00:00Man, what the hell happened last night?
00:02This was a tight ball game, and I kept thinking,
00:05my God, this is going to be good.
00:07We went to commercial break.
00:08I looked away.
00:09I looked back.
00:10They're down by six.
00:11I'm going, okay, we're running a little bit low on time,
00:13but we still come back, and then it became a double-digit game,
00:16and the place was going bonkers up there.
00:18That escalated very quickly.
00:20It did.
00:21And look, they were horrific all night.
00:23I mean, I kept looking up, saying, how are we only down two?
00:27How are we up one?
00:28We were up one at one point in the third quarter, late.
00:30How is this happening?
00:32We are getting so thoroughly outplayed.
00:34You're going to see the term toughness used a bunch,
00:37because if you were really locked into this game,
00:38and I don't know how many fans were because you were up to nothing.
00:40You gave yourself some margin for error, and you had the NFL draft going on.
00:44People were at draft parties all over the city.
00:47You know, how dialed in were people at the Cavs game?
00:49I think they would kind of look up and go, all right, at some point,
00:52you know, our superstars will kind of turn it on.
00:55The draft saved it last night, because there's been so many people
00:57who were waiting for the other shoe to drop, very cynical about the Cavs.
01:02Just let me say this real quick to you.
01:03There's so many people who are just waiting for the Cavs to lose,
01:07and I think that the attention was kind of taken away
01:10because of the NFL draft last night.
01:12Plus, you had a game on Prime.
01:14It's on a streaming platform.
01:16I know it's probably the easiest streaming platform to go out and find,
01:20because a lot of people have Prime anyway, but when you got regular TV
01:24and the drafts going on, and Hawks and Knicks were on Prime as well,
01:30and it was streaming before that.
01:31And it was an awesome game.
01:32They came right down to the wire.
01:33Yes.
01:34So, yeah, they were kind of, in a way, to have a playoff game
01:38where you're kind of out of sight, out of mind.
01:39Maybe that is the best thing for them.
01:41But they got pushed around for moment one.
01:43And, look, I thought the Cavs were just fine those first two games
01:47of this series when it came to toughness.
01:49But then you saw another team.
01:52Clearly, that was what they were reinforcing.
01:54That was their messaging.
01:56Because after every basket, for two hours and 35 minutes
02:00after every basket, they had to act like they were at the Arnold Classic.
02:05The Toronto Raptors could not stop, could not help themselves
02:09after every single bucket.
02:12And, I mean, they scored 126 points.
02:14Scottie Barnes had to put his arms up in the air and show his biceps after.
02:18Because clearly their coach told them,
02:21you guys were a bunch of a name I can't say on the air.
02:24No, you can't.
02:24That's clearly what the messaging was.
02:26No, you can't.
02:26And that's fine for a half.
02:29I thought the Cavs would go into the locker room and wake up.
02:32Because that's what they needed to do collectively, was just wake up.
02:36You know, Scottie Barnes is a really good player.
02:39Okay, R.J. Barrett, he was a thorn in our side like three years ago on the Knicks.
02:45But he is not a really, really good player.
02:47And for both of them to combine for 66 points,
02:50like it's one thing to give up a hot shooting night in the playoffs.
02:54Eventually, every team should, given enough games, be able to shoot lights out.
02:58That Toronto team you don't necessarily think is one of them
03:02that should be able to get hot from start to finish.
03:03But it's so much more than that.
03:05It's the baskets on the inside that Evan Mobley and Jared Allen gave up from moment one
03:11that you asked me before the show, are you alarmed at anything for the Cavs?
03:15I'm like, no, I mean, I think they're going to win the series.
03:17They still, I checked it out this morning, fourth in championship odds
03:21because the Nuggets lost again.
03:23Minnesota seems to have their number.
03:25The Knicks lost again.
03:26So, but I'm not feeling any better about that today.
03:29The fact that we still have the fourth best championship odds,
03:31what I am a little concerned,
03:33I'm not going to say alarm.
03:34What I am concerned about is,
03:36if you remember,
03:37in the last quarter and a half
03:40of the fourth quarter of a game you were always going to win in game two,
03:44the Raptors decided,
03:45hey, Scottie Barnes is going to take it right to Evan Mobley,
03:48take it right to his chest
03:49against the reigning defensive player of the year.
03:51We can't say that anymore because he's no longer the defensive player of the year.
03:53Didn't even get a vote.
03:54And judging by that game,
03:56if that was the only game you ever saw at game three,
03:58you would probably say,
04:00yeah, Evan Mobley, what's the deal defensively?
04:02They were so weak at the basket.
04:05And that I am concerned about.
04:07So last night,
04:08the Cavaliers lost to the Toronto Raptors,
04:10126-104.
04:11It was a close game until things just got way out of hand in the fourth quarter.
04:15Not a lot of people were upset
04:18because a lot of people were paying attention to the draft
04:21and what was going on there.
04:23Sunday will be a different story.
04:24Oh, yeah.
04:25Because there is no draft.
04:26There's no Roger Goodell walking through the door
04:28to distract us from what is going on here.
04:31So what was the crux of the loss to you?
04:34And why is it not going to be such a big deal
04:36when we get ready to play the Raptors on Sunday?
04:39Well, it is a big deal that they need to wake up.
04:41And for them to come out of the half
04:43after you had been bodied,
04:45if you've been over-physicaled and giving up paint points,
04:48a team that starts two centers,
04:50giving up paint points like that,
04:52and it looked relatively easy.
04:54I mean, there was a number like,
04:55how many baskets did they have inside the paint?
04:58Was it like 50?
05:00Was it 60?
05:00I don't know.
05:01You could say any number.
05:02And I would believe it, hundreds.
05:03It felt that way.
05:04It wasn't just the three-pointers.
05:06Teams are going to get hot at home in desperation once in a while.
05:09That's fine.
05:10It's not the end of the world.
05:11Had they have just lost because of the three-point shooting,
05:14I would say, hey, total fluke.
05:16I'm not saying that
05:17because there is a formula there
05:19that I did not think Toronto would be able to exploit,
05:21and that is to score inside.
05:23So that's defensively.
05:24Okay, we can talk about that.
05:25The other thing is,
05:26everybody's saying,
05:27what about your boy Harden?
05:28You've been so high on Harden.
05:29What happened?
05:30Eight turnovers.
05:31He was abysmal.
05:33A lot of the live ball turnovers
05:34where he's on the floor on the other end
05:36and they're taking it the other way.
05:38I thought they really blitzed him from what I could see.
05:40All of that is bad.
05:42My bigger issue was with Donovan Mitchell last night.
05:44And the reason my issue was with Donovan Mitchell last night is,
05:47guys, we know how the story ends
05:49if James Harden is your best player
05:51and at age 37
05:53and has the ball in his hands the most.
05:55We know how that story ends.
05:57That's a team that's going to get bounced early,
05:59whether it's the first round or second round.
06:01We've seen that James Harden.
06:03I have tried to tell you
06:04why it's going to be different with James Harden
06:07because James Harden isn't supposed to be the guy,
06:10isn't supposed to be the number one option,
06:12and the ball's not supposed to be in his hands
06:14at the end of every shot clock.
06:15It was last night.
06:17You have to ask yourself why that was
06:19because the guy who is supposed to be your playoff riser
06:22and is supposed to be your takeover guy,
06:25and I've seen it so many times in the playoffs,
06:27that's Donovan Mitchell.
06:28He's supposed to be the one that plays with this, quote,
06:31force that you're going to hear was obviously a big issue last night
06:34with Kenny Atkinson,
06:35and I just was very confused at that effort
06:38out of Donovan Mitchell last night.
06:40Here's the answer to it.
06:41The force was just way on their side.
06:43Their force wore us down, right?
06:45Two forces meet each other and one does that.
06:47It's our aggressiveness, our force, I don't think was there tonight.
06:50I just don't think our force, like, right,
06:52like we weren't forceful enough with it.
06:54I feel like I've seen top blocks before,
06:55but our force of coming off of it come out with that force right away.
06:59Even still, we're right there throughout the whole game, right?
07:01I think the force is the biggest thing.
07:03Yeah, similar to what Don was saying, just our force.
07:06We got to meet them early.
07:08Or at least it starts with our force.
07:09Obviously, we'll go back and watch the game and figure things out.
07:11Like I said, it starts with our force.
07:12If we're not forceful enough in getting guys' looks,
07:14and they did their job tonight, but we as a collective did not.
07:17And he's forceful.
07:17A lot of energy.
07:18I hate to sound like a broken record, Danny,
07:20but I really think it's a level of force.
07:21You can see where this is going, right?
07:23Why?
07:24And I think when you...
07:25We've still got 15 seconds, of course.
07:27How many times did they say it?
07:28A hundred.
07:30And when you mentioned...
07:31I think if you say it over 20 times, you get money or something.
07:34I like the tectonic plates thing that was going on with Kenny.
07:38That was fun.
07:39So, here's the thing.
07:41You heard him say top lock.
07:43Uh-huh.
07:43That's just a term for denial.
07:46They're denying the basketball.
07:47And so, we're getting into the shot clock late.
07:50And Donovan Mitchell, the ball is not in his hands,
07:52where he is breaking down the defense the way he does with that gravity
07:57where everybody has to have their head on a swivel defensively
08:00and look at him, which opens up everything else for the other teammates.
08:04Their denial of Donovan Mitchell led them to having to have the ball
08:09in James Harden's hands.
08:11And a lot of times, he's been able, since he's been traded to the Cavs,
08:14he's been able to handle that.
08:15But on a night where he is a little loosey-goosey with the ball,
08:20you need Donovan Mitchell to be Donovan Mitchell.
08:22And last night, they took him out of that game.
08:24And that was a very unbalanced effort from the team.
08:28And they've got to clean that up in a big way because, Kenny,
08:31you asked if I was alarmed.
08:32No.
08:32You lost a game.
08:33You sound a little alarmed.
08:35And they were desperate.
08:36They were desperate.
08:37Toronto was desperate.
08:38They fouled us.
08:39I mean, look, this is how you knew they were going to set the tone.
08:41There were seven fouls in the first, like, six minutes
08:44that were called on Toronto.
08:47Why did they do that?
08:48Well, they were going to come at you with everything
08:50and basically force the referees to litigate that stuff on the court.
08:55Force, yes.
08:56You heard it a lot.
08:57So, I'm not alarmed that you lost one game.
09:01Sweeps are hard to come by.
09:02You don't have LeBron James.
09:04He made it easy.
09:05That's not the way the NBA works.
09:06But you know this.
09:07You'd be fighting tooth and nail with people today
09:09had there not been the draft last night.
09:11Oh, yeah.
09:12Well, I'm mad.
09:13So, we're all clear with each other.
09:14I'm not happy.
09:15I didn't say you were happy.
09:15Let me make it clear.
09:18You know, I didn't pick a sweep.
09:19I picked in five games.
09:20All right.
09:21That was their one.
09:22The desperate team came out desperate.
09:24They did the desperate things.
09:25And I just didn't like the way it looked.
09:28I didn't like the way that in the third quarter, after they imposed their will for two quarters,
09:33I thought we would put an end to that in the third.
09:35We didn't.
09:36The turnovers were alarming.
09:37It was bad.
09:38They had it.
09:39Yeah.
09:39Harden had eight turnovers himself.
09:41And you brought it up.
09:42Mitchell has to step up.
09:43So, he had 15 points in that.
09:45I mean, that's a problem.
09:47And I think if you're relying on James Harden to have the ball in his hands because Donovan's
09:53not being Donovan, well, you're in trouble.
09:55You may not lose this series.
09:57You'll 100% lose the next series, if that's the case.
09:59They've got to clean that.
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