00:00Josh, you probably have to know what you're playing now.
00:02Just what do you make of the matchup with Cleveland?
00:05What do you expect?
00:07Yes, good team, good players, good coach.
00:11You know, team that's obviously in rhythm, you know, playing yesterday.
00:15So, you know, we expect a tough series.
00:20You know, we just got to try to continue to play basketball.
00:24How do you view that had this long of a break between game versus a team
00:28that's just now coming off with a game seven, just rest versus, I guess, rust?
00:32What do you think about it?
00:38Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
00:40Obviously, you would rather not have a nine-day break, you know.
00:46You're in a good rhythm, and then, obviously, you've got to kind of just sit there
00:49and wait and those kind of things.
00:51So, I don't know.
00:53Ideally, if it was a three- or four-day break, that would be nice.
00:55But, you know, it's good points and bad points.
01:01Josh, do you expect this team to pick up where you left off with that momentum
01:06coming out of the last series?
01:08Yeah, we've got to come in with toughness, physicality, energy from the jump.
01:16Obviously, it has a very tough team.
01:17I mean, two really good bigs, two, you know, really good ball handlers,
01:23playmakers, scorers, you know, then you're surrounded with shooters.
01:26So, you know, I expect those to have a good attention to detail and effort level.
01:33How has Jim Jordan changed what they're able to do?
01:41Yeah, obviously someone who can, you know, get his own shots,
01:45but also get to the free throw line, get, you know, the bigs involved,
01:49get shooter shots.
01:50So, that's obviously something you have to game plan for in terms of his ability to score,
01:56but also to play make.
01:57So, he makes it a little bit more dynamic.
02:00So, you have to make sure, like I said, have attention to detail on him, you know, be smart.
02:05So, three years ago, that was your first playoffs when you guarded Donovan.
02:09You did a good job.
02:11What did you learn about yourself in that moment?
02:14Maybe what you learned about defending Donovan that you can apply to this group?
02:21I don't know.
02:22I mean, he's an extremely talented, you know, offensive player.
02:26You know, he takes tough shots, but he has the talent.
02:31Come on, man.
02:35The talent and the ability to make those tough shots.
02:43So, yeah, I don't think I learned anything about myself.
02:46You know, I feel like I'm a good player.
02:50I'm a good defender.
02:51And, you know, obviously as a competitor, you want, you know,
02:55have, you know, tough matches like that to compete against the best.
02:58You saw these guys on opening night and on Christmas.
03:01It was obviously viewed as sort of a marquee matchup, I guess.
03:04Did you view them when you played them like, you know, we might see these guys again?
03:11No, in terms of, you know, that's the first game of the year and Christmas Day.
03:17Like it, you know, obviously the NBA might want that.
03:21I don't know if that's what, you know, but for us, we're not thinking that far ahead,
03:27especially in, you know, October or December, we're trying to figure out how we can continue to get better.
03:34And if you're looking towards that, you know, you lose the present.
03:39So I never really thought of it that way.
03:42And then obviously now I'm thinking it that way.
03:45Josh, from the last year's experience, can you use anything from being in the conference rounds
03:49to this year now being again in the conference rounds?
03:56Nah, I mean, obviously in the playoffs, you never want to give away games that you should win.
04:03You know, you can never relax, especially in the style that the NBA has played in today.
04:08You see 10, 15, 20 point leads dwindle, you know, in four or five minutes.
04:15So it's just that mentality of it's never over playing until, you know, there's zeros on the clock.
04:24And, you know, you can't give the game away.
04:26Are you looking forward to the energy of the Garden tomorrow night?
04:30Always, always, man.
04:31They always come out and show love and it's always one of the best.
04:37It's definitely the best, you know, atmosphere in the league, so.
04:42Do you feed off of it?
04:44Yeah, I mean, it's hard not to.
04:49Obviously, you know, you always want to be at home, be in the Garden, do this kind of thing,
04:52and you feed off of that energy.
04:55And, you know, it's fun when the Garden's going, especially during this time, man, there's nothing like it.
05:00Josh, last year, last one guys, they put street signs up for you guys when you made it to the
05:04conference finals.
05:05Do you feel like the bar has been raised in terms of expectations?
05:08You guys, you know, expecting that, you know, getting to the conference finals is enough.
05:12You have to get further than this.
05:15I don't know.
05:16Did they put street sign up this year?
05:18I don't think so.
05:19It's disappointing.
05:22I mean, we've always said it and I've always said it, like during the playoffs and when we're trying to
05:31make a run, do those kind of things.
05:32We want our fans, our supporters to have as much fun as they possibly can, whether that's putting street signs
05:40up, you know, going to games,
05:42watching games outside the arena, you know, just, you know, having fun.
05:47Really, that's what it is.
05:48I think for us in that locker room, we're just locked in on, you know, being there every single game
05:53and making sure that, you know, we're continuing to get better and we're a finished product at the end.
05:59So I don't know anything about the bar being raised or expectations or anything like that.
06:05I think the expectations that we have for ourselves as a team individual, you know, are always high.
06:12But we always want the fans to have some fun, man.
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