Welcome in into NBA Polster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA. I'm Sarahcusetack, NBIA analyst for the Yes Network, and today is Tuesday, May twenty eighth. From our extraordinary core group of NBA journalists are joined now by NBA dot Com senior writer Steve Ashberner and Ash. We got a holiday weekend. We got a sweep by the Celtics as they took care of business in the Eastern Conference, advancing to the finals once again in a one O five, one of
two win against the Indiana Pacers. It was a three point victory last night that they came back from a fourth quarter deficit, much the same on their Saturday win, another three point win coming back from a deficit. We saw that exhilarating Game one which Jalen Brown hit the game time three to send the game into overtime. He was in fact named the Eastern Conference and MVP awarded
the Larry Bird Trophy. But overall for the Celtics, I think there's kind of just been mixed discussion on the fact they've only lost two games here still advancing to the finals, but just what they look like, how they have played. They obviously were able to advance in terms of how they closed out, in particular three of these
four games in the clutch time. But when you look at that victory yesterday and just kind of the totality of how the Celtics look throughout this Eastern Conference Finals run, what's your takeaway with this Boston team.
Hi, Sarah, Well, let's start out with the fact I picked Boston to win the series in five games because it seemed like five games was the way they do things.
Well.
They swept here, so you know, much credit to them for not succumbing and having a throwaway game in the first round Miami, you know, hit a ton of three pointers and beat them. Second series, Cleveland took a game rather handily from them in Boston, so they learned in that sense. I also think that rather than suffer a loss in this series, they sort of split up trouble across three of their victories, where all three were pretty
shaky games one, three, and four. And you know, whether they're responding to criticism, whether they're locking in and getting into a groove that will pay dividends in the finals, I think that remains to be seen. It's all it's all sort of in hindsight that we know these things, but I think that Boston has found its way. I think they they've taken their their opponents, at least in
this round, they took them more seriously. They you know, they could have lost several of those games, but they prevailed, and I think that that showed their experience, their pois, their familiarity with maybe not so much in the regular season. They weren't a great clutch team, but maybe they're learning
for those minutes in tight games. So yeah, I think that they're sort of on track now to replicate, at least in performance, if not outcomes, the great regular season that they had, and I think that's what raised the expectations. You know, they were dominant during the first eighty two and we expected then they would be dominant against playoff competition, particularly playoff competition that was missing key players like Jimmy Butler,
donovand Mitchell at times Tyrese Haliburton. They didn't look dominant, but there their ledger twelve and two looks pretty dominant. So I'm encouraged by what we've seen. I think that we're going to see the best of the Celtics postseason wise in the final round.
Yeah, and I guess that becomes my question to you. You mentioned a lot of those things. We also saw their depth. I know they're playing without Christaps Porzingis. We'll see if he will be able to make a return for the finals. But whether it was Jalen Brown and hitting that key three point shot, Drew Holiday, some of his defensive stops have changed the complexion of the game. Jason Tatum, who once again you look at the game
like yesterday twenty six points, eight assists. I think the hope is that he will still be a little bit more consistent from beyond the arc. Al Horford knocking out seven threes in one game. Of course, what Derek White Drew I had mentioned, Drew Holliday handful off the bench. But we've seen this, We've seen this team advance to the finals before, and it's been the same core. It's been the same questions. It's been the questions about do they have a closer, can they close out tight games.
We will get to the Dallas Mavericks and the Timberwolves, who may advance given the fact that the MAVs are three to zero with the lead in the series playing tonight and have two proven closers that have been extraordinary down the stretch and surgical. Is it title or bus for this Celtics team if they don't come out of this season, in this postseason with a championship trophy carrying and holding up that Larry O'Brien.
I think it is. I mean, within the context of life shall go on regardless, I do think it is not in Boston.
If they were the rest of us and the.
Question becomes, Okay, what's bust look like? You know, does bus look like a major trade? Does bus look like a coach firing? No, I don't believe that. You know what happens? Do they tear up the core? I just can't see that. But in terms of you know, absolute disappointment, yeah, if if they were on track to face the Denver Nuggets in the finals and Denver were to beat them, to me, that would be sort of an acceptable loss by Boston. They could say, well, we made it to
the finals, we ran into the ending champs. But given who's going to be there, you know, a Dallas team that was underrated and you know, low expectations from most of us all year, even Minnesota. If they pull off the you know, the the unprecedented. You know, those are teams that this Boston team is supposed to be. So yeah, I think it is. I think it is championship or bust at this point. It's just that, as I said, I'll be like Charles but repeating myself, what is what
is bust? And it will be a crushing blow. Will it be the end of this group?
No?
Will it lead to major changes? I don't believe so. But this is the Celtics Larry O'Brien trophy to lose at this point, and hopefully they approach it as their trophy to win and they can go out there and be their best selves after these first fourteen playoff games.
I'll tell you what if bust ends in Kyrie Irving celebrating on that Boston on that Blaver Lucky, there's gonna be it may be rock bottom over there. But but you mentioned that just in terms of I think again,
as we will get to it's one thing. If it's potentially the Denver Nuggets, a team that won the title last year but given some in some ways a surprise and the coming together of either Dallas or Minnesota, I think it'd be a very tough pill to swallow for the Celtics, for the organization, for what they've continued to build if that is not the the outcome on the
other side of things. Indiana Pacers. I don't know if it's it's good for anyone to hear a close fought sweep or you know, moral victories, but it was fun to watch the Spacers team and how they came out and played. They played the last two games without Tyree's Halliburton Andrew Nemhard Saturday in that game three loss, had third two points just the other night twenty four points,
ten assists. Pascal Siakam obviously, I think you saw signs of him and the chemistry and synergy created between him and Tyrese Haliburton throughout the course of the season, looking at how that may grow. He will be an unrestricted free agent. I think the expectation is that they will sign him and sign him to a max Obi Tappin, who really started to kind of find his role in his fit, will be a restricted free agent. TJ McConnell will be up for an extension. What do you think
is next for the Pacers given how they played? I think they created an identity, a style in Rick Carlisle's way of how he really played to his personnel. What do you think is next year, this offseason and entering next season for the Pacers.
Well, I think they look at themselves differently now. That's that's a big change as they head into a training camp and next season. I think that they you know, it was one thing to get out out of the lottery and you know, snag a playoff spot, uh, top six, and then and then you know, do what they've done. I think this has been the surprising part, and uh they'll be better off for that as well. Obviously they're
inexperience showed late in these games. Even Rick Carlisle seemed to uh not be at his best a couple of times in terms of calling timeouts and other things he did or didn't do. And that's that's a little that's a that was a little concerning. It's sort of like, you know, I'm sure the players are thinking, well, these coaches been here before and and succeeded, and so you know the timeout that wasn't called, well, actually timeouts in games one and three, and and situations with you know,
the inbounds pass and you know the breakdowns. I mean they went three and a half minutes in Game four at the end, they didn't score, they missed all their shots, they had a couple of turnovers. They got outscored I think seven zip. You know, those are sort of closing situations where your coach can help. And then of course Tyrese Haliburton as an All NBA third team guy, he snagged that on her, which means he'll get the super Supermax deal now, an extra forty one million dollars over
what he already had bargained for. And you know, beyond him to just to step up. I know that in that series Boston kind of targeted him at times defensively, so there's improvement on that end, but certainly taking charge of being able to, you know, be a closer getting in consideration for a Clutch award. That's a you know, that's a good goal for him. So I think the Pacers are positioned well the East, a lot of fluidity. You can move up or down I think fairly quickly.
And it was fun. It was a fun team to watch. Not a not a flawless team obviously, and they have lots to work on at this stage.
We saw a sweep in the East as tonight we will find out if we will see a sweep in the West. Dallas Mavericks have taken these first three games
against Minnesota Timberwolves. Similarly said, it has been a hard fought, tightly contested series in those first three games, but the experience and the ability to close has proven itself, and how Luca and Kyrie Irving have played together with the Mavericks alongside the rest of their counterparts and really just key components of what the role players have done in stepping up and hitting some really critical shots. It has
not been the same for Minnesota. I think Anthony Edwards is still put up solid numbers, but not quite what we've seen through the course of the postseason in terms of production, in terms of those key moments, and certainly not for Karl Anthony Towns. Will Minnesota find a way to extend this series here tonight in Dallas.
Anything is possible. I mean, you know, look, I've been doing this long enough that when a series is three to zero, you know the last thing you want to see is a moral victory by the team that's behind. But obviously to them it can be more than that, because it does earn you that next home game, and then you think, okay, we win that, and the pressure is entirely on the Dallas Maverick at that point. So I mean it's you can work through the thought process.
I have expected better from Minnesota just based on what they did against Phoenix and Denver. You know, this is interesting from the standpoint of styles. The team's play. Minnesota was built to beat the Denver Nuggets. That style gave the Phoenix Suns all the trouble they could possibly have, and yet here against Dallas, it seems almost like it's a liability that Dallas has, you know, more mobile, more more leaping big men than the Minnesota you know anchors
up front with with Gobert and Karl Anthony Towns. And of course Karl Anthony Towns has not been playing like a big man in this series. He's, in my opinion, shot way too many threes. He's eager to back up his boast of being the best shooting big man in
NBA history. I think there's a little lot of sorts with you know, how to find himself, and Dallas has been able to exploit that with with Luca and Kyrie and the way they are able to just dissect the drop coverage with with Rudy, you know, there's motivation there, I think by Mavericks players that you know, old defensive player of the year. Sure I'll take that on. And we've seen that with with Gobert's challengers. So yeah, it's been it's been unfortunate Minnesota's you know, slip has been
showing a little bit in their inexperience. You think about it with with these series that four zip and three zips so far, I mean, we still had the potential a pretty good shot at a Minneapolis Indianapolis finals because these games could have tipped other ways, and all of a sudden, now it's Minnesota Indiana, which might not thrill the TV ratings people, but it would be you know, a fun matchup Dallas and Boston. If it goes that way, and history suggests it shall, then you know that's going
to be intriguing as well. You've got those superstars on on Dallas. But yeah, Minnesota might have it in them. The problem is is that they think, Okay, we're gonna get this this Mavericks team and drag it to Minnesota. Target Center hasn't been that difficult a place for the
visiting team. I mean, the people that do everything they can, but the results at Target Center, you know, have have not been great in the postseason, so it doesn't sort of have that formidable you know that onus against you know, a team like Dallas haveing go up there and oh now it might be three to two. So I think Dallas can go into Minnesota and win just to have more basketball, to be honest, in a greedy sense, and since I don't have to go flying around for those games,
I want to see the series extend. We're already going to have nine nights without Eastern Conference basketball and you know, so a little extra in the West. I think that a lot of us would appreciate.
That, as do I. I don't know if that means that that's your pick that Minnesota will will get a game here, but that's that's what I'm going with, going with it, I'm going with it. I'm hoping it, But I do I think they have a lot of pride, and I think they have a lot of still resiliency left in them. And I also think to your point,
it's amazing. I think it just shows the fine line of what a possession game and what one possession means in the playoffs, and also the factor of experience or ability to have closers that can come at your throats when needed to finish the games off. But either way, it will be fun to watch that game. We'll be taking place tonight here and we will find out before we know it. But we're going to take a quick break and talk about the legend Bill Walton who passed
away at seventy one. Welcome back to MB Paul Sarahkustak, joined by the great Steve Ashberner, and ask some some just really unfortunate news to hears. The NBA had shared the other days that Bill Walton, the Great Bill Walton, larger than life, passed away from a prolonged fight with cancer at the age of seventy one. You look at his basketball resume, a two time NCAA champion at UCLA, playing under another icon in John Wooden, becoming a three time NASH Player of the Year. He went on to
win two NBA titles. He was the NBA's MVP, he was the sixth Man of the Year. But more than anything, and I know you can speak to this, it was his personality. It was his love for life. It was the passion that he brought to everything. We had the great joy to listen to him for so many years as a basketball analyst and a broadcaster. When you heard the news, when you reflect back about Bill, what came to mind for you?
Yeah, you know, this one hit hard because he was such a presence and his exuberance was palpable. I mean, Bill Walton every time I saw him, whether it was at an official function, a game he was calling, a Hall of Fame induction, or you know, running into him at O'Hare when he was being pushed in a wheelchair because of back issues at that point, long long retired, But you know, it's just he would light up when
when people would come up to him. And if it was somebody that he knew, like me and obviously many more even better, he was, you know, a touchstone of sunshine and happiness. But if it was strangers I would see, like at that airport, where it was almost like he knew people got excited seeing him, and in a way he was trying to impart a little bit of that or reflect a little bit of that back and make
you know, be excited for talking to them. And it seemed almost without fail I mean, even when he was in you know, great discomfort, he could turn it on, you know, for moments and then kind of recede so that he didn't have to be grumpy in a personal exchange. I mean, he would just sort of, you know, take his exit and the guy, I mean physically, you can't help but feel for the guy. I mean, this this
particular illness that brought his demise cancer. I'm not sure how many of us even knew what he was going through. I mean, you knew the structural stuff through the years. I mean, the foot, the ankle that so hampered his career, back issues, you know, even you know, in retirement that had him about as low as you can get mentally
because of the NonStop pain. You know. The other thing I think of is that I've heard from time to time people speculate or criticize and say, you know, he shouldn't have been part of that fifty Greatest NBA Players of All time, he shouldn't have been on the seventy five Greatest Players team because his NBA contributions were relatively meager. Two time All Star, I believe, two time All NBA, one time MVP. That doesn't tell the story, and frankly,
I don't think. Look, he's in the Hall of Fame, because the Hall of Fame is more than just the NBA.
What.
I don't think you can even tell the story of the NBA without Bill Walton. I mean, he is vital
to so much of it. You know, high draft picks with expansion teams, the struggle in Portland, sort of the old school, old fashioned attitudes towards injuries, and how he was disparaged in Portland when he couldn't play, and then of course the elation when he finally could that championship in nineteen seventy seven, when the Blazers started out down two against Philadelphia and then roared back to take the
next four games. The consummate team at that point, the best sort of ensemble togetherness, chemistry on the floor that I think has only been replicated by that twenty fourteen San Antonio team. The beautiful basketball that they played, and you know, and then the struggles and it seemed like he was gone. I mean, that was the end of Bill Walton. The Clippers' days resurgence, I mean, Phoenix Rising when he was with Boston be a sixth man, an MVP who settles into and thrives in a sixth man role.
He was the standard. A lot of us felt, well, maybe Derek Rose could pull that off one of these days. But I mean, just you think about the sublimation of ego to go from the best player in the game, acclaim by your peers because they did the voting when he won the MVP, to he's going to fill exactly the role that the Boston Celtics in nineteen eighty five eighty six needed. And you know that big team became with his presence and contributions, you know, arguably the greatest
NBA team ever. So all of that, and that doesn't even get into what he did after that, and the sideshow stuff of his grateful dead obsession and allegiance, and I mean, just a life fully lived. You can't think of him without thinking of him smiling. And you know, most of us would be lucky to hit the high in one category that he hit in almost everyone.
Well said, ash Well said, and I think you said the most important things of a life well lived. And it's hard to think of him without thinking of him smiling. So for all the accolades, for all the achievements, the Hall of fame career that he put together. I think more than anything, it was just the exuberance that he brought to every single interaction with every single person or any time you turned on your TV screen, and that
in itself is a truly truly successful life. So we will honor him, we will remember him, we'll celebrate him, and as always, just appreciate it with this game that we love. So Ash will continue reading and watching all your stuff. We thank you for your time. We'll be interested to see here tonight on TNTA thirty pm Eastern. As I mentioned, Timberwolves trying to stave off the MAVs to extend this series, as Dallas has a three to zero series lead. Until next time, we'll talk with you soon, Ash,
You're welcome, sir. NBA Post with Sarahkustak is a production of the NBA and iHeart Radio. Please rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts