Must See ‘Ant-Man’ & Celtics’ Closing Time 👀 | The Hoop Collective

Must See ‘Ant-Man’ & Celtics’ Closing Time 👀 | The Hoop Collective

Hello welcome to the hoop Collective podcast we talk about the NBA which we’re doing on early Wednesday morning on the East Coast joining us from New York City where it is Wednesday it’s Tim Bon Temps hello everybody believe you were in Philly for the Sixers big win on Monday night over

The Miami Heat I was in Philly for Sixers heat and if things go as they’re supposed to tomorrow I’ll be in Boston for which should be a very fun Celtic BS game on Wednesday absolutely we’ll talk about that in a few minutes joining us from Minneapolis Minnesota where on

Tuesday night he watched a spirited and unexpected considering who was out for the Wolves but a spirited game between the nuggets and wolves is Van McMahon howy Partners it’s always a pleasure to make it up north here to Minneapolis where I have not been Outdoors since got dropped off by The

Uber that’s the way to go in the winter of Minneapolis uh you can get from one end of the downtown to the other without going outside the uh motans are quite uh quite smart when it comes to how to handle the winter um so this game that

You were at tonight McMahon uh two you know big games you’ve now been at for the Nuggets over the last few days this game was a bummer because um first off it’s a second night of a back-to-back for the Wolves so tough situation for them uh obviously tremendous uh finish

To the game in Utah um on Monday night with ant um with that incredible dunk and overcoming a islocated finger but uh no Nas Reed he was out no Rudy goar due to the rib injury obviously no uh Carl towns um they were playing Luke Garza I

Think Luke Garza got like 25 minutes he’s a two-way guy he got 2 Luka Garza Luca Garza sorry who is 610 235 chisel and looks tiny when he stands next to Joker yeah um that guy is definitely ripped but he’s their fourth string Center essentially yes and he’s playing

Against joic so well Kyle Anderson started at the five I mean and look this was there were all the makings for this to be a blowout win for the Nuggets right the nuggets are coming off of a a game that they were rather perturbed to lose in Dallas not just because hit one

Of the most amazing amazing buzzer beaters in NBA history but they got absolutely hammered on the glass they had to listen to Michael Malone since then just scream at him about hey since the All-Star break you guys are ranked 30th in defensive rebound rate and trust

Me you know Michael Malone when he’s got a point to make they’re also 12 and two but go ahead right right but that that was their one flaw and now they’re facing this wolves team that as as you laid out you know they’ve got all the

These bigs except for they were all in Street Clos um so and then not only is it a back to back it’s the first game home from a two- week road trip how many times do you see a team first game home after a long road trip it’s kind of let

Down so and they were up on them big for a while and then man and Edwards I’m not breaking any news here that dude is awesome absolutely awesome and just took over the third quarter and it’s a combination of athleticism skill and Charisma and he’s

Got I mean he’s you know waving to the crowd getting everybody hyped the building’s going absolutely crazy they’ve got the the timber storm back and take a lead and uh you know then the the Nuggets do what you expect and that’s just kind of March it down Joker

Comes in about I think he checked in seven minutes left yeah it was six minutes and change and uh as soon as joic and Michael Porter Jr came in they won on a 100 run and that was pretty much it that started withn I wouldn’t

Quite say it was pretty much it I mean we had never they never it was never it was never tied again hold on though it did but no it was the ball was in the air at the buzzer with a Chance of sitting an overtime with yeah it was a

Clean a a very good know what I have to cop to something I turned I turned the game off 30 seconds left so I to to that what you missed yeah lay lay out the final 30 seconds big man I I’m you’re I’m totally in the dark so I apologize

Great so yeah good job glad glad that uh well I just figured that nothing ever goes wrong for the nuggets in the last 10 seconds I mean what what could possibly go wrong except for when I’m in the building apparently um so you know long story

Short mpj hits a hits a free throw puts the uh nuggets up four with 20 seconds left misses the six okay uh Joker grabs a rebound he gets foul he splits a couple so they’re up five okay when yic got that rebound is when I turned it off okay so they’re at

Five with 17 seconds left ant who by the way didn’t score in the fourth quarter he was he was he was gassed I in my view well he was under he was under siege because they were basically like you are not just going to continue dominate this

Game we are going to force you to give up the ball and he did and did a good job uh passing the ball had three or four assists for threes including this one to to Mike Colley so 12 seconds left it is a two-point game mpj gets fouled

Hits both of them uh Jade McDaniels knocks down a three by the way M he had a very good night he he had a really good night he knocks down a three with four seconds left another foul um Jamal Murray makes both it is a three-point

Game with 4 seconds left they get the ball to Ant and he’s storming up the court and kcp you know the nuggets are a smart team Michael M’s a great coach they’re a veteran team you’re up three what are you gonna do you’re GNA take a

Foul you’re gonna make him go hit two free throws and and have to pull out a miracle well ant had the most impressive truck stick seen in Minnesota sports since Adrien Peterson left the Vikings I’m telling you I’m listen I don’t want to talk too bad about these referees I

Saw them in the uh in the coner Lounge today there was one sub six-footer on the on the crew but I think he can bench press about 450 so I ain’t talking any kind of smack but how the hell kcp is trying to take a foul he makes contact

An sticks his shoulder into kyp’s chest I’m talking kcp is like heels up in the air back and on the floor ant steps into a wide openen three kcp has to like roll over and look behind them to to see this thing and it’s slow motion and remember

The I missed all this bont the nuggets are fresh off of losing great job on a on just a wild 21 foot hook shot not even wild a rather smooth 21 foot left-handed hook shot by Kyrie so he’s he releases his thing I’m like this thing’s going in overtime he missed it

It actually wasn’t that close but it it went down to it was online but it was short yeah yeah it was a wild it was a wild sequence that jadeen McDaniels threw is a big time shot too I mean it was contested Mike Conley threw was contested I mean they were they were

Crazy shots and yeah you know it was it was a heck of an effort from the wolves and and obviously look big win for the Nuggets they pull back into a tie for first uh with OKC Thunder had the tiebreaker but still um I was really impressed with the Wolves because this

Had like nobody would have would have blinked or said a word easy roll over game yeah no would have said a word dude ants competitiveness is pretty damn impressive and then for him to be so like I said they just kept throwing extra bodies at him in the fourth

Quarter he didn’t try to force anything he kept making the right play kept making the right play um I thought it was an awfully impressive performance by him and you know you have like kcp postgame basically says this guy is a top five player in the league

He’s an absolute Bull and again when you talk about the best players in the league he might be the best offender of the elite tier yeah I mean he’s he’s a heck of a he’s a heck of a player and like we T I mean look you know there was

All the combination of smack talk and po potentially real talk about how that Minnesota series was the toughest series that Denver had last year and as of now that is at least a potential second round matchup where in theory if they can get there Carl towns would in theory

Have some time to get himself feeling pretty good by the time that series would come around I will also says right the other part of the other side of that if it is Minnesota Sacramento in the first round which is it what it lines up to be right now that

Is a dangerous match up for Minnesota because Sacramento has really played well against them this year and especially if towns either not playing or banged up in that series they’ve had trouble keeping up with Sacramento this year and just something to monitor if we get to that point because I that that

Could look pretty good for the Kings if they can manage to stay in front of Dallas right now they’re tied eight back of uh aack Oklahoma City in the west I got a little secret for you the Mavs would be a tough matchup too because the Mavs are they are playing pretty damn

Well and they’ve got two dudes who can take a a playoff but people are but people are gonna if people are thinking about Luca like if you see the Mavs there you’re going to automatically be thinking about Luca that way I just I don’t think people have studied the

Kings wolves match up that closely that’s well the funny thing is kind of what we’re saying is man if you’re Minnesota you better hope you match up with KD and Booker in the first round think about that well well so one thing I noticed in this game um

They had Jaden McDaniels defend uh yic some and obviously there’s a huge pound difference there but Jaden had some success and maybe some is a relative term he had some success in making joic in denying the ball to yic um in the in the middle because he’s got such long

Arms and he’s pretty agile and there were times where jic had to come off his spot to go get the ball they just gave it up and uh you’re and also they used as you mentioned Kyle Anderson on him and I wonder what Garza yeah and Garza

And I think I think one thing that Chris Finch might take away from this game is that they did have some success keeping the Y the the yic uh Hub machine turned down a little bit um he had the fewest assists of any game he’s had this year

He had been three he only had two he didn’t have an assist until he came into the game in the fourth quarter with six plus minutes left it was when he had his first assist in the game he had a dribble handoff to mpj who who hit a a I

Mean it’s a nice play by Joker but mpj hit a tough three off that and then the next possession uh Porter had a nice back cut Joker hit him on a layup those were his only two assists of the game yeah now Jamal Murray had 11 assists it wasn’t

Like they shut him down but well and that’s the thing they were sending a lot of uh a lot of help at Joker but the fact he only had two assists tells you like they were executing their defensive schemes awfully well but I never I wasn’t watching the third quarter the

Nuggets just stunk it up all around but the other three quarters I wasn’t watching it and saying man the ball’s not moving like I still thought the ball’s moving he was still making the right reads and he was he had 35 points on 14 and 22 shoot he also just dropped

In a couple of just dagger threes and that fourth yeah um the moon balls you know the moon balls yes um but I I do think there was some stuff from Minnesota take away from this game unfortunately for the Wolves they’ve got to play them two more times um and you

Know that this is just one of the things that made the town’s injury just so killer is he’s so valuable in this matchup um they did win the first time against them way back I think it was in November this is the first time they’ve played in like three course of the

Season and so one of the things you you were looking forward to is was these three matchups um it’s a little bit unfortunate for the wolves that they used the Target Center for both the men’s and women’s big 10 tournaments I think it was cool that they that they

Had them there and they obviously got to have Caitlyn Clark in uh two weeks ago and that they they had I think went overtime and the Big 10 final was awesome then the Big 10 tournament last week but like I question kicking your your NBA team out of your arena for two

Weeks in March well that’s your that’s your twoe road trip and listen the the Wolves can use all the uh all the money they can get you know any way they can raise some funds right now they’re all for it yeah which there was some news on the

Wolves ownership front which I know is kind of dry but um Glen Taylor’s been been literally trying to sell the Wolves for like 12 years um and the you know Mark Lori it said Mark Lori and Alex Rodriguez but Alex Rodriguez is a is a you know supporting partner it’s

Mark Lor’s group um they were supposed to finish the the deal at the end of December Lori got more time to the end of March Glen Taylor gave an interview at the beginning of March where he said Oh I thought they were supposed to buy me out by the beginning of March and

Then Lori like put out a statement no it was the end of March and I think I said on the pot I was like do you know when your $1.5 billion deal is closing because you know I would pay attention to that yeah and so Glen Taylor gave an interview another

Interview um on uh on Tuesday and he was like yeah they had a uh an investment firm that was going to give him 300 million to close this deal and uh it fell apart and so now they’re looking to get 300 more million hey last time A-Rod

Needed a few hundred million the Texas Ranger signed and maybe he can pull that off again what was that deal was that a $250 million deal remember was2 if I remember correctly yeah I believe you’re right 250 you know baseball football like we’re gonna hit we’re gonna hit them all

Tonight yeah so so it you know they I guess they have until the end of March unless they get another extension but they lost $300 million that they thought they were going to get and again this is according to the guy who selling the team well not sources said anytime you

Have a team that’s emerging as a contender and is going to have a massive luxury Bill a luxury tax bill next season if they keep it together what you really want is owners who can’t afford to buy the team exactly right exactly right so anyways they’ve got enjoy this

Playoff run let’s just say enjoy this playoff run the other thing I’ll say uh yic uh I’m sure was glued to YouTube this afternoon when uh the Olympic was held for the Olympic basketball tournament which I am declaring will be the most competitive international basketball event ever staged oh my gosh

That’s a prediction that’s a that’s a a that’s a a declaration the basis for this is what my expertise oh you wouldn’t know about that would you bon wow no I guess not um so the draw was held and Serbia was drawn into team USA’s group and the

Schedule was released and so on July 28th the first game for the us out of the gates at uh at the Olympics will be against Serbia and we hope Nik yic well maybe the Team USA doesn’t hope it but I’d like to see joic in the game and um

So that’s going to be right out of the gates uh and you know the last time in the last Olympics in 21 which was in Tokyo the US played France in the first game and lost ended up getting a rematch in the gold medal game the US came back

And won um but that’s going to be one of the best games the pool play Serbia versus the the US and the there is three groups in you know in Olympic play um three groups of four 12 teams make it and there is a absolute in you know every every time

There’s a World Cup in um in the FIFA World Cup there was always one group that declared the group of death well the group of death in this one uh Canada uh Australia who was the Bronze medalist in h Tokyo and the qualifier there’s some there’s four teams that still can still

Qualify uh the qualifier from Spain which will probably you know there’s six teams trying to qualify but the the two leading contenders would be Spain who is the number two ranked team in the world that hasn’t qualified yet yet and the Bahamas which could have three or four

NBA players on it DeAndre Aon Eric Gordon buddy healed and um the fourth qualifier from Greece which will have Greece and Giannis is said he hopes to play and Slovenia which Luca has always played so Luka always plays and uh by the way I did go to nugget shoot around and blacko

Chanar was working hard after shoot around uh Stills you know it was a lot of spot up shooting that I saw but there’s at least some hope that he can progress enough to play in the Olympics for SL would be huge for Slovenia yeah he’s the only other NBA player on the

Roster and obviously uh he’s got significant experience at uh for the national team and they missed him in the World Cup that’s where he got hurt I he got hurt in the World Cup uh qualifier didn’t he qualif by the way the first so the Olympic uh Opening Ceremonies is July

26th they’re not going to be by the way they’re not going to be in the they’re not going to be in a stadium they’re going to have all of the countries are gonna ride down the sen which is a river McMahon I know you’ve been to Paris so I

Know you know that I don’t know I don’t know anything about Sin I’m sure he doesn’t um uh and then the next day that’s time that’s time to move along the first day of the Olympics Canada will play the Greek qualifier so you could see in theory Giannis play Luca for the

Spot in the Olympics and then the can the Canadians with Shay gilgas Alexander at all playing that winner right out of the gates on day one of the Olympics to begin that uh two we two and a half week long tournament which will be I think Super highly entertaining basketball I’m

Sure Joker was all that’s all he’s talking about after the game probably watching some Trotters I must admit I honestly if I was thinking about it I would have asked him about it but I it slipped my mind I’m sure he’s like whatever he’s like he’s like I don’t

Care I beat the US last time I played him I’ll beat him again well I don’t has he he has not committed to playing he has said he wants to play okay but obviously L one of the reasons why he didn’t play last year I think was because he was looking

Ahead saying right I hope to get back to the to the finals next year and then I hope to play in the Olympics um if he’s healthy at some point yeah if and that’s I won’t Bon Temps is bored with me talking about national team basketball but ume it’s gonna be a fun

Olympics I agree it will be a fun Olympics we should just probably talk more about it in the summertime all right thanks thanks for getting us back on track Bond temps I just I just think people I think we want to give him an appetizing taste of it not an entree I

Think you can take a plunge into sin anyway uh we have an interesting game coming up Wednesday night which will be on ESPN uh bucks and Celtics uh in Boston um right now the number one and two seeds in the Eastern comp conference you’ll remember the last time they played back in

January um as impressive as the Celtics have been this season and I think they’ve got a 10 game lead over the bucks right now in the uh in the East I think if they win this game their magic number to clinch the number one seed in

The East is like down to one or two or maybe three that’s pretty wild um but they have not always played their best basketball against the cream of the crop they’ve struggled against some of the top teams the West um 0 and2 against Denver and the last time they played the

Bucks back on January 11th before the Bucks had really started making any sort of turn uh and that game was was that game was in Milwaukee right UHS you were there bucks I was not bucks went 18 for 42 from three Celtics went nine for 35

Bucks won by 32 yeah In fairness to the Celtics I am going to point out second back yeah but they had all their players it wasn’t like they were missing porzingis and Tatum right true I’m just say above 500 opponents they’re 28 and 13 that is the best record in basketball so they

Haven’t been perfect but they’ve still been pretty damn yeah but I’m talking about against the teams that they might face in the conference de yeah they’ve lost twice to Denver I would say I think they lost to the Clippers at home sir uh I don’t think we’re including the

Clippers and the Crim de la Crim I’m not giving up on I’m not at the m at the moment maybe not but you’re not giving up on the teams that we’re not allowed to talk about yes we are we gonna issue I think we’re gonna issue an edict the uswb

Is I mean you I me I can do it if you want do it I support the edict go ahead bonts we’re ESPN only talks about the Lakers and Warriors we talk about the NBA we’re not talking about the Lakers and Warriors to one of them is not in the nine and

10 uh one of them is in the 910 game in the Western Conference which means we’ll probably be talking about him again on what Wednesday the 18th when they’re playing in the N1 game I was gonna say or until that game right we might talk about a team that could bump them out

But any yeah that’s fine but about them let’s focus on Buck by the way you can catch the Warriors against the Grizzlies uh in the late game on ESPN on Wednesday night Wednesday I’m sure the Lakers will be out again soon too that’s against the Memphis Hustle

Oh no I shouldn’t say that listen Desmond bang came back and his play they gave the uh they gave the Old Kings quite a scare with basically everybody back the other day at least everybody who was available to come back um from that one one particular interesting substitution decision down

The stretch I thought helped the uh Grizzlies maintain some Lottery position what would that be Tim I’m not getting into it let’s go all right anyway the celsor mod ises it play the Celtics have won their last nine home games by 240 points that’s pretty good that seems not bad yeah uh

Wow so so I’ll just say they’re 0 and2 against Denver they lost to the Clippers at home they lost to the to the Bucks by 30 the last time they played uh they haven’t played the Thunder yet they have two games left with the Thunder no that’s not true they played the Thunder

And lost and I believe beat them in Oklahoma City I totally missed that I thought they had two games left with them oh they play must I must have turned that great game they had a great game in yeah they had a great game youed

Out pass hey baby I’m in LA right now trying to I had no problem watching Denver Minnesota ton it was glor the Thunder won the Thunder won the game 12723 on January 2nd was a really fun back and forth game uh Chay hit a couple shots down the

Stretch to win bo boy I thought I said that they had trouble against the top teams and you know I knew I said it for a reason I I thought I knew I said it aess they’ve got the best record in the league against above 500 opponents but

Your your point has been made sir okay sorry I forgot I forgot they played the thunder so I’m obviously really you’re really on top of it you’re really on top of thank you well it’s late it’s late that’s what it is yeah um look what I really want to

See in this game is I want to see it come down to the last couple minutes because this is where the Celtics are tested and the thing about it is you know the last couple of you know some of these games the Celtics are so awesome

When they shoot the three well that they can just overwhelm people especially on their home court um and that is an indication of a great team when you are deep and you can shoot the heck out of it um there is there is some injury concern in this game uh Giannis missed

The game on Sunday um when the Bucks yeah they only they only beat the Suns by like 60 well again they made 18 threes in the first half of that game um the suns are a different topic because the Suns in as a quick aside here in one of the most hardto fathom

Statistics that exist in the NBA this season in the fourth quarter the Phoenix Suns with three definite two Hall of Famers definitely two Hall of Famers but Bradley Beal’s got a good chance to be Hall of Famer three Hall of Famers um they rank 30th in fourth quarter offense zero

Dfl it’s not great everybody who’s talked about the Suns all season has denoted that their fourth quarters are horrible I just want to articulate how horrible they are their net rating in the fourth quarter is negative4 points per 100 possessions okay the difference between the Suns at

304 and the team in in 29th which is actually the heat which is different topic this difference between the two of them is the same difference there is between the Heat at 29 and the team that’s in eighth yeah it’s pretty it’s pretty pretty large so they are the worst team

In the fourth quarter by a second crot winning the pness is that too obscure of a reference listen we’ve got Adrien Peterson Short Stop Alex Rodriguez secret you made some sort of like Triple Crown baby you you made some sort of Texan reference like putting a helmet

Stick or something like that I have no idea what you’re talk truck stick a truck stick that’s a more of like a techmobile type of video game reference there you go I play Tech I don’t remember doing that the truck stick I would say is more of a m reference but

Yeah one of those video games to bring to bring it to bring it back around to Celtics bucks we I mentioned earlier the Celtics didn’t shoot the three well in that game uh went n for 25 or not for 35 I don’t remember which now in that game

Against the Bucks on January 11th just want to give you guys a stat when the Celtics hit more than 33% of their threes this season not 38 not 40 more than a third of their threes they are 46 and three when they are under 33% when their

33% are under their record is 8 and 11 so I mean we’ve talked in the past about Celtics turnovers being a pretty key tracker and at times the Celtics shooting 40% from three this year it’s 33% and if they over that they’re basically unbeaten on the year so they

Lost the one game to Oklahoma City they lost the game to Cleveland the other day when they they blew the the 20 point fourth quarter lead and they lost uh a game to Indiana by two points back in early January those are the three games they’ve lost when they’ve shot the ball

Well so that’s really the first thing you got to look for at boss in every game if they’re shooting the ball well from three it’s not usually going to go off the other team well and then the other thing we keep hammering on it but if it’s close they’re just okay they’re not

Awful and actually their overall clutch numbers are very good they’re plus 18.9 net rating which ranked seventh in the league but that within five points and five minutes that’s tech technical definition of clutch as you boys know from kone’s Factor player of the month presentations there’s nut cutting time one possession

Game last three minutes they’ve had 21 of those they’re 11 and 10 okay they’re still awesome defensively 101 defensive rating but their offensive rating is only 107 which in 2024 stinks yep in a bunch of those games they haven’t had Chris aspor zingis and when they don’t have him out there they

Go right back to the same stuff that’s been an issue repeatedly in the past where they get stuck in these bad isolations Tatum takes some kobe shots and they don’t look great when they’re moving the ball around and taking advantage of porzingis and mismatches and playing differently they do look

Like a different team in those spots and they have looked pretty good but he’s also missed a good chunk of time and there’s no guarantee he’s GNA play every game in the playoffs and when it comes to closing games obviously you’re going to be testing those situations come

Playoff time and like I said last three minutes one possession games the team with the best net rating the Denver Nuggets probably going to have to go through them come finals time plus 45.5 uh number three on that list and I’ll say number two because I don’t

Anger my hometown folks Mavs are number two plus 35.9 number three the team that they’re going to play uh Wednesday night and I would say probably their toughest compet ition in the Eastern Conference as the Bucks who were plus 30.3 well look the the argument for as

Much of a mess as the Bucks have been all year right the argument for them if they can get to the Conference Finals assuming it’s the Conference Finals if they play Boston in the playoffs and everybody’s healthy the argument for them has always been they’ve got the

Best player and Giannis and if the game’s close they’ve got the best closer on court yeah and they can win some close games that’s always been the argument because they can’t guard Boston the perimeter defense stinks as we’ve talked about it’s going to be it’s going

To be roulette for the Celtics trying to score on them and the Celtics could make it ugly if they hit a bunch of Threes And score a buck 40 but if the games are close any game that’s close to five minutes to go and it’s Dame versus the

Celtics you’re going to feel pretty good if you’re the Bucks that Dame’s going to be able to find a way to get that done even though he hasn’t been the same version of Dame this year that he’s been in the past they brought him in to make

Clutch shots and he’s made a bunch of clutch shots I know that the team’s makeup has changed quite a bit since two years ago but two years ago when they played in the playoffs and it went seven games and Middleton was out you know he had the wrist injury um by the way

That’s another subplot he’s finally came back and played on Sunday but they have looked much different when he’s been available and not and he’s had a lot of injuries this year and he’s a pretty even though he’s taken pretty big steps back defensively his presence offensively is pretty vital for them

Still even with everything else that’s going on there right well look in that game Bobby poris made like eight three-pointers in the I don’t know Bobby they had they had an NBA record 18 threes in the first half of that game like that was anyway two years ago when

They played in the playoffs yeah by the end of that series and again Asterix Middleton didn’t play Giannis was absolutely gassed he had he absolutely had to do so much at both ends by game seven in Boston I think he ended up putting up good numbers I don’t remember

What they were off top of my head but I sat next to bontemps during the game in Boston and I remember just Giannis just didn’t have it in in the tank to carry them at that level the concept here is that with Dame on the roster that you

Don’t have to rely have the burden on Giannis as much and so in a series at that kind of stakes that you would be able to rely on Dame that’s the one of the basis basis whatever B bases I don’t know bases of of making that trade that would uh not involved that

Would you know be a uh be a be a factor and obviously Middleton who’s still on a pretty tight minutes restriction and um Bon who else is questionable for this game Jaylen Brown is questionable uh uh Jaylen is questionable than ankle spring Drew Drew holiday is questionable with a

AC joint spring and Sam Hower is questionable with a ankle spring also yeah so we we’ll see everybody who plays but um hopefully Yan be able to play so Wendy you you sat next to bond temps for an entire seven game series unfortunately the Celtics all they

Freaking do is play seven game series and I’m always Brian does is complain all Brian does is complain about having to sit with me longer in playoff series because the Celtics take too long to either win or lose them so you talk how much did you have left in the tank at

The end of that my god well sleep updates yeah well here’s the thing for some reason and I’m not sure why he I wouldn’t say he resembles an authority figure but at the Celtics Arena people think that bontemps is an employee and they’re forever coming up to him and asking him like for

Directions where can where can we go to smoke this happens to me this happens to me all the time at Arenas I don’t really understand what it is people come up me and ask me for directions on where to go Red Jackets I don’t know he has cop [Laughter]

Energy you know who’s got cop energy Ed Malloy oh yeah who I uh who I saw yeah but particularly Ed M I mean they are cops in some respect like that’s their job they’re cops on the basketball court by the way definitely does I went to the uh Hawks uh Lakers

Game on uh Monday night um oh my a violation what I’m not I’m not talking violation I’m not talking talking this is there was the first time I’d ever seen I hadn’t seen the Hawks in a couple years it was the first time I’d ever seen Jaylen Johnson in person uh is at

Nice dunk buddy I saw four of them he had four of them in the first half uh the one on uh the Arkansas Product now he’s in Arkansas oh yeah he’s from Arkansas Austin yeah anyways that was the one that got all the attention it happened 15 seconds into the

Game and that was big time dunk man that was awesome and here’s the thing I want to say about about Jaylen uh he has some of the longest legs in the NBA and I expect he will jump over guys to dunk multiple times in his NBA career

Because he’s got that kind of you know how ant has that incredible ability to Spring upwards like we’ve seen it he can do it but he’s taller so um he was he and LeBron were guarding each other a little bit in this game and LeBron’s about an inch taller than

Him an inch or so taller than him but Jaylen Johnson’s well I don’t know what they’re listed as but I sat there and looked at him LeBron’s taller than him and Jaylen Johnson’s waist is like two or three inches taller than LeBron’s because his legs are so freaking long just the guy

Has incredible uh abil he’s like he is built to jump that guy yeah what an athlete Johnson’s listed at 69ine I was going to say the the dunk on Reeves is the one that got all the attention and would have gotten a lot more attention if it didn’t happen after an Edwards

Knocked John Collins out of the game but the one where he went Baseline and like double pumped uh and threw down a reverse that was like out of a h halfcourt set was yeah he had he didn’t have his best game because he’s he’s a bit of a spotty shooter from the outside

And he didn’t shoot the ball well from the out the Hawks didn’t play well at all they had beaten the Clippers the night before but um uh Mr Johnson you have my attention yes um obviously he’s one of the more exciting young players in the league but

To to watch him in person was was a great experience um and hopefully we have a great experience with Celtics bucks on Wednesday night hopefully everybody plays um hey remember last week when I you know brought up the case that the Rockets you know might consider after alaran shenon went down for the

Season maybe they’re this should examine they’re gonna be fight for they’re GNA be fight for eight or or maybe not or maybe not no you you you encourage some tanka paloa because they’ve got a top four protected pick head I think I said they should think

About I don’t think I said that they should actually you were a little you are a little more definitive in that not the point is you are a tanking lobbyist the point is I was I will agree with that your Houston Rockets League leading six game winning

Streak tied with the Celtics yes they got several easy games left tied with the winning streak I see in the winning streak yes yes and what two and a half games back I believe correct me if I’m wrong now of the last three back in the last column of both teams McMahon Texas

Trivia question here remember when we used to do trivia yes sir yeah what happened to that uswb you quit I could bring it back it’s been it’s been busy we had the the awesome you know sound effect that Jackson put together and seriously we get back anymore anyway

Here’s some trivia McMahon here we go the quiz three Rockets players in history have had games with 40 points 10 rebounds and five three-pointers the five three-pointers is tough one of them happened tonight yeah Jaylen green tonight and by the way reigning Western Conference player of the week Jaylen green

Uh jayen green James Harden and Tracy McGrady you got it wow the quiz he’s The Wiz of the quiz that’s right uh listen if he was asking the question he’d just said name the 17 players in the Western Conference since 1973 and we be like what how many trying

To do enough guys so that you’ll get one of them Brian hey seriously though I do need help let let’s give a little bit of love to Jaylen green because if we’re being real honest we’ve all been pretty lukewarm on him former number two over lukewarm is I think being charitable

Yeah he’s had a has had a spotty career um he is playing the best basketball of his career right now uh he has been a positive plus minus in all nine games in March they are 8-1 in those games he’s averaging 26.6 points over six rebounds

Shoot shooting 50 from the floor 40 from three-point range 80 from the line um I you know it was pretty clear jayen phase two green there you go hey it was pretty clear e adoko wasn’t necessarily always on board with Jaylen green all you had

To do is look at like was he playing in crunch time um this dude seems like he has turned a corner and it’s impressive that the r and look like they beat the lizards tonight let’s not get too uh you know to up in arms about tonight’s

Performance but again this is a a bigger sample size and the fact that they’ve been able to to keep winning what does it say that they’ve been so good without shenon no don’t do that what says is they’ve got they’ve got other young talented players Al and Thompson’s one of them yeah they

Also 25 and 10 they’ve had a couple nice wins in there they’ve also played a pretty soft schedule generally and by the way their next five games they have Chicago on Thursday uh Utah Saturday Portland Monday all at home and then they’re in Oklahoma City and in

Utah buddy my in my opinion they’ve got to go four- one in those five games to have a shot to make this interesting the schedule gets a lot harder after that and they’re still projected by the way to finish four games behind the other two teams so it’s not it’s not that

Realistic for them to make a real run but if they go four- one in that stretch it at least sets them up to be back at 500 and give themselves a chance to make a push particularly if Steph or LeBron or somebody misses a few games all of a

Sudden things get a little more interesting I would say this their schedule is harder than Golden State’s coming down the stretch but they have three games with the tanking Jazz and two games with the Blazers left the tank Blazer yes so just keep that in also got

Games with Dallas Minnesota the big game with golden state Miami Dallas again Orlando and the Clippers so they got some very tough ones mixing there too but this next 10 days will say a lot they go four in one take care of business in that stretch it’ll at least

Put them in position to take advantage if if there’s some injuries or something well and it’s also it’s within the realm of possibility that shenon could return during the regular season when we went when he got hurt and obviously avoided a major injury but it’s still it’s a

Significant Sprain and and a his ankle three I believe they announced right so we kind of assumed he’d be done for the season because they weren’t going to have anything to play for I I was told there’s a very real chance that it could come down to late in the regular season

And a hey does it make sense to bring him back and obviously the number one thing is going to be is he cleared medically but then you know they’re not going to bring him back if they’re not playing for something but they’re putting themselves in a position where

They’ve got a chance to play for something you know and and the other thing about that is when you’re talking about a young team like the guys that they’re relying on like their their best players in tonight’s game were Jaylen green who what is I don’t have his age

In front of me I think he’s only like 21 or 22 I think yeah Jabari Smith Jr second year guy alond had a really nice Year by the way too like those were the three best players to have and then you know if you throw shenon in the mix

Green’s 22 so you’re like talking about a 22 and under core and obviously they brought bets into expedite the process and kind of show them the way but for a 22 and under core like that to have the opportunity of playing meaningful games late in the season like you can scoff about how

Meaningful it is to be a teny but it means something to them to have the opportunity to play in those games is not just giving lip service that’s exactly what coaches say they want their players to feel some pressure even if the pressure isn’t you know to win a

Playoff series but yes but this season’s been an unequivocal success for me for Houston they these young guys have all played they’ve made real developmental strides I mean well the jury’s still out a bit on Jaylen green he’s definitely been this is the best he’s your point

Ever played clearly in his career the thing about Jaylen green is it’s end of year three extension discussion I was going to say pretty good time for him to be be playing the best basketball of his career me I I’d be pretty surprised if an extension gets done there unless I

Mean I would imagine especially with the way this month is gone my guess is both sides will wait and see how next year it goes he needs a nice contract he’s got some diapers to buy well um but when you look at this year Javari Smith we

Haven’t talked about him a ton but he’s made real strides he’s looked really good we’ve talked a lot about shenon he’s great man Thompson has made real progress is also extension time well I think that one’s not gonna be real complicated that’s that’s Maxi little so I believe so

Sir him I sure ain’t sign anything else no that’s an easy one but yeah they they they’re young guys have played meaningful minutes they’ve all gotten a chance to develop and they’ve they’ve really built a foundation there to build on going forward regardless of how these

Last few weeks go I I think it’s been I mean We’ve joked about phase two but I think it’s been a really successful year for them all around they’re piing massive stes and I’ll tell you what they are excited about Al and Thompson and he can’t shoot should be he can’t shoot but

He can play he is a big athletic Wing playmaker type kind he’s almost he he’s almost like a young Ben Simmons in that he’s not quite as big but he isn’t that athletic he does have that kind of in those kind of instincts and feel uh he’s

Also got BigTime motor he is a competitor and like he’s a guy who has potential to be one of the best on ball defenders in the league and uh he’s really been a big big factor in their little run here in March as well and there it’s an exciting thing when you’re

Trying to get you know you’re trying to take strides as this team that went through a really painful rebuild and you’ve got these young guys that are uh are you know kind of carrying you into you know a chance to make the play in and scoff that all you want but it is

A it’s major progress well by the way we talked the other day about the Spurs and the the growth that they’re going to need to make over the next couple years here with Victor and like this is just another example like Q has made a real step forward this year like it’s going

To take a lot for the Spurs to be better than the Rockets next year and that’s you know you start stacking up teams they the West is just loaded and like you’re going to have a bunch of these teams like Houston next year is going to

Say hey we should be in the playin or pushing you know having a chance to make the playoffs and like you can you know they’re going to be trying to take a meaningful step forward like there there could be 12 13 teams in the West that go

Into next season thinking they could be a top 16 or top eight so it’s it’s just are going to be a blood bath even more than this year I think next year with the way things are shaking up right now what about the Lakers and Warriors off Seas just kidding just

Kidding all right it’s almost two in the morning and let Jackson go to work on this thank you to Mr bontems for staying up late on the east coast thank you to Mr McMahon for p and double duty going another game doing another podcast thank you for listening and watching us at the

Hoop Collective we’ll talk to you soon adios amigos

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to talk an interesting ending to Wolves-Nuggets, how Anthony Edwards is must watch, some updated draws for Team USA for the Olympics, the significance of the Bucks-Celtics matchup and what the Rockets’ surprising win streak means.

0:00 Intro
1:12 Nuggets-Wolves: Potential Playoff Preview
15:58 USA Olympic Draw Update
21:13 Boston Needs To Close Against Good Teams
39:15 Rockets’ Surprising Winning Streak
49:48 Thanks For Watching!

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