Semifinals Recap and Conference Finals Preview

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And then there were four. With the semi finals series
coming to a close, the twenty twenty five NBA Playoffs
are set to continue as we get closer towards witnessing
whose turn it is to hold the Larry O'Brien Trophy
in June. Will it b and Edwards in the Fearless Timberwolves,
Jalen Brunson and the Blue Collar Knicks, Tyrese Halliburton and
the High OUC Tame Pacers, or Shay Gilders Alexander and

(00:22):
the Young and Hungry OKC Thunder. I certainly can't wait
to find out. But in the meantime, today I'll be
recapping how each of these teams made it past their
semi finals opponents and preview what could lie ahead for
them in the next round, as all of them have
given tremendous cases of why they could be the ones
getting the jewelry this year. But of course there can

(00:43):
only be one. So without further ado, we got a
loaded episode for you today. Get your popcorn ready as
we get deeper into the playoff action. Right now on
H two DG. Welcome to Hip to the Games, the
podcast for you the Basketball Junkie and the Hip hop hit.
I'm your Home. Desmond and I too have had hoop
dreams and enjoy the beautiful genre of hip hop and

(01:04):
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understand that Hip to the Games is more than just
a podcast. It's a lifestyle and if you were looking

(01:24):
for a platform that combines both basketball and hip hop,
you've come to the right place. Welcome to this episode

(01:47):
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(02:08):
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(02:30):
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(03:35):
seen and appreciated. Now as we get into today's show,
if you are a returning listener, you already know how
this goes. But if you are new to the show,
this episode is gonna be organized by the format that
pays how much to the classic hip hop song structure?
All right, I got three verses for you today, which
represents three topics for the show. The first verse, you
already know, has to set the tone, the middle one

(03:56):
brings the climax or rising action, and then your last
verse has to be the heymade. It has to be
the best for last and even bring a resolution in
the process. And since we always got to start verse
one off with a bang before we really get into
these recaption previews, I got some flowers to give. I
want to take my first verse to give some well,
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Verse one, I got some flowers to give, all right,
I told you if it happened, I was gonna man up,
put my pride aside, right, admit I was wrong, and
make peace. Okay, And all season long, I said I

(06:50):
was a non believer. I said that track meet basketball
doesn't work in the playoffs. I said they would lose
in six games in the semi finals. Passionate long time
fans have flooded my TikTok comments even while I was
simultaneously praising them and critiquing them, showing me that their
basketball town certainly has a presence on social media. And

(07:11):
most of all, I challenged this team to prove that
last year wasn't a fluke. And if you haven't caught
it by now. I gotta give my congratulations and my
big bouquet of flowers to the Indiana Pacers. Man. They
have once again made it to the Eastern Conference Finals,
and I don't care what happens the next round. They've
earned my respect. Tyree's Haliburton hit some clutch and momentum

(07:31):
swinging shots versus the Caves that literally made me think
of only two players Luka Doncic and Stephen Curry. I mean,
he's that same kind of villain that you can't help
but respect when he comes to your team's arena. The
same way I view Derek White as the Celtics version
of Derek Fisher, right, a guy that's always making the

(07:52):
timely shots in the clutch and making the timely plays
to help his team win. I saw the same things
and Andrew Nemhart, you know, just timely shots in the
fourth and good defense. Aaron Nesmith is certainly not that
same dude that was riding the bench in Boston, and
I said it about the Clippers when talking about energy players,

(08:12):
Aaron Nesmith has been the epitome of that. He doesn't
jump off the page, right, but his impact has felt
every possession and the Pacers value it heavily, and obviously
I got a shout out coach Rick Carlisle. After seeing
the way his time in Dallas ended, I didn't have
much faith that he could return to the franchise he
once found success with and pick up where he left off.

(08:34):
But I couldn't have been more wrong. I mean, and
for GM Kevin Pritcher to assemble this kind of team
of unsung heroes is just incredible. They are legit, man,
they they are legit. And you know, I spent so
much time comparing them to previous teams that I missed
the beauty this current team exudes. I've said this before.

(08:54):
People hate what they can't understand, right. The default reaction
to misunderstanding is hate. It's why Jesus was hated, right.
People couldn't believe that the scriptures and the previously prophesied
events were right in front of their faces. You know,
when I was a kid, I hated math because it
was the one subject that consistently gave me trouble, you know,

(09:15):
And I didn't want to grow to like it. I
didn't want to even get better at it, and I
accepted defeat and chose hate because occasionally I would run
into something that seemed impossible to solve as humans, you know,
were too prideful to admit disbelief, misunderstanding, or have a
change in opinion oftentimes. And I know I've said this before,

(09:36):
one of the main aspects of this platform that I
hope you and future listeners grasp is that I always
speak on this game from a player's perspective. And I
know that can come off like flawed at times, right,
because obviously I'm not in the NBA and things of
that nature. But like a lot of Pacer fans on TikTok,
I think tried to subtenly come for me a little bit.

(09:57):
I think because they figured I was late to their part,
and they should feel that way, right, Like like you know,
all these all these fans that are catching up, right,
they should be able to talk their issue a little bit, right,
But I mean, I think they also didn't really realize
where I was coming from. Like it's very easy for
me to place myself in a player's shoes because I
once wanted to be one, right, I think I've expressed

(10:18):
that on here before. I may not have been good
enough to advance in high school college hoops. You know,
I didn't get the opportunities growing up to join the
camps and like the AAU everything like and receive that development.
From an ex's and o's standpoint, you know, I grieve
that a little bit even to this day. But one
thing about me, I was always watching highlights. I was

(10:41):
always watching interviews. I was always watching all kinds of
fans or coaches break down this beautiful game that we
all love. In the effort to learn the lessons I
might have missed out on right, I had to play
a lot of catchup and to this day, like I'm
you know, I love learning new things. I'm always learning
new things. But again, one thing about me, man, I

(11:02):
studied everything because even with my lack of playing experience,
nobody could say I ain't know the game. I'm not
the smartest dude, you know, admittedly, like I've envied, you know, again,
that's something that I've had to work through. Like I've
envied my peers, who from a strategy standpoint, can break
down in every possible detail why the Pacers are so good, right,

(11:24):
they can break down every possession and give you all
the terminology and stuff like I wish I could do
that on a more consistent basis, And you know, I
had to come to realize, like, I may not be
able to do all that, but I can definitely hang.
So I say all this to say, it was initially
just so hard to believe that a point guard like
Tyrese Halliburton could have double digit assist games with zero

(11:47):
turnovers at the pace NBA basketball is right now, right,
And and how does a team of unsung heroes make
it this far in the playoffs? You just didn't see
that a lot coming. So I'm going down my roller decks, right, Okay, Well,
they're kind of like the Spurs, except they don't necessarily
have a Tim Duncan like somebody. They can get the

(12:09):
ball to repeatedly, right, They really thrive off each other.
And again, don't miss what I'm saying, Tyreeze has shown
to come through in the clutch. Pascal Siakam, like I've
said it before, I have a lot of faith in
what he can bring for the Pacers half court offense.
But the Pacers just thrive so much off each other.
So then I'm like, well, the Steve Nash Suns seem
more accurate because they ushered in a new style of basketball.

(12:31):
But despite the high octane offense and the Big Three
of nash Amari Matrix and great role players, right, Rajah Bell,
Deandro Barbosa, you know, so many guys on that team,
Boris d Ale. You know, they had a lot of
great role guys. They still just never won because of
teams like the Spurs, the MAVs and the Lakers, all

(12:54):
teams with go to scorers. The farthest they always made
it was the conference finals. So then in my lifetime,
so then you could say, okay, well maybe they're like
j kids nets, right, you got baby Magic Johnson and
athletic guys who can defend you know, two finals appearances,
but they were defeated by more complete teams. You know,
the two thousand Pacers are very similar to this team

(13:17):
that we see today, you know, finals appearance, savvy veterans
and a good backcourt and Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller.
But again they had no answer for Shaq and Kobe.
At the end of the day. Every NBA that I've known,
these type of teams generally don't win. And though my
assessments and my comparisons tracked, I missed this one key
fact as much as history has the ability to repeat itself.

(13:41):
The beauty of life is seeing things that we've never
seen before. And I think even for me, you can
get so caught up in trying to like relive the past.
It's like, wait a minute, this is a new thing.
This is beautiful. We haven't seen this before, and we
should enjoy that, like live in the present and enjoy that.
And you know, in my lifetime, I've just never seen
a team like this. You know, it's been really fun

(14:04):
to watch. It's been really fun to watch, and especially
for them to be a team that took about thirty
games to find their groove again, you know. And I
think Kenny Atkinson said it best after they lost Game five.
This team is like a college team in the way
that they share the wealth and like to play up tempo.
And one thing I really love about the Pacers is
that they haven't shied away from their depth in the playoffs.

(14:26):
Even the deepest teams like to trim their rotations by
the playoffs, right, because sometimes the few minutes a certain
player is in the game can impact the outcome of
a series. And in the playoffs, every minute matters, right,
So because it's winner go home. So most teams say,
the longer my best players are out here, the better
we have a chance of winning. But again, we've seen

(14:48):
how detrimental that philosophy can be for teams like the Lakers,
the Cavs, and eventually the Nuggets. The Lakers ultimately fail
to the fatigue that comes with playing seven guys for
forty eight minutes. The Calves lost Game two to Indie
in dramatic fashion, and ultimately because they didn't get a
couple extra rebounds. Right, if you think back to that game,
and I remember watching that game, and me and Devon

(15:10):
are watching the game, and I'm telling him, like, man,
like they couldn't play Tristan Thompson for forty eight seconds, Like, okay,
say what you want. You know, he's not he's never
been a great offensive player. He's in his you know,
he's more of a veteran out you know, locker room presence.
But you mean to tell me he couldn't play forty
eight seconds to help you get a rebound, Like, regardless

(15:31):
of his role in his reputation whatever it is, rebounding
is why he was drafted fourth overall in twenty eleven.
And of course, the Calves paid for keeping a smaller
lineup on the floor and losing that game into some
fifty to fifty balls. Same thing with Denver, a team
that could have beat OKACE in five games, they couldn't
find a way to at least try Jalen Pickett when

(15:54):
Westbrook Brown or MPJ were struggling to shoot. And somehow,
despite finding minutes for DeAndre Jordan versus the Clippers, they
haven't even they didn't even consider him with the starters
facing fatigue and okc's double big man lineup. Like, to me,
it's those little things, why those little stubborn details, why

(16:14):
some teams don't win in the playoffs because and so
I compare them to the Pacers. Right, this is a
team who they haven't done that, They've stuck to what
has worked for them. They'll they'll play ten to eleven
guys in a playoff series because that's their bread and butter,
that's what they know works for them. So it should
be no surprise they've made it this far. Right, they
rock with what they've had in the first place, and

(16:36):
they're seeing the fruits of their decision. Everybody's bought in.
Nobody feels left out, even the guys that don't play
are as equally hyped as the guy that made a
big play. Right. The Pacers have a great, selfless culture
and take pride in shocking the world. Man. And despite
my claims of them being a mediocre organization due to
their fair share of middle of the pack seasons and

(16:58):
failed expectations, this is actually a franchise that is no
stranger to playoff hoops, and they certainly know what it
takes to give their loyal fans a good, fun team
to root for, even if they have to be in
the lottery for a year or two or or or not.
Actually not even saying that, I don't even think I
think they've done this without draft picks, So I actually
misspoke there. But for the most part, like even if

(17:20):
the seasons don't always go well, you know, there's been
times they've been in the play in, they've been they've
been on the outside looking in, but then they always
get right back right, so that if anything, that's actually
more consistent, right, that's actually less mediocre when you think
about it, right, So, so shout out Indie, man, you
know I was wrong, and you know it's good to
see them, man, and and and They're quite literally just

(17:42):
getting started because the Indiana Fever are primed to have
a special season in the w NBA this year, so
we're gonna see Indiana I think in this space for
a long time, hopefully for a long time. But the
Pacers are rolling, and no longer am I all my
public enemy. I am indeed now a believer in the hype. Yes, sirs,
the Pacers are looking like the favorite out East and

(18:04):
are showing all the dowters and haters that last year's
run was not a fluke. But what do you say? Though,
I know there's still some doughters out there. I know
there's still some believers out there. Are we looking at
the Eastern Conference champs right now? Be sure to share
your thoughts with me down below. If you are watching
on YouTube or at me on the socials, at Hip
to the Games or desmon Pow Underscore, to share your

(18:24):
thoughts with me as I love to know what you
think about the Pacers finals chances. Verse one is definitely
off to a good start, but now we get into
the nitty gritty. Man, I'm just getting started, as there
is plenty of more playoff talk to come as we
transition to verse two, where I'll be recapping the semi
finals matchups. But before that, if you like what you're
hearing and want to know how you can show some
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(18:46):
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(19:08):
to cop some merch and represent the H two DG lifestyle.
Welcome back to Hip to the Games, where I'm continuing
today's episode with verse two as the semi finals matchups
have wrapped up and I wanted to share my thoughts
on some of the details that stuck out to me
from each series and maybe things that can show up
in future matchups. But I want to start with the
Celtics and the Knicks. This has this was probably the

(19:30):
most surprising series out of all of them. I think
many of us, myself included, envisioned Boston, even in their
foolishness at times coming out of the Eastern Conference. But
I did mention this in the playoff preview. It can
be very easy for old habits to return when you
win a championship. I think there were some Celtics fans

(19:51):
who feared they would beat themselves the way that they
had versus New York, and others who said, and nah,
I think they're disciplined enough, and sure, it's the It
certainly seemed like it that they were ready to confirm
last year and go back to back this year. After all,
Like I said, they were my preseason pick to go
back to back. I was rolling with them all year.
But after seeing the way they crumbled and not one,

(20:13):
not two, but three games versus the Knicks, it's clear
that they weren't in the same championship mindset this year.
They passed up so many two pointers and even driving
opportunities in favor of threes. Right, some of them they made,
some of them they missed. I just don't think that's
efficient basketball in the playoffs, Like you gotta take what
you get, even if you think of an individual's individual

(20:36):
scoring standpoint, Like Emon Shumper said that about Kyrie Irving.
Kyrie Irving, what makes him so good is that he
doesn't care how he scores. And I think the Celtics
kind of do. They do care how they score. And
sure it was great last year, but for the most part,
I saw a lot of that they were passing up
twos in favor of threes, and I just didn't know
how I felt about that. And I think, you know,

(20:58):
with miss after miss after miss from downtown, it just
gave the Knicks more confidence that they could get back
into games right. And now, granted with Christas porzingis dealing
with this linger in illness, Jaylen Brown not having much
Peppinis step after receiving like the knee injection, and Jason
Tatum ultimately suffering from the Achilles tear, there were plenty

(21:18):
of reasons why the Celtics didn't look like themselves because
they weren't, and that's what sucked about the Tatum injury.
Even though the Knicks made a great comeback effort, there
were some flashes of Okay, I think the Celtics have
woken up, Like sometimes you gotta get knocked on your
butt to wake up, you know what I'm saying. And
I thought that they were ready to tie up that

(21:39):
series and then break the hearts of Knicks fans everywhere,
because I believe if they won Game four, they would
have the Celtics would have won that series, because it
just seemed like that kind of game where had the
Celtics won, the Knicks were finished, But after losing Tatum
to injury, it became clear that their season would likely
end sooner than expected. And and you know, definitely I

(22:00):
definitely sent a prayer up for a patient and full
recovery for Jason tatum Man. As if I'm honest as
sad as I was watching him go through that injury
and his reaction and everything, I quickly became excited to
see the kind of player he becomes post injury, as
this journey is going to allow him to become even
smarter and assess the game from a different perspective and

(22:21):
get some well earned rest even in his younger eight
year career. I'm really excited to see the kind of
basketball he plays moving forward. So definitely a patient and
full recovery for Jason tatum Man. We rocking with you.
But on the k next side of things, for the
most part, their success has been a product of not
giving up. I feel like it's Knicks basketball, man. They

(22:43):
just play hard every possession on both ends of the floor.
Teams like that are generally always in games because of
sheer grit. Right. I said the same thing about the
Clippers in previous episodes, and a few teams have been
as good as the Knicks are at doing that. And additionally,
this is ultimately why the Knicks traded for Mekale Bridges
right this series, right there, to beat the Celtics in

(23:05):
a playoff setting and come out the East. Obviously, the
Pacers have since had something to say about that, right
that that's gonna be an entertaining series, But the Knicks
are trending in the right direction their defensive versatility, most
notably having strong bodies on the perimeter in Josh Hart, Michale, Bridges,
Og and Andome. I think you can even throw Miles
McBride in there. I think that's what made them a

(23:25):
quality opponent for Boston. Jalen Brunton is just as strong
as Drew. You know, Josh Hart is stronger than Derek White.
You could say Michale can match up with Tatum's size
and length, Og can match up with Jaln Brown's strength, Like,
you can't push and move these guys and bully them around,
you know, And I think it gives them the ability
to switch everything, right, So Michale can still guard Brown,

(23:49):
Og can take Tatum, Heart can take Drew. You know.
There's a lot of versatility there. And so what I
believed was once a cheat code for Boston is now
a check mate by the Knicks. Right. And another thing
I was concerned about this in that series was Carl
Anthony Towns file troubles. Again. I've been harping on that
since the beginning of the season, and unfortunately his file

(24:11):
troubles continued. He had at least four files in every
game he played. But the difference I think this year
is that he's been able to play with them. In Minnesota,
he would have these ten point games and it would
serve as the glaring reason why they lost games because
Carl Anthony Towns cannot stay on the floor longer than
a few minutes. But this year that hasn't happened as frequently,

(24:33):
as he's still playing thirty plus minute games and getting
twenty to ten. But of course he also has that
luxury of having four other talented teammates who can carry
him to the finish line if need be. So to me,
that's still something Cat will have to watch for moving forward,
as those ten point games aren't gonna cut it in
a series versus the Pacers, you know, those are usually
the games that his team does lose. So, like, he's

(24:56):
got to make sure he's producing, and especially if they
want a championship, you know, he's got to take some
extra pride I think too, as the last line of
defense and not let these guards trick him into jumping
into them. You know. Again, it's much easier said than
done on a podcast microphone, But if players know that
they can draw contact on Cat and it go their way,
he becomes a target, right, So he's got to control

(25:18):
the paint on defense as much as he's able to
be a threat down there on offense. Now, aside from this,
I've also been impressed with the Knicks finding ways to
win despite their short rotations. That was another thing that
I feared, and I think many fans feared going into
the playoffs, like they can easily become a victim like
the teams I mentioned earlier. Right, But the silver lining

(25:38):
is I would say is that the Knicks have some
versatility that the Lakers, Caves and Nuggets didn't have. So
while their rotations are short, they can still run a
few different combos with the personnel that they do use,
and as I said, present much better defensive lineups than
those teams. Overall, I think the Knicks successfully just wore

(25:59):
this Celtics down and made big shots and big plays
when they needed them the most. You know, Mikail bridges
Man being able to hit those mid range buckets without
disrupting the flow of the offense. Along with Brunson, it
just gives them a dynamic that's hard to guard, especially
when they need buckets the most. Having two guys that
can get what they want on the perimeter like that

(26:20):
is definitely key come playoff time. And then I think
Kat the fact that he's a low post threat, but
he's not limited to being you know, a stretch forward either.
I think that certainly helps their offensive depth. You know,
nobody's really one dimensional in that regard. You know, Mitchell
Robinson has played some decent minutes and has been able
to with stand even the hack of Mitch moments right

(26:42):
Duce McBride I mentioned him earlier He's hit big shots,
played stiff defense, and I do wish Josh hart Man
as good as he is. I do wish that he
could hit some open middies or floaters since defenses are
darn near guarding him like Draymond Green, like I saw
that a lot versus Celtics. There are times Josh hart
Man if he could just hit that free throw line

(27:02):
jumper or hit that dotted line floater on a consistent basis,
the Celtics would have to honor that and then it
would probably collapse the defense just a little bit more
and he can kick it out to the shooters like
he wants to do. So, you know, I would like
to see that more from him. But you know, for
the most part, I'm impressed with the Knicks. I'm not
sure how long they can keep it up, but that
blue collar basketball is admirable. It's New York Knicks classic basketball,

(27:26):
and it's a reason, you know why they have a
chance at a rematch versus Indiana and potentially winning this
series and going to the finals. It's gonna be tough,
but you know there's a chance. Nonetheless, Now next up
is the Cavs and the Pacers. Now it sucks that
Donovan Mitchell has suffered yet another tough playoff defeat despite
holding his end of the bargain. I mean, don't get

(27:47):
it twisted, man. Donovan Mitchell is a playoff performer. He
has time and time again had big games in the playoffs.
It's just that his teams couldn't really supplement what he's doing.
But ultimately, you know, aside from early in, I think
what happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers is exactly what a
lot of doubters expected. They got outworked. There were so

(28:08):
many possessions where you could tell the Pacers just wanted
it more. And what I really disliked was how they
would take their foot off the gas with big leads.
Aside from Game three, all the times they had big
leads Games two, in Game five they let up. And
this is how I know it was a spirit slash
fatigue thing. In Games two, three, and five they played

(28:32):
the exact kind of defense I said in my prior
episode that teams have to play if they want to
beat the Indiana Pacers. From the opening tip, they were
in the Pacers grill. They set the tone early. They
hit first. You know, the playoffs is physical you gotta
hit first a lot of times, so, you know, forcing
guys not named Halliburton or Siakam to make something happen.

(28:55):
I thought their efforts were excellent. And again I got
some common across the socials, you know, along the lines
of like, oh, you say this like it's easy, or
you know, it's hard to play that insane defense versus
the Pacers, and I'm like, well, basketball is a simple game, man, Like,
I don't think it's that much different than what's on
the scouting report. And lo and behold, the Cavs did

(29:17):
that in three out of the five games of the series,
which is why it's so unfortunate that they could only
get one win. You know, in Game two they supplemented
this defense with Donovan Mitchell just getting to the paint
at will. Man, he did not let up. Everybody's saying.
And again, if you're a Pacer fan, I'm sure that
was annoying to watch, but you can't get mad that

(29:37):
he was able to penetrate your defense and get what
he wanted every single trip down, right, And sure, maybe
there was some plays that should have been a no call,
right that that's fair, but he was getting to the
line a lot because he was getting to the paint
a lot. You know you're gonna have to touch him
up to stop him. So it was no surprise to me.

(29:59):
And then you know, I think Max Druce and Sam Merril,
those guys did a great job knocking down key shots
in that game too. But and you know, I even
peeped down the stretch how the Calves tried to manage
the game clock in the second half. I've said this
all year, if you follow me on Twitter especially, I've
said it all year. Game management is kind of a
lost art in today's game because guys get so caught

(30:21):
up in the pace, you can get literally lost in
the pace that you forget to manage the game. Slow
it down, take your time, eat that clock, because the
more chances you give the Pacers to come back, they're
going to come back. They've shown us that. So you know,
I respected that effort from the Calves, you know, trying
to slow that game down, But it went downhill when

(30:42):
they started missing jump shots right when the Pacers pressed
full court, when they switched the game plan up a
little bit, and Donovan Mitchell had to give it up.
You know, nobody else could make a play Max Shruce
is adult player, but not a guy you can trust
off the dribble. You know, they had to force a shot.
All the other guys on the team had to force shots.
Those aren't None of those guys out there could had

(31:04):
any of the off dribbled skills. Excuse me that a
guy like Donovan Mitchell has. And those misses allowed the
Pacers to do what they do best and get out
in transition. Right, Oh, bet only you mean tell me
only Spider can do something? Bet we and they grill,
we forc some shots be getting rebounds. We out and
that's how the Pacers came back. And so now at
this point, the Calves are getting nervous because that lead

(31:27):
is trimming and their legs are dead from all those threes.
They can see that their once twenty point lead is
now twelve with plenty of hoops left. So the focus
becomes we gotta score, we gotta score, we gotta score.
You know, Doug Collins said it best. The best prescription
is a made shot. And unfortunately for the Calves, all
the Walgreens and CVS's were closed, so naturally they are

(31:51):
going to sacrifice defense for offense, and it resulted in
a crumbling defeat in Game two, just embarrassing. But notice
right in Game three, the Cleveland Cavaliers brought that same
exact defensive effort, even switching to a zone this time
that caught the Pacers by surprise a little bit and
it forced them to once again sit with the ball
longer than two seconds. This is exactly what I talked

(32:13):
about in that previous episode, and this time with guys
returning from injury, the Calves had Evan Mobley and Darius Garland,
you know, to bring some extra offense that Donovan Mitchell
wasn't getting as much down the stretch in Game two.
So then they had this blowout victory. But then in
Game four, the Pacers, like I said earlier, set the tone.

(32:34):
They hit first and they did not stop, and you
know that made the Calves zone look like booboo, and
they just cruised to a dominant Game four win. And
then once again, right similarly to Game two, they closed
the series out in a game that started out rough
but opened up once Tyree Halliburton got hot. From three,
he made like four straight all swishes. I mean, you

(32:57):
can't do anything when a guy is knocking those down, man,
and those those again I said earlier, those momentum kind
of shots when you can pull when your star player
can pull up from thirty and it's all net. Even
when they start to contest, it's like, yeah, I knew,
the Pacers knew, like, okay, yeah, we we in this game. Now,
we might as well finish this because you know, Tyree's
like he came through with four straight three pointers that

(33:17):
were big for us, so that that was a rough
game for the for the for the Calves, and you know,
they couldn't hit anything in the second half. Additionally, DeAndre
Hunter and Darius Garland, I think they were really disappointing
this series. Obviously their injuries likely played a role, but Hunter,
he wasn't nearly as proactive as you would like him
to be on both ends of the floor. And I

(33:39):
think Darius Garland he picked up so many silly fouls
in this series, and it's like you gotta show a
little more mental toughness than that, you know, And I
think it hurt Cleveland more than it helped. And aside
from a good game four, you know, games three and
five for him were abysmal. You know, credit to him
trying to play through his injury, the toe injury. That
that's a tough injury to play through. But the Calves

(34:02):
needed his shooting, they needed his playmaking, they needed his
mental toughness for more than just one game, and he
just didn't do that. In a nutshell, I think the
main thing the Calves were missing this series was creation.
Outside of Donovan Mitchell, there was nobody they could trust
to get a bucket again. This is why all these
regular season stats and analytics don't mean jack come playoff time.

(34:24):
They don't always mean as much as they did in
the regular season. The team with the second best offensive
rating in NBA history just got booted out the second round.
It's unfortunate because I really thought things would be different
for the Cleveland Cavaliers this year, but now it's clear
that they need to find a way to get Donovan
Mitchell some help offensively and a point of attack defender
as well. I hoped, and I said this when he

(34:47):
got traded. I was hoping that DeAndre DeAndre Jordan, that
DeAndre Hunter would be that for them and fill that role.
But that certainly didn't pan out in this series versus
the Indiana Pacers. So we'll see what Cleveland does to
do because I know Donovan Mitchell, he was visibly distraught
after losing another playoff series in a similar fashion. So
they got to get him some help, definitely on the

(35:10):
offensive side, if they don't want the same outcome next season. Now,
switching to the West, we got the Timberwolves and the
Golden State Warriors. Now, obviously, the big reason this series
was shorter than it likely would have been is due
to Stephan Curry suffering from a hamstring injury in Game one.
It sucked because the Warriors, much like when they faced Houston,
ran off with a convincing road win out the gate. Right,

(35:31):
they stole home court advantage in Game one as Stephan
Curry helped set the tone early. He was getting hot
early in that first half. But once he went down,
so did the Warrior spirits. You know, Draymond had a
good game of that game. You know they were rolling
off that momentum early. But you knew as a series
progressed and if Stephan Curry is out for a long time,
it's not gonna look good. And you know, even because

(35:52):
even in a game where Minnesota couldn't buy a bucket, right,
they still nearly made a comeback in the fourth quarter.
That's how bad and how stagnant the Warriors offense got,
so obviously the t Wolves they saw this. They kept
that in mind the rest of the series, understanding that
as long as the Warriors offense is stagnant, it's an

(36:12):
easy w That's the unfortunate thing about Warrior basketball. It
works primarily because of Stephen Curry and because Jimmy Butler
has been dealing with his own bumps and bruises and whatnot,
including a report I saw he was under the weather
for Game four, so he didn't play his best. And
the most important thing of it all is that he's
no longer trying to be a primary option on a

(36:34):
basketball team, right and Draymond Green hasn't really been a
scoring threat since twenty sixteen. They literally have a team
of role players trying to win playoff games. And credit
to Buddy Heal, you know, who has finally seem to
get the gist of what playoff basketball is all about
since that Game seven versus the Houston Rockets. You know,
credit to Jonathan Kaminga being the silver lining and the

(36:56):
mist of Stephan Curry's injury really looking like that threat
he was drafted to be and overall as a team.
They found ways to start games pretty good and even
make comeback attempts, but it's just not enough to beat
a more complete, rock solid Timberwolves team. Aunt Edwards and
Julius Randall are jelling and probably playing the best one

(37:17):
to two punch kind of basketball we've seen them play
all season. The role players are contributing. Jaden McDaniels has
continued to make such a leap on offense and make
timely shots and pair that with his defensive ability. You know,
it didn't look like it at first, but the Timberwolves
are set to be in the Western Conference Finals once again,

(37:38):
and admittedly I can't say that I would be surprised
if they found a way to make it to the
finals again. OKC is a very tough opponent. More on
that later, but to me, they are almost like the
Western version of the New York Knicks. They can put
Jaden McDaniels on the best player, and guys like Aunt Edwards,
Dante DiVincenzo, Nikhil Alexander Walker, those guys are still around
to hold their own defensively, and dare I say it,

(38:00):
Julius Randall has fit much better defensively on this team
than Carl Anthony Towns did something that a lot of
people anticipated, you know, going into this season after that trade.
Like this team is solid, man, I said it already.
The playoff sleeper may not be a sleeper after all. Huh.
Like they are here in a back to back Western
Conference Finals appearance, and you know, if I'm flipping back

(38:21):
to the Warriors, you feel for Steph because the Warriors
were trending upward since that Jimmy trade. They had that
fire in them again. They had that sense of belief again.
But it was just time for the youngins to shine.
In the Timberwolves, it was just time for them to shine.
I think running it back next year for the Warriors
would farewell for them. But the biggest question they have

(38:42):
to answer is what are they going to do with
Jonathan Kaminga, Because if they can't find a way to
let him shine the way he did without Steph with Steph,
they might as well let him blossom elsewhere and find
a score that can open up the game when they
need it the most. Again, this is why they got
Kevin Durant in twenty sixteen. This is why Jordan Poole
and Andrew Wiggins were so important in twenty twenty two.

(39:03):
This is why the scoring version of Jimmy Butler is
so vital in twenty twenty five. Again, me and my
guys talked about this on the playoff preview. What version
of Jimmy Butler is gonna show up because they needed buckets?
Jimmy but He don't want to be Jimmy Buggets no more.
And so the Warriors can only do so much when
you essentially have two Draymond Greens right and Stephen Curry.

(39:25):
And look how bad it gets when they don't have Steph.
If the Warriors really want to give the Ogs one
last run, getting that piece or developing Jonathan Kaminga to
be that piece and groom him to not play such
random basketball to where he can actually play with purpose
and make those his impact even greater, that's gonna be

(39:45):
the way to do it. As for the Timberwolves, though,
let's see if they can kind of pull the two
thousand and six heat and bring a new culture for
the t Wolves and their fans and their style of basketball.
I think that's the best case scenario if you ask me.
Let's see if they can get that trophy. And then lastly,
there was the entertaining series between the OKC Thunder and
Denver Nuggets. I got a lot to say about this one.

(40:08):
Wildly enough, this series should have been a wrap in
five games. The Denver Nuggets gain control of the series.
In game three, everything looked like it was on the up,
and even in games four and games five, I believe
it was. Yes, the the OKC Thunder, they were losing
in those games, but then they came back and won. Right.

(40:29):
OKC showed tremendous resilience overcoming Denver in those games, and
everybody was saying it right, like, this is the kind
of series that matures you. Right, this is the kind
of series why you believe, Okay, the OKC Thunder they
passed their test, Like these guys are ready to hoist
that trophy. It's it's series like this where you really
see who has the heart of a champion, and the

(40:49):
OKC Thunder showed that. And the crazy thing about this series,
even when it looked like OKAC was primed to close
it out, Denver forced that Game seven, and while they
put up a great fight, I think sticking to their
principles on offense, playing through Nikola Jokic, getting an aggressive
Jamal Murray and staying with it in the midst of
dry spells. They had a disastrous Game seven, and I

(41:13):
wanted to go a little bit more in depth in
this recap because I initially felt a lot of Denver's
mistakes came on the defensive end. Now I understand that
defenses have become so much more dynamic as the offenses
have in this era, but to me, man it has
made the league get way too comfortable leaving shooters open,
and because again it's such a pick your poison league

(41:36):
now with so much depth and dexterity. And I know
the Thunder have been guilty of having cold spot up
shooting stretches like we saw in Game six, so teams
are trying to enforce that by baiting them to shoot.
So just anything to keep the ball out of Shay's hands.
Trust me, I get it. I understand it. But a
majority of the rotational players that the OKC Thunder have

(41:58):
they shoot at least thirty five percent from deep. That's
still respectable. I know the three point shot has increased
in value over the past ten years, so people want
to act like unless you're shooting thirty nine percent and above,
you aren't a good shooter, But thirty five, thirty six,
thirty seven, thirty eight, that was always seen as a
respectable percentage. Like, I'm not gonna leave you open repeatedly

(42:19):
if you shoot that percentage. I understand you have to
play help and recover defense with a guy like Shay
out there, you know, when Jay Dub's out there doing
his thing. You know, we saw similar things with Ray
Allen opposite of d Wade and Lebron. Right, he got
a lot of open looks because you just can't guard
d Wade and Lebron one on one. But I'm sorry, man,
I think it's just stupid to ignore shooters on a

(42:40):
consistent basis. You can't just leave Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace,
these spark plug guys, and especially Lou Dort, who's a
forty one percent three point shooter this regular season. You
can't leave them wide open. There were just too many
times in that Denver and OKC series where the Nuggets
were so focused on Shake Gilders, Alexander that they left Caruso, Dort,

(43:03):
and even Jay Dub at times wide open in the corners.
Just like the Grizzlies did, and I get it right,
Like I said, with the shot clock going down, you'd
rather someone else take that shot instead of Shay drawing
a foul or getting an am one. Right, Let's make
this team fall in love with the three because their
spot up shooting isn't as consistent as it can be,

(43:24):
you know, And I was I was saying too, like
I know the Grizzlies were looking at this Denver series like, man,
I wish they were missing those threes when they played us,
you know, you know, like I said, the strategy had
worked for the most part to let those guys fall
in love with the three. But to me, it's like
if the Thunder role players, especially routine le get wide

(43:44):
open practice shots, when those are falling, it's no wonder
they go on these crazy runs. Like I'm old school,
so at some point you gotta be like, look, Shae
can drop forty, but I'm not leaving a guy that's
made two threes in a row wide open anymore. Like
we gotta figure this out. And I've been saying it
all playoffs. The Thunder are just too good to leave

(44:04):
these guys wide open. Outside of Chet or j Dubb,
having bad nights. The Thunder struggle the most when lou
Dort and at least two bench players are under ten points.
Guys like Caruso and Case and Wallace are good at
turning defense to fast break points, so it's tougher to
limit them because they're able to do that. But for
the most part, these guys Caruso, Wiless Dort, Aaron Wiggins,

(44:27):
they're either gonna shoot the three or drive. You close
out too hard, it's a blowby you close out too weak,
it's a three in your eye. They need more attention
than most teams think, so I initially emphasized you have
to live with Shai Gilgess Alexander beating you single handedly,
so it decreases the spark that his teammates have provided
offensively all season long. It's like the old adage, right,

(44:51):
basketball is like a fist. Okay, five fingers working together
to deliver a punch. The Thunder are one of the
best teams at drawing energy from each other. Obviously, you
can't punch without all five of those fingers together in
a closed fizz. It's not gonna be as impactful. Right,
So if you can cut off a couple fingers right,

(45:12):
limit the production of a couple players, that strike won't
be as impactful. So that's why if I'm David Adelman,
who's done a great job, by the way, since taken
over after Mike Malone got fired, I would have considered
starting Peyton Watson after Game four. And I know he's
not much of an offensive threat, but because Aaron Gordon
and Peyton Watson, they showed to bring that hustle, that defense,

(45:35):
and that energy and help Jokic on the glass against
a double big lineup that the OKC thunder have. You know,
I thought that would have been a good decision. You know,
I respect MPJ heavily for playing through the shoulder injury,
but he's the type of player that solely gets his
rhythm from offense. He showed time and time again this

(45:55):
series that he will not give you that effort because
he only feels involved when he's getting buckets. As much
as we want everybody to play on both ends of
the floor, some players are just like that. So in
a series versus oksee, although he did improve a bit
in Game six, I felt it would have it wouldn't
have been a terrible idea to start Peyton Watson and

(46:16):
see if Michael Porter Junior can find a spark with
the second unit in non Jokic minutes. Right, you want
to shoot Okay, well you do it off the bench
and give us a spark then, right. Yet, all that said,
the Thunder still couldn't hit open shots, so that everybody
but Shay strategy seemed to be paying off. But just
when it seemed like the window was closing for OKC,

(46:38):
they did what they do best, turn defense to offense.
Alex Caruso and certainly Cason Wallace single handedly changed the
game with their defense. In Game seven, Shay had thirty
five and it felt like he had eighteen. That's how
crazy the Thunder were on defense. When I was watching
that game, Caruso did an excellent job fronting Jokic in

(46:59):
the post and forcing him to catch the ball much
further than he wanted to, and even in other games
that series, I was yelling at my TV man, the
Nuggets have got to find a way to where Jokic
is not catching the ball five feet behind the three
point line like he wants to operate in the mid
post or even the low post, and the Thunder did

(47:20):
an excellent job saying no, you're catching it out here
and making the offense harder. The playoffs, maybe it's all
about will right, It's all about who's gonna make that adjustment.
And the Thunder did that excellently man, and you know
case and Wallace, he was in the passing lanes, he
was guarding ninety four feet, he was hounding Jamal Murray
off ball and just having those active hands, just doing

(47:40):
what great defenders do. You know, they changed the pulse
of the game. The Nuggets tried to force feed their
star and didn't know how to get him the rock.
I've said it before. The post entry pass is such
a lost art these days. That's why we need a
little bit more point guards in this league than just
these kind of do anything guards like if that makes sense,
guards that can just handle the ball like, No, we

(48:01):
need point guards in floor generals in this NBA to
make those post entry passes. Because the Nuggets made such
lazy efforts to get Yokis the balls where the Thunder
they were timing those steels like it was nothing because
they got so predictable on offense. Oh, they're just gonna
give it to Yogic. They're just gonna give it to
Yokic and they they don't feel confidence to do anything right.

(48:22):
So you know the ball is coming to Yogic. You've
just got to time that steal. It was wild to
see that. You know, Denver's offense looked so totally different
from the first ten minutes of Game seven where they
found success. So I think going into the offseason, they
need to focus on shooting and defense. Right, you gotta
get some shooters, so teams can't afford to send two

(48:44):
to three bodies on the cod Yokic. Their eyes should
be on Gary Tran Junior. If there's a lane for that,
Seth Curry, Lukenard or sleeper picks like Lindy Waters, Doug McDermott,
like get there are shooters out here, Get somebody, get
somebody's and then ideally, I think they should find a
three and d wing to start a major bonus if

(49:05):
he can make plays off the dribble too, And who
does that sound like? Sounds like they should throw their
name in the Jonathan kaminga sign and trade conversation because
for me, if that means moving on from Michael Porter Junior,
I think it's time to make that call. Michael Porter
Junior can shoot all the threes he wants. In Golden
State and Denver, they could use the aggression that Jonathan
Kaminga plays with and the talent that he is. At

(49:28):
least he's able to put the ball on the floor
and do something and give effort on defense. But if
that doesn't work out, I think then you should pivot
and try to steal a Brook Lopez maybe from Milwaukee,
or get Clint Capella who's a free agent this offseason,
to shure up that interior presence, because that's another weakness
that the Nuggets have. You know, they're a little soft

(49:48):
in the interior. So a lineup to me of Jamal Murray,
Christian Brown, Aaron Gordon playing the three, you got Jokic
at the four even and then like a Lopez or
Capella would be nice because Jokic wouldn't have to be
the last line of defense and carry that responsibility. And
I think more so with Capella, right, I think it
gives them an extra body for rebounds and a lob

(50:10):
threat when when Jokic or Gordon come off short rolls, right,
anybody that comes off short rolls and has a lob threat.
We see that with the Golden State Warriors. It's money
all the time. It gives them an you know, I
think it gives them a little bit more what they
can do offensively, and not to mention, you know, traditional
power forwards center lineups are becoming cool again, so it
wouldn't be a bad idea to consider that. I think

(50:32):
brook Lopez would bring interior defense and stretch the floor,
you know, creating that five out offense. So a couple
options for Denver as they look towards the offseason there.
But you know, they definitely have some growing to do
after the series collapse that they had versus the OKC Thunder,
and I think it exposed some things that they got
to address. So woo. That was definitely more of a

(50:54):
forty eight bar verse as opposed to the traditional six team,
But it was certainly warranted as the semi finals games
fe some good matchups and intense competition. But what are
your thoughts on the teams that were bounced and the
teams that advanced. Drop your thoughts in the comments on
whatever platform you're on, or feel free to hit me
up on the socials. I'm gonna take a quick break,
but don't touch that dial as We'll be finishing today's

(51:16):
loaded episode with the last verse preview in the Conference
Finals matchups. What's Up? What's Up? I'm Desmond and I'm
the host and creator of Hip to the Games, a
podcast from nineteen Media Group from hot topics across the NBA.
How can you say we done with the eighties or
we done with the nineties? Yet that's who we learn
from to album reviews and song breakdowns and everything in between.

(51:37):
I take immen's pride and genuinely appreciating the brilliance of
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that means you're Hip to the Games. But no matter
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(52:00):
other Friday on your favorite podcast platform or YouTube. Courtesy
of the Home Teams nineteen Media Group. Welcome back to
H two DG for the last verse of our time
together today, and it only made sense to end the
show for this Haymaker Verse previewing the Conference Finals matchups.

(52:23):
That are now set. And since I started off with
the East semi finals earlier, let's start with the West
for the conference finals this time. So OKC thunder verse
the Minnesota timber Wolves, I tweeted it Man, there is
actually a lot to look forward to in this series.
Amp Man is riding the high of arguably being the
best competitor in the NBA. He's knocked off veteran champions

(52:45):
over his last two playoff runs, and you have to
think he's geeked to have the chance to knock off
the NBA's best team this season. That said, even with
his improved three point shot, electrifying slashing ability, and growing
mid range game, I'm anxious to see how he deals
with the flurries of Lou Dort, Alex Crusoe, and Cason

(53:05):
Wallace because the thing about these matchups in particular is
that all of those defenders are just as strong as ant.
It's so funny that people compare okay see to football players,
mainly because people feel like they file a lot, which
could be true. You know, I like, you know, good
physical playoff basketball, but you know, in some ways they

(53:27):
really are football players. Cason Wallace is a ed Reed
esque ballhawk Alex Crusoe isn't afraid to use his body
Alla Troy Polamalu right, and Lou dort Is Brian Dawkins
in your grill, never tripping about a whistle. He is
just always gonna be in your grill. Those are guys
you cannot one on one to death. Some of the

(53:48):
best ways to score on these type of defenders is
off screens and in post up situations. I'm sure there
will be moments where Aunt cooks from the three point
line and off the dribble, but this is where triple
Threat moves and less is more. Buckets have to come
into play again, Caruso And while this are tremendous off

(54:09):
ball defenders too, and what killed the Nuggets was running
the same actions over and over and over and over
and over again. If the t Wolves can't overcome Okac,
I would imagine that this would be the next thing
for Aunt Edwards to learn how to mix up his buckets,
because if you're potentially facing three different intense defenders, you're

(54:32):
gonna have to find a way to be effective with
different looks. Offensively, you can't keep doing the same thing.
They're gonna sit on your moves. Having a bag isn't
limited to dribble moves. Can you get open off the ball?
Can you post? Can you use pick and roll? Can
you isole? Can you triple threat? Can you dribble? I
hope the young Hoopers come across this and understand this.

(54:55):
Her MAI's bags are more fancy, but a Jan Sport
got more pockets. Okay, and that's just me talking about
Anthony Edwards. Additionally, Julius Randall isn't off the hook either.
I've been so proud of his growth this postseason, but
this is the first series where he's not gonna have
a guy his size or smaller guarding him. Right, It's

(55:19):
likely gonna be Isaiah Hartenstein. I don't anticipate Julius Randall
being able to move him as easily as he did
a guy like Draymond Green, and I fear that as
a result, he will put his Jumelo Ranthony shooter sleeve
on and proceed to take these contested jumpers, you know
what I'm saying, which might as well count as a turnover,

(55:39):
especially with a defense like Okacs. But on the flip side,
here's this, he will be able to draw Isaiah Hartenstein
out the paint, which could limit Isaiah's ability to impact
the defensive glass. So again you kind of wonder after
its success in Game seven versus Denver, is Mark Dagnaut

(56:00):
going to run as Shay Caruso, Dort, j Dubb and
Homegrin lineup full time now just so they have some
better perimeter defense flexibility, even if it probably favors Julius
Randall Moore. So like right there, Chris Finch and his
staff have to prepare to respond to both of these
lineups at some point, especially if Julius can draw iHeart

(56:20):
out the paint consistently, because then he kind of has
you could say, a mismatch with Jaylen Williams, or you know,
he's gonna have to find ways to still be effective
with a bigger body with Isaiah Hardenstein. So I'm interested
to see how how they deal with that. Now. Next
up though, in this conversation is Jaden McDaniels. I've mentioned
his growth off the dribble in previous episodes. We know

(56:44):
he can lock up defensively, and at six' nine he's
gonna be a defensive body That shay has yet to
see on a full time basis this, playoffs and the
biggest thing he's gonna try to do is you guessed,
it Get jaden in foul, trouble because this is Why
shaye is so tough to. Goard if you are A
Scottie pippen junior or A Christian, brown you're either the

(57:04):
same height As shade or. Shorter so when he pumped,
fakes those guys are more prone to jump because they
know they have to try to contest the. Shot the
detail that's different About jaden McDaniels is that he will
already have the height, advantage so he can afford to
sit on the fake and use his length to affect
the shot without leaving his. Feet but if he's too

(57:25):
anxious to get the, stop which happens sometimes in the
heat of, battle he risks going for the block And
shae going for the rib cage and drawing a foul
and as a, result forcing McDaniels out the game. Earlier,
right if he's in foul trouble or having to play
defense with less, aggression which frees up the game For. Shaye,
right you were attack defenders like that because you know
they can't be as physical with. You So i'm anxious

(57:48):
to see how those two, battle because If shae has
a harder time getting, buckets this is Where JDub And
check come. In. Right we saw How jdubb struggled to
score most of The, nuggets and Unlike, Denver minnesota still
has good defenders off that bench to mix in with,
McDaniels an Ant, In Dante DiVincenzo And Nikuila Alexander. Walker

(58:10):
so Even JDub can run into any one of those,
guys he has the game to hold his. Own you,
KNOW i have faith in. Them but whether they get
the JDub we saw Versus memphis or The JDub we
saw versus The nuggets is going to be a major
key if The thunder won The larry this. Season chet
And Go bear should be interesting Because chet can Take

(58:31):
rudy out the, paint and other than the two closeout,
games he's had a pretty quiet. Postseason you, know he's still,
effective but he's gonna have his work cut out for,
him especially If chet decides to be. Aggressive and, lastly
what Nas reed are we gonna? GET i said it
in the playoff, Preview man Nas reid can't be putting
up five points and such after the potential bag he's

(58:52):
about to get this, Offseason, like in my, eyes there
should be no reason he ain't getting at least twelve
every game they try Over Karl Anthony towns and it's.
Cool it's. Cool it's, cool but both teams are in
the conference. Finals it's, cool but that ain't cutting it Versus,
okay see them five, points ain't cutting. It you want that,
bread you gotta show me so you know he's he's

(59:15):
gotta consistently be that sixth man that he knows and
that we know as fans he can. Be, so LIKE i,
Said i'm really excited for this. Series in, PARTICULAR i
Think i'm most excited for the perimeter defense that we
should see from both. TEAMS i think both The timberwolves
and The thunder have NOTABLE x factors that will show
up in this series and could even be the players
that dictate which teams move on to the. Finals AND

(59:39):
i really hope to see some gritty games because these
two mirror each other pretty. Well hence why they are
the last two teams standing Out. West you, know they
each haven't been the best three point shooting teams in the.
Postseason they have all time superstars leading their. Teams they
have impactful role. PLAYERS i Think i'm more excited for
this one more than The Pacers Versus. NICKS i can't,

(01:00:00):
lie meaning My pacers. Vers knicks excitement is definitely out of.
Ten so that would mean my T Woles Versus, okay
see HiPE gotta be at. Eleven but speaking of, which
let's flip it to The Eastern conference to Discuss pacers Versus. Nicks,
now this series is interesting because it's a matter of
grit versus. Speed The knicks would love a slower game
and The pacers would love a faster. Game and that's

(01:00:22):
exactly WHY i believe this series is going to be
at least six. Games it's probably gonna be, seven but right,
NOW i feel like if a team can can exploit
a certain, weakness they can do it in. Six BUT
i think it's gonna be a stubborn. Slugfest The pacers
should win the games that favor a faster, pace only

(01:00:42):
for The knicks to win the games that favor a slower.
Pace the first team to show that they can withstand
the other team's pace is going to be the team
that wins this. Series, now obviously this is a rematch
of last year's conference semifinals and a long time rivalry
due to their battles in the. Nineties The knicks eventually
crumbled to injuries last year despite a three to two

(01:01:04):
series lead before losing in seven, games so you gotta
presume that they have revenge on their. Minds that, said
The pacers have looked like the best team in The
east and have all The disney magic that comes with championship,
teams with notable game winners From Tyreese halliburton and insane.
Comebacks LIKE i said, earlier this team is rarely out
of a, game like you have to blow them out

(01:01:24):
to be to defeat. Them But i'm just really anxious
to see How indiana plays versus The, knicks because The
bucks weren't the best defensive, team and LIKE i, SAID
i expected The cavs to play much better defensively than
they actually. DID i picked them in six, games BUT
i was. Wrong they couldn't stay healthy and had weak

(01:01:45):
links in the. Backcourt but with The knicks that starting,
five especially having more, physical intense defenders Like Josh, Hart Mikel,
bridges O, Gannanobi it'll be interesting to See, halliburton who
will likely be guarded By Mikael, bridges And, siakam who
will likely be guarded by former teammate Og A. Nanobi
how those guys, play you, know you have to imagine

(01:02:07):
That tyres will be looking For brunton Or cat every trip.
Down he wants that. Mismatch but even with mismatch, hunting
there's gonna be a good defender on a player that
he likes to pass. To and The pacers did not
do well when teams got physical with. Them The pacers
transition means everything this, series BECAUSE i believe The knicks

(01:02:30):
will make them work in the half, court something that
they prefer not to. Do, additionally a series like, THIS
i think is where guys Like Ben, MATHEREN tj McConnell
And Obi toppin become even more. Important there is certainly
a lane for The pacers depth overcoming the knicks lack
of depth. Numbers, WISE i can envision The pacers being
able to throw various fresh bodies at The, knicks who

(01:02:53):
won't have as many to work. With you, know a
smaller detail like that can certainly Help indy play at
the pace they want to play. At. Thrive you, know
the rim pressure THAT. Tj McConnell And Ben matheren can
provide will also be. Key you, know especially When Karl
Anthony towns gets in foul, Trouble they're gonna look to
attack that. Pain you, Know Obi topping is always a sneaky.

(01:03:15):
Option and mind, you he's playing against the franchise that
drafted him and didn't necessarily use or develop, him, right
so there's some extra motivation for him right. There you.
Know strength and numbers has been a strong point for
The Indiana pacers and it could definitely be the case
in this series as they seek to drain the energy
of The, knicks similarly to how they did last. Season

(01:03:36):
now on The knicks, side if they aren't making shots
and getting foul, calls The pacers are gonna be off and,
running and they don't want. That they already play a
short rotation and their starters play heavy. Minutes you spending
most of the game running track is gonna be. Irritating
and even with a stronger perimeter, defense as much AS
i would like to see them play a stiff man,

(01:03:58):
defense they have to be ready to switch everything because
of all the pick and roll and dribble, handoffs The
pacers are gonna. Run The pacers can be so annoying
to guard that teams lose their defensive. IDENTITY i just
talked about it with That calf. Series if The knicks
aren't on a string, defensively The pacers could very well
find themselves in a couple of those games where they

(01:04:20):
drop forty in the first. Quarter that, said they show
to be a better half court team than Both milwaukee
And cleveland this, postseason so when The knicks share the,
wealth they're almost always better. Off they have good half
court options In Brunson towns and, bridges and when Og
annobi gets, hot it can get. DANGEROUS i would like

(01:04:41):
to think The knicks have a better chance to whether
the storms The Indiana pacers can, cause because that's the
THING i tweeted. Too The knicks are the kids in
college who do their assignments last minute because they know
they perform better under. Pressure so just like we saw
Versus detroit And, boston, right The knicks will have TO
i can envision them having to come from behind at some,

(01:05:02):
point and it just seems like they love to make
games extra. Interesting BUT i don't know if you want
to do that versus The, pacers you, know because admittedly
it does bring out the best in them a lot
of the, time BUT i would caution them they do
not want to do that versus The Indiana, pacers because
when The pacers are, up there is no coming. Back
they have shown time and time again they always come,

(01:05:25):
back and when they are, up it's that much harder
for you to do so because they play so. Fast
and that kind of brings me to my next. Point
if The knicks want to win this, series they have
to control the pace for forty eight, minutes not forty
seven forty. Eight there were moments throughout the playoffs where
The knicks miss some pull up threes in. Transition The

(01:05:47):
pacers are gonna eat those. Up LIKE i said, before
transition threes are some of the easiest looks a team will.
Get that's why coaches encourage, those but they also serve
as unofficial. Turnovers you you would pull up three when
you probably could have got a layup or even just
reset the, offense and that hits the front rim and
the other teams off and. Running that's just another possession

(01:06:09):
for them to. Score you cannot give The Indiana pacers more.
Possessions the last thing you want to do is give
them more chance to. Score in a perfect, world you
eat the clock and. Score eat the clock and, score
eat the clock and. Score The bucks couldn't do. That
The cavs definitely didn't do. That they definitely didn't do
the scoring. Part but The knicks actually have the roster

(01:06:29):
to supplement their clock management with. Buckets so If i'm The,
knicks and If i'm as stubborn As Tom, THIBODEAU i
don't care if the score is eighty nine to. Eighty
the last THING i want to do is give The
pacers more. Time clock management is everything versus this, team
and timely buckets will be imperative in making sure that

(01:06:49):
game plan is a. Success and, then of, course another
THING i didn't mention is the center matchup Between Carl
Anthony towns And Miles. Turner that's probably the matchup to
watch because both of them can stretch the. Floor Miles
turner may not be able to protect the rim As
cat forces him to step up to the. Arc, Likewise
turner being able to stretch the floor is going to
Force kat to rotate to the perimeter more. Often but even,

(01:07:13):
then could that be a blessing in. Disguise will not
having to be the last line of defense inside keep
him out of foul. Trouble The celtics had stretch bigs, also,
though so maybe that won't make as much of a
difference AS i. Think but The pacers also don't have
the variety of scorers That boston, had you, know SO

(01:07:33):
i definitely got my eyes on. This as the series gets,
underway you, Know Nixon pacers should be yet another entertaining
and close. Battle but AS i, said as cliche as
it may, sound the team that consistently finds a way
to outlast the other team's offensive point of emphasis is
going to win this. Series it'll be The pacers if
they can can succeed in a slower, game or it'll

(01:07:55):
be The knicks if they can find ways to halt
or whether the storm Like pacers run that they tend
to go. On, now before we get out of here,
today the last THING i want to add regarding both
of These conference finals matchups is. THIS i want you
to keep an eye out for this main, thing primarily
For INDYE okc and a little bit Of. Minnesota who
is going to cause the opposing team's role players to.

(01:08:18):
Work AND i know it's a lot easier for me
to say this Because i'm not the one going against
talented professional, athletes and it is something to consider when
watching these specific teams still. Alive the idea of depth
is a lot more than just how many guys a team.
Plays it also involves the skill sets of each player
who gets. Minutes AND i said this on my YouTube

(01:08:40):
channel earlier in the. Year The Boston celtics have been
the best example of. This they are so dangerous because
most of those guys offer multiple skill sets throughout a.
GAME i can go down the. Line Drew holliday had
experience as a starting point. Guard he played in the
playoffs In. Philly he was An All. Star eventually got
combo guard experience With New, orleans so he you, know

(01:09:01):
he knew he could play the two. Guard was a
tremendous defensive player Right Derek. White he had combo guard
experience In San. Antonio he played hard on both ends
of the, court And boston gave him that chance to.
Blossom Al horford was An All star. Before he was
this scrappy veteran who can shoot, threes so he you,
know he had post, game he had face up, game

(01:09:22):
he could, defend he could get rebounds. Right Christas porzingiz
was An All star before injuries slowed him. Down and
Even Peyton, pritchard he got key minutes if you, remember
he got key minutes as a rookie When Kemba walker
got hurt and early on showed flashes of what he's doing.
Today and obviously There's Jason, Tatum Jaylen. Brown they had
to learn to stick to a role before they each

(01:09:44):
blossomed as two Way All stars in this league and
leaders of The Boston. Celtics most of these guys can
make plays off the, dribble you, know make plays in the,
post make plays for, teammates and play. Defense they do
all of those. Things and WHEN i look at teams
Like indy OK se In, MINNESOTA i don't see that
across the. Board and that's where it gets fun in my,

(01:10:04):
eyes knowing none of these teams are. Perfect Aaron, Nesmith,
Nikhil Alexander, Walker Alex, Caruso Cason, Wallace Isaiah Joe in some,
ways Even jade, McDaniels Rudy, Gobert Lou, dort they have
not carried a versatile offensive responsibility for a. TEAM i
think The celtics showed when they won last. Year this
is the NEW. Nba it's hard to beat a team

(01:10:27):
four times if they don't necessarily carry weak links. Offensively
there's always a pick and roll option we can go.
To there's always a post up option if we need
a post up. Play there's always somebody to look for
behind the. Arc there's always somebody willing to penetrate. Inside you.
Know Alex, crusoe he showed flashes of what he could,
do you, know playing For My bulls In, chicago and

(01:10:49):
while rare Lou, dort on occasion he can score in
the mid range. Area you. Know don't get it, twisted
BUT i think most teams would be okay with any
of these guys ending a possession as proposed to as
opposed to whoever the star player. Is a lot of
these guys are used to playing one specific role and
are darn good at. IT i, am by no means
trying to discredit these. Gentlemen role players are absolutely imperative

(01:11:11):
to a championship. Team you can't have too many cooks
in the. Kitchen it can get. Dangerous but LIKE i said,
earlier trying to get into a player's. Mind here there's
jewelry on the. Line we gotta make guys. Uncomfortable SO
i would want Aaron Ne smith to try to make
a play he's not used to. MAKING i Want Lou
Dort Alex crusso to feel like they have to beat
me off the dribble or waste seconds off the shot.

(01:11:33):
CLOCK i don't want these guys getting open spot up
threes and easy layups BECAUSE i made a lazy close.
OUT i Dare Rudy. GOBERT i have to score on the,
block and WHILE i don't think the knicks are in the,
Clear Josh hart had a lot of good games In,
portland but let's see if he overthinks when he's too wide.
Open Mikhail bridges learned how to grow his game a

(01:11:54):
bit In. Brooklyn ogananobi showed he could be more than
a defender In. Toronto and these guys put the ball
on the floor a little. More can they make the right?
Pass can they grow from a playmaking? Standpoint so that's
something Extra i'm keeping in mind AS i watched these conference.
Finals which teams are gonna be the ones that buckle
down on defense and discover some of these potential weaknesses

(01:12:16):
in the offense in the effort to disrupt their opponent's
rhythm as a. Unit Okay see did this by Forcing
jokics to initiate offense behind the three point. Line minnesota
did this by getting in the chest of warrior shooters
slash role players and forcing them to make plays they
weren't used to making and overpassing and getting late shot clock.

(01:12:36):
Opportunities indiana did this by Forcing cleveland to rely solely
On Donovan. Mitchell New york did this by outworking The.
Celtics get into the line a little, extra get into the,
paint a little, extra get in the, edge and those
rebounds of fifty to fifty balls maybe a little, extra
and making stronger closeouts on a three point heavy. Team
now it's time to see how these teams can adjust

(01:12:59):
against each. Other and with that final, verse we have
finally made it to the end of another Hefty hip
to The games. Episode from delivering The pacers bouquet of,
flowers recapping the ups and downs of the semi, finals
and previewing the NBA's final four, matchups one of the
best playoffs in recent memory continues to heat, up but
as always these were just my, thoughts so NOW i

(01:13:20):
gotta hear from. You you can tweet the show At
hip to The games or tag me directly On twitter
and ig At Desmond Powell underscore and share your thoughts
on any of the topics discussed, today AS i would
love to hear or read your thoughts AND i want
to simply say thank you for listening to another episode
OF h TWO dg all for the love of the
best combo there, is even THOUGH i KNOW i haven't

(01:13:41):
been on the hip hop side as much on the spectrum,
lately but remember basketball is number, one so your boy
has been rolling with THE nba content with best, believe
once the season wraps, Up i'll be gathering that inspiration
to cater towards the music you AND i. Love and
of course here's a huge shout out to you Being
hip to The. Games peace out And god. BLESS i

(01:14:03):
hope you enjoyed this episode Of hip to The games
and if you enjoyed this, episode be sure to hit
up the socials At Desmond Powell underscore and At hip
to The games On, Instagram twitter and TikTok so you
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