April 3, 2024 • 30 mins
Sean Brace and #Sixers/#NBA Insider Sean Barnard talk all about Joel Embiid's return to the #Sixers lineup during our SLAM DUNKS AND BODYSLAMS SIXERS/THUNDER WATCH PARTY from the Dunkin' Lounge at the Gambler studios as it propelled the Sixers to a win over the Thunder. Sixers expectations from here moving forward, will Embiid regain his legs before the playoffs, and more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Picks and Roll handicapping the hardwood withSixers insider Sean Bernard and Sean brace scha
Bnard. Are you a mac Millerguy? I like mac Miller. Yeah,
yeah, you gotta like mac Miller. I have this mac Miller's old
school song in my head stuck inmy head for the last two weeks.
The Spins, the Spins has beenin my head. Oh such, yeah,
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yeah all, oh yeah, theSpins has been stuck in my head
for the last three weeks. AndI'll tell you what the Sixers are doing
exactly that. You see what Idid there. They're spinning me out of
control right now, because now Idon't know if we're back. It's it's
safe to dive fully, you know, head first, and become invested.
How should I view this time ofyear right now? With this squad and
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hello everybody, picks and Roll,Chabra, Sean Bernard talking all big seventy
six ers and the association we gotDid I just say nine games or eleven
games? We got nine in theassociation going off this evening. No seventy
six ers game to discuss, buta big one. Hell, They're all
big from here on out, comingup tomorrow. All right, let's dive
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right into what took place last night. Sean Minard, big time win.
I don't care who played for OklahomaCity. Of course, life is a
little easier when a couple players sitout on either team, and especially somebody
as a high at caliber player's SGA. But Sixers found a way to win
a game. Joel Embiid one gameunderneath his belt as he returned from a
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eight week, eight week stint onthe dl IF of course, last game
out was January thirtieth. Sixers wereatrocious without him, and last night they
found a way to win a basketballgame. So I know a lot of
Sixers fans out there are probably going, it's too late for me to become
invested and start believing in this team. But if Juell Ebiid can take the
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next few games and he's only gotsix more to roll with here and get
acclimated and start getting conditioned, isthere a chance that this team can surprise
some people out there? And ofcourse the number one question is where does
this season end up? Right now? The regular season in your mind with
six games to go, Yet thereabsolutely is a chance that this team can
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surprise some people. And I franklythink this Sixers team is far better than
a lot of people are giving themcredit. And it's been tough to watch
lately. The past two months withoutJoel Embiid has been brutal, but there's
a reason for that that he's quiteliterally the most valuable player in the NBA
for a reason. And you seethe way that all these pieces fit together
with him being the main course here. When you go to a Thanksgiving dinner,
you can have all these nice sides, you can have the match potatoes,
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the mac and cheese, but ifyou don't have that big turkey in
the middle of the plate, thingsdon't look quite the same. And that's
exactly how it is with the Sixersthat we're seeing the Kyle Lowry's, the
Buddy Heals, the Kelly Oubres,all these guys making their impact, finding
their lane. But it only makessense when it's all center around Joel Embiid.
And we got to see our firstlook at that last night that even
with Joel Embiid being out, beinginjured and fighting back, this team continually
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got better and added pieces, andyou can make a real argument that this
is the most complete team ever builtaround Joel Embiid, And if he's on
the pathway to a healthy playoff forreally the first time in his career,
why not this year? Why not? Can't Why can't they surprise a couple
people? So I'm feeling ready toget all the way back in All right,
Well, the question is, then, is Joell Embiid really healthy?
You know, like, over thesenext few weeks, over these next few
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games, will Jojo be the guythat we saw in December, be the
guy that scored seventy plus points againstthe San Antonio Spurs. Is that possible
to get that jewel Embiid back?And you know, if you're gonna say
yes to that, then essentially youbelieve that that knee is ready to go
full fully healthy and it's just amatter of conditioning. Am I correct on
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that take? Yes? Yeah,that's correct there. That's not gonna happen
overnight, that he's gonna walk rightback into being a guy that was on
track for arguably the most impressive individualseason of all time prior to him getting
hurt. That there's things that he'sgonna have to work through. It was
very clear that he was gassed andexhausted last night that's gonna happen when you're
off from basketball for two months andyou're a guy who naturally stands two hundred
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and eighty pounds or at times overthree hundred. When we see this with
Joel, and as much as likeit's difficult, Like you can be on
the exercise bike all you want ordoing the zero gravity treadmill all you want,
when you're playing game speed basketball,it's just a different beast and that's
something that Joelle is gonna have towork his way back into. But from
my eyes, the knee looked absolutelyfine last night. I thought he looked
pretty spry out there. He lookedslim out there. I thought he looked
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physically fit. It's just a matterof getting his conditioning back, and that's
something that he's gonna have to playhimself into. He played twenty nine minutes
total last night, which obviously they'regonna continue to build up on that.
But that's why he's back when heis. That they have a handful of
games to work himself up to that. And to Joel's credit, I think
he's done throughout his career a prettynice job of snapping back into shape after
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these types of absences, so it'shope that's the same case this year.
It's so funny because the is sohigh for this guy. Let's just take,
for example here just last night's boxscore and really, you know,
roll everything together and what we've beenthrough this season. Just speaking about this
season alone, we're talking about JoelEmbiid, who was the front runner for
the MVP before he went down withthat injury, returns after an eight week
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stent on the DL after surgery,and gives you twenty four points, twelve
of twelve from the free throw line, seven assists, three steals, you
know, no blocks, six rebounds. Of course, that's the great right
That box score right there alone isunbelievable. Six turnovers. He's a little
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sluggish in the paint at times andof course with his vision, and that
will come of a couple of fouls. Again, I think that that's going
to be Joel Embiid is. Idon't think he fouls out of many games,
So I think that's something that hasto do with conditioning a little bit
as well. Oh for three fromdowntown. We know he's a better three
point shooter as well. I don'tthink he had his legs under eightth them,
but just taking what we saw lastnight, he should all be thrilled,
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absolutely to the moon with what wesaw last night. But the bar
is so freaking high for this guy. It's pretty funny when you break it
down like that. Yeah, andit is. And I kind of had
this conversation last night that this isa guy who's been He was on pace
to lead the NBA in scoring forthe third consecutive year. Statistically, he
still has the most points per game. He's not going to meet the qualification
because of games played, but overthirty five points per game this season.
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And I would argue that he's moreimpactful to this Sixers team on the defensive
side of the ball. That lastnight was a crystal clear example. The
thunder with a chance to take thelead and win the game, Josh Getty
trying to take Joel Andmbid one onone, and he just picks his pocket,
takes his cookies, and goes downthe other end and finds himself with
the free throw line. That's thekind of versatility and impact that he brings
on both sides of the ball,and that's why he is such a difference
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maker for this team. That ifthat is mobimb or Paul Reid out there
that straight up does not happen.That there is not that level of play.
So yeah, even if him notat one hundred percent or one thousand
percent of what our expectations for him, having just his impact on both sides
of the ball raised the entire floorend ceiling of the Sixers team, it
does matter. So he's not quitefully himself because of how high that bar
is, but I definitely saw tangiblesteps and I can see him reaching those
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sky high expectations. Still six gamesleft in the regular season for the Philadelphia
seventy six Ers at the Heat atthe Grizzlies at San Antonio Spurs at home
against the Detroit Pistons at home againstthe Orlando Magic at home against the Brooklyn
Nets Sean Benard, those selling likeextremely winnable basketball games. In my opinion.
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I know they're not gonna go sixand oh. I would love to
cook that up in my mind andsay that they can go six and oh,
they will go six and zero.It's just now how the NBA works.
We'll see. But in a bestcase scenario, this team goes five
and one, what happens? Eightseed Steven seed six seed, What do
you think? So I'll first pointout that tomorrow night's matchup against the Miami
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Heat is especially important from a standingsperspective that the Heat currently a game and
a half above them in the standings. They took care of business last night
as well, so they maintained thatlead. The Pacers also just a half
game in front of the Heat forthat six seed. The Pacers in Heat
also face off. They're playing eachother on Sunday, so that is a
matchup to watch from the standings perspective. So there's a lot of moving parts
with this, but it's on thesesix ers to take care of their own
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business. I'm not fully ruling outsix and zero that I do think these
are all winnable games. Miami obviouslygoing to be the toughest, and Orlando's
also playing some really good basketball rightnow, so it's not like an easy
path. But outside of that,we're talking about Brooklyn, Detroit, Memphis.
These are games that with or withoutdwelling bead, the Sixers should be
able to handle. So I'm fairlyoptimistic. I think if they can get
in that four and two or fiveand one range, they put themselves in
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a really good spot, and Ido think tomorrow's matchup against the Miami Heat
is especially important to this team.So I'm not fully rolling out them climbing
into that six seed getting out ofthe play in, but I do think
it's looking more likely that they arein that seven or eight, and if
they do lose tomorrow, they're probablylocked up in that eight seed, so
have to face the Heat. Butwe'll see what happens. They got to
control their own destiny to a certainpoint. I will be up front with
you if this team gets it's thesix seed, I literally might have to
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go ahead and start booking those paradeplans. I'm just saying they get a
full week off. Of course,they don't have to deal with this nonsense
of this play in. We cango into matchups, but I just think
that you give that week off thatit's so important at this point in time,
with what everything that they're dealing with. Sky's the limit for this team.
I know. I'm having some funwith that. I'm actually starting to
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like think big picture here. Celticsare the Celtics, and it's the Heat.
I don't really I'm not too worriedabout the Bucks, but the heat
do give me, you know,some shivers down my spine with everything that
we've dealt with over the years,and of course the Celtics, but that
that would be incredible. I justplay with me on the percentages though,
where you at as far as thesixth seed? Is it like a five
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percent chance, a one percent chance, ten where you at? So according
to Basketball Reference yesterday, it wasa five percent chance. So I'll climbing
to that sixth seed. I franklythink it's higher than that. I don't
think that quite accounts for like strengthof schedule and stuff like that. And
again we mentioned that we're talking aboutmatchups with the Grizzlies, the Pistons,
the winnable games for the Sixers team. And by the way, if we
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want to go full optimistic lens rightnow, say they do climb to that
six seed. The pathway is thingscurrently are constructed, as we're talking about
a first round matchup with the ClevelandCavaliers in that third seed, who I
think are incredibly beatable, and asecond round matchup with Milwaukee Bucks before you
even have to face the Celtics.That is the case. So obviously that
is best case scenario, and Ialso think you can talk yourself into maybe
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being a better route for these sixersif they do fall into that play and
get a little more time for theJoel and beat ramp up. But the
bottom line is, like I thinkthat door is a little more open than
the numbers give them credit. Buta lot of it's gonna come down to
tomorrow's game against the heat, allright, and we'll talk more about that
game as far as against the Heat, but more on Jojo you know,
like, were you ever concerned shouldwe be concerned about this knee eight weeks
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back? It's Joel Embiid, thehealth, we know what he's been through
over the years, Like, howdo you view this in right now?
And I'm kind of like in theboat where they're not bringing him back if
he's not ready to go. SoI think that fully ready to go,
fully healthy can take a couple knots. I have no worries about him getting
on the ground dive and being thatJewel Embiid that we've known over the years.
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Where are you at with this injuryright now? I don't think they
would have brought him back and hewouldn't have allowed himself to come back if
he wasn't a fully healthy and bebelieved this team has a chance, and
I think both those things are true. I think that the biggest concern is
the level of fitness, that that'ssomething he's going to have to work himself
into. But the injury concerns arenever going to fully go away with this
guy. That these are going tobe issues for his entire career. So
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it's not going to be a higherchance of him staying healthy if they were
to run this back next year.So I do think it's the right decision
to bring him back. And again, by my eyes that he looks spry,
he was moving well last night,but I didn't have any concerns with
what he looked like on the floor, which to me was important to see.
So I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Andagain, we have not seen Joel
Embiid at his full force, athis complete healthy in the playoffs to this
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point, the only exception to thatbeing during that bubble season which was the
Al Horford year and Ben Simmons didnot play because of the back injuries.
He kind of got a throw anasterisk next to that one as well,
So I'm pretty optimistic that this isthe case. That the Sixers do have
a chance to come clean and getthe job done here. And I will
note that with the playoff probabilities whichI just mentioned, as of yesterday it
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was a five percent chance of themgetting in the one to six seed.
That moved up to eight and ahalf after last night's win. So some
movement in the right direction, andI would guess that takes a pretty significant
leap if they do beat the Heattomorrow forty one and thirty five at this
point in time, yep, theMiami Heat Big game Thursday night in Miami.
I think Jimmy somebody who said thatyesterday it was a good quote.
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It wasn't even Jimmy Butler's teammate.Who was Josh Hart? Josh Hart?
That Josh Hart? What? Whatdid he did? He say it in
his podcast? I assume so Isaw it being aggregated in an NBA Central
but yeah, saying how Jimmy Butlergoes on side quest throughout the season.
Now he's focused on the main questfor the playoffs skin, which is a
pretty good way to put it,and is essentially how Jimmy Butler operates.
And it's scary when he gets inthat full playoff mode, full focus.
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So yeah, I'm nervous for thisHeat team. They do have a little
bit of that look to him forsure. Yeah, no doubt about that.
The Heat. Just to let youknow, have one more game than
the seventy six ers. They gosix Ers tomorrow at Houston, who lost
last night against Minnesota but still oneof the hotter teams in the game on
the road against Indianapolis, a teamthat's in the running, a team that's
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six seed, right six seed rightnow as we say, yeah, yeah,
sixty excuse me, Hawks who havebeen playing better basketball, the MAVs
who've been playing great basketball. Thenthey finish up with Toronto and Toronto.
That's a nice way to put anend to this season for those for the
Miami Heat. But oh yeah,and both games are at Miami, good
grief, So those are two winsright there. But anyways, I think
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it comes down to the Sixers morethan anything. If they handle business,
all that other stuff will work out. We'll see what happens there. Anything
else for you from last night's game. Kyle Lowry finally getting the opportunity to
play with with Juell Embiid. Thatwas pretty cool. You said something about
stat Kyle Lowry, who's played howmany games with this team right now,
leads the team in charges this year. Come on, that's correct. He
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took his ninth charge last night,which is the most on any member of
the Sixiers. And I'll note thatTobias Harris still has yet to take a
charge in his six Ers career.I believe one did officially account that he
kind of got credited as a chargewas not a direct charge in my eyes,
with more of a moving screen situation. But yeah, Lowry in his
nineteen games with the Sixers has takennine charges, which is the most of
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anyone on the team right now.And something else I thought was noteworthy with
Lowry is Nurse did pair him inJoel's minutes last night that every time Joel
was on the court that Lowry sharedit with him. I think some of
that obviously had to do with TyreseMaxe not being there so wanting to have
a true point guard, but Ithought that was notable. And I also
throw a shout out, Kelly,you bray Man, Sixers on't win that
game without him last night, thathe very much was a vital part of
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that hitting four three, pointers playingsome good defense on the other end and
finishing around the rim. He wasvital to that win. So shout out
to Kelly Ubray. I'll got tokeep giving him love. Had his daughter
at the press conference Malibu. That'sa great name. It's a great name.
Nice work by him. You know. I was thinking of like animal
names, and uh, I don'tknow why I thought about this because I
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don't have I have a cat andwe're not getting a dog or anything.
But do you like the herb routeand what I mean by that? Uh?
Like Basil? Is Basil a goodname for an animal. I don't
love Basil as a name for animal. I'm out on that one. Uh
yeah, I personally I got downto two dogs now, have had three
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for most of it that They're allnormal names. We got a gust and
Maggie and a Jasper as the threewas the set up there Watson before that,
so I stick with the traditional Maggie. That's an interesting name. Yeah,
yeah, I've had that play.The first time you sat down with
her, We're like, yeah,I gotta did you have the dog before
you met her? Yeah? Ihad the dog before the girlfriend. So
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kind of how it fell into placethere. But pretty funny how that worked
out. Yeah, that's definitely funny. I'm sure she loved that one.
Cilantro, What about so Lantro.I do have reserved Snoop as my when
I'm my first dog, when i'ma when I get the full adult dog
situation, that's me my first name. But I don't know if I'm in
on the the spice is an herbsituation. Yeah, I was just going
down the list of like, isBasil a good name for an animal?
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I think it is whatever, ButSnoop is pretty good, all right?
And putting a bow on the seventysix ers again, just a great win
and finally just to hear that songand actually believe again. Right, you
know, we all were together inthe Slam Dunks and Body Slams watch party
inside a Duncan lounge yesterday and whata great time it was. I painted
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Sean's face like Warrior. I hadBeef painted like a hawk from Legson to
Doom and Jansen like Sting. Ofcourse I dressed up like Flair. We
had Luke our candy Buster, ChillWes Roy. It was a great time
last night, Mark, Emery Junr. But you know we're gonna be doing
more of those, that's for sure. But a great victory and a great
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time was had. So if youwant to laugh and nerd out on some
wrestling taco, check that video out. All right, let's go ahead and
hit this though from last night,real quick though, Sean, this game,
this league is so hard to wageron at this point in time.
And I'll give you a few examples. It was a pick them in the
Golden State game against Dallas. GoldenState wins by four. That's nothing too
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crazy. Denver was actually a fifteenand a half point favorite against San Antonio.
They won by five. Let's seehere crazier. The craziest one was
the Milwaukee Bucks. They were athirteen point road favorite. They lost by
four. Some people were saying Torontowas a play, not the case.
They got smashed by the Lakers.Just really tough to put your finger on
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the pulse right now. And who'sgonna show up and who's not here coming
down the home stretch? Anything elsefrom last night catch your attention as far
as the league is concerned. Yeah, to jump on the Bucks conversation a
little bit here. So Gianni's hada chance to tie the game, getting
to the free throw line missed bothof them. Then that led to an
open, uncontested layup by the Wizardsdown the other end. And also I
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will acknowledge Doc Rivers after the gametalking about the travel staff not taking things
serious, that he's taking note aboutthat and attributing that to their poor road
record, which is down to eighteenand twenty on the year. But Yiannis
with another a couple turnovers in crunchtime, just like a full out disaster
for that Bucks team against a reallybad Wizards team, And it does kind
of warm my heart to watch fromafar for Doc Rivers, despite coaching just
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thirty games, still finding way tolead the league in deflections. Yeah,
so wait a minute, he threwwho underneath the bus again, the travel
staff for not taking things serious enough, and the exact quote he went,
I'm not gonna call him everybody outor take names, but these are things
that I'm noting, and not justfor this year, for moving forward,
I mean so talking about how thatleads to bad culture and all these things.
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Just win games, man, Wingames. Don't be eighteen and twenty
on the road. That's what itcomes down to. And oh, by
the way that tweet was floating around. I got it sent to me in
two group chats. That's when youknow it's a good tweet. Here the
Bucks are fifteen and fourteen with multipleleads blowing. During the Doc Rivers era,
they were thirty and thirteen with AdrianGriffin. Now, I'm not gonna
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see here and tell you that AdrianGriffin was a great coach, because I
didn't think he was. I thoughtit was actually a terrible coach. But
man, you gotta be second guestsin that decision, you really do.
You have to be. And Ithink Doc Rivers is going to look they're
going to lose. They're not gonnawin a championship this year. They will
eventually get eliminated. And he's goingto sit there and say, I've been
thinking about next year for about amonth now. He's gonna go bill self
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on a swatch. Yeah. No, I can absolutely see that. And
he's kind of already like laid hisbed for excuses already of talking about all
the culture to the things that hejust have to undo, the how much
more offensive changes that he had made, more so than he expected. And
I'm trying to find the exact quotefor what he said about the staff specifically
there, but basically more or lessthat these guys got to take it more
serious. That's infectious to the team, and that's a reason that they're gonna
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attribute to their poor road record.But just the lack of accountability, in
my mind, is ineffectious to ateam. And I think that is much
more directly responsible toward not delivering onwhat the team's supposed to. And yeah,
that team's a mess, it reallyis, and it's getting worse.
All right, excellent stuff, Let'skeep it moving. Let's go ahead and
fire up DraftKings sportsbook. Take apeek at some of the numbers for US
tonight. Here nine games in theassociation. Right from the jump. We
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always go down the list and wehit the card. But I think you
know, at this point in timeof the year, what's the game that's
catching your attention to most? HereSean for tonight, as far as NBA
is concerned, the Celtics Thunder forsure is gonna be the one. I
have my eyes on. Thunder.It looks like Shay's not gonna play again.
Tonight's a nine point spread in favorof the Celtics. In this one,
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I still have the under sixty threeand a half wins ticket for the
Celtics floating out there, so Ineed them to go three and four over
these final seven games. I hopethe Thunder can give them a run for
the money. There. Also,the other game that has my eye is
the Magic and Pelicans game. Theseare two kind of trendy hot teams that
I'm curious which one more legitimate.So those are kind of the two games
that jump out to me out ofthis car all right, And as far
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as playoff stipulation, I know thatthis probably could apply to a lot of
these teams, a lot of thesegames as far as that is concerned.
Who's got the most important game thisevening? So that Magic game, they're
currently tied for that four seed withthe Knicks right now, each fifteen games
back of the Celtics for that fourthand fifth seed. That's one that I'll
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note. The Lakers are obviously scrappingtrying to keep in the playing game.
They're currently with that ninth seed,so have the inside track on at least
staying in there. But the Rocketsare sneaking up the Warriors right behind them.
The Warriors are probably a team towatch. They're off tonight the Phoenix,
Suns and Caves matchups another one.The Sun's currently with the eight seeds,
so they're looking to climb out ofthat entire playing tournament as a whole.
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That's a pretty tight race in theWest that the Kings and Sons tied
in that seventh seed, each eightand a half games back, and the
Pelicans just a game ahead of them. So a lot of each of these
kind of have their own playoff implications. A lot more of it seems to
be the race for the in andout of the play in and playoff kind
of situation, which is really whatthe NBA want. So a lot of
these games having implications at this pointin the year. Yeah, and you
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know, one play that we talkeda ton about over like the last few
few weeks was who's gonna get thatone seed? Now I'm trying to find,
Oh, there it is the teamfutures. They got division winners,
they got champions, they got conferencewinners here on DraftKings. Of course that's
going to apply to to the playoffs, but I'm looking for the overall one
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seed here anyways, that is absolutelyup for grabs and it was crazy because
if I'm not mistaken, let's justgo ahead and pull those NBA standings up
right now. In the West,the Nuggets fifty three and twenty three,
t Wolves fifty two and twenty three. They won last night, Nuggets won
last night. Thunder loss. Lastnight. Thunder were the one seed heading
into the game last night. It'sthe six Ers. Now they're a half
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game out, fifty two and twentythree. Clippers are out of that conversation.
It's down to the three. Rememberwe tweeted out was there value with
the t Wolves, and I thinkit was like plus five hundred to get
that one seed. They're right therewith only six games to go Sean in
this regular season, where do youstand who's taking that one seed in the
West? I think likely the Nuggetsthat they're currently a half game up,
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and I do think that they arestill taking a focused effort throughout the length
of the season. I do thinkthe Thunder are fading slightly, and more
of that having to do with injuriesand availability that obviously leading to the Sixers
last night, and I think it'sunlikely that they're able to upset the Celtics
tonight, especially without Shay or JalenWilliams if neither one of them are able
to suit up again. So Ithink the thunder is slipping a little.
And while you can make an argumentfor the Timberwolves for sure, and they've
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played far better basketball without Karl AnthonyTownsan, I think a lot of people
expected they faced the Raptors tonight,which should be a win in their direction.
I still think this Nuggets team isjust taking it more serious. They're
showing that championship pedigree and in away that really I think even more so
was the case last year as faras being locked in. So they've impressed
me a toon this Denver team,and I think that continues all right.
While I was kicking this around,first of all, just to let you
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know, to win the West,the Nuggets are sitting at plus one fifty
five, that is to go tothe NBA Finals, let's see here,
and they do have they got someother stuff, of course, wins who's
going to be in the playoffs tomake the playoffs to participate in the play
in stixers minus one thousand leading thecharge there at the top as far as
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the East to participate in the playingSo the oddsmakers are saying exactly that,
But anything's possible on the flip sideof that minus ten thousand for Golden State
to be in the playing game,So that's gonna be fun. They'll be
in the play in tournament. GoldenState Lakers are minus twenty five hundred there,
so that might be some fireworks asfar as that is concerned. And
(24:44):
then I wanted to bring this up. The straw pole came out today,
correct, that was the latest one. That's the third and final one if
I'm not mistaken. Correct, Yes, ten Bond, TOMPs or bon tempts.
He gets every people, everybody offthe record and gets the straw pole.
Anything catch your attention on that one. Besides, the Joker is going
(25:07):
to win the MVP this year.Yeah, I think that it's pretty dead
set that it is gonna be Yokich'sMVP again. I will say that Luca
climbed up the standings a little morethan I expected, that he was very
much right in the mix. Ithink that the public perception is there's a
little bit more of a push forLuca and Shake kind of sliding down.
So the draftking odds that Luca hasovertaken him for that second second best odds
to win it all. I thinkthe bottom line is, where we're talking
(25:29):
a lot about nothing, that thisis going to be Jokic's awards, so
that we can kind of lock thatone in and he deserves it this year
that he has played some really goodbasketball. I do think he's improved off
last year, which is not easyto do when you are at the level
that he is at. So shoutout to Jokic. I've overcome a lot
of my my, I guess skepticismof the level of his play translating and
a lot of that dude to thechampionship run last year, so a little
bit I had to all right,excellent stuff, Sean, and only six
(25:52):
games left right here, right now. Who's the one team East or West
that you think could make a runand possibly upset some really good teams in
the playoffs. I think the Pelicansare being slept on in the Western Conference
that when they're clicking and playing theirbest basketball, looks like every bit of
one of these top teams. SoI haven't heard a ton of a ton
of buzz about them. I'll throwthe Madicks a little love as well.
(26:15):
That Luca is just playing at alevel that you can't rate them off on
any night basis, and Kyrie isstill kind of doing his thing quietly there.
So I think the Western Conference there'sa little more parody around it than
I think the East. But theEast I would still throw back on my
on the seventy six ers here thatI do think they're a team that have
not gotten the love that they deserve, and we're going to see how things
fully come together with as this teamshapes up moving forward. Is there a
(26:37):
matchup right now, because that's whatit comes down to, who matches up
better than others? Is there amatchup that you think we're going to potentially
get in that first round not toplay in in the first round that you're
licking your chops at that you're saying, all right, I'm like, whether
it's the Thunder they're going to havethe Pelicans if the playoffs started today,
it looks like it would be thethree six there. The four or five
would be the Clippers and the MAVs, Magic and Knicks. Way too early
(27:02):
to declare that one could be theCalves and the Pacers at three six.
Is there a matchup that we're seeingright here? Right now that you're saying
that's the one that I'll be bettingthe underdog in. Yeah, I do
think in the Western Conference that someof the argument or some of the reasoning
for the Thunders sliding down the standingsa little bit is to avoid that top
one or two seed and potentially playthe Lakers first round. That matching up
(27:22):
with Anthony Davis is going to bea nightmare for them, and I do
think that if that was the waythings shake out, that I would be
on the Lakers on that side ofthings that I think they could eliminate this
Thunder team, even as good asthey truly are. One of the top
end talents for sure, So that'sdefinitely a potential matchup I have my eyes
on. I'll also note in theEastern Conference that Shaq came out today and
said that if it's the four orfive matchup between the Magic and Knicks,
(27:44):
and you think the Magic's sweep theKnicks. Now, I'll say my optimism
for the Knicks has shrunk a littlebit because of the injuries that they've had
to deal with, But I stilldon't see anywhere where that's the case,
and we'd be pretty surprised if Knicksdon't find their way through at least that
series. So I thought that wasa hot take there. Yeah, that
is extremely hot right there. Idon't really agree with Shack on that one
either. Nah, no shot onthat one. All right again. NBA
(28:07):
dot Com right here has the standingsand what if it started right here right
now, I'll tell you what thisplay in. If we get a Warriors
Lakers game to open up shop withthat ten to nine? Are you kidding
me? That's gonna be? Andthe Suns right in there as well.
That as the West is currently constructed, that it is the Sun's in the
eight seed, the Lakers in thenine seed, and Warriors in the ten
seed. That is some big ticketnames that are maybe in that playing tournament.
(28:30):
Yeah, that's not the Minnesota Timberwolvestaking on the you know, the
Pelicans from the couple years ago,or are the Trailblazers Like these are some
pretty damn big names going at it. And on the East, if the
playoffs started today, it'd be theHawks and Bulls ten and nine, the
Sixers in the heat. That's prettydamn good there too, So exciting stuff
(28:51):
right around the corner. Of course, we got a lot of lot of
regular season basketball to play out,and hopefully the Sixers are able to find
their way a few victories there,Sham Bannard. Any final thought before we
get out of here, Actually,you're one play tonight, give us a
winner. Let me jump back toit real quick. I'll go best win
of tonight. This is the toughI don't love the slate tonight. I
(29:14):
think I'll roll with give me thePhoenix Songs minus six over the Calves that
I do think that this Calves teamleak and oil, and I think the
songs are having to play with thepurpose for a little bit. So it
is the late night slate, theten ten game, but I am more
of a I'm starting to talk myselfinto this Sun's team, and I do
think from a matchup standpoint that theycan pick a part of this Caves team.
So give me the Songs the minussix to night. Yeah. These
spreads are just so all over theplace, whether you're looking at thirteen and
(29:37):
a half. For me, yeah, I don't have much here. T
Wolves and Raptors are atrocious. Maybeyou could continue to pick on them.
Te Wolves could just be too muchfor them. They did play last night
though, so maybe not there.Let's see here at nine and then the
Lakers are at thirteen. Did theLakers just lump up the Wizards on the
road after playing left? I wouldprobably go with the big spread there.
(30:04):
Give me the Minnesota Turblewolves against theRaptors fifteen and a half. They'll probably
win by twenty if that's the casethere, But I do not feel passionate
about that play at all. Let'sget into the playoffs. Let's get to
some meaningful basketball, all right.Sean Manar great stuff is always be sure
to follow him at Sewan Underscore BernardOne. That is Sean Underscore Bernard and
(30:26):
the Number one covers all things sixersin the NBA. For us here on
the Gambler, you don't want tomiss anything. We got Ric Flair joining
us live today on the Daily Ticketat four pm. Stick around for that,
and of course, if you missanything, be sure to catch all
of our podcasts and the latest what'shappening with us on the Gambler over at
FOXPHL Gambler dot com. The pixand Roll podcast can be found on FOXPHL
(30:52):
Gambler dot com.
Picks and Roll handicapping the hardwood withSixers insider Sean Bernard and Sean brace scha
Bnard. Are you a mac Millerguy? I like mac Miller. Yeah,
yeah, you gotta like mac Miller. I have this mac Miller's old
school song in my head stuck inmy head for the last two weeks.
The Spins, the Spins has beenin my head. Oh such, yeah,
(00:24):
yeah all, oh yeah, theSpins has been stuck in my head
for the last three weeks. AndI'll tell you what the Sixers are doing
exactly that. You see what Idid there. They're spinning me out of
control right now, because now Idon't know if we're back. It's it's
safe to dive fully, you know, head first, and become invested.
How should I view this time ofyear right now? With this squad and
(00:48):
hello everybody, picks and Roll,Chabra, Sean Bernard talking all big seventy
six ers and the association we gotDid I just say nine games or eleven
games? We got nine in theassociation going off this evening. No seventy
six ers game to discuss, buta big one. Hell, They're all
big from here on out, comingup tomorrow. All right, let's dive
(01:11):
right into what took place last night. Sean Minard, big time win.
I don't care who played for OklahomaCity. Of course, life is a
little easier when a couple players sitout on either team, and especially somebody
as a high at caliber player's SGA. But Sixers found a way to win
a game. Joel Embiid one gameunderneath his belt as he returned from a
(01:33):
eight week, eight week stint onthe dl IF of course, last game
out was January thirtieth. Sixers wereatrocious without him, and last night they
found a way to win a basketballgame. So I know a lot of
Sixers fans out there are probably going, it's too late for me to become
invested and start believing in this team. But if Juell Ebiid can take the
(01:56):
next few games and he's only gotsix more to roll with here and get
acclimated and start getting conditioned, isthere a chance that this team can surprise
some people out there? And ofcourse the number one question is where does
this season end up? Right now? The regular season in your mind with
six games to go, Yet thereabsolutely is a chance that this team can
(02:20):
surprise some people. And I franklythink this Sixers team is far better than
a lot of people are giving themcredit. And it's been tough to watch
lately. The past two months withoutJoel Embiid has been brutal, but there's
a reason for that that he's quiteliterally the most valuable player in the NBA
for a reason. And you seethe way that all these pieces fit together
with him being the main course here. When you go to a Thanksgiving dinner,
you can have all these nice sides, you can have the match potatoes,
(02:43):
the mac and cheese, but ifyou don't have that big turkey in
the middle of the plate, thingsdon't look quite the same. And that's
exactly how it is with the Sixersthat we're seeing the Kyle Lowry's, the
Buddy Heals, the Kelly Oubres,all these guys making their impact, finding
their lane. But it only makessense when it's all center around Joel Embiid.
And we got to see our firstlook at that last night that even
with Joel Embiid being out, beinginjured and fighting back, this team continually
(03:06):
got better and added pieces, andyou can make a real argument that this
is the most complete team ever builtaround Joel Embiid, And if he's on
the pathway to a healthy playoff forreally the first time in his career,
why not this year? Why not? Can't Why can't they surprise a couple
people? So I'm feeling ready toget all the way back in All right,
Well, the question is, then, is Joell Embiid really healthy?
You know, like, over thesenext few weeks, over these next few
(03:29):
games, will Jojo be the guythat we saw in December, be the
guy that scored seventy plus points againstthe San Antonio Spurs. Is that possible
to get that jewel Embiid back?And you know, if you're gonna say
yes to that, then essentially youbelieve that that knee is ready to go
full fully healthy and it's just amatter of conditioning. Am I correct on
(03:51):
that take? Yes? Yeah,that's correct there. That's not gonna happen
overnight, that he's gonna walk rightback into being a guy that was on
track for arguably the most impressive individualseason of all time prior to him getting
hurt. That there's things that he'sgonna have to work through. It was
very clear that he was gassed andexhausted last night that's gonna happen when you're
off from basketball for two months andyou're a guy who naturally stands two hundred
(04:12):
and eighty pounds or at times overthree hundred. When we see this with
Joel, and as much as likeit's difficult, Like you can be on
the exercise bike all you want ordoing the zero gravity treadmill all you want,
when you're playing game speed basketball,it's just a different beast and that's
something that Joelle is gonna have towork his way back into. But from
my eyes, the knee looked absolutelyfine last night. I thought he looked
pretty spry out there. He lookedslim out there. I thought he looked
(04:34):
physically fit. It's just a matterof getting his conditioning back, and that's
something that he's gonna have to playhimself into. He played twenty nine minutes
total last night, which obviously they'regonna continue to build up on that.
But that's why he's back when heis. That they have a handful of
games to work himself up to that. And to Joel's credit, I think
he's done throughout his career a prettynice job of snapping back into shape after
(04:55):
these types of absences, so it'shope that's the same case this year.
It's so funny because the is sohigh for this guy. Let's just take,
for example here just last night's boxscore and really, you know,
roll everything together and what we've beenthrough this season. Just speaking about this
season alone, we're talking about JoelEmbiid, who was the front runner for
the MVP before he went down withthat injury, returns after an eight week
(05:17):
stent on the DL after surgery,and gives you twenty four points, twelve
of twelve from the free throw line, seven assists, three steals, you
know, no blocks, six rebounds. Of course, that's the great right
That box score right there alone isunbelievable. Six turnovers. He's a little
(05:38):
sluggish in the paint at times andof course with his vision, and that
will come of a couple of fouls. Again, I think that that's going
to be Joel Embiid is. Idon't think he fouls out of many games,
So I think that's something that hasto do with conditioning a little bit
as well. Oh for three fromdowntown. We know he's a better three
point shooter as well. I don'tthink he had his legs under eightth them,
but just taking what we saw lastnight, he should all be thrilled,
(06:00):
absolutely to the moon with what wesaw last night. But the bar
is so freaking high for this guy. It's pretty funny when you break it
down like that. Yeah, andit is. And I kind of had
this conversation last night that this isa guy who's been He was on pace
to lead the NBA in scoring forthe third consecutive year. Statistically, he
still has the most points per game. He's not going to meet the qualification
because of games played, but overthirty five points per game this season.
(06:24):
And I would argue that he's moreimpactful to this Sixers team on the defensive
side of the ball. That lastnight was a crystal clear example. The
thunder with a chance to take thelead and win the game, Josh Getty
trying to take Joel Andmbid one onone, and he just picks his pocket,
takes his cookies, and goes downthe other end and finds himself with
the free throw line. That's thekind of versatility and impact that he brings
on both sides of the ball,and that's why he is such a difference
(06:45):
maker for this team. That ifthat is mobimb or Paul Reid out there
that straight up does not happen.That there is not that level of play.
So yeah, even if him notat one hundred percent or one thousand
percent of what our expectations for him, having just his impact on both sides
of the ball raised the entire floorend ceiling of the Sixers team, it
does matter. So he's not quitefully himself because of how high that bar
is, but I definitely saw tangiblesteps and I can see him reaching those
(07:09):
sky high expectations. Still six gamesleft in the regular season for the Philadelphia
seventy six Ers at the Heat atthe Grizzlies at San Antonio Spurs at home
against the Detroit Pistons at home againstthe Orlando Magic at home against the Brooklyn
Nets Sean Benard, those selling likeextremely winnable basketball games. In my opinion.
(07:30):
I know they're not gonna go sixand oh. I would love to
cook that up in my mind andsay that they can go six and oh,
they will go six and zero.It's just now how the NBA works.
We'll see. But in a bestcase scenario, this team goes five
and one, what happens? Eightseed Steven seed six seed, What do
you think? So I'll first pointout that tomorrow night's matchup against the Miami
(07:54):
Heat is especially important from a standingsperspective that the Heat currently a game and
a half above them in the standings. They took care of business last night
as well, so they maintained thatlead. The Pacers also just a half
game in front of the Heat forthat six seed. The Pacers in Heat
also face off. They're playing eachother on Sunday, so that is a
matchup to watch from the standings perspective. So there's a lot of moving parts
with this, but it's on thesesix ers to take care of their own
(08:16):
business. I'm not fully ruling outsix and zero that I do think these
are all winnable games. Miami obviouslygoing to be the toughest, and Orlando's
also playing some really good basketball rightnow, so it's not like an easy
path. But outside of that,we're talking about Brooklyn, Detroit, Memphis.
These are games that with or withoutdwelling bead, the Sixers should be
able to handle. So I'm fairlyoptimistic. I think if they can get
in that four and two or fiveand one range, they put themselves in
(08:39):
a really good spot, and Ido think tomorrow's matchup against the Miami Heat
is especially important to this team.So I'm not fully rolling out them climbing
into that six seed getting out ofthe play in, but I do think
it's looking more likely that they arein that seven or eight, and if
they do lose tomorrow, they're probablylocked up in that eight seed, so
have to face the Heat. Butwe'll see what happens. They got to
control their own destiny to a certainpoint. I will be up front with
you if this team gets it's thesix seed, I literally might have to
(09:01):
go ahead and start booking those paradeplans. I'm just saying they get a
full week off. Of course,they don't have to deal with this nonsense
of this play in. We cango into matchups, but I just think
that you give that week off thatit's so important at this point in time,
with what everything that they're dealing with. Sky's the limit for this team.
I know. I'm having some funwith that. I'm actually starting to
(09:24):
like think big picture here. Celticsare the Celtics, and it's the Heat.
I don't really I'm not too worriedabout the Bucks, but the heat
do give me, you know,some shivers down my spine with everything that
we've dealt with over the years,and of course the Celtics, but that
that would be incredible. I justplay with me on the percentages though,
where you at as far as thesixth seed? Is it like a five
(09:46):
percent chance, a one percent chance, ten where you at? So according
to Basketball Reference yesterday, it wasa five percent chance. So I'll climbing
to that sixth seed. I franklythink it's higher than that. I don't
think that quite accounts for like strengthof schedule and stuff like that. And
again we mentioned that we're talking aboutmatchups with the Grizzlies, the Pistons,
the winnable games for the Sixers team. And by the way, if we
(10:07):
want to go full optimistic lens rightnow, say they do climb to that
six seed. The pathway is thingscurrently are constructed, as we're talking about
a first round matchup with the ClevelandCavaliers in that third seed, who I
think are incredibly beatable, and asecond round matchup with Milwaukee Bucks before you
even have to face the Celtics.That is the case. So obviously that
is best case scenario, and Ialso think you can talk yourself into maybe
(10:28):
being a better route for these sixersif they do fall into that play and
get a little more time for theJoel and beat ramp up. But the
bottom line is, like I thinkthat door is a little more open than
the numbers give them credit. Buta lot of it's gonna come down to
tomorrow's game against the heat, allright, and we'll talk more about that
game as far as against the Heat, but more on Jojo you know,
like, were you ever concerned shouldwe be concerned about this knee eight weeks
(10:54):
back? It's Joel Embiid, thehealth, we know what he's been through
over the years, Like, howdo you view this in right now?
And I'm kind of like in theboat where they're not bringing him back if
he's not ready to go. SoI think that fully ready to go,
fully healthy can take a couple knots. I have no worries about him getting
on the ground dive and being thatJewel Embiid that we've known over the years.
(11:16):
Where are you at with this injuryright now? I don't think they
would have brought him back and hewouldn't have allowed himself to come back if
he wasn't a fully healthy and bebelieved this team has a chance, and
I think both those things are true. I think that the biggest concern is
the level of fitness, that that'ssomething he's going to have to work himself
into. But the injury concerns arenever going to fully go away with this
guy. That these are going tobe issues for his entire career. So
(11:37):
it's not going to be a higherchance of him staying healthy if they were
to run this back next year.So I do think it's the right decision
to bring him back. And again, by my eyes that he looks spry,
he was moving well last night,but I didn't have any concerns with
what he looked like on the floor, which to me was important to see.
So I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Andagain, we have not seen Joel
Embiid at his full force, athis complete healthy in the playoffs to this
(11:58):
point, the only exception to thatbeing during that bubble season which was the
Al Horford year and Ben Simmons didnot play because of the back injuries.
He kind of got a throw anasterisk next to that one as well,
So I'm pretty optimistic that this isthe case. That the Sixers do have
a chance to come clean and getthe job done here. And I will
note that with the playoff probabilities whichI just mentioned, as of yesterday it
(12:18):
was a five percent chance of themgetting in the one to six seed.
That moved up to eight and ahalf after last night's win. So some
movement in the right direction, andI would guess that takes a pretty significant
leap if they do beat the Heattomorrow forty one and thirty five at this
point in time, yep, theMiami Heat Big game Thursday night in Miami.
I think Jimmy somebody who said thatyesterday it was a good quote.
(12:39):
It wasn't even Jimmy Butler's teammate.Who was Josh Hart? Josh Hart?
That Josh Hart? What? Whatdid he did? He say it in
his podcast? I assume so Isaw it being aggregated in an NBA Central
but yeah, saying how Jimmy Butlergoes on side quest throughout the season.
Now he's focused on the main questfor the playoffs skin, which is a
pretty good way to put it,and is essentially how Jimmy Butler operates.
And it's scary when he gets inthat full playoff mode, full focus.
(13:01):
So yeah, I'm nervous for thisHeat team. They do have a little
bit of that look to him forsure. Yeah, no doubt about that.
The Heat. Just to let youknow, have one more game than
the seventy six ers. They gosix Ers tomorrow at Houston, who lost
last night against Minnesota but still oneof the hotter teams in the game on
the road against Indianapolis, a teamthat's in the running, a team that's
(13:24):
six seed, right six seed rightnow as we say, yeah, yeah,
sixty excuse me, Hawks who havebeen playing better basketball, the MAVs
who've been playing great basketball. Thenthey finish up with Toronto and Toronto.
That's a nice way to put anend to this season for those for the
Miami Heat. But oh yeah,and both games are at Miami, good
grief, So those are two winsright there. But anyways, I think
(13:46):
it comes down to the Sixers morethan anything. If they handle business,
all that other stuff will work out. We'll see what happens there. Anything
else for you from last night's game. Kyle Lowry finally getting the opportunity to
play with with Juell Embiid. Thatwas pretty cool. You said something about
stat Kyle Lowry, who's played howmany games with this team right now,
leads the team in charges this year. Come on, that's correct. He
(14:07):
took his ninth charge last night,which is the most on any member of
the Sixiers. And I'll note thatTobias Harris still has yet to take a
charge in his six Ers career.I believe one did officially account that he
kind of got credited as a chargewas not a direct charge in my eyes,
with more of a moving screen situation. But yeah, Lowry in his
nineteen games with the Sixers has takennine charges, which is the most of
(14:28):
anyone on the team right now.And something else I thought was noteworthy with
Lowry is Nurse did pair him inJoel's minutes last night that every time Joel
was on the court that Lowry sharedit with him. I think some of
that obviously had to do with TyreseMaxe not being there so wanting to have
a true point guard, but Ithought that was notable. And I also
throw a shout out, Kelly,you bray Man, Sixers on't win that
game without him last night, thathe very much was a vital part of
(14:50):
that hitting four three, pointers playingsome good defense on the other end and
finishing around the rim. He wasvital to that win. So shout out
to Kelly Ubray. I'll got tokeep giving him love. Had his daughter
at the press conference Malibu. That'sa great name. It's a great name.
Nice work by him. You know. I was thinking of like animal
names, and uh, I don'tknow why I thought about this because I
(15:11):
don't have I have a cat andwe're not getting a dog or anything.
But do you like the herb routeand what I mean by that? Uh?
Like Basil? Is Basil a goodname for an animal. I don't
love Basil as a name for animal. I'm out on that one. Uh
yeah, I personally I got downto two dogs now, have had three
(15:31):
for most of it that They're allnormal names. We got a gust and
Maggie and a Jasper as the threewas the set up there Watson before that,
so I stick with the traditional Maggie. That's an interesting name. Yeah,
yeah, I've had that play.The first time you sat down with
her, We're like, yeah,I gotta did you have the dog before
you met her? Yeah? Ihad the dog before the girlfriend. So
(15:52):
kind of how it fell into placethere. But pretty funny how that worked
out. Yeah, that's definitely funny. I'm sure she loved that one.
Cilantro, What about so Lantro.I do have reserved Snoop as my when
I'm my first dog, when i'ma when I get the full adult dog
situation, that's me my first name. But I don't know if I'm in
on the the spice is an herbsituation. Yeah, I was just going
down the list of like, isBasil a good name for an animal?
(16:15):
I think it is whatever, ButSnoop is pretty good, all right?
And putting a bow on the seventysix ers again, just a great win
and finally just to hear that songand actually believe again. Right, you
know, we all were together inthe Slam Dunks and Body Slams watch party
inside a Duncan lounge yesterday and whata great time it was. I painted
(16:40):
Sean's face like Warrior. I hadBeef painted like a hawk from Legson to
Doom and Jansen like Sting. Ofcourse I dressed up like Flair. We
had Luke our candy Buster, ChillWes Roy. It was a great time
last night, Mark, Emery Junr. But you know we're gonna be doing
more of those, that's for sure. But a great victory and a great
(17:00):
time was had. So if youwant to laugh and nerd out on some
wrestling taco, check that video out. All right, let's go ahead and
hit this though from last night,real quick though, Sean, this game,
this league is so hard to wageron at this point in time.
And I'll give you a few examples. It was a pick them in the
Golden State game against Dallas. GoldenState wins by four. That's nothing too
(17:21):
crazy. Denver was actually a fifteenand a half point favorite against San Antonio.
They won by five. Let's seehere crazier. The craziest one was
the Milwaukee Bucks. They were athirteen point road favorite. They lost by
four. Some people were saying Torontowas a play, not the case.
They got smashed by the Lakers.Just really tough to put your finger on
(17:45):
the pulse right now. And who'sgonna show up and who's not here coming
down the home stretch? Anything elsefrom last night catch your attention as far
as the league is concerned. Yeah, to jump on the Bucks conversation a
little bit here. So Gianni's hada chance to tie the game, getting
to the free throw line missed bothof them. Then that led to an
open, uncontested layup by the Wizardsdown the other end. And also I
(18:07):
will acknowledge Doc Rivers after the gametalking about the travel staff not taking things
serious, that he's taking note aboutthat and attributing that to their poor road
record, which is down to eighteenand twenty on the year. But Yiannis
with another a couple turnovers in crunchtime, just like a full out disaster
for that Bucks team against a reallybad Wizards team, And it does kind
of warm my heart to watch fromafar for Doc Rivers, despite coaching just
(18:30):
thirty games, still finding way tolead the league in deflections. Yeah,
so wait a minute, he threwwho underneath the bus again, the travel
staff for not taking things serious enough, and the exact quote he went,
I'm not gonna call him everybody outor take names, but these are things
that I'm noting, and not justfor this year, for moving forward,
I mean so talking about how thatleads to bad culture and all these things.
(18:52):
Just win games, man, Wingames. Don't be eighteen and twenty
on the road. That's what itcomes down to. And oh, by
the way that tweet was floating around. I got it sent to me in
two group chats. That's when youknow it's a good tweet. Here the
Bucks are fifteen and fourteen with multipleleads blowing. During the Doc Rivers era,
they were thirty and thirteen with AdrianGriffin. Now, I'm not gonna
(19:12):
see here and tell you that AdrianGriffin was a great coach, because I
didn't think he was. I thoughtit was actually a terrible coach. But
man, you gotta be second guestsin that decision, you really do.
You have to be. And Ithink Doc Rivers is going to look they're
going to lose. They're not gonnawin a championship this year. They will
eventually get eliminated. And he's goingto sit there and say, I've been
thinking about next year for about amonth now. He's gonna go bill self
(19:36):
on a swatch. Yeah. No, I can absolutely see that. And
he's kind of already like laid hisbed for excuses already of talking about all
the culture to the things that hejust have to undo, the how much
more offensive changes that he had made, more so than he expected. And
I'm trying to find the exact quotefor what he said about the staff specifically
there, but basically more or lessthat these guys got to take it more
serious. That's infectious to the team, and that's a reason that they're gonna
(20:00):
attribute to their poor road record.But just the lack of accountability, in
my mind, is ineffectious to ateam. And I think that is much
more directly responsible toward not delivering onwhat the team's supposed to. And yeah,
that team's a mess, it reallyis, and it's getting worse.
All right, excellent stuff, Let'skeep it moving. Let's go ahead and
fire up DraftKings sportsbook. Take apeek at some of the numbers for US
tonight. Here nine games in theassociation. Right from the jump. We
(20:23):
always go down the list and wehit the card. But I think you
know, at this point in timeof the year, what's the game that's
catching your attention to most? HereSean for tonight, as far as NBA
is concerned, the Celtics Thunder forsure is gonna be the one. I
have my eyes on. Thunder.It looks like Shay's not gonna play again.
Tonight's a nine point spread in favorof the Celtics. In this one,
(20:44):
I still have the under sixty threeand a half wins ticket for the
Celtics floating out there, so Ineed them to go three and four over
these final seven games. I hopethe Thunder can give them a run for
the money. There. Also,the other game that has my eye is
the Magic and Pelicans game. Theseare two kind of trendy hot teams that
I'm curious which one more legitimate.So those are kind of the two games
that jump out to me out ofthis car all right, And as far
(21:04):
as playoff stipulation, I know thatthis probably could apply to a lot of
these teams, a lot of thesegames as far as that is concerned.
Who's got the most important game thisevening? So that Magic game, they're
currently tied for that four seed withthe Knicks right now, each fifteen games
back of the Celtics for that fourthand fifth seed. That's one that I'll
(21:25):
note. The Lakers are obviously scrappingtrying to keep in the playing game.
They're currently with that ninth seed,so have the inside track on at least
staying in there. But the Rocketsare sneaking up the Warriors right behind them.
The Warriors are probably a team towatch. They're off tonight the Phoenix,
Suns and Caves matchups another one.The Sun's currently with the eight seeds,
so they're looking to climb out ofthat entire playing tournament as a whole.
(21:45):
That's a pretty tight race in theWest that the Kings and Sons tied
in that seventh seed, each eightand a half games back, and the
Pelicans just a game ahead of them. So a lot of each of these
kind of have their own playoff implications. A lot more of it seems to
be the race for the in andout of the play in and playoff kind
of situation, which is really whatthe NBA want. So a lot of
these games having implications at this pointin the year. Yeah, and you
(22:07):
know, one play that we talkeda ton about over like the last few
few weeks was who's gonna get thatone seed? Now I'm trying to find,
Oh, there it is the teamfutures. They got division winners,
they got champions, they got conferencewinners here on DraftKings. Of course that's
going to apply to to the playoffs, but I'm looking for the overall one
(22:30):
seed here anyways, that is absolutelyup for grabs and it was crazy because
if I'm not mistaken, let's justgo ahead and pull those NBA standings up
right now. In the West,the Nuggets fifty three and twenty three,
t Wolves fifty two and twenty three. They won last night, Nuggets won
last night. Thunder loss. Lastnight. Thunder were the one seed heading
into the game last night. It'sthe six Ers. Now they're a half
(22:52):
game out, fifty two and twentythree. Clippers are out of that conversation.
It's down to the three. Rememberwe tweeted out was there value with
the t Wolves, and I thinkit was like plus five hundred to get
that one seed. They're right therewith only six games to go Sean in
this regular season, where do youstand who's taking that one seed in the
West? I think likely the Nuggetsthat they're currently a half game up,
(23:14):
and I do think that they arestill taking a focused effort throughout the length
of the season. I do thinkthe Thunder are fading slightly, and more
of that having to do with injuriesand availability that obviously leading to the Sixers
last night, and I think it'sunlikely that they're able to upset the Celtics
tonight, especially without Shay or JalenWilliams if neither one of them are able
to suit up again. So Ithink the thunder is slipping a little.
And while you can make an argumentfor the Timberwolves for sure, and they've
(23:37):
played far better basketball without Karl AnthonyTownsan, I think a lot of people
expected they faced the Raptors tonight,which should be a win in their direction.
I still think this Nuggets team isjust taking it more serious. They're
showing that championship pedigree and in away that really I think even more so
was the case last year as faras being locked in. So they've impressed
me a toon this Denver team,and I think that continues all right.
While I was kicking this around,first of all, just to let you
(24:00):
know, to win the West,the Nuggets are sitting at plus one fifty
five, that is to go tothe NBA Finals, let's see here,
and they do have they got someother stuff, of course, wins who's
going to be in the playoffs tomake the playoffs to participate in the play
in stixers minus one thousand leading thecharge there at the top as far as
(24:21):
the East to participate in the playingSo the oddsmakers are saying exactly that,
But anything's possible on the flip sideof that minus ten thousand for Golden State
to be in the playing game,So that's gonna be fun. They'll be
in the play in tournament. GoldenState Lakers are minus twenty five hundred there,
so that might be some fireworks asfar as that is concerned. And
(24:44):
then I wanted to bring this up. The straw pole came out today,
correct, that was the latest one. That's the third and final one if
I'm not mistaken. Correct, Yes, ten Bond, TOMPs or bon tempts.
He gets every people, everybody offthe record and gets the straw pole.
Anything catch your attention on that one. Besides, the Joker is going
(25:07):
to win the MVP this year.Yeah, I think that it's pretty dead
set that it is gonna be Yokich'sMVP again. I will say that Luca
climbed up the standings a little morethan I expected, that he was very
much right in the mix. Ithink that the public perception is there's a
little bit more of a push forLuca and Shake kind of sliding down.
So the draftking odds that Luca hasovertaken him for that second second best odds
to win it all. I thinkthe bottom line is, where we're talking
(25:29):
a lot about nothing, that thisis going to be Jokic's awards, so
that we can kind of lock thatone in and he deserves it this year
that he has played some really goodbasketball. I do think he's improved off
last year, which is not easyto do when you are at the level
that he is at. So shoutout to Jokic. I've overcome a lot
of my my, I guess skepticismof the level of his play translating and
a lot of that dude to thechampionship run last year, so a little
bit I had to all right,excellent stuff, Sean, and only six
(25:52):
games left right here, right now. Who's the one team East or West
that you think could make a runand possibly upset some really good teams in
the playoffs. I think the Pelicansare being slept on in the Western Conference
that when they're clicking and playing theirbest basketball, looks like every bit of
one of these top teams. SoI haven't heard a ton of a ton
of buzz about them. I'll throwthe Madicks a little love as well.
(26:15):
That Luca is just playing at alevel that you can't rate them off on
any night basis, and Kyrie isstill kind of doing his thing quietly there.
So I think the Western Conference there'sa little more parody around it than
I think the East. But theEast I would still throw back on my
on the seventy six ers here thatI do think they're a team that have
not gotten the love that they deserve, and we're going to see how things
fully come together with as this teamshapes up moving forward. Is there a
(26:37):
matchup right now, because that's whatit comes down to, who matches up
better than others? Is there amatchup that you think we're going to potentially
get in that first round not toplay in in the first round that you're
licking your chops at that you're saying, all right, I'm like, whether
it's the Thunder they're going to havethe Pelicans if the playoffs started today,
it looks like it would be thethree six there. The four or five
would be the Clippers and the MAVs, Magic and Knicks. Way too early
(27:02):
to declare that one could be theCalves and the Pacers at three six.
Is there a matchup that we're seeingright here? Right now that you're saying
that's the one that I'll be bettingthe underdog in. Yeah, I do
think in the Western Conference that someof the argument or some of the reasoning
for the Thunders sliding down the standingsa little bit is to avoid that top
one or two seed and potentially playthe Lakers first round. That matching up
(27:22):
with Anthony Davis is going to bea nightmare for them, and I do
think that if that was the waythings shake out, that I would be
on the Lakers on that side ofthings that I think they could eliminate this
Thunder team, even as good asthey truly are. One of the top
end talents for sure, So that'sdefinitely a potential matchup I have my eyes
on. I'll also note in theEastern Conference that Shaq came out today and
said that if it's the four orfive matchup between the Magic and Knicks,
(27:44):
and you think the Magic's sweep theKnicks. Now, I'll say my optimism
for the Knicks has shrunk a littlebit because of the injuries that they've had
to deal with, But I stilldon't see anywhere where that's the case,
and we'd be pretty surprised if Knicksdon't find their way through at least that
series. So I thought that wasa hot take there. Yeah, that
is extremely hot right there. Idon't really agree with Shack on that one
either. Nah, no shot onthat one. All right again. NBA
(28:07):
dot Com right here has the standingsand what if it started right here right
now, I'll tell you what thisplay in. If we get a Warriors
Lakers game to open up shop withthat ten to nine? Are you kidding
me? That's gonna be? Andthe Suns right in there as well.
That as the West is currently constructed, that it is the Sun's in the
eight seed, the Lakers in thenine seed, and Warriors in the ten
seed. That is some big ticketnames that are maybe in that playing tournament.
(28:30):
Yeah, that's not the Minnesota Timberwolvestaking on the you know, the
Pelicans from the couple years ago,or are the Trailblazers Like these are some
pretty damn big names going at it. And on the East, if the
playoffs started today, it'd be theHawks and Bulls ten and nine, the
Sixers in the heat. That's prettydamn good there too, So exciting stuff
(28:51):
right around the corner. Of course, we got a lot of lot of
regular season basketball to play out,and hopefully the Sixers are able to find
their way a few victories there,Sham Bannard. Any final thought before we
get out of here, Actually,you're one play tonight, give us a
winner. Let me jump back toit real quick. I'll go best win
of tonight. This is the toughI don't love the slate tonight. I
(29:14):
think I'll roll with give me thePhoenix Songs minus six over the Calves that
I do think that this Calves teamleak and oil, and I think the
songs are having to play with thepurpose for a little bit. So it
is the late night slate, theten ten game, but I am more
of a I'm starting to talk myselfinto this Sun's team, and I do
think from a matchup standpoint that theycan pick a part of this Caves team.
So give me the Songs the minussix to night. Yeah. These
spreads are just so all over theplace, whether you're looking at thirteen and
(29:37):
a half. For me, yeah, I don't have much here. T
Wolves and Raptors are atrocious. Maybeyou could continue to pick on them.
Te Wolves could just be too muchfor them. They did play last night
though, so maybe not there.Let's see here at nine and then the
Lakers are at thirteen. Did theLakers just lump up the Wizards on the
road after playing left? I wouldprobably go with the big spread there.
(30:04):
Give me the Minnesota Turblewolves against theRaptors fifteen and a half. They'll probably
win by twenty if that's the casethere, But I do not feel passionate
about that play at all. Let'sget into the playoffs. Let's get to
some meaningful basketball, all right.Sean Manar great stuff is always be sure
to follow him at Sewan Underscore BernardOne. That is Sean Underscore Bernard and
(30:26):
the Number one covers all things sixersin the NBA. For us here on
the Gambler, you don't want tomiss anything. We got Ric Flair joining
us live today on the Daily Ticketat four pm. Stick around for that,
and of course, if you missanything, be sure to catch all
of our podcasts and the latest what'shappening with us on the Gambler over at
FOXPHL Gambler dot com. The pixand Roll podcast can be found on FOXPHL
(30:52):
Gambler dot com.
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