May 20, 2025 • 23 mins
On today’s episode, Jason previews the upcoming Eastern Conference and Western Conference Finals. Can Julius Randle keep up his stellar play against Chet Holmgren and that beefy OKC frontline? Will Anthony Edwards be able to withstand the Thunder's ball pressure? Should we expect Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to cement his status as the best player in the series? Does Indiana have any answers for the Jalen Brunson/Karl-Anthony Towns duo? Can the New York Knicks slow down Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers' high-octane offense? J-Mac has the answer to all those questions - and more!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up straight Fire? Pray It's the Jason McIntyre
Straight Fire. Or Tuesday, May the twentieth, we have a
special fun podcast for you today, Rob G and I.
Rob G now fully back in the swing. Last week
he was kind of dipping a toe back in the
water coming off paternity leave. We are going to break
(00:32):
down and predict both conference finals. It's an interesting quartet
we have here. One of them last water title in
nineteen seventy three, that's the Knicks. The other three combined
have never won a title, so we will see new ground.
We are also trying to extend a streak the last
six years. We've had six different champs. Obviously that will
(00:54):
extend to seven because none of these for water title
last year or in recent memory in fact, So I
don't know. Before we get to that, Rob, I want
to you know, I talked about it a little yesterday.
Rob over the weekend was like, hey man, I found
our old podcast predictions on the NBA season and Rob
had Nick's Thunder and I had nix Wolves. So obviously
(01:19):
we need to start out patting ourselves on the back.
Now I do this, I don't have rob. Was the
McKale Bridges deal right before the season or was it
in the summer, because I'm trying to think did both
us both picking the Knicks? Was that influenced by the
Bridges deal? Do you remember when the Bridge deal went down?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I actually went back and listened to the whole podcast.
We did it right one week before the season, So yes,
we had that. Bridges was already on there. You even
mentioned in your analysis that in the hypothetical finals, whereas
Anthony Edwards versus the Knicks, it's like, well, I don't
know they're gonna have garden. Maybe it's just the Josh Hart,
Bridges and annob All get turns out of him because
there's really no singular matchup for him. So yeah, we've
(02:00):
had all of this locked and loaded for what is
this now? Seven eight months?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I mean, nobody good, not bad now listen, Obviously weird
stuff happens. Luca traded midseason. If you asked me two
months ago for my prediction, it would not have been
Mixed and it would not have been Wolves because two
months ago Wolves did not look like a championship team.
I did not know Julius Randall was going to turn
into Carl Malone. Okay, I did not have that on
my biingo card. I did not see the Celtics losing
(02:27):
Tatum and falling apart. I didn't see the Calves. Oh
my gosh, what the hell out of the Calves? The
posts mortem. I know we're not gonna do Calves today,
but my goodness, the Cleveland fans are irate. The Calves
are an unmitigated disaster heading into the offseason, and the
Knicks look like they could be set up for a
big run here over the next couple of years with
the Celtics down, but the Pacers as well are looking sharp.
(02:49):
So Rob, let me go back. Are you surprised this
is the matchup? I mean again, the Calves won sixty
four games I think, and the Celtics everybody had go
to the finals.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Oh, you'd have to be surprised. And again this is
coming full disclosure. You and I both picked the Knicks
before the season, but if I recall before the last series,
I think we both had Boston. I remember saying after
game was a Game three when when Boston came in
and did it went down three zero? They blew the
doors off him. Again, I was like, yeah, I don't
see a realistic scenario when New York comes back and
(03:19):
wins the series even though they're up to one, because
it looked like Boston and finally found their mojo. They
were getting open shots all series, they just weren't making them.
And credit to New York, they would stood the Jason
Tatum barrage in Game four to go up three to one,
and they took advantage of an injured team. No Jason
Tatum Porzingis is dealing with something. It was a Sam Hauser.
(03:42):
I know that he's not a household name, but he's
important to what they do specifically, so of course I
was surprised. I mean, the New York Knicks for all
of their talent, I live their top their starting five.
I think that it works fits well, very well together.
They did not look like a championship team also, yeah,
at all. And it wasn't until game four because even
(04:04):
the first two games, again, it was more about Boston
blowing games one to two than it was about New York.
It wasn't until game four if people started to really like, oh,
you know, maybe this Knicks team is legit, maybe they
can make a run, and then lo them hole here
we are. He's the conference finals.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, I would say the Knicks are the biggest surprise here.
I mean again, the Wolves are here. Steph Curry got hurt.
If Curry's healthy, that's a series. Obviously. I think everybody
expected Okac to be here, but they were pushed harder
than anyone in the last round, so we got we
have a good quartet. I think everybody would agree the
(04:39):
NBA would love it, love it if we got a
Knicks versus Anthony Edwards final. Okay, you get MSG rock
in New York City, big media market. Nicks haven't been
in the finals since I mean basically the ice age,
and you got Anthony Edwards, a big, young, brash star
who talks a lot of trash all about the ig honeys,
(05:00):
although it hasn't been his downfall yet. But listen, Anthony
Edwards is just catching bodies on the court and off
the court. I'm sorry, Okac fans, I know you're like, well, okay,
see we're great, sure, all right, wonderful. I mean I
don't know that they have the identity that ant does,
and obviously the Knicks had the lord, But would you
would agree Nicks Wolves.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Would be the best matchup for the finals in terms
of on court matchup. Absolutely, and that's even factoring in.
I think we all agree at some point this week,
SGA is gonna be named MVP. So in a theoretical world,
you say, hey, let me get New York that the
last remaining big market versus the reigning MVP or or
the current MVP. But as it relates to, like the
media side of it and what casual fans want to
(05:40):
see and what the media partners would like, I think
it's hands down Anthony Edwards. Like, if you had a
choice Anthy Edwards and SGA, I think nine out of
ten times you're picking that man for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
All right, let's go okay, see, let's do okay see first, Okay,
see Minnesota. I'll get to my pick shortly. I obviously
it's contrasting styles, right, Okay, See wants to push. They
are guard and wing reliant, although they can play two bigs,
but you know they're quick to get the hook on
Hartenstein and go with Caruso or case On Wallace, who
(06:23):
look pretty damn good at times against Denver. Meanwhile, Minnesota
is the opposite. They're just huge brutes. I mean, Randall's
a force. Uh nos read off the bench, Rudy Gobert
obviously the stifled Tower, one of the great nicknames. Jada
McDaniels is super long. They're just big and long, and
they just swarm you in the half court. And I
(06:43):
know we don't put a lot of stock in the
regular season. I think Rob alluded to it. The Knicks
were oh and four against the Celtics, and I think
to ten against like some of the best teams in
the league didn't matter. Knicks are in the conference finals,
so I don't put a ton of stock. But I
will say this, Denver's zone defense, Rob, which they didn't
play a lot of in the regular season, gave OKAC fits.
I won. Minnesota threw zone at OKC during the season
(07:07):
and they struggled. And I mean you could look at
it two ways. Hey, Oka, see got a lot of
looks against the zone against Denver. They're prepped and ready
for action. Okay, Sure, the Denver zone was just like
cobbled together by the interim coach. They didn't do a
lot of zone in the season. Minnesota has played a
ton of zone. I know people love Dagnault the coach
(07:28):
of OKCE. That's great. Chris Finch is a better coach.
I'm sorry. Who do I think is a bigger star
or better star? SGA can win the MVP, that's fine.
I think Anthony Edwards is a better player, better three
point shooter. I think he's a better finisher. All SGA
has him is in the mid range. And I like
them McDaniels can. I mean, they have like three or
four guys they can throw at SGA. Denver had like nobody,
(07:50):
I mean, Kristin Brown, Russell Westbrook. Really you look at
the McDaniel's aunt Edwards. Alexander Walker is pretty long and
kid can do some things. I kind of sort of
like Minnesota in this matchup, Rob. I'm looking for edges
for OKC. I think j Dubb Jaylen Williams, who had
a brutal series against Denver, and I don't want to
(08:11):
hear about his eight layups and dunks in Game seven
and in Waking up? Is he that good of a player?
I don't know. You can put McDaniels on him, and
he ain't gonna do Jack Squad. I mean, we've seen
McDaniel slow Luca, We've seen ant Man slow Austin Reeves.
I just I think Minnesota is the is the team
to watch here. I am curious Minnesota when they go
nas Reed become really really amazing. You're talking five out
(08:34):
Julius Randall unlocked as a playmaker. He had a triple
double in one game last series. Like when you pull
go Bear off the floor, it's not like it's a
loss because you still have room protectors in nas Reed
and McDaniels is a great shot blocker. I mean, they
are just so flexible. I'm gonna go Minnesota in six.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
I don't hate that pick, mostly because I knew you
were gonna go Minnesota and your preseason pick was Minnesota,
so you'd be crazy. I think it was Minnesota. Whatever
whoever ends up'll get my picking. But whoever wins this year,
that believe is gonna be long series. This is not
gonna be one of those ones hashtag Lakers in five, Like,
that's not gonna happen in this series. These two teams
are I'm not gonna call them mirror images of each other,
but they're you know, looking in upon reflections of each
(09:16):
other because both teams can get really streaky from behind
the arc. We saw that in last series with Golden
State Minnesota, game to game, almost quarter to quarter would
go ice cold or scorching hot, and there was no
in between. We saw that with Denver and OKCE Oka
see in the last in what was a Game seven,
(09:36):
they couldn't shoot at all in the first half and
they still winned up on them because their defense was
still ten Asians. They're getting down in transition. Ultimately, though,
what I think is gonna come down to is you
have right now the two best teams in the paint
between OKAC and Minnesota. OKAC plus eight and a half
points per game, Minnesota right behind the number two a
plus seven half points per game. So both teams do
(09:58):
a good job at scoring in the retre area and
denying the restricted area. If either team can't settle into
some kind of rhythm outside, you're in for a dogfight.
This is going to be a sluggish, grinded out type series.
And the reason why I'm going to pick OKC, even
though I think these teams are very close, is you
(10:21):
saw last series against Denver. They have three, four, five
guys they can use to pressure your ball handler coming
up the court, so that instead of getting into your
offense at like the sixteen seventeen eighteen second marty of
the shot clock, you're getting into it at like twelve, thirteen, fourteen.
It doesn't seem like a lot, but it really speeds
(10:42):
you up. It doesn't allow you to get into more
than one or two actions in a half court set.
I don't believe Mike Conley is going to be able
to be very useful in the series. If you make
Anthony Edwards your primary ball handler all game, how much
energy does he then have on the other end to
defend SGA, to defend Jdubb. So ultimately relying on similar
to what Denver did, Jokic was your point guard, basically
(11:04):
bring the ball to the court majority of the time.
Julius Randall is gonna have to bring the ball up
majority of the time. They get him with their offense
early if that's what they want to do. If Julius
Randall can bully Chet Holmgren the same way he did
to my Lakers, same way he did to Golden State,
then Minnesota's gonna win the series. I just don't think
he's gonna be able to do that. I think chet,
Holmgren and Hertenstein combined, we will do enough to slow
(11:27):
down Julius Randall to not where he's getting triple doubles
as Union. Maybe he's like eighteen and nine, which is great,
but that's not gonna be enough to beat Okasee. I
like Oklahoma City to win this game in an extended series.
Give me the thunder in seven.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Interesting. So I'm gonna ask like and this is a
tough one because in the last series O case, he
struggled against Denver to close out games. Right, they had
two big blowout wins, but they also lost three close
games to Denver, and you could attribute that to experience.
Minnesota was in the conference finals last year. Does that
matter at all? It's not like you know, Anthony Edwards
(12:03):
has been to an NBA finals or Rudy Gobert, but
like they they were here last year. And I wonder
if that's any edge at all because these one of
these first two games they obviously have to steal and
we did see Oka see below. Game one, I saw
some ridiculous take rob I don't know if you saw
this social media where you see all nonsense, but somebody
(12:23):
sent me a tweet that somebody wrote that people don't
realize this, but Okac was two Aaron Gordon three pointers
away from sweeping the Nuggets, And I'm like that, really,
that's how you saw that series, Aeron Gordon hitting a
couple of prayer threes?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Like what?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
People are kind of sort of delusional about that series, Rob,
do you do we forget that? In Game five in
Oklahoma City tied it to Denver was up nine in
the fourth quarter, like if they win that, they're winning
the series, and just you know, Denver kind of sort
of crumbled. Minnesota has a deeper bench, like the biggest edge. Okay,
se had their bench. That's not an edge here. I mean,
(13:02):
Alexander Walker is good, a rotational guy. Nas Reed. You
could make a case he's the sixth Man of the Year.
I don't did he win the award. I don't even
know he wanted a couple of years ago. Yeah, So
like they've got a bench. I mean, I don't know
how much of a factor Conley is. But there's even
this guy, Jalen Clark, who is a seldom used guy.
He's barely played in the playoffs, but I saw a
stat in the regular season this kid who's a rookie,
(13:25):
he guarded SGA a ton and like had some success
against him, And I'm like, is that guy gonna play?
I don't know. I like Visa Rob Dillingham, I don't
think he's gonna play that much, if at all, But like,
Minnesota's got a hell of a roster. I think the
reason people slept on a Rob was because of the trade,
right Kat for Randall and you lose Devincenzo. You were
kind of sort of building back the continuity and the chemistry,
(13:49):
and that took forty to fifty sixty games. Same with
the Knicks. They struggled for large portions of the season,
and guess what, now they're playing their best ball in
the playoffs when they've had over eighty games together. Minnesota,
I think we said was thirty two and twenty nine
after sixty two games. That ain't the look of a
conference finalist, but they finally figured it out. Chris Finch's
(14:11):
unlocked playmaking randal and this team's dangerous. My only concern
for Minnesota is, like you said, if Randall turns into
a pumpkin and he's given you fourteen on sixteen shots
and the assists are down to like four assists. Who's
the second score and I don't know who that guy is, Rob, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
It's I mean's a legitimate question for them because Julius
Randall up until this season, had been one of the
worst playoff performers relative to skill in the NBA. I'm
not gonna call him James Harden, but he was trending
towards James Harden territory. He was something in the thirties
percent shooting, you know, high twenties from three, and then
suddenly in this postseason he's taken it up to a
level that I didn't see coming and he's just been
(14:53):
phenomenal this series. Like these teams are not much better
than the other one, it ultimately comes down to matchup
and to your point, home court I don't think really
matters that much, just like I don't know if experience
at this point matters so much because both of these teams,
I know, Minnesota not this year, but they noticed like
to play deep into a series. They've gone against Star
(15:16):
Layden teams before both this year and last year. So
I don't think either team's gonna be really flinching in
that regard up until this past weekend when the Knicks
won and then Denver and Okay See Tookerbis at home.
The last three games home teams are only twenty six
and twenty four in the playoffs. So to your point,
I fully expect Minnesota is gonna take one of these
first two games point play period. I also think that
(15:37):
by the time we come back to Okac, it's gonna
be two two.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
X factor in the series. One guy like I who
there's so many options on Okac. But I, first of all,
let me just get let's get this out of the
way the way Caruso defended Jokich and I talked about
it yesterday. Rob, you didn't get to chime in, but
I don't. I don't think they're gonna allow that crap
in this next They're not gonna let him molest Anthony
Edwards the way he was all over Yoki. That's just
(16:04):
not gonna fly. Uh. And we've seen Finch during the
season made comments about how okay he gets away with
murder and you can't breathe on SGA. I'm sure that
clip will be making the rounds ahead of the game.
But yeah, I can't find the next fact? Is it
J dub who I think.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Is that at this rat he has to be an
X factor?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Is he not the most overrated player in the league.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
He's up there, He's like an All Star. But come on,
you know, he might be All NBA this year. He
might stop it. He might get thirty team All NBA.
But to your point, he's been so inconsistent you can't
look at him as like, Hey, I'm gonna count on
Jdubb to be my second guy. He is an egg.
He's a lamar odom. Right now at this point, from.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Okay, oh my god, third team All NBA, I need
to see it's gonna need to open investigation telling that's
a joke. All right, let's go Pacers Knicks. We both
like the Knicks, but obviously the Indiana Pacers are a
bad group of dudes. I mean, I like that. I
think this is the deepest team in the league. And
obviously Halliburton is the band. Did you see the video, Rob,
(17:00):
There was a Pacers fan who, for some dumb reason,
Game six of the Knicks were's a Halliburton jersey to
the Garden and he's like by himself, which is insane.
And then he's in the street afterward and Knicks fans
identify him, I mean, and they start throwing literal trash
bags at the guy. And then of course Halliburton saw
the video and Terry's Halliburton has now invited that gentleman
(17:23):
to go to Game one at the Garden. Halliburton is
just scoring all the points. Rob, you know, I like
this guy. I just the Calves had nobody to Garden.
Garland don't play defense. Mitchell's not a defender. Their wing
defenders are mediocre at best. The Knicks will throw bridges
part and maybe even some og and Obi at him.
(17:44):
We saw the kid McBride is it McBride? Is that
his name? I'm sorry use McBride. Yeah, yeah, he had
an incredible chase down block in the Celtics Game six.
Like he's a good defender. I just think the Knicks
have an They've got like kind of the perfect roster,
Like where are they deficient other than a room protector?
But do you really need that against the Pacers who
(18:05):
love to shoot the three?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
That's the question right there.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
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Speaker 3 (18:20):
New York during the regular season and coming to these
playoff did not look like that great of a team,
and somehow they rounded in a form the second half
of the series. In this series, I think it's gonna
come down to two guys. Ogni Noobi, who you mentioned.
In games where he scores twenty points, the Knicks win
at a seventy four percent clip, So in this series,
he's most likely going to drop the Pascal Siakam matchup.
(18:45):
In an ideal world, what happens is Jalen Brunson goes
off enough in game one or puts on enough of
a heater at some point in game one where they say,
you know what, we can't have Nemhart on him. You know,
Mathurine's not gonna work. Halliburton has never been that. We
got to put Siakam on Brenton to slow him down.
If oj Ananobi can take advantage of those matches, he's
(19:05):
gonna get when he gets the second defender or the
third defender on that team, the New York should roll
relatively easily. The problem is that he's kind of inconsistent,
as you mentioned Samuel Julius Randall. And the other thing
is Karl Anthony Towns in the last series. People don't
talk about this. Towns is arguably the greatest shooting big
man in NBIA history. He shot he's regular season wise.
Look at the numbers. He's right up there. He's right
(19:28):
up there. Even in the playoffs coming into you know
this year, he's right up there. He shot fifty percent
from three against Boston. If he cannot pull Miles Turner
away from the basket, whether by making the threes ideally
or even just attempting them, he wasn't even shooting them
against Boston. Take Turner out of the paint. Let Brunton
go to work. I think the Knicks have advantages all
(19:51):
over the floor in this case. I like the Knicks
and six.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You mentioned runs, so I had to look this up.
I'm gonna tell you what Brunson did last year in
that Pacer series. Okay, win the Knicks lost four to
three Game one. He had forty three points, six rebound,
six assists. Knicks win Game two, twenty nine to five,
Knicks win Game three. This was the one that hurt.
I had to go look at the play by play.
(20:19):
So the Knicks led by nine in the fourth quarter
on the road, up to nothing, they win this game
to go in the conference finals. Pacers make a comeback.
Jayllen Brunson hits a twenty eight foot step back to
tie the game with forty two seconds left, and then
Andrew nemhar hit the biggest shot of his career, a
thirty one foot bomb to give them the three point
lead to win. Otherwise, Knicks go up three to oh
(20:40):
because you know, we know they lost Game four. That
was Brunson's weakest game. Game five, gotta have it at
the garden. Brunson forty four to seven assists rob that
put him up. Then of course thirty one in game six,
which they lose, and then he got hurt in Game seven.
I think he broke his wrist, but he averaged twenty
nine game had had a forty three and a forty
(21:02):
four burger uh forty six percent from the field. Like
the Pacers. For as good as Nie Smith and nemhardar,
they cannot guard him. I'm sorry they can't. And the
Knicks are better offensively now with Kat and Og splashing
so I'm with you. I like the Knicks in this
I do love this Pacers team. They're close that that
(21:24):
uh Karl Anthony Town's number, you gave me his troubling
he was what three for fifteen?
Speaker 3 (21:29):
You know, he shot fifteen percent in the series against Boston.
In all fairness, he only tempted nineteen threes. Yeah, because
the game the game plan for Boston was We're going
to defend him with smaller guys for the most part,
Like they had Jaln Brown on him, they had Tatum
on him, and they would hide Horford and porzingis what
was playing on the other on Josh Hart usually and
(21:51):
in this case, if Kat is able to pull Turner
away from the basket, there is absolutely nothing to stop
Jalen Runs from averaging thirty three thirty five points game
in the series.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Yeah, I think you'll get that. And by the way,
for all the Thibodeau's overplaying his guys, the Knicks won
the series on Friday, Brunson only had to play thirty five.
So they got off Saturday, they got off Sunday, they
got off Monday, they'll get off Tuesday. That's a lot
of rest and you get to stay home no travel
for the Knicks for the first two games. They they're
home court advantaged, so everything's coming up nixt Obviously, those
(22:22):
first two games are gonna be big. I think the Knicks.
I'll go with Knicks in. You said six, Yep, Budge,
can I go? If I see I would go five.
But if they blow one of the first two, yeah,
then it's a dumb prediction.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
And that would be disrespectful to the Pacers.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yeah, I'll go.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I'll go Knickson seven. I think they you know, obviously
have it. Halliburton worries me. Haliburton is sneaky, one of
my favorite players. So and we'll have some off days.
So Rob and I I would like like looking forward,
the league is starting to change. Rob, have you noticed
just some of these guys are like the Kevin Durant stuff.
People aren't as hot for Kevin Durant anymore right now.
(23:02):
It's it's he's getting old, Lebron obviously staying with the Lakers,
Steph Curry getting old and injured. Are we are we
doing that cycle where the young guys start to take over.
I think that's gonna be an interesting topic this offseason.
But that's your preview for Knicks, Pacers and Wolves thunder Boy.
If okay See makes the final, I'm gonna have to
eat a lot of crow. I bashed that team all year.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Rub It can't be any worse than shaving a seahawk
inside of your head.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
No, I'm not doing any of that star for all.
Right back tomorrow, talk to you then,
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up straight Fire? Pray It's the Jason McIntyre
Straight Fire. Or Tuesday, May the twentieth, we have a
special fun podcast for you today, Rob G and I.
Rob G now fully back in the swing. Last week
he was kind of dipping a toe back in the
water coming off paternity leave. We are going to break
(00:32):
down and predict both conference finals. It's an interesting quartet
we have here. One of them last water title in
nineteen seventy three, that's the Knicks. The other three combined
have never won a title, so we will see new ground.
We are also trying to extend a streak the last
six years. We've had six different champs. Obviously that will
(00:54):
extend to seven because none of these for water title
last year or in recent memory in fact, So I
don't know. Before we get to that, Rob, I want
to you know, I talked about it a little yesterday.
Rob over the weekend was like, hey man, I found
our old podcast predictions on the NBA season and Rob
had Nick's Thunder and I had nix Wolves. So obviously
(01:19):
we need to start out patting ourselves on the back.
Now I do this, I don't have rob. Was the
McKale Bridges deal right before the season or was it
in the summer, because I'm trying to think did both
us both picking the Knicks? Was that influenced by the
Bridges deal? Do you remember when the Bridge deal went down?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I actually went back and listened to the whole podcast.
We did it right one week before the season, So yes,
we had that. Bridges was already on there. You even
mentioned in your analysis that in the hypothetical finals, whereas
Anthony Edwards versus the Knicks, it's like, well, I don't
know they're gonna have garden. Maybe it's just the Josh Hart,
Bridges and annob All get turns out of him because
there's really no singular matchup for him. So yeah, we've
(02:00):
had all of this locked and loaded for what is
this now? Seven eight months?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I mean, nobody good, not bad now listen, Obviously weird
stuff happens. Luca traded midseason. If you asked me two
months ago for my prediction, it would not have been
Mixed and it would not have been Wolves because two
months ago Wolves did not look like a championship team.
I did not know Julius Randall was going to turn
into Carl Malone. Okay, I did not have that on
my biingo card. I did not see the Celtics losing
(02:27):
Tatum and falling apart. I didn't see the Calves. Oh
my gosh, what the hell out of the Calves? The
posts mortem. I know we're not gonna do Calves today,
but my goodness, the Cleveland fans are irate. The Calves
are an unmitigated disaster heading into the offseason, and the
Knicks look like they could be set up for a
big run here over the next couple of years with
the Celtics down, but the Pacers as well are looking sharp.
(02:49):
So Rob, let me go back. Are you surprised this
is the matchup? I mean again, the Calves won sixty
four games I think, and the Celtics everybody had go
to the finals.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Oh, you'd have to be surprised. And again this is
coming full disclosure. You and I both picked the Knicks
before the season, but if I recall before the last series,
I think we both had Boston. I remember saying after
game was a Game three when when Boston came in
and did it went down three zero? They blew the
doors off him. Again, I was like, yeah, I don't
see a realistic scenario when New York comes back and
(03:19):
wins the series even though they're up to one, because
it looked like Boston and finally found their mojo. They
were getting open shots all series, they just weren't making them.
And credit to New York, they would stood the Jason
Tatum barrage in Game four to go up three to one,
and they took advantage of an injured team. No Jason
Tatum Porzingis is dealing with something. It was a Sam Hauser.
(03:42):
I know that he's not a household name, but he's
important to what they do specifically, so of course I
was surprised. I mean, the New York Knicks for all
of their talent, I live their top their starting five.
I think that it works fits well, very well together.
They did not look like a championship team also, yeah,
at all. And it wasn't until game four because even
(04:04):
the first two games, again, it was more about Boston
blowing games one to two than it was about New York.
It wasn't until game four if people started to really like, oh,
you know, maybe this Knicks team is legit, maybe they
can make a run, and then lo them hole here
we are. He's the conference finals.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, I would say the Knicks are the biggest surprise here.
I mean again, the Wolves are here. Steph Curry got hurt.
If Curry's healthy, that's a series. Obviously. I think everybody
expected Okac to be here, but they were pushed harder
than anyone in the last round, so we got we
have a good quartet. I think everybody would agree the
(04:39):
NBA would love it, love it if we got a
Knicks versus Anthony Edwards final. Okay, you get MSG rock
in New York City, big media market. Nicks haven't been
in the finals since I mean basically the ice age,
and you got Anthony Edwards, a big, young, brash star
who talks a lot of trash all about the ig honeys,
(05:00):
although it hasn't been his downfall yet. But listen, Anthony
Edwards is just catching bodies on the court and off
the court. I'm sorry, Okac fans, I know you're like, well, okay,
see we're great, sure, all right, wonderful. I mean I
don't know that they have the identity that ant does,
and obviously the Knicks had the lord, But would you
would agree Nicks Wolves.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Would be the best matchup for the finals in terms
of on court matchup. Absolutely, and that's even factoring in.
I think we all agree at some point this week,
SGA is gonna be named MVP. So in a theoretical world,
you say, hey, let me get New York that the
last remaining big market versus the reigning MVP or or
the current MVP. But as it relates to, like the
media side of it and what casual fans want to
(05:40):
see and what the media partners would like, I think
it's hands down Anthony Edwards. Like, if you had a
choice Anthy Edwards and SGA, I think nine out of
ten times you're picking that man for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
All right, let's go okay, see, let's do okay see first, Okay,
see Minnesota. I'll get to my pick shortly. I obviously
it's contrasting styles, right, Okay, See wants to push. They
are guard and wing reliant, although they can play two bigs,
but you know they're quick to get the hook on
Hartenstein and go with Caruso or case On Wallace, who
(06:23):
look pretty damn good at times against Denver. Meanwhile, Minnesota
is the opposite. They're just huge brutes. I mean, Randall's
a force. Uh nos read off the bench, Rudy Gobert
obviously the stifled Tower, one of the great nicknames. Jada
McDaniels is super long. They're just big and long, and
they just swarm you in the half court. And I
(06:43):
know we don't put a lot of stock in the
regular season. I think Rob alluded to it. The Knicks
were oh and four against the Celtics, and I think
to ten against like some of the best teams in
the league didn't matter. Knicks are in the conference finals,
so I don't put a ton of stock. But I
will say this, Denver's zone defense, Rob, which they didn't
play a lot of in the regular season, gave OKAC fits.
I won. Minnesota threw zone at OKC during the season
(07:07):
and they struggled. And I mean you could look at
it two ways. Hey, Oka, see got a lot of
looks against the zone against Denver. They're prepped and ready
for action. Okay, Sure, the Denver zone was just like
cobbled together by the interim coach. They didn't do a
lot of zone in the season. Minnesota has played a
ton of zone. I know people love Dagnault the coach
(07:28):
of OKCE. That's great. Chris Finch is a better coach.
I'm sorry. Who do I think is a bigger star
or better star? SGA can win the MVP, that's fine.
I think Anthony Edwards is a better player, better three
point shooter. I think he's a better finisher. All SGA
has him is in the mid range. And I like
them McDaniels can. I mean, they have like three or
four guys they can throw at SGA. Denver had like nobody,
(07:50):
I mean, Kristin Brown, Russell Westbrook. Really you look at
the McDaniel's aunt Edwards. Alexander Walker is pretty long and
kid can do some things. I kind of sort of
like Minnesota in this matchup, Rob. I'm looking for edges
for OKC. I think j Dubb Jaylen Williams, who had
a brutal series against Denver, and I don't want to
(08:11):
hear about his eight layups and dunks in Game seven
and in Waking up? Is he that good of a player?
I don't know. You can put McDaniels on him, and
he ain't gonna do Jack Squad. I mean, we've seen
McDaniel slow Luca, We've seen ant Man slow Austin Reeves.
I just I think Minnesota is the is the team
to watch here. I am curious Minnesota when they go
nas Reed become really really amazing. You're talking five out
(08:34):
Julius Randall unlocked as a playmaker. He had a triple
double in one game last series. Like when you pull
go Bear off the floor, it's not like it's a
loss because you still have room protectors in nas Reed
and McDaniels is a great shot blocker. I mean, they
are just so flexible. I'm gonna go Minnesota in six.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
I don't hate that pick, mostly because I knew you
were gonna go Minnesota and your preseason pick was Minnesota,
so you'd be crazy. I think it was Minnesota. Whatever
whoever ends up'll get my picking. But whoever wins this year,
that believe is gonna be long series. This is not
gonna be one of those ones hashtag Lakers in five, Like,
that's not gonna happen in this series. These two teams
are I'm not gonna call them mirror images of each other,
but they're you know, looking in upon reflections of each
(09:16):
other because both teams can get really streaky from behind
the arc. We saw that in last series with Golden
State Minnesota, game to game, almost quarter to quarter would
go ice cold or scorching hot, and there was no
in between. We saw that with Denver and OKCE Oka
see in the last in what was a Game seven,
(09:36):
they couldn't shoot at all in the first half and
they still winned up on them because their defense was
still ten Asians. They're getting down in transition. Ultimately, though,
what I think is gonna come down to is you
have right now the two best teams in the paint
between OKAC and Minnesota. OKAC plus eight and a half
points per game, Minnesota right behind the number two a
plus seven half points per game. So both teams do
(09:58):
a good job at scoring in the retre area and
denying the restricted area. If either team can't settle into
some kind of rhythm outside, you're in for a dogfight.
This is going to be a sluggish, grinded out type series.
And the reason why I'm going to pick OKC, even
though I think these teams are very close, is you
(10:21):
saw last series against Denver. They have three, four, five
guys they can use to pressure your ball handler coming
up the court, so that instead of getting into your
offense at like the sixteen seventeen eighteen second marty of
the shot clock, you're getting into it at like twelve, thirteen, fourteen.
It doesn't seem like a lot, but it really speeds
(10:42):
you up. It doesn't allow you to get into more
than one or two actions in a half court set.
I don't believe Mike Conley is going to be able
to be very useful in the series. If you make
Anthony Edwards your primary ball handler all game, how much
energy does he then have on the other end to
defend SGA, to defend Jdubb. So ultimately relying on similar
to what Denver did, Jokic was your point guard, basically
(11:04):
bring the ball to the court majority of the time.
Julius Randall is gonna have to bring the ball up
majority of the time. They get him with their offense
early if that's what they want to do. If Julius
Randall can bully Chet Holmgren the same way he did
to my Lakers, same way he did to Golden State,
then Minnesota's gonna win the series. I just don't think
he's gonna be able to do that. I think chet,
Holmgren and Hertenstein combined, we will do enough to slow
(11:27):
down Julius Randall to not where he's getting triple doubles
as Union. Maybe he's like eighteen and nine, which is great,
but that's not gonna be enough to beat Okasee. I
like Oklahoma City to win this game in an extended series.
Give me the thunder in seven.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Interesting. So I'm gonna ask like and this is a
tough one because in the last series O case, he
struggled against Denver to close out games. Right, they had
two big blowout wins, but they also lost three close
games to Denver, and you could attribute that to experience.
Minnesota was in the conference finals last year. Does that
matter at all? It's not like you know, Anthony Edwards
(12:03):
has been to an NBA finals or Rudy Gobert, but
like they they were here last year. And I wonder
if that's any edge at all because these one of
these first two games they obviously have to steal and
we did see Oka see below. Game one, I saw
some ridiculous take rob I don't know if you saw
this social media where you see all nonsense, but somebody
(12:23):
sent me a tweet that somebody wrote that people don't
realize this, but Okac was two Aaron Gordon three pointers
away from sweeping the Nuggets, And I'm like that, really,
that's how you saw that series, Aeron Gordon hitting a
couple of prayer threes?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Like what?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
People are kind of sort of delusional about that series, Rob,
do you do we forget that? In Game five in
Oklahoma City tied it to Denver was up nine in
the fourth quarter, like if they win that, they're winning
the series, and just you know, Denver kind of sort
of crumbled. Minnesota has a deeper bench, like the biggest edge. Okay,
se had their bench. That's not an edge here. I mean,
(13:02):
Alexander Walker is good, a rotational guy. Nas Reed. You
could make a case he's the sixth Man of the Year.
I don't did he win the award. I don't even
know he wanted a couple of years ago. Yeah, So
like they've got a bench. I mean, I don't know
how much of a factor Conley is. But there's even
this guy, Jalen Clark, who is a seldom used guy.
He's barely played in the playoffs, but I saw a
stat in the regular season this kid who's a rookie,
(13:25):
he guarded SGA a ton and like had some success
against him, And I'm like, is that guy gonna play?
I don't know. I like Visa Rob Dillingham, I don't
think he's gonna play that much, if at all, But like,
Minnesota's got a hell of a roster. I think the
reason people slept on a Rob was because of the trade,
right Kat for Randall and you lose Devincenzo. You were
kind of sort of building back the continuity and the chemistry,
(13:49):
and that took forty to fifty sixty games. Same with
the Knicks. They struggled for large portions of the season,
and guess what, now they're playing their best ball in
the playoffs when they've had over eighty games together. Minnesota,
I think we said was thirty two and twenty nine
after sixty two games. That ain't the look of a
conference finalist, but they finally figured it out. Chris Finch's
(14:11):
unlocked playmaking randal and this team's dangerous. My only concern
for Minnesota is, like you said, if Randall turns into
a pumpkin and he's given you fourteen on sixteen shots
and the assists are down to like four assists. Who's
the second score and I don't know who that guy is, Rob, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
It's I mean's a legitimate question for them because Julius
Randall up until this season, had been one of the
worst playoff performers relative to skill in the NBA. I'm
not gonna call him James Harden, but he was trending
towards James Harden territory. He was something in the thirties
percent shooting, you know, high twenties from three, and then
suddenly in this postseason he's taken it up to a
level that I didn't see coming and he's just been
(14:53):
phenomenal this series. Like these teams are not much better
than the other one, it ultimately comes down to matchup
and to your point, home court I don't think really
matters that much, just like I don't know if experience
at this point matters so much because both of these teams,
I know, Minnesota not this year, but they noticed like
to play deep into a series. They've gone against Star
(15:16):
Layden teams before both this year and last year. So
I don't think either team's gonna be really flinching in
that regard up until this past weekend when the Knicks
won and then Denver and Okay See Tookerbis at home.
The last three games home teams are only twenty six
and twenty four in the playoffs. So to your point,
I fully expect Minnesota is gonna take one of these
first two games point play period. I also think that
(15:37):
by the time we come back to Okac, it's gonna
be two two.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
X factor in the series. One guy like I who
there's so many options on Okac. But I, first of all,
let me just get let's get this out of the
way the way Caruso defended Jokich and I talked about
it yesterday. Rob, you didn't get to chime in, but
I don't. I don't think they're gonna allow that crap
in this next They're not gonna let him molest Anthony
Edwards the way he was all over Yoki. That's just
(16:04):
not gonna fly. Uh. And we've seen Finch during the
season made comments about how okay he gets away with
murder and you can't breathe on SGA. I'm sure that
clip will be making the rounds ahead of the game.
But yeah, I can't find the next fact? Is it
J dub who I think.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Is that at this rat he has to be an
X factor?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Is he not the most overrated player in the league.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
He's up there, He's like an All Star. But come on,
you know, he might be All NBA this year. He
might stop it. He might get thirty team All NBA.
But to your point, he's been so inconsistent you can't
look at him as like, Hey, I'm gonna count on
Jdubb to be my second guy. He is an egg.
He's a lamar odom. Right now at this point, from.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Okay, oh my god, third team All NBA, I need
to see it's gonna need to open investigation telling that's
a joke. All right, let's go Pacers Knicks. We both
like the Knicks, but obviously the Indiana Pacers are a
bad group of dudes. I mean, I like that. I
think this is the deepest team in the league. And
obviously Halliburton is the band. Did you see the video, Rob,
(17:00):
There was a Pacers fan who, for some dumb reason,
Game six of the Knicks were's a Halliburton jersey to
the Garden and he's like by himself, which is insane.
And then he's in the street afterward and Knicks fans
identify him, I mean, and they start throwing literal trash
bags at the guy. And then of course Halliburton saw
the video and Terry's Halliburton has now invited that gentleman
(17:23):
to go to Game one at the Garden. Halliburton is
just scoring all the points. Rob, you know, I like
this guy. I just the Calves had nobody to Garden.
Garland don't play defense. Mitchell's not a defender. Their wing
defenders are mediocre at best. The Knicks will throw bridges
part and maybe even some og and Obi at him.
(17:44):
We saw the kid McBride is it McBride? Is that
his name? I'm sorry use McBride. Yeah, yeah, he had
an incredible chase down block in the Celtics Game six.
Like he's a good defender. I just think the Knicks
have an They've got like kind of the perfect roster,
Like where are they deficient other than a room protector?
But do you really need that against the Pacers who
(18:05):
love to shoot the three?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
That's the question right there.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
New York during the regular season and coming to these
playoff did not look like that great of a team,
and somehow they rounded in a form the second half
of the series. In this series, I think it's gonna
come down to two guys. Ogni Noobi, who you mentioned.
In games where he scores twenty points, the Knicks win
at a seventy four percent clip, So in this series,
he's most likely going to drop the Pascal Siakam matchup.
(18:45):
In an ideal world, what happens is Jalen Brunson goes
off enough in game one or puts on enough of
a heater at some point in game one where they say,
you know what, we can't have Nemhart on him. You know,
Mathurine's not gonna work. Halliburton has never been that. We
got to put Siakam on Brenton to slow him down.
If oj Ananobi can take advantage of those matches, he's
(19:05):
gonna get when he gets the second defender or the
third defender on that team, the New York should roll
relatively easily. The problem is that he's kind of inconsistent,
as you mentioned Samuel Julius Randall. And the other thing
is Karl Anthony Towns in the last series. People don't
talk about this. Towns is arguably the greatest shooting big
man in NBIA history. He shot he's regular season wise.
Look at the numbers. He's right up there. He's right
(19:28):
up there. Even in the playoffs coming into you know
this year, he's right up there. He shot fifty percent
from three against Boston. If he cannot pull Miles Turner
away from the basket, whether by making the threes ideally
or even just attempting them, he wasn't even shooting them
against Boston. Take Turner out of the paint. Let Brunton
go to work. I think the Knicks have advantages all
(19:51):
over the floor in this case. I like the Knicks
and six.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You mentioned runs, so I had to look this up.
I'm gonna tell you what Brunson did last year in
that Pacer series. Okay, win the Knicks lost four to
three Game one. He had forty three points, six rebound,
six assists. Knicks win Game two, twenty nine to five,
Knicks win Game three. This was the one that hurt.
I had to go look at the play by play.
(20:19):
So the Knicks led by nine in the fourth quarter
on the road, up to nothing, they win this game
to go in the conference finals. Pacers make a comeback.
Jayllen Brunson hits a twenty eight foot step back to
tie the game with forty two seconds left, and then
Andrew nemhar hit the biggest shot of his career, a
thirty one foot bomb to give them the three point
lead to win. Otherwise, Knicks go up three to oh
(20:40):
because you know, we know they lost Game four. That
was Brunson's weakest game. Game five, gotta have it at
the garden. Brunson forty four to seven assists rob that
put him up. Then of course thirty one in game six,
which they lose, and then he got hurt in Game seven.
I think he broke his wrist, but he averaged twenty
nine game had had a forty three and a forty
(21:02):
four burger uh forty six percent from the field. Like
the Pacers. For as good as Nie Smith and nemhardar,
they cannot guard him. I'm sorry they can't. And the
Knicks are better offensively now with Kat and Og splashing
so I'm with you. I like the Knicks in this
I do love this Pacers team. They're close that that
(21:24):
uh Karl Anthony Town's number, you gave me his troubling
he was what three for fifteen?
Speaker 3 (21:29):
You know, he shot fifteen percent in the series against Boston.
In all fairness, he only tempted nineteen threes. Yeah, because
the game the game plan for Boston was We're going
to defend him with smaller guys for the most part,
Like they had Jaln Brown on him, they had Tatum
on him, and they would hide Horford and porzingis what
was playing on the other on Josh Hart usually and
(21:51):
in this case, if Kat is able to pull Turner
away from the basket, there is absolutely nothing to stop
Jalen Runs from averaging thirty three thirty five points game
in the series.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Yeah, I think you'll get that. And by the way,
for all the Thibodeau's overplaying his guys, the Knicks won
the series on Friday, Brunson only had to play thirty five.
So they got off Saturday, they got off Sunday, they
got off Monday, they'll get off Tuesday. That's a lot
of rest and you get to stay home no travel
for the Knicks for the first two games. They they're
home court advantaged, so everything's coming up nixt Obviously, those
(22:22):
first two games are gonna be big. I think the Knicks.
I'll go with Knicks in. You said six, Yep, Budge,
can I go? If I see I would go five.
But if they blow one of the first two, yeah,
then it's a dumb prediction.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
And that would be disrespectful to the Pacers.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Yeah, I'll go.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I'll go Knickson seven. I think they you know, obviously
have it. Halliburton worries me. Haliburton is sneaky, one of
my favorite players. So and we'll have some off days.
So Rob and I I would like like looking forward,
the league is starting to change. Rob, have you noticed
just some of these guys are like the Kevin Durant stuff.
People aren't as hot for Kevin Durant anymore right now.
(23:02):
It's it's he's getting old, Lebron obviously staying with the Lakers,
Steph Curry getting old and injured. Are we are we
doing that cycle where the young guys start to take over.
I think that's gonna be an interesting topic this offseason.
But that's your preview for Knicks, Pacers and Wolves thunder Boy.
If okay See makes the final, I'm gonna have to
eat a lot of crow. I bashed that team all year.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Rub It can't be any worse than shaving a seahawk
inside of your head.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
No, I'm not doing any of that star for all.
Right back tomorrow, talk to you then,
Host
Jason McIntyre
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