FIRST TAKE | Nuggets should be favorites to win NBA championship, NOT Celtics – Stephen A. claims

FIRST TAKE | Nuggets should be favorites to win NBA championship, NOT Celtics – Stephen A. claims

Despite losing to the defending Champion nuggets and both head-to-head matchups this season interesting okay Mad Dog yeah do you think the Seas should really be the favorite well you’re going to make him the favorite from a betting perspective because the Eastern Conference is easier than the West okay

So there is less likelihood that the Knicks of Philadelphia Milwaukee getting killed every night defensively that they’re going to lose Denver may not have home field the heat the one team that actually could beat the Celtics but we don’t know how that match up will

Work in the n in the west the heat the rock the Nuggets may not have home court in all the all the rounds that’s number one they haven’t gotten that top seed yet of those Wendy said at the top of the program today they’re in good shape

To get it I would favor them but if they don’t have it yet Boston does and there you know Clippers are dangerous you know there’s a couple of teams there you know I would be worried about the thunder got a lot of talent so I would be a little

Concerned from that perspective so I understand why they made the Celtics the favorite but if it’s Christopher Russo’s money and I had to make a play right now for a team to win it I’m taking Denver I love their they they you can tell they have risen to the occasion in big spots

Theyve beaten the Celtics twice they beat the Lakers in La when kareim when uh Lebron had the 40,000 point game I saw him play The Warriors about two Saturdays ago in Golden State they did a tremendous job in the fourth quarter they beat Miami last night in Miami

Matchup of course last year in the NBA I love this team now they’re not a great historical team they got two great players Murray’s great how he hasn’t made an All-Star team is ridiculous and we know yic might be might be at the end of the day the greatest Center in

History of the NBA and that’s saying a lot he might be at the end of his career he’s that good he’s he’s better than Shaq I’ll tell you that right now he’s better than sha don’t start with oh he is and I’m not not just Shaq I mean he’s

Better than Malone Elijah he does everything passes he dribbles he is great is great we so as a result of that you want you want to respond to that greatest of all time I I’m still recovering from that because Mad Dog this is a guy who’s a big

Defender of the the old and gray and in the grave guys so you saying that is I mean I think the thing about jic that is so remarkable is that he’s a little bit impervious I think he’s going to be impervious to aging the guy doesn’t his

Nothing in his game is based on athleticism at all and so going forward I could see this guy the only thing I think is going to prevent him from playing and being a championship Contender till he’s 40 is that he doesn’t want to do it I don’t know if

This is something he wants to do with an undying desire I think he loves being at home in Serbia he has other interests but I want to talk about his phone for a second has played a big role in this season I know that sounds crazy and the

Last time you saw jokic’s phone was probably at the end of last season’s finals when he picked up his phone after game five and looked at how many text messages and cursed and slammed it down when he saw how many he had to look at but after the All-Star game he sent a

Text message to his teammates now I want to remind you that the Nuggets had lost the last three games going into the break they looked kind of flat they’re you know they were looking like a a a team on a championship hangover I think they had slid to third or even fourth

Maybe in the Western Conference and yic sent a text message which I don’t think he normally does I’m not on the Nuggets uh Team text message chain I don’t see yic as being too active in there I’m talking about love is blind okay I think he probably picks his spots and I think

Whatever he put in that text message you want to talk about leadership he said to the and we know about it not because he said but because his teammates brought it up to the media and I think they regretted it right away because people started asking about it

And they then they wouldn’t talk more about it since that text message which he basically said gentlemen it’s time to start acting like Champions they’re 10 in one they’re number two in offense number seven in defense they have been a killer team since that happened they have the easiest schedule they they have

The third easiest schedule left in the whole league so when I look at them they are in first place this morning for the the first time when I say first place I mean in the west Mad Dog the Celtics are going to have the number one overall SE

Unless they have some sort of collapse they’ve got a a pretty good cushion but the the the number one seed in the west means a lot because you got to go through Denver and they’re killer at home but they’re number they’re in first place now for the first time since

November okay they have the third easiest schedule of all teams in the NBA and of all those top teams in the west coming down they have three games left with the Wolves where they will not have Carl towns okay so they have an opportunity to totally strangle hold

That situation the Clippers are seven and seven their last 14 games they’ve got their own issues to talk about and while I think the Thunder are a potent team they have a much more difficult schedule coming in I think they’ve got like the sixth or seven toughest schedule Denver is highly favored so

You’re going to have them if they don’t mess around with the number one seed in the west I like it the only thing that you’re going to convince me that you could say Boston has an edge is that home Court Denver is only a couple games

Over five 00 on the road but that kind of is the team that was pre yic text message let’s get serious and also they W Untouchable on the road in the Conference Finals and finals last year and my point is that they’re they’re they can be great on the road the the

Only thing you’re looking at with this Denver team is to say well this is what their issue is if they have an injury to one of their front line their reserves are suspect they’re young and unproven and you know Murray has shown he has injury-prone they are a little

Susceptible on depth and their road record isn’t as good the Celtics have been awesome at home but they lost to the Nuggets so I love Denver as the favorite and I think they’ve earned that that um the the depth is the one argument I think that you could make for

The Celtics and I think obviously with cat out um the West gets a lot easier for the Nuggets I think I would definitely go with the Nuggets over them over anybody honestly including the Celtic even though they appear to have an easier path because the one issue

That Wendy brought up that uh is injuries in depth frankly that’s everybody on the west is injuries we saw it with uh if you lose kawhai or if you lose PG it’s going to change the way that things look for um for the for the clippers but another thing you brought

Up earlier was the leadership of jic and that jumped out to me when you’re watching those games and that’s a ju position between yage and I think Jason Tatum as the two best players on their teams is jic it’s not just the text leadership he seems to have that

Maturity control of the game thing that the greats have that that’s the one thing is as talented as Jason Tatum is although he’s had huge postseason moments I I saw yic last night telling the team to calm down and certain spots like it doesn’t feel that Jason Tatum

Has that next step in ability that yic seems to have and I would say when I look at yic I see sorry to make the football comparison but I see Patrick Mahomes and when I look at the Celtics I see the 4 9ers whereas it’s kind of a really well-rounded kind of strengthened

Numbers team whereas on the other sideline they got that dude and I I’m sure you agree because you already made you made him the greatest Center of all time just a couple seconds ago but I do think that obviously everyone has weaknesses but it’s hard for me to imagine particularly given the history

Of the NBA the best team wins the championship and I know the Celtics record is better but no one thinks that the Celtics are better than the nuggets and we saw when the nuggets played him not only they beat him they seem to have control over that game and they have

Injury issues too that things change if they lose porzingis who is obviously always yeah always having issues well two things quickly before I run remember the Celtics have scars two1 lead Golden State lost lost to Miami game seven at home Denver doesn’t have any scars Celtics do let me see them overcome that

That’s not going to be easy to overcome that and number two I talk to Kevin lockery all the time on the air and they going to laugh who’s Kevin lcky coach Julius coach Jordan played in the NBA for years played against them all he told me I’m telling you right now Chris

I I played against Kareem Wilt Russell joic best Center’s ever seen that’s all you need to knowy we got to go to bump one word answer which team most likely to get in the way of nugget Celtics probably uh clippers but they got to start playing better yeah well

And and need to be healthy all right coming up the Chiefs are hoping to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls which teams have the best chance of ending their reign Mad Dog we’ll let you know Yukon is looking to take down Xavier in the Quarterfinals spee foree fore speech foreign Speech quite good yeah fore spee fore spee fore spee Foree speech foreign speech speech foreign spe Speech Foree foree speee fore spee spee speee speech Foree fore foreign speech foreign foreign fore speech foreign speech foreign speech speech

FIRST TAKE | Nuggets should be favorites to win NBA championship, NOT Celtics – Stephen A. claims