April 29, 2024 • 55 mins
It’s a loaded edition of #thisleague UNCUT with Marc Stein giving Chris Haynes a firsthand account of the Mavericks nearly completing a 31-point comeback against the Clippers but coming up short as the series is now tied 2-2. They discuss the injuries the Bucks have been plagued with as they trail the Pacers 3-1 with both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard out and unlikely to return. Plus, a live reaction to the Timberwolves sweeping the Suns and what we can expect from Phoenix in the upcoming offseason.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
A court side view of what's happening in the roller
coaster Clippers Mavericks series. We've got to talk injuries as well,
because there are so many around the league. We talk
about some coaching situations as well, Doc Rivers, Darvin Ham,
Frank Vogel, and we even mix in some pseudo live
(00:23):
reaction to the Phoenix Suns being swept out of the playoffs.
All that's next on the latest edition of This League Uncut.
Welcome to This League Uncut.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In the rule of.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Twenty four hour NBA.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
News, this's you love, Chris Hans, It's time, work's time.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's so time. This League Uncut is underway and on fire.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
This should be a good one.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Hey, everyone, welcome in to the latest edition This League Uncut.
It's a playoff Sunday night. It feels like hours upon
hours of drama, hardwood drama stacked on top of each other. Today,
let's be honest. This first round league wide has been
(01:22):
short on drama and racked by way too many injuries.
But the first two games, especially today, the Knicks victory
in Philadelphia, the Clippers winning in Dallas without Kawhi Leonard,
that was a roller coaster. I was there. But let
(01:45):
me bring in my co host who's in Miami. He's
getting ready to work the sidelines for TNT Monday Night,
Game four of the Heat Celtic Series, Chris Haynes, Happy
Sunday to you. Unfortunately got even more injury news today,
more injury developments that have just dominated proceedings here in
(02:08):
Round one. But we also did get some pretty great basketball,
and as we're recording this, Phoenix is trying to keep
its season going. Minnesota and Phoenix locked in a close
game halfway through the third quarter, with the Wolves already
up three to zero in that series, so we'll probably
have a result there by the time we wrap this
(02:29):
thing up. But man, wild Sunday in your league, what's
going on?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeh's crazy? I mean injuries galore, which is, you know,
it's tainting this first round a tad bit, I mean
the series with that. You know that you've been at
thus far to Clippers and MAVs, Kawhi Leonard Tough, tough,
blow Bunks, Pacers, Jannis Dame tough right there, Joel and
(02:57):
b with the Sixers just not being his full self
and you know it's been it's been tough. Jimmy Butler,
the series I'm doing, Jimmy Butler being out. You know
this is you don't want to see this at this point,
but uh, but let's let's talk about the Clippers in
math since you're since you're out there, like with the
news of Kawhi Leonard taking some time off to try
(03:20):
he the word is he will not be back until
he's feeling right. What are you hearing out there? And
what is that? What is that series been like? Just
to see the just to see the roller coaster.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
That has been Yeah, honestly, today was wild. A couple
hours before tip off, we had Clippers President of Basketball
Operations Lawrence Frank, came out and said that Kawhi was
being ruled out of Game four and more ominously, there's
no timetable for when he's going to come back. And
(03:53):
then what happens. The Clippers jump out to a thirty
nine to sixteen opening quarter, just a re ridiculously good.
The Clippers were great in Game one at home without
Kawhi Leonard, but they were next level in the first
quarter to start here in Dallas, just had the three
ball working. They were playing at a faster pace without Kawhi.
(04:14):
The Clips ultimately stretched that lead all the way to
thirty one points on Dallas's floor, and look, the Mavericks
were able to come all the way back. They took
a one oh five one oh four lead late on
a Kyrie Irving layup that if you haven't seen it yet,
(04:35):
I mean, honestly, if you're listening to this podcast, I'm
guessing there's no way you haven't seen it, because it
was absolutely ridiculous how long Kyrie hung in the air
and found a way to scoop one in underneath three
very tall defenders who were trying to keep him away
from the rim. It looked like the MAVs were going
(04:56):
to pull off a comeback for the Ages, looked like
the Clippers were going to suffer a meltdown for the Ages,
and then in crunch time the Clippers took over. So
it was really like Dallas lost this game twice. It
really ended up being just a dagger defeat for the
(05:17):
Mavericks because it looked like they were going to take
a three to one series lead, looked like they were
going to complete this unbelievable escape after looking so bad
in the first half, and for the second time in
this series, not responding to the fact that Kawhi Leonard
(05:37):
wasn't out there, and James Harden found another gear in
the fourth quarter in crunch time, much like we saw
in the first half of Game one, Paul George hit
a ridiculous fallaway three in the corner. To that point,
Paul George only had two points in the second half,
(05:59):
and the Mavericks and their coach Jason Kidd in the
immediate aftermath of the loss, facing a lot of questions,
a lot of criticism for not switching to a bigger
lineup late. As James Harden started finding the range with
his floater. This was crazy. I didn't realize this. Harden
(06:20):
shot sub thirty percent during the season on his floaters,
which hard to believe today because he made five in
the fourth quarter and really looked like he could get
just about anywhere he wanted to. It was a turn
back the clock performance from Harden, and that's now twice
(06:41):
in this series that the Southern California native. He's in
his first playoff run with the Clippers and has just
been sensational. Both Clipper wins in this series without Kawhi Leonard.
Both Clipper wins feature huge games from Harden, who has
absorbed plenty of critics himself when you dig into his
(07:03):
playoff resume. So look, I think Dallas has to be
incredibly disappointed that they've lost twice in this series without
Kawhi Leonard. On the other side, there's no indication if
Kawhi Leonard can even get back on the floor in
this series. As well as the Clippers have played without him,
(07:23):
I would imagine, I don't think they want to rush
him back right now. They're playing frankly better without him
because of the state of Kawhi Leonard's health, and if
you saw him in Games two and three, he didn't
look remotely like the Kawhi Leonard that everyone has come
(07:47):
to expect in the postseason. But you know, we talk
about injuries, and there are so many to get to with.
You know, the Bucks now losing Damian Lillard on top
of Gianna Santitokumpo, Jimmy Butler in your series, Joel Embiid
playing hurt in that series, and we can go on
and on and on. No Zion Williamson of course in
the OKC New Orleans series, But in Dallas, Luka Doncic
(08:11):
is playing hurt right now. That is painfully obvious when
you watch the Mavericks play and Luka Doncic is shooting
sub forty percent in this series. And after all the
praise that Luca got for his defense in Game two,
which was probably the best most impactful single game defensive
(08:32):
effort of his career, today his movement was so labored.
The Clippers were targeting him and rightfully so. And I mean,
he is ailing. He is nowhere close to where he
should be. It's the playoffs, So just like Embiid and Philly,
Luca's going to try to gut it out. But I
(08:54):
mean it's yet another injury headline in this postseason that
has more than we can count.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
I think as far as the Clippers, with Kawhi Leonard
and his injury, I think it bodes well for the
Clippers in the short term, the fact that now they
know the guys that's going to be there at least
for this series, and so they can focus in on that,
they can try to build off of that. And as
you you know, as you as you already stated, they
(09:25):
won both games already without Kawhi, so you know, I
think this is something I think this is more of
a relief for the Clippers not having to worry if
Kawhi is going to be in the in the lineup
this game, out the line next game. Like that, uncertainty
is out the picture now now they can just focus
on playing and being a team. And so that this
(09:48):
series is very much alive, which you know, I want
to see a nice compelling series. And you know, the
drama is still there, the intrigue is still there. Hopefully
Luca continue to play at a higher left. I know
he's laboring, you know, obviously everyone could see it, you know,
but this is still very much a compelling series. You
(10:09):
don't know, you don't know who has the momentum right
now or who's going to keep the momentum, I should say.
So you know this, this thing, this thing is far
from over, which is good, which is which is more
than I can say from say, for a couple of
these other series out there.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, look, every other series in the West got to
three to zero, so we need at least one series
in the West to deliver. And yeah, I mean it
is remarkably this series has been pitched back to toss
up status. And again I think the Mavericks, though, they're
(10:49):
going to have to really pull together and steal themselves
because to get two shots at the Clippers with no
Kawhi Leonard and both times just getting routed in the
first half, you know, just blitzed badly in the first
half of Game one and Game four on their home floor,
(11:11):
especially when you factor in the history that these two
teams have. Remember it's the third time in the last
five years that these teams have met in the playoffs.
The Clippers, they've only won three playoff series since Kawhi
and Paul George came together, two of them are against
the Mavericks. This is the best team that Luka Doncic
(11:33):
has ever had around him in his series against the Clippers.
And you know, Luca today postgame, you know, he said
he feels like he's letting Kyrie Irving down, with Kyrie
Irving just playing incredible offensive basketball. And today Kyrie Irving
willed the Mavericks back into this game with just ridiculous
(11:55):
shot making, not just the layup, but again that layup
was an all timer. And look, I think it's health.
There's just no you know, Luca struggling at the defensive end. Okay,
that's not exactly a new thing, but Luca shooting sub
forty percent from the field. I mean, that just tells
(12:16):
you that something is wrong. And it wasn't even just
the shooting today. Multiple times in this game he drove
to the bucket and got the ball knocked out of
his hands, basically stripped on a drive that never happens.
Once Luca gets inside, He's just so strong when he
(12:37):
goes to the rim. So it just you can just
see he's not His game is not all there. And
two days off now before Wednesday's Game five back in LA.
But Game six is Friday, a potential Game seven is Sunday.
It's basically every other day to finish the series. Once
(12:57):
we get to the game five stage, and this really
is the series in the West now that is providing
all of the drama and what happens from here. Can
the Clippers keep winning without their best players? How will
the Mavericks rebound from an absolutely deflating defeat. And yeah,
(13:26):
I you know, it's going to be fascinating to see
how Doncic looks Wednesday nights. Again, not just shooting sub
forty percent from the floor, he's shooting not even twenty
seven percent from three point range, and those are just
I mean, that's just way below his typical standard. And
I've watched him enough to know that I really attribute
(13:47):
a lot of it to the state of his right knee,
because he's just not moving well at all.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Stime, before we shift to another series, let's go off
the court real quick as attains to the Clippers. Do
you think the situations the Clippers are in with Kawhi
having to sideline himself again, they've been down this road before.
(14:16):
There's no extension yet for Paul George. Do you think
that Paul has gained a little bit more leverage now
his extension talks, or do you feel like this this
probably won't play a factor at all.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I think it's too soon to know the answer to
that question because it too too so much can still
happen in this series. But look, there's no question that
the Clippers future is one of the major subplots here.
Steve Balmer here on the road in Dallas, very visible
watching pregame intently both of these games. You know, at
(14:57):
Clipper home games, there's places that he can go to
kind of stay out of the public eye. But in Dallas,
Balmer was a very visible presence at these games. Intently
studying warm ups, and you know, I'm sure he's trying
to analyze this himself, because, yeah, around the league, there
(15:21):
is tons of curiosity. What will the Clippers do? You know,
Kawhi Leonard played in sixty eight games this season. It's
the most we've seen him in the regular season since
twenty sixteen seventeen, when he was still in San Antonio
seven years ago. But now a are the Clippers second
guessing how much Kawhi played during the regular season. Maybe
(15:46):
sixty eight games was too much. And they've already extended
Kawhi Leonard. Remember that day in January, We're out of
the blue, with no warning, Kawhi gets his extension. Paul George,
as you mentioned, does not have his extension. He's eligible
to be extended through June thirtieth. The Clippers need to
come to terms with George before then to keep him
(16:09):
off the free agent market. Where we know the Philadelphia
seventy six Ers, who by the way, are now facing elimination.
The Sixers losing Game four at home, and the Sixers
are one loss away from their offseason starting. We know
the Sixers will be at the front of the line
to go after Paul George in free agency if the
(16:29):
Clippers don't extend him by June thirtieth, and then James Harden.
James Harden has really been the driving force in the
Clippers two wins in this series. James Harden not even
eligible for his extension until the summertime. But once June
(16:49):
thirtieth slash July one hits, now Harden's gonna want an
extension too. So do the Clippers want to run it
back with this team at two time two in this series?
I think they still need more data to be honest,
because look, there are high stakes and there is considerable
(17:10):
pressure on both of these franchises. The Mavericks traded away
a ton to get Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington at
the trade deadline. Dallas will not have its first round
pick in this draft because it is the last element
that they must convey to the Knicks to complete the
(17:32):
Christops Porzingis deal from five years ago. At the deadline
in twenty nineteen and then, the Mavericks have also surrendered
control of their first round pick between twenty twenty seven
and twenty thirty, so they need this team to deliver
and advance and live up to the promise they showed
(17:54):
when they went sixteen and two in the second half
of the season to get to fifty wins and move
up to the number five seeds. So whoever loses this series,
like so many teams in the West, is going to
be facing some really tough questions in the offseason. The
MAVs have used most of their trade chips, how can
(18:16):
they improve this team if it goes out in Round one?
And the Clippers, if they go out and round one,
are gonna have to ask themselves do we re sign
Paul George and James Harden knowing these guys will just
get a year older and this is basically the team
they're gonna roll with. And look Phoenix, Golden State, Sacramento,
(18:40):
the Lakers. All of these teams are facing really hard
offseason questions too. In the West. That's kind of the
status quo for everyone. Any team that loses in the
play in or Round one has some really tough choices
to make. But yeah, I mean, I guess that's my
long winded way of saying I can't really answer that one.
(19:02):
But I don't think well, I can't answer it to
this degree. I don't think as impressive as this victory
was to save themselves after blowing a thirty one point lead.
I don't think this one victory is going to prompt
the Clippers to make any declarations. They're going to need
(19:23):
to see how this series turns out. Let me ask
you something. Do you think we see Kawhi Leonard again
in this series.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Or do you think I don't not in this series?
I don't.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I agree, I don't either. I think it's now kind
of The rumbles around the arena this afternoon were that
he's still going to try and he doesn't want to
rule himself out, and whether that's game five or Game
six or a potential Game seven. The rumbles were that
Kawhi is going to keep trying. But yeah, I mean,
I mean you saw game two. In game three, he
(19:55):
is just not moving well at all. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Well, I guess that's a good segue over to the
East for a little bit, talking about guys not moving well,
which ultimately led to them not moving at all. Bucks
Pacers that series it's got ugly. It's gotten ugly over there. Yeah.
I don't. I don't foresee. I'll just say this, I
(20:21):
don't foresee. Damer Gianni's returning for this series.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I don't this is at three to one down. It's
just there's it's not worth the risk. Yeah, I mean
talk about team that has a lot of off season questions.
I mean, the last thing they need is for Giannis
or Dame to sustain a long term injury. I mean
it sounds like they're playing right on the edge as
(20:46):
it is.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, yeah, it's unfortunate. You know, Dame came into the
playoffs really feeling good. He had about a week off.
He was dealing with achilles soreness towards the end of
the regular season. Then he had like a week off
and he got he got right, He got himself right,
(21:09):
and you've seen in those first couple of games in
the playoffs he was he was playing probably the best
ball in that little two three game stretch. You can
make a case that was probably the best you've seen him.
Mat just like scoring in bunches and in droves, and
you know, that was the Dame, that was the Dame
of old. You know, he was telling me, man, I'm
(21:30):
feeling good, like he was ready, and you know we
all knew Giannis was his His intention was to be
able to come back at some point in this first round.
But it's just it's never got to that point. And
now the state that the Bucks are in, down down
(21:54):
three games, the one it's it's just not why is
to try to throw them out there right now? You know,
if if the Bucks would have put up a better fight,
which they were under man so it's it's tough to ask.
It's tough to ask them to to fulfill that. But
(22:14):
if they were able to put up a fight, win
a few more games here, you know, you probably could
have have seen a scenario where Giannis er Dame might
be able to come back, not full strength, but just
be able to come back and at least be a decoy.
I don't know how effective, but it's just not it's
(22:37):
not there. It's tough, you know, it's tough. It's probably
the best thing for them to do at this point.
It's probably just it's focus on the off season. Regroup,
damon Giannis. You know they didn't get the train during
the off season last year that the trade happened so late.
So get it off season to train, build, you know,
(22:58):
build some more continuity together and go into next season
and try to and and try to dominate but yeah,
it's tough. You never want to see a series go
out like that, where or it can be the two
best players are in the series, you know they're they're done.
(23:19):
Then Bobby Porters in Game four gets get sejected and
you know it's just you know, they're shooting itself on
the foot.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
What happened? Though? I thought our pod was supposed to
make guys, it was supposed to help guys soar to
new heights. I don't think we I don't think we
did that for Bobby Porters.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yeah we did it. I mean, how long did Poppy?
Maybe it's a time limit. Maybe you gotta be on
the show for about thirty minutes minimum, you know, maybe
it was a time limit thing. I don't know. I
got to look into the analytics of how long he
was on, what he said, how fully engaged he was.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
So why doesn't producer Ryan keep those analytics? We should
have a spreadsheet with Yeah, we need that. I guess
we need that minutes they how long the interview lasted?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, because our coaches are you know, most of our
coaches are doing well. Who came on, you know, came
on the show. I will still say Mike Brown did well, look,
they didn't make it to the playoffs, but they took
down a team that they really wanted to beat desperately.
It took down and took out the Golden State Wards.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I don't think we can take credit for that. When
Mike Brown was on last season.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I think that was last season.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I don't think I don't think that. I think it's
a two year, two year dame winning the three point
contest hours after talking to us that I think we
can say that a little bit of this league uncut
magic dust was. We can say that we can we
can we can draw a connection there, but claim I
(25:03):
cannot say that we had anything to do with Mike
Brown winning a playing game against the Warriors after we talked.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I thought we had a two year there was a
two year expiration. Finch.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Maybe like if Minnesota keeps rolling, maybe you know Finch
in the All Star Game appearance, maybe we can take
a little credit for that all my bet, Well, let
me ask you this because obviously, you know, Doc Rivers
has been under so much pressure coming in there at
mid season. The results haven't been what the Bucks were
hoping for after making that coaching change. But and this
(25:38):
has to take any notion of heat on Doc Rivers off.
You know, I don't know how he could win a
playoff series without John and Dan.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
He's fine. I think there's enough. There's there's enough of
a track record with this group where you can evaluate
it and see, Okay, now they know how Dame plays.
Now they know you know what Dame and Giannis. Now
they know how they can improve playing with each other
and playing with the collection of teammates. So now they
(26:13):
can kind of evaluate the market and see, okay, what
players will fit best with them? What does Dame need,
What does Gianni's need? What does coach Doc Rivers need?
Remember Doc Rivers, I will, I will expect or I
would suspect that he'll bring in a few more of
his staffers on board. You know he didn't. You know,
(26:36):
he brought in believed two assistant coaches, Dave Jaeger and
and our guy Recks. And I believe that was I
believe though that was Yeah, I believe it was just two.
I believe it was. And so if you look, if
you look closely at the Bucks, you have to be
(26:58):
a Bucks fan and really look at this. But if
you if you look closely at the Bucks, bench, And
I'm talking about the assistant coaches. You've seen since Doc
has come on board. You've seen some guys, some coaches,
some assistant coaches who start off from the front bench
and then they were moved to the back of the bench.
You know that what that was Doc rivers like filling
out his staff, giving other guys promotions and giving some demotions,
(27:24):
and so you know, Doc still has to find his
way and be able to plant his mark as well.
So you know that's that's the But no, he no,
he don't Doc know, he don't Doc. They're going to
try to figure this thing out together.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I have to say, I'm really going to be interested
to hear what Jannis has to say when he sits
down at a podium for his end of the season
press conference. It's not going to have the blockbuster headline
potential most likely that we saw lastie in after the
Bucks lost to Miami so stunningly in Round one, and
(28:04):
of course we had the whole there's no failure in
sports speech. I'm not expecting those kind of fireworks, but
just psyche wise, this is two years in a row
that Yannis entered the playoffs with an injury that has
(28:25):
prevented him. I mean, this injury is likely going to
prevent him from playing at all in the series. Obviously,
last season against Miami he did play some in the playoffs,
but it's two years in a row that an injury
has really interfered with his playoff hopes and dreams, and
(28:46):
so I just I would I'm really ready for Yanna's
unplugged to kind of hear what his mindset is and
what he's thinking, because the expectations for this Bucks team
were so high after the trade to bring in in
Dame right before the start of the season, and it's
just been a brutal season in Bruetown. So I really
(29:10):
want to I know the series is only three to one,
but yeah, I mean, how can we say that the
Bucks really have a chance to get out of this
round with no Joannis, no Dame. There was an injury
scare tonight for Chris Middleton on top of everything, but
Middleton was able to play on But yeah, I mean,
this is this has just been It has just been
(29:31):
one thing after another for the Milwaukee Bucks. And wow,
we've gotten this far and we haven't even talked yet
really too much about the first game of the day,
(29:52):
the Knicks go to Philadelphia and win Game four. Another
wild one. Jalen Brunson, your guy, the little lefty forty
seven points career playoff high, yet another major playoff downer
(30:17):
for the Sixers. An absolutely brutal fourth quarter for Philly.
Embiid only had one point. I believe in that final
period the Sixers as a team missed their last ten shots.
I think they scored three points in the last five
minutes Embiid played. He was clearly exhausted at the end.
(30:38):
And look, when you're a star, when you're a perennial
MVP candidate, you take the heat when things go badly.
But look, Joel Embiid scored fifty points on nineteen shots
in Game three, and I'm struggling to just go after
(31:00):
him now because of what we saw on this Sunday,
knowing that he's playing hurt, he's playing at far less
than one hundred percent, and I think that has to
be factored in. We can't just ignore that that. You know,
the Sixers go to pieces when Embiid is off the floor,
(31:21):
and so again I'm struggling to just put this all
on him. And it's amazing, really what he's giving the
Sixers so quickly after a meniscus procedure on his knee.
But man, Philly, you know this is it's just been
(31:43):
one playoff let down slash disappointment after another, and they're
down three to one now to the Knicks, and it
really looks like Jalen Brunson is just not going to
let the Knicks lose this series.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yeah, the Knicks are. They're a tough, minded, gritty team.
And you know, I'm very impressed with the the DNA
that they've uh that they've latched onto that is of
coach Tom Thibodeau. They are really they're really plugged in.
(32:23):
They are really plugged in. Not the not the fanciest team,
not the most electric, They're just a hard fought team
that's just going to give it to you from start
to finish. And Philly, Yeah, I mean you touched on
it right there. When Joel Embiid doesn't play that the
team falls apart. And we've seen that during the regular season.
(32:43):
They were one of the best teams in the East.
Joel goes out all of a sudden, they're in play
in range. So this this team is not This team
is not what they should be right now, and that's
based off of embiid missing a chunk of the season
(33:03):
and EMBD not being anywhere close to one still dealing
with that injury. You know, he's gutting it out. He
probably shouldn't be playing. He's gutting it out, and you
have to give him credit. You have to plout him
for trying to be there when it matters in the
season most so, I can't blame him. It's just, you know,
it's just it's a sad tale because they've been through
(33:26):
this time and and time again, and you know, you
don't want you don't want to say, well, they just
can't win with that and bid, I mean, you don't
want to say they can't win with them be. I
mean that's not I don't think you can say that
yet because he hasn't been healthy, you know, during postseason
play for the most part. But there is a trend.
(33:49):
But it's tough, man. I just want to see the
big fella healthy and he was playing some dominant basketball
before an injury. Really really unfortunate, but you got to
give credit to the Knicks. All all you can do,
similar to the Indiana Pacers, all you can do is
(34:10):
play who's ever on your schedule. That's it, on your schedule,
play who ever on the roster at that time.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Yeah, because that's the thing we've been waiting. We've been
waiting and waiting. Will Joel Embiid ever be able to
enter the playoffs healthy or reasonably close to healthy? And
he entered these playoffs well shy of healthy. And yeah,
he scored fifty points the other night, but that doesn't
(34:40):
mean that he is anywhere close to one. I didn't
I thought it was unwise for Embiid to complain after
the game about how many Knicks fans there were in
Phillies building. Obviously there were a ton, but that's not
really an issue. I think he should be raising in
the way of a Game four home defeat. But when
(35:03):
it comes to Embiid on the floor, I do think
we have to give him some slack because he did
come back from a knee procedure faster than he should have,
just like Karl Anthony Towns in Minnesota. They both came
back faster than they probably should have from a knee procedure.
(35:26):
And we know, as we've said already, without Joel Embiid,
the Sixers have no chance this series. Our former ESBN
colleague John Hollinger, he tweeted out pretty smartly earlier today,
you know, the Sixers have a guy making almost forty
million this season, Tobias Harris only has eleven baskets in
(35:47):
the first four games of this series. So the Sixers
truly are leaning very, very heavily on Joel Embiid and
they wouldn't even have a chance without him, and that
does have to be something that we remember and keep
track of. On the other side, Man Jalen Brunson, obviously
(36:10):
I saw him the first few years of his career,
but I continue to be astounded year two in New York,
year two since he left the city where I live
in work in Dallas. I mean, he just still continues
to get better. And he had a really rough start
to this Philly series. He shot sixteen for fifty five
(36:32):
in the first two games, very uncharacteristic. But what he
did today with forty seven on the road to lead
the Knicks to this win that gives the Knicks a
three to one lead when so many other Knicks were
struggling offensively. Just man Jalen Brunson has had a remarkable season,
(36:56):
and I think he's gonna end up in the top
five and MVP balloting somewhere. No I doubt he gets
higher than four or five, but he should be in
the top five. He's been that good.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
It's been really good. And one thing I like about Jalen,
No matter if his shot is going in or not,
he's going to be aggressive. He's going to stay aggressive.
You're not going to have You're not going to have
an off night. If you're defending him, He's not going
to give you that off night. He's going to keep
coming at you. And I think Philly first couple of
(37:29):
games thought they might have figured out something, you know,
stop his effectiveness, you know, to bring down that shooting percentage.
But Jalen man, he's a hooper man. He just know
he knows how to get it done. So kudos to Jalen.
He's leading this Knicks like no no nobody thought this.
I remember when he signed that contract went over to
(37:51):
New York. People thought they were they overpaid. They didn't
see this. So I'm happy that he's exceeding expectations and
he's continued to elevate his game and his team's game.
So definitely fun to watch what hasn't been. I ain't
gonna say what has Listen, so stile say this. You know,
(38:12):
we give a lot of credit. You said, all right,
Bobby Porters. Okay, maybe Bobby Porters is somebody who's came
on this this pod and hasn't really stepped up like
we expect most of our guests to come on here
and have a has some success posts the visit with us.
(38:33):
But there's another guy. I guess we got to mention
Darvin Ham. God, you know Darvin Ham. We've had Darvin
Ham on and he's been on within the year. He
came on last summer and you know, they gotta win.
They were close to be getting swept. They gotta win.
In Game four one in La Lebron, James play out
(38:56):
of this world at the David stepped up. D'Angelo Russell
finally had a good game in this series. So now
the series shifts back to Denver for Game five. If
the Lakers lose, everyone expects that the Lakers would will
(39:20):
make a coaching move after that. Is it deserved or not? Listen,
I think the roster isn't that good, and not only that,
I think they've been plagued by a lot of injuries
that were just out of their control. I mean, Jered
Vanderbilt hasn't played in since I don't those months. Christian
(39:46):
Wood hasn't had had a low impact this season, free
agent gate Vincent has had a low impact this season
injury as well. Cam Reddish been out extended time. So
it's just they haven't had their whole team out there
(40:06):
for a long enough stretch and period to gain some continuity.
So I I put a lot of it on that,
maybe not saying the roster isn't good enough, but just
they they haven't had their guys together long enough. I
put it more so on that. Man, I know, people,
you know, start to criticize Darvingham. You criticize any coach,
(40:29):
criticize Darvinham. Frank Vogel is getting the receiving the same
treatment out there in Phoenix, and you know, not calling
time outs, not making adjustments, all of that stuff. And look, man,
it this league is tough. It's tough on the head coach.
But what I will say, what I will say, if
(40:49):
the Lakers do come up short in this first round,
and if they do decide to let Darvingham go, my
question is who's out there that's my question. Who is
out there that can take this team to the next level,
What proven coach is available.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Well, certainly Mike Budenholzer is out there, and we know
he's a championship coach of recent vintage. I'm just not
so sure that that's where the Lakers would turn if
they did decide they were making a change.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Yeah, I agree with you one hundred percent on that
Ham comes from the boot and holes of trees. So
I don't know that they would go down that road again.
So again my question is who is out there? Who
you know? Because Lakers there, they're quick to make changes,
particularly on the head coach, head coach in front. Okay,
but who's out there?
Speaker 1 (41:45):
Well, here's the thing. It's been at the very quiet
to this point on the coaching carousel. The day after
the season, there were no dismissals. It was very unnfl like. Obviously,
Charlotte is still searching for a coach. Washington is still
in the midst of a coaching search. The Brooklyn Nets
decided very quickly after the season to hire Jordi Fernandez
(42:10):
away from Mike Brown staff and Sacramento. Jordi Fernandez will
be the new coach of the Nets starting next season.
But we know that when things happen in the playoffs,
when teams lose earlier than they expect or hope, that
does lead to surprise openings on the coaching carousel. And
(42:35):
you know you mentioned it as well, Frank Vogel today
before the game, before this game against Minnesota, that as
you and I are recording this is going down to
the wire with Minnesota trying to sweep the Suns out
of the playoffs. Frank Vogel before this game had to
answer a question about his job security, and Frank Vogel
(42:59):
said at his pregame press conference quote, I've got full
support for matt ishbia end quote. We will soon see
if that plays out, because again, as we're recording this,
the Suns Anthony Edwards just threw down a ridiculous dunk
in traffic to put the Wolves up for heading into
(43:20):
the final two minutes and change. And if Minnesota can
hold that lead, the Suns would be the first team
eliminated from the twenty twenty three to twenty four playoffs.
So yeah, if the Lakers lose early, if the Suns
lose early, you know, put them in the same category.
Like I said before right there with the Warriors the Kings.
(43:43):
I think the Hawks qualify as well in Atlanta, where
these teams are entering difficult off seasons, really hard choices
in the offseason, and in one or two or maybe
more of those situations, pressure will be immediately foisted upon
the coach once their team was a living Ye. But
(44:11):
I'm glad you brought up the Lakers because you have
neatly led me into the Monday preview. This episode is
dropping on a Monday, and later today you'll be on
the sidelines for Game four in Miami Celtics at heat,
and then later in the evening the Lakers in Denver
(44:33):
for Game five. The Lakers did avoid the sweep, they
did extend their season. The one wrinkle here in that,
I mean, you would think Denver's going to finish off
the Lakers Game five in their gym, but Jamal Murray
sustained a calf injury late in Game four in La So.
(44:58):
But this series is over right, there's no way the
Lakers can come back.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Well, it was one game at a time, Yeah, one
game at a time. I mean the eyes are death.
Oh now, Chris Finch hurt himself. No, Chris Finch. Don
you see that.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
You must be ahead of me, your feed must be
ahead of me.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
Wow. Coley runs, Oh, hit some right in the knee.
It looks like, oh the right knee.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
No goodness sakes.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
Injuries.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
That is the metaphor of these playoffs. Now Mike, oh,
Mike Conley straight into Chris Finch's right knee.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Man, Finch is still down.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
Oh wow, these playoffs man, just way too hazardous. Greg Farnham,
the Wolves trainer in another Wolf staffer, had to help
Chris Finch off the floor with one forty one remaining.
Not even coaches are safe in the twenty twenty three
(46:10):
to twenty four playoffs. Man, this is ridiculous. So we
wanted to just wait till the finish line to make
sure sure. But it is finished now. The Timberwolves again,
a franchise that in its first thirty four seasons won
only two playoff series, both in two thousand and four,
(46:35):
twenty years ago. Sadly, Chris Finch didn't get to be
on the floor for the finish of it. But the
Wolves have broomed the Phoenix Suns into the off season.
The very high priced, top heavy Phoenix Suns Man what
(46:56):
are they going to do this offseason? I mean, look
at the coaching box if you want to, is Frank
Vogel's job legit under threat as has been suggested in
some league circles, I mean changing the coach? What is
that really going to change? How does this roster change?
(47:19):
Because of how much Phoenix is spent to put together
this star trio it has assembled, the Suns, as everyone knows,
are so far into the second apron they have no
easy way to make changes here. Bradley Beal, his first
season as a Phoenix Sun, ends with a nine point
(47:40):
performance in Game four and Beal, as we mentioned, fouled
out late and nine points six turnovers in the final
game of the season. For Bradley Beal and no matter
what happens with their coaching situation, how do the Suns
prove this roster next season? It's really hard to see
(48:04):
a pathway for them to improve this roster meaningfully.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
Well, you know, you can start by getting the point guard.
Yes that should be a top priority, but definitely you know,
you hit it on the head, definitely too top hit.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
And Bradley Beal has no trade clause, so they can't
trade Bradley Beal unless he consents, And who's really what
kind of market is there going to be for Bradley
Beal when he's making about fifty million next season and
his first season in Phoenix did not go well. This
(48:44):
is the matchup Phoenix wanted. They got up to number six,
They won the season series three to zero against Minnesota,
and everybody thought this thing had upset potential. And man,
the Timberwolves just absolutely reaffirmed that they are the best
(49:06):
defensive team in the league. And truly, man, I am
sick for Chris Finch. First of all, just hope that
the injury, the knee injury isn't too serious, because it
obviously looked awful and the way he had to be
helped off the floor that alone should be caused for concern.
But just absolutely sucks for Finch. His first playoff series
(49:32):
victory as an NBA coach. And I say that as
someone who watched him coach in the British Battle League
a quarter century ago against Nick Nurse and he doesn't
get to be out there to enjoy it. But man,
the Wolves. How impressive were the Minnesota Timberwolves in this
first round?
Speaker 2 (49:53):
Crazy Minnesota Timblewolves. Okay, see Thunder play.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
And we've we've barely talked about the Thunder. Mark Dagnaalt
named Coach of the Year tonight. I mean the Thunder have.
Certainly they're getting people's attention. I don't want to get
too far ahead of myself, but this is potentially setting
up very nicely for the Thunder in round two because
(50:24):
assuming that OKC can finish off New Orleans up three
to zero, and again, of course the Pelicans do not
have the injured Zion Williamson, the Thunder will play either
the Clippers, who don't have Kawhi Leonard at the moment,
or the Mavericks, who have and ailing Luka Doncic. So
(50:48):
the Thunder in their first playoff run as a team
pretty much the youngest team out there. What an opportunity
the Thunder have up three to zero now on New Orleans,
and man stat Muse just tweeted it, I have to
repeat it. The Suns did not win a playoff game
(51:08):
this season, swept out of the first round. But on
top of that, the Suns possess no first round picks
between twenty twenty five and twenty thirty and no second
round picks between twenty twenty four as in this June
and twenty thirty. So the Sons have no draft capital
(51:29):
to make moves. How do they if they decide to
keep Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal together, how
do they improve around those guys with very very limited
flexibility to sign free agents or make trades. Man Matt
Ishbia has a lot of questions to answer. Last thing,
(51:53):
is South Beach treating you all right? How about? What
did missus Haynes think of her anniversary being talked about
on national television?
Speaker 2 (52:02):
Yeah? I had to show it the next morning. Nah,
let see, it was cool. So our anniversary is actually today.
So we went to the beach, hung at the beach,
Bernie Lee, Jimmy Butler's agents got us reservations at Carbone
Italian restaurant out here, spent like three hours there. She
(52:27):
had a great time. She had a great time. So
you know, we didn't we didn't.
Speaker 1 (52:32):
Yeah, I heard your colleague Brian Anderson put the city
on alert the Haynes family's in town.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
Yeah, that was cool. Twenty one years.
Speaker 1 (52:43):
Congratulations my friend, that is awesome, And congratulations to show contributors.
Charlotte Haynes as well and beyond wishing you guys a
happy twenty first anniversary, I am wishing for no more injuries.
Can we just stop it with the injuries? Can we
have one, two, maybe three days of good health in
(53:05):
this league? Enough? Stop it? All right? That's gonna do
it for this edition of this league Uncut. As always,
please follow us, rate the show, review the show. We
would love to get a five star review from you.
Chris is on Celtic's Heat. I believe through game five.
(53:28):
Is that correct? You're on that series at least through
game five. I will be on MAVs Clippers, probably to
the completion of that series. Definitely through the first six games.
We'll see if a it requires a game seven and
if I would make it to that game seven that
is tbd. But I will be at Game five in LA.
(53:52):
I'll be working actually on the Mavericks radio broadcast, as
I did for Game one and Game two in LA.
So busy times, that's the way it is in the playoffs.
But Chris and I will be together again very soon
for the next edition of this league Uncut. Thanks as
always for listening, and one more time, happy twenty first
(54:15):
anniversary at Chris and.
Speaker 3 (54:18):
Should and that'll do it for us. See you next time.
This League Uncut is an iHeartRadio production
Speaker 1 (54:36):
Chris Haynes and Mark Stein
A court side view of what's happening in the roller
coaster Clippers Mavericks series. We've got to talk injuries as well,
because there are so many around the league. We talk
about some coaching situations as well, Doc Rivers, Darvin Ham,
Frank Vogel, and we even mix in some pseudo live
(00:23):
reaction to the Phoenix Suns being swept out of the playoffs.
All that's next on the latest edition of This League Uncut.
Welcome to This League Uncut.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In the rule of.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Twenty four hour NBA.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
News, this's you love, Chris Hans, It's time, work's time.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's so time. This League Uncut is underway and on fire.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
This should be a good one.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Hey, everyone, welcome in to the latest edition This League Uncut.
It's a playoff Sunday night. It feels like hours upon
hours of drama, hardwood drama stacked on top of each other. Today,
let's be honest. This first round league wide has been
(01:22):
short on drama and racked by way too many injuries.
But the first two games, especially today, the Knicks victory
in Philadelphia, the Clippers winning in Dallas without Kawhi Leonard,
that was a roller coaster. I was there. But let
(01:45):
me bring in my co host who's in Miami. He's
getting ready to work the sidelines for TNT Monday Night,
Game four of the Heat Celtic Series, Chris Haynes, Happy
Sunday to you. Unfortunately got even more injury news today,
more injury developments that have just dominated proceedings here in
(02:08):
Round one. But we also did get some pretty great basketball,
and as we're recording this, Phoenix is trying to keep
its season going. Minnesota and Phoenix locked in a close
game halfway through the third quarter, with the Wolves already
up three to zero in that series, so we'll probably
have a result there by the time we wrap this
(02:29):
thing up. But man, wild Sunday in your league, what's
going on?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeh's crazy? I mean injuries galore, which is, you know,
it's tainting this first round a tad bit, I mean
the series with that. You know that you've been at
thus far to Clippers and MAVs, Kawhi Leonard Tough, tough,
blow Bunks, Pacers, Jannis Dame tough right there, Joel and
(02:57):
b with the Sixers just not being his full self
and you know it's been it's been tough. Jimmy Butler,
the series I'm doing, Jimmy Butler being out. You know
this is you don't want to see this at this point,
but uh, but let's let's talk about the Clippers in
math since you're since you're out there, like with the
news of Kawhi Leonard taking some time off to try
(03:20):
he the word is he will not be back until
he's feeling right. What are you hearing out there? And
what is that? What is that series been like? Just
to see the just to see the roller coaster.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
That has been Yeah, honestly, today was wild. A couple
hours before tip off, we had Clippers President of Basketball
Operations Lawrence Frank, came out and said that Kawhi was
being ruled out of Game four and more ominously, there's
no timetable for when he's going to come back. And
(03:53):
then what happens. The Clippers jump out to a thirty
nine to sixteen opening quarter, just a re ridiculously good.
The Clippers were great in Game one at home without
Kawhi Leonard, but they were next level in the first
quarter to start here in Dallas, just had the three
ball working. They were playing at a faster pace without Kawhi.
(04:14):
The Clips ultimately stretched that lead all the way to
thirty one points on Dallas's floor, and look, the Mavericks
were able to come all the way back. They took
a one oh five one oh four lead late on
a Kyrie Irving layup that if you haven't seen it yet,
(04:35):
I mean, honestly, if you're listening to this podcast, I'm
guessing there's no way you haven't seen it, because it
was absolutely ridiculous how long Kyrie hung in the air
and found a way to scoop one in underneath three
very tall defenders who were trying to keep him away
from the rim. It looked like the MAVs were going
(04:56):
to pull off a comeback for the Ages, looked like
the Clippers were going to suffer a meltdown for the Ages,
and then in crunch time the Clippers took over. So
it was really like Dallas lost this game twice. It
really ended up being just a dagger defeat for the
(05:17):
Mavericks because it looked like they were going to take
a three to one series lead, looked like they were
going to complete this unbelievable escape after looking so bad
in the first half, and for the second time in
this series, not responding to the fact that Kawhi Leonard
(05:37):
wasn't out there, and James Harden found another gear in
the fourth quarter in crunch time, much like we saw
in the first half of Game one, Paul George hit
a ridiculous fallaway three in the corner. To that point,
Paul George only had two points in the second half,
(05:59):
and the Mavericks and their coach Jason Kidd in the
immediate aftermath of the loss, facing a lot of questions,
a lot of criticism for not switching to a bigger
lineup late. As James Harden started finding the range with
his floater. This was crazy. I didn't realize this. Harden
(06:20):
shot sub thirty percent during the season on his floaters,
which hard to believe today because he made five in
the fourth quarter and really looked like he could get
just about anywhere he wanted to. It was a turn
back the clock performance from Harden, and that's now twice
(06:41):
in this series that the Southern California native. He's in
his first playoff run with the Clippers and has just
been sensational. Both Clipper wins in this series without Kawhi Leonard.
Both Clipper wins feature huge games from Harden, who has
absorbed plenty of critics himself when you dig into his
(07:03):
playoff resume. So look, I think Dallas has to be
incredibly disappointed that they've lost twice in this series without
Kawhi Leonard. On the other side, there's no indication if
Kawhi Leonard can even get back on the floor in
this series. As well as the Clippers have played without him,
(07:23):
I would imagine, I don't think they want to rush
him back right now. They're playing frankly better without him
because of the state of Kawhi Leonard's health, and if
you saw him in Games two and three, he didn't
look remotely like the Kawhi Leonard that everyone has come
(07:47):
to expect in the postseason. But you know, we talk
about injuries, and there are so many to get to with.
You know, the Bucks now losing Damian Lillard on top
of Gianna Santitokumpo, Jimmy Butler in your series, Joel Embiid
playing hurt in that series, and we can go on
and on and on. No Zion Williamson of course in
the OKC New Orleans series, But in Dallas, Luka Doncic
(08:11):
is playing hurt right now. That is painfully obvious when
you watch the Mavericks play and Luka Doncic is shooting
sub forty percent in this series. And after all the
praise that Luca got for his defense in Game two,
which was probably the best most impactful single game defensive
(08:32):
effort of his career, today his movement was so labored.
The Clippers were targeting him and rightfully so. And I mean,
he is ailing. He is nowhere close to where he
should be. It's the playoffs, So just like Embiid and Philly,
Luca's going to try to gut it out. But I
(08:54):
mean it's yet another injury headline in this postseason that
has more than we can count.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
I think as far as the Clippers, with Kawhi Leonard
and his injury, I think it bodes well for the
Clippers in the short term, the fact that now they
know the guys that's going to be there at least
for this series, and so they can focus in on that,
they can try to build off of that. And as
you you know, as you as you already stated, they
(09:25):
won both games already without Kawhi, so you know, I
think this is something I think this is more of
a relief for the Clippers not having to worry if
Kawhi is going to be in the in the lineup
this game, out the line next game. Like that, uncertainty
is out the picture now now they can just focus
on playing and being a team. And so that this
(09:48):
series is very much alive, which you know, I want
to see a nice compelling series. And you know, the
drama is still there, the intrigue is still there. Hopefully
Luca continue to play at a higher left. I know
he's laboring, you know, obviously everyone could see it, you know,
but this is still very much a compelling series. You
(10:09):
don't know, you don't know who has the momentum right
now or who's going to keep the momentum, I should say.
So you know this, this thing, this thing is far
from over, which is good, which is which is more
than I can say from say, for a couple of
these other series out there.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, look, every other series in the West got to
three to zero, so we need at least one series
in the West to deliver. And yeah, I mean it
is remarkably this series has been pitched back to toss
up status. And again I think the Mavericks, though, they're
(10:49):
going to have to really pull together and steal themselves
because to get two shots at the Clippers with no
Kawhi Leonard and both times just getting routed in the
first half, you know, just blitzed badly in the first
half of Game one and Game four on their home floor,
(11:11):
especially when you factor in the history that these two
teams have. Remember it's the third time in the last
five years that these teams have met in the playoffs.
The Clippers, they've only won three playoff series since Kawhi
and Paul George came together, two of them are against
the Mavericks. This is the best team that Luka Doncic
(11:33):
has ever had around him in his series against the Clippers.
And you know, Luca today postgame, you know, he said
he feels like he's letting Kyrie Irving down, with Kyrie
Irving just playing incredible offensive basketball. And today Kyrie Irving
willed the Mavericks back into this game with just ridiculous
(11:55):
shot making, not just the layup, but again that layup
was an all timer. And look, I think it's health.
There's just no you know, Luca struggling at the defensive end. Okay,
that's not exactly a new thing, but Luca shooting sub
forty percent from the field. I mean, that just tells
(12:16):
you that something is wrong. And it wasn't even just
the shooting today. Multiple times in this game he drove
to the bucket and got the ball knocked out of
his hands, basically stripped on a drive that never happens.
Once Luca gets inside, He's just so strong when he
(12:37):
goes to the rim. So it just you can just
see he's not His game is not all there. And
two days off now before Wednesday's Game five back in LA.
But Game six is Friday, a potential Game seven is Sunday.
It's basically every other day to finish the series. Once
(12:57):
we get to the game five stage, and this really
is the series in the West now that is providing
all of the drama and what happens from here. Can
the Clippers keep winning without their best players? How will
the Mavericks rebound from an absolutely deflating defeat. And yeah,
(13:26):
I you know, it's going to be fascinating to see
how Doncic looks Wednesday nights. Again, not just shooting sub
forty percent from the floor, he's shooting not even twenty
seven percent from three point range, and those are just
I mean, that's just way below his typical standard. And
I've watched him enough to know that I really attribute
(13:47):
a lot of it to the state of his right knee,
because he's just not moving well at all.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Stime, before we shift to another series, let's go off
the court real quick as attains to the Clippers. Do
you think the situations the Clippers are in with Kawhi
having to sideline himself again, they've been down this road before.
(14:16):
There's no extension yet for Paul George. Do you think
that Paul has gained a little bit more leverage now
his extension talks, or do you feel like this this
probably won't play a factor at all.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I think it's too soon to know the answer to
that question because it too too so much can still
happen in this series. But look, there's no question that
the Clippers future is one of the major subplots here.
Steve Balmer here on the road in Dallas, very visible
watching pregame intently both of these games. You know, at
(14:57):
Clipper home games, there's places that he can go to
kind of stay out of the public eye. But in Dallas,
Balmer was a very visible presence at these games. Intently
studying warm ups, and you know, I'm sure he's trying
to analyze this himself, because, yeah, around the league, there
(15:21):
is tons of curiosity. What will the Clippers do? You know,
Kawhi Leonard played in sixty eight games this season. It's
the most we've seen him in the regular season since
twenty sixteen seventeen, when he was still in San Antonio
seven years ago. But now a are the Clippers second
guessing how much Kawhi played during the regular season. Maybe
(15:46):
sixty eight games was too much. And they've already extended
Kawhi Leonard. Remember that day in January, We're out of
the blue, with no warning, Kawhi gets his extension. Paul George,
as you mentioned, does not have his extension. He's eligible
to be extended through June thirtieth. The Clippers need to
come to terms with George before then to keep him
(16:09):
off the free agent market. Where we know the Philadelphia
seventy six Ers, who by the way, are now facing elimination.
The Sixers losing Game four at home, and the Sixers
are one loss away from their offseason starting. We know
the Sixers will be at the front of the line
to go after Paul George in free agency if the
(16:29):
Clippers don't extend him by June thirtieth, and then James Harden.
James Harden has really been the driving force in the
Clippers two wins in this series. James Harden not even
eligible for his extension until the summertime. But once June
(16:49):
thirtieth slash July one hits, now Harden's gonna want an
extension too. So do the Clippers want to run it
back with this team at two time two in this series?
I think they still need more data to be honest,
because look, there are high stakes and there is considerable
(17:10):
pressure on both of these franchises. The Mavericks traded away
a ton to get Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington at
the trade deadline. Dallas will not have its first round
pick in this draft because it is the last element
that they must convey to the Knicks to complete the
(17:32):
Christops Porzingis deal from five years ago. At the deadline
in twenty nineteen and then, the Mavericks have also surrendered
control of their first round pick between twenty twenty seven
and twenty thirty, so they need this team to deliver
and advance and live up to the promise they showed
(17:54):
when they went sixteen and two in the second half
of the season to get to fifty wins and move
up to the number five seeds. So whoever loses this series,
like so many teams in the West, is going to
be facing some really tough questions in the offseason. The
MAVs have used most of their trade chips, how can
(18:16):
they improve this team if it goes out in Round one?
And the Clippers, if they go out and round one,
are gonna have to ask themselves do we re sign
Paul George and James Harden knowing these guys will just
get a year older and this is basically the team
they're gonna roll with. And look Phoenix, Golden State, Sacramento,
(18:40):
the Lakers. All of these teams are facing really hard
offseason questions too. In the West. That's kind of the
status quo for everyone. Any team that loses in the
play in or Round one has some really tough choices
to make. But yeah, I mean, I guess that's my
long winded way of saying I can't really answer that one.
(19:02):
But I don't think well, I can't answer it to
this degree. I don't think as impressive as this victory
was to save themselves after blowing a thirty one point lead.
I don't think this one victory is going to prompt
the Clippers to make any declarations. They're going to need
(19:23):
to see how this series turns out. Let me ask
you something. Do you think we see Kawhi Leonard again
in this series.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Or do you think I don't not in this series?
I don't.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I agree, I don't either. I think it's now kind
of The rumbles around the arena this afternoon were that
he's still going to try and he doesn't want to
rule himself out, and whether that's game five or Game
six or a potential Game seven. The rumbles were that
Kawhi is going to keep trying. But yeah, I mean,
I mean you saw game two. In game three, he
(19:55):
is just not moving well at all. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Well, I guess that's a good segue over to the
East for a little bit, talking about guys not moving well,
which ultimately led to them not moving at all. Bucks
Pacers that series it's got ugly. It's gotten ugly over there. Yeah.
I don't. I don't foresee. I'll just say this, I
(20:21):
don't foresee. Damer Gianni's returning for this series.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I don't this is at three to one down. It's
just there's it's not worth the risk. Yeah, I mean
talk about team that has a lot of off season questions.
I mean, the last thing they need is for Giannis
or Dame to sustain a long term injury. I mean
it sounds like they're playing right on the edge as
(20:46):
it is.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, yeah, it's unfortunate. You know, Dame came into the
playoffs really feeling good. He had about a week off.
He was dealing with achilles soreness towards the end of
the regular season. Then he had like a week off
and he got he got right, He got himself right,
(21:09):
and you've seen in those first couple of games in
the playoffs he was he was playing probably the best
ball in that little two three game stretch. You can
make a case that was probably the best you've seen him.
Mat just like scoring in bunches and in droves, and
you know, that was the Dame, that was the Dame
of old. You know, he was telling me, man, I'm
(21:30):
feeling good, like he was ready, and you know we
all knew Giannis was his His intention was to be
able to come back at some point in this first round.
But it's just it's never got to that point. And
now the state that the Bucks are in, down down
(21:54):
three games, the one it's it's just not why is
to try to throw them out there right now? You know,
if if the Bucks would have put up a better fight,
which they were under man so it's it's tough to ask.
It's tough to ask them to to fulfill that. But
(22:14):
if they were able to put up a fight, win
a few more games here, you know, you probably could
have have seen a scenario where Giannis er Dame might
be able to come back, not full strength, but just
be able to come back and at least be a decoy.
I don't know how effective, but it's just not it's
(22:37):
not there. It's tough, you know, it's tough. It's probably
the best thing for them to do at this point.
It's probably just it's focus on the off season. Regroup,
damon Giannis. You know they didn't get the train during
the off season last year that the trade happened so late.
So get it off season to train, build, you know,
(22:58):
build some more continuity together and go into next season
and try to and and try to dominate but yeah,
it's tough. You never want to see a series go
out like that, where or it can be the two
best players are in the series, you know they're they're done.
(23:19):
Then Bobby Porters in Game four gets get sejected and
you know it's just you know, they're shooting itself on
the foot.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
What happened? Though? I thought our pod was supposed to
make guys, it was supposed to help guys soar to
new heights. I don't think we I don't think we
did that for Bobby Porters.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yeah we did it. I mean, how long did Poppy?
Maybe it's a time limit. Maybe you gotta be on
the show for about thirty minutes minimum, you know, maybe
it was a time limit thing. I don't know. I
got to look into the analytics of how long he
was on, what he said, how fully engaged he was.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
So why doesn't producer Ryan keep those analytics? We should
have a spreadsheet with Yeah, we need that. I guess
we need that minutes they how long the interview lasted?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, because our coaches are you know, most of our
coaches are doing well. Who came on, you know, came
on the show. I will still say Mike Brown did well, look,
they didn't make it to the playoffs, but they took
down a team that they really wanted to beat desperately.
It took down and took out the Golden State Wards.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I don't think we can take credit for that. When
Mike Brown was on last season.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I think that was last season.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I don't think I don't think that. I think it's
a two year, two year dame winning the three point
contest hours after talking to us that I think we
can say that a little bit of this league uncut
magic dust was. We can say that we can we
can we can draw a connection there, but claim I
(25:03):
cannot say that we had anything to do with Mike
Brown winning a playing game against the Warriors after we talked.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I thought we had a two year there was a
two year expiration. Finch.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Maybe like if Minnesota keeps rolling, maybe you know Finch
in the All Star Game appearance, maybe we can take
a little credit for that all my bet, Well, let
me ask you this because obviously, you know, Doc Rivers
has been under so much pressure coming in there at
mid season. The results haven't been what the Bucks were
hoping for after making that coaching change. But and this
(25:38):
has to take any notion of heat on Doc Rivers off.
You know, I don't know how he could win a
playoff series without John and Dan.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
He's fine. I think there's enough. There's there's enough of
a track record with this group where you can evaluate
it and see, Okay, now they know how Dame plays.
Now they know you know what Dame and Giannis. Now
they know how they can improve playing with each other
and playing with the collection of teammates. So now they
(26:13):
can kind of evaluate the market and see, okay, what
players will fit best with them? What does Dame need,
What does Gianni's need? What does coach Doc Rivers need?
Remember Doc Rivers, I will, I will expect or I
would suspect that he'll bring in a few more of
his staffers on board. You know he didn't. You know,
(26:36):
he brought in believed two assistant coaches, Dave Jaeger and
and our guy Recks. And I believe that was I
believe though that was Yeah, I believe it was just two.
I believe it was. And so if you look, if
you look closely at the Bucks, you have to be
(26:58):
a Bucks fan and really look at this. But if
you if you look closely at the Bucks, bench, And
I'm talking about the assistant coaches. You've seen since Doc
has come on board. You've seen some guys, some coaches,
some assistant coaches who start off from the front bench
and then they were moved to the back of the bench.
You know that what that was Doc rivers like filling
out his staff, giving other guys promotions and giving some demotions,
(27:24):
and so you know, Doc still has to find his
way and be able to plant his mark as well.
So you know that's that's the But no, he no,
he don't Doc know, he don't Doc. They're going to
try to figure this thing out together.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I have to say, I'm really going to be interested
to hear what Jannis has to say when he sits
down at a podium for his end of the season
press conference. It's not going to have the blockbuster headline
potential most likely that we saw lastie in after the
Bucks lost to Miami so stunningly in Round one, and
(28:04):
of course we had the whole there's no failure in
sports speech. I'm not expecting those kind of fireworks, but
just psyche wise, this is two years in a row
that Yannis entered the playoffs with an injury that has
(28:25):
prevented him. I mean, this injury is likely going to
prevent him from playing at all in the series. Obviously,
last season against Miami he did play some in the playoffs,
but it's two years in a row that an injury
has really interfered with his playoff hopes and dreams, and
(28:46):
so I just I would I'm really ready for Yanna's
unplugged to kind of hear what his mindset is and
what he's thinking, because the expectations for this Bucks team
were so high after the trade to bring in in
Dame right before the start of the season, and it's
just been a brutal season in Bruetown. So I really
(29:10):
want to I know the series is only three to one,
but yeah, I mean, how can we say that the
Bucks really have a chance to get out of this
round with no Joannis, no Dame. There was an injury
scare tonight for Chris Middleton on top of everything, but
Middleton was able to play on But yeah, I mean,
this is this has just been It has just been
(29:31):
one thing after another for the Milwaukee Bucks. And wow,
we've gotten this far and we haven't even talked yet
really too much about the first game of the day,
(29:52):
the Knicks go to Philadelphia and win Game four. Another
wild one. Jalen Brunson, your guy, the little lefty forty
seven points career playoff high, yet another major playoff downer
(30:17):
for the Sixers. An absolutely brutal fourth quarter for Philly.
Embiid only had one point. I believe in that final
period the Sixers as a team missed their last ten shots.
I think they scored three points in the last five
minutes Embiid played. He was clearly exhausted at the end.
(30:38):
And look, when you're a star, when you're a perennial
MVP candidate, you take the heat when things go badly.
But look, Joel Embiid scored fifty points on nineteen shots
in Game three, and I'm struggling to just go after
(31:00):
him now because of what we saw on this Sunday,
knowing that he's playing hurt, he's playing at far less
than one hundred percent, and I think that has to
be factored in. We can't just ignore that that. You know,
the Sixers go to pieces when Embiid is off the floor,
(31:21):
and so again I'm struggling to just put this all
on him. And it's amazing, really what he's giving the
Sixers so quickly after a meniscus procedure on his knee.
But man, Philly, you know this is it's just been
(31:43):
one playoff let down slash disappointment after another, and they're
down three to one now to the Knicks, and it
really looks like Jalen Brunson is just not going to
let the Knicks lose this series.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yeah, the Knicks are. They're a tough, minded, gritty team.
And you know, I'm very impressed with the the DNA
that they've uh that they've latched onto that is of
coach Tom Thibodeau. They are really they're really plugged in.
(32:23):
They are really plugged in. Not the not the fanciest team,
not the most electric, They're just a hard fought team
that's just going to give it to you from start
to finish. And Philly, Yeah, I mean you touched on
it right there. When Joel Embiid doesn't play that the
team falls apart. And we've seen that during the regular season.
(32:43):
They were one of the best teams in the East.
Joel goes out all of a sudden, they're in play
in range. So this this team is not This team
is not what they should be right now, and that's
based off of embiid missing a chunk of the season
(33:03):
and EMBD not being anywhere close to one still dealing
with that injury. You know, he's gutting it out. He
probably shouldn't be playing. He's gutting it out, and you
have to give him credit. You have to plout him
for trying to be there when it matters in the
season most so, I can't blame him. It's just, you know,
it's just it's a sad tale because they've been through
(33:26):
this time and and time again, and you know, you
don't want you don't want to say, well, they just
can't win with that and bid, I mean, you don't
want to say they can't win with them be. I
mean that's not I don't think you can say that
yet because he hasn't been healthy, you know, during postseason
play for the most part. But there is a trend.
(33:49):
But it's tough, man. I just want to see the
big fella healthy and he was playing some dominant basketball
before an injury. Really really unfortunate, but you got to
give credit to the Knicks. All all you can do,
similar to the Indiana Pacers, all you can do is
(34:10):
play who's ever on your schedule. That's it, on your schedule,
play who ever on the roster at that time.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Yeah, because that's the thing we've been waiting. We've been
waiting and waiting. Will Joel Embiid ever be able to
enter the playoffs healthy or reasonably close to healthy? And
he entered these playoffs well shy of healthy. And yeah,
he scored fifty points the other night, but that doesn't
(34:40):
mean that he is anywhere close to one. I didn't
I thought it was unwise for Embiid to complain after
the game about how many Knicks fans there were in
Phillies building. Obviously there were a ton, but that's not
really an issue. I think he should be raising in
the way of a Game four home defeat. But when
(35:03):
it comes to Embiid on the floor, I do think
we have to give him some slack because he did
come back from a knee procedure faster than he should have,
just like Karl Anthony Towns in Minnesota. They both came
back faster than they probably should have from a knee procedure.
(35:26):
And we know, as we've said already, without Joel Embiid,
the Sixers have no chance this series. Our former ESBN
colleague John Hollinger, he tweeted out pretty smartly earlier today,
you know, the Sixers have a guy making almost forty
million this season, Tobias Harris only has eleven baskets in
(35:47):
the first four games of this series. So the Sixers
truly are leaning very, very heavily on Joel Embiid and
they wouldn't even have a chance without him, and that
does have to be something that we remember and keep
track of. On the other side, Man Jalen Brunson, obviously
(36:10):
I saw him the first few years of his career,
but I continue to be astounded year two in New York,
year two since he left the city where I live
in work in Dallas. I mean, he just still continues
to get better. And he had a really rough start
to this Philly series. He shot sixteen for fifty five
(36:32):
in the first two games, very uncharacteristic. But what he
did today with forty seven on the road to lead
the Knicks to this win that gives the Knicks a
three to one lead when so many other Knicks were
struggling offensively. Just man Jalen Brunson has had a remarkable season,
(36:56):
and I think he's gonna end up in the top
five and MVP balloting somewhere. No I doubt he gets
higher than four or five, but he should be in
the top five. He's been that good.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
It's been really good. And one thing I like about Jalen,
No matter if his shot is going in or not,
he's going to be aggressive. He's going to stay aggressive.
You're not going to have You're not going to have
an off night. If you're defending him, He's not going
to give you that off night. He's going to keep
coming at you. And I think Philly first couple of
(37:29):
games thought they might have figured out something, you know,
stop his effectiveness, you know, to bring down that shooting percentage.
But Jalen man, he's a hooper man. He just know
he knows how to get it done. So kudos to Jalen.
He's leading this Knicks like no no nobody thought this.
I remember when he signed that contract went over to
(37:51):
New York. People thought they were they overpaid. They didn't
see this. So I'm happy that he's exceeding expectations and
he's continued to elevate his game and his team's game.
So definitely fun to watch what hasn't been. I ain't
gonna say what has Listen, so stile say this. You know,
(38:12):
we give a lot of credit. You said, all right,
Bobby Porters. Okay, maybe Bobby Porters is somebody who's came
on this this pod and hasn't really stepped up like
we expect most of our guests to come on here
and have a has some success posts the visit with us.
(38:33):
But there's another guy. I guess we got to mention
Darvin Ham. God, you know Darvin Ham. We've had Darvin
Ham on and he's been on within the year. He
came on last summer and you know, they gotta win.
They were close to be getting swept. They gotta win.
In Game four one in La Lebron, James play out
(38:56):
of this world at the David stepped up. D'Angelo Russell
finally had a good game in this series. So now
the series shifts back to Denver for Game five. If
the Lakers lose, everyone expects that the Lakers would will
(39:20):
make a coaching move after that. Is it deserved or not? Listen,
I think the roster isn't that good, and not only that,
I think they've been plagued by a lot of injuries
that were just out of their control. I mean, Jered
Vanderbilt hasn't played in since I don't those months. Christian
(39:46):
Wood hasn't had had a low impact this season, free
agent gate Vincent has had a low impact this season
injury as well. Cam Reddish been out extended time. So
it's just they haven't had their whole team out there
(40:06):
for a long enough stretch and period to gain some continuity.
So I I put a lot of it on that,
maybe not saying the roster isn't good enough, but just
they they haven't had their guys together long enough. I
put it more so on that. Man, I know, people,
you know, start to criticize Darvingham. You criticize any coach,
(40:29):
criticize Darvinham. Frank Vogel is getting the receiving the same
treatment out there in Phoenix, and you know, not calling
time outs, not making adjustments, all of that stuff. And look, man,
it this league is tough. It's tough on the head coach.
But what I will say, what I will say, if
(40:49):
the Lakers do come up short in this first round,
and if they do decide to let Darvingham go, my
question is who's out there that's my question. Who is
out there that can take this team to the next level,
What proven coach is available.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Well, certainly Mike Budenholzer is out there, and we know
he's a championship coach of recent vintage. I'm just not
so sure that that's where the Lakers would turn if
they did decide they were making a change.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Yeah, I agree with you one hundred percent on that
Ham comes from the boot and holes of trees. So
I don't know that they would go down that road again.
So again my question is who is out there? Who
you know? Because Lakers there, they're quick to make changes,
particularly on the head coach, head coach in front. Okay,
but who's out there?
Speaker 1 (41:45):
Well, here's the thing. It's been at the very quiet
to this point on the coaching carousel. The day after
the season, there were no dismissals. It was very unnfl like. Obviously,
Charlotte is still searching for a coach. Washington is still
in the midst of a coaching search. The Brooklyn Nets
decided very quickly after the season to hire Jordi Fernandez
(42:10):
away from Mike Brown staff and Sacramento. Jordi Fernandez will
be the new coach of the Nets starting next season.
But we know that when things happen in the playoffs,
when teams lose earlier than they expect or hope, that
does lead to surprise openings on the coaching carousel. And
(42:35):
you know you mentioned it as well, Frank Vogel today
before the game, before this game against Minnesota, that as
you and I are recording this is going down to
the wire with Minnesota trying to sweep the Suns out
of the playoffs. Frank Vogel before this game had to
answer a question about his job security, and Frank Vogel
(42:59):
said at his pregame press conference quote, I've got full
support for matt ishbia end quote. We will soon see
if that plays out, because again, as we're recording this,
the Suns Anthony Edwards just threw down a ridiculous dunk
in traffic to put the Wolves up for heading into
(43:20):
the final two minutes and change. And if Minnesota can
hold that lead, the Suns would be the first team
eliminated from the twenty twenty three to twenty four playoffs.
So yeah, if the Lakers lose early, if the Suns
lose early, you know, put them in the same category.
Like I said before right there with the Warriors the Kings.
(43:43):
I think the Hawks qualify as well in Atlanta, where
these teams are entering difficult off seasons, really hard choices
in the offseason, and in one or two or maybe
more of those situations, pressure will be immediately foisted upon
the coach once their team was a living Ye. But
(44:11):
I'm glad you brought up the Lakers because you have
neatly led me into the Monday preview. This episode is
dropping on a Monday, and later today you'll be on
the sidelines for Game four in Miami Celtics at heat,
and then later in the evening the Lakers in Denver
(44:33):
for Game five. The Lakers did avoid the sweep, they
did extend their season. The one wrinkle here in that,
I mean, you would think Denver's going to finish off
the Lakers Game five in their gym, but Jamal Murray
sustained a calf injury late in Game four in La So.
(44:58):
But this series is over right, there's no way the
Lakers can come back.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Well, it was one game at a time, Yeah, one
game at a time. I mean the eyes are death.
Oh now, Chris Finch hurt himself. No, Chris Finch. Don
you see that.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
You must be ahead of me, your feed must be
ahead of me.
Speaker 2 (45:20):
Wow. Coley runs, Oh, hit some right in the knee.
It looks like, oh the right knee.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
No goodness sakes.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
Injuries.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
That is the metaphor of these playoffs. Now Mike, oh,
Mike Conley straight into Chris Finch's right knee.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Man, Finch is still down.
Speaker 1 (45:49):
Oh wow, these playoffs man, just way too hazardous. Greg Farnham,
the Wolves trainer in another Wolf staffer, had to help
Chris Finch off the floor with one forty one remaining.
Not even coaches are safe in the twenty twenty three
(46:10):
to twenty four playoffs. Man, this is ridiculous. So we
wanted to just wait till the finish line to make
sure sure. But it is finished now. The Timberwolves again,
a franchise that in its first thirty four seasons won
only two playoff series, both in two thousand and four,
(46:35):
twenty years ago. Sadly, Chris Finch didn't get to be
on the floor for the finish of it. But the
Wolves have broomed the Phoenix Suns into the off season.
The very high priced, top heavy Phoenix Suns Man what
(46:56):
are they going to do this offseason? I mean, look
at the coaching box if you want to, is Frank
Vogel's job legit under threat as has been suggested in
some league circles, I mean changing the coach? What is
that really going to change? How does this roster change?
(47:19):
Because of how much Phoenix is spent to put together
this star trio it has assembled, the Suns, as everyone knows,
are so far into the second apron they have no
easy way to make changes here. Bradley Beal, his first
season as a Phoenix Sun, ends with a nine point
(47:40):
performance in Game four and Beal, as we mentioned, fouled
out late and nine points six turnovers in the final
game of the season. For Bradley Beal and no matter
what happens with their coaching situation, how do the Suns
prove this roster next season? It's really hard to see
(48:04):
a pathway for them to improve this roster meaningfully.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
Well, you know, you can start by getting the point guard.
Yes that should be a top priority, but definitely you know,
you hit it on the head, definitely too top hit.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
And Bradley Beal has no trade clause, so they can't
trade Bradley Beal unless he consents, And who's really what
kind of market is there going to be for Bradley
Beal when he's making about fifty million next season and
his first season in Phoenix did not go well. This
(48:44):
is the matchup Phoenix wanted. They got up to number six,
They won the season series three to zero against Minnesota,
and everybody thought this thing had upset potential. And man,
the Timberwolves just absolutely reaffirmed that they are the best
(49:06):
defensive team in the league. And truly, man, I am
sick for Chris Finch. First of all, just hope that
the injury, the knee injury isn't too serious, because it
obviously looked awful and the way he had to be
helped off the floor that alone should be caused for concern.
But just absolutely sucks for Finch. His first playoff series
(49:32):
victory as an NBA coach. And I say that as
someone who watched him coach in the British Battle League
a quarter century ago against Nick Nurse and he doesn't
get to be out there to enjoy it. But man,
the Wolves. How impressive were the Minnesota Timberwolves in this
first round?
Speaker 2 (49:53):
Crazy Minnesota Timblewolves. Okay, see Thunder play.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
And we've we've barely talked about the Thunder. Mark Dagnaalt
named Coach of the Year tonight. I mean the Thunder have.
Certainly they're getting people's attention. I don't want to get
too far ahead of myself, but this is potentially setting
up very nicely for the Thunder in round two because
(50:24):
assuming that OKC can finish off New Orleans up three
to zero, and again, of course the Pelicans do not
have the injured Zion Williamson, the Thunder will play either
the Clippers, who don't have Kawhi Leonard at the moment,
or the Mavericks, who have and ailing Luka Doncic. So
(50:48):
the Thunder in their first playoff run as a team
pretty much the youngest team out there. What an opportunity
the Thunder have up three to zero now on New Orleans,
and man stat Muse just tweeted it, I have to
repeat it. The Suns did not win a playoff game
(51:08):
this season, swept out of the first round. But on
top of that, the Suns possess no first round picks
between twenty twenty five and twenty thirty and no second
round picks between twenty twenty four as in this June
and twenty thirty. So the Sons have no draft capital
(51:29):
to make moves. How do they if they decide to
keep Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal together, how
do they improve around those guys with very very limited
flexibility to sign free agents or make trades. Man Matt
Ishbia has a lot of questions to answer. Last thing,
(51:53):
is South Beach treating you all right? How about? What
did missus Haynes think of her anniversary being talked about
on national television?
Speaker 2 (52:02):
Yeah? I had to show it the next morning. Nah,
let see, it was cool. So our anniversary is actually today.
So we went to the beach, hung at the beach,
Bernie Lee, Jimmy Butler's agents got us reservations at Carbone
Italian restaurant out here, spent like three hours there. She
(52:27):
had a great time. She had a great time. So
you know, we didn't we didn't.
Speaker 1 (52:32):
Yeah, I heard your colleague Brian Anderson put the city
on alert the Haynes family's in town.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
Yeah, that was cool. Twenty one years.
Speaker 1 (52:43):
Congratulations my friend, that is awesome, And congratulations to show contributors.
Charlotte Haynes as well and beyond wishing you guys a
happy twenty first anniversary, I am wishing for no more injuries.
Can we just stop it with the injuries? Can we
have one, two, maybe three days of good health in
(53:05):
this league? Enough? Stop it? All right? That's gonna do
it for this edition of this league Uncut. As always,
please follow us, rate the show, review the show. We
would love to get a five star review from you.
Chris is on Celtic's Heat. I believe through game five.
(53:28):
Is that correct? You're on that series at least through
game five. I will be on MAVs Clippers, probably to
the completion of that series. Definitely through the first six games.
We'll see if a it requires a game seven and
if I would make it to that game seven that
is tbd. But I will be at Game five in LA.
(53:52):
I'll be working actually on the Mavericks radio broadcast, as
I did for Game one and Game two in LA.
So busy times, that's the way it is in the playoffs.
But Chris and I will be together again very soon
for the next edition of this league Uncut. Thanks as
always for listening, and one more time, happy twenty first
(54:15):
anniversary at Chris and.
Speaker 3 (54:18):
Should and that'll do it for us. See you next time.
This League Uncut is an iHeartRadio production
Speaker 1 (54:36):
Chris Haynes and Mark Stein
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