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All right, welcome in another special episode of What's Right with the podcast and YouTube show. We are releasing this on Monday. We are recording this on Monday, a bit of a recap of Game four of the NBA Finals, and we will do a preview of Game five of the NBA Finals. Demons is here alongside me. This is a stripped down, shorter show. You will get the full thirty five to forty minute show tomorrow that you usually get.
Actually you usually get those on Tuesdays. I don't even know when you're gonna get that one, but we're gonna record it tomorrow. Here's what I do know. We're doing this right now in real time. You've had a couple days to process a crushing Celtics defeat. But I know you're still confident. I assume we're starting with Steph Curry. But you let me know where we're going.
Yes, Steph Curry played what you would call his best game ever in Game four. Yep, they're going going back home for Game five. Yes, it's time for you to now jump ship. I know, I mean, I know where I'm staying.
Okay, No, you're staying with the Celtics. I am also staying with the Celtics. So this is what I want to do today. I want to over these next twelve to fifteen minutes because you sound a little down. Energy's a little low, and I know it's not because you're tired. You woke up on time today. Everything's all good, you got a good good night's rest. But you're a little you're not quite as confident as you once were. I heard you mention that tonight's Game five is a must win.
It's huge, it's huge.
I don't think it's necessarily a must win for you guys, because I do think you could win Game seven in San Francisco if you need it to. I think you'll win tonight, and we'll discuss why in a moment. But the fourth things I want to talk about today, and I want to do it in this order. I want to start with Steph. Then I want to talk about the end of the game, which I think whenever a game happens on a Friday, there's not usually a lot of analysis on the Monday shows about the actual game.
It's more look ahead stuff. Then we'll talk Draymond, and then we'll talk Tatum in game five. Okay, sounds good on Steph. I called it the best game of his life. I do believe it was the best game of his life. There was no other offense coming from any other source on the Warriors. Everyone on Boston knew you had to stop Steph Curry, and they could not do it through three quarters. They couldn't do it at all. Now, there
was a moment in the fourth quarter. Yeah, when with four minutes left he saw and scored in the fourth quarter where I was like, oh, my god, because he had only scored six fourth quarter points in the series leading into Game four, was Oh, he's gonna have another rough fourth quarter. But then the floodgates opened. He hit the huge three, he hit a floater, he had a bunch of free throws down the stretch. He ends up scoring forty three points. So it is the best game
of Steph's career. It also, as is often the case with Steph, slightly overstated by the my media cups. And here's what I mean. Steph had a forty point double double. Yeah in the finals. That is exceptional. It is not exceptionally rare. So would you believe that a forty point double double. Jannis did it three times last year? Three times. The year before that, Jimmy Butler did it once, Lebron
did it once in the finals against the Warriors. Just the Finals against the Warriors, Lebron has done it five times, so both of these things can be true. It was the single best game of Steph Curry's career. It was the best finals game he's ever played, better than the forty seven and a loss to Toronto and better than the thirty seven in Game five and twenty fifteen against the Cavs, and when it was two to two, it
was the best game of Steph's career. And it also was maybe the if the best Finals game of the last five years. Both of those things can be true, right because Giannis is fifty point masterpiece obviously trumps it. I think Lebron's Lebron had won in the in the against the Heat or against the Lakers, sorry against the Heat, and then Jimmy Butler had won against the Lakers. I don't think Kawhi had any And then I think Durant. The Durant finals games are tough because it didn't feel
like they were ever in jeopardy. But Durant, particularly in twenty seventeen, had some monster games. So that's not throwing shade. That's being honest.
Every exacting like it's so rare. Well, oh my god, Well.
It was a great game, and watching it in real time, it was a great game, and Steph had to be great for their season's over, and he answered the call. It does not make it one of the greatest games we've ever seen. Eighteen guys have had forty point double doubles in the NBA Finals, and I just mentioned three times in a six game series just a year ago. So that's what's true about Steph for the game. Well, it's also true about Steph for the game as I
talked about last week. This was on the TV show, now on the podcast, but the little preemptive maybe I did talk about the podcast, Oh Steph's hurt? Ye, steps Did Steph look hurt to you?
No?
Of course no, because you know how we knew he wasn't hurt because he didn't come out of the game when he suffered the injury, and he didn't have an MRI the next day. What should concern the Warriors four Game five is and I think this is your take. I heard you say to somebody on the street. Demonse now gets to ask sports questions on the street when we're walking together. True, and Demonse fired back at a guy who was picking the Warriors. Yeah, and what did
you tell him? Why did you say you didn't think they were gonna win two more games?
Because Curry's got to score forty points above the win Yes, I mean like and he's I mean he might have another one in him, But.
Can't he have two more? Or can he have one more? Can Clay explode for a big game? That will be the big question? Mark? Okay, now about the actual end of the game, because I said this to you while we were watching, and then I didn't really hear anybody talking about it over the weekend. It wasn't really brought up much on my TV show this morning. I don't know if the other show's.
Talking about it.
Clay Thompson hit a three to give the Warriors the lead in the fourth quarter, ninety five ninety four, with about four and a half minutes left. Your Boston Celtics did not take another two point shot the rest of the game.
Yeah, I kept trying to win it on one possession.
They got totally tilted by losing the lead. And I'll tell you because I pulled it up today to mention on the TV show. Here was the possessions. Klay Thompson hits a three to go up ninety five ninety four to four and a half left. The next Celtic possessions are the following. Jalen Brown missed three, Jason Tatum missed three, Marcus Smart missed three, Marcus Smart miss three, Al Horford missed three. Al Horford then May to three to cut it from one oh three uh, one hundred and ninety
four to one hundred and ninety seven UH. Then a turnover by Jalen Brown, then a Derek White miss three. Game over. You guys didn't take a two point shot in the final four and a half minutes in a game. It's not like you were down twelve. You ended up being down a lot at the end, but you stopped running your offense YEP. And that to me was you guys getting tight at the end. And this was when
I picked the Warriors before the series. My concern was exactly that the close games at the end, are you guys gonna get tight the way you did in Game seven against Miami. Now, what you have going for you is the Boston Celtics have last seven game eight games in these playoffs. They are seven to zero following.
The league exactly, they exactly.
It's mid January, Demons. They have lost one time following a loss. They've lost back to back games once and that one loss four starters didn't play. So they're essentially undefeated following a loss over the last four plus months. So that to me is one of the reasons you guys should have confidence. Plus, you guys have been better on the road than at home these playoffs. You're five hundred in unfortunately, I guess, and so I don't think you go into San Francisco thinking you can't win. So
all those things bode well for Game five. None of that, though, will matter if Tatum doesn't play better. We will get to Tatum in a moment, and I want your thoughts on what you're seeing with him. But first we have talked about Draymungry. So Draymond's own mother started tweeting about it. Can you imagine if my mom had Twitter?
I think she might have Twitter, but.
Doesn't tweet and doesn't have a following, And can you imagine if I was really struggling on the show and my mom tweeted like, never seen him be this bad? Now, you know what? Hold up, I'm asking if you can imagine if my mom had Twitter. Your mom does have Twitter and does have a following, and I actually think it's on the board that she could send a tweet similar to Draymond's mom.
I could see a slight, a slight little grill from mom. Oh slight, yeah something.
I think she could roast you bad. I think if she saw the Dinosaurs take from last week.
Which is why I actually went out of my way to bring it up to her, because I just wanted to probe and see if you know you went and told her, because you know you went.
I think you dropped her off at the shop that day or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, she she was very sad about it.
She was sad about the Dinosaurs takes.
As soon as I brought it up, she was like, oh no.
I was like, man, but you know, just I know this, this is about the Celtics and no.
Go ahead listen quick. If people didn't see the most recent podcast before this one, Demanse has a red hot take on dinosaurs, So go ahead if people listen to it or watch it there, But.
Go ahead if you saw that episode.
I just want to let you know that if you were to come out to me in the street any day before then and ask me if I thought dinosaurs existed, there's no chance that I was going to be like, no, no way, dinosaurs. I think that was like a spur of the moment type thing. This is not me trying to clear my name.
This no, I like cleaning it up.
It is you're trying.
I knew it when it happened in real time. I was like, and I'm not there's gonna sound self congratulatory. I don't mean it too, but listen, we can all. I think it's important for people to be humble on things that are actually humble about, but also be honest about things they know they're great at.
Right.
I know, one of my biggest skills in the world is like on the fly argument making about things I'd never discussed. You've sat next to me now for like four months doing this and watched me do it, and I think underest to mate it the difficulty of I'm going to present an argument that I've never fully thought out in my brain and make it sound compelling, and you ended up you were like Riley coyote runs off the cliff and then finally looks down as like, oh
there's no ground, and you plummet. Like I was watching it happen in real time. I was watching your eyes. And as soon as as soon as you said the line of velociraptor wouldn't mess with me, I was like, Okay, he's out of here, he's run, he's run out of things, and now it's just like, I'll fight it. I don't care if they live, if they're real or not. I will fight one of those sons of bitches. I was like, listen, you live and you'll learn. Okay, Now back to Draymond Green.
My biggest concern for your Celtics, who are now kind of my adopted Celtics, just because I bet on it, is that Kerr bench is green more and again. I think that is the single best adjustment Steve Kirr can
make is putting Draymond Green on the bench. And you made a really good point right after the game, which is the Warriors winning saved Dramond ever from blowing up, because if they had lost that game in the fourth quarter with Draymond getting benched, he said all the right things after the game, and I give him credit for it, but I do not know if he would have had the discipline to do that if they had lost that game. And so I just think the Warriors are in such bad shape with him on the court.
I kind of I agree and disagree with the whole benching Draymond thing. I like that lineup that they put out in the start of the game of Game four.
Was that Game four.
With Draymond out there with Otto pa.
Yes, well, yeah, I guess that means that Draymond isn't being benched now that I think about it.
No, but they did that to Here's the thing, that their best lineup would be Otto Porter in the starting lineup, but instead of being he was in place of Kevon Loon,
putting him in place of Drake. That's what would worry to me if if I were you, That's what would worry me is if you put the best lineup they could yeah, is Steph Clay Wiggins and then Biggs that can do something in Porter and Looney and if you want to go small, subbout one of Porter or Looney for either Gary Payton for defense or Jordan Poole for offense. By the way, I've never been more right about something pool.
I never fails to just fry Jordan Poole every chance he gets.
And and it's, by the way, another little easter egg from our an episode last week was I said that Jordan Poole reminds me of the year that watching Demond's play basketball was the most frustrating. So now whenever I talk bad about Jordan Poole when we're watching, I can see this looking like, yeah, it's exactly right. It's like I'm quietly disrespecting you from the past. It's like a retroactive insult.
And then it's like he has no hope in him. He's like he sucks, He's never gonna be good guy. It's never been more right about him.
It's just like geez, right. So I say I remind you of me. It's right.
I understand why it bothers you. Okay, So Draymond, the best adjustment of the worries can make his benching him. I don't think they're I mean, he's still playing thirty five minutes a game. They benched him for like four minutes. I don't think they're gonna full on bench him. But it will be interesting if they lose tonight and he's awful again, what will they do with their season on the line? That is to me an interesting question. And now we get finally to tonight and to Jason Tate.
So I do not think Tatum has been bad. Tatum is twenty two, seven and eight right, he is shooting almost fifty percent from three. He has been bad in one, well two specific areas. Too many live ball turnovers that are just like indefensible turnovers, just bat jumping to figure out the past.
That.
Yeah, but he has I think it's fourteen turnovers in four games, So that's three and a half a game. That's not great, but it's not devastating.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, six and four what right?
What is devastating is this. He has taken fifty one to two point shots. He has made fourteen of them. That's less than twenty eight percent.
And a few of them, man, are just gimme layups like I don't.
It's so that's the thing I think people, is the moment too big for him kind.
Of some but it seems like he has spurts where it doesn't seem like it's I think I don't.
Think he's scared of the moment.
I think sometimes he's got a little bit too much anxiety.
That's exactly what I mean. I don't think he's scared either, But he's twenty four years old. He's on the precipice of a championship. He's never been here before, and he's a little unsure of himself, and he knows what's on the other side of this. If they win the title. You're talking. I wouldn't consider him face of the league, but some people would say it. Guys under twenty five won a title for historic franchise, First Team All NBA like, he has all that waiting for him, and he's playing
with the weight of that on him. So I say, let's say this. I don't think you can win Game five in San Francisco without him having a big game. I don't think he has to do what Steph didn't score forty, but I think he has to score more than twenty five, and for the first time all series. He has to be efficient. And the other thing he needs to remember is you're the best player on that team. You're a star in this league. Now you'll get calls.
He seems a little bit he's like shying away from contact at times, you will get the calls on some of these layups if you initiate the contact. So I like your guys' chances tonight. I think Draymond is likely going to be bad for a fifth consecutive game. Tatum will bounce back, and either way go ahead.
Is Tatum still in Club Superstar?
It sounds like, oh no, I'm glad you asked that, and then we'll and then we'll rap because we went longer than we're supposed to for this quick, little short episode. They asked me on the TV show today as well. You I hate when people do this, and this used to happen to Lebron the you carry a team further than it otherwise could go in the playoffs and then you have a tough final round of the playoffs. This only happened Lebron very early in his career because he
was bad in his first two finals. People are like, oh, got a question where he's at when you never would have questioned it if you would have just lost earlier. So in Club Superstar, I have the list right here, embid Jah, Giannis, Lebron, Durant, Dame Kawhi, Jokic and CP three that is what is that nine? That is nine of the twelve guys in Club Superstar. Those guys didn't even make the conference finals this year. So you're not going to kick a guy out who made the NBA finals.
But so Luca didn't make the finals, you're gonna throw him out. So all that's left is Stephen Tatum. Well, Tatum's played bad in the finals, he's out. So now Steph's in the club by himself. But Steph missed the playoffs the previous two years. Now Club SuperStar's empty. No, so you don't. You're when you are the guy who was the biggest reason the team made the finals that year,
can't be used against you. And so just like as bad as Draymond's been, if he was the defensive player of the Year this year and was you know, a decent offensive player, if he had been outstanding all year and it was having a bad finals, we'd still criticize him. You wouldn't crush him, right. Draymond, though, has been mediocre the last four months and has been downright awful this postseason. At this point, and here's the thing. For Draymond, ten
points would feel like an explosion. Yeah, if he has ten points, eight rebounds, four assists. People will come on tomorrow and be like Draymond broke out, Dramon played a great game. Clay is the guy I would worry about for you guys tonight, play at home in that building is the one that would concern me. But I think the Celtics win. I think it's three to two and we will talk about it no matter who wins tomorrow on a full episode of What's Right with Nick Right.
See you as soon