00:00All right, let's bring up the Detroit Pistons here for a second
00:03before we get back to the games.
00:05What am I missing here?
00:07Kate Cunningham is back, so they have their best player.
00:10They had the same record as the San Antonio Spurs,
00:13and they're kind of in similar spots, teams.
00:16In fact, you could say Detroit, which made the playoffs last year
00:19and took the Knicks to seven games in the first round,
00:21is really a step ahead of San Antonio.
00:24They're giving love to San Antonio, even though they have the same record,
00:27making them the second choice, tied with Boston at plus 550.
00:31But Detroit, Tom, forget about the second choice or the third choice.
00:35Detroit is 20-1.
00:37I mean, or 15-1, 16-1, depending on where you do your shopping.
00:41They had the best record by far in the Eastern Conference, 60-22.
00:46They're healthy now.
00:48I don't – 20-1, 16-1 for the best?
00:52I've never seen.
00:53I've never, ever, ever seen a team be the best in its conference in the NBA
00:58and be that far back as far as who's going to win the championship.
01:03What am I missing here with the Pistons?
01:05I really think it just comes down to the books giving so much respect
01:11for either the Cavs, who they are expected to play in round two,
01:15which is a difficult matchup in its own right.
01:17So they have to get past one of those good teams.
01:20And then to get to – obviously, that would put them to the conference finals
01:24if they were to get past the Cavs.
01:25They then have to get past the Celtics and or the Knicks,
01:27who are obviously very well-respected by the books.
01:30So they have two very difficult matchups.
01:32When you're looking at the Spurs, the Spurs, we all expect to get past the Timberwolves.
01:36Are they going to be better than the Nuggets or the T-Wolves,
01:39whoever comes out of that matchup?
01:41I would say so.
01:43So I would say that the Spurs have a half-a-step easier path
01:47just to get to the conference finals.
01:49And then they've also, again, had the number four, the Thunder.
01:52The Pistons are the team, if you're going to back someone for a quote-unquote long shot,
01:56that would be the team because the seeding and the odds just don't make sense.
02:00To your point, Scott, we're looking at the number one seed
02:02who's fourth, fifth, sixth down the list when it comes to championship odds.
02:07That's why, though, I stayed off San Antonio.
02:10As much as I love that team, and there's no doubt that team is going to be competitive
02:14and win a couple champions, right?
02:15But this year, their road, okay, first-round matchup, no problem.
02:19But then they've got to go through Denver and OKC.
02:22They have the two big ones, whereas OKC only has one,
02:27either Denver or San Antonio, theoretically, right?
02:30You can make the case.
02:31Detroit's got a tougher road.
02:32I get that.
02:33They have to play, like you said, Cleveland, Austin, or the Knicks.
02:36That won't be easy.
02:38But I think that's just as hard as the road that San Antonio's going through.
02:42That's for sure.
02:43And yet San Antonio is a plus 550, and Detroit, like I said, is 15, 16.
02:48I've seen as high as a 20 to 1.
02:50Very weird.
02:51Very weird with the lack of respect.
02:52I can see if Kate Cunningham wasn't back.
Comments