Major Upsets Brewing in Round 1? Can Magic & Lakers Keep It Up + Early Playoff Headlines

Summary

Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective

Episode: Major Upsets Brewing in Round 1? Can Magic & Lakers Keep It Up + Early Playoff Headlines

Date: April 20, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively playoff breakdown, Brian Windhorst is joined by Tim Bontemps and Ben McMahon to analyze the first weekend of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. The trio dives deep into surprise Game 1 results, scrutinizes key player performances, and explores if upsets are brewing—focusing on the surging Orlando Magic, the vulnerable Detroit Pistons, the embattled Houston Rockets, and the ageless LeBron carrying the Lakers. The episode is rich with analysis, spicy banter, and notable stats, offering essential context for fans tracking early playoff stories.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Oklahoma City Thunder Dominate the Suns

Segment: [02:32–04:31]

• The Thunder blew out the Suns in Game 1, fueled by Jalen Williams’ active defense.
• Key Stat: Thunder outscored Suns 34–2 on points off turnovers—a historic margin.
  • "That 32 point margin points off turnover is the most in the play by play era since 97, 98..." – Ben McMahon [03:45]
• Thunder establish themselves firmly as favorites in the West.
• McMahon notes this is reminiscent of their dominant home playoff run last year.

2. Orlando Magic: Back from the Brink

Segment: [05:10–14:50]

• Magic pound Hornets in the play-in, then dismantle the Pistons in Detroit.
  • “This is the team we thought Orlando was going to be back in October and they basically have not been … at all this season.” – Tim Bontemps [06:55]
• Discussion about the Pistons’ weaknesses exposed: Cody Cunningham’s solo act (39 points but only 4 assists), Jalen Duren invisible offensively, and the bench producing little.
• Magic’s energy getting praised—especially Paolo Banchero’s bounce-back after criticism.
  • “When Paolo Banchero uses that 6'10", 250 pound athletic frame to get downhill … he is an All-Star, all-NBA caliber player. When he settles for a bunch of jump shots, he’s eh. Well, he’s attacking right now.” – Ben McMahon [12:23]
• Franz Wagner’s improved health and versatile impact noted.
• Pistons’ bench and lack of secondary creator questioned; not addressing it at the trade deadline is highlighted.
• McMahon and Bontemps agree this game shined a light on every Detroit concern: “All the concerns about Detroit … this game, it shined a light on every single concern…” – Tim Bontemps [17:33]

Notable Quote:

• “I’m a big believer in never overreacting to Game 1. I don’t care if you win by 35, I don’t care if you lose by 35." – Brian Windhorst [14:15]

3. The Lakers Steal One from Short-handed Rockets

Segment: [22:20–32:21]

• Houston, missing Kevin Durant and Fred VanVleet, loses despite getting 27 more shot attempts—a statistical anomaly.
  • “The offensive rebounding was 21 to 3 in favor of the Rockets. This is an unheard of spread to lose a game.” – Brian Windhorst [24:48]
• Rockets’ offense called “impossible to watch” by the group.
• Deandre Ayton’s impactful play for the Lakers recognized.
• LeBron James orchestrates a vintage “role player shooting night,” assisting repeatedly to Luke Kennard and calming the Lakers in a must-win at home.
  • “I’ve been watching LeBron win games like that since high school. Now, maybe not where they got outshot by 27 attempts, but where LeBron just spreads the floor.” – Brian Windhorst [28:08]
• The group recognizes immense pressure on Houston: “If they lose this series and the offense continues to look anywhere near as bad as it did in Game 1 … there’s going to be a lot of questions about the Rockets this summer.” – Tim Bontemps [31:36]

4. Victor Wembanyama’s Dazzling Playoff Debut

Segment: [32:21–37:45]

• Wembanyama pours in 35 points on 21 shots against Portland, setting the playoff stage.
• The Spurs win non-Victor minutes—key for deep playoff hopes.
  • “If we’re consistently talking about the Spurs winning the non-Victor minutes in these playoffs … we’ll be talking about the Spurs a lot this spring.” – Tim Bontemps [33:55]
• Blazers compete but can't buy a three; observers note Portland’s lack of playoff investment, including not providing free T-shirts or traveling two-way players.

Fun Moment:

• Duncan and Robinson's reaction to a Wembanyama highlight: “They cut to David Robinson and Tim Duncan who are both like what the hell was that? And just laughing at this guy.” – Tim Bontemps [41:55]

5. Boston Celtics Easily Handle Sixers, Philly’s Offense Splutters

Segment: [37:45–39:45]

• Celtics dominate as Philly can’t generate threes (4-for-21 in first 42 min).
• “If Philadelphia wants to make this a competitive series … they have to get up more threes. If they’re shooting under 25 threes … I just don’t think they keep up…” – Tim Bontemps [37:56]

6. Looking Ahead: Monday Playoff Games Preview & Key Injuries

Segment: [48:08–61:43]

• Raptors–Cavs: Quickley’s status vital for Toronto.
• Knicks–Hawks: Jalen Brunson’s fast start carries NY; Atlanta lacks firepower and depth; Okongwu’s injury status critical.
• Nuggets–Wolves: Ant Edwards questionable, knee concerns; Denver’s “C+ game” still enough for Game 1 win.
  • “That was C-plus-ish, B minus by the Nuggets and they got away with it and got ahead.” – Brian Windhorst [55:20]
• McMahon details Ant’s injury: “Now, Ant’s obviously a lot younger, but one major reason that Ant is such a special player is because he is so damn explosive. And so if he’s just … compromised…” [57:45]
• Nuggets have recent history of letting series drag on after winning Game 1.

7. Playoff Award Finalists Announced

Segment: [60:24–61:26]

• Brief reaction to award finalist announcements; Asar Thompson’s DPOY finalist nod noted.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “34 to 2. That 32 point margin points off turnover is the most in the play by play era since 97, 98…” – Ben McMahon [03:45]
• “When Paolo Banchero uses that 6'10", 250 pound athletic frame … he is an All-Star, all-NBA caliber player.” – Ben McMahon [12:23]
• “The offensive rebounding was 21 to 3 in favor of the Rockets. This is an unheard of spread to lose a game.” – Brian Windhorst [24:48]
• “I’ve been watching LeBron win games like that since high school. Now, maybe not where they got outshot by 27 attempts, but where LeBron just spreads the floor.” – Brian Windhorst [28:08]
• [On Wembanyama] “He does things that make Hall of Famers just shake their heads and chuckle.” – Ben McMahon [42:26]
• [On Houston’s offense] “They’re counting with rocks and that's what they're throwing at the fricking rim.” – Ben McMahon [27:20]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Thunder vs. Suns blowout – [02:32–04:31]
• Magic’s resurgence, Pistons’ woes – [05:10–19:45]
• Rockets-Lakers, LeBron’s orchestration – [22:20–32:21]
• Wembanyama’s debut, Spurs’ win – [32:21–37:45]
• Celtics-Sixers, Philly’s shooting problems – [37:45–39:45]
• Monday game previews & injury notes – [48:08–61:43]
• Fun: Duncan & Robinson react to Wemby – [41:55]
• Portland crowd, T-shirt drama – [41:16–46:35]

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Tone and Style

The episode is analytical, data-driven, with plenty of light-hearted jabs between the insiders. The group’s sarcasm and basketball nerdery show through, especially around team-building, recent trade strategies, and the realities of playoff matchups. There’s a recurring theme: don’t overreact to Game 1, but do acknowledge when a game exposes deep seasonal flaws.

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Summary for the NBA Fan

This episode covers playoff surprises (Thunder and Magic making statements, Rockets stumbling), key injuries (Durant, Ant Edwards), and how early results could shape the postseason. Notably, the Magic regain form, Detroit's flaws are exposed, the Lakers rely on LeBron's wizardry, and Wembanyama announces himself as the future with a dominant playoff debut. Throughout, the hosts blend sharp analysis with signature ESPN insider wit, making it a must-listen for hoops junkies dissecting the first weekend of the NBA playoffs.

Transcript

[Brian Windhorst]

Thrivent believes money is more than numbers. It's a way to care for the people, causes and community you love. That's why Thrivent brings together a unique combination of financial services and generosity programs, offering advice, investments and insurance to help you plan your finances, while creating opportunities to give back along the way. Through generosity programs that offer resources to fund service projects or to direct charitable funds, Thrivent makes it easier to turn your values into action and support what matters to you. With more than 120 years of experience and as a Fortune 500 company, Thrivent continues to serve individuals, families and communities across the country. To learn more, visit thrivent.com thrivent where money means more hello and welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast. We talk about the NBA, which you're doing on midnight on Monday morning. Joining us from New York City. Although he was in Boston today for game one of the Celtics series, which he was so impressed with, he turned around and left the city. I thought you were going to cover the Boston Marathon on Monday morning, Tim Bottemps.

[Tim Bontemps]

I did not stay to cover the Boston Marathon, though. Hannah Storm is doing the telecast of it and on Friday she asked me about what time the game was and I asked if she was running the marathon, which she was very amused by, which she said she's going to be in town for it. She said, nope, I'm just doing the tv. I definitely am not trying to run that.

[Brian Windhorst]

I said, all right, well, not people know that Bon Temps is a runner and ran cross country in high school.

[Tim Bontemps]

And I never have even considered running a marathon because that is an insane amount of distance. Godspeed. Oh, actually, shout out to Drew Carter. Drew Carter.

[Brian Windhorst]

Oh, really?

[Tim Bontemps]

Is running the marathon for charity on Monday.

[Ben McMahon]

Wow.

[Tim Bontemps]

Shout out to our guy, Drew Carter. In all seriousness, I was going to do that and I totally forgot.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right, Shout out to Drew Jackson. What are you doing with your life?

[Tim Bontemps]

And good luck to him. It's going to be like 45 in Boston.

[Brian Windhorst]

I would rather run the marathon at 45 degrees than 85 degrees.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's exactly what I said to somebody else who's doing it today. It's much better temp if you're picking one.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right, in case you don't know, Drew Carter is the voice of the Boston Celtics on tv and also was

[Tim Bontemps]

people listening to the pod listeners. The pod. No. Come on.

[Brian Windhorst]

Okay, well, this is the thing that always doesn't happen anyway.

[Ben McMahon]

And Jackson's former college roommate, along with Noah Eagle.

[Brian Windhorst]

I'm sorry, you don't know who you are. You haven't Been introduced yet. You just sit there and wait. You'll sit there and wait till you're called on.

[Tim Bontemps]

We got a spicy window today, folks. This is going to be a fun pod.

[Brian Windhorst]

Joining us from Oklahoma City where he watched the Thunder dismantle the Phoenix suns in game one of that series is Ban McMahon.

[Ben McMahon]

Howdy, partners. Can I talk now?

[Brian Windhorst]

Yes, please, please. Oh, great. Let's just sum up.

[Ben McMahon]

We don't need to really hit on it.

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean, it was a complete blowout.

[Ben McMahon]

Much like last year against the Memphis grizzlies in Game 1. Quick turnaround from that Friday night late playing game for the Suns. Most significant thing that happened today, Jalen Williams, J Dub looks like himself.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah, he had four steals in the first half alone. Pretty sure. And the Thunder, what was the points off of turnovers in this game?

[Ben McMahon]

34 to 2.

[Brian Windhorst]

See. Okay, I'm going to. Obviously you're going to give the Suns a bit of a pass because they've played three games in six days or whatever, but I'm just going to say that when the Thunder are dominating the possession game like that, that is when you know they're at their best. Okay, maybe some games will be. They'll hit more threes. Maybe some games, Shay will be a little bit more on his game. You may have some certain variants, but when the Thunder are dominating the points off of turnovers, it means that their system is functioning highly.

[Ben McMahon]

One More quick stat, 34 to 2. That 32 point margin points off turnover is the most in the play by play era since 97, 98, which as far as our ESPN research folks can go back and track that the second Most was a 30 point margin and that was by the Thunder in game seven of last year's Western Conference semifinals when they blew the Nuggets off the floor.

[Brian Windhorst]

I looked this stat up. They won this game by 35 today. I believe their average, I can't do math right now.

[Ben McMahon]

35, 36.

[Brian Windhorst]

Their average margin of victory at home in the west playoffs last year, obviously the finals was tighter. Including game one, which they lost. Their average margin of victory at home last year in the west playoffs was 29.

[Tim Bontemps]

No disrespect to everybody else, but the Thunder are the heavy favorites for a reason. Will be a big disappointment if they don't win the title. And today was an example of why. We'll see. We'll see if they're healthy, we'll see, see how it goes. Doesn't mean they're definitely going to win, but they should win. And that was A good statement of intent. And by the way, McMahon, it's interesting that window comes on here spicy today because we know that in Cav's corner right now there is rejoicing. Oh, yes, because they see. They see the path to the conference finals sans LeBron for the first time since when, Brian?

[Brian Windhorst]

1992.

[Tim Bontemps]

1992. Mark Price, Brad Dougherty, I've been telling

[Ben McMahon]

people, listen, I think the Magic are about to get hot.

[Tim Bontemps]

Saying that after that first play, let's rewind 72 hours to the Friday morning pot.

[Ben McMahon]

The Magic are a team that just needs to go their separate ways for a little bit, if not for a while. Now, by get hot, I thought it meant go lay on the beach in Cancun, but now they're just getting hot.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, I don't know if they were that hot today, but it was a look the home teams.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, the Pistons were not, that's for sure. Cade Cunningham was hot and the rest of his team was not.

[Brian Windhorst]

The home teams were. Were 7:1 over the weekend. I don't have our final stats and info report on the weekend, but I got to believe that's the best home teams have done for the first weekend in a while. I mean, there have been years where we've seen three home teams lose on Saturday. I feel like that's happened a couple of times in the last decade. And so the one home team that did not win was the Pistons. The one seed in the west. In the east, the Magic with two impressive performances since our last pod one on Friday to get into the playoffs. Just pounding the Charlotte Hornets, ending that Cinderella dream.

[Ben McMahon]

Vin is playing performance by the Hornets

[Brian Windhorst]

really what's the turn back to clock

[Tim Bontemps]

day and all the wrong. All the wrong for all the wrong reasons.

[Brian Windhorst]

You got that right. Yeah. Anyway, then they go up to Detroit with no really ability to prepare and lead this game from tip to tail. I'm not sure they were behind more than a handful of seconds in this game of I don't think they trailed.

[Ben McMahon]

I think it was wired a wide.

[Tim Bontemps]

It got back to 65. 65 about seven minutes to go in the third quarter. And then it looked like Detroit had come back and was going to take control of the game and go on and win. And then all of a sudden Magic just took back control again. And I mean, look, to me the crazy thing about the last 72 hours with Orlando is the performance they had on Friday and the performance they had today against Detroit. This is the team we thought Orlando was going to be back in October and they basically have not been hardly at all this season. And then when everybody wrote them off after they had this desultory games against the C team for the Celtics and then losing, not playing well against the Sixers last week, like, I mean, McMahon is far from the only person who thought that that was a 1, 2, 3 Cancun situation going into that game Friday at home. And instead they, I mean, that match, that, that Hornets game might as well ended five minutes in and they come out and play a great game today. And I was thinking, watching this Detroit game, I don't know how this series is going to go. There's a lot to talk about with it. But the Pistons kind of remind me a little bit of the Lowry DeRozan Raptors right now, where that team always had people going, man, are they actually really that good? Are they really going to make a run? Are they really going to get deep in the playoffs? And they would always lose the first game of the playoffs every year.

[Brian Windhorst]

That's true. It was always Saturday at noon and

[Tim Bontemps]

the sky was always falling after that. So, you know, there's a long way to go in the series. But that was the first thing I thought of tonight.

[Ben McMahon]

I got a wiz of the quiz.

[Brian Windhorst]

Ooh, yes, please do.

[Ben McMahon]

All right, whiz of the quiz, who was the last 60 win team to lose their playoff opener?

[Brian Windhorst]

Was that the playoff opener?

[Ben McMahon]

60 plus win team to lose their playoff.

[Brian Windhorst]

Was that the Mavericks?

[Ben McMahon]

Damn, Wendy, which Mavericks?

[Brian Windhorst]

Oh, I was thinking the We Believe the.

[Ben McMahon]

Yes, sir. And what happened in that series? The we believe warriors beat the 0607 Mavericks.

[Tim Bontemps]

Who.

[Ben McMahon]

That was actually a 67 win team.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. With all due respect to the Pistons, this team doesn't have that potency of that team. But.

[Ben McMahon]

And what happened to that? What happened in that series went six games.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, that was Don Nelson with his game plan against Dirk Nowitzki, his old team and whatnot. Whatnot?

[Ben McMahon]

Yeah. It was also a, a one star 60 plus win team. Like Josh Howard was their second best player.

[Tim Bontemps]

There's a lot of similar. I mean that team was better and Dirk was better, but it, there's a lot of similarities.

[Ben McMahon]

But what's crazy is Cade had 39 tonight.

[Brian Windhorst]

Can I just say that the stat about Cade, like, you know, 39 points, got to the line 11 times, but two huge stats I want to point out with Cade. One, he has four assists and not because I think he was hogging the ball, it just there was nobody out there who wanted to shoot. Secondly, Jalen Duran, who was an offensive machine down the Stretch of the season. He takes four shots. In this game. Cade Cunningham takes 27 shots. Jalen Duran takes four.

[Ben McMahon]

That's concerning.

[Brian Windhorst]

No, sir, that is, I mean again, I'm not criticizing Cunningham.

[Tim Bontemps]

This is all the concern, all the concerns about Detroit. One of my neighbors is a big Detroit sports fan. I saw him outside, he's walking his dog after the game. He was like, man, that wasn't very fun. I said, no, no, it wasn't very fun. And it also highlighted all the concerns everybody has about the team. Like it's a one ball handler team. It's Cade Cunningham. And then like a question mark is who the second perimeter score is going to be. Jalen Duran had an amazing year. I voted for him for all NBA he has had like he's been far better than ever would have guessed. But if he's your second offensive option, how's that going to go? Did not look great today. It, you know, there's a lot of questionable one way players in terms of like how big their impact can be on the playoff stage. You know, Sar Thompson had a. Again, he was, I mean he did a little bit of stuff offensively today. More than a little bit more than normal. But like it's a flawed team with a lot of questions and then they come out and they lose like this. And I mean, look, can we, can we make an argument that Orlando's the more talented team? Like I think we can at least make an argument. Right?

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. I mean, I mean the Pistons bench was 4:16 in this game.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, going into the season you would have said Orlando was better than Detroit.

[Ben McMahon]

I believe the Magic had a higher over under.

[Tim Bontemps]

Correct me if I definitely did, but

[Ben McMahon]

I believe they did. Um, by the way, Wendy, you mentioned the four assists. There's a rule about assists. Somebody has to make a shot.

[Brian Windhorst]

That's what I'm saying.

[Ben McMahon]

Like, and they were four of 16 off of Cade's passes.

[Tim Bontemps]

Tobias, five for 15, one for seven from three.

[Ben McMahon]

Like typically, like typically. He's getting Duran some easy buckets. That clearly didn't happen. You mentioned Duran barely took any shots.

[Brian Windhorst]

Listen, Wendell Carter dominated Jalen Duran.

[Ben McMahon]

That's not. If that happens during the series, it will not be Detroit moving on. And listen, man, we all were hammering on Palo Banchero. I did, you guys did. The world did after that Philly playing game. He brought it to Charlotte. Dominated that game. He brought it today. I'm not gonna say dominated, but he was really good on both ends of the floor. And when Palo Banchero uses that 6 foot 10, 250 pound athletic frame to get downhill and attack and make things happen. He is an all star, all NBA caliber player. When he settles for a bunch of jump shots, he's eh. Well, he's attacking right now.

[Tim Bontemps]

And by the way, Franz, Franz is starting to look springy again too after dealing with these leg injuries.

[Brian Windhorst]

I've seen Fr. Franz look in a while. He had 19 points. Obviously the Magic played very well across the board. Their starting lineup five to five dominated the Pistons. I don't even think the Magic played great offensively in this game.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, the Magic aren't going to play great that offensively that often.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. But you're going to have a game where they hit their threes.

[Tim Bontemps]

Sure. Well. And again if you just go through their starting five, Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bain.

[Brian Windhorst]

Suggs was everywhere in this game. Suggs?

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, everywhere. Played with Brian Wagner And Wendell Carter Jr. You compare that to Cade Cunningham, Asar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duran, Duncan Robinson, like at best that's a wash. Like they probably are the more talented team. It's why Orlando was such a massive disappointment this season. They were supposed to be challenging to be a conference finals kind of team after trading for Desmond Baines.

[Brian Windhorst]

I mean, how big? Let's just put it this way. You know, I'm a big believer in never overreacting to game one. I don't care if you win by 35, I don't care if you lose by 35. Obviously it can be something, an indication, but you know, I've covered many, many, many series where you get to game four and you laugh about what you thought about the series after game one.

[Tim Bontemps]

So I brought up that Toronto, I brought up those Toronto teams for a reason. Because this was an annual rite of passage for the Raptors for about five years. So they would have winner one or two rounds in the playoffs and they lose game one of the first round every year and it would be a existential crisis.

[Brian Windhorst]

So, so how, how concerned should the Pistons. We know their concerns overall. How concerned should the Pistons be about this series right now?

[Tim Bontemps]

Go ahead, Timmy.

[Ben McMahon]

I mean that they better have their full attention. I'm not going to say it's a five alarm fire, but you know, it's an alert. You mentioned Jalen Duran. The other guy who's just flat out has to be much better is Dennis Jenkins. And the silver lining of Cunningham missing that time at the end of the season. Jenkins really played well during that stretch. It's like, okay, is that, is that the secondary?

[Brian Windhorst]

What does that tell you that you're asking a rookie who was a two

[Ben McMahon]

way guy, second year guy, and he's not two way anymore.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right, I'm sorry. He's not.

[Tim Bontemps]

But.

[Ben McMahon]

Yeah, no, but listen.

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean he's a converted two way player.

[Brian Windhorst]

Okay, so.

[Ben McMahon]

So is AJ Mitchell, for example. I mean, like they're converted to a six.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah, but you're not saying AJ Mitchell is vitally important to the Thunder.

[Ben McMahon]

I would say he's a sixth man of the year candidate, although he's not a finalist. I'm just telling you Jenkins has to play well for the Pistons and.

[Tim Bontemps]

Right.

[Brian Windhorst]

What I'm saying is, is that, what does that tell you about the Pistons? What with the. It tells you that they've got a

[Ben McMahon]

massive void for a secondary playmaker that appeared that he was capable of filling,

[Brian Windhorst]

which is what has been said about the Pistons four months.

[Tim Bontemps]

And that goes back to the trade deadline when Trajan Langdon, I would say, showed his hand in not going after anything at the trade deadline and saying, hey, we're going to wait. And.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, he got Kevin Herder.

[Tim Bontemps]

He got Kevin Herder as part of a, like moving around of salaries. I mean, it wasn't.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, I mean he's played 19 minutes today. He traded.

[Tim Bontemps]

For him to trade. Kevin Herder's fine. But they didn't go. They didn't go out and actively seek to acquire a player. They moved off of Jaden Ivey and they got Kevin Herder back. So we've talked a lot about Jaden Ivey and his impact on other places,

[Ben McMahon]

but we support Kevin Herder on this pod.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes, we do. Big fan of the pod. And he's a, and he's a nice player. But like they didn't go. They, you know, they could have gone out and tried to add an impact piece and they very clearly said, we're going to sit back. I mean Vinny, our guy Vinny Goodwill's written about it like they want to see what this team looks like and how it does in the playoffs and then they can adjust. And I don't, I'm not saying that's wrong, but.

[Ben McMahon]

And, and, and they did have. They had all the ability in the world to, to make, you know, to take a big swing. They had financial flexibility. They had to buy it. Not only like, you know, they had wiggle room financially. Plus Tobias Harris's large expiring contract. They've got all their picks moving forward. If they wanted to be aggressive, they could have been. I've told you, in that way, they remind me of The Thunder a couple of years ago that that team traded for Gordon Hayward, but they certainly did take a big swing before the deadline.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yep. And the one thing the Pistons did at the trade deadline was just improve their draft pick. Like they moved up. They did a swap with the Wolves as the Wolves were moving money around. As you mentioned, Mike Conley moved up several spots in this year's draft in the first round. That was really the main thing that Detroit did, which is fine. But now you get to this playoff series and like, you ask what the concern level is. There's two series where there should be a high concern level. We're going to talk about the other one next. The concern level should be really high because this game amp like it shined a light on every single concern you would have about the Pistons. And if we knew coming into Friday that seemingly the Orlando team that was supposed to show up all year has now appeared at the start of the playoffs, that's a much. And look, they could easily. Well, look, they could easily turn back into a pumpkin in game two. And they could. And this could be a five game route. Like, I'm not saying the series is over.

[Brian Windhorst]

It's just, you know, NBA basketball is fragile. They had a couple of absolutely objectionable performances and they've bounced back with two excellent performances.

[Ben McMahon]

I mean, they had a couple of objectionable months. Like, let's not act like we're.

[Brian Windhorst]

No, I understand. But I mean, like really, the game,

[Tim Bontemps]

one of the two or three most disappointing teams in the entire league this season, it's not really close. All I would say is typically, I would 100% agree with you on game ones. I think because of the concerns everybody had about Detroit, the fact that this sort of exemplified all of them, I think it's a real concern. And we'll see what happens in game two. I mean, it's a. It's going to be a massive game. I think they get two days off, right? Wednesday. Yeah, Wednesday got to sit for two days, play Game 2. They haven't led a playoff series in 18 years, which is wild.

[Ben McMahon]

Also haven't won a home playoff game in 18 years since 2008, which was either right before or right after LeBron's retroactive flagrant foul on Chris Weber was

[Tim Bontemps]

the year after for. For bookkeeping purposes.

[Ben McMahon]

But it depends on when.

[Tim Bontemps]

What.

[Ben McMahon]

When his memory says that's true.

[Tim Bontemps]

But yeah, look, I mean, Orlando's played great the last couple of games and I mean, yeah, it's. That, yeah, it's going to be a fascinating game. On a Wednesday night. See how it looks, see how it goes. More Hoop Collective Podcast after this Thrivent

[Brian Windhorst]

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[Ben McMahon]

I was going to ask. I don't know what the line did after Durant was ruled out. Durant went through a pregame workout. I want to say it was like two or three hours before tip and base is like I can't move right now the way I need to move I can't play. And Imodoka says he hopes it's a one game thing. It's a. He took a shot to the knee during practice this week. And fellas, let me tell you, I'm going to go.

[Brian Windhorst]

Jackson says the line went from Rockets by five and a half to Rockets by two and a half.

[Ben McMahon]

Huh? All I know is this. I'm going to play pickup basketball tomorrow. The offense there will look better than the Rockets offense without Kevin Durant on the court.

[Brian Windhorst]

I'm going to say there's a couple of things about that. So first off, let me just say the Lakers, if they have any serious interest or ability in winning that series, had to win game one, had to because they're home and Durant is out. And the imbalance that happens with not having Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves rebalances when you don't have Durant with that team. No Fred Van Vliet and Durant, you know, I know Van Vliet hasn't been there all year, but you're starting to.

[Ben McMahon]

Steven Adams, if you want to throw that in.

[Brian Windhorst]

You could argue that it's way more balanced when you toss in no Van Vliet. Now, there's a couple of things about this game that were wild, number one, and I haven't seen any history on this, but The Rockets took 27 more shots than the Lakers.

[Ben McMahon]

That's insane.

[Brian Windhorst]

27 more shots. Now you may say, oh, maybe the lakers had like 15 more free throws. No, sir. Free throws were even 26, 25.

[Tim Bontemps]

So from John Schumann, because I have another John Schuman stat, John Schumann from NBA.com or Palm, the Rockets shot 27, got 27 more shot opportunities than the Lakers that he's including free field goal attempts and trips to the line, I guess for that. That was the fourth biggest differential in any game across the league this season and the biggest for any team that lost.

[Brian Windhorst]

I mean, just right there. Just that differential right there. Because when you talk, there's also a

[Tim Bontemps]

companion stat that goes with that.

[Brian Windhorst]

Okay, well, I'm going to tell you, how do you get 27 the offensive rebounding in this game? I assume that's what you're talking about. Bontes.

[Tim Bontemps]

I was talking about the other reason why the Lakers won the game, but we can get to that in a minute.

[Brian Windhorst]

The offensive rebounding was 21 to 3 in favor of the Rockets. This is an unheard of spread to lose a game. And by the way, there were a

[Ben McMahon]

lot of offensive rebound opportunities for the Rockets.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes, there were.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, that's true. But like, that's their game. Their game is to get offensive rebound opportunities.

[Tim Bontemps]

And I think they're going to continue to get offensive rebound opportunities. Might not be plus 18, but they're probably going to be plus quite a bit every game.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, it was a. I think J.J. redick described it as a simplistic game plan, which I think is what they needed. I, you know, deandre Ayton played like, here's the thing. Deandre Ayton cannot. Like we talked earlier about how Wendell Carter cannot outplay Jalen Duran and you have any chance. Deandre Ayton cannot equalize. Actually, it wasn't even equalized because Sengun was 6, 6 of 19.

[Ben McMahon]

Yeah, Ayton was 8 of 10. Ayton had 19 and 11. Shingoon had 19, 8 and 6. But Ayton was a.

[Tim Bontemps]

Was 6 for 19 from the field.

[Ben McMahon]

Ayton was a bigger factor in this game.

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean, a Center shooting under 33% from the field is hard to do. The other, the other stat from John Schumann was that among the eight teams to play Saturday night, or I guess during the day Saturday, the Lakers had the lowest expected field goal percentage and the highest actual field goal percentage.

[Brian Windhorst]

You didn't think that. You didn't think Luke Kennard taking guys off the dribble. It was going to continue.

[Tim Bontemps]

Wow. The Lakers going 10 for 19. And I would emphasize the 19 from three in the game. Like the Lakers winning a game where they only took 19 threes. I would not have bet either.

[Brian Windhorst]

How about the Rockets making more threes than their opponent, which happened in this game, 11 to 10 and losing? It's unheard of.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's what I mean. Like, there's a lot of math in this game that if you, like, if you just look at the math, the math would tell you this has to come back in Houston's favorite, even if Durant is not around, because the math is so compounding in Houston's favor. However, anyone who watched that game to Tim's point and watched that Houston offense, I don't think could sit here and be like, oh, man, the math is going to come around for the Rockets. Going to be great. Like, maybe it will, but I've got to see the math actually work after watching that, because that was impossible to watch. They don't have a calculator.

[Ben McMahon]

They're counting with rocks and that's what they're throwing at the fricking rim.

[Tim Bontemps]

They're stacking the. They're stacking the rocks.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, you know what I was thinking about, and I know that. I think, you know, Canard, Luke Canard had five threes. I think LeBron assisted on three of them.

[Ben McMahon]

Probably.

[Tim Bontemps]

At least.

[Brian Windhorst]

He might. He might have. He might have had two assists and then two hockey assists to him. But I was just thinking back to all of the players that I have watched LeBron in the playoffs with. Hit, hit, have a five, three pointer, four, five, three point. Because, you know, back in the 2000s, if you made four threes, it was like six threes in today's game. And, you know, I'm thinking like Damon Jones, Daniel Gibson, Kyle Korver, who I

[Tim Bontemps]

saw on Saturday night.

[Brian Windhorst]

I'm going through the. I'm going through the crowd.

[Tim Bontemps]

Teams. Yeah.

[Brian Windhorst]

Wally Zerbiak, I don't think Norris Cole ever made four, but Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Ray Allen, Matthew Della. Now, I'm not talking about hall of Famers. I'm talking about guys, you know, Matthew Delavadova, J.R. smith, Kentavius Caldwell Pope, Kyle Kuzma. Like, you're not going to win a series like having LeBron and a couple of shooters that are playing off each other, but you can win some playoff games that way, and that's what they did. I've been watching LeBron win games like that since high school. Now, maybe not where they got outshot by 27 attempts, but where LeBron just spreads the floor. And, you know, he had eight assists in the first quarter of this game.

[Tim Bontemps]

I thought he was going to have

[Ben McMahon]

30 at one point.

[Brian Windhorst]

I think he had three assists to Kennard in the first quarter alone.

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean, he, He's. He's been around forever. He. He knew the opportunity that was there, and you could see, like, he was posting up. He was aggressive right off the bat. Got them out to a good start. Like, you knew they had to win that game to have a chance at the series.

[Brian Windhorst]

He was very locked in. You see the. They caught him. It was with the eyes.

[Ben McMahon]

The demon pose.

[Brian Windhorst]

Is that what it's called? The demon pose?

[Ben McMahon]

I think so.

[Brian Windhorst]

Okay. Yeah.

[Ben McMahon]

The famous Internet meme from his Miami days.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, I'll never, You know, Pat Riley blew that. You know, the hall of Champions. That's not the Champions walk or whatever. The hallway from the court to the locker room in Miami, that's. It's. It's got wall size, like, you know, 8 longer than that, 10ft high. You know, for. For years, right. As you walked off the court, there were two gigantic things on the wall in the. In the champions hallway there in Miami. One was Udonis Haslam with blood pouring out of his face, dripping down his chin, and the other was LeBron with, in the demon pose. Like, like that was like, you know, that's the epitome of, you know, Heat basketball.

[Ben McMahon]

Heat culture, baby. Yeah.

[Brian Windhorst]

So they were, you know, LeBron was definitely locked in and look, they just, they had to win that game and they did. And so now I'm here in la. I'll go to the game on Tuesday and see how the Rockets bounce back in that one.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, seeing if Durant plays a. And I mean, the other thing that was interesting to me was I was surprised that Amen Thompson basically didn't guard LeBron. I thought he'd be on.

[Ben McMahon]

Well, they started a Koji to.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I understand that, but I, I, I would have put my best defensive player on LeBron and just try to take LeBron out of the game.

[Ben McMahon]

I also thought it was interesting they started a Koji instead of Tar Eason, who actually played well off the bench.

[Brian Windhorst]

Tari Easton, I mean, as long as you're talking about things that are not going to repeat himself, tar Eason went

[Ben McMahon]

seven of seven and the rest of the team went like seven of 90.

[Brian Windhorst]

It's actually crazy, like all, you know, you also figure, you know, reed shepherd goes 6 to 20. Not all of the shots obviously were good shots and it was his first playoff game was on the road. You're not him to like dominate, but you're also figuring Reed shepherd, If he gets 20 shots, not going to go 6 of 20.

[Tim Bontemps]

Reed shepherd also had eight assists and got in the lane a bunch of times for wide open threes for guys that were nowhere close either.

[Ben McMahon]

I'm still trying to figure out, and a lot of people I talked to around the league are trying to figure out exactly what Reed shepherd is, who Reed shepherd is. I don't think you're going to draw any grand conclusions based off a second year player playing in his first playoffs, but they need him to be pretty good this postseason.

[Brian Windhorst]

I'll tell you what, if Reed shepherd was playing with LeBron, he would. Who knows what would happen.

[Tim Bontemps]

We talked about the pressure on Detroit. There's a hell of a lot of pressure on the Rockets to win this series. And they better win the series. I think, regardless, frankly, of whether Durant comes back or not, there's still to me, the more talented team. If there's no Austin Reeves and no Luka Doncic, like, I don't think there's going to be, obviously, if one of them comes back or they both come back, it's a different story. And we spent this whole time talking about how bad Houston's offense looks. That's been a problem all season. If they lose this series and the offense continues to look anywhere near as bad as it did in Game one, that's. There's going to be a lot of questions about the Rockets this summer. So, you know that Detroit series and the Houston series, a couple pretty massive game twos Tuesday night in LA and Wednesday night in Detroit for a lot of reasons.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right. I'm sitting here watching the eighth game of the weekend on Sunday night and I'm wondering how many games are we going to be watching Victor Wembanyama in the spring play in the playoffs going forward? I feel like that was the first of a great many, hopefully a lot.

[Ben McMahon]

Oh, you're talking about over the course of his career or this year?

[Brian Windhorst]

Both, I guess. And you know, I always remember in the gold medal game in, in Paris that it was the first. I can't remember if it was the first possession of the game or it was France's first possession. But victory comes down, hits a three right out of the gate. Like basically making the statement, I am not afraid of this moment. And he second, 20 seconds in, I don't know if it was a first or second possession, immediately goes to the basket in this game, has a 12 point first quarter. Definitely was looking to shoot. He did hit a couple of threes, but I thought tried to play inside out. De' Aaron Fox said that he thought the team, he's got a little bit more experience than most of the guys. He said he thought the team had jitters, but I don't think number one had jitters. And so he, in his first playoff game, puts up 21 points in the first half, which is where the spurs basically grabbed control. I know that the Blazers came back in the second half on him, but. And by the way, Denny Abia had 11 points in the first quarter himself. He was, I think he took nine shots in the first quarter. Like Denny was trying to do the same thing in his first playoff game. I don't want to disregard that the

[Tim Bontemps]

game was tied in the third quarter. I mean, Victor was unbelievable. But where the spurs won the game was with Victor on the bench. Like they blew the game open with Devin Vassell knocking down a bunch of threes in the third quarter and they were plus nine in the game and they were double digits plus with Victor on the bench for basically the whole game. If we're consistently talking about the spurs winning the non victor minutes in these playoffs. There's going to be a. Do you want to ask how many games are going to be talking about the Spurs? We talked about the Spurs a lot this spring. If that's the case, like Luke Cornett

[Ben McMahon]

earned his Money tonight in 14 minutes.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes, he did. If you're, if you're losing those minutes and you're playing the spurs, you're in a lot of trouble like Wimby.

[Ben McMahon]

I mean if you want to put Tomoni Kamara on him, which they did a lot, then he'll go down low and dominate in the paint. If you want to put Donovan Clingan, he's going to take him out to the perimeter and Clingan is lost out there and I don't. There's not a traditional big that I can think of that could guard Wimby if he's going to be knocking down threes. And it was 5 of 6 today.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah, he had only five rebounds and one assist and four turnovers. It was not a command performance in his normal around the all around game. But he had 35 points on 21 shots in his first playoff game.

[Tim Bontemps]

Right. I mean he, he, he played great and he had, it was a great shot making game. Right. He didn't do a lot of the other stuff. And I, I actually think that the Blazers did a pretty good job in this game. Like they, they made, they could not hit perimeter shots. They went 10 for 28 from three. Obviously they're going to have to get 10 for 38 or 10 for 38. I'm sorry, shot 26%. Like obviously they've got to hit. Like we talked about when Stats made his bold prediction the other day, they've got it. They're going to get up a lot of threes. They've got a lot of threes.

[Brian Windhorst]

In his first playoff game. Played very well.

[Tim Bontemps]

I thought it was good. Like I, I mean Denver or Portland was hanging in the game and I, I thought, I mean they were competitive through large portions of the game and if the spurs aren't scalding hot from three, like, you know that's a, that's a really interesting game. Now obviously I think Sears probably going five games but you know, like it was a great start for Victor and it was a good start for this young team. But you know, Stefan Castle struggled hitting shots. That's going to be something like we've talked about to watch going forward in the playoffs.

[Ben McMahon]

So what they put clinging on him some and I'm sitting there Watching, I'm like, dude, shoot the ball. If Kling is going to, if Kling is going to be down there at the free throw line and you've got the ball at the top of the arc, let it go.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, this is why I've talked about that for the last month. Like, it's one thing to say, oh, the guy's hitting 35% of his threes. And again, I love Stefan Castle. I think he's. But it's another thing when you're in the playoffs and you have Donovan Clingan standing below the three, the free throw line. Darren, you shoot the ball, right? So like and he went 4 for 13 from the field and he went 1 for 5 from 3.

[Brian Windhorst]

He, he did get eight free throws. He was, he did look for aggression.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes, he's. He's going to make an impact on the game. Obviously. Like he's a good player but that, you know, that's. If the spurs again, if the spurs are winning the non victor minutes and they're shooting 45% from three, they're not losing very many games. And if they're one of the non

[Ben McMahon]

victor minutes, period, because I'm here, well, yeah, they will win the vast majority of the victor minutes.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, but that's what I was going to say.

[Brian Windhorst]

Those tonight too.

[Ben McMahon]

I know.

[Brian Windhorst]

Just wasn't.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes, he was plus 4 and 35 minutes and they were plus 9 in the other 11. Like that. That's what I mean, like that. And again that dovetail with Devin Vassell, knock it down a bunch of threes and you know, if the spurs can have two or three guys hot in a game from three, that might be enough. Tonight they had two Victor and Victor and Vassell combined to go nine for 15 from three. Like, you know that if they have two guys do something close to that on a regular basis, plus Victor being awesome, that's a pretty good formula to be winning a lot of playoff games.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right, before we turn to the games are going to be a Monday night, I thought should just get your opinion real quick on what happened in Boston today. Bontemps.

[Tim Bontemps]

Do we have to talk about that again very quickly? I mean, I could talk about it really fast. I mean the, the Sixers, if they're going to be competitive in the series, Maxey has to be the best. Tyrese Maxey has to be the best player. He was not. They have to get up a ton of threes. They were 2 for 16 from 3 in the first half and they took 5 in the competitive portion. Of the second half and made 1 or 2. They were 4 for 21 from 3 in the first 42 minutes of the game. Like that is an impossible forgetting. Even the four. Like Nick Nurse after the game was like, we, we have to get up more threes. And I think once they started to miss shots, they turned down open shots. But like, that's the whole story. Like, Boston played great. Jason Hayden was awesome. The Celtics dominated from start to finish. But the only thing to talk about is if Philadelphia wants to make this a competitive series of any kind, Maxey has to be the best player to do that. He's got to play better than Tatum, he's got to play better than Jalen Brown. And they have to get up more threes. If they're shooting under 25 threes, they're shooting under 30 threes or even maybe 35 threes. I just don't think they keep up with the Celtics and they certainly didn't today.

[Brian Windhorst]

I mean, the threes today were 16 to 4. It's unsurvivable in any game, in any, in any league.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, again, it's the attempts if you're. I mean they almost attempted as many as the Celtics made. Like, you just cannot win the math, man. That's even the thing going back to the Laker game. Like, yeah, The Lakers went 10 for 19. I don't think the Lakers are winning a lot of games if they take 19 points. It's just, it's not. And especially playing the Celtics like the Celtics are going to probably shoot 40.

[Ben McMahon]

That's unlikely to be a competitive series. I mean, I agree it is what it is.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's why I agree. That's why I said it's. The only really thing to talk about is that can the Sixers make it competitive Today was not a good indication. They can. More Hoop Collective podcast after this.

[Brian Windhorst]

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[Ben McMahon]

Fellas, I I do hate to to rewind, but there was one more point I wanted to make about San Antonio and for it, bruh, I got it. I got a text from Malik Andrews. The Malik Andrews.

[Tim Bontemps]

Oh, thank you.

[Ben McMahon]

The Malik Andrews who was in OKC today. And the text says San Antonio giving OKC a run for the league lead in the freebie T shirt percentage worn. Tim Duncan and David Robinson wearing the freebie T shirts today, by the way, but a color coordinated Fiesta, Fiesta vibe.

[Tim Bontemps]

Another thing to go back to from that game. The coolest moment of the game. They keep showing David Robinson and Tim Duncan sitting there together watching the game. And Victor makes this absurd move with he's got the ball at the top of the key. Does the spin move. Yeah, completely brings the ball up the court. Does this spin move around. Denny yams it in the net and they cut to David Robinson and Tim Duncan who are both like what the hell was that? And just laughing at this guy. And it was very, it was a very cool piece of catalog.

[Ben McMahon]

He does things that make hall of Famers just shake their heads and chuckle. But we saw last year how critical the freebie T shirt percentage worn factor is in chasing the championship now.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, I gotta tell you, as I looked at Oklahoma State today, I did not see a single fan. It looked like there were many a video game from like the 19 to 2002 where they just made every fan in the crowd look exactly the same. Every face and fan looks exactly the same.

[Ben McMahon]

But I'm telling you, in San Antonio again they had the Fiesta thing where each section was its own color. And I'm just here to say huge advantage in the Series because news came out of Portland. Oh, no. Free T shirts being given away. Because you know why? T shirts cost money.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, I thought it was interesting one of. So I can't remember the media member who put it on X that there was not going to be free T shirts.

[Tim Bontemps]

Not free.

[Brian Windhorst]

I mean if what they charge for playoff tickets, it's basically included in the price.

[Tim Bontemps]

The business side president of the team announced there would not be shirts given out. That's where it came from.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right, but so then it came out with the. Some media member put it out and one of the new part owners, one of the shield tile, I think is

[Tim Bontemps]

the way you say the one who lives in Portland.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yes, he, he came and responded and said don't worry, we've got something better planned. Which Free turtleneck. It sounds like something you would say.

[Ben McMahon]

Free rain jacket.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right now guys, what have we got better planned?

[Ben McMahon]

Hey, by the way, related note. Sean Hyken, who has a substack covering the Blazers, reports that the Blazers are not traveling their two way guys during the playoffs. Now, two way guys are not eligible for the playoffs, but I have never heard of a team not traveling their two way guys during the playoffs.

[Brian Windhorst]

It's not all. Chris Mannix from Sports Illustrated had a story about this a couple of days ago and one of the details. Well, so typically an NBA team, you know, they, they travel to the game, the road game, and then they stay in the hotel during the day and they head over to the arena sometime in the late afternoon, early evening, you know, two or three, even four buses, I guess take people over. And so they pay for like, you know, they make a deal with the hotel, but they pay extra for the, for the half day, right?

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, like a super late checkout, basically.

[Brian Windhorst]

Right. And so according to Mannix and I talked to somebody and this isn't. I mean he said multiple sources, but I talked to somebody. It's indeed true. Like in an effort to save money, the, some of the staff have been asked to leave their room by checkout time at noon. So they don't have to pay.

[Ben McMahon]

Let's just call like it is new ownership there is embarrassingly cheap.

[Brian Windhorst]

Now let me just say that like they don't have to stay in the lobby. Like there's other rooms that teams rent out, such as like conference rooms. Brian.

[Ben McMahon]

Dude, they're not traveling two ways. They're not giving away T shirts.

[Tim Bontemps]

They're trying to pay.

[Brian Windhorst]

I just want to make them sound like they're telling them to sit on their suitcases in the Lobby.

[Tim Bontemps]

Brian. Brian.

[Ben McMahon]

Brian.

[Tim Bontemps]

What are we doing? What are we doing?

[Brian Windhorst]

I'm just telling you what I don't know.

[Tim Bontemps]

There's no need to defend. We're stating a fact.

[Brian Windhorst]

I'm not defending. I'm just saying that they're not making them sit on their suitcases.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, you are defending. When they start wheedling on about they

[Brian Windhorst]

don't have to sit in the line, they're not sitting on the curb.

[Ben McMahon]

They are asking their head coach in the future to work on an hourly wage.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right, say that that's not true, because that'll end up getting aggregated.

[Ben McMahon]

It's not true. But they are cheap as hail.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yes, that is. I will just say that there are savings centers that teams can have. I don't think not traveling, you know, a couple of hotel rooms and they're in the grand scheme of things is going to do it, but whatever. None of that affects how many points Denny Avia had, which was 30 in game one.

[Ben McMahon]

Oh, but his extension might be affected.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, that's true. That is absolutely true. And if it is, then that'll be a thing. But anyway, your point about the T shirts in San Antonio. Yes. They were very cool, and the vibe in that arena was very cool. And look, it's Victor's. You know, I think Vassell got to pound the drum at the end of the game.

[Ben McMahon]

And wait, did you see the men in black suits? Apparently, Kelly Olenek went to a Taylor New York City and got all his teammates, like, all black suits, black dress shirts, and they came in fitted and ready to roll for the playoffs.

[Brian Windhorst]

That's not like when LeBron gave all of his teammates, like, in. As part of a promotion. Remember that one year, one of the warriors shorts.

[Ben McMahon]

Oh, my God.

[Brian Windhorst]

And I had to listen to how those were actually really cool. And I. I mean, I don't. Don't you remember, like, you're. They were supposed to wear one sock pulled up high, and one sock locked

[Tim Bontemps]

it out of my brain because it was so awkward. And then now it's all flooding back to me.

[Ben McMahon]

I didn't. I didn't know the sock part of the.

[Brian Windhorst]

I seem to recall that. Please don't. I. I seem to recall there was a whole.

[Tim Bontemps]

It was. It was. Yeah, it was.

[Ben McMahon]

It was.

[Tim Bontemps]

The thing was.

[Brian Windhorst]

And they all had to work because, like, LeBron gives you this suit, but really, it's. They're promoting the brand. It wasn't like. It's almost like when they're like, oh, LeBron gave all of his teammates. Beats Headphones? Well, that. Yes. It's. To promote it. Like it's a. It's. It's a promotion. All right. Anyway, forget about that.

[Ben McMahon]

Well, if you want to promote some stuff. Give me some stuff. Sure.

[Brian Windhorst]

Do it.

[Tim Bontemps]

Listen, we know McMahon wants free stuff. He's made that extraordinary beer on the pot.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right, there's three games, what I would consider spicy potential games on Monday. First up,

[Tim Bontemps]

Cavs.

[Brian Windhorst]

Raptors. CAVs are head one zero. They had a professional win on Saturday. Got up by as much as 23. But it's close in the first half. The big thing from that game, in addition to Harden and Donovan putting up 50 points combined, Brandon Ingram, who averaged 20 shots a game against the Cavs in the regular season, only took nine. They top locked him. They shadowed him. They pretty much ignored Jamal's shed. I would say, like, you know, some injury report stuff. Obviously, Durant will be the number one injury report thing, but Emmanuel Quickley, he's listed as questionable for Monday's game, too. Without Quickley, the Raptors are in a tough scoring situation.

[Tim Bontemps]

Especially the series is a wrap. Without Quickley. That's.

[Ben McMahon]

I mean, when Zane Wade started, which is also related to the Brandon Ingram lack of shots, we were wondering about what they might do with that spot.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, I mean, the Raptors are an offensively challenged team. Normally they got to get out and run. They got to play in transition. But Quickley is one of their better offensive players. He's obviously their. Their number one floor general. If they don't have him, I just don't see how they're keeping up with this Cavs offense. Really don't.

[Ben McMahon]

Also, you. You highlighted when the. The Barnes versus Mobley, kind of a weird Scotty Barnes game where he, you know, they came out and hit a few threes real quick, which is something he doesn't usually do. Ended up with 21 points, seven assists, but just a rebound. No steals, no blocks, minus 22. You know, obviously he's got to be much more impactful.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah, for sure. You know, the Cavs defense was so spotty the second half of the season, but they had a good week. Ish to prepare. They had a good game plan. And James Harden is a load to handle in the half court. And the Cavs are going to want to slow the game down, which is. Which is what they do. I think the Raptors had. I think the, you know, the transition points are kind of squishy. Sometimes you see a game and you're like, oh, the transition points in that game were 37:28. And I'm like, really? I find it like a slow game to me. But anyway, the Cavs held the Raptors to just three fast break points. That is the Cavs playing at their pace. So quickly's availability will be relevant. And they play then. Are you going to game two at the Garden, Bontemps?

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, I'll be at the Garden.

[Brian Windhorst]

Look at you covering two series at once. It's very impressive.

[Ben McMahon]

Wow.

[Brian Windhorst]

So game in town.

[Tim Bontemps]

Gonna go see it?

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. Hawks.

[Tim Bontemps]

Hawks. Knicks.

[Brian Windhorst]

Hawks. Knicks. Game two.

[Ben McMahon]

He's just going. Garden, Garden.

[Brian Windhorst]

That's right, the Knicks. Jalen Brunson came out and set a big time tone against the Hawks in game one.

[Tim Bontemps]

Funny game for him.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. Then he kind of sort of faded a little bit.

[Tim Bontemps]

Not sort of. He. He had 21, 21 points and was 8 for 11 from the field in the first quarter and then went 1 for 11 the rest of the game. So I mean, it, I mean, look, it didn't matter. They won the game, but it just was a. Like he came out and couldn't miss for the entire first quarter and then just sort of faded off.

[Brian Windhorst]

It wasn't like a jaw dropping, the awesome Knicks performance, but it was a, you know, it was a quality win.

[Ben McMahon]

As he cooled off, Cat warmed up.

[Tim Bontemps]

Cat put some numbers up down the stretch and got us lined up to a good place. I mean, I made a. I made a joke on Saturday night that it was the latest example of the Knicks winning in comfortable yet unconvincing fashion, which I think is like the, the summation of their entire season where they, they won 53 games. They had this really good year, but everybody here is like, are they really that good? Can they really make a run? Like, where are they at? And this game was kind of the same thing. Like, the Hawks have little to no playoff experience. I thought they handled the environment pretty well. CJ McCollum had a really good first quarter. He and Jalen Brunson were going back and forth to make it shots that sort of allowed Atlanta to settle into the game a little bit. But Jalen, Jalen Johnson wasn't great. He was 8 for 19. You know, Aneka Congo hit a bunch of shots and was good. He is also questionable with a knee issue for Monday night. If he can't play, the Hawks are totally cooked again. Like the Raptors, right? Well, no, they don't have him or Jockland. That's a throwback to the other day.

[Ben McMahon]

I'm making fun of Wendy.

[Tim Bontemps]

If they, if they don't have him, I Mean, again, just curtains for the Hawks, so we'll see if he can play. But, you know, like, Atlanta hung in the game despite not being able to throw the ball in the ocean in the second half and got it back to within eight with a couple minutes to go. So, you know, Knicks should win the series. They are the more talented team. Jonathan played 28 minutes off the bench. I think that sort of sums up where the talent level is for the Hawks. Once you get past the starting fives for both teams.

[Ben McMahon]

Don't shade a commingo.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I mean, it's. They just don't. They don't. I mean, look, they have Mo Gay and they, they played Zach Richet two minutes and the end of the first quarter, and that didn't go great. You know, like, Kaminga was the one guy who played more than a handful of minutes off the bench.

[Ben McMahon]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

Like, they just don't have options to go to. Like, he was fine enough in.

[Ben McMahon]

I mean, Reese Lachey would be nice if the guy who's the number one overall pick in the draft a couple years goes, yes.

[Tim Bontemps]

I mean, it'd be n. If he was playing like he was at the end of last year. Like, he is. He is just. His confidence is not in a good place at the moment, and he's just not going to be a huge factor. So, like, you know, it's Gabe Vincent and Mo Gay. And so we'll see again, like, the Knicks. The Knicks are in control. Knicks look like they should be in control of the series, but, you know, we've, we've seen the Knicks give games back before and we'll see if they do again.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right. The late game on Monday is Nuggets hosting the Wolves Game two. Speaking of injuries now, Ant Edwards is on the injury report as questionable. I don't know if he's on the injury report because, like, it's just a proceeding because it's an injury and they're handling it or if he actually came out of that game not feeling great and there's a, there's an injury.

[Tim Bontemps]

Did he go into the game on the injury report? I understand he looked like a guy playing in the game who was going into the game on the injury report.

[Brian Windhorst]

I agree. But then he played and so typically when you play and you're off the injury report, but he's not.

[Tim Bontemps]

That's not, that's not, that's not always true.

[Ben McMahon]

They, they attempted to make a point of, oh, no, I didn't think he looked like he was. Like the knee was bothering him, he's just trying to regain his rhythm.

[Tim Bontemps]

Sure looked like it was bothering to me.

[Brian Windhorst]

Well, that's.

[Ben McMahon]

Couldn't make a shadow. I'm just telling you what their point, what their emphasis was, what they're talking,

[Brian Windhorst]

what I would say in general about this game. The Wolves have to consider that one a missed opportunity because I know that some of the numbers looked good, like Murray had 30, Jokic had a triple double. It was not a command performance by the Nuggets. They had some clutch play, some key plays and you know, Murray got to the foul line 16 times, which is tremendous. But that was C plus ish, B minus by the Nuggets and they got away with it and got ahead.

[Ben McMahon]

They were 1 of 17 from three point range in the second half. And one. I mean, you know, this was not like the Nuggets played well. The Nuggets also, they don't have Peyton Watson and who like that hamster David

[Brian Windhorst]

Adelman basically played seven guys. Now Valencianus and Spencer Jones played for a few minutes, but basically he's playing seven. It's right back to when they won the championship a couple years ago.

[Tim Bontemps]

I stuck it, but he did not look good. And he was dealing with this knee issue down the stretch of the season and had a week off coming into the game. And like look, and we've seen Ant have superhuman healing powers in the past, but that was not like you said, especially given Rudy Gobert had a very good offensive game, which he's obviously not going to do that often. And it's a game you can win on the road. And it like you said, Denver was fine, but it was sitting there able to be stolen. That that's one that hurts for Minnesota.

[Ben McMahon]

And is wasn't on award ballots because the knee was such an issue that he had to sit so much down the stretch. He didn't get to even close to 65 games. Not even close enough to get the, you know, whatever waiver that that Luka and Cade got. You know, he had the foot thing earlier in the year, but this knee thing, it's the same knee issue. I forget the exact term, but it's the same thing that caused Steph Curry to miss 26 games. Now, ants obviously a lot younger runner's knee. Yeah, Ants also. They got a fancy name for it too though. Ants also. Now he's skilled, don't get me wrong. But one major reason that Ant is such a special player is because he is so damn explosive. And so if he's just, you know,

[Brian Windhorst]

compromised, I am not an Orthopedist. So I'm not trying to like, but I think the issue is swelling. And so you've got fluid. Water on the knee, they called it my grandparents days. You got fluid in there, you're not, you're stiff. I mean that was the whole thing with Curry was getting the fluid out of there. So, you know, there's, by the way, there's reason fluids in there. Usually it's to deal with an injury that's in there, but whatever, you know, I, I don't like this whole must win, this whole must win game thing,

[Tim Bontemps]

but like look if it's not a must win. But you know, I look to me, if they lose the game and Ant looks good, that, that I think is fine. If they lose the game and Ant looks like he did in game one again, I mean, to me the only thing, I mean I shouldn't say the only thing, obviously be great for Minnesota to win the game. To me, the biggest thing coming out of this game is going to be how does Anthony Edwards look and does he look like himself or does he look like a guy who's playing through a knee issue? And if it's the latter, I just, I'm not sure how these guys are winning the series.

[Ben McMahon]

Yeah, the only thing I'm going to say is their last series with the Nuggets, which the Wolves won in seven games, was a bizarre series. And you want to talk about like, you can't overreact game to game. The Wolves won the first two on the road, lost the next three, including two at home, and then won the last two games of the series. And the last one was that historic comeback in game seven in that mile high altitude.

[Tim Bontemps]

There's also this stat from Bennett Durando from the Denver Post that he tweeted out the other day that I was amused by. So the Nuggets are now eight and one in game ones going back to 2023. They're also now one in four in their last five game twos. And the only game two that they won was one that they came back from down 20 in the second half at home and one at the buzzer. So the Nuggets have like the team I saw today, Boston, have been known to kind of play around and let teams in and out of series.

[Brian Windhorst]

They routinely play long series except, you know, the finals when they took the final.

[Tim Bontemps]

So let's see if this, if the Denver can, you know, put their foot down and take it, take advantage of the opportunity also. But that starts with can, can Minnesota actually seize it. If it's sitting there. And that depends on how Ant looks.

[Brian Windhorst]

All right. The NBA in something that is new this year is with the new media deals. They announced all the finalists for the awards all on TV on Sunday. I don't think there was anything in. There was a couple of guys who were like, I think what, Asar Thompson making the Finals for Defensive Player of the Year. That was.

[Ben McMahon]

Wow. There's a mystery who's going to win that.

[Brian Windhorst]

No, I understand. But I mean, if you're looking for something that's interesting, I don't know, is. Is. Is Tim Hardaway finishing top three and six, man. I guess it's mildly interesting, but I

[Ben McMahon]

thought that was deserving.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah, it's not unreasonable. I just, you know. But

[Tim Bontemps]

surprises from the Finals.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. Anyway, Monday they're going to announce the Defensive Player of the Year. Guess what? It's an off day for the Spurs.

[Ben McMahon]

Oh, gee whiz. Yeah, Mike. Right. Get ready. You're going to be working, buddy.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah. All right. Well, our late nights begin. Thank you very much to Jackson and Mark for staying up late and putting this together. Thank you to Bontemps, who flew to Boston and back. Got up at three in the morning or something to fly to Boston and back.

[Ben McMahon]

What a hero.

[Brian Windhorst]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

McMan day, if you will.

[Brian Windhorst]

McMahon covered a game today.

[Ben McMahon]

I did Sports center in the morning. I covered a game. Like, they got the money's worth out of me today.

[Brian Windhorst]

Chill out, boy. Good job.

[Tim Bontemps]

That wasn't what I was saying.

[Brian Windhorst]

It's not.

[Tim Bontemps]

They don't work.

[Brian Windhorst]

First podcast of the playoffs. Down like several dozen to go.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah.

[Brian Windhorst]

We'll talk to you later this week.

[Ben McMahon]

Adios, amigos.

[Brian Windhorst]

Hey, Mama, thanks for making all my favorite recipes.

[Ben McMahon]

Hi, Ma.

[Brian Windhorst]

Thanks for your unfiltered advice. Hi, Mom. Thanks for always being by the phone.

[Ben McMahon]

Hey, Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

[Brian Windhorst]

When you ship UPS Air at the UPS Store, your items arrive on time

[Tim Bontemps]

or your money back.

[Brian Windhorst]

Guaranteed at no extra cost. Exclusively at the UPS store US retail locations. Visit the upsstore.com airshipping for full details. Terms and conditions apply. Send your Mother's Day gifts at the UPS Store and we'll get your gratitude there on time.