On today’s episode, Jason kicks things off with a quick recap of the 2024 NFL Draft. Later, J-Mac discusses why he still believes that the Los Angeles Lakers have a chance to shock the world and beat the Denver Nuggets in the first round after falling behind 0-3 in the series, why Jalen Brunson has shown that he’s a far better #1 option for an NBA team than Joel Embiid, why it’s so hard to get a real read on the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Clippers series that’s currently tied up 2-2 and why this postseason feels like the official coming out party for Anthony Edwards after the Minnesota Timberwolves swept the Phoenix Suns out of the playoffs. Finally, Jason closes the show with his Best Bets for the Monday night NBA Playoffs action.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up firefam hits me Jason McIntyre Straight Fire
for Monday, April twenty ninth. A great weekend in the books,
unless you're a fan of, oh, I don't know, the
Phoenix Suns. It just a great weekend for sports fans.
Just so much happening. I had to spend I don't
(00:32):
know seven hours at my daughter's volleyball tournament and I
was able to watch the games on my phone in
my car while icing my ankle. I'll tell you about
that shortly. And just the amount of craziness, trying to
sift through what happened with the NFL draft and the
NBA playoffs have been absolutely chaotic in bonkers, and then
you've got the NBA playoffs. I mean, everything is just
(00:55):
going crazy right now in sports the sports world, things
are good. And the soccer team that I'm a minority
owner in ni Coxa, we made the postseason. We were
not able to It's a similar setup to the NBA playoffs,
where there is a play in and we were in
the eighth spot, we got passed, and now we're in
the ninth spot. We'll host a playoff game and then
we'll go from there. Play ins ever fun, but hey,
(01:17):
we're happy to be there. Last in the table. Last
year or last season, I thought we would start before
we get to the NBA playoffs. I just want to
put a bow on the NFL draft. Obviously, the Michael
Pennox thing was huge, and I just, you know what,
I consider this a football podcast. That's our primary thing.
Football and gambling and a lot of basketball, college and NBA.
(01:41):
But I just love football. And I'm literally going team
by team through the picks and seeing, oh, this team
got a little better, and you can't do it all
in one weekend. Anybody who thinks they're doing that is crazy.
But going through some of the teams and whether or
not they filled needs, it just reminded me how like
(02:01):
dumb mock drafts are. They are stupid and how dumber,
how even stupider dumber. Those aren't even smart words, but
the uselessness of grading drafts. Everybody knows mel Kiper's been
doing this forever. Mel Kiper gave everybody an A or
(02:23):
a B, and he gave one team the uh who
was it? Oh? The Michael Pennocks team Atlanta Falcons. Oh,
I'm sorry. The Brown's got a C plus and the
Broncos got a C plus, and the Vikings got a
C plus. Oh, I guess Titans as well. And then
the Falcon's got the lowest grade of C okay, which
is the lowest. Nobody got a D. Nobody failed. Meanwhile,
(02:44):
I'm almost certain two maybe three gms, I don't know
who they are, just given the numbers, two or three
gms will get fired based off whipping on somebody or
overdrafting somebody. It happens all the time, all the time.
So don't believe any of these grades, you hear, I
mean listen. Rob likes to find interesting guests. We had
a former Jets scout on last week and he was
(03:05):
hyping the hell out of Spencer Ratler, who's his QB one.
And there was chatter that Spencer Rattler, and by say chatter,
I mean his agent leaking stuff to reporters who will
take anything, that Spencer Ratler was climbing up draft boards
and he could be early second round pick, maybe he
squeezed in late first who knows, but a likely second
round pick after bo Nicks went twelfth. Spencer Ratler was
(03:28):
the next quarterback taken at one hundred and fifty folks,
Spencer Rattler, second round. My ass, he plummeted, and there's
nothing wrong with that. And the other kid, Pratt from Tulane,
who had been talked about as a second or third,
he won even after Rattler. We're talking about late round
(03:49):
picks here, five, six, seven. Now I know the counter
Jay JJ, Tom Brady went six, Rock Perty went seven. Relax. Yeah,
anything could happen, no doubt about it. Spencer Ratler could
be quarterback in the Saints in three years for all
we know. Okay, I mean Derek Carr hasn't delivered. I
mean there'll be a new coach and the new coach, well,
the new coach at GM, let's just put him together.
(04:11):
If they don't make the playoffs, they're probably both gone, right,
And then there's a new coach who didn't draft Spencer Rattler,
and then who knows, he's probably toast. So just I
don't put a ton of stock in these grades that
you're gonna see from every website. I just basically go
through what I believe. And again, I'm not one of
these guys who was like, oh, I absolutely love this kid,
(04:33):
so they drafted him. Thus they had a good draft. No,
I don't not break like that, that's silly. Yes, I
like some of these guys. I did like the wide
receiver that Denver got, Franklin from Oregon. He's a good player.
I'm surprised he fell to the fourth round. That doesn't
mean I think the Broncos had a great draft, you know,
I just I don't get too worked up about the draft.
I do love it, but I don't get too like invested, like,
(04:55):
oh that this means a whole hell of a lot
to the season, but it is a great great Like, Okay,
season ends in February, the super Bowl, then you've got
like the Combine, then then you have the draft, and
next next big tent pole event will be the schedule,
and the off season will continue. And like it's just
(05:17):
the really smart and wise how the NFL spreads this out. Obviously,
free agency was big. I'm sure you know, once camps begin,
there'll be some drama somewhere. It's just football is essentially
twelve months a year at this point, maybe with a
little hiatus in the summer. I'm not ready to go
super hot. Take with my playoff teams based out in
the draft and free agency. Listen, I'll have them, but
(05:40):
I'm not ready today. And that's mostly because the NBA
playoffs this weekend were absolutely captivating. Your boy played in
a soccer tournament, probably the final soccer tournament I'll ever
play in because soccer was my first love growing up,
and the tournament was Saturday, and we kind of got shafted.
I'm not going to get into it. Bottom line. We
(06:02):
make the semifinals and lose. But literally in my first
in the first game, I go on as a sub
maybe I don't know, five minutes into the game, and
literally ninety seconds after I enter, I'm hustling back on
defense and this guy winds up to take a big
krack of goal and I'm like, oh man, he's in
a position he could score. So I turn on the
(06:22):
after burners and I essentially stick my foot out to
block it, and the guy sends a rocket off my foot,
and folks, I'm telling you, I went down as if
I had stepped on a landmine and I lost my foot.
It felt like it was just dangling there. I was like,
oh my gosh, I'm dead. I can't walk, and then
you know, you shake that off. Initially, you go to
(06:43):
the sideline like, okay, I maybe could play in the
second half, and then of course you know you're on adrenaline.
I didn't take this snak the boot off, as they
call it in soccer. I left it on tight, did
a little running. I wasn't super effective. Second game also
not that effective, but at that point, like I had
been resting up, and you know, I go on to
score two goals in our third game and I kept
(07:04):
us in and we didn't win. We go to the semifinals,
and at that point I'm literally walking hobbling. But when
I'm running, I'm on pure adrenaline. So I end up
sitting out a lot in the semifinal loss, and I
start calling on my phone and I can this is
how incredible technology is. I'm on my phone playing in
a soccer tournament and I just call up the NBA
game and I look at the score. I'm like, wait,
(07:26):
what happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They're down seventy five.
What's going on? And then you know, it's like, oh, okay,
I didn't really miss much. And then of course Saturday
goes on. You come home and I see what I
believe to be is the craziest stat in the NBA playoffs.
And we'll talk more about the Lakers later, but folks,
if you haven't seen it, in the fourth quarter of
(07:46):
the Lakers game, and this is what I'm building up to,
is essentially a lead. The Lakers and this is not hyperbole,
have dominated the Nuggets in this series. Yes, they're down
one to three, but the time leading in this series
stat the Lakers are at one hundred and thirty six
(08:08):
minutes in the series. Denver is at forty one, and
they've been tied for fourteen. The Lakers have been leading
the bulk of the series. They just can't close it out.
And in the year where we've seen more twenty and
thirty point comebacks than ever before. Hell, we almost saw
the Maps put one off Sunday down thirty one, come
(08:29):
back and take the lead in the final minute. I'm
not ready to say anything's done now. I was going
to open the pod this morning with Phoenix isn't done
if the Suns had got it done last night, because listen,
this is a Sun scene that can get hot. Obviously,
Phoenix could not get it done. Poop their pants one
of the most. We'll get into it later in the week,
(08:50):
I think, once there's more time. But the Suns get
swept by the Timberwolves. The Lakers are still alive. So
that whole narrative about Curry's gone, Kd's gone, Lebron's gone,
you can it's not official yet. The Lakers obviously have
have another chance tonight, like are they gonna win, We'll see,
we'll talk, we'll do best bets at the end of
(09:11):
the podcast. But they are playing tonight, and you know,
all these Laker fans, the La Times is starting to
They're saying, why can't the Lakers have a shot, and Rob,
I'm not going overboard in this Lakers hysteria, but they
could have folded up like the Phoenix Suns did down
O three at home. She said, one two three, Kanko
we out, Phoenix played no defense. Anthony Edwards torched him.
(09:35):
It is embarrassing. Sons are really in a terrible spot.
You could have seen. I'm sure you guys saw it
last night. Bradley Beal kind of wave off his coach.
Bradley Beal's awful game fouled out and then goes to
the sideline. Coach sticks his hand down and he just
is like get out of here, like waved him off.
It was kind of bad. We could have seen that
from the Lakers. We did not. Now ruy Hachimra rob
(09:59):
GI's got hammered and I think he was chained to
the bench the entire fourth quarter. They rolled with Torrian Prince,
the veteran who's been a subject of much scoring and
derision in Laker world. But listen, darvind Ham push the
right buttons. And in late in the third when he
went with the dumb lineup that I hate, with no
Lebron or no Austin Reeves, I'm like, bro, what are
you doing? They cut it to seven and then it
(10:21):
was like gave Vincent three, Danzel Russell three, Tory and
Prince three and like that. That's been the difference right
in the other close games in the third quarter, those
would miss and Denver would come down and score. And
I'm not saying the Lakers are gonna win the series.
I'm just pointing out facts. The Lakers have dominated this series.
That is a fact. There have been sixteen quarters in
(10:46):
the series, and the Lakers if this was like boxing,
and it's not, the Lakers would have the technical decision
by winning more quarters, and Rob, I'm not saying they're
gonna come back and whin, I'm just saying to this
point and again, they're down one to three, but the
Lakers have been the better team in this series. True
or false?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Oh gosh, I mean I want to side with you
on that one. But the fact remains is, up until
Game four, every game followed the same script. Lakers get ahead,
Lakers comfortably in at league at halftime, and then a
tidal wave of Denver Nuggets baskets comes in the third
or fourth quarter. So it's nice to say that you're
(11:27):
winning the whole game, but if you are repeatedly gagging
it away, it's hard for me to say that you've
played better than the other team. I'm gonna disagree with you.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It's a fair calendar. I mean, listen, obviously, when it
matters winning time, all that fun stuff. Yes, Denver has
been more clutch, But Rob, you know I'm not making excuses.
They finally snap the hecks. We're talking about a fluky
Jamal Murray shot away from this speaking to two, we're
talking about a comeback for the well, not for the age.
(12:01):
It was an impressive comeback. They were down I think
twenty two in the second half. In the third quarter,
I think that Lakers were up twenty two, and you know,
Denver's relentless. But I'm just gonna say Denver, I know,
at listen, obviously did the defending champs. I'm not taking
anything away from that. I'm just being a realist. This
is not last year's Denver team. We said this coming
into the playoffs, right Rob, We were like, listen, yep,
(12:22):
Lakers should get at least two. Sure, Aaron Gordon has
an amazing game, Michael Porter has an amazing game. Jimal Murray, Yeah,
he hit a game winning shot. They don't have a bench.
And I know Peyton Watson oh Man a block shot
artist and he's athletic. Yeah I get that. Let's see here. Yeah,
Game four, Nuggets bench five points. Yeah, that's right, five
(12:45):
points and five fouls, wouldn't you know it? They just
they don't have any pop coming off the bench. And
I'm not saying the Lakers bench had any great shakes.
But last year Denver had Bruce Brown, who was super
hugely important to them. I think the league kind of
knows what Christian Brown is. They're not afraid of them.
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I think the Lakers Jeff Green, Uncle Jeff Green, is old,
but he is a solid playoff, rotational player. And we'll
see what happens, you know, later tonight when the Lakers
go back to Denver. I'm expecting Denver to get the
job done. You know. It's just them at home. Is
a great advantage at a short rest travel day especially, but
(13:23):
very quietly, I don't know if he saw this. On
Sunday morning, it was reported that Jamal Murray is questionable
from Monday's game with a calf strain. I don't know him.
Maybe they should rest him, you know, but I expect
he's going to play. But we've seen now with Giannis
this year, all the way back to Kevin Durant with
(13:45):
the Phoenix Suns, or excuse me, with the Golden Say Warriors.
Calsh strains are nothing to play around with, because any
little tweak can turn a day to day injury into.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
A week tw week injury, a week to week injury.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Into a month to month, month to month into a
god forbid an Achilles injury. I don't want that to
happen to Jamal Murray. I'm not saying you should sit out.
But if there's any kind of concern about the stability
of his calf, and if there's any kind of legitimate
issue there, you got to be very very nervous if
you're in a Nuggets man.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, I mean, and listen, you mentioned you honest. They're
not forcing him back down now one to three to
the Pacers, especially with Dame Lillard now out, it looks
like it feels like it's a wrap to the Bucks.
I don't think they're gonna dump Doc Rivers, but I
don't really care about the Bucks.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 2 (14:42):
I do want to talk Rob about this mix thing
and listen, there's a lot to get to, so I
don't know. I feel like, I mean, Nick's MAVs, those
games are incredible suns, but don't we don't want to
stretch this over an hour. I just need to drill
down and remar nine people what I've been saying about
Jalen Brunson now for a couple of years. He is
(15:07):
an incredible basketball player. And I don't think I've ever
been more proud to be a Knicks fan than watching
Game four in my car on my phone. Ice in
my ankle, which has swollen, and I will not play
in a semi final basketball game tonight. Kind of pissed
watching Jalen Brunson basically go right at Joel Embiid and
(15:29):
Be tried to act like a tough guy like a
nineteen eighties goon or a nineteen nineties goon in the NBA,
and like he threw his shoulder shiver with the arm
extended to Brunson in the third quarter. The Sixers were
up by ten. He threw that shoulder and was like
sending a message like, oh, I'm here, I'm tough. The
Knicks dominated the rest of the game, and Be didn't
(15:51):
do Jack squat Joel Embid another vanishing act in the
fourth quarter. Okay, zero baskets one point in the fourth quarter,
and I know, I know, Oh well, Jason, come on,
he's better hurt. Joeli Beat's been injured. He just does
have the legs. There's always an excuse for him. Bead.
Nobody gets more excuses than Joel Embiid. People love making excuses.
(16:13):
For maybe one day they'll stop. I don't know. And
people love to disrespect Jyleen Brunson, who, for my money,
should be first Team All NBA, for my money, can
be the number one player on a championship team. I
don't care what Becky Hammon says. And yeah, that's right.
I know Becky Hammond stands. I guess there's a couple
of those. She's the one who said you can't win
(16:34):
a title. What Jalen Brunson is your number one? You
need to go out and get someone else. Excuse me,
you feel like a dumb ass. Now. I know, I
know you've coached at a high levels. You're a great
basketball player, Becky ham and I get it, but the disrespect.
Don't think you're ever gonna coach in New York. I mean,
give me a break. New York fans they've all seen it.
They heard the clip. You can't bury it. We all
(16:55):
say dumb things. What you said about Jaylen Brunson was
idiotic and moronic. Jilen Brunson has more heart than Joel
Embiid will ever have. And anyone who continues to parrot
this false narrative that you can't win with a small card.
Stop it all. I've been hearing Rob Listen. I love
Kevin Duram more than anybody, huge fan, all of it. Oh,
(17:15):
you can win a title with Durand's your number one? Really?
He couldn't win one anywhere as a number one. Then
he went to Golden State partnered with Curry and Draymont
and Clay and won two titles. And so can you
win a title with Durand as your one?
Speaker 1 (17:31):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
People have tried to do that everywhere and it hasn't worked.
And he can't get out of the first round. Jalen Brunson,
he was the number two in Dallas. He's unequivocally the
number one in New York and he's out taking down
another guy who I've been told for years you can
win with him? Beat is your number one? He was
an MVP. Really can he get to a conference finals?
It's just excuses all the time.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
He's got a good coach now, Nick Nurse A Nick
Nurse is drawing up place for Tobias Harris in the
final two minutes. What what's happening folks? That fourth quarter?
I was taking notes in my car. The thing that
sucks about watching like the app while you're like getting
into a basketball game is you can't put out stuff
(18:12):
on social media, and then you can't really take notes.
You have to close weight, close out during a commercial
and then I have to scribble here here are some
of the notes I have. Oh gosh, Rob might have
to delete a board here. The Knicks have been starfuckers
for years. They chase mellow kd Lebron, they always get rejected.
They have a star in Jayler Brunson who wants to
be a star in New York. Then the next one
(18:34):
Stixers missed their last eleven shots of the game. Kyle.
This is how bad the Sixers were. So Kyle Lowry
missed the second free throw on purpose and it was
like a good miss, but he didn't communicate it to
his two teammates behind him. They didn't come to get
the board. Now, there was some Knicks fans in the
lower bowl making a lot of noise. Joel Embiid went
on to say he was pissed that so many Knicks
(18:55):
fans were there, But there are some people saying that
Knicks fans made enough noise that couldn't communicate to his
teammates that he was missing it on purpose. Philly six
for twenty four shooting in the fourth quarter, and I
have not seen And again we talked about this last week.
Rob Heart and Hustle. Remember when the Clippers were like,
who is it? Montrez Harrol who Sockingly's like out of
the league, Lou Williams, Uh not Paul George. It was
(19:18):
Montres Harold, Lou Williams and a couple of Pat beev
And they pushed the Warriors, the KD Warriors with uh
Curry to six games. It was like Heart and Hustle.
They were on billboards all over LA. I mean, the
Knicks better gets some billboards because nobody chases down offensive
rebounds like these New York Knicks. It's just so crazy
to me that in that stupid athletic survey, Tom Thibodeau
(19:42):
was the coach people least wanted to play for. Well,
probably because he makes you work hard.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I mean Josh Hart, right, Josh Hart can't miss clang
two free throws late. You're like, Josh, come on, bro,
you're oh for seven and you're missing two free throws.
Then you look at the stat line he had seventeen rebounds.
He's six ' five. Oh ge, I don't know we
could make a three defenditive bead played forty seven minutes,
sixteen and fourteen. I mean, folks, that game had so
(20:09):
much going on. Rob I'm rambling now. But a new
playoff franchise career high forty seven for Brunson, tennis sist
one turnover in forty four minutes heroic stuff. Yeah, it
was incredible.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
And you know, I got some snide comments in my
social media accounts after game two when I said, if
you are a New York Knicks fan, you have to
feel great. I know you're up to oh and that
Game two win was kind of fluky, you know, But
Jalen Brunson at that point was sixteen to fifty five
and you were up to oh. Right. In the two
games in Philadelphia, he's shooting thirty one of sixty one,
(20:49):
averaging forty four points and twelve assists a game. My brother,
like Jalen Brunson, has shook free of whatever cobwebs that
were existing there in New York. He's shaken free of
whatever defensive schemes that Philadelphia six are thrown at him
because he is getting to whatever he wants. And the
(21:11):
thing what made Sunday's game more impressive is he did
it without a whole heck of allowed to help. I mean,
you mentioned Ogianna Noo. We played basically the whole game,
and that's good for him. But if you look at
the rest of their roster, I mean, Josh hart Oho
for seven, got seventy big rebounds, but Dante DiVincenzo three
for eleven, like he didn't have anyone he could lean
(21:36):
on Jalen Bruns, that is, to carry any more of
the offensive load to help him get this team over
the finish line. It was Jalen Brunson going left, Jalen
Bruns and going right Jalen Bruns in the.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Top of the key.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
No, everything that they did was because of him. And now,
for what seems like the tenth straight season, Joel Embiid
and the Philadelphia seven twenty six ers are going to
head into the offseason. It feels like at a crossroads
because Joel Embiid, for all of his gifts, all of
(22:08):
his regular season accolades, has once again shown that he
is just not quite a playoff performer. Now people might say, well,
look at Game three Game three was unstoppable. He did
all the one leg and half his face was frozen,
and you know he had like fifty points, right, And
then you look at the other games, because that's the outlier, right,
the fifty point thirteen of nineteen shooting in game three,
(22:30):
that that doesn't happen with him the other games. Game
one eight for twenty two, Game two twelve for twenty nine,
Game four seven for nineteen. And as if the shooting
splits weren't bad enough, it's how he's coming to those
shooting splits. Joel Embiid is listed at seven foot two
hundred and eighty pounds, and for whatever reason, his style
(22:53):
of play, especially in this series against a physical team
like the New York Knicks, he plays like he's six
five twenty. He wants to step back, shoot jump shots,
never really wants to bang in the post. He's almost
allergic to mixing it up in the rebound department. He's
only gotten double digit rebounds twice in this entire series.
(23:15):
How on earth can a guy that big, that's strong,
that powerful consistently get bullied by the New York Knicks
front line. We've talked about this now, going on a
couple of years. It feels like on this podcast, as
once the Philadelphia at seventy six ers can accept that
(23:36):
Joe L. Embiid is not a number one, they'll be
much better for it.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
You think they would even consider trading Embiid, I'm guessing no,
and Darryl Morey will be like, oh, he was injured,
blah blah blah, we we have a Max space spot
blah blahlah. I don't think there's any way, but I'm
just I'm being honest. Like Rob, if you said, Jason,
you're building an NBA team, would you rather have Brunson
or Embiid? In a heartbeat, Jaylen Brunson, I'm sorry, in
(24:02):
a heartbeat. And I don' know. It's not like Brunson's
carried the Knicks anywhere. He did win around last year,
but you look at the rosters. I mean, we can
mock Tobias Harris all we want. If you're saying, who
are you taking top eight in this series, most people
would say Joel Embiid, then some people might say Brunson,
Then people are gonna say Maxi and after that, I'm
not gonna lie. Like Tobias Harris's contract and his shooting ability.
(24:29):
I'm not saying a lot of people, but what guy
on the Knicks are you taking over Tobias Harris? No, Like,
you just can't tell me, ogn and Obi for sure
you can't. I mean, if Tobias Harris can shoot the basketball,
he's not in the series, but he's capable of shooting.
There's a reason he keeps getting big buddy contracts. You know,
(24:50):
I don't know, Rob this is this is stunning Kyle
Lowry's Warner title. He's a veteran. This Sixers team should
be embarrassed. He's got deep pants at home like Jalen Brunson.
I just love it. Yeah, I don't know. All right,
we went along on that, uh MAVs Clippers. I don't
(25:10):
have as much on the MAVs at this point. Sunday,
you know, Saturday, I said I was watching, and then
Sunday I'm icing my foot in the car, but also
court side of my daughter's volleyball match. And of course
this goes way over two three set matches, and I'm
in the corner watching the MAVs come back from down
thirty one at home to the Clippers without Kawhi and
(25:35):
me and another dad are watching and afterward, my daughter's like, Dad,
what were you watching on the phone with Eric or mister.
We don't say Dad's first name if we say mister.
But I was like, oh, Mavericks Clippers. She's like, oh,
who won? You know, I was like, I wasn't paying
it to I was watching you, trust me, I was
watching you. That game was just bonkers. And that's the
kind of game that leads me to believe the Lakers
(25:55):
have a chance to come back. I'm not saying when
the series, but come back. I don't think the Lakers
are done because of what we see Celtics. Crazy stuff happens.
You know, somebody gets nuclear from three. I mean, Miles
Turner went seven of ten from three on Sunday. Miles
Turner a center and I don't think that's fluky. He's
got a good form. But anyways, the MAVs essentially, and
I got I've got a cop to this. Luca's not
(26:20):
having a good series. Part of me thinks a Luca
thinks he should have been the MVP. B Lucas owned
the Clippers in the two series despite losing, and see
Lucas just you know, he's kind of read the clippings
and thinks it's a rap. Now Kawhi missed the game.
I don't see how he's coming back anytime soon. You're
against two playoff chokers in Paul George and James Harden.
(26:42):
I think it's gone to Lucas dead now. He doesn't
look as locked in offensively he's at his moments. He's
played good defensively. But Rob, he's shooting thirty eight percent
from the field, twenty six percent from three, and like
the counting numbers, guys will be like, oh, he had
a triple double. I mean, who everybody gets a triple
double now? And he's averaging twenty nine, nine and eight,
which are good numbers. But he's not dominating the best
(27:06):
player on the MAVs in the series. You can't argue
with me, Rob, Kyrie Irving, and some people say Harden's
been the best player in the series. I think Kyrie
Irving has been the best player on the court in
the series. I still think the MAVs have it. Paper
clipped went volcanic from three. I chuck it out. I
mean disappointing that the MAVs could not get that win
and go up three to one. Yes, I did lose
money on the game. I don't know, Rob, I have
(27:30):
zero concern in the maps are advancing. Then again, I
thought the Sons were going to come back from down
ZH two.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yeah, me too. I mean, I don't want to. You know,
what's the opposite of tooting your own horn. But I
had Sons in seven before the series started, like, there's
wrong and there's way wrong, and I was way wrong
on that one. The thing about Luca is weird because
I agree with you. I don't think he's playing his
best basketball at all. I've been very underwhelmed by what
I've seen from Luka Doncic outside of spurts. And yet
(27:59):
I looked at the Game four boxer. I don't know
the box scars and everything. I look at the Game
four box score. He played forty five minutes. In those
forty five minutes, the Mas were plus ten, which means
in the three minutes he sat, they were minus fifteen.
So you can say all you want about him not
playing well, in him not having a Luca type series,
and that's fair, but it's also true that he is
still the guy who makes that team go no matter what.
(28:21):
He is the one who could because outside of Kyrie Irving.
They don't have guys who can get their own shot
at all. Everybody has to be set up, they have
to be spoon fed in and nobody, you know, outside
of maybe the Joker, can spoon feed a guy quite
like what Luca does. And as far as James Harden goes,
I've been very critical of James Harden over the year.
(28:44):
That was critical of James Harden as recently is like
a week ago when I thought he was shooting too
many threes in Game two. He is very very quietly
having a phenomenal series. Though for the Clippers, I still
disagree with his style of play. I don't think you
can win long term playing that Iso ball star, but
that also ball style closed the game for them in
Game four, and it was him top of the key,
(29:05):
one on one making the plays that ultimately led to
them getting the victory. And in the series twenty six,
seven and four very good, especially for him on fifty four,
fifty five ninety one shooting splits. This is not just
a one game Joe l embiid outlier either, Like Game four.
He was good in Game four, but it wasn't like
(29:27):
some freaky statistical anomaly you know Game one eight for seventeen,
Game two was his off Game six for fourteen, Game
three seven for thirteen, Game four twelve for seventeen. James Harden.
I'm not gonna say he's turned back the clock, but
he is performing well above my expectation for him coming
into this series.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Let me ask, I don't have it in front of me.
Do you remember last year against Boston with Philly he
had He was great early in the series. I think
he had two forty five point games. Yes, Kerry was great,
and what happened later in the series rin out of
gas lost interest. I don't it was. I'm waiting for
that shoe to drop. So I'm still pop coming in
to the MAVs. Before I get to Anthony Edwards Robb,
(30:06):
I totally forgot to tell you I did do a
player points pool for the NBA playoffs. I think we
may have talked about it. I hate my team I
won last year, so of course I was talking some
shit and I got what I guess, seven out of
eight this year, so it's stinks. So my first pick
was Drew Holiday. Obviously, it's not just best players, it's
who's gonna stay in the playoffs. The longest. That is huge.
(30:26):
If you can give me the fourth or fifth leading
scorer on a team and score of the finals, you're
probably gonna win. And last year I had Aaron Gordon
and someone else who was on the I forget somebody
else on the Nuggets. I had maybe Michael Porter Junior.
But this year I got Drew Holiday first. Then I
got Kyrie second. Another reason I'm so glad Kyrie was
(30:48):
going off Tyree's Halliburton. Third, We're not gonna do Pacers,
but they're up three to one. They should close things out.
In Milwaukee, Donovan Mitchell series shockingly to too. I can't
believe it should have been three to one, but they caves.
It gotten destroyed. Then I tried to get a Phoenix
Suns player because thought the Son's could go to the finals.
I got Grayson Allen. He turned an aggle Robbie. He
(31:10):
has like six points in the playoffs and they're now out,
so that obviously will hurt. And then my last pick,
which I'm so embarrassed about, is Tobias Harris. I took
a dump on him earlier and I forgot I picked him.
Now there is a guy who picked Durant Lillard and Beale,
so he's totally screwed. Someone had Booker as his second
(31:30):
round pick, and Jason Timte has Tyrese Maxie, but a
lot of these guys still have It's really who can
have players last the longest. And I'm guessing the guy
with Anthony Edwards is leading. That would be Sean Hurley.
He who works for the Peyton Manning Company. I think
whatever they're called. Omah, yeah, yeah. The So Anthony Edwards
(31:54):
rob uh instead of taking instead of going after k
D to day, we'll save that for tomorrow. Everybody's gonna
go after him. So if I tag him tomorrow, he
probably won't see it. If I wait a day, maybe
better chance of him coming after him. Let's just say
some positive stuff about Anthony Edwards. So this is insane.
He's twenty two years old. He had another forty point
(32:18):
game because apparently that's what he does in the playoffs.
And after the game where Anthony Edwards, by the way,
he had a dunk late, he just debtonate, just destroyed
the defender. I don't know if it's Royce O'Neill or
Beale who say he cooks somebody and then just flies
in like that angle Jordan dunk Kevin Durant for a moment,
(32:38):
went up to challenge and then was like m business decision.
Aunt finishes with forty hit seven threes. Tremendous game. Just
a reminder he's twenty two years old and Rob I listen,
I fondly remember. I'm not gonna say I don't want
to go out you let me be positive. We had
(32:59):
an NBA draft analyst on the show a couple of
years ago and Anthony Edwards was in the draft and
it was I think it was LaMelo Ball, right, and
then there was a big guy who's a big guy
and Wiseman, no Wiseman, and there was chatter, does Anthony
Edwards really love basketball? Do you remember this? I do? Yeah,
And I was like, this is crazy. Look at him
(33:21):
at Georgia with like no teammates. This guy's amazing. He
just swept KD shooting fifty one percent of the field
forty three percent from three eighty three percent from the line.
That is curry ish fifty forty ninety. He's approaching the
ninety percent. Eighty three percent not bad, and he averaged
thirty one a game. Closed him out with a forty
(33:43):
Burger on the road and that leaning dunk with Katie
Cowering brought memories to one Michael Jeffrey Jordan. And I'm
not prone to Jordan comparisons. I'm but I'm telling you,
we're saying this now. This is gonna go out probably
what five am Pacific time. I guarantee you this will
(34:07):
be a talking point, Anthony Edwards. Is Michael Jordan reincarnate
on shows and podcasts and everything the rest is today?
That is going to be a storyline? Is it fair?
Of course not? Come on, it's twenty two years old.
You want to playoff series. But this was clearly Rob,
a passing of the torch, handing off the baton, whatever
you want to call it. Anthony Edwards, who graduated Rob.
(34:30):
I hear last year from him at the university in
the offseason, I have a feeling Anthony Edwards a go nowhere.
And I'm just saying right now, if the Nuggets don't
close out the Lakers tonight, extra rest for Minnesota. Maybe
the coach gets knee surgery if he needs it. It looks
like a bad collision, torn torn. Yeah, that's not great.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
His availability to be questionable moving forward.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Yeah, he's going to be in one of those scooters. Rob.
I I don't want to overcompensate because I picked the Suns,
but I'm just saying it right now. Matchup wise, this
is not great for the Denver Nuggets. Okay, now, I
know they're just gonna pull Rudy Gobert out, but I'm
just saying right now, I wonder if Denver watched that game,
(35:18):
was a damn Who the hell do we have to
card Anthony Edwards like, are you gonna put on him?
Don't tell me? KCP? And I like, KCP, I just
I don't see it. And You've got a rim protector
and go beart. I think this is a and Jayden
McDaniels is an awesome defender, gave Booker fits for three games.
I don't know Rob Anthony Edwards as Michael Jordan. Obviously
(35:39):
it's hyperbole, but man, body wise, age Jordan wasn't doing
this at twenty two, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Now in the playoffs, no, yeah, And I will be
the first to admit that I was one of the
people who was questioning the idea of drafting Anthony Weward's
number one because I read that article where he came
out and basically said point blank that he did not
love basketball like that, like he's like, I'm good at it,
so I'll keep doing it. But I believe he said
his first love was football, if I remember correct, that's
what that was his passion. It wasn't never basketball. But
(36:11):
he brings a certain attitude that I love, especially in
today's NBA, because in today's NBA, everybody's friendly. Everybody you know,
hangs out with each other in the offseason, they worked
out together, they're all, you know, at the same parties.
They're all reped by the same agencies. And you mentioned
the dunk and that was a great viral moment over
(36:32):
Kevin Durant. The moment that stuck out to me though,
was in the waning seconds, Devin Booker is going up
for a shot and Edwards blocks it, and the game's over.
The series is over, four to zero. Walk back to
your bench, move on, take care of his No, Anthony
Edwards kept talking to Devin Booker, just like he kept
talking to Kevin Durant after Game one and Game two,
Like that's exactly what I want in my basketball players.
(36:56):
I want you to be a little bit of an asshole.
I want you to have a healthy hate for the
guy across from you, at least during the game. You
can be complimentary after the game, before the game, whatever,
But when those forty eight minutes are on and the
lights are on, I don't need to see you smiling.
I don't need to see you, you know, afraid to
throw a hard foul at somebody at the moment calls
(37:19):
for it. Like I maintain. One of the reasons why
the Lakers have an upper hand over the Warriors the
last few years, it's not just that they have like
a physical advantage of their size. It's that Draymond Green
is too friendly with Lebron James, so he doesn't do
the gooonery stuff to Lebron that he does to everybody
else because they're too chummy and he doesn't feel he
(37:40):
doesn't feel right through that kind of stuff. Anthony Edwards
is not here to make friends. Anthony Edwards is here
to dunk on you, and he's gonna tell you about it.
So for him, I'm anxious to see how it maps
out with Denver. Yes, even as a Laker fan, I'm
willing to can see that Denver eventually is gonna wipe
us out of the playoffs. But it's gonna be a
(38:02):
little bit different. I know that you said that you
don't like KCP as the primary defender, and I agree
with that. But Phoenix doesn't have any wing defenders at
all period. And between KCP and I imagine Aaron Gordon
might get a lot of minutes on him and they'll
just put Porter Junior on Towns and just live with
a three point shooting. But he's gonna face a much
(38:22):
stronger resistance in Denver than he did against Phoenix.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
I yeah, I mean, listen, I should take it back
assuming Denver against Byblake. I mean, listen, I'm clearly rooting Lakers.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
The only thing better than sitting on your couch watching
the gates. He's making money while you do it. Here's
your best bet.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
We can wrap up with some best best let me
call it the lines here. Pacers were a big, big winner.
As soon as day went out, I bet Pacers, I
posted online, and then I bet in the first half,
and then double bet again. It was it was very
clear that Milwaukee was gonna run out of gas, and
they did. But tonight, if you adhere to the zig
(39:12):
zag theory, Miami is gonna be live tonight in play
because they got I mean wiped off the map by
Boston Saturday. I don't think you can touch Pelicans even
at home getting five. I think this series is over.
I mean, Zi Williams and ain't coming through that door.
I would expect another Thunder ten point victory. That series
has been like unwatchable, and I don't know what to
(39:34):
do with Lakers nuncets. I honestly part of me is like, okay,
bet Denver first quarter. They're gonna come out with a
purpose and they're gonna say we lost. Let's show these
guys who we are in Denver first quarter. Lakers, I
don't think they're backing down. I don't think Lebron's ready
to go out like that. Anthony Davis d lo reeves like,
(39:57):
I don't know, but I don't like betting on Lakers
because I can totally see a blow out here too.
I do think, yeah, I think Thunder are safe at
minus five, and I don't know heat Celtics rop Miami.
Can they be competitive? I mean, they basically made a
billion threes. I would give them all the layups. Say
one right, you don't really have a room protector go ahead, guys,
(40:20):
driving all you want. We're not giving you threes. That's
the only way we lose, So I would lean. I
don't like the double digits, So maybe maybe you get
fun fun with like a Thunder Celtics moneyline parlay. I
don't know what that would pay, but I don't know, Rob,
I don't have an appetite for Lakers Nuggets.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
Well, I'm first choosing a way to stay. I'm choosing
to stay away from Celtics heat because the last time
I bet on them, they ruined my parlay, and I
would say to cash big time. And because of their
style of play, because it's a high variance team, they're
gonna shoot a lot of three. They're gonna make a
lot of threes one of the nights when it's not hitting.
They don't really do much else like and you allow
a team like Miami who is scrappy, who's well coached,
(40:58):
to at least cover the spread unless it's you know,
game two, then they went outright right, So I'm not
touching that one. The other two games thunderspels Lakers Nuggets.
I go to a website called Vegas Insider dot com,
and what they have is a ton of different books
and what they're posted odds are There's some people I'm
not gonna say who, but they are just doing a
(41:20):
terrible job of sending these lines. Like you mentioned Thunder
minus five, I see places as low as minus four.
I see some with the juice up four and a half,
and then look at the Lakers line. Most of them
are hovering right around seven and a half. There's one
book I'm looking at has all the way up eight
and a half. Oh and the same sports book that
has the Lakers eight and a half has the Thunder
(41:41):
at four and a half. That to me feels like
I'm gonna take advantage of whoever's running that sports book.
And part of gambling, you know, this is not just
necessarily about who you like or you don't like. It's
which sports books you're willing to take to the cleaners
and who can give you the best numbers. Yea, So
in this case, give me at this specific sport. I'm
(42:02):
not even get a pub them because I think it's
a disrespectful line here. But let me get the Thunder
minus four and a half and let me parlay that.
Because you like to bet a little win a lot
Lakers plus eight and a half. Oh, not saying Lakers
are gonna win, but I'll I'll take.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
The eight and a half and maybe Jamal Murray no
shows that maybe, and maybe he's limited. We'll see. All Right,
that's it for a long Monday Pod. It was a
great weekend. I don't think I'll need crutches. I don't
think my foot is broken, it's just swollen. I posted
a pick on ig and I got so many text
from friends like, oh my gosh, that looks bad. I'm like,
you know, it's not that much pain. I just am limping.
(42:36):
So just ice up. As Steve Smith once said, ice up, son,
talk to you tomorrow.
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up firefam hits me Jason McIntyre Straight Fire
for Monday, April twenty ninth. A great weekend in the books,
unless you're a fan of, oh, I don't know, the
Phoenix Suns. It just a great weekend for sports fans.
Just so much happening. I had to spend I don't
(00:32):
know seven hours at my daughter's volleyball tournament and I
was able to watch the games on my phone in
my car while icing my ankle. I'll tell you about
that shortly. And just the amount of craziness, trying to
sift through what happened with the NFL draft and the
NBA playoffs have been absolutely chaotic in bonkers, and then
you've got the NBA playoffs. I mean, everything is just
(00:55):
going crazy right now in sports the sports world, things
are good. And the soccer team that I'm a minority
owner in ni Coxa, we made the postseason. We were
not able to It's a similar setup to the NBA playoffs,
where there is a play in and we were in
the eighth spot, we got passed, and now we're in
the ninth spot. We'll host a playoff game and then
we'll go from there. Play ins ever fun, but hey,
(01:17):
we're happy to be there. Last in the table. Last
year or last season, I thought we would start before
we get to the NBA playoffs. I just want to
put a bow on the NFL draft. Obviously, the Michael
Pennox thing was huge, and I just, you know what,
I consider this a football podcast. That's our primary thing.
Football and gambling and a lot of basketball, college and NBA.
(01:41):
But I just love football. And I'm literally going team
by team through the picks and seeing, oh, this team
got a little better, and you can't do it all
in one weekend. Anybody who thinks they're doing that is crazy.
But going through some of the teams and whether or
not they filled needs, it just reminded me how like
(02:01):
dumb mock drafts are. They are stupid and how dumber,
how even stupider dumber. Those aren't even smart words, but
the uselessness of grading drafts. Everybody knows mel Kiper's been
doing this forever. Mel Kiper gave everybody an A or
(02:23):
a B, and he gave one team the uh who
was it? Oh? The Michael Pennocks team Atlanta Falcons. Oh,
I'm sorry. The Brown's got a C plus and the
Broncos got a C plus, and the Vikings got a
C plus. Oh, I guess Titans as well. And then
the Falcon's got the lowest grade of C okay, which
is the lowest. Nobody got a D. Nobody failed. Meanwhile,
(02:44):
I'm almost certain two maybe three gms, I don't know
who they are, just given the numbers, two or three
gms will get fired based off whipping on somebody or
overdrafting somebody. It happens all the time, all the time.
So don't believe any of these grades, you hear, I
mean listen. Rob likes to find interesting guests. We had
a former Jets scout on last week and he was
(03:05):
hyping the hell out of Spencer Ratler, who's his QB one.
And there was chatter that Spencer Rattler, and by say chatter,
I mean his agent leaking stuff to reporters who will
take anything, that Spencer Ratler was climbing up draft boards
and he could be early second round pick, maybe he
squeezed in late first who knows, but a likely second
round pick after bo Nicks went twelfth. Spencer Ratler was
(03:28):
the next quarterback taken at one hundred and fifty folks,
Spencer Rattler, second round. My ass, he plummeted, and there's
nothing wrong with that. And the other kid, Pratt from Tulane,
who had been talked about as a second or third,
he won even after Rattler. We're talking about late round
(03:49):
picks here, five, six, seven. Now I know the counter
Jay JJ, Tom Brady went six, Rock Perty went seven. Relax. Yeah,
anything could happen, no doubt about it. Spencer Ratler could
be quarterback in the Saints in three years for all
we know. Okay, I mean Derek Carr hasn't delivered. I
mean there'll be a new coach and the new coach, well,
the new coach at GM, let's just put him together.
(04:11):
If they don't make the playoffs, they're probably both gone, right,
And then there's a new coach who didn't draft Spencer Rattler,
and then who knows, he's probably toast. So just I
don't put a ton of stock in these grades that
you're gonna see from every website. I just basically go
through what I believe. And again, I'm not one of
these guys who was like, oh, I absolutely love this kid,
(04:33):
so they drafted him. Thus they had a good draft. No,
I don't not break like that, that's silly. Yes, I
like some of these guys. I did like the wide
receiver that Denver got, Franklin from Oregon. He's a good player.
I'm surprised he fell to the fourth round. That doesn't
mean I think the Broncos had a great draft, you know,
I just I don't get too worked up about the draft.
I do love it, but I don't get too like invested, like,
(04:55):
oh that this means a whole hell of a lot
to the season, but it is a great great Like, Okay,
season ends in February, the super Bowl, then you've got
like the Combine, then then you have the draft, and
next next big tent pole event will be the schedule,
and the off season will continue. And like it's just
(05:17):
the really smart and wise how the NFL spreads this out. Obviously,
free agency was big. I'm sure you know, once camps begin,
there'll be some drama somewhere. It's just football is essentially
twelve months a year at this point, maybe with a
little hiatus in the summer. I'm not ready to go
super hot. Take with my playoff teams based out in
the draft and free agency. Listen, I'll have them, but
(05:40):
I'm not ready today. And that's mostly because the NBA
playoffs this weekend were absolutely captivating. Your boy played in
a soccer tournament, probably the final soccer tournament I'll ever
play in because soccer was my first love growing up,
and the tournament was Saturday, and we kind of got shafted.
I'm not going to get into it. Bottom line. We
(06:02):
make the semifinals and lose. But literally in my first
in the first game, I go on as a sub
maybe I don't know, five minutes into the game, and
literally ninety seconds after I enter, I'm hustling back on
defense and this guy winds up to take a big
krack of goal and I'm like, oh man, he's in
a position he could score. So I turn on the
(06:22):
after burners and I essentially stick my foot out to
block it, and the guy sends a rocket off my foot,
and folks, I'm telling you, I went down as if
I had stepped on a landmine and I lost my foot.
It felt like it was just dangling there. I was like,
oh my gosh, I'm dead. I can't walk, and then
you know, you shake that off. Initially, you go to
(06:43):
the sideline like, okay, I maybe could play in the
second half, and then of course you know you're on adrenaline.
I didn't take this snak the boot off, as they
call it in soccer. I left it on tight, did
a little running. I wasn't super effective. Second game also
not that effective, but at that point, like I had
been resting up, and you know, I go on to
score two goals in our third game and I kept
(07:04):
us in and we didn't win. We go to the semifinals,
and at that point I'm literally walking hobbling. But when
I'm running, I'm on pure adrenaline. So I end up
sitting out a lot in the semifinal loss, and I
start calling on my phone and I can this is
how incredible technology is. I'm on my phone playing in
a soccer tournament and I just call up the NBA
game and I look at the score. I'm like, wait,
(07:26):
what happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They're down seventy five.
What's going on? And then you know, it's like, oh, okay,
I didn't really miss much. And then of course Saturday
goes on. You come home and I see what I
believe to be is the craziest stat in the NBA playoffs.
And we'll talk more about the Lakers later, but folks,
if you haven't seen it, in the fourth quarter of
(07:46):
the Lakers game, and this is what I'm building up to,
is essentially a lead. The Lakers and this is not hyperbole,
have dominated the Nuggets in this series. Yes, they're down
one to three, but the time leading in this series
stat the Lakers are at one hundred and thirty six
(08:08):
minutes in the series. Denver is at forty one, and
they've been tied for fourteen. The Lakers have been leading
the bulk of the series. They just can't close it out.
And in the year where we've seen more twenty and
thirty point comebacks than ever before. Hell, we almost saw
the Maps put one off Sunday down thirty one, come
(08:29):
back and take the lead in the final minute. I'm
not ready to say anything's done now. I was going
to open the pod this morning with Phoenix isn't done
if the Suns had got it done last night, because listen,
this is a Sun scene that can get hot. Obviously,
Phoenix could not get it done. Poop their pants one
of the most. We'll get into it later in the week,
(08:50):
I think, once there's more time. But the Suns get
swept by the Timberwolves. The Lakers are still alive. So
that whole narrative about Curry's gone, Kd's gone, Lebron's gone,
you can it's not official yet. The Lakers obviously have
have another chance tonight, like are they gonna win, We'll see,
we'll talk, we'll do best bets at the end of
(09:11):
the podcast. But they are playing tonight, and you know,
all these Laker fans, the La Times is starting to
They're saying, why can't the Lakers have a shot, and Rob,
I'm not going overboard in this Lakers hysteria, but they
could have folded up like the Phoenix Suns did down
O three at home. She said, one two three, Kanko
we out, Phoenix played no defense. Anthony Edwards torched him.
(09:35):
It is embarrassing. Sons are really in a terrible spot.
You could have seen. I'm sure you guys saw it
last night. Bradley Beal kind of wave off his coach.
Bradley Beal's awful game fouled out and then goes to
the sideline. Coach sticks his hand down and he just
is like get out of here, like waved him off.
It was kind of bad. We could have seen that
from the Lakers. We did not. Now ruy Hachimra rob
(09:59):
GI's got hammered and I think he was chained to
the bench the entire fourth quarter. They rolled with Torrian Prince,
the veteran who's been a subject of much scoring and
derision in Laker world. But listen, darvind Ham push the
right buttons. And in late in the third when he
went with the dumb lineup that I hate, with no
Lebron or no Austin Reeves, I'm like, bro, what are
you doing? They cut it to seven and then it
(10:21):
was like gave Vincent three, Danzel Russell three, Tory and
Prince three and like that. That's been the difference right
in the other close games in the third quarter, those
would miss and Denver would come down and score. And
I'm not saying the Lakers are gonna win the series.
I'm just pointing out facts. The Lakers have dominated this series.
That is a fact. There have been sixteen quarters in
(10:46):
the series, and the Lakers if this was like boxing,
and it's not, the Lakers would have the technical decision
by winning more quarters, and Rob, I'm not saying they're
gonna come back and whin, I'm just saying to this
point and again, they're down one to three, but the
Lakers have been the better team in this series. True
or false?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Oh gosh, I mean I want to side with you
on that one. But the fact remains is, up until
Game four, every game followed the same script. Lakers get ahead,
Lakers comfortably in at league at halftime, and then a
tidal wave of Denver Nuggets baskets comes in the third
or fourth quarter. So it's nice to say that you're
(11:27):
winning the whole game, but if you are repeatedly gagging
it away, it's hard for me to say that you've
played better than the other team. I'm gonna disagree with you.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
It's a fair calendar. I mean, listen, obviously, when it
matters winning time, all that fun stuff. Yes, Denver has
been more clutch, But Rob, you know I'm not making excuses.
They finally snap the hecks. We're talking about a fluky
Jamal Murray shot away from this speaking to two, we're
talking about a comeback for the well, not for the age.
(12:01):
It was an impressive comeback. They were down I think
twenty two in the second half. In the third quarter,
I think that Lakers were up twenty two, and you know,
Denver's relentless. But I'm just gonna say Denver, I know,
at listen, obviously did the defending champs. I'm not taking
anything away from that. I'm just being a realist. This
is not last year's Denver team. We said this coming
into the playoffs, right Rob, We were like, listen, yep,
(12:22):
Lakers should get at least two. Sure, Aaron Gordon has
an amazing game, Michael Porter has an amazing game. Jimal Murray, Yeah,
he hit a game winning shot. They don't have a bench.
And I know Peyton Watson oh Man a block shot
artist and he's athletic. Yeah I get that. Let's see here. Yeah,
Game four, Nuggets bench five points. Yeah, that's right, five
(12:45):
points and five fouls, wouldn't you know it? They just
they don't have any pop coming off the bench. And
I'm not saying the Lakers bench had any great shakes.
But last year Denver had Bruce Brown, who was super
hugely important to them. I think the league kind of
knows what Christian Brown is. They're not afraid of them.
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I think the Lakers Jeff Green, Uncle Jeff Green, is old,
but he is a solid playoff, rotational player. And we'll
see what happens, you know, later tonight when the Lakers
go back to Denver. I'm expecting Denver to get the
job done. You know. It's just them at home. Is
a great advantage at a short rest travel day especially, but
(13:23):
very quietly, I don't know if he saw this. On
Sunday morning, it was reported that Jamal Murray is questionable
from Monday's game with a calf strain. I don't know him.
Maybe they should rest him, you know, but I expect
he's going to play. But we've seen now with Giannis
this year, all the way back to Kevin Durant with
(13:45):
the Phoenix Suns, or excuse me, with the Golden Say Warriors.
Calsh strains are nothing to play around with, because any
little tweak can turn a day to day injury into.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
A week tw week injury, a week to week injury.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Into a month to month, month to month into a
god forbid an Achilles injury. I don't want that to
happen to Jamal Murray. I'm not saying you should sit out.
But if there's any kind of concern about the stability
of his calf, and if there's any kind of legitimate
issue there, you got to be very very nervous if
you're in a Nuggets man.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, I mean, and listen, you mentioned you honest. They're
not forcing him back down now one to three to
the Pacers, especially with Dame Lillard now out, it looks
like it feels like it's a wrap to the Bucks.
I don't think they're gonna dump Doc Rivers, but I
don't really care about the Bucks.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 2 (14:42):
I do want to talk Rob about this mix thing
and listen, there's a lot to get to, so I
don't know. I feel like, I mean, Nick's MAVs, those
games are incredible suns, but don't we don't want to
stretch this over an hour. I just need to drill
down and remar nine people what I've been saying about
Jalen Brunson now for a couple of years. He is
(15:07):
an incredible basketball player. And I don't think I've ever
been more proud to be a Knicks fan than watching
Game four in my car on my phone. Ice in
my ankle, which has swollen, and I will not play
in a semi final basketball game tonight. Kind of pissed
watching Jalen Brunson basically go right at Joel Embiid and
(15:29):
Be tried to act like a tough guy like a
nineteen eighties goon or a nineteen nineties goon in the NBA,
and like he threw his shoulder shiver with the arm
extended to Brunson in the third quarter. The Sixers were
up by ten. He threw that shoulder and was like
sending a message like, oh, I'm here, I'm tough. The
Knicks dominated the rest of the game, and Be didn't
(15:51):
do Jack squat Joel Embid another vanishing act in the
fourth quarter. Okay, zero baskets one point in the fourth quarter,
and I know, I know, Oh well, Jason, come on,
he's better hurt. Joeli Beat's been injured. He just does
have the legs. There's always an excuse for him. Bead.
Nobody gets more excuses than Joel Embiid. People love making excuses.
(16:13):
For maybe one day they'll stop. I don't know. And
people love to disrespect Jyleen Brunson, who, for my money,
should be first Team All NBA, for my money, can
be the number one player on a championship team. I
don't care what Becky Hammon says. And yeah, that's right.
I know Becky Hammond stands. I guess there's a couple
of those. She's the one who said you can't win
(16:34):
a title. What Jalen Brunson is your number one? You
need to go out and get someone else. Excuse me,
you feel like a dumb ass. Now. I know, I
know you've coached at a high levels. You're a great
basketball player, Becky ham and I get it, but the disrespect.
Don't think you're ever gonna coach in New York. I mean,
give me a break. New York fans they've all seen it.
They heard the clip. You can't bury it. We all
(16:55):
say dumb things. What you said about Jaylen Brunson was
idiotic and moronic. Jilen Brunson has more heart than Joel
Embiid will ever have. And anyone who continues to parrot
this false narrative that you can't win with a small card.
Stop it all. I've been hearing Rob Listen. I love
Kevin Duram more than anybody, huge fan, all of it. Oh,
(17:15):
you can win a title with Durand's your number one? Really?
He couldn't win one anywhere as a number one. Then
he went to Golden State partnered with Curry and Draymont
and Clay and won two titles. And so can you
win a title with Durand as your one?
Speaker 1 (17:31):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
People have tried to do that everywhere and it hasn't worked.
And he can't get out of the first round. Jalen Brunson,
he was the number two in Dallas. He's unequivocally the
number one in New York and he's out taking down
another guy who I've been told for years you can
win with him? Beat is your number one? He was
an MVP. Really can he get to a conference finals?
It's just excuses all the time.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
He's got a good coach now, Nick Nurse A Nick
Nurse is drawing up place for Tobias Harris in the
final two minutes. What what's happening folks? That fourth quarter?
I was taking notes in my car. The thing that
sucks about watching like the app while you're like getting
into a basketball game is you can't put out stuff
(18:12):
on social media, and then you can't really take notes.
You have to close weight, close out during a commercial
and then I have to scribble here here are some
of the notes I have. Oh gosh, Rob might have
to delete a board here. The Knicks have been starfuckers
for years. They chase mellow kd Lebron, they always get rejected.
They have a star in Jayler Brunson who wants to
be a star in New York. Then the next one
(18:34):
Stixers missed their last eleven shots of the game. Kyle.
This is how bad the Sixers were. So Kyle Lowry
missed the second free throw on purpose and it was
like a good miss, but he didn't communicate it to
his two teammates behind him. They didn't come to get
the board. Now, there was some Knicks fans in the
lower bowl making a lot of noise. Joel Embiid went
on to say he was pissed that so many Knicks
(18:55):
fans were there, But there are some people saying that
Knicks fans made enough noise that couldn't communicate to his
teammates that he was missing it on purpose. Philly six
for twenty four shooting in the fourth quarter, and I
have not seen And again we talked about this last week.
Rob Heart and Hustle. Remember when the Clippers were like,
who is it? Montrez Harrol who Sockingly's like out of
the league, Lou Williams, Uh not Paul George. It was
(19:18):
Montres Harold, Lou Williams and a couple of Pat beev
And they pushed the Warriors, the KD Warriors with uh
Curry to six games. It was like Heart and Hustle.
They were on billboards all over LA. I mean, the
Knicks better gets some billboards because nobody chases down offensive
rebounds like these New York Knicks. It's just so crazy
to me that in that stupid athletic survey, Tom Thibodeau
(19:42):
was the coach people least wanted to play for. Well,
probably because he makes you work hard.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I mean Josh Hart, right, Josh Hart can't miss clang
two free throws late. You're like, Josh, come on, bro,
you're oh for seven and you're missing two free throws.
Then you look at the stat line he had seventeen rebounds.
He's six ' five. Oh ge, I don't know we
could make a three defenditive bead played forty seven minutes,
sixteen and fourteen. I mean, folks, that game had so
(20:09):
much going on. Rob I'm rambling now. But a new
playoff franchise career high forty seven for Brunson, tennis sist
one turnover in forty four minutes heroic stuff. Yeah, it
was incredible.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
And you know, I got some snide comments in my
social media accounts after game two when I said, if
you are a New York Knicks fan, you have to
feel great. I know you're up to oh and that
Game two win was kind of fluky, you know, But
Jalen Brunson at that point was sixteen to fifty five
and you were up to oh. Right. In the two
games in Philadelphia, he's shooting thirty one of sixty one,
(20:49):
averaging forty four points and twelve assists a game. My brother,
like Jalen Brunson, has shook free of whatever cobwebs that
were existing there in New York. He's shaken free of
whatever defensive schemes that Philadelphia six are thrown at him
because he is getting to whatever he wants. And the
(21:11):
thing what made Sunday's game more impressive is he did
it without a whole heck of allowed to help. I mean,
you mentioned Ogianna Noo. We played basically the whole game,
and that's good for him. But if you look at
the rest of their roster, I mean, Josh hart Oho
for seven, got seventy big rebounds, but Dante DiVincenzo three
for eleven, like he didn't have anyone he could lean
(21:36):
on Jalen Bruns, that is, to carry any more of
the offensive load to help him get this team over
the finish line. It was Jalen Brunson going left, Jalen
Bruns and going right Jalen Bruns in the.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Top of the key.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
No, everything that they did was because of him. And now,
for what seems like the tenth straight season, Joel Embiid
and the Philadelphia seven twenty six ers are going to
head into the offseason. It feels like at a crossroads
because Joel Embiid, for all of his gifts, all of
(22:08):
his regular season accolades, has once again shown that he
is just not quite a playoff performer. Now people might say, well,
look at Game three Game three was unstoppable. He did
all the one leg and half his face was frozen,
and you know he had like fifty points, right, And
then you look at the other games, because that's the outlier, right,
the fifty point thirteen of nineteen shooting in game three,
(22:30):
that that doesn't happen with him the other games. Game
one eight for twenty two, Game two twelve for twenty nine,
Game four seven for nineteen. And as if the shooting
splits weren't bad enough, it's how he's coming to those
shooting splits. Joel Embiid is listed at seven foot two
hundred and eighty pounds, and for whatever reason, his style
(22:53):
of play, especially in this series against a physical team
like the New York Knicks, he plays like he's six
five twenty. He wants to step back, shoot jump shots,
never really wants to bang in the post. He's almost
allergic to mixing it up in the rebound department. He's
only gotten double digit rebounds twice in this entire series.
(23:15):
How on earth can a guy that big, that's strong,
that powerful consistently get bullied by the New York Knicks
front line. We've talked about this now, going on a
couple of years. It feels like on this podcast, as
once the Philadelphia at seventy six ers can accept that
(23:36):
Joe L. Embiid is not a number one, they'll be
much better for it.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
You think they would even consider trading Embiid, I'm guessing no,
and Darryl Morey will be like, oh, he was injured,
blah blah blah, we we have a Max space spot
blah blahlah. I don't think there's any way, but I'm
just I'm being honest. Like Rob, if you said, Jason,
you're building an NBA team, would you rather have Brunson
or Embiid? In a heartbeat, Jaylen Brunson, I'm sorry, in
(24:02):
a heartbeat. And I don' know. It's not like Brunson's
carried the Knicks anywhere. He did win around last year,
but you look at the rosters. I mean, we can
mock Tobias Harris all we want. If you're saying, who
are you taking top eight in this series, most people
would say Joel Embiid, then some people might say Brunson,
Then people are gonna say Maxi and after that, I'm
not gonna lie. Like Tobias Harris's contract and his shooting ability.
(24:29):
I'm not saying a lot of people, but what guy
on the Knicks are you taking over Tobias Harris? No, Like,
you just can't tell me, ogn and Obi for sure
you can't. I mean, if Tobias Harris can shoot the basketball,
he's not in the series, but he's capable of shooting.
There's a reason he keeps getting big buddy contracts. You know,
(24:50):
I don't know, Rob this is this is stunning Kyle
Lowry's Warner title. He's a veteran. This Sixers team should
be embarrassed. He's got deep pants at home like Jalen Brunson.
I just love it. Yeah, I don't know. All right,
we went along on that, uh MAVs Clippers. I don't
(25:10):
have as much on the MAVs at this point. Sunday,
you know, Saturday, I said I was watching, and then
Sunday I'm icing my foot in the car, but also
court side of my daughter's volleyball match. And of course
this goes way over two three set matches, and I'm
in the corner watching the MAVs come back from down
thirty one at home to the Clippers without Kawhi and
(25:35):
me and another dad are watching and afterward, my daughter's like, Dad,
what were you watching on the phone with Eric or mister.
We don't say Dad's first name if we say mister.
But I was like, oh, Mavericks Clippers. She's like, oh,
who won? You know, I was like, I wasn't paying
it to I was watching you, trust me, I was
watching you. That game was just bonkers. And that's the
kind of game that leads me to believe the Lakers
(25:55):
have a chance to come back. I'm not saying when
the series, but come back. I don't think the Lakers
are done because of what we see Celtics. Crazy stuff happens.
You know, somebody gets nuclear from three. I mean, Miles
Turner went seven of ten from three on Sunday. Miles
Turner a center and I don't think that's fluky. He's
got a good form. But anyways, the MAVs essentially, and
I got I've got a cop to this. Luca's not
(26:20):
having a good series. Part of me thinks a Luca
thinks he should have been the MVP. B Lucas owned
the Clippers in the two series despite losing, and see
Lucas just you know, he's kind of read the clippings
and thinks it's a rap. Now Kawhi missed the game.
I don't see how he's coming back anytime soon. You're
against two playoff chokers in Paul George and James Harden.
(26:42):
I think it's gone to Lucas dead now. He doesn't
look as locked in offensively he's at his moments. He's
played good defensively. But Rob, he's shooting thirty eight percent
from the field, twenty six percent from three, and like
the counting numbers, guys will be like, oh, he had
a triple double. I mean, who everybody gets a triple
double now? And he's averaging twenty nine, nine and eight,
which are good numbers. But he's not dominating the best
(27:06):
player on the MAVs in the series. You can't argue
with me, Rob, Kyrie Irving, and some people say Harden's
been the best player in the series. I think Kyrie
Irving has been the best player on the court in
the series. I still think the MAVs have it. Paper
clipped went volcanic from three. I chuck it out. I
mean disappointing that the MAVs could not get that win
and go up three to one. Yes, I did lose
money on the game. I don't know, Rob, I have
(27:30):
zero concern in the maps are advancing. Then again, I
thought the Sons were going to come back from down
ZH two.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yeah, me too. I mean, I don't want to. You know,
what's the opposite of tooting your own horn. But I
had Sons in seven before the series started, like, there's
wrong and there's way wrong, and I was way wrong
on that one. The thing about Luca is weird because
I agree with you. I don't think he's playing his
best basketball at all. I've been very underwhelmed by what
I've seen from Luka Doncic outside of spurts. And yet
(27:59):
I looked at the Game four boxer. I don't know
the box scars and everything. I look at the Game
four box score. He played forty five minutes. In those
forty five minutes, the Mas were plus ten, which means
in the three minutes he sat, they were minus fifteen.
So you can say all you want about him not
playing well, in him not having a Luca type series,
and that's fair, but it's also true that he is
still the guy who makes that team go no matter what.
(28:21):
He is the one who could because outside of Kyrie Irving.
They don't have guys who can get their own shot
at all. Everybody has to be set up, they have
to be spoon fed in and nobody, you know, outside
of maybe the Joker, can spoon feed a guy quite
like what Luca does. And as far as James Harden goes,
I've been very critical of James Harden over the year.
(28:44):
That was critical of James Harden as recently is like
a week ago when I thought he was shooting too
many threes in Game two. He is very very quietly
having a phenomenal series. Though for the Clippers, I still
disagree with his style of play. I don't think you
can win long term playing that Iso ball star, but
that also ball style closed the game for them in
Game four, and it was him top of the key,
(29:05):
one on one making the plays that ultimately led to
them getting the victory. And in the series twenty six,
seven and four very good, especially for him on fifty four,
fifty five ninety one shooting splits. This is not just
a one game Joe l embiid outlier either, Like Game four.
He was good in Game four, but it wasn't like
(29:27):
some freaky statistical anomaly you know Game one eight for seventeen,
Game two was his off Game six for fourteen, Game
three seven for thirteen, Game four twelve for seventeen. James Harden.
I'm not gonna say he's turned back the clock, but
he is performing well above my expectation for him coming
into this series.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Let me ask, I don't have it in front of me.
Do you remember last year against Boston with Philly he
had He was great early in the series. I think
he had two forty five point games. Yes, Kerry was great,
and what happened later in the series rin out of
gas lost interest. I don't it was. I'm waiting for
that shoe to drop. So I'm still pop coming in
to the MAVs. Before I get to Anthony Edwards Robb,
(30:06):
I totally forgot to tell you I did do a
player points pool for the NBA playoffs. I think we
may have talked about it. I hate my team I
won last year, so of course I was talking some
shit and I got what I guess, seven out of
eight this year, so it's stinks. So my first pick
was Drew Holiday. Obviously, it's not just best players, it's
who's gonna stay in the playoffs. The longest. That is huge.
(30:26):
If you can give me the fourth or fifth leading
scorer on a team and score of the finals, you're
probably gonna win. And last year I had Aaron Gordon
and someone else who was on the I forget somebody
else on the Nuggets. I had maybe Michael Porter Junior.
But this year I got Drew Holiday first. Then I
got Kyrie second. Another reason I'm so glad Kyrie was
(30:48):
going off Tyree's Halliburton. Third, We're not gonna do Pacers,
but they're up three to one. They should close things out.
In Milwaukee, Donovan Mitchell series shockingly to too. I can't
believe it should have been three to one, but they caves.
It gotten destroyed. Then I tried to get a Phoenix
Suns player because thought the Son's could go to the finals.
I got Grayson Allen. He turned an aggle Robbie. He
(31:10):
has like six points in the playoffs and they're now out,
so that obviously will hurt. And then my last pick,
which I'm so embarrassed about, is Tobias Harris. I took
a dump on him earlier and I forgot I picked him.
Now there is a guy who picked Durant Lillard and Beale,
so he's totally screwed. Someone had Booker as his second
(31:30):
round pick, and Jason Timte has Tyrese Maxie, but a
lot of these guys still have It's really who can
have players last the longest. And I'm guessing the guy
with Anthony Edwards is leading. That would be Sean Hurley.
He who works for the Peyton Manning Company. I think
whatever they're called. Omah, yeah, yeah. The So Anthony Edwards
(31:54):
rob uh instead of taking instead of going after k
D to day, we'll save that for tomorrow. Everybody's gonna
go after him. So if I tag him tomorrow, he
probably won't see it. If I wait a day, maybe
better chance of him coming after him. Let's just say
some positive stuff about Anthony Edwards. So this is insane.
He's twenty two years old. He had another forty point
(32:18):
game because apparently that's what he does in the playoffs.
And after the game where Anthony Edwards, by the way,
he had a dunk late, he just debtonate, just destroyed
the defender. I don't know if it's Royce O'Neill or
Beale who say he cooks somebody and then just flies
in like that angle Jordan dunk Kevin Durant for a moment,
(32:38):
went up to challenge and then was like m business decision.
Aunt finishes with forty hit seven threes. Tremendous game. Just
a reminder he's twenty two years old and Rob I listen,
I fondly remember. I'm not gonna say I don't want
to go out you let me be positive. We had
(32:59):
an NBA draft analyst on the show a couple of
years ago and Anthony Edwards was in the draft and
it was I think it was LaMelo Ball, right, and
then there was a big guy who's a big guy
and Wiseman, no Wiseman, and there was chatter, does Anthony
Edwards really love basketball? Do you remember this? I do? Yeah,
And I was like, this is crazy. Look at him
(33:21):
at Georgia with like no teammates. This guy's amazing. He
just swept KD shooting fifty one percent of the field
forty three percent from three eighty three percent from the line.
That is curry ish fifty forty ninety. He's approaching the
ninety percent. Eighty three percent not bad, and he averaged
thirty one a game. Closed him out with a forty
(33:43):
Burger on the road and that leaning dunk with Katie
Cowering brought memories to one Michael Jeffrey Jordan. And I'm
not prone to Jordan comparisons. I'm but I'm telling you,
we're saying this now. This is gonna go out probably
what five am Pacific time. I guarantee you this will
(34:07):
be a talking point, Anthony Edwards. Is Michael Jordan reincarnate
on shows and podcasts and everything the rest is today?
That is going to be a storyline? Is it fair?
Of course not? Come on, it's twenty two years old.
You want to playoff series. But this was clearly Rob,
a passing of the torch, handing off the baton, whatever
you want to call it. Anthony Edwards, who graduated Rob.
(34:30):
I hear last year from him at the university in
the offseason, I have a feeling Anthony Edwards a go nowhere.
And I'm just saying right now, if the Nuggets don't
close out the Lakers tonight, extra rest for Minnesota. Maybe
the coach gets knee surgery if he needs it. It looks
like a bad collision, torn torn. Yeah, that's not great.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
His availability to be questionable moving forward.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Yeah, he's going to be in one of those scooters. Rob.
I I don't want to overcompensate because I picked the Suns,
but I'm just saying it right now. Matchup wise, this
is not great for the Denver Nuggets. Okay, now, I
know they're just gonna pull Rudy Gobert out, but I'm
just saying right now, I wonder if Denver watched that game,
(35:18):
was a damn Who the hell do we have to
card Anthony Edwards like, are you gonna put on him?
Don't tell me? KCP? And I like, KCP, I just
I don't see it. And You've got a rim protector
and go beart. I think this is a and Jayden
McDaniels is an awesome defender, gave Booker fits for three games.
I don't know Rob Anthony Edwards as Michael Jordan. Obviously
(35:39):
it's hyperbole, but man, body wise, age Jordan wasn't doing
this at twenty two, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Now in the playoffs, no, yeah, And I will be
the first to admit that I was one of the
people who was questioning the idea of drafting Anthony Weward's
number one because I read that article where he came
out and basically said point blank that he did not
love basketball like that, like he's like, I'm good at it,
so I'll keep doing it. But I believe he said
his first love was football, if I remember correct, that's
what that was his passion. It wasn't never basketball. But
(36:11):
he brings a certain attitude that I love, especially in
today's NBA, because in today's NBA, everybody's friendly. Everybody you know,
hangs out with each other in the offseason, they worked
out together, they're all, you know, at the same parties.
They're all reped by the same agencies. And you mentioned
the dunk and that was a great viral moment over
(36:32):
Kevin Durant. The moment that stuck out to me though,
was in the waning seconds, Devin Booker is going up
for a shot and Edwards blocks it, and the game's over.
The series is over, four to zero. Walk back to
your bench, move on, take care of his No, Anthony
Edwards kept talking to Devin Booker, just like he kept
talking to Kevin Durant after Game one and Game two,
Like that's exactly what I want in my basketball players.
(36:56):
I want you to be a little bit of an asshole.
I want you to have a healthy hate for the
guy across from you, at least during the game. You
can be complimentary after the game, before the game, whatever,
But when those forty eight minutes are on and the
lights are on, I don't need to see you smiling.
I don't need to see you, you know, afraid to
throw a hard foul at somebody at the moment calls
(37:19):
for it. Like I maintain. One of the reasons why
the Lakers have an upper hand over the Warriors the
last few years, it's not just that they have like
a physical advantage of their size. It's that Draymond Green
is too friendly with Lebron James, so he doesn't do
the gooonery stuff to Lebron that he does to everybody
else because they're too chummy and he doesn't feel he
(37:40):
doesn't feel right through that kind of stuff. Anthony Edwards
is not here to make friends. Anthony Edwards is here
to dunk on you, and he's gonna tell you about it.
So for him, I'm anxious to see how it maps
out with Denver. Yes, even as a Laker fan, I'm
willing to can see that Denver eventually is gonna wipe
us out of the playoffs. But it's gonna be a
(38:02):
little bit different. I know that you said that you
don't like KCP as the primary defender, and I agree
with that. But Phoenix doesn't have any wing defenders at
all period. And between KCP and I imagine Aaron Gordon
might get a lot of minutes on him and they'll
just put Porter Junior on Towns and just live with
a three point shooting. But he's gonna face a much
(38:22):
stronger resistance in Denver than he did against Phoenix.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
I yeah, I mean, listen, I should take it back
assuming Denver against Byblake. I mean, listen, I'm clearly rooting Lakers.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
The only thing better than sitting on your couch watching
the gates. He's making money while you do it. Here's
your best bet.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
We can wrap up with some best best let me
call it the lines here. Pacers were a big, big winner.
As soon as day went out, I bet Pacers, I
posted online, and then I bet in the first half,
and then double bet again. It was it was very
clear that Milwaukee was gonna run out of gas, and
they did. But tonight, if you adhere to the zig
(39:12):
zag theory, Miami is gonna be live tonight in play
because they got I mean wiped off the map by
Boston Saturday. I don't think you can touch Pelicans even
at home getting five. I think this series is over.
I mean, Zi Williams and ain't coming through that door.
I would expect another Thunder ten point victory. That series
has been like unwatchable, and I don't know what to
(39:34):
do with Lakers nuncets. I honestly part of me is like, okay,
bet Denver first quarter. They're gonna come out with a
purpose and they're gonna say we lost. Let's show these
guys who we are in Denver first quarter. Lakers, I
don't think they're backing down. I don't think Lebron's ready
to go out like that. Anthony Davis d lo reeves like,
(39:57):
I don't know, but I don't like betting on Lakers
because I can totally see a blow out here too.
I do think, yeah, I think Thunder are safe at
minus five, and I don't know heat Celtics rop Miami.
Can they be competitive? I mean, they basically made a
billion threes. I would give them all the layups. Say
one right, you don't really have a room protector go ahead, guys,
(40:20):
driving all you want. We're not giving you threes. That's
the only way we lose, So I would lean. I
don't like the double digits, So maybe maybe you get
fun fun with like a Thunder Celtics moneyline parlay. I
don't know what that would pay, but I don't know, Rob,
I don't have an appetite for Lakers Nuggets.
Speaker 3 (40:36):
Well, I'm first choosing a way to stay. I'm choosing
to stay away from Celtics heat because the last time
I bet on them, they ruined my parlay, and I
would say to cash big time. And because of their
style of play, because it's a high variance team, they're
gonna shoot a lot of three. They're gonna make a
lot of threes one of the nights when it's not hitting.
They don't really do much else like and you allow
a team like Miami who is scrappy, who's well coached,
(40:58):
to at least cover the spread unless it's you know,
game two, then they went outright right, So I'm not
touching that one. The other two games thunderspels Lakers Nuggets.
I go to a website called Vegas Insider dot com,
and what they have is a ton of different books
and what they're posted odds are There's some people I'm
not gonna say who, but they are just doing a
(41:20):
terrible job of sending these lines. Like you mentioned Thunder
minus five, I see places as low as minus four.
I see some with the juice up four and a half,
and then look at the Lakers line. Most of them
are hovering right around seven and a half. There's one
book I'm looking at has all the way up eight
and a half. Oh and the same sports book that
has the Lakers eight and a half has the Thunder
(41:41):
at four and a half. That to me feels like
I'm gonna take advantage of whoever's running that sports book.
And part of gambling, you know, this is not just
necessarily about who you like or you don't like. It's
which sports books you're willing to take to the cleaners
and who can give you the best numbers. Yea, So
in this case, give me at this specific sport. I'm
(42:02):
not even get a pub them because I think it's
a disrespectful line here. But let me get the Thunder
minus four and a half and let me parlay that.
Because you like to bet a little win a lot
Lakers plus eight and a half. Oh, not saying Lakers
are gonna win, but I'll I'll take.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
The eight and a half and maybe Jamal Murray no
shows that maybe, and maybe he's limited. We'll see. All Right,
that's it for a long Monday Pod. It was a
great weekend. I don't think I'll need crutches. I don't
think my foot is broken, it's just swollen. I posted
a pick on ig and I got so many text
from friends like, oh my gosh, that looks bad. I'm like,
you know, it's not that much pain. I just am limping.
(42:36):
So just ice up. As Steve Smith once said, ice up, son,
talk to you tomorrow.
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