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00:00 What a big couple of segments we have here over this next half hour live on a Monday
00:07 on the early line on Sports Grid.
00:10 It's Ben, it's Donnie, but the man in the middle is our coach.
00:13 His scouting report to tell us if there is any life left in the 2024 NBA Finals or if
00:20 it will be another easy gentleman's sweep, potential sweep for the Celtics.
00:25 He's James Young, J.Y., but not just the scouting report, maybe J.Y. the insider once again.
00:32 Dan Hurley decision day on this Monday.
00:36 What does James Young know about what Dan Hurley might do?
00:40 Will he stay in stores?
00:42 Will he head out to the bright lights of Hollywood in Los Angeles?
00:46 Plenty of that coming your way over these next three straight segments.
00:49 J.Y., I hope you had a great weekend.
00:51 Thanks for being here on this Monday.
00:54 It's always great to be on with you and listen, I got to say, I know we're going to talk about
00:58 Hurley later, but J.Y. tried to go to a concert this weekend.
01:03 The only problem is, I got the wrong concert and the wrong stage.
01:09 Savage 21?
01:10 No, no, no.
01:11 It's 21 Savage.
01:12 What are you talking about?
01:13 21 Savage?
01:14 What are you throwing about?
01:15 Hold on a second.
01:19 We were ready to talk about Billy Joel and Dan Hurley, I guess, being in Madison Square
01:23 Garden, but my co-host Donny Rightside just called 21 Savage, Savage 21?
01:28 Yeah, yeah.
01:29 Yeah, exactly.
01:30 Look in the mirror.
01:31 Not to be outdone by Donny's knowledge of rap music, Coach Young ended up at a Chris
01:37 Stampleton concert.
01:38 So I was looking for him on Saturday, but wrong concert, wrong place.
01:45 What does any of that have to do with anything we are discussing here?
01:48 I like it.
01:49 What is happening?
01:50 I like where we're going.
01:51 We're off to a good start.
01:52 We're off to a good start.
01:53 What is happening?
01:54 Again, I continue my Mark Jackson meme here on The Early Line.
01:59 What is happening in the game that I love?
02:02 Anyway, let's focus first on the NBA Finals and the opening two games of this set before
02:07 we get into concerts or Dan Hurley a little bit later on.
02:12 Boston victorious in game number two, 105-98, covering ever so slightly once again as a
02:19 six and a half point favorite inside TD Garden.
02:22 Pre-game total, J-Y of 215 stays under.
02:25 Boston takes a 2-0 series advantage in the 2024 NBA Finals.
02:31 There are many things that you could say.
02:32 Drew Holliday, stellar performance in game two.
02:35 Nobody on Dallas helping out Luka Doncic with a 32-point triple-double.
02:41 But in your mind, J-Y, what has been the main reason the Celtics have a 2-0 series lead?
02:48 Kyrie Irving.
02:49 Simply put, I said if they're going to win this series, Kyrie's got to be fantastic.
02:53 And it's been anything but.
02:55 I thought maybe the game one, shaking it off would be something.
02:59 But the turnaround to go 7-18 from the floor in game number two, this guy scoring 14 points
03:05 a game, 17-37.
03:06 This is a guy at one point, Ben, was a 50-40-90 player in his career.
03:12 50% from the floor, 40% from the three, 90% from the foul line.
03:16 He has been marginal at best.
03:19 Now listen, is he doing other things?
03:21 Is he passing the ball?
03:22 Yes, six assists last night.
03:24 I get it.
03:25 But if Dallas is going to compete in this series, Ben, he's got to score.
03:30 He just has to.
03:32 And yes, PJ Watson gives you better minutes.
03:34 Derek Jones Jr. gives you 11 points.
03:35 I get it.
03:36 Gafford, 13-9.
03:37 Yada yada.
03:39 You need that number two.
03:41 You need that, what is that, Becky Hammond?
03:43 That 1A.
03:44 I guess that 1B, I would say, if Lucas 1A.
03:48 To take the pressure off of Luca, but also to open up for other people.
03:53 Kyrie has not been good.
03:56 They're down 2-0.
03:58 And if he's not better Wednesday and Friday, Ben, by the time we get to next Saturday,
04:04 this series is going to be over.
04:05 He must be much better and much more aggressive and much more better in making his shots.
04:13 Here's a tough takeaway also from game number two, is you got that great performance out
04:16 of Luca, which we'll talk about in just a few moments.
04:18 But Tatum and Brown, 18 points and 21.
04:21 And also, Tatum couldn't hit the shot to save his life in that first quarter and a half.
04:25 Finishes at 6-22 from the floor, and they still won this basketball game.
04:29 So as you're lining up, we talked about it before the series, Coach.
04:32 You said the Boston Celtics were a much deeper team.
04:35 It's showing now where our superstars, talking about the Celtics, don't need to perform great,
04:39 and we can still win basketball games, even though the other superstars, at least one
04:42 of them, is performing well for the Mavericks.
04:44 Down 0-2 moving forward, can we, what's the expectation for the Celtics?
04:48 What happens if they do bring their A game out here, Coach?
04:52 If these roll guys, and if you remember before the series started, I said that the A-level
04:58 guys of the Mavs, meaning Luca and Kyrie, have to be much better than the advantage
05:03 of the B guys that the Celtics are going to have, which is obviously Porzingis, Hodde,
05:08 and White versus Jones, Gafford, and Washington.
05:12 Folks, it's happening.
05:14 The gap is, and because Kyrie's not bringing his part, the Celtics B guys, or glue guys,
05:19 whatever you want to call them, they're bringing it.
05:22 And this is what makes Boston, folks, so dangerous, is any night, any one of those five can get
05:28 you 20.
05:29 At any night, Al Horford can go off and hit three or four threes.
05:34 On any night, a guy like Peyton Pritchard can give you something off the bench.
05:38 If he hasn't played well, I mean, besides the shot he hit at the end of the third quarter,
05:42 they have so many different layers to how they beat you, and they're kind of all chameleon,
05:48 right?
05:49 Their ability for them to share roles.
05:51 Now it was interesting because of the comments that Jason Kidd made over the weekend, right?
05:56 I think it was Saturday, right?
05:57 About Jaylen Brown being the best player.
05:59 That's a slight towards Tatum.
06:00 Now if that would have got in Tatum's head, he would have been like, "No, man.
06:06 30 shots.
06:07 I'm giving it up."
06:08 But what Boston did is they allowed him to be the facilitator more, put the ball in his
06:12 hands more, and he kept making the right play.
06:16 He may not have made the shots, but he got the attention, he got the assist, and that
06:21 is what made them really, really good is the fact that Tatum could go up and be a Robin
06:27 and get other guys involved.
06:28 It was just a great performance by that team that is beating, basically, Luka and the Pips.
06:36 Six of 22 for Jason Tatum, but 12 dimes, 18 points, only one rebound shy of a triple
06:43 double.
06:44 Jaylen Brown has scored 20 plus in each of the first two for Boston, but last night's
06:47 leading scorer for the Celtics, that was Drew Holiday.
06:51 26 points, 11 of 14 from the floor.
06:54 We'll talk NBA Finals MVP with Boston up 2-0 in our next segment.
06:59 J.Y., it almost feels a little bit antiquated in a way, or a little bit more simply stated,
07:06 that entering this series, we said that Dallas had the best player, potentially the best
07:11 duo that had to be, as you just said, four supreme to the duo of Boston if there was
07:17 going to be a chance for the Mavericks to win the NBA Championship, because the balance
07:21 and depth of Boston would reign supreme.
07:24 And that has happened here in the first two games of this series, despite Luka Doncic
07:29 scoring 30 plus in each of the first two, despite Luka going off for his third 30-point
07:36 triple double of this NBA playoff run for the Mavericks.
07:40 We saw him entering last night.
07:43 We got the reports that he was questionable ahead of game two.
07:46 He was getting wrapped up on the sideline any time he checked out of the game.
07:52 Can Luka Doncic's play continue at this level in a precarious situation for the Mavs as
07:58 they're down 0-2?
08:01 His play can continue, but it ain't going to matter, Ben, if the other guys, namely
08:06 Kyrie, don't step up.
08:09 He's putting the team on his back.
08:10 I mean, just think about the first quarter and what he came out to come on, gunning 13
08:14 points in the first quarter, 5-7 from the floor, basically keeping you in the game in
08:18 that first quarter, in that second quarter.
08:20 Obviously, in the second half, 3 of 8 from the floor, 5 turnovers, kind of fell off a
08:25 little bit.
08:26 But that's why you need Kyrie at that point to start to carry the load the other way.
08:32 But what did Kyrie do in the second half?
08:34 He was 2 of 8 from the floor, 0 of 3 from the 3-point line, 3-point line for 6 points.
08:39 They need to trade roles, and that's when Dallas is at their best, because it allows
08:44 Luka, I don't know, I don't want to say take plays off, because he never takes plays off,
08:49 but you can't load up on him as much if the second side of the floor can get going, because
08:54 let's be honest, there's no one else on that team, Ben, that can create their own shot
08:58 pots.
08:59 It's Luka and Kyrie.
09:00 PJ Washington has been Dallas' second-leading scorer in each of the first two games of the
09:05 2024 NBA Finals.
09:07 Donnie and I said it in both of those two recaps.
09:11 If that is the case, the Mavericks might not win a single game in this championship series.
09:16 Will they, though, as we get ready to change venues for game number three on Wednesday?
09:21 We look at the rest of the series next.
09:23 Celtics hold serve on their home floor, which is something Boston has done inside TD Garden
09:29 all year long.
09:31 Should we be surprised that the Celtics have a 2-0 series lead in the 2024 NBA Finals?
09:37 Maybe not, but how many more games will we see in this championship series, with Boston
09:43 just two wins away from championship number 18?
09:46 Now, J.Y., the Celtics entered the NBA Finals greater than a $2 odds-on favorite to win
09:52 Larry O'Brien Trophy number 18.
09:55 They have been booked as a heavy favorite virtually all season long.
10:00 After taking that 2-0 series advantage with a 105-98 victory in game two, it's a minus
10:06 $1,000 price in favor of the Celtics to win the NBA title this season.
10:13 How many more games does the NBA Finals go?
10:17 Well, I would like to say six.
10:22 Not six games, but six games total, so four more games.
10:24 Because I do think Dallas is going to get at least one, hopefully both of the games
10:30 at home.
10:31 At least, I'm praying to God it's the case, because Lord knows we need somewhat of an
10:35 entertaining NBA Finals, because it's been anything but such.
10:39 So I do think there's going to be, Dallas will play better at home.
10:42 A little bit of regression by some of the Celtics.
10:45 Maybe someone like Porzingis, who you never know with that leg, and the fact he's going
10:49 back to Dallas.
10:50 I think this is going to go six.
10:52 I said Dallas in six, maybe it's Boston in six, but I still think it's going six.
10:57 With the extension of the series, and we hope it certainly does go six or seven, gives us
11:01 some great content and also will be a great series.
11:03 But game number three is going to be pivotal.
11:05 But talk to me about this, Coach.
11:07 You take a look at Luka Doncic, and how well he's performed in the playoffs.
11:11 But then we get those games where it's yesterday before the game.
11:13 We don't even know if he's going to play downgraded to questionable on game day.
11:16 Are we worried at all about Luka's health moving forward here, to try to even extend
11:20 the series and get it at least back to Boston?
11:24 I mean, you always want to be concerned when you see a player go from probable to questionable,
11:28 what, six hours before tip-off.
11:31 That's always going to be a concern.
11:32 And obviously seeing how Luka was on the sideline.
11:34 But Luka's a gamer.
11:35 Luka's going to battle.
11:36 Luka's going to come through.
11:37 Luka's going to play.
11:38 Luka's going to do whatever he's got to do to play.
11:43 Like I said, it's about Kyrie.
11:45 It's about the role players.
11:46 And what you hope for is, when you get into your home gym, you sleep in your own bed,
11:52 maybe the shots just fall a little bit more in your own arena.
11:55 At least you've got hope.
11:56 I've got to try and find something for Dallas to feel like they can make this run.
12:01 It's tough because you look at Boston and they could just, if Tatum's off, Brown can
12:06 go off.
12:07 If Brown's off, there could be Holliday.
12:08 If Holliday doesn't go off, there could be White.
12:10 Then there's Porzingis.
12:11 Then there's Pritchard.
12:12 Like, for us, it's still going to be like, can Kyrie get you 25 or so points?
12:18 Because you need, I would say, honestly, 50 to 55 points from the two of them and the
12:24 bench would do enough for you to get over the hump.
12:27 That has not happened yet.
12:29 And that's why we're in this series right now, 2 of Boston.
12:32 - J. Wyatt, it seems obvious that Kyrie is the key for Dallas to win a game in the NBA
12:39 finals, game number three, two days away, Wednesday night in Dallas, as we change spots
12:44 for the first time, where the Mavericks are an ever so slight home favorite, laying a
12:49 point and a half minus 122 on the money line.
12:53 So outside of hope and some home cooking, from a coaching perspective, what can Jason
12:59 Kidd and his Dallas staff do to get Kyrie Irving going for game number three?
13:05 - I would run him off as many screens as I can and try to create matchups from where
13:09 you get switches and get Kyrie on a more favorable person guarding him.
13:14 You know, sometimes when you bring the ball off the floor, it's easy to set up.
13:17 So I would run, we would call it DHL's dribble handoffs or dribble drops, maybe dribble
13:22 drop into a ball screen, some kind of false motion action to get Kyrie on the move, man,
13:28 as he gets the ball, instead of having him catch and then come off the wing ball screen
13:31 or have him catch and go one-on-one.
13:33 Sometimes when you get a player moving when they get the ball, they get momentum going,
13:37 they get the defense moving in the direction, and then you can get into your ball screen
13:41 or whatever, or stagger screen or, you know, whatever, horns, ax, whatever you want to
13:45 do.
13:46 Kyrie's got to be on the move more and get the ball on the run.
13:50 And then also, now the team that runs transition is maybe have him be the out-like guy.
13:55 So when the ball gets alpha rebound, out-like him and let him play with space one-on-one
14:00 in the open court.
14:01 You know, what else I'm looking forward to here is game number three, what those injury
14:05 concerns will be for Porzingis.
14:07 We saw him come in and have an immediate impact in games one and game number two, plus minuses
14:11 over 10 in each one of those games.
14:13 If we don't have Porzingis in game number three, what do we get out of the Celtics here?
14:18 Just more Al Horford and also the ability maybe to attack the rim does open up for a
14:22 player like Kyrie Irving.
14:24 Well, that's the key thing, right?
14:27 I think that's why Boston has looked much better is the fact that Chris Dastpor-Zingas
14:33 is averaging two and a half blocks a game in his first two games back.
14:37 He's a rim protector.
14:38 And you know what, guys?
14:39 Listen, I think people need to understand this.
14:42 It's not sometimes about the blocked shot, right?
14:45 Or even the contested shot.
14:47 It's the fact that the guy is there and you know he's there.
14:51 And now guys start to think a little bit, right?
14:53 Dines, maybe you don't attack the basket knowing that Chris Stapps is there, whether he comes
14:59 to block it or not.
15:00 Sometimes you change what you want offensively to do so.
15:03 The problem we have with Dallas is the fact is he's going to be around the basket because
15:08 of the dunk spot.
15:09 I mean, can you play Maxey a little bit more and give him more minutes?
15:12 But he doesn't really do much besides stretch the floor, right?
15:16 He's not a force offensively, doesn't rebound.
15:19 It's got to be this.
15:20 If Chris Stapps is down low, you have to live sometimes on the mid-range game.
15:27 You got to be able to pull up 15 feet away to what we call that kills on area on elbow
15:31 and knock down shots there if you're nervous that KP is down there.
15:35 Now if KP doesn't play or he's compromised, that will hold another ball of wax because
15:41 I don't think Al Horford, even as well as he's playing this series is not the rim protector.
15:47 J Y it feels like we're asking the question, how many more games do we get in the NBA finals,
15:52 but ultimately not who ends up an NBA champion as the Celtics are a minus 1000 favorite and
15:58 have that two Oh series advantage.
16:00 We hope for competition, but if Boston ends up winning title number 18, who's going to
16:06 win NBA finals MVP at this point.
16:10 It's so wild because of the fact of how well all these guys are playing at different spots.
16:14 But to me, I still think it's going to be Tatum because he should still be up there
16:18 in the points, but as long as he leads the series or up there in the series lead and
16:22 rebounds and assists, that's how he does it because the totality of his game, Jason Tatum
16:28 right now, it should be the MVP.
16:30 I mean, when you look at the first two games, the MVPs for Boston have been Chris Stapps
16:34 for Zenya's and then drew holiday in game two.
16:37 It's not like Jalen Brown of Jason Tatum has taken a stronghold on that hardware.
16:42 Plenty more up next with the coach on the early line.
16:45 [Music]