Ep. 78: Pistons Force Game 6, Bucks Choke to Pacers, and More - 04/30/25

Sean Brace and Sam Oshtry talk all things #NBAPlayoffs. #Pistons-#Knicks, #Bucks choking down the stretch to the #Pacers, #Clippers-#Nuggets, and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Number one on your car radio preset hand the new
and improved Diehard Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
On WDA yes and WD two seven three D Philadelphia.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
I is Fox Sports Radio The Gambler.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Anyway we go, Hello, everybody, let's go.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
NBA Playoffs front and center, picks and roll, never mind
the daily take a graphic. That's all right, Sam Oustri
from the score, I'm chambrace a lot to discuss, ladies
and gentlemen, boys and girls. As I said, all things
NBA Playoffs. Great matchups so far, interesting storyline, superstars, struggling

(00:41):
people separating themselves a.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Little bit as well.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
And oh, by the way, our next round matchup, our
second round matchup, first one in the books. And man
the dog could potentially be barking, not according to Vegas,
So that's for damn sure, Sam, How.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
We doing today? Great? Just one word?

Speaker 3 (01:02):
These doesn't get much better than this was with what
we got with the playoffs right now, it's it's it's
been awesome and let's get to it.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, man, look all right, we'll open up with what
took place last night. And I know everybody's losing their
mind on ESPN today about Tibbs and the fact that
he wasn't able to get Brunton and Josh Hart back
into the game. You know, are we making a mountain
out of a mole hill here, Sam, because I think
it was a six point game. If I'm not mistaken,

(01:30):
it looked like Detroit was winning that ballgame.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
I get it.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Maybe use the time out there get them back into
the game, but they were on defense as well. I
don't know, I get it. We need something to point
our finger at why we lost. You know, correct me
if I'm wrong. Don't they play forty seven other minutes
as well throughout the course of a game in NBA basketball,
So you know, I get it. We can point to
that final minute and maybe it wasn't Tibbs's smartest approach,

(01:56):
but at the end of the day, I don't think
Detroit was losing that game.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, I mean, look, I've been critical of Fibbs for
a lot of reasons this series, and it goes beyond
beyond that. And like, I'm not one to to pile
on coaches usually, but he's just.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Not having good series.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
And we can talk about how he's not putting Brunson
off the ball and he brunts and it's just taking
a beating every time down the floor, like he's just
it's it's he's getting mulled on every single time he's
dribbling down the floor. And he's obviously already nursing a
bum ankle. He already plays a ton of minutes, Like,
get him reps off the ball. They're not running pick
and roll with him in Coarnthony Towns near as much

(02:33):
as they were.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
In the regular season.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
They're not posting up Corinthony Towns when he has Tobias
Harris on him. The kil Bridges isn't as evolved in
the offense s he should be. So there's a ton
to be critical about with Fibbs, and then when something
like last night happens, it just gets magnified because, yeah,
it was a mistake.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
I mean, there's two minutes to go in the game.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
First off, they were going into a time out when
Josh Hart and Jaylen Brunson went out, So I don't
know why they actually exited the game or sub were
subbed out of the game in the first place. If
they're gonna come back a minute later anyway, and like
they're they're fine from health perspective, then just leave them
in the game. But they were going to a time out.
They come out of the time. Now, those two guys,
they were hurt, they were hurt. They were hurt, but

(03:11):
like you, obviously weren't hurt or not hurt enough to
stay out of the game the whole time.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
I think Josh Art got hitting the balls right, Let's
just call it what it was. I think that's what
it was.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
That's what he was like. Okay, you know he's rolling
around on the floor.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
And then Brunson, I think screwed up his ankle again,
which you know is easy for me to sit here
and say, I.

Speaker 4 (03:31):
Rolled my ankle walking out of my house yesterday.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
I was on my driveway, laying on my driveway like
like you might as well just.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Put the mocker at you missed a step.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
No, there was this huge, this front welcome matt that
we pulled from the top and put it down, and
my daughter was yelling at me, and I came down
and I stepped on the edge of it and in
my ankle like just twisted. I'm like I'm done. I
felt like Brunson there, but you know, look a bigger stage.

(04:03):
I'm with you. So it's like, you know, get them
back into the ball game. You gotta figure out some way, somehow.
But I think you're you're even more spot on with
your assessment as Tibbs throughout the course of the series
has not been good.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yeah, And like I said, it gets magnified when he
has moments like that, like, yeah, bruntson had a bum
ankle there and he heard it. But if you're gonna
go out of the game, you're and come back a
minute later. Don't go out like you obviously have an
idea of the level of pain. It's like, all right,
I'm gonna come back in, So don't go out in
the first place. And then when there's two minutes left, fine,

(04:36):
I get from FIBs perspective only one time out. He's
assuming there will be dumb dead ball or some type
of foul or stoppage where you can get them in.
But when clock starts ticking and the game is winding
down and there's no dead ball and it's just a
bunch of live play and you can't get these guys
in use your time out to get them in the game.
Because he ended up burning it with twenty seven seconds
left anyway, after a Piston's made bucket, So it's like

(04:57):
you just wasted a minute and a half and then
you ended up using your last time out. Anyway, call
that time out earlier, get them back in the game,
and and then you maybe have a chance with two
minutes left.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Because it's not just anyone who's out of the game.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
It's the most clutched player in the NBA who's out
of the game, who's been awesome in.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
The fourth quarters.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
So like, it's just it's been a bad series from
Thibbs and not like JB. Bickerstaff's been a great coach.
I mean, he's using his challenges way too early in
these games. But this is just it's it's not exactly
two coaches playing chess. It's it's more like checkers out there.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Oh let's see here, Shavinard check it in.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Well, well, well how about those pistons.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
I am shocked.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Sean bnardists check it in this earlier wanting to talk
about some NBA playoffs. He's taking his victory lap, He's
taking over five and a half was the play I
gotta give him the credit. Quotations Bigger stage, Sean Bray
says he as he compares John bruns Are on his
ankle on the NBA players and.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Then fuck, yes, I know, I know ankles. Ankles.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
We're talking ankles, Steph Curry, John Bruns and Sean Brace
worst ankles in the world.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Five ankle, Yeah, five, there you go. Five and a half.
Good good call it was.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
You know, look, this this series has been crazy, right,
Like if if we want to play that game, the
Pistons could easily.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Have won this series by now. Yeah, I don't I
don't like playing that easily. Not easily, but they were
into running for four to one.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
I think we could easily get the three to two though,
right in favor of Detroit.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
My whole thing is like, like even after Game two
when it's one to one and everyone's like, the Pistons
could easily be up two oh if it wasn't for
twenty one zero run in the in the second half
of game one.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
It's like, okay, but.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
If you're down oh one in the first game, your
mentality in the second game is gonna be a little different.
You're gonna play a little more desperate. So it's like,
I don't really like playing that game of what the
series score could be because you can't really map it
out like that. But this series is way more competitive
than I thought. I will say that Pistons for their physicality,
the Knicks have mostly matched their physicality. But I don't

(07:02):
think they expected it to be an all out war
and dog fight here. Pistons have been in They just
don't go away. Like everything you throw out them, you
go on a ten oh twelve oh run, and the
next thing they have the game secured, Pistons will come
crawling back like.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
This team is just physical, They're.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
Tough, they defend kid Cunningham obviously is awesome.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
He was great, not as much as a score.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
He wasn't efficient as a score yesterday, I thought it
was really good as a passer, as a playmaker of
knowing when to go, when to set guys up. He's
just such a smart player for how young he is.
So I was really impressed with I have been impressed
with this Pistons group. But now on the flip side,
assuming the Knicks end up winning the series, which maybe
is cool, it's maybe it's too early to assume that.

(07:44):
I still think the next take care of it in six.
Maybe it's too early to assume that. But now the
Celtics are getting all this rest while the Knicks and
I thought that could be a series Nick Celtics next series,
But now the Celtics are getting all this risk rest
and the Knicks have to go back to Detroit.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
They're losing rest.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
And they're play coming off the most physical series out
of any first round matchup, probably more so than even
Warriors Rockets, because this series has.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Been all out warp.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Brunton is getting mold on every single possession. Josh Hart
and Og and all these guys are getting mold on
every possession. So they're coming they have less rest than
the Celtics for next series and they're getting mold and
this most physical playoff series maybe there's been the last
twenty years. So it's it's bad news bearers for the
next heading into the next round.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
They could get swept. Yeah, and that's frustrating. You're right
about that.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
And it comes into of course in the West side
too as well, where we'll see what happens, you know,
we'll look at some of those second round matchups potentially.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
But it's the thing you have to factor in.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
It's like, all right, if somebody is going to knock
off Oklahoma City, maybe it's because Oklahoma City gets tested
in this next round and maybe in the Western Conference Final,
you know, that's where it happens. Other than that, I'm
really you know, I think we're pulling teeth to see
the Oaklahoma City won't be in the NBA Finals.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
We'll save that conversation. As I said, real quick, just
to your point on that.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
It's like the Clippers and Nuggets I think are about
to go seven and that's also been a war, and
it's just like heading into the thunder who have over
a week of rest after sweeping the Grizzlies. They're gonna
have so much they're gonna be well rested. And there's
two other.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Teams are gonna come off of crazy competitive series.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yep, exactly that spot on. All right, Well, sham Minard,
he's fired up, he's got the caffeine rolling. They are
only one whistle away from games outcome directly being different.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
I do like to I don't play that game.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
It's just your mindset, your mentality based on the series
score is completely different.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
I don't play that game.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
Full disclosure, we're recording this in the am. Sam Austrey
had to get them on. We're doing a lot more
live P and R throughout the course of the day.
And of course next week starting at night with the
Round two matchups as we get closer untilby crowned champion.
So if you're listening to this, you just got Sean
Manar for two hours from three to five.

Speaker 4 (10:02):
Now you're getting Sam Ostre here.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
So I love it. But that's the NBA Playoffs. They've
been exciting so far, been delivering so much.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
And again you answered the question already.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
But and one cool thing that I love from the
sports gambling perspective is watching the series price from.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Start pre series.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
As a win happens, the shift where the money comes in.
Right now, the Pistons plus three eighty, that's a big ask,
Knicks minus five hundred. But Sam Austrie, does this go
back to New York.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
In your mind? No, it doesn't go back to New York. Wow.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
And the big reason why is why the Knicks were
up three to one in the first place was because
of the fourth quarter and the clutch play and the experience.
So yeah, you can say they're going back to Detroit.
It's a hostile environment. The Knicks just won two games
in Detroit as the fans were screaming Fu Brunson the
entire time, like the road atmospheres, And I've been saying this,
I don't really buy home court advantage.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Road atmospheres do not NBA players, they just don't.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
A lot of them love them, and a lot of
them cherish the opportunity to play in a hostile road atmosphere.
So I'm not really worried about the next taking care
of business in Detroit. I just think the fourth quarter
of the clutch play, assuming they make it out of
that game healthy and Brunson can actually play for a
fourth quarter, because we've now seen consecutive games where he's
had to leave in the fourth quarter because of his ankle.

(11:25):
So if you can somehow make it out healthy throughout
the entire fourth quarter, I think the Knicks take care
of business. But all these games have really followed a
very similar script.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah, physical, get out of the way. Refs. They like
to make their calls.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
Every once in a while they have you scratching your head,
but that's every NBA game.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
I will say this, I think you go back every
one of these games.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
Brunton has been dinged up some way somehow, and I'm
not saying he's faking it by no means.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
It's a bad ankle. It's a bad ankle. This dude
is Teflon. Now.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
He didn't have the greatest game yesterday, correct me if
I'm wrong, shooting wise, I don't think he finished with
more than sixteen points, seem yeah, so.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
He was way off his average.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
But he's been what I mean, there's been some really
great basketball being played in these playoffs, but when it
comes to fourth quarter crunch time, he's probably been the best.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
So he's still still leading.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
Even with the with the poor performance yesday, He's still
leading these crazy game in fourth quarter points and clutch
points because he was so I mean, Kawhi Leonard was
second and fourth quarter points yesterday. I didn't check it
this morning, but he was almost twenty points out of Kawhi.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
So so nobody's really catching him on that. See, that's
what Sam does.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Sam wakes up and checks who's leading in the fourth
quarter point scored?

Speaker 2 (12:35):
All right, that's the quarter that sand hopefully still listening.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
He doesn't seem to think that quarter matters because he
pulls out the first three quarter stats for Kate cunning In.
But the fourth quarter is the most important quarter, all right.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
So five and a half points spread out, right, and
for the Detroit Pistons a one oh six to one
oh three. The total was two fifteen and a half.
It stayed under a two to oh nine.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
And what a game it was.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
And as you pointed out, as far as the series
is concerned, man, just uh, it's kind of had that
same flow, same flow.

Speaker 4 (13:10):
As far as every single one of these games.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Nice and tight.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
Defense, defense, defense, and then fourth quarter scoring. But a
lot of fun to be a fan and just enjoy,
all right, from the Detroit and New York Knicks series
once again, Well, you know, while we're here, we do
have a number once again. Tomorrow night, seven thirty pm,
Knicks are two point dogs. Pistons favored my two points

(13:36):
two thirteen. Are you surprised by that number? I think
it's what been about a point. Piston has been favored
by a point in those World games.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah, games there was a point to a point and
a half. I think that it flipped one game with
the Knicks became a one point favorite. So I'm not
really surprised by that at all. But look, you know
who I'm going to be on the dogs?

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah, that's easy, all right.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
Staying with last night, and look, talk a little bit
about the Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks, and they did
not get the number, or they did not cover the
spread of eight points Pacers, but they did come back
in overtime trailing by a bunch and won the game
at home. A lot of a lot of tempers flaring
at the end, and rightfully so, I think at least, yeah,

(14:18):
I think the NBA needs to address the the fans
or the family members slash fans coming onto the floor.
You know, you can't have that no matter what, Like
these guys just finished a battle and you got like
father running over there and somewhat taunting him like he's
lucky Janis did to knock his block off. The one
image I saw Jannis grabbed I forget who it was.

(14:41):
Did you see the image of Yannis Like it was
like predator. He literally had his hand behind an NBA
players back in the head, and it was like holy, Like, dude,
Giannis is not a guy to mess with.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
He's you know, he's proved his work.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
You know who he is, and he will lose something
over the game basketball. But regardless, putting that to the side,
let's talk about the Pacers.

Speaker 4 (15:05):
You know, it's unfortunate, Sam, because I was yelling.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
About this yesterday, and it's it's it's the playoffs because
we know what's next. We know what's coming up in
the next round for the Indiana Pacers. But clearly they're
not getting enough attention. Clearly heading into this series, they
weren't getting enough love. A lot of people had the
Milwaukee Bucks with Dame back. You know, the Pacers, we
know what they did last year, made it to the

(15:27):
conference finals. Of course, struggled to start the season this year,
but I bounced back in a big way. Fifty fifty
wins this year, fifty plus wins. Right, we make a
big deal about the New York next with their fifty
plus wins, It wasn't there for the Pacers. You had
two guys and Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams say they
don't even watch the Pacers and they're doing NBA basketball shows,

(15:48):
Like the disrespect needs to come to an end, if
not now win, But the issue is now they got
to take on an awesome Cleveland Cavalier team. We do
have a series price. Even want to talk about last
night's game because it is what it is. On to
the next The serious price is intriguing to me though,
because you hit the Pacers or plus three to fifty
versus the Calves at minus four point fifty, any shot,

(16:11):
the dog is barking for you there.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
I don't think. So.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
What the Pacers used to their advantage against the Bucks
was their depth, And like, yeah, Yiannis was the best
player in the series, and I think I overestimated that
a little bit of how little help he had while
and it was a tough night to be a Tyreus
Haliburton hater because he was just awesome down the stretch,
awesome in that overtime period, clutchback, clutch basket after clutch basket,

(16:37):
including the game winning drive on Giannis where you haven't
really seen that explosion in first on a drive from
Tyreeese one on one in kind of a while, honestly,
So I was really impressed with him down the stretch.
And of course it was just a pathetic collapse from
the Bucks in a brutal way to end the season
and potentially end the Yannis era, which is unfortunate. But

(16:58):
what the Calves and match the Pace with is their depth.
I mean, this Caves team is so deep, and that's
what the Pacers use to their advantage, and the Pacers
are a free flowing offense that gets a lot that
get a lot of guys involved, but so do the Calves.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Like that's why the Caves are.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
The number one offense in the league throughout these playoffs
and then the number one offense in the league throughout
the regular season, and because they have so many different options.
We know the backcourt with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell,
and those guys have really done a good job of
complimenting each other this year after some concerns the last
few years. We know Evan Mobley's leap as a driver,
as a short role, playmaker, how he processes the game

(17:34):
as a passer in the short role. He's, I mean,
they're getting the ball to him in the short role
at the elbow in a ton of different ways, in
the way they hadn't in the years pass and he's
He's number one is three pointer looks better. He's actually
a decent threat from out there. He's a way better driver,
he's a way better passer. Him and Jared Allen make
an awesome front court. And then we know you can
plug and play DeAndre Hartner, who who's more of a

(17:56):
spot up guy, but they run a few picking roles
for him throughout the game too, Ty Jerome, Sam Morrell,
all these guys.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
Of course Max Shrews.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
They're so deep and they have so many plug and
play guys, and their offenses is similar to the Pacers
in the sense that it's free flowing and it involves
a lot of guys, and it's not no guys ball
dominant like you see with the team like the Knicks,
maybe with with Jalen Brunson.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
So that's a very similar playdown terms of their offense.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
The Calves are just way better, Like they just have
way more talent and they're deeper. And I don't really
see a way that the Pacers, who are now going
to be actually playing a healthy team for the first time.
In their last three playoff series, they haven't played a
healthy team where at least one of their best players
in the other team hasn't missed significant portion of the series.

(18:41):
Now they're gonna go up against the Calves who are healthy,
and we'll see what happens. But I don't think I
don't give the Pacers a chance.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
You're gonna hear a bunch about this.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
These two teams have matched up four times since the
new year.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
A lot of injuries.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
For the Calves, A lot of players missed in those
two games, and two I believe out of the three
pace Her wins.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Including April tenth and April thirteenth.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
So don't get caught up as far as the overall record,
it's definitely something that I think the Pacers.

Speaker 4 (19:09):
Should be discussing and focusing. I have no doubt about that.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
But from the gambling perspective for us out there, pay
attention to who was in and especially to the time
that both of those games were played.

Speaker 4 (19:20):
Again, we know what happens at the end of the
regular season when it comes to the NBA. With that, though,
what are we talking about with this series?

Speaker 2 (19:30):
Sam?

Speaker 4 (19:30):
Are you surprised by that price? Do you think this
is going to be ugly?

Speaker 2 (19:34):
Like?

Speaker 1 (19:34):
Is there something that makes you believe that the Pacers
can turn us into a little bit of a fight?

Speaker 2 (19:39):
Four to two? Seven? Is it four to one? Where
do you stand on that?

Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah, I haven't looked at the series spread prices yet,
but that's something i'd be interested in.

Speaker 2 (19:50):
I don't see it going more than six. I could
see it going six, but.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
I would maybe even dabble on five and see with
them minus two and a half series prices for the Cavs.
If minus one and a half is reasonable, I would
definitely take that. Like like, like I said, the Pacers
are the way worst team and their defense isn't good
enough to stop or limit the best offense in the
entire leagues. The Caves are so deep, they have so
many different ways to beat you with the front court,

(20:15):
with their back court, with their wings, with their depth,
with all of it. They have so many different ways
to beat you, and the pacerss aren't good enough defensively.
And on the flip side, yeah, the Pacers are are
similar where they have so many different guys who can
beat you, like Benedic Matthon was also in that series,
Andrew Nemher and all these guys who who aren't the
stars that are really contributing. And that's why the Pacers

(20:35):
are are as good as they are because of their depth.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
But they just don't stack up to the Calves in
that regard.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
So I don't see a way that the Pacers win
this series or even make it that competitive. I mean,
you could go six games, but that doesn't necessarily mean
it's gonna be competitive.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
But six is the absolute max. I see the Pacers
taking the series five and a half.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
Over five and at minus one ten under five and
at minus one ten both the way series spread calves
this one and a half minus one eighty.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
That's a lot of that's a lot of juice.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
But yeah, hey, look, if you folks out there, Pacer fans,
don't listen to us, fire on your team right like
the team is playing, they're hot. No one gave him
a shot against Milwaukee. No one's giving them a shot
against Cleveland. And I know due they were.

Speaker 3 (21:20):
A favored against Milwaukee. Everybody I know had I was
on the bucks. I was on the bucks. I think
a lot of people are on.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
The because Dame Dame was back.

Speaker 3 (21:29):
Yeah yeah, and look and then Dame was back in
Game two and then he wasn't back. And look, the
the Pacers were the better team regardless because them did
not look good when he came back, which is expected
after missing a month. But so the Pacer were a
better team and probably gonna win that series anyway. But again,
like they they they played a really injured team and
just a battered down team. Last year they are down two.

(21:51):
Oh the Knicks OJ and Andobi goes out. That's why
they come back and win that series. The series before that,
they played the Bucks without Giannis Ante te Compo. Of
course they win that series and that series even went six.
So Peace are a way better team now, I think,
especially defensively than they were last year. But look, they
haven't played a team that's actually been healthy in the
last three playoff series. Let's see what happens when they do.

(22:13):
And it's been one of the best teams in the
league all year.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
Did love Tyreus Haliburton's post after though, Oh he handled
that well with his dad, he handled that well well.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
I didn't even see what he had to say.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
And for those that don't know, long story short, old
man haliburtons at all those games. He's a lot like
John Morant's old man, no issues there, say what you want,
have fun, be the center of attention.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
And in the cities like Memphis and Indiana.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
Hell, if this was Philadelphia, like IAI's mom, you know,
in twenty twenty five, she'd have her Instagram, she'd be
an influencer, you know, Like I understand how this works,
but there has to be a separation and shame on
the NBA.

Speaker 2 (22:56):
Shame on the.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
Pacers for not separating that. Man, the game's over that floor.
It's it's players only. Dude, if you're not a player,
don't get on the floor. And like we're doing, we're
bending over backwards for these college kids, but not the pros.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
Dude. Like I thought we're gonna have another mouse at
the Palace yesterday, I really did. I thought I was
gonna turn ugly.

Speaker 3 (23:18):
It was.

Speaker 1 (23:18):
It was pretty close, you know, a series ends like that,
and then it was crazy.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
You know the best part.

Speaker 4 (23:24):
Was Lopez shaking the Indiana Pacers.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
Mat I saw that the mask because that that's this
thing he always beefs. He always beefs with mascot. Bro
his brother used to him, and Lopez will always beef
with mascots, and they just fa he was a legitimate player.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
Wasn't even a joke. He was dead serious, hard fought series.
As the beef is going on in the backdrop, But say,
what's that? What did Haliburton say?

Speaker 3 (23:50):
So first, Jannis, I mean, I don't think you realized
it was his dad initially.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
It's just like some fans on the court, fans.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
Parents, siblings, significant others. I don't care you have no
place on the court when that when that buzzer sounds like, wait,
wait until they come back, you'll get your family passed,
and wait until they come back after they go to
locker room and all that, you shouldn't be on the court.
It was beyond obnoxious and like I mean, the NBA
should investigate it, and hopefully he just learns his last.
I don't think he should be banned from basketball games like

(24:19):
Summer suggesting, but I uh, he hopefully learns his last
and nose to never ever pull a move like that again.
It was disrespectful, noxious and just just way out of bounds.
But the initial interaction happened and then they were separated
him and then Giannis goes back to him and that's
when he puts his They were like head to head.
He puts his head on his on the on Tyre's

(24:39):
Haliburn's dad's head. I thought from there he could swing
and then everyone was kind of like letting it play out,
and then it took like a few seconds for them
to break it up.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
But to Gianni's had a great response to it the
post game.

Speaker 3 (24:50):
He's always introspective and has good perspective on these things.
And is always a good listen to in the post game,
but Tyre's Haliburn also said he was like, he's like,
didn't know that happened till after the game, Like my
dad was in the wrong, he said, my pops in
the wrong. I had a conversation with my pops, Like
that's on accepted. I'm gonna talk to Giannis. So Tyree's
handled it well. Could you imagine having a deal with that,

(25:12):
I mean, like, you have to be the you have
to be the adult in the room when you your
your dad is acting like a clown.

Speaker 2 (25:18):
No, I can't.

Speaker 1 (25:21):
Yeah, that would that would send me. I'd be like,
you're staying your ass home, Like, no more tickets for you.
Dad either had no more booze.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Look a look what Patrick Mahomes has to deal with
his dad?

Speaker 1 (25:33):
Oh yeah, and brother and wife and everything else.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
Yeah, right, Well, at least he chose the wife, I
mean other stuff.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
He has no choice. So funny. All right, let's keep
it moving.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
Let's talk a little bit more about what took place
again last night. We do have games going off this
evening as well. We had four four in the Association
last night. Again, great games from start to finish, we'll
sind out where Sam stands on the Celtics covering the
number against the Orlando Magic eleven point favorites.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
In that one. That was the easy one.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
It was a little tight in the first half, but
you just know Boston's gonna hit that stride and it
came specifically in the third quarter in the outscore to
Orlando thirty six to thirteen. Boston Celtics just like, should
we just push them in the caves right now the
Eastern Conference Finals and let's get it on.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
Absolutely, I don't think there's a question, especially with the
Knicks having just playing such a physical series that they
just are going through with the Pistons, assuming they come
out alive, both from advancing and from a health perspective,
come out alive, and I just don't see how they're
gonna with the Celtics having this rest and Drew Hollidays
a little banged up. Chris Stabs hasn't looked great this series.

(26:45):
JB obviously entered the playoffs with an injury, but he's
looked mostly fine. So the Celtics can have this extra
rest and there's already the better, more talented team matchup
problems everywhere, especially when the Celtics are the best team.
I mean, all the playoffs are really about is just
attacking the weakest, like defensive and just match up hunting.
And the Celtics are the best team at that because
they have matchup advantages one through five on the floor,

(27:06):
Guys who can put the ball on the floor, Guys
who can penetrate, create play for create plays for others.
Guys who can post up like they post up Drew
Holiday sometimes when he's in the lineup, all the five
guys can make shots. So they just match up nightmares everywhere.
And when the Knicks have Jalen Brunton and Karl anthonk
Townsend lineup to defensive liabilities, They're just gonna hunt them
and hunt them and hunt them, and the Knicks will

(27:27):
have no answers for that. So yeah, I'm pretty confident
in the Celtics moving on. And look, the Magic were
pretty good in that series. Defensively against the Celtics. They
just have no offense and no shooting, so they couldn't
keep up. But a lot of those games were competitive
because what they did defensively and they kind of just
they really didn't help at all, and they were just
playing a lot of guys straight up one lung beause

(27:48):
they have a lot of great perimeter one on one defenders,
and people might look at that as somewhat of a
blueprint for other teams to do against the Celtics, where
it's just like you're gonna we're gonna be in heavy help,
Like there was a couple of possessions or a lot
of possessions where they were just locking guys and helping
on shooters and saying, you have to beat us one
on one. If you're gonna consistently beat us, it's gonna
be one on one. We're not bringing extra help, so

(28:09):
you can put two on the ball and then get
us in rotation and that's when the Celtics are most lethal.
So a lot of people might think that's a blueprint
for how the you should defend the Celtics, but in
my opinion's not because they don't know other team left
has the individual perimeter defenders or the strength and the
girth defensively that the Magic have. So I don't see

(28:30):
a way the Celtics don't advance to the conference finals
and it's gonna be Celtics Cavs, which should be an
awesome series.

Speaker 1 (28:36):
Boston minus one forty five, Calves plus one sixty. Keep
your eyes on those numbers right there, really intriguing to
see where they go next round. If they do potentially
make the Eastern Conference Finals, that is, to represent the
East in the NBA Finals, you can get Boston at
minus one forty five. I think if you look, if
you're a Celtic backer, you got to jump all over
that number.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
At this point in time.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
I would be reluctant because I am leaning towards the
Calves a little bit here, But.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
We got a series to play out.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
We'll see what happens over these next few games and
whether or not Cavs get tested and Boston's healthy. But
if you are trying to find a way to get
involved with the NBA playoffs and you want to target
the Boston Celtics, which is a pretty good bet minus
one forty five right now on DraftKings Sportsbook. All right, Sam,
keeping it moving as far as what we saw last night,
again tonight, we got two games that potentially could be

(29:24):
the end of both of those series, and we'll close
up shop with the Denver Nuggets and the Clippers. I'm
invested with the Clippers as far as the series is concerned.

Speaker 2 (29:34):
I took a shot at them pre series.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
Not regretting it, but definitely what I thought would happen
last night took place.

Speaker 2 (29:42):
Denver was the better team.

Speaker 4 (29:43):
I didn't think that they would lose that game last night.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
Of course, Russell going off, I didn't really think that
that was going to be the case. It was a
little bit of a sluggish start for the Clippers, and
Denver just felt like they didn't miss at home, and
they had that championship mentality. They got good players and
Murray goes off off last night forty plus points. Clippers
did everything they could. I heard Barkley say it at half.

(30:06):
And it's not to say that it's the most in
depth X's and O's conversation, because I don't think you're
ever gonna get that on that show.

Speaker 4 (30:13):
With love and respect to Kenny, but Charles was like.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
Hey man, they're only down by eight. They look how
good Denver played.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
I like where the Clippers are and I'm like, I
can see where you're at, Charles. But didn't play out
like that, and of course the Denver Nuggets ended up
winning three to two. Now Advance or Now lead the
series three to two. Your big takeaway from last night's
Game five was what sam I mean?

Speaker 3 (30:37):
If I told you yesterday that Nicole Jokich would score
two points in the second half and the Nuggets would
win in a blowout, you wouldn't believe me, and I
wouldn't believe myself now. And that's kind of the whole
story with this Nuggets team. It's like, we know what
Nicole Jokic is and can do. What is their supporting
cast gonna do? And how are they gonna show up?
Like we've seen over the last year and a half,

(31:00):
a lot of inconsistency.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
From Jamal Murray. That was bubble Jamal Murray.

Speaker 3 (31:04):
That was twenty twenty three Finals run Jamal Murray for
the Nuggets.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
Like he was forty three ball.

Speaker 3 (31:11):
I believe he was just phenomenal, making everything, getting to
his spots, his explosiveness as a passer.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Jamal Murray is just That was.

Speaker 3 (31:18):
A sensational, sensational game from Jamal Murray. But then you
had everyone stepping up, like Christian Braun was great. He
had huge threes late in that third quarter into the
fourth quarter. Michael Porter Junior was great, Aaron Gordon was
also it was a whole supporting cast and of course
Russell Westbrook, who had nineteen points coming back from the injury,
huge addition off the bench. So the whole supporting cast

(31:40):
stepped up when Joki didn't need to. But we don't
see that consistently from this Nuggets team, Like you really
don't know what you're gonna get from this group every
single night. Michael Porter Junior is one of more inconsistent
plout performers performers that we've seen over the last couple
of years. And so when you get that production from
the Nuggets, help, and you don't get it from the
Clippers because from the Clippers perspective, this was a classic, classic,

(32:03):
vintage playoff James Harden game. And usually when when you
want to use the words vintage playoff game for someone,
it should mean like, oh, this was a vintage Steph
Curry game.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
He went off for a forty ball. A vintage playoff.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
Game for James Harden is nine points, like only eight
shot attempts, two for eight shooting.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
I believe it was just a poor performance.

Speaker 3 (32:23):
Wasn't even aggressive offensively, Like there's just so too many
times in the playoffs where he looks like he's disinterested
as a score and he's not trying to score. And
Kawhi wasn't awesome last night. So you needed James Harden
to step up. You needed other guys to take on
that load. And James Harden had a James Harden performance.
And when the Nuggets supporting cast is gonna play like
they did, and the Clippers and James Harden and that

(32:45):
supporting cast is gonna play like they did, the Nuggets
are are gonna get the best of them. And that's
what we saw last night, especially off of that that
buzzer beater where the Nuggets really fell apart lyate in
that Game four, like in that Aaron Gordon buzzer beater game,
Uggets completely fell apart. They had a huge lead in
that fourth quarter and the Clippers stormed all the way
back and then it was a horrible last possession where

(33:07):
Yo gets chucked up a three from the right, a
fade away three from the right wing, and Gordon was
just there swoop up an airport. But the Nuggets fell apart.
So it was a great.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
Response from them in Game five.

Speaker 3 (33:18):
And now we're headed to Game six, where I still
think I Clippers and seven. This series always felt like
it was going seven to me, so I'm pretty confident
and the Clippers getting one back at home in Game
six and then you get an awesome Game seven, I
believe will be on Saturday, and anything can happen.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
In Game seven, anything could happen. Game will be played
in Denver, so that's something to factor and of course
seven game series, Game seven on the road six and
a half. Though, I think the odds makers are in
total agreement with you, because as I sit here, shawnne Square,
there's no way I'm given six and a half.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
But maybe that might be.

Speaker 4 (33:54):
The right side. Does it get ugly for the Clippers?

Speaker 2 (33:58):
I think it could.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
I mean it's just like a aspiration spot at home into
a dome has obviously become a pretty difficult place to play.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
But then who doesn't perform for the Nuggets, right like,
like you know, that's what you see, Like Michael Porter
Junior could have a one for nine shooting night, Like
Jamal Murray probably isn't gonna go for forty plus.

Speaker 3 (34:16):
Again, like Cruss. So Westbrook was awesome from three yesterday.
He's probably not hitting three or four threes whatever he
hit last night, Like it's just they have so many
inconsistent performers. And that's why nobody believed in this Nuggets
team making a long run, because, yes, you have the
best player in the world, but does he have enough help?

Speaker 2 (34:32):
And last night he obviously did because he.

Speaker 3 (34:33):
Didn't even have to do that much, but he doesn't
on a consistent basis. And these are just inconsistent performers.
So if Kawhi Leonard has a classic Kawhi game where
he has a thirty five ball, and James Harden, maybe
makes makes a few more threes, a little more aggressive offensively,
and Norm Pal steps up, and Chris Dunn, who had
been awesome defensively throughout this whole series, was actually making
a shots last night after struggling offensively through the first

(34:56):
four games.

Speaker 2 (34:56):
Maybe he hits a few threes, Like I could see
this Clippers.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
Team coming back and winning this series, honestly, just because
you never know what you can get from the Nuggets
on a nightly basis.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
All right, Well, we will talk about that game, of
course at link tomorrow as a game six in LA
and it's a six and a half point spread tomorrow
night tomorrow, we get a little two for a doubleheader
Nicks and Pistons, and then the Clippers and Nuggets to
close up shot.

Speaker 4 (35:24):
Pretty good battles right there between those two teams.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
Or two games.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
So looking forward tonight, we do have game one already
on DraftKings odds for the Pacers and Calves seven and
a half point spread.

Speaker 2 (35:36):
That game is going down on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
May the fourth be with you, May the fourth be
with the Indian Pacers catching seven and a half, good grief.
We'll see how that one plays out. All right, Let's
get to tonight's games. Sam Austry from the score. One
series coming to a close tonight. Two series coming to
the close tonight. Nobody moving on tonight? Where do you

(35:59):
stand on that?

Speaker 3 (36:00):
Nobody's moving on tonight? Both series are being extended. Which
ones do you want to start with?

Speaker 2 (36:07):
Which? Which ones should be?

Speaker 1 (36:08):
Well, let's start with the seven thirty five tip Houston
Rockets three and a half point favorites. It was four
and a half years yesterday. Money coming in on a
golden state. Obviously two to zero fours are total here.
You're going to go to Houston Rockets to win the
game tonight.

Speaker 3 (36:23):
I am and nods makers. Obviously both home teams are favored.
They think both these series are gonna be extended. Look,
it's similar to the to the Nuggets in the sense
that these are a lot of young guys, and I
would never have trusted I had Warriors in seven. Originally,
I would never have trusted the Rockets over seven game series.
I would I would never have trusted the Rockets over

(36:44):
a seven game series strictly because of their inconsistency and
their youth and their inexperience, right so I so I
just can't pick.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
Them throughout a series. Tonight is different though.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
What we're seeing from Jalen Green is what we see
from Jalen Green Green throughout the regular season, and now
it's been magnified on this stage. But Game one eight points,
Game two nine points, Game three thirty eight points, the
only game that they won, and then Game seven or
excuse me, game four seven points. You see the trend, like,
Jalen Green has to be better. He was benched in

(37:15):
Game four for Steven Adams late in that game, which
I think is a good call because the Rockets' best
offense is their two big lineup just going out there
and getting offensive rebounds and creating second chance opportunities off
of misses because their half court offense is a disaster.
So I like the benching, But Jalen Green is gonna
come back and he has to have a great night,
and I think he does.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
These games have just been so close.

Speaker 3 (37:35):
You've just seen the Rockets kind of fall apart in
crunch time because their offense is a disaster, especially their
half court offense. And of course when you have Curry
and Butler and the experience of Draymond Green, who's been
awesome defensively, I just think that's enough to lift the
Warriors on most occasions. Tonight, I think the Rockets figure
something out. The physicality has been off the charts, like

(37:57):
it wasn't the first half of that game four was
not even a basketball game. Like Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green,
Dylan Brooks, those guys were not even trying.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
To play basketball.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
They were literally doing playing UFC out there and just
trying to fight. And Dylan Brooks has to learn at
some point you're poking the wrong bears, like you need
to know the people that you can get under their skin.
He when he was in Memphis, he was always coming
after Lebron. He would poke the bear with Lebron. Lebron
would go off, you're poking the bear with Jimmy Butler,
and I get it. You want to assert your presence

(38:25):
and talk smack. Jimmy Butler starts going off in that
second half on where he could barely walk on this
pelvic bone injury because.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
You're poking the bear.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
It's like, leave the guys alone that you know you
can't talk smack to and getting the people's heads who
you can talk smack.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
But if Jimmy Butler loses his cool chokes Brooks, that's
a big win for Houston.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
If both of those teams get thrown.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
Yeah, he did choke him and put his hand on
his neck, and he went on cold because he did
it subtly.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
I love playoff basketball.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
It's been awesome, but like I think this game is
gonna have a similar tone where it's like the Rockets
now they're back at home, they just want to make
it as physical as possible. Draymond Green should have been
thinking out of that game. Oh yeah, no question. I
mean the ref's found a loophole to keep him in
the game, which I like to some degree, Like you
don't want to see physicality and become flagrant FOULSD technicals
and get guys booted from a game. Like physicality is

(39:19):
part of the sport, it's part of play playoff basketball.
It's the tone the refs have sent where they're going
to allow these guys to do that. So I like
him staying in the game, but that easily a different
referee crew and he could have been tossed from that game.
I think the Rockets set a similar tone. I just
think the Rockets extend this series and then the Warriors
take care of it back at home in six.

Speaker 1 (39:38):
I think Draymond green has a future in politics because
a lot like some people in politics where it's like, wait,
this guy is still around, this guy is still doing this,
and it's like nobody can like. Same thing with Draymond,
it's just every single series and then it's I love it.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
It's like, well, I didn't do anything wrong.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Yeah, like his foot just you know, automatically finds the
opposing either head or opponent's head right when he's coming
down to the ground, or you know what. I think
I heard Greeney yesterday say what did he say? I
forget that he called the privates something that the ding
Dong Yeah, that's what you say. He literally said, ding

(40:23):
Dong on ESPN. I'm like, you're talking to like a
three year old here, ding Dong.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Anyways, Well, yeah, Steve.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
Kerr has been with him for fifteen plus years whatever
it is now. He saw a lot of kicks to
the groin and he still he sure has and he's
still somehow.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
I guess he's a good actor.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
Somehow acts like befuddled when when the refs are like
calling thousand.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
Doesn't it doesn't it give you the politics vibe, right,
Like you know this guy, he's gonna learn his last thing.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
Sure, he's going to change. Well, that's what they did
last year. That's what we did last year. It's after
he got suspended mid season.

Speaker 3 (40:58):
It was year for the Warriors. All these articles and
sit down, tiw He's going to therapy. He's a change man.
Oh yeah, helping the mirror as a father, he had
to change.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
Like, oh, Dreamond hasn't changed. Draymond will never change.

Speaker 3 (41:10):
He's the same dude, and Draymond should never change because
that's Draymond.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
Move out of the way, Steven A. We're going Draymond
Green twenty twenty eight.

Speaker 4 (41:17):
All right, I don't know who his VP would be,
but we'll have bought in my mind.

Speaker 2 (41:23):
Yeah, I can only imagine.

Speaker 1 (41:25):
All right, let's keep it moving and again from the
Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets three and a half tonight.
We'll close up shop ten or five pm. Five and
a half. Here, Sam Austre from the score, let's go
under three minutes on this breakdown. Aunt Edwards has been
the best player on the floor. I think Lebron has
been a little bit better than Luca, a little bit right,

(41:46):
Like I just I don't know what else you can
ask for from these two guys other than absolutely going off,
And I don't know that if they have the juice
left in the tank to be able to do that.
I would expect lou to have a little bit more
offensive firepower tonight.

Speaker 4 (42:02):
But Lebron, it's just a tall ass dude. It's the
end of the season. It looks like he's a little
tired out there.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
So on and so forth.

Speaker 4 (42:09):
JJ has his ways of going about it.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
They were up.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
I'm not going to kill him for what he decided
to do. I think you need to get your players
some blow. Excuse me, a blow. Some blow would be
a whole different world.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
But both of it, Yeah, both of that.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
They might be probably find some good stuff out there
in LA. Five and a half tonight, two o nine
is your total? You think the Lakers are winning this game?
Did they covered a number?

Speaker 2 (42:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (42:34):
I think they cover I think they went pretty handily
first off the free throw disparity, but in Game four favor.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
The Wolves by a lot. I think you're going to
see a complete shift back in LA.

Speaker 3 (42:45):
Like I'm not saying there's gonna be the colon, but
you see this a lot. We're where the refs are
favoring the home team that wants to extend the series,
especially when it's the Los Angeles Lakers like it just
it always happens. I'm not saying it was a fixer
rig or anything that it's just in the back of
the ref's mind and the Wolves know that. That's part
of the message they're sending is we're playing five on
eight tonight to close this series out. So you're gonna

(43:08):
see the free throw disparacy disparity swing back a ton
in the Lakers favor, especially after the miscalls against the
Lakers late in that game. You know, you just you
need more from Lebron and Luca in the fourth quarter.
Like Luca did not score and clutch in crunch time
in the final four four or five minutes of that game.
Lebron obviously was not a factor offensively in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
And part of that is fatigue. I think JJ Redick
learned his lesson.

Speaker 3 (43:32):
He's gonna give those guys some blow, maybe at the beginning,
some not that blow, but well maybe both you know,
you go back to locker room whatever. Luca, Yeah, Luca
could probably use it some hookah Hohoka in the back
locker Luka, you know what goes with Huka these days.
But he's gonna give them. He's gonna give them some rest,

(43:53):
not blow, some rest in in that in that fourth
quarter early on, so they're well rested and can hit
a little burst on both ends. Because Lebron was great defensively,
but he was disastrous, not even disastrous, he just wasn't
really involved in the offense. He was relegated to the
corner more of a spot up shooting rule, and that's
not what Lebron should be.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
I get it's Luca.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
You want Luca with the bonus hands, and him and
Ant were going head to head for a lot of
that second half, just trade trading buckets. But you don't
want you don't you don't want that. You want Lebron
more involved, You want Luca to be more of a
factor defensively. I mean he had his hands nine minutes
ago in that in the fourth quarter and game in
that last game, he had his hands on his knees,
huffing and puffing like he's he's He's obviously been sick

(44:36):
throughout this series. He's also not the in general, not
the best conditioned guy. But he can't be huffing and puffing,
so you gotta get him his break. So he's ready
to go for a surge on both ends because the
Anthony Edwards.

Speaker 2 (44:49):
And the Wolves are just relentlessly targeting him.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
I mean, he is a absolute cone out there defensively,
which isn't exactly breaking news to anyone. Definitely not breaking
news to Nico Harrison, which is why he traded them.
But he's a cone out there defensively, and it's like,
you got to give more effort. And I get part
of it is he wants to conserve himself offensively, which
why doesn't compete as hard defensively. But you gotta give
more effort on defensive end, where Anthony Edwards can't just drive.

(45:14):
Your man's gonna go set a screen for Anthony Edwards
every single time, and he's just gonna drive by you
like you're a cone. And he's playing like a toddler
out there on offense. So they have to get rest
and I think they will. I think you're just gonna
see a better effort physicality, Like the Wolves have the
size advantage that's part of this series, and that's because

(45:34):
the Lakers have to play small with ruit the five
because they don't have a center. Sure, we get all that,
but you just have to see more physicality, more gang reboundings.
The Wolves have been dominating the rebounding battle, and I
think you're gonna see that. To that, I think the
series extends one more game.

Speaker 4 (45:49):
All right, Sam, your favorite play tonight.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
It's the Lakers. I think the Lakers win pretty big.

Speaker 3 (45:55):
I believe the number a six and a half now
five five and a half and a half. So yeah, I
think the Lakers win and win pretty big. I don't
even think it comes down to crunch time, and maybe
if it does, the Lakers pull away late. I just
you're not gonna see Luca and Lebron in an elimination
game at home, with the refs probably on their side,
It's hard to imagine Lakers don't win by sizeable margin.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
All right, once again, sam Ostri. You can find him
on socials at s O S H t R Y.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
That's his first initial last name, sam Oustri. He writes
for The Score. Check out everything he has going on
over there, and be sure to hear him tomorrow on
The Daily Ticket live in studio starting at three pm.
We'll be talking a ton of the NBA Playoffs and
recapping it all, and of course everything that's happening in
the Philadelphia sports world. If you miss anything, you sure
to check out everything we have going on, including tickets

(46:46):
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Teuiest Championship PGA Tour. Stop yeah, find out how you
can win a pair of tickets at FOXPHL Gambler dot com.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
Keep it locked right here to the Gambler