A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani Lunis are back with another episode to discuss the Celtics taking a 2-0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. They talk about Jrue Holiday praise not having to equal Marcus Smart hate, Joe Mazzulla's awkward response at a press conference, and Kyrie Irving.
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SportsTranscript
00:00The Big 3 NBA Podcast is powered by PrizePace, the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the
00:23L&S Media Network.
00:24Hello everyone, welcome into the Big 3 NBA Podcast.
00:28Celtics headed to Dallas for games three and four, but of course, Gary Sherrod, we're going
00:34to talk about the first two games, their performance here in Boston.
00:37They defeated the Mavericks 105 at 98 in game two.
00:41Drew Holiday with 26, Jalen Brown with 22, Tatum with 18 and 12 rebounds and nine assists.
00:47So overall, what is your first impression of what might or could be the first half of
00:54this series?
00:56The Celtics winning a title, the Celtics winning a title.
01:01I thought Dallas would, I thought they were going to get one of the first two games in
01:06Boston.
01:07I really did.
01:08I just thought that Boston was going to have that prototypical letdown game and we just
01:13haven't seen it.
01:15It seems that that Indiana series, you know, for as much as, you know, people question
01:20whether they get any value out of beating a team that they were pretty significantly
01:25better than on paper.
01:27The one thing that we learned in that series is that this Celtics team is on a mission
01:31and the letdowns that have been, I think, historically part of their narrative don't
01:36exist this year.
01:38That Dallas team, the way Dallas played that game, I would say past playoff Celtics teams
01:44would have lost that 70, 80% of the time.
01:46Dallas, I thought did enough to win that game, but the Celtics had a stronger will
01:51to win and we'll get into some of the specific things that the Celtics did to get the victory.
01:57But the bottom line is this team is locked and loaded to win a title and it doesn't seem
02:01to be anything that anyone can do to stop them.
02:04No matter what Jason Kidd's mind Jedi mind trips, one of the mind tricks are no matter
02:10how Kyrie Irving is being Kyrie Irving, uh, the Celtics seem locked into winning a championship
02:16and they're halfway there.
02:17Yeah.
02:18I thought if the Mavericks are going to win a game in Boston, it would have been in game
02:24two.
02:25The Celtics were 25% for the three point line.
02:29They just weren't clicking as well offensively.
02:32They were grinding, trailed most of the first half.
02:35They kind of came back and took a lead and I think when they took that lead, and I remember
02:40Jason Tatum saying like, man, we could have been brought down by 15, 20 points and we
02:44are up three.
02:45And I think psychologically that really gave them a boost and then they held their own
02:50in the third quarter.
02:51They didn't go to those third quarter blues and then they extended the lead and then they
02:55kind of had that eight to 10 and maybe six years and I think huge shot by Peyton Pritchard.
03:02Um, Dallas had the ball to begin the fourth quarter.
03:06So if the Celtics are up six, it's a three point shot, three point game and suddenly
03:12it's a one possession game and now you've got this intensity in the fourth quarter.
03:17Instead it's a nine point lead and now you're more of a hole and they never, they came back
03:22and they had a chance to get to three, but they never were able to overcome that lead.
03:27So I thought if the Celtics play like this and they will win, then they should be able
03:33to get this one, one of these in Dallas.
03:35This is going to be a very difficult two games for them, obviously home cooking for Dallas
03:40and all that.
03:41But the Celtics have played a fantastic two games in terms of defensively.
03:46Um, they've held, they've turned Dallas into a one man team with Luca, Kyrie just looks
03:53like he's shook.
03:55The rest of the guys, I've been impressed with some of the plays by PJ Washington, but
03:59no one else has stepped up.
04:02Gafford, Madden had a little something at the end with some of those post-ups, Lively
04:07had one basket in game two.
04:10Um, you know, some of these other guys, Derrick Jones Jr. had a little, had a little run at
04:15and one, but they're not stepping up.
04:18They're turning into a one man team.
04:20And I think we thought that it would, like we thought the Mavericks were going to come,
04:25but Luca, Kyrie, and some of these other guys were going to step up and that just hasn't
04:28been the case.
04:29And the Celtics have just played solid ball, getting help from Holiday, obviously a great
04:35game in game two, Derrick White making plays, Tatum turning to a more of a distributor.
04:40Obviously he's got to work on his shot.
04:43You'd hope as a Celtic fan that he's going to have one of those games where he's 15 for
04:4620 or something like that.
04:49And he's going to have 30, 35 points because he's due for that.
04:52And you hope that you can win that game.
04:55So I thought, uh, a solid effort because you knew the second game was going to be hard.
05:00I think people expected Dallas to win the second game.
05:03Oh, they're going to respond.
05:05Uh, Jason Kidd threw that little grenade out there about Jason and Jalen, and oh, they're
05:10going to make all these adjustments and Dallas is going to punch the Celtics in the mouth
05:14and show them who's boss.
05:15They've won their previous game twos and all that.
05:19And the Celtics managed the game and won it.
05:22So you got to give them credit for that.
05:24And now it's time to take care of business and try to close out this series as soon as
05:28you can.
05:29Don't give Dallas any hope.
05:31Gary, one thing real quick, before we move on, I wanted to just kind of expound upon
05:36something you mentioned briefly, and that is their defense.
05:40Celtics have played good defense all season long, but this, I thought in game two was
05:44one of those few times where those offensive lulls that they go through, because they went
05:48four or five empty possessions.
05:50And typically those empty possessions on offense have a way of seeping into what they
05:55do or not do defensively.
05:56And I thought that never happened.
05:58It's like when they weren't scoring, they weren't getting scored on.
06:01And that to me is part of this team's growth.
06:04Uh, and again, I go back to that Indiana series, uh, where I just think there was so many lessons
06:09that they took from that series that are benefiting them now that they're never going to get the
06:13credit for handling Indiana the way they did and overcoming some of the things that they
06:18did in that series to basically build them up so that they can handle a better team in
06:24Dallas and make it look as though it's not that hard when in fact we know it's really
06:28hard and it, it did take them, you know, kind of learning how to do that.
06:32Uh, that three pointer by Peyton Pritchett was, it was an absolute dagger.
06:37Uh, I think if, if, cause remember the Celtics were up by like 13, 14 points near the end
06:43of that quarter and they seem to have it in control.
06:45And the next thing you know, those last minute, minute and a half, two minutes, Dallas just
06:49chipped away at that.
06:50And so that Peyton Pritchett three was just, it was just an absolute, just a gut, you know,
06:55just, just a blow to the gut for Dallas after they were trending in the right direction
07:00at the right time to make this a game and get it to a one possession game.
07:04Because if you're the Mavericks, that's exactly what you want.
07:07Luca is at his absolute best in those one, two possession type games at the very end
07:13where they need one shot to go down in order to win.
07:15Uh, and it's Celtics never allowed them to get that close when it mattered most.
07:22Another person you mentioned at the beginning, drew holiday.
07:25And I saw in our rundown, your little pun, Brad Stevens could not have drew this up better
07:30himself, but obviously a, a trade, you got to slow down, Gary didn't catch that.
07:37Brad Stevens could not have drew that trade up better.
07:45I did that for you, Gary, he heard it the first time, but what has been his impact on
07:53this series?
07:54Obviously in game two, him showing and proving why he's essential to this foster, but what's
07:59it up for both of you, but you got Gary, I'm just glad I'm glad I didn't go to Syracuse
08:07and sure.
08:08I wish you would have went to Syracuse, getting corny as you get older.
08:14That's all I know.
08:15Hey, you're in the same conference now too.
08:18Yeah, exactly.
08:19Oh my goodness.
08:20Here we go.
08:21Anyway, I believe drew just, I mean, he is, he had a pretty good regular season.
08:30Okay.
08:31Like, you know, he had his moments, there was other games.
08:33He wasn't all that great offensively.
08:36He just, you know, there was games, he had seven, six points, 10 points or whatever,
08:40where he didn't really stand out.
08:42You know, he just did his job on defense or whatever, right.
08:45He contributed to the team, had a solid season, but in the playoffs, he has just been just
08:51money.
08:52And the fact is he can post anybody up.
08:56He can use his strength.
08:57He can get to the rim.
08:58I think one thing that surprised me, not knowing drew in terms of his physicality and not seeing
09:04him a whole lot over his career, see him on TV here and there, just how big he is in
09:10terms of his strength and ability to post up a guy like PJ Washington.
09:14Like he is not afraid of posting up a bigger player.
09:20And that's the thing that to me is key.
09:24And he's playing that dunker spot.
09:26Zula put him in that spot.
09:28So Jason can penetrate and then dunk to him and he could just feast at the rim.
09:33I mean, the hitting threes, making plays, just all around.
09:38And that's what, you know, that's why you pay these guys this money.
09:41That's why you add to the debt.
09:42That's why you get into the second apron to get guys like that.
09:45This is how you win championships.
09:47You can't do the discount.
09:49You can't do the Walmart.
09:50You can't do the target plan, winning a title.
09:55You got to see.
09:56There's no way, way, there's no way, way to win a championship.
09:59Marcus, you've got to go Lord and Taylor.
10:00You've got to, you've got to put the money down, right?
10:05No after today.
10:06Yeah.
10:07You guys go Ruth Chris on this.
10:08And I think that's why you pay him 30 plus million.
10:11That's why you pay for like, because these guys come up in the key moments and you see
10:15what Dallas and their supporting cast not doing nothing and you see the Celtics, it's
10:20like they're playing their game plan for Tatum and Brown and throughout a, their what, fifth
10:27leading score this year, you know, behind white or Zingas.
10:30And I don't know if he averaged more than more for this year.
10:33I have to look it up, but he might've been, he might've been their sixth leading score
10:37this year.
10:38I'm not a fifth or sixth is dropping 28 on me.
10:43And that's what makes this team better than I think people thought, because you see all
10:48the pundits a lot.
10:49Oh, I got Dallas and six.
10:50Oh, Dallas is going to whoop their ass and Dallas is going to really show them because
10:55they played nobody.
10:56So I was like, okay, we got you.
10:58We don't win beautifully, but we win.
11:01And I just think that's what they're saying to, to like, this is how we roll.
11:06Like y'all want to get down and dirty.
11:08We will beat you in a down and dirty game.
11:09Y'all want to get where threes are flowing.
11:12We'll beat you that way too.
11:13And I think holiday fits into that narrative.
11:18You need tough defense.
11:19He got you.
11:20You need a three.
11:21He got you.
11:22You need a shot at the rim.
11:23He got you.
11:24You need to fast break and making the right play.
11:27He got you.
11:28So kudos to drew holiday, you know, I'm not going to get into that ridiculous thing that
11:34Shiraz just said about drew, drew, drawing up, you know, first week, whatever that was
11:42much credit to drew holiday for just stepping up when it counts.
11:48He is.
11:49I would say right now, uh, drew holiday is the NBA finals MVP.
11:54I, when you look at what he's been able to do at both ends of the floor, you look at
11:58the fact that the Celtics are winning and you look at the fact that they, the Celtics
12:02have been able to utilize him in a multitude of ways, whether it's catch and shoot off
12:08the dribble post up.
12:10And this is your point guard who's doing all these things.
12:13And we're not talking about like you have your magic Johnson, six, eight point guard
12:17or Sean Livingston, six, seven, six, eight point guard.
12:20We're talking about a dude who's like six, three, six, four.
12:22He's a very average size point guard, but he has super, super natural above average
12:29strength.
12:30I mean, drew holiday might be the strongest player in the NBA pound for pound.
12:33When you look at the way that he's able to not only get to his spots on a block and in
12:37a dunker spot, but the way he's able to move people, I still have etched in my brain where
12:44Miles Turner has the ball on the block against Indiana and drew is on him.
12:49And then about three seconds later, Miles Turner is damn near out of bounds.
12:53He and your, their point guard is moving you from the block to the sideline.
12:58Uh, when you look at Joelle and beat, who's one of the strongest players in the league,
13:01he had trouble getting to his spots when he's guarded by Drew.
13:05Uh, and so his ability to utilize an incredible amount of core strength to be impactful, uh,
13:12and let's be honest.
13:13If we're, you know, you got to give Joe Missoula credit.
13:16Joe Missoula kept it very simple against Dallas.
13:19What's our offense.
13:20Whoever Lucas guard, we're going to run pick and roll.
13:23And if Lucas stays with drew drew, eat him up.
13:26If he switches on Tatum Tatum, eat him up.
13:28Remember Tatum was one for eight.
13:30And when they ran a pick and roll action, Luca typically stayed with drew, but on that
13:34one possession, he switched out on table.
13:36So what does Tatum do?
13:37He gets a second bucket of the game, um, that, and again, we can talk more about that, but
13:42the bottom line is this drew holiday is the X factor that the Celtics didn't know they
13:46would be leaning on as much.
13:48Uh, I, they knew he would be impacted, but I don't think they envisioned he would be
13:52as dominant and impact player as he has been.
13:55And again, you know, shout out to the medical staff for the load management that they went
13:59through this season where drew played good minutes, but you never got the sense that
14:03he was playing more than he should.
14:05You never got the sense that they were really asking him to do a lot and yet it raised questions
14:11as to whether he still had enough in a tank to be impactful.
14:15Does Gary Coiney, you guys remember how bad he was against Miami last year?
14:18Uh, and many were wondering whether he would be able to get back to being that elite defender,
14:25uh, to a player that we've seen for the most, for most of his career.
14:29And he's been that.
14:30And then some in the playoffs, he really has been the matchup nightmare that the Mavericks
14:35did not see coming.
14:37And as they go to Dallas, I don't know what you're going to do if you're the Mavericks.
14:41Uh, and we'll talk a little bit more about this later, but they have a, a slew of problems
14:46with no clear cut answers on how to fix, let alone address them in a meaningful way to
14:50get back in this series.
14:52As the NBA and NHL season start to wind down, things are just heating up in the WNBA and
14:58on the baseball front.
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15:24For me, one of my go-to guys has been Jason Tatum of the Boston Celtics who, when it comes
15:29to rebounding, I'm going more almost every time.
15:33He was great for me during the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana when he reached double
15:37digit rebounds in three of the four games.
15:40That's what I'm talking about, JT.
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16:03Marcus Smart, you can't help but think about him when it comes to, of course, Drew's performance,
16:07but just the way he was considered the blue guy, the heart and soul of the team.
16:13Of course, in an era where everything feels the need to be divisive, from your perspective,
16:18how can you celebrate Drew but without having to slander Marcus Smart?
16:23It's hard because even when you do it, there's a segment of Celtics Nation that is going
16:29to slander Marcus anyway.
16:32He just did a great job in the role that he was cast to play with the Celtics.
16:37Remember, when he came in here, that was a team that had no real foundation whatsoever.
16:42They were a team looking for an identity.
16:46When you look at the Celtics team and look at how much they emphasize defense, there
16:50is no way you can look at what they do now and not see the handprints of Marcus Smart
16:55all over that.
16:56He brought a level of intensity that this team has taken to another level.
17:02We see this happen a lot in the NBA, where you have a coach that will come in or a player
17:06that will come in, and they'll do a solid job, but in order to get to that next level,
17:10that player, unfortunately, is going to have to be moved on to bring in someone else who's
17:13a better fit at getting you to that next level.
17:15I saw this firsthand in Detroit when Rick Carlisle was a coach.
17:19He did a great job of laying a foundation with Chauncey and ripping all those guys,
17:23but when it came time to win a chip, they cut him loose, and they brought in Larry Brown,
17:26and they got that chip the first year.
17:28It sucks, but it's real.
17:30It happens.
17:31I think Marcus Smart, in many ways, he may not get a championship ring, but he has had
17:37a role in this team's success.
17:39You look at the growth of Jalen Brown and Tatum, and Marcus Smart's presence with those
17:43guys, and I think his absence as well, has allowed those guys to grow and prosper and
17:49be on a cost-per-winning banner 18.
17:52Life really isn't fair sometimes, when you really think about it.
17:55What's that?
17:56I said life really isn't fair when you think about it.
17:59Yeah, I mean, that's another podcast, Courtney.
18:02That's another podcast.
18:03I know, right?
18:04Life isn't fair.
18:05I just think, yeah, I mean, it's hard.
18:09Marcus gave all he had in his nine years.
18:12He played hard.
18:13He did what he thought he was supposed to do, and it just probably was the expiration
18:19date had come.
18:20It was time for a change, something, I think, the emergence of Derrick White, and remember
18:28too, though, they also moved on from Malcolm Brogdon, right?
18:33People don't really talk about that, but I think the energy that he brought probably
18:38wasn't as positive as it is now.
18:42I'm not criticizing Malcolm.
18:44I think Malcolm's a solid dude, but the whole dynamic of him and Marcus, and who should
18:49play, and Malcolm thinks that he's a point guard, he should be, all of that, it was probably
18:57time to move on from both, and they did, and they bring in Drew, who just is like a
19:05chameleon.
19:06He adapts to anything.
19:07He doesn't have an enemy in the league.
19:09He's a generally extremely well-liked guy around the NBA, like nobody has a bad word
19:16to say about Drew Holiday, and then the growth of Derrick White and the humility of Derrick
19:21White.
19:22You know, Derrick, he talked last night about saying, like, basically, you know, Drew could
19:28have came in in big league, you know, he's more accomplished, he's a gold medalist, NBA
19:34champion, all-star, all-defense, he could have been like, hey son, like, you do you,
19:40but I'm the man around here, I'm the dude who's going to be running a show with a point
19:45guard, and that didn't happen.
19:47Drew came in with great humility, and I just think, maybe the tone, and I think there was
19:55probably a perception or thought that Marcus had taken not too much control, but Marcus's,
20:01like, influence and impact on the organization had probably been a little too much, you know,
20:07just his decision-making on the floor, you know, trying to maybe, you know, some of the
20:14clashes with Missoula, I just think people felt like, you know what, like, I just think
20:19this guy, and he's so invested, and he cares so much, that it might be a little overboard,
20:25and I just think that was probably the reason, and it has just brought a breath of fresh
20:29air, and it's nothing against Marcus, whenever he comes back from Memphis, he'll get another
20:34standing O, and he'll get more love, you know, in future, and he hopes that his career, and
20:43he can help Memphis become a Western Conference power, because I think he, they really like
20:48him there, you know, and obviously, he spent all, most of the year out with injury, unfortunately
20:53for him, with that hand injury, but, you know, I'm sure he's not loving this, I'm not sure,
21:03of course, I think he drew me for his former teammates, I don't think he's like, oh, I want
21:07the Mavericks to win, but I'm sure it's hard for him to watch, and it shouldn't be.
21:11Yeah, because he wanted to win a chip, or come close to winning a chip here, and this is as
21:17close as this team has come to winning a championship in 14 years, since they were up 3-2
21:24on the Lakers in 2010, and this time, they're up two games, so they haven't been up 2-0,
21:33I think they're up 2-3-1 in the Lakers series in 2008, but they haven't been in this position
21:41in many, many, many years.
21:46Let's get into the conversation about Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown, let's talk about Tatum
21:50first. Good numbers, but is Tatum not who we thought he was, and I, to your point,
21:56Siobhan, there was that quote from Kidd about Jalen being the best player, obviously, like you
22:02said, some mental games there, but so far, what do you two think? What has his performance proved?
22:09You're talking about Tatum? Yes. Well, first of all, Jason Kidd did pretty much with,
22:17yeah, Jason Kidd did pretty much with them kids from Cali do, I mean, that's such a Cal move,
22:22you know, try to play the Jedi mind tricks, and they don't work, clearly they don't work.
22:27I think the thing about Jason Tatum that we're starting to see more and more of is that on this
22:33particular team, he has a role, and that role isn't necessarily what we have envisaged it being,
22:41like he's shown the ability to be a much more effective facilitator than he is a shot maker,
22:48and yet he's struggling with a shot, and you know he's going to have a game or two where
22:51it's just going to be a complete opposite. That will go, you know, he'll shoot 60, 70 percent
22:56from the field, he'll have fewer assists, but he'll just be in a nice flow, but for this team
23:02to be a great team, I think he's embraced the fact that I need to be less of a score
23:09and more of a score set up guy. You look at it, I mean, he's getting to the paint pretty much
23:15anytime he wants to, and rather than taking a lightly contested or totally contested shot,
23:21he's just sucking that defense in and kicking it to guys. I mean, he had seven assists in the second
23:27quarter of game two. The last time a guy had that many assists in an NBA Finals game in a quarter,
23:32it was some little point guard by the name of John Stockton back in 98. So Tatum is doing some
23:39historically amazing things out there as a playmaker, and the issue that I think a lot of
23:45people have is he's doing it in a way that doesn't make people feel comfortable with their own
23:51predetermined narrative of how he should be playing. They envision Tatum as being top five
23:56Tatum, a guy that can go out there and get you 30 points any given night, and Tatum's like, I don't really
24:01need to do that. I'd be more effective if I scored maybe 20, 25 points and have like eight, nine, ten
24:06assists and get seven, eight rebounds. So he's figured out what he has to do in order to help
24:11this team be successful, and the only real issue I have with his play more than anything else is
24:18the turnovers. I still think he's making too many turnovers. It's not about Dallas's
24:24defense. It's more about him just making bad decisions and bad plays, but the shots that he's
24:29missing are good shots for the most part. They're shots that he has the ability and has shown a
24:34track record of knocking down. They're just not going down right now, but to his credit, he's doing
24:40what I think the really great players are able to do, and that is when your first option
24:45as an impact player doesn't work, do you have counters? He's not shooting the ball as well as
24:49he'd want to, but he's still getting rebounds. He's still defending at a high level. He's getting his
24:54teammates involved, and they're winning games, and so as long as he's figured out ways to impact
24:59winning in ways to kind of mask his offensive shooting struggles, the Celtics are going to be
25:05in a great position to bring home banner 18. Yeah, I think Tatum is definitely struggling
25:16with his shot. I think he's hesitating at times, and I think sometimes he's driving just strictly
25:23looking to pass, and then he missed some chippies. I mean, he was six for 22, and he probably missed
25:32six or seven shots, including layups, that he usually makes. That wasn't just
25:40bad shots. It was, damn, Jason, how you missed that, so you've got to think he's going to get
25:47better at that, but I just think you've got to admire his wherewithal and his perseverance to
25:53just become a different player and morph into somebody more like a point forward, and it was
26:02interesting. I talked to Cedric Maxwell last night, and I asked him, do you think he was
26:11the MVP of the 81 finals? That was Byrd's first finals, and I was like, do you think Byrd was jealous
26:18of you winning that chip because that was his first five? Supposedly he showcased, and he was like, no,
26:23I don't think, I never saw that we won, and I just thought it was interesting. It's like
26:28Byrd did whatever he had to do to win that first championship for Boston in 81,
26:32and Max, it was Max's series. Like, it wasn't Kevin McHale's series. It wasn't a young Danny
26:40Angel's series. It wasn't Dennis Johnson's series. It was a Max series, and that's sometimes what
26:46happens. Iguodala won the MVP in 2015, so it could be somebody else, but Jason will be, if this
26:55works out for him, be a champion, and he'll get all the love and accolades. People don't
27:01look at Ray Allen and go, oh, you didn't win MVP of the finals in 08. You, like a Garnett, Pierce won it
27:07in 08. Like, it doesn't matter. It matters what you did on that floor, what kind of plays you made,
27:14and the assists. Like, he's like, okay, you want me to be a distributor?
27:18You know, that's cool. That's what I'll do, and I just think that shows his maturity.
27:22I think that's really a great thing that at 26, he's not playing with an ego. He's not playing
27:29like, okay, I got to outdo a Luka. You know, I got to score 45. Now, there might be a night,
27:36a game in this series that that's required, that he has it going, that he's carrying, put the team
27:42on his back, but that's not every game. His team is too deep for that. You know, you don't want
27:47other guys standing around watching you. You want to score in the flow of the game, and I was
27:53encouraged more offensively by him. I just think he missed some shots, some things, and usually,
27:58but he's getting to the rim. He's starting to be more confident, not hesitate, because the defense,
28:04I mean, Jason Kidd is obviously loaded up. He said, we're going to get into this dude's head,
28:10just like maybe the Warriors did in 22. We're going to make him drive left. We're going to
28:16expose him, and that's unfortunately what happened in that series, and I think Jason remembers that.
28:26Jaylen Brown has seemed to be filling the gap that Marcus, the vocal leader gap that Marcus
28:32Smart left for the Celtics, and as a result, I mean, you see, I don't know if you guys have seen
28:38the mic'd up segments with NBA and ESPN, but really, really vocal, not only on the court,
28:44but off the court, so do you guys think that alludes to him becoming the new leader for this
28:49team, or is that not related? Go ahead, Gary. Get your cowboy some love. Come on now. Well,
28:56I think this has probably been going on for a while, but I think the mic thing is just something
29:00that's probably happened during these playoffs. I feel like we need more of that. I think Jaylen
29:06is becoming more of a leader, and he's a senior member of the team. When Marcus left,
29:10everybody said, well, who's going to be the leader now? Who's going to be the vocal guy?
29:14It's not really Al. That's not really Al's game, and Derek's a quiet guy. Drew's a newcomer.
29:21It's going to have to be Jason and Jaylen, and I think that you can see Jaylen encouraging Jason,
29:28hey, man, keep doing what you do. Don't get down on yourself. Don't get discouraged because
29:34shots aren't going in. Jaylen is a year and a half older than Jason. As much as we associate
29:40them with being about the same age, there's a little bit of Jaylen's older. He's been in the
29:44league a year longer, and so I think he's taken the reins. He's 27 years old. He's taken the reins
29:51of leadership, and we have to admire that. I mean, they want to win this thing. They know that's
29:56what's keeping them short from being all-time greats, having their number raised, and all
30:01this stuff. They hear enough about that 0-18. They understand that, although they were all in
30:10sixth grade and elementary school and all that when that title was going down in 2008,
30:15and Quanie was in high school, but they do remember. They do remember that,
30:25so they understand, and they understand how important it is to win in Boston.
30:30They see everybody coming out, all the hockey players, Matthew Slater, and
30:36Zedina Chara, and all these peers last night. They understand how big of a deal it is,
30:44and I think they've taken the reins from Marcus and said, okay, this is the type of leader I'm
30:51going to be. I'm going to lead this team because it needs to be led, and we're the ones that have
30:56to do it. I think that's really important. Yeah, I mean, his leadership, it stands out
31:02from Marcus' on a number of levels, but I think the biggest one is that when he's speaking,
31:09you're talking about a guy who is one of your top two players. On any given night, he's your
31:14best player, and to hear that voice taking charge, leading you, it resonates differently. I don't
31:21care what any of the players say, and that's not a knock against Marcus. We're just acknowledging
31:26how Jalen Brown has ascended as a player, as a leader, as a voice in that locker room, as a
31:31voice on the floor, and he's done this while still playing at a high level. If you look at the
31:39playoffs in its totality for the Celtics, he's been their best player. Drew Holliday, I think,
31:45has been better in the finals, but overall, Jalen Brown has been their best player, and
31:51he's done it in a way that balances both impact play with impact leadership, and that's
31:59absolutely pivotal to this team's growth and position to where they are now. I think when
32:04you look back at that team that was in the finals a couple years ago, they just weren't mature
32:09enough to win a championship over Golden State. You think about some of the mind tricks that
32:16Draymond Green was able to play that the Celtics bid on, similar to what Jason Cade was trying to
32:22do, with all the praise on Jalen for being the best player on the team, and then when he talked
32:27about Jason Tatum, he said, yeah, he's a very good offensive player, and believe me, that shade
32:33was not ignored, but they didn't allow that to impact their play. They went out, in fact,
32:39they doubled down on saying, you know what, he made Jalen, he's really good, but so is Drew,
32:46and so is Derek, and so is Tatum, and so basically, they shut that noise up really quick,
32:52but the biggest thing to me when you talk about Jalen Brown and his leadership is the consistency
32:57that we're seeing. I mean, think about it. When they played Miami back in that series,
33:01and there was that kind of hard foul, I think it was Caleb Martin had on Tatum,
33:06there was only one player that got up in his face. That was Jalen, and even though nothing
33:13transpired from that moment, it was a clear signal that, look, you are not going to mess
33:19with my guy. Otherwise, we're going to have some problems, and I'm going to get in your face right
33:23now and let you know that. Little things like that are what allows Jalen Brown to walk inside
33:29that locker room and step on that floor and have not only the support of his teammates,
33:33but also an understanding that his leadership is something they need to embrace, something they
33:39need to follow, because it is going to take them to a place that none of them collectively have
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35:13Last minute tickets. Lowest prices. Guaranteed. Alright, the real leader of this team, well,
35:18you know, whatever, formal leader of the team, Joe Mezula, he was asked by our good friend Vinny
35:24Goodwill about... Gary's got to get comfortable for this one. Not to lean in the chair comfy,
35:32but we had talked about this last week. This is the first time in a while that we've had two
35:38blackhead coaches leading in the NBA Finals. Joe Mezula's answer, if you haven't watched it yet,
35:46definitely take a listen. Gary, you were there, I imagine. Was it as awkward as the video we watched?
35:54Yeah, it was. Okay. Not him giving me a short answer like Mezula. Yeah, it was.
36:12I just think it's just, it's a tough situation because it is a story because
36:21the last time two African-American coaches went and posed to each other was 1975,
36:26Golden State, Washington. Al Adams and our dear friend, former great Celtic, Casey Jones,
36:33who, as I said, people don't know, before he coached the Celtics, he coached the Washington
36:37Bullets towards the NBA Finals. The Golden State won the series. The great Al Adams is still alive
36:43and kicking in San Francisco. Shout out to him. And so it's a significant story in terms of two
36:51African-American coaches in a league where that doesn't always happen and there's not,
36:57you know, the number of African-American coaches go up and down, are facing each other. I just think
37:05when you don't know, I think what happens is, unfortunately, Mezula's on this national and now
37:12international stage because everybody is here and they've only heard about Joe. They only know
37:20about Joe from the press conferences. They don't know him well, like we all have gotten to know
37:26him and I've gotten to know him very well. And so questions like race are not something he's
37:32extremely comfortable with. And so the minute that our friend Vinny asked a question, I kind of
37:38cringed because I knew that it was not going to be a conventional answer. And Joe's a very faithful
37:46man, God-fearing man, and he's proud of that and he should be. That's something to be proud of.
37:52And I think that that's what came out. Could there have been a continuation, a follow-up question?
37:58Could Joe have handled it better and said, listen, I'm a man of faith. I believe this. This is how I
38:04look at things. I'm more of a Christ-based person as opposed to race-based. That would have been a
38:13fair answer, but he didn't say that. He just said, well, how many coaches are Christians?
38:20And there was a silence and I don't think Vinny knew how to react.
38:25I knew what was going to happen, so I just shook my head like, see?
38:28See, I try to tell y'all, see? Y'all don't listen. Y'all think it's all me. Y'all think it's me.
38:39But that's just familiarity. That's knowing Joe, the type of person he is, and that's okay.
38:46And there's certain things that he emphasizes and is very comfortable discussing. And race,
38:53unfortunately for him, is not one of those, right? And I just think that has to be understood.
39:00So I think it's something in the long term he'll think about. Maybe he'll have a conversation
39:05with Vinny over the next couple of days and explain what he meant. Because I think if he says,
39:11hey, this is my beliefs. I think we all understand that. We all know Joe's a man of faith.
39:18He made some mistakes in college and was saved and found his faith. And that might have,
39:26like, in many cases, saved his life, right? And so that's something to be taken seriously
39:33and to be taken with all respect. So for me, I just thought it was a tough question for Joe
39:41because I don't think he views things that way as much as he does as for his faith.
39:46And I think Vinny, who's not familiar with Joe, thought he was going to get kind of,
39:49okay, this is great. Yeah. You know, it's good to face another African American coach and Jason
39:56and I admired Jason. He was looking for an answer that was polite and canned. And that's not what
40:02happened. And I think we all know Joe doesn't really do canned. Joe is not afraid to be awkward.
40:09Joe's not afraid to speak his mind. And Joe's not afraid to be short.
40:13Right. And that's the way it is. And will he become more comfortable? I think in group settings
40:22like that with 100 people in the room might not be his forte. And that's okay. He's 35 years old.
40:29When experience kicks in and he'll be more probably more comfortable in that setting. But for now,
40:36but for now, I don't think that's really his setting. But it's something that's part of the
40:41job. It's part of the game. So I don't think either was wrong. I respect Vinny for asking
40:48the question. But I also understand that Joe's doesn't really think on those terms.
40:54And he let him know that. I guess, Garrett, that the one thing that I come back to and you
41:00touched on near the end there is that Joe's very good at speaking his mind. And that's one of the
41:05things I've always appreciated about him, even in those awkward moments where he says something
41:09that everyone in the room is like, wait, did he? What just happened here? But I love the fact that
41:16there's a certain level of authenticity that you always feel you're getting from him. And the only
41:21issue I had with that whole interaction with Vinny was that I love the fact that Joe is a great
41:28example of what redemption looks like about how you can make mistakes in your life, but don't
41:34allow those mistakes to make you and define who you are. Joe is a great example of how you can move
41:39past that and live a great life and impact people in many ways. And I thought for a man of faith
41:46who is as open about that as I think almost any coach in a league, I thought that was a golden
41:54opportunity for him to let the world know his faith and get an understanding, a clearer
42:02understanding of that. To your point, Gary, I would fully expect him to really not go
42:09deep into it, but explain that, you know, his faith trumps issues of race. In fact, his faith
42:19his faith allows him to deal with those type of things and not dwell on them because
42:23his faith is so strong. And that would have been so much more powerful than if he would have just
42:28given the cookie cutter response to the question. And again, it felt as though it was a missed
42:33opportunity for Joe to really, frankly, speak the gospel. I mean, if we're going to keep it
42:40a buck, that's something that is very important to him. And his faith is, I think it's one of
42:46his superpowers as a human being and as a coach. And I thought that was one of those times where
42:51he could flex that and show, not just tell people about it, but show it in that moment.
42:58And he didn't. And that to me was a disappointment. The fact that he didn't answer Vinny's question
43:03directly, I don't care about that. Y'all know how much I love Vinny, but, you know, he, again,
43:09it happens. It happens to all of us in the business. But for me, the big loss was what
43:16Joe didn't take advantage of in that moment. And again, it's one of those things where now
43:22that it's out there, there's no way you can kind of go back on that. I don't know if he's going to
43:27at some point sit down and have a quick conversation with Vinny. I don't know if
43:31if either one of them feels it's something that needs a follow-up conversation for.
43:36I would like if Joe did that, to be honest, because, you know, I think his faith is so
43:42strong that for those of us who haven't been around him, you may not understand the power
43:47that that has in his life. NBC Sports Boston did kind of this behind-the-scenes deal. Adam Hart,
43:54good friend, good friend of mine, great former co-worker of mine, spent some time with Joe
44:00Mazzullo, talking with him, his family, his friends, spent some time in his house. He has
44:05a room that's a basically it's like a little, you know, it's a shrine basically, where he spends
44:12time in there meditating. It's a it's a really, really well done piece, but it gives you insight
44:17into Joe, a side of Joe that you're not going to see when he's on a podium. You're not going to
44:22see when he's on the sideline. And it for me, and I think for a lot of people, it gives you a better
44:28understanding of what truly matters to this man at this point in his life. And that's powerful.
44:33And it's really cool to see that. And I thought on that podium, that was another opportunity for
44:39the show, the world, this side of him. And when you look at the fact that his team is up to zip,
44:45he's been, he's, you know, his winning percentage is among the best, if not the best for a coach
44:50this early in his career. You can tie all that together in a way on this platform and just give
44:57people a better understanding of the things that have factored into you being where you are
45:02among chief, among them, your faith.
45:07Well said, well said. All right. Let's look at Dallas really quickly.
45:10Obviously the Celtics are headed there. Well, we're probably already there as we talk,
45:15but earlier you mentioned the home cooking aspect for Dallas, which is usually the case
45:20for most NBA teams, but this is a very different situation seeing that the Celtics at this point
45:26are still undefeated on the road. So what role do you guys think that will play
45:31in them going to Dallas, but also we can get into Kyrie and Luca right after.
45:36Of course, Rob. I mean, yeah, them being on the road, the Celtics are very comfortable in that,
45:43that role. And the pressure really is on Dallas to make this a series. And they, Dallas, I thought
45:48had a great start to game two. They did the kind of things that you're supposed to do, but the
45:52problem that the Mavericks are running into is the supporting cast is not giving much support.
45:57And typically guys play better when they're home, but the problem for Dallas. And to me,
46:02this was the one thing that I thought from the very outset was going to be problematic for them.
46:07You don't have a matchup that you can go turn to and feel good about it other than Luca.
46:13And the thing about Luca, he's scoring, but he's working damn hard to get those points. And he's
46:19turning the ball over at a pretty damn high rate. So even though he's going out to get you 32 points,
46:24his turnovers are getting the Celtics five or six points. And if he's getting five, if those
46:29turnovers are leading to a few buckets here and there, and the guy that's guarding him drew
46:33holidays, getting you 26, you have basically negated Luca's impact in terms of scoring a ball.
46:40And so they have to figure out someone other than they, other than Luca to have a good game.
46:47Cause Kyrie Irving, I thought going into this series had to be one of the top two or three
46:51players in a series for Dallas to have a shot. I'm not sure Kyrie is one of the top three players on
46:57his team, let alone in a series. Cause I think PJ Washington has been better. So Kyrie is probably
47:02maybe three, a three B at best on his team. And that's not going to get it done. That's not going
47:09to give you a chance to win a game, let alone a series. And so I think Dallas is in deep trouble.
47:13I think they can get one at home, but I just don't see them beating the Celtics back to back
47:17games because of the location. Yeah. I think it'd be very difficult for them to win four or five,
47:23a team that's won now nine in a row undefeated on the road, feeling good about themselves.
47:28And like Gerard said, they don't have, well, they got, we can do this. Like you don't really
47:33see a strategy where besides they got to hit more shots and they got to just got to be better
47:39to win the games and then do it four out of five times. Um, I think the Celtics have to go
47:46out hungry in game three, like stuff, stuff them out. Do not give them life. Don't bring any, don't,
47:54you don't want it to go two to one and suddenly they can tie it up on, on Friday night. And
48:00suddenly, you know, you don't want that. You want to go in with that. Don't go in like,
48:05oh, we just got two, we got two games to win one. We good. Like don't go in that,
48:10go in that when you smashing, um, a team that mentality, like, let's get these guys,
48:16let's take the life out of them. Right. I think if you look at like, um, what Dallas did to
48:24Minnesota in that game, that clinching game, but Minnesota just didn't have anything left
48:29or how Dallas went home and went up three, nothing. It's like sometimes teams are just
48:35like, we tired, you know, it's been a long year. We just don't have enough. These guys are hungry.
48:42You know, this is our first time here. We don't, you know, we just don't have a way to do this.
48:47So if you take out the enthusiasm, you play to that high level in game three and don't come out,
48:55oh, we good. We up to oh two, we up to oh, you know, we got games to play with. You don't play
49:00with games. Remember the Celtics were up two to one and had a lead in the fourth quarter of game
49:05four against golden state, lost that game and never won again. So, you know, let's say it can
49:11happen, but you got to take care of business. So with Dallas, they're going to be better.
49:17They're going to be at home, home crowd, but all that's going to wear out. This is not,
49:22Dallas is a tough place. Dallas is not, you know, one of these places is not playing like in New
49:28York or something, you know, Dallas is a Philly, you know, Dallas is a, you know, the fans are
49:34enthusiastic, but there'll be a share of Celtic fans there. And, you know, this is not a decided
49:41home court advantage. It's not like going to Boston. It's not. I mean, I've been on every
49:47place in the league and Dallas is a good fans. Don't, don't get me wrong, but there's not like,
49:52oh, they're going to this Hornets nest where they're just going to get smashed. Oh my God.
49:58I feel so just, oh my God, they're going to be overwhelmed by the, no, they can get one
50:05and preferably get the first one to take the pressure off themselves. And then you just
50:10concentrate on getting that close up. Yeah. I mean, the, I just, I just don't see a scenario
50:18where Dallas can get back into this series. I just don't see it. I just don't.
50:25Luca, he's obviously been carrying the team on his back, but also not playing the best either
50:30in, in some ways. So why do you guys think he isn't catching as much slack
50:34or is to turn over the same way Tatum has been?
50:38Because Tatum is an easy Mark. He's an easy Mark from a standpoint of he's been so elite for so
50:45long winning, not only just putting up numbers, but also winning at a high level and doing
50:51everything, but winning a championship. Luca has put up great numbers, but he's always had
50:55the default of, yeah, but his supporting cast wasn't very good. Luca. And because of that,
51:01he is given way more grace than he probably should. I mean, he had 32, 11 and 11 the other
51:06night, but he also had eight turnovers, which, you know, you know, Tatum has damn near triple
51:12doubles and he'll have like five or six turnovers. And all the, the narrative of conversation is
51:16about, wow, Tatum really has to do a better job with taking care of the ball. It's like,
51:21but damn, the dude just had a damn near triple double. So I think Tatum, he's a victim of,
51:26of his own individual and team success, which is why he's judged, I think, to a higher and stricter
51:33and to me an unfair standard. But he's at a point now where that really doesn't matter.
51:39He's two wins away from winning a championship and whether he's NBA finals MVP, it's not going
51:44to matter because his impact and imprint on this series is undeniable. It's just not necessarily
51:50the way many people envision Jason Tatum winning his first NBA title would look like.
51:57Yeah, I think that people are expecting, you know, high scoring top five Tatum.
52:04And I think he's played like a top five player, but it's been more of a versatility and all around
52:08player. And then Jalen has taken the reins and like, okay, I'll do the scoring. I'll handle
52:14business. I will dunk on people. I'll make them a dynamic play. You're not seeing Jason make these
52:20dynamic plays. You're seeing him make the right plays and that's what you're supposed to do,
52:24you know. But we're waiting for Jason to hit five threes in the first quarter,
52:29then make two-hand dunk on Gafford, then spin around Luka and do one of those looping layups.
52:36Like, we're waiting for those plays. But meanwhile, he's driving into the paint,
52:41bounce pass into Drew for the layup. And that'll look fancy, but that's an assist on the scorecard.
52:49That's on the stats. He almost had a triple-double. You know, you're six for 22.
52:54And I do think, as I said, there was five or six shots he should have made. A couple of missed
52:58chippies at the rim, a couple of missed jumpers, you know, a couple of shots that went in and out.
53:05So I think he'll be fine. I don't think he's like, you look at him and go, man,
53:09he's not even close to the basket. It's going to happen for him. But what you want him to do,
53:14as well as score, is continue to play that distributor. Don't let up on any other aspects
53:18of the game. I had to leave the best for last. Kyrie Irving, 14 points per game, four assists.
53:25There was a video of him walking off at the TD Garden, putting five fingers up to a fan,
53:31basically promising that he'll be back, is what it seemed. So what's wrong with Kyrie,
53:36and what exactly can he do to redeem himself for his team? Well, let's see. How about making
53:44shots? How about making some shots? That would probably be a good start for Kyrie. He's just not
53:53making shots. And he's a good enough player to do that. It's just that, for whatever reason,
53:58he has not been able to do the things that we've come to expect from Kyrie Irving. And that is more
54:05than anything else keeping the Mavericks from being more competitive in this series. But you
54:11got to give the Celtics defense credit. They have made it absolutely a living hell for Kyrie
54:15Irving out there. And we're not even taking into account the rent-free aspect of Celtics fans in
54:21his head, because they are clearly in his head in a way that, I'm surprised after all these years,
54:27they still are squatting there. And they're not even going at him the way I think they can.
54:35He's just allowing them to stay there and responding and reacting. And it's just not
54:42smart basketball. You're not playing well. The crowd's in your head. You're going back home,
54:46so that should help. But I think it'll be a little too late for him to have a good game and expect
54:52that to be enough to get the Mavericks over the top. Yeah. I mean, I think Kyrie is just,
54:58I think he's pressing a little bit. Like Sherrod said, I don't think he's getting
55:10to his spots. His quickness is not quite there. I just think there's a lot going on with him.
55:16And I do think he's pressing. And like Sherrod said, I'm a little surprised,
55:22considering he's been here a long time now, coming back. And it shouldn't be a situation
55:29where he's not used to hearing the Buck-Kyries and the Kyries' sex chants. But I do think he's
55:39pressing. I also think they're playing very good defense against him. They're forcing him to go
55:42left. They're making him take tough shots. And he's getting to the rim. He had some good sequences
55:48in the second half, I thought. But he's not hitting the three at all. And you've got to
55:54expect, just like Tatum, you've got to expect that it's going to happen, probably in game three,
56:00that he is going to be great. And can the Celtics withstand that? Or can you limit Luka to where
56:06both of them are great? But even if both of them score 40 points apiece, that's still only 80
56:12points. So they're going to need help. But obviously, you don't want both of them scoring
56:1740 points. But you definitely have to understand that it's going to happen eventually. And so for
56:27Kyrie, I think he's pressing. And I've been a little disappointed in his performance. I thought
56:32he would be better. But it's just fascinating, the human mind and how he just ain't right.
56:43He just isn't right right now. And can he get right? We don't know.
56:50Because remember, he made four of his first five shots in game two. And I think he was like,
56:54what, two for 13 or something like that, the rest of the game, something like that?
56:57Yeah. I mean, he looked like he was, I thought he had a couple of nice penetration plays in
57:02the second half. And he looked, I think he started out four for five, what I saw,
57:08but I remember. Obviously, I can be wrong. But he was four for five. Yeah, four for five.
57:15And it looked like, OK, he's ready. And then it's just not quite. It just didn't work.
57:23And so I just think it's just it's crazy that he's just not. And I just think he thought he
57:29was going to be just ready for this challenge. And this hasn't happened. That's that's the
57:35part that's I think the most surprising. Yeah. Well, we shall see what happens in game three,
57:42which is, of course, on Wednesday. And then the game four will be Friday. And then we'll see
57:47whether or not Celtics make it back home to the Garden the following Monday. But
57:53we appreciate you guys sticking around for this, I guess, a way preview for the NBA finals.
57:59Bray Shaw, Blakey and Gary Washburn. I'm Kwanye Lewis. We'll be back next week.