Boston Celtics' Best Lineup: A Question of Availability

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00:00There's one element I feel very vindicated in about that.

00:04It's a conversation that I know I've talked about a few times on air,

00:08behind the scenes, different things with that.

00:10The healthy version of the Boston Celtics to me is not real.

00:14I do not care what their record is when their best six players are all available,

00:18Tatum, Brown, White, Holiday, Porzingis, and Horford,

00:22because I do not think you can bank on that group all being out there.

00:27And why I feel vindicated is in game number two, you didn't have Jason Tatum,

00:31and in game number three, you didn't have Drew Holiday.

00:33So if this Boston Celtics team is eliminated, I still think they get through Orlando,

00:38but in round two or three, and I am told by those who back the Celtics,

00:44yeah, but if Drew didn't pull, I don't want to hear about Drew or Chris Stapps

00:50or even Tatum for me, JY.

00:51One of the big things for me is that this Celtics team has shown all season long

00:57availability cannot be relied upon for their full-strength lineup,

01:03and I think they need that in order to get back to the mountaintop

01:08that many believe, including the books for a lot of the seasons, thought they would.

01:11It's that old phrase, right?

01:13The best kind of ability is dependability or availability.

01:17And you have to be concerned about that when you talk about Boston.

01:23I mean, obviously, you know, Tatum, you know, Holiday, the injection in the knee of Jalen Brown.

01:28You know, Chris Stapps has injury concerns throughout his career,

01:32and one of the six guys you're relying on is Al Horford at 38, 39 years old.

01:36So it's very reasonable.

01:40I said going into this series that Orlando was going to get one game.

01:47I didn't – it definitely wasn't going to be game one because I like Boston minus the points.

01:50It was either game two or game three.

01:53They've got their game.

01:55What we did not expect is how well Jamal Mosey's team was going to make this a street fight.

02:04And with all due respect to Boston, Orlando's kids are tougher than you.

02:11They're not as good.

02:12They're not as talented.

02:14But they lock in, they defend, and they got a star coach in Jamal Mosey.

02:23Which is interesting because when Jamal Mosey, like, played at, like, Iowa State and stuff,

02:26like, he wasn't really much of a defender.

02:28So that's kind of, like, the funny thing about him growing up.

02:31But the interesting thing is this, and I'll ask Kevin this.

02:36Think about the series being 2-1 and how bad they are offensively.

02:42If Orlando was better offensively, could the Celtics would have been in trouble in a series?

02:48Yeah, I think that's a tough – like, if Orlando was just a much better basketball team, would the –

02:53Yeah, if the Celtics –

02:54Offensively, just because they can't score.

02:56They don't have a lot of facilitators.

02:58You talked about, you know, Apollo's usage rate.

03:01It just seems like they have one side of the ball figured out,

03:06and the other side of the ball is, like, you know, Pat Riley, New York Knicks,

03:10give it the ball to Patrick Ewing, bad.

03:12Yeah, I think Orlando is just a really young team,

03:14and it'll be fun to see how they try and progress that roster.

03:19All in all, time will tell.

03:22We'll see if they have the patience required in order for them to get the job done.

03:26What I would say, though, is just we look at the lines here for game number four,

03:33and it is up a full three points from game number three's line, which closed at four and a half.

03:41I would think that means the books are thinking Drew Holiday is going to be –

03:46I think that's what they're thinking.

03:47I don't think it's a Celtics won't lose again tax, but I'm not certain about that.

03:51I'm not certain it's a books don't think they will lose again tax.

03:55I'll also just throw this in there.

03:58Palo Bancaro is not having the most efficient series of all time,

04:04but 32 a game is 32 a game,

04:08and him giving you 32 a night against the Boston Celtics is definitely impressive,

04:13and I definitely think should be applauded.

04:15I think that's what I'm saying.

04:16I think that's what I'm saying.

04:17I think that's what I'm saying.

04:18I think that's what I'm saying.

04:19I think that's what I'm saying.

04:20I think that's what I'm saying.

04:21I think that's what I'm saying.

04:22I think that's what I'm saying.

04:23I think that's what I'm saying.

04:24I think that's what I'm saying.

04:25I think that's what I'm saying.

04:26I think that's what I'm saying.

04:27I think that's what I'm saying.

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