Join Bobby Manning, Noa Dalzell, Jimmy Toscano, and A. Sherrod Blakely as they break down the battle for the number one seed between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers! Tune in for instant analysis, player reaction, and more.
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00Can you say hard hats, folks?
00:00:07Hard hats, lunch pails, steel tool, boots.
00:00:09Anything short of a championship this year is a failure.
00:00:11Look at this boomer right here.
00:00:13You've just got so much talent here.
00:00:16Somebody said we need to apologize for Jalen.
00:00:18Can I pull the John?
00:00:19What are we apologizing for?
00:00:20What did we say?
00:00:21What did we do?
00:00:31Can't hear you, Bobby.
00:00:32You're muted, Bobby.
00:00:34Let's do it again.
00:00:35Hey, Bobby Manning here.
00:00:38Celtics lose to the Cavs on Sunday night here.
00:00:41Front end of a back-to-back without Jalen Brown,
00:00:44without Derek White, who missed a second game here
00:00:47with that foot injury after suffering it on Friday
00:00:50and not returning to that game.
00:00:52So a short-handed effort here and an important game.
00:00:54Pretty telling that the Celtics, despite the back-to-back tomorrow,
00:00:59went with both Porzingis and Horford in this one.
00:01:02So it's going to be potentially even more of a short-handed effort
00:01:05tomorrow against Miami.
00:01:07But they are unable to steal this game.
00:01:09Despite going up by 12 in the second half,
00:01:11a pretty good Tatum game.
00:01:13We can nitpick a little bit there.
00:01:15And obviously late after Donovan Mitchell scored, I think,
00:01:1811 straight points to flip the lead on the fourth quarter there.
00:01:21I think he scored 19, Noah, in the fourth, I want to say.
00:01:25At least.
00:01:26Sounds about right.
00:01:27He probably stacked up some more free throws or whatever.
00:01:29But Cavs impressive again here.
00:01:32And Celtics short-handed, but Joe Mizzou was saying before the game,
00:01:35we expect to win no matter who's out there.
00:01:38We expect to compete.
00:01:39They certainly competed in this game.
00:01:41But a few defensive lapses, some lineup, mixing and matching in this game,
00:01:46and some key misses late by Tatum around the basket
00:01:49ended up killing in this one.
00:01:51Welcome in Sherrod.
00:01:52Welcome in Noah DelZell.
00:01:53Sherrod, where are you going first with this one?
00:01:55What's on your mind coming out of it?
00:01:56Oh, goodness.
00:01:57Well, you know, first of all, for Celtics fans, the sky is not falling.
00:02:02The team is not doomed for a Philadelphia Sixers exile
00:02:06or anything like that.
00:02:07There was a loss.
00:02:08There's no question about it that Cleveland played a better game.
00:02:11But there were certain things that I was looking for
00:02:14that had absolutely little, if anything, to do with the final score
00:02:18and everything to do with what's going to happen
00:02:21if these two teams meet in the playoffs.
00:02:23I was really looking to see how they dealt with Porzingis
00:02:26and, more specifically, how Porzingis dealt with them.
00:02:29Evan Mobley, I thought, made a very conscious effort to go at Porzingis,
00:02:34put his shoulder in his chest and things like that.
00:02:36And then I look at his final numbers, 4 for 13.
00:02:39And even though Jared Allen, you know, was like, I think, 4 for 6,
00:02:43he was a non-factor for the most part.
00:02:44And I think his plus minus for the game was like minus 5
00:02:47or something like that.
00:02:48So, to me, I was looking to see what would the new addition
00:02:51to the Celtics lineup, Porzingis, how is that going to change
00:02:55the dynamics of things?
00:02:56And obviously, without Derek White, without Jalen Brown,
00:03:01not just two of your better scorers, but two of the five guys
00:03:04that you typically throw out there on Donovan Mitchell,
00:03:06who was a load.
00:03:07I mean, there was at one point on the broadcast,
00:03:09they mentioned Donovan Mitchell came in, I think,
00:03:12having played 17 games against the Celtics
00:03:14and only one player in NBA history has a higher scoring average
00:03:17against him, and that's some guy named Michael Jordan.
00:03:20So, him going on for 35, not that big a shock.
00:03:26The fact that the Celtics didn't have at least two
00:03:28of their better defenders to at least slow him down,
00:03:30because I don't think Donovan is a guy that the Celtics
00:03:33are ever going to shut down.
00:03:34But they can make his job harder than it is.
00:03:38And I think, down the stretch, not having those two guys
00:03:42specifically really hurt them, because as you look around
00:03:45the guys around Donovan Mitchell, and you guys,
00:03:48we've seen this movie before in the playoffs,
00:03:51as much as the entree or the main dish is the guy you watch,
00:03:55the side guys, the guys around them often dictate teams going beyond,
00:04:00around, going, and so on and so forth.
00:04:03And I just don't think Donovan's supporting cast has shown
00:04:06the ability to elevate when they need it.
00:04:08Garland was better.
00:04:10He was definitely better, but he wasn't great.
00:04:13He wasn't special.
00:04:14He didn't put up in it.
00:04:15Basically, Pritchard neutralized Garland's contributions,
00:04:19and that's your sixth man right there.
00:04:21So disappointed.
00:04:23Obviously, they didn't win, but I'm not just devastated
00:04:27by this loss at all.
00:04:29Yeah, and it's interesting, though, because the lineup
00:04:32for influx in this game, obviously, and I know Jalen probably went
00:04:35out pretty late today in terms of their expectations
00:04:38for what the rotation was going to be in this game,
00:04:40but they go double big, obviously.
00:04:42They stay double big into that second unit,
00:04:44and I feel like that threw things off from the start there,
00:04:47and this was just an offensive dud for the most part this game.
00:04:50The defense wasn't great either, especially late,
00:04:52but offensively they went on some massive scoring droughts
00:04:55in this game, Noah, that aren't typical of them,
00:04:58given their consistency on that end, the shooting, all the rest.
00:05:01And they found some looks throughout the flow of the game
00:05:03that got them going a little bit, and Tatum had some great scoring
00:05:06stretches in this game to carry them, but that wasn't enough here.
00:05:09And this would have been the Drew Peterson show, right, if they won.
00:05:12Ended up being a creative move to try to spark some stuff,
00:05:16but it ultimately wasn't able to save them being down maybe two
00:05:19of their four most important offensive engines on this team.
00:05:25Yeah, I mean, I think the reality is a couple things.
00:05:28One, the ball movement and just their offense didn't look great
00:05:32throughout the night, even times where Tatum willed in some great shots
00:05:35or Prezinga spilled them out or Pritchard had some great moves.
00:05:38As a team, the ball movement was poor, and I think you can attribute
00:05:41a lot of that to not having their usual group out there,
00:05:44but also there are sometimes moments where you're like,
00:05:46just run anything, literally run anything other than just standing around
00:05:49and watching the clock go down.
00:05:50And that's just, I don't think it's exclusive to the Celtics.
00:05:52I think sometimes just watching NBA teams, it sometimes feels like
00:05:55just do anything other than what you're doing right now,
00:05:57which is just dribbling down the clock, which we saw a lot of today.
00:06:01Even so, they were in position to win this game.
00:06:03And I think down the stretch, the Cavs just went and took it.
00:06:06Donovan Mitchell didn't miss a shot down the stretch.
00:06:09They went 10 for 10 from the free throw line.
00:06:11So in a way, as much as the Celtics' performance was frustrating,
00:06:15they actually did enough to win this game.
00:06:17And I think that most times that would result in a win,
00:06:19what they did tonight, despite the fact that it was definitely
00:06:22not a perfect game by any means.
00:06:24And that's what's encouraging is that they were able to be in that position.
00:06:28I think a couple things go differently down the stretch there.
00:06:30We're talking about how did they pull off this win against the best team
00:06:32in the NBA or the best record in the NBA without two of their key players.
00:06:36So I actually do think it was a pretty encouraging game in a lot of ways.
00:06:39I think the Cavs are legit in the sense of, you know, they're –
00:06:41what are they, 17-3 now, 18-3.
00:06:43So, like, they found ways to win games that were out of reach.
00:06:46When they were down by double digits – they've been down by double digits
00:06:48so many times this season.
00:06:49Every time I check league pass, they're down by double digits,
00:06:51and they come back and win.
00:06:53And so, yeah, I think the absences were missing.
00:06:56Derek White in particular, I think they just – they are not the same
00:06:58without him over the past two seasons.
00:07:00He is the one guy that when he misses the game – you know,
00:07:03when he misses a game, they actually lose a lot of the time.
00:07:06They're 6-4 without him in the last two years.
00:07:09Whereas every other rotation player, you take him out,
00:07:11and it's like their record is impeccable still.
00:07:13So there is something there.
00:07:15But there's a lot to talk about in this game.
00:07:16I was excited for this show because I think it was just a very different
00:07:19type of game than we've seen.
00:07:20It's not just another, you know, the starting five maybe messed around
00:07:23a little bit, maybe they won, maybe they lost.
00:07:25But there was a lot of interesting dynamics at play.
00:07:27Yeah.
00:07:28And please, Cavs fans out there who want to get into troll mode,
00:07:32do not compare not having Derek White and Jalen Brown with not having
00:07:36Max Strews and Dean Wade.
00:07:37The two –
00:07:38I don't think anybody would.
00:07:40But, you know, watching the broadcast, they were making that, you know,
00:07:43that the Celtics are down a couple players and so are the Cavs.
00:07:46And I'm like, this is not apples and apples.
00:07:49We're talking like apples and raisins.
00:07:52So what I will say is the first game, you know, you throw it back to that one,
00:07:56the Cavs were missing everybody.
00:07:58Right.
00:07:59So we can split it 2-1-1 game.
00:08:01And to me, that's the beautiful thing about this rivalry.
00:08:03Both games were won by a team that had a decisive advantage over the other
00:08:08because of key pieces missing.
00:08:10And for me, that makes when these two meet in the playoffs all the more
00:08:14intriguing because you don't really know which is the superior team
00:08:19because we haven't seen either of them play each other
00:08:22at relative full strength.
00:08:24Each of them has been missing or has had a significant piece of their core
00:08:28not available for whatever reasons.
00:08:30And that's why, to me, the fact that both of them have distinguished themselves
00:08:34as the two best teams in the Eastern Conference,
00:08:36it makes all the more intriguing once these two get into the postseason
00:08:40and they're playing for all the marbles because that, to me,
00:08:44it's going to be a crapshoot because both of these teams have shown
00:08:48individually against other teams how great they are.
00:08:51And when they've matched up against each other,
00:08:53they have been able to take advantage of the other team's missing ingredients.
00:08:57So I love watching these two teams play because both games, I think,
00:09:01have been really, really good and have really, frankly,
00:09:04shown a level of coaching and the impact of coaching on winning
00:09:09that I don't think we always see, particularly with Joe Mazula
00:09:13and his crew because more times than not, those guys can kind of roll out of bed
00:09:16and beat teams by 15.
00:09:18And so Joe doesn't get the kind of credit I think he deserves
00:09:20when he's actually really making a difference in terms of the outcome.
00:09:24But this was, like I said, this was a really good game
00:09:27and an interesting game.
00:09:28And to Noah's point, there's so many different things that we –
00:09:31different directions we can go in talking about this game
00:09:34that we have not been able to do with any kind of consistency this year.
00:09:38Yeah, yeah, and I love that because we haven't had many games
00:09:41that you can get into the nitty-gritty of decisions and coaching
00:09:44and all that stuff.
00:09:45And this was a pretty compelling coaching matchup tonight
00:09:48in terms of the back-and-forth, especially late.
00:09:50I want to, before we get into that, give a shout-out to our sponsor here,
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00:11:29Let's get into it.
00:11:31I find a couple coaching decisions interesting here in this game.
00:11:35Stringing out the possessions late, playing the free throw game.
00:11:40I like that one in the end.
00:11:42I didn't like it at first because I wasn't sure
00:11:44if they were going to be able to get a shot off in the end,
00:11:46and they weren't because Pritchard didn't.
00:11:48Scout was on it.
00:11:49He should have went up with that shot when the Cavs
00:11:51were trying to foul him on the last possession there.
00:11:53Then he almost got a missed free throw off that he grabbed,
00:11:57but it was too early leaving the line.
00:11:59I think the free throw stuff worked.
00:12:01The Peterson stuff, I'd say a mixed bag.
00:12:06He was great offensively, and they needed that in this game.
00:12:09I was amazed, Noah, with how ready he was to hit shots,
00:12:13to be aggressive when he got the ball in his hands,
00:12:15to be in the right positions on the end of the floor.
00:12:17But, of course, given him moving up from pretty much
00:12:22exclusive G League player over the last couple years here
00:12:24to NBA action against the best team in the East,
00:12:27Cavs were able to go at him a little bit.
00:12:29He fouled.
00:12:30He made that ill-advised foul from behind there on one of the plays.
00:12:34I'd say a mixed bag here.
00:12:36Definitely helped you in this game,
00:12:38but I am sitting there when he goes in the game saying,
00:12:42like, you're not going to try Shireman here after picking him
00:12:46in the first round.
00:12:47You're seeing some positive returns from him
00:12:49in his G League stance.
00:12:50I'm not going to go crazy about that,
00:12:52because I think Peterson was solid in this game, surprisingly so.
00:12:55But that one, to me, I was like, ooh, where did that come from?
00:12:59When I saw Drew Peterson in the game,
00:13:02I thought I wasn't seeing grades.
00:13:03So it was truly like the last thing I expected is Drew Peterson to play.
00:13:09What did he finish with?
00:13:11He played the whole second quarter.
00:13:1325 minutes.
00:13:14Yeah, 25 minutes.
00:13:16Yeah, I mean, that's wild.
00:13:18So I didn't expect it.
00:13:20He hasn't been outstanding in Maine the way that I personally think
00:13:23the two standouts from Maine so far this season have been
00:13:26JD Davidson and Baylor Shireman.
00:13:28But at the same time, I'm looking at this from a big picture thing,
00:13:32and I don't think Joe Mazzuolo put him in the game
00:13:34because he felt like he was the only guy that could give them something tonight.
00:13:37I think you're thinking about it.
00:13:38This is his second consecutive year on a two-way deal in Boston.
00:13:42This is a big-time game.
00:13:43This is an opportunity for him to play some big-time minutes
00:13:46that are relatively not actually that consequential.
00:13:49At the end of the day, he could have gone in that second quarter stint
00:13:52and had things not gone well.
00:13:54Do you think that was planned?
00:13:56I don't think the 25 minutes were planned,
00:13:58but I think giving him today a chance to really get an opportunity,
00:14:02I think it was.
00:14:03Whether he knew about it, I don't know.
00:14:05But Jordan Walsh got his opportunity early in the season.
00:14:07He had several games, several extended stints.
00:14:10We can debate how much you capitalize on opportunity, but he got it.
00:14:14Cade has had his opportunity.
00:14:16Everybody's had their opportunity,
00:14:17and this is a guy that really hasn't since he signed the two-way with Boston
00:14:20about a year ago.
00:14:21It was last December.
00:14:23So you gave him a chance now,
00:14:24and now you know what you can get from him in an NBA game.
00:14:27I think looking at the big picture is probably more what was at play here
00:14:31than just he can give you a three-pointer,
00:14:33because there were moments where I was like,
00:14:35you could have just not played him at all.
00:14:37You could have not even played anybody those extra minutes.
00:14:39Sam Houser could have gone – I guess he played 36.
00:14:42A guy like Jaden Springer, his band with Boston, too,
00:14:45he didn't get – there's something there that I think they wanted to give him.
00:14:48Were you on the game tonight?
00:14:49At the very end, yeah.
00:14:51Yeah.
00:14:52So that was my take on it.
00:14:54I liked what I saw.
00:14:56I don't know that he blew the minutes away,
00:15:00but he also played really hard.
00:15:01He got some good defensive plays.
00:15:02He made some mistakes, which is to be expected.
00:15:04But I like the approach.
00:15:05I like that he got that opportunity,
00:15:07and I would actually love to hear what Joe Mazzola was actually thinking here.
00:15:10I know that I'm sure postgame he'll get asked about it,
00:15:13and I'm sure he won't say too much,
00:15:15but I'd be very curious to know what the real calculus was.
00:15:18Do you think this was a long game thing for Ryder,
00:15:20or was this just we need a spark?
00:15:23I think this was one of those games where Joe Mazzola realized
00:15:26that they were playing with house money.
00:15:28Give this guy a shot to get out there,
00:15:30and maybe he's got something in him that we have not taken advantage of.
00:15:34Give him an opportunity to play his way into a meaningful role,
00:15:37because I don't think Drew Peterson up to this point since his time with the Celtics
00:15:41has really had much of an opportunity to showcase what he can do.
00:15:44And the thing about Joe Mazzola that I'm starting to kind of get a better sense of
00:15:49is that when he has guys out with injuries or illnesses, whatever the case may be,
00:15:54there's probably going to be someone who is going to get an opportunity
00:15:59that is either going to be greater than what they normally get
00:16:02or will be just someone who just doesn't play.
00:16:05We saw that with Jordan Walsh earlier this year.
00:16:08We saw that with Drew Peterson today.
00:16:10Sam Houser played way more minutes than I think Sam would even thought he would play,
00:16:15even with Jalen out.
00:16:16And so I think, to your question, Bobby,
00:16:19I do think that there's a long-term thought process involved with this,
00:16:22because when Preselius was out and we're seeing, you know, is it Keita?
00:16:26Is it Luke? Is it Keita? Luke?
00:16:28Both of those guys were playing minutes,
00:16:30and I do think that part of Joe Mazzola's thinking is that at some point
00:16:34I might need them in the game four of the first round of the playoffs
00:16:38when we have a chance to close out a team,
00:16:40and I want to make sure that they're at least comfortable being on the floor
00:16:43in a relatively high-pressure-type situation.
00:16:46There's no question in my mind right now that if the Celtics are in a situation
00:16:50where Jalen Brown is sick and maybe Sam Houser's in foul trouble
00:16:54and they're game three of a best-of-seven in the conference semifinals,
00:16:59there will be no hesitation in Joe Mazzola's mind to put Peterson out there,
00:17:02because he knows that when I put him in big games, he hasn't shrunk in the moment.
00:17:07And to me, that's the bigger concern, not so much guys elevating their play,
00:17:11but do they shrink in the moment?
00:17:13And we see that happen a lot with young guys when they get that first
00:17:16or second crack at playing, and we didn't see that with Drew Peterson.
00:17:19That was amazing.
00:17:21I thought his plus-minus was indicative of what he gave you.
00:17:24He was zero. He didn't hurt you. He didn't help you, per se.
00:17:28He simply did his job, and you were no worse or better off
00:17:33when he came into the game than when he left the game.
00:17:36And he did some nice things out there.
00:17:38So to me, I like the fact that he got an opportunity to play.
00:17:42And I think of the options that Joe Mazzola would have thought about,
00:17:45I probably would have given Springer a shot a little bit earlier
00:17:50than just those seven seconds, just because I thought you needed another body on Donovan,
00:17:54to be honest with you, someone who not obviously can lock him up
00:17:57because that's not happening, but just someone with a different kind of athleticism
00:18:00that would give Donovan a different look defensively.
00:18:03I thought they needed another body like that because Drew wasn't, I think,
00:18:07handling that particularly well. Tatum wasn't any better. Sam Hauser wasn't any better.
00:18:12Although I did like a lot of what I saw out of Sam defensively.
00:18:16I thought they really tried to go at him and Sam more times than not,
00:18:19either foul them, which was smart because you get six of them, you might as well use them,
00:18:22or he did a good job of forcing them to take contested shots.
00:18:25So this was, like I said, this was a house-money type game for the Celtics.
00:18:30If they were able to pull this out, it's a great win because you're down two starters.
00:18:33But if you don't, you've got film of what your guy Porzingis can do
00:18:37and what they try to do against him with their two bigs.
00:18:40And you gave a guy that probably isn't going to play much for the rest of the season
00:18:44a chance to see what does he do when he's put on the floor
00:18:47in a big game on the road type situation.
00:18:50And I thought Drew Peterson handled himself adequately in this game.
00:18:53Yeah, I have no problem with how he handled it. And go ahead, Noah.
00:18:57No, I'll just add before this game, he had played a total of 30 NBA minutes.
00:19:01So he nearly doubled his output of NBA minutes, excluding preseason, in one night.
00:19:06And so that experience is invaluable.
00:19:08I'm sure that they're going to have a lot of film to work with him on.
00:19:12And again, to bring back a two-way, I think he's not somebody that has been
00:19:15really intriguing to people. I know because I can see page views of my articles
00:19:19and I've written about him and nobody clicks.
00:19:21So I know that he's not a guy that...
00:19:23I'm not sure people even know who he is yet.
00:19:25Yeah, but guys like, I think J.D. Davis and people are more...
00:19:28because he wasn't drafted by the organization.
00:19:30Not only he wasn't drafted, but he's also not super intriguing to people.
00:19:34So in that sense, I think he was able to kind of introduce himself a little bit.
00:19:38But again, I've asked Joe Mazzuolo this question a couple of times
00:19:41about playing different guys down the stretch, and he never shares too much.
00:19:45But what he does always say is, if they're out there, I trust them.
00:19:49And I think this was his way of saying, I trust Drew Peterson right now.
00:19:53And I don't think that he trusts James Springer because he hasn't played him
00:19:56at all this year.
00:19:58This matchup called for offense.
00:20:00Yeah, but even so, I mean, I would have loved to see James Springer
00:20:03just for the last minute when you needed a steal
00:20:05because you just kept fouling back and forth.
00:20:07I was like, let's put the guy that maybe you can get a steal here.
00:20:09That's what I was thinking, not even during the run of the game.
00:20:13But yeah, I just...
00:20:15I was going to go there next.
00:20:17I didn't love it in the moment, stringing out those 20 seconds,
00:20:21fouling five times where they hit 10 straight, no, or eight
00:20:26for that 20 seconds that they strung out at the end of the game there.
00:20:30They were fouling Garland, a great free-throw shooter.
00:20:32I think Mitchell was up there at one point.
00:20:35I get the thinking, and it worked out because they got the ball
00:20:37with five seconds left.
00:20:39They had one timeout, which probably went back to the challenge
00:20:42that they weren't able to win a couple minutes earlier in the fourth.
00:20:47So you have one timeout.
00:20:49You're trying to manage that.
00:20:51You have to get a three off probably at some point.
00:20:53I would say really impressive going from free throws up the court
00:20:58into a Pritchard three cleanly off a couple dribbles during that sequence
00:21:03to actually be in position to play it out with fouls there.
00:21:07But I do think, let's say after the Cavs hit six straight free throws,
00:21:12I probably would have called a timeout there and just set up a three
00:21:15because the Cavs were following you back every time, Sherrod,
00:21:18and sending you the free-throw line.
00:21:20And then obviously, I think with five seconds left,
00:21:22you were able to get the ball to Pritchard.
00:21:23And Scout was screaming, go up, go up.
00:21:25And maybe you get followed there on a three.
00:21:27Maybe you don't.
00:21:29But I think at some point when that following game stopped working,
00:21:33you had to set up a play where you could get a three off clean
00:21:36and try to tie the game there.
00:21:38Celtics were obviously never able to do that.
00:21:40I mean, Scout was on point as far as pointing out.
00:21:42When Pritchard had the ball in a corner, it was well within his range,
00:21:47and he was just waiting to get fouled.
00:21:49And I'm thinking like, no, you shoot.
00:21:51This is when you shoot because you know they're going to try to foul you,
00:21:54and you know if you get a shot off, it's either going to get blocked
00:21:58and go out of bounds, so then you just inbound it,
00:22:00or you get fouled with a chance to tie the game up.
00:22:03Again, I thought it was one of those moments where Pritchard's –
00:22:09he's had such a great season, but I just thought that was one of those moments
00:22:12where I know the coach has told you that you're probably going to get fouled,
00:22:15but damn it, be an offensive – have a clear, decisive offensive mindset
00:22:22and just let it fly.
00:22:24And let's be honest, who would you want taking that shot in that moment
00:22:29more than Peyton Pritchard?
00:22:31Right.
00:22:32There's no other Celtic you'd want to do that.
00:22:34So I thought that was a missed opportunity there
00:22:37when they were playing the fouling game.
00:22:39And Kenny Atkins, I mean, that's the smart thing to do.
00:22:41Even though Cleveland has a very good defense,
00:22:44Kenny Atkinson has been around the game long enough to know
00:22:47that you don't play with that kind of fire.
00:22:49You've got to foul.
00:22:50You've got to foul.
00:22:51So many teams have not done it and given up a three there.
00:22:53Yeah.
00:22:54Right.
00:22:55And so to me it was just a good coaching move on his part.
00:22:57And I would have probably, if I were Joe Mizzoula,
00:23:01I might have reached into the Brad Stevens book of plays
00:23:04where you'll just do a misdirection, like you'll have Pritchard
00:23:07right in front of the inbounder and just have Drew Peterson or someone
00:23:10and set like a, I don't know, like a mid-screen
00:23:13and just have them flare out on the opposite side for a three-pointer.
00:23:16We've seen that play before and it does work.
00:23:20I probably would have tried something like that,
00:23:22particularly when it was like about five seconds to go,
00:23:25because at that point Cleveland is very comfortable following you.
00:23:28And they're in that rhythm.
00:23:30And you need to do something to disrupt that.
00:23:32And I thought, to your point, Bobby, running some type of action
00:23:35where to me you're not going to get a clean three-point shot
00:23:39right in front of where you're inbounded by.
00:23:41You're going to have to get some misdirection going to the opposite side
00:23:44of the floor, which again, I think with this,
00:23:47the kind of length that the Celtics have with Tatum, Drew Peterson,
00:23:50Al Horford, Porzingis, you could have ran some action
00:23:54that would have caused some confusion for Cleveland
00:23:57and put you in position, I think, to get a decent look at a three,
00:24:01which is what you want at that point.
00:24:02Because like you said, there's a point in that whole
00:24:06back and forth free throw thing where you got to do something
00:24:10to just disrupt the flow.
00:24:12Because they weren't missing free throws at all.
00:24:14I think it was 10 for 10 down the stretch.
00:24:16Yeah.
00:24:17So you got to do something to disrupt that.
00:24:20What would you have done there, Noah?
00:24:22You think they played it right?
00:24:24Yeah.
00:24:25I mean, I think usually teams don't go 10 for 10.
00:24:28I mean, this is not either team's fault.
00:24:30I think you want to change that rule as an NBA.
00:24:32And I know that I sound petty saying that now
00:24:35because the Celtics lost, but I feel this way all the time,
00:24:37that there has to be some way to prevent the game from devolving
00:24:41into that down the stretch.
00:24:43Because you're taking away the potential for really great shots,
00:24:46like game-tying shots, and you're dragging out –
00:24:48that was like 18 minutes of play the last 35 seconds.
00:24:51So besides the point, it's not going to change.
00:24:53But I actually have been thinking about this for a long time,
00:24:56and tonight was a perfect example of how frustrating that is
00:24:58when a team is down three and you don't actually have to guard
00:25:00because you can just foul.
00:25:02And they did it great.
00:25:03You could see the veteran experience in that team.
00:25:05They stuck to the game plan.
00:25:06And the Celtics really didn't challenge them.
00:25:08I think someone like Jalen – Jalen's had a few marquee plays
00:25:10in recent years where he's actually gotten the steal.
00:25:13Yeah, they did force a timeout.
00:25:16They forced one timeout, and they forced one awkward lob pass in Yang.
00:25:20But outside of that, every single play was crisp to the guy
00:25:23they wanted to get it to.
00:25:24Really not a lot of misdirection or pressure or anything.
00:25:27So, yeah, I think if you're Boston, you've got to try something else.
00:25:31I feel like maybe you could have rolled out a lineup
00:25:33that had a little bit more personnel.
00:25:35Like Springer, I mean, again, it's a little bit reputational with him
00:25:39at this point, this idea that he can force steals and is a ball hawk
00:25:42because we really haven't seen it in Boston.
00:25:44But I would have loved to give him that chance if we're in the business
00:25:46of giving guys opportunities tonight.
00:25:48That would have been fun to see him a little bit more extended.
00:25:51But ultimately, this is the way the game goes.
00:25:53If the team hits 10 of 10 free throws and the Celtics put themselves
00:25:57in that position, that's just the way that it's going to go
00:26:00unless the rules change, which I'm a proponent of.
00:26:02I was watching the game with my dad.
00:26:03We were debating all the different possibilities.
00:26:05I think there's a couple of different ways you could go,
00:26:07but it's probably not going to happen.
00:26:09Well, I tell you what, Noah, because you got me thinking about rule changes
00:26:12and specifically about that end of game.
00:26:14Here's what I propose.
00:26:16We'll just call this the Noah rule of play.
00:26:20After the eighth foul, teams get one free throw
00:26:25and possession of the ball.
00:26:27Once you go into the bonus and you start doing the intentional fouling stuff,
00:26:30after you commit that eighth foul, that team that is fouled gets a free throw,
00:26:35but they also keep possession of the ball.
00:26:37That will be a deterrent for teams to do all that fouling.
00:26:41It's like an intentional foul rule.
00:26:43Yeah, because to me, the fact that 30 seconds of play
00:26:49all of a sudden becomes five additional minutes of game time is insane.
00:26:55You're dragging it out way longer than it needs to be.
00:26:59This is something that we've seen teams do this.
00:27:03We've seen the Celtics benefit from this, and I kind of thought it sucked.
00:27:07We've seen the Celtics on the short end of it, and it still sucks.
00:27:10It just makes the game so much longer than it needs to be.
00:27:13The NBA has shown a willingness and desire to speed up play.
00:27:18Tweaking that end of game rule a little bit, I think, is one way to do that.
00:27:23I would love to see teams actually have to defend down the stretch.
00:27:28What an amazing concept that would be.
00:27:30You actually have to win a game by actually defending
00:27:34in the closing seconds of play. Damn.
00:27:37I also just think a game-tying three-point shot
00:27:39is one of the most exciting plays in basketball.
00:27:42Effectively, if you're a smart, well-coached team,
00:27:44you would be eliminating those.
00:27:46The Celtics have benefited from that more than it's hurt them.
00:27:51Yeah.
00:27:53It's not the rule is the rule, but it was definitely a great game.
00:27:57I thought the last stretch was a little bit underwhelming,
00:28:00but also very impressive because it's hard to hit that many free throws.
00:28:02Donovan Mitchell went to the line one of four from the line for the night.
00:28:07I wasn't surprised that he made all of them
00:28:09because at that point he was in such a good groove.
00:28:12Most NBA teams are not going to go 10 of 10.
00:28:15We've seen that enough to know that.
00:28:17At the end of the day, you've got to give Cleveland their props.
00:28:20They won this game.
00:28:21They were the better team.
00:28:22They did all the things that you're supposed to do
00:28:24down the stretch to win the game.
00:28:26They made their free throws.
00:28:27They got their stops.
00:28:28One play, and I don't know if we're going to talk about it later,
00:28:31but when Donovan put them up, I think it was 103-101,
00:28:35and Tatum came right back, had the layup, had Garland beat,
00:28:38and missed. He just missed the layup.
00:28:41The broadcasts were talking about Garland showing physicality,
00:28:46holding his own against Tatum.
00:28:47No, Tatum missed the bunny.
00:28:50He just missed the damn bunny.
00:28:52There was nothing that Garland did that should have prevented Tatum
00:28:55from finishing that shot at the rep.
00:28:57I want to get to Tatum.
00:28:58I will say, I like the Elam ending for the end of game stuff.
00:29:02I don't know if that could ever get to the NBA, but G League maybe,
00:29:05and they did in the All-Star game, obviously.
00:29:07And then you've got to get a shot off there late at some point.
00:29:11At some point you had to draw it up, and they had a chance to there.
00:29:14And I'm not going to put that on Mizzou.
00:29:15I think that was unperturbed there,
00:29:17not being able to get a shot off there with about five seconds left.
00:29:20I want to get to Tatum.
00:29:21Because you knew he was the guy that was going to have the ball.
00:29:23You knew he was going to have the ball.
00:29:24And at that point, if you know you're going to have the ball,
00:29:28you either design something or you come up with something as an individual
00:29:31that's going to free you up or use that attention that you're getting
00:29:34to get someone else a good look.
00:29:36There should have been some type of plan A, plan B, plan C
00:29:41in those last five seconds where Pritchard is your first option.
00:29:45And if that's not right there, knowing they're going to foul,
00:29:48do some action that's going to free someone else up
00:29:51so that Pritchard can make a play or someone else can make a play
00:29:53to give you a three-point shot.
00:29:56Because you're too good a team, and you love the three-point shot too much
00:30:01to not get one off in those closing seconds.
00:30:04Not seeing any quotes, Noah.
00:30:07I don't know if you are, but out of Miami tonight
00:30:09where the Heat played, Jimmy Butler tweaked his knee.
00:30:13So he's going to get looked at ahead of tomorrow.
00:30:16So could Butler-less Heat team come in a bust tomorrow?
00:30:19Anything on the Celtics' side?
00:30:21Yeah, I just saw – so Joe was talking about the Drew Peterson matchup.
00:30:24I can read – or the Drew Peterson decision.
00:30:26I can read the quote you guys won.
00:30:29I thought he had some really good defensive possessions,
00:30:31defending without fouling.
00:30:32He was physical.
00:30:33He's smart.
00:30:34He has a knack for the ball, whether it's offensive rebounding
00:30:36or moving without the basketball to get open.
00:30:38I think he works really hard.
00:30:39So you try to find moments throughout the season
00:30:41to where you can validate the work the guys put in,
00:30:43regardless of who it is.
00:30:44Jordan, Drew, Jaden, JD, those guys.
00:30:47I just felt like he's had really good reps lately,
00:30:49and I thought he put us in a position for us to win tonight.
00:30:53I think he's had really good reps lately is the key line there.
00:30:55I think he's just impressed them recently,
00:30:57and they were thinking to themselves, like,
00:30:58we're going to need to go with somebody who was really impressed recently.
00:31:01I think Drew Peterson's really impressed.
00:31:02Not necessarily like his skill set is the best fit for Cleveland.
00:31:06Maybe that's partially true, but that was what I was thinking,
00:31:09and so I'm going to hang on to that line.
00:31:12Yeah.
00:31:14I guess it made sense.
00:31:15We got you on record, Joe.
00:31:16We got you on record.
00:31:18I know.
00:31:19I love that he said something on record.
00:31:20I will say, though, if he fouled anymore,
00:31:24he would have fouled out of the game.
00:31:26Look, man, you get six of them every game.
00:31:29I do not understand why more people do that.
00:31:32I just wouldn't say he defended without fouling.
00:31:35He had a few possessions where he defended,
00:31:37and he didn't pick up a foul.
00:31:38Right.
00:31:39I see.
00:31:40I can understand, Bobby,
00:31:41why we were each drawn to a different line in that quote.
00:31:43Right.
00:31:44I didn't even cross that line about the fouling.
00:31:46You're right.
00:31:47He did say that to me.
00:31:48Yeah.
00:31:49Yeah.
00:31:50No, but he was good, and again,
00:31:51I'm not going to go overboard with the praise of the game,
00:31:53because I think it was an okay game.
00:31:55Good on offense, not as good on defense,
00:31:57but I want to circle back to that later, too,
00:32:01but I want to tell everybody about game time real quick.
00:32:04Amazing experience over at game time,
00:32:06and there's obviously a game, many games this week at TD Garden.
00:32:10Will you see Peterson?
00:32:11Will you see Davidson?
00:32:12There's going to be a lot of room for some of the younger guys this week,
00:32:14because guys are going to miss time.
00:32:16No Horford, no Porzingis tomorrow, maybe no Jimmy Butler,
00:32:20so an opportunity on a Monday night to see the Celtics at a good price on game time.
00:32:24Always going to have the best deals over here,
00:32:26regardless of what the game is.
00:32:29Last-minute tickets, guys getting scratched, weeknight game,
00:32:32that's a good opportunity to find a deal,
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00:32:56and Flash Zone deals going on all the time over on the Game Time app.
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00:33:01and let them know we sent you over there using the code CLNS,
00:33:04and you're going to get $20 off your first purchase.
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00:33:09Game time.
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00:33:13Terms apply.
00:33:15Yeah, I still have so much running through my head about this game.
00:33:19Let's circle back to the Peterson stuff later.
00:33:21Actually, I'll ask you real quick here
00:33:24because this is what I feel.
00:33:27Would you have rather seen Shireman?
00:33:30No.
00:33:31Because we haven't seen him yet.
00:33:32That's the only reason I say that.
00:33:33No.
00:33:34I'm going to jump in right now, no.
00:33:35And I'm going to tell you why.
00:33:36Because I think Joe Mazzulla has in his mind a pecking order of opportunities,
00:33:45and that pecking order has a lot to do with how much time you've invested,
00:33:52that not only do you have to be talented and show growth,
00:33:57but you will have had to have shown it over a certain period of time,
00:34:01show some level of consistency.
00:34:03And I think that's what Drew Peterson was rewarded with,
00:34:05just consistently being ready for the opportunity,
00:34:08not knowing whether it's going to come.
00:34:09More likely than not, it won't come.
00:34:11But when it does come, will you rise to the occasion?
00:34:13Will you be ready?
00:34:14And he was.
00:34:16I think going forward, I think you may see the Celtics' first-round pick.
00:34:21See some action unexpectedly.
00:34:23But for now, I think you've got to go with the guys who can, frankly,
00:34:27have been here long enough to where they've earned the right to get out there.
00:34:32And if we're being completely transparent about this,
00:34:35I see a much clearer path to a Celtics player being ill or having an injury
00:34:42that creates an opportunity for Drew than I do for Shireman.
00:34:45If Sam Hauser got some kind of stomach bug and had to miss a game or two,
00:34:49are you going to go with Drew or are you going to go with Shireman?
00:34:52Jalen Brown, if he's down for that illness lasts more than just a game
00:34:59and you've got to fill that spot, are you going to have Peterson come off your bench
00:35:06or do you want Shireman?
00:35:07I just think that when you start looking at the wing position for the Celtics,
00:35:11if there's a player who's injured or ill,
00:35:16Peterson makes a lot more sense to have when you're active roster to Shireman
00:35:19at this point.
00:35:21Trot, I agree 100% with everything you said.
00:35:23Well, one thing I'll add to maybe affirm your point here,
00:35:26I always think about how Jeff Van Gundy was on the Celtics coaching staff
00:35:29as like an advisor last year.
00:35:30And I know he was interested in potentially being a lead assistant
00:35:33and Joe was just not going to have him jump all the guys that have been
00:35:36with the organization for longer.
00:35:38And I remember I think the Globe reported this before the season started,
00:35:40but I thought that was such an interesting anecdote
00:35:42because obviously Jeff Van Gundy has a lot of experience
00:35:45and has a whole resume that's much deeper than a lot of the player development guys
00:35:49that have really come up in Boston.
00:35:50But that's the way that he viewed it.
00:35:52And Drew Peterson has been in Maine all of last season.
00:35:55And it's not just like, oh, you've been here, let's reward you.
00:35:58Everything they do in Maine is exactly the same as what they do in Boston,
00:36:02the coaching staff, the communication.
00:36:04I mean, I've beaten the storyline to the ground because it's, you know,
00:36:07I like going to Maine and asking about the stuff,
00:36:09but I think he actually knows the system a lot better.
00:36:11And he came in, probably didn't have more than a couple hours of a heads up,
00:36:15if he even had a heads up that he was going to play.
00:36:17But he's familiar with the system, the terminology.
00:36:19A lot of that stuff is still very new to Baylor.
00:36:22And I think Baylor has been honest about that.
00:36:24So down the road, like who has the higher ceiling?
00:36:26That's a different question.
00:36:27But I think in this moment, the fact that he has a year of experience
00:36:30with the organization, even if it's not on our TV screens
00:36:33and, you know, people aren't familiar with him at home,
00:36:35in that sense I think it makes a lot of sense.
00:36:39And remember that when they signed, you know, Peterson,
00:36:44they had yet to ink a deal with Sam Houser.
00:36:48And so you kind of sense that if Sam were to, let's say, have left,
00:36:52Peterson probably would have been on the active roster.
00:36:55They probably would have converted his contract to, you know,
00:36:57to a normal NBA deal.
00:36:59Because when you look at the things that Sam Houser did early on in his career
00:37:03that allowed him to be on that active roster,
00:37:06Peterson does a lot of those same things.
00:37:08I don't think he's as good a defender as Sam.
00:37:11And I don't think his lateral quickness
00:37:13and things like that are the same as Sam's.
00:37:15But in terms of shot making, very similar, very, very similar.
00:37:19And so Peterson, I just think he's one of those guys that he's close
00:37:24but not quite there yet.
00:37:26But he's close enough to where if there's a sickness or illness
00:37:29or injury at that wing position, he's a guy that you feel comfortable
00:37:32with being on your active roster
00:37:34and potentially throwing out there for a few minutes.
00:37:37Yeah, I know, and I think that showed tonight.
00:37:39The readiness, the fit on both ends of the floor,
00:37:42and his ability to do the things that they wanted him to do.
00:37:44The shooting hasn't been there in Maine, but it flashed tonight.
00:37:47So, you know, credit to him for being ready for this moment.
00:37:49I do think he helped tonight.
00:37:51I do want to see at some point Shireman, though,
00:37:53just to see what they have in him.
00:37:55But again, that's not the most pressing thing from this one tonight.
00:37:57It was an interesting wrinkle.
00:37:59Two of the regulars I want to get into here,
00:38:01and of course Tatum the first.
00:38:04I thought Tatum embodied this game for the most part.
00:38:07You mentioned the miss late Shrod.
00:38:09He had two great mid-rangers before that,
00:38:11that kind of staved off the Cavs comeback.
00:38:13This was one of his better mid-range shooting games all year.
00:38:16He had like a baseline finish that was huge at one point
00:38:19in the fourth quarter.
00:38:20So he had some ginormous shots,
00:38:22and this is a good three-point shooting game from him too.
00:38:25And this one, he had a block at one point.
00:38:27So he was everywhere.
00:38:28But there were key moments, you know, not the way up inside Shrod,
00:38:32but especially early.
00:38:33Started 4-12 in the first half.
00:38:35Couldn't beat Garland a couple times when he had that matchup there.
00:38:40And, you know, we were talking about in our group chat there,
00:38:43him just kind of getting stuck behind,
00:38:44looking for foul calls in those spots.
00:38:46So I felt like in the moments where the Celtics struggled in this game,
00:38:50Tatum struggled.
00:38:51But it's tough because he led the moments where they thrived in this game.
00:38:55So I thought it was a kind of a hit and miss game for him,
00:38:59despite obviously a great, you know, stat sheet here in the end.
00:39:02Well, for a game like this, you know, Tatum has to be almost flawless
00:39:07because there's no Jalen Brown.
00:39:08There's no Derek White.
00:39:10Drew Holliday could not make a shot.
00:39:12I think he was like two for nine.
00:39:13And so Tatum had to be really, really special.
00:39:16And I thought Tatum went away from the one thing, Bobby,
00:39:19that you touched on that was working for him all game long,
00:39:21and that's the mid-range.
00:39:22When he would get that switch and he started by Garland,
00:39:25Tatum did not need to go all the way to the cup.
00:39:28Get to the elbow and just simply shoot over the top of him.
00:39:31Tatum did that repeatedly.
00:39:33And whenever the defense reacted to him getting to the elbow,
00:39:37thinking that he was about to shoot, someone was open in a corner
00:39:40or someone was open cutting to the basket.
00:39:42And so Tatum, I thought when he went to the basket all the way,
00:39:47I thought he took away the one advantage of unpredictability
00:39:51that kept the Cavs defense on their heels all game long.
00:39:55And you have to do that against the Cavs
00:39:57because they're going to throw a ton of bodies at you.
00:39:59They are. They are.
00:40:00And they have length.
00:40:02And so they don't even have to necessarily move well
00:40:05to get in your way and cause problems.
00:40:08And I thought Tatum, again, Cleveland is a team that Tatum
00:40:12can just have his way with the mid-range game all day
00:40:15because when he gets that switch with Garland,
00:40:17there's no way that Garland can guard him on the elbow.
00:40:20And what Tatum was doing early on, I thought, Bobby,
00:40:23that really was effective was he wasn't wasting time.
00:40:26He wasn't playing with his food.
00:40:28He would get to the spot, raise up, shoot.
00:40:30Not get to the spot, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble,
00:40:33like we see him do often, and then make a decision.
00:40:36And so his ability to react quickly to the mismatch,
00:40:40I thought was great.
00:40:41And beating Garland off the dribble,
00:40:43I didn't think he did that as well as he would have liked.
00:40:48But when he tried to do that,
00:40:50I thought he was getting away from the things that weren't.
00:40:53And sometimes Tatum, I think, has a tendency to do that
00:40:55where he'll go to what he wants to do
00:40:57as opposed to what's working for him in the moment.
00:41:00The mid-range jump shot was all day
00:41:03when he got that switch with Garland, all day.
00:41:08Yeah, and also I think that he had, you know,
00:41:11the thing that hurts with Tatum is a lot of times I feel like he has it,
00:41:14like he's having a good shooting night,
00:41:16and it's just three or four bad shots that end up tanking his stats.
00:41:20And genuinely, like we've talked about this a lot over the years.
00:41:22The one over Mara was awful.
00:41:24That's the one I was thinking about too, yeah.
00:41:26And so, yeah, I feel like that, you know,
00:41:29from a statistical standpoint, and also from a winning standpoint,
00:41:33if he can just eliminate a couple of those shots per game,
00:41:36and every star does that, and everybody that's on a heater does it,
00:41:38but I just think that he does it to an extent where it actually,
00:41:41like then you look down at the box score,
00:41:43and he's actually shooting 45% from the field
00:41:45when it feels like he was on a heater,
00:41:47because then he took a couple heat checks
00:41:49or like some really crazy heat checks.
00:41:50So that's just a regular qualm I have,
00:41:53but I think overall you have to just like
00:41:55how he's controlling the game across all fronts.
00:41:57He had four assists in this game.
00:41:59He should have had more.
00:42:00He had some great setups.
00:42:02I love the fact that he, regardless of who it is in the corner,
00:42:05he has just made that play where he just, you know,
00:42:07the drive and kick to the corner three,
00:42:09it's just such a staple of his game now.
00:42:11And Al missed the big one.
00:42:13Drew Peterson hit one that was cool that he trusted him to still find him,
00:42:15regardless of the fact that he's not somebody that is, you know,
00:42:19he's used to playing with.
00:42:20But overall this loss was not, I don't think this was, you know,
00:42:23Tatum didn't have a good game.
00:42:25He probably needed to have a monster game, you know,
00:42:27an even better game for just considering who was out.
00:42:30And that third quarter was that, you know,
00:42:32what we saw and why they even built that lead.
00:42:34I mean, they were up by 12, entering the fourth.
00:42:36Most of that was because of the, you know,
00:42:38T.J.'s and Tatum's play,
00:42:39and there just wasn't enough down the stretch there.
00:42:41And it doesn't help that the Cavs star Donovan Mitchell
00:42:44was perfect down the stretch.
00:42:46Let's keep checking the boxes here.
00:42:48White missed this game.
00:42:49That impacts them big time.
00:42:51And, you know, the one thing I do like,
00:42:53I think a silver lining from this game,
00:42:55if White's going to miss some time here, and I did check in on it.
00:42:57It doesn't seem like there's a ton of concern, as Missoula said,
00:43:00about this injury being a long-term thing,
00:43:02even though you hear foot and you're like, oh, Noah mentioned it Friday.
00:43:05He normally doesn't miss a game.
00:43:07And he was questionable for this one, which is probably a good sign,
00:43:10but they rule him out.
00:43:12They went three and three to start last year when he missed games.
00:43:15So they felt his loss pretty significantly here.
00:43:17And, you know, unfortunately for the Celtics ride,
00:43:20I thought Pritchard filled in decently in that spot,
00:43:22especially later in the game.
00:43:24He started playing some of that two-man game with Tatum
00:43:26that I think is important to set him up for shots.
00:43:28There was a long pass with Tatum had a mismatch underneath
00:43:32that was a little too long and, you know, led Tatum out of bounds.
00:43:35That was tough.
00:43:36And, you know, I felt like Pritchard,
00:43:38he got put in some weird spots in this game, right?
00:43:40He's attacking a mismatch late posting up.
00:43:43You never see that.
00:43:44And he's doing a lot of Derek White things here that he's just not used to.
00:43:48But, you know, 24 points, solid shooting game,
00:43:51and getting into that two-man game late.
00:43:53I felt like you were able to acclimate him to that spot.
00:43:56Let's say White misses a week here.
00:43:58He's going to miss five games if he misses a week here.
00:44:01So it's going to be some pretty important minutes for Pritchard
00:44:05where he's already grown so important for this team.
00:44:08So we'll see what ends up happening with Derek here.
00:44:11They're tight at that guard spot.
00:44:13So it's going to put an enormous amount of Pritchard here on Pritchard here
00:44:17if White misses three, four, five games.
00:44:19But Pritchard looked capable here, especially late.
00:44:23Well, I thought in this game, Peyton really, I thought,
00:44:27got into his bag and showed that he's more than just
00:44:29end of the shot clock three-point shooter.
00:44:32I mean, his post-up game is really good for a guy who's not that big.
00:44:38And, again, the thing that I like about him was that, you know,
00:44:42he's not tall, obviously, but he's strong.
00:44:45And he uses that low center of gravity to get great position.
00:44:49I mean, seeing him back Garland down was really, really just certainly unexpected.
00:44:55And because he's a point guard, he has the ability to see guys in the corners
00:45:00because typically when Cleveland collapses defensively on the post,
00:45:05they leave the corner wide open.
00:45:07I mean, Tatum just absolutely, you know, to Noah's point earlier,
00:45:11Tatum should have had at least three or four more assists than he wound up with
00:45:16by the simple fact that they were able to take advantage of those open corner
00:45:20opportunities that happen when the defense gets sucked in and collapses.
00:45:24Peyton was good.
00:45:25I mean, he scored on a block.
00:45:26He scored from three-point range.
00:45:28He scored mid-range, obviously from the free throw line.
00:45:31And they needed someone to be a number two scorer.
00:45:34They needed that Robin to Tatum's Batman in this game.
00:45:38When you didn't have Jalen, you didn't have Derrick,
00:45:40you had Drew Holliday struggling with his shot.
00:45:42And Peyton was that – he was that guy.
00:45:45And that's what – when you're considered one of the best six men in the NBA,
00:45:49you're leading all scorers coming off the bench in the NBA,
00:45:53these are the kind of performances that you're supposed to have on nights
00:45:57when your role is enhanced.
00:45:59So Peyton had a great game.
00:46:01I thought he had a really, really good game.
00:46:05And when you look at the factors that contributed to this loss,
00:46:09his play does not stack high, if at all, as being among them.
00:46:15Yeah.
00:46:16They just keep putting more and more on his plate now when he keeps handling it.
00:46:18It's unbelievable.
00:46:21That's Noah's all-star.
00:46:22Remember, when he becomes an all-star,
00:46:24we are going to credit Noah with calling that before anyone even conjured up
00:46:28the idea.
00:46:30And I was even more bold on Sherrod's pod yesterday than I am on you.
00:46:33She was.
00:46:34Talking about Peyton Prichard.
00:46:35She went all in on Prichard.
00:46:37I will say,
00:46:38I think this was the kind of game that actually made me feel more encouraged
00:46:42about Prichard than I already feel because his shot was off.
00:46:45I mean, he started the game, he made his first, I think, one or two shots.
00:46:48And then he missed like eight in a row.
00:46:50And so you're thinking at that moment, like, is this just not his night?
00:46:55Is he just not going to impact this game?
00:46:56It's not going to be every night.
00:46:57He's, you know, he's your sixth man, ultimately.
00:47:00It's his first year really putting up these kinds of numbers.
00:47:02Like it's might just not be his night.
00:47:03He's your sixth man.
00:47:04And then eventually he finishes with 24 points.
00:47:06And in the fourth quarter, I think he was kind of the guy.
00:47:09Like he was really running the show.
00:47:10He was taking big shots.
00:47:11He was perfect at the free throw line.
00:47:13So yeah, this is one of those games where, you know, you always talk about,
00:47:16I've been feeling this way about like Jared McCain, where he,
00:47:18I think he's exceeded a lot of people's expectations in Philadelphia.
00:47:21And then the other night he went like three for 12 from the field and
00:47:24couldn't hit a three and finished with 20 points because he kept getting to
00:47:27the free throw line.
00:47:28And so it was like,
00:47:29if you can find ways to put up numbers when it's not your night,
00:47:31that's like, that's what separates, you know,
00:47:33maybe a hot shooter from somebody who was a legit score.
00:47:35And I think draw, like you said,
00:47:36like some of the drivers that we're seeing, they're not fluky.
00:47:38They're just the result of him recognizing that guys are not helping on him
00:47:41and he knows how to go one-on-one against anybody.
00:47:43And maybe eventually people will help and he's a great passer.
00:47:46So we'll make the pass when he's in that position, when he's trapped,
00:47:49you know, where's that's,
00:47:50that's I think that's almost his first instinct is to drive and kick.
00:47:52So yeah, this is one of those games where I just feel, yeah,
00:47:55I feel really encouraged about what his ceiling is going to be.
00:47:58Not an all-star this season.
00:48:00He's not in the running for that,
00:48:01but I do think I've maintained that that's the ceiling.
00:48:04And nights like tonight,
00:48:05when he has the ball in his hand down the stretch with Jason Tatum on your
00:48:07team and all these guys, like,
00:48:09I really do think that he showcases what he's capable of.
00:48:13I think he'll get a chance to start tomorrow.
00:48:15If they could just kind of sit everybody, they went all in on this game,
00:48:18you know, maybe sit Drew, Al,
00:48:22Porzingis, all those guys tomorrow. And then, you know,
00:48:25who knows who's going to play,
00:48:26obviously you'll need Pritchard in a starting role at that point.
00:48:28And, you know, Peterson will get some run again.
00:48:30And we might see J.D.
00:48:32Like could tomorrow be J.D.'s first real minutes.
00:48:35It's going to be an interesting undermanned effort tomorrow.
00:48:38I think a lot of guys are going to probably miss that game.
00:48:40And Drew did not look great tonight.
00:48:42We don't really have to get into all of that,
00:48:44but he was questionable for this game and looked like, especially,
00:48:47that was a tough, tough play late against holiday.
00:48:50But in terms of Pritchard,
00:48:51ton of positives here because you got him some reps late with the main guys.
00:48:54You got him in that two man game with Tatum to free him for some good
00:49:00space and positions and shots late.
00:49:02He even got his own shots late and obviously they were going to him on that
00:49:05last play of the game. So it's just amazing results here.
00:49:08I don't know. I'm not going to comment on the all-star thing,
00:49:10but me and Sherrod basically, we're not, we're not gamblers here,
00:49:16but if we did bet it,
00:49:18we would be just getting ready to rake in the dough on our Pritchard six man
00:49:22prediction.
00:49:24We called that way before, way before.
00:49:28Let's give it to Joe Sway too, who wanted to do it, but wasn't allowed to.
00:49:31See, no, I will not give Joe Sway credit because he didn't have the
00:49:34cojones to do it. You and I pulled together.
00:49:36No, he wasn't allowed to do it. John prevented it.
00:49:39Sometimes you got to color outside the lines, Joe Sway.
00:49:42That was a color outside the lines.
00:49:44He could have said someone on the Celtics bench is going to win six men.
00:49:47Maybe, I don't know. Exactly.
00:49:49No, he, Pritchard's been great. He's been really good.
00:49:52Really good.
00:49:54One more quick note from this game.
00:49:56And I do want to get big picture on the Cavs a little bit,
00:49:58because obviously they split these first two games here real quick.
00:50:00Noah, thoughts on Hauser, who some people, I don't even know if I have it.
00:50:04Oh, here it is.
00:50:06I thought he was good in this game and a spot start and he's slowly digging
00:50:09his way out of that early season slump.
00:50:11He definitely hasn't looked like himself often this year, if at all.
00:50:15And tonight was one of those nights where I feel like you saw a little bit of
00:50:18shades of the old Hauser out there.
00:50:20So that's important because they've missed him,
00:50:22the Hauser they got a year ago.
00:50:25Yeah, I thought he looked a lot better.
00:50:28And honestly, I think the shot's been off,
00:50:30but for the last month or so he's looked normal to me as far as his mobility
00:50:35and as far as his defense and rebounding and things.
00:50:37And so, yeah, early in the season,
00:50:40you could tell the back thing was bothering him and I don't know if he's
00:50:42still doing the hot pad or whatever it is that he was doing on the bench.
00:50:45When we're in person, we can gauge that.
00:50:47And it was definitely a whole contraption going on there,
00:50:49you know, about a month ago.
00:50:51So hopefully he's improving, but yeah, I think the three-point shot,
00:50:54like I know people criticize him.
00:50:55I see people all the time online being like, Hauser sucks this year.
00:50:58I always point back to the same thing in his entire career.
00:51:01He has never shot below 40% from three for a season, college, high school,
00:51:05NBA.
00:51:06And so if he goes through a cold stretch, like it's going to even out.
00:51:10It's just,
00:51:11we have every reason to think that it's different talking about somebody
00:51:14like him than a guy that's unproven.
00:51:15That we're trying to figure out what his three-point shot is like,
00:51:17like this is, this is his game.
00:51:19And he's going to use, you know,
00:51:21he is missing really quintessential looks these past few weeks.
00:51:24It's tough.
00:51:25I mean, when that's your job and you're missing them, yeah, it's,
00:51:29it's tough.
00:51:30We've talked about with so many of the shooters, right?
00:51:31Like a couple shots can determine good game, bad game.
00:51:34And this was obviously a good game with him hitting them.
00:51:36But you know, you do go from what was it last year?
00:51:3942.
00:51:40So let's say he finishes this year, 35, 36.
00:51:43It's a whole different impact.
00:51:44I know he's bringing some defense and some other stuff to the table,
00:51:47but he does have to hit them at some point and he's playing through it.
00:51:51He's powering through it.
00:51:52He hasn't even wanted to talk about it.
00:51:54Now, when we, when we've talked to him, Noah, so, you know,
00:51:56credit to him for not using it as an excuse,
00:51:59but it has been tough because they relied on him a lot in that role last
00:52:02year. And, you know, I do think Derek's comparison,
00:52:04the grant there is pretty apt.
00:52:06Like you start getting more pressure shot.
00:52:08I'm sure that's part of it too.
00:52:09I'm sure guys are accounting for him more too.
00:52:12So you got to find ways to regain that consistency, obviously, but also,
00:52:17you know, impact the game in other ways.
00:52:19Unfortunately, he's doing that through the rebounding good pass here,
00:52:22their defense. So we'll see where he ends up this year.
00:52:25Obviously it's a slow start.
00:52:27That's going to be tough to overcome here with the injury.
00:52:29But there have been a lot of nights where it's just like, Ooh, you know,
00:52:33that's, that's not the house that we saw a year ago.
00:52:35And fortunately tonight, this looked like the Hauser from a year ago.
00:52:38But you know what though, Bobby, I mean, you, you just touched on why,
00:52:41I think this has been somewhat of a tougher year than usual for him.
00:52:46He's growing. He's actually growing as an NBA player.
00:52:50And when any player grows it's never pretty,
00:52:54there's going to be ups and downs with that.
00:52:56Like how's it came to the league as a guy that can knock down three point
00:52:58shots. And other than that,
00:53:00you really didn't have much of an expectation for him.
00:53:02And now he's a guy that can actually do, you know,
00:53:06fake the shot, dribble, drive, pull up mid range,
00:53:09defend multiple positions, rebound pass.
00:53:14He's being,
00:53:15he's put upon himself this need to be more than just a three point shooter
00:53:19because he understands in being around these Celtics players,
00:53:22you can't be a one trick pony.
00:53:24If you're going to have any type of longevity in the NBA,
00:53:27you have to be able to do more than that. He may,
00:53:30there may become a time where he has a rough season,
00:53:32like right now where he's not shooting better than 40% for three point range.
00:53:35Can he give us something other than that?
00:53:38Does he have value beyond that one shot? And obviously Bobby,
00:53:42to your point,
00:53:43that's why you're here because you're a really good shooter,
00:53:47but that is not necessarily going to keep you here.
00:53:50You're going to have to be able to do more than that.
00:53:52And I think Sam is growing into being a more well-rounded player.
00:53:56Now, is he going to be a two way standout? No, he's,
00:54:00I don't think he'll ever be that, but can he be an adequate defender? Yeah.
00:54:04Can he be a good rebounder at his position? Absolutely.
00:54:08Can he continue to get better as a playmaker setting up other guys?
00:54:11Well, for sure.
00:54:12His ability to improve in all those other metric areas is what's going to allow
00:54:17him to still get on the floor when he's going through a slump.
00:54:21Because if you're Joe Mazzuolo, you know, you're, you know,
00:54:24that and then go back to Noah's point,
00:54:26he's too damn good a shooter to stay in a slump for too long.
00:54:30Because to me, the longer he's in the slump,
00:54:33if you're the Celtics you're encouraged to some extent, because, you know,
00:54:37once he starts getting a few to go now, that,
00:54:40that stretch where he's shooting maybe 25,
00:54:4230% is going to be balanced by another stretch where he's going to be shooting
00:54:4560, 70% on threes.
00:54:47He got up over 35 this season tonight. So.
00:54:50Yeah. So I'm not worried about him. Yeah.
00:54:52I am not worried about him as a shooter.
00:54:54I'm more worried about him just being healthy enough to be out there.
00:54:56Cause I do think that back is going to be something that's going to have to
00:55:00be monitored.
00:55:01I know. And you don't like to hear that, right?
00:55:03It's it comes up and it's like, Ooh, where'd that come from?
00:55:07And then he's like, Oh, it happened over the summer.
00:55:09And I've just been managing it since. And you're like, what?
00:55:11And then all of a sudden it's like, yeah,
00:55:13it's probably just from all these years of basketball.
00:55:15So you don't love to hear that.
00:55:20And that's an unexpected twist that hasn't been talked about a ton
00:55:23this year. Cause I don't think it's killed them,
00:55:25but it is something that they've had to overcome.
00:55:27And obviously I guess getting a guy like Peterson in the mix and having some
00:55:30options there is important because you're down Howser Pritchard suddenly all
00:55:35your bench scoring at that point.
00:55:37So they needed a bounce back night from it, from him tonight.
00:55:41And they're going to need them again tomorrow. No.
00:55:43Yeah.
00:55:44I just want to remind people though, like this time last year,
00:55:46and Pritchard brought it up post game after Chicago,
00:55:48he literally could not make a shot.
00:55:50Like his first 10 or Pritchard Pritchard could not,
00:55:53could not make a shot.
00:55:55And I remember Joe Mizzou was saying early on,
00:55:58he has become the kind of player that can still be on the floor.
00:56:01It can still impact the game,
00:56:03even if he's not scoring because he's doing everything else.
00:56:05And I think we're seeing that with Sam Houser right now,
00:56:07and it's going to be, and in three months,
00:56:09I'll be Pritchard that can't make a shot.
00:56:10And then Al Gore is going to go through a stretch where he's over 20 in a
00:56:12row. And then Jason Tatum is going to be, or is the shot broken again?
00:56:15And we're going to have all these discussions,
00:56:17but at the end of the day,
00:56:18like he has a body of work that I think should make people not worry about
00:56:21him the same way that in the conference finals,
00:56:23everybody was freaking out about Sam Houser came out of the finals and hit
00:56:26more three-pointers, you know? And so, yeah, it's just,
00:56:30it's going to go up and down. It's the game.
00:56:32It's the name of the game when you're a three-point shooter,
00:56:34his gravity is going to always make an impact,
00:56:36but I just like how hard he's playing and how he's impacting the game in
00:56:38other ways. And, you know, he's not,
00:56:40he's not going to be a perfect defender. He's not going to be, you know,
00:56:43the best you got on the floor, but I think he does enough.
00:56:45But even tonight, had he not hit three of six threes,
00:56:48I think he did a lot of other things tonight that made him valuable.
00:56:50But he's due for one of these games where he just has like nine three-pointers.
00:56:55He really is.
00:56:56Cause he hasn't had any of those games this season and it's going to come the
00:56:59same way that it did last year.
00:57:00And that's the difference with this team compared to a lot of teams, Bobby,
00:57:03not to cut you off,
00:57:04but you have guys who have a proven body of work in making big shots and
00:57:11doing a lot of those things that help you win a championship.
00:57:14Whereas a lot of other teams have guys that they think might help them do
00:57:18that, that they hope might get them there.
00:57:20Whereas the Celtics have guys who've been there, done that.
00:57:23And they've done it at the highest level in some of the most critical moments
00:57:26of a season. And so if you're the Celtics,
00:57:30you're not really freaking out with one of your core guys,
00:57:33isn't necessarily shooting the ball particularly well,
00:57:35because you know that they have consistently found a way to impact the game,
00:57:40even when their shots aren't going well and knowing how good a shooter,
00:57:44most of these guys are,
00:57:45they're going to have a stretch where whatever struggles they're going through
00:57:48eight, nine, 10 games,
00:57:49they're going to balance that out with another eight, nine,
00:57:5110 games where they're playing out of this world.
00:57:53I want to do a little more Cavs talk out of here. This is funny too.
00:57:56Eric Weiss, good friend of the show.
00:57:58I looked up at one point,
00:58:00Pritchard was shooting 70% of his shots from three and Joe's obviously stressed
00:58:04that he's getting into the mid range and doing some three level scoring at this
00:58:07point. So that's another good note on his game here.
00:58:09How's your good tonight?
00:58:10Shout out to Hauser too,
00:58:11for hitting the last second shot to potentially maybe sneak the Celtics into the
00:58:16in-season tournament here at the NBA cup.
00:58:18That's going to get wrapped up on Tuesday.
00:58:20So we'll talk a little bit about those implications tomorrow.
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01:00:24So final thoughts on this game and the calves in general,
01:00:28because obviously both these teams a quarter of the way through the season,
01:00:31Noah,
01:00:33starting to look like the top two teams in the East.
01:00:35And the more I've looked at the calves,
01:00:37I don't think the Celtics are going to lose to anyone in the East.
01:00:39Obviously,
01:00:40like Milwaukee starting to get back in that picture.
01:00:42And I respect them a lot,
01:00:44especially with Giannis and the way he's playing right now.
01:00:47But I'd look at Cleveland and say,
01:00:48this is probably the only team at full strength,
01:00:51full effectiveness,
01:00:52especially if they have home court potentially in a series here that could
01:00:56beat the Celtics four times.
01:00:57In a series in the East here,
01:00:59I don't look at anybody else as being able to do that the way they look right
01:01:02now.
01:01:03So I'll give them that.
01:01:04I still say the Celtics are the team to beat in the East,
01:01:07especially considering who they were missing here tonight,
01:01:09but the calves can clearly play with them.
01:01:11And what Shride said at the top of the show there,
01:01:13Mitchell,
01:01:14being able to give you 30 points every night against them is a big swing
01:01:17factor over the other competitors there.
01:01:19He just,
01:01:20I made a Celtics killer list early this year,
01:01:22like all time for my time watching the team.
01:01:24And he's like the headliner,
01:01:25obviously right up there with MJ.
01:01:26So they're tough.
01:01:30They're really,
01:01:31really tough.
01:01:32Yeah.
01:01:33I mean,
01:01:34they're,
01:01:35they're tough and they are hungry and they've got a coach who has a track
01:01:39record of getting the most out of the talent that he's given to work with.
01:01:42And so that's a big difference.
01:01:44Yeah.
01:01:45It's a huge,
01:01:46huge difference.
01:01:47I mean,
01:01:48you go back and look at those Brooklyn Nets teams that Kenny Atkinson
01:01:50coach.
01:01:51And the one thing that you could say about every single one of those teams
01:01:54is they played hard,
01:01:55played really,
01:01:56really hard.
01:01:57And he got pretty much all you could possibly get and expect out of those
01:02:01teams.
01:02:02And this Cleveland team is no different,
01:02:04but to your point,
01:02:05Bobby,
01:02:06having a guy that,
01:02:07you know,
01:02:08you can just pencil in for 30 points every night and a best of seven.
01:02:11There are very,
01:02:12very few teams that you can say that about.
01:02:15And particularly against a team like the Celtics who have consistently been
01:02:19among the league's best defensive teams.
01:02:21So to me,
01:02:22the difference in that series is going to be health home court advance.
01:02:26I don't think it's really going to be a factor for either team.
01:02:28I think both of those teams can win any other teams building to me,
01:02:31the biggest factor.
01:02:32And it always comes down to this to some extent,
01:02:34but I think it takes on even greater importance between these two teams
01:02:38because they play twice and both have been missing a key integral parts of,
01:02:43of who they are.
01:02:44And those missing pieces factored into the other team winning.
01:02:48So health is going to be a big factor for these two,
01:02:50but this was a really good game.
01:02:51I think the Celtics certainly learned a lot about Porzingis and some of the
01:02:57things he can do against Cleveland.
01:02:59I think Cleveland is going to go back and think we might have to rethink how
01:03:02we approach dealing with Porzingis.
01:03:06Does it,
01:03:07does it make sense for us to really try to go at him as much as we try to in
01:03:11this game?
01:03:12Will the Celtics look to stretch the floor a little bit more and have Porzingis
01:03:16play away from the basket more to maybe draw Evan Mobley further away or Jared
01:03:20Allen further away.
01:03:21And then the Jalen Brown dynamic, you know, Jalen,
01:03:24that's a guy that will be attacking them and forcing different myths,
01:03:28matchups and things of that nature.
01:03:30And didn't Mr.
01:03:31Blue guy, Derek white.
01:03:32It seems that almost every game when they're having one of those nights where
01:03:36shots aren't falling, there's Derek white coming with a big point.
01:03:40Yeah.
01:03:41So you see them as a threat to beat the Celtics in a series now,
01:03:45I think we've talked about this before.
01:03:47I feel similarly to how I feel.
01:03:48I felt after the last matchup and that anything can happen.
01:03:52Obviously I never look into any series and say, this,
01:03:55this team has no chance or until they sort of going to run away with this
01:03:58team, just because, you know, it's competitive NBA teams,
01:04:00but this is not one of the teams that stands out to me as a real threat to
01:04:04Boston.
01:04:05And I would be very surprised if it even went seven and I would be very
01:04:08surprised.
01:04:09Preseason team in the East.
01:04:12I don't want to talk about it.
01:04:14Was it Philly?
01:04:15Yeah.
01:04:16Oh, I looked up Sharon.
01:04:18Okay. But I was, when I was envisioning,
01:04:20I was envisioning like MVP dwell and bead Paul door.
01:04:23I don't know what I thought.
01:04:24It looks so bad in hindsight.
01:04:26I have a really good track record about Celtics predictions and I have a
01:04:32really bad track record of the league wide predictions.
01:04:34Like I, the whole standings, nothing like what I expected.
01:04:38MVP and B is replaced by MIA.
01:04:40I was writing my notebook over the weekend and I was like, man,
01:04:44the wizard stank.
01:04:45They've lost 13 in a row.
01:04:46They have two wins.
01:04:47And then I was like, the Sixers have three wins.
01:04:50I think about that.
01:04:51The wizards and they're trying to win games.
01:04:53The wizards are not Philly is trying to win and it's getting to the point
01:04:58of year.
01:04:59Like I, I saw it when they started three and 13,
01:05:02it was like eight teams started three and 13 and made the playoffs.
01:05:06All of them lost in the first round.
01:05:07So you do get to a point where it's pretty indicative of where your season's
01:05:10going.
01:05:11Not that they're going to miss the playoffs or, you know,
01:05:13be a no-show with this year,
01:05:14but they have so much ground to dig themselves out of in such a big part of
01:05:18their year already was managing that roster and they have to continue to do
01:05:21that.
01:05:22And injuries keep popping up and it's like, Whoa,
01:05:24we're halfway through the year and we're still not close to, you know,
01:05:27the top six there where you don't have to play the plan.
01:05:29I think they're going to make the plan.
01:05:30I don't know.
01:05:31I don't know.
01:05:32Maybe that sets you up against them round one,
01:05:34and maybe they're healthy at that point and they can still be a threat.
01:05:36But the,
01:05:37the thought of them being like the two seed or, you know,
01:05:40maybe even like jumping over you in the standings here,
01:05:43it's not going to happen at this point.
01:05:44No, the ceiling for them is six.
01:05:46If they can find a way to get to the six spot,
01:05:48that that will be a success for them at this point.
01:05:50Because, you know,
01:05:51Joel is not going to all of a sudden magically get healthy and play every
01:05:55season.
01:05:56He's not going to be able to do that.
01:05:57And, you know, you know, Maxie,
01:05:58because they're maxing him out in terms of playing time,
01:06:01his body is starting to wear down a little bit as well.
01:06:03And he,
01:06:04even the guys that you didn't really bank on doing much this year are,
01:06:07are dealing with different ailments and injuries.
01:06:09You guys like drumming and so on.
01:06:10So it's just a hot mess in Philly.
01:06:12This is not quite the process that they thought they would be going
01:06:16through right now.
01:06:17And, you know,
01:06:18I think that's going to be something that they're going to have to,
01:06:20you know,
01:06:22I like that we always get a couple of minutes on Philly,
01:06:24every show or every couple of shows.
01:06:25It is just so fascinating.
01:06:26I don't know.
01:06:27Even when they play,
01:06:28they don't play.
01:06:29So there's that.
01:06:30They play the Hornets tomorrow in the cup or Tuesday,
01:06:33whatever.
01:06:34So they got a couple of days off here.
01:06:36Maybe they get back this week.
01:06:37Yeah.
01:06:38I mean,
01:06:39I don't know.
01:06:40I don't know.
01:06:41I don't know.
01:06:42I don't know.
01:06:43I don't know.
01:06:44I don't know.
01:06:45I don't know.
01:06:46I don't know.
01:06:47I don't know.
01:06:48I don't know.
01:06:49I don't know.
01:06:50I don't know.
01:06:51I don't know.
01:06:52I don't know.
01:06:53I don't know.
01:06:54I don't know.
01:06:55I don't know.
01:06:56I don't know.
01:06:57I don't know.
01:06:58I don't know.
01:06:59I don't know.
01:07:00Hey,
01:07:01let's see.
01:07:02Let's see.
01:07:03Cubs schedule is going to be strange.
01:07:05It's been really strange this week.
01:07:06You got like six days off.
01:07:07Yeah.
01:07:08They've been off all season.
01:07:09So.
01:07:10They won't change anything.
01:07:11Cup schedule has been really strange.
01:07:14And obviously Celtics have a packed week,
01:07:16two back-to-backs this week.
01:07:17Tomorrow.
01:07:18Yes.
01:07:19his knee tonight he's not a big back-to-back guy anyway but the interesting thing tonight
01:07:23obviously down brown and white the Celtics went with both Horford and Porzingis so those
01:07:27two are inevitably going to be out tomorrow.
01:07:31That gives you Luke Coronet, Namaish Keita, is Brown back from his illness that would
01:07:35be big because if he's not and White's out again you're talking about what like Holiday
01:07:41could be out too maybe so like it's going to be Pritchard, Hauser, Tatum and maybe even
01:07:48some Maine guys trying to lead you through this year Xavier Tillman will definitely be
01:07:51back in the mix with the two bigs out here as well so the Heat have struggled this year
01:07:57and it's definitely an opportunity where you could still steal a win with a skeleton crew
01:08:03here especially with how ready a lot of these guys have looked even Drew Peterson here tonight
01:08:09but this is going to be a challenging one for the Celtics here and a challenging week
01:08:13to get through with let's say four wins in five games here and obviously already lost
01:08:19the first of that stretch.
01:08:21J.D. Davidson that's what I want to see that's what I want to see that's what the people
01:08:26want to see.
01:08:27People want to see new stuff especially on a team that's mostly the same here so I'm
01:08:31all for it.
01:08:32J.D. would be a lot of fun he's been crushing it so that's another guy where maybe it might
01:08:37come down to not even his fit or anything related to the team but just like if he continues
01:08:41to put up 35-12 in the G-League as he's been doing like they might just say let's let's
01:08:47roll the dice here on him and just give him a chance you got to get a look at all of these
01:08:51guys at some point yeah I don't know if Derek White's thing is going to keep him out this
01:08:55week like if he misses this whole week that would be a huge bummer that's like it's like
01:08:59a third of Porzingis' time missed in one week you know that's that's kind of funny when
01:09:03you think about it how much hype there was around that injury and then you know a guy
01:09:06can just turn his ankle and miss that same amount so I hope Derek White can be back soon
01:09:10I don't think Jalen Brown's gonna miss too much time with illness I would be surprised
01:09:15but if you have those two guys out maybe we continue to see different guys get different
01:09:20looks maybe we get a Jaden Springer game who knows I'm gonna keep putting it out there
01:09:25I don't think it's gonna happen though but I do think I do think they're in good position
01:09:30to sustain through it though because tonight the latest example I mean Celtics were underdogs
01:09:35for the first time tonight all year and ended up with a 12-point lead based on the way they
01:09:39mixed the match the rotations and made adjustments and I thought Joe played out the final stretch
01:09:44there pretty well too so you know a bit of a disappointing Tatum game late missed a couple
01:09:49key shots that maybe could have swung this game the other way but he held a minute for
01:09:53most of it he's gonna have to do it again tomorrow some real Pritchett strides here
01:09:56too and I guess the last guy we'll throw some credit here to is Porzingis like speaking
01:10:01to him though I you almost wish he got the ball more in this game like every time he
01:10:06got it against a mismatch as he does he's able to pour it in and he's he's just looked
01:10:11like himself since he's been back no no drop off there was even a play in this game where
01:10:15he isolated left side got all the way the basket and got fouled and you're like no limitations
01:10:22no I think he said the other day that he's not even feeling the ankle out there and he's
01:10:27pouring in 20 points a game already so that's a luxury to have right now and he'll obviously
01:10:32get the night off tomorrow and I do think if we remember back to especially the first
01:10:37half of last season Porzingis was kind of their cheat code in the clutch I remember
01:10:41being thinking to myself I don't know if this team has solved their late game problems but
01:10:45Porzingis has solved them and a lot of times it would be that they would pass to him and
01:10:48he'd get fouled and he'd make all the free throws and that happened a lot of times and
01:10:52they might want to remember that he's a he's an asset down the stretch like they haven't
01:10:56really played through I mean granted it's been what three games but you know the last
01:11:00two were both close and I don't think Porzingis was too much of a factor. It looked like Cassell
01:11:04was getting into Pritchard at one point there too for not finding him on a play. Oh you
01:11:08think that's what I was curious what he was talking about. That's what that's what Drew
01:11:12was or Scal maybe was insinuating there and I don't know if that was it obviously but
01:11:17that's what they thought. Yeah but we'll see I think eventually they're gonna work him
01:11:21into some of the late game touches a little bit more. Yeah because I mean he was able
01:11:25to find some really good mismatches I thought yeah throughout this game where he wasn't
01:11:29being guarded by Allen he wasn't being guarded by Mobley he was being guarded by guys who
01:11:33were four or five six inches shorter than him and getting it on that elbow where he
01:11:38can absolutely just dominate that matchup and I guess you know kind of you know piggybacking
01:11:44off of Noah's point earlier it's one of the reasons why I think Cleveland is a competitive
01:11:48team and they will make the Celtics work but I don't think they can beat them in a best
01:11:51of seven because I just think that if both teams are fully healthy the Celtics have too
01:11:57many mismatches that they can turn to and the ones that they don't have they can create
01:12:01mismatches with the various lineups that are out there. I just don't think Cleveland can
01:12:06counter all of that change on and expect to win four out of seven games. So yeah he played
01:12:13in Toronto tonight. They are going to come back over the border and play the Celtics
01:12:17of both teams coming off a back to back tomorrow Butler going to get his knee looked at not
01:12:23a big back-to-back player anyway there's a weird game this week where he didn't shoot
01:12:27the ball or put up any staff like nine minutes playing a second half of a back-to-back so
01:12:33they might rethink playing him in that spot anyway along with whatever happened to him
01:12:36physically here tonight BAM his slow start to the season continues he shot 513 tonight
01:12:42in the last 20 rebounds and seven assists but not able to get a shot off much and Terry
01:12:47Roger old friend Terry Roger bench this week he had a decent 17 but they're starting Robinson
01:12:55hero and Highsmith right now and oh scary Terry's gonna be in his bag back in Boston
01:13:00you know that you know that yeah he obviously missed that whole first round series last
01:13:05year so first time seeing Terry in a while they're gonna need him Celtics gonna need
01:13:09their depth to holiday questionable for this one he played white miss this game tonight
01:13:14after the injury Friday again I heard there's not a ton of concern about him right now and
01:13:19that's what Joe Missoula is said as well so I will see if he's back tomorrow Horford
01:13:23Porzingis gonna miss this game as they do on back-to-backs here so Celtics try to pour
01:13:28it out for this one before the second game of the back-to-back here got a 12 point lead
01:13:33but Donovan Mitchell deadly again down the stretch 20 points in the fourth quarter steals
01:13:38this one from them 115 111 thanks to know Adele's L as always check out her podcast
01:13:45you got Boston won't be many off days for you this week no I'm so a ton of garden report
01:13:50for everybody here charade thanks as always for joining us and shout out to our orange
01:13:54who scored a ginormous when I was up there that's why I wasn't on the show Friday I was
01:13:59making my way up to cues to see them beat number seven Miami six or seven I think there
01:14:05were six six so three ranked wins for Syracuse this year nine and three in football and one
01:14:11of the best offenses in the sport so they're not going to the playoff but this is about
01:14:15as good of a season as you can have and I in college football without going to the playoff
01:14:20the new play out there so great thing starting up there it was awesome being there at the
01:14:25noon dome and all that so that's where I was Friday Celtics ton of games this week we'll
01:14:31have all the coverage from TD garden and I think we want to shut out the merch here
01:14:36too we got a code right now it's cyber Monday coming up tomorrow Jackson here so we're gonna
01:14:42shut out the merch Jimmy not here to give you the code but we're gonna do it for him
01:14:47Black Friday 2024 Black Friday continues right through cyber Monday that's tomorrow so all
01:14:53the merch at the CLNS store is available right now for 30% off that's hard hats that's phenomenal
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01:15:18great stuff Black Friday 2024 gets you 30% off all merch including the hard hats very
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01:15:30a charade Blakely I'm Bobby Manning this has been the garden report and the Celtics with a
01:15:36loss tonight fall to 16 and 4 on the season still just a game back of the Cavs top these
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01:16:35tomorrow peace wait I'm it's got an outro for us I think no he doesn't he said he was gonna work
01:16:42he had a phenomenal game forfeit out I don't think it's an option that did not sound like a
01:16:54chair it was a freaking chair it does sound like a chair