0:01

A court side view of what's happening

0:03

in the roller coaster Clippers Mavericks

0:06

series. We've got

0:08

to talk injuries as well, because there

0:10

are so many around the league. We

0:12

talk about some coaching situations

0:15

as well, Doc Rivers, Darvin

0:17

Ham, Frank Vogel, and

0:19

we even mix in some pseudo

0:22

live reaction to the Phoenix Suns

0:24

being swept out of the playoffs.

0:27

All that's next on the latest

0:29

edition of This League Uncut.

0:31

Welcome to This League Uncut.

0:35

In the rule of.

0:35

Twenty four hour NBA.

0:36

News, this's you love, Chris

0:40

Hans, It's time, work's

0:42

time.

0:43

It's so time. This

0:48

League Uncut is underway and on fire.

0:53

This should be a good one.

0:56

Hey, everyone, welcome in to

0:59

the latest edition This League

1:01

Uncut. It's a playoff

1:04

Sunday night. It

1:06

feels like hours upon hours

1:09

of drama, hardwood

1:12

drama stacked on top of each other. Today,

1:16

let's be honest. This first

1:18

round league wide has

1:21

been short on drama

1:25

and racked

1:27

by way too many injuries. But the

1:30

first two games, especially today,

1:34

the Knicks victory in

1:37

Philadelphia, the Clippers

1:39

winning in Dallas without Kawhi

1:42

Leonard, that was a roller coaster. I was there.

1:45

But let me bring in my co host who's

1:47

in Miami. He's getting ready to work the sidelines

1:50

for TNT Monday Night, Game

1:53

four of the Heat Celtic

1:55

Series, Chris Haynes, Happy

1:58

Sunday to you. Unfortunately

2:01

got even more injury

2:03

news today, more injury developments that

2:05

have just dominated

2:07

proceedings here in Round one. But we also did

2:09

get some pretty great basketball,

2:11

and as we're recording this, Phoenix

2:14

is trying to keep its season going.

2:18

Minnesota and Phoenix locked in a

2:20

close game halfway through the

2:22

third quarter, with the Wolves already up

2:24

three to zero in that series, so we'll probably

2:27

have a result there by the time we wrap this

2:29

thing up. But man, wild Sunday

2:32

in your league, what's going on?

2:34

Yeh's crazy? I mean injuries

2:37

galore, which is, you

2:40

know, it's tainting this first round a

2:42

tad bit, I mean the series with that. You

2:44

know that you've been at thus far to

2:46

Clippers and MAVs, Kawhi Leonard

2:49

Tough, tough, blow Bunks,

2:53

Pacers, Jannis Dame

2:55

tough right there, Joel and b with the Sixers

2:58

just not being his full

3:01

self and you know it's been it's been

3:03

tough. Jimmy Butler, the series I'm doing,

3:05

Jimmy Butler being out. You

3:07

know this is you don't want to see this at

3:10

this point, but uh, but let's let's talk

3:12

about the Clippers in math since you're since

3:14

you're out there, like with the news of Kawhi

3:16

Leonard taking some time off

3:19

to try he the word

3:21

is he will not be back until

3:24

he's feeling right. What

3:27

are you hearing out there? And what is that? What is that series

3:29

been like? Just to see the just

3:31

to see the roller coaster.

3:33

That has been Yeah, honestly, today was wild.

3:35

A couple hours before tip off, we

3:38

had Clippers President

3:40

of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank, came

3:42

out and said that Kawhi was being

3:44

ruled out of Game four and

3:47

more ominously, there's no timetable

3:51

for when he's going to come back. And

3:53

then what happens. The Clippers jump out

3:55

to a thirty nine to sixteen opening

3:59

quarter, just a re ridiculously good.

4:01

The Clippers were great in Game one at home

4:04

without Kawhi Leonard, but they were next level

4:06

in the first quarter to start here in Dallas,

4:09

just had the three ball working. They

4:11

were playing at a faster pace without

4:13

Kawhi. The Clips ultimately stretched

4:16

that lead all the way to thirty one points

4:19

on Dallas's floor, and

4:21

look, the Mavericks were able to come all

4:24

the way back. They took

4:26

a one oh five one oh four lead late

4:29

on a Kyrie Irving layup

4:32

that if you haven't seen it yet, I

4:35

mean, honestly, if you're listening to this podcast,

4:37

I'm guessing there's no way you haven't

4:39

seen it, because it was absolutely ridiculous

4:42

how long Kyrie hung

4:44

in the air and found a way to scoop

4:47

one in underneath

4:49

three very tall defenders

4:51

who were trying to keep him away from the rim.

4:54

It looked like the MAVs were going to pull off

4:56

a comeback for the Ages, looked

5:00

like the Clippers were going to suffer

5:03

a meltdown for the Ages, and

5:06

then in crunch time the

5:09

Clippers took over. So it was really like Dallas

5:11

lost this game twice. It really

5:14

ended up being just a dagger defeat

5:16

for the Mavericks because it looked

5:19

like they were going to take a three to one

5:21

series lead, looked like they were going to complete

5:24

this unbelievable escape

5:29

after looking so bad in the

5:31

first half, and for the second time in this

5:33

series, not responding

5:35

to the fact that Kawhi Leonard wasn't

5:37

out there, and James

5:41

Harden found another gear in

5:44

the fourth quarter in crunch time, much

5:46

like we saw in the first half of

5:48

Game one, Paul George hit a ridiculous

5:51

fallaway three in the corner.

5:54

To that point, Paul George only had two points

5:57

in the second half, and the

6:00

Mavericks and their coach Jason Kidd

6:02

in the immediate aftermath of the loss,

6:06

facing a lot of questions, a lot of criticism

6:09

for not switching to a

6:12

bigger lineup late. As

6:15

James Harden started finding the range

6:17

with his floater. This was crazy. I didn't realize

6:19

this. Harden shot sub thirty

6:21

percent during the season on

6:24

his floaters, which hard

6:26

to believe today because he made five in

6:29

the fourth quarter and really looked

6:32

like he could get just about anywhere he

6:35

wanted to. It was a turn

6:37

back the clock performance from

6:40

Harden, and that's now twice in this series

6:42

that the Southern California

6:44

native. He's in his first playoff run with the

6:46

Clippers and has just been sensational.

6:49

Both Clipper wins in this

6:52

series without Kawhi Leonard. Both

6:54

Clipper wins feature huge

6:57

games from Harden, who has absorbed

6:59

plenty of critics himself when

7:02

you dig into his playoff resume. So

7:05

look, I think Dallas has to

7:07

be incredibly disappointed

7:10

that they've lost twice

7:12

in this series without Kawhi Leonard. On

7:14

the other side, there's no indication

7:17

if Kawhi Leonard can even get back on

7:20

the floor in this series. As well

7:22

as the Clippers have played without him, I would imagine,

7:26

I don't think they want to rush him back right now. They're

7:28

playing frankly better without

7:30

him because of the state of Kawhi

7:33

Leonard's health, and if you saw

7:35

him in Games two and

7:38

three, he didn't look

7:40

remotely like the

7:43

Kawhi Leonard that

7:45

everyone has come to expect

7:47

in the postseason. But you

7:50

know, we talk about injuries, and there are so many

7:52

to get to with. You know, the Bucks

7:54

now losing Damian Lillard on top of Gianna

7:56

Santitokumpo, Jimmy Butler

7:58

in your series, Joel

8:01

Embiid playing hurt in that series, and

8:03

we can go on and on and on. No Zion Williamson

8:06

of course in the OKC New

8:08

Orleans series, But in Dallas,

8:10

Luka Doncic is playing hurt right now.

8:13

That is painfully obvious

8:15

when you watch the Mavericks play and Luka

8:18

Doncic is shooting sub forty percent

8:21

in this series. And after all

8:23

the praise that Luca got for

8:26

his defense in Game two, which was

8:28

probably the best most impactful

8:31

single game defensive effort of his career,

8:34

today his movement was so labored.

8:37

The Clippers were targeting him and

8:39

rightfully so. And I

8:43

mean, he is ailing. He is nowhere

8:46

close to where he should be. It's

8:48

the playoffs, So just like Embiid

8:50

and Philly, Luca's going to try to gut

8:52

it out. But I mean it's

8:54

yet another injury headline in

8:57

this postseason that has

8:59

more than we can count.

9:03

I think as far as the Clippers,

9:05

with Kawhi Leonard and his injury,

9:08

I think it bodes well for the Clippers in the short

9:11

term, the fact that now

9:13

they know the guys that's going to be there at

9:16

least for this series, and so they can focus

9:18

in on that, they can try to build off

9:20

of that. And as you you

9:22

know, as you as you already stated, they

9:25

won both games already without

9:27

Kawhi, so you know, I think this

9:30

is something I think this is more of

9:32

a relief for the Clippers not having

9:34

to worry if Kawhi is going to be in

9:37

the in the lineup this game, out

9:39

the line next game. Like that, uncertainty

9:42

is out the picture now now they can just focus

9:44

on playing and being a team.

9:46

And so that this series is very

9:49

much alive, which you

9:51

know, I want to see a nice compelling

9:53

series. And you know, the drama

9:56

is still there, the intrigue is still there. Hopefully

9:58

Luca continue to play at a higher left. I

10:00

know he's laboring, you know, obviously everyone

10:03

could see it, you know, but

10:06

this is still very much a

10:08

compelling series. You don't know, you

10:10

don't know who has the momentum right now or

10:14

who's going to keep the momentum, I should say. So

10:17

you know this, this thing, this thing is far from

10:19

over, which is good, which

10:21

is which is more than I can say from

10:24

say, for a couple of these other series

10:26

out there.

10:27

Yeah, look, every other series in the West got

10:29

to three to zero, so we need at least

10:31

one series in the West to

10:34

deliver. And yeah, I mean it is remarkably

10:38

this series has been pitched

10:40

back to toss up status.

10:44

And again

10:46

I think the Mavericks, though, they're

10:49

going to have to really pull together and steal

10:51

themselves because to get two

10:54

shots at the

10:56

Clippers with no Kawhi Leonard

10:59

and both times just getting routed

11:02

in the first half, you

11:04

know, just blitzed badly in

11:06

the first half of Game one and Game

11:09

four on their home floor, especially

11:11

when you factor in the history that these two teams

11:13

have. Remember it's the third time

11:16

in the last five years that these

11:18

teams have met in the playoffs.

11:21

The Clippers, they've only won three playoff

11:23

series since Kawhi and

11:25

Paul George came together, two of them

11:28

are against the Mavericks. This

11:31

is the best team that Luka Doncic

11:33

has ever had around him in his

11:35

series against the Clippers. And you

11:37

know, Luca today postgame, you

11:40

know, he said he feels like he's letting

11:43

Kyrie Irving down, with Kyrie Irving

11:45

just playing incredible offensive

11:48

basketball. And today Kyrie

11:50

Irving willed the Mavericks back into

11:52

this game with just ridiculous

11:55

shot making, not just the layup,

11:57

but again that layup was an all

12:00

timer. And look, I think it's health.

12:02

There's just no you know, Luca

12:04

struggling at the defensive end. Okay, that's

12:07

not exactly a new thing, but

12:10

Luca shooting sub

12:13

forty percent from the field. I

12:15

mean, that just tells you that something

12:18

is wrong. And it

12:21

wasn't even just the shooting today. Multiple

12:23

times in this game he drove

12:25

to the bucket and got

12:28

the ball knocked out of his hands, basically stripped

12:30

on a drive that never happens.

12:33

Once Luca gets inside, He's just so strong

12:36

when he goes to the rim. So it just you

12:39

can just see he's not His game

12:42

is not all there. And two

12:45

days off now before Wednesday's Game

12:47

five back in LA. But Game

12:50

six is Friday, a potential

12:52

Game seven is Sunday. It's basically

12:55

every other day to finish the series. Once we get

12:58

to the game five stage, and

13:02

this really is the series in the

13:04

West now that is providing

13:07

all of the drama and what

13:10

happens from here. Can the Clippers keep

13:12

winning without their best players?

13:14

How will the Mavericks rebound from

13:18

an

13:20

absolutely deflating defeat.

13:23

And yeah, I

13:26

you know, it's going to be fascinating to see how

13:29

Doncic looks Wednesday nights.

13:31

Again, not just shooting sub forty percent from

13:33

the floor, he's shooting not

13:35

even twenty seven percent from three point

13:37

range, and those are just I mean,

13:39

that's just way below his typical

13:42

standard. And I've watched

13:44

him enough to know that I

13:46

really attribute a lot of it to the

13:49

state of his right knee, because he's just not moving

13:51

well at all.

13:53

Stime, before we shift to another

13:56

series, let's go off

13:58

the court real quick as attains

14:00

to the Clippers. Do

14:03

you think the situations

14:05

the Clippers are in with Kawhi having

14:09

to sideline

14:11

himself again, they've been

14:14

down this road before. There's

14:17

no extension yet for Paul George.

14:20

Do you think that Paul

14:23

has gained a little bit more leverage now

14:26

his extension talks, or

14:29

do you feel like this this probably

14:31

won't play a factor at all.

14:34

I think it's too soon to know the answer

14:37

to that question because it too too so much

14:39

can still happen in this series. But look, there's

14:41

no question that the

14:44

Clippers future is one of the major

14:46

subplots here. Steve Balmer

14:48

here on the road in Dallas, very

14:51

visible watching pregame

14:54

intently both of

14:56

these games. You know, at Clipper home games,

15:00

there's places that he can go to kind

15:03

of stay out of the public eye. But in

15:05

Dallas, Balmer was

15:07

a very visible presence at

15:09

these games. Intently

15:12

studying warm ups, and you

15:15

know, I'm sure he's trying

15:17

to analyze this himself, because,

15:19

yeah, around the league, there

15:21

is tons of curiosity. What will the

15:23

Clippers do? You know, Kawhi

15:26

Leonard played in sixty eight

15:28

games this season. It's the most

15:30

we've seen him in the regular season since

15:33

twenty sixteen seventeen, when he

15:35

was still in San Antonio seven years

15:37

ago. But now a

15:40

are the Clippers second guessing

15:42

how much Kawhi played

15:45

during the regular season. Maybe sixty eight

15:47

games was too much. And they've already

15:49

extended Kawhi Leonard. Remember

15:51

that day in January, We're out of the blue, with

15:53

no warning, Kawhi gets

15:55

his extension. Paul George, as

15:57

you mentioned, does not have his extension. He's

16:00

eligible to be extended through

16:03

June thirtieth. The Clippers need

16:05

to come to terms with George before

16:07

then to keep him off the

16:09

free agent market. Where we know the

16:12

Philadelphia seventy six Ers, who by the

16:14

way, are now facing elimination.

16:16

The Sixers losing Game four at home, and

16:19

the Sixers are one loss away from

16:21

their offseason starting. We know

16:24

the Sixers will be at the front of the line

16:26

to go after Paul George in free agency

16:29

if the Clippers don't extend him by

16:32

June thirtieth, and then James Harden. James

16:35

Harden has really been the

16:38

driving force in the Clippers two

16:41

wins in this series. James

16:44

Harden not even eligible for his

16:46

extension until the summertime. But once

16:49

June thirtieth slash July one hits,

16:52

now Harden's gonna want an extension too.

16:54

So do the Clippers

16:57

want to run it back with this team at

16:59

two time two in this series? I

17:01

think they still need more data

17:04

to be honest, because look,

17:06

there are high stakes and there

17:09

is considerable pressure on both of these

17:11

franchises. The Mavericks traded

17:14

away a ton to

17:16

get Daniel Gafford and

17:19

PJ Washington at the trade

17:21

deadline. Dallas will

17:23

not have its first round pick in this draft

17:25

because it is the last

17:27

element that they must convey

17:30

to the Knicks to complete the

17:32

Christops Porzingis deal from five years

17:34

ago. At the deadline in twenty

17:36

nineteen and then, the Mavericks have also surrendered

17:39

control of their first round pick between

17:42

twenty twenty seven and twenty thirty, so

17:45

they need this team to

17:48

deliver and advance and

17:51

live up to the

17:53

promise they showed when they went

17:55

sixteen and two in the second

17:57

half of the season to get to fifty wins

18:00

and move up to the number five seeds. So whoever

18:03

loses this series, like so many

18:05

teams in the West, is

18:07

going to be facing some really tough

18:10

questions in the offseason.

18:13

The MAVs have used

18:15

most of their trade chips, how can they improve

18:17

this team if it goes out in

18:19

Round one? And the Clippers,

18:22

if they go out and round one, are

18:25

gonna have to ask themselves do we re

18:27

sign Paul George and James Harden

18:30

knowing these guys will just get a year older

18:33

and this is basically the team they're gonna

18:35

roll with. And look Phoenix,

18:38

Golden State, Sacramento, the

18:40

Lakers. All of these teams are facing

18:43

really hard offseason questions too.

18:46

In the West. That's kind of the

18:48

status quo for everyone. Any team

18:50

that loses in the play in or

18:52

Round one has some really

18:54

tough choices to make. But yeah, I mean, I

18:57

guess that's my long winded way of saying I

18:59

can't really answer that one. But

19:04

I don't think well, I can't

19:06

answer it to this degree. I don't think

19:08

as impressive as this victory was to

19:13

save themselves after blowing a

19:15

thirty one point lead. I don't

19:17

think this one victory is going to prompt

19:20

the Clippers to make any declarations.

19:22

They're going to need to see how this series

19:25

turns out. Let me ask you

19:27

something. Do you think we see Kawhi Leonard

19:29

again in this series.

19:30

Or do you think I don't not

19:33

in this series? I don't.

19:34

I agree, I don't either. I think it's now

19:37

kind of The rumbles around the arena

19:39

this afternoon were that he's still going

19:42

to try and he doesn't want to rule himself

19:44

out, and whether that's game five or

19:46

Game six or a potential Game seven. The

19:49

rumbles were that Kawhi is going to keep

19:51

trying. But yeah, I mean, I mean

19:53

you saw game two. In game three, he is just not

19:56

moving well at all. Yeah.

20:00

Well, I guess that's a good

20:03

segue over to the East for a little

20:05

bit, talking about guys not moving

20:07

well, which ultimately led to them not

20:09

moving at all. Bucks Pacers

20:13

that series it's got ugly.

20:16

It's gotten ugly over there. Yeah.

20:18

I don't. I don't foresee. I'll just say

20:21

this, I don't foresee. Damer

20:23

Gianni's returning for this

20:25

series.

20:26

I don't this is at

20:29

three to one down. It's just there's it's not worth

20:31

the risk. Yeah, I

20:33

mean talk about team that has

20:35

a lot of off season questions. I mean,

20:38

the last thing they need is

20:40

for Giannis or Dame to sustain a

20:42

long term injury. I mean it sounds like they're playing

20:45

right on the edge as it is.

20:48

Yeah, yeah, it's unfortunate.

20:52

You know, Dame came into the playoffs really

20:55

feeling good. He had about a week off.

20:58

He was dealing with achilles

21:01

soreness towards the end

21:03

of the regular season. Then he had

21:05

like a week off and he got he

21:07

got right, He got himself right, and

21:10

you've seen in those first couple of games in the playoffs

21:12

he was he was playing probably

21:15

the best ball in that little two three

21:17

game stretch. You can make a case that

21:19

was probably the best you've seen him.

21:21

Mat just like scoring in bunches and

21:23

in droves, and you

21:26

know, that was the Dame, that was the Dame of

21:28

old. You know, he was telling me, man,

21:30

I'm feeling good, like he was ready,

21:33

and you know we all

21:35

knew Giannis was

21:39

his His intention was to

21:41

be able to come back at some point in this first

21:44

round. But it's just it's

21:47

never got to that point. And now

21:50

the state that the Bucks are in, down down

21:54

three games, the one it's

21:58

it's just not why is to try

22:00

to throw them out there right now? You know, if

22:03

if the Bucks would have put up a better

22:06

fight, which they were under man

22:08

so it's it's tough to ask.

22:11

It's tough to ask them to to

22:13

fulfill that. But if they were able

22:15

to put up a fight, win a few more games

22:17

here, you know, you probably

22:20

could have have seen

22:23

a scenario where Giannis er

22:25

Dame might be able to come

22:28

back, not full strength, but just

22:30

be able to come back and at least be

22:32

a decoy. I don't know how effective, but

22:36

it's just not it's not there. It's

22:38

tough, you know, it's tough. It's probably the best

22:40

thing for them to do at this

22:42

point. It's probably just it's

22:45

focus on the off season. Regroup, damon

22:48

Giannis. You know they didn't get the train during the

22:50

off season last year that the trade

22:52

happened so late. So get

22:54

it off season to train, build,

22:57

you know, build some more continuity together and

23:00

go into next season and try to and

23:05

and try to dominate but yeah, it's

23:08

tough. You never want to see a

23:11

series go out like that, where

23:14

or it can be the two best players are

23:17

in the series, you know they're they're done.

23:19

Then Bobby Porters in Game

23:21

four gets get sejected

23:26

and you know it's just you

23:28

know, they're shooting itself on the foot.

23:30

What happened? Though? I thought our pod was supposed to make

23:32

guys, it was supposed to help guys soar

23:35

to new heights. I don't think

23:37

we I don't think we did that for Bobby Porters.

23:40

Yeah we did it. I mean, how long

23:42

did Poppy? Maybe it's a time limit.

23:45

Maybe you gotta be on the show for

23:47

about thirty minutes minimum,

23:50

you know, maybe it was a time limit thing. I

23:52

don't know. I got to look into the analytics

23:54

of how long he was on, what he

23:56

said, how fully engaged

23:59

he was.

24:00

So why doesn't producer Ryan keep those analytics?

24:02

We should have a spreadsheet with Yeah,

24:04

we need that. I guess we need

24:07

that minutes they how long the interview lasted?

24:10

Yeah, because our coaches are you

24:13

know, most of our coaches are doing well. Who

24:15

came on, you know, came on the show.

24:20

I will still say Mike Brown did well,

24:23

look, they didn't make it to the playoffs,

24:26

but they took down a team that they really

24:28

wanted to beat desperately. It took

24:31

down and took out the Golden State Wards.

24:33

I don't think we can take credit for that. When Mike Brown

24:36

was on last season.

24:38

I think that was last season.

24:39

I don't think I

24:42

don't think that. I think it's

24:44

a two year, two year

24:47

dame winning the three point contest hours

24:49

after talking to us that I think

24:51

we can say that a little bit

24:54

of this league uncut magic dust was.

24:57

We can say that we can we can

24:59

we can draw a connection there, but claim

25:03

I cannot say that we had anything to do

25:05

with Mike Brown winning a playing game against

25:07

the Warriors after

25:09

we talked.

25:12

I thought we had a two year there was a two

25:14

year expiration. Finch.

25:16

Maybe like if Minnesota keeps rolling, maybe

25:19

you know Finch in the All Star Game appearance, maybe

25:21

we can take a little credit for that all

25:23

my bet, Well, let me ask you this because

25:26

obviously, you know, Doc Rivers

25:28

has been under so much pressure coming

25:30

in there at mid season. The

25:32

results haven't been what

25:35

the Bucks were hoping for after making that coaching

25:37

change. But and this has to take any

25:41

notion of heat on Doc Rivers off.

25:44

You know, I don't know how he could win a

25:46

playoff series without John and

25:48

Dan.

25:49

He's fine. I think there's enough. There's

25:53

there's enough of a track record

25:56

with this group where you can evaluate

25:59

it and see, Okay, now

26:01

they know how Dame plays. Now

26:03

they know you know what Dame and Giannis.

26:06

Now they know how they can improve playing with

26:08

each other and playing with

26:10

the collection of teammates. So now

26:13

they can kind of evaluate the

26:15

market and see, okay, what players

26:18

will fit best with them? What does Dame

26:20

need, What does Gianni's need? What does coach

26:22

Doc Rivers need? Remember Doc

26:24

Rivers, I will, I will expect

26:27

or I would suspect that he'll

26:30

bring in a few more of his

26:32

staffers on

26:35

board. You know he didn't. You know, he brought in believed

26:37

two assistant coaches, Dave Jaeger and and

26:42

our guy Recks. And I

26:44

believe that was I believe though that was Yeah,

26:48

I believe it was just two. I believe

26:50

it was. And so if

26:53

you look, if you look closely at the Bucks,

26:57

you have to be a Bucks fan and really look

27:00

at this. But if you if you look closely at

27:02

the Bucks, bench, And I'm talking

27:04

about the assistant coaches. You've seen since

27:06

Doc has come on board. You've seen some guys,

27:09

some coaches, some assistant coaches who start off

27:11

from the front bench and then they

27:13

were moved to the back of the bench. You know that what that

27:15

was Doc rivers like filling out

27:17

his staff, giving other guys

27:21

promotions and giving some

27:23

demotions, and so you

27:26

know, Doc still has to find

27:29

his way and be able to plant

27:32

his mark as well. So you

27:34

know that's that's the But no, he no,

27:37

he don't Doc know, he don't Doc. They're

27:39

going to try to figure this thing out together.

27:42

I have to say, I'm really going to be

27:44

interested to hear what Jannis has to say

27:46

when he sits down at a podium for

27:49

his end of the season press conference. It's

27:52

not going to have the

27:54

blockbuster headline potential most

27:57

likely that we saw

27:59

lastie in after the Bucks lost

28:02

to Miami so stunningly in Round one,

28:04

and of course we had the whole there's

28:06

no failure in sports speech. I'm not

28:08

expecting those kind of fireworks,

28:11

but just psyche wise, this

28:14

is two years in a row that Yannis

28:17

entered the playoffs with an

28:20

injury that has

28:25

prevented him. I mean, this injury

28:28

is likely going to prevent him from playing

28:30

at all in the series. Obviously,

28:32

last season against Miami he did play

28:35

some in the playoffs, but it's two years in a

28:37

row that an

28:39

injury has really interfered

28:42

with his playoff

28:45

hopes and dreams, and so I just I would I'm

28:47

really ready for Yanna's unplugged to kind

28:49

of hear what his mindset is and

28:51

what he's thinking, because the expectations

28:54

for this Bucks team were so

28:57

high after the trade

28:59

to bring in in Dame right

29:01

before the start of the season, and it's

29:05

just been a brutal season

29:08

in Bruetown. So I really

29:10

want to I know the series

29:12

is only three to one, but yeah, I

29:15

mean, how can we say that the Bucks really have a

29:17

chance to get out of

29:19

this round with no Joannis, no

29:21

Dame. There was an injury scare tonight for

29:24

Chris Middleton on top of everything, but

29:26

Middleton was able to play on But

29:29

yeah, I mean, this is this has just been It

29:31

has just been one thing after another

29:34

for the Milwaukee Bucks. And

29:44

wow, we've gotten this far and we haven't

29:46

even talked yet really too much about

29:50

the first game of the day, the

29:52

Knicks go to Philadelphia and

29:55

win Game four. Another

29:59

wild one. Jalen Brunson,

30:03

your guy, the little

30:05

lefty forty

30:07

seven points career playoff

30:10

high, yet

30:12

another major playoff

30:15

downer for the Sixers.

30:18

An absolutely brutal fourth

30:21

quarter for Philly. Embiid

30:24

only had one point. I believe in

30:26

that final period the Sixers as a team

30:29

missed their last ten shots. I think

30:31

they scored three points in

30:33

the last five minutes Embiid played.

30:35

He was clearly exhausted at

30:38

the end. And look, when you're a star,

30:40

when you're a perennial MVP

30:42

candidate, you

30:45

take the heat when things go

30:48

badly. But look,

30:50

Joel Embiid scored fifty points on

30:53

nineteen shots in Game three, and

30:56

I'm struggling to just go

31:00

after him now because

31:02

of what we saw on this Sunday, knowing

31:05

that he's playing hurt, he's playing at

31:07

far less than one hundred percent, and

31:09

I think that has to be factored in. We

31:13

can't just ignore

31:15

that that. You know, the

31:17

Sixers go to pieces when Embiid

31:20

is off the floor, and so again

31:23

I'm struggling to just put

31:26

this all on him. And it's

31:29

amazing, really what he's

31:31

giving the Sixers so quickly after

31:34

a meniscus procedure on

31:37

his knee. But man,

31:40

Philly, you know this is

31:43

it's just been one playoff let

31:45

down slash disappointment after

31:47

another, and they're

31:51

down three to one now to the Knicks,

31:53

and it really looks like Jalen

31:56

Brunson is just not going to let the

31:58

Knicks lose this series.

32:01

Yeah, the Knicks are. They're a tough,

32:04

minded, gritty team. And you

32:09

know, I'm very impressed with the the

32:12

DNA that they've uh

32:15

that they've latched onto that is of

32:18

coach Tom Thibodeau. They are

32:20

really they're really plugged in. They

32:23

are really plugged in. Not the

32:26

not the fanciest team, not the

32:28

most electric, They're just a hard fought

32:30

team that's just going to give it to you from

32:33

start to finish. And Philly,

32:35

Yeah, I mean you touched on it

32:38

right there. When Joel Embiid doesn't play

32:40

that the team falls apart. And we've

32:42

seen that during the regular season. They were one of the best

32:44

teams in the East. Joel goes

32:46

out all of a sudden, they're in play in range.

32:50

So this this team is not

32:54

This team is not what

32:58

they should be right now, and that's

33:00

based off of embiid missing

33:02

a chunk of the season and EMBD not being

33:05

anywhere close to one still

33:07

dealing with that injury. You know, he's gutting

33:09

it out. He probably shouldn't be playing.

33:11

He's gutting it out, and you have to give

33:13

him credit. You have to plout him for trying

33:16

to be there when

33:18

it matters in the season most so,

33:21

I can't blame him. It's just, you know, it's

33:23

just it's a sad tale because they've

33:26

been through this time and and time

33:28

again, and you

33:31

know, you don't want you don't want to say, well, they just can't

33:34

win with that and bid, I mean, you don't want to say they can't

33:36

win with them be. I mean that's

33:38

not I don't think you can say

33:40

that yet because he hasn't been

33:43

healthy, you know, during postseason

33:46

play for the most part. But there

33:48

is a trend. But it's

33:51

tough, man. I just want to see the big fella healthy

33:54

and he was playing

33:57

some dominant basketball before

34:00

an injury. Really

34:02

really unfortunate, but you got to give credit

34:04

to the Knicks. All all you can

34:06

do, similar to the Indiana Pacers,

34:09

all you can do is play who's

34:11

ever on your schedule. That's

34:13

it, on your schedule, play

34:16

who ever on the roster at that time.

34:18

Yeah, because that's the thing we've been waiting.

34:21

We've been waiting and

34:23

waiting. Will Joel Embiid

34:26

ever be able to enter the playoffs healthy

34:30

or reasonably close to healthy? And

34:33

he entered these playoffs well shy

34:36

of healthy. And yeah, he scored

34:38

fifty points the other night, but that doesn't

34:40

mean that he is anywhere

34:42

close to one. I

34:45

didn't I thought it was unwise

34:47

for Embiid to complain after the game

34:49

about how many Knicks fans there were in Phillies

34:52

building. Obviously there were a ton, but

34:55

that's not really an issue. I think he

34:57

should be raising in the way

35:00

of a Game four home defeat.

35:02

But when it comes to Embiid

35:06

on the floor, I do think

35:08

we have to give him some slack

35:10

because he did come

35:13

back from a knee procedure

35:16

faster than he should have, just like Karl Anthony

35:18

Towns in Minnesota. They both

35:20

came back faster than they probably should

35:22

have from a knee

35:24

procedure. And we

35:27

know, as we've said already, without Joel

35:30

Embiid, the Sixers have no chance

35:32

this series. Our former ESBN

35:35

colleague John Hollinger, he

35:37

tweeted out pretty smartly earlier

35:39

today, you know, the Sixers

35:41

have a guy making almost forty million this season,

35:44

Tobias Harris only has eleven

35:46

baskets in the first four games of

35:49

this series. So the Sixers truly

35:51

are leaning very,

35:54

very heavily on Joel

35:56

Embiid and they

36:00

wouldn't even have a chance without him, and that

36:02

does have to be something that we remember

36:05

and keep track of. On the other side,

36:07

Man Jalen Brunson, obviously

36:10

I saw him the first

36:12

few years of his career, but I continue

36:14

to be astounded year two in New York,

36:17

year two since he left

36:20

the city where I live in work in Dallas. I

36:22

mean, he just still continues

36:25

to get better. And he had a really

36:27

rough start to this Philly series. He

36:30

shot sixteen for fifty five in the first

36:32

two games, very uncharacteristic.

36:36

But what he did today with

36:39

forty seven on the road to

36:42

lead the Knicks to

36:44

this win that gives the Knicks a

36:46

three to one lead when so many other

36:49

Knicks were struggling offensively. Just

36:52

man Jalen Brunson has had a remarkable

36:55

season, and I think he's gonna end up in the top

36:57

five and MVP balloting somewhere. No

37:01

I doubt he gets higher than four or five,

37:03

but he should be in the top five.

37:06

He's been that good.

37:09

It's been really good. And one thing I like about

37:11

Jalen, No matter if his shot is

37:13

going in or not, he's going to be aggressive.

37:16

He's going to stay aggressive. You're not going to have

37:19

You're not going to have an off night. If you're defending

37:22

him, He's not going to give you that off

37:24

night. He's going to keep coming at you. And

37:27

I think Philly first couple

37:29

of games thought they might have figured out something,

37:32

you know, stop his effectiveness, you know,

37:34

to bring down that shooting percentage. But

37:38

Jalen man, he's a hooper man. He just

37:40

know he knows how to get it done. So kudos

37:43

to Jalen. He's leading

37:45

this Knicks like no no nobody

37:48

thought this. I remember when he signed that contract

37:50

went over to New York. People thought they were they

37:53

overpaid. They didn't see this. So I'm

37:56

happy that he's exceeding expectations

37:58

and he's continued to elevate his game

38:01

and his team's game. So definitely

38:03

fun to watch what hasn't

38:06

been. I ain't gonna say what has Listen,

38:09

so stile say this. You

38:12

know, we give a lot of credit. You said, all right, Bobby

38:15

Porters. Okay, maybe Bobby Porters is somebody

38:17

who's came on this this pod and

38:21

hasn't really stepped up like we expect

38:23

most of our guests to come on here and

38:25

have a has some success posts

38:30

the visit with us. But

38:33

there's another guy. I guess we got to mention Darvin

38:37

Ham. God, you know Darvin

38:39

Ham. We've had Darvin Ham on

38:41

and he's been on within the year.

38:44

He came on last summer and

38:47

you know, they gotta win. They were close

38:49

to be getting swept. They gotta win. In

38:52

Game four one in La Lebron,

38:55

James play out of this world at

38:57

the David stepped up. D'Angelo Russell

39:01

finally had a good game in

39:03

this series. So now the

39:06

series shifts back to Denver for

39:08

Game five. If

39:12

the Lakers lose, everyone

39:16

expects that the

39:18

Lakers would will make a coaching

39:21

move after that. Is

39:24

it deserved or not? Listen, I think

39:27

the roster isn't

39:29

that good, and not only

39:31

that, I think they've

39:34

been plagued by a lot of injuries that

39:36

were just out of their control. I mean, Jered Vanderbilt

39:39

hasn't played in

39:42

since I don't those months. Christian

39:46

Wood hasn't had had a low impact

39:48

this season, free agent gate

39:51

Vincent has had a low impact this season

39:54

injury as well. Cam Reddish

39:56

been out extended time. So

40:00

it's just they

40:03

haven't had their whole team out there

40:06

for a long enough stretch and period

40:10

to gain some continuity. So

40:12

I I put a lot of it on that, maybe

40:15

not saying the roster isn't good enough, but

40:18

just they they haven't had their guys

40:21

together long enough. I put it more

40:23

so on that. Man, I know, people, you

40:26

know, start to criticize Darvingham. You criticize

40:28

any coach, criticize Darvinham. Frank

40:31

Vogel is getting the receiving the same treatment

40:33

out there in Phoenix, and you

40:35

know, not calling time outs,

40:38

not making adjustments, all of that stuff.

40:40

And look, man,

40:42

it this league

40:45

is tough. It's tough on the head coach. But what I will

40:47

say, what I will say,

40:49

if the Lakers do come up short in

40:51

this first round, and if

40:53

they do decide to let Darvingham

40:56

go, my question is who's

40:58

out there that's my

41:01

question. Who is out there that

41:04

can take this team

41:06

to the next level, What proven coach

41:09

is available.

41:10

Well, certainly Mike Budenholzer is out

41:12

there, and we know he's a championship

41:15

coach of recent vintage. I'm just not

41:17

so sure that that's

41:19

where the Lakers would turn if they did

41:21

decide they were making a change.

41:24

Yeah, I agree with you one hundred percent on that

41:27

Ham comes from the boot and holes of trees. So I

41:29

don't know that they would go down that road again.

41:32

So again my question is who

41:35

is out there? Who you know? Because

41:37

Lakers there, they're quick to make changes,

41:39

particularly on the head coach, head

41:42

coach in front. Okay, but who's

41:44

out there?

41:45

Well, here's the thing. It's been at the very

41:48

quiet to this point on the coaching

41:50

carousel. The day after the season, there

41:53

were no dismissals. It was

41:55

very unnfl like. Obviously,

41:58

Charlotte is still searching for a coach. Washington

42:01

is still in the midst of a coaching search.

42:04

The Brooklyn Nets decided very

42:06

quickly after the season to hire

42:08

Jordi Fernandez away from Mike Brown

42:11

staff and Sacramento. Jordi Fernandez

42:13

will be the new coach of the Nets

42:16

starting next season. But we

42:18

know that when things

42:21

happen in the playoffs, when teams

42:23

lose earlier than they expect

42:26

or hope, that does lead

42:28

to surprise

42:31

openings on the coaching carousel.

42:34

And you know you mentioned it as well,

42:36

Frank Vogel today before

42:39

the game, before this game against Minnesota,

42:41

that as you and I are recording this is

42:44

going down to the wire with Minnesota trying

42:47

to sweep the Suns out

42:49

of the playoffs. Frank Vogel

42:51

before this game had to answer a

42:54

question about his job security,

42:57

and Frank Vogel

42:59

said at his pregame press conference quote,

43:02

I've got full support for matt

43:05

ishbia end quote. We will soon

43:07

see if that plays out,

43:09

because again, as we're recording this, the

43:11

Suns Anthony Edwards

43:14

just threw down a ridiculous dunk

43:16

in traffic to put the Wolves

43:18

up for heading into the final

43:21

two minutes and change. And if

43:23

Minnesota can hold that lead, the

43:25

Suns would be the first team eliminated

43:29

from the twenty twenty three to twenty four playoffs.

43:32

So yeah, if the Lakers lose early, if

43:34

the Suns lose early, you

43:37

know, put them in the same category. Like I said

43:39

before right there with the Warriors

43:42

the Kings. I think the Hawks

43:44

qualify as well in Atlanta, where these

43:47

teams are entering difficult off seasons,

43:49

really hard choices in the offseason, and

43:52

in one or two or maybe more

43:55

of those situations, pressure will

43:57

be immediately foisted

43:59

upon the coach once

44:02

their team was a living Ye. But

44:11

I'm glad you brought up the Lakers because

44:14

you have neatly led me into the

44:16

Monday preview. This episode is

44:19

dropping on a Monday, and later

44:22

today you'll be on the sidelines for Game

44:24

four in Miami Celtics

44:27

at heat, and then later

44:29

in the evening the Lakers in

44:32

Denver for Game five. The

44:34

Lakers did avoid the sweep, they

44:37

did extend their season. The one wrinkle

44:39

here in that, I mean, you would think Denver's

44:41

going to finish off the

44:44

Lakers Game five in

44:46

their gym, but Jamal

44:49

Murray sustained a

44:52

calf injury late in Game four

44:55

in La So. But

44:58

this series is over right, there's no way the Lakers

45:01

can come back.

45:04

Well, it was one game at a time, Yeah, one

45:06

game at a time. I mean the eyes are death.

45:09

Oh now, Chris Finch hurt himself. No,

45:13

Chris Finch. Don you see that.

45:15

You must be ahead of me, your feed must be ahead

45:19

of me.

45:20

Wow. Coley runs, Oh,

45:23

hit some right in the knee. It looks like, oh

45:27

the right knee.

45:28

No goodness sakes.

45:33

Injuries.

45:34

That is the metaphor of these playoffs. Now Mike,

45:38

oh, Mike Conley straight into

45:41

Chris Finch's right knee.

45:47

Man, Finch is still down.

45:49

Oh wow, these

45:53

playoffs man, just way too

45:55

hazardous. Greg

45:58

Farnham, the Wolves trainer in another Wolf

46:00

staffer, had to help

46:02

Chris Finch off the floor with one

46:04

forty one remaining. Not

46:07

even coaches are safe in the twenty

46:09

twenty three to twenty four playoffs. Man, this

46:12

is ridiculous. So

46:15

we wanted to just wait till the finish

46:18

line to make sure sure. But it

46:21

is finished now. The

46:24

Timberwolves again, a franchise

46:26

that in its first thirty four seasons

46:29

won only two playoff

46:32

series, both in two thousand

46:34

and four, twenty years ago. Sadly,

46:37

Chris Finch didn't get to be on the floor

46:39

for the finish of it. But

46:42

the Wolves have broomed the

46:44

Phoenix Suns into the off

46:47

season. The very high priced, top

46:50

heavy Phoenix Suns

46:53

Man what

46:56

are they going to do this

46:58

offseason? I mean,

47:00

look at the coaching box if you want

47:02

to, is Frank Vogel's

47:05

job legit under

47:07

threat as has been suggested

47:10

in some league circles, I mean changing

47:14

the coach? What is that really going to change?

47:17

How does this roster change? Because

47:20

of how much Phoenix is spent to put

47:22

together this star trio

47:25

it has assembled, the Suns, as everyone

47:27

knows, are so far into the

47:29

second apron they have no easy

47:31

way to make changes here. Bradley

47:34

Beal, his first season

47:37

as a Phoenix Sun, ends with

47:39

a nine point performance in Game

47:41

four and Beal, as we mentioned,

47:44

fouled out late and nine

47:47

points six turnovers in

47:50

the final game of the season. For

47:53

Bradley Beal and no matter

47:55

what happens with their coaching situation,

47:57

how do the Suns prove

48:00

this roster next season? It's

48:03

really hard to see a pathway

48:05

for them to improve this roster meaningfully.

48:10

Well, you know, you can start by getting the point guard.

48:13

Yes that should be

48:16

a top priority, but definitely

48:19

you know, you hit it on the head, definitely

48:22

too top hit.

48:22

And Bradley Beal has no trade clause, so

48:25

they can't trade Bradley Beal unless

48:28

he consents, And who's really

48:31

what kind of market is there going to be for

48:33

Bradley Beal when he's making about

48:35

fifty million next season and his

48:38

first season in Phoenix did

48:42

not go well. This is

48:44

the matchup Phoenix wanted. They got

48:46

up to number six, They

48:49

won the season series three to zero

48:51

against Minnesota, and

48:54

everybody thought this thing had upset potential.

48:56

And man, the Timberwolves

48:59

just absolutely reaffirmed

49:03

that they are the best

49:06

defensive team in the league. And truly, man, I

49:08

am sick for Chris Finch.

49:10

First of all, just hope that the

49:13

injury, the knee injury isn't too serious,

49:15

because it obviously looked awful

49:18

and the way he had

49:20

to be helped off the floor that

49:22

alone should be caused for concern. But

49:26

just absolutely sucks for Finch.

49:30

His first playoff series victory as

49:33

an NBA coach. And

49:35

I say that as someone who watched him coach

49:38

in the British Battle League a quarter century

49:40

ago against Nick Nurse and

49:44

he doesn't get to be out there to enjoy

49:46

it. But man, the Wolves. How impressive

49:50

were the Minnesota Timberwolves in this first

49:52

round?

49:53

Crazy Minnesota

49:57

Timblewolves. Okay, see Thunder

50:00

play.

50:01

And we've we've barely talked about

50:03

the Thunder. Mark Dagnaalt named Coach of the Year

50:05

tonight. I

50:07

mean the Thunder have. Certainly they're

50:11

getting people's attention. I

50:14

don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but this

50:16

is potentially setting

50:19

up very nicely for the Thunder in

50:21

round two because assuming

50:24

that OKC can finish

50:27

off New Orleans up three to zero, and again,

50:29

of course the Pelicans do not

50:31

have the injured Zion Williamson,

50:34

the Thunder will play either the

50:37

Clippers, who don't have Kawhi

50:40

Leonard at the moment, or the Mavericks,

50:43

who have and

50:45

ailing Luka Doncic. So

50:48

the Thunder in their

50:50

first playoff run as a team pretty

50:53

much the youngest team out there. What an opportunity

50:57

the Thunder have up three to zero now

51:01

on New Orleans, and man

51:03

stat Muse just tweeted it, I have to repeat

51:06

it. The Suns did not win a

51:08

playoff game this season, swept

51:10

out of the first round. But

51:12

on top of that, the Suns possess

51:15

no first round picks between

51:17

twenty twenty five and twenty thirty and

51:20

no second round picks between

51:22

twenty twenty four as in this June

51:25

and twenty thirty. So the Sons have

51:27

no draft capital to make moves.

51:30

How do they if they decide to keep

51:33

Devin Booker, Kevin Durant

51:35

and Bradley Beal together, how do they

51:38

improve around those

51:40

guys with very very

51:42

limited flexibility to sign

51:44

free agents or make trades.

51:47

Man Matt Ishbia has

51:50

a lot of questions to answer.

51:53

Last thing, is South Beach treating you all right? How

51:55

about? What did missus Haynes think of her anniversary

51:57

being talked about on national television?

52:02

Yeah? I had to show it the next morning. Nah,

52:05

let see, it was cool. So our

52:07

anniversary is actually today. So

52:11

we went to the beach, hung at the beach, Bernie

52:15

Lee, Jimmy Butler's agents got us reservations

52:17

at Carbone Italian

52:21

restaurant out here, spent

52:25

like three hours there. She

52:27

had a great time. She had a great time. So you

52:30

know, we didn't we didn't.

52:32

Yeah, I heard your colleague Brian Anderson put the

52:34

city on alert the

52:37

Haynes family's in town.

52:40

Yeah, that was cool. Twenty one years.

52:43

Congratulations my friend, that is awesome,

52:46

And congratulations to show contributors.

52:48

Charlotte Haynes as well and

52:52

beyond wishing you guys a happy twenty first

52:54

anniversary, I am wishing for no

52:57

more injuries. Can we just stop it

52:59

with the injuries? Can we have one, two,

53:02

maybe three days of good

53:04

health in this league? Enough?

53:07

Stop it? All

53:09

right? That's gonna do it for

53:12

this edition of this league

53:15

Uncut. As always, please follow

53:17

us, rate the show, review the

53:19

show. We would love to get a five

53:22

star review from you. Chris

53:25

is on Celtic's Heat. I believe

53:27

through game five. Is that correct? You're

53:29

on that series at least through game five. I

53:33

will be on MAVs

53:36

Clippers, probably to the completion

53:38

of that series. Definitely through the

53:40

first six games. We'll see if a

53:43

it requires a game seven and

53:46

if I would make it to that game seven that

53:48

is tbd. But I will be at

53:51

Game five in LA. I'll be working

53:53

actually on the Mavericks radio

53:55

broadcast, as I did for Game

53:58

one and Game two in

54:00

LA. So busy times, that's

54:02

the way it is in the playoffs. But Chris and

54:04

I will be together again very soon

54:07

for the next edition of

54:09

this league Uncut. Thanks as

54:11

always for listening, and one more time, happy

54:14

twenty first anniversary at

54:17

Chris and.

54:18

Should and

54:26

that'll do it for us. See you next time.

54:29

This League Uncut is an iHeartRadio production

54:36

Chris Haynes and Mark Stein