Jason Timpf reacts to Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and the Indiana Pacers' dominant Game 7 win over the New York Knicks to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics. Jason discusses the biggest highlights from the game, Jalen Brunson and the rest of the Knicks' injuries, and looks ahead to Pacers-Celtics. #Volume #Herd
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. The NBA playoffs are heating up, and so
is the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting
partner of the NBA with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts,
and so much more. Don't miss out as the NBA
postseason winds down, so lots of great odds for the
second round. If you still think the Nuggets are gonna
(00:22):
come back and beat the Timberwolves, you can get them
right now at plus one oh five. Thunder MAVs starts
here shortly, and if you like the MAVs to win
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And if you're new to DraftKings, you gotta check this out.
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(00:47):
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The Crown is yours gambling problem called one eight hundred
Gambler or in West Virginia, visit www dot one eight
hundred gambler dot net. In New York, call eight seven
seven eight hope and why, or text hope and why
to four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut, help
(01:11):
us available for problem gambling call eight eight eight seven
eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org.
Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort
in Kansas twenty one plus age varies by jurisdiction. Void
in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight
hours after issuance. See dkang dot co slash bball for
(01:36):
eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right,
welcome hoops tonight here at the volume Havy Sunday. Everybody
hope all you guys are having an incredible weekend. Well.
The Indiana Pacers, in a game seven in Madison Square Garden,
(02:00):
shoot an NBA record sixty seven percent from the field
as they control the game throughout. Send the Knicks home.
The Knicks continue to fall apart. Ognnob can't go for
more than a few minutes. Jalen Brunson ends up breaking
his hand. They finally cross that like whatever that mandatory
minimum amount of talent is for them to compete, they
fall apart, and the Pacers are advancing to the conference
(02:22):
finals to play the Boston Celtics. We're gonna break the
game down, talk a little bit about the future for
both teams. Then we'll get out of here until later
tonight after Denver Minnesota. You guys know the Joe before
we get started. Subscribe to a brand new YouTube channel
so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow
me on Twitter underscore JCNLT so you guys don't misshow announcements.
Don't forget about a podcast feed where you get your
podcast under Hoops tonight, and then keep dropping mail back
(02:43):
questions in the YouTube comments so we keep hitting them
throughout the rest of the postseason.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
All right, let's talk some basketball.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So again, the focus coming out of this game, and
most of the narrative narrative is going to center around
shooting luck right, or shooting variants or whatever you want
to call this, like mythological mysterious force of shots going
in or missing. And to be clear, I do believe
that variance plays a role in shooting, but I just
(03:11):
think it's further down than the basketball reasons. When you're
whenever you're looking at a game like this where a
team shoots an extremely high percentage. Luck is something that
should be discussed further down than the actual basketball reasons
that allowed the Pacers to get those kinds of shots.
And really it comes down to this for me, there
is a team speed with Indiana, specifically led by Tyre's
(03:33):
Halliburton and TJ. McConnell, and their consistent ability to get
the defense in rotation in combination with excellent play finishers.
Those being the guys who are the beneficiaries of those
advantage situations created by Tyres Alliburton and TJ. McConnell, and
those guys doing a great job finishing off those plays
(03:53):
while they get incessant excellent opportunities because of their primary
ball handlers, they got the defense into rotation more often
than the Knicks did. Now, to be clear, going into
this series, the next biggest advantage was their physicality and toughness,
and so as their one forward that they have on
(04:13):
the roster got hurt, it became something where it was
it was a problem. They were running out four guard
lineups a ton. They were just overmatched physically. After Mitchell
Robinson went down after Game one, and og Anobi went
down after game in game two, and then Josh Hart,
their most physical guard, ends up getting an abdominal injury
in game six. So like at a certain point, New
York didn't have the physical capability of disrupting Indiana's rhythm
(04:38):
and flow. But make no mistake, the reason why they
shot as well as they did is because they reached
a rhythm and flow, which is a real thing in basketball,
and when a team gets going like that, you have
to do something to disrupt that flow. That's the big
reason why I think luck falls lower down on that
list of factors that determine shot result. It's because if
(05:00):
it was luck, then eventually they might just start missing shots, right,
But no, that's not how it works. You have to
make a team start missing shots by disrupting flow through
ball pressure, better closeouts, maybe waking the defensive scheme to
try to disrupt rhythm in some way, shape or form,
right like when push comes to shove, you got to
(05:20):
make a team miss at the end of the day.
That's the biggest part of why I think luck gets
over discussed is like there is a process element to
trying to disrupt shooting, and it involves defensive pressure, both
on the ball and in closeout situations, Indiana just kept
getting good shots. It's like, you're hoping Tyree's finally misses one,
(05:40):
but he's wide open again on the right wing after
he just knifed through the defense and dribbled back out
to the three point line. You're hoping Miles Turner finally
misses one, but there he is again, butt naked at
the top of the key, no one guarding it. So
like at a certain point, you're betting on guys missing
when they're not when these are good looks for good
play finishers, right, and so at a certain point, like
(06:02):
I would like to put the focus on Indiana and
the fact that they played and reached a level of
offense by virtue of one their cornerstone, Tyrese Halliburton, who
I think is one of the next great offensive engines
in the league. I think he's like Steve Nash two
point zero that in combination with an awesome backup guard
who's in TJ McConnell, who's excellent at one of the
(06:24):
most important elements to shot creation in the NBA playoffs,
which is dribble penetration. TJ McConnell just beats people off
the dribble all night long, and it just causes havoc
for any sort of defense. They got two guys that
continually get the defense in rotation and a bunch of
dudes who are excellent at finishing those plays in advantage situations.
(06:46):
So give the give credit to the Pacers, tip of
the cap to them. They put on an offensive masterclass today,
was bolstered by a little bit of shooting luck that
pushed them into the Eastern Conference Finals. They continue to
get excellent second darry scoring support from Siakum goes for
twenty plus again. Aaron NEI Smith, you know it's funny.
I think he's he's been like the Bruce Brown of
(07:08):
this playoff run. If you remember Bruce Brown from Denver
last year, where it's like shorter, stockier, like wing guard
hybrid who can knock down a three, but has like
this real slashing downhill force right that he brings to
the equation. Like how many big, close out, attacking, driving
layups did Aaron Nesmith have in that third quarter run
(07:31):
when the Knicks came out with their hair on fire,
trying to make it a game again. I think they
got it back to six, and Nie Smith just kept
beating people off the dribble, driving a close out and
getting into the lane and finishing over Precious to two
or finishing over Isaiah Hartenstein. Not to mention his individual
defense on Jalen Brunson turned the series around. In my
series preview, I talked about how I thought he was
(07:52):
the guy that should have gotten the job. He did
it in the first two games. He had the job
from Game three on, and he just did an amazing job.
I haven't seen the the final tallly of the numbers,
but I bet you the shooting percentages for Jalen Brunson
when guarded by aaron NEI. Smith were abominably bad compared
to what he had in other matchups in this series.
(08:13):
He's been the Bruce Brown of this playoff run, this big,
stocky athletic guard that just rex havoc on the ball. Defensively,
can knock down threes, but most importantly brings real rim
pressure off the ball driving closeouts. I thought he was
incredible tonight. Shout out to aaron Ne Smith. Looking forward
for both teams. For the Pacers, the Celtics are another
(08:38):
tier of basketball team. Then the Bucks without Giannis or
that injury ravaged Knicks team.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Right, But we know the Pacers are capable.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Of beating the Celtics because we saw them in a
winner take all situation in the n season tournament. Obviously
much lower stakes, but we saw what they did in
that In that game, it was good defensive process, it
was a lot of running out in transition, and Tyresaliburton
was the best player on the floor.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
And that is their pathway. Right.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
They need to turn that series into a track meet
and take advantage of their speed advantage.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
We're gonna do a full series preview on this tomorrow.
But the gist of it is, you got to look
at it from a very simple perspective. Boston has more talent.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
They just do.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Their top six is better than your top six. But
one of the things for Boston is all of those
guys are capable of doing a lot more than they
do and are fitting into smaller roles to try to
maximize their talent. Right, you have a lot of specialists.
You've got these two primary shot creators, but then you've
got a lot of play finishers. So if everyone plays
(09:42):
to the best of their ability, there's actually a version
of this where Indiana can out play Boston based on
maximizing the talent they have in minimizing Boston's ability to
do the same. On the other end of the floor,
I will be picking Boston. I would imagine just about
everybody else will. They have a huge talent advantage, but
the Hacer's advantage is going to be fast up and
(10:03):
down the floor, track meet basketball. No one can keep
Tyris Haliburton and TJ McConnell in front, constant dribble penetration,
and then just getting the type of effort from Aaron
Nesmith that you need to play Jason Tatum into a
rough series. You need andrin emhar to do the same thing.
You need Pascal Siakam to have a great defensive series.
So there's gonna be a pathway there, but it's gonna
(10:24):
be a tiny little crack in the door, and for
them to push through that crack, they're gonna need to
play borderline perfect basketball. So it's gonna be a heck
of a challenge for them in the next round. For
the Knicks, obviously, a frustrating way to lose the series, right,
Like your biggest advantage. The reason why I picked the
Knicks to win that series was because I literally said,
I think they're the.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Bigger, tougher team.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And then Mitchell Robinson goes down after game one, Oh
Jannerobi goes down after Game two.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Josh Hart strains is abdomen.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Obviously, in game seven, Jalen Brunson ends up hurting his hand.
You just you lost your greatest advantage by losing two
front court players at the start of the series. All
of a sudden, your five best players were four guards
in a big so like I understand that it was.
It was frustrating, but at the end of the day, like,
you guys weren't going to beat Boston in that sort
of condition anyway.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
You needed to be.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Healthy, and you just these playoffs really are a war
of attrition. Every playoffs is a war of attrition. What
happened in twenty nineteen it came down to, or what
happened in twenty eighteen. It was like Chris Paul ends
up getting hurt right twenty seventeen, Kawhi Leonard ends up
getting hurt. Twenty nineteen, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant ended
(11:35):
up getting hurt. Twenty twenty. That was the year that
the Warriors had their gap year when everyone was hurt,
right like Kevin Durant obviously was out that entire season.
Twenty twenty one, the Lakers in their repeat, their attempt
to repeat. They're up to one on the Suns in
the first round, and Anthony Davis pulls his growing muscle,
And honestly, the attempt for og And Andobi to play
(11:57):
tonight reminded me of Anthony Davis trying to go in
game was it six? I think it was Game six
against the Lakers where he went out there, but it
was just clear he couldn't move right. But like going
to twenty twenty two, it's or twenty twenty one. That
also was the year that for the Nets, Kyrie Irving
sprains his ankle, James Harden has a hamstring injury in
(12:19):
out in the Western Conference. The Warriors were still out
because Klay Thompson was out that entire season, and the
Warriors would have made the playoffs, but Steph landed on
a stair and hurt his tailbone and missed like eight
games and they lost all of them, and so they
ended up missing the playoffs. Right like twenty twenty, like
there's always injuries. Lebron James in twenty twenty three gets
(12:40):
that foot injury right like, there's all injuries are an
important part of every NBA playoff run, right Like. It
is a war of attrition, and this time the Knicks
were on the wrong side of it.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
It is what it is.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
It's really unfortunate. But here's the thing, there are a
ton of reasons for optimism for Knicks fans. You've got
a culture, you've got an energy behind the franchise. Now
you've become desirable as a place to play in a
way that you weren't in the past. And most importantly,
you've got a lot of talent and a lot of
draft compensation. So you can look to make some sort
(13:11):
of mild pivot this offseason to bring in some sort
of scoring forward. I'd be looking for an upgrade of
the Julius Randall position, or you could look at an
upgrade at the three, because I think Og can play
the four, but you need to find some sort of
legitimate secondary scoring option next to Jalen Brunson, just so
that you can kind of disperse the load a little bit.
Like I think Jalen Brunson looked obviously a little bit
(13:33):
fatigued over the tail end of that series, right, Like
Brunston just wasn't the same guy game three through seven
of that series, right he was. Obviously there's the foot injury.
He's worn down. You got to find a way to
shrink everyone's roles, and the easiest way to do that
is to bring another star in, because, as I always
say on the show, when you have legitimate stars that
play both ends of the floor, they create small, achievable
(13:55):
roles for role players. Right now, you kind of need
everybody to bring a ton the table, But like you
can minimize that and make easy roles for everyone. Like
Dante DiVincenzo was basically your secondary shot creator. He had
some hot shooting nights, he had some poor shooting nights.
But like, if you put Dante de Vincenzo in a
situation where he has to do less offensively, you get
a little bit more out of him defensively, a little
(14:17):
bit more consistency from him offensively.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
So, Like, I think the one guy that I would
not move if I could avoid it is Og, because
I think if you give up Og and you bring
in some scoring minded forward, you could run into some
issues that you saw after Og went down, which is
the physical profile of the team gets changed and you
no longer bring that imposition to the table. Right, So,
like i'd be looking to package salaries. You've got some
(14:41):
surplus at some specific positions. I think you can afford
to give up a guard. I think you can afford
to give up one of your centers, right. But like that,
I would be looking to package those guys in draft
compensation to look for some sort of scoring forward to
alleviate some of the workload on Jalen Brunson. Like I said,
we'll have a series preview on Celtics Pacers tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Tonight.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I'm going with Colin right after the final buzzer of
Denver Minnesota Game seven. I believe after that I'm gonna
stay on and record something for the Hoops Tonight channel.
So I'll probably have something later tonight on that series,
and then tomorrow I'm also gonna be working on the
series preview for the winner of that game versus Dallas.
All right, guys, that's all I have for this first
show today is always sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting
(15:23):
the show.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I'll see you in a few hours.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
The volume
The volume. The NBA playoffs are heating up, and so
is the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting
partner of the NBA with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts,
and so much more. Don't miss out as the NBA
postseason winds down, so lots of great odds for the
second round. If you still think the Nuggets are gonna
(00:22):
come back and beat the Timberwolves, you can get them
right now at plus one oh five. Thunder MAVs starts
here shortly, and if you like the MAVs to win
that series, you can get them at minus one oh five.
And if you're new to DraftKings, you gotta check this out.
New customers bet five bucks to get one hundred and
fifty in bonus bets. Instantly download the DraftKings Sportsbook app
now and use code hoops that's hoops. That's code hoops
(00:47):
for new customers to get one hundred and fifty in
bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings.
The Crown is yours gambling problem called one eight hundred
Gambler or in West Virginia, visit www dot one eight
hundred gambler dot net. In New York, call eight seven
seven eight hope and why, or text hope and why
to four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut, help
(01:11):
us available for problem gambling call eight eight eight seven
eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org.
Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort
in Kansas twenty one plus age varies by jurisdiction. Void
in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight
hours after issuance. See dkang dot co slash bball for
(01:36):
eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right,
welcome hoops tonight here at the volume Havy Sunday. Everybody
hope all you guys are having an incredible weekend. Well.
The Indiana Pacers, in a game seven in Madison Square Garden,
(02:00):
shoot an NBA record sixty seven percent from the field
as they control the game throughout. Send the Knicks home.
The Knicks continue to fall apart. Ognnob can't go for
more than a few minutes. Jalen Brunson ends up breaking
his hand. They finally cross that like whatever that mandatory
minimum amount of talent is for them to compete, they
fall apart, and the Pacers are advancing to the conference
(02:22):
finals to play the Boston Celtics. We're gonna break the
game down, talk a little bit about the future for
both teams. Then we'll get out of here until later
tonight after Denver Minnesota. You guys know the Joe before
we get started. Subscribe to a brand new YouTube channel
so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow
me on Twitter underscore JCNLT so you guys don't misshow announcements.
Don't forget about a podcast feed where you get your
podcast under Hoops tonight, and then keep dropping mail back
(02:43):
questions in the YouTube comments so we keep hitting them
throughout the rest of the postseason.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
All right, let's talk some basketball.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So again, the focus coming out of this game, and
most of the narrative narrative is going to center around
shooting luck right, or shooting variants or whatever you want
to call this, like mythological mysterious force of shots going
in or missing. And to be clear, I do believe
that variance plays a role in shooting, but I just
(03:11):
think it's further down than the basketball reasons. When you're
whenever you're looking at a game like this where a
team shoots an extremely high percentage. Luck is something that
should be discussed further down than the actual basketball reasons
that allowed the Pacers to get those kinds of shots.
And really it comes down to this for me, there
is a team speed with Indiana, specifically led by Tyre's
(03:33):
Halliburton and TJ. McConnell, and their consistent ability to get
the defense in rotation in combination with excellent play finishers.
Those being the guys who are the beneficiaries of those
advantage situations created by Tyres Alliburton and TJ. McConnell, and
those guys doing a great job finishing off those plays
(03:53):
while they get incessant excellent opportunities because of their primary
ball handlers, they got the defense into rotation more often
than the Knicks did. Now, to be clear, going into
this series, the next biggest advantage was their physicality and toughness,
and so as their one forward that they have on
(04:13):
the roster got hurt, it became something where it was
it was a problem. They were running out four guard
lineups a ton. They were just overmatched physically. After Mitchell
Robinson went down after Game one, and og Anobi went
down after game in game two, and then Josh Hart,
their most physical guard, ends up getting an abdominal injury
in game six. So like at a certain point, New
York didn't have the physical capability of disrupting Indiana's rhythm
(04:38):
and flow. But make no mistake, the reason why they
shot as well as they did is because they reached
a rhythm and flow, which is a real thing in basketball,
and when a team gets going like that, you have
to do something to disrupt that flow. That's the big
reason why I think luck falls lower down on that
list of factors that determine shot result. It's because if
(05:00):
it was luck, then eventually they might just start missing shots, right,
But no, that's not how it works. You have to
make a team start missing shots by disrupting flow through
ball pressure, better closeouts, maybe waking the defensive scheme to
try to disrupt rhythm in some way, shape or form,
right like when push comes to shove, you got to
(05:20):
make a team miss at the end of the day.
That's the biggest part of why I think luck gets
over discussed is like there is a process element to
trying to disrupt shooting, and it involves defensive pressure, both
on the ball and in closeout situations, Indiana just kept
getting good shots. It's like, you're hoping Tyree's finally misses one,
(05:40):
but he's wide open again on the right wing after
he just knifed through the defense and dribbled back out
to the three point line. You're hoping Miles Turner finally
misses one, but there he is again, butt naked at
the top of the key, no one guarding it. So
like at a certain point, you're betting on guys missing
when they're not when these are good looks for good
play finishers, right, and so at a certain point, like
(06:02):
I would like to put the focus on Indiana and
the fact that they played and reached a level of
offense by virtue of one their cornerstone, Tyrese Halliburton, who
I think is one of the next great offensive engines
in the league. I think he's like Steve Nash two
point zero that in combination with an awesome backup guard
who's in TJ McConnell, who's excellent at one of the
(06:24):
most important elements to shot creation in the NBA playoffs,
which is dribble penetration. TJ McConnell just beats people off
the dribble all night long, and it just causes havoc
for any sort of defense. They got two guys that
continually get the defense in rotation and a bunch of
dudes who are excellent at finishing those plays in advantage situations.
(06:46):
So give the give credit to the Pacers, tip of
the cap to them. They put on an offensive masterclass today,
was bolstered by a little bit of shooting luck that
pushed them into the Eastern Conference Finals. They continue to
get excellent second darry scoring support from Siakum goes for
twenty plus again. Aaron NEI Smith, you know it's funny.
I think he's he's been like the Bruce Brown of
(07:08):
this playoff run. If you remember Bruce Brown from Denver
last year, where it's like shorter, stockier, like wing guard
hybrid who can knock down a three, but has like
this real slashing downhill force right that he brings to
the equation. Like how many big, close out, attacking, driving
layups did Aaron Nesmith have in that third quarter run
(07:31):
when the Knicks came out with their hair on fire,
trying to make it a game again. I think they
got it back to six, and Nie Smith just kept
beating people off the dribble, driving a close out and
getting into the lane and finishing over Precious to two
or finishing over Isaiah Hartenstein. Not to mention his individual
defense on Jalen Brunson turned the series around. In my
series preview, I talked about how I thought he was
(07:52):
the guy that should have gotten the job. He did
it in the first two games. He had the job
from Game three on, and he just did an amazing job.
I haven't seen the the final tallly of the numbers,
but I bet you the shooting percentages for Jalen Brunson
when guarded by aaron NEI. Smith were abominably bad compared
to what he had in other matchups in this series.
(08:13):
He's been the Bruce Brown of this playoff run, this big,
stocky athletic guard that just rex havoc on the ball. Defensively,
can knock down threes, but most importantly brings real rim
pressure off the ball driving closeouts. I thought he was
incredible tonight. Shout out to aaron Ne Smith. Looking forward
for both teams. For the Pacers, the Celtics are another
(08:38):
tier of basketball team. Then the Bucks without Giannis or
that injury ravaged Knicks team.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Right, But we know the Pacers are capable.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Of beating the Celtics because we saw them in a
winner take all situation in the n season tournament. Obviously
much lower stakes, but we saw what they did in
that In that game, it was good defensive process, it
was a lot of running out in transition, and Tyresaliburton
was the best player on the floor.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
And that is their pathway. Right.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
They need to turn that series into a track meet
and take advantage of their speed advantage.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
We're gonna do a full series preview on this tomorrow.
But the gist of it is, you got to look
at it from a very simple perspective. Boston has more talent.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
They just do.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Their top six is better than your top six. But
one of the things for Boston is all of those
guys are capable of doing a lot more than they
do and are fitting into smaller roles to try to
maximize their talent. Right, you have a lot of specialists.
You've got these two primary shot creators, but then you've
got a lot of play finishers. So if everyone plays
(09:42):
to the best of their ability, there's actually a version
of this where Indiana can out play Boston based on
maximizing the talent they have in minimizing Boston's ability to
do the same. On the other end of the floor,
I will be picking Boston. I would imagine just about
everybody else will. They have a huge talent advantage, but
the Hacer's advantage is going to be fast up and
(10:03):
down the floor, track meet basketball. No one can keep
Tyris Haliburton and TJ McConnell in front, constant dribble penetration,
and then just getting the type of effort from Aaron
Nesmith that you need to play Jason Tatum into a
rough series. You need andrin emhar to do the same thing.
You need Pascal Siakam to have a great defensive series.
So there's gonna be a pathway there, but it's gonna
(10:24):
be a tiny little crack in the door, and for
them to push through that crack, they're gonna need to
play borderline perfect basketball. So it's gonna be a heck
of a challenge for them in the next round. For
the Knicks, obviously, a frustrating way to lose the series, right,
Like your biggest advantage. The reason why I picked the
Knicks to win that series was because I literally said,
I think they're the.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Bigger, tougher team.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And then Mitchell Robinson goes down after game one, Oh
Jannerobi goes down after Game two.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Josh Hart strains is abdomen.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Obviously, in game seven, Jalen Brunson ends up hurting his hand.
You just you lost your greatest advantage by losing two
front court players at the start of the series. All
of a sudden, your five best players were four guards
in a big so like I understand that it was.
It was frustrating, but at the end of the day, like,
you guys weren't going to beat Boston in that sort
of condition anyway.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
You needed to be.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Healthy, and you just these playoffs really are a war
of attrition. Every playoffs is a war of attrition. What
happened in twenty nineteen it came down to, or what
happened in twenty eighteen. It was like Chris Paul ends
up getting hurt right twenty seventeen, Kawhi Leonard ends up
getting hurt. Twenty nineteen, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant ended
(11:35):
up getting hurt. Twenty twenty. That was the year that
the Warriors had their gap year when everyone was hurt,
right like Kevin Durant obviously was out that entire season.
Twenty twenty one, the Lakers in their repeat, their attempt
to repeat. They're up to one on the Suns in
the first round, and Anthony Davis pulls his growing muscle,
And honestly, the attempt for og And Andobi to play
(11:57):
tonight reminded me of Anthony Davis trying to go in
game was it six? I think it was Game six
against the Lakers where he went out there, but it
was just clear he couldn't move right. But like going
to twenty twenty two, it's or twenty twenty one. That
also was the year that for the Nets, Kyrie Irving
sprains his ankle, James Harden has a hamstring injury in
(12:19):
out in the Western Conference. The Warriors were still out
because Klay Thompson was out that entire season, and the
Warriors would have made the playoffs, but Steph landed on
a stair and hurt his tailbone and missed like eight
games and they lost all of them, and so they
ended up missing the playoffs. Right like twenty twenty, like
there's always injuries. Lebron James in twenty twenty three gets
(12:40):
that foot injury right like, there's all injuries are an
important part of every NBA playoff run, right Like. It
is a war of attrition, and this time the Knicks
were on the wrong side of it.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
It is what it is.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
It's really unfortunate. But here's the thing, there are a
ton of reasons for optimism for Knicks fans. You've got
a culture, you've got an energy behind the franchise. Now
you've become desirable as a place to play in a
way that you weren't in the past. And most importantly,
you've got a lot of talent and a lot of
draft compensation. So you can look to make some sort
(13:11):
of mild pivot this offseason to bring in some sort
of scoring forward. I'd be looking for an upgrade of
the Julius Randall position, or you could look at an
upgrade at the three, because I think Og can play
the four, but you need to find some sort of
legitimate secondary scoring option next to Jalen Brunson, just so
that you can kind of disperse the load a little bit.
Like I think Jalen Brunson looked obviously a little bit
(13:33):
fatigued over the tail end of that series, right, Like
Brunston just wasn't the same guy game three through seven
of that series, right he was. Obviously there's the foot injury.
He's worn down. You got to find a way to
shrink everyone's roles, and the easiest way to do that
is to bring another star in, because, as I always
say on the show, when you have legitimate stars that
play both ends of the floor, they create small, achievable
(13:55):
roles for role players. Right now, you kind of need
everybody to bring a ton the table, But like you
can minimize that and make easy roles for everyone. Like
Dante DiVincenzo was basically your secondary shot creator. He had
some hot shooting nights, he had some poor shooting nights.
But like, if you put Dante de Vincenzo in a
situation where he has to do less offensively, you get
a little bit more out of him defensively, a little
(14:17):
bit more consistency from him offensively.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
So, Like, I think the one guy that I would
not move if I could avoid it is Og, because
I think if you give up Og and you bring
in some scoring minded forward, you could run into some
issues that you saw after Og went down, which is
the physical profile of the team gets changed and you
no longer bring that imposition to the table. Right, So,
like i'd be looking to package salaries. You've got some
(14:41):
surplus at some specific positions. I think you can afford
to give up a guard. I think you can afford
to give up one of your centers, right. But like that,
I would be looking to package those guys in draft
compensation to look for some sort of scoring forward to
alleviate some of the workload on Jalen Brunson. Like I said,
we'll have a series preview on Celtics Pacers tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Tonight.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I'm going with Colin right after the final buzzer of
Denver Minnesota Game seven. I believe after that I'm gonna
stay on and record something for the Hoops Tonight channel.
So I'll probably have something later tonight on that series,
and then tomorrow I'm also gonna be working on the
series preview for the winner of that game versus Dallas.
All right, guys, that's all I have for this first
show today is always sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting
(15:23):
the show.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I'll see you in a few hours.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
The volume
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