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Episode 152: Cavs Protect The Land
41 Plays2 months ago
Alex and Corey react to the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the first two games at home against the Miami Heat in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. We discuss how the Cavs were able to secure both wins and what they need to do to continue having success in this series as it shifts to Miami. We congratulate Evan Mobley on winning Defensive Player of the Year along with Kenny Atkinson winning Head Coach of the year by the NBCA. We end by discussing other playoff series happening around the NBA!
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Transcript
Introduction to Cavs Pick and Roll Podcast
00:00:15
Speaker
Hey Cavs fans, welcome to the Cavs Pick and Roll podcast, podcast for diehard fans, by diehard fans. I'm Alex, and I'm here with Corey. Well, Corey, how are these playoffs treating
Corey and Alex's NBA Playoff Experience
00:00:25
Speaker
you?
00:00:25
Speaker
We are in the thick of it now, Alex. I'm loving it. It has been quite a while since I've watched as much basketball as I have lately, meaning games outside Cavs games.
00:00:39
Speaker
um The NBA playoffs first opened up last weekend, Easter weekend, and I had a blast just watching you know ah bunch of different games from different series that I really don't care about much.
00:00:52
Speaker
But was just all in that weekend and just watching Cavs basketball and then just NBA playoffs around the league. Yeah, same. We're in the thick of it now, and it's fun. yeah Yeah, I turned on so many different games. can't even remember, but it was it was fun to watch.
00:01:09
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And, you know, we're we're in a good spot right
Cavs Lead Against Miami Heat
00:01:14
Speaker
now. The Cavs did what they were supposed to do, which is protect the land, protect home court, right? And as we all know by now, they're playing the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs, and and they're up 2-0 on the Heat, Alex. So there's nothing really to be you know disappointed about so far.
00:01:31
Speaker
No, no. And, you know, up 2-0, but two the two games played out very differently. They were, you know, I think the Heat adjusted for game two, and so did we. But, ah you know, we'll see how ah how it goes in Miami.
00:01:51
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, playoffs are always a chess match. Spolstra has been around for a long time. I think I heard that he's the second most tenured coach only behind Popovich, who has been out.
00:02:03
Speaker
for a good portion. You know, he, he missed a good portion of the season with health issues. So you can argue that Spolstra is the most, you know, veteran coach in the NBA today. And of course he was going to make adjustments and we'll talk about that. Cause that was more in game two.
00:02:18
Speaker
Right. Um, but yeah, totally going to expect that. And yeah, I can't wait to talk about these next games that are on the road, which more adjustments will be made and, and the cows will need to make some too, to continue being successful.
00:02:33
Speaker
So let's get into game one, Alex. Yeah.
Game 1 Highlights: Three-Point Shooting
00:02:36
Speaker
it was ah It was a Cleveland Cavalanch. I mean, Cavs just went off. The three-point shooting was out of this world.
00:02:47
Speaker
They couldn't miss. it was It was awesome. It was everything that I hoped it would be. um You know, it was really a showing by the guards, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Ty Jerome. It was ah it was one of those Ty Jerome sanity games.
00:03:05
Speaker
it it It really was. And what's funny about this game, and you said it to me the next day at work, was so many players didn't even have to do anything this game, and we still killed them.
00:03:16
Speaker
like Let's look at this real quick. So Donovan Mitchell gives you 30. Garland gives you 27. Ty Jerome gives you 28. That's your three-headed snake right there. And that's going to be tough to beat teams when you know you're getting that amount of scoring.
00:03:31
Speaker
But once you start looking outside of that, not a lot much war was going on. um Guys like DeAndre Hunter didn't even score in this game. Evan Mobley doesn't even hit double digits in this game.
00:03:42
Speaker
You know, Max Drews doesn't hit double digits in this game. So not only was it a Cavs kind of beat down, but it really didn't require much to to achieve that on the offensive end.
00:03:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. i mean, the the shooting from the guards was so hot. yeah and And it never seemed like the Heat could do anything about it. They just couldn't chase our guys off the three-point line.
00:04:07
Speaker
We just kept attacking. um We didn't really need to feed the big men on the
Cavs' Big Men Dominate Matchup
00:04:12
Speaker
inside. We let them grab grab boards and you know do their thing without forcing forcing it Yeah, and that to me is our also what's funny about that is I feel like that's one of our biggest advantages in this series is our big men.
00:04:28
Speaker
Yeah, they have Bam over there, and and yeah I guess you could say that cancels out one of the two bigs. But the other big is going to be feasting, right? Like, okay, Bam's on Mobley, then Jared Allen should be feasting. If Bam's on Jared Allen, Evan Mobley should be feasting.
00:04:42
Speaker
And yeah, in this game, really neither one of them had to do very much to to secure a 20-plus point you know victory. Um, so it was, it was beautiful to see. And and you called out Ty Jerome, you know, that was his, his first ever playoff game, his debut playoff game puts up 28 points.
00:05:00
Speaker
I want to say it was within like the top six. I thought I saw all time history, like for, for a debut playoff player to, to put up those kinds of numbers, which is pretty cool.
00:05:12
Speaker
And there was a funny clip I saw after the game in the press conference of, Ty Jerome and Donovan Mitchell sitting next to him. Mitchell has sunglasses on. And, you know, ah somebody was asking Ty Jerome about how how his performance went.
00:05:26
Speaker
And all he said was solid. Like it was solid. And Donovan Mitchell's looking at him, making faces like, what? Like, that's what you call solid? Like, you know, and they played into each other for for the next minute or so. So that was a cool little clip after the game as well.
00:05:41
Speaker
That's funny. i I'll have to look for that. Yeah. I did see some memes of the the old LeBron, you know, in the press conference wearing the sunglasses. Oh, yeah. Side by side with Donovan Mitchell sitting there wearing the sunglasses.
00:05:53
Speaker
yeah Like it's serious now. It's very serious. Yeah. Yeah. And just a great performance by Ty. And we've seen many of those this year. And and what I was thinking throughout that game was,
00:06:06
Speaker
man We're not there yet. We'll talk about this when the season's over, however it ends. But the number one priority this offseason has to be finding a way to retain Ty Jerome.
00:06:18
Speaker
You got to bring him back. You got to find a way. It just works. He just fits here. um It'd be a big loss to lose him. And when he has performances like that and all the other ones he's had this year, man, just brings so much value and is ultimately going to be the difference maker in a lot of these series.
00:06:36
Speaker
he did get He did get snubbed, though, Alex, unfortunately. That was one of the bad things that happened. He did not win the Sixth Man of the Year award. He was in the top three finalists that went to Pritchard out in Boston.
00:06:48
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's fair. um
00:06:54
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah. I saw comments that Pritchard was
Ty Jerome's Impactful Debut
00:06:59
Speaker
playing a lot more minutes than Ty Drome was getting, and that was kind of why, but you know ah it is what it is.
00:07:05
Speaker
Yeah. It is what it is. Ty Jerome had a hell of a season and he's going to have a hell of a playoff run for us. So as long as we find a way to bring him back, you know, it would have been nice to see him get that recognition.
00:07:17
Speaker
But we all know how special he is and how how much of a big part he is of this team and and ultimately its success. Yeah. now Now I kind of want to look at Pritchard's numbers and see you know, because those are just comments I was reading. Yeah. Like why is a ah guy that gets starter minutes winning sixth man of the year? But you know I don't know. It looks like I see he's played 28.4 minutes per game.
00:07:46
Speaker
So now I wonder Jerome. Jerome's probably up there, though. He's probably up there. I bet you he's around 25 or so, because you got to remember, we we don't we're one of those teams that play our starters the least amount in the NBA.
00:07:58
Speaker
So I would argue that Ty Jerome is probably not too far off from that. I don't have the number, but he's got to be in the mid 20s at least. I'm checking it right now. Ty Jerome, 19.9 minutes per game.
00:08:10
Speaker
So, I mean, there's a huge disparity there. That is that is a big difference there. So Ty Jerome's putting up the same numbers and only playing, you know, two thirds of what yeah Richard was playing. Yeah, that's a good argument. though So that's a good, good point. Yeah.
00:08:22
Speaker
Yeah. Um, but yeah, this game was, was a fun game to watch again, Easter Sunday at home, home crowd into it. Everybody pumped up and, you know, yeah again, you had the three headed monster going off and, uh, it was more than enough to put the heat away.
00:08:39
Speaker
um the heat kind of struggled to, to just answer the calves firepower, to be honest with you. And that's totally fine. Fine by me. um was there anything else that jumped out to you in, in game one, Alex, that you remember at least?
00:08:56
Speaker
Um, nothing I can think of at the moment.
00:09:02
Speaker
i mean, it was just total, total Cavs domination in that first game. I mean, they got a lead, they held onto it. Yep. The whole length of the game never let up. And that's exactly we want to do. You want to send that message early on your home floor. So yeah, good job by the Cavs and doing that and and securing a convincing win.
00:09:24
Speaker
Game two, Alex, though, was a little bit different. um Game two was a little bit more of a roller coaster.
Game 2 Adjustments by Miami Heat
00:09:30
Speaker
where the Cavs did build a lead. They went off on the second quarter, put up 43 points, outscored them 43 to 27, went into halftime, you know double-digit lead.
00:09:42
Speaker
um But the second half, they struggled a little bit, scoring-wise, and it allowed Miami to make the game interesting. and even yeah i was getting nervous at the end, Alex, that the Cavs were going to let this one slip through, and then they they ended up taking control again late in the game to secure the win.
00:09:59
Speaker
But you were saying it before we recorded, it looked like Miami made some some adjustments, right? Yeah, I think Miami made some adjustments. And honestly, I think the Cavs just kind of took their foot off the gas pedal a little bit. They started settling and not moving the ball as much.
00:10:13
Speaker
There was quite a bit of ISO play so you know from Spida that I would, ah you know, he should have been kicking the ball around a little more. Yeah, you know, yeah and it's the Cavs. They tend to do that sometimes.
00:10:26
Speaker
I blame it more on that, that the Cavs kind of just went cold, went away from what was working, which was moving the ball. I watched that game on the local broadcast. The first game I watched on TNT or whatever it was. So it was national, you know, national media.
00:10:41
Speaker
to where I was like, oh, I could still watch this on the local broadcast. And Brad Doherty was saying it. He's like, they need to they need to move the ball. They're not moving the ball around. you know It's just one shot, miss it, and they're done because they're not getting the rebound afterwards as well.
00:10:54
Speaker
And just you know the Cavs offense wasn't that great the second half. And Miami was starting to hit shots. Hero Uh, had, ah had, uh, you know, a game, he gives you 33 and then Davian Mitchell, um, who's filling in for Terry Rozier right now came alive and give you 18 in this game. And, you know, high Smith gives you 17. Like they had good, well-balanced scoring. They had what, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six guys in double digit scoring.
00:11:22
Speaker
that's usually what the Cavs do. And, uh, they just, they weren't playing their game that second half and allowed Miami to get back into it and make things very interesting. Yeah, well, I think, you know, like i was saying, you know, the Heat made some adjustments. They shortened their, you know, their rotation down quite a bit. I think they only played maybe eight guys.
00:11:45
Speaker
The Cavs still playing. Ten guys are still going pretty deep into the into the bench, um trying to keep guys healthy, which is, you know, probably the most important thing.
00:11:57
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, in this game too, was a
Officiating Critique in Game 2
00:12:02
Speaker
little bit different because in the first game, a guy like DeAndre Hunter didn't really give you anything on the offensive end. He gives you 12.
00:12:08
Speaker
Struce gives you 14. Evan Mobley gives you 20. He only gave you nine the first game, but then Ty Jerome didn't have that same offensive splash he did the first game finishes with only six.
00:12:20
Speaker
So, but that's the thing about this team and having that depth. You don't need Ty Jerome to go off every game. You don't need Jonathan and Mitchell to put up 30 plus every game. That's the beauty of this team.
00:12:31
Speaker
And a little bit more well-balanced scoring this game. Just again, that second half, they weren't moving the ball. They weren't playing their game and just Miami was hitting shots and ah it allowed them again to make it interesting.
00:12:44
Speaker
I do got to call out something. Call it out, man. The officiating. ah Holy crap was the officiating. Terrible. Especially in this game. It was Tony Brothers. I think it's time to hang it up.
00:12:56
Speaker
It's time to hang it up. You're making bad calls left and right. Absolutely blind. I mean, ah give him respect that, you know, every time there's a coach's challenge that it seemed like they were correcting the calls and admitting they were wrong and then making the right call. But it's plain as day that the wrong calls are being, you know, it was, I don't know.
00:13:17
Speaker
Both coaches use their coaches challenges and were successful every time. Yeah. And again, Doherty, Brad Doherty and, and John Michael are both calling out a lot of those calls to Doherty more than, than John. That's just, that's a horrible call.
00:13:31
Speaker
You know what i mean? And, um, yeah, that plays a factor as well. Definitely doesn't help when those calls are going against you. Yeah, you're right. At least, at least in the coaches challenge scenarios, Atkinson was able to win both of those.
00:13:44
Speaker
Um, so that, that made it a little bit better, but Hey, you're going to have that, you know, now this, this, this series shifts to Miami. So now you don't have the home crowd anymore. but you don't always know if the officiating is going to be leaning more your way or the other way as well. And the Cavs got to be ready for that.
00:14:02
Speaker
i don't i gotta I don't know that I would say it was leaning one way or the other. I think the calls were just you know terrible on both sides of the ball. Horrible calls. Yeah, that it was just bad all the way around. Yeah, totally.
00:14:13
Speaker
Totally. You know, one example was, I think there was a a play where, the ball was rolling across the court almost out of bounds. I mean, it was still probably, i don't know, maybe a foot.
00:14:25
Speaker
Yeah, like a foot from the from being out of bounds. And was it Struess? I think it was either Struess or... It was Garland. Garland dove for it and pushed it back in bounds and they called it out of bounds. And it's like, what are you guys looking at? It's not even even close.
00:14:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly. and And luckily that was one of the ones that they overturned because, yeah, that was a bad call. But it's a waste of a coach's challenge. It It's an absolute waste because it's ah a call that wasn't close, should have never been wrong to begin with.
00:14:53
Speaker
Imagine, though, if coach's challenge didn't exist and that call happens, goes through, there's no way to review it The way it used to be. The way it used to be, right? There never was, you know, there wasn't coach's challenges the last 30 years. That's within maybe the last decade or even less. So um at least there's the opportunity to correct it now um because, you know, certain situations, you know, at the end of the game, that could be a huge call that goes against you and could potentially cost the game.
00:15:22
Speaker
um So speaking of rotations, Alex, you know what do you think about the Cavs rotation so far? um are you Are you pretty happy with it? Are you are you wishing somebody was playing that's not?
00:15:33
Speaker
Is there too many people playing? Not enough people playing? and What's your thoughts so far um from what you've seen as as far as a rotation? No, I think the rotation's been pretty good. Kenny's kind of stuck with the 10-man rotation that We pretty much used all regular season.
00:15:51
Speaker
He hasn't shortened the rotation yet, which I think is good because it keeps you know keeps our our starters' minutes down. Tries to keep guys healthy. Tries to keep the guys that don't get as many minutes still involved in the game, which is critical because you never know when someone is going to go down and one of those guys is going to have to step up.
00:16:10
Speaker
And now they're getting all this playoff experience. I saw a, ah you know, during the broadcast, they showed ah number of playoff games for all the Miami players versus the Cavs players. And it was like almost double, right?
00:16:23
Speaker
Like that Heat team is a bunch of veterans. Mostly they've all been through so many playoff games and they the Cavaliers really haven't just the last couple of seasons have they been getting playoff experience.
00:16:34
Speaker
So we're, we're kind of outmatched in the experience category, but You know, I think Atkinson is doing a great job with the rotation and the game plan. And yeah, everything everything's going the way that I hope that it would go.
00:16:48
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, listen, this is what this is the formula that worked for the regular season, not loading your starters up in 35 plus minutes per game. So why would you go away from that?
00:17:00
Speaker
And was one of my client my complaints when JB was here, he would always shrink his rotation to seven or eight guys. So, yeah, I was very happy to see that Atkinson didn't do that.
00:17:11
Speaker
um And I'll say this, he's rolling with, um you know, Ty Jerome and John Dre Hunter, obviously. um But Sam Merrill getting a lot of time right now. He's probably the next most. I know it's only been two games, but after Jerome and Hunter, he's the next guy that has so far gotten the most amount of minutes. 24 in game one and in game two.
00:17:34
Speaker
And listen, you know, he hasn't done anything spectacular yet on the offensive end. He's hit a couple of threes here and there, but, I remember if he was you and me talking or or or me and somebody else, but man, Ty Jerome's out there hustling on both ends of the floor.
00:17:47
Speaker
um And he's, he's he you know, he's matched up against Hero, and Hero's going to get his buckets. But he's he's he's out there trying. He's out there hustling. And he's making little plays here and there too, if you're if you're noticing.
00:18:00
Speaker
So, and then Okoro's getting a couple minutes, nothing nothing crazy. And ah Dean Wade, you know, he's he's barely getting a few minutes, kind of seems to be the odd man out. Which makes sense with Hunter here now.
00:18:12
Speaker
But are you surprised by by Atkinson going with Merrill as much as he is so far? Or is it like is there anybody else that isn't playing that you feel should be playing more? Well, you kind of touched on a little bit already. like Sam Merrill seems to have leapfrogged Isaac Okoro.
00:18:27
Speaker
um I think it it you know it just it just depends on the matchup. Clearly Okoro is the better defender, but Merrill's got that three-point shot, spreads the floor a little more.
00:18:38
Speaker
And Merrill, he's really stepped up on the defensive end himself. So it's kind of a toss up there between those two to me. I think you know it just depends what's happening on the on the court.
00:18:49
Speaker
And I think that they found Merrill to just be a little more effective against the Heat so far. and And they'll probably keep going with it until they feel like they need to shake it up. Yeah, exactly.
00:19:00
Speaker
No, that makes total sense. We we all know Merrill can be a lethal weapon. And he'll have one of those games. He'll have a couple of those games right throughout this playoff run. um So now, Alex, the Cavs take care of business at home.
00:19:13
Speaker
They're up 2-0.
Cavs' Strategy for Success on the Road
00:19:15
Speaker
This series is now shifting to Miami, where the Cavs will be on the road. um What do the Cavs need to do to continue to be successful um on the road? and And again, try not to extend this series any longer than what it needs to be.
00:19:32
Speaker
They've just got to keep playing Cavs basketball. They just got to set the pace. They need to, you know, games they jump out in the lead on early. They tend to maintain the lead all the way through the game.
00:19:44
Speaker
That's what they need to do. They just need to keep coming out swinging. the heater you know The heater at home, they got the the home crowd on their side. They're going to be playing a little more physical. You just know it. um still Still no sighting. I know ah Kevin Love is out for personal reasons.
00:20:00
Speaker
Sperry Terry's out. um So that's that's interesting. Yes, going, going. So this game is Saturday this weekend, three o'clock. um So I think the Cavs can really make a statement if they go out and find a way to win game three, really have a commanding lead on the series. Then puts a lot of doubt mentally in the Miami heat team and fan base and,
00:20:26
Speaker
I would love it if this series did not return back to Cleveland and the Cavs were to sweep them. But if that doesn't happen, you know at the very least, find a way to split the series right and end it back in Game 5 here in Cleveland.
00:20:46
Speaker
um But I agree. The Cavs just to keep their composure, play their brand of basketball, One thing we didn't call out in game two, Mitchell did take over in that fourth quarter, which was amazing.
00:20:58
Speaker
um Knocking down three-pointers. I forget how many points he ended up scoring in the fourth quarter, but that really was the difference. But I only want that to be used in in in in moderation, right? Because you don't want that iso ball, that hero ball in the second quarter of a game on the road just because you're down 15.
00:21:16
Speaker
like Again, I want to see what how did the Cavs react in a scenario where they're in an uncomfortable situation, do they do they revert to something like that? Or do they battle back the right way, play team basketball, move the ball, get everybody involved, and do it the right way?
00:21:32
Speaker
Yeah, Mitchell was clutch. He definitely had some back-breaking shots there at the both three-pointers in, you know driving and getting to the hoop. But yeah it's not not something we want to rely on.
00:21:44
Speaker
No, no. That also kind of touches on what I was talking about the Cavs kind of got stuck playing ISO ball and, and, you know, move the ball around, try to see if you can get something else before you start just bringing the ball down court and even a three. I mean, I'll be honest. A couple of those shot, a couple of those he shot as he's rising up. I'm like, why are you shooting this?
00:22:09
Speaker
Yeah. It's because he's trying to draw, he's trying to draw, but then it goes in, but then it goes in and I'm like sending text messages out like, Holy shit. Yeah. A lot of times he does that. He doesn't get the call though. And then it's just a turnover.
00:22:23
Speaker
So there was it's risky. He hit a couple of threes in a row. And I was like, he had the ball again at one point. And i was like, there's no way he's not going to shoot this. And he ends up dishing it off to like,
00:22:34
Speaker
I don't know if it was Max Struis. I forget exactly who it was. think it was Struis and he threw up an air ball. I'm like, Oh, come on. After, you know, Mitchell goes off for like your last 12 points, you know, you dished it off to somebody and they throw, what they throw a clunker off the, uh,
00:22:50
Speaker
didn't even hit the rim. i do It was a pretty, it was a pretty cool performance and really it did help secure, you know, winning that game. And that's why you have, you know, Donovan Mitchell on the team to be that guy in those scenarios.
00:23:03
Speaker
Yeah. i just, I want to see them get back to playing that team basketball and, And just moving that ball. Because when they were doing that in the second quarter, it was a beautiful thing to see. in the And the Heat had no answer for it.
00:23:15
Speaker
Making five, six, seven passes before you're shooting that shot. There's no team that's going to defend that. That was Mitchell in game one. Or you not Mitchell. Garland in game one. At the end of game one, every time the Heat tried to string and string together a run, Garland was hitting a three and blowing a kiss to him. The kiss of death. The kiss of death.
00:23:38
Speaker
So yeah, I'm excited to see what the Cavs do on the road now against the Miami Heat. They play Saturday and Monday, i want to say it is. So that's good. um How about we talk about some other Cavs news?
Evan Mobley's Breakout Season
00:23:52
Speaker
Evan Mobley becomes the first player in Cavaliers franchise history to win Defensive Player of the Year. Man, I'm so happy for Mobley.
00:24:03
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome. Congratulations to Evan Mobley. That's a huge award. Well-deserved. Well-deserved. And really, he had that that kind of cements the breakout season, right?
00:24:16
Speaker
his his His numbers went up as far as his averages. He's an all-star, wins defensive player of the year. Like, this was the breakout year we've been waiting for for Mobley, right?
00:24:27
Speaker
It took a little bit longer than I think we all anticipated. You know, this is year of, what, four now? um But he's here. He's arrived. He'll be a household name moving forward. and is only going to continue to improve and continue to receive that recognition.
00:24:41
Speaker
But I was very happy to see him get it, especially after Ty Jerome missed out on sixth man of the year. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then what's the other one, Alex? Wasn't there another bit of recognition for the Cavs with the but Atkinson?
00:24:57
Speaker
Yeah, Atkinson got ah coach of the year. from the Coaches Association. That's where all his all the fellow coaches in the NBA, his peers, vote for the Coach of the Year.
00:25:10
Speaker
And Kenny Atkinson won that. Yeah. So very cool. I mean, getting some recognition, right? Well, we'll, we'll take that all day here. I'd say that's even a better award than the actual and NBA coach of the year, which is just voted on mostly by the media. Right. Right. And that one hasn't, that one hasn't been announced yet. I don't believe. Right.
00:25:28
Speaker
I don't believe so. Okay. So there's still a chance that he's, he's one of the finalists. They said the three finalists, I can't remember who the other two were probably OKC coach. And yeah, I have no idea on the third one, but, uh,
00:25:41
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know how many other awards there are to announce yet ah besides like MVP and and coach of the year. um But pulling for Atkinson, it would be well-deserved and it would be cool to also add to the team's accomplishments this year.
00:25:55
Speaker
Yeah. So besides all that, Alex, we both mentioned how you've watching other games. they're Has there any any games or any series or anything else going around the NBA that has stuck out to you since the playoffs started?
00:26:09
Speaker
I've been watching ah quite a few games here and there. I watched the OKC Memphis game last night where Memphis got up by 29. I didn't turn it on until the third quarter.
00:26:22
Speaker
Memphis was up by 26 and John Rant was already out. He had gotten hurt. Injured, yeah. Yeah. And man, i was hoping Memphis would hold on and steal a game from them, but they just couldn't do it. They just slowly gave up that lead. OKC chipped away.
00:26:40
Speaker
They just had no answer for Chet Holmgren. So, yeah, it's a good series. Hopefully, John Morant's OK and Memphis will have another shot at him.
00:26:51
Speaker
Yeah, I don't... I'll be honest. Memphis doesn't have a shot anyway. I know. Plenty of people that don't root for Morant. Yeah. Good Rittons will be, you know, unless you're in that fan base, most of the NBA probably...
00:27:08
Speaker
realizes that Memphis doesn't have much of a shot. I would argue that Miami has more of a shot than than Memphis probably does. Yeah, I was just hoping they would steal one against OKC because OKC is the number one team in the league, right? Sure, sure. It's like the Cavs collision course. So, yeah.
00:27:26
Speaker
Another injury I saw was Jimmy Butler ah went down. Jason Tatum, I believe, um you know, ah was down. But I don't remember if he played or not.
00:27:37
Speaker
um in game in the last game if it was just a you know he was down for a little bit and end up being able to come back to the next game because I think it was game one where he went down and left I didn't I didn't see if he played game two or not you're talking about Tatum yeah he had the wrist yeah Contusion or bruise something.
00:27:57
Speaker
Right, right, right. So, you know, you got some of that going on. um The series I've had the most fun watching is Detroit and New York, which was one that you called out. I missed game three, ah which was, you know, a two point victory by the Knicks. It must have been another good one.
00:28:14
Speaker
But I watched both game one and game two. Detroit should be up in that series right now. They unfortunately like let a lead slip away in the first game. Almost did it in the second game. But man, they They're a bunch of just players you know outside of Cunningham. There really isn't too many you know other quote-unquote star players, right?
00:28:33
Speaker
But ah you know Dennis Schroeder was the hero in that game. you know win Made the go-ahead bucket with under a minute left. And Detroit just, man, they just play aggressive defense and have locked down New York pretty well.
00:28:48
Speaker
I think New York ultimately still wins that series. But hey, if you can give New York a little bit of trouble along the way, That's okay in my book. The Clippers are giving the Nuggets a run. The Clippers are up in that series The Nuggets lost Russell Westbrook to injury.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's like I said, man, in that a lot of this is luck too, right? Because it's it's who's going to remain healthy? Who's going to play the right basketball or get hot at the right time?
00:29:17
Speaker
Right? Because the Nuggets, if I remember, they finished the four seed, right? So they had the home court advantage in this series and they're down 2-1 right now. Not an ideal place to be in. And then also... to lose you know a core player in your rotation.
00:29:30
Speaker
um You can say what you will about Westbrook, but he's capable of putting numbers up on the board. that's ah That's a big blow. That's like us losing Max Drews or something like that, right? um Not ideal, not ideal, especially to be down in that series now.
00:29:45
Speaker
So yeah, it's interesting. um You know, first round the playoffs is is starting to slowly play out and it's going to be interesting to see how everything else kind of shakes out. Boston is taking care of the Orlando magic, but Boston's definitely getting their licks along the way, Alex. They're getting beat up.
00:30:02
Speaker
They're getting beat up. Or Zingas is getting elbowed and blood gushing everywhere and Tatum goes down for you know a little injury. I saw a clip of Al Horford just getting plowed, knocked over by somebody, and he's not a small guy.
00:30:15
Speaker
like Orlando, this is the reason why I didn't want to play Orlando because they're young, they're aggressive, they're a little bit... you know I wouldn't call them dirty, but they just you know they got nothing to lose, right so why not?
00:30:29
Speaker
Yeah, they're getting beat up like they beat us up last season in that first round. And man, if we could have stayed healthy, could have had a championship last season.
00:30:41
Speaker
um so i still I still think that. And you know now Boston's finding out. Yeah, yeah, totally. like Well, I think that's everything. We just wanted to do a quick episode, talk about you know what's going on and in the Cavs Heat series so far, and a quickly touch base on some of other topics we talked about and what's going on around the NBA and the playoffs.
00:31:03
Speaker
um Alex, if you got nothing else, we could we could wrap up. Yeah, I'd say let's wrap it. All right. Well, thank you, Cavs fans, as always, for tuning in and listening. And Alex, you want to let them know they can follow us and connect with us.
00:31:15
Speaker
Follow us on Twitter at Cavs Pick and Roll. Shoot us an email, CavsPickandRoll at gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr. Watch this episode on YouTube. Click like, subscribe, leave us a rating or review. We'd appreciate it.
00:31:27
Speaker
All right, Cavs fans, there it is. will talk to you again soon. Peace out, Cavs fans.