The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - INSTANT REACTION: Nuggets Eliminate Lakers, NOT LeBron’s Last Game As A Laker, Celtics Trounce Heat

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

Colin gives his instant reaction to the Nuggets beating the Lakers 108-106 and eliminating LA from the playoffs! He explains why this won’t be LeBron’s last game as a Laker (4:00) and why the Lakers desperately need to add another young star in the offseason (8:00). He recaps the Celtics blowout win over the Heat (10:30) and previews the upcoming series between the Nuggets and T-Wolves (11:30) (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

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got nine free throws and hit eight. LeBron had 30 points, 11 assists, played absolutely brilliant basketball. That left-handed shot down the lane in traffic. I think my overall take on the game is the refs let them play. There was that challenge late by the Lakers, the Yokic play with AD, marginal contact. They let it go. Now, that is, I think, big picture, the refs decided tonight. And we've said this through the years.

Once the playoffs come, it's like the NFL, refs step out of the way. They don't want to decide this stuff. So that game was intense. It was physical. It was brutal. It was playmaking. I thought LeBron and Austin Reeves were fantastic in the fourth quarter. AD had a tremendous night defensively.

He makes Yokic really earn his points. Yokic is going to score 40 points in some of these playoff games. And he was battling tonight to get into the 20s. He was fighting like crazy. Lakers season ends. You know, I have all sorts of notes here. And then they all are meaningless because, like, I have Austin Reeves missing a shot, Yokic coming back and hitting it like a five-point swing.

Then Reeves came back and hit a three, gave the Lakers a lead. So it's just fantastic basketball. That's as good as basketball gets. I don't believe that's LeBron's last game as a Laker. I don't think it is. I think LeBron still is on any given night. Like, Jamal Murray was the best player on the floor tonight in the second half. but toe-to-to-to-to with LeBron James, I just don't, I wouldn't retire now.

I mean, the reason Tom Brady kept playing, he was still effective. LeBron's still highly effective. And, I mean, he also has to look over at AD. And AD was there almost every night this year and was, I thought E.D. It was the best defensive player in the league. It's criminal. He wasn't a top three finisher in DPOI. He was absolutely, I watch almost every Laker game.

He was phenomenal all year long. offensively, you know, tonight was one of those games. He wasn't a big factor offensively. But I think LeBron's a top six player in the league are around there. I think AD is a top six or seven player. I think they're like Austin Reeves. I do think they're going to move off Delo or Delo is going to move off them and they'll try to go get a Donovan Mitchell or a Tray Young.

But we said before, I feel like every Denver Laker game feels the exact same. Lakers can hang with them physically between Rui and LeBron and Air. A. D. They have the size to match up. Boy, what a weapon Michael Porter's become. You know, he had kind of a reputation. You couldn't trust them in big spots a couple of years ago. For that size and that shooting touch, he is such a good player. And I look at tonight's game, and, you know, the Nuggets had six more threes, and it's KCP, it's Jamal Murray, it's Michael Porter. They got weapons. This is a really good team. But the series ended, how I had predicted, five-game series. Denver wins it, close games throughout. Lakers led for a majority of the series, but Denver's a better finishing team.

And they were again tonight. I don't think LeBron leaves. I think he's good. I think AD played great. Why would you leave that? He's got a running mate who's a top six player. You know, if you go back to LeBron's career, his first, you know, seven years in Cleveland, he didn't have a top 20 teammate. D. Wade and Bosch were both top 12 players in the league. Kyrie Irving was a top five or six player when he played with LeBron, and Anthony Davis now is a top five or six player. I think LeBron would have stayed in Cleveland if Kyrie Irving didn't bail on him. He would have stayed there and kept winning.

But that didn't end well. He moves to Los Angeles, and I think AD is more than delivered. He got him a championship. He got him to the Western Conference finals. And I'm not sure anybody in the league matches up against Yokic better than AD. He makes him work for all his points. I think the Lakers need one more star. It's not D-Lo.

That's why it bounces around the league. And I think Denver's a really good team. Porzingis is injury tonight for Boston. I don't think it's as serious as summer speculating on the Internet. I think he'll be back in a couple of games, if not the next game. But I do feel like, to me, what I've watched so far, Denver's the best team in the league. Boston is second. And I think Minnesota is a tough matchup for Denver.

Minnesota is the Lakers in terms of size with two bigs and a dynamic player, Aunt Edwards, in his early 20s. There's just, there's a difference. LeBron, tonight, LeBron was fantastic in the fourth. LeBron was just terrific. But, you know, we saw a couple times in the series where LeBron was gas late or AD was gas late. When you're 22 years old and you're Aunt Edwards, you leave a game with plenty in the tank. So I think they'll match up with Denver and give them problems. but Yokits, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, Gordon doesn't have to score.

He's so effective. KCP, it's a very deep team in terms of offensive skill. And 108, 106, hitting six more threes was the difference. And yes, I thought the Lakers outplayed Denver. I thought the last hour, the second half, was about as good NBA game as I have seen this year. It was crazy. We've seen some good ones. The next sixers, we saw a couple games in New York that were pretty fantastic.

But as I read a story today about the NBA, Amazon, ESPN's going to pay, NBC's in the running, Amazon's in the running. Listen, nobody watches the regular season. And so it's got its load management issues. But when the playoffs start, this is the first round. This is the first round. And I think we've had a half a dozen fantastic games. And the Lakers, they just got to find their 20-year-old star. OKC has one, Denver has one, Minnesota has one, Boston's got a couple.

They've got to find their 20-year-old dynamic star who can, you know, the tank still has something left in it after the game's over. But overall, I thought, I don't buy into LeBron's leaving. I think he's too good, and Anthony Davis has really become what LeBron was hoping he was the year after the championship in the bubble when AD came to camp that year out of shape, and LeBron was grumbling privately, how disappointed he was. AD's never been better. I thought he was absolutely, I bailed on the guy two years ago.

I was over it. He played hurt tonight. He had a weird moment where he got his shoulder dinged, wasn't a lot of contact, so he obviously played through pain and delivered. I got to tell you this, Denver is, I'm sure, tired of playing the Lakers. I know they beat him almost every game, but they, Ruiz size and LeBron and AD, They're a tough matchup for them. Tough matchup.

So I'm enjoying these playoffs. I hope you are. People can complain about the refs, and I try to stay out of that stuff. Everybody wants to blame the refs. You could have called a dozen fouls in the fourth quarter. LeBron complained every time he went to the basket. Gordon got mauled a couple of times. So did Yokic.

The refs were consistent. They let them play. I mean, Denver only shot nine free throws, hit eight. shot better threes, shot better twos, shot better free throw percentage, and that's the difference in the game, inches, not feet. So hell of a night. Really, really fun night. And Boston took it to Miami. Miami beat him the one game when they hit 23-3s. That's a mismatch. That series is a mismatch. Cross your fingers on Porzengis's health. I don't think it's serious. You know, cross your fingers, it's not. But boy, Boston look good. Boston, they may be asking the

league, as Stan Van Gundy said, they may be asking the league if they can play more games in Miami because they looked fantastic. Derek White is their fifth best player. He was the best guy on the floor tonight for the Celtics. He was absolutely fantastic. I think the only team, though, I really feel that can match Denver as Boston. I think they can go toe to toe with their starting five if both are healthy. I think it would be a tremendous, tremendous final. Both have an okay bench, nothing stellar. I would take Denver because I think they'd be a looser team, play like a championship team in big spots. And I trust Yokic over Tatum in the big star matchup. I think Malone probably gets a slight coaching nod.

So I'd probably take Denver in six or seven if they get through the West. So the Nuggets face the T-Wolves next. I like Denver in five or six. I think it's six. Again, Anthony Edwards is going to steal a game. and I feel like it's a game in which Denver's playoff experience will matter. But Minnesota matches up.

You know, it's interesting. They rolled the dice going with dual centers. And I don't think anybody in the league outside of Minnesota thought it would work. But it's a handful. Carl Anthony Towns is a tough matchup. Gobert's an elite defender. The construct of that team, you know,

when the Warriors were playing small ball, it was just you weren't prepared for it. It was hard to practice for it. It's hard to practice for Minnesota. There's nothing else like it in the league. Now, Denver's got the size, Porter, Gordon, and Yokic. They've got the size and the length to mostly match out with them. But Minnesota's going to give Denver some problems as well.

I watched them play about, was it about a month ago? It was right at the end of the regular season. So it was about three weeks ago. I watched Denver and Minnesota play. And it was tied late. It was like three minutes to go and it was tied. It was a really good game. Just a forest of big guys.

So I'll take Denver, let's say, and then I think Denver and the Celtics meet in the finals, and I would take, again, Denver in six. Instant reaction. Hope you had a good night. The volume. The 82 game NBA preseason is in the books. Now it's time for real basketball.

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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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but sell. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed human.