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00:00I hate to sound like I'm going to put more pressure on the Warriors.
00:04I don't think it matters. I think they're fully aware of where they are.
00:08But I woke up today, Dibs, and this is how I felt about this game.
00:12It really does.
00:14The whole picture, in many ways, comes down to this.
00:19And it's not to say that they couldn't win Sunday if you have to go to Sunday,
00:23but I already laid this out, and you did too yesterday.
00:25I don't think it's a very workable situation for the Warriors.
00:30Even if they were to go to Sunday and win a Game 7,
00:33then turn right around off of that energy and be in Minnesota Tuesday night,
00:3848 hours later for Game 1, 48 hours later than that for Game 2.
00:42It's too much. It's too much.
00:44You have been asking me for how many months now?
00:48Oh, at least three months.
00:49What is the over-under on Warrior playoff victories this year?
00:55And you kept setting the number at 4.5.
00:57And for weeks, I took the under, and took the under, and took the under.
01:03And then the Warriors went through that late-season gauntlet,
01:07and they went to L.A., and they defeated the Lakers two days after defeating Memphis.
01:14And then they ran home and defeated Denver.
01:18And it was after that run that you asked me the question again,
01:21and I finally changed, and I said,
01:23I will take the over on four-and-a-half playoff victories.
01:27And I believe that that entire bet comes down to tonight.
01:32Yeah.
01:33That bet for me probably comes down to tonight,
01:37and therefore, to me, the Jimmy Butler trade is already a double down the line.
01:43And I liked that this morning when you shared that.
01:45It's already a double, but tonight decides likely, not for sure,
01:50but likely decides whether or not this trade was a home run.
01:54I kind of agree with it because even if they win tonight,
01:58you go to Minnesota, and maybe you lose in six, whatever happens to Minnesota.
02:02I do think that what you've learned from the Jimmy Butler era is enough to indicate
02:08that this is going to work next year, health permitting, of course,
02:12and that every conversation comes down to that.
02:14But Jimmy fits.
02:15Jimmy is still good.
02:17Jimmy is exactly the player they need to keep this thing going.
02:20And if you want to talk about Steph and his decline,
02:24his decline has not been that dramatic.
02:26He might be 7% worse than he was when they were champions three years ago.
02:30Whatever the number is, he's still good enough to give it a go
02:34and make things happen.
02:36So the Jimmy fit, even if this ends in the next round,
02:39it still is, in my opinion, a home run
02:41because you're going to get better in the offseason, you think,
02:44and you come back next year.
02:45And even if Jimmy played the whole year,
02:48do you think you would have been a 7 seed?
02:50No chance.
02:51You'd probably be a 3 or a 4 seed.
02:52Totally, totally.
02:53And we know since the Jimmy Butler trade,
02:55they were the 2 seed in the West after the trade.
02:57And so this is kind of what I mean by saying that.
03:01I don't want to speak for any Warrior fan,
03:04and in fact, we would love for you to call and speak for yourself on this.
03:08But my sense is,
03:10obviously a championship would be overwhelming and surprising.
03:16I think that a trip to the Western Conference Finals,
03:20for most fans, they would say,
03:23you know what, bravo.
03:24Hell of an effort.
03:25Unbelievable run through the playoffs.
03:28Round 2 is sort of where par arrives.
03:32And some would be satisfied enough.
03:36That counts as making noise in the playoffs.
03:40Others would say that that's a disappointment.
03:42But round 1 and out,
03:45I think everyone would agree,
03:47is a disappointment.
03:48That is not enough to say
03:51that the Jimmy Butler trade was a great trade.
03:54Well, tonight, by all odds,
03:56tonight is the night where we find out
03:59if this team is comfortably going to get into round 2 or not.
04:02And what they do when they get there,
04:04to me, that's where you arrive at,
04:06hey, this was a job well done.
04:08If you launch forward from here,
04:11that's where I'm going to say bravo.
04:12Unbelievable.
04:13If you go and play Minnesota,
04:16and in 6 or 7 games you lose that series,
04:19I wouldn't rip the guys.
04:20I would not say,
04:22oh my God, this is incredible.
04:23But I'd be like,
04:24it's pretty good.
04:25This is a pretty good job.
04:26This is pretty good.
04:27You turned this thing around in February
04:29and went somewhere with it.
04:31So that's my thinking.
04:33The whole kit and caboodle
04:35kind of probably comes down to tonight.
04:38I don't think that it,
04:39for me anyway,
04:40it doesn't all come down to tonight.
04:42And I'm looking at the recent history
04:44and the post-COVID era of the NBA.
04:47And I'm looking at 8 of the last 11 Game 7s
04:50have been won by the road team.
04:53So it's actually been a trend.
04:55And we can go through each and every one.
04:58Milwaukee over Brooklyn.
04:59Milwaukee was probably better.
05:01Atlanta did beat Philly in the Game 7 on the road.
05:05Minnesota did it to Denver, right?
05:06Last year.
05:07Yep, correct.
05:08Yep.
05:08Indiana did it to the New York Knicks.
05:11Jalen Brunson, best Knick ever.
05:12Apparently.
05:13Apparently not.
05:14Warriors obviously did it two years ago to the Kings.
05:16Exactly.
05:17So, I mean, you look at the recent history,
05:19and I could go back into COVID,
05:21but as we talked about yesterday,
05:22that's not really fair
05:23because those weren't road games.
05:25Right, no fans.
05:26But the trend of Game 7 road victories
05:28is dramatic of late.
05:31But understand what I mean.
05:32I'm not saying that the Warriors would not be able to win in Game 7.
05:36I'm saying that even if they did,
05:38it would leave them just, I think, kind of breathless going into the next round.
05:42I'll give you that.
05:43We talked about that yesterday, and I agree.
05:44And that's also why I'm using the word probably.
05:47I'm not going to be definitive and say
05:48the whole thing comes down to one basketball game.
05:52Because they might win Sunday,
05:54and they might surprise us,
05:55and they might be able to still function in round two.
05:58I don't know.
05:59They might go back to Houston on Sunday
06:00and get blown out by 30 again.
06:02I don't know.
06:04But odds are,
06:06and the feeling and the vibe is,
06:08to me,
06:09that this whole thing,
06:11whether or not it was just a little success
06:13or, quite frankly, a wild success,
06:16probably comes down to this game tonight.
06:19And I am both nervous and exhilarated by that.
06:24This tonight,
06:26this is the game of the Jimmy Butler era.
06:29This is the one.
06:30Well, it might be the game of this entire era.
06:34Because if you can't win a series against a young team,
06:38Houston,
06:39in which you were up three games to one,
06:41if you can't close that out with,
06:44and we can be fair about injuries,
06:46like Steph Curry's got a thumb that is a problem,
06:49Jimmy Butler has a tailbone,
06:52and Draymond Green has a variety of injuries
06:56that have kind of dogged him the whole way,
06:58but they're not making excuses,
07:00so I won't either.
07:01If you're up 3-1,
07:02and you can't close out Houston in this fashion,
07:06well then,
07:07Houston,
07:08Golden State,
07:08we have a problem going forward.
07:10For sure.
07:11But if you win this series,
07:12and then,
07:12you know,
07:13Minnesota,
07:14they've got Anthony Edwards,
07:15who's phenomenal,
07:16and you've got a bigger,
07:17younger team,
07:18and maybe they get you in the next round.
07:19Okay.
07:20You could look at that and say,
07:21all right,
07:22it's a building block.
07:23Next year,
07:24maybe you're a top four seed,
07:25and you get home court,
07:26and,
07:27you know,
07:27you make the roster a little bit better next year,
07:29and Pods is better,
07:30and Moody's better,
07:31and who knows about JK.
07:32Whatever next year is,
07:34I think that if you get to the second round,
07:36you could be more positive about what you could still become.
07:40If you lose this blown a 3-1 lead,
07:42I'm with you.
07:43Wow.
07:43It's like,
07:44wow.
07:44It's also,
07:45I think,
07:46you know,
07:46we have a smart audience,
07:48and you've,
07:49a lot of you have watched a lot of Warrior basketball,
07:52and just NBA basketball through the years,
07:55and so I think that a lot of you,
07:56understand the ebb and flow of the playoffs,
08:01and if you do,
08:03and you are actually the better team,
08:05and you are actually a good team,
08:07like a actual contending team,
08:10you win this game.
08:11I actually spend a lot of time with you on these airwaves,
08:15not making it about one game,
08:17because I don't think that's usually fair,
08:19but the playoffs are a little bit different,
08:22and when you have these veterans on the team,
08:24the ebb and flow of a playoff series,
08:27when you get game one and grab control,
08:30when you get game three,
08:32when you have a 3-1 lead,
08:33we've played all the percentages,
08:35they're all high,
08:36and then you get to this point,
08:38which is game six,
08:40at home,
08:41second chance to close them out,
08:43this is a game,
08:45that a veteran contending team,
08:47wins,
08:48wins,
08:49doesn't mean something weird couldn't happen,
08:51so I'm not saying everybody sucks,
08:53if they don't score more points than the Rockets tonight,
08:56but we watched this three years ago,
08:58against Memphis,
08:59and they totally forgot a 30-point loss,
09:03in an hour,
09:04and they came out,
09:05and they won the basketball game,
09:07I don't need it to be a blowout,
09:08I don't need it to be double digits,
09:09they need to score one more point than the Rockets,
09:12but this is a game,
09:14you win,
09:15if you are,
09:16who we think you are,
09:17yeah,
09:18you're favored,
09:19you're healthy enough,
09:20and you're better,
09:21so come on out,
09:22in your home court,
09:23and all you fans,
09:24who are coming out here,
09:25get here quick,
09:26the game starts at six,
09:27and we want to make sure,
09:28that everybody's in their seats,
09:29and ready to go,
09:30because the last thing,
09:31that the Warriors want,
09:32is to have to get on a plane,
09:34and go to Houston,
09:35and also pack for Minnesota,
09:37because,
09:38and you may pack for Minnesota,
09:39and not even get there,
09:40because you go to Houston,
09:42and you might be a slight favorite,
09:44you might be underdog,
09:45I think they'll be a dog,
09:46if they lose this game tonight,
09:48I think they'd be a dog,
09:48depends on how they lose,
09:49I mean,
09:49if it's a close game,
09:50and all the rest of it,
09:51but you know,
09:52handle it,
09:53and win,
09:54and then tomorrow,
09:54you get to rest,
09:55and then Sunday,
09:56you worry about flying to Minnesota,
09:57and you take on the T-Wolves,
09:58we were,