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00:00Are you kidding me?
00:01Like, how great is this?
00:02Like, this is the greatest thing ever.
00:04Mitch Lawrence is back on C2C from SiriusXM NBA radio.
00:09Look at him.
00:10New York's finest.
00:12Hey, Mitch, it's great to see you, my man.
00:13I got to ask you.
00:15Great to see you.
00:16You saw that space, that dagger, that crossover move on a great defender.
00:23Like, I was watching a game, and I was like, oh!
00:26That was, like, fantastic, right?
00:32Unbelievable.
00:33Well, I'll tell you what's also unbelievable,
00:35and I would have asked J.B. Bickerstiff this in the postgame.
00:40Why didn't you run a second defender at Brunson
00:44and force someone else to beat you?
00:47Carl Anthony Towns has fouled out.
00:49You don't have to worry about him.
00:50make O.G. Ananobi, Josh Hart, Miles Bridges, McBride,
00:58make one of those guys beat you to get a game seven.
01:01I mean, it's incredible that he allowed the clutch player of the year in the NBA
01:07to go one-on-one.
01:09And people tell me that Thompson's a great defender.
01:12Is he Michael Cooper? Is he Bruce Bowen?
01:14He hasn't earned his playoff spurs yet.
01:16He hasn't done anything.
01:17That team hasn't done anything.
01:18So, to me, that was a fatal flaw.
01:21And you got to remember this because you know this too.
01:23One of the biggest reasons they got to a game six is because Tom Thibodeau,
01:28that was a travesty not calling timeout to get Brunson on the floor
01:33for those positions late.
01:35So, now he's on the floor and you actually allow your team to be beaten
01:40by the one guy you can't allow that to.
01:43So, you were talking about game five when he was standing on the scorer's table
01:46at the end of the game and you couldn't get him in the game.
01:48The only reason the Pistons have got to a game six in my mind is because of that
01:54mental, that mistake by Tom.
01:56And I love the job that Tom Thibodeau's done.
01:59I think you're correct.
02:00The Knicks would be crazy to fire him.
02:01But he didn't get Brunson back in the game.
02:04And to me, that's the reason there was a game six.
02:07And now, if you're J.B. Bickerstaff, don't you remember that?
02:10That's the basic primary reason you're here.
02:12And now, you're not going to run a second defender at him to force somebody else to beat you?
02:18I'll take my chances with O.G. trying to beat me or Josh Hart.
02:22I don't care if Brunson missed a ton of shots, which he did in that game.
02:26That's the guy who I am afraid of that is going to send me into the offseason.
02:31And that's what happened.
02:33So, J.B., you know what?
02:35They had a tremendous year.
02:36That team lost 28 straight games last year under Monte Williams.
02:40That's almost impossible to do in the NBA.
02:43And they reversed that all this year.
02:46And it was just like, guys, come on.
02:48You've got to get the ball out of Brunson's hands.
02:51When you saw Bridges have that dunk on Cunningham, I think it was,
02:56where he came in fast and he flushed it, I was like, that's why they got this cat,
03:02that he has that extra size and he's quick.
03:06And he had a big game last night, 25.
03:08I thought that play was huge.
03:09He had the big putback or whatever, the layup that tied it.
03:15You know, the Pistons are up, what, seven points with two and a half to go.
03:18All they have to do is score another two, three points and they're probably home free.
03:22So, a lot of stuff does go wrong.
03:23Cunningham did not produce down the stretch.
03:26They did not have someone who could match the shot making of Brunson, who was incredible.
03:31But the problem with Bridges is this.
03:33And this is, unfortunately, it's not of his doing, but this is his deal.
03:37They gave up too much for him.
03:40He is a guy who's forever going to be linked to five number one picks, right?
03:44They gave up for the guy.
03:46They gave up a king's ransom for a player who's like your fourth best player on a given night.
03:52So, he has to, that always hangs over him.
03:55That always is, something is going to be a reminder.
03:57Years ago, years ago, I was covering the Mavericks in a different lifetime in Dallas.
04:03And they drafted Detlef Schrempf over Karl Malone.
04:07Okay?
04:08Detlef Schrempf was the guy taking over.
04:11And Detlef had a good career, don't get me wrong.
04:12He was not Karl Malone.
04:14And, unfortunately, it took very little time for the fans and people and even the media to keep reminding Detlef, you're not Karl Malone.
04:22You're not.
04:23And it just, they finally had to trade the guy.
04:26And I don't know what's going to happen with Bridges.
04:28But he has to play at a high level because people know he's a key piece for them in terms of what Leon Rose wanted to do with getting him, getting Karl-Anthony Towns.
04:37But, man, they gave up too much for him for what he gave that to him.
04:41Why can't they beat the Celtics?
04:43Ever.
04:44They're not as good.
04:45They're talent level.
04:46They don't have – let me ask you this.
04:48Other than maybe Brunson, who could you say for the Knicks would crack their starting lineup?
04:55Right?
04:56It's a great point.
04:57I mean, who's better than Drew Holiday?
04:59Who's better than Tatum and Brown?
05:00Who's better than Porzingis?
05:02No.
05:03Who's better than Bridges?
05:04That's the problem.
05:05See, the problem with Knicks fans, when they talk about, you know, Tom wears them out, this, that.
05:11The other – you've got to remember, too, look at what they're working with.
05:15People can say that this team was assembled to try to beat Boston, but with Boston's experience and the talent level of Tatum and Brown to start with,
05:24there's no way the Knicks can win more than a game or two in the series unless Drew Holiday's hamstring is really bad and maybe there's another injury along the way.
05:35I mean, listen, I take Boston over – there's not one thing that the Knicks do better than the Celtics.
05:43They don't score better.
05:45They don't defend better.
05:46They don't shoot threes better.
05:48They don't do anything in all their games.
05:50That's the lasting impression I always got is Boston does everything better to this team and add it to it, Scott, that they have won a title now.
05:59So now they know how to get things done, right?
06:03That now is kind of baked into their whole DNA thing.
06:05So it's like, how are the Knicks going to ever beat this team?
06:08So I got one minute, respectfully.
06:12What – the Nuggets, Clippers in Denver, game seven.
06:15And who do you like?
06:17And then against the Thunder, whoever comes out of that.
06:21Well, I like the Thunder, although I do have questions about if SGA is off, who's going to step up to be that next guy who can get them points.
06:29But I'll tell you this.
06:30James Harden is a guy who collapses in the biggest games we've seen at.
06:34He's got 26 career playoff games, Scott, where he has more turnovers than made baskets.
06:39He had won the other night when they lost game five.
06:42I know they have gotten to a game seven, and I know what Denver did last year against game seven against Minnesota where they crapped the bed.
06:49We all know about that, blowing that 20-point third-quarter lead.
06:52I think Denver wins this game, and I think Harden's going to have another terrible game.
06:56That's kind of in his make-up.
06:58I refuse to let Mitch Lawrence go, Mafia.
07:01I will not let him go.
07:03He's going to come back and do more NBA playoff talk after this segment and break.
07:08He is not leaving.
07:09I refuse to follow the rules here today on a Friday.
07:13Mitch, don't go anywhere.
07:14Grab a cocktail.
07:15We're going to go another segment.