00:00The Cavaliers, the way they played last night, again, surprising how easy the game was.
00:08I thought for sure that Detroit would, because it's a game of runs, and I thought Detroit would crawl back.
00:13And once they got up about 12, I was like, well, let's see how far it goes.
00:16Because they did give up a 17-point lead earlier, which I'm like, let's not freak out.
00:20This is the NBA. It happens. And then it just, it got over 20, and it stayed over 20.
00:25And they just never, ever, ever let them back up.
00:29And it was exactly as Jarrett just said, it was a complete team victory.
00:32He was fantastic in this game, and I'll get to some more audio here on him just in a second.
00:36Donovan Mitchell was obviously exceptional.
00:38From what you have with Evan Mobley, Evan Mobley was great in this game.
00:42What did you think of James Harden?
00:43Before we go on with anything else, what did you think of James?
00:46Because there was one turnover in the game, and there was a bunch of assists.
00:50I'm going, well, he did what was necessary in this game.
00:52Well, there's no doubt that, like, he didn't have his jumper going yesterday.
00:56So, the key was going to be, could he make up for it in other ways?
01:00It was kind of a non-spectacular, just, he was there.
01:04He logged the most minutes.
01:06Yeah.
01:06So, you know, he's big for spacing.
01:09He had some nice shot creation for some other guys.
01:11Got some rebounds in the middle.
01:13But, you know, it was, I'm not going to say like, oh, game seven Harden was amazing.
01:17Oddly enough, he was plus, what, plus 31?
01:21So, they just, they continue to trust him.
01:24They continue to trust him.
01:25And, you know, when you talk to our fans.
01:27He actually was plus 31.
01:28You're right.
01:29Go ahead.
01:29When you talk to our fans, their guys, especially the ones that didn't want to make that trade,
01:33they trust him, like, the least of anybody on the team.
01:37Well, he had a very up-and-down series.
01:40He's had an up-and-down playoffs.
01:41There are some people who, just because he changes his jersey, doesn't mean they're going to trust him overall.
01:45And, fine, you know, you can sit there and go, hey, it's been 17 years.
01:49He's not going to just change his stripes for anybody here.
01:52And I remember what Danny Green told Baskin and Phelps earlier this week where, you know,
01:55they try to look at it and go, well, he really likes being here.
01:57And Danny Green, it's like, he likes winning.
01:59He likes winning and not having to be the number one guy.
02:02And he's winning and he's not having to be the number one guy here.
02:04That's why he likes it.
02:05I can accept that.
02:06What I try to sell people on the role of James Harden, and at times I think they've asked him
02:10to eclipse that role,
02:11which I think is when you get in a dangerous territory.
02:14But when I try to sell the trade to people, I said, the first thing is, is this,
02:19you're thinking of James Harden from 10 years ago.
02:21He's not going to be that, nor does he need to be.
02:24Like, he can come in and have these bursts.
02:27And we've seen that at times.
02:28I mean, man, I mean, think about, think about the game where he hit three clutch shots in the final
02:32two minutes
02:32when other guys were afraid to shoot.
02:34Like, he still is that guy.
02:37Yes, if he's the focal point of another team's defense, like, they're going to smother him.
02:41They're going to force turnovers.
02:41It's going to be ugly.
02:42That's not what you want.
02:44But at the same time, like, you can see, Atkinson had no problem having him out there.
02:50Crucial, crucial sessions of the playoffs, segments of the playoffs that he was out there.
02:54And defensively, like, he's going to get smoked by quicker guys.
02:59And, you know, there were times when Cade Cunningham went right around him
03:01because Cade is a much better player at this stage of his career and an all-NBA second-team, you
03:07know, player.
03:08But at the same time, like, I thought he was competent, James Harden, defensively.
03:12I thought he was competent throughout both series.
03:14I think he can guard wings.
03:17I think that surprised people.
03:19I mean, he really gave fits at times on closeouts.
03:23And he was a good helper on Cade as well as they kind of adjusted their defense.
03:28So, I think that's all you can ask for.
03:30Like, I'm sorry.
03:31When you had Darius, at times, it was like, man, can we hide him?
03:35I don't think they had to hide James all series.
03:37And that's the difference.
03:38You didn't want him on Cade Cunningham exclusively.
03:41And I just think we can keep it healthy with James.
03:43And this is kind of big picture stuff.
03:45I'm not looking for him to love us.
03:47Like, when you trade for Donovan Mitchell in the middle of his prime, you need him to love you.
03:53Because we've been burned here before.
03:56It's a Midwestern city that gets burned by big-time stars.
03:59We're like a lot, but obviously we're special because of you-know-who in the past.
04:04Donovan, people need to feel like he loves it here.
04:07And I do think he really, really, really likes it here.
04:09I do.
04:10They have to trust him.
04:12Because a lot of people, the second he got traded here, it was a lot of the NBA media going,
04:18where's his next stop going to be?
04:19Where's his next stop?
04:20For James Harden, it doesn't have to be that way.
04:22James Harden's 36 years old.
04:24I don't need to worry about any of the other stuff when it comes to James Harden.
04:27It's like, okay, go out and play good basketball for us, and let's see where we can go with this
04:30thing.
04:30He's at the end of his career, and so I'm fine with how he is.
04:35I'm fine with this being who he is.
04:37And who he is is, yeah, if we get to a Game 7 against the Knicks,
04:40I'm going to hope that I kind of got the same type of performance that I got from him last
04:44night,
04:44where it's like, hey, let's disperse, let's facilitate, let's create for everybody else.
04:48If you happen to heat up, great, but if not, I know your history.
04:52I'm willing to accept a game like that last night.
04:54I thought it ended up being solid.
04:55I would say this, because I do want to get to Donovan, because I think we're burying the lead on
04:59Donovan,
05:00what I called a superstar performance last night.
05:02It doesn't look like that at 26 points and eight assists.
05:05It didn't have to be.
05:06He only had to play 31 minutes.
05:07But Harden, what I did think he has given this team in both series is when guys were up against
05:15it
05:15and were really having trouble, and despite his turnovers and how bad some,
05:20he has some of the worst turnovers you've ever seen, like in basketball.
05:23We can just throw that out there.
05:24But I tried to make a case at the end of last week how he can make up for those
05:29turnovers,
05:29and then delineating why some of those turnovers happen can also be the source of some good
05:35because of his creativity and the way that he continues to help their spacing.
05:41He would hit some shots when it looked like either the Pistons or the Raptors were going to take over
05:46the series,
05:47and he would keep things at bay.
05:49He would keep things close.
05:50He would find a way with the hard hat lunch pail to earn his way to the free throw line.
05:56I know you might not like it if you're not rooting for him, but he would get himself to the
06:00free throw line,
06:01and they would survive certain moments with James.
06:04I think that was important, but I do want to get to Donovan.
06:07This is going to go down as, all right, ho-hum, 26 points, 10 to 22.
06:11That's a lot of shots to score 26 points.
06:14None of that is going to jump off the screen like, say, his second half earlier in the series
06:19to just go on a tear and score 39 points, or the times when he dropped 50 a few times
06:25in the playoffs,
06:25or the handful of times he's been able to drop 40, the massive 30-point specials that he's had.
06:33This, to me, was game seven on the road, the superstar earning that money
06:38because he just made the right play every time.
06:42I agree, yeah.
06:42He wasn't a black hole.
06:44Yeah, you're right.
06:44He moved the ball.
06:46He fed the bigs, and defensively, he ratcheted it up to a point I have not seen from him really
06:52all year,
06:53and I think that was huge.
06:54Seven o'clock, if I say this, you're going to have to hold me to it.
06:58What is this?
06:58I'll tell you coming up at seven o'clock, and at 643, I think Kenny was just trying to tell
07:02a nice story
07:03and ended up coming back to bite him in the ass in the postgame yesterday
07:05because there's a lot of people making a big deal about something Kenny said.
07:08I think you're right about what you just said about Donovan Mitchell.
07:12And, again, it's that if you want to be the superstar, we've got to trust you in those big moments.
07:16If you're going to be the number one, like, and this is where it's like, well, Kenny,
07:20I contradict myself, I'm almost talking to myself here.
07:23You're contradicting yourself because James Harden has been a number one, a one percenter.
07:28He has been.
07:29I don't think he's that guy anymore.
07:31I think he's a tremendous player, but he's not what Donovan is supposed to be to you.
07:35Donovan is supposed to be the alpha.
07:36He's supposed to be the number one, and he played like it last night.
07:39He played like a guy, and he's played like it at times in the series, too,
07:42where he played like a guy who's going to put a team on his back and carry them to another
07:46level.
07:47And that another level is finally to a conference finals for the first time in his career,
07:51and it seems that he finally got the monkey off his back.
07:54Hopefully, that means he can play loose and the rest of these guys can play loose
07:57because, frankly, like, this has been the biggest albatross hanging around their neck
08:02is when are you going to get to a conference finals?
08:05We made all these moves.
08:06We can't even get to a conference finals.
08:08There's been so many people who have said, last year especially, this is the year.
08:12This is the year they don't just get to a conference finals.
08:14They get to an NBA finals, and obviously it blew up in our faces.
08:17For this year, though, what Donovan has done in taking them to an Eastern conference finals
08:22and a wide-open year in the East, absolutely wide-open.
08:25Detroit was better than I gave him credit for.
08:28Toronto ended up being better than I gave him credit for.
08:30And you can look up and down and go, you know, Philadelphia didn't see them getting out of the first
08:33round.
08:34Atlanta, everybody thought that they were going to surprise the New York.
08:38Knicks and that Mike Brown was going to end up being fired.
08:41It's been a wide-open time, and a guy who you're supposed to count on
08:46decided to take his team, take advantage of this situation,
08:50and put his team in the Eastern Conference finals.
08:52What you say about Donovan Mitchell can't be underlined enough.
08:55It really can't be underlined enough.
08:57For what he's done for the organization, for what he did with the team last night,
09:01I mean, that's what it's all for.
09:02You trade those picks.
09:04You trade those players that people liked before.
09:06They liked Colin Sexton, a whole bunch.
09:08And you make a trade for a guy like that who does have a little bit of criticism,
09:13not baggage, criticism that surrounds him.
09:15Go to Shaquille O'Neal, go to the inside of the NBA, the whole thing.
09:18And then he answers it, and now you're in an Eastern Conference finals.
09:21You're one of the four best teams in all the NBA out of 30.
09:23That stands for something in this league.
09:25I don't care what anybody says.
09:27Listen, I just think it's tough.
09:30The playoffs can be a gauntlet.
09:31I think people forget how tough the playoffs are supposed to be and are for most other teams that have
09:37mortals
09:38and not immortals like LeBron James on their team.
09:41You know, I said at the start of the series, I'm like, hey, you know, the Denver Nuggets,
09:45they have arguably the best player in the NBA, right?
09:48He's at home watching the festivities, right?
09:51Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown are at home watching the rest of the festivities.
09:55Luka got injured, couldn't participate.
09:58Like, yes, Donovan had his struggles in this series.
10:00It has not been a great playoffs for Donovan Mitchell.
10:03But to me, that was such a Herculean effort that people are going to miss if they just look at
10:10the box score.
10:11And I think that's, you got to be careful with that.
10:13You have to look at how he kind of owned that game.
10:16And his presence was felt on every possession on both ends.
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