00:00Yesterday on this show for Best Bets, I said, you know, I'm going to go Major League Baseball, Joe.
00:04I took a team total over four and a half for the Marlins.
00:06They had that before you could blink and scored nine runs in that game, and it was easy.
00:11Joe's like, you know what? I'm going to dip my toes in the water in the NBA.
00:13I'll take those Cleveland Cavaliers getting the points on the road, and early, it didn't look good.
00:17But as we know, it's the NBA, and anything can happen.
00:20And the only thing I was upset about, Joe, is the game actually went to overtime.
00:23I'm like, no! No! Don't go to overtime. Win it there.
00:27But, Joe, the dog went to overtime where they typically die.
00:30The Cavaliers won, and you called it for another big-time W.
00:34Well, I mean, listen, even if they were getting four and a half, right, Donnie?
00:39I mean, the entire world was on Detroit.
00:41Nobody believed that, you know, Cleveland could actually win a game on the road.
00:45Well, you know, P.S., another one of those 12-minute stretches, it felt like,
00:52for the Detroit Pistons not being able to score when it mattered the most.
00:56Listen, Donnie, they were up by, what, eight at the break?
01:00They were up as many as 15, nine with about, what, three minutes to go?
01:05They got nobody to blame but themselves.
01:07It wasn't a call.
01:09Even if they would have gave them the call, they would not have covered the spread, Donnie.
01:13So, also, Thompson's a 50% free-throw shooter.
01:16There was nothing guaranteed.
01:17You lost it because, once again, your offense disappeared when it mattered the most.
01:24And, kudos, 3-2.
01:26Now we'll see if they can win a game on the road here in a game six.
01:29Talked about James Harden yesterday on PME.
01:32Hey, can he get 20-plus points?
01:33He did that and more.
01:34Scored 30 points in the victory for the Cavaliers.
01:36And the Cavs now a 3-2 series lead heading back to Cleveland with a chance to clinch here.
01:41Let's take a look at some post-game comments from both coaches here.
01:44You hope it propels us, right?
01:47You hope it galvanizes us.
01:49You hope, you know, again, we carry it forward, right?
01:54Like we, you know, this is, that was a battle-tested win, you know, against a heck of a team
02:02on the road.
02:05But you hope it, I think you build mental toughness over with games like this.
02:09You build, you know, thicker skin, all that.
02:14Calls going each way.
02:15You know, balls flying out.
02:17I mean, it was chaos out there.
02:19But our guys are seasoned.
02:23You know, James helps.
02:25He helps a lot.
02:27Just with, he never, like I said before the game, never know if you're down 20, up 20.
02:32Just calm the whole time.
02:34You're going to have to choke the life out of this team, right?
02:37We're not going to go down without a fight.
02:39We're not going to go down without kicking, punching, grabbing, clawing.
02:43And that's just who we are.
02:44And we've been in this position before.
02:47And we were able to work our way through it.
02:49And I expect our guys to be ready mentally to go out and compete at a high level.
02:55You heard from the coaches now.
02:57Let's get some views from the players postgame, huh?
03:00This is a new, like, this is new for me.
03:03So, like, we keep talking about, you know, like I've only been here two and a half months.
03:09You know what I mean?
03:10So, like, the things that we were going through is all new, you know?
03:13So, like, learning how to be, you know, a second option and feed and play off Donovan, you know, when
03:20to be aggressive, you know, when he has it going.
03:22Like, last game, second half, like, he did some things that we haven't seen in a very, very long time.
03:27You know what I mean?
03:28So, it's like, you know, and he's capable of doing that every single game.
03:31So, you know, finding when to be aggressive, when to be a playmaker and things like that.
03:34So, and then offensively finding what works for us, you know, for me to be successful to get guys, you
03:40know, shots and open looks.
03:41So, it all comes together.
03:43And I think we're building in the right direction.
03:46And throughout that process, there's going to be some, you know, times where, you know, we don't look as great.
03:50But I think overall we all got the right mindset of wanting to help each other be better.
03:54And, you know, I think we're finding that as of lately.
03:57Yeah.
03:58I mean, tonight was tough.
04:01Tough loss.
04:01Obviously, we wanted to protect our home court.
04:04We failed to do that.
04:06You know, being up 3-2 is an advantage for them.
04:10It's first to four wins, though.
04:12We know that.
04:13We've had our back against the wall before.
04:15And at the end of the day, I mean, if we can't win a game on the road, how far
04:19are we really going to get in the playoffs?
04:20How far are we going to get in this league?
04:21So, got to go win a game on the road.
04:24And that's what we're going to do.
04:25Got to win back-to-back games now through Detroit.
04:27If you want to survive in advance to play the New York Knicks, one more victory here for the Cavaliers.
04:31Joe, they will play the New York Knicks.
04:34How about that?
04:36Yeah.
04:36Listen, it's – and there's a big difference between Detroit winning and Cleveland winning
04:41because the Knicks and Madison Square Garden will become home court advantage.
04:46So, this is if Cleveland ends up holding on.
04:48If Detroit wins and comes back and wins back-to-back games, then the Knicks will start on the road
04:54in Detroit.
04:55So, it's a big game six, I'm sure.
04:58The Knicks – well, are they on vacation?
05:00I'm not sure.
05:00When's the last time we saw them play a game?
05:02It feels like a hot minute here.
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