5 questions for the Mavs and Celtics ahead of the NBA Finals | ALL NBA Podcast

5 questions for the Mavs and Celtics ahead of the NBA Finals | ALL NBA Podcast

[Music] [Applause] [Music] what is up everybody Welcome to the all NBA show part of the All City Podcast Network I’m your host Adam mes and I’m joined by my esteemed colleague Tim legler legs we are in day five of no basketball only two more to go we’re almost there yeah it’s uh it’s been it’s been a weird uh time off here man it’s like trying to figure out what you do with your time actually get a couple things done around the house you know uh enjoy myself kick back and get ready for this finals to start normally you just roll from one series into the next this has been a little bit different for everybody but I think if there’s a series that’s going to deserve the buildup and the hype it’s going to be this one I really do if we had a seven game series in the last round it would have been wrapping up last night but because both of them got done in four and five you know we’ve had this break but it’s been fun to preview this one on today’s show I’ve got questions this is gonna be more strategic now we want to get into some of the X’s and O’s and the decisions that Jason kid and Joe maou are gonna have to think through as they enter the series so I got five questions for the Celtics five questions for the Mavericks and legs you’re gonna answer for them in each of those and then at the end we’re going to look at leger’s favorite finals I tasked him with giving his five favorite finals of all time I’ll be honest our my list and your list would not have had much crossover I think just one series uh on those so we’ll discuss those at the end but first we are presented as always by DraftKings Sportsbook stay tuned because you’ll hear more about DraftKings and all it has to offer throughout the show DraftKings the crown is yours one quick programming note tomorrow we’ll give whatever predictions we make that’ll be on tomorrow show we’re still breaking down some of the details and you know what new news and information comes out like porzingis status and stuff like that so we’ll wait till tomorrow to give our final predictions but let’s get in first to some decisions that the teams have to make and the first one legs is I’m preparing for the series going back and watching some clips and stuff of of of the games in the regular season one thing Boston did is they put Jason Tatum on Derrick Lively when they played in the regular season in both games they they guarded him that way for for good portions that way when you set the one five ball screen you just switch Tatum right on the ball and it takes away you know that Advantage but that to me feels like a regular season thing a thing that a team doesn’t prepare for but it doesn’t seem like something that’s going to be effective in a postseason but I’m curious ious what you think can the Celtics get away with that just put a wing or a guard on lively and take away the pick and roll yeah I mean it’s certainly an option for them because uh first of all it’s not as if you’re going to run those guys like into the post because you see a mismatch and let’s go direct post up for lively orc Gafford that’s not their strength right everything they do is sort of off the ball finishing at The Rim from LCA or offensive rebound so you I guess could leave yourself a little bit susceptible if a quick shot was taken and and you’re on lively you know but Tatum certainly could do an adequate job boxing him out he’s averaging 10 rebounds a game in the playoffs it’ll be fine there so I think you can actually probably get away with that what that would mean if you have a traditional you know five on the court which is either going to be Al Horford or we assume porzingis one of those guys then is going to be more like in the dunker spot or along the Baseline on the Block and that means you’re guarding whoever that corner three-point shooter is whether that’s PJ Washington or Derek Jones most likely one of those two guys um so do you do you worry that much about those guys and a big not being able to maybe get out there in time or rotate to that as well as Jason Tatum could I don’t know that’s GNA be a big part of this series I think Adam is how much do the Boston Celtics you know dare Jones and Washington and Josh green and whoever else might be occupying those Wing minutes you know Dante exom whoever that may be how much do you literally dare those guys and live with the results because I see a lot of teams kind of strategize that way and say okay we’re going to force this team to make these kickout threes from these role players and then they make two and then everybody overreacts and then it’s off and they start closing out full speed in your right back to your Trad traditional defense that’s a part of the strategy I’m looking to see with Boston like because you know we know this is about luuk and Kyrie and how you defend them and how many guys does it take to defend them how how much action do you run their way how much traffic and what does that lead for everybody else and how much are you willing to live with everybody else that’s a part of it and I think this is the kind of thing that could lead you to being a little bit susceptible to that is having a big have to chase out to the corner or chase out to the wing on the opposite side of the floor to contest threes well the other thing that happens there is you so you’re talking about and this was one of my questions by the way how much do you stick to the corners the Mavs I believe let me see I have it in my notes Here the the Mavs take a lot of Threes especially from the quarters and the Celtics don’t allow a lot of Threes from the corners so this is a bit of a strength versus strength battle and one of my questions is do you stay home against Derrik Jones and PJ Washington and if these two things play hand in hand because if you’re putting a Tatum on lively then you are going to have your porzingis and your other players on those wings and do you just tell them hey stay there don’t let them get going from three they’re a team that likes to score from those kickout threes to the corner don’t let them do that but then you’re a little bit more vulnerable to the paint that’s another question I have and it sounds like you think maybe that’s worth it in the playoffs Derek Jones Jr PJ Washington both like 5% above their regular season average and so they’re making teams pay for that so does Boston overreact or really just react and play their strategy of taking the corner away and worrying about those two guys it’s it’s it’s we’re all GNA wait and see what that is they’re obviously not going to reveal something like that we’re going to to watch and see how that plays out over the course of the first game and then adjustments are made game to game depending on who hurts you but I think that’s one of the things that is is you know good for Boston and one of the reasons that Boston’s been so good and and a lot of people think they’re going to win this series their versatility defensively allows you to do that you know you got bigger guards that can defend you got long wings that are very good Defenders it gives you more options in terms of who you want to put where you know you could even there could even be times and Dallas has done this where they’ve gone with smaller lineups before with none of those centers on the court where you might see Boston match that um where they have now a fifth Wing player on the floor you know you put a Hower out there or you put a payt Pritchard out there and you go smaller they might do that too because Dallas has done that in each of the last couple of rounds that’s part of the chess match but Boston has the chess pieces to be able to do that there’s a lot of buttons that Joe moula can push with his defensive matchups because of the versatility of these guys so I’m as curious as you are Adam to see what they ultimately do but all of these things are at their disposal that there’s not something we’re going to look at Boston and say they can’t play this way because they’re too exposed because of their personnel that’s the great thing about this team the versatility of the guys that play and if as a result they can switch more they Blitz less right they play a lot of straight up and you can kind of handpick who’s on who possession by possession and if you’re Joe Missoula not feel like you’re caught in a bad matchup with the starters now the bench is a little bit different but with the starters you’re going to feel like you’re not really putting yourself in a bad spot no matter who ends up with who even in a cross match and transition situation so it’s an important part of this series uh it’s one of the advantages I think Boston has is that switchability and versatility defensively I’m such a big believer too in you can’t let players like a Tatum have an easy go defensively I think you have to make them work you have to otherwise they’re going to be so rested if they have an easy job they’re going to be so rested on the other end and so another question I have here is you know when we talk about regular season strategies this is why I’ve seen a lot of Celtics fans saying oh dominated Dallas in the regular season dominated him East first West matchups to me are the least revealing because teams don’t make adjustments and they don’t do the things like you can get a gimmick a quote unquote gimmick meaning a defense that’s abnormal you throw a little Zone here matchup Zone a full court press you put a oh we’re GNA guard a center with a guard this or that those types of things teams in the regular season they might game plan when they have a home stand and a couple days off and it’s a divisional opponent somebody they’re familiar with they might game plan like that but usually if you’re Dallas and you’re playing at Boston that game usually comes on a three four five or six game Road Trip you’re not practicing in between and when teams throw little curveballs at you it’s just like whatever we we’re not going to adjust to this We’re not gonna we’re gonna call a timeout maybe and draw something out but that’s the extent of it when you get into a finals obviously there’s no sneaking up on a team with with you know again and to call it a gimmick is not trying to take away from the value of of the move I’m just saying teams will start to prepare for it and one way you prefer prepare for the Tatum on lively or Gafford Tatum on a center so that takes away pick and roll but you can go away from the pick and roll because those guys we talked about offensive rebounding as a Battleground in this series and I think one of the adjustments would be okay if they’re going to do that we’re not running ball screens but we want to put them in position to where Tatum is now the low man so he has to be the rim protector and on top of that he has to box out or as a team they’re going to collectively have to box out so if I’m Lively and I see Tatum on me you probably have a game plan like okay we’re going to run a pick and roll somewhere else or we’re going to ISO what have you but we’re gonna set the table to where Tatum has to box out Lively now for five seconds and you’re G to be leaning on him you’re just going to be wrestling with him and then as soon as that shot goes up now you have a seven foot guy or six 610 611 guy boxing you you know you have to box him out and you’re using all that energy and he’s going to be grabbing offensive rebounds maybe even fouls I mean trying to box out bigger players is a recipe for a lot of fouling and I think that’s one of the ways that uh Dallas should approach that specific thing is if Tatum’s going to guard you get the offensive boards and we’re going to look elsewhere the other thing is you can use oh this is one of the things I talked about earlier in the year with Dallas and why I like their roster so much and it’s not something I mean Tim saw it coming I didn’t see it coming but as they played out and we’ve talked about it you see it more and more is Dallas runs I think about uh 50 or 55 60% somewhere in there of their ball screens with one of their centers Gafford or Lively but that’s four that is while that’s a very high number that still means they have a lot of ball screens that they run with non-center players and that’s part of what I love they’re guard to guard actions they’re guard to Wing Derrick Jones Jr you know PJ Washington guys that can playmake or put the ball on the floor off of the short roll and if you try to hide your big because you don’t want Al Horford out on the perimeter or if you try to play one of your other bigs that’s not poor even porzingis but if you don’t want if you if you have to get minutes with one of these other players who can’t guard in space well you could set you know use Derrick Jones Jr now as the ball screener if they’re going to try to switch that or if they’re going to try to like contain that you still have the option to get it to one of those guys who can playmake off of those so I think Dallas unlike in the regular season where they did not adjust to that defense I think in the playoffs they will be able to adjust to it a little bit better U than than what you expect I will say that the shooting regression is something if I was a Dallas fan that I’d be a little concerned about both Derrick Jones Jr and PJ Washington I think are good players they got rhythm threes I think think those threes are going to be much less in Rhythm than they were uh in the regular season and this and this is normal this we saw this Tim uh with with Michael Porter in the last round he didn’t get as many shots as he was used to and as a result he shot worse because those shots became more contested this that so when you talk about a Derrick Jones and a PJ Washington I think that is one thing that you would be concerned about if your Dallas is those guys got comfortable Rhythm shots if you don’t get those if you get if you cut those uh opportunities in half can they maintain efficiency at half the rate as a shooter I think that’s a hard thing especially as a FR shooter not like a great shooter yeah when when you’re not pure like that’s not like you know because you pure Shooters can they can go long periods of time between shots and and still have a pretty good chance of making those shots but even those guys need more Rhythm but you’re right guys like PJ Washington Derrick Jones the more frequency with which you’re getting them or the more consistently You can predict you’re going to get them it absolutely helps you it helps you just with your footwork it helps you just like stepping into it and getting ready to shoot it when they’re a little bit more spread out or harder to predict I agree that’s that’s G to be a little bit harder I’ve been surprised at how timely Derek Jones threes have been PJ Washington is you know he he didn’t shoot as well in the last series but he’s been consistently pretty good here now for quite a while for Dallas and when he lets it go I expect it to go in it comes off nice it’s got good rotation he’s got very good mechanics particularly from the corners it’s a massive weapon for Dallas right now with all the attention that’s being paid in the paint Dereck Jones a little bit obviously the mechanics aren’t quite as good he’s known for his leaping ability slashing his transition play but he has been able to knock down it feels like a couple every game that have been really important like whatever reason and the timing of them seems very very important so those two guys are going to have a lot of pressure on them in this series to make shots there is no question about it and I think it’s going to be a talking point game to game how much they’re willing they’re able to contribute because of the amount of pressure that is going to take off of Luca Kyrie and their ball screen action and you’re just not going to be able to commit as much if those guys are playing a part particularly in the first halves of these games so that’s going to be a big storyline I think the entire series another one I have for your legs here that is very interesting is will they Blitz if you look at the playoffs blitzing Luca has been by far the most successful thing that you can do and by Blitz I I mean you’re putting two on Ball and often times dragging Luca away from the play and he’s good about doing this he controls his dribble he creates space and then you’re kicking it off to somebody who’s gonna attack four on three Luca five on five is better than most players in the NBA four on three and that’s why it’s a it’s a smart defensive strategy for teams to get the ball out of Luca’s hands and just play scrambled uh you might have a better chance but the Celtics they Blitz less than anybody else in the entire NBA in fact they only did it two times per second Spectrum only twice did they Blitz Luca in their two matchups this season they do less than 1% of their pick and roll coverage does that they do other things there but this the question if that’s the best strategy for Luca but Boston never does that does Boston budge and maybe Blitz a little bit more than their identity in the regular season and playoffs so far well I we’ll say this and this is where the layoff comes into play if you’re talking about something that’s out of your Norm like really out of your Norm in fact you you mentioned you mentioned only Blitz them twice I I did a game late in the year Boston New York in the garden it called on radio and I remember the numbers I was given just research before that game and this was late in the year so I’m sure it it went up a little bit but at that point in the year you’re talking this is March uh they had only blitzed their starting five with porzingis and those other four players had only blitzed five times the entire season period on anybody so you’re talking about a team that doesn’t you’re talking about a team that does it’s so much less than everybody else it’s really it’s really there’s nobody else to even compare them to when you now try to do something outside of what you normally do because that becomes automatic the way that they defend all year long you’re just so used to it not blitzing the rotations associated with blitzing are entirely different when you switch or you play straight up with a hedge and a guard fights back over they’ve had a lot of time the layoff here will help something like that you’ve got more time to talk about the different scenarios in walking through stuff in practice and going through some light scrimmaging where you’re getting a better feel for what that looks like when Luca comes off drags two guys with him which he’s so good at controlling the ball and then his size it’s not like you’re gonna pin him on the sideline he’s not a smaller guard he’s going over the top with the ball the question is where’s it going and that’s where the weak side rotations come in like you know when you screen with Luca whoever it is let’s just say Lively or Gafford they’re running right to the ring so when he takes the off the ball screen he drags two guys with him and now that Center Dives down the lane whoever’s on the weak side of the floor there’s going to be one guy up top there’s gonna be one guy on the Baseline one of those guys is picking up the the the dive guy so now on the weak and you’re probably gonna have a guy in the strong side corner for Luca that means there’s two offensive players on the weak side and there’s going to be one Defender to play either when the ball comes out and Luca can throw the ball from the let’s say it’s the left wing when he’s being trapped he can throw it to the right corner or he can throw it to the right wing he’s got that kind of size and strength and now that first that last Defender over there he’s going to take the first pass and so you have to work on this and how and then the second pass is you know whoever picked up the roll guy now you’re going out to the second pass so these are my point being these are all things that require sync and they require repetition to kind of get the and by the way it you know you might put different guys in different spots Adam so let’s say it’s it’s not as if they’re going to run that every single time with Kyrie on the opposite Wing PJ in the opposite corner well maybe the next time it’s Derek Jones which means there’s a different Defender over there that hasn’t done that rotation because it’s different on the strong side and the weak side so in a perfect world if you had 48 Hours like you said it ended on a you know on a Monday and you had two days off and you’re trying to prep prepare for that and that’s what you’re thinking about no way you’re going to be able to do that effectively because you haven’t practiced it enough but a week off where you can talk about this every day if that’s what you choose to do I do think it’s absolutely going to be more than they have done to Luca in the past and it’s going to be more than they normally do to any team because it requires it if you want if you want to roll the dice and play Luca straight up that much with one guy on the ball Luca donic is gonna have a massive series uh so you’re going to have to you’re going to have to pick and choose but the fact that you’ve got time to work on and the amount of communication and rotation communication that it requires that’s that’s something that that will play in Boston’s favor if they do elect to do this handful of times a half or a few times a half or maybe just in big spots fourth quarter out of a timeout they haven’t done it the whole night and now we’re gonna do it at least you’ve practiced it at this point because you’ve had so much time off and they’re a smart team what you’re talking about is the connectedness behind right it’s not hard to Blitz the ball but it is hard to recover behind it you have to everybody has to be on a string they’re really good at that in other configurations because they’re a smart team they have Smart players that think fast and execute quickly so I think that they could execute that as you said with a little game planning the question is will they want to because it’s not part hasn’t been part of their identity it what we’re talking about here is if I told you Luca in game one had 48 points five assists that’s the only information you have 48 points on 52% shooting and five assists did Dallas win or did Boston win if Kyrie in a in a in a game in in a game 48 like lots of points but five assists you know is well below what you would expect from Luca oh Luca I thought you said Kyrie oh Luca um see I think I really believe it’s it’s an impossible question to answer because of the context of it like look we go go back go back to you some of the historically great playoff performances that we have seen in given moments right if it requires 40 plus because that’s what’s in front of you and that’s the best opportunity and you’re getting single coverage and that’s what you do it could be regardless of the five assists that 48 points might be every single thing that it took to win that game and the fact that you weren’t able to stop him when you needed to stop him and he and he continues to score on you and get draw fouls and go to the line because assuming all that would be in a 48-point game making step back threes when he has to have it that might be what it requires so I don’t think that’s a just based on numbers that you can answer that there mean there might be other games where you could ask me the same question say what if I told you luuka was gonna get 22 points but had 15 assists right I don’t know I don’t know that I don’t that’s gonna lead to a lot right a lot of role players got involved in that situation right guys are getting rewarded but maybe Luca needed 30 35 in that game right in order for them to win because guys miss shots at important times I don’t know that raw numbers will tell me it’s the same thing with joic that’s the question you get with yic all the time what should you do make him score make him score 50 to beat you or take away his passing and I just don’t know that there’s a a correct answer on a night to night basis that’s what makes these guys so great whatever is required on a given night to beat you that is what they are able to do LeBron is in that category historically um if it requires a 40-point game I’m G to give you a 40o game um and if I if if I don’t I’m reading the game other nights and guys are making shots around me and they don’t have an answer for that well then that’s what I’m going to do to beat you and that’s what makes Luca different and that’s why there is no I don’t think correct answer game to game that’s a quarter by quarter scenario for the Boston Celtics depending on the flow of the game’s going one thing that the Celtics do really well though because what we’re talking about here essentially is how much do you throw at Luca in the pick and roll and that’s really this question are you blitzing are you trying to contain are you staying haunt Shooters all those different things one thing they do that very few teams do and they probably do it better than anyone and I don’t even know if it’s a they it’s a Drew holiday he does the Veer switch and pick and roll when he’s an opportunistic at looking at this so you have two guys guarding pick and roll and you’re trying not to help three guys staying home well Drew when he’s one pass away will switch on to ball so that one person will switch on to the one pass away and he’s really good at reading it he’s really strong he gets a lot of steals off of that because you don’t expect that guy to fully rotate at the last second but Luca’s really good at making the perfectly timed pass like as fast as Drew is at sneaking up on you on that Veer switch Luca’s really good at oh you took one step my direction there it is and there’s no time for for everyone to recover so that’s one thing I’m also interested in is how much they get away with that Veer switching because you’re gonna be ve Drew would be switching off of Kyrie you give Kyrie a half a second of shooting window man then he’s taking it Luca is finding him and he’s taking it the last one I have for you here who cannot play in this series is there a player for the Celtics that they’ve been playing in the playoffs that you think not this not this time around well I think you know Luke cornette hasn’t gotten a lot of minutes look they’re down to like seven players and now they’re going to have eight of porzingis coming back so basically Off the Bench you’re talking about pton Pritchard Hower and then I’m assuming Horford right um if porz that’s enough that’s all but but to to your point you know pton Pritchard you know you know he’s played to this point in the playoffs he’s playing 21 minutes a game 21 minutes a game yeah on lucer Kyrie 21 minutes a game on Luker or Kyrie that’s who he’s gonna be playing right now if you want to if you wanna you know very rarely are they both out of the game but sometimes some you know a couple times they have for the most part one of those guys on the court so exm will be out there or whoever the secondary ball handler is going to be maybe you could try to hide him with somebody like that I that I think those are going to be tough defensive matchups for p pitcher as hard as he plays and as well as he competes and as good as he is laterally it’s this this is different this these are two different animals completely so that that would be one to look at those numbers kind of drop down a little bit Hower hasn’t uh shot the ball particularly well he’s only playing 15 minutes a game uh he’s only shooting 33% from the three you know he was much better than that in the regular season so he’s already coming in not in a great Rhythm um but he there are guys in this series you can hide him on defensively you know he can camp out against derck Jones PJ Washington whoever and let other guys be involved in this ball screen action did a lot of that so might be able to find his rhythm in a series like this early on and maybe play him more other than that I don’t really think so I think look Horford’s gonna be targeted in ball screen uh when he’s on the floor there’s no doubt about that uh so we’ll see what Boston does to counter that you’re GNA have to play him he’s your only other big that you’re going to play so he’s going to have to play minutes but that might be another one like on a given night we’ll have to see what happens with his minutes but for the most part they have eight guys that’s who’s going to play in the series that’s who’s going to determine it so some of those bench guys their minutes might not be as great on a given night you might see Tatum Brown you know Drew holidays minutes get up there into the low to mid- 40s that wouldn’t Shock Me This one is in the I’m just asking questions category I don’t actually think this Celtics fans don’t come after me but I have to ask it porzingis was injured he hasn’t played for a while is there any chance that he’s actually a weight not a help that you get out there it’s already a tough matchup anytime you get a big guy I know he’s mobile and long and all this stuff it’s already a hard matchup but is there any chance that he actually is hurting the team for matchup reasons and health reasons I don’t really see that scenario because look I think defensively he could be very important because of his length against with with what you have to do at the as the last line of defense and Rudy goar saw a taste of this it’s very difficult to make that decision of when you need to commit to Luca because he’s taking his time coming down the lane he’s looking right at you he’s got somebody on his hip or on his back and he’s just coming at you he’s waiting waiting waiting when do you commit and now I throw it over the top 610 guy 611 guy that’s an easy read for LCA donic on a 73 guy it’s a little bit different with porzingis back there of when Luca can make that pass so I think defensively he’s going to be important no matter what offensively look yeah maybe he’s out of rhythm maybe he’s not making shots what’s the alternative though it’s not as if Al Horford you know is a guy that’s gonna light you up so I think it’s worth the risk even if he’s not shooting well to continue to play him because eventually he could get hot and his spacing is different than Horford’s uh and it’s a much tougher rotation because the shots are deeper and he’s taller so you have to you have to get there earlier against porzingis when you rotate to him and if he gets hot he can string together like three in a row at an important time of the game he he’s done it all year for them so I don’t I don’t know that it’s that big of a risk it’s not like you’re taking a guy that’s been super hot and like let’s say Horford right and now you’re gonna put him down to play this guy that you haven’t seen in a long time and let’s let him shake the rust off here for a few games and it’s really costing you I just don’t think the benefit that you would get from the Horford minutes is that significant no matter how porzingis plays and eventually he might find his rhythm so I guess the answer to that is no I don’t think that is something we’re going to be talking about man oh man what are they gonna do pinga out of rhythm and now what do you do I don’t think we’re gonna can’t it’s really more health because I’ve just seen too many times like a player comes back we saw this with OG anobi a little bit right like all right he’s back it’s not fully healthy but he’s back and he’ll give us something it’s like actually no he’s not bad he’s clearly below the threshold and look we just haven’t seen por I saw a clip of him the other day getting some shots up I watched him and I go huh I mean that’s just he’s just getting shots up but he doesn’t look like 100% that’s really the only question but barely it’s barely been addressed Adam for a long time it’s barely been addressed like what this guy’s status is so that is hanging over this series we’re two days away from it and nobody really knows what you’re gonna get out of Chris P porzingis it’s huge yeah it’s a big deal and we even saw this with halberton remember when he came back first time from the injury and it was like four or five games where he just didn’t look great and you and you kept thinking well he’ll he’s just getting back it’ll come back and then he had to miss more time and I just saying when you’re in the finals one you can’t take a game to see if a guy’s back you have to know right away or it’s going to cost you and that was my only point in bringing up the question I agree if he’s healthy he’s gonna be a Major Impact incredible but we just don’t know we haven’t seen him for a month and a half all right let’s take a break on the other side we’re going to do the same thing but for the Mavs let’s ask some questions about the Mavs including uh dominating the clutch and what happens if you target Luca and Kyrie as Boston is known to do we’re going to get both to both of those on the other side throw us a like if you’re watching live we’ll be back in just a moment first want to tell you guys about draftking sports book we’re about two weeks away from crowning the 2024 NBA champion and before the series starts you want to get in on the action and place your bet your futures bet for who you think’s going to be Finals MVP who you think’s going to win uh and so much more you can even just bet on game one all the lines are up there right now the action is heating up on the court it’s even hotter on draftking Sportsbook an official sports betting partner of the NBA if you’re new to DraftKings listen up because new customers can get a no sweat bet up to, 1500 bucks just deposit at least five bucks and you’ll get get a bonus bet back equal to your first bet if it doesn’t hit tomorrow as I promised we’re going to be giving our predictions for this one who we think wins is it a long series who do we think it’s finals MVP all of that stuff we’ll talk about that and we’ll be using DraftKings so you want to download that now download the DraftKings Sports app use code all MBA that’s code alll MBA for new customers to get a no sweat bet up to 1,500 bucks if your first bet doesn’t hit only on DraftKings the crown is yours gambling problem call 1800 Gambler or in West Virginia visit 1 1800 gambler. net in New York call 8778 Hopey or text heny 467 369 in Connecticut help is available for problem gambling call 888 78977 77 or visit ccpg do.org please play responsibly on behalf of Bo Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas 21 and over age varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario one no sweat bet per new customer issued as one bonus bet based on amount of initial losing bet bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance see dk. cbball for eligibility wagering and deposit restrictions terms and responsible gaming resources all right back here on the all NBA show reminder that we are live again tomorrow off on Thursday but back on Friday breaking down game one so tomorrow we’re going to talk about some of the narratives and give our predictions for the season we also have a fun thing at the end of the show you’re not going to want to miss both today and tomorrow but let’s get into some Mavs questions legs the first one and this is an interesting one can they win a Three-Point Shootout so the Celtics ranked first and threes taken and threes made the Mavs ranked second in in attempted third and made but this is as I mentioned the Celtics don’t allow a lot of corner threes the Mavs like a lot of corner threes so if this becomes a battle of who makes the most threes can the Mavs win that battle uh no I don’t think they’re winning that battle overall they could they could potentially Do It um you know in it’s in a particular game Dallas is capable of having one of those kns they make 15 16 threes um and a night when Boston doesn’t shoot it particularly well you’re looking at the postseason and how different it is so Boston’s down a couple makes a game uh from what they average in a regular season they’re still leading everybody in the playoffs almost 15 a game Dallas is is just under 13 so they’re third in mi per game in the playoffs so they’re in that ballpark but if you’re talking about the totality of a you know six seven game series no I don’t think that’s going to happen Dallas isn’t going to make more threes than Boston and in fact I don’t I don’t even know if that would be a good thing for Dallas because a lot of what they need is the Luca paint points and the lob points and the and the pocket pass points Gafford Lively Luca Kyrie finishing at The Rim like they need that so if they have three-point numbers that are really elevated I think it means that Boston’s playing in them a certain way they’re taking away some of the paint stuff and I don’t think that’s a good thing for Dallas they need a lot of blend and balance in their game Boston is the team that on given nights can take a ton of Threes And still beat you anyway I don’t know that that’s a great formula for Dallas if those three-point attempts get up there and they’re in a similar ballpark with Boston in some of these games I think that’s bad overall for Dallas because of the way that Luca has to manipulate the game in the paint and the way guys are rewarded by doing that I think if you just look at the three-point Shooters and you think which of these guys would surprise you the least if they shot well below their averages probably four of the top five guys would come from Dallas’s side meaning if I told you PJ Washington shot really cold in the playoffs you’d be like yeah that happens he’s that he’s capable of that if I told you Jason Tatum shot really cold you’d be like wow I’m kind of surprised I wouldn’t pick him to be ice cold from three and that’s just you go down the Celtics roster they’re all guys that you expect to make their open threes so if they generate them I think they’re going to win um will they do will the M this is for the Mavs will they dominate the clutch because I think if you’re picking Dallas you probably are picking them in large part because you think they are going to dominate the clutch but Boston has been pretty good you know in this postseason under those in in those circumstances Dallas has obviously always been good is that for sure going to be an advantage for Dallas I I guess my my hesitation on that one would be the word dominate I think that Boston’s gonna have their share of moments too and they have had some in the postseason this year like this isn’t a team that you know just like you know you don’t trust at all in the in the clutch they’re obviously very good in those spots too I think what it comes down down to for me is Dallas has the best uh clutch player without questioning luuka donic I might say Kyrie Irving is second so you might have the two best certainly certainly the best player and then it’s debatable if you want to debate somebody from Boston with Kyrie go ahead that’s fine I’m okay with that I don’t have a problem if somebody says Kyrie’s the second best clutch player in this series so having the two best guys means for me they don’t necessarily dominate all the clutch possessions because I think there’s going to be a lot of those in this series but I do think they win enough of those to win the series I think that’s what it’s going to come down to for me because of and ultimately you’re right a lot of what I’m basing on why I think Dallas can win this series and will is because of how much I trust those two guys in those moments and I just don’t think these teams are running away from each other Adam I don’t I mean in a seven game series like you you SE a lot of Series where teams are evenly matched and there’s at least one blowout or one non-competitive fourth quarter game and maybe even two sometimes but and maybe that happens I just have a feeling for the most part these teams are gonna stay Within Reach of each other because it’s hard with their defenses and then with the offensive star power and Firepower it’s hard to to like go on these huge runs against these teams where they’re not going to have an answer for that and stop the momentum and get stops to get back in a game whatever it takes so I think these games are going to be close and because of that I lean toward Dallas because of how much faith I have in Luca and Kyrie I’m so the clutch of this series is going to be so fascinating maybe some of the most fascinating Hoops I think we’re going to see is going to come in the final six seven minutes of these games it it’s it’s setting the table so nicely what about this one who will the Mavs Target because part of the Mavs of success is most teams have one or two guys that you say okay that’s the guy we want to go at this is one of the strengths of the Boston Celtics that they don’t have that guy they have better and worse Defenders on Ball but they have nobody that you say oh we got him mismatch over here now just attack so is there a guy that you think is the weak link that you would expect Luca to constantly try to get switched on ball well if it’s ball screen stuff I you know he he’s gonna be very comfortable against Horford and porzingis clearly I mean he and the length doesn’t bother him bother him you saw that against Rudy goar I think porzingis laterally is kind of similar he’s long like that Luc is not gonna be phased by that if he wants to get a switch and operate against those guys and get to even a deep shot over them he’s not phased by it um so either of those guys of course and we talked already about that how Boston can maybe put you know a different guy on the screener so you switch with a forward on Duca and you get a little bit of a better matchup we’ll see if that’s part of this series I think the bigger question is than that because that to me is obvious with Luca he’s always GNA want operate against the big guy on a ball screen right get a switch he’s going to love that the bigger question for me is Adam of the four primary perimeter Defenders on him which of those four guys do you think Luca is gonna get that match up and want to go at those guys a little bit more do you think there’s one of the four white holiday Tatum or brown that Luca is gonna feel that way about I don’t know I mean this is part of the question is in my mind has such quick hands and he’s strong that I don’t think it’s him but Derrick White’s crafty I would guess Derrick White just for size purposes he’s just you always get a shot off against him he’s not quite as right he’s not quite as Stout right Drew holiday just with his base he can get low and get into Luca’s ribs and really hold his ground but but he he’s you know these guys are both what are they both listed at I think Drew’s listed at 65 I think I think Derek W he listed at 65 or 66 yeah but I think they’re both a little short of that yeah I agree always SI six5 guys whenever they’re listed at that I always size them up they’re always shorter and you know so you you had a guy in the in the Oklahoma City series in Lou Dort who’s kind of in that class of guy he bothered Luka but Luka wasn’t healthy Luca was not healthy in that series I think that’s the difference between that Luca and this one you get guys that are shorter than him regardless of how strong they are I think Luca donic is gonna have some success because he gets very comfortable he can get his shot off it’s not going to be really honestly contested and and that’s just a comfort zone that’s created in your head against those guys Tatum and brown are both little bit longer Jaylen Brown to me’ be the perfect guy if you could just say hey guard Luca the entire night as much as you can because you got the size the lateral movement and you’ve got the strength which I think you need all three against luga obviously you can’t do that you wear them out you get him in foul trouble it’s not the case so I think Derek white and actually I think between Tatum and brown you know I think Tatum I think Luca is going to feel like he’s got a physical advantage in terms of strength and just sheer against Jason Tatum to get him back on his heels a little bit also again putting pressure on those guys to not commit fouls Luca’s going to want to get those guys off the floor if somebody gets a foul early in the game he’s gonna want to get that second one if they’ve got two he’s gonna want to get that third early in the second quarter like Luca is very aware and cognizant of that and I think Derek white and Tatum just because of their physical frames would be a little bit easier for Luca to operate against all right what about the other side of the ball because one thing that did not happen in the last round Minnesota didn’t do a great job of attacking Kyrie and Luca I had a stat on let me see if I can pull it up only 38 total ball screens in the previous round again According to second spe Spectrum where Luca or Kyrie’s guy was the the screener meaning usually they’re in now they’re guarding pick and roll only 38 times Boston might put those two in pick and roll action 38 times in game one they’re very good at that so you know is that how did if you’re Dallas do you just say you two are on an island they like to ISO you just got to hold your own or are you trying to get them off Ball by blitzing and trapping and playing behind them how would you try to save them or do you not try to save them when they get ISO and targeted I think I think you have to try to to save them as much as you can and and some of that even is strategically I’ve seen Dallas be able to kind of Blitz enough and then rotate out of there with lucer Kyrie so that they don’t end up back going if the ball comes back to that guy again for an isolation late in the clock and and so that that’s that’s another strategy to use like you’re on this guy initially here comes a screen you get a blitz to get the ball out of their hands and then Luca or Kyrie are the one that rotate out of that to a weak side shooter where you’re you know whatever you can get a contest but you’re not going to get beaten off the dribble as much so you have you can’t just you can’t just say hey we’re just gonna let Luke and Kyrie operate in these spaces with these switches oneon-one against Tatum and brown in particular that’s going to be a problem I think for both of them and it’s going to get them in some tough rot and that is when Boston’s three-point shooting can really be a killer because they’re better when two feet hit the paint first so if you get an oper a situation Opera against those guys one-on-one Tatum or brown they get by them they get into the paint here comes the rotations Dallas very good at flooding to the Lane and they did it very well against Minnesota they were daring those guys to take shots and it was effective this is a different team this team is going to potentially bury you from the three-point line if you have to commit too much help very again very fascinating part of this series what Boston does to attack those two players and try to take advantage of them in a way that forces Dallas to over rotate to lead to open three-point shots what about for them the last question for the Mavs is is there anybody in that rot that you think just can’t play in this series that they’re probably out that that that’s been playing well I’ll be curious to see what role kba has in this series he just came back at the end of the last one he wasn’t that effective with his shooting but he gives them a totally different look than than Lively and Gafford curious to see that that might be something where they test that out early in the series and just see if he’s not making shots I don’t know that you can really play him there’s no reason to play him because you’ve got better defensive uh activity and and athleticism with the other two guys but if you want to give them a different look to defend that’s a good look to have kba out there who’s very capable of making four or five threes on a given night because of of you know his ability shoot the ball off to pick and pop so he’s a guy I’d look at I’d look at a guy like Josh Green you know going through this for the first time who’s been playing you know pretty good minutes for them um you know is that something that gets shortened a little bit I’m looking for how also Adam what do they do with uh with Luca and Kyrie just in terms of substitution patterns are they going to be similar to what we’ve seen to this point um or how long are they going to be out of the game when they come out of the game yeah you’re on the you’re on the threshold now man of being an NBA champion so some of the things you’ve done to the in the first three rounds are not going to apply in this round every single moment is so critical now that you’re on this stage and this race to four against two teams that I think are pretty evenly matched I think one thing that I learned last year from covering the Nuggets through the NBA Finals that if you’re not like around a team for a long periods of time you don’t notice this stuff the finals is a different level of media it’s a different feels big I remember NFL players used to say this to the Super Bowl like you win a an AFC title game and you feel like you’re almost there then you get to the Super Bowl and it’s a thousand times bigger there’s so many people there there’s the money invested the finals are a little bit like that and I do Wonder like Celtics have been there before this core even Drew holiday and some of the guy the new pieces they’ve been there it is going to feel different I think for the Mavs and that’s just something to kind of pay attention to to and see how they adjust to all right let’s end Today’s Show though legs with a little bit of fun step out outs the series for AIT I asked you your five favorite this is a subjective list it’s your list but the five favorite finals that you’ve ever watched and then we’ll at the end we’ll talk about if you expect this one to compare to some of those but let’s hear your list let’s start with the first one good day to talk about this because I think this is going to be epic man I think what we’re about to watch I think it’s going to be Sensational I think it’s be one of the best finals um in my adult life of either playing or covering the league I think this is I I think it’s going to be that good um which leads us to this so I went in chronological order like some of these are you know take it backways but I think you know they’re important the context of like my life really first one is 1978 I was living in Washington DC Baltimore area at the time so I was a bullets fan first that was and I wasn’t a huge basketball I was a baseball player like that’s what my focus was I I liked watching basketball I barely had played it at that point but I you know I like the bullets my first favorite player was Elvin Hayes who I think to this day one of the most underrated players in NBA history and had incredible college career at University of Houston too they played Seattle 1978 and they win that series 43 and it was I remember like vividly like that was the first team that I loved that won it when I was old enough to know what was going on because I was a Redskins fan I was a Baltimore Orioles fan and those teams that won in early 70s I was too young to know what that was this was the only championship in Fran history I’m talking about for Washington so that area growing up in that area those were my teams this was the first championship where you got to see what that felt like and just I wrote down some notes on it too that are kind of interesting first I want to hear about this one because I don’t know anything about this series to be honest this is not a series that’s like some series have disappeared this is one that’s disappeared yeah and they actually played again in 1979 so they went back to back they matched up two years in a row Seattle won the second year but this was the one that bullets the bullets won it some notes I just wrote down first they were interesting to me the first round round at that time Adam was best of three so right Washington wins that two it’s crazy right the pressure if you if you’re you’re the higher seed and you lose the first game I mean look at the pressure that you’re under at that point right uh here’s another interesting one the second round they beat the Spurs who were in the Eastern Conference at the time so that’s kind of interesting as well we think of San Antonio dominating the west and all his Duncan years 20 years of greatness this was the St Antonio Spurs with George Garin in the Eastern Conference playing Washington in the second round I thought that was was interesting and then the finals so Elvin Hayes was my favorite player he averages 20 and 12 in that series Bobby danders 20 and seven in the game seven here’s what’s interesting Elvin AES was clearly their best player at that time Wes unseld was the MVP and rookie year in the same year okay but this is further this is further down the road this is like three years later West unseld in that series averaged nine points and 11 rebounds and won the finals MVP how despite the fact that Elvin Hayes averaged 20 and 12 because of his defense and toughness and these were all obviously low scoring games for the most part here’s one final note on this this is Imagine Adam if this happened today game seven of that series Dennis Johnson the late great Dennis Johnson who went on to win rings with the Celtics a great guard for Seattle Hall of Famer went 0 for 14 in game seven from the field oh wow could you imagine today hey if a player went 0 for seven in a game seven that was that was an All-Star caliber player like imagine if uh you know Jason Tatum goes 0 for 14 in game seven in this series like the amount of scrutiny on that but like it was different coverage back then so you just kind of you know we just slipped through the crack so you go on to the next year nobody really talked about it all that he back right didn’t he win the finals MVP the following year for Seattle I believe he did I don’t remember if he won the finals MVP in that he could have he could have wouldn’t wouldn’t wouldn’t surprise me yes came back the next year and they won it and again he had big moments for the Celtics and those teams that won it in the 80s too but I thought that was interesting an 0 for 14 game seven um you know and the amount of scrutiny that we get today second one real quick hold up hold up hold up real quick just to show you how much everything has changed same thing can you imagine a guy averaging nine point like Drew holiday in this series averages nine points and he gets fital MVP like we would spend the next decade talking about that one but right it’s insane man it’s insane but that’s that’s that’s what happened man look all want these all these guys want these things on their resumes Elvin Hayes also both these guys by the way west on Elvin Hayes both were on that 50y year anniversary team top 50 players of all time in 1996 they both made that team so these are two of the all-time great players oh one other other note another guy on that team from Richmond I ended up going to high school in Richmond we moved after that and Bobby Dandridge man a Richmond guy who I still would communicate with years and years and years later there aren’t a lot of guys that come out of Richmond to play high school basketball there that ended up in the NBA so he and I had a bond over that he had 20 points seven rebounds in in that game seven um and gave them gave them as a small forward all right shout out by the way to the chat Randy Balin who was at he says in the chat he was at two of the Spurs vers Washington games which is cool I always like when one of memories somebody was there so that is that is awesome uh all right let’s move on now now my life really takes a a turn in the 80s no geographical reason I was living in Virginia now I’m starting to get into the NBA it’s like early High School 198 I go into high school so that’s right when bird gets to the league magic gets to the league the Rivalry is created I’m So Into the NBA now and literally Chang the course of my life watching those two teams those two players I was so into it man that’s what it took off for me so those are basically my high school years 80 to 84 1984 was the first time a bird was my favorite player Celtics were my favorite team that was the first time that they played in the finals because it was like you know 80 was Lakers played the Sixers then 81 the Celtics beat the Rockets 82 I think was Celtics Lakers again 83 Sixers so you 83 Sixers wi it against the Lakers so 84 they finally are playing like I think people think they played every year in the finals they only played three times in that decade Lakers and Bird magic 87 yeah exactly 84 85 and 87 they’re the only three times they played in that decade but it seems like they played every year anyway Boston wins at 4-3 um so interesting notes about it Boston was down 2-1 in the finals in that round and they had to win game four on the road this was when it was 22111 it wasn’t it it jumped around a lot that that time 232 or 22111 this was a 22111 they’re down 2-1 game four is on the road they lose that game they’re down 3-1 they’re not coming back in that series against that team they win a four-point game on the road and it it gets to 2-2 and then they play it out and they home team win the rest of the way game seven they win by nine points and here’s another one Larry Bird was not the finals MVP Cedric Maxwell was the finals MVP that’s right in that round yeah and uh he had 2488 in the in in that game in that game seven win burn at 20 and 12 Dennis Johnson had 22 points in that game Robert Parish 14 points 16 boards um I’m sorry I I had that wrong bird was the finals MVP of this one he was not was 81 was Cedric Maxwell got 80 80 84 bird got his Finals MVP they win that series uh and of course they played the next year Lakers won an epic won in 85 and went beat him in 87 so that’s my second now I’ll go to to my time in the league the third one on this list 1998 Bulls against the Jazz and and we we played the Bulls the yeah we played the years the Bulls the year before that in the playoffs of 1997 in the first round and we thought we were up incoming team and it didn’t work out that way we made a lot of trades and we kind of went in a different direction but we were kind of on the rise we really battled the Bulls the year before so this one stands out to me just because it was the Epic shot at the end of that game it was Jordan’s last shot to win a championship right on that 98 Bulls team and it was kind of like he thought right off into the sunset but he ended up coming back with the Wizards obviously but just that series here’s what’s really interesting to me I made a note of this six game series so there’s 12 scores posted and six games by the two teams right only two times did anybody get to 90 in that series the whole thing was played in the 80s the scores um and here’s another Adam did you realize in the last game Michael Jordan scored 45 of Chicago’s 87 points uh and here’s another odd statistical anomaly I looked this up I was shocked I is this right one rebound and one assist for Michael Jordan that game yeah wow that’s crazy a guy that a guy that you know the guy that that did everything on the court he had he had one rebound one assist and uh 45 points there’s a lot of rebounds available too by the way this was 20 years after the three-point line was put in and the two teams combined in that game for six made threes in the last game okay we’re gonna see six made threes in the first quarter I guarantee you uh on Thursday night right so I just thought that was an interesting one uh last two 2016 over Warriors Got I mean you know for me watching I loved the Warriors I love their style and everything that but how can you not respect what Cleveland was able to do in that series remember refresh people’s memories it’s 3-1 Golden State Draymond gets suspended misses game five Cavs win that game um in game five LeBron and Kyrie both had 41 points and the rest of their team had 11 made field goals so that was literally a two-man show at its highest form and we might get some of that in this round a two-man show at its highest form they win game five and then they win the next two um game six LeBron 418 and 11 game seven LeBron 27 11 and 11 Carvey 26 Draymond remember did redeem himself in that game 3215 and N had a monster game seven but that’s obviously the game where LeBron has to track down BL oala unbelievable arguably you know greatest defensive play of my lifetime in terms of impact and what that meant for somebody’s Legacy only only you only win in franchise history so you think about everything that goes different if he doesn’t get there in time and igod DOA makes that shot okay instead he does and then it’s still GNA take more than that it’s gonna take Kyrie making the biggest shot in the history of that franchise and it remember was interesting about that play Adam real quick he called over Kyrie called over Steph who was guarding off the ball I think J.R Smith maybe he wanted to switch because clay was on him and he got the switch got Steph over on the right wing he danced on him he knew he could shoot the ball over Steph Curry more easily it’s exactly the shot he was going for he bangs the three they win the title in Cleveland the only one that LeBron got in Cleveland uh and then 2022 I put down here that this one is the biggest surprise man biggest surprise to me Golden State over Boston uh in his in his storyi career Steph Curry has had I think I will go back to game four of that series down 21 in Boston 43 points on the road 43 and 10 rebounds seven for 14 from the three I remember it like it was yesterday it was one of the most amazing pressure pressure performances I’ve ever seen and I think again these are Legacy definers Adam because he had won one yeah before Durant that was always going to be on his resume then he W two with Durant to be able to revisit that after Kevin Durant when it looked like maybe that run was going to be over for them and to play the way he did in that moment I for me that is if not the it’s one of the very short list of signature performances in Steph Curry’s career to get that to 22 and then go on to win the next two and you win that thing uh in six games Jason Tatum by the way refresher and this is important leading into this series 36% shooting in that series 217 and seven and that is what we’ve been talking about with Jason Tatum ever since can he be different play better more efficiently if he’s back on that stage again and how important it is that he do that in terms of how he is viewed and validating himself and some of the things he’s accomplished in his career and here we are two days away from seeing if he’s going to be able to do that it’s very exciting it’s a way great way to set the table two that add to the list that for me personally I I just would definitely have on there 2011 the Dallas the Dirk nitzky run just I I love late career he’s had almost a full career at that point will he or will he not win one and then to play at the level he played throughout that whole run but in particular in the finals was just amazing and then to me 2013 the Miami uh San Antonio series that to me was probably I would have to really think about it 2016 is right there but 2013 might be the closest of finals has ever been literally came down to a buzzer beater from Ray Allen you know on on a offensive rebound both the Spurs in 2013 and in particular in 2014 but in 2013 in the Miami Heat those two teams were just at such an insane level at what they were good at and what they executed at such a crazy level that that whole series to me was just so fascinating so those two I would add to the list personally but your list was great spanning 50 years I wanted but my last comment on this is going to be because it’s just an interesting note you and I have never talked about this so that game that series The the Heat Spurs yeah they go to they go to game seven I do all the pregame for sports center right I’m on the set in the arena do all the pregame right at the end of my last hit it was actually starting a few minutes before that this is before the game I started having without question the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced like in my chest and stomach area I was getting very wasn’t going away and I was get getting concerned I got up we finished literally my last hit we finish and I start to climb down the set to go down toward the court and it it got me so bad I literally buckled me over to the point I thought everyone thought maybe my my appendix had burst wow that’s how much was in I ended up going on an in an ambulance to the hospital and that is where I watched game seven a producer escorted I was sitting in a hospital in a hospital room watching the game on his on his phone and that is where I had to watch game seven of that series after covering it I didn’t have any postgame responsibilities so I didn’t miss any hits or anything that was loaded my last hit for the series was the one I got through before I ultimately had to leave I just thought that was kind of an interesting note uh that I didn’t even see why didn’t make your list yeah right but it would have been for the wrong reason as it turns out by the way nothing was really wrong I I it was was I just had uh was it was like a giant gas bubble was in the center of my chest and we just you know had to had to get get some medication it was fine I was terrified I didn’t know what was wrong turns out no big deal but I ended up watching game seven of one of the most epic finals we’ve ever seen in a hospital bed on someone’s phone there you go man that was an alltime though all right Emma we have a couple super chats let’s get to here what do we got uh Joshua boras says if the Mavs lose their title like the Cowboys is it fair to blame the city of Dallas or the Dallas water supply they’re they’re major underdogs in the series like man oh man it’s funny the way people talk about what if they lose it’s the hey man the Celtics are phenomenal they won 64 games that’s the thing man it’s and it’s look they’re hot they’ve got Luca they’re they’re hot team so people now forget Boston Celtics won 64 games for a reason now they haven’t been whole maybe they’re going to be whole in this series getting porzingis back it’s a 64- win team that most of the year looked like they were on a tier by themselves there wasn’t anybody else in that conversation they were that clearly the best team in the NBA and so I but look despite that I think Dallas has closed a lot of the Gap because of how far their defense has come and the way that their two their two top guys are playing right now heading into this series that’s why I think it’s going to be an epic series uh what What’s the next one we got here Cedric Exquisite says if Kyrie wins Finals MVP how much a villain is he I mean to the acks fans he won’t be a villain I don’t think he’s goingon to be a villain any I actually think that there’s been it’s not just not just like mainstream media that’s had a different narrative about Kyrie through this run and I know I for myself I’ve said I admire him watching him play more than I ever have I’ve enjoyed watching him play because I’m just appreciating this guy and not worry about any the other stuff that comes with him distractions um I think that’s I think a lot of people that just our fans that followed the game feel the same way I don’t think he’s going to be a villain I think in a lot of ways It’s actually an incredible almost Redemption story if he’s able to pull that off based on how everything went for him since he left Cleveland and how everything has played out since then to be able to now be engaged playing every night playing hard playing defense meshing with his other star and then playing well enough to outplay Luca Tatum and brown to win finals MVP I actually think that would be an incredible Redemption story for Kyrie Irving yeah no not to Mavericks Adam to the Celtics I I mean look yeah that look that’s how it works works if uh Kyrie wins in general of course Celtics fans aren’t going to like that they’re not going to like their team losing so the answer of course but I don’t think that has anything to do with a broader narrative all right hit that outro music Emma legs a great show lots of X’s and O’s on this one another great preview we’ve got one more tomorrow some narratives as well as our final predictions any final thoughts before we get out of here no man we we uh we got it all set up the stage is set I’m I’m ready I’m ready like you are to get this thing rolling I am man everybody think thanks so much for hanging out I see Carlos sent a last minute buzzer beater I’ll just read it here is OKC’s game style similar to the Celtics we talked about this on yesterday show you could find that about halfway through I think it is leg saw more of a similarity to Minnesota in in how the Celtics play and you can hear that full discussion for why we think those things uh in yesterday’s show thanks everybody for hanging out hit that like button we’ll see you tomorrow [Music] [Applause] we all sitting like the May

There are numerous questions surrounding the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics as they prepare for the 2024 NBA Finals. Today’s show will cover coaching decisions and key battlegrounds. We will also look back at some of the best NBA Finals.

Join Tim Legler and Adam Mares for today’s ALL NBA Podcast!

00:00 – Intro
02:13 – Questions for Boston Celtics
09:36 – Will Tatum keep guarding Lively?
14:20 – Will the Celtics Blitz?
23:26 – Who cannot play in this series?
31:20 – Questions for the Dallas Mavericks
31:21 – Can the Mavericks win a 3-point shoot out?
33:51 – Will they dominate the clutch?
36:19 – Who will the Mavs target?
42:14 – Who cannot play in this series?
42:26 – Legler’s list – Best NBA Finals

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