EPIC Choke Job at The Garden! - 05/22/25

Sean Brace, Sean Barnard, and Sam Oshtry talk the EPIC choke job by the New York #Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the #Pacers. We witnessed history.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Number one on your car radio preset hand the new
and improved Diehard Radios and w D two seven three
D Philadelphia. I is Fox Sports Radio, The Gambler, the
Fox Sports Radio, The Gambler. Fox Sports Radio in Philly
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(00:23):
sports gambling.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Oh, bring it on in for a special three wide
edition of pix and roll Slash the daily tickets the
last all week. But we are running free wide, and
of course we got two of the best brain is
covering all things hoops into business. Sam A Street made
it home from MSG last night late. Good to see
if Sam. Of course he represents the squad over at

(01:07):
the score. We got Sean Bernard from Draft Games Sports
of course covers sixers and the Association. For us here
on the Gambler, A lot to get to. And I
will open up by saying this. I'll make it about myself,
as I often do. I cannot believe what happened last night.
I just I pride myself on staying up and making

(01:28):
these late night games. Now, I will fully, you know,
fully admit that in the last year or so, it's
been a little bit more time and time, I've been
falling asleep and just been like, ah, you know, if
I miss it, I miss it. But these are the moments,
these are the games, these are this is what we do. Like,
I love this stuff and I just didn't see it happening,

(01:49):
and shame on me for At ten fifteen PM, I
texted both Sam and Sean game they were on.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
It's eight minutes left in the game.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
All right, come on, man, the knicks we're balling. They
were up by fourteen.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
They're up by fourteen, I think, I responded and said,
games far.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
From moving, far from over. I don't know. I guess
maybe the Dreoprey eyes were talking a little bit too
as well. Look, I like it just starts it ends
with this stat and I hate to put it out
there and make it so simple, because it really wasn't.
There was so much that went into what took place.
But boys, what we witnessed last night was the biggest

(02:30):
choke job in NBA playoff history. They've been playing this
game for a long damn time, and it's the first
time that that over fourteen hundred times a team was
down nine plus in the final minute of fourth quarter
slash overtime and the Pacers came back to win. It's

(02:50):
never happened before an NBA playoff history. And then there
it was last night at MSG. Haliburton gets the ball,
flies up, decides to take it back out, shoots it,
clank and happens to fall through the rim. Like that's
when you know it's just not going to happen. From
a Knicks fan's perspective, Shooter, what a game? Yeah, Shooter's touched.

(03:14):
What a game? What a comeback? And that didn't even
win it because then it went to overtime and they
had every chance to do it. There We'll save you, Sean, Sam.
I want to get your thoughts on this, because as
far as I'm concerned, I don't. I'm not sure you
could come back from something like that.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
Look, the Knicks have shown resiliency throughout this playoffs, and
this group has the identity like of a resilient basketball team.
They just Josh Hart and that's the problem. Yeah, so
to the Pacers. So to the Pacers. But the series
is far from over after one game. I had to
go in seven. It does feel like that's a hard
one to flush. I mean, you flush it, you watch

(03:52):
a film, you move on that's a hard one to
flush because you can call it a comeback and go
a collapse. I lean more towards the collapse, even though
it's such a rate, like a shooting stretch from Aaron Nesmith,
who really won the Pacers that game in regulation, it's
still like everything it was an avalanche of what could
go wrong went wrong for the Knicks in the final

(04:12):
couple minutes from the Aaron Nismith threes. Were some really
poor defensive coverages on those where they weren't getting out
on those switches. And you know, he was spread hot,
but they were somewhat open. And he doesn't shoot a
lot off the dribble either, but he was making them
off the dribble. Between the bobble, the Jaylen Brunton throws
it to Ognobi underneath the rim, and og Anobi bobbles
the ball. It would have been if he just catches

(04:33):
it regularly, it would have been an easy layup games
probably over there he bobbles it, it becomes that's when
the Pascal Siakam touched his hand. It becomes a review
and Pacers challenge and Pacers get the ball. Corinthony Towns
is an eighty two percent free throw shooter on the season,
he misses a free throw games different if that doesn't happen.
Og Nanobi is an eighty one percent free throw shooter

(04:54):
on the season. He misses a free throw games very
different if that doesn't happen. Because actually OG's missed came
right before halliburn shot, So imagine if how if the
paces were down three, Halliburton shoots that shot to force overtime,
but his foots on the line, they end up losing
by one. So there's a lot of what ifs. But
it was just an avalanche of everything that could go

(05:15):
wrong went wrong for the Knicks and they got a
lot to clean up. But their their five and a
half point favorites for Game two and I expect them
to even the series out.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Wow. Yeah, into say one thing on Nie Smith, he
is a forty plus point percent shooter. Yeah, from from
downtown and and they pointed it out, and again it's
not something that I was watching clearly live, but on
the replay and especially this morning just catching everybody breaking
it down, you have to question, like what was going

(05:43):
on as far as some of those defensive pursuits and
going underscreens and just allowing him to get open and
having a little bit of a two to three feet
you know, a buffer.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
Shooting fifty four percent from three in the playoffs, Eddy's
are ridiculous, ridiculous number. And once he hits a couple
in the fourth quarter, it's like, all right, this guy
is red hot. And there was a bunch of times
and I tweeted some of these clips where og and
Obi is just it's just he's not switching when Brunton's
on action, they're switching those screens. He was just late

(06:14):
on the switch and he's way too much and drop
and then he just comes off these screens for threes,
and it's like, how are you not selling out on
this guy to take away his three pointers? And again,
he's not a good dribble shooter, a shooter off the dribble,
like that's not especially he's more of a catching shoot
guts out of the season. But he just was drilling
shots off the dribble and it was an incredible shooting display.

(06:35):
He deserves all the credit in the world.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
It really was his night. And of course, Haliburton is
the guy that stares to drink. He's the straw. Thirty
one points and you know just I still go back
to think about what the players said about him overrated
and what he's continuing to do back to back seasons.
And oh, by the way, Sean Benard, it's great to
see that tweet pop up from back in the day

(06:58):
a few years ago when there was a package on
the table from the Pacers to the Sixers, he wanted
no part of it. Again, that is a heck of
a revisionist history looking back on that, no doubt about it.
But still fun to look at that tweet in that marriage. Anyways,
shove it out your thoughts on last night.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Forget the Sixers, Forget the Sixers.

Speaker 5 (07:17):
I've put that away, but yeah, to speak about what
happened last night. Is the most clutch player in the
NBA played basketball last night and his name is Tyrese Haliburton.
That a guy that is for eleven for twelve in
go ahead or game tying shots with less than thirty
seconds left to play this year. That's ninety two percent.
For those you mathers out there, shout out to the
tush push there. Everyone calling him the most overrated. Everyone

(07:39):
says they're better than Tyrese Haliburton until it's time to
be better than Tyrese Halburton. He went into Madison Square
Garden absolutely picked apart that Knicks defense last night. From
a scoring perspective, from a playmaking perspective, he was the
heart of the everything the Pacers did and for this
Pacers team as a whole, for all these characteristics that
we want to throw on this next team, that they grind,
they're gonna compet, They're never gonna quit. The Pacers have

(08:02):
all these same exact qualities and they've shown this throughout
this playoff run. They have more impressive comeback performances, with
last night being right at the top of.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
That list there.

Speaker 5 (08:10):
That was a statement win by that Pacers team, and
that is something that is going to be difficult for
this next team to pick themselves off the map. So
give Tyrese haliburt and his flowers and take this Pacers
team seriously.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
No, And I said it when I was breaking down
the series, you know, a couple on Monday or whatever
it was, and I'm like, man, everything I'm saying about
the Knicks, you could say about you could say about
the Pacers, and I'll just push back on you. Come on, man.
Twenty points to the Celtics multiple times, multiple times minutes
last night, No no doubt about it. I Like, if

(08:41):
you're asking me to rank them, I'd put the Pacers
above all. But what the Knicks did against the Celtics
in both of those games where they came back twenty
plus points down, I mean, come on, that was incredible.
But again, last night is last night, it's onto the
new series. Both of these teams deserve to be in
this spot. It was just the big question for me

(09:01):
right now is like I just put it in my
in my wheelhouse, in my backyard, and bringing the sixers
up back again if they ever did that in a
game one, Like, I don't know how you bounce back.
I just don't. And it is a long serious Sam,
You're right, so like these guys are professionals. Would it
shock us if they go out there and the Knicks
win by five six points? I just this Pacers team

(09:24):
is so gritty, so tough, it's gonna be tough to
put them away.

Speaker 4 (09:27):
And this isn't their first comeback, like this is their
most improbable, sure, but they did this last series against
the Cavs when they were down seven with thirty four
seconds to go, and then They did it again against
the in the first series against the Bucks when they
were down seven with like forty somethings seconds to go,
Like this, I don't know what it is, like some
voodoo magic. Like there's something about this Pacers team where

(09:49):
they just they forced teams to completely collapse and act
like they've never played basketball for and the other team's
late game execution just becomes all jumbled, And I don't
know what it is. There's something. It's resiliency for sure
on the Pacers end. Like even there was a moment
I was rewatching the game this morning, there was a
moment where Tyre's Halliburn hit a shot and it cut

(10:10):
the lead to like fourteen, and the Knicks still let
by fourteen with over over two minutes to go, maybe
around three minutes to go, and Haliburton is celebrated like
he's doing some like celebration on his way back on
the end, Like nobody does that. Like that is insane arrogance,
insane cockiness, and a lot a big reason why a
lot of people don't like him. But at this point
you have to respect it. Like who celebrates down fourteen

(10:31):
with two minutes left? They didn't think for a second
they were out of that game. And it's just it's
just all the reps of them, of them coming back
late in these games and forcing other teams to collapse.
I don't get it what it is, but there's like
I don't I really don't have an explanation for it,
but it's it's really impressive. And and look, if they
make this team might just be a team of destiny

(10:52):
that that's going to make the finals, ye because because
of all all these incredible comebacks late. But it's it's
shocking to watch.

Speaker 5 (10:59):
Lived during that comeback there, like the Knicks were still scoring,
Like this was not a situation where like you completely
cut them off defensively, wh where the Knicks couldn't figure
things out. They were still getting buckets in scoring and
the Pacers just would not roll over hitting more threes,
Aaron Naismith continuing to pop off one of like arguably
the hottest any basketball player has ever been when you

(11:19):
think about how many of those shots were in touch
like a short period of time there. And I also
don't want it to fly under the radar here that
mister Captain Clutch himself, Jalb Bronson had a chance to.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
Tie this game.

Speaker 5 (11:31):
Here they did open three point Look that airball that
would have.

Speaker 4 (11:35):
Mean I mean open open as a stretch created a
little bit of space. It was definitely contested.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Three point cat cat was open cat.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
That one barely kissing the r in there. So I
for the tired.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
Legs, they're playing fifty plus minutes, some tired legs.

Speaker 5 (11:50):
Maybe if they're a head coach, maybe their head coach
gave them ten minutes off once in a while that
their legs wouldn't be so heavy.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Right now, Well, here's the thing.

Speaker 4 (11:57):
Here's the thing about that Brunchon got an extended rest
because he got his fifth foul with ten minutes to
go in the fourth quarter. And that's when it was like,
all right, this is the time the Pacers can come back.
Because the Knicks had a little bit of lead. The
opposite happened. The Knicks exploded for fourteen zero run after
Brunson went out with his fifth foul, and it was like, okay,
we're gaining this lead. We can let Brunson sit a
little bit, let him get a little more rest before

(12:18):
we have to put him in risking a sixth foul.
And then he comes back in and then things kind
of start to fall apart for the Knicks. And look Brunson.
He was forty three points he finished with he was
phenomenal for like forty six forty seven minutes. He wasn't
good in overtime. He only had one field goal in overtime.
He had two turnovers in overtime. He also that the

(12:39):
next got kind of got lucky where there was a
play where Brunson was doubled on the inbound and he
was caught in this trap and he tried to throw
it off their leg and it just completely missed and
the ball went soaring up in the air. And the
next are lucky they got that loose ball. And then
even Brunson's fifth foul was just a dumb vouch like
give up the easy bucket. So it wasn't Brunson's best
fourth quarter in overtime period. It's not a question about

(13:00):
who's more clutch. I would say, like Brunton has to
do more for his team to win. Halliburton and the Pacers.
Haliburn was awesome. I'm not taking anywaything. Haliburn Pacers won
that game because Aaron Eastmith. He made six threes in
that final five minutes. He made three threes in the
final minute. If he doesn't make one of those threes,
the Knicks are winning this game. So this was an
Aaron Nei Smith game. Yeah, Haliburn had the shot which

(13:21):
was just a wasn't quite Qui level, but it was
second to Kawhi in terms of just bouncing up the rim.
And some of the reaction videos are hilarious when all
these Knicks fans they're watching, they're watching that shot and
it bounces in the back iron and it goes up
in the top of the air to the shot clock
and everyone just thinks it's the Knicks one, it's a miss,
and then it just swishes right in somehow, and these

(13:41):
Knicks fans are heartbroken. But look, Halliburn deserves credit for
all that. But this was an Aaron Nei Smith. He
was the reason why they won this game.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
No doubt about. I scored twenty points in less than
five minutes. I think he tied the NBA Playoff record
for most three pointers in a quarter at six. You know, Sean,
I'm gonna come to you on this because I always
find it interesting, Like what were we saying leading into
this game? And I know it kind of all goes
out the window with how it transpired to Sam's point,

(14:10):
and Sean and I were talking about this before. Sam
little all over the place. I apologize, but like I agree,
if one of those shots don't fall, they don't win.
If if what we were talking about with the foul
underneath the ball gets popped up, if if Carlisle doesn't
have that challenge, the Knicks win. If a free throw
is made, if if Og makes both of them. Maybe
I don't know anyways, but putting that to the side, Sean,

(14:32):
of the question I had for you is going into
this series what we were saying about the strengths and
weaknesses for both teams, Because like, I hear what Sam
is saying, and I agree wholeheartedly, one hundred percent, But
this team is so deep, like Nimhard went and had
a great overtime, Siakam played his ass off, Like this
Pacer squad is deep, and I think they're the better team.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah, I would agree with that.

Speaker 5 (14:56):
Like that's kind of been my takeaway for this series
is the top end of this name team is better.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
Like we're not arguing that, Yes, the.

Speaker 5 (15:02):
Jalen brunts and the Karl Anthony Towns even o g.
If you want to throw bridges in that conversation, those
guys are the best players here.

Speaker 3 (15:09):
But when you look beyond that.

Speaker 5 (15:11):
Like the I believe the Pacers went ten or eleven
deep last night, We're looking at their their sub pattern
and uh tend yeah that they went and that's gonna
be a regular occurrence for this.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
Is the tenth player. Who's the tenth man Ben shephardt.

Speaker 6 (15:23):
On Brunson Wow play and he was like an impact
player in last year's playoffs in this series against the Knicks,
like he played well in this So like the I
think there's gonna be a little bit of a war
of attrition in this series.

Speaker 5 (15:35):
And like that's been the concern with this next team.
If one of these top end guys go down, I
do think it completely unravels here and we'll see what happens. Obviously,
like we still got plenty of time to get to that.
But when watching last night, like I have a whole
tweet saved in my drafts of like this was a
huge missed opportunity by this Pacers team, Like this is
how this was game was there for the taking.

Speaker 3 (15:57):
Brunton was in foul trouble.

Speaker 5 (15:58):
The Knicks gave you chance and love and behold, they
found a way to get the job done. So I
was glad I waited until about the two minute mark
be fourth hitting Sam on that one.

Speaker 4 (16:07):
The optimistic approach, The optimistic outlook for the Knicks is
that they outplayed the Pacers for forty seven minutes. I mean,
it was obvious who the better team was on the floor,
and it was the Knicks, and so that's the that's
the optimistic outlook. The pessimistic outlook is they outplayed the
Pacers and they still lost the game. Where are now
trailing oh one in the series.

Speaker 5 (16:28):
I also would push back at that because I think
the Pacers they played at their pace the entire game,
and even the broadcast was pretty heavily talking about that throughout,
like if the Knicks are gonna win this, you gotta
slow it down. You can't run with these guys. It's
gonna have to be half court style of matchups. They
kind of ran all night last night. I mean the
final score it was one thirty eight, one thirty five.
That's a Pacers game.

Speaker 4 (16:47):
Yes, yeah, theoretically, but I actually think the Knicks can
keep up offensively like what the Pacers pick up full court,
and their advantage is their depth for sure. And what
we talked about before this series was that I didn't
like I didn't want to see Brunson bring the ball
up the court because it's just wasted pressure and needed
some relief. I thought, Michael Bridge, we was gonna get
some reps at point guard bringing up the court, and

(17:08):
it ended up being Josh Harty was doing a ton
and I thought that was a smart player. It was like,
put Brunton off the ball, don't let him waste all
his energy, bring the ball up the court. And they
did that with heart a lot. But look, here's the
thing that we saw. You put Bendick Mathin on Brunson,
you put put Andrew Nemhart on Brunson. You put Aaron
Naysmith on Brunson. They tried TJ McConnell on Brunson, They
tried Ben Sheppard on Brunson. He destroyed all of them.

(17:31):
None of them had a chance against him. He was
so dominant for really the first three and a three quarters.
You could say, and yeah, fatigue probably wore in. Most
games aren't gonna go overtime, but those guys had no
answer for Brunton, So I think the Knicks actually can
keep up with their piece. For me, this year is
gonna come down to who can actually get defensive steps.
And to me, the adjustment is playing Mitchell Robinson Moore

(17:52):
and Miles mcbridemore because those lineups for the Knicks are
way better defensively when those two guys are in. But
it's gonna come down to who can get more defensive steps.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Yeah, you know, you're right, and that's generally how it
plays out, you know, especially when you get two teams
in the Eastern Conference Finals that are pretty much even
across the board. Looking at the box scorer, is there
anything glaring to you? Because I would believe that the
one thing that maybe people that haven't paid attention all
that much is like we discussed with Karl Anthony Towns
going for thirty five, Brunson goes for forty three and

(18:21):
you still came up with the loss. You know, I
just again, it's on to the next one. It's really
easy for us to say that players fans like I
get it, but man the or not players excuse me,
but the fans one thing, but the players to be
out there on that floor after losing Game one the
way that they did in front of celebrity row gotta

(18:41):
love it. I've got to give a shout out to Matt.
You know, he's a diehard. He came in and said,
Bernard has been waiting two weeks to get this hateoff.
I'll let him enjoy it while it lasts.

Speaker 4 (18:51):
Put the coming up where he said, shout out Matt,
where he said Sean actually thought Detroit was the better
basketball team too.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
He did say that, yes, yeah, yes, Sean did. And
you know what, I kind of was there for a
second with my just bias, my hate, but the Knicks
proved that they're they're the real deal, and what they
did against the Celtics was no fluke. And here we
are right now. I just like it was a great game,
just a crazy result, a choke job by the Knicks,
and we'll see what happens for as far as Game two,

(19:19):
we'll get into those numbers, but again just staying with
Game one and how great it was, and it's just
what you pointed out, Sam. We don't know exactly how
it plays out for the Pacers, but this is something
that they've now done three times. We're talking over a
ninety nine point seven percent chance to win Game one
the Knicks had the Pacers end up winning that Celtics

(19:40):
ninety eight point three percent chance in Game one. They
won that game, and then the Pacers Game one and
last year's Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics. I forgot
about that one ninety nine point eight percent chance and
they came back to win that game. So it's just
something about that team, the mental makeup Carlisle. Of course,
the players making shit that they put it together.

Speaker 5 (20:01):
Sean, Yeah, they one hundred percent are And I kind
of want to stick on the Jalen Brunson point for
a second here for starters, I thought Aaron Naismith was
very good on him defensively that I did think he
made an impact there. We got seven turnovers from Jalen
Brunson last night, which is a lot and should have
been more for two specific very uncharacteristic decision making process
with him that should have been costly turnovers. The one

(20:22):
that you mentioned where he was kind of falling out
of bounds where he tried to spike it off the Pacers.
It was there for the take in and managed to
fall into safe New York arms and they kept it.

Speaker 3 (20:29):
That could have very well cost in the game.

Speaker 2 (20:31):
There.

Speaker 5 (20:31):
There was another one with about twenty seconds left in
that game where it was an out of bounds inbounds
It ended up going to jos Or Josh Hart ended
up getting there, but Hart kind of slipped on the
inbounds there. I thought that was going to be a
straight up pick six that would have tied the game
at that point. And then again, all that the messaging
is from a Knicks perspective is just get it to
a close game and give Jalen Brunton the keys at

(20:51):
the end. That's how things went down last night, man,
and he was unable to outplay Halliburton in the stretch
there that when we're talking about the crunch time of
that game. Yes, Nay Smith hit shots, but Jalen Bronson
had every opportunity to be mister captain Clunch to win
this game, to put the team on his shoulders, and
he just didn't do it last night. I thought he
was bothered by this Pacers defense in a way that
I really didn't see from him in the opening two rounds.

Speaker 4 (21:13):
I didn't think he was bothered by defense. I'll definitely
give you that he struggled late in that game, like
this wasn't Captain Clutch that everyone calls him that, that
wasn't him yesterday. He just didn't show up, especially in
the overtime period, and he had a couple turnovers there
that I thought were bad, and that's when the fatigue
set in for me, but I did. It was interesting
because he actually got an extended rest in the fourth
quarter because of those five thousand because the Knicks went

(21:34):
on a run without him, So it was kind of
surprised why he was fatigued. I don't know what was
going on. I'm not gonna look at one game with
the guy who's leading the playoffs and fourth quarter points
by a mile, leading the playoffs and clutch points by
a mile, the guy who was hit big shot after
big shot after big shot throughout his career. I'm not
going to question that for a second. He didn't have it. Yes,
Shay Haliburn outplayed him down the stretch, but again it

(21:55):
was really Aaron Nesmith that I played every single player
on the floor in those final five minutes of the
fourth quarter. So yeah, I'm not really concerned about Brunson,
assuming he's healthy and he's good to go. But I
agree that he definitely struggled late in the game. But
I didn't think it was the defense at all, because
Ben Sheppard was honestly mostly guarding him late in that game.
I thought that he was really just getting any looks

(22:16):
he won. What I did think he was bothered by
was doubles. They weren't throwing doubles his way until the
very end, and they were blitzing a lot of those screens.
I did not think he did a good job navigating
that at all. But straight up, when they were just
guarding him straight up with any one of those guys
throughout the game, I didn't think he had trouble at all.

Speaker 2 (22:31):
Well, I do know this much. We made a huge deal.
Everybody made a huge deal about the defense from Oklahoma
City when they forred seventeen turnovers against in that game one,
you know, against Minnesota, and rightfully so, Nicks had fifteen
last night. And if they're going to turn the ball
over like that to the pacer seven, that's tough sled
h Man, Especially with a gritty team like that, you

(22:52):
know it's probably gonna come back and bite you. Well, see, Sam,
is there anything there?

Speaker 4 (22:57):
Like?

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Like I said, I love when we talk about when
we break this game, this series down, you know, every
which way leading up and then we get a game
and it's tough because of how the game ended for
anything to really play out like we thought and you know,
or we're thrown everything out the window how we thought
this series would go. But what is something that you
thought would take place in this matchup? I'll be at

(23:18):
one game that you saw last night actually taking place
on the floor.

Speaker 4 (23:23):
It's really the depth thing to me, where it's like
you have to take advantage of opportunities where you don't
get a lot of bench production you did from Oz
McBride and Metro Robinson, you did from campaign at all,
Like you have to take it if you're still going
to have a big lead late in a game, when
you don't have a lot of bench production, you're only
going seven maybe eight deep when the Pacer going ten deep,

(23:45):
you have to take advantage of that. And I was
surprised the Knicks didn't. And that's why I'm a little
concerned because they had this game where their bench maybe
not the numbers necessarily, but their bench, the Knicks's bench
was better that than the Pacers bench because of the
impact of Mitchell Robinson and Duce McBride, and they still
couldn't take advantage of it. And you're not gonna get
that every game. So that's why this is a little

(24:07):
concerning for me. From the next perspective, Look, I think
it's I think the series is going to go seven.
That's what I said in the beginning. I'm not changing
that from my prediction of Nixon seven. But the Pacers
definitely showed in a game where they were outplayed if
you get this game late and that, like, like Sean
said earlier, the whole formula for the Knicks was get
a game into crunch time and the Knicks will take
care of it. That was against the Celtics. The Celtics

(24:30):
are a really bad crunch time offense. Against the Pacers,
a resilient group like the Pacers. It's complete, complete toss
up who's going to be the better team in the clubch.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
It's funny, too, Sean, because I was watching Alan Hahn,
who does all things New York is mister New York
Radio and on Get Up and he kind of snapped
that Jay will which I'm fine with. Nobody likes Jay Williams,
but like this was before the series even started, and
it was like, oh, if it's a close game, that's
playing right into a Knicks hands. And it's just like,
wait a minute, I understand it. But everything you're saying

(25:01):
about the Knicks, you could absolutely say about what we've
seen so far from the Pacers. So it's like I
kind of thought it was a wash at the end,
but I gave the advantage to the Knicks with the
home court. I didn't like giving four to four and
a half yesterday. I can't believe that. Guys, just stat
how about this one? Thirty one points in the final
thirteen possessions? How do you how does the how does

(25:24):
the math math on that? How do you get thirty
one points to thirteen possessions?

Speaker 4 (25:28):
Aaron Smith going bananas.

Speaker 5 (25:30):
Yeah, some tough shots too, Like these were not just
wide open three point looks. These were off motion, off movement,
off the dribble. He did it in every which way here,
pulling up from deep here, and like with all this,
like Nate Smith deserves an incredible amount of credit for this.
The Knicks didn't defend it well either, Like Josh Hart
was slipping, og, was going under screens. There were self
inflicted issues by this next team. And by the way,

(25:52):
shout out Campaign for no matter how poor he is
shooting or how poor he is playing, he hits one
shot and that man is celebrating like he just won
the NBA Championship right there. So I will always appreciate
that from Campaign, but do agree with that sentiment that
it probably is in the next best interest for him
not to be a part of this series whatsoever moving forward.
But as far as like the crunch time point, like,

(26:13):
there's no doubt the Knicks have been very good in
the clutch and in the crunch time during this playoff
run here, but they're not the boogeyman here. You still
have to actually win the basketball game. And like that's
what I think, like the mindset has almost shifted to.
It's great that you have confidence when you're going down
the stretch, but it almost feels like it comes off
as we just got to get it close and then
it's a win. And that's not how basketball works there.

(26:34):
Do you have to go out of there and take it.
And I think we sort of saw a little bit
of that last night.

Speaker 2 (26:38):
Well let me just follow up with that, Sean and Sam,
I'll give you an opportunity, Like I know that we're
me personally, I'm highlighting the positives and the comeback and
it's just it's unbelievable. But there's got to be someone
to blame, right, Like, who's that fault for this collapse?
As far as the Knicks is concerned, is just a
Thibbs deal? As far as defensive mind said, is this?

(27:01):
Uh the players collectively? Is there a singular player that
we could focus on? And I think it's fair to
ask him. This is the most epic collapse in NBA
playoff history. I've never seen anything like it. I'm reading
these numbers right now. I can't believe. I watched the
replay this morning, Sam, I went and worked out this
morning thinking that the Knicks one game won. I come home.

Speaker 4 (27:23):
You even checked the score when you woke up? Checked
the score?

Speaker 2 (27:26):
No, No, it was dude. There was thirteen point Victor
lead with seven minutes state minutes to go, like the
way they're losing that game, and they did and then
some So who's the blame?

Speaker 4 (27:39):
So, I mean there's a few people blame, like like,
I'm not putting most of the blame on Bruns and
he like he had forty three points. He wasn't as
good as Haliburn down the stretch and especially in overtime.
I'm not putting the blame on Brunson. If you want
to look at that last minute or two of the collapse,
the blame to me goes to ogn Movie. It just
does like he had who defensive collapses where you should

(28:02):
have switched and gotten out, and he was so deep
on these Aaron Smith screens and he didn't switch and
get out on those on those threes, and Aaron A
Smith drilled them. And this was it wasn't like Aaron
Smith hadn't hit a shot all game. We're talking about
this guy who was shooting fifty four percent from three
this playoffs, and a guy who's already read hot up
until that point. So that's on Ognoby. It's on Ognoby

(28:23):
not to make that to make the free throw to
give the Nicks a three point lead with seven seconds
to go. It's on ogn Andobi not to bobble a
pass from Jalen Brunson on two on one situation that
would have resulted in an easy layup and probably when
the ball would have been the ballgame. This loss to
me is on Ognoby, who had. He didn't have a
great game by any stretch, but he was really he

(28:43):
had he was playing well defensively in the first half,
but he was really just non existent offensively, and look
he looked discombobulated, lost, just interested at times. And then
there was a period where Brunson went out when he
picked up his fifth thout with ten minutes to go
and Ognnoby had five straight points. He started playing much better,
was more engaged, and then in the final coup minutes
on both ends he wasn't engaged at all. So from

(29:05):
a player standpoint, I'm looking at ogn Noobi why the
collapse took place. From the macro standpoint, Bibbs deserves some
blame because let me read you some numbers about this
Knicks starting group. This Knicks starting group has played more
minutes together as a five man group than any other
team by ten miles. I mean, how much minutes these
this group has played together as ridiculous. They're minus thirty

(29:26):
seven with their starters on the floor this postseason, and
they were minus sixteen last night.

Speaker 3 (29:30):
You got their defensive rating in there.

Speaker 4 (29:32):
It's it's really really bad. I don't have it off
the top of my head, but.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
It's but seven six seven, sam oshtrick and what does
that mean as far as what like what's the scale
on that, Shohn, you want to be low.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
You want to be low, and like a really good
defensive rating would be like when Mitchell Robinson's on the
floor of this playoffs, the Knicks had a defensive rating
of one hundred and one. I believe the number was
when I was doing the research.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
That is, so I believe overall team the founder leading
the NBA with one oh four. Right now, Yeah, so you.

Speaker 4 (29:58):
Want to be obviously want to be low. The Knicks
are awful defensively. So from my perspective of you're gonna
blame the coach, blame Fibbs, it's because he's not playing
much Robinson and Miles and broad Enough. Like we know
Mickter Robinson had such a great impact on the game
when he was on the floor defensively, offensive, rebounding, creating
extra possessions. He's just a menace like him grabbing an

(30:18):
offensive rebound and kicking out to a shooter is one
of the most efficient play types in basketball. It seems like,
so I, so I want to see Mitch Robinson the
forem I want to see Duce McBride on the floor more.
You have to take more of a defensive approach because
your offense will come, but you have to get stops
against this Pacers team, and I don't think Phibbs has
done a good job adjusting and going away from that
starting group. And that might mean putting Josh Hart on

(30:38):
the bench for stretches, even mckail bridges on the Heart
on the bench for stretches, coronthy Towns. But you need
to focus on defense the rest of the series, Sean.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
Are we not like focusing on the obvious here as
you're gonna point out who you blame as far as
the Knicks collapses, concerned that it might have been just
the higher power of Jim Hersay blowing that ball into
their I still can't believe Haliburton made that shot? Why
not go? Why not take that ball in? For two?
What was the thought processor I missed everything from the

(31:08):
standpoint after the game? Did he talk about that? Was
he not able to get to the rim because there
was a defender in the lane?

Speaker 5 (31:15):
I think part of it was probably Mitchell Robinson on
him is one of the better rim protectors in the sport.
But I think the thought process was, let's go for
the win here that we've we've hung around. I'm taking
at three and I'm ending this game of curry stuff.

Speaker 4 (31:27):
Bro.

Speaker 5 (31:27):
Yeah, no, that was give him his flowers. Man, he's
done this. He keeps doing this. He did this against
the Cavaliers. Like everyone wants to talk most overrated, he's not.
This guy go be better than them, and you can't.
And Tyrese Haliburton just continues to do it. Man, when
you give him a chance, like eleven for twelve on
game tying or game winning opportunities this season, that's absurd.

Speaker 4 (31:47):
That's like an absurd that's precacuhurt. Honest, like a good
a good field goal percentage on game winning shots is
like twenty five or thirty.

Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, I was gonna say that.

Speaker 4 (32:00):
Considered this incredible clutch player, Yeah, Obie is not that
great in terms of his Stielgal percentage on clutch shots.
That is absurd stat Yeah.

Speaker 5 (32:08):
Very much so. So I do want to give him
problems for that. I think they're being a little bit
soft on Josh Hart overall.

Speaker 3 (32:13):
For as far as the blame here, I didn't think
heart was good last night.

Speaker 5 (32:16):
I thought defensively, he made a lot of the same
mistakes you're kind of pointing out with OG. He left
Andrew nemhar on a wide open cut right under the
basket on a very crucial part of this comeback here.
I also think he let Nasmith get free a ton.
He shot the ball just six times last night. It
to me did not feel like a good Josh Hart
game whatsoever. His overall stat line he did pull in
thirteen rebounds, seven assists, a steal, one turnover, four points

(32:39):
or eight points there.

Speaker 3 (32:40):
I thought he was underwhelming.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
Is your adjustment you're trying to play Miles McBride and
Jalen Brunson together is sort of the pitch.

Speaker 4 (32:46):
That you have, Yeah, But honestly, it's more about Mitch
Robinson the Miles McBride, Like I'd put Mitchell Robinson in
for and I thought heart was like, that's just that's
what heart is. And I thought when he got back
door cut, obviously you want to see ball man, that's
fast one on one. But I think he had he done.
Didn't trust Jalen Brunson so much defensively, and he he

(33:06):
was just zeroed in on that play because he was
gonna have to come over to help and just got
caught looking back door. But to answer your question, it's
really more about Mitch Robinson playing instead of Josh Hart
probably or instead of mckil bridges for certain stretches if
mckel is is struggling offensively, because that's what that's when
your defense can go to a whole other level. And
moswick Bride his defensive rating is really good too, but

(33:28):
a lot of that's because he's playing on the floor
with with Mitchell Robinsons. Those guys are both playing reserve
minutes together. So it's really more to me Mitchell Robinson
should be playing more, and if that's sacrificing Josh Hart minutes,
then so be.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (33:40):
I don't know one three point attempt for mister six
first round picks last night, Michal Bridge. Is there the
Mitchell Robinson conversation where where I think, uh, Tom Thibodeau
and oh for one on met a temper, I might act,
but uh uh the Mitchell Robinson where I think Tom
Thibodeaux sits on like he I mean, he's been pretty
unwilling to play Robinson major minutes all year really since

(34:02):
he came back from injury. But I think for this
specific matchup, like Miles Turner is probably one of the
top three floor spacing big men in the NBA, and
I think his fear is like, you're essentially playing the
Pacers are gonna run five out offense with Mitchell as
a guy who, to his credit, I thought he held
up fairly well on the perimeter last night, but I
think that's probably the weakness they're attempting not to make available.

Speaker 4 (34:22):
You think that's fair, yeah, But to start that game,
their pick and pop coverage was to show and get back,
and Miles Turner started like what do you have, like
three or four straight shots that he made to start
the game. So it wasn't very good with Cat on
the floor either. And I really trust Mitchell Robinson as
a perimeter defender more than I would Cat. And you
put those two guys together, that's a really big front court.
But even if you want to put Mitchell Robinson over

(34:43):
Cat for longer stretches to sacrifice small offense for defense
and leave Josh Harden there, I'm fine with that too.
But Mitchell Robinson just he needs to be playing more
than then, and hopefully he can conditioningwise, but he needs
to be playing more than twenty minutes a game.

Speaker 2 (34:56):
Absolutely insane, boys, And there's so much to discuss. We
just went thirty five minutes on one Game one, and
that's understand We.

Speaker 4 (35:03):
Just say that was one of the most incredible basketball games.
I've everything.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
I would love to say it. I didn't watch it.

Speaker 4 (35:08):
It did this morning. It counts, it counts.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
I know. I watched three court. They were up by
three heading into the fourth quarter. They extended to lead
of double digits. I'm like, all right, Game one goes
to the Knicks. Oh, well, had the Pacers. I like,
I can't even count it as a victor because I
didn't watch it, but I woke up to it. Whatever
it is, what it is. We're rolling on. I'm now
one and one as far as conference finals are concerned,
we are going to get over to Game two is

(35:32):
the west side of things, but just still staying with
the Pacers and Knicks because we got to focus on this.
This is just incredible last night from the total perspective, boys,
I think two twenty and a half was the number.
Of course it goes way over. How about a halftime
live line two forty It was so if you were

(35:53):
one of these folks that were on the over pre
game tip goes up half time, continuing to fire two four,
it goes to overtime again. I get a ots ot
A lot of points were scored in overtime as well too.
Uh and what two seventy three? I think the number was.
What is the number you're comfortable at for game two?

(36:15):
And and and now we get into this space where
as the series goes on, I'll be a game two,
you start to see a little bit more tired legs,
You start to see adjustments, You start to see teams
figuring each other out, you start to see coaches come
up with different game plans. So, now is it enough
of a swing one way at to twenty seven that
maybe we take the under or do we take the

(36:38):
lesson from game one? And essentially, I don't think you
can make this number high enough, Sean, I'll start with
you on that.

Speaker 5 (36:44):
Yeah, soon the number exactly comes in at But I
do think we see a little bit of swing back
in the second game that I think the Knicks specifically
will be very focused on playing at their tempo, slowing
down the pace, and not trying to to twenty seven.
Twenty seven, Yeah, I would prefer the under of that number.
Then I still think like they're gonna comfortable. This isn't
gonna be like the Timberwolves thunder that I think we
legitimately will get games that end like ninety to eighty

(37:06):
seven in this series. But I do think that like
with the Knicks and Pacers, the Knicks are not I
think they should learn their lesson that we can't run
with these guys. They got too many bodies, too many
young legs, and let's do what we do best, which
is playing in the half court, running pick and pop
with Karl Anthony Towns, Jalen Bronson, allowing Brunson to isolate,
and all those kind of things. So I think the
tempo changes a little bit in Game two, and I
do like the under.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
There, Sam, your thoughts on the total anything for you?

Speaker 4 (37:29):
Yeah, I agree, just because I think the Knicks are
gonna play more defensive oriented lineups, which is what we've
been talking about, where it's like you gotta get stops,
Like Fibbs has been really reluctant to go away from
that starting group for long stretches, but you have to
get stops against this Pacers team, and you still will
have the offensive firepower to score enough. He's gonna play more.
I hope, I hope he finally makes that adjustment that

(37:49):
he's gonna play more defensive oriented lineups, and I think
you're gonna see a lower scoring game because of that.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
He's very open minded in creative coach, so a good track.

Speaker 4 (37:59):
Red he's not, but he's definitely not. But I will
say in the last series completely shifted his defensive coverage
and they switched everything against the Celtics, which is so
anti Phibbs like because they were never switching anything all year.
So he has been willing to adjust at times, just
not with his starting line.

Speaker 2 (38:15):
Two quick ones from the television you know got the
monitors up. Charles Barkley said they looked exhausted in Game
one from the Knicks perspective, Do we agree to that
because I didn't see it through three quarters.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
I thought that was fair.

Speaker 5 (38:28):
I mean, I exhausted is probably strong, But I would
say the Pacers had notably more energy, particularly down the
stretch there. Like, I mean, we'll see how much gas
there is in the tank for this year team. This
is always kind of the concern for the Tom Thibodeau
led teams that they had three guys in the top
ten in the NBA in total minutes this year. That's
a lot of miles on guy's legs. So they did

(38:49):
look a bit tired. For me, I did not think
they looked fresh. What'soever down the stretch and against a
Pacers team that is going to continually rotate guys, it's
gonna stand.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
Out a little bit.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
So I do think. I think ambustion you because I
was gonna say that's got to be factor Dan when
we talk about it, You're right. I said they look
good through three quarters. Yeah, that's that's right, but it's
the fourth quarter, it's clunch time. It's that stretch where
the money is made, and they I guess they looked tired.

Speaker 4 (39:15):
I think they looked tired and overtime like exhaustion definitely
kicked in overtime, which is which is fair to say,
especially for Brunson. I thought and o Jannobi, those guys
look more tired than anybody. But I will say I
think part of that is mental exhaustion more than it
might be physical exhaustion, because they're probably thinking that overtime,
how in the world are we in overtime right now, like,

(39:37):
how did that shot going? How do we just blow
a lead where we're at fourteen with a little over
two minutes to go. So I think part of that
is the mental fatigue where they just kind of looked
out of it in the overtime period and they couldn't
overcome that. So I'm not really that worried about the
physical exhaustion, but it definitely showed up.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
Forty straight minutes on this game alone unbelievable and I'm
not done, Sam, back to you. Tyrese hallibur and not
a superstar, that's fair, right, But at the end of
the day, he was on the USA Olympic team. I
know he didn't play, Like how should we view Tyrese Haliburt?

(40:12):
And then how much has it changed in the last
two to three weeks.

Speaker 4 (40:16):
It's tough. My views of him has definitely changed the
last two with no doubt.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
I've I was on.

Speaker 4 (40:21):
The he's overrated train, and I still don't think he's
a top twelve to fifteen player in the NBA, Like
he wasn't even all NBA guy this year, and he
played better the last two or three months of the season.
But actually those haven't come out. Yet he could end
up being he might I think he probably is. He
could end up being on thirteen, but we'll see when
those come out. To me, he wasn't on my ballot.

Speaker 3 (40:41):
If Hember Harden is really the debate there.

Speaker 4 (40:43):
Yeah, it's true and I had hardened so to me,
he's not an All NBA guy this season and and
it was kind of like he came and he's really
struggled last season. Like this playoffs, he's playing so much
better than he did last playoffs. I know the Pacers
had a great run to the conference finals last year too,
but Tyre's Allen has been on a whole other level
this playoffs, so as a score, as a shooter, just
everything does. As a creator to get that offense in rhythm,

(41:05):
it's it's been so impressive when you talk about a superstar,
like you're really talking about a ten to fifteen best player,
and it's like, yeah, can this guy be the best
player on a championship team. And to me, the answer
has always been no. I'm not necessarily gonna change it
after the season. But if they somehow and the thunder
and winning will get to that in a second, It's
not this is a race for second for this year
hous Conference Finals. But if the Pacers somehow win the

(41:30):
NBA Finals, Tyres Halliban will be the worst player on
a championship team since probably the Pistons in two thousand
and three. It's been that long. And that's not even disrespect.
That just means, like, to win an NBA championship, you
have to have a top five to seven guy in
the entire NBA. You just do. That's the only way
you can win a championship almost under all circumstances. And

(41:50):
if Pacers somehow get that done, they would have done
it with not even a top twelve guy.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
That's fair, that's fair shot. Anything you want to add
on that again, superstar, I would just say, superstar is
I got your point to me that that's rare, rare,
And I'm not gonna sit here and say Haliburn is
a superstar. But like this, dude's balling out right now.
And I think everything we say about Brunson, I think
we need to be saying about Haliburn as well.

Speaker 5 (42:14):
Yeah, and I'm I'm game with that take. Then I
will as much as I'm riding for Halliburton here, I'm
not gonna throw him in the superstar category, and even
like as well as he's played, which you can't ask
for much more than him, I mean, thirty one and
eleven last night, and just like at the epicenter of everything.
By the way, I think he's hung defensively a lot
better than he's gotten credit or I expected from him
throughout this playoff run here, So got to give him

(42:34):
a little bit of props there. So I still think
he probably never quite cracks that upper echelon of like, like,
think about how much slack Jason Tatum has gotten, oh god,
like him not being the clear cup best player on
a team that won the championship. Like Jason Datum is
a far far better all around basketball player than Tyrese Haliburton,
and I think he catched a little bit of slack

(42:55):
for that. So I don't think he's quite a superstar,
but he is a damn good basketball player.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
Man.

Speaker 2 (42:59):
Yeah, there's a lot of hot air around all those conversations.
It's just like, you know, you're damned if you do
damned if you don't. Look at what Jaylen Brown had
to deal with, and you know, I get it came
up small, but whatever, It's just people continue to say
what they want. But I think we're all on the
same page with that one. Let's see where we're at
right now. Is this too much of an overreaction? Again?
I know where I'm going with these questions and answers.

(43:22):
I know what I'm going to get, but I'm gonna
ask it anyway. Sam Austrey, I'll start with you, too
much of an overreaction? Before Game one, the Knicks were
minus one fifty five to win the series, Pacers were
plus one thirty. Now after the Game one result, I
get it. Indiana wins. The Knicks are plus one forty
five and the Pacers are minus one seventy five, and

(43:43):
that continues to move in their favor. Is that too
much of a an overreaction in your mind?

Speaker 4 (43:49):
I think so, But I'm not surprised by it, because
you're gonna see those swings, those odd swings after every
game pretty much, because that's just how it's going to
go in a series that was pretty much a toss up.
It's close, not quite to pick them, but it's close
to a toss up as you can get.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
Yeah, I didn't get that from you at all leading into.

Speaker 5 (44:07):
That, all right, I'm not saying for me, I think
negative chance was the world there some.

Speaker 4 (44:14):
Things up there, some things up.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
First, look at my text.

Speaker 4 (44:17):
I'm not I'm not from me. It was a toss up.
I'm saying from from the odds perspective, it was a
toss up. Number two. Yeah, I put negative chances in
the group chat. When I actually did my full breakdown
of it, I had this Nickson seven. So I'm not
It's not like I was calling for a Nixon sweeper,
a gentleman's sweep here. Like I thought, there's gonna be
a really tough competitive series and this was a different

(44:38):
style than Knicks. Haven't really seen this playoffs just yet,
so I still think next to winning them in the series.
Don't get me wrong, but this is like, sure, it's
a successful season for the Knicks if they win, but
you can't lose to the Pacers again. You just can't,
Like you really after how last season went when you
had injuries and you probably should have won that series
if you didn't have those injuries hit, and then this

(45:00):
whole season where it's like you have a blessing where
you Calves are out of it. A really bad Eastern
Conference Sixers aren't a factor. You beat Boston, Tatum goes
down in Game five, you have an opportunity or Game four,
I guess it was, you have an opportunity to really
make a finals run with an open path in the East.
And now you see the Pacers again, a team to

(45:21):
beat you. Last year. Halliburton got that final Team USA
spot over Brunson last summer on the Olympics, which was
ridiculous about the whole another conversation, it's just you Knicks
can't lose this. Like it's gonna be a successful season
because it's first conference finals in twenty five years. But
you have a prime opportunity. You can't lose this series.
And I don't think the Knicks will. I think they

(45:41):
still have that mental resolve to pull it out in step.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
I gotta come back at that. We'll save that one.
Let's put that a pin in that one, because I
don't know if you could look at the season as
a successful season if they don't get like they're here.
This is the golden opportunity. I get it. You finally
you got that next step? Great, you know, like and
I'm speaking from the Sixers perspective, like, okay, like even
if the Sixers eventually got to an Eastern Conference finals.

(46:07):
I don't know if I'm looking at that like that's
a successful season. And I'm not trying to argue with
you right now, because who the hell knows what's gonna
happen over these next few games. But man, you went
out there and you traded all those picks, and you
got Karl Anthony Towns, and you got this team rolling,
and you are one of four left. And if you
come up short and don't advance with home court advantage
to the NBA Finals, man, that's that's gonna be a

(46:29):
tough one to sell.

Speaker 4 (46:30):
I just say I agree only because it's the Pacers again,
and you just lost the Pacers last year, and that's inexcusable.
But under normal circumstances like this NIXT team is staying
together for the foreseeable future, and you can add some
more depths, new coach around the margins you new coach. No,
this isn't going really, I think now he's I didn't

(46:52):
think he was gonna get fired if they lost round one.
He's definitely not getting fired.

Speaker 2 (46:54):
Now they're claiming that this is the reason why they're
tired legs, they're exhausted. This is Debs. This is his monsters.

Speaker 4 (47:01):
You could argue, I don't have the bench players to
even play right now.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
I'm with you. I'm not firing him at all. I'm
with you. But we've seen coaches.

Speaker 4 (47:11):
It's a different organization, it's a different relationships, different organizations.
Brunson's father is on Statis Thibbs and Leon Rose have
a great relationship.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
That's all right. I don't think it should happen. But
you know how the NBA is you're hired to be fired.

Speaker 4 (47:25):
How about Mike Malone doing ESPN now and JB BIS.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
And calling SGA the m v B.

Speaker 2 (47:32):
Yeah. Yeah, if people made a big deal about that,
I was like, all right, should he he's no longer
his guy? Did Joker get him fired? Was he found?

Speaker 5 (47:41):
That's how I took that. I took that as there's
some hard feelings there. At least you don't have to
say that. You definitely don't have to say that if you're.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
There's definitely hard feelings there. And I would imagine you
know you're not You're not moving the head coach unless
Joker signs off on it. And I'm sure he was
pretty much well aware of the conversations that were being
and had over the past few weeks, months, whatever it was,
and he got canned. But yeah, he's out there. He's
really short. He was really short on television.

Speaker 5 (48:07):
He like, so I've got to do with Michael mullone
press conference when the Nuggets were in Philadelphia here, it
blew my mind how like buttoned up and clean he
looked for like TV. Like my impression of him as
like head coach Michael One, it was a gangster man.
Like he was coming in sweatpants, rolled up to his knees,
cursing off the cuff and doing all this. I'm just like,
like last night watching that, Like, I'm just like, that

(48:29):
is a different guy than the dude that I had
a chance to interview right there.

Speaker 4 (48:32):
He changes people.

Speaker 2 (48:33):
Yeah, no doubt about that. Sean, to you your thoughts
on the series, too much of a swing or again,
is this the Pacers they're gonna win?

Speaker 3 (48:43):
Yeah, I mean the math has two maths.

Speaker 5 (48:45):
Sean Brace that they're now down to three more wins
than they are advancing here said, they rightfully are the
favorites that they walked into Madison Square Garden and took
game one, and as far as kind of the conversation
of whether this season should be viewed as his success.
I mean, the bottom line is the Knicks r in
the Conference finals, and that's far above my for I
think a lot of people had hagged they're expected to
get to here. But context certainly matters, and how the

(49:05):
rest of the series unfolds, I think does decide how
you can view this. If the Knicks do show effort
to fight back, and even if they do lose in
a seven game series, I think you can rest on
that a little bit depending on how things play out.
If the Pacers walking and win Game two, I think
the series is over right then tomorrow night if that's
how things go down. So how these next handful of
games are the remainder of the series kind of dictates

(49:26):
in my head whether or not this is a success
or not from the next perspective, But they are in
the Conference finals and they do deserve their flowers for that.

Speaker 2 (49:33):
Totally agree with you on that one, all right, anything
else we want to get into. First of all, Game
two five and a half points spread to twenty seven.
Of course, that's up a point from the spread perspective
for the Knicks that I think it went off at
three and a half if I'm not mistaken. So I
think we could say two point a half whatever it
may be there, and then to twenty seven. That's up
seven points from two twenty and a half. Again, you know,

(49:57):
it's it's tough to sit here, like the Knicks have
to have that game.

Speaker 5 (50:01):
It's the absolutely, seriously over if they lose that game.

Speaker 4 (50:04):
I do really, I actually I don't. I don't agree
with that. I I I just think it's too it's
it's you see it more than ever if teams come
back from two oh and look the Pacers did to
the next last year. And yes, obviously Og got hurt
and that contributed to it, but the Pacers were up,
were down two oh and they came back. And you know,
I've talked about this forever now of how home court
advantage means nothing to me, like playing on the road

(50:28):
means nothing. Yeah, obviously the Pacers should be substancial favorites.
And I'm not gonna it'll be a shock. It'll be
a shock er if the Knicks win. But I don't
think it's over if it's two oh. Like you saw
it even with the Raptors a few years ago, when
the Raptors were down two oh to the Bucks in
the Eastern Conference Finals, and they come back. Teams come
back from down two oh, especially teams that are like,
even if you want to say one team is better

(50:49):
than the other, these two teams are evenly matched, and
like this this series, any game could swing any which
way based on a few plays, So they could come
back from two oh.

Speaker 2 (50:57):
All right, let's get out over to the west side
of thing. Let's talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder. They're
seven and a half point favorites. Two sixteen and a
half is our total in this one. I'm looking for
a winner. I need a winner tonight. Boys, give me
a winner. Where am I going with this game? Sean,
I'll start with you.

Speaker 5 (51:11):
So I like the under if we're just talking about
a direct play there that I do think like the
Thunder kind of exploded in a way defensively that I like.
That's probably the biggest selling point of this series is
that the Thunder defense is the best unit out of
the four between these four teams, and Minnesota has a
very good defense as well. So I do think this
turns into a bit of a rock fight tonight. That
they were able to get going the way that I
don't expect. That full number is sitting at two sixteen

(51:33):
and a half. I do love that to stay under there.
I do think Minnesota puts up a better battle than
was the case in Game one. Seven and a half
is the number. It's plus two thirty five on the
money line. I'm tempted by that, to be perfectly honest,
Andthony Edwards look kind of disinterested in that game, and
he gets a pass a lot more than he probably
should as a guy who's thrown into the conversations that
he is. I do think he was bothered by that
ankle injury that he seems to be fighting through and rolled.

(51:55):
He's kind of rolled it for like several weeks now
it's just kind of reinjuring it. They're not making a
bit deal about it, but I need to see more.
Thirteen shots is not good enough from him. I kind
of think Minnesota rolled over in a way that they
just like I didn't expect from them, and I think
they showed more tonight. So I like the plus seven
and a half. I'm tempted buy the money line. I
do you think the game goes under?

Speaker 2 (52:15):
Yes, Sam, I guess the key would be you just
gotta It's a lot like the Warriors from from previous
seasons where you knew that the Warriors were gonna have
a monster third quarter, and that seems to be what
Oklahoma City is able to do right out halftime. But
I do want to shine the light on that defensive
play man. They they played Paul on that side and

(52:35):
they run deep. Of course, they got some linked. I
thought that game one was there, it was on a
platter for Minnesota, and I was disappointing, Like if there
was a moment a game to get, it's that one
with everything that Okay, so he had to do going
up against you know, in that previous series, so on
and so forth, and then you get that game and

(52:56):
then that result. And I'm like, and I didn't know why.

Speaker 3 (52:59):
I started strong too, Like they came out of the
gates high.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Minnesota looked smooth in that first quarter. They were popping.
I think they had they were up ten to five. Again,
it's the first quarter. No one's gonna, you know, cash
a ticket at that point in time. But I'm like,
all right, Minnesota's here. And then all of a sudden,
third quarter came, defense showed and of course. Okay. See
the avalanche that they just did on the opfense side
of the ball in Minnesota couldn't stop them tonight. I

(53:22):
would love to see here and say that I like Minnesota.
I don't. I'm comfortable giving the seven and a half.
Give me Okay, see, am I wrong on this one? Sam?

Speaker 4 (53:31):
I'm on Okac as well. I don't think Minnesota is
much of a chance in this series, and I think
the Thunder go up two to oh pretty easily. And
you talk about the Warriors, that third quarter avalanche that
you see from them, but that was offensively what you
used to see from those Warriors. CRUs This third quarter
avalanche is defensively for the Thunder, and they were like

(53:53):
that against the Nuggets too. He saw in that game
seven how they forced turnovers. They were number on the
league all season at forcing turnovers and they never turned
them over themselves. So when you value possessions at that
high of a rate, you're gonna have success. The Thunder
held the Wolves to twenty nine percent three point shooting
and thirty four percent shooting from the field and force
them into seventeen turnovers. That's just a remarkable display defensively,

(54:17):
So even Shay who struggled with efficiency and he got
his points up, but he really struggled with his efficiency
through throughout that game. And I thought the Wolves had
a good defensive plan. This this Wolves team just can't score,
like they simply just can't score. And they couldn't score
in the half court even against the Lakers, going back
to that first series they won in five games, but
they struggled with their half court offense. They struggled with
their half court offense against the Warriors. And now you're

(54:39):
playing not just the best defense this season, Like when
it's all said and done, this is gonna be assuming
the Thunder win, this is gonna be one of the
best defense in NBA history. That's how great this defense is.
Where they have so many guys. Every guy that plays
just comes in and contributes, can and can guard so
many different positions, and they really just move on a string.
So I've been so impressed with this defen And when

(55:00):
you have a Wolves offense that's struggling to score in
the half court anyway, I don't see a way that
they're going to score enough. And the Thunder have a
good enough offense where they're they're gonna win pretty handling tonight.

Speaker 3 (55:11):
Yeah, Mark, go ahead outscorrom seventy to forty. In the
second half of Actor.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
Yeah Crazy Yeah. Mark Henry Junior pointed out something when
I recorded with him on Monday about about the historical
as far as how good okay See is. I think
it was point differential, if I'm not mistaken forgetting off
the top of my head, but there are some stats
that are in favor of okay See this season that
they were able to put together that would separate them

(55:37):
from some of the teams of you know, yesteryear. But
you gotta win it all. We know that starts it
ends there. Don't care what you do in the regular season.
It's a whole different season at this point in time.
But okay See, Man, I just can't bet against him
at this in this game tonight, So give me. I'll
give the seven, seven and a half whatever it is. Sam,
You're one winner tonight, though, is what?

Speaker 4 (55:58):
Yeah, it's it's seven and a half. That's the and
I do I lean the under. I don't know if
I'm gonna bet necessarily, but I'm definitely gonna be on
the seven and a half. I think, okay See, it's
just too good. Like we talked about there, too good
defensively and the Wolves won't have a chance to score well.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Insane NBA playoffs from starting to where we're at right now,
a great NBA season. We've been covering it all with
the great minds here, Sam Austria and Sean Bernard. This
has been a fun daily ticket. Keep it locked right
here to the Gambler. We're gonna get back tomorrow. I
would imagine in some capacity these guys have been rolling
live on Mondays as well Picks and Roll. So make
sure you're checking out everything podcasted at Foxpho Gambler dot com.

(56:35):
That's at FOXPHL Gambler dot com. Couple house keeping items
real fast if I may. First of all, coming up
next Beef at Night myself, Ryan Beef Cooyle. We talked
about college football last night. Boys. It's a Memorial Day weekend.
I don't know if you guys know this.

Speaker 4 (56:50):
This we'll start a summer.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
I know it's the official start of summer, which I
thought started next weekend, but regardless, and college balls right
around the corner. I know people don't want to hear that,
but it's the truth in the NFL, right around the corner.
And of course we had some pretty big topics in
the NFL world on our timeline yesterday. So yeah, push on, Baby,

(57:13):
push on. So Beef and I are coming up next
with Beef at night, and then at five o'clock you
are going to get swinging and ding it where they
check in with Moose live. I don't even know where
the hell he is.

Speaker 5 (57:26):
He's a put the comic Republican Republic gotta we got
a live putt from the Green down there, but from.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
The Green on the podcast, we're gonna find out if
he makes it or misses it. We have to put
money on that right now, Moose, how far of a
putt was it?

Speaker 5 (57:42):
Sean, It was right like off the edge of the green,
So it was not like a layup putt by any means.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
I was still even if it was a five footer,
I was gonna say, you missed it. But that's all right.
It's Moose. He's down there at AKA enjoying himself. So
that's coming up at five o'clock. And again we've had
some great coverage on all the Philadelphia sports including the
Fildelph Union.

Speaker 4 (58:02):
X is into You.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
That's a brand new episode that we rolled out yesterday,
Episode thirty seven from the Boys and the philadelph Union
are on top of the Eastern Conference standings right now,
so check that out for all your Union fans. Last,
but not least, I do want to point this out
with our friends over at Gearharts and unbelievable Memorial Day sale.
But let's just start off and don't snip this. I'm

(58:23):
not trying to go full Keith Pompey here. Memorial Day
is about remembering and pausing and honoring the brave men
and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. It starts and
ends there right, no offense butts about it. However, this weekend,
of course Memorial Day. Yeah, they got some great sales
going on, so if you do choose to shop, please

(58:46):
check out our friends over at Gearheart's Appliance as proud
supporters of our community, always front and center when it
matters the most. We're talking over eighty plus years serving
the fine folks of the Philadelphia area. A Gearhart's Appliance
is for everything home from kitchens to outdoor grilling and
proudly serving Philadelphia community for over eighty five years. Once again,

(59:08):
a great weekend to do exactly that about Memorial Day,
remembering pause and reflecting all that. But if you do
want to get out and about and you need something
from your home. I just planted a bunch of flowers
in my backyard starting to really hopefully we get some sunshine.
I can actually enjoy it. But you know where to shop.
Shop at Gerharts check them out at Gerhart's clients dot com.

(59:29):
Sam Austry from The Score, great job as always, Sam.
What do you got cooking up over there at the Score?

Speaker 4 (59:34):
A lot of basketball stuff, a lot of reacting to
all these series the previews have been out, but reacting
this series going about I have a story going about
the collapse last night going up pretty soon here, So
keep it locked.

Speaker 2 (59:47):
All right. And Sean Bnard, I know you were working
on a Jalen Hurts column over at DraftKings and whether
or not the Tush push coming back. He should be
one of our top fantasy football options at the quarterback position.
Tongue in cheek, I know, yes.

Speaker 5 (01:00:00):
Lily should still be the case, with or without the
Toush push there that QB sneaks are not being outlawed,
but nonetheless we don't kind of worry about that whatsoever
so have that we'll have some player props in a
couple other directions for tomorrow. Tomorrow night's game that'll be
popping out over on DK network. Also got a ton
of stuff bruin on both Sixers and Phillies Digest on
the YouTube channels there, so make sure to tap in for.

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
That damn right, subscribe and tell a friend what we're
all doing here. Gambler Gang represent everybody. Enjoy the rest
of your day. I'll be back tomorrow. Good luck on
those plays. Go Oklahoma City pigs Pacers

Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
Spreads total and all the prop that's in the tweens,
it's the Gambler