
in game two, and they are getting as.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
We know, you watch the games, you get the highlights.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
They're oh but dunks, they're destroying guys off the dribble,
they're spacing the floor. Everything they do as a team
with five shooters on the floor has pulled these bigs
out of the paint and has absolutely just flummixed what
the Dallas Mavericks have done to get to this point defensively,
And for me, that's the big takeaway because as you
can kind of put it however you want, but there's
not that many buttons left to push or levers left
(01:22):
to pull for Jason Kidd to fix what is wrong
with this team. Defensively, this has been figured out, and
so if you're Dallas, the troublesome part is now it's
on you. You've got to find out how to score
and score consistently against this Boston's now Celtics defense, which
is versatile and great.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
But that for me is a big takeaway.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
They've completely figured out the best paint defense in the
NBA and have absolutely demolished them through the first two games.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Have you enjoyed the first two games as a basketball
fan and somebody that does this for a living, just
have you enjoyed the games.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
I've enjoyed them because I like watching just the little
things that the teams are doing to each other.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Right, So you know, you see.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
The intricacies of Christops Perzinga switching on too small guards
and what the Celtics are doing defensively by putting Porzingis
on some of these wings and putting Jason Tatum on
a big so that you know, whenever you bring the
big over, you switch that easily, or you know you
can avoid Porzingis and drop coverage, and if they're going
to use a lesser roleman, then you're rolling into like
six bodies. But I've enjoyed the intricacies of it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Okay, we'll get jbt's take. Remember Game three not until Wednesday,
so we've got a runway getting.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
To Game three, and the Celtics are dogs. It has flipped.
There are dogs in Game three.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
We'll continue the conversation with Viisent senior NBA analysts. All Right,
so opened one coming up on Wednesday with the Celtics lane.
It actually got hit all the way up to two
and I think right now DraftKings has shown a point
and a half with the MAVs favored two thirteen on
the total. Now just peek a head to Wednesday. You
(02:48):
do like the Celtics on the money line, we'll go there.
What we talked about adjustments to be made, and you
kind of cleared it. There's really nothing the Mavericks can
do because the Celtics have figured.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Them out defensively.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
If the perfect scenario is put forth on Wednesday for
the MAVs, it looks like what Kyrie er.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
First, foremost, Kyrie Irving wakes up and he hits a
bunch of really tough shots, and he looks like Kyrie
Irving that we know, and he provides another scoring outlet
for the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I think that's first and foremost. Obviously, Kyrie has not
been comfortable.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
He has been abhorrent from three point range. He has
not been hitting shots. He's even shooting at a very
low clip, I think hovering around forty percent from two
in this series. So he's not being particularly efficient in
any way or form, and he's also just getting destroyed
on defense. So the first and foremost, Kyrie Irving wakes
up and gives you something on offense.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
The second is is that PJ.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Washington and Derek Jones Junior regained the form that they
had in that Oklahoma City Thunder series where they were
hitting looks and they were going down for them at
a very high rate.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
The problem I think with.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
The those two options, Patrick, is I think number one
is perfectly plausible. Kyrie Irving's Kyrie Irving, and if he
all of a sudden wakes up and hits a bunch
of difficult and contested jumpers, I don't think any one
of us would really blink at that. But for the
other thing, one of the things that I was somewhat
frustrated with for the Mavericks heading, you know, through this
postseason run was as somebody who had bet the Oklahoma
City Thunder right, the Thunder did somewhat similarly what the
(04:13):
Celtics are doing. They played off of PJ. Washington and
Derek Jones Junior, and they said, if you beat us,
you beat us. The problem was that PJ. Washington turned
into Ray Allen and he was a forty five percent
three point shooter in that series, and they caught lightning
in a bottle. Well, this time around, the Celtics are
doing the same thing. If you watch right and there's
a bunch of different screen shots out there, like you know,
the Mavericks to got to hit these shots.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
But if you look, it's PJ.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Washington, Josh Green, and Derek Jones Junior all wide open
above the break. Because they know exactly what they're doing,
they do not care that those guys are getting those
open looks from beyond the arc.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
So PJ.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Washington and Derek Jones Junior all of a sudden become
knocked down three point shooters from above the break. You
can then that's how you're going to win. But Derek
Jones Junior is a career thirty two percent three point shooter.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
PJ.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Washington is a career thirty five percent three point shooter.
The lightlihood that these guys turn into those knockdown above
the break three point shooters is very minimal. So it
has to that has to be part of the equation.
But the probability of that actually happening, I believe is
pretty minimal because these Celtics, man, not only are they
doing great in terms of eliminating the lobs, they're also
(05:16):
cutting off these corner three point looks, which where PJ.
Washington really thrived in that Oklahoma City series.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, in PJ, I don't have the attempts in front
of me, so I could be misstating this. It does
seem like he's a little more hesitant to shoot. I mean,
the Celtics are so good defensively, but he's been in
the paint more.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And attacking a little bit more. It feels like, I
know he's gotten his points PJ.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Washington in the first two games, but like you said,
he's not a natural three point shooter. So what we
saw leading up to this was a bit of an aberration.
Luca against the Clippers definitely banged up, and then it
seemed like he started to get healthier and thirty two
point triple doubles, so you can't really again, but he
(06:00):
doesn't look as spry as I feel like.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
He did even against Minnesota. Do you agree with that?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I would agree with it, And I think injuries are
part of it. Right, we know he's banged up, we
know about the knee. We now we know about the
chest or was it a thoracic contusion which sounds a
lot worse than it really is.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
But I think the other part and the Celtics.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Are doing this very smartly, which the Minnesota Timberwolves did not,
and they didn't really have the guys to do it
as often. I don't know if you've noticed Patrick. They're
putting him in like almost every defensive action. They are
going after him every single time down the floor. It
is either him or Kyrie Irving and Jalen Brown especially
is going down the floor and going come on, bring
him over here, and he's bringing them over.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
He's getting him switched onto him and they're just blown
by him.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
They're making him work on defense almost every possession, and
you see it wearing him down. I think a perfect
example of this is in that third quarter where Drew
Holliday was kind of going nuts, right and he ends
up forcing a turnover and getting the ball back to
hit that three that was massive for them. If you look,
Luka Donci just right there, but he's at the elbow
and he's so gassed. He just waves his hand and
(07:00):
he's like, I can't I'm not going to close out.
I just don't have it on me, and Holiday buries
one in his grill, like that's kind of what we're
looking at here. And you see it too in these
first halfs Luka Doncic has been incredible, but his scoring
has slowed tremendously in the fourth quarter of these games
because he has so much on his play on offense
and he is being worked every single possession on defense.
(07:20):
And I think those two things, the injuries and the
fact that he's getting worked on that end of the floor,
have led to this kind of fall off, especially these
fourth quarters, and why he just looks so gassed.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Forget the market who's through two games thus far, the
MVP for you.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
I think it's true holiday because I think when you look,
we obviously know what just happened in Game two and
what he did from a scoring perspective, But in Game one,
I think it was something around twelve points, eight rebounds,
five assists. I might have the assists and the rebounds
flipped and a team and a game best plus twenty
when he was on the floor. He's been brilliant in
this series, and he's held up defensively too. Luca has
had a couple of possessions on him, but as somebody
(07:56):
who does give up some weight to Luca, one of
the things was is that physical mismatch going to be
something that Doncic can exploit, but that's not the case
and him and Derek White, but he especially, have done
such a great job on Kyrie irving in eliminating him.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
From the equation.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
There's a reason Kyrie struggling, Like, yes, he has missed
some open shots, but Derek White and Drew Holliday have
done a brilliant job on him. So when you look
at the combination of what he's provided from a scoring standpoint, rebounds,
it assists of the first few games as well as
just being a positive impact and being a good defender.
I think that it is for me, Drew Holliday going
into this game as the leader in the clubhouse for MVP.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Do you think two plus two forty plus two fifty
is a fair sweet price for the Celtics.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I think you can make the argument absolutely.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
I think that when you're talking about where the series
was priced initially, where you talk to a lot of
smart people and the number was thrown around like minus
four dollars should probably be this actual series price before
the series began. But you know that a lot of
the sharp Beetters had come in prior, had already had
their Boston tickets ready to go. And that anybody like
the public, if you will, was going to bet Dallas
(08:58):
regardless like or what right they were gonna come in.
They were gonna bet plus one sixty, they were gonna
pl bet plus one seventy, whatever that series price was.
And so ticket writers and odds makers were just happy
to write that action. So I think when you look
at where we're still priced at, I think you can
say that to sweep at plus two forty is a
fair price if you haven't gotten into this yet
Started talking about the NBA Finals, and we should start
by giving you credit.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
You did lay a game and a half with the Celtics.
You did have the Celtics.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You weren't buying into the MAVs hype specifically with this
matchup through games one and two. So let's start with
what you've seen that maybe would change your mind.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I don't think anything correct.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (00:21):
I think for me, the big takeaway through the first
two games, guys, you know we're going to talk a
lot about Luca and the offense for the Dallas Mavericks
in the shooting for the Boston Celtics. For me, the
Boston Celtics have figured out Dallas defensively through two games,
and that's good. That's a really big problem for the
Dallas Mavericks as we head forward in this series of
their down two games. Dallas came into this series right
(00:41):
with the best paint defense in the NBA postseason. Teams
were shooting under sixty percent at the rim. They were
giving up about forty points of the paint per game.
And the Celtics come in here, guys, they are shooting
eighty three percent at the rim. They went fourteen to
fourteen in game one. They went twenty of twenty seven
in game two, and they are getting as.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
We know, you watch the games, you get the highlights.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
They're oh but dunks, they're destroying guys off the dribble,
they're spacing the floor. Everything they do as a team
with five shooters on the floor has pulled these bigs
out of the paint and has absolutely just flummixed what
the Dallas Mavericks have done to get to this point defensively,
And for me, that's the big takeaway because as you
can kind of put it however you want, but there's
not that many buttons left to push or levers left
(01:22):
to pull for Jason Kidd to fix what is wrong
with this team. Defensively, this has been figured out, and
so if you're Dallas, the troublesome part is now it's
on you. You've got to find out how to score
and score consistently against this Boston's now Celtics defense, which
is versatile and great.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
But that for me is a big takeaway.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
They've completely figured out the best paint defense in the
NBA and have absolutely demolished them through the first two games.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Have you enjoyed the first two games as a basketball
fan and somebody that does this for a living, just
have you enjoyed the games.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
I've enjoyed them because I like watching just the little
things that the teams are doing to each other.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Right, So you know, you see.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
The intricacies of Christops Perzinga switching on too small guards
and what the Celtics are doing defensively by putting Porzingis
on some of these wings and putting Jason Tatum on
a big so that you know, whenever you bring the
big over, you switch that easily, or you know you
can avoid Porzingis and drop coverage, and if they're going
to use a lesser roleman, then you're rolling into like
six bodies. But I've enjoyed the intricacies of it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Okay, we'll get jbt's take. Remember Game three not until Wednesday,
so we've got a runway getting.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
To Game three, and the Celtics are dogs. It has flipped.
There are dogs in Game three.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
We'll continue the conversation with Viisent senior NBA analysts. All Right,
so opened one coming up on Wednesday with the Celtics lane.
It actually got hit all the way up to two
and I think right now DraftKings has shown a point
and a half with the MAVs favored two thirteen on
the total. Now just peek a head to Wednesday. You
(02:48):
do like the Celtics on the money line, we'll go there.
What we talked about adjustments to be made, and you
kind of cleared it. There's really nothing the Mavericks can
do because the Celtics have figured.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Them out defensively.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
If the perfect scenario is put forth on Wednesday for
the MAVs, it looks like what Kyrie er.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
First, foremost, Kyrie Irving wakes up and he hits a
bunch of really tough shots, and he looks like Kyrie
Irving that we know, and he provides another scoring outlet
for the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I think that's first and foremost. Obviously, Kyrie has not
been comfortable.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
He has been abhorrent from three point range. He has
not been hitting shots. He's even shooting at a very
low clip, I think hovering around forty percent from two
in this series. So he's not being particularly efficient in
any way or form, and he's also just getting destroyed
on defense. So the first and foremost, Kyrie Irving wakes
up and gives you something on offense.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
The second is is that PJ.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Washington and Derek Jones Junior regained the form that they
had in that Oklahoma City Thunder series where they were
hitting looks and they were going down for them at
a very high rate.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
The problem I think with.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
The those two options, Patrick, is I think number one
is perfectly plausible. Kyrie Irving's Kyrie Irving, and if he
all of a sudden wakes up and hits a bunch
of difficult and contested jumpers, I don't think any one
of us would really blink at that. But for the
other thing, one of the things that I was somewhat
frustrated with for the Mavericks heading, you know, through this
postseason run was as somebody who had bet the Oklahoma
City Thunder right, the Thunder did somewhat similarly what the
(04:13):
Celtics are doing. They played off of PJ. Washington and
Derek Jones Junior, and they said, if you beat us,
you beat us. The problem was that PJ. Washington turned
into Ray Allen and he was a forty five percent
three point shooter in that series, and they caught lightning
in a bottle. Well, this time around, the Celtics are
doing the same thing. If you watch right and there's
a bunch of different screen shots out there, like you know,
the Mavericks to got to hit these shots.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
But if you look, it's PJ.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Washington, Josh Green, and Derek Jones Junior all wide open
above the break. Because they know exactly what they're doing,
they do not care that those guys are getting those
open looks from beyond the arc.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
So PJ.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Washington and Derek Jones Junior all of a sudden become
knocked down three point shooters from above the break. You
can then that's how you're going to win. But Derek
Jones Junior is a career thirty two percent three point shooter.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
PJ.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Washington is a career thirty five percent three point shooter.
The lightlihood that these guys turn into those knockdown above
the break three point shooters is very minimal. So it
has to that has to be part of the equation.
But the probability of that actually happening, I believe is
pretty minimal because these Celtics, man, not only are they
doing great in terms of eliminating the lobs, they're also
(05:16):
cutting off these corner three point looks, which where PJ.
Washington really thrived in that Oklahoma City series.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, in PJ, I don't have the attempts in front
of me, so I could be misstating this. It does
seem like he's a little more hesitant to shoot. I mean,
the Celtics are so good defensively, but he's been in
the paint more.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And attacking a little bit more. It feels like, I
know he's gotten his points PJ.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Washington in the first two games, but like you said,
he's not a natural three point shooter. So what we
saw leading up to this was a bit of an aberration.
Luca against the Clippers definitely banged up, and then it
seemed like he started to get healthier and thirty two
point triple doubles, so you can't really again, but he
(06:00):
doesn't look as spry as I feel like.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
He did even against Minnesota. Do you agree with that?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I would agree with it, And I think injuries are
part of it. Right, we know he's banged up, we
know about the knee. We now we know about the
chest or was it a thoracic contusion which sounds a
lot worse than it really is.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
But I think the other part and the Celtics.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Are doing this very smartly, which the Minnesota Timberwolves did not,
and they didn't really have the guys to do it
as often. I don't know if you've noticed Patrick. They're
putting him in like almost every defensive action. They are
going after him every single time down the floor. It
is either him or Kyrie Irving and Jalen Brown especially
is going down the floor and going come on, bring
him over here, and he's bringing them over.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
He's getting him switched onto him and they're just blown
by him.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
They're making him work on defense almost every possession, and
you see it wearing him down. I think a perfect
example of this is in that third quarter where Drew
Holliday was kind of going nuts, right and he ends
up forcing a turnover and getting the ball back to
hit that three that was massive for them. If you look,
Luka Donci just right there, but he's at the elbow
and he's so gassed. He just waves his hand and
(07:00):
he's like, I can't I'm not going to close out.
I just don't have it on me, and Holiday buries
one in his grill, like that's kind of what we're
looking at here. And you see it too in these
first halfs Luka Doncic has been incredible, but his scoring
has slowed tremendously in the fourth quarter of these games
because he has so much on his play on offense
and he is being worked every single possession on defense.
(07:20):
And I think those two things, the injuries and the
fact that he's getting worked on that end of the floor,
have led to this kind of fall off, especially these
fourth quarters, and why he just looks so gassed.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Forget the market who's through two games thus far, the
MVP for you.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
I think it's true holiday because I think when you look,
we obviously know what just happened in Game two and
what he did from a scoring perspective, But in Game one,
I think it was something around twelve points, eight rebounds,
five assists. I might have the assists and the rebounds
flipped and a team and a game best plus twenty
when he was on the floor. He's been brilliant in
this series, and he's held up defensively too. Luca has
had a couple of possessions on him, but as somebody
(07:56):
who does give up some weight to Luca, one of
the things was is that physical mismatch going to be
something that Doncic can exploit, but that's not the case
and him and Derek White, but he especially, have done
such a great job on Kyrie irving in eliminating him.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
From the equation.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
There's a reason Kyrie struggling, Like, yes, he has missed
some open shots, but Derek White and Drew Holliday have
done a brilliant job on him. So when you look
at the combination of what he's provided from a scoring standpoint, rebounds,
it assists of the first few games as well as
just being a positive impact and being a good defender.
I think that it is for me, Drew Holliday going
into this game as the leader in the clubhouse for MVP.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Do you think two plus two forty plus two fifty
is a fair sweet price for the Celtics.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I think you can make the argument absolutely.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
I think that when you're talking about where the series
was priced initially, where you talk to a lot of
smart people and the number was thrown around like minus
four dollars should probably be this actual series price before
the series began. But you know that a lot of
the sharp Beetters had come in prior, had already had
their Boston tickets ready to go. And that anybody like
the public, if you will, was going to bet Dallas
(08:58):
regardless like or what right they were gonna come in.
They were gonna bet plus one sixty, they were gonna
pl bet plus one seventy, whatever that series price was.
And so ticket writers and odds makers were just happy
to write that action. So I think when you look
at where we're still priced at, I think you can
say that to sweep at plus two forty is a
fair price if you haven't gotten into this yet
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