FIRST TAKE | Celtics just proved they have the best defense in NBA with a win over Thunder – Shannon

FIRST TAKE | Celtics just proved they have the best defense in NBA with a win over Thunder – Shannon

First the Boston Celtics they didn’t just win they rolled 135 100 on over a short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder team they were paced by christs porzingis 27 points 12 rebounds five blocks by the way there’s seven blocks as a team in the the first half they’re the second

Most in a half this season by the Boston Celtics welcome inside our Los Angeles Studio he is Kendrick Perkins he is Brian wior I’m Malika Andrew we just heard Jason Tatum say it 60 wins is great but this is a team that wants to hang a banner when they win when they

Beat Oklahoma City Thunder team that has been near the top of the West all year long they didn’t have their best player is there anything we can glean from this I don’t you know also on the second night of a back toback they really kept it close for what at perk about six

Minutes eight minutes in this game um the I will respect that the Celtics are do seem to be focused in this game they could have had a bad game coming back off the road perk said it earlier their season starts April 20th I couldn’t say it better the the one major

Bright spot is that they want to continue to make that a dangerous place to play at right like when teams going to Boston or you on the outside looking in you like I don’t want to step foot in that in that building right because you know was going to happen and with the

Win they now have secured homec court advantage through the entirety of the postseason so that dangerous place that TD Garden is teams are going to have to go through there if they want to defeat and de uh Throne the BX Celtics they lost game seven in the Conference Finals

At home last year two years ago they won game seven in the Conference Finals on the road so you decide whether you think it’s a big deal or not well then I think the Boston Celtics would rather have it than not but that is that is a fair

Enough point but this is the time of year where you have to check every game around the association because standings could be fluctuating back and forth up and down as teams are trying to clinch the postseason as teams are trying to to make some noise in uh their seating here

So we’re going to start by checking in on the Los Angeles Lakers Let’s Roll the highlights please because the Lakers are wrapping up a six game Road Trip here uh years they’ve clenched the NBA’s best record and home court throughout the NBA Playoffs for as long as they play they

Will have home court the current record is 60 and6 and they have six games remaining Kristoff porzingis led to away with 27 points 12 rebounds four assists five blocks JT Jason Tatum 24 points seven rebounds three assists JB uh Jaylen round 23 points seven rebounds four assists two blocks Al Horford had

16 points four rebounds he was plus 32 holiday 12 points seven rebounds four assists Payton pritch 11 points four rebounds eight assists two Ste and Hower even Chimp in with 10 points very balanced but what did you expect that I don’t think they had Shay gilis I didn’t

See Tre hungr unless he played early in the game I tuned into that game a little late um because I didn’t really expect them to do much because Shay has been in and out of the line up with that quad injury but the Celtics are a very

Balanced team um and you’re gonna have to play extremely well to beat him now the the their their killes heels or their Bugaboo is to get him in the fourth quarter make him execute yeah because they hit a lot of tough a lot of tough those shots Gil that go in early

In the ball game and the know those tough that JT between between uh between his legs and side step three JB those deep threes they go in early in the fourth quarter they’re still taking those shots they’re not going in and they’re allowing teams to creep back

Into the ball game and nip them at the end yeah you know uh the their their struggles is that they consistently rely on jump shots yes right when you have two guys that are all of 6869 610 that are athletic yes you you guys are the athletic players in

Your position where you no one’s stopping you from getting to the rim you you’re stopping Yourself by relying settling for jumpers right you know if if I’m a Defender yeah if if Tatum goes for 3040 on jump shots so be it so be it but I rather him i’ rather that than him

Putting me in the basket putting the team in foul trouble putting me in foul trouble right now I got to ask for helps and all that stuff right that’s where they need to switch their game in the playoffs where they have to come out and consciously think get to the basket get

To the basket get to the basket because the playoffs is strategy right I need to show you something in the first three quarters and give you what I really want to do in the fourth quarter if I really want to shoot jumpers in the fourth first three quarters I need to be

Driving right so on your heels so I can but if you Sid stepped me the whole first three quarters I know what you want to do in the fourth so now basketball becomes stale to you because for the most part you’re going to go pick and roll go by yourself the other

Two guys are going to be sitting in the cutter and in the cut you guys don’t know how to play without the ball that’s one problem they have too that when one has the ball the other one doesn’t know how to play basketball he goes in the

Corner and stands in the he sits he might as well just sit on the bench at that Goddamn point yeah he can sit on the bench clapping hands and stuff because he don’t move right it’s like he’s keeping the defense honest he’s not you know Gordon or back when LeBron and

D Wade was playing when driving the other one’s driving to right for that dump off in the dunk if they play that way trust me in the play they’re gonna run through teams right yeah it it’s it’s gonna be very interesting to see because we keep saying this is their

Year J Jason Tatum has gotten better and better every year um Jaylen Brown has turned into more than an athlete now he’s he he can shoot the ball he can drive the ball uh there’s no excuse they have Pingas who’s a mismatch because he

Can D he can pull your big out and then when you switch it they go pick and roll with him or they go pick and roll with him and JB or or or Derek white he’s gonna get a smaller guy on him and he’s gonna shoot right over the top of him or

He’s gonna put him in the basket so really as far as a complete team they are the most complete team in the NBA because when you look at them they can shoot the three and they have guys that can if they wanted to JT can post up he

Can get you he can he can drop hey he can shoot the mid-range he can put the ball on the floor he can get to the rim we know J we’ve seen JB put guys in the rim so we know he can uh uh his jump

Shot is is not as consistent as uh uh JT’s we know what porzingis is he can shoot the three he wants to shoot that more so to get ins side but it’s okay Al Horford is solid he’s gonna get rebounds he’ll hit the open three he’ll crash the

Glass they have a very consistent team and when you look at the guys that they have holiday is going to make a couple of Threes but he’s mainly your perimeter Defender that’s his job who’s the best player who’s your best uh perimeter player on the opposing team so even if

You have to give up some of his points to have him help neutralize some of the other guys you can see that because you should be able to get enough points from JB JT Pingas Derek white that even even if he doesn’t give you his normal 12 14

Points and he’s holding the other team’s perimeter player to under his average you could live with that yeah you know what I like you know what I really like about the team it’s like uh they’re so versatile right when they’re small they’re big right they’re still big now

They haven’t put this they only put this lineup in a a few times when they did they dominated when you have someone like Jason Terry I mean uh Jason Tatum the point right jayen Brown at the shooting guard you can put uh Sam at three you can put Al

Horford at the four and you can put uh porzingis at the five and be a very big mobile team which when Jason Terry and when I mean Jason Tatum goes to the point who guards him right it it forces you to switch your whole lineup and no

One has a lineup That versatile right right so they they they can really do something if they’re playing against um Denver if they make it against Denver I’m gonna use that lineup at the end of the game where now Murray has to guard Jason Tatum yeah he’s not equipped to do that if

He’s posting up playing from the mid post no and the plus uh uh when you play that lineup they can switch everything they they switch yeah very few teams they like oh we want to switch but you’re really not equipped to switch you’re just switching because it sounds

Good and it makes you seem like you’re athletic and you’re versatile when you’re really not but they can they can literally switch because JT at 69 610 uh uh JB’s probably 6768 um um holiday is a big is a big two guard not even holiday you got you got

Sam at the three who’s 6768 okay you put Sam yeah then you got Horford you got who’s 610 and you got porzingis who’s 7even foot oh he’s 73 my bad that’s what they Rim protection and then when joic when you swi on joic he’s not going against a Sam Vincent like he was

Against Miami he’s not going against uh a Cy Larry right when that switch happens he’s going against Tatum Brown that that has height on him with poringa sitting in the back protecting the rim so Celtics 166 with six games remaining clinch home court throughout the entirety of the playoffs

So as long as they’re in the playoffs they will have home court now it’s time for our next segment and it’s called A foree okay speee speech speech foreign spe fore spee spee Fore for speech speee fore Foree do right back no man find know man Okayer hello Fore for for Spee Speech spee fore speech speech foreign for Fore foreign speech For back TR for speech for spee speech spee speech foree for

FIRST TAKE | Celtics just proved they have the best defense in NBA with a win over Thunder – Shannon