[FULL] NBA TODAY | Jefferson on NBA Finals are set Mavs vs Celtics: Luka Join for All-Time NBA GREAT

[FULL] NBA TODAY | Jefferson on NBA Finals are set Mavs vs Celtics: Luka Join for All-Time NBA GREAT

welcome to NBA Today presented by ESPN bet once the moment happens and great players become Legends it’s all over NBA champions I still can’t believe that we are won a championship everything possible it’s all about love the Love of the Game and making something last for eternity all about right here it feels like what are they going to say now the western conference champions are the Dallas Mavericks they’re going to the NBA final they’ll take on the Boston Boston’s in the way in between our goals so that’s it man the 2024 NBA Finals they are set Luca in the Mavs we square off against Jason Tatum in the Celtics and there are plenty of story lines to dive into my friends let start with Tatum and Luca they’ve carried their teams to this point right both members of First Team all NBA they LED their squads in points in rebounds and assists this postseason making this the first ever finals match up between two players to do that and while these finals they have plenty of star power right there may be even more drama because Kyrie he’s going to be back in Boston where he’s not only lost 10 straight but remember the the burning of the sage flipping off Celtics fans stomping on Lucky the logo at Center Court yeah all that but he’s been a star I mean nailing huge shots on fin teams before he’s a top tier running mate again luuka is four wins away from being the first scoring champ to Hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy since Shaq in 2000 speaking of Larry he’s here with us welcome to NBA Today presented by ESPN bet we see your dynamic duo Dallas I raise you a terrific Trio that we have here Andrea Carter Richard Jefferson and CH all here Zack love will be by shortly as well I’m Malika Anders now that we know the matchup though Rich what are you looking for what are you most excited for in these finals no I think there’s a a lot of interesting legacies that can be made when you look at Jason Tatum finally getting over that hump with the historic Boston Celtics Kyrie winning a championship without LeBron and getting back to the finals Luca possibly winning his first championship and cementing himself as one of this Generations great there are so many things Jason Kid Joe missou there is so much on the line across the board I don’t think we have seen a situation like this in a long time we’ve been waiting for the moment when Luca donic takes over the NBA is this the that moment is this the moment where that happens Luca’s oxygen is taking the life stealing the life from his opponents and we saw this in a grand fashion he has the most points per game after a loss in NBA postseason history and more importantly it doesn’t matter who’s guarding him who’s on the bench who’s in the stands that is feeding the Beast feeding the monster that is Luca donic has that moment finally arrived where he has taken things personally and it’s worked to the better for his legacy as you said Richard listen Boston fans just don’t start talking too Luca that only makes him it’s literally poking the bear he’s built like a bear it’s poking the bear for me when it comes to this finals it’s the backcourt Duos the Batman and Robin the one-two punch that both teams have Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown and then you’ve got Luca donic and Kyrie Irving those two backcourt Duos going at it unbelievable so before we continue to look forward I just want to look take a look back right at How the West Was W so let’s go now to Minneapolis uh where Luca and Kyrie they meant Business from The Jump the Mavs looking to close this out after they were not able to at home Luca averages more than 34 points in the playoffs after a loss stop just got to laugh Rich you can’t guard that and look what I love about great players is when they come out and set the tone follow my lead and everything is going to be okay when he comes out and is this aggressive knocking down shots look here after a loss we’ve talked about how his point per game and what they look like but it was just the management of the logo bro yeah like Minnesota fans were like uhoh the building went real quiet real quick for a minute there he couldn’t miss well yeah that’s what Luca is he is one of those defining players that will take over a moment and there’s nothing else you can do about it the sad thing in this series the only other person that could do it was on his team right Kyrie Irving he was five for five in the second quarter and he put on a master class these two guys Luca and Kyrie they had experience and it showed that guy right there has the best handle in NBA history that guy right there has been battle tested and guess what when he’s in isolation when he’s moving the ball around he’s able to be his best self because he does he knows nothing but attack Kyrie Irving 15 points in the second quarter so the Mavs up huge we don’t need to keep reading the score Andrea that’s just R yeah don’t don’t worry about the score okay it was embarrassing at one point it was extremely disappointed the the Kyrie Irving cross over to the left and then he hops back right I still can’t get over that sleep that’s all he’s trying to do in the defense donic gets go and a little floater there he had a Runway a complete Runway to the basket but I love this he’s telling his team keep going keep going don’t take your foot off the gas Andrea just because we’re up by a ton that was my favorite part and that was right after Anthony Edwards was very annoyed with Rudy goar for not getting up on so you got one side superstar that was frustrated and the other side Superstar like oh yeah another star enjoying thejoy the Snoop can do is laugh and compliments to Luca we have seen him increasingly frustrated over the course of this post but when you have your two superstars go 10 for 20 from three they’re shooting 50% there there is nothing to look at we’ve been watching that that’s just what he’s even LCA though can’t believe it on that one hitting us with a little MJ shrug like yeah I’m like that bro 36 points 10 rebounds five assists here’s Luca after the game I think we’ beat three very very very good teams uh and not having home Home Advantage which is which is pretty good for us it has been seven long years but it’s it’s also felt felt like um the right amount of time you know in order to uh reward myself be in the locker room with my teammates and enjoying it um long time coming so we are going to enjoy this but we obviously know this just a pit stop in the journey and we got to get ready for uh you know that Court turning gold as I as I like to say you know the shoes turn gold the uh jerseys turn gold and um you know as a kid that’s what you dream of uh getting to is uh the finals and being able to play against the best of the best With The Whole World Watcher all right so Andrea Luca was named the MVP at the Western Conference Finals but it goes way beyond that look at this every single category first first first first first what did you see from him this postseason well I saw Brilliance from Luca D this postseason but when I played basketball and I went up against a superstar my coaches always said you have to make the star show how good they are every shot has to be difficult right Minnesota did not do that to luuka doners let’s give Luca credit because he made incredible plays but there were some plays where I was so confused on what Minnesota was doing as far as making it easy for Luca watch this now Richard you said you can’t guard this you can guard it a lot harder than this look at all this space watch Anthony Edwards just die on the screen LCA walks right in to a three-point shot that’s just simply too easy for Luca D then here straight Runway down the line luuka could stop and sip tea before he shoots the ball he’s got so much time and space to score it’s simply too easy there were so many plays life cannot be that easy for a superstar like Luca donin and it’s not like he just became a superstar he’s been doing this the youngest player ever to play with Real Madrid over in Europe Euro League MVP at 19 years old he’s ready for this moment if you’re the defense let’s pivot forward to Boston you have to make life more difficult on Luca donic you cannot give him anything easy he got a lot of easy opportunities last night particularly because as you can see he is not new to this he is True to this he has been playing at a high level as a pro since he was essentially a teenager 13 years old you know what I was doing at 13 we don’t okay yeah not that about that I’ll talk about what I was doing with the 13 years old here on on NBA Today Zack low as promised joining us now as well Zack we’re talking here about the Ascension of Luca donic what have you seen from him the guy is barely 25 years old that’s the scary part where this guy is going to rank all time there there’s almost NE no ceiling on it if he stays healthy but right now he has every shot and every pass and he’s 67 and big and strong and that means he can get anywhere he wants against any defense any scheme he has seen everything and he is about to see a bunch of different defenses from what may be the best or second best defense in the league and the most versatile defense in the league and guess what he’s going to figure out the answer to all of them within one possession because if he’s making his floaters and his step back jumpers there’s just almost nothing you can do with him except mix it up because if you Blitz him he’s just going to make the right play every time and the mads are going to get good shots out of if you drop back he’s going to prod and prod and get those floaters and those lobs he manipulates the very best defenses because he’s big enough with enough Vision he has every pass in the book to get whatever he wants once he figures out what you’re trying to do this guy is a terrifying offensive Force it’s him and joic as the two best offensive players in the league and if Dallas is going to beat Boston it’s going to start with Luca being the best player in the series by a pretty decent margin a and he is the best player in this series by a decent margin but we have to understand the standard is still the standard everybody was ready to Crown Anthony Edwards as as the next MJ and again the future face of the league I’m not going to talk about that because there is no handing that or someone taking that that comes from years of work put Luca has an opportunity to kind of increase this narra we just saw up on that Big Board he’s been doing this for a very very long time he still has to win a championship we can’t put him amongst the great statistically he is one of the greatest that we have ever seen already statistically but we know that the standard that we hold for LeBron James Kobe Bryant Michael Jordan all of those guys were statistical monsters but then they took over the league from a winning and Championship domination standpoint he’s already been to the Western Conference he got one step further and now it’s like the Luca show it is it has an opportunity to be the Luca show and now we get to all watch History transpire so let’s say that they do win it all let’s say that Dallas takes takes the throne do you think that Luca donic becomes is he is he the best player in the NBA look I think legacies are predicated on winning championships and the cool thing about this finals match up is we’ve seen two instances where one can go Boston’s way with their young stars and one can go Dallas’s way now I still think that Nika yic is the best player until someone else proves they can win and dominate and Luca has one more series away before he makes a really great case Richard really quickly I still stand by this Luca doesn’t have an MVP he doesn’t have an MVP when we talk about Giannis when we talk about Luca we’re talking about five MVPs in two championships getting him in a championship gets him in the conversation Champion championship of the world right getting there gets him amongst the conversations but he’s got a long way to go in my opinion before he is the best most dominant player in this league and I think the reason why he doesn’t have an MVP is because after the trade deadline we saw a better team if they had this team at the start of the year then maybe the every time we come in every season we say Luca should be MVP but the team did not back it up now he has the team to back it up maybe he misses MVP and gets championship and that might even matter even more to LCA D yeah I will say he puts up 35 15 and 12 against the Boston Celtics if you’re into that kind of if you’re into that kind of stuff the Celtics did win both of their matchups in the regular season though we’re going to dive more into the finals coming up here on NBA today and also Ant and the Wolves postseason run it’s officially over but the question is should Minnesota run it back or does Ant-Man need a new sidekick next season Chan do we need a new sidekick are we so happy with yeah let’s get rich Andrea please stay BL grab your popcorn because the finals will be a star Fair who is The Edge though Tatum and brown or luuka and Kyrie we do love you rich and 17 years ago today LeBron put on a performance of a lifetime where does it rank in alltime playoff takeovers find out in just a couple minutes you’re the sibling we hate but we will fight over people mess with you we can the Timberwolf season it came to an abrupt end last night this one was over early Minnesota Trail by 29 at the half that’s their worst first half in team postseason history it was also their worst defensive effort in the playoffs they gave up 24 points to the Mavs so here’s Anthony Edwards on what exactly went wrong we never clicked all together as a team in this series not not even one game I think that was the main thing like no like um the last two series we was all clicking at one time making shots and stuff we wasn’t clicking at one time now what’s your emotions as the season now comes to an end about what you accomplished and where it fell short uh I just said we’ll be back next year so ant says that they’ll be back and honestly I have no reason to doubt him when we look back I think this season is going to be the year that the 22-year-old he became a household name he had multiple 40-point games in route to knocking out the reigning Champs don’t forget this postseason he drew comparisons to a young Michael Jordan and his charismatic press conferences they become as much a mustsee as his dunks on the court look at this too he became the second player ever with 400 points 100 rebounds 100 assists in a single postseason at age 22 or younger joining pretty Elite company you’ve heard of him LeBron James in 2007 so here’s Justin Tinsley to explain why the losses like last night might make the eventual triumphs even sweeter can one truly appreciate the mountain toop without setbacks or heartbreak Dallas was too much this is embarrassing if you’re the Minnesota timberwol even with the Western Conference Finals law Anthony Edwards Sports most charismatic Superstar was the breakout force of the 2024 NBA playoffs He barked at Kevin Durant one of his basketball Idol that was probably one of the best feelings ever in my whole life he led the charge in a second round upset of the world champion Denver Nugget what a come by Minnesota but in the NBA growing pain play out on the world stage just look at history Kareem Abdul Jabar captured his first title in his second season and didn’t win again for nearly a decade Magic Johnson a five-time champion remains haunted by the 1984 finals and the tragic Johnson moniker that came from it Michael Jordan went 6 and0 in the finals but not until he got past the Bad Boys sha was swept by hakee Kobe air balled those shots in Utah LeBron lost in the finals twice before he saw the view from the NBA’s Pinnacle and Steph Curry was the unanimous MVP before his team blew a 3-1 lead in the finals no story worth telling amids adversity such is the reality of Anthony Edwards yet instead of outrageous comparison let Ant-Man be Ant-Man it’s not cocky it’s not arrogance it’s just I’m just a confident person I just think I’m the best in everything that I do all too often in life we tend skip to the end of the book before letting chapters write themselves and if it’s anyone who doesn’t need any help coming up with their own word I just want to kill everything in front of me man that’s the main thing don’t never worry about me being I’m here it’s Anthony Edwards I just you can’t help but smile watching that Anthony Edwards is so much fun I’ll miss seeing him on the floor night in and night out but Justin Tinsley started that fantastic essay by asking do you need to feel heartbreak before you get to the mountain top to truly appreciate it Richard you’ve done a few times I wasn’t going to say it let me say this no you do not need it but it’s a part of the journey outside of Magic Johnson who won it in his rookie year but he showed up with Kareem and Norm Nixon in a loaded Squad But ultimately history shows us that you have tons of failure before you have ultimate success we love to talk about Jordan’s six rings we don’t talk about all the years he was getting clapped by Boston clapped by Detroit that’s just the truth right but then he gets there and that’s why we hold Michael Jordan in such a high regard because once he held the mountain top it was his there wasn’t any up and down so I look at ant and say this is a part of the journey we look at Luca right now what happened with Luca got to a Conference Finals couple years trying to figure out the team then boom now they’re back in the finals so this is a part of the journey no one gets to skip it I think this was a big step for the Timberwolves and for an and the question is what’s the next step going to be in terms of if this is the roster that they believe they can get to that ultimate mantle with because if you look at their offseason right the Wolves they can keep their main rotation intact I know this is a lot of information here so we’re going to leave it up for just a second only Kyle Anderson is a free agent this is all according to Bobby marks Minnesota has 196.7 million in committed salary that is factoring in the first round pick that they have and they would also be over the second apron which wo that’s spooky word again the second apron Rudy goar is under contract for at least one more season cat for three more seasons they both though have player options so now that we’re sort of digesting all of this Zach do you think that cat and Rudy are the right running mates for Anthony Edwards should they run back this roster it depends what the alternative is because we know we have proof of concept the structure of this team as is can get pretty damn far and yeah it feels disappointing today getting blown out at home losing 4-1 but do not sneeze at unseating the defending champions in seven games with three Road wins including game seven in Denver and C who’s going to get all the focus in however they might have to remake remake their team going forward because of his contract he was outstanding in that series and you have to come to grips with this if you decide to make a cat move that is at least partially for financial reasons you have to accept that that may mean a step back at least a little bit on the court until you can kind of reorient your team and see what you get in return for him and everything fits and it’s going to be hard to do that because the West is loaded there are young teams are getting better there are teams in their Prime that are going to stay right where they are and so if it’s me it’s not my money but if it’s me this team proved enough that it should get another chance to be kept together as awkward as it can be sometimes they’re pretty damn good and yeah you can break it up you can move pieces around you might not be quite as good and years can go by before you get back to this level again I say don’t break it up don’t break it up like give this group give this unit what you’re conf you think they should break it up I am agreeing with you I was like who is the dumbass that’s saying break up these young I’m like you okay do we remember after game seven when they beat Denver right and and it was cat and it was ant and they were at the desk they were at the interview and they were laughing like H how much more we got to lose we lost last year this was the loss that this team needed they thought it was enough when they lost last season to get them to the Western Conference Finals they thought they could go further this this is an incredible experience what did you say Richard a step in their Journey cat Aunt Rudy they’re on a journey together I feel like NBA fans sometimes NBA owners they’re so quick to break something up before they even get it give it a chance they want these immediate results it’s not realistic give this group a chance this was an incredible season and how much more we got to lose they need to lose this one yeah I mean the idea is that you don’t really want to lose when you are built to beat the defending champs your expectation is to be the champ but then yeah this boss is humbling the issue here is not that they have the wrong or right unit you know the real issue is how this unit is being utilized when you have carony town that gives you 19 points per game when you have Rudy goar who wins defensive player of the year when you have the sixthman of the year in Nas Reed if you look around the NBA and this is my post stable you are winning that is a win to have that type of Ono but when you beat the defending champs and the nuggets and you can beat them by going big then you turn around and you struggle with small it’s about the adjustments in the game not adjusting your players man if these boys would have had the path that Boston had they’d be in the finals right now facts so let’s not break it up let’s just keep it together and keep it pushing speaking of Boston how many times over the years oh should the Jay’s break up luk that wasn’t us we talking come on boys let’s have some baby together on three 1 2 3 donic Irving [Music] spectacular and it’s just Total Domination the Dallas Mavericks they’re going to the NBA finals the Mavs they are finals Bound for the third time in Fant history thanks to one of the most talented Duos ever and here CH is how they got it done all right Luka and Kyrie took over game five for the map just look at this score bug here to bring you Sage ah look look it’s already been saged like Boston might want to Sage that building for Kyrie Walker what I’m saying Minnesota clearly needs to do something here’s Jason kid about Luca’s greatness after the game we believe he is one of the greatest I think think that’s up to the media to write I mean that’s you guys will will place him in in a place of great goat um debates kudos to him having a great series a great playoff run in general but uh just leading us that way and um being able to kind of ease the tension a little bit and the emotions you know starting off the game you see uh our guy Luca scoring 20 like that I mean it eases everybody’s pressure a little bit I seen he was poed he did you know what kyri does at the end of the day he made sure he got to his spots he got got downhill and the energy that he had today too it was just you know him and luuka they were the double-headed snake it’s been great to have him you know help him mature it helped me uh see the basketball in a little bit different way so uh everybody’s glad he’s on our team so two of the best on the floor and Luca and Kyrie undoubtedly so but how about two of the best in the business two of the best on the tape Chan and Drea so let’s dive in here tday I want to start with you Luka can score but there’s something else that caught your eye oh absolutely and first of all use we understood the assignment we’re Back in Black we all know throwing things cuz he’s a hater but it’s fine it’s true it’s true we all know that Luka donic can score he led the regular season and the postseason in scoring but we have come to find out that he has mastered the art of the alley oop and I’ll start there let’s take it to the court so there’s a reason why Derek Lively made history going 16 for 16 from the field in the Conference Finals is because of plays like this a great screen Luca Don does a great job of holding the defense on his back until until the defense is literally defenseless you get alley oops you get dunks you get assists and when we talk about assists we know he was second in the regular season all time and assists this regular season but postseason he’s leading in this category because of his vision this is near half court this is between two lines of Defense of Carl Anthony towns and Rudy goar and he slams it in with help of his teammate so this strategy of the alleyoop has been practically Flawless for the Mavs who have connected on 54 alley hoops this postseason already the most in a single play in the last 10 years and you know how we do this we’re going to tag team so what has impressed you I talked about Luca what has impressed you about Kyrie Irving what did we talk about yesterday on this exact show when it came to Kyrie that you have to contain him he could not be contained he got downhill Kyrie Irving was like air you can’t contain air watch this high ball screen action just a wide open Lane Carl Anthony towns is too far back he’s at the wrong angle quick crossover pull up bottom of the net too much space can’t be contained now he doesn’t even have the ball in his hands we’re going to go trap double Luka why would you leave Kyrie there’s no rotation on the backside now you’re late and now Kyrie’s finishing at The Rim eyes on the rim he takes the contact he’s got the soft touch that was with his off hand ridiculous and then in transition watch this ball gets pushed find Kyrie he attacks the basket that quick crossover is just you have that in your game no I did not have that in my game but watch this eyes are turned on the rim nobody’s paying attention to Kyrie you can’t even stop him on a rebound he’s so much smaller than everybody else in the paint they could not contain Kyrie in the half court whether he had the ball in his hands whether he had the ball out of his hands in the full court again he was ridiculous first pair of teammates 35 points in a single game in Mavs postseason history we talked about these two taking over that is exactly what they did foot on neck could not be stopped oh yeah the thing is though as much as coming in to score you know 59.4 points a game in the west finals is a ton Tatum and brown are actually combining for slightly more at 60 in the oh my goodness we talking about okay but who are they play we talking who they play don’t disrespect my Celtics cels Celtics right it’s time now for set the pick brought to you by ESPN bet the official sports book of ESPN so we have two star Duos going head to-head in the finals are you all right Rich Richard almost fell out of a SE guys setting while we’re setting while we were setting setting setting up the pick so Zach please bring us back to order here Tatum and brown Luca and Kyrie which Duo has the edge here all right first of all I do think we need to clarify the NBA Finals is not a two on two competition at some point we should say the names of some of the other players who are participating in the NBA Finals it’s Friday the sun’s out give me either one of these Duos I don’t care I’m happy but if you’re making me pick which is what you do I’m going to go with the Mavs Duo because they have the best player of the four and it’s Luca donic but let’s be happy I don’t care four wonderful players and yes other people are also participating in in the NBA Finals at ABC starting June 6 well thank you for that that plug that promo okay so as we come back into Studio here if you have the Dallas Mavericks Duo is the better Duo uh show of show of hands our even our Mavs yeah Mavs you Mavs Ms have L dare you I dare you to say something different I think the duo that will matter most are The Supporting Cast Duos I think Derek white and Drew holiday that duo might separate this series but we also saw other you mad at me do you agree with me oh you’re talking about players not named those Stars right so you think you think it’s the others I think there’re going to be other I think the post Duo for the Mavs and the guard Duo for the Celtics that will actually dictate the series but if you’re going to make me pick top Duos I’m going with luuka and Kyrie is Luka the best player on the floor in the Luca has been the best player on the floor the entire postseason right in my opinion look Shay played outstanding Shay was very very consistent but as far as getting it done late game winning the games like look you get that to the stars stars get all the credit they get all the blame I agree with you Richard I I think the point you made CH is actually really good because what we see last night right C cat and Aunt they played extremely well as far as Duos go they couldn’t necessarily keep up with the Mavs Duo but they also had no help like who provides the most help to their dynamic duo could be what that’s it a few of the games come down well and that’s what’s interesting when you start to go down the list okay so if if luuka is the best player on the floor and you say this all the time it’s not necessarily just who is the best but if you end up having the second third four and you do that for us all the time you have to go first Rich let me be very disrespectful here for a second Jason Tatum something new no no no Jason Tatum has been outstanding I love their Supporting Cast even on games where he didn’t play well they have such an elite Supporting Cast but I would say this if you were to go into this post season and rank all the players in my opinion Luca number one and then it’s like Kyrie Jason Tatum who is the I’m just saying it’s kind of even who is the two just to be that guy I’m gonna say Kyrie Irving has played more consistent basketball than Jason Tatum has so I would say one two and then three four five six are with if you’re if you’re putting yourself out there I might put myself out there too might or are I’m going to because Richard took a leap I’m going to take a leap I think Jaylen Brown might have played more impactful basketball for the Celtics so Kyrie just C you’re putting Kyrie yeah I’m not going after the players that are available and then Jaylen Brown and then Jason Tatum Jason tat no credit for his rebounds and his assists tat get no credit for rebounds leading the the both teams in every statistical category I think Tatum series is this series I don’t care about everything that happened before I think this next series is Tatum series to own Kobe Bryant LeBron James the if those dudes were playing on the Celtics and one of their teammates got that award how would we be talking about them that’s all I’m saying oh all right subliminals you can step up your game during the playoffs so we’ve hit the the major story lines the big ones but Zach L he’s not here for the Treetops oh no no he’s here for the leaves he is here for the Deep cuts that are going to decide the NBA Finals so Professor low I ask you what is the number one thing you were going to be watching in these finals oh it’s it’s going to be a fun finals thing number one where does Boston put its centers on defense and how does Luca who you can’t switch big men against how does he attack them a lot of times Boston likes to put it centers not on your opposing Center not on Derek Lively or Daniel Gafford but on a Derek Jones Jr or a PJ Washington so that they can put someone like Tatum on lively and switch the Luca pick and rolls so guess what Luca does he looks elsewhere he’s going to find your Center and Boston likes to play at Cent Al Horford and Kristof porzingis in drop back coverage they don’t like the blitz they don’t like the Trap we’ve seen what Luca can do with that so that’s chess match number one look for Boston’s big men because that’s who Luca’s going to be looking for okay so that’s the match up that you’re keeping an eye on but there’s also a certain shot that you’re going to be looking at as well Corner threes baby Corner threes the short Corner three Dallas took more than any team in the entire NBA this season and Luca is as good as there has ever been him and LeBron James at creating Corner threes for their teammates Boston’s defense they don’t give up any Corner threes they like to shift all the threes to the top of the arc the longer Wing threes who wins that battle is going to go a long way to deciding who wins the NBA Championship all right so some quite going to operate but how about when Boston has the ball here this might be the most interesting one because the Mavs offense we know what it is it’s going to be Luca and it’s going to be Kyrie two of the all-time great ball handlers Distributors hunting hunting hunting Boston’s offense although it was number one in the league a little more amorphous and they’re at their best when they have a smaller skinnier guard to hunt Darius Garland Tyler herro Tyrese halberton they don’t really have that against the Dallas Mavericks Luca donic people try to hunt him in the playoffs he’s big and strong you need to hunt him with speed and decisiv and that’s not Boston Kyrie Irving he might be only listed at 6’2 or 63 he plays bigger than that he’s stronger than that he competes harder than that Boston is going to have to have its best most focused snappiest move that ball all of that it’s best offensive series to beat Dallas four times in seven games this is going to be a fun fun matchup on both sides I cannot wait Zack low thank you very much perhaps we will get some of the answers to these questions starting with game one of the NBA finals on ABC on on Thursday night you did such a great job promoting the game earlier Zach you can say it again game one coverage chips with the NBA Countdown that’s at 8:00 Eastern but why focus on next week when there’s WNBA today Caitlyn Clark had 20 and9 to become the first player in WNBA history with 150 points 50 assists 10 blocks through the first 10 games for a team and she did it in just nine but another loss at the hands of your big sis CH the fever’s record take anything away from the individual numbers no way this is what happens when you get the number one pick you go to a challenging circumstance Caitlyn Clark super impressive averaging 17.6 points per game 6.6 assists yes they only have one win but the reality is the bigger oh hey hey VI sis the conundra is they have number two number one picks with two different styles you got to figure out how to balance that out and then Angel Reese in the sky got their third win of the year to get to 500 on the season with a big win over the Sparks Angel Reese was a team High plus 17 in this one how much has she impact winning here Drea she impacts you know when I talked about angel ree I talked to a couple of WNBA GMS and one of one thing they always said was she’s a winner she knows how to win leading the league in offensive rebounding she is Relentless she takes the right angles that’s Kennedy Carter great last name by the way playing extremely hey Miss Carter hey Miss Carter listen the Chicago Sky put together you’ve been watching an amazing basketball game between the Cavaliers and the Pistons both quarters started running down it got to a point where I say you’ve come this far there’s no Looking Back Now as a leader I can’t allow my team fail 48 points for LeBron James the last 25 for the Cavaliers one of the Great Performances of all time in playoff history LeBron’s 25 straight team points are the longest the most a postseason streak in the play-by-play era that goes back to 9798 the anniversary of LeBron statement performance it calls for a little top of the top to take overs in the playoffs thanks Mom it’s presented by Charles Schwab all right we’re going to start with uh Top lurry This is 1994 Charles Barkley 56 points against the world look at that defense bro come on in the first quarter was that Gatling who was that oh okay okay okay they call that tomato chest right yeah yeah tomato chest Google it for the image please Steph Curry scored 17 points to beat the Trailblazers bro they were up 17 like three straight games and lost all three and then Jimmy buckets dropped 56 on the Bucks H the game when he was like just done yeah the 14 point fourth quarter comeback not the bubble G hanging over this we a heard from the Bucks since then oh man all right top image we’re going to go back June 1st 94 Reggie Miller this your fa scoring 25 in the fourth come back and beat the Knicks iconic gave Spike Lee the famous yep Andre is doing it right now the choke sign y yep and then in 2001 oh there it is that T-shirt with yeah that’s sick and then um that’s traumatizing that’s when I say Ai and I say top photo what you think oh yep step step T I got you AI you a legend T was like man you can step over me all you want on my way to a championship it’s fine T yeah exactly and one of the highest paid coaches in NBA history all that doing just fine hey you getting mad I’m getting rich and then you got some top toughness here we’re going to go back oh gosh Isaiah Thomas on an injured ankle he played through the pain scored 25 points in the third quarter m at that point you have to like keep hobbling to kind of yeah I no I don’t even think he faking it co and then yeah this is when he played 47 minutes on the sprain danle scored 28 to beat the Pacers yeah dead calm down I got you we saw that we saw that yesterday you know this is what Stephen A was just getting on me yesterday about athletes playing through injuries and what superstars do I’m just going to say that’s no I and look I respected as Stephen A he’s played through those things like I get it forget totally can relate Brandon Roy come for us uh scored 18 in the fourth to lead a 23-point comeback over the Mavs and then we got a hold category for top goats oh oh oh this was tough yeah so we played against them in the round before this we played against them he cooked us but we did much better job than this we did a much better job the last 25 point do that again this my favorite visual that’s always in the group chat oh man cyborg we ain’t heard from the Celtics since I mean come on man leave what turn what tell me I’m lying I mean they’re in the finals at least first Finals hit 13 straight H out to beat the Lakers including the iconic Swit hands I’m hands I always thought that this was an overblown play cuz he’s done 10 million better I’ve seen Jordan throw the ball behind what about this one legit oh yeah we heard from Byron Russell since yo we heard from him we heard from the Utah Jazz since then we only get to hear from Richard Jeff 60 60 more seconds who’s most likely to make the next you can’t throw hair ties when you don’t have hair who’s more likely to make the next top where did you get that from what I did you hear her yes no hair we can’t let Malika’s joke go unheard thr hair ties if you don’t have hair was on the desk say it again say it again say it again you bring that to work look all I’m saying is that this is all of my natural hair those two eyebrows okay Rich who is most likely oh who is most likely Richard we’re not going to get fired on a Friday makeup no nothing just all the answer to your question is Luka e the Tomato chest by the way Richard if we own it it is ours that’s going to do it for us here on NBA Today America this is for you leave me alone I’m the only testosterone Channel V for this foreign spe spee First Blood an enemy has been defeated take me an ally has been defeated your tower has been destroyed our base is under attack an enemy has been defeated for foreign speech for [Music] speech for e Zoe speech [Music] First Blood [Music] of he an enemy has been defeated [Music] h [Music] you have defeated an enemy your team has destroyed a tower your tower has been destroyed

[FULL] NBA TODAY | Richard Jefferson on NBA Finals are set Mavs vs Celtics: Luka Doncic poised for All-Time NBA GREAT