Ep. 62: Sixers Kick Off the Season with MONSTER WIN over Celtics on Christmas! - 12/26/24

Sean Brace and #Sixers/#NBA Insider Sean Barnard talk about the huge #Sixers win in Boston on #Christmas Day against the #Celtics!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you can wager on it, We're talking about it.
It's the Gambler, the Fox Sports Radio, The Gamblerambler. Fox
Sports Radio in Philly is the Gambler, the Gambling, Philly's
home for all things sports, gambling, picks and roll, handicapping

(00:20):
the hardwood with Sixers insider Sean Bernard and Sean Brace.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
And away we go. Good afternoon, everybody. The Philadelphia seventy
six Ers kick off the twenty twenty four twenty five
season with the victory and the season opener last night taking.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Place in Boston on Christmas Day.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Your team, your town, your Philadelphia Sixers, seventy six Ers
one as a plus three fifty five underdog, as a
plus ten underdog, catching ten on the road in Boston,
rainding champions of a still kicking ass and taking names
of this season, although we'll find out a little bit
more about.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
What's ailing the Celtics at this point in time.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
And my co host for the day right here, right now,
Sean Barnard called back game through and through and then
some yesterday, and I'm gonna catch some heat because I
want to follow up and put this out there immediately,
so there's no offense butts about it. I was on
every one of those plays as far as spread is concerned.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Now, you led, you led the path. You were Christopher Columbus,
you were, you were fine. I don't know if I'm
allowed to say that, but you were.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
You were, you know, the guy that was trying to
find where we were going. You steered the ship and
you led us in the right direction. But every one
of those spread plays I was on with you. And
it's not to say that I wasn't feeling them beforehand either.
But you called the Sixers money line, So let's put
the joke into the side. Sixers open up the season
with a win against the Boston Celtics yesterday when everybody

(01:58):
was watching. Now eight of eleven I think needs to
be the really big talking.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
Point at this point in time. Sean.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, man, I'm not gonna know. I'm not gonna poo
poo the moment. That was a monster, a monster win
for a team that needed that, in a fan base
that needed that even more.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
Yeah, one hundred percent there, And I agree the eight
of eleven is an awesome storyline.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
And I'll also add, like looking ahead a little bit.

Speaker 4 (02:18):
That there's back to back really winnable games against the
Jazz and Trailblazers, and then all of a sudden, we're
talking ten of thirteen. And I don't want to get
ahead of ourselves there, but I do think to make
this matter to people, you needed one of those signature victories,
and that's exactly what yesterday was. The Boston Celtics are
the defending champs, are and had been the title favorites
for most of this season, and really, while it got
a little harry there in that second half, the Sixers

(02:40):
basically controlled that game from start to finish. So I
was really impressed. I thought it was a grown up,
mature performance, and I think it confirms what we really
already knew that this Sixers team is still a legitimate contender.
We just haven't seen them assembled nearly enough just yet.
So I didn't think it was an excellent game from
Paul George. I did think it was from Tyrese Maxy.
I thought Joelle looked like Joelle. I thought seeing Caleb
Martin show up, and I don't think this is any

(03:01):
accident that he is this Celtics killer. There's some terrific
stats run around the timeline right now of how much
better he plays against the Celtics than any other team.
But we've seen it when the lights been the brightest
there in the playoffs, with the heat, and seven of
nine from three yesterday, most three pointers he's ever made
in an NBA game.

Speaker 5 (03:16):
So shout out to Caleb Martin for showing up.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
But I do think that Hitch looks a little bit
fixed in that shoulder, which is super relieving here. But
this is the type of win we need to see
for the Sixers team, and I do believe this is
just a springboard for the remainder of the season. This
is not a fluke of a win.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, I look, we can't get too crazy, you can.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
You could because people weren't saying that the other way
right when they were losing. The sky was falling and
right hand in the year, I was disgusted. Last night,
Sean was the first seventy six Ers game that I
have enjoyed from starting. Look at that, right, like the
Spurs game we talked about going, had some things pop up, sucked.
I wanted to go, but at the end of the day,

(03:55):
everything got removed from that, you know, the equation of
enjoying the game because of everything that took place. That
was a game that I kind of built up. I
was like, all right, let's see what we got now, Like,
come on, let's put this together. You beat up on
a bunch of bad teams, your five point favorites, gets
the Spurs at home.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
You should win this game.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
And they look like they were going to do that
even without with Joel Embid.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Of course without him they when he got Bootis.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
But so I think from where I stand right here
right now, I think it's important for all of us.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
If you're in the camp of.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Saying it was doomsday, this team wasn't making the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
Even if they did, were no.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Like, come on, man, there's nothing to go out like,
there's a time and place.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
For that now.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
This team deserves the other way to deserve the respect.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that
I believe that everything's gonna be fine. In the back
of my mind, I still think.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
Dude, look at yesterday.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Dude falls and almost is out for the season in
a pregame shot. Yeah, he comes up limp on another
play during the game. So where I'm at, Sean, instead
of being negative Nancy and still having my take.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
On Joel Embiid.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
I'm trying to find more positives, and I look at Maxi,
and I look at how Nurse is coaching, and I'm
trying to find Yabu, Sally, Caleb Martin last night, Like
that's where I'm at. I can't allow myself to be negative,
you know, cause it's not fun.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
We got a long way to go as far as
this regular season.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
And guess what if they proved me wrong, then at
the end of the day, you tip your cap and
I'm a die hard fan.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
I'm ready to go and I will be there cheering
fur them no matter what.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
And y'all cauld kiss my ass if I don't get
an invite on no parade flow all right.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Cause I still am a diehard Sixers fan. But it
was ugly. But as I said at the top of
this conversation, for.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Everybody, I don't care how negative you are, and I
was about as negative. A gets eight of eleven and
that was a monster win against Boston last night.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
Yeah, and look the Joel Embiid stuff. It does feel
like we're playing injury mad libs at this point. Man,
Like I could not believe the stuff coming out before
that game. As far as him tripping there, and like
it does feel like I don't think I've ever seen
an athlete in my entire lifetime be as snake bitten
from injuries with as Joelle and Bee. And what's like
specifically bizarre about Joelle is it feels like it's constantly
things like this, him tripping on a security guard in

(06:11):
warm ups and rolling his ankle. We're not talking like
we're kind of past the conversations about like the repetitive
knee issues or tearing the meniscus and needing all these surgeries.
It's just this weird stuff that pops up. I mean,
we're totally haven't even acknowledged the fact that he played
with a mask for his sinus fracture yesterday, as he's
still playing through that like it has been one of
those things. And that's kind of the joellebet stories. So

(06:31):
I get the skepticism there. For me, though, like I
want to highlight Tyrese Maxie a little bit more. I
think we are seeing I don't want to say the
torch passed, but it does feel like him stepping up
into a little bit more of the frontline of this franchise,
and there is a level of nastiness that he's developed
on the court that I honestly wasn't confident that he
had in him. Like there was a report going around

(06:52):
from one of the Boston reporters yesterday talking about that
Maxi he hit a three, turned to the Celtics bench
and told him to get Sam Houser out of the gate,
that he couldn't guard him.

Speaker 5 (07:00):
I didn't know that, Tyrese, Maxi, that was your gamer.
You had that in you right there.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
So I'm loving seeing that, And I mean, I would
probably argue that was the best two way performance of
Maxie's career. I thought he was excellent defensively yesterday. I
think he really has been for most of the season.
He had a double double that ultimately his stat line,
finishing yesterday with thirty three points, twelve assists, had three
steals and four rebounds as well, shot three of nine
from three to twelve to twenty three from the field.
We're starting to see his efficiency numbers go back up.

(07:25):
He's still this all star foundational piece that is really
starting to grow into exactly what we hoped it could be.
And I think the slow start to the season had
Maxi kind of fall out of the front line a
little bit for this franchise. He deserves every bit of
the flowers that he hasn't quite gotten this year.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
Well, I gotta ask you this because a full disclosure.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Obviously, yesterday Christmas Day, Mary Christmas, and Happyanica to everybody
out there. I was on dish duty and we had
a ton of them to clean up, so I couldn't
really pay attention too much into the third Probably five
minutes in the four to six minutes of the fourth
somewhere around there cought basically the end where it was like,
as soon as I get a chance to sit.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
Down, here we go. They're gonna blow it again.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
It's not easy to win on the road in Boston,
so like, let's be honest about that. But Max he
did do something. He wasn't happy with his performance at
the end. What happened there in the fourth quarter That
kind of like people were like, what is going.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
On right now?

Speaker 4 (08:15):
Yeah, I mean it felt like the Celtics kind of
ratchet things up defensively a little bit.

Speaker 5 (08:19):
I thought the Sixers had a little bit of trouble.

Speaker 4 (08:21):
I think the play specifically you're talking about, and MAXI
does this often where he pretty casually goes up the
court and really flirts with getting that eight second violation
getting it past the half court line, and he got
bopped Throll yesterday. You very rarely see that in the NBA,
that call being made, and MAXI was pretty clearly frustrated
about it. I've noticed that in many games of him
just kind of being very casual about when he gets

(08:41):
past the half court. It's not a big deal thing,
it's not a panic thing, but certainly was not a
time in the game in which that was great to
have from a Sixers perspective there, So he was definitely
frustrated about that. It is what it is, not something
that they's a super hard hitting takeaway. But I would
say in general, I would appreciate if you sped up
that pace past the half court a little bit.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, And I know the shots were full for him,
But I thought Reggie Jackson looked okay at times out there, right,
He just looks more.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
In control of the moment.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
I don't know, but I think, like I said, I'm
trying to find the other positives besides focusing on Paul
George and and Joel Embiid, who is the god and
I love Jojo and it's like, oh my goodness, more
of the same.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
The injury mad libs. I think you just said it
was perfection.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
But Caleb Martin like, yeah, I know, they said it
on a broadcast one hundred times.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
If the Sixers get this production from Caleb Martin, look out. Okay,
Well why can't we get this production from Caleb Martin
at a night in, night out? Why can't Caleb Martin
be more of a factor for this team? Now?

Speaker 2 (09:39):
I have to ask you this too, Sean, And you've
been heavily positive with this team and times I think
they didn't deserve it. But you know, your big takeaway
this whole time is like, this is a new team,
long way to go. It's a marathon, and you're right,
twenty six here we are in December, teams putting it together.
Is Caleb Martin under that that radar of like, you know,

(10:05):
dude just takes a little bit. It's a new spot.
He's not going anywhere. He had to find his rhythm.
Could we expect more? Should we expect more from him
moving forward?

Speaker 5 (10:14):
Yeah? I think we should, and I think he's gonna deliver.

Speaker 4 (10:16):
To be honest, I think his injury issues have not
been acknowledged really enough, and I give him a lot
of credit for battling through it.

Speaker 5 (10:22):
Like he's always had a bit of a.

Speaker 4 (10:23):
Unique jumper, dating back to his time at Nevada, his
time in my with the Miami Heat there that there is.

Speaker 5 (10:28):
A little bit of a uniqueness to it.

Speaker 4 (10:30):
But it felt pretty clearly like there was a hitch
in his shot for just about all of the season.
Still shooting at a pretty high rate from the corner,
but everywhere else it just looks short and hard for him.

Speaker 5 (10:38):
And he kind of opened up about it last week.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
The Sixers shut him down for I believe four or
five games, and he was asked about it in this
quote from him from talking with Kay Carlin of Sixers
Wire here, Cale Martin says, quote, it was painful, like,
you know, getting up towards a certain range of motion
and kind of looked and it kind of felt like
an abrupt stoppage, just because you know what you're gonna
feel once you get into a certain range, and it's
almost like your body kind of does like a defense
mechanism where it stops, you know what I mean. It's

(11:02):
almost like, ah, we don't want to feel that, so
that was him talking about raising his shoulder, which obviously
impacts your jump shot quite a bit. There, it did
look fixed to me yesterday. It did look like there
was not that same hitch. He still got that kind
of kicking it, but that's more of just a form
work thing for him. So I do think he's over
whatever this shoulder injury he was dealing with. I'm glad
that they shut him down, And in fairness to kay
La Martin, I have a lot of respect for the

(11:22):
hard hat guys like this who continually want to battle
through it. That was his reputation at Miami as well.
I know last season specifically, a lot of the heat
reporters were talking about how they thought his numbers would
be better if he just kind of took a couple
of nights off when his body kind of needed it,
and he refused to do that. We're seeing the same
thing from this year. So I'm glad the Sixers shut
him down for a couple of games. I'm glad the
shoulder looks fixed, and he was designed to be like

(11:44):
a fifth starter in this Sixers team, in the starting
lineup for it, so I expect that to be the
case at some point when the dust all settles, and
last night was really the first time that we saw
that starting lineup that everyone imagined when the team was
put together.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
Tyrey Smacks he once again first seventy six er to
have a thirty point point Tennisis game on Christmas Day.
Of course, Jewel Embiid had himself a monster Knight as well,
twenty seven points, nine boards.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
It just brings the attitude just so much. You know,
he's barking, and you.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
Know that the team, when they're playing well, they're gonna
vibe off of that. But again, Caleb Martin, with career
high seven to three pointers, finished with twenty three. This
team played about as good as you can get last
night in that game on Christmas Day against the Celtics
as ten point underdogs, as plus three fifty five on
the money line underdogs. Let's talk about the Celtics for

(12:33):
just a second, losers of three out of their last four.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah, the three points go up.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
But and again, what was their numbers last night from
the three pointer perspective.

Speaker 3 (12:42):
Sham Bonarde got it in front of me.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
They were forty nine bet pregame, Yeah, pregame, you're taking
that if you're Boston correct.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
So what happened last night for them to come up
short here?

Speaker 4 (12:52):
I think defense was the number one story to me
that I didn't think they were connected enough on that
side of the ball. Jalen Brown I didn't think was
particularly great last night. And it's interesting to me, like
he very clearly to me, doesn't fit in this category
of like a player that's just good at launching threes
or you know, playing that style that he wants to
attack the rim and to lay out his stats. He's
still finished with twenty three points, seven rebounds, four assists there,

(13:13):
shot ten of twenty three from the field, three of
six from three, which he is tied with Porzingis, who
obviously only played the first half last night and dealt
with injuries there, and Drew Howaday obviously was out as
well well the same amount of three point volume as
Porzingis three of six, which is the fewest in the
starters and sixth on the team overall. There, So that's
kind of the Jalen Brown story. They're gonna be fine

(13:34):
in the overall grand scheme. They're still very dangerous team.
They're gonna get it together. But I will say, like
a Celtics friend of mine was like furious with how
they've looked these past couple of days and specifically the
frustrations with Jalen Brown, and more or less, I think
it's a defense thing that they got to figure out
how to be better on that side of the floor.

Speaker 5 (13:50):
They have the personnel to and it just kind of
isn't happening.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
So I'm gonna just brush it off to a sloppy
mid season stretch here, but it hasn't been over to
the convincing basketball this past week for the Celtics.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
Drew Holliday and play Let's not forget about that.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Porzingis did leave after half as well, so that was
kind of a little of an issue as far as
defense is concerned.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
And Pritchard went over eight. As I'm looking at here,
I don't really care too.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
Much about Peyton Pritchell, although look, wasn't even six man
of the years, So that's a huge deal for Peyton
Pritcher to go over eight from Downtown.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
It is.

Speaker 5 (14:21):
Yeah, he played thirty three minutes last night, Peyton Pitcher.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
So it's not Peyton Pritcher from last year or the
year before. That's for damn sure. So he's definitely developed
into a little bit more of a role player for
that team.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
For the Celtics. As we said with the six Man
of the Year award, was he front runner.

Speaker 5 (14:38):
I believe he's still the favorite.

Speaker 4 (14:40):
He's had an excellent season and I mean part of
it has been inflated due to a lot of the
blowouts of the Celtics have gotten in, but his numbers
are pretty gaudy.

Speaker 3 (14:47):
Yeah, that is that's crazy to think about.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
All right, So one more on the sixers here just
to Draft Kings sportsbook. Oh yeah, minus two seventy favorite,
DeAndre Hunter four to one at two, Thompson at plus two.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
So essentially it's a two horse race at this point
in time. Do you see that award as that right now?

Speaker 4 (15:05):
I have a hard time with six Man of the
Year award, to be honest. I mean, like MVP and
Defensive Player of the Year, the only ones I have,
like n Rookie the Year, have like concrete definitions for
like even Pritchard, Like we'll have games this season where
I'm sure he's injected in the starting lineup and things
like that. Malik Bunk's been banged up and he's been
a guy that's typically in the race. There and he's
also coming in the starting lineup in racing games. So

(15:26):
I think it's been a it's a little bit of
a weak class for the six Man of the Year cases,
but Pritchard's been excellent and not taking anything away from
so I do think he's rightfully the favorite.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
And Hunter's averaging twenty points per game for the Hawks
this year off the bench as well for six man
but Thompson twenty to one, Buddy healed thirty to one
Nazrid forty one. So if you could find a player
that you like and you believe, maybe it's worth a
little sprinkle.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
But at the same time, Man minus two seventy although
people told me the NFL MVP Award was wrapped up to.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
As a point, anything's possible, excuse me, a little fighting
it hey out to Sam Austree Powers from the Gambler Gang.

Speaker 3 (16:02):
Everybody's a little banged up.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
This week, man, So rest up, people, take care of
yourself and let's all get healthy for the new year.

Speaker 3 (16:09):
That's fast approaching, all right?

Speaker 2 (16:10):
For next up for the seventy six or Sea but
nod the Sixers all are currently on a six game
road trip and their excuse me, next game up is
against the Utah Jazz, So this will be game number
two on the road trip.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
And what then? They got Golden State?

Speaker 4 (16:27):
I want to say, I think Portland yep, Jazz, Portland, Sacramento,
Golden State, Brooklyn, and then back home against Phoenix.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
All winnable games, yep, step Phoenix. What's that Phoenix game?

Speaker 5 (16:39):
That would be January sixth, much Monday?

Speaker 3 (16:43):
Should we storm the Wells Fargo Center? Might have to?
All right?

Speaker 2 (16:49):
Anything else from the seventy sixers perspective, like talk to
me about the six game road trip, Sean, build it
up right here, right now, your time to shine.

Speaker 3 (16:57):
You called it.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
We're gonna go over the rest of the car from yesterday.
Fantastic day at the office by Sean Bernard. Where do
we stand with the Sixers right now on this six
game road trip? They open it up? So five to go?
What are we talking about when this team comes back
to the Wells Fargo Center on January sixth?

Speaker 4 (17:13):
Yes, So they started the season three and fourteen. There
we've won eight of our last eleven. That brings us
on the season overall to eleven and seventeen. They're now
one game out of the play and they sit in
the eleventh seed, and that tenth seed right in front
of is the Detroit Pistons, who are a very team.

Speaker 5 (17:28):
They are very capable of passing there.

Speaker 4 (17:29):
So look ahead at the games they have, you just
got to keep ripping off wins Man, Utah Jazz one
of the worst teams in the league, Portland traild Blazers
right there with them, Sacramento Kings a solid team, but
certainly not a team that isn't capable of losing. The
Golden State Warriors, a team that is playing some pretty
poor basketball right now, really struggling and trying desperately to
reopen that championship window. And then against the Brooklyn Nets,
who are trying to join that conversation of worst teams

(17:52):
in the league. So at the minimum I would say
this is you can't say give me's because anybody has
a chance in the NBA. With three games that they
absolutely should win and I think two games they probably
should win, you can take all five of those. I
think the entire tune of the Sixers team changes, and
we're talking about a record of sixteen and seventeen. The
next time that they suit up in the Wells Fargo Center.
That probably puts them in that seven or eight seed range.

(18:13):
And again, there is still a lot of basketball left
to be played, so the opportunities right there in front
of them. It just has to be continuing to rip
out wins. I really think that, like they're kind of
have gotten through the worst of it, they just got
to keep staying on the floor, building a little chemistry
and playing better.

Speaker 5 (18:26):
I think there's levels up this team can go, Paul.

Speaker 4 (18:29):
George, they gotta find a way to get a little
bit more from and We're in a positive vibes time.
So I'm not gonna rip open that bandage too much
right now, but I do think that's a storyline to watch.
Tyrese MAXI keep the foot on the gas. They will
also note a little storyline to monitor here. The Sixers
have not made any sort of announcement on the timeline
for Jared McCain, So I do think that there's probably
some truth to these stands of let's take a look

(18:50):
at how these next couple weeks ago and then make
a determination for what the return target is.

Speaker 5 (18:55):
Who knows.

Speaker 4 (18:55):
I'm not saying it's likely that he steps back on
the floor this year, but I do think that's a little.

Speaker 5 (18:59):
Interesting, and they've made no sort of acknowledgement there.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
That's fair.

Speaker 2 (19:03):
That's fair, and I think that should be on the
table for how bad it started, and God forbid.

Speaker 3 (19:08):
But they you know, how they operate, how they go
about their business down there.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
So I personally would be shocked if we see Jerry
McCain back on the floor this year again.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
We'll see what happens. We're not anything negative at this
point in time. It's a beautiful day outside. I worked
out this morning. I'm feeling good.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
I'm gonna go see Disney on ice tonight, the Wells
Fargo Cener, my daughter, my wife, a couple friends.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
Can't wait. And the Sixers won last night.

Speaker 2 (19:35):
And you know it was funny was that we all
kind of knew that this would be the case. But
a lot of media members, a lot of people that
I respect in the NBA world, serious, XM SO and
and so forth, we're all like, all right, this Sixers
team better watch out.

Speaker 3 (19:52):
Yep, you know again, I can't. I'm not gonna get negative.
I'm not gonna get negative. I just I you know,
Paul George whatever.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
But like I said, Tyres MAXI, Caleb Martin, that's where
my focus is right now, So let's go.

Speaker 3 (20:05):
Let's keep it going here.

Speaker 4 (20:06):
Look around the East is my continued pushback, Like I
would have a different tone about a lot of this
if the Sixers were trying to climb up the Western Conference.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
They're not.

Speaker 4 (20:13):
They're an Eastern Conference team, and there's a lot of
mediocre rosters and teams in here, like the Boston Celtics
to the gold standard, and that's the team that the
Sixers beat yesterday. Do the Cleveland Cavaliers really scare you
that much? Do the New York Kicks really scare you
that much? Are you buying what the Milwaukee Bucks are
selling with what.

Speaker 5 (20:29):
They're playing lately? Because I saw my questions like.

Speaker 4 (20:32):
Each of these teams, I would argue there's at least
equal question marks to the Sixers team, maybe a little
bit more for the Sixers fairness here, but my whole
point being like, this isn't a murderer's row. They have
to get through. They have a chance if they can
put it together and play their best ball. So keep
the options open. A lot of hoop left to be played.

Speaker 2 (20:48):
Well, let's talk about the Knicks and we'll get to
the other games again. Shan Bannard five and oh ats
yesterday on Christmas Day. Hats off, salute all the way
across the board, and we had a pretty good one
with the Knicks and the Spurs to get the party
started on Christmas Day.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
Great matchup.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
The Gambler gang text chat was lit up and everybody
was saying the same thing.

Speaker 3 (21:07):
Wimby will be a fixture on Christmas Day.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Moving forward, Shine, much better performance this time around at
the Garden. They didn't cover the number, but they won.
We knew it was gonna be a tight game. Your
takeaway from that game was what I mean.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
Michale Bridges was excellent, certainly his best game in a
Knicks uniform, and I mean, just to list out his stats.
Finished with forty one points, four assists, two blocks, six
of nine from three there victim we Minyama. I couldn't
help but allow him to steal the show for me,
just so dominant on both ends of the ball. He
had forty points himself, broke the record for most points
in a Christmas Day debut with forty two points. Also

(21:43):
added eighteen rebounds and four assists there six of sixteen
from three.

Speaker 5 (21:47):
It's pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (21:48):
King of the cord on DraftKings Sportsbook.

Speaker 4 (21:50):
Yeah, there we go, and I mean just as dominant
on the defense veend as well. He only had four blocks,
and it's crazy we're saying only about four blocks because
that is kind of below your level of expectation for him.
But I mean we see the vision with the Knicks
that they are this tough note scrappy team. Shout out
Josh Hart for really making a lot of those difference
making plays in that matchup that I thought.

Speaker 5 (22:07):
It was cool to see Wemby jumping to center stage.
I think he's earned it.

Speaker 4 (22:10):
Think he's only getting better, and I do wholeheartedly believe
the days until he is the best player in the
NBA are fairly numbered here, So Wemby is coming to
the rest of the league.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah, it was pretty cool to watch it, and again
we got the opportunity to watch him the night before
at the Wells Fargus Center. The only issue was he
was flopping, So if he could remove that part from
his game, and I didn't really necessarily know it was
a part of his game. Now, I watched Wemby in
professional or you know, big spotlight games, national games, all that,

(22:40):
but man, I just was shocked to see him, you know,
taking those charges and going down. But at the end
of the day, it's basketball. Get those calls anyway you can. Currently,
he's forty five to one to win the MVP Joker
even money Shay plus one, ninety, Onis four to one,
Tatum ten to one, then Victor at forty five to one.
So a big gigantic drop off from the four to

(23:01):
Wimby there.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
So check his.

Speaker 5 (23:03):
Defensive Player of the Year odd Oh, yeah, well he
got robbed last year, so that he knew he was.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Yeah, he was minus three hundred. He's minus three hundred
right now, and.

Speaker 3 (23:11):
It's his award. He was robbed last year.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
There's no way Rudy should have won that award, and
that was very unfortunate that he did.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
But I digress. And oh, by the way, I did
have a ticket on Wimby on that number. Full disclosure,
all right. From the Knicks.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
And the Sanatorio the Spurs again the next nice win there.
That is the one team in the East that does
work makes one of us more so than the Celtics.

Speaker 5 (23:36):
Really really, why is that?

Speaker 3 (23:40):
Why? Brace Well, obviously the Mentals gotta be there. They
owned us last year and they didn't we already play
them one time? This year's been crazy.

Speaker 5 (23:50):
I just feel like they lost in six games. I
think owned is strong.

Speaker 3 (23:56):
I think we all right. How do we get the
game six?

Speaker 5 (24:01):
Joel dropped?

Speaker 3 (24:03):
It took a parking lot shot to get the game six. Sure,
they're good, they're good, and they're better this year.

Speaker 5 (24:12):
Possibly.

Speaker 4 (24:13):
I still I mean, Karl Anthony Towns has been excellent
for them, for sure.

Speaker 5 (24:17):
I still think you.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
Can't tell me the Knicks are better this year right
now than last year?

Speaker 5 (24:22):
Really?

Speaker 2 (24:22):
What?

Speaker 3 (24:22):
Why? Why? I don't know. I'm not gonna argue with you.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
I I think whatever, But why do you why are
you hesitant to say.

Speaker 5 (24:28):
That they probably are?

Speaker 4 (24:29):
I mean, I I thought they Deven Chanza was excellent,
Like I think you can the Deven Chanda was the
second best player in that series that we're talking about
with on the Knicks, I mean, like against the Sixers
last year, and that's a guy that won't be bracing
up for battle for them in this now. Karl Anthony
Towns has been excellent. He's had his playoff. I guess
Lowe's as well. We could say is one way to
put it there that only the key's the guy that

(24:50):
I would necessarily throw into that riser category. And what's
I guess been interesting to me about this decision to
make such a drastic change by bringing in Karl Anthony
Towns the way they did is is like he is
everything that the Knicks have not been. When you talk
about a player as far as defensive minded, hard, nos gritty.
Now Kat has leaned into it more than I thought
he was capable of the way that he has competed

(25:10):
and I mean offensively, incredibly talented, one of the most
special talents in the league there. So they're a good
team for sure, But I still don't know if I
see where Jaylen Bronson could be the best player on
a championship team. I think we're seeing if Karl Anthony
Towns can kind of be that guy. But the track
record for guards below six foot four being the best
player on a championship team really has not existed there,

(25:32):
So I don't know.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
We'll see how it shakes out. There's a lot of
basketball still to be played, but I.

Speaker 4 (25:36):
Think the Knicks to me fall a little bit into
that fake good category.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
Wow on brand, shammadard on Brand and I love it.
Don't change a thing. Well, bottom lineus, We've got a
lot of basketball played. I love it too, right, Like
we dominated. We owned the Knicks for years. For years,
they weren't even little brother.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
They were like, don't come in the house. The dogs outside.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
Back in the eighties, remember when the dogs and you
weren't in allowed the dogs inside, Right, You're like, no,
that's an outside dog. Well that's what the Knicks were
for the last decade to compare to us.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
And then all of a sudden they got a little run.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
And I give them all the credit in the world
because Brunson was a huge get and I didn't think
he would turn into what he is. And the dude
can play. And that's a good team. They're hungry, they're gritty.
I love the way TIBs coaches.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
I do.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
I've always been a fan of TIBs. I always have
been a fan of TIBs. And I just that's a
team that you don't hear, you know, scheduled day off, right,
you don't hear that that dumb nonsense. That kind of
irks me more than more than most. And I'm sure
Sixer fans are probably in the same ballpark with me
on that one.

Speaker 4 (26:45):
I don't know there's also like to push back on
that a little bit. You also got to take the
good with the bat on that is that there's plenty
of examples of guys just completely their bodies burned out
by the time they get to the playoff. Look last
year with the Knicks, like all their bodies falling apart.
They lost to the Indiana Pacers in the second round
of playoffs, and like we see what they look like
this year, Like, you gotta take there's absolutely a non

(27:05):
zero percent chance that this next team is just burnt
out by the time the playoffs get here. Karl Anthony
Town's body can't take it anymore, like all those are
still on the table. So I hear you with that,
But there's also plenty of example of it not working
out with dims in the same direction.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
You're very very right on that, very true, and we'll see.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
And oh, by the way, the way you just said that,
it's hysterical because you the way I think about the
Knicks and what they had last year was like, man,
that was.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
A special run. Yeah, they got eliminated in the second round, so.

Speaker 5 (27:31):
They won one round.

Speaker 4 (27:32):
And for all the second round jokes about the Sixers,
it has not been in my entire lifetime in which
the Knicks have made it past the second round.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
There you go, with that being said, on to the
next one. Anything for you.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
In the Dallas and Minnesota game, again great call there,
of course, Luca going out changes everything.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
Kyrie lit the world up. A fun game, but at
the end of the day, Luca getting injured just changed everything.

Speaker 4 (27:57):
Yeah, there was a little bit of sparkle life at
the end from the Mavericks, so at least made it
kind of watchable. That was probably the most boring game
on the slate that I thought yesterday. Luca getting hurt
probably the biggest storyline for sure. It was a weird
play where he kind of went to get to a
step back and immediately.

Speaker 5 (28:10):
Pulled up past the ball called for a sub there.

Speaker 4 (28:12):
He's been dealing with ankle and calf injuries pretty much
the entirety of the season, so not a great sign.
Saw the Sham's update that they're expecting or they're bracing
to shut him down for an extended period of time.

Speaker 5 (28:23):
There never what you want.

Speaker 4 (28:24):
To see, and I do think that we'll start to
see a little bit of conversations about like Luka Doncic
needs to put in a little bit more work on
his body, is kind of my takeaway for what I
expect to be. I mean, we've seen him far skinnier
and looking far more fit than has been the case
this year. For sure, I think he's been a little
extra heavy. I'm not gonna go with the guy too hard,
because he's still excellent whenever he's on the floor, and
even with a little bit of a downshooting or and

(28:45):
down playmaking here, still one of the best players in
the league pretty clearly. So hopefully prayers up for Luca
he's able to return to the floor soon, but certainly
that team is not going nearly to their hopes without.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
Them, all right, from the more boring game on the
slate from yesterday, let's go ahead and get on over
to the next one and we'll talk about the Lakers
and Golden State.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Now we're getting into a little bit of the uh
late night edition of NBA Hoops.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Full disclosure, didn't catch too much of that Sun's game,
but did watch this game. Game was great, Austin Reesi's
game winner. Of course, Anthony Davis Scott her he ends
up going back. I thought the Lakers were gonna be
cooked at that point in time. But man, if we're
talking about cook, it's got to be the Golden State Warriors.

Speaker 5 (29:25):
Yeah. Yeah, they're trying. They're trying desperately.

Speaker 4 (29:28):
Like I honestly give Steve Kerr a lot of credit
because he's doing everything that he can think of. We've
seen twelve man rotations, We've seen Draymond Green be bench.
They obviously just traded for Dennis Schroeder to bring a
little bit of secondary creation and playmaking on that Jonathan Kaminga.

Speaker 5 (29:41):
They're trying wholeheartedly.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
To spark this, like can you be a guy in
this roster for us? And I think none of it's
really working. That Steph Curry is a guy still playing
an incredibly high level, still a guy that I think
is capable of being the best player on a championship team.

Speaker 5 (29:53):
I don't think the rest of the team can live
up to that.

Speaker 4 (29:55):
So it's frustrating to watch me perfectly honest, it does
feel like a little bit of the end of an era.
And again this is not for lack of effort from
Golden State that they're trying desperately to make it happen.

Speaker 5 (30:04):
But I just don't know how many more buttons.

Speaker 4 (30:06):
They are to push to make this team better than
what we're seeing on the floor, and we'll be interesting
to see how they handle things from here.

Speaker 3 (30:12):
I want to give a shout out to Luke R.
Kaney from the Gambler Gang.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
I think he's gonna be on Crossing broadcasts coming up
at noon. He said, FanDuel hung plus money on Lebron
James for twenty five plus? How dare they do that?
On Christmas Day? And him and Tansey were trading text
back and forth. That was a pretty easy wager. At
the end of day, Lebron finishes with thirty one. You
just know, although Anthony Davis going down changes things a

(30:35):
little bit, right.

Speaker 4 (30:36):
Yeah, yeah, and Ad has It's surprised me how much
the offense has run through Anthony Davis comparatively to Lebron
this season.

Speaker 5 (30:42):
That's been a JJ Redick fix there.

Speaker 4 (30:45):
AD's been fighting through stuff for a couple of weeks
now too, so hopefully he's all good.

Speaker 3 (30:49):
Yeah, all right.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
And then to the nightcap again, the Dogs were barking
in a big way. It was a two and a
half point spread. Phoenix was the dog at home home
dog against the Denver Nuggets. And a big game for
Kevin Durant. Of course, no booker for the Phoenix Suns.
So a lot of people were pinpointing that as far
as their take on the Denver Nuggets or why the

(31:10):
Denver Nuggets were favored in that one interesting number.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
Why were the Nuggets favored in your mind?

Speaker 2 (31:15):
And again you having the Phoenix Suns, what played out
in this game that you thought would happen and evidently
did so.

Speaker 5 (31:23):
Yeah, So this was the second consecutive game between these two.

Speaker 4 (31:26):
I believe it was a twenty seven point victory by
the Nuggets in the first one.

Speaker 5 (31:29):
Definitely a blowout there.

Speaker 4 (31:30):
So I think that's a little bit of strangeness that
led to the number there. But as far as last
night overall, I mean, I thought the songs just kind
of brought it from start to finish a little more.
They led, I believe wired to wire in this game.
They certainly led in every quarter at the end of
every quarter there.

Speaker 5 (31:44):
I believe it was wired to wire.

Speaker 4 (31:46):
But I mean, Kevin Durant is still Kevin Durant, still
playing at very high level. Twenty seven point six rebounds
of six assists, four rebounds there, I thought usef Nurkic
was pretty solid, and I don't tend to say that
a lot about nurkish She had fourteen rebounds last night
and I thought was fairly pass bowl when matched up
with Jokic.

Speaker 5 (32:02):
Also added six assists from Nurkich there.

Speaker 4 (32:05):
And Bradley Beal starting to rediscover himself a little bit,
so we've seen his name pop up in trade rumors.
He's been a guy who's certainly holding one of the
ugliest contracts in all of sports right now. That we
saw Beal finished with twenty seven points, four steals, four assists.
Thought he was good defensively eleven of twenty one from
the field, and kind of a similar situation to Golden
State with this Denver Nuggets team that I just don't

(32:25):
see enough around the supporting cast. I mean, Jamal Murray,
I'm getting more and more concerned with. I just don't
see the shake. I just don't see the wiggle. I
just don't see the ability that he still possesses to
create separation there. Michael Porter Junior incredibly inconsistent, and I
felt was had a really ugly just shot selection yesterday.
He pulled one transition three pointer from like four feet
beyond the arc where it was still kind of a

(32:47):
game and they were trying to get back in and
that pretty much slammed the door shut right there. So
I have a lot of questions about the supporting cast
in Denver. I think Phoenix is still finding itself and
it'd be much different with Booker. But they're a good
basketball team and the team that I would still consider
a contender.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Right and mister hygiene check And then he said Kevin
Durant had to mess up the parlay by.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
Making not one three pointer.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
Uh yeah, that's a tough one over five from downtown,
mister hygiene.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
I apologize about that.

Speaker 2 (33:12):
And Jamal Murray also maybe more washed than your grandfather's
car on the weekend?

Speaker 3 (33:16):
Hello like that? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (33:18):
Yeah, things changed quickly for him, right Like there was
I know, I was caught up in some conversations you
know where Well, look at the end of the day,
it was about winning. And I just remember the big
thought process was me as like the two man game,
how you know him? It's him and Joker. It's just

(33:38):
it's NonStop and and how can you compete with that?
And oh, by the way, if Joel Embiide is as
good athletics as athletic as a joker, like can we
not get Maxie to get into that Murray role? And
you know almost like yeah, they're they're that's who you
want to emulate now. No no, no, no, no, not anymore.
And I don't know what the hell happened to Jamal Murray.

(33:59):
You think the success got to his head?

Speaker 3 (34:02):
Is it just mental new change of scenery? What do
you think they're.

Speaker 4 (34:06):
Yeah, I don't know if it's like him not putting
the work in or anything like that. I do think
something physically is different, Like there isn't that same change
of direction speed, And I think it's a misconception that
a lot of people have that like small shot makers,
that they're game age as well, that really is rarely
the case here, and for Jamal Murray specifically, like the
exact kind of direction this has all gone to me
is he struggles to create the same separation. That means

(34:27):
every shot becomes tougher because there's better defense on him,
and his shooting percentage kind of slipped as a result
of that. So I'm just not seeing the ability of
him to like get his own shot off. Thought it
was glaring at the Olympics, and I was kind of
hopeful that playing next to Yo Kaich again would reinsert
things is obviously he's Canadian and playing for Team Canada
over there has not been the case whatsoever, And last night,

(34:47):
like I was pretty keyed in on it, particularly in
that second half watching, I don't really see the ability
for him to create separation and that's so much of
his game, so I think it's a real issue. I
don't know if he needs to get in the lab,
adds muscle, create some ability, a little more strength than
whatever the case may be.

Speaker 5 (35:02):
But something needs to change for Jamal Murray.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
All right, get involved in the conversation, as mister Hygiene
just did. We're live on all platforms, and of course,
if you're listening to us on the Gambler, make sure
you follow us on all things socials at Fox PHL Gambler.
All right, Sean Binard, let's go ahead and discuss this,
because yesterday, with the five games, average margin of victory

(35:25):
was five points, the closest ever for Christmas Day with
five plus games.

Speaker 3 (35:29):
Pretty good, great day of NBA hoops as it should
be on Christmas Day.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Where do you stand in the NFL conversation getting involved
with the games on Christmas Day?

Speaker 3 (35:41):
Is it a no, No. It definitely seems like this
is something that.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
The players are not taking offense to, but almost like
no stay in your lane type of deal.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
And I respect it. They should.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
It's about damn time that the players are doing something,
you know, like that, putting their chest out. It's not
just money, money, money, money, money, But at the end
of the day, you know, playing on Christmas, they do
get rewarded that is put into their contracts about being
available at all times throughout the course of those months,
and nobody's feeling sorry for them, but man's that's a

(36:11):
tough stretch right there, where you're not able to see
your family.

Speaker 3 (36:14):
You're on the road Christmas Eve.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
You know, they can't just wake up Christmas Day and
go to work and go play in Colorado or whatever.
So they're not with their families all throughout the Christmas Day,
Christmas Week, whatever it may be. But yesterday, the games
obviously fell on a Wednesday, and the NFL decided to
roll out two NFL games.

Speaker 3 (36:33):
That were both duds.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
If you listen to this show, if you listen to
us on Tuesday, my take was take the under on
both both of them cashed.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
You know, we're talking about five days rest.

Speaker 2 (36:44):
And whatever way you want to fix the schedule to
where like, oh, they played on such days, so here's
an extra day.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
It's bs.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
It's just out of their body elements. It's different. And
I didn't like the NFL wrong games out on a
Wednesday Thursday. I feel differently. So here's my take as
far as NBA owning Christmas Day. You don't essentially own
Christmas Day, but if it's a Tuesday or a Wednesday,

(37:12):
you should own Christmas Day.

Speaker 3 (37:13):
Thursday. Why don't you stick to the script and run
a game at night?

Speaker 2 (37:18):
As as far as the NFL is concerned, and then
anything after that, it's kind of up in the air,
right because now you're getting into the world of like,
it's the weekend and things happen. So the Tuesday and
Wednesday NFL, there's just no need for that.

Speaker 3 (37:30):
Man. I was so I tuned in yesterday.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
I was like, eh, like, it just felt odd watching
it from a fans perspective, because you know what these
guys just went through, and here they are out there
getting in the car crashes again.

Speaker 5 (37:44):
Your take on that, Yeah, I feel strongly about this,
Sean Brace.

Speaker 4 (37:47):
But I think that Christmas is, was, and always will
be an NBA day that I think.

Speaker 5 (37:51):
That's how it should be.

Speaker 4 (37:52):
I think if Christmas falls on a Sunday, that it's
still the NBA, NBA's day. That that's how I feel
about that, That it's Christmas and basketball. Man, that's how
it always goes.

Speaker 5 (38:00):
That.

Speaker 4 (38:01):
Like if the NBA was rolling out games on Thanksgiving,
you think like that changes anything or that like that's
not what it's supposed to happen here.

Speaker 5 (38:08):
It's just wrong. And that's kind of how I feel about.

Speaker 3 (38:10):
Football on a Sunday though.

Speaker 4 (38:12):
I mean, if that were to play out there, I
expect the NFL to still play. I'm jokingly say that
I don't expect them to cancel and move out of
the way for the NBA, but I do think it's
wrong that they're going out out of it now.

Speaker 5 (38:22):
I hate these ratings conversations.

Speaker 4 (38:25):
I personally am not going to judge how much I
enjoyed watching sports based on what the Nelson scale tells
me or whatever the case may be. That overall, but
I think the NFL will still do its damage here.
I think in general, it's fair to assess more people
prefer football, but to me, Christmas is basketball. They're synonymous
in my head. So I hope that continues to be
the case. And I hope the NBA does not bend

(38:46):
over or rollover to the NFL by any means.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
No well said.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
And for the people out there that will throw ratings
in our face, that's fine because we just got the
ratings back from the college football playoff, and the college
football playoff between Notre Dame and Indiana was a monster.
The night Cap Ohio State Tennessee was a monster. There
was no NFL games competing with it. I know the
NFL is going to continue to get numbers it's crazy,
but it was a significant drop off number one and

(39:12):
number two.

Speaker 3 (39:12):
It doesn't mean it's right just because you get ten
million viewers. It's the NFL. This country eats, seeps and
drinks NFL football. We know that. For the NFL to
sit there and say, you know.

Speaker 2 (39:23):
What, maybe Christmas Day like, let's stay away, I just
I felt icky watching those two games yesterday.

Speaker 3 (39:31):
I won't why I did, and they weren't.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
They weren't good football games. Kansas City on the road
and Pittsburgh should be a great game. Houston and Baltimore
should be a really damn good football game. Eh, Houston's
leaguing oil when they're not the same Houston Texas team
from last year. But still they were at home. And oh,
by the way, I think it goes into the college
football conversation because we're looking at four teams that are

(39:53):
pretty good as far as to win loss records are concerned.

Speaker 3 (39:55):
And both of them were blowouts.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
It was ugly games and both of them so pretty
interesting stuff there from the college football playoff perspective.

Speaker 3 (40:03):
Anything else on.

Speaker 5 (40:04):
That, yeah, we'll be interesting to see there.

Speaker 4 (40:06):
I'm just once again, I think the NBA is back, man, Like,
I think every single one of those games yesterday rocked,
and especially in the beginning of the day, like the
Sixers game was excellent. The seeing when Minyama do that
at the garden yesterday like fired me up watching that.
So like for all this about the product of the
NBA and to talk about three point shots and all
these kind of things, those games were straight up awesome
yesterday and I don't think anybody that would neutrally view

(40:28):
that would say otherwise. So shout out to the league
for the product delivering on the on the floor is
really my takeaway yesterday.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
Mister hygiene checking in again, he says, imagine getting tickets
to the Texans game for Christmas.

Speaker 3 (40:38):
There was plenty of empty seats. Yeah, in the first
quarter and second quarter. Beyonce at halftime was cool. You know,
I had a very Super Bowl S feel. Netflix across
the board whatever. You know. The big thing for me
with the Netflix broadcast because I've.

Speaker 2 (40:53):
Been one of the stronger voices out there for YouTube
TV for a few.

Speaker 3 (40:58):
Years now, and it's all you need now.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
The price change has completely shifted a little bit in
the conversation.

Speaker 3 (41:05):
But the big talking point in the beginning was I
don't want my sports on delay.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
Yeah, and now Netflix rolls out two football games and
did you notice that? Did anyone complain about that? Did
anybody say a word at your Christmas party yesterdays shop
and art about this game being on delay?

Speaker 5 (41:22):
No, not at all.

Speaker 4 (41:23):
And frankly, if everyone's on the same delay kind of
who cares. And I will say, I do have a
little bit of a slow TV here, so sometimes I
get hit with that.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
I never believe me when I first got YouTube TV.
Of course, look what we do we talk about sports.
We have to watch sports all day every day, and
you know, like I remember, it bothered me in the beginning.
I'm like, damn man, like this is definitely a delay.
And then you would see Twitter. You'd be like, oh man,
that tweets out ten seconds like who cares? Nobody knows
who cares. And to me, it's just about getting the

(41:53):
right price. And in YouTube TV eventually be phased out.
You know, I'm getting Disney. Now, I get Disney through
my mom.

Speaker 3 (42:00):
Don't tell anyone. And now that ESPN comes through Disney.
So it's like, dude, eventually YouTube TV will be.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
Nothing, and then we'll all figure out whatever is un
once you're Adam Schefter and you get it a what
is it again?

Speaker 3 (42:11):
Crack all right stream.

Speaker 4 (42:14):
Yeah, that's how I would be in the NFL yesterday,
won't lie?

Speaker 3 (42:19):
Nice? Nice? You need a Netflix subscription or password? Hit
me up, I got that for you.

Speaker 2 (42:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (42:24):
Well, I had the two TV set up kind of thing,
so I had to go Xbox into the one so
that that was a cleaner wrap todo.

Speaker 5 (42:30):
It was more or less how how my brain worked.

Speaker 2 (42:32):
All right, nine games in the NBA, just give us
one winner where are you looking for today? If you
had to find value on the card or a play
for our listening.

Speaker 4 (42:40):
Audience, I like the Thunder minus five and a half
would be my favorite play. It's a seven o'clock matchup
against the Pacers. Think the Pacers have leaked oil a
little bit, and I also think more more notably here,
the Thunder have been pretty widely open about being frustrated
that they didn't get a Christmas opportunity, So I think
todight's going to be like a step on the throat
kind of game.

Speaker 5 (42:57):
I like the minus five and a half.

Speaker 4 (42:58):
I think this pretty comfortably ends up with the well
did your victory for Oklahoma City.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
I'm really looking at that matchup for Houston and New Orleans.
Eight points spread for the Rockets on the road in
New Orleans heat. Interesting game there, but man Orlando just
banged up Jimmy Butler.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
News breaking on Christmas Day.

Speaker 5 (43:18):
Been they've done that? Shout out James arden Man.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
Yes exactly.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Brooklyn and Milwaukee ten and a half game being played
in Milwaukee, Eh, not the best card, but.

Speaker 3 (43:29):
We did get a great card yesterday.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
Great work across the board. One final note on the
Philadelphia Eagles Jalen Hurts and the Eagles did not practice yesterday.
Regardless of what Adam Schefter had to say, I don't
know that was all about.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
He is still it's obviously going through practice.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
Don't know if he's going to play, but we will
find out today or tomorrow. I would imagine he's got
to get out on the prattsfield and in some limited
capacity to have.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
A shot at playing against the.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
Cowboys on Sunday. And we do have an NFL game tonight.
I'm glad I looked at this my bet Bears and
Seahawks tonight, and again from the Seahawks, they actually have
something to play for.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
I would assume the division is still up for graps.
It could be.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
It'll help Lean, Yeah, I definitely need some help there.
Four point favorites on the road in Chicago. Forty two
is our total? Windy, windy, windy tonight. I'm imagine it's
gonna be a little cold. I wouldn't mind taking the
under here on a Thursday night football game as well.
Caleb Williams, Look, man, the thing is about that Bears
offense is if they need garbage time, points and yards,

(44:35):
they're going to get it. So with that being said,
I'd probably lean towards the Bears plus four, but give
me the under forty two.

Speaker 4 (44:42):
Yeah, I don't hate that, And I specifically read a
little bit about Caleb Williams passing prop I think two
fifteen and a half is what that number is sitting at.
Has passed that or cleared that in for the past
six weeks. I like that from a betting perspective there.
I also think there's a pretty big night for Jackson
Smith and Jigbo there that I think he is now
sort of filling those shoes as the clearcut top widers.

Speaker 5 (45:00):
You've written that.

Speaker 4 (45:00):
I think ultimately that I kind of like the Seahawks
to roll tonight that I think that they clearly have
something to play for. They still need the Rams to lose,
and even a little bit help beyond that that they
can climb into that divisional race. But they got to
take care of business themselves. So I think that continues
in the Seahawks do get the victory, but don't see
a ton of scoring either.

Speaker 5 (45:16):
So don't hate the under.

Speaker 3 (45:17):
Look at you. I love it. Just put a tweet
out there. Nice work, all right, Let's dig into this
real quick.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
Darbin Ord's best bet Seahawks at the Bears. Let's go
coming off a hot night, Smith and Jigba over sixty
nine and a half minus one fifteen D.

Speaker 3 (45:37):
Seven one more time.

Speaker 5 (45:38):
Seven straight weeks. He's done it.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
Yeah, he's been a monster.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
DK on the other way, under four and a half
for DK, that's aggressive.

Speaker 4 (45:47):
Yeah, I mean I think he'll still get his but
four and a half seems high. I believe he's only
gone three times this year ten of thirteen that he's
falling short of that. So he's got a lot of
four catch games, not a lot beyond that. So I
think three or four catches is per be comfortable for DK.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
Jackson, Smith and Jigba game for Shan Benard, he likes
the anytime touchdown as well. I can get behind that.
I like all those plays DK. We'll see what happens there.

Speaker 3 (46:10):
Hey man, great stuff across the board. Hope you had a.

Speaker 2 (46:13):
Great what'd you get? Well, give me an item. What'd
you get under the tree?

Speaker 5 (46:16):
Got a lot, a lot of sweatshirts. I'm trying to think.

Speaker 4 (46:18):
I got a new golf club, new driver, so got
that busting out, So that's probably nice.

Speaker 3 (46:22):
What you get, what you get to tailor.

Speaker 5 (46:25):
Made forget beyond much beyond that.

Speaker 4 (46:28):
Not a huge golf guy, just starting to get into it,
but gonna probably take some lessons and be ready to
hit the greens when it gets warm again. So yeah,
a lot of a lot of clothes. It was probably
the biggest takeaway.

Speaker 3 (46:38):
Yeah, same here, and then I got a golf bag
from Costco.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
Nice work there, eighty bucks can't come wrong, Sean Bannard,
Great stuff across the board DK network dot com.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
Read them and of course follow his plays.

Speaker 2 (46:51):
Fresh off a five and zero performance with even a
money line call on the Sixers over the Celtics Sixers
next game one more.

Speaker 3 (46:59):
Time tomorrow tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
And uh just DraftKings have a number up on that
yet Nope, they do not, So we'll see what happens there.
Great stuff, Sean, continue to read you at dknetwork dot com.
Once again, if you missed anything right here on the Gambler,
you can find us at FOXPHL Gambler dot com.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
The picks and Roll podcast can be found on FOXPHL
Gambler dot com.

Speaker 3 (47:23):
Spreads totals and all the prop that's in the tweens.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
It's the Gambler