LIVE: Is Jayson Tatum Having GOOD Playoffs? w/ Mo Dakhil | Garden Report - video Dailymotion

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CLNS Media’s Bobby Manning welcomes Bleacher Report's Mo Dakhil to the Garden Report to discuss Jayson Tatum and his playoff performance.  This episode of the Garden Report is brought to you by:  Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Go to https://PrizePicks.com/CLNS  Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.  Elevate your style game on and off the course with the PXG Spring Summer 2024 collection. Head over to https://PXG.com/GARDENREPORT and save 10% on all apparel. Use Code GARDEN REPORT!  Nutrafol Men! Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/MEN and enter the promo code GARDEN!  #Celtics #NBA #GardenReport #CLNS

Transcript

00:00 Hey, Bobby Manning here. Welcome to a Tuesday edition of the Garden Report back in Boston

00:08 after a couple games in Cleveland. Mo Dekeel is here. Let's talk about the Celtics run

00:14 so far that's about to turn to another Eastern Conference Finals appearance for them. Going

00:20 against two beat up teams in these first two rounds, two good defenses, which I think has

00:25 put some interesting offensive tape out there on them and plenty of conversation around

00:31 Jason Tame's performance in this postseason so far that turned for the better over the

00:35 last two games here in Cleveland. Two important wins, grinded out wins for the Celtics on

00:41 the road and wasn't pretty, Mo, through the last couple here, really through this whole

00:46 run so far, but they're getting it done. I love the defense so far, but we're going to

00:51 mostly talk about the offense here, whether it needs to get better, how it can get better

00:56 and what role Tatum has in that. So what's been your overall impression of their run

01:00 so far? I mean, first off, it's just been easy for the most part, right? And that's

01:07 no fault of their own. I know people are going to criticize them and this is the easiest

01:12 route any team's ever had to the Eastern Conference Finals or finals or whatnot. That's not really

01:18 fair to them. They don't have any control of Jimmy Butler getting hurt. They didn't

01:22 have any control of Mitchell with the calf strain and things like that. They just keep

01:26 doing their job. Um, but it hasn't felt like playoffs for them yet have started, which,

01:34 you know, maybe a good or bad thing in that sense, but it just hasn't had that feel like,

01:39 yeah, they had that really ridiculous game against Miami. Miami shot the hell out of

01:43 it from three. Also, I didn't think the Celtics really tried to defend them from three in

01:48 that game too. Uh, and I think that led to a lot of those problems. And then, you know,

01:54 in game two in, in Boston, in this series, you know, they, this one felt like Cleveland

01:58 actually took it and fought for it a lot harder. And I think that was a bit different. Um,

02:04 but like, come on, like I, I, it's hard Bobby to really get that excited about the Celtics

02:09 series. Cause I'm just like, they should win these pretty easily.

02:11 Yeah. If you guys nationally, I think this is the one you're tuning out just like it

02:15 was in the first round for the most part, uh, cause with some other good ones out there

02:19 and we'll get to those in a little bit. Uh, but as easy as it's been, it hasn't been easy

02:22 for Tatum and the looks he's seeing certainly a big part of that. Miami showed him a crowd

02:30 calves rotating guys over. I was talking to Dean Wade a little bit about how they're just

02:34 guarding him in layers, um, when he's going to the room there. So he's being forced to

02:39 either finish in traffic through a ton of bodies in there or, you know, kick it out

02:44 and get some of these other guys going. And I think he's done a solid job of it, but how

02:48 much does he need to improve his own efficiency, his own scoring for this team to get where

02:53 they want to go?

02:54 Well, I mean, I think the starting point is, is his shot selection from three, right? Like

03:00 he's shooting very poorly from three below 30%. Um, with that. And I think it's comes

03:06 down to, you know, just sometimes he feels like these are the threes I need to be taking

03:11 in this, the ones off the dribble that I absolutely hate. He had one muscular term from, uh, uh,

03:17 the great Nate Jones on, on Twitter. Uh, you know, the strive for greatness three that

03:22 LeBron always takes is that little like, you know, sidestep three, there's a more explicit

03:26 term for it too, but yeah, but I like the strive for greatness just seems more fun.

03:31 Um, but like he, he, he kind of took that, that, that one, you know, like off the dribble

03:36 one bounce and then to the sidestep. And I was just like, we just got to get that out

03:41 of the game, out of his game. Like it's just not his shot. It's not something that I think

03:45 is really conducive. I think that's where he could be more efficient is in that shot

03:49 selection. But I think overall he's done, I mean the numbers aren't great. Like he's

03:54 not going to blow you away. Although he had a nice night, the past, the past two games,

03:58 he's had some nice numbers there, but like, it's not going to blow you away to the point

04:02 where you're like, wow, this dude's unbelievable or whatever. He's just taking what the defense

04:07 has given him and making the right reads. I mean, this is the lowest field goal attempts.

04:11 He's averaged in a playoff series, you know, uh, besides his first two, which don't really

04:17 count cause he wasn't really the guy in those series. Right. And you know, starting 2019,

04:22 the 2019, 2020 season, you know, he was kind of stepping into that role as the guy and

04:27 that's where his playoff numbers started to go up. And I think this is the lowest field

04:32 goal attempt since then. And I think it's all what you said. Defenses are focusing in

04:36 on him, keying in on him and he's making the right read. So I'm not that hard on him in

04:41 that sense. What is it with the threes and him? Cause he, he turned it around this season.

04:48 The last couple of years weren't great for him from deep this year. I think he got to

04:51 like 37. He takes difficult ones. I think that's the main point you're trying to make

04:58 there. I saw at one point this year, he had like the most step back threes by miles. I

05:03 know when we get frustrated on here, a lot on the show is the step back over the big

05:07 and you've seen him with mobile floating out on him. You've seen him with even Tristan

05:10 Thompson out on him at points in this series, just stepping back and launching that three.

05:16 Um, it's, I probably part of their offense. Like I don't think they want to be taken layups

05:23 in traffic at the rim and you know, potentially having like a five on four go the other way.

05:28 So I think that's a big reason. And along with trying to limit turnovers is the other

05:31 thing I've kind of heard for, you know, why they shoot as many threes as they do. But

05:35 I think, you know, one thing I've always said about Tatum in the, in this offense, you know,

05:40 the one we've watched the last two years is they sort of make him do all the difficult

05:45 stuff to make it easier on everybody else. And it works to some degree, but it must get

05:51 frustrating for him at times. Just seeing the crowds he does, taking the difficult shots

05:55 that he does and putting up some of the shooting stats that he does here. I do think a lot

06:00 of it is intentional just to free up the other guys. And it's been interesting to watch in

06:05 this series. Obviously when Porzingis is out there, you have that easy outlet to him. One

06:09 thing that the Cavs have tried to do here is fun on the ball to Horford. And you see

06:14 over the last couple of games here, that's led to some rough shooting nights for Horford

06:18 there. So this series is probably over, but you just see with each passing series here,

06:24 how teams that are a little bit more equipped to hang with Boston could try to guard them.

06:29 Yeah. I mean, it, it, it, one thing that frustrates me about the Celtics offenses and it wasn't

06:35 the case last night, they only took 32 threes for the game is that they shoot so many threes

06:40 that I feel like sometimes it might just be better to go get that layup. And I, you know,

06:45 risk of a turnover be damned, you know, or having to finish over.

06:49 I think we lost you there.

06:57 I got too excited and unplugged my mic. The situation there. Hopefully you guys can hear

07:04 me all right now. But like the, the, just, you know, the, the being so risk adverse so

07:10 that we're going to shoot more threes, like that's such a bad, bad reason to shoot threes.

07:15 Like that's just, you know, we're afraid of turning the ball over or, or we're so focused

07:20 on our transition defense that we don't want to go to the rim. I'm like, you're at your

07:24 best when you go to the rim, man, when Tatum's attacking and drawing, drawing fouls at the

07:29 rim, drawing the big in a crowd at the rim and then making the kickouts.

07:33 Those are the threes I want. I hate the dribble pull up threes from some of these guys. Like,

07:38 you know, drew holiday is going to make some, but his shot selection is like, Whoa, it's

07:42 risky. And I think you're playing with fire in that regard when you're the Celtics. And

07:46 I think when you play a better team, you, you, you tend to kind of, you'll see it. And

07:50 I think for me, my strategy just in general would be like, Hey, I'm going to just guard

07:55 the three point line. Cause that's the shot they want the most. I'm going to make them

07:58 play inside the arc. And then let's, and then let's go from there. And you just see it in

08:03 the games where they don't shoot a ton of threes. There is a, there are at least a bit

08:07 closer if they're not losses.

08:09 Do you think Tatum could benefit? I'm trying to pull up the shot chart from last night.

08:15 He got about four mid Rangers to go and he's not a mid range maestro. You know, I think

08:21 for a lot of his career, he's shot closer to 40% than 50% from there, but he hasn't

08:26 taken a lot of them in recent years. Like he's, he's stepped out to three. He's taken

08:30 more of those. As you mentioned, he is getting close to the basket with some of the post-ups

08:35 and stuff that we saw this year, more drives at times getting to the free throw line more

08:39 often, but that mid range with him, it sort of seems like it could be part of his game

08:44 just based on his skillset and how he entered the league.

08:48 But as time's gone on in his career, they've sort of phased that out. Is that something

08:52 you think he could benefit from going to a little bit more often?

08:55 Absolutely. I mean, just look at the game last night in Dallas, Shea beat the Mavs with

09:01 this mid range game. I think, you know, we've kind of gone too far in this anti mid range

09:08 sort of thing. And you know, over the years, it's such a important, especially in the playoffs,

09:13 an important shot in the sense of you want to be a three level score. You want to be

09:17 able to be a threat to score at anywhere on the court. If I'm playing Tatum and I know

09:22 he doesn't want to take the mid range, he's not going to take a lot of them.

09:25 Cool. I'm going to defend him at the three point line and I'm going to meet him at the

09:29 rim. I'm not worried about the dribble pull ups, you know, and not to say that he can't

09:33 make them or whatnot, but it's like, I just know he's not going to take them. And that's

09:37 something I actually used to say about James Harden a ton when he was in Houston with that

09:41 stuff. I think we get too bogged down into like the analytics telling us this is a bad

09:47 shot. I said, this is a shot that makes the defense have to work and makes you more unpredictable

09:52 offensively, which stresses the defense.

09:55 And I think that's an important aspect to it. I mean, that's why I think having a three

09:59 level score is huge. And I think that's the important thing that Tatum just needs to bring

10:04 back to his game. Cause I'm with you. There's no reason he can't dribble pull up at the

10:09 elbow. Like he should be able to nail those. I don't want him to live strictly in that.

10:13 I'd like it to be a balanced diet, but having that in your arsenal and in your, in your

10:18 toolbox matters. And I think that's an important thing. So I'm with you on that. Like I think

10:22 at the shot, he should be working to develop again.

10:25 Yeah. And of course, you know, we're going in on him right now and kind of breaking it

10:29 down and putting them under the microscope because the expectations are so big and the

10:33 opponents they could potentially see down the line here pose a lot more defensive challenges

10:38 against them. You know, there's a lot of good defenses left in the playoffs, Indiana, that

10:43 ends up being the team they play. Not necessarily one of them. So they might catch another break

10:47 here, but the way that Nick series is gone and we'll get to, you know, how that's going

10:52 to shape out here at two, two. But the last thing I'll say on the Celtics offense, I'll

10:57 give it some credit because they've had some bad shooting nights.

11:01 They've had these inconsistent performances from Tatum and they've still figured out a

11:06 way to win six out of eight games here, whatever, six out of nine. And a lot of that's defense.

11:13 I think their defense has been incredible this post season, obviously going against

11:16 some teams with limited offensive arsenals, but they've honed in on that end in a way

11:21 that I think they didn't last year and killed them last postseason. So I'll start there,

11:27 but also on the offensive end, they're very analytical team, as you know, Mo with the

11:32 threes and everything else. But I think Joe became a little bit more flexible this year.

11:37 Like you see the post-ups, you see them implementing like some of the offensive rebounding to try

11:42 to counteract the three point misses. Like all that stuff is something they worked on

11:46 throughout the year and it has played a nice role in their offense, just persevering through

11:51 some bad shooting nights in these playoffs. Like I don't have the numbers in front of

11:55 me, but they were like 19 and 20 last year when they shot below league average from three.

11:59 I think they were like well over 500 this year when their three point percentage went

12:03 below that mark. So I'll give them some credit to like, this is a much different post season

12:08 so far. Obviously the competition hasn't been there for the most part, but they've been

12:13 in some rugged games and some bad shooting games that they probably would have lost last

12:17 year.

12:18 Yeah. And I'll, I'll, the one thing I'll say, and this is more of my, my big complaint with

12:22 Boston is their offense only because I don't really know how to describe it. Like there

12:27 doesn't seem to be a rhyme or rhythm to what they're doing in terms of like how they're

12:32 hitting into this thing.

12:33 What was the Porzingis thing, right?

12:34 But even with, even before Porzingis, even before Porzingis got injured, right? It was

12:38 always, you know, like my biggest criticism is it's a one note offense, right? We're running

12:44 one action and then we're diving into one on one. Most of the time they do run stuff,

12:49 they run plays as they've done some nice stuff, some slice cuts to get Tatum a post up things

12:54 here and there. Like I want to see more actions built around this team. You know, it might

12:58 not matter. Their offense might be so good. It won't matter. Their defense is so damn

13:02 good if they still might win a championship just off the strength of that. And, and, and

13:06 all my complaints can just go out the window, but I just think like they don't have, they

13:11 don't have like a definable system, right?

13:14 Like at the end of games, they're just going into a pick and roll and whoever has the ball

13:19 is going one on one, right? And, and, and hopefully they get a switch. Like when you

13:23 watch the teams like Denver, when Denver has it, they have their horns action. We know

13:27 it's going to Yoka, we know they run the Yoka Murray pick and roll, but they also have the

13:31 horns action that includes Gordon a bit involved in that stuff. You're seeing different things

13:37 from different teams in terms of what they go to. And I don't feel like Boston has that.

13:42 It's just the same thing. It's just a side picker. It's a hard diet to live on, especially

13:46 at the end of games. But you know, Hey, there were, their answer could be, we're not going

13:50 to play any close games. I mean, yesterday's game was the first one.

13:53 Yeah. Yeah. It has been, has been, Hey, if we don't keep it close, we don't have to worry

13:58 about our end of game offense. And maybe that's the case and that's what we're going to get.

14:03 But it just, it worries me that I, I wish this offense built had more layers to it.

14:08 Why don't you think it does? It just, it's just so very much like besides the pit, the

14:15 pick and roll where they get a switch on poor Zingis and he either takes you at the free

14:19 throw elbow or it takes the small down to the post or they've set up a post up for,

14:23 for Tatum. A lot of it is just off of pick and roll. Right. And there's not much beyond

14:27 that. There's no backside action. A lot of the times there's no, Hey, we're setting a

14:31 double pin downs into dribble handoffs. And while that's going on, these guys are exchanged.

14:36 There's just not a lot of that stuff there. I wish it had more of that. Cause I think

14:41 it could even be better. You know, I think it could even take them to another level where

14:45 it's like, damn, they got this great defense and then they have this offense as you run

14:50 and ragged. So now you're kind of really struggling on both ends of the court. If you're playing

14:55 against them, I think their offense tends to become predictable. And when it does that

15:00 it's, and that's any team by the way. And they're not the only team that does this.

15:04 I'm singling them out because they're the team I think that's going to represent the

15:07 East and in that regard. But like it's, I just feel like it becomes easier to defend

15:14 and it may not be easier for a team like Miami down. Jimmy Butler may not be easier for a

15:19 team like a Cleveland or Indiana if they play Indiana or even the Knicks who have maybe

15:24 four bodies by the time that series ends, it becomes a bit more predictable and it becomes

15:30 a little easier and pretty. And, and, and in that sense that allows defenses to figure

15:36 out how we can take you out of it. I don't think they have that sort of unpredictability

15:40 offensively. Yeah. And you saw it last night after that Brown bucket at the eight minute

15:47 mark it's holiday three Tatum turnover, a long picture to Tatum pull up three, a couple

15:54 of Brown free throws and Brown's been incredible in this series, by the way.

15:57 Great. He's been great. Almost under in, in all our complaints about Tatum, he, he, he

16:02 goes under, under, uh, uh, doesn't get talked about. He's been awesome. And his, his game

16:09 so weird because he does embrace the mid range. A lot of times he's got guys in his face from

16:16 mid range and he's still hitting it. He's the one thing you hear about this team around

16:20 the league the most in just my time covering them is they just hit difficult shots. And

16:26 that's what it makes them so trick or treat a lot of the time offensively when the tough

16:31 shots are falling. It's like, it's like a tsunami, you know, going over your defense

16:37 and they're good at them. Like, and Porzingis is part of that too. Porzingis hits some shots

16:41 where you're just like, how, but then when you're taking those and they're missing them

16:46 in droves, that's what leads to some of these droughts and down the stretch last night,

16:50 it was a lot of pull up threes. I was, you know, kind of grinded out pace with the lead,

16:55 you know, five, seven point lead. They're starting to slow down a little bit. You get

16:59 that put back from Tatum. That was a saving grace there. And then, you know, Tatum found

17:03 Brown for that three, but a lot of misses down the stretch, a slower pace. That's the

17:07 biggest thing with them. You know, I think you have a good point with all the, um, you

17:12 know, lack of sets we see from them, but it's really just a pace thing. Um, when they play

17:17 with a good pace, they find good shots. They find the mismatch. That's kind of what they

17:23 want to do. And that's what led to them being that, you know, super efficient, all the time

17:28 efficient offense that they were this year, even without some of the, you know, complex

17:32 sets that you mentioned there. It's, it's amazing that I can actually have these complaints

17:36 and they've been one of the all time. Uh, no, but you get it because at their worst,

17:41 they grind to a halt. They really do. And it shows. So it's so obvious when it starts

17:48 to happen. Yeah. Right. You can all feel it. I mean, I, all your listeners are, are Boston

17:54 fans. They've all felt it. They've all had it in games. You felt it where you're just

17:58 like, Oh God, we're going to do this again. And it's just, I just, you don't have to live

18:02 that way. It's all I'm saying is you just don't have to live that way. You can make

18:05 it a little bit easier. And I think that's on the coaching side of it. It's like, Hey,

18:09 we can put you guys in stuff and make your lives a little bit easier. And, and, and from

18:14 that gets you better opportunities. What stands out about their defense to you? Because it's

18:21 a lot better this year. They don't force a lot of turnovers, which was one gripe I have.

18:25 And I think at times in the series, you've seen them lean into the drop a little too

18:29 much. I think they've adjusted that well. They've gone to some more switching that's

18:32 put Horford in a tough spot and they really are putting a load on him right now. That

18:37 is making you hope that poor Zingas can be back sooner rather than later. At least the

18:40 series can end on Wednesday and just get some extra time off there. But they're making them

18:44 work. The calves are, and, you know, I think the calves have done a decent job in spots.

18:49 I'm trying to find vulnerabilities at the rim, but a holiday said something interesting

18:55 last night that they actually want the calves shooting in the paint. You know, they want

18:59 them there inside. If they give up some of those dump offs to Mobley or whatever it might

19:03 be, that's better than the threes falling for Cleveland. And last night they hit a ton.

19:09 They shot a ton early on and then they kind of disappeared for Cleveland late. So even

19:13 on the defensive side of the ball, and we've talked a lot on this show about it, Mo, they're

19:17 playing an analytical style, trying to take away those threes, dropping back at the basket,

19:22 taking that away. And I was actually surprised to see going into the series, the calves shot

19:26 like the fewest mid Rangers in the league. And that's killed them here because that's

19:30 the shot that's available against Boston. Right. And that's why I always say that mid

19:34 range is actually a very important playoff shot. Just, just in most teams will take away

19:38 the three and try to meet you at the rim. Um, the defense though, I love it. You know,

19:45 I love it. And it all starts with Derek white and true holiday. Derek white being able to

19:51 fly around and take on guards and, and, and things like that allows drew holiday to get

19:55 to freelance and allows Joe Missoula to actually put them in different positions. We saw it

20:00 with the zone earlier in the year, right? Like, Hey man, we're going to run a two, three

20:04 zone and instead of for zing is in the center, we're going to put drew in the center and

20:07 you're just going to wreck shit and go nuts. And I think that's kind of what happens. And

20:12 it's, and you get to do that because you have white and, and, and Tatum's good defensively

20:16 Brown's good defensively.

20:17 Horford, you know, is going to struggle in the switch. And I think that's kind of what

20:21 we saw a little bit in that game yesterday with Cleveland continuing to kind of try to

20:25 attack the switch, attack the switch. And, and I understand the thinking with holiday

20:30 in that sense. And especially early on when the calves were hitting threes, like Struce

20:35 had like five threes, I think in the first half or something like that, like he was on

20:39 fire. And I think, you know, once you kind of locked down on that, it began to kind of

20:43 fall off and it's saying, okay, we got it. We got to start attacking the rim more. And

20:48 I think it was a very interesting thing. I have no qualms with the Celtics defense. You

20:53 know, I might quibble on a possession here of, Oh, you should have rotated or the, but

20:57 like for the most part, like they are rock solid defensively, even if they don't force

21:02 a lot of turnovers for me, it's like they do a good job.

21:06 They limit you to one shot. They force you into tough shots. They're constantly rotating.

21:11 They're in good position and they end it with a rebound. Like there's not much more you

21:14 can ask, you know, from a team defensively other than that.

21:18 Yeah. And they've really gone in on trying to expose the weak link on that end to like

21:22 everything on their defensive store, just the reverse of a lot of their offensive philosophy.

21:27 Like they're hoping O'Coro puts up those threes and misses and they're going to shy away from

21:32 him. And, you know, at times they've had out on him in this series and you know, I've,

21:36 I've had some gripes on that because Mowgli has gotten going a little bit in some spots

21:40 while I was played away from them. We mentioned on our last show, but it does end up coming

21:45 back down to earth. And, you know, for all the criticism is always gotten about that

21:49 analytical style, especially with the talent, the Celtics have had here. It's where it does

21:53 end up working out in the end, especially over the length of some of these series.

21:57 Yeah. I mean, that's just all it is. You know, I just think sometimes the defensive end,

22:03 it works. It's great. I just, I worry sometimes that these, these teams that are too analytic

22:08 analytical sometimes it just, they lose a little bit of their soul and kind of forget

22:12 like just to a basketball sometimes just freewheeling stuff and you got to let it go. And, and,

22:18 and whatever you get is what you're going to get. And I think that's to go back to kind

22:22 of the office. I think that's why the mid range shot is somewhere where I think the

22:25 Celtics should probably invest more, not just in Brown, but in, in, in Tatum taking those

22:30 more, but that's also an off season thing. We can't expect him to start doing that now

22:34 in, in, in the conference finals in the finals, you know, most likely.

22:38 Yeah. But one thing he was doing in the early in the year was the post-ups. And I feel like

22:43 we've seen a little bit less of that even into the playoffs here, at least, you know,

22:47 just at a glance, I haven't seen him going there as much. I'm sure part of it is the

22:50 crowds he's seeing and just the attention he's drawing there. But they were using them

22:55 as a screener in a good way in game two, they ended up losing that game, but he and white,

23:00 they pair nice there. And they've been able to get into that a little bit more with poisonous

23:04 off the floor, which they have to, because Warford's not really going to give you that

23:07 pick and roll threat. You know, that, as you said, is at the heart of their offense. So

23:11 they have to go to some small, small stuff there and white and holiday, like those are,

23:16 you know, for all the great stuff you can say about them, those are two of the best

23:19 screening guards I've seen around the league.

23:21 Easily, easily. Those guys are awesome. And I think that's part of the, that's the one

23:26 part like, you know, I went on a podcast a while back and I said, Derek, why it's the

23:29 most important Celtic. It wasn't, I wouldn't say he was the best player, but it's the most

23:34 important Celtic because literally he just runs around and just screens nonstop and he

23:38 gets guys open screens, you know, and it's, and it's flying around. And then, like I said,

23:43 on the defensive end, he enables them to unlock true holiday because drew doesn't have to

23:48 necessarily take the best perimeter guy, Derek white can. And then you can let drew kind

23:53 of just roam or do his own thing and get going from there. And I think that's kind of why

23:57 I look at white is so important for this Celtics team.

24:03 We're going to get into some of the teams they could see in the East finals here and

24:06 really just what's going on around the league as a whole. I want to give a quick shout out

24:09 to our sponsor prize techs go over there and use our code CNS to get a hundred percent

24:14 deposit match up to a hundred dollars. Right now, the playoffs rolling along second round

24:19 soon will be the conference finals. I, all of them great times to go over there and see

24:23 what the projections are. Points, success, rebounds. It's all there going in any game.

24:29 I'm just always interested to go see like what they think guys are going to do on any

24:32 given night for Tatum. They've been high. We've gone less on him a lot, but he's starting

24:37 to turn it around. He goes more the last couple of games. It's our official daily fantasy

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24:57 We got a Knicks pacer series. It's going to continue here tonight and it's gone to a weird

25:02 place. I felt like I'm, I'm just devastated because a year ago I was dreaming of Celtics

25:08 Lakers just for the storylines, you know, for the LeBron factor there. It was just been

25:14 a great series from like a narrative perspective and even just the energy around that series

25:21 would have been so great, but it doesn't happen. It's Denver heat. Wow. Now we're on the verge

25:27 of Knicks Celtics first time in 11 years that would have happened. All this energy in New

25:33 York championship aspirations in Boston and all of a sudden everybody's hurt on the Knicks

25:38 and they just have this game for where it looks like there's zero left in the tank.

25:44 I don't know how that's going to change. I guess Brunson's hurt too and he's playing

25:47 through it. Did they have any chance to pull out that series with where they are health

25:51 wise? I mean they do. I don't want to kind of, you know, really crush them to the point

25:58 that it's like, I don't feel like they have any chance. Like let's just also start with

26:01 the fact that Indiana was unbelievable in that game. They hit a ton of shots early,

26:06 really buried them early. It was their energy, their pace, the way they pushed everything

26:10 and got going. But like it's a, um, it's a uphill battle for them even with just theoretically

26:18 two home games. If this goes seven, I think it's a tough situation for them to really

26:25 lock in and they're going to have to really lean on actually the garden. The garden has

26:29 to go nuts, you know, and really kind of carry this team forward into that stuff. Like I'm

26:34 serious, like it's wild, but like Indiana didn't win either of those games in New York,

26:38 right? It was too well and then you know, they, they evened it that way to two. It's

26:44 still one of those things where the home sit team has won every game.

26:49 They're going to need Brunson though to be like, listen, Brunson finished what fourth

26:52 in the MVP voting. They need him to be at that level and at the same time need Dante

26:57 D'Avincenzo to hit hot shots. Need Josh Hart to make a massive offensive rebounds. Going

27:03 to have to figure out where you're going to get defense from on a Halliburton, uh, Siakam

27:09 and how are you going to kind of continue to make those guys nights miserable. Got to

27:14 deal with the TJ McConnell comes in and just a little super energy that he brings in. But

27:19 like this next team special man, like I, I, I wonder if they find a way to pull this one

27:25 off. I still would probably pick Indiana, but it's going to be a tough one.

27:30 Which of these teams do you think would give us in a better series? I think you would obviously

27:35 look at it going in and say the Knicks at full health. Um, but the Celtics did go four

27:40 and one against them during the year. That last one was the game changer a little bit

27:45 because it was the first game with OG between those two teams. The Knicks just went out

27:49 and rock them. They were up by 30 at one point in Boston. Uh, and you know, they have that

27:55 fantastic record with OG and the lineup. So I think the answer would be obvious at full

28:00 health here. And I still think that some things the Knicks can do that can bother Boston,

28:05 but you're probably looking at Indiana right now just because of the health, right?

28:09 Yeah. Just to help. Like, listen, if it was a fully healthy Knicks team, I'd say the Knicks,

28:14 but like the one thing with Indiana that I don't think even Boston's going to struggle

28:20 with a little bit is just a speed and the pace. It's frenetic. It's hard. Like I try

28:26 to clip plays, you know, during the games and it's too fast for me. There are times

28:31 where it's just so fast. I just go, Nope, I'm not clipping any plays right now. Cause

28:35 it's just, and it's, it's, and it's not just, Hey, they run off makes misses, turnovers,

28:42 dead balls, whatever. They get the ball up the court. It's usually up the half court

28:46 line with 20 seconds on the clock. They don't get anything in early in transition. They

28:51 go to early offense. They don't get anything from early offense. They reset and then run

28:55 into, run into another offense right there. Like you're, you're almost having to defend

28:59 three different things. If you do right, if you don't give up the transition bucket, you

29:03 got to defend an early offense, maybe a drag screen or a pin down. If you, if you're able

29:09 to stop that, then it turns into a Tyrese Halliburton, a high pick and roll. Like there's,

29:14 this is what I was talking about in terms of the difference with the Celtics offense,

29:17 right? Like three layers to that three layers. It's, it's, it's all of that stuff and it's

29:23 fast and it's bang, bang, bang. They don't waste time in trying to get into things. They

29:27 don't waste time trying too hard to get into mismatches. And I think that's kind of the,

29:33 the thing that makes them so difficult to play against. Yeah, their defense is bad,

29:39 but they're just betting just on law of averages.

29:41 You're going to miss enough shots and they're going to get more shots up. And I think that's

29:45 kind of what they're hoping for. And I think that's what makes them interesting. And I

29:48 think that would be a fun part to watch in the series going back and forth between Boston

29:53 and Indiana. Yeah. And the big thing with them is how Albertans turned it around over

29:58 these last three, he was shooting 43 in the field and 30 from three through the first

30:03 seven games of the playoffs last three, 34, 35, 20 points, a ton of threes falling for

30:10 him now again, which was a big part of his, you know, almost MVP caliber start to the

30:15 year. And he's, he's deadly. He, he can just be a hub offensively. And that's something

30:22 the Celtics would have to deal with on either series. Right. And Brunson's obviously a little

30:25 banged up now, but you'd have to deal with him getting into the mid range, Hal Burton,

30:30 you know, he's going to take more threes. I'd imagine, you know, against them. But they're

30:35 both difficult guards to deal with in whatever direction this series goes. But if Hal Burton's

30:41 playing at the level he can, he ends up being the scary of the two here, at least with where

30:46 Brunson's at health wise right now, I'd say, and you know, just everything around them

30:50 and that paces offense. I think the big thing Celtics went three and two against them indie,

30:56 but they got pulled in the pace in four of those games. I'd say like, you know, the first

31:03 one was a blood. I don't think even Hal Burton even played in that game, but some of the

31:07 other ones were just like racist to one 20 up and down. One of them was one 33 to one

31:12 31. And I don't think that's where the Celtics want to live.

31:17 No, you want to slow it down, but that's also part of the magic with the pace. The Pacers

31:22 had the Knicks playing fast. Tips. I didn't want to play. They were, they were like, this

31:26 is too fast for the Knicks. They can't do this. You know? And I think that's kind of

31:31 the, the, the deal. Like they're going to say, cool, you might beat us, but it's going

31:34 to be a playing it our way. And I think that's the big challenge is how do you make it so

31:39 that you're not playing their way. And that's also kind of like, actually we're probably

31:43 the offense kind of helps is just being methodical beings, maybe not being so slow, but just,

31:50 Hey, let's make sure we were going to run in transition, but opportunistic stuff.

31:54 When we know we have a, an advantage, I thought the you're, you're what you're hoping for

32:00 is then, okay, if you don't have that, let's slow it down. Let's, let's bring the ball

32:04 up and let's make them work defensively because they're not good defensively. And that's the

32:09 thing. If you can make them work defensively, they can't guard you at all. They really can't

32:13 TJ. McConnell's got no chance against Jason Tatum, right? Like that shouldn't even be

32:17 at the, you know, like any of those things, it's going to be see outcomes and, and miles

32:21 Turner are probably their best defenders and Nesmith as well. And you might get a Nesmith

32:25 revenge game here and there, but like it's for the most part after that, like you're

32:31 going to attack Halliburton, you're going to attack McConnell in the half court.

32:35 And those are the things you got to kind of jump on for Boston, but you got to try to

32:39 find a way to stay out of that pace. How much do they need Porzingis for the series? You

32:45 think whichever way it goes, or could they survive another one without him here? I think

32:51 they could survive without him. I would be worried about Aldo taxing him, especially

32:57 if the pace is really up and down with, with all of that. And this might be, that might,

33:02 this might be the series that you go small and, and, and really just play, you know,

33:07 five, you know, and I know people have been clamoring for it, but maybe it is Tatum at

33:12 the five. I don't know if I would necessarily do that, but I don't think we saw that all

33:17 year. Yeah. I mean, and it's a scary thing. It's a scary thing to throw that out there.

33:24 If you haven't done it all year. So maybe we won't see it at all, but like if it's a

33:29 series to do it, it's probably this one because Turner's not going to really punish you in

33:33 the post. But I, I think you can survive being Porzingis lists in this one. You won't in

33:40 the finals. You have to have them for the finals. But I think in this one, I think you

33:44 can survive this one because I still think you guys got enough offensive firepower. I

33:48 think you have, I love the defense. I think the defense is good enough, um, you know,

33:54 and strong enough to be able to kind of survive without Porzingis.

34:00 Is this a year you think with the path we're seeing here and I think the biggest threats

34:06 obviously going to be in the finals as we look at it here. And I still would love to

34:11 see Minnesota Boston at that point. Um, I think, you know, the best offense arguably

34:16 here against the best defense and seeing like, especially with where the league has gone

34:21 would be the most interesting thing to me. Um, Denver, I'd give an edge over Boston.

34:26 I think a lot of people do, um, just because of the way it was regular season games went

34:30 and just the benefit of the doubt you give Yoke it to being the best player in that series.

34:34 Uh, and now is Dallas, you know, emerges as a potential one here. I think that would probably

34:39 be the most favorable for them because they can go at those guards. Uh, but I want to

34:43 see Minnesota Boston just because we've seen it throughout the year, the officiating, the

34:50 way the game's called, it's gotten a little less tight. You're seeing more defense, you're

34:54 seeing teams be able to play more physically. And someone asked Joe about that and he was

35:00 like, we don't love it, but we're going to have to adapt. And I think that would just

35:06 be a fascinating thing. I think the team that has taken more advantage of that new officiating

35:11 environment than anyone has been Minnesota. You've seen a guy kind of emerge as a budding

35:16 MVP perimeter kind of, you know, match for Tatum there. And Anthony Edwards, I just think

35:21 there'd be a lot of interesting dynamics in that series. Plus you see a team that wants

35:25 to play a little smaller versus a team that wants to play bigger. But Denver comes out

35:29 and wins those last two and you're like, Oh, all right, where's that going? So I think

35:33 those are probably the two teams you'll see against Boston at that point. They're the

35:36 most interesting ones left. Yeah. I mean, I don't think, okay, see, is

35:41 they're too young, even though that was a gutty win from them last night, you know,

35:45 really kind of on the backs of Shea. But I think the, I think them and Dallas just don't

35:51 have enough to really take on Boston. I think, I think Denver would have the edge, you know,

35:58 and I think it would come down to end the game execution and, you know, part of it is

36:03 Boston just hasn't had any close games, you know, over the past, you know, like few weeks.

36:08 So it is, that would be the most frustrating way for Boston season 10, which is just a

36:14 close game miscues and all the issues they had there late in the year coming back and

36:19 haunting them. It's like the college teams that like I used

36:23 to always take this way. You know, when like a college team would blow everybody out and

36:28 go like 29 and oh, going into the tournament and then they lose to like some team that's

36:34 like 20 and whatever, 11 or something like that. But every game they've won have been

36:40 close games and that game goes down to the wire. You want the team that's been in it

36:44 a lot more. And I think, I think Denver's X end of game execution, which is all yoke,

36:49 for the most part is, is just amazing. And then Murray's shot making ability. I give

36:55 them the edge. I think Minnesota and Boston would be fascinating because I think there's

37:00 just so much we can kind of look at, you know, the Edwards Tatum battle and we know the content

37:07 machine is going to make it all about those two guys.

37:10 And then it's, you know, who is cat guard on the perimeter? You know, how does he defend,

37:17 you know, going on, assuming for Zingas is back or it's Horford, it's one of those guys

37:22 up against go bear. And, and, you know, how does that play out? There's just so many different

37:27 little iterations, all the wing defenders that Minnesota can really throw at Boston

37:33 is, is, you know, solid. And I think it's really impressive in that way. It would be

37:37 a lot of fun. I would almost put it at a pick them. I don't know if I'd favor anybody at

37:42 this point right now. I'd, I'd kind of have to put it at a pick. If I had to pick, I'd

37:46 probably just cause the Celtics have been there. I'd probably pick Boston having been

37:51 to the finals before most of this group in the, in the, in the past, like I would, I

37:55 would kind of roll with that, but like, it's a tight, tight one right there.

38:00 Yeah. That'd be the best for the league too. I think selling it's two best young stars,

38:06 you know, best young American stars too, in many ways there it'd be phenomenal. And they

38:11 played two fantastic games during the year. I think they both went to overtime. The first

38:17 one Jalen at a game winner, and then the Edward just came out and went crazy and overtime

38:22 and took the first one at home. And then the second one was that great Tatum shot at the

38:26 end of overtime. I think in that game in Boston, really one of my favorite Celtics wins this

38:31 year, the one against Minnesota at home. So it's good matchups. Like you said, you got

38:36 the permanent defenders there. You got like a size dynamic. That's going to be interesting

38:40 as well. I'm still hoping they can get by Minnesota, Denver here and we can maybe see

38:45 that, but obviously that's a much closer.

38:48 I'm worried though. Denver has kind of woken up into being like, Oh yeah, this is how we're

38:55 supposed to play basketball.

38:56 Well, that's when I got for you. Cause I mentioned it. What is the biggest difference you've

39:01 noticed in the officiating and the way that the points have just kind of drawn back compared

39:06 to the first half of the year and how that's impacted in the playoff so far?

39:09 I think they're allowing defenses to be a bit more physical and I, I actually kind of

39:14 like it, you know, not, not kind of like it. I love it. I'm not going to lie to you. Like

39:18 I think it's, let me just be honest with you. Nobody wants to watch free throws. It's like

39:23 watch going to a football game. That's all field goals. Like what are we doing here?

39:27 Right? Like, like, come on man. Like we're going to go football game and Oh, it was 12

39:31 minutes. What a game. Terrible. We'd be pissed. Um, the, uh, I, I think it's, um, I think

39:39 also we allowed, we created a situation and I mean we as the NBA as a whole, where it

39:46 was like, cool, I'm going to go in for a layup and just throw my body in the chest and just

39:51 throw it up in the air. And you know, that's the one they emphasize, right? Right. Yeah.

39:56 And that's, and that's going to be a foul. And it was called so consistently. It's just

40:02 like, damn dude, it's impossible to defend. It's impossible. You can't play defense at

40:07 that point. I like that they made the changes. I, I mean, I think it's pretty obvious with

40:12 that stuff. I'd like them to crack down a little bit more on illegal screens, you know,

40:16 and we saw the, the big one in the Knicks game, uh, that everybody was all mad about.

40:21 And I thought, I didn't think that one was that bad, but just in general, I think I'd

40:24 like them to find more consistency on what is legal, what isn't in terms of the screening

40:29 and then really hammer that. Um, but that might be again, more of an off season work

40:33 and in the next season, it is hard that the, that they did it mid season, but I think it

40:39 needed to be done, you know? And I think, you know, it's, it's so we can say it's unfair

40:44 or not or whatnot. I think it was just getting way too out of hand where there was just no,

40:49 there was no ability to play defense. And I think it puts you at such a disadvantage

40:54 for the game itself, where it was like the offense just looked so easy. It was boring,

41:00 you know? And it's, and, and, and then again, it's just easy to get to the line every time,

41:04 you know, uh, well, Monty Jones calls it insurance fraud. And I love that phrase. Like it's,

41:09 you know, you just come in and, you know, even the, Hey, I'm going to, you're on my

41:13 back. I'm just going to stop and let you run over me like, nah, that should be an offensive

41:17 foul or coming off a screen and stopping and trying to draw the three, uh, free throws.

41:23 Like I think the guy spent more time trying to get to the free throw end and trying to

41:26 make the actual shot. And I think that became a problem for our game and I'm glad they're

41:31 beginning to crack down on it. I want them to stay with it and continue to do that.

41:35 Yeah. And I think it's going to be, as we look ahead here, one of the defining reasons

41:41 why the Celtics do, we don't win the title here is their ability to handle that against

41:45 some of these great defenses and they've done a good job so far. You know, I respect Cleveland's

41:48 defense, respect Miami's defense certainly. And, uh, they've had their ups and downs in

41:54 these series, but here they are seven and two are going into a game five on Wednesday.

41:58 Appreciate Mo Dekil stopping by. Always great talking to him. You streaming tonight?

42:03 No, I'm actually taking a, I'm doing a podcast after the games tonight, but I do stream on

42:08 Twitch, um, quite regularly, even the right after the games usually, or, uh, the, the

42:15 next morning kind of just depends how tired I am. I'm exhausted, Bobby.

42:20 Luckily, I mean, the Celtics have been playing like six, seven game series every round the

42:26 last couple of years here. So it's actually been nice to have a couple, you know, five

42:29 gamers here.

42:30 A little, little relaxation.

42:32 Yeah. I don't think I'll be going back to Cleveland. Um, but we'll say game five Wednesday,

42:39 probably no Mitchell again, cleveland.com reporting that, uh, that he's not looking

42:43 good for tomorrow with the calf. Uh, so cab's going to try to stay alive here somehow, someway

42:49 without Alan and Mitchell. And it's a bummer. They didn't get to play in this series. Cause

42:53 this probably could have been a better one. Mo could have been more exciting for sure.

42:58 Yeah. So check him out. He's over at Mo the keel underscore NBA on Twitter, Instagram,

43:05 wherever you can find them. And of course, check out the podcast he's doing tonight.

43:11 Nix Pacers. We'll get one game close to the Celtics, potential East finals, uh, opponent

43:17 here tonight. And then we got that nuggets timber Wolf series continuing as well. So

43:21 I'm looking forward to sitting back and watching that Mo. Thanks for stopping by.

43:24 Thank you for having me. All right. Want to give a shout out to some other sponsors before

43:35 we get out of here. You know them, you love them. We love them, especially here. And today,

43:40 I mean, I just got back to Boston. Uh, it'd be a great day to go out and golf today. I

43:46 got in a little late, but maybe tomorrow, maybe sometime later this week, obviously

43:51 good weather's coming in droves here. Uh, so you can check out PXG for all of the golf

43:55 gear you need, if that's your thing this summer. And even if you're on a golfer, some sharp

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44:29 to be blazing into the summer here. So it's a perfect time to go over to pxg.com/garner

44:33 report and check out what they have going on. And as I mentioned, it's game five tomorrow.

44:37 You want to be in the house in Boston, check out the game time app. They got tickets, the

44:41 best deals right up until, and even after game time, that's when you want to get them

44:45 as close to the game on game time. You know, I've been going on there for years to see

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45:06 Download the game time app, create an account, use our code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.

45:11 Again, terms apply. That's the game time app. Love them. Love Moe as well. Thanks to him

45:16 for stopping by. This has been a off day edition of the Garner Report. We are back tomorrow

45:23 for game five, potentially the last of the series. Donovan Mitchell status up in the

45:28 air looking doubtful for tomorrow as well as Jared Allens as he continues to recover

45:33 from the ribs. Chris Dasporzingis inching a little closer to return. No timeline yet.

45:39 He's probably going to be out tomorrow as well. Injury report about to drop, uh, shortly

45:44 here so we'll get all the designations there. But of course, expecting Allen for Zingas

45:50 to be out again for game five of this series of Celtics. Try to wrap it up. We'll be there.

45:54 We'll be live after. Thanks for joining us this afternoon. We'll see you tomorrow night.

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