The NBA Conference Finals are set to tip off and Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni are here to break down the matchups. Out west, the guys discuss Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Anthony Edwards as the best player in their series and the Timberwolves potent three-point shooting. In the Eastern conference, they weigh the Pacers depth and pace against the Knicks grit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What are the keys to the NBA Conference Finals?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. Coming up, Espera Henne and I look at both of the conference finals and come up with our keys to the series.
oh we've made it to the conference finals esperanto dave yeah dave dufour we are here nba daily style uh actually doing this a little bit different um travel day for just about everybody that we would want to talk to today so we decided you know what let's put on our thinking caps and do our own little preview with the keys to the series now look we have watched
Chapter 2: Who are the standout players in the Western Conference matchups?
All of the remaining teams, as much as just about anybody, I would say the guys covering these teams are probably about the only ones that have us beat on it. I feel like I've got a pretty good sense of who and what they are. Let's start in the West, since that's going to be the first series. Obviously, that game is going to be tonight. I cannot believe we're already here. Game one of the West.
I bet you the Thunder can't believe it either. The fact that it's Tuesday and they got a two-day break until they have to face the Minnesota Nuts. Just wild.
Chapter 3: How do the Timberwolves and Thunder match up?
Any recovery from game seven. Right. Like it's just gone. Yeah. But at least they're at home. Right. They didn't have to travel. I'm sure Minnesota had the, you know, had the plane all fueled up, ready to go. Where do you want to start with this series? Because, I mean, obviously it's an interesting matchup. The Thunder dominated all year long.
Felt like the Timberwolves found their footing, you know, after after struggling with an identity crisis for most of the season, they found their footing late. But they've been excellent in the playoffs. And I mean, they were sitting at home waiting for the Thunder, which probably feels a little bit different for the Thunder after they swept in the first round. So where do you want to start there?
Oh, man, let's start right at the top. Let's start with Anthony Edwards and Shea Gildress Alexander. I think they will be the main draws of the series for any casual fan. But even if you look at it analytically, if you look at it from like a pure breakdown perspective, this postseason, and we've talked about it a bunch, has been about Anthony Edwards's growth as a playmaker.
Chapter 4: What is Anthony Edwards' role in the series?
It's like the decision making. He's making easier reads. He's understanding the flow of the game, how to get guys involved. There was this great article about how he was trying to balance the scoring and the playmaking punch. And Chris Finch is like, sometimes him just being a score is our best option. Right. And I think that's going to be the ultimate test.
The Thunder defense against Anthony Edwards is going to be his ultimate test as a playmaker because they are going to pressure him. They are going to force him into tough decisions constantly. There will be openings that evaporate instantly because that's what OKC does on defense. So how does he respond? Because... Minnesota can be turnover prone. They can turn the ball over.
And this is basically the biggest test Ant has had in these playoffs when it comes to his newfound playmaking ability. Right.
I mean, look, we have pointed to this 12 assist game that he had against the Warriors in that series. It's kind of like that's something to hang your hat on. I mean, 12 assists in a playoff game. And he still I think he put up 23 in that game.
If he is aggressive at attacking the basket and not looking for the foul call, which is I actually think has affected his finishing around the basket where he's looking for the contact and thinking he's going to get bailed out and he's not finishing through the contact. I think he needs to change that. Right.
If you look at the way OKC was able to guard against Denver, part of it is that old Miami Heat thing. They're fouling the entire time. So you're not going to get called on every foul. Exactly. Yeah. The level of the foul is higher, and so you just have to adjust to that.
I'd like to see him come out pre-adjusted to that because his finishing around the basket has been poor in the playoffs, and it's because of the extra contact. You can hear him yelling, hey, on just about every single layup. It's actually incredible that he has the concentration to find the referee and yell at him while also attempting the layup.
I'd like to see him finish a little bit better, but you mentioned the turnovers. The Thunder have been the most disruptive defense that we've ever seen. We got to see that on full display in that game seven against Denver.
If they can come out like that, I mean, you get into an issue where, wow, Mike Conley's size is a problem because they have all this length on the perimeter and they can pressure him. You do not want the ball to find Rudy Gobert unless he's finishing the play. Oh, my God. Yeah. He needs to catch it and go right up with it. Right. Yeah.
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Chapter 5: How important is shooting for the Timberwolves?
And Rudy is, he is physical, but you can, you can out physical Rudy. And I think Alex Caruso is kind of built for that. This is the most interesting thing in the playoffs for me. Alex Caruso. I think it, it opens up a whole nother world for them defensively and makes them even more switchable. You know, I just, I,
I don't know. How do you, I have a question for you. Okay. How do you feel about the go bear factor here? Because obviously that's always a conversation with Minnesota. It's like, how much can they keep Rudy on the floor? I think with OKC, they're actually positioned to be able to do that. Yeah, totally. A hundred percent.
Yeah. Yeah. I think that Rudy's size is super important. His offensive rebounding keeps him on the court on the offensive end. I mean, you think about the Lakers game that he actually won through offensive rebounding. You could see a world in which he could have one of those games because Isaiah Hardenstein, he can't play every minute, and Chet is a little bit small.
I do think that the Thunder have done okay against Gobert traditionally, but he is a big, huge body that – Pretty good at pulling down rebounds. That's the key.
That could be an issue for OKC, too. It's like if Rudy just dominates on the offensive glass, now you have to play the double big lineups. You can't go smaller. You know what I mean? So, yeah.
And it gets tricky because now you go down the list and it's like, OK, who's Chet guarding?
Mm hmm.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Are you are you still feeling wolves in six? I still feel wolves. Yeah. I don't know why. Something about them just feels like they've got they've got a little bit of extra juice right now.
I also wonder if the rest factor is a thing here, because if you remember last year, we OKC. Well, actually, Dallas got out of a really, really like they got out of that series early. But Minnesota was fighting tooth and nail against Denver. They went to the wire. Seven games came out a little flat against Dallas. Right. Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What adjustments will OKC need to make?
I think it's going to be pretty hot. And then the Pacers have just been so much fun to watch. I'm actually looking forward to them continuing their run. I think we got to start with kind of what we just did on the other side, where we know the best players in the series. It's got, you know, Shea or it's Anthony Edwards, one of those two guys likely to be the best player.
I think you've got more options in the East for who you're ultimately could be the best player in this series. I mean, obviously, Jalen Brunson is Mr. Clutch. You've got Carl Anthony Towns, who has the ability. I mean, he could put up 30 in seven games. That would not be a problem for him.
And then on the Pacers side, you've got Pascal Siakam, who I think has been their best player the last couple seasons, but also Tyrese Halliburton, who seems to have this incredibly high ceiling when they need it. Also clutch in his own way, right? Incredibly clutch. So I think I want to just start there. I mean, who do you think is going to wind up being the best player in this series?
Man, that's a really good question, because I think it will change. It's very impossible to change. I think it will change on a game to game basis. And I think whatever fan base is looking at this and saying they know for sure that Brunson or Cat or Halliburton or Siakam are the best players in the series. They're lying to themselves. This thing is going to go back and forth consistently.
And it's going to be about which one of these players carves out an advantage for themselves the most. And that's why this series is so exciting. It's like, all right, can Tyrese Halliburton attack Carl Anthony Towns? Can Pascal Siakam really take advantage of Cat maybe in the post or take advantage of the double big lineups and kind of space them out, if you will?
For the Knicks, it's Jalen Brunson. Can he attack Miles Turner? Are the Pacers going to drop? Are they going to switch and show against Brunson and force him to be a playmaker? Same thing with Cat. It's just... The answers are – there's not that many answers. That's the way I would say.
There's more questions about this series than there are like certain things that I know, which is that – that's why it's so exciting. I don't know. If I had to answer you right now, I think out of all of them, I think Jalen Brunson is the best player in this series. Yeah. And I think that's the Knicks' advantage overall.
It's like you have a guy who can raise to a level that I'm not sure anybody else on the court can. But – But I understand if a Pacers fan says Halliburton.
I have a take here. I think the series is going to be about who's the best player, but not necessarily for the reasons that we expect. It's almost going to be which of these guys is going to be the weakest link for his team. Like Jalen Brunson, for instance, Carl Anthony Towns, those guys we watched the Celtics when they attacked them and really went at them, put them in foul trouble.
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Chapter 7: Can Minnesota overcome their playoff history?
Yeah, this is the thing about this. The reality of it is that the Knicks have had an arduous road to get to where they're at. I mean, they basically got six guys, maybe seven, and they really only play the five. And that starting lineup has not been good. You know, it's been very close for them all year.
The double big lineup has been much better for them. Yeah, totally.
Right. And so, you know, I think that this is a series where for the Knicks, you know, you look at how easy the Pacers come by points and you start to worry about the Knicks. And this brings me to the next key to the series, I think, is going to be pace. Indiana. They want to get out. They want to run. They even want to attack in that semi-transition, early half-court offense.
So, like, they're just trying to score. They want to get shots up. They believe in their offense. And for the Knicks, like we talked about ad nauseum all year long, you know, it seems like a lot of Jalen Brunson dribbling, a lot of, you know, Carl Anthony Towns on these post-ups where he's probably four feet too far out. And, you know, it just eats up time on the clock.
And that's great because their defense can lock down. But, man, with the Pacers, they just run so much.
Yeah, pace is going to be huge because the Knicks also are like, hey, we're going to we're going to hunt you out in the half court. We're going to try to get Jalen Brunson in some mismatch situations. And then, boom, that's the way we're going to get our offense going. The Pacers on the other side are just running constantly.
And you mentioned it like Siakam does a great job of hunting out mismatches early in the clock. So, you know, Halliburton will kind of have that quick pass advantage. In the half court, Siakam has it in the post and then it's just easy money because he has someone smaller on him. Yeah, that's a huge thing.
I think connected to that is rebounding because the Pacers aren't necessarily the greatest rebounding team. They don't commit to the offensive glass. They're not because they want to get back in transition and deal with their defensive. You know, generally they want to get back. It's like, OK.
The Knicks can really take advantage of that with Mitchell Robinson and Carl Anthony Towns, who I think their rebounding is going to be really, really big in this series, especially Mitchell Robinson. And so it's like, how quickly do we go to hack a Mitch? How quickly do the Pacers go to hack a Mitch? Because that might be the key here from the Knicks side of things.
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Chapter 8: What predictions can we make for this series?
He's just a player. too, right?
Like that guy plays every single possession. Like he's mad at the guy who's guarding him and it's awesome. Right. I mean, he does play like, it's a little bit of like a basketball Napoleon complex when you watch the way he plays in the half court. Like I really, I can at least tip the cap to it because every bucket is hard and he's the smallest guy on the court normally.
I mean, that's like mighty mouse territory. So I just think that at a certain point, you know, that that's not great for your basketball team though.
This is also this is actually mostly about both playoff series here. This the next two weeks is a referendum on the cat Randall trade. Right. Oh, yeah. It's going to be how does Julius Randall perform against OKC? Right. And can he be the deciding factor for them to make it to the NBA finals versus NBA finals and franchise history? On the other side, it's can Carl Anthony Towns.
separate himself establish why he is the second fiddle here in new york why he was the right guy to trade for all of these things and why he can be better than he was in the conference finals last year for minnesota i i just think that's fascinating final year of the season and we're talking about the big trade right yeah it's the last referendum unless they meet in the finals and then that will actually be the last the major referendum that's that's it um yeah but yeah
You still feeling Pacers? I think a lot of people have come around to our way of thinking on this. Again, if the Knicks had the sort of depth that the Pacers had, I would feel much better about the Knicks because I do think Jalen Brunson has that iron will that you really need. I mean, I do think he's a small guard that could win a championship.
I just don't know if this is the team. Yeah, I think it's Indiana. We'll see. We'll see, though.
Well, it's going to be fun. Yeah, you guys, I'm out for the rest of the week. I got a little thing up in New York, so I'm going for that. But S and Zena will take care of you guys. Yeah, I'm going to try to make it to MSG for game one. We'll see if it works out. But that's going to do it for today's show, folks. For S Baraheni, I'm Dave Dufour, and this has been the NBA Daily.
Thanks for waking up with us.
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