An In-Depth NBA Finals Preview: Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks | The Dunker Spot

An In-Depth NBA Finals Preview: Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks | The Dunker Spot

[Music] hi hello and welcome to another episode of the dunker spot we are part of 342 Productions I am your host Nik Duncan and joining me as always is my co-host Steve Jones Jr Steve how are you aha feeling good feeling great that’s actually a lie I don’t feel that good uh but happy to be here excited to be here thank you dunkers for once again embracing your bounce YouTube hi uh hello welcome back uh hit the like button and the bell and subscribe and comment we appreciate y’all uh K uh very fun basketball week the finals are here the W continues to roll on uh it is time to hoop it up it is indeed time to Hoop It Up also want to send my appreciations to the YouTube comment section uh appreciation to you Steve for one being here like you always are but also pushing through not feeling well hope you feel better big dog we are going to do the best that we can but lots of hoop to get into the finals are here as you said the W continues to roll on the conversation around the W continues to roll on which is a positive and a negative in some cases but we will leave that where it’s at we are going to kick things off with an NBA Finals preview we have the Boston Celtics who have pretty much been wired to wire the best team in the NBA this year we have the Dallas Mavericks who are also good remade their team at the trade deadline got even better and now they have knocked off three straight 50 win teams two top five offenses Western Conference Finals match up against the best defense in the NBA in which they just lit them up in game five and had like a 150 offensive rating in the half court before for halftime which is not supposed to happen Luca Donas had his best pick and roll outing of the postseason in game five and now we have this best SL deepest roster in the NBA headlined by an all NBA first team talent and Jason Tatum another all NBA caliber Talent Jaylen Brown who didn’t make it this year made it last year and you got Luca donic and Kyrie Irving returning to Boston you have Christos ringz who’s going to be returning to Dallas whenever he returns all right assume that he’s going to be ready to go for game one I haven’t seen the official he’s available tweet yet uh as we recording on a Monday afternoon but we’ll assume that he’s going to be good to go for game one at the very least he’s going to play a part in this series we got some fun stuff to dig into I think for me outside of Star Theater really good teams for interesting paths uh throughout this postseason I start with the matchups like I always do but it’s really interesting in this case because the benefit and the beauty of Boston’s defense is that they can mix and match how ever they want to Jason tayum defend the center if you want Drew holiday you descend the center if you want we’ll put Jaylen Brown on our star maybe other times we’ll put Jay uh jayen uh excuse me Drew holiday on the star we’ll let dared white Hound the posing point guard if they’re the star they can go in a multitude of directions so I I enter the series wondering who’s getting the Luca assignment who’s getting the Kyrie assignment in the March first matchup we saw Jaylen Brown and luuka donic I wonder if that holds I would assume that that holds I think because of how Boston switches and again they want to just play with matchups anyway I imagine luuka sees a little bit of everyone we’ll see some Drew we will see some Jaylen Brown we will see some Jason Tatum switched on I don’t know how much we’ll see of Derek white on luuka donic at least intentionally from Boston side I think that could be an interesting thing for Dallas to try to poke at as the series goes along as Derek white is Elite but he’s just smaller than Luca and Luca generally just has fun with players that are smaller than him um but I think they go Jaylen Brown on Luca Drew holiday on Kyrie Irving kind of like we saw in that second regular season matchup so I guess from the Dall excuse me from the Boston side is that how you would go or how do you foresee that going I think they’ll go that way but ultimately I don’t think the matchups matter as much in this particular series only because it’s going to be about can you emphasize your will and can you hit the right buttons defensively and how are you willing to hit the right buttons defensively I think one of the bigger differences for a Boston in this series they have a whole lot of personnel to slow Luca and Kyrie down in theory they have different tricks they can use to slow them down in theory how do they want to go about it and how much conviction will they have is is where I’m looking at because I don’t think Boston’s necessarily had a problem defending in these playoffs but we’ve seen if you are not certain of exactly what you want to do against Dallas they can now pick you apart and so is this a series where Boston’s defensive Personnel their ability to mix schemes their ability to switch shines do they have the personel just to make it tough on Dallas and are we looking at the type of Series where hey Drew and white can defend Kyrie Tatum and brown can switch and contain they do the trick where hey Jason Tatum you guard a big and you are now going to be a switch we’re going to take that pick and roll off the table do they mix and match do they start with that I think that’s a good point is the goal for Boston just to get one of if not both Luca of Kyrie to go 9 for 20 8 for 20 2 12 for 30 and when do you hit which button and I think that’s going to be the interesting part with Luca I think we I assume we see Jaylen Brown screen navigation drop um do they want to switch out Horford to start I’m not sure how all comfortable will they be switching Al Horford and N Christ porzingis I’m not sure but I expect everyone to get a shot at Luca and if not at Kyrie to would agree just because of the way Boston likes to switch and get Cross Match transition those kind of things uh it’s interesting you mentioned the Derek white portion Derek white Drew Hol day is Dallas goingon to go back to the double drag bag and have Kyrie as the first screener get the switch and now hey as you stated you’re smaller this is a better navigation for me will Luca getting to his spots and making shots make Boston blink yeah I guess is where my head’s at and I honestly the more we talk about it the more we think about it is Kyrie Irving the main one you try to turn the water off so against in against Boston this year ni for Kyrie 21 points 2.5 assists 41.9% from the field on 21.5 attempts 28.6 from three on seven attempts is Kyrie the piece where Boston says hey we can affect that shot making we can contest that we have multiple guys we have size and length and we have Drew and Dereck white who are active we feel comfortable being able to take that away and now you can’t get to that blend that’s been so important for Dallas during this run but what happens if he knows the assignment again and just makes all those shots then it becomes a different series altoe and I think like that’s what really popped when watching back the March match up in particular it was so much Luca donic to start that game but then Kyrie got the pockets where he’s you know flowing in transition or the ball just swings to head and second side he gets a drop and he just missed so many of these early looks and Boston’s kind of able to extend the lead Dallas really wasn’t able to get back into it to a serious degree but it was like huh what does this look like very basic thought hey what are these misses are makes but if these shots are made what does Boston do against the wave do they alter their scheme is it just do better button for them or do they actually do something differently and kind of like we talked about last series and we’ve talked about it with or like you and JJ talked about on the old man of three things the week before last who’s going to Blink first on the who puts two on the ball front is going to be really interesting to me because like Boston just flat out doesn’t do it if they don’t have to like blitzing or even having to be at the level like they isn’t really part of their base like ideally we’ll just switch and keep this in front or we’ll creep up to the level sometimes if we feel the need to depending on who you are but we want to keep this two on two one because they just have really good Defenders and they can play it that way but when you zoom out to the overall like Joe Missoula ethos of winning the math battle winning the shot Profile battle Etc if Derek white or Drew holiday or Jaylen Brown or Jason Tatum if they can contain sln screens Force you downhill and now you got to try to finish over christops or finish through Al Horford okay you’re taking mid-range jumpers you’re taking short mid-range jumpers or push shots if you are getting all the way to the rim you’re not going to have a lot of fun and Boston has been a team throughout the entire season that doesn’t foul a bunch on top of that and so they’re able to funnel you inside then on the other end they’re just bombing away from three they’re getting the volume up in a mulit of ways we’ve talked about Jason Tatum getting to his own shot from P like that can be a point of frustration for me sometimes when he’s going to that shot but in theory he can get to that shot whenever he wants to Derek white has become a much more willing and lethal pull-up shooter jayen Brown can knock down threes Kristof can knock down threes off the pop Al hor can knock down threes off the pop and on and on on and on and on and so to both the Luca and the Kyrie portion can either one of them do enough to where Dallas is able to generate high quality threes if they’re able to force Boston to bring that second Defender up you mentioned the double drag bag for Dallas if it is we get an initial switch with Kyrie as the screener or if they involve any other other guards per players that’s a first screener then you go there if you ding that enough do we now start seeing some traps or some Hedges on that second one like will Boston be more willing to do that if you know Daniel gafford’s in the game right now will H the second one let’s make Daniel Gafford make a decision in space against this defense is that just going to be an entirely different challenge for him can Boston afford to play around with that or do they feel like okay we just can’t give them two period because this might be problematic for us moving forward we don’t want to give up Corner threes when we largely don’t do that so I think it could really get interesting with that por and again if Kyrie hit shots does that drop turn into at the level turn into blitzing and what does that open up for Dallas and what does that do for their shot profile see here’s the thing how many shots would they have to make to get Boston to go that far and I feel like that’s the balance of the series can Dallas hit the right notes to get Boston in position where they feel like they have to do something different or is it not sustainable is this just say hey Luca Cycles through everyone and now we don’t feel good about any of it and now we just because of that we have to do something different is that the bit what type of shots is D’s going to generate I think that’s the balance can they get some easy ones in transition is that how they start to get their threes going what happens against Boston’s bench unit how much do Payton Pritchard and Sam Hower get attacked is that the moments where now Dallas can put two on the ball or they can open things up or get an indecision on a switch or anything like that does that shift things to where now we can only play X Y and Z like it’s just which thing can Dallas poke at it’s not they can’t do it you know it’s not like Boston can’t be beat and Dallas can’t score on them it’s just for Dallas to win this series they are going to have to make the plays over and over and over again and make Boston pay for whatever they try you need to get this to be a series where hey we put a big on Derek Jones Jr now Derek Jones Jr’s a screener and that hurt them okay we felt good about this match up on Luca now they go and now we get mismatches and he’s scoring in the post and now Kyrie scoring it’s Dro you need you need the blend to make Boston sit back and say hey we can’t just stick with our principles we need to take something away you hit on a couple of things that I had in my notes and want to touch on so I’m glad we’re on similar wavelength here to the transition point it kind of ties into like an overall question I have about just the general feel and general pace of this series like what type of series are you anticipating and do you feel like either of these teams need the transition more than the other like obviously it’ be helpful to get easy ones off of turnovers and stuff but just in terms of we need to play with a level of tempo who do you lean towards on that front both of them here’s here’s the thing right Dallas needs to get easy baskets I think in this series Boston cannot this is not the series to play slow in my opinion MH they have to keep their movement up they have to keep their Tempo up they have to start their sets early that they can be deliberate you know you can attack matchups if you’d like you can work the elbow and the post and and do things but you need to start early on the clock those one pass one screen up against the clock possessions aren’t great and if Dallas gets stops they could play faster we’ve seen Dallas’s defense do you want to let them just sit and load up no do you want to just have them stare and okay that’s one screen we switched it now it’s not no quick attack that’s going to be another battle and another part of the balance Dallas has done such a great job during this run of Defending defending drives and I think head coach Jason kid after the Minnesota win said every series has taught us something for the next series if I mess that quote up my fault but you’re coming off two Series where they work to limit Shay gild Alexander’s drives and hey OKC these are the shots you get they work to limit Anthony Edward’s drives how does Boston adjust to that that early help can Dallas afford to send the the same amount of help in this series that’s why I don’t think that Boston wants to mess around too much with the tempo deal to where now you play slow and while you have the shooters are you Jing the kind of shots you want on the flip side though I will say this actually you know what let’s let’s pause right here okay Boston gets criticized for their shot selection sometimes right mhm they have no problem letting it fly from Deep MH and they have no problem generating quality looks from deep I think that’s that’s the important distinction they can take some ones that are like I don’t know but they can generate some quality looks is that the bit and is that the adjustment for a Dallas team that’s done a great job of helping recover because they can move their personnel around as well it’s not the same automatic hey our big is just going to be right here and can rotate at the low man we’ve seen Boston run that set all playoff long where Al is just on the wing and now we can play out of it the drive and kick that Boston could get is Dallas going to be able to have the same comfort with a Boston team that can drive and kick or does this become like the OKC Series where actually because because you’re doing this you’re not getting any of these and we’ll live with that see that’s where like I started with the matchups in terms of who’s defending Kyrie who’s defending Luca and then on the flip side who’s defending the Jays but like this is where became like a bigger deal for me CU just like okay we have these bigs that can be moved around and in the case of Boston like we have bigs that can shoot so like how does Dallas deal with that when like they had to stretch big against Chad but like they haven’t had to face this level of three-point shooting up and down the roster during this postseason run and for Boston who is fine with tapping into the we will just put our big on non shooter here Etc Dallas does have a star in Luca to where one we can just hunt you anyway if we want and even if you do want to be on non shoot like okay well fine then we’ll just go we’ll have a guard screen like you’re technically winning you’re not attacking the big like we’re not attacking the big like you don’t want us to do but we can just punish you here over and over and over and over and over again and so for a Dallas team that has you know we saw PJ Washington and Derek Jones Jr handles Shay and Chad and we can kind of go with one of our four or just have the wings defend star guard and star big like what kind of optionality do they have on that front and kind of a similar deal for Boston like how much of this would do they want to tap into and how do it counter and to the Dallas portion depending on how they move guys around if they want to experiment with like let’s put PJ on christops so we can switch some of these pick and rols with him is that a way you know if we do that and then we just get even funkier okay we’ll put Daniel Gafford or Derrick Lively on Drew holiday for a spell is that a way for Dallas to maintain some of the health principles that we saw in versus Minnesota versus OKC and can they kind of dictate terms that way if they can’t tap into that bag it’s still going to be on a on Boston to play with a level of intention and a level of pace but like they should have easier Avenues to create the kind of shots that they want if Dallas can’t crossmatch to the same degree you know you mentioned crossmatching my are on how much switching does Dallas want to do m is that going to be the the scenario where hey we keep this in front we’re not in rotation the rotations we make are going to be these you have to drive and we’re going to contest like is that the balance for Dallas to now where they get Boston in the mud I think for me in this playoff run the formula has been there to beat Boston right obviously you got to score we get y’all to play Slow we get y’all in the mud fourth quarter time hey it’s close game yall good we win is that is that the bit for Dallas to where he you guys don’t have the same rhythm you’re not getting the same drive and kick it’s close game in the fourth now all those post-ups or pick and rolls with LCA that you didn’t necessarily you felt comfortable staying at home it’s a little bit more impactful now kind of have to the the drop with Kyrie or the switch against Kyrie if he’s looking to attack it’s a little bit more imp tful now so is that just going to end up being the balance to where it’s a back and forth and now if it’s a close game each team has different things they can hit on just quickly on the pick and roll front there almost one. one points per possession on Luca pick and rolls versus Boston this year again two game sample so we’ll see what that looks like as we have a whole series now regular season basketball different in the playoff basketball duh like that’s a solid number Boston again largely did not split third lowest uh Blitz rate against Luca among all the that Luka face this year and with Kyrie seeing switches uh over 1.2 points per possession on those trips when Kyrie saw a switch and this is with you know as we mentioned in the March matchup in particular didn’t shoot all that well but still able to generate some good stuff when he did score and or okay we have a match up we had a mismatch somewhere else we can swing this and move it around so that battle is going to be interesting I guess flipping it to the Boston side of things at least defensively or Dallas defending excuse me what do you expect to see against Jason Tatum like I brought up the matchups is it just going to be a bunch of switching from there to kind of bounce off your earlier Point how much comfort Dallas will have with the switches what is going to be the mindset for Jason Tatum how early is he going to look to establish the drives against maybe some small Defenders maybe if it is using whoever Kyrie’s defending whether that’s Derek white or Drew H let’s go inverted pick and roll let’s get the Kyrie switch let’s see how well you hold hold up because Kyrie has been largely awesome defensively throughout this postseason run honestly and when healthy like I feel like it was a pretty solid defensive season for him during the regular season as well so like I think KY has been fine on that end this year honestly but like how much of this does Jason Tatum in particular tap into is Boston able to establish even if it’s not just a static pick and roll let’s go inverted let’s get Jason Tatum at the elbow are you able to get early pressure early body blows and maybe even early fouls Kyrie Irving does that impact what you see from Dallas’s defense overall does that impact what kind of Kyrie you get on the other end because he’s taking these blows because I think above all the series that he’s had so far like this naturally is the one where you need the defense the playmaking and the capital S scoring from Kyrie in this series and so I do Wonder like how how Boston looks to navigate that and how do they find the balance between giving Jason Tatum a match up that he likes he can get downhill against put pressure on Dallas’s defense maybe force some of that help and lead to generating some wide open quality three-point shots versus we don’t need to just mismatch hunt we need to establish this flow we need to make sure that we are a moving Target in some kind of way it’s going to be very interesting for me to kind of track how Boston and Tatum in particular kind of goes about the method of attack there I think Boston does need the blend they need the movement they need to be able to attack matchups and I’m very curious ious you mentioned Tatum right and we’ll get back to Tatum but if we’re talking about Kyrie on defense the person that I’m looking at is Jaylen Brown because it feels like every time Jaylen Brown pays Kyrie Irving he wants to drive and put this man under the basket I don’t know why I don’t know what’s good but that’s the one and with Jaylen Brown playing at this type of level that he’s been uh in this postseason the finishing that he’s had in the paint this this postseason if Jaylen Brown could just get to kyri has that changed things with Tatum as far as you mentioned as far as hey how do we how do we defend t in for Dallas I think it’s got to be a mix I think you’ve got to be able to throw some switching at him and throw some some early help uh he’s done a really good job of playmaking but is that going to dissuade him from driving and is that the key to where hey we’re showing this early help are you going to drive and kick consistently or are you going to cook or try and make a quick easy pass if you get a match up do we just hit you with a random double to make you think about it now if you remember uh Dallas did kind of start the Minnesota series saying hey Carl Anthony tals we are going to double you and then quickly said actually we are not going to do that anymore so I don’t know I don’t know how much Dallas wants to put two on the ball as we’ve talked about but I think it’s it’s got to be a blend against Jason Tatum he’s got to see different things you got to be able to hit the switches if the bids can contain and contest if Kyrie can hold up if Luca can hold up we’ve seen what that gives for Dallas success in this in this playoff run but I think if if we’re in a series where Kyrie gets dinged a little bit more than we have seen before what does that change for Dallas is that the Avenue where they have to put two on the ball or show more help or commit and is Dallas ready for those rotations you know it’s something we kind of talked about in the last series it’s one thing to rotate on the drives automatically it’s another when you have to make a different type of rotation so does Boston find that pressure point and put that kind of pressure on the uh Dallas MAV defense I think they could like it’s just again a different level of overall talent but within this context a different level of shooting and spacing and as you alluded to with Alor being on the wing they can also just mix up their spacing in a way so okay we’ve Dean Kyrie we now know you want to show help Al Horford’s on the wing this time actually no he’s not at the wing anymore he’s Now setting this pin in now we’re going to Ping the ball around now we have generated yet another Corner three because we can just do that to you or we can just second side going to an empty side pick and roll or empty side handoff and just have a whole bunch of fun as you’re now trying to rotate and recover so like Foster just has again they have a lot of different Avenues if they hit the right buttons again there has to be a level of intention and a level of pace they even circling back to the transition point you know you look back at the transition stats throughout the regular season for both of these teams not necessarily the matchups but just overall like they’re pretty much identical in terms of transition frequency per cleaning the glass efficiency numbers kind of go back and forth but like they go about it different ways like Boston can turn you over but in general okay let’s attack let’s get downhill early let’s jayen Brown was gonna go into an early postup you cross match or if you don’t match up the way you want to Jason Tatum can do the same thing we can go early drag right here with Dallas it’s been more of the we got bored quick Outlet ahead let’s have some fun with some of these early attacks and even if it turns into a string Outlet set up if you’re not matched up correctly you’re now feeding Kyrie Andor LCA something and I just wonder like which way that battle is going to go both in terms of as I asked earlier like who needs that portion of the program more because I think it’s going to be important for both with how good these defenses are but like who needs it more and you know similar theme of this pod right now this is a different challenge for Boston on the transition front because as I’ve talked about with their defense and their transition defense in particular part of why they’re so good at it is because they have a bunch of versatile Defenders up and down the spectrum they don’t have to think too much about who they’re picking up this might just be the first series that they’ve had this postseason run where they kind of have to think about who’s matching up where and who’s grabbing who after a miss or after a live ball turnover because it’s not you may be put in some of those positions early on to where Dallas can attack and legitimately draw a second Defender can I offer a push back sure didn’t they just play the Pacers they did but like even with that Indie group like they don’t don’t they didn’t have a Luca and then as the series went on they eventually didn’t have a Tyrese either like in terms of the overall Pace that was different but in terms of some of the early matches they may have to try to navigate like I don’t think it’s to the same degree to where to what Dallas might pose I guess it’s my argument well I just do you think Boston’s uncomfortable they may want certain people on Luca but they’re going to switch but they’re fine they’re G to stick with their principles so do you think that it’s one of those deals where all right cool Drew you’re there take it real quick I think that’s the strength of Boston defensive Personnel now yes like I don’t think it’s going to be a level of like fear but I do think because again like Luca is respectfully like Luka is better than Pascal he is better than Tyrese especially like a hobbled version of Tyrese that’s a different level of pressure he can put on them early than what those two could he’s slower than them though he is slow yes he’s slower than them I was just pushing back on the greatest challenge thing I was like they just had to go Zoom for like five games that’s not fun that’s you know that’s fair that’s fair so you’re saying the the actions they could have yeah okay got you that’s all I had okay I want to leave that so I was just like hey that that could just be a little bit different if it’s Kyrie hit if Luca’s leaking out if he’s not the one defending the shot Luka gets an early match up or again if it’s a luka hitter head to Kyrie like that can be a lot of fun for that group so it’s just something to keep an eye on especially in light of again how similar the transition offenses and how qu you know how often they got out in transition this year like it just be a fun little margin thing that I’m keeping an eye on well here can I flip one of your questions back to you sure who’s transition more important for in this series uh I probably lean I probably lean Dallas actually actually no I I think I I slightly lean Dallas yeah to get the early one so they can set their defense because I do think while they have just been Elite throughout this entire postseason run and pretty much since March they’ve been Elite defense like I do think Boston’s defense is more versal overall and so like I don’t think that they obviously get a bump if they’re setting their defense after transition scores but like I think you may see a larger gap between the two teams in terms of their set defense versus their transition defense so I probably lean Dallas getting the early ones being able to set up shop being able to load their heal uh which bigs do you expect to hold up better defensively Al Horford and Chris porzingis or Derek Lely and Daniel Gafford well like I think of the four like I trust Lively the most to be able to navigate space as a unit honestly as a unit like it’s probably the like the Dallas Group in Seven is probably where I lean like I don’t know how willing Boston is going to be to just flat out switch christops depending on what the action is or what the cross matches are with Al Horford like we’ve seen the formula’s kind of been we will start you in a deeper drop if they ding you will bring you up and then if all else fails then we’ll lean to the switching like it’s felt more like a last resort for for switches throughout this postseason run versus you know the last couple of playoff runs where we can just do that and just take this off table immediately and with Dallas again like I’ve just been a fan of Derek Lively and space they’ve experimented more with The Gafford switches which give me more Paws than the Lively switches we’ll frame it that way but they’re at least becoming more willing to just do that early on so I’m intrigued and on top of that Maxi cber coming back feels pretty big like he’s not going to be my official X but his role in the series could be big if either one of them get deed in space and I look more at Gafford than Lively in terms of the beaten space portion of the program but if it does become untenable for Daniel Gafford to defend some of the Al Horford or kristo pick and Pops or if we are switching out early and Jaylen Brown’s just winning with drives Jason Tatum’s just winning with drives Andor getting Gafford in foul trouble like Cav’s ability to be able to switch out and you feel pretty decent about it I think I probably give the Dallas Big Room the overall Edge in terms of where I feel better about that’s fair can can I reveal what made me think of that yes it’s kind of like as we have this evolving conversation it’s a different type of finals preview if you’re a longtime dunker you know what this is you um so I would say in my mind I was thinking okay I think both teams are going to try and work to take away those bigs offensively but which gets established first the pick and pop with Horford and porzingis or the pick and roll with liel and Gafford and I that’s where my was going because it’s like okay I can totally see a world where Boston’s like you know what let’s put a big on PJ Washington or DK Jones Jr and then actually let’s run action with DK Jones Jr and ding that and now okay we don’t want to do that anymore let’s put our big on a big and now hey bigs you are rolling that’s see the same for Dallas to where it’s like okay are we switching are we convincing with it do we put two on the ball as the pop open up that’s where it gets intriguing for me so that’s that’s where my head went sorry okay no I think no I think that’s fair like that’s one of the questions I had as well more specifically with the Horford and kristof’s Pops what kind of attention will Dallas show to them early on because like combing through the film of just the Pops from both of those guys you would see The Possession to where okay it’s just two on the ball we’ll leave the pop open we’ll have a third Defender kind of rotate late but okay we we are fine with conceding this above the break shot from him like fine with in you know context of taking away option A and to should be that kind of thing so like we’ve seen that we’ve also seen some of the pill switching to where okay let’s just take this off the table and in those reps against christops it is in immediate oh you’re small let me just Mosey right over to the free throw line real quick seal my hand is up give me the basketball please and as you remember during the regular season most of fishing post offense in the NBA with any sort of volume was Christos ringz getting the ball in that wheelhouse and either sprinkling in those turnarounds or let me take a dribble or two let me pivot I will shoot over the top of you and get me a layup or you’re fouling me because I’m just bigger than you and so like I do Wonder again what the early appetite is going to be for the christops pops in particular because you know he does not he’s not going to be afraid to just take those shots and as I’ve applied at Al Horford throughout the back end of this postseason run like one of my questions heading into a couple of series now where hey probably going to give Al these shots how willing he’s going to be able to take these threes and we got like a 15 three-point attempt game from Al he just let it fly and so I’m less worried about the volume but christops is just naturally a more dangerous shooter so does that just become a we need to see two or three of these go down before we start switching immediately or before we start going into the pill switching and just trying to keep it flat I have curious to see what that portion of the program is going to look like and to the the other side of it assuming because I think in the March 1 match up it started with Jason Tatum on Derrick Lively it was very clear like okay we’re just taking this off the table if we can we’re turning this into a switch let’s have some fun here I I just think the crossmatching elsewhere could get interesting and for a pair of teams that haven’t super hammered the offensive glass like I do think Dallas can win some of those uh margin plays on the interior like I do wonder what that portion is going to look like if they just immediately switched some of these Lively and Gafford picking roles like could that be an area in which Dallas is able to swing a game because okay we just had 13 in game one or game two y’all are switching these we’re not getting the normal pick and roll offense it’s now a oneon-one you know ISO shot created from Kyrie or Luca inside the arc but now live Le or Gafford is diving to the basket we get some early ones this is how we win 95 to 91 or whatever it’s going to be an interesting battle for me it’s a great answer I like that thank you thank you I do what I can do what I can uh while we’re talking about some defensive scheming how much of a factor do you think the Zone’s going to play in this one from who from either side uh I think it be a curveball type beat like they mixed in the Drew holiday I’m here Zone and Dallas I don’t know how much D if Dallas goes to it I I feel like it would be their atto or things are not going right in my opinion just with the way they’ve had like their philosophy defensively in this playoff run so it’s not at the top of my list what about you I got you like I it was interesting to me just because like I’ve just had so much fun watching the drewed zone for Boston and so there’s just a general will we see this type beat uh but like going back through that March match I think Midway through the first quarter Dallas breaks out the zone and Jayla Brown immediately gets to the free throw line gets a shot to go it’s like oh right Boston was an elite off against the Zone this year and like thinking back to the first round Series against Miami when they want to sprinkler in the zone and Jason Tatum immediately said let me go to the corner I’m gonna pick on this guy Duncan Robinson in this case I’m gonna get this match up y’all are gonna have to react or I’m gonna get an easy shot and so like it’s a balance of seeing it from Dallas a little bit in the regular season matchups between these two teams also Dallas technically playing Zone at a higher rate during the postseason than in the regular season but still not high volume and so I’m curious like when you know to your point will it just be an atto deal or will it actually be a legitimate counter punch to try to slow Boston down and again for Boston like do they just want to do it because they can do it well it’s fair so I was intrigued whose bench do you trust and how many of them do you trust this is why we do the dunker spot my next question was going to be how do you feel about these benches um that’s amazing I think for me one I just want to know what the Dallas bench is going to look like like naturally we’re gonna see Lively we’re gonna see Josh Green Boston’s kind of done the thing where like we can experiment with a deeper bench in game one and then we cut this back down if it ain’t working like that I wonder if Dallas says hey Tim we kind of need three-point volume in this series here’s St at the end of the first quarter early second quarter can you go two of three from three in this St help us tie this by like I don’t know if he’s going to be a full-time like rotation piece in this series to be clear but like I do Wonder in regards to how important the math of the series is going to be in this one and the amount of switching that Boston can do to kind of take some of the easier shot Pockets out the table for Dallas do you just need a gunner for a few minutes which then begs the question well if you playing Tim like is he going to be able to hold up defensively depending on what those men or who’s going to be on the floor during those minutes so that could just get funny um so I guess overall like it’s probably I guess I probably lean Dallas because I really enjoyed what Derek L’s been able to do and Josh green has really provided some nice energy and a nice spark on both ends Jaden Hardy has played well throughout this postseason run and it’s I guess it’s just a numbers game really on the Boston front like imagine if Christof is ready for game one you’re bringing Horford Off the Bench he’s obviously good you have pton Pritchard who’s been solid Sam how is gonna get run like I’m curious to see what those minutes are GNA look like in this particular series uh get over here buddy is he going to be ready or will he continue to hold up rather because as Boston fans will tell you and I think fairly so like he has held up a lot better than I think people would give him credit for so like it may not be a you know press the red button get him out of here type beat but it’s going to be worth keeping an eye on especially if those early second quarter minutes in particular is going to be like Kyrie plus bench and Kyrie just says okay fine let’s dance let’s have some fun it’s like I’ll flip the question to you who bench do you feel better about heading into this one uh I think it just kind of depends I think Dallas has got to figure out who’s going to play in the series that may take them a game or two to your point uh I think Boston has the consistency the only issu is going to be how important are those start of second start of fourth quarter minutes going to be and who’s going to be out on the floor and do those guys get put in action and do they get tested to where hey you also need to make plays on this end are are you going to be able to make drives are you going to be able to make shots if they can make them pay then the defense doesn’t matter as much but they’re going to need those minutes um I don’t know if you want to go through top six two degree so I think there’s a potential for Dallas once they figure out exactly who is going to be the people that are playing I think for me if Boston takes a hit what happens then what does that look like if their bench unit just isn’t the same now again they can stagger all sorts of people so it’s not ever going to be the end of the world I don’t think but uh I probably lean Boston with an with an eye for what Dallas can do lineup wise okay that makes sense um another question that I had in my notes more so a closing question to anything because I think we have seen particularly on the Boston side during the regular season like they are comfortable playing Kristof and Horford together if they want to so I guess just in general like does this series Trend bigger or smaller in your opinion as far as closing the game yeah I would think bigger okay I don’t I don’t think Dallas went I mean they both have small ball lineups that they can go to but how much have we seen those small ball lineups in this playoff run how much have they’ve been the catalyst for these runs like Dallas literally has two bigs because hey we really like what that does for us so I just I don’t necessarily know if we we get there uh what say you like I probably lean with you like I don’t know you know to the closing portion like I don’t think they’re going to close with Al and Kristoff together unless something has gone unless like Al and Kristoff just cooking from three and we just really want to shrink the floor right now and or you know like Drew is one of eight from three or something and we just like this lineup as it gave us a run Midway through the fourth which gonna close with this group so to your point like I do think it’s going to be it’ll be single big for Boston I don’t imagine we see like PJ at the five to close things out anything like that the closest thing that we get to a smaller group I think with Dallas would be like them closing with Cleveland I guess C at the five and even that would signify Gafford hasn’t played well and I’s in foul trouble or has gotten hurt to really get to that level of downsizing but I do Wonder like again like early second quarter mid late third quarter do we see Dallas like really downsize or do we see Boston try to not necessarily steal but you know let’s let’s get a few minutes of christops and Al and see what it looks like let’s see how y’all defend it especially if Dallas is having a game or a stretch where they’re just crushing on the offensive glass and Boston just countering with okay let’s get a little bit more size out here we can still be aggressive out here we still switch if necessary or show we got another big person down here so y’all can’t get extra possessions so it’s just one of those things kind of like the at the back of my mind to how much of this will we see it’s not like Factor number two of who wins the series for me if that makes sense do do you feel better about the series now that we’ve talked about it I know we’re not done but uh I’m just I’m curious I’m curious like oh a little bit like if nothing else has just made me more excited because I think the versatility from both of these teams really stand out and they can just tap so many different scheme buttons in addition to just having the high-end Talent of Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown Chris THS and if you want to drop like half a tier I guess know Derek white still and naturally they you got luuk and Kyrie on the other end that can just toss whatever scheme you are to do over the top rope so I’m more excited like I do still have like some questions on the margins that I think could end up deciding something like this if things are close like talked a little bit about some of the lineup stagger and stuff like that like early second quarter is gonna be interesting for me as kind of like a mini Battleground in this series as huh keep going what I do this man be listening to me I do I’m just I just here I am just trying to segue to get into the stat that I had on the second quarter portion I’m got yelled at I can’t win but any but no in all seriousness uh the fact that the Kyrie without Luca minutes and the Jaylen without Jason minutes have both been positive uh during this postseason run and the fact that Luca and Jason both are normally we’re playing the entire first now we get a break early second or they’ll come out like the last minute of the first and you get that pocket without them early in the second like that particular portion of the game is going to be really interesting where we see some playing around in the game one in particular with what the lineup combinations are going to be but just in general like that can be where some of these swings happen in this game whether leag gets extended or we’re cutting it in half because Kyrie has it going or jaylen’s just getting downhill a bunch so that’s just something that I’m keeping an eye on there great stat great stat continue I was just joking buddy no you’re [ __ ] I ain’t like upset we good we good we um I gu cirle back to the like cirle back to the offensive rebound portion like worth noting per cleaning the glass both the Mavericks and the Celtics take a very high degree of a high share of three-pointers after offensive rebounds so if we’re talking about or looking ahead to potential like swing sequences late in this game if you do have Dereck lley on the glass or on the other side of Drews crashing from the corner for an offensive rebound or Dereck White’s crash to the corner this does not feel like leak out series for either for either party in crucial moments of this game because that will be a Tapout that will be a quick three both teams very willing to take those shots so like that’s another margin thing that I’ll be keeping an eye on I already talked about the Zone um and so from there uh did you have any more like big picture series questions or comments or thoughts before flowing into the X factors well I’m just thinking about one we talked a lot we’re we’re going to know exactly what they’re going to do after game one but it’s just interesting to see what are the pass to Victory what is it what is going to be the thing that puts pressure can Luca and Kyrie make enough shots to where hey you know what not even twoo on the ball but we’re holding that help that we’re showing and now here comes PJ Washington DK Jones etc etc I’m trying to think about how much Boston needs Tatum and brown in this series or is this the series where it’s okay we’re fine with Drew and Derrick White shooting you know there’s a lot of possible outcomes I think it’s should be a really fun basketball series because you have two teams that can defend at a high level you have star play um I just want to see what it looks like you know what I’m saying yeah this this is going to be a good one man this going to be a good one I just I hope as I wish for all the basketball series I watch like I I don’t want any injuries I just want both of these teams to be as close to full strength as possible I am ready to just kind of sink my teeth into the series this should be a whole lot of fun to say the least all right Steve let’s let’s flow into some X factors who are your X factors heading into this one well you took one of my so Derek white and Derek Jones Jr for me it’s always it’s always Drew holiday for me but I’m going to go Derek white just cuz he can’t can’t go backwards for this team offensively they need him he’s too important uh they’re going to need his self- creation they’re going to need him to be aggressive they’re going to need him to make uh Dallas pay uh I think in the regular season nine points a game 4.5 assists 31% from the field 30 from three obviously regular season but it can’t be that so Boston can’t afford for Derek white to go backwards Drew to go backwards offensively uh for Dallas I think it’s drick Jones Jr I think he’s got to be ready to make timely baskets to defend uh multiple positions and he’s going to have to add those drives to really help things out for Dallas those are my ex- factors what say you okay well first an apology I did not mean to steal the Drew Holiday from you it’s a joke I know I was leaning into the we’re doing bits we’re doing bits it’s fine but no uh Drew holiday for me as you mentioned like they’re going to need the shot making from him and if we do again get the mirror of the March match up where it’s Kyrie Irving taking on either Derek white or Drew holiday I think Drew’s usage as a screener can be very important in this series to either just feed matchups two or if there’s being two put on the ball or if Dallas decides to go with some kind of drop just can keep it two on two Drew’s decision- making the short role and his decision- making overall is going to be important and defensively naturally if he’s defending Kyrie he has a pretty big job to do navigate contest without fouling make sure Kyrie doesn’t get in Rhythm if we do see Drew holiday versus Luca at all he’s going to be at a size disadvantage but Drew is strong knows how to get load dig in to the base Etc can he navigate can he contest without fouling can he bother the Luca handle of to where at least you’re throwing off the Cadence of when he’s going into like some of the step Backs from three or inside the arc can you knock LC off Rhythm just enough to where you don’t feel the need to send a second defender or a third Defender to that point so definitely keeping an eye on Drew holiday and then for Dallas I was torn between PJ DK Jones Jr and Daniel Gafford and by extension with Gafford Maxi CA um I did land on PJ Washington because I do feel like he’s gonna spend time on both of the Jays like I would guess that he starts on Jaylen like hey you are big you are strong you can slide absorb some of these drives big dog please but I think he’s going to spend time on both and assuming that that’s the case again similar Drew holid he has one heck of a job to do to be able to contain either one of those guys and do so without fouling and make like tough on them make sure they don’t get to the spots make sure they don’t get to the free throw line and then offensively he can’t become a help point at best he needs to be if he hits shots we tip our caps he can’t become illegitimate we’re putting christops on you we are putting Al Horford on you because we just don’t care or trust that you will knock down enough shots or will make enough good decisions attacking close outs to where it doesn’t matter I think pulling up very quickly I think 42% on Corner threes throughout the postseason run we did see you know pockets in the Thunder series before he just lost his mind and pockets of the Minnesota the Minnesota series though Dallas obviously one and five to where we were putting two on Luca ball to PJ let’s see what you do and it is a Miss shot which you just live with those sometimes you miss shots but it’s more you don’t want to see the hesitation start to creep back in to where he has an open shot and like ah let me think about it okay now let me drive but now the defense is back in front and now we got to start this chain all over again which puts a further M uh further magnifying glass on when is Dallas starting their offense because the while I think they are more comfortable playing slower and deeper into the clock than Boston is I don’t think they want to live in that world against this Boston defense so I I think it’s gonna have to be quick decision- making for PJ like DH make shots because making shots is important in a basketball game but it’s more so what are you doing if you are left Al whether it’s two on the ball versus LCA or if they do try to experiment with putting a big on you so they can keep Al or Kristof near the rim how quickly are you taking these shots how quickly are you reading this is an aggressive close out let me get downhill let me get to this push shot or let me get all the way to the rim it’s going to be a big series for him also before getting into predictions I just had a couple of questions pop up in my head if I can Circle back very quickly so like back to Boston’s defense and something that brought up heading into the Indiana series not just the Personnel not just like basic scheme versatility they can switch drop whatever whatever but like some of the rotations that Boston can make like one of the things I pointed out with Indies like okay here’s a pick and roll here’s a drive this guy from the strong side corner is now going to pick up this drive and the guy initially guarding Tyrese can now Veer off Etc within the lens of we want to throw different things at Luca how much lead weight do you think Boston actually has like how creative can they be with some of the like rotation tough rotation stuff excuse me on top of General scheme things what do you mean like do you think they can play around with any kind of creative we are rotating off of this guy but not this guy and let’s try to Crow Luca on some of these drives I think they could I mean depends on who space when their space where the attacks coming from I just if they will you know I think that’s part of the mystery of the series what does Boston want to tap into and when uh is it just going to be again do we put you know a big on a non-shooter quote unquote is that our move and now they’re always going to be here or you know how much I don’t know I don’t know if they’ll dip into that right away you know what I’m saying I think they can get creative is there a concern level here for you with that no not necessarily a concern level it’s just again I think the general sentiment against star players in general is we cannot show insert St here the same thing over and over or they will carve it up we have to mix looks and so I’m more so asking within the mix the looks bag like how deep are they getting is it just going to be we will switch switch and double come at the level or will we see a whole bunch of funky stuff against Luca I don’t know how much funky things we’ll see unless Luca dictates it just because of their personnel I feel like they feel very confident with all their their guys being able to guard Luka to a degree so I don’t know if we’re going to see the the more exotic things there may be some off ball stuff where okay Luca maybe comes off the screen and they just switch a different way more of that than just on ball for me maybe some late switches like I I don’t know I don’t think I don’t think they’re going to get too deep in that bag uh unless Sam Hower is involved maybe no disrespect but no that’s what I’m asking um so I was curious about that front Steve do you have a serious prediction uh Boston seven or Dallas and six I’m going to go with Dallas six okay uh I I probably lean Boston in six right now like I do I think I do think they have more solves on both ends than Dallas does in this one just Personnel difference there but good Lord uh it is hard to watch uh what Luca just did in that game five in particular and bet against that dude because I gu the points been made like elsewhere like Dallas is entering this series with the best player in the series with all due respect to Jason tum and when you do have that kind of Edge and with Luke in particular the ability to oh this is a switch I could beat that oh this is a drop I could get to my spots and beat that oh you’re blitzing I can make any pass in the book or just string this out and really put you in Peril like his ability to do that could just flip this series on his head on on its own in addition to whatever kriek can do um but again like I do think Boston is a better team and ultimately because Boston is they have the personnel and is able to switch as much as they can like I do foresee this is just going to be I think Boston just takes a lot more threes than Dallas does in this series I think they’re able to generate more of those looks assuming that their half four defens is ready to play like I do think they’ll have the transition opportunities on top of that and so I between Boston and six and Boston I probably stay Boston and six I think would be my official predic heading into this one I think Boston gets their first title since so8 think we lean there any closing comments thoughts questions Etc no should be a fun one man okay let’s have some fun let’s have some fun all right well before we close this thing out let’s shift to the W side as we had a lot of things happening over the weekend Commissioners cup play officially started on Saturday we got the sky fever got the Camila cardoso debut all of the things and more things and more things and more conversations and even more things than a fun slate on Sunday so uh and actually we Haven recorded since Friday so what’s up I was going to tell you the keia of players of the month for the WNBA dropped ah thank you Alissa Thomas uh from the Connecticut Sun the Eastern Conference player of the month 149 rebounds and 8.7 assists uh for the undefeated Connecticut sun and Asia Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces Western Conference player of the month 26.5 points 12.5 uh rebounds 2.8 blocks so there you go buddy okay well thank you for that because I I was not on Twitter so naturally I would have been very upset when we closed the recording and I would have saw that news so thank you for that um as far as just general weekend takeaways I guess as you mentioned Asia Wilson Asia largely just did not have it on Friday against the Atlanta Dream a huge win by the Atlanta Dream over the Las Vegas Aces I think career best night from three for Alicia gray at least in terms of the efficiency on that amount of volume I was impressed with Atlanta’s defense in that one so it’s very very funny to record a mailback question about the Atlanta Dream like hey what is success for this team what’s going on here based on what you’ve seen like how you feel about him and then they just beat Vegas in regulation and then immediately followed that up with another basketball game uh that did not end in the win and we will leave it there um so still very much a headlock with the Atlanta Dream we will see what happens there but as you also mentioned Alysa Thomas uh first thing on the list for me the Connecticut Sun are freaking ridiculous on defense like they’re just ridiculous period as they are the only undefeated team in the W as of right now um heading into Tuesday slate no games on Monday as we recorded on the Monday but heading into Tuesday slate best defense in the W by a wide margin an 89.1 defensive rating uh the links are second at 92 points seven it’s early in the season but the ball pressure from their guards Ty Harris has brought it we’ve talked about D Kon on the Pod already but what D Carron has been able to do like she’s making an early case for an all defensive team danana Bonner and her length her ability to switch out when necessary Alyssa Thomas just blowing things up you try to post her up good luck try to ISO her good luck if you try to bring her into a screening action she’s blitzing that sucker and you are not having a good time she is liable to just snatch the ball away from you or force a difficult pass that will likely be taken the other way uh the Connecticut Sun best pick and roll defense in W so far per second Spectrum blitzing pick and rolls at the second highest rate in the lead per second Spectrum but again a lot of that is Alissa Thomas just wrecking stuff I I’ve just had a lot of fun and the offensive the offense continues to flow with Aliss Thomas naturally as a hub had the triple double in the season opener if I remember correctly had a couple more near calls as well her general direction Ty Harris hunting her shot a little bit more D Carrington hasn’t had three ball going yet but seeing the improved comfort as a driver still danana Bonner averaging 19 points per game hasn’t had the three ball falling yet either but yet her drives have really hit um looking look this up earlier I like huh it does feel like the drives been really good for D Bonner uh 1.08 points per possession on any trip featuring a boner drive and on Direct drives which means she shoots or she passes to someone it’s an assist opportunity Etc it goes up to 1.15 points per possession um among 38 players with at least 20 direct drives danana Bonner is fourth in overall Drive points per possession trailing only Asia Wilson Natasha cloud and Sabrina yancu uh Steve as we’ve also talked about Sabrina’s drive so give you a quick hat tip there and then just on Direct drives among that 38 player group danana Bonner first in points per possession it is going to be terrifying when the three-point shot starts to fall for her once again so one to give the quick salute to the Connecticut Sun who are just rolling through folks right now been able to eek out a couple of close wins as well it’s kind of showing the mental toughness there and their ability to execute and ultimately their ability to just shut you down late in games again not having a lot of fun trying to face that sun defense um mention the Camila cardoso debut 11 point6 rebounds and that but more than anything like she really popped for me defensively like the size naturally stands out like good luck trying to finish over her uh defending a few of the Leah Boston Post UPS the Leah just wasn’t able to gain any kind of Leverage like some of that was just late clock stuff which didn’t help on that front but sturdy post Defender already defended 21 picking rolls in that game against the fever 0.47 points per possession allowed on those trips per second spectrum and what was fun for me was them mixing in more so in the second half in the first but mixing in Camila at the level and even a couple of traps against Caitlin Clark and I was like wait a minute if Camila can do that if she can move well enough to do that and or if she just understands angle well enough to cut off ball handlers in that kind of coverage that fits what Chicago wants to do in terms of their aggression just having a big at the level or playing higher when necessary if that’s the level of scheme versatility you can expect from Camila moving forward again it’s game one so we’ll see what game two looks like I’m even more excited about what that’s going to look like so I want to give her the Hat tip there um and then just a quick shout out to Mo’Nique Billings was an Atlanta Dream last year signs with the Sparks eventually we by the Sparks picked up by the Dallas Wings on a hardship contract with Natasha Howard out and she just had 19 and 15 and she’s averaging career highs in just about everything uh 14 points nearly nine boards she’s fourth in the W and offensive rebounds per game nearly three assists averaging over a block per game um 54% on twos 33% for three on low volume basically everything except three-point percentage will be a career high for her right now so just wanted to salute what she’s been able to do in Dallas on both ends of the floor like they really utilize her Mobility defensively and offensively the dries from her has been fun to mix in in as alongside the handoff stuff in the occasional post-ups and again killing the offensive glass so that concludes my w Spiel as I have spoken quite a bit uh Steve what’s PO for you over the past few days uh bounceback weeks for the liberty and the links uh balaney Hamilton being a very important part for the Liberties offense and the impact that has had when uh she and John CL Jones are playing at a high level it’s very hard to deal with that offense I think it just helps lend to the flow that they have as a unit because now we’re seeing uh Baga running more pick and roll being used as a screener and pick and roll more post-ups with sets being run behind it uh kind of Shifting some of the offense towards her which now allows everything else to kind of flow a little bit better and they can you know if if Baja is driving and the defense helps look at where the kicks go to so it’s been really fun to watch her growth offensively this year and her get take that bigger role offensively I think for John quell to be this good at the start of the Season as opposed to working into it to a degree it’s really hard because you got the Inside Out game and it puts pressure on you so I thought it was a good bounce back week for Liberty uh I think that was a good bounce back week for the links as well once again showed off that defense and the kind of pressure they upon you nefisa ker has been really tough to deal with but I think one of the most important things for Minnesota is just finding different ways to win finding different Avenues to to get success and I think that’s going to be part of their journey to try and get to that top level of the W is just okay if it if the offense isn’t do we have our defense if our defense isn’t here can we score to make up for it can we figure out those things as we go on uh I did want to give a salute to the Dallas Wings they are competing they don’t have a ton to show for it but they are competing so I want to give a shout out to RK and the wings it’s tough sleding but they’re right there and I would probably say Diane trasi still cooking was it 31 on Sunday night pretty big time yeah pretty big time performance you already mentioned her usage as a screener has been a lot of fun for Phoenix as a te that again they they just move you around anyone can screen it’s kind of similar to some of the NBA teams we’ve talked about we will space we will space you out and we will poke it matchups if necessary we’ll have guard screen for Kalia copper to curl off of and let her get downhill let her Boogie again Diana toas can be used as a screener in that way or go on ball screens as well run the off ball stuff for diis Rosy who can still shoot the absolute leather off the basketball again it’s been a it’s been a fun season for the Phoenix Mercury so I am glad that you brought that up um any more shout outs uh to Connecticut sunp Point Alyssa Thomas inverted pick and roll very tough to deal with yeah that it is that it is um and just very quickly on the fever front uh just people in the schedule as they played I think 11 games in 19 days which is the first time that that has happened since 2007 moving forward uh next game is on Friday June the 7th 3-day break they play on the 10th 3-day break they play on the 13th another three-day break they play on the 16th another three-day break they play on the 19th uh get get a gap there then they play on the 21st the 23rd a 4-day break 27th and a three-day break on the 30th they are finally going to get to rest and also practice and Implement some stuff we should see a little bit more cohesion on both ends of the floor for the Indiana Fever I’m curious and excited to see what that portion of the program is going to look like all right we will leave it there otherwise I will yell and I do not want to yell on this podcast so thank you for listening to and or watching this episode of the donker spot if you haven’t already please subscribe to us we are on Apple Spotify Google Stitcher pod Bean wherever you get your podcast you can find us you can follow me on Twitter at nnb you can follow Steve on Twitter at Steve jones2 join the dunkers spot community on Twitter if you haven’t already join us for our online dunkers spot watch parties the link is in the description if you want to watch Hoops alongside with us and talk to some awesome folks along the way click on that link create your profile it is free to make no Shenanigans especially with a whole lot of hoop being played this week you might want to tap in you get some breakdowns along the way and again it’s just a fun Community to be a part of got some really cool people in here we don’t just talk who we talk life as well so if that’s your Vibe come rock with us uh but beyond that we will catch y’all later in the week bye [Music]

Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. are back with another episode of The Dunker Spot!

The NBA Finals are around the corner, and we (should) have a good one in store between the Boston Celtics (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown) and Dallas Mavericks (Luka Doncic, Kyrie Iriving). The guys preview the series, then close out the pod with some quick WNBA observations from the weekend.

0:00 Intro
1:15 Mavericks-Celtics preview
54:45 WNBA Players of the Month
55:45 Nekias’ WNBA musings (Sun, Kamilla Cardoso, Monique Billings)
1:01:10 Steve’s WNBA musings (Liberty, Lynx, Diana Taurasi)
1:04:00 Quick Fever schedule update

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