Game seven, May stand eyed. I with history and they did not point.
The Heat are going to the NBA finalists.
Welcome man too, NBA pulsa production of iHeartMedia and the NBA. I'm Sarah Kustack, NBA analyst for the S Network, and today is Tuesday, May thirtieth. From our extraordinary core group of NBA journalists were joined now by NBA dot Com senior writer John Schumann. Shoe, you were in the building,
you were in TV garden Game seven. This Eastern Conference Finals has been one for the ages, and I think a lot of Boston fans, many around the NBA community, thought this might be a history setting night, an opportunity to see a team for the first time come back from a three to nothing series deficit. But never count out Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat, Eric Spolster, and of course Caleb Martin, which we will get into. And first, Shoe,
I'm curious. I mean, obviously you're there. You're breaking things down basketball wise, looking at the numbers. We have been doing that throughout the course of this playoffs, but more so the emotional side of it. In Miami four Game six, the Heat, it looked like they were headed to the finals.
Before that, Derek White put in what they had went through, what they endured, laying it all on the line, and to see heartbreak at home in your own building, and to have to turn around two days later after winning or after losing the last three games. What stood out to you about this Miami Heat team to be able to gather themselves together and come away not only with a win, but a one to three, eighty four dominant win in the building of the Boston Celtics.
Yeah. I compared it a little bit to the Spurs in the twenty thirteen finals, where they had Game six seemingly sewn up. They were up two with the ball and the shot clock off, but Kawhi Leonard missed one of two from the line, Ray Allen or Lebron James missed the three, Chris Bosh got a rebound, Ray hit Ray Allen hit that miracle three to tie it.
James Catchers puts up the three, let go.
His toilet, and the Spurs lost in overtime. And that was just devastating. I mean, they had the championship in their hands. The ropes were out right on the side of the court. There the trophy presentation was being readied, and they had to come back forty eight hours and play game seven. And they were good. In Game seven, they almost were there. They had Tim Duncan had a little jump hook over Shane Battier to tie the game in the final minute. So that was a remarkable recovery.
And then it ended up taking a year, right, they came back, and then they absolutely destroyed the Heat in the following finals. So Eric Bolsher and the Heat were on the on the winning side of that kind of heartbreak, you know, ten years ago, and ten years later they suffer a sort of a similar heartbreak at the end
of Game six. I mean, they were winning when the buzzer sounded, but you know, Derk White's tippin was in the air and so and then obviously they're facing the prospect they've lost the three zero series lead, right, they've blown it. It's now tied three to three. So the resilience and the sort of fight and the mental toughness to come back from that Game six loss and the way it ended and come back and win Game seven
on the road, it's pretty remarkable. It's you know, it was at all the Boston games in the series, and I think this was the third time that I came away stunned by what was happening. And those are the three Heat wins. I'm you know, it's one of those series where it's like the first three. What was most surprising the first the fact that the Heat were up three zero, the fact that the Celtics came back and sighed it, or the fact that the Heat won Game
seven on the road. I don't know. It's just a rollercoaster, and it was all pretty stunning. Nothing was sort of by the books.
Wild variations throughout the course of it, and it was incredible to watch. Another part of that, too, probably surprised a lot of people, was Caleb Martin. And we can gush and gush as we should about what Jimmy Butler has been able to do throughout the course of these playoffs and last night twenty eight points, seven rebounds, six assists, But Caleb Martin has been, you know, a individual here who we all have now come to learn and know
his story. We've watched him throughout the course of the early part of his career playing for Charlotte, waved by the Hornets, picked up here by this Heat team, and he has been as steady as they come. Last night twenty six points, ten rebounds, eleven to sixteen from the field, four to six from a three point line. Jimmy Butler does win the MVP of the Eastern Conference Final, Shoe. I'm curious, did your I think there was a lot of thought that maybe that would be Caleb Martin's trophy
to have. I don't think any of them care as long as they are headed to the finals. But did what did Caleb Martin show you throughout this not just his play last night, with the consistency throughout the course of this postseason.
Yeah, the MVP vote was five to four. I was one of the four votes for Caleb Martin. It's amazing. This is a guy is in his fourth NBA season. He's never had his career high average scoring was this year. He averaged nine point four points per game. A year ago he was so it was less than two years ago. He was signed by the Heat late in the summer, right like he was sort of almost an afterthought in that offseason, but he was in their rotation in the playoffs.
Last year. He played every game until Game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, and he was d MP. You know, they shortened their rotation and he didn't play. So then exactly one year ago to the date, Game seven again and he scores twenty six points. I voted him for MVP. You know, Jimmy Butler scored more in the series. I thought, you know, Martin was was obviously the more efficient scorer, and I just thought he bailed them out of so
many late clock situations. I think we've spoken about this, like he in each of the last two series against New York against Boston, they've been living late in the shot clock their offense just you know, credit the Celtics defense. They've defended like the initial heat actions, you know, pinned down screens, dribble handoffs really well, and he'd have been
living late in the clock. And Caleb Martin has bailed them out so many times, whether it be a three pointer off the catch or an attack and a crazy finish at the rim. And in Game seven, he was hitting these fade away turnaround jumpers over Al Horford, it over Derek White.
Onside Martin on.
One, Caleb Martin is absolutely on five. He was amazing so on stat I have so in these playoffs. He's been great throughout but obviously he was at his best in Game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, but in the playoffs overall, he hasn't. Caleb Martin has an effective field goal percentage of sixty eight point four percent, which would be the best mark, the third best, could be the third best mark in NBA history for a player
with at least one hundred field goal attempts. And that's I mean, most of those that sort of the top marks are in the last you know, several years because of the three point line, and obviously his three point shooting has been a big part of that. But that's a pretty incredible, uh stat for a guy who is just you know, a role player. You know, there's been a role player for his entire NBA career, And like, I don't know what you can say about the guy
it speaks, I don't know if it speaks. You know, the Hornets chose the other brother, right, but I don't know if it speaks more to you know, that being a mistake or just the Heat and their system and their player development and maybe what's inside Caleb Martin to to sort of develop the way he has and just step up. You know, the Heat have needed him Tyler Hero has been out since Game one of the first round.
Victor Olodipo has been out since the first round. They've needed Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin to score more than they ever have, and Caleb Martin especially has has stepped up.
Yeah, and to your point, probably a combination of all of those things coming together. So it was glorious on the side of the Miami Heat. Not so much for the Boston Celtics, who have a lot of questions now hitting into the offseason. They've had a tremendous amount of success with Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, just not reaching the pinnacle of hoisting that Larry O'Brian trophy, which is the ultimate goal. Jason Tatum gets injured on the first play of this game. You could tell he was laboring
a little bit with that ankle. Ends the game with fourteen points eleven rebounds. Jalen Brown struggled nineteen points, but was eight to twenty three from the field, one to nine from the three point line. Big number that jumps out was the eight turnovers that he had. But overall, the Celtics struggled, especially against the Miami's zone defense. They shot just thirty nine percent from the field, just over twenty one percent from the three point line nine of
forty two. How do you frame not just what Boston did throughout the course of this series, the highs and lows, but obviously the tremendous amount of disappointment and in particular the way Game seven finished, but also for them moving forward in the decision that they have to make about Jalen Brown, who has an opportunity to be extended here five year, two hundred ninety five million dollar contract extension, a lot of money that would be put into both
hate them and Brown still a pair that has not quite frankly gotten it done here for Boston in the recent past.
Yeah. I mean they've been to the Eastern Conference Finals five times in the last seven years. And these guys are still just twenty five and twenty six years old, right, So it's in some ways it's just wow, like that's incredible, and wow, they still have several years of contention. But then you know, Jail Brown's up for this huge contract extension and he's coming off of Game seven where he
turned the ball over a career high eight times. As you said, the zone defense was amazingly the downfall of the Celtics. I mean, it's the reason they lost Game two. You know, that was the game where the Heat came back from two different double digit deficits, and it was zone defense that they played to sort of come back
from both of those double digit deficits. Even in Game six the other night, the Celtics were up double digits in the fourth quarter and the Heat ended up playing a lot of zone in that fourth quarter and that got them back. And then Game seven, it was zoned for almost all the second quarter, almost all the fourth quarter. That coincides with Duncan Robinson's time on the floor. Obviously they like to play zone to protect him, but they're not going to stay in it if it's not working,
and it was working all the time. In Game seven, according to Synergy Tracking, the Celtics had just nineteen points on thirty four zone possessions, which is absolutely brutal and for the season, for the series overall, they were much much more efficient in the half court against man to man than they were against zone. It's pretty amazing. Five years ago nobody was playing a lot of zone, and all of a sudden it is winning the Eastern Conference Finals.
It's pretty amazing going forward. I think they just I mean, these guys are twenty five and twenty six. They're both you know, first team and second team All NBA this year. I don't know how you can swallow sort of breaking them up. At the same time, it's you know, that's a lot of money for Jalen Brown, given that he hasn't shown that sort of final level of that he'd playmaking. I think that he needs to have to be sort
of a true star in this league. Basically, the one question that the Celtics have to face is the Jalen Brown question.
Yeah, a lot of questions to face. Those that will be answered for the course of this off season. Is they continue on in some answers for some other teams, says, we will get to news around the league. Nick Nurse hired by the Philadelphia seventy six ers. We will get your take on that and gets it for a quick little finals preview right after this break. Welcome back to mby a Pulse Sarakustik joined by John Schumann and Shoe. Philadelphia seventy six Ers hire Nick Nurse to be their
new head coach. What's your take on the ways in which Nurse can impact the way the roster looks. I know there's still questions about James Harden decisions he may make in what the roster will look like as a whole. But starting with Joel Embiid, what do you think Nick Nurse can do on both sides of the ball here for this seventy six Ers team.
I'm really curious to see it. You know, the Sixers had a top five offense this year and they may you know, they James Harden at point guard made Joel Embiid the best offensive player he's ever been. We've talked about this, you know, multiple times. I think on this podcast, he got him in better positions to score, you know, where he was catching the ball twelve ten to twelve feet from the basket instead of eighteen or twenty feet
from the basket. So it will be hard to sort of improve on Embiid's scoring or at least his efficiency. I think the one thing they could help, but I don't know if this is more of a Nick Nurse thing just an Embiid thing, is just he's got to be a better playmaker when he sees double teams, when
he sees a crowd out of the post. You know, he's got to add a little bit of he doesn't have to be Nikolajokic in that in that respect, but he's got to add a little bit of that sort of Nikolojokic ability to put uh pass out of the
post for them to sort of maximize themselves offensively. Obviously, the James Harden question on that end of the floor is huge, and whether he comes back and then defensively, you know, Nick Nurse won't be able to do everything he did in Toronto when they had you know, a great defense both the year they won the championship and the following year they were terrific defensively because Bids he can't Embiid's got to be able to stay in the paint. You know, he can't be you know, I mean he
could play zone. They could play zone some, which they didn't do a lot of this past year, but he can't be playing in aggressive style where he's out on the perimeter. I mean, shoot Game seven against the Celtics, he was you know, the Celtics put him in pick and roll all game and he just got torched and so and that's a fatigue thing. And again, like if you play aggressive defense with MP You're gonna wear him down. So I'll be really fascinated to see what happens, because
you know that team revolves completely about around MB. It's a different sort of dynamic than Nick Nurse had in Toronto the last few years.
It will be interesting, especially with all the talent and potentially some of the movement across the league, not only with players but with some coaches as some very good teams still looking to fill positions. Finals, though, we're ready and this is a quick turnaround Thursday, eight thirty pm Eastern on ABC, it will begin. The Denver Nuggets have been sitting waiting to see who their opponent would be.
Now they know as Miami heads to Denver. When you look at the series, you look at the finals in the way it's construction. What are some numbers that jump out to you that you're looking at and looking for when Finals begins.
It just starts with the Duggets offense. I mean they've scored one hundred and nineteen point seven points per one hundred possessions in through the first three rounds, which is remarkable efficiency. It's the most efficient a team has been through three rounds of playoffs in the last six years since the twenty seventeen Calves, and it was I mean,
they were remarkable in the last round. I mean, the Lakers had the number one defense through the first two rounds one hundred and six point five points allowed for one hundred possessions, and then they allowed one twenty two point three in the conference finals to the Nuggets. So it starts there. It starts with how do you defend Nikola Jokic. You know, Bam out of Bayo is a great defender, but I don't know if he's a great
Nikola Jokic defender, And so it starts there. Out of Bio hinted in the postgame press conference last night actually that they want to take away his assists, so maybe they want to make him, you know, more of a score, which is tough because, like Nikole, Joki is basically the most efficient scorer in the NBA. So he'll be interesting to see sort of that dynamic and how aggressive he
is with his own offense in that series. And then you know, you know, putting Jimmy Butler on it on Jamal Murray is is great, and then it'll come down maybe to you know, how the the other Nuggets shoot you know like that, the Heat will sort of show Jamal Murray a crowd and pick and roll. They'll pinch, you know, off the wings and off the corners and and and you know, force other guys to make shots
and then of course the other end of the floor. Hey, if Cale Martin can and can continue to play like he is, you know, there's a possibility of Tyler Tyler Hero making a return in this series, so that should be interesting. But it's tough not to favor the Nuggets just given how incredibly good they are offensively, how much of a weapon Yokich is, and maybe just how rested they're going to be by the time Game one comes around.
Is that your pick? Is that what we're holding you to at this point?
Yeah? I would say Nuggets in maybe five or six would be my pick. But hey, I doubted the Heat before, and the Heat have proven themselves to be remarkably resilient and remarkably great at finding ways to win. And they've won in multiple different ways in these playoffs, shooting ridiculously hot, playing great defense, slowing the game down. So nothing would shock me. I mean, but hey, if the Miami Heat a team that got outscored in the regular season, Can
can make the finals? You know, anything could happen. I guess.
Anything could happen, and they believe that. It's been an extraordinary story to watch, that's for sure, but it is it is going to be something to watch. The difference in rest between both these teams as they head into Thursday nights Game one. Shoe, You're the best. We appreciate you, and we will continue looking and reading all your stuff at NBA dot com. Enjoy the rest of these finals. As you continue with the coverage, We'll see you soon. M VA Pulse with Sarahustak is a production of the
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