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Thunder vs Pacers Game 3 Preview! · Bring The Thunder Podcast

0:01
What's going on everyone, Welcome to the Bring the Thunder
0:03
podcast. We're going to do a game 3
0:05
preview. Quick recap of the series so
0:08
far. Indiana took the first one on a
0:10
game-winning buzzer beater by Halliburton with .3 seconds
0:13
left, their first lead in the game.
0:16
We bounced back in Game 2, beat them by 16, but it was it was
0:22
ours the whole game. We didn't give it up this time.
0:24
We were leading by double digits pretty much the whole game.
0:27
Now game three, we are heading to Indiana where Indiana's been
0:32
great at home and OKC has been a little shaky on the road in
0:35
these playoffs. So I guess we could just start
0:40
with expectations and, and what we're looking forward to and,
0:44
and in order to get these wins. So I'll let you guys take the
0:47
stage. All right, like I said the other
0:51
day, I expect this the game to be close.
0:54
Not going to keep repeating myself, just all I'm saying is
0:58
the Pacers crowd is starved of an NBA Finals.
1:00
This is their first Finals game and 25 years, something like
1:04
that. It's going to be tough.
1:06
The only way we're going to win. In my personal opinion, before I
1:11
even say that, I expect this game to be super close and come
1:14
down to the end and we're going to see who out executes who.
1:18
The only way we win this game, J, Dub and Chet have to show up
1:24
because I know you know what Shay's going to give you.
1:26
You know what Shay's going to give you.
1:28
Shay's going to get to the line. He's going to, you know, do his
1:32
thing, get in the mid range, find open shooters.
1:36
They're going to have to hit shots.
1:37
Chad's going to have to play with the same intensity and
1:40
confidence that he played with yesterday and will have a chance
1:44
to win late in the game in my opinion.
1:48
Agreed. Yeah, on my end, what I'm
1:52
looking for for Game 3, can Indiana boost their scoring in
1:57
the paint? Because I feel like we're
1:59
dominating the paint, especially in Game 2, Expected us to do
2:03
that in game one. The other thing I'm looking at
2:06
is SGA continuing to dominate. We need to keep him, you know,
2:11
30 plus points. The Thunder, we need to control
2:15
the, you know, style of the game.
2:17
I feel like the tempo we did that way better in Game 2 with
2:21
timely timeouts, timely fouls, things like that.
2:25
That's, you know, limiting their transition.
2:27
If they're going to go in transition, just foul them.
2:29
You know, I I think that's a easier thing and we did that.
2:32
And then Pacers responding to the half court adjustments that
2:36
we've made with inserting Wiggins.
2:38
That's the other thing that I'm going to be looking at like, you
2:41
know, do they give math and more time or you know, who do they
2:45
expect to pick up the extra bench slack that they're having
2:50
right now 'cause the the starters are all averaging
2:53
double digits for them, kind of same as OK C, it's really their
2:57
bench that's not giving them any production.
3:00
And that's what we expected the Thunder to beat every team on
3:03
is, you know, the bench players. And when you have the bench on
3:08
game two out, like I think combined for 40 points between
3:12
three players, I think that's the big difference right there.
3:17
Yeah, for me, I agree with both of you.
3:20
I, I, we win on the road when J Dub plays well.
3:25
He's actually played very well on the road these playoffs.
3:27
I'll read off some quick stats. The two games on the road in
3:31
Memphis, 26 and 23, very good. He had a 32 point game in game
3:37
three against Denver and then the other two away games he kind
3:41
of had stinkers 10 and six and we lost those.
3:43
We actually won the one with 10, but and then against Minnesota,
3:47
obviously the first game in Minnesota was not great.
3:54
He had 13 points though in like 20 somewhat minutes.
3:56
So he was playing well and then the close out, well, not the
3:59
close out, but second game Minnesota 34.
4:01
So he's been relatively very good on the road.
4:04
Chet as well. Chet's been pretty good on the
4:06
road, which is surprising for young players.
4:08
They pick up their game on the road in the playoffs, alleviate
4:12
some pressure from Shay 'cause we can't have the same game plan
4:16
as we do at home, which is funny 'cause they should.
4:21
But on the road you got to rely on your Co stars.
4:25
And then definitely the bench. Like Savio just said, I expect
4:29
Caruso to play well. I don't expect 20 from him every
4:32
night. I expect J Dub and Chet to show
4:35
up. And it would just be for us to
4:39
absolutely win these games with no problem if if Wiggins or
4:43
Cason or yeah, yeah, if Wiggins or Cason could do what they did.
4:48
Like if Wiggins puts up like 12 points, we're going to win those
4:51
games. Our bench dominates Indiana's
4:54
bench and I think as long as we survive the storm in the
4:58
beginning of Game 3, we should be able to take it.
5:01
I think it'll be similar fashion.
5:04
We're leading the whole game and it'll get closer towards the end
5:08
and we'll see if we could close it out.
5:10
But if Wiggins could pop in and hit a few shots, timely shots.
5:14
He's always so timely. I've been saying this all year.
5:16
He always comes in like it's nothing, banks 2 threes and gets
5:19
taken out. Hopefully he gets more minutes
5:21
and is able to, you know, be stable the whole game.
5:24
But yeah, I, I, I see US winning the whole game by like 8, eight
5:29
points and then it'll get closer to like the last three minutes
5:32
and then we'll see if Shay could close it.
5:34
I have full confidence in him and closing this game out.
5:37
So I think the Thunder will win Game 3, but it's not going to be
5:41
easy. Pacers home crowd is electric.
5:44
They've been starving for a championship.
5:46
They last time they were in the Finals was 2000, so 25 years
5:49
ago. And you know what, they're
5:52
coming up a loss. So they're trying to bounce
5:54
back. I've got a.
5:57
Last thing for me, Pacer 6 and two at home in these playoffs,
6:01
the one loss that sticks out to me was A and a 22 point loss to
6:06
Cleveland and we're much better than Cleveland.
6:08
So we could execute, make shots. We should be able to win Game 3
6:13
and I think we can absolutely. If we win game three, I think we
6:16
absolutely got dominate Game 4. I agree man, if we do all those
6:22
keys, that'll definitely result in AW for us.
6:26
But I was looking at J Dub's splits for the road playoff this
6:31
this season. He's at 20 points, 5 assists and
6:35
four rebounds in seven games and I believe in four of the seven
6:41
games he's had close to a way higher average than 2020 points.
6:47
He's only had three games where he really didn't average more
6:51
than like 13 points. In I think the first Minnesota
6:55
Rd. Game he had 13 points.
6:58
I think in Denver he had two games where he had 10 points in
7:01
a six point game. But the rest of the playoffs
7:04
against Memphis, he had 26 on the road and then 23.
7:08
I believe the first Denver game he had 32 points and then in
7:13
Minnesota he in his last Minnesota game on the road, he
7:17
had 34 points. So J Dub's kind of shown up on
7:20
the road when we really need him.
7:22
So I expect at least one of the two games to have a big J Dub 25
7:26
plus point per game, you know, average there.
7:31
He made, you know, drop one of them.
7:33
But I'm I'm OK with that. Like if we can split again,
7:36
that's a great expectation to have.
7:38
So hopefully we can obviously take both.
7:41
But with the way the Pacers have been playing this whole
7:43
playoffs, I feel like they're going to play us a lot closer.
7:47
So that's that's what I'm hoping for.
7:50
And and when I said survive the storm early, teams play better
7:55
at home, they're going to shoot better at home.
7:58
The role players will shoot better at home, even though the
8:00
Pacers seem to shoot good wherever they go.
8:03
But they're going to be hyper aggressive getting Halliburton
8:08
into the lane. They're going to make that a
8:10
point of emphasis in game three. That's been the whole, you know,
8:15
he's been, he's been getting asked that question ever since
8:19
last night. And why weren't you so
8:20
aggressive in the beginning? Carlisle was saying we're going
8:24
to have to get him moving towards the basket more.
8:26
So we're just going to have to play really good defense, try
8:28
not to foul, and if we do foul, foul the right players.
8:32
This team hasn't been a great free throw shooting team in this
8:34
series. Pascal is missing his free
8:37
throws, Nemhard's missing free throws.
8:39
Halliburton doesn't get to the line that much in this series.
8:44
But it it it's really simple. It's really simple.
8:46
It's Chet dub need to play up which they have been.
8:52
Chet's shooting has been well on the road as well.
8:57
I think he went 2 for four in the Minnesota game.
9:01
He shot the lights out in the Memphis series.
9:05
And then it just comes down to shame.
9:06
If Shay could give us 283032, we're going to win.
9:12
Wiggins comes in, Kayson does. We we just seem to hit shots
9:16
kind of going all over the place here.
9:17
But if Kayson could knock down some shots, if Lou could shoot
9:20
on the road, that would be nice. That would be amazing.
9:23
And Wiggins, those guys, because I have full trust in Shay, I
9:27
have full trust in Shet. And I, I know when J Dove's
9:30
playing at the top of his game, he's one of the best players on
9:34
the floor. So I don't see us losing.
9:39
Here's here's what I'll say to really wrap this game up.
9:42
If we survived the storm in the beginning and we survived the
9:47
push at the end, we're going to win the game and we could be
9:51
within 3 points and then take a lead in the first half and then
9:55
grow our lead in the third quarter.
9:58
You know, Indiana's going to try to come back.
9:59
I'm not saying they'll come back from 15 this time.
10:01
They'll probably try to come back from six or seven.
10:04
If we can hold that and shade some timely shots, we'll be
10:08
good. OK, now let me ask you guys
10:10
this. If OKC goes on the road and wins
10:15
in any sort of fashion Wednesday night, what do you guys think
10:21
that does to the Pacers psyche? Do you think that'll really
10:25
shake them up a bit that they lost that game and there's a
10:28
possibility that they can head to OKC down 3 to one or do you
10:34
think they wouldn't be too worried?
10:37
I think, I think I'll go first. I think their psyches already
10:42
shaken up as a team overall, none of them can get yeah, they
10:46
can't even score 20 points against us.
10:47
I mean, I'd be, I'd be completely, you know, shaken up
10:52
if if my star players, Pascal or Tyrese couldn't get 20.
10:57
But even some of the role players you would expect, like
10:59
if those guys aren't getting it, someone else is shooting the
11:02
rock. But the problem is Tyrese
11:05
Halliburton, I think I mentioned this in our series preview,
11:09
players just averaged less field goals attempted against us.
11:12
And that's what's happening to him.
11:14
He's just not used to a drop off on just not being able to take
11:17
shots and that's something that Lou Dorton does really well.
11:20
He's done that across the board all season long.
11:22
We've seen the crazy stats he's put up defensively against top
11:25
players where they're averaging more field goals attempted
11:30
against all other teams across the board.
11:32
Just when they come to play in OK C or against the Thunder
11:36
players across the board, not just Halliburton, Pascal's
11:39
probably seeing the same thing. He's just like, I can't even
11:42
get, you know, not just timely shots or just shots in general,
11:46
but they, they just can't get enough shots off.
11:49
And that's the that's the problem for them.
11:52
So I think they're shaking up. Already, Yeah, I I kind of agree
11:56
with that. But to answer your question,
11:59
Capers, I think if we win game 3, they're going to come out
12:06
super, super desperate in game four.
12:09
I think it'll, I, I think it'll be like if they don't take a
12:16
lead early in game form, they're going to be demoralized.
12:20
This is saying if we win game three, I think, OK, so you could
12:23
run away with game form and then easily win game five.
12:28
I don't see us losing another game at home.
12:31
So yeah, I think if we win game three, you're going to see the
12:36
Pacers try to shoot the lights out and if they're not falling
12:39
early, I think it'll be done pretty, pretty early in the
12:43
game. So I think Game 3 has a lot
12:46
riding for both teams. I think it rides more for
12:49
Indiana that I think it's a must win for Indiana because we win
12:52
this game. Now the pressure's on them.
12:55
If they come out super desperate and it's not working out and
12:57
they give up, which I know they're not known to give up,
12:59
but I think it could be over for them.
13:02
And then going back to OK C31, Indiana's the one team that
13:06
could do it. They fight hard to tell, but
13:09
like Sapier said, they don't get enough shots up because we
13:12
forced turnovers. We make you play 24 seconds of
13:15
offense most of the time. And I think, I mean, we could
13:20
win in five. I really do.
13:24
Interesting. I'll ask the opposite question.
13:26
If we lose game three, what are we looking like?
13:28
I mean, I know we didn't. I know we did it in Denver, so
13:30
we already have. Exactly, we already had evidence
13:33
on that, you know what I mean? I think we'll be fine, bro.
13:36
I think we'll be fine. But I would be like, I think
13:38
we'll be fine. So if we go down to to 1, I
13:41
think we'll be fine. But I mean, bro, it's not.
13:44
That's still uncharted territory because now you got another game
13:48
back in their place that like you said, Lord, like we said
13:50
yesterday, they did what they set out to do, right?
13:56
But I mean, bro, we already have our evidence in the pudding,
13:58
bro. We went down 2 to one say smiled
14:02
after we lost and everything was everything was pretty much good
14:05
from there. Bro.
14:07
Yeah I wouldn't be. I wouldn't be too worried.
14:09
I'd be worried, but not too worried.
14:11
What I'd say about it is like pressure's on Indiana right now.
14:15
So we get this game, pressure stays on Indiana, but if we lose
14:19
even just one game in Indiana, pressure stays on us going back
14:23
home because then we got to go up 32 and if we don't, we're
14:27
going back to Indiana. So I think Game 3 is like, this
14:30
is a super pivotal game in this series and I think I think this
14:35
is where one of the teams wins it, to be honest.
14:40
Yeah, yeah, I think, man, it'd be tough to win in Game 6 on the
14:46
road to try to close out or whatever, and that's what I
14:50
predicted would happen. But I, I just hope we can at
14:55
least at the very least split this, this road stretch We need,
15:01
we need to. I was looking at the difference
15:03
between the stats between Shay J Dub and Chet on the road versus
15:08
home. It's really not that big of a
15:09
difference. They're all three of them are
15:12
pretty consistent across the board in terms of their
15:14
averages. So the guys that we need is
15:17
Crusoe, Wiggins, and maybe someone else will show up for
15:21
one of those games or two of those games.
15:23
That's the hope if Caruso can continue to play like he's
15:27
playing. I I really pray that Mark plays
15:30
Wiggins on the road. He for whatever reason on the
15:33
road, Mark just changes up his game plan and his rotations.
15:38
I feel like the rotations for game two were about as perfect
15:41
as they can get if he can keep it close to that.
15:43
The other thing that I want to see is US continue to half size
15:48
on the court, not just from like a starting lineup perspective or
15:54
mainly from like the rotations that we have out there.
15:56
Like I notice, you know, inserting Kenridge helped on the
15:59
boards just just in general. That's what we really need help
16:02
on is, you know, continue to dominate the boards.
16:06
As long as we're close on that, we'll be we'll be fine and we
16:10
should be able to take these next two men.
16:12
We're clearly the better team. The Pacers have came back on so
16:16
many occasions where you know, when you're such a good team and
16:22
the Warriors experienced this when you win a lot, like the
16:25
games don't feel as important. And I know it's so early to say
16:29
that because we haven't even won a championship, but we've won a
16:31
lot of games in the regular season.
16:32
We've won a lot of games into the playoffs.
16:34
And that takes a lot of energy out of you, right?
16:37
Like we're getting late into the season and we need these guys to
16:41
dig a little bit deeper. I can tell that you know that
16:45
that's that's a good that's going to be the key whichever
16:48
team digs deep because I feel like us and the Pacers have had
16:52
to exert a lot of energy and effort up until this point.
16:56
So this game is the swing swing game.
16:59
Whether it's A5 game series or a six game series, I still don't
17:02
see this going 7. If it does go 7, we'll still
17:05
close out regardless, but. Are you sure about that?
17:08
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure, I think I think you
17:11
made some really good points. I actually agree like.
17:13
He does, I agree. But seven, Are you sure we're
17:15
going to close it out at that point?
17:17
Well, we'll get to that if we have to.
17:18
OK. Well, yeah.
17:19
All right. All right, go ahead.
17:22
Like, I think we have the right team to be gritty when we have
17:25
to be on the road, when shots aren't falling.
17:28
If the rotation stays the same, I'd be very happy with that.
17:31
I think Kenneth Williams could be huge on the road here.
17:34
He can knock down some shots, he can rebound, play some defense,
17:37
everything you get asked for. Maybe a little less Isaiah Joe,
17:43
more Kenridge Williams. But if he if he coaches the game
17:47
and sets the right rotations like he did in Game 2.
17:51
Also, Coach Mark, we can give him props for controlling the
17:54
game with timely timeouts. He didn't let big stretches
17:57
happen. They'd go on a 7 O or seven to
18:00
two run. I believe he called a quick
18:03
timeout there and then there's another run right after that
18:05
that they had trying to get it closer.
18:08
And I feel like he really, he was like, Nah, we're not letting
18:12
this happen. He drew up plays that were
18:14
really easy for us. I feel like their coach pretty
18:17
much did the same thing too. Like if we'd go on a run, they'd
18:20
call a timeout and call a really good play.
18:23
Offensively, they've they've shown up on out of timeouts and
18:28
we've kind of done the same thing.
18:29
It's just that early game where if we can just put them down and
18:34
have their confidence shaken, it's hard for them to fight back
18:39
and hopefully that's the same case in Game 3.
18:42
I'll give you another another kind of thing that I'm looking
18:47
forward to is Nemhardt played really well in game one.
18:51
Shit, the bet in game two. He hasn't been that great at
18:54
home. He had two good games against
18:56
Milwaukee at home, but other than that, he's been much better
18:59
on the road. So taking out one of their
19:02
better players in their homecourt, I, I don't, I don't
19:07
see us losing. I don't.
19:09
Yeah. And I also want to mention we
19:13
need to put Amia notice on Obi Topping.
19:16
Where is that man? I don't even I don't even think
19:18
he did he play it last game because he got three points or
19:22
something like that. So you were telling me Obi
19:24
Topping is like that. But I think I don't mention, I
19:29
think it was Capers who mentioned, you know, that man
19:32
could not shoot so. PJ Washington, junior bro for
19:36
game one. That was crazy.
19:37
Well, like I said, we're not worried about OB topping.
19:40
We figured out if you put a hand in his face, he's not going to
19:42
make the shot more times than not.
19:47
So as long as we don't let their, you know, I'll call them
19:50
free roamers. They're shooters around the
19:51
ring, around the key. Just have wide open looks.
19:55
We'll be fine. It's just attention to detail,
19:59
intensity. Come out early, win the game
20:01
early and just hold on. It's it's a really simple game
20:06
plan. Road games are so odd in the
20:10
play offs, man. If you make your shots, you're
20:11
going to win if you're a team like OK C if you don't, you're
20:15
going to have to grin it out. It's.
20:16
Going to be a long night, especially in Game 3.
20:20
Joe, it's going. If they don't, it's going to be
20:22
a long night. But we shot really well in Game
20:26
2 and we didn't shoot as much in game two from the three-point
20:30
line. We exerted ourselves in the
20:32
paint. Hopefully we continue that trend
20:34
because of the size difference that we have.
20:36
We're playing with two bigs compared to their one.
20:38
And eventually in series like that, like that's the it's a war
20:43
of attrition when it comes down to when you're in the paint and
20:46
eventually someone's getting in foul trouble.
20:48
And if we can keep Miles Turner in foul trouble also, he's
20:51
another guy where I want to see us kind of just fading off of
20:55
him. Like let him take as many
20:58
jumpers and open looks he wants to take because yeah, yeah, if
21:02
we can keep packing the pain against Tyrese.
21:05
And I, I think I noticed that a lot.
21:06
That's why Tyrese is frustrated. Like he makes the pass, but his
21:10
guys aren't doing the play making.
21:11
And that really, you know, disrupts you as a playmaker.
21:15
If you continuously come down the court, create open looks and
21:18
nothing's really happening over and over, and then you come down
21:21
and you try to Force One and then nothing comes good out of
21:25
that either. It's like it turns into a cycle
21:27
of like mental fortitude and I feel like they're losing the
21:30
mental game of just trying to stay in this series.
21:38
Yeah, one last thing for me before we get into like full
21:41
predictions here for Game 3. Completely just lost what I was
21:47
going to say, but yeah, I really did, to be honest.
21:54
I guess we'll go for Games 3. Yo, that just reminded me of
21:58
when that reporter asked Westbrook that question in in
22:01
training camp. I forgot what I just said.
22:05
Oh, hilarious. All right, well, here's I'll go
22:09
first. Why not if since he forgot his
22:11
train of thought if it comes back to you just.
22:13
Feel free. But close game, I actually have
22:19
it being like low, like high 90, super low one hundreds type of
22:27
score. I'm going to go 10399 Oklahoma
22:34
City free throw game. At the end the Pacers are
22:41
winning. Mid fourth quarter, OKC goes on
22:43
a run. The Pacers hit a couple shots to
22:45
get back in the game, but they don't hit the shots that they
22:47
need to and it becomes a free throw game and OKC wins.
22:51
All right, I'm, I'm going to do my prediction next.
22:53
First quarter, 2928 close game shave, setting the tone early,
22:59
just doing his thing. Second quarter, I'm going to go
23:03
with we're winning that one, you know a little bit, I would say
23:08
like 6 point game there. Third quarter is when we kind of
23:12
go for our run and really knock it out of the park against them.
23:16
Fourth quarter, we hold the lead, win the game.
23:19
It's that simple. Shay gets 32.7 assists, 5
23:23
rebounds. That's kind of the expectation
23:25
from him. I feel like Tyrese will finally
23:27
break his 20 points per game. He'll probably get like 2023 in
23:31
that one. I'm expecting him to get a lot
23:34
more assists because his guys are going to knock down a bunch
23:37
more shots. I'm hoping Chet gets his 15 as
23:41
long as we can get Pascal under 20 and just Tyrese is the only
23:46
one that scores above that possible X Factor.
23:50
Obi Topping goes for another crazy shooting night 'cause if
23:54
he gets open looks and we don't defend him the right way then he
23:58
can go on a run for them. But that's kind of the
24:01
prediction we should win win the game at least.
24:04
We need to hold him under 111 points.
24:07
We've won majority of our games when we do that against other
24:10
teams. So I'm hoping we went around
24:14
like 110 to one O 6. It'll be still close game.
24:18
But yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm guessing this is going to be a lot closer
24:23
than what everyone's thinking it'll be.
24:27
I'll say defense travels and I think it's hard to play the,
24:37
it's hard to play a strong, it's hard to play the same defense on
24:42
the road because the teams are just better at home.
24:46
I think if we get timely stops, we should be winning by 6 and
24:51
probably get into a free throw game.
24:53
And hopefully we, you know, we've had a few of those so we
24:57
could come down and just win the game.
24:58
I'm expecting J Dub and Chet to really carry like a lot of the
25:05
load. I think Chet's going to make
25:06
some timely threes. I think J Dub's going to be
25:08
aggressive all game. Get into the line.
25:11
They Indiana fouls, they foul a lot.
25:13
So we got to get to the line. That's big.
25:15
We get to the line too as well on the road, get those three
25:18
points, make our free throws, We'll we'll win the game.
25:23
Before I make my actual score prediction, let me check out the
25:28
line. I want to see the line of the
25:30
game real quick. Yeah, that's a good question.
25:32
Line of game 3 is 5 1/2 OK C so isn't that funny?
25:37
Favored by 6 on the road. I said we'll be up 6.
25:40
I think we're going to win 114 to one O 9.
25:50
So we won't cover, but I think we will.
25:52
I think we will win the game and then we'll get into Game 4.
25:56
But I see OKC going up two to one, all of us taking a nice
26:00
deep breath, putting the pressure back on Indiana.
26:05
That's what I see. J Dub's line is set to 21 1/2
26:08
for game three and I'd be shooting the over on that.
26:12
Like he needs to go over for us to win anyways if you're a
26:16
Thunder fan. So I'm I'm hoping at least 23 to
26:20
25 points and we easily win that game.
26:23
Also also good line because I was thinking like 20 points from
26:26
J dub and the lines don't lie guys.
26:31
The lines never lie so it'll be in that realm, but that's good.
26:35
If J dub's on is 21 1/2, that means OK CS winning.
26:38
Yeah, well, he better. But yeah, I mean, I don't really
26:43
have anything else I could say. It's just go in, get the job
26:48
done, take a breath and, you know, back in that game 4.
26:51
But I I really do think they'll get the job done as long as,
26:53
again, survive the early storm and be clutched down in the end.
26:59
I will say one of these two games on the road, Shade's going
27:02
to go like 40. He's going to have like one of
27:05
those finals performances where we're like.
27:07
I could see that being game 4. I I also think that's going to
27:10
be Game 4 as well yeah. But yeah, I.
27:13
Think, I think regardless, I think all if all of us had to
27:16
predict, even if we dropped this one, we're definitely going to
27:19
take game four, probably Game 5, regardless, I don't.
27:23
Know I don't want to drop this one because if Indiana I.
27:26
Guess the momentum. Momentum and hope.
27:28
It's going to be tough and it's hard, so you don't want to play
27:33
an away game down to one we already have.
27:36
We got lucky enough to win it. We don't want to do it again.
27:39
I think we learned from our mistakes.
27:40
We'll come out firing and we'll get it done.
27:45
I'm I'm curious if they and the guys smell the blood in the
27:49
water right now after last game where they're like, OK, we can
27:53
dominate this team. I hope they can kind of have
27:56
that mentality versus the, we'll, we'll see how the game
28:00
goes 'cause it's not really a feel out game anymore.
28:02
Game one, you can still chop it up to, OK, it's a feel out game.
28:06
You didn't really know what to expect, play styles, whatever.
28:08
There's enough film evidence, film study that you can do to
28:12
notice like what adjustments you need to make.
28:14
Each team I feel like has adjusted and the Pacers can make
28:18
maybe some other adjustments where I think they can shorten
28:22
their rotation a little bit more, play heavier minutes.
28:25
I don't think they'll do that that this early on.
28:28
But I think that's like the other X Factor.
28:30
We did that with our line up. I'm expecting them to do that
28:33
with theirs now too. I just got what?
28:35
I was thinking about too. I just got it just came back to
28:38
me. I mentioned guys like Wiggins
28:42
need to step up, make shots, loonies to hit threes.
28:44
And then Sapir said something about, you know, it's going to
28:48
be close. We have we need to be gritty,
28:50
blah, blah, blah, blah blah. We have the perfect team to win
28:54
Rd. games in the play offs. If someone's not shooting well,
28:57
we can rely on Caruso. If we need to pick the energy
29:01
out, we can rely on Hartenstein. We brought these guys in to win
29:04
on the road in the play offs. I think they're going to shine
29:07
on the road in the Finals and it's going to make our GM look
29:10
like a mastermind if he already isn't looked like that.
29:15
But we have guys, Cameron Williams, Jalen Williams, Isaiah
29:20
Hardenstein, Alex Crusoe, those guys will be ready to play on
29:25
the road and be gritty and get us ready.
29:28
And I think, I think we're going to win and then we're going to
29:32
win game three on that. Y'all got something?
29:36
Yeah. Do you guys think that the type
29:39
of paint presence that we've had at home will carry on in
29:46
Indiana? Because that's really the
29:48
difference right now. Indiana's only got 38 points
29:51
over the first two games. And if they're not gonna be
29:55
aggressive, I think their lead point guard himself doesn't get
29:57
to the free throw line like you mentioned.
29:59
And for whatever reason, they don't have paint pressure.
30:03
And I think one of the bigger reasons is they don't really
30:06
have anyone rolling to the rim other than Pascal and everyone
30:10
else's size. And maybe Matheran's another guy
30:14
that can get to the rim pretty well and get to the free throw
30:16
line. But outside of Matheran and
30:19
Pascal, I don't see much going towards the rim.
30:21
Like Miles Turner's not really known to get that.
30:24
And TJ McConnell, he's smaller. He he, he'll get in the painting
30:28
stuff and score a little bit, but not on a high volume because
30:32
eventually we'll hone in on him because it's easier to box him
30:35
up. So I'm hoping if I was a Pacers
30:39
fan right now, I'm telling Tyrese not only to just shoot
30:43
the ball, but he's one of the few guys that can, you know,
30:46
handle the ball really well and he's got to get to the rack like
30:49
draw. Fouls.
30:50
And just rely on like the referees to make calls to
30:55
they're. Going to make a point of
30:56
emphasis to get to the rim early.
30:57
Tyrese is going to be trying to be super aggressive.
30:59
It's not easy to get to the rim against these OKC guards.
31:03
Tyrese and Pascal will be trying to get to the rim early and
31:08
often, but other than that, like Nemhardt's good, but he's saucy
31:12
on the outside. He's not like a slashing type
31:14
yard. Naismith has turned into a three
31:17
and D type player. He could still get to the rim,
31:20
but he shoots a lot. Turner is primarily looks like a
31:24
jump shooter. He gets some offensive boards,
31:27
but they don't have guys that slash like that.
31:30
So they're going to make it a point of emphasis to get Tyrese
31:33
and Pascal and a pick and roll early going towards the rim.
31:36
I think that benefits us. Unless they shoot threes, the
31:40
more they, you know, they can't outscore us, so then we'll be
31:44
good. But yeah, they're definitely
31:46
going. They're definitely going to be
31:48
ultra aggressive early. Like I said, we just hold on.
31:53
We have anybody. Oh, go ahead, Joe.
31:55
I was going to say we have the right Rd. mindset now.
31:57
I think that game for in Minnesota, just like we know the
32:02
exact winning formula we need on the road.
32:05
We've been through it all these playoffs.
32:07
We went through it last playoffs.
32:08
I thought we were just ready to roll.
32:11
Yeah, I was going to say, if anything, we got the players for
32:15
tip for them to go come out in game three and be super
32:18
aggressive. We have we're better set up to
32:21
stop them than anybody in the league, right.
32:24
So I mean, we don't have too, too much to worry about.
32:28
But I do think it will be a close game though.
32:30
But we can pull this out definitely.
32:32
Yeah, I think, like I said, I think they win by like 5, so
32:35
that's fine. Like.
32:38
As long as they win bro as. Long as they they play smart,
32:41
which I think we're one of the smartest teams in the league at
32:44
at most times. Sometimes we get a little crazy,
32:46
but that's just our youth. But they're super smart and if
32:51
they just play the the right game plan and hold off for dear
32:54
life at the end, they'll get it done.
32:57
Then we got game 4. But other than that, I'm I'm all
33:00
set with this preview guys. Let us know in the comments what
33:04
you guys think. You disagree with us.
33:08
If you agree with us. If you have a different thought,
33:10
let us know. Again, if you're enjoying the
33:13
content, subscribe to the channel, it's free to do.
33:16
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33:19
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33:22
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33:25
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33:27
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33:32
after game three with a big old smile on our faces and Thunder
33:37
up baby, let's go savvy, what you got?
33:40
Nothing. Nothing.
33:41
Man, I was gonna say Thunder up as well.
33:42
We're Goodman. Fuck yeah.
33:44
All right, see y'all later.