Tatum's Triple-Double: Celtics ease past the Heat in Game 1

 

Dave Clarke: Yeah. Hey, all right. MTP Boston, missing the point. Boston. It's that time of year again, ladies and gentlemen. Uh, uh, Jayson Tatum was counting from, uh, in his mic'd up from years. To a month, or he was like 11 months, this many days, this many hours, uh, feeding into the sort of narrative that he's built as a superstar this season of, I guess everybody doubts me.

Dave Clarke: It's not enough that I've like gotten to many, uh, Eastern Conference finals. It's not enough that I've made the finals. It's not enough that I've lost to. You know, the Golden State fuckin Warriors in the finals, I guess to just be even considered any good, I have to win the whole damn thing, fair or not fair, I think we'll discuss that here but I want to start with, uh, with something that Mike and I briefly touched on towards the end of the season, last, uh, What was it?

Dave Clarke: Was that March when we had this conversation, Mike, when we talked about the idiosyncrasies of the Boston Celtics and the things that they still do to lose games? And I know that you guys have touched on a few of this theme and it's an ongoing argument between the two of you, but catch me up. Where are we in terms of, uh, in terms of Mike's doubting of them because they definitely do have a lot of the same habits and Ray's sort of, uh, promiseland approach to the fact that on paper It can't be denied that they are the best team in the NBA.

Dave Clarke: Where are you guys with it now? Have we switched opinions? 

Rayshawn: You can go first, Ray. No, I haven't switched any opinions yet. I think that, you know, once again, they came in and did what they had to do for game one. Yeah, they beat a Jimmy Butler 

Dave Clarke: less Miami Heat. I mean, that's pretty much, you gotta 

Rayshawn: do that.

Rayshawn: Had they lost, it would have been, yeah, so no. Yeah, had they lost, it would have been really, 

Dave Clarke: really embarrassing. Right, 

Rayshawn: yeah, so you gotta, you know, It's like, take care of what you're supposed to take care of but back to, you know, what you were saying towards the year obviously, you know, we, all of us had, pretty much had different sort of opinions as far as how, uh, the regular season ended, and, you know, I mean, obviously, the last two games were great because the bench guys got in there and did, and played really well and played with effort, and we agreed on that but, you know, you can kind of see that they were just ready to get to the playoffs and make that happen You know, so yeah, I mean, they looked really good on Sunday, you know, except for that about six minutes stretch in the fourth quarter.

Rayshawn: But the game was really never in doubt, honestly. But yeah, I love what I've seen so far, and I hope that they're able to still to continue to work on anything that they have to work on. But yeah, but just keep moving the ball, playing good defense, and, you know, not letting it spoil when anybody else is getting the heads.

Dave Clarke: Mike, talk to me about that six minutes stretch in the fourth quarter in the game. Yeah, 

Mike: yeah. So. It's all hypothetical, right, because he wasn't there, but if that exact thing happened and Jimmy Butler was there, like, that is a game that the Celtics have lost in the past, and I would have no confidence in them winning this postseason.

Mike: I can't fault them for things that did not actually happen, though. They closed it out, uh, they got a, it was a 30 point lead at one point in time but the thing that you and I talked about in that episode back in March, DK, that really fucking still stands out. Even though they only missed two free throws.

Mike: It was Jaylen Brown that missed those two free throws. He went two for four from the line. And like, those are the things, again, in a 20 point win, they might be glossed over. That's one thing that you can actually control. Like you said, you're just not spending enough time in the gym. You're not actually doing it.

Mike: And it looks like he's not getting any better with that. I love that they set a record for, uh, you know, three pointers made. Like, love that. But that does still Did you just tie it in or 

Rayshawn: set it? No, tied it. Tied it it, sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Game seven against Milwaukee a couple years ago. I mean, 

Dave Clarke: that actually was shocking me when I heard that because I was like, well, I mean, we didn't break the record for threes made.

Dave Clarke: We made a ludicrous amount of fortune threes and that came on on uh, on Sunday, I think. Yeah, 

Rayshawn: I think Cleveland has the record. They had 25 I against Atlanta when they swept them, I think in 2015. That's absurd. Yeah, it was the same. Kevin Love went berserk, but yeah, so, mm 

Mike: hmm. But, like, as good as that was, that still scares me in the sense that, you know, uh, they took almost 53 pointers, right?

Mike: Great, you know, 22 of them went in but one of the things that also There's also a record 

Dave Clarke: for range, the average range that we took them at, which I'm unsurprised by, because we were taking circus threes, like, quite frankly, like, at times. And, like, Christos Porzingis hit a couple from, like, Steph Curry range.

Dave Clarke: And I was like, okay, I guess, I mean, I guess for me, like I, I definitely hold both opinions in my head, Mike, because like, yeah, I think you're correct. Cause I was discernibly angry during that stretch. Like that six minutes I was, I was 100 percent like, here we fucking go. Like you're, these soft motherfuckers, every single goddamn time they come up against any kind of adversity.

Dave Clarke: I was just like, fuck, absolutely mouthing off. I was starting to worry, right? Which I think is understandable. But at the same time, you look at that range record and it's like, and it does scare you. I know, live by the three, die by the three. I totally understand where you're coming from, but I mean, damn dude, were we just actually just styling on them and like, because I, you know, we're so close to it.

Dave Clarke: That we worry when like any sort of run happens. We're just like, we've been burned before. Like recently we've been like burned by very specific things. And like, maybe it's a trauma response. Cause like, I wonder what would happen if I went back and watch that game again. And I tried to, I think when you watch a game a second time, I do it all the time with the Liverpool games, cause it's just like interesting for me to like, look at it without being like emotionally involved, like knowing the outcome.

Dave Clarke: I wonder if we watched that game again, Ray. Would I just see the Celtics like absolutely barely trying and just fucking destroying the heat and like that's because they can do that? Or am I going to see some real frailties in that six minutes? From a really neutral perspective, I'm trying to understand.

Rayshawn: I think, I mean obviously you never want to be loose with the ball and I think A lot of the turnovers were happening in that six minute span, so I think that's where they could clean things up if I'm being objective and not being biased there. But, I mean, listen, it was 91 59 at the end of three.

Rayshawn: Like, that game was over. Like, it was just a matter of how much were they going to score. At around nine minutes, 

Dave Clarke: around nine minutes in the third quarter, I was saying. I wonder what started us down. You know what, yeah, it was crazy. 

Rayshawn: Yeah, well, I mean, I think they were like, they were looking to get Tatum triple double, they were seeing if anybody else could get any other numbers.

Rayshawn: He was near a triple double in the 

Dave Clarke: first half, though, like, we could have. Yeah, no, yeah, you know, he was like four rebounds, four assists and like three rebounds away by the time the first half ended, so. 

Rayshawn: Yeah, personally, I thought that was the most under control he's been in a long time. Punctuated by the end, 

Dave Clarke: when he, like, really, I mean, I agree with you as far as the point I was going to make is, like, punctuated by, I really liked his response to that play.

Dave Clarke: Uh, when they, you know, like, it was very not Jayson Tatum y, to be honest with you. Like, I really think in years gone by, he might be looking at the refs like, you know, like, are you fucking kidding me? Like, cause I think it was a dirty play, personally. What was your opinion on that? Yeah. 

Rayshawn: Yeah.

Rayshawn: So, cause I, I 

Dave Clarke: mean, I think that's part of it. That's one of the unwritten rules right? For sure. I mean, I, 

Rayshawn: I know Mike loved Jaylen Brown's response though. 

Dave Clarke: I liked it too. I liked it too. It was a moment, it was a moment I didn't like, uh, I didn't miss, I missed Marcus Smart in that moment though.

Dave Clarke: I really think Marcus would have been like fucking right up in that dude's face. Smart probably would have punched him. I 

Mike: didn't miss Smart in that moment because he would have made it all about him. And in this instance, like, you saw Tatum, he just got up and walked to go shoot his free throws. Uh, KV and Portia just like, got in his face, got in their face a little bit, like defended their guy, but then it was over.

Mike: Like, it did not turn into anything else. 

Dave Clarke: I honestly, when the first like millisecond when JT popped up, I thought he was going to go at him. And I was kind of about it, to be honest with you, because he got up really fast and I was like, Jayson Tatum just like really like, just loses his temper. I've never seen it.

Dave Clarke: I've never fucking seen it. He's usually cool as a cucumber to a fault sometimes. And but yeah, I really liked his reaction, just like he got up, it made me feel better because I was like, that was a short playoffs, like for a second there, like that was fucking terrifying. It had a little waft of an even more genuine Pierce coming back out in the wheelchair, uh, uh, scene from, uh, from a certain playoff run that we all remember.

Dave Clarke: But yeah, I, to your point, sorry about the under control performance punctuated by that. I agree with you. Uh, you know, I really do think he was making a lot of the right decisions with the exception of that one stretch, right? 

Mike: Yeah, I mean, yeah, by my I was gonna say, like, that six minute run, though, right, if we can just go back to that real quick.

Mike: I'm 

Dave Clarke: unsurprised 

Mike: you want to focus on it. Well, it's only because you asked the question, like, if we went back and watched it, would we not be trying? I think you can Like, it's not an aberration. We've seen this team get up by 34, 35 points before, and they, and in every single one, not every single one, most of those games, they have one of those runs, where it doesn't matter who they're playing, doesn't matter if the starters are in, they just stop trying.

Mike: And the big thing about this team is that, are they able to turn it back on? And in this game, they were. So like, it didn't kick them in the nuts. I just get worried if they if that is a pattern that they continue to repeat in this postseason. 

Dave Clarke: Ray, would you agree that like the cushion does still need to be pretty big because like for better or for worse, they lost the fourth quarter, 35 20 23.

Dave Clarke: Like you know, in the solo game that was the fourth quarter, like they lost it by the digits. So they had a lot of padding. That helps them, like, not panic, I think is my theory. Like, if they're up by a shitload, like 30 plus, 30 plus. Yeah, I mean, I, 

Rayshawn: I, I feel 

Dave Clarke: like 18 point lead in that situation? I'm, like, fuckin nervous, though.

Rayshawn: I mean, you know, obviously, you know, we're speaking all things Celtics, but, you know, we just saw last night as we recorded this on a Tuesday night, the Lakers had a 20 point lead. Did you see that? In the second half, in the second half, AD and Braun were going crazy. DeAngelo Russell stepped up, hit seven threes, and they lost on a game winner.

Rayshawn: And I said, wow. And, you know, I, and once again, had that been us on Sunday, uh, Mike would have been totally right to say, And it felt familiar. And it's still true. It would have been true. But I was so glad, obviously, that we weren't on that, but it's just like, yeah, it was yeah. I mean, but yeah, they definitely do have to have the big lead, I think.

Rayshawn: Once again, Delon Wright, you know, he's been a service man and at least he's been there. He's not going 5 5 again in a quarter. That's also what happened. But like, you know, you know, it's always like these. Crazy performers, it's the D Ways, it's the Dean Ways, it's the, you know, there's always someone that you don't expect to go.

Rayshawn: That one Tyler Herro, 

Dave Clarke: that one Tyler Herro. You know what I'm saying? You know, 

Rayshawn: go ballistic. I mean, speaking of Tyler Herro, you hardly had him in jail all day Sunday. Like jail. You didn't notice, the only thing you noticed about Tyler Herro was the whack ass sunglasses that he had on in the press conference.

Dave Clarke: He's not the same guy anymore. Yeah, not at all. So I was 

Rayshawn: totally, I love what you all did with him on on, on Sunday. But yeah I don't know, like I said certain guys got hot Sunday that I'm just like, can you sustain that? Because once again, the Celtics have shown they, they are the best shooting team in the league when they're on.

Rayshawn: So do we have five guys that can get 20? Miami, Even with Jim, he doesn't have five guys that can get 20, so. I'll say this in response to that, though, like, 

Dave Clarke: I agree with you about, uh, you know, the random role players of the Miami Heat going off. We've all, like, been, we've been, uh, honestly, on the receiving end of that since, like, LeBron was there, to be honest.

Dave Clarke: Right. Like, I watched, like, was it, like, Mo Williams? Am I conflating years? Like Mo Williams went fucking berserk on us one time. It's like, you know, there's just like, it's just the worst guy you can think of just starts hitting shots against the Celtics. But I will say this, like, you know, Sam Houser went through a little streak, uh, in or when we were starting to build the lead where he just hit like a kind of absurd amount of threes in a row.

Dave Clarke: And like, I like the fact that we have a little bit of a vol, a long and strong volume shooter They now, this is the thing though, if he's on the floor at the same time as Jimmy Buckets, like Jimmy Butler victimizes the Sam Hauser's of the world. Like he, if like, if you, if he sees Payton Pritchard on the basketball court, he's like, Oh my fuck, I can't believe you left him out here.

Dave Clarke: And he just will, he'll, like, he just will find a way to kill him. He will find a way to kill a Sam Hauser, he, you know, and like, you just need your guys To like, like, I think we, it's nice that we got, I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it's nice that we got an opportunity for our role players to not just get their self esteem just immediately crushed as like the first move that the Miami Heat made in aggression towards us, right?

Dave Clarke: Like we actually got to see, I mean, I don't think it's going to happen to Al Horford, but like, if you look at Payton Pritchard's box score, I'm still like, you know, questionable on him as a defensive liability in the playoffs. But. He was all over the place. He had eight points, four rebounds, five assists.

Dave Clarke: That's just like exactly the scoreline I wanna see from Peyton Pritcher in the biopsy, you know what I mean? Like eight to eight to 12 points a few rebounds, because that means like they took a fucking junk shot and he's standing by himself underneath the fucking basket. So that's just like positive for the game and, you know, assist.

Dave Clarke: That's playmaking something he has to add to his game because like the, you know, the impression that he was leaving on me a lot was just. If he can get his shot hot, he's useful. If he can't, he's not. And like, I think for him to be moving the ball around is indicative, like, the whole team. And we don't have Jimmy Butler here, just like, hurting our feelings, like, on the playground right, right away.

Dave Clarke: And I think that's going to be really good for their confidence. What did you make, uh, Micah, the role players, uh, this past weekend? Do you, I'm nervous about the depth of our bench, so I want to hear some positive things, maybe. 

Mike: Yeah, I mean, listen, I was actually really impressed with, uh, with the way the bench No, cornet also No cornet.

Mike: Yeah. With the way the bench performed. Just thinking about all the times that thout the course of this year that we talked about how concerned we were about their depth. I mean, Sam Houser was, uh, the perfect, uh, person to talk about. He played what, 14 minutes? He took six shots. They were all threes, and he hit four of 'em.

Mike: Yep. So huge, huge how I but that's more of the live by the three, die by the three, because if none of those go in, then you know. If that happens, it's a much closer game. It's the most Sam 

Dave Clarke: Hauser stat line ever. 12 points, one rebound, one assist. It's just very, and I'm like, cool, that's fine. Like, come in, like, Dion Waiters.

Dave Clarke: Like, just be Dion Waiters. Just come in and hit three threes. 

Rayshawn: That's a nice name drop right there. 

Dave Clarke: Just come in and hit three or four threes in a row and then go sit back down. That's like, that's 100 percent what I want from you. Just come in, heat check, see you later. And, uh, that's what I want, and honestly, like, Sam Hauser's the kind of guy that would typically just show up on the heat bench that you've never heard of before, and he would kill you with fucking 14 points, and you're just like, wait, what?

Dave Clarke: What the fuck? So, I'm actually glad that we have him, to be honest. I know there's questions, obviously, about his, like, defensive abilities, but, uh. But even this year, like, 

Rayshawn: they, both of them, Yeah, both of them, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but both of them, like, they've made enough of a leap defensively where they've become playable, right?

Rayshawn: So remember, last year, Joe really didn't trust Pritchard. 

Dave Clarke: That's still in my head. That's still in my head. 

Rayshawn: Which is why, which is, I don't know, which is why they weren't out there, you know, at times last year during the postseason. So, obviously Pritchard has started taking a little bit of a leap under Ime, and then like I said, made that regression last year.

Rayshawn: But That last month and a half of the season for Payton Pritchard, like, he really took off. Like I said, like you said, you mentioned the playmaking. He's always, he's been an excellent rebounder from day one. Like, if there's anything he was going to be on the floor, he's going to get you off his rebound when it's like, wow, like, where did that come from?

Rayshawn: He rebounds really well in first position. So, that I'm not worried about. He follows in shots, 

Dave Clarke: any, any. Right, exactly, yeah. He takes up positions and fills space on the rebound, which is like, all you can ask for from your guard. So 

Rayshawn: the shot selection has gotten better. So yeah, I think, like I said, those guys taking a leap in the game, that's something that me and Micah talked about last week when we did the, uh, the preview, like, that's, that is something, it's made that team a lot more formidable because, you know, instead of, you don't now have to go back down to a Brissette or to a Tillman unless you really need to or want to, and once again, those guys will play, but it really depends on the matchup, so.

Rayshawn: You guys, I don't 

Dave Clarke: mind, by the way, like, very, like, obviously, situationally. Yeah, applied like you know situations where if you have some random old head come out from the books that you like forgot was on that team and they start like fucking up Jayson Tatum or like you know chopping up Jaylen Brown and there's like you're not getting calls because the refs are letting play I don't know if you saw the end of that fucking 76ers Knicks game it was like a full blown wrestling match broke out and the refs were like I don't know man, it's like, I would feel a little hard dubbed by if I was Philadelphia but like, you know, the second the New York team got good you knew they were gonna start getting bullshit calls their way, let's be honest.

Dave Clarke: So, uh, I'm not worried about them. If I'm worried about anybody in the East, by the way, it's probably the Knicks. Because it seems like the Bucs are not, like Giannis is done? Is that like, wait, is it him again? 

Rayshawn: Yeah, I think he comes back towards the end of the series, but I mean, listen, what I saw Sunday night from Damian Lillard, my God.

Rayshawn: Not that we're worried about it. Not that we're worried about it. But that, I didn't know, I didn't know if he was still capable of those type of performances and he was like, yeah, yeah. So that scares me because he could get hot at any given time. And we saw that Sunday night. I'm just worried. 

Dave Clarke: I still think we're way better.

Dave Clarke: Yeah. I mean, any really. I'm more worried about New York because I think that could become like a Hawks situation for us this, in a seven game series. Like, I'm worried that like the The way the refs are calling the games, like the way that there's a narrative building around them. Like, I don't really want to go through that.

Dave Clarke: They're also, they're also 

Mike: scrappy as fuck too. 

Dave Clarke: They are scrappy. Well, they're allowed to be scrappier than the rules allow, but typically, but yeah, I agree. They are scrappy. I don't think Brunson's big enough and I think our guards would swallow them. And I think in a basketball sense, we would be fine, but.

Rayshawn: Yeah, but I'll stay right there for a second with them, right? So to me. Like, listen, Brunson has been amazing, obviously, they're down Randall, but I mean, defensively on guards, 

Dave Clarke: like, that's, yeah, that's the place I'm the most secure, you know? 

Rayshawn: No sure, but I think With them, right, they, and I think someone, it's not my original thought, but it's something that I saw on Twitter, so I, and I agree, so I wanted to bring it to the show.

Rayshawn: You should've just sold it. They, they well, I don't even know who put it out there, I just, I just know I saw it. You're already 

Dave Clarke: kind of stealing it, so fuck him. Yeah, whatever, so, right, 

Rayshawn: This, that Knicks team is the 2016 2017 Celtics. Brunson is IT. Right? Randall Williams was like Al Horford, right?

Rayshawn: In a sense. And they overachieved because they played harder than you every night. So that, that's really what it is. Like, and even they, I don't know, like, they, they're very good because they coach well, they play hard. But I don't know if they have another gear, like, so that, that's where I feel like they grind out games, like, they grind out yesterday, like, I mean, or the other night, that's why they ended up winning, uh, that, that game, so, I don't, I'm not sure if they have another gear, but like I said they play extremely hard, that's always going to keep them in a series but like I said, I just don't know offensively, you know, could they keep up with a Boston or a, like, or a Milwaukee, but I do think if they play Milwaukee that next round they're going to beat Milwaukee.

Mike: Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. Doc's the coach. Of course. He's not going past the second round. 

Rayshawn: No, I'm just saying. Yeah. They play harder. And it's like, that to me, that's enough. So, 

Dave Clarke: yeah. I mean, it's, I just don't want to see them, to be honest with you. Because I went, I kind of went from not watching a lot of Knicks games in the regular season to essentially thinking that it would be bad if we lost the game on our run to the finals.

Dave Clarke: Like, I was really thinking to myself, like. With the condition everyone's in and like we're looking at it before game one the likelihood we were gonna play the 76ers I was like we spanked them every time and they like look extra bad So I was like I'm not worried about that like he imbeds like doesn't look quite right That's just, I just, you can just see it.

Dave Clarke: Yeah. And, I really thought, like, we should maybe just win every single game. Maybe a couple gentlemen sweeps, you know, maybe we go 3 1 against the Heat, maybe, cause it's Miami, I don't know, you know, like, we'll see. I would like a 4 0, like, across the board, but now I'm like, I feel like, I can feel it in my gut, we're gonna see the Knicks, and I can feel in my gut that it's gonna go to seven games, and I don't know why.

Dave Clarke: But it's like, I saw them and it was like a Jedi recognizing a fucking Sith and being like, we're not going to fight right now, but I felt the same disturbance in the force and like, we'll see you down the line. I mean, it's like, I can just sort of feel it. So, you know, I am a little worried about them.

Dave Clarke: I'll be watching them a lot more closely. I was not familiar with their game. But now, I will study my anime. Okay, well I want to talk about the rest of the players performances on Sunday before we look ahead to, uh, to Game 2 in Boston on Wednesday. Can anyone explain to me, I didn't look deeply into this, why are we going Sunday, Wednesday?

Dave Clarke: What's the 

Rayshawn: I, I think it's because it's just, it's part of your TV, cause that's what my, my Superbatches in Mexico are part of your TV. I guess it benefits us? But yeah, but because, I think because Boston beat the number one seed they choose what the first round was going to look like for us when they would play.

Rayshawn: So, we I, we knew a week before that it was going to be Sunday. It was just a matter of what time. And then it was going to be either Sunday, Tuesday or Sunday, Wednesday, but because Boston beat the number one seed, they were able to say, okay, we'll stretch out the series. So two days of rest between the first, uh, you know, three games, which is huge.

Rayshawn: I like us better rested. I don't think we're the kind of team that, that does better, because that's, especially having kp and now obviously. So I think that's 

Dave Clarke: totally, 

Rayshawn: uh, that's huge for them and envy, especially between a 

Dave Clarke: home game, right? Like just to, that's true. R and r, you know, you do a little scrimmage in the afternoon a couple times.

Dave Clarke: You do some tape meetings, but like, you're really like soft towing it into the playoffs, which is sort of like what this team needs. All right, so I'm gonna take it, I'm gonna take it from, uh, for the starting five, we discussed the bench, I'm gonna take it from, uh, least amount of points to most, that's not to say that they contributed the least amount, but, uh, Drew Holliday, you already mentioned, pocketed Tyler Herro I thought, I think he plays a really Great sacrifice game when he's on the floor at the same time as Derek White.

Dave Clarke: I think he, he reads off Derek White super well, especially defensively. If you just watched Drew Holliday, and I'm sure you guys have done this, like I'm sure all Celtics fans have done this at periods, he's a super interesting player to watch. Like the way he moves, the way he reads the game how switched on he is defensively.

Dave Clarke: He's like a, he's like, Marcus, to me, defensively, he's Marcus at his best because what he doesn't have in, like, the same level of hustle he makes up for in, like, size, athleticism, and, like, strength, and it's, like, just as effective. I'm not saying he doesn't hustle, but, like, obviously, that was Marcus's, like, standout quality.

Dave Clarke: And The way he moves offensively, you know, I just really like how he opens up space for other players. It's another sacrifice, uh, fly sort of situation, you know, like he moves in and out of the paint at a pace and with a purpose that you can tell the guy guarding him is just miserable.

Dave Clarke: You know, like, he's just like, this fuckin sucks. He can't really hold on to him because he's like, super strong and athletic. He can shoot from pretty much anywhere, and he uses more of the dummy and the threat to open up these guys around him. And it's like, it's such a fun time just iso camming your vision on, uh, on, onto Drew Holiday.

Dave Clarke: Mike, say some nice things as well about Juraldi, please. Or, uh, you know, I would love to hear your thoughts now that you've seen him in a playoff game comparably to our last kind of guard rotation that we saw in a playoff situation. 

Mike: So that's exactly where I was gonna go, is that the biggest thing about his performance, not only that he was, uh, he was locked down defensively all night, he took eight shots.

Mike: That's it. And we've seen here in Boston with previous point cards They were going to try and shoot the way out of that slump. And what Holiday did was he made sure everyone else got the ball, right? Like he created space in the floor. He was locked down defensively. And again, he didn't make it about, uh, about him, which I think was the most, it was the most defining thing that I, uh, I took away from that game because he had such a big impact, but if you just looked at the stat sheet, you would think that he had a terrible game, when in reality, he was one of the leaders out there.

Mike: Like he facilitated most of the plays and made Derek White look So much better, uh, in that game, but I also love Derek White, too. 

Dave Clarke: Yeah, we'll come on to him and we'll say nice things about him. Ray, is there a Drew Holliday, like, bananas game coming in the playoffs? Is there a fucking, or do we even need one?

Dave Clarke: I feel like there's going to be one where he goes berserk. 

Rayshawn: Yeah, to answer your question, no, they don't need one. But as someone who, you know, Like to see him be aggressive on the floor like I'm waiting for that moment to happen Once again, I think go need it as thick as the rounds increase. But yeah, I think it's coming once again, he It's not just for game one, but he's sacrificed all year.

Rayshawn: I'm sure they had conversations about what he can do offensively. Once again, he just averaged 19 8 last year in Milwaukee, right? So, it's not like, it's not like he just, you know, fell off the face of the earth, but he led the league in corner threes. And, yeah, I just think that he said, okay, I'm playing with Tatum, Brown, and Porzingis.

Rayshawn: Like, I don't need to be that guy. And he's had some games this year where he's hit, he's had You know, timely threes and even on Sunday, right? Like he, he hit a couple of threes early on when they went on like that 14 to 2 run. Like it was like, okay, like he got back off. Yep. 

Dave Clarke: Do we think that like the way that the Celtics play has sort of.

Dave Clarke: I know, I understand the sacrifice part of it, and I do think he's doing that, but has it we ask him to shoot from a range that I don't think he's as effective at. Like, I really do think his mid range game is like, if he gets it going, like, borderline as good as Jaylen Brown's, and neither of them shoot from the mid range, like, at all really.

Dave Clarke: And like, I know that I'm like. a little slut for mid range shots, and I know that I haven't shut up about the mid range in forever, and if anyone's wondering why that is, it's because of the era that I started watching basketball with, like, the people who were wet, who were mid range, like, you know, pull up jump shooters that would, like, dribble really well, and, you know, and pull up and hit just like six shots or like the KG turnaround jump shot or the Kobe turnaround jump shot, like it's sort of a dying breed in this, uh, in this league and I still like the players that do it and we have two of the best guys in the league at it and I just really sometimes wish, maybe I fetishize it a little bit, but I really just sometimes wish both of them wouldn't 

Rayshawn: feature 

Dave Clarke: their mid range game a little more.

Dave Clarke: Am I crazy? Is it just like, fuck it, do the advanced analytics, like shoot the threes when you shoot? 

Rayshawn: Well, I think that's what Joe was preaching after me. Once again, they're not wrong because he's led the league in the corner threes. So, I mean, that to me is fine, but the shot that you're talking about that, uh, usually is usually on the left side of the floor.

Rayshawn: That 

Dave Clarke: side elbow, yeah. That 

Rayshawn: little turnaround, that little turnaround for about 15 feet, it's just fucking automatic. It's sick, it's sick. And also, like, I want to see, 

Dave Clarke: if we're doing advanced analytics, like, can I see the, can I see a specific players? Overall efficiency from different, like, like, impact on the game level efficiency of their different ranges because, yeah, I agree, I mean, he hits big threes, he can still take those, but he could have a higher volume overall if he just added.

Dave Clarke: That shot back in at a 1. 5 rate, you know, like it doesn't even have to be twice as much or three times as much. Like to me, it's just like, there's times in a game that call for that kind of play. Like it's the thing that frustrates us all, I think, is that there's, it's like, they take shots where, When you're in the game and you're, you know, you're on the beating heart of the game and you can feel it, you automatically click in your head like we need our highest percentage two point shot right now that we can get, and they never make that decision, and I think that's what kind of has Mike on the edge of his seat a lot of the time.

Dave Clarke: It has me on the edge of my seat too, and it's a little frustrating when you have the Drew Hollidays of the world that I watched him cook us with that shot when he was on the books. It's a little frustrating when you have the Drew Hollidays of the world that I watched him cook us with that shot when he was on the books.

Dave Clarke: And I literally couldn't even get mad because it was so sexy. So I was like, alright, like Drew Holliday's gonna fucking get you like that, I guess. It was part of why I was so excited to get him. And now we're not even having him do his like special move. It's like when you have Goku, bro, just make his hair turn yellow.

Dave Clarke: You know, and have him fucking go super saiyan on you, like, use the best qualities of your players. I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but it's, I know I sound like an old fart, but what do you guys think? No, I 

Rayshawn: mean, yeah, that definitely, it definitely needs to be more of a balance, and I've been saying that to people that I, uh, talk to, especially at CDD Guard.

Rayshawn: I'm like, yo, like, if you're able to score from all three levels, it makes you that much harder to guard. That simple. And you know, we've seen all of our guys 

Dave Clarke: can 

Rayshawn: do that and pay on paper. No, right. No, correct. That's what I'm saying. But it's like, keep doing that. Like, do what got you to the dance. Like, don't deviate from that.

Rayshawn: And once again, it's sometimes the defense dictates what you're going to shoot, obviously. So, which is why I think we saw 53s on Sunday. One is because Joe wants that to happen, but two, if they're playing his own, they're, you know, guess what? For those that don't, they're playing zone. Because they know they can't stay in front of Tatum around.

Rayshawn: So you have to play zone, or you're gonna get cooked. Like, it's that simple. So you have to hope that they miss, so that you're in the game. And that's what happened in the fourth quarter a little bit. So I missed the shots, that's when I got back. But if they're making shots, you know, it's over, baby. Like, it's a wrap.

Rayshawn: It's 

Dave Clarke: a wrap! I know, I mean, I know, it is old farty, I get it. It's just that like, it's like, Chris Stapps, Chris Stapps has a fucking, has like a Dirk Nowitzki level elbow shot, you know, and like it goes in every time because it looks like he's shooting, it's look like, yeah, I agree, I know after the fucking circus performance he put from outside of range I'm talking about, his mid range game, I'm the guy doing this.

Dave Clarke: But I'm just saying like, I'm saying that he has like, it must be like shooting beer pong for him when he's closer to the rim, like he can see into the fucking rim. So it's like, dude, just, it just looks effortless when he's in there. I don't know, Mike, am I crazy? 

Mike: No, no, I think you're 100 percent fucking right.

Mike: I think one of the, uh, like one of the things that makes this team the most frustrating is you know that they could be dominant on all levels of offense. Whether it's three mid range or right in the paint. You know they could because 

Dave Clarke: we've watched them do it a ton of times. We've seen them do it. 

Mike: And it's like, in those runs, again, sorry to harp on this, they choose to forget the other two layers of their game and they just jack up threes.

Mike: Like, that's all that they do. Like, one of the things that I wanted to see more about, wanted to see more from for, uh, from KP was his offensive rebounding. Right, like that's one of the things 

Dave Clarke: that We're terrible at that. We're terrible at rebounding in general still. 

Mike: Right, well, we had a pretty good game.

Mike: I think we, uh, we out rebounded them by 20. 

Dave Clarke: We did. I just think, I know there's going to be a game we fucking get mad at them again for not, like, rebounding. Right, 

Mike: it's just like, in those situations where you see that what you're currently doing is not working and what you want to do is just jack up the reason not working, are you able to put KP in the paint?

Mike: And just have him box everybody out and grab those rebounds and get more second chance opportunities. Because if you do that, like that, we haven't been able to do that the last couple of years. I love Al, I love, I think this is the perfect role for Al right now, playing 25, 26 minutes off the bench. But if you have a 7'2 monster, can just Literally, without jumping just crash the boards, like, that's how you're gonna make sure that what happened in the last three, uh, postseason doesn't happen again.

Rayshawn: But even to add to that, right, because that's totally valid. I just feel like, and this is just me, because once again, this old school in me too. Just about every game, until they stop it, I would feed Pershingus the first five times, I'm telling you. I know, 

Dave Clarke: I know.

Dave Clarke: Just get, throw it in there. You remember Shaq? Like, every game, it was just like, oh, this is how this is gonna go. I'm just gonna throw it 

Rayshawn: down there. Cause once again, Jaime Jaca is who, in any other year, would be Rookie of the Year, but you know, this is a 7'4 giant, his San Antonio name, you know, because remember, Jabba was a fuckin monster.

Rayshawn: Jaca's gonna be 

Dave Clarke: the fuckin MVP the way. Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah. He's a fucking freak. 

Rayshawn: Hawkins Jr., yeah, Hawkins Jr. is nice. He is, he had a good game. And they, they had him on KP. And I'm like, oh my god, like you couldn't even see him at 

Dave Clarke: times. Comical. But they didn't take advantage of it, like any of those times.

Dave Clarke: They like did not, like they actually No, they did at times, they did. There was a couple of times burned in my memory where I was like squealing mismatch at the fucking television. Yeah. And nobody was like listening to me. I thought I was trying to make them hear me in Boston. I was like, fucking Miz, man.

Dave Clarke: And like, they just didn't. 

Rayshawn: No, you're right. I mean, but like today, they, there was a few times in the first half where they went to it. They're going to have Bam on him unless they're, I mean, especially with their, uh. It's tough to play against. I'm not, I'm 

Dave Clarke: not. Oh, for sure. No, Bam, Bam, Bam 

Rayshawn: was great.

Rayshawn: Bam was great on, on Sunday, but. I thought it was Jaylen too. I, that's, I mean, they're best of friends though. That's why he's on his head. But I it nice when father friends, I love that. I love that. He best. Yeah. Yeah. He I mean, once again, I mean, he's done pretty well against him most of his career.

Rayshawn: But you know, once again, , it'll be, it'll be a different outcome this time around. But yeah, no I just think that, yeah. Take care of the, uh. You know, the big man down low, give it to him, give it to him down there, the first five, six possessions, and whether he's going to get fouled, whether he's going to turn around and get the first eight points, like, because we started in the regular season, when either him or Jaylen Brown get out to a harsh start, They usually blow teams out the building.

Rayshawn: It's not an opinion, that's a fact. So, just, you know, it's just me. If it ain't broke, you know, you don't need to fix it, so. I agree. You know, go from there. Mm hmm. 

Dave Clarke: Let's talk about, uh, Derek White. On that note, we can just pivot right over to, uh, pivot right over to the, from the Drew Holiday Conversation.

Dave Clarke: My guy! Yeah, I mean, I just think, I think he's, I think his floor is just at, it's probably the highest it's ever been. Like an average Derek White performance. Is now at such a consistent level that I'm ready to say without fear of like retribution from the basketball gods that like he basically is the second or third most important player on the floor for us almost every game.

Dave Clarke: I think that can fluctuate. I think that him, JB, and Chris Stapps like take two, three, and four every game and they sort of rotate between the three of them. Which is a nice problem to have, to be honest. I mean, it's a, it's just a, it's just a cool, uh, fact of life. But when Derek White takes over a game, it's to make, correct me if I'm wrong, or if you guys feel differently.

Dave Clarke: When he has stretches that we're doing really well, that's when I feel at my most stable with our performance, like my, at my most assured that we're, like, we're playing well collectively as a team and like everybody's like reading off the same, uh, the same script, you know? I, it's like D. White's cooking and he's doing all the things that he does now, I mean he's super efficient from three, I don't know how good of a game he had from three actually on Sunday, I remember a couple misses, but Four of eight.

Dave Clarke: Yeah, I mean, like, that's absolutely outrageous if you keep a 50 percent fuckin uh, three point clip going for that, like, unbelievable. I think he plays his natural advantages now in a way, like, with extreme confidence, so that we're an incredibly difficult team to match up against because, from one through five, because of the guys that we have.

Dave Clarke: I would ask the question since, you know, just to tie it back to the last two conversations, and whoever wants to jump in on this can. Who guards Brunson if we play the Knicks? Cause my first instinct is to say That is Drew, but I don't know. I mean, like we could try both, but I think like D White is like blocking Brunson a couple of times, like on the trailing move, right?

Dave Clarke: Like maybe letting him go a little bit because you kind of have to, and then be right behind him and just fucking yam that block because he has this huge size mismatch, but I also think that Drew Holiday could potentially pocket Jaylen Brunson and it would be a really cool one on one matchup to like from both ends if he wanted to just say like, I got that.

Dave Clarke: Okay. So I'm curious what you guys would like to see. 

Mike: Yeah, I was going to say, I think just based off of the way that Derek White plays, like he plays so much bigger than he actually is. He has blocks, not only against guards, but against, uh, power forwards and fives sometimes within the game.

Mike: Right. And that's just not something that you see out of a guard. So I would say like, you should let him go first and, I, or I think you can make Brunson's life a living hell not looking ahead, you know, I'm not overlooking the Heat, but I think this should be a pretty easy Miami Heat series.

Mike: How much hell could you create for Brunson if you have White guarding him half the time, and then Drew Holiday guarding him the other half? Like, there's gonna be no reprieve, because what Derek White doesn't do, well, Drew Holiday does. And vice versa. But I would ride White until he fails you.

Mike: Because realistically 

Dave Clarke: in the 

Mike: last two years, he hasn't failed you. 

Dave Clarke: I agree. I agree. I would fucking ride him like I stole him. No, I don't actually. I have a different take. But I want to let Ray go first before I respond. Go ahead, Ray. I mean, especially since he 

Rayshawn: shaved his 

Dave Clarke: head, he's looking real 

Rayshawn: dapper these days.

Rayshawn: Appreciate it. No, I missed this. That's what we talked about in this one. I missed you, brother. That's all we have when you're on here. Um, so I would actually have Jaylen Brown as gardener. Whoa. Okay. I'd have Jaylen. Jaylen Brown is taking that challenge all year. Especially second half of the year. I would put Jaylen Brown on front stand, but that's the case.

Rayshawn: And just say. Good luck. Goodbye, Derrick Brunson. I think if we do that Yeah, good luck. Once again, Brown I owe him a lot of 

Dave Clarke: respect. I mean, he's a good player, but I mean, that's That would solve the problem. 

Rayshawn: Yep. I'd put Yes, I'd put JB on him immediately. Obviously, you know, you don't put him on the whole game, but I would do Brown, White.

Rayshawn: Then Holiday. I put Holiday like on hard, or like I said, what's crazy, Holiday can guard Hardenstein down low, like it won't be a problem, like that's what, that's insane to say, but it's true. So, I, yeah, I would start with JB and then let the, let him set the tone and then, you know, go from there.

Rayshawn: Yeah. You know, just the people that, yeah, I love that stuff. 

Dave Clarke: Yeah, that's interesting to think about, because, you know, but the way Brunson plays, like, if we had JB at the two more consistently, and just, you know, moving like that way offensively as well, just going two way with him to start the game, I think you might have me convinced, because what I was going to say was, I think we need to, like, we, our offense benefits so much from Derek White playing well offensively.

Dave Clarke: Like, I think that, like, like I said before, like, I really feel like we're clicking when he's playing well offensively, and I don't want him, like, caught up in, in a battle with the best player on the other team, like, immediately. You know what I mean? I want him to get into this a little bit.

Dave Clarke: But I also think he could be great help against Brunson when like when he does inevitably beat guys one on one. I think because like his slashing obviously is not, you know, anything to be sniffed at. And his shooting and I think that you're right about Derek White being as long as he is. I was thinking Drew Holliday to start to just put him in a battle with Brunson and see how hard, see how, see what he's made of.

Dave Clarke: But I think you're right about setting the tone. with JB because he's not gonna cook. JB like they might have a good battle back and forth, but he's not gonna kill him. He's just definitely not right. Like 100% not. So I agree with you and I also think that gets. The very front running styles of Jaylen Brown kind of activated immediately because he is a tone setter.

Dave Clarke: That is actually his role on the team is to set the tone both offensively and defensively. And we've seen that from him consistently over the past few years, early in games and early in series. So, I fucking agree. I actually hadn't thought about that. That's a good call. 

Rayshawn: Yeah, uh, well, no, that's all we have, but I want to add, it's funny, I'm gonna pull a mic and go back to the run because this ties back to Derek White.

Rayshawn: Those six minutes that, that happened, guess who was on the bench? Derek White. Derek White. So, he immediately comes back in. He hits two threes, game over. 

Dave Clarke: Safety 

Rayshawn: blanket. Yeah, exactly. He's the, he's becoming our Derek Fisher. And if that's the case, it's going to be a lot of winning here going forward.

Rayshawn: So that, that's where he's becoming a guy that he hits the big shots when we need him. And once again, clutch is not always, oh, like you're down three or four, and then the guy hits the shot. It's when the team is making a run, like my was making a run, And immediately you hit two threes, but the lead just back up to 20 21.

Rayshawn: Now it's like, okay, well, damn, you know, we would have some momentum, but now that's gone. And that quality, that specific thing you're talking about, we've 

Dave Clarke: been missing that for years. Right, 

Rayshawn: exactly. So to have that with him, once again, Holiday has done that at some points throughout the year as well. So, I think, you know, yeah, Derek White for sure has been the most consistent player on the team, and once again, I'd argue anyone down that says otherwise, because you're like, yeah, once again, yes, we know Tatum is the best player, we got Brown, we know that, but the most consistent player, the most important player, uh, for this team's success is definitely with Derek White.

Rayshawn: I'd love to see, uh, I love the nickname that his father gave him in holiday, the Stock Exchange, I think that's a phenomenal nickname. Uh, for that background, so I think that's great. So yeah, so I think that's great. But yeah, no, Derek White has been an integral part of what they've done, really, since he's been here.

Rayshawn: Uh, once again, I said, I watched him a lot, and so that's why I knew I was like, at some point, he's going to be a guy that this city's going to love. And it took a while for some of us to warm up, and that's fine, but I was like, I knew, I was like, nope. I said, when he gets, when he gets acclimated.

Rayshawn: They're gonna love him. And now, like I said, he's been phenomenal here. So, uh, I'm looking forward to more of Derek White, uh, you know, killing teams going forward. 

Dave Clarke: Looking forward to more 10 assist Jayson Tatum games. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. I think Yep, that's what Mike was talking about. Yeah, I mean, I know you guys touched on this, you know, I don't want to belabor this point because I know that this got a lot of, you know, air time over the last few episodes.

Dave Clarke: But I do want to just say for myself, like, it looks like a, like an era change when he's playmaking at that level. Like, it looks like somebody that, he looks like a guy that can basically not be stopped because if you, and quite frankly, I mean, I'm not. I'm being hyperbolic here, but I've only ever seen a handful of guys that can do this.

Dave Clarke: I really have, like there's guys that can change games in different ways. There's guys that can like turn on their scoring at a given time and it can change a game. There's guys that can turn on their playmaking, defense, you know, I mean, I don't know of that many guys. I think the list is pretty short that can do all of those things at any given time.

Dave Clarke: And or pick one, depending on what the game's giving him, and use that to, to win the game. I do agree that he's more effective at it earlier in the game, which is obviously frustrating for a lot of us because we associate like the clutch levels of basketball greatness with the fourth quarter, and I obviously, I do want his fourth quarter performances to improve.

Dave Clarke: But, And I think that they will, because I think it's the last thing that needs to happen, because, and I think we've been pretty steadily checking off boxes as we sort of rise up to the top of this, because this kind of thing, like a 10 assist game from him is a game that's going to give him a level of confidence that, and I saw the look on his face, I saw the look on his face, it was a level of confidence I know something that apparently you guys don't, right?

Dave Clarke: And it's, I've really, I promise you, only ever seen it a few times. Like, there was a look on his face at one point when we were going on that big third quarter run that I saw, sorry to bring this up, I saw it happen to Payton Manning when he was down against the Pats in that AFC Championship game in 2006.

Dave Clarke: I saw Kobe Bryant do it against us in Game 6 of the 2010 Finals I, cause Game 7, I mean, like, that wasn't anyone, but us not having anyone that can rebound fucking basketball. But, but I saw, if we just had one guy that could get like four rebounds, we would have won that game. But, uh, the, uh, and Rajon Rano didn't take like a garbage shot, a fucking three point shot at the very end.

Dave Clarke: Whatever. I'm sorry. It still hurts. I've seen, and my point is, I've seen a handful of guys with this level of confidence. LeBron James had it for about seven years, uh, where it was like, oh shit, like he can just, actually it's probably longer, it's probably, it was probably a good 15 years of LeBron just being able to just win a game at any level, at any level, right?

Dave Clarke: I mean, say what you will, LeBron could do it all. He was the best passer in the NBA for many years. He was the best defensive player in the NBA for many years. He was the best scorer in the NBA for a few years. I mean, Kobe was a great scorer and he was a pretty good one on one defender, but, you You know it's not quite the same as that like multi level how to have a high basketball IQ type of performance.

Dave Clarke: And I've started to see it in Tatum. I'm not convinced he's going to be able to pull it out when the stakes are high though. But that's just because I haven't seen that. But I mean, I know it's in there. Like there's a, there's a monster inside him. Like the talent is outrageous already. It's just this thing where he's adding to his game at like different and at different levels.

Dave Clarke: And it's like, Oh, it's getting scary. I 

Mike: Ray's gonna bring up Game six in Philly last year about like we, we've seen it once for from Tatum, right? No, totally. Fourth quarter. I mean, I'm 

Dave Clarke: not saying we haven't seen it, I'm just saying I wanna see it at a consistent level because I've also seen him disappear.

Rayshawn: Yeah. Oh no. I mean, well, no, well, actually ga, actually, I was actually pretty pissed Game six Philly last year because , I know he had to show it up. He hasn't show it up and then all of a sudden he. When bananas and save his ass and the rest of ours, uh, at the time, but no, but I mean, I always point to, like, my, my favorite game to him is that game against Milwaukee a few years ago, when, cause I, that was my first year working at the Garden and, you know, people were, people were like, Oh my God, baby.

Rayshawn: It was like, yo. See you Sunday, see you Sunday, see you Sunday, see you Sunday. And he went ballistic in Milwaukee. And that's why I was like, oh, like, it's there. Once again, it's just a matter of, are we going to see it on a regular basis? But that's why I said at the beginning, this is the most under control he's been.

Rayshawn: And once again, it wasn't the best scoring output he's had. But he controlled the game on every facet. That's what Mike is clamoring about. You're clamoring about, uh, D. K. Bobby at times, so, you know, that's where, if he's doing that where, granted, we don't need the triple double every game, you know, that'd be beautiful if I could get 28 9 7, I'd be fine with that going forward You know, because I know that means that he's super engaged.

Rayshawn: And I would love for him to master that, that, uh, that skip pass like Vince Cardi used to do back in the day, because he's 6'9 you're not going to steal it from him at that height. If you just skip it over, you know, over the head of defenders, he'd probably get it.

Rayshawn: you know at least it's just a game just doing that so in order to master that though yeah 

Dave Clarke: i think the issue the way that we play and i agree with you i love the skip pass i love it as a concept in general and they always self explicit a couple times and this is to my point Well, maybe because we have Rondo.

Dave Clarke: Yeah, well, the thing is, KG could do it too. KG used to do it, skip it from the high elbow. Like, you know, when he, you, they thought maybe he was going to take a turnaround jump shot and then he would face up and then he would just skip it over. And the thing that we were able to do so effectively with the skip pass was find Ray Allen in the corner arriving.

Dave Clarke: And like, I think that is a very underrated. Uh, skill, the off the ball run, and like, we saw basically, in my opinion, the best guy to ever do it, which was Ray. Like, as much as he was absolutely outrageous as a shooter, of course, his movement off the ball is like why that highlight of him on Miami exists.

Dave Clarke: Like, he, the way he moves off the ball is, and like the way, even though Didn't even look 

Rayshawn: down. 

Dave Clarke: No, he didn't even look down. And like, you know, and it's heartbreaking that it's him. Obviously, it broke my heart at the time. But it's the way he would move baseline to baseline, even when we got him, and he was distinctly out of his prime when we got him like athletically.

Dave Clarke: But the way he even moved baseline to baseline and like our system, we don't actually do that. We find spots. And then when the ball rotates, we rotate with the ball, which isn't, I just don't think it's as deliberate, you know, and it's like, at that point, if you're trying to do a skip pass, I think you're going to have a couple, you're going to have some growing pains because you need guys to get to that spot at the right exact time, and I do agree that Tatum could totally master it, but like, I would need Jaylen Brown probably to like master, or Derek White I think could probably do it.

Dave Clarke: Where it's like, you gotta be able to be elusive enough off the ball where you've completely lost your man. And then, there's gotta be two guys before him setting very purposeful screens in order to help, uh, whoever the off the ball runner is to get there. And like, that's the kind of thing we used to do in 08.

Dave Clarke: It was fucking beautiful to watch. Beautiful to watch. But, uh, and a great coach, that's why, you know, I mean, it's like, it's, you know, genuinely, it was like, that's how we did that's how we used to accomplish that, and I just, we don't really play like that, you know? 

Rayshawn: Yeah, there's a for my girls, there was a game winner, uh, that Ray Allen hit that year, they won the championship I think it was against, uh, God, uh, not Charlotte, I won't mention that, uh, Toronto, where they had a side out, 

Dave Clarke: Ray 

Rayshawn: Allen literally ran from the other side of the court to where Pierce was going to be.

Rayshawn: Pierce literally just dumps it off to him, shoots the game, and I'm just like, can we please incorporate that to the offense? Please? Please? Literally the defender was lost, and I don't know how you left at that time, even then, as he was, you left Ray Allen that wide open. I don't know how that happened, but I was like, That's what Doc had actually called plays.

Rayshawn: Now I don't know what happened, but he'd actually do plays then. I was like, oh my god. I was like, that was beautiful. So I would love for that to 

Dave Clarke: come back. But talking about Colin plays, like, I mean seriously, talking about Colin plays, like, we have four or five plays off the Paul Pierce ISO that would win us games at will.

Dave Clarke: Like, we would get into close situations, and the team would just instinctively know to go into the Paul Pierce iso, and they would run one of, like, two to three plays. Rondo would always be redundant in those situations, but, like, Ray would get open. Famously, Ray Allen said every game winner I ever hit, every buzzer beater I ever hit on the Celtics was a pass from Paul Pierce.

Dave Clarke: And that's true. Like, that's, like, actually fucking true. Like, he, like, he really did find him, like, All the time in those situations because we were going off the iso, right? So it's like, why don't we ever run the fucking Tatum? He would be the most elite isolation player of all time. It's like he could shoot it well, because he wouldn't make the decisions.

Dave Clarke: I get it. But like, maybe now he would. Maybe now he 

Rayshawn: would. 

Dave Clarke: Well, 

Rayshawn: that, that's, I think that's where, so you just, I think that's. Tell me you don't want to see that, though. That's the next part for sure, because once again, there isn't anyone that can stop him one on one. It's not. And I think if you clear out that, that's why.

Rayshawn: If you clear out, dude. Yeah, that's probably two of the jump shots that we shouldn't see at times, but it's like, man if that continues to get unlocked where he is an ISO, and then someone he draws a double for somebody and finds someone in the corner, like, it's, I mean, they're already showing us how to But we're already all about 

Dave Clarke: spacing, right?

Dave Clarke: We're already all about fucking spacing. Like, we're already in our fucking spots. If you can get one switch If you can get one switch, you don't even need an ideal matchup switch. If you can just switch their best defender off him for one second, like high enough, like close enough to the half court line, where he immediately just calls the play and everyone just runs in the opposite direction.

Dave Clarke: If they try to send a double to him, yes, you're right, he can find any fucking pass because there will be a guy open. Whoever gets, has their defender leave them, and for the double team, it'll be such a wide space, their instruction will just be go to the basket. And he'll find them, you know, like you said, he'll find them overhead because he's fucking enormous.

Dave Clarke: If not, okay, let's pistols at dawn! Like, let's see if you can take Jayson Tatum all the way to the fucking rack, because I bet you can't, like, whoever you are, right? If it's Kawhi Leonard, maybe, but I, but do it to him three or four times, Tatum will get his. Tatum will 100 percent get his. Let him do that.

Dave Clarke: Let him be that player. In the right situations, call it at the right times, so that he doesn't make the decision himself with 12 seconds left on the fucking shot clock in a situation where we need a high percentage fucking two from around 

Rayshawn: the rim. We need Game 17 all the time. 

Dave Clarke: Yeah, 

Rayshawn: yeah.

Rayshawn: That's what it is. We need Game 17 all the time. Cause there's not a Game 17 he's played and he has not showed up. They have one of every game seven, but he has not shown up, and every game seven, he has not shown up. 

Dave Clarke: I'm going to try to be less than six. 

Rayshawn: No, no, I'm saying, but every game seven that there's been, like, he has not shown up.

Mike: What about the heat? Yeah, heat last year didn't show up, but you're going to say his ankles hurt. 

Rayshawn: No, I mean, but that, but getting injured, that affects, that matters. Well, did he get it? Did he get it? It's like he was healthy. If he was healthy, it didn't mess up. You got me, but I'm like, I mean, 

Mike: he got hurt, not injured, but like, that's just 

Dave Clarke: playing.

Dave Clarke: I mean, he did. He did. He fucked his ankle. Oh, come on. I mean, you know, 

Rayshawn: I'm like, that's, I mean, and I get it. I mean, cause I mean, granted, you know, didn't have the 

Dave Clarke: flu. Okay. It's fine. It's fine. Yeah. But, oh, but there was up all night doing blow. 

Rayshawn: Let's be honest. Speaking of that, cause I'm like, there's been a lot of.

Rayshawn: You know, obviously, there's always going to be trolling on social media because that's just what people love to do, but, you know, they're like, oh, you know, people are, you know, being their chest about, you know, beating it, uh, you know, a Butler less, you know, Miami. And I want to paint this picture because obviously, the three of us here are Celtics fans.

Rayshawn: So, when Hayward was out, Curry was out. Kemba had a shattered knee. There was not a single person on NBA Twitter that felt bad for Boston. So if you think, if you think that I'm gonna feel sorry about Jimmy Butler being hurt, once again, injuries, that's what's up, but if you think I'm gonna feel sorry about facing this team without Jimmy Butler, I got two words for you.

Rayshawn: Fuck you. Like, that's the, like, there's just no, you know what I'm gonna say to the other ones, shout out to DX, but they can do that too. But it's like, I'm not gonna feel bad about playing a guy, I'm not, I don't, I'm sorry, I don't, once again, injuries suck, and I wish him a speedy recovery, but once again, no one felt bad when Hayward and Kyrie, and like I said, Kemba got hurt, and Jaylen Brown got hurt a few years ago before Brooklyn series, like, I'm good, I'm sorry.

Rayshawn: You play with what's in front of you. Oh, well. 

Dave Clarke: Yeah, I don't feel bad. I'm delighted that they don't recruit Butler. Yeah, exactly. I'm fucking so happy that he's not out there, dude. You know how much fucking that guy's pushing you? Yeah, what 

Rayshawn: a joke. 

Dave Clarke: Yeah, I'm happy he's not there. I don't give a fuck. I'll take the easiest ride possible.

Dave Clarke: Thank you. Right, 

Rayshawn: exactly. 

Dave Clarke: I have no interest in overcoming adversity. If we don't have to, I'm good with it. I'm good with it. Totally good with it. Also, if anyone's listening in the universe, I feel that way about life as well. So if you'd like to just have good things continue to happen to me, that would be great.

Dave Clarke: All right. I'm in no way interested in, in, in learning any lessons. Okay. Uh, let's look ahead. Well, let's look ahead to the future. Uh, Mike you're crystal ball. Is in front of you, do you rub a crystal ball? How do you make a crystal ball where it's not like a genie lamp, right? You probably remove some sort of protective covering, so that Sauron can't see, and then you look into it in order to see the future.

Dave Clarke: And you're looking ahead just 24 hours because, I mean, honestly, no one's ever called you a visionary. You just want to see the Celtics game. You know, you could save humanity, but here you are with your crystal ball. You're looking ahead. And you're looking at this game and what are your emotions while you're watching this game?

Dave Clarke: You're looking at you watching the game. Are you watching another blowout? Are you looking at random guys you've never heard of from the heat come in and scored 35 points? What's, uh, going through your mind tomorrow at this, about this time? 

Mike: I think I'm looking at myself being pleasantly surprised that Even though they didn't get out to a huge lead, and it was a close game at halftime, that the Celtics didn't give up, and then they poured it on in the fourth quarter.

Mike: Because that's one of the things that we haven't seen from this team is, like, one of their big setbacks is that if they don't blow you out in the first half, then But you really have, uh, a good chance to beat them. The somethings this year were, uh, were 10 and 9 in, in games that were 5 points or less with 5 in the fourth quarter.

Dave Clarke: That's not good. 

Mike: And that's not good. And in a season where you only lost, where you lost, what, 16 games, 14 games whatever it was. So, like, that's not good. We 

Dave Clarke: better just blow everybody out for the remainder of the playoffs. I think that would be the move. Just real boring fourth quarters for the foreseeable, I think, is what we're going to have to get to.

Mike: I think Spoh is going to do everything he can tomorrow to not allow a 14 2 run to start the game, right? But, uh, if that happens, and if we're in a situation where it's like 53 51 at halftime, I will I'm looking now and seeing that I'm super excited that this team decided they were going to show up in the fourth quarter, that they always do in the first quarter, and they still pull out a 25 point victory.

Dave Clarke: Interesting. Ray, do you see the same thing in the future for the Celtics? 

Rayshawn: Yeah, I mean, I think it's definitely going to be closer, I think, in the first half than it was on Sunday. Once again, Spoles is going to throw the catcher's sink, and he has to, right? But I guess Who's going to get us? 

Dave Clarke: Like, who on their roster, on paper, is really going to come get us?

Dave Clarke: Like, I don't No, no, only, like I said, I 

Rayshawn: really like Hami Hakim. I like his game a lot. I think that he's I think he had the best 

Dave Clarke: possible game he could have against us on Sunday. 

Rayshawn: Uh, I mean, well, I mean, I'll, you can say that, sure I thought he played pretty good defense, but once again, you know, when you're playing Tatum, like, you're gonna get cooked eventually, so, that's just what it was, but, yeah, no, I, 

Dave Clarke: I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, 

Rayshawn: They'll, yeah they'll play better at home because most role players do but I just, to me, I still think that it'll be a similar result to what we saw Sunday, like, it may not be a 20 point thing, but I still think the Celtics win by 15, because once again, they can't go to another gear even sometimes with Jimmy, so let me be clear about that.

Rayshawn: I was like, oh, it's not Jim. Listen, there's even times when Jimmy has gone 5 18 from a game. We've seen it. So let's not make it seem like he's always 12 16 or 12 20. I think that year 

Dave Clarke: on year have gotten worse since we lost to them. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Rayshawn: So still, we're 

Dave Clarke: managing to lose to them. To them series. But yeah, 

Rayshawn: I, yeah, I mean, but I mean, but also got to the finals by winning in their house too, so I, yeah. But we knew they were gonna get 

Dave Clarke: fucked up, though. We knew they were gonna get fucked up in the finals, like we knew for sure. And it was like so frustrating, you know?

Dave Clarke: Yep, yep. Yeah, they shouldn't even been there. It should have been our first. What should've happened last season was it should've been our first trip to the finals against the Nuggets, and the Nuggets would've fuckin beaten us. I want that on fuckin record because we're talking about the year we lost to the fuckin Heat anyway.

Dave Clarke: The Nuggets would've fuckin beaten us, and then this would've been the real chip on your shoulder year. Like, it would have been like, alright, well, we're gonna see them again. Like, it wasn't like when the Warriors, like, kind of punched us in the mouth for the last time and we're never gonna see them in the finals again.

Dave Clarke: Like, that iteration of the Warriors team is never gonna be back in the finals. So there's no chance of that happening. So they shouldn't have even really been there that year. We were the better team. We should have won the fucking games. But the, uh, you're never gonna be able to get revenge on them. Like, they just left you with that.

Dave Clarke: That's the kind of team that they are. But, like, the Nuggets. If we start a rivalry with them, we could conceivably see them like three more times. You know what I mean? And we're going to look back on the year that the Heat beat us as like, we should have made it that year, man. You know, like, that could have been a rubber, like, then this could have happened.

Dave Clarke: I mean, whatever. But all this is behind the sky hypothetical. If I'll say this, Juan, you mentioned your favorite Jayson Tatum game, and I was thinking about it since you said that. I think my favorite is game one against Brooklyn, where he Locks KD down and then does the spinny move at the end to like finish the game, so that was probably my favorite Jayson team.

Dave Clarke: That was fun, yeah. Mike, do you have a favorite off the top of your head? 

Mike: Honestly, not recency bias, I mean, I think it was this past game. Like, I've been asking for it for four years. Like, when is he gonna have that Larry Bird playoff game where he only takes a select amount of shots but he controls the entire fucking game?

Mike: And we finally got 

Rayshawn: it. Yeah, that's what we need. And you know, I hope that he has more performances like that. Like I said, it was the most controlled he's ever looked. And you know, once again, I know people, it's actually hard to get to 40 points. I get that. But like I said, if you can get closer to a triple double, I'd say it's 28 9 7, or you get another triple double for the series.

Rayshawn: So, so be it. He, like I said, he is by far the best player in the series when he's on. So, just go out there and prove it. Just be you. 

Dave Clarke: I agree. I think everybody else's consistently levels, uh, have really raised. And I think we've seen that over the regular season. I'm glad that it's producing the playoffs regardless of the opponents put in front of us.

Dave Clarke: I think if I'm going to make a prediction, uh, for the next game, I think we're going to see another 30 plus point blowout at the start of the game, to be honest, because I just. Yeah. Don't see who they have one through eight that can possibly compete with who we have like even one through five So I just think we're gonna get the job done It's gonna it might be a little bit like more boring to talk about because I think we're just gonna absolutely wax these guys But what will be interesting is previewing our trip to Miami for game three Because obviously that's going to change everything and be the first real test, probably, unless we give ourselves a pop quiz in the next home game, uh, because the only team that can beat us on Wednesday is us.

Dave Clarke: So it's a cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason. Well, for myself, TK Sizzle, for Ray Sean Buchanan, for Mike Marcangelo, I have presented to you a wonderful piece of content about the Boston Celtics, and I wish they would present us back. A wonderful piece of basketball on Wednesday. This has been Missing the Point.

Dave Clarke: Good night.