Lakers, Mavs, Warriors scarier than their record & Celtics ‘now or never’ | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

Lakers, Mavs, Warriors scarier than their record & Celtics ‘now or never’ | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

But right now it’s time for a segment that you won’t find in any periodical next to a breakfast breakfast buffet in your local Marriott uh last night while talking to professional gamblers about diamond rings a select group of statisticians former Rivals and people who don’t text with Michael Jordan fought and toiled

And burned the Midnight Oil to deliver the best segment in all of basketball television it’s an honor and a privilege it’s time for next year see Wilds this is why I can’t have private conversations with you they they they make it onto the show but if you

Just were Stone Face yeah just be like the audience is on to it all right you guys know how it works much like NFL tiers we have a committee different than NFL tiers we have different levels to being off the tiers different levels of relegation so let’s show you who is off

The tiers regular relegation sub relegation and then contraction meaning those two teams should cease to exist at least for the rest of the year in fact I think they should play a best of seven at the end of the year the winner of it gets the number one pick

The other team doesn’t get a draft pick how about that take that take your medicine there Detroit all right bottom of the tiers unrelated Chicago and Houston shout out to them still relevant Houston crew turns out all it took was them to get shenon out of line now they

Going lose it’s something strange the Bulls firing them this is a respected DeMar rosen who’s having an underrated really solid season and then there’s Indie which is in a weird spot if you ask me 14 and 14 in the last 28 and so they they’ve just been fine ever since

It was like oh how dangerous they are a lot of that do I think with Hal Burton not being 100% all right next deserve more respect I can already see it these are going to be the teams at the end of the year shows like ours people are going to

Be looking at the standings and be like actually if I’m Oklahoma City I want to lose tonight so I’m lined up with the kings in round one versus potentially the winner of the playin so these two teams particularly New Orleans deserves to be discussed in a higher regard but

The committee and the national media doesn’t take them seriously as even second round playoff contenders next party crashers in the Eastern Conference everyone wants to see Boston Milwaukee in the Eastern comment finals people are prepared for Miami or maybe to spoil that to a degree nobody is prepared for

One of these three teams to but they’re 3 4 five right now in the East Orlando won’t go away New York’s doing it despite the injuries Cleveland’s doing it despite Donovan you know being in and out of the lineup and being injured so they are trying to crash the round two

And maybe even round three party history matters I know in sports commentary and politics it seems not to but I promise it does the Sixers and Clippers they they’re going to be if embiid comes back and already with the Clippers I can see the twinkling bruise eye people are

Going to want to believe in that but when I say history matters I mean the recent history of James Harden in the playoffs of the Sixers with him in the playoffs or the longer term history of I don’t know just pull the number out of the a the last 40 years these two

Franchises have played in two combined Conference Finals in the last 40 years their their Rivals by the way the Lakers and the Celtics have played in 27 and so the idea that either one of these teams going to go on deep playoff run history says they won’t next scarier than their record listen

Relax hipster NBA fans I get it why do you spend so much time talking about these Luca LeBron Durant step that’s why the reason why these four playin teams that right now at best two will even actually make the real postseason they get so much discussion is because they

Have four of the 10 best players in the league all of them except for this uh Warriors have an awesome second option to go along with those guys and they honest to God just seems scarier in a playoff series than every team beneath them despite the fact that literally at

Least half of them will not even make the actual postseason if the current bracket holds next the committee can’t quit now let’s I get the skepticism yeah I understand there is not a lot of hard data from this season to point to what I will tell you is this this Miami Heat

Team is on Pace for 44 wins which is ah yeah when they made the finals in 2020 you know how many games they won 44 the finals last year you how many games they won 44 this heat te maybe 44 is a special number for Syracuse football and

For the Miami Heat I don’t know but I know when you have playoff Jimmy when you have Eric spola the committee is going to believe in you trying to skip steps and this is not a knock on them it’s just reality Oklahoma City and Minnesota are both trying to skip what

Has been the traditional progression of all these young teams throughout NBA history which is you finally have the great regular season and you get knocked out early in the playoffs and the next year you’re a real Contender Oklahoma city in Minnesota saying no we’re real contenders right now we’re going to comp

Compact the timeline here they both both have a superstar young North American player I’m claiming Shay Canada that you’re an American player let’s be honest here he’s not a European player he’s one of ours Anthony Edwards they have they have a a kind of a smartly

Built team one through seven for both of them they dra of the experience King of the Hill if this our NBA Finals Adam Silver might as well hang the best player alive championship belt above the middle of the court because it there is it I understand everyone says it’s yoke it’s

Not just every time the champion the best player in the champion but if it’s two guys that both have two MVPs both have one Finals MVP and then they play and they’re around the same age they play each other in the finals and that we think the teams are pretty evenly

Matched that would seem fair and then at the top of the tiers now or never feels a little Point differential in this record and this health and this starting lineup there there will be even more growing questions about whether or not if your top two is Tatum and brown you are built

For a championship we know you’re built for deep postseason runs we know you’re built for great regular seasons so I do feel like it’s a bit now or never for the Boston Celtics Brew well done for the most part um but I’m going to the heat the heater too high all right I

Think I got a yeah a crafty the heater cold as ice all right you get that yeah I got little play word all right um Nick I get heat culture I get playoff Jimmy Eric spoler obviously a great coach but I’m I am so glad I beat the

Buzzer on the Heat last last week we made our picks and I beat the buzzer you when you at first I had Celtics beating the heat in the Conference Finals I checked with hubs and ketta I was like eh I’m feeling funny about the heat I want to

Change it to the Bucks they said just in time brw you can change it so I got the Bucks getting beat by the Celtics and the Eastern Conference Finals I I’m off the heat Nick they lost seven I get it the 44 games yes they’re the a seed they

Were the a seed last year when they went to the finals all right they they’ve lost seven straight games though in January not a good look they’ve lost five of their last seven not a good look oh and they’re 14 and 22 against winning teams this season take a

Look at this uhoh look at that closely the years they’ve gotten deep into the playoffs they played well against winning teams even last year they were 500 against winning teams go to the finals then 28 and 22 year before that the one year they were 14 and 22 as they

Are now they lost in the first round so I think that says something Max I get it they got Terry rier who I like a lot but Max was a big part of that run he’s gone Gabe Vincent I know he’s not great for the Lakers but was a big part of that

Run he is gone all right and so they I I think the heat are too high uh I would actually put them below if I can see the tears again quickly yeah I would put them below Philadelphia or below the par I would put them with the uh with the uh Party

Crasher so yeah that’s what they are like the dicks no I understand so here’s the my problem with that if we can just show and I’ve shown you scph before I’ll show it to you again the best three teams in the East The Last 5 Years the

Heat have always been the worst regular season team and have been the most consistent postseason team and so it’s just very hard when they have the same it’s not like the core has changed significantly it’s still SPO Jimmy and Bam it’s hard for me to panic too much

Again Lowry was a big part too last year not so much was not very good Championship right he’s got the medal part those uh all right I just want to dig in on the Celtics obviously I still think the nuggets should be ahead of them even

Though they did well they won but they did take a loss against on a miracle shot so three stats on the Celtics first this season uh turns out they’re just absolutely excellent first offensive rating rebounds they’re first uh three-point percentage they’re second and their defense rating second while

They’re holding uh their opponents to only 35% shooting from three and now this is a little glass half full glass half and you want to be a pessimist like some people on the staff let’s say so you know what Tatum has kind of fallen off well why don’t you to speak glass half

Full like you know what Jaylen Brown’s playing great he’s elevated his game post All-Star maybe Tatum has taken a step back and those numbers are still pretty good they’re still excellent but they’re not kind of MVP is which he wanted to gun for um so I wanted to

Bring in Lebron in his podcast with JJ talked about Tatum and maybe his inexperience SL criticism take a listen not a good point Kobe without Che he already had three yeah but he he had to do it he wanted he won when he was 21 in any

Event uh quick correction we don’t know exactly when that pod was Tate but Tatum just turned 26 one correction about LeBron he was not 28 he was actually 27 selling himself short man he’s just like was 27 you sure step was 27 I thought he was 26 he’s wellos are you sure check

It the I think Giannis was 26 I think he’s right that se was 27 but we can check but go ahead we don’t need to check it’s been checked and it’s on the graphic yeah go ahead I got you Josh thank question for do you buy that Tatum

Might be too young to win I I I think what LeBron said Is Right on the money I agree with that like we you saw that the Legends are 27 and 28 years old 26 with Giannis before they win a championship the the guys that won it younger kobby

Kareem magic they had Superstars around them when they went there bird they had Hall of Fame players who did well no I just I Kareem was the driving force but he had Oscar Robinson older osar yeah sure yeah but he was still re really good and so and half the best players in

The world were in the ABA when Kar won it so I I think this is right on the money he’s in this is check this out in his six years in the league this is his seventh he has been to the Conference Finals as LeBron said four times and

People jump on him I’m not saying he’s as good as LeBron but people jump on him because of how he played in those finals let’s look at how he played in the finals though compared to LeBron his numbers this is LeBron’s first two finals and Tatum’s numbers are right

There with LeBron arguably better LeBron’s first finals against San Antonio he shot 35% from the field and he averaged five and a half turnovers a game all right so we know LeBron’s first two finals he was bad all right or you know far below his ability and so I’m

Not saying Tatum’s in that class but this is this is part for the course though because Jordan as much as everybody loves him now and they loved him then but he still did get criticized until he won oh he can put up numbers he can sell shoes he’s not magic or Larry

Though because doesn’t win um LeBron obviously got criticized joic got critic like every this is this is what happens when we put you on a certain level until you win you get criticized and it’s like the old school coaches that said when I stop yelling at you that’s when you

Should worry when I’m yelling at you it means I believe in you when we’re criticizing you Jason it means we believe you’re capable of winning it worry when we stop criticizing you and say oh he’s got to win a ring oh he’s got to win a ring cuz then we don’t

Think you’re capable that’s why I don’t criticize Tatum that much oh you just don’t believe in him he’s not he’s never going to win a ring as number one it’s hard I think it’s going to be hard to win a ring with him as your best player okay I think he’s the

Sixth or seventh best player in the league I think that’s hard thanks for watching subscribe here to get more from the show and to check out clips from other shows on FS1

Nick Wright alongside Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes releases the latest edition of Nick’s NBA Tiers ranking the 30 teams in the NBA. Topping this week’s tiers is the Boston Celtics, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets. Notable placements including the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors whom Nick dubbed ‘scarier than their record.’

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Lakers, Mavs, Warriors scarier than their record & Celtics ‘now or never’ | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

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