Could tonight be a close out night in the NBA?

It is a closeout night in the NBA playoffs and we get really into the second week.

It's inevitable in all best of sevens. Soon as somebody gets the three and some teams got there faster than others, we are in stave mode. The Islanders were in stave mode last night in the NHL and we have the Cavaliers in stave mode tonight. The Grizzlies are in stave mode. The Bucks are in stave mode. Brenden Whitted at H.U. Cosell on Twitter, Swarm and Sting Podcast, swarmandsting.com.

Bison Express everywhere. Anybody that will pay him to talk about hoops, he is more than willing to do it. I appreciate your time. Let's get right to it. Are you surprised that the Knicks are a win away from deleting the Cavaliers in the playoffs?

Not at all. I told you when we were kind of previewing the series, I thought that the Knicks could win. I know you, I think you've just been burned too many times, so I get it. You got your personal stuff when it comes to the Knicks. It's the Knicks. And I get it.

I get it. But I told you then that I thought that I was worried about Cleveland relying too much on Donald Mitchell, that they didn't have much of a bench. They had one of the worst producing secondary units in the league.

And you saw that. He went one and nine in that second half, and they just have really struggled to score. They had the lowest output of any team this year.

He had 80 points two games ago. They still didn't break a hundred in the last game. It's not like the Knicks are playing great offense or anything like that. They're just playing better.

They're playing better defense, but Cleveland's just really struggling on that end of it. Josh Hart has been huge for them and just keeping possessions alive, the offensive rebounds, just, you know, that was one of those smaller additions at the trade deadline that didn't, you know, it wasn't going to move needle. It wasn't Kevin Durant moving from the Nets to the Suns, but it was something that they needed. They deemed it more depth. They needed some more solid guard play and he gives it to them and he gives them some flexibility as well.

No, it doesn't surprise me at all. And I was actually in New York for, didn't go to the game, but was in the New York right after, right after they won their game, their last home game. And it was like in the city, you could really, really feel it.

And it was, it was, it kind of gave me goosebumps a little bit. For people who have never been to the Garden for a big basketball game. And I have, I went to playoff games back when the Knicks used to be good in the playoffs. Um, there is, there is nothing in basketball like a big game at Madison Square Garden, which is why I know this is a complete tangent here, but when it's not just the Knicks, Madison Square Garden, they call it the Mecca of basketball for a reason. There is, there is something about the energy of New York City college or pro Madison Square Garden used to be bigger for college ball than it was for pro ball there.

That's why on Broadway, that's why it's a bigger deal, but, uh, I'm not going to get into that to, uh, to that whole issue. Are you believing now though? Like I do, but I will say this about the Knicks.

Uh, and then I want to move on to the Lakers. The, the signing of Jalen Brunson was way better than I ever thought it was. I thought he was a product of Luca Doncic. And as it turns out, Jalen Brunson kind of stands on his own. Yeah.

Yeah. He's, he's, he's been, he's been their best player. Cause especially because Julia Julius Randall is fighting through an injury and they haven't even got the best of him and he's just been able to put them in the right spots, hit the, hit the big shots that they needed to. He was exactly what that team needed.

I didn't know he was this sort of a distributor either. He runs that offense. He's been perfect for them. And I, and I'm a big, I've always been a big Josh Hart fan.

All right. Lakers. Uh, look, I think the Grizzlies can be good and it would be different series if Steven Adams was there, but he's not.

And to me, the Grizzlies are a lot of bark and not a lot of bite. And I think they messed with the wrong old man. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Maybe, maybe, maybe poking barriers is maybe there's a reason that that isn't a, that that's a saying not to do that. I guess, I think that's probably been my biggest disappointment. I thought Dylan Brooks was just going to completely buy into the whole being a heel thing.

Right. And like, I thought we were getting, you know, I thought we were getting like this really tough, Hey, it doesn't matter what happens. We're going to, we're going to rally.

We're going to, and he has, he's declined to talk to the media a couple of times. Like we, I thought we were getting ramps and we got Joffrey. I thought we were going to get Pat Bev. Yeah. Like I thought we were really getting like that sort of real believable villain.

We haven't got them yet. Uh, this is not to take anything with John Moran. Cause like, it's probably a broken hand. So I, yeah, I don't know. It's close my hand.

I'm another gun to get on Instagram. He's been, he's been, he's been, no, I'm joking. But like, he's been phenomenal. Like coming back from this, you want to talk about like kind of a, he put himself in this sort of situation where all eyes were on him and everything like that, but he's been phenomenal again. Like he had any more help around them and they played a little bit better in their last game, but like he's, he's been really, really good. You mentioned, uh, Adam's being hurt.

I think they miss Clark too. That would have been another guy to throw on LeBron James, uh, and to kind of kind of keep it moving, had him to be able to have him have some flexibility with him and triple J on the court at the same time, give them a little bit more link because they can struggle. I think, uh, at times keeping them out of the paint, the Lakers to their credit have been able to win without, you know, Lebron was phenomenal. Last guy actually has the game time bucket, 22, 20 and seven assists.

Absolutely insane. But we still haven't seen like some huge scoring output from him or anything like that. Anthony Davis did, hasn't, it didn't play well in their last game.

They were still able to win. It's the contributions from the other guys. I think that had been the, the, the most surprising and, and, and really kind of belies how healthy this team is that is not as reliant on just those two guys. Do the Knicks and Lakers, do either of them close out these series tonight on the road?

I think the Lakers will. I think they, you know, I think LeBron understands the importance of getting, getting this team out of it quickly. Right. Cause they, that they were, uh, one layup away from being tied to two.

And that is a completely different series, right? Like they, I think that because he and AD and they have enough of, of, of those guys that have been there before, they're going to understand the importance of getting through and getting this done. I think that, I think they will finish. Knicks, uh, Nick's not, it's an interesting parlay to have the Knicks and the Lakers, uh, both winning this game.

All right. So if eventually the Knicks eliminate the Cavaliers, uh, and my 14 year old insist that the Knicks are going to lose this series in seven and he may be right. Um, will the Knicks be facing the Heat or the Bucks? Bucks, man, I'm going to say the Heat just cause I've been completely wrong about this series. Um, well, I mean, it's easy to be wrong about the series. Uh, Giannis hasn't been, uh, healthy and they're just not getting contributions from other players. I mean, like they, and both teams, you know, with Giannis out there, obviously not the same defensive team, but I mean that Jimmy Butler performance, I mean, 56 points on 28 shots. I've never identified more with the superstar athlete because he's like the procrastinating superstar, right?

Like if the, if the, if the reports do at 11 o'clock, don't talk to me at 10 45, like that's where he is with it. Like we did not see this human being. We don't see it during the regular season. We just don't see it like sort of shooting splits, particularly from deep. He's not a good, he's a mentally to below average three point shooter.

It suddenly turns into Steph Curry. Once it's the post-season keep in mind, this team was down in the fourth quarter to the Chicago bulls in the play it game. Yeah. That's how close they were to not being in the post-season at all. And now they're up three, one versus the number one Easter conference.

No, just insane. I picked them to lose both playing games. I picked them to miss the whole thing. Uh, here's the thing. What don't you understand about playoff Jimmy?

What is it? What's like, this is the whole nickname for a reason. Play on Jimmy. They were about 15 points in that fourth quarter. And he just, I mean like it was, it was him hitting from three.

You obviously know about the mid range game, his footwork in the post where he had Brook Lopez and Giannis up to the Kupo, two of the best defenders that the league has to offer. And he's doing them dirty right at the cup. He's six, five. This doesn't make any sense. I don't care. I know I've seen it before. It's just, it's my blood. I don't get it.

All right. Um, I said this yesterday or the day before, and I just, I want your thoughts on this. I think that Jimmy Butler is the most fun player to watch when he is in that moment. When he is in his bag, I don't think there is a more fun player to watch than Butler. I'd probably push back just cause Steph. I've there, there are some times when the shots, the dribbling, the layup package that I've seen from Steph is just something that I haven't seen on a basketball court.

The floaters. Yeah. Like, I mean, it's just cause he, cause there comes moments where it's jazz out there.

Like he's really legitimately, you can tell that he's freestyling every single thing that he's doing. And there's nothing that the defense can do about it other than shake his hand and run back on the other end. But Jimmy, that performance the other night from Jimmy was, was certainly one for the books that had everybody just completely aghast at what he was, what he's able to do in the post season.

All right. Let's, uh, let's move on to the other, the last game, the one that is not a closeout game. Warriors are at the Kings. I kind of feel like the warriors are pretty fortunate to be two, two.

They have been horrific on the road all year, but did they get life when the Kings kind of let them off the hook in game three? Absolutely. Like that, like that's, that's 100. Look, they Harrison bars knocks down that shot.

It's a completely different series, right? Like, I mean, I feel really bad for him by the way. I know he wanted that. I know when that one left, he wanted that one really, really badly.

But it's not just that though. It's Fox, right? Like if Fox is, we don't know what he's going to look like. It sounds like he's going to play.

I know he's listed as doubtful, but from all indications that he's made to the media, he's going to go out there and at least try to play with the fracture on his, on his shooting hand. I, it, it feels like this is the moment though, for them. You mentioned them being bad on the road. This is one of the worst teams to be bad on the road against because Sacramento has been so good at home. So. If they have to get over this hump at some point, we all knew that at some point they were going to have to win a hole and a way game. This is the spot for them to do so.

I mentioned the Lakers and their experience. It's Macy's friends and family get an extra 30% off great gifts for her. Just like the gifts for her just in time for mother's day.

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You know, what's a good way to, to, to stop that. Just don't take Curry off the, off the floor. He played 43 minutes last game. I think you'll end up playing something close to that one. Like they were still minus six in the, in the, in the few minutes they didn't play. He's going to play a ton. Like he's absolutely going to there.

This is the one that they're pushing the button. Like, nah, we need this game so we can get up out of here. But since injuries play such a big role, by the way, I think the warriors don't win tonight. I think they win game seven though in Sacramento and advanced because we need Lakers and warriors in the second round. But two injuries, just thoughts on Kawhi. Kawhi takes a ton of arrows because we have all this load management and it doesn't seem to work with Kawhi. And now, as we found out, he has a torn meniscus and that's the report coming out of LA.

We got Rob, man. He was amazing for two games. Did he play with a torn meniscus for two games? Apparently. Yeah. Apparently he had injured this, this in some time in game one, came back out there for game two and still had a really good performance.

I think it's so peculiar that people are like, well, see low management doesn't work. That's, he's hurt again. Like, no, he was on load management because he has a issue. That's why he was on there in the first place.

And you don't get a chance to sit out the same number of games that you do in the regular season as you do the postseason because you need that, you know, you need to play. I thought Draymond had a really interesting hit on his podcast. He had like a very interesting kind of vignette on there about like the scheduling because the Clippers aren't the Lakers and they had to do stuff. They were playing multiple games in a shorter, compressed period of time than they would have if they were the main attraction there.

Right. And so he's simply been playing every other day, every other day where LeBron was getting the, you know, two days in the middle of game in the middle of the series sometimes. But like, yeah, this is a guy that we all know has had the interest in like, he's the, the reporting has been done. It's been talked about like, Hey, this isn't a thing that's going to get better for him, right? When it's the meniscus, it's the quad, it's the ACL. It's just, it is what it is.

That's the reason they put him on load management. You know, I mean like it's, it's unfortunate for sure. We love to see it. And it sucks because Paul George in there, I'm, I'm right. I think that if Paul George or Kawhi had been healthy, I think that the Clippers are at least still playing and not having won that series.

They were playing, they played really well with the, with everyone, their ancillary characters, even without their main guy. Game one was one of the most fun nights of NBA basketball of the year. I thought that game between the Suns and the Clippers in game one was amazing. Kawhi was unstoppable.

And then you and I talked about it. And then Russ, Russ, without being an offensive guy, he won the game defensively and with his energy, that was just great basketball to watch. And we got kind of get robbed because by game three, Kawhi was done and they just don't have the horses.

If you don't have Kawhi, you don't have PG. And they even made last night's game. Like they fought to the very end. They were down 15, 17 points, whatever it was, got into a one possession game towards the end of that, towards the end of that. They have plenty of fight in them. They were bad.

I think Ty Lue did a really good job all face. And so they just, like you said, they just don't have the aces in the deck. They asked him, do you feel like you'll be back next year? Like, why would the Clippers get rid of a great coach?

I guess, I guess dumber things have done. Yeah, I was about to say, one, we're talking about the Clippers. And two, it is like the easiest thing in the world to get rid of a coach if something doesn't go well. And we've seen some of these newer franchise owners, if they don't get their way immediately, everything has to change. And the easiest thing in the world to change is Lue. It is.

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