The BroadCast | Dennis Scott Previews Game 2

a dagger jail and Brown knocks it down. What are the keys to game too? We asked to Dennis Scott from NBA TV and the NBA on TNT. I thought it was a very interesting game because as always, you guys know, we all wonder how em Beach going to show up, how impactful he will be, how aggressive you will be? And I think that question was answered early in the ball game. I'm Lauren Rosen and I'm Brian Selzer. We look back on Game one and look ahead to Game two on this episode of the broadcast from the

seventy Sixers Podcast Network. Game one is in the books. It was a well played, intense, back and forth game and did not go to seventy sixers a way. They of course lost on Monday Night one oh nine to one oh one, setting the stage for Game two. No Divon this episode of the Pond, lone and I are going to try and hold it down. We got three d Dennis Scott from the NBA on T and T and NBA TV in just a few moments. But first, Larn,

what were your impressions of Game one? Well, look, I love the way that the game went back and forth. It was physical, it was intense. Both teams showed some really great stuff and realistically, a lot of the Sixers had good performances, especially Dway, Joe well Embiad started with that five for five shooting in the first quarter. Josh Richardson hit some big shots. Shake Milton did a good job.

Alec Burks obviously off the bench was good, and we know we can get more from those guys and some of the other guys who maybe had more of an off night. I think that the Sixers are in a good place if they can take better care of the ball and activate themselves with a little bit more intensity on the offensive end to maybe steal Game two on Wednesday, I would agree. I tend to view game ones is almost like fact finding missions. Certainly, the Sixers and Celtics

know a ton about each other. They played each other four times in the regular season, their division rivals, They're intertwined in so many different ways. But I think one of the things that you could take away from Game one was, like you said, this is going to be by all accounts so far, at least the evidence that we have a competitive series. It wasn't like Boston or the seventy Sixers ever ran away with it. It was

back and forth. I think we knew from the outset based upon how much the Sixers turned the ball over in the first quarter, it was going to be an

uphill battle. I was really impressed with the run they went on a fifteen straight to end the third, to start the fourth, especially with Joel Embiid on the bench for a portion of that time, and then at the end, after Jason's Tatum got the Celtics started, it was Jalon Brown having a monster fourth quarter, and then to really give the Celtics enough breathing room, it was Kemba Walker that put the game away. Realistically, a lot of the Sixers had good nights. Now what we need is to

turn that good night into a great night. I think we saw a lot of good things from dwell Embiad. Obviously his start was phenomenal, going five four or five from the field. Josh Richardson had a strong run. Alec Burks was good off the bench, and shout out to Matisse Bible for the way that he defended Tatum, because even though Tatum was having a great night when he was guarded by Thible, he actually didn't do that well.

So if Matisse is going to continue to take that matchup on, hopefully they'll start to understand a better way to get Jason Tatum's number and turn those good performances into great performances that can hopefully yield wins. Yeah, something that was interesting that it sounded like coming from both sides. Obviously you would hear this from the Sixers because they lost,

they feel like they can do better. But the Celtics too felt like even despite getting some great performances from Tatum and Kemba and Jalen Brown, that they have more to give as well. So it sounds like there's a lot of focus on both side. In terms of injuries. We're going to have to find out at some point what the situation is with Gordon Hayward. That could be

a key loss for Boston at least. The initial reports after the game on Monday, and I don't want to play doctor, but they didn't sound like, at least for the short term, they were all that great. If you leave an arena and crutches and you need an MRI, that could be a little bit of a shaky situation. So at the time that we're recording this podcast, that's the latest information that we have. But yeah, I feel like there were certainly ways you could see the path

of the seventy sixers winning that game. They just now have to iron those areas out and shore them up moving forward. And look, it was a close game even without the contributions we're used to seeing from some of the guys. We know Tobias Harris can do more. We know Al Horford can do more. He's done more so far inside the bubble for Concorkmas help scoreless. You know he can do more. So if those guys can get it together, I think obviously you never want to see

anyone get hurt. That's not how you want to win a game. That's certainly not how you want to win a series. But if Gordon Hayward is having problems, the Celtics team is pretty thin. Maybe it's on me for not doing my research well enough, but I didn't realize just how then they were. They only had eight points off the bench totally yesterday or sorry, rather on Monday night.

So I think realistically, if they're gonna lose Hayward, or even lose part of Hayward, that could be a problem, and the Sixers might actually have an edge when it comes to depth, even without Ben Simmons. Yes, you know we talk here on the broadcast, probably people would say enough about the seventy sixers, so we figured why not bring on someone who truly knows his stuff. You see

him on the NBA on TNT on NBA TV. It is three D Dennis Scott and TNT is going to have over forty NBA Playoff games, the most of any network, including your team. You're town. You're seventy six is against the Boston Celtics later on tonight at six thirty three D. Thank you so much for joining us. We're going to dive into six or Celtics looking ahead to Game two.

But first thing we got to ask you is, now, this has been going on for a month now inside the bubble, what are your impressions of the NBA bubble? To be very honest, I'm a little jealous and a little envy there. I'm not a part of it, because to your point, we all were wondering how would Adam Silver and his brain trust pulls it off with the players and everyone associated with the players, what they listen

and follow the protocol. So I think we all would agree close to the players obvious, see the coaches, they're going to be the leaders and do the right things. But I'm just really, really, really impressed on how these guys are sticking to the script and doing the right things in no cases, yeah, no doubt. I almost feel like it's super safe there, and it's way safer than it is outside of the bubble. So that jealousy that

you feel about being there, I am with you. I gotta ask what did you make of Game one last night? I thought it was a very interesting game because as always, as you guys know, we all wonder how embeds going to show up, how impactful he would be, how aggressive he would be? And I think that question was answered early in the ballgame. And then the second question is, now, with know Ben Simmons, how would the others stepped up?

So if you're a Sixer fan, you have some encouragement that guy has played hard, they played well at times. It's just that you know, the Celtics stepped up in Brown and Taylor played a hell of a ball game. Listen, we know Joel Embiad's not going to go twenty for twenty in a basketball game after he started Game one five for five from the field. But I think everyone saw that start and that energy, the engagement. He was really physical and getting to the rim on the offensive end.

And I think a question that a lot of Sixers fans have right now is how can that be harnessed for a full forty eight minutes? Not expecting, of course, perfection, but just that approach, that mindset, the way he went about his business early on. Do you have thoughts on that? Yeah? Yeah, I think the underlying question and I think you guys know this, and Brett Brown talked about it last night

in the postgame show. You have to feed and be more often than you probably want to, And he used the analogy of him being with the San Antonio Spurs and being around Tim Duncan. But Populich found creative ways of getting Tim dunking the ball on different blocks and understanding that it gave him different windows so when he gets double teams, he can find guys on the other end of the floor to knockdown shots. Let's call it

what it is. JJ Reddick has gone, you don't have that knockdown dead our three point shooters, so we can stop talking about it. But Josh Richardson, Shake Milton, all those other guys, they're quality shooters. You have to instill confidence in them and put them in situations so they know when the ball swung to them on the week's time of the floor, being ready to shoot the ball

with confidence like they did yesterday. What did you make of the way that Alec Burks has sort of stepped into a role like that of someone that whether it be Joe Well or any of the other guys can find and rely on him for an instant impact, even though he's still relatively new to the team. Well, I think the East Coast is getting the chance to see

post because people don't realize how good he is. And yes, he's been banged up a little bit to like I see the last four or five years before he got traded from Utah, he's banged So now he's finally healthy and now he's reminding the basketball people this young man can play. He can score the ball, and it takes pressure off that second unit. You know, when he starts, some comes off being something to bottom line, when he's on the floor, he takes so much pressure off the

offensive end. He's a bucket get her three D right. I mean, he's a guy who in the postseason you really value someone like that. There were a handful of broken plays in Game one where you're like, well, what's going to happen, and there was Burke's making something happen. It seems like that type of score is even more

valuable this time of year. You guys, notice you follow the game pretty close too, So whenever you have what we call the wild card guy that you're not sure what's gonna bring each night, but to your point, you know, he can get a bucket and in broken plays everybody has a player or two and eighteen where they said, you know what shot clock go get us a bucket.

We talk about Ali Burk's coming off the bench. Another guy who came off the bench last night, Matisse Thyble, What did you make out of the way that the rookie was able to do a pretty good job on Jason Tatum, who was obviously having an excellent night. Yeah, that's a great point you bring up, and I was happy to see Utiques not lose his confidence understanding that. You know Tatum and Brown, they are bona fide young

superstars are gonna get better and better each year. It's all about making them work for what they get, which I thought they did. He's just they had good nights. Now. Offensively, I think Thibon needs to look for the rim a little bit more. Look for his shot, be more aggressive. You have a decent little shot. Your three point percentages decent throughout the year. You made some big shots. Look at the rim. There's no Ben Simmons. I don't think

Brett Brown's gonna get mad at him. Shoot the damn ballhole. It's such a fascinating situation three D that he's in because he's a rookie, and not only is he getting playing time, he played over thirty two minutes in Game one, his first playoff game, but he's being asked to cover

the elite of the elite scores. I don't know if you can think back to this long marathon season where there was a game, because I know that you were at the center a lot in South Philadelphia this season, if there was a game or a moment you remember seeing Thible when you were like huh. And maybe he was even going back to his college career because I know you foiled that closely too. We're like, this guy really has the opportunity to be something legit on the

defensive end of the floor in college. You saw the athletic ability, but you said, I don't know if I see enough. And that's the difference between us as analysts who your NBA, TV or any other network, versus those college scouts who see twenty twenty five, thirty sixty seeing the kid playing his sophomore years freshman year, where a lot of times we don't get that opportunity until the tournament comes along and he said, oh my goodness, look at his wing Spain, Look how he runs the floor,

Look how casaon lanes. That's going to translate to the NBA and then he gets there. I think it was a game we had until your point. I think we early November for Center Court or NBA TV, and I saw him up close. That's not I said, Oh my goodness, a right big he was, and how tall and long. I said, he's gonna have a long NBA career. It's all about the confidence on the offensive end of the floor that his career will flourish. One more question for me for you about him, Just I've been asking people

way smarter than me about basketball about this. Is there a comp that you have for him at this stage of his career. I know it's still early, but when you see him, is there anyone else that you think of when they were at that stage in their career?

Not right now? At the top of my head, what I've learned about this just generation what guys did in college, maybe a small taste of who they really are, and then they get into college, they don't have that college coach holding him back, and other you know abilities come out. You're like, Wow, I didn't know he could do that

because he didn't show us that in college. I think we're going to have that and thought, well, that you're gonna see things each week, each month, each year come out of him because that pigeonhole is not holding him back. I feel that for sure, he's been really interesting to watch, and I think a lot of people share that vibe with you, that we're still learning about him, and that's

really exciting obviously for a first year player. Someone else we'd love to talk about who's also having his first experience in the playoffs is Shake, Milton, What have you made of his rise? And almost like if you, I don't know if you have any advice for a dialect Shake or giving your experience and everything that you've seen, how can a guy like that who doesn't have the

most big game experience flourish in a playoff situation. I think the biggest thing for Shake right now on days off, just live in the gym and just put up jump shots. Put up jump shots, because what he doesn't understand yet that the game should be easy to him. Because everybody's worried about and be everybody's worried about Al Horford, and

now that Ben's gone, everyone's worried about Tobias Harris. So when those guys are getting double team, find that sweet spot on the floor, you know, those guys are unselfish that we're on the share, that we're on the swing it. Catch it and shoot, catch it and shoot. It's a simple game. Look around in the NBA. Look around how role players feed off their superstars. They catch and shoot,

they get to a sweet spot. You saw with Luca last night to the Clippers right right, he had Phoenie, you know, Phoene Smith, He had Tim Hardaway Junior, he had MKG. And I'm not I'm not trying to mess with him. We know his jump shot is a working project. It's a science project. He went two of three from three point land last night. Why because he was wide open in the corner. Luca drives, Kicksie knocks it down. That's the same thing we're talking about with Joel and

be attack, be aggressive. Once you go five or five, once you get a couple of players in foul trouble, they have no choice but to double team. You now shake Burke all the rest of you guys, catch and shoot and shoot the ball with confidence. That's gonna take so much pressure off of Harris Corford MB Dennis. I know you know Tobias Harris and his family really well, we all know what Tobias can do on the court.

I'd love to ask you for your impressions of what he's done off the court, especially these last couple months, in light of everything that he's been doing to try and drive change in respect to racial inequality in the United States, that he has educated himself very well and he has made sure that he's gotten all the information

that's that hit that hit home to him. Because each guy, thought has done a really in this whole social movement and being able to you know, express and articulate how they feel, why they feel, and what they think the change can really be made, why they're where they are on their platform, where they are in their career, and so forth. So to Bias on an excellent job. So the sixer fan they should be, you know, applauded and appreciate what he's done because he's done his homework and

now he's he's expressed himself the right way. I do you think it's great the way that he's sort of been recognized for that leadership that we've seen him put in sort of behind closed doors or on the road or whatever whatever it may be. Now he's sort of getting that recognition as such a vocal leader on and off the floor. So that's been gratifying and obviously if he can match that effort on the court, he's going to be doing great things for a while for the Sixers.

And last question for you, I've got to ask when you look ahead to Game two, what are your keys to the game the things that the Sixers can fix or adjust in order to steal one from the Celtics on Wednesday night. Number One, you have to take care of the basketball because you know the Celtics are scrappy, Marcus Smart, you know their wing players are really really scrappy, and get in the past line and get steals. And Daniel Tyson it's not a bad big guy. He makes

him be worked out there. So Number one, take better care of the basketball. Number two, transition defense when you do turn the ball, or you gotta get back on defense because I thought a future I think the third quarter when Jaylen Brown knocked down those three or four threes that really broke the Sixers back and they were trying to make that run. And last but not least, you gotta feed the big fella. You gotta get creative

on how you get him the ball. Knowing that he's a willing passer when the team start double teaming him. Three D. Dennis Scott, thank you so much, man, and enjoy the rest of the playoffs anytime. Guy who's the pleasure. Really appreciate three D Dennis Scott taking the time to join us here on the broadcast. You can see him on the NBA on TNT NBA TV. Follow him on Twitter at Dennis three D Scott. T NTS got over

forty NBA playoff games. That is more than anyone out there, and they have the seventy Sixers and the Celtics later on tonight at six thirty. Love Lauren. Hearing from three D. I especially like some of the stuff that he was talking about in respect to Shake Milton. I thought Shake played well enough for sure for the Sixers in that game on Monday, based upon what your expectations might have been. Young kid, first playoff game, and he did a lot

of what three D was talking about. Get the ball, swing it to him and hit the open shot, and he did that. I thought he played pretty well. I agree Celts props to Shake just we talked about his journey all the time, but it really is a tremendous story. The fact that he was out of the rotation at the All Star break and now he's putting in significant minutes in this series and will continue to do so. I loved what Dennis said about confidence in the way

that Shake needs to. Obviously he's a confident dude. He wouldn't have gotten as far as he has, especially this season without that confidence, but to take it to that next level and really own his space. He said the same thing about Matisse's bible. There was a play early where they left Matisse wide wide open beyond the arc for a couple possessions in a row, and eventually I don't remember who it was, but someone found him from

the post and Matisse knocked down the shot. And I think realistically, those young guys, if they feel empowered to take shots like that and just go for it and own their space and own this moment, they could be really good. And we'll forget pretty quickly that it's their first playoff series. Like we said, Game one between the

seventy Sixers and the Celtics, very spirited, very intense. Can't wait to see what a little bit more desperation, perhaps from the seventy Sixers and maybe even the Celtics a higher sense of urgency in game two. Now that both teams have Game one under their belts in a brand new setting an atmosphere, what that could lead to for game two? Yep, Celts. Honestly, if Game one is any indication of what's to come, it's going to be a heck of a series. And hopefully the Sixers can find

a way to take particularly those turnovers. We almost haven't talked about it enough. If they can limit those the way that they did in the second half, that's the difference maker in game one. You win Game one if you take better care at the ball, and all the guys mentioned that in postgame, so hopefully that's something that's top of mind and an adjustment that they can make for game too. We missed having devon. He will be

back on sooner rather than later. Lauren and I will next talk to you on seven to six Live Countdown presented by DraftKings, our live pregame streaming show, which you can watch on Twitter, Facebook, the Sixers app, or Sixers dot com, and we'll start at about an hour and a half before tip off on Wednesday night. Thanks to three D Dennis Scott Laaren, thank you, and thanks to everyone out there listening enjoy game two. West