← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Hoops Tonight - LIVE: Lakers Even Series vs. Timberwolves + Pacers Go Up 2-0 On Bucks
00:48:48
Loading summary
Transcript123 lines
- [00:00]
Jason
T Mobile stats are as impressive as your favorite athlete's highlight reel because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4 lines of your virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service support in 90 plus days device, knowledgeable carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months Foreign Free Agents Podcast with Daniel Jeremiah and Greg Rosenthal has prepared you for the 2025 NFL Draft.
- [00:40]
Jackson
We've told you what last year's playoff teams need to return to the postseason.
- [00:43]
Jason
And how teams with new coaches should approach the draft.
- [00:46]
Jackson
So as draft season comes to a close, we've got you covered. Before your favorite team goes on the clock, we'll break it all down once all 257 picks have been made. Listen to the 40s and free agents.
- [00:57]
Jason
Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Ever wonder what it would be like to be mentored by today's top business leaders? My podcast this Is Working can help with that. Here's some advice from Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, on standing out from the leadership crowd. Develop your EQ A lot of people have plenty of brains, but EQ is do you trust me? Do I communicate well? Develop the team, develop the people, Create a system of TR and it works over time. I'm Dan Roth, LinkedIn's editor in chief, on my podcast this Is Working Leaders Share strategies for Success. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Camila Ramon. And I'm Liz Ortiz and our podcast Hasta Bajo is where sports, music and fitness collide and we cover it all.
- [01:48]
Jackson
The Arriva Hasta.
- [01:50]
Jason
This season we sit down with history makers like the Sucar family, who became the first Peruvians to win a Grammy.
- [01:56]
Jackson
It was a very special moment for us. It's been 15 years for me in this career. Finally, things are starting to shift into a different level.
- [02:05]
Jason
Listen to Astavajo on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports the volume the NBA 82 game grind is done and now the real fun begins. The NBA playoffs are here and it's time for all the high stakes drama, clutch moments and jaw dropping plays. I can't wait. If you're looking to make the playoffs Even more exciting, DraftKings sportsbook has you covered. As an official sports betting partner of the NBA. From the play in games all the way through to the finals, now's the time to back your favorite players and teams as they chase glory. All season long, DraftKings has been the go to spot for NBA player props and that does not stop now. Want to make your playoff experience even more intense? Try placing a bet on your favorite player's performance. Will they drop 30 points? 40 or more? It's your call. Ready to place your first bet? Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Now lock in your bets. Let's make this playoff run unforgettable. Here's something special for first timers. New DraftKings customers bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bets Instantly make it a playoff run to remember with DraftKings. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app and use code HOOPS. That's H O O P S. That's code hoops for new customers to get $200 in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 8778 HOPE NY or text HOPENY to 467369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void. In Ontario, new customers only. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG co Audio. All right. Welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Tuesday everybody. Hope all of you guys are having a great start to your week. Got a jam pack show for you guys today. We're hitting both of the games that were in series that I view as more competitive that being the Bucks Pacers and the Lakers Wolves obviously thanks to the NBA TV conundrum. Had to pick one of the two early slate games and I think, I think OKC is just going to kick the out of Memphis as they've continued to do so. We're going to be focusing on Bucks Pacers and Lakers Wolves tonight. And then like we did last night at the tail end of the show, Jackson's going to come on and we're going to take, you know, 10 to 15 minutes worth of questions, so make sure you guys stick around. All you got to do is subscribe to the channel and then drop your questions in the chat and then we'll hit them at the end. You guys know the drill. Before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at_jason lt so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and a review on that front. Jackson's doing incredible work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Make sure you guys follow us. There's and last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube comments so we can get to them in our mailbags throughout the remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. So as I mentioned after Game one, after I rewatched the game and I went down and I took the time to really sift through the tape, the number one thing that stood out to me, there were some schematic things like, you know, over helping off of Nas Reed in particular Nas Reed, the specific offensive approach of focusing on attacking bigs, particularly with LeBron versus attacking in the post. There were a couple like things that stood out to me, but by far the biggest one was just the intensity. They just did not meet the moment. They didn't look ready for playoff basketball. And so we all knew the Lakers were going to bring the requisite intensity coming into Game two. And so honestly coming into tonight I didn't have a good feel for what tonight was going to look like. I viewed tonight as kind of more of like an introductory look at what it looks like when both of these teams are playing with insane intensity and what it looks like and it turned into just an incredibly ugly basketball game in a, in a knockdown, drag out fist fight of a game. And I'll lead with this because I said coming into the series that I thought this was a good matchup for the Lakers on both ends of the floor. And this is going to be the first series that I'm going to just admit that I'm wrong already. I don't see any. Obviously the Lakers could theoretically could win both in Minnesota and then come home and close it out and win in five. I would be shocked if the Lakers won this series in five games. I think if the Lakers get it done, it's going to be more like a six or seven game type of series. This is definitely not going to be easy for either team. The reality is, is that when the Lakers really tighten the screws defensively, Minnesota struggles to score. But as we saw at least through two games, when Minnesota really tightens the screws, the Lakers really struggle to score. And that's really the give and take that I always talk about in these series. Which team can cause more problems for the other team. And I've seen plenty from the first two games to feel like Minnesota can cause some real problems for this team, really on both ends of the floor. And so with that being the case, I think this is going to be just an absolute knockdown, drag out, two week long fist fight of a series. And this is where if you're rooting for the Lakers, it's an upside that you ran into this type of matchup in the first round. Cause you have a little bit more rest, right? Like as the series drags on, that rest becomes a little bit harder to come by. But you have two days off now between tonight and game three. So like game three is your opportunity to try to regain home court off of two full days of rest that they're going to get, or at least at least one full day. But if they practice on the other day. And so I think it's going to be one of those things where if you're a Lakers fan, you got to be thinking about surviving this series in a way that when you run into, let's say it's Golden State in round two. Golden State's an elite defense, but they're substantially smaller. And you run into potentially an OKC in the conference finals. They're an elite defense, but they're substantially smaller. The specific problem that the Lakers are running into is that they're a little bit, they're having a little bit of a problem compromising the size mismatches on the floor. Now there's a certain element to this that we can get into involving the, the process. The Lakers are still just not even looking to attack Dante DiVincenzo, Mike Conley, Nikhil Alexander, Walker, any of Minnesota's smalls. And so maybe that's the dynamic that could be something that the Lakers pull out later in the series. I've been thinking a lot about this, like why hasn't LeBron been posting up? I don't understand why he hasn't been looking to do it at all. He did it once late in the game to Nikhil Alexander Walker. That was a play where he knocked him over. And as. As Nikhil fell over, it just caused LeBron to lose his rhythm. And then he ended up shooting that awful looking super short jump shot. But like, LeBron pretty much hasn't gone to that. My working theory is that it has to do with the specific way that he hurt his groin. If you remember, he hurt his groin on a pivot move against Al Horford in that Celtics game. And so there might be a certain amount of LeBron just not trusting his groin to post up, but it's very possible, especially if Minnesota wins this tug of war over the course of the next few games, that LeBron has to take that out of the bag and that Luca has to take it out of the bag. Luca talked after the game, Taylor Rooks asked him about attacking Gobert and the crowd getting all hyped and he's like, you know, I love to attack centers, and it's like, that's great. But, you know, over the course of that game, Gobert held up pretty well at times, and they were bringing late help to the wolves. Were bringing like right at the last second, if Luka got into the short to mid range, just right as he was going up with the shot, someone else would come in. He ended up drawing a foul on one of those early in the game. But there's a certain amount of right now this Lakers approach of hunting the Minnesota bigs in space. You scored 94 points tonight. There were some highlights. You know, Luka at one point, one looked over at the Minnesota bench and started yelling about how you need to sub him out of the game. And it's like, overall, the. The strategy is still working for Minnesota, making things difficult. At a certain point, I think LeBron and Luke are going to have to make a more concerted attempt to attack the Minnesota Smalls a little bit closer to the basket, where their size is more of a. Of a factor. I mean, even when you factor in just the way this series is playing out physically, it would just be easier if you didn't have to, you know, take those extra bumps and bruises on isos against bigs if. But if you were taking those against a player that's, you know, 40, 50 pounds lighter than you, it's something to look into just in general. But yeah, again, like my first series prediction that I want to change, I don't think the Lakers are winning this thing in five. I think it's going to be much more of a knockdown drag out fight type of series. And that was just a misread on my part before the series. Not accounting enough for just the unrelenting physicality that Minnesota brings to the table. I brought it up so many times during the regular season too. Probably just a little bit of fan goggles there from, from Jason, but the Lakers strategy, a couple of interesting things. A little more staying home. Don't know if you guys noticed that. A little less just obsessively packing the paint a little bit more counting on guys to defend on an island. And so as a result, and Julius got some easier opportunities. The two of them had high scoring totals in this game. And it was able to get into the paint for easy layups a bunch of times in this game. Julius Randall did a ton of damage in the post. Those two guys go for 52, but there isn't a single timberwolf who scored over 10 points. And so going back to what we saw in game one, just on a real basic level, strategically, just look at the total of points, you just were able to hold Minnesota down even though Ant and Julius were more comfortable over the course of the game. But even within that context, there was a lot of mixing up coverages, a lot of zone defense. I shouldn't say a lot, but there are a few possessions of zone defense mixed in, a few random doubles mixed in, but the majority of it was just meeting the moment with the requisite intensity. Right right out the gates. The Lakers finally showed up to the playoffs physically. And as you saw over the course of the series or over the course of the game, Minnesota does have substantial strength advantages in a bunch of different spots on the floor that are manifesting with wearing them down at times. But the Lakers obviously have this clear aggregate skill advantage. The Lakers just have a little bit more at every position in terms of skill. LeBron is just a smarter, connective playmaker, just an overall smarter player than Julius Randle. Luka is just a more polished half court surgeon than Anthony Edwards. Like Austin Rui. These guys, they're a little bit better offensively. And so that's going to be the tug of war of this series. As the Lakers match Minnesota's physicality, they're going to be able to take control for stretches. Right? As Minnesota's physicality overwhelms the Lakers, that's when Minnesota will take control of the series. And that's going to be the tug of war. And that, that's one of the big reasons why I talked about earlier. The specific cadence of the first round is a, is an Upside for the Lakers in this particular series. But again, like I, as I talked about in the episode that we did last night, talking Clippers Nuggets, like so much of this is not about coming up with some game plan adjustment. Like yeah, the, the staying home, letting Ant and Julius have a little bit more space. That was, that, that was a strategy that had a, had some positive impact tonight. The mixing up coverages, that had some positive impact tonight. But the reality is they could have gone with the exact same game plan from game one, but brought this level of intensity and it could have worked better. You know what I mean? Like ultimately, especially when you're looking at the difference between those two performances for the Lakers, most of it came down to them just inevitably getting to the point where they showed up in the series physically and started to compete. Austin Reaves, really, I was impressed by what he did in the second half, specifically with just finding ways to score. He did a lot more work. He did score. Finally, on a couple of switches, he was able to get Nas Reed on one, he's able to get Rudy Gobert on one. He just kind of dances with the ball on the perimeter until there's an over commitment one way or another. And then he's hitting that gap hard and getting out extended with that right handed finish before the rim protector can get there. He was able to get a couple there. I thought he looked specifically comfortable against Nas Reed again over the course of this series. That's really how things will, will sort out for the Lakers offensively. They have to find pet actions in different phases of the game based on the lineup. So for instance, in the first shift, I'm okay with with LeBron attacking Gobert in a drop coverage the way he did for that first lob to Jackson Hayes that he made. It was a drop coverage. Look, that makes some sense. I'm okay with Luka attacking Biggs in space. That works, right with that unit. With the starting unit, it makes sense to lean heavily on Luka attacking fives and mix in some LeBron attacking and drop coverage, right? But as you go through different phases of the game, your approach needs to change. And so it's like, okay, early fourth quarter, Austin has this matchup with Nas Reed. This is the time where Austin can look to attack fives and switches. Like, okay, early second quarter, early fourth quarter, this is when Nikhil Alexander Walker's on the floor. This is when LeBron needs to start looking to post Nikhil Alexander Walker. You got to find the pet actions that you can run in different parts of the game to get comfortable. And that's going to be, that's going to be the chess match on the Lakers front. For the Wolves, it's so much just about maintaining that physicality. If the Wolves just maintain the physicality that they maintained over the course of the majority of the first two games, they're going to give themselves a great chance to win the series. Because the Lakers chance to win the series depends entirely on them hanging onto the rope for dear life. Like, as a Laker fan, did you feel like you kind of survived that game tonight? Did you get out of that and to just take a deep breath and go like, good God, that was a fucking nightmare, right? Like that. But that's, that's what it feels like when you're in those situations where they're bigger, they're stronger and you're trying to meet their physicality and meet them at that level. You can do it, but you are going to fatigue. You're going to fatigue faster. The Lakers will let go of the rope for stretches of this series. That's when Minnesota is going to gain heavy amounts of ground. And so again, Minnesota, like the biggest factor for them in this series in terms of their ability to win is just to maintain that physicality and capitalize on the stretches. When the Lakers let go of the rope and start to give up those like transition opportunities. Classic example. Late third quarter, just a couple of bad Luca possessions and easy three on two, two on one, fast breaks, layups, and all of a sudden it's a 16 point game when it was 21. A few possessions earlier. Like that's they can make up ground so quick. Whereas the Laker bleed building process feels more slow and methodical. A couple other specific things with Laker role players. I heard a lot of people talking about wanting more Jackson Hayes in this game. I, I have not seen the upside there. I think Jackson is, is just a really poor decision maker time and time again. He doesn't really know how to be physical without fouling on, on offense. It's inconsistent in terms of like his ability to set screens without setting illegal screens. His ability to be a vertical spacer on defense. It's the, the fouling. But it's also like he'll just do what he did on that Julius or that it was either. I think it was Nas Reed who took that little floater in the lane and Jackson comes flying in and volleyball spikes sitting. Everyone in the arena is like, what the hell are you doing? It's like this is a series where mistakes look at the score. It's 95, 94 to 85. These games are really low scoring. I don't think mistakes are going to be something that they can withstand in those Jackson A's minutes. So I didn't blame JJ for holding his minutes down. Again. Rui Hachimura only took two threes in this game and I thought there were at least like three or four of them where Rudy was closing out. But like that's playoff basketball, Rui like you gotta be able to take a three against the closeout. You gotta be able to take a three with a hand in your face. If I was the Lakers coaching staff, I'd spend the next two days and get somebody one of those long arm like pads and I'd have Rudy or Rui shoot a bunch of catch and shoot threes against a tall man contest because he's getting good looks and he's turning them down. And then what ends up happening is the Lakers get into a late clock sequence and when they're in there, that late clock sequence, they're struggling to get openings as Minnesota starts to leverage their athleticism more. So I really think Rui's gotta be more aggressive in his catch and shoot situations. For how open he was as often as he was tonight. Only two 3 point attempts isn't going to cut it. As far as the bench group goes, I thought most of it worked relatively well. The Jared Vanderbilt stuff, same sort of thing. Jared's active, but he's just a little mistake prone right now. All, all in all, the story for this series for the Lakers is going to be finding those pet actions. They've got to find different spots in the game where they can go to a specific action that works effectively and then spam it over the course of the series. You do have an IQ advantage in this series with your starting groups. If you make the better adjustments over the course of the series in terms of how you attack offensively. I'm less concerned about Ant and Julius being able to solve those puzzles at a higher rate than you are. It's a battle of physicality versus iq and that is going to be the puzzle for the Lakers to solve over the course of the series. On the Wolves front, there's some really encouraging stuff there. Julius Randle and I talked about this before the series. There's this like reputation that Julius Randle has, is like a bad playoff player when every single time I've watched Julius Randle in his career, he's been a guy that like, if you give him a long Runway. Like when he's played 20 regular season games in a row and he's like got his legs, his conditioning and his rhythm, he can be a really impactful all NBA level player. But then when he gets hurt, even when he comes back, it just takes him a long time to find his rhythm. It's not entirely uncommon. I feel the same way about LeBron. I feel the same way about Austin. There are guys like that, especially LeBron at this age in his career when he's not as athletic. Right. But like I think it's a, I think it's a great sign for Minnesota fans how Julius Randle has looked through these first two games. He looks fantastic. I think he looks fantastic on both ends of the floor. Luka did finally get him once with a scoop layup tonight, but he continues to hold up really well on switches. He's doing a ton of damage in the middle of the floor. He had some key help side defense possessions, got beat on a backdoor cut by Dorian Finney Smith in the in the first half, but had a huge backside rotation to block Austin Reeves at the rim on a key possession late. I think you're getting a lot out of Julius Randle as you go home. You're going to be able to get more out of the role players as well. Game three to me is the big swing game of this series. It's going to be arrested Lakers group obviously that mattering with LeBron and with Luca not being in the best shape of his life right now, that game three is going to be the one where I see as a good opportunity for the Lakers to try to steal home court back. Where it gets tricky is if the Wolves do get game three, it's a really quick turnaround before game four. I think it's only one night off. So that game four becomes all of a sudden a must win game for the Lakers. And they would be playing two nights after another one of these knockdown drag out fights like they had in game three. So I think it's not a must win per se, but I think that game three in Minnesota is the one that the Lakers got to get if they're going to remain in control of this series. The 40s and free agents podcast with Daniel Jeremiah and Greg Rosenthal has prepared you for the 202025 NFL Draft.
- [21:55]
Jackson
We've told you what last year's playoff teams need to return to the postseason.
- [21:59]
Jason
And how teams with new coaches should approach the draft.
- [22:02]
Jackson
So as draft season comes to a close, we've got you covered before your Favorite team goes on the clock. We'll break it all down once all 257 picks have been made. Listen to the 40s and free agents.
- [22:13]
Jason
Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Are your ears bored? Yeah.
- [22:22]
Jackson
Are you looking for a new podcast that will make you laugh, learn and say gay?
- [22:27]
Jason
Yeah. Then tune in to locatora radio season 10 today.
- [22:32]
Jackson
Okay.
- [22:33]
Jason
I'm Diosa.
- [22:34]
Jackson
I'm Mala, the host of Locatora Radio, a radiophonic novella, which is just a very extra way of saying a podcast. We're launching this season with a mini series, totally nostalgic, a four part series.
- [22:49]
Jason
About the Latinos who shaped pop culture in the early 2000s. It's Lala checking in with all things Y2K 2000s. My favorite memory, honestly, was us having our own media platforms like Mondo's and MTV Tres.
- [23:03]
Jackson
You could turn on the TV, you.
- [23:04]
Jason
See Thalia, you see JLo, Nina Sky, Evie Queen, all the girlies doing their things, all of the beauty reflections right back at us. It was everything.
- [23:15]
Jackson
Tune in to locatora radio season 10.
- [23:18]
Jason
Now that's what I call a podcast.
- [23:20]
Jackson
Listen to Locatora Radio Season 10 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.
- [23:26]
Jason
You get your podcasts.
- [23:28]
Jackson
I'm Israel Gutierrez and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty. The story of how the Golden State warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade.
- [23:38]
Jason
The Golden State warriors once again are NBA champions.
- [23:43]
Jackson
From the building of the core that included Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history of the sport. I just felt like the biggest thing.
- [23:52]
Jason
Was to earn the trust of the players and let the players know that we were here to try to help them take the next step, not tear anything down.
- [23:59]
Jackson
Today, the warriors dynasty remains alive, in large part because of a scrawny 6 foot 2 hooper who everyone seems to.
- [24:07]
Jason
Love for what Steph has done for the game. He's certainly on that, like Mount Rushmore for guys that have changed it.
- [24:12]
Jackson
Come revisit this magical warriors ride. This is Dub Dynasty.
- [24:17]
Jason
The Dubs dynasty is still very much alive.
- [24:21]
Jackson
Listen to Dub Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [24:32]
Jason
In 2020, a group of young women in a tidy suburb of New York City found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos.
- [24:44]
Jackson
It was just me naked.
- [24:45]
Jason
Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts on my body parts that looked exactly like my own. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. It happened in Levittown, New York. But reporting the series took us through the darkest corners of the Internet and to the front lines of a global battle against deepfake pornography.
- [25:06]
Jackson
This should be illegal, but what is this?
- [25:09]
Jason
This is a story about a technology that's moving faster than the law and about vigilantes trying to stem the tide. I'm Margie Murphy. And I'm Olivia Carville. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast.
- [25:29]
Jackson
Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple.
- [25:31]
Jason
Podcasts, or wherever you get your pocket podcasts. All right, let's talk a little bit of Bucks Pacers, and then we'll get to our mailbag and then we'll get out of here for the night. So the main adjustments I noticed from the Bucks, they started switching almost everything, especially with Lopez, with Brook Lopez in ball screens, with Tyrese Haliburton, with Damian Lillard, they used basically kind of a switch and scram scheme. So, like, if Dame ever ended up on a big, whether it was Siakam or Turner or someone like that, they would just basically have him rotate out of it and bring another one of Milwaukee's bigger wings to come in and rescue Dame out of those mismatches. And the Pacers just absolutely fried every single coverage the Bucks tried in this game. Tyrese went absolutely crazy against Brook and switches and like that sort of thing would only work with Brook Lopez if you are strong backside rotation team and the Bucks just aren't. They haven't been a strong backside rotation team all year and he just started cooking. Brooklyn immediately drove right past him on an early possession kick to the corner for Neesmith for an easy bucket. Had like a really nifty step through lefty scoop, shot off the glass on a switch against Brook, Lopez had a play where he kind of hesitated and looked at the rim like he was going to take a jumper. And Brooke took like two steps out to the top of the key and Tyrese just went right around and made it. Literally made him look like he was stuck in the mud, had a dunk, he blew by him for a drop off to Siakam in the second half. Finally late in the game, Brook was like, I can't keep getting beat off the dribble. So he just played way back. And then Tyrese burned him by hitting a three right in his face at the top of the key. So, like that didn't work. The Pacers even looked super prepared for the scram switches. And this is something I want to credit the Indiana coaching staff, Rick Carlisle and his guys. We saw the Bucks do that with Dame quite a bit in the regular season and so they clearly scouted it and they were ready for it. There was one where Dame scrammed out to the left corner to get Obi toppin, but right as he was scramming right as he was sprinting over there, Obi just cut back door through the lob and he got a dunk. There was another one where he was sprinting like literally he was in the process of sprinting to go to NITH in the right corner. The Pacers identified it immediately. Swing, swing. Hit NE Smith in the right corner. He knocked down a three. They were going at Dame just one on one. They, they realized that he can't get a great contest on pull up jump shots. They were hitting pull up jump shots in his face. They just were prepared for every single thing that the Bucks tried to do. Still did a lot of just, just damage in transition in this game. Out of their 108 possessions, 45 of them were logged by Synergy as pushing the ball with pace. And on those possessions they logged a 124 offensive rating. TJ McConnell did a bunch of damage on like semi transition drives in those situations before the help defense was set up. And I remain just completely impressed by Indiana's collective team jump shooting. They were seventh as a team in jump shooting in the regular season. They averaged 1.07 points per jump shot as a team throughout the unit. Throughout the season they got 1.23 points per jump shot in game one and 1.22 points per jump shot in game two. They have just consistently burned the Bucks every single time they've made a mistake. And that was honestly the hilarious part about the late game comeback. Right? So the Bucks actually cut this lead down to three. I believe it was at least it was two or three. I think they actually cut it to two. It was 1, 15, 113. A couple of things that were working offensively. Same Giannis offensive rebound put backs around the basket. Bobby Portis hit a couple threes, Dame hit a big three at the top of the key. They hit some shots, but on the other end of the floor, the Pacers were still getting great looks and they just missed them. Like Tyrese Halliburton got a wide open look in that stretch that he missed. Miles Turner got a wide open look in that stretch that he missed. Pascal Siakam got a wide open look in that stretch that he missed. They were just open looks that the Pacers were missing. And so what was funny is Dame hits the shot that cuts it to three and then on the very next possession they leave Pascal Siakam wide open again and this time he makes it and effectively ends the game. Is a really weird kind of like double low man look from Bobby Portis and Kyle Kuzma. Miles Turner was sitting around the right block and Kuzma went way inside of Miles Turner and supportis and Ter and Kuzma were both standing inside of Miles Turner while Siakam was outside of Miles Turner way out at the three point line. Just to try to kind of set up the geometry for you guys and like and it was as good a look as the Pacers got all game. And so it's one of those things where like it felt more like a fake comeback there from the Bucks late because they were still conceding the same shots they had been conceding all game. They were just hitting on one end of the floor and the Pacers went cold for a little bit. On the Bucks front, it's really hard to come up with real solutions. There isn't really a coverage they can run with Brook Lopez that that works. Like if you run a drop coverage, that's suicide against Tyrese Halliburton. He's got all the mid range and floater shot making right. If you run a high drop coverage, Tyrese is arguably a top three or four pick and roll passer in the league. Probably closer to two or three pick and roll passer in the league in terms of just making basic reads on where the low man is and where the screen defender is. And if you come up and put two on the ball with him, whether it's a high drop or a blitz or anything like that, he's going to pick you apart with the pass. Then if you switch, he's just way too slow footed to be able to handle Halliburton in space. And the team doesn't really have a backside kind of like rotational fly around athleticism element to copy to compensate for the dribble drives that Lopez is going to give up. So they don't really have a coverage there that works. Portis and Kuzma aren't exactly defensive answers. Like I talked about it, the the Pacers were still getting open looks. I would probably still go with them and still switch like they have been. Especially with as well as Bobby Portis has been Shooting the ball. Kyle Kuzma did finally. I felt bad for Kyle. Early in the game. He smoked two wide open layups. No, I shouldn't say wide open layups or tough layups. He had a, a kind of a, like a step through layup against a small attacking mismatch. And then he had a, a pass from Giannis where he was right at the rim that he just smoked. And it looked like it was going to keep spiraling, but he just kept being aggressive and he did finally manage to bring some scoring pop to the table. I do like the idea of leaning into those two more and switching. Most of it is going to be about process. From there. You have to run good offense to avoid precarious transition situations. So, like, someone tell Kevin Porter Jr. That he shouldn't even look at taking a shot unless there's like three seconds on the shot clock or if it's like a wide open shot in the coverage, like it's a drop coverage and they stay with Giannis and you've got a layup or they die on the screen and you've got like an all day a pull up three, something like that. That's fine. But there were way too many possessions. There was one where, like, Giannis was calling, like, demanding the ball on the block and Kevin Porter Jr. Took a pull up three on the right wing and the Pacers just ran out and got a bucket off of it. Like, there's, there's certain, like, offensive process stuff that you have to do in order to avoid those transition situations. And then just in general, just setting up your floor spacing in a way that you still have guys that are back and ready to, to contend with the Pacers in transition. The Dame thing is interesting. I thought Dame was an absolute nightmare on defense tonight. He ended up providing what, like, 14 points on 13 shots, if I remember correctly. I don't have the box score up, but he wasn't exactly a super efficient scorer. I get it. Like, you almost feel like you have to play Dame. I don't know how you explain to Dame or to your fans the idea that, like, you're going to like, sit him or limit his minutes in a series like this, because if you lose and you have Dames just sitting on the bench, that's a really, really tough pill to swallow if you're a fan. Right. But it's just tough because Dame is out of rhythm, clearly, and he brings a lot of defensive issues. And so honestly, it's just a gamble. I get it. I'd probably make the same gamble, but like, I wish there was a way to manage it in a way where like you almost like come up with a minute restriction or something to kind of ramp him up over the course of the series. It's far more likely that in a game five, six or seven that Dame brings more offensive pop than he did at this phase in the series. And tonight I thought he probably did a little bit more damage than good. And so it's just honestly a really, really tough position to be in if you're, if you're Milwaukee. And as you dig into it, it really just comes down to roster issues. Now this one, I'm not ready to bail on my pick yet. The Bucks could certainly regain control of things in Milwaukee, especially if Dame gets going, but it doesn't look good for them. And the matchup continues to present some clear problems for their defensive scheme that have been on display throughout the first two games. The 40s and free agents Podcast with Daniel Jeremiah and Greg Rosenthal has prepared you for the 2025 NFL Draft.
- [34:21]
Jackson
We've told you what last year's playoff teams need to return to the postseason.
- [34:25]
Jason
And how teams with new coaches should approach the draft.
- [34:28]
Jackson
So as draft season season comes to a close, we've got you covered. Before your favorite team goes on the clock, we'll break it all down once all 257 picks have been made. Listen to the 40s and free agents.
- [34:39]
Jason
Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Are your ears bored? Yeah.
- [34:48]
Jackson
Are you looking for a new podcast that will make you laugh, learn and say que?
- [34:53]
Jason
Yeah. Then tune in to locatora radio season 10 today.
- [34:58]
Jackson
OK.
- [34:59]
Jason
I'm Diosa.
- [35:00]
Jackson
I'm Mala, the host of Locatora Radio, a radiophonic novella, which is just a very extra way of saying a podcast. We're launching this season with a mini series, totally Nostalgic, a four part series.
- [35:15]
Jason
About the Latinos who shaped pop culture in the early 2000s. It's Lala checking in with all things Y2K 2000s.
- [35:23]
Jackson
My favorite favorite memory, honestly, was us.
- [35:26]
Jason
Having our own media platforms like Mundos and MTV Tres. You could turn on the TV, you see Thalia, you see JLo, Nina Sky.
- [35:33]
Jackson
Evie Queen, all the girlies doing their.
- [35:36]
Jason
Things, all of the beauty reflected right back at us. It was everything.
- [35:41]
Jackson
Tune in to locatora radio season 10.
- [35:44]
Jason
Now that's what I call a podcast. Listen to Locatora Radio Season 10 on.
- [35:48]
Jackson
The iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Israel Gutierrez and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty. The story of how the Golden State warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade.
- [36:04]
Jason
The Golden State warriors once again are NBA champions.
- [36:09]
Jackson
From the building of the core that included Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history history of the sport. I just felt like the biggest thing.
- [36:18]
Jason
Was to earn the trust of the players and let the players know that we were here to try to help them take the next step, not tear anything down.
- [36:25]
Jackson
Today, the warriors dynasty remains alive in large part because of a scrawny 6 foot 2 hooper who everyone seems to.
- [36:33]
Jason
Love for what Steph has done for the game. He's certainly on that, like Mount Rushmore for guys that have changed it.
- [36:38]
Jackson
Come revisit this magical warriors ride. This is Dub Dynasty.
- [36:43]
Jason
The Dubs dynasty is still very much alive.
- [36:47]
Jackson
Listen to Dub Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [36:58]
Jason
In 2020, a group of young women in a tidy suburb of New York City found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos.
- [37:10]
Jackson
It was just me naked.
- [37:11]
Jason
Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts on my body. Parts that looked exactly like my own. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. It happened in Levittown, New York. But reporting the series took us through the darkest corners of the Internet and to the front lines of a global battle against deepfake pornography.
- [37:32]
Jackson
This should be illegal, but what is this?
- [37:35]
Jason
This is a story about a technology that's moving faster than the law and about vigilantes trying to stem the tide. I'm Margie Murphy. And I'm Olivia Carville. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast podcasts. All right, let's do 10, 15 minutes of questions with Jackson.
- [38:03]
Jackson
Let's do it. Let's do it. We are going to start with Jason. Does a physical rock fight series like this favor the Lakers or the Warrior or. Or the Wolves as the series goes for it?
- [38:15]
Jason
The more physical the series is, the more the refs let both teams get away with, the better it is for Minnesota for sure. I think that. I think that goes without saying. I think if there happened to be a game in the series, and you know how it is, there's different officiating crews right Like, I thought tonight was a game where they actually called quite a few fouls on both teams, but at the same time there were a lot of uncalled fouls. But it was one of those games where there was like at least a dozen fouls on like every possession. Like everyone's just getting hacked all over the place. And I do think that favors Minnesota, but at the same time, like, that is playoff basketball. And so at the end of the day, like, that is the challenge for the Lakers. And I, I mean, if you can somehow survive this series, even though Golden State in round two or Houston, like Houston, I actually think presents similar problems to the Lakers that, that Minnesota does. But if you get a Golden State, if you get an OKC in later rounds, those teams don't have the sheer size that can cause problems for you. But Minnesota, Minnesota definitely is benefiting from the whistle.
- [39:14]
Jackson
Yeah, I definitely agree. They were. I mean, there were, there was a lot of online chatter today about how the refs were handing the Lakers that game. And I think that whether that's true or not, I think it's a, it's an encapsulation of the fact that when the whistle is tighter, it's going to benefit the team that's less physical because those, some of those more physical plays are getting called.
- [39:33]
Jason
The Blakers got called for two more fouls in Minnesota. That's literally fantasy land.
- [39:36]
Jackson
Yeah, I don't, I don't really have any issues with the way the game was refereed. I thought it was, the whistle was a little tight, but it was equally tight both ways.
- [39:42]
Jason
Yeah, and it was tight in a way that was like they were like, there were a lot of foul calls, but there were also a lot of uncalled foul calls. Like, like, but yeah, dude, any conversation surrounding the Lakers and in officiating is like completely disingenuous. I saw that all day today during the game and it's like literally throughout the entire game, the Lakers had more foul called fouls called against them in Minnesota. It's like, it's legitimately fantasy land. But as you, if you do any, even just like a little bit of basic research on the Laker foul disparity thing, it's completely horseshit. It's just fantasy land from other fan bases.
- [40:14]
Jackson
This is a super chat from jm. Thank you for the super chat question. How can Ant get more points in the paint against LA's defense outside of the. It almost seemed like Luca was more aggressive driving to the rim than Ant.
- [40:25]
Jason
I feel like Ant got to the Basket quite a bit tonight. The way that the Lakers were guarding him, they were tr. I thought Rui actually did a pretty decent job. I want to credit Rui a little bit. Like he was able to cut off Ant's first drive a bunch of times and then flatten out his second drive. So credit to Rui. I actually thought he played some really good defense tonight. He had a huge sequence late in the game too where he had a help side rotation at the rim and got a stop and then leaked out and transitioned the other way and got a lake up. Like R. Rui, I was frustrated with the three point shooting, but he, he made a lot of really nice plays tonight. As far as Ant getting into the paint, like a lot of it is lineup structure too. Like every single minute that Rudy Gobert's on the floor, he's going to run into a second defender. That's just how it goes. If you're looking at these Luca drives, they played Jackson Hayes for eight minutes and they or nine minutes and they played, you know, Vandover, like even less. So if you really dig into it, 30 minutes of the game you have five shooters on the floor. So as a result of that, there's less help at the basket on some of these Luka drives compared to what you're seeing from the Lakers. And that's how it looks like Luke is getting there easier. But most of this is schematic.
- [41:38]
Jackson
Yeah, for sure. Next question. Do you think Minnesota will use different actions to get anthem ball and get him to the rim in other ways? Pin downs, cutting, inverted pick and roll, etc. Basically how, how do we feel like the, the Wolves can try to get Ant going a little more considering some of these lineup restrictions and some of the way that the Lakers are defending him?
- [42:00]
Jason
It's a good question. I mean a good, a good percentage of it is like I thought, I thought Ant and Julius were great tonight. Like guys like we have to completely reconfigure the way we look at box scores. This is, this has been an issue that I've been looking at a lot over the course of the last few years. Like we talked so much. It's about like this guy's averaging 34 points a game and it's like the teams are averaging like 120something points a game. Like, like this was a game that ended 94 to 85. So just do like, do a like a basic ratio type of calculation. So let's say The Lakers scored 94 and in a typical regular season game it's More like, you know, 114 to, you know, to like 104 or something like that. If you count, if you account for that. That increase in scoring volume that night from Anthony Edwards isn't a 25 point night. It's a 32 point night. At that night from Julius Randall's not a 27 point night, it's a 32 point night. Like I thought Aunt and Julius were great tonight. The key There is Jaden McDaniels missed the threes that he took in game one. Mike Conley missed the threes. Nas Reed missed the threes like Nikhil, like they just didn't shoot as well. And credit the Lakers. Like, I mean, what did I say after game one? I said if you're just sitting here crossing your fingers, hoping the Wolves are going to miss, it's not going to happen. You have to bring the requisite intensity to force misses. And it goes both ways. Like, you want to know why LeBron's leaving jumpers short and Luka's leaving jumpers short and no one can make anything and Both teams shot 20, 21% from three. It's because the game is so damn physical that everyone's legs are fucking exhausted and no one has the power or the energy to knock down shots. That's usually how it goes. It's just like there were a few more shots that went down for the Lakers tonight. It's literally the difference in the game. But I actually thought Ant and Julius both played really well tonight.
- [43:43]
Jackson
Yeah, I think especially as scores. Like I thought 10 of 22 in a. Yeah. In a playoff game, that physical is not all that bad of a shooting night. I think the bigger number, if you're looking at, if you're going to box for a watch and combine it with the way that actually watching the game. Zero assists for Ant is the glaring number. Compared to nine in game one.
- [44:01]
Jason
Yeah. Oh, for sure.
- [44:02]
Jackson
You know, a lot of that is not his fault. It's shot Megan. A lack of shot making, but combined with those more intense closeouts from the Lakers. But that's if the, if the Timberwolves want to be at as close to optimal offensively as they. As they can be. It's 25, 30 points remain and five plus assists. It doesn't need to be nine every game, I don't think for them, for them to win the series. But it's got to be more than zero.
- [44:24]
Jason
No, I totally agree. That's a, that's a great point. I. There is a little bit of a game plan element to that in the sense that the Lakers were playing closer to shooters off ball and the reads for Ant in Game one were a little bit easier. But I agree with you, like it's got to be more balanced there. Julius brought it. Julius had six assists tonight. But yeah, like I, I didn't think I and all we're going to do a film session tomorrow morning and whoever it is that asked that question, if you come back tomorrow, I will make a pointed effort to dig into Minnesota's offense better and see if I can't find some more detailed answers for you about how to go from there.
- [44:57]
Jackson
We got a couple questions about Connect and about Jackson Hayes and Will. Should those guys get in connects case any minutes but should Jackson Hayes get more minutes? And you know there's a lot of lively debate in the chat. Shout out to the chat for those arguing debating on both sides. But just in general your take on why some of these guys who feel like they can be contributors because of a specific skill they might have but why are they not getting more playing time or any playing time, you know, in Connecticut's case.
- [45:24]
Jason
So as you as we talked about in the in the initial reaction things can go south so fast if you got a guy who makes mistakes. Like this game wouldn't even have been remotely close late if Jackson Hayes doesn't set in completely unnecessary backcourt screen where he just straight up trip Jaden McDaniels and then goal tended. Like if you look at the Lakers offensive rating, let's just call it one point and then Jackson Hayes blocking a shot that literally would have been a miss that would have led to another transition possession going the other way. Like that was a huge swing there in a four point swing or whatever in a game that finished 9485 the field. It literally, it's like a touchdown. It's like when you watch, it's like when you were watching that, that Houston Golden State game, like every step three feels like a shotgun blast to the chest because the score is so low that like relative to what we look at as regular season scoring, those are massive shots in the game. Like Fred Van Vliet finally hits a three at the end of the game and all of a sudden it's close because there's no real margin, there's no real separation because of how physical and how intense these games are. But, but yeah, like, like do I think that Dalton Connect is going to suddenly step into this obscenely physical series and just suddenly bring a bunch of pop? No, like you bring him out the same Way you would like we talked about with Jonathan Kaminga for Golden State. If it's game three and it's mid third quarter and you're down 17 and there's a clear guy who's really struggling, like let's say Dorian Finney Smith is just straight up not having a good night on either end of the floor, then yeah, by all means, throw Dalton out there, you know what I mean? But like, I don't think Jackson Hayes is the answer. I don't think Dalton Connect is the answer. This, this feels very much like a six and a half man rotation that the Lakers actually trust. And it's Basically the Core 5 with Dorian Finney Smith, Gabe Vincent, a little bit of like Jordan Goodwin, Jared Vanderbilt, whatever you want to call that extra guy. But like, I don't think they really have a, I don't think they have an answer on the bench beyond the fact that Austin's got to play better. Austin, I thought bounced back nicely in the second half, but Austin's got to hit some spot up threes. LeBron like Austin and LeBron 1 for 11 from three. Those guys got to knock down shots. Like, I don't think this is an end of the bench answer. I think this is your core guys got to play better. Look at the minutes. Rui 34 minutes with a, with a facial injury that took him out for his normal early second quarter shift. LeBron 40, Luca 42, Austin 43. Dorian, Benny Smith 39. Like you're going down with those guys. Those are the guys you got to look for answers from.
- [47:53]
Jackson
JJ Reddick saying, first playoff series as a coach, I'm running my guys out there. I think just to sort of put a period on the point though. I saw someone say this on Twitter the other day, that the NBA has shifted in a way away from just which team has the best player to which team has the worst player on the floor. And it's why Jordan Goodwin is getting minutes. Not that he's getting a lot, but he's getting some minutes over a guy like Dalton Connect. You're, he's not obviously the offensive player that Dalton Connect is, but you're not picking on him in a way that you would, you know, someone like that, someone like connect.
- [48:24]
Jason
Jordan had some incredible defensive sequences tonight. He's good on D, great closeouts, beating guys to spots, fighting for contested rebounds, tapping the ball around. Like I, I, Jordan played seven minutes. I thought he was good when he was out there. Like, and that's the thing, like you're these rock fight Games are an entirely different animal. It is so much more about IQ and physicality than it is about top end skill. Like, it just is. That's just how it works.
- [48:50]
Jackson
Which, by the way, is yet another reason why the Lakers need to attack Mike Conley and Dante DiVincenzo.
- [48:55]
Jason
Dude, Jackson, it's killing me, man. It's killing me. Watch. Like, like, I, I, all I can say is I hope this is like a LeBron and Luka. No, deep down, like, we're going to go to the post later in the series. If there was. If you're Lakers fans and you're looking for, you know, something to drive home that point, I think about Game 6 against the warriors two years ago when LeBron wouldn't post up at all. And then finally in game six, he just lived down there and just annihilated Andrew Wiggins. Like, that's what you got to hope for, is that LeBron's just saving that for a late series punch. And the advantage there would be if you, if LeBron breaks that out and breaks it out effectively in like a pivotal Game five or something like that. It could literally be something that happens late enough in the series that the Wolves don't have enough time to really game plan or adjust to it. And, But I, I tend to think more urgently. I tend to think like, let them figure out how to adjust to it, but let's throw our best punch early. That's more my philosophy. But who knows? It could literally be the groin. Like, we don't know what's going on with LeBron mentally and what he trusts and what he doesn't.
- [49:58]
Jackson
Let's take a couple from some other series. We had a lot of Lakers questions. If Tatum's wrist is a factor for the whole postseason, A, what does that change your outlook for the Celtics? And B, is there a way for the Celtics to game plan around that? He's, last I checked, he's doubtful or maybe upgraded to questionable for game two, but my guess is he's not going to play tomorrow.
- [50:18]
Jason
Did he get upgraded to questionable?
- [50:20]
Jackson
Someone in the chat said he's questionable. Last I saw he was.
- [50:22]
Jason
I saw doubtful. Yeah, I did see the doubtful thing. My first thing that I thought when I saw the Tatum is doubtful thing is like, oh shit, like, Jalen Brown's a little banged up, Tatum's a little banged up. Couple guys aren't shooting as well as last year. Like, there's some obvious signs for concern, but the more I thought about could almost be a blessing in disguise if it gets Tatum to take less jump shots. You know what I mean? Like. Like if it. If it turns into a thing where Tatum goes like, man, like, I don't really trust my jumper further away from the basket because of this wrist issue and he just become physical bully ball playmaker, it could still manifest. Well, I, I would actually say that I'm more worried. I. I would be more worried about a different Celtic like Horford or Porzingis going down or Jalen Brown just not bring. Bringing the requisite scoring pot because of his knee. Tatum is just so versatile, and so much of his game is predicated on like all these little things that he does well. And the jump shooting is like kind of one of those things where it's like Tatum can go 3 for 12 on jump shots and have a great game. I mean, I feel like that's half of Tatum's games. Like, like. So the. The reality is, is like Tatum doesn't necessarily need his jump shot to be great, and so I'm less concerned about him in his wrist, if that makes sense.
- [51:37]
Jackson
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think that the first this series, it shouldn't. You gotta assume it's not gonna matter whether. Whether Orlando looks, you know, they got a tough defense, they're physical, they present some matchup challenges. But if you got the aspirations that the Celtics do, you got to be able to get past his team with a hobbled Tatum or with him missing a couple games. So I think you got to think about it more in the long term. But I don't know. Risks are weird. It's hard. It's tough. I hope it's not doesn't become this cloud over the postseason run, like, well, if only Tatum's wrist was healthy, you know what I mean? Like, it's tough if they are able to get a sweep here without him and he gets some time off, hopefully. I'm hoping it just is. Is not an issue by next round.
- [52:21]
Jason
Have you ever had a wrist injury?
- [52:23]
Jackson
I have, yeah. Quickly.
- [52:26]
Jason
I haven't had a severe one until recently. And then I. My guy, Daniel Canorque, one of my favorite players here in town that I compete with and against big dude, like six, four, like 240. And I kind of like caught him on a transition possession. He was coming full speed at me, and I like inverted my wrist this way. And that was like six months ago. And it hurts worse now than it ever has. It lingers and it's like, thankfully it's my non shooting hand, so it hasn't had that big of an Impact, but, like, there are so many different little things that I'll try to do, and it hurts. And I'm like, fuck, this sucks. Like, it's just such a pain in the ass. Like, wrist injuries, they just linger and they linger and they linger. Like, it's very possible that he's dealing with this for the rest of the playoff run. It's at least worth considering. I'm just. If there was a star in this league that could withstand something like that, it'd be Tatum because of his versatility.
- [53:17]
Jackson
Yeah, I think that's a great point. I think it's a great point. Do you think Dame would be better off coming off the bench and running the second unit?
- [53:24]
Jason
No, I. I would. And, I mean, I feel like they did do this tonight. Like, I felt like they more or less played through Giannis when he was on the floor. I think Dame should be more aggressive with the bench units. Like, that's just time to look to be aggressive. What I would have done is I would have limited his minutes earlier in the series. Still start him, but limited his minutes. Play him off the ball when he's with Giannis. Play him on the ball when he's without Giannis. The. The. I don't think the answer is like, like, people focus on this, like, coming off the bench thing, like, where to me, like, doing that with Dame doesn't solve the problem. You can stagger to deal with that. So, like, for instance, you could have Dame come out at like, the seven minute mark of the first quarter, bring in Kevin Porter Jr. Then bring Dame back in to start the second quarter when Giannis comes out, or something along those lines. There are ways to work around it so that you can still keep Dame with bench units without necessarily having to bring him off the bench.
- [54:16]
Jackson
I agree with you. All right, let's do one more question. I like the way the way this question was worded was funny. It said, assuming Cleveland wins the East. Quite the assumption. But assuming Cleveland wins the east, who would you have facing them in the NBA Finals? And I think a more apt question is if we had. If we end up with 21 seeds in the Finals, certainly possible.
- [54:36]
Jason
Who.
- [54:36]
Jackson
Who would you have in an OKC Cleveland matchup?
- [54:40]
Jason
I would say okc. I think OKC is, like, the ultimate, like, antidote for everything Cleveland does. They have just a shit ton of fast, like, great perimeter defenders that aren't necessarily big, and Cleveland just doesn't have the ability to punish like DeAndre Hunter can do it a little bit. You. You can see you know Evan Mobley do it a little bit. But they're not necessarily a big like matchup attacking team. In terms of attacking like smaller players, that's not something that they do extremely well. They're more of a speed attack and OKC is just like the ultimate speed and fly around team. I'd like. As far as matchups go, I can't think of a worse matchup for Cleveland and okc. I, I am also like really intrigued by just how good Golden State is by how good this Minnesota and la, these two teams are. If you told me right now like OKC or the field in the west, it's pretty much a coin flip to me. So like I still think there's a pretty solid chance that we don't see OKC in the finals.
- [55:51]
Jackson
Yeah, that OKC versus the field question is really, really interesting. Interesting. I think I would go the field as well. OKC does so many things better than so many teams. But the west is looks strong. The west looks really strong.
- [56:05]
Jason
Yeah. To your point, you can be the favorite and still be statistically unlikely to do something like that. That's a very important thing to understand. Like as far as I understand, OKC is currently the championship favorite in Vegas. But, but they are statistically unlikely to win the championship. Like it's more likely that it's somebody else. And so it's, it's one of those. It's just something to keep in mind. But I, yeah, I, I think OKC would, I think OKC would handle Cleveland. I think they'd deal with them in, you know, five or six games.
- [56:36]
Jackson
The DraftKings answer to our question is what is OKC versus the field is. OKC is a minus 165 conference favorite right now, so they're slightly favored over the field.
- [56:45]
Jason
That's crazy to me. That is crazy to me.
- [56:48]
Jackson
You want to guess who's second?
- [56:49]
Jason
Golden State indeed.
- [56:51]
Jackson
Plus 600.
- [56:52]
Jason
Wow. That's really fascinating.
- [56:54]
Jackson
Very fascinating. I'm surprised the clippers are at plus 1000. They're fourth. Lakers are at 850.
- [56:59]
Jason
Dude. I like weirdly came away from the first two games of Nuggets Clippers a little bit. Just a tiny bit down on both of them. It's weird. I shouldn't say a tiny bit down on both of them. I viewed the Clippers as closer to OKC and Denver is well below them. And I view the Clippers a little lower and I view the Nuggets higher, but they still now both are substantially below. It's just, it's more just all of them like Minnesota, la, Golden State, Denver, Clippers. One of those five is going to survive this mess and end up in a knockdown drag out fight with okc. That could go either way is the point. And that that's where I see it as like the field has an advantage there. I shouldn't even say advantage, I mean coin flip. But you get the point.
- [57:45]
Jackson
All right, let's call it for the night. We'll be back tomorrow morning.
- [57:47]
Jason
All right, Day four in the books. We are chugging right along guys. We will have a film session up tomorrow. I want to focus a little bit on Bucs, Pacers. I want to show you guys some of the stuff that Indiana was doing to beat the defensive scheme that Milwaukee deployed, which I thought was fascinating. So we'll cover some stuff there and then as promised, I'll dig into Minnesota's offense and see if I can find some missed opportunities there. We'll get a film session in and then we'll be back tomorrow night for Golden State Houston Game two. As always, I appreciate you guys for supporting us and for supporting the show. We'll see you tomorrow morning. What's up guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Hoops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it. The volume you the 40s and free agents podcast with Daniel Jeremiah and Greg Rosenthal has prepared you for the 2025 NFL Draft.
- [58:50]
Jackson
We've told you what last year's playoff teams need to return to the postseason.
- [58:54]
Jason
And how teams with new coaches should approach the draft.
- [58:56]
Jackson
So as draft season comes to a close, we've got you covered. Before your favorite team goes on the clock, we'll break it all down. Once all two 257 picks have been made.
- [59:05]
Jason
Listen to the 40s and free agents podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Ever wonder what it would be like to be mentored by today's top business leaders? My podcast this Is Working can help with that. Here's some advice from Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, on standing out from the leadership crowd. Develop your EQ A lot of people have plenty of brains, but EQ is do you trust me? Do I communicate well? Develop the team, develop the people. Create a system of trust. And it works over time. I'm Dan Roth, LinkedIn's editor in chief on my podcast. This is Working Leaders Share Strategies for Success. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Camila Ramon. And I'm Liz Ortiz. And our podcast, Hasta Bajo is where sports, music and fitness collide and we cover it all. De Arriva Hasta Vaj this We sit down with history makers like the Sucar family, who became the first Peruvians to win a Grammy.
- [60:06]
Jackson
It was a very special moment for us. It's been 15 years for me in this career. Finally, things are starting to shift into a different level.
- [60:15]
Jason
Listen to Hasta ajo on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.