Celtics Game 7 Collapse, Nuggets vs Heat Finals Outlook, AFC South Betting - Ride the Line Ep. 14

Episode No. 14 of the Ride the Line podcast starring Grant Mitchell and Tanner Kern is here!

Celtics vs Heat Game 7

The boys had an awful lot to talk about in the world of basketball as the league shifts from the conference finals to the NBA Finals. But before they could analyze that matchup, they had to spend time breaking down everything that happened between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum was injured less than 30 seconds into the matchup and hobbled his way through the rest of the game. He said after the game it was frustrating to be rendered a “shell of himself” because of the injury at such an important time.

Grant sympathized with Tatum and said that he didn’t believe he was embellishing the injury. Tanner was also understanding but more firm with Tatum and said that if he was going to finish the game, then he needed to be more productive.

Both co-hosts agreed that Jaylen Brown had a highly disappointing outing. Tanner proposed an interesting theory on where to send Boston (hear it for yourself in the episode) and concluded that Brown cannot be a part of the Celtics future plans.

Grant was also down on Brown but believes that he will be back in Boston for at least another year. The show already discussed potential landing spots for Brown in a trade (see episode No. 13 for that) and was vindicated with his Game Seven performance.

The show also dove into a conversation on the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award and discussed whether the surging Caleb Martin deserved it more than Jimmy Butler. The latter had better averages, but the former, as argued by Grant, exceeded expectations by a greater margin and had a larger impact.

Nuggets vs Heat Breakdown

The co-hosts then switched gears and previewed the NBA Finals between the Heat and the Denver Nuggets. Denver has been waiting in the wings and will be more well-rested than Miami and also gets to play Game One at home, where they are yet to lose in the playoffs.

There is a clear mismatch in talent between the two Finals competitors. The Nuggets have two-time MVP and red-hot center Nikola Jokic leading their attack, plus the explosive Jamal Murray in the backcourt.

Miami is led by the unwavering Jimmy Butler and has excellent role players but has a much thinner margin for error, as agreed upon by the hosts.

The boys then talked about different bets that could be placed on the NBA Finals, including the series winner, the over/under on games, the series spread, and much more. Both hosts picked the—well, you’ll have to find out for yourself.

AFC South Odds and Betting Preview

The show then switched topics and went back to the football field to talk about the AFC South, rounding out their week-by-week division previews of the AFC (with the NFC still to come).

The Jacksonville Jaguars are the favorites in the south on the back of young quarterback Trevor Lawrence and less than a year after they got to and won a playoff game. Both Grant and Tanner view them as the team to beat in this division and are their pick to win it.

The Tennessee Titans are second in odds to win the AFC South title, but neither Grant nor Tanner were overly impressed by their roster. Both acknowledged the potential of the Indianapolis Colts and even the Houston Texans but settled on those teams being competitive down the line, but not this year.

They couldn’t contain themselves and closed out the show by returning back to the hardwood to talk about Joe Mazzulla and his strange behavior on the sideline. Gregg Popovich would be both proud and disgusted.