Cavs-Pacers Game 3 Preview 🏀 Who needs to step up for Cleveland? | NBA Today

Cavs-Pacers Game 3 Preview 🏀 Who needs to step up for Cleveland? | NBA Today

There was an anonymous player poll that came out and the players voted Tyrese is the most overrated player in the league. This is a bull poll. I want to see the faces of those guys. [Applause] [Music] Burton. Two on the clock. Three. Got it. Yeah. I mean, we’ll be right back. So, maybe uh calling them overrated was a mistake because the Pacers, they’ve been dominant at home all season. They’ve racked up the fifth best regular season home record. They’re also the only undefeated home playoff team. They’ve gone 3-0 in Gainbridge Fieldhouse this postseason. This morning, Donovan Mitchell, he spoke about the challenge that the Cavaliers now face. I got no choice but to win these games. I don’t care if R was playing in front of 100,000 people. Um, got a lot of respect for this fan base. They have shown over the years how passionate they are. Um, no doubt tonight will be the same way. Um, it’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be a easy environment, but we have no choice but to take care of these two games. Otherwise, we’ll be done. Live from Indie, our NBA reporter Jamal Collier joins us now. Jamal, you were at that Cavaliers shootound. What can you tell us about who will be available on the floor tonight for Cleveland? Yeah, Malikica, optimism for all three of those injured Cavs players, Garland, Mobley, D DeAndre Hunter, they all took the floor this morning at shootaround and that’s more than they did prior to game two when they did not take the court at any point leading up to that game. and they not only took the court, but they went through some shooting drills, went through some workouts with assistant coaches. Uh Mobley especially, who was not moving around well before game two. He got under the basket, did some footwork, did some post up moves. DeAndre Hunter, he’s got that injured thumb on his shooting hand. He was practicing catching the ball, getting comfortable shooting. And Darius Garland, who has been out uh since the first round, missed the past four games with that toe injury. He was moving around the court really trying to get acclimated and accustomed to sort of going side to side. So, the Cavs will not release an official uh designation for these guys until about 30 minutes before game time. But right now, there’s a lot of optimism and as you know, Don Mitchell just said, they know that this is an important game for their season pretty much on the line here tonight knowing what a three-0 hole means. And Mitchell’s been pretty steadfast even since after game two. It doesn’t matter who’s on the floor. The Cavs know they’ve got to play desperate tonight and they know they’ve got to come in here and find a way to get on the board in this series, but they’re hoping to have some reinforcements. All three of those guys officially listed as questionable. Jamal Collier, though, he’s going to be giving it a go. Thank you so much for stopping by NBA Today. We really appreciate it, my friend. It’s certainly not the first time, though, that a top seed has found themselves on the brink of early elimination. Let’s fire up the NBA today time machine and head back to 1993. That’s when the number one seated Phoenix Suns. They were down 02. They were at home to the eight-seated Los Angeles Lakers. That’s when their head coach Paul Westfall, he stepped up to the podium and he made a guarantee and it would go down in NBA playoff history. So, we’re down 02 and I know the next question is, are you guys dead? No, we’re going to win the series. We’re going to win one Tuesday and the next game’s Thursday. We’ll win there and we’ll come back and we’ll win the series on Sunday. Everybody will say, “What a great series it was.” We’re a better team than the Lakers and we will win. Perk, do you know what happened? What happened? They stood on business. The Suns, they completed the comeback to advance on this day in 1993. They went on to face Jordan’s Bulls in the NBA finals. Now, the 93 Suns of Yeah, they are one of six teams in NBA history to come back to win a series after losing the first two at home as well as the only one to do so in a best of five series. The Celtics and Cavaliers, they hope to do the same in their current best of seven series. Game three, it is tonight in Indiana. Danny, can Cleveland find something? You heard Jamal saying that their three guys, he thinks that they’re going to be back. Can they find something to continue to push this series? Yeah, I mean, they have to slow down the pace, though. Even if they don’t have those guys, if they do have them, eat still. They cuz those guys are not going to be 100% healthy. They got to muck up the game some. They got to find a way to get Donovan Mitchell some some fresh minutes or some legs under him because he was unbelievably fatigued in that fourth quarter last game. Um because he can’t, you know, bring the ball up, score, play defense. He can’t do all those things. So Max Drew has to step up. Ty Jerome has to be big in this series, right? And of course, if they get those other guys back healthy, it’ll help. But they’re going to need everybody from Dean Wade to Sam Merrill, all those guys to playing well and doing it for four quarters to win one of these games. Well, they’re going to have to they going to have to make the Indiana Pacers uncomfortable. Yeah. physicality, touching them up. I know we wondering like when they go where they’re going to get their points from offensively, but what are they going to do defensively? Like who’s going to man up? It’s hard because you look at the wing position and you saying, you know, Kent Tai Jerome or, you know, uh those smaller guards, can they stop a Pascal Seakum? But I’m looking at a guy like a Cororo and and you’re like, I was ducking. Yeah, cuz every time he shoot a three, I get that ducking. You know what I’m saying? I feel like it’s going to hit me through the television, but they got to find some type of dog in them like to to to go in there, junk it up, have Tyrese Hallebertton turning red. Who’s going to ruffle the feathers? But I know for you it’s about a specific member of the Indiana Pacers that you’ve been watching. You damn right. And I got to show him love, Malikica. I was not familiar with this game. I owe this man apology cuz he’s a Texas boy. Born in Texas, Texas University legend, UT legend Miles Turner been putting on the clinic quietly. I know Tyrese Hallebertton and all them get all the love, but look at what this man has been doing. Seriously, this the defensive side of things all the way out there on the perimeter tracking down Donovan Mitchell. Two-handed block right here. This is what give coaches chills in the film room. Look how he jumps out there on that screen to stop the ball and hedges out there and forces a turnover. That’s what you call sliding those puppies. And look, 18 blocks this postseason. Leading the NBA this postseason and block shots. So, he’s getting it done defensively on the offensive end. He knows his role. Pick and pop short rolls with that featherally touch. You want more feathers? Look at the turnaround right here. Over the top. This man does it all. And here’s the best part of his game. Being able to stretch the floor, write the spacing and knock down the trade ball at a high level. This man, Miles Turner, my Texas boy, I’m sorry. I should have acknowledged you a little bit earlier than now. And you can send him some Legos as an apology, perk. Another 20point lead in the third quarter for Boston like in game one. Here they come again. Here they come again. The Knicks on a 17-2 run. It’s a one possession game. We’re very comfortable. We got kind of clutch. A chance for the lead here for the first time tonight. And the lead is one for the Knicks. Tatum maneuvering. Oh, the ball. Another great defensive play for the Knicks. They’ve got it. They’ve won it. New York has gone up two games to none. A finish like that takes a deeper dive. Let’s go in the bonus on the Knicks defying the odds here because look at this. New York somehow has clawed back for a game two win despite all five starters finishing the game with a negative plus minus. But we see you Mitchell Robinson plus 19 off of the bench there. The clutch player of the year Jaylen Brunson lived up to the title over the final five minutes of the first two games of this series. Brunson has outscored the Celtics by himself 17-13. And that’s in part because of the Knicks defense. It has stiffened in the fourth quarter, holding the Celtics to an anemic offensive efficiency of 76.7 while shooting just 20% from the field in the fourth quarter. Yesterday, Jason Tatum, he took the blame for Boston. I take full ownership on um the way that I’ve I’ve played in this series. Um and you know, it’s can’t sugarcoat anything. I need to be better and uh you know, I expect to to be a lot better. You guys have been in these locker rooms. Danny, you’re smiling because on the one hand, it’s it’s good to have the superstar taking responsibility. It also doesn’t change the O2 hole that they’re in. It does not. You got to love it’s admirable that he’s actually taking accountability um as a teammate, as a role player. You got to love that your your superstar is actually doing that. But he’s not going to be forgiven until he wins two in Boston. He has to show he has to deliver. They’re not paying him. Not just him. I’m not going to single him out because Jaylen Brown as well. These guys, they’re too deep. They have too much too many over the over the cap. They have they paid all these guys in these contracts to deliver and win these games. You could not be down 02 and lose at home and only score, you know, 13 points, be up 20 twice and and blow 20 point leads. So, yes, he’s a great player. He loved that he’s taking accountability, but you have to deliver and you have to win two in New York now. So, you have to prove and show as a championship caliber team. You cannot come in and lose a series like this in the second round to a New York Nick team that’s not supposed to be better than you. 13 points in game two for Jason Tatum. his lowest scoring output of the season. See, it’s You look so defeated, Parker. You all right? Yeah, because because we can get you. I just I just want maybe I just got to let Tatum be Tatum cuz I want him to be something maybe he’s not ready for. What do you mean? Like, you know, I need to be better. I expect to be a lot better. No, I need to be better. And damn it, I’m going to be better. Like, I want to hear some type of stuff that’s like you basically saying, “Man, we going in here and getting this win. I’m guaranteeing this win. That’s the type of confidence I want to hear him talk about cuz Malikica, he sat down with you multiple times. He told you he wanted to be the best player in the league. He told you he wanted to win the MVP conversation. Watch all your interviews. I saw it. Great interview. But when you want to be that, speak like that, walk like that, have that swag like that, bro. That’s all I’m saying. I they need to him and Jaylen Brown need to do something or him specifically go to the summertime tapes and seeing himself on the bench because he came out with a fire to start the season. He needs to find that some way somehow because we don’t want to put him in that Tyresese Hallebertton conversation of being one of the most overrated players in our league. He is not one of those he he’s too talented. He’s too good to be in that type of conversation. Well, maybe they’re getting some of that confidence, that swagger when you look at the numbers, right? Because for most teams, it might be daunting to trail 02 before heading on the road for two games. But don’t forget the Celtics team, they won 33 road games during the regular season. That’s tied with the 96 Bulls for the second most in NBA history behind only the 2016 Golden State Warriors. But here’s the thing, Carl Anthony Towns, he remembers having leads like this. Here’s his thoughts on having a 20 lead heading back to their home floor. Uh it it means we we up two zip. I mean, but it doesn’t really mean anything. You know, if anything, it’s taught me experience from last year. We were up 2 0 the same way in both away games in Denver and we came home and we left our our home two games 2-2. So uh we can’t take anything for granted. We got to find ourselves uh executing at a higher level. We can’t keep doing these 20 point uh leads for Boston and hope to come back and win the game. We got to we got to play better. We got to shoot better. We got to execute better. Um we can’t start having that kind of Knicks basketball being played down 20. We got to start from the start the game that way and uh finish the game that way. 48 minutes. Most swag big in the NBA. Pat. Yeah. I got some fashion for a seven. He’s he is always putting on a fit. Hey, game three though. A hot ticket. In fact, it’s on pace to be the second most expensive ticket home or away since 2010. 828 bucks. Perk. Can I hold $800? Yeah. It trails only game seven of the last year’s Pacers series. Next on this list, Monday’s game, 88 bucks according to Vivid. I give you eight. You give me eight. I’ll give you the eight. All right. You give me eight. I get 800 from Perk. We’ve talked about this though. What’s on the line for the Celtics? But Perk, what’s at stake for the Knicks, do you think in game three other than 800 bucks? Oh, what’s at stake for Big Body Bronson? Look, he’s already the best player right now in the Eastern Conference this postseason, but he’s on the verge and trending to being in the conversation to being one of the greatest Knicks ever. Yeah. Get just getting to the Eastern Conference uh conference finals alone puts him in that conversation. Don’t like I’m looking at Jaylen Bronson and I know everybody is talking about what what uh the Celtics are going to do. I’m looking for him to have that moment. I’m I’m looking for him to steal that spotlight. It’s at his crib. I’m looking for him to go viral. If he goes viral in these next few games, the Knicks are going to close this series out and then he’s going to enter that conversation. Look at these stats. I’m just telling. So, if he gets the Eastern Conference Finals, he surpasses Carmelo. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Nicks wise, in a Knicks uniform, not overall career, but in the Knicks uniform. The mindset that Carly Anthony Towns has is the correct one. Obviously, he was in this situation with the Denver Nuggets last year where they won two on the road. The Nuggets then won the next two and the series went all the way to seven. The series is far from over. They can’t take their foots off the G. I know Perk might disagree with me on this. No, I’m I’m with you. A lot of basketball make the game. I just feel like the the Knicks are going to win this series. That’s it. But I got to respect it. Well, we’ll see it on ESPN tonight. We’ve got a pair of game threes. First up, it’s the Cavaliers and Pacers. That’s at 7:30. You think the Cats can get that one? No. All right. Well, then we have I do. I do. I give him a little I got a little hope for him.

NBA Today’s Malika Andrews is joined by Jamal Collier, Danny Green and Kendrick Perkins to preview Game 3 between the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers. The panel also reacts to Jayson Tatum’s comments about the Boston Celtics being down 0-2 to the New York Knicks and look ahead to Saturday’s Game 3.

0:00 Tyrese Haliburton
1:14 Jamal Collier on Game 3
3:08 NBA Today Time Machine
5:08 Cavs vs. Pacers Game 3 preview
6:51 Celtics vs. Knicks

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