June 18, 2024 • 23 mins
Sarah and NBA senior writer Michael C. Wright react to the Celtics winning their 18th NBA Championship. They examine Jaylen Brown as MVP, the historical place of this team and look ahead to next season.
NBA Pulse is a production of iHeartPodcasts and the NBA
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcoming into NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
I'm Sir Kustak, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and
today is Tuesday, June eighteenth. From our extraordinary core group
of NBA journalists are joined now by NBA dot Com
senior writer Michael C. Rights and Michael, We've got a
NBA champion. This season has come to a close in
(00:29):
some capacity as the Boston Celtics, the best team in
the NBA throughout the course of the regular season, sixty
four wins, essentially rolled through the playoffs, sixteen and three record,
and they finally have been crowned as champs after what
they put together. You look at this core, it's really
a celebration of a true team. We've talked a lot
(00:50):
about Jason Tatum, about Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown the Finals
MVP after being named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, Joe
Missoula turning thirty six, only thirty six in two weeks
in his second year. This is a Celtics team that
went to the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the
last seven years, that included a trip to the finals
(01:13):
just two seasons ago. But banner number eighteen. Banner number eighteen,
passing the Lakers. We now have six straight champions without
a repeat. There was a lot to dig into. I
think you saw the celebration. You saw not only the
excitement but also seeming a relief out of a lot
(01:34):
of these players, in particular a player like Jason Tatum,
who we've looked at a bunch, but as I mentioned,
it was everyone true holiday tremendous in this series. Can't
say enough about Derek White. Christaps porzingis in and out
of the lineup throughout the course of this postseason, but
you felt his impact. The list goes on. What was
your biggest takeaway from the Celtics finally winning this title.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I would say that for the Superstars it was sort
of their like their bachoration, their final there to the
point where they're finally like, okay, we've we've silenced all
the critics, We've won a championship. And as Jason Tatum said,
which y'all gonna say now, you know, I go back
(02:20):
to two years ago watching that series against the Warriors,
and if you remember, the Warriors won won the championship
on their home court, and so to go from that
disappointment two years ago and then to go to this
what we saw last night. I don't think I've ever
seen that much confetti and stuff flying out of the
(02:42):
air in any game. It was crazy, but it was
just amazing to finally see them sort of get that
off their backs. And you know, because it wasn't that
long ago when people were saying, well they should go
ahead and separate Jason Tatum and Jaln Brown.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
You know, see what trade one of them?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Long stretch of time. Yeah, for a long stretch of time.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And so it was so it was actually fun for
me to see that because those guys have been through
so much together and people just forget that. You know,
Jason Tatum is twenty six years old. Twenty six, He's
been to all those conference finals. He's got a championship now,
you know, Luka Doncicch I think is twenty five. So
(03:24):
you know, he's accomplished quite a bit in his career
and he finally got the hardware to show for it.
You know, he was talking about how you play all
this basketball, especially when you make it as far in
the finals as the Celtics over these last few years,
and he's like, you play all this basketball and then
at the end of it, you have nothing to show
for it. Well, finally he does, so I was actually
happy to see it.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, we had mentioned about what more can you say?
Probably we're going to say, Okay, what's next? How many
more of these are you gonna win? I wish I
will ask you about the Boston Celtics getting there, But
you said two years ago lose, and so the Warriors
on their home court. You look at last year losing
Game seven on their home court to the Miami Heat.
So there's been and there's been many iterations. You can't
(04:09):
talk about this title without also talking about Brad Stevens
and just how he constructed this roster, what they put together.
You go back to mention Danny Ainge as well, you
go back to Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown. Those are the
Brooklyn Nets. Pick from the Kevin Garnette, Kevin Garnett Paul
Pierce trade way back when there's been a lot of
(04:29):
ups and downs for this group. I mentioned how they
achieved that success early, and I think maybe that's why
some of the expectations were put on them, given the
fact they had been to the Eastern Conference finals. So
many times there was expectations once they had made it
to the finals. Jason Tatum twenty six, Jalen Brown twenty seven.
(04:50):
What do you make of There's obviously been a lot
of talk about those two, the tandem that they created,
how it took evolution and growth to kind of figure
out the best way not only to to play together
on the floor, but I think too just the differences
in their personality. What do you make of Jalen Brown
winning the MVP of the Finals.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I was thrilled for him, just absolutely thrilled for him,
because Jalen is sort of He's a really deep guy
who you know, sort of as much as he loves
the sport of basketball, you know, he sort of used
it as a platform to something larger, and so he
was on the ultimate stage last night, and so you know,
(05:31):
I think, you know, going back to that two years ago,
I mean, he shot thirty one point eight percent over
the last three games of the finals. He turned it
over ten times in those last two games. So to
be able to come back from that and perform the
way he did this year in the playoffs, I mean,
even if you go back to last night, he was
(05:53):
coming off a career low in scoring. He only had
fifteen points. Now, he didn't play a ton because Dallas
just mopped the floor with him in Game four. But
you know, his story is sort of one of just resilience,
Like he keeps bouncing back and he's learned every time
from every setback, he's figured out something else. You remember
two years ago they were saying he was a right
(06:15):
hand dominant guy. He can only go to his right,
and then we see it at the All Star Game,
you know, and the All Star festivity's playing around so
and everybody he can go left, and so it's just it.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
It's the same thing with Jason Tatum.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I heard you DONNISASLM talking about it last night that
you know, he was talking about like the heat knocking
at the Celtics out and he's like, you know, every
time you came back, you had something new in your arsenal,
you came back better. And that's what they kept doing
over a period of years and years and years. So
for Jalen Brown to win that MVP, it was great.
But and the funny thing about it was, you know,
(06:49):
last night, I think he was what seven of twenty
three twenty one points, So it wasn't like an MVP performance,
but him winning the award was about the way he
performed all finals, you know, and he did it on
both both ends of the floor offensively and defensively. He
gave Luca Dodge y'all kins problems last night, and so
(07:10):
just to see him do that and leadership, this team
is built to be right there in the mix for
a championship for the next five six years. The only
guy that we were really thinking about, like maybe it's
not time for him to hang it up, but maybe
he will is Al Horford and got to be happy
(07:30):
for him.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I mean, the guy was with seventeen.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
League years in the league and only missed the playoffs twice,
and so for him to finally get over the hump
and win that championship thirty eight years old, I was
happy for him. It was great to see him celebrating
with his family.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Excellent mention. Yeah, I forgot to say Al Horford and
just what he meant to see his opportunity to win
a title. You said about Brown and just the totality
of his performance. Jason Tatum did lead the team throughout
the course of the finals in points, in assists, and rebounds,
doing at both ends. So again, I think there's just
(08:07):
a lot of things you look at with this team,
which continues to circle back. Even at the beginning of
this game, it was Drew Holliday that kind of set
the tone. The Celtics weren't hitting shots. Yeah he hit
shots early. Yeah, we remember what he was able to
do in Game one. So there's there's, of course a
lot of contributions. And that goes back to the historical
(08:28):
perspective of this team. Where this team ranks. I said
it early on sixty four wins this season. They went
through the playoffs sixteen and three. Throughout the course of
the regular season, they had a plus a level of
plus eleven point of differential plus eight throughout the course
of the postseason. They were dominant histories historically, And say
(08:50):
what you want, and then we all have I had
about the teams that they played missing key players. So
they play a Miami team that is without Jimmy Butler,
they play a Cleveland team without Donovan Mitchell, Tyres Halliburn
missing some time for Indigain. There were certain stretches throughout
the course of this However, where would you rank this
(09:13):
Boston Celtics team historically some of the great old time
great teams that have won titles.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Oh that's tough. Are we talking about just Celtics teams
or all of them? No?
Speaker 1 (09:23):
All of them?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Okay, because of Celtics, that's even hard. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I don't know, but I will say that, like, like
you mentioned that they were historically dominant, and I mean
during the regular season, and it was just like the
Celtics were sort of an afterthought in a way, because
it was like they just went about their business beating
everybody up, and nobody really talked about them.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Everybody was like talking about teams like Philadelphia in the
East and you know, just in the Knicks because everybody
was happy that the Knicks were finally good again Milwaukee
because of everything it went on with the coaches and
Dame coming in there and all that stuff. But it
was like the Celtics just kind of quietly went about
their way beating people and nobody saw them coming until
(10:09):
they were there.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
You know. So I don't know how.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
I don't know how to frame them historically, because let's
let's be honest here, this finals just the way it felt,
like you mentioned they were playing all these teams that
were missing their best player for different stretches, and so
it like, I'll be honest, coming into this series, I
thought the Celtics really hadn't been tested in the playoffs,
(10:36):
and so I thought that I actually picked the Mavericks
to win because the Mavericks had been tested. They played
a good Oklahoma City team, they played they beat a
good Minnesota team and the Clippers. So I just thought
Dallas was more battle tested. But point it was our
wrong because I didn't what I didn't think about, or
what I underestimated, was the fact that over a course
(10:59):
of year, the Boston Celtics had been battle tested, not
just this playoffs, you.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
So I don't know exactly where to rank them, and
you know how that is comparison is what the thief
of joy I want to I don't want to do
that to them.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
You said a lot of things there, and we'll get
to Dallas in a second, because I do think that's
the other component of it. And I did the same
as you, and I think for a lot of us.
You looked at Luca and you looked at Kyrie, and
you're like, oh, if they can keep this a close game,
down the stretch they got the two closers. Yeah, that's
where I thought they would have the edge over Boston,
a Boston team that held Dallas under one hundred points
(11:38):
all but that game four blowout loss. I think for
better or worse, And I don't like this viewpoint my
own or just how sometimes I think the historical place
takes time to see, Okay, what happens next? And so
are they able to run this back? Do they do
(11:58):
it again? You mentioned other teams some of the injuries.
And that's not to say that you win a title.
You win a title, however, you're playing the team and
the players and the rotation in front of you. But
I think you you kind of look, Okay, what happens next?
Can they keep this team together? And how many times
(12:18):
can you continue to put it together? Sometimes that where
that's where we start to look back historically, start to
look back and see where teams place. I think we've
done that with the Warriors. You know you do that
with a lot of teams. We were sitting here last
year saying no one was going to beat the Denver
Nuggets and how many titles would they reel off? And
and this is a situation we're sitting in, so we're
going to get to We're going to get to next year.
(12:40):
Right after the break, Welcome back to NBA. Paul Sarakustak
joined by the great Michael C. Wright. Okay, Michael, we
mentioned it talking about next year because I also want
to get your perspective on Dallas as well and just
(13:02):
the way things look, what we saw out of Luca
Kyrie and also really the counterparts that they were playing
with throughout the course of the series. But I would
say a lot of that had to do with Boston.
I mentioned the fact that Dallas did not hit one
hundred but for one game in that Game four at Dallas.
Give a lot of credit to Boston's defense. We could
(13:22):
talk so much about things offensively, but the door was
open at times because Boston wasn't always perfect offensively, not
always hitting shots. But their defense is what held them down,
helped them to this title. It's about the team. It's
about players like a Drew Holliday about and Derek White.
But the question becomes, especially with the new CBA, how
long can you keep this group together? What does that
(13:44):
look like? What is salary cap situation all of that,
What do you see as being next or at least
next year for the Celtics, And whether it's Julius Randall
sitting there on set with ESPN about it, he's not
He's not going to continue, you know, see kind of
how things shake out, Joel Embiid having joined it, and
(14:05):
say if I was healthy, and all of those things
are factors. You look at a lot of the other
teams in the Eastern Conference. If Giannis and Dame spend
some more time together, will that acclamation process help them
to look different? Uh? What is your take on what
things will look like for the Boston Celtics next year.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
It's I think it's going to be just given like
the health situation for these different teams. All these teams
are going to be healthy again next year hopefully, and
so it's not going to be easy for him.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
I think that.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
You know, obviously Philly's a rival, uh, Joel Embiid, They're
going to be better and they you know, they're going
to do something this offseason to add to that team.
Tyrese Maxi, the guy's a rising star. So they're gonna
they're going to be in the mix, you know, and
you look at Milwaukee like you said, another year with
Dame and and be honest, they're gonna be better, especially
(15:02):
you know, with another year under Doc Rivers Cleveland. I
just don't know what they're gonna do right now, but
if they get Donovan Mitchell to re sign there, they're
gonna be right back there in the mix. So, you know,
the Indiana, like they gave Yea, they gave Boston trouble.
You know, it's funny to think about they gave them
trouble because they played so unconventionally that you know, as
(15:26):
good as Boston's defense is, you can't really set your
defense up when all you're doing is running all game,
and so you know, I think that they're only going
to sort of add to that style and make it
even more hectic for teams to deal with. So Boston's
gonna have It's not gonna be easy for them. They're
not just gonna magically appear back in the conference finals
(15:49):
or the NBA Finals next year.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
It's gonna be a dogfight for them.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
But they are equipped, though to handle it, because like
I said, they've got all this and all these big games,
and they sort of have the ingredients, Like you know,
you just look at those guards. I would argue that
those are the best best two way duo in the
in the NBA right now. Derek White Drew Holliday super tough.
(16:17):
You saw Derek White fall on his face, and I'm
just like, ah, but I knew he was going to
get up because I had him here, and yes, I
had him here in San Antonio, so I know the kid.
I knew he was going to get up. But then
I saw his face, his teeth and everything. I was like, oh,
and did.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
You see they had Jalen Brown miked up? He said, boy,
you's ugly.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, but that's that's the toughness of this group. And
we saw that it manifest itself in a lot of
different ways. And I do think to your point, once
you kind of get get that monkey off your back,
for lack of a better way to describe it, in
terms of how much scrutiny was around their failures of
not winning, I'm curious to see how that release of
(17:01):
some pressure pressure that can now turn into motivation to
get another may change on the side of Dallas. You
said it early, so Luka Doncic. He's going to be
entering his seventh year in the league. He's only twenty
five years old. Give credit to Dallas. I know the
way things look throughout the course of this series, but
(17:22):
they were a five seed coming in, Michael, you said
it multiple times, the fact that at the trade deadline
they were a playing team. There was really nice moves
that were made in bringing in a handful of players
that were able to contribute. You saw Derek Lively and
what he was able to do on the stage at
his age as a rookie. There's a lot of things
(17:46):
to be optimistic about one player, though that seemingly fell
short of what you hoped he would do on the
stage having been a champion before. Was Kyrie Irving And
obviously there was the backside of things with his time
in Boston and how that may have affected him in
some of those road games. But what do you think
(18:06):
is next for Dallas. They just sign Jason Kidd to
an extension, But but there's opportunity for movement on this roster.
What do you think is going to happen with this
MAVs team next year?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Well, I think the Mavericks at the trade deadline, the
moves that they made, I think that showed them the
way that they want to play like, Okay, this is
the style we want to play. Okay, so now it's
going to be about, Okay, how do we enhance that?
And so I could see them definitely running it back
(18:38):
with the same guys. Now they got to they got
to figure out a way to bring a couple guys
back though, like Derreck Jones Jr.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I believe he is going to be a free agent, and.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Like you could, you know, like you could sort of
like he's gonna he's gonna get paid outside of the Mavericks.
So the MAVs are gonna have to figure out a
way to bring him back. But I think you can
run it back with these guys. Derek Lively the second,
he didn't look like a rookie until this series. Like
throughout the whole playoffs, that kid was dominant, just running
(19:13):
all over the floor, getting from corner to corner, defending shots,
and all of a sudden, the Celtics made him look
like a rookie. But you saw him take and make
his first career three pointer. I think in Game four
that was his first three. And so he's going to
work this offseason and get better and shooting threes, and
(19:34):
then you know, we.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Talk about five out ball.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Well, if you add that to the arsenal you got,
now you have that and the live thread, and then
you know, just the pressure that Kyrie Irving and lukadancis
the pressure that they're gonna put on you to make
a decision. You know, Hey, if you come up on me,
I'm throwing a live If you stay back, I'm just
gonna hit this floater. So they know how they want
(19:58):
to play now, and so like I said, it's just
about sort of adding in the pieces around them to
sort of enhance that style of play. And you know,
it's fun to watch. It's really fun to watch. And
you know, looking at Kyrie Irving, I think he is
just in the right head space because even though he
wasn't successful, even though he struggled against the Boston Celtics,
(20:22):
you saw it all throughout the finals, it really didn't
affect him that negatively. Like he could he could sort
of take a bird's eye view of the situation and say, yeah,
you know, I'm struggling, but you know it's that's.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Just the Celtics.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I'm playing against a very good team here, and so
he could put it in proper perspective not get frustrated,
not lash out at the media. He's in a great
head space. So I see him and Luca only getting
closer as these next couple of years kind.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Of go on, yeah, you said that, And even like
the fact you look at Derek Lively's twenty years old,
what Josh Green was it to do with twenty three
years old? How he's expanded his game, like him knocking
down threes. I remember we came in the league and
that was you know, that was a part that he
was still trying to work on and figure out how
how to play that way.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
PJ.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Washington just twenty five years old was the big pick
up in same with Daniel Gafford twenty five years old.
So the core of some of those players and who
they decide to keep or what they decide to do
can continue to grow. With Luca and obviously Kyrie had shown,
as you mentioned, just his ability to be a leader
in different ways and bring a level of experience. And
(21:32):
I think obviously anytime you make a run to the
finals and have this type of experience, there's a lot
you could take from it. But there is a lot
a lot to handle from the Western Conference because you
imagine there is. I mean, start the list of teams
that are chopping at the bit and ready to get
going again, with Minnesota, Denver, what Oklahoma City is gonna
(21:54):
come back and look like again, some questions about what
happens with the Clippers, and in just a lot of teams. Again,
the list goes on, and so it'll be it'll be
continue to be interesting to watch on both the Western
and Eastern Conference level of competition. But but I do
think Dallas getting here credit to them, but it is
(22:15):
not going to be easy for them to make a
return trip back.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I mean just think about this, like we we just
totally forgot about Memphis, and Memphis was like a scene.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
So you know, Josh, and they'll be back, and that's
that's where injuries coming to play. I mean, obviously we'll
see what happens between the draft, free agency and how
things shake out. But yeah, there's a lot, a lot
for us to look forward to. But in the meantime,
we're going to take a breath because it was our
final episode of the season, and Michael, you you deserve
some vacation time, so much much deserved vacation time. I
(22:49):
hope you get it. I will get it. We will
all and we will get ourselves set for what should
be a very interesting summer to see how handful of
things shake out. But as always, we appreciate you, We
appreciate your time. Will continue reading and watching all your
stuff on NBA TV and NBA dot Com. NBA Pulse
with Sarahustack is a production of the NBA and iHeart Radio.
Please rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or
(23:12):
wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcoming into NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
I'm Sir Kustak, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and
today is Tuesday, June eighteenth. From our extraordinary core group
of NBA journalists are joined now by NBA dot Com
senior writer Michael C. Rights and Michael, We've got a
NBA champion. This season has come to a close in
(00:29):
some capacity as the Boston Celtics, the best team in
the NBA throughout the course of the regular season, sixty
four wins, essentially rolled through the playoffs, sixteen and three record,
and they finally have been crowned as champs after what
they put together. You look at this core, it's really
a celebration of a true team. We've talked a lot
(00:50):
about Jason Tatum, about Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown the Finals
MVP after being named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, Joe
Missoula turning thirty six, only thirty six in two weeks
in his second year. This is a Celtics team that
went to the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the
last seven years, that included a trip to the finals
(01:13):
just two seasons ago. But banner number eighteen. Banner number eighteen,
passing the Lakers. We now have six straight champions without
a repeat. There was a lot to dig into. I
think you saw the celebration. You saw not only the
excitement but also seeming a relief out of a lot
(01:34):
of these players, in particular a player like Jason Tatum,
who we've looked at a bunch, but as I mentioned,
it was everyone true holiday tremendous in this series. Can't
say enough about Derek White. Christaps porzingis in and out
of the lineup throughout the course of this postseason, but
you felt his impact. The list goes on. What was
your biggest takeaway from the Celtics finally winning this title.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I would say that for the Superstars it was sort
of their like their bachoration, their final there to the
point where they're finally like, okay, we've we've silenced all
the critics, We've won a championship. And as Jason Tatum said,
which y'all gonna say now, you know, I go back
(02:20):
to two years ago watching that series against the Warriors,
and if you remember, the Warriors won won the championship
on their home court, and so to go from that
disappointment two years ago and then to go to this
what we saw last night. I don't think I've ever
seen that much confetti and stuff flying out of the
(02:42):
air in any game. It was crazy, but it was
just amazing to finally see them sort of get that
off their backs. And you know, because it wasn't that
long ago when people were saying, well they should go
ahead and separate Jason Tatum and Jaln Brown.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
You know, see what trade one of them?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Long stretch of time. Yeah, for a long stretch of time.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And so it was so it was actually fun for
me to see that because those guys have been through
so much together and people just forget that. You know,
Jason Tatum is twenty six years old. Twenty six, He's
been to all those conference finals. He's got a championship now,
you know, Luka Doncicch I think is twenty five. So
(03:24):
you know, he's accomplished quite a bit in his career
and he finally got the hardware to show for it.
You know, he was talking about how you play all
this basketball, especially when you make it as far in
the finals as the Celtics over these last few years,
and he's like, you play all this basketball and then
at the end of it, you have nothing to show
for it. Well, finally he does, so I was actually
happy to see it.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, we had mentioned about what more can you say?
Probably we're going to say, Okay, what's next? How many
more of these are you gonna win? I wish I
will ask you about the Boston Celtics getting there, But
you said two years ago lose, and so the Warriors
on their home court. You look at last year losing
Game seven on their home court to the Miami Heat.
So there's been and there's been many iterations. You can't
(04:09):
talk about this title without also talking about Brad Stevens
and just how he constructed this roster, what they put together.
You go back to mention Danny Ainge as well, you
go back to Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown. Those are the
Brooklyn Nets. Pick from the Kevin Garnette, Kevin Garnett Paul
Pierce trade way back when there's been a lot of
(04:29):
ups and downs for this group. I mentioned how they
achieved that success early, and I think maybe that's why
some of the expectations were put on them, given the
fact they had been to the Eastern Conference finals. So
many times there was expectations once they had made it
to the finals. Jason Tatum twenty six, Jalen Brown twenty seven.
(04:50):
What do you make of There's obviously been a lot
of talk about those two, the tandem that they created,
how it took evolution and growth to kind of figure
out the best way not only to to play together
on the floor, but I think too just the differences
in their personality. What do you make of Jalen Brown
winning the MVP of the Finals.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
I was thrilled for him, just absolutely thrilled for him,
because Jalen is sort of He's a really deep guy
who you know, sort of as much as he loves
the sport of basketball, you know, he sort of used
it as a platform to something larger, and so he
was on the ultimate stage last night, and so you know,
(05:31):
I think, you know, going back to that two years ago,
I mean, he shot thirty one point eight percent over
the last three games of the finals. He turned it
over ten times in those last two games. So to
be able to come back from that and perform the
way he did this year in the playoffs, I mean,
even if you go back to last night, he was
(05:53):
coming off a career low in scoring. He only had
fifteen points. Now, he didn't play a ton because Dallas
just mopped the floor with him in Game four. But
you know, his story is sort of one of just resilience,
Like he keeps bouncing back and he's learned every time
from every setback, he's figured out something else. You remember
two years ago they were saying he was a right
(06:15):
hand dominant guy. He can only go to his right,
and then we see it at the All Star Game,
you know, and the All Star festivity's playing around so
and everybody he can go left, and so it's just it.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
It's the same thing with Jason Tatum.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I heard you DONNISASLM talking about it last night that
you know, he was talking about like the heat knocking
at the Celtics out and he's like, you know, every
time you came back, you had something new in your arsenal,
you came back better. And that's what they kept doing
over a period of years and years and years. So
for Jalen Brown to win that MVP, it was great.
But and the funny thing about it was, you know,
(06:49):
last night, I think he was what seven of twenty
three twenty one points, So it wasn't like an MVP performance,
but him winning the award was about the way he
performed all finals, you know, and he did it on
both both ends of the floor offensively and defensively. He
gave Luca Dodge y'all kins problems last night, and so
(07:10):
just to see him do that and leadership, this team
is built to be right there in the mix for
a championship for the next five six years. The only
guy that we were really thinking about, like maybe it's
not time for him to hang it up, but maybe
he will is Al Horford and got to be happy
(07:30):
for him.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I mean, the guy was with seventeen.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
League years in the league and only missed the playoffs twice,
and so for him to finally get over the hump
and win that championship thirty eight years old, I was
happy for him. It was great to see him celebrating
with his family.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Excellent mention. Yeah, I forgot to say Al Horford and
just what he meant to see his opportunity to win
a title. You said about Brown and just the totality
of his performance. Jason Tatum did lead the team throughout
the course of the finals in points, in assists, and rebounds,
doing at both ends. So again, I think there's just
(08:07):
a lot of things you look at with this team,
which continues to circle back. Even at the beginning of
this game, it was Drew Holliday that kind of set
the tone. The Celtics weren't hitting shots. Yeah he hit
shots early. Yeah, we remember what he was able to
do in Game one. So there's there's, of course a
lot of contributions. And that goes back to the historical
(08:28):
perspective of this team. Where this team ranks. I said
it early on sixty four wins this season. They went
through the playoffs sixteen and three. Throughout the course of
the regular season, they had a plus a level of
plus eleven point of differential plus eight throughout the course
of the postseason. They were dominant histories historically, And say
(08:50):
what you want, and then we all have I had
about the teams that they played missing key players. So
they play a Miami team that is without Jimmy Butler,
they play a Cleveland team without Donovan Mitchell, Tyres Halliburn
missing some time for Indigain. There were certain stretches throughout
the course of this However, where would you rank this
(09:13):
Boston Celtics team historically some of the great old time
great teams that have won titles.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Oh that's tough. Are we talking about just Celtics teams
or all of them? No?
Speaker 1 (09:23):
All of them?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Okay, because of Celtics, that's even hard. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I don't know, but I will say that, like, like
you mentioned that they were historically dominant, and I mean
during the regular season, and it was just like the
Celtics were sort of an afterthought in a way, because
it was like they just went about their business beating
everybody up, and nobody really talked about them.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Everybody was like talking about teams like Philadelphia in the
East and you know, just in the Knicks because everybody
was happy that the Knicks were finally good again Milwaukee
because of everything it went on with the coaches and
Dame coming in there and all that stuff. But it
was like the Celtics just kind of quietly went about
their way beating people and nobody saw them coming until
(10:09):
they were there.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
You know. So I don't know how.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
I don't know how to frame them historically, because let's
let's be honest here, this finals just the way it felt,
like you mentioned they were playing all these teams that
were missing their best player for different stretches, and so
it like, I'll be honest, coming into this series, I
thought the Celtics really hadn't been tested in the playoffs,
(10:36):
and so I thought that I actually picked the Mavericks
to win because the Mavericks had been tested. They played
a good Oklahoma City team, they played they beat a
good Minnesota team and the Clippers. So I just thought
Dallas was more battle tested. But point it was our
wrong because I didn't what I didn't think about, or
what I underestimated, was the fact that over a course
(10:59):
of year, the Boston Celtics had been battle tested, not
just this playoffs, you.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
So I don't know exactly where to rank them, and
you know how that is comparison is what the thief
of joy I want to I don't want to do
that to them.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
You said a lot of things there, and we'll get
to Dallas in a second, because I do think that's
the other component of it. And I did the same
as you, and I think for a lot of us.
You looked at Luca and you looked at Kyrie, and
you're like, oh, if they can keep this a close game,
down the stretch they got the two closers. Yeah, that's
where I thought they would have the edge over Boston,
a Boston team that held Dallas under one hundred points
(11:38):
all but that game four blowout loss. I think for
better or worse, And I don't like this viewpoint my
own or just how sometimes I think the historical place
takes time to see, Okay, what happens next? And so
are they able to run this back? Do they do
(11:58):
it again? You mentioned other teams some of the injuries.
And that's not to say that you win a title.
You win a title, however, you're playing the team and
the players and the rotation in front of you. But
I think you you kind of look, Okay, what happens next?
Can they keep this team together? And how many times
(12:18):
can you continue to put it together? Sometimes that where
that's where we start to look back historically, start to
look back and see where teams place. I think we've
done that with the Warriors. You know you do that
with a lot of teams. We were sitting here last
year saying no one was going to beat the Denver
Nuggets and how many titles would they reel off? And
and this is a situation we're sitting in, so we're
going to get to We're going to get to next year.
(12:40):
Right after the break, Welcome back to NBA. Paul Sarakustak
joined by the great Michael C. Wright. Okay, Michael, we
mentioned it talking about next year because I also want
to get your perspective on Dallas as well and just
(13:02):
the way things look, what we saw out of Luca
Kyrie and also really the counterparts that they were playing
with throughout the course of the series. But I would
say a lot of that had to do with Boston.
I mentioned the fact that Dallas did not hit one
hundred but for one game in that Game four at Dallas.
Give a lot of credit to Boston's defense. We could
(13:22):
talk so much about things offensively, but the door was
open at times because Boston wasn't always perfect offensively, not
always hitting shots. But their defense is what held them down,
helped them to this title. It's about the team. It's
about players like a Drew Holliday about and Derek White.
But the question becomes, especially with the new CBA, how
long can you keep this group together? What does that
(13:44):
look like? What is salary cap situation all of that,
What do you see as being next or at least
next year for the Celtics, And whether it's Julius Randall
sitting there on set with ESPN about it, he's not
He's not going to continue, you know, see kind of
how things shake out, Joel Embiid having joined it, and
(14:05):
say if I was healthy, and all of those things
are factors. You look at a lot of the other
teams in the Eastern Conference. If Giannis and Dame spend
some more time together, will that acclamation process help them
to look different? Uh? What is your take on what
things will look like for the Boston Celtics next year.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
It's I think it's going to be just given like
the health situation for these different teams. All these teams
are going to be healthy again next year hopefully, and
so it's not going to be easy for him.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
I think that.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
You know, obviously Philly's a rival, uh, Joel Embiid, They're
going to be better and they you know, they're going
to do something this offseason to add to that team.
Tyrese Maxi, the guy's a rising star. So they're gonna
they're going to be in the mix, you know, and
you look at Milwaukee like you said, another year with
Dame and and be honest, they're gonna be better, especially
(15:02):
you know, with another year under Doc Rivers Cleveland. I
just don't know what they're gonna do right now, but
if they get Donovan Mitchell to re sign there, they're
gonna be right back there in the mix. So, you know,
the Indiana, like they gave Yea, they gave Boston trouble.
You know, it's funny to think about they gave them
trouble because they played so unconventionally that you know, as
(15:26):
good as Boston's defense is, you can't really set your
defense up when all you're doing is running all game,
and so you know, I think that they're only going
to sort of add to that style and make it
even more hectic for teams to deal with. So Boston's
gonna have It's not gonna be easy for them. They're
not just gonna magically appear back in the conference finals
(15:49):
or the NBA Finals next year.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
It's gonna be a dogfight for them.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
But they are equipped, though to handle it, because like
I said, they've got all this and all these big games,
and they sort of have the ingredients, Like you know,
you just look at those guards. I would argue that
those are the best best two way duo in the
in the NBA right now. Derek White Drew Holliday super tough.
(16:17):
You saw Derek White fall on his face, and I'm
just like, ah, but I knew he was going to
get up because I had him here, and yes, I
had him here in San Antonio, so I know the kid.
I knew he was going to get up. But then
I saw his face, his teeth and everything. I was like, oh,
and did.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
You see they had Jalen Brown miked up? He said, boy,
you's ugly.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, but that's that's the toughness of this group. And
we saw that it manifest itself in a lot of
different ways. And I do think to your point, once
you kind of get get that monkey off your back,
for lack of a better way to describe it, in
terms of how much scrutiny was around their failures of
not winning, I'm curious to see how that release of
(17:01):
some pressure pressure that can now turn into motivation to
get another may change on the side of Dallas. You
said it early, so Luka Doncic. He's going to be
entering his seventh year in the league. He's only twenty
five years old. Give credit to Dallas. I know the
way things look throughout the course of this series, but
(17:22):
they were a five seed coming in, Michael, you said
it multiple times, the fact that at the trade deadline
they were a playing team. There was really nice moves
that were made in bringing in a handful of players
that were able to contribute. You saw Derek Lively and
what he was able to do on the stage at
his age as a rookie. There's a lot of things
(17:46):
to be optimistic about one player, though that seemingly fell
short of what you hoped he would do on the
stage having been a champion before. Was Kyrie Irving And
obviously there was the backside of things with his time
in Boston and how that may have affected him in
some of those road games. But what do you think
(18:06):
is next for Dallas. They just sign Jason Kidd to
an extension, But but there's opportunity for movement on this roster.
What do you think is going to happen with this
MAVs team next year?
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Well, I think the Mavericks at the trade deadline, the
moves that they made, I think that showed them the
way that they want to play like, Okay, this is
the style we want to play. Okay, so now it's
going to be about, Okay, how do we enhance that?
And so I could see them definitely running it back
(18:38):
with the same guys. Now they got to they got
to figure out a way to bring a couple guys
back though, like Derreck Jones Jr.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I believe he is going to be a free agent, and.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Like you could, you know, like you could sort of
like he's gonna he's gonna get paid outside of the Mavericks.
So the MAVs are gonna have to figure out a
way to bring him back. But I think you can
run it back with these guys. Derek Lively the second,
he didn't look like a rookie until this series. Like
throughout the whole playoffs, that kid was dominant, just running
(19:13):
all over the floor, getting from corner to corner, defending shots,
and all of a sudden, the Celtics made him look
like a rookie. But you saw him take and make
his first career three pointer. I think in Game four
that was his first three. And so he's going to
work this offseason and get better and shooting threes, and
(19:34):
then you know, we.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Talk about five out ball.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Well, if you add that to the arsenal you got,
now you have that and the live thread, and then
you know, just the pressure that Kyrie Irving and lukadancis
the pressure that they're gonna put on you to make
a decision. You know, Hey, if you come up on me,
I'm throwing a live If you stay back, I'm just
gonna hit this floater. So they know how they want
(19:58):
to play now, and so like I said, it's just
about sort of adding in the pieces around them to
sort of enhance that style of play. And you know,
it's fun to watch. It's really fun to watch. And
you know, looking at Kyrie Irving, I think he is
just in the right head space because even though he
wasn't successful, even though he struggled against the Boston Celtics,
(20:22):
you saw it all throughout the finals, it really didn't
affect him that negatively. Like he could he could sort
of take a bird's eye view of the situation and say, yeah,
you know, I'm struggling, but you know it's that's.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Just the Celtics.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I'm playing against a very good team here, and so
he could put it in proper perspective not get frustrated,
not lash out at the media. He's in a great
head space. So I see him and Luca only getting
closer as these next couple of years kind.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Of go on, yeah, you said that, And even like
the fact you look at Derek Lively's twenty years old,
what Josh Green was it to do with twenty three
years old? How he's expanded his game, like him knocking
down threes. I remember we came in the league and
that was you know, that was a part that he
was still trying to work on and figure out how
how to play that way.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
PJ.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Washington just twenty five years old was the big pick
up in same with Daniel Gafford twenty five years old.
So the core of some of those players and who
they decide to keep or what they decide to do
can continue to grow. With Luca and obviously Kyrie had shown,
as you mentioned, just his ability to be a leader
in different ways and bring a level of experience. And
(21:32):
I think obviously anytime you make a run to the
finals and have this type of experience, there's a lot
you could take from it. But there is a lot
a lot to handle from the Western Conference because you
imagine there is. I mean, start the list of teams
that are chopping at the bit and ready to get
going again, with Minnesota, Denver, what Oklahoma City is gonna
(21:54):
come back and look like again, some questions about what
happens with the Clippers, and in just a lot of teams. Again,
the list goes on, and so it'll be it'll be
continue to be interesting to watch on both the Western
and Eastern Conference level of competition. But but I do
think Dallas getting here credit to them, but it is
(22:15):
not going to be easy for them to make a
return trip back.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I mean just think about this, like we we just
totally forgot about Memphis, and Memphis was like a scene.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
So you know, Josh, and they'll be back, and that's
that's where injuries coming to play. I mean, obviously we'll
see what happens between the draft, free agency and how
things shake out. But yeah, there's a lot, a lot
for us to look forward to. But in the meantime,
we're going to take a breath because it was our
final episode of the season, and Michael, you you deserve
some vacation time, so much much deserved vacation time. I
(22:49):
hope you get it. I will get it. We will
all and we will get ourselves set for what should
be a very interesting summer to see how handful of
things shake out. But as always, we appreciate you, We
appreciate your time. Will continue reading and watching all your
stuff on NBA TV and NBA dot Com. NBA Pulse
with Sarahustack is a production of the NBA and iHeart Radio.
Please rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or
(23:12):
wherever you get your podcasts.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com