Felger: Bucks go down last night in Miami. Now down 3-1. Looks like they’re teetering out of the playoffs. Murray, your thoughts?
Jim Murray: I mean, the Celtics have no excuse now to get back to the finals. The path is now set for them. It’s better than ever. Joel Embiid is dealing with a LCL, whatever it is, he’s got a knee sprain. They’re saying they don’t even know if he’s going to be available for the start of the second round series. So advantage Celtics there. The Bucks are knocked off. You’re not looking at a battle there. The Heat aren’t what they were last year, and I know Jimmy Butler had a phenomenal night and he can have those nights in the playoffs, but the Celtics are clearly better than the Heat. They have no excuse not to get back to the finals. It’s set up for them.
Felger: Oh, my God. Is it set up for them?
Mazz: They really don’t. I mean, again, and I could even sit here and tell you Miami has always scared me a little bit, they don’t have a Tyler Herro. Like, they just don’t have the guns to beat the Celtics. They’ll fight. They always fight. They’ll give you that. But at the end of the day, they’re not going to beat the Celtics, they’re not good enough. Now look, Jimmy Butler, oh what a man. Oh, my God, what a man. Can I just get that off my chest?
Felger: Get it off your chest.
Mazz: Holy crap. It was 56. Is that awesome? Don’t you just love him? Do you know in the last six postseason games, going back to the end of that Celtics series, he’s averaged 38 points?
Felger: That’s crazy.
Mazz: 38 points. So, like, I just think the guy plays his best at the biggest moments. Like, he’s just, he’s balls. He’s absolute freakin balls. The regular season means nothing to him, so it’s all about staying healthy until the playoffs. Now, that said, I just don’t think they have enough. But the thing is wide open for the Celtics.
Felger: Wide open and it should be and you’re not going to get a better path than this. And it may not get interesting again until the finals. And you should be heavily favored in the finals.
