Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. We get to see some Game 7’s, baby! The Celtics and the Bucks are battling it out in Boston and the Suns and Mavericks will go at it in Phoenix. Both these games will be rippers, and I have no idea who will come out. Giannis and Luka are probably the two most dangerous guys in the league right now when it comes to single games, but the Celtics and the Suns both have the better teams. I can’t wait to see what happens! In the other games, the Heat eliminated the Sixers and Joel is at it again. And Klay Thompson has sent the Grizzlies packing with an old-school performance. Playoff basketball is the best! This week we go over some of the incredible moments of Round 2. Get ready for your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week is Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs and the Suns are heading to a Game 7. In every game the home team ended up winning so far, but that doesn’t mean this game will be a breeze for Phoenix. In fact, it will be quite the nightmare for Chris Paul and Devin Booker that they have to play a do or die Game 7 against Luka Magic, Luka Legend, Luka Doncic. The Slovenian wonderboy is probably the most dangerous player left in the Playoffs, able to go off on any given night and drop 50 on a team. And he doesn’t shy away from the important moments, no, he thrives on them.
So far, Luka has averaged 32 points per game, nearly 10 rebounds and 7 and a half assists in this series but the most interesting stat for me is that he averages over 2 steals per game, double of his regular season average. In Game 6, the all-important Game 6, Luka had 4 steals, one of the main reasons Dallas was able to humiliate the Suns in a 27 point blowout. Now let’s not overreact, because the Mavericks still need to go and win in Phoenix before they can take this any further, and they haven’t been able to do so since 2019. But all good streaks come to an end sometime, and I’m sure this is one Luka will want to put an end to in the next game.
Before the Playoffs, I picked Phoenix to make the Finals, and I’m not about to change my pick. We are still talking about the best team in the regular season, with the best closers in the league. What Chris Paul has shown us against the Pelicans in that close-out game was beyond impressive and I’m sure he can do it again, I mean that was only 2 weeks ago. But if there’s 1 guy, actually there are two, in this league that I am afraid to bet against, it’s Luka and Giannis. And unfortunately for Phoenix they will likely have to go through both to win the Championship. Then again, if they can close out this Game 7, that could give them such a boost they become unstoppable themselves. Either way, I don’t see the Warriors beat either one on this team in the Western Conference Finals.
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week is Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors. Game 6 Klay, a nickname that was given to him in 2016, when the Warriors played OKC in the Western Conference Finals. That’s the game he set the record of 11 3’s made in a Playoff game, he finished with 41 points and forced a Game 7, which they won and a trip to the NBA Finals. They ended up losing those Finals against LeBron and Kyrie, but the legend of Game 6 Klay was born. A legend he has been happy to feed over the years, with massive performances in Game Sixes against Houston in 2018 and 19, Toronto in 2019 and Memphis in 2022. Klay finished Game 6 against the Grizzlies with 30 points, including 8 from 14 three pointers, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks.
After an embarrassing game, no, embarrassing is not strong enough. After a shameful performance in Game 5, where the Grizzlies led by 50 after 3 quarters, the Warriors were able to turn it around in Game 6 and secure their spot in the Western Conference Finals. This team is the epitome of arrogance, with Draymond Green and Steph Curry pretending that the ass-whooping didn’t bother them. Of course, with 3 rings you can afford to be a bit arrogant, but these guys have to remember they are not the same as they were 3 to 5 years ago. A lot has happened since and even though they’re back to the best of the west, they’re not the favourites to win it all this season. Their next stop will be much harder again, and they’ll have to show their opponents a lot more respect.
Mind you, the Grizzlies are not mad, they were happy to give attitude back to the Warriors themselves. This team is so mature, even though they’re one of the youngest teams in the league and they are going to be a joy to see in the Playoffs in the next few years. They are by far the team I’m most excited about in the future. But in the meantime, we stay with the good old favourites. It is fantastic to see Steph, Klay and Draymond back in the Western Conference Finals, after all the misery they have been through in the last 2 years. We have been robbed of Game 6 Klay for 2 years and it is good to have him back. Hopefully he’ll have another chance to put up a show in another Game 6 this season.
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat. Or should we pick Tobias Harris? Alright, maybe not. The last team that did that, is surely regretting it now. The Heat eliminated the Sixers on their homecourt, absolutely smashing their future into smithereens. But we’ll discuss the Sixers a bit later on. Right now, we’ll focus on Miami. The Heat are the first team to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals and I’m sure they’re happy with the break while the Celtics and the Bucks beat each other up in what will be one of the most exciting Game 7’s in recent history. You can write this down, the Heat are winning Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, regardless of who they play.
But that’s about as confident as I get for Miami. They will have to show us a lot more than what we’ve seen so far this season. They played a battered Atlanta, with the worst Trae Young we’ve ever seen. Then they played a beaten up Sixers team that missed Embiid in the first 2 games, and fell apart in the last 2 games. The only 2 real Playoff games Miami played so far, the first 2 games in Philly, they lost, and not by a little bit. Jimmy Butler has very little help offensively and that is worrying. For the series, Butler is averaging 27 points per game, with 7 assists and 5 rebounds. The only 2 other players coming sort of close are Bam, with 16 points and 7 assists and Herro with nearly 15 points per game. After that, they’re relying on Strus to keep dropping 3 3’s per game and Oladipo to stay healthy. Lowry is nowhere, Robinson is glued to the bench and PJ Tucker is not the guy you want to rely on offensively.
Even though they have home court advantage, the Heat are not the favourites in the next round, no matter who they play. But, like I’ve said on the podcast in the past, that’s the way they like it. The Heat have had 2 warm-up rounds and are only starting their Playoffs now. For an older team, that is an advantage. Yes, Butler has been playing great since the Playoffs started, and lucky too, otherwise they might not have been here, but if there’s one guy on their roster that can play 4 series at full speed, it’s Jimmy. Hopefully they can recuperate Lowry, and Bam and Herro can step it up another notch so we’ll get to see a good series. Because the Heat will win Game 1, there I said it again, but they’ll need their whole roster if they want to win another game after that.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week is Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. Tatum and the Celtics are playing one hell of a series against Giannis and the Bucks. Home court means nothing in this series with the away teams winning 4 out of 6 games so far. Giannis has dominated for the Bucks so far, averaging 35 points and 13 rebounds per game. And if it wasn’t for an amazing display of Tatum in Game 6, Giannis would have been my pick this week because the Bucks would have sealed the win and progressed to the Finals. But Tatum put up 46 points, to beat Giannis’ 44 points and 20 rebounds and steered the Celtics to a Game 7 instead of elimination. An incredible performance from a guy destined to be the next star in this league.
But to become that star, he needs to get past the current star. Giannis is the best player in the NBA, there is no doubt about it. In this series alone, he has put up 40+ points 3 times. He has taken another leap in comparison to last season and is desperate to win his second title in a row. Not being able to count on Middleton is rough for the Greek Freak, but he takes it into his stride, and does whatever he needs to do to get his team to the win. With a bit more luck in the Playoff seeding, the Bucks would now be certain of a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals but they have to go through Boston, a team that has completely reinvented itself in the middle of the season and are playing like a Celtics team from the 80’s.
We were waiting for a Tatum game in this series. I mean, he has been playing really well but we’ve had a Jalen Brown game, an Al Horford game and 3 Giannis games. And if it wasn’t for Jrue Holiday we would have had a Marcus Smart game given he wanted to be the hero in Game 5. Looking at it that way, Boston should have been done. They could have won Game 3 as well, where they had 3 tip-ins at the end of the game to force overtime. But they didn’t and ended up facing elimination in Game 6. But Tatum has arrived and is ready to become the new guy in the East that everybody is concerned about. The East needed a new LeBron, and now it has 2, Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo. These dudes will battle every season to make it to the Finals, and this battle concludes tomorrow. I don’t know who will win but I can’t bet against Giannis.
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week is Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. Even though his season is over, I wanted to take some time to talk about Embiid. He is an incredible player, who deserved to be the MVP this season, even though my guy was Jokic, and who deserved to get through a Playoff series healthy. But, unfortunately for him, you don’t always get what you deserve and now that his season is over, he has nothing to show for it. He played 68 games, securing the scoring title, but is not the MVP in the league. He played through a broken face and a thorn thumb but was eliminated before the Playoffs got real. He deserves so much more and yet, there is something that bugs me about Embiid.
And that feeling was justified when Embiid sat down for his post-game press conference. Before we go into the comments he made, I want to go over the stats in his game. He finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but only made 6 points in the second half of the game. Taking his 3’s out of consideration, he shot 5 of 16 from the floor and only got to the line 4 times. These are not impressive stats from a guy who is supposed to be an unguardable monster. And his numbers were even worse in Game 5. Now, I’ll give it to him. Like I said, he was battered and bruised but decided to show up and play for his team and his city. I have one question on his availability. Given he was so hurt but managed to put on an amazing performance in Game 3 and 4, why couldn’t he sit out Game 5 and wait in Philly for Game 6? He would have had some rest, and wouldn’t have had to sit through the humiliation in Game 5 and maybe Game 6 would have looked different. Then take him to Miami for the deciding Game 7. Anyway, that’s my first take.
Now for his comments. His own stats were not that great and yet, just like last year, he decided to throw his teammates under the bus. He had every reason to blame the injuries yet he chose to blame his team for coming up short. Yes, James Harden is not the Harden anymore from Houston, I totally agree with what he said, just like I agreed with his comments on Simmons last season. But that’s not the point. These are things you don’t bring up in a press conference, especially right after being eliminated from the Playoffs. Much like nobody wants to be Harden’s teammate anymore, and that will be a problem for Philly next season, Embiid needs to start being careful about what he says because players around the league will not want to be his teammate anymore. Because if they lose, they know Embiid will just blame them and get away with it because he is Philadelphia. Embiid is a great player and seems like a great guy, and I applaud that he chooses to be straightforward with the media but he is only hurting himself.
Now, Philly has a massive problem on their hands and I don’t see a solution for it. This Harden-ordeal is not going to finish well. Sign him and he stinks, you’re screwed. Let him go for minimal assets, you’re screwed. It’s painful but out of the whole Simmons-saga and finally Simmons-Harden trade, there is really only one winner. It’s not Philly, it’s not Harden, it’s not even the Nets. It is Ben Simmons, who is out of a franchise he hates, and because he is still so young, he has plenty of opportunity to build towards a title himself, especially alongside KD. I see it more likely that Ben Simmons will win a title before Joel Embiid, right now. And again, Joel is the one that deserves to win a title before Ben. But sometimes in life, we don’t get what we deserve.
This is our All-NBA team of the Week. Please share our podcast and give us 5 stars. If you have any questions, you can contact the show on eight2fouroffice@gmail.com. Thank you for listening, ballers out!