Are the Pacers better than expected? with Kory Waldron | Celtics Lab Podcast - video Dailymotion

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Game 1 of the Boston Celtics Eastern Conference finals series with the Indiana Pacers is in the books, and the Celtics have a 1-0 series lead with their 133-128 win.   But it took overtime to pull it off, and Boston digging deep with a few lucky breaks to pull out the win, a few minor mistakes over the course of the contest nearly costing them the win in their own arena of TD Garden (and home court advantage with it). Perhaps having been burned so many times before in similar situations helped them find the necessary gear, but there are some serious concerns in need of a fix for Boston to advance to the 2024 NBA Finals.  How will they manage to stay afloat in their frontcourt rotation with Kristaps Porzingis still several games away from a return? Can they keep using drop coverage so liberally? And what players off their bench can make an impact in this series?  The hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Kory Waldron, the host of the "Full Access Hoops" podcast to break down what we saw in Game 1 and what we expect in Game 2. Make sure you check it out to get up to speed on all things East finals.  The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.  If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network. Listen to the "Celtics Lab" podcast on:  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.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:09 Alrighty, welcome to the Celtics Lab Podcast brought to you by PrizePix,

00:12 the exclusive fantasy basketball partner of the CNS Media Network, and by game time,

00:15 last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.

00:18 I'm Cameron Tebbutz Pai, I am sitting baseline,

00:21 actually perhaps in Guy Fieri's seat,

00:23 after a 133-128 Boston Celtics overtime win over the Indiana Pacers,

00:28 in a game that was closer than I think we expected.

00:31 I'm here with Alex Goldberg in Brooklyn,

00:34 I'm here with Dr. Justin Flynn in Mexico,

00:36 and to talk about the Pacers side of the story,

00:38 we're joined by our friend from Full Access, oops, Corey Waldron.

00:41 Corey, I actually don't know where you are. Corey, where are you?

00:44 I'm in New York, I'm in New York, I'm alive.

00:46 I survived the Knicks fans onslaught, so I'm still in New York and alive.

00:49 Alright, well then, you get to survive the Celtics lab onslaught.

00:53 I mean, I kind of tipped my hand,

00:56 I thought that was a shockingly close game with respect to the Pacers.

00:59 Corey, you know Indiana better than we do, what did you think of the game?

01:03 I mean, obviously, Celtics came out swinging, right?

01:06 It was 14-0 to start that game.

01:08 Felt like the Pacers were a little bit careless with the basketball,

01:12 which honestly continued on for the entire game,

01:14 as they had 20-plus turnovers,

01:16 a lot of them coming late in the fourth quarter.

01:18 I thought the Pacers did a good job of, once again,

01:21 kind of withstanding a barrage from another team and coming back.

01:24 They did that two or three times during this game.

01:27 It looked like the Celtics were about to pull away.

01:29 I know the crowd in the third quarter started to get into it a little bit.

01:32 I felt like the Celtics were going to pull away then,

01:34 but the Pacers each time, more importantly,

01:36 you know, Halliburton was able to really answer the moments,

01:42 you know, logo three, that off-balance three,

01:45 trying to draw a center to the third.

01:47 Just absolutely insane being able to pick the moments

01:50 in which, you know, got some life back in that Pacers team.

01:54 Along the bench, the Pacers had a lot of depth,

01:56 so they're just going to keep on running the ball and try to push the pace.

01:58 Obviously, the Celtics are a great offensive team,

02:00 so they don't mind getting out and running,

02:01 but that was like really the thing that stood out,

02:03 just how both these teams are going to just run, I think, a lot this series.

02:08 Alex, add some texture to that.

02:10 Other than the pace, what did you observe?

02:13 Well, I think the pace is a big thing that stands out,

02:17 and I think one thing that, you know, kind of jumped for me

02:20 just in watching Indiana is how, in a lot of ways,

02:25 they played a game that was very much the opposite

02:28 of what Boston was doing in the parts of the game

02:31 where Boston was really starting to slip.

02:33 Indiana was pretty relentless in not just shooting threes,

02:38 but shooting threes out of kickouts, out of drives.

02:41 Halliburton, TJ McConnell, Nembhard, all these guys

02:44 were making really intense efforts to move Al Horford around,

02:48 to really put pressure on the Boston Celtics on the interior,

02:52 and then to use that to kick out and, you know, get good open threes.

02:57 And I think this is really what it comes down to with Boston.

03:02 Their biggest weakness right now is that,

03:05 without Christaps Porzingis as a kind of primary rim protector

03:09 that they can play in a drop,

03:11 they are vulnerable to quick hitter guards like Tyrese Halliburton

03:15 who can get into the action early, take the ball inside the pen,

03:19 and then shit the defense around.

03:22 To their credit, I think Joe Mizzoulo was smart to throw a zone at that,

03:26 and that did start to slow Indy down a little bit in the third quarter,

03:31 but it definitely did not work for the entire second half.

03:35 And, I mean, credit to the Celtics, man.

03:38 Like, we've seen them lose this game so many times,

03:43 and they just dug deep and found a way to win.

03:47 So I think the Pacers played a really good game.

03:50 I think they definitely showed that they have the ability

03:54 to really put pressure on Boston's defense when it matters.

03:59 That being said, for all of the problems that we'll get into

04:05 that I had with how the Celtics approached this game,

04:08 that they didn't back down and actually gutted it out

04:11 is pretty darn impressive.

04:14 Yeah, Justin, I'm going to go to you to talk more about that,

04:17 but just some statistics.

04:20 One very impressive banked in Jalen Brown,

04:23 three to force overtime, only after he forced a turnover.

04:27 I think the stat sheet says bad pass from Aaron Neesmith,

04:31 but Jalen Brown was all over that.

04:33 And then 10 points for Jason Tatum in overtime.

04:36 But apropos of the heroics or the counting stats, Justin,

04:40 what did you see in the close of this game for the Celtics?

04:43 And then, Corey, I'll go to you with how the Pacers did

04:45 or did not close this game.

04:48 I'll be brief.

04:49 I just want to emphasize that the key to this game,

04:51 and I really think this entire series is going to be defense,

04:54 so Alex points about Al Horford not being a weakness,

04:58 but being a weaker link in the chain that will be

05:01 increasingly exploitable as long as they keep playing

05:04 in these heavy minutes.

05:05 We've seen how he responds having to play north of 35-ish minutes.

05:11 And the next game, it's not usually that great.

05:13 So they're going to need to figure something out with regard to how

05:16 they're going to manage their front court minutes.

05:18 Maybe we might see some Moshe Burset, Xavier Tillman's father,

05:22 pass, which is why he was not in this game.

05:24 We might see some of him.

05:25 I don't think we're going to see any Nimi Ishkeda in this series.

05:28 He's just not the right kind of big for this.

05:29 They need to be fast.

05:30 They need to be responsive.

05:31 They need to be able to guard perimeter and the interior.

05:34 So for me, I think it's going to probably be O'Shea.

05:37 But how Joe manages this,

05:40 we might even see some Tatum at the center, honestly.

05:42 That's exactly where I was going to go, Justin.

05:45 I think if there is ever a series to put Jason Tatum at the five

05:49 and play a fast guard heavy lineup,

05:52 this feels like the one, particularly given that, to your point,

05:55 Al Hartford, I think, struggled,

05:58 although he was huge late with a really important block.

06:01 But he struggled on the defensive end.

06:04 But you know who didn't struggle on the defensive end was Drew Holiday,

06:07 who was absolutely nails when it mattered in this game.

06:10 And to me,

06:12 I feel like the thing that we haven't really seen teams try yet against

06:17 Indy is trying to match them going small,

06:20 but with five good perimeter defenders on the floor.

06:23 And Boston is one of the only teams in the league that is able to do that.

06:26 So I would be really interested to see if they can play Tatum at the five

06:30 at all in the series.

06:32 I'm not sure we have a choice, honestly.

06:35 Corey, the Pacers were up with like a couple minutes to go.

06:40 Boston for the third, for a bit in the third quarter,

06:43 it looked like they were going to put the clamps on Indy,

06:46 but like Indy just would not relent.

06:48 Boston went on a 22 to six run in the third period.

06:50 And the Pacers just, you know, they went on their own run.

06:53 So talk to us a little bit about that kind of resilience of the Pacers

06:57 showed, but then what you think went wrong.

07:00 And the final moments of fourth quarter and overtime,

07:02 other than the obvious.

07:04 Yeah. I mean, Pacers, obviously were, they were getting out of running.

07:07 They were the ball movement is, is the biggest part for the Pacers getting

07:11 quick into their sets, moving the ball quickly, you know,

07:14 Legler said it actually in the post game, the Pacers use every dribble.

07:18 Like they, they, they understand that everything matters.

07:21 Every second counts that their actions are, are pretty precise in terms of,

07:24 they know what they're trying to do.

07:26 And that's why you see these quick runs by them, you know, nine,

07:28 nothing in a minute and a half or 12, nothing.

07:30 And it's just, they come out of nowhere.

07:33 And then what you see though,

07:34 in the back half of that fourth quarter is when the game starts to slow

07:37 down and drew holiday starts, you know, putting more pressure on you.

07:40 You see the Naismith turnover when they get over half court late in the

07:44 fourth and then that inbounding, which was Nem hard, you know,

07:47 no one's cutting to the inbounder Halliburton's in the corner.

07:51 See how come comes from half court,

07:53 but he has to make a play towards the ball.

07:54 He just kind of goes straight,

07:56 which gives Jaylen Brown the chance to make that play.

07:58 So late in the game, it just felt like the,

08:01 they got kind of too happy to out of two out of character.

08:05 They were too worried about trying to make the right play rather than just

08:07 trying to get the ball.

08:08 And it felt like, and also maybe you found Jaylen Brown when you're up three,

08:11 I know that's like a controversial thing.

08:13 I know LeBron tweeted about it too.

08:15 So the problem was right, I guess, but yeah,

08:18 it felt like the Pacers just late in the game.

08:21 That's some of the inexperience, right.

08:23 By a team as young as the Pacers is they,

08:25 they weren't able to figure out how up three with eight seconds left to get

08:29 the ball in and to get some free throws.

08:31 All right,

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09:18 Okay, back to the podcast.

09:21 Yeah,

09:25 Joe is really effusive with this bridge.

09:27 I'm as little as just now of the Pacers saying, you know,

09:30 like it's,

09:31 it's pretty dangerous to run with them because that variance and that speed

09:34 is kind of their bread and butter, but more to the point he was asked,

09:37 you know, like, are you comfortable with giving up leads?

09:39 Are you comfortable with how they hung around? And he just said, look,

09:42 the Spacers team, they don't, it's not that they don't give up.

09:45 It's that they each play is a high effort, high focus play.

09:49 And you saw that for probably 46 minutes of this game, maybe more than that.

09:54 They were just, even when, when the, it was bench groups,

09:58 it wasn't all the starters.

09:59 There's just like a level of intensity that it's really remarkable.

10:05 I don't want to like, look,

10:06 the Stelters are really heavily favored in the series,

10:09 but the Pacers earned the right to go to the Eastern conference.

10:12 So they don't want to belittle the competition here,

10:14 but that was a beyond plucky performance from the Pacers Nembhard that dude.

10:20 I mean, just between Nesmith and Nembhard,

10:23 like they just have guys who scrap and get it's it's mostly polished when it,

10:28 when it's not polished, it looks crazy, but it's also weirdly quite polished.

10:33 I know I'm rambling, but I have two more thoughts to that.

10:36 That this just like churn and churn and churn.

10:39 Siakam and Turner were fantastic.

10:42 Alex, to your point of exposing largely Al Horford's,

10:47 I mean, Al Horford was just put in a bad position again.

10:50 I mean, he was asked to do a lot on defense,

10:51 but the consistency with, with Siakam and Turner stuck with it and forced

10:57 beautiful, wonderful mid-range shots for effective offense was,

11:01 was really astounding.

11:03 That was a, I don't know that they choked.

11:07 I think Boston just kind of got lucky.

11:09 And then I do wonder if in the fourth quarter,

11:12 they're just like emotionally and physically fatigued.

11:14 I mean, they just came off that seventh game series, but I thought there's a

11:18 stellar stellar performance from Indiana.

11:21 I will say to the Celtics,

11:22 you guys got a couple really big offensive rebounds in that fourth quarter,

11:26 which has kind of been the Achilles heel for this Pacers team is not taking

11:29 care of the rebounds.

11:31 And I felt like that was those second chance points when you're working so

11:34 hard, right?

11:35 Especially where the patient doesn't play a lot of defense,

11:37 you play a good defensive set and then you give up the offensive rebound.

11:39 It kind of sucks the wind out of your sails a little bit.

11:41 I think of late in the fourth, you know, Celtics definitely capitalized on that.

11:45 I mean,

11:46 I want to just give some credit to Al Horford here as well,

11:49 because it's true that Indy is actively hunting him.

11:52 They know that he is 38 and can't move laterally the same way that he's able

11:56 to, but I mean, you know,

11:58 he still was allowing before this game less than one point for possession on

12:04 drives. I think it was 0.73.

12:06 Al Horford is still a very, very good defender when it matters.

12:10 I think the reality is just that this minute's load is a lot for his body at

12:15 this point. And Indy is a really, really, really hard team to guard.

12:20 I mean, I think credit to the Pacers, that offense is super legit.

12:24 They have guys that can drive, pass, shoot, they at every level.

12:30 And, you know,

12:31 I think the thing that stood out to me that I actually was pretty surprised by.

12:35 And I think a big part of why Boston was able to pull away late is that Indy

12:39 kind of stopped going to Miles Turner,

12:41 which was a little puzzling to me because Miles Turner has emerged in game one

12:46 as a huge matchup problem for Boston.

12:49 His spacing when that three pointer is falling is really,

12:53 really difficult and bends the floor in all sorts of interesting ways that Indy

12:57 can capitalize on.

12:58 I wouldn't be surprised if one of Rick Carlisle's adjustments for the next

13:02 game is trying to be a little more active in getting Turner involved on the

13:06 offensive end.

13:07 I mean, when he was involved, it was, he was really good.

13:11 I thought, I thought my,

13:14 the Pacers part of my game recap was going to be all about Miles Turner.

13:17 Just quickly, we'll move to game two here in a second, but I just want to,

13:21 again, this was such a wacky game.

13:24 Boston forced 21 turnovers.

13:26 They had,

13:27 there were plus 20 in free throw attempts and they still had,

13:32 took an overtime,

13:33 a pretty heroic overtime from Jason Tatum to pull out a win.

13:37 So this was,

13:38 this was a kooky game and I guess that's a good enough segue for me to ask

13:43 this prompt.

13:45 Let's stick it to game two because we're still here in Boston.

13:48 The Pacers are still probably kind of catching their breath and Boston has

13:52 presumably a home court advantage.

13:54 So just looking at game two and Corey, you're the guest,

13:56 you get to go first.

13:57 What about this do you think is sustainable or something that these teams will

14:02 double down on and what is something that they need to shift or will shift or

14:06 can't possibly replicate?

14:08 Yeah.

14:09 I mean,

14:10 I can go,

14:11 I just give you like five different prompts.

14:13 I mean,

14:15 I think for the pace,

14:16 I mean for the Pacers,

14:17 obviously I think they have to feel pretty good for,

14:19 you just mentioned 21 turnovers,

14:21 which is not very characteristic of this Pacers team.

14:23 They normally take care of the basketball better 20 free throw differential.

14:27 You would hope that's a little bit closer.

14:29 Again.

14:30 I didn't feel like the officiating was that bad in this game.

14:32 I know some Pacer fans were complaining about it.

14:34 I didn't see anything that was like,

14:35 you know,

14:36 terrible.

14:37 There was a couple of touchdowns I felt were a little bit oof,

14:39 but like there wasn't anything egregious.

14:41 And then I think for the Celtics,

14:43 those shifting is probably putting more pressure on Halliburton,

14:46 getting the ball out of his hands,

14:48 making them hard beat you make McConnell,

14:50 who now has maybe a little bit of a lower back thing after that collision,

14:53 he had a half court,

14:54 you know,

14:55 maybe get him a little bit more active.

14:56 So I think for the Celtics,

14:57 especially because you guys have Derek White and Drew holiday,

14:59 who again,

15:00 you'll probably have like what five turnovers calls in that last like

15:03 fourth quarter overtime.

15:04 So I think putting pressure on Halliburton and kind of making someone else

15:07 beat you probably the best bet.

15:08 I don't know how you guys are going to deal with the front court between

15:11 Turner and see outcome.

15:12 I mean,

15:13 again,

15:14 you know,

15:15 Tillman coming back,

15:16 obviously he would,

15:17 I'm assuming we would play in game two,

15:18 despite missing game one,

15:19 or maybe that's kind of up in the air.

15:20 So that'd be the one question mark.

15:22 If can you guys limit,

15:23 but again,

15:24 the patient's got the foot cause what Turner had like 22 points at

15:27 halftime and he didn't even finish with 28.

15:29 I don't remember the exact points he finished with.

15:31 But yeah,

15:32 I think for you guys,

15:33 it'd be putting pressure on Halliburton and probably the best bet just to

15:36 kind of rectify some of the stuff that got him a little bit going,

15:39 especially in that first half.

15:40 Down the line,

15:45 Justin,

15:46 you get to go first here of my many prompts for game two,

15:50 but take it whatever direction you will.

15:52 Well,

15:54 I think in game two,

15:55 one thing that should not be sustainable on the Celtics part is the lazy

15:59 passing.

16:00 There's no margin for,

16:03 for mistakes like that in a series like this.

16:05 For either team,

16:06 honestly,

16:07 the turnovers can continue on Indiana side,

16:11 on the Celtics side,

16:12 the,

16:13 the self-generated turnovers need to stop happening.

16:16 They several times in the game through the ball,

16:19 basically to the Pacers with some unenergetic passes,

16:23 there were plenty of incidents where ill-advised early clock shots.

16:28 There was a Kobe fade away in this game that did not need to happen.

16:32 From I'm sure you can guess who those kinds of plays have to be

16:37 diminished.

16:38 If they aren't diminished,

16:39 the Pacers will capitalize on it as well.

16:42 The Celtics in the other direction.

16:43 So the thing I think that's the most important for both teams to be

16:46 taking away from this game.

16:47 One is that the playoffs are really here now and there are no more.

16:51 We can screw this game up and be okay.

16:53 Yeah.

16:56 I'm I'm playing cookie from Jalen Brown's press conference right now,

16:58 but he just,

16:59 Welcome to the NBA playoffs.

17:00 The game is not over until the final buzzer sounds.

17:02 So Justin,

17:03 wait a good impression of Jalen Brown there.

17:05 Alex,

17:06 your turn.

17:07 Tell us about game two.

17:08 Looking for a defensive adjustments.

17:10 I think is going to be the main focus for me.

17:12 I'm going to be curious to see what curve balls Missoula throws.

17:15 The Celtics are typically very good at adjusting over the course of the

17:18 series.

17:19 I'm wondering if we're going to see more zone.

17:21 Seemed like that was one of the things that was going to be a big

17:24 concern for the Celtics.

17:25 I'm wondering if we're going to see more zone seem like that was

17:29 reasonably effective in limited doses.

17:31 I'm wondering if we're going to see some Tatum at the five minutes,

17:34 because I do think that that has a lot of potential miles Turner,

17:37 excellent offensive player.

17:39 I don't think of him as an overwhelming physical force.

17:42 It feels like Tatum was able to hang with him on some of his roles

17:45 today.

17:46 And I do wonder if Missoula in an effort to ratchet up the pace

17:50 considers playing into the Celtics speed and athleticism and putting

17:55 Tatum at the five.

17:57 Obviously if Tillman is back,

17:58 I will be interested to see if he can play feels like this would be a

18:01 reasonably good matchup for him and limited spurts in some respects.

18:05 But I think for me,

18:07 the big thing is what scheme adjustments do the Celtics come up with,

18:12 particularly to limit dribble penetration for the Pacers.

18:16 I thought the Celtics were at their best tonight when they really pressed

18:20 up on Tyrese Halliburton to Corey's earlier point when they sent drew

18:24 holiday at him and basically that, you know,

18:28 they were still switching and the switching was working for the most part,

18:31 but they were taking more pains to keep those switches with perimeter

18:36 players while playing Al Horford in a drop.

18:39 That's been historically a little dicey for Boston,

18:42 particularly against really good guards like Halliburton.

18:46 But when drew holiday really started locking in and picking up Tyrese

18:50 Halliburton as he crossed mid court, you know,

18:52 making sure to get into his dribble a little bit, you know,

18:56 that late turnover where drew holiday went step for step with Halliburton

19:00 and he just kind of stumbled and dribbled the ball out of bounds.

19:03 I'll be interested to see if Boston for their game plan going forward,

19:08 tries to really ratchet up that pressure a little bit and basically force

19:12 other guys to beat you.

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20:06 Corey, I'm going to ask you to weigh in before I decide what is and isn't sustainable.

20:12 In the first half, Indy shot 8 for 15 from 3.

20:15 In the second half, I think my math was right. They were 5 for 20.

20:19 Which version of that Pacers offense is closer to their baseline?

20:24 I mean, I would sit, I mean, well, against a guard,

20:29 a guard that you guys throw at the Pacers, probably the second half feels,

20:32 I feel like you're so much in between.

20:34 Again, the Pacers are still shooting, I think the best in the playoffs,

20:38 it's like 54% as a team. I know the three point isn't as high.

20:42 I would say it's probably closer to the first half or more so in the middle.

20:46 Because again, this is a team that their offense is heavily predicated on drive

20:50 and kickouts, you know, get our shooters open.

20:52 We're going to find someone in the short corner,

20:54 whether it's Ben Shepard,

20:56 the rookie who's really caught on fire during this playoff run,

20:59 or if it's a Nem hard.

21:01 Halliburton creating off the dribble is probably the biggest thing that is

21:04 sustainable because again, up until last year against the Knicks,

21:07 he wasn't hitting shots off the dribble from three.

21:09 That was what all of us Pacer fans were kind of waiting for was,

21:12 can he create his own offense again, like in the end season tournament this year,

21:17 which we really didn't see the back half of the season.

21:20 But if he's hitting off the dribble threes,

21:23 that's going to open up the office for those guys to hit the secondary three.

21:26 So I think if Haliburton is playing like this,

21:28 it's more so like that first half type of percentage.

21:32 Yeah, that was another, I mean, rinse and repeat the Celtics lose

21:35 when their opponent they all turn into splash brothers out there.

21:39 I thought Boston's bench was not very good.

21:43 Hauser was particularly not good to say it bluntly.

21:47 I'm not really sure how I just like, I don't know how Cornette can play.

21:52 Like this is too fast of a team.

21:54 And again, the Celtics don't seem like they want to, you know,

21:58 you would think they'd want to slow things down to take away that really that

22:02 the Pacers best card to play is play fast, but that's one of Boston's best cards too.

22:08 So I think the Celtics are likely to try to run with the Pacers rather than grind

22:12 things out for better for worse.

22:14 And so I don't know what that means for Cornette,

22:16 but Indiana got great minutes from Toppen as promised great minutes from McConnell.

22:21 Pritchard was scrappy for Boston, but I didn't think he was very,

22:25 he provided huge impact, although I suspect that will change.

22:29 But yeah, this is a few weeks now where I think we've been unimpressed with Sam Hauser.

22:35 And so I think one of the things that I would expect for game two is Boston does

22:40 not have an advantage in terms of bench.

22:43 That's that can always change because Hauser and Pritchard like to shoot threes

22:47 and sometimes they're quite good at it.

22:48 So they could come in and provide some pivotal offense.

22:51 But I expect first of all, Indiana to have the better bench,

22:55 but then need that better bench because they're fast, man.

22:59 There's not a single play where they're not fast on defense.

23:02 They were out at the three point line, really trying to get aggressive and on offense,

23:06 even if it's not fast break, everyone's moving.

23:08 Everyone's doing something.

23:09 It's a it's a really what a sight to behold.

23:14 It's just it's going to be wacky.

23:16 Like it introduces chaos that is nearly contained in a way that like, yeah,

23:22 I think Indiana is going to definitely win a game or two in this series because of that,

23:26 because it's just it seems impossible for any team to just take that onslaught again

23:32 and again and again.

23:34 This is the most this is the most Rick Carlisle team I've ever seen in my life.

23:38 And that is a good thing and a bad thing.

23:40 But, you know, on the offensive end,

23:42 they play exactly the way that that guy wants to play, which is super fast all the time,

23:46 flying up the court and on defense.

23:49 They play like Rick Carlisle teams that don't have Tyson Chandler on them.

23:56 Yeah. Although, Miles Turner, no spring chicken.

23:59 Sorry, I know I'm I'm just I can't stop thinking about the Pacers.

24:03 Siakam was great. Maybe not great enough, but he had it going on.

24:08 There were a lot of times where if the Pacers did look a little dyspeptic,

24:11 a little out of sorts, Siakam would kind of coach him up.

24:14 Celtics had that from Drew Holliday, too.

24:17 I don't know if it showed on the television broadcast and it wasn't.

24:20 It was subtle, but the guys with championship rings appeared to play a really important stabilizing force for both sides.

24:28 That's fair, although Siakam does need to stop trying to spin move on Jalen Brown.

24:33 That has not worked for five years.

24:35 Yeah, no, I don't think that that move works on any good team.

24:39 There's just it's not a three on three. There's like not enough space on the court.

24:43 He's too big. His spin takes up like half the court.

24:46 All right. It is twelve thirty on the East Coast, so we're tired.

24:53 It is also the case that this is just game one.

24:55 And although teams who win game one of a conference finals go on to win the series, 77 percent of the time,

25:02 we are far from out of the woods on the conference final.

25:05 So, Corey, Alex and Justin, in that order, give me one weirdly specific thing you're looking for in game two and then we'll close.

25:16 Since I gave you an odd question, I'll lead by example, let you guys think.

25:22 I don't actually have one either. I am.

25:25 I'll go. Let me go. OK, go.

25:28 There was a moment where there was a block from behind and a Derek White three where Drew was right there.

25:34 Yeah, I want to see better communication.

25:38 That's a good one. That's that's less of a non sequitur and actually like a really practical piece of advice.

25:44 Yeah, I would like to see. Yeah, I'd like to see Jason Tatum at center, perhaps a lot.

25:53 I don't know. It's schematically they're they're asking a whole for to. Do the impossible on defense and they're living with that.

26:04 But I don't but in terms of minutes, I'd like to give him a rest.

26:08 So, yeah, I'm going to take him at the center. Corey, I guess you get to go last so you can stall even longer.

26:13 Alex, what's one specific thing you're looking for in game two?

26:17 I'm looking for who are on the Celtic celebrity fan row. Obviously, Guy Fieri and Drake May were both huge for Boston tonight.

26:26 Signed potentially of things to come for Drake May and clutch moments.

26:30 David Ortiz, the king of Boston clutch moments, was also there.

26:34 Who is Boston going to bring on the sidelines for next game and how will that affect the way the game plays out?

26:41 Because this felt like a David Ortiz game in a lot of ways.

26:45 Damn, Alex, why did you wait till the end of the podcast to play that? That's great.

26:51 Yeah, I talked to Drake May for a second. He seems like a charming kid.

26:54 So if you're a Patriots fan, it seems like you guys got a good one.

26:58 Corey, what is one thing Celtics or Pacers you're looking for in game two?

27:01 I'm just looking for less turnovers, a little bit cleaner game of basketball.

27:05 Those first game nerves of the Asian Conference Finals, maybe for both teams a little bit.

27:09 So let's everybody settle down and take care of the basketball.

27:13 I don't know, man. I think I mean, this was overtime.

27:15 I think we might get a 140-135 game.

27:19 Didn't they have a 150-140 this year? A 150-130?

27:23 And a 150-105.

27:26 We won't talk about that one.

27:28 That one's a little bit big.

27:30 It's on the record.

27:32 All right. Well, until Thursday, which is game two, and then Saturday, Monday, which is...

27:39 Oh, we didn't talk about Porzingis. They're saying he's going to come back for game four.

27:42 That's from Woj. I haven't heard anything.

27:44 I don't think many people have heard anything.

27:46 Solely I are tricky.

27:49 Good luck to you, Porzingis.

27:50 Until then, game two is Thursday, game three and four in Indiana.

27:54 Over the weekend, same weekend as the Indianapolis 500.

27:56 So if you're thinking about flying to Indiana for that, it's going to be expensive.

28:01 And if you're not thinking about doing that, you could go to Boston Calling on Friday.

28:06 Just saying.

28:07 I know someone who's playing there.

28:09 Yeah, no, it's true.

28:11 If you like the music that you heard at the very beginning of this podcast, you can hear that song and many more at Boston Calling on Friday.

28:18 Yeah.

28:20 We won't be podcasting after the song, though, so don't get your hopes up.

28:25 I mean, maybe. I don't know.

28:27 Okay, let's...

28:28 Man, Alex had stellar close to the podcast from Alex.

28:32 We have been talking with Corey Waldron, our friend from Full Access Hoops.

28:35 Corey, it's good to see you as always.

28:38 I would like to tell everyone that this episode of the Celtics podcast was brought to you by PrizePix, the exclusive fantasy basketball partner of the CLNS Media Network.

28:45 And game time, last minute tickets, lower prices guaranteed.

28:49 If you like this pod, check out the How 'bout Them Celtics podcast, the First of the Four podcast, and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media Network.

28:56 And if you're an SEO crawler, I want you to know that this is the best podcast for Celtics fans.

29:01 I don't know if that'll work or not, Justin, but I'm trying.

29:04 Yeah, until then, thanks, Corey. It's good to see you as always.

29:08 And hell of a game.

29:10 That was a lot of fun.

29:12 Can't wait for the series.

29:13 Yeah, gonna be a good series.

29:15 I hope we get a couple of these, because this was beautifully imperfect basketball.

29:20 All right, go download every Divine Sweater album you can find, legally, more than once.

29:26 Until then, au revoir.

29:28 [music]

Are the Pacers better than expected? with Kory Waldron | Celtics Lab Podcast

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