BRING OUT THE BROOMS! 🧹 Stephen is calling for a Celtics SWEEP! | First Take

BRING OUT THE BROOMS! 🧹 Stephen is calling for a Celtics SWEEP! | First Take

well there goes that series there goes that series there’s no other way to look at it ladies and gentlemen there’s no way to look at it nobody’s overcoming a 03 deficit in the NBA Finals it hasn’t happened there’s no reason to believe that it’s going to happen now this is not this is not one of those situations where anybody’s going to say anything different today so you’re not going to get any surprises there we got a whole bunch of people coming on the show but I want to say this I’m a movie buff I like my movies you remember that actor Zack galopus in the movie The Campaign with will phoh you know what he used to say all the time in that movie we’re bringing our brooms because it’s a mess first takes in the House Dallas two Elite scores have found their stroke here in game three some Kyrie chaos here in the first half he’s got 20 Tim Hardway on the drive goes right white blocked by white t him down the other end brown with the brown continues The Barrage Dallas desperate not to fall behind 03 Corner three-pointer Washington it’s good six-point game Brown runs into donic blocking foul and that’s it he’s fouled out Irving pull up jump shot it’s good drives pulls up jump shot punch it in they hold off a furious comeback attempt and now have a three nothing lead here in these NBA Finals 3 0 3 0 that’s what’s happening Ryan wior good to see you this morning of course Stephen A Smith my girl Andrea Carter I’m Molly carum hi everybody feeling good you’re feeling great this morning feel good it’s a Friday Eve Andrea feeling real good about my pick how are you about that M I’m just I’m we’re just talking about you I’m sure you feel wonderful I will take complete ownership for my I actually wish we had a full screen of my finals picks you know since I joined the show but but it’s all good it’s okay Stephen A Wendy how are you guys we can talk we we could talk about Molly’s final pick all she want to Pats herself on the back you know she can do all of that she’s more than welcome to do that let me tell you this right now s this the Ser the series ends sooner sooner vacation begins I’m good no no matter what I’m good on that note let’s get it started the Celtics hold off the Mavericks one win from their 18th NBA title Jason Tatum scored 31 Jaylen Brown had 30 and the Celtics held up a furious Dallas rally to win 10699 and go up 3 0 in the NBA Finals the Mavs Luka donic fouled out with 412 remaining Luca is not having it with the refs Luca what did you think of the whistles that went against you in the fourth quarter I mean I don’t know um we couldn’t play physical so uh I don’t know I don’t want to say nothing but you know six fallowing the NBA Finals where I basically I’m like this uh come on man better than that all right Wendy let’s break it down how much blame should luuka get for the loss well the reason this series is 3 0 is because the Celtics are awesome it’s a coronation for them they haven’t lost in a month they won 10 or nine straight games they’re on the verge of doing something we’ve never seen before which is to sweep the Conference Finals and finals we have to start by saying they’re taking it um but it was extremely disappointing the way Luca was unable to be there for his team at the end of this game they very nearly pulled off an amazing comeback that could have pivoted this series because I don’t know if Chris is going to be able to play again I don’t care if the series goes on a couple more weeks I don’t know if he’s going to be able to and this was a great opportunity for Dallas to really try to get some momentum going and regardless of what you think of the fifth foul or whatever other foul he knew he had five fouls absolutely knew he had five fouls and to commit that foul in that moment is just a terrible lack of judgment by him and the reason it’s so disappointing to me the reason I reacted viscerally is that I’ve seen him do this now several times most of it is when I’ve watched him play for the Slovenian national team and I realized that you know FBA basketball is not you know the NBA Finals but it is basically the precursor to it and I watched him in the World Cup last year get ejected in the in in an elimination game when they’re trying to qualify for the Olympics when he completely lost his composure I watched him two years ago in Euro basket get fouled a very similar situation playing against a team it’s a four-point game with three minutes left he fouls out because a technical foul counts as a personal in FBA basketball and he fouls out you know I’ve just seen it over and over and that’s what’s so frustrating is that he is such a brilliant player he’s such a special talent I really believe he’s going to be back in the finals he’s going to be holding the gold trophy but he’s got to learn from this he and it’s not just the six foul it’s laying on the court complaining at officials when you give up a basket on the other end he’s never going to be a great defensive player I understand that I understand that there’s been plenty of guys who’ve gone to the Hall of Fame who can’t defend who he’s comparable to but he hurts his team by the way he complains to the officials he hurts his team by the way he lays on the court why he gives up possessions you can get away with that in November and December you can get away with that in the in game one of the first round or when you’re ahead in the second round whatever you can’t get away with that in basically an elimination game in the finals and that’s got to be the lesson for Luca this could be the pivot point for him because it was a missed opportunity for it to be a pivot point in the series yeah I mean this is absolutely going to have to be a moment of growth for Luca moving forward for me defensively there were so many lapses in judgment there were so many moments where he wasn’t locked in there were so many moments where he took a bad angle he was out of position and everyone’s going to talk about this fifth foul everyone’s going to talk about the fifth foul I thought we were about to show it everyone was going to talk about that fifth foul and oh maybe that was the bang bang call that didn’t go his way you could possibly say that about the sixth foul even though I 100% thought that was a blocking call but you couldn’t say anything about his third foul or his fourth foul the third foul he picked up against Derek white because he was frustrated he lunged for the ball he lunges for the ball completely out of position gets a foul on Derek white and then the fourth foul he gets on Payton Pritchard at half court just trying to defend not not doing anything except lunging left to right so the third and fourth silly foul we sit here today with Kyrie Irving being seen as the reasonable one the levelheaded individual that needs to help and assist in reeling in Luca donic because Luca donic is so petulent and is so petty let’s not forget he’s screaming at his bench and screaming at his coaches effing challenge the call or whatever we saw that you know he’s pointing the finger at everybody but himself and he takes himself out of the game and so we also got to take into into account this statistically do y’all know in these three games of this NBA Finals in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter Luca donic has more fouls and more turnovers than field goals in the fourth quarter of the NBA Finals he’s only made three he’s only shot three of 15 in three games he’s averaging like 2.8 points in the fourth quarter of the NBA finals this is Luka donic we’re talking about about here and primarily because of the petulant but with everything that you said Andrea with everything that you’ve said Wendy nobody brought this up I brought this up last night you know what really ticked me off about Luca donic watch the game if you know the game and you know the flow you could see that Kyrie was in his bag I’m not talking about the first half when he exploded had 20 hit them four three point I ain’t talking about that I’m talking about even in the second half he was getting to the spots when he wanted to he was getting in the lane when he wanted to he was getting to the free throw line when he needed to he was drawing contact he was nullifying and neutralizing to some degree what Boston was throwing in their Direction especially after they were down 21 and go on a 20 to2 run and they come back and then the next thing you know with him flowing that way Luca would get the ball and luuka wouldn’t pass it he’s holding the ball he’s bouncing the ball ball he’s throwing a bunch of pump fakes he’s slowing the pace he you I’m I’m it’s jayen brown on you bro this is not a scrub this is a star in this game he’s one of the people defending you you got to know listen I know what I can do but right now my man is in his bag give him the ball move out the way flow off of him he literally disrupted Kyrie Kyrie should have had about 45 and he would have if Luca hadn’t taken in so many of the possessions and it wasn’t just his shot and his shot selection it was the pace with which he did it which was disrupting Kyrie on this particular occasion so I really really had a problem with that outside of that I’m going to say this as an aside Tim Hardway Jr you gonna have a long off season my brother 19 minutes not a single point not only did he not score a single point he didn’t even have a foul he didn’t even have a decency to record a foul I mean it’s zero across the board with the exception of the three rebounds every anything else was Zero he did not even have the decency to foul somebody I mean that’s how bad Tim Hardway was Tim Hardway Jr was he just going through it right now we know he’s better but it’s it’s unfortunate and in the case of Jason kid when we’re talking about accountability Jason kid and the coaching staff damn it’s the NBA Finals y’all couldn’t reel in Luca donic by now y’all couldn’t have that convers I know you tried like you said Wendy they’ve tried and they’ve tried and they tried you you you you you got to have an impact you got to get inside this man’s head to let him know you can’t do this we needed you and I’m not talking about any aftermath of infall I mean even before then yo man we need you come on now you know keep your cool stay in the game then you were right Wendy Luca could have been ejected at least two three times last night at least two three times they could they could they could have rejected him from you know they’re not but they could have and they would have been Justified Wendy yeah I mean I I know this will irritate Luca fans he actually owes the refereeing staff or the crew like an appreciation because they gave him all kinds of latitude that they wouldn’t have given him another time and you know Jason kid I felt Stephen A I just felt Jason kid was in total search mode last night he played 11 different players in the first half in an elimination game you play seven players right you know that’s when you play seven players he plays 11 players because he has nowhere to go there was a moment in the third quarter where the the Celtics were really building that lead up where he was so desperate defensively because Luca couldn’t stay in front of anybody he went to Zone you I mean okay you can mix it in but you can’t play zone against the Celtics this is one of the greatest three-point shooting teams in the history of the game they simp very simply made four passes defeated the zone and easily got a three like he was just searching and look you know Jason said after the game it’s a learning experience for all of them and I honestly believe in the future of the Mavericks I would absolutely buy stock if anybody wants to sell in the future of Luca donic today because I think this is going to help him where my frustration begins is that we are in the same spot we were a couple of years ago with Luca with the same things they are further along in the process because the team is better but it’s the same things you’ve got to can’t repeat the same mistakes and so I really do believe that two years from now you know two years ago Steph and a we were in Boston and we were watching The Warriors you know close out that series and you know we were watching Boston really just sort of Wither on the vine at the end and seeing where the Celtics are two years on is amazing and they they they deserve the parade that they’re going to get in the very near future Luca can be the Grand Marshall parade in two years but he’s got to take something away from this he hasn’t been taking it away well I will say this you’re right about the Boston Celtics they deserve and let’s not forget Joe moula let’s not forget the job that he’s done I I mean listen his personality isn’t for everybody and I understand that you know how I feel about eme udoka because I believe that eeme udoka would have had them here as well but Missoula has proven to be a hell of a Coach and he’s doing a hell of a job he really really is you got to give credit what credit is due the tenacity the togetherness the selflessness with which this team plays that’s got his fingerprints written all over it they’re accountable to one another to each other and to themselves you got and then you got Jason Tatum and jayen brown Jaylen Brown elevating his leadership role and and and let me tell you this his to his peeps because you know everybody you know again talking about what I said I’m I love jayen brown but there’s some people who hav it I want to all of these people that want to come to his defense and talk about he he’s likable and he’s marketable or whatever you damn right he is but in the end even when they struggled against Golden State Wendy it wasn’t because of petulant and I think that’s where this stands out it’s rare that we have found ourselves in an NBA final ser series and we’re looking at a superstar and it’s not even his game that we’re Ultra critical of it’s the temperament now obviously it’s play fast attack Luca that’s the game plan for the Boston Celtics and it’s work this kid Hower comes off the bench and the three threes was with Luca right there I mean Luca’s just asleep at the wheel giving up Corner threes to the guy on at least two occasions he was blown by so many times they had to bring out a stat how nobody has been blown by more in the last 10 years of the playoffs than Luca donic all of these things are incredibly embarrassing but none is worse than the petulant he’s not in great shape we’ve lamented that on many many occasions the Boston Celtics know it better than anybody they are in attack mode they are literally picking on him and his petulance is showing that they’re picking on him yep that’s what really really is grading his nerves D close us out here before we move on I just think we’re seeing greatness in the Boston Celtics especially in opposition to what we’re seeing from Luca when we talk about Joe maula Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum mind you all of the Boston Celtics have played phenomenal but it’s their composure when things don’t go their way there were calls that didn’t go Jason Tatum’s way in last night’s game Jaylen Brown only had six points in the first half there were Miss shots there were Miss moments and they stayed composed the entire time even when they’ve fallen short in game two in the first two series what do they do they stay composed they take accountabil they pull together and that’s a championship culture we’re seeing that from Boston we haven’t seen that from anyone else to this degree this season [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Brian Windhorst and Andraya Carter react to the Boston Celtics being one win away from being NBA Finals champions and debate how much blame Luka Doncic should get for the Game 3 loss.
#firsttake #nba #espn

0:00 Stephen A. says a sweep is coming!
3:30 How much blame should Luka Doncic get for the loss?
6:00 Andraya Carter on Luka’s Game 3 performance
7:30 Luka Doncic ticked off Stephen A. in Game 3
12:00 Brian Windhorst is frustrated with the Dallas Mavericks

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