Wolves or Nuggets in Game 7? Has Kyrie Irving Changed Our Minds?

Episode 173: Denver Nuggets or Minnesota Timberwolves: Who do ya got in Game 7? Arky Shea and Joel C. Cordes pick their winners in this prize fight. They also debate whether the New York Knicks can finally shed the Indiana Pacers and become a threat to the Boston Celtics. Finally, they also discuss the Kyrie Irving Reputation Restoration Tour and how the Dallas Mavericks have exposed the Oklahoma City Thunder's youth. All that and more on Basketball by Association!

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome and do the Basketball by theAssociation. A lot of articles in this
here podcast title My name is Archie. Say that is the Joel Lord?
Is Joe off with chesty for someonewe're in that logo? Maybe it fresh
off a fifty point victory in gamesix, huh it felt like fifty.

(00:22):
It felt like one hundred at variouspoints, give me various points, like
quarter one, it felt like itwas turning into the well. The impressive.
The impressive thing to me is thatDenver starts off nine up, nine
two, and Minnesota came out withsome decent energy, but stuff wasn't falling,
and for the first couple of minutes, they're like, oh no,
okay, we go again, Okay, okay, okay, Jokich Did you

(00:45):
see Oki just comments after the gamewhere he was like, you know,
it was nine two, it didn'tlook so good for them? Then,
No, it really didn't. Imean I say that in all seriousness,
like the first couple of minutes basedon how games three through five or yeah,
three through five, I've had goneReally we're worried that, oh no,
are they going to drop another oneat home? Is this how it

(01:06):
ends? Especially Minnesota had not lostthree games in a row all season,
and so to tack up a fourthone and thought, maybe they're just slumping
at the wrong time and running intothe champs. So I really think that
the energy turns when it's nine tofour and Anthony Edwards gets a steal and
a breakaway dunk, and all ofa sudden, the crowd got into it
and you just saw them begin tofeed off of one another, and the

(01:29):
avalanche began at that point. Yeah, that's right. It avalanche big time.
And forget the fact that Denver justput up nine measlely points in the
fourth quarter and got pounded out therest of the way. The game was.
I debated texting you when I thinkit was like a twenty four or
five point lead or some point stillin the third quarter, I'm like,
I don't last time I did this, they gave it like ten straight points.

(01:53):
I'm just gonna let this get towhere it's completely over, because Joe,
going into this, it looked likeMinnesota was a little dead in the
water, Like it looked like Denverhad completely figured out what Minnesota was doing
and that they were quickly taking over. So they won the two games in
Minnesota they came back and crushed athome against Minnesota in Game five, and

(02:14):
you thought, oh, okay,well this is the champs, Like you
got to knock them out before youcan completely knock them out. They're not
going away. And then a reallyextremely resilient Game six. And yet I
know it's at home. I getit, but no one was winning at
home right home has not mattered.And it's not just the playoff series.

(02:38):
It's been the regular season. Bothteams. During the regular season they played
four times during the same division,they won on each other's floor, and
last year when they matched off inthe playoffs in the regular season, they
had won on each other's home floor. That has not been an issue,
and both teams have talked about acomfort in going on the road to face

(02:59):
each other. They have a greatrespect for one another. But they both
have said that yeah, home oraway, Sure, it's nice to be
home, but that really has notbeen a factor as far as either side
of the players have been concerned.Yeah, and I'll tell you this.
I was I didn't really want totalk to you and like the day are
so leading up to it because Ifelt like, you know, losing three

(03:21):
in a row wasn't gonna be themost and I knew we were gonna visually
go record, right. I knewwe were gonna record on a Thursday or
Friday, depending on schedules and whatthe game was gonna do. I'm let's
just say I'm happier that Minnesota didforce the game seven because at least now
you can say Minnesota got punched inthe mouth hard and didn't get right back

(03:44):
up. And this is the sevengame series. I think you and I
both thought it was gonna be.Maybe not as many blowouts as I thought
we were expecting in this series,but again, is a really resilient effort
from Minnesota in this game. Andyou didn't need Anthony Edwards go for fifty
like that's the great thing. No, And speaking of Anthony Edwards and the
other young guys, to lose thosethree games in a row and to have

(04:09):
this be difficult, and even ifthey do lose Game seven, this is
still a success because you want aplayoff round. You got to the second
round. You took the Champs toeto toe to the edge, and yes,
it would be frustrating to lose tothe Denver Nuggets twice in two years,
but if we're going to start makingthese young Michael Jordan, young Kobe

(04:30):
Bryant type of comparisons with Anthony Edwards. It took young Michael Jordan years to
get past the Detroit Pistons lost himselfseven years before he got his first title,
right, And it took Kobe years, not as many, but years
to get past the San Antonio Spurs. Right. They were the bugaboo team
for Kobe, and they continued,actually even during his height, they continued

(04:55):
to be the team that would occasionallyknock the Lakers out and then go on
to win the champion themselves. Sothis is good. It is good to
be seeing the same team, especiallythe champs, especially somebody with a three
time MVP, and to have thatchallenge to have to rise to it.
And if they get past this,that's amazing. If they lose, it
is still a benefit to them inthe long run. And these young guys

(05:17):
and look games two or three throughfive each had a different reason why the
Wolves lost. They come out inGames one and two ultra energetic. They're
blitzing everything, they're swarming defensively.The Nuggets don't have a response for that
energy. And what did I tellyou after Game two, I said,
what the Nuggets are gonna do isthey're going to backdoor this energy. They're

(05:40):
gonna start cutting against this They're gonnause it against Minnesota. That's exactly what
Denver did. They played smarter offensively, they use that aggression against Minnesota,
but then Denver uped their own intensityon the boards. They were able to
control and it was a back andforth game that could have gone either way,
but Denver then wins it. Gamefour, I thought, was Denver

(06:01):
really just out executing Minnesota. Bothteams played really hard, but Minnesota had
a lot of dumb turnovers and Denver. You saw the chemistry of the champs,
that starting lineup especially, but eventhe bench really pitching in. You
just saw out of that core eightguys that this is a group that is
on the same page, and whenthey are, they're pretty unbeatable, and

(06:23):
Minnesota was not entirely on the samepage. Then Game five, that's a
Jokic MVP game. There's no wayaround that. Jokic and Anthony Edwards said
that Rudy Gobert said that the Wolveswere very complimentary, like, what are
you going to do against a guywhen he's playing at that high of a
level and there's nothing you can doto stop him even making shots, but

(06:44):
passing wise for Jokic. Minnesota playeda decent game in Game five, but
Jokic was just that good and itwas one of those nights where you're not
gonna beat him. Yeah. TheI think the neat part about this series
is it's been intense. It's beenpretty fun for the most part, except
for some of the blowout nature ofsome of these games. It's sort of

(07:04):
have tell me that is fun ifyou have a rooting interest, if you
rooting the fans are are all Ihave? Like I wrote, like sixty
percent for Minnesota in this as opposedto just it's sixty percent Minnesota forty percent
apathy, you know, like youjust kind of want to see But you
and I are big ye'll kinch fans, and you and I have been on
the Denver Nuggers van wagon for years. Years We've being for that. I

(07:28):
just want to get both respect forthem. Yeah, sixty percent Minnesota the
forty percent. I just want tosee both teams play really well. I
want Yelga to play well. Iwant Porter to play well. I want
Anthony to play well, I liketo see Rudy go Bear score more than
eight points. But you know youwin by forty five. What do you
want to do right for the mostpart, Well, yeah, job is
to score. Yeah, exactly likeyou'd like to see. Well, also,
he didn't shoot very well. Igot to look at them mistaking you

(07:50):
just I don't know. The numberdoesn't to me. In a forty five
point blowout, those kind of numbersnot the biggest deal in the world,
like it was. It was reallyjust the the what matters. What matters
for Gobert is not points. It'snot even the rebounds or the blocks.
The number that matters for Gobert isplus minus. It's the effect when he's

(08:13):
on the floor. And the Wolvesbroadcasters and coaches have pointed this out that
yes, he racks up some prettyimpressive rebound and block numbers and that's what
makes him, you know, defensiveplayer of the year, but it's the
plus minus when he is on thefloor because of the great screen setting that
he does, and then defensively,the way he quarterbacks the defense and all
of a sudden, the entire defensegets better because he's out there. Beyond

(08:37):
just what he does individually, whichis really effective too. Obviously, Rudy
Goobert's second highest plus minus in yesterdayor last night's game plus thirty, only
beaten by probably Anthony Edwards. Butyeah, Michael Cotton would tell you anthonya
would plus forty three plus forty three. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me
if it was Mike either. MikeConley has had that same effect on them.

(09:00):
Offensive plus twenty six plus twenty sixis probably not the name you're expecting.
If you're like, who's the secondbest guy on the team or one
of the top two guys on theteam, You're not like, oh yeah,
clean, Michael con uh So gameseven, we will not get a
chance to talk again before Minnesota finallyputs the champs down. I'll tell this,
I was feeling a little a littlehesitant on the pick I made after

(09:24):
the first two games, and Iwas like, this is this is Minnesota
series. I didn't right. Inever thought they were going to sweep.
I never said they were going tosweep the series. I just thought that
they had showed the mic in thefirst two games on the road that would
prove to be something that's now formidablefor Denver in the postseason. It is

(09:48):
at that point, didn't that itlooked like a five game series, Like
a gentleman, It did feel alittle bit like that. But I I
will say that Denver did everything theyneeded to to get back into the series
and showed that. You know why, Mike Malone's out there screaming at the
officials, but he's doing his jobsort of technically. I just didn't expect

(10:11):
as I didn't expect a three gamerun like this from Denver to look like
this, to make it a threeto two series at some point. So
especially when you know, Minnesota hadnot lost three games all year, They
had lost two games in a rowonly a couple of times. They were
one of those classic teams that,yeah they lost games. They lost twenty
six games this year or whatever itwas, but it was one loss and

(10:35):
then a couple of wins. Oneloss, maybe two in a row,
you know, was the most thatthey they would ever get. Good luck
trying to bet game seven. Imean, I told you this last night
as we Minnesota was two point favoriteslast night, barely covered for the Yeah,
both teams have blown each other out, both teams have had they've had

(10:56):
two blowouts apiece. They've had twoclose games, they've won on each other's
floors, and they've done it inthe playoffs and the regular season. As
I said before, yes, JamalMurray is hurt now with the elbow,
but he was hurt with the calfearlier. Denver is not fully healthy,
Minnesota is not fully healthy. MikeConley is playing hurt. Anthony Edwards injured

(11:18):
his back a little bit in thatgame and had to leave, but he
came back. They're not too worriedabout that. But it's that time of
year where everybody's dinged up. Andeven if Minnesota is the healthier team and
slightly the deeper team, Denver hasthat championship chemistry and they're going home in
front of their home crowd in agame seven. So this is I would
not want to be a betting manfor this one. As much as I'd

(11:39):
love to say, oh, Minnesota'sgot the momentum now, it truly is
one game unto itself. This isgoing to be the eleventh time this season
that these teams have run into eachother. That's crazy but fun too.
Denver four and a half point favoritegoing into the game, and you say

(12:00):
you're not gonna bet it. I'mnot gonna bet it. You sure is
it? Because it's it's because I'ma fan and I got no money to
bet in the first place. ButI mean, I am curious to hear
from you, and because I knowyou like to play that game a little
bit, I'm curious to hear whereyou're leaning because you're usually pretty successful in
calling this stuff out and I've beenpretty successful to calling it with no money

(12:22):
on the line, which is easyto do. Of course, I'm with
you. I would not touch thatnumber. I'm not that this this series
has proved and I've only bet thisseries. I only bet which game did
I bet? I bet Game two? Right, But but since then I've
been like, and I don't trustit. I bet Minnesota in that they

(12:43):
were three or four point underdogs inthat game on the road, and I
like, at the after Game one, was like, yeah, based on
what you saw, based on whatI saw winning in in Denver Dam they
were coming off the sweep of Phoenix, who we thought was going to give
them major problems and that did nothappen. Yeah, So I was riding
that train a little bit. Butthen after Game two is like now,

(13:05):
I don't know which game Denver isgonna win, because they're going to win
one of these and they're going toruin whatever's happening here, and so I'm
not touching that. Again. Thetotals one night, you want touch the
total one of the two teams,the losing team will be held under one
hundred points. That's been that's beena trend, and both of these teams

(13:28):
are good enough defensively. Minnesota obviouslyhad the better numbers all year, but
Denver being at home and has shownthat selectively in big games. When Denver
needs to clamp down, they stillgot it. They got the personnel to
do it, they have the knowhow to do it, and even guys
like Jokich and Murray have been veryeffective defenders in that scheme when they need

(13:48):
to be. Yeah, that numberwill be bet up by the way that
that's not gonna finish here. I'lltell you this though. The last game
in Denver, it totals two offive, and go on your point,
the winning team was Denver. Theyheld Minnesota to ninety seven, so they
did hold under one hundred, right. Minnesota has been held to eighty points

(14:09):
in the series. I think inDenver or ninety points when I got held
to ninety Denver, got held toeighty in game two, you know,
and then last night held the seventies. That's right. Seventy yeah, seventy.
That's like that that Derek Fisher videoI sent you a few days ago
as the anniversary of Derek Fisher hiddingthe shot against my goodness, I hate
Derek Fisher so much. The Spurswhat was that? What was that found?

(14:33):
Like seventy five, seventy four orsomething something like that. Yeah,
yeah, And you know, I'vebeen the Spurs, have been my second
team forever. Most of my favoriteplayers are Spurs. There's there's Timberwolves in
that group too, but many ofmy favorite players of all time have been
the San Antonio Spurs. So therewas a lot of hatred for Derek Fisher
from me for those years. Forthat reason, as well as some of

(14:56):
the other ridiculous stuff around. Itwas so do you can you imagine the
outcry. Let's say, if Gameseven was like seventy six seventy two Minnesota,
right, well, the old guyswill praise it up, the Charles
Barclays and the Shacks and those guyswill praise it up and everybody else will.

(15:20):
Yeah. I don't even think CharlesBarkley wants to praise up seventy six
to seventy two. He thinks hedoes, He thinks he does until you
actually have to watch a game likethat. Yeah, yeah, Okay,
let's go to another game that oranother series that's featured most interesting back and
forth since we've last spoken. TheNew York Knicks, who are one game
away from not so gentleminely sweeping theIndiana Pacers. I could get it done

(15:46):
in six tonight. I'm very excitedabout that game since we spoke. I
think it's been since we spoke.The Knicks scored seven points in Indiana and
game was a game for the things. That was game four. Yeah,
well, I loved your text.I loved your text. Forty five minutes

(16:07):
after the game has done, yougo, when does the Knicks game start?
It was just like, ah,this is It was immediately a dull
No, it's game four, it'sGame four. That game three. I
thought New York was probably gonna beup against something. But they covered the
seven like I said, But theybut they did. They lost the game,
had a chance to win it thoughright it has a tough game,
but they were in it. Theywere most of the way. Game four,

(16:32):
that's when you sort of saw theenergy and the wheels fall off as
some of the depth of the Knicksnot be there. It was back to
back bad games for Jalen Brunson.Jalen Brunson did not have back to like
I think he was like six ofseventeen maybe in game four if I'm not
mistaken, somewhere around there. Butthree and four, by the way,
not great efforts for Jalen Brunson,And not that he wasn't given the efforts,

(16:55):
just Indiana was just all over him. They were determined Jalen Brunst is
not going to beat him. Thenthe Knicks come back to New York,
get a huge win, get upthree games to two. And now we
talk about teams winning on the road. This is where no one's winning.
This is where no one's winning onthe road. So far, the Knicks
will try to win where Indiana doesn'tlose in this year postseason tonight, what

(17:18):
do you think of the New YorkKnicks, the team built on sand right
now, trying to get rid ofIndiana and get to the Eastern Conference Finals.
I'm so impressed with their ability tocontinue to fight, to play big
minutes, to play tough, toplay against a team in Indiana who's had
the best bench all season. Sowhen you talk about death, Indiana at

(17:42):
the pace they play, needs warmbodies on the floor at all times,
and they cycle through their substitutes veryquickly. So I've been hugely impressed with
the Knicks. It has been afun series. I don't expect them to
win in Indiana tonight. I thinkthis really has felt like a seven game
series all the way. I knowit's the two six matchup or whatever,

(18:06):
but it feels like in order forNew York to win, they're gonna need
a magical home game again because goingto Indiana. I loved the call in
Game four as it was getting outof hand, and I forget who the
broadcaster was for TNT, but hesaid, the Indiana Pacers have turned this

(18:27):
into a track meet, and thatwas exactly what it is, and that's
the way that Indiana wants to play. And to New York's credit and to
Tom Thibodeau's credit, because I neverthought I would say this. Tom Thibodeau
has adjusted by playing small lineups.Once Ogan Andobi went down, he's gone
to four guard lineups that he's evenbeen starting four guards now with my uh,

(18:51):
with Deuce McBride starting in place ofAnobi in Game five and that really
worked out well. But yeah,Indiana, their ability to create turnovers,
to get out and run, totake defensive rebounds, to get out and
run, it just wears on you. And yes, New York has shown
with their lineups they can play atthat pace, but they've got to be

(19:14):
the ones controlling that. And inthe games New York has won that New
York controls the glass, right,that's the difference. In the games that
New York wins, they control theglass, and that takes away an extra
six, seven, eight chances thatthe Pacers can get a defensive rebound and
just go New York at this point, if they're going to play with that
pace, they could score one hundredand twenty with you, they can't.

(19:37):
But they can't be scoring one twentyone eighteen the whole time back and forth.
Uh, if you're scoring win theone thirties. New York clusing that
every time right now, because theKnicks only have like six guys maybe seven
that'll play like twenty minutes coming upin Game six and they start with seven
and it's it's precious to jaw nowand Alec Burks, whos been Alec has
that a really good last three games, really good last three games. Two

(20:00):
of them were meaningful basketball and oneof them wasn't that in that in that
blowout, but the last game hewas huge. How about a couple of
ex pistons playing for you know,playing on one of the worst teams in
the league all year in Bogdanovic who'snow hurt and out of the series.
But now Alec Burks, both ofthose guys brought in from Detroit where they
languished all year, and they getto step into New York and both do

(20:23):
some really good things along the way, and now it's Alec Burks's turn.
You're just really happy for both ofthem to play on a winning team in
big moments. For the Madison SquareGarden crowd that that has to beat coming
from Detroit. Oh yeah, areyou kidding me? Like yeah, huge,
huge for the year that they had, for the year they had to
they had to you know, survive, especially at the beginning of the season

(20:47):
with the almost you know, almostbreaking the record for most losses in a
row. Just they were closed.Were they like two away from I think
they tied it? Did they tieit? Pretty sure? They tied it?
Yeah, okay, so but yeah, you may be right those one
or two ways. What you talkabout with the rebounds is a huge thing.
Isaiah Hartenstein is just a beast forthem. He has got to be

(21:08):
the twelve offensive rebounds and he oftenrecord for offensive rebounds for the next he
did seventeen total. Boy, that'sthe rebounds. I should say. That's
what he gives you. That's whathe needs in this because when these two
teams both to throw up shots andthey will thirty five percent minimum are gonna

(21:30):
be missed, you gotta have thechance to give you some second chance points.
And that sounds fairly basic, butit's more important when you're throwing up
tons of shots, because then youget those opportunities more and more often,
and you keep Indiana from having thesecond times because we've seen Indiana take these
second hand shots and destroy the Knicksa few times in this series. Hey,

(21:51):
so it's for me seeing Hardenstein playso well gives me more faith because
when when the Knicks just kept losingplayers. When, especially when I don't
know wou went down, You're like, Okay, I don't know. Now
if they're gonna be able to getthrough Indiana, you had to have somebody
basically to come through oddly enough defensivelyto be there. And it technically has

(22:14):
its offensive rebound, but still Ialways call any rebound defensive, even though
they're not to some way to usethat kind of size, use that kind
of affort because Indiana is pretty big. Indiana is a pretty big team.
If you can if you could dothat, you got a chance to be
able to win this series. AndI think I don't know if they're gonna
be able to beat Indiana in Indiana. No one has yet so far.

(22:37):
But if there's gonna be a teamthat could do it, I think it's
probably tonight. You know, theback to the rebounding thing, and I
mentioned this previously, but it's it'snot just about getting the second chances or
keeping the Pacers from getting second chances. It also is you get an offensive
rebound if you're in New York andyou get that second chance or even just

(23:00):
prolong the possession, and it allowsyou that even if you miss it on
that second or third time you're eatingclock and it allows you to hopefully get
back and set your defense. Afteryou score, you give up a long
defensive rebound. The Pacers are outlettingand they're going. And the big weakness
that Indiana has had all year is, for as offensively prolific as they are,

(23:22):
they're not a very good half courtoffense. And we've seen that when
it gets bogged down into half courtsets. New York is so locked in
defensively, and Indiana has had alot of trouble generating anything. And Tyre's
Halliburton included, he has really beenI mean, he took nine shots in
that Game five loss, and they'vebeen on him for like three four games

(23:44):
now to take more shots, andhe's saying, I gotta take more,
I gotta take more. He's justnot getting those looks. Yeah, you
could take them, but you're gonnathrow them up through guy's arms because the
gues Nick's are right there with you. I mean, Andrew Memhard blessed his
soul took more shots than Tyree Taliburtonin game five. That's not a recipe
for success, but it's it workedat Game four like it technically worked out

(24:07):
in game four. It did Gamethree, Yeah, Game three, it's
game three, this game out.Yeah. And this is why I like
New York overall in the long run, despite being shorthanded. It's because New
York can play at the pace fora bit. Like you said, you
know, you don't want them doingthat the entire game, and you don't
want them doing that for an entireseries, but they can do it for

(24:30):
portions of games. They can runwith the pacers, but they've had the
better ability to then also score inthe half court. A lot of that
is Jalen Brunson, but we've seenJosh Hart, We've seen Dante DiVincenzo.
Different guys take their turns. MilesMcBride has hit some big shots too,
Alec Burks has hit some big shots. They can score in the half court,
whereas Indiana has yet to really provethat they can do that in this

(24:52):
series. And so the rebounding battleis directly correlated to the number of chances
that you're going to to get orgive to get out and run. And
I think the only one you reallypoint to is that did they win in
Game three, where you know,uh, it was Nimhar right, who
hit that shot at the end ofthe game to sort of put them up
three and make it tough on NewYork in the last twenty six or so

(25:14):
to win. How about these numbersand then we can move on New York.
Outshot Philadelphia see the letter P justthinks of the different outshot the Pacers
one oh one total number shots toseventy two, YEP rebounds, total rebounds
fifty three to twenty nine. Moreimportantly, offensive rebounds twenty to five.

(25:37):
Yeah, twenty. You won't winat any level. You will not win
at any level. If you're allowingthe other team to get twenty five percent
more shots than you got, andI don't care whether they're not shooting well,
but you are. You will notwin. That is always one of
the secret sauce items, as thenumber of shots taken per team. And

(26:02):
that's a huge, huge, hugedisparity. It's not just that Halliburton can't
score in the half court. PascalSiakam really has not been able to do
much half court wise. But youget him out in transition, you get
him running, you get him movingwith some momentum. Other than that,
you know, Miles Turner you canthrow some post up too, but he's
more of a pick and pop typeof guy. It really has been only

(26:22):
TJ McConnell who's been able to breakdown a defense, get it to collapse,
and then some kickouts to shooters.And that's been a lot of their
half court offense that has actually workedhalfway consistently. But that's not a recipe
for success. I know McConnell willplay, you know, near starters minutes
at times, but they need morethan that. And that's where New York

(26:44):
just I think as a more multifacetedattack, and of course has been the
better defensive team all year by alaunch shot. We also point to this
New York force eighteenth turnovers. Theyonly turn them all over nine. That's
the thing. If you the Knicksdon't turn the ball over very much,
don't turn it over and and they'rea good defensive team that could force you
to Let's let's tip our caps toIndiana up for this, at least for

(27:07):
such a bad defensive team all year, they have played their tails off defensively
in this series, and I thoughtthey did the same thing against Milwaukee too.
They have swarmed, they have playedwith energy. It hasn't always been
technically sound, but that effort leveland that chaos causing has been there throughout
the entire playoffs for Indiana, andthat is a huge step up from kind

(27:30):
of the old A defense that theywere playing a lot during the regular season.
Yeah, and this I've actually beena little impressed at times. There's
stretches in the series where you're like, all right, that's that's not the
Indiana I want to hear. Idon't need them making things. I need
them just to, as you say, bring out the red cape. Just
start letting the Knicks through, becausethe Knicks about shot in the paint too.

(27:52):
This last game went sixty two tothirty six points in the paint.
Like you know, you've seen JalenBrunt to the Bill breakdown guys over and
over and over. He Josh Hart'sbroken down Dte Divicinzo to a degree has
broken down guys and headed to thepaint. Yeah often, And it's just
sort of that's that Burks is gettingto his mid rain shot. It seems

(28:12):
like just about whenever he wants,which is again crazy for a guy that's
out of the rotation and looked likehe was kind of on last legs,
like everybody knew he can play,and this is a veteran who can come
in and run the game plan.But you're starting to wonder about in Alec
Burks the same way, you know, for the guys like in Cleveland,
for example, Tristan Thompson, MarkKeith Morris. I called them out last

(28:33):
week where it's like, yeah,you know they won't screw up, but
can they really hang with the youngerguys anymore? And for right now,
Burks is he's got plenty of juiceleft in the tank. Since we last
spoke, we've also seen the MAVsand the Thunder go three two in favor
of the MAVs. The Thunder respondedto the MAVs, and the MAVs then
Thusley responded to the Thunder And nowI think Saturday is game six for for

(28:55):
these two. MAVs won the mostrecent one win four to ninety two in
Okay. I you know my personalhistory with one particular player, so I
don't want to say a lot ofnice things about them, but I will
just say, overall speaking, andhe is included in this overall speak,
this has been a really nice seriesfor Dallas. They have played. I

(29:19):
thought they might be a little overmatchedathletically m h. And they have really
been also with Luca being being adinged up, but they have played really,
really good basketball in this series andnow they got a chance to be
able to go forward too, andwhen the series move on to the Western
Finals. I love their You know, everybody has said, oh, the

(29:44):
PJ. Washington Daniel Gapper trades wereamazing. We've set that too, Yep,
that was perfect. But what Ireally love about Dallas now is that
for Luca, for Kyrie, they'vegot four five guys who are a lob
threat every single time I'm down thecourt. It's Gafford, It's Washington,
Obviously, it's Derek Jones Junior,but then Derek Lively coming off the bench,

(30:06):
and even Josh Green. They arereally scary when they get out in
transition. And this is a teamthat after the trade took on a much
different defensive orientation to them and thattype of identity, and they've been able
to collectively play really good defense againsta really good Oklahoma City team. And

(30:26):
for me, with the Thunder,I think this is one of those moments
like I talked about with Minnesota,this is very valuable for them. But
you have seen Oklahoma City's youth comeout now in this series in the wrong
ways, getting tight at times,not being able to knock down open threes,
even at home turnovers out of hesitationor you know, one guy Ziggs

(30:49):
when he should have egged and theball goes out of bound. Guys hesitating
a little bit. I'm not sureif they should shoot or if they should
drive. That's not what we sawout of the Thunder most of the year,
where they played well above their agerange, and now all of a
sudden, they're coming back down toearth a little bit against the Dallas team
that has more guys who have beenthere more often. And for Oklahoma City

(31:14):
if they lose this, yes,it's a massive disappointment to be the number
one team in the West and tolose in the semi final round. But
I don't think there's any shame,as you were saying, to lose to
this Dallas Mavericks team right now,and for Oklahoma City, this just becomes
another building block. We won fiftyseven games, we got the number one
seat, we advanced around, weplayed well in the second round. We

(31:36):
are so so, so so young, these lessons are just going to make
us better when we come back,because at some point the Oklahoma City Thunder
are going to run the NBA andit's coming sooner rather than later. Yeah,
it kinda is one of those likethere's like a shift like in the
sand a little bit for the supremacyof the of the com diferences. It

(32:00):
seems like it seems like with inthe West, it seems like okay See
is un theer come. It seemslike, who are we just talking about?
But it's their shelf life as longas Okay Season got Anthony Edwards.
Well, it will obviously depend on, you know, off season moves and

(32:20):
stuff like that. Okay See justhas a bunch of seven year olds,
so it's finally got they got timeto sort of figure out a lot of
this stuff. There is no oneliterally younger than the okay See that it's
out there playing. But I doI don't think they're done in the series.
But I don't feel like I lovetheir chances either. Does that make

(32:42):
sense? I had Dallas in thisone, Like I could see them coming
back and winning in Dallas, butI also then see them going out back
right back at home. You know, like, I don't know which way
to sort of go with this,Like they've played really well for a couple
of games and stretches in the otherthree, but they've also, you know,

(33:04):
had some of those younger mistakes wherethey just you could tell they're on
the up, just not there yet. And Dallas this is where you talk
about the athleticism being beat up orat least going up against the juxtaposing against
a lot of that experience. Youknow, Kyrie and whether or not Luca
has not gotten deep. But Kyrieand Lucas this roster loaded with playoff experience

(33:28):
for Dallas, So it just afair amount of playoffs as does you know,
harder way, So these guys dohave they they have minutes when it
counts the most, right, andso they sort of I don't know how

(33:50):
else to say, Like, Idon't think playoff football is that much different
than play than regular season football,Like it's just better teams. I think
playoff basketball is a completely different levelthan what regular season basketball is, maybe
more so than any other sport.If I'm trying to think about hockey,
maybe a little bit baseball. Ithink it's really more you's got better players

(34:12):
that are playing that time. Ithink the level of play is just different,
and the focus and the intensity fromthe really good elite players that are
into the playoffs is just different.And I think okay See is in a
spot where that might get exploited andI can see them again losing coming up
Saturday. So I mean, forme, I'm not one hundred percent sure
where I feel about this series now. I've just been impressed with the fact

(34:35):
that Dallas hasn't been overwhelmed by theathleticism, and they've used a lot of
that guile and that mentality that theyhave to be able to have their chails
a chance to win a six.And I know you won't do this,
and I've danced around this during thisseries, but I'm gonna I'm gonna do
this. Kyrie Irving had twelve pointsin Game five, but you know what,

(34:55):
ky Irving was so incredibly valuable bowlthroughout that game and he has been
throughout this series. He's picking hisspots, he's not forcing anything. He
is competing so hard defensively right now. He's going after rebounds too. I
know he only pulled down two boards, but I saw him in the mix

(35:15):
or boxing out doing those little thingsover and over and over. And I
don't know if you remember this,but a long time ago, when I
used to come on your radio show, this was back before we were doing
this podcast, Back when it wasCleveland and you know, Golden State running

(35:36):
into each other four straight times inthe finals. We would always point out
that Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love,they didn't have to be great defenders.
They just had to compete in orderfor Cleveland to be able to do their
thing. And that's been true forKyrie Irving, and we've seen him be
capable of it, but of course, as he got into his head case

(35:57):
era over the last few years,that just wasn't there. And now,
all of a sudden, all allseason long, he has been so locked
in of being a good teammate,of encouraging guys, of having a smile
on his face, of just beingthis positive energy instead of an energy suck,

(36:19):
and then going out onto the courtand doing these things. And now
I dare say it's not just KyrieIrving competing. Kyrie Irving has actually been
effective as a defensive player and asa dirty work guy over this series.
What blows my mind the most aboutthis is that this Kyrie has existed all
along. Yeah, and last yearwhen he gets to Dallas, it's a

(36:45):
complete s show, like it justcollapses onto itself, like a dying star.
Like it's just spectacularly bad. Iwonder if I wonder if for his
price, the market that was availableto him, and the fact that Mark

(37:07):
Cuban essentially said, I'm gonna giveyou that that that check, but you're
not gonna get all the checks inyears and the mouth that you want anywhere
else. I wonder if that broughthim back to earth a little like I
don't know, maybe he was justlike tethered to earth a little like he
just he was there and he wasthe superstar and he was getting to the

(37:28):
finals. And then he was gettinghurt in the final. Which one was
he tethered to? Oh he's onlytethered to the map, the flat map.
Okay, okay, But you wonderif some of that just got him
to talk about you know, allthe things that he did talk about,
right and sort of the way hewas sort of you know, uh,
was it that sponging bad spirits withSage or whatever it was that he was

(37:52):
like, maybe some of that justcame back a scoch and it just they
made him think, Okay, Ican He'll be the lot of this guy.
But I really got to focus onbeing a better teammate, being more
open to the team, and justplay basketball because I know I'm good at

(38:13):
this and everyone else knows I'm goodat this. I think maybe just I
lost sort of my focus and waya little bit, and then I wonder.
I just wonder a lot if thatdid anything, because this is the
Kyrie that I always expected up untila few years ago, up until what
probably his to forced his way outof Cleveland. That's when it started.

(38:34):
Well that's when it started. ButI would think I didn't really feel the
weird bad stuff about him until maybea little bit in Cleveland, but really
like when he was like, hey, boss that I love to be able
to re sign with you, andthen like immediately goes away, like it's
like, I don't know. Butagain, I just wonder if all of
that, plus maybe the off seasonmarket kind of brought him back to like

(38:57):
focuses him on the sport that gotthem so much money and acclaim and now
we see sort of a team that'sa game away from the Western Finals.
I mean, they got a legitimateshot, no matter who they got on
the other side, they got ashot to be able to put up a
couple of games, and I don'tknow, maybe even sneak into the championship
series, like it's it's possible,It is possible. Yeah, I Kyrie

(39:21):
Irving, he sure seemed miserable overthe last few years, didn't he Like,
he just seemed deeply unhappy, unhappythat I would get miserable unhappy.
Something just wasn't working for him somewhereright, and and he you know that
there Obviously, it's been a turbulentfew years COVID and political stuff and and

(39:44):
George Floyd and all these things,and Kyrie Irving had strong opinions about all
of that. So it's been adifficult time in general off the court,
but on the court, they're justthere. Wasn't joy. There was drama.
And I was on record last yearif you remember, at the end
of the season going, if KyrieIrving doesn't turn this around, he's gonna

(40:05):
be out of the league in twoyears, Like that's where this is going.
And he he has turned it around. And the big thing for me
is just seeing Kyrie Irving smiling multipletimes per game, and sure like I
kind of rolled my eyes in theirprevious series against the Clippers because all of
a sudden, Kyrie Irving was theone showing up to do the quarter interviews

(40:29):
and he was doing a great job, and he was smiling and he was
laughing. It's like, this isthe Kyrie Irving who hated the media,
who stuck a knife in the mediaa couple of years ago, had nothing
nice to say, and here heis, and it was like, you
know, is he just mugging forthe camera. Is this part of his
like reputation salvage tour Kobe Bryant inone of those at the end of his
career two when it worked, Isthat really what's going on here? But

(40:52):
then I backed away from it andtried not to be quite so skeptical because
it was like, you know,I'm seeing Kyrie with that same sort of
joy and openness and happiness around histeammates, and I'm seeing that, And
that's where I don't think you canforce that. You can force that with
the media, but I don't thinkover an eighty two game season you can

(41:13):
force that type of joy and fakeit, especially when all of your teammates
are being like, no, Kyrie'sbeen awesome. He's been great, And
Lucas said, we figured it out. We're on the same page. We
have such a mutual respect for oneanother. And maybe that's really what it
was about too. Kyrie did saysomething really interesting during the Clippers series.
He said in an interview about howin the past he was getting into his

(41:36):
head about having to prove himself asone of the best players in the league
and feeling disrespected a lot, andnow coming to terms with the fact that
I have that respect. I havehad that respect. I don't need to
keep chasing that. People know whatmy game is about. My peers do
respect me. They know how goodI can be. Let me just set

(41:59):
that stuff aside, not worry aboutthat, and just go out and win
and have fun. And I thinkthis is so cliche, but I think
there is a lot of truth hereabout rediscovering that joy of just going and
playing basketball with a group of guyswho like to play on your team and

(42:19):
you like to play with them alot. There, let me say that
one other thing, and I thinkthis, I don't under sell the fact
that he's playing in Dallas. Imean he was playing in Cleveland, but
Lebron was the god there like hewhen Lebron shut up, Lebron was the
guy immediately was there constantly to theattention away. And they started playing in

(42:45):
Boston or playing in Brooklyn like likeeverything. I mean, they're big three,
and like they're you know, unableto stay healthy as someone's they're just
always something that's sort of either putall the attention from the world on the
team or on him or on guysaround him. And in Dallas, maybe

(43:06):
he was able to sort of nothave to be front and center focus all
the time to be answering questions becauseBoston media and New York media they'll just
ask you stuff just to ask youstuff because they're correctively talking. And and
you can imagine that probably too toa degree when Lebron got to Cleveland,
which was like, all right,this was your team. Now it's my
team level, so the question hasbecome more slid towards all right, well

(43:28):
now that it's his team, kindof right, creating a narrative where one
doesn't have to exist. I couldsee I could see how that would drive
you battye for like seven eight straightyears, where like someone is creating a
narrative like that for while in Dallas, like it's Lucas team, You're not

(43:49):
in one of the major media marketsin terms of like coverage is there.
Dallas isn't on every other night onone of the major channels, right,
So yeah, I see where likemaybe he just got a chance to have
some peace away from all of thatand realize, yeah, I'm having fun
doing this again. And this iswhere I wanted to because remember even everything
was a disaster last year in Dallas, he was thrown in last minute,

(44:13):
Like it wasn't like he was stillsaying all the right things when he got
there. To his credit, himand Luca were trying. They were trying
to make it. Luca was verypublic like, hey, we're not buddies
yet. We don't got to figureit out yet, like whatever this is
like we're still trying to figure outwhose team this is kind of thing.
So maybe they did that all right. Finally, I want to talk about
the most exciting series we had withis Celtics Calves, and I just want

(44:36):
to before that one out, Celticswin that in five games. We thought
it would be a pretty quick seriesand you know when Donovan Mitchell doesn't play.
It's like, all right, well, you know both of us predicted
that would be a five game series. When we were looking, will it
be Orlando, will it be Cleveland? Who advances in their Game seven?
You said it's probably a sweep beforeOrlando gets in, but maybe five it's
Cleveland. And I was on recordgoing, maybe Orlando can get one.

(45:00):
Cleveland is probably five, maybe sixgames at best. But you're right.
As soon as everybody started getting hurt, it's like, now Cleveland is lucky
to have gotten one at all.To their credit, they fought, they
were in most games. At leastthey fight hard in Game five before Boston
just healthier, deeper, frankly better. Right now they are the better team

(45:22):
and again showing why they are thenumber one seed in the East to the
number that's scary, right, Solet me ask this. This was an
interesting thing that was brought up byI heard from Draymond Green. I don't
know if you heard this and howmuch you care about Draymond Green, but
since the Warriors don't play basketball inthe postseason anymore, he was doing his

(45:42):
tn T postseason duty, we're talkingabout the Boston Celtics. And he said
that no one cares that they're inthe Eastern Conference Finals for the third straight
year, because for this team,they've been there for the last few years.
It's time for them to win thechampionship at this point. And I
kind of agree. I kind ofagree, Like getting to the Eastern Conference

(46:05):
Finals would be a huge deal ifyou're the Cavs, and a big deal
if you're the Knicks, and abig deal if you're the Pacers. But
for the Celtics, you've been herea lot lately, and with the best
majority of the people of the corps, especially on this team, we don't
care unless you get into the finalsand winning it. You know, one
hundred percent agree. And Boston,to their credit, has taken care of

(46:28):
business throughout these playoffs, and withthe Porzingis injury, winning early like this
gives more time for rest to thewhole roster, It gives time to maybe
get him back. They got ahope that this New York Indiana series goes
seven games and buys them a littlebit more time. And yes, then
when Porzingis comes back, it's goingto be that age old issue of is

(46:51):
he rusty? How do you reacclimatehim? Into the group. But they've
done that already, and I'm notreally all that worried even if you brought
Porzingis off bench. This is agroup and a starting five. But even
the guys coming off in the secondunit, Sam Hows or Luke Cornett,
Payton Richard, they just all fit. And you just look at this roster,
and every time I watch the Celticsplay, I just think of the

(47:15):
old school and this is pre likeBig Three, Garnett, Pierce, ray
Allen, back to the days ofLarry Bird and Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish
and the Microwave and guys like that, and even back to some of the
Bill Russells Celtics. They were alwaysteams that were loaded with a lot of
really good starters and guys that werecapable any night of being the lead scorer.

(47:39):
It was unpredictable. You still knewwho the lead dogs were, but
there was always still a couple ofother guys very capable. And then their
bench was always just very very reliable, with role players who came in and
did their job at an elite level, fitting in with whatever starters they played

(48:00):
with. And that is the impressionthat I've been left with this Celtics team.
The more that I watched them throughthe postseason. We've all had our
concerns about their toughness and even theirdepth through the regular season. But I
think a lot of the depth issueshave been answered now over time, and
the toughness is maybe the part that'syet to be tested. Although Cleveland did

(48:22):
play them tough, but Cleveland wasplaying with one arm tied behind their back
and their leg hanging off, youknow, to at the same time.
So is it really a true test? But that's gonna come up. It's
gonna be tested if they see inNew York, it'll be tested in a
different way if they see Indiana,and certainly in the finals, whoever they
face, it'll be a slug fest. And that's where to make your point,

(48:44):
that's where it's really going to beanswered or not. Are the Celtics
tough enough? We won't have ananswer until the NBA Finals most likely,
well they won't see the finals,so it won't have to worry about it.
So if it's the Nicks and thenthey answer, you know, the
question would be answered ahead of time. But I mean, I gotta say,
if it doesn't really matter to mewhether it's Indiana or New York.

(49:06):
I'm picking Boston this point in theConference finals until somebody shows me otherwise.
But okay, okay, well thenlet Top Timboteau show you otherwise. Okay,
he'll try. I give New Yorkall the credit in the world.
They will try. Joe Mazzulla,the coach of the Celtics, said earlier
this morning that he was asked aboutan upsdate on Porzingis. He says,
I have no idea. I don'thave an update on that. Porzing has

(49:30):
has a play since April twenty ninth. Uh So we're going on three four
weeks. Eastern Conference Finals start Tuesday. So whatever happens, if the Knicks
win or lose tonight, then Gameseven week Sunday, and the Game one
of the Eastern Conference Finals will beTuesday. I I'm back and forth on

(49:52):
Boston just because they have had anddeserve so, because they've got the number
one seed, they have had afairly a fairly easy road to be able
to get here as far as thematchups against them, which is what's expected
when you're in the number one seed. That's what you earn, right exactly.

(50:13):
And I'm trying to figure out.I think the Knicks would be the
best team to be able to pulldown Boston, but they're also the team
that they're half an injury away frombeing swept completely by a Boston. So
Indiana may actually be a tougher testfor six or seven games because they can't

(50:38):
score because they can push the paceand Boston likes to push with pace.
Two. Both teams like to putup one thousand and three is a game.
Both of them like to shoot thelights out if they can, or
just shoot at the lights constantly ifthey can do that. So I'm back
and more than what I think Bostoncould do it because I'm with you that
toughness has not been pushed. They'vebeen a little physical with Cleveland. New

(51:00):
York will try to kick him inthe dingling over and over again. That's
that that's the only thing that willtry uh do that at all. And
even then it's as I've talked tohim before, they don't do that as
much as they used to. Uh. They are much more of a run
around, shoot it up kind ofteam than they than they used to be.
They're just they're not as deep,and when you're only playing seven guys

(51:21):
like essentially granted, like I mean, you know what I mean, like
pressure if they can if they canget Oganobi back, things change a lot.
Oh if back, and I don'texpect it, but I don't know,
But you're you're right that like Indianaoutside of Benedict Mathren, who that
is a big loss. He's beena great bench plug guy for them.
But outside of Ben Mathrin, Indianahas a full and healthy roster, and

(51:45):
Mathrin plays at a position where theat wing, where the Pacers are so
deep. They moved not only BuddyHealed, but also Bruce Brown during the
season, two guys who were startercaliber players them. They moved both of
those guys during the year because theywere so deep at the wing position.

(52:06):
So the loss of Mathrin is somethingthat the Pacers have more than proven is
not really that big of a dealin the grand scheme of things. When
aaron Ne Smith and Nemhart and evenObi Toppin who's playing some wing for them
Siakam plays wings, sometimes they're ableto fill that spot. New York,
on the other hand, it's likeyou look down that bench and like you

(52:27):
said, one more injury, there'sno other Alec Burke sitting down at the
end of that bench. There's noother guy that you can plug in where
you go. He's gonna be ableto give us a lift. I know
what he'll bring to the table.Yeah, and I think it's going back
to Annobe. I know he's doingsome light work on the hamstring right now.
Back on the court, I am. I know he's not gonna be

(52:49):
playing tonight. That give Jenny kindof assists. It's so, I mean,
it's supposed to be the way,his fourth straight game that he would
be missing from New York and thisseries with him the series over, the
Nigs have won the series, Ibelieve. So this is why Indiana has
that big chance. But I Inope. There's been talked that he may

(53:15):
be ready for the Conference finals,but I don't think Game one. But
regardless, we're talking about the Celticshere for just the last couple of minutes.
I'm with you and I'm with DraymondGreen. This is you gotta keep
winning. It's all the matters.And they've been workmanlike. They've gotten through

(53:35):
these two series and they've got themdone in five and they you know,
to be fair, they're not goingout and beating their chests saying that they
just won these series. They're justgoing about it just the way you do
business, right, adds the teamthat's the number one seed, probably the
quietest I can think about, Boss, the Celtics number one seed ever,
kind of being right, like they'rejust kind of doing what they need to
do because I think they know too. They've been to the conference finals a

(53:58):
bunch, they've been to the NBAFinals. This is the time for them
to bring it back that next banderbecause at this point Celtics fains don't care.
No one else in the NBA cares, you know. I think this
is a team that's supposed to winit all, regardless of who they face.
Boston won fourteen more games than NewYork during the regular season. They

(54:21):
won seventeen more games than the Pacersduring the regular season. Yes, it's
the playoffs and by and large youthrow records out the window, but that
is indicative of the fact that,like Boston just played at a different level
than the rest of the Eastern Conferenceall year. There's a reason they were
the number one seed, but theyran away with it this year. It

(54:45):
wasn't ever even close, and thatagain speaks to whatever team comes into this
is going to be a massive underdog. But that also, I think puts
the pressure on Boston that if youcan't take care of business in the Eastern
Conference finals against New York or Indiana, those two teams for those reasons,

(55:05):
then exactly like Raymond Green said,it's a it's a huge failure. It's
a huge failure. Yeah. I'llsay that the Knicks lost three or four
to the PA, to the tothe Celtics in the regular season. When
I thought the team that was gonnabe able to give them problems would be
the Knicks, they lost three orfour to them. I think. Uh,
they also won three or four againstIndiana. If I'm not mistaken,
I could be off on that.Maybe they split. No, they won

(55:28):
three or four against Indiana, Sothere are two opponents they have good records
against in the regular season. Iwill say though, that the Knicks didn't
win the most recent matchup at theend of the regular season against the Celtics,
So stuff that in your Celtics aregonna win. Crawl, mister cordyce

(55:50):
not so not so fun when therabbit has the gun, is it right?
So? Man, looking good?Though everybody's looking good, everybody feeling
good. Do you think on theway in are your are your tea Wolves
going through? I originally picked Denverto win this in seven games. I

(56:13):
have been right on every pick throughthe playoffs so far, except for I
did have Philly beating New York originallyin the first round. So I do
think Denver probably wins at home.I'm gonna have a hard time betting against

(56:34):
the champs, betting against the MVP. From what I've seen when Denver has
been able to ratchet it up andthe way that they responded after getting their
their butts kicked in game two,and of course they just have the same
type of beatdown in game six,So I think Denver is able to respond.
They've got they've got a chemistry thatthey can play with that the Wolves

(56:54):
are building. They're getting to thatpoint, but they're not they're quite yet.
As a fail safe, the onething that could transcend that is Orel
Anthony Towns playing a smart game likewe saw in game six and Anthony Edwards
playing an absolute superstar game, whichis possible to It's going to take that

(57:15):
that level, along with the defensiveintensity and the flying around that we saw.
But let's be real too, inGame six, Denver did get a
lot of actually good looks that justdidn't fall. It really was not their
night. Minnesota did so many thingsright, but I saw a lot of
Denver looks that were going down ingames three through five, and they just
didn't do the six. That wasa long way to say that you want

(57:37):
to pick the t Wols, butyou don't want to because you don't.
I can't Well, I just well, I just I don't think I can.
I picked the t Wolves. Theywere my pick the start. They've
not shown me anything yet, especiallysince they won Game six, that they
won't be able to do something else. By the way, we had three
of the four series possibly go intoseven, and they three of these might
go to seven. Okay, seein Dallas. So you got game six,

(58:01):
Dallas and six. I think Dallas. I kind of I kind of
lean with you that way too.Uh. New York and Indiana, who
you got? I've got New Yorkin seven. I like I said before,
I think the home team continues towin in this I it's gonna be
so tough for New York to watch. It can't win on the road.

(58:22):
Like, I don't understand it.They can't lose a home, can't win
on the road, like it's this, But but that is one of those
teams, a track me type ofteam that that that is the type of
team that really feeds off a crowdtoo. And when the Avalanche starts,
I didn't want to say much aboutthis, but that Game three crowd was
pretty pretty crazy. Yeah, Imean the New York crowd has been amazing

(58:43):
too. I'll give them that credit. Indiana talked about the New York crowd
before they blew the roof off.They blew the roof off in that game.
Man, New York's so fun whenthey're actually good. All right,
that's good, all right, Joe, that's gonna do it for us.
You have the Knicks winning the championshipin seven. I hear. That sounds
good to me. And that's howI'm winning. In this podcast, Joe
and we come back, we willhave conference finals to talk about. I'm

(59:05):
looking forward to it. And ofcourse, if you want the audio only
version, Spreak or Spotify. iTunesis where you find Basketball by Association.
If you want the video version,we are on YouTube. You can like
share, subscribe to all that goodstuff and yeah, looking forward to next
week already. My friend