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00:00and you walk out of the living room after watching the game on TV last night,
00:04or you watch the team walk off the floor last night,
00:06and you're like, what the hell did I just watch?
00:09Who was that team out there last night?
00:12Like, what?
00:13Wait, they're moving the ball.
00:15Evan Mobley's cutting across the middle,
00:17going through the paint at the end of the game?
00:19Wait, what?
00:20He's facilitating through the paint?
00:22I got guys hitting clutch threes?
00:25James Harden?
00:26Hello.
00:27Love it.
00:28Love it.
00:29Can we do more of that?
00:31Because if we do more of that,
00:33we're a team that can be around for a long time all season.
00:36I think last night was the night that we were hoping we were going to see
00:39in the Eastern Conference Finals last night,
00:41and I got to tell you, that was fun.
00:44He's Dan Mennegan.
00:45He's in for Jeff Phelps.
00:46I'm Andy Baskin.
00:47Always a pleasure to be with you.
00:48Cam Matt is with us today.
00:50James Bridges is in the house.
00:51What's up?
00:52What's up?
00:52What's up?
00:52You good?
00:53I feel great being back here with you guys, man.
00:56It feels like the band has been lifted.
00:58Welcome back.
00:58Look at you.
00:59You're like all cavaliered out today.
01:01No one dresses better in this building than you do, just so you know that.
01:03I wanted to wear a new cab jersey I got over the weekend because I found it on sale.
01:07I bought one for my son, so I can't say the name.
01:10Why?
01:10I couldn't fit it.
01:11Why?
01:12Because I don't want him to know what it is.
01:13Oh, you don't want him to know who's yours.
01:14Okay.
01:15I bought two.
01:15One for me so we can be matching.
01:17I don't do the same matching thing, but I figured it would be a cool thing to do.
01:20How old's your son?
01:21Like five, six?
01:22Fourteen.
01:22He'll be 15.
01:23You're still in the range, man.
01:24If he's older, we got to have a little talk later.
01:27Hi, Dan.
01:27How are you?
01:28Good to see you.
01:29I'm well, buddy.
01:30That was a good win.
01:31That was nice to see.
01:32They woke up.
01:33It looked like a team that actually could find its way into the playoffs and give a team
01:40a real problem when they make it there.
01:42They've at least looked in that moment that some of the things began to click in and know
01:49some of the things we're talking about.
01:51I mean, James Harden go off for 32 helps the cause.
01:54And the fact that at one point he couldn't miss from three really helped the cause.
01:58The bench showing up, I think might've been the most impressive thing.
02:01At least to me, I was beyond impressed watching what Tyrese Proctor was able to do with 15
02:08points in this game.
02:09And then Malik Thomas coming in with 14 points.
02:11First time they've walked into the garden as professionals and looked like they belong.
02:16Looked like they easily could hang inside of the whole thing.
02:19Did not cower from the bright lights and looking off to the side and seeing Ben Stiller and
02:22Spike Lee and Paul Rudd and whomever else was there last night.
02:25It was really cool to watch those young guys step foot onto Madison Square Garden and play
02:31like they belonged.
02:33I walked into last night's game going, man, if they look like they did the other night,
02:38they were in trouble.
02:39Like, this isn't good.
02:40Kenny's not going to make it to Thanksgiving.
02:42And then all of a sudden, magic.
02:46Last night they looked like exactly what we were hoping they would look like.
02:49I was still kind of...
02:50Can they consistently play that way, though?
02:52That's my question.
02:53I mean, they shot the lights out, I thought, late in the game.
02:56And they made key buckets.
02:58Yeah.
02:58And they had big defensive stops.
03:00Yeah, they gave up a couple leads.
03:02I get it.
03:02It's the NBA.
03:03It's going to happen.
03:06But the other part of it was they didn't have to really play from behind last night,
03:10especially in the second half.
03:11It always felt like the Knicks were moving closer and closer and closer, and then you
03:16would get a flurry of points from the Cavaliers to lengthen that out a little bit, and then
03:19it would either get within two, get within four, and then here's a three by Harden, here's
03:25a bucket from Donovan Mitchell, okay, now it's back to being a nine-point lead.
03:29You know, like it's...
03:29They were very good about any time it started to get close, it'd get a little offensive momentum
03:34and be good to go.
03:35And the other big side of that, too, and I think what really showed up for me was the
03:41defensive side of the ball.
03:43It definitely seemed like in this game there was an emphasis on defense, and more than
03:47anything, Peyton Watson, you saw what you paid for a little bit last night in the trade
03:52and that stuff by those...
03:53I think he had four blocks in this game, I want to say, and the fact that they were the
03:57three-point blocks, the chase-down blocks as well of him coming...
04:00The chase-down was awesome.
04:01That was cool.
04:02Well, and it's the same with, again, those corner threes.
04:04The guys, you know, immediately...
04:05Landry Schammett thought he was wide open.
04:07Nay, nay, here comes Peyton Watson and knock that away.
04:10Like, it was just beautiful the entire way around.
04:12On the defensive end, you could tell that they turned up the intensity a little bit.
04:16Did you see that as well?
04:18Did you see a little bit of defense kind of decide to step up to the moment?
04:20Yeah, I thought so, especially late in the game, and they got rebounds immediately.
04:25Like, there was no...
04:27They didn't...
04:27I'm interested.
04:28I didn't look it up, and I should have looked it up for it, but second chance points for the
04:32Knicks in the fourth quarter.
04:33Like, I just don't remember the Knicks getting a big rebound and then being able to put it
04:38back up last night.
04:40I, I...
04:40Like, Malik Thomas was...
04:42We were talking about fun to watch.
04:44I thought he was really fun to watch last night.
04:45The Knicks had three second chance points in the fourth quarter.
04:48Yeah, and so, really, that's the difference.
04:50And, yeah...
04:51Jared Allen again last night on the boards.
04:54Every time they needed a rebound late in those second chance points, Jared Allen was there.
04:59Fourteen rebounds.
05:01Ten defensive rebounds last night.
05:03That's where you earn your keep.
05:05And, you know, you look at the box score and go across it this morning, and you're like,
05:09okay, yeah, Harden had 32, but there were other guys that were key in this, and Proctor and
05:15Thomas coming up with 29 points off the bench, I thought was just as important as Harden coming
05:21up with 32 last night.
05:23Psychologically, I just think they needed that game last night.
05:26And, you know, if you listen to the game with about nine minutes to go, was it Mike Breen
05:31last night?
05:32I think it was.
05:33I like Breen.
05:34I swear it was Breen.
05:36I can't remember who called the game last night.
05:38But...
05:38I think you're right.
05:39It was Mike Breen.
05:40I think it was Breen last night.
05:41Yeah, it was Breen.
05:41Breen said something that I thought was really...
05:43Likes and RJ.
05:44It was between...
05:46It was between, like, the seven and nine minute mark.
05:49And he said, listen, this is where the Cavaliers need to finish, because this has been one
05:53of their biggest problems.
05:54I'm like, yeah.
05:55And I'm sure he hasn't seen every one of their games, but I'm like, yeah, you're 100% right.
06:01And last night was the first time that I didn't feel like they were going to give the lead
06:05back up.
06:06That they were going to hang on.
06:08That they were going to play all the way through till double zero.
06:10That they play tough in the last two minutes of the game.
06:13And they didn't let the Knicks come back last night.
06:16And maybe it's ghosts of Eastern Conference Finals pass.
06:20But I do think last night was just a...
06:24Psychologically, those guys needed it.
06:26There was a shot they took late in the fourth quarter.
06:29Probably in the final two minutes.
06:31Where they were shooting all five guys who were on the court on the bench.
06:37And they really weren't saying anything, because I think they were...
06:40I think they were focused, and I don't want to say out of breath, but they were catching
06:45their wind, because they knew what was about to happen in the last couple minutes.
06:48And so, it was just one of those shots where you'll see...
06:51Sometimes you see guys joking around.
06:53Man, they were locked in last night, late in the game.
06:56That was, I mean, fun basketball, enjoyable basketball, moving the basketball.
07:02Did they give up a 12-point lead?
07:05At one point, they had a 12-point lead.
07:06And then they came back a little bit later and came...
07:10I can't remember...
07:11Yeah, Cavs had a 12-point lead.
07:12Knicks only had a 2-point lead.
07:13So, you know, that's more of what we want.
07:17You know, can we do that on a consistent basis?
07:19That's the question.
07:21To me, the defensive end is where that question lies.
07:26Is, can you manage to keep up that level of intensity for the entire game on the defensive
07:34end?
07:36Because I know offensively, look, Donovan Mitchell is going to get his.
07:40James Harden is going to get his.
07:42Like, these guys can fill it up isolation basketball-wise.
07:45Would you like it if they passed it a little bit more?
07:47Absolutely.
07:48You would love it if they could get the big guys involved.
07:50They could get Peyton Watson better shots.
07:52But the question is going to become on the defensive end, because you're not going to get
07:58plus defense out of James Harden on the defensive end.
08:01That's not his game.
08:02He's been in the league for 18 years.
08:03We know this.
08:04This isn't even an insult at this point.
08:06And so, can he make up for it on the offensive end?
08:09And can the other four guys be able to pull their weight to make up for James Harden's inability
08:13to stand in front of people and play defense?
08:15And he'll do his little veteran stuff where he swipes at the ball every so often.
08:18But he'll get blown by.
08:20And you saw in this game they were flying on the defensive end.
08:24Those guys, everything was crisp.
08:26They were making sure that Jalen Brunson had to work for everything.
08:29Carl Anthony Towns had to work for everything.
08:31You could see he was starting to get flustered and frustrated by what was taking place.
08:36It was so impressive on the defensive side in this game that I think that should be the
08:42thing I would circle more than anything else.
08:44Because I think the offense still has its flaws and the offense still has its issues.
08:47The big guys weren't totally involved offensively in this game.
08:50I mean, Jared Allen had 11 points.
08:52Evan Mobley had 10.
08:53So not exactly the showing that we were screaming about yesterday, but the defensive side, they
08:59were flying around.
09:01And if you could play like that, you can make up for some of your offensive inefficiencies
09:05while you figure it out.
09:06They also didn't play desperation basketball at the end.
09:10How many times have we watched them have a six, eight point lead?
09:16I was going to say six, seven.
09:17I tried to walk away from it.
09:19And watch them have a decent little lead late.
09:22And then all of a sudden, ah, let's start throwing up threes.
09:25Let's start.
09:26I like that.
09:27It makes me want to vomit.
09:28Like, I can't stand it.
09:30But when you go into this, oh, we're just going to start, you know, throwing up threes, throwing
09:34up threes.
09:34Last night, they were three for seven in the fourth quarter on three points.
09:38And they were all good looks at the basket.
09:41There was just, but that's what happens when you're playing from ahead and rather than behind
09:46and you get into those desperation threes.
09:49And the guys that came off the bench last night did damage with three pointers last night
09:54because, you know, even if they hit five, which is what Proctor and Thomas did last night,
09:58they were key, they came at key times, they were influential in the outcome of the game
10:05last night.
10:06And so, again, you know, that's the kind of game it's like, hey, guys, remember how we
10:10played against the defending champions like this?
10:12Yeah, I know the Knicks are six and five, but it doesn't matter.
10:15They were in the garden, a place where they were humiliated to end the season last year.
10:19And they walk back in with all kinds of drama around this team, people wondering what's
10:25happening with the coach, what's going on here.
10:27And they rose to the occasion and just, there were two plays that Evan Mobley had in the
10:33fourth quarter.
10:33I was like, yes, this is what I want to see.
10:35I want to see Evan Mobley being able to try to at least get to the basket in the paint.
10:40I want to see Evan Mobley get the ball in the paint and go, nope, don't have it.
10:43And then kick it out.
10:44Like to me, that's what I think we've been waiting for that Evan Mobley played like a big
10:49man in the paint in the fourth quarter.
10:52And those are the things that I can appreciate about the game.
10:55They definitely focused in on collapsing the Knicks defense into the paint.
10:59You saw that a couple of different times.
11:00They would flash people to either the free throw line or into the lane itself with the
11:04general idea that it was going to cause a collapse in there to open up everything else.
11:08And it was really nice to see them not just passing the ball around the three point line
11:12and going for a dribble drive.
11:13You know, that to me kind of opened some stuff up.
11:15It was nice to see them dissecting what the Knicks are going to do and making adjustments
11:20along the way instead of just kind of throwing their palms up in the air and going, well,
11:25Donovan, dribble us out of this one.
11:26James, dribble us out of this one.
11:28You know, go find your shot.
11:30Hit your step back threes.
11:31Hopefully they're going in tonight.
11:32You know, it was just, it was a nice victory for a team that sorely needed a good victory.
11:40And that's what they got last night.
11:42And it was fun.
11:43And it was on national TV too.
11:44And it's like, you know, I was laughing at the story yesterday about the notion of starting
11:50five guys off the bench and letting them start the game to prove a point to everybody they're
11:55paying all that money to.
11:57Like, I get it.
11:59Seventh grade basketball, that is a great play.
12:02That way your starters can appreciate the fact this is not seventh grade basketball.
12:07This is professional basketball.
12:09And when you've got Mobley and you've got, you know, Allen and Harden and Mitchell, you're
12:14starting them and Watson, like they did last night.
12:17Like, come on.
12:19And last night they played big boy basketball in a big boy arena and they took the game
12:25pretty much wire to wire last night.
12:27And so to me, I just appreciate it.
12:29It's really good to see.
12:31So what did we learn about last night?
12:32That's the other thing.
12:33And was yesterday a little bit overreaction theater about Kenny.
12:36I still think Kenny's in the hot seat.
12:37They still have to play.
12:38They have to play consistently for a little while, like they did last night.
12:41Got a great show for you coming up still.
12:43We'll continue on with this Cavaliers conversation.
12:46Mobley had 10 last night.
12:47Allen had 11.
12:49Does that change anything about the way you feel about them, about the way you feel about
12:52Kenny?
12:53Charles Robinson at 11.
12:54Nick Costos at 1240.
12:56Daryl Ryder at one.
12:57It's Baskin and Phelps 92.3.
12:59The Fan with Dan Mennegan sitting in for Jeff today.