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00:00where the Pacers are a current five-and-a-half-point favorite
00:04against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucs.
00:08That number climbing a little bit, up to six in some spots.
00:12And this series is so fascinating
00:18because you have Giannis entering this series playing
00:21as good of basketball as he has ever played in his career, quite frankly.
00:28Giannis playing six games in the month of April,
00:3232-12-12 is what he averaged in that span.
00:37Giannis quietly averaging 30.5 points per game with 12 boards
00:42and 6.5 assists on 60% shooting is also amazing.
00:50And he's not in the MVP race really,
00:53yet will finish third on maybe every single ballot
00:57and is going to be unanimous first-team All-NBA and should be.
01:02The question, though, is can Giannis break through
01:06now that he looks to be healthy
01:08and get this Bucs team on a run?
01:12Can he beat the Indiana Pacers largely by himself?
01:16If he does at that point, Damian Lillard might be back.
01:20One of the things hanging over this series is a potential Damian Lillard return.
01:28Giannis has, I think, been given a lot of leeway for his inavailability
01:35because he does have a championship
01:37and because Embiid's is talked about way more.
01:41But Giannis has sneaky not held up enough.
01:44You know what Giannis averaged last year against the Pacers in the postseason?
01:47Giannis doesn't exist.
01:49He didn't play.
01:51This time he does.
01:53And if you are on the Bucs, the general you,
01:56it is because of a sole belief in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
02:00Do you have that belief, coach?
02:03In Giannis, to beat the Indiana Pacers in this series?
02:06KW, when you really think about it,
02:09does he have the ability to take over this series?
02:13Absolutely.
02:15My concern is truthful.
02:16Number one, when you get Damian back.
02:20Because I think people have to understand,
02:21Damian was brought in not to be Batman
02:25except for the last two minutes.
02:28Meaning, he's your closer.
02:30He's your Mariano.
02:31Because of his ability to create and get shots on his own
02:36and hit big shot after big shot.
02:38I don't know if there's a better big shot taker,
02:41maybe him and Trey, I would say,
02:43in regards to the ability to hit, like, daggers.
02:46Game-ending daggers, right?
02:48So, my problem is we don't know what we're getting Damian back.
02:53And obviously, you have to ramp him up
02:55after being off of the blood thinner.
02:57The other problem is,
02:59y'all know where I'm going.
03:01Glenn Dock Rivers.
03:04This is a guy that continues to get outcoached in big spots.
03:10This is a guy that can't seem to make adjustments during series.
03:16And I think he's going against Rick Carlisle,
03:20who I believe is one of the most underrated coaches in the history of this league.
03:24This series is also going to be about pace.
03:30The Pacers, these two guys, are going to want to run.
03:34Milwaukee's going to want to slow it up with Giannis to save his legs,
03:37Brooke Lopez, Bobby Portis, so on and so forth.
03:41It gets up and down.
03:43Pacers win this series.
03:45I'm taking them minus one and a half games.
03:47And I will go on record and say this.
03:49When they lose, Giannis will ask himself out of Milwaukee.
03:53Giannis will be traded at the end of the year, or during the summer.
03:57He said it before the season.
03:59He said, Eastern Conference, or I got to start reevaluating my options,
04:03or to paraphrase what he said.
04:06If they get by the series and they play Cleveland, yeah,
04:09if they lose in six, then he may say,
04:11you know what, we're close.
04:12We can run it back.
04:13Dane wants it all the way back.
04:14We can make another move.
04:16But I think he looks around at the East
04:18and sees how young Boston is,
04:20how good Cleveland is,
04:22that the Knicks are in their window.
04:24Does Philadelphia turn it around, right,
04:26if everybody's healthy?
04:27You look at Orlando, young team.
04:29These young teams, he's looking around saying,
04:32I don't know if I don't make a run this year with this old roster.
04:36I don't know when the run is coming.
04:38So I think if and when they lose,
04:41I think Giannis is going to ask out of Milwaukee.