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00:00The crossover is brought to you by Abundant Life Weight Loss.
00:03They know the secret to losing up to one pound of fat every day.
00:06Go to AbundantLifeWeightLoss.com, Matt Steinmetz, Evan Giddings, Dan Dibley,
00:12and I would say of all the hosts, the one who has, in his own way,
00:21and he'll take offense to the word,
00:24but probably the most disrespectful host toward the Houston Rockets.
00:28Oh, I'll accept that.
00:31Yeah, no, I'm fine with that.
00:32All right.
00:33You had me nervous there for a second.
00:34No, I'm totally fine with that.
00:36I don't want it to be disrespectful.
00:38They're just not there yet.
00:39They're good.
00:40They're good.
00:41They're on their way.
00:42I think that might be the nicest thing you said about them this week.
00:45He's just too soon.
00:46He's just too soon.
00:48He's just too soon.
00:50They're babies.
00:51Can I have a job interview and then three questions,
00:54and you're like, oops, I'm not ready.
00:57I got actually a great story for you.
00:58I have a great story on that.
01:00I had one of those, and I was like, oh, damn.
01:02And actually, thank God I didn't get the job.
01:04I wasn't ready.
01:05Can I ask you, you can ask me anything,
01:08is there any chance that you think the Houston Rockets are adorable?
01:15Ha-ha.
01:17Um, no.
01:19He would never think that with Dylan Brooks on the team.
01:21No.
01:22Their offense is too ugly.
01:23They can't be adorable.
01:24Yeah, that's true.
01:25They're not as cute.
01:26Deer and Fox is just so he looks like a little fox.
01:29He looks like a little fox.
01:31Yeah.
01:32And so they were, and that nickname's already taken.
01:34You know, the Kings.
01:36It's not like.
01:37Come up with another one.
01:39I will.
01:39Okay.
01:39I'll work on it.
01:40We got all week.
01:42I'll come up with something for the Rockets.
01:43But no, they're not adorable, but they're not ready.
01:45You don't have seven days.
01:46You might only have through Monday.
01:48Well, that's seven days.
01:50That's true.
01:52Anyway.
01:53I'm having a tough day.
01:54Are you?
01:54Yeah.
01:55Why is your jacket already on?
01:57I don't like that.
01:58Nothing?
01:58Are you just cold?
01:59Yes.
01:59Okay.
02:00I got a little chilly.
02:01Yeah, let's just switch your glasses.
02:04Well, I have two different pair.
02:05One for farm, one for in.
02:07Out, and one for in.
02:08One for networking, and one for work.
02:10Just work.
02:10One for there.
02:12Evan put me in my place.
02:14Well.
02:14I made a big mistake.
02:15You did it to yourself.
02:16Jeff Curry never sat out an entire first half against Portland the year he came back in
02:22game four.
02:22I could have sworn he did.
02:23He didn't.
02:24And it's a game that I've referenced many times, apparently inaccurately.
02:29It was a quarter, wasn't it?
02:31It was like most of a quarter.
02:32He played 13 minutes in the first half.
02:35Not even.
02:35I'd forgotten about it.
02:36The only reason I knew that is because I was at the game.
02:38So, I was working in Portland at the time.
02:41It was the one game that I could go see the Warriors every year, or when they made the
02:45playoffs.
02:45So, we bought some late tickets, waltzed into the Moda Center, and watched Steph Curry
02:53refuse to hit a shot for like literally 13 minutes.
02:56And then in the second half, he erupted.
02:58He scored a playoff record 17 in overtime.
03:01And all only because Sean Livingston, for the first time in his life, it feels like, got
03:05ejected from a game.
03:06So, Sonny was onto it.
03:07He wasn't supposed to play, but Livingston got ejected.
03:11So, he had to play like 37 minutes.
03:12Was that the Steph game, I'm here, I'm back?
03:15Yeah.
03:15Okay.
03:15Yeah.
03:16I'm here.
03:16I'm back.
03:17Did you guys hear we had, and you guys have Steve Kerr at four?
03:20Yep.
03:20Steve Kerr, the coach of the Golden State Warriors at four.
03:22We had Moses Moody on earlier.
03:24Yeah, I heard most of it.
03:25I heard Moses and whoever was talking behind him the whole time.
03:28Jimmy!
03:28We think it might have been Butler.
03:30That's what the text line said.
03:33But, how about this?
03:34Very interesting.
03:35I asked him about his defense.
03:38I said, did you hear the interview?
03:40Most of it.
03:41I heard this answer.
03:42Most of it.
03:43I said, you know, sometimes I like to figure out whether what we think is actually what's
03:48happening.
03:48And I said, I think your defense has gotten better over the course of the last three or
03:52four months.
03:52Would that be true or not?
03:53And he goes, yeah, I think I have.
03:55And he talked about his narrow stance.
03:57He now is using a narrow stance defensively, which makes sense, because then your first step
04:03can be longer in either direction.
04:05You know, that's the kind of stuff I just find it interesting.
04:09No, you love it.
04:10I do love it.
04:10And if you think about it, when he described it, I was hearing him too.
04:14And I'm like, yeah, it makes perfect sense.
04:16Because if you're narrow and you're in front of the guy, you are in front of the guy.
04:20And if he goes left to right, your first step can match his because you're not wide.
04:24If you're wide and he goes left to right, you can't match his move because he has the
04:30ball and he has the dribble and he automatically has a greater ability to go wider than you.
04:36Even if you're narrow, you're already playing defense, pun intended.
04:40But if you're narrow, you have a better chance to pick your own angle and be able to be with
04:46him through that first step.
04:47He was doing like Juan Soto's batting stance.
04:49You know, like some guys, I don't even know how they do this.
04:52Some guys just do like a hip swivel.
04:54They don't stride into the baseball, which at coming 100 miles an hour, maybe it's smart.
04:59But yeah, well, you can't stride.
05:02Well, I get it.
05:03I'm going to take a little liberty here.
05:05And what I really heard him say was I wasn't taught right at Arkansas under Eric Musselman.
05:09There you go.
05:10Okay.
05:11There you go.
05:12It is funny how it's like one small thing.
05:14Like it's not like, ah, you know, I was running sand dunes in the summer or, you know,
05:19I lifted a ton of weights and I gained 20 pounds.
05:21Like, no, I just moved my stance.
05:23Just changed more of my foot.
05:25Just simple.
05:26You don't have to play defense in college.
05:28Nobody makes shots.
05:29Well, you also don't have to cover as much.
05:31Neither does anybody on the Rockets.
05:32Yeah.
05:32Fair point.
05:33Yeah.
05:34You also don't have to cover as much ground on the court.
05:36But that's what his job is now.
05:38I mean, I don't know who you look at as the number one perimeter player on the Rockets
05:44because it felt like they were all just passing it to the other guy.
05:46But Moses is, that's his job on this team.
05:50I also, he sounded more confident than I've ever heard him.
05:55And maybe he had a little Willard in him, honestly, from earlier this week.
06:00He basically said, we think we're better.
06:02We're a better team.
06:03They are.
06:04You know, the funny thing is, I was watching Inside the NBA, and tell me what you think
06:09of this, they all agree, oh, Houston's more talented.
06:14Do you really think the Rockets are more talented?
06:16I mean, what does that mean?
06:17You know what it means.
06:18No, but should it?
06:20I think it's, like, Dibs and I have had this conversation.
06:23I think it's one of the weirdest words, and it's sports a lot, but it's a lot of things.
06:29You know what I mean?
06:29You know this.
06:30Like, in our industry, people who are on the air, it's called talent.
06:33As if the people who are doing the stuff behind the scenes aren't talented.
06:39What does that mean, talented?
06:40Talented at what?
06:42Like, Steph Curry, no one would be like, oh, the raw talent.
06:47But I would argue, maybe if you're able to do what you do with less of the raw, aren't
06:54you more talented?
06:55It almost feels like talent equals potential.
06:59Like, if a guy's got potential, then he's got talent.
07:01It's a euphemism for an experience, I feel like, the way they use it.
07:04You know, you just don't know really how to describe it bluntly, and so you're just saying,
07:10yeah, they're talented, and talent could win.
07:13I mean, in fairness, it's like raw athleticism.
07:16Right.
07:16But what does that do for you?
07:19See, I would say, well, yeah, there is a raw athleticism and a developed athleticism,
07:24I guess.
07:25You know, I was just thinking of the old Jack Nicholson.
07:28So you were in grave danger.
07:30Is there any other kind?
07:32Right.
07:33What if I asked you this?
07:34Who's more talented, Logan Webb or Camilla Dovall?
07:38Dovall.
07:39Okay.
07:39Yeah.
07:40See, I'd argue Logan Webb.
07:41Yeah.
07:41He's a way, way better pitcher, and he actually is able to do it with less.
07:46Of that raw athletic ability.
07:48To me, that's incredible talent.
07:51But, yeah, so whatever.
07:53Maybe that's what they meant by the comment.
07:56But, of course, the Warriors are better basketball players, you would think.
08:00Or that's what happened in game one.
08:02Dibs, what do you expect in game two?
08:05Game two.
08:06I expect, well, if you look at how the Rockets can win a basketball game, all you have to
08:11do is look at not only these six games, but you look at what has happened for their whole
08:17series.
08:17And if they don't shoot the basketball, even at a decent clip, they lose.
08:22And I did a deep dive on all the games they played this year, and the one game that kind
08:27of stands out is the game where you had Dylan Brooks go 10 of 13, and it was the last game
08:33they played in the regular year.
08:35He shot it great.
08:36They shot 48% from the floor, and they won the game.
08:40And I look at the last game they played in the playoffs, and they had a, what, plus 22
08:45rebound differential?
08:47Or plus 16.
08:49And it didn't matter, because they could not score the basketball.
08:53And in the games the Warriors lost, either the Rockets were hot one time, or the Warriors
08:58gave up a ton of turnovers, which happened two times.
09:02And if the Warriors turn it over 20 times, well, Houston still needs to be able to shoot
09:07the ball at a decent clip.
09:08And if the Warriors don't turn it over, then Houston has to shoot it really, really, really
09:13well.
09:14So game two, I do think that it's kind of Houston's last stand.
09:17They have to shoot it well, and they have to turn the Warriors over like you guys were
09:22talking about, and get the Warriors into one of those 20 turnover games.
09:26Otherwise, they're not going to win.
09:28I don't disagree with any of that.
09:31What did Jalen Green shoot that last game when they beat the Warriors?
09:36He was 9 of 19.
09:37Right.
09:373 of 7 from 3.
09:39He had 21.
09:41But do you have any more details?
09:43Because here's what I was thinking about that game.
09:45I know he made...
09:46I know he made...
09:47He has all the details.
09:48He's got a new nickname.
09:50How many do you have in the fourth quarter?
09:52I don't have the fourth quarter numbers, but I mean...
09:55But I know he made at least two shots where he...
10:00Dribble, dribble, pull up on Curry, made them.
10:03Well, the thing about that game was Curry was 1 of 10.
10:07Right.
10:07So, Curry had three points, and I have a whole list of...
10:10He scored 10.
10:1110 of the fourth.
10:1210 of the fourth?
10:12Yeah, and that's kind of my point.
10:14They were up...
10:15Like, you're up 9, 10.
10:19It's a different kind of 18-footer than the 18-footer the other night when it's the playoffs, and you're down 5, and you need to cut it to 3, is all I'm saying.
10:29Like, he put a couple daggers in that game, and they were up 9 or 7, and it bumped him up.
10:35The other game that I think is of note is when they won in the NBA Cup, 91-90, on that bull Casey Schmidt call late, whatever, put that call aside.
10:46That was a game where Jabari Smith Jr. had 15 on 6 of 11, and that was a game in Houston, and you were pointing it out yesterday or maybe earlier today about Jabari Smith Jr.
10:58Like, for me, he is really the X factor.
11:00Like, Fred Van Vliet, please shoot, Fred.
11:03Take my wife, please.
11:05He cannot shoot.
11:06Shen Goon's going to get 22-24, fine.
11:09Jalen Green, whatever.
11:10If Jabari Smith Jr. can, like, actually be a decent player, well, then Houston has action.
11:17You're listening to 95.7 The Game, KGMZ FM and HD1 San Francisco, always live on the free Odyssey app.
11:23And now broadcasting from the Laughing Monk Studios, Laughing Monk, Righteously Brooding,
11:28in San Francisco.
11:29I don't think it's out of the question to believe that Houston could turn the Warriors over more.
11:34Like, that's, that is what they do.
11:36I mean, they force teams to play out of style, and I know that the Warriors did not do that in Game 1,
11:42so it looks like they have the blueprint.
11:43But we were just talking about things that Houston could do.
11:47I don't know if it's more personnel as it is, just literally, I actually think they might go even smaller in Game 2,
11:54just to try and force the tempo to increase, because the Warriors in a half-court setting are just better than Houston.
12:01Like, you heard Moses.
12:02Like, they're just a better team.
12:04And so the only way to try and disrupt that sort of flow is to mess with it.
12:09And I just feel like that's really what the response in Game 2 is going to be.
12:13It's going to be trying to beat them up even more, to run them even more.
12:18And then you kind of just hope that the Warriors revert back to what happened the last time they saw them in the regular season,
12:23which was they got careless with the ball.
12:25Yeah, they could win tomorrow night.
12:26I mean, the Warriors are facing desperation tomorrow night from Houston and in their building.
12:32So, yeah, they'll be intense energy.
12:35Houston might win tomorrow night.
12:37But they also, you know, I mean, I don't even think it'll be enough if they do.
12:41But obviously, they absolutely have to.
12:43I heard your Larry Bird conversation.
12:45I did hear that, too.
12:47It was Game 4 that he likes?
12:49Yeah.
12:50I've always just liked the even-numbered games in general.
12:54People always call the pivotal Game 5.
12:58No, it's not.
12:59Someone's going to go up 3-2, and then the other team can win the next game, and then it's 3-3.
13:02Right.
13:03The pivotal game for me is when somebody already has a one-game lead and can make it a two-game lead.
13:08I agree completely.
13:09Because if you get a two-game lead, the other team is totally screwed.
13:13So, tomorrow is completely pivotal.
13:16If the Warriors win, then we can start making plans for May.
13:21I mean, the...
13:23I kind of already can.
13:24I would...
13:25If the Rockets don't come out chippy tomorrow, that would be an awful sign for the Rockets.
13:32Like, I fully expect a hard foul, or, you know, they're going to take some tough fouls, maybe on Curry.
13:40They might exaggerate.
13:42They're going to get away with as much as they can possibly get away with.
13:46And, what I was saying earlier is, I just really don't think that's specific to the Warriors.
13:53I think it's specific to any team that gets down 1-0, or gets down in a series, and it gets a little desperate.
14:00Like, that's all you can do, outside of tangible adjustments the coach makes.
14:05The only thing he can do is try to play harder, and try to play harder longer, and try to play more physically.
14:12Like, that's what the NBA history tells you.
14:15And history tells you that, at least in this matchup this year, is if you get a whistle that is more tolerant, it probably favors Houston.
14:23And I'm thinking about that game in the NBA Cup, where Steph Curry shot a grand total of one free throw.
14:29The Warriors were 4-9 from the line for the game.
14:34For the game.
14:354-9?
14:354-9.
14:36The Rockets were 9-10.
14:3819 free throws in a complete basketball game.
14:42And I'm looking at the first game of the year, overtime, no Curry, at Houston.
14:46Warriors blew a 31-point lead.
14:48Oh, that's right.
14:49Famously, Houston actually took the lead, 102-101.
14:52The Warriors shot 50 free throws in that game.
14:5750.
14:58And the Rockets shot 24.
14:59So, you had one game, same two teams, mostly.
15:03No Curry, whatever.
15:04Even with Curry, you shot fewer free throws.
15:06You didn't have Curry, and you shot 50 free throws.
15:09There were 74 total in the game.
15:11And then two games later, there was 19 free throws in the game.
15:14So, like, are they all of a sudden not fouling and not defending?
15:19No.
15:19So, a lot of it, I do believe, is dependent on what's allowed and what's tolerated.
15:25Because in that game where Steph had three points, we've all talked about it.
15:28Steph was, he was manhandled.
15:30He was, like, fondled, caressed.
15:33He was hugged.
15:34They're an Eastern Conference bully team that happens to be in the Western Conference.
15:40And so, for me, the number one hope for tomorrow night is come out healthy.
15:44If you get a win, that's awesome.
15:45Series is over.
15:46If you don't, you still have control.
15:49But don't let them hurt you.
15:51Because Dylan Brooks does that.
15:54This is already being discussed in the Boston-Orlando series.
15:57Flagrant foul, Jason Tatum, is doubtful for their game, too.
16:02And Al Horford is out there in the media, literally pointing at specific players.
16:07That's one game into that series.
16:09And Orlando, to me, reminds me of Houston.
16:12They play similar style.
16:14We're over here, like, we're young.
16:16We're athletic.
16:17We can't shoot a lick.
16:18And we know how to play defense.
16:20Okay.
16:21That's not going to work in the playoffs unless you Jalen Rose this thing.
16:27Go out there and knock somebody out.
16:29That's Houston's chance to win the series.
16:32So, that worries me.
16:33The Warriors have won a series in that same way.
16:36So, we should.
16:36Well.
16:37Zaza Pachulia staggered underneath Kawhi Leonard and hurt Kawhi Leonard.
16:41A completely different generation of basketball.
16:44No, but let's be fair about what's happened.
16:47No, you're picking out one thing.
16:49And I'm just going to be fair and balanced and say that the Warriors have benefited from
16:53Who cares?
16:54Dylan Brooks didn't do it this series.
16:55Who cares?
16:56That was five years ago.
16:57That's one game.
16:58That's one guy in one foul.
17:00Yes, we've played one game.
17:00We've played one game.
17:01And you're impugning him based on one thing he did.
17:04And I'm just being fair and saying the Warriors have benefited from a similar act of injury.
17:10That's all.
17:11Great reference.
17:12It's a fact.
17:13So, back to this series.
17:14Exactly.
17:14I worry about...
17:15Well, Dylan Brooks didn't do it in this series.
17:16Not yet.
17:17Because he's played one game.
17:18Dylan, Dylan.
17:19So, yeah.
17:20Dylan Brooks has a history.
17:22I almost think Dylan Brooks was too under control in game one.
17:25Probably.
17:26Because he's usually more noticeable just with his histrionics.
17:32And quite frankly, Draymond was pretty under control too.
17:36Well, it...
17:37I mean, yeah, he's...
17:38The thing with Shingun was not terribly necessary.
17:41No, but...
17:42But he does the unnecessary a lot.
17:44The Nuggets Clippers series was more chippy in the first game than the Warriors Rockets.
17:49Oh, gosh.
17:50Did you watch that game last night?
17:51I saw some.
17:52I lost a tiny little bit of whatever we have for Nikola Jokic.
17:57Oh.
17:57Well...
17:58Don't.
17:58Don't.
17:58No, no, no, no, no, no.
17:59You're seven feet tall and 800 pounds.
18:03Don't do that.
18:05Don't do that.
18:07James Harden literally touched you with his shoulder and you flew across the floor and
18:13acted like a soccer player who had just been shot.
18:17Don't do that.
18:18You know what?
18:19Like, I can already tell you what I'm going to do on Friday.
18:21What happened to this rule in the NBA where you got fined when you obviously took a dive?
18:28Like, dude, you're the best player on the planet.
18:31Don't do it.
18:32These guys have got to stop.
18:34Jalen Brunson last night?
18:35Gross.
18:37Disgusting basketball.
18:38This is the best players in the world.
18:40These are the best teams in the world.
18:42Don't denigrate yourself that way.
18:45It's disgusting.
18:46I hate it.
18:47It is the least watchable part of the NBA right now.
18:51Damn it.
18:51Play ball, guys.
18:53Seriously.
18:54Yeah.
18:55It's brutal.
18:56If you get rewarded, you tend to keep doing this.
18:58Which he didn't.
18:58He didn't.
18:59But if he did, then it's worth it.
19:01I mean, you're trying to get a call.
19:03That's what these guys...
19:04Both those players lost their games.
19:05Nobody suggested the Rockets hurt Steph.
19:09But this game's going to be chippy, and I think it's going to be chippy from the outset.
19:13What, like, this is the other thing.
19:14When you talk about adjustments.
19:17Okay, the Rockets could play Adams and Shengu and stardom.
19:20Okay, I don't think they'll do that.
19:22Like, the Rockets can't play an 82-game season, win 52 of them, finish second, play the exact same way in game one, just shoot it terribly in their mind, and then say, we've got to change everything.
19:38Like, I just think, I can just see Adokas saying, we've just got to be better and play harder.
19:44Yeah, we've got to play better.
19:45You know, so I don't know if there's going to be a lot of adjustments that we'll see and say, oh my gosh, look, they're doing that.
19:51I think the adjustment would be to find somebody who can actually shoot.
19:54And I'm looking at the history of the series this year, and you go back to the game that the Warriors won in February, and Curry had 27.
20:04Jimmy Butler, one of his first games, the Rockets had a plus 10 in rebound differential, and they lost by 7.
20:11It's because they shot 41% from the floor and 55% from the line and 33% from three.
20:17So, even though you won the rebounding game by 10, and you had four more shots, you still lost the game, and you lost it kind of comfortably.
20:27You never really led in that game.
20:28Do you have the free throws in that game?
20:31Yeah, I do.
20:32The Warriors shot 27, and Houston shot 18.
20:36So, and that's where...
20:38I actually believe that the reason the Warriors get to the line more than the Rockets is because they have more basketball players.
20:46They know how to draw fouls, all that kind of stuff.
20:50I mean, Jimmy Butler, best player on the floor doing it.
20:53And the Dubs led by 24 in that game, late third.
20:55They won by 7.
20:57But the one thing that I found in all these Warrior victories is they lead.
21:02They don't lead right away, but they lead in the first half.
21:05They build a lead, and then they go ahead and win the game.
21:08And I don't know how many of the Warrior games this year are that pattern, but it feels like the Warriors are kind of like the Niners, right?
21:15Where the Niners go up 7 or 10 in the fourth quarter, and they're going to win.
21:19And if the Niners are down, it's going to be hard for them.
21:22And the Rockets feel like a team that Curry was describing before they got Butler, which is we're not built to come from behind.
21:28Like, they're not a team that is made to overcome, although they have, I guess.
21:32You know, the 31-point lead you were talking about, 23 in game one.
21:35But as far as, like, securing a victory after, they play better from ahead.
21:40I think that was the key to victory for them the last time they won was because they played from ahead the entire time.
21:46And that's really when their defense is as suffocating as it is.
21:48Well, I like what you said earlier, too, Ab.
21:50Like, the Rockets, they do not have enough offense to play a half-court game.
21:56Therefore, to me, the message the Warriors are probably getting in practice and in film is don't turn the ball over.
22:04Do not lead to fast breaks.
22:07They are jumpy.
22:09They run.
22:09They're young.
22:10They're fast.
22:11They will beat you down the floor if you turn the ball over, and they will get easy buckets, and they will dunk.
22:16But if you just don't do that, we'll give you 10 turnovers a night, and if you keep it there, you're going to win.
22:25Because the Rockets are not going to break down the Warrior defense and score a buck-o-five.
22:30They just don't have the goods.
22:33I think they got two fast break dunks in that game.
22:35I'll take it.
22:36That was it.
22:37Four points.
22:37Yeah.
22:38Like, Kramer, with the coffee, we're prepared to give you free coffee for the rest of your life,
22:46and I'll take it.
22:48All right.
22:49Not Jimmy Butler.
22:50Steve Kerr at 4 o'clock, everybody.
22:52And Willard and Dibb's going to get you ready for game two.
22:55It's like a two-minute guru attack.
22:57On 95.7, the game.