Nerd Sesh - Game 5 Reactions: Wolves FINISH Warriors, Celtics SURVIVE Knicks

The nerds react to Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle and the Minnesota Timberwolves' attempt to close out the Golden State Warriors without Steph Curry in Game 5, then they break down how Jaylen Brown led the Boston Celtics to a huge win over the New York Knicks without Jayson Tatum.

Timestamps

00:00:23 - Timberwolves-Warriors

00:36:42 - Celtics-Knicks

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. No, Oh my god, how could he do that?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Don't watch what Charles Darwin. The nerves is where it's at.
Welcome everybody back into Nerds Sash as always. I'm Carson
Breber and alongside me is Logan Camden, and you already
know the drill. We have two playoff basketball games to
start about today. One team, Logan, went down. Their season

(00:37):
is now over, but another team, backs against the walls,
stayed alive. Unfortunately, the Golden State Warriors were not that team.
Both of these teams that were fighting for their lives
today were without their best player. One team found a way,
the other team did not come close. The Warriors go
down in a very routine five games to the Timberwolves.
They had Steph Curry for thirteen minutes of this series.

(01:00):
We'll talk about what's next for them and where they
go from here. But before we do that, Logan, I
don't think if there were a ton of revelations in
this game. But what do you take away from Minnesota
coming out of this series and how do you feel
about them going forward?

Speaker 1 (01:13):
I think they're the second biggest threat to win the
NBA Finals. I'm going to take whoever comes out of
the Western Conference to win. Like, I'm honestly really pleased
that we're at this point in the season. That not
that the way things broke, but I think it's really
fascinating that the teams that are left, like Indiana has
a real shot now Nicks, just with the way things

(01:33):
have broken. But I think Minnesota is the second biggest
threat behind Oklahoma City. I think i'd pick them, but
they pose a really interesting challenge to Oklahoma City, I
think with just how physical they can be with this team,
the really high defensive level that they can reach. But
most importantly to me, it's the success of Julius Randall.

(01:55):
It's the fact that he has been playing such phenomenal
basketball in these playoffs. That's exactly what this team needed. Like,
I could have very easily seen this team being a
great defense, which I thought they were tonight throughout the playoffs. Okay,
we can check that box. I could very well see
Anthony Edwards being a superstar, which I think in the
big moments of games, and he had some weird stuff

(02:17):
at the end of this one with some turnovers, but
for the most part in big spots has come through
and been a killer. The biggest variatable. Meet to me
about the Wolves was really two things. The clutch offense,
which they've looked really good in in a lot of
these games. But more importantly, he was Julius Randall. And
not only has he been you know, good, he's been great.

(02:38):
I have loved everything that we've gotten from Julius Randall
in these playoffs, the decision making most importantly, like just
making smart decisions time after time. Him and Aunt have
such a potent two man game, and he has done
such a great job of just finding him for easy looks,
and so I'm just really encouraged. Carson. I was completely wrong.

(02:58):
I've said this a multitude of about the Timberwolves trades.
I was completely wrong about the Gobert deal. I was
completely wrong about the Julius Randall deal. I will apologize
for those transgressions against the Minnesota community until the day
I die, because frankly, I have to, you know, it's
just my moral responsibility. But I don't see any reason

(03:19):
why the Timberwls couldn't win the championship. Like again, I'm
not picking that, but I think the Timberwolves are here, man,
and I don't think that there's any boxes that they
don't check. Man. I think this team is really deep.
I trust their Tier one superstar and they can play
defense and man the boards. Man, I think Minnesota is
really complete and I was too low on them coming
into the playoffs. Now I wish we had seen them

(03:39):
against Steph like. This series unfortunately wasn't a real test.
But they're gonna have to prove themselves next round. But
back to back, man like, back to back Western Conference
Finals appearances is massive, massive for this franchise and it's amazing. Man,
I'm so happy for Timberwolves fans. You guys deserve this.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah. Yeah, there's not too much that you can really
take away from this series because you're going against a
team that you wouldn't sniff the play. And that being said,
I think that you feel encouraged if you're a Timberwolves
fan about what you've seen from your team through two
rounds of the playoffs. Like you said, the biggest X
factor has been Julius Randall being so damn good and
you've apologized a million times. All apologize a million more times.

(04:21):
I mean, they say, Logan, the apology needs to be
as loud as the disrespect. And I don't know if
my disrespres player has ever really been louder than it
was for Julius Randall. I think that his process throughout
these playoffs has been phenomenal. I think he has been
so brutally efficient as a mismatch attacker. He has been
so composed playing out of isolation and out of the post.
He's been consistently making the right reads and making the

(04:43):
right passes. He has been really good as a jump
shooter throughout this postseason so far. So just an a
plus postseason from him up to this point. And this
entire series just flipped after Game one, and the Timberwls
never looked back. And it all started with an Randall
just getting their heads screwed on straight again after what
was really a terrible Game one from both of them,

(05:05):
confounded by really good Warriors defense, but nevertheless their decision
making was just really really bad. Once they started attacking
this defense properly, they were generating good offensive results consistently,
and the Warriors obviously just didn't have even competent offensive
personnel to keep them really competitive in these games, like
they kind of hung around in a few of them,

(05:26):
but Minnesota was clearly going to cruise two way victory
also thought at was really good. Rando is the guy
you leave this series. In both of these series. Most
impressed with, in my opinion, but Ant's ability to take
over as a score in second halves of these games.
He really got the pull up three going in the
second half of this series. He had some really nice
playmaking moments, and like just the entire collective team and

(05:49):
the really impressive go Bear's defense has been absolutely outstanding
all playoffs. Jade McDaniels has been consistently awesome for this
team and is playing the best offense of his life.
You look up and down this roster top to bottom,
and when their stars are doing the right things and
they're making good decisions and they're playing up to their potential,
this is a team that really is built for playoff
success because they have such elite size, They have such

(06:12):
elite overall athleticism. They play with such great physicality and
set the tone physically, which is so valuable in the playoffs.
They're going to be great on the glass. They have
so much collective shooting around their couple of stars. Their
lineup versatility is really exceptional. Their ability to go three
guys deep in the bench and know that all of
them are studs and give them a bunch of different
looks like this is all stuff that we really learned

(06:34):
in the Lakers series, more than we learned it in
this one, because again they didn't need to pull out
all the stops. But I still think that they have
all of those advantages that they showed in what was
a really impressive series win against La So I think
that they post very distinct challenges to either team who
they could see in the Western Conference Finals. They've proven
that they can beat both of them. Obviously, they've owned Denver.

(06:55):
They beat them in seven in the playoffs last year,
but they swept them in the regular season this year
and really produce incredible offensive results. They couldn't guard ant,
they were able to create a bunch of really good
looks from three. They took advantage of the nuggets lack
of imp protection. Now that defense has been a totally
different beast in these playoffs than it was in the
regular season. Denver has improved dramatically there, but still the

(07:16):
Timberwls feel good about that matchup, and they beat the
Thunder twice this year, and they do have the physicality edge,
they do have the Julius Randall bully ball factor. I
do think the Thunder can do a lot to really
challenge their offense.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Would you give them the experienceage two over OKCE or
do you think that's kind of a wash?

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah? I think that you give them the experience edge,
but it's not significant. And with how we've seen the
Thunder grow into themselves within this Nugget series, like a
lot of the concerns about oh, are they going to
look shaky in the big moments, and they washed away
with how they've played in these last two because the
Nuggets are the team that has the experience, They're the
team that's won the title. They're the team that is

(07:54):
so great in terms of clutch offense. Okay, see, answering
that test, to me is a bigger challenge than Minnesota
when it to the experience front.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
For sure, I think the biggest challenge is just gonna
be the physicality that Minnesota can play with whoever team
they face in the Western Conference Finals. Is just dealing
with that batteran which you're gonna take every night, because
for sure, Minnesota can just impose their will on teams.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
They can. What I would say is, if you're talking
about the bully ball on the offensive end. Look at
what Okc's done to Yokicchen this series. I think that
they have such tremendous defensive personnel. We'll talk about the
particulars of that matchup when we get there, but I
do think there are a lot of interesting things they
can do to challenge Randall. They're going to be super
physical with him, and they don't necessarily have like that

(08:36):
super big forward Martinstein on him.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
Him and ant handles are gonna have to be tight.
That's probably the thing that I'm worried about most with them,
just with all those really good perimeter defenders and you know,
they got all got great hands.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
And finishing at the rim is going to be extremely difficult.
Like I think that the thunder defense can pose a
lot of problems for the Timbruls, But their physicality, their athleticism,
their death, all these things are very very real and
they do make them a really high level playoff basketball team.
You think that they would rather see Denver right if
they had their pick between the heartedly.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
I mean, they I think they just got their number
straight up. Like I don't think like I'm not thinking
Denver's gonna go down easy or anything like that. Denver
never goes down easy, but I don't know if they
can get their mojo back against his team. Denver always
looks like they their confidence is completely shot. At least

(09:29):
it was this year when they played Minnesota like they
just folded like a lazy boy. It seemed like every
team every time they met up, and I just think
Minnesota has like the perfect counter to them now. I honestly,
I still even though how they dominated them in the
regular season this year, I still think I prefer last
year's iteration in terms of how they matched up against Denver,

(09:51):
just with kat and how specifically he matched up against Jokic.
But I do think they'd rather see Denver. I just
think okay See is the better team.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yeah, I agree, I totally agree. I think that Okac
is the better team, and I also think that Denver
is specifically the better matchup for Minnesota. I do think
that Denver's playing way better than they did in the
regular season. I think that to a couple of those
Minnesota games, like they didn't even show up. I mean,
just pathetic defensive performances that I really really don't think
you would get out of them in a playoff series
with how they've been defending, but I do think that

(10:20):
they would rather see Denver. Congratulations to the Timberwls back
to back Conference finals appearances. They've done it with some
of the really same strengths, but also they did it
while swapping stars. And like, I was pessimistic about this trade,
not just because I thought the cat was better than Randal,
but also because I thought that, like, there would be
an adjustment period trying to integrate a new star, and

(10:43):
when they were so close last year, I was like,
why would you shake that up? And instead, I think
that you've seen the tremendous value that Randal does have
here as a mismatch attacker, as a playmaker, and obviously
it's working.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
I mean, on top of that, not only was it
a home run fit, they have given themselves a lot
more flexibility, you know, down the line. Now you have
to there is another side of this. You are gonna
have to bring Randall back, and that's very important. I
think he's got a player option after this year.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Correct, I believe he does.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yet, I believe Randall has a player option, So you're
gonna hope that he opts into that, which actually with
the way Randall has been playing, I think is a
decent bargain for what he's giving you.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, I don't know if he opts in. I think
he's just probably going to try to get himself a
long term contract.

Speaker 1 (11:28):
I don't blame him. So that is a new challenge
that has been presented by this as you're gonna have
to bring back Randall, But I think they're going to
be able to. And I mean, with the success that
they've had this season, I don't see why he wouldn't
come back. But now they also have the flexibility to
bring back nas Reed and to bring back Nikhil Alexander Walker,
which was really the crux of the Karl Anthony Towns
team is they didn't want to lose those elite, elite

(11:51):
role players, and who knows, maybe they also could lose.
It's not guaranteed that they're gonna get all those guys back,
but they at least have the salad and a little
more maneuverability to try to make those things happen.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
It's a great point, and that was like the one
part of the vision that I really did understand and
like did support when they made the trade is just
Randall is half of the dollar value of Cat and
so like you are allowed more flexibility. But when Randall
is also just playing this well and he has been
this good of a fit, I mean, that just makes
it a home run because now you're getting everything that

(12:25):
you want, you're getting that star value, You're back in
the Western Conference finals, and you like your flexibility and
your future in terms of team building a little bit more.
Shout out to Tim connolly man. That guy knows what
he's doing. Let's talk about the other side of this logan. Obviously,
it's a very disappointing end to the season for the
Warriors because Steph Curry is not able to suit up.

(12:47):
I just think it's such a bummer that he wasn't
able to play in this series. What do you take
away for them? If anything from the series, you.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
Got to get better, I mean that's my take. You
got to see extended looks of Steph without another star,
and you got to see an extended look here in
the playoffs of Jimmy without Steph, and so it's like,
you just don't have the guys around this team right now.
I think to get it done. It was always a

(13:17):
long shot even if Steph was healthy, and I don't
think they go down easy against Minnesota. I think it
would have been a seven game series if Steph was healthy.
That I mean, he still impacts the game at such
a high level. So there's one big positive that comes
out of this season, and that is the fact that
the Warriors finally nutted up and they made the move
to go out and get Jimmy Butler. You had to

(13:38):
do it, and so that's encouraging. Next season is going
to be a full year presumably and hopefully all things
go right. But presuming health, you're gonna get a full
year of Steph Curry Jimmy Butler in Draymond Green, which
should not only mean that you have a very high seed,
that you should be really really successful. Like I think

(13:58):
this team could be one of the best teams in
the West next year if they bring it, But I
don't think they're close enough with how many other great
teams there are in the West to be like a
title front runner and they're in that top pack of teams.
If I'm being honest with you, I don't know, man,
Like I might even have Dallas now that they're gonna
get Cooper Flag all things considered, Like they might be

(14:20):
in the same tier as Golden State or something like that,
like San Antonio's acending. I just think the Golden State
is going to be in the mix. And so what
that says to me is they just need to do
everything in their power to find complete role players and
guys that work here. And I'm not talking like what
they did last year, because I actually liked a lot

(14:41):
of the things they did last year, getting Melton, getting
Anderson and things like that, and some of that actually
helped them make the Jimmy Butler trade, so it was positive.
But I mean in upper echelon to that, ideally, guys
were playoff rotation guys, yes, solid where in the playoffs
you're going to a eight or nine guys tight rotation.
We're not getting tjd in Pat Spencer playoff minutes, man,

(15:05):
like we just need That's my big takeaway is Golden
State made the move to get them close now, right
like they this was their approach shot this season to
get Jimmy Butler. Now we're chipping onto the green. If
I'm using a golf analogy, which I don't know if
it's ever been done here on NERD sets before, this
is groundbreaking.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
It works for me.

Speaker 1 (15:26):
Man, We've approached, We've got the mid range shot down.
Now we got to chip onto the green and so
that's the next step I think for Golden State pretty
simply is get the final pieces, get the role players
and find them and do whatever you have to. Carson,
We've said this a million times about the Dubs. There's
no future out there. Steph after post Steph, as ps

(15:49):
post Steph. This era doesn't matter. It is completely irrelevant.
He's the greatest player in your franchise's history. So is
Draymond Green. They are still excellent, winning basketball player. Now
you have Jimmy all In, I'm talking all the chips.
Let's go make some moves. Get this team as competitive
as they can be in this window.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, the Jimmy Butler trade was an excellent move, but
it wasn't a cure all. It wasn't going to automatically
fix everything that ailed what was a very mediocre basketball
team before the Jimmy trade. Now, it did fix a
whole lot. It made them a significantly better basketball team
on both sides of the ball. And they went twenty
seven and eight when Steph and Jimmy both played, which

(16:29):
is why it is so brutal that they don't even
get a crack at it because I picked the Wolves
to win this series. But I think you're crazy if
you don't think that the Warriors absolutely could have won
this series with Steph Curry out there. If you don't
think that that's at least a possibility, I don't think
you have a full appreciation for Steph Curry's impact on
this basketball team. They had a ninety two offensive rating
with him off the court in these playoffs, they had

(16:50):
like a one to fourteen offensive rating with him on
the court. He completely transforms their offense. They are more
reliant on him, arguably than any other offense is on
any individual player in the entire NBA. So we didn't
really get to learn much in this series. Like, if anything,
it just exposed the flaws that we already knew were

(17:11):
very clearly there. Like on a night tonight basis, you
cannot trust anybody outside of your Big three. You don't
know what you're getting from any of these Warriors role players.
It is always just sort of a Verlett wheel of
who's going to play tonight, who's going to contribute tonight.
Brandy Pujemski has a really big game tonight. Good for him.
He was really really bad for a majority of this series.
Buddy Heel is not a guy who you want to
be relying on as one of your better offensive players.

(17:34):
All of the like wings and forwards in the bench rotation,
Quentin post Gi Santos, Scary Payton, the second Moses Moody, Like,
none of these guys are actual playoff rotation players for
basically anybody else in the.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Field, you don't think Moody would be.

Speaker 2 (17:51):
Brother Moody wasn't even in the Warriors rotation. I mean,
I believe in his skill set theoretically more than these
other guys he was playing.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
I think I think Moody would have gotten a little
bit more.

Speaker 2 (18:01):
Burn No, I don't think so at all. I think
he had more opportunity to get burned without Steph. I
think the fact that he couldn't make a shot outside
of one game in the Rocket series was what kept
him out of the rotation.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
Like, I still think Moody's a good defender.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
He's a solid defender. He's inconsistent. Man, all these guys,
what is he for the does their eighth guy? Well,
I don't know. I mean he was starting for a
majority of the season. The Warriors don't even have a
hierarchy like that. Man, it's whoever the fucker is going
to play in any given night is going to play.
And guess what, They're all mediocre as shit. They're all

(18:35):
not good enough role players to lead to a deep
playoff run in my opinion, and the only way to
overcome that would be Steph being special, Dre being special,
Jimmy being really good. And I do think we have
to put some accountability on Jimmy Butler for just not
being able to ever turn the dial up in this
playoffron because that was my concern with him throughout the
regular season. I was like, I love everything that he

(18:57):
is doing to connect this team up both sides of
the ball, and is he going to go out there
and be the assertive number two score they needed to
be in the regular season, much less number one score
with Jimmy being the lone guy available with Steph out
and he averages nineteen points per game on fifty six
percent true shooting in these playoffs. Just like consistently, night
after night, you felt he doesn't have the gear and
maybe the glute has something to do with that. But

(19:19):
that is concerning, and that did eliminate any chance that
the Warriors had of stealing one of these games, which
then maybe gives Steph an opportunity to come back in
Game six and at least gives them some life. Probably
the most significant thing to come out of the series
is that Jonathan Kaminga has driven his value way up
on the market. I think just the pure upside that

(19:40):
you see with him athletically, with the scoring potentially he has,
with his ability to pressure the rim, and also his
jumper was kind of falling in this series, Like that's
going to intrigue some team to pay him more than
I think he would have gotten before the playoffs. Now,
as I've explained before, that does not mean that he
should have been playing for the Warriors when Steph Curry
was out there, because then entirely different things are required.

(20:02):
You need a guy who is going to buy in
play a role knockdown three is consistently defend, make good
decisions within the offense, not things that Kminga does. What
Kaminga brings you is spark scoring, potential, upside, athleticism, things
that the Warriors didn't need with Steph out there because
Cominga's floor is lower. There are guys who were safer,
more reliable contributors, even though none of them are really
that good. Still, Kaminga could be really costly playing alongside Steph.

(20:26):
But somewhere else, I think he's going to get a
little bit of a bag. I don't know how much
it's going to be, but I can't blame somebody for
being like, all right, Kaminga, we'll pay you twenty million dollars.
He's a talented basketball player. The Warriors were always a
really bad fit, and it was a terrible timeline, and
the system wasn't right for him, and it was stupid
that they didn't trade him. But he is a talented
basketball player, I think, and maybe there's something there in

(20:46):
the right spot.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
I think it's best for both sides. Kminga goes to
get some experience somewhere or somewhere he can actually play,
have the ball in his hands, grow as a basketball player,
just have some opportunity. Yeah, I think he's probably gonna
be a wizard.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Maybe a wizard, I think, probably a net Honestly, this
is brutal for Steph because you are thirty seven years old.
You were playing like a top five player down the
stretch of the season, he averaged twenty seven points per
game on sixty five percent through shooting. After Jimmy joined
the team, you saw what he did in Game one
against Houston. You saw what he did in Game three
against Houston. You saw how much he transforms this entire offense,

(21:23):
and you just don't know how many more chances you're
gonna get. So that's why I do think the Warriors
need to be very aggressive in terms of improving this roster,
taking them up a level from good playoff team they
can win a series to a team that I would
feel more confident in making a deeper playoff run. I
have a slew of moves that I'll walk you through here. Logan,
you tell me what you think about this as sort
of a Warriors offseason outline. So, first thing, I think

(21:46):
the Kaminga is obviously gone. Maybe they can execute a
sign in trade so they get some asset back for him.
I'm just not sure that that's gonna be feasible. I
kind of think some team like Brooklyn, who as an
insane amount of cap, will just sign him out right
and then the Warriors are not in a position to
do any negotiating there. I mean, theoretically they could match,

(22:07):
but if the dollar value is too high, then they
won't be able to match. And I think if there's
a real, real possibility that they just lose him. And
the reason that I bring up Brooklyn specifically is and
then multiple people come to me and be like, oh, well,
I think a Kaminga sign and trade for Cam Johnson
is the move. I just don't think that. Again, if
Brooklyn wants Kaminga, the Warriors are going to be able

(22:28):
to make it a sign and trade. They're gonna sign
Kaminga out right. However, I do think Cam Johnson is
an excellent target for the Warriors. I think he checks
so many boxes that this team needs because obviously their
offense is bad in every way without steph Okay. They
desperately lack ball handlers. They desperately lack shooters. They desperately
lack big athletes who can finish. This team needs more size.

(22:49):
They need more shooting, they need more creation, they need
more ball handling. They need all those things. Cam Johnson
is a big wing who shoots the shit out of
the ball, is a special shoot of the basketball, is
a solid, versatile defender I think would slot in beautifully
to a front court with Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
I think that also, I mean his ability to shoot
off movement, come around screens, Like there's a lot of

(23:11):
Klay Thompson in his offensive game, which I think makes
him an excellent fit. So my proposed trade would be
Moses Moody, Buddy Healed, and the Warriors twenty twenty seven
and twenty twenty nine first round picks for Cam Johnson.
What do you think of that? I think that you
view Moody and Buddy as zero's. I think that they
are zero assets. I don't think anybody cares about them

(23:33):
at all. So it's basically two firsts and contracts to match.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
This has had nothing to do with Kaminga at all.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
No, I think you have to assume that Kaminga's gone.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
I don't hate it. I'm just trying to think about
if Cam has worth two first.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
I think he is for the Warriors, what else do
they holding one to that pick?

Speaker 3 (23:52):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, because also, like if they're going to make a
splashy move, they don't have the cap to bring in
on a contract. Has to be a guy in that
twenty million dollar range. That's right where he is.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
I think that's enough. If I'm the Nets, I would
do that just because it's like, you have no incentive
to keep Cam. He should be a competitive player and
a playoff rotation like he is in the prime of
his career. You have no need to have him on
your team. Your timelines don't work. You're getting two first.
It actually could be.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Good kicks, really good first depending on.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Where Golden State is, Like, I would do that if
I was Brooklyn, that would definitely be enough for me.
If I was the Brooklyn GM, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
I think that it's a good deal. I also think that, like,
the more that Brooklyn sits on their hands, the more
that Cam Johnson's value is going to go down, because
right now you're only getting two years of him, and
then you don't want to get to a point where
it's like, Okay, you're only getting Cam Johnson for a
year and a half. I think you want to maximize
the asset. And I do think he showed more ability
to create this year running pick and roll. He showed
growth as a passer, and he is such a phenomenal,

(24:57):
complimentary offensive piece who slots into a position of need
for them in the front court, so I would love that.
I'm not done, though. Another thing that the Warriors need
to address is they need to upgrade the center position.
I love the small ball looks. I think that they
are super effective, but there are certain teams that are
so big and so strong and so physical in the
front court that can go double big, and the Warriors

(25:18):
have run into a couple of them in these playoffs
where it would be really nice to have a look
they can counter that that doesn't involve either playing Trace
Jackson Davis or as much as I love him, Kevon
Looney real minutes. So I say they trade Trace Jackson
Davis their second rounder this year and their second rounder
in twenty thirty for Goga Batadze. Okay, it's not a

(25:39):
name that maybe is gonna make you ooh in aw
but they have to be making moves on the margins.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
You think Orlando would be, Okay, we don't.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
Play him in the playoffs? Why not? What are they
stashing him for? Let him get out.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
I mean, Goga is awesome. I think Goga is a
great player.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
I think Goga's good. I think that Goga is a
really good rim protector. I think that Goga has decent
passing feel. I think that he has good interior scoring,
touch and skill. He's got great size, Like he's a
very solid center.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Like I just think that's a really valuable archetype that
kind of gets undervalued. Like it's like, yeah, sure you
can have a guy in that mold, but is he
really that good in that mold? Right, your big body rebounding.
But Todd Like, it's like Looney's a really good rebounder. Okay,
Quentin Post is a really good floor space. Right, They're
giving us these different looks, But but Toadze gives you

(26:26):
the two most valuable things, in my opinion, that you
can get in a simple big man, a rotational guy.
He can protect the rim and he can rebound at
a high level. And but Tozzi's really solid. I've wanted
to see him get more burn and more Yeah, just
just more opportunity out there on the floor because he
is kind of buried in that or deep or land
in front court. So I love that for the Warriors

(26:49):
if they can make that happen. I like, I really
like both of those players as assets.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
But Toadze and Cam, like, that's a guy who can
play twenty minutes a game for you. That's a guy
who can start in a pinch. Neither of the war
Warriors current centers, and maybe you can include Quintin Post
as a center. Like all of those guys are so
so flawed, they're not sniffing anybody else's playoff rotation. So
those would be my first two moves. Then their last
chip to bargain with here is their mid level exception,

(27:14):
or really their last piece to use, which I think
is gonna be fourteen million for them, and I think
with that they have to target another capable offensive guard,
maybe a Ti Jerome. Maybe he's tanked his value, I
still think he's gonna end up getting more than that,
and I think he's gonna get something multi year, more
long term. So that's like a dream scenario. I just

(27:35):
think he'd be a great fit. But I think that
it's very reasonable that they could use that mid level
exception on multiple guys like Gary Trent Junior and Luke Canard.
Gary Tren Junior played for the minimum this year. If
you bring those two guys in, those are two excellent
shooters of the basketball. Luke Canard is a guy who
can handle for you. Who can make capable decisions, and like,
you can't overstate how much of an upgrade bringing in

(27:57):
actual professionals like that to this Warrior rotation is.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
I was gonna say, like, as great as Buddy could
be on a given night, I feel like Trent and
Canard are more consistent and honestly shout out Buddy. I
was wrong about Buddy and his value to this team.
He still had a lot of really crippling, crushing just
defensive moments. Oh yeah, Like, bro, come on, dude, just

(28:22):
don't fall asleep. Like, just how many times I gotta
see Buddy Heal get back How many times does Buddy
Heald have to get back cut until it he like
stops letting it happen.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
Man.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
So these are all great moves that I think would
make things warriors like tangibly better.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
And I want to be clear, You're not solving anything
defensively bringing in a Luke Canard. You're not really solving
anything defensively bringing in Gary Trent. I just think, guy,
they're better guys in the same archetype. Like it's actually
a better shooter than Buddy shooters.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
Ever, statistically, I mean, I think he's like.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
Almost got his third time leading the league in three
point percenters this year, and he can actually handle and
pass in a way that Buddy cannot. And like, again,
you're just trying to put together a relatively deep group,
not twelve deep where it's like, hey, maybe we play
Pat Spencer tonight. Like I'm talking about actual eight deep,
with dudes who you trust to fill their roles at

(29:16):
a capable level. So here's how that roster would look
next year. And I don't think that any of those
moves are unreasonable for the Warriors to pull off. You
go into next season with Steph Curry, Brandon Pajemski, Jimmy Butler,
Cam Johnson, Draymond Green as your starting lineup with Gogobadze,
Luke Canard, Gary Trent Junior, Quinn Post and G. Santles
will still be around. Maybe you can get back Gary

(29:38):
Payton the second or Looney on the minimum, maybe they
take a team deal, or honestly, I just don't know
if anybody else in the league is gonna pay those
guys like they're such Warriors merchants.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
The one position that I'm looking at, in the one
archetype I feel like this team needs is a bench
ball handler, like a more reliable, like yeah, floor general
kind of guy, which is where they could get a
Ti Jerome. I think he's worth getting. I think he's
super valuable just in terms of what he can do
to float your offense without the stars.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
I agree, And realistically, Pods just has to get better
and Pods has to become more consistent because this year
was such a roller coaster with him. The shot was inconsistent,
but particularly the inside the arc scoring can just be really,
really difficult for him. He has no confidence finishing at
the rim, and that can really be a struggle, and
he can just lose confidence in his game overall for stretches,

(30:28):
and then he can come out and for times it's
like he's red hot and he's knocking down all of
his threes and he's making good decisions as a passer,
and I always praise all the little things that he does,
but he is so wildly unreliable. I would love them
to upgrade that role. That's where it's like maybe a
Canard is taking on some of those ball handling responsibilities.
I'd like for them to get more of an actual

(30:48):
bench creator, like a Ti Jerome. I just don't know
if all of that is going to be possible this offseason.
But either way, like that team that I laid out,
I would feel a lot better about. Is that still
the most low did team?

Speaker 1 (31:00):
Know what?

Speaker 2 (31:01):
I still like to maybe be bigger and more athletic, Sure,
but you would upgrade at center, you'd upgrade your front
court by a ton with Cam, and you would upgrade
your overall shooting and offensive competence around Steph a ton,
so teams can't zone up and keep two on Steph
at all times and do all the stuff that the
Rockets were able to do. And just like ignore a
number of your offensive players because this year there were

(31:22):
just way too many non threats on the floor for
the Warriors and way too many guys who you frankly
couldn't trust to do anything. And still maybe they would
have made the Western Conference finals. If Steph Curry just
plays healthy like he's that good, Dre is that good,
Jimmy is that good? They make this team still really good.
But they need to do more. They owe it to
Steph to upgrade, and they have the opportunity to do so.

(31:45):
They have picks to use. They still have a couple
small mid size contracts to use. They'll have their mid
level exceptions. So if they're not aggressive, if they stand pat,
I'm gonna be pissed. Because as good as their record
was down the stretch, this roster is not one that
I feel really good about going into a playoff run
next year because there's just so many exploitable, unreliable players
outside of the Big three.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
I completely agree, But the Warriors have set themselves up
to make this last window with stuff as competitive as
possible if they make the right moves on the margins.
Here again, this is the These are the small, little, detailed,
the final touches. You know you've already got the We
got the foundation laid, we've got the rough draft. What
are we going to turn in?

Speaker 2 (32:26):
I'm you're a lot on the analogies.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
I'm optimum. I'm optimistic. Man. I really liked that. I'm
just glad that Golden State didn't waste another year. They
made the Jimmy move. I agree, And we're here now
and this has been the that was the elephant in
the room. Are they ever gonna get that guy? They waited,
They were patient, and honestly, I think they did the
right thing. As much as I wanted them to rush
and make a move. Maybe the only other move I

(32:49):
would have really wanted them to make was the Siakam
just because I think Siakam would have worked really well
in this system as well. And we talked about a
market in for a while. But I think they were
right to be patient. I don't think they gave up
a whole lot to get Jimmy. I just think it
worked out.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
They weren't right to be patient. They should have traded
James Wiseman as a pick. They should have traded Johnson
coming as a pick.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
That wholeheartedly. I'm just saying, Hey, we were talking about
the sunken cost Man. They didn't they didn't keep piling in.
They didn't wait on it. They they did something.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
And they eventually did something. They waited on it for
a long while. I mean, I'm not giving the Warriors
a pass. They still fucked this whole thing up. But
JA did manage to get Jimmy Butler at a discounted price.
I know they got Jimmy after wasting a couple of
year twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four and half
of the twenty twenty five seasons, when again they could
have gotten stars for those picks five years ago. But

(33:43):
they did get Jimmy Butler.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
They did it.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Yeah, I mean they took a huge step forward with
that alone. And now is the opportunity to really round
out this roster in a way that they couldn't do
at the mid season point. And I'm hopeful that they
are able to do that because Steph is playing at
a level where you can win the title with him
as your best guy. I mean, no doubt it. What
he did down the stretch this year was special and
can't wait to see him back out there. We're gonna
take a quick break for some words and DraftKings. On

(34:06):
the other side, we will talk about the Boston Celtics
scrapping and dominating today really to stay alive even without
Jason Tatum. The NBA eighty two game grind is done,

(34:29):
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Speaker 2 (36:42):
We do have a few super chats that I want
to get to before we start talking about this Celtics
Knicks game. First of all, Indie Merchant Sam says nos
Reed Logan.

Speaker 1 (36:51):
Nos Reed, nos read read a man of culture, A
man of culture.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
Nos Reed. Gabriel says it's deaf too early, But how
much more does Antony to pass KG as franchise goat?

Speaker 1 (37:03):
He did it? He did it?

Speaker 2 (37:06):
Are you being serious?

Speaker 1 (37:07):
He did it?

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Are you being serious?

Speaker 1 (37:11):
And did it twice.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
I mean, look, beating the fucking G League Warriors.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
KG is the all time leader in points, rebounds, and assists.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
But like bro, if steals and blocks.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
If gets him to the finals, it's over.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
I just don't know what we really mean by franchise goat.
I guess because Kevin Garnett at his peak with Minnesota
was so much better than Anthony Edwards is right now,
like not even.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
Remote, but it's only inevitable. And to Anthony Edwards is better. Man.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
Yeah, I'd be pretty impressed if Anthony Edwards was ever
better than Kevin Garnett. Man, I mean, let's respect the
top fifteen player to ever play this.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
It's gonna be top ten.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
Okay, I don't know if you're the most reliable source
on this. What I'll say is like, when you think
about franchise goat, how much is that just purely how
great you were at your peak? Because nobody's touching KG
there yet, maybe Aunt someday can get there. He's not
there yet, versus like the significance of a specific accomplishment.
For example, if Aunt does win the title that's never

(38:13):
been done in Timberwolve's history, does that make him like
their so called franchise goat, just because he was the
driving engine behind that moment for them, the most significant
thing that's ever happened to them. Maybe, but he does
not compare to Kevin Garnett as a player what Kevin
Garnett did with teams that frankly were not suited for
the NBA, for an organization that had never done anything,

(38:35):
that hadn't even been able to pick first round talents
alongside him for years, like can I tell you something,
still one of the all time great Kerry jobs, even
though they were only winning forty something games year after year,
it's still one of the more remarkable things that we've
seen an individual player do in this league.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
Anthony Edwards is going to bring a championship to Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Man, someday. I think it's quite likely.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
I think it's I think he's gonna do it.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
They have done a really good job of building.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
I just think Ant has and has already reached such
a special level right now, and I just feel like
he still has so much room to grow as a playmaker,
as a decision maker, like little nuanced things that over time,
I just think Ant is gonna I couldn't be higher

(39:29):
on and dude, I literally think anything'd be one of
the greatest players ever. Bro. I'm it's it's definitely probably
not right now if we're looking at this rationally, just
because KG his peak I still think is higher than
what Anne is right now, and he did go to
the Western Conference Finals. And what I always think is
important when we're talking about these historical conversations, specifically with
Kevin Garnett and some of you guys in the chat

(39:51):
are bringing this up, and it's an important point. It's
just how limited the cast was around KG and how
bad that team was, Like you just mentioned the.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
Worst we've ever seen. I'm great to deal with three
stripped prime.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
They stripped all those first round picks away from Minnesota
like it was such. It was just impressive. The KG
even went to the Western Conference Finals with that team, you.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Know, incredible on the head. Back to back years two
thousand and three and two thousand and four, we had
an on off differential higher than twenty. The only other
guy to ever do that is Yokic. Like, let's give
some respect to the all time franchise leader in every
major category, as we just mentioned, who was a three
time top two MVP finisher, who won MVP, who was

(40:34):
indisputably one of the three best players alive for about
a half decade in there like it ant gets a ring. Okay,
we can have a conversation. It's still not going to
be about them purely as basketball players, but in terms
of just like the significance of what they did for
the franchise, that would be a huge, huge feather and
enants cap But as you said, Gabriel, it is definitely
too early for this conversation right now in my opinion,

(40:55):
Kaylee says, can I get an oh, shout out Julius Randall?
That was small b Thank you man? You like that?

Speaker 1 (41:02):
Shout out? Julius Randall?

Speaker 2 (41:03):
Are howling?

Speaker 1 (41:05):
You're a confirmed furry?

Speaker 2 (41:07):
WHOA Where does that come from? First, of all, the
things that I talk about over afternoon Tea don't necessarily
all have to come out on.

Speaker 1 (41:13):
The podcast with a negative connotation.

Speaker 2 (41:15):
Man, No, there isn't, No, there isn't. In fact, my
favorite musical artist Carci Dadress Will Toledo lead singer known
furry really mm shout out. Bet you didn't read that
in the morning paper, but it's true all the same.
Shout out Julius random man. I mean, just really and
truly what a phenomenal level he is playing at right
now and the story of the playoffs for the Wolves,

(41:37):
really how good he's been. We have one more super
chat also from indie merchant Sam. Thank you for your
generous donation. As always, Derek White saved my life dad,
he did. If you're a Boston Celtics fan, I mean,
just a Derek White masterclass and a massive win for
the Boston Celtics to stay alive, cut their series deficit
to three to two. What did you take away from

(42:00):
this game?

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Logan great bounce back game for Boston man, And I've
should have seen it coming, Like I feel like they
had the emotional edge in this game. Like I've got
to give them a ton of credit for just bringing it.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
Like it's always gonna go one of two ways, though,
like you don't really know you lose your an Achilles
there exactly. It's either gonna break you or it's gonna
embolden you and bring you together. And it did the latter.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
I don't even want to talk about caps.

Speaker 2 (42:26):
I know we'll get to that way.

Speaker 1 (42:28):
So mad at KP. There's three Celtics that I think
deserve the most credit in this game. One Derek White
fourteen point first quarter, was spraying threes all game. That
dude is such a nasty shooter. The I love just
the demoralized look that Derek White gives his opponents, Like
I kin't. It's so funny just watching. You can have

(42:52):
an one hundred percent contest and it doesn't matter. Derek
White is still gonna hit the shot. It's ridiculous like
that is such as he's one of the best shooters
in basketball. So shout out Derek White. Shout out Jalen Brown.
Consistently getting downhill. I thought he had some really impressive
playmaking moments. He threw a couple of dimes to Luke

(43:13):
Cornett in the dunker spot that just made my face
a crunch up a little bit, man like, just nasty passes.
I really thought he was really aggressive, and I thought
the Celtics did a really good job as a team
being really aggressive downhill in the third quarter after they
got into the bonus and just continually getting to the

(43:34):
free throw line. They didn't settle for threes. That was huge.
And then I gotta give a shout out to Luke
Cornett who no ball played a has played way better
than I've seen Christas Porzingis play all playoffs. I mean,
Cornett was ridiculous in that third I think he had
five blocks alone in the third quarter. I think he

(43:55):
ends this game with six total seven seven. I mean, Dad,
look Cornet man rebounding his ass off, great positioning, being
in the right spot, in being a hell of a
to turn around the rim, and they brought the fight
to the Knicks two. I also thought that it was

(44:16):
hard for the Knicks in the third quarter when they
had Brunson in foul trouble and they had Karl Anthony
Towns off the floor. I thought their offense really stalled
out during that stretch and that was kind of the
part of the game that decided it. But those three
guys I think deserved the most credit for Boston today. White,
Brown and Cornet all stepped up in a big way
and just hard to do man without Tatum, this team

(44:39):
has been really good, surprisingly without Tatum. I think I
want to say that the broadcast that at the stop
at the top that they were eight and zero in
their last eight home games without Tatum or something ridiculous
like that. I think they were undefeated, so they've done
this before. But there's a big pressure spot, man. I mean,
your back is literally against the wall. That's do or

(45:00):
die situation if you lose your seasons over and Boston
stepped up to task. Man, I'm really proud that they're
not going to go down with that a fight. I
thought I was worried, man, I was worried this team
could come out flat and just maybe get smacked in
the mouth by New York. But they gave them there all.

Speaker 2 (45:16):
I'll tell you should be worried now. You should be
a little concerned the Knicks, the New York Knicks. Man
to use Logan Camden terminology, they should be a little
skurg should be a little scurt of these Boston Celtics. Man,
Boston was way better tonight. And it wasn't like oh
fluke shooting performance whatever, Like nothing about what happened tonight
was lucky. They were the better basketball team by considerable margin.

(45:39):
And this series is not over. Man. Are the Knicks
still in an advantageous position. Of course they are. But
you have to give credit to the collective basketball team
that the Boston Celtics are. They're sixteen and three without
Jason Tatum over the last two years, which is really impressive.
Now there is some context needed. A lot of those
games are against softer teams, or they've deliberately rested Tatum

(46:01):
because they knew they could get away with it. But
over a much larger sample size, they had a plus
eight point three net rating in all minutes when Tatum
was off the floor this year. So the point there
is obviously not, oh, they're as good without Tatum whatever.
There's like a number of things that go into those numbers.
Most of the time when Tatum's off the floor, they're
going up against bench units, etc. But the point is

(46:23):
they're still a good basketball team without Jason Tatum, and
they've shown an ability to still win games and still
produce good results without him in a way that is
rare for a team down their best player. And when
Jalen Brown plays like this and their offensive process is
as good as it was and they're shooting is as
good as it was, like, they can absolutely beat the Knicks.
And I do regret saying that they couldn't win three

(46:46):
straight without Tatum. Now I said they can definitely win
a game, maybe two, But I didn't think that they
could pull off three straight without Tatum, just because that
is such a difficult thing to do, and it still
is a very difficult thing to do. But I don't
think that it was right of me too right off
that possibility, because that's not how I feel after this game.
And the biggest reason for that is the play of
Jalen Brown, because earlier in the series he was really struggling.

(47:07):
I didn't like what I was seeing from him, and
I was skeptical that he was just going to turn
things around at the drop of a hat, and that's
exactly what he did in this game. I mean, he
was just fantastic, and I honestly think even better than
Derek White, as great as White was, and he scores
thirty six points in this game, Like Jalen Brown was
so fundamental to their entire offensive approach. He had the
pull up jumper going in a big way. He was

(47:29):
able to get some really great shots for himself going
at the small guards. Jalen Brunson induced McBride. But the
highlight of the game by far is he's playmaking like
it might be the best passing game I've ever seen
from him, and I was a little worried about him
taking on that lead playmaking, lead ball handling responsibility. But
he aced the test man and they did a really
nice job of having Derek White and Peyton Pritchard's screen

(47:51):
for him then popping open for three. Jalen was finding them.
They were getting great shots. He was really good in
the drive and kick game. He was finding cutters when
he drew help. He had a beautiful law to Luke Cornett.
He created twenty three points off of fourteen pick and roll,
so he was just leading to extremely efficient offense. He
was making really good decisions and it's just such stark
contrast to last game where he was like out of

(48:13):
control and turning the ball over and forcing the issue
a lot. He was in total control offensively, and he
set the tone defensively, and he set the tone with
his energy. I mean, I feel like the defining possession
is when he strips Jalen bruns and then dives to
save that ball. That was just the exact sort of
energy that you need from your best player in this game.

(48:33):
Now that you're down your best player and you're fighting
for your life. Jalen Brown brought it. I also just
thought that he defended Brunson at an incredibly high level
consistently in this game and just clearly approached this one
with the right mentality. He knew that he had to
set the tone. He knew that he had to be
that lead playmaker and sharp decision maker and get others
involved and not stagnate and not just try to hammer

(48:55):
the ISO ball that the Celtics really had gotten trapped
into being overly relying on early in this series. It
was just a super impressive performance from Jalen Brown. And
by the way, when Jason Tatum is out in his career,
since Tatum joined the team, he averages twenty seven to
seven and four on fifty nine percent true shooting. Those
are impressive numbers from Jalen Brown. He has stepped up

(49:16):
under these circumstances before. He did it again today and
if he keeps playing like this, they definitely have a chance.
Derek White, though, was also phenomenal. I mean, he's just
such a great basketball player, just such a special weapon
for them to have lethal in transition as a shooter,
it's ridiculous. He just needs a sliver of an opportunity
and he's going to pull and he's one of the
best shooters in basketball. As you said, I also thought

(49:36):
that he was great out of pick and roll. I
trust him so much as a ball handler. He's been
impressive as a driver getting downhill and defensively. I thought
that he did a really good job on Brunson when
he was in that matchup too, And just collectively, everything
that they were doing offensively was smarter. The process was better.
They really went away from the ISO ball that had
not been generating good results from them. They weren't good

(49:59):
at time hacking brunts, and they weren't good attacking cat
These things that had been very effective for them in
the regular season just were not in this series. Through
Game four, but they had been averaging thirteen isolation possessions
per game, not including passes. They only had six in
this game. It was easily their lowest total of the series.
And so the offensive approach from them was just so
much more fluid. It was less stopping the ball, forcing

(50:22):
up some shots that you don't love because these guys
feel like they have a good matchup, but really they're
struggling in it. It was getting easy offense where you
can like they scored way more points in transition than
they had in any other game in this series, role
men scored more points than they had in any game,
Like the ball handlers are doing a nice job of
finding the bigs off the roll. They scored more points
off cuts. Players had more points coming off screens than

(50:42):
they did in the rest of the series. Kim bining
just like some of those off ball actions. It was
a much more diverse, composed, smart offensive attack from Boston.
I really really liked it. And also like guys made shots.
They make twenty two threes in this game. I loved
a lot of the looks that they got. But Peyton Pritchard,
his shooting was a weapon. You got Sam howserback he
makes a couple threes, Orford was really good offensively.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
I always feel like when you get downhill, you're just
gonna generate better shot quality from behind the arc, and
Boston did that. I wanted to ask you, do you
still think Brown and Tatum's skill sets are a little redundant?
And the only reason I asked that is because you're
talking about this isolations thing, and I feel like maybe
you could attribute that to sometimes guys wanted to go

(51:26):
out and get theirs because they don't get to touch
the ball as much. But Also, I think you see
Jalen Brown can do this a little more easily and
is okay comfortable playmaking because he's more in rhythm because
he's touching the ball more so. Not that like I
think they should break these guys up or something, or
you know, like they work together. Clearly they won a championship,

(51:48):
but it's just like, I don't know, man, I wonder,
I really do wonder sometimes what Jaylen Brown would look
like as a league guy somewhere or something. And I
want to give him a ton of props to do
because I thought this could be a game like you mentioned,
where he gets exposed or something like that, or his
handle looks off or he didn't. Jaylen Brown played an
excellent basketball game today.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
No, he really did. I mean the passing is the
most impressive point. Yeah, that's just where I really had
some questions to your question about the fit. They've never
been an ideal fit. The Celtics just built such a
great team that was so talented around them, and that
was able to cover up for some of their deficiencies
just with the playmaking. The ball handling you got from

(52:31):
Derek White to some extent from Drew Holiday last year
that's really diminished, and just being so insanely stacked on
both sides the ball, having so much shooting, having so
much defensive versatility. They were just too good. They were
too good for anybody to beat them last year going forward,
as they're going to lose some of these other core
pieces Christopsporzingis, Drew Holliday, I hope to God not Derek White.

(52:52):
But do I think that they are like the ideal
duo to build from scratch with? No, I don't, And
that's why if I were, the Celtics would be open
to trading Jalen Brown also just because I think his
contract is so massive and it's trickier to have a
contract like that on the books with the new CBA
and the new Capitals. But we don't need to go
there because the Celtic season isn't over and Jalen Brown

(53:13):
made damn sure that it wasn't. But also, dude, Luke Cornette,
like you said, it was a big three for Boston
this one, and he was part of it. One of
the best rim protecting performances of the season. I don't
think anybody else has had seven blocks in a game
in these playoffs in New York shot thirty three percent
inside the arc. Luke Cornett was a huge part of that.

(53:33):
And in comparison to Christops Prezingis man. I mean, the
difference is massive. Cornett, first of all, just plays so
much harder. He's so much more active. He is significantly
better on the glass. He's protecting the rim much better
right now. He rolls so much harder, just knows where
to be. He's just playing smarter, better basketball on both
sides of the ball. And the Prezingis problem is very

(53:55):
very real.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
And Bro, he sucked in his He's sucked in his Bruh.
You could tell he was gonna be bad from the
first quarter. He gets uh, he gets stripped by Jalen
Brunson in the post, and it's like, all right, getting
stripped is one thing. One he had a smaller defender
on him and could have just gone up with the rock.
But two, he saw him coming and didn't even do anything.

(54:19):
You just let him get stripped. And then like two
possessions later, he just misses a point blank layup.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
Why and the two three is that he jacked up.
I didn't like either one of them.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
I think the Monstars took his powers or something man.

Speaker 2 (54:33):
Literally, Bro, it's like that extent of this dude cannot
do a single thing right on the basketball court. Right now.
He has an offensive foul like he was minus twelve
in a game where all the other starters were in
positive double digits and most of the other starters were
like plus twenty or better. That's remarkable to achieve that
he was that destructive in his minutes. And thank god

(54:54):
that Missoula didn't go back to him. Our buddy Dell's
for pick aside set it right on Twitter. He said,
you get him one shift in game six, and if
that goes poorly, you pull him. I mean that leash
has to be tight as can be. And I think
that is absolutely correct because Cordet's really solid. He's been
really solid for them all year. He's so improved, and
he's just doing all the fundamental things right. The cap

(55:15):
he is finding ways to catastrophically fuck up. If KP
hasn't gotten a line in these playoffs, he has straight
up been a disaster. The perimeter shooting has been a disaster,
the interior scoring, the posting up man, I mean, he
hasn't had a post a possession that I've liked from
him all series. Maybe he's had one, like I mean,
it's just consistently bad shots. Every time he puts the

(55:35):
ball on the floor, I'm like, please, God, don't do that.
He's just so badly out of rhythm. His confidence is
clearly so shaken. Like even the free throw shooting has
been well below his level. Nothing is right, Nothing is
going remotely well for christophs Porzingis. And I understand the illness,
and I empathize. But whatever the cause, whatever the reason

(55:56):
for this struggle is how much of it is the illness.
We don't need to litigate, like, all that matters is
the result. He is playing such horrible basketball that unless
it somehow changes fast, and it hasn't. For two series,
he's been consistently bad, you are just better off with
him not out there. So it's incredibly disappointing. I've spent
the last three years buying up Porzingis stock since he

(56:17):
was in Washington. I used to be low on Porzingis,
and then I thought that he really really improved, and
he did, And now that stock is plummeted, i'd sell
it all. But it's already gone negative. Man, So at
this point I might as well. Just ride out the
dip and we'll see what his future holds. But yikes, look,
Cornette has clearly been better than him. He's been their
worst rotation player.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
I should have sold it at the end of the
year when we falsely inflated all of it.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
Man, I know, I know, that would have been such
a great rug pull. The problem is we've actually rug
pulled ourselves. We inflated the stock because we bought so
much of it, and everybody else got out before we.
We got caught. Hold in the bag. One other thing
that I do think Boston should feel really good about
in terms of their potential to pull this thing out,

(57:00):
which is still going to be very difficult to do
without Jason Tatum. But outside of Game four, Boston has
defended New York so well in this series. The Knicks
have a one to eleven offensive rating, and again, a
lot of the juice there is coming from one game.
Outside of that, it has consistently been a struggle for
New York, and like they're relying on pulling out sort

(57:21):
of these clutch miracles in the fourth quarter or in
Games one and two. Obviously, Boston's offense melting down simultaneously
og has been very unreliable. Two of his last three games,
he's been a zero. Mckel has made some huge clutch shots,
but he lived on a very tough shot diet, very
very jump shot heavy. He's been inconsistent, he's been inefficient overall,

(57:42):
and Jalen Brunson has struggled to be super productive or
afficient outside of Game four. Like he's got it going
in the clutch. I trust him the most of any
player on the floor in those spots, absolutely, but the
Celtics have done a hell of a job on him.
That was the case again today. Kat also was just
not that much of a factor today. So like their
best offense in this game was Josh Hart wide open

(58:03):
threes that the defense was deliberately conceding and Mitchell Robinson
generating extra possessions. Nothing was coming easy form many of
the guys you think of as their best players, and
that's not an outlier. In this series. It's been a
struggle for New York. The games that they have won
have really been on the back of their defense and
then their clutch offense, but not their overall offense through
four quarters. So the Knicks really have no margin here

(58:25):
in terms of individual games. They built themselves a margin
by going up three to one, but all of their
wins have required these dramatic comeback efforts because it's really
hard for them to generate consistent offense. And I do
think that that's gotten lost. And I've kind of been
hammering that point recently about the Knicks offense because I
think that perception of it has kind of gotten inflated.
It hasn't been easy for them to generate offense throughout

(58:46):
these playoffs.

Speaker 1 (58:47):
I mean, Og was bad in this one, Bridges was
bad in this one, and like I said, Brunson and
Kat took that extended rest in the third quarter that
really just killed them. I mean they had no offense
going during that stretch. And also Cornett was just phenomenal
against that bench unit. Like we've been talking about too,
I would be nervous. I am nervous. I was nervous

(59:08):
watching this game because now, ironically for Boston, the pressure
is off. You have nothing to lose at this point.
And so for me, I know not every player is
like this, but when I'm putting in a situation like this,
I feel like I can play looser than ever before
because it's like all right. Well, I mean, if we
lose this game, were gonna go home. We have nothing

(59:30):
to lose. And so ironically, now that the Celtics have
won this game, the pressure has been put back on
the New York Knicks shoulders and they got to overcome that.
I don't this Celtics team is not gonna fall apart man,
And like I said, man, they got house money. This
is house money. We ain't got. Tatum back is against
the wall. I think the Celtics are gonna give them

(59:52):
everything they've got. And like you said, if the Knicks
don't finish this in Game six, I'm scared TD Garden
would be rocking. In a Game seven.

Speaker 2 (01:00:01):
I'd pick the Celtics to winning Game seven. If they
get back to Boston, I'd picked them to win. Now,
the formula for New York is gonna be getting to
a clutch game and then it's okay, Bruns and do
your thing. But when the Celtics have won in this series,
they've won comfortably. They've won convincingly, and it's because the
offensive process has been good. In the shooting has been
that good. Jalen Brown is the X factor here because

(01:00:22):
Jalen Brown has to keep doing this, he has to
keep getting into the teeth of the defense and making
the right decisions. But if he does that, I don't
really see what the Knicks counter is. Like. You can
try to test to more as a playmaker. Maybe you
start out right blitzing him, but I don't know. Man,
every time that he was drawing extra bodies, he was
making the right passes, So I guess you continue to
put that pressure on him. But if he steps up

(01:00:44):
to the task and it seems like he was very
mentally prepared for what he needed to do in this game,
Boston still has a lot of firepower man. Peyton Pritchard
is firepower, Derek White is firepower. Sam Hauser got some
firepower out there. It's a really, really talented basketball team.
They are so much more than just Jason Tatum, as
great as he was this year, and I do think

(01:01:04):
that this showed for them in this one. At the
same time, I do think that this is really bad
for the Knicks. Man, Like, the Knicks should not lose
a game by twenty five when Jason Tatum is off
the floor, and I do think that you definitely see
some of their flaws exposed in this one. The defense
not being as stellar as it was in Games one
and two. Again the offensive issues that we already talked about,

(01:01:26):
Like there's a lot of Knick type going around, and
I get it, because it's incredible if they beat Boston
and they took a three to one lead with Jason
Tatum on the floor, But I do think it's important
to acknowledge how much of that in Games one and
two was the Celtics melting down, and like, when I
just look at them as a basketball team and I
think about, not what happened in this series, some of
the crazy stuff that might have gone down, and I

(01:01:46):
think about going forward, like I don't see a team
that can win the title here, And I do see
that in Indiana. I do see that. In Minnesota, I
absolutely see that, and Okay, see I do see that
in Denver. All the teams remaining, like I do view
as more of an act actual threat to win it
All than the Knicks. And I'm seeing a lot of
like the Knicks are going to the finals with the
Knicks are gonna win it all takes and I just
think we really need to pump the brakes on those.

(01:02:08):
And also the longer this series goes the harder it
gets on the knicks bodies, and like, these dudes play
crazy hard. They're all great competitors.

Speaker 1 (01:02:16):
Indiana's kicked up defeat kicked up.

Speaker 2 (01:02:18):
No, I'm not even talking about Indiana. I'm just talking
against Boston. You're going up against the team that is
really comfortable going eight deep and bench. That is what
I'm talking about, And obviously it leads in the next series.
And Indiana's the nightmare because they're insanely deep and they
play insanely fast, and like, if anybody is ever going
to wear you out over a series, it's them. But

(01:02:39):
even a more immediate threat I do think should be
something of a concern for the Knicks. So I don't
want to be all doomed day with them. But this
is not a secure situation, Like they got to get
the job done. They got to go out there and
slam the door, and they need Brunton to play a
hell of a game. They have to knock down their
shots off the catch for some of the supporting guys.
Now that they got a lot of great looks. I mean,
it's not like he missed a lot of good shots

(01:03:01):
in this game. I don't know the Celtics just really
were able.

Speaker 1 (01:03:04):
To dictate or I thought played really well. He had
five threes in this game. I mean after he got
busted open in the first quarter. I mean that like
flipped a switch in him where he played really well.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
Yeah, I mean crazy phrasing, but that was wow. There
was a lot of blood. I got a little wheasy.

Speaker 1 (01:03:18):
I say, you got busted open. Yeah mm hmmm, bro,
you man, you need to chill out.

Speaker 2 (01:03:24):
I'm just saying that was crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
I couldn't believe. I think they had to get his uh.
I think he got his eyebrow or his eye.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
I think, yeah, I know, it looked like his elbow
just like barely clipped him on the replay. You couldn't
even really see it in real time, but he definitely
got him good. All right, pet christops porzingis he's washed?

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
He might be washed.

Speaker 2 (01:03:45):
Obviously the sickness is a factor, but the problem is
when everything that he is doing is also dumb, when
he's making all the wrong decisions, that's not a sickness thing.
You can talk about fatigue, And obviously he can't play
more than fifteen minutes, hasn't been able to in this series.
And I think that the sickness is a big part
of that and the rhythm. Okay, you can say he's

(01:04:05):
not consistently getting his minutes all that stuff, but like,
I hate how he's approaching these possessions. Whenever they try
to get the ball to him, things go catastrophically wrong.
It's either a turnover on entry pass, or they're miscommunicating
off the roll, or he's getting stripperor he's putting up
a bad shot. It's just a lot of really really
bad stuff from Chris stops porzingis logan. We got the

(01:04:26):
granddaddy of them all tomorrow Game six Nuggets Thunder. We
will be here and we hope that you guys will
all be here with us, because I cannot wait for
that one, hoping for another great installment of what has
been just an incredible second round series. Congratulations to the
Minnesota timb Rules. Congratulations to the Indiana Pacers. Two small markets.

(01:04:47):
Minnesota is in a tiny market, but in the scope
of NBA history, they've been one of the least successful franchises.
And to do this now back to back conference finals
where you have your rising suit superstar who is stamped
as a superstar but still has so much room to grow,
and you found a new star who compliments him, and
you've built out such a great roster with so much

(01:05:08):
depth and so much lineup versatility and so much two
way talent. That's an achievement and it deserves to be
given adequate praise. So shout out to Minnesota and shout
out to all of you guys. We do hope that
you'll be back here with us tomorrow. We will be
planted here. We don't have a choice. We are both
tied to our respective radiators, chain to our radiators and
monitor twenty four hours a day. And if you want

(01:05:29):
to join us for that experience, you can find it
on our YouTube channel. We've got all of our full
episodes here, all of our postgame live streams. We also
do the occasional video essay video breakdown that you can
find here, and you can watch all of our shows
back after the fact, or you can listen to them
after the fact across all audio platforms. By the way,
should shout out that we were on Players Choice today.
That was a ton of fun. If any of you

(01:05:50):
guys want to go and check out that three hour
bonanza that we did with those guys, who are the best.
And we also got surprised with a Joel from pick
A side appearance, which just made me grin ear to hear.
You know, the reason that I would hope that the
Knicks win is for that man, because I would just
love to see him happy and I'd love to see
him continue on this generational run that he's going on.

Speaker 1 (01:06:10):
He's cooking, he's cooking, man.

Speaker 2 (01:06:11):
That being said, the Boston Celtic they're not going down
without a fight. They're not going down without a fight, Logan.
So you can find us there if you want. You
can check out that episode we did with those guys,
and you can follow auscross social if you want, TikTok
and Instagram at nerd Sash and Twitter at nerd Underscore sessh.
You can also join our discord if you want to
chat with the gang be part of our community over there.
So with that as always appreciate you guys. I've been

(01:06:32):
Carson Braber, I've been Logan Camden and this was Nerd
Sash