0:05

Hello and welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast.

0:07

We talked about the NBA, which we're

0:09

doing on a lovely Sunday evening in

0:11

April. It's about to get serious. Joining

0:14

us from New York City where he

0:16

attended the Brooklyn Nets season finale

0:18

at the Philadelphia 76ers and one

0:21

of the not so consequential games on Sunday,

0:23

Tim Bontemps. Yeah, it turned out I should

0:25

have gone nice little 40 minute stroll walking

0:27

down the street to Madison Square Garden where

0:29

there was the game of the day and

0:31

I was watching it instead in the Sixers

0:34

locker room this afternoon, the entire Sixers

0:36

team. Went overtime with the Knicks winning and getting

0:38

the number two seed in the Eastern Conference, which

0:40

I believe they haven't had in 12 years. Playing

0:43

to win the game. What a concept. Playing to

0:45

win the game. He's given a little preview. Joining

0:47

us from Los Angeles where he attended the Houston

0:49

Rockets phase two finale where they beat the, you

0:51

know, shutting it down LA Clippers on Sunday. The

0:54

Rockets finished the season at 41 and 41, but

0:56

oh my I know we're

0:58

going to talk about the Clippers with you all young. Was

1:00

sick. I can report that Kawhi Leonard was

1:02

in the building and he walked past me

1:05

on the way out and hopefully he will

1:07

be ready for game one. Hopefully

1:09

is one of those tricky words that we've

1:11

heard with Kawhi over the years. We will

1:13

discuss that later. So I think the

1:16

big overall news coming out of the final

1:19

day of the season was that the Oklahoma

1:21

City Thunder secured the number one seed in

1:23

the Western Conference. They ended up tied with

1:25

the Nuggets for the best record. They win the

1:27

tie. They're not going to get the two seed.

1:29

57 wins for the Thunder. Even where they

1:32

were 10 days ago when Shagiel

1:34

to South. Alexander is missing all those games

1:36

and Jalen Williams to get the number one

1:38

seed. Just amazing. We're talking about them. Maybe

1:40

a lot over the next couple of months

1:42

and the Eastern Conference Boston Celtics ended the

1:44

season with 64 wins. No interest or drama

1:46

there. But after that boy was a traumatic

1:48

day. Seeds 2345678 in the Eastern Conference were

1:50

all banding

1:54

around a lot of scoreboard watching the games were all going

1:56

on at the same time. They all didn't start at the

1:59

same time, but they all. going on at the

2:01

same time. Well they all started at the same

2:03

time, they didn't end at the same time. Right,

2:05

well right. That's right, they did all start at

2:07

the same time. Well that's right. One team game

2:09

finished first and I think that's where

2:11

we're going to start. And one of

2:13

the more interesting things of the day and

2:15

there was a lot of stuff that was

2:17

happening, a lot of strategy that

2:20

was going on, some played out

2:22

well, some didn't. Some teams probably

2:24

pretty happy the way things went. A lot of

2:26

still stuff up in the air as we have

2:28

to see how the play-in plays out. All of

2:30

that will be discussed. But there was an interesting

2:33

decision today in Cleveland where the Cavs were playing

2:35

the Hornets and the Cavs

2:37

were locked in to finish no

2:39

worse than fourth. They were going to have home

2:41

court in the first round no matter what. Their

2:43

opponent wasn't clear but they could finish two, three,

2:45

or four. And they announced

2:47

before the game that Donovan Mitchell with his knee

2:49

issue and Darius Garland with a back issue and

2:52

Caris LaVerse who's in battling a knee issue were

2:54

all sitting. But they were playing the Hornets who

2:56

quite frankly at this point are a G League

2:58

team. No offense. They've got a

3:00

lame duck coach on the sideline. Steve

3:02

Clifford has already been essentially fired as

3:04

the head coach. They're already interviewing for

3:06

his replacement. And they sat basically their

3:08

entire team today because a loss for

3:10

them ensured they would finish third by

3:13

themselves in lottery standings as opposed to

3:15

being tied with Portland and San Antonio

3:17

who eventually won later. So they

3:20

had a huge incentive to lose the game.

3:22

So where we're going to start this is

3:24

at the start of the fourth quarter. I

3:26

believe the Cavs were up by six points,

3:28

six or eight points. And at that moment

3:31

in time their game was going faster than all

3:33

the other games. They hit the fourth quarter first.

3:35

And at the time the Milwaukee Bucks who

3:38

came in the day as a two seed

3:40

without Giannis in Orlando, did

3:42

they play in that game? Everybody played in

3:44

that game and they just got their butts

3:47

kicked by the bad. They were down 20

3:49

at that point. Also at that

3:51

point the Chicago Bulls were ahead of

3:53

the Knicks. It was a close game.

3:55

It was less than 10 points. That

3:57

game ended up going to overtime. But

3:59

at that moment, the Cavaliers were

4:01

looking straight in the face of

4:04

the two-seat. At the start

4:06

of the fourth quarter, J.B. Bickerstaff

4:08

basically benched his second

4:10

and third string and went to his fourth

4:12

string. And the lineup they

4:14

played, and before—Bon temps is ready to spit

4:16

fire about this. He said, I will not

4:19

delay it anymore. But before

4:21

the game, say the Cavs, they

4:23

decided they're quote-unquote starters for this game, which

4:25

were really their second string most of, plus-seven,

4:27

Moby and Max Trus. Those two guys, starting

4:29

quality players, were playing. The Cavs say that

4:31

they decided before the game that they were

4:33

going to not play those guys in the

4:35

fourth quarter, no matter what happened. And

4:38

then Craig Porter, who was their starting point

4:40

guard this game because Garland

4:43

and Donovan Mitchell were out, he hurt

4:45

his leg in the first half and did not

4:48

return. Okay, Tim Bon temps, then what

4:50

happened? The Cavs had one of the biggest

4:52

disgraces I've ever seen in my 12 years or

4:55

so covering the NBA, and it's one of the most embarrassing

4:58

things I've ever seen in the history of the league, what

5:00

they did in the fourth quarter of this game. They closed

5:02

the game. They take out Max Trus for six minutes and

5:04

39 seconds ago. They're up by six. They

5:06

close with a closing lineup, essentially with

5:08

four centers and Imani Bates, who is

5:11

a shooting guard, small forward, so catch

5:13

and shoot, three-point guy. He's a G-League

5:15

player. He's almost like seven feet tall.

5:17

That's right. He's played, he's

5:20

maybe played a dozen or so games.

5:22

Yeah, he's a two-way player for them.

5:24

Was the second round pick last year.

5:26

Played Evan Mulvey's brother Isaiah, played Tristan

5:28

Thompson, played Damien Jones, played... Pete Nance

5:30

scored his first point. ... Larry Nance's

5:32

younger brother Pete Nance. That's the line

5:34

up there. Revere High School just

5:36

out that afternoon. So Imani Bates was the point guard.

5:39

Yeah. Playing a team, a

5:41

horrible team, that's trying to lose, that's

5:43

sitting their 10 best players basically in

5:45

the game to make sure they lose. Cavs got

5:47

outscored on the home court 18-2 to

5:50

end the game over the final six and a

5:52

half minutes of the game. This was a reprehensible

5:54

thing that the Cavs did. What the

5:56

Cavs did was scream to the world, they have

5:58

absolutely no faith in their team. that

6:00

they can't beat Philly, they can't beat

6:02

Miami, so let's make sure we finish

6:05

fourth and we get Orlando,

6:08

so maybe we can win a series and then

6:10

we're going to get pounded by Boston. Because clearly we

6:12

have no faith in beating Philly or Miami, so

6:14

God help us against Boston. Because what are

6:16

we going to do against them? I mean

6:18

every year we get to the final day

6:20

or two of the regular season and I got

6:23

to hear all these people say, oh this

6:25

team should try to tank to get this

6:27

matchup or this team should try to tank

6:29

to do this, try to avoid this team

6:31

in the first round. All of this drives me

6:33

absolutely insane and it was made worse when after

6:35

the Cavs had this reprehensible showing, the Knicks

6:37

are playing this game against the Bulls, an

6:40

incredible game, we're all in the locker room in Philly

6:42

watching this game, you've got I mean I'm a little

6:44

surprised frankly that the Bulls played it the way they

6:46

did and they played all their guys 40 minutes in

6:49

a meaningless game. But Demard to Rosen played 44. Listen,

6:52

ouch, Tibbs is over there wiping

6:54

tears from his eyes. Listen, it

6:57

was a hell of a game and

6:59

there's people saying, oh the Knicks should

7:01

tank right now and get the three

7:03

seed to play Indiana. Like what

7:05

are we doing here? The whole point of

7:08

this, in theory, if you're a top four team

7:10

in your conference you should be going to the

7:12

playoffs saying, hey we got a chance to

7:14

win two rounds, get to the conference

7:16

finals, win, get to the NBA Finals, win

7:18

a title. That's what you should be thinking

7:21

about the goal is. All I've heard about

7:23

from the Cavs for the past year and

7:25

a half is, oh we got this great

7:27

core, we're building this thing, it's gonna be

7:29

great, we got all this young talent, we're

7:32

going in this awesome direction. They had the

7:34

two seed potentially sitting on a platter for

7:36

them and what they did was scream to

7:38

all their fans at home and everybody watching,

7:40

man Miami, which has been a shell

7:43

of itself all year, not even sure

7:45

they're gonna make it out of the play-in, we'll

7:47

see who wins this game on Wednesday, Philadelphia, maybe

7:49

Joellen Bead's gonna be out there playing like an

7:51

MVP or maybe his knee has got to be

7:53

an issue again. We already saw him have an

7:56

issue on Friday, he didn't play Sunday. Everybody I

7:58

talked to today across the board, universal. Said

8:00

it was a precaution. I think it's a fair thing to assume

8:03

Given the fact that they ended up beating the Nets who

8:05

also were sitting basically their whole team about 25 points So

8:08

they sit him out, but who knows

8:10

maybe something happens at Joelle It's not

8:12

like you're playing the 2017 Warriors in

8:14

the first round of the playoffs and

8:16

beyond that by sitting your guys in

8:18

this game And taking this

8:20

game which they flat-out did they can

8:23

claim whatever they want They quite obviously

8:25

looked at the scoreboard at the start

8:27

of the fourth quarter It said oh

8:29

man, we don't want to play Philly.

8:31

We're gonna make sure that we don't so

8:33

now They're on the same side of the bracket is the one

8:36

team in the East Everybody sure is

8:38

the clear favorite to win and on top

8:40

of that they've shouted from the rooftops that

8:42

their team isn't good enough I remember three

8:45

years ago Everybody said the Milwaukee Bucks made

8:47

a grave mistake Lining themselves

8:49

up with them with the Miami Heat in the first

8:51

round. Oh, how could the Bucks do

8:53

this? They lost to the Heat in the bubble

8:55

now they play them again They're gonna lose in

8:58

the first round what's gonna happen? The

9:00

Bucks went out and absolutely curb stomped the

9:02

Heat one in four games Set

9:04

the complete tone for them going through

9:06

the playoffs and win a championship Happened

9:08

two years ago happened two years ago

9:10

with Boston people thought they

9:12

should avoid the Nets and Durant and

9:15

Kari They had a similar situation

9:17

and they and they played the game. They

9:19

get the 2-7. They sweep the Nets

9:21

and Destroy them ten years

9:23

ago and the cover in the Nets the

9:25

year after Joaquin Noah ripped their

9:28

hearts out in game seven in Brooklyn pause

9:30

them as old knows all was there Cause

9:32

them to trade for Pierce and Garnett caused

9:35

the whole thing to chase a kid coming in

9:37

all that stuff Final day of the season they're

9:40

playing here in Brooklyn they have a chance

9:42

to win a game and get Chicago again get on the

9:44

opposite side of bracket of Miami or Take

9:47

the game go to six play Toronto in the

9:49

first round to get Miami in the second round

9:51

I talked to all their people before the game can

9:53

ask Bobby Marks. I talked about it earlier today

9:55

I said, what are you guys doing? Why are

9:57

you avoiding Chicago Joaquin Noah's playing on one leg?

10:00

this team stinks, you guys would beat them

10:02

easily. Then they would have played Indiana in

10:04

the second round when Roy Hibbert basically had

10:06

completely collapsed from a confidence standpoint. They

10:09

would have won that series. They'd have been sitting in

10:11

the conference finals against the Heat with Dwayne Wade with

10:13

a bum knee. Instead, they played the

10:15

Heat in the second round after going seven games

10:17

in Toronto. They lose a competitive five game series

10:19

to Miami and they go home in the second

10:21

round. But they won a first round series. Congratulations,

10:23

I'm glad you did that. It just,

10:26

it drives me absolutely insane that

10:28

we spend all this time and now there's

10:30

today, there's all this discussion. Oh, we have

10:32

to reward winning. It's too

10:34

bad that the Knicks are playing the Sixers potentially in

10:37

the first round. Or you could just

10:39

say the Knicks are not afraid because they've

10:41

spent the last four months telling everybody what

10:43

their play on the court, they believe they're

10:45

a championship level team and they acted

10:47

like a championship level team today. And the

10:49

Cavaliers acted like a scared team that is

10:51

just hoping it can win a first round

10:53

series. And if now they're going into a

10:55

series with Orlando, a big physical team that

10:57

could beat them up inside, just like the

10:59

Knicks did last year. So I'm sorry for

11:01

talking so long, but this whole thing has

11:03

driven me insane. And yet

11:05

I would say, despite all of that,

11:08

Montemps, if the Cavs do win this

11:10

first round series against Orlando, they

11:12

will consider it, and I think many people

11:14

will consider it, a successful season as opposed

11:16

to if they had lost in the first

11:18

round as the number two seed to the

11:20

number seven seed in the best of seven

11:22

series. Like, look, and this isn't NFL

11:24

football. You don't play one game and you

11:27

might be able to win that. Like, I

11:29

saw our good friend, Mike Ficaro, the

11:31

New York Post, mentioned the other day

11:33

that the Knicks game against the Celtics

11:35

a couple of nights ago reminded him

11:37

of when the New York Giants went

11:39

full on out with nothing left to

11:41

play for against the New England Patriots in

11:44

that last regular season game, and

11:46

it paid dividends in that same playoffs when

11:48

they faced the Patriots in the Super Bowl,

11:50

they won. But that's an NFL where you

11:52

have one game to play and anything can

11:55

happen. In a best of seven series, A

12:01

Joe L and B sixers a Joe L and B

12:03

they didn't get I mean, I know the regular season

12:06

Talking about the regular season for the next week before

12:08

the series start is gonna be a fool's errand People

12:10

are gonna get embarrassed in the regular season Philly did

12:12

clean the Cavs clock even without him beat I'm just

12:15

I'm just stating that so and by the way, I'm

12:17

gonna quote JB Bickerstaff We had our plan in place

12:19

of what we were going to do with the guys

12:21

and Craig Porter not being out there made a little

12:23

Difficult in the fourth quarter. We wanted to stick to

12:25

our plan We were aware of some of the stuff

12:28

that was going on But once we set

12:30

our guys at the end of the third quarter and they had

12:32

the mindset They weren't gonna go back in I didn't

12:34

want to take any risks of putting them back in the game When

12:37

they had already cooled down when it maxed juice out

12:39

there for half of the fourth quarter So that's a hey

12:41

Max makes all things up. He got a triple dub

12:44

All things a lie and look own to

12:47

me if the Cavaliers win this series

12:49

against Orlando like yay golf clap They

12:51

win this series against Orlando to me

12:54

what they did was signal how they

12:56

really feel about their team which

12:58

there's our team isn't all that good and What

13:00

they should have done was play this out and by

13:02

the way if they had played it out They'd got

13:05

Indiana which is a way better matchup for them I

13:07

would have picked Cleveland to win and we'd be talking

13:09

right now about the Cavs Fighting through

13:11

their adversity over the last few weeks

13:13

getting Donovan Mitchell healthy win in 50

13:15

games and getting themselves The

13:18

three seed in the East with a winnable

13:20

series in the first round and being on

13:22

the opposite side of the bracket from Boston

13:25

And instead we're talking about them intentionally blowing

13:27

this game to get Orlando who they may

13:29

not even be maybe they win Orlando

13:32

just dominated the Bucks today. I know

13:34

Giannis didn't play they made Damian Lillard

13:36

look like he was 45 So

13:38

maybe Orlando just physically overwhelms them in the series

13:40

and wins then what are we gonna be saying?

13:43

That's very possible, but I still would rather take

13:45

on the Orlando magic if I'm the Cleveland Cavaliers

13:48

in the first round I then

13:50

they potentially Miami or Philadelphia I

13:52

just think that all that says

13:54

to me is it's a losing

13:56

mentality. It's just you're a losing

13:58

organization. If that's your Oh,

14:01

hey, we can maybe win a first round series now

14:03

like this is a team that had designs on being

14:05

the two seed We were taught they were

14:08

favored to be the two seed our projections for

14:10

months And I've collapsed down the

14:12

stretch the allowed what I'd say

14:14

about the Cavs is they haven't offended for

14:16

the last eight weeks They have

14:19

had a couple of flourishes in this last week

14:21

where they've had some okay defense If they don't

14:23

defend and they don't rebound they've been terrible at

14:25

rebounding since the all-star break They don't defend and

14:28

rebound. It doesn't matter who they're playing, right? But

14:30

they have put themselves in a position of if

14:32

they lose to the magic and here I go

14:34

again They split the regular season series 2-2 each

14:37

one on each other's court It doesn't really matter

14:39

the magic can play pretty big the Cavs sometimes

14:41

struggle with that Anyway, Jared Allen and Evan Mobley need

14:43

to have good good series and Donovan Mitchell has to

14:46

be closer to the player He was over the last

14:48

two games not the player He was while he was

14:50

dealing with that the worst part that in the injury

14:53

Okay, were you this were you this fired up about

14:55

the Mavs last year tanking? I know that it's not

14:57

a playoff series. Yeah, were you this fired up? I

14:59

mean, what are you more angry about are you angry

15:01

about angry about the Cavs or what the Mavs did

15:03

at the end? I mean look which by the way

15:05

paid off of the Mavs listen what the Mavs did

15:07

was reprehensible but

15:10

you could it there's at least a way

15:12

for you to explain a logic of well

15:14

Hey, we're gonna be like I thought

15:17

it was insane what they did now. They

15:19

got lucky they kept their pick

15:21

They got Derek lively like that's that's

15:23

all well and good, right? We're also

15:25

talking about a team that's going to

15:28

be tenth or eleventh in the standings

15:30

This is a team intentionally passing up

15:32

the chance to finish second in The

15:35

Eastern Conference standings to get a better

15:37

matchup in the first round because they

15:39

were terrified of the possibility Of playing

15:42

the Sixers. Let me answer this

15:44

really the big picture for the Cavs is

15:46

to keep Donovan Mitchell happy, right? What

15:49

keeps Donovan Mitchell happier a first round exit

15:51

or if you won one series for first

15:53

round and I'm not saying they're gonna That

15:55

Donovan Mitchell could be there forever. But would

15:58

it be would it keep him happy? if

16:00

they actually won a series. Donovan Mitchell on

16:02

Friday talked about the fact that the baseline

16:04

expectation for a team should be to get

16:06

home court advantage in the first round of

16:09

the playoffs. And today what the Cavs did

16:11

was scream to the world, Donovan Mitchell, you're

16:13

not good enough to beat hardly anybody in

16:15

the Easter Conference. So yeah, to me, I

16:17

don't think that's sending a very good signal

16:20

to Donovan Mitchell. And by the way, Max

16:22

Struess, who played in Miami the last several

16:24

years, a team that would not do this,

16:26

I think it's safe to say, he got

16:29

asked after the game about this and he said, I mean,

16:32

I could pull up the exact quote, if you have it there, you want

16:34

to read it? I wanted to win. I don't

16:36

really know what else to say. I'm kind of mad

16:38

we didn't. I mean, it's embarrassing.

16:41

If you're a player on the Cavs,

16:43

you have to be embarrassed by what

16:45

happened there. Again, like to me, yes,

16:47

you're right, Oum, in a vacuum, they

16:49

got a weaker first round opponent. Okay.

16:51

But also, if you're doing

16:53

it at the sacrifice of showing

16:56

everybody you don't have faith in your team, then

16:59

like, what are we doing here? It's just

17:01

it's just it's, it's just the all it's

17:03

an awful mentality to have, in my opinion.

17:05

We've talked about this enough. More

17:08

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Milwaukee, after holding on with a

18:36

very tenuous grip to the two

18:39

seed for weeks, end up as

18:41

a three seed with a loss

18:43

in Orlando. They now will play

18:45

at the Indiana Pacers. They're, again,

18:47

regular seeds and nemesis. They lost

18:49

to them four times. Couldn't keep

18:51

up with them. And then, but most

18:53

importantly, where is Giannis' calf going to

18:56

be by next week? The

18:58

NBA did announce that that series is not

19:00

going to start until Sunday. So

19:02

at least Giannis will get an extra

19:04

day. He'll have just a little under

19:07

two weeks from the injury to recover

19:09

from it. To me, that's the most

19:11

important thing. But Fontham's, not the

19:13

greatest draw for the Bucks. They have home

19:15

court advantage. But they get a team that

19:17

definitely, I don't know if it'll matter, but

19:19

I know the Pacers will come in with

19:21

confidence into that series. Yeah, they should. And

19:23

look, to me, the key, as much as

19:25

Giannis' health is, is this Tyrese Halliburton able

19:28

to use this week to get back to

19:30

being the player that he was before his

19:32

injury. Because I believe all five of those

19:34

games definitely came when Adrian Griffin was the

19:36

coach. And I'm nearly certain all five of

19:38

those games came before Tyrese Halliburton

19:40

heard his hamstring against the Celtics in early January.

19:42

And he has not been anywhere near the same

19:44

player over the past couple of months. But look,

19:47

the Pacers put up 157 points

19:49

on Sunday against Atlanta. Now, Atlanta was not

19:51

really trying. They had nothing to play for.

19:53

But they're really, even though they got Trey

19:55

Young back, they're pretty banged up. But we

19:57

have seen all year. We have talked about

19:59

it. all year about the fact that

20:01

the Bucks are really not able to guard

20:03

anybody. Even though they've shown some sides of

20:05

life later on, they are not by any

20:07

stretch in a lead defensive team. The Pacers

20:10

are an incredible offensive team and

20:12

the Bucks in the playoffs in theory are really going

20:14

to have to try to outscore people to win. Well,

20:17

this is not a great matchup for them in terms

20:19

of having to try to outscore the Pacers. And

20:21

on top of that, again, I'll go back to what we

20:23

talked about earlier. I was watching a lot of this game

20:26

Sunday because the game I was at was not very interesting.

20:28

And so I was following these other games to see what

20:30

was going to happen. And the Bucks

20:32

played everybody, but to be honest, they were trying

20:34

to win this game in Orlando. It's not like

20:36

they said, oh, we're just going to sit everybody in.

20:38

We lose, we lose. And Damian

20:41

Lillard had a brutal game. Levy

20:43

went, I want to say two for 14. Two

20:46

for 14. Yep. I

20:48

mean, he couldn't get anywhere. Now Jalen Suggs and

20:50

Orlando's defense is as good as anybody's in the

20:52

league. We just talked about how big and physical

20:54

they are across the board. But still, you got

20:56

Dame out there in this game without you honest,

20:58

this is the kind of game we go, hey,

21:00

Dame, we're going for the two seed. Go get

21:02

it. Like get us the two seed. And

21:04

he couldn't do it. Chris Middleton had moments

21:07

where he looked really good, but Brooke Lopez didn't

21:09

do a lot. Patrick Beverly

21:11

gave him nothing. Like they did not look

21:13

very impressive. And again,

21:16

Indiana plays into all their weaknesses.

21:19

And while I think Milwaukee will win this

21:21

series, not a great matchup. I'm

21:24

very curious to see how it plays out,

21:26

especially if we get to game one and

21:28

Tyreese is looking bouncy like he was a

21:30

couple of months ago. When the first team

21:32

to defend wins the game ball in the

21:34

series. That's what might have

21:37

been. Listen, I kind of like, look, I

21:39

hope Giannis comes back. I like, I

21:41

know we don't want to talk about the regular

21:43

season. Like I like the animosity we saw between

21:45

these two teams. I Hope it kind

21:47

of is there for that playoff series. And I

21:49

Think it will be because you have a very

21:52

young team of the Pacers. They're getting their feet

21:54

when the playoffs are learning. Tyree Salaburton. I Think

21:56

they're going to use that to their advantage to

21:58

try and inspire them. They Yannis like

22:00

I hope yeah this is healthy because I think

22:02

he's gonna use any type of chip on the

22:04

solar that again I hope there's more know I

22:06

think look I think the city. These two teams

22:08

don't defend it all I am with you about

22:10

as I think there's a lotta times a season

22:12

where I thought okay Dame will take over here

22:14

of jonases and playing stable do this they would

22:16

did a we haven't really seen that and now

22:18

it's this time of year, the play offs or

22:20

his time at a year so I really want

22:22

to see of several. but I don't know we're

22:24

gonna get that Dame. And then the other thing

22:26

too is a lot of pressure. Doc Rivers in

22:28

the service. I know it. He might have the

22:31

built in excuse of jonases and com the

22:33

play but I still feel this can be

22:35

pressure on Doc the circus pressure on the box

22:37

to box. I made this Damien Lower trade

22:39

which we've talked about since September to win

22:41

a title they look like it seems that could

22:43

lose in the first round and we've said

22:45

the whole time just like all these other

22:47

big moves you talk by Phoenix did with some

22:49

of these other teams did those are moves

22:51

designed to win of the plows while we've

22:53

got so the play offs, it's time to win

22:56

and especially with the honest banged up. Because.

22:58

He probably just assume is probably not. Can we honor

23:00

percent even if he comes back in the first round?

23:02

Which know, yeah, this is history. We all do. I

23:04

think it's I think we all expect him to play.

23:07

If. He possibly can. It's cyber Damien

23:09

Lower to look like day me alone. and

23:11

today was not a great example of him

23:13

look alike Damien Willard. And I think it's

23:15

cause for concern going into a series against

23:17

a guy who can outplay him if he's

23:19

right and Albert Yang establish forty two in

23:21

the games against the Pacers. I know, regular

23:23

season I know what if you and thirty

23:25

and they and they went one in four

23:27

I know, but you know, obviously the Pacers

23:30

don't have a good matchup for him. which

23:32

is you know, don't have a word average.

23:34

Air Gallagher an average twenty seven and eleven

23:36

years. And the other thing is they had

23:38

those. That the Pacers didn't have seok home

23:40

in those games either. Who threw? Obviously he's not

23:42

a great match up for yeah, but he's at

23:44

least a better match up then I'll be top

23:46

and who I believe was the starting power forward

23:49

and prior five as. okay so

23:51

i was gonna be lot of attention

23:53

paid to wednesday night when the heat

23:55

play the seventy sixers the seventy sixers

23:58

did what they could to over their

24:00

record when the Embiid injury came

24:03

down they went on a great run to

24:05

end the season But they just came up

24:07

a game short the Pacers win on Sunday

24:09

to clinch the six seed So now you

24:12

have in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. I

24:14

assume you're gonna be there by times I didn't

24:16

ask you I will be there bar something happening

24:18

the Miami Heat who won Who

24:21

actually lost the 7-8 play-in game last

24:23

year and then? Won in

24:25

the second play-in game to get the eighth seed before

24:27

going to the finals We'll try to pull out

24:29

another play and win They

24:32

have struggled to get their whole team together. They

24:34

look like they had it all together recently I

24:37

assume that they will have most of their guys being

24:39

able to go I know Jimmy Butler

24:41

has been in and out with illness recently

24:44

and Duncan Robinson battling

24:46

a back issue, but Tyler hero is

24:48

back there Did not

24:50

play not sure about his availability for yeah,

24:52

it's his he's got a neck injury So

24:54

I would be stunned if he didn't play

24:57

but we'll see it's a couple days from

24:59

now They actually get an extra day because

25:01

I think you mentioned the last podcast and

25:03

Philip Philly Yeah flyers have a you're using

25:05

the center on Tuesday night So normally this

25:07

game the 7-8 game as in the West

25:09

would be on Tuesday. They get an extra

25:12

day So in bead and everybody else can

25:14

recover and bead left the floor in that

25:16

game on Friday night after He

25:19

was a drive to the basket and he kind

25:21

of in my view made like a an odd

25:23

step with his left foot with his Look with

25:25

his left leg left the floor came back and

25:27

played but we don't know we don't know where he's

25:29

gonna be Bon temps and that will be a huge

25:31

thing Obviously the Knicks will be watching very

25:33

closely why didn't be able to bring

25:36

on on Wednesday because they're gonna by

25:38

the way that Series is gonna start

25:40

Saturday. They're gonna pay for that little on the

25:42

back end that series gonna start Saturday I think yeah,

25:44

the number wins that game start Saturday gets to go

25:46

to the open Saturday So to me one of the

25:48

you know I know there's gonna be a lot of

25:50

focus in the West play in and we'll get to

25:52

that in a second But to me how Joe L&B

25:54

looks Wednesday night is one of the biggest things in

25:56

the whole Eastern Conference laughs Yeah, and look he came

25:58

back and played really well Well in the second half

26:00

of that game on Friday, Jonathan Isaac,

26:03

we talked about Orlando. Jonathan Isaac did as

26:05

good a job garden Joel, as I've seen

26:07

in the last couple of years, anybody do.

26:09

It was pretty impressive. He obviously started today

26:12

in their win over Milwaukee because see what

26:14

happens there. When O' Carter Jr has been

26:16

dealing with backspasms, but yeah, Joel didn't play

26:18

today. Everybody I talked to said

26:20

it was a precautionary thing. And I think

26:22

it makes sense. Like I think I said

26:24

earlier, if you look at the way this

26:27

game went, they went by 25 anyway, the

26:29

Nets basically sat their entire rotation outside of

26:31

a couple of guys. So Philly had everybody

26:33

else play, Joel sits. He now gets five

26:35

days off before this game Wednesday. Cause look,

26:37

this game Wednesday is their season. Same for

26:39

Miami in theory, right? If you win this

26:41

game, you got on the opposite side of

26:43

the bracket of Boston. Nobody in the East

26:45

is afraid of anybody but Boston, except for

26:48

Cleveland, who's afraid of everybody. And you now

26:50

give yourself a situation where you

26:52

can get, maybe get a couple of rounds. This might be

26:54

Joel Embiid's best chance yet to get to the conference finals,

26:56

which I know is not getting all the way to the

26:58

finals, but would obviously be a significant

27:00

thing for him. But they've got to go

27:02

through Miami. They've got to go through Jimmy

27:04

Butler for all the doubts about the Heat,

27:07

until they don't get it done in the

27:09

playoffs. There's always going to be this lingering

27:11

thing for everybody. And they're going to be

27:13

able to do it again. And in a

27:15

one-off situation, that fact that that game is

27:17

in Philly, I don't think it matters to

27:19

the Heat. I think in other teams. No,

27:22

I think we are sleeping on Miami like

27:24

people do so many times. I want to

27:26

believe you, Ohm. I want to believe you,

27:28

but they really, they're

27:32

best players. They really never got them

27:34

all playing well together. I get it.

27:36

I get it. I agree. In

27:39

a one-off, BAM is a gamer, Jimmy, playoff, Jimmy.

27:42

I mean, the year can

27:44

get hot. I mean, yeah. The

27:46

Heat had three games in

27:48

the last 10 days of the season against

27:51

the real games. They had a game

27:53

in Miami against Philly, a

27:56

game in Indianapolis against Indy, and a

27:58

game in Miami against Dallas. They

28:00

win any one of those games. They're the

28:02

five seed they lost them all and They

28:05

just they haven't looked like the same kind

28:08

of team And I think most

28:10

importantly Jimmy Butler has not looked like

28:12

the same kind of player now again

28:15

Nobody is gonna say the heat don't have

28:17

it because we just saw it last year We've

28:19

seen it three the last four years But it's

28:21

also worth remembering the heat have been the lower

28:23

seed in three the last four years And

28:25

if they get in the playoffs are going to be now for a

28:27

fourth time in five years So yes, they've

28:30

turned it up. They've got the best

28:32

coach in the league probably in Eric Spoltzra. They've

28:34

got a veteran team They've got Jimmy who's a

28:36

proven playoff player, but he's now in his

28:38

mid 30s He has not looked like the

28:40

same guy this year. It's always still very good and Let's

28:44

see if they could turn it up again But

28:46

it's also worth pointing out that they were about two

28:48

and a half minutes away from not even getting out

28:50

of the eight Nine game last year. So that's how

28:52

that's how much of a nice edge they were on

28:54

and You know We'll see

28:56

if what happens on Wednesday or if they're in a

28:58

position where they're potentially in a rematch with Chicago in

29:01

that 8-9 game In Miami again

29:03

to just get back into the

29:05

ball All right coming

29:07

up We're gonna talk about the way the

29:09

West shook out lots of movement in the

29:11

play in the play-in zone and at the

29:13

top All right, oh you pay a lot

29:15

of attention to the Denver Nuggets I have

29:17

a suspicion that you're gonna be spending quite

29:19

a lot of time in Denver over the

29:21

next many weeks on Friday night The

29:24

Nuggets were in great shape. They

29:26

got a great victory a couple days earlier in,

29:28

Minnesota Right before Karl

29:30

Townes came back. They secured tie breaking

29:33

and everything and they were in the number one seed they

29:36

had to beat the Spurs on Friday

29:39

in San Antonio Victor did play and then they

29:41

got to go play the Grizzlies who you know

29:44

I think in a must-win game you liked the

29:46

Nuggets and the Nuggets ended up winning that game

29:48

easily But they had the Spurs and the Grizzlies

29:50

those were the two games They had the number

29:52

one seed things look good. They're

29:54

up 23 in the second half rep 17

29:57

early in the fourth quarter and Look,

29:59

I'm You know the nuggets very easy to win

30:02

the title, but in a very consequential thing

30:04

not only for the Nuggets went But

30:06

for where everybody else lined up when

30:08

banyama goes crazy Davante

30:11

Graham who I forgot was in the league

30:13

has a game winner at the very end

30:15

and the Spurs win Victor

30:17

wants to throw the ball in the crowd, but

30:19

doesn't want to get fined 25 grand again So

30:21

doesn't instead he spikes it on the ground and

30:24

oh my god The number

30:26

one sees falls into the Oklahoma City

30:28

Thunder's lap that was is Shocking

30:31

of a result and of everything that's happened in

30:33

the NBA in the last three four weeks we've

30:35

had all these things change and The

30:37

BPI odds changing like crazy every day and

30:40

the seeds changing every day that Result

30:43

had a huge effect on the

30:45

Western Conference. Yeah I mean look they

30:48

cost themselves a home court advantage and you

30:50

remember how good they were last year They

30:52

only lost once at home on the way

30:54

to the championship. They were Excellent

30:56

at home almost unbeatable. They didn't lose

30:59

that game until they lost in the

31:01

finals against Miami So they

31:03

kind of made their their road a

31:05

little bit tougher because now they're the

31:08

second seed They could draw the

31:10

Lakers in the first round They

31:12

draw the pelicans in the first round. We'll talk about

31:14

that in a second. The Lakers have lost nine in

31:16

a row to them I don't know if they're yes

31:18

over that but no, I don't think so either In

31:20

fact, I think they would probably they won't admit this

31:22

but I think they would probably relish the chance to

31:25

Eliminate the Lakers in the first round early

31:27

Michael Malone Malone will probably

31:29

say that I would say you know, look

31:32

it's strange I don't think this really

31:34

necessarily applies to pro basketball that often

31:36

because it's not quite the

31:38

same as in college But I often

31:40

have this thing about Michigan State and I

31:43

will tell people this that people are always like Oh,

31:45

Michigan State does the same Thing they they're ranked very

31:47

high at the beginning of the season and then they

31:49

don't play well in the Big Ten conference And they're

31:51

always like what's wrong with Michigan State? I tend to

31:53

like it when they struggle a little bit right before

31:55

the tournament because that means Izzo

31:57

has their ear and I kind of I

32:00

felt the same way, I don't know why, about Michael

32:02

Malone and the Nuggets when they lost to this person.

32:04

I was like, oh, I remember telling some people, they're

32:06

going to have to listen to Malone now. Malone's

32:09

going to have their ear the whole week before

32:11

that, prepping them. Interesting. And I kind of

32:13

think that's a big deal for a team that won

32:15

a championship for the first time, coming back,

32:17

trying to repeat. Sometimes you

32:19

get a little bored, you know, you just, you

32:21

get lackadaisical. I think this week Malone's

32:24

going to have their ear because of that loss. And

32:26

now that their path is just a little bit tougher,

32:28

I think it woke them up a little bit, but

32:30

here are my concerns about the Nuggets. They

32:32

lost Jeff Green, they lost Bruce Brown,

32:35

they lost Ishmael, they lost leadership in

32:37

that locker room. And I talked to

32:39

somebody in the Nuggets recently who said,

32:41

we're still kind of finding that way.

32:45

We lost some really valuable voices in the locker

32:47

room. I think that is a key

32:49

going into this that we don't really

32:51

know how it's going to play out

32:53

in their title run to

32:55

repeat because yes, Yokey just is their

32:57

leader. So is Jamal Murray, but they're

32:59

not the most vocal guys. And

33:02

they would listen to Jeff Green, Ishmael and all

33:04

those guys. They still have De'Andre Jordan. Number

33:06

two, their bench. It's

33:09

unproven. I mean, we have Christian Brown. Yes, he

33:11

did. He did shine last year at

33:13

times. Reggie Jackson has shown that he can hit

33:15

big shots. And Reggie Jackson is

33:18

an inconsistent player. He has been for

33:20

a decade. He will be always. Well,

33:22

he did rise to the occasion when he, when the Clippers

33:24

went to the Western Conference Finals a few years ago. I have

33:26

seen him rise to the occasion occasionally. But

33:29

I mean, it's a concern. The X factor,

33:31

the X factor for me for them is

33:34

Peyton, Peyton Watson, who we saw like had

33:36

six blocks a couple of nights ago, not

33:38

saying he's going to do that every night,

33:40

but they need someone to step up on

33:42

the bench because Michael Malone leans so heavily

33:44

on those starters. And yeah, they're healthy right

33:46

now, but they need somebody to step up

33:48

off the bench. I would say their margin

33:50

for error is probably not as

33:52

big as they want it to

33:54

be. And I would also say that within

33:57

the whole league, other than

34:00

the Celtic series, whoever they play in the first

34:02

round, and whoever Denver

34:04

plays in the first round. I think

34:06

there should be no real favorites.

34:10

I mean, I guess we'll see who Oklahoma

34:12

City draws, but I would

34:14

not be knocked over if any

34:16

team, any of those E-series, I

34:18

would not be shocked if the lower seed won,

34:20

other than the whoever Boston plays. In

34:23

the West, obviously I would favor Denver, but I

34:25

would not be stunned if the

34:27

Lakers played the Thunder and beat them.

34:30

I would not be stunned if the Warriors pulled

34:32

something out against Oklahoma City. It's not in the

34:34

South Oklahoma City. I would

34:36

not be stunned. We're going to talk about the Clippers and Mavericks here in

34:38

a second. That's a whole other story

34:40

there. I

34:43

mean, Minnesota and Phoenix,

34:45

Phoenix is red hot. They were 3-0

34:47

against Minnesota this year, including winning Sunday

34:49

to get out of the play-in. And

34:52

for some reason, Ant Edwards isn't scoring against them.

34:54

Now, again, I'm guilty I'm going to ring the

34:56

bell of my regular season bell, but I'm not

34:58

sure why Ant doesn't play well against the Suns.

35:01

I need to dig into it. Well, I

35:03

think today he said that Phoenix tends to

35:05

not only double him, but they pack the

35:07

paint. And so it just makes things

35:09

a little more difficult. I mean, obviously they're going to have to figure out,

35:12

they have a whole week to figure out these double

35:14

teams, but I think also... I'm just saying, I

35:16

don't think there's going to be, quote-unquote, much upsets,

35:18

which means that there's depth, which means that Denver,

35:20

I think, is going to have a tougher run,

35:22

and their margin for error is a little

35:24

bit smaller. That's all I'm going to say. All right, that

35:26

was a big game. I would like to talk about the

35:28

big game in the West on Sunday, which

35:31

was the Lakers playing in New Orleans for a

35:33

game that was going to determine whether the Lakers

35:35

are going to be the 8-9 and whether the

35:38

Pelicans are going to be the 6 or the 7.

35:40

And I know Brandon Ingram is out. This game was

35:42

on New Orleans' floor. The

35:45

Lakers just laid as close of an egg as

35:47

you possibly can. They got

35:49

out of Memphis with

35:51

a win on Friday by the skin of their teeth.

35:53

So you're telling me the Lakers didn't need an extra

35:55

minute in this game? That was a weird one. Yes.

35:58

Bon Tempts, you wrote that story. Do you want to

36:01

address that real quick? McMenamin did. McMenamin

36:03

did. You tweeted the statement, right? There

36:05

was a, yes. In the game on

36:07

Friday, the shot clock reset to about

36:09

a minute and 15 seconds to go

36:11

in the third quarter. Like two minutes

36:14

something, right? Well, the shot clock expired

36:16

and the buzzer didn't set. So

36:19

what happened was they hit recall. There's a

36:21

recall button on the score monitor and it

36:23

resets to the last time the buzzer went

36:25

off. Well, nobody realized the buzzer didn't go

36:27

off. So it goes back to two minutes

36:30

and 20 seconds. And because

36:32

that was the last time the shot clock

36:34

went off and somehow nobody in the arena

36:36

noticed. I know, it's crazy. It's crazy because

36:38

whenever you see something like that, usually somebody's

36:40

like, hey. Especially in the end, okay, I

36:42

would believe it in the second quarter, in

36:44

the fourth quarter of a close game. Well,

36:46

it was the third quarter. Third quarter. Oh,

36:48

it was the third quarter. There was also,

36:50

by the way, recently, a couple of weeks

36:52

ago, Magic played the Kings in Orlando

36:55

on March 23rd. In the

36:57

third quarter of this game, the ball goes out of bounds with 8.15

37:00

to go in the third quarter. If all is then

37:03

in bounded and for 50 seconds,

37:06

the clock doesn't turn on. They go down and

37:08

back and down and back again. And

37:10

on the fourth time down, going back and forth,

37:12

as Franz Barger is about to shoot the ball,

37:15

the clock finally starts. I've never seen anything like

37:17

this. And nobody noticed? Nobody

37:19

noticed. It was found later on Reddit, wait for

37:21

some sort of explanation from the league as

37:23

to what happened there. But

37:25

by the way, all these protests, I think there were a

37:28

couple that happened this year, these protests

37:30

will never almost ever get upheld. This

37:32

is the type of thing where

37:34

if a team filed a protest, they

37:37

potentially could win. They probably would win

37:39

because they just- In

37:41

this case, the Grizzlies actually,

37:44

I think the Grizzlies were okay with losing, I

37:46

don't think they cared, but the Grizzlies actually picked

37:49

up two points in that extra time. So

37:52

the crazy thing is in that

37:54

Sacramento game, in those untimed

37:56

50 seconds, Sacramento scored five points and won

37:58

by two. So that

38:00

obviously had an interesting impact potentially on the

38:03

outcome of the game and People

38:05

like there was the game the next protest because

38:07

of the missed call You never went in a

38:10

protest on a missed call But the one recent

38:12

memory protest that worked was when Shaq got found

38:14

out of a game when he had five thousand

38:16

Which is right and I which is a misapplication

38:18

of the rule misapplication of the rules is what

38:21

causes games to get replayed Which is that which

38:23

is obviously similar to I guess file that away

38:27

Can Golden State protest that

38:29

game because According

38:33

to play in there's a statute of limitations

38:35

on that stuff and it's obviously way past

38:37

it But certainly for a window it's been

38:39

one win short It would have been something

38:42

to look back on well the Kings who

38:44

fell tonight the way things play that over

38:46

the weekend The Kings were fiery fitting

38:49

mad about Friday night The

38:51

Suns went in there and pulled out a win a

38:53

tight win and obviously a game that was huge For

38:56

the play-in standings Mike Brown was furious about

38:59

some calls down the fetch of that

39:01

game including Bradley Beale stripping deer

39:03

and Fox in a potential game-winning situation late

39:05

So the Kings fans who are still not

39:07

over I've

39:10

always had a couple awful fouls late and I came to

39:12

that was a brutal collapse by the Kings in that game

39:14

up For with a minute tend to go and lose on

39:16

this stuff Just keep in mind as you

39:19

why were this season ends for the Kings

39:22

how you get So

39:24

furious that that that actually that

39:27

little wrinkle did favor you. Okay, so in

39:29

New Orleans on Sunday This is a huge

39:31

game for the Pelicans. It's essentially a playoff

39:33

game. So they're playing in this game Vitally

39:36

important game on their home

39:38

court Brandon Ingram comes

39:40

back off of this bruised knee Who

39:43

knows how healthy he was Obviously didn't look

39:45

good play 23 minutes was minus 28 all you

39:48

need to know is one stat from this game It says

39:50

it all first half points

39:52

in the paint Lakers 50 25

39:54

baskets Pelicans

39:57

12, it's gonna Lakers came

39:59

into this game and rammed it down their

40:01

throat on their home court and

40:04

after the game listening to Zion and

40:06

Willie Greene and reading the quotes I

40:09

was transported back to December when the

40:11

Lakers played the Pelicans in a big

40:13

game and rammed it down

40:15

their throats and after the game it was all

40:18

like well the Lakers were more aggressive they wanted

40:20

it more blah blah blah I

40:22

know it's not necessarily apples to apples but if

40:24

you're the Lakers yes certainly thought it

40:26

was apples to apples they walked onto that court

40:28

expecting to win and that they've got to play

40:30

him again only enough to travel the Lakers have

40:32

the best play-in situation you could possibly dream of

40:35

they don't have to travel they've owned this team

40:37

when it's mattered and even if they lose

40:40

they get to go go play at home

40:42

in you know an elimination game and the

40:45

Pelicans let it happen with ridiculous mentality coming

40:47

into this game yeah I mean look he's

40:49

as fired up as bonk temps about the

40:51

Cavs well well listen well he we knew

40:53

he was gonna be that fired up about

40:55

the Cavs but you go

40:57

back to December that was the biggest

40:59

game to this point is Zion Williamson's

41:02

career and that in season tournament game

41:04

they obviously got obliterated that game you

41:06

come back today this is a huge

41:08

game Pelicans win this game they get

41:10

to 50 wins on the season they

41:12

guarantee themselves to succeed they get into

41:15

the playoffs without any

41:17

shenanigans and they get

41:19

absolutely waxed on their home court

41:21

and now they as you said

41:23

the Lakers get to sit there for two

41:25

days and you think LeBron James

41:27

is gonna be nervous about going into New Orleans

41:30

for a second time in three days to win

41:32

another game I don't think so I know way

41:34

Zion had been playing great up to my god

41:36

he had one of the best games of his

41:38

career a couple days ago yeah I have been

41:41

on it on a roll am I the only

41:43

one that's gonna say this on this pod that

41:45

I mean I'm gonna bring it up is it

41:47

the worst thing in the world the Lakers

41:49

lose this game in New Orleans I mean

41:51

well then they get then they get the

41:53

eight seed and they get a much better

41:55

matchup and I caught on here for the

41:57

chaos when the if the Lakers play Oklahoma's

42:00

city or even Golden State and that team

42:02

that veteran team pulls out a game one

42:04

against Oklahoma City and now listen we're just

42:06

like Golden State's back the Lakers are back

42:08

I'm here for that cast but I'm just

42:10

saying I'm just saying it's not the worst

42:12

thing in the world the Lakers lose listen

42:14

almost in LA right now and I hear

42:16

he's not the only guy in LA to

42:18

lose my mind I'm gonna make her fans

42:20

I know you're with me I know you're

42:22

with me it's not the way I would

42:24

like to ask LeBron James I'd

42:26

like to ask LeBron James hey LeBron I

42:28

got a question are you afraid of

42:30

Denver you afraid of the Nuggets I

42:33

would love to ask LeBron James that

42:35

question I think it's way too much

42:37

of a risk because let's just say

42:39

they do the idea they would say

42:41

potentially could face Golden State to get

42:44

into the playoffs which would be amazing

42:46

in itself okay stop it's an insane

42:48

idea what are you doing what

42:50

are you doing I'm saying they're going to

42:53

win the game they're much better on they're

42:55

gonna give LeBron three extra days off and

42:57

they're gonna try to beat Denver are they

42:59

gonna beat Denver I say they might get

43:01

swept they might get swept is

43:03

LeBron James trying to win a playoff

43:05

series in year 21 is that his

43:07

goal no it's not I'm saying if

43:09

I'm a Laker fan I feel better

43:11

about their odds against Oklahoma City oh

43:13

again their odds of what what are

43:15

we doing here they're going home

43:17

I tried this is insane this is

43:19

insane it's the most

43:22

insane this is all right this

43:24

is the kind of stuff I was talking about

43:26

earlier it drives me absolutely insane it listen seeing

43:28

mentality I guarantee you LeBron if

43:30

somebody said to let me say LeBron let me just let

43:33

me just throw this

43:35

into the universe let me throw this into the

43:37

universe if somehow the Lakers do get to eight

43:39

and they play Oklahoma City we could be looking

43:41

at the LA LA matchup in the second round

43:44

that's all I gotta say oh my god we'll

43:46

talk about that in a second the Lakers were

43:48

three and one the regular season I am gonna

43:50

the universe under the round Los Angeles Montemps it

43:52

sure does for everybody lives in Los Angeles that's

43:54

certainly true I'm gonna say Zion

43:57

Williamson had 13 points in

43:59

the in-season tournament semi-final and

44:01

in this game on Sunday he was 4 of 13 with

44:03

12 points and Anthony Davis

44:07

did whatever he wanted on the interior of

44:09

that of that offense or interior of that

44:11

paint the broad was whipping the ball around

44:13

all over the place and a good shooting night you know

44:15

the Lakers have a good shooting night everything looks good we'll

44:17

say that the Lakers finished the regular season winning

44:20

13 of their last 18 they went 13 and 5 down

44:22

the stretch I never saw the type

44:26

of defense that I that I liked

44:29

that I saw last year that led me to think

44:31

they could do anything I don't feel as optimistic about

44:33

it because they don't have that defense but

44:36

13 and 5 is not that

44:38

small of a sample and by the way

44:40

the Suns I think went 9 and 4

44:42

down the stretch I believe the Warriors went

44:44

9 and 3 although they had a rough

44:46

loss to the Pelicans on I think was

44:48

on Friday Friday night so these

44:51

teams are not I'm

44:53

saying I just don't think it's gonna be upset is I

44:55

don't think you can qualify most of these things as an

44:57

upset but anyway you

45:00

mentioned the Clippers home the

45:02

Clippers went through the motions against the

45:05

Rockets they already had were in

45:07

position to get the four seed the the

45:09

Mavericks and let it go the Mavericks had

45:12

had a huge turn of events with the

45:14

Nuggets losing going to two seed and

45:17

Kawhi has now been out two weeks

45:19

and as you said the word from

45:21

Tyloo has basically been hopefully on Kawhi

45:24

Leonard by next weekend by by by next

45:26

Sunday is when they would open their series

45:28

will open their series against the Mavericks where

45:30

are we out with Kawhi where are we

45:32

out the Clippers in what could

45:34

be an amazing playoff series I think yeah

45:37

Lawrence Frank said the other day on

45:39

the Clippers broadcast that he has inflammation

45:41

in the knee that same surgically repaired

45:44

knee that he repaired ACL and MCL

45:46

and so they're trying to get the inflammation out

45:49

he has one week in that extra day because

45:51

their game now is on Sunday to get

45:53

right to ramp back up he

45:55

has not played this month the

45:58

last time we saw him play was in Charlotte on

46:00

March 31st, whatever the last day of March was.

46:02

So by the time he plays in game one,

46:04

if he is ready for game one, I think

46:07

he will not have played in almost three weeks.

46:09

That is a long time to be out,

46:11

but we've seen Kawhi, Brian.

46:15

We saw it last year in games one

46:17

and two. We were like Apex Kawhi is

46:19

back. It doesn't take much to get him

46:21

back to that level. He was great in

46:23

January, buddy. And listen, the Mavs know they've

46:26

seen Kawhi at his best, obviously in that

46:28

game seven a couple of years ago. As

46:31

much as we talk about Luca Dontchas and

46:33

everybody thinks Luca Dontchas owns the Clippers. He

46:36

is 0-2 in the playoffs against them.

46:38

Yeah, he averaged more points again outside

46:41

of Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

46:44

I think it's like 30, 34 points a game or

46:46

something like that. Kawhi Leonard. I remember

46:48

that viral moment when

46:51

I was on Countdown that night. I don't remember

46:53

how many Luca had against the Clippers that night,

46:55

40 something. And Kendra Perkins said this is what,

46:57

much to my surprise, pulled off his belt and

46:59

started whapping the chair and said this is

47:01

what Luca does to the Clippers. His

47:04

regular season numbers are pretty good too. Yeah, I

47:07

mean, he absolutely

47:09

just lights up when he faces them. I

47:11

think he's averaging 33.5 points in

47:14

his playoff career against the Clippers. But I look this

47:16

number up. When he scores 40 or more, the

47:19

Mavs are two and three against the

47:21

Clippers. We also tend to forget Kawhi Leonard

47:23

gets overshadowed by Luca Dontic a little bit

47:25

when they play each other because of those

47:28

big numbers. But he's averaging Kawhi 32.4, 8.9

47:30

rebounds and

47:33

4.8 assists in his playoffs against Dallas

47:35

in his post-season career. So he certainly

47:37

gets the job done. I wonder if

47:39

Tai Lu not double Luca and

47:42

maybe double Kyrie. Now they haven't

47:44

faced those two together in a

47:46

playoff series. And I would

47:48

argue this is definitely a more talented

47:50

Mavs team offensively that they've had than

47:52

they've ever faced in the playoffs. Certainly

47:54

with the trades that they made for

47:57

PJ. So I feel like this is gonna

47:59

be, this is tough. Dallas is

48:01

actually favored. I think I saw

48:03

already by Vegas or at least

48:05

ESPN bet So but the thing

48:07

is the stakes are higher

48:09

in that series Thanks to what happened last Friday

48:11

Tyloo and Jason Kidd should send a bottle of

48:14

wine to pop in San Antonio Because

48:16

now both teams probably have

48:19

a legitimate reason to feel that the winner of

48:21

this series the disrespect For the way the amazing

48:23

and I'm I'm talking about as much as anybody

48:25

But I think I think both those teams like

48:27

that way like as a young Oklahoma City Thunder

48:30

sure I'm sure we know what Oklahoma City is

48:32

done. Shazed Unbelievable. Okay, I

48:34

know but I guarantee you both of those

48:36

teams, you know what? I've ever seen going

48:38

to feel confident going I think the Thunder

48:40

are fine with it The Thunder are how

48:42

the number one seed and they get to

48:44

be the other dog. It's a wonderful situation.

48:46

It's incredible Oh, this is gonna be wonderful.

48:48

Oh, yes, little I know they love it.

48:50

They're thrilled about it They can that's us

48:53

against the world. Nobody cares about us. We're

48:55

fine You know, there's no pressure

48:57

on them as the one seed. It's unbelievable and

48:59

look Yes Of course the Clippers are the underdogs

49:01

in this series because nobody knows who Kawhi is

49:04

gonna play Everybody knew Kawhi was gonna play so

49:06

be a toss-up right now You I'd still be

49:08

a little surprised of Christ Kawhi's not yeah, you'd

49:10

be a little surprised The point is nobody knows

49:12

nobody knows what's gonna happen So yeah,

49:15

I look I think we all think Kawhi is gonna

49:17

play you don't know Kawhi is gonna play So if

49:19

you don't know he's gonna play then the natural thing

49:21

is to say well his team's probably not gonna win

49:24

now Assuming he does play which

49:26

let's be much more enjoyable if

49:28

he does so I hope Well, the thing about it

49:31

is let's just say he does play on Sunday We

49:33

don't know if he's gonna play on Tuesday or Wednesday.

49:35

They won't play a game three, right? Maybe I'll be

49:37

gone, you know, just cuz he's back doesn't mean he's

49:39

gonna stay back, right now to your point before home

49:41

It is a very interesting series from a matchup perspective,

49:43

right? Cuz you've got Luca and Kyrie in the backcourt

49:46

for the Mavs and you have to

49:48

figure out. Okay, how do you guard them? Are

49:51

you putting your two best defenders on them? You're probably

49:53

not putting Kawhi Leonard on one of those guys the

49:55

whole game I would assume Paul George is

49:57

guarding one of them for a lot of the game

50:00

I'm assuming Terrence Mann is guarding the other one.

50:02

I think you might see Terrence Mann on Luca

50:04

unless Ty gets you know Bold

50:06

and does something like you know, which he has done

50:08

before put if he had I don't remember all the

50:12

Game against the Sun last year. He had

50:14

some wild game plan. Yeah, Tony Flemox the

50:16

Sun's I can't Man

50:19

here's man tends to get under

50:21

Luca Doncic skin Luca Doncic talks

50:24

trash Non-stop to Terrence Mann. He

50:26

does not like Terrence Mann So I think maybe

50:28

you'll see those two added a lot PG Maybe

50:30

maybe PG starts on Kyrie get a little length

50:32

on him And then I think as you know,

50:35

they're obviously gonna get different looks, but I think

50:37

maybe they say we've seen Luca light us up

50:39

Maybe we can live with that, but we might

50:41

not be able to live a Kyrie lighting us

50:43

up Yeah, that'll be interesting and on the other

50:46

side that the mavs don't really have good options

50:48

to guard PG and kawaii So it'll be interesting

50:50

to see what they try to do with that

50:52

and ultimately I think this series could come down

50:55

to The health of James Harden

50:57

and how does he play is that become

50:59

somebody that Dallas can really attack and

51:01

do does he Potentially end up getting sidelined for parts

51:03

of this series because it's not going well And

51:05

the other thing is at the rim because

51:08

as you know, oh the Clippers have

51:10

been at their best When Avika Zubac has

51:12

been really good. He's been dealing with this

51:14

calf injury It's obviously a tricky thing and

51:16

now gets a bunch of time to get

51:18

healthy. He's healthy and playing well They look

51:20

like a different team and when you look

51:22

at Dallas with Gafford and maybe Derek Lively

51:25

if he's back Obviously terrible tragedy about his

51:27

mother that that was awful news

51:29

over the weekend But if

51:31

those two guys are playing 48 minutes at

51:33

center as lob threats for Luca and for

51:35

Kyrie and giving them Rebounding in a rim

51:37

presence at the in the paint that only

51:39

increases the importance of Zubac to give them

51:42

good minutes Right that that helps keep zoo

51:44

on the floor But if Dallas goes small

51:46

Tyloo likes to go small and perhaps Dallas

51:48

sees will see this that when the Clippers

51:50

do go small They cannot rebound. They have

51:52

trouble defending and they have trouble rebounding when

51:54

they're small and so maybe Jason

51:57

Kidd goes small at some point late in

51:59

games there and take some minutes, but you're

52:01

right about James Harden. James has not really

52:04

been the same now for a while. He's

52:06

been dealing with inflammation in his right foot.

52:08

That's bothered him for about over the past

52:10

week or more. Earlier this season, maybe about

52:12

a couple of weeks, maybe about a month

52:14

ago, he had a strain like

52:17

in his left shoulder. So those

52:19

are things that have kind of

52:21

bothered him. And when they were

52:23

going good, when they were 26

52:25

and five, James was playing his

52:27

best playmaking, finding Evita Zubats

52:29

inside on that pick and roll,

52:32

getting easier shots for Kawhi and

52:35

Paul, not necessarily scoring a ton,

52:37

but he also did hit

52:39

shots from the outside, keeping defenses honest. A lot

52:41

of times this season, I can't tell you how

52:43

many times I've seen it. I've often

52:46

thought, why is James passing up so many

52:48

shots? He tends to pass up

52:50

almost wide open catching shoes. Cause it's just, he's

52:52

just not used to it over the last decade.

52:54

And sometimes he just defers too much. I think

52:56

there's going to be a couple of games here

52:58

or there this season. They're going to need James

53:00

Harden to hit a lot of shots. I think

53:03

that's got a chance to be a super fascinating

53:05

series. We'll talk about more about that later. We'll

53:07

definitely talk more about the Suns Wolves later in

53:09

this week. We'll be right back after this, but

53:11

we'll talk about the Warriors playing game with the

53:13

Kings right after this on the Hoop

53:15

Collective. More Hoop

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requires choice package. Never

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forgot the play of the week, the pressure

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to follow up. hypnotic and cognac weighing heavily

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on the team Hypnotic was in the cup.

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54:43

Before we go, we've gotta really address

54:45

this very tasty match up. The played

54:47

out Lakers squiggle squiggly wiggly move their

54:50

way up the eighth and the King's

54:52

with that. when a really rough loss

54:54

on Friday the sun fall back to

54:57

nine setting up. The. Nor Cal rivalry

54:59

that been developing big time over the last

55:01

year. Kings Warriors and the other play in

55:03

the late game on Tuesday night. The.

55:05

Last three times is teams played it was a

55:07

one game a one point game in out a

55:09

one point or the king's one to of on

55:12

the warriors one one of on the kings of

55:14

one The last two I think the Or and

55:16

fox might have missed. Some. Of

55:18

those games, I look it up. I'm

55:20

they did start the season series or

55:22

the war is won. The other games

55:24

we all remember last year, that incredible

55:27

series of when seven games dream on

55:29

sobbing and on the most the bonus:

55:31

I'm torn on his podcast and suspended

55:33

or bonus. Going. For x rays.

55:35

Ah ah look it's gonna be. It's

55:37

gonna be intense. There's a lot on

55:39

the line. the. Kings. Of

55:42

really not performed that much

55:44

different from last year. But.

55:46

Alas, you, they had like no injuries issue.

55:48

They've had some injuries and though that's the

55:51

difference, Detained and the West is a lot

55:53

better. Yeah, between being the three seed and

55:55

the nine when the West is down verse

55:57

the West being strong and health vs. injuries

55:59

and the look, the warriors are fighting for

56:01

their life here and there. Match up with

56:03

the Thunder isn't the worst in the world.

56:06

so. They. Had.

56:08

That the you know. I think they believe that

56:10

they can. They. Just wanted las like a

56:12

week or so ago weaker we could a half ago

56:14

and they had that really weird ending where they kept

56:16

kept have a replay of replay of to reply. So.

56:19

Desires. Takes game. Starts. At ten

56:22

o'clock Eastern. You. Going to want to Stamford

56:24

as this is the play and terminals finest. It

56:26

could go any which way, honestly to go any

56:28

which way. And. I've you know the

56:30

game but the cameras will be on every step.

56:32

The Draymond and Spawns tape with each other them

56:34

and looked as good or yak of a battle

56:37

biggest. Seth Curry Dared Fox you got the warriors

56:39

try to get the last gasp a be out

56:41

of his could be the last game. Klay Thompson

56:43

place as a warrior. I. Don't believe

56:45

that, but it's translate it will be. but he's gonna

56:47

be a free agent. Will see what happens. they are.

56:50

So yeah, there's a ton of drama, ton of steaks,

56:52

Obviously this has become one of them are fun

56:54

rivalries. And. The lead. And.

56:57

Twitter This game could be facing

56:59

the Lakers. Ah, Or the Pelicans

57:01

will be patient Lakers or the Falcons and with

57:03

all the history between the Lakers are the games

57:05

and the Lakers in the Warriors If they do

57:08

end up losing to the Baloch and so I've

57:10

isolated going to win again look and I need

57:12

I game friday to make the plows with acc

57:14

of a lot on the line. Also for that

57:16

on a history of state do so the was

57:18

players but for the last couple years and they

57:20

should be no different again over the next fetus

57:22

look where's tenants who down the stretch a kind

57:24

of feels like they got their mojo back. you

57:26

know that entire run as gonna be all over.

57:28

Dream on I hope they're my keeps his cool.

57:30

I'm look at won't be the whole arena

57:33

and lots and will be more he says

57:35

i now feel better way to organize it's

57:37

it's not like doors to win the game.

57:40

It's as it's a great venue. it's a

57:42

grim and you from plateau place. And

57:44

you know that the worries will small will will

57:46

feed on you. Know that they're not afraid of.

57:48

It. So. I liked I liked the

57:50

worst when the game but it's gonna be fine.

57:53

It'll be great map a sphere and I'm excited

57:55

to watch it. Yeah, okay so. Plants

57:57

are here Here we go plane term and first

57:59

up going. Go Now! I will be talking

58:01

to all the way threatening from was using who

58:03

collective they get a Jackson Andrea are producers. take

58:05

it all the taking the bus home and you'll

58:07

have to wait as it. Is

58:28

special Power Drama Football on websites

58:30

similar pass the Heisman Trophy winner

58:32

is shady. Then on the grid

58:35

were had he. Gets

58:39

the job. Or

58:43

Nfl draft begin or say it

58:45

was released on T C D

58:47

C.