Sixers Impress or Celtics Disappoint? (Hour 3)

Our number three of our radio program, it is the Zach Yelp show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Last night in the association, the Sixers take it to the Celtics. They're now up 3-2. They'll try to close things out tomorrow night in South Philly.

And Nicole Jokic continues to be the great joker that he's always been. 29 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists as Denver takes it to the Suns in the second half as they win 118 to 102 to take a 3-2 series lead. Right now, you do have the Knicks in the first quarter up against the Miami Heat as that's winding on down. Heat up 19 to 14 as the Heat look to close out the Knicks tonight at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden.

You could see the Warriors go out of the post-season tonight as the Lakers do have a 3-1 series lead there. Let's go out to the guest line right now and welcome in a man that used to host in this time slot. Now, he's still host on CBS Sports Radio, the very popular writer the new show Monday through Friday. He's getting the same CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158 and that free Odyssey app from 10 am to noon Eastern.

And that of course is Bill Reiter does a great job for CBS Sports HQ as well. Bill, what's happening? Bill, what up buddy? I'm doing fantastic and I'm showing up.

I'm delivering today. I have a killer instinct in this show. But the Boston Celtics didn't have that last night. What the heck is up with Boston? Cause all post-season long, they haven't had that drive and last night they finally got burned by it.

So I'm really confused. I think there's one of two possibilities here, Zach. Possibility number one, Joel Missoula is over his head, not his fault, thrust into a coaching job in his mid-30s that he probably wasn't prepared for and is catching up to him. Possibility number two, knowing that Doc Rivers' teams have trouble holding on to leads, maybe the Celtics' secret plan is to get them right where they want them at 3-2, Philly up.

I can't tell which one yet. And here's the thing, and I know everyone's going to crush Missoula. It's the low-hanging fruit thing to do, especially with how beloved Eudoka was there for the last year until whatever happened off the court. Or maybe him not being able to keep in his pants is the reason why the Celtics aren't going to go on to an NBA Finals this year. But like Tatum, I know he had 36 last night, but he didn't show up in that first quarter and that's what's stunning to me how the Celtics weren't ready to play last night after coming off that up-and-down game in game number four. Yeah, you said it, and one of the truisms of the NBA, and really all sports, is that box scores lie. And you can look at that Jason Tatum 36 and say to yourself, if you didn't watch the game, oh, that guy's amazing.

Wildly inefficient. When you make shots is as important sometimes as how many of those shots you make. And to me, he and that Celtics team, Zach, look incredibly deflated having given away at least one game against Philly. And I think you can make the case, too. And we saw this in their opening round series against Atlanta.

They play with their food sometimes. There is a lackadaisical nature to this team for whatever reason. And the real thing that separates champions, it's a cliche, but it's true, maybe it's equally low-hanging fruit, but I think it's real, is how you respond to adversity and how you respond to when the ball bounces the wrong way or the official makes a mistake or some random guy goes off for a bunch of points he shouldn't. And to my eye, in the last game, Zach, this was a Celtics team that was not responding to adversity properly. Tatum's the leader. He's got to be the guy who fixes that.

And I think he was a huge part of the problem for whatever reason. Did they overlook the Sixers? Do you think that plays a role headed into this series with their recent dominance against them, especially in the playoffs? I would say yes, because they're playing like it. And because to be fair, I overlooked Philly.

I mean, there's nothing I like more than fading with my money and with my words here on CBS Sports Radio, Doc Rivers. But they've done this all year long. They're clearly the best team on paper, I think, in the Eastern Conference. They didn't win the Eastern Conference. They put up not enough of a fight and let that series extend in the first round a little too much. And look, Philly's really good. On paper, at least, they had the MVP, even though he's banged up. There are three teams in the NBA this year that were in the top 10 in offensive and defensive rating, which tends to be, statistically speaking, historically speaking, a requirement to win an NBA championship.

I think it's 25 for the last 27 fit those parameters. Two of those teams are in this series. I mean, Philly is one of the three teams in the NBA, along with Boston and, interestingly, Cleveland, who fit that reality. So they shouldn't have looked past him, but they're certainly not playing with the intensity, the killer instinct, whatever it is.

They're not taking Philly seriously enough, there's no doubt. This is going to sound like a funky statement to make, especially with what he did in games 1 and 4. And I know from a statistical standpoint, last night wasn't his best game. But last night was the game I was most impressed with, with James Harden, just because we've seen how great he could be in this series and then how bad he could be. The fact that he didn't have to be their first or second best player last night and still be very productive, for me that was the most impressed I've been with Harden in this series.

Dude, I'm with you. And let me just like, full disclosure, I like James Harden as a person. I think he's an extraordinary player and he's been a postseason bum.

He just has been for most of his career. And that game, you're right, reminded me a little bit of LeBron's first half in, I guess it was game 3 if I'm remembering right, in Lakers-Warriors, where LeBron didn't take his second shot until halfway through the second quarter, but it didn't matter. He was facilitating and he was doing things that don't show up in the box score. And I think Harden did the exact same thing. And it's interesting, one of the reasons I doubted Philly, and maybe one of the reasons people, Boston included Zach, have looked past them, is that even Philly would tell you. At the start of the year, early on, I went out to Philadelphia, met with a bunch of the folks that are in that organization. And the thing that I heard, front office on down, was we will go as far as James Harden will go, and we think if we can get Philadelphia 70% of peak Harden, we can win the whole thing.

And it was really hard, because we were in person, not to roll my eyes really aggressively, Zach, but they knew what they were talking about and a lot of us did not. And to your point, Harden's ability to take over and win games in this series a couple times, and to be really important when he hasn't done that, like the other night, that is, I think, at least I know from Philly's perspective, that is the strategy, that is the key, and he's shown up enough in enough different ways that obviously they're up in the series and on the brink of a conference finals. I know he was just named to the second all-NBA team, Jalen Brown, so his contract, from a MAAC standpoint, goes up and up and up now, has one year left on the deal. We go through this conversation each and every year, Bill Ryder, they're going to break up Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. There's a lot of incentive for Brown to stay financially. Do you think this is the last year, this year, that we're seeing right now with Jalen Brown in a Celtics uniform? It's a great question. I don't know.

This one is clouded and a little more mystery than some of the other things I would speculate on. I don't know Jalen well, but I will say that it clearly annoys him sometimes, right, how he has to share in terms of the ball and maybe more of the spotlight. But they have been successful together. They made an NBA Finals together last year.

They are young. As you noted, Jalen Brown has a huge financial incentive now to just stay in Boston. So I would imagine in the final conclusion, the money plus the opportunity means he'll stick around, but there are certainly people around the NBA who put teams together for a living, who are keeping one and a half eyes on Brown and the Celtics because there is concern that, you know, maybe he's feeling some discontent, maybe he just wants to try something different, maybe he wants to be the guy somewhere, but there's certainly the possibility.

I think he stays because I think winning plus cash is what most guys would do, but I don't know how he's putting those things on the scales and how he's weighing them for himself. And it's also like, who could you get back? Like, if you could tell me you could find a way to get Dame to Boston, okay, that's great, but if you're not getting a player that's ready right away, it's like, okay, then what are you doing with the prime of Jason Tatum as well?

Yeah, that's exactly right. And the thing is, we've seen this in the past, you can have a team that is built to win right now. You can feel like you're on the brink. And whether Utah was a joke back when they had all those guys or they weren't, they thought they could make a run.

And one thing goes wrong and then another thing goes wrong and it becomes dominoes. Whether Jalen Brown wants to be there or not, you also don't want a year from now, if he's gone, to be having a conversation about how the Celtics have taken a giant step back and now Jason Tatum's unhappy. Or Joe Mazzullo's still not living up to whatever standards are really hard to fulfill. So, there is, I think, a lot of pressure on Boston to make Jalen Brown happy, because we don't have to guess. We know that when he's there, and he's with Tatum, and he's with these guys, we know they're good enough to make an NBA Finals. The mental side of it is so big in this series, and I think Boston's starting to realize that Philly is better than what anyone could have expected. And even Sixers fans, like you would say, they were making a big push for the MVP this year because they didn't believe that they could accomplish this. You now look at this series where how momentum has shifted. I know Boston last year was down 3-2 to Milwaukee and they came back. How much of a shot do you give Boston to come on back and win this series?

I mean, look, I'm happy to be wrong in this business because that's part of the deal, and so maybe I will be. I thought it was about the Knicks because all their fans were on my timeline, but I don't know what happened. If everyone in New York wanted a vacation or they forgot how to type, I don't know where they are. I miss them. I miss, it's very sad, New York Knicks tears, you know, I miss that.

Pour one out. I, look, I'm in the business of not believing in Doc Rivers. And so, for me, right, 13 teams I believe it is in NBA history have blown a 3-1 series lead.

Three of those teams have been coached by Doc Rivers. I can go down the mean-spirited stats all I want. I just, I've seen it so many times. I've bet on it so many times. You've got that reality, plus a banged-up Joel Embiid, plus a need to rely on James Harden, who's been really good in this series, but, man, has not been a closer in his career in the postseason, plus a Celtics team that is wildly underperforming who they are as a team.

To me, that equals 50-50, right? I'm not going to pretend that the Celtics are a lock, but if there was ever a series tailor-made for a team to come back down 3-2, which, by the way, happens all the time, including, I think, with Boston last year, if I remember right, I mean, this is the series. So, yes, I very much think Boston's alive, but this has been, Zach, the weirdest, most upside-down, you know, inverted, bizarro NBA playoffs in memory, certainly for me as a fan or a reporter, so nothing would surprise me, even Doc Rivers closing out series.

Bill Rader, I've always been a big supporter of Denver. I thought that team was ready to go get to an NBA Finals in 2021, and then Jamal Murray gets hurt. Heading into this year, a lot of people were doubting him.

Murray comes back, plays well, even after the No. 1 seed, people are doubting him. They're going to win this series up against the Suns, but, man, I just don't understand anyone that says Nicole Jokic is boring.

That, to me, just doesn't make sense. Like, you watch him last night, the dude's just sensational. Yeah, he's amazing. I mean, look, my, right, there's all these sort of code words people use when they're talking sports, and you and I do this for a living, so when I go to a party, I know when a guy doesn't watch a game, or his wife won't let him, or whatever. That, to me, people who say that are people who don't watch Jokic play very much, right? People who have seen the highlights, I'm hoping it's CBS Sports HQ, but if you're on that other stupid channel, I understand, we all have to make choices, and they're not actually watching the game, but it's playoff basketball, and you're right, Zach, if you, and you did, watch Jokic enough, you don't fade the Denver Nuggets, because he is, I don't even know what the word, transcendent, sensational, whatever, the guy's amazing.

I'm with you. Boring is the last thing, and he gets into the shoving matches with owners, right? He's got everything, Zach. And not only that, the personality last night before the game, walking over and flipping the owner of the ball, Matt Ishby, I thought that was great. He's cool, man. Like, I don't know him that well, but I know people in that organization, and not that this really matters, but I think he's actually a good dude, a funny guy, he's arrogant in a good way, right? Maybe deep level of belief is the better term. He is a superstar, and as with all things, if he played in LA, or he played in New York, he would be, I mean, he would have won the MVP this year, I think. And so, I'm with you. I hope in this postseason, they make a deep enough run, that people pay attention to Jokic, and see him for the historical great that I think he is.

He's exceptional. And it would really be something with the whole battle the entire year for MVP, Nicole Jokic and Joel Embiid, if we see those two coming up, I would say in a few weeks, but it's probably a little bit more than that, just because how long they stretch out these playoffs, if we get to see those two in the finals. Oh my god, wouldn't that, I mean, I would have trouble functioning as an adult, because Doc Rivers back in the finals would just defy some of the rules of physics, as I understand them.

And by the way, nothing would surprise me. I mean, I had a scout tell me the other day, before Lakers Warriors, whoever won that game, Game 5 was going to win the whole series. I've got people, I mean, you name a team that remains, other than the Knicks, hey Knicks fans, what's up?

And any of those teams can win an NBA championship this year. You look at Miami, like let's say if it's Miami, Philadelphia, how do you see that series playing on out? I mean, it's so funny, because I was talking with their front office a lot this year, and they kept making the case that if they made the playoffs, that they were so much more dangerous than people were going to give them credit for, for all the heat, you know, the heat way that people roll their eyes at, but it's real.

So I think, I mean, I've heard that Tyler Herro, that they're hopeful Tyler Herro could come back midway through the next series. Obviously Jimmy Butler's ankle is a big issue, but the Heat play a ridiculous defense. They were a Game 7 team and pretty close last year to making the finals. Last year they shot the 3-point ball in terms of percentage best in the NBA. This year they were 27th, which is why their offense went from top 10 last season, the regular season, to I think it was like 29th this year.

It was brutal, somewhere in that range. But they've been better offensively in the postseason because Jimmy Butler just takes over games. So get Herro back, bam, you know, asserts himself a little more, Jimmy's healthy. I think they give Philly or Boston a run for their money. I think that's, either way, that is a great series. And to me, Miami is in a lot of ways the Heat of last year who won the Eastern Conference and made the Eastern Conference Finals, not the Heat who squeaked in through the play. And there's just something about them when they get to the playoffs that's really, really impressive. Wrapping up with Bill Rider, what type of performance did we see tonight for the Warriors?

I don't know. I keep saying the Warriors are going to win and they keep losing. And to me they had sort of the creaky, hard to sort of watch look of a great starting to age. It's really hard for me to believe that their dynasty, and it really could come to an end. I mean, I wrote this and people got mad, but Bob Myers who built this thing may leave. He's mad about the money.

Draymond Green may not be under contract come the summer. They've got some choices to make there. There's a lot of pressure to win. The Lakers have been surprising. I think it's 60-40, but I just watched the Warriors blow an easy lead where they dominated much of the game, the last game here in LA. And I got to stop doubting Los Angeles at the fourth best team in the NBA since the trade deadline. So I think it's going to be a dogfight.

It's so funny. We thought this field was so short and narrow heading into the postseason and then you see a team like the Heat emerge, you see a team like the Lakers emerge. Would you say the Lakers, I'm not saying the best, but have they been the most impressive team this postseason so far? I think they have been, and I wouldn't call them the best either, but a lot of people that I've talked to, I guess they're there in LA, but scouts and some of the folks who are moving in those circles here in Los Angeles that have been at this series have said they think the Lakers are playing the best basketball of anybody right now. Their defense has been outstanding.

They have a ridiculous supporting cast. LeBron's still amazing in a different way like we discussed. And the question becomes which Anthony Davis is going to show up. So yes, I think they're among the most impressive teams in the playoffs since we've gotten to the playoffs. And I think they clearly are capable of winning the whole thing if they get past the Warriors, which looks likely. Also, what the heck was Kerr doing the other night, bitching about the officials afterwards? That drove me nuts that after the game, he's like that game comes down to Lonnie Walker and the refs. There were so many mental errors from Golden State before you start bitching about the refs.

Yeah, how about Draymond gets a shot off and not doesn't turn the ball over with five seconds out of a timeout. It's interesting you say that because I like Steve Kerr a lot, right? Great guy, obviously impressive coach, but he hasn't lost very much. If you look at like how many times they've responded to a loss, he has record against Western Conference teams in playoffs. I mean, all they do is win all the time and when they lose, normally, right? Kevin Durant's injured or Steph Curry's injured or something's going on.

Draymond is suspended. We haven't seen Steve Kerr up against it having to fight for his life. And it's an interesting insight into how he handles the sort of failure, pressure, struggle, difficulty that most teams have faced the last 10 years.

And his team has not. I'm with you. I like Steve, but dude's got to chill, man. Like, dude's got to chill a little bit. Also, if I'm Giannis Antetokounmpo, I'm logging off his social media for the next few weeks and I'm just going to a tropical island. I don't get what Giannis is doing with this disrespect card and it just, it doesn't make sense to me. Like, I don't think anyone was disrespecting Giannis. He just, this was a failure this year for the Bucks.

Of course it was. It's so funny you say that because I love my producer, Tom DeCelestino, but he has some of the worst takes that we've ever seen. That's why we have a segment called What DeCelestino is in What the Hell? A producer with bad takes?

I've never heard that here on CBS Sports Radio. Shocking! Once Giannis did that, I got a note from DeCelestino, like, now he can't be beaten next year. He's going to win it all. Like, bro, what are you talking about?

Where was this three weeks ago, man? Like, let's not crown Giannis next year's NBA champ. I'm with you, man. It's a very strange response and I, certainly there are people in the NBA who wonder if it isn't him internalizing his struggle with whether he wants to force his way out of Milwaukee, which I would hate. And the big thing that I've been pushing everyone, I think Ty Lue is going to try to force his way to Milwaukee. I've heard that too.

I think that's really good speculation. And I guess the question becomes, will Giannis stick around and did John Horst, who's, and I think I'm really good at his job, the GM in Milwaukee, did he fire Boudinholzer with somebody in mind or was it because they're worried that Boudinholzer lost Giannis and this is like a, it's a really interesting Game of Thrones it's going to follow because if Giannis is on the move, watch out, NBA. And I would have to imagine, right, that they would consult Giannis before firing Boudinholzer.

Have to have. Like, look, I get it. People get fired, you feel bad. But Giannis, he put something out there about Boudinholzer and it's like, bro, that guy's still coach if you insist he's the coach.

Like, let's not pretend. And he should, but he is absolutely the straw that stirs the drink in Milwaukee. Bill Ryder, you can listen to him Monday through Friday right here on CBS Sports Radio and always check him out.

CBS Sports HQ. I'm assuming you don't get a lot of sleep this time of the year, right? I don't get a lot of sleep, Zach, but I do get to spend a ton of time working nonstop, which is almost as great.

But you love that. By the way, you are Mr. Barcelona. You gave me a bunch of tips when I was at Barcelona.

We got to maybe go on a vacation together, Bill. Hit me. Did you use any of them? Yes, of course.

I forget which tips you gave me, but I remember you gave me a bunch of things and I shot them over to my friends and I remember, like, we had like two or three things onto the list. I love, you know, I tried to tell the Trace, Ryan Hickey there, what a hot take. Hickey, is that what he is now? Yes. To go to Barcelona, but he said I won't go anywhere Gelb goes. Okay.

Well, he just makes a lot of dumb decisions. By the way, I'm not a big soccer guy, but I did grab an NFC Barcelona hat there. You did, dude. Be careful because I wasn't either.

Then I got into Barcelona and then all of a sudden I'm calling it football. It's a disease, bro. It's a virus. Bill Wright, I appreciate you doing this. Thank you. Thank you, buddy.

Thanks for coming back after these short messages. Oh, in this series, trying to close it out tonight in Florida, uh, 10 oh four left in the second period, but really talk about the difference from one series to the next, the maple leafs after the first round, they finally did it. Get past Tampa Bay first time advancing and around since 2004 and now Florida is just an absolute buzzsaw who defeated the Bruins Bruins had the most points, most wins in NHL history and the Panthers who were down 31 come on back. They win in game seven and now they have a three oh series lead on the maple lease and I don't expect I like Florida win the game tonight.

I saw that Florida just killed off a power play, but even if this goes back to Toronto, I don't see how this series goes anymore than let's just say six games, but I would be surprised at that point if it does get the six games. I think people forget with Florida Hickey that last year they were the president trophy winner and they won the first round series in the second round. They just got embarrassed by Tampa and you wondered the players were all locked in because there were reports after game three and I think it was game three was back to it was one of those weird times where it was back to back games, I believe.

And you went from game three to game four and the players like went out to a nightclub and they were out late. So you go into this year in the class and this is just so hockey, you go into this year in the class, you're going up against a team that is statistically right, like the greatest team ever in the regular season. Most points, most wins and the team at the fewest points in the playoffs ends up not only winning the first round, but now looking like they're going to go on a run. And if you recall, it was the year the Flyers got to the Stanley Cup where they lost to the Blackhawks.

That was the craziness with the end on the Patty Kane goal that no one knew it was a goal when it was a goal. That year in the conference finals in the east, it was 7-8. So we've seen teams like that go on a run before, but you can never predict hockey because a team like the Bruins go down in the first round, the Maple Leafs are like the talk of the first round two with how important that was.

And then they don't even show up in the second round and you have Florida who is one win away from going to the conference finals with the fewest points out of all the playoff teams. Hockey and baseball are the two sports where every year it applies, just get in and everyone has a chance. Football, sure, we see upsets, but is it frequent every year?

No. Basketball, same thing. They happen like this year is full of parody, but this is an outlier compared to normally how an NBA postseason goes. But hockey and baseball are always the two you count on, just as long as you get in, it's not craziness, it's not like believing in something that truly doesn't exist, you truly have a chance as long as you're in the dance.

And it was a few years ago where all the division winners went out in the first round. And it's just wild, and Kachuk has just been great for the Florida Panthers as well, and Babrowski and Net for Florida as well has just been tremendous, but you go to the other series, Knights and Oilers, I'm really hoping that the Oilers win tonight and tie it to this series at two games apiece, because I just love watching them play when you have Connor McDavid who's the best player in the league and then Leon Drysidel as well. But this Edmonton team, their goaltender is always going to hurt you, and that's the thing where it feels like you're failing McDavid and also Leon Drysidel, it's just how sensational they've been, but you just don't know which Edmonton team is going to show up. Like in game one, you get the four goals from Leon Drysidel, and you lose the game, so your goal tender screwed you, then in game two, okay, you take it to Vegas, you win 5-1, but then in game three, that offense finally hit like a rut, where you don't expect it to last long, but you ended up losing that game 5-1. So they're such a confusing team, because you know how Drysidel would be the best player on almost any other team in the league, outside of two or three scenarios, and you have those two just dominant players, and you look at that team, it's like you should think they would be able to get to the Stanley Cup final this year, but it's impossible because you can't trust the goalie situation. It shows you being a one-dimensional team in any sport, trying to win a championship is so tough, because if that one error, you excel, and for the Oilers scoring, if you're not scoring at a high clip, and even some nights you are, if your weakness is so bad, you can't overcome it. And really, that game won between Vegas, where it was 6-4 and it was going back and forth, it had major Battle of Alberta vibes from last year, where you had the Oilers and the Flames, and after that, it's just been 5-1, 5-1, so maybe we see the high scoring game tonight between both teams, you kind of get back to that 6-4, but the pace of that game won was just unbelievable.

So like, I would lean Oilers tonight, it's more so of a hope, I truly have no clue how this thing is going to play on out, and also for Vegas, you've got to give credit to Bruce Cassidy, their coach, and what he's been able to do with that team as well, and we know the coaching career that he's been able to have. 8-5-5, 2-1-2-4, CBS 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27, let me take one right before the break, let's go to Mike in Abilene, Texas, next up on CBS Sports Radio. Mike, what's happening? I got it, how are we? Doing great, Mike, what do you got? I'd just like to say that the real story of this year's playoffs is the fact that the highly debated greatest player of all time has a chance to, we all know I've learned my lesson, I don't make predictions anymore, I'm still dead inside from the Ohio State.

Oh yeah. You're going to make predictions, especially, you're an idiot if you make predictions against Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, period. 3-1, not comfortable with this lead at all, not comfortable until there is no time left and we have four games. That being said, the real story is that the two greatest challengers recently to the king are about to get beat, potentially, by the king and the excuse will be, oh well Steph Curry's not in his prime, KD's not in his prime, well got to draw a line through that one, oh well they didn't have, oh wait I can't say that because that doesn't make... The argument will be over if he goes through Stephanie and the snake and gets a fifth ring in this season. And everybody go ahead and start getting your hater material ready because I cannot wait to see what kind of lame BS excuse they come up with while he is not, still not, the greatest basketball player to touch a ball. We will have so many points and so many rebounds and so many assists by the time he is done playing, we will never see another LeBron James, we've already seen another Michael Jordan, his name was Kobe Bryant. We will never see another LeBron James.

Thanks buddy, love you, hope you have a great night. You got it Mike, I was going to go back and forth with him and have a little fun at Mike's expense but with how down he was Hickey in college football season this year, I felt like he needed to get that out of his system. I felt as if I was the role of the therapist there and I was just sitting listening to someone talk on their couch because in reality, there's never really been a serious conversation about Steph and KD, in my opinion, anyone actually thinking that they were going to be better than LeBron and they were ever going to surpass LeBron, like a little bit KD when he's with the Warriors but LeBron got the pass because that was just an all time great team and they needed KD to go beat the Cavs after the Cavs were down 3-1 and Cleveland found a way to come on back. And Steph, I love Steph, how can you dislike Steph Curry but even last week we were talking about it when people started that stuff, that Steph's going to move past LeBron, that just doesn't make any sense. As great as Steph is, he's the greatest 3-point shooter of all time, he has totally changed the game of basketball but for the last 15 years we've talked about LeBron Jordan who's the greatest player of all time, all that nonsense. I don't get how you can make a case for Steph or KD who are two all time great players being better than LeBron James.

And even in year 20, he's still silencing the doubters and still kind of ushering away any sort of debate that possibly could open up. We had the Steph debate last week where that was thrown out there and they win tonight or they win in game 6, that quickly goes away as well. And also, the LeBron-Michael debate, I just don't care. I'm really at a point, if you're a Michael fan, you're going to tell me LeBron sucks. If you're a LeBron fan, you're going to tell me Michael sucks. That's just how the conversation plays on out. Where we all know they're two of the greatest players ever and people are then going to say, oh well Michael would do this and LeBron would never do this and LeBron would do this and Michael would never be able to do that.

It's such a stupid conversation that I never start that conversation but as you just see, like there, people call it and they always want to have that conversation. Now I did not know that Mike was a Lakers fan. I'm just assuming with Mike's background, he's a LeBron fan. That would be my guess there with him being Mr. Ohio State and that's how we really know him. Who is Mike's NFL team? Is he a Cowboys fan? I want to say maybe. So who knows? Maybe he jumps player to player and also big team to big team too.

I'm not all that sure. But that's the first time I ever heard Mike saying that he was a Lakers fan whenever he called us. I don't know the last few years how much he really had to talk about outside of injuries too. And also how many times have we talked to Mike because the last two years Ohio State has lost to Michigan.

He goes into hiding. And he has gone into hiding until the next college football season comes around so it takes the Lakers being one to one away from the conference finals for him to call us back after Ohio State embarrassed him yet again. You were right. It wasn't last year because last year he realized how concerned we were but the year before that the first time Michigan beat Ohio State in forever. I remember just doing segments were like Mike feel free to call just let us know you have to go on the air that you're okay because like we didn't hear from Mike almost maybe through midway. No it was probably the first or second month of this year's college football season when he called in he's like I'm back and I wasn't happy with the C.J. Stroud.

And he didn't think C.J. Stroud was as good as what people are given credit for which kind of with the way that the football season did play out last year wasn't the farthest thing from the truth. It is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio will come on back what was more impressive last night. Was it the Sixers performance or are you more disappointed in the Celtics performance or are you more impressed with the Sixers are more disappointed in the Celtics will discuss the other side. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show tech help show CBS Sports Radio the big story of the day was last night the Philadelphia 76ers made a statement and they made a big statement that Boston we're not your old Philadelphia 76ers.

Now this series is far from over. It is impossible though right now to trust the Celtics because going into the game last night everyone was having to take that I've had. It's okay show the killer instinct that series did not feel like it should be 2-2 and Boston probably should have been up 3-1 but you got to finally show the killer instinct.

And very early on in that game. You know Philadelphia is better. You know Philadelphia was going to take it to the Boston Celtics. And that's what happened. So the question that I'll ask you more impressed with Philly last night or are you more disappointed in Boston.

And my answer. It's I'm more impressed with Philly. Because Boston you started to see the signs. In the first series where. All right.

It's the it's the Hawks shirt. You don't need to play great. But they just didn't look all that great. And then in game one. No Joe Allen beat and you lose to the Sixers.

Okay. So you're down 0-1 but that doesn't look good. Then it's 1-1 and then you take it to one series lead.

All right. Here comes the Celtics. Then they slip walk through first three quarters in Philadelphia.

Didn't win that game. So there were signs that last night. Was on the verge of happening that they would lose but not that they would get blown out.

So that is disappointing but. You look at Philadelphia. Even having the third best record in the East this year who had them going to the finals. Who had them going to a conference final. And they still would have to win this series and beat Miami and Miami won't be easy. Especially with that dude Jimmy Butler and Eric Spulstra who's a phenomenal coach and bam out of bio is a very good player. But I look at the Sixers. Why I'm more impressed with the Sixers and disappointed with Boston. James Harden.

That's the answer. Like and beat on one leg. He's still great. Maxie he shows you that he's going to be a special player for years and years to come. But James Harden and I have led this charge. James Harden has been a disaster in the postseason for years. We're up until this year probably the play people remember the most about James Harden in the postseason. You know since leaving OKC I'm talking about. Was the block that he had up against the Thunder.

In a series that should have never got as far as it did. But how many times have we sat here and talked about the historically bad performances of James Harden the postseason. Game one he won in the game. Game four he won in the game. And last night James Harden didn't play his best game of the series. But for me it was his most impressive.

Because we've seen James Harden be great in this series. We've also seen him be horrific. In games two and three he was brutal. He was abysmal. He was lethargic. He was putrid. But then in game five after a great game for performance where he won the Marty two games or two games that they won in this series.

In game five we were just asking can all three of those guys be on together. And B took off running. Great. Maxie took off running.

Great. And I was like okay is James Harden going to be good? Or is he going to be back to games two and three James Harden. And James Harden last night was just super efficient. Didn't jack up a ton of shots.

Didn't need to. Got 17 points. Dished out 10 assists. And at 8 rebounds. I love what I saw from James Harden last night.

Because we were asking about this yesterday. Like if Embiid plays great and Harden plays great what is Maxie going to do? Or if Embiid plays great Maxie plays great what is Harden going to do? And you saw Harden just play really well last night.

And I think it's tough to overcome a mental hurdle. Philadelphia had a mental hurdle last few years up against Boston. Boston was better. But Philadelphia is showing right now that they're the better team.

So don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's a disappointing. With what Boston has done it's extremely disappointing. But I'm actually more impressed with Philly. Because we were always just waiting and waiting and waiting to give Boston the benefit of the doubt. And Philly right now is just taking it to them.

And they've taken control of this series. And I always felt like we were just waiting for Philly to crumble. And last night it was Boston who crumbled and it was not Philadelphia.

So that's for me Hickey. Where it's so close you could be as equally disappointed in the Celtics as you are impressed with the Sixers. But I give the slight edge to the Sixers just because. If you would have told me before the playoffs the Celtics would not get to the NBA Finals. You could believe it. You'd probably say it would be Milwaukee that gets there in front of them. But if you told me before the playoffs that the Sixers would get to the conference finals. I would not have believed that.

I just wouldn't. Same I get no chance in this series. History has shown that to be the case going in. And you see credit to them they have won these games. It wasn't like and Boston has had plenty of their own issues. And there's a lot of reasons to be disappointed with Boston's effort in this series. But it's not like they are giving the game to Philly.

Philly is just doing their best not to stumble and drop the win. They have won the game. James Harden in game one was tremendous. He won them the game by making shots you had to make. Game four same thing. They made shots. They won that game because they hit shots.

They had to make same thing with yesterday. Anytime Boston started to make a comeback. Started making a 7-0 run. 10-2 run to get their deficit from double digits down to seven.

Double digits down to five. Philly every single time would hit a shot. Put them back up. Take the crowd out of it. And take wind out of their sails. They won the game yesterday. And so far they have won every single game. And you know the three games I should say so far that they've had.

They've all earned. Very impressed with what the Sixers have done so far. And let's see if they can wrap it up tomorrow night. Because if you let this go back to Boston. I know there's not many reasons to trust Boston. But then you throw everything up in the air for a game seven. And anything could happen. You're going to have that crowd bumping tomorrow night in South Philly.

And for me. I don't think the Celtics can win the game tomorrow night in the first quarter. But they can start to lose it in the first quarter. And what I mean by that is even if Boston comes out swinging in the first. It does not mean that they're going to win the next three. But if they go down by like seven or eight in the first.

And that building starts to take over. And the Sixers fans can really start to taste and sense that they're going to the conference finals. You may have a Boston team with how lackadaisical they've been this postseason.

Start to check out. Because what was so alarming last night was even after not really showing up for most of that game four and still have a chance to win. You go back in front of your home crowd where they're going to keep you in check. And they're going to get on you if you don't show up and play.

And they just had no life right out of the gate hickey. So that that game tomorrow night. Boston ain't going to win it in the first quarter. But they could definitely lose in the first quarter if they just come out flat like they did last night at TD Garden. And look, the concern about Doc Rivers and the track record of him with the series lead is not great. I'm also interested to see how the Sixers go about taking care of business.

They've said everything right up to this point. Hard after game one. It's only one game.

Let's relax. Everyone yesterday, it's only one game. You didn't see a lot of celebrating last night.

No. I give them credit. They have been focused. They're not celebrating one win over Boston, which they struggle to get. But I'm also very interested to see how the Sixers come out with a chance to actually put the foot on the throat one last time. By the way, if the Sixers start to look like they're going to win tomorrow, I want Joel Embiid to do the shimmy. Because you saw the shimmy from Al Horford. And my oh my, ever since doing that shimmy, the Celtics haven't even been anywhere close to what they could be.