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Mike Gorman
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Mike Gorman
This is Mike Gorman and you're listening
Will
to Green with Envy with Will and Greg. All right, everybody, let's go. Win of the year for the Boston Celtics, taking down the Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending champs, 119 to 109. One of the best games maybe of the NBA year definitely. Like I said, the biggest win for the Boston Celtics. We've got a lot to get into. This is agreeing with Envy Post game live. You guys know the deal.
Mike Gorman
Let's lock it.
Will
What up, what up, what up? Welcome into another edition of Green with Envy. It's a Green with envy Post game live. Fresh off what? You know, we say this a lot of times too often, but this could be NBA finals preview. Celtics, Thunder, both teams minus Vic at full strength. Got to see everybody on display. Celtics come out victorious at the TD Garden tonight. 119 to 1 of 9. As always, it's your boy, Will. We're checking in. How you doing? How you living? Hopefully you're riding high. I think that's what we're going to be doing tonight. Joining me as he does each and every time, he just got spooked by something. I don't know what just happened. If you're watching us on YouTube, we're live, so anything could happen. But something's barking in the background. We've got my best friend, co host and the coach of our podcast, the one and only Greg Vanas. Greg, are the dogs hyped back there? What's what's happening, doors opening, dogs are barking.
Mike Gorman
Hey man, Blaze, Blaze wanted to join the party and this is Billy's room. So Billy just snapped at him and scared the out of me back here. But you know, everybody wants to be part of this post game show because the Boston Celtics just had the win of the year. As you said. Man, what a performance, dude.
Will
What, what a game. And I mean honestly, let's just go from like, like start to finish, right? Let's just kind of like work our way through the timeline here. And you know anyone that's joining us here, we're live streaming on YouTube, on Twitter. So if you guys have questions, thoughts, get them in the chat. We'll make sure that, that we, that we bring them up here on screen. As always, appreciate you guys locking in with us. Five star reviews, all that good stuff. We'd love to hear from you celticsnoisegmail.com for any future thoughts or comments. Send them our way. But Greg, let's start out. And the first quarter was, was kind of interesting, right? Like OKC wins the first quarter, 31, 20. And I think at the beginning of that game, it's funny, the, the game starts with, I thought an unbelievable drive by Jalen Brown, has this nice little dump off the Nemi. Nemi smokes the layup. I was like, ah, hopefully that's not an omen for the rest of the night. Ended up not being it. But in that first quarter, it felt like the overwhelming depth and talent of OKC was going to be a major problem for the Celtics. And it was going to be like, all right, we gotta like find a way to stem the tide. And so I'm curious to get what your initial thoughts were in that first quarter and then how it kind of changed progressively through the night, which we'll get to.
Mike Gorman
I mean, honestly, I, I wasn't too worried after the first quarter. My only thing was Sam Houser was missing wide open, three pointers. And I was like, this is what we've been talking about lately with Sam struggling from behind the arc and then he struggled the rest of the game on defense as well. I think he ended up hitting three threes because he hit his first shot of the game and then missed like seven in a row. But that was my thing. I said, we're getting good shots. We're down 11, but we're getting really good shots. He smoked that layup at the beginning. I was like, I, I, I don't feel like the Thunder are this juggernaut on defense that I felt like they were last year. I felt like the Celtics had figured them out, especially in OKC this past matchup where Jaylen Brown had one of his best games this season, where last season, Jaylen Brown could not handle Lou Dort. He couldn't handle the pressure of those guards. And I feel like him raising his level allowed everybody else to kind of raise their level and feel at ease against this OKC team. And then, obviously, Jason Tatum has a great second quarter where he looks like the MVP Jason Tatum that he's been in the past. So that was obviously a big change.
Will
Yeah. So I think two things. One is, you know, like you said about Jalen, the interesting part was I think he missed his first five or six shots. I'm waiting for the stats to update here, where I can kind of filter it by quarter, but he missed his first five or six shots, right? And that's where. And I think SGA hit 4 out of his first 5 or 5 out of his first 7 or whatever it was. And so in that MVP battle, right, you're kind of like, ah, damn it. SGA's having a moment. JB's kind of kind of not. Not meeting it right now. And honestly, JB just really, after missing those shots was unbelievable the rest of this game, right? Like, missed those first five shots or whatever it was, and then was unbelievable. And then you bring up Jason Tatum, Greg. And I think that first half was probably the best basketball I've seen from Tatum since he's came back. Right. Like, I think that that little. You know, if we're cutting it down to just, like, a miniature size, that first half was the best that I've seen Jason Tatum. Because I really thought. End of the first quarter, I was like, man, there's a little bit too much of Tatum just deferring to letting Peyton Pritchard run the offense. Like, I get it. Like, you want to have a mix and a balance, but, like, it's a little too deferential. And right at the end of the first quarter, and certainly as the second quarter picked up, that completely changed. And for me, that's kind of the. The line of delineation, line of demarcation for me, where this game started to try to change a little bit. And it was when Tatum got really aggressive early on in that second quarter. And I thought from then on, it just became, you know, for. Up until the Celtics pulled away in the fourth, it became just two heavyweights just kind of throwing blows at each other right there. And I thought it all started with Tatum changing it up and. And being less deferential in the offense in that beginning of the second quarter.
Mike Gorman
Yeah, it looked like he. He remembered he was just out there playing the game that he's played his whole life. There's more snap to his moves. Like, his moves were a lot more decisive. Like, classic jb JT drive to your left, get some body contact, hard dribble, step back into the three pointer that he hit on J Dub, you know that I think that was the shot that really got him going, and I kind of had him getting that flow that Jalen Brown was asking him to play with in the last game against the T Wolves. And when you think about how he played against the T Wolves, and I just felt like he was forcing it. Like, it looked like he was really trying to, like, bully his way into being the Jason Tatum of old. And tonight was a night where he just played more decisively. He played more confidently. His. The spots that he was getting to on the court were spots that he got to efficiently, whereas in previous games, I feel like there had just been, like a misstep here, a weird dribble there where he wasn't in the spots that he's normally in. But I was. I was very happy with his overall play tonight because he goes 35 minutes, right? So that's a season high for him. 5 for 12 from the field, which I think was a huge thing out of Tatum not overshooting the ball and not overshooting from three because he only took six three pointers tonight. And this is something that Celtics fans all across Celtics nation have been looking for. And you and I have been calling for a little bit more is just for Tatum to not force so many three pointers to try and create a rhythm for himself. But just let the game come to you, man. Like, especially right now, just let the game come to you. You're such a great, versatile player that can do so many things, like grab 12 rebounds and dish out seven assists with three steals in a block. That's what Jason Tatum did tonight in 35 minutes to go along with 19 points, 6 for 6 from the line as well. So, like, that Jason Tatum that we're getting tonight is what I want to see out of Jason Tatum with this version of the Celtics. He doesn't need to be Jason Tatum taking 20 to 25 shots because this team has already figured out who they are without him. And now adding him in there, he just looks like the perfect missing puzzle piece for a potential championship run.
Will
Dude, he was. He was great tonight. Right. And I thought he was very contained, but not contained, but was self contained almost. Right. Like he was like, to your point, he wasn't forcing it. And dude, some of the passes he made tonight, like, they reminded me of like, okay, why are we not saying this guy can pass like Luca? Like, there, there were a couple, like the shout out to Alex here. He. He mentioned it that they caught. I don't love this. This camera angle at the Celtics go to on the broadcast sometimes, but they had back to back perfect camera shots. I think one was a Tatum step back three maybe. I, I think was. Was one of them. And the other was he had a matchup on the wing where he had this unbelievable skip past the Jalen Brown. I think it was Jaylen Brown's first made shot on that three on the wing. And it was just like the patience, the vision, the strength, the accuracy. There's so many things that go into it. He made another pass later in this game to Luka Garza on the roll, which I thought was one of the best passes I've ever seen Jason Tatum make. Like, it was incredible. He was like a couple feet beyond the three point line on the wing, whip the ball underneath the basket to Luca and like he had a very. Like, he had to be on time with it for Luca to be able to catch, turn, get it up. Like, the passing that Tatum is displaying since coming back along with the rebounding, like, honestly, those are the two things that have really stood out to me. It's like just inserting his rebounding and his passing into this team are almost even bigger than his. They're bigger than his points right now, to be honest, because, like this team was second in offensive rating before he came back. It's the rebounds and the assists and everything else that he's doing that is actually the biggest lift to this team right now, which is crazy for a guy that's average 30 in the NBA and pretty consistently averages 27 to 30 points every single year.
Mike Gorman
Yeah, I mean, he, he played point guard tonight and that's what we needed out of him, which was really nice to see. I thought he had a great floor game. But then the perfect compliment is Jalen Brown, who plays 39 minutes tonight, team high 39 minutes out of JB, nine for 17 from the field, only took three three pointers tonight. He was one for three from three, but got to the line 14 times. And you texted me during the game and you said, I think it was the third quarter you were referring to. You said, was that the Best whistle Jalen Brown has ever gotten one.
Will
I kept going to the fourth quarter, but that was definitely. I was like, I've never seen Jaylen Brown get a whistle like this. Is this what it feels like every night watching sga?
Mike Gorman
Right. But then he also had a couple calls against him as well. And that Mark Davis, that last call where Jaylen Brown gets the following. Kon Wallace. I was like, if Mark Davis overrules this, when it would be such a Mark Davis thing to do to overrule that call, an offensive foul. He doesn't. Jaylen Brown goes 12 for 14 from the line. He's been on an absolute heater from the line. He is. I think he's pushing close to 80 on the year if he's not already over it. But he goes 31, 8 and 8 with two steals tonight, man. Like the MVP performance out of Jalen Brown. He was. He was the best player on the court because he also shut down SGA in the fourth quarter.
Will
Yeah. Just real quick, here's the free throw numbers since the spurs game, which he got thrown out of at halftime. No free throws. Since then, he's had 14 free throws, 4 free throws, 21 free throws, 9, 8, 11, and 14. So I think his point has finally gotten across, especially where he's been first or second in drives along with SGA the entire year. Right. Like, nobody basically in the entire NBA drives the basketball more. And with Jalen, you know, the. The. The first half for Jalen, you know, felt a little. A little inefficient, you know, just from a pure, like, field goals, field goal attempts, numbers. And then I thought the aggression that he had in the. In the second half, and he was already doing a lot of other things outside of just making and missing shots. Like, I love that in the beginning of this game, he was either guarding SGA or Jaylen Williams. J Dub. Every single time, he was like, I want who. Whoever's out here. Whoever's, like, whatever the hierarchy is. I'm at the top of the hierarchy with them. And he did that for most of the game. I thought that was unbelievable. That's something that. I think when you get to these all NBA MVP discussions, like, the dude that wants to step up and do that on both sides, like, that has to be respected. That has to be acknowledged. And so, like, I was. Even as we got to Halfton, I was like, I don't care about the inefficiency. Like, I still think he's playing great. And I think it's. You know, this is Still a good Jalen game. But then I thought the aggression that he played with in that third quarter absolutely just, like, turned it up another notch and, like, kind of continued how the Celtics were rolling from that second quarter. And I think the third quarter is just. Just Jaylen Brown's fingerprints are all over it on every single part of it.
Mike Gorman
And this game was not nationally televised, right?
Will
No, it's not. Which is crazy.
Mike Gorman
That is insane that they didn't figure out a way to get this on,
Will
especially where they've been flexing more games this year. Like, how do you not flex this game? Like, this game hat what? To be honest, it's easier for me to like, as far as, like, catching up on games. Like, it works better on league pass than it does sometimes with like, the national broadcast. So I actually prefer it because I'm always a little bit late with, like, bedtime and stuff. But it's wild that this game was not on ESPN or NBC or Amazon or something.
Mike Gorman
It made no sense because this is NBA Finals preview, like, most likely. Unless it's. There's a world in which it spurs Knicks. Right? But I think that this is. This is probably the NBA Finals that most of the NBA fandom are hoping for because it's the last two champions of the NBA, right? Thunder won it last year, Celtics won it two years ago. You have the MVP sga, who's playing like an MVP throughout this entire game, and Jalen Brown, who, I don't know if you saw this on your boy Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser on pti. They said that he should be the NBA. Excuse me, the NBA MVP can't get the get rid of this cough. Dude, it's been like seven weeks at this point. Ridiculous. Big thanks to our sponsor, Better Help, for partnering with us for this important
Will
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Mike Gorman
How do you not get that game on national television? Because. Because it seemed like Jaylen Brown didn't even realize this wasn't on national tv. He was like. He was. He was like, everybody's watching this game and you know, all the die hard fans are going to be tuned into this. So I thought he played. I thought he outplayed SGA in this game.
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Mike Gorman
Like, SGA had the better first half. He was unbelievably efficient. He got wherever he wanted. Jalen really took. Kind of took it to him in the second half there and had some great possessions. One on one with him where SGA gets to his pet spot and Jalen is right there with him. He didn't guard him every possession, but anytime he guarded him, sga, like, didn't even get a shot up, which is pretty impressive stuff because SGA can get a shot up anytime he wants against anybody. So I think Jalen Brown did an unbelievable job on both ends of the court. And this was an MVP showcase, man, because there was one. This one dude for plead to report. His name's Andy Bailey. I don't know if you caught this.
Will
Oh, I retweeted something about this today. So go ahead.
Mike Gorman
Okay, yeah, no, no, you. You go ahead. You go ahead because you.
Will
You probably. Yeah, so, you know, look, listen, I get it. We're in the space where, like, you gotta zag sometimes, right? You gotta have a little bit. A little bit of something different. And the, you know, basically, you know, to summarize what. What the tweet was is, I don't understand why we're having this conversation about Jalen Brown being the MVP or Jalen Brown versus Luca. I'm not even sure he secured a third team all NBA case. I think Derrick White might have the better case. That's a zag, my friends. That is a zag and a half. Yeah, I. I retweeted that because I'm like, listen, I get. If you want to say it's Jokic, Wemby and SGA are the top three, I'm not gonna put up a huge stick against you. Like, I get it. But, like, if you're not putting Jalen in the next group, that's Insanity. And if you're saying he's not third team, what NBA are you watching? Like, I'm sorry, like just what. And what league are you.
Mike Gorman
Press credentials need to be taken from that guy and giving him to actually know the game. Because if you're zagging just to zag, like, okay, but dude, you don't know basketball if that's what you're saying.
Will
So that type of statement here. So this is kind of veering off a little bit. And it's fine. I think it's all part of it. Like when the whole all NBA debate, right, with the 65 games and like, yeah, it has its flaws, but like, I understand the merits of it, right? Like it's to get people to play. And like when people are like, let's just leave it. Like, the media does a pretty good job. That's a good example of that's the guy. Like, I don't know that he actually has a vote, but if like that's a guy that has a vote and like, come on now, what are we doing? And like, I still think back a couple years ago, if you remember this, your boy Jalen Rose had a vote. And I remember like Kyrie played like 32 games and he put Kyrie on his third team. So it's like stupid like that where it's like the 65 game rule is to get guys to play, but it's also a little bit to save the media from themselves because sometimes they do some stupid like that.
Mike Gorman
Yep, definitely. Okay, so at this point, Jaylen Brown, by the way, I just. I just got the numbers. He is officially over 80% from the free throw line this year with this re recent stretch. So it'd be the first season season in his career that he shoots 80% from the line. If this continues for the last 10 games or so this season.
Will
Dude, Jalen's just been awesome, man.
Mike Gorman
Just.
Will
Just real quick, let's just go over the MVP numbers here, comparison head to head here of what they had tonight. So I'll start with SGA. He plays 37 minutes, 10 of 12 from the field, 3 of 4 from 3. 10 of 12 from the free throw line, finishes with 33 points, 8. Excuse me, 2. 33 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals and 2 turnovers. Jalen goes 39 minutes, 9 of 17 from the field, 1 of 3 from 3, 12 of 14 from the line, 31 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers. Pretty good MVP matchup right with. With two teams that are so well rounded and dialed in from an effort standpoint, like up and down the roster with guys who have pretty high IQs, like, that's pretty good, like head to head, just like straight up. Pretty fair fight right there between those two stat lines.
Mike Gorman
Especially when you consider the first game was. Was just as close. They each had like ridiculous 35 point games. And I just think Jalen is proving time and time again that he's right there with SGA. I think he doesn't quite have the consistency of SJ. Obviously. SGA, like 132 straight games of 20 points or more. Like, that's insane. Like he just gets 20 points in his sleep. And he's a good defender. You saw him at times, you know, having to sit down and guard and he does a pretty good job. But Jaylen, there's just this, this specialness to what Jalen is doing this year. Like these moments. And maybe it's just because we watch every game and we've watched this guy's whole career, but there's just a whole nother level that he's reached that he hasn't had before where he has the gene now in the fourth quarter that it's get Jalen Brown the ball and everybody else, like play off of him, you know, and there's a moment where he gets SGA in the air and gets the foul on sga. He closes out the game with the little swing step where he kind of elbows SGA in the face going for that layup. Like those little special moments out of Jalen Brown where you can tell he really wanted this matchup tonight. And to prove not only to the NBA fandom but to SGA that, hey man, like if we meet in the finals, it's me and you and we're gonna battle for seven games.
Will
Yeah, it's like some Game of Thrones. Like, hey, man, we're gonna have a duel here at some point. Like I'm calling you out and you know, to your point of just SGA's consistency, I started laughing at one point because I pulled up the box score from the last game. SGA in two games versus the Celtics is 23 of 30 from the field on 17 of 19. I think from the free throw line or something around there. Yeah, 17 of 20 from the free throw line. That's insane. True shooting percentage, like, that's just nuts.
Mike Gorman
He's good, man. He's really good.
Will
He's really, he's really good. Like, there's, there's, there's nothing about it. Like I have. That's why I'm saying, like, if. If it ends up being him or Wemby likely getting the mvp, I. I can't have any issues with that. Right. I just know Jaylen needs to be somewhere in that four or five spot. Like, he's got to be somewhere in that three, four, five. But, you know, looking out at other parts of this game here, Greg, something that, you know, you've been calling out for the last couple. Last couple podcasts here, right. Is like. And I'm really curious to get your thoughts on this, because The Sam Houser vs Baylor Shireman kind of debate ish. Reared its head again tonight. Right? And you mentioned Sam hits his first shot, misses like, his next five or six hits, I think one more either in the first half or second half and hit another one in the fourth. But it felt very clear that Baylor Scheiman was the call. And Baylor Scheiman was super impactful in this game defensively. Offensively, he was a plus 11, 4 of 8 from the field, 3 of 7, 5 rebounds in this game. Spent a good amount of time guarding sga. Scout called it out. He had a great closeout from behind on one of the two shots that SGA missed. To me, it felt like, very clear, like, okay. And I even texted you, like, this is the moment where it becomes. This is. This is not a Sam night. It's a Baylor game. Maybe a little bit of Ugo, but this is going to be Baylor. And, you know, I'm curious on your thoughts of Missoula sticking with. With Hauser in that fourth quarter. I mean, obviously get the win, but I'm just curious to know your thoughts, because it felt like it was leaning towards this is Baylor's moment to. To keep the momentum.
Mike Gorman
You know, it's funny, I. When I saw Hauser out there, when the Celtics went small ball five at the end, I almost screamed at the tv. And then I. I had a moment where I just collected myself and this was all, you know, going on in my head, and I'm just like, I trust Joe Missoula.
Will
Immature.
Mike Gorman
Yeah, I. I trust Joe Missoula. He's gotten to the point where even though sometimes I disagree with him, I feel like he has earned my trust. And he's earned the trust of everybody watching the Celtics to know that he knows which buttons to push. Because there was a moment where Sam Houser was getting cooked and he was missing shots and he went to Baylor Shireman, and he knew that Baylor was the injection of energy that he needed in that moment because the OKC Thunder have a bunch of dudes like the Carusos, the Dorts, the Wallaces that are just everywhere. Their hands are everywhere, they're super energetic and they're, they're gonna make the plays that Baylor Shireman for us, he's the guy that makes those plays for us. Right? You need to counteract that. Sam Houser just doesn't meet that level of physicality. He doesn't meet that level of like toughness. I'm not that Sam is, isn't tough, but he, Baylor has like a dog in him that Sam doesn't have.
Will
He looks like Joe Dirt. He's a little gritty.
Mike Gorman
Yeah, exactly, exactly. Like if Sam Hauser and Baylor Sharman got in a fight, you know, Bayless Ironman's winning that fight no matter what. And you know the put back dunk that he had, the two step away threes off a shot face on Shea in the corner. Like the, the play that you referenced where he stopped Shay and turned. Had Shay turn the ball over. Like those are these little moments that Baylor, I've just come to expect out of him. And this is why, once again, for those of you that aren't accustomed to agreeing with envy, I call him the white lefty Marcus Smart because he does a lot of the same stuff that Marcus Smart does, especially at this point in Marcus's career. But you know, I just think there's something special about Baylor. He just, he, he's a really important part of this team. And I really hope Joe Missoula decides at some point Baylor's the guy that he trusts over Sam Houser later in the season. Tonight it was Sam at the end, but I think it should be Baylor, you know, when it really matters.
Will
I, I think it has to be. And I said this a month or two ago, so I do want it on record where I said there's going to be. If there's a guy in this team that's going to have a Grant Williams or a Kelly Olenet game, there's going to be a Baylor Shireman playoff game that we come to remember if the Celtics are going to, to make it to back to the finals, maybe even the conference finals. Like there's going to be a Baylor Shireman game at some point. And the more since I've said that, the more and more I watch them, the more and more convinced I am that either it's going to happen or it's not going to happen. Because everything just feels like that's what Bay Fireman does, right? Like there's not Something that's like that exceptional, that stands out because he's just kind of making these plays night in and night out. On the trusting Joe Missoula part, Greg, I have to bring this up. I tweeted it in the moment. We've all criticized Joe Missoula for his lack of timeouts at certain points. He made maybe the best timeout. Most the. I say it's the best timeout call of his career. Maybe it's just the most surprising timeout call of his career. But the Celtics had started to kind of let the. They weren't letting the game slip away, but they had turned the ball over a couple times. It was getting a little sloppy. They were letting the OKC hands kind of get in there. Nemi got trapped with the ball underneath where he's. I, I'm pretty sure he might have traveled anyways before Joe called this timeout. And Joe, I, I really can't think of a moment when Joe, in the middle of a play, breaking down hasn't typically defaulted to. We gotta let them figure it out. They've got to try to like, you know, like, he always kind of believes that, like, that danger you're in, it's going to be better for you long term to kind of figure it out. And when he stepped in mid possession, which I, again, very rarely can, I remember times that Joe Missoula has stepped in mid possession and bailed his team out of a, of a possession like that and called that timeout. I was pretty pumped, man. And I got to give him his flowers because we've criticized them plenty in years past for, for timeout usage or lack of timeout us. And even though that didn't end up resulting in the Celtics after that timeout getting a bucket, just calming the team down, I think that was massively important because it could have steamrolled. And I love just knowing that's in Joe's tool bag now. Like, I love to be like, okay, I've seen it. So now I know that that's something that maybe Joe can surprise you with. People surprise you sometimes. Greg.
Mike Gorman
Yeah, he. That. That was very surprising. That was a really cool moment from, from Joe. But I, I think there's also something, you know, going back to Neemi. Nene ends up with four fouls towards the end of the third quarter, and he picks up his fifth foul in the fourth quarter. And Missoula both times, like, played him a little bit longer or went to him a little bit sooner than I thought he would. And Nene did not file out in this game, which was probably the most surprising thing considering he was in foul trouble. Like, I was just like, oh, when Nemi got four files, like, Mimi's gonna follow out with like eight minutes left in this game. He didn't. Nemi was great tonight, man.
Will
Minus the fouls. He was great. And the fouls were like, all ones that I live with. Like, he was protecting. He had to protect the basket, right? Like, there wasn't. I don't think off top of my
Mike Gorman
head, the dunk on chat, like, was he the best big on the court tonight? I feel like he was.
Will
So this is another point that I wanted to bring up here is like, SGA was awesome. Lou Dort and Caruso each. Chris only hit one three, but. But Lou Dort hit four threes right. Like that. That was basically the offense for the Thunder tonight. Like, Chet Holm ring shot the ball seven times. He was 3 of 7, 10 points, 5 rebounds, 0 blocks. Jalen Williams, who, you know, JW, I'll give a pass because he's still coming back. I think it's only his second game, maybe third game back from an injury, but seven points, two of nine from the field. Like, I, I, you know, Hartenstein was. Was okay. Like, yeah, I think Nene was the best bit to answer your question. Like, I think tonight, for tonight. Yes, the answer is Neemius Keda was the best big in this game with Isaiah Hart and signage at homegrown on the floor.
Mike Gorman
It's impressive, man. Yeah. I mean, let's talk about the Thunder a little bit, because if this is an NBA finals preview, I. I think they have too many guys that they play. First of all, they. Would they go 12 deep tonight? I think something like that. And let's see off their bench. Caruso goes 21 minutes. Kayson Wallace goes 24. Jalen Williams, Jay Will goes 13. AJ Mitchell played 25. Isaiah Joe played 12. Jared McCain plays 13. And they go small ball 5. With their best offensive lineup when they were down 11. Right. When in the past, I feel like the Thunder defense would have gotten them back in the game. They would have doubled down on the defense. They would have looked for steals, get out and run, and that's how they get back in that game. But their lineup that they had out there was devoid of any bigs. They had Jalen Williams, sga, Kason Wallace, AJ Mitchell, and Isaiah Joe. Was that the five?
Will
I think it might have been. Right. It was a weird lineup.
Mike Gorman
That's a wild lineup to throw out there. Especially, like, I mean, I I know Isaiah Joe can shoot the ball, but you're really going to go Isaiah Joe over Caruso or isaiah Joe over McCain who just like has a little bit more shake to him? I don't know, man. I, I, I thought Max Mark Dagnault did not coach the best game. I thought Joe Missoula completely out coached him.
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Mike Gorman
Dagnaut seemed to be the one that was trying to make the adjustments. And Joe seemed a little bit more prepared for this game, which makes sense. You know, the Celtics lost the first game in okc. Dagnolt's trying to figure out how to work Jalen Williams back into the lineup. First time they've been healthy.
Will
Pretty much the thing. It's not just Jalen Williams. Like, they, they. This is like one of the, I think this is the second game all season that they've had their full roster of guys.
Mike Gorman
Right?
Will
Like, for the most part, Dagnald has had. It's been easier for him to create lineups because usually two or three of these guys aren't even here. And like, you know, a guy like Aaron Wiggins and even Kenrich Williams, like, it's not usually unsurprising to see them when you turn on.
Mike Gorman
I know I did. I was, I was looking at 13, 14, 15. I was like, damn, Aaron Wiggins and Kendrick Williams didn't even play in this game.
Will
Didn't even play. Like, those are guys that are easily rotation guys in, in most lineups. Like without question. Right? Like with not like, not like a question mark. Like, oh, that's interesting he's in tonight. It's like, no, they're just in like they're the seventh guy every single night. They're the Sam Houser of another team, right?
Mike Gorman
Yeah.
Will
Different skill set, but. But kind of fill that void. And so now, you know, I do think it's interesting for them to try to figure out and like, a lot of these guys are guards, right? And like, SGA is gonna like, you're not taking SGA off. But then you've got Jared McCain, you got Isaiah Joe, you got A.J. mitchell, you've got Case on Wallace. Those are all guys that are six, five and under. And like, Caruso can guard up Case and Wallace can guard up a little bit to a certain degree. Like, so it, it helps make it a little bit easier. But like, McCain's not guarding up Isaiah, Joe's not guarding up A.J. mitchell's okay. Like, he's thick, but he's not. Like, you know, like it's. It leaves them a little bit, you know, weaker on the wing. And that's where it's like, okay, well where's Aaron Wiggins then? How do you fit him in and take out one of these guards?
Mike Gorman
Dude? It's interesting seeing that SGA is the only guy that plays over 30 minutes
Will
and
Mike Gorman
chat is the next highest at 25 minutes, 42 seconds. Like, nobody even played close to 30 minutes outside of SGA.
Will
And, and this is my chat thing, man. Like, Chet didn't feel super impactful in this game, right? Like, I don't think there was ever even really like a stretch. I mean, I think, you know, he hit one or two. He hit one, three, maybe one other shot that was like, okay, like, that's tough when you, you collapse on SGA and you leave a wide open chat, like, check and knock down a shot, right? But seven shots. Like, I, we talked about this the other day when we did our kind of all NBA predictions and chat's somewhere hanging around as maybe a third team guy. But it's like, I, maybe I'm misread the situation, but is Chet not more of an offensive. Like, I thought there was more offensive juice to chat than what has been happening this season. And you would think with as much time as Jalen Williams has missed, like, that opens up the opportunities for Chet to be more consistently. And I, I'll look it up what he's averaging right now, but to be at least closer to like a 20 point per game guy with the skill set that he has. And you know, to your point, the fact that we're saying maybe he's a third team guy. And yet it felt pretty definitive that Neemi was more impactful in this game than he was. Like that. That's a pretty decent indictment, at least for tonight on Chad Holmgren.
Mike Gorman
Yeah. And you know, the Thunder are going to have to figure out who their guys are and what their best eight or nine guys are because the Celtics go nine deep in this game. Right. The Celtics bench was Pritchard, Ugo, Baylor and Luca. And Ugo only played nine and a half minutes in this game. Right. So the Celtics seemingly have figured out what their like, right. Game 7 lineup is going to be.
Will
And I think if then comes back, you flip out, maybe him and Garza or you figure out in a series which one of them gets those 12
Mike Gorman
to 15 minutes exactly. And maybe it's. Maybe it's none of them. Maybe it's more Ugo, you know, like in more small ball 5. Who knows? Depending on the matchup too. But I think, like, if you look at that Thunder team, the guys that I don't think are gonna be there, like big Jalen Williams, I don't think he needs to be on the court. Like, I, I understand what he does for that dude.
Will
He's. He's so interesting to me, man. I, like, I've just happened to catch a couple Thunder games where he just goes for 30 and I'm like, I had in my head, he's just like this nice, like, kind of like, you know, okay, cool. We're down two bigs. We got. It's okay. We can go a little small ball with Jalen Williams and yeah, Williamsy a little bit. Yeah. And then all of a sudden he's had these nights where he's just like, unbelievable. And like, I know Zach. Listen to Zach Lowe's podcast earlier today, and he was saying like, he hasn't like, like been playing enough minutes throughout the whole season, but like the last like month and a half, he's like the potentially like the sixth man of the year. And like, I've caught a few of it. So, like, I know it's not like completely unfathomable, but yeah, it's. It's really interesting to figure out his game. He's a guy that definitely I do not have figured out on the, on the OKC Thunder.
Mike Gorman
Yeah. And they normally just go with him. Small ball five. And there was one lineup tonight where Drew even called it out. He was like, oh, they only have one big on the court. And then he goes, oh, wait, other Jalen Williams is on the court. You know, he's playing the fort, which you don't see too often out of him. But AJ Mitchell's gonna be there, right. I think what I said, you know, he, he was the third highest minutes in the game tonight. Right. So the starting five is Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenston, Lou Dort, SGA. You're gonna see all those guys in a game seven Caruso 100. Case on walls 100. AJ Mitchell, 100%. I don't think you see other Jalen Williams. I. You definitely don't see Isaiah Joe. And I think McCain is the swing factor. I think he's the guy that they throw out there. If they might need a little bit more offensive juice, they went 12 deep when they probably should be going eight or nine deep in a must win game. This felt much more like a must win game for the Celtics than it did for the Thunder. So if you're looking, I would agree with that. Silver linings. If you're a Thunder fan somehow listening to our podcast, then that, that's kind of what I would do. But that's my most objective view that I can take in terms of like looking forward to a finals matchup and how these two teams match up. I think that the, the Thunder probably played a few too many guys that the Celtics could take advantage of, and in a game that really, really mattered, they probably wouldn't have those guys out there.
Will
Yeah, I think that's fair to say. Right. Like, I, I think that's what these last 10 games are for them. Like, cool, we're fully healthy. Let's figure out, outside of the seven guys that we know are out there, who are the other two guys that we're going to kind of rotate through, you know, in these games and then figure out by game six or seven who are the guys in that series. Whereas for the Celtics, like we said, I think it's kind of already figured out like who those guys are going to be. And the only swing guys are going to be like between Ugo, Shireman, Hauser. How do you split up those minutes between the three of them, depending on the matchup? And then it's going to be, is it Garza or is it Vuch? It's not going to be Both.
Mike Gorman
Both.
Will
It's one or the other in that 12 to 15. And other than that, you're gonna see consistency from, from Pritchard, from White, from Brown, from Kada, from Tatum. Like that's, that's just the way it's Gonna be. And so I think as a Celtics fan, like, tonight, you know, I literally am contradicting myself from our last podcast. I'm like, hey, it's all gravy, man. It's all good. Like, tonight has me dreaming, man.
Mike Gorman
I ran up the stairs with, like, a minute left. When I was clear, the Celtics are gonna win. I was just like, silently screaming, dude,
Will
I did that three different times tonight. The cater dunk, the JB dunk. I literally did, like, in the living room because I said, wake up the baby. I was like, like, yeah,
Mike Gorman
I considered grabbing some whiskey. I went with a handful of peanut M M's instead. I was just. I was just trying to figure out a way just to calm the nerves because I was just so pumped for this game. This was a game that, you know, it makes you happy to miss your men's league game, which I missed a men's league game tonight. And it was worth it. Yeah, it's totally worth it. And just be as, you know, just be a basketball fan and feel like a kid again.
Will
Oh, dude. Speaking of feeling like a kid, very, very fun part of the night for me is, I think it was after. I'm pretty sure it was after Jalen Brown's dunk and he's like, he's got the Grave Digger sign up. Did you catch Hugo Gonzalez's reaction? Yeah, dude. He reminded me of your son James. Like, when he just gets really excited about. I was like, who goes legitimately the same as like a two year old basically right now with his just like, unbridled enthusiasm over that duck and like, the camera lingered where it's like, this is actually kind of going on a little too long ago, like, you're a grown man, like, get together. But it was awesome.
Mike Gorman
So he really did look like a baby. Because when babies to. When they don't have the ability to actually jump yet, they just, like bounce really aggressively in place. And that's exactly what Ugo is doing is great. And his little, like, his little fluff
Will
hair was like, like, bounce it up and down.
Mike Gorman
Shout out Alex with the. With the llama cut.
Will
The llama cut. Yeah, that's right. The little llama cup.
Mike Gorman
I love that Zach Lowe calls him the Flying Llama. That's just like the funniest nickname ever.
Will
That is a good nickname. That is a good nickname. One other thing I wanted to talk about tonight that we've touched on a couple times without digging into it. The small ball lineups, man, I like it. I. I liked going to the small ball Lineups. I think this is the thing that. That or one of the things that we've been missing early in the year. I think we saw Joe a few times pre Tatum try to be like, let's just see what our best five kind of looks like. And you just weren't big enough, right? You just weren't going to be big enough. Now with Tatum, you can really do it. You can do it for short stretches, you can do it for longer stretches. Like, it's. It's really versatile. The things that you can do when you. When you have Jason Tatum back, getting 12 rebounds, right? And Tatum had a rebound at the end of the game that was like, whoa, he was not around. He was like, I'm getting this ball.
Mike Gorman
Well, when you. When you mentioned his. His second quarter, part of that stretch dominance was him at the five. Like, when he had that block on Lou Dort that he was so excited about, like, that was him. That was him at the five, right. And, you know, I don't know how long of a stretch you can go for, because I think other teams would then counter and probably put a big. That's just a little bit too physical for Tatum out there. But if you can find two minutes here and there, which they did in both halves, where you can go small ball and force the other team to. To figure out if they want to try and go big to match up or they're going to go small to match up with it, and then you kind of force their hand to make a decision. I think that's what's special about it. But then the versatility of Tatum, the versatility of Jalen Brown, Derrick White obviously can guard up. Sam Houser, he can guard up a little bit. And Baylor Charman, like, Baylor Charman's just. I think a key. A key factor this season is. Is going to be whether or not Joe fully trusts him to be that guy or if he. If. If he. He doesn't quite get there. But I think he. I think he's there. I think he's there. I think that's his, like, ace, ace up the sleeve. That's real. Fans know he's gonna go there when it really matters, but he's not quite ready to tell Sam yet. He's like, sam, you're still my guy. But really, we all know it's Baylor.
Will
Yeah. I mean, I'm looking at it right now. I'm trying to think, like, if the Celtics were in an elimination playoff game or a big game six, game seven, and you. And you wanted to Go. Just real tight. Like, this is. These are the guys. Like, Neemi's the biggest. We know it's the Jays. We know it's Derrick White. We know it's Pritchard. That's five, right? Like, I think Shireman's probably the. I mean, you probably got to play one actually. I don't even know. Like, I think Charman's like the next guy I go to that. I'm like, he's kind of like my next. Must have like the other. Like everyone else. I'm like, let's see how they're playing in the series or at the time and we'll figure out like, you know, you're probably gonna see at least a little bit in that of either Garza or a Vuch because Mimi just can't play like, you know, 35 minutes. It's just not. I love.
Mike Gorman
I love that you're still believing in the V experiment. I'm just done with him. It's. This is a Garza team. It's not a V team.
Will
Yeah, I don't know about that, man. I really don't. Like, I like, I just. Luka's fine. I just. I think with. With Vuch, he just gives you a higher ceiling offensively than. Than Luca does because of the passing. Like, I really like passing in that offense.
Mike Gorman
But here's. Here's the difference. Booch is to vouch is to Sam as Luca is to Baylor. Like, there's just like a little bit of like the finesse factor where I don't really believe Vuch is going to be enough of a dog in a big game where Luca. You just know he's going to run out there. He's got to be a rhino out there on the court, and he's just gonna knock people over. And that's what I think, like in. In the games that really matter, I think. And maybe, maybe Vuch's experience will win out. I just, I. I've just never been a big Booch guy. I love that you still believe in him, though.
Will
Yeah, I still think Vuch is going to end up. I mean, it's tough because he's gonna miss basically, you know, all the rest of the. The regular season. So it's tough to say, like, he's gonna come and just fit right back in. But yeah, I still think Vuchi and guards is absolutely a toss up. And if he were healthy, I think it would be Vuch. But then again, I don't know. He played like six games. The game's the Celtics, so It's hard to. It's hard to make that call. Like will.
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He looked like.
Will
I found a few small moments, but yeah, we'll see. But point being, I think Baylor Shireman's the sixth guy that I'm like, this has to be like, if we're going seven men deep, like, that's the sixth guy that's like, I think it's him. And that's crazy. That's like. I didn't think we were gonna get there this year with Baylor Shireman, but that's how much I. He's got me believing in his game right now and in being the lefty. Lefty. Marcus Martin.
Mike Gorman
Yeah, I, you know, be interesting to see if Ugo actually earns a little bit more minutes and just a little bit more of that trust because he's getting like one or two stints a game and they're. They're short. He's gonna be like a 8 to 10 minute a game guy in the playoffs. It seems like it's a little disappointing. I kind of wanted to see him be more 15 to 18 rather than 8 to 10, but. And Joey trust.
Will
Yeah, and Joey trust. And he's earned it, man. Like, I was thinking about it earlier today, like, Joe Missoula is one of the guys that I had the biggest question marks about going into the season and can he do it without having the top talent in the league, having a top 2, 3 roster? He's answered the call, man. Trust in Joe. It's. It's a trust in Bill type type philosophy right now. Trusting. Trust in Joe, Trust in Brad. Dude, by the way, how many do you think it's just going to always be the case that every time a top level college basketball job opening happens that we just have to sit there and wait for Brad Stevens to come out and deny it? Like, do you think it's always going to be the case or do you think there's an end point to this?
Mike Gorman
College basketball programs? Look at Brad Stevens the way that IME Adoka looks at white women. And I'll just, I'll just leave it at that.
Will
All right, let's wrap this up. That's a good place for us to, to send this podcast. Hell of a win. Hell of a line too, Greg. You know, listen, I was talking about jerking at the end of last podcast. We're talking about Ema basically doing the same thing here. Great win for the Celtics here. Final. Final score tonight, 119 to 109. Real quick, let's take a look at the week ahead. I am going to be on vacation a lot. Little bit here coming up. So we'll keep you posted as to what that looks like for our recording schedule, but just for the Celtics schedule coming up here. So the Hawks, who are still riding one of their. I think they won tonight against the Pistons, I believe. Right? They pulled that game out.
Mike Gorman
Yeah. 130 to 129 and OT.
Will
Yeah, Hawks still riding high. So get Hawks on Friday night followed by a back to back on the road Charlotte, who's still playing really, really good basketball, then right back to Atlanta on Monday and then that will lead us into the heat on Wednesday, Milwaukee on Friday. So the last road trip of the year coming up after this game on Friday here a little four gamer across the Midwest in the Southeast. We'll have you guys covered here. Like I said, I'm gonna be on vacation for a few days, so we'll let you know what that schedule looks like. But we're ramping up here. Greg, we're about to hit the stretch where basically every game. We got a podcast for everybody. So we're not gonna be taking a lot of breaks here going forward, but we'll keep you guys posted on our podcast schedule tonight. Best win of the season for the Celtics. Unbelievable statement. Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, Joe Missoula all the way through. If you ever need a reason to believe in this team for this particular season, this is the game you're gonna come back. This is the game we're gonna come back to until the season is over. Yeah, that last line got me. That last line got me. But we're gonna end this one here green with envy. Live post game. Appreciate everybody for rocking with us. We will cat later. Until I hit the floor. Every time I get this high, it's you. I find it don't take much no
Mike Gorman
more
Will
until I'm at your door.
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This episode breaks down what Will and Greg call the "win of the year" for the Boston Celtics, a 119-109 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in what both hosts believe could be a preview of the 2026 NBA Finals. The discussion centers on Jaylen Brown’s MVP-level performance, Jason Tatum’s resurgence, pivotal coaching decisions, and the evolving rotation for both teams with the playoffs looming. Throughout, the hosts bring passionate, fan-focused analysis and lively banter, offering both detailed breakdowns and memorable moments from the postgame high.
"He doesn’t need to be Jason Tatum taking 20 to 25 shots because this team has already figured out who they are without him. And now adding him in there, he just looks like the perfect missing puzzle piece for a potential championship run." – Greg ([06:59])
"There’s just a whole nother level that he’s reached…where he has the gene now in the fourth quarter that it’s get Jaylen Brown the ball and everybody else, like, play off of him." – Greg ([19:58])
"If we meet in the finals, it’s me and you and we’re gonna battle for seven games." – Greg ([21:17])
"I thought Mark Dagnault did not coach the best game. I thought Joe Missoula completely out-coached him." – Greg ([30:17])
The episode captures a celebratory but thoughtful mood: the hosts are clearly elated by the quality and significance of the Celtics' win, but deliver sharp, sometimes humorous, and always engaged analysis. Listeners will leave with a sense that Boston is rounding into true title-contender form, that Jaylen Brown is staking a serious MVP claim, and that coaching nuances and bench dynamics will play a decisive role down the stretch. The game is painted as a measuring stick both for the Celtics’ championship readiness and as a potential Finals preview, providing rich fodder for fans and analysts alike.
Best win of the year? Hosts say yes.
Jaylen Brown and SGA showdown: MVP-level.
Tatum’s return: Versatile, smart, team-first play.
Missoula: Out-coached Daigneault, made big adjustment calls.
Role players: Shireman rising, Hauser’s role in question.
Thunder concern: Too many playable guys; need a playoff core.
Celtics rotation: Appears playoff-ready, with Shireman perhaps the new unsung hero.
Final mood: Contagious joy, relentless belief, and cautious optimism for Banner 19.
For fans and newcomers alike, this episode is an energetic and insightful breakdown of high-stakes basketball and why Celtics fans should feel “green with envy” about this year’s team.