Draymond breaks down Game 4 of Celtics-Bucks, where Jayson Tatum scored 30 and Al Horford led Boston to a 2-2 tie. He cites an 80% stat for Game 5 winners and picks the Celtics at home, then predicts the Heat over the 76ers and warns the Mavericks they need more than Luka Dončić's big nights.
Chapters
What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to The Volume's YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. On to the Celtics-Bucks series, which is tied 2-2. The Celtics took that win in Milwaukee today, 116-108. Y'all see Jackson? Y'all probably don't see Jackson, but Jackson's doing his little dance as you know. For our listeners who we love, we appreciate, you know Jackson's a big-time Celtics fan, and so he's excited. Behind 30 points from both Al Horford and Jayson Tatum. JT, I love you, my brother. That's my little brother, as y'all know. We've built a relationship, but I don't wanna talk about you, JT. You supposed to get dirty. Ah! I don't know if it's a Boston thing, if like Al just bleeds green. Al may bleed green, 'cause what y'all don't know is Al is from Grand Ledge, which is right next to East Lansing. Al probably should have been a Michigan State Spartan as opposed to a Florida Gator. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say Al does bleed green, and that is why he thrived In the Celtics green, Al Horford is playing incredible basketball. He's knocking down shots. He's doing a great job on Giannis. He is their veteran leader, as you can see how everyone responds to anything that he says, his presence. I mean, Al has been absolutely incredible. I'm not sure what Al's contract situation is, but Al looking like he got another 4 or 5 years of bump left in those legs. And it's been incredible to watch. What Al has done for that series is what you can see in watching this game. And JT ended up with 30 tonight. But what you can see is Milwaukee is saying, "Jaylen Brown won't beat us, and Jayson Tatum won't beat us." Yeah. And Al Horford said, "Okay, well I will." And it's been absolutely beautiful to watch, to— for Al Horford to be sent to Oklahoma City, a lot like Chris Paul, a lot like Chris Paul, to essentially die on his— lay on his deathbed. And that's no disrespect to Oklahoma City Thunder as an organization, But where they are in their rebuild, you take on a contract that's considered a bad contract. That guy is pretty much being sent there to be left for dead. Chris Paul then goes to Oklahoma City. Not only does he show that he has a lot left in the tank and eventually is moved to Phoenix, but he carried that team that was looking to tank to the playoffs. And— Al Horford, who didn't play a ton in OKC, worked with the team, said he's, you know, professional as Al Horford is, stayed in shape. And it's, as I've said before, when the Boston Celtics made that trade, I actually talked to JT. I'm like, "Yo, what are y'all doing? Like, I feel like y'all need a point guard." Yeah. Like, why are y'all bringing Al Horford back? Clearly Brad knew something we didn't know. And Al is playing absolutely incredible basketball. He has been the key to this series, and really throughout the playoffs for them. I mean, the basketball that he's playing. I think we're starting to see some of the Milwaukee Bucks missing Chris Middleton. Wesley Matthews has been incredible. He's playing great defense. He's knocking shots down. But you can't replace Chris Middleton and his— and what he brings to that offense, his big shot-making in the fourth quarter. The Boston Celtics defense also having to account for him. You can't replace that. And— I think we're starting to see some of that impact. And although, although Jrue has been more aggressive and Giannis is doing what Giannis does, you're just starting to see Chris Middleton and the gap that he leaves by not being there. And now Boston is headed back home, 2-2, they took home court advantage back. I'm excited to see this Game 5. This is a pivotal game. Yeah. Game 5, you know, there's some stat that says whoever wins Game 5 in a 2-2 series goes on to win the series 80-something percent of the time. So this is a huge game. Boston can't let this one get away and then have to win 2 in a row and starting that with going back to Milwaukee. So I'm excited to see what's gonna happen with this game. This Game 5 for them, obviously excited for what's gonna happen with our Game 5. But I think that's gonna be an incredibly good game. And we'll see, may the best team win. I am taking the Celtics. Game 5, hold it down in the Garden. Taking the seeds. I was saying we might have a problem if you picked otherwise. Jackson's gonna cut the podcast off if I would've picked the Warriors. So no disrespect to Milwaukee fans, but I like doing the podcast. I enjoy it, so I hope you understand. And the Mavericks and 76ers both tie up their series 2-2. We'll hit those real quick and we'll get out of here. I'm gonna go lay my head on Hazel's shoulder, maybe drop a few tears, few more, uh, but just try to move forward. But before we get out of here, the Dallas Mavericks, Dorian Finney-Smith had a huge game. Yeah. There was one play in particular that I wanna highlight. Luka caught the ball on the left wing, had an open shot. The guy rotated off Finney-Smith. Luka kicked it to the corner to Finney-Smith. One-point game at the time, if I'm not mistaken. Finney-Smith drains the three. Dorian Finney-Smith, I've spoke about his extension on this podcast. The player that he has become is absolutely amazing. It's no shocker to me that he had the 3-point shooting game tonight because he has worked and worked and worked, and he's become a shooter. And it's absolutely incredible to see. Maxie Kleber is shooting 24 from 49 from 3. 49 point something percent. Draymond Green is shooting 44% from 3, and Reggie Bullock is shooting 41% from 3. And there's your reason of why that series is tied up 2-2. The other guys are doing what they're supposed to do. Now, something to watch for. Can those guys hit those same shots in Phoenix? Role players always play better at home. That is what you— if you haven't noticed, pay attention. That's true. Pay attention, that's what happens historically in the NBA. But those shots are very, very, very vital. And what the Mavericks cannot afford is to have another 39-point Luka night. 10, 7, 4, 11. They need other guys to have great games. So that's something to watch for. And then the 76ers, this series looked totally different since the big fella came back, which you'd expect. But they have— I mean, they pretty much dominated the last 2 games. Like, at no point in those last 2 games did I think, like, oh, Miami's about to win this game. Joel has changed everything from Miami's defense and trying to stop him. And Miami— and— Miami's offense in trying to score with him there. I mean, he's been incredible on both sides of the floor. James Harden, we saw some of the James Harden that we've been accustom— grown accustomed to seeing over the years in that fourth quarter. I think he had 4 threes and he had some daggers and it looked like old James Harden. That's something to watch as this series moves forward because— Yeah. With the way Miami's guarding Joel, they're pretty much saying James is gonna have to beat us. And so that's something to watch. Can, will we continue to see the same James Harden that we've seen for years? Or will Miami be able to get James Harden back at bay in the 17-point average that he had prior to last night's game? In the series. That is something to watch. I also think Jimmy Butler has had incredible games, especially the last two games. Bam Adebayo had a really good game last game. And Tyler Herro played better in Game 4. And with all of those guys playing better, and to still walk off losing by 8 or whatever they lost by, That's a worry. That's a big worry. So looking forward to Game 5—Game 5 in Miami I am going to take... doo-doo-doo! I'm taking Miami. Game 5 in Miami, I got the Miami Heat winning that game. We'll see how it goes. Pivotal game 5.
