NBA Playoffs Heat Up: Celtics and Mavericks Dominate

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00:00Hey Kyle, great to have you back and you know, naturally the NBA cycle coming to the end

00:07here as we get toward the Eastern Conference, Western Conference Finals, a lot of intrigue

00:11I still think left naturally and some NBA draft intrigue as well, but you know when

00:16this starts happening, it's the race to the end of the season.

00:20It feels like we're getting closer.

00:23We are getting closer.

00:24I mean, we already have one series down, three to go and you know, these series were tied

00:27at 2-2, but it's starting to feel like we are seeing each series sway in a certain direction.

00:32So you know, I'm really looking forward to seeing what we get out of the Western Conference

00:36Finals and then I'm very curious to see who makes it out of that Eastern Conference Finals

00:40series as well to see who can give the Celtics a tough test.

00:42But like you said, we're getting down to the end of it.

00:44Only one game a night.

00:45It's a tough time of the year.

00:46Yeah, it is.

00:47All right, so let's go back first and look at last night.

00:50Look, I think the Mavericks are going to win this series now against Oklahoma City.

00:53This was just a huge win last night to go on the road and win.

00:56Meanwhile, Dallas has lost at home outright to OKC.

00:59OKC has lost outright a couple of times in this series.

01:01So I guess we shouldn't say that the series is over.

01:04I mean, it certainly could go back to Dallas and OKC could win the next game very easily.

01:09But I mean, I just don't see Dallas losing twice now.

01:12I think that's kind of the position that I would take because I mean, if there's one,

01:17I mean, Jokic, it seems like Denver does need him to play really well, but I don't think

01:21that there's another team that's left in the NBA that's more reliant on Luka like Dallas

01:25is.

01:26Yeah, I think Dallas really figured something out last night defensively.

01:30You know, they were switching up looks, man and zone, making sure that Shea Gildas Alexander

01:34was seeing three bodies every single time that he drove the lane.

01:38And they were really determined to make somebody else on Oklahoma City beat them.

01:42And the Thunder have not shot the three ball all that well lately in this series.

01:46And Dallas's defense deserves a lot of the credit for that.

01:48You know, they're two big guys, Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively have done a great job of

01:53keeping Shea out of the paint and making life difficult for him when he does get into

01:56the paint.

01:57And, you know, Oklahoma City's three point shooters just haven't been knocking down those

02:00shots to get any relief off of Shea.

02:02So as Dallas starts to figure something out defensively, which hadn't necessarily been

02:06their identity all year, like you said, very reliant on Luka, Kyrie, guys like PJ Washington

02:12knocking down shots after the trade deadline, you know, it feels like they are starting

02:16to find an identity on the defensive end.

02:18And that's a really scary sight for Oklahoma City because as the series goes back to Dallas,

02:22you know, the Thunder, that young Thunder team, they stole that game four in Dallas.

02:25That was a really impressive win.

02:27But I don't know if they have that in them again in this next game, especially with the

02:31way that Dallas looks defensively.

02:32So I'm with you, Craig.

02:33I'm kind of thinking that the Mavericks might wrap this up in six games.

02:36Yeah, or seven again, they can, they only have to win one of the next two.

02:40Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics with that win last night now get to rest regardless, they're

02:45going to get at least it seems like three days rest.

02:47It could get a lot more than that, depending on what happens tomorrow night.

02:50But they took care of Cleveland last night, 113 to 98, they win the series in five, man,

02:57I'm seeing these reports about maybe a new coach in Cleveland, which is sort of stunning.

03:01I mean, it made the playoffs, won the first round, played well in two games, at least

03:05against Boston.

03:06Well, the Celtics, Kyle, as you sort of alluded to right now, it looks like they're the best

03:10team in the NBA.

03:11I think most people are hoping to get at Boston Denver final.

03:14I don't know that we will, you never know.

03:17The Celtics dominated the series pretty much from start to finish.

03:21Maybe it's a little unfair without Mitchell, to think that Cleveland had a chance.

03:25Yeah, I mean, I, I agree with you.

03:28I thought that J.B.

03:29Bickerstaff did as good of a job as he possibly could with the roster that he had available

03:33in the series.

03:34But at the end of the day, the Celtics were just the better team.

03:36And, you know, they've had a couple stinkers.

03:38They had the game two against the Heat, they had the game two against the Cavaliers.

03:41But all in all, it feels like this team is almost being graded a little tough, just based

03:46on how successful they were in the regular season.

03:48I mean, they have the best record in the playoffs.

03:50They have the best average margin of victory in the playoffs.

03:53They have the highest point differential in the playoffs, highest net rating in the playoffs.

03:57They've won games by 30 points.

04:00They've won three games by 20 points, three games by at least 10 points.

04:03So, you know, even though it doesn't necessarily look pretty from the first to the third quarter,

04:07the end result is what it is, and you don't have to cover a spread to win the championship.

04:11So, you know, right now, the Celtics are looking like the favorites to win the title for sure.

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