April 26, 2025 • 20 mins
Jason reacts to a pair of teams holding their home court in Game 3 as the Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers. He discusses the performances from Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Giannis Antetokounmpo besting Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton respectively.
#Volume
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. The NBA eighty two 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
(00:21):
of the NBA from the playing 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. Well they drop thirty points,
forty or more, it's your call. Ready to place your
(00:41):
first bet? Download the DraftKings Sportsbook gap Now lock in
your bets. Let's make this playoff run unforgettable. Here's something
special for first timers. New DraftKings customers. Bet five dollars
to get two hundred dollars in bonus bets. Instantly make
it a playoff run to remember with DraftKings. Download the
Draft Kings sportsbook gap and use code hoops. That's h oops.
(01:02):
That's code hoops for new customers to get two hundred
dollars in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks
only on DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Gambling problem called
Wayne hundred gambler In New York call eight seven seven
eight hope and y or text hope and why to
four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut, help us
available for problem gambling Call eight eight eight seven eight
nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org.
(01:26):
Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort
in Kansas twenty one plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction.
Void in Ontario, new customers only. Bonus bets expire one
hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms
and responsible gaming resources, see dkang dot co slash audio.
(01:57):
All right, WELLcom hoops tonight you're at the VAULU. Youmemt
me Saturday, everybody hope all you guys are having a
great start to weekend as promise. I just want to
quickly touch on the other two games from last night
that I did not get to hit thanks to the
live stream I was doing for Pezas and the Lake
Film Room. Guys, we're gonna hit Celtics Magic off the
top very briefly on that game. A lot more interesting
stuff that I want to get to into the Bucks
(02:19):
Pacers game in the second half of the show. You
guys are the joke before we get started. To subscribe
to Hoops and O YouTube channels. You don't miss to
you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me
on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you guys don't
miss show announcements. Don't forget about a podcast feed wherever
geat your podcast on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super
helpful if you leave a rating and a review on
that front. We have social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,
and Facebook where Jackson's doing great work this year. Make
sure you guys follow us there. In last but not least,
(02:41):
keep dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments and
we keep getting to them throughout the rest of the postseason.
All right, let's talk some basketball. So after Game one,
if you guys, remember I said that I felt like
the magic we're capable of doing enough to get a
game at home in this series, so I didn't see
it ending in the sweep, and they did. Franz and
Pallo were both incredible and this game, Franz ended up
(03:01):
being the hero late after the Celtics went on this
crazy run to tie the game. Two buckets off the
dribble against Chris tops porzingis a really nice nasty spin
move with his left hand and then a driving move
with his right hand. And ultimately, if you look at
the way this game kind of took shape, it was
like these individual scoring runs. Palload going a scoring run,
(03:23):
Franz would go on a scoring run, Tatum went on
these like crazy scoring runs that Tatum will just come
down and hit a couple pull up threes in a
row and another tough fadeaway jump shot just completely would
flip the tone and tender of the game. But the
Magic just consistently had a response as they were able
to use their defense to as they were able to
use their defense to reassert control of the game. That's
(03:44):
the story to me is Orlando's defense. They executed their
switch and contained scheme perfectly. They conceded just six unguarded
catch and shoot jump shots to the Celtics in the
entire game. That is tied for the lowest number that
any defence has held the Boston Celtics to this year.
Just six unguarded catch and shoots. The Celtics scored just
(04:06):
fourteen points total on spot up opportunities. That's less than
half of their season average of thirty. Just an elite
defensive performance from the Orlando Magic. They're leaning into their physicality,
they're leaning into their size. They are doubling on occasion
on specific types of Tatum actions, particularly when he's got
his back to the basket, but they're rotating quickly off
(04:27):
of that and taking away the easy catch and shoots
out of those sequences, turning them into tougher, rougher catch
and shoot opportunities. Just an elite defensive performance from the
Orlando Magic. And it's really just turning into that type
of matchup attacking game going both ways. Like you know,
this is gonna be a tough series for the Celtics
(04:48):
to generate clean catch and shoot looks. The Magic are
big and strong enough to hold up pretty well on
an island anywhere on the floor. They're holding up well
against porzingis and switches. They're holding up well in general
in the aggregate against the Jays in isolation, they're doing
really well, and then they're rotating out of the occasional
double teams that they find themselves into based on like
(05:09):
a certain type of matchup or something along those lines.
And that's why defense to transition is going to be
such an important part of this series for the Celtics
as they try to end things as soon as possible
to try to get themselves some rest. Like, for instance,
you kind of let krisps Porzingis sit on an island
against Franz Wagner late, Like, this is a team that
can't make jump shots. In Game two and in game
(05:30):
three of the series, the Orlando Magic got less than
zero point eight points per jump shot over those two games.
So there is an opportunity there to force these guys
to knock something down from the perimeter instead of allowing
Franz the comfortable right at the rim working in isolation,
Franz passes the ball. Well, I'm not trying to take
(05:50):
that away, Like Polo's a guy that you feel a
little bit more comfortable offering help against. But this is
a team that can't make jump shots. Make them actually
take and make jump shots in those sorts of situations.
A simple way to look at it is just the
way the transition battle is played out. So like in
Game one the Celtics had thirty transition points, They've had
(06:11):
thirty four total in the last two games combined, and
so just upping that defensive intensity, making them play in
a crowd more frequently, and then getting out and running
so you can start your driving kick sequences based on
transition principles rather than having to do it and post
up in isose situations where the magic probably aren't going
to bring as much help in those situations, because they
(06:32):
feel pretty good about those guys defending on an island.
And then the last thing that I wanted to say
that there's a huge narrative surrounding the physicality in this series.
Jalen Brown apparently has got a dislocated left index finger
kind of ended in a weird clutch lineup where you
have Pritchard out there because Drew Holliday's out with his
hamstring strain and Jalen Brown's out with this index finger thing.
(06:53):
And there is definitely like a certain amount of war
of attrition element to these types of series, right, And
there's a kind of a stacking of there's a stacking
of injuries that the Celtics are dealing with, Threw Holliday's hamstring,
Jalen Brown's knee, and his finger, Jason Tatum, Jason Tatum
in his wrist, Like there's just all this like little
(07:14):
stuff that everyone's dealing with, but you just gotta survive.
This is the most physical team you're gonna play in
this playoff run. By far. It actually reminds me a
little bit about of what the Lakers are dealing with
with Minnesota, where it's like, if by some chance, you
can survive this series. Now, Minnesota is a substantially larger
challenge for the Lakers than this Orlando Magic team is,
but it's a similar kind of concept in the sense that,
(07:35):
like the teams waiting for you in the future rounds
are not as big and strong positionally across the board
as this Orlando Magic team is. They know that their
best chance to win is to drag this into the mud.
And as far as some of the narratives surrounding the
series involving physicality, like I've been talking about this NonStop
in this playoff run, just I don't know why everyone's
(07:57):
complaining It's literally the way that it's been played in
every single series. The Knicks Piston series. People are bitching
about physicality, the Magic Celtics series. People are bitching about physicality.
People are bitching about Jokic getting calls. People are bitching
about Steph Curry getting calls, people are bitching about the
officiating in the Timberwolves Lakers series. Like, this is playoff basketball, guys,
(08:19):
It's not gonna change, like in regardless of whether or
not we think it maybe is a little too physical.
And I would argue that, like it's gotten a little
over the top kind of like across the board in
the playoffs. But at the same time, it's consistent. This
is the way it's been in every series. And so
it's not about complaining, it's about surviving. If you can
(08:40):
survive this series, there are better, easier matchups waiting on
the horizon as you get away from Like what the
Orlando Magic are like when you came into this series,
Celtics fans, what did you expect? This is the Orlando Magic.
They're huge, they're strong, they can't shoot. This is their
best way to try to win games is to try
(09:01):
to muck it up with physicality. Try to wear on you,
try to win the mental battle. And to me, every
time you complain, every time you go into a press
conference and talk about how they're beating you up, I
think you're playing into that a little bit. Lean on
your defense. You can do more damage to them than
they can do to you. Get out and transition, dispatch
(09:22):
of them quickly, get them out of here in five games.
Then you can have some time to rest and recover
while you prepare for the next round. But this is
just the way it's going to be. No one's gonna
come save you. You got to find a way to
get through the series physically, and you can do it
through the strength of your defense. Let's move on a
PACER's Bucks. So the Pacers led fifty nine to forty
seven in the early second half and the Bucks go
(09:43):
on a sixty six to thirty two run to completely
flip the game into a blowout in Milwaukee's favor. And
it basically came down to the Bucks winning with two
different types of groups, a group that they had struggled
with for most of the series, the Brook Lopez units.
Those It's have been minus twenty seven in the first
two games of the series, but Brooke was on the
(10:04):
floor for the first part of the big run that
the Bucks went on to start the second half. Talk
about that in a minute, and then there are other
groups that are built around switching in. Bobby portis at
center right, so let's start with the Lopez group. The
big change was going from Torrian Prince to Gary Trent Junior.
Torrian Prince was taken out of the rotation entirely. This
is a change that myself and many others were calling for.
(10:26):
Torrian's just not fast enough to be playing a large
role on a serious team anymore, especially in this type
of matchup against a team that is so incredibly fast.
So going to Gary Trent Junior immediately pays dividends. Gary
Trent hit seven threes in the second half, almost all
of them off of pacers, double teams of Giannis on
post ups and drives. I talked about this after Game two.
(10:49):
Yiannis is consistently getting double teamed in the post. That's
your initial advantage. Surround Giannis with play finishing guys that
can capitalize on those double teams. You're going to give
yourself a good chance to win. Over and over again.
Gary Trent was able to get clean looks off of
Yannis double teams and repeatedly pay them off. And by
the way, Gary Trent's been shooting the piss out of
(11:09):
the basketball all season long. This is something that he
can do to help this team in a larger role.
I do want to shout out Kyle Kuzma because I
thought he was actually the guy who triggered the start
of the run. I understand that Kyle Kusman has worn
out as welcome with Bucks fans. There's a lot of
reasons for that. He can be a perplexing decision maker
(11:30):
from time to time. His jump shot has just been
completely non existence, non existent, which has been a huge pain.
And there's another conversation to have about why in the world,
this late in the Kyle Kuzma's career he hasn't figured
out how to turn himself into a more reliable jump shooter.
Didn't have an amazing box score game in this game.
He had bought nine points, three rebounds, and two assists,
but he made four plays at the beginning of the
(11:52):
run in the early third quarter that got the Bucks going.
Started with a nice cut off of the right wing
off of a Brook Lopez post up Brooke got my
else Turner super deep on a post up. They brought
a double team with Andrew Nemhard. Kuzma really smart cut
through the slot, caught it, got an easy lay up there.
Then he was guarding Aren Nemhard along the left side
(12:12):
of the floor on the other end, and he got
a nice clean stop against Adrea Nemhard that led to
a runout the other way. As a team, they contained
the ball better. We'll talk about that in a minute,
but a nice defensive play from Kuzma. Then he made
a beautiful connective pass out of a Yannis double team.
Giannis gets doubled passes to Kuzma, Gary trentz wide opening
(12:32):
the skip on the corner. Kusma identifies it and throws
a perfect pass over the top. Gary Trent knocks down
the three. That's that connective playmaking piece that turns a
double team into an open shot out of a rotation situation.
And then lastly he got another bucket on another cut
off of Brook Lopez, this time off of an offensive rebound.
(12:52):
Lopez just beat Turner to the ball. Kuzma cut right
off of the left wing, got a little floater right
there in the lane that was what really got the
engine running. So again, even though Kuzma didn't play a
massive role in this game, I did think he made
some big plays at the start of that third quarter
run that helped kind of got to get things going.
And then in order for that lineup, the Brook Lopez
at center lineup, in order for that lineup to function
(13:14):
on defense, brook has to drop or be at the
level but focus on the ball is my point in
ball screens, and that means they have to concede the
pick and pop to Miles Turner. And Miles Turner got
two completely unguarded top of the key pick and pop
threes during that early third quarter run that he missed.
So like, that's a little bit of good fortune, right,
And that's a certain scheme reality about having Brook Lopez
(13:37):
on the floor that like, in order for it to work,
you need their pick and pop big to be missing threes,
and he was in that particular unit. But then the
Portis and the groups with Bobby Portis at center ended
up actually finishing the run. This group did a lot
of switching and did a great job of containing the ball.
This was the best stretch of defense I've seen this
(13:57):
Bucks team play all season long, such competitiveness to flatten
out drives, to slide their feet, beat people to spots,
take contact in the chest without fouling, contain the ball,
to pressure the ball with physicality like it was jarring
to see the difference in just ball pressure that Milwaukee
was applying to Indiana in that third quarter compared to
(14:18):
what it looked like for the majority of this series.
Even Damian Lillard was like picking up the ball out
thirty feet away from the basket with physicality, trying to
rush guys. You could literally see Indiana get uncomfortable and
get out of rhythm from that level of intensity, closing
out really hard at the three point line, getting good contests,
competing on the defensive glass, just a substantially better defensive
(14:41):
effort across the board in their switching group there in
the middle of the third quarter. It was very different
from the fake comeback in Game two, where the Pacers
were just missing wide open threes every time down the floor.
There were a couple mistakes, a couple of bots switches,
one involving Kevin Porter Junior and aj Green where they
left Aaron Nee Smith wide open in the left corner.
(15:03):
Another ball screen at the top of the key where
Kevin Porter Junior I think it was KPJ and Giannis
or Portus, I can't remember exactly what was but Siakam
ended up slipping the screen and he ended up getting
a wide open layup, and the Pacers made him pay
for those mistakes that happened. But there weren't very many
mistakes other than that. They defended super well and they
were able to keep that Indiana offense under control. And
(15:25):
I just want to stay focused on Giannis's playmaking for
a minute. I thought he was surgical in that stretch,
consistently drawing those post up doubles that created the advantage opportunities.
He was also making great passes out of drives. I
saw one of the more advanced reads I've seen Gianna
s make where he drove along the left lane line
engaged to the rim protector, which left Portus open, and
(15:46):
then he looked off the low man because he had
been making those because the Bucks had been hitting some threes.
There was a shooter in the right corner, and he
looked him off just enough to be able to create
space for Bobby Portis to be wide open under the basket.
Yanis just continues to just show really high level playmaking
compared to what we saw from him earlier in his career.
(16:06):
And then to start the fourth quarter with Giannis off
the floor, the Bucks get three quick threes off of
driving kick sequences for Damian Lillard and aj Green, and
that was enough to build the separation that put this
game away. And so it's pretty clear what the best
pathway is for the Bucks. I mean, it was pretty
clear early in the series. We talked about it. Lean
into Giannis and surround him with play finishing. Everything should
(16:29):
be built around Giannis's ability to draw two to the
ball and the fact that you can surround him with
a ton of aggregate shooting and ball handling, attacking closeouts
and stuff. Off of that, right, that's your pathway on
offense and then on defense, switch contain the ball, be competitive,
show that intensity, and you give yourself a decent chance
to beat this team. They that was an extended dominant
(16:50):
stretch from the start of the third quarter throughout the
end of the game, where it wasn't just that they
were causing the Pacers problems. They kick their ass. They
literally outscored them in that run, sixty six to thirty two.
They doubled them up. So that is a capability that
they have that is in there if they compete. Now
on the pacers front, I thought they really succumbed to
(17:11):
the ball pressure. I thought they looked a bit cut
off guard by that sudden intensity. They were just a
little rattled as they were trying to get to their
spots and trying to get into their offense. They need
to generate dribble penetration. They have to win that battle
at the point of attack. I was talking about this
with Petzs in our playback room last night, regarding Ruy
Hatchi Mura and Julius Randall, and the idea that like
(17:34):
Julius is gonna attack your shoulder right as he's trying
to drive around you, You're gonna slide and he's gonna
hit you on your shoulder, and that it becomes a battle,
the battle being if you give ground and he can
blow through that shoulder, he's going to get around you
and get to the basket. But if you can hold
your ground, and a lot of that has to do
with where he hits you. If he hits you on
the edge of your shoulder, he's gonna go right through you.
But if he catches you closer to the middle of
(17:55):
your chest, you're gonna have an easier chance of holding
your ground as you're sliding your feet right. And that's
the battle that all these dribble drives are starting with,
whether it's Aaron Nesmith or like AARONI Smith trying to drive,
Andrew Nemhard trying to drive Tyre's Halliburton trying to drive TJ.
McConnell trying to drive in the switch scheme again, when
it's the ball screen attack that they use with the
(18:16):
Brook Lopez units, there's a lot of these baked in
rotation opportunities and picking pops and skip passes things along
those lines, right, But as soon as they start switching,
it becomes a battle of like Siakam attacking guys in
the post and can these guards beat these dudes off
the dribble, And as soon as they start beating them
off the dribble, that's when they can get them into
rotation where the bucks can be really sloppy as they
(18:38):
start trying to fly around. But if you can contain
the ball versus getting dribble penetration, that's going to be
the dynamic that is going to flip these Lopez off
portis at center groups. If the Pacers get dribble penetration,
they're going to control the game. If the Bucks can
contain dribble penetration, they're going to control the game. And
so it's very, very important for the Pace to bring
(19:01):
that requisite level of pace and intensity on their drives
to beat people off the dribble, and then they need
to dominate the Brook Lopez minutes. This depends on Miles
Turner's ability to make brook Lopez pay for the coverage
that they're running. He's got to hit those threes at
the top of the key. That is a like an
absolute mandatory part of that coverage working. If you allow
(19:22):
brook Lopez to defend Tyres Aliburton two on one and
allowing the other guys to be able to stay home,
it's going to be difficult for you to score. And
so that's that dynamic. I've talked a lot about this
coming into the series, the brook versus Turner dynamic. Turner
wasn't able to bring that level of shot making today
and it ended up hurting their offense. So again, it's
really we can kind of see how this is settling
(19:44):
in right This is settling into the Pacers core regular
lineup versus these Bucks small ball groups, and the Bucks
small ball groups, if they can contain the ball, Giannis
is going to consistently draw double teams. They'll be existing
in rotation. But if the Pacers can get dribble penetration,
they're gonna be in their driving kick. They're gonna be
keeping the Bucks in rotation. And so that's the dynamic.
(20:06):
Whoever can con If the Bucks can contain the ball,
they've got a good chance to win the series. If
they can't, the Pacers are gonna win the series. That's
the dynamic we're looking at there, that Milwaukee perimeter defense.
All right, guys, let's get out of here. We're gonna
get the ten eighteen. We literally already have our first
game started for the day here in Tucson, So I'm
gonna get to the TVs and start watching the games.
(20:27):
We'll be live on YouTube tonight after the final buzzer
of Rockets Warriors for a breakdown of all of today's games.
I will see you guys, then, what's up guys. As always,
I appreciate you for listening to and supporting oops tonight.
They 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,
(20:48):
I really appreciate it. The volume
The volume. The NBA eighty two 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
(00:21):
of the NBA from the playing 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. Well they drop thirty points,
forty or more, it's your call. Ready to place your
(00:41):
first bet? Download the DraftKings Sportsbook gap Now lock in
your bets. Let's make this playoff run unforgettable. Here's something
special for first timers. New DraftKings customers. Bet five dollars
to get two hundred dollars in bonus bets. Instantly make
it a playoff run to remember with DraftKings. Download the
Draft Kings sportsbook gap and use code hoops. That's h oops.
(01:02):
That's code hoops for new customers to get two hundred
dollars in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks
only on DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Gambling problem called
Wayne hundred gambler In New York call eight seven seven
eight hope and y or text hope and why to
four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut, help us
available for problem gambling Call eight eight eight seven eight
nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org.
(01:26):
Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort
in Kansas twenty one plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction.
Void in Ontario, new customers only. Bonus bets expire one
hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms
and responsible gaming resources, see dkang dot co slash audio.
(01:57):
All right, WELLcom hoops tonight you're at the VAULU. Youmemt
me Saturday, everybody hope all you guys are having a
great start to weekend as promise. I just want to
quickly touch on the other two games from last night
that I did not get to hit thanks to the
live stream I was doing for Pezas and the Lake
Film Room. Guys, we're gonna hit Celtics Magic off the
top very briefly on that game. A lot more interesting
stuff that I want to get to into the Bucks
(02:19):
Pacers game in the second half of the show. You
guys are the joke before we get started. To subscribe
to Hoops and O YouTube channels. You don't miss to
you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me
on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you guys don't
miss show announcements. Don't forget about a podcast feed wherever
geat your podcast on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super
helpful if you leave a rating and a review on
that front. We have social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,
and Facebook where Jackson's doing great work this year. Make
sure you guys follow us there. In last but not least,
(02:41):
keep dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments and
we keep getting to them throughout the rest of the postseason.
All right, let's talk some basketball. So after Game one,
if you guys, remember I said that I felt like
the magic we're capable of doing enough to get a
game at home in this series, so I didn't see
it ending in the sweep, and they did. Franz and
Pallo were both incredible and this game, Franz ended up
(03:01):
being the hero late after the Celtics went on this
crazy run to tie the game. Two buckets off the
dribble against Chris tops porzingis a really nice nasty spin
move with his left hand and then a driving move
with his right hand. And ultimately, if you look at
the way this game kind of took shape, it was
like these individual scoring runs. Palload going a scoring run,
(03:23):
Franz would go on a scoring run, Tatum went on
these like crazy scoring runs that Tatum will just come
down and hit a couple pull up threes in a
row and another tough fadeaway jump shot just completely would
flip the tone and tender of the game. But the
Magic just consistently had a response as they were able
to use their defense to as they were able to
use their defense to reassert control of the game. That's
(03:44):
the story to me is Orlando's defense. They executed their
switch and contained scheme perfectly. They conceded just six unguarded
catch and shoot jump shots to the Celtics in the
entire game. That is tied for the lowest number that
any defence has held the Boston Celtics to this year.
Just six unguarded catch and shoots. The Celtics scored just
(04:06):
fourteen points total on spot up opportunities. That's less than
half of their season average of thirty. Just an elite
defensive performance from the Orlando Magic. They're leaning into their physicality,
they're leaning into their size. They are doubling on occasion
on specific types of Tatum actions, particularly when he's got
his back to the basket, but they're rotating quickly off
(04:27):
of that and taking away the easy catch and shoots
out of those sequences, turning them into tougher, rougher catch
and shoot opportunities. Just an elite defensive performance from the
Orlando Magic. And it's really just turning into that type
of matchup attacking game going both ways. Like you know,
this is gonna be a tough series for the Celtics
(04:48):
to generate clean catch and shoot looks. The Magic are
big and strong enough to hold up pretty well on
an island anywhere on the floor. They're holding up well
against porzingis and switches. They're holding up well in general
in the aggregate against the Jays in isolation, they're doing
really well, and then they're rotating out of the occasional
double teams that they find themselves into based on like
(05:09):
a certain type of matchup or something along those lines.
And that's why defense to transition is going to be
such an important part of this series for the Celtics
as they try to end things as soon as possible
to try to get themselves some rest. Like, for instance,
you kind of let krisps Porzingis sit on an island
against Franz Wagner late, Like, this is a team that
can't make jump shots. In Game two and in game
(05:30):
three of the series, the Orlando Magic got less than
zero point eight points per jump shot over those two games.
So there is an opportunity there to force these guys
to knock something down from the perimeter instead of allowing
Franz the comfortable right at the rim working in isolation,
Franz passes the ball. Well, I'm not trying to take
(05:50):
that away, Like Polo's a guy that you feel a
little bit more comfortable offering help against. But this is
a team that can't make jump shots. Make them actually
take and make jump shots in those sorts of situations.
A simple way to look at it is just the
way the transition battle is played out. So like in
Game one the Celtics had thirty transition points, They've had
(06:11):
thirty four total in the last two games combined, and
so just upping that defensive intensity, making them play in
a crowd more frequently, and then getting out and running
so you can start your driving kick sequences based on
transition principles rather than having to do it and post
up in isose situations where the magic probably aren't going
to bring as much help in those situations, because they
(06:32):
feel pretty good about those guys defending on an island.
And then the last thing that I wanted to say
that there's a huge narrative surrounding the physicality in this series.
Jalen Brown apparently has got a dislocated left index finger
kind of ended in a weird clutch lineup where you
have Pritchard out there because Drew Holliday's out with his
hamstring strain and Jalen Brown's out with this index finger thing.
(06:53):
And there is definitely like a certain amount of war
of attrition element to these types of series, right, And
there's a kind of a stacking of there's a stacking
of injuries that the Celtics are dealing with, Threw Holliday's hamstring,
Jalen Brown's knee, and his finger, Jason Tatum, Jason Tatum
in his wrist, Like there's just all this like little
(07:14):
stuff that everyone's dealing with, but you just gotta survive.
This is the most physical team you're gonna play in
this playoff run. By far. It actually reminds me a
little bit about of what the Lakers are dealing with
with Minnesota, where it's like, if by some chance, you
can survive this series. Now, Minnesota is a substantially larger
challenge for the Lakers than this Orlando Magic team is,
but it's a similar kind of concept in the sense that,
(07:35):
like the teams waiting for you in the future rounds
are not as big and strong positionally across the board
as this Orlando Magic team is. They know that their
best chance to win is to drag this into the mud.
And as far as some of the narratives surrounding the
series involving physicality, like I've been talking about this NonStop
in this playoff run, just I don't know why everyone's
(07:57):
complaining It's literally the way that it's been played in
every single series. The Knicks Piston series. People are bitching
about physicality, the Magic Celtics series. People are bitching about physicality.
People are bitching about Jokic getting calls. People are bitching
about Steph Curry getting calls, people are bitching about the
officiating in the Timberwolves Lakers series. Like, this is playoff basketball, guys,
(08:19):
It's not gonna change, like in regardless of whether or
not we think it maybe is a little too physical.
And I would argue that, like it's gotten a little
over the top kind of like across the board in
the playoffs. But at the same time, it's consistent. This
is the way it's been in every series. And so
it's not about complaining, it's about surviving. If you can
(08:40):
survive this series, there are better, easier matchups waiting on
the horizon as you get away from Like what the
Orlando Magic are like when you came into this series,
Celtics fans, what did you expect? This is the Orlando Magic.
They're huge, they're strong, they can't shoot. This is their
best way to try to win games is to try
(09:01):
to muck it up with physicality. Try to wear on you,
try to win the mental battle. And to me, every
time you complain, every time you go into a press
conference and talk about how they're beating you up, I
think you're playing into that a little bit. Lean on
your defense. You can do more damage to them than
they can do to you. Get out and transition, dispatch
(09:22):
of them quickly, get them out of here in five games.
Then you can have some time to rest and recover
while you prepare for the next round. But this is
just the way it's going to be. No one's gonna
come save you. You got to find a way to
get through the series physically, and you can do it
through the strength of your defense. Let's move on a
PACER's Bucks. So the Pacers led fifty nine to forty
seven in the early second half and the Bucks go
(09:43):
on a sixty six to thirty two run to completely
flip the game into a blowout in Milwaukee's favor. And
it basically came down to the Bucks winning with two
different types of groups, a group that they had struggled
with for most of the series, the Brook Lopez units.
Those It's have been minus twenty seven in the first
two games of the series, but Brooke was on the
(10:04):
floor for the first part of the big run that
the Bucks went on to start the second half. Talk
about that in a minute, and then there are other
groups that are built around switching in. Bobby portis at
center right, so let's start with the Lopez group. The
big change was going from Torrian Prince to Gary Trent Junior.
Torrian Prince was taken out of the rotation entirely. This
is a change that myself and many others were calling for.
(10:26):
Torrian's just not fast enough to be playing a large
role on a serious team anymore, especially in this type
of matchup against a team that is so incredibly fast.
So going to Gary Trent Junior immediately pays dividends. Gary
Trent hit seven threes in the second half, almost all
of them off of pacers, double teams of Giannis on
post ups and drives. I talked about this after Game two.
(10:49):
Yiannis is consistently getting double teamed in the post. That's
your initial advantage. Surround Giannis with play finishing guys that
can capitalize on those double teams. You're going to give
yourself a good chance to win. Over and over again.
Gary Trent was able to get clean looks off of
Yannis double teams and repeatedly pay them off. And by
the way, Gary Trent's been shooting the piss out of
(11:09):
the basketball all season long. This is something that he
can do to help this team in a larger role.
I do want to shout out Kyle Kuzma because I
thought he was actually the guy who triggered the start
of the run. I understand that Kyle Kusman has worn
out as welcome with Bucks fans. There's a lot of
reasons for that. He can be a perplexing decision maker
(11:30):
from time to time. His jump shot has just been
completely non existence, non existent, which has been a huge pain.
And there's another conversation to have about why in the world,
this late in the Kyle Kuzma's career he hasn't figured
out how to turn himself into a more reliable jump shooter.
Didn't have an amazing box score game in this game.
He had bought nine points, three rebounds, and two assists,
but he made four plays at the beginning of the
(11:52):
run in the early third quarter that got the Bucks going.
Started with a nice cut off of the right wing
off of a Brook Lopez post up Brooke got my
else Turner super deep on a post up. They brought
a double team with Andrew Nemhard. Kuzma really smart cut
through the slot, caught it, got an easy lay up there.
Then he was guarding Aren Nemhard along the left side
(12:12):
of the floor on the other end, and he got
a nice clean stop against Adrea Nemhard that led to
a runout the other way. As a team, they contained
the ball better. We'll talk about that in a minute,
but a nice defensive play from Kuzma. Then he made
a beautiful connective pass out of a Yannis double team.
Giannis gets doubled passes to Kuzma, Gary trentz wide opening
(12:32):
the skip on the corner. Kusma identifies it and throws
a perfect pass over the top. Gary Trent knocks down
the three. That's that connective playmaking piece that turns a
double team into an open shot out of a rotation situation.
And then lastly he got another bucket on another cut
off of Brook Lopez, this time off of an offensive rebound.
(12:52):
Lopez just beat Turner to the ball. Kuzma cut right
off of the left wing, got a little floater right
there in the lane that was what really got the
engine running. So again, even though Kuzma didn't play a
massive role in this game, I did think he made
some big plays at the start of that third quarter
run that helped kind of got to get things going.
And then in order for that lineup, the Brook Lopez
at center lineup, in order for that lineup to function
(13:14):
on defense, brook has to drop or be at the
level but focus on the ball is my point in
ball screens, and that means they have to concede the
pick and pop to Miles Turner. And Miles Turner got
two completely unguarded top of the key pick and pop
threes during that early third quarter run that he missed.
So like, that's a little bit of good fortune, right,
And that's a certain scheme reality about having Brook Lopez
(13:37):
on the floor that like, in order for it to work,
you need their pick and pop big to be missing threes,
and he was in that particular unit. But then the
Portis and the groups with Bobby Portis at center ended
up actually finishing the run. This group did a lot
of switching and did a great job of containing the ball.
This was the best stretch of defense I've seen this
(13:57):
Bucks team play all season long, such competitiveness to flatten
out drives, to slide their feet, beat people to spots,
take contact in the chest without fouling, contain the ball,
to pressure the ball with physicality like it was jarring
to see the difference in just ball pressure that Milwaukee
was applying to Indiana in that third quarter compared to
(14:18):
what it looked like for the majority of this series.
Even Damian Lillard was like picking up the ball out
thirty feet away from the basket with physicality, trying to
rush guys. You could literally see Indiana get uncomfortable and
get out of rhythm from that level of intensity, closing
out really hard at the three point line, getting good contests,
competing on the defensive glass, just a substantially better defensive
(14:41):
effort across the board in their switching group there in
the middle of the third quarter. It was very different
from the fake comeback in Game two, where the Pacers
were just missing wide open threes every time down the floor.
There were a couple mistakes, a couple of bots switches,
one involving Kevin Porter Junior and aj Green where they
left Aaron Nee Smith wide open in the left corner.
(15:03):
Another ball screen at the top of the key where
Kevin Porter Junior I think it was KPJ and Giannis
or Portus, I can't remember exactly what was but Siakam
ended up slipping the screen and he ended up getting
a wide open layup, and the Pacers made him pay
for those mistakes that happened. But there weren't very many
mistakes other than that. They defended super well and they
were able to keep that Indiana offense under control. And
(15:25):
I just want to stay focused on Giannis's playmaking for
a minute. I thought he was surgical in that stretch,
consistently drawing those post up doubles that created the advantage opportunities.
He was also making great passes out of drives. I
saw one of the more advanced reads I've seen Gianna
s make where he drove along the left lane line
engaged to the rim protector, which left Portus open, and
(15:46):
then he looked off the low man because he had
been making those because the Bucks had been hitting some threes.
There was a shooter in the right corner, and he
looked him off just enough to be able to create
space for Bobby Portis to be wide open under the basket.
Yanis just continues to just show really high level playmaking
compared to what we saw from him earlier in his career.
(16:06):
And then to start the fourth quarter with Giannis off
the floor, the Bucks get three quick threes off of
driving kick sequences for Damian Lillard and aj Green, and
that was enough to build the separation that put this
game away. And so it's pretty clear what the best
pathway is for the Bucks. I mean, it was pretty
clear early in the series. We talked about it. Lean
into Giannis and surround him with play finishing. Everything should
(16:29):
be built around Giannis's ability to draw two to the
ball and the fact that you can surround him with
a ton of aggregate shooting and ball handling, attacking closeouts
and stuff. Off of that, right, that's your pathway on
offense and then on defense, switch contain the ball, be competitive,
show that intensity, and you give yourself a decent chance
to beat this team. They that was an extended dominant
(16:50):
stretch from the start of the third quarter throughout the
end of the game, where it wasn't just that they
were causing the Pacers problems. They kick their ass. They
literally outscored them in that run, sixty six to thirty two.
They doubled them up. So that is a capability that
they have that is in there if they compete. Now
on the pacers front, I thought they really succumbed to
(17:11):
the ball pressure. I thought they looked a bit cut
off guard by that sudden intensity. They were just a
little rattled as they were trying to get to their
spots and trying to get into their offense. They need
to generate dribble penetration. They have to win that battle
at the point of attack. I was talking about this
with Petzs in our playback room last night, regarding Ruy
Hatchi Mura and Julius Randall, and the idea that like
(17:34):
Julius is gonna attack your shoulder right as he's trying
to drive around you, You're gonna slide and he's gonna
hit you on your shoulder, and that it becomes a battle,
the battle being if you give ground and he can
blow through that shoulder, he's going to get around you
and get to the basket. But if you can hold
your ground, and a lot of that has to do
with where he hits you. If he hits you on
the edge of your shoulder, he's gonna go right through you.
But if he catches you closer to the middle of
(17:55):
your chest, you're gonna have an easier chance of holding
your ground as you're sliding your feet right. And that's
the battle that all these dribble drives are starting with,
whether it's Aaron Nesmith or like AARONI Smith trying to drive,
Andrew Nemhard trying to drive Tyre's Halliburton trying to drive TJ.
McConnell trying to drive in the switch scheme again, when
it's the ball screen attack that they use with the
(18:16):
Brook Lopez units, there's a lot of these baked in
rotation opportunities and picking pops and skip passes things along
those lines, right, But as soon as they start switching,
it becomes a battle of like Siakam attacking guys in
the post and can these guards beat these dudes off
the dribble, And as soon as they start beating them
off the dribble, that's when they can get them into
rotation where the bucks can be really sloppy as they
(18:38):
start trying to fly around. But if you can contain
the ball versus getting dribble penetration, that's going to be
the dynamic that is going to flip these Lopez off
portis at center groups. If the Pacers get dribble penetration,
they're going to control the game. If the Bucks can
contain dribble penetration, they're going to control the game. And
so it's very, very important for the Pace to bring
(19:01):
that requisite level of pace and intensity on their drives
to beat people off the dribble, and then they need
to dominate the Brook Lopez minutes. This depends on Miles
Turner's ability to make brook Lopez pay for the coverage
that they're running. He's got to hit those threes at
the top of the key. That is a like an
absolute mandatory part of that coverage working. If you allow
(19:22):
brook Lopez to defend Tyres Aliburton two on one and
allowing the other guys to be able to stay home,
it's going to be difficult for you to score. And
so that's that dynamic. I've talked a lot about this
coming into the series, the brook versus Turner dynamic. Turner
wasn't able to bring that level of shot making today
and it ended up hurting their offense. So again, it's
really we can kind of see how this is settling
(19:44):
in right This is settling into the Pacers core regular
lineup versus these Bucks small ball groups, and the Bucks
small ball groups, if they can contain the ball, Giannis
is going to consistently draw double teams. They'll be existing
in rotation. But if the Pacers can get dribble penetration,
they're gonna be in their driving kick. They're gonna be
keeping the Bucks in rotation. And so that's the dynamic.
(20:06):
Whoever can con If the Bucks can contain the ball,
they've got a good chance to win the series. If
they can't, the Pacers are gonna win the series. That's
the dynamic we're looking at there, that Milwaukee perimeter defense.
All right, guys, let's get out of here. We're gonna
get the ten eighteen. We literally already have our first
game started for the day here in Tucson, So I'm
gonna get to the TVs and start watching the games.
(20:27):
We'll be live on YouTube tonight after the final buzzer
of Rockets Warriors for a breakdown of all of today's games.
I will see you guys, then, what's up guys. As always,
I appreciate you for listening to and supporting oops tonight.
They 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,
(20:48):
I really appreciate it. The volume
Host
Jason Timpf
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.