Let's start with the Philly Boston Series sixers tied things up to two raizor thin margin of going down three to one. I don't know why, but Marcus Smart is now in charge of hitting or just missing or just taking game winners. That's just what his role is now on this Boston Celtics team. Never Mind that there's Jason Tatum there, never mind that there's Jalen Brown there. Never mind that he's just one of the all time greatest
chucker inconsistent shooters in the league. One miss three that could have won the Boston Celtics the game, and another May three of Marcus Smart's in overtime that he actually got off after the buzzer, so it went in. It was very close and it was not good. That was very very razor thin. But the biggest story, I think, to me, feels like James Harden. James Harden as a
roller coaster is in full effect this playoffs. Usually we can somewhat expect a level of consistency for him in the playoffs, and it's usually not great, but he has made headlines all series long. His fashion, whatever, the kind of electric factory type fashion that he has going to Vegas during an off day for a little baby party. Like James Harden and little Baby are like the best of friends. Like they're a little too close, if you know what I'm saying, Like there's nothing wrong with it.
But they are like white on rice. They are peas and carrots, James Harden and little Baby. And then to putting up the best and worst games of his playoff career in the same series, back to back to back to back. Yes, forty five points Game one without MBID at that point was probably his single best performance of his playoff career. He then followed up with the two worst shooting performances of his entire career playoffs and regular season combined. That's true as well. And then how did
he follow that up? Forty two points, eight rebounds, nine assists, four steals, one block, and a corner three to win the game? Catch and shoot, James Harden, Who are you? James Harden? He had a game tying three in regulation and a game winning three in overtime. So two best games of his career bookending the two worst shooting performances of his career. That is the James Harden experience, folks.
Another fun fact about James Harden. He has now hit two game winners in the same series, which is absurdly rare, and the only other player to do that. The last player to do that was his teammate, former teammate Kevin
Durant back in twenty twelve against the LA Lakers. Been that kind of playoffs for James And the funniest part to me was that James Harden got the strangest inspiration for that performance from none other than Doc Rivers, in the form of an inspirational song sent to him via text message before he got to the arena, An eight minute gospel song sent to James Harden. I didn't think James Harden was into that kind of thing, but I
guess whatever works, right. Harden said he was in the car with his friends, probably a little baby, and and got the text message from Doc Rivers and then asked his friends to put the song on. Hey, let's just put the song on. Let's listen to the whole thing through was little baby driving. It gets unclear does he have a chauffeur, because nobody who's driving asks their friends, Hey, let's just put this on. They just put it on, right, That's just what you do when you're driving anyway, all
these things run through my head. So he listens to it all the way through and he thought at that point, and he said this in his postgame presser, that he thought that this song had to have some good juju. Then, as we know, he went on put on a show, game tying three, game winning three, and PJ. Tucker said it perfectly in the postgame presser with James Harden, you better play that fucking song again before gay five because whatever that song did, it got it. Which brings us
to PJ. Tucker, one of the more fascinating glue guys. I think in the league, big time dog, I would say, one of the biggest dogs in terms of the role player position. Like if you have the he's got that dog in a meme, that's PJ. Tucker and a guy that the Sixers have desperately needed in the post Jimmy Butler era, because as we know, Jimmy was that guy that instilled confidence and grit and once he left, the team got soft as baby shit. Right, So it is
time that we do break down a little bit of PJ. Tucker. I asked Philadelphia podcaster Ryan Rostein. I was asking him, Hey, like, tell me about PJ. Tucker and how impactful he is on this team. His response, in my opinion, was fascinating.
Everything but points. It's you know, he's It was frustrating in the regular season because he did that often and the value couldn't be seen in the regular season because you know, those games don't matter and the style is significantly different. But he brings everything to this team. He brings toughness, he brings leadership. I look at PJ. Tucker as the leader. I talked about it for years about how this Sixers team lacked leadership and Beans not a leader.
And Bean's not a grab your shirt, what are you doing? Let's go guy Like, he's not raw raw, He's not gonna say anything or lead. Neither really is Tobias or hardened. So Tucker's providing leadership and toughness that this Sixers team has been lacking for a long time.
Facts has been lacked for a long time. And of course PJ. Tucker went out and did what PJ Tucker does six points, three rebounds, one assists, four fouls, impactful, probably hard fouls. Still managed to be a plus one in thirty one minutes in a game they won by checks notes one. That seems absurd, but no one has crazy stat lines like PJ Tucker. You look at Game one when there was no Embiid, when the Sixer stole
Game one and TD Garden. Tucker in that game thirty seven points without attempting a single field goal, ubsurd, five and one, two steals, and in a four point win, PJ Tucker was a plus six, exactly the amount that they're winning by PJ Tucker is a plus of that same amount. That's how impactful and important PJ Tucker is. I think what we call PJ Tucker is Jimmy Butler if Jimmy Butler couldn't score. That's what he is. He does all the same things that Jimmy Butler does, except
for put the basketball in the hoop. One minute he's deflecting a pass, the next he's in bee ball Paul's face imploring him, just furiously telling him YO play defense, get some rebounds. One of the best moments I think that highlights PJ Tucker in this particular instance is so Joel Embiid has been known to be a little lazy in all moments, not just regular season moments. Joel Embiid sometimes doesn't have the most consistent motor in the fourth
quarter when they are razor thin in the fight. In the thick of the battle with the Boston Celtics, he watches Joel Embiid take multiple plays off. So what does he do. He gets into inside of Joel Embiid's asshole, just reaming him, just yelling at him, grabbing onto his jersey like that's not the MVP. And they ask him about it after the game, and this is what he had to say.
No Viking guard Joe one on one. There's no way. I'm sorry, it's I dispected or anybody else. Bautguard him for a lot of years, and when he's aggressive in asertive, it's impossible. And I've seen him two or three plays in a row and not do that. And we can't add at. We can add at now with a season on the line, we can't have it.
Can't have that he's taking plays off. Can't have that, No, sir. Joel Embiid one of the most dominant scores. Physically imposing, has some of the best footwork you'll ever see, like very light touch around the rim, hits, his free throws, can shoot threes. You're not stopping that man. The only thing stopping Joel Embiid is Joel Embiid's motor. So if the motor is going at full blast, Sixers could win
a title. That is what PJ. Tucker is there to wind a little Joel Embiid up and to get the motor to restart in critical moments when he is taking time off. Also listen, if he didn't do that, Sixers are probably down three to one. That's just the fact. One final point though about the Sixers. Doc Rivers I ever thought I'd say it, folks. Doc Rivers has been
really good. His coaching has been on tippy top shape, the type of Doc Rivers coaching that we thought he was when he was in Boston, right handling things perfectly, adjusting the lineup to make up for no and beating Game one, keeping some of the players out from the lineup that we thought might get significant minutes using Harden in a catch and shoot situation. What has James Harden ever done that? Looking at the film to get this team to have better spacing, better ability in the pick
and roll Game four, you see this changing. He is having some of the best coaching playoffs I've ever seen, obviously sending Harden the eight minute long gospel song. Something has gotten into Doc Rivers. I don't know if it's just because of how bad Joe was is, but Doc Rivers is coaching circles around Joe Mizula. Another thing that's impressive in terms of Dox's coaching. He is doing something very underrated. Kerr does this. Spoe does this even after
a win. He's just moving the chess pieces, calling out the refs, getting very mad because Jason Tatum pushed off on a three point that he made that could have lost the Sixers the game to set up more favorable calls in Game five.
Jason Tatum's three was awful. That that wasn't called awful? Did you did you think it was a push off? I'm asking you no, no, be committed. Did you think it was a push off? It was a push off?
You can't.
And the reason that it bugged me because at the end of the game they were the touch files. You know, Jason Tatum has a three sixty foul. Uh Marcus Smartin Tuck gets tangled up touch foul, So we're gonna call it that way. Then you have to call that to me. You got to call that play. I know it's a big play, and I'm a big fan of res not deciding, but that could have decided the game.
That could have decided the game. Good job, Doc, Is he wrong?
No?
That was an absolute push off, And I love the fact that Doc Rivers forced the reporter to also admit, do not be going both sides of the line with me. Reporter, did you think it was a push off or was it not? Okay? Doc is on one in this series. Is that enough to put him over the top? I don't know. Probably maybe. Joe Mizula continues to be asked at the end of games and came out and admitted that, Yeah,
I fucked up. At the end of game four, he had this to say after the game, hindsight is twenty twenty. I should have called the time out at the end of ot to help us go for a two for one situation for a couple more possessions. Obviously, fourteen seconds left down one you want as many chances as you can. So definitely learned from that. Ooh, Joe Mizoula, how Mike Budenholzer of you? That is something else, especially considering that Joe Mazzola literally just after Game three came out and
was like, what about those adjustments? What about those adjustments? I had wow while walking out the door. Not just the end of the game management. It's what Marcus said also last week. Yeah, speaking of Bootenholzers, sounds exactly like Boodenholzer here too. Yeah, most of our offense is just random. We're just getting random out here. That's why Jalen Brown's postgame comments were so telling.
I guess I got to demand the ball a little bit more. I thought good things happened when I had it in my ass, But I thought our offense was was was okay. I thought we we may, we chipped away, we made big tim shots, we got great looks all game long, and we just came up short.
And that give me the fucking ball. Jalen Brown should like not be only shooting the ball through three times in seventeen minutes of any game. Very very like clearly let alone in a winnable game to go up three to one and take the sixers and put them to sleep. That is on the offense, and that offense is directed by who Joe Mizzoula. If this series comes down to
who's coaching better, Doctor Joe. I hate to say it because it is a wild thing for Doc rivers to have a coaching edge in any series, in any playoff series at all, but listen, I think Doc is head and shoulders a better coach right now than Joe Mozia Azula. So that means Boston may be out, and that is saying a lot about the Eastern Conference.