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00:00And I absolutely believe, with all willingness to be wrong,
00:05that the Golden State Warriors will also win this basketball game tonight.
00:09And I wonder if we could look at this bracket just a little bit differently.
00:17I want to throw something at you.
00:19And I'll let the audience know right now, I did not tell Dibs I was going to do this.
00:23So I want to throw something at you right now.
00:27It starts with a premise, though.
00:30The premise is, especially because Deep Dive Dibs, who has been working hard this week,
00:35Deep Dive Dibs has done a lot of historical references.
00:40Seven versus a two.
00:42Oh, yeah.
00:43And who wins game one, and when you win game one on the road, and such.
00:47Do you buy this premise, that the Golden State Warriors we're watching right now
00:54were actually born the first week of February?
00:59And that's the team that we're watching right now.
01:02Do you buy that as a premise?
01:03I buy it to the extent that this team is different than the team that went 12-3,
01:10and then promptly went, what, like 20-26, or whatever the numbers were.
01:14Right.
01:14They were amazing early, and then they were really mediocre, and they actually were kind
01:20of secretly subpar.
01:22No doubt.
01:22And then they got Jimmy, and then they became a different team.
01:26So to that extent, and your premise, I'll allow it.
01:29Okay.
01:30I'm like a judge, and the opposition objected, and I said overrule.
01:34Okay.
01:34Because I want to hear it.
01:35I'm very, very excited that you accepted my premise.
01:37I am hoping that the majority of you listening, and I want to repeat it because I know it's
01:42easy to tune people out when they're talking.
01:45Listen to the premise.
01:46Are these Warriors, the ones we're watching now, are they actually a team that was born
01:54the first week of February?
01:56If your answer's yes, that's who they are now, because I believe that.
02:01So I believe things that happened in December don't matter that much.
02:05So we can go through all these matchups that the Warriors and the Rockets had this year,
02:10and even though the Warriors had some success against the Rockets early on, I don't think
02:15it's an accurate picture of what we're doing now.
02:18So, and this might help with why I am bordering on cocky when talking about this series.
02:27Dibs, I wonder if you might play a game based on my premise, and who cares if you're right
02:32or wrong, because these are all close, and it's just for fun.
02:35Oh, Grandy cares.
02:36Well, there'll be buzzers.
02:37There will be.
02:38Hopefully a ding or two along the way.
02:39I would love to explore your, and the listeners, perceptions about these eight teams that are
02:48in the Western Conference playoffs, and who they actually are right now.
02:53Would you like to guess, heading from eight to one, the seeding of the Western Conference
03:00playoffs, if we just started when Jimmy started playing?
03:05So basically post-All-Star break.
03:07Basically.
03:07But let's start the night that he played against the Chicago Bulls.
03:12The first half was ugly, and then here they came, and that's Jimmy Butler's Warriors era.
03:18From that moment, heading forward, what do you think the seeding of the Western Conference
03:25playoffs actually are?
03:27You want to give it a whirl?
03:28I'll give it a whirl.
03:29Let's give it a whirl.
03:29Let's go from eight up until one.
03:32Who do you think is the eighth seed?
03:35Remember the season, and this is regular season only, no playoff games, no play-in games.
03:40Just the records of the teams once Jimmy Butler started playing basketball.
03:46Who do you think is the eighth seed?
03:49I would guess Memphis, because they were really good, and they wound up as the eighth seed.
03:54So I think Memphis would be the eighth.
03:56That is absolutely correct.
03:58In fact, Memphis has a losing record.
04:00Right.
04:01A losing record.
04:02And I remember we talked about this going into the play-in, and how Memphis was amazing,
04:07and then they were really kind of eh, and then worse, and then they limped in, and they're
04:12the eighth.
04:13And I think you see it so far.
04:16Right.
04:16Right?
04:17They've been blown off of the map twice in Oklahoma City.
04:20Who do you think is the seventh seed?
04:23Here's where it gets tough, because OKC is 68-14, but they were probably like 50-5 at one
04:32point, so I don't think that they're the seventh.
04:35I'm just going to go with Minnesota, because I think that they were good but not great.
04:41I'm torn between Minnesota and Denver, but I'm going to say Minnesota.
04:44You're going to say Minnesota.
04:45It's the seventh.
04:45Grandy, I'm sorry, the seventh seed, in my reality, the Denver Nuggets.
04:52Denver Nuggets, yeah, I knew it was one of the two.
04:54The Denver Nuggets are the seventh seed, and you know damn well, I've been telling you
04:57for a week and a half now, I think the Clippers are going to win that series, and I still think
05:02the Clippers are going to win that series.
05:04The Denver Nuggets, they are your seventh seed.
05:07Who do you think is the sixth seed?
05:09I'd go with Minnesota, because I was torn between the two.
05:12All right, Grandy.
05:13The Los Angeles Lakers.
05:15Yeah, that's my other candidate.
05:16The Lakers are the sixth seed, in my reality, that doesn't actually exist.
05:22Right.
05:22The Los Angeles Lakers are your sixth seed.
05:24Would you like to take a gander at the five seed?
05:27I'm pot committed on the Timberwolves, so I'm going to stay with Minnesota.
05:32Grandy.
05:32I'm sorry, it is ready for this one now.
05:36Houston.
05:37The Houston Nuggets.
05:38The Nuggets, that's the five seed.
05:40Who do you think is the four seed?
05:44Okay, you got it.
05:46The Minnesota Timberwolves.
05:47I was so pot committed on Minnesota.
05:49That is your four seed.
05:50Who do you think is the three seed?
05:52Probably Oklahoma City.
05:54Grandy?
05:55No.
05:55It's the Clippers.
05:56It's the Los Angeles Clippers.
05:57Quite a lot of the Warriors are one, so OKC would be the two.
06:01Grandy?
06:01No, I'm sorry.
06:02Holy shnikes.
06:03The Golden State Warriors are the two seed.
06:06Close, though.
06:07What does that leave for you there?
06:08Who's the one seed, Dibbs?
06:10I would have to say the Sacramento Kings, Mark.
06:13It's the Oklahoma.
06:15Double up.
06:15Oh.
06:16It's the Oklahoma City Thunder.
06:18And that thing kept going.
06:18Okay?
06:19So I want to repeat that for you.
06:20What's the record difference between OKC and the Warriors, if you have it?
06:24I do have it.
06:25Give me a moment.
06:25I know it's really, really close, because the Warriors were amazing.
06:29Yes.
06:29Here is the actual difference.
06:31The Oklahoma City Thunder, 27-5.
06:34The Warriors at 2, 23-8.
06:3823-8.
06:39Oklahoma City, 27-5.
06:42The third seeded Clippers, 22-9.
06:45Just a game behind the Golden State Warriors, even though they beat them on the last day of
06:50the regular season.
06:51Now, the reason I love this list so much is because I actually think, if you look at it,
07:00while not perfect, it is a pretty accurate portrayal of what we've seen so far in the
07:08first four days of the NBA playoffs.
07:11I think it's pretty accurate.
07:13Who's been the best-looking team?
07:15Oklahoma City.
07:16Who's next?
07:17Who's in the next best position?
07:19It's the Golden State Warriors.
07:20Yes, so far.
07:21Absolutely.
07:22Clippers would be the three seed.
07:23I agree.
07:24They grabbed home court away from the Denver Nuggets and almost won both games.
07:29Minnesota's the four seed.
07:31They've dominated the Lakers in game one.
07:33Obviously, the Lakers came back in the next game.
07:36Now, the Lakers down at six, I probably think they look more like the four or the five.
07:42And the Rockets at the five probably look more like the six or the seven.
07:46The Denver Nuggets, say it again.
07:50I think they're going to lose this series.
07:51They just fired their coach.
07:53And the Memphis Grizzlies are, they are the where's Waldo of this bracket.
07:58He who does not belong.
08:00Which one of these is not like the other?
08:03Raise your hand.
08:04It's the Memphis Grizzlies.
08:06You don't belong here.
08:07And you're going to get absolutely unceremoniously knocked out of this thing five games max.
08:12And we kind of knew that, which is why we all thought that the win over Memphis was so big.
08:17And Steve Kerr said as much.
08:18Now, would the Warriors be doing this against OKC?
08:23I think that they'd be faring better.
08:24They might still be down two games to none.
08:26Very possible.
08:27And they might have lost game one by 50 based on the short rest.
08:31But I do think game two would have been a different story.
08:33And Memphis is just not good enough and they're not ready.
08:36So that just leads to what Steve had said.
08:39And you said it as well.
08:40It wasn't a must win against Memphis, but it kind of was.
08:43Because, you know, you get Houston, winnable, you're the favorite, and now you're up 1-0.
08:49Or you get OKC, travel spot, short rest.
08:53They're really, really good with 68 wins.
08:55So if it wasn't a must win, it was as damn close to one as you could possibly ask for.
09:00No doubt.
09:00So when we look at it maybe through this lens, because I believe that's who the Warriors are right now,
09:07maybe it helps people see, I'm not looking at a seven seed.
09:12I'm not watching a seven seed.
09:16In my reality, the Warriors are the two.
09:20They're the two.
09:21And Houston is much closer to the seven.
09:24The only difference in this is that they had to start on the road.
09:29That's the only difference.
09:30And they've been a very good road team all year.
09:33They're veterans.
09:34They've been around the block a billion times.
09:36I don't think they're bothered by the road.
09:38I don't think they care.
09:39And we saw that on Sunday night.
09:42Now, Houston will play desperately tonight.
09:45And they are definitely a quality team.
09:48And so if the Rockets are going to do something in this series, then they'll win tonight.
09:54And they very well might.
09:56They very well might.
09:57But my confidence will not be shaken either way.
10:00And I'll be to the level of snickering if the Warriors actually win this game tonight.
10:05But that's why I sound the way I sound this week.
10:09To me, the Warriors are the two seed in the Western Conference, not the seven.
10:14That's a good way to look at it as far as what this team has been since Jimmy Butler.
10:19And a lot of it is momentum base.
10:21And we can look at the games they played when they had Jimmy Butler.
10:25And Houston came in and beat the Warriors by 10 in that game.
10:28And we can look at why.
10:30And for me, the why is multitude.
10:33It's one, the Warriors were at the end of a gauntlet.
10:36And Memphis shot better than they have in the other five games that these two teams have played.
10:41And I don't want to harp on the whistle too much.
10:43But on that night, there were 29 total fouls called, which is nine fewer than the norm in an NBA game.
10:51And I do think that a more physical game with physicality allowed, I think that that favors Houston more than it favors the Warriors.
10:59Because, A, the Warriors are better at the foul line.
11:02And, B, if you can manhandle the Warriors star.
11:07Like, if you want to manhandle Dylan Brooks, fine.
11:10Dylan Brooks loves to be manhandled.
11:12And you can manhandle anybody.
11:14And Shengun is still going to get to the foul line.
11:16And if you are allowed to manhandle Steph Curry, you have a bigger advantage on the Warriors than the likewise.
11:23I'll buy what you're saying.
11:23I think it moves the needle in their direction.
11:25I don't know if it gives them the overall edge in the game, but it moves the needle in their direction.
11:29I'll buy it.
11:30What do you all think?
11:31Do you buy my premise that the Warriors are actually the two-seed, if you think about it through that lens?