What do you think about the Laker team now?

You follow the box scores of the games every day?

Just the Lakers.

You're kidding.

That is really a compliment.

I was pleased to see you smile at the top bar show because once the game starts, you have a game face.

You don't smile much out there.

I don't think you have to do things for money anymore. Correct. What's up, Laker fans? Welcome to the Laker Film Room podcast. I'm Pete, joined by Darius and Mike. And the NBA finals are set. It's Dallas versus Boston. They took different routes to the NBA finals, but dominant nonetheless. In Boston's case, you can only beat the team that's in front of you, and they had a very

unusual path to the finals, beating Miami, Cleveland, and Indiana in decisive fashion, but also

while each of their best players missed more than half, at least of the series.

But again, you can only beat the teams in front of you, and they got there very easily. And then in the Western Conference, Dallas has a five-seed beats three-fifty

win teams without home court advantage in any of those series. All of them pretty decisively,

too, not as decisively as Boston, but they go 12 and 5 to get through the Western Conference

in just very impressive fashion. And so I think

we're in for a pretty great NBA finals, Mike. Dallas is not a team that I think was regarded

quite in that same stratosphere as Boston is, but I would argue that they are an elite team.

These are the two best teams in the NBA now pretty clearly and that their

moves after the deadline and then kind of the they had to reorder and figure out what their

starting lineup was going to be, but they've really found themselves. And I have a lot to talk

about with both teams. But first thoughts, Mike, the NBA finals are set. Well, let me start here.

Pete, what's your level of worry? I've been worried all year. There's been a big-ass green cloud over the mountains for the whole, like, yeah. You know, it's funny. They made the, what was the first trade? Was it Drew or Porzingis? It was the Porzengis trade first. And I was like, yeah. I was like, Porzengis in the playoffs. There's a few things where I'm like, you can, you can go after that. And then they make the Drew Holiday trade on top of that. I'm like, ah, it's so. When the holiday one especially happened, I was like, oh, man. Yes. Just considering what, how little they had to give up relative to, to how he could plug in. And Holiday was awesome, especially in the Indiana series,

and he's going to be needed again in this one.

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