Why the Heat should be Nervous, Jokic getting Respect, LeBron Retirement?

forty percent on eighteen to forty five shooting. And it was the opposite story for Miami, who was shot the three so well throughout the course of the postseason and this series, but they shot just eight to thirty two from the three point line. Jimmy Butler with twenty nine points. There was four players in double figures for the Heat, but wasn't enough for them to close out the series with a sweep. So, Sean, your takeaways from this game? A Celtics team who we saw in Game three pretty

much just lay down. It looked like they had nothing left and waved the white flag, but did do their best to now try and extend this series.

all over you. And so when that happens and you're just buried under that avalanche, I think you find out who you are. And I think you can go one of two ways. You can basically just surrender and just move on, just really want to get away from it all, or you want the dog in you comes out, you know, and you say, you know what, I'm not going out like that. Jason Tatum was not going out like that. The Celtics defense not going out like that, particular remen

and shooting, and you know they were under siege. You know, Joe Missoulu, he was already fired. I wonder why he even showed up at the game. They already had him fired, you know, they already had you know, Tatum and Brown separated, but Jaylen Brown, why was he in a Celtic uniform yesterday? They already had these guys dead and buried in Look. I mean, the Celtics responded the way they had to respond. They're the more talented team in the series. I mean,

that's plain and simple. You know, Jimmy Butler. Yeah, he's great and everything, but you know, the Celtics have more talent, you know, from one to fifteen, particularly the starting five. They were in the NBA Finals last year, so they had to respond and this is the way they responded. Now it sets up a very interesting scenario. Now you go back to Boston. It's going to be a very favorable environment for the Celtics. At least it will be as long as the Celtics are up in that game.

If they fall behind by twenties there, I don't know. So they have a chance. And I think if you look at this from basketball's perspective, all signs point to a Game six in Miami as being the pivotal game. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. And please don't tell Jimmy Butler I said that, because you know he's going to give me the Grant Williams treatment. And I don't want that, Sarah. I'm a nice guy. I don't want Jimmy on my case and you know

how he's going to respond. But if we just take the Celtics for what they are, a town team, a team that went to the NBA Finals last year, a team that really played very well all season, no major injuries. This is a healthy team. And I know Jayden Brown his elbows bank a little bit, but this is a healthy team. So if we take him for that, we would like to think for their sake that they will win the next game in Boston, bring this back to Miami, and then things get really really interesting.

this postseason. So while you would think the fact that they have two of the next three at home, will they take advantage of that? Though Miami, it's wild to think. You know, no team in NBA history has come back from a three to zero series deficit. But with all of those factors, with the way that they have been playing, do you think the heat at this point, now that we heard it from a handful of Celtics players yesterday had shoot around saying don't let us get one, don't

let us get one. Did they find something or find themselves in a way that Miami should be nervous at this point despite having this three to one series lead.

And I'll just say what number one we stayed at the obvious Boston is the more talented team, Okay, well okay, yeah, and they do have two of the next three at home if it goes that far, So that's in their favor.

The other thing in their favor is Miami. I mean, look, this is a play in tournament team, and you wonder if all those all those players not wearing sneakers and wearing glass slippers, you know, Gabe Benson, Max Strews, Duncan Robinson, all those non drafted players that you've heard about, what oh about one hundred and fifty times since the series started. Suppose all of a sudden, you know, those guys start playing a little down to their so called credentials, and

maybe something happened. Jimmy Butler's not as dominant and something. So the bottom line is this, in this series where on paper, the Celtics should should it should flip. The Celtics should be the one up three to zero. If it could happen, it could happen in this series. I still, for the life of me, don't believe that Jimmy Butler will allow his team to lose four straight games. I

just don't think that. I mean, just the way he's played in these playoffs, the way he's elevated his game, and you've got Eric Bolster on the other bench, he would find a way. Miami is great at making adjustments. Look, I still don't I think it's gonna be one hundred and fifty one straight series where a team can't come back from a three to zero deficit. But if it's going to ever going to happen, it could happen in this series.

whole group, they're just playing some beautiful basketball together. What did you see out of that series and throughout the course of what not just Nikola Jokicic was able to do, but this entire group, what they showed us in the regular season now translating into the postseason as they make this trip to the finals.

greatest players ever played. Even at age thirty eight, you're a number twenty, he still played at a high level and people wanted to watch to see him, you know, you know, succeed or fail. And usually when Lebron James gets this deep in the playoffs, he castes an he goes to the NBA Finals. Is a guy who hasn't lost

the conference finals. In two thousand and nine, when he was with Cleveland lost to the Boston Celtics, so the Denver Nuggets that they felt a little bit disrespected, And let me get into that for a minute, and I get it, you know, if you're a coach, Michael and who by the way, I love Michael Malone, but if you're a coach, you know he beat that drum beat a little bit too much. First of all, Nicola Jokic is not disrespected as a player. The guy was voted

MVP two straight years. That doesn't sound like he's getting a lot of disrespect from the national media. And I also think Michael Malone is he's addicted to the TV debate shows and he's judging the national media based on a couple of debate shows on TV. He doesn't know what I write or other national people are writing or saying.

He's just addicted to those shows. And it's a shame that their perception of themselves from a national media standpoint, and their perception of Nicola Jokic from a national media standpoint comes from a couple of TV shows and a couple people yelling on TV shows. That's not the case. NICOLEA. Yogis has great respect around the NBA and within the national media, and the same thing for the Denver Nuggets.

I would say that the one thing about the Denver Nuggets is even though they've had this core together now for about four or five years, the last two years were basically a wash because you know, Michael Porters Junior was injured, Jamal Murray was injured. We didn't see this team. We saw this team in the bubble, but they weren't ready to win. They played the Lakers in the conference final in twenty twenty, but they weren't ready to win yet.

Not against Anthony Davis at that point he's healthy, Not against Lebron James, who was laser focused on getting another championship. They were probably ready to last couple of years, but they were hurt. They didn't have Jamal Murray for you, they didn't have Michael portgif you're now their hole, and they showed what they're capable of doing. And the joker, what can you say about them? Lebron and I thought

gave him the ultimate of respect. Lebron said, he plays the game like I do, and that's all that needs to be said. He said, he's a smart player who plays a game like I do. About making the winning play and we saw this time and time again the entire playoff series, and we saw in the elimination game against the Lakers he has that step back three point shot. Sarah. I know you were watching the game. You're like, oh, no, that's not going to go in. It's launched way, but

it's not going to go in. Anthony Davis said that's not going to go in. He turned around and guess what. You know what happened. It went in, Sarah, so critical shot absolutely shot clock at four, Yoka tries to put it up, pulling away, puts it up. Congratulate the Denver Nuggets. A team, a complete team, Contavious Cardwell, Pope coming off the bench, hit and some big shots. Aaron Gordon playing deep. The guy had to d up Kevin Durant and then Lebron James. He didn't get a break, Sarah, and he

played pretty well. He played well offensively in the clinching game. Congrats to him. I just think this team played well when it had to play well. And guess what, Michael Malone and the Denver Nuggets, you're getting all the respect now because you're going to go in to the NBA Finals. As the basically I would think no matter what happens in the Boston Miami series, Devora Nuggets will go in as a favorite.

but four seconds. We've seen what he's done with that seven seeded Lakers team in his twentieth season, thirty eight years old. You can't say enough about the performance that he gave, not just in that game but throughout the course of the postseason. But some interesting post game comments about him having a lot to think about in regards to his future, in regards to wanting to come back

and play. What do you make of his comments in that moment and putting in perspective if we will, in fact see Lebron James continue to play more in this league, as he's not only became the all time scoring leader this season, but has an opportunity to become the old time minutes leader in NBA history. The miles that he has put in throughout the course of his.

And I think that there's also a sense of pride within Lebron James, as much as he loves playing his game, as much as he has a fantasy of what one day being teammates with his son Brownie, as much as he he is still I would probably say top ten player in a game right now. I think there's an element with Lebron that says, you know what, I don't want to stay in this game too long. I don't want to be one of those guys sitting on the

end of the bench. You know, you know, have people you know dunk on me and talk trash to me, and you know, you know, have me get my scalp, you know, my pelt on their wall, all those things. I still think that there's a sense of pride when you're this great. You know, like the late Jim Brown retired after nine years after he had led the NFL and rushing he wasn't going to carry the ball and get you a three yard game and you know, just rush for two hundred yards and see it. That wasn't

gonna happen. The greats want to leave the game while they're still great, and that's why I do think it's possible that Lebron James could walk away from the NBA this summer. My gut feeling is that he'll play at least another year. But if he were to walk away from the game this summer, I would not be shocked, because he walks away with that scoring record, with his head hell high. We all have such great respect for what he is meant to the game and has done

for the game. If he indeed walks away, I just think it would be a great moment because he walks away while he's still on top of this game.