June 10, 2024 • 23 mins
We’re sounding off tonight on Boston’s backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Derrick White providing the Celtics with clutch play from start to finish, and we also touch on Payton Pritchard’s impact plus give the latest on Kristaps Porzingis on the health front. Our fans join the conversation with comments on what they took away from the win, on the national media not understanding what this Celtics team is all about, and on what Boston needs to do to close this series out.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Now the Boston Celtics being two wins away from their
eighteenth NBA Championship after taking down Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving
and the Dallas Mavericks in Game two of the NBA
Finals at TD Guard and listen. This win comes down
to three different plays and small sections of the game.
(00:28):
In my perspective, the very first arrived at the end
of the third quarter, and it all happened because of
Peyton Pritchard. Now, let's set up the scenario. The Celtics
had been up by about thirteen points with a couple
minutes left in the third quarter.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Things were feeling pretty good.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
It felt like they were going to close out that
quarter with a comfortable lead and then roll that into
the fourth quarter and maybe pull away for a comfortable win.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, that didn't happen.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Dallas in those final couple minutes rattled off a run
to get within six points. It was seven consecutive points
from them to get it down from thirteen down to six,
and they had momentum with a few seconds left in
the quarter. But that is when Peyton Pritchard. From what
we are hearing from Jalen Brown, Peyton Prichard got up
(01:17):
and checked himself into the game for the final possession
of the third quarter. Now, a couple questions might be
asked as a response to what Jalen Brown said. Number
one is why would Peyton Pritchard check himself into the
game with just a few seconds left in the third quarter?
In number two, why would the Celtics allow Peyton Pritchard
(01:41):
to have that leeway to check himself into the game
for the final few seconds of the third quarter. Well,
the answers can be lumped together to answer both of
those questions, and it's all about what Peyton Pritchard has
done at the end of the quarters, at the end
of quarters throughout this season and in particular during this
playoff run. Joe Mizula said it after the game, Peyton
(02:03):
Pritcher does not care about his stats. There are a
lot of players who at the end of quarters will
dribble the clock out and maybe fire one up from
forty five to fifty feet after the buzzer sounds so
that they don't get docked with a misshot. Peyton Pritcher
doesn't care about that misshot. What he cares about is
(02:24):
this is an opportunity to make a shot, and boy,
did he make a shot to end the third quarter.
This came from probably about thirty eight feet. He had
just crossed the half court line, pulled up from about
thirty eight feet, ripped it up and dropped it through
the net at the buzzer to push Boston's lead back
(02:46):
up to nine instead of six heading into.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
The fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And that shot changed everything in terms of momentum.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
It got the crowd back into it.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
It kind of shut down what Dallas had been building
for those final couple of minutes heading into that final play,
and it certainly gave the Celtics a little bit of
mojo heading into that fourth quarter with a nine point
lead instead of six, with momentum on.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
The other side.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
So that first play, Peyton Pritchard, that three point shot
was critical to what the Boston Celtics were able to
pull off with this win at the end of this game.
And that's why Joe Mazzulin many of the other Celtics
have gone to the podium after this game to win
and spoken specifically about what Peyton Pritchard brings to the
table and why he was so important in this game.
(03:35):
In mind you, Peyton Pritchard also got switched down to
Luka Doncic multiple times during this game, and the Celtics
stuck to their principles. They are guarding Luca one on one,
they are guarding Kyrie one on one, and whoever it is,
you're on an island and you got to figure it out.
And tonight, on multiple occasions, it was Peyton Pritchard on
(03:55):
Luka Doncic, and Peyton Pritchard did a pretty darn good job,
forced a couple of misses, made things difficult. You can't
ask for much more out of the point guard coming
off the bench for the Boston Celtics. So that's play
number one. Play number two happened during the fourth quarter
as the Celtics began to build their largest lead of
the game. Drew Holliday, who was unbelievable during this game,
(04:18):
led the Celtics in points. Was scoring at the rim
at will in the dunker, spot rolling around and just
finding openings along the baseline as other players were driving
to the basket, and they were finding him for easy
layups left and right. Remember this is a guy who
struggled scoring at the rim at the start of the season.
Well those struggles are no longer. He was awesome tonight.
(04:41):
But this particular play occurred late in the fourth quarter
as the Celtics were starting to pull away. They scored
six straight points that were initiated by Drew Holliday. He
was applying pressure to Luka Doncic at about mid court,
forced Doncich to make a bad pass that was picked
off by Derek White, and that interception by Derek White
(05:04):
led to a three pointer at the other end by
Drew Holliday, and then just seconds later after that, Derek
White added in a three pointer of his own, so
that six to zero run, I believe pushed the Celtics
ahead by fourteen points at that very moment.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
So that occurs with three point.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Thirty four left in the fourth quarter, Celtics upt by fourteen,
and you're feeling pretty good. You're feeling like there's no
way they're going to give up a fourteen point lead
with three and a half minutes to go, and in
the end, we were right. But one more play still
needed to be made to steal this win, and that
was in the final minute, and it was Derek White,
(05:43):
yet again coming up clutch with an unbelievable play that
no one anticipated happening less than a minute to go,
Dallas had sliced that fourteen point deficit all the way
down to five, and then Jason Tatum drew to the
basket and miss what he was trying to yam one
(06:03):
down to shut Dallas's opportunity to win.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Shut that door right on them. Now.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
His dunk attempt went right off the back of the rim.
Unfortunately it did not go down and the ball bounced
all the way outside of the three point line, where
Kyrie Irving caught the ball and started to take the
ball in the opposite direction in transition, with a nice
transition opportunity for Dallas to potentially make this a one
possession game.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
So Kyrie takes it.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
He goes toward the center of the court, takes a
couple dribbles, and he looks to his left and finds PJ.
Washington streaking down the left side of the lane. Kyrie
drops the ball off to PJ Washington, who doesn't even
need to dribble the ball, and there is no one,
and I mean no one between PJ. Washington and the basket.
(06:52):
He's got an opportunity again to make this a one
possession game. If he makes a dunk, it's a three
point game with about fifty five seconds left. But instead
Derek White, the best shot blocking guard in the NBA
and one of the best shot blocking guards in NBA history,
(07:13):
a shot blocking guard who blocked eighty seven shots during
the regular season. Well, he blocked another one during Game two,
and this was the biggest block shot he has ever
logged in his entire life. It occurred on PJ Washington. Now,
as he is going to the basket with the ball
rising up for a dunk, Derek White is sprinting back
(07:37):
into the play from the opposite wing. He catches up
with PJ. Washington at the basket, rises up him and
Jaylen Brown in unison, and it was Derek White who
swatted the shot away, denied that dunk attempt, and that
is what wound up ceiling Boston's victory. The rebound attempt
fell into Drew Holliday's hands. Jalen Brown winds up scoring
(08:00):
on a driving layup at the other end to make
it a seven point game with about thirty seconds left,
And that was all she wrote in this game. But
as I said, if Derek White was not there to
block that shot, this would have been a one possession
game with about fifty five seconds left, and let's put
that into context.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Okay, Yes, the Celtics might.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Have scored and made it a five point game or
a six point game at the other end, and we
would have been comfortable. But they also could have missed,
which would have put the ball in the hands of
two of the most clutch players to play this game
right now. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are two players that,
no matter how the ball is rolling for them throughout
(08:40):
a game, I would not want the ball in their
hands with a final shot to potentially tie or win
a game. So Derek White's block shot on PJ Washington
secured the fact that the Celtics did not have to
face that situation during the final minute. It preserved that
lead and allowed them to avoid any opportunity of Kyrie
(09:02):
Irving or Luka Doncic making a big shot to put
the pressure on, maybe force overtime, maybe tie this series up,
we don't know. Derek White made sure none of that happened.
So that was the third play, and those are the
three in my mind that when I think back on
this game, this is what stands out about how the
(09:23):
Celtics won one Peyton Pritchard makes that three pointer at
the end of the third quarter to stem the tide
and turn the momentum back in Boston's favor. Then, late
in the fourth quarter, as the Celtics are trying to
build a large lead, Drew Holliday applies pressure on Doncic,
forces a turnover that winds up as an interception by
(09:45):
Derek White, and then White winds up finding or one
of the Celtics wind up finding Drew Holliday for a
three pointer that's followed up by another three pointer for
a six to zero run by Derek White, and the
Boston Celtics are head by fourteen with three and a
half minutes left. Then, lastly, Derek Quite sprints back into
the play. We're talking absolute, top notch, elite effort to
(10:06):
get back into the play and block that PJ. Washington
dunk attempt at the rim to seal this win. So Boston,
as I said at the start, winning play after winning play,
after winning play, finding a way to disallow Dallas from
getting back into the game and potentially stealing a win
at TD Garden, There's a lot to talk about after
(10:29):
this w and let's dive into We've got some comments
from our fans. Luke j Today comments on his takeaways
from this win.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Then we've got.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Stocks Book Bree on what the national media has been
saying about Boston throughout this series and throughout these playoffs.
Stocks Book Brie has a bone to pick. And then lastly,
we've got Joseph Paulmery on what the Celtics need to
do to polish this series off and take home in
eighteenth NBA Championship. With that, let's dive into our first
(11:01):
comment from Luke j Today. All Right, Luke j Today says,
nice team win, Drew was amazing. Worried about KP right now,
We'll get to that in a moment. Let's concentrate on
the Drew was amazing portion. And let's give you the
stats of what Drew Holliday did during this game.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Twenty six points to lead the Celtics.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Also grabbed eleven rebounds to lead the Celtics, dished out
three assists, grabbed a steel, blocked a shot, did not
commit a turnover, not a single turnover. And by the way,
he played more. He played forty one minutes in this game,
second among all excuse me, third among all Celtics, behind
(11:44):
Jason Tatum and Jylen Brown. He shot eleven of fourteen
from the field. This is a guy who it must
have hurt Joe Missoula any moment. He had to take
him off the court because Drew Holliday had it cooking
at both ends of the court tonight. He was great
on defense, as he has been throughout his entire season
(12:06):
here for the Boston Celtics, but he's certainly taking it
up in notch facing off against Luca and Kyrie in
this series. He has been playing excellent defense time after
time after time, and as I just mentioned in the open,
he forced to turn over out of dancicch that initiated
one of the most critical stretches of this game, a
six to zero run by the Celtics late in that
(12:27):
fourth quarter to bump it up to a fourteen point lead.
But he wound up playing in that dunker spot tonight
again where he's running that baseline, finding the openings and
the gaps in the defense. As Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown,
Derek White, all these other guys are breaking Dallas's defense
down off the dribble, well, they're giving attention to those
guys who are driving to the basket and leaving Drew
(12:48):
Holliday wide open for layups. And Drew Holliday finished at
a high rate tonight. As I said before, he struggled
at the rim early on this season. Well, those struggles
are long gone. He barely missed tonight. Shot seventy nine
percent from the field, eleven of fourteen. He was excellent
at the basket, critical shots at critical times. Shot two
(13:09):
to four from distance, which by the way, means he
was nine of ten from inside the arc, so pretty
darn good there, but just really excellent across the board.
To the comment here by Luke, Drew was amazing and
the Celtics are going to need him to be amazing
the rest of the series if they want to close
things out, And if he continues playing at this level,
(13:31):
he's certainly gonna have his name in the hat as
a potential for a Finals MVP if the Celtics wind
up polishing this off. Now, let's move on to the
last comment here from Luke. Worried about KP right now.
So obviously, if you haven't heard christas porzingis, he checked
out of the game late in favor of Al Horford
checking back in and as we learned after the game
(13:51):
he did he felt a little tweak and something that
in his lower body. He said that it doesn't seem
like it is related to the calf strain that he
had been dealing with that kept him out for the
majority of this postseason heading into.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
The NBA Finals, but he made it sound like he's fine.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Joel Mizula said he has zero concerns about Christas Porzingis
heading into Game three, and Kristaps certainly made it sound
like he's gonna do everything he can to be on
the court when the Boston Celtics take the court down
in Dallas for Game three on Wednesday night, So you
shouldn't be too worried about Christas Porzingis. Has sounded from
(14:28):
both from him and from the coaching staff like he's
gonna be okay. Obviously he might be dealing with something,
but he said, quote unquote, I would die out there
if that's what it takes for me to be a
part of an NBA championship. So I'd be surprised if
he doesn't play in that Game three Wednesday night. But
let's keep it locked on. We never know what we're
gonna hear over the next few days, but he's got
(14:49):
some time to rest up and get some treatment on
whatever it is that wound up sparkling up during this
game tonight for him, all right, stocks book Brie is
our next comment from x saying Boston has the best
starting lineup and they play the best defense in the league.
They also have five guys that can hit big shots.
(15:10):
Y'all said, MAVs in five laughing, crying face. These people
must not have watched Boston. No way, Luke and Kyrie
can beat this team. Now that last part, I'm not
gonna say that. Luke and Kyrie are two of the
best players that we have seen in the past few
generations in the NBA. They certainly can up at to
a level where they can beat this Boston Celtics team.
(15:33):
That's why many outside experts quote unquote those are air
quotes for them out there picked the MAVs to win
this series because they have two guys who are capable
of winning games and series on their own. But let's
talk about these people who are have picked the MAVs,
some of which have picked the MAVs in five, which
(15:54):
at this point, I'm sorry to tell you all who
made those choices.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
You were wrong.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
It's impossible at this point for the MAVs to win
in five. So my condolences for your loss. But according
to stocks book three, which I agree with this commenter,
you must not have watched Boston this season. Have you
not paid attention to the Celtics that went sixty four
(16:20):
in eighteen during the regular season?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Have you?
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Have you not paid attention to the Boston Celtics who
have not lost a game in over a month. The
last time they lost a game was on May ninth.
They are in Game two, they are through Game two
of the NBA Finals, and they haven't lost a game
in over a month.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
What does that say?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
That's eight straight wins in the postseason, in the Conference finals,
the finals, the Conference semi finals, been over a month
since they lost. So what were all these people watching?
What in God's name would make them choose an opponent
over the Celtics who have been the best team in
(17:13):
the league from start to finish. As Stock says, Boston
has the best starting lineup and defense in the league.
It's inarguable, they have the best top six in the league.
It's inarguable. So all of these people who chose the
(17:34):
MAVs and picked them in five. Again, Sorry, you're wrong
at least about choosing the MAVs winning in five. It's
impossible at this point. But you must not have been
watching the Boston Celtics this season. You must not have
paid attention, because this team does have the best starting five.
This team has the best top six. It has a
(17:56):
list of six players who all can come through in
the clutch and have come through with the in the
clutch at different stages of this season and this playoff run.
That's the only way you get to seventy eight and
twenty on the season. It's almost an eighty percent winning percentage.
(18:17):
Are you kidding me? It's incredible what this team has accomplished,
and they are two wins shy of marking themselves down
in the conversation as the best, one of the best
teams to ever play the game of basketball. And listen,
some people are gonna say, yeah, they missed these players
as opponents during their playoff run. They weren't that deep,
(18:40):
you know, Bubba. I mean, you can't argue the numbers.
The Celtics right now are seventy eight and twenty, one
of the best point differentials in the history of the league,
and they haven't lost a playoff game in over a month.
You cannot argue those stats. So let's see the Celtics
can close this out. And at that point, everyone who's
(19:04):
been rooting against them and talking down upon them, you're
gonna be tough sledden after that. All right, last up,
our last comment of the night is coming from Joseph
Paul Mary saying, honestly, I'm thinking, play defense.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
And win this series. Move the ball.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Boston won't shoot as bad as it did tonight. Again,
I think Tatum likes playing on the road. I got
him going for thirty plus in Dallas and we win
game three.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Big.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
All right, let's go through this piece by piece. Let's
start out with the defense. The Celtics have been excellent
in this series defensively. Tonight, Obviously, the MAVs only scored
ninety eight points. They did shoot almost forty eight percent
from the field, but the three point line has not
been their friend through two games of this series. And
that's the only way they're gonna win games is if
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving both play well in their
(19:59):
role players shoot well from long distance.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Well. Tonight, they were nine to twenty six from distance.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Twenty to three percent, and that's because Boston's defense is
locked onto those guys, because Boston's defense is not sending
double teams at those two great players that Dallas has
on the floor. So that's number one, and Joseph is
saying that if the Celtics continue to play defense at
that level, they are going to win this series. And
(20:25):
it's hard for me and probably anyone else out there
to disagree with that at this point. His second comment
here has moved the ball. Boston isn't gonna shoot as
bad as it did again as it did tonight. Tonight,
the Celtics shot only forty five percent twenty six percent
from long distance ten of thirty nine. That's not very good.
That is not what they typically do. Yet, despite shooting
(20:49):
only twenty six percent from three point range, the Boston
Celtics led by fourteen points with a few minutes left
in this game. So that goes to show you the
level that they are playing everywhere else, that they're able
to be ahead by fourteen points with a few minutes
left despite the fact that they hadn't been shooting it
very well from long distance. And if you look at
(21:12):
the numbers. You know, Brad Stevens has always used this
term water will find its level. Well, the Boston Celtics
have had a pretty elite offense excuse me, throughout this season,
in fact, the most efficient offense in the history of basketball.
So having a couple of games where they don't quite
shoot it as well as you would like, I gotta
(21:33):
think that the water is gonna find its level during
Game three coming up on Wednesday night, and that certainly
includes Jason Tatum. He was six of sixteen during Game
one tonight. In Game two, he's six of twenty two.
So not shooting the ball well from Jason Tatum, but
he was awesome distributing the ball a game high twelve assists.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Again, that's a game high.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
That's more than Luka Doncich had a game high twelve assists,
also scored eighteen points to goal on along with nine rebounds.
He's the first Celtic to reach those numbers since Larry
Bird in the NBA Finals. So a pretty darn good
game from him, despite the fact that he didn't shoot well.
But this all gets back to the fact that the
Celtics have not quite played up to the level that
(22:17):
they can they have not put forth their best effort yet,
and yet they're still up two games to none in
this series. Jason Tatum's gonna shoot the ball better. The
Boston Celtics are going to shoot the ball better, Yet
here they are sitting them with a two to zero
series lead, heading out to Dallas for that Game three
(22:37):
coming up Wednesday night. That's it for us tonight. That
game again on Wednesday night, is coming up at eight
thirty Eastern. You can catch the game on ABC. And
I appreciate everyone for tuning into this podcast tonight, either
if you're listening on a podcast platform or you're watching
on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Thank you for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
I appreciate everyone who's sent in their comments to be
a part of this podcast. And we will be back
here again Wednesday night. After whatever happens down in Dallas,
I will be there. I'll be watching the game live
and then i'll be back podcasting from the hotel room
right after that. So make sure you tune in send
in your comments after the game. I can't wait to
see what you have to say, and hopefully it's the
(23:17):
Boston Celtics inching one win closer to their eighteen NBA
cham thanks everyone, I'll see.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
You Wednesday night. Shut
Now the Boston Celtics being two wins away from their
eighteenth NBA Championship after taking down Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving
and the Dallas Mavericks in Game two of the NBA
Finals at TD Guard and listen. This win comes down
to three different plays and small sections of the game.
(00:28):
In my perspective, the very first arrived at the end
of the third quarter, and it all happened because of
Peyton Pritchard. Now, let's set up the scenario. The Celtics
had been up by about thirteen points with a couple
minutes left in the third quarter.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Things were feeling pretty good.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
It felt like they were going to close out that
quarter with a comfortable lead and then roll that into
the fourth quarter and maybe pull away for a comfortable win.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, that didn't happen.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Dallas in those final couple minutes rattled off a run
to get within six points. It was seven consecutive points
from them to get it down from thirteen down to six,
and they had momentum with a few seconds left in
the quarter. But that is when Peyton Pritchard. From what
we are hearing from Jalen Brown, Peyton Prichard got up
(01:17):
and checked himself into the game for the final possession
of the third quarter. Now, a couple questions might be
asked as a response to what Jalen Brown said. Number
one is why would Peyton Pritchard check himself into the
game with just a few seconds left in the third quarter?
In number two, why would the Celtics allow Peyton Pritchard
(01:41):
to have that leeway to check himself into the game
for the final few seconds of the third quarter. Well,
the answers can be lumped together to answer both of
those questions, and it's all about what Peyton Pritchard has
done at the end of the quarters, at the end
of quarters throughout this season and in particular during this
playoff run. Joe Mizula said it after the game, Peyton
(02:03):
Pritcher does not care about his stats. There are a
lot of players who at the end of quarters will
dribble the clock out and maybe fire one up from
forty five to fifty feet after the buzzer sounds so
that they don't get docked with a misshot. Peyton Pritcher
doesn't care about that misshot. What he cares about is
(02:24):
this is an opportunity to make a shot, and boy,
did he make a shot to end the third quarter.
This came from probably about thirty eight feet. He had
just crossed the half court line, pulled up from about
thirty eight feet, ripped it up and dropped it through
the net at the buzzer to push Boston's lead back
(02:46):
up to nine instead of six heading into.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
The fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And that shot changed everything in terms of momentum.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
It got the crowd back into it.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
It kind of shut down what Dallas had been building
for those final couple of minutes heading into that final play,
and it certainly gave the Celtics a little bit of
mojo heading into that fourth quarter with a nine point
lead instead of six, with momentum on.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
The other side.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
So that first play, Peyton Pritchard, that three point shot
was critical to what the Boston Celtics were able to
pull off with this win at the end of this game.
And that's why Joe Mazzulin many of the other Celtics
have gone to the podium after this game to win
and spoken specifically about what Peyton Pritchard brings to the
table and why he was so important in this game.
(03:35):
In mind you, Peyton Pritchard also got switched down to
Luka Doncic multiple times during this game, and the Celtics
stuck to their principles. They are guarding Luca one on one,
they are guarding Kyrie one on one, and whoever it is,
you're on an island and you got to figure it out.
And tonight, on multiple occasions, it was Peyton Pritchard on
(03:55):
Luka Doncic, and Peyton Pritchard did a pretty darn good job,
forced a couple of misses, made things difficult. You can't
ask for much more out of the point guard coming
off the bench for the Boston Celtics. So that's play
number one. Play number two happened during the fourth quarter
as the Celtics began to build their largest lead of
the game. Drew Holliday, who was unbelievable during this game,
(04:18):
led the Celtics in points. Was scoring at the rim
at will in the dunker, spot rolling around and just
finding openings along the baseline as other players were driving
to the basket, and they were finding him for easy
layups left and right. Remember this is a guy who
struggled scoring at the rim at the start of the season.
Well those struggles are no longer. He was awesome tonight.
(04:41):
But this particular play occurred late in the fourth quarter
as the Celtics were starting to pull away. They scored
six straight points that were initiated by Drew Holliday. He
was applying pressure to Luka Doncic at about mid court,
forced Doncich to make a bad pass that was picked
off by Derek White, and that interception by Derek White
(05:04):
led to a three pointer at the other end by
Drew Holliday, and then just seconds later after that, Derek
White added in a three pointer of his own, so
that six to zero run, I believe pushed the Celtics
ahead by fourteen points at that very moment.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
So that occurs with three point.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Thirty four left in the fourth quarter, Celtics upt by fourteen,
and you're feeling pretty good. You're feeling like there's no
way they're going to give up a fourteen point lead
with three and a half minutes to go, and in
the end, we were right. But one more play still
needed to be made to steal this win, and that
was in the final minute, and it was Derek White,
(05:43):
yet again coming up clutch with an unbelievable play that
no one anticipated happening less than a minute to go,
Dallas had sliced that fourteen point deficit all the way
down to five, and then Jason Tatum drew to the
basket and miss what he was trying to yam one
(06:03):
down to shut Dallas's opportunity to win.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Shut that door right on them. Now.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
His dunk attempt went right off the back of the rim.
Unfortunately it did not go down and the ball bounced
all the way outside of the three point line, where
Kyrie Irving caught the ball and started to take the
ball in the opposite direction in transition, with a nice
transition opportunity for Dallas to potentially make this a one
possession game.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
So Kyrie takes it.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
He goes toward the center of the court, takes a
couple dribbles, and he looks to his left and finds PJ.
Washington streaking down the left side of the lane. Kyrie
drops the ball off to PJ Washington, who doesn't even
need to dribble the ball, and there is no one,
and I mean no one between PJ. Washington and the basket.
(06:52):
He's got an opportunity again to make this a one
possession game. If he makes a dunk, it's a three
point game with about fifty five seconds left. But instead
Derek White, the best shot blocking guard in the NBA
and one of the best shot blocking guards in NBA history,
(07:13):
a shot blocking guard who blocked eighty seven shots during
the regular season. Well, he blocked another one during Game two,
and this was the biggest block shot he has ever
logged in his entire life. It occurred on PJ Washington. Now,
as he is going to the basket with the ball
rising up for a dunk, Derek White is sprinting back
(07:37):
into the play from the opposite wing. He catches up
with PJ. Washington at the basket, rises up him and
Jaylen Brown in unison, and it was Derek White who
swatted the shot away, denied that dunk attempt, and that
is what wound up ceiling Boston's victory. The rebound attempt
fell into Drew Holliday's hands. Jalen Brown winds up scoring
(08:00):
on a driving layup at the other end to make
it a seven point game with about thirty seconds left,
And that was all she wrote in this game. But
as I said, if Derek White was not there to
block that shot, this would have been a one possession
game with about fifty five seconds left, and let's put
that into context.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Okay, Yes, the Celtics might.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Have scored and made it a five point game or
a six point game at the other end, and we
would have been comfortable. But they also could have missed,
which would have put the ball in the hands of
two of the most clutch players to play this game
right now. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are two players that,
no matter how the ball is rolling for them throughout
(08:40):
a game, I would not want the ball in their
hands with a final shot to potentially tie or win
a game. So Derek White's block shot on PJ Washington
secured the fact that the Celtics did not have to
face that situation during the final minute. It preserved that
lead and allowed them to avoid any opportunity of Kyrie
(09:02):
Irving or Luka Doncic making a big shot to put
the pressure on, maybe force overtime, maybe tie this series up,
we don't know. Derek White made sure none of that happened.
So that was the third play, and those are the
three in my mind that when I think back on
this game, this is what stands out about how the
(09:23):
Celtics won one Peyton Pritchard makes that three pointer at
the end of the third quarter to stem the tide
and turn the momentum back in Boston's favor. Then, late
in the fourth quarter, as the Celtics are trying to
build a large lead, Drew Holliday applies pressure on Doncic,
forces a turnover that winds up as an interception by
(09:45):
Derek White, and then White winds up finding or one
of the Celtics wind up finding Drew Holliday for a
three pointer that's followed up by another three pointer for
a six to zero run by Derek White, and the
Boston Celtics are head by fourteen with three and a
half minutes left. Then, lastly, Derek Quite sprints back into
the play. We're talking absolute, top notch, elite effort to
(10:06):
get back into the play and block that PJ. Washington
dunk attempt at the rim to seal this win. So Boston,
as I said at the start, winning play after winning play,
after winning play, finding a way to disallow Dallas from
getting back into the game and potentially stealing a win
at TD Garden, There's a lot to talk about after
(10:29):
this w and let's dive into We've got some comments
from our fans. Luke j Today comments on his takeaways
from this win.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Then we've got.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Stocks Book Bree on what the national media has been
saying about Boston throughout this series and throughout these playoffs.
Stocks Book Brie has a bone to pick. And then lastly,
we've got Joseph Paulmery on what the Celtics need to
do to polish this series off and take home in
eighteenth NBA Championship. With that, let's dive into our first
(11:01):
comment from Luke j Today. All Right, Luke j Today says,
nice team win, Drew was amazing. Worried about KP right now,
We'll get to that in a moment. Let's concentrate on
the Drew was amazing portion. And let's give you the
stats of what Drew Holliday did during this game.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Twenty six points to lead the Celtics.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Also grabbed eleven rebounds to lead the Celtics, dished out
three assists, grabbed a steel, blocked a shot, did not
commit a turnover, not a single turnover. And by the way,
he played more. He played forty one minutes in this game,
second among all excuse me, third among all Celtics, behind
(11:44):
Jason Tatum and Jylen Brown. He shot eleven of fourteen
from the field. This is a guy who it must
have hurt Joe Missoula any moment. He had to take
him off the court because Drew Holliday had it cooking
at both ends of the court tonight. He was great
on defense, as he has been throughout his entire season
(12:06):
here for the Boston Celtics, but he's certainly taking it
up in notch facing off against Luca and Kyrie in
this series. He has been playing excellent defense time after
time after time, and as I just mentioned in the open,
he forced to turn over out of dancicch that initiated
one of the most critical stretches of this game, a
six to zero run by the Celtics late in that
(12:27):
fourth quarter to bump it up to a fourteen point lead.
But he wound up playing in that dunker spot tonight
again where he's running that baseline, finding the openings and
the gaps in the defense. As Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown,
Derek White, all these other guys are breaking Dallas's defense
down off the dribble, well, they're giving attention to those
guys who are driving to the basket and leaving Drew
(12:48):
Holliday wide open for layups. And Drew Holliday finished at
a high rate tonight. As I said before, he struggled
at the rim early on this season. Well, those struggles
are long gone. He barely missed tonight. Shot seventy nine
percent from the field, eleven of fourteen. He was excellent
at the basket, critical shots at critical times. Shot two
(13:09):
to four from distance, which by the way, means he
was nine of ten from inside the arc, so pretty
darn good there, but just really excellent across the board.
To the comment here by Luke, Drew was amazing and
the Celtics are going to need him to be amazing
the rest of the series if they want to close
things out, And if he continues playing at this level,
(13:31):
he's certainly gonna have his name in the hat as
a potential for a Finals MVP if the Celtics wind
up polishing this off. Now, let's move on to the
last comment here from Luke. Worried about KP right now.
So obviously, if you haven't heard christas porzingis, he checked
out of the game late in favor of Al Horford
checking back in and as we learned after the game
(13:51):
he did he felt a little tweak and something that
in his lower body. He said that it doesn't seem
like it is related to the calf strain that he
had been dealing with that kept him out for the
majority of this postseason heading into.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
The NBA Finals, but he made it sound like he's fine.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Joel Mizula said he has zero concerns about Christas Porzingis
heading into Game three, and Kristaps certainly made it sound
like he's gonna do everything he can to be on
the court when the Boston Celtics take the court down
in Dallas for Game three on Wednesday night, So you
shouldn't be too worried about Christas Porzingis. Has sounded from
(14:28):
both from him and from the coaching staff like he's
gonna be okay. Obviously he might be dealing with something,
but he said, quote unquote, I would die out there
if that's what it takes for me to be a
part of an NBA championship. So I'd be surprised if
he doesn't play in that Game three Wednesday night. But
let's keep it locked on. We never know what we're
gonna hear over the next few days, but he's got
(14:49):
some time to rest up and get some treatment on
whatever it is that wound up sparkling up during this
game tonight for him, all right, stocks book Brie is
our next comment from x saying Boston has the best
starting lineup and they play the best defense in the league.
They also have five guys that can hit big shots.
(15:10):
Y'all said, MAVs in five laughing, crying face. These people
must not have watched Boston. No way, Luke and Kyrie
can beat this team. Now that last part, I'm not
gonna say that. Luke and Kyrie are two of the
best players that we have seen in the past few
generations in the NBA. They certainly can up at to
a level where they can beat this Boston Celtics team.
(15:33):
That's why many outside experts quote unquote those are air
quotes for them out there picked the MAVs to win
this series because they have two guys who are capable
of winning games and series on their own. But let's
talk about these people who are have picked the MAVs,
some of which have picked the MAVs in five, which
(15:54):
at this point, I'm sorry to tell you all who
made those choices.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
You were wrong.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
It's impossible at this point for the MAVs to win
in five. So my condolences for your loss. But according
to stocks book three, which I agree with this commenter,
you must not have watched Boston this season. Have you
not paid attention to the Celtics that went sixty four
(16:20):
in eighteen during the regular season?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Have you?
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Have you not paid attention to the Boston Celtics who
have not lost a game in over a month. The
last time they lost a game was on May ninth.
They are in Game two, they are through Game two
of the NBA Finals, and they haven't lost a game
in over a month.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
What does that say?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
That's eight straight wins in the postseason, in the Conference finals,
the finals, the Conference semi finals, been over a month
since they lost. So what were all these people watching?
What in God's name would make them choose an opponent
over the Celtics who have been the best team in
(17:13):
the league from start to finish. As Stock says, Boston
has the best starting lineup and defense in the league.
It's inarguable, they have the best top six in the league.
It's inarguable. So all of these people who chose the
(17:34):
MAVs and picked them in five. Again, Sorry, you're wrong
at least about choosing the MAVs winning in five. It's
impossible at this point. But you must not have been
watching the Boston Celtics this season. You must not have
paid attention, because this team does have the best starting five.
This team has the best top six. It has a
(17:56):
list of six players who all can come through in
the clutch and have come through with the in the
clutch at different stages of this season and this playoff run.
That's the only way you get to seventy eight and
twenty on the season. It's almost an eighty percent winning percentage.
(18:17):
Are you kidding me? It's incredible what this team has accomplished,
and they are two wins shy of marking themselves down
in the conversation as the best, one of the best
teams to ever play the game of basketball. And listen,
some people are gonna say, yeah, they missed these players
as opponents during their playoff run. They weren't that deep,
(18:40):
you know, Bubba. I mean, you can't argue the numbers.
The Celtics right now are seventy eight and twenty, one
of the best point differentials in the history of the league,
and they haven't lost a playoff game in over a month.
You cannot argue those stats. So let's see the Celtics
can close this out. And at that point, everyone who's
(19:04):
been rooting against them and talking down upon them, you're
gonna be tough sledden after that. All right, last up,
our last comment of the night is coming from Joseph
Paul Mary saying, honestly, I'm thinking, play defense.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
And win this series. Move the ball.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Boston won't shoot as bad as it did tonight. Again,
I think Tatum likes playing on the road. I got
him going for thirty plus in Dallas and we win
game three.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Big.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
All right, let's go through this piece by piece. Let's
start out with the defense. The Celtics have been excellent
in this series defensively. Tonight, Obviously, the MAVs only scored
ninety eight points. They did shoot almost forty eight percent
from the field, but the three point line has not
been their friend through two games of this series. And
that's the only way they're gonna win games is if
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving both play well in their
(19:59):
role players shoot well from long distance.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Well. Tonight, they were nine to twenty six from distance.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Twenty to three percent, and that's because Boston's defense is
locked onto those guys, because Boston's defense is not sending
double teams at those two great players that Dallas has
on the floor. So that's number one, and Joseph is
saying that if the Celtics continue to play defense at
that level, they are going to win this series. And
(20:25):
it's hard for me and probably anyone else out there
to disagree with that at this point. His second comment
here has moved the ball. Boston isn't gonna shoot as
bad as it did again as it did tonight. Tonight,
the Celtics shot only forty five percent twenty six percent
from long distance ten of thirty nine. That's not very good.
That is not what they typically do. Yet, despite shooting
(20:49):
only twenty six percent from three point range, the Boston
Celtics led by fourteen points with a few minutes left
in this game. So that goes to show you the
level that they are playing everywhere else, that they're able
to be ahead by fourteen points with a few minutes
left despite the fact that they hadn't been shooting it
very well from long distance. And if you look at
(21:12):
the numbers. You know, Brad Stevens has always used this
term water will find its level. Well, the Boston Celtics
have had a pretty elite offense excuse me, throughout this season,
in fact, the most efficient offense in the history of basketball.
So having a couple of games where they don't quite
shoot it as well as you would like, I gotta
(21:33):
think that the water is gonna find its level during
Game three coming up on Wednesday night, and that certainly
includes Jason Tatum. He was six of sixteen during Game
one tonight. In Game two, he's six of twenty two.
So not shooting the ball well from Jason Tatum, but
he was awesome distributing the ball a game high twelve assists.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Again, that's a game high.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
That's more than Luka Doncich had a game high twelve assists,
also scored eighteen points to goal on along with nine rebounds.
He's the first Celtic to reach those numbers since Larry
Bird in the NBA Finals. So a pretty darn good
game from him, despite the fact that he didn't shoot well.
But this all gets back to the fact that the
Celtics have not quite played up to the level that
(22:17):
they can they have not put forth their best effort yet,
and yet they're still up two games to none in
this series. Jason Tatum's gonna shoot the ball better. The
Boston Celtics are going to shoot the ball better, Yet
here they are sitting them with a two to zero
series lead, heading out to Dallas for that Game three
(22:37):
coming up Wednesday night. That's it for us tonight. That
game again on Wednesday night, is coming up at eight
thirty Eastern. You can catch the game on ABC. And
I appreciate everyone for tuning into this podcast tonight, either
if you're listening on a podcast platform or you're watching
on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Thank you for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
I appreciate everyone who's sent in their comments to be
a part of this podcast. And we will be back
here again Wednesday night. After whatever happens down in Dallas,
I will be there. I'll be watching the game live
and then i'll be back podcasting from the hotel room
right after that. So make sure you tune in send
in your comments after the game. I can't wait to
see what you have to say, and hopefully it's the
(23:17):
Boston Celtics inching one win closer to their eighteen NBA
cham thanks everyone, I'll see.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
You Wednesday night. Shut
Host
Marc D'Amico
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