The Mismatch - Pistons on The Ropes, Thunder Sweep, and Nuggets Force A Game 6

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

Verno and Jacoby return to react to Monday’s playoff matchup, including the Magic taking a 3-1 lead over the Pistons and the Thunder advancing to the 2nd round. Then, they discuss how the Nuggets force a game 7, the Knicks looking to take a 3-2 lead, and the confusion of the Raptors-Cavs and Rockets-Lakers matchups. Welcome to The Mismatch! (0:23) Pistons-Magic: Jamal Cain’s dunk is one of the best in Playoff History (1:57) Magic beat the Pistons, Pistons on the ropes down 3-1 (8:47) Jamal Cain makes a name for himself with a "forever dunk” (13:49) Thunder sweep Suns, 12-0 over the past 3 seasons in the first round. (20:30) Wolves-Nuggets: Injuries will make it tough for Wolves to win series (26:56) 76ers-Celtics: Boston leads series 3-1, Joel Embiid back, Tatum in elite form (34:27) Hawks-Knicks: Series tied 2-2, KAT is the ‘Missing Piece’ for success   (39:11) Blazers-spurs: SA leads series 3-1, Wemby good to go after concussion (45:41) Raptors-Cavs: Series tied 2-2, the NBA is really going to make us watch this matchup (51:26) Rockets-Lakers: LA leads series 3-1, Matchup is bad basketball (57:28) Cooper Flagg wins ‘Rookie of the Year’ Award over Kon Knueppel. Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Stefan Anderson and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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See that's every week from the ranger. Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Ferno. The Jamal Kane moment happened, and we were all here to witness it. What a dunk. What a dunk. Honestly, one of the greatest dunks in NBA playoff history.

I, you know, I always worry about this. Is it hyperbole? Am I being prisoner of the moment? And upon review, the answer is no. That Jamal Kane dunk is one of the greatest playoff dunks we have seen. Just take it in context, too, because the pistons were blocking everything around the rim. Like, Isaiah Stewart had, like, 115 blocks in this game. Durham's blocking everything.

You're either getting fouled or get your shot blocked if you go inside. And then Jamal Kane is just like, eff this. I'm a cockback dunk. Did not think that we would be starting the show talking about Jamal Kane. The odds of that on Fandual Doa Sportsbook were plus 500 trillion that we would start the show talking about Jamal Kane. But here we are. There are three games. that have been going on this Thursday night as we are recording.

We're recording late. The way late. It's one in the morning for me, Verna. It's too late. It's one in the morning for Jacoby. It's midnight for me. And it's a 20-point game in the Denver, Minnesota game. So we felt safe to come on.

We'll get to that one here in a little bit. Hold on a second. Verno, you always got to keep your eye on the end of the Denver Minnesota games. Because I would love if just like some sort of sub for the Nuggets score to layup, with like four seconds left and then it just turned into absolute chaos. I guess it's possible.

Three games tonight. So we had one series end. We had one series and this is the one that included the aforementioned Jamal King. The Pistons are on the ropes now. Oh my God, am I getting chirped. I am getting chirped online. Your Pistons, your Pistons, Verno. You told us to believe in the Pistons.

What happened to your Pistons? I've been doing it. two shows a week with you. I don't remember you being a huge Pistons guy. Look, I've been, look, I've been the guy saying that the Pistons have not gotten the credit that they have deserved for being the number one seed. I do remember that. And that throughout the year, they've beaten good teams.

What do they need to do to prove it to us? Yeah, I remember this now. And so, look, the story has been their complete, offensive impotence that they have had because the defense is exactly what I thought it would be. for Detroit. They held the team to 33% from the field tonight and lost the game. That's like impossible unless you're the, I was about to say,

unless you're the calves, right? Caves can do that, yeah. Unless you're the calves. I guess it's happening in the Easter conference, but it is possible when you turn it over 20 times, when you shoot 20% from three. And there's just a lot of things that I did not expect that are playing out in this Orlando Detroit series.

I mean, the defense is good enough than I thought. But the offense being as bad as it has been, Cade being so turnover prone and more so than anything, Jalen Duren, who was a 20 and 10 guy all throughout the year, even if you take a minor step back, you're still got a mega effective player. Maybe not the all NBA level, Jalen Duren, but a mega effective player that's obviously getting,

more attention because it's one team preparing for you, yada, yada, yada. He has been decidedly average, like, below replacement level. Like, you could play a myriad of guys, the amount of minutes that you've played Jalen Duren, and they would get you his, if not better, statistical output this series so far. I mean, we're four games into the thing. And it's been, it's been appalling, honestly. Like, even if I didn't think Cade had a perfect. running buddy. At least there was something else you could count on, but they have had nothing

else to be able to count on. I mean, your second best guy cannot beat Tobias Harris. No. And that's kind of where they're at. At the beginning of this game, they made a concerted effort to get Dern involved. And they did. And he made some plays early in the, in the, you know, the magic busted out at the very beginning of the game, you know, like Bain hit a three. They're hitting some three's, they jumped out. And then the Pistons sort of like just kind of took over the end of the first quarter started the second, ended up being close to the half. But

they, they did the thing that you do with a struggling big man. They're like, we're going to run plays for you and get you some touches in buckets early in the game. And hopefully that will turn this thing around. And it didn't. I mean, he didn't play terribly. I thought he played really good defense. But, you know, this was his

coming out part of year. Well, and it hasn't come out that way. And the magic do have the good. to be able to make them pay for exactly what we talked about, even when they did not make, when they made this meager Kevin Herder move at the trade deadline. It's like, bro,

this is going to show up where everybody's just going to pile up on Cade. And if you've got our Sir Thompson out there and you've got Jalen third, I mean, you got too much non-shooting. Meanwhile, Cade's shooting less than 30% from three himself. Like, it's just, you're playing, you're giving up a 33% field goal percentage against you, and you can't

score enough. You've got to be able to win the game if you're giving up in the 90s, right? And I mean, they're so offensively impotent. I don't walk away from this being like, Kate is the problem. You know what I mean? I walk away from this being like, like you said, like if Tobias Harris is your sort of second option and you're really banking on Dennis Jenkins to create when Kate is on the bench. And then, you know, Duncan Robinson is not hitting shots.

Like they just really don't. And we know what Duren and Stewart are. And they are that because of Kate. And I understand that there are turnovers because he's the top of the guy in the whiteboard. And it seems like that they've got a really good strategy to sort of stifle this offense. And I also want to tip I had to Wendell Carter Jr. and Angel Reese. They're doing a great job of showing down to John Dern. Well, look, he is not only, he's not, he's not one on the whiteboard.

He's one, two, and three, and then it's Jalen Duren. And the other thing is, this is how you know. If you just watch the game play out, how many times they get called for illegal screens? Just trying to get him the ball. Just get him space, get him out in space, but there is no space because nobody can shoot. Right? This is the issue. And the only one that can shoot is Duncan Robinson.

but he's unplayable because they put the Batman spotlight on him the second he walks out on the court. And it's like, all right, we're going to put you in every action. In everything. I mean, they let the magic get away with a lot tonight because they let Suggs get away with a one for 13, one from 11 from three. God bless him for shooting the 11th one because I don't have the hard to do that. You know, they let and look, I'll give credit to the magic because obviously they were good enough defensively. But when you get that kind of game out of Suggs, you get that.

kind of game out of Apollo and you lose Franz who was cooking in the first half. I mean, this is this is one where you're doing some real soul searching. Now, I will say, not going to bury Detroit. I'm not going to have their funeral yet because you go and look, they're like already posted as like a nine and a half point favorite in game five, right? We'll assume they'll nut up and win their game at home. So now you are in a game six on the road. There is some pressure, I would think, big pressure for Orlando to close that out in six.

And there's still not a trustworthy team to me. Like my problem is this, though, it's like, if you're in the magic locker room, you sit there being like, we didn't play well and we just took the number one seat out. That's the other side. If you're in the magic locker, like, there's nothing from the magic where I was like, wow, these guys really just had some great games and hit a bunch of shots. It's like their offense did not look great the entire game. Well, the one thing was.

And we talk about how these guys at, well, first, before we get to Bain, the other one, which rhymes with it, Kane. I mean, this was like, it was a force of nature. The dunk, Andy was like, he was wrestling Kay. He was like, I mean, that was a very impactful 22 minutes. It felt like he was just every time everybody's like, what, who is this guy? I did that like two months ago. Who is this guy?

He made a name for himself. For people that tune that in tonight. And that donk is forever. It's that good. It's that good. And again, Jalen Duren, just like, I mean, that all NBA max that he's going to sign this summer is starting to look insane. You flagged that like four months ago.

You flagged it four months ago. And I'm like, oh, God. But I didn't really. I didn't realize this was going to be the way it was. And the way he got dunked on and he ends up on his ass and he's sliding backwards and Kane is just looking at him. I mean, if you're in the area, you can feel it through the broadcast, that that was like a 90-second reaction from that dunk.

And this is 12 points for Jalen Duren tonight and that was the most he's had in any of the games. 12. What I see. And the guy's average 20. The pistons in the last five minutes didn't have a field goal until like the very end. You ready for this?

The only one the magic had was the Bain Bang 3. I've always said that bang three should not be counted. They shouldn't be counted. In the last, oh, no. But he had some free throws, right? No. He had some free throws. I took all the notes.

I've got this. I've got this right here. It goes, all right. In the last four minutes and 50 seconds, the teams were two for 18. the Bain Bank 3 and the Isaiah Stewart put back at the plus. That was insignificant. Yeah, I did wrote in my notes.

It says, Bain off the backboard 3, 9286, 116, remember that shot if the Pistons lose the series. That's what my notes said. In the last five minutes of the game, the Pistons were 0 for 9, one for four from the free throw line, and three turnovers. Those Thompson free throws.

I mean. I mean, they had, it, it, it was like, uh, it was like, like he's the guy that you would want to be throwing the ball if you're in the dunk tank. There's no chance. None.

You're just dry as a bone. And he's got this look on his face. Like he knows and everybody knows. Like I thought that, you know, we'll get to a men later, but I thought he played pretty good against the Lakers and that blowout. but do you remember the celebration of the Thompson twins in their rookie year? Well, I still celebrate them. They have their...

They have their limitations. They have their limitation. They can't shoot the basketball into the basket if they're outside the restricted area. They cannot do it. That is the limitation. I mean, here's the problem. He would be amazing, much like our men was, when the, like the Jalen Green version of the Rockets, when after Shengoon went out that year, it was like dunker spot, Amen Thompson is a terror.

A dunker spot, ah, sir, would be a terror, but they got five guys that should play the damn dunker spot. Standing there. Yeah. Yeah. Where does Stu go? The problem. Tobias Harris go.

The problem is going to be all the dunker spot. They're all standing together. They should try that. Cade just up front and then just four of them standing in the dunker side, two on inside. Two on inside. Standing at the dunker spot. And then, look, the Bain Bank three that we mentioned, of course, look, this is, this is great for me, right? The guy banks a three camera for the 50,000th time during the game, pans over to show John Morant and Jaron Jackson, Jr.

Doing the thing. Oh, my gosh. And he looked at him too. How does it feel just watching three X Grizzlies in that game? Sucks. Well, they weren't all in the game. Come on, hold on. At the game, I should say.

on the broadcast. Oh, it sucks. That sucks. But the thing I love about it is what you're going to hate about it is it just shows what a connection they have and the friendship. And they took a plane to Detroit. It's not the games in Miami. You know what I mean? They took the plane to Detroit.

What a good thing the Grizzies had going. And this is America build around Jalen Wells. We go down Jalen Wells. I'll go blow my brains out. That was awful. Camp Spencer. I hate it. It was Cam.

But I hated it. I had it with the fires of sense. seven hells. It was awful. So now Rudy Gober is checking in the game. I never understand this. Someone explains to me why stars are still in the game. Why can't we just play out the last three minutes just like congenially and no one gets hurt? Well, I was, I will say, impressed by Dylan Brooks and the and the Phoenix Suns. They just played it out and took their loss and didn't try to hurt anybody at the end of their series.

Like they did it. Dylan Brooks is on a play to Detroit right now. He's on PJ to Detroit to join the rest of the squad. Look, mega impressive. That's three years in a row. That's 12 and 0 in the last three first round series for Oklahoma City. And of course, you know, you'll lament like, oh, J. La Williams is out. And it's like, okay, we'll plug in A.J. Mitchell and he'll have 22 and 6 and be awesome.

And then they got Jared McCain on the bench. They got Caruso and they got, like, I mean, it's embarrassing how good they are. Sorber hasn't even played for him yet. I mean, dude, Phoenix never had a chance in, like, any of them. This was a, this was a game. The first half was competitive. They kept it kind of between, like, eight and 12 points.

Right. They got it down to, like, seven in the fourth. Like, they did stuff. But there was never, like, the Grand Slam effort where the thunder, like, led off the gas and you just, you know. Yeah, like the Grizzlies in game three and games. game for last year. Like when you, yeah, right, right, right. Like where they didn't. They had to call timeout and coach is mad. Yeah. There's no of that going on.

Nah, I didn't have Ophiq's. And I'll just say this. I think what I was heartened by. How about at the end of that game, you got all those Phoenix fans standing up, giving that team an ovation. And, you know, it was awesome to see like the perspective of all of it because it was like, in the end, when they get beat by the thunder, you know, it was. Yeah, it's disappointing that your team lost. Yeah, it's disappointing that you got swept. But that team overachieved in a massive way all year long. Like, nobody.

It was a good season for the Sons. Nobody expected what happened with the Phoenix Sons. That they were even going to be in that spot. Yeah, they got laid wasted in the first round. But like that was supposed to be a 30 win team. That was supposed to be a lottery team this year. And that, and I will say, I go down there probably, I don't know, I went down there for the first time, maybe like four or five years ago.

Oh, this is your little golf, your little golf spot. Yeah. But now I go down there quite a bit, and I always try to ask people about, like, I ask people about the sons. And I really got the sense that, like, they had, there was, there was a portion of fandom there that, like, was so bummed out. They had really fallen in love with that Aiton, Bridges, Paul, you know, that whole squad. the one that went to the finals for good reason. Yeah, yeah. And the KD.

Sun's experience was just terrible. It just was not, it was just all underwhelming. And then you had Brad Beale and it was just all underwhelming and not fun anymore. And I think this year's Sun's team is a good reminder. You don't have to win a title to be fun.

Like I think those fans had fun. There was an 82 game season that was really fun. Playoffs doesn't end the way you want. to, but like, it was a fun team to root for throughout the season. They fell in love with some of the players and now we're excited about the future. There is a, you know, a home playoff win, a home playoff, playing win, I should say. You know, send Steph Curry home. And I think sometimes, I just think sometimes we undersell that it's fun to be good.

Like, most of them aren't going to win the title. And you see there's levels to this stuff. and you're nowhere close to the thunder, right? Like, I mean, not even, it's not even the same hemisphere, but you were fun to watch for 82 games. One of the things I look at, I'm looking at really closely in the Blazers series,

is like, all right, the Blazers are not going to beat the Spurs, right? But can they show us a blueprint that can slow Wembenyama? Or can, is there something that you can take away for whoever plays the Spurs next? offensively or defensively of sort of like what can you do against Castle and Wimb and Yama

and sort of these players. And I was looking at the Thunder Phoenix series. I was like I'm not taking anything away from this. Like they can't they can't stop Shay. They can't even slow him down. They tried to blitz him on a pick and roll and he split it and he jumped up and he scored on, I think it was Okie and Brooks

who were helping. It was a Booker and Allen and they split them jumps up and you see this lefty spinning thing and he jumps up and bumps into Brooks, uses it, goes the other side, goes around Okogee. It's just like, Shea's been unstoppable.

Unstoppable. You see this fourth quarter and overtime stuff? There, oh, where he's missed one shot? One shot in like, what's it, a month and a half. I think it's since March 16th in fourth quarter and overtime, he's missed one shot. Yeah, it was, March 17. Yeah.

I think it's only like 17 for 18. It's nothing crazy, but it's like, yeah. I mean, to not miss a shot in fourth quarter and overtime. in a 16 game stretch, Jacobi. With the volume, but I think it's clutches

only four quarter in overtime. It was. But some of those four quarters he doesn't play, but whatever, that's crazy. With the attention that he gets, with the attention that he gets.

I know. To miss one shot. I want to see that shot. Someone find that shot tweeted him. Yeah, what did he miss? It probably bouncing it out. Yeah,

yeah, yeah, it's bouncing it out, rattled, the rest of just to get calling it. Well, and look, while I was being while I was giving the Phoenix Sun's praise

for the season that they had, even though they got wiped out in this series, to me, and I think you probably feel the same way. That, I mean, it's not, it's not nearly as a big of the menert to the Suns

as it is, oh my God, there's levels to this and this Thunder team is so locked in to where they're not even like letting up for a game. Right. They didn't even let up for, there wasn't one of these games where you felt like they were just kind of coasting with it. Yeah.

Like, we'll talk about later, but like the Lakers were definitely coasting. No, there's no question. But like the Thunder do not have that. The Thunder in the Spurs, there's the class of the league right now. There's not a team in the Eastern Conference that I have full competency. There's not. And then the other game that is, there's 20 seconds left now. So this is end thing.

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Visitactivia.comia.ca for more details. Seconds left, just in case he wants to chase someone down and fight them. Well, it's going to end like a 12 point margin or 10 point margin, whatever. But Denver is going to come away with this. We figured that they would probably win at home. Oh, do you see this? Yo is trying to give him the ball and take it away. It's such foolish.

It was Johann Beringer, the rookie. I think he's trying to get the possession to switch. He was trying to mess with him. Just stop messing around at the end of the game. All right. So this is going to be tough from Minnesota to knock them out with what they've got right now. This DeVincenzo Edwards thing is so depressing.

And when Nas went down, I think he came back. But Nas went down earlier in this game. But I mean, you watch it and you're like, good grief. Who is going to have? It's tough. And they turned the ball over a thousand times tonight. Like, it was just, it was just like. And they were like, turnovers led to buckets on the other end.

And even though Denver did not have, uh, It did not have Aaron Gordon for the game. He was ruled out before the game. Much like we were talking about Jamal Kane and we say role players play better at home. How about this Spencer Jones night? He was unbelievable. I mean, it's like, honestly, like you want to tell your kids like, hey, you know, I feel like like, you know, almost like if you're sitting with your grandpa and you're like, years ago, there was a guy named Sean Marion.

And he would shoot corner threes. It looked ugly too. Like every time this guy shoots a quarter three, you're like, God, it is heinous. He's shot the itchy shot. It's so heinous. But he was burying everything tonight. Then he's dunking. He's doing everything.

Spencer Jones. He was really good when Yokch was out. When Yokich was out, he was really, he had like a two week stretch in like the middle of the season where he was like a go-to guy for the Nuggets. We're going to look at that. I got to pull this up because we're recording as this. He was two for two from three. Tonight?

Yeah, two for two from three, four for five from the field. Spencer Jones. He had a, he certainly, there was a, there was about a five-minute span there where it was like, in the third quarter was like, this guy's taking over the game. Bro. Do you know how many turnovers the wolves had? It was 20 earlier. So what did it end?

25. My God. And they're not playing the 85 bears. Like the one thing about the nuggets is you can score on them. They don't play defense. No, no, no. They don't have, like, defenders. I don't know what you're looking at.

Spencer Jones had 20 points with seven for nine, four for five from three. What am I looking at? I thought you watched a different game. Spencer Jones was cooking. Monday, April 27th. Spencer Jones. Seven for nine, four for five from three. I mean, it's not outdated then.

And by the, and more than 25 turnovers. And while Yokic has been getting beat up, he was, Fonds with the 27, 16, and 12. To their coaches credit, their coach after the game, you know. Four for five and three. Holy shit, Spencer's owns. Yeah. He said, David Adam had said after the game, you know, like, we, basically, we've been

here before a lot, and I think our two best players are going to get going. And to his credit, they did. Like, I mean, it turns out that maybe Yokic is a better player than Rudy Gobert. They combined for 51 points tonight. and turnovers. No, you were right. It did end at 25. 25, yeah.

But the Nuggets had 35 assists. That is an enormous number for a playoff game. Oh, yeah. 35 assists. I mean, 35 assists is great for regular season game too, but for a playoff game, good three. And, yeah, they're just, man, I feel so bad for the Timberwolves because it's like there's Randall and D'Soon Mooh,

then Jalen Clark is getting in there. I was like, oh, yeah, him. And that's what I mean, but that's when it shows up because, I mean, they start Conley and Gobert tonight and it's like, all right, they're going to get you seven. And they did. They got you seven. It's like it's not enough. It's not.

And the Dante thing is so depressed. And he was hitting those shots too. And now, and you know, they're not going to have Edwards. And so, I mean, they're going to have to try to close this thing out and say. in Minnesota, I just, I feel so bad for them. I know. This was also, there's no Gordon is a huge deal too if they move forward, but this was also like the marquee series of the first round.

This was the one where I was like, all right, this will be like the key series of the first round. This is when we have two heavy weights. Yep. Well, and we also, you know, we're thinking about it as the spurs opponent. Exactly. And I mean, do you remember that great Spurs Nuggets game?

Of course you remember it. That's Saturday before the final four. Of course. And down the stretch, it was Aaron Gordon's defense on Wimben, Yama, that really won in the game. That's exactly what won them in the game. And on the flip side, it would just be like awful to have to watch Minnesota go in there without Anthony Edwards. Yeah, no one wants to see that either. Yeah, that sucks.

It sucks. I know. I want Aaron Gordon to get healthy and then the Nuggets to win. This sets up a big game. game six. It will be, look, it's always, they got a, they got a chance to do it on their home court. I just, I watched tonight's game and I just felt bad for them. I was like, damn, bro. Like, this is wrong. You know what I mean? Like, it just didn't feel like they had a run in them. Bro, because they didn't just lose one of them. They lost both of them and their

best player. I mean, to be fair, they finished the game. Great. Because, you know, I think Edwards went out like, what, halfway through the second quarter. Yeah, but I mean, that was like truly out of out of body. I mean, if you're counting on 43, then you might as well be counting on 31 from scoot again. These are these are one-time instances, I think. The series that are going to be going on tomorrow night. So this is our,

this is our lineup for tomorrow night. We got Celtics, Celtics going for a closeout. They're up three. one brought back Embed to very poor results It was just weird It was just odd Like it it

It was like They were playing pretty well without him This kind of what happened last season Because remember he was in and out And in and out And it was just like It just felt like in that first half It was just like well we have Embed

So now we're going to give him the ball And watch him shoot When that back court had been devastated That's what I'm saying It was almost like It was just odd watching it. It was like, can VJ touch the ball?

Can Maxey get some shots? It felt like they were kind of in a groove. You know what I mean? At least offensively, like, you know, all right, here's here's kind of our pecking order. Here's how we're going to do this. Out of timeouts, we're going to give the ball to Paul George every time.

And it's like everything just gets shape shifted around and B. And I mean, he's taking all the shots. And he's also not getting rebounds. And he's not. Well, I will never say. that a team is better without a good player. I think that's just bad logic.

But it just felt like they weren't ready to work him inappropriately. It just felt like it wasn't considered. I think who was it that was on, who's the New York guy that's on ESPN in the morning sometimes on that show? Alan. Alan Hahn.

Yeah. Alan Hahn was like, they should have just brought him off the bench. And I actually think that's probably a reasonable idea. Yeah, like a six man. you're going to take all the shots. But I will say this, though, is... Well, he's been out forever. He got to his spots.

He hits those 15 footers like 80%. And he just couldn't knock him down. But Jacoby hasn't played competitive back. I mean, he's been out for so long. Three weeks. I know, but so it's twofold. A team that's gotten used to playing without you. And then just let him go be the killer on the second unit.

And, like, just work him in for, like, we don't have to put him back in as the man immediately. because, I mean, it's ill-equipped. You're a get-up guy? You're watching Get Up in the mornings? No, I saw the clip. I saw it on, what's it called? I saw the clip floating around.

When you stop working in ESPN, and you watch a lot less ESPN. It's not part of my diet anymore. I don't watch virtually anything except for games. I just see everything online. I have trouble with it. I have trouble with it. It's because it's just too slow pace for me.

Because first take, I've been on the show, I've worked on the show. They do like 12 minutes on a topic. I'm kind of like, all right, I get where your positions are. Can we move on? Well, I just see the clips. And I saw that guy's clip. So Mbib came back.

Do we need to talk about how Jason Tatum look like the best player of the world? It's so frustrating. I mean, what was that? What is going on? What is going on? What's going on? I mean, it was like, will Jason Tatum come back? What's the conversation?

It's like, well, if Jason Tatum, This is still Jalen Brown's team. Jalen Brown, every big candidate. So we'll work Tatum into some sort of secondary role. What percentage will Jason Tatum be at? Will it be 60%? Will it be 80%? Can this other than 80%% Jason Tatum?

Guess what? It's a fucking 150% Jason Tatum. He's dominant. I hate it. He was so awesome in that game that in a world that now everybody loves conspiracy theories. I was going to just like make a fake account and start a rumor that he never heard as Achilles. And that was all. Oh, I thought it was going to be some sort of like bio, like he's actually better now.

They replaced his Achilles with some sort of technology that makes him stronger. No, no, no, no, no, it was all the rules. He never heard. Yeah, it never, no, no, it was never, it was never true. I like this. It was never a true Achilles there. I like this. Because how? There's no way.

He really, did he really tears his Achilles? And now he's back to be. It's like grabbing. Grabbing 15 rebounds and like, setting everybody up. He's the best rebounder in the NBA. He sucks. So, good. I know.

He is. Sometimes you're just like watching the first quarter. It's like, well, the first quarter is over. Jason Tatum has eight points and three assists and eight rebounds. He's like, what? He's got eight rebounds. He's played eight minutes. I mean, look, this is now, I will say.

But we got a shout out Pritchard, though. It also, but I mean, just real quickly, it does make you feel a lot better if you are these guys like Hall of Burton and you're like these guys, even like where we just mentioned, Steve Vincenzo. like this is very, very promising to see him at this level. Because that for so many years of our basketball viewing experience wasn't necessarily a death sentence, but it was like, it was few and far between of like, can you regain?

Did this alter your career in a significantly negative way forever? Like, is there going to be a member what he was like before Achilles, you know? And it's like, and that's what I'm saying. Like, I think if you're, if you're one of these guys because this has happened, I mean, the intro, the super interesting one's going to be. There's a blueprint. Well, super interesting one's going to be Lillard. Is it?

And how much juices. Yes, because I see. Look, if Damian Litter comes back and is able to be Damian Lillard, then it's like, whoa, now, what are we? Because he's a little older, right? I also want to just mention that, you'll never believe this, but I didn't watch the documentary about his comeback because he has no personality, he's super boring.

But the work that he has put in over the course of this last year must have been like one of the worst reasons of his life. Unbelievable. Just everyday rehabbing, constant PT, just constant treatments, just like, it's got to be like the worst 10 months of his life. It's as bad as it can be when you're super rich and handsome. But he's got no personality.

I'll take my face in my personality. I wouldn't mind the money, though. Peyton Pritchard is awesome. He's best. At least was. I mean, come on. I mean, I think there's certain guys like Payton Pritchard. I'm going to throw, I'm going to throw Tim Hardaway Jr. in there, Bones Highland in there.

It's like certain nights they just got it. And certain nights they don't. You know what it's called? You see his post game press conference? No. The flow state. Oh, flow state. Jamal Crawford mentioned that today.

It's just the, you know, the basket. You know, it's enormous. Flow state. It's enormous. I mean, the flow state. It's just working. It's just working. It's all, it's all working.

It's just, that's the zone, man. I'm in it. I'm in that flow state. That's what he was in. And paint first thing is great. One time I bathed the baby and just she wasn't crying and I put pajamas on her bottle, put her to bed. put her to bed, put the twins right to bed,

and then talk to my son for like 15 minutes about life and then put him to bed, flow state. You thought you were in the flow state? I was in the dad, dad, flow state. That's the last time I was in flow state. All right, so, I mean, this is just a matter of like, it would be shocking if we see a game six of this, right? Sixers?

Yeah. Yes. Wouldn't you be surprised? I mean, I don't even see how it happens. It would be shocking if the Celtics do not close them out in game five. I think it's important that they do give what's happening the other series. Also tomorrow night?

I looked at the prices already. It's insane. It's insane. What are we talking? What's insane? $550 to have your back against the wall. Next to the Harry Styles banner. I think you're on top of the Harry Styles banner.

You're sting. You're swinging on it. You're swinging on the Harry-Bri-Style-S banner. You're sticking in the rafters. It's ridiculous, man. Like, I went to a playoff game last year. I was like 300 bucks. Like, I can't, I can't justify that.

$500? $500, no, no. 114 to 98. It only took four games to figure out towns as the advantage. Thank you. The first thing I said before the series started. They've got no one that can cover towns. They're like, oh, hey, maybe we should just give them the ball and I'm operating.

Like, oh, okay. Yeah, maybe. What if we just... What if we give it? Let me shout somebody out. Let me hear it. In the first half, Josh Hart just took everybody's soul. Did he, he didn't have a huge game, but like he had that, that transition layup.

And then right after that, he picked a pocket and got another layup. He had like, I think he only finished with like three steals, but it felt like seven. Tone setter. Tone setter. I love the, I love the Carlin-Thowns game. Obviously, that's the headline. But I thought Josh Hart was great in that way. in OG and Duke's McBride hitting three threes.

OG hit three threes. Jalen Bruns is in three threes. Like you don't see that very off. No, and you didn't have to worry about late game C.J. McCollum because you were up by 20. Yeah. So that was good. Not at all.

Right? Not at all. I thought that was a great news game. I was ready for that. I will say you remained confident the entire time. How are we feeling after game four? Confident. Good.

You think you take care of five and then can you win six on the road or are we getting seven at Madison Square Guard? Either way. But I think they get six on the road. I mean, if you look at the, like, if you are the Atlanta Hawks, like what needs to happen for you to win the series, right? You need big games from Jalen Johnson?

Yeah. Is he hurt? Is he playing? No, bro. This is... I think he just sees OG. He sees OG. He's just like, oh, I'm not ready for this. I'm not built for this. This is first time through the playoffs. Like, it's very hard for these

young guys when they are when they're in the playoffs for the first couple of times we've seen it i saw it with anthony edwards years ago like you know we always we always just forget you know me but people don't people don't people don't just show up in the playoffs and become awesome usually like and mr i would assume you're just seeing it right you're seeing it right now with jayland durran yeah what it we know we just watched him for 82 games he was 20 and 10 this guy is going to be on the line for a $300 million contract. Two weeks ago, if someone's like, would you rather have Wendell Carter Jr. or Jalen Duren in a playoff series?

Like, what, what do you mean? What? Like, do I also get Desmond Bain? It's just like, what? What are we talking about? Right. And now it's clear. It's clear that Wendell Carter Jr. is just.

Certainly the more valuable of the two. Easily. So far this series. But, um. But Jaylen Johnson has, what, like 14 in the last game? I don't think he's had 20 in the series. I don't think he's had 20 in the series either. But not, I mean, because even in those games that they won, right?

Even in the games that they won, it wasn't. You guys not played without the thing. Yeah. It's been like McCollum. Yeah, it wasn't like it was big Jalen Johnson games. The last one he had 14, yeah. 14, yeah. He was, he has had.

No, no. No, no, he had 24 in game. Okay. in game three. It wasn't allowed 24. He had 24, 10, and 8. Nikolajana Walker had 15. McCollum had 17.

Yeah. You know, the Knicks defense has been pretty good for the past couple months. I mean, that's something to build around. And the other thing is like, it just got more evened out. It didn't feel like it was Jalen Brunson and everybody else, right?

Like, it felt like, you know, Towns got his shots, Ananobe got his shots, He's a shot. Brunson got his shots. And what? The problem isn't like throughout the flow of the game. When you're up by 20, it feels that way. But it's the, it's clutch time, man.

That's when it's Jamlin Brunson and everybody else. That's the problem when they face the Celtics. It worked last year. We'll see. Towns had a couple big shots. This episode is brought to you by L'Oreal Group. Beauty is a powerful force that moves us. That's why Loreal Group has built a business that is inclusive

at its heart with 100% of its brands, championing diversity. With 25,000 professional opportunities for people under 30 worldwide and 54% of leading positions held by women, diversity is a strength that helps L'Oreal Group create the best beauty products for all people. Visit laurel.com to learn more. Hey, y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder, what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up?

That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home. Blazers are going to try to force a game six. Spurs are up three to one and they're at home.

So this is a huge ask for Portland to be able to do that, especially with Wemby back, who was upset, obviously, with the NBA's concussion protocols and the way that was all handled. Did you see that press conference? That was mega weird. So Jared Weiss from the athletic asked him about it

And he starts going into this very thoughtful Explanation No, in a very wimby way He pauses for like eight Literally like seven seconds like this He just goes Yeah And then he starts to talk about it

And he talks about it But he doesn't want to talk about it But he doesn't want to talk about it But then and then his mic cuts out Did you not see this? I saw it I mean Quick

Here's the thing If you are are unconscious on the court and you smash your face against it twice and you try to get up and then stumble, it's a little weird to have you play in the next game. I'm just going to throw that out there. Like, that's in the NFL. Someone gets knocked out or whatever. Like, you kind of just like, it's like an unwritten rule.

It's like you can't play in the next game. Well, what next game you play? What it opened the door for was the Dylan Harper experience. Look, there's the flip side of young guys going through it for the first time. Oh, the first time through. you know, you never know. No one looks good the first time through. No, no, no, no.

Playoff court for the lights are brighter. Dylan Harper's like, F that, Berno. Let me be clear. I'm talking about when you're like the guy. When you're the guy is what I'm talking about. When you're top of the whiteboard. When you're top of the whiteboard, like, you know what I mean? It's easier to exist.

No, I got you. It's easier to exist off the ball. But Dylan Harper, I mean, as soon as the, him and Scoot got into it, like you want to talk about making a name for yourself. So in a way that he didn't even get to in the regular season in the same manner, certainly people have become very aware of Dylan Harper and what his prospects are. And that second half against Portland after they had gone down 20 to flip that game in the- I think they're down 17 at the half.

That first five minutes, Ferno, it was just like I think their first four, now it's probably wrong, just remember it to the top of my head. The first, like, four possessions were three Wimby dunks off lobs. And then you have the Vesel threes. And then, like, then they pull Wembe out away from the basket, right? So now Time Lord is all the way out there. And so now they just start running wide open dunks to the basket. They're just like driving down the basket and dog of the ball.

Because the big guy has to be out at the three point line guarding a seven foot five. guy. Yeah, because the eight-footer can shoot threes. It's so unfair. It really is. So unfair. I should not have to guard the 7-5 guy 30 feet from the basket. I'm like, where the hell is time lord?

Where's the rim protection? Oh, he's out of 30 feet from the basket guarding the 75 guy so he doesn't shoot threes. I mean, that's the prison with which I look at this is like how do you cover Wimby? I think it's like you need like Kamara on him. Like you can't put your center on Wembe. It doesn't work. That's fundamentally does not work. I will say this.

And look, I'm not I'm not trying to take anything away from Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City at the very beginning of the series like game one, that first half against the Suns like hit that level where it's like, oh my God, this team has no chance versus. But that second half that the Spurs. played against Portland. That was scary. Like I,

when you, but when I watched that, there was certainly the moment where I was like, oh, bro, they're winning the title. Like, what do you do with this? It feels like the Spurs and the Thunder are just like,

everybody in the East has got weaknesses. But it was, but Fox was so awesome. Oh. Deering five, and I'm like, bro, and they get this box.

And Wimby's back. And now Harper's got. this kind of confidence and Vassel's just standing out there knocking down three, champanis, knocking down to your corner three. I'm like, damn it, man. And by the way, and then Castle's like shoving the ball into frigging obdious chest and cursing him out. I'm like, God. Jeez, this is freaky. They're awesome. They are awesome. Seriously. I was, I just wish Aaron Gordon. Maybe Aaron Gordon will be good. Maybe he'll be good. They kind of had an edge to them, too.

I mean, look, this just looks, you know, I think you feel the same way as me. We've watched this. And it's funny, I think we tried to convince ourselves that there was more possibilities that maybe there are. Like, as long as there's not some kind of critical injury, like, it feels like at this moment, it feels like there's no way we don't see thunder spurts, like, honestly. Like, you're watching these teams play it out. You're like, all right, Aaron Gordon's hurt and Ants hurt and Devencenzos hurt. And Oklahoma City is going to beat the ever-loving shit out of whoever comes out of that Houston, L.A.

It's good. We got Austin Reeves back. Like, oh, okay. Okay. Great. Yeah. All right. Seriously.

Every single regular season game this year, the Lakers and the Thunder played, it was just, they, the Lakers just couldn't dribble the ball or pass the ball. And Luke over after turn over and that's. And that's with Luke available. Yeah. Yeah. So, all right. So look, for tomorrow night, we don't feel great about Philly or the Blazers' chances. And we would, I think we both expect the Nix to be able to win a game five.

And then we're watching. The Nix will be the most competitive most likely. Because, you know, Knicks are always, you know, always throw a game here. Yeah. But I think it would be surprising if Boston and San Antonio didn't close out their series. you fast forward to Wednesday night. By Wednesday night, we get Magic Pistons again.

They're already playing on Wednesday night in their game. And then why are, I guess this is just that. Wait, we haven't even brought this up. That's the best theme song matchup. It is the best theme song matchup. That is the best theme song matchup, maybe in history.

But that, but then, but I mean, like the, the Pistons win again has been on the wrong end of this. It has. It has. It's been on the shelf for a while. It's been on the shelf for a while. Magic.

Oh, so the Raptors in Cleveland, I think the NBA knows that none of us want to particularly watch this. It felt like work watching the first half of that game. It really felt like work for the first time all playoffs. I was like, I got to take notes and watch this. Bullshit. I mean, I want to go erase me talking about how impressed I was with the Cleveland backcourt in games one and two. They look so good. I mean, I'm never trusting this lot again.

That Mobley Allen front line is deplorable for what they pulled over the weekend. Go look at their combined stats in that last game. And it's like, what is the, what is this point here? And obviously James Hardin with the more turnovers than field goals, which again, Like, I, fine. Did I just get mind erased onto this where I thought it was going to be different? I'm like, I will say, I'll give myself a little credit in game two, I told you. The Raptors like kept on fighting and Barnes and RJ were there for it.

Well, I think the biggest revelation of the weekend was Colin Murray Boyle. But I was like, but I was like, they still need quickly. Well, they haven't gotten quickly back. It doesn't matter. Jamal Shand was like making plays and like that Toronto, Jurassic Park was live. And his team, his team can't score. Darko's fired up. Con Murray Boyles is just,

I might have something there, man. Like he's, he's really shown up. Really shown up. Really shown up. And, like, and RJ and Scotty go. Like, those guys are like, they're really competitive. Like, they really compete. And the Donovan Mitchell stuff was, I mean, like, I don't,

I'll just say this. You walk out of that and you're like, I don't know what's going to have with the series. Cleveland should probably still win it. But they are so not trustworthy after what we just watched. So in my mind, post-bubble, Donovan Mitchell has been an excellent playoff performer that just didn't have the help because of injuries.

Like every series they loses, seeing them lose to the Celtics, you know, I've seen him lose to the Knicks. It's just been like, well, he's shown up, but he just didn't have the help. he didn't show up at game four. No, or three? Yeah.

I think it was like six for 24 in game four. That's not good. 18 missed shots? It's like 20% of your possessions. And I was watching that Detroit, Orlando, and I'm like, these teams are disgusting. I was like, but I think I'd probably pick either of them over whoever comes out of that. Oh, hell yeah.

We could really be looking at an Orlando Magic Eastern Conference finals. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I don't think the pisons are even out of this series. Let's just let it play out. I don't think the play out. I'm saying the, it's on the board. I'm saying either one of those teams,

they just fight and scratch and claw. Toronto fights and scratches and claws. And that's the only reason they're in the spot they are is because they go. Like they try their ass off. They try to get out in passing lanes. They try to cause turnovers. They'll hound the ball or whatever. Like that edge,

that like dog nature. Did Jamal Shed play? Cleveland's got none of it. The ball up. And then Jamal Shed just lays out like Superman dives at the, in a live dribble to poke it to get an eight second violation. That's a huge play. I just respect.

I was so confused with that happen. I was like, isn't that offshed? They're like, oh, the clock. I'm like, what, huh? I just respect them because they're only doing what they're doing because they play hard as hell. You know what? You probably remember

They started the season 1 and 0 And Dark O's in the locker I know, I know And Chris Vernon was like This team is definitely gonna beat the Cavs in the playoffs It's the first thing that came out of your mouth It was so weird It was so weird

I didn't say that but I mean like Where is the edge for the Cavs? They got no edge, none I don't know man I felt so good about the Cavs after game too They're still the same team Their big guys are so soft They're so soft

Oh my God I can't watch it It made me sick, man. Honestly. You're letting Jacob Pertl block your shots? I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I mean, there ain't a fight.

Pertil's getting offensive rebounds over you, dude? Like, we think about this. We think about this stuff through the prism of like, hey, man, who you want to take to the fight with you. I promise you don't want to take Jared Allen and Evan Bowley, unless you want to get your ass kick. They ain't scrapping. It was like when it's fun, run up and down the court,

free flow and AAU-style basketball. It's fine. But, like, they started getting punched in the mouth. And, like, their response was so weak. I was like, yeah. I detest this. Like, Toronto's not good enough. And they'll probably still get beat.

But what did that game end? But I respect them. I respect them. I respect them for how hard they play. It was not aesthetically pleasing. I'll tell you that much. Oh, God. I'm looking at the final score right now.

That one was rough. The thing is, it's unwatchable. That's Sunday, right? Rockets Lakers is also unwatchable. It's so bad. It's so bad. Rockets Lakers was really, really weird. Oh, it's so bad.

The basketball is so bad. Sometimes these game fours, if it teams up three-oh, they're just like, yeah, fuck it. It's kind of like what the Warriors did with game six last year against the Rockets. It was like, well, it was win seven and home. Well, much like, much like I told, when we were talking about Carl Towns,

it took four games to figure out he was the advantage. it took four games for Ima Udoka to decide he wasn't going to let them just get away with playing Luke Kinnard. Yeah. Like you don't get to play him unless you want to make him defend literally every time down the court. So I'm in Thompson, you're going on Luke Kinnard. Tari Easton, you're going against Luke Kinnard. It's like, how did he just for three games. And I love Luke Kinnard.

And they didn't have Dougman Robinson tonight, too. It's like, it's like, what, what's taking so long? We're not going to let you play him. We're going to make, we're going to make sure they do it with Vuce. You know, and again, because they had stupid M-beat in the game, they couldn't really, you know, couldn't really make it happen with Vosevic. But I mean. So I want to talk to you about this, Verno.

Yeah. Because I'm hesitant to be critical of coaches often, right? because it's literally their job to think about this stuff. And not only that, they hire like seven other people who also are very well paid to spend like 60 hours a week just focus on basketball strategy for their team. And I'm on my couch, like,

why don't they put Luke Carnard in the action? All they care of them. They run the offense through towns. There's no one to stop towns. I just don't understand how it happens that, like, dumb old me on my couch is just questioning some of these decisions that literally like eight smarter people

that work harder thinking about basketball strategy can't figure out. Like that's why I'm so hesitant to be critical. Also, so many of them are just so worried about the defensive side of the basketball. Like that's what they care about. They care about the defensive side of the basketball and the offensive side of the basketball.

So we're doing like basic stuff out of the talent. The talent of these players will just face it. out the offense because we're paying him $20 million to get buckets and they've been doing it their whole life. And most of the, most of the teams run most of the same stuff. It's not like there's some kind of, you know, most of these teams are not doing some kind of incredibly exotic. You know, that's why players can switch teams and like get, getting the flow within

like two games. Oh, yeah. They don't even practice. Yeah. They don't even practice. Just be, give me my uniform. Here's my size. They have different terminology, but generally, here's the spot that you're going to be in.

And here's what you do on this offensive play. But the problem is they can't execute the offensive plays because they don't have a point guard anyway. It's like. For you guys, I've been impressed with defensively is the Blazers. Like, granted, they're losing games, but like, they're trying stuff, man. They really are. They're going into zones. They'll put Kamar on them.

We'll put Time Lord on. I'm like, I don't know. Drew Holiday on them. Like, sure, fuck it. And I will say on the Rockets Vap, like your offense thinks you have no chance at winning a, we run a play, you run a play half court basketball game. So your only way is to play like absolute Rottweilers, cause a million turnovers and get a bunch of points off turnovers. And that is what they did in game four against LAC. Game four.

They did. I think the collapse in game three was, and like we don't have to get into the whole Durant not being there. I find that weird. No, no, no. But that game three collapse was weird. No, it wasn't because it was only weird if you don't recognize that at the beginning of the season, before the season, when they went on this expedition overseas to go play their spring, you know, their before training camp thing, and Van Villeet blew out his ACL.

We did our season preview, and I told you, you got to have a point card. And those- Bro, you said it every episode. You don't just say it like once before the season. Okay, well, then what just happened? You're up six with 20 seconds left to go. Ball comes off the rim, right? There's nobody to go get the ball.

Who gets the ball? They pass it to somebody. Jabari, now you've got a 610 guy. He's dribbling the ball up the court, and he's the one that throws the first one away. Then the next time, it's Reed. Who's the point card? And he freaks out.

And it's like... He just got stolen from behind. Unbelievable. I mean, like, it was just a mess. I'm sitting there going, you got to be kidding me. This is just like... Completely different series. If they win that one, they win game four, two, two, headed back to L.A.

Right? Maybe Reeves will come back. I'm picking the rockets in that scenario. Yeah. Picking the rockets. The rockets offense is just... You need shooting. Like, the rockets in...

I wouldn't... And the pistons are the same. I kind of feel like a Pistons thing, too, though. I wouldn't bury Houston yet. And again, and that's just lack of respect for the Lakers, much like I have lack of respect for Orlando. It's like I don't trust the Lakers as they're currently constructed. They don't have Luke and Reeves.

Like, I, it, I, Marcus Smart and Luke can are combining for freaking 50 points. Yeah, 70 points every game. Yeah. Okay. If you want to keep on thinking that's going to happen, but like, it's goofy. Um, so I don't know.

Honestly, I've hate watched like that whole thing. basketball sucks. I had a lot of fun watching Luke Canary and Marcus Markets Markle off. I love Marcus Markets. It's just bad. It's just fun. I liked it. I liked it.

It's not good basketball. Rookie in the year, what do you think? Do you care? I think Khan got beat because of the play-in. Really? Yeah, I do. So you blame Bill Simmons? No, no.

I'm just kidding. But in the same way, Bill said he did not change his vote on that. No, not on that one. But Bill did change his vote on the Hamejahe-Hakas to Kelden Johnson because of the play-end game. And so just no way. There's no way that doesn't seep into everybody. I thought it was just no way. Con in a landslide.

I thought it was going to be con on absolute answer. I just, I think con can'tipple. I don't think there was a wrong choice. Yeah. I think Connipal lost because of the play-end game and when the voting was. done. I think that's fair. That's fair.

It's unfortunate because of like, what was the Luca and Cades protest or what delayed it or whatever. I think it, I think if Concanipal would have had 28 points in the play-in game, Concord. Yeah. But Concanipple would have on Rookie of the Year. But Concanipal got benched.

Yeah, we watched. We watched. And so it made it tough. Where, like, you, you sat there and you went, dude, are we going to look back on this and it's like, what?

Con Can't. I think it's safe to say that the Cooper flag will be a better NBA player over time. Yes. But Khan had a better rookie year. I thought he was going to win easily. I would have voted for Khan. I will tell you that I, that was one of the things I sent in on the last, uh, Bontemps deal.

He did ask us. And I had it con flag edgecom. That's what I said. Three great players. Yeah. I did I I did not have Cedric Howard who did get one vote which is not for first no he got a third but who voted him oh that is something that's great games that is wild target guy target guy has a vote but you have to know it's going to be public right I'm sure whoever it is people take it seriously they have votes I'm sure they've got some sort of convoluted advanced stats like there's one there's one person that didn't. Yeah, I know.

And they've got some thing where they're like, well, if you dig into it and the effective field goal percentage on, you know, when he goes to his left hand. But you had to, you had to not, that meant you had to not vote edgecombe or Harper.

It could, it's so, I would have a tough time doing that. It was a wild one vote. It was a wild third place vote. Even though I, was a, was central card there today to support Bain?

No. Shut up. I was looking at all those players and I'm like, ultimately they're going to trade Jire or whatever happens, who knows. I'm not sitting here trying to predict the future. But you're going to look at the list of things that you got in return, all the picks and everything.

And then we're going to look at the players that they turned into. I hope so. Oh, we're going to do it. I just don't know if you're going to feel good about it. I will say, I feel a little better with the Cowboys stuff. I'm a Cowboys fan. and they did all the Parsons stuff after this weekend.

And it's like the Parsons trade has turned into this. And you're like, you know, you know. I like that. I mean, because that was a tough one. That was a tough one to take. I didn't want to lose him either. And so it's, I can't believe considering everybody told me all year that it was, that Dylan Brooks was responsible for all of the Memphis Grizzly success over the year.

That's right. I'm shocked that that's not the game that John Jaron went to tonight. By the way, yeah, Dylan Brooks, and for all you former NBA players that did all your podcast all year, the Grizzlies went downhill, not when they lost the other guys, when they lost Dylan Brooks. I'm just going to go ahead and educate you real quick. The best season they ever had, they won 56 games was the year that Dylan Brooks was hurt. The guy that you want to say is responsible. the guys that were at that Orlando Magic game tonight,

those were the guys responsible for it. And that's why it hurt. Watching Dylan Brooks didn't hurt. I can't wait for all of the jaw trade rumors this summer. It's going to be great for the mismatch. It'll last two days. It'll last two days. He's going to end up in Sacramento or Brooklyn.

That's what I think. Oh, God. I mean, it's just going to be one. I know it sucks and I don't want it either. I'm just saying I think it's going to be, we'll see who wins a lottery and what happens with the lottery. Yeah, yeah. One of these teams that's going nowhere and they got nothing to sell their fans

and wants to like, at some point you're going to look up and be like, good, win the press conference, lose the season. Good grief, guys. We've got to sell some sweets. Yeah, yeah. The ticket, we just raise the ticket price is 20%. Well, here's John Morant. Right.

And at least it's something fun. And he is fun. And he will say, and he should tell you ticket. You know what I mean? Especially when you ain't got nothing else going. You know who's not buying tickets? Me to tomorrow night's next game. Hell no.

You won't do it. You've never sat in those seats, dude. No, I wouldn't do that. You're in the building, but you're so far away. I've sat in them before with my daughter for her school. They bought a bunch of tickets. So we sat at the very, very back. It's fine.

You still see the game. You can see if they made the basket. it or not, but you're like, you're not part of the energy of the government. Oh, God. I've been, I've been in arenas like that, though. I've said, I went to a final four one year and was

given tickets to the final four the year. This is 2008, the year Derek Rose and Memphis made it. And it was in one, right? Shut up. They were up nine with two minutes to go. That thing was in the

Alamo Dome, bro, it was like I was watching ants. Yeah. It's like, no, but I was so far away, bro. You get the feeling that you're watching the game, but you're also, like, weirdly watching the crowd. Yeah. Like, you're not part of the crowd. You're watching the crowd watch the game.

No, I bowed at that moment. I will never go to a basketball game in a state, like a football arena again. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Putting basketball games in football arena is never going to play. I mean, and yeah, it was bad.

I'm with you. And certainly if it's 500 bucks. Oh, and just imagine me walking out the door. My kids, like, what's going on? Like, I'm going to the Knicks playoff game. They're like, well, I want to come. I'm like, I begged you to watch Nix games with me all season long, and you refuse to watch a single second.

And now you want me to spend $3,000 for you to go to the game. And you can't name a single player. Hell no. Zero percent chance. I will say, though, you can't. create memories forever. My daughter still to this day brings up that a lady from Minnesota

like clude her head to the ground. Do you remember what that happened? Haley, Haley was at the game. It was like a core memory. Koolude her head to the ground. Yeah. I forgot.

They were like. Were they protesting like climate change or something? I don't know. No, no. It was a it's something about the owner. Yeah, Glenn Taylor like killed chickens or something. It's like Peter Pickle. He had like, like, it was not unreasonable.

It was something like. That's not, wait, do you say it's not unreasonable to glue your head to the ground of a basketball court because the owner killed chickens? That's not unreasonable. That's not what I'm saying. That's not a reason. That's exactly what you just said. No, I'm saying the killing of the chickens.

If I remember the story right, his thing was like, these chickens are diseased. and so they have to be killed or else they're going to. So he like, there's like a mass murder of these chickens because they were like diseased chickens. And but depated people were like, you don't kill, whether they got diseases or not, you know, this guy's got blood on his hands. This guy's a murderer, right?

Yes, someone glue my face to the floor. But they kept, they kept like trying to run on the floor and protest games. And they did it in Memphis. And my daughter was at the game. And they're, like, carrying this lady out and, like, she's like, what is going on? Like you always say, Bruno, go to an MBA game, you'll see something you've never seen before. I do food news with Julia Living. I know you listen twice every week.

I love it. And, like, they oftentimes will be, like, protesters, they threw tomato soup at the Mona Lisa against climate change. I'm like, listen, I think climate change is a very important. topic is something that we should all sort of like, you know, take an exaseration and apply more resources to. But what does tomato soup in the Mona Lisa have to do with like the glaciers melting? Like someone make that make sense. I don't know.

They're just trying to get attention, trying to bring awareness. Same way as that lady trying to glue her head to the free throw line. Whatever she's doing. I know it's like the staying shit. She was the stancher. That's what it was. She like changed herself to it or something. It didn't work.

I remember that. It didn't work. It didn't work. Didn't work. All right. Shout to Haley. Core memories. Core memories.

All right. NBA playoffs, they are fantastic. We are going to be reconvening on Thursday night late after the game. So you'll have an episode in your feed on Friday mornings. Thanks to Steph and Jeff as always. And Jacoby, I'll talk to you later this week.