Speaker 1: Broad casting live from the ninety six to nine at
Speaker 1: Jay Studios.
Speaker 2: It's time to show as a song. Here's your host,
Speaker 2: Brandon Kravitz.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, Welcome to the show. We are live on
Speaker 1: ninety six nine, the game streaming everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: You are in the zone, the show of the Orlando
Speaker 1: Sports Fan. Your host Brandon Kravitz here, joined by my
Speaker 1: co host and producer, He is Sweet Tea Tyler Karen.
Speaker 1: Hit us up on the mills are text line. That's
Speaker 1: five zero eight five seven coming up today, finally getting
Speaker 1: into my top five that I the top five things
Speaker 1: that I learned about the upcoming college football season from
Speaker 1: my vacation magazine. Also listener questions at four to twenty
Speaker 1: five today your chance your final chance at Monster Jam
Speaker 1: tickets during that segment that's at four to twenty five.
Speaker 1: Sort Of a disjointed week for me in and out
Speaker 1: of the studio, at least for the early portions of
Speaker 1: the show. Doing the show from home today, I thought
Speaker 1: that this would be it was just sort of kind
Speaker 1: of a run around. So I thought, hey, you know what, Friday,
Speaker 1: let's just let's just slow down a little bit, connect
Speaker 1: into the studio. Thanks for bearing with us, by the way,
Speaker 1: hopefully it doesn't cause you any disruption, but we've been
Speaker 1: kind of running around like chickens with our heads cut off.
Speaker 1: And Tyler, you have earned MVP status for helping to
Speaker 1: for me to get through this very busy week. So
Speaker 1: thank you and congrats on your award MVP for doing
Speaker 1: my job. I could get used to this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a little lonely in here today. The gloomy
Speaker 3: weather outside certainly doesn't help it. We have motion detector
Speaker 3: lights just outside of the studio through the halls in
Speaker 3: the building that we're in, and BK, let me tell
Speaker 3: you it is a Friday, we're heading into the weekend.
Speaker 3: It's crappy weather outside and those lights are off. I
Speaker 3: might be the only one here in this horse story
Speaker 3: building today, but we still have the same amount of fund,
Speaker 3: bunch of great Friday stories and some Friday shenanigans as well.
Speaker 1: And I would love to start the show with some
Speaker 1: quippy story about life, something that happened. But I literally
Speaker 1: haven't seen the sun in five days, so I got nothing.
Speaker 2: I've just.
Speaker 1: I've just been I've been watching sports and prepping sports
Speaker 1: for the last five days. It is a you know,
Speaker 1: it's like a life of solitude. It's not sexy people,
Speaker 1: but damn if it's not fun. So let's dig into it.
Speaker 1: Here's the reality. I should be excited about what's happening
Speaker 1: right now in the NBA. We are entering into a
Speaker 1: Game seven in the NBA Finals. I should be excited,
Speaker 1: and I know that. There's a big part of my
Speaker 1: brain that says, be excited. This is exciting right Game
Speaker 1: sevens This is what we live for as basketball fans.
Speaker 1: Except I can't get there, and I'll tell you why
Speaker 1: in a second. But let's rewind a bit before I
Speaker 1: get back to that point. Great game by the Pacers
Speaker 1: last night. Gutty performance by Tyrese Haliburton, who I thought
Speaker 1: did not look like his normal self early on, but
Speaker 1: played close enough to the level that we have become
Speaker 1: accustomed to to where he wasn't anything close to a
Speaker 1: detriment to the team. In fact, I thought once he
Speaker 1: settled into the game, he actually played quite well, and
Speaker 1: more than anything, I think he inspired his teammates. Now,
Speaker 1: with all of that said, that game was not indicative
Speaker 1: of how good the Pacers are. It was an absolute
Speaker 1: no show from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Think of how
Speaker 1: uncharacteristic that game was. The Thunder scored the least amount
Speaker 1: of points that they had scored through three quarters in
Speaker 1: a season sixty also one hundred and three games played
Speaker 1: this season by OKC. This was just the second time
Speaker 1: all year that the Thunder didn't create a steal or
Speaker 1: a live ball turnover in the first half of a
Speaker 1: basketball game. Their bench was outscored thirty one to six
Speaker 1: through the first three quarters of the game. The fourth
Speaker 1: quarter was complete trash, throw it out. The box score
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. Sga tallied his second lowest point total in
Speaker 1: the entire postseason in a game where he played at
Speaker 1: least thirty minutes.
Speaker 2: Credit the Pacers, they got the win.
Speaker 1: Rick Carlisle is a genius coach, and I thought it
Speaker 1: was an inspired effort. But the result, the way that
Speaker 1: it played out, the blowout nature of the game was
Speaker 1: a fluke. The Pacers are not a fluke. I'm not
Speaker 1: calling the team of fluke. I am calling that win
Speaker 1: felt fluky. So I'll get to my Game seven take
Speaker 1: in a second, But your general response to my read
Speaker 1: on this basketball game. We usually don't see these, or
Speaker 1: at least I don't think we are mentally ready for
Speaker 1: these in the NBA Finals, these games that you see
Speaker 1: in the middle of the season where you go, oh, well,
Speaker 1: that team just didn't have it tonight.
Speaker 2: But that's exactly what that was to me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it seems like a game that was played on
Speaker 3: a sleepy Wednesday night in the middle of February heading
Speaker 3: into the All Star break.
Speaker 2: That was the vibe of it. That's number one.
Speaker 3: Number two, Aaron Wiggins is on the road, the star
Speaker 3: of OKCE.
Speaker 2: What do we expect him to do? I'm kidding. I'm
Speaker 2: done with the the Aaron Wiggins focus.
Speaker 3: But you certainly have to give credit to Rick Carlisle
Speaker 3: and to this Pacers team because they were up for it.
Speaker 2: They are ready.
Speaker 3: But jet lagged is a term that I've continued to
Speaker 3: use when, especially when you have quick turnaround travel like
Speaker 3: you do in the finals, Game five in Oka, se
Speaker 3: Game six in Indiana, now back to OKCE for in
Speaker 3: Game seven, the Thunder just didn't show up.
Speaker 2: The Thunder were playing.
Speaker 3: Like they had some wiggle room, like they had an
Speaker 3: extra game to play, and the Pacers were playing like
Speaker 3: they did not. But it was some certainly some uncharacteristic
Speaker 3: things by Oklahoma City that also Indiana forced them into
Speaker 3: the corner to do when you shoot one of eleven
Speaker 3: from three point range in the first half. Which, don't
Speaker 3: get me wrong, the Thunder won a game in this
Speaker 3: series where they only had three main threes in the game.
Speaker 3: It's not their bread and butter, but that doesn't help
Speaker 3: the cause twelve turnovers in the first half comparatively to
Speaker 3: just two for Indiana. We're talking about the Indiana team
Speaker 3: that likes to get out and run, whereas OKC kind
Speaker 3: of slower tempo, methodical, half court offense. Those numbers are
Speaker 3: generally flipped in this series, even in games that Indiana
Speaker 3: finds a way to win. So very uncharacteristic game for
Speaker 3: Oklahoma City, and it continues to beat into the pattern
Speaker 3: that this Thunder team just frankly isn't as good on
Speaker 3: the road as what they are as home. You see
Speaker 3: this a lot with teams in general, especially young teams,
Speaker 3: which Oklahoma City, despite the success, despite having the MVP,
Speaker 3: are still one of the younger teams in the league.
Speaker 3: But there is something about that building and playoff environment
Speaker 3: buildings on the road that the Thunder have struggled with,
Speaker 3: and it's why they're in even five hundred in the postseason,
Speaker 3: five and five on the road comparatively to ten and
Speaker 3: two at home. So heading into the Game seven, I
Speaker 3: don't think that you need to sell all of your
Speaker 3: stock in the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Speaker 2: You shouldn't be riding the Pacers too high.
Speaker 3: I think this game can be competitive, but last night,
Speaker 3: as you mentioned, BKA, very uncharacteristic for the Thunder and
Speaker 3: just all in all a complete no show.
Speaker 1: So in my opinion, game and this is going to
Speaker 1: be controversial, and I think some people are going to
Speaker 1: get very upset, but hear me up. Game sevens are overrated,
Speaker 1: especially for a series like this. I like watching these
Speaker 1: two teams play, Okay see style, their brand, the way
Speaker 1: they built their franchise. I appreciate all of those things.
Speaker 1: The defense the Pacers, the high octane offense that anybody
Speaker 1: can score on any given possession, kind of feel of
Speaker 1: the way they run their team. I appreciate all of
Speaker 1: those things. But this series has been sloppy and lopsided.
Speaker 1: Outside of a couple of instances, we got a great
Speaker 1: Game one, We've had a couple of moments, but for
Speaker 1: the most part, it's just been a flip flop of
Speaker 1: bad game in great games and Game sevens to this
Speaker 1: point should be great. I think they have become one
Speaker 1: of the most overrated things in sports. They have become
Speaker 1: the NBA's equivalent to the New Year's Eve party. That
Speaker 1: sounds awesome, but it's usually pretty lame. And every time
Speaker 1: it comes around and you get invited to one, and
Speaker 1: you put the little hat on, you get the kazoo,
Speaker 1: and you go grab a bottle of champagne, you think
Speaker 1: you're gonna have the time of your life, and it's
Speaker 1: just it's just not a good party. That is what
Speaker 1: has happened to Game sevens. They should be awesome. They
Speaker 1: have not been awesome. This is and that part. Some
Speaker 1: of that is based on opinion, but the opinion is
Speaker 1: backed up by numbers. Home teams in the NBA Finals
Speaker 1: in Game sevens are fifteen to four overall. That's just
Speaker 1: straight up. Now, this is where it gets ugly. The
Speaker 1: average scoring margin in NBA Game sevens. This is across
Speaker 1: the playoffs over the last ten years. The average scoring
Speaker 1: margin is twelve point six. That usually doesn't end kate
Speaker 1: a good game. This postseason alone is where it got
Speaker 1: really ugly. Game sevens have produced an average final score
Speaker 1: of twenty point twenty one point six. In terms of
Speaker 1: the differential, the average of the Game sevens we have
Speaker 1: seen in the postseason have been decided by over twenty points.
Speaker 2: I don't think Sunday and think about the way.
Speaker 1: Okay, So that's the trend that's been going on, is
Speaker 1: that over the last ten years, Game sevens in the
Speaker 1: playoffs haven't been very good.
Speaker 2: This postseason, they've been horrible.
Speaker 1: And then look at this series and look at the
Speaker 1: way this is tracking for OKAC. You don't think okac'
Speaker 1: is just gonna blow them out on Sunday. Of course
Speaker 1: they are. This is the way this is going. We
Speaker 1: overrated the Halliburton injury. The Pacers gave you that one
Speaker 1: final shot. This series is over, and I find myself
Speaker 1: I'm glad that we have another game because we're in
Speaker 1: the content business. I just feel like it's kind of
Speaker 1: a waste of every buddy's time. So I'm sorry if
Speaker 1: I come across like the Game seven curmudgeon, but I
Speaker 1: don't think this game is going to be entertaining.
Speaker 2: Ssh. That is top rope with it.
Speaker 3: It's a waste of everyone's time, Like Game seven of
Speaker 3: the NBA Finals. Through what has been outside of the
Speaker 3: Game sevens, it's been fairly entertaining postseason run.
Speaker 2: Here's here's what I will say, because OKAC has been.
Speaker 3: A juggernaut at home and it's in the numbers that
Speaker 3: I detailed, the ten and two at home, they're averaging
Speaker 3: one hundred and twenty two points at home. Opponents are
Speaker 3: only scoring one hundred and one points on them. They
Speaker 3: have a plus two forty seven differential in the postseason.
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable.
Speaker 3: But these Pacers team, this Pacers team, they have been
Speaker 3: road dogs throughout the entirety of the playoffs. It started
Speaker 3: with Milwaukee where they split the games on the road,
Speaker 3: and then in Cleveland, winning all three games on the
Speaker 3: road against the Knicks.
Speaker 2: They were two to one on the road.
Speaker 3: They already have a win in Oklahoma City going back
Speaker 3: to Game one. So this Pacers team, they have been
Speaker 3: road dogs and we now have seen I'm with you
Speaker 3: about Tyre's Halbert. Early on in the game, it seemed
Speaker 3: that he started a little slow, but then he kind
Speaker 3: of shifted into gear. He got more comfortable as the
Speaker 3: game went along in a very balanced Indiana attack to
Speaker 3: where Tyre's Halbert didn't have to be involved in every
Speaker 3: single bucket. It could obi Toppin could just find space
Speaker 3: and the ball would find his way to him, and
Speaker 3: it's why he was the leading score if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 3: off of the bench with twenty points in the game
Speaker 3: last night. So I still think there is confidence and
Speaker 3: more room for growth with tyrese of what he is
Speaker 3: able to give you in a game seven. And this
Speaker 3: Pacers team has been good on the road, but Brandon.
Speaker 3: It all circles back to this is an Oklahoma City
Speaker 3: game as much as last night was an Indiana Pacers game.
Speaker 3: This is an okac identity game written all over it.
Speaker 3: Heading home for a Game seven, the franchise that is
Speaker 3: dying for a championship. You have flirt You flirted with
Speaker 3: it last year. You have been building towards it. You
Speaker 3: had the best season and what we've seen in the
Speaker 3: NBA in a long time.
Speaker 2: In the regular season.
Speaker 3: You survived a Game seven against Denver in dominant fashion.
Speaker 3: You have been you have controlled this series more than
Speaker 3: what the Indiana Pacers have. This is a lopsided affair
Speaker 3: heading into a Game seven. I'm still excited and looking
Speaker 3: forward to it. But if I had to put a
Speaker 3: prediction on this game, which essentially we are, that it's
Speaker 3: going to be the double digit win for the OKC thunder.
Speaker 3: The history backs it up, the numbers back it up,
Speaker 3: and frankly, these teams back it up with what we
Speaker 3: have seen. The saving grace is that Indiana has been good,
Speaker 3: better than most would be on the road through this stretch.
Speaker 3: But yeah, you can make the tombstone that the Indiana
Speaker 3: Pacers great effort. You put together a great series. You
Speaker 3: have defied the odds and everyone's predictions. No one had
Speaker 3: this series going to seven and Okasee winning in a
Speaker 3: game seven.
Speaker 2: But that's what it's all leading to. It feels like exactly.
Speaker 1: I mean, think about the way that this series tracked
Speaker 1: in Indiana. Their DNA in this postseason has been get
Speaker 1: out to a hot start.
Speaker 2: In the series.
Speaker 1: They have won game one in every series that they
Speaker 1: were in in the playoffs. That was how they got
Speaker 1: to this point more than anything else was their ability
Speaker 1: to gain an advantage early in the series, and then
Speaker 1: the percentages are on your side. They were underdogs in
Speaker 1: every series they played in. They I don't I think
Speaker 1: the only one they had home court advantage in was
Speaker 1: round one, but they were even underdogs in that series.
Speaker 1: If I remember correctly, at least early on the number
Speaker 1: may have flipped whatever.
Speaker 2: That.
Speaker 1: So they did that, and they had the big miracle
Speaker 1: shot from Tyrese Haliburton. Then Okay se goes, Okay cracksknuckles
Speaker 1: and they blow out Indiana in Game two, very predictable.
Speaker 1: Then Game three, first game in Indiana. That's the first
Speaker 1: NBA Finals game that they've hosted since Reggie Miller was playing.
Speaker 1: So they win that one, Okay, no big surprise. Then
Speaker 1: OKAC comes back Game four, and then and then okay,
Speaker 1: see takes care of business game five, and it does
Speaker 1: be like things are wrapping up. We started to count
Speaker 1: out the Indiana Pacers, and that is again what makes
Speaker 1: them special. The second you count them out, they will
Speaker 1: show you they got one last gasp left in them.
Speaker 1: But I think that was it. I think that was
Speaker 1: the one, and I don't see it happening again. Not
Speaker 1: in Okac, where the team has been so much better.
Speaker 1: Their net rating is significantly higher over twenty point six
Speaker 1: I think was the number. I don't have it sitting
Speaker 1: in front of me anymore. Negative six point two when
Speaker 1: on the road, the role players you detailed this on
Speaker 1: this show this week. The role players are non existent
Speaker 1: for OKC on the road, and they show a big
Speaker 1: at home. On the text line at five to eight
Speaker 1: five seven, Johnny says game seven's are great.
Speaker 2: Sports extended is always good.
Speaker 1: Those two pieces of your sentence, though, are completely different takes.
Speaker 1: I agree with the second part. I like the fact
Speaker 1: that we have another game. Sure, it gives me something
Speaker 1: to watch on Sunday night. It gives us something to
Speaker 1: talk about right now. It gives us something to talk
Speaker 1: about on Monday because there's gonna be a results to
Speaker 1: that game.
Speaker 2: I like that.
Speaker 1: But Game sevens are great. That first part, it just
Speaker 1: hasn't been true. I think that's the part that it
Speaker 1: kind of drives me crazy right now, how much sports
Speaker 1: fans just default to game sevens are amazing.
Speaker 2: They should be, but they haven't been even in.
Speaker 1: Even in hockey, Like some of the Game sevens that
Speaker 1: we've seen in the Stanley Cup playoffs have been blowout
Speaker 1: Thank you to the Florida Panthers for that, But I
Speaker 1: think just a little bit overblown in terms of how
Speaker 1: great these games have been. Up next, the top five
Speaker 1: things that I learned about the upcoming college football season
Speaker 1: while on vacation.
Speaker 2: Don't miss it.