Club Shay Shay - Nightcap Hour 1: Thunder LOOK UNSTOPPABLE vs Lakers + Austin Reaves CRAHES OUT on Refs + Cade DOMINATES Game 2 vs Cavs

Episode Date: May 8, 2026

Shannon Sharpe, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Iso Joe Johnson react to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers taking on SGA and the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals, Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons taking a 2-0 lead over James Harden and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and much more! Download the PrizePicks app today and use code SHANNON to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup! https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/NIGHTCAP   00:00 - Introduction04:55 - Thunder beat Lakers (OKC 2-0)51:00 - Pistons beat Cavaliers (DET 2-0) 1:13:00 - Kobe vs LeBron mindset (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) #ClubSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thank you guys for joining us for another episode of Nightcap as you watch the OkC Thunder go up to O, as did the Detroit Pistons, the Thunder whim, 125 to 107, and even though Shea was kept in check, Chet Hongrin, and the other guys chipped in really well, Jay Mitchell, Jerry McCain came up the bench, Kaysen Wallace. It was just too much for the Lakers to handle as they win 125 to 107. Thank you guys again for joining us. Y'all know who I am. I'm your favorite uncle.

That is my partner in co-host, the Liberty City legend, the bingo, ring of fame, honorary, the mattings, the ratings adjuster, a former pro bowler and an all-pro. He's Chad, Ocho Cinco Johnson. And the third member of the Big Three is a Big Three MVP, a seven-time NBA all-star from the Atlanta Hawks, University of Arkansas alum. That is ISO, Joe Johnson. please make sure you hit that subscribe button. Please make sure you hit the like button

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They had what, one, two, three, four, five, six guys and double figures. Hartinstein was five or six from the floor, he had 10. Chet was 22.7 of 11. She was seven to 13, was in foul trouble. And Jay Mitchell played unbelievable ball tonight. He had 20 points.

Case in Wallace had 12. Jerry McClain had 18. And it was just too much for the Lakers to overcome. And I knew once the Lakers, they had a lead when Shea went to the bench. And I say, if y'all don't increase this lead, it's going to get ugly when he comes back into the ball game in the fourth quarter. And that is exactly what happened. And that's what happened the last time, Joe. Every time Shay goes out, most of the time when teams lose their best player,

be his rest time or he gets in foul trouble, the other team claws into the lead. But not with this Thunder team. They're able to expand the lead. And it's kind of like what we saw with the Warriors when they were in their prime. Their backup unit would come in and whatever lead the starters had, they would expand on it.

And if they didn't have the lead, they would claw into it and they would have the lead once the starters came back in the game. But the Thunder win 125 to 107, take a commanding to O lead. Joe, what is it that the okay, what are the Thunder are doing

and how do the, Lakers at some point in time late in the fourth quarter make this series competitive. Joe, you muted. But I think the thing is, uh, Joe, uh, while Joe gets his mic, uh, straight now is that they've done an unbelievable job in the first two games. Shea is averaging basically 20 points a game. Right. He normally averages 31 points a game.

Shoot at a very high efficiency. Now he, he got what, seven of his, uh, 22 points in the free throw line. Yeah, game. me. Go ahead, go ahead, Joe. Yeah, my bad, my bad. I don't know what the Lakers can do. I just think OECC is just way too disciplined Uncle Ocho. You know, think about it.

Hell, Case and Wiles played more minutes than Shay tonight. Yes. You know what I mean? I just think you know, they got too many guys who can beat you. They're so poised and patience and what they do collectively as a team. And we're just keeping it 100

fellas, the Lakers just ain't got enough. I mean, hell, without Luca, that's 33 points a night. Look, you probably could get away with that in the Houston series, but not against the defending champs, fellas. You need somebody who can go out here and help. Now, AR played great tonight. I thought Bruin has been solid.

Hell, Rucci is playing great. But you just need another guy to, bro. They just got too many. Look, Jerry McCain came in here. They don't miss a beat when they suck. OKC. You know, they got guys coming off the bench, bro, who get right to it. it and they're not afraid of the moment.

I think okay, see, it's still the most dangerous team in the postseason, bro. They just, they got a plet of guys who they can go to or who asserts themselves and are willing to step up to the challenge. Yeah. I was disappointed in LeBron's play tonight, Joe. He wasn't aggressive at all. He was very content to just stand in the corner and then try to get the ball at the nail and just try to do something.

That's not going to cut it. The guy stole the ball from the head of the guy on his backside. he let Lou Dork come over the top. That's unacceptable. And the little flurry that he had in the fourth quarter, that's not enough. We needed that. We need that assertiveness in the third quarter. When Shea gets to the, hey, call the guys and say,

look, this is where we try to get some separation. This is where we try to put some distance between us and them. Their best players gone. And what do they do? Politely, the team goes on a 13, 14, 14 to run. Yeah. I'm like, are you kidding me? Yeah.

Are you kidding me? Nobody has the word with all. Everybody getting beat off the dribble. Then you come help. They kick it wide open threes. Now you go small. You can't keep shit off the glass. But I was just disappointed in the brunt.

And again, two rebounds. Remember last night, Joe, he had no rebounds. Yeah. None with about two minutes left in the third quarter. Yeah. He got one and then one hit the floor and he just picked it up. That ain't going to get it done. Yeah.

They're going to get it done. We're going to look at this and say, well, he's shooting 50, 50 percent from the floor. That's not good. enough because okay when are those points coming we needed those points a lot of we needed those points in the third quarter yeah that's when you because this is the closer the lake has really been to them mm-hmm and then all of a sudden shade goes to the bench they step on the gas with basically their backups and don't look back yeah yeah go in on joe but hey joe you got a thing about it right i mean this is what we expected this is what we've seen from okay see all season

long regards to who their opponent was regards to who they were playing We've seen She go out. We've seen Shea not plan, and we've seen that team still be afloat because of what they have. The way that team is run, the way that team is constructed is by committee. So even if Shea does go down, they still have enough ballers in shit. And some of these other young fellas, Hardinstein and Ludo. I mean, not Ludo. But Mitchell, I mean, Caruso, they all come in and contribute and do what they're supposed to do.

whether the goddamn thunder chose to go big or small, the Lakers really never had the firepower to be able to hang with them and they can go score for score. You mentioned when Shay went out it's time for the Lakers to take advantage of those situations and kind of close the gap

or try to close the gap to maybe close the lead, but they still don't have enough. And then you're trying, you ask for LeBron to be able to sums it up, But again, LeBron is still that 41-year-old that you always talk about, right? I think the thing, and plus too many turnovers. Marcus Smart has been really careless with the ball.

How many, let me ask you, think about this, Joe. How many illegal picks? There's not a game that's gone by that Jackson Hayes hadn't got a moving screen call. Yeah. Yeah. He gets one every game. Yeah. Bro, you have to be still.

Yeah. And he gets one every game. Sometimes he gets to a game. I'm like, bro, you've been in the league far too long. And then you look at the riff like what? He's telling you you're moving. You have to be stationary. Yeah.

Lazy passes. And I'm like, are you kidding me? But you're right. I don't believe, but I'm saying, all you can hope for is to get the game late in the fourth quarter with a chance to win. But when you down 14, you down 16 with three minutes to go against that team, you're not coming back.

Yeah, no. But think about this. You're not coming back. And if somebody would have told me, say, hey, guess what? Shade's going to be only averaging 20 points. In game two, he's going to go out, be a large part of the game with foul trouble. I was like, well, Lakers got a great chance. At no point in time in the fourth quarter, did you think the Lakers had a chance to beat this team?

No, son. In game one or two. No, sir. Hey, they climbed back in it when they was down early by double digits. Hey, I agree with you. I think out of the 20 turnovers that the Lakers had, 15 of them came from your starters. Yes. And that's a recipe for disaster on the road, fellas.

It's hard to be the great team, special championship caliber team with 20 turnover. You just can't do it. And then another thing, if Brian is going to be kind of average like this, he needs Aiden to play well. You know, he ain't got to be great. Aiden ain't got to be great. Right.

He's going to need to get you at least 15 points, you know, 8 to 10 rebounds just for y'all to stay in the game and compete. It's just too much because you don't get nothing from your bench. Luke Canari came in and gave you a little something, but for the most part, you rely on so much on your starters, bro, that it weighs heavy on them. And then once you do get in that fourth quarter and it's a tight game, man, y'all know OKC got another run now.

They got another run in them because they're still fresh. One of the youngest teams, and they ain't bogging not one person down with a bunch of damn minutes. You know what I'm saying? You look at check. They don't got no answer for check. Okay, Ocho. Nope.

They don't. And I think the more and more he becomes aggressive and asserts himself, the better off they're going to be. He plays great off Shea, understanding that, damn, every time Shay is in a pick and roll or whatnot, they're trying to double team and keep the ball out of his hands, hey, look, you can tell OKC practices, they go's over it because when that balls comes out, those other guys are ready to shoot or make a play. They're just too deep, man.

They're too deep. Hey, listen, I know we want to see the Lakers get a game or two. Mm-hmm. I don't even know if they can do that, to be honest. I thought this was a great game, especially late in the third quarter. I was like, oh, man, Shay gone? Yeah. If I'm not mistaken, Joe, they had like a three or maybe a four point lead when she left.

I say, okay, you expand that. Let's get to the fourth quarter. You got a lead going into the fourth quarter. You look up. They down 10. Mm-hmm. Hey, you look at that damn case in Wallace and that damn Jerry McCain? Yeah.

Man, I mean, you're talking about two pivotal players and what OKC does. as far as getting things done. Oh, Shay, you got to take a break. Oh, don't worry, I got you. I got you. We're going to pick up the slack. And they do it every game. This is carbon copy of how they've been great throughout the whole season, bro.

Yeah, Shea is awesome. He's the MVP, the reigning MVP. But, bro, they got, hell, if Shay sit out, they probably can still win the game. Yeah. Just keep it real. They got guys who get to it, fellas. Yeah. And Uncle Joe, you got to understand, right?

FGA missed time during the season and they didn't miss a beat they didn't miss a beat even though She's not scoring 30 in this series he's scoring 20 they still having to miss the beat when he goes out they still haven't missed the beat

if they continue to float I think if you take the Lakers right on you say they play perfect basketball they didn't have any turnovers they played well in transitional offense and on defense they still wouldn't win this game because they not get enough from everybody else

Icchamura played well. LeBron did enough. Also smart looks like himself. Awesome smart. Austin Reeves looked like himself again. Yeah. But it's just not enough. DeAndre Aden, you got to come to the party.

Three points. You have an invitation to come to the party. He's up and down. You don't know what you can get from. Joe, he's right there at the rim. Why not dunk it? Why he trying to lay the ball up? I'm like, bro, you right there.

You're seven foot tall and you're trying to lay the ball up. That's your kitchen. Let Yoakich lay the ball look. You dunk it. Yeah. He lays it up. He misses it. Gets it back again and misses it again.

Yeah. Yeah. You can't. When you turned the ball, first of all, the last thing you can do, if you don't have a, it's kind of like, Ocho, when you don't have a high part of offensive football, the last thing you can do is turn the ball loop. Because you don't have the weaponry to get back into the ball game. Yes.

That is the Lakers problem. Because they don't have the offensive firepower, the last thing that you can do is turn the ball over. First of all, you can't turn it over. You don't have the firepower and you're not a good defensive team. Yeah.

So you got the three things that you can ill afford to be, and that's what you are. They can't stop anybody. I still don't understand. A John Mitchell, he's a left-handed guy. He's going to get to his left.

I'd be damn if they're not playing on the damn right, on his right shoulder. Why? He's not right-handed. He's left-handed. Yeah. If you notice,

people play James Hard they get on his left shoulder. Yeah. I'm going to let you, I'm going to make you beat me with your non-dominant hand. Don't let him get to the... This May,

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If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us.

Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody!

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available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series. because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the bar like, after you go through a training camp with that, I say, you figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the bomb. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents Soccer Moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah.

This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. Wider.

This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album?

Oh, I would. Come on. How did you believe? I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky. I'm not a killer. I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh.

Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Because most lefty players are more lefty dominant than right-handed players are right-dominant. You look at the guys that's been left-handed in this league. You look at Zach Randolph.

You look at Manu. You look at Marshalonas. You look at James Hardin. You look at guys that have been left-hand. They really, really, really left-handed dominant. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know why the Lakers still don't,

and Aiton, got the guy, got the guy, and guess what he does? Let him side step up and go to the left and lay the ball up. Yeah, yeah. They come at you in ways, bro. It seems like it's times where it seems like the Lakers kind of got it, even if they got a two-point leave, four-point lead. Man, you got your starters playing so many minutes,

Uncle Ocho. They, when it does come in the fourth quarter, seven minutes, under seven minutes, they start making these bonehead plays, bro, just lackluster turnovers. I'm like, damn. I know his parents took him to school. There ain't no way he caught the bus on his own.

I know his fans dropped up like to school every day. Hey, hey. And it seemed like one turnover, it kind of starts to compound into another. Next thing you know, now you're back down to him. It's like, so it's hard for them to keep overcoming these huge leads because one thing we do know, obviously without Luca, they're not that high power offensively.

Yes, they got guys who can score. Yeah. But to keep pulling yourself out of these deficits, bro, it causes too much wearing terror on you. Then in the fourth quarter, you start to see all these bone-headed turnover that you're like, bro, what are you doing? Hell, they dead dog died.

You know why, Joe? If you look at Jalen Williams playing 15 minutes, Caruso played 22 minutes, Cates and Wallace played 31 minutes, McCain played 18 minutes. The reason why JJ can't play his bench that many minutes is because they blow up. You don't trust him. If they're down five and they come in there by the time, I mean,

JJ got to call the time out and put the start up back in, because not they're down 15. And the game is about to get out of hand. He can't play anybody for extended stretches because they just, they don't know what to do. They start turning the ball over. They're like, uh, and I'm sure JJ and the staff is going over this stuff.

But he's constantly like, I can see him like, do it? I don't know. I don't think they know either. Yeah. You know what? I think they know what the game plan is. I just don't think JJ, he don't trust nobody coming off that bench for real. Outside of Luke Kinnard, who plays great off Bronn. Yes. He don't trust a single soul coming off that bench for real. You know, he'll give him a couple minutes here and there, but hell, in them couple minutes, if you ain't made no splash, and come sitting next to me.

Because it just ain't got to have. Because the thing is, Joe, is that I can't trust you. when you get in that, you turned them all over and you pretend like, and guess what? We're going to switch everything. And guess what happened? They stay with the guy. The guy don't get switched off and he hit a wide open three.

Yep. And he says, I thought we said we were switching everything. And then they looking at him, I thought, no, I thought you. And he said, no, no, no, don't worry about it. Hey. Because see, I put, it's like this is a football joke. They're only going to put your ass in the game so many times. And you F up before they say they either, hey,

they're going to cut you or they're going to put your ass on the bench. You know what make it worse too, and not only you have the players on the bench that don't really have the wherewithal to know what to do once they get in the game, it's the fact that they plan the goddamn OKC Thunder. It makes it look worse, you right? It makes it even worse, you know,

when they do get in the game and you don't know what the hell you're doing. Yeah. Because their pressure is just too much. Felt, their pressure causes these guys to turn the ball over. And we know you turn the ball over. against OKC, it's probably going to lead

into some damn points. Yes. Every time. I mean, they're just too much of a juggernaut for the Lakers to have any of these guys to play pedestrian. You damn their need, if Brun don't go off for 3540 or AR go off for 35, man, you're going to have everybody play right at a medium to where y'all can just stay

close in the game. And I thought they've done that until like the four quarter. For the most part, okay, Ocho, they stay within reach. I thought that we can get to the fourth quarter, Joe, because they were down in the fourth quarter. They came back, made a run. I think they got it to within five. But the third quarter, they were up like five or six.

And the next thing you know, She goes to the bench and they take off. I'm like, I thought this was supposed to be your opportunity where you take off. You don't allow them to take off. You're supposed to be in the driver's seat. Right. This is the mark of a very good basketball team.

Let's not deny that. They're a very good basketball team. But they do entirely too much floppy. Oh, yeah, they, they, they go. I mean, man, D.A. just chat. He fought. Oh, Lord.

Have mercy. Jesus. Yeah. I thought the Holy Ghost hit him. Hey, everybody got a case of them flops. Every, every, every day you see, everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody got a case of them damn flops trying to, trying to get a call. Huh? It's getting out of hand now.

Yeah. Yeah. It is a little bit. Hey, you know what? Also for the Lakers, where they ain't making it too easy, they had to play against the rest tonight as well. I'm not sure what the rest were doing tonight. Listen, I don't want to say anything. I'm not going to blame that on the reason why, you know, the Thunder 1,

but they didn't make it any easier for the goddamn Lakers tonight, man. Ain't nobody come to see you, Otis? Ain't nobody come to see you. I've never heard. I'm talking, you know what? I've never heard anybody say, you know what? Man, I'm going to go see Tony brothers. I want to see brothers.

I want to see capers. Or I want to see, hey, I've never heard anybody say that. Yeah, you're right. You're right. So why do you feel like you need to insert yourself? The best games in which you don't insert yourself. I understand guys are going to file. But y'all be, tonight was some tiki-tack stuff.

And I'm like, hold on. You go by to the, you barely bump shit or she. They're calling it. Yeah. On the other end, Jalen Williams run dead into Braun, knock him on the ground and they don't do nothing. They're talking about play on. Yeah, yeah.

On the other end, Canari barely touch Shay. I agree. And I get it. I get it. It gets frustrating. When you think all the calls going against you, Joe, you've been in that situation. You know it gets frustrated. Oh, Joe, it seems like, hey, all, we're getting the holding calls.

We're getting the unnecessary roughness or the tiki-tack penalty. And you're like, hey, bro, we're not the only ones out here now. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, listen, listen, think about it. I don't even really think the Lakers play. bad outside of the turnovers. I mean, you look at their field goal percent and they shot 50 percent, but hell, if you

let a team shoot 55 percent against you, that's a recipe for disaster. You're probably going to lose their game, fellas. You know, you got to tighten that up. I think JJ is going to have to, you know, hope somebody will come off this bench, bro, and give you a spark. I mean, I know it don't look great, but hell, when you're going home, Ocho, unc, somebody going to have to come in, man, and get, hey, let's. look, maybe they come in to get you 15, 16, who you least expected from.

Right, right. But in order to beat this OKC team, hell, just to get a game, bro, you're going to have to play pretty damn perfect almost just to win one game. Absolutely. Joe, did you see what happened after the game? Did you see Austin Reeves talking to the official at half court? No, I didn't see. What happened?

I don't know. He was just talking to him. And they were all looking around listening and he was like, point like, you know, I don't know. And I don't want to paraphrase, so hopefully we'll get more. more context and we'll get an opportunity to talk about it. So hopefully they'll have the press conference and at some point in time, we'll be able

to talk about what he actually said to him. But he had five file, Marcus Marte had five files. Shee had four, but no, I mean, Hartnstein, two, Chet, three, two, two, nobody else really wouldn't have filed trouble. But Shea. Yeah, they got a bad whistle tonight, bad whistle. Yeah, they had tough.

They had three guys with five files. Jackson Hayes had five. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard. And you, man, you know what? You want the ref to kind of swallow the whistle a little bit, man, let these guys play. You can't, you can't just, you, that's why they say Russ control the game, bro.

Believe it or not. And basketball, refs control the game. They can control the outcome. They can control the outcome. Yeah. Joe, you said something very interesting. You say they control the outcome because they determine how, how aggressive you can play. Right.

You might want to come into the game, like, okay, we're going to body them up. We're going to play field. and the rest say, no, we're not going to let you play physical tonight. Yeah. And so now you got in your mind where you practice in the game film, you don't say, look, we're going to body this up, we're going to play physical X, Y, and Z. But when the officials come out early and they set the tone, we're not going to allow you to play physical, that changed your whole mindset.

It does, bro. It does. It takes your aggressiveness away. If they continue, if they call in these tick, tag files on you, this the playoffs, bro. Yeah. It's going to be aggressive. You know what I mean?

the line files, but, man, we don't expect you to be blowing your damn whistle every trip down to court. You can't get in no rhythm like that. No. They say in Austin Reeves and the Lakers had a meeting with the refs after the game to share their frustrations. Joe, have you ever seen this? Have you ever seen a team? I mean, have you, in your 17 years of playing in the NBA, have you, your team or any other team that you saw had the officials at half court after the game talking about the frustration that they just had? in the game. I've never seen it. I've never seen it. But understanding the circumstances and Lakers playing against O KC, yep, they know they're the defending champs, but damn,

come on, man, let us play. You know, don't come out here and dictate the games. Y'all know what the fans want to see. They didn't come to see y'all ass blowing your whistle every two, three trip down the court. You know, it's bad for the game, bro. So, hey, look, I don't blame them. You know, when you, when you lose them, bro, you know, you'll find any little thing or you'll find any type of way to, you know, try to change the outcome. And if it's talking to the ref versus going in the media and slandering them and you're getting, you know, you're getting fined $50,000. Guys don't want to do that.

So maybe they're trying to alleviate their problem. But, you know, I guess we'll kind of see, man. I can understand their frustration, though. There's just too many guys with too many files and it just don't make sense. Yeah. You know what? That might help a little bit, Uncle Joe. But I still don't think that's even enough.

Let's say you take the rest. out the equation in this game, you still have to be able to play. You still got to be able to make shots. You still got to stop turning the ball over. You still have to be able to stop Shea and stop Shett and stop Hardinstein and the rest of those boys. So I think even, let's say you take the refs out of their equation, I still think they don't have a chance.

Maybe the game is a little closer, but you still need contributions from goddamn DeAndre Aidan. You know, you still got to stop turning the ball over. There's so many other factors that go into it outside of the refs where, okay, you don't you don't lose by as much as you did, but you still don't win the game. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I mean, you're not wrong.

I mean, yeah, we know the Lakers are up against it. This is the best team in basketball over the last couple of years. I think the last couple of years they've had one of the best, uh, uh, uh, they've had the best record in the Western conference. I think they've had what, two, two back to back 60 wins seasons. I don't know if that third season or one that, um, that Luke and them knocked them out. I don't know if they had the best record then, but they were really hot up there. Yeah.

And for them, the Lakers got their work cut out for them. They got to play. They've got to play as close to perfect or damn near perfect or perfect. Or perfect. And still, and then still hope, A.K. C. O KC. O KC is off that night. Yeah. So let that think about how hard that'll be.

You got to play damn near perfect, next to perfect, perfect. Perfect. and the team that you're playing against still needs to be off somewhat in order for you to beat them. And that's probably not going to happen. They're too good at home, fellas. They're too good at home. They take care of home court.

I'm sure they're one of the best teams when it comes to playing at home. Yeah. They're not really, it's hard to go on OKC and get a win, man. You know, so the Lakers got their hands for. Now, I expect for the Lakers to, you know, be somewhat better going back home. They're digging in.

But, shit. They'll dig in at home. But here's the thing, you got a, you know how the LA crowd is now. Yeah. They're not like OKC. They're getting glammed up. Oh, yeah. You know how I did?

They pull it up in Bugades. They pull up in spiders. They pull it up in Ferraris and Lambos, Bittles and Rose. That front row ain't, hey, they ain't got no pain on and they ain't going crazy. That's different. And the thing is, what happens if you get down 10 early? You get down 15. Hey.

Hey, them boo-bur is going to come out, huh? You're absolutely right. I think at home, though, I mean, because look, check this out. One thing they've shown us is that they can compete with OKC. They just have one of those lows in the fourth quarter, mainly toward the end. Yes. Where, you know, the separation kind of comes to where OKC just pulls away from them. But I do expect them to be a lot better at home, fellas.

Yes. I think the thing, look, I'm trying to think. A.R or LeBron needs to go get as close to 40 as they possibly can. And the next and the other guy, if the one guy gets close to 40, the other guy got to be 28, 29, maybe even 30 with another guy in the low 20s. Hachie. So either that's Marcus Mark, that's Hachi. That's Luke Kinnard.

Luke Kinnard was shooting the ball extremely well tonight. I wish you could have got more minutes, but I understand. But see, the thing is hard to play. Joe because he can't defeat he can't guard anybody no the hell the people on the court can't guard nobody they're taught look if if if if it's a R if it's anybody go at you we're attacking they're not going to attack Marcus Mark because what they do and they're trapping they're trapping uh shade to get the ball out of his hand right but everybody else if they get a one-on-one oh they're trying to get down here yes sir immediately it ain't no ain't no

dancing and like, hey, no, no, no, no, no, I'm getting down to hill. Yeah. And it don't matter who it is. It could be Shea. It could be Mitchell. Hell, it could be Isaiah Joe. It don't, it can be. Wallace and Caruso, McCain.

They just got too many guys, bro, who play great in that system that O KC has, bro. I credit their coach and the system that they got. I mean, they, it's just going to be tough, man. I mean, like we always say, OKC is a college town. You know, they have fanatics as fans. So it's hard to win in there with that six-man, that crowd get into it. It's just too much. Lakers got to go home and find a way to get a win, period, point blank.

It's going to have to, oh. Hey, hon, you see. We've seen Austin Reeves have these types of, now we know Austin Reeves can go. He can go get 40. Oh, yeah. We just don't know if Bronn at this rifle age of 41 can still. Because in order to get that level of point, Jay, Joe. in Ocho, you got to sustain a fitness level.

He's 41. You've got to be able to sustain that. Guess what? You're going to have to attack. You got to get some foul shots. Three ball can have to get going down. And you know what happens when you get tired. That ball starts hitting the front of the rim.

Yeah. And it's just hard to take LeBron off the damn court. It's like every time he go to the bench, bro. It's not a lot of good stuff that happens. You know, when he's out there, because of his IQ for the game, game. Not only is he continuously putting pressure on the rim, but he's getting other guys involved, making plays, getting guys wide open shots. And that's what you need. I think AR got to some way somehow stay aggressive and be fishing like he was tonight. I'm saying for them

to win. And you got to have Marcus Smart. Obviously, he plays decent defensively, but they need some good offensive output from him. You know, it's because if you bogging down your starters with all these minutes, damn, you got to hope they play great. And then again, Brown playing 37 minutes, probably averaging, what are he probably averaging minutes this series?

He was around 33, 33, 33 and a half? Yeah. And I think with limited rest, fellas, it's just tough, man. Yeah, because they didn't know two days now. Yeah, no. You don't got your big rest days before game one. So now it's every other day, you were back at it. They back at it again on Saturday.

Yeah. And they back at it again on Monday. Yeah. Yeah. So you being able to get that level of rest, the thing is that Austin and Marcus got to do a better job of taking care of basketball early because they spot, he's spotting, they are spotting okay seed and points.

They're going to get, they're going to get that, don't give them no easy buckets. Don't give them an opportunity. And that's what they're doing right now because I thought Austin made them. And the thing is, they get out and run. They get, hey, they get in transition quick. Yeah. Because they young.

Yeah. They're young, and they're a very unselfish team. I mean, you watch them guys the way they're celebrating. I like Jerry McCain. I thought he was well. I thought he played well with the Sixers. But I understand the sixth situation when they got Maxie and they got edge them. They're like, bro, we really.

Yeah, ain't got no room. Yeah, it got the room. And, you know, Paul George is really a two. So it's like, we really don't have any room. But I thought he was shooting the ball well before he had that injury last year. Yeah, he was playing great. He gave him great minutes. I didn't even see that coming from him.

I was surprised. So for OKC to make that move and get him over there, I mean, man, he fits seamlessly coming off that bench, playing in that system. He looked damn there unstoppable tonight. And I don't know what it is. Joe, he's four or five, three, but they come in there like the coaches

instills so much confidence in him. He's like, son, as long as you're playing there, there's not a shot that I want to allow you to take. Yeah. Right. And you can see, you can see the way they play. They're not even bothered if I take this shot and miss it as opposed to, as opposed to guys on the Lakers bench.

But the guys on the Laker bench, La Ravia, he coming in there and he's like, bro, I'm like La Ravia. I get it. You're playing hard, son. He's really trying, Joe. Yeah, yeah. But the mistake that you're making, you can't keep making those mistakes. And that's what Erks are coach, is that you keep making the same mistakes.

Yep. Because either you have a problem processing it, or we're having a problem teaching it to you. One of the two, now, which is it? Yeah. And that's why the least is going to be short. Lease is going to be short. Yeah.

You know, like I say, man, when you take your best play off the floor and everything just starts to unravel on you, it's like, damn, okay, he didn't been sitting over here two, three minutes. We got to get you back in that big fella. You know, that's just what it is because they don't have playmakers like that, bro. Like, it's so glaring that they're missing Luca in this series. because you need a guy who can score. You need a guy who can playmate for everybody.

I mean, that's 33 damn points, man, that they miss it. So we can't see here. Yeah, we can't see him play crazy now and act like, you know, we're surprised how OKC is treating the Lakers right now. I mean, they're missing a big pivotal piece to their team. I mean, and it's showing in this round. And the thing is also, Joe,

you can take LeBron off and you got Luca and they are. Yeah. You can take AR off and you. You got Luke and Brown. Yeah. You can take Luca off and you got AR in Braun. Yeah. So there's always a combination and you got two great ball handlers.

Yeah. Plus you got Marcus Mark. And you can take some of the ball handling off of Marcus Mark. He can make some plays, but all things be equal, I'd rather have the ball in Luca, LeBron, or A.R.'s hand. Yeah. I would like him to focus on defense. You're asking an awful lot of him.

I need you to make plays, initiate the offense, but I also need you to keep Shay up under control. That's an awful lot. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's an awful lot. And then playing that type of game mentally, you know, you got, I mean, you can't have a letdown because you have a letdown, the guys going by you. Yeah. Yeah.

And think about as great as they're playing, Shay, trapping him in all these picking roles, making them get a ball up. Hell, Uncle Ocho, he still won seven for 13 from the field, 53% from the field. You know what I mean? So he's still efficient. He's doing his job. Hey, look, as a score, as the main guy. If you're in a position to where they're trapping you every time you got the ball, just string the trap alone like he does.

Hey, at the end of the day, I've done my job. I got two on the ball. Now, when I get it, when I swing it up out of here, now y'all got to go make a damn play. I haven't done my job, okay, Ocho. You know, I got two guys on me. I ain't going to beat the double team every time. Now, there will be times that I will be aggressive and try and kind of force the issue a little bit.

But for the most part, man, I'm going to take the double team. Boom, get off of it. And hopefully we can get a good. a great shot. We can get to the bucket, get a free throw, get a wide open three, or just make plays. And I think, OK, C, does that better than anybody because those guys play great off a shade, bro. I'm telling you, in a film session, you know they're going over that. Listen, boom, once they trap, hey, check, you show, make yourself big, make yourself a present, we hit you, hey, man, you got to go make a play. Whether you get all the way to the rack,

shoot your midi, spray out the three, I just think they have so many guys who can play their role. I like Hardinstein in that role. I like checking that role. And then when you get when you get these other young guys going like Mitchell and Caruso and Wallace, hell, things just start to unravel, man, because they're all defensive-minded.

Guys, we got a cell phone video of Austin Rees getting animated talking to the reps after the game. Let's take a look at what we, so all the reps and the, I thought Archer did also, is in that scrum with the Lakers players. Yeah. Hey.

Hold on. Check this. Joe, the rule states at the end of each game, the coaches and the players are to lead the court and go directly to the dressing room without pause or delay. There's absolutely no talking to game officials. Hey, listen. That's going to be a big ass fine. You think that's going to be a fine? Hell, yeah.

Well, listen. No, no, no, no, hold on, hold on. No, no. That's going to be a fine. It ain't like we were shoulder to the shoulder and I'm, you know, I'm demonstrative. with him. Right. Listen, bro, I have a problem.

And I'm just coming to you correct as a man. Now, if I go to the media and when they go to ask me questions, I say, oh, man, the rest was some shit tonight. Yeah, now I'm going to get fired. I don't, I didn't really see nothing wrong with the way he went by tonight. Actually, I mean, I thought it was, I mean, I thought it was pretty fair. Y'all asked me, man, versus going to the media because you know you're going to get fine. Yeah.

The rule state there is absolutely no talking to game official. hook this out, okay, we got another video where he's talking to the refs late in the ball game and let's see if we can read some lips and see what he's saying. He said, that's some bullshit. You're going to talk to me like that.

Who-ha? Yeah. Hey, hey, let me tell you out something. There's some refs out here with some slick miles now. You know, they only can take so much. They're still human too now. Yeah. That's what I tell people. People are like, oh, no, you got to be it. No, but stop it. Yeah. And look,

You stay on their ass all game you want to. They get frustrated too, bro. Absolutely. They get frustrated too. And I've heard refs. I've seen reps. Call guys at their names. You know what I mean?

It's, hey, look, and in the heat of the moment, you're already at your highest pistivity. Yeah, so things may get a little overblown a little bit. Yeah. So in NFL, I mean, they fired my homeboy one time because he said something. And I think he got fined and suspended a couple of games because he said something to Big Trent. but if it can be confirmed, yeah, I mean, they're probably fine.

I don't know if suspension, but there's a chance that the Lakers are going to get fine for this. Hey, that's two L's then, huh? Hey, they make it worse on theirself. Not only you lose an end game, you're losing to the refs. Shit, I mean, that's two losses in one. Hey, you got to take it if you're the Lakers. I mean, if you got three guys with five foul, Uncle Ocho, I mean, damn, we're going to go home.

Let me go and put this bug in there in now. Then we get home here. Maybe they swallow their whistle a little bit and give us a chance. Yeah. Maybe we get a little cooking. Maybe we get some of our cooking. Maybe we. Yeah.

I don't know who, I don't know who's going to be the officials. I mean, maybe Sean Wright, maybe Courtney Kirkland, maybe James Williams, maybe capers. I don't know. Hey, maybe you might need to go to the game for a little good luck. Check this out. Austin Reeves on the interaction with the ref. I felt like I was respectful to all of them all night. A million times in the past, I've had a way worse stuff.

And when we're doing the whole tip ball and their switching spots, I wanted to get to the other side because I had the guy on the other side. I was just trying to keep an advantage. And he turns around and yelled in my face. I thought it was disrespectful. The whole time, I was going over there and I don't think I said too much to them. I know Ben Taylor stepped in and said something, but at the end of the day, we're grown men.

And I just didn't feel like he needed to yell in my face like that. And I told him that. I wasn't disrespectful. I told him that he didn't need to do, that I did that to him first. I would have gotten a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn't get a tech was because he knew he was in the wrong and I felt disrespected.

Yeah, that happens. Look, the refs, they give some guys pass. asses, bro. Yes. Some guys, they'll take your ass right away. Quig. With the quign, they don't want to hear. You know what I mean?

Some players, they feel like, you know, you don't even got no right to even be speaking to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the rest be like that from time. So, because you got a suburb of the guy, Joe. They've been to this thing, 15, 20 years. Bro, you just got here yesterday. And how you feel, first of all, why you walk it up to me?

Are you just because you see those vats walk up to me and we have a conversation? I ain't talking to your punk. I talk to him, but not you. Yeah, you're my face for I T. Hey, hey, Joe, my favorite clips, Uncle Joe, is to see Chris Paul with his funny mannerisms. Oh, yeah.

And he can see Chris Paul get ticked up. It'd be, it'd be so far. Yeah. Hey, hey, and that's Tony brothers. Tony brothers be like that. He don't take a line from no, from me who cares, bro. Yeah. He don't, he don't care with him.

Hey, I mean, you know, because I know, you know, You know, Zach and some of them guys, I know a lot of them. So I've been to enough games. And so, you know, obviously, you know, Sean Wright, I used to work out with Sean Wright. But, Tony Brothers will cuss you out. Wait.

Tony Sink with her. Man, what? And tell you, hey, man, what, what you want to do? I'm telling you, bro. He that time seen it. I'm telling you. Hey, hey, if I was a fish, I'm like, go, maybe he rain in the government.

Now, if I break them together, it's going to be trouble. Trouble. Try to tell you, get up my face. Get up, get up, hey. Hey, if I put your hands together, it's going to be trouble. Yeah, yeah, they act like that sometime, bro. You get to, hey, look, that's why I can't remember the ref name who CP hate when he refs this game.

Scott Foster. Yeah, Scott Foster. Hey, boy, them two going at is so funny, boy. Hey, yeah, CP got a bunch of antics against him, bro. But I've seen it up close in person, man. You know, and when you watch it, when you really know what's going on and you watch it, you start to be like, damn,

they might do have a little something between them. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because they're human, bro. And look, there's no love loss between Scott Foster and Chris Paul. At some point in time, and you say it's nothing, X, Y, and Z, but it is.

Because, look, I know how you feel about me. And this ain't a one-way street, bro. Oh, sir. Both in, hey, it ain't one way. It's what goes both way. This two-lane traffic. You're both ways. Yeah.

I don't like your ass either. Yeah. But at the end of the day, you can't do nothing. I don't want to get the whistle. Hello. Hey. Yeah. And I'm really, right.

Number three. Take it to the showers. Every time. Me, take it too much, boy. Yeah. Absolutely. Hey, and you know, hey, they didn't play with Joey Crawford. No, no.

Hugh Hollins. Now, Dick Beveta was a little lead. Dick McVetta, he got along with everybody. Dick was cool. Yeah. But Hugh Hollins and Joy Crawford? One plan. Man, you remember,

Jay, Croyd said Tim to the locker room, hey, he caught a tech on him. He was on the bitch laughing. Yeah. Yeah. Bup. Dick. Timmy looks right like me?

Yeah. I think David Stern suspended him for a game. too, though. Yeah, because it seemed like, it seems like it gets a little personal, you know, for them, bro, and it ain't never supposed to be personal with them. Nah. But, you know, as a player, you can kind of, you can kind of sense that. You can feel that energy. You know what I mean? Especially in the game. It's like, damn, you're letting them be extra aggressive with me today, Angel. Yeah, I'm feeling some type of way.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, normally the superstars always got calls. Jordan got him Magic got them especially guys that drove the basketball Kobe Mike

LeBron and his prime I mean guys like LeBron and Shaq really never got officiated because they're so damn big we literally just called the game I mean the game be five hour long if we officiated Shaq properly

the guys beat the hell out of him I don't think when John Nate Smith invented the game of basketball I don't think he envisioned having a guy 7-1, 325 playing the game. Yeah, no. And then. So what do you do?

Because when Shaq does this, them bowling pins, everybody going down. Yeah. You got to call that, man. I don't get with the air. How you cut it? You leave with them elbows. They call in that, bro.

Because you hit, you're hitting above the shoulder. That's in the neck, chin, the back of the head. Like, they're calling that. And what about DeKimbe? Rest his soul with the sharp-earthed elbows. He got cutting people up. Hey, and then, you know, when they came out with the verticality where you can just go straight up, and you can hit somebody body to body as long as you vertical.

Yeah. I think that changed the game too, Arkansas, because a lot of that contact, and it may be initiated by the officer guy, but they're not calling, they don't call that often. No. Right. You know what I'm saying? And I think that's what they try to get, they try to get DA and they try to get Jackson. Hey, hey, just go vertical.

Don't come long as you don't come forward with it. You're gonna be fine. Yeah. Kay Cunningham has 25 points 10 assists. To lift the pistons, pass the Cavaliers 1007 to 97 and take a 2 O'Leod. The top seed of pistons have won five straight games since the Orlando put them on the brink of elimination.

Man, I thought Cade Cunningham, look, the two best players in this series have been Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris. Yes, yeah. And down the street. This May, IHartRadio celebrates Asian Heritage Month. Discover powerful stories, vibrant cultures, and unforgettable music. From inspiring podcasts to playlist that span east, south, southeast, and West Asian artists,

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USA! Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Ardano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! But there's so much more to me than that.

I'm an actor. I'm a comedian, and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man.

If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about Default. finding the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms.

So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later. We're still joined at the hip.

Just a little bit bigger hips. Wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo.

Well, then you got them. Do you want a white collar or something here? What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. I would buy it.

Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where.

wherever you get your podcasts. When they needed buckets, Tobias Harris and Kaye Cunningham. Cate Huntingham hit Big Three after Big Three, after Big Drive, after Big Drive. Tobias was sensational tonight. James Harding again, Joe. Hey, I don't know what's wrong with him.

Another game, Joe, where he has more turnovers than he had made field goals. Yes, sir. It is what it is. I don't really know. and they picked them again clean, they picked them clean. He just said yesterday, Joe,

you know what, that's on me. I got to protect the ball better. I got to do better. That's on me. And he comes out the following game. Not only do he turned the ball over, but they get points on every goddamn turnover, unc, every goddamn turnover.

I mean, this is not the, I understand your set, a top player, one of the best ISO scores of all time. We know what you did in Houston. We know what you did in Brooklyn. We know what you've done to some of those other places. But this is the time to shine and show that James Harden

we're used to talking about. Every time Young Bull gets to the playoffs, I don't know what happens. It can't be stage fright because you used to being in the playoffs. You've been in the playoffs damn there all your career. Yeah. But every time you get to it, I mean, it's almost, it's like it's a no-show damn there. Hey, man.

Let me tell you. K, as great as he is, offense. defensively, you know, playing at this high efficiency rate that he played at the day. He is unbelievable defensively, Uncle Ocho. He is incredible. I'm talking about, look, I ain't even just talking

about keeping a ball in front. I'm talking about blocking shots. Locking shots. I'm talking about just making it difficult for you. It's hard, it's hard, bro, to compete with a dude who's, like, he's playing 42 minutes a night. It's hard, man, because

he gets everybody involved. He had a double double 25 and 10. Yeah. 7 for 14 from the field. And then Tobias Harris playing that, you know, that Robin Road to where he's, I mean, here, he's been, you know, pitching in since the last series.

I mean, he's been ultra effective. You know, they just got a lot of guys. And then when I think it comes to James Hardin and his turnovers and his low field goal percentage, man, I'm telling you all, man. They're picking that man up. They're wearing his ass down, bro. They ain't giving them nothing easy.

Everything that he got to get them. they come from the free throw line. Yep. You know what I mean? It's just, it's a lot to ask, man. It's a lot to ask. It's a young man's game. And obviously, Detroit has hung their hat on defense this whole entire season.

And this is how they play. If they can keep your ass under 100 points, they got a great chance of winning. And that's how they've been playing all year. I need somebody to tell me what every Mobley doing. That man played 36 minutes and gave you one rebound at seven foot tall. Damn. Mm-hmm.

One rebound, Ocho and Joe. And I see, say, hey, I need somebody to offer me an explanation. You only had nine points, too. Man, hey, look. I thought Jared Allen was super aggressive tonight. Go ahead, Joe. He was. But when I look at Mobley, offensively, we want him to be demonstrative and demand the ball and go at his man.

Okay, Ojo, that ain't his game, bro. We got to come to the realization that ain't his game. He had big games in their last series again. against Toronto. Yeah. But, man, Detroit got some girt down there. They got some guys who play hard as shit.

And if he ain't asserting himself, it's going to be hard for him to be effective. Cleveland cannot win if he don't play well. I'm sorry. Joe, he got Tobias Harris on him. That man is seven foot tall. Tobias fighting his ass on. He's fighting him.

We're fighting back. You're going to let the man beat you up. Hey, hit him back. Right, right. Bad as man hit my hand. Whop? Hit it back. Yeah, yeah.

He just, how you seven foot tall? You play 36 minutes and you give me one rebound? One Joe? Yeah, I see it. I don't know. Even on the box side, the ball hit the flow, you ought to be able to get me more, get me two. Yeah.

They're making everybody. They're making everybody. Every Mobley, four, ten. James Harden, three or 13. Donald Mitchell, 11 or 24. I give you 31 points on 24 shots. Sure will. And when you look at it.

Everybody else got to be playing well, though. You think about the Kek. One for five, one for six, Shrews, three for seven, Tatum, one for one, Keon Ellis. Everybody got to wash everybody out, Uncle, Joe, especially for the goddamn calves to have a chance. If Godham, if Cunningham go off,

then I need Mitchell to wash him out. The goddamn Duncan Robinson go off and play and play well, I need goddamn James Hardin to show up and wash him out. Everything has the match, so somebody else is going to have to step up. Evan Obly can't have a nine-point game. Hell, you can't have a goddamn game where you got-damn have one goddamn rebound. Jared Allen, shit, goddamn Jared Allen. Nick, Jared Allen played goddamn well tonight.

He had 22. He was seven for nine. But in order for the cab to come back and he even have a chance in this series, because if they go down 3-0, you might be able get the goddamn brooms out. I can't see them really even making a series. They may win a game in Cleveland. But, bro, when you don't get no contribution from your bench,

it's hard to win in the postseason, man, when you just relying on your stars, when you just relying on Donald and Mitchell and James Harden to kind of get it going, and they ain't really got no rhythm like that because the game plan is to take those guys out for those guys to be less effective. you know what I mean and I think

Detroit is doing a great job and Detroit they got some pretty good contribution from their bench tonight Jenkins I thought Kairns LaVerd came in Yeah I think Kairns LaVirke came in and gave him a nice, gave him some great minutes They got multiple guys who could beat you But their wins aren't predicated

off them playing great offensive Hell look at Duren he still ain't really playing no hell of a basketball I mean he'd be playing he playing pedestrian Uncle Ocho But hell it's good enough for them to get a win because guess what they're locking down defensively bro yes hey hey joe when you think about it too and the way both of these teams are constructed when you talk about going to

your bench and wanting to get point for your bench i mean they're not they're not like the spurs they ain't like the thunder where you can go to your bench you don't miss the goddamn beat you know you got i mean the cabs got srody here come in he didn't have a really good game today i think i think it was more for five i forgot how many points he had but it is your starters your starters they have they They have to show up. Each play has to watch each play out in order in order for you to even have a chance. And then somebody has to come along. Keep the game close.

Them last five, six minutes, shoot, you got to come to the party. James Harder got to step up, though, Joe. They just care. They just care about to step up. You look at Cleveland. They take, they get a rebound. Allen tries to pass the ball to James Hardin. Duncan Robertson steps in front of it, uncorks,

three. I'm like, James Harden got the ball. He dibble and died there in the front. The guy just reached right down. And let me get this off here. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, man.

You guys watching film, bro. They know, do you think he hurt? Who? You think Hardin hurt? Yeah, no. Yeah, no. Listen. How are you going to be hurt,

Ocho? This is a pattern. So he's been hurt every playoff series? Oh, I, I, I, because he's a high turnover guy. Yeah. And Detroit, they know his tendencies, bro.

Yes. They know his tendencies. They know his dudes, don'ts. They know what he like and what he don't like. And they crowd the shit out of him, just making it tough for him. He had the highest plus minus or they, he had a minus 15. If you're Cleveland, there's no way you're going to win a game. If Donovan is inefficient and James Hardin don't play well.

I don't care how y'all cut it, man. I think the rest of them dudes can be pedestrian, but if you can get both of those guys at least 25, plus efficiently, which is going to be tough because they hadn't really played like that this whole postseason. It's going to be hard for them to win a game. Did he say one game, Joe? It's going to be hard to win a game, bro.

They may get close in Cleveland, Ocho, but it's hard. I mean, Detroit, their game is predicated off the defense. Like, you know, they're going to play great defensively. And then you got Kay who's just a game changer. Yes, sir. You know what I mean? They ain't really, I mean, hell. I don't think they make it tough on Kaye, Uncle Ocho,

if y'all really want me to- They ain't got nobody to make it tough on him. You put Wade on it. Wade's not a defender. James Harden, Donovan Mitchell is out of a defender. Oh. So, Jared Allen is your best to defend him, but they're big.

They can't defend it. Yeah. So who can you put on him? It's not like, think about what they got. They got Kaye, who can defend. They got Thompson, who can defend. Even Tobias Harris, when he puts his mind to it, can defend.

They don't have nobody like that on Cleveland. No, they don't. So look, so what you need to do is adjust your damn coverages. Stop giving him them damn switches and one-on-one looks and cage him in a trap and make him get a damn ball up. Yes. You got to. You got to.

See, the playoffs are about adjustments and matchups. Yeah, you got, Cleveland got a bad matchup right now. So what they have to do is try to alleviate cage productivity. Get the ball out of his damn hands when he run the pick and roll, bro. You got to make these other dudes. make some decisions because if you look at it, Duren hadn't played great. Hey, let's put the ball in his damn hand.

Let's see what he can do. Joe, you took the words right up my mouth. If ever's possible, I'm going to make the ball end up in Dura's hand. Because if you go back and think about it, he's played good at one game in the playoffs. That's game seven. Yeah.

And while I'm watching it on the day, I think he kind of understands that too, Uncle Ocho, that he hasn't been playing great. and you can tell he's trying to pick it up, but him picking it up is him trying to do more offensively. It's just not his damn game. And it don't even look natural. Nope.

You know what I mean? So they got to find a way, meaning Cleveland has a find a way to put Detroit under distress to where they're not comfortable, bro. They're just too comfortable out there for me. Yeah, like I said, unless Evan Mobley comes in and give you the 20 plus that he's capable of giving,

James Harder is going to have to be, I'm not saying he needs to be, you know, 58, 60%, but you can't be 3 or 13. And you can't, you can't have, you can't lead the team in turnovers damn to every game. I think about it, another game in which he has more turnovers

than made field goals. I mean, he's got 45 and 182 games. He's got 45 or 46 in which he has, equal to or more turnovers than field goals. That is crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, if you're Detroit, bro,

James is a rhythm player. That's why when you always see him play, Uncle Ocho is twing, twing, behind the back, that's a rhythm that he's trying to get into. Yes. And Detroit is great at disrupting that rhythm. They're not letting him get into no damn rhythm. You know what I mean?

That's why you see every time he drive to the goal, he's seeking for a file. He's trying to get a file because he knows that's the only way he's going to really be effective. He needs to see the ball go in, Joe. And right now they're not letting him see the ball going until really, really late in the ball game. And by that time, he's not in the rhythm. You let him hit his first couple shots. You let him get a driver.

You let him get a layup or you let him hit a step back three. You let him get to the little mini. You know, a lot of times he'll try to get all right to the basket and he'll pull a snatcher, pull up and hit it. But he's, think about it, most of his thing, point he probably gets to the free throw line he's out of rhythm he knows it he knows he's not playing well he knows what's being said he when he when he get that sheet joe and he look at it like damn three made field goals five turnovers damn again hey hey hey that damn kate cunningham and that thompson hey yes them boys some dogs on their defense in man kate hey look kate showing me a lot i mean i'm

talking about, I can see why he was in the MVP discussion. Okay. Yeah. And if he wouldn't have got hurt, we don't know because, you know, at the time when he went out, I think they had the best, they had the best record in the league. Yep. But they was right there with, okay. C.

Yeah. Yeah. So he's showing me that, man, look, I can be a hell of a two-way player because he doing it on night-to-night basis, fellas. Yes. Yeah. And I'm talking about at an elite and high level. Like, it's, man, he's gone two of the best scores to,

play this game. Right. It hadn't been a whole lot of players that have been asked to do what he does offensively, score, get others involved, and take the assignment on the other end. You know, Jordan had Pippin

to do that. Yeah. Or Ron Harper or Dennis Rodman. Yeah. There haven't been a whole lot of guys that says, okay, I need you to playmate. I also need you to give me 25, but I also need to make sure

that guy. Doesn't gain a rhythm. Yeah. It's a rarity to have a guy that's capable of doing that. I agree. And Kaye Cunningham is doing it. Cade Cunningham is doing it. Because if you think about it,

when Kauai, when they had Tim Duncan, Kauai was never asked to be the leader of the offense. When they started asking Kauai to be the leader of his offense, his defense did this, did it Joe? Yeah. When he had to all of a sudden score and try to initiate play for everybody else, he wasn't the same defensive player. Yeah, yeah, you're right.

You're right. So to ask K to get K to do what he's doing and he's doing that on a nightly basis? Take me hat up to you, young man. Yeah, and it's... I've watched a lot of basketball. I don't recall a guy being asked. You got that from LeBron when he was in Cleveland.

You got it from him a little bit of Miami. And when he went back to Cleveland, but a guy that says, okay, oh, you that best player? I got you. Yeah. It takes a lot, bro. Yeah, and he playing 42 minutes. Yeah.

He ain't playing no 30 minutes. He's playing 42. They ain't a 48 in the game. Yeah, and the one thing I know this, I know Kaye knows is that, yeah, we may not be high power offensively, but damn it, we got some guys who can sit in that chair and going to make a hell on you out here. Yes. And that's how they play, bro.

I mean, I enjoy watching them play. You know, I know they had a little hiccup in their magic series, but you can tell they've learned from that. And, man, they're playing great basketball against two elite scores. And, bruh, they give them everything they can ask for. So, hey, if he was Jordan and Thompson, the Pippen, if Thompson finds anyway to continue to beat to be. To be the office again?

Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness. That wouldn't be fair. Man. Guys, guys, are y'all listening? You see, y'all in the chat, I said, did they ask, if you think about it, how many times Pippin was the guy,

was the point forward? Yeah. He initiated a lot of the offense. Kobe, Derek Fisher ran the offense. That is, that is. What's the most assists Kobe had averaged in the season? The most assists.

probably the highs probably maybe six five and a half six yeah if i had the guess that's it i know jordan had one season where he average eight i think he would average 37 eight and eight yeah what's the most assist cobbay averaging the season six point three what's kate averaging averageing kate average nine yeah what he averaging is most see in his is in cobbis most assist in the season lebron averages more of that for us 23 year career. So y'all trying to say that Kobe was asked to initiate or run the offense like LeBron did?

No, sir. Cade average 10. Listen, it doesn't diminish Kobe because he wasn't asked to do what they're asking. Cade and LeBron. It doesn't diminish. Y'all got to stop this notion. If somebody doesn't put Kobe in a thing,

it's okay. It doesn't diminish him. No. He's a five-time champ. He's a two-time finals MVP. He's an MVP. It doesn't diminish him, but Derek Fisher ran the offense and y'all know it.

Kobe was asked to score and defend, and he did those two things at an elite level. That's why he's a many, many-many-time all defensive player and a many, many-time all-NBA selection. Absolutely. Absolutely. But he was not asked to run the offense like Cade Cunningham. He was not asked to run the offense like,

LeBron James. Y'all know that. Y'all know that. That's why LeBron James averages over seven assists the game. Kobe's greatest season is only one time, only time LeBron James has ever averaged less than five or six assists the game was his rookie season. Yeah.

So in other words, he has 22 seasons in which he's averaged more assists in a game than Kobe did in his best season. And y'all want to say he was asked to do the same thing as LeBron. and when y'all know you're being disingenuous. Yep. It's okay, guys. It's okay. Pippin was a point for...

How do you think Pippen got the name of the point forward if Jordan ran the offense? Yeah, you're right. See, y'all just look at the guy and see the guy scoring points. There are a lot of guys that can score points but can't run an offense. But when you run an offense,

look at Luca. Luca got a hot, you think they asked Luca to play defense? James Hart, James Hardin scored 30, average 10 led the league and assists four or five times. How's his defense? Look at Luca. How's his defense? So for Cade to do that,

there's only been a handful of guys that I can remember. And I remember basketball, I go back to about 77. They haven't been a whole lot of guys. They've been a whole lot of guys. They've been guys, but not like Cade, not what they asked LeBron to do. up until last year, LeBron James had never not led his team an assist.

Last year was the first time he didn't lead his team two years. So for 21 straight years, LeBron James led his team in assists. Let us think in, 21 seasons. And it took a younger version of himself, which is Luca on the offensive end, because Luca can score, he can rebound,

and he damn show can playmate. Yep. He just could, I don't think he could guard me with this old bum knee. right now. But y'all got to stop this notion. Y'all think somebody don't mention

Kobe, you did, no, you don't. Just because I say, just because I say Ocho was great, that doesn't mean T.O. I'm pooping on T.O. Yeah. Randy. Two things can be true. Kobe was great, but Kobe wasn't asked to do what Cade Cunningham is being asked to do.

He wasn't asked to do what LeBron was asked to do. It's okay. Look at the numbers. Y'all watch it. I don't know. I don't know. Joe, has it always been like this or this came along with social media? It's always been like this. Okay.

But we just couldn't see it because because there was no social media. So we really didn't know what Tom and Des Moor and Iowa was actually saying. No. We didn't know what Paul in Brooklyn or somebody in Florida or up. We didn't know what they were saying. No, everybody, everybody has a voice. Everybody has an opinion now. But that's a good thing.

I like it that. It creates for healthy dialogue. It creates for healthy debates because everybody's opinion is not going to be the same. You believe one thing, then somebody else is going to believe another. Now, regards to what facts you bring about, whatever it is you believe in,

they're going to debunk that based on their facts and their opinions. Yeah. So it would be an ongoing debate forever no matter what. Even if everything you just said is factual, someone will still counter that and say, nah, this is why it's not true. because of A, B, C, and D. That's what I love about.

That's what I love about social media, though. I love it. Just not when to come to basketball because I can't talk with the way y'all do. Well, considering LeBron James led his team in assists for 21 straight season, one would deduce from that. He was asked to play make. Right, right.

And go back and look at the series when D. Rose, they lost the first one. The D. Rose won MVP. What did they do games? too, Joe. And what happened? They put LeBron on him. Yeah. Yeah. I think I think Brian is a natural facilitator though. Okay. He is. Now I'm talking about, yeah, I think as great as he is scoring the ball. I think his probably his best attribute is facilitating and making guys around him better. That's just who he. Kobe was a natural born killer, bro. Now I'm talking about he

trying to take, yes. He trying to give you fit to every game, period point blank. He ain't He's not that no damn assist. Yeah, he may get something here and now. He wants that no damn assist. He's like, hey, I don't trust you. He's like, I know what I put in to be great. I'm not so sure you put that same energy and effort. I'm not so sure you take care of your body.

I'm not so sure you watch film like I do. So I don't know if I can trust y'all. Right. Hey, he practiced with those dudes every day. He know they work ethics. That's how he was. Hey, look, Kobe wants done that, bro. He took out the MJ.

He was a carbon copy of MJ. he stole his moves, his walk, his style. Every damn thing. The way he chewed his gum, like he wanted to, he wanted to be MJ, bro. And he was a modern day MJ, I think, would a better handle and all that. So I think he became the player who he wanted to become. And he was nasty with it, bro. He didn't care if you liked him or not.

Yeah. No, he wasn't there to be like. He came into the NBA with a sole purpose. Yeah, to be the best. Period. That's it. Period. And it's so rare that you get guys come out of high school at 17, 18 years or old, bro.

And to be able to think like that. I wonder, did that come from, you know, his dad, Jellybing, him being overseas. You know, he was raised overseas and what, Italy, playing over there, probably being a loner because he, you know, I wonder, did all that play a factor? I think early on, his favorite player was Jordan. He came out, and then he thought, I mean, you listen to him talking. He's like, I thought I was better than the guys that they were playing. They were playing me for five minutes. And he's like, I'm better than them.

Yeah. He got drafted where he got drafted. I'm better than these guys in the draft. And y'all put me way down here. But if you listen to people talk, he's always had that mentality. He's always been about basketball while other guys looking to go out. And I was insane, man, Colby looking to, man, I'm trying to get out. Kobe looking to go get some rest.

Go to the gym. not in what I was trying to do. Right. When you got that kind of talent and you got that kind of work ethic, that's what made Jordan Jordan. That man was that talented and he was working that hard.

You think about it, when you take the best talent and they're the hardest worker, you get, and Tom is an anomaly, because Tom is not the most immensely talented. He don't run fast, Ocho, he don't jump high,

but what he has is this. That processor. That process at the speed of light. Yeah. And his work ethic. When you get that, bro, it's hard. Now, hard work, and I tell people, this is what I used to tell kids when I used to speak to kids.

I say, hard work doesn't guarantee you anything. Nope. I say, but without it, you don't got a chance. Hello. Hello. But I. You're talented and you work hard? Boy, that's a hell of a combination.

You're going to be down there unstoppable, bro. Damn near. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because, and I know if y'all had seen this in football, too, because I've seen it so much in basketball. I'm talking about from playing Little League all the way up to the pros. Hey, bro, I know some talented dudes

who would never sniff the damn NBA or college just because of their work ethic. Now, talent-wise, they're some of the best people I've ever played against. But, bro, when you got hell of it, when you got a lot of talent and you got their work ethic to go with it, hey, man, you can't lose, bro.

You can't lose. And that's what I tell. I say, guys, y'all realize the NBA is everybody's the NBA has some level of talent. Now, there's levels to it, Ocho. You know you got some beginner, you got some junior, and you go up and up and up. But everybody's talent. How do you think they got there? Yeah.

Yeah. You say college, you don't get no legacy in the NFL. I don't give it down what your brother did. I don't care what your dad did. Can they catch passes? Could they sack the quarterback? Can they block right now for you? Because that's what I got you for.

Yeah. Congratulations. Your family produced some great athletes. Congratulations. But how does that help us win? Right. And when you get guys that are talented like Kobe was immensely talented. And it drove him crazy.

But you know what you have to love most about him? Even though as he airballed shots in the playoff game and everybody laughed, y'all got a, you all got a 17-year-old playing in the playoffs. Y'all must be crazy. He took all that. Yeah. All he did was get his ass in the gym. Yep.

I'm going to show y'all. Yep. And that's what it takes, bro. That's what it takes. When you fail at something, you got to get your ass back up and get back to work. That's the greatest teacher. Yeah.

Because a lot of times when you succeed all the time, what do you learn from that? Nothing. Because you start. None. Hey, don't get me wrong. It feels good to win now. But them.

Glowses teach you way more than a win could ever teach you. And that's what happens a lot of times, guys, when you win, you gloss over. Oh, we won. Your technique was bad. You didn't get your head around, Ocho. Mm-hmm.

Hey, you're supposed to do X, Y, Z. You have faster, but you still made the catch and you won. Developing good habits is just as easy is to develop bad habits. There you go. People think, oh, oh, man, how you do? Just like he developed the good ones. Yeah.

Yeah. It's just as easy for you to eat healthy as it is for you to eat bad. All it requires is a choice. Yep. Which one do you choose? Mm-hmm. Is your desire to be great greater than your desire not to be? Hmm.

Or we used to come to the tell. I'm good for the day. Mm-hmm. I don't know. It's tough, bro. It is. But I think the thing is that when you want something, Ocho had a great desire to get.

get out of Liberty City. That man said, I ain't trying to live. I love it here. I was raised here. My grandparents did a great job for me, but I ain't trying to live here. I want to go. I know there's something outside of Liberty City. I want to go see what South Beach kicking like. Hello. I want to see what it really like out there. Hello. Hey. Because everything that I need ain't here in Liberty City. Hey, I agree with you on that. Because boy, coming up in Little Rock, when I got stamped, okay, Ocho, meaning like, I would say, I, I don't know. I would say, I I've really seen the NBA in my future when I was in 10th grade, bro.

10th grade, like, you know, I seen how I was a lot more talented than guys and at my height, 666, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, we don't grow them like that. And at my height at 6667, I was still a guard because I grew late. I grew 4.5, 5 inches going into my 10th grade year. So once I've seen that,

once I realize that, oh, yeah, I ain't messing this opportunity up. I'm going to keep, hey, hey, hey, I'm going to stay out of trouble. I'm going to do whatever it takes because, look, it's just me and my mama. She's working two, three jobs. She's working at the state hospital with these crazy patients. Like, listen, bro, I'm trying to give her a better life.

So I understood that at an early age, man, you got to work hard, man. You got to work hard. So I was willing to put the work in and everything else is history, bro. So once you see the light, you got to go for it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm CJ Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game 7, Marquis keep coming to him. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart Radio, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope From a Hypocrite,

I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

American Soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie Stewart the Chip. I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals

or potentially a great run into the semifinals. Listen, Inside American. soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Kunky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports.

And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.