Part 1: Detroit’s Comeback, Philly’s Resurrection, and Celtics Questions With Zach Lowe

The Bill Simmons podcast, we are live on Netflix, Zach Lois here, Zach Lois doing double-duty this weekend. He did a little brief podcast after game seven, not game seven. Game seven, game seven, so it takes six or six.

“Yeah, the subject season is over, you know that, right?”

That was game seven. It felt like game nine. Okay. Wait, before we start, one of them mentioned new rewatchables coming tomorrow. It is Netflix is a joke month.

So we're doing some comedies. We did their something about Mary. Ooh, it's going to be running tomorrow. And let's see what are they having the services month. Slap shot, fletch, forty-dours, Mrs. Douffire,

Meets parents, long came poly. We've done episodes on all of those already. There aren't Netflix. Ghostbusters kindergarten cop we just did. Tropic Thunder, Tootsie, Splash, and Borat.

Wow, that is a-- All available. Heavy hitters. Wonder what's going to happen. Anyway, or lander Detroit just happened.

It did. Not a lot of comedy in this series, unless you like tragic comedy, tragic comedy. Yeah, that's what that's the phrase. Detroit wins going away.

We have two teams that came back from three-one. Any round one. I'm just going to throw a bunch of stuff for you. Things that happened just in the last five days. Okay.

Joker got bounced by McDaniel's go bear. Shannon and zombie Mike Conley. That was the thing that happened. Atlanta fell behind 72 to 22 in a duord die home game. Orlando will a 24-point lead in the game six.

Clinter for them with a 19-point second half.

LeBron at age 41 was the best guy to play off series. And bead won a game seven. Paul George outplayed Jason Tatum and J.L. Brown in a play off series.

“I think they debatable, but I'm going to throw it in there.”

Kate and Maxi have now jumped a level up into some getting near the final level of levels. The Brown Tatum era for all we know could be over. We'll talk about that later. And then two teams came back from three-one. Just some of the things that have happened.

Or later Detroit Friday night is the weirdest thing that happened all play off. Just bizarre. 19 points in the second half. And it must win game. So I watched that game.

And obviously you're digesting as it happens that the magic of not made a basket in quite a long time. Another miss, another miss, another miss. For some reason I didn't realize until after the game had ended. That they hit only scored 19 points in an entire half of basketball. Like I just didn't put to do the math in real time.

And I looked at the box score. And I just stared at it. Like the Mona Lisa had appeared in my house. There in silence for like 30 seconds looking at 11-8 next to each other. And being like, is that even possible?

And look, if not for a late run of full court press and Detroit comedy turnovers at the end of this game. We would have been looking at like 105 points combined over six quarters of basketball for an NBA playoff team.

“And it ended up being, I think, 113 instead.”

But still, I mean, like under 13 points in six quarters is kind of a problem. I know Franz Wagner is out that's a big deal, but not great.

I screenshot it the second half box score of Orlando.

And I think I'm just going to keep it in my apple quad for the rest of my life. Four for 37. 108 was the field goal percentage. They were two for 18 from three. They had 17 rebounds in Detroit at 34.

Said half is many seven turnovers. Palo and being combined were two for 20. Sugs was 0 for six. And and being was minus 39 and a half. And just one half minus 39.

It's really, really special. The fact that they didn't cover. Or even cover like a double digit spread. They lost by 14. They were up 24 early in the third quarter.

And it was an amazing collapse.

They were laughing at the pistons. Like, I mean, literally like Duncan Robinson member. I think he threw an in bounce pass out of bounds all the way to the other sideline. And Desmond Bane grinned in his face. Like, cackled in his face.

When Delta Junior was laughing. They were mocking the pistons up 24 in that game.

I don't remember it was like two dozen shots in a row.

“It could not make any baskets for a team that's been a horrendous offensive team.”

Now for a long time. Absolute. It's funny. Like, how would you regard this, right? Like, it was a disaster season disaster season.

Everyone's heard all the time. It doesn't yell. It doesn't yell. Then it gels. And they blitz the hornets in the play and turn them into team that like all of the NBA world outside of our land.

It was rooting for the hornets to get into the playoffs. They go up three one against the number one seed. And it's like, all right. This is the team 50 and a half over under. They got their mojo back.

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And then they got their mojo back. And then they got their mojo back. And then they got their mojo back. But he's he's he's he's he's the same issue as Palo just many tears down the Lee hierarchy. And that he is like an on ball creator kind of player, but just not good enough to do that.

And at a high level and doesn't have the jump shot yet. I mean, he shot a much better this year, but he's never going to shoot it at volume. But he hasn't yet to be an off ball like for it just there just a lot of pieces that don't fit together to add up to more than the sum of their parts. Which we do like this is the this is not but a good offensive team ever in this era. Sometimes you got a rise to the challenge like me today, I'm incredibly hungover.

I can't even tell you what happened yesterday, but there were a lot of drinks and it was bad.

“And and I'm fighting through today and maybe the audience barely knows except for the nine times I stammered and when I could remember it was a game seven history fully embossed.”

I just I talked that one up to you're having a tough emotional time that's that's I just I gave you I give you some grace on that one was my daughter's 21st birthday yesterday. And we decided to go to a bar and man have beach and watch the South the game and drinks and sued. And and then the game was tense and we're going to talk about that later. Her first Zoe's first drink ever.

Well mid night midnight Friday night was the first official legal in a bar here's my de-drink, which is always fun, always nice to be there for those.

Big picture for Detroit because they were great today.

I was thinking about Doc Rivers because that they kids two favorite clear sees probably coached in the last 15 years where.

“Maxie and Harris and both of those guys were awesome Maxie will talk about it.”

Hey, look, I don't want to get too far ahead and I don't know that this outcome is particularly likely, but we are one round away from a entire city of Philadelphia versus Tobias Harris conference. Oh my god, it is possible. Well, he was great. He had 17 the second quarter. They had a 40 points second quarter and and it was basically Tobias and Cade turn was at least rebounding. I don't know what's happened to him offensively again. I wrote a firm second team on BA and he's just completely lost his confidence with like the little quick jump hooks and I don't know.

And it's beyond like, Oh, Orlando is doing something. He just seems spooked to me and that would be the biggest red flag out. We don't know who they're playing yet in the next round, but the fact that he's just a complete mess from four to eight feet around the rim. I don't really fully understand what happened to him.

“Yeah, I mean, part of it is what Orlando has been doing since game one, which is we're going to go under every Cade pick and switch.”

And at the same time, and take away your roles to the rim and every roll to the rim felt like, like, just, oh my god, that's what the whole regular season looked like and we haven't seen it and like one would happen per game. You'd be like, Oh my god, it's like an alien landed in my backyard jail and during got a free roll to the rim, but you're right that I think that God didn't do his head. And it just feels like every time he gets the ball with a smidgen of an opening in the paint, he's just almost throwing it up there, like rushing it up there is like these quick shots. There's no touch on it, but I will give him credit, like he pounded the offensive glass today, which they're going to switch against him. He has to do.

And his room protection was pretty goddamn solid. The entire series to the point that the outcry among some pistons fans for more Isaiah Stewart less jail and during even start Isaiah Stewart kind of peed it out. And so does Isaiah Stewart's minutes and we got more Paul Reed and we got look, we all like Isaiah Stewart's a fun NBA character. We all enjoy a moment minutes today. I mean, these fouls where he's just throwing people to the ground and running them over is just you're hurting your team. I understand it's like, you're it's your identity. It's the role you play on the team, but there's a way to do that without and mobile Wagner is a good actor, probably exaggerated, but like you just can't play like that. And I think even J. B. staff is like, dude, come on.

Well, then you have Kate who in Game 5 is 45 and just single handedly drags them through that game. Game 6 in the second half 24 points nine rebounds four steals nine and ten from the free throw line and then 32 and nine today. So this goes from, hey, do you think it'll be a hundred percent for this for this Orlando series to, hey, this is why he probably would have been number four or number five for MVP.

He would have been an absolute first him on B. A guy and I just thought he was incredible. I mean, that's everything.

Him and Maxi, everything you would want from your best guy and a play of series. He was great. He hit threes and teams are going to dare him to shoot threes and he knows that and he hit enough of him in this series. But he's defensively, he guards Palo now and then like he'll guard up. He'll guard down. He plays hard. He makes plays at the rim. He plays really occasionally like any star player. He'll get a little bit unfocused away from the ball and try to rest a little bit. But he plays really hard on both ends of the floor.

And the other guy, the sort of pendulum of referendums on this type of player is so interesting because it's hard to be a non shooting perimeter player in the playoffs. We all know that we all know what happens to them. I mean, I name for those guys. I feel like the Thompson twins, I feel like a star Thompson fought through that and was undeniably a major asset for the distance coming back and winning this series just unbelievable defensively flying everywhere.

“And they started using him more in the offense as a screener, as a cutter, as a D.A. Joe guy, and I think that's what you have to do and teams ignore them. And he's this spectacular of an athlete.”

It looked after two or three games like, oh, another non shooter is going to be like kind of exposing the playoffs and a star Thompson fought through that and like who's plus 12 today. I think he was plus 13 or 14 coming into the series. He was a big part of their comeback. You know, I looked up before, so over there. So they're 16 for 33 today and three is Detroit. Oh, heading into this. I looked at the basketball reference where they have the series stats and everybody ranked in different categories on their playoff page.

Detroit was 16th and 3.1% of chatting into the 29.7. So they finally had a game where they hit some threes.

And what's interesting is Duncan Robinson felt like he missed like six wide open ones. So it really could have been like a 22 for 33. So good game for them, not sure if it was an aberration three point shooting game because I don't other than Duncan Robinson.

And then for Orlando, is it fair to say, Mosley has completed the definitely getting fired.

Improbably has saved this job definitely getting fired triple axle. We don't see this very often. I was thinking about that in game six and game seven. And if you were Orlando's front office and you had been leaning toward firing him before the play and turn him in everything like that.

“I think you'd have to lean that way again because the offense is just so rudderless and without any cohesion at all. And it just at some point something has to change.”

And I am just I think their pivot is one of the more interesting stories of the offseason and it has to go beyond a coaching change if that happens. And I just don't know I don't know what it is. I don't know what what their move is to shake this roster up in a way that makes it more functional. Does it make sense is trading on us for Palo? Who does it not make sense for Orlando? Because it doesn't get them any closer to being anywhere. Yeah, you look at just keep Palo and see how this plays out.

You look at their roster around Palo slash, she honest and it's undeniable that you would kind of feel they're just not enough shooting and you know who knows what's going on. And I thought the probably put more stuff than that. So that was a really fun fake trade during the season, but I think that one has now expired. And I got not much other stuff to put in it, right? Like it that my picks went out in the bay and trade my young guys aren't playing much like I don't other than entity black and I don't know what else I got.

Now your move this year is we like this team. We're going to change coaches. We're going to see how this goes. Palo has no longer a poison pill guy.

We want to see what this looks like for the first half of the year and then we'll figure it out.

But I think. And Palo is Billy Donovan.

“No insight info, but this is the kind of team I would want to coach if I was Billy Donovan and I wanted to keep coaching in the NBA, right?”

A lot of young assets is almost like a grant like an older college team. But he certainly has been linked. The rumor mill is certainly linked him to this job. Potentially obviously there's the Florida connection. Do you think Billy Donovan when he thinks of what time what type of team he'd like to coach if he stayed in the NBA? Is it just like anything but the bulls?

It's just like I just it's just anything is going to feel great. Just any other jobs you feel fantastic. Or he probably looks at all the guys he had on the roster the last couple years and wonders.

Maybe we should have made a run.

Kobe wait. I owe all these things. We're going to take a break. I have a very important big picture question for you about the league and then we're going to rehash sadly self-exiccers. The Bill Simmons podcast is brought through by Fandel.

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Celtics sixers, but I have a big picture question for you because we saw. We almost saw Orlando.

They just take care of business in the second half and eight seed would a one.

Then a seven seed would a one. Which they did with Philadelphia. They'd want to Minnesota know they lost multiple people. It's. Listen, this isn't the first time this topic has brought up about regular season versus playoffs.

And we know they're two different sports. I think the thing that has changed for me is wondering like if I was in charge of a team. How much value arrive and put in the regular season anymore? And would my only goal be to have everybody healthy in April? And would I not care about seeds at all?

Right, because we even need to talk about Denver, Minnesota and it's like. Shit, they won. If they had lost, they could have played like or seen and that was where seeds matter.

“I think you could look at the season and be like, you know what?”

None of the seeds really mattered at all. Except who's going to have game seven Thunder Spurs because that's going to be the only series that really ultimately matters, right? Other than that, put anyone at any seed and we probably would have competitive series with any of the other 14 teams for the most part. And I'm just wondering like the Celtics, if they had to do this over again. How much of the stuff would they have done differently, knowing what they know now?

Well, what's what's stuff like just lighten the load on Derek White, so he's not whatever. Warren Outer, whatever the hell happened to him and this. Yeah, talking. Derek White 10 less games, 300 less minutes. Jalen, eight less games, 400 less minutes.

Tatum, 30 minute max, the entire time. And that's, I mean, I've been saying this on the pod for weeks now. I did the putting the minutes on Tatum like they did. I feel like that, that caused the injury.

I'm always going to feel that way.

It made no sense to me as they were doing it. He playing 43 minutes in one game and 40 and another in the playoffs. I just thought was doing so. Don't you think part of that? There had been some sports science behind that.

If we're going to actually ramp him up for big playoff minutes, we got to ramp him up like in the regular season. We have to sort of give him heavier minutes loads of the new.

“I mean, it's loads of new experiences. I mean, like, did you see his quotes today though?”

About today we're basically like, yeah, my right leg's not as strong as my left leg yet. You figured this was going to happen like he had. There was one quote in there that made me wonder like, damn. This is what he said. It was just unfortunate timing, but I guess a little bit to be expected right.

I was away for 10 out of months and then I came back and I'm playing every other day. I was playing 36 to 40 minutes. So it's not unusual that something would come up. It was inevitable at some point and I was going to have to deal with something. It kind of came at the worst possible time.

Was it inevitable? Shouldn't they have just played this 20 30 minutes?

Look at how the spurs have treated Wambinyama, basically it's whole career, but especially this year.

Like, they've been adamant about not trying to put too many miles on him. And in conversely, like, I look at Denver. And I know Joker had to make the O&BA run, which probably in retrospect was a bad idea. But they're just putting all these miles on Yoke and Jamirri who immediately looked like they ran out of gas and the first round.

“So would you rethink how you treat the playoffs versus the regular season just holistically from what we're watching right now?”

First of all, this entire conversation is music to Adam Silver's ears. How can we make the regular season matter even less and seamless relevant for like an unending slog of six months of games? Like, yeah, please, let's have more teams think this way. There need to be fewer games. We know there need to be fewer games.

Everybody knows and agrees there need to be fewer games. We know that we know that's not happening. Nobody at no one is actually willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary to do that. So then we're stuck into a situation where, yeah, the playoffs are a completely different game than the regular season. Different types of players have different kinds of playoff experiences than the regular season.

Like, the 16 game versus 82 kind of players that Tramong Green famously said a few years ago. And the gap is getting bigger, Kirk goes by a road about this further ringer last week. The gap in style between the regular season and the playoffs is just getting wider and wider to the point that they are the same sport. But very different versions of it. Right.

And I mean, sure, ideally you would, if you could just know, I'm going to be a top six seed. So at least I'm not in the play and tournament because you can't risk that. No matter what you can't. No matter what you can't. I don't really risk it.

Filly. Filly got what 30 30 games out of Mbid. How many did he actually play? He played some amount of Mbid games. 38 games.

They Paul George took 25 month suspension vacation for whatever he did and came back and looked better than ever. And looked like 2021 Paul George. The only people they put real minutes on the whole season where Maxine Edge come. Maxie played a lot of minutes. He ended up only playing 70 games.

But he played 38 minutes a game. He led the league. VJ was a rookie played 35 but that's young legs. But not of a matter because for five games in the playoffs, they had their team.

Like, oh, this is the dream Philadelphia 76ers team that we never thought we would see.

And like, oh my god, here it is. Like Joel and B is firing behind the back passes to Kelly Uber who's dunking at everyone's going crazy. I read Maxie's roasting everyone. Yeah, even in real time, people still weren't believing it when it was happening.

“The Celtics were, I think minus 2200 after game four.”

Even after they lost game five, there were minus 1100. Which house in our both like, whoa, that seems crazy. And then in game seven without Tatum, they were six and a half point favorites. The Celtics. I thought that was going to be a 50 50 game.

I didn't think anybody should be favored. But nobody believed in Filly until they did it. I mean, we all have Filly fans in our lives. We have some at the ringer and Spotify. I have just random.

I've had random Filly fans that I have not heard from in months reach out in the last 48 hours. They're just as shocked as everybody else. The ones that are reaching out to me are like, I can't. I'm just walking around with a big grin on my face. I can't even believe what's just happened.

I mean, shock is a word that multiple of the music, they even they are like, this happened, like this team just suddenly clicked into place. Like this, I can't believe it. It was incredible to watch as it was happening. Game two.

I just thought the Celtics played like crap and Filly made some threes. I wasn't alarmed. A game five I was alarmed and talked about it in the pot after. Game six was equally alarming. You look at the last second half of the game five, game six, game seven.

Filly basically dominated those three games. I mean, they were up. I think 15 plus and all the games.

The Celtics never really had a lead ever.

I always felt like there were playing come from behind basketball. And there's a few things I'm shocked by. One was just how kind of confident and be looked. Like he he wasn't doing. We've seen him come back from not playing and he falls down a lot.

And you always think like the next one. Like he was I thought pretty good. That was about as good as you're going to get from him. Defensively like protecting the glass. Someone is passing.

I thought I just thought he played well. I was really surprised by that, right? He was outstanding on both on both. Offensively especially defensively can come and go for him a little bit. But he was moving around a lot very well in games five and six.

Game seven was good enough. And offensively he was absolutely brilliant in that game. And Paul George, you know, who I guess was second game seven. But Paul George. Just was the equal of of Brown and Tatum and a lot of these minutes and quarters.

You know, games seven maybe not as much. But that one was shocking. Kelly Ubray's defense. Which I was like, ah, he's he's not bad. He gives up on a stepper.

Like he was invaluable. And, and then, you know, just riding maxi. The one thing he could have predicted. And we did our most intriguing players draft.

“And I think I took maxi as my leap guy because I was like,”

this is fits the profile of if somebody was going to make the massive leap. It's he kind of checks a lot of those boxes. He was awesome. And he would if you think about like the next series then versus the next. If they win or it'll be because he's the best part in the series,

which sounds like stupid and cliche. But that's usually the best part usually wins the series. And they would need him to just go nuts in the series, I think. The next can throw some stuff in the bead. I don't know if Paul George can do that again. Edgecom, one game, you had that stat.

Well, is he over 16 in the losses from threes? I had that with me. But yeah, it was it's something like that. It swings hard with VJ's three points. Yeah, he's trick a chain from three, which was fine.

But I'll tell you what's never trick or two with him.

Absolutely fearless and is just being afraid of any of these big moments. Once the ball and in transition for a guard who's not huge, he has just. Meteorically risen into like he's one of the five most terrifying players in transition in the entire league. You just it doesn't even matter if somebody's back if that guy's bigger than him. If he's got ahead of him, he's going to finish over you and there's just nothing you can do about it.

Yeah, reminds me of some of the some of the all-time great transition guards we've had. That you knew in the first year like Rose and Westburg were both like this. Westburg just taken over like Jesus. See if they could like shut out like a cannon. I thought Nick Ders was awesome in the series and conversely I thought Masulu was bad and we can talk about that now.

I've been waiting to hear you weigh in on whatever. I thought Masulu was incredible in the regular season.

“It was honestly I voted for him for coach there.”

I thought he was incredible. I would have to and I don't know what they were thinking with this playoffs. I have so many questions and look. Did Philly win the series or did Boston blow it? I think the answer is both.

They went back to their 2024 style without the same players.

They slowed it down. They didn't put the pace. They gave up on their bench and I was saying it on the podcast at the time. I didn't really understand it. It was interesting jail and after the game yesterday was like,

"I actually liked how we played. I thought we looked like us." That's who we were all season. It's kind of how I felt.

They gave up on the bench until they started half of it in the most important game in the season.

I know. Well, that almost seemed like symbolic for Joe, like just to say, I screwed up. I did this round, but the problem is, so you've two different problems.

One is you do the assignments for Vusovitch trade to get under the luxury tax, which I get. I understand all the benefits for that. But my dad, who is the most bitter I've ever heard after a playoff series last,

I was going to have him on the podcast today. He's so mad about the series that I said not to have him, because he's just furious to everybody. After the game, he's like, "I was going to go up to Chism and congratulate him for getting under the luxury tax."

Just furious. Because not only do you not have Simon's,

“who I think would have had at least a couple real moments in the series.”

He would have mattered. He got injured, but who knows what would have happened? Well, did he get injured? I don't know. He had a lottery injury.

But then you bring Vusovitch in. So you have that swing. And I just thought, this is my honest feeling. I think, Ms. Ula, treated this series, like, "What's figure out what we have

for when we play the nicks and the pistons and whoever comes out of the West? We're going to use this as my litmus test series. I'm going to see what I have with Vusovitch. I'm going to short my rotations.

I'm going to try to do the 2024 thing again. And they just got away from what succeeded for them. The bench was the superpower this team. It was guys like Hugo and Walsh coming in and being maniacs for five, six minutes.

And he just punted on it. And then in a game seven, it's like, "Hey, Shireman, can you go back to being awesome?" Like, you were the last two months of the season. It's like, "You've been yanking me around.

Of course, he went in zero points in game seven. This guy was a real asset down the stretch." So I just, I really think Ms. Ula screwed the series up,

but I'm always going to think that.

I was going to say, if he was in the lab experimenting in preparation for the next rounds, what was the game seven experiment? Was that like me melting things on the Bunsen burner in ninth grade chemistry class? Just like throwing a pen cap onto, "Oh, look, it's melting.

What experiment was taking place?" That was an admission of ice screwed up. I need to ride with my bench guys in the crowd. I listen, Garza's starting as totally explainable to me because they're trying not to get cat and found trouble, right?

And they're trying to move Kate at more of Kate as minutes again, strumming. Like, I get it. Hopefully, Garza can hit. He was great on those threes at the top of the art.

Mr. Couple, and we'd ever saw him again. And Shireman should have started for Tatum, and even though he was getting yanked around all series,

“that's why I thought was going to start.”

The runover thing did catch my attention. That one was like, "Huh." Because he just had a plate. That was the good step. I wasn't against it, but I was like, "Oh, okay."

And I think they put him in an unfair spot, which is another thing you have to think about. I probably would have just started Walsh and been okay. But this goes to the bigger thing. I've like, you're playing Tatum and Brown these big minutes

in the first six games. And you're not giving those minutes to the bench guys. So then when you actually need the bench guys, you're basically throwing them in cold. I just don't get it.

Walsh playing only five minutes is pretty surprising. And I know he's not going to be guarded on the perimeter, although he's shot okay this year. But defensively he was far in a way, a dare best option on Maxi from the start of the season until now.

And if you're going to play, if you're going to juggle it up and play all these random dudes, like it seems weird to me that falling through the cracks is the one guy who's actually guarding Maxi pretty well and jailing Brown.

“You've done a great job against them during the season.”

And really, really effective. And jailing Brown took the assignment in game seven. And it was like fine, but there was just nothing. I mean, in the end, maybe it wouldn't have mattered. He's Maxi was just too brilliant.

And to a multifaceted and offensive player for whatever they threw it in. But just the whole game was just starting with Tatum being not on the injury report to questionable to out to the starting five to them falling behind early coming back late.

And just the whole game was just very weird. I knew on Thursday that we weren't going to see Tatum as convinced. I said it on the pot. You could tell you was hurt. And they weren't going to mess with it. And it was the other leg.

And this is what always happens when these people have these

traumatic injuries to one leg. You know, favorite in the other leg. And it's always a concern because you're pretty more stress on it. And they played them to many minutes. I mean, the big thing for me is,

I don't think they were beating San Antonio or OKC. So it's not like, oh, we blew the title. It's more like, I just know if we did this. But if you just reset button this and went back two weeks. And you basically have to win those first two games.

midway through the series.

“But the way they played game two with all the three is just letting”

Max and Edge come do it up. Everyone wanted. And then game five was, you know, even worse. But I just, I know they would have tried to mix that up. Use the bigger bench.

Like even what Minnesota did against Murray. Let's put some miles on Murray. Let's make them dribble the ball up. I don't know how much we're going to talk about. Because it starts tomorrow.

But Anthony Edwards was just upgraded to questionable. For game one of that series. You mentioned Minnesota. And clear the temple of studies cleared for all basketball activities. On court activities.

And up great. A questionable. I. The D.V. in Chanzo, injury is heartbreaking. It's always sucks.

And it's easy to be part of their team. I don't know what to do. But I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do. I can't wait for that series of and is like a full go. And is, you know, those the last couple of games he played against Denver. He did not look like himself. He was not assertive.

He was not explosive. But if he's closer to himself. I mean, he's already had a 50 point game against them this year. The idea of him trying to dunk on Wemby by itself is just beyond intoxicating. You got the French center battle.

Like, there's a lot to love about this matchup that we haven't really gotten to sink our teeth into because it's just we just didn't know who was going to be the left of the Minnesota Timberwolves. And by the way, Kudos for the Minnesota Timberwolves. You've talked about already for finding a way to win that series against

the nuggets without so many guys. That was an awesome, awesome effort by them. Yeah, and that's the thing. They figured it out. They they zagged a little bit.

They tried to do some different things. That the Tara Shannon thing was incredible. And the, like, just not only just playing him, but unleashing him and just saying go attack your bomber. His legs are dead.

And conversely with the Celts. Mozilla was so good during the season. And I just didn't see the ingenuity in the same way. It really felt like he was trying to replicate 24. And I can't say this strongly enough.

This was not the same.

This was always supposed to be a transition year in the next year.

Get under the tax. And instead of poor zingas to drew holiday. And, and, orfer. You have guys that just aren't as good and honest experience on the team. And you weren't going to be able to replicate it.

So that I think that it's super power for this team was the bench. And the unpredictability and the wild card nature of just these guys that would have these weird he checks. So it was happening all year and it just just went away from it. I set it last night on my reaction pod with Pina. It just felt like the sixers and the Celtics like swapped arcs in astonishingly fast fashion.

And that the six of us became the team that they were always able to be on paper. But never would be in reality. And they became it. And the Celtics became the team that I was low on before the season. It looks so foolish for being low on because they had shed so much talent.

Because there was so much uncertainty about their big man rotation. And all those concerns just were completely invalid until they were immediately valid at the most pressing possible time. I wish you. How many years is your dab in a season taking older? 54.

If you're a 50. Absolutely furious. If you've been a season taking older for 54 years, you can absolutely go up to build chism and sarcastically congratulate him. I'm ducking the all the aprons.

You can give him, but you can gift him an apron.

“You should get a bottom and apron with like congratulations.”

We lost him the first round.

Here's your apron. Go barbecue with you. The only way to defend it is did they know Tatum was going to look like he did. They hoped he was going to look a lot like it. They didn't know when they did that move because they also didn't have to do it.

They thought Tatum was going to replace the assignments minutes, but they really misguided voicemage. It seems like because he just was done. You could see it. The moment he showed up in the team didn't look right.

Got her came back. Didn't look right. Came in the playoffs was clearly a disaster matchup against any any Philadelphia big band basically. But especially when in beat came back, they had to see two more games that that wasn't going to work with inverses and beat. And that was their big move.

You know, they they could have I guess that if you're going to criticize them, then they maybe could have flipped voicemage for something else. But you know, I think they thought he was I think they thought he was going to help. Like I really do and it was just a misfire. And Tatum you mentioned Tatum comments today about you know,

it was inevitable something would happen. I remember saying like I'm a little hesitant to crown Boston as the favorites because I just I I remember making this gesture of ups and downs. There's going to be ups and downs with Tatum recovering from this injury. And there just weren't any and I just sort of let myself believe.

“And I think everybody else did that there would there I guess there's this is just the medical marvel.”

They're not going to be any downs. He's playing a ton of minutes. He's playing awesome. They've been the best season these and then at the worst possible time. There was that we don't really even know.

What the injury is, but I don't I just don't believe it was the knee either.

I know they had to sit that, but it was during the game. You could see it was his calf and they had the stuff on his the raptor on his calf.

“And you know, I think he it was unclear whether he was queer to play or not.”

I thought his his words were interesting about him and his trainer decided not to play. So clearly. Um, dating feel comfortable with it. And I don't think they should have. I don't think it was worth it.

They weren't going to the title this year let him go. But to find out after the season that his right leg was only 85% of his left leg or whatever, or that like didn't have that he's not going to be able to build the calf up fully until. You know, the summer. So that's well, why are we playing 42 minutes a game then?

The whole thing is a little bit a little bit strange. But Philly went and took the series from him and this is the me the conversation. I really want to have with you is like. So what now like you're not like I don't know. Oh, I just would say what what now for the Celtics.

Well, first they have to go to the doctor and see if they can find a cure for we got great looks disease. Cause that's been three of the last four playoffs of losing a game and then talking about how great the looks were at it. By the way, the looks were great because they were coming back at the end.

“They got four straight awesome shots and they missed all of them.”

And that's why they lost.

So this was always my and and I would go back and forth playful with my wooden holes are about it.

It was my thing with every wooden holes or team that would be eliminated from the playoffs. So it was like, why are we just the shooting left went against us and it was why I would always make fun of the Celtics. Like, well, congratulations, you can hang the banner for like expected effective field goal percentage champions of 2026. He's there a more with the rockets. You same thing.

You have four. This is it's great that you had an unbelievable expected effective field goal percentage. Awesome, that's a wonderful process and yeah, you just missed. Well, all you got to do is just miss three times and seven games and then have another game where the team outplayed you substantially or whatever. And then your season is over.

You just it's not a hundred game series. It's like very finite amount of time. And if this thing isn't working. The right answer isn't always just keep doing the thing until it works. You got to have some other thing.

I mean, this has been my thing with Boston forever. It doesn't. It's they want to title defense is they want to title they have a great core. I'm not sure what if anything they can really do in the off season. Pricured let them down in this series two other than his one game four.

So great to me. Great game four and other than that. I forget. Hold on, I'm going to queue up his stats. He just he just wasn't good enough in the series.

And the shot that killed me. I didn't have a lot of time to do that. But I didn't have a lot of time to do that. I didn't have a lot of time to do that. I didn't have a lot of time to do that.

I didn't have a lot of time to do that. I didn't have a lot of time to do that. I didn't have a lot of time to do that. I didn't have a lot of time to do that. I didn't have a lot of time to do that.

I didn't have a lot of time to do that. I didn't have a lot of time to do that. And if he makes that shot, I honestly think they went. I did the crowd. My dad said the crowd was as loud as any crowd.

They've had for a playoff game during the comeback. Like he was like the energy was electric. It was we could knock it over the hump and all we needed was that one shot.

And it just never went in.

But I would have taken my chances with that shot. You know, I would have bet my life he was going to make that shot. That's why sports are so cool. And I know it's not a great day for Boston fans. I've seen that game so many times in my head and in my life.

And what happens is that shot goes in. The crowd goes bananas and a team on the other end with a history of postseason. Letdowns and hiccups just sort of melts down a little bit. And the game Peter's out in the Celtics win. In your soul, in my soul, like when that shot goes up.

“That's what I'm envisioning and it went completely the other way.”

I don't only do this shot miss, but Philly and Max. That took a different play. Yeah. He like rose up under that kind of pressure in a hostile environment and put the game to bed. And that it was just like a very against script kind of ending.

Even in the bar, it was a. Oh, it was like one of that. So I came in imagine what it was like to be there. Well, I don't know if that's replicable against the next.

I mean, that there's a whole bunch of reasons the nicks are better match up than the Celtics were. In beat in those four games was. In the game 70 is 28 nine and seven. He missed 150 regular season games in the last three years. And magically turned back into Joe on beat at the worst possible time for the Celtics.

I saw the six or just played two games during the season. That I thought made them intriguing as a dark horse. One was against the Celtics and then and beat got her right after that. I think then there was another one. I want to say it was against maybe the nicks on a Saturday or maybe the game.

Somewhere around that range when they played the nicks and we'll really go and toe to toe with them. And I was just like, man, that really is a ceiling with this team. But we all do that, right? Like, this is I know, but think about it. They played six good games all year probably and they're in round two now.

There's a reason that we just never thought we would see the apex version of this team for any prolonged period of time.

By the way, we still have to see it for a prolonged period of time because now it gets every other day. You know, for the rest of the way and obviously this is a pretty soft travel schedule for them. Philly New York is an easy trip and all that. But the start, I will keep just hammering about and always maxi always maxi in in this series and beat is those two combined for all the heavy lifting they do on offense. 3.3 combined turnovers per game.

2 per game. Who's had a history of like bad turnover games in the playoffs and 1.3 for maxi and maxi never turns the ball over. It's one of the secret superpowers he just never turns it over and like that's a that's a astonishingly low number for those two guys combined. Where is Maxi for you now in the best players in the league list? I'm just going to redo the best players. Well I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month.

I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a month. I had a I'm gonna read you right now. Okay. You wouldn't put him against you wouldn't put him over Joker as chair one base so it's crossed them off.

Feels premature. I mean right now. Yeah, no. No, yeah, I would feel premature to put him over those guys. You wouldn't put him over Luca. No. Would you put him over Aunt healthy? No. All right, so there's six. Would you put him over Cade? Now that's kind of an argument. Yeah, you get into this morass of like Bronson Mitchell Cade.

You know, Curry is still in there. And it's just a bunch of guards that are just depending on your taste depending on your taste. You might have a case. Yeah, so you might have a case to be the number of guy in that. So that's the seven spot unless you want to put Janice over all of those guys.

“I think Janice still belongs over all those guys and I definitely remember ringer 100 doing it every month.”

There were there was a he was around like 10 11 12 a lot for me during the season. I don't know where I had him on my latest one. But I definitely remember one in particular when I moved him up like very early in the season from like 19 to 11 and it felt like yeah, he's that's about where he is right now. So this goes back to one of my favorite dumb topics. The all-time aberration 2020 COVID draft.

Just zooms and maybe some illegal workouts with guys wearing masks on where Edwards goes first and then wiseman goes second off of three college games.

LeMelo third it goes Patrick Williams is a good core of four or five killing Hays is seven. Denny is nine. It's a great pick caliber this 12. Denny must be doing great for the wizards these days. It's a great pick by the wizards at number nine. Yeah, they get credit for that. You're guy Polka was 17. My way second. My guy Polka. You're guy Polka. How did that happen and then listen to this the 20s.

Okay, Tyre's Maxi 21. Yeah. Quickly 25, Richard 26, Jayden McDenus 28, Bane 30. Well, we'll have to do a redraft of this draft this summer for fun.

“It sounds like a fucking bonkers like, how does this happen?”

Well, you're just leaving out so many guys who are into 20s. Lee Andrew bullmorrow. I literally don't even remember him. He plays seems like he played forty nine games. He played four. I just have no memory of him doing anything in the NBA not one thing. And all Raptors fans know this draft well because they picked Malachi Flynn one spot ahead of Desmond Bane.

Oh, well, that a picture later by the Boston Celtics. And then the second round is just pretty much a train wreck. It's Sam Merrill at 60 and.

I didn't know. I forgot Sam Samaril was Mr. irrelevant. That's right. I say Joe's in there. Vic Creti. But yeah, just that the 20s of that draft getting Tyre's Maxi.

So this, you know, my guy Darrell. I think that only saved this job with the series, but I think you got to look back at like Maxi, the edge cone pick. The Paul George even though in beat and Paul George were one and two in the worst contract draft. Now that's looking better. I think Darrell sticks around now.

“Oh, that's one of the ripple effects I meant to mention last night is I think nurse and mori both are actually.”

But the crazy thing about Maxi and edge cone is the sixers were like very, very close to getting neither of those guys.

But then at the lottery last year, it looked like they were not that they were going to give their pick to Oklahoma City and then they moved up.

To number three and got edge cone. So like this is what this, this is what it turns on sometimes. It's like it's a multiple sliding doors within sliding doors. Well, as we discussed those sliding doors. Is, is Jalen on the Celtics next year? Why did it take you so long to get here? This is the most exciting moment. This is, we're going to wrap up here and then go watch this other game and come back for a part two.

So tell me the ration tell me tell me the rationale. Do you want if if are you trading him to just reset the finances restock the assets and go to Jason Tatum and Derek White and be like, I know we just won 57 games or whatever that was supposed to be the gap year. This is going to signal to you that this might actually be the gap year or are you trying for some sort of three for one that fits better. One for one that fits better and like four to get younger in the trade with a cheaper guy in the spot.

“Are you going for it next year or are you taking a step back next year?”

Oh, I think you're going for it next year. So then I don't know what I'm on the record as I want Jalen Brown to put his entire career with the Celtics.

I get an argument about him.

I hate the stupid plus minus thing that goes around with him. Look at the moment he comes out. They're way better. If he didn't happen yesterday, I just like Jalen Brown. I think he plays hard and he's durable and I think he's aged about as well as you could expect from a ten year forward in the league. This would be the time to trade him right now because 57 61 and 65 the next three years money was Tatum's 58 62 and 67. And if you're going to make a case to trade him, it's like can you just afford two guys making that much money?

Well, I have not. And you want to tie to with them. I have not sat and played around with the jail and brown trade machine. I suspect that you have and you might have some ideas. I don't know though. I mean, I haven't either and I haven't really wanted to do it and also the loss just happened yesterday.

But in my head, it's something like, well, there's. Is is the Janis move, which I think they would be one of the contenders for Janis. And I think Jalen as an asset that either goes back to Milwaukee or goes to a third team.

“And then that team gives their stuff to Milwaukee would be how that trade goes.”

Like a team like Atlanta, whereas from a team that that controls this Milwaukee situation with their pick this year. So it's something like that.

They could get super creative because they have this 27.7 million trade exception where you could take somebody back.

On a team that has cap space, like a dice and Daniels, we just take that back with it. Lannis pick, put Daniels into the trade exception. Trade Jalen and now you have a max player trade exception. They'd have like the biggest trade exception of all time. And see what you can do with that.

Or you look at a team like New Orleans and could you just go trade Murphy. Curb Jones and a contract, trade Murphy, Jordan pool and a pick. Like something like that where you're carrying the pool contract for a year. It's such an inspiring, but you've reset around a cheaper Jalen brown basically. That would be the mindset.

I hope they keep them together. I'm just going to say that again, and I'm going to keep saying it. But I would understand if these are the kind of discussions they're having in dark depressing rooms right now. Yeah, I again having not gone through it. Those two teams just I'm looking at the standings over here just jumped and jumped into my head.

I mean, I was trying to think like rockets, flame out. Is there something narrow, but I don't know what the trade would be. You know, I didn't think I didn't think of the pelicans actually. You kind of surprised me with that one in terms of like, but it's interesting. Yeah, there's a lot.

And I'm sure this will be a podcast topic at some point, but you guys, another one. Like Utah. You just did a lot of stuff, though. I know. I just made some big some big moose.

Yeah. But what about I mean.

“Well, how about can I give you another version of this scenario?”

Sure. What if J.L. Brown goes to the team and says it's time? I want my own team. Why? Why?

This is just, are you coping? Is this coping? Yeah, this is coping. It's been a pleasure. It's been a pleasure.

Then I applaud your, you know, we've seen weirder things in the NBA. The J.L.L. Brown deciding. I'd like by on team now. You know, I just something just popped. The team that just popped in my head and we're about to go watch their game is like,

if it's just a disaster Cleveland loss in this game. You know, this is a team that just has been able to fill a wingspot with a player like that. But he just, it's just hard. It's contract is so big. And I don't know what they'll be thinking.

But we'll see. We get maybe Cleveland win by 30.

I have no idea. But that would be.

That series is going to be in wild either way.

Whoever it is. I vote for keeping them together because we've already seen them when in title. It did happen.

“And I think that they can improve around the edges with this.”

The team, especially with the trade exception. I think how's there probably like if we're going realistic. I think cows are gets traded because you can. He's 10 11 and 12. You can I think a lot of teams could use somebody like him and you could just move

Shireman and who go into those minutes right. And then that 27.7. I think you get somebody good with that. And I think they'd want to bring Simon's back. Simon's a free agent.

They have their mid-level to use.

I could see him coming back. I thought there were a guard short this whole season anyway. So I think getting a guard and figure out another big man to put with Keta would be the two things I would look at. But who knows. This is the NBA.

We're prepared for anything at all times.

“And if Jonas is actually on the table and says at some point like I'd love to go to Boston and put Jason Tatum.”

They're going to try to have conversations about that. And they just lost in round one. I feel the same way about Denver. Like Sean said today on ESPN. Everyone's on the table for Denver except Diocage.

They're accepting calls. And like that's how they should feel. They lost in round one with one of the best players of the century. And they should be thinking that way. Yeah, that was kind of a no shit moment.

But yeah. Yeah, obviously. But. No, but that's significant that they said every player's on the table. Yeah.

Because what's on there? I was going to let Aaron Gordon's on the table. What's on said is Jamal Murray. I mean, Aaron Gordon, the Aaron Gordon thing is just we've unfortunately reached a point in which I I if I'm building the nuggets. I have to now if I were building nuggets, I would see all the medical records.

I would know everything. But from the outside looking in, I just can't assume he'll stay healthy for an entire playoff ever ever again. The leg stuff just crops up over and over again. I don't really know what to do with that because they're just not close to the same team without him. It goes back to what I asked you 20 minutes ago.

Maybe your goal was just to get him healthy in April. May June. And you're trading on like a car in the garage that you just take out for a spin. But can you even do that like you you know you can find the sports signs people on lots of teams. I know a lot of them who will tell you like that actually.

There there are sports signs guys who will say the players aren't playing enough because it does them a disservice and try to try to ramp them up. To like, okay, now you've been treating you with cake gloves all season. The playoffs here, you're going to play 42 super hard minutes every single game for the rest of the way. But even if you did that with Aaron Gordon, like I don't know that he would be able to say healthy for a month straight. Even if you treated the regular season like a big, a big nothing but anyway, we're far fielding.

We have a game seven to another game seven coming up.

“Yeah, so this is the end of part one. We're going to come back after Toronto Cleveland a game that I think already has had two shots and maybe a gin and tonic before it even started.”

I've been paired for anything. You've opened this podcast by seeing all the crazy stuff that has happened over the last five days. And we forgot the RJ bear shot that hit the ceiling on the same goddamn rim of the clock shot from seven years ago. Like that was up there for a long, long time and just whoop, it was Halliburn shot, but in Toronto and in Game Six. Don't forget the play that led up to RJ bear it.

Evan Mobile for some reason being thrown the ball even though it was the worst free throw shooter out there and See, like, got body check from behind.

I didn't we never saw the best possible replay of that, but all of the sudden the balls add a bounce and it's Toronto's ball and RJ bear it.

I didn't think it was going in, did you? Uh, I didn't. When it bounced straight up, I'm just saying when he was releasing it, did you think it was going in? No, but when it bounced on the rim, I'm now conditioned to be like, it could be perfect. It could be going right up and right now.

I was actually not surprised when it went in, but yes, when Scotty Barnes sort of stumbles in there and kicks it out. You're like, it's not really what they were looking for down one. And they have boom, it goes in and here we are, game seven. All right, we're going to watch game seven and then we're going to come back for a part two though. Be a little shorter than this podcast.

Thanks for letting me talk out the Celtics. Apologist. We just reached out on. We just scratched the surface. I think there's more.

Well, fortunately, we have many more podcasts coming. Thanks to go out on Eduardo as well. And we'll be back on Netflix ironically, right after game seven. See you in a little bit. Must be 21+ in present in select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas star casino,

or 18+ in present in DC, Kentucky or well, and game problem caught 100 gambler or 1,800 by reset. Call 888-797777 or visit ccpg.org/chat and communicate or mdgamblinghelp.org and Maryland.

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