Flagg’s Rookie Of The Year Statement + NBA’s Biggest Final Week Drama To Watch

Summary

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Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective

Episode: Flagg’s Rookie Of The Year Statement + NBA’s Biggest Final Week Drama To Watch

Release Date: April 6, 2026

Host: Tim Bontemps (with Van McMahon and a rotating co-host)
Main Theme:
Breaking down Cooper Flagg’s seismic weekend in the Rookie of the Year race, the shifting narrative around NBA award voting, and a comprehensive look at the chaotic playoff and play-in picture as the regular season approaches its dramatic close.

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the NBA’s most high-stakes week, with the discussion anchored around the following key topics:

• Cooper Flagg’s monstrous rookie performances and the instant impact on the Rookie of the Year (ROY) race
• The shifting Vegas odds, media narratives, and the mechanics of NBA award voting
• A thorough, seed-by-seed rundown of the biggest playoff and play-in races in both conferences
• Updates on major injuries, high-profile team drama, and notable upsets
• Memorable player moments, off-court controversies, and the gauntlet each playoff contender faces down the stretch

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Key Discussion Points

1. Cooper Flagg’s Rookie of the Year Statement Weekend (00:45–12:00)

• Record-Shattering Performance

  • Cooper Flagg scored 96 points over two games (51 and 45, with historic efficiency), swinging the national ROY narrative.
  • This included:
    • “51 with no turnovers and a loss to the Magic, then 45, eight rebounds, nine assists, a couple steals and a block tonight in a win over the Lakers. Both efficient shooting nights.” – Van McMahon (03:12)

• Flagg Flips the Odds and Straw Polls

  • Prior to his weekend, Con Kanippo held 80 of 100 first-place media straw poll votes (Knipple: -300, Flagg: +225).
  • After Flagg’s outburst, the Vegas odds flipped (Flagg now -250, Kanippo +120).

• Nature of the ROY Race

  • The hosts argue that, unlike MVP, ROY lacks daily scrutiny; hot streaks and narrative swings happen fast and late.
  • “I don't think people think about it nearly as much as they do about MVP, which is basically a daily topic... There’s a lot less certainty about this race in general." – UCH1 (02:28)

• The Case for Each Rookie

  • Kanippo: "Best shooting season ever by a rookie... contributing to winning for the Charlotte Hornets." – McMahon (05:46)
  • Flagg: Historic company for teens with 45+ point games. “Three of them are by Flagg; two of them this weekend. Rookies who have gone 45 plus three times...the other five have been rookie of the years who've gone on to Hall of Fame careers.” – McMahon (05:58)

• Media Voting Mechanisms

  • New NBA procedures mean ballots aren’t delivered until after regular season, allowing all late-game heroics to factor in.
  • “This is more ripe for late-season maneuvering than there was before.” – Bontemps (12:00)
  • The unprecedented nature of the late voting window means upsets or statement games in the final week could change outcomes.

Memorable Quote:
“The company this kid is in is absolutely historic and hard to ignore. And this weekend added to that and reinforced that.” – Van McMahon (06:31)

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2. Eastern Conference Playoff Picture & Drama (13:29–36:58)

Top Seeds & Their Outlook

• Detroit Pistons clinch #1 seed, impressive 8–2 run post-Cade injury.
• Boston Celtics nearly locked into #2, need just one more win; Knicks have the tiebreaker but a tough closing schedule.
  • “Jason Tatum, by the way, he's rebounding like a maniac... 13 more on Sunday.” – Bontemps (16:23)

Middle Seeds and Strategic Maneuvering

• Knicks: Fighting for the 3 or 4 spot with a tough slate ahead.

• Cavs: Banged up but likely to clinch home court; may “shut it down” for strategic reasons to avoid certain matchups.

  • “If the Cavs get the win on Monday… they’re incentivized to shut it down, even potentially against the Wizards.” – Bontemps (22:15)

• Atlanta Hawks and 76ers: Hawks would rather face Cavs than Celtics/Knicks; Philly needs to win “tanker” games to avoid the play-in.

Bubble and Play-in Teams

• Toronto Raptors have faltered, now in a tie with Philly; tough closing schedule.
• Charlotte Hornets in the mix, big upcoming game vs Boston, and potentially 46-win finish to challenge for 6th seed.

Tankers & Disappointments

• Shout-outs to tanking excellence (esp. Memphis, Utah’s creative lineups).
• Discussion of “most disappointing season” award, with Orlando, Dallas, Memphis, Milwaukee, and Clippers as candidates.

Memorable Quote:
“I don't know who's going to still have their jobs in Chicago at the end of next week, whether it’s by their own decision or by other people’s decision.” – Bontemps (31:36)

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3. Milwaukee Bucks & Giannis Controversy (33:03–36:15)

• Giannis wants to play, Bucks (and doctors) won’t clear him.
• League and union both involved; potential for ceremonial “Antetokounmpo Bros” send-off suggested.
  • “We have the Bucks and Giannis in genuine cross purposes... using third parties, the league office and the union, and absolutely in a mess with each other.” – Bontemps (33:03)
• Bucks locked in at #10 in the lottery; missed the window to rebuild earlier.

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4. Western Conference Playoff Picture & Race (37:05–63:05)

Top of the West

• Oklahoma City Thunder: Magic number is one; motivated to beat the Lakers Tuesday to lock top seed and influence Lakers' seeding.
• San Antonio Spurs: Almost locked at #2; game vs. Denver gets national spotlight.

Jokic vs. Wemby: Classic Duel (40:42–42:23)

• Saturday’s Nuggets-Spurs OT thriller was “one of the best games of the entire regular season.”
• Jokic: “40 points, 13 assists, no turnovers, three blocks.”
• Wembanyama matching up, forced Jokic into heroic shots.
  • “Victor was genuinely stunned that that shot went in.” – Bontemps (41:19)
  • “Please sign me up for seven games of that.” – McMahon (42:09)

Seeding/Scheduling Gamesmanship

• Thunder incentivized to play hard vs. Lakers, then rest against Nuggets (43:49–44:00).
• Western seeding drama: injuries deplete Lakers, Mavericks; Warriors hoping to make noise if Steph is healthy.

Lakers Update: Disaster Strikes (48:51–57:06)

• Luka Doncic (hamstring, Grade 2) and Austin Reaves (oblique, Grade 2) both out 4–6 weeks (“cooked” for first round).
• “JJ Redick’s quote pregame tonight: Both those guys are going to try to come back. So it's our job to extend the season so that they can come back.” (54:05)
• Scenarios for 3/4/5 in West depend on Lakers winning key games vs. Warriors, Jazz, Suns, and health luck.

Play-in Round & Playoff Bottom Seeds

• Phoenix Suns/Minnesota Timberwolves: Injuries (Ant Edwards), tiebreakers, and final week urgency.
• Houston Rockets: Winning streak, eyeing Lakers as first-round opponent if seeding allows.
• Golden State/Clippers/Blazers: Drama for 8–9–10, and the critical difference between 8th and 9th.

Memorable Quote:
“That was a perfect night for the Mavs – Cooper had 51, and they lost.” – Tim Bontemps (44:35)
“There's levels, and the Lakers are at a completely different level than the Thunder.” – Van McMahon (49:27)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Van McMahon on Flagg’s Company:
  “The company this kid is in is absolutely historic and hard to ignore. And this weekend added to that and reinforced that.” (06:31)

• Bontemps on the Bucks’ Fumbles:
  “When is the best time to start a rebuild?” (36:03)

• Lakers’ Injury Despair:
  “They are down 30-some odd at that… Both those guys are going to try to come back. So it’s our job to extend the season so they can come back.” – Van McMahon, JJ Redick summary (50:22; 54:05)

• McMahon on Jokic vs. Wemby:
  “One of the best games of the entire regular season. Please sign me up for seven games of that.” (42:09)

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Important Timestamps

• Cooper Flagg’s weekend & Rookie of Year odds: 00:45–12:00
• Eastern Conference playoff rundown: 13:29–36:58
• Milwaukee drama & rebuild talk: 33:03–36:15
• Western Conference playoff rundown: 37:05–63:05
• Jokic vs Wemby game recap: 40:42–42:23
• Lakers injuries and implications: 48:51–57:06

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Tone & Language

• The hosts combine sharp analysis and insider info with dry, often self-aware humor and a collegial, jostling rapport.
• Interpersonal zingers (“If you didn’t support low intelligence, you wouldn’t have Bontemps on the podcast”), blended with narrative breakdowns and CBA references keep the pod lively, fast-paced, and accessible to dedicated NBA junkies.

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Summary for the Uninitiated

If you didn’t catch this episode, you missed a wild week’s worth of plot twists: Cooper Flagg just changed the entire Rookie of the Year narrative with a jaw-dropping scoring binge, upending odds and flipping media straw polls in real time. The panel explores how late wonders now matter more than ever in NBA award races, unpacks dense seeding permutations and playoff incentives, and details the devastating injury situations punctuating the Lakers’ campaign.

You’ll leave knowing why the final days of the season are must-watch chaos, what to expect with last-minute ROY voting, and which teams face the most pressure (and absurdity) as the postseason looms.

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Transcript

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[Tim Bontemps]

Welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast. We talk about the NBA, which we're doing on Sunday evening, basically Monday morning. Joining us from New York City is Tim Bontemps.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Hello everybody.

[Tim Bontemps]

Joining us from Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines center where the Mavericks just beat the new look Lakers. Is that, is that putting an optimistic bent on it? Where Cooper Flag finished off a weekend where he scored, I believe, 96 points in two games is Van McMahon.

[Van McMahon]

Howdy, partners. Cooper Flag flipping the Rookie of the Year odds with one hell of a weekend. Folks around here fired up by the old Bontemps bonus straw poll.

[Tim Bontemps]

Baby, it's the last time Bontemps up a bonus poll.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Did he flip? Did he flip McMahon's fake vote?

[Van McMahon]

Yeah, actually, to be honest with you, yes he did.

[Tim Bontemps]

The Hornets did get a big win today. Kon Kanippo has actually just not played great for the last eight to 10 days in some key games. I'm not sure that has anything to do with it, but I wasn't surprised that Khan was ahead. I was surprised at 80 to 20. But maybe in a strange way that poll is going to help Cooper because I think it may be accentuated that the race wasn't really that close and kind of fired everybody up about it and, you know, whipped up the conversation and then put more focus on Cooper as he had these two amazing games.

[Van McMahon]

Do we want to hit on this now or do we want to get back to this later?

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, we'll get back to it later. I'm just going to say.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I mean, I think we can talk about it, not get out of the way. I mean, the thing that's interesting about Rookie of the Year compared to mvp, everybody's talking about MVP all year, right? So there's like a pretty defined narrative of the race. I think the reality is nobody was really talking about this award at all. Right. Like Khan's had this unbelievable season. We've talked about it some, but it's not a daily topic of discussion.

[Van McMahon]

Sure.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

We really haven't talked about the Mavs hardly at all for two months because they've been tanking. So they've been completely off the radar. Paul comes out, Khan's got a very healthy lead. Then Cooper has these back to back unbelievable games the last couple of games and you know, now the odds have completely flipped around. Does that mean the race has really flipped around? That much? I don't know. I would still guess as of right at this moment, Kahn probably wins. But I do think there's a lot more of a certainty, a lot less of a certainty about this whole race in general just because I don't think people think about it nearly as much as do about mvp, which is a basically a daily topic of discussion from, you know, January, December 1st till the end of the season.

[Van McMahon]

So going into the weekend, and this is, this was after the poll, but the poll, it was 81st place votes for Con and 20 for Cooper. So going into the weekend, Cock and impal was a minus 300 favorite. You know, favorite with minus 300 odds and coop, I had our folks look this up. Was it plus 225 after Cooper goes for 51 with no turnovers and a loss to the Magic and then goes 45, eight rebounds, nine assists, a couple steals in a block tonight. And it went over the Lakers, both efficient shooting nights. Those things have flipped flags now at minus 250 and Knipple is plus 120. So not overwhelmingly so. Plus the Mavericks did a nice little, nice little promo thing. They did. You know, ain't no pressures. The slogan, although they do seem to be putting pressure on. They put all kinds of stuff in this little promo box. Bon tips. Including, oh, official receipts with all those big time performances leading up.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Oh, let's see.

[Van McMahon]

I'll be honest with you, it's. It's very small print. I'm getting old. But a whole bunch of receipts that got a little bit longer this week. And these are just for you, Us, wb, just for you. I'll make sure you get one of these for me.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I didn't even vote in the poll you voted for.

[Van McMahon]

You're getting the blame. Hey, one of the only times, Dallas.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yeah, I've heard about the blame and I told the people in Dallas that they could, they, they should probably direct their attention. People who voted.

[Van McMahon]

But in all seriousness, like big ban. In all seriousness, though. Oh no. People in Dallas might get mad at me. That'll be a first.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Well, I mean, I mean this, this is one where you don't have a vote. So they don't even have to worry about it on this one.

[Van McMahon]

I can tell for them.

[Tim Bontemps]

I'm annoyed that. And I'm not saying it's wrong, but I'm annoyed at the sportsbook thinking that the media is so shallow that Cooper Flag's entire body of work is rendered, you know, you know, trite. And this weekend's like, oh, now he's the favorite.

[Van McMahon]

But, but, but hold on. Here's the thing. And Bond Timps, we discussed this. You made this point the other day. The 80 votes. It's not like 80 people saying race is over. Clear cut, no questions, con nipple, it's over.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I can't.

[Van McMahon]

Whatever happens this season doesn't matter.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

It's a binary choice.

[Van McMahon]

80 votes, how many of those were flippable? I would say probably the majority of them.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Right? I mean, I don't. I also, I would say that I don't. I don't.

[Tim Bontemps]

I am really annoyed that, I mean, hold on, fellas.

[Van McMahon]

But what we're talking about and Khan's case is like, hey, the guy's having the best shooting season ever by a rookie, okay. And contributing to winning for the Charlotte Horns. He's had a phenomenal rookie year.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yep.

[Van McMahon]

Cooper Flag has had three. Okay, first of all, I gave you the Bird Magic, luka Cooper stat. 20 plus points, six plus rebounds, four plus assists. Right? That's. Those are the guys who have done that since the merger. 45 plus point performances. There have been four of those by teenagers in NBA history. Three of them are by flag. Two of them this weekend. Rookies who have gone 45 plus three times in a season. He's one of sixes. Now, hold on, this is not.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Hold on, this is not really the talking. This is not the right conversation, though.

[Van McMahon]

I don't care. Have your conversation in a minute. How are you going to interrupt mid sentence? He's one of six. The other five have been rookie of the years who've gone on to hall of fame careers. The company this kid is in is absolutely historic and hard to ignore. And this weekend added to that and reinforced that.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

The conversation we were having was about the odds. Flipping around in a day and a half and you're talking to somebody who Brian voted for, Cooper. Unlike you in the poll, I might vote for Cooper with my actual vote. Brian has a vote. I'm guessing his vote is probably not going to change after this weekend. I don't think he's voted for Kahn. Now after this weekend. The broader question is I'm not sure how much I like how predictive this straw poll was. I think Khan is pretty far ahead coming into the weekend based off of the body of work of the season and the fact that he's sort of just been entrenched as the guy who is going to win the award for months now. Now, perhaps Cooper will have three more 40 point games this week. He'll have some unbelievable close and he'll be the Rookie of the Year. Maybe he is leading the Rookie of the year race after this weekend because like I said at the beginning, I don't know how much people have been really paying attention to this at all. And they might come back to it at the end and say, you know what? Cooper Flag is having a historic rookie season. He is a potentially generational player. We are going to give him the not at the end. I, I legitimately don't know. I also was just amused. The odds completely did a 180 based off of a game and a half.

[Van McMahon]

I mean, that's, that's happened every single time that A rookie's had 96 points in a weekend.

[Tim Bontemps]

Right. So I would just say that one curveball that exists now for majority of the history, at least of my voting, they would send you the ballot a week early and then five minutes after they sent you the ballot start to bother you to get it in.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

That's right. Yeah, that's right.

[Tim Bontemps]

Because for many years they started giving the awards out within days at the end of the regular season. They had to do logistics. Then for a few years, they did the NBA awards like at the end of June, which never worked because it's like, wait a minute, this guy didn't win the MVP just led his team to a championship.

[Van McMahon]

But like, that's a bad idea.

[Tim Bontemps]

It was just really bad optics to like have the guy, you know, a guy who just led his team to the championship finish, like 8th and MVP voting, that happened. But anyway, now the vote, you don't even get the ballot for a while and now the vote is going to be like potentially days after the season.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Because I would say. Yeah, I would say almost certainly because of this Luca stuff.

[Tim Bontemps]

Luca, you know, so, Luca, a lot's happened since our last podcast.

[Van McMahon]

Oh, boy. Yeah, we probably should get to the Lakers pretty quickly here.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, well, we.

[Van McMahon]

Yeah, well, good pivot.

[Tim Bontemps]

The point is that Luca is going to file. Well, Bon Temps. He wrote the story.

[Van McMahon]

Yeah, Bon Temps. You broke this one. So explain.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yeah, just to be really quick, Luca missed two games. Luca's one game short of the 65 game rule. He's obviously not playing again this regular season. We'll See if he plays again, period. He missed two games from the birth of his child in December. There is a clause in the 65 game rule that is an extraordinary circumstances clause that if you could have made, would have got to 65 games. But something extraordinary came up. You could say, hey, here's my argument why I would have played 65 games. Having a kid missing a couple games, it's a pretty decent argument. So we'll see what happens with that. But that grievance is going to be heard from Monday to Thursday of playing week, and we're probably going to get the ballots that Friday. So rather than getting them on Monday or Tuesday like we typically do, you're not going to have a whole extra week to probably think about.

[Van McMahon]

Why can't the grievance just be heard now like he's not playing the rest crazy. They.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Because. Because they. What they do. Tim, It's a good question. I asked it. They wait until the 65G the season is over and then they just do it all at once. Like, essentially it's like, okay, are other things going to come up? We would never get the ballots. We would always get the ballots on Tuesday now because they take Monday and make sure that everybody there, there aren't any grievances. Everybody's all set on it. And then if everything's square, we get the ballots Tuesday night at midnight. You have 24 hours to get them back.

[Tim Bontemps]

My point on all this is, is that for many years, it used to be that we'd probably have them already.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Probably.

[Tim Bontemps]

Right. Even though, you know, you should probably, in my opinion, wait till the end. Wait till the buzzer. Like, literally, the league wanted them kind of before the end of the race. They used to be.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Do I think, if I remember right, Brian, I think they might have used to been due the. The night of the final game of the season or at most the day after.

[Tim Bontemps]

Right, right. So the point is, is that you can just the. The mechanics of the voting, we're literally in flux. Like, we're. This is like happening over the last.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Everyone's going to have a beat to think about all this stuff in a way that they didn't always in the past.

[Tim Bontemps]

There, there. The ballots will be due after the first award used to be issued. They used to hand out like most improved or rookie of the year within four or five days at the end of the season. Now the ballots may not be due for four or five days till after the season. So what I'm saying is that this is more ripe for late season maneuvering than there was before is all I'm saying.

[Van McMahon]

More HOOPP Collective podcast after this Amazon

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[Tim Bontemps]

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[Van McMahon]

Oh oh oh.

[Tim Bontemps]

O'Reilly Auto Parts. This message is brought to you by Apple Pay Checking out Online Apple Pay makes it simple. Apple Pay is accepted on millions of websites and apps and counting. Just look for the Apple Pay button almost anywhere you do your online shopping. When you tap the Apple Pay button to check out, you don't have to worry about filling out any forms with your shipping address or payment method. Instead, use your pre saved information and checkout in seconds. Need to make a change? You can easily review and change your credit card information and shipping details right in the payment sheet. Once you're ready, just double click the side button, authenticate your purchase with face ID and you're done. Whether you're shopping online for everyday needs or treating yourself, skip the hassle. Shop with Apple Pay terms apply. Okay, what we'd like to do here and we'll get to more Laker stuff we'd like to take as a primer. Primer. Which is the better way to say it? I don't know. As we go into the last week of the season here, let's take a look at each conference where the seeds are, who can move up, who can move down, who's locked in and just sort of get you ready for where your team is and where your team might be or, you know, if you're a Wizards fan. I don't know, turn it off. Because Lizards, my God, do you think they will have a game where they give up 170 before the end of the week? It's not out of the realm of possibility, and I'm not kidding. All right, let's start in the Eastern Conference. In the last couple of days, the Pistons have locked down the number one overall seed. They are now eight and two since Cade went down with the collapsed lung. Very impressive run. Congrats to them.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

One of those losses was barely to the Thunder, too.

[Van McMahon]

Yes. When they had five of their top guys out.

[Tim Bontemps]

In fact, both. Both losses are. We're in overtime. And that 8 and 2, if I'm not mistaken.

[Van McMahon]

Congratulations to JB Bickerstaff on winning coach of the year.

[Tim Bontemps]

Some people think Joe Missoula should win, but we're not going to focus on that right now. All right, second place, Boston. They got a win on Sunday. Jayson Tatum had another good game. They beat the Raptors. We'll talk about the Raptors in a second. They are all but locked into the two seed. They don't have it clinched yet, primarily because the Knicks have the tie break over them. They do play the Knicks on Thursday. Let's see.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

The Celtics have to win basically one more game.

[Tim Bontemps]

I think they're.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Their magic number is two, but yeah, they're.

[Tim Bontemps]

I think the magic number is two. Right. But Jason Tatum, by the way, he's rebounding like a maniac. He's. He's like averaging 11 rebounds a game. He had 13 more on Sunday. Okay, so the Knicks now are three games back, but they have the tiebreaker of the Celtics. The Knicks almost certainly are not getting the two seed. The question is whether they get. Will get three or four. The Knicks this week, let's see who they have.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

They got a tough schedule.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes, they do. The Knicks have Boston, Atlanta, Toronto and the Hornets.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

All they're in. They're in Atlanta. Monday, they have the Knicks at home. Their final three games are at home. So Atlanta at home in Atlanta Monday. Hall. They have Boston at the Garden on Thursday. They have Toronto at the Garden on Friday. And then they have the Hornets at the Garden on Sunday.

[Tim Bontemps]

All four of those games. Teams are incentivized to win the game. I guess it's possible the Celtics will not have to win the game. I guess it's possible the Celtics would not take it easy, but knowing them, I think they will go for it. So I Think the Knicks. The Knicks have the hardest schedule, other than Atlanta, of any of the Eastern Conference playoff teams. I think Orlando's got a tough schedule, too, but all right. In fourth, the Cavs beat the Pacers on Sunday. They have a bunch of guys out. Having said that, the Cavs are really only in fourth place still because they've been beating Tankers over the last two weeks and all of their wins over the Tankers have been unimpressive, including against the Pacers. And they were trailing. I know they were trailing in the third quarter. They might have been trailing at the end of the third quarter. I can't remember. It was not an impressive win. And not only that, but Max Strus hurt his wrist, hopefully that seriously. And Donovan Mitchell tweaked his ankle. I don't think it's serious, but it's possible he could miss some games.

[Van McMahon]

Having said that, they were trailing after three quarters.

[Tim Bontemps]

That is not good against the Pacers. By the way, shout out to Micah Potter, who, if you don't know who that is, he's starting for the Pacers right now, but I don't blame you. He is from Cleveland and he did a cool thing on Sunday. As a little side note here, he wanted to do it. He was playing in Cleveland in front of a bunch of friends and family. He wanted to do a gender reveal. He and his wife were expecting. So he wore purple shoes to warm up. He had a bunch of friends and family there. He started the game. Shouts to Rick Carlisle started him. And then while the lights were down during the Cavs pregame introductions, he turned or he. He secretly put on blue shoes. He's having a boy. All right, so got to Micah Potter and then he hit a bunch of threes.

[Van McMahon]

Well, matches the Pacer's uniform better, too.

[Tim Bontemps]

I'm sorry, I missed that one.

[Van McMahon]

Matches the uniform better, too.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's true. That's true. All right, but the Cavs magic number to clinch the four seed. Actually, not to clinch the four seed, but to clinch home court ahead of the Hawks and 76ers is one. And they play in Memphis on Monday. Now, I'm going to tell you, they

[Van McMahon]

also finish up against the Wizards. I. I got a feeling they'll.

[Tim Bontemps]

One.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yes.

[Tim Bontemps]

I don't know who's going to play in that game because like I said, they're holding a bunch of guys out with sort of quasi injuries and then a couple of their guys got dinged up on Sunday.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

But I would say if they managed to lose to Memphis on Monday, that'd be Awfully impressive press it given the way Memphis has been losing games for a while.

[Tim Bontemps]

However, following that, they then play two games a home and home with the Hawks.

[Van McMahon]

Let me ask you this.

[Tim Bontemps]

Who are. Yes.

[Van McMahon]

Why would Cleveland be. Let's assume they. They clinch home court against Memphis. Why would they be motivated to win those two games against the Hawks? Why would they rather be three than four?

[Tim Bontemps]

They are not. In fact, they are heavily incentivized to not play to win those games. Whereas Atlanta, who is currently two games ahead of Philly for the five seed, would be incentivized to win. They've won four games in a row, an eight of 10. And so the question becomes, and this is relevant to the 76ers who lost on Saturday, the 76ers are in a tie with the Raptors for the last non play in. Basically the 76ers have the tie break. So they are in six. 76ers are highly motivated to win. If you are Atlanta, you would like to stay. I think I don't know what you want to do if you're Atlanta, but you certainly don't want Atlanta.

[Van McMahon]

You'd rather be on the opposite side of the. You don't want to see the Celtics or the Knicks.

[Tim Bontemps]

Correct.

[Van McMahon]

You'd rather see Cleveland and then on that side of the bracket from the Celtics, I would think.

[Tim Bontemps]

Right. So and also if you're Cleveland, even though you know Atlanta is no pushover, I think you'd be incentivized to play the hawks in the first round instead of the, instead of the 76ers at full strength. And you don't necessarily want to come up into three. The Knicks are going to. The Knicks we just talked about have a hard schedule. The Knicks could very easily go. Knicks could very easily go 1 in 3. I don't know about, you know, maybe they go in four, but they could very easily go one in three. The Cavs could be very incentivized to lose those two games to the, to the Hawks. By the way, the Cavs have lost the tiebreaker to the Knicks. So if the Cavs lose those games plus a tiebreaker, I think they would potentially lock themselves into 4th and hold Philly back. They could sort of. They could sort of. They could sort of pull the Hawks tight to them, distance themselves from the Knicks and force the Knicks into. Into Philly. Now it's possible Philly could lose. I'll talk about them in one second. But they would, you know, there's some strategy and I just said the Cavs are banged up a little bit. So if the Cavs get the win on Monday, make sure they're not going to mess around and not have home court. They're incentivized to shut her down even potentially against the Wizards.

[Van McMahon]

Well, I was going to say or even just have like a little tune up against the Wizards where you score 100 points in the first half and

[Tim Bontemps]

do you think it's possible to lose to the Wizards right now? Do you think it's possible?

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I mean lose to Memphis? I mean that's the better question.

[Tim Bontemps]

I think they're going to try to beat Memphis.

[Van McMahon]

So Memphis at one point today had a two way and four 10 days on the court.

[Tim Bontemps]

Oh my God.

[Van McMahon]

So yeah. And by the way a costly win for the Mavericks over the Lakers. They, they pulled into a wins. There were now even a wins with the Pelicans and Grizzlies.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Well by the way, the other day the Kings beat the Pelicans which has given the Pelicans and who obviously the Hawks had the Pelicans pick. It has given the Pelicans a potential chance from Atlantis perspective of being in some sort of tie with with Memphis and Dallas because they all play Utah between now and the end of the season. Probably none of them are going to be beaten Utah promise you that. Because now the Kings have put themselves in a position by beating the Pelicans where they're now tied with Utah and standings which is insane.

[Van McMahon]

All right, let's get out of, let's get out of tank territory.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

My point is only we haven't been

[Tim Bontemps]

covering, we haven't been covering the tankers. But I will just say that the Kings have had a couple of devastating wins over the last couple of weeks. And I mean devastating. And maybe karma will be on their side and it won't matter and maybe if they would would won one of those games but they have had a couple of well times where they've won. And you're like my God, what are you doing?

[Van McMahon]

Maybe not because the Kings tend to screw up high lottery picks anyways. Marvin, I was going to tell you,

[Tim Bontemps]

for example, the Jazzes tanking has been exquisite. Like Memphis I think wins.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Nobody's. Nobody's done better than Memphis.

[Tim Bontemps]

Memphis I think wins because of who they're doing. But the Jazz are still playing guys that are playing like they're are like playing real players and they're doing crazy things like benching Kyle Filipowski in the middle of the third quarter because he's dominating. I don't know whether Bryce Senziba is going to win most improved next year. But Bryce Senzibaugh is having, like a wrecking ball through the league for the last month, and they're shutting him down left and right. And finally today they played the Thunder and Senzebaugh was allowed to play.

[Van McMahon]

Yeah, they didn't have to pick two minutes for that one.

[Tim Bontemps]

And he played 43 minutes today because there's no way. And he scored 34.

[Van McMahon]

But they did put up a better fight against the Thunder than the Lakers did on Friday night.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, we'll get to that. Okay, we're going to move out of the tanker zone. Philly. Philly is in a tie. Who they lose to on Saturday? I forget.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

They lost to Detroit.

[Tim Bontemps]

Detroit. Another impressive win for the Detroit. All right, Embiid has had some weirdness with the front office on, like, deactivated this. Look, this.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

This is a pretty simple set, a pretty simple setup for Philly. They have a back to back with San Antonio and Houston.

[Tim Bontemps]

Houston on Monday.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

That's tough. Or no, not. Not a back. Not. Not a back to back. They have back to back game. They have road games. San Antonio Monday, Houston Thursday. They then are in Indiana on Friday. Certainly a game you'd expect the Sixers to win. Indiana's not gonna be trying to win. And then they have what could be the final game for new hall of Famer Doc Rivers. Congrats to him.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

With the Bucks at home on Sunday, another game you certainly would expect Philly to win. That gets Philly to 45 wins. They're currently tied with Toronto. They have the tie break. Toronto is a pretty tough schedule. I think if Philly wins those tanker games, certainly if they beat Houston, I think they're definitely finished out of Toronto. They just win the two tank games. I think they're finished ahead of Toronto. The other team to watch is Charlotte. Charlotte has Boston on Tuesday, who they've played pretty well. I'll be at that game.

[Tim Bontemps]

Hold on. Let's. Let's get to Charlotte. Let's hold on. Let's just get there real quick. Just hold on. Hold on for a second.

[Van McMahon]

Hold on.

[Tim Bontemps]

So Philly is currently in sixth with the tie break, tied with Toronto. Toronto had a devastating loss a couple of days ago to, I think, New Orleans.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Sacramento one of the losses. Sacramento one of the ways.

[Van McMahon]

And listen, Toronto has not been playing well for a little while now.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, they've started to lose road games. They all these sons of guns would always win on the road. Well, they started to lose on the road and they've lost six out of 10. Toronto's remaining schedule is thus.

[Van McMahon]

Who?

[Tim Bontemps]

Thus, they have two games with the Heat, they have one game with the Knicks, and they have one game against Brooklyn. It's a tanker. That's not necessarily three and one there, guys. Yeah, that's.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

No.

[Tim Bontemps]

So Philly, the way things are going, Philly probably feels okay, even though they've got that tough road trip. I don't know.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Well, but that's where the Charlotte thing is interesting. Okay, Charlotte. All right. So. So the Sixers have the tiebreaker on Charlotte. So right now they're all at 43 wins. So right now it's.

[Tim Bontemps]

I don't care about the wins. I care about the losses. The horn. The Hornets have one more loss. Go ahead.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Oh, okay. Well, the. The wins are where this is mat going to matter now.

[Tim Bontemps]

So it matters in the. You can't control your losses. You can control your wins.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Charlotte plays Boston on Tuesday in Boston. The last time they played, Hornets played really well, won comfortably. If Charlotte potential first round preview could be a first round preview. If Charlotte can win that game on Tuesday and get to 44 wins. Their final two games are against the Pistons, who should have nothing to play for at that point. Correct. And against the Knicks on Sunday, who almost certainly will have either an active interest in not winning the game or they'll just be playing out the string. So if Charlotte can win in Boston Tuesday, they've got a pretty good chance to get to 46 wins, which would then require Philly to avoid the play in needing to win either Monday against the spurs, which given how the spurs have been playing, I'm not going to give him much of a chance in that one. Or beating Houston on Thursday in Houston, which is not an easy game. So that game tomorrow, Houston highly incentivized to win. Yes. That game Tuesday for Charlotte is pretty huge and I think could really dictate what.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, Charlotte had a very big game on Sunday to keep all of this stuff alive against Minnesota. We will get to Minnesota when we go over the West.

[Van McMahon]

Yeah, Minnesota minus Anthony Edwards, which we'll discuss.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, that was a very important development in that game. LaMelo had 35 in a high efficiency performance, very well needed. Arguably one of the most important games performances of Lamelo's career. I'm not joking.

[Van McMahon]

No, seriously.

[Tim Bontemps]

Especially because Con caniple, who again has had some stinkers recently, he was 414 overall. Miles Bridges also had a very good game.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

When we talked about how funny Minnesota

[Tim Bontemps]

just didn't score with that.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

We talked about how funny or fun. That Philly Charlotte game was last week. Weekend in Charlotte. That game both gave Philly the tiebreaker in the season series and very well could wind up being the difference between which of those teams is in the plane or not.

[Van McMahon]

So, yeah, no, that. That was fun. That was fun. Not funny. Funny was watching Bon Temps just get eviscerated on Mav's Twitter all weekend. That was funny.

[Tim Bontemps]

I can't support that because it's low intelligence there. He's.

[Van McMahon]

If you didn't support low intelligence, you wouldn't have Bond himself on the podcast.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, that's all well and good, but I don't want. I. I'm annoyed that the Mavs fans can't do basic.

[Van McMahon]

Of course it's dumb. It's still entertaining.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, that. Usually I'm. I'm down with that.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

We don't need to spend any more time on that.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right. Okay. Miami is in 10th. They play Atlanta and the Raptors twice, and then they have the Lizards. I don't know what's going to happen there. They're a hard team to predict.

[Van McMahon]

Did you skip over the Magic?

[Tim Bontemps]

Oh, geez, I did. I'm sorry, dude.

[Van McMahon]

We're going to get Florida State championship game in the910.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's right. So Orlando did win on Sunday.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Barely beat New Orleans. Looked like they were going to lose that one.

[Van McMahon]

Way things are going, they'll take anyone they can get, man.

[Tim Bontemps]

So Franz Wagner is back.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

He's played, I think, three games.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Two or three.

[Tim Bontemps]

He's not playing many minutes. He did. He has looked okay. He just had an average game, but, you know, that's a significant development. They have. Orlando has Detroit, Boston, Wizards and Bulls. It's kind of a tough time to be a Bulls fan, I'm not going to lie.

[Van McMahon]

I mean, it's been a tough time since the freaking Derrick Rose's departure.

[Tim Bontemps]

I don't. How many wins are the Bulls at here? Let me check, because what was that? What was our 39, by the way?

[Van McMahon]

Should not lead to 39 next week in preseason. They ain't getting a 39 next week.

[Tim Bontemps]

We need an update on the preseason wins pool that we were in and

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

give you one by the end of the podcast.

[Tim Bontemps]

I don't know who's going to still have their jobs in Chicago at the end of next week, whether it's by their own decision or by other people's decision. All right, moving on from Tank Zone. All right, so that's the East. Okay. Orlando. Did I say they play? Yeah, yeah. So you're saying the Florida State championship and the910.

[Van McMahon]

The910. And listen, the heat, the 83ers might exceed my expectations and be able to squeak one out against the Magic.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I'm just going to tell you that I think that despite what I just said about the Bulls, Orlando has had arguably the most disappointing season in the whole league.

[Van McMahon]

Oh, Orlando. Tragic.

[Tim Bontemps]

Do we. Am I, am I missing somebody that. I guess maybe.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I mean, Dallas certainly would have to be a contender for that. I mean Memphis, Memphis has had a pretty disastrous season.

[Tim Bontemps]

I wonder if we're going to get a job update.

[Van McMahon]

I mean, Milwaukee, but yeah, the Clippers

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

had a pretty disastrous season. I know they bounced.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. But none of those teams traded four first round picks. That's.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

That's true. No doubt.

[Van McMahon]

I will say the Bucks did wave and stretch, dame and commit.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yeah.

[Van McMahon]

A whole lot of money to Miles Turner.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yeah. Well, certainly at minimum they're a contender.

[Tim Bontemps]

They're in the conversation real quick on the Bucs. I don't need to go down the Giannis track all over again. But just to point out what's going on right now. Giannis on the record says he wants to play. The Bucks are not playing him. There's an investigation. The union has made a statement about it saying that they think it's wrong. And then an NBA spokesman said that they did an investigation into the Giannis's complaint and the quote, the investigation has found that the Bucs scheduled Giannis to work out in three on three scrimmages as his part of his return to play process, but he declined to participate. So we have the Bucs and Giannis in a genuine cross purposes going to battle against one another using third parties, the league office and the union and absolutely in a mess with each other. This is because they're irrelevant and he hasn't played in weeks. It's kind of a little bit below the surface.

[Van McMahon]

Well, there's also just Gianna's fatigue because this has been dragging out for.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, Bontemp.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I was adding up. I was adding up the win. I was adding up the solution. I have updated.

[Van McMahon]

Wendy, Can I offer a solution to the Bucks?

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, trade him a year ago.

[Van McMahon]

Well, that too. But just to get him to play three on three. Giannis says he really wants to play with his younger brother Alex. He has not had that opportunity. What if the three on three competition is the Antana Coop Bros as one threesome against, you know, pick out three other players, whatever. That way Giannis could. I mean he. It's like every. Checking all the boxes, getting closer to playing an actual game, getting to play with his. His little brother Alex, as well as his older brother Thanosis again.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

You know what? In all. In all seriousness, they're. They're now two losses back of the Bulls. They're pretty much locked into 10th in the lottery.

[Van McMahon]

They're not playing them, though, because they risk injury.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Well, I understand that, but if you. You could trot them out there in some glorified scrimmage this week, I mean, they're. I mean, they're. They've been playing out the string anyway. If it really becomes the thing, they're. They can't change their lottery position now anyway, is my point. Like, it really, at this point, doesn't matter.

[Van McMahon]

They play.

[Tim Bontemps]

They play two games with the Nets. There's got to be a window.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Well, that's what I'm saying. They run them out there with the brothers, and they could play for 15 minutes and have a big old farewell ceremony. Sure, sure. Like it. They're past the point. I mean, it remains incredible. The one thing about the Bucks is incredible is they had the stretch after the Ulster break without Giannis, So they went 8 and 1. If they had just not had that stretch, they would have been right in the middle of this. This pack of teams in the mid

[Tim Bontemps]

lottery, and they could have had a.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Could have really locked themselves into guaranteeing themselves a high pick. And now there are.

[Tim Bontemps]

When is the best time to start a rebuild?

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

The year before last year?

[Van McMahon]

Wendy. Yeah, before you wave and stretch. Dame. Hey.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yes.

[Van McMahon]

As Giannis does this media tour. Have you checked in with him? Maybe we could get him on the podcast. He's looking for microphones.

[Tim Bontemps]

I have booked a guest on the podcast for next week.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Oh, yes.

[Van McMahon]

Is he a Euro?

[Tim Bontemps]

He is.

[Van McMahon]

Oh, oui, oui.

[Tim Bontemps]

And you guys are not going to be on because when I brought it up to you that I wanted to book this guy, you guys mocked me. So you guys can just take that section of that podcast off and this gentleman and I will have the discussion that I want to have as I want to widen the people who know about him. That's what we try to do here on the podcast. I hope you have Max to join us.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

He's at a. He's at a nice season.

[Tim Bontemps]

I don't want to say who it is because I don't want to fall apart. It could fall apart, but it's softly booked.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

He's had a very nice season. All right, all right.

[Van McMahon]

Are we done with the east now?

[Tim Bontemps]

Western Conference Number one Oklahoma City Thunder. With the spurs losing on Saturday, which we're going to talk about right now, they are their magic number to clinch. The number one seed, I believe is one. They put up 150 on the jazz today. They are incentivized to beat the Lakers on Tuesday here in la.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

They got it.

[Van McMahon]

They gotta win two just yeah, they gotta win too. Cause okc's I'm sorry that San Antonio's got the tiebreaker.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's correct. I want to take that back.

[Van McMahon]

Yeah, they've got a back they've got in LA that I'll actually be attending. You can attend with me. I believe at least one of them.

[Tim Bontemps]

I can't attend on Wednesday because it's the final NBA countdown of the year. But on Tuesday I will be going and I'm just telling you as we'll get to the Lakers in just one second, the Thunder are incentivized to hammer the Lakers in that game both to ensure that they get the number one seed and secondly to push the Lakers closer to the fourth seed to get them on the same. I don't not that I am 100% sure the Lakers are going to advance past the first round. However, the Thunder are incentivized to win on Tuesday. They just beat them by 43 I think it was. Granted that was the night when they had been 400.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Might have been 430.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, it was a bad night for the Lakers. So that's the Thunder.

[Van McMahon]

That's about as big an understatement as you can get.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, we'll get there in one second. The Thunder anyway are won five in a row, nine of 10 and are have a lock on the number one feet.

[Van McMahon]

I shoot more nine and 10. I think it's like 17 of 18 now since you're right is that many more Hoop Collective Podcast after this Want

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[Tim Bontemps]

Okay. In second place to San antonio. They're like 99% locked in there.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

17 and 2.

[Tim Bontemps]

I think Shay missed one of those games.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Oh, yeah, right.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay. That game on Saturday evening between the spurs and Nuggets was theater.

[Van McMahon]

Fellas, I needed a cigarette after that game.

[Tim Bontemps]

Cheers to you. You've been on the road too long.

[Van McMahon]

Oh, I'm home, baby.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right. Incredible Jokic Victor game. Jokic hit a shot in overtime.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

The sawboard shuffle, baby. Saw more shuffle.

[Van McMahon]

A clutch shuffle with maybe the best defense player we've ever seen draped all over him.

[Tim Bontemps]

Victor was genuinely stunned that that shot went in.

[Van McMahon]

Joker had 40 points, 13 assists and no turnovers and had to earn it all.

[Tim Bontemps]

Eight rebounds and three blocks.

[Van McMahon]

It was incredible. And it was awesome.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

He was awesome. When I saw Jokic get him on his hip for that, I was like, he's going to go to the shuffle. And I was sure it was going in. Just because I feel like every time I've ever watched him shoot it, I. I always think it's going to go in.

[Van McMahon]

And it.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

It was.

[Van McMahon]

It's.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

It's just unbelievable to see the pictures and the video of it and to see how high Victor's hand was and how high he had to arc the shot. And, dude, that was one of the.

[Tim Bontemps]

Victor's. Victor's head. Victor's head's spinning around. After he's seeing it go in, he, like, he looked around expecting it like to airball, I think. And then when it went in, he like spun back around and looked at him like, how'd you do that, dude?

[Van McMahon]

That was one of the best games all of the entire regular season. And I'm watching that going, man, these teams meeting could meet in the second round. Please sign me up for seven games of that.

[Tim Bontemps]

Speaking of that, Speaking of that, they've played three times this year. Now Wimbledon missed one of the games.

[Van McMahon]

Nope, he missed two.

[Tim Bontemps]

He missed two. This is the first one.

[Van McMahon]

That's the first time they played.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

First time he played.

[Van McMahon]

And last year, last year they played a back to back where they both had just absolutely bonkers lines in both games and split them. I mean and they're two like wimy and, and, and joker. We're talking about two of the most dominant and unique forces in the game today. I mean if we can get seven games of that, Aaron Gordon's, you know, Gordon Wimby down the stretch was spectacular. Jamal Murray, you know, just having a great year. You know, what's Darren Fox going to do? Stefan Castle's emerged. He's just like blossoming star himself. Like my goodness. And I think it's likely.

[Tim Bontemps]

Couple of things. One, all three games they've played against each other this year, again, now you're saying Wemby didn't play in two? I think Jokic must have missed at least one of them.

[Van McMahon]

I didn't look, I just couldn't be.

[Tim Bontemps]

They've played three times in all three games. Both teams have scored over 130. Did you hear what I just said?

[Van McMahon]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

They're playing again.

[Van McMahon]

I believe it's like an ode to their ABA days.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's right. I believe they play again the last day of the season. I don't know if it's going to mean anything.

[Van McMahon]

Now the Nuggets played the Thunder right before that. And I would say, especially if Thunder handed on their business in la, I think they might actually be playing the OKC Blue in that one.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, that's the thing. The, the Thunder are incentivized to hammer the Lakers on Tuesday and then they're going to be incentivized to lay down against the Nuggets.

[Van McMahon]

Hammer the Lakers, hammer the Clippers.

[Tim Bontemps]

Because they want the Nuggets in the three. They want the Nuggets.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I honestly don't think it's. I don't think it's going to matter because I mean, well, well, I mean

[Tim Bontemps]

it depends on whether the Lakers can get a win. I don't know if they can The

[Van McMahon]

Lakers have a game against the Jazz. But I thought tonight was a guaranteed win and it didn't go that way.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I was going to say Tim. Tim is. Tim is in a town where have been doing their damnedest to lose for months and even with.

[Van McMahon]

And jumped out to a 22 point lead.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

That's right. And even still, even the other night When Cooper had 51, they still lost by what, 15 to Orlando.

[Van McMahon]

They were down 20 something.

[Tim Bontemps]

It was a. It was a. That was a perfect night for the Mavs. Cooper had 51 and they lost.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Well, and my point is Orlando, Orlando has been nearly been able to beat anybody and Cooper at 51 and they didn't win that game. So the fact that they dominated this game from start to finish against the Lakers, it's. That's a pretty clear sign to me of what this week is going to be.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I don't want to go to the Lakers just yet. A couple of things.

[Van McMahon]

Oh, let's get to the Lakers.

[Tim Bontemps]

Hold on. Couple of things. One, Castle and de' Aaron Fox couldn't hit a three in that game and that is going to be where the rubber meets the road in some instances because they're going to throw everything at Wemby and he's going to need those guys to hit shots.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Secondly, Castle, people are going to leave him very often.

[Van McMahon]

Be careful. I'm just. Look at his second half shooting.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I know he's. I know he's gotten better but again, to Brian's point, he's going to get. He's going to have to prove he could step up and hit shots in the playoffs before people and I'm sure

[Tim Bontemps]

he will hit some and we know Deer and Fox but. But they're going to challenge him. Secondly, Castle ended up on Jokic a lot in the second half of this game. That was the strategy that Denver was using, I assume was out of switches. I. I can't really remember. I just saw him. I know his sixth foul was against.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Against Peyton Watson's got his hamstring messed up again.

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean Denver and so does Spencer, which by the way, Spencer Jones is a rotation wing for them. And so. All right, but still Denver's won eight in a row. Now the other thing I want to point out, Aaron Gordon was on Wembanyama. Aaron Gordon played 41 minutes. His hamstring held up. He was on Wembanyama and Wembanyama had issues at times. Not only did Wembanyama look winded, he played 41 minutes, 42 minutes. He played 36 in regulation. Victor looked winded several times. I believe there was at least once, maybe twice, that Mitch Johnson called timeout, at least in part to give Victor a rest, though. That's. That's something else. Secondly, there were times where he got the ball isoed with Aaron Gordon, couldn't get into any movement or anything action, and just gave it up.

[Van McMahon]

Well, there was also, like, there he took a couple really tough shots when he was isoed on Gordon, including at the regulation buzzer, which he almost made it, but it was like falling toward the baseline shot, like behind the basket runner when he was coming from the, you know, like the free throw line. And look, man, like, I think it is going to be a challenge for him to finish strong with heavier minutes because he's not used to playing those. And that's going to be especially true if he's having a deal with Nicole Jokic in that Mile High atmosphere, which, if they play the Nuggets, is going to be three games of that.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, so Denver's remaining schedule, I

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

got Portland and Memphis, and then they've got the Thunder and the Spurs.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay, that Thunder game again, we don't know what they're going to play. Memphis, I think Denver's going to win.

[Van McMahon]

They lost in Memphis last time, and I think this was his last win.

[Tim Bontemps]

Spurs remaining schedule is not really relevant, but they play the 76 series, Blazers and Mavericks, they're going to get a win. They're going to end up in the two, at least. Almost certainly. Okay. By the way, just out this weekend, Joakim Noah, who came on our pod a few months ago, his episode of Basketball Nomad, where he went to Cleveland to make amends with the city of Cleveland, came out this weekend. And when he talked to me about doing this, I said to him, yes, you should do it. Two, you should go there in the winter. And ideally, you should go there during a snowstorm. And I'll be gosh darn, the son of a Did it. So he did. And so that episode, how are you gonna Gosh darn.

[Van McMahon]

But then I agree. Follow that one up with that weird

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

move on Easter Sunday all the way around.

[Tim Bontemps]

It's well past Easter Sunday from most of the country. I will just say that you should check it out. It's on YouTube. Basketball Nomad. And actually, I don't think I know if I got that correct. I want to make sure. Make sure I got that right.

[Van McMahon]

Are we ever going to get to the freaking Lakers? No, we had a fairly noteworthy weekend.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

We're going to get to it in a minute. In a few more minutes.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right. Finally got it. We're going to go to the Lakers.

[Van McMahon]

Got it.

[Tim Bontemps]

It's a great. It's a genuine disaster.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Listen, the word disaster is thrown around a lot.

[Van McMahon]

Okay.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

This time it's really truly.

[Van McMahon]

I mean, Friday night in Bricktown. Like, fortunately, these are injuries that are.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Thursday, right? Wasn't that Thursday Thursday?

[Van McMahon]

My bad. Fortunately, these are injuries that aren't like extended the next season type of injuries. But that's the only thing you can say that is reasonably good news. Luca's slim to none MVP hopes were extinguished by midway through the second quarter.

[Tim Bontemps]

They were already at none.

[Van McMahon]

But by midway through the first quarter, it was like, there's levels, and the Lakers are at a completely different level than the Thunder. The Thunder forced eight turnovers in the first quarter, and we're just.

[Tim Bontemps]

I'm going to push that aside because one game, it doesn't matter. Well, it's not like if Luca had scored 50 in that game.

[Van McMahon]

I'll put it to you like this. Oscar Reeves gave the exact same quote the last. The previous time they went to okc.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yeah, yeah.

[Van McMahon]

And it was something along the lines if they kicked the bleep out of us.

[Tim Bontemps]

I'm just going to say this. The Lakers lost many things in this game. Lucas MVP candidacy was not.

[Van McMahon]

My point is the levels were very clear in the first quarter.

[Tim Bontemps]

Agree.

[Van McMahon]

By the second quarter, Luke was tugging in his hamstring and Austin Reeves is very concerned, grabbing it.

[Tim Bontemps]

Both.

[Van McMahon]

Like his ribs in the down 31st

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

quarter, both of them were grabbing it.

[Van McMahon]

Okay. Yeah, man, they are down 30, some odd at that.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I believe 35 at halftime.

[Van McMahon]

I think it was. I think it was 31, 13, whatever, 30 something.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Either way, a lot.

[Van McMahon]

Okay. They have a discussion at halftime. These. This discussion is JJ Redick, the medical staff, the training staff. You know, I'm sure Luca has, you know, he has his own body team. I'm sure they were involved in it and they basically decided, hey, we're going to place the. Our guys the first six minutes of the third quarter, see if they can make a charge to give us reason to play more. If not, we'll pull them. Well, Luca, about 4, 4 minutes and change in the third quarter, grabs his hammy mid drive and goes down in a heap. Austin Reeves, I'll be honest, I didn't finish the game, so I don't know how late he played, but.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, but he was being bothered before that.

[Van McMahon]

So mri the next day, somehow there was like confusion on which body Part, Austin reeves was getting MRI'd on in Dallas, but whatever.

[Tim Bontemps]

As a side note, they traveled from Oklahoma City to Dallas and did the MRIs in Dallas. Luca got his MRI and they announced his injury. Austin Reeves got his mri and according to JJ Redick, the MRI was done on the wrong part of his abdomen. And they didn't get the results they needed. And they had to go for another MRI the next day. And it was when the second MRI came back in. Grade 2 oblique strain, four to six weeks, right?

[Van McMahon]

So that's four to six weeks. Luca is a grade 2 left hamstring strain. That's typically a four to six week injury. Now, Shams and Mac 10 reported tonight that Luca's en route to Europe for some specialized treatment to try to expedite this.

[Tim Bontemps]

Is it just so that when the season ends he can just be over then stay over in Europe? Because I don't think that there's a treatment on the planet that can. They can bring a grade two strain.

[Van McMahon]

If that was the case, why doesn't. First of all, why don't they bring that treatment to America? Or why doesn't every guy who gets a hamstring strain go to Europe?

[Tim Bontemps]

But anyway, Jeff Stotts, who's invaluable, he's got this incredible injury database when it comes to hamstrings because there's so many different tissues involved, you can't necessarily say one is equal to the other. However, there's wisdom of the crowd, and he said that the average loss time for a grade two strain is 35 days.

[Van McMahon]

And this is the second time he strained that left hand me this year. Remember, he missed time going into the All Star breakthrough.

[Tim Bontemps]

So let's say. Let's say it's above average. Let's say there's some miracle Slovenian injection he can get. It's. What is it, 20 days? Like that's your miracle.

[Van McMahon]

I mean, call it.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, they're still cooked at that.

[Van McMahon]

Well, 20 days, like at. The best case scenario is he somehow is able to come back during the first round. I just can tell you the Lakers are bracing to have to try to win a round in the playoffs without either one of these guys.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Either guys should be back and they have no.

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean, on Jeff Stotts, on Austin Reeves, on the grade 2 oblique strain, the average loss time is 16.7 days for nondescript oblique strains. High grade oblique tears have an average lost time of nine weeks. So he's saying, based on his research, it's probably three to nine weeks or somewhere. In between. So maybe three to five. But either way, even if it's a good oblique strain, it's weak.

[Van McMahon]

So here's JJ Redick's quote pregame tonight. Both those guys are going to try to come back. So it's our job to extend the season so that they can come back. Basically we got to get out of the first round to have to hope these guys can get back is what he's saying. Or at least have a long first round series.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, so here's what they've got again. They play this, this the, the they play the Thunder on Tuesday. Then they play, then they have games against the Jazz, Suns and Warriors. How many did Steph end up with

[Van McMahon]

tonight in his return from 29 and 26 minutes. Welcome back, Steph.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

And more importantly for this discussion, the Thunder or the Rockets escaped with a one point win in that game. Yeah, so you know, that was a game that was a bit of a toss up game for the Rockets.

[Tim Bontemps]

So as we sit here right now, the Lakers and Nuggets are have the same record. The Lakers are ahead of them by virtue of the tiebreaker which they got when Austin Reeves purposely missed that free throw and then hit that got him to overtime, that incredible game.

[Van McMahon]

Now Luke, it's the game right now,

[Tim Bontemps]

but I would be stunned if they're able to stay ahead of Denver.

[Van McMahon]

Well and listen, they gave up 134 points to the Mavericks tonight, scored 128. It's not like they missed, you know, in this particular game. It's not like it was, well, geez, you know what they really missed? Luka Doncic was a defensive player of the month nominee last month.

[Tim Bontemps]

That was a crazy thing.

[Van McMahon]

They missed his defense.

[Tim Bontemps]

They sat DeAndre Ayton for the last quarter and a half of this game. And I will just say I don't think the game actually ever entered clutch time because I think the closest the Lakers got it was six. I don't think it actually entered clutch time. But needless to say, and I'm not taking shots here, it's a little different when you've got Luke Kennard who had a triple double in this game. You got Luke Kennard and Jake Laravia out there in your clutch time lineup instead of Reeves.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

And they've got Utah, they've got Utah in the last game of the season. All right. I like their odds they're going to win that game. The question is can they get any of these other games I got, I'm not give. They're not beating the Thunder on Tuesday, not the Thunder half. Obviously we talked about the Thunders need to win that game. So they have a back to back Thursday and Friday, Thursday against Golden State, Friday against Phoenix. To me, that Golden State game is the one that's going to very largely determine whether they're four or five. Because if they can get two wins, they can. They can steal that warriors game and then beat the Jazz. That gets them to 52 wins. The Rockets could win out, but they have a difficult schedule. They're probably going to drop at least one game. And the Lakers, that's a tiebreaker. If they can only get the Jazz game, I think that they're going to fall to five.

[Tim Bontemps]

The Lakers can do no worse than five. The Timberwolves loss on Sunday means that the Timberwolves cannot get up there. So that the Lakers are either going to be 3, 4 or 5. I cannot see them staying at 3. Probably 4 or 5. As Bontemps just said, they do have the tiebreaker. So right now they have a one game lead in the lost column over the Rockets, plus the tiebreaker. So they have a two game, a de facto two game lead over Houston. Houston's remaining schedule is as follows.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Gotta get Phoenix Tuesday, home for Philly Thursday home for Minnesota Friday, home for Memphis Sunday.

[Van McMahon]

Yeah, and we'll see Minnesota. I don't know. Ant. We'll see if Ant plays again in the regular season. This knee and he's dealing with the same. He's dealing with the same thing that Steph just missed 20 whatever games with. Now Anthony's not quite as old as Steph's knee, but it would make sense given that the Wolves are not moving up, it would make sense for them to prioritize giving Anne as much time off as possible.

[Tim Bontemps]

Pretty much sixth.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

They're three games behind Houston and three games ahead of Phoenix. The Wolves are going to be sixth. It's just a matter of who they're going to play.

[Van McMahon]

And they've also got Jaden McDaniels out right now, so they've.

[Tim Bontemps]

Right.

[Van McMahon]

He's really got some health issues.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. So I would just say if you're a Wolves fan, you should root for the Lakers to somehow win enough games to stay in three. But I don't think it's going to happen. I think you're getting the Nuggets. All right. So the Rockets are, you know, incentivized to really get to five, because that could be the Lakers matchup. They can get the Lakers. Well, they could get to four or five as long as they get to play the Lakers, the Rockets can sort of. They've won five in a row. They, you know, I didn't see this game tonight at all. We were doing the pod during, during it.

[Van McMahon]

They squeaked out a one point win against the Warriors.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I don't know how they played.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Do they potentially. The only question is do they potentially catch

[Tim Bontemps]

Denver?

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Denver and I. And my suspicion is I don't think

[Tim Bontemps]

they're incentivized to catch Denver.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I mean, yeah, I would suspect they'll probably wind up staying in the four or five either way.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, so Phoenix is right now in seven. They've got a three game lead. They beat Chicago on Sunday. They've got a three game lead over the Clippers who also won on Sunday. I think Phoenix is Phoenix, Minnesota. Phoenix are going to be 6, 7. I don't think we need to too much, too much time there.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I mean the only thing I will say is with the ant injury, I mean they have Indiana, Orlando, Houston, New Orleans, they should get two wins there. However, if they only get one win, Phoenix does have the tiebreaker in part because the Wolves gave up that seven point lead with 47 seconds left in Phoenix earlier this year. Now they have Houston on Tuesday and then the Suns have the, the Mavs Wednesday, the, the Lakers Friday and the Thunder who have nothing to play for on Sunday. So again, Phoenix, if they can beat the Rockets on Tuesday, which is not a crazy thing at all, they could very easily run the table, which would require Minnesota to have to win a couple games. Now I think Minnesota will probably win a couple games, but they might have to play it out a little bit to make sure they stay out of the plane. They do have some work left to do.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay, Golden State's going to be in 10th. They're hoping that stuff is good enough that they can somehow win two play in games. They played better in this game on Sunday. Even though they lost. There's some drama between eight and nine and obviously the difference between eight and nine is enormous. If you're ninth, you have to win two games. If you're eighth, you have to potentially win one. And if you lose, you get to play at home. The Clippers and Blazers are tied. The Blazers had what many around the team called their biggest game in like three or four years earlier this week when they played against the Clippers in LA. They won that game by 10 points. Denny Avia and Drew Holiday like carried them in that game. They, however, have a very difficult schedule as they play their Monday. They play in Denver. Wednesday they play in San Antonio. Ouch. And then they get to play the Clippers again on on Friday. But it is in Portland. The Clippers have the lead in the tie break 2 to 1 right now. If the Clippers win that game on Friday, I think that clinches it. But there is a little bit of drama in that west play in, so I don't know much to say. Kawhi is continuing to play well. He has. His streak is really long at 20 games and I think that's as much as I want to say about the Western playing. Do we miss anything?

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

I don't think so.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

It'll be an interesting week.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes, it will be an interesting week. I will see McMahon here in LA Bontemps. Where are you going this week?

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Going to Boston Tuesday, see Charlotte and then the New York Raptors and Celtics are coming to town Thursday. Thursday, Raptors here Friday. So some interesting games in the corridor. We didn't by the week say anything about it when it came last week when it came out. But big congrats to our guy, Kevin Pelton, Machine.

[Tim Bontemps]

Oh yeah, that's right.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Just to go work for.

[Tim Bontemps]

There will be no large sample size theater this year because the machine actually has been.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

Has been reprogrammed.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, he's been reprogrammed.

[Van McMahon]

Houston Comet, our back machine is going to be helping put that rock forward.

[Tim Bontemps]

He's a Comet. He was a Storm, then he was a Pacer and now he's a Comet. I mean, then he was an ESPNer, now he's a Comet.

[Unidentified Co-host 1]

That's true. All true facts.

[Van McMahon]

But he's always been a nerd. Our favorite nerd.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's right. He was our favorite nerd. And now he's on the other side. Now he's an executive. Now he's a league executive. All right, thank you very much to Jake producing tonight alongside Jackson. Thank you to McMahon and Bontemps. Band's got to get up in about 20 minutes for get up.

[Van McMahon]

Thank you for watching.

[Tim Bontemps]

Thank you for watching. Listening, listening and watching to the collective. We'll talk to you later this week.

[Van McMahon]

Adios, amigos.

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