Mavs fall flat vs Thunder in Gm 1, Celtics beat Cavs & Murray fined $100k | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses various aspects of the NBA playoffs, focusing on player performances and team dynamics. It highlights Luca's injury impact on his three-point shooting, the need for Kyrie to step up with Luca ailing, and the Mavericks' and Thunder's playoff prospects. The script also touches on the youngest teams in NBA history, the Thunder's defensive and offensive strengths, and the importance of rebounding. Concerns are raised about Tatum's shooting slump and its impact on the Celtics' championship aspirations. The discussion concludes with the controversy surrounding Jamal Murray's actions and the implications for the league's suspension policy.
Takeaways
- π Luca's performance was a surprise due to his injury, which affected his three-point shooting significantly.
- π Luca's three-point shooting percentage has dropped to 14% since his injury, compared to 38% in the regular season.
- π« Kyrie needs to take on an even bigger role with Luca ailing, and should increase his shot attempts.
- π€ The speaker initially picked the Mavs to win the series and remains optimistic despite game one loss.
- π The Thunder are looking like legitimate Championship contenders with SGA leading in points, rebounds, and assists.
- π― The Thunder have the best three-point shooting team in the league, which complements SGA's ability to score inside.
- π OKC is the youngest team ever to win a second-round game and could potentially be the youngest to win a championship.
- π« Concerns are raised about the officiating differences in playoff games and how it might affect OKC's performance.
- π€¨ Tatum's shooting struggles continue, raising concerns for the Celtics' chances in the postseason.
- π« Jamal Murray's actions during the game were controversial, but he was not suspended, which the speaker finds questionable.
- π The Timberwolves have a legitimate gripe over the league's decision not to suspend Murray, considering past precedents.
Q & A
What was the reason for Kevin Wilds' absence from the show?
-Kevin Wilds was absent from the show because he was busy trying to scrub the internet of all his tweet proclamations.
How did the speaker describe their initial reaction to Luca's performance?
-The speaker admitted to being shocked by Luca's performance, as they expect high standards from him and are surprised when he doesn't play well.
What was the impact of Luca's knee injury on his three-point shooting?
-Since Luca's knee injury, his three-point shooting percentage has significantly dropped from 38% in the regular season to 14% post-injury.
What adjustment is suggested for Luca's gameplay considering his injury?
-It is suggested that Luca should cut down on three-point shots and focus more on scoring in the mid-range due to his strength in that area.
How did the speaker evaluate Kyrie's role in the team, especially with Luca being injured?
-The speaker believes Kyrie needs to take on an even bigger role, be more consistent, and take more shots to support the team with Luca's injury.
What is the speaker's view on the Mavs' chances of winning the NBA finals?
-The speaker remains optimistic about the Mavs' chances of reaching and possibly winning the NBA finals, despite the game one loss.
What was the Thunder's performance like in the playoffs?
-The Thunder has been performing exceptionally well in the playoffs, blowing out their opponents in every game except for the first one of the year.
Why does the speaker believe the Thunder are legitimate Championship contenders?
-The Thunder are seen as legitimate Championship contenders due to their MVP candidate SGA, the best three-point shooting team in the league, and their top-tier defense.
What is the main concern raised about the Thunder's potential to win a championship?
-The main concern is their lack of historical precedent, as they are the youngest team ever to potentially win a championship, which could work against them.
What was the speaker's opinion on Jamal Murray's actions and the subsequent league ruling?
-The speaker believes that Jamal Murray's actions were egregious and should have resulted in a suspension, but they were not surprised by the league's decision given the context of the series.
How did the speaker assess Jason Tatum's performance in the postseason?
-The speaker expressed concern over Tatum's shooting struggles, stating that as the Celtics' best player, he needs to step up his performance for the team to succeed in the finals.
What is the significance of the Timberwolves' gripe regarding Jamal Murray's actions?
-The Timberwolves' gripe highlights a potential inconsistency in the league's disciplinary actions, as similar actions by their player Rudy Gobert resulted in a significant fine.
Outlines
π Luca's Performance and Playoff Adjustments
The discussion focuses on Luca's surprising performance in a recent game and how his injury has impacted his play, particularly his three-point shooting. The speaker suggests that Luca should focus more on mid-range shots and cut down on three-pointers. Additionally, with Luca's injury, Kyrie's role increases, and there's an emphasis on his need to be more consistent. The speaker also talks about their expectations for the Mavericks in the NBA finals and the importance of Luca's performance for the team's success.
π Thunder's Championship Potential and SGA's Impact
This paragraph delves into the Thunder's performance, highlighting their status as a legitimate championship contender with an MVP candidate in SGA. The team's success is attributed to SGA's ability to score in the paint and the team's excellent three-point shooting. The defense is also praised, with a mention of the team's coaching and defensive strategy. However, concerns are raised about the team's lack of playoff history and their status as the youngest team, which could be a factor against them.
π Analyzing OKC's Game Performance and Tatum's Struggles
The speaker analyzes OKC's strong performance, noting their high ranking in offense and defense, their low turnover rate, and excellent three-point shooting. Concerns are raised about their rebounding and SGA's frequent trips to the free-throw line. The discussion then shifts to the Celtics and Tatum's shooting struggles, emphasizing the need for him to step up his game for the team to succeed in the finals. The importance of Tatum's performance is underscored by his status as the team's best player.
π€ The Controversial Non-Suspension of Jamal Murray
The final paragraph discusses the league's decision not to suspend Jamal Murray for his antics during a game. The speaker expresses dissatisfaction with the ruling, arguing that Murray's actions were egregious and could have changed the course of the series. A comparison is made to past incidents and suspensions, and it's suggested that the league's decision sets a concerning precedent. The speaker also acknowledges the desire to see a fair competition, but maintains that the non-suspension was the wrong call.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Luca
π‘Injury
π‘Three-point shooting
π‘Kyrie Irving
π‘MVP Candidate
π‘Defensive Team
π‘Rebounding
π‘Jamal Murray
π‘Suspension
π‘Jason Tatum
π‘All-NBA
Highlights
Discussion on whether Kevin Wilds is busy trying to remove his controversial tweets from the internet.
Admission of shock at Luca's performance, highlighting the expectations placed on star players like Luca and LeBron.
Luca's injury impact on his three-point shooting, with a significant drop in percentage post-injury.
Suggestion for Luca to reduce three-point attempts and focus more on mid-range scoring due to his injury.
Emphasis on Kyrie Irving needing to step up his game with Luca being injured.
Analysis of the Mavericks' chances in the NBA finals and the importance of Luca's performance.
Concerns expressed over Luca's historically poor playoff performance in game one.
The impact of Kevin Love's absence on LeBron and Kyrie's roles during their time on the Cavaliers.
SGA's (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) potential MVP status and his team's success in the playoffs.
Thunder's defensive prowess and their status as a legitimate championship contender.
Concerns about the Thunder's lack of playoff history and their young team facing the challenge of making history.
Boston Celtics' comfortable win led by Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, with concerns over Tatum's struggles.
Debate on whether Tatum is among the top-tier players in the league based on his postseason performance.
Jamal Murray's actions during a game that led to a $100,000 fine but no suspension, sparking debate on the league's decision.
Comparison of Jamal Murray's punishment to Rudy Gobert's $100,000 fine for a similar incident, raising questions about consistency.
Concerns about setting a precedent with Murray's actions that could impact future disciplinary actions by the league.
Transcripts
I mean I was wondering am I supposed to
do it today live from New York it's the
show that's without Kevin Wilds because
he's busy trying to scrub the internet
from all his nuggets tweet proclamations
it's first things first on today's show
all right I will admit on the front end
I was shocked by Luca's performance were
you surprised by Luca's performance last
night Luca is the caliber of player yic
Prime LeBron to some degree even still
LeBron um where I'm always surprised
when they don't play well you know you
just expect them to have a great game
and you know what happens everybody
Jordan LeBron everybody's had bad
playoff games but I'm shocked when I see
a guy like this have a bad game so yes
now we know he's injured credit to him
he's not talking about the knee he's not
out there you know making it obvious
that the knee is bothering him and like
you said yesterday Nick we don't want to
play the game of when he plays poorly
the knee and when he plays great he's
great cuz he's had really good games a
game five he was fantastic against the
Clippers he hurt himself in game three
so he can be better I I'll give you a
few adjustments not so much X's and O's
but just philosophical or just things
they can do differently since Luca got
hurt in game three against the Clippers
he sprained his knee his three-point
shooting has been abysmal yes now if you
if you have a leg injury legs are an
important part of your jump shot so you
would think that your long range
shooting is going to suffer and here are
the numbers on Luca since regular season
38% from three first three games that
wasn't that's not good 30% that's a
couple makes away from being up to your
average but since the injury 14% from
three but he's still throwing up nine
threes a game 10 again yesterday day he
was five of 11 from Two and you look you
know he mid-range because of his
strength he still can score at will I
think in the mid-range so what I like to
see him do going forward is to probably
cut down a bit on the threes and get
more in the mid-range second adjustment
quickly Nick Kyrie with Luca ailing
Kyrie's got to take a an even bigger
role which he does here and there he
does it one half he does it one game
he's got to do consist yesterday he was
efficient 20 points 14 shots but I need
like 24 Shots I so I I agree with a lot
of that now let me the I'm not you know
I picked the Mavs to win this series I
actually said uh you know a week ago
that I think the Mavs can go to the NBA
finals they can win the title I I am not
you disheartened by the game one loss
because the there's a bit of a like
LeBron feel out game to Luca with the
Mavs they always they always lose game
in five under J kid and and by the way
they he's one in I think six in his
career in game ones the Mavs since he
got there but what was frustrating is
last night he was I thought oh he's
broken out of the slump he started the
game really well and then went ice cold
and we can show you the numbers first
five minutes of the game it's like oh
okay this LC is going to have what is
kind of a vintage Luca playoff game
where he has like a 40 Point double
double with eight or nine assists and
just controls everything and then could
get nothing going I and I don't think
would you agree cuz you're right like
LeBron you can actually see him feeling
out teams ear I don't think that was a
feel out game by Luca I think he just
didn't play well I totally agree I think
I guess what I'm saying is he's used to
being down 01 you know in fact the only
time he's won game one they lost the
Series that was when they went up 20 in
Los Angeles on the Clippers and the
Clippers in Kawai came back but this was
legitimately one of the worst playoff
games of his career it's the second
fewest points the third fewest rebounds
the fewest threes it was across the
board as poorly as he's played in the
playoffs and I think that the Mavs
especially without kba who is an
important loss for them because of the
shooting he adds and the stretch five
the the not to invoke LeBron again but
there has to be an element of
like LeBron and Kyrie on the Cavs when
Kevin Love was out style which is listen
man I'm going to have to control
everything Luca slow everything down Kai
you're going to have to you know save us
on a bunch of possessions and everybody
else make your open threes be and but
the only way that works is if Luca is
exceptional the only way it worked in
Cleveland was and LeBron didn't shoot a
high percentage that series I think it
was 3
I'm not even just talking about the 2015
finals I'm talking about any time that
it was those guys together right because
the because 2015 finals Kyrie wasn't
even there except for the first game and
but that your point about Luca not
shooting 10 threes when LeBron was doing
that he wasn't shooting a lot of Threes
he was controlling the game getting in
the paint and I know LeBron's more
athletic than Luca is but Luca's got a
better mid-range jump shot you know what
I mean than LeBron has and so I just I
feel like this moment for Luca is so
wild important because I think Luca SGA
ant are all looking at the fact that
Denver's on the ropes and saying man
whether we're actually the best player
alive or not we have a chance to try to
grab the claim to it by being the
superar on the champion and the M's only
path there Brew is if Luca is brilliant
I still think they can do it but he's
got to play way better than he did last
night and it's bigger for Luca an I
don't even think that's entering ant's
thinking cuz he's so young right
SGA is just beginning to kind of be this
Superstar Luca because he was so good
right away it feels like he's older than
he is right and it's like this year
Denver may be out uh OKC is Young you
know um every like this is the year
Minnesota is probably just going to get
better going forward and so this is and
you're right the Eastern Conference is a
mess so this is a great year for to try
to get it before uh you know the future
ABS or or if the nuggets are going to
revamp next year and be in a better
position like this somebody could take
care of them for you all right move on
to the Thunder side of things SGA who's
going to find out tonight I think he
finished second in the MVP voting for
The League let OKC in points rebounds
and assists in the 22-point win it's
basically they've blown out their
opponent in every playoff game except
for the first one of the year here's
Shay on their success take a listen
true are the to you are the Thunder
finally starting to look like legitimate
Championship contenders well look they
meet the eye test all right they've got
the MVP candidate like you said he's GNA
finish second I voted for Luca Luca is
going to be third but they got the MVP
candidate in SGA and that mvp candidate
lives in the lane the mid-range like he
can get into the paint and score
seemingly at will but surrounding him
is the best three-point shooting team in
the league SGA is not a big three-point
shooter but they shooter right he get
five they led the league in three-point
shooting so when you got a great player
who can get into the paint and then
surrounded with three-point Shooters
that's great defensively we know they
were top four five in the league
offensively and defensively so
defensively number one and last night
they were swarming it was like and you
saw tweets from players and people
comeing out like these young boys are
like and they're talking about OKC and
Minnesota and what they have are great
individual Defenders SGA I I had SGA on
my second Team all defense you know cuz
I think now and just a quick tangent a
lot of times now when you look at the
all defensive teams and you look at a
lot of the analytics driven media that's
voting they're going to pick a lot of
non-stars a lot of Specialists and
that's for her Jones Jaden McDaniels
those guys are great Defenders but in
the past the Jordans the LeBron we still
got to consider some of these stars for
these all def you know what I mean
defensive teams and so I had SGA SGA is
a great defender ludor like great
individual Defenders absolutely but they
also are on a string because they're
well coached oh coach of the year mark
dagnal So their defense is stying as you
said it you got the rim protector when
all else fails so they they meet the eye
test in just about every category you
know what test they don't meet they fail
the a age test the history test yeah
sure the history test we we've never
seen this and Nick it's not we've never
seen this this Century it's not we've
never seen this since the merger we've
never seen this in the history of
basketball this that interview that they
did yesterday he started off we didn't
show it saying you're the youngest team
ever to win a second round game second
round Game Y all right and look at this
you talk so we talking about winning the
finals these are the youngest five teams
to ever win a finals OKC is 24 years old
on average and so they would be the
youngest team ever to win a championship
and what you notice about all those
teams is the last one to do it this
young or even close to this young was
the Lakers 45 44 years ago right and
Lakers team by the way had you know
Kareem in his Apex of his Prime and
Magic who didn't miss a beat and then
the other the the youngest team to ever
do it was Walton Walton's uh Blazers
also in a time where the league was a
little different because the NBA and
just merged and so it's just the 70s are
kind of the oddest decade in NBA history
so that but that is the only thing
working against them this is where so
you said it I'll just reiterate it
number three offense number four defense
they don't turn the ball over they're
the best three-point shooting team by
percentage the only thing they don't do
well is rebound like from an analytical
perspective that's the only thing the
only basketball reason is the rebounding
and then there is one other basketball
question which is so sgaa I made light
of it a bit SGA just so people
understand how often he gets the line
it's not only that he led the league in
free throws he shot exactly as many free
throws this year as LeBron James and
Paul George combined okay and both those
guys played 70 plus games this year
right right last night he had like 11
correct and last night I didn't think
either Western Conference playoff game
was poorly officiated but they were
officiated so differently I'm talking
about from the Minnesota Denver game was
felt like one sport and last night felt
like you know basically first month of
this NBA season we're going to call
everything so my concern is if OKC
doesn't get if they don't get a whistle
you know what I mean where it's like hey
we're going to let you play how much
does that hurt them and yeah it is just
the age and I don't that's really the
only thing you can but I don't think
that is a bad reason not to believe in
him I know o o Thunder fans will be like
what more can we do and the answer is
honestly probably nothing other than
make history like whenever you're trying
to be the first team or the youngest
team or the oldest team to do there's
going to be even though they have I mean
they've won 10 straight games now you
date back to the regular season a lot of
them by blowouts they've done they
handled their business to get the one
seed they did all that speaking of
handling business to get the one seed
Boston won comfortably Jaylen Brown and
Derek white led the way as they have
really the entire postseason Tatum
struggled shooting again seven of 19
from the field 0 for five from three
he's been the Celtics third leading
score this postseason he's yet to have a
30-point game Brew is there there any
reason to be concerned about Tatum yes
because let's face it the Celtics goal
is not to win the East it's not to get
to the NBA finals they will now
obviously any team that gets to the
finals and loses will be disappointed
but most teams too look at it like right
like wait till next year if they get to
the finals and lose particularly as we
were talking about if Denver's not the
team to beat him then they I mean it is
going to feel like they got beat in the
first round I mean really if they were
to lose to a Minnesota or an OKC even a
Dallas all right there all those teams
are young and maybe even younger than
the Celtics or rightone close to the
regular season they did not or or have
been knocking on the door for five years
to win a championship so and I said all
that to say they can't win the
championship with Jason tayum playing
like this now to his credit he has been
rebounding he's averaging over 10 a game
in the playoffs so he's been defending
well he leads the Celtics and assist
with about five a game so credit to him
he's not letting the shooting slump get
to him and stop him from doing the other
things so I'll give him credit for that
but they need him to step up for a few
reasons one we'll see what porzingis is
like when he gets back they're lucky
Derek white is played so well but is he
going to shoot 50% from three throughout
the playoffs and here's the other thing
Nick Jason Tatum is their best player
Jason Tatum is their MVP candidate Jason
Tatum is their first team all NBA player
if they get to the finals and he's like
been the third guy I'm just he's human
it won't work thaton you see what I'm
saying you're human I totally agree
especially you start trying to do too
much right especially when whomever you
meet in the finals it's going to be
because their best guy has been
annihilating people whether it's ant SGA
if the Mavs get on
than right or Joker if the Nuggets turn
around whatever it is so this is we can
show you Tatum's numbers because it's
one I understand the Celtics have been
blowing people out I don't so you can be
like ah well he doesn't need score more
than 20 it's the percentages that are
the concern it's not that oh he's
playing low minutes he's not taking
shots it's the percentages and this is
why if I may defend my pal Colin coward
for a moment because I agree with him on
it that folks that say Tatum is a
all-nba caliber guy he is an MVP is
candidate but he is not in the same tier
as the guys in the debate for best
player in the world or even in that
periphery it's because of what you said
at the beginning about Luca like hey
great players were surprised when they
have a bad game great and Tatum is a
very very good player but the the best
guys never have six games like this
never you know what I mean in a row in
the postseason where it's just like oh
you you've been subpar for two and a
half weeks it just doesn't happen now it
happens to literally everyone else in
the world and so it is this is why Tatum
is somewhere from the sixth to 10th best
guy in the league and I don't think
fairly considered one through five the
problem is for the Celtics theoretically
is whomever they face in the finals is
going to have somebody in that one five
group and can you know can your overall
unit overpowered all right now let's get
to the suspension that wasn't a bizarre
situation here so the League's ruling
came down last night Jamal Murray's
Antics for Monday night he's fine 100
Grand wasn't suspended brw you said he
definitively should be
suspended are you surprised he won't
miss any time and do you think the
Timberwolves have a legitimate gripe
here I'm not completely surprised all
right I I said yesterday he must be
suspended he definitely should be
suspended but I'm not surprised because
we know that the Nugget and I think look
if this series is 1-1 he might have been
suspended if it's two two Denver he
might have been suspended there's a part
of me only a part cuz there's a part of
me and I said it yesterday that's glad