What is krack alackin Hardwoodknocks Listeners, I am Damna Valley commanding with out my
fan dabulous post adam promo mlver please to drop the second of our three part
Super Super Mega Playoffs Primer. We have Bryant ta Porak, my good friend
and longtime colleague over at Bleacher Report is back. He's a senior quality quality
editor there excuse me, follow him on Twitter at b to Porek. That's
at bt O p O r e k. He's also the co host of
the NBA podcast where they talk about you guessed at the NBA Podcast at Large.
Go over there, rate review, subscribe to them at the NBA Pod
on Twitter. He also covers the NBA, the Sixers, and a salary
cap over at four Sports. We're getting into the three series that we did
not cover in the previous episode. If you're looking for in depth dives on
Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Bucks, Bulls, and MAVs Jazz, we already did
those. We're going to get into net Celtics, which, by the way,
we talked about this before the report came out that Ben Simmons is looking
at playing games four to six. We did heads there a little bit,
but just so you know that Warriors Nuggets. We also tackled that before we
had the news that Steph would probably be ready for Game one, but we
acted as if he was going to be ready for Game one. So how
do you like them? Apples? And we close with the Sixers and the
Raptors. We get into a lot of great stuff. My final housekeeping notes
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FA V A l E. If you do not otherwise if you're not able
to access it for some reason. With all of that out of the way,
let's go talk some more about the riveting or at least they should be
twenty twenty two NBA Playoffs with Brian to pour at Now, do you want
to do Brooklyn and Boston? Yes? Please? Overarching thoughts on this series,
which is just don't I don't even know what to make of it.
Everything in my gut. I mean, well, here's the first question,
and I don't think we necessarily they have the answer because I know he's been
out for a while, but Boston is SAT guys. Then they were playing
other teams that SAT guys. How much does not having Robert Williams the third
impact Boston's defense. Bruce Brown seems to think it will by the way,
Caffeine Pride. What Kevin Durand said. That was caffeine Pride talking. That's
my new favorite. I didn't see that. That's fantastic. Might say something
inflammatory or stupid on the pot of say Caffeine Pride. Sorry, that's amazing.
Yeah, I knew Kadi was not a fan of the comments. I
did not see that specific quote. Wow, that's awesome. Look, but
he needs to put more respect on Bruce Brown's name. He's shooting fifty four
percent from three over the last month. He's doing like little playmakings out of
the short role basically, yeah, and doing what he does on defense.
So Bruce Brown could say whatever the fuck Bruce Brown wants. Yeah, without
Bruce Brown, they lose to the Calves and they're they're playing Miami instead of
the Celtics, So he can Bruce Brown. Honestly, it might be the
third best player right now. Oh god, you're probably not wrong, because
the other candidate would be. It hasn't been Seth Curry, that's for sure.
Yeah, Seth Curry's on a bomb ankle might have been Nick Claxton,
which also wasn't necessarily like great news, but I love Nick Claxton, so
yeah, which, well, Biggs are are my favorite. Yeah, but
it's a fair question going back to how it affects their defense. Honestly,
it might not matter because their perimeter defense is so good. Like this is
another one where you know, I know, the Nets are still considered one
of the title favorites out East and there is a chance that they win this
series because Kyrie and Kevin Durant are just so singularly great that I mean,
you know, with the playing game on Tuesday, it's like the Cavs cut
down the Nets lead and seemed like they were going to get back into that
game, and then every single time they did, Kevin Durant just pulls up
from mid range jumper. It's like, no, I'm gonna keep you guys
just enough at Bay to maintain in this league. Now. I mean,
the Celtics do have plenty of options to throw at him, but Robert Williams
would have been a key piece for both Durant and Irving, just preventing drives
to the basket for Irving. Like, with all due respect to the eighty
six year old Al Horford, who has been good this year. He is
definitely not going to be the same type of defensive presence. But I just
think, especially like that, it makes me so mad how well the Derek
White trade worked out for the Celtics, But between him, Smart Tatum Brown
like, they have a number of options to throw with both of those guys.
So I think they will miss Williams in this series, but that won't
be the reason they lose. If they do lose, I'm almost wondering.
I don't want to call it a blessing in disguise, but it forces you
to. I mean, in one look, when the Celtics play Horford without
Williams plus six point five points per possession permanent possessions on the season, still
have an elite defense. I'm just wondering because of Brooklyn set up specifically,
I don't real that you necessarily want two bigs on the court for an instance
a period of time, and just looking at how the Calves went after Kevin
Durant and Kyrie Irving down the stretch of that playing game, Boston is built
to do the same thing and do it better. You still put yourself in
compromising positions but if you're playing Tatum and Smart and Brown and then White instead
of Williams and Horford, and then Horford's in the middle, Like, is
it a little easier to do that because like you just have those four perimeter
guys who can fly around or maybe it's hey, Marcus Smart, Like you
can just stay on Kevin Durant, or you can just stay on Kyrie Irving
and then we'll go after the other one and try and force the ball out
of their hands. And even if it's we're just gonna throw everything we have
at them. Regardless of who it is. That lineup where you have those
four perimeter players is just built to recover a lot better, I would think
than Williams Horford in the front court. This all goes without saying I'd prefer
to have william him in the front court of that lineup than Horford, just
because he's so much quicker on the perimeter now. But I think the one
big setup actually makes a lot of sense for Boston in this series. Which
is not to say I think that williams injury is a blessing in disguise.
I just don't know that this is the matchup in which it will materially impact
them as much. Yeah, I mean they still have Tice, they still
have Grant Williams as well, and like the Nets don't have a dominant big
like if they're going against you know, if Boston is going against Gianness or
is going against Joel Embiid or Nikola Yokich, Williams absence would be much more
concerning. But now you're living with Andre Drummond taking anything that isn't a lot
dunk or just an offensive putback if it means getting the ball out of Kevin
Durant and Kyrie Irving's hands. So yeah, I think, or I mean,
Bruce Brown led the team. I just praise Bruce Brown, but you
know led the team in that playing game with nineteen shot attempts. You will
live with all nineteen of those if it means Kadi and Kyrie are not taking
those. So I'm with you. I think that the four Smart White,
Tatum Brown, like you can basically tell them all right, Smart White,
you take turns on Kyrie and Seth and then Tatum and Brown, you take
turns on Kadi, and when every one of you guys needs a breather,
you can defend Brown on the short roll like, I think the Celtics matchup
defensively really well against Brooklyn, and then that's do not match up really well
defensively against Bossett. The I have so renny big questions for this series,
but sort of you touching upon this, what is Brooklyn's most used five man
lineup in this series or what is Brooklyn's closing lineup in tight games for this
series? We know that they have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving like those are
set in stone? Is Bruce Brown also set in stone at this point?
I think he has to be just again for d defense defense primarily, but
how they use him as like a de facto big man. I think he's
got to be in there. We saw a lot of Nick Clackson. I
think he probably is in there as well. And then that fifth spot,
it's like whichever one of Seth Curry, Patty Mill's Gore and drug it's just
shooting the best that night would be my guess. I'm wondering if this is
the series and maybe not because they have Horford where you know, we saw
it they closed the game against the comprom behind victory against the Knicks where it
was Kevin Durant and Bruce Brown in the front court. I'm wondering if we
see those looks at all in this series, do they take Robert Williams' absence
as an opportunity to try and do that. I'd just be I'd be curious
to see, especially, I mean if, yeah, if they have Daniel
Tis playing like that might even be more of a incentive to do that,
just because he's not going to be able to keep pacing that line up.
Bruce Brown already imply that he's cat nip apparently to offense. I'm when you
go through the matchups though for booking on defense, and I think they've overachieved
that point's defensively this season. It's almost entirely because of unlucky opponent shooting,
like and they do have a fairly good shot profile, like more recently,
like they were in the top five of opponent three point in tenh three and
so like that can that can be a part of scheme, but it also
just might be because their interior is so inviting and when Andre Drummond isn't on
the court essentially that that that helps the volume there. What is like who
is guarding who for the nets? At this point, Like who is drawing
the You know, Bruce Brown's gonna get somebody, But like, who is
Brooklyn's second most important perimeter defender again in the series. But I think you
can make the case that Claston's just their most valuable defender in general, It's
got to be Kevin Durant, right, Like I assume Brown and Durant are
going to just switch back and forth between Brown and Tatum throughout the series because
they have no other good options unless you know, Ben Simmons, he is
able to make his debut at some point. Ben Simmons is back, could
be the X factor for the series. It honestly could be. Like I'm
very skeptical that he actually does play, and you know, if he does,
I can't imagine they're like, all right, even played basketball and ten
months at this point, go play thirty five minutes a night. So like,
no, maybe they play him for ten, fifteen, twenty, But
like, who else do they have? They don't have another good option to
depend either of those guys. No, they don't. And I was I
was also going to say, like Boston's half court offense, to look and
feel of it sometimes is spotty, but they've been first in half court efficiency
since the trade deadline. So it's just like you're gonna just run out of
and they have so many guys who can at least hit shots. Maybe they're
not always making these complicated plays, but who are you putting Kyrie Irring on?
Yeah in this series, like it's just Seth Curry. Yeah. I
just think Boston is going to have so many guys they can hunt. Like
I think when Seth is on the floor, they will hunt him. When
Patty Mills is on the floor, they will hunt him. When Druga is
on the floor, they will hunt him. When Kyrie is on the floor,
they're going to go after him. You know, Kyrie has played well
defensively in stretches, but is that going to sap some of his offensive efficiency,
Like if he's not having one of these unconscious shooting nights, is that
going to turn the tide in a game or in the entire series. So
it just feels like Boston has so many more areas to attack, and you
bring up a good point like maybe then that's just doubled down and say,
you know what if we can if we go small and we do do Durant
Brown Kyrie Seth and either Patty or Draggage. Sure, maybe Horford mashes up
on mashes us on post ups, but like we'll live with that because again
it's a math problem us that we're going to knock down Enough three is that
and al Horford post up is an age is not super efficient in general,
and b is only gonna be wear two points in set of three. Yeah,
I just the math there starts up. But again they have Kevin Durant.
The other thing here is I'm gonna set They've both averaged about forty minutes
since the middle of March, Kevin Ran and Kyrie Irving. What is our
I'm gonna set the over under at forty one for each of them? Are
you taking the over underd minutes for this series over for Durant? For sure?
But I mean that's you know, it's concerning. It's like, you
hope he stays healthy, but at a certain point, I mean he's just
had to play so many minutes for this team, thirty seven point two on
the year. Now he missed twenty seven games and Kybrie has missed fifty three,
so fresh legs potentially, But you know, we saw some signs of
Kyrie like fading down the stretch of the regular season. Steve Dash was saying,
like, that's just part of him just getting back up to being a
full time player. It's like, well, that probably could have been rectified
earlier this season. So, I mean, like I don't remember. I
know they released the full schedule, but like I don't remember if they have
a two days off at one point, but you know, they're playing almost
every other day at this point, and he's looked gassed in a couple of
fourth quarters. I'm not even trolling him, but like, yeah, you're
going from one to two day work weeks to like four day work weeks.
Is it like that's three or four day work weeks, and you're playing this
type of load up this minute's load. It's it's at least a factor in
this And look, it's not going up against the Knicks. It's not going
up against I mean, actually the Cavs defense is exhausted, but like you're
going up against Boston's defense, which has been the best in the league for
basically the entire year. Yeah, yeah, exact, like you have to
go against Marcus Smart and Derek White, you get no reprief. Yeah,
So I'm just which leads me to, well, we have to I was
gonna jump to predictions. Who is your ex factor for Brooklyn in this series,
assuming that Ben Simmons does not play, I will say Bruce Brown.
Actually it would be your thoughts on Ben Simmons aside, like he would be
stupid to bring him back now, right? That puts him in just me
a no win situation. Just it's not the fact that he hasn't played in
a year. It's the fact that this is also a new team and you're
just going to integrate him in midstream of a playoff series against what's been the
second best team in the East all season and arguably the best team in the
East for a half this season. I just don't And theoretically he makes so
much sense defensively because they just don't have guys who make sense defensively. But
I've questioned, and most people disagree with me. I've questioned his offensive fit.
He is used. He played in the dunker spot in Philly, but
he's used. That wasn't the best version of Ben Simmons. He's used to
having the ball in his hands and while Katie and Kyrie Ken space the floor
around Ben Simmons. I doubt either of them want the ball out of their
hands that much so that they can kauto to Ben Simmons and the whole.
I would be fascinated by seeing Ben Simmons as the screener. It's not something
we saw a lot in Philly, so it's not just something that he's done.
And when he did do it, like the results were, the results
weren't great. So I'm just there are so many questions that you need to
answer. Do it in training camp and also back injuries are fickle. I'm
just I know there's gonna be the discussion, Oh, should Ben Simmons come
back? There was the video of him hitting jumpers that the Nets posted.
I don't know if you saw what I posted on that though I quote tweeted
it with the first time like Sixers fans reacting to Mets fans Seamus, oh,
first time Ben Simmons. Yeah, I'm so happy I do not have
to find over Ben Simmons work up videos anymore. I'll say that much,
but I completely agree with you it. Like I wrote a post over at
fours late in March, I think whereas just like it just feels like they're
running out of time on this season, Like, I just don't see a
way for all of the reasons you mentioned, especially offensively, Like yeah,
okay, he would make sense of the Bruce Brown short role, the short
role role that he was playing. But I don't think teams defend Ben Simon
is the same way that they do Bruce Brown because Bruce Brown is at least
willing to take jump shots or take floaters or take three pointers. And you
know, unless Ben comes out and is more willing to do that in Brooklyn
than he was in Philly. Like I think Boston in particular that has had
a lot of success defending him over the years, especially in the playoffs.
Like again, it just comes down to specific personnel, Like you can put
Jaylen Brown on Ben Simmons and you still have Tatum to put on Kevin Durant
or vice versa. And I don't think that's a winning matchup for Ben Simmons,
Like you're you're expecting nothing out of him as a score except in transition.
I think the only hope is you know, his rebounding, his playmaking
and his defense can help swing a game. Who's your ex factor for Brooklyn
in this series? Then? Yeah, it's Bruce Brown. I mean,
they're just gonna need someone else. I like Seth Curry's been dealing with this
ankle injury. He's just not himself. You know, maybe they can get
these multiple shooting lineup going and maybe that can you know, play the Celtics
into or like the you know, the Nets can play any of the Celtics
bigs off the floor. But even if they can, like I, you
know, put out Peyton Pritchard or pay up put out aaron Ni Smith,
and I still think the Celtics have a better five man group than that's due.
So they need a lot out of Bruce Brown on both ends of the
floor as to have a chance of hole in this upset. He's minus factor
as well, And there's also just a notion of, yeah, they're gonna
put him in actions on offense, so it'll be a little bit different from
when he's not directly involved in the action. I would hazard that Boston is
just basically knocking a guard him like they I know he can cut, but
like they're not going to read into his three point percent. They're gonna be,
hey, make these if we're gonna die by Bruce Brown three pointers,
fine, I'm tempted to go Claxton just because of I think he'll end up
being the most played big for them in this series unless they tilt really tall
towards small ball. And we also saw how he can help in a game
like Cleveland where if the Celtics try to cater towards their hyper versatile lineups.
I even thought about, like because of Seth Curry's injury and just if they
decide to lean in the offense, I think Patty Mills could become like the
X factor there, but it's Bruce Brown just because the workload he's gonna have
to shoulder defensively. Yeah, yeah, totally. Speaking of injured stars and
Luca as we're recording this is doing some work on the exercise bike with Maxi
Cleveland so Maps, Maps and five Duggets Warriors. Steph has that foot injury.
We haven't heard anything on as of this recording about whether he's going to
play. I think the assumption is that the sort of extra week off is
going to do him just fine. And I'm of the mind that if he's
gonna play, I trust that he's going to be really good because he is
someone who has had to come back from injuries even in the playoffs before.
He's just such a He's just so fucking great. Like there's just you're not
going to get me to doubt Steph Curry. But Nuggets won't have Jamal Murray
and Michael Porter Jr. Warriors probably will have Steph. What are just your
overarching thoughts on this series? Oh, we didn't do predictions for NETS Boston.
My god, I'm a terrible podcast. Who do you have in the
Nets Boston series? I have Boston in six and I almost want to go
Boston five. I think Kevin Durant can single handedly win one of their games.
Maybe Kyrie does as well, but the matchups are just so bad for
Brooklyn against Boston. It just feels Boston has more answers than Brooklyn does.
I'm gonna double down on my taint that I just don't view the next as
contenders this season, and it's not through any sort of just malice or agenda.
The defense, I think is just going to be abominable against better teams
of the course for seven game series, and I question whether both Kyrie Irving
and Keimer Durant can keep what they're doing up at this scale when you look
at the minutes they're playing, and I'm more concerned about Kyrie Irving because of
his role this year. I'm going to Boston in five, love it.
Love it. Now we can go to Warriors Nuggets. What are your own
marking thoughts on that series? I mean, what did the Warriors do against
Nikola Yoka, who is apparently heading to his second straight MVP Award and well
deserved MVP award If they can figure out how to pord it to Drew Handlin
that's true. Oh yeah, I'm sorry. Is this an advanced analytics podcast
or are we friendly here? Were not friendly? I don't know what the
hit a left handed lighteup in a free throw? Probably not honestly, so
I guess I'm not a real hooper. I can definitely hit a left hand
and lay up. I might be able to hit the free throw of him,
allowed to shoot it with my hand and make it a hook shot.
There we go. The only thing in my repertoire as a left handed hook
shot. No, I mean that's the key, if they if the Warriors
can somehow handle Yokich, any aspect of Yokich, whether score, rebounder,
passer, If they can limit his effectiveness in even one of those three departments,
they probably win this series going away. But I mean, if Steph
is not back, or if he is limited in any way, it's much
like Luca that at least opens the door for a Nuggets team that probably overachieved
all year given the absences of Murray and Porter. And then I mean it
doesn't right, it doesn't sound like either of those guys are going to come
back. But I love that the playoffs just have like a bunch of these
series where it's like, well, what if Kauai all of a sudden coming
back? We like, what if Murray and Porter all of a sudden decide
what if Ben Simmons plays, Like, of those four Kauai, Porter,
Junior, Murray and Ben Simmons, if you had to pick one, And
I don't think I'm forgetting any like major injuries, because Stephen Luca are going
to play at some point. Yeah, of those four, who would you
be most likely to return? God, I don't think Kaui. It's just
so hard to know because like it's Kauai for me, because I just I
feel like there's a power vacuum in the West to where if I think that
the full strength Warriors team is close to the Suns, but for me,
it is the Phoenix Suns and everybody else. If the Warriors look at all
vulnerable at the start of like that, like if the Nuggets beat the Warriors
or they like got out to it, I could just see and the Clippers
are in the playoffs, let's just see with that point, I just see
quite like you fuck it, I'm gonna come back, and the opportunity the
Warriors look for a week, if we can beat the Suns, We've become
title favorites. I wouldn't take them to beat the Suns, but I'm just
that's my logic there. Yeah, I mean that that would be their hardest
tess if they win the one eight, like they are probably cruising to the
finals at that point. Yeah, I'm with you there, But I'm sorry
for interrupting. That was just we have so many of these like, oh
will they won't they? And they're not really looming over because let's just be
honest, they won't, but if they were, I think it would be
cool. Yeah. Yeah, But so I'm assuming neither of those neither Murray
and Porter playing in the series, or if they do, they play very
limited minutes. So I mean, like the Nuggets bench was an absolute crime
scene for the first half of the year, and then the addition of DeMarcus
Cousins, the addition of Brent Forbes and Bones Highland just really getting comfortable in
his role has been a big thing for them. So, you know,
I think the Nuggets don't have the top end talent to compete with the Warriors
outside of Yoki, so they're gonna have to continue leaning on their depth.
You know, How do the Warriors contain Yokich? I think is the single
biggest question of the series from either side. Yeah, I'm assuming we're gonna
see a lot of Draymond Green on Yokich, but I also and I haven't
decide on my X factors just yet, but like it might be Cavan Looney
if only because is he gonna use all six of his fouls to make life
tough on yo Kis? But he will see time because they're gonna play Green
and Looney together. They're just you know, and that's to probably help them
on the defensive class as well. They've generally been in a like they've gotten
by excuse me as defense. As a defensive rebounding team, but like that
probably gets a lot harder if you're using Wiggins or Porter as your other guy
next to next to Draymond against a team with Yokit. So yeah, and
I don't know how that looks. But I also wonder, like, how
does yokitch match up with the Warriors, who like they're gonna be you know,
they're like they move so fast even when they're not moving so fast,
so like they're eighth in average offensive possession time, but I think that undersells
how fast they can actually move in the half court, and that like couldn't
make life difficult on him, because as good as he is on defense,
or is not bad as he is on defense, like this is not great
hands in the right spots, but there are just some things where it's like
if Steph turns a corner, if Jordan Pool turns a corner, or if
like Klay Thompson is flying around him, and like the Warriors are forcing switches
or setting these off ball screens, like what do you what do you do?
And so this feels like a uniquely bad matchup for both sides of the
coin, where it's like I don't know how you go about defending Yokich.
But I also don't know that Yoki matches up all that well defensively against Golden
State. Yeah. No, that's a fair point. I mean that's if
Looney's on the floor, that gives him an out. I think. So,
you know, how much do we see of the quote unquote like death
lining up two point zero or three point zero, where they do you know,
Steph playing Pool, Wiggins and Drain just to give yo kids nowhere to
hide defensively? We're just assuming, like who gets the primary Steph assignment?
Do we just assume that it's Aaron Gordon? I guess? I mean the
Nuggets don't really have a good option, I mean Gordon Knight, Yeah,
because like Jeff Green maybe gets a little bit of time on him, But
I don't love that Will Barton Monte Morris, Like this is another way.
It's similar to Brooklyn Boston, where it's like Warriors have a lot of potentially
good answers for the Nuggets. The Nuggets do not have a ton of good
answers for the Warriors. I'm wondering how big the Nuggets bench becomes in this
just if we assume that Yokis plays forty minutes, how do they how do
they go about, like, are we going to see some of the smaller
front courts then where it's Jeff Green is the five and maybe Jamke Green kind
of fallows by the wayside, or maybe do you go go to a Jeff
Green Jamichael Green combination here, I'd be more intrigued, like one of the
Greens and then Aaron Gordon a sort of populating your front court in those minutes.
Because the Warriors, just like Wiseman's not go we already know he's not
gonna play this season, and whether it's Lunear, whether it's Draymond, like,
you're not gonna have like the Warriors aren't gonna have this traditional but you're
not gonna worry about Beelitza either, So they're not gonna have this traditional being
in the middle, and that could provide a unique opportunity I think through the
bench in many ways also because if you're I don't know how you're mirroring the
non Steph minutes for the Warriors. The Warriors offense is back to being a
disaster without Steph Curry. I know Jordan Poole has come on play. Thompson
has been great over his last ten games or so. But since Seth up
set, Steph Curry went down. And there's a lot of noise in this
because of the teams they faced and also who they played. But the Warriors
are twenty fifth in points scored per possession. Like that is Steph Curry's MVP
case right there, Like you've off differentials that you took this dude away and
the offense still imploded while you had two guys playing their best basketball the season,
at least for Kay Thompson certainly, And like, how are you getting
by if you're the Warriors in those minutes? I'm assuming it's a lot of
Jordan Pool and Clay Thompson, But do you have like is that is that
enough? Just because Klay Thompson has been so good, but I feel like
he's gotten better and in part because like he's just not forcing it as much.
He doesn't feel like he's putting the ball on the floor as much,
and without Steph Curry and the threat of him doing literally everything whether he has
the ball or not, like you do need some of that on ball jet
fuel. It's not newsflash. It's not gonna be Andrew Wiggins. Like let's
just let's not pretendin yeah, excuse me, all star starter Andrew Wiggins,
it's gonna be Jordan Pool then, Like yeah, and they've been pretty religious
about like we're not going to see a lot of dre without Steth, Like
those are two that are maybe it's different in the playoffs, but those are
two players that we're going to see a lot of time together. And so
is that I guess I'm asking questions about both. I don't want to call
it their benches because like we're involving Clay Thompson and like I don't like Jordan
Pool's like just been one of their most important players all season and it's not
even depth overall, But like some of the non I guess I'm questioning what
the non star minutes look like for both teams. You take stuff off the
court, you take yokis off the court, who has the edge, like
in that scenario, not even head to head, but like who whose rotation
do you trust more without their star in it? Yeah? I mean again,
I think the Warriors have more top end talent even with Sam's step stands
yok Like you feel better if it's like Clay and Pool anchoring than I don't
even know would be anchoring for the war for the Nuggets. But I will
say Bowen Thailand maybe the spoiling my ex factor here, but like I don't
even know if he would be my ex factor for the series. But he
is the exact type of guy where it's like this guy can hit three or
four threes in three minutes and all of a sudden, the twelve point lead
is gone. So like he is very capable. I'm swinging a game like
I would trust Pool more over the course of a series, but like Highland
is the exact type of guy that the Nuggets will need to spring an upset.
And just to back up my point, the Warriors, we're all mostly
average on offense. When Steph and Pool played without Curry this season, one
twelve point two points per one hundred and forty seven percentile. You'll take those
minutes. But there are some lineup combinations and I think you know, there's
the starting lineup without Steph was just awful. Minus That lineup was minus thirty
four point eight per one hundred and so you had someone you put in Otto
Porter like that helped it out a little bit. But the non Steff questions
for me are there, But I'm also with you that they do seem to
have the more just like established supporting cast there, And I'm just question I'm
also questioning how much do we see the Nuggets rely on Bones Highland in this
series? Is there the stigma of it? Felt like Michael Malone put him
into the lineup by necessity, like the personnel demanded it. Is he going
to keep him there playing the type of minutes that he has been playing,
And I would argue you probably should just do that because as you mentioned,
and start to run out of options pretty quickly. I don't even know what
to buy you time in this matchup, Like what is the Nuggets' best lineup
without Yokis? And I don't I don't want to say that like this focus
too much on the no Yokis minutes, Like series can be one or lost
during those six to eight minute total stints per games with We've seen it with
Joel Eenbid a couple times. Yeah, I mean, I think Highland,
especially over the final month, like starting March. The second was their first
game in March. But so this is the final twenty games of the season.
You know, he shot forty seven point eight overall forty one point two
from re average fourteen points per game. I think he's their most reliable bench
scorer at this point, which is crazy to say about a rookie who is
selected late in the first round, but like you go down the list,
it's like, well, do you trust him more than Austin Rivers at this
point? Probably so you know, like PJ Dojer is not there for a
ton of offense. I don't even want to mention Facundo Campazzo and fear of
Nuggets fans. You know, Brent Forbes is there as well. I think
he'll play an important role, but I think, especially if you are just
trying to keep pace with a Nuclear Warriors offense, you're gonna need big contributions
from your bench and from guys like Bones and Brent, And then hey,
like, maybe do we see a DeMarcus Cousins revenge series? Like I think
I feel like he's like a like, is he going to be a nonfense
I was going to ask you who you like who becomes more important to the
series, DeMarcus Cousins, Austin Rivers or Bryn Forbes. I hope for the
Nuggets sake, I hope it's not Austin Rivers. I think it's going to
be Austin Rivers. Oh boy, that's gonna be rough. It depends on
you know, if you're get you have Will Barton, maybe Aaron Goren's give
me more an offensive Bones Island is killing it. Maybe you're less relying on
him. But I think it's going to be awesome Rivers. It's very possible.
I will say, I think given the Warriors lack of size and you
know, with drama, it has not mattered and it will never matter.
But like they don't have a ton of rotation guys above sixty seven sixty eight
honestly, So like I think one of the keys to beating them is just
destroying them on the glass, making sure you're limiting them to one shot opportunity,
because if you know, if you're giving Clay Steph Jordan Poole second or
third chances on a possession, it's not not going to add up in your
favor over the course of the series. So that is one area where I
could see Boogie helping out. But you know, if the Warriors, like
if if they can match Boogie with Looney outside of starting minutes, like maybe
as it gives him a place to hide. But if he's going against you
know, be Eliza, that he's just you don't want him scrambling out to
the perimeter like that. And I'm interested. I don't think they're gonna go
this deep in their bench. But do the Warriors break out Kuminga at all?
Because he's a guy that the Nugget is just seemed to have no answer
for, especially if Aaron Gordon to preoccupy with Steph And that's what I was
also gonna because once you get beyond Looney, like what are you doing with
those minutes alongside Draymond Green? Or how are you populating the front court?
There's Draymond and Looney separate of course, but like Otto Porter and then like,
couldn't we see Kamina in this series? Maybe think so? I hope
so, because I mean he's especially over the second half of the season,
he popped man like, he showed that he is deserving of a rotation spot.
He's not, you know, I'm not going to play it like thirty
plus minutes per game, but yeah, why not, especially if the if
the Nuggets try to go big with Boogie, like you don't have a ton
of big options and you know his athleticism alone, it is really going to
give the Nuggets a lot of trouble. I think, who has Is this
more of a Jonathan Comingo or Gary Payton the second series? Oooh ooh,
I'll answer mine first, and you may. I think it might be Cominga.
And I know that Gary Payton's spot and the rotation has been let's say,
unstable, even though I think he's been huge for the Warriors, and
you know when you do your six Man of the Year ballot, he shouldn't
win. But like he was in my honorable mentions for it, the Nuggets
don't have like that dangerous point of a tax. If Jamal Murray or even
Michael Porter Jr. Was playing, I might go with Gary Payton the second
But because even if you just need bodies to throw at you kitch or fouls,
I could see it being I would probably pick like Otto Porter Junior getting
that before Cominga maybe, But it feels like this would be more of a
Cominga series than a just because of the way the Nuggets are built, more
of a Cominga series than a Gary Payton a second series. And looking even
if it's just a matter of like the secondary front court minutes where it's,
oh, you're trying to match up with Jeff Green or I don't even I
feel like these nag He's not going to play much this series, mostly because
he's coming off that that injury. But like, if you have to match
up with like one of the Green brothers, where is Aaron Gordon all of
a sudden like the four or something. So I think I don't feel too
confident in it, but I think this is more of a cominga series.
Yeah. I mean, especially on the off chance that Michael Porter Junior returns,
he'd be instantly one of the best options there. And you're right,
I mean Monte Morris, isn't that guy like Bones is more of a three
point threat than he is? You know, he's not gonna like beach off
the dribble a ton or if he is, you have Draymond their larking.
So yeah, probably this was someone that I think Clay and even Jordan Pool
like, if you don't want to trade off the offense, yeah, they
can still handle that. Yeah. Yeah, so I would agree it's probably
more of a commenus series. But I have no sense of how deep Steve
Kerr is going to go to his bench, like, I mean, I
guess that's part of the risk or the trouble with Clay, Like, you
know, this is not prime Klay Thompson, and especially coming off of both
of those injuries, Like, I don't know that you can ramp him up
to forty plus minutes of game and Steph coming off of his injury, like,
is he ready to play forty minutes per game right off the bat?
So that might be one area one advantage for the Nuggets that like their guys,
like they can lead more heavily on the starters if they need to.
Then I think the Warriors probably can. Who with that in mind, who
is your X factor for Let's start with the Warriors here? Probably Klay.
Is that unfair? Is he like to high profile of a X factor?
I think because there's like so much variability now caked into his performances, at
least in theory. Because if you're do you expect the Klay Thompson that you've
seen over the past few weeks. I it's fair if you do, but
I also get if you maybe wouldn't. And then like sort of the other
part of all this though, is his role defensively has changed like his matchup
difficulty per b Ball Index is lower, his positional versatility, he's classified as
a wing stopper, where he's probably in years pass. I should look this
up before I'm spouting. It was more of like a point of attack guy,
Like what are I guess it's not as important in this series, just
because we already mentioned that, you know, Bones Highland, Monte Morris or
those guys gonna instill fear and you know, it's like from the from the
point of attack. I honestly don't know, but yeah, I think I
think it's totally fair to say Clay Yeah, I mean, it's part of
it. By the way, he's actually had more positional defensive versatility this year
than in the previous two seasons he played for and he's always beside as a
wing stopper, which is actually that did it surprised me a little bit,
just because we've seen him so much guard the other teams like best ball handler.
Yeah, that does surprise me. And a lot of it is like
which play are you gonna get? Are you gonna get the last couple weeks
are you're gonna get? Well, you know, I think hopefully what we
saw early on where he's a lot more inconsistent. He's shaken off for the
rest he played thirty two games, Like, I don't think he's going to
be the Clay of old, but he's still a high volume, very efficient
three point shooter and that's not going to change. It's just how many minutes
can he play and how does he handle his matchup defensively? Like I think
he will be fine, and I think that will work out in the Warrior's
favor, But you just you don't know with someone who you know, we've
seen plays at games of basketball in three years, who are you throwing on
Clay? Who are you throwing on Jordan Pool? And if the Warriors have
those two playing with Steph for stretches, Like what is Denver's answer? Right?
I mean, because you can like where is Monte Morris in that scenario?
Because if you have Aaron Gordon on Steph, maybe you do Will Barton
on Clay And I don't love that, or you have to do you have
to do Monte on Jordan Pool? I think that would be what you have.
I'm trying to think of, Like is this is this Austin Rivers breaking
Kate? I don't think he's going to give you that much more resistance that
you take Will Barton off the court or Monte Morris for that matter. I
mean you run out of options there really quick. That could be Another question
is if Steph is available, Like how much do we see the three guard
lineup versus this version of the Nuggets. I would imagine a lot, because
I think it is going to worst the Nuggets into kind of a breaking point
unless no Firing Murray or Michael Porter Junior coming back. And also they've been
a plus thirty three point six per one hundred on the floor together. Yeah,
I don't know who to pick for my X factor. I want I
get Clay. I also thought about Jordan Pool just because there are just gonna
be minutes where Steph Curry is not on the floor even if he's playing,
and can you be even close to net neutral during those A lot of that's
going to fall on Pool. I thought about like Porter or Kaminga because of
the secondary big minutes they're gonna have to log I refuse to pick Andrew Wiggins,
even though if he's giving you anything on offense or sort of a weak
side rebounder, that's a huge X factor I think I'm just gonna set along
Kaman Looney because on an individual possession basis, he's going to spend the most
time on Nakolio Kitch and that is the Warrior's biggest question. They might have
fewer questions to answer than Denver in this series, but it is their biggest
one. And I'm not saying he's the quintessential answer, but if Draymond Green
is able to continue captaining the entire defense and he's more of someone who helps
out with Yokich and then does everything else, it probably gives you a better
shot. So how much are we going to see Kevon Looney? He is
going to be again when he's on the floor, like, got your primary
option against Yoki and then just what does what does that look like? Yeah?
I mean if if the three guards plus Wiggins plus Dre lineup can hold
their own against Yokich, that's probably curtains for the Nuggets. So they they
need to hope that Yokich destroys those lineups, forces them into playing Louey more
and then you know he destroys those lineups as well. Denver is X factor.
Gotta be Aaron Gordon, right, I think I mean, just given
his importance defensively in this series, and then also what do they get out
of him offensively? But Yokich is incredible and he's gonna get his but he
needs a secondary scorer and less Murray Reporter come back, Martin Morris Highlands,
will all of them something. Jeff Green will give them a little bit,
but they need like a clear cut number two guy. So Gordon is just
going to have a huge role on both ends of the floor here and if
he comes up short on either end, probably not looking great for the Nuggets.
I went with Will Barton, who I feel like we haven't talked about
much on this because I basically for all the reasons you mentioned about the offense,
is maybe he's one that's tasked with running some more Nicole Yoki Yokich list
units. Or is it just Aaron Gordon is cooled off a bunch or he
excuse me, Will Barton is cooled off a bunch since the trade deadline.
Like, if he can play better, that's huge for your offense. We
also have to believe that I think Golden State understands that you can't lose track
of Monte Morris and the half court anymore because that dude can stroke it from
long range and mid range and there might be more of a focus on containing
him at points. But also just if you need like who not, Let's
be honest, who is their best point of attack playmaker right now? Is
it Monte Morris? Is it Bones Island or is it Will Bartin? And
even lets it we can obfuscate the point of attack definition because I know,
like none of those guys meet the bill there would I would argue, if
you want to go with best, maybe Bones Highland just because there's more unpredictability
at least esthetically when I'm watching him functionally watching him, But I think it's
actually Will Barton. Yeah, I think, especially like because Bones again,
it's he's more of a three point threat that I think than Barton. Although
like the shot distribution when you reflected this year, but you map it on
a permanute basis, it would Barton is definitely more of a guy who is
going to attack you off the dribble. So yeah, I mean, I
don't I don't know how much success he's going to have doing that in this
series, but if he is, that it's a great shout as an X
factor because that that could be just you know, they need some thing other
than okay yo Kid to do everything. Yeah, I would agree predictions.
This one's tough without knowing. It's similar to like the Luca Dallas thing without
knowing exactly what to expect that of Steph early on, like fully healthy Steph.
Game one probably Warriors in five or six, and given the wild card
of a potential Murray and Porter return, although I don't think it's especially likely,
I'm gonna go to the cowards way and say Warriors and seven. I'm
gonna say Warriors in six. I think they're that problematic of a matchup for
Denver, and I don't look forward to the discourse surrounding Nicole Yo Kid if
he gets bounced in the first round. Again, the MVP is a regular
season award, and let's not pretend that the Nuggets are anything close to the
full strength here. I think he is a fraud and real Hoopers know that
KD especially shout out to Kevin Durant. How would Joe be not the MVP
when he won the scoring title? That's just the only How is he not
the MVP? You tell me? Speaking of Joel Embiid, we move we
close with the six Craptors, the final playoff series that has been set,
and I think the one I'm most excited to watch, both because of the
matchup chess on paper, but also because of like how nuclear things could get
if the Sixers play really poorly and you're dealing with James Harn's upcoming free agency
and Doc Rivers future. We know that you're secretly rooting for the Raptors because
you want a new head coach in Philly, Lakers fans should definitely be rooting
for the Sixers. What just take me? You are like the best person
to have on for this specific series, Like what are you just thinking leading
into it? Aside from that Matisse Tiples would just get the booster. Sure,
no, he got you got one shot. He just didn't get the
second one. I just have a pit of dread in my stomach about this
series. Like maybe it's I mean the regular season the Raptors won three one
the last two games they've played within the past month, James Harden, Like
after the James Harden trade, you just have to throw out you know,
full regular season results for the Sixers don't matter because everything before James Harden's debut.
Who cares. They're a totally different team now. They played twice in
the last month, lost both times. Fred van Vleet and Ogian and Obi
missed both of those games. So assuming those guys are back, and yeah,
I don't think they're gonna be fully healthy, but playing certainly concerning based
on what we've seen recently the Raptors, I mean, I've been talking about,
you know, matchups kind of dictating, you know, whether who wins
a playoff series, and the Raptors just feel like a really f and bad
match the Sixers for a number of reasons. They don't have a clear answer
for Joel Embiad. So that is where if you're path mapping out a path
with Sixers victory, it is Joel Embiid using the spike that he feels about
Nicol Yokich winning MVP for the second straight season to just do like drop forty
twenty every game, because that's honestly what they're gonna need out of him.
But this version of James Harden, can he beat switches, I don't know
anymore, which is very concerning. And if he can't, the Rafters have
no shortage of six eight, six nine, guys that they can throw at
him. They learned their lesson. I mean like teams early on were blitzing
Harden and daring someone else to beat them, and the Sixers are very capable
of doing that. But if you can just switch between you know, Og
Scotty and Pascal on Harden and he can't beat those guys off the dribble,
it's gonna be a long serio for the Sixers. Yeah, there's I will
still maintain that the attention James Harden draws feels like it's still been important,
important to the supplementary offensive players. Looking at Maxine, even Tobias Harris,
who we both last time you're on this podcast, we absolutely destroyed his performance
on the court, and he's he's somewhat suddenly turned things around. But yeah,
I don't like the Raptors are built to make a lot of difficult even
on a team that has just James Harden being James Harden. And we saw
it in their most recent matchup where it's like, no, they're not gonna
keep the ball out of Joel Beat's hands, but they're gonna make you run
through a zillion different labyrinths to get the ball to him. And that's gonna
burn time off the shot clock. They have the ability to throw multiple bodies
at him if they want, and you can't like, who are you hunting
on this team? Like, oh, precious that chews on James Harden.
They don't fucking care. They probably want that right right, Yeah, there
there is no weak link defensively, or at least not one that they can
target, Whereas I mean, the Raptors in the fourth quarter of that game
recently really wet after Tyres Maxie, Like they put and beat on Siakam and
then they just spammed Siam Gary Trent Junior pick and rolls and went right after
Maxie. So that is another concern. I mean, Maxie is going to
be you know, it is great offensively and has settled into the number three
option, probably better than anyone could have anticipated. But you know, are
they going to be able to play him off the floor? Like, are
they gonna just I don't think they will, like to the extent that the
Sixers literally take him off the floor because they don't have a better option,
But can they figure out way to protect him from getting roasted as an individual
defender? How big is Tyble's absence in the games that take place in Toronto.
Knowing that Philly's I guess like their weakest like defensive link is their ability
to probably defend in transition, I would argue, And now not having him
is this just like Ganty Greenians. So I'm at the clock a half decade
out of like what is the what is the answer? Yeah, I mean,
they just don't have another wing defender. It's like Shake Milton is going
to play the most minutes at that position. Otherwise it is for con corkbos
or like Charlie Brown Jr. Who I think is on a two way and
isn't even eligible for the playoffs that I think about it, So yeah,
I mean I think it's it's big. But who were we talking about earlier,
Oh Boston with like you know, it does Robert Williams injury actually force
them into the best lineup for this specific matchup. And I do wonder if
Tible's decision not to get vaccinated or not to get fully vaccinated also made Doc
Rivers stumble ass backwards into the best possible lineup for this series, because I
think Danny Green, you know, when Thibles on the court, the Raptors
just completely more They're like, all right, if you want to shoot threes,
great, we're going to sag so far off of you to clog up
driving lanes and to throw help at Joel Embiid. We don't care. You
can take one hundred threes. We will like, we'll live with the result,
especially over a seven game series. Danny Green not nearly as good defensively
as Thiable or you know, at what he was in his prime, but
a much much better shooter. So the offensive spacing I think is going to
be a lot better. With that said, yeah, it's a concern,
especially if Danny gets into foul trouble, because again, they just don't really
have any other options. I will say, the thing that works in their
favor in that regard is the Raptors don't have that like elite wing scorer like
Kevin Durant, the Tatum, the you know, Paul George Kawhi Leonard,
so like that. Not the Thible or Green could have handled someone like that
anyway, but the Raptors might not have the personnel to exploit his absence in
that way. Who's the person you're throwing Diable on when he's playing? Is
it like? Is it Fred VanVleet. It's not Fred VanVleet, is it.
Yeah, I mean, because Fred's been just so inconsistent with that knee
injury since the All Star break, so maybe o Gianna Nobi, I don't
know, also been banged up a lot he was playing as well. Yeah,
I mean it's the Raptors are gonna be fascinated because I just don't know
who the throw like they started Siakam precious A, Scottie Barnes and Kem Birch
and then Gary Trent Junior in that game the other day, so I think
that means that line up struggled to score. It did, but I think
that means Scotty Barnes played at the two like started at the two, So
I'm interested to see who they trot out in their starting five. Kem Birch
had no chance against that beat. I don't think he played is a ton
in this series, and they're going to have a short bench like I think
Sad and Chris Bouche. And that's probably all she wrote there, but I
mean, I think the Raptors like that. It's similar where the Sixers have
the better top end talent, but I think the Raptors match up better against
the Sixers and the Sixers to the Raptors. Do you have any like thoughts
on how the Sixers can try and navigate I don't want to say the nonstar
minutes, but the way they're going to stagger their stars. You know about
this for Forbes, and I knew that the hardened Maxi minutes without Embided were
terrible. I did not realize that the Embided Maxi minutes without or assuming the
hardened without Maxie or Embide minutes since they were originally tethering those two together,
were bad. I know, I didn't look enough to see that the Embide
Maxi minutes without Hearten weren't that great either, And so like, what is
the course of action here for Doc rivers pray whatever his gut instinct says,
do the other that's probably I don't know. I mean, it's it's it's
gonna be tough. I think, you know, you have to space the
floor. So I think probably shake Yang and Danny Green with and beaten Maxie
would make the most sense. And then you know, the backup big question
for Philly is going to be looming large in this series as well. Doc
very condescendingly said that, you know, when when the opponent has a small
backcourt, they're gonna go Paul Reid, and then when they have a big
backcourt, they're gonna go Andre Drummond. Which makes sense, and that's what
people have been clamoring for because as why we've been watching on DeAndre Jordan,
you know, try his lifeless corpse up and down the court for a month,
but Doc had not been doing that up until the last couple of games.
So, like I think Reid is going to play in this series,
I don't think DeAndre should or is going to very much. I mean,
in the game the previous game, not the one recently, he played eleven
minutes and was a minus ten and they lost by five. So that speaks
and somehow I don't think it accurately captured how bad DeAndre Jordan was in this
matchup. So I think we see not a lot of Paul Reid because you're
gonna play at beat forty minutes or so, but we'll see Paul Reid for
the backup big minutes. You know, Doc has talked about like the concern
about him getting into foul trouble, and it's like, bro, he's playing
ten minutes a game. It's he really could rack up six fouls in ten
minutes or if he does, like okay, dust off DeAndre Jordan or dust
off Paul Milstap for like two minutes if you need to. But give Paul
Read the first crack at the backup big and I think I think he will.
What was the what was the quote he had the other night on Paul
Readers, like this is not the Paul We're not going to make Paul Reid
show Paul Read victory tour? Is there? Moving this to the Raptors,
is they're like an element of they could hamper themselves in this series because even
over this elite stretch that they've had, which is basically lasted half the season
at this point, their half court offense has not been great. They're relying
on cleaning up a lot of missus or getting out in transition. Again,
I don't know that it will be a problem to get out and transition against
Philly. They are around league average and three point efficiency during this stretch,
but they're also twenty six and three point tenth three. Like they're just not
locked and over with a lot of shooters, in part because, as you
mentioned, they're not playing lineups with a ton of shooters if their full cast
is available. And I'm looking at their injury report right now. I'm not
used to seeing no current injuries for any team, let alone the Raptors.
But no current injuries to report. Believe it or not, but I know
Siakam is different, Like this isn't the same player who couldn't dribble. It
felt like in a straight line against Boston in twenty twenty. There's more directionality
to his drives, better decision making. He is just a much better player
than he was then. And you still do have Fred Van Fleet, but
feel like he's done better in the like point guard ish type of role where
he needs to have more influence over the offense. You've run reps through Scottie
Barnes and crunch Time and there's been some flashes there. Garus Trent Junior can
be electric, but there's still just something about this half court offense that feels,
if not solvable, like it can that it can go through slumps of
its own accord. And I do think a lot of that has to do
with like Nick Nurse, and this is probably because when you look at the
bench, there just aren't any secondary creators some of these units he's running out,
they're not built to score like these just egregiously saying like we're gonna play
a bunch of life sized guys and it's gonna hurt our offense, but that's
just what we're going to do. Does that give you any hope if you're
the Sixers or we pass the point of where we should actually be concerned about
the aesthetics of Toronto's offense a lot of the time, Yeah, it doesn't
give me a ton of hope. I think they're just gonna lean even more
heavily on that starting group. And it's not like the Sixers bench has been
any better. Like the Sixers are also a very top heavy group. They're
gonna play they're top four, and FAD's been at least like you can point
to that guy coming off the bench and playing really well. Yeah, and
you think Buche too, Yeah, and Brouchet I was going to say,
and the Sixers, it's like, well, like George and Yang, I
think is you are. He will be a consistent member off the bench,
and he will knock down some big shots at times. It was work on
in like October November. Yeah, like Shank is finding his footing lately.
Matisse will play in the games in Philly, presumably. I think they're going
to just keep Danny in the starting lineup the whole time. I don't think
they want to go back and forth. But yeah, then that's like pray
pray. John Hollinger was right about Paul Reid last thing before. Actually,
actors, the Sixers will win this series if James Hard is James Harden.
Would you even guarantee that they win if James Harden is James Harden And let's
not let's make it not playoff James Harden, but like regular season James Harden.
No, because Doc Rivers, Doc Rivers versus Nick Nurse is the biggest
mismatch. We've discussed a lot of mismatches on this episode. That is the
single biggest mismatch in the first round of the playoffs. Yeah, I look,
I've just very much the Raptors just do things on defense with lineups that
I hate that I don't understand that tend to work out. So yeah,
i'd agree with Yeah, who is your ex factor for the Sixers in this
series? Danny Green? I think we just especially given the absence of Matisse,
if he is able to play, Like, I just don't know if
he's he will be able to play forty minutes a game over the course of
the series, and I think they're going to need him to, you know.
Tobias is another one. You mentioned him earlier, like he really struggled
in those first couple of games with Harden, but has gotten so much better
lately, Like he finally after two years of Doc Rivers just begging him to
catch and shoot, he finally is just catching and shooting now. So no,
he's gonna have to what knows they have the Raptors have no shortage of
six eight guys, so he's gonna have to take on someone. I don't
know if they'll start. I guess if they start, they're normal five the
Raptors do, and Bead will start on Siakam and then Tobias is probably on
Scotty Barnes, but then that probably means Danny Green on og and then yeah,
like where do you hide hard? Maybe you hide Harden on Ouchi and
put Danny Green on Gary Trent and then Maxie on Fred van Fleet. Like
this is another one where it feels like the Raptors have more like more answers
against the Sixers and the Sixers to the Raptors. And that's not even including
the coaching. My extractor for them was to Bias Harris, you laid out
basically why on offense, Like, if he's gonna play like he's been playing
that, I'll be huge for them, And I guess it's not necessarily.
I mean, they need it. If James Harden is gonna be hitting shots
like this, he's gonna get rid of the ball. Debias Harris is gonna
be opening some make shots. But I'm also, like you mentioned him Defendie
Scotty Barnes based off some of the lineups that Nick Nurse is going to throw
out there, they're gonna be reps where he has to guard Pascal Siakam probably,
And I've also just wondered, and I don't know how out there this
is, but like, given some of the lineups that the Raptors throw out
there, like, is there a like Tobias Harris and center scenario here that
the Sixers should be exploring if they just refuse to break out Paul Reid.
I think they're going to break out Paul Reid. They did in the last
game, and they have over the last couple of games of the season.
But like, I would much rather see it Tobias and the Yang front court
than I would Deandrew Jordan. DeAndre Jordan has absolutely no place in this series.
And if he plays a single minute, Doctor Rivers is point shaving,
You're a chapter for the Raptors. I mean, where do you even like
any of the guy? I mean, Siakam is too important, Advanvleet,
He's like too important to be an X factor, but like if he's hampered
at all, is at least something that will be keeping an eye on.
I think probably I'm split between Og and Scotty Barnes just because they can do
everything. And you know what, we haven't seen a ton of Og lately.
I mean, I know he came back for a couple of games at
the end of the season, but you know, otherwise, like miss a
ton of time right after the All Star break, so he looked fine,
but I'm just going to keep an eye on, like does that finger injury
hamper him at all? And then Scotty can is just like so versatile,
so depending on who's guarding him, whether it's Tobias or Danny Green at first
you can can he make them pay for that? Because if he can,
then the Sixers just don't have answers up and down the lineup, And this
is going to be a shorter seven series, and I think a lot of
us are expecting. I went with Ogi as well, just because it feels
like not that he's unknown, but like he's just dealt with so many stopping
starts this season. I did entertain Scottie Barnes also because it's like, does
he see time on Joel Ebead in this series? I guess functionally he should
not, but he might see time on everybody. And he's also the first
rookie since I think Damian Lillard to average over thirty five minutes a game in
over seventy appearances. It's like, this is someone who's played a lot,
like it is the rookie wall ever gonna be a thing with him? Or
is he just gonna be I know he struggled at some point in the season,
but also just like Kenny shoulder that workload in the playoffs. But I
think it's just og Hana Nobi maybe because maybe because I'm curious more than anything
else about what he's gonna look like if he's playing heavy minutes over a consistent
period of time. Yeah, for sure. Predictions. I'm going Raptors in
six. I'm gonna go Raptors in seven. I came dangerously close to predicting
the Raptors to come out of the East for Bleacher Report, but I flaked
on that prediction. There's just we went over it. There's so many matchup
problems here, and it's to the I'm not going to assume that James Harden
doesn't make his shots in this series or looks like he's moving really slow,
Ian if you told me that he's great. I don't know that the Sixers
are deep enough to overcome just the breadth of different looks the Raptors can throw
with them, who are not particularly deep themselves. But like their top seven
guys are going or just re kill on defense for Philly. Yeah, I
mean the Sixers are just so not flexible in what they can do, Like
their personnel is just not flexible, especially with Matis being out for at least
or four three of these because the other things. Yeah, and so I
mean, like i think I'm guessing they split the first two in Philly Toronto
wins three and four. Back home without Matis, Sixers win Game five and
then the Raptors close them out and six because yeah, I mean the Raptors
can throw out so many different styles of lineups and Nick Nurse is so creative
and you know who like willing to throw a box in one, like who
knows what they're going to be able to do? The Sixers. I will
say, shout out to Austin Krell of the Painted Liance for this idea.
The Raptors have struggled against his own this year, and the Sixers have been
more willing to do it than they have in years past. So like I
as much as it's easy to poke fun at Doc Rivers and to you know,
pray for him to be the coach of the Lakers next year, Like
this is a big Doc Rivers series, Like if he's going to be going
against one of the smartest, most innovative coaches in the NBA, he has
the top end talent advantage, but the matchups do not favor the Sixers here,
so can he junk this up? And you know force the Raptors half
court offense to sputter? I think is one of the biggest questions. Ryan,
This was great. Thank you so much for going in detail on every
series that we know about heading into Thursday. Can you tell our listeners where
they can find you in all the great work that you do. Yeah,
you can find me on Twitter at the two Poor X, the t O,
P O R e K. I cover mostly the Sixers, but some
also some salary cap stuff at Fork Sports, So I'll be doing a bunch
of stuff heading into free agency, and then you can find my podcast,
the NBA Podcast Wherever Podcasts Profound and Dan. Thank you as always for having
me on. I will be I'm happy to come back in two weeks to
celebrate doctor Ver's newest job at the Lakers. Thank you again, Brian,
As you know I'll be festering you again. Please do, please do,