- 7 minutes ago
Celtics analyst Brian Scalabrine joined the show to talk about the C’s, including the game against the 76ers, Jaylen Brown’s awkward behavior before the game, Jayson Tatum taking his game to a new level, the impact of Paul George, and more.
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00:00Mr. Brian Scalabrini, who co-hosts the starting lineup with Frank Isola, weekdays at 7 a.m. on SiriusXM NBA
00:07Channel 86.
00:08Also, you can now listen to WEI on SiriusXM Channel 97.
00:12Go to SiriusXM.com slash Sports Pass for more details on how to subscribe to SiriusXM's all-new sports plan.
00:21White Mamba, what's going on, buddy? How you doing?
00:23Explain to me how you thought that was one of the best games you've seen in a while.
00:28Let me just say my part first, and all it was was, like, Joel Embiid falling down, and the Sixers
00:36kept the game closed because of free throws.
00:39And when they stopped calling free throws, you blinked your eye, and we were up by 25.
00:44Like, it wasn't really—that game, I give Selfie's lot of credit for that game because it was like they were
00:50trying to keep it close, doing everything they could to make it, like, a big matchup.
00:54But in that particular night, and I'm not saying moving forward, there's all kinds of other factors as the season
01:00goes along and playoffs and all the stuff.
01:02But that was a tale of two teams, like, completely different levels.
01:07And I know people thought Philly was really good, but that night showed me that at least that night they
01:13were just average.
01:14I'll give you three reasons why it was the best.
01:16Number one, for superficial reasons, was the greeting before the tip-off where Jalen Brown was like,
01:23No, dude, I'm Mr. Tough Guy. I can't pay attention to nobody.
01:26And Jason Tatum was like, I don't care. I'm going to give you a high five.
01:29I'm going to try to dap you up. I thought that was a great moment.
01:32How about the fact that Paul George, like, absolutely lit up his old team,
01:37which is something I know everyone was concentrating on, Jalen and Jason,
01:40but the fact that for Paul George to go do what he did was another great thing.
01:45And my favorite, obviously, was I'll never get over Jason Tatum dunking on LeBron James.
01:51That was awesome.
01:51Yeah. Okay. All right.
01:54I ain't going to lie.
01:55Like, even like the first time that Jalen had the ball and he tried to go score on Tatum,
01:59there were some entertaining moments in there.
02:01There's no doubt there were some entertaining moments in the drama.
02:04And when you were there, it felt like a conference final.
02:07Like, the media, I was standing room only in the media section.
02:11And then, but the way that the Celtics played, and then you add, like,
02:17they just left Paul George wide open.
02:20It was like the former team didn't realize that the guys could, like,
02:24shoot the heck out of the ball.
02:26It was super strange.
02:27But, yeah, I mean, obviously, I thought Tatum was great.
02:30And, you know, I give him a lot of credit for the two days.
02:33You know, that night we got in at 3.30 in the morning, and, of course,
02:37he laced them up and went.
02:38And he didn't have a – it was like a choppy game in Toronto.
02:42But, like, that's the one great thing.
02:44And the Tatum thing about the injury and everything like that,
02:47dude loves to play, loves to compete.
02:49And even though it felt like Jalen Brown made it all about Jalen Brown,
02:54and it felt like Jason Tatum made it all about the Celtics.
02:57And that was obviously a good win.
02:59But this thing will continue.
03:01This is Chapter 1, it looks like, of a really long story.
03:04I'm curious what you think, Scott.
03:06I mean, JB talking a lot of trash before the game, man, hyping it up,
03:10saying that this is basically two heavyweights, you know, fighters going at it.
03:14Stay ready.
03:15Stay ready.
03:16And then he had that performance.
03:17Just were you surprised?
03:18Did it not surprise you?
03:19What were your thoughts on JB's performance?
03:22Yeah.
03:23Really surprised, yeah.
03:24Like, because I think JB is one of those guys that likes to talk himself into things.
03:30And, like, to his credit, he, like, when he got locked in in the finals
03:35and he picked up Luka full court, like, you know, game three,
03:38Luka threw a tantrum on the floor.
03:39So he was obviously visibly frustrated.
03:42And then how about last year when Jalen called himself the best two-way player
03:47and he locked up Clyde Leonard and scored 50.
03:49So, like, I've seen him completely locked in,
03:52and I was a little worried about, like, what he's capable of.
03:55But, you know, I just think, like, Joe, the team, the guys,
04:00I think a lot of the players, you guys hear the song,
04:05Why Can't We Be Friends?
04:07Like, I think they kind of, like, leaned into, like, the mockery of the whole thing.
04:12And there was no doubt that they were prepared.
04:14And, you know, like, that's the best thing about sports is, you know,
04:18those type of things do happen.
04:19You get to see how people respond.
04:21And that's the Celtics handle it pretty well.
04:23But, you know, like, on the contrary, like, the game,
04:26it looked like one team was way better.
04:28It looked like one team was way younger.
04:30It looked like one team has a really good chance
04:33and the other team was just too old, right?
04:34And, like, kind of disjointed at times.
04:37Couldn't score in a half court and all that stuff.
04:39But, you know, I was a little bit – I was really expecting Jalen Brown
04:43and Jason Tatum to both, like, go off and have this legendary Dominique,
04:47Larry Bird, fourth quarter type of stuff.
04:49But just Philly wasn't on that level that night.
04:52Scott, last time you joined us, you let us know that you and JB,
04:55he kind of gave you the cold shoulder the last time you saw him.
04:58Any progress there?
04:59How'd it go with you guys?
05:01Yeah, no interaction at all.
05:03But, you know, like, the one thing I will say, like,
05:07however I got my information and whatever I said and however I took it back,
05:11I never wanted to be in the middle of all that.
05:13I think people look at me and they think, like, first of all,
05:18I don't need to be in the middle of this.
05:20I'm not doing this to get famous.
05:22I'm not doing this for another – I can have, like, what, my ninth job?
05:25Like, I'm good, you know?
05:27It was just, like, I was giving context to a story of stuff that I heard.
05:31And, you know, like, whatever.
05:33I don't want to get into it.
05:33And it's easy for me just to, like, to kind of back off of that
05:37and say, like, this has nothing ever to do with me.
05:40I don't want the story to have anything to do with me.
05:42And that's sort of why you turned out of this whole thing.
05:45Like, it got weird really quickly.
05:48And it's like, that's not what I – that's not –
05:51if you guys know me and people who do know me
05:53and people around the league that know me, like, I just love hoops, man.
05:56And I, like, I got a great job doing what I do.
05:58It has nothing to do with, like, getting in the middle of some guys who –
06:03I was the biggest Jalen Brown fan.
06:06I still am.
06:07Like, I admire the way that he pushes himself to get better and all that stuff.
06:11But, like, sometimes if any player in the NBA goes at another player,
06:15which I thought – if I think it's wrong, you know, I don't just cover the Celtics,
06:19I'm definitely going to go out there and give my opinion on that, right?
06:22So, anyways, just that whole thing.
06:24And I think it's all good, and I think hopefully moving forward,
06:28it is just about basketball.
06:29But, man, that was a very interesting night.
06:31And, by the way, the Philly fans, like, no one said anything to me.
06:35I was expecting, like, them to throw tomatoes at me for whatever they do.
06:38You know, I was thinking it was like the Eagles, the Philadelphia Eagles.
06:41It was not.
06:42It was nothing like that.
06:43Well, Scal, I mean, listen, screw those people.
06:46Like, you were just saying what you – you had heard what you knew.
06:49So, you know what, Scal, I will give you – listen, you and I, we've both –
06:54I mean, you've obviously been playing at the highest levels of the NBA,
06:56and, you know, I've been on the other side doing radio and stuff like that.
06:59Sometimes – the one thing I learned is just sometimes the people are wrong.
07:02Sometimes just turn it off.
07:04Like, what you did is you just spoke your mind and what you knew,
07:08and then a bunch of people are like, oh, Pearl Clutchers came out.
07:11I'm on your side, Scal, on that.
07:12No, let me tell you the real – like, the real world that I live in,
07:16there's the people who know the league and the people who don't know the league.
07:20And so, I – and listen, I respect all people who talk and all that stuff
07:25because, you know, at one point I was like a nobody trying to come up in the business
07:28or whatever it was, right?
07:31But, dude, I only go with the people who know.
07:35So, like, people who know are not in my mentions, so I don't really read my mentions, you know?
07:40Good, good.
07:40And it's like – and then everything is, like, lost in translation for me.
07:44Did you hear what WEI was saying about you?
07:47Did you hear what the sports stuff – I was like, no, not really.
07:50Well, let me just ask you one thing because outside of the one comment you're talking about,
07:55you said something completely separate from it that I thought was interesting
07:58because it seems like there's a lot of stuff that backs this up.
08:01You were talking about Jalen saying he lives in his own reality sometimes.
08:04For sure.
08:05Yeah, what did you mean by that?
08:07If you could just expand on that.
08:08Ted.
08:08Ted.
08:09Yes, sir.
08:09Ted.
08:10Explain to him how all – like, 95% of us live in our own reality.
08:14Oh, yeah, pretty much.
08:15Pretty much.
08:16No, no, it's different, right?
08:18Like, everybody has, like, different levels of accountability, right?
08:23Like, you know, when people – there are people, and there are a lot of people in the NBA who
08:27are like this, right?
08:28That they live a certain way.
08:30And I think part of his greatness is this.
08:34And, you know, I think Steph – I think Peyton Pritchard one time told me that – and I think
08:40he was being serious –
08:40that he thinks he's a better shooter than Steph Curry.
08:43Like, we were on the bus talking.
08:45And, like, I looked at him and kind of smirked, and I was like, oh, my God.
08:49Like, he's serious.
08:51Like, so my point of this is we all sort of live in our own reality of this, right?
08:57But sometimes when it – like, it's one thing when it's your own reality, when it bleeds into other people's
09:02– or, like, there's –
09:04it's not just Jason Tatum that worked for the Celtics.
09:07There's coaches.
09:08There's assistant coaches.
09:09Everybody's affected, right, by, like, these type of things.
09:12There's players.
09:13It's big business.
09:15All this stuff, right?
09:16So when your reality starts affecting other people, then that's when it's a problem, right?
09:20And I think this lamb chops and gravy and the cap and all that stuff, that's living in your own
09:27reality.
09:28You've got to respect the work that he did, and Jalen Brown should respect the work that Tatum does
09:34because without one of – each of those guys, it's not – you're not winning a championship.
09:38And I think with the comments last year about this is my favorite season, which got kind of taken out
09:43of context, right?
09:47But the – but I think Jason Tatum fully recognizes, I don't think I win a championship without Jalen Brown.
09:54I just don't know if it's, like, it's reciprocated on the other end.
09:59I haven't heard those messages on the other side.
10:01It doesn't mean he doesn't believe that, but that's living in your own reality that both you guys are not,
10:07like, the key points to all the success,
10:09including Joe Missoula, including Al Horford, Drew Holliday, Porzingis, like, everybody – Luke Cornett.
10:16Like, go down the list.
10:18Everybody has something to do with that.
10:19It's not just about you because you got final 10 VP.
10:22It just, like, misses the rest of the people and their contributions.
10:27Hey, Scal, just my last one for me.
10:29You look at the Eastern Conference, Celtics sit atop of it.
10:32Who else do you think is going to be there at the end?
10:35What's teams – I mean, you look at the Knicks are 6-5 right now.
10:38I don't know if they're playing below what they should be.
10:40Who do you think's other contenders in the East?
10:43Yeah.
10:43So the Knicks, when they're – remember, when you play in the playoffs, guys play more like 42, 43, 44
10:50minutes,
10:50and their starting five is really good.
10:52I mean, look at their ratings last year during the playoffs.
10:55So I think when the Knicks kind of, like, you know, hunker down on their rotation,
11:00they'll be really good.
11:01They have some things that are hard to guard.
11:02Bridges is always good in the playoffs.
11:04He's been terrible this regular season.
11:06I'm a big fan of Detroit, but they probably do need a second scorer,
11:09and we don't know what's going on with Jalen Dern, if he's going to be good or not.
11:12Philly will be a tough out.
11:13I don't – like, I could dismiss how bad they were the other night,
11:16but you still got to deal with LeBron and those guys.
11:19Nick Nurse, a good coach, has won a championship before, so I think they'll be good.
11:23And I would say that's about it.
11:25Like, Toronto could be interesting.
11:27We saw them last night, but they're banged up.
11:29But I think, like, right now it looks like those are the teams that kind of separate themselves in the
11:34East.
11:35Hey, Scott, we had Chris Mannix on last week,
11:37and he said he's worried about the Celtics in the sense that he doesn't think they have enough shot creators,
11:42was the phrase he used.
11:43Do you agree with that?
11:44Is that a problem?
11:45No.
11:46No.
11:46The one thing, if I have a concern, it's like they've mastered the regular season,
11:51and not just in the past.
11:53Like, this year, like, the shot margin and crashing the boards and all that.
11:57You know, the deeper rotations.
11:59Like, the bench is leading the league in points.
12:02You know, like, all kinds of statistical categories.
12:04But in the playoffs, you cut that down, right?
12:07So, you build an entire regular season roster and you win all these games,
12:11but the reality is we don't know what that looks like when the playoffs come around.
12:15But I don't think it's shot creation as much as it is, like, identity.
12:19Like, their identity is tough, hard-nosed, possession, you know, like that type of stuff.
12:23You can go down the list.
12:25Ugo, Baylor-Shireman, Jordan Walsh.
12:27Like, you know, all the bigs.
12:28They have a triple-headed big.
12:29I don't know if those three guys will play.
12:31So, how do you play in the playoffs when you're not playing 11 guys deep?
12:35But it doesn't mean it's not going to work out.
12:38It just means, like, I don't know if it's going to work out.
12:41Last year, I felt when the playoffs came around against Philly,
12:44at least after game four, that we lost our identity.
12:47So, I would, like, maintain the same identity.
12:50And I know if Tatum's going to be playing 40 minutes,
12:53then obviously another guy's going to play less.
12:55But somehow, can we maintain the identity that we have in the playoffs?
12:59And that's a question mark that I have for this team.
13:01I don't think it had anything to do with shot creation.
13:03Okay, Scal, I lied to you.
13:04I got one more question.
13:05We're going to milk this appearance for all it's worth here.
13:09Yeah, go ahead.
13:10I really don't have anything to do right now.
13:12All right, buddy.
13:13Good looking out, man.
13:14Just the fit.
13:15Maybe not necessarily better or worse,
13:18but just the fit of Paul George with Jason Tatum.
13:21Better.
13:22Like, yeah, I don't need to go on a limb and tell you that.
13:26Like, Paul George stays healthy and he's just a better fit
13:29because it puts – here's the best part about this.
13:33Did I talk to you guys after the Detroit game or not?
13:36Yes, you did.
13:38Yeah, and I said, like, this falls on Jason Tatum
13:42because he's the guy.
13:44Like, this is what he – Jason Tatum woke up at 5 a.m.
13:48to work out with Drew Hanlon, like, five days a week.
13:52Like, this is why he's the star.
13:54He's turning the TV.
13:55This is who he is.
13:56And I think with Paul George there, it's, like, push towards Tatum.
14:00Like, you need to be the one that saves us.
14:03And even when you're not playing well, you need to be the one that saves us.
14:06And I thought we saw that last night.
14:08Yeah.
14:08Like, he didn't shoot the ball well.
14:10The dude made plays, though, and we got that win.
14:12So, I like this version.
14:14And I think Paul George, who had 30-whatever, right, against Philly,
14:18and that's an unbelievable luxury to have.
14:21And it doesn't mean Paul George can't make a big shot when it happens
14:24or anything like that.
14:25And it doesn't mean Tatum has to shoot when a team is on an 8-0 run.
14:28But I really like this version of Tatum right now.
14:31I love the responsibility that he takes on both ends of the floor
14:35and especially – and you guys hear me use this term all the time –
14:39like, how are they going to right the ship?
14:40How are they going to get going in this – I'll be rowing in the same direction
14:43when things get off course.
14:45And the answer is zero.
14:46That's the guy.
14:47And I think, like, with this group right here,
14:49and I think Joe has talked to Tatum about this, like, you can do more.
14:54And when things go sideways, I don't care if you miss 10 shots in a row.
14:58You're the guy that bails us out.
15:00And he took that responsibility last night, and we came back from down 22.
15:04It was all in that little stretch there where Joe Mazzula called that three.
15:08I don't know if you guys saw.
15:08He got the three.
15:09He went.
15:09He got fouled.
15:10It was a four-point play.
15:11We got the ball back.
15:12Baylor Shireman hit a three as a seven-point possession.
15:15Like, Jason Tatum was going to be aggressive on that play,
15:17and I think by having Paul George, it allows Tatum to do that.
15:21And by Joe Mazzula, like, not having Jalen Brown,
15:24he's putting more responsibility on Tatum.
15:27And guess what?
15:28His usage percentage is not that much higher than it was.
15:32But it's just in those clutch moments where we really need him,
15:35the ball is finding Jason Tatum.
15:36He's got, like, a little more attitude lately, too.
15:38Like, he's been way more expressive, too, which I like.
15:42Yeah.
15:43I know.
15:44It's all that stuff, right?
15:46It's like all the responsibility, right?
15:49Like, I think we're – it's weird.
15:52He won a championship.
15:53He should be so accomplished and everything like that.
15:54But in a weird way, I feel like we're finally getting to know, like,
15:59the deep demons of Jason Tatum, and I like it.
16:01It is nice.
16:02All right.
16:03I have one last question because you have a unique perspective on being able
16:08to answer it.
16:08And that is that, you know, people have been talking about how they think that
16:12Jason Tatum got the upper hand when he went up at the beginning.
16:16He seemed to, you know, be the alpha in a situation where he walked over before
16:19the tip off and Jalen Brown ignored him when he went to go give him a dap.
16:24And people are saying, all right, why is everybody praising Jason Tatum when Ray
16:29Allen went up to Kevin Garnett, your old teammates, and Kevin Garnett ignored Ray
16:35Allen and everyone's saying, oh, Kevin Garnett's just such an alpha for doing
16:38that.
16:39What is your take on those two situations and whether it really meant anything in
16:44the end?
16:46I think the difference would be, like, if you take the high road, the Celtics
16:50traded Jalen Brown.
16:52Ray Allen chose to leave.
16:54But I'm not one of these guys that think that, I think Ray Allen should have been
16:57celebrated because without him, I don't think Kevin Garnett comes.
17:00So, you know, Ray Allen had a choice to sign back.
17:04They offered him a contract and he decided to go down to Miami, which he was almost in
17:08a trade for OJ Mayo, I think.
17:10And I think that trade fell through at the end.
17:12So, like, Ray Allen has the right to do what he wants to do.
17:16Kevin Garnett was upset that he turned on the team, right?
17:20Because they were good.
17:20They went to a conference finals that year and then he left.
17:24The other side of it is, you know, like, Jalen Brown, theoretically, on paper, Jalen Brown
17:31didn't do anything wrong, but he got traded.
17:34So, taking the high road is what Tatum has done this whole time.
17:37Now, what's happening behind the scenes, I don't know, right?
17:41But, like, everything was, man, you can't talk about him without talking about me.
17:47We're linked together.
17:47All these, like, good things about Jalen Brown.
17:50And Jalen Brown puts the cap and the lamb chops and all this other nonsense.
17:55So, I think Jason Tatum taking the higher road on that one is being like, you know,
18:01like, don't worry about all that stuff, man.
18:03We're linked forever, and Jalen Brown, which is fine.
18:07Like, if you want to be motivated to do that, we just got to live with the consequences
18:10of what you did.
18:12Like, he has the right to do what he wants to do.
18:14I just thought it was a bad look spinning the ball on your finger while the guy comes
18:20up to you.
18:21Like, I just, of all the things, of all the things to do, I just thought that was a bad
18:27look.
18:27Like, you know, like, you can turn away, you can give him a fist while you look away.
18:33You can do a lot of things.
18:35But, like, on your bingo card, did you have Jalen Brown doing the Harlem Globetrotters
18:40while he comes up and then he ignores him?
18:43And then he bobbles the ball, and then he said he didn't see him, and then the internet
18:48is like, oh, now it makes sense why you dribble into three people.
18:52The whole thing, it actually has, like, a comedic value to it, right?
18:58But, like, that's why you just look away and you dap, and that's it.
19:02If you don't want to do anything, you do that, you know?
19:05But, you know, like, I think Shaq didn't dap Kobe up when it happened and all that stuff.
19:09So, you know, it's just, it's a lot of drama and all that.
19:13But I thought the look was a weird look.
19:16He was spinning it on his finger, then he went to wrap it around his heart.
19:21That's this guy you have beef with that you said you better watch out.
19:25Watch out for what?
19:26Watch out for my Harlem Globetrotters?
19:30It was so weird.
19:33And, you know, and I was a little bit on pins and needles about the whole thing, right?
19:36But I'm like, in hindsight, that was the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
19:40I mean, it truly was.
19:42It's like, I mean, you couldn't have scripted it to be any more awkward.
19:45I mean, can you imagine?
19:49He just goes, you know, like, I think of all the things that he could, like, he starts dribbling between
19:54his legs.
19:54Like, what is going on here?
19:56It's almost like a Saturday Night Live shit.
19:59Like, it's almost.
20:00Did he have, like, sweet Georgia Brown going in his head?
20:03You know, the Globetrotters theme, and he's spinning it around.
20:06Yeah, exactly.
20:08It's just, like, it's one thing you want to stand there, whatever.
20:11But, like, he was, like, I just, you know, like, of all the things, I couldn't believe it.
20:16Maybe he should have been like, you know what, don't give me the ball today.
20:18Or, I don't know, maybe he didn't think it out.
20:20And maybe, by the way, he probably does it every game that we never really thought of as a big
20:24deal, you know.
20:25But it was just, it was, it had some comedic value for sure.
20:29All right.
20:29Well, Scal, you're proving my point that that was one of the best regular season games of any sport I've
20:34watched.
20:34Well, for many reasons, that being one of the big ones.