The Mismatch - Clippers Force Game 7, Knicks Advance, and the Lakers Collapse

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

Verno and Jacoby break down Thursday night's action with the Clippers forcing Game 7 against the Nuggets, the Knicks advancing to play Boston, the Lakers turning Rudy Gobert into Wilt Chamberlain, and previewing the conference semifinals. Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] (0:00) Welcome to The Mismatch (1:25) Clippers Defeat Nuggets: 111-105 (TIED 3-3) (11:00) Knicks Defeat Pistons: 116-113 (NYK 4-2) (22:35) Semifinal Preview: Boston Celtics [-1000] vs. New York Knicks [+660] (30:42) T-Wolves Defeat Lakers: 103-96 (MIN 4-1) (47:35) Rockets Defeat Warriors: 131-116 (GSW 3-2) (55:09) Semifinal Previews (59:30) Reaction to Giannis After Losing to the Pacers (1:10:06) Thanks for Watching! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez and Tucker Tashjian Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You must be 21 and present in select states. Gambling problem, call 100 gambler or visit RG-dashelph.com. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Varnan. And joining me to us every week from The Ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Did the Knicks win tonight? Did the Knicks win tonight?

They did win tonight. we are recording this late Thursday night. We have just gotten done watching the Clippers versus the Nuggets. And though we are not going to get a game seven in the Knicks Piston series, which we will get to after we talk about this one, we are getting a game seven in this first round series, which has been a absolutely tremendous series between the Nuggets and the Clippers. And so we're getting a game seven.

coming up this weekend that and the winner will then have to face a very well-rested Oklahoma City team who has been getting to sit around. Just on the playoffs? A week, yeah. But these two teams who are battling it out amongst each other. 111.105 was the final score. And I got to be honest with you, Jacoby. I was with Stan Van Gundy down the stretch of that game.

I'm like, what are they doing? Like, do you, like, I almost wanted Ty Lou to take a time out and be like, you guys know Kauai Leonard's on the team? Like, how is he never touching the ball? It felt like you had this monster shot by Norm Powell in the corner that saved their ass. Like, I really felt like if, if, if the, you know, swing, but tomb throws it over to the corner, that if Powell doesn't hit their ass, like, if, if the, you know, swing, swing, but tomb throws it over to the corner, that if Powell doesn't hit their ass. three, they are in a world of crap because they were up by 15 or whatever it was.

And then it felt like the team that goes into the prevent defense or runs the ball into the line or whatever you want to say, they're playing late into the shot clock. It's like Hardin, just chucking the ball up at the rim or they're having a turnover, whatever. And it took some monster defensive plays on the other end, Batum gets his flowers for his good as he was tonight. Zubat played as good a defense as you could possibly play on Yokic for the course of the game. And then obviously on the offensive end, Norm Powell hit some really big shots for him. But I don't know. I think if you would have stopped that in the, maybe in the

beginning of the fourth or like in the middle of the fourth after, you know, Powell had been doing his thing and the place is rocking and they're showing Steve Ballmer in the crowd, I felt so much better about the clippers and their opportunity to win the series than I did at the end of the game at the end of the game I thought oh boy this is my old one team has been in every different situation they've seen every different kind of defense they're going to keep playing and the other team felt like a team the clippers and I know they came away with the win they felt like the team that didn't know what their go-to was when it was really need a bucket time. I, one of my biggest takeaways from this game was the score didn't match the vibe.

Like watching the first half in particular, James Hardin's going off, hitting threes, stepbacks, Kauai's getting his buckets, Batum is blocking Yokic, like it just felt like the clippers were hitting on all cylinders. But you look at the score, they ended up the end of the half by one. I won. Yeah. It just didn't match. Like if you,

if you put a piece of black tape over my television where the score was, I'd be like, oh, the clippers are up 15. They didn't think they feel like the clippers were doing everything right. But the Nuggets just stayed step for step with them. And there's a lot of Yokic. They don't have an answer for him really. I mean, Zubotch is good.

But like, they tried quine him. They tried Batum on him. And like, you know, it just didn't work. But this is as good as you could possibly do is it, look. I this sounds insane but you'd sign up for 25, 8 and 7 every night. Oh, yeah. Oh, it doesn't sound insane at all.

There might be nobody in the world at all. I know, I know, but there, it's only insane when you put it in the context in the history of the NBA. That's a ludicrous thing to say. But for sure, you'd take 25 on 22 shots too because you made him take the shots in order to get. So, I mean, they did a good job. on Yokich. And I guess that's why I kind of feel the way I do. And I'm interested if you feel the same.

I mean, they just got, they just had the 46 points from Yokic and Murray. I thought they did a tremendous job, you know, defending this team, holding that team to 105, really good,

especially after they got lit up so bad in the last game. And they made some adjustments. A lot of baton this game. and they things around. And yet I'm left at the end of that game. And I'm like, man, I don't know if I don't know if they could go in there and win a game seven on the road. I think they game five Murray was so crucial for the nuggets. And I felt like the clippers saw that and they made adjustments.

Sure. But game seven, like, we knew this series is going to be close. And we're getting what we deserve. This deserves to be a game seven. And to be fair, the Nuggets deserve to have it in their home arena. And I think that game five was such an emphatic win by the Nuggets. And it felt like this was an emphatic win by the Clippers. But it was still close with like two minutes left.

Oh, really close. And they were really playing with their food down the stretch. If it weren't for a couple of you had a couple blown layups at the end of the game that would have made that even closer. on the Westbrook front, Yokic even smoked one, or I guess Zubot's probably got a hand on it. But they were, you know, there was a few plays away from that getting super dicey for the clippers who really did feel like they were just trying to run out the clock.

It's just the last five minutes of that game. It was so incredibly disappointing that it was immature. They were immature. If we get down to a game seven and it's, you know, an execute off. I don't like their chances because that was gross. It was immature. And I'm excited we get at Game 7 from this series. Yes.

And, but you also said it like the Thunder is sitting there. They are sitting there. But both of these teams are just so veteran laden. They are. They are so veteran laden. And like you watch that Nuggets team and it's all the hallmarks of a team who's been through. it has just been through everything.

They've seen it all. They've been in every different situation. They've been up big. They've been down big. They've seen this kind of defense. They've seen when you throw this at Murray. They've seen when they throw this at Yokic. And they've got their go-toes.

Like, okay, here's what we're doing when this happens. Here's what we're doing when this happens. And again, they lost a game seven on their home floor when they were up big. and it was one of those things where when I guess it was, it wasn't that much time left and Powell had hit a three to put them up by 14. This is before the late run by the Nuggets to make it very interesting. But I thought to myself at that moment, I was like, I wonder if he's going to yank them because it's a 14 point game.

There's still time left and you could possibly mount a comeback. And the only reason I say that is because these games, Games come so fast. And last year, they got to that game seven. It was this war. They're up big. And there has to be a portion where you think,

and then the wolves were able to muster up that energy for when it mattered most and mount that comeback. And it looked like, you know, the nuggets were running in mud. and they're only playing six guys, really, Jacoby. They're only playing six. And so now you're going to turn around and you've got to mustered up again for a game seven. And they're working on MPJ's shoulder every time he's out of the game. Yes.

He's not 100%. But Yokic is just like he's unstoppable. They just feel more trustworthy, don't they? They feel more trustworthy in a game seven. The Nuggets are the clippers? Yeah, the nuggets too. I mean, to put me in a position to speak into a microphone, how I feel that game is going to go, I just can't call it. I have no idea.

I have no idea. I mean, they'll be at home and it's going to be a short turnaround. I would be very surprised. If the Nuggets lose two years in a row in a game seven on their home floor, that would shock me. It wouldn't shock me. I think it's the James Harden variance. That's really the X factor. It's the James Harden's second quarter was out of.

control. Like he just dominated the second quarter. You just don't need it to be close. You better run off on him. You better be up big because I mean, that was a mess at the end of that game. My God. It was weird.

He was just going between his legs for like 30 seconds. It was like, what are he doing, dude? It was just like dribbling between his legs for like 15 seconds of the shot. I'm like, throw the ball to Kawhi Leonard. What are you people doing? Yeah, yeah. You know he's on your team, right?

Just throw it to him. Like this is what happened. Can we talk about the Knicks? Can we talk about the Knicks? the next, Chris Vernon. I laughed so hard when I saw somebody tweet out that

they had posted like this picture of a whiteboard and they said Tim's called the timeout and wrote on the whiteboard, Jaylen, save us. And just send them back out there. That game again,

one of these times where how many times did we were so high on the Pistons all year? They were one of our favorite teams to watch. And they just played thriller after thriller after thriller throughout this year. And this deciding game in this game six had so many of the hallmarks that if you did pay attention throughout the season, on one end, you have the Pistons playing this thriller and now can they get it done? Can they get past the finish line?

and on the other side you have oh my gosh are we in a close game Jaila Brunson go make it happen and both of those things collided at the same time which is Pistons couldn't get all the way to the finish line and Jalen Brunson did him in. It's infuriating as a Knicks fan

that they rely on Jalen so much to do everything but in games like this you're like, oh, that's why they rely on Jalen to do everything. And I think that one thing I want to say is after last year's playoffs, I left the Sixers series and I hated Joel M. Bede. I thought it was dirty. I just,

I just like intentionally tried to hurt Mitch Robinson. I just hated it. Dirty play after dirty play. I hated Halliburton. I thought he was a front runner. I just hated, I hated those teams that we beat and lost to. And I don't mean to say,

I understand. But I love this Pistons team. Like I love this team. Before I'm a Knicks fan. I'm a basketball fan. I love this Pistons team. And I wish this went seven. I'm happy the Knicks won, but I just absolutely love this team.

And Sir Thompson is just so good. And Cade, like, Cade missed a couple huge shots in this series. Like, don't sleep on the fact that he had a 15-footer from the elbow from his spot in the previous game, missed it. And he had a layup on the left side to basically ice the game and missed it. And these games come down to like, we're always going to talk about the Brunson three. But there was a play in this game that was so crucial. It was Carl Anthony Towns is on the line. And he makes the first one.

And he misses the second one. And it bounces off to the left side. Right. And there's three pistons around the ball. And whatever happens, like their feet get tied up. I think it's Tobias Harris catches the ball, but he gets tied up. He kind of like trips. And then the ball hits off his face.

Yeah, it was just like, it was a weird play. It was just like, we're going to talk about the Jalen Brunsson three, which is amazing. But it's like that play changed everything. Well, look, you get, all right, here, this is the end of the game. I wrote this down with 235 left. The score is 112 to 105. All right. Tim Hardaway.

You're cooked. You're cooked at that point. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a. seven point game with 235 left. Hardaway hits a baseline pull-up, which I honestly thought was a bad shot, but he made it. And so they went up 112 to 105. What followed was a Brunson floater where he gets fouled and he makes a free throw.

So there's an and one. Then you had a Brunson layup. Then you had a town's free throw and then a missed free throw. But they get the ball back. Right. Then you had the bridges tip in. Yep. And then you had the Brunson three.

That's the, that, that's the scoring that took place from 112 to 105. The only singular point that was scored by the Pistons was a Jalen Duren free throw. In the last 2.35 of the game, it was all Knicks, all Nicks. There was one free throw. I mean, they're down seven. I thought the game's over. I thought the Nix lost. I'm sitting there being like the Nicks lost the game.

With 235. left. And, you know, I thought Tibbs, I watched his post-game press coverage, and he was talking about Jalen Brunson. And he said, it was a great quote about a player. He was talking about Brunson. He was talking about the

enormity of that shot. And his quote was, he is at his best when his best is needed. I like it. It's a good quote. I like it. It's a good quote. All right. And it's so crazy is the Pistons,

look, you mentioned loving them. We've loved them. I love them so much. We've loved them throughout so much. And I always talk about playoff scars and you talk about Cade missing those shots. You know, this is part of what going through it for the first time. But the way they handled themselves within the context of this series was truly remarkable. This is a team that made a 30 game.

improvement, Jacoby. A 30 game improvement. They went from 14 wins to 44 wins. They just played a six-game series against an extremely good Knicks team that is laden with veterans that all play 40-something minutes a game. So you get no relief from that.

And none of the games from three through six were decided by more than three points. That's incredible. I mean, that is an incredible effort. It sucks that they came up short And obviously they're not going to be You know, they're going to lament They're going to think, well, if we would have done this

We would have done that This would have gone this way and this would have gone this way If the foul would have been called on Tim Hardaway in the corner Like you could do a million what ifs The truth of the matter is for a first time in a play In playoff environment For them to Not have any of the games decided by more than three

points when a team is scheming you up and you were able to scheme them up as well. I mean, it's pretty crazy. You're just that level of competition is something to be lauded. I would say that this is a fluky Knicks win. Like not just this game. Like this series is a fluky series. Either way it goes. And I think it's also important to mention.

I've said it before in this pod. Jaden Ivy is their second best player. Yeah. The future is so bright. And beef stew, not available. Like, listen, injuries. are part of playoff basketball and they they change series but like if i'm a pistons fan i walk away from this saying you know what great year great season i can't wait for next october that's how i

feels a pittons fan and you got because i mean look you're you're getting to come back with kade with thompson with ivy with durin i mean that is a great young core holland got thrown in the fire this year. He obviously was not going to be able to be trustworthy in a game of this type of stakes, but fiery competitor that they might have, you know, maybe another guy that can be their long term. And yeah, I mean, I think they have a tremendous amount to look forward to. And in this weird way, a team that gets bounced in the first round that is by far the most fun anybody is a- You got to feel good about it. So many years. It sucks. They didn't get a home win in the playoff. You got to feel good about it though.

But I will tell you. If you're a Detroit Pistons fan, you feel good about this season. I will tell you that and I think that you would agree with me on this. That is to come. And you look at those young players who we have this tremendous belief in, how much

they grew this year, and also Cade becoming a guy that now looks like the guy who could be the best player on an absolutely awesome team. And that has been a revelation. His ceiling is so high. And I think that we celebrate his offense so much.

But like his defense was really impressive in this series. The Pistons locked up, dude. They locked up. Like, Carlton Towns, I don't know what happened to Tobias Harris. I don't know what Tobias Harris this is because, you know, we've all followed his career. And multiple stops, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philly, Detroit again. Like I've seen Tobias Harris play basketball for years and years and years. I know how he got that max contract.

because what did he do with the clippers? I get it. But that's Tobias Harris. I've never seen him as a defensive stopper before. Right. And look, you got to give Bickerstaff a ton of credit. Those players obviously love him. He got,

he got them to play together. And they had such good vibes all year long. I almost have said that I don't get to watch them play anymore, you know, this season because they were a fun team. They were a fun team to watch for sure this year. I will say on the J.B. front, I understand.

I think what he would probably say is he didn't want them to be able to hack him and send him to the free throw line. But the decision to pull Asar out of the game, like right at, like right under that four minute mark. I mean, the last shot of the game, notwithstanding, the job he did on Brunson was unbelievable. And the job he does on everyone was, unbelievable. I think that's probably what he foresaw. And then obviously when he get under two

minutes, that's not relevant anymore. But he thought, I would imagine he thought I, the reason we pulled him out of the game was because they're just going to start intentionally fouling him. The same way that Steve Kerr was able to get Stephen Adams out of that significant game a few games ago. I wonder if that was the case because that was a look it's easy in retrospect but that really gave them life because Brunson, Schrooter was never going to have a chance. He's never going to have a chance on Jaila Brunson. Their best chance to slow him down and you know that the last three and a half minute, bro, it's it's Brunson or bust. You know as well as I do. Oh yeah. You had the one Bridges tip in and Towns was, I mean, he, he,

He had a good rebounding night, but offensively. Yeah, offensively. Yeah, come on. Come on. Come on. I just think, I think if we're moving forward with this Knicks team, and as a, as a die easy Knicks fan, I have to say this. Like, this offense needs to be more ball movement, more off ball movement, less just Jalen Brunson take the ball and take us home. Like, Towns needs to touch the ball more.

When, when Brunson was hurt, OG and Ninobee was averaging like 25 points a game. and Macau Bridges was getting a ton of shots. And like, where are these guys now? And looking forward to the Celtics series, it's, it's tough, man. It's tough. I saw,

I could not believe this. Did you see, and again, you could check me on this if I'm wrong. Somebody posted that that thing opened minus 800. I was like, there's no way. But no, no.

Yes. No. I saw that posted. No. No. With no true with Drew holiday hurt with with Tatum being hurt and Brown recently being hurt like I'm going to go check Fanduel right now while we're on the air. I promise. I promise somebody posted that and I was like there's no way, right? No, no that that is not the no I couldn't believe. Look, Cleveland's 550.

Bro, Banduel has it minus a thousand. What? Boston for the series. This a thousand. Are you serious? I'm looking at it. Oh, I would never, look, I'm not going to sit here and speak it to a microphone and say the Knicks are going to win the series, but I'll say there is a roadmap. And the roadmap is the Celtics miss threes and their big players miss games. Like, there's an easy roadmap here. Well, you can get your Knicks at plus 660.

So if I bet $100, you would win $6.60 back? Yes. No. No. I see that right now. Hey, look, I thought 800 was extreme a thousand by the time. So it's gone up since I saw that posted. That's why.

I mean, I think that that is wild. If you pay close attention to the magic Celtic series, like the magic, they lost every game pretty handily, but they were in it in the first half of every single game, every game. I mean, the, and the favorite is, the expectation is that this is a wipeout. It's five games. It's plus 198.

That's the lowest. Plus 198 for five games. Yeah, that's five for five games. There's no chance. There's no chance to Celtics win three and four in the garden. There's just no chance. I'm just telling you.

So here's what I'm saying. Look, I'll get with you on this. All right. Listen to me. If we think that we're getting at least six games. in that series. Now, Vegas is telling us, bro, you're betting on something that's not going to happen.

But if we're going to get six, at that point, with these odds being so long, you're now in peril of anything. If Porzingis goes out, if holidays hamstrings bad, if this, like,

if you already think that it's going to be competitive, then, I mean, to me, it's worth a crack, just because somebody could go down. Somebody could go down. I mean, look, and we've seen the Nick, look, the Knicks whole season and

playoff success, but race before their eyes when Brunson went down with the ankle. Like, it's over. If he gets hurt, it's over. Oh, darn. Oh, yeah. Right. And so what I'm, has not played well this series.

You've had, you've had, you've had Tatum have to miss some time. You've had Brown have to miss some time. Porzengis. Talk to me. Miss some time. Holidays had to miss some time. holidays out look i am just surprised that it is this strong of a favorite they are minus a thousand you got to put a thousand dollars down to win a hundred if you want to bet on the celtics to win

that's insane i mean i would never pick the nicks to win this series but it's crazy can you not see a world in which jalen brunson takes over game two and they win game two and they get and they get game four in the garden it's two to two going into game five like like Who knows? And what's wild is the same is true. I mean, it's not as heavy, but the calves are minus 550 against the Pacers. I mean, don't we think that one's going to be competitive too? Like, if these series don't go to six games, I'll be surprised.

So here's what I always have to remind myself. This isn't basketball experts picking the series and making the numbers. This is how to make the numbers even. for the public betters. And I think public betters will say, oh, Celtics obviously going to wipe out the Knicks. And public betters will say, oh, the Cavs, best team in the East, Pacers, whatever.

I would just say, if these Vegas odds are accurate in determining that it's going to be two wipeouts, that'll be mega disappointing because this first round has been amazing. I don't want the second round to not be good. theoretically four good teams move on and then we are getting even a heightened level of competition. This first round has been awesome. As someone who is sitting in and watching games every night, every night, like it is much more, it is much less common for the games to be crappy. Well, even when we get a crappy one, I'm like, ah, that's crap.

Even your stupid grizzlies competed in game three, game four. You know what I mean? And you would say like, you could really say the heat in the heat three game four. The heat were the ones that kind of like ruined it for us. But the magic were competitive in that series. Nick's Pistons felt like Nick Sixers last year. It was like this is a great series. Either team could advance and it could go either way based on a couple shots making

or missing. Like that one play when Jalen Durrant, there's a point five left on the shot clock and then ran a play for durn and the announcers like they're going to run a play for durn and he had a great look like if he makes that it's a game seven and who knows that he's game seven fan duel is letting you get in on the NBA playoff action right from the first tip because right now all customers not just new customers all customers can get a no sweat same game parlay every weekend when you bet the NBA playoffs that's right right, just use your token on three plus legs, same game parlay or same game parlay plus on any

NBA playoff game, and you'll get bonus bets back if you don't win. One game that I have my eye on is the big game six in the bay between the Rockets and the Warriors. And I have some thoughts. I think that Van Vleet will continue his hot streak of shooting. I think that the Rockets are actually going to upset the Warriors who kind of like mailed in game five. And I think this is going to be a seven game series. I also think that Steph Curry is going to break out and have a good game as well. You put all three of those bets together and you get a no sweat, same game parlay. And I love betting on Fanduel because they have their great promotions every day,

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If we didn't learn that from Wolves Lakers, then when are we going to learn it? Because it wasn't like the, you know, you could have made a pretty penny betting on the wolves to win in five games. I promise you that. And they took care of business last night as they are now, have joined the teams that are moving on to the next. round. I was blown away. You and I have not talked about this yet and we're two days, you know, removed.

I was blown away at how good you have to be to play that crappy and win. I thought they played like crap and still won, right? I know Gobert went crazy, but that seven for

47 from three And to that point, I was reading an article this morning and it said, they were the first team all season to win a game shooting 15% or less from three. Missing 43s. And I was like, well, of course they are. Like, you can't win a game shooting seven for 47 with the way the NBA is played now. And so to me, that speaks to how. awesome they are and were when you can do that and still win on the road in a game that you don't have to win? I was, that's crazy.

That is crazy. There. I'm high on the wolves, Jacoby. I have a lot of thoughts. I love thoughts. Number one, I would like to apologize to Julius Randall, the Randall family. Oh my God. All, anyone named Randall, just anyone named Randy, just all Randall's in the world.

I just want to say that like I've watched this man play playoff basketball before and I've never seen him play playoff basketball like this. If Randall got the ball and LeBron James was guarding him, it was a mismatch. Well, and here's what's crazy. He really stepped up. We talked a lot about sometimes it's about who's your second best guy, right? Who's that, who's going to be that outlet? When they tried to sell out on the star,

and make life hard on the star, then the others have to step up. And that, to me, was what was so impressive about what took place with Minnesota. Just follow me here. In game one, they had 48 combined points

from Jaden McDaniels and Nasreed. Yeah. I think what were they, cumulably from three, they were like, like, I don't know, there was like eight of 12 or something. Yeah, yeah. Nine of 12.

Okay. Game two, Julius Randall scored 20, seven points in the only loss. He had like eight assists. And that was the only loss of the series. And it was the first of four straight 20 plus games for Randall, which he had not done since November of this year. So it's not like he consistently is scoring 20 a night.

It was the first time he's done it four times in a row since November. In game three, you have the McDaniels playoff career high. and then you have the Aunt Edwards game, right, where he's 29, 8, and 8. And then game four, you have Edwards, who has 43 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter of that game. And then you got to game five, and Rudy Gobert had 27 and 24. The point is, it was something different every single time, right? Like we just talk about one night it was McDaniels and Reed and one night it was Randall and one night it was Ann and one night it was Gobert and it's like good grief. They had big games from all manner of people in that series.

I think that one thing the first round has exposed in the NBA, which is again, we're not like breaking new ground here is it's depth. Like you got Luca and LeBron. Oh, we got Luke and LeBron. Well, who else you got? Because Austin Reeves didn't show up to the party. you know it's oh we got palo and franz we got palo and franz well who else you got right and and and i think that what we're seeing in round one is the nods reads the jaden macdainils the mccal bridges like that that fourth option fifth option the guys off the bench like the thunder showed it in the series

against your grisleys it was just like waves of guys and i think that as you'll see moving forward it's not just having the star. Like last year, the Mavs made it to the finals with the star, but it's the other guys. And you need to have a consistent eight-guy rotation. Well, and there's been a thing going around

that has recently been written, and I can't recall who the author is, but I did see somebody harkened back to an old ringer article by my buddy, rest in peace, Jonathan Charks, who brought this up a couple of years ago. And it was that,

as basketball has evolved even more and the way it is played now, this is really insightful. It used to always be who's got the best guy. You get the best guy in the series. We still focus on it. And now it's who's the worst guy. Because the worst guy is the one they are going to, on both ends, they are going to find you out.

They are going to, if you're the worst offender, they are going to find you out. if you can't shoot, you're going to be the one that has to shoot. End of story, right? And so it's about, it's become more of a, you know, more like soccer. And they say this happens in soccer, right? Soccer's not as much about who's got the best guy. It's about what's your weak link?

Yep. Because basketball has now started to become more of a sport that targets the weak link rather than the best player is the one that makes you rise above. everybody else it's the strength of whatever is and and to your point and i used to always say this on the mismatcheting years and years playing guys that don't suck like there eight that you absolutely can count on with minnesota oh and you look around and because they're bringing naza they're bringing don't they're bringing dante is like number eight dog dante is like number eight right and he is a baller and he's a two-way player and there it's just one thing like listen i think it's it's really

easy to like shit on Luca Dongeant's right now. I'm not going to do it. But I will say that like it is telling that when Julius Randall sees him in front of him and when when Anthony Edwards sees Luca in front of him, he's like, oh, this is my time to cook. This is the matchup I want. And it's hard for me to say you're one of the best players in the

league when other teams are running plays to put you as the on ball defender so they can isolate. It's just hard for me to say you're one of the best players in the league. Yeah, and obviously this is just a colossal disappointment on the L.A. front. And I feel like, look, JJ took over. He was an upgrade over Darvinham. He got them to the three seed. Jacoby, if my season ended to a 27 and 24 game by Rudy Gober, I would jump out the window.

Bro. Like, I think I'd start hating basketball for the right. Like, he, they turned him into Wilt. And he was great. He was dominant. You've got to give him his flowers. That is absurd. I'm sorry.

That is absurd. Chris, I cannot. I'm excited about this. I want to say this. I want to say this. I said this to my buddy. Look, if Nicola Yochich goes crazy, you can say, you know what? That's Nicola Yochich.

That's player in the world. If Luca Donchitz goes crazy, it's like Jason Tate him, whoever. It's like, man, these guys have seen every kind of defense. They've seen every kind of thing. Dude, going into this game, Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 25 rebounds in the series. No, that's a real stat. No, he had 14 points in the series? In the series, Jacoby.

Because we always talk about this is like, we watch a, we just got done with the Nuggets and Clippers game, right? And they're like, you know what? We're fine with Christian Brown shooting threes. And we're fine with Russell Westbrook shooting threes. but it felt like the Lakers were fine with Rudy Gaubert dunking the ball. Honestly, it felt like their defensive strategy was like, well, it's not like we all know that the Lakers don't have a center.

And I feel like they should have played Jackson Haysmore, but whatever. But we know they don't have a center, but I feel like they were playing with four guys. It's like, you're not covering the seven foot human being under the basket. Look, over and over and fucking over. I know he's way undersized.

At least to let Vando go like, you know, knee him in the nuts or something. Like something. He can't shoot three throws, but he was naked under the basket. But it's one thing for that to happen in like the first and second quarter. And you go into halftime and be like, all right, hey, maybe we shouldn't leave Rudy Gobert wide open under the basket, but having the second half too. Also, they missed every shot they took.

And they got and he's got the rebound. I think they had 18 offensive rebounds. He had nine. It felt like he got the ball every time they missed like Dante DiVenzo for three. Oh, Rudy Goberra got the ball. And now he's just dunking on nobody or a six foot five guy. Like, what is happening? What is happening?

I was shocked. Oh, and then, bro, how it, him putting in Maxie Kleber was the funniest thing ever. What, Maxie Kleber did he look like Maxie Kleber? Did he dye his beard or something? I was like, I was like, I know what Maxie Kleber looks like, who is this guy? You're going to make your Laker debut? Then he put him in in the second half, too.

In a two bucket game. No, in a Jacoby. They said he has not practiced with the team. I swear to God when JJ Redick is like Maxy. And I swear to God, Maxie was like, um, like me? You want me to go in the game? Dude, it was May 1st. That was when the game was played.

And they said he has not played basketball since January. What is happening? What is happening? Like, you know what it felt like? It felt like JJ being mega petulant because in the pregame, when he was already pissy, we saw. We saw it. We saw it.

Okay. He said Jackson Hayes is not in the rotation. Why not? But you have to change course of action if Rudy Gobert is about to put up Will Chamberlain numbers because you have to change course of action if Rudy Gobert is about to put up Will Chamberlain numbers because you have nobody else tall. I get it. Jackson Hayes sucks.

We know. But you can't tell me that Rudy Gobert would have had 27 and 24. Come on. Come on. But he had 14 points in the whole series before this game. I was shocked. Maxie Cleve was like crazy. He's like, I'm only here to make the contracts work.

He's like, I'm not here to play basketball. I'm here to match contracts in this trade. I am not like an asset for to play on the. basketball court. What are you doing JJ? Yeah. The other thing is what is the going small thing? Like you, you reaped no advantage from going small.

I mean, I might be a fool. And again, I do trust that JJ Redick knows more about his teammate and his roster than I do. He's done in my game. I was pretty, I was pretty surprised that Jackson Hayes didn't play more in this year. You have to say that.

I was pretty surprised. You have to say that because JJ will tell you. He knows more basketball than you. He does. Of course he does. And he's a nice guy. Like he's like a great guy. He's a great hang.

Like he's a good dude. But I was like, I'm like, why is Jackson and they would, the cameras were on Jackson Hayes on the bench. Like they were like cut to Jackson Hayes and he's just sitting there. Like he's got a smirk on his face. I think he was just, I think honestly, I feel like he was doubling down on like, no, we're past that.

Like we're not. Like you have to be able to adjust. Like if this is what's killing us. us we've got to do something about it. Like we will. Even if I don't love the option. We'll move on from the Lakers shortly, but like I don't see the fix here either.

Like let's be honest. Like what's the fix? Who are you bringing in? I mean, what are you doing? What are we doing this off season that's going to make this a championship contender? You try to find a big guy and try to get Luca to lose 20 pounds? Yeah, I'd do. But I don't see the big guy out there.

You find a rope? No, find a role playing center and then you find you know like whether it's a stephen adams a clink capella whoever that everyone's like oh clink capella that's the name that always comes i know but you just find a set upella from four years ago maybe but clinkapela hasn't been clinkapela for a couple seasons how about mark williams maybe he'd be a good idea redo that physical when people you know and look i like mark williams emoji tweet and everything i saw mark williams in memphis earlier this year and came on the podcast to talk to you about him and i

said, I just saw the most mortifying thing I've ever seen. This guy is like a nine foot or 10 foot wingspan. And I just watched Memphis have like 85 points in the paint. It was disgraceful. Like what is the point? What is the point of view? They would have put him in every single action and JJ would have never played him again. Not played him.

Yeah. I don't see the fix here. It's bad for the Lakers. And it's honestly like acquiring Luca is a coup. and it's going to be go down forever as one of the strangest basketball transactions in the history of the league. And they're going to be set up for 10 years, but they're not set up for next year. And there's no, there's not going to be any swan song with LeBron old enough to Larry O'Brien trophy. It ain't happening.

The other thing, is there anything you liked about the way they played offense? Come on. They couldn't score in any of the fourth quarters. They scored 17 points per game in fourth quarters and shot 29%. I just feel like an idiot. Look, I watched a couple episodes of Mind the Game, but like... I feel like an idiot, honestly. I feel like an idiot.

Because I thought when they, I said in the last pod, when they played defense for that month, I thought they had a good defense. And I actually thought that Austin Reeves was like a guy. And Austin Reeves in this series, he was not a guy, not a guy at all. I thought, hey, by the way, before this series started,

you can go back and find the tape. I told you, you're going to find out. We're going to find out. I said because Austin Reeves, because I was listening to everybody do the Austin Reeves thing, Austin Reeves, if he was on another team, he could be 25 points per game and the whole thing. And I said, look, once Luca's acquired, he's living in a different world, right? Because now you don't have three good perimeter defenders, right? Perimeter defender number one is dealing with LeBron, perimeter defender or Luca,

and perimeter defender number two is dealing with Luca. and now Reeves is getting to swim in different waters. Here's the problem. Minnesota's got like five. Like what happened to Minnesota last season? Reeves is a huge problem if you don't have a third legitimate defender. Oh, Minnesota's got four. If you do, he's got to live in a different world.

What happened to Minnesota last season was Derek John Jr. and PJ Washington. didn't hit their shots. And I feel like they did that to the Lakers this season. It's like, oh, you want Nasridis shoot threes? Oh, he's going to hit him. Oh, Jay, you're going to leave McDaniels? Oh, he's going to hit him. Oh, and now you're going to leave Rudy Gobert. He can't catch and dunk. He can't, he can't get a putback. He can't do a hook shot. He can't do anything Zubach can do or Yogh can do. But he can catch and dunk if you leave a loan under the basket. Minnesota is going to be an absolute bitch for whoever comes out of this Golden State Houston thing.

I talked to you about this earlier this week. After we recorded and we talked about that series going back to Houston. And you've heard me say over and over and over again how much Houston reminds me of teams that I covered, teams that I covered that played against the Golden State Warriors. Talk to me. Talk to me. I was texting you during the game the other night and I said, this is deja vu. Like, I've been there for it.

And luckily, it was totally verified because after the game, if you heard Draymond Green say, he said they might as well have been playing whoop that trick. It played out almost identical. It was great. Now, look, they were even more devastating.

Putting up 79, what was it, 76 point in 24 minutes. In the first half. Crazy. It's crazy. I have one question for you, Verno. I have one question. What the fuck was that? What the fuck was that?

What do you mean? What was that? Who? Houston? No, the Warriors. Oh. Did they just collectively decide we're not going to compete in this basketball contest? Okay, so you might have seen me tweet this about how I don't know if I can ever remember this happening on a broadcast. But for anybody that was watching the broadcast, and I can't recall who it was, it might have been the sideline reporter.

I think it was. They, you know, they come back from halftime and they go to like the sideline reporter. And forgive me, I can't remember who it was. And they said to him, I said, uh, so what was, you know, whatever, like they talked to Steve Kerr. And they said on the broadcast, Kerr's going to see how these first five minutes go. And then. And if they don't go well,

then they're just going to rest up for games. And I was like, did they just say on the game, hey, you can watch the next five minutes. If it doesn't get competitive, like this team is punting. Well, I'm watching the game. You know, I got a newborn and I've got three other kids. And I told my wife,

in the third quarter at the end of the third quarter i was like don't worry i can help you put the kids to bed tonight because i don't need to see this fourth quarter right honestly i was like i was like usually i'm like i got to watch this for work or whatever it's my job blah blah blah i was like you know what don't worry i'll put quincy to bed i'll put the twins to bed i got time i have time the rocket and here's the thing a football coach told me this years and years ago once your team turns it off it is damn near impossible to get them to turn it back on and the rocket it's psychologically look over and they're like, all right. Like you've quit.

Like you're not, like you're just playing like, you know, Kevin Knox and Moses Moody or whatever. And then it started to get like pretty tight to the hair. To the point where E may had to put his guys back in. What I'm saying is they were up so big. Like they had already become resigned. You know, even even Kerr was asked like, did you think about going back to the starters after,

they'd have got news like that would have been irresponsible. How do you feel about game six? They had been sitting over there cold for a long time. Again, it's a lot like what I was talking about with the Nuggets. My trust level is so much higher with the Warriors being able to, you know, come up big when they have to come up big. And it is very hard to understand what these vet teams, sometimes how they conduct themselves. And you can play a very dangerous game doing this, playing for a game. six because now if you get caught, now you're going to have to go win a seventh game there.

But I would just say in their home arena, that is going to be an unbelievable task for Houston to be able to pull off an upset there. Oh, I could see it. I would be surprised if they won on their home court. Again, I lived, I lived this and I watched and look, I'm only saying this and maybe I'm saying this because of. You're a new uniquely positioned. What happened a few years ago. Yeah. Where it was like you, you felt great after game five.

And then you went and, you know, it'll probably be a rock fight, right? Because it's now your elimination time. So it'll probably be a rock fight. But, you know, we go back to that Tibbs quote. And it's he was, he's at his best when his best is needed. That could apply to what you see sometimes with these. veteran-laden teams and you won't recognize the warriors. You won't recognize them.

What they look like in game six is going to be unrecognizable compared to what they look like in game five. Well, they were down 18 points in eight minutes. Like they were just insane. They had nothing. They didn't have to win it. And so they didn't bring that a game. right they have to win now they know they've got to close them out oh i'll be watching i'll be

they know they have to close popcorn i'm gonna close the door you know no kids in the room and we have and we have thumb gate thumb gate this of course i've seen everything dude dillin brooks dillin brooks slapping the the warriors announcers say dillin brooks is slapping at curry's thumb because i didn't see it on the replays i watched all the stuff i watched all replays. I saw everything. I was like, they're giving Dylan Brooks way too much credit. Well, I guess there are videos of it. Dylan Brooks was asked about it afterwards. Did you see that? Yeah. If I had a hurt ankle, everybody would be coming after my ankle, whatever. Yeah, I saw it. So he doesn't shy away from it. He's such a, he is a villain. He is a villain. And we had a Pat Spencer headbutt. Look, I said this to my buddy today. What, what kind of odds could you have gotten to Pat Spencer?

gets ejected. It kicked out of a game. In that series, in Houston Golden State, which we expected to have like maybe a melee at some point, Tari Isson and Draymond are rolling around on the ground. And then the guy that gets kicked out is Pat Spencer via headbutt. The worst headbutt ever, too.

I don't even think he connected. Hey, I tell you this, if, if, if, if Houston was able to pull it off, those Houston, Minnesota games,

we might actually get people that pine for the 90s, you might get 77 to 74 in a game. I mean, that will be absolute assault that goes on between those two teams. Pacers. Well, on the other front, Pacers calves, you might have 77, 74 at the half. You're right.

And then you have, and then you have Jimmy and Minnesota. and you also have Dreybond who once famously, you know, tried to put a sleeper hold on Rudy Gobert. So you get to, there's no bad options. Whatever comes out of Warriors, Houston, there's no bad options for the T-Wolves matchup. Yeah. And who would you rather see Oklahoma City play?

Just for my own enjoyment. Yeah. I would prefer to see them play the Rockets. No, no, no, Oklahoma City. Oh. That's, we clippers or Nuggets? Yeah. Clippers.

I don't believe in this Nuggets team. I'm sorry. I honestly don't think there's a bad option in that one either. Because what if it's, if it's the other option, if it's the nugget and if they win in game seven, you know they're going to announce the MVP. And that sets up the perfect. SGA won it. Now Nicoliochich is going for 40, 20, and 15

and all the shows the next day are like, do the MVP go to the wrong guy? Like you can see it. You can literally see it happening. I love Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartnstein for very different reasons, but I love both of them as basketball players, but they have nothing for Nikoliyokic.

Like Zubach has the size and strength to stick with them. score on him. But like, I just don't. I love Hartenstein and Holgren. Like, I love them both as basketball players, but I can't see them slowing down Nikola Yovic from doing whatever he wants. I don't think we, look, we have no bad options left. Like, we're going to get a game seven between the nuggets and the clippers, and either one of them is going to be a fun watch against Oklahoma City for different reasons. And the Timberwolves are either going to play the Rockets or the Warriors. And there's really not a bad option in that one either. I really don't think so. I mean, it does feel like aunt needs to put down KD, LeBron, Luca, and Steph in two years.

Like, if it, just think about this like the, that'd be crazy. The pelts on the wall. Oh, I know. Would have at 24 years old. Yep. To be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, seven game series took down KD. seven game series. I can't, you know, and the other thing is, I want to see how good,

if the wolves were a, were uniquely equipped to be an absolute bitch for the Lakers, and then we get to the next series, because we did this last year. People were already talking Anthony Edwards as Jordan, and then the, and then the Mavs did him in, and he struggled. And by the end of that, it was a way different thought process. Like, if the Lakers were a team that once one team just is going to simply game playing against you, they just were not going to be as good as we thought they were going to be. Or was it just that team was uniquely equipped to give them the huge problems that they did give them?

Or are the wolves that awesome, right? And then they mow down the next team too. I mean, I really, I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen with them. And so, but they were mega impressive. And they just, I mean, they won a game where they made seven of 47. Three. That is, that's insane.

I mean, there's the Rudy Gober of it all, though. That was, it, it was flukebillian. I know, but if Jade McDaniels goes back to being 12 point per game, jade McDaniels and if, you know, Nasreet and Julius Randall turns back into the Julius Randall that we thought we knew, it's like, those are things that we could see happening. Like I just don't know what to make of it all. But no one. No one is saying Tyrese Halliburton conference finals last year. Right. Run this year took out Janus. Like no one saying Tyrese Halliburton future face of the

league. Like there's a difference between Edwards and Halliburton. Even though they both lost in the conference finals last season, no one is talking about Halliburton in that way. They will be if they They will be if we're looking at a game seven between the calves and the Pacers. But even the calves, they're not the Celtics. It's just not the star power. It's that, yeah, it's not. And I do want, before we go, we have to talk about the Janus thing for a second. Let me hear it.

I, um, oh God, I'm about to say something into a microphone that I'm a regret. Is that okay? I'm going to regret saying this. I think that Janus is at fault for his behavior and immediately fall. following the end of that game. And I think that his post-game press conference, he was so measured and intelligent and relatable and humble. But I feel like him grabbing Ben Matherin the way he did

and him going after John Hallibat in the way he did. Matt Matherin said something to him that. Of course, but just walk off the court. Like I'm more on the side of the play, be honest. I loved him grabbing his head. No, see, I don't like it. He palmed that man's head. See, I disagree.

I disagree. I think that I think you're in charge. I think that he was emotional after losing a game that they should have won. They should have easily won that game. And he was emotional and he was just taking on all comers and acting out of pocket. And then in the polling press conference after he showered and calmed down, he's like, oh, you know, you're right. Blah, blah, blah, no. You started this.

You preface all of this by saying I will, I will regret saying this. And so that you knew it was stupid before you've had said. I'm critical of the way Yon. I don't even need to entertain that. I thought he was emotional. He was emotional. He behaved emotionally. Oh, give me a break.

He let his emotions get the better of him. He had an AAU dad telling him, yeah, we do this shit, waving a frigging towel in his face after he just lost a heart breaking game in his season's over and whatever. I'm not saying John Halliborne's in the right. I'm not saying John Halliborne's in the right. I'm saying that Yonest, the, the person that he was, right after he ended and the person that he was in the press conference are two different people

no he is a great human no i'm not saying he's anything if anything he showed restraint if anything he showed restraint i thought nobody would have blamed him for slapping the shit out of him the math or him either of them like he said he seemed to start the mathering conversation like he was like being like a big brother trying to like bring him up and then it turned and he's got his hand around his head and he's like it turned a little evil i didn't like it yeah go to the locker room dude go to the locker room you lost am i wrong here tell me i'm trying yes he was trying to go to the locker room he was standing there he wasn't bothering anybody you wouldn't bothering anybody he didn't bother anybody he he he sought out those conversations until he sought out those conversations

okay the fact that anybody was talking crazy to Janice Antacompo is bananas to me. I love Janus. I love Janice. Why? Why are they talking reckless to him? And you know what? I love that he grabbed Benedict Matherer by his friggin' head and said, you little bitch, you

know what I could do to you? I'll squash your head right now. I palm your damn head. I'll palm your head. Do you understand what I could do to you right now? I could bounce your damn head off this ground. and then John Halliburton Shut the F of

Who are you? And why are you dressed like that? Are you a fan? Like you didn't even know if somebody's dad. A towel with his son's face on it. It's like this is what we do. You don't do shit. I'll tell you this.

What's crazy is somebody asked me about that. They're like, what do you make of it? And I was like, look, as someone who has a son who, like, I've been in gyms for the better part of a decade now. you and it's and it's and you and i are the same age it's our generation bro these parents that is it happened on an NBA level which is crazy to see bro i would invite anybody go into an aAU gym one weekend you will see i have watched people fight i have watched people follow refs out to the car i have watched people two i have seen two dads fans my son was a

Jacobi. We were playing in a Tuesday night summer league AAU game. Okay. There's no record of this ever even happening, right? Nobody cares. I two dads got up out of the bleachers and said, well, then let's just F and go. And March to walk outside.

Then a bunch of parents have to follow them out behind them. And I'm like, they're going to go outside and fist fight each other over this basketball game. And so the idea that parents get overzealous is like, you just saw it on an NBA level, but like I've seen people acting ridiculous about youth sports for the last 10 years to the point where I am unsurprised by anything a parent does anymore, even if it is an NBA player's parent.

So you think that I am wrong to be critical of Janus's actions. Yes. Immediately following the game. He's on the road. He didn't go seek anybody out to cause a problem. Yes, he did. He didn't speak anybody out. He started that conversation with Ben Matherin.

He started that conversation. That could have been a handshake. He's telling him good series and the guy calls him a bitch ass. Oh, I didn't see that. What do you want? I don't think Ben Matherin called him a bitch. That's exactly what happened. it's exactly what happened

and Janice said I'll bounce your head off this damn like no man And then this guy waves a towel on his face and says this is what we do Ridiculous Now you have to go nose to nose with them I don't know

Yes I just felt like I felt like the person That Janus behaved as immediately following the game And the person that he presented in his press Oh you mean a guy that Two different people A guy that demands respect That is the same person

A guy I thought there were two different people I could be wrong A guy that thinks, a guy that was my reading of the situation. Yeah, I can be wrong. It's a guy that feels like you should be respectful. Win or lose. Oh, wait.

That's what he's. I'm sorry. Wait, is this the same? Is this the same guy that tried to handshake Jalen Brown and then took it away and made a joke out of it? Is this the same guy that did the shimmy right? Come on. Come on. Is this the same guy?

Oh, so he's respectful. He's humble. He's humble and respectful. But, but you're shimmying. You're bringing up goofy stuff. Come on. You know, I am. I'm saying he's goofy.

He, I just think that the person, there's the super ego. You know what being disrespectful is. You're smart enough to know that. You know that. I'm just saying, here's, here's my point. He wants to be someone that he's not. He's trying to be this, uh, super self-aware, humble, uh, perfect super ego human. But he's just not.

And he hasn't accepted that. I don't think he ever has presented himself as perfect. I think he is introspective, and I think he gives the best answers possible. The best. He's gone. You know, he's goneous,

Gonis, Conte Cumpo. Gones and Tentacompo. Last pod, you wouldn't admit it, but he's gone. He's gone. What do you mean?

I wouldn't admit it? You wouldn't admit it last pod. He's gone. He is gone. I mean, it's obviously up to him. One thing I don't understand is, Why are the nets?

Why are the nets even in the conversation? I'll say that. What is he going to do on the nets? What is he going to do with the nets? So Nico kept us from seeing with the true value of lucidot to be. This will be the biggest trade return. And it will be so far beyond anything we have ever seen. So far beyond anything we have ever seen.

I like this take. This is a good take. I cannot fathom the trade return that he is going to get. It's going to be. We've all seen potential packages. So if they decide, if they decide, if they decide that it's going to be like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm saying like they're having that they had this.

Collectively, of course. And they said. And again, we didn't. This is what everybody always said about the Luca thing. But if we get the, hey, we are willing to facilitate Janus to move. And here's what we're looking for, whatever. I mean, you get a 29 team submit offers. And then you're going to have a couple of them that are fighting.

I mean, it's going to get ludicrous. The amount of picks and great players, young players or veteran players, you're going to be able to rebuild your whole team if you do it. You don't even have to do the whole picks and you can do picks and young players. You could go get like current awesome players. There's nothing that's off the table. One thing I love about this is like I can see a team literally winning the championship. And then two days later putting together a package to trade their best players for Yonazza Tengupo.

Yes. That Celtics, the Thunder. If one of those teams win the championship, like they're going to be in the bidding. Absolutely. They could raise a banner. Absolutely. win the championship they could have a parade and the GM during the parade could be texting your guy John Horst. You have one of the three, you have one of the three best players in the world in his prime.

With no, I mean, not a great jump shooter, but like two way player, no holes in his game. Like fits in anywhere, anywhere, anywhere, anywhere. I mean, if you, if you're going to just like, not have, if you're not going to do the, uh, go harris said to talk to one team but rather talk to all manner of teams i mean this is going to get ludicrous i just can't i can't imagine in the history of a team that won the championship that immediately is in like a bidding war to bring in someone new i'm trying to think of it i can't think of it and happen it could happen i mean it's just that we also like guys like this you don't have a chance to get them ever

Like, it's going to be awesome. That will be a make-for-funn off-season. But look, these playoffs have been unbelievable so far. This has been great. This has been great. And now we got, you got a game six that's coming up with Golden State in Houston. We got a game seven that's coming up with Denver and the Clippers. And then we've got on the other side.

Before our next show, we could have game, we could have game one. No, it's Sunday. A ton of series. Yeah. No, no, no, but game one of Pacers Cleveland is Sunday. Oh, we could also get game one of Warriors if the Warriors win. What, uh, have they already announced a schedule for, um, for the Knicks and the Celtics? I bet they have.

And seeing when that one's going to start. Probably be Sunday, right? Uh, Sunday is Pacers, Cavs and Warriors Rockets game seven if needed. If needed. And then Celtics and Knicks, that will be the next podcast we record together. Monday night Monday night is game one Yep

Oh god Monday night is game one You know what I'm gonna text Bill I'm gonna text him something really fucking mean and insulting Right before tip off That's what I'm gonna go You signed long term right so yeah it's fine I'm gonna hurt his feelings I'm gonna hurt his feelings

I'm gonna hurt his feelings I'm gonna say something really fucking mean About his game Yeah you should do that Yeah I'm gonna do that right before tip off Throw him off All right Jacoby I will talk to you next week

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