NBA Playoffs First Round Series Breakdowns & Predictions With Draymond Green

What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. On today's show, we'll dive into these first round playoff series, break down some of the biggest headlines, and we'll see which teams are getting a run for their money, which ones are coasting to the second round. This is the breakdown of the playoffs. Let's get right into it. First up, we must talk about the defending champions. They are the team to beat. They've been the team to beat. They are still the team to beat. They are going to be the team to beat. That is the OKC Thunder up 3-0 versus the Suns. And the biggest headline coming from that series has been the Suns feels like the refs are catering to OKC. Listen, that's been a complaint for a couple years now. So I don't think this complaint is any differently. I think it has taken a turn. Devin Booker was quoted last game saying, It's definitely something that has to be looked at. I heard Caruso tell them to call the tech and he ended up doing it. In my 11 years, I haven't had called a ref out by name. But James Williams, a lot of y'all may know him as Gucci because he has adopted the nickname and he's run head on with that, was terrible tonight through and through. It's bad for the sport. It's bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as WWE. If they're not held responsible? Listen, here's what I'll say on this. I have been talked about responsibility of officials. I've talked about that dating back. You, you, players get fined, you know about it. You can Google how much money I have been fined throughout my career. It is a Googleable offense and you can do that. When coaches get fined, you know, it's announced, the whole world knows, it's right in your face. When organizations get fined, you know, it's out in the world, it's in the open, it's right there in your face. For years we've been told officials get disciplined But no one knows when they're disciplined. No one knows what the discipline is. You tell us for years they've been disciplined, but I was a part of a game where Sean Livingston and an official got into it. And Sean was talking to him, leaning in. He leaned in at Sean. They bumped heads. Sean got kicked out the game. The official ended up getting suspended. It was public knowledge that the official was suspended. To say that all of the other infractions, all the other, um, discipline issues are private, but they happen, the fines, they happen. To say that is, is just, to me, I don't understand it, I don't like it, I don't rock with it because I have seen an instance when an official was publicly reprimanded. I've seen that. And so to say, yeah, they get fines. Yeah, you know, they're disciplined. I've seen instances where they actually were publicly. To believe that they actually are privately, I struggle with that because nothing's private in the NBA. Like when I say nothing's private, I mean nothing's private. Like we made a game, an in-game adjustment, a starting lineup adjustment in the playoffs. I wanna say this was a year ago. We changed our star lineup. It was not supposed to get out until the star lineups were announced. The news was out in 20 minutes. This is a playoff in-game adjustment, and the news was out in 20 minutes. To say that anything in the NBA is private, that's just not real. It's just not realistic. All of you all find out news about our team before we find out. I find out news about our team, about our organization at times, about injuries, about all these on the internet. To say that things are done in private, it's just not a private business. It's a very front-facing, Publicly scrutinized business. It's just what it is. When I say very forward-facing business, you guys can look up how much money I make to the penny. To the penny. And any other player for that matter. Don't tell me that this is a private business. Why is it that the only thing kept private is what happened with officials. What I will tell you is the officials has one of the best unions around, and they fight for them. I always wonder who is the leader of the, the, the union for the officials. That's who the NBPA need to be going after because That's who ends up with the best deal. The officials got upset one time, said, we're done, we're not going. Everybody panicked. Everybody. Talk about keeping things private. The officials have not agreed that you can publicly discipline them. Sounds like a great union to me. So I've had my issues with this official as well. As I said, you know, and in my opinion, I think he makes it very personal. If he got something against you, it's gonna be made very personal. Uh-huh. And so, I'm not surprised by what D-Book said, you know. I always have an issue with, you know, Gucci being called another man's name and like embracing that. Man, like to introduce yourself as, yo, I'm Gucci, man. It's a different thing, man. Here's what I will say though. As the leader of the Phoenix Suns, you have to be careful because what happens is it can easily come off as an excuse to the guys in your locker room. See, not everybody else don't matter. But it can come off as an excuse to the guys in your locker room. And you just don't want to give guys who, like, in every locker room there's guys looking for outs, there's guys looking for excuses. And as a leader, you just don't never want to give guys an out. You just never want to get them an out. Like, you got to go through the fire, we got to go through the fire, it is what it is. You never want to give them an out. The whistle that OKC gets, you know, I saw Shay, Draymond Green, you know, had 18 free throws one game, or 17, 18 free throws. I saw all of that. Quite honestly, Shea is great at drawing fouls. He uses your leverage against you. He has mastered the art of drawing a foul. If you watch him, most of them are fouls. And when I say most, I'm talking 90+ percent of them, they do be fouls. Like, he has mastered the art of drawing a foul to the level that James Harden had the art mastered before, but in a different way. He's had— he's mastered the art of it. For a great scorer, I think that's a great thing to master. And he's done that. Now, some of them, I think, back in the old days, officials would see that and be like, I'm not calling it. And I think that's the frustration that some people have, is it seems that he gets so many of these calls, and just some of them, the way they look, the way they happen, officials just, They used to wouldn't call it, especially in the playoffs. They wouldn't call it. And so I can understand the frustration. However, I do think a lot of them be fouls. He does a great job at drawing fouls. And so, but make no mistake about it, Shaker Square was the best though. Yeah. Get the foul, without the foul, he can score with the best of them. He is very capable of putting up 40 and having 5 free throw attempts, 6 free throw attempts. He's capable of doing that. So make no mistake about that. But unfortunately for Phoenix, this series is over because, you know, even without the fouls, like these games haven't even been competitive. And so, you know, I think their best bet is you pack the paint in, you make them shoot the 3. Pack the paint, make them shoot the 3. But if I pack the paint, these aren't drive and kick 3s, these are swing around the perimeter 3s. Are they capable of doing that? Phoenix has a very switchable defense, but when you switch, you gotta load up. You gotta load boxes and elbows, shut the paint down. You cannot come in this paint. Y'all have to shoot, keep the ball outside the perimeter and shoot threes. If they can do that, that's the only way they can keep this series close. Or excuse me, get it another game, which I don't think is happening. No. Nuggets versus Thunders. The T-Wolves are up 3-1. However, Ant-Man will be out the rest of this series and who knows how much longer. They said likely to miss multiple weeks. Shout out to my brother Dante DiVincenzo, torn Achilles, praying for Dante. You know, incredible dude, man. I love Dante. I had the opportunity to be his teammate for a year and the relationship has not missed a beat since. And so I'm rooting for Dante. He's already gotten his surgery, you know, which I think is great. You know, within 24 hours. Remember what happened with Jayson Tatum? Mm-hmm. Was in 24 hours he got that surgery. And he's out there ballin' in the playoffs. Ballin' in the playoffs. So Dante DiVincenzo, it's been 24 hours getting his surgery. Big, big deal. Hopefully that can speed his timeline up. Get Dante back out there sometime later next year. But, you know, give Io credit. 43 points off the bench. 13 for 17, 5 for 5 from 3. Draymond Green, great, great, great performance. Unfortunately, I don't foresee him getting 43 points again. And I think, you know, this game is, this, the series is definitely going 6 and I still got the Nuggets coming back to win this series. You down 2, you have start, your, your entire starting backcourt, you're down. That's gonna be tough. Now there's been a lot made of is Rudy causing these, these off nights for Joker or is Joker just missing? And I'd say it's a bit of both. Joker has always, the one thing he has struggled with is length. And if you go back and look at when the Lakers were able to beat them in 2020, the only reason they were able to beat them is because they had 3 guys that they could throw at Joker. With length. Dwight Howard, Draymond Green, and obviously at times Anthony Davis. But they were able to throw length at Joker length after length after length. And that's why they were ultimately able to take the Nuggets down then, but haven't been able to take the Nuggets down since. And so Rudy's doing a great job. You have to give him credit in saying that Joker's still getting a lot of the shots he want. But the length is bothering him, but he also can make these shots. So yes, he could come out and go for 40 tonight. Does not mean Rudy hasn't been causing them to have a tough time. They just been throwing, like the length is what he does have some problems with if he has any problems at all. There was a lot made of Jaden McDaniels going to lay the ball up late in the game. Joker ran down there. Here's what I'll say about that. Everybody's like, oh, Joker ran down there, didn't want to do anything. What I think Joker was trying to do is I think he was trying to get Jaden McDaniels to react the wrong way so that Jaden McDaniels could get thrown out of the next game. I think it was a mental play by Joker to try to get Jaden McDaniels to go over the top, a guy who's been telling them all y'all defend— y'all team are bad defenders and Y'all can't guard us. A lot of people like, "Oh man, Jaden McDaniels shouldn't have said that." They won 3 straight games and 2 in a row since he said that. So give them credit, give him credit. He's talked about it, he's told them what they're doing. I'm not a fan of telling teams that. He's told them what they're doing and he's lived up to it. Now they got the injuries. We'll see, can they still live up to it? But unfortunately, I think this series is gonna end up going 7 because injuries are going to be tough to overcome. We shall see. But Jaden McDaniels, he has swung this series and he's living up to everything that he said. Yeah. And he didn't react. He didn't even get a fine for the incident at the end of the game. Also, shout out to James Jones. James Jones is in a position where I've seen be operated completely differently than anyone who's ever been in the position. And he ain't trying to overly fine guys. He ain't trying to overly suspend guys. He's keep maintaining order while maintaining the— The game. The level of play that should be maintained. So shout out to James Jones in the position that he's in in the league office. He is doing an incredible job, not just this series, but all year. I think James Jones has done an amazing job of not just fining players, not just suspending guys. Shout out to James Jones, man. Job well done. Because who wanted to see some suspensions for some shit that happened at the end of a game? Yeah. Nobody. Shout out to James Jones. I think the Nuggets is coming back in this series. Pistons are down 2-1 to the Magic. And the headline has been Jalen Durant has been struggling mightily in this series. And quite honestly, I just, what I've seen from JD is not playing with the level of physicality that I spoke about him playing with earlier in the season. He looks like a young JD all over again where he's not quite playing with that level of physicality. Wendell Carter's been very impressive in this matchup. He's had the most rebounds in a playoff game for a Magic player since Dwight Howard. Like, he's been dominating the matchup. And if you JD, it's 3 games in, brother. You can flip the script. You're capable of it. You're, from a talent standpoint, from a skill standpoint, you are capable of it., but it has to be here right now. Mentally, he ain't there. Mentally, he need to come around. And so, you know, there's some extra whoop-wop in that matchup, Wendell Carter versus Jalen Dern. I don't get in people's off-the-court business, but that's for y'all to do your own things on. Mm-hmm. However, —it's a little extra, uh, there. And you know, JD gotta step up to the challenge 'cause Cade came alive last game and Cade gonna have to stay foot on the gas. They don't have a bona fide number 2, second scorer. Tobias was great, but they don't have a bona fide number 2. So Cade gotta be foot on the gas the whole series in order for them to win this series. I think they can. I'm very surprised that the Pistons are chasing over screens on— On Franz chasing over screens on Paulo. I don't understand why they're doing that. You should be going under all those screens and forcing them to make jump shots. Pistons were fouling way too much. Reach-in fouls. Like you gotta have discipline when it comes to playoffs. You can't have a bunch of reach-in fouls. Large part of the reason we used to be able to beat the Rockets, they depended a lot on fouls. Once we get to these playoff series, bro, we not, you not getting those fouls you get in the regular season. They ain't calling them and we ain't reaching like that. So, you know, the Pistons gotta clean that up defensively. You can't be in the bonus, or excuse me, in the penalty, 6 minutes to go in every quarter because you getting dumb reach-in fouls, sending guys to the line. Make the guys score the basketball. It's just very hard to score the basketball. If you're great, you make 1 of every 2 shots. Stop fouling so much. You have to have the discipline to not foul if you wanna win at a high level. The Pistons has done a poor job of that and turned it down 2-1 in this series. Still can come back and win the series. K got to put foot on the gas. Draymond Green gotta be the all-star that he's been all year. Paulo Banchero has stepped up. He's playing great. A lot of people doubted him, said he can't do this, can't do that. He's playing great. I would love to see what he's going to do if they have the discipline to not foul. We shall see. I think this series head back to Detroit 2-2. If you care about your energy, your skin, and aging well, listen up. Symbiotica is a supplement that is clean, liposomal, science-backed, and actually absorbable. One staple is NAD+. It has the best orange vanilla flavor. It supports cellular energy, healthy aging, and gives your skin that radiant, even tone. 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Like, if there's anything that Kevin Durant loves, he loves to play basketball. To question a guy injured that has shown nothing but the love for the game of basketball, It's bullshit. Regardless of what you all may think about the burner account, what you all may think about the Rockets chemistry, for a guy to play 18 years in the NBA, show the love for the game that Kevin Durant has, and to be injured in the playoff series and people say, "Oh man, he quitting on the team." I think it's ridiculous. Yeah. The respect around our game is just at an all-time low. Because so many people have voices about the game that shouldn't have voices. And like Kevin Durant not wanting to play basketball, what else he gonna do? Man love hooping. Like, so I just think that's ridiculous. Ime Udoka called his team out following game 3. And I'm a big Ime fan. I love Ime. I love what he bring to the team. I love what he bring to the game, his tenacity. I thought the way he called the team out, I didn't love it. And I didn't love it because they were terrible down the stretch. They were, and they lost that game. But in the interview, I never really saw him say what he did wrong. And yes, I think his players made all type of mistakes to lose that game. Yeah. But you still gotta take some credit in the collapse. And he did it. Maybe he knows his team better than I know them because they responded and they got a game. However, everybody made it about what Sengun said pregame, not necessarily what Ime said postgame of game 3. And so I would just warn Ime to be careful there because in today's day and age, Like, I've, you know, I've had to learn to deal with younger, younger, younger guys. Like, guys will quit on you. Like, I've seen it. I've seen it all around the league. Guys just quit on the coach. And so I would caution Ime just to be careful there because guys do quit. And you go ask some guys, a little tougher than they can handle, guys do quit. Like I said, they responded, so give them credit. But I would, I would caution Ime to just be a little careful there. Uh, Ime gonna be who he gonna be. Now he goes about his business, uh, the way he goes about his business, which is what I respect and love about Ime. Uh, but I would caution him with these young guys, man. They just ain't— they not the same. Like, it's just a little different. So I would caution him there. But you gotta give the Rockets credit, man. They stepped up. There's been some interesting numbers that come outta this series. Iman Thompson has played a bunch of minutes. He missed 7 minutes in one game, 5 minutes in another game, you know, 4 minutes in another game. This is all leading up to game 3. And when he was off the court, they'd be -7, -5. Like the numbers were glaring. He comes out and have a huge game 4. They win the game. They get their first win of the series. If they wanna have a chance to win this game, he's gotta play 45 to 48 minutes. And I saw him do that last year. And Steph got hurt in game 7. Yeah. You know, so I think they need him, 'cause athletically, the Lakers does not have anyone to match up with our man Thompson athletically. They don't have it. Our man Thompson, he's caused them all type of trouble working in that dunker area, getting the ball and attacking downhill in transition. He has destroyed the Lakers in this series playing out of the dunker because the Lakers just don't have anyone to put there because they, in an ideal world, what I think I would try if I was the Lakers, 'cause now you've lost a game, you need to make an adjustment. And what I would try is I would try throwing LeBron on Shingun, throwing, and you don't really wanna wear Bron out like that. That's a lot. Throwing Vando on Shingun, throwing Rui Hachimura on Shingun, and I would put my big on Draymond Green. And I would tell him, you only help at the rim. Don't step up. I need you to just take this guy away in the dunker. If Shingun goes for 40 points, I'm fine with that because it's going to be on all tough twos. But I can't have this guy getting all this work in the dunker. I need my big to take this guy outta the dunker. That's what I would do. I would make a funky adjustment, put the big on this guy in the dunker. If he sets a screen as a big guarding him, you're just in your normal coverage that you would be if you were on a big. If they set a screen on him, I'm picking him up at the free throw line anyway if I'm the big. So I'm going underneath all those and I'm meeting them at the rim. That's what I would do if I were the Lakers. 'Cause I just think you have to throw something funky at them. To get Draymond Green from dominating this series. Now, who's also dominated this series is Bron. What Bron is doing in this series, if you remember in 2018, they were down 3-2 versus Boston. And this is a young Jayson Tatum, this is a young Jaylen Brown. Bron walked those guys down. He played 47 minutes one game, 48 minutes the other game. Yeah. In Game 6 and 7. I can't remember the order, but tomato, tomato. He walked the ball up the court every play unless they had a transition opportunity to get a layup. Other than that, he walked the ball up every play, got that team any shot he wanted to give them. That's what they've been doing. I think in Game 4 they got sped up a little bit and it wasn't as methodical as it's been. Now, Also with Bron, who's been very methodical in the way they've gone about this series, is Marcus Smart. Give Marcus Smart a lot of credit. He's been incredible. And, um, that's what Bron's gonna have to do in Game 5 to close this series out. He's going to have to man the game, get every possession for them that he wants, because I don't think the Rockets have anyone on their team that can play chess with Bron. They don't have anyone that can sit across the table and play the chess match, which is why he's been dominating the series. The guy on their team that can play the chess match is Fred. He's not out there. And so I don't think they have anyone else on their team capable of playing the chess match with Bron. And that's what Bron gotta do this Game 5. It has to be a chess match. Once again, game 4 wasn't really chess, it was checkers. Gotta turn it back into chess so he can outthink those guys, get the Lakers any shot they want. They're at home, role players play better at home. By the way, shout out to Bronny. So much criticism for Bronny over the course of his career. He's been the 13th to 15th man all year and he's playing great playoff, giving great playoff minutes. Yeah. Playing great playoff basketball. So you gotta give him a lot of credit. And man, how dope is it to see a man and his son playing in the playoffs together in the NBA? That's so fire. Like unbelievable. Unbelievable. What a feeling. So shout out to Bronny. Bronny's had a really good series. When he's been called upon, he's been ready. Shout out to JJ Redick, getting him in those games down the stretch. When games were on the line, he was on the floor. And you can see it. It's translated. So shout out to Bronny, man. Keep going. I love to see it. All the haters, keep hatin'. I love to see it. Unfortunately for this Rockets team, They don't have a healthy KD and I think it's gonna be tough. I think this series is over in 5. I don't think they get the series back to Houston. I just don't see it. Like you, they need KD out there. They were able to get one, you know, you're prideful, you don't want to go out there and get swept. I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, they come out punch first, the Lakers withstand, they blow. They punch again, Lakers withstand the blow, and then the game get outta hand. I can very much so see that happening. I talked on Threads the other day about something I saw in the game with Tari Eason. Tari Eason in game 3 was like accepting all of these switches. Like, I hate when I see guys who's supposed to be defenders like, "All right, I got screened, I'mma switch." I take that as guys don't be wanting to defend. Like fight through the screen, man. These are like down the stretch. It's one thing if y'all got a game plan, but the last 6, I'm getting through the screen, man. I'm not just switching and watching Shingun guard LeBron James. For what? We know how that ends. We know how the story ends. So that was a little disappointing to me. If you wanna win at a high level, you gotta take on the challenge. And I don't feel like, you know, I feel like a lot of guys, look like they acting like they're taking on a challenge and don't really be taking on a challenge. So they wanna win this series, you gotta take on the challenge. Fortunately, they ain't winning this series. Lakers in 5. Spurs versus Blazers has been an interesting one. Wemby returned from concussion protocol. Scoot Henderson completely reverted to what he had been doing prior to him playing this year. He has 0 points in Game 4. One of the things that's been great for the Blazers is he's been playing great. He was not great. He was actually pretty bad in Game 4. Yeah. Yet and still the Blazers had a 17-point lead going into halftime. And by the 9-minute mark, it was completely gone, or the third quarter, by the 9-minute mark. The Blazers have these spells when you're watching these games where they just can't, like not can't score, they can't get good, they can't produce quality looks. And then it's like everybody gets sped up and they just go and go. And before you know it, it's 4 possessions in a row of awful shots. Yeah. And it's just gonna be hard to win like that again in the playoffs. It's gonna be hard. Like, you can't have these spells where you just can't produce good looks at all. And that's kind of what they be going through. And then once they go through it, you see the body language drop, man. And it's just a domino effect. And then they're not able to get it back. I think, I just don't know like what it is that they can do because these scoring spells that they go on, it's due to like, you know, I don't see them getting into great stuff. And you don't really have a proven playoff go-to scorer. Danny Avey has been great, but he's not a proven, all right, We hit the wall, I just need to go get a bucket. He hasn't proven that he can do that at this level yet, at the playoff level. And so that's where you start to see somebody like Dame Dolla Miss, somebody who's like, all right, I see it's all going downhill, let me just go get a bucket and stop this run. They don't quite have that. And it's shown up in these games when they get these big leads. That's 2 games in a row now they've had big leads and squandered them away. And when it's hard to win playoff games twice, you know, you go up, you win the game once, you gotta win. You actually gotta close the game. You get your lead back in the thing. It's hard to win playoff games twice, man. It's hard to win any game twice in the NBA. Playoff games is hard to win twice. It usually don't happen. What I mean by winning twice again, you do something in the game where it's like, all right, you're in complete control of the game and then you losing, you gotta get, do it again. It's hard to do. And so fortunately for these Blazers, I think this series is over. It's over. Spurs in 5. Stephon Castle's been incredible. Saw someone on threads the other day like, yo, hot take, man. Stephon Castle gonna be All-NBA next year or something. Brother, that ain't no hot take. Stephon Castle is a winner. Stephon Castle is a special player. And to see him taking this leap in these playoffs like this, I think in these playoffs he has been the most important player for the Spurs. He'll never get credit for being the most important player because they got Wimby. But man, you take Stephon Castle off that team, that is a completely different team. That kid there, I think is special. A lot of news has been made off the court of the Trail Blazers owner being called cheap because he, staff was required to check out of hotels by 12:30 PM to avoid late checkout fees. That's pathetic. That's the type of stuff that happens in the G League. Number one, you want the people you working with like to, Like, these are the people who ultimately guide your team on a daily. You want those people to feel good. Like, you have to check out and sit in the lobby and find something to do to 12:30? What about the focus of the game? Huh? Like, they gotta go find something to do to kill time? You want people killing time on a game day? Oh no. That's pathetic. Team masseuse denied a room for pregame treatment. Gotta take care of the players. It's what puts asses in seats. Two-way players not allowed to travel for playoff games. If I'm a two-way player in the future, I never wanna sign there. Yeah. Two-way players are not allowed to play during the playoffs. This is the first time I've heard of two-way players not being able to travel in the playoffs. This is the first time I heard of this. Like, so you're pretty much telling those guys you're not a part of this team. Ending the tradition of giving out playoff t-shirts. Man, there's a company in Portland that will sponsor those t-shirts. He's like, no, we ain't paying for that. So it's hard to call someone cheap that spends $4.5 billion on something, except that's an asset that probably in the next 2 years will be worth $5.5 to $6 billion. Cutting all the costs, Trying to pay a head coach— it's been rumored that he's trying to pay a head coach $1 to $1.5 million. Man, top assistant coaches is making that. Trying to reset the coaching market, that ain't gonna happen. So yeah, you can't call someone cheap that just spent $4.5 billion, except when you do all things cheaply, you're going to be called cheap. Yeah. Because there's just a standard in the NBA of how people will be treated, how players will be treated. And to just come in and like do that differently right away. I understand Adam saying what he said, you know, Adam's gotta approve this guy becoming the owner of the team. So I understand that, but Adam's gonna have to get involved because these things can't keep happening, man. And here's what I'll say. NBPA, you should be fighting for two-way players to travel come this summer. He should not be allowed to do this. Shouldn't be allowed to do this. Just shouldn't be. I've always said there's a certain standard needed around the NBA, around teams, right? Like that the NBA need to make happen. The NBA should not allow someone to say, yo, you can't, you can't stay in your room. Because what if they're just sitting and walking and killing time and something happens? They would have been safe in their room. So the NBA, come on now, not allowing the masseuse to have a pregame treatment room? Come on, NBA. Are we protecting the players? What is this, a players league? We always say it's a players league. I always question this. It's the players' league, like they say. Come on now. What we doing here? Right? I've been telling y'all about some different standards the NBA need to— Every arena, you should have a hot and cold tub for players, visiting players. These are standard things that every arena in 2026 should have. Every team should be required to create a hot and cold tub. It don't have to be the most extravagant hot and cold tub, but there should be availability. It's ridiculous, the teams that don't. Every team, the bench should be required to be a certain height. You go to some of these gyms, the seats you're sitting on are super low, so your hips are jacked up, which mess guys back up, which is a trickle-down effect, kills hamstrings, kills quads. Yeah. Kills calves, which ultimately kill Achilles. These are things, man, that like, these are simple things that should be standard in the NBA. It's the fucking best basketball league in the world. And these are things that aren't standard. So there's just some things that the NBA need to take a deep look at. And those types of things are ridiculous. And what this guy's doing in Portland is disgusting. All right, now that it's finally spring, I've been outside a lot more, walking everywhere. Wear, making plans, even squeezing in a few weekend trips. And every year around this time, I realize my closet just isn't keeping up. I want stuff that looks good but can actually move with me. And refreshing your wardrobe every season can get expensive fast. 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Whether I'm running around with my kids, working out, or just having another busy day, I've got to keep up. And that's where Liquid IV comes in. It's clinically demonstrated to hydrate faster than water alone, which honestly makes a difference when you're on the go. You can toss a few packets in your bag, carry-on, gym bag, even your car because it's so easy. Tara, pour, done. Just one stick in 16 ounces of water hydrates faster than water alone with an optimized blend of electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients. It actually helps keep you hydrated longer, up to 4 hours. And I love the flavors. Lemon Lime and Popsicle Firecracker are so popular for good reason. Stay hydrated for every adventure. Get on-the-go hydration from Liquid IV. Tara, pour, live more. Go to liquidiv.com and get 20% off your first purchase with code Draymond at checkout. That's 20% off your first purchase with code Draymond at liquidiv.com. Cavs and Rockets series are tied up 2-2. After a great start with James Harden and Donovan Mitchell, they've both cooled off a bit. Jamal Shedd has been great defensively for the Raptors. Collin Murray-Boyles has been great on the offensive end. Undersized big, he was a— Lottery pick last year, undersized big, but he's not struggling with the length of the front line of the Cavs at all. Jared Allen seems to get in these playoffs and get really, really, really soft, man. Like, he gets in the playoffs and turns into a completely different player, and not for the better. He gets really, really, really soft. Yeah. In these playoff games. And I just don't understand it. Colin Murray Burrows understands it though. He said, I'm going right at your chest. And he finishing around the basket, little lefty. Scottie Barnes been playing great, averaging 26 on 52% shooting for the series. Both teams have won their home games. Who's going to go on the road and win one? Ultimately, that's what Toronto has to do. Now who I wanna give credit to, and no one's gonna give credit to, is Brandon Ingram. Brandon Ingram shot 9 shots one game. He took 15 shots in one. But the last game he took 23 shots. And although he struggled from the field, the mentality that the guys on the floor with him were able to follow is a huge reason why they won that game. Brandon Ingram is for sure the best one-on-one scorer, the best go-to scorer for the Toronto Raptors. And when you take 9 shots, it just ain't aggressive enough. Like he was 6 for 23 for 23 points. But guys see that and they like, oh yeah, he gone. I saw guys a couple times look him off. Murray Balls looked him off once. Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett looked him off a couple times. In that first half of that game, he got aggressive to end the half, and then he got overly aggressive coming outta the half. You can't look Brandon Ingram off, but Brandon Ingram allowed that by not being aggressive as Brandon Ingram should do. So what does Brandon Ingram come out and do game 4? Brandon Ingram come out aggressive, super aggressive. Super aggressive. Second half, super aggressive, 23 shot attempts. Gonna need much of the same going into Cleveland. Gotta get him up, man. Can't take 9 shots, it ain't gonna work. That team need him to take 17 to 20+ shots at least because they can't create, generate the offense like that. So B.I. is the guy that gotta make the dominoes fall. Whether he struggles from the field or not, People miss shots, man, but he gotta make the dominoes fall. And I thought he did that in Game 4. And I think he's gonna have to continue to do that if they're gonna have a chance of winning this series. But the aggressive Brandon Ingram that I saw in Game 4, I don't care if you go over 23, that aggression is going to give his team a chance to win. And I think As long as he stay aggressive like that, like Dean Wade can't guard Brandon Ingram. Like, I love how hard Max Struis plays. Max Struis can't stop Brandon Ingram. I just, I don't foresee it. So I think it's very important that Brandon Ingram comes out aggressive as hell the way he did. They've tied this series up 2-2. Going back on the road, you gotta take one on the road. Why not make it game 5? We know the stat about if you 2-2 series, the winner of game 5. Why not make it game 5 if you the Raptors? You gotta go in and go for broke. That's what you gotta do. They've lost 2 in a row, not feeling good. James ain't played great the last 2. Draymond Green ain't played great the last 2. You gotta try to stomp on that right now if you're the Rockets, right? You Jamal Sheds, you gotta be coming out picking up full court to start the game, right? Like these are the things you have to do in order to take control of the series. They don't have control of the series right now. Quite frankly, Cavs going back home 2-2, they're still in control until Toronto can change that. And I think you'd much rather do it in game 5 than game 7. We'll see how they come out, but. Yeah. Donovan and James, they have to play great in order for this team to win. 'Cause Jared Allen, I don't know what he be doing. Again, I've seen him say, "Man, in the playoffs, the lights was too bright." I've seen him say that. Once you feel that way, how do you get over that mentally? I have not seen him get over that mentally. So, you know, Evan Mobley gotta step it up. Gotta step it up. Has not had the same impact on the defensive end. Has not had the same impact on the offensive end. Gotta step it up. You wanna win at a high level, gotta step it up. The guys who supposed to play great gotta play great. That is how you win at a high level. Then you get stuff from the Max Truses. The Sam Murrills, the Dean Wades, the Jalen Tysons. Then you get stuff from them. But they gotta, gotta step it up. In saying that, they're headed back home. The Cavs are headed back home 2-2. And until proven otherwise, I think the Cavs get game 5. Knicks versus the Hawks, also tied up 2-2. And I would say the Hawks have dominated this series. Obviously tied up 2-2. Knicks got it back where they want it, but they don't feel great about it. I can see when a team don't feel great about it. Cat, give Cat credit, he played a good game. Jalen Brunson is now a little banged up. They do not feel— Mikal Bridges has been a no-show. They have not, they do not feel great about it. Start talking mental. The Hawks is a team they struggle with. Yeah, Trae Young ain't there.— But a lot of those same people you looking over at, they're there. And sometimes in a playoff series, you just know you got a team number. And so I can tell you what they're walking in, they're walking in feeling confident like, hey guys, we can beat them. We know we got them. We good. Right? CJ McCollum been going off averaging 24, almost 25 points a game. Now what I will say about this is CJ has been going off. What I saw in game 4 though, was them overly dependent on CJ. And I don't think that's good for CJ. And I don't think that's good for the Hawks. This is JJ's first series being the focal point. He gotta figure it out. Gotta be more aggressive. I think Quinn's gotta do a better job of getting him and JK in spots to where they can get downhill. I mentioned on threads that I think they need to play Buddy Hill. Yeah. I'm watching Corey Kispert out there. I'm watching Gabe Vincent out there. And Gabe's played well, but those guys don't guard great. And Buddy Hill's not a great defender, except Buddy Hill gonna pick you up full court if you tell him to pick you up full court. And Buddy Hill, I will say, is a much, a very, very underrated defender. No, I'm not saying he's great. I'm not saying he's the best defender in the world, What I am saying is he's a very underrated defender. Had an opportunity, as you know, to play the last 2 years with Buddy. Did not know he could defend the way he defend. Is he Jamal Shed? Of course not. Nor should he be. But Buddy Hill can defend. And you put Buddy Hill on the best guard, Buddy Hill can do something and Buddy Hill can follow a game plan. And we know Buddy Hill can get hot and make shots. I've seen Buddy Hill in a playoff game. Get hot and make shots, change a series for us. I've seen Buddy Hill do that. And I think Quinn is doing themselves a huge disservice by not playing Buddy Hill. Corey Kispert ain't ready for these playoffs. I'm sorry, I've watched enough. He's not ready for these playoffs. Buddy Hill is ready and always ready whenever his number's called. And he's been in these situations. And I think Buddy Hill's gonna open the floor up for JJ. I think Dyson Daniels, Dyson Daniels has been bad this series, man. And for what he's giving you defensively and not offensively, I think Buddy Hill can give you not the same, but enough defensively and obviously way more offensively. I think as this series moves on, if they wanna win this series, they may have to move away from Dyson Daniels a little bit. Mm-hmm. Because the way it's stifling their offense, it's ultimately affecting JJ. It's ultimately affecting JK getting downhill. And I think you want those young guys running and gunning and getting downhill, man, putting pressure on the defense because I think, I think that will ultimately unlock Nikhil Alexander-Walker as well, right? And so I think putting Buddy Hield in can actually unlock all of these guys. And obviously I know the type of morale that he's gonna bring to the floor, right? I know the energy that Buddy Hill is gonna bring to the floor. If I'm the Hawks, I'm taking a deep look at Buddy Hill. I need Buddy Hill on that floor. You got him over there. I think he's better served for you on the court in this series than on the bench. So know you've gotten your rotations that, It's game 4 now. It's time to make a change. You 2-2, but what you've been doing ain't gonna get you to the finish line. I think Buddy Hill can help this team get to the finish line. In other news, I saw J.K. shouted me out after he nudged Nikhil Alexander-Walker into position to stop Jalen Brunson. J.K. said, I'm gonna give my praise to Draymond. Growing up around him, watching him, I seen him do that so many times. He's one of the best at doing things like that. Number one, I just wanna say thank you to the young fella. As I'll never forget what Pete Myers told me as a rookie. He said, Draymond, two things. You owe it to the game to leave the game in a better place than it was when you found it. Number two, you get paid in this league to get the next young guy paid. Meaning you get paid, the money gonna go up, get the next young guy paid. I've taken those two things to heart in my career. And I try my best to pour into young guys. I've had my failures, but I've done way more good when it come to young guys than I've done bad. And to get praise like that from a youngin' that like you just poured into, like I still pour into, like that relationship ain't changed. Love JK to death. That's my young fella. Yeah. And to see him out there, number one, doing what he's doing defensively, playing his role on the offensive end is a beautiful sight to see because I know what he's capable of and he's capable of giving you more on the offensive end, but he's playing his role. And I think as the series go on, he gonna give you more on the offensive end. But like even watching that last play in game 3, where he guarded the guy, switched, stopped it, chased the guy over, got this, knocked the ball away, ran it, picked up the— like, man, what can you do when a guy doing that? Got with that type of athleticism. He's been in Atlanta for 3 months, so the offensive role will grow. You go, you get a training camp under your belt, all those The offensive role for him will grow, but he's doing what he has to do to stay on the floor. And I love to see it, man. Closing games. Oh, so shout out to my young fella, man. Keep changing the series, doing what you're doing because he is a champion. He's been in these situations. He is the champion on that Atlanta Hawks team. There's no other champion on that Atlanta Hawks team. J.K. is a champion. And so to see him showing up in this series, doing what he's doing in this series, I love to see it. So I just wanna thank the young fella for the shout out. However, it's your duty, man, to show these young guys the way, to try to help them be better than they were before you found them. And that's just what it boils down to. So shout out to my young fella. Keep doing what you're doing, man. Keep changing the series. The sky is the limit. I've told y'all that from day one with this kid. The sky is the limit for JK. And I'm loving watching him doing what he's doing. Ultimately, the Hawks has what the Knicks struggle with, which is length and athleticism. And they can win this series, but I think they gotta do a better job of, like I said, getting those guys downhill, getting CJ off the ball a little bit. Just having CJ playing in front of defense. He's off to a great start in this series, But I saw it get a little tougher for him game 4, take more tougher shots than he had been taking. And you still want to keep CJ going. Yes, he's your guy that can get you a bucket, but gotta release some of the pressure off of him in order for him to stay playing at this level. And ultimately the Hawks can do it. This game 5 will be big. They can win this series. I'm with you. I would love to see my young fellas make an impact and get it done. But I do think ultimately the Knicks are going to ultimately win this series. I think these Hawks got a little more growing to do. They gonna need a big game from JJ, like I said. But ultimately I think the Knicks get this one done. And in our last series, we got the Celtics versus the 76ers. The Celtics up 3-1. Joel Embiid returned to the court It wasn't quite enough. VJ Escomb had an incredible game too, but has been quiet since. 10 points in game 3, 6 points in game 4. You know, Joel coming back does not help VJ Escomb. It probably hurts him more than anything because he drops to the fourth option as opposed to sometimes the two. Yeah. Most times the 2, seldomly the 3. He drops all the way to the 4th option. That is a completely different role. And so I know Joel coming back doesn't help him. Now, here's what I will say about the Sixers though. Y'all know there's never no Joel slander on my watch. Guy's an MVP of the NBA. He's had unfortunate injuries. But they've played without Joel so much this year. Yeah. That to just incorporate him in a star lineup just because he comes back, I don't think is the right thing for, for a playoff series. Down 2-1, but you've had, you know, it took Jayson Tatum to hit big shots down the stretch to close you out in Game 3. And I just don't know that incorporating them into the star lineup is the right thing to do because they've played so much now. It's one thing if Joel's played 60 games this year, but he's played more like 25, maybe 30. And so they just haven't played with him all year. And so to incorporate him in the starting lineup soon as he gets back, obviously not feeling great. You saw the videos from him in the warmup. Like, I just don't know that that's the right thing. Yes, you like, By the way, you put him in a lineup when their starting center's going off the floor, when their starters are going off the floor and you come in, your starters are going off the floor and you just favor him heavily, get him the ball, get him some touches. I think that's a better outcome right now in this circumstance than just incorporating him into the starting lineup because there's just no continuity with that starting lineup. They haven't played much together all year. And so I just don't know that that's the right thing to do. But they, you know, they know more than me. Maybe they feel like if they don't start him, he won't play. I don't know. But sometimes you gotta make the tough call. And I don't know that him starting right now with such little reps with this group is the best thing, is the best thing for them. You know, so you got the Celtics up 3-1. 3-1. Headed back home. And unfortunately, the Celtics has also had this team's number, right? So when you incorporate Joel, they already know how to play Joel. They've done it for years, right? So I think giving them a different look helps. Putting Joel in a different role helps because your standard status quo, they know it already. They figured that out already. So we'll see. I think Joel can definitely help swing this series., but I think it's gonna have to look a little bit differently than what it's normally looks like. We'll see what they do. I don't think they do that. They don't make that call. Most coaches aren't willing to make that call. Uh, but unfortunately, that's gonna end with the Celtics in 5. I wanna thank you all again for tuning into the Draymond Green Show. That is a playoff breakdown for you. We will continue breaking down these playoffs as they go. We'll give you adjustments that should be made, that could be made. They may make 'em, they may watch and take the adjustment. I know a thing or two about the playoffs. I know a thing or two about adjustments. Till next time, deuces. If you're rocking with the Draymond Green Show, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app. And while you're there, go ahead and drop 5-star rating and leave a review. I wanna hear what you think. And it would also mean a ton to me if you share it with a friend that you think would enjoy it. Let's keep this thing growing. The Draymond Green Show is presented by Audacy and executive produced in conjunction with The New Media. Our executive producers are Leah Reese Dennis, Danny Friesinger, and Greg Holtzman. Video production and creative design by Kirk Courtney, Tim Meekle, Lauren Vieira, and Evan O'Brien. Special thanks to the team at The New Media and the team at Odyssey. Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hillary Shuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Rose, Colin Gaynor, and Jake Gally. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]