premier league results

tas: on today's show -- j.e.: we celebrate st. patrick's day by showing saint -- love to the celtics. and, john wall goes five rows deep. tas: it is tuesday, march 17th. "the starters" starts now. [captioning made possible by nba

digital] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> good day, sweet world. welcome to "the starters." i am j.e. skeets.

alongside me, tas melas. tas: how do we do. j.e.: trey kerby -- and finally, the international man of mystery, leigh ellis. we have crossfire, the up-and-down down report, always fun. first, we have to talk about the

eastern conference playoff race. there were four teams within a game for the last two playoff spot when we entered monday's games, and the race somehow got closer. the heat and celtics picked up key wins, and you see the logjam therefrom seven, really down to

11. we will include the brooklyn nets for now. let's start with the boston celtics -- how fitting, st. patrick's day, they go and get the win. the 108-89 win over the 76ers. they have won seven straight.

they are playing entertaining basketball. tas: we told you this is a league pass team. they share the basketball. i love the way they move the ball, the players around, and also, just overcome the lack of talent by getting production out

of everywhere, as well as some great coaching. they are doing this without isaiah thomas, as well, who you could argue is their best player. they do it by moving everyone around. they have a great system.

j.e.: brad stevens, by no means will win the coach of the year award, you can see his name on a few of the ballots because he has been fantastic. trey: they have gotten better. the last talented they have gotten -- jeff green, rajon rondo, isaiah thomas is sitting

out. they play super hard, and grant -- get great play called by brad stevens. if you buy in, you will get good shots and they have been knocking them out. tas: we have showed you these plays out of timeouts.

i love the way they bring bigs uptime -- up top. a lot of dribble handouts. that is all brad stevens. you see a list there. fifth again. they get the most out of their guys. j.e.: absolutely.

tas: on a team where guys are making back cuts and moving all over the place, you have perfect guys like avery bradley, people that are chipping in, and big second move the ball. j.e.: if you are a celtics fan, are you upset that sending this team is putting to get her --

putting together wins and missing out on the lottery, or are you happy to see the young guys make a move and a step to winning basketball games question mark leigh: -- games? leigh: if you are a fan, you want to see the team compete. if you are danny range, -- danny

ainge, i wonder if you are ahead of schedule with the rebuild. players never tank. j.e.: mailing it in, or getting young guys like marcus smart heavy minutes. have to be happy with what you see out of marcus smart. his shot is not there yet.

he is aggressive, attacks the paint. i think this season they could easily make the playoffs. they are not going to go very far, but with all of the draft pick, cap space opening up, you have to be excited. tas: you know he will come to

make the playoffs -- would take making the playoffs. j.e.: i think most people would. you talk about the ball movement . a great post on the celtics blog. this is from saturday's game against the pacers.

this is a very solid play candidate. if we did a show on sunday, this would be the very solid play. they also run a lot of double screen action. this frees the tomie for the wide open three. he can hit that.

the backdoor cut. avery bradley, just catches a good defense in the pacers here, just sleeping. here, again, more screens. when you do not of a superstar and a guy like rondo who wants to dribble, dribble come in trouble, you have to create

mismatches -- dribble, dribble, you have to create mismatches and that is what they are doing. they are entertaining team. trey: you wonder if it is him being a college coach. that is how you play in college. tas: i love the bigs coming out. it creates space for guys that

cannot take over one-on-one. we have not even mentioned the defense. over the five-game stretch, they have the third best defense in the league. their offense has been good, not great. the defense has picked up the

last five games. j.e.: you talk a little bit about marcus smart. do you like what you see? leigh: yeah, at the start of the season he was injured and struggled with minutes, but since he has come back, he is part of the reason why they got

rid of rondo. the returns have been good. if he could develop an outside shot, that makes it much more of a threat, but with bread see the -- brad stevens, you have the guy that is the quarterback on the floor, deliver the message, and you know those guys will

build a great relationship and things will go from there. j.e.: defensively, this guy will be a nightmare for years to come. he gets up on guys at the halfway line. trey: a pain to go against him and avery bradley.

j.e.: another big win for another team, the miami heat, against lebron james. the second time, led by dwyane wade once again. he scored 21 of his 32 points in the first half. dragic added 20 and they handed lebron another loss on his

former home for their. this was a really dominant when from the heat, taking control in once again, it really was doing way -- he throws in these games every once in a while. he has been great -- dwyane wade he throws in the games every once in a while.

tas: they play well against the cavs. dwyane wade has been unheralded this year because last year he kind of faded in the finals, but he had a fantastic season throughout the regular season and through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

the legs could not get them through the finals. he is still averaging 21 and making plays like that happened. it was phenomenal. j.e.: unfortunate, it got blocked. tas: we cut it off because it did not go down, but he is still

averaging 20-plus. when he needs to, and when he is pumped to play his old friend, still find, lebron james, he puts up 30-plus. if this were the postseason, and he had to perform, he obviously would come and i hope we get to the postseason with dwyane wade

in the miami heat in there. leigh: they could face cleveland. j.e.: that is absolutely in play. it would be fun to see wade and lebron go at it to let's talk a little bit about goran dragic and the impact he has had since

coming over. there was a slow start after the trade deadline move, but we start only -- we are suddenly see the impact he has with the pace and the speed. trey: we thought that would be one of the biggest things that would come from the trade

because the heat played so slow. it is a pain to score when you are playing that slow. now that goran dragic is there, he gets the rebound and he is ready to run. it is easier to get easy baskets. it is easier when you can score

in the fastbreak. that is something they did not really have before and now they do. leigh: and dwyane wade has someone he can rely on to handle the ball. that has been a problem this season.

young guys like shabazz napier and mario chalmers has been frustrating. goran dragic is a proven point guy. tas: they go from 30th two 14th in pace, and that means erik spoelstra trusts goran dragic a lot more than he trusted mario

chalmers and norris cole to make it happen to make it happen. we are seeing how good he can be. he's had some injury problems. it is unfortunate chris bosh is doing weight is not the same -- and dwyane wade is not the same dwyane wade.

looking for to them being healthy next year. j.e.: because of the way they play, the teams you hope get in? tas: i do not appear we will talk about paul george a little later. definitely intrigued. j.e.: grab a guinness.

come back, we have a special st. patrick's day edition of "crossfire perko tas: welcome to "crossfire." if you are new to the show, this is how it works -- three topics, trey will declare a winner. first topic, please. trey: your first question is

which nba team could use a four leaf clover for a little luck down the stretch? tas: the oklahoma city thunder. this team is so unlucky. they are at the bottom of the playoff action. starting with kevin durant, you nine out of the lineup.

when will he come back? -- in and out of the lineup. serge ibaka, he is out four to six weeks. when will he be back? people forget they went to the western conference finals in 2011, the finals in 2012. this team is knocking on the

door. when will they be healthy? j.e.: i will jump to the east and say the brooklyn nets need a lot of luck to get into the playoffs. it is very unlikely. not only will they have to string together some wins at

home, where they suddenly cannot win, but they will need teams to falter ahead of them, but for another reason -- they are in the lottery, they have a 1.4% of winning the overall pick. they do not want that luck. the hawks would get the nets pick if that happens.

that would be unbelievable. trey: who is your favorite nba green? j.e.: that is like asking me what my favorite movie about bmx biking movie -- is. it is draymond green. a great line about him -- when the warriors play small by

lineups -- small ball lineups with green at the center, there is no more exciting unit in the league. i go draymond green easily. tas: a great pick. i think i should pick gerald green because his head is above the rim, but i am picking danny

green of this and san antonio spurs -- of the san antonio spurs. he has the ability to backpedal and steal the ball. he did this to lebron james. how many times have you heard people say how can you stop lebron james when he has a full

head of steam? put danny green in front of him. j.e.: this sounds like a leigh ellis answered -- backpedaling and stealing the ball. tas: j.e.: should --tas: shout out to the other grains. trey: final question, what has been the luckiest shot of the

season? tas: you know why the term no look shot is not the basketball lexicon? it is because it is impossible to do thomas -- -- unless -- he might have lifted it. it cannot be taught. you are not looking at the

bucket. j.e.: here is the problem -- is it really that lucky if you and i can do it? i say no. remember, we did it. tas: we were not running toward the basket -- running toward the basket.

j.e.: if i don't care. i'm going with isaiah canaan's crazy shot against the heat. member, he grabs the three, the long two. he banked it home. i go can with this one, but the booker flip is good. tas: both good shots.

who won this baby? trey: skeets is the winner for his irish jig. tas: that is embarrassing. he is good at it. j.e.: we'll be back with john j.e.: back with "the starters," into the up down report. we ask you to participate on

twitter. we start with paul george who has doubts about returning only because he wants to not ruin team chemistry. he said -- j.e.: so, thumbs-up or thumbs down on paul george hesitating on returning because he does not

want to spoil the teams chemistry. two of us up, two of us down. tas: this is not why he should hesitate. he will help the team if he is healthy. the team is going nowhere without him in the postseason.

ask anyone in the organization. they would say he should come back. j.e.: well there is one guy that says he is not even close to 100%. look, you did not expect anything from the pacers this year, let's be honest, when paul

george went down. this is all just bonus. enjoy the ride. do not rush him back. tas: in the report he said he is miles better than weeks ago. j.e.: i do not think he is 100%. trey: i think rodney stuckey and george hill play well and the

roles they have now. to add another guy that would be the highest usage rate player is a lot to ask four. leigh: i do not think he would be the highest usage rate if you have a guy of that caliber, you do not want him and street close -- in street close.

if you have met 80% it is better than on the bench doing nothing. tas: reading the report, i think it was taken out of context. i think he was talking about if they are at the postseason he would not come back ready for the postseason. j.e.: i thought you would be

down because when he said it, they were winning games, and now they lost a couple. maybe they through the games on purpose. next one, i'll bore down on charles oakley hating -- up or down on charles oakey -- oakley hating today's game.

he says more bad games than good games these days. all of us down. leigh: i love charles oakley, but i do not like his comment. it screams of a guy saying it was better in my day. when players say the game is soft, it is not true.

people have been flopping forever. he has not watched the san antonio spurs and how teams are replicating the way they play. teams move the ball so well. teams are playing just as hard. it is just as tough as it was in his day.

tas: mj right him on to host the charlotte hornets. -- coach this charlotte hornets. he was an assistant coach, and he did not like that experience. if there was one team you did not enjoy, it might be this 1 -- tyrus thomas, morris dl in his worst days -- boris diaw in his

worst days. gregg popovich said he has not been in shape a day of his life. i can understand why charles oakley may have not like that. he could understand -- i can understand he does not like there are not as many tough guys in the league.

leigh: what is tough -- throwing punches at people? j.e.: do not get lost in that -- whether they played dirty trey: everyone is athletic. tas: everyone plays defense and plays hard. j.e.: the ironic thing is charles oakley of all people

played on some of the ugliest teams in history. the new york knicks teams. tas: in terms of their looks? j.e.: in terms of their pace, falls -- that was pat riley, of the basketball. leigh: the style he played -- he does not see that, the joakim

noah would hold his era -- would hold his own in any era. j.e.: it is the equivalent of get off of my lawn. leigh: he always gives you can stuff. j.e.: the next one, john wall's stage diving versus the blazers. thumbs up, or thumbs down on

john wall going five rows deep here at least. i am thumbs down. i will tell you why. tas: this is incredible. j.e.: it is incredible, but we have had so many injuries and the score at this point in the game, the game was over.

40 seconds to go. it is almost pointless. i do not want another star getting injured. trey: it is amazing how he is able to avoid all of the kids. it is amazing he did not get injured. i like to see that athleticism.

leigh: we see a lot of this, and sooner or later someone will get hurt. there are a lot of kids in the front row. if he pops a knee -- tas: you have so many more people to break your fall. it is more likely a fan gets

leigh: either way. you are right, at that point it was not necessary. tas: charles oakley would applaud that. i thought it was so perfect he did not hit a fan. it was staged almost. j.e.: let's hear what people

think about john wall. for now, let's unleash the fantasy unicorn. back to the celtics. a couple of guys you might want to think about picking up if you are into the playoffs. leigh: take a squeeze of the celtics.

j.e.: what does that mean? leigh: have a look. j.e.: in australian? leigh: is that a canadian term as well? j.e.: no. leigh: marcus smart, tyler zeller, brandon bass -- they will produce.

other teams that are in the playoffs or close to will look to rest their guys, so you want someone that will be out there producing. brandon bass -- he is one of those consistent professionals. he will give you those 10.5 rebounds, j.e.: grabbed him if

you can. there you go. you did not think you would hear someone say take a squeeze. tas: i will be back. i have to take a squeeze. j.e.: when we come back, the pick 'em payoff results and two a look at the pick 'em payoff

results. pretty good night. i am now three games up and the month of march. -- in the month of march. tonight, we agree on all five games. we like the grizzlies, the spurs, the rockets, the

pelicans, and the clippers. tas: bucks versus pelicans. j.e.: unfortunate news -- klay thompson is out seven to 10 days with a sprained right ankle. if you caught it last night, it was not pretty. it hurts enough that he will sit.

it does not hurt in terms of where they are in terms of standards, but unfortunately you will have the warriors-hawks, no kyle korver. trey: that is a big one for the number one overall seed. j.e.: where are we going for the solid play?

leigh: back-to-back solid place from the portland trail blazers. it ended with a damian lillard three. the blazers know how to move the rock. j.e.: they were down 25, made it a one possession game. leigh: that is what i call it

very solid play. j.e.: very solid play, very solid show. happy st. patrick's day, everyone. we are back tomorrow with the show and the podcast. tas: thank you for watching, and remember, you're doing a