Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Boston Celtics
Transcript
- 0:00What's going on, everybody. It's Jeff. I wanted to let you know
- 0:02that we recorded this podcast episode on Tuesday May twenty eighth, twenty twenty four.
- 0:08By the time you hear this, some things may have changed here or
- 0:10there, but we hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to Opposition Territory here
- 0:31at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast
- 0:35show in the world. That's right, eleven years strong. We've got a
- 0:39great discussion coming your way here on Opposition Territory this week. The NBA Finals.
- 0:45They're coming up quick, folks, They are coming up quick, and
- 0:47we're gonna be talking about one of the teams heading to the finals. Yes,
- 0:51the Boston Celtics, a team that a lot of us thought we're going
- 0:55to get to the finals. They are getting there. Last time they were
- 0:58there was twenty twenty two. You can they become the champions of the National
- 1:03Basketball Association. It's gonna be a great discussion with our guest. Let's get
- 1:07right to it. It's great talking to him about the Boston Celtics. And
- 1:12you can catch him on the Twitter slash x at jacksonmone NBA and he and
- 1:18his colleagues do a great, great job over at celticsblog dot com, Great
- 1:22sp Nation site, the one and only Jacksonone. Hey doing, Buddy,
- 1:25I'm great. I'm great, just all the way back from Indiana right now
- 1:27on the Starbucks and somewhere in Ohio. I honestly have no idea somewhere in
- 1:32Ohio. You're in Ohio. I feel bad for you. Yeah, to
- 1:36our Ohio friends. You know, any time I get to talk about hoops
- 1:41though, it's a good day. So absolutely having me, you appreciate you.
- 1:44You got it, buddy, And I gotta tell you must be certainly
- 1:47on a high as a Celtics fan somebody who is writing about this team and
- 1:51has been writing about this season, and I mean a sweep in the Eastern
- 1:56Conference Finals. They put the hurt on the Pacers and absolutely just they really
- 2:01beat them down. I think in four straight games. I think the Celtics
- 2:05did what they needed to do and should have actually done with this Pacers team.
- 2:08So I'm wondering, you know, as the Celtics team heads back to
- 2:12the NBA Finals like they did back in twenty twenty two, what what do
- 2:17you think the theme of this season has been for this Celtics team and why
- 2:22Jack I actually wrote about this this morning, so I'm class asking, do
- 2:25you really I actually didn't read it? Sorry yet. Actually no, that's
- 2:30okay. My whole thing was like the Celtics long road to the finals and
- 2:34the longer road they have ahead, and Jalen Brown talked about it after Game
- 2:37four. So everyone wants to say we're the same. Everyone wants to say
- 2:39this is the same team because Jason and I are here, but we have
- 2:43three different coaches in the past, you know, four seasons. Yeah,
- 2:45We've had a constantly rotating roster around Jason Jalen and like, no one season,
- 2:53even if you bring back the exact same roster, no one season is
- 2:55the same because of the growth and the experience you gain from that. So
- 3:00I think what has helped the Celtics this season, what's different about them this
- 3:02season mostly is the mentality that Joe Mizzoula has helped instill in them of Like
- 3:08they went sixty four and eighteen this railar season, but they didn't care,
- 3:12Like every win was just yeah cool onto the next, every loss was yeah
- 3:15cool on the next, Like they were so focused on taking care of business,
- 3:21putting the past, in the past and focusing on the present while simultaneously
- 3:24not like looking at the future, Like they lived in the moment so well,
- 3:30and even after in game three when they were down by X amount of
- 3:32points and they came back through holiday had a huge deal at the en Joe
- 3:36Mozuola said after the game, like, once we embraced that we were down
- 3:38eighteen to Indiana in the Eastern Commence Finals, it was fun and we just
- 3:42kind of were able to live in that moment and do what we had to
- 3:44do to get out of that. And so I think Joe Mozzuola's point of
- 3:49playing with a complete lack of expectations, like fans have the benefit of you
- 3:53know, this is a good team, they should winn this game. Like
- 3:53the Cetics can't do that, Like like this is a team fighting for their
- 3:57lives, Like this is whatever you think of this Pacers team, Tyres Holibert,
- 4:00Tyres Helibert, like this is this isn't like a JAD squad. These
- 4:02players, so they're gonna fight, They're gonna do everything they can to win.
- 4:05And so in order for this Celtics to take care of business the way
- 4:09that everyone knows they can, and the way they know they can. They
- 4:11can't afford to have that arrogance in that that, you know, expectation of
- 4:15winning. So I think the Celtics team has done a phenomenal job of living
- 4:18in the moment and just doing what they have to do, like you mentioned,
- 4:20every single game individually, and not looking back on games but learning from
- 4:26them, and not looking to the future, but understanding what's in front of
- 4:28them. Like it's this perfect balance that I give a ton of credit to
- 4:30Joe azulafor and a ton of credit for the players for buying into. And
- 4:33I think that's been the biggest difference this season. What a phrase, living
- 4:36in the moment, those four words right there. And I don't mean to
- 4:40make this about the Philadelphia seventy six ers team that we follow here and the
- 4:43team that we root for, but something that they just were not able to
- 4:46do throughout the course of this season when challenges arose for them, whether it
- 4:50was Joe El Embiid injuring his meniscus, a various bunch of other challenges that
- 4:57face the team. Now, look, the celt didn't necessarily face the type
- 5:00of challenges the Sixers did, but they did face challenges and folks out there,
- 5:05Sixers fans. Yes, the Celtics did face some challenges, maybe not
- 5:09to the extent of losing the most important player on the team for a duration
- 5:13of the season, but living in the moment. Those four words so extremely
- 5:17important when you're talking about postseason basketball. I mean that that's what it's all
- 5:23about. Jack absolutely and Jason Tatum asked him about it after the game,
- 5:28because Joe Mizula has talked about it all season like that, Like every time
- 5:31you ask them or Joe about you know, anything, like what's the key
- 5:34to this? One of the key to this, He's just like, you
- 5:36know, she's not caring after winning, like he said. I want to
- 5:41find the exact quote because it was so good I used in my article today.
- 5:43Earlier this season, Joe Mizula was asked about, you know, what
- 5:47is the relationship you can have with winning, and he said, if we're
- 5:51going to sit back and be happy after every win, that's an unhealthy relationship
- 5:55with success and it's going to come back to bite us in the world.
- 5:58I'm not going to say in the podcast, Yeah, the healthiest relationship to
- 6:01have with success is to understand that you can still get better and I think
- 6:03that's the space we have to live in. And the Tatum after Game four
- 6:08said playoffs are emotional roller coaster. Trying to find a balance in between the
- 6:11wins and losses, trying to stay even keeled throughout however long you're playing is
- 6:14important. The team that does that usually has a lot of success. And
- 6:17this is exactly what the Celtics had. And so for all the talent the
- 6:20Celtics have, in order to bring it to fruition, they have to have
- 6:25the right mindset and togetherness Like look at look at the Kyrie k d Nets,
- 6:29look at the you know Suns this year. Look at all these teams
- 6:31that had so much talent that just didn't come together. Yeah, because they
- 6:34didn't play with the right mentality. And I think that is what this year
- 6:39of Joe Mizula has brought to the Celtics team, and this year of growth
- 6:42and this group of guys, Like everything is just coming together so perfectly,
- 6:45and I know everyone's gonna get mad, like, oh, they faced in
- 6:47your teams here, injured teams there, and yes, absolutely one hundred percent.
- 6:50Like I'm not gonna sit here and say, oh, it's you know,
- 6:53of course, but you can only play the teams in front of you.
- 6:56Yes, and the Celtics have done a phenomenal job of playing the teams
- 7:00absolutely. I mean, just reflecting on the Eastern Conference Finals here, amazingly
- 7:03enough, the Pacers they didn't score it all within the last three minutes and
- 7:08thirty three seconds of the game. They had multiple turnovers just coughing it up
- 7:13step after step out on the court. I mean, they had some very
- 7:15sloppy, careless turnovers. How how do you think Game four of this Eastern
- 7:20Conference Finals is gonna be seen years down the road when we look back on
- 7:26this series when we say, okay, let's go back twenty twenty four Eastern
- 7:30Conference Finals Pacers versus Celtics. What do you think we're really gonna be thinking
- 7:33of when we when we talk about this particular game down the road. I
- 7:38think it's the same thing that you're gonna be talking about in terms of Game
- 7:41one and three. The Celtics all season, in all the past x amount
- 7:44of years, Like they can't win in the clutch. They're not a clutch
- 7:46team, like they'll just blow teams out, like when they get down to
- 7:48it, that's not gonna you know, it's not gonna matter. And I
- 7:51said this on my own podcasts, I don't care if it's the Pacers.
- 7:54They won three clutch games in this series, and they won them well,
- 7:58like they did a great job of living in the moment, like we said,
- 8:01and just doing what they had to do in that situation. Like you
- 8:03mentioned last night, Pacers don't score for the last three thirty. They didn't
- 8:07play well, of course they didn't, but it's a two way street.
- 8:09The Celtics had to play solid defense. The Celtics had to score buckets on
- 8:11the other end. They had to play that part. And all the matters
- 8:16in the end of the playoffs is the wins and losses, and that's what
- 8:18the Celtics have managed to do. Pacers fans are probably going home saying,
- 8:22oh, we should be up three one right now, But the Celtics grinded
- 8:24out those wins. And so I think when you look at Game four down
- 8:26the line, you're looking at this series as a whole. In the next
- 8:30few years, it's going to be you know, eventually people a gonna say,
- 8:33oh, it's the Pacers, no Halibert, and blah blah blah,
- 8:35But in reality, it was the Celtics team won three close games against a
- 8:39fast paced, great offensive team against the Pacers team that, for as bad
- 8:45defensive Celtics played for stretches, they weren't missing many shots for the most of
- 8:48that game. So for the Celtics to have closed down in the last three
- 8:52minutes of that game, I thought was wildly impressive. And I thought the
- 8:54ways the Celtics handled business in the last X amount of minutes of these games
- 8:58in these series was incredibly impressive considering the narratives around the team in term of
- 9:01absolutely absolutely completely impressive. And it pains me to say it as a Sixers
- 9:07fan, you know, it is very, very impressive, and I will
- 9:09go so far as to say, yes, you know, to those Pacers
- 9:13fans out there that would say, you know what, we should have been
- 9:15up in the series, you know what, No, you shouldn't have because
- 9:18of what happened. Happened, and they and the Celtics shoved it up your
- 9:20butt. I'm sorry, they shoved it right up your team's butt when it
- 9:24counted, when it mattered. And as we're moving along though with the conversation
- 9:28here, Jack, you know your colleague Rich Jensen over at Celtics blog dot
- 9:31com recently wrote an article about the fear of being the favorite, which I
- 9:37thought was a really interesting read. Quite frankly, I mean, there's a
- 9:39tremendous amount of pressure on this Celtics team because you know, they're they're they're
- 9:45expected to win and become world champions. That's been a lot of the narrative
- 9:48surrounding them within the Eastern Conference, and I think, you know, over
- 9:52the past few months, people saying, you know, in different circles,
- 9:56Yeah, it's gonna be the Celtics who are gonna take it. It's certainly
- 9:58going to be a different vibe than it was in twenty twenty two for the
- 10:01Celtics when they face the Warriors going back to the finals this year. How
- 10:05do you describe that vibe and what the expectations truly are for this Celtics team
- 10:11heading into the finals that are scheduled to start on June six. What are
- 10:15your thoughts here on this? Yeah, first off, shout out rich Rich
- 10:18is great. It's great work he does. Second off, I think the
- 10:22interesting part about that topic is that it's so different externally and internally. Like
- 10:28I wrote this in my piece a little bit this morning, was externally the
- 10:33Celtics are so good and so talented that it feels like the fan base can't
- 10:37really enjoy it. Like every win is just oh good, they want thank
- 10:39god. Yeahosh, it's like wiping the sweat off your face, like it's
- 10:43a relief. But every loss is like panic, like, oh my god,
- 10:46the world's falling because this team should win every game like yeah, like
- 10:48and that doesn't really breed joy, Like you can't really enjoy a season like
- 10:52that. That's why like the Knicks or the last year Heat or so fun
- 10:58because you didn't expect them to be there. That's why everyone loved the ASA
- 11:00Thomas Celtics, because someone expected them to be there, and so you like
- 11:03everyone is truly like, oh my god, they did it. This is
- 11:05incredible, Like you're you're on the edge of your seat with every win.
- 11:09That's just not the case with this team because they're so good and the only
- 11:11thing that will solve it is championship, which I totally get. That's what
- 11:13Boston is all about, like like there's no doubt, like that is the
- 11:16bar you have to reach it. But it just it stinks because the fans
- 11:20can't really enjoy it. You feel it a TV Garden. You feel it.
- 11:22You feel like just every four to zero run, every six to zer
- 11:26run, the other team goes on. It's like, oh my gosh,
- 11:26oh my god, the world's done anyone like that's two threes like like that.
- 11:31That's just it's so unfavor But internally they don't care, like they are
- 11:35fully committed to, you know, win or lose. We're gonna do whatever
- 11:37it takes, or we're gonna keep pushing forward. And they are thirteen and
- 11:41no not, they're twelve and two in the playoffs now, like they have
- 11:43been dominant. I don't care. Again, injuries absolutely play a part in
- 11:48that, but they beat the teams in front of them, and they've done
- 11:52it with a completely like steadfast or we're gonna keep doing exactly what we need
- 11:56to do mindset. And so I think that fear being the favorite thing is
- 12:01wholeheartedly completely relevant to the fan bases here and it's one of my least favorite
- 12:05things because I truly think you should enjoy everything going on at the moment,
- 12:09like I think Celtics fans are so quick to like not even not turn on
- 12:15the Celtics, but like TD Garden, Like, like I mentioned, every
- 12:16four roun in the crowd just goes silent. That sucks, like it stinks
- 12:20to see that. Yeah, yeah, the team to embrace the players in
- 12:22front of you. But I totally get it, and it's the product of
- 12:24they've they've been so good for so long and still haven't done it. And
- 12:26the only thing I'll solve it is the title. But I think the good
- 12:31part about all of it is that the team internally doesn't feel that. All
- 12:33they feel is we're to be steady, step fast, and I think that's
- 12:37a good thing. Well, let's talk about some of these individual pieces on
- 12:41this team, and specifically the starters as we are heading to the finals here.
- 12:46I was hoping we could talk about what the starters need to do and
- 12:50what not to do in the finals, you know, whether they're matched up
- 12:54against Timberwolves or the Mavericks, even though it's likely going to be I think
- 12:56it's going to be a Celtics MAVs Finals at this point. Who knows.
- 13:01Again, you know, the story for another time. But to talk about
- 13:05the Celtics starters here, I'd like to get into Jason Tatum here. What
- 13:11does he need to do and what does he not not need to do?
- 13:15During the finals. Here Jack Jason Tatum is the same as the Celtics because
- 13:22when he is good, there is no appreciation because it's expected, and when
- 13:26he is bad, it is, Wow. This guy sticks. That's frustrating
- 13:30to me. But he needs to focus on not taking bad shots. I
- 13:35think that is the biggest scripe, and I think it's a valid one,
- 13:37these little turnaround midi's and traffic, these little oh i've like we'll use Dallas
- 13:41as an example, or the Pacers, like if I have Andrew dam Hard
- 13:45or Kyrie on me, like sometimes we'll just settle for a step back when
- 13:46like, dude, your Tatum, you can just go to the basket.
- 13:48You get through that guy, right. But I think what goes underrated is
- 13:52Tatum's presence alone opens up so much for the Celtics team. Like Tatum will
- 13:56take two steps in towards the paint and he'll suck in three defenders and they'll
- 13:58get open three Like that is just because he's so good and so I think
- 14:01as long as he makes the simple play, continues doing that on offense,
- 14:05he'll be great defensively. He can guard one through five as long as he
- 14:09stays locked in there. Have been. There are a couple of brief moments
- 14:11in the Pacers series where he wasn't really good in defense Game two. I
- 14:13think it was mainly Bascal Siak. I'm just kind of got right fine a
- 14:16bunch of times. And then rebounding is the really under anything. Tatum has
- 14:20been the best rebounder on the team, especially with Porzingis out. Yeah,
- 14:22he was a huge rebounder in the last few minutes of that game for really
- 14:24clenching it for the Celtics. So I think dipping his hand in a little
- 14:28bit of every pot for this offense's key for Jason Tatum. And then if
- 14:31he can make the threes, that'd be really cool too. Exactly exactly that'd
- 14:35be great. What about Jalen Brown? What does he need to do and
- 14:39not do during the Finals From your assessment of seeing what he has been throughout
- 14:43this season, what are your thoughts here with Jalen Brown. I think it's
- 14:46very similar to Tatum because they're asked to do similar things. I think making
- 14:50the right play is always going to be the biggest thing for Jayalen just just
- 14:54driving and creating the same pressure of the defense that Tdatum does, but also
- 14:56making the right play in terms of passing it or going up at the right
- 15:01time or stuff like that. I think the biggest thing that people don't look
- 15:03at as much, which is unfair to Jalen, is he is one of
- 15:07the best defenders in the NBA. Yes, when he is locked in,
- 15:09and so he could very well end up with the Luca matchup for large portions
- 15:13of the series. He could very well end up with a Kyrie matchup for
- 15:16large portions of the series. And with his sides and quickness, if he
- 15:20is fully locked in and engaged, that might be like one of the most
- 15:22difficult matchups that they're going to play or face in this playoffs. And I
- 15:26think the Celtics matchup really well with the Wolves or Dallas in that regard.
- 15:30And so if Jalen's locked in on the defensive end, we'll also, you
- 15:33know, able to create the pressure that he creates on defense, on offense
- 15:37with his ball handling, with his scoring, with everything he does there,
- 15:41like that'll be the key. He said it last night, he says,
- 15:43I believe in one of the best two way players in the world, and
- 15:45when he is locked in, he absolutely can be And so like for the
- 15:46Seblics to win the finals. He's get up to lock in on defense,
- 15:48especially he's done a great job of that all season. All right, let's
- 15:52move to Derek White here. What does he need to do and not do
- 15:56in the finals, likely against the MAVs. I'll say, yeah, yeah,
- 16:00we're may or may not be booking flights to Dallas. But right,
- 16:06Derek White hasn't been great since the Miami series. His shot really hasn't been
- 16:10there. There's been a couple instances of lack I don't want to say lack
- 16:14luster defense, but he's small and Sosiaka which is getting on him in transition
- 16:17a lot, and so there are points of that. But he had five
- 16:18steals and three blocks in Game four. Like he's one of the best defenders
- 16:22in the world. He's probably one of the best matchups for Kyrie or to
- 16:26play help defense against the MAVs. Like this is the best backcourt defensively in
- 16:29the world in holiday in White, so that they've been amazing offensively, it's
- 16:33just about hitting the shots, like the open ones. He's struggled a little
- 16:34bit from that series. But if he can get hot again like he was
- 16:37in Miami, that'd be huge for the Celtics. But also in crunch time
- 16:40he runs show like like he has been that guy for the Celtics. He
- 16:44has been so crucial. Fans and media have been begging all season, let
- 16:48Derek White get more touches. Good things happened quite as the ball Tatum Tatum,
- 16:51Derek Quite, pick and roll, Tatum Jay or Jail and Derek White
- 16:53pick and roll, Like even Derek White setting the screen, like when he
- 16:56is in the action, he has such a good decision maker and playmaker and
- 17:00shock green and all these things, like especially considering Mavericks aren't going to put
- 17:06their best defender on him, Like having him in the action is so valuable.
- 17:07And so when he's running the show down the stretch, good things happen
- 17:11for the Celtics. And so if he can really lock in and embrace that
- 17:15and the Celtics can run through it, I think that's gonna be huge.
- 17:17Yeah, I would. I would very much agree with you on that.
- 17:19And let's move to Drew Holliday here. What does he need to do and
- 17:23not do in the finals. What are your thoughts here, Drew Holiday?
- 17:29Before that like final, you know, five minute stretching. Game four was
- 17:32my pick for ec F f P. He's been so incredibly good for this
- 17:36Celtics team. He needs to keep hitting his open shots, which is been
- 17:38a great job of. He needs to keep, you know, playing a
- 17:41little bully ball in the post that he's done a lot over the course of
- 17:44the Heason need a couple and ones in games three and four that were huge
- 17:47game clinching. In ones, he the little Jordan's shrugging Game four, he
- 17:49was pumped up. That was fun. Yeah. Defensively, like that steal
- 17:53against them hardy. He needs to keep staying locked in there just like he
- 17:56just needs to be Drew Holliday like like he needs to pick his spots and
- 18:00almost just like Celtics like let him do his thing. Like defensively, Joe
- 18:03Mizula has given Duolody so much freedom all season to play roam around defense,
- 18:07play free safety, to sort of do whatever he needs to do on that
- 18:11end of the floor, and he's done a great job at it. So
- 18:12if he can lock in on defense, he's one of the best premier defenders
- 18:15in the world, best defenders in the world. Players vote him that every
- 18:18single season. And then if he's hitting his open shots on offense, playmaking
- 18:22in the way that he has and getting to that post spot a bit more
- 18:25like he is. I think he is the biggest X factor for the Celtics
- 18:29team barring a Chris stops Perzingis return, which would be pretty cool. Well
- 18:32we're gonna get to that in a second. But with regard to your holiday,
- 18:34like, honestly like his his chemistry with this team is pretty is pretty
- 18:40remarkable, and I think it's an underrated storyline that doesn't get noticed a lot.
- 18:44You know, his chemistry is fantastic and it's it's something that I am
- 18:48very jealous of, very jealous of as a Sixers fan. But let's talk
- 18:52about christophs Persingis. Al Horford, dude, Al Horford just continuing to be
- 18:57a presence out there. But if kristaphs Perzingis is not available, who knows
- 19:03what's gonna happen again? In June sixth is when the first game of the
- 19:07Finals slated to start. I don't know what are you thinking here in terms
- 19:10of who's gonna be the big there. I the optimist to me thinks Christops
- 19:17will be back for Game one of the finals because of how big of a
- 19:18break they have they've been so quiet and closed off about it. We genuinely
- 19:23have no idea whether or not he's gonna come back. We don't know what
- 19:26the great sprain was he and we don't know if there are stepbacks. We
- 19:29don't know anything right about Christops Prichard said and Peton Pritchrid' said an interview yesterday.
- 19:33They're like, oh, yeah he'll be back, or like, yeah,
- 19:34I think he'll be back, So like there's some confidence there that may
- 19:37be leaked out, but we genuinely don't know. If I had to guess,
- 19:40I'd say he's probably back for Game one of the finals. Whether or
- 19:41not he's one hundred percent it's another thing. But all Al Horford needs to
- 19:45do is make his threes and hold up on defense. That's all he's ever
- 19:48had to do on this talented of the Celtics team. And he made a
- 19:52ton of threes in the Indie series to the point where they were trying to
- 19:53close it off yes in Game four, and then defensively he got cooked a
- 19:57little bit in that cav series by Irland and Donald Mitchell at times, and
- 20:00he's held up so well in this series against Pacers guards Celtics played his little
- 20:04drop defense, and so the Pacers have sort of killed him in the mid
- 20:07age of times. But down the stretch of these games, the game three
- 20:10in particularly, Al Horford in the paint was clogging it up, getting huge
- 20:12blocks and huge stops. So if he can hold up on defense against a
- 20:15backcourt that will undoubtedly attack him in Luca and Kyrie again, assuming it's Dallas.
- 20:21Yeah, and also hit his open threes like he's gonna be perfect for
- 20:23the Celtics team and that's all he has to do. So keep it simple
- 20:26for big Al. All right. Well, as we're closing things out here,
- 20:30Jack, as we watched the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics bench,
- 20:33they didn't actually step up as much as I thought they would in certain areas
- 20:37and in certain spots, especially in the first three games. I'm wondering,
- 20:41what kind of factor do you see elements of the bench playing given some weak
- 20:45spots that we did see during the Eastern Conference Finals. What are your thoughts
- 20:48here to close this out? Yeah, Man, Howser just hasn't been able
- 20:52to hit a shot. No, it's been so brutal. Yeah, but
- 20:56I think the best part about him and Pritchard and all those guys is they're
- 20:59gonna keep shooting. Like they've developed the confidence this whole season that if they
- 21:02are open, they are going to keep shooting the ball, especially him and
- 21:03Pritchard, and they'll start falling like like, I think they know it.
- 21:07I think the team believes in it. I think everybody should believe in it
- 21:10because they've been such great shooters all year. So Howzar, it's all about
- 21:11just staying solid on defense, which he was for most of the season,
- 21:15and hitting your open shots. And for Prichard, they've trusted Pritchard in a
- 21:18lot of big moments that Dantees Quarters just kind of say, okay, Pritchard,
- 21:22good to your thing, and he stepped up, made big plays,
- 21:23made big shots. And so if he can keep hit his open threes and
- 21:26hitting those big shots in the class, you know, miniature clutch moments throughout
- 21:30the series, I think that'll be huge for him too. So that's big
- 21:33time. And then Tilman and Luftwo like, yeah, the big guys just
- 21:34need to play their role absolutely, all right, folks. Jack Simone from
- 21:38celticflog dot Com at Jack Simone NBA on the Twitter slash x buddy, it
- 21:44was great, great talking to you. Thanks so much, Safe travels on
- 21:48your way home, and hope to talk to you down the road my friend
- 21:52anytime. I appreciate you for having me as always. That's gonna do it
- 21:55for us here on Opposition Territory this week. Please share our p with your
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