After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Whether you're an early bird looking to dive into a daily news podcast or a night owl who wants to catch up on the latest reality TV drama, T-Mobile will keep you connected on their strong and reliable network. I'm JR of the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. I'm also the host of the new podcast Agents of Inclusion. We talk to a different Special Olympics athlete every week to learn how sports can bring us together. We're bringing both the disability and non-disability community to one community.

All one people, one family. It took me a little while, but I decided to claim autism as my superpower. When you hear the word autism, don't let that hinder you from doing whatever it is that you want to do. That's what Special Olympics tells you. You get involved in sports, but then you take it from the playing field out into real life. Family means to me community, acceptance, love, embracing a person just as they are. That's what Special Olympics did for me. It's all about family.

Subscribe to Agents of Inclusion on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. We're turning to the beginning of our final show of the work week because they're so annoyed with the fact that I'm yelling. But how can you be annoyed at a person yelling about Friday? Oh, unless you work the weekends. Ruh-roh.

I mean we do work weekends, we work Sundays, but that's why we get so excited about Friday mornings because our weekend officially starts four hours from now. Yeah! Thank you, Ovi. Thank you. By the way, my next dog, Ovi. Ovi is her, it's going to be a girl because I only have girl dogs. Ovi is her name.

Sorry, Pen. We will not get a dog until you are no longer with us on the planet. But when the queen has departed, there will be another dog named Ovi. What's up, buds? I actually haven't told Bob this.

I don't know how he feels about it, but whatever. It'll be my dog. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Happy almost Friday. For those of you who are on the west coast, in the Pacific time zone, Alaska, Hawaii, maybe your mountain time zone, wherever you are, maybe you just haven't gone to bed in the eastern time zone on your Thursday night yet and you're hanging out with us.

That's essentially the predicament that we are in here. We are rocking and rolling toward another weekend. And if the traffic around New York City is any indication, people have already started their weekends, wowsers. I actually did not have any dramatic road rage because I'm just stupefied by the number of cars and trucks on the road at 1230 in the morning eastern time. It's crazy.

And I know if it's happening in New York City, it's happening in other cities as well. And so there are a lot of you in your cars. There are a lot of you still awake. There are a lot of you who want to hang out with us and usher in the weekend.

I can feel it for a lot of reasons. We now have, are you ready? Hold up one hand. Count with me. Hurricanes and Nuggets into the conference finals. They are the first two teams in the hoops and hockey playoffs to reach the final four in their respective sports. First two, which means we're down to six potential game sevens.

I'm counting them that way. We're down to six potential game sevens. We know that we have one between the Celtics and the Sixers, and we are going to hit that game hard because wow, it was quite a game.

If you love hoops, if you love competition, if you enjoy the tension, the back and forth of a game with so much on the line, you don't even have to be a fan of either of these teams. It was just one heck of a game. The ebbs and flows, the twists and turns, the fact that once again, Philadelphia managed very few points in the fourth quarter and Jason Tatum. Jason Tatum outscored the Sixers himself in the fourth quarter.

That shouldn't happen. The look on his face through the majority of this game, honestly, second quarter, third quarter, he was tripping. He was falling. He looked awkward.

He did not look like a professional athlete. Still drunk from vacation. I hope that's not the case. Maybe it looks that way.

I hope that is not the case. He was a disaster through three and a half quarters, and I no doubt he would tell you the same thing himself. He was a mess. He was tripping and falling.

He was, I mean, the shots that he was putting up just looked ugly. His name is Jason Taylor. It was his alter ego, Jason Taylor. It wasn't actually Jason Tatum, but crunch time, fourth quarter, about five minutes to go, everything hanging in the balance for the Boston Celtics.

Jason Tatum shows up, and after the game, do you know what he said? Humbly, I'm one of the best players in the world. Oh, humbly. Okay. Humbly, I'm one of the best players in the world.

Even though that was on court for a different network, we might have to grab that. We'll give credit where credit is due. What happened to Joel Embiid down the stretch? I don't think that he's entirely to blame, but if I'm the freaking MVP of the NBA, do you know what I'm doing? In my teammates' faces telling me, give me the damn ball.

How about, um, yoo-hoo? I'm the MVP, you hoodlums. Give me the ball.

Where's Keyshawn when you need him? It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio, really excited for a lot of reasons, not only because we've got hoops in hockey tonight, but because we've got the NFL schedule released, da-da-da-da, and because, let's be honest, do you want to know why I'm really excited? Producer Jay, do you want to take a stab at why I'm really excited? Is it the over-under? Is it because I love to be right? Is that it?

It might be. I do love to be right. For those of you who like to go toe-to-toe with me and match wits with me, I will just remind you, this is a pattern now. Remember when Odell Beckham Jr. went to the Los Angeles Rams and I set the line at six touchdowns?

What did he have, six in three years with the Cleveland Browns? I set the line at six. You all laughed at me.

Some of you made fun of me. Jay took the under. Always go the opposite of Producer Jay. Jay took the under. Guess who was right? He had touchdown number seven in the Super Bowl before he tore his ACL. He's had no touchdowns since then, but that wasn't the contest. When I give you an over-under, always take the over.

The New York Jets, I set the line at nine nationally televised games. I do so love to be right. No, I'm not going to say I told you so. That would not be humble of me. Humbly, I'm one of the best radio hosts in the world.

I can't even say that with a straight face. Humbly, I'm one of the best basketball players in the world. Okay, you certainly were in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.

I'll give you that. And actually, Tatum made a huge impact on the game. Well, it was a decoy of nothing else, but he also made a huge impact on the game in other areas. Played fantastic defense. He continued to move up and down the court. He had, I think it was nine rebounds, six assists in there, a couple of steals, some blocked shots. He was locked in.

He just couldn't get the ball to drop through the hoop. It's a pesky little thing. Slippery little sucker. So please find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. Do you know, I've never done this before in my entire social media career, but I did it today.

Here, I'll retweet it. I was looking back through my photos and thinking about how I always take a vacation in May, except for this year. Oh, and for the COVID year, but really when I was away from work, couldn't go anywhere anyway.

I was moving actually in May of 2020. I decided to do a TBT. Jay, I don't know why. I looked through the photos. I realized the timestamp on one of my favorite beach photos that I've ever taken.

It's clouds on fire. That's what I call it. So I did a TBT right in the middle of the first quarter of the Celtics game, Celtics Sixers game.

Yeah. What is, I don't even think that's a thing anymore in social media. I don't believe as many people do it the way that it used to be a massive trend, but I did just retweet it. If you would like to see clouds on fire and also you can get the location of where I was a year ago today. Such a good story too, because this particular beach where I spent a week of vacation last year, we started the week with temps in the forties and gale force winds. And gradually over the course of the week, it finally warmed up.

But I never once wore my bathing suit on vacation. Anyway, you can check it out on Twitter. As I say, ALawRadio, will you help me? Producer Jay put that post up on our Facebook page. Awesome.

All right. So before we get to Celtics and Sixers, because they are headed to a game seven in Boston on Sunday. So not Saturday. Remember I told you the NBA has wiped out the schedule on Saturday. Don't ask me why, but there are no games on Saturday. It's a Sunday game seven. If we see the Warriors and Lakers go to a game seven, that would also be Sunday. The only Monday game seven would be Knicks and Heat. We'll see what happens with them on Friday as well as Warriors Lakers.

But even as the Celtics and the Sixers play on the top seed in the West, they're done. Murray has it, gets a pick from Gordon who slipped it. Murray goes to the left hand. Step back, 12 footer.

Got it! Timeout, Monty Williams. Nuggets lead it by 21. Left side pass over to campaign and a three pointer Ross. Hit the side of the backboard. Man, nobody get hurt out there. Out the pass over to Murray for three.

Yes! 67 to 45. Murray back over to Jokic. Head fake. He's eight feet away. Spin move and a hook shot.

Good. He just turns guys inside and out. Down the lane layup is off the window and no good. Rebound comes down to Bruce Brown. Denver has a five on four alley-oop. Layup good. It's an old goal by Kevin Durant. And Denver leads it by 30. Murray has it inside the arc.

He's working against Landry Shamben. It's an iso. Fade away. Got it! Wow. Almost cussed right there. They are kicking some tail. And bluebirds for Phoenix. Wow.

32 point lead for Denver. Well, Jason Kosmicke was in rare form. He really enjoys his play-by-play and honestly I think he's hysterical. It's not my style, but if Nuggets fans love him and the Nuggets themselves love him, then who am I to say how he should do his play-by-play.

He is over the top and yet highly entertaining. Let's go! Oh my gosh. So his team, the Nuggets, advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in three years. In the bubble in Orlando, they lost to the Lakers. That was 2020. Wow. Those three years went quickly.

Oh my goodness. Denver Nuggets as the top seed in the West played really poorly down the stretch. The two-time MVP, Nikola Jokic, he was injured. Maybe banged up.

Maybe tired. There was a lot of concern about whether or not the Nuggets, A, would be able to hang on to the top seed. But B, would be able to protect it once they got into the postseason. But since they turned the calendar to playoffs, they're on a mission. And they're playing some of their best basketball of the season. And Nikola Jokic just had his third triple-double in this series. The series only went six games for heaven's sakes.

He may not be the official MVP, but he is certainly the MVP of the Denver Nuggets. And the way they got contributions tonight from almost everywhere else. Jamal Murray with 26. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a huge start to this game.

He was a great spark plug. 21 points for him. Double figures from Michael Porter Jr., though he didn't shoot well. And then off the bench, another double figure performance from Bruce Brown, who played more than 30 minutes. They didn't have a particularly fiery night from beyond the arc.

They were only 8 of 22. That was one area where the Suns had an advantage. But too little, too late. Phoenix was a mess from the outset.

So congratulations to Michael Malone, the Denver Nuggets, as they reached the NBA's Final Four. Our mentality was, take it. They're not going to give it to us. We've got to go out there and take it. You're playing against a team with their backs against the wall, facing elimination.

You just can't show up and think you can just arrive at this game and work your way into it. And we did not want to be counter-punchers. We wanted to come out and strike first. And I felt the start that we got off to was just outstanding. And the second half, man, just kept waiting for that run, that run, that run. Got through the third quarter. And to our guys' credit, we had the right mindset coming into the game and for 48 minutes throughout the game.

And that shows maturity. Eighty-one points in the first half. It was deflating to just see them score like that and running down the floor, getting easy buckets. That falls on my shoulders, not having us ready to play at the highest level in the biggest game of the year. Bottom line.

And that's just not who we are and who we've been. Eighty-one points in the first half for the Denver Nuggets. It was over. It was not over at the end of the first quarter, but it was over at halftime.

There was no way Phoenix was digging out of that hole. Chris Paul still not available, but also DeAndre Ayton with a rib contusion unavailable to play in this game. And I'm not going to put all of this on the feet or at the feet of Chris Paul because that's not fair. But how many big postseason series has he missed? Not just with the Phoenix Suns, but prior to that, remember the Houston Rockets series in which they had the Golden State Warriors on the ropes? That might have been a conference finals. If not, it was a semifinal.

Either way, they were up 3-2. He missed Game 6 and 7, and the Houston Rockets have never gotten close again. I feel terrible for him. He's still very crafty.

He's clever. But man, the groin kept him out. And again, his postseason legacy appears to be injuries more than anything else.

As for Kevin Durant, his brief sojourn with the Suns, at least for this season, he's still under contract for a couple more years. But his brief sojourn with the Suns, he was also injured so wasn't able to play right away. It was fiery.

It was sexy. It was full of potential. And yeah, he makes an impact. And he fits in. He can morph and be whatever it is that a team needs of him. But for heaven's sakes, even he wasn't enough.

You know how he tells us, one of the best guys ever to play this game. We're hearing that a lot. But yeah, there was no way that they looked ready to stop the onslaught. Yeah, it sucked. It was a bad feeling.

It was embarrassing. They came out and hit us in the mouth. We couldn't recover. You know, you got to give them credit for being a disciplined team. When we got down big, I mean, it happened pretty fast. They were getting whatever they wanted on the offensive side of the ball. So it's hard to get going on offense. It's hard to get going as a team if you're giving up points, that many points. Forty-four in the first, thirty-seven in the second, eighty-one points at the half.

It's tough to get going. Kevin Durant will remain with the Phoenix Suns. I even heard the speculation on NBA TV maybe about how this is probably his last stop in the NBA. Because the fact that he's mid-thirties, his body, not sure it could manage the rigors of an eighty-two game season anymore. He wants to be out there. He does, but his physical body may not actually allow him to. Either way, when he's on the court, he's usually the best player in the building. But the Suns with a couple of key injuries and just not enough firepower, not enough defense to even get in the way.

It was a locomotive coming down the tracks. As for the Denver Nuggets, they're into the conference finals. And not only have they been here before, but they've kind of fallen short. They've been a great regular-season team. But even Coach knows, if they don't follow it up and continue to move forward in the postseason, it kind of falls by the wayside.

It seems like for years now, some dusty old cow town in the Rocky Mountains, the little respect that we get. And you can sit there and fight it and complain about it, or you can just embrace who we are and what we have. And I'd rather not waste time on all the pundits who count us out or don't give us the respect that we deserve as a team and everything that we've done. But there's one thing we haven't done. Until we win a championship, people are going to keep saying that about us. So that's what drives us home is winning a championship. Getting to the Western Conference Finals doesn't do it. Getting to the finals doesn't do it. It's winning a championship. And that's something that we can all savor and enjoy and embrace and have that forever. That's something no one can ever take from you.

And that's what is our motivation on a day-to-day basis. They are on to the conference finals as the top seed in the West. We know the top seed in the East did not survive. We know the number two seed didn't survive. We're waiting to see what happens between Warriors and Lakers.

But one of those teams will have to go to Denver for the opener of the West Finals because the Nuggets will maintain the home court advantage. And they're off. Actually, it's nice for them to get a little bit of a break. Though sometimes when you're playing as well as they did tonight, you don't actually want to take a break. So this series is a close.

It's a closed door. The other basketball game. Talk about wild swings. A bunch of different runs, to be sure, but really the emotional swings in Philadelphia.

It was electric. One of those games that reminds me why I love basketball. I don't love the fact that there are a bazillion threes that were thrown up there and, oh, James Harden, can you just hit one of them, please?

No. But the drama and the tension and the intensity and the buildup and the Superman cape to the rescue. So we'll do a little more on Denver and Phoenix as the postgame reaction continues to come in. More from Kevin Durant, of course, because he was the big acquisition for the Suns. Also, thank you for your reaction to my conversation with Suns and Mercury VP, Basketball Hall of Famer, Ann Myers Drysdale. I'm glad we talked to her last night. She was, of course, watching the game tonight. But to be able to pick her brain about older players, she talked about KD, also talked about the Suns, their new culture. And how committed their brand new ownership is to winning.

And so the Suns exit stage left, but the Mercury gets set to start their regular season. If you missed the conversation, I would love for you to check it out. It's posted on our show Twitter, After Hours, CBS or on our Facebook page. Just getting started. Excited to have you with us here on a Thursday night.

Happy almost Friday. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. He's got 30, 10 and 11.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Another triple-double for Nikola Jokic. He did not win the NBA MVP for a third straight season, but I'll bet he doesn't care if they end up in the conference finals taking advantage of that opportunity. Their first trip since 2020 and could move forward into the NBA finals. You know, all of these guys.

Most of these guys would trade wins and team hardware over individual honors. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Celtic Sixers coming up following the break at the bottom of the hour. But a little more with the Nuggets and the Suns and how it went horribly wrong for the Suns in this Game 6 on their own court. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Jokic was unfettered.

The Joker was able to do whatever he wanted to do. And there was no DeAndre Ayton, so that definitely took away from what the Suns were able to do against Jokic. And they didn't find that out until earlier in the day on Thursday. Not having DA as a roller tonight, you could see the difference in their pick and roll coverage. They were stealing out to shooters more tonight and they were actually in the passing lanes a bit more. But I thought we missed a ton of shots early and I thought that brought our spirit down. I think we looked like a really championship team. We were so focused and we contributed on the road.

I don't know how the championship team looks, but I think that's how it's supposed to look. We were so focused with every detail. Everybody was so locked in. We were making them go where we wanted to go.

So if they want to go middle, we're going to make them go to the other side. So we were really, really, really locked in. Nah, nah, I always had respect. I always knew how great he was, always watching these guys, you know what I'm saying? All the great players in the league. I'm not surprised that these guys are good, especially somebody like Jokic. I've been watching him, playing against him for a minute now since he hit his peak as a player. So nah, I wouldn't say I learned anything new. Great team, deep team, multiple guys that played well together, great continuity, been together for, how long Mike Malone been there? Six years.

That's a good advantage to have. You know your coach, you know the players on the team, you got a system in place for that long. So nah, I wasn't surprised at all. Jokic is an all-time great. Going to go down as one of the all-time great centers to ever touch a basketball. So he went out there and did what he was supposed to do. Thirty-two points, a dozen assists, ten rebounds, three steals, and a blocked shot. And what a coordination in Phoenix as the Nuggets are one of the last teams standing in the West.

And we'll wait for either the Warriors or the Lakers. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. I don't know what possessed me to do a TBT today, but it was exactly one year ago that I took one of my favorite photos. I love clouds, they're my favorite subject. So I took one of my favorite clouds slash sunset photos on a beach. It's purdy, so you can check it out. It's also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

We have a lot to get to. Yes, I did actually watch part of the NFL schedule release. Not something I've ever done in the past.

First time. Usually I'm on vacation, couldn't care less. But tonight, I did actually watch some of it. Of course, had to mix it in with hoops and hockey, so it's not like I could sit there and stare.

Plus, it gets boring after a while, let's be honest. Hearing various analysts and experts and insiders predict how many wins each team will have, I'd rather stick a fork in my eye. So I really wasn't interested in that part, but there are some intriguing matchups and I do love to be right.

I'll explain coming up. Also, the Hurricanes, Carolina, they advanced to the conference finals as well, dispatching the New Jersey Devils in their game in Raleigh tonight. So as we say, we have two teams that have punched their ticket to the Final Four respectively, the Canes in hockey, the Nuggets in basketball. But the Devils surprised a lot of people. They not only put together a regular season that was impressive enough for them to have a home ice advantage in the opening round, but they were able to win a Game 7.

They're real young and some of that youth was exposed against the Canes. We'll deliver the eulogy on the New Jersey Devils with a new guest here on the show. Her name is Kristy Flannery and she is now with the hockey news and covers the Devils. So we'll talk to her at the top of the hour. She was finishing up some writing because that's what happens when the season is over.

So a lot of loose ends to tie up. Speaking of, and I'm glad Marco Belletti is here in studio, tying a bow on the career of Al McCoy. He spent decades behind the mic as the play-by-play voice of the Phoenix Suns. And I saw this on Twitter, retweeted it if you want to watch it.

There is a video of him now on our show Twitter after our CBS. This is part of his sign-off for the Phoenix Suns after what felt like an eternity as their voice. I want to take a minute here before we get into the postgame show. Tim, you touched on it a moment ago, but I think our listeners know that this is my final broadcast for the Phoenix Suns after 51 amazing years.

And I want to say something special to a special group of people. Through the years, I've become friends with so many sightless people. And you can't understand what radio and sports radio broadcasting means to these folks. And I've gotten to know so many sightless people that depend on our radio broadcasts.

And I've known people that are in hospitals and in veterans hospitals and shut-ins. And I just want to thank all of those folks that depend on radio for letting me be a part of their lives. And to all the rest of you, before we get into it, we're going to wrap this up on our postgame show. I just want to say thank you for 51 wonderful years and allowing me to bring the story of the Suns and the NBA to you. And from the Footprint Center here in downtown Phoenix, we'll just say so long for now.

Those pipes, first of all, amazing. He's the Vin Scully of the NBA, longest tenured play-by-play voice in the league. His career with the team began in 1972. Al is 90 years old. 90 years old. He was born in April of 1933, so he just celebrated his 90th birthday.

God bless this man. And I know the Phoenix Suns fans, the fan base, will miss him. I've enjoyed listening to him for years because a lot of the times late games I follow with the local radio teams on Sirius XM.

Because they carry all the home team broadcasts. And so I will miss him. It won't be the same. But man, 90 years old? And he could still call a game with flair and energy and excitement.

I'm glad for him that he got to see the start of the KD era in Phoenix. But wow. 51 years there? He started his career before I was even born.

Oh my gosh. That's a lot of games. It's wild when you think about it. I mean, 51 years to do a job, any job, never mind doing that job. And to be 90 years old and still be able to do it.

The traveling? Yeah. And it's not like the game doesn't slow down for you. It's not like when you slow down, the game doesn't slow down for you and he's still able to keep up with it. So yeah, I didn't realize he was 90. I knew he'd been doing it a long time. I didn't realize he was 90 years old.

But it makes sense. You're doing it for 51 years. Wow. That's impressive. That's phenomenal. Congratulations to Al McCoy on a wonderful career.

I really do hope that now you can sleep in your own bed a lot more and get some rest. But Vince Scully was still very involved with the Dodgers even after he retired, before he passed away. And so beloved. I can imagine that Al will be welcomed back at the Footprint Center and around the Suns anytime he chooses to reappear. I mean, I would imagine you do it for that long. It's blood.

It's who you are as a part of the fabric of who you are as opposed to just a job that you do. Awesome. Congratulations to Al.

Okay, coming up. Celtics, Sixers. We got a game seven on Sunday.

But man, it was a game that featured twists and turns and kept you on the edge. Oh, your seats. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That is the voice of Tom McGinnis on Sixers radio as the home team finds some life, finds some energy, finds the offense in that third quarter, and steadily chipping away with the crowd getting involved and getting hyped up, taking a 16-point lead and erasing it. The Celtics held the lead for most of the first half and then had it until the early stages of the third quarter when it became a back and forth.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Get this. The Celtics were up seven points at halftime, even though their star player, first team All-NBA, if I remember correctly, Jason Tatum, had one point. One point. He was 0 for 10 from the floor, meaning he had no buckets. He had one free throw. That was it. Jason Taylor was the one who started.

Would his alter ego show up in time? His name is Jason Taylor. So the Sixers get some offensive infusion from the bench. They're able to bring in a couple of guys who hit some threes, like Miang.

They were at that point still incorporating Joelle Embiid, Tyrese Maxey. Tobias Harris didn't shoot well. James Harden didn't shoot well.

P.J. Tucker just kept shooting, even if he wasn't shooting well. But he did have a couple of threes there. Think they were third quarter. And so the Sixers were grinding. This was not a pretty offensive display for either team.

Lowest offensive output in terms of points for both Philadelphia and Boston. Except that it felt very much like a heavyweight battle. And those are the ones I love. No margin for error. Can't turn away. Punch, counter, punch, although we know those would be flagrant fouls and you'd get ejected if that was actually happening in the game. Smart for Brockton. Quick three.

Got it. Hart be still. Fundamental. The Celtics defend, get the ball off the floor quickly and get open threes. They've done it all night and they lead by two. Hart is got by Tatum time and again. He has him out top. He wants to take him off the top.

He will. Now Horford jumps out to the near corner, Maxey. Maxey drives by one minute. He jams it. A baseline drive he got by Williams. Nobody protecting the rim and a two-hand stuff.

Hard with it. 81-79 Boston to the left of the lane. Here comes Smart with Horford doubling Joelle. And now Smart goes away. Joelle with a jumper.

It's good. Midway up the left side of the lane. Face up jumper. Joelle would be a 14-footer and that ties it at 81. It'd be with 26 points. Hmm, so 81 points at that juncture for both the Celtics and the Sixers.

Philadelphia finishes with 86 points. Man, the offense was hard to come by in the late stages. In fact, the Sixers had a case of the Jason Tatum's down the stretch. Whereas Jason Tatum finally, finally joined the party.

Brogdon sets the screen. Tatum in the corner. Tatum pull up three.

Got it. And Jason Tatum is on the board from distance and the Celtics somehow had the lead. Tatum makes his move. Right hand dribble. Maxey stays in front of him. So Tatum steps back into a three and he drills another one.

And the Sixers fans put their hands on their heads as their worst nightmare is beginning to unfold. Check out Doc Rivers as Jason Tatum just in the nick of time with the Celtics gasping for air has dragged them back to the surface. Right hand dribble. Go to the Tatum. He's got to look. Left side three.

Got it. Man, these big boys is stepping in their tracks right now. The Celtics have an eight-point lead. Jason Tatum at the very last second has arrived at the party.

That's Sean Grandy and Cedric Maxwell on Celtics radio. He missed his first six triples. His first six shots from beyond the arc. He started over 10. He was one for 13 at some juncture in this game. Tatum looked miserable and his game was miserable. And he'd be the first to tell you.

And we'll hear from him in a second. But he had teammates encouraging him. He knew that he couldn't stop shooting.

You can't just fold up into a ball. Stop shooting. Stop playing. He was impacting the game in a variety of other ways. But he also had his teammates in his ear because they knew at some point Jason would show up or his shot would show up. I feel like he deserved it. He was playing the game the right way the whole time. Me and Malcolm went up to him and told him, you know, you're making the right plays.

You're playing for your teammates, the game will reward you with them. We encourage him. He's not a guy that needs a lot of talking. He's a guy that's highly critical of himself and demands the highest level for himself. So we know he's always going to bounce back. He's resilient. He's a superstar.

So he's going to make shots when we need him to make shots. I got to give a lot of credit to my teammates. They were extremely vocal throughout the game, encouraging.

Being transparent, that s**t is frustrating. You want to win so bad, you want to play so well and shots not falling, things just not necessarily going your way and you want it, you want it so bad, but trying to stay present, trying to stay in the moment, trying to do other things. Every time out, every huddle, my teammates telling me the next one going in, keep rebounding, keep getting assists, keep getting blocks, keep impacting the game.

It's going to come, it's going to come. We all need teammates like that in family, in community, with our friends, whether we play sports, whether we work on a group project at school, whether we work as a team in our jobs, in our places of business, we all need teammates like that. Good for them, Rob Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, and then Jason Tatum admitting how frustrating it was. And he said he kept looking at the clock. He kept looking at the clock and recognizing he still had time. He still had time to make a difference. I don't know, maybe it was Joel Missoula.

Five minutes to go in the game, they have a time out and his coach tells him, I love you. Yep. Yeah.

That's it. See what I mean? We all need support and encouragement when things are going horribly wrong. So how did Tatum keep it together and keep focusing on the next opportunity and the next shot? Just believing that, you know, the next one is going in, it's cliches, you know, that s*** sounds.

It's kind of as simple as that. And really all it took was one to kind of like, you know, get that off my back and, you know, try to help the team, you know, come out here with a win. So Tatum at 16 in the fourth quarter, he outscores the Sixers by himself. The Sixers have 13, Joel Embiid does not touch the ball in the second half of that final quarter, but they all of a sudden could not hit the broadside of a barn and yet continued to shoot the threes.

It blows me away. You have an MVP, you have the MVP on your team. Not to mention James Harding can drive, we saw him get to the hoop and dunk in this game. I do not understand the concept of continuing to jack up threes when you don't need to. But yeah, Jason Tatum, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. I am in the finals. He set up a game seven. It's after hours, CBS Sports Radio. Go to the SSL Plasma Center and be rewarded for your generosity.