Adam Kaufman, Celtics Beat Podcast Host

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There's joy in every journey. Adam Kaufman is here with us. Host of the Celtics Beat. How are you, man? What's going on?

How you doing? Listen, I don't got a complaint in the world. You all ready for this NBA finals? I've been ready for a month and a half, however long we've been waiting for this thing to hip-hop and get started, man. It's just a long layoff. It's a lot of time for you guys to fill. For us? Man, I've been waiting on the Celtics. You talking about a week, a month? I've been waiting on them since, I don't know, September, October.

Come on, now. That's a good point. Yeah, I mean, obviously when it comes to Vegas and odds-makers and just expectations around this area, yeah, that's exactly where they should be.

Now they've got to finish the job and get banner 18. Adam Kaufman is here with us. He's the host of the Celtics Beat Podcast. I know the media, well, the NBA and it seems had its media today.

Anything juicy or worthwhile? Are we just finally going to get to the basketball tomorrow? No, I mean the closest thing, and this is people trying to play online psychologist or talking-head psychologist in the case of the media at this point. The only thing that people are trying to grasp onto is the health of Kristaps Porzingis and exactly how ready is he. Obviously, we know he's going to play to what end. Who knows? I think we suspect there's going to be something of a minutes restriction.

He's been out for roughly a month at this point with the calf injury. But what people have just been sort of grabbing onto is, man, he didn't sound real confident. He sounded resistant.

He sounded a little unsure of what he's going to be like out there. And it's a gamesmanship trying to throw off the Mavericks and then he's just going to come out there and dominate. Or is there actually something to it and he's not 100%?

I don't think it's gamesmanship. I do think that obviously a guy that has not played in a month and was dealing with a calf injury that very well could linger, yeah, he probably isn't 100%. But what percentage is he?

I don't know. None of us are obviously inside his head, inside his body, all of that. But if he wasn't good enough to go and contribute at a high level, the Celtics wouldn't be messing around for multiple reasons. They wouldn't be screwing around with him, who's under contract for multiple years, or throwing a guy out there in the most important games of the year who isn't ready and could throw off what they've been doing in previous rounds at a very high level, obviously, and beating the Cavaliers and most recently knocking off the Pacers. So, you know, we'll see. But I think he's alright, good enough anyway, but expectations for him in general for Game 1 should probably be pretty low.

Celtics beat host Adam Kaufman is joining us. Adam, most people, as Vegas, as you said as well, are looking at the Celtics to come out on top and win this series. What could go wrong where they lose it? Well, for one, heaven forbid, injury. We know that, you think back last year, right, the Celtics obviously dug themselves an 0-3 hole against Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals. They come all the way back to tie it, force a Game 7, and then minutes in, Jason Tatum comes down wrong under the basket and knocks him out of the game, right? So, injuries can throw any number of things off, you know, ask the Cavaliers who lost Mitchell, ask the Pacers who lost Halliburton and all these other stars that have gone down during the postseason.

So, health is always, you know, paramount. But independent of that, if we're just talking about on the floor, Luca. You know, if Luca is even another level of what we're used to seeing, we already know he's a top five player in the NBA, he's, you know, between the two teams, arguably, if not even, you know, debatable, the best player between the two, and then you have Jason Tatum ever so slightly behind him. I just don't know, and I have a lot of respect for the Mavericks and, obviously, that backcourt, especially offensively, and all those bigs when it comes to the depth and just the makeup of that roster. That being said, if the Celtics, who are one of the elite defensive teams in the league, as were the Timberwolves, by the way, if the Celtics, though, can basically find a way to contain, if not all-out stop, all of those other guys, can Luca by himself elevate the Mavericks to victory over the course of a best of seven?

He can steal a couple on his own, but can he take four? That's the question. So, you know, it really comes down to that in part. That's sort of the defensive side. The offensive side is, we know the Celtics are not quite as much a live-by-the-three-die-by-the-three team as they've been in the last couple of years because Porzingis gives them a whole other element of what they're able to do offensively, but if the 3's aren't falling, you know, the one game they lost to Miami, the one game they lost to the Cavaliers, you know, when they weren't quite themselves against the Pacers, it was all a function of, you know, hey, the shots aren't falling. So if the Celtics are hitting their 3's, they're virtually unbeatable. If they're not, that allows the Mavericks to hang. Adam, man, you've watched the Celtics team all year long.

You've covered them for years. Kyrie Irving, we've heard the goodwill over the past week, over the past couple of days, and is he putting a fire extinguisher to some of the vitriol he's going to face, or is that all out the window tomorrow? Well, it's not out the window in the minds of the fans. I mean, he's going to get booed mercilessly in games 1 and 2. Now, I don't know that it's going to go to the left, because you've got to remember, he's been back here a number of times at this point since he left, so some of it has, you know, dissipated over time. I mean, back then, you know, when he was coming back those first few times, he was getting booed every time he touched the ball. I don't think we're going to see that. I think it's going to ramp back up, it's going to spark up a little bit, just because it's the NBA Finals, and it's a heightened stage, and there are fans that are just as petrified of losing a championship to Kyrie Irving as they even are excited to win one.

But, you know, I think we're going to hear it a lot early on, and then it's going to kind of go away, and everyone's going to focus on the task at hand. And when I say everyone, I'm not talking about the players. The players don't give a crap about any of that. Hell, Tatum and Brown, they like Kyrie Irving.

They're still at some level close with him. But the fans, I think, are going to let some of it go as the series moves along, because look, we know what's more important around here. It's Banner 18, it's snapping the tie with the Lakers for most championships in the NBA, it's the first title around here since 08, and at least basketball, and getting that duck boat parade, and validating what many of us around here believe in terms of Tatum and Brown and their ability to not only coexist but win together at the highest level. All of that is just so much more, galactically, more important than Kyrie Irving, you know, not following through on his promise to stay years back when he said he wanted to retire a Celtics and have his number in the Raptors and all of that stuff. I mean, you know, if we're to really be honest with ourselves, that was the best situation for everybody when he left for him and his career and honestly for the Celtics and their growth to get to this point.

Adam Kaufman is here with us, the JR Sport Reshow on the Infinity Sports Network. You said that there's a section of fans who are a little terrified of the fact, the concept that Kyrie Irving could win a championship, you know, at their expense. But what happens if there is a doomsday scenario and the Celtics don't walk away with this championship, what happens?

Is Joe Mazzullo on a firing squad? I mean, are they going to scream for Tatum and Brown to break up? What happens?

Yeah, I mean, not to be boring here, but I don't think anything happens. I mean, I recognize that there will be people, national media, you know, especially, and I'm not accusing you of this, but like turn on the talking heads on ESPN. People are like, the series hasn't even started and they're talking about pulling apart the Jays if this thing goes south. So imagine if they actually lose the series, what that's going to sound like. So yeah, I mean, people are going to be saying you can't win with these two guys. One of them's got to go. You know, Tatum's due for this historic contract, but, you know, Brown, is he overpaid? And Mazzullo, he, you know, fell ill one seed and one of the best teams ever statistically now going up against a five seed. And how do you not beat the Mavericks? Yeah, I mean, people like to yell and scream when things go south and fans locally here would do the same thing on talk radio. There is no doubt about it. But, you know, what's actually going to happen?

Nothing. Mazzullo has a, you know, only recently got his contract. He has had immense success, no championship yet, but immense success in, you know, as head coach of the Celtics since obviously being thrust into that situation, replacing Imeo Doka, you know, moments before training camp last year. And then Tatum and Brown are, you know, one of the best tandems in the entire NBA. And you've got incredible depth with Porzingis when he's on the floor. Holiday White obviously is due a big payday, which makes a lot of sense, even though it's going to cost ownership in terms of paying into the luxury tax and all of that. But this is a championship caliber team.

And even, heaven forbid, if this went south, breaking it up just makes no sense. Adam, I appreciate the time. Where can people follow you, your work, everything you do with the Celtics beat? Fill us in.

For sure. So at Adam M. Kaufman on Twitter and Instagram is the handle. And then, like you said, Celtics beat podcast. You can subscribe to that wherever you get your podcasts. I also host The Gambler with Adam Kaufman, which is a nightly gambling show here in Boston Monday through Thursday where, you know, we get away from some of the conventional sports talk and just try and tell people how they can make some money. So we'll be on just a little bit here and definitely talking a lot about the NBA Finals.

Hey, well, thank you for the time and enjoy the series, man. Celtics and how many games? I'm going to say five or six. It's one of those two.

It's not easy to win on the road. You know, I'm inclined to say six, but five wouldn't shock me at all. OK. Well, thank you, Adam. Appreciate the time. Enjoy the series. And I hope you win some money too, OK? I appreciate that.

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