Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective - Controversial & Chaotic Play-In Games - The Full LaMelo Experience

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to react to a wild start to the NBA postseason starting with the wild and controversial ending between the Heat & Hornets. They guys break down the play everyone is talking about between Bam Adebayo and LaMelo Ball including if there could be ramifications moving forward and the epic final sequences that decided the game. Plus, we discuss the other fascinating ending between the Suns & Trailblazers before previewing the upcoming games this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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in the wake of two highly entertaining and mildly controversial play in games to kick off the NBA postseason. Asterix, these games don't count for history. You can't find them. Do you want to find data about these games, you've got to be going through the corners of the internet? All right. I guess we'll start in Charlotte where the Hornets won their biggest game in.

Don't intros, bro? Nobody gets introduced. You're right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I guess it's not even really that late. I don't even have any really good excuse. Playing stats don't count.

The pod doesn't count. Joining us, that right there from New York City, Tim Bonteps. Hello, everybody. What a fun start to the postseason. And joining us from Los Angeles, California. is bad McMahon. Howdy, partners. No T&T, but we love drama.

And we got plenty of it tonight on Amazon Brian. Okay, so biggest Hornets win in a decade, Bontemps? Yes. It's a minimum competition. I mean, Brian and are on a text chain with a couple of Hornets fans who were at the game, and Brian asked if it was the biggest win

and this iteration of the franchise's history. I mean, they did win three playoff games, games in 2016, so with Kemba Walker, who's now on the bench with the Hornets, so I think you at least have to have it in the discussion with them. But when you combine the way the Hornets played over the back half the year and all the excitement that there's been around the team with just this absolutely bonkers game that had crazy comebacks and collapses and drama and non-calls and just all the craziness. And controversy. And that's what I mean. That's what I mean. Right. So, yeah, yeah, we got McMahon doing puns at 1 a.m.

It's, the game had everything you could ask for. So, yeah, I mean, it's, it's certainly, I would say it's already the most memorable. It's probably, probably arguably the most memorable Charlotte Hornets game, which is a perfect, perfect way to sum up a game that doesn't exist in the record books. Yeah. So, look, I think we should start with the way the game ended before we get it. into the controversy because I don't think that should be wiped out. First off, Kobe White with an absolutely job. You are tourists. By the way, like I don't want to, this Bulls trade deadline, holy Moses. Dance on the grave. Dance on the grave. Oh my God. I mean, dance a little bit. Let me just say, so you guys realize that the Bulls ended up with Jaden Ivy, which was a disaster. We don't have to read. We do realize that. Okay. We do. They traded Kobe White. They got Mike Con. Like,

They traded Iyo dosamu. I always screw up his last name. Iyo, just Iyo. They traded IO for Mike Conley, okay? And Iio's been a hoopin in Minnesota, by the way. Absolutely. Iyo's been really good for them.

They got seconds in deals. Okay. Then they take Conley, put him with Kobe White, and they trade him for Usman, Jang, and Colin Sexton, okay? There were two second round picks, I think, in that deal. But there were three. And then it went down to two after there was three. second round picks. The Bulls did not know

that Kobe White was injured. They also apparently didn't know Jaden Ivy was injured because they said A-OK on that trade and then realized he was actually hurt. Well, the knee was the least of the concerns, but... All right. Whatever. Shouldn't spend this much time on the Bulls, right? You're right. Anyway...

Bulls stink. As far as it is... Usman Jang and Usman Jang went on and Lexham was pretty good for the bucks. Okay, forget about all that. Kobe White hits this shot, which is a jaw-dropping shot, There were less than 10 seconds left. There was a decent chance the heat were going to foul because they were up by three at the end of regulation.

And Kobe White gets to his spot and gets squared up. And by the way, he had a huge second half in this game. He had a whole bunch of shots to help the hornets come back. Wait, he comes off the bench in Charlotte. Why was he in the game? Oh, we'll get to that later. We'll get to that later. Yeah.

Anyway. Mr. Kobe White. Mr. Dallas pom-poms over here. I'm bad. I forgot it briefly. I'm questioning.

You know, just questioning. And meanwhile, so what did he finish with? He finished with 19. Boy, it felt like more. He would five of eight from two. I think he had most of those in the second half. Because it was basically all in the second half. Had a huge third quarter.

Plus 21. Yeah. In the game. So Kobe White plays a huge role. The heat had built a pretty, you know, a lead. and Davion Mitchell was playing an absolutely terrific game for them. Andrew Wiggins playing one of his best games, most consequential games, in a heat uniform, again, making very big baskets, big three-pointers.

You know, the heat, you know, Tyler Hero didn't have his best shooting night, but he made some couple of hugely clutch plays in overtime. Three clutch free throws, I know that. Okay, so. Con Cinnipple is he had been struggling. He had, you know, the Hornets had lost a series of, you know, big games down the stretch of the season. And Canipal struggled in those games, particularly his shooting. And, you know, he came into this game and he was just not effective.

I think he went 0 of 5 on 3s just in the first half. And then the second half, he really didn't even shoot that much. He was trick-ishy. Listen, listen, I looked it up. He's con-connippled a second. He does not have a middle name. It certainly is not friends because the guy is lacking confidence. He meant on that one.

It's true, though. He doesn't have a middle name. He's not finance. He's got all sorts of. I will just say, you know, ultimately the Hornets won this game. But Charles Lee, their head coach, he's coaching in his first postseason game as a head coach. He was a little bit, there was a lot of stuff coming in and out of the game. He was, you know, it was a lot of emotions in the...

Look, he's got a chaotic team, which obviously you're going to have a chaotic team with both the way they play and when Blamello ball is your lead ball handler. And I thought, look, it takes some guts to sit con in the whole second half or the whole fourth quarter and overtime of this game. Guys leading the league in three-point shooting this year. He had a dreadful game. You know, I would have maybe had them out there instead of set a sign James and some of these late. game situations. But Charles Lee went to Kobe White. Kobe White delivered. Kobe White, the Hornets have not been in the playing game. You know who's been in the playing games? Kobe White with the Bulls. That's true. Bulls love the playing. All rows lead to 39 until this year.

Kobe White's got some playing experience. That's right. And he's got playing experience playing against the heat. And he, that's true. You know, he looked like a guy who had been in that situation and was comfortable. And like, you know, that that's why they won the game. He had 17 of his, like McMahon said, It's 17 of his 19 points in the second half in overtime. But it's still, for as good as Kobe White is, he's a really good player. It's not an easy thing to sit con in that spot. And it was the right call by Charles Lee. Yeah, Kahn's off.

You know, normally you would want, you know, we'll talk about Lamello in a minute. Normally you would want Kahn to take the shot because the guy led the league. And you need three points inside. Well, they got a lot of good three-point shooters. I mean, Brandon Miller is a great. I agree. But in the regulation, they're down three. They need a three in common.

on the bench. That's correct. But like Khan is in a funk right now. Yeah, he was two in a 12, 0 of 6. Yeah, and it's not like, listen, connoble has had a hell of a rookie year. He's going to have one hell of a career. He will probably be a multi-time All-Star.

If you have an NBA awards ballot, this game is not supposed to count. Having said that, if you got that ballot and you can't vote yet, because you're waiting on the extenuating circumstances appeal, if your argument for Rookie of the Year was this guy impacts winning and Cooper Flagg didn't, tonight didn't exactly back that argument. Well, we talked on Sunday that, even though it shouldn't. It wasn't supposed to count, but like we talked about on Sunday night for the Monday

pod, this was an opportunity for Khan to be on a big stage. And if he showed out, it could maybe help him. I certainly don't think today help them. Agree. And the ballots haven't even gone out yet. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. I mean, it's not supposed to count, but like Friday.

Right. But I'm just saying it's one thing at the balance. It's one thing that the ballots had gone out and you're not supposed to vote until you hear back from Luca. We don't even have the ballots yet. Okay. So get into overtime. Hornets build a lead. Heat make a tremendous comeback.

Tyler Hero hits a huge clutch shot from the corner. And then the Hornets are on the verge of absolute catastrophe when they are up. Up by three with the ball. And there's only 18 seconds left. And I'm saying, well, Miami's got a foul, got a foul. Miami doesn't foul. Lamello had just made a nice play, get a bucket, and then what happens? Lamello turns the ball over.

Miami, very smartly said the Hornets are a bunch of chaos agents. So let's try to speed them up and see what happens. Now, at the end of games in defensive situations, Charles Lee takes Lamello out of the game. This has been happening for years. By the way, Davey on Mitchell had a big game being guarded by Lamello tonight. That's true. And there was one play in overtime. They were going after Lamello the whole game.

That's right. Well, there was one play in overtime where Lamello literally fell asleep on defense and got beat for a back cut. And, like, that's just hard to do in, you know, an elimination overtime situation. But the concerns about Lamello and he ended up having, like, counting stats, a big night. The concerns about Lamello reared their heads tonight, and then he still somehow was the So I haven't even got to him yet, really. Right, that's right, exactly.

I mean, this was, this game was the entire Lamello Ball experience. So, all right. So Lamello is now all of a sudden, because of the turnover, he is now in on defense on a critical possession, which is what you do not want. And granted, it was a transition, you know, scramble situation. It wasn't like everybody was calm, but there's a reason why they take him out of the game. And that reason reared its head because. he fouled Tother Hero on a three. Now, I got to tell you...

Hands smacked the sides of the head at that point. He must have thought he actually fouled him. I didn't get... I didn't think that there was great reviews on that play. It was a little bit unclear, but his reaction, including in the post-game interview, where he said I effed up on that play. He didn't say aft.

He effed up on the turnover and then he effed up on the foul. He clipped them. No question. So, Kiro's a 90% free threat shirt. He hits all three. They have handed, they rescue themselves from, you know, the jaws of defeat in regulation. And then they hand the game back to the heat. Now, this is kind of what happens between, frankly, two non-elite teams.

Although you can see this happen with elite teams, but you can, the, the errors and the, the imperfections with these two teams, while it was great theater, did show up. Yeah. And including the fact that Lamello was at this point, two of 16 from three-point range in the game. And there was a 30. Well, he has questionable shots in almost every game. Correct. There were heat checks. He did have 10 assists.

He did have 10 assists. He was, you know. The other thing, the other thing that should be mentioned, when the Amazon feed, I guess, cut out, it didn't cut out for me. But when it cut out for everybody, one of the critical plays of the game, He pretty clearly traveled. Made a crazy shot, but like, hopped and traveled. I never. I never saw it live and I saw it replay. I saw a replay and I did that, he definitely slow step that looked awkward.

Did that last foot come down? He was on his foot and then he like hopped as he turned and then. I mean, it was a crazy shot. I mean, Stan Van Gogh was over and on the broadcast. Yeah, so did most of the country. Well, Stan Van Gogdy went on the broadcast for years. you, Bontemps, you were using some illegal stream. So, um, the, the official streams went out.

But anyway, so he did make that basket to give him the three point lead, um, before the hero or where maybe it was even. And Tyler Hero tied it up and what happens? Yeah. Yeah. He had that saves the day. They called time out. It was before the, it was, it was, it was, that was when Lamello, uh, it was before

the first Tyler hero shot in the corner. Okay. Remember when I told you somebody within the Mavericks orbit referred to Mark Cuban as an arsonist and a firefighter? That was Lamele ball tonight. He was an arsonist. He was a firefighter. So Lamello, they called timeout, their last time out, set up a play for Lamello in a tie game. He gets isolated on Jaime Hakez.

I watched the replay about four times. I don't think he commits a foul. he creates a little bit of separation, but I do not think he commits a foul. I do think Jaime Hockes hacked him on the arm, which was not called. But the bottom line is Lamello gets the corner turned, makes a tough basket in traffic.

The referees let it play. It's a terrific play while he's getting fouled, regardless of what you want to say about anything else in the game. Hockes hit him square on the arm. It was not called, and he was still able to finish in a very, very, clutch moment. I think Heat fans felt a lot of sympathy that LaMello didn't get a whistle there.

That's true. We'll talk about in a minute. And so the Heat, despite it saying on the Amazon broadcast ahead of timeout, they did not have a timeout, which Dan Van Gundy said during the broadcast, the inbound Davian Mitchell goes length of the court. Miles Bridges makes a great defensive play to block it. And he got like he got in he got to the bucket And it was blocked and he know I mean it was a pretty rough shot but I I thought they had a time out because I was watching and it was on there

So I feel better that that was the shot they got when they didn't have a time out I was wondering why they yeah You're right McMahon he gets all the way to the basket and gets the shot off and And and he had also made a couple of very hard shots in traffic and you know he's not a big guy he has a lot of expertise. He's not a tall guy. Correct. I want to clarify, he's a very strong guy. And, you know, he's much bigger than me, but he's not tall by NBA standards.

He has a lot of experience finishing. He had a good game. He has a lot of experience finishing below the rim. So, like, the shot that goes up is at a weird angle, but you know what? It might have gone in. And it was a, like, that was a great hustle, athletic, defensive play. to swat that away by. And clean.

Clean block, totally clean. Bridges. He's a, Mitchell was not about. Bridges is an incredible athlete and made it an incredibly athletic play there. More hoop collective podcast after this. Before I get into this, absolutely strong play by the Hornets who came back in the fourth quarter, got ahead and played ahead in the whole overtime. Wendy? dealt with adversity. All right. Stop packing this thing with cotton.

In the first half, Lamello Ball tripped, bam out of bio, out of frustration, I believe. Oh, his head got hit, and he didn't know where he was. This was an all-time quote. Do you want me to read the quotes? Yes. So hold on. In case people, in case people didn't see it because they're getting up this morning. Right. I'm sure if you're watching on ESPN2, you've seen it, but Lamello misses a layup. he feels like he got fouled. On his way down, he got hit in the head.

I think he might have got hit in head by his own player, Ryan Caulkrenner, but it wasn't like egregious. And as Bamatabaya was turning to go back up the court, he grabbed. No, no, his Bam was turning to save the ball and bounce. Oh, okay. So he was on one foot to save the ball and bounce. Okay, that's right. He puts his hand on on Bam's heel and pushes, taking Bam's feet out from under him.

He swiped that thing. He swept his legs out from under him, and he landed hard on his. back. And Bam, you could very clearly, it was swiped because Bam was completely off balance. If Bam was not had his leg taken out, he probably would have been more on balance. And instead, lands very hard on his tailbone, has to leave the game. The Bam saves the ball. If the ball had gone out of bounds, by the way, they probably can review it. But. Oh, they would have reviewed it. Because the play continues for the fast break, they don't call a foul on the play. And it's not reviewable. After the game, the referees

made a statement, Zach Sarba, the crew chief makes a statement that it's not a reviewable play because the review window would close because the game had gone on. Spolstra is incensed. After the game says basically there's no place. It calls it shenanigans. Hat tip, Jackie Mack.

There's no, he said there's no place in the game for it. Repeatedly said he did not think that was why they lost the game. However, they lost their best player. And he said Lamello should have been kicked out of the game. He should have been kicked out and he said he should be pedinized. I read that quote. Yeah. So, well, first off, read what Lamello said as his explanation for what happened there. Okay. Let me read the Spulsher thing first just because we just talked about it. So Spulcher said,

I didn't see the play, but I don't think it's cute. I don't think it's funny. I think it's a stupid play. It's a dangerous play. Obviously, our best player was out. I'm not making an excuse. The Hornets played great. Made those plays down the stretch. We had opportunities to win. But that's a shame. You should be penalized for it. I don't think that belongs in the game. Tripping guys shenan against Curtis Blair is the one referee. Curtis Blair was there. It's his responsibility to see that.

If it's not his responsibility, then Zach's Arbor, you just mentioned. Then Zach's got to see it. If somebody has got to see that, and he should have been thrown out of the game for that. There's no place in the game for that. So then, later, Lamello Ball gets asked about what happened.

Let me scroll down to this point. Okay. Well, Melo's asked for an explanation of what happened on the play. Quote, Oh yeah, I apologize on that one. I mean, I got hit in the head. I didn't really know where I was, but I'm going to check on him and see if he's okay and everything.

He didn't know where he was, but he knew where Bamatabio's ankle was. So then there's a clarification of this, and he said, quote, I haven't even seen. Like I said, I got hit in the head. I didn't even know where I was, but yeah, just playing basketball. But like I said, sorry, and I'm going to check on it.

So then he got asked, well, did you get evaluated for a concussion? Well, yeah, I mean, I don't think I ever had a concussion or I might have. I don't know. I don't even know how those concussions were. Well, I'll say this. If you had a concussion that definitely explains the turnover and foul on the last minute of overtime. But that smells like manure from Lamello.

It was like there's no way to look at that and say it's anything but a dirty play. kicked out of the game because Bam was hurt I don't know if there was a review if that would have been considered it was a to me if I'm if I'm reviewing that it's a flagrant one

I don't know if it's getting kicked out of the game but it was a flagrant foul it was a non-basketball play to swipe at a guy's ankle who was off balance the only reason it would be considered potentially a flagrant too is because Bam got hurt on the play

but like there's no question it was it was like there's no way you look at that and say it's anything but a dirty play. I think there's going to be real debate over the next 48 hours about whether LaBalle is suspended for Friday's getting. There's going to be debate in the media. I don't know if there's going to be much debate.

I had a GM text me tonight and not related to any of this and asked because they saw the play later and said, this guy's got to get suspended, right? I said, I don't think that's a reaction to the result and not the play. Could be. But I don't know. Like, it's a tough one to swallow. because you did knock out the Heat's best player. And you boys know I've been talking about the curse of 83 and kind of making fun of the Heat, but there's nothing funny about this.

Like that it was a dirty play that caused the dirty and dangerous to miss the most important game of the Heat's season. He played, what was it, like six minutes? It doesn't, nothing about it sits right. So, yeah, so I will say Heath fans unearthed a play from a couple of years ago. where a similar thing happened, where Lamello felt that he got fouled against the heat. I believe the game was in Miami, and it was on Heat Twitter tonight,

or HeatX, whatever you want to call it, and he did a similar thing where after he felt like he got fouled, he reached out and tripped Bam. Now, on this play, Bam was much more on balance, and it just sort of was a nuisance, but it was when you saw those two plays, side by side, you're like, this has happened before. This is what he does.

So I don't know. That doesn't really matter to the league, but that should be considered. And here's the thing. I do not believe at all that Lamello intended to injure Bamatabio. But what he did was reckless. It was a dirty play. And so the other thing I would say, the only thing I can compare it to in recent times,

and Bontemps, you have a good memory for this. You probably covered this game. was the play in the playoffs two years ago. Mitchell Robinson and Joel Embed. Mitchell Robinson and Joelle Embedde, where Mitchell Robinson, like, Embedd sort of takes him out in a similar play. They call that one,

and they upgraded to a flagrant one. Recalling that play will get the Knicks fans' bloods boiling because that hit on Robinson's foot essentially took him out for the rest of the playoffs. He played a couple more games after that, but it was a re-injury to that foot. He wasn't right the rest of the time. And, um, factor, basically. So I will just say in a similar situation, that was a flagrant one.

And by the way, Zach Zarba was on that crew. Zach Zarbhaerba reviewed that play. I forgot. I forgot about that part that Zach was doing the game. Like, I don't want to put words into Zach's mouth. I'm not, I'm just saying that in a somewhat similar situation, Zach Zarba looked at it and ruled flagrant one. Zach and Zach is part of the pool report, just because you said that.

So we have all the schedules here, so we have to scroll down. So he got asked, I believe, by Rod Boone, yeah, from the Charlotte Observer. Should the play have risen to a level of a flakered foul if it was reviewed? At this point, that goes to league operations, and they'll make a determination on that in the coming days. So they will make that determination and go from there. I mean, I think it's clearly a flagged foul. But like, in defense of the refs, the play was bam on one foot so he didn't go out of bounds on the baseline, saving the ball on its transition the other way. And Lamello on his back reaching out and swiping with his right hand.

So like, I can understand how they didn't see it because the play was going the other way. I don't even know if they necessarily didn't see it. But like the way this stuff works just so people, like so fans understand. Like basically, so Curtis Blair is there looking at the play, right? Bam, throws the ball ahead and the heat have a fast break. So essentially you decide you're either going to stop the play right then and call a foul and review it, or if you're not sure, you let the play go and the heat have a fast break going the other way. But when the heat have the fast break and go the other way, once play continues, you can't go back 30 seconds.

could say, hey, we're going to check this play out from 30 seconds ago. Now, you could argue why is that the case? It was a dirty play. You should be able to do that. As someone who has said, I would like replay to be abolished. I am certainly not going to sit here and say, let's have more reasons to stop games for reviews. But that is like the mechanics of why they couldn't go back and do it. And like you said, McMahon, it's a split second thing.

Play goes the other way. If the ball had gone out of bounds, they probably do review it. But it didn't. Because then Miami can challenge it. An ultimate insult to injury. The heat don't score. It ends up transition back the other way for Charlotte. And Lamello gets a dunk because it's a five on four with bam and agony laid out on the baseline.

Right. So I predict it being the middle of a news cycle week. Wednesday morning, NFL draft stuff hasn't started yet. I predict this will be a major talking point. No question. And listen. A talking point, especially because of, I mean, it's Lamello and it's BAM and it impacted the game and all these things. All of it.

And Lamello's getting fine. Lamello's getting fine for F bombing on the walkoff interview. Yes. But he might get fined. Yeah. It will be an expensive. It's supposed to drop an S bomb in his post game. Yeah.

He was not right. It's going to be an expensive 48 hours, no matter what, for Lamello. because there's going to be some, at minimum, some sort of upgrade, and he's going to get a hefty fine for the postgame comments with our paled Cassidy. My guess is he ends up getting, I mean, I wouldn't be stunned if they give them a flagrant two and don't suspend them, which would sort of be a way to middle it and give them two flagrant foul points, which, you know, as we've seen in the past, with Draymond and others, I don't know how long shot will be in the playoffs, but that adds up.

I'm asking seriously, do those count toward a playoff total? Great question. I really don't know when like the plan. I will double check. I will, I assume NBAPR is not awake, but I will ask that now and see if we can get an answer. Yeah. The other thing I just want to point out while I really like, I'm going to lay off the whole 83 years angle because this was bad circumstances with BAM going out. The heat absolutely stunk down the stretch of the season.

You know, they came to play tonight. Also, they couldn't get defensive stops at the time. the end of this game. And that's the thing. If they could just get a couple of stops, they would have won. But fellas, they became a historically horrible defensive team. And I'm timing it to BAM's 83 point performance. They actually beat the bucks the next game.

It would be even worse if I waited a game. After the 83 point performance, they played 16 games, about 20% of a season. Their defensive rating was 123.3. That would be the worst in NBA history. Now, there were two teams that were worse during that stretch. Those were the lizards and the grizzlies. The two tankiest of all tank teams that did not commit any overt behavior because they were not fine. So clearly it wasn't overt, but I'm just guessing they were tanking.

But I'm saying like the heat absolutely fell apart defensively down the stretch of the season. And again, this one, their best defensive players gone, whatever, but them not being able to get stops is not like a oh my gosh bam's out they can't get stops they were awful defensively down the stretch of the season and just in no I was going to say was the heat have a lot of questions to answer this summer just in general they've had the same

they get a store well they've just had the same basic group for five years now and they've been treading water over and over again and I something has to change there it feels like I don't know what's going to but if they come back with basically the

same team again in the fall. I don't know. I just something significant needs to shift around. All right. Well, before we move on, I just want to say a couple things. First off, Musa Diabate, who had an important production tonight at 14 rebounds. He hurt his hip in this game or his side and he was holding it the entire second half, basically. So I don't know what his health status is going to be for when they play again on Thursday.

I believe they play on Thursday. And by the way, his insertion in the starting lineup. definitely coincides with their massive mid-season turnaround. The second thing is there's going to be some pressure on Con Cnipal to play well in the game, you know, for the eighth seat. I mean, there was a lot of, he got a lot of camera time while he was standing in front of the bed. He's gotten a lot of attention positively throughout the season for playing well. This is what comes with it. You earn the right to have scrutiny.

This is all part of, this is all part of the learning experience. experience, a 100% serious comment. It's all part of the learning experience for him and for the Hornets, all this stuff. Like, this is why this situation is awesome for them. Like, it's important to go through this stuff. And like I said, it's not a coincidence. The guy that saved them in the second half of this game, I'm not making a joke about it. Like Kobe White has been in the playoffs, has played in the play in a lot.

The heat have played a ton of playing games. Like, it is a kind of a, it's a totally different thing than anything else that we're have in the NBA. I mean, I guess the NBA Cup is like it too, but like this one-off, one-off NCAA kind of setup. It's just a different environment. And like, you know, it's not a coincidence that the heat looked like a team that had been there plenty.

And the Hornets were the more talented team that had a kind of a chaotic path to a win. More Hoop Collective Podcast after this. So in the other playing game, the one that, guaranteed you a spot the number seven seed in the west, the right to play the spurs, was won by the Portland Trailblazers who've had a hell of a week, won their way into the eighth seed, primarily with a big win over the other clippers on Friday, you know, cemented it with the victory on Sunday and then come back with probably the best performance of Denny Advia's career. He's had really, I wouldn't say his breakout season was this year, his breakout season was

really last year, but he had a whale of a season this year. Maybe an all-M-B-A season. I was going to say, this has been the breakout season. He had a good year last year. He's rounding up, he's averaging 24-7-7. The only guys in the league who averaged as many points, rebounds, and assists him, there's two guys, Nicole Yokic and Luca Donchich.

Hey, listen, here's pretty good company. Here's Denny's including the game winning bucket in this game. Here's Denny's line in this game. 41 points, 38 minutes, 41 points, 15 for 22 from the field, 12 for 14 on twos in the game, got the line 13 times, only went 8 for 13, 7 rebounds, 12 assists, and two blocks. You could cut his left hand off and it wouldn't affect his game. He's so dominant getting to his right hand. Yeah, he's so dominant getting to his right hand.

And his, you know what's strong on his left is his shoulder and his elbow. He's a brick wall. He flings that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that's, that, that's, that, that's, it's, like, yeah. Not a coincidence Dylan Brooks fouled out. Shea. Yeah. Shea. Yeah. When he signed his extension with Washington,

I was talking to a GM, and I was like, man, I don't know, like, not sure about that deal. And they were like, hey, Denny's got a chance to be pretty good. And I was like, I don't know, really? Like, I don't know. And it's, it's been unbelievable.

And I like the trade at the time. Like, I wasn't sure about the value Portland gave up in the trade to get him from Washington. And like, his development has been unbelievable. Wasn't it a lottery pick? They gave up the 14th. It was Bubbke. Harrington, it was the 14th pick, and they gave up a future first.

There's just two picks. And Denny, I mean, he's obviously vastly outperformed that. And you watch a play. And like you guys both said, the crazy thing about it is it's like, it's like one of those things where everybody in the building knows exactly what he's doing. He's putting his head down. He's going to his right hand. He's going to the rim.

And nobody could stop him. And he gets fouled all the time. And he's finishing in the paint all the time. He's finishing in the spring. He's spreading it out to shooters. Like, dude, I love watching a play. It's awesome. Well, one thing that happened in this game.

There's complaining about the whistle he gets, but, you know, I'll say what. He is, he's getting backed. He made a basket. So first off, what happened, you know, Phoenix was behind for much of the first half, all the first half, basically. It felt like there were 10 different 10-0 or more runs in this game. It felt like it was, the whole game was,

just each team going back with crazy game makers. Phoenix went on a 24 to 4 run in the second half, which looked like was going to give them separation. I mean, they were playing at home. Dylan Brooks was having a good shooting game. Jalen Green, I wouldn't say it was having a good shooting game, but he threw in some shots. And Booker, you don't think 14 shots is throwing in some shots?

I know. I was going to say, I think he had a pretty good shooting game. Well, he was 14 to 29. He... 35 points on 29 shots. On the last son's possession, yeah. felt like he tried to get fouled on a three instead of actually trying to make the three. There was a lot of foul hunting by the sun's late, mostly unsuccessful.

But I will say that, you know, as Portland was coming back, you know, Denny makes this basket to tie the game at 110. And he got fouled. Thought he got fouled and probably could have gotten teched there. But Nick Bukert, the veteran referee, didn't tech him. And then Jeremy Grant and Drew Holiday. And by the way, let me just say, there's been, there wasn't. isn't a lot of understanding as to why the Blazers made the Drew Holiday trade. And then Holiday had a season, was injury plagued because, you know, they were sort of in the middle.

Holiday has been extremely helpful to them down the stretch since he got healthy. The fourth quarter was Denny Audvia's quarter. He had 14 points and three assists. Like he won them the game. But Drew Holiday had several big plays at both ends of the court, including keeping Denny from getting a tech there on a tie game. Drew had a really good year, just to be clear. Drew did have a really good year. I don't know how many games he played.

Yeah, I mean, he missed some time with injuries. So, yeah, very. And also Jeremy Grant, a guy who I didn't like the contract the day they gave it to him, and he's been in and out of trade rooms ever since. Jeremy Grant played a very key role, including stripping. I believe it was Royce O'Neill. Yeah. I think it was Royce O'Neill, right at the end of the game,

when after Jeline Green missed, Royce O'Neill got the rebound, and Jeremy Grant stripped him to, secure the win. Well, and you mentioned Jaylen Green taking 29 shots. Devin Booker took 17. Yeah.

They'd like to flip that. I know. I didn't love Jalen Green's game. But here's the thing. Devin Booker was being defended for most of the game by Tumani Camara

and by True Holiday. I mean, they had elite defenders on him, and Tumani Camara is the guy that the sons threw in with DeAndre Aten, they attached him to Aiton as a sweetener so they could dump Aiton to get off him as part of the dame deal

and Kamara, he didn't have a great shooting night but he's become the prototypical three and D player a guy who played all 82 for Portland this year and is a big reason why the Blazers are now moving on as the seven seed in the playoffs. On two things. Jeremy Grant

hadn't played since March 27th. He'd only played a couple games since March 20th. if he's been out with a calf strain. So he came back and played in this game. And obviously, like you said, had an impact. And Portland is a pretty tough matchup in particular for Phoenix because they've got all these big wings. And you saw that, as you guys both just pointed out, in this game,

where between Kamara and Drew Holiday and, you know, Danny's a solid defender, like they've got a bunch of big long, Matisse Thibel is back and playing. They got a bunch of big long physical wing defenders. and they could throw them all at these guys. And yeah, like, Jalen Green had a lot of points, but it wasn't super efficient, as you pointed out, Brian. And Devin Booker just did not have a great game. And that, you know, that's a credit to all the really good defenders that the Blazers have.

Two things I want to point out about the end of the game. One, you mentioned Kamara, you know, elite defensive player. The last play for the Sons when they were down by two was designed for Booker. And Booker drove in and was trying, I think, to generate a foul, although not terribly. But Kamara, who had five fouls, stayed down, didn't bite on the pump fake, played excellent defense on the last play. He forced the kickouts of Jalen Green, which Jalen tried to get fouled, whatever.

Then I want to say on the possession where Denny scored to get the lead, the sons don't have a shot blocker on the court in that spot. They're playing small. And, you know, the sons have spent a lot. of assets on getting bigs, you know, getting a shop locker. And Jordan, not obviously in that spot didn't feel confident having. I mean, they traded multiple firsts for Mark Williams. And I mean, I'm not saying that you'd have, you know, Molly Watch in the game there. No, and, and listen, Williams played 22 minutes tonight. Iguado played 23 minutes tonight. Malewak was DMPCD. You know,

he's a project big. I don't think he would play. And, and Igaro wasn't really a rim protector to be clear. And Mark Williams, I mean, Mark Williams is big. I mean, he had three blocks today, so it's weird to say this, but he's not a great defensive player. Like, he's an offensive big. Like, that's who he is. Denny looked at the alignment out there. I mean, he was going to go anyway, but he looked at the alignment out there. The sons were super small, and he just- It's part of why it's a tough matchup for Phoenix, the combination of they don't have great room protection, and they've got Portland has all these big wings that they could throw out of him. Look, Donovan Kling had six offensive rebounds. A couple, there were a couple

huge offensive rebounds he had in the fourth quarter, kicked out to Denny for one three, I think he might have drew Holiday for another one, and they just couldn't keep them off the glass. By the way, again, like, that's just the way it goes. Portland also went small down in stretch. Kling was off the floor.

I thought it was a good job coaching by Tiago Splitter. I know that, you know, maybe the guy who owns a team doesn't think that he's worth anything close to market value to coach a team. But he's got a great job this year, man. Yeah. Maybe the Blazers can find a coach at like the NAA level who will take what they're offering. Well, I just say Portland has, they earned their way into this with some big time wins under pressure down the stretch. And by the way, you know what them getting in the playoffs means.

It means Chicago Bulls. Chicago gets the pick. It's an A.K. He just keeps on helping the Bulls out, baby. The benefits will keep coming long after he's gone. I guess the Bulls could declare victory on Tuesday night, but I don't. would be very careful about waving that flag. I'll say this. I think the spurs are probably happy that the Sons did not win this game,

and not that the Sons were going to beat them, but Victor's had a little bit of trouble with the Sons. You know, specifically there was one game before Deer & Fox got healthy this year that he had a lot of trouble. As he has a tender rib, I'm not sure they really wanted Dylan Brooks anywhere close. Hey, listen, I, so I strongly just. agree with that. I think Portland's a lot more talented team. I think Portland has, I think Portland's size makes a better chance.

Donovan Klingan ain't built to defend Victor Wemannion. He's going to get an early foul trouble trying to guard him on the crib. I'm not talking. I'm not saying Donovan Klingin is going to stop him. He's not going to stop him. But when you talk about physicality, like all that the Blazers have are just

big physical wing players and they've got in Donovan Klingin and Robert Williams two legit seven footers to have out there all the time. I just don't think I just think Victor's going to get banged around playing against a really physical port. Well, I promise you this. I will say that Denny will have to deal with the rim protection. Of course.

There will be much different with them out there. There's no question about that. Michael Corleone right will get to the Nike employee store between games three and four because they ain't going to be no thing. Nobody is happier that it's Blazers spurs than our guy Corleone, that's for sure. And me. By the way, there was a group chat after the pod the other night where McMahon was trying to verify that our two co-workers,

Vinnie Goodwill, and Michael Wright packed as many shoes as he did. And I will just say they do pack a lot of shoes, but neither of them would verify. Corley-Oen packs as many. Vinny. So does Vinny. Vinny's a good amount, but not as many. They stepped back. They did not verify that. Nobody packs as many, though, as a guy, Ulm, who is back.

Yes, exactly. I'm dead serious about this. Ome has not repeated a pair of kicks for a game in three seasons. Three seasons. He's got a PJ Tucker level shoe collection. It's the same. Two playing games on Wednesday night. Magic at 76ers, which I think Bontems will be at.

I will be. And Warriors in L.A. the Clippers. McMan, are you deigning to go over there or will you just not do that? I got to get it. I got to get it. Will you be lazy? No. I've got to get I have, no, time out.

I got a 3.15 a. alarm set for Thursday morning. I will not be at the end to it. Oh, okay. I respect it. I guess. Anyway, to me, Bonn says, this thing to me is whether the magic can pick up the emotional pieces and just whatever chemistry issues that exist following that really let down during the entire last part of the season, but certainly on Sunday in Boston where they

completely fell apart. And so I know the 76ers are wounded, but they are playing at home and the magic have not covered themselves in glory. Sixers will have more talent on the court than the Boston Celtics did on Sunday when the magic, well, I don't even think that's not even though. It's not a hot take, but it's a hell of the point. Yeah, I mean, it, you know, so, I mean, look, that was a pretty desolatory performance by Orlando. We talked about it on Sunday night.

And, yeah, this is a gut check moment for, I would say, the entire magic franchise. Like, because the Hornets, we'll see what happens with the Melo Ball, but the Hornets are going to have an extra day arrest. They're going to be on the road. but because of this weird quirk where the Flyers had a game Tuesday night, that's why the 7-8 game in the East was Wednesday instead of Tuesday. So in a weird quirk, they're going to be the less rested team, whoever loses this game. And the Hornets are going to be favored on Friday against either team.

Oh, interesting. You think so on the road? 100%. With Philly without Jewel and Bid, Charles is going to be favored to win. And if Orlando loses to Philly without Embed, after losing to Boston, there's no chance. I don't know if I agree with that.

Hold on. Wendy, Orlando has dunk it up for a while now. I know, but it's a home single elimination game. Oh, home for Orlando. Wow, that in a big atmosphere. All right, in L.A., you know, we have Kauai and Steph. It's a headliner game. I'm going to be honest with you. I don't think either of these teams is ultimately going anywhere.

It's very hard for me. What a controversial. take. These nine, ten teams probably aren't going to win the title. I don't think they will. Right. Well, one of them's horizon

is Oklahoma City, or at least a chance at Oklahoma City. Yeah. So I would just say that... They both beat Phoenix, though. What's that? They can. Yes, I agree.

Yeah, I mean, Kauai is playing really well. I expect Kauai, you know, it's almost a guarantee that, I mean, the guys have been on really a tear, one of the best tears of his career for the last two, months. And the Warriors lost to the Kings on Friday in their dress rehearsal for the playoffs.

Well, not only that, but the Warriors are openly, Steve Kerr's openly saying that, you know, there's going to be minutes caps. I don't know about restriction, but there's going to be minutes caps on stuff and, and Poisingas. And like, you know, I get it, but it's a single elimination game. Also, I'm going to whisper here. It might be better for the Warriors to lose. Because they're just going.

Where will they pick? in the lottery and we'll see. No. No. Where will they pick? Pick 11th. What happened last year? The 11th team. They wouldn't pick 11th. They'll go to the lottery 11. No, that's what I'm saying.

They're in the lottery. They'll be at 11. That's my point. Sorry. They won't pick at 11. Sorry. They'll be in the lottery at 11. Last year, the team that was in the lottery at 11, lost in the play-in. Dallas Mavericks went up to number one. The Los Angeles Lakers in 2019 jumped up from 11 to number four. Helped him get Anthony Davis. Like, yes, it's not an awful outcome for an injury decimated warrior's team to lose this game or lose Friday to Phoenix if they don't make the playoffs and give themselves a real shot in this system at getting into the top.

Now, having said that, OKC, those folks, they'll be at the tips of Tiki, just root, root, rooting for the Warriors. They want to see the Clippers lose because why? they'd like a chance of that lottery. They've got that unprotected Clippers pick. They'll get two lottery picks. And obviously the Sixers pick is top four protected. Right. No chance to move up.

But yeah. But could have two lottery picks. I just want to say that after weeks of trying to hold our nose with the tanking teams, that it is refreshing. And I know that not every play in game will be as good as the first two. and certainly not every playoff game will be. But we are in for two months of routine games like we saw on the opening play in night. And so we've got through the worst of times, hopefully now the best of times.

Should be a great postseason with a bunch of storylines. Some new blood, Victor Wembeyanama in the playoffs for the first time. Thunder trying to break the record long streak of a lack of defending champ in the league. Just a ton of exciting stuff. Should be awesome. this was a great kickoff to it. Well, also, we are in prime. And I mean prime.

Wendy, sleep, update, territory. This is what we live for, baby. Says the guy who's bailing on a playoff game to sleep. It's not a playoff game. It's a playing game. You can't even find it on the internet. Jackson is the one who's going to stay up all night to put this together. So thank you to Jackson.

He's the real hero. Thank you to McMahon and Bontems. Thank you for listening and watching the Hoop Collective. We'll talk to you. later this week. Yes, megos.