Put tween in the legs side step What's up another grade Banks. Welcome into NBA Pulsive production of iHeartRadio in the NBA. I'm Sarah Coustack, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and today is Monday, May fifteenth, from our extraordinary core group of NBA journalists. We're joined now by NBA dot Com senior writer and Sean. We got the conference finals set after a Game seven in Boston and a complete
collapse by the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. First, let's give credit to the Celtics forcing a Game seven with their win, and Jason Tatum a huge part of that. At the end of Game six, hitting four to three pointers and he was extraordinary, sets a all time high game seven record for points scored with fifty one to go along with thirteen rebounds five assists. He had zero turnovers. Tata fires a leg and the Boston Celtics win this one
one twelve to eighty eight. So, before before we get into what's next, Sean for the seventy six ers, what stood out to you in this game and the complete domination by Jason Tatum and the Celtics team, Well, what.
Makes the Jason Tatum performance. All the more impressive is that when you think of the Celtics in Game seven, the historical ramifications, all those great players, you know, Halcheck, Bill Russell, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garne, you know, you can go on and on. For Jason Tatum to put himself right at the top, if not over the top, it's just tremendous to watch. To be honest with you, Sarah,
I was more impressive. I was more impressed by the way he finished Game six, and and keep in mind, at that point him as fourteen to fifteen shots, and Sarah, you know you have a basketball history. You know, confidence, even with star players, confidence can go. And with him, he just had an unshakable belief in himself. The way he finished the fourth quarter hitting those three point shots,
really saving the Celtics season. I thought that was just flat out impressive because he had to overcome himself number one, he had to overcome the Sixers defense. Number two, and you know the Celtics and they were on the clock in the fourth quarter. I mean, they lose this game, that's it. So to me that was more impressive. But look, Sarah, fifty one points in the game seven, fifty one points I mean, it's just tremendous. Says a lot about Jason Tatum and also says a lot about, you know, players
in the playoffs. You know, the regular season is and you make your fame. The postseason is when you make your name. And I think we saw that with a lot of players, specifically in this case Jason Tatum.
Oh you're coming with it this morning.
Show like that? Oh yeah, I like it.
I love it. I love it. And making a name is something that I think there now has become a track record in the direction that some individuals do not want to have. And that's on the side of the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. We talked about it that game six Wells Fargo Center. That crowd was spectacular, it was rocking. The seventy six Ers have a lead with just over four minutes to go, Jason Tatum taking over. But a part of that as well joellenbi not getting touches down
the stretch. The MVP of the league this season, James Harden, had a couple masterpieces in the series, but and the same token what we've seen out of him at times in the postseason, what we've seen out of Doc Rivers at times coaching teams that have a three to two series lead and not able to advance. Joel Embiid did get his MVP trophy this year, but when it mattered
most here on this stage. Fifteen points, eight rebounds, he was five of eighteen from the field, just six trips to the line, and you really look down the line for this seventy six Ers team. James Harden nine points, six rebounds, seven says he was three of eleven from the field. He does have a player option this season. By all accounts, it has not been expected that he
would pick it up. But when you look at the seventy six Ers, they've had a lot of these core players, you know, back year after year and still unable to get to the conference finals. What is your expectations of what this organization does moving forward.
Yeah, that's a pretty complicated answer right there. First of all, let's just let me look at the damage here. I just think the Sixers they blew their champs in Game six, and I wonder how much of that knowledge followed them in Game seven. You know, sometimes you're like, you go in there, you got to play the game in Boston, and in the back of your mind you're like man, we blew it. Now we got to play one more game, and and all of a sudden, when that game gets
out of hand, your body, the body language start. You saw with Joe mb He wasn't even hustling anymore, wasn't even playing hard. James Harden basically just threw up his hands. And those are your leaders. And when your leaders start acting and behaving like that, everybody else follows. And now you're asking role players to take big shots. You know they're not built for that.
You know.
As far as what the Sixers do from from here, and like I said, it's complicated because we're not sure what James Harden is going to do with his player option. I don't think the Sixers are going to give him a contract extension. I would be surprised if they did, particularly any kind of big money. He's you know, I would think we all agree he's not the Houston James Harden anymore. And as you go forward, you know he's
a little bit past his prime. We all know James Harden has battle just standing in the right condition and now he's a little bit older. So you know, Darryl Maury, if he gives them any kind of like three four year extension. He's going to have to answer some questions. But the ownership group like, hey, you know, really this is this is the way we want to go. But also with Harden, does he want to be with the Sixers? I mean, here's a guy who basically gets tired. Got
tired in Brooklyn. I think he might be a little bit tired in Philadelphia. He wasn't tired in Houston until they couldn't win anymore, and after he made all his Max money, then he wanted to move on. So it's just a weird situation right there. You know, they also have Tyrese Maxey. He's free agent. You got to pay him. What are you going to do with him?
Uh?
And then finally you know it's the the elephant in the room, Joe Embiid. Does he get does he join the frustrated superstar club. We've seen this club over the years, Sarah grow and grow and grow, where all of a sudden they feel that they can't win where they are and they knock on the door and say, hey, you know what, you should see what you can get from me. I'm not saying Joe Embiid has gotten to that point. I know for a fact that he loves Philadelphia. It's
the only place he's played and everything. But just when you think a superstar wants to stay in town for a long time, Damian Lillard, you know, all of a sudden, they start making noise that maybe the grass might be greener somewhere else. But you know, you know, let's just wait on that for a little bit. And obviously there's Doc Rivers. What are they going to do with the coach? I actually thought Doc Rivers had a very good year
as coach this year. He didn't have the better team in this series, and he went to seven games and he had a chance to win in six. But of course Philadelphia is a very tough town, is you know, Sarah, And you know the patients were stand there and Doc rivers history on winning game sevens is not the most stellar. Matter of fact, he has more game seven losses than any coach ever. And finally, you know, and this is what I really don't like that much. It's the blame game.
When players lose a series, all of a sudden, you know that they start saying, well, you need to look at that guy, or you need to look at that coach or whatever. Rather than taking some accountability. And I think we see it all the time, and OL's I think we saw it a little bit after Game seven. Suddenly no one wanted to say, hey, it's all on me. I know Joelnbee said that a little bit, but no one just said, you know what it's you know, the change starts with me. This is why we lost the
series because of me, because I didn't play well. You know, usually you don't see that because everyone wants to pass the responsibility on someone else.
Yeah, the magnitude of the series, certainly we'll have ripple effects. And as you mentioned, just with coaching, we saw Torontal part ways with mcnurse, Milwaukee part ways with Mike Budenholzer also over the weekend announced that Phoenix was parting ways with Monty Williams. So we will see how that all continues to play out. But what's playing out next is we got the conference final, Sean, and we're going to take a quick break and preview the Western Conference Final
coming up between the Lakers and the Nuggets. Welcome back to NBA. Paul Sarakustak, joined by Sean Poll and Seawann. It's been fun. It's been a fun postseason. I think I say this every pod that we do, and it continues to get better and better. On Tuesday night, Game one of the Western Conference Finals will take place eight thirty pm Eastern on ESPN as the Lakers and the Nuggets face off. What are your early early predictions, early thoughts, early expectations for what this series may entail.
Well, this is a rematch of the bubble when I don't think the Nuggets back then were really ready to take the next step. I mean the Lakers, you know, they had Anthony Davis and Lebron James, both of them healthy. You know, I think they were that was a team
on a mission. And Denver at that point they were just really starting off trying to be a contender, and then the bad thing happened to never next few years they had injuries, Michael Porter Junior and Jamal Murray missing then entire season, and Yokic had to go about it alone. Now they're finally healthy, so now they can issue some paybacks. If you look at Nikola Yokich right now, he's averaging almost a thirty point triple double, which obviously is this tremendous,
really unheard of for a big man. Because usually big man is this double double guys.
Who's brown in the way. Yokich the live got the offensive rebound and the stick back. He is totally controlling this game right now.
But he's somebody who impacts his offense. It's no question, more than any player in the NBA, when he's off the floor, his team struggles. When he's on the floor, his team is efficient and running smoothly. So really, I think it really comes down to this, how long can he stay on the floor against Anthony Davis. You know, this is the first time that Nikola Yokis is going to really play a good functional big man, somebody who can score in the paint and at the rim and
also shoot from the outside. So Nikola Yokis is gonna have to play some defense. Does that get him in a foul trouble? He cannot afford or to get into foul trouble at kids Anthony Davis. And if I'm the Lakers, I'm going to Davis as often as possible because I do need that to happen. We see what happens when Nicola Yogis is off the floor. So if you're the Lakers, you try to get that guy off the floor. I want Anthony Davis taking a lot of shots. I want
Anthony Davis drawing contact. And I know, you know you worry about Anthony Davis when he does draw contact whether he's going to get off the floor. But you take that risk in this series because if Nicola Yogis is in foul trouble or he's off the floor any stretch of time, you increase your chances of winning. So I'm looking forward to that situation right there. Also, you know, Jamal Murray, are we going to see the bubble Murray?
A guy who was in that shootout with Donovan Mitchell and against Utah and then who really played well against the Lakers in the in the next round. What kind of Jamal Murray were you going to see? Jamal Murray is a very streaky player, and you know, in terms of his shooting he does he's not a classical point guard where he sets up players. That's probably the weakest part of the game. But they don't need that because
they've got your kitchen to do that. So is he going to make his shot and really force the lake breakdown the Lakers defense and forcing the garden? And then finally we're talking about Lebron James, I mean this is a guy who does not lose conference finals. I mean he punches his ticket. Last time he lost the conference finals two thousand and nine when he played for Cleveland
the first time around against the Celtics. But ever since then, he reaches the conference finals, he gets to the NBA Finals, He's one step closer playing for a championship. Aged thirty eight, twenty years in the NBA. He knows he gets that next championship. All of a sudden, that water cool talk of the greatest player ever with him and Michael Jordan.
All of a sudden, that talk gets really really interesting, and I think Lebron might be saying, Hey, you know what, this is my last best chance or best last chance, however which way you want to phrase it, Sarah. The bottom line is the man is close, and you know he wants to cash in.
Well, we will see if he does, and we're rewrecking all the bubble matchups. As you mentioned on the Eastern Conference side of things, say thing as the Miami Heat will face the Boston Celtics. That series begins with Game one on Wednesday at eight thirty pm Eastern on T and t this Heat team, They've been impressive. Jimmy Butler has been special. Eric Spolstra does this year after year regardless of whatever iteration of a group they have, and in Butler has given us team the utmost confidence to
believe they can win. But Boston looking like probably the most complete, deepest team in the play or in the postseason on the Eastern Conference side of things, but just it feels like they haven't necessarily been able to put all the pieces together at certain times throughout the course of these series. What about this Heat Celtics matchup intrigues you? In what direction do you think it may go?
No, it's interesting. It wasn't about a year year ago right about now that it was a Game seven in Miami Celtics Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler had a shot to really put Miami in the NBA Finals for what the second time in three years, he missed, And it just goes to show how tough Miami can play Boston. You know, Eric spols Is gonna have something up the sleeve for Jason Tatum, Jayden Brown. Basically put those great players in position where they have to work extra hard
for the shots. Let's talk about playoff Jimmy. Come on, Sarah, you know, playoff Jimmy. That guy who averaged like twenty three points. He averaged twenty three points in regular season. All of a sudden, he's averaging thirty two points in the playoffs. Man can't be stopped in the fourth quarter type game. Just a remarkable, remarkable player this time of year. Never been never bet against that guy. I will say this, there will not be a player on the floor in
this series more determined than Jimmy Butler. Okay, maybe they might play better than Jimmy Butler. And now I'm going to be more determined than Jimmy Butler. And here's the other thing. Tyler, he wrote, will he suit up during this series? I've heard that it's possible he could probably make his playoff appearents. I mean in this series maybe game three foursh you know, I don't know. He wasn't ruled out of the playoffs when he first got heard,
So that'll be something worth watching, whether or not. Suddenly they have a wildcard, an unexpected wildcard. Tyler, you throw Tyli, he wrote the mix. But even aside from Tyler Hill, this team has played very well defensively, good coaching, good schemes, and Jimmy Butler going against Jason Tatum. That is going to be a showdown that I think everyone will enjoy.
You said it, that three point shot. He has said since he would take it again, and next time he does have a chance to take it, he will make it. So we will see and we will see how this all plays out. Sean is always we will continue reading all your stuff on NBA dot com and appreciate all your time and all your hard work here with us this Monday morning as these playoffs continue. NBA pulls but Sarahkustak is a production of the NBA and iHeart Radio.
Please rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.