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00:00Welcome in. Oh, it's game day. It feels good. And you know what? Today, I'd rather be the Cleveland Cavaliers
00:07than the San Antonio Spurs. What? The team with the second best championship. That's the fun of the NBA playoffs,
00:15ladies and gentlemen. Every game, we're overreactionary. We did have one last night, Minnesota, with Anthony Edwards coming off the
00:24bench to start the game, making his transfer return. They won 104-102.
00:28We'll get to a lot more of what's happening with the other teams, the brackets. Last night, just annihilation by
00:35the New York Knicks. So, of course, today, everybody's going to say the Knicks are now going to just waltz
00:42through the Eastern Conference not so fast. Anthony Lima and Kenny is out day two of his journey to the
00:49Caribbean. He doesn't know where he's going. That's what he says.
00:51Yes, I didn't know. I know he's done the Disney thing a couple years in a row. I didn't know
00:55where he was going this time. He's going to the Caribbean, but he doesn't know where he's going in the
00:58Caribbean.
00:59He says his wife plays it very close to the vest. By the way, Spencer German is in for Kenny
01:04today. We thank you for getting up early. Kenny doesn't know. He said, Scotty doesn't know was the song when
01:10I was younger. What movie was that?
01:12One of the trips. Euro trip. Euro trip. Scotty doesn't know. Ken doesn't know. He has no idea where he's
01:17going. Spencer, you knew exactly where you were going today.
01:20You came in today. You were ready to roll up your sleeves. We were maybe ready to get into some
01:24arguments.
01:25The first thing, I just want to get prevailing thoughts around the room because we saw what happened to one
01:32team that had just been in a game seven, Philadelphia, and they got absolutely utterly destroyed.
01:39The difference was the Knicks had a little bit of time to rest. In this case, you went right to
01:45Detroit. What, Fedor canceled on us yesterday because of the plans?
01:48He had to get there, man. Did he not think we were going to win?
01:50Got to get up to Detroit. It's far.
01:52He's like, well, things changed. My travel arrangements.
01:55The weather? Have you seen the weather?
01:57Fedor, I know where you live. You're closer to Detroit than I am, and I'm pretty close to Detroit.
02:01By an exit?
02:02By like five minutes. Seven minutes. You can get there in like an hour and 45.
02:07Anyway, it's crazy how hectic this pace is. Now, like, get ready.
02:11I mean, we're playing Tuesday. We're playing Thursday. We're playing Saturday. We're playing Monday.
02:16I mean, that is insane how many games we're going to have to talk about over the course of the
02:21next week.
02:21So, prevailing thought around the room, like, how are you feeling about tonight?
02:25Not the series. Tonight, because you get some crazy game one scenarios.
02:30Who had last night Minnesota with Anthony Edwards trying to give it a go beating San Antonio?
02:36Yeah, I'm curious to see, like, what the energy level is like for both these teams coming out.
02:41Because you go seven games in your first series, and then you're immediately back at it two days later with,
02:50like, an every other day schedule sort of coming out.
02:54And you have to kind of just wonder, is someone going to, I don't want to say, like, treat it
02:59like it doesn't matter.
03:01But is one of these teams just going to feel, all right, we got to get our legs back underneath
03:07us a little bit here and not have, like, that energy level.
03:09And that's what I think is going to be so fascinating for the Cavs.
03:12Because, I mean, they got tested.
03:14I don't know that Orlando, like, Orlando's a scrappy team.
03:18They're a really good defensive team.
03:20And so is Detroit.
03:22But I don't feel like Orlando and Detroit, like, that series was as, like, grueling as it felt like the
03:27Cavs series was with Toronto.
03:29Maybe it's just because I was closer to that one.
03:30It had wild swings.
03:31It had wild swings.
03:33It did not have anywhere near the physicality from start to finish.
03:38And Cleveland really was tested.
03:40Like, Toronto had the ability, because they're so long, they have so many wings, to just make life a living
03:47hell for people like Donovan, James.
03:50They made it very difficult for them.
03:51There was a lot to sort out.
03:52I mean, throughout that entire series, Donovan was, like, confounded by what he was seeing from Toronto at times.
03:57So, I don't know, like, in some respects, if you can get up for this game, even after playing a
04:03game seven and going seven games,
04:04it's like you could really kind of take a hold of the series early on, especially if you're the Cavs
04:09on the road in Detroit.
04:11But I do wonder, like, if there's going to be some lingering side effects of both these teams going through
04:18these long series the way that they did that first round.
04:20Well, I think it's a great point.
04:22You can't get too crazy about the start of these things.
04:27I'll never forget, in my more formative years, and Ty Lue was prominently involved, but Philadelphia, 76, was major underdogs
04:36against the Lakers and Kobe and Shaq.
04:39And game one, Allen Iverson rolls up.
04:42Was it in the forum back then or the Staples Center?
04:44He dropped 40.
04:45Yeah.
04:45And I remember the Ty Lue situation, because he was front and center for that one.
04:51And everybody went nuts.
04:52Like, whoa, boy, is Allen Iverson and Eric Snow.
04:56And at that time, they have, like, Todd McCullough or DiKembe.
05:00But I don't know.
05:01They it was it was a crazy, crazy game one.
05:04And everybody overreacts.
05:05And then it's like, oh, no.
05:06Then the Lakers won the next four.
05:08And that was that was the end.
05:10Weird things happen at the opening of the series.
05:11It'd be nice if the weird thing happened to Detroit by way of the Cavs.
05:16Like, the Cavs went in there and shut that arena up early.
05:20They certainly have a few guys that can do it.
05:23I do believe that.
05:24And I know they were really confident in those two games.
05:28It was like that mini series where the teams did not have their players fully healthy.
05:34But the Cavs were more wounded.
05:36And I remember they walked out of those two games feeling really, really good about how they match up with
05:41the Detroit Pistons.
05:42Now, Detroit is the favorite in the series.
05:46You mentioned something about, hey, are guys going to understand, like, right off the bat?
05:51Are they are they going to play cool?
05:54They can't afford to.
05:55They can't afford to give away games now.
05:57Like, they did that in the Toronto series.
05:59And that's no disrespect to Toronto.
06:01But I think once the Cavs got out to the two nothing lead, they thought, all right,
06:05let's work on rotations.
06:07Like, Toronto is not really going to pose ultimately a threat.
06:11And then all of a sudden, game three happens.
06:13Now you're down.
06:14Game four, I thought you absolutely should have won.
06:17You end up giving up that game for various reasons that we've definitely been over.
06:23But then it's 2-2.
06:24And you still felt like you looked.
06:26The body language doesn't change with Harden.
06:29There are a lot of things that people will say about Harden.
06:33One thing, he is not impacted by the highs.
06:37When he's playing great, you don't see him, you know, getting into it the way Scotty Barnes
06:42makes two baskets back-to-back and he's flexing for the entire arena
06:45and talking all sorts of smack to the opposing team.
06:50Like, James Harden doesn't do that.
06:51He doesn't get too high or get too low.
06:53But you kind of want them in game one to feed off, create some energy and feed off it
06:59because what an amazing opportunity looking at the rest of the East
07:04and the carnage that's going on on both sides of the bracket.
07:09Like, go in there, steal home court advantage, and flip the odds of the series.
07:13You could do it in one game.
07:15Yeah, I'll say this.
07:16I do think the back, like, going from game seven to this sort of quick turnaround for game one,
07:23the reason I think it might be a benefit to the Cleveland is, like,
07:27their role players on Sunday were awesome.
07:31And we all know, like, in these series, especially in today's NBA,
07:34like, the big three era, like, that's not a thing anymore.
07:36Like, you can't just win with, like, three-star players when you have a team like the Thunder
07:40that roll in their bench guys and those guys are contributing.
07:42Like, you need your role players to play well, and so that sort of quick turnaround of, like,
07:47okay, you played a really good game.
07:49Now you've got to kind of take it on the road, but it's not as long in between
07:53because how many times have we seen, like, a series ends and you've got three days in between,
07:56guys are sitting around, guys aren't really in rhythm.
07:59So I think that helps.
08:00I also think, to your point, Lima, like, we know what was said back in.
08:04It was the end of February into early March.
08:07They played, like, I just looked it up, February 27th.
08:09There was a game in between against Brooklyn,
08:11and then they played the Pistons again on March 3rd.
08:13It was, like, away and then home.
08:15And guys were hurt, like you mentioned.
08:16But given the vibes around that series and the, I think Fedor actually wrote,
08:21Chris Fedor actually wrote about it, like, what was being said in that locker room at the time
08:25that they felt like they weren't worried about the Pistons,
08:28they felt like they were a better team than the Pistons.
08:31Go out tonight and, like, show that that's not BS.
08:35She's like, if that's how you feel, you should be able to go out tonight
08:38and show from the outset of the series, yes, it's on the road,
08:42and yes, the Cavs have won four games during the Donovan Mitchell era on the road.
08:47Like, it's a problem.
08:47But you're going to have to win at least one on the road.
08:49Get it done now.
08:51Show that that wasn't a fluke.
08:53Show that when you guys felt like, despite losing a game in Detroit
08:56and then winning the next one at home,
08:58that you were the better team and you weren't really sweating Detroit.
09:01Show that that's true from the outset.
09:03Like, I think setting the tone tonight is, I know that's also a segment you do here on the show,
09:08but you've got to let them know.
09:12You've got to let them know early.
09:13You've got to let them feel you early.
09:16And looking back, you know, them getting off to the great start
09:18with the two stars playing like stars against Toronto.
09:21How big was that, the way the series ended up going?
09:23If you dropped one of those games at home in the first two against Toronto.
09:27And, you know, look, I'll say this.
09:29Like, the Cleveland-Detroit thing, this has a chance to be a lot of fun.
09:34Yeah.
09:34Right?
09:34Because I'm somebody, Ken gets so mad and rolls his eyes when I'm like,
09:38what rivalries in sports anymore?
09:40Where are they?
09:41We only care about championships.
09:42We don't care about regular seasons as much.
09:45And, obviously, we've had times where we've gone up against Detroit, you know,
09:50in the division, in baseball.
09:53What's the last team you feel like was a real rival for the Cavs?
09:56The Warriors?
09:56Because, like, the years they didn't meet in the finals?
09:58Yeah, because it was four years consecutively.
10:01And then the Christmas Day games and then the War of Words.
10:04And the Dream-On helped by, like, stirring the pot and there was all that.
10:06Yeah.
10:06And when you alternate championships the way they did,
10:10and there was just, it was the national story, too.
10:12It wasn't just a local story.
10:13So, it became that way.
10:16Cleveland-Detroit, like, I could go back and I remember that first run.
10:20I was in the building for some big LeBron moments against the Pistons.
10:24We all know what he did up to them in Detroit as well.
10:27Like, this has a chance to be a lot of fun and harken back to some of those earlier LeBron
10:33memories.
10:34And then, of course, you go back to the 80s and how the teams were compared.
10:38Cleveland's relationship with Detroit's been interesting to me because, you know,
10:44obviously I know people, there's a natural rivalry part of it because, yes, the Tigers are in the same division
10:50as you in baseball.
10:51And, yes, you mentioned, especially in the early 2000s when LeBron was running into that team,
10:56it was like the Pistons were at the peak of their powers at that time.
10:59And here comes LeBron, this, you know, young gun who's the next face of the league and, like, he gets
11:04over that hump against them.
11:05So, I know, like, dating back to then, it was a big thing.
11:09But I agree with you that it's kind of faded away to the point, Lima, where in football, I've heard
11:15Cleveland fans talk about rooting for the Detroit Lions in the playoffs.
11:19Because, oh, well, we're kind of, like, adjacent to them and their team's been bad for all these years and
11:25it's a cool story.
11:26So, I'm like, has the hatred for Detroit faded in recent years because of things like that?
11:33Spencer, if it has.
11:33Because it can't for this series.
11:35We've got to amp this thing back up.
11:36Yeah, well, obviously, we used to have the Great Lakes Classic, so that was, you know, shared heritage between the
11:42two.
11:44But, look, that all goes out the window.
11:46I mean, starting tonight, because I would not be surprised if, in hockey fashion, we get a, I don't want
11:53to say a melee, but I would not be surprised.
11:55I think the Cavs have been told, you're soft, you're soft, you're soft, you're soft, you're soft.
12:00And Detroit has been told, go after the soft team.
12:06That they have some instigators on that team, certainly Isaiah Stewart.
12:10Yeah.
12:11But they certainly have guys that will do it.
12:13And I think the Cavs, it's being impressed upon them from moment one.
12:18Like, don't let them do that.
12:19Like, they're going to try to clown you.
12:21Everybody's going to be watching tonight.
12:22Don't let it happen.
12:23Feed off what Jared Allen was able to do.
12:25Yeah.
12:26You know, in game seven, Evan Mobley kind of woke up at the end of that series, too.
12:30Like, don't let them push you around.
12:32It feels like Jared taking what he did on Sunday and bringing that to this series could be such a
12:39game changer for the Cavs.
12:40Like, if he brings that energy, if he can play that well, even a couple times in this series and
12:44just dominate that way, like, that's the energy they need.
12:48That's the physicality that they need.
12:50You're right, though.
12:50Like, J.B. Bickerstaff knows this team.
12:53He's going to sit there and say, like, I know how to get into Jared Allen's head.
12:56I know how to get to Evan Mobley.
12:57Here's what you're going to do.
12:59And what I will say is, going back to that Toronto series, I think the way that they play Cleveland,
13:05I think this is the most tested they have been when it comes to seeing a physical team, playing physical.
13:11Last year, you swept Miami in the first round, and then you got a pretty physical Indiana team that also
13:16was going to run the pace and tempo on you, run up and down the floor.
13:20They were not ready for it at all.
13:21I think this series absolutely prepared them for anything else they're going to see throughout the playoffs, but especially against
13:27the Detroit team.
13:28That does it differently than Toronto.
13:30It's still a really good defensive team, but it's going to try to be equally as physical as Toronto was,
13:34for sure.
13:35I cannot wait.
13:36I cannot wait to watch this game tonight.
13:38I am pumped.
13:39I'm not going to be like our producer, John, who was afraid to watch the 76ers in all these games,
13:44and then he finally was excited yesterday.
13:45Well, he said he was excited.
13:46Yeah, he said he was excited yesterday, and then he just went up and spoke.
13:48That was the wrong one to be excited.
13:50All right, so I am all for great Cavs arguments right now because sometimes you just, you just to build
13:58the army and to get the city pumped up, like team has to do its part, right?
14:03And I thought in the regular season, winning 50 games was impressive given what they had gone through and then
14:10making an identity-changing trade with 30 games left.
14:16And then, oh, by the way, they did the Schroeder and Ellis thing, and I don't know if we're ever
14:19going to see Ellis again.
14:20We'll find out sometimes.
14:22Anthony, I just want to tell you a great Cavs argument.
14:24They're brought to you by Surfside Hard Iced Tea.
14:26As always.
14:27They're even better to have those discussions.
14:29They actually are amplified.
14:30Yes.
14:32Lubricated, if you will.
14:35So, to me, the 50 games was impressive.
14:37Nobody seemed to care.
14:38Like, everybody kept saying, no.
14:4050 games with, what, 41 different starting lineups, too?
14:43Yeah, don't care.
14:4452.
14:44Most expensive roster.
14:45Look at what Oklahoma City did.
14:47Look at what Detroit did without Kate Cunningham.
14:49And those were amazing.
14:50But I thought 50 games, especially when you're not practicing.
14:54You're doing practices in hotel ballrooms because you don't have guys that are healthy.
15:00Remember, then Allen misses nine games at a bad time.
15:04Then Mobley was banged up.
15:06So, in the end, whatever, those were just considered excuses any time I would bring them up.
15:09But I was like, hey, once we get in the playoffs, like, it's wide open.
15:12This thing is wide open.
15:13And that part has been accurate.
15:15I did not expect it to go seven games against Toronto.
15:17So, there was some egg on my face.
15:19Certainly, when it comes to that.
15:21But everybody in unison kind of said the same thing by the end.
15:24Like, it's Eastern Conference Finals or bust.
15:27Right?
15:27Dan Gilbert made the Donovan Mitchell move not to lose in the second round every year.
15:31And then they doubled down by making the Harden move and getting older,
15:35not to just get dismissed in the first round, which almost looked like it could happen.
15:39Not the second round.
15:41Like, you got to go to the Eastern Conference Finals.
15:44The afternoon show has done what they call in the business
15:48the, quote, moving of the goalposts.
15:52And I think you actually might be on their side.
15:55Well, at least one of the members of the show's side.
15:57Listen to what transpired yesterday.
15:59If you had told most Cavs fans, going into this thing,
16:03Boston's going to be out.
16:04You don't have to face them.
16:05I think most people would be saying, you got to be in the NBA Finals this year.
16:08I think you're moving the goalposts because you know the Eastern Conference Finals is very within reach.
16:12And so now you're trying to make it harder and harder to achieve that.
16:14The moment that happens where you're like, all right, this was a good team.
16:17I think you're pulling your punches because you want to be right about the James Harden trade.
16:20Where this team was and the failures they've had in the playoffs,
16:23you go to the Eastern Conference Finals.
16:24I'm not going to sit there and say that's a bad thing at all.
16:26You traded to James Harden to lose.
16:27You're moving the goalposts.
16:29It's fine.
16:29I get it.
16:29You want to make this harder on them because you don't want to turn around and be like,
16:32oh, boy, did I misjudge this team?
16:33No, that's unfair.
16:34That's that bullcrap.
16:35What bullcrap?
16:35And I almost said the real thing.
16:36Oh, you're not a real Cavs fan.
16:38I didn't say that once.
16:39No, no, no.
16:39Where did I insinuate that?
16:40No, the whole point is that I'm somehow hating on this team.
16:43You get to move yours and everyone else is just wrong?
16:44No, I'm admitting that.
16:45Everyone's just wrong then.
16:46No, it's not moving it.
16:47Everyone's wrong.
16:47No, it's not moving it.
16:49The East changed.
16:49You changed it.
16:50The only reason I never said get to the finals is because the Celtics were in your way.
16:54The Celtics are no longer in your way.
16:56Why?
16:56Because it's hard.
16:57You're changing it now to the NBA Finals.
16:59So when they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, because you feel good about this
17:02series for the Cavs, then you'll be like, all right, I wanted more.
17:05You're trying to tell me how I feel about a team that I grew up rooting for that I've
17:10been in the corner of since I was a kid.
17:12That was great stuff yesterday.
17:14I heard that in my car, and that's one of those, I'm not getting out of my car.
17:17I'm listening to the end of this.
17:19And I love Jonathan psychoanalyzing Nick Wilson and going into the deep-seated throws of
17:26their argument about the James Harden trade, because that's what it all boils down to.
17:31Nick was steadfast against it.
17:33I'll give him credit.
17:34He's dug in.
17:35No matter how many numbers I present about how much better James Harden has been than
17:39Darius Garland, and I've got him, and whenever you guys want him.
17:41You sent him another care package for this series, by the way?
17:43I gave him Raptors, you know, knickknacks.
17:46Is there a Detroit Pistons little mini hoop in this picture?
17:49You know what?
17:49I didn't do it, because I think my wife saw the credit card bill, and she's like,
17:53why are you buying this?
17:53He doesn't need a full court.
17:55You're good.
17:55No.
17:56I don't play half court.
17:56No.
17:57Or a full wardrobe.
17:59Just draw the little net with the ball and the horse, maybe.
18:03Okay.
18:03First part of this is I want to defend Nick, because I know he's rooting for the Cavs.
18:08We've had fun.
18:08I'm like, ah, you're not even rooting for the Cavs.
18:10I know he wants the Cavs to win.
18:12With that said, I don't think Nick would pass up winning an argument.
18:16And it's been a pretty big argument.
18:19So I heard that, and I'm like, okay, they definitely moved the goalposts.
18:23I mean, Nick definitely moved them.
18:25But when Boston is out of the bracket, and this is part of the reason why I was like,
18:29let somebody else beat Boston.
18:31Engineer your way into a bracket where you don't have to be the team, because you don't
18:36have the wings, to try to guard Tatum and Brown.
18:39And I thought Derek White would come alive.
18:41That never happened all year.
18:42He was hellacious.
18:44And then their role players just didn't show.
18:46We didn't know if they would.
18:47They didn't have Holiday.
18:48They didn't have Horford.
18:49They didn't have Porzingis.
18:50So in the end, maybe I was a little too worried about Boston.
18:53But they're gone now.
18:54Should be wide open.
18:55I actually see what Nick is saying, though.
18:58It is a moving to the goalposts.
18:59Let the record show.
19:01To win the argument against Nick, he has made it harder to beat him in the argument.
19:06But man, it would feel like a major missed opportunity if they don't get past this round
19:13and don't give themselves a fighting chance to move on to the NBA Finals.
19:16Yeah, I can't speak, obviously, for Nick specifically.
19:18And I know you guys have obviously had your knockdown dragouts during this show-to-show
19:24throughout this run and the start of the playoffs.
19:27And it's been very entertaining.
19:30And I know where he sort of stood at the beginning.
19:32I know his cast takes have kind of been up and down and all over.
19:35But I was somebody on the Saturday show with Earl who we talked about leading into the playoffs
19:42what the expectations should be.
19:45And I think initially in my mind, I was like, well, hey, Easter Conference Finals.
19:49And I was one of the first people, Limer, to say, I'm not afraid to say I want to avoid
19:54Boston.
19:55Like, it's just a bad matchup.
19:56Sometimes it happens in the NBA.
19:57There's just teams you don't want to see.
19:59And so, to your point, like you said, it's good that they ended up on the other side of the
20:02bracket.
20:03You didn't have to see them until at least the Easter Conference Finals.
20:05And now, because you made them go on a different path, they got knocked out.
20:09So they're not in your way anymore.
20:09But my whole stance has always been, when you make the trade for James Harden,
20:14when you cash in on, we're sending 10 years plus maybe worth of Darius Garland for James Harden at 36,
20:22where we maybe get two or three good years out of it, you are going all in,
20:26not just to get to the Easter Conference Finals.
20:29You are going all in on trying to win a championship.
20:31And understanding like your window with Donovan might close if you're not continuing to win around him,
20:36all those different things.
20:37So, I kind of went into the playoffs feeling like the expectation from fans should be,
20:44and I'm okay with it being, hey, we should at least make an appearance in the NBA Finals.
20:49I understand that the Thunder are really good.
20:51And if they end up advancing through, even the Spurs are really good.
20:54Like, yeah, you might just run into a team that's better than you and you just don't match up well
20:58with.
20:58Fine.
20:58But, if this only ends, especially with Boston out of the picture now, which was the one team that I
21:05felt like would prevent you from having a chance to make the NBA Finals,
21:08if they're now out of the picture, I think like you have a clear runway to what the expectation should
21:13be.
21:14And that said, I think the expectation should be NBA Finals, but I also understand we're like some fans were
21:19probably approaching this run
21:21with a standpoint of, well, if we can at least just get to the Eastern Conference Finals, that's the thing
21:25we haven't been able to do.
21:26It's been this thing we've chased and just haven't been able to necessarily match just yet.
21:31I think people would probably be okay with that.
21:33But let's call a spade a spade here.
21:34Like, training for James Harden wasn't just about getting to the Eastern Conference Finals.
21:39It's just, we all thought, hey, if the Celtics are in the way, and if you push that game to
21:43like six or seven games, you'd be okay with it.
21:45That's kind of how I compartmentalized everything with this Cavs team going into the postseason.
21:51Do you feel better about this team's chances to do it right now with this version of James Harden?
21:56Absolutely.
21:56Yeah, absolutely.
21:57And now, the turnover is like, he's got to clean that up a little bit.
22:01But I think the role that he plays with this team, and one of the things you saw in that
22:04first series was,
22:05there was too many times where the Cavs were just willing to let James Harden be James Harden.
22:10And I keep going back to what Kobe Altman said, the trade deadline.
22:14Getting James Harden wasn't about letting him be this like 30-plus point scorer where he's just playing iso ball
22:20on these offensive possessions.
22:21There has to be movement.
22:22And you started seeing the movement around James Harden in game six again, and then in game seven again, it
22:27looked better.
22:27So they can't just lean on James to be like, hey, you're our savior.
22:31And Donovan obviously has to play better off of that because he's supposed to be the guy that when they
22:36need offense, it comes from him.
22:38But, yeah, like I think with this version of James Harden, if he's in sort of that supporting role alongside
22:43Donovan,
22:43or some nights maybe he has to do a little more scoring, but if he's scoring like 18 to 20
22:47points a game,
22:48getting a bunch of assists, grabbing some boards, getting a couple steals.
22:52I mean, in game seven, his offensive impact maybe wasn't what you expected from a shooting standpoint,
22:56but for him to come away with three steals in that game and contribute on the defensive in the way
23:00that he did,
23:01like that's the stuff that Darius Garland obviously couldn't do.
23:04And so you feel like he's making that impact.
23:06I absolutely think like he creates mismatches that should help the Cavs in this Eastern Conference.
23:11I mean, this field is truly wide open.
23:13Well, yeah, and I think what you saw out of Harden in that final game,
23:18like we were saying all along, like he doesn't have to in a game seven put an entire team on
23:23his back.
23:24And instead, you know, the broadcast tried to create this narrative that he was totally passive because he's choking again.
23:30And I looked at it as, I don't know, they're blanketing him 40 feet from the basket.
23:34It's opening up spacing.
23:36All of a sudden, guys can dribble through the lane.
23:38They couldn't do that earlier in the series because they were too crowded.
23:42And then when they needed to, when it looked like, uh-oh, is Toronto going to have a crazy behemoth
23:47comeback?
23:48Like James Harden's like, no, I'm going to will myself to the foul line.
23:51And in the end, you know, what did he end up with?
23:5418, I think he had the other night.
23:55He was three of nine from the floor, but he was like 13 or something.
24:00I forget how many free throws he made.
24:0113, 13 in total.
24:02Like, isn't that exactly what you want to see out of James Harden?
24:06And then to add the three steals in the game.
24:09Like, he had, in that series, he ended up having four blocks and 15 steals.
24:16Okay, 19 stocks in a series?
24:19I mean, that's like five series for Darius Garland.
24:22Like, that's the thing I think people underestimated when it came to James, plus the defensive rebounding.
24:26His rebounding tolls, I think he had almost a half of Darius Garland's career rebounds he had in seven-game
24:32series.
24:32So, his defensive rebounding saved possessions.
24:36That stuff matters.
24:37If you don't get the rebound, what was Toronto doing?
24:40They were gathering and the putbacks, the dunks, off the misses.
24:45Like, you needed all that.
24:46We're so stuck with Harden on the narratives from his past of the bad game sevens.
24:52And it was only like three bad game sevens, by the way.
24:54And he's been in the playoffs every single year of his career.
24:57That we forget, like, the other things he can, how he can impact the game.
25:00And I think you did see that in that game seven.
25:02Granted, yes, you'd love for him to shoot a little bit better than he did.
25:05But I think overall, like, his impact can absolutely help them get further in this playoffs than they ever have.
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