00:00They came back from down nine with three minutes left to go, took it to overtime, won that game.
00:06They're up 3-2 in the series. It's their first road win of the series, of the postseason,
00:10and now they come back home on Friday with a chance to close things out against the Detroit Pistons
00:15and then head off to take on the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
00:20An inspiring win, the best win I think I've seen.
00:24I think that we might go over the history of it coming up here in 20 minutes. We'll see.
00:27I know that Cade Cunningham was complaining. There's actually maybe a little bit of tough talking going on over in
00:31Detroit.
00:32We are monitoring our friends in Detroit. I'm not trying to start one of them stupid Radio Wars tone.
00:36I like Jim Costa, but we'll see what they're saying over there because there's a lot of complaining about refs
00:40that went on last night from the Pistons side of things.
00:43Again, J.B. Bickerstaff, see, last night, before I get back to the phones on whether or not people trust
00:49the Cavs again,
00:49which they should, if you were watching as just a Cavs fan
00:55and now you can sit back and kind of see it again.
00:58We got the full J.B. experience.
01:01The full J.B. experience.
01:03Because he's out at the logo at the end of the floor looking like he's just about to fight every
01:08ref he sees.
01:09Out at the logo.
01:10Which I just assumed, like, that's not technical?
01:14Like, what are we doing here?
01:15And I know that, hey, here I am trying to look for fouls as they were,
01:19everybody in Detroit was bitching for fouls.
01:21I mean, Rick Mahorn, I think, was going to pop out there going, what is this?
01:25Oh, and they got everybody courtside.
01:26They got from Isaiah Thomas to Ben Wallace.
01:30They have so many of their ex-players there that had to sit there and watch Max Strews, James Harden,
01:36Evan Mobley, and Donovan take that game from them.
01:39So you had that go on with J.B. right at the end of the game.
01:43But you remember, and Rob Perez highlighted this, formerly Worldwide Rob, who's now Rob Perez on SiriusXM NBA Radio,
01:51he highlighted it going, J.B., I think, lost track of his timeouts because he left himself with one timeout
01:57left.
01:57He thought he had to burn one.
01:59And he left himself with one timeout left with three and a half minutes left to go.
02:03And at that time, you're up by three possessions.
02:07So maybe at that time, you're thinking, but here you are, and you lose control.
02:11And I'm thinking, this is the J.B. experience.
02:13This is part of the reason.
02:15I think we were a little overly critical because we knew the end was coming.
02:19Guilty as charged.
02:20But that's one of those things where I'm like, are you just so focused on the fouls?
02:24Are you just so focused on getting in with the refs that you lose track about what's going on?
02:28Like, he does the thing that I've accused a lot of us doing when we watch on the sidelines
02:33and we bitch about the head coach not being emotional enough.
02:37It's like, dude, you've got a lot of things you've got to think about.
02:39There's a lot of things that you have to get ready for.
02:41I can't just sit there and lament over what's happened.
02:44I have to look forward to it.
02:45I think J.B. does that.
02:46Who knows better than us?
02:47He talks to the officials more than he talks to his players or his assistants.
02:50So you've just got to understand, like, eventually that becomes the boy you cried wolf to,
02:55which I called that out.
02:56This isn't some new opinion because he's on the bad guy side of things now.
03:00I called this out for how many years here?
03:01And I remember some of the Cavs podcasters got mad at me for bringing it up.
03:05And I'm like, that's not the way.
03:07There are ways to strategically buy calls, you know, in a game and in a playoff series.
03:12What he's doing is not the way.
03:15Just a bitch at the refs.
03:16I totally agree.
03:16And now the Cavs have a 34 free throw edge in the series.
03:21Maybe work the refs a little bit better, J.B.
03:23Maybe that's possible.
03:24Maybe that's a possibility.
03:25Like, I'm not saying he's not a bad coach, clearly.
03:27No, he's done a great job.
03:28He's a building type of coach.
03:29Detroit, I don't know if Detroit would be the type of team they are without J.B.
03:33I don't think they'd be the type of threat.
03:34And frankly, and maybe he'll get let go after next season or something like that.
03:38I think they're on a hell of a trajectory.
03:40I think that they're going to be a tough team for a while.
03:42And Cade Cunningham's obviously a great player.
03:44They'll make some moves and they'll be different.
03:46But I look at it now and I go, well, that's part of the gripe why J.B.
03:50doesn't really last as long as you think he would.
03:53Because those are the criticisms that we have.
03:55Like, you got the full J.B. experience last night.
03:57But when you have Kenny Atkinson there, what did you think of Kenny last night when you
04:00saw some of the stuff that was going on?
04:02Because there were a couple of things that I just thought were really well done by him.
04:06Yeah, and I also would have called timeouts.
04:08There was a helter-skelter situation there at the end of regulation.
04:12I was like, I think we might need to actually run a play here.
04:15But in the end, they dodged the bullet.
04:17And look, the significant adjustment that has been made, and this is probably the adjustment
04:24of the playoffs so far, honestly, with as close, as razor-thin as this series is, you
04:32could make the argument that their decision to blitz Cade, you can't do it all game, you
04:38can't give him that look, he's too good.
04:40Like, he'll dissect that if you do that all game.
04:42But in the last three minutes of regulation, making sure to get the ball out of his hands,
04:48you've got to live with open shots from Tobias Harris.
04:50He missed one.
04:51Nice little late closeout from Evan.
04:53There was a missed Dennis Jenkins with Max Drews flying out at him, side dribble to the
04:59left.
04:59He shoots a three, doesn't go, kind of skanked it against the left side of the rim.
05:04That was off.
05:05And then Paul Reed, who everybody in Detroit wants to start now, they don't want Durin.
05:10And so that's how big of a performance your bigs have had against him.
05:14The big, bad, tough, second team, third team, all NBA, Durin, they want him bench for Paul
05:20Reed.
05:20Well, he went to the basket, and Evan Mobley was waiting for him, and he said, absolutely
05:25not.
05:27So, listen, you're going to live with open shots, and maybe other guys take it to the
05:30rim if you're the Cavs.
05:32And had they have hit any of them, you lose the game.
05:34But what an adjustment.
05:36You had to do it.
05:36And it's not something I think you can do for 48 minutes, because I think Kate Cunningham's
05:41too good.
05:42But that adjustment, I think, was a massive part of getting that game to overtime.
05:462-1-6-4-7-4-0-0-92.
05:48Why do you think that they've woken up the city this morning?
05:50Obviously the win, but what is...
05:52Because everybody, after they were down two games to nothing, with the exception of Andy
05:56Baskin, who said, no, they still have enough games, they can come back and win the series.
05:59But almost everybody buried him.
06:00I buried him.
06:01Almost anybody did.
06:03You would have buried him, I'm sure, had you have been here.
06:05It was ugly.
06:06Yeah, I'd have been upset.
06:07And it looked, again, it looked like Harden was ready for the glue factory.
06:11Donovan Mitchell did not look like a superstar.
06:14And Evan Mobley couldn't dribble.
06:16They were going right at him.
06:17And so, you put that together, like, nobody thought that they would have a second act here,
06:24or a third act in this series.
06:26Okay, and then they win two games, and it's like, alright, prove it on the road.
06:29Yes.
06:29That's what everybody said yesterday.
06:31Ladies and gentlemen...
06:32They've proven it on the road.
06:32The Cavs came back from nine down with about two and a half minutes left, and won it over
06:36time.
06:36Proven it on the road.
06:37They proved it on the road.
06:38So you can't say they haven't proven it on the road.
06:41They proved...
06:41And again, I laughed yesterday, like, yeah, they have to win one on the road.
06:45They can't physically win the series unless they win one on the road.
06:48And they did yesterday.
06:49They won.
06:50Are they the series favorites now?
06:51I imagine they are.
06:53So, they have stolen home court advantage from the number one seed.
06:56So, bye-bye to all that that you earned.
06:58The key is you've got to win tomorrow, because I do not feel like going back to Detroit on
07:04Sunday and having to worry about that game.
07:06Well, I just think they will.
07:08I think that a lot of things, to win a game like that, now it takes a lot out of
07:12you emotionally,
07:12obviously.
07:13But coming back home, there's so many things that just play in your favor.
07:17And I know that we like to say things, and it's like, well, Kenny, back up what you're
07:21saying.
07:22Because I said yesterday morning, I go, if they win tonight, which they did last night, if they
07:27win tonight, then I think they win the series in six.
07:29And the reason I do is for the same reasons I gave you yesterday.
07:32You're the veteran team?
07:34Yes.
07:34I think that having to come back from nine down with three minutes left to go and sending
07:38the thing to overtime, the emotional toll that that takes, that's a hell of a cliff
07:43to fall off of as you go back to Cleveland and you only have one day in between to get
07:49ready for game six.
07:50Seriously.
07:50But you're the veteran team.
07:51And again, I just think you have the better overall team.
07:54They do have the better player on the floor in Cade Cunningham.
07:57Credit where it's deserved.
07:58But you see what happened last night where guys were able to step up.
08:02Game four, it's Donovan.
08:04Throws it on his back, quote unquote.
08:05And I think that James Harden, because Donovan's performance, James Harden's performance was
08:09under the radar.
08:1024 points, 11 assists, two turnovers.
08:13It was under the radar, which is a perfect style of win, by the way.
08:16But you're right.
08:16It happens at home.
08:17So there's plenty of people going, you're going to have to prove it on the road.
08:20And they were saying that on Tuesday morning.
08:22They were saying that.
08:24So now we have this game that we won on the road.
08:26The Cavs won on the road.
08:27I think James Harden, yes, there's some ups and downs.
08:30I think we just have to live with some of the turnovers.
08:32It's going to happen.
08:33He's going to have the ball in his hands a lot.
08:34This is three big games.
08:35You're forcing him to do some things.
08:36This is three games in a row where he's been a killer against Detroit.
08:41There you go.
08:41Darius is just, I don't want to pile on Darius today.
08:44It's not about that.
08:45But they just don't win these games.
08:46Exactly.
08:47He's a bigger frame.
08:48He's a better player.
08:49Let's call it what it is.
08:50And by the way, he played great defense on Cade Cunningham yesterday when he got switched.
08:56More times than I would have liked to see.
08:58But he got matched up against him a ton.
09:00And even at the end of regulation, tie game with 30 seconds left, he came over and used
09:05those long arms of him.
09:07I haven't seen him do that in forever.
09:09And that's what needs to be pointed out.
09:11If you're just dropping in, Donovan took over game four.
09:16If you're just dropping in, I think a lot of people look at it and go, James did it in
09:20game five.
09:21And when you make these trades, when you have these type of players, when you have the most
09:24expensive roster in the NBA, that's what you're expecting to do.
09:28And so I don't know if I'm going to count on either one or both or whatever it's going
09:32to be.
09:33And I don't think they're going to blow them out by 25.
09:35We're all going to be laughing in the fourth quarter and making arrangements for who we
09:39bring on from New York and all that other stuff.
09:41And don't sell your tickets to Spike Lee and the rest of the Knicks.
09:43Yeah.
09:43Ben Stiller.
09:44Jerry Ferrara.
09:45I'm not trying to do that right now.
09:47Is that...
09:49Did I say it?
09:50No, I'm not going to say it just yet.
09:51I almost called him a different word.
09:52Is that coward ever going to come back on?
09:53Oh, I think he will.
09:54Yeah.
09:55Okay.
09:55I'll call him a coward.
09:56I almost called him something else.
09:58We had it done.
09:58I bet you we'll hear from Jerry.
09:59Okay.
10:01I like Jerry Ferrara.
10:02Just stop being a coward and come on the show if we play the Knicks, okay?
10:05Let's get there first.
10:06All right.
10:07Let's get there first.
10:08But I think they'll win because of all those things that I pointed out before.
10:10And I know that those are easy things to say when you don't necessarily think of a
10:16team that has their back against the wall.
10:17And they're talented over there.
10:18I mean, this is a good series.
10:19These are two good teams.
10:201-1-60 games.
10:22It's all there for you.
10:24But with the way that they've done it, I think tomorrow night should be the night
10:29that they win.
10:29I'd be very surprised if we have to go back to Detroit for a game seven.
10:33I think that they close it out tomorrow night.
Comments