LIVE: Celtics vs Pacers Series Preview & Predictions | Garden Report
can you say hard hats folks hard hats lunch P steel to a boots anything show of a championship this year is a failure look at this Boomer right here you’ve just got so much talent here somebody say we need to apologize for J can i p the John what are we apologizing for what do we say what we do [Music] uh uh uh uh all right fellas it’s the kids table at Thanksgiving Jimmy T Joey P Joey py it sounds like if I was a uh a rapper in the early 90s or something you might be have you ever been called that we could be a we could be a rap group right now probably not my brother Joelle used to be called you have the nickname Joey for with some people but oh look who it is got a guest he sprinted through the door down here are you kidding me we’ll bring him in in a minute we just started anyways um what’s up everybody uh little little off day Garden report Celtics Pacers preview Edition um I’m I’m uh I’m gonna be the I’m like you know in baseball they have like an opener now like some teams do an opener for their pitcher he’s not the starter he’s not the closer but he’ll go like the first frame I think that’s going to be me and then when JN jumps on at some point I’ll slide over to my my normal my normal role good comparison um we’re gonna open things up there we obviously got Bobby and Joe Sway in the building welcome guys thanks for joining us thanks everybody for jumping on um I think we’re all a little bit excited you know there’s been a few off days here congrats to the Celtics for earning those days we watched the Pacers and the Knicks literally beat up on each other for seven games to the point where the Pacers had to wave the White Flag I mean that was too bad what happened to jayen sorry the Knicks had the wave the right it was too bad what happened to Jaylen Brunson um really too bad I mean the Knicks it feels like they they’ve got a lot of the pieces that they need but health is just as important right now and um they did not have that certainly it got went from bad to worse so the Pacers advance so we’ve got Boston Indie uh as your Eastern Conference Finals here um which is g to be I think it’s going to be an exciting matchup I really do you got two teams that are uh at the top of the league when it comes to on the offensive side of the ball high Tempo um um you know the Pacers are one of those teams and I’ve said this throughout the regular season they want to run and Gun they want to they want to go go go they want to maximize their shots they don’t want to play a lick of Defense although I know we’ll get into that later because Bobby uh you’re somebody who believes that they actually have improved um on that end um certainly since the way things started for them to start the year which is good because I don’t think anyone could have kept up um you know the the so offensively he heavy side of the the way that they’re putting the game we’re going to get a lot into what the Pacers do well maybe what they don’t do uh so much as well we’ll get into the Celtics the matchups X factors what’s it going to take for the Celtics to win What’s it gonna take for the Pacers to win um we’ll get into all those things I know Jose Wayne and Bobby you guys are are hot on the on on the scent when it comes to being at these practices and talking to the players and and Joe and figuring out where these guys are at so I’m going to throw two guys off the bat we’ll start with Bobby immediately to my to my right although I’m in mirror mode so I got to figure out I I learned this recently that what I’m seeing we’re both we’re both on one side Jimmy not what I’m watching back I gotta figure that out U but let’s get I want to get both your guys’ thoughts just um going into this I don’t want your predictions yet but just give me your overall thoughts heading into this one what you think we can expect to see Bobby we’ll start with you yeah obviously disappointed we’re not get New York Boston because it had the potential to be alltime fun I know with more Health on that New York side of series that New York could win I don’t think the Pacers can win this series but they do have the possibility of being very annoying like I think the Cavs got a little Annoying during that series and then fell apart due to health the heat certainly had no Health round one so it’s going to be the hardest series by far uh that the Celtics have faced here just because it’s a style that forces you to play the way the opponent wants to play and I think the Celtics have done a pretty good job throughout the year of playing the way they want to play and instilling their style in the game Indiana it’s tough to not get drawn into that the Knicks got drawn into it and they’re probably the slowest team in the playoffs the Celtics statistically are the slowest team in the playoffs right now and some of that’s the teams they’re playing but they are a team that plays on the slow side in general so gang sped up maybe half to turn the ball over a little bit more certainly rebounding going to be a big deal in this series as a way to slow the game down they have to be able to manage the pace of this series and find the mismatches on that Pacer side certainly halberton gonna be the guy you want to go at the most there but there are mismatches all over the place on that defense and yes Jimmy I do think that the Pacers have gotten better in some ways defensively but they’re still bad on that end so after going against the Cavs one of the best defenses in the league the heat one of the best defenses in the league it will be refreshing to some degree to play one of the worst defenses in the league here but you have to execute can’t turn the ball over the Pacers are starting to pressure full CT a little bit more here so you got to be able to withstand that and you got to get to the rim I mean they’re going to try to take away the three they’re gonna guard you one-on-one a lot of the time so if you’re Tatum if you’re Brown you gotta get downhill and score inside in this series and score a ton this is not a series where Tatum can do the whole passing thing and be shooting 40% saying oh you know he’s giving you stuff in other areas this is a series where Tatum has to average 25 plus because the the buckets will be there for him yes sir yeah I agree with that Bob H joose what you got yeah no no question man we need to see eff ficient Tatum which would be the first time we’ve seen it throughout the postseason if we’re being honest right I mean that’s been his struggle offensively I know that last outing we got the best offensive performance we’ve seen throughout the postseason but we’re going to something gonna need more of that and of course the same can be said about Jaylen Brown who’s been phenomenal I mean throughout the entire postseason I don’t think that changes here but I do think someone like Pascal zakum guys like Miles Turner I mean they’re inside outside game especially with Miles Turner I think he’s he’s sort of The X Factor in this series where I think the patients are gonna try to exp that match up down low you know I think this is this is going to be a series where Celtics will miss christops not to say that they can’t pull this off without porzingis but I think the Pacers take advantage of that he’s not in the middle I think they take advantage of you know that lack of Rim protection that resistance I think they’re going to try to test the Celtics in a big way and and of course I think that establishes their outside presence their shooting you know if they if they get hot of course Hal bur is one of them one of many uh they can they can keep up with the Celtics offense I mean that’s that that’s what makes them uh in my opinion uh good to good to win more than a more than a game in this series a couple games at least um I I I get prediction Jimmy but I just like I guess I I can’t overstate the fact that this is going to be harder than what I think may it may look like on paper uh these games I don’t think you’re want to see a whole lot of blowouts you know in this matchup again I think not having porzingis um is going to help the Pacers in a big way on both ends of the floor but I also think death plays A Part as well I mean the PAC just have guys that can come off the bench and score in bunches I think the Celtics going to need some more of that you know we saw it towards the tail of that series Payton pitches has been great uh Sam Hower disappeared against the Cavaliers I know he got away with it um and that’s fine and all but in this series they’re going to need him to step up here uh he average about three points in that Series against the uh against the Cavs overall his numbers haven’t been great but especially in that last series man uh they’re going to need more more of uh that threat outside threat shooting threat um from their second unit especially because it gets pretty thin now that Al Horford is a starter and we know the deeper we get into the series it’s wouldn’t shock me if uh if if Al goes into a similar drought for at least a game or two at some point throughout the series again that’s assuming no Chris dasp porzingis uh I know he’s pretty much ruled out for the first two games honestly I I’d be surprised if we see him in game three you know I think there’s a good chance the Celtics team uh faces the Pacers without him you know maybe not the entire series maybe he comes back in a game five game six situation but for the most part they can’t think about that they have to go into this series uh knowing how to or at least game planning on how to dominate you know and I I think it comes down to the way they defend I think that would open the floodgates for sure against this Pacers team but you know if the Pacers are on I think it’s not going to be as easy as people think it’s going to be you know they have to really stick with it and it has to be all four quarters type of effort on the defensive end of the floor Bobby are you surprised that the Pacers are in the Eastern Conference Finals no cuz when you go up against a Bucs team that lost Giannis Middleton for certain amount of games loaded by the end of that series too you expect them to win that series I actually had them in that series anyway just given how bad the Bucks played for a lot of this year so you expect that and then for the Knicks to get his devastated as they were by injuries too it opens the door but the Pacers took it too I mean that was amazing I’ve never seen a start like that to a game seven but really any game 22 for 27 their offensive execution and their efficiency on that end is out of this world and you look at what they’ve done in the playoffs they’re the best offense in the playoffs by a significant margin I think they’re like five points per 100 better than the Celtics who are number two they shoot 65% at The Rim they shoot 50% from mid-range which is the best in the playoffs they get a lot of Threes up too so I think it’s going to be a similar deal to that Cav Series where the Celtics try to take that uh three-pointer away from them if they can and that’s going to lead them to be a little susceptible inside again and uh the Celtics have given up a lot at the basket in these playoffs I know Joe’s argued that it’s a little bit intentional to let the other team get away from their threes and to let the Celtics gain the advantage in that area but the Pacers are pretty good at limiting the other team’s threes they gave up the fewest three-point attempts during the season I think they do a decent job taking away the rim too with Turner in there so to Joe sway’s point I don’t think this is going to be easy uh going against this team they earned their way here they were extremely competitive throughout the regular season they add aakam who is as we talked about this time a major piece uh that can give you scoring in those areas that you need if the Celtics are going to try to take away the three here from them so this is the kind of team you want to see the Celtics play up against a little bit because these teams that grinded out that defend great they ran into a brick wall right because the Celtics are great def defense too I know they’re ranked second but the Celtics really haven’t been a super consistent offense throughout these playoffs they’ve had their ups and downs on that end so to be a team that can outscore them I know we talked about this a little bit with the bucks when we were wondering if they could maybe compete with the Celtics a little bit here the Pacers have a little bit of a formula here to be able to knock the Celtics off a couple times if they’re able to have some better offensive nights than Boston and they simply just outscore them we saw them beat the Celtics 133 to 131 at one point during the year I know that was a night Tatum SAT but they did it uh they beat the Celtics in the tournament porzingis was out for that porzingis is out now so if porzingis was here I wouldn’t give this series much of a chance of going on because I think the Celtics offense would just be so much better than the Pacers offense at that point but now that you know Horford showed those inconsistent results last round I don’t think this is a cornette series and you know best hman who you know obviously reportedly lost his father this week so it looks like he could be out tomorrow you’re going to be looking at um a thin front Court here for the Celtics in this series and you know can they get enough out of Horford playing big minutes playing every other day I think that’s the biggest question by far for the Celtics here obviously the Pacers biggest question is can they get enough stops uh which is probably the biggest question in the series but for Boston specifically joose is Horford ready shoulder the load in this series again I think he is I I think he is but I I I got to be honest the deeper get into this series you Bobby does that sometimes I gotta be honest the deeper we get into the series I think you’ll start to see it kind of Trail off a bit you know and I’m not saying that that that’ll be across the board you know I’m not saying go out there and a statline will be Duds but in terms of being that constant threat from Deep you know I do think he will uh he will cool down at some point just because you he’s he’s taking on these starter minutes and taking on a lot and and and keeping up defensively with guys like Miles Turner and Pascal seum like he’s he’s going to have his hands pull down low especially with guys uh especially when these guys are in transition and if they get the three-point shot falling which is something that Miles Turner you know uh has has has done throughout these playoffs so it’ll be interesting I mean I I I want to see again how this s this team could defend um as a team as a cohesive group you know what they do to sort of stop the bleeding when the when the Pacers are going downhill and are hitting shots and you know Halle bur’s going to have one of those big nights at some point throughout this series maybe it’s not game one you know maybe you you see the seltic benefit off of the extra rest and these guys coming off of game seven but I don’t think the entire series will play out that way I really don’t I think once these guys settle in um you’re going to see a a a tougher opponent that we’ve seen throughout the the toughest opponent that we’ve seen for the Celtic team um throughout the postseason for sure so there’s no doubt that this is going to be the hardest matchup so far for the Celtics at least in my mind um that’s kind of by default but also you you know you can’t sleep on this Pacers team I I’ve liked the Pacers for a number of years now that obviously the roster transformed a little bit you know um you know it’s it’s not exactly the team it was a couple years ago but there’s some pieces still there obviously my Turner still there he’s amazing you’ve always loved the Pacers Jimmy I’ve always liked the Pacers I don’t know what it is something about him something about that color scheme I think no no I’ve liked the Pacers and I I I like them now I I’m not picking the Pacers in the series but I do think that they are going to be a difficult team to you know you put it this way you can’t sleep on them that’s what I keep saying about this team and they’ve proven it I think they deserve to be here um you know they beat a Buc team that yeah had a really horrible horrible season for from the Bucks stpoint and obviously the injuries caught up to them Knicks they caught up too but the Knicks are a toughest Nick team and the Pacers went down 20 to them okay and they could have just whimpered out and lost in five you know like a lot of teams would they even up the series go down 3-2 and then they win the final two games of that series and again I know that players are in and out of lineup but the Pacers were dealing with some um you know Health guys too I mean halberton hasn’t been 100% by any by any stretch and says a lot about them that they were able to overcome those those um you know odds a little bit and some of those ups and downs throughout the course of the playoffs so I’m taking them seriously if I’m the Boston Celtics you have to take them seriously Indiana is a tough place to win on the road that place gets to bring some earplugs I think with you because that place is going to be absolutely rocking not to say that it’s not rocking at the Garden it’s hard to win in the garden too but for that reason I think it could be a lot longer of a series than maybe some people think I see people in the chat saying Celtics and three Celtics and four you know what I mean so I I just don’t see it that way I I do think the Celtics are going to pull this off the talent is certainly Swang heavily in their favor Pacers like to get out and run if you try to get the one thing um the Celtics can’t do is try to get to a shooting match with this Pacers team goes back to what Bobby always preaches defense defense so it’s if if they can clamp down enough that’s gonna be the difference because I just don’t see that with the Pacers I don’t know if they have that ability to sort of clamp down like the Celtics do and again it’s it’s a little bit of a talent thing I think obviously with holiday and white in that in that back court is going to pay huge dividends um with porzingis in or out of that lineup I still like the Celtics in this series um things obviously would would change in the in the NBA Finals you want to have porzingis back for that one we should definitely touch upon the Western Conference towards the end of the show because that’s a really interesting situation going on over there too um but I’m with you guys I mean I you gotta respect this Pacers team um I do think it’s going to be one of those Home Series you know I think one of those teams is gonna have to win a road game at some point um for this thing to really flip um that’s just how I feel I think the tough I really do um it’s super put it this way it’s super important for the Celtics to win the first two at home that’s what I’m gonna say yeah I mean I think that’s the part where um experience should take over right and look you look down the line obviously you know the Celtics have been here countless times it feels like um but for someone like Drew holiday it’s his second one you know and yeah he has a championship for the for the first appearance uh with the Bucks in 2021 but I just feel like someone like that knows that these uh opportunities don’t come around often even though that has kind of been the case for Tatum and brown and all that and of course I think they learn from those experiences and I think they’re ready to you know show sort of quiet all the noise you know which I think Jaylen sort of alluded to today right Bobby and saying that hey you know we you can’t watch the TV without seeing something being mentioned about the Boston Celtics are they going to finally do are they going to choke are they going to like that’s the storyline that’s the narrative but you can’t fall into that into thinking that oh this thing we have to win we’re supposed to win you know I think that’s when um you see those bad habits from the Celtics that we’ve seen throughout but they I I think they they’ve learned a lot and and I know it’s only been like two losses but again you couple those losses with the experiences beforehand and I don’t see them falling into those same traps I just think it’ll be more of a tactical thing in uh Joe moula you know going up against Carlile as he as he sees a big hole in in the in the in that Center position without chrisn you know I think he’s very confident that these guys can can pull an upset so it’s it’ll be interesting because it’s uh these guys don’t have a whole lot of experience you know H burn is first time in the playoffs you know you gotta go down the line nothing to lose yeah and then at the same time exactly Bob they have nothing to lose if they lose this the city’s not going to flip on them you know what I mean they have they don’t they’re happy yeah they’re happy with the prog they don’t have that same exactly they don’t have that kind of pressure so it be interesting youed how much experience takes over for the at some point in the series real quick I’m not going to do a full read here I just want I forgot to mention off the top that our show is is sponsored we have some great sponsors guys just want to remind everybody quick prize picks prize picks there there are guys over there guys and girls over there prize picks 100% deposit match um with the promo code clns on the prize pick app fire up the app toss on a game that you going to put on the TV get to get to pick in more or less on your guys that you think are going to either play well or not play well so that’s prize picks and our good friends over at game time one of our newer sponsors these guys are unbelievable ticket uh app right now you can download the game time app create an account use the code clns for $20 off your first purchase terms do apply I used it for the Bruins I don’t want to talk about it but I did use it for the Bruins I don’t want to talk about how the game went however I did use it and at least I can say that I got uh basically a free beer out of it because of it so um with that being said that story that was the half read John I’m Gonna Save the full one for you since you’re here later so we welcome in John um I know a lot of people are thrilled that you were able to join us John so I’ll I’ll let you introd let you let’s get your you know what John we got everybody else’s opening take not predictions but just thoughts going into the series series let’s just get your initial thoughts my opening thoughts on the series first statement please everyone see my cousin Vinnie of course so when he walks into the courtroom and he says and he points to the other guy and he goes everything that guy said is [ __ ] and that’s how I feel about everything that Bobby has said so far I don’t even know what it is somehow you nailed it you nail it the chat thinks Bobby is a Pacers fan so everything that guy said is [ __ ] I’m actually a shame to say I haven’t seen that movie I haven’t watched it it’s all right classic yeah I’ve seen the clips so so like so many times that I kind of know what you’re talking about Joe pesi right it’s old it’s old referenced it I was like I gotta watch this movie oh we are thrilled I really gota watch that I’ve tried to give I’ve tried to give the opposition Credit in every step of the way because I feel like each of these teams could play the Celtics tough at full strength yeah but he complet fell apart the Cavs you knew going in weren’t in a good place physically and I think that’s why we all picked five and it went that way they got even worse as the series went on Paces actually have some guys now is everyone on their team gonna get hurt and it’s over in five here maybe but right now they’re all healthy and I think they are capable of giving the Celtics a little bit of a series here not one where they could actually go on and win it so it’s not real in that sense but that’s basically what I’ve said so far John is that and I think we all feel that you have to said you just can’t sleep on this team like you could probably sleep on the freaking heat and basically the cabs the Nick if they showed up with nobody yeah right Miles Turner is that X Factor okay I think has made his X Factor known we have not Unleashed our x- factors yet okay so there you go so I’ll surprise everybody I agree with Bobby um I I think it’s going to be extremely challenging um series I don’t get where the Celtics and five stuff is coming from um I see the chat saying Celtics in three yeah I don’t think there’s any gotta remember no poor zingis that’s big yeah um I don’t think I so yeah here’s my here I’m gonna be the voice of Doom and Gloom I I’m not I’m just being realistic I’ll believe Chris porzingis is playing bye Jimmy your haircut is the first thing I wanted to talk about but I’m not going it’s sure it’s all the hair got cut it’s sure Jimmy I was like let Jimmy’s son on the show um someone made a comment I’m like it does look a little different but I didn’t the good news is unlike you John mine’s gonna grow back oh good one I like it damn I like it [ __ ] I didn’t see that one coming I like it I like it we got sponsor proed we got spons for that you guys not using Graphics huh is that what is that what I’m here for we haven’t used a graphic yet okay no one’s no one’s putting up lower thirds no that’s why that’s why Jimmy we haven’t we haven’t gotten into any of the actual topics we just did okay we could have tossed that one just grab ass for 30 minutes no we just got into everyone’s initial thoughts we didn’t go down the list of you know some of these some of these topics lined up for us so my favorite topic was what I think I walked in on which was Jaylen Brown talking about um uh drowning out the noise what freaking noise like what are we talking about and I and here’s the thing I actually so nationally there’s been some noise John I actually because they’re bored because they’re bored I actually do think what’s funny everyone’s injured that’s why this whole disrespecting is hilarious to me like it’s not disrespectful to the say that the Celtics had an easy path they did like it’s the the Celtic the fraking I mean someone put this up and I’m throwing it up here like the p riots on their last Super Bowl yeah that’s what happened freaking Brady versus Bortles okay that stuff happens sometimes okay this is what you get you get but no one used to say John oh the Patriots didn’t play anyone yes they did in fact that was we were so bored talking about the Patriots all like people did people just wake up today and start watching sports yeah but they didn’t say it John from a real to me no the Patriots the beginning of the season season you’d be like I’ll see you in the AFC Championship game no regular season game mattered they’d play some cream puffs along the way Sha’s famous tomato cans line which you got years and years of mileage off of Everybody where tomato cans March of the Tomato everybody people nationally were talking about how weak the AFC East is how the Patriots have six free wins every year how the whole AFC is a garbage conference they would just want they would play one game a year and go to the Super Bowl that was it I mean and did it make the Championships any less enjoyable no tomato cans like absolutely not absolutely not it happens so but I do think the pendulum has swung a tad in the other direction because now I think people are bored and they’re looking to nitpick the giant to take them down a few pegs well I’m not that impressed with the Celtics anyway and that’s where I’m coming from they’re playing that card so I do think the pendulum swung when before it was just Celtics fans saying don’t call it boring we are fun get us Stu go you know stop watching it’s been boring and you gotta be impressed tomato cans haven’t been interesting the games aren’t interesting there’s no Intrigue there’s no villains on the other side and honestly the the the the the the the Heat team they beat in the first round and the Cavaliers team once Mitchell went out don’t win 30 games in the regular season okay they’re not playoff teams they’re not even close to playoff teams there’s nothing wrong with admitting that it doesn’t have anything to say what it is though is we’re entering this world in which you have no idea who the Celtics are so I’ll say the smart money is revert back to who you saw in the regular season which is a team that was leagues better than everybody else and that’s who they are so I do think it’s swung in the other direction because they’re like I’m not that impressed you know like and like I I think they’re not and I I think the old narratives are coming out to play and look somewhat deservedly so um that the C we haven’t seen the old Celtics though that’s what they deserve credit for I think the old Celtics go six with Miami somehow I think they probably go six with Cleveland some old Celtics the problem six with the Hawks yeah yeah but this Rost is different that was well porz got hurt Midway but different however and they’re whatever record they are without por bring it all the way back around I agree with Bobby I think it’s competitive because I’m I’m a little dubious that we see porzingis anytime before game five or later even yeah but but just porzingis aside you’re a little bit you’re not scared of the Pacers but you respect the Pacers unlike the first two opponents is that accurate not it’s not respect like I tweeted this right after it ended my thought is this my initial thought right away the first thing was good and bad thing about the Pacers is the Celtics can’t Coast against them because the Pacers just keep coming like they do a lot of things at an elite level and if you don’t take it seriously they can run you off the floor they also do a lot of things at like what’s the opposite of Elite like they’re horrible at a lot of things rebounding defense you know like that you can absolutely the Celtics should be able to score it will so but Jimmy you’re like you know you mentioned last time you don’t want to track meet with these guys I think it goes back to what Bobby says all the time like let lead lead with defense and let everything else work itself out defense is the great separator here there’s two great offenses but the key is if you just play defense in this series to the best of your abilities recognize you’re still going to get some of theirs because they’re a really good offensive team team you’ll win but still it’s I think it’s competitive because I think the porzingis thing is a bit of an equalizer here like what do the Pacers do this is the greatest like misconception of the Pacers I think you think it’s a bombs away team the Celtics are a bombs away team the Pacers led the league in in paint points so when you have your only rim protector not playing that’s a problem and that’s a big burden on Horford I think the Pacers are going to score buckets if the Celtics have a game or two that they’re not kind of keeping up or a shooting night they’re they they’ll they can lose you know I don’t think it’s enough to lose a series but it’s enough to make this interesting for sure yeah I agree I agree I think that’s the part that Carlile is going to highlight you know and re re um emphasize throughout you know get attack the pain you know especially in transition they’re always setled for three-point shots and I think uh miles turn can can be a problem you know stretching out the S his defense making out work whether it’s knocking down three-point shots or uh posting up down low I mean he he will be a constant threat in the series and if he if he you know carries on with this uh offensive Rhythm that he’s on I think he could really be a problem for the Selix team and Pacers could definitely win too you know I don’t see porzingis coming back for game three or game four out in India I’d be really surprised I think the s’s going to be really cautious with him as they should be and and and just work with him for for a comeback game in the NBA Finals maybe a game six or so maybe but I I don’t think it’s ideal I really don’t and Celtics giving up as you mentioned John 69% at The Rim right now in these playoffs which is the third worse figure and I know Joe had that defense of like oh you know we’ll give that up over threes but if the Pacers are going to take it to the tune of 50 60 points especially in transition it could hurt you and again I don’t think all the Cavs baskets that they were scoring there attacking Horford and putting him in pick and roll and getting Moby going I don’t think that was all just the Celtics luring them there and trying to take away threes like they executed and got there the I know but what do the Pacers do well defensively what’s the one thing they do well Bobby they take away the threes they run you off the three-point line so there’s matchup issues here like the things the Pacers do right now they get to the they get a lot of their points in the paint and you don’t have a rim protector and they run you off the line they’re by far the lowest team in the regular season a better offense in this series by far and right now you might argue they’re better offense without porzingis here because he’s equalizer so it’s closer to even without porzingis than we think um and that’s why I think it’s going to be uh competitive I would it still wouldn’t shock me if Celtics blew their doors off because if they really lock it in but I I think there’s definitely things the Pacers do here which like just on their own I think people look at this series like well if the Celtics don’t play like [ __ ] they win probably but I still think the Pacers can give you their best game and the Celtics without porzingis can play a really good game too and the Celtics could lose and I didn’t think that that was the case in either you think the Celtics could lose this series no I think the Celtics can play a good game and the and the Pacers can play a better one like there was no way if the Celtics played anywhere close to their level in the first two rounds that they would lose they it zero chance um I think the patri can just flat out straight beat you I also think the Patriots can absolutely fall apart crumble and their offense goes to [ __ ] and they you know you beat them by you know 354 I could see a couple of blowouts like this could be one of those Series where it’s like frustrating because you’re winning games big and then losing you know by closer margins and it stays it stays tight games wise I’m wondering if the defense will ratchet up on the Pacers side because they’ve made it this far they’ve got a lot of got a lot of confidence going into this series we’re we’re I mean and I think we’re kind of in but I also think that we’re kind of in the minority guys because looking at the Vegas lons more people think this is going to be a four or five game series a lot saying um on the radio today this is the second biggest favorite in the East finals uh behind 97 Bulls overheat yeah it’s over a thousand minus minus over a thousand I believe just just for the winner of the series and I think there’s only been four of those since that time Bobby and so to your point and to what they were saying on the radio nationally where where the Celtics want to act like they don’t get any love nationally it seems like a lot of people are assuming that they’re going to easily roll in series what we’re saying is pump the brakes a little bit not saying that the TS aren’t going to win but just that they can’t go into it feeling the way Vegas feels about it because if they do the Pacers have the ability to drop 10 points in in 30 seconds on you right I mean they can get up and down the court hit a couple threes all of a sudden you know you don’t want to be in a situation where the Pacers all of a sudden go on a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter and you’re down you know you’re down eight with two minutes to go out of nowhere because that can happen with this Pacers team and if you’re the Celtics yeah of course you have the ability to score in bunches too but we’ve seen this with this team before they start to get in the iso mode late in the games how is that going to change you know how how is that execution that we’ve been waiting to see on these late close games g on full because we haven’t been able to see it much we saw it I think in one Pacers or one Cavs game this year uh last time is that accurate where they actually took a little bit of you know execution down the stretch in a close game for them to to pull that one off that was a good good win yeah Pacers kind of pushed back a it was one of those games and there’s been a lot of them this year and the only crunch time game the Celtics have played this playoffs was like that where they’re up like 1015 other team storms back a little bit it technically gets into the crunch time and the Celtics grind it out but it wasn’t really a game that went down to the final basket I know nce Smith got a shot at the three for the tie but they were coming back from down double digits at that point it wasn’t like a tit fortat right I mean they’ve also they also traed for SE yakum I mean I know that se yakum isn’t you know it’s not the equivalent of like a holiday in terms of that experience but siakam’s been on a a team in Toronto multiple times that has made their runs been in the playoffs you know he’s a champion yeah exactly there you go he is Champion so uh what was it like a year or two before prior to Holiday when one did Toronto win 19 so yeah 21 coule years so I mean he’s a similar addition in that sense where he brings that experience and that veteran leadership um a championship coach in Carlile too um absolutely carlile’s a great coach you know and and so again not to not to you know act like the Pacers are the favorite here because they’re certainly not but I actually think that this is going to be uh it has the chance to put a scare into the Celtics team and be a really good series you know in terms of I said this earlier John it feels like one of those Series where it’s like you better win your home games because I think it’s going to be hard to go into Indie with all that energy and momentum they got the Indie 500 going on uh the same weekend and they’ve done the same thing twice they’ve said done the same thing in both series now and you give them credit for responding to it as Joe slay mentioned earlier but they win that runaway game one in against Miami and then they come on game two and just don’t show up and then similar thing against that Cavs team that was coming off of game seven you just blow the doors off in game one then you come out in game two and the Cavs are running out in transition and just having their way with you and you lose another game at home at that point I know Joe made a pretty concerted defense of their home record uh the other day at practice saying they’re four- two and they third out of all the playoff teams but those are two pretty bad losses at home to start each of those series and it put both of those Series in a spot where if the other team took care of business at home which Cleveland and Miami weren’t able to do for different reasons there you talk about a real series at that point so you can’t it’s easy to imagine the Celtics coming out tomorrow and just rolling over them right they’re so rested the Pacers had to just go all out to win that they play two days earlier they don’t even have a full two days R travel to Boston all that but game two do you come out and like Jimmy said really take advantage of that home court that was something they said they were going to do better this year and they have two real letdowns at home to this point so again just something to watch in this series I don’t think we think that the Pacers are going to come out here and beat them or that they’re this massive threat but you don’t want to sit here and say oh the Celtics are gonna sweep them and then you know four days from now the Pacers play this great game and you’re like what happened there’s certainly tools that the Pacers has here to make this competitive and maybe it is another five game series I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that’s the way it goes I wouldn’t be surprised there’s there’s a there’s a there’s a side of me that thinks like Celtics Will Roll um but I think I would be pleasantly surprised if that happened but yeah but but I do think it’s going to be a little bit trickier in the early going and I could easily see it 22 headed back to Boston at that point I’m not sure what’s going on but we’ll see I mean it’s there’s definitely things that in again well we continue to judge them by the old version of themselves and like Jo SW they’re not that anymore it doesn’t see Mike well says who need to that’s the thing I need to see it against a better opponent which I think we’re gonna find out I don’t think that I I look I know everybody wants to I know everyone wants to it would feel good to do it to go out there and be like wow no traces of the old [ __ ] Celtics okay but I don’t know that you can say that given the competition because again I I still think they played Four subpar games out of their 10 like two the two in the losses and again Miami had to shoot at a historic clip even to win that one a win against Miami and then the closeout game against Cleveland up until that teeny little three minute stint where they’re like okay let’s be serious so I’ve seen them be not serious for the better part of four games in the playoffs that’s not a good ratio that’s 40% of games I’m sorry and yeah look they’re human you’re going to get bored you know but like I don’t think they did enough in rounds one and two dispatching these two teams I don’t think people are fully grasping how ridiculously bad those teams were when all was said and done from an injury perspective and again Mitchell goes out literally halfway through he goes out in game three and he’s without him and four and five and without Allen that’s a 30 win team that’s not a playoff team they did not porzingis though which I know but still without the Celtics without porzingis are still a a you know a top of the table team that these two teams they beat are not playoff teams when at the end of the Ser by the end of the series neither one was remotely close to a playoff team they were not so I I can’t I’d love to I’d love I’d love neither were the Knicks though yeah and the Pacers I who knows what the Pacers are it’s the closest thing to a real team we’ve seen you know at this point so I don’t really know I mean what you have to East is so bad compared to the West well you have to take into account think about it four and eight but four and eight in the regular season is a freaking four game separation between four and eight so there’s really no difference so the healthiest team is probably the best team and right now the Pacers are probably the healthiest in that in that two in that two through eight two through eight was a four game difference seven teams there packed in between four game separation so the team that was healthiest is probably the biggest challenge at this point and I it I guess by default it’s the Pacers because everyone else was a mess yeah that’s how bad it’s been so even without porzingis yeah we can’t we I just think we can’t Overlook the fact that the Knicks had five players out like five guys like yeah I think that’s the part that people sort of forget because it’s easy to forget I mean when’s the last time we saw Julius Randle uniform you know these guys have just been doing this without them until they they they ran out of steam I I don’t so again I I want to credit the Pacers especially because the second half or at least like the second half might not deserve way you might be right well I just well yeah that’s the thing I just feel like they might not deserve that much credit because that next team was they couldn’t close out yeah they like literally there’s been times they couldn’t close out and man I they had me they had me fooled I’ll be honest when the Knicks came out strong in the second half all of a sudden it’s a seven-point game I’m like oh well here we go here we go here comes Indiana showing who they really are but then they they they came back I mean I mean they they fought you can also talk about Brunson not finishing the game as well but I don’t know a lot of things fell in their in their favor and if you’re the Boston Celtics you you have to you have to dominate you have to show them that hey this is where your luck runs out you know you have to really send that message and and I think a big part of that is winning both in home and then taking one in at least one over in in Indie you know I think I think that’s what Celtics fans would would love to see that’s like best case scenario in this series Without Chris STS because I do think not having christs is gonna is Gonna Hurt these guys in a way that it could cost them it could cost them two games you know I just don’t think I just think have enough so that they don’t win three you know I don’t know I’d be really surprised this thing goes seven you’re probably right but John’s point though real quick um and gry threw this out there the six best teams in the league net rating wise the last 30 games of the year were the Celtics wolves Thunder Pacers Fifth and the Maverick six so the teams that finished the year strongest kind of rose to the top and the ply got breaks Celtics got breaks too but they took advantage of them and they play yeah well the other the other thing I think the wild card here on the on this is um is the Pacers played well uh down the stretch as you said based off of net rating in those last games and again you had the Sixers playing the majority of that almost the entirety of it without embiid and Giannis was out you know as well you know for for a stretch there so the Milwaukee was obviously kind of beat up and the Nicks had been dealing with stuff all year long so you’ll excuse them a little for not being in that group if they got healthy in time for the playoffs I think it would have been a different story but um they did that without halberton anywhere close to preh hamstring injury halberton which is still really weird because like it was a hamstring injury and we saw it I thought he literally like tore his groin and everything else in between when when he went down because that was against the Celtics that hamstring injury right uh and it was BR it looked awful um he wasn’t he he’s not even his his pre and posts splits are he’s not even close to the same guy if he ever like if he just wakes up and is that guy that’s another dimension to that team if he’s not I don’t know that you know like but he hasn’t quite been he’s been better in the playoffs I think but he really wasn’t that same guy at all that he was prior to I mean we’re talking about him in the if not MVP like all NBA you know like he was he was legit the way he was playing do he scare you Jimmy he I was I was just going to say Bobby there there’s a he’s had a few of these in the playoffs but it it it comes and goes like there’s some games where he’s just flat uh happened in the first round and at least one game against the Knicks in this this past series does he scare you Jimmy hurn I think he he’s not a onea he’s not a not in the way that like Luca scares me or like you know even Mitchell an or Mitchell yeah no he doesn’t scare me that way I think maybe it’s more because he hurts you a lot of playmaking that he does and maybe you don’t see it the same way like he’s not going to fill like the points up the same way some of those guys are but he gets his team involved I mean that’s the one thing you you have to say about him is he gets his guys going he gets him in gear he knows where to find his players um and he’s got a good he carries himself well out there he’s got a lot of confidence yeah there was a stretch during the regular season John yeah you’re right I mean he was the hottest ticket in town he was and then he got hurt you know that was the time right when he went down that lower body it was like hamstring or something like that it was against the Celtics Celtics he did a dead split and we like oh my God he tore everything yeah so I’m glad that he’s back and and you know back in playing obviously but um that was like the hot hot streak for him he doesn’t scare me in the way some of those other superstars do do um but I still think that he’s capable of hurting you um maybe not by himself again I think he does have to rely on some of his other guys um you know seak um who’s who’s the um who’s the guy blanking on his name the center there now Turner turn Turner yeah Turner the guy who’s been there Turner’s kind Turner’s kind of the heart and soul of that Team Jose says exactor I say heart and soul he he is the guy that the fans have rallied around over these years he’s been a part of different makeup of this team they chose him guy that everybody wants to see you know when I just think they couldn’t move him that’s they bonus was the only thing that could get you something else that’s a mean way to put it John but all right right I don’t think they tried to probably it’s probably accurate because he was so many rumors he and John Collins you know year after year you know like that’s fair because they were gonna probably trade I wanted to this to trade for him before before they got ALB back I wanted them to get in the mix for that but I was thing yeah I was part of that too yep I wanted that that was the deal Danny refus to make yes man that feel like so long ago now that was tpe L like you know that was the deal he refused to make the tpe era we’ve been doing this a while now but oh my God remember what we used to get mad about guys be happy I’m just getting mad at fans now you know like there’s not there’s not much one my favorite one of my favorite lines was like guys the tpe from John right is nothing okay it’s nothing you’re not going to just turn it into this magical player who’s going to solve all your you like a t you need stuff with it like oh well they got another tpe out of it I think people were like you just Trad a TP for a really good player done you know like the money match is up like no the clock it’s the clock is ticking you got to cash in this TP guys what they kind crazy how it went to them because they were gonna trade him for Hayward they were probably gonna trade him for Eon because they had the eaten deal signed it was on paper and could have done it but here they are with a really goodl looking team into the future and they M say matheran here which is worth mentioning I know he went out in January but uh he’s a really good player talk about a shooter yeah that’s a big champ the loss you got to consider here they traded Bruce Brown for cakam that was a real loss they have no perimeter Defenders and so we do have to mention I can’t believe we’re this far into the show without mentioning him but n Smith I was just thinking it 19 points John I know you were a bigger lford fan but you were a big neith fan too and look at him I think that was I not were more a fan of just giving them a chance I just wanted them both to get a chance but if I was betting a betting man I thought Romeo might I thought n Smith truthfully fooled everybody with that one little stretch of shooting for a short period of time in you know in a in a shorten season with Vanderbilt you know that that one year where he just shot a really high from three and then he got here and we were like he’s not a good shooter you know yeah he’s like oh he’s not a lights out shooter like this isn’t what we this isn’t what I paid shot like 50% and and and then he did but I thought it was just I thought they got year I thought they got a fake you know Bill of you know like off of him and I thought Romeo because he had a pedigree he was like a top high school player if you could ever like just get that freaking expression off his face and had someone who can motivate him he had a shot Romeo’s motor in in langford’s like skill’s motor yes you’d have Ka Leonard but he honestly I’m so happy for him I really am um because he made something of himself he’s like really useful um I wanted him to be useful here I never thought he would yeah yeah eight to eight 19 points in a game seven man not easy an MSG look at this this is a this is a throwback show yeah yeah oh that’s a day one right there TP talk we’re in the bubble right now if you can if you can quote that era you’ve been you’ve been with us since day someone sent a tweet uh that everyone was posting the porzingis bike videos the other day and everyone was well one guy was like bike watch and I was like that’s you must have been watching a long time to remember bike watch yeah that’s right I love how Tatum just stopped doing that we were like that’s the weirdest thing ever bull we literally bullied him out of it that was the strangest thing they were like look look Jason making fun of you again yeah that’s what teammates say you don’t even know your teammates names or maybe somebody just went up to him and like dude this looks [ __ ] you know like you got to stop man yeah but you know it probably came from someone that’s like that’s not around the team often and which like wait does he always do that and then they realized remember John just left the show and rode the bike it was great saw that was like oh yeah you got a half mile in there’s no chance any of them saw any of these shows and that’s fine but that’s fine that’s awesome yeah yeah Marcus the guy the guy who showed Marcus the clip of the show showed Tatum the bike stuff and he’s like yeah it really was weird it was really really weird stuff but that’s fine we’re well past bike watch at this point um but is Smith a factor in the series I was going to ask here’s why he is a factor you know what the Celtics stupidly do when they play the Pacers they target him he’s a good Defender like he’s annoying Tatum did not have success trying to go one-on-one against n Smith last time at all and they kept going to it thinking they had a matchup there the only thing I worries me with the Celtics on offense is is instead of just going with the flow thinking they’ve got matchups everywhere and and and really stalling out and I don’t think n Smith is a guy you attack like sure you know he can get in foul trouble he’s not gonna get the benefit of that here’s the thing all the people out there who think Tatum never gets a call yes have him attack neith all day long because I guarantee n Smith’s going to get fewer calls in that scenario he’s not a friend of the refs he gets called on Ticky Tac stuff but he freaking competes man he’s not easy to get around he moves his feet high motor high energy he’s a mat he’s not it’s not the matchup they think it is doesn’t he kind of get under their skin a little and I would agree with this and this is what bugged me last series he couldn’t get around stru I this is what I was this is what I was killing Tatum for he couldn’t he couldn’t couldn’t get around stru yeah anyway what were you saying and Aaron Aaron’s inspired he’s ready for this match up no I feel like I feel like n Smith gets under their skin a little bit maybe because he’s so reckless he’s probably like headbutting them accidentally like 14 times but I feel like one of those guys he the he’s the kid that they were scrimmaging against and having their weight with you know what I mean like I feel like it’s part of that that’s part of it as well it’s like hey we’re not going to let this dude beat us so I think there some of that as well you know some chirping going on and good for him you know I think I think the fact that Joe was so short with the whole like what do you think of n question today was because he’s he’s gonna be a problem this series he’s like I’m not trying to what did Joe say didn’t like that question no he just gave the classic it’s good good for him like in other words like I’m not going to gush over this dude who’s not on our team anymore you know you should to finals you should yeah but he hates that he hates that stuff that’s just such normal things to do it’s such a normal thing to do like someone just got to tell Joe like that’s a really obvious easy thing to do a guy played for you and you traded him and he’s doing well elsewhere the the natural response is good for good for him he didn’t play for Joe yeah Joe is his assistant Joe trained him the whole way Joe Joe was there oh you think that’s what it is is that what it is Jimmy is that why Joe’s not claiming him he’s like that’s not my dude yeah maybe if anyone was dude it was him because he was the developmental coach and he coached pitard an Smith so that makes extra weird he’s probably the only guy who talked to them yeah it’s probably him just some Mind Games you know Joe was playing a little mind game yeah cuz Joe had no IDE be head coach to follow you remember Bobby we had n Smith on the show and I kind of like tried to ask him whether Tatum even knew his name that was a great interview I still I love that one I was with the the New Balance interview yeah he was a just a really nice guy really good guy I’m a big Aaron fan I I love the guy and the trade made sense for both sides so it did did is it because he did that interview Bobby Bob yeah Bobby will love players If he if they like give him you know if you give him no I like them as a draft pick I really did and then he didn’t like what you saw as John said when when the results started flowing there but it was a weird year remember like the draft was in November they didn’t have Camp it was the congested season yeah shout out to Pritchard who actually came out and played well that year think he just from all the experience he had but it was a rough start for nce Smith and he probably needed a fresh start to some degree so certainly no reg he always he just he just always seemed overwhelmed you know just oh yeah in the in game even on the side sometimes when people kind of joking around sound like he was just trying to absorb everything but just in his head a lot of the times and yeah I mean sometimes that’s what it takes for a player just a a fresh start elsewhere uh that that uh that thing in their head where it’s like man man like I didn’t think that I could be traded like wait what what do you mean I’m traded you know like that shock value I think there’s something to that for some players where they go to the next stop they’re like okay like I have to make this work or you know it’s it’s a it’s a it’s a seamless fit you know when they you know obviously are hurt in one way but also saying okay well at least a team does want me and this is a fresh start not as much pressure you know uh situation like the Pacers compared to a team like the ttic that’s chasing a championship so yeah I think it all came together for him yeah um I did you guys talk about any actual basketball earlier like key to the series you guys did your X factors no we haven’t we to first of all yes we did talk actual basketball but we did not hit on the actual lower third stuff that we have here so if you want I’ll just throw it out there before we wrap let’s get into some just series prediction sort of stuff so what let’s go around the horn your key to the series Bobby is what for the for the Celtics to do I think it’s the depth the bench minutes here uh because obviously if you’re Indiana you need to survive when H Burton’s off the floor I think they were like plus 6.7 with him on compared to off this year which was like in the 84th percentile Celtics were great during the year plus 12 without Tatum there so that bench has been a strength for Boston in this series is it gonna be last series was a great cornet Series this one not really uh so do you go to tman at a certain point when he’s back and available do you go to brassette here who’s a former pace sir you know you’re gonna have to try to find some minutes there from guys by the way John this not the first time he’s mentioned Luke but go ahead but and hower hower has been better than I thought in the playoffs 44% from three doesn’t feel like he’s made a major Mark so far though he any way PR been fantastic disaar he disappeared last series I didn’t even know Hower played yeah what I’m saying so uh Indiana might have the edge there in this series and can they actually weaponize that can those I I did not think Bobby got I I I just didn’t think Bobby was going to get me right there with the Luke stuff with the luk oh man to they’re they have an athletic bench so Obby toppen played the series of his life Jackson’s physical play Luke should not play but who’s gonna anybody literally anybody else go small you might have to go small T at the five Tatum at the five practice happen John that might that last game against the Pacers I didn’t think there were any Tatum five minutes this year off the top of my head but I saw someone post a video today he did play a little bit in that last Pacer Celtics game at the five they won five out so um we we’re gonna have to see it in this series I don’t think there’s any way around it if you play Horford 40 minutes a game in this series that’s something that could actually put you in trouble of going six s games here yeah the athletic the unathletic bench I mean the athletic difference between on the bench here here scares me a little bit TJ McConnell is really good I’m surprised Jimmy hasn’t talked about TJ nonstop here my ex if you want to jump to xfactor we’ll get to x-factors in a minute um key to the series go way key to the series uh key to the series for the Celtics um protecting the paint Rim protection I mean I think that’s the part that without Chris STS that the Pacers can really keep up with the Celtics offensively I mean we know who they are um overall the best offensive teams in the NBA but I think when the Celtics um are at their best defensively it’s going to it’s going to cause issues for these guys and they’re going to resort to trying to get high percentage shots and they’re and if the three-point shots Fallen guys like hurn uh you know even Miles Turner had a had a huge game against the Knicks from behind the arc like that when that stuff happens I think that’s where Celtics could really be yeah I mean possessions are going to be important as well I don’t know if the Celtics I mean I don’t know if the Pacers uh in terms of winning the rebounding battle I think it adds to the issues for the Celtics if that happens but I don’t think it’s something that will really play a big part it’s just more about how many uh additional possessions can these guys come up with when the Pacers are going downhill and they’re in their bag you know because that stuff’s going to happen they’re going to go on their runs they’re going to um you know it’s going to be important to see how the sub respond to to that but Rim protection I feel like can be an issue for these guys as the series goes on and there’s no Cris steps I think that hurts so for me it’s I don’t want to confuse people people with I’m not saying play slow I hate when they play too slow but I do think that they they need to avoid getting into a a back and forth up and down with the Pacers I don’t think that’s what they want I think they need to actually instill a little instill a little toughness I’d love to see holiday and white just get up and in halberton and just take him out of this series I don’t mean hurt him I just mean just eliminate his ability to do much and we’ve seen it we’ve seen holiday we’ve seen some really good hard glimpses of holiday so far in the playoffs this would be another really good one for him but I I really want to see the Celtics slow it down a little bit um you know maximize you know maximize their possessions but just don’t get into the back and forth with Indie because that’s what Indie wants Indie wants to dance they just want to prance around and dance and shoot and score and get back and do it again back and forth back and forth they don’t want to get down and dirty on the defensive end things so you know what it is too they’re gonna try to hide uh halberton Andrew so well got take try whatever they want yeah they can try whatever they want the Celtics i’ said I’ve said this before too the Celtics are the big bad wolf here the Celtics don’t play to what the Pacers want the Pacers are forced to try to figure out how to stop the Celtics that’s how this series should be played yeah for me it’s uh we I said it earlier but defense um the uh you you defense seriously in this in this series again the great equalizer is you can play defense they can’t so you know how do you what’s your greatest Advantage here like don’t get into like we’re all stars and like I I let Tatum cook and you know like they’re both good offensive teams what you guys can do is defend so lock it up lock them up uh especially on the perimeter and lock those guys up don’t give them space play aggressive don’t do stupid [ __ ] where you concede certain things like just play defense defense I think wins it um as always and again that’s that’s the great equalizers Celtics can play both a lot of teams cannot and this is the great the greatest Advantage they have here is on the defensive end and the ability to make things tough they lock it down that’s going to make it easier on offense turn turn defense to offense and that’s how they’re going to get going so take defense seriously early don’t go out there and just be like we’re awesome and we’re going to you know just let our offense do the talking I don’t I don’t think that that’s the case I will say offensively though I mentioned this earlier don’t get caught matchup hunting all game long move it move it move it move it don’t stagnate that’s gonna drive me freaking insane so don’t do that Switching gears to the Pacers what can the Pacers do uh we’re GNA start with Jimmy what can they do give the ball to TJ McConnell the Pacers can stay first of all un like any of the other teams of the have had to play they can’t afford to lose anybody tell Jimmy um honestly the the Pacers have to ride this wave of momentum that they’re on they have to ride this conf this young young careless energy that they have and they have to pretty much this in-game momentum is GNA carry them to a couple wins I think that’s like something that I think is gonna happen to them I think they’re going to get a couple of wins at home um off of the energy that they kind of feed out just watching the Pacers game especially the playoffs here they’re high energy they get going fast you could tell they really really enjoy each other and enjoy playing with each other um and I think that they can score in bunches soel to slow it down if they don’t the Pacers need to take advantage of that they actually do need to maximize their possessions that’s really what what they need to do and they’ve done a great job of that this year I think they led the league in field goal percentage so it’s not like they’re taking bad shots um you know they’re taking a lot of shots and they’re figuring out ways to be effective and you guys already talked about um their ability to score in the paint I think that’s a great idea for them somebody had said it earlier I know who it was but we just talked about the fact that it’s not a good not a good cornette series porzingis is we’ve seen some limitations with Horford especially last series against the Cavs it’s going to be in their best interest to attack the paint whether they whether they get to the line or not so I think that’s how how they’re going to be able to uh compete in this one Joe S yeah um same you know U attack in the paint just trying to collect files from the Celtics I think that’s going to be a big part of what they do and and in establishing that I think you’re going to see them start spraying that ball out to three-point Shooters you know guys that can knock them down guys guys that can get hot uh like hurn for example um to the point where you know that could carry him to the end of the game you know especially in the second half where he’s done that throughout these playoffs um I think their bench you know is is could play a part in this one as well I think they have to find that consistent production from the second unit and I don’t think they’re going to have problems with that I really don’t I I think it’ll be interesting to see what the Celtics bench look like outside of Payton Pritchard um which I talked about a little bit before you came on uh John how uh Hower just disappeared against the Cavs and I don’t I don’t think he can get away with that in this one I think the Celtics need um something out of Hower you know uh offensively coming off that bench because let’s face it after Pritchard after Hower it gets really really thin I mean they just don’t have guys that can put up points if we’re being you know completely honest with the Celtics team and I think when it comes down it uh you’re going to want other guys to step in um defensively you know you can have reinforcements I wouldn’t mind seeing tman at some point in this series just to see if he can uh get some G gather stops you know with if if Luke doesn’t doesn’t pan out um which I think he might have a tough time in this series so yeah I think um just attacking the Celtics trying to get to the free throw line um establishing their inside presence with guys like seak and and and Miles Turner will be part of their game play for sure and on the defensive end of the floor just keeping guys in front of Tatum and and brown trying to Rattle one of these guys or both of them uh into poor shooting nights you know I think that’s a that’s a big part of what’s going to go into uh them putting together a win you know to start off especially in Boston I think it’s going to be really hard for them uh wanted to to steal one of these games yeah I I’ll jump in Bobby and I’ll give you yours I’m gonna say again what I said earlier um Pacers key I think is trying to run the Celtics off the three-point line and make them make their offense play the way you want them to play instead of the way they want to play I think if the Pacers because the Pacers can’t defend straight up but if they can get the Celtics to if they can alter the shot profile uh to their liking um they might be able to win the math game here so I’m going to go a little bit I’m going to go all Joe moula on you guys I think the Pacers have to play the numbers game a little bit with the Celtics here and um concedes and actually that’s here’s the thing and that’s what always bugged me with uh with the Celtics conceding things when you’re physically better than the other team you shouldn’t concede things and do Mickey Mouse stuff try to you know whatever you should just play them straight up and aggressive and just bend them to your will guess guess what Joe said today you got to live with certain stuff like what certain shots things that they do well yeah things that Pati are G to get naturally you have to live with certain things I think I think you’re gonna live with like nart being wide open you’re gonna live with guys like that well I hate that but I’m saying from the Pacers I think the Pacers need to play that tactic I hate when the Celtics do it but I think the Pacers need to play that tactic and actually try to try to uh move the numbers game in their favor do what they do and defend that three-point line make the Celtics take different shots Force those guys and again Force Tatum and brown to take it into the interior maybe not brown as much force Tatum to take it to the hole um you know uh and and and take take shots where you know uh as opposed to you know just letting guys especially you know you want holiday trying to you know go at people or as opposed to just camping out at the three-point line you want to run white off the line there so if they can do that um if the Pacers can manipulate the Celtics a little bit into playing the type of offensive game the Pacers want the Celtics to play I could see that being problematic Bobby yeah a lot has to go right here I think the biggest one is just porzingis being out the whole series like that’ll open the door and then they have to set the tone with their Pace they have to establish how the series is going to be played and that’s fast and frenetic keep their turnovers down Force the Celtics into some turnover and just find different ways to get the shot Advantage like you said John with the math there they’re going to have to shoot more get more threes up that’s all gonna be a factor here but it does come down to Jose mentioned them seaka being great like I always say draft the players in the series here and right now it’s Tatum Brown uh you’re probably throwing in like Derek white there to some degree before you get to halberton and sakam you gota if you’re cakam like really rank yourself up the high AR of this series like you got to play better than brown you gota play better than white certainly and you got to be right there with you know Tatum and halberton is going to come up big two here it always a lot of the time comes down to the best players in the series and in this series where Tatum’s averaging 32 and 11 against this team during this year it’s gonna be hard for halberton to be the best player in the series yakum has struggled mightily in that brown matchup in the past as we remember here you know going back to some of those playoff series it’s it’s an uphill bad V Indy here and that’s why they’re The Underdogs they are but porzingis being out for the whole series would help a lot and then shuring up some of the weaknesses that they would have in this series Jose way mentioned the rebounding and that pace it’s got to be there they got to really just play harder than the Celtics and white was talking about that today like how the Celtics would really try and emphasize being that harder playing team in this series because it almost comes natural to the Pacers you know like they’re so used to the hustle style yeah they’re they’re they’re a little they’re they they make it up as they go they’re kind of all over the place but they’re going to come at you and that’s the thing is like you know got we got we didn’t we got to match their energy uh we got to make sure that we’re matching their energy out there you can’t be you can’t be in that position can’t do that can’t have the we didn’t match their energy sound bites after I think there’s going to be at least one of those games that I’m already mad about it um so we’ll see we’ll see huh we’ll see yeah it’s a little Jaylen um but I think I actually I I’ll jump out here I’m not even talking X Factor I’m gonna my my prediction on who’s gonna be the man for my Conference Finals MVP prediction is brown uh who I think is gonna have a Monster Series I think he’s I think he’s gonna carve them up because yeah I think they he’s gonna carve them up um so I expect big games from Brown uh predictions we all have the Celtics but in how many games Around the Horn Jimmy six yeah six I think I think they Celtics win the first two Pacers win the next two and then Celtics win the game five at home and then somehow they just turn into NBA Finals ready mode and they just win on the road game six Bobby two2 game five wow Bobby yeah I’ll go six as well six Joe s ah we did this again guys damn it yeah I saw this in six um I I think they uh steal one in Indie and uh they close it out in Indie yeah I think that’s how it it’s gonna go again with no porzingis with no porzingis no I know I was gonna say I was say something else I was like wait that doesn’t make sense again again with no with no with no porzingis if porzingis comes back uh then they can wrap this up in five but I think six I said Celtics in seven okay um because I do think it’s possibly um poring come back for game seven one because I was bored and I figured I’d say something different also I just don’t see it being a runaway in five though it would not surprise me um and I don’t think porzingis is GNA play uh for a while um I don’t think the news feels encouraging um I don’t think what he’s doing look good I don’t think what he’s doing remotely resembles a person even close to starting to resume basketball activities he’s not even he doesn’t even look like and again who knows in the back room when the cameras aren’t on he might be doing some [ __ ] and they put him out there and it’s all subterfuge and it’s meant to be throw people off the scent of course that’s always possible there’s gamesmanship in the playoffs for sure but to our you know untrained eye like or just what we’re seeing when we’re out there and you guys are at practice he looks like he’s just kind of still like week one you know J exactly staying engaged mentally but he’s just not there physically right now I know exactly Durk and that’s the thing I don’t want to I don’t want to say that I don’t want to I don’t want to say it I I I tell you this I jump off this bandwagon really fraking fast I might jump back on but I I all one of those [ __ ] games and I go flying off of it and it’s not fair we just watch M we watch Minnesota absolutely choke away a two lead after winning two on the road to Denver and and you know and then Anthony Edwards start cop supplementing the other players and they looked cooked and they turned it around so yeah a lot can happen in a series wild a lot can happen in a series then you watch joic and the Nuggets put up 70 in game six and you’re like never again and then so I yeah a lot can happen a lot can happen I think we are obviously extremely hard on the Celtics um because we watch think they’re gonna we watch them all the time yeah so I’m not I’m not gonna freak out but it is frustrating when you feel it coming you’ve allowed three losses in this series so you’re already prepared for like three horrible I have I have we’re we’re bringing we’re bringing this guy on the stage to close the show he’s not gonna show his face hi Amit Amit who we got Amit you there Amit oh is he shy come on are you shy he hates come out can Amit come out and play oh wait you guys put me on yeah we put you on he said he was put his headphones on like what what’s going on Focus do we get to see you no no no all right so we’re gonna sing happy we’re gonna sing Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to You birthday to you we’re all different up Jimmy Le it birthday dear am the greatest produc greatest producer in the worldy [Music] birth there you go I like it this isn’t fair man you’re the only one that can sing also we’re all out of so just let Jimmy take it because he can sing take it boys I kind of like yeah Amed I’ll see him at Hunters on Friday I think he’s gonna skip the game at in India I love Hunters I’ll be there we’re doing a we’re doing a game three preview party at Hunters night before don’t don’t un announce that have a bunch of people pulling up hey where your hard hat hard hat hard hat you get in for free if you show up with no cover yeah yeah no cover yeah give you a VI I thought it would pop in pop on the screen but no oh there was no chance he was doing that dude we’re gonna we’re gonna celebrate soon he want he doesn’t want to get stopped in the streets like we yeah exactly he he wants to lay low you know we tried anyway G Real G’s mooving silence like lasagna yeah that’s right a sincere happy birthday from everyone on the garden report and it’s CNS media the man who makes this place run he can’t even ah so underrated he might be overrated at this point um you know good point you know you know it’s he’s he’s that important yes Ahmed is the producer um I kind of like yeah you can go go back to your producer cave back to the cave right Amit just amit’s in my basement right now he’s just churning out Graphics yeah he’s just got graphics and and and yeah yeah he got he got the cake though right you sent him that cake that’s that was nice you know it would be nice if Jose if Joseph was watching it’ be nice if he threw am at a little party maybe a little offseason party maybe all of us something like that you know no pressure we call him Nick Nick grossbeck what we call yeah Nick Nick gck loosen up the purse strings geez Nick no we just gave we just gave am a race because he basically is two people so we decided to pay him like one full person um which was cool yeah and I’m like half so you could just take mine and give it to him so yeah that one of the best comments in the Tweet was like amit’s just one person yeah it’s it really is impossible to think about it because he’s literally freaking everywhere and he’s covered everything for us so uh anyway you can’t spell Amit without AI sure you know what I’m saying that was way worse thanck that’s awesome I like Nick grck though Nick grck is here to stay for sure cross yes he does a lot of the thumbnails um anyway thank you guys for watching thank you for hanging out with us we’re back tomorrow at the Garden uh with uh game one uh so we’re excited about that and again just stay with us this is the run it continues on hopefully a little bit more juice this time but honestly it doesn’t matter if you’re one of those Celtics fans out there right now who’s a sad girl because people aren’t respecting you or calling the path easy it doesn’t matter it doesn’t matter you’re just trying to get to the finals at this point and then that’s what matters something talk about the Celtics basically played a preseason during the regular season this year they’re ramping it up now this is going to be good game one tomorrow will be here we hope you guys are as well thank you as always for watching for Jimmy Joe S Bobby and of course Amit hanging out birday boy birthday boy yep we thank you guys and we will uh we’ll see you tomorrow wait am’s got an outro for us I think no he doesn’t he said he was going to work on an notra he had a phenomenal game phenomenal poit out I I think it’s an option that did not sound like a chair it was a freaking chair it does sound like a chair
The Garden Report goes live to preview the Celtics Eastern Conference Finals matchup vs the Pacers and give out their series predictions.
following the Celtics game 4 vs the Cavs. Catch the Celtics Postgame Show featuring Bobby Manning, Josue Pavon, Jimmy Toscano, A. Sherrod Blakely and John Zannis as they offer insights and analysis from Boston’s game vs Cleveland.
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21 Comments
Celtics in 5
Bobby Smiling everytime Josue turns into Robo-sue
Celtics in 6
John joins “🙄”
WE WANT BOSTON! WE WANT BOSTON! WE WANT BOSTON! WE WANT BOSTON! WE WANT BOSTON! WE WANT BOSTON!
😂😂😂😂 Josue that Brockton WiFi
Pacers are legit and play great at home… this won’t be a sweep but ☘️ need to make a statement and defend the Garden. I would also like to see Tillman to get some minutes to supplement Horford and Kornet. Not as big but he’s quicker and has defensive savvy.
Happy Birthday Amit! Greatest producer in the world 💪
Someone pls explain to me what the bike watch thing with JT is😅
If I told you 3 years ago that Nesmith was standing between the Celtics and the finals, you'd jump for joy. I'm hoping he doesn't come out and shoot 70% for the series out of the blue.
Now it's when the Celtics game to stop coasting. I know they've played well to to this point, but I want to see hustle from everybody every play until they raise the trophy.
Go ahead Bobby, say it – Pacers in 6 or 7!
There’s analysis & then there’s irrational fear.
Celtics in 5
At what point in this show do we say something GREAT about the Celtics?
At what point will you 3 discuss how worried the Pacers should be of the Celtics?
It’s all DOOM & Gloom for y’all.
I think this series is going to go just like the 2019 series vs the pacers where we swept them but every game was close
Sweep them. We haven't needed KP and when we do get him we should win the chip if everyone plays their role fairly well. Josue should grab Paul Pierce after the game. Bobby should get neismith and ask him what his problem is
Celtics in 3!
If tatum doesnt win a chip.this year then he becomes the joke of the NBA instead of the face.
Celtics need to attack HALIBURT#0 on all positions lol
Celtics absolutely have zero excuses idc if KP doesn’t play another game in these playoffs the fact is u are the only experienced team left 5 conf finals in the last 6 years and a finals all the pressure is on the Celtics they will be the laughing stock of the league if they don’t win it this summer they can’t loose to mavs or wolves or pacers all these teams are playing pressure free cause first off nobody expected them to get this far while the Celtics Ben the fav sense the season started they absolutely can’t loose the only okay L would’ve Ben is to the nuggets in my opinion… they must get the job done other than that critics will tear this team apart this summer
Ya'll are so pessimistic. why have a podcast if u don't even like your own team. cornball ass losers.