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Jay Skeets
This is an iHeart podcast.
Tas Melis
Guaranteed Human.
Coca Cola Announcer
What a matchup we got, y'.
Rob Gronkowski
All.
Coca Cola Announcer
This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beatin everybody showing that school pride. Game like this, yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and in ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.
Tas Melis
Evil. Evil and Doug.
TK
Oh, what a horrible call.
Tas Melis
Hey, ref.
TK
Open your eyes.
Tas Melis
Ref.
TK
You're really not gonna call that?
Jay Skeets
Come on.
TK
Hey, ref, why didn't you customize your car insurance with Liberty Mutual and save money.
Tas Melis
I don't think you get what we're doing.
TK
Sure I do. We're all just giving him advice. You guys on sports, me on saving money.
Coca Cola Announcer
Nope, that's not it.
TK
Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty. Liberty.
Tas Melis
Liberty.
TK
Liberty.
IBM Announcer
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Jay Skeets
Running a business is hard enough. Don't make it harder. With a dozen apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. That's software overload. Odoo is the all in one platform that replaces them all. CRM, accounting, inventory, E Commerce, hr. Fully integrated, easy to use and built to grow. With your business, thousands have already made the switch. Why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's odoo.com. Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Monday, December 15th, 2025. I'm Jay Skeets here in the new and improved Classic Factory. And alongside me, as always, Tas Melis.
Tas Melis
Podcast listeners, this is for you.
Jay Skeets
Next to him, it's my top shot hot boy, Trey Kirby.
TK
Ayo.
Jay Skeets
Ayo. And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer jd.
Tas Melis
Hello.
Jay Skeets
There he is. Here we are. It's a cold day in Atlanta, but it's hot in here with These new lights. Yes, J.D. you've done it, my man.
Tas Melis
Well, Tony and Kyle came in and did it.
Jay Skeets
Ah, Tony and Kyle.
Tas Melis
Shout out to them.
Jay Skeets
All right, Tony and Kyle. A lot more room in here.
Tas Melis
Too airy. This is step one. Things are still, still in the works, as JD Said yesterday.
Jay Skeets
Okay.
Tas Melis
We still have bells and whistles to go.
Jay Skeets
Okay. Excellent.
TK
No whistles here.
Jay Skeets
Excellent.
Tas Melis
So comforting. It's comfort. It feels cozy in here.
Jay Skeets
It does. It really does. It's lit. Very nice. So if you like it, hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners. Just use your imagination right now how well lit we are. Give us a five star rating and review for that on today's show. It's a Monday staple. We'll make our way through some NBA weekend winners and losers. But we gotta start by respecting the cup. Saturday night, two semifinals games. Let's talk about them. We'll look forward to the final there on Tuesday night. We gotta start with Wembanyama returning from a 12 game absence with 22 points. Nine boards giving the Spurs a huge boost. And OKC just their second loss of the season. Spurs get the victory. 111, 109 on Saturday night. They are on their way to the NBA cup final. Great game. Besides the ending, which was a glorified free throw shooting contest, but a great game otherwise. And Wemby was the star of this one.
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's like the next rivalry in the NBA is born. It feels like potentially. Yeah, it has to be 100% because this is Wemby growing. It was so fun to watch him out there. Not only, you know, diving on the floor and cheering for his freaking team. That was fun. But also just the types of shots he was getting. I love the way the Thunder, you know, they're always going to play defense and they're always going to keep going. The way they're guarding him almost vertically, I thought because you have to guard him vertically. The way they were just slashing at the ball, especially Caruso. They just know how to do that. Even though we didn't know Wemby was going to play and when he comes off the bench for the first time in his career. So they're going to get used to that. I know Thunder fans are super concerned. What the heck, this is our second loss. This is like their first loss of the season because that other one was on a back to back and we had a huge drew holiday night against the Thunder. That won't happen again. This is just a new phase. It really is. To watch Wemby the. The. The shots obviously on homegrown on the baseline. The up and down nature of the spurs just getting up there. This is it. And it's born. It feels like this is step one.
Jay Skeets
We got two more Spurs, Thunder games over the next 10 days.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
They played twice more coming up here, one of them being on Christmas.
TK
Family, gather around. We're watching the next great rivalry in the NBA. Sit down and watch this. We're not watching football. We're not opening presents. We're watching Chet vs. Wemby. That was awesome, man. That was the best cup game there ever has been.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
TK
I even went back and looked at some of the other eliminations games just to make sure, because as soon as they happen, you forget about them.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
TK
This one you're not going to forget about. Wemby pulling a Willis Reed coming back from injury. It was so weird the way it went down in the first half. Playing three minutes in the first quarter, like, he came out instantly, started dominating mostly by hitting the offensive glass. And you're like, wow, this is exciting. A team might be able to beat the Thunder someday. Then he was gone after three minutes, came back for another three minutes in the second quarter, and it was just like, if he can be on the court, it feels like the spurs have a chance. And then he actually got to play in the fourth quarter, and it was awesome. Wemby couldn't dribble. Thunder were all over him. Anytime he put the ball on the floor, they put a little guy on him to bump him, get physical, and then swarmed him anytime he started to approach the rim. But he could do everything else, so I thought that was super smart. Go into the glass. He does have a size advantage over literally everybody in the NBA. So hit the glass, and then if you can't dribble, just shoot over the top. You're still the tallest guy there. Hit that one on Caruso where Caruso, like, knocks it out of his hands, somehow regains it, fades away, knocks it down. That was so cool. You love to see Wemby just talking trash the entire time. Case and Wallace fouls, and he flexes on him. Made Case and Wallace laugh. He's like, hey, man, it's just a foul. Just a foul. Points at Caruso after that shot. And then when Chet misses the free throw at the end, yelling and screaming for a Cup semifinals game. Yeah, this guy was fired up. He cares about winning the Thunder. Cared about winning this game, too. Very memorable. This one is unforgettable.
Tas Melis
Yeah. And again, when he's on the bench. He's jumping up and down for his teammates. He's not just a guy who's going to sit and save his energy for the floor. He's just super excited. He's into it. He'll read a book pre game and then he'll come out when he's needed on the floor. He's a special guy and he's starting this new era of the Spurs. I know we're kind of like jumping into this and maybe sounds like we're making more out of it than it is, but it's not. This is the spurs born here.
Jay Skeets
Well, some people are thinking the San Antonio spurs saved the 25, 26 regular season because they beat them. I think there might be some truth to it. It's like, you know, it's just like thunder rolling over everybody here. Maybe everybody's like, ah, they're going to probably win the cup. Maybe they're going to defend their title. But now, yeah, we're going to see in a couple more games, like I said, coming up here. But they can be beat it generally you're going to have to take like Wemby being out there because they weren't good when he wasn't. But other guys contributed for the spurs too. And a bunch of guys hit threes again, obviously showed their athleticism, their speed, like you said, sound games from Fox and Castle and stuff like that. So yeah, like, and there is some, you know, hate for each other. It feels like, at least from Wemby to Chet, not a fan of his. And that's great. We want that as basketball fans.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Listen, if the Thunder hit some open shots early in this game, they missed a lot of open threes. They were the fifth highest three point percentage team coming into this game. And there are some stinky shots that they missed. They may have been different then, but Wemby just changes everything. He really does. He's a plus 20 in those six minutes in the first half. This was a one point game in the end and OKC could have played a lot better. They weren't ready for the Wemby experience. They just weren't. Nobody was. I mean, on Friday here we talked about what OKC can get to this season if they get to 74, 75. And we pointed out the two games, the Christmas Eve Eve and then Christmas, that Spurs couldn't knock them off one of those times because Wemby would be back. We didn't know. We couldn't see what Wemby could become here this early. But to combine him with Devin Vassell splashing those three. Stefan Castle with that spin finish. And then when he saw it post game, he even ooh, oh, wow, that's me. How good he look doing that. He even had a look away on the inbound pass for the Wemby dunk. He came the, the inbound pass, the blob. And then he just looked out to the side like, wow, that was pretty cool. So I think a lot of things went wrong for this, the Thunder. I mean, Jalen Williams is 16 shots to get 17 points like this felt like his worst regular season game of his career. Felt like. It felt like he could, he could have been way more efficient anyways, efficiency wise. Shai struggled when Wemby was on the floor. Those missed threes, I think there's the way they guard Wemby I think will be interesting these next two games. I know we, I love the slash that he said they guard him vertically. But is it just going to be Chet one on one? I think so. I think they're going to try that Chad on Wemby. I think so.
TK
Chet never guards Wemby.
Tas Melis
I know. I think they have to see that just to see what he can become instead of just the small guy because he's going, he's too smart. He's going to shoot over those guys. I mean they're going to slash. You're going to get a Caruso, you're going to get. You're going to get a little case in Wall Street. Jalen Williams mostly. But I think you have to guard him one on one to see, just to see. Because this is again, this is born.
Jay Skeets
Just try it out here in the.
Tas Melis
Regular season or when they new era here.
Jay Skeets
We'll maybe see. Yeah. The ending, like I said, took forever.
TK
It was ridiculous.
Jay Skeets
It's just stupid. It's. We've done this every year.
TK
Last nine seconds, there were three timeouts and five take fouls. On basketball reference, you know, they do the play by play. Each individual thing gets a line. 40 line items in nine seconds.
Jay Skeets
That's stupid.
TK
It ruined the game. It ruined the end of the game.
Jay Skeets
It did. The final 20 seconds of the basketball game took like 13 minutes.
TK
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
And there was a lot of intentional, you know, fouling and obviously spurs fouling when they're up three and people are debating like, should we get rid of that, tweak that rule where maybe it's just one shot and you keep the ball. Like maybe you can just decline it like football. Right. You know, you don't have to Actually take the penalty if you don't want to. So there's a lot of options you could do and. And the NBA should, because this ruins what was a very entertaining, great game. And it makes the ending, which should be the best part, the absolute worst part. And nobody's saying like, oh, what are you doing, Spurs? You ruined it. No, these are the rules. So they're smart to do it and elect to play that game. But we could change that as a league and probably should, in addition to all the timeouts and all of the reviews and all this stuff. Reduce it all.
TK
Yeah, 100%. It used to be a debate, like, should a team foul up three? And now it's not even a debate. Everybody knew back then it was the smart thing to do, but some coaches wanted to play it old school.
Jay Skeets
Let's get our defense out there.
TK
No, you foul up three, but unfortunately it means you foul up three every single time. It was so annoying. Just, I don't know, this was maybe the game of the year. It's one of the five best games.
Jay Skeets
On the short list. Yeah.
TK
And I'll probably eventually forget about the ending being brutal.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
TK
Because the first 47 minutes were so awesome. But that last minute, that's just, just so annoying. But with regards to Jalen Williams, with regards to Shea, I give a lot of credit to the spurs for making it tough on them. I thought they defended SGA about as well as you can. They forced him out of the mid range. Castle was all over him. He was being just as physical on defense as the Thunder are physically on defense. And you can get away with it. When you got Wemby hanging out behind to like encourage it. They were doubling, getting the ball out of his hands. And then Jalen Williams just couldn't make him pay for getting the ball out of Shay's hands. You know, he's coming back from injury. He's kind of getting his rhythm back. So I think he can be better going forward. You know, this loss doesn't really change my opinion that the Thunder are clearly the favorites at all. They still should challenge for 70 wins, but I think this does mess with their pace, taking them from like a 78 win pace to a 74 win pace. They stink now, but it was interesting to see the Thunder really having to work on offense and having it not work all that well. You can't really replicate Wemby, but you can replicate being physical. You can replicate going to the offensive glass. You can replicate being the bigger team. These are the only ways you can beat The Thunder. The spurs did have the perfect mix on Saturday night. Not every team is going to have that. You got to do it four times in a playoff series. But at least there's a little bit of a recipe out there.
Jay Skeets
I can't wait to find out if the spurs and Wemby really are the kryptonite to the Thunder or is it just Vegas? Because they lose in Vegas, too. You know, this is two years in a row where they've come up short here. When we get to the semifinals and the finals last year. So, yeah, can't wait for these two.
Tas Melis
Games coming up and the last year for the semifinals to be in Vegas. It'll be in the home court of every single team next year.
Jay Skeets
And they're also. I saw Buntemps reporting that they're talking about. The league is discussing whether even the final is going to be in Vegas at this point. But I think next year, yeah, it will. But moving forward, maybe, you know, the crowds. What do you think of the crowds overall, especially the first game? It's like 2:30 local time there for Nick's magic.
Tas Melis
Well, the OKC crowd did not compare to OKC, the arena. And I know you can just say, of course, but it didn't even. Didn't even feel buzzy. The same way, you know, it didn't feel loud at all.
Jay Skeets
Well, there were more. Well, there were also more spurs fans.
TK
Not intentionally allowed for the Spurs, I thought.
Jay Skeets
Yeah. And so, you know, Thunder, they're like, well, okay, this is weird. We're the higher seed. We've won more games in the knockout stage to get this obviously, seating. And it's like we're at a deficit here, but on this neutral site with more spurs fans in attendance. But yeah, making the right move, at least for the semifinals, to be in your own barn and then maybe keep it neutral. Yeah, maybe it's not Vegas, maybe. I don't know. Maybe it goes other places. Whatever. You could do that. Anything else from that one?
TK
Stefan Castle's really good now. He's just really taken a leap. And I think one of the biggest improvements he's made is finishing inside because he's a great downhill driver. Dwyane Wade was talking all night about playing off two feet. That's a Dwyane Wade move right there. He had the 360 where he tried to draw like a hardened rip through foul. Didn't work, so just spun and hit a layup. That was so cool. He had that like he was driving from the right to the left. Finishes on the Left side with a righty scoop. That was a swish. Probably didn't mean for that to happen, but he was playing through contact the entire night. It is because he can go off two feet. He's an explosive athlete. He's gone from like 65 at the rim, which is a good number, to like 75 at the rim, which is an incredible number. And that has just opened everything up for him. And he's gotten so much smarter about the way he play makes and this kind of stuff as well. He is really, like, not a great rookie. Class last year, he kind of felt to me a little bit like a.
Jay Skeets
Default rookie of the year.
TK
But seeing the way he's played in his second season, it makes me feel like he earned it more his rookie year. Like, I'm like, oh, actually, he's good. He's actually really good. He's not just the best of an okay flash. He's got some John Wall to his game. I'm telling you, the way he manipulates things and is able to be the fastest guy out there sometimes, but also change his speeds and stuff. Very good.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Looks like he has improved. And that's why these spurs are for real. Even as readiest people will be for Wemby. And they're going to get physical with him. They're going to throw that little body at him. They're here, man. The spurs are here. And yeah, those two days, Christmas Eve Eve. And Christmas. I like calling it Eve. I know. Because then you don't have to. You don't have to say two days before back to back. I'm just getting ready.
Jay Skeets
23Rd'S the Festivus.
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah, sure. The Festivus.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
We'll be in a festival Christmas Eve. That'll be fun. There's no doubt they're gonna try and pull Wemby out as much as possible because Wemby was in there. And that's why the spurs were getting so aggressive. And that's why Shea had the most turnovers he's had this season with those five turnover. And their three point shots were not as good as they could be. And they're gonna focus on that. They're gonna focus on guarding him even more. They're gonna focus on getting in the paint. The only one points in the paint by four. They usually destroy because of Wemby, obviously. And they won't miss layups like that. Caruso missing that. Literally, that. The bunniest of bunnies with 130 left. That's what he's thinking about. He did the. I guess the Harrison Barnes impression. He put the hands on his head. Harrison Barnes. Listening to Vanessa Carlton.
Jay Skeets
I think it was Biombo in the.
Tas Melis
Somebody had their hands on their head. Caruso was so upset. I couldn't see if that was a foul on Caruso on the layup at the layout end, end. He missed the one at 130. But then the end end. I don't know. I wouldn't call that a foul.
Jay Skeets
No, no, no. Also, especially considering who it is that's complaining about it. You get away with a lot. That's fair. You guys play very physical. You set the tone. The thing is, the spurs matched you in this game. That's right. That's what it is. And that made for a very entertaining game. But, yeah, no, I'm sorry. I don't think you have much case there on that. That last one.
TK
Nobody's given a Crusoe of the benefit of the doubt, but he had a sick dunk as well.
Tas Melis
Oh, my God. Hammer. That was sick.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
TK
And I. I was. I was feeling like Stan Van Gundy, man. I just love basketball. Watching the sport of basketball be played at a high level. Stan Van Gundy was hilarious, man. He was, like, in podcast mode. I felt like he would just chime in to say the most obvious things as a joke. Kept going back to that. Well, it hit once. And then the other times, I was like, okay, Stan.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, we get.
TK
We also like basketball.
Jay Skeets
We do, indeed. And that was the spurs first game, correct me if I'm wrong, with their four main. Main guys right in Wemby, Fox, Harper and Castle all playing.
TK
I think so.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
So that's fun. And then the llama. Kelton Johnson's llama. Maybe. Maybe more than one llama at this point. With the money that they could make here after it's all said and done.
TK
Even now, it's like, they get, what, 200,000. I think he's made enough off of this cup to get a llama regardless of when or not.
Jay Skeets
Can you clarify? They do get, like, the additional money, right? It's not like you win the cup and you get the $500,000. You also are getting the other monetary values advancing, right? So, like, in the end, my point is, you're making over $750,000 for an A Cup win.
Tas Melis
I don't think so.
TK
I don't think so.
Tas Melis
I don't know.
Jay Skeets
I'm asking. I'm like, which one?
Tas Melis
Because you're saying you see money. They get money for losing quarterfinal. That's what I'm saying 50k. Do. Do you get that? In addition, each level, each stage.
Jay Skeets
I legit don't know. And I was debating Grisham about it. I was like, I don't know.
TK
I would think it's like, who Wants to be a Millionaire? You gotta keep getting to the level.
Tas Melis
I think so.
TK
Okay.
Tas Melis
Speaking of money, I mentioned on Friday, the Spurs were at a great line to win the Southwest Division plus 280. They're now down to plus 190. Still a decent time for them to pass the Houston Rock. It's still a decent time to get in, get all the Southwest salads you can get. Our man Kelden Johnson gets a llama. But you can get all the Southwest tastiness from wherever you get your Southwest salads. Okay.
TK
Do you have a favorite Southwest salad?
Tas Melis
The bagged.
TK
Yeah, bagged Southwest salad is pretty good. Hey, man, throw some fish sticks in an air fryer and you got yourself a fish taco. Just saying.
Jay Skeets
Wow, that's a nice little tip there.
Tas Melis
Jamie Oliver fish taco. Underrated.
Jay Skeets
You're. You're right. I've never made myself a fish taco, so I might have to try this.
TK
Yeah, that's good.
Jay Skeets
Quick meal.
Tas Melis
The Chick Fil A Southwest respectable. Also respectable. Yeah, we'll respect that as well.
Coca Cola Announcer
What a matchup we got, y'.
Jay Skeets
All.
Coca Cola Announcer
This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beat, everybody showing that school pride. Game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, Crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere, and an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.
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TK
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Tas Melis
Boom.
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Jay Skeets
Oh, yeah.
TK
Your price on car insurance when you customize and save is going down.
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TK
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Tas Melis
Liberty.
TK
Liberty.
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Jay Skeets
First game we had Jalen Brunson scoring a season I 40 points to lead the Knicks past the Magic 132, 120. That puts New York through to the NBA cup final. So they will take on the spurs. Knicks have won five in a row and nine of their last 10. Trey, where do you want to start with this one? Is it, is it Brunson going for a 40 burger there in Vegas?
TK
Yeah, he was pretty sweet. A season high 40 I think for Brunson. Had the nice crossover on Anthony Black where he sat him down on the floor and had a conversation with him and then knocked down a three pointer. I thought that was big. I thought Karl Anthony Towns had a big and one drive. Started flexing like crazy. Put the Knicks up six with 3:30 left. But this was a fun game and to me it kind of felt a little bit potential. Conference finals preview between the Knicks and the Magic. I think the Knicks are kind of by far the best team in the Eastern Conference right now and I've got the Magic right in the second tier. It's like them and the Pistons. You put the Pistons ahead. I believe they've been better so far this season. And the Jalen Suggs thing is a little concerning the way he had such a big first half. He looked kind of unstoppable. Looked like the Knicks didn't have anybody quick enough to keep up with him, keep him from getting where he wanted to go. But then for whatever reason, tweaked something in his hip and wasn't able to finish the game. I thought it was a little scary when they interviewed him at halftime and they're like, are you feeling okay? You feeling good? He's like, yeah, I feel good. And then they like pull out the shot and he's just like covered in bandages. He had like bandages from his nipples to his knees. I was like, oh. And then he got hurt even more in the second half. The Magic just had not been able to to catch a break between last season's couple of oblique injuries and a knee injury to Suggs. And you got Paolo going out with injury right? When he comes back a game and a half later, Franz goes out. Now it looks like they might be missing Suggs for a little bit of time here, but if the Magic are able to get some semblance of health going into the playoffs, they are a good team. Desmond Bane has really found his spot there in Orlando and it felt to me like these teams would probably get in a fight if they get into a playoff series against each other. A couple of ornery moments.
Jay Skeets
Yep.
Tas Melis
It was awesome just to watch Brunson, period. He just had the off balance, on balance, off bounce the shots making to go up against Suggs, which is great to see for Jalen Suggs in that first half. He was frickin awesome. I thought Paolo Bunchero was really, really good adapting to his role here as they moved it fast enough. I know he kind of got into his dribble mode a little bit and he missed every single three he took. But I thought the recipe is there for a really good Magic team without Franz to be able to hang blow for blow with Jalen Brunson, who's going to get MVP votes and everybody else following in order perfectly behind him on that Knicks team. It's so perfect.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, you had cat going for 29 on a really good shooting night. 9 of 11 hit a couple three, zero turnovers. You love to see two OG with 24 eight to 13, he hit a bunch of threes. He added six boards, Bridges chipped in with 16 and efficient shooting in obviously heavy minutes. And then Josh Hart too. I mean, obviously Phil's the box scorer. Yeah, you're right. I thought that too. It was like everybody playing their role absolutely perfect. And this is a Magic team that is good on defense and they Got embarrassed. I mean, The Knicks shot 61%. Like, they were efficient, held the edge in points in the paint, committed very few turnovers. They just like, this is like, I'm with you. That maybe the magic get there. But my takeaway was like, oh, yeah, the Knicks are clearly the better team here in the Eastern Conference and a part of it. Yes, Injuries coming into play, but they're just a step ahead here of where Orlando wants to get to and will be an absolutely bummer of a season if they don't make the conference finals. At the very least for the Knicks.
TK
Oh, we're talking about. I mean, it's a disappointing season. If they don't make the finals. They probably coach that took them to the conference finals for the first time in 25 years. Sure.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
And here we are at this point with the Milwaukee Bucks stinking it up, and we'll talk about them later. And whether or not the Knicks have to go get him and whether he gives up on his team after seeing what they did against the Brooklyn Nets yesterday. I know.
Jay Skeets
I. Mellow is losing hope in Milwaukee Bucks.
Tas Melis
Wow.
Jay Skeets
And the chances of keeping Giannis.
Tas Melis
We'll talk. We'll talk.
TK
I didn't say that.
Tas Melis
I did not say that. We'll talk about it later. Whether or not it's up to him. It's up to him. If it's now or at the end of the season is the perfect time when the Knicks don't win a championship and he can and say, all right, I'm the guy to get you over the top. But they look. Yeah, they look absolutely spectacular. Like, they should get there. They're doing it without the Deuce off the bench, without Deuce McBride. Tyler Kolek has been great for them. I know everybody calling him Steve Nash. Not everybody, but he's number 13. He's a white guy. His hair is flowing like he's Steve Nash.
Jay Skeets
That's the most disrespectful thing I've ever.
Tas Melis
Heard, though, to Steve Nash.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
Yeah. It just looks like.
Jay Skeets
But he's not even close.
Tas Melis
He's on. Nash is on the Amazon broadcast. It's easy to just compare the two white guys, but he's not. No, obviously not. Not even close to the player.
Jay Skeets
Well, I'm Bernie Johnson then.
TK
Four assists for Kolik. Kolik gave him a shot in the arm.
Jay Skeets
He did. He did. He's actually a good player.
TK
Yeah, he got a steal. Steve Nash could never, you know, got a steal and dished it for a layup right underneath. But I Actually think he's a decent backup point guard. Like if Deuce McBride is out, they can sub him in and not take a massive step backwards.
Tas Melis
Yeah, there's no doubt. There's no doubt. And the Magic got some, some of those shots off the bench too. When you see a Jet Howard jump in there and get shots, they felt like they were deep. And that's surprising with Franz out that they responded so frickin well.
Jay Skeets
So, Nick, Spurs Tuesday night in Vegas for the cup title. It's either like a coronation of sorts, I guess here for Wemby, like to get his first real trophy or really the first trophy for Knicks basketball, men's basketball, at least in like 50 years. 50 plus. Yeah. Where are you leaning in Tuesday night's game here? Spurs or Knicks? Taking this.
TK
I'm leaning to the Knicks. I think veteran teams win the cup.
Jay Skeets
Okay.
TK
They are more veteran than the spurs are, but I'm just excited. I just see Wemby in a winner take all game. Of course it's happening in the United States. He can't beat the United States, but maybe, maybe he can beat the United States too.
Tas Melis
Yeah. For some reason I'm with the Knicks too. Yeah. Because they look like they have been themselves now for a few weeks and the spurs are still feeling it out a little bit. I wouldn't be surprised.
TK
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
If the spurs win, I can't imagine the line will be all that big in this one.
TK
It's currently two and a half for New York.
Jay Skeets
Yeah. Okay, that sounds right. Yeah. I mean, how many more minutes does Wemby get on Tuesday? Is it going to be in the same ballpark? Try and obviously reduce those. Still keep them limited. That's a key part. I mean, if he's out there, if you tell me right now Wemby's gonna play. Oh, no, no. He's gonna be unleashed. He's gonna play 40 minutes and I'm like, oh, I like the spurs chances, but I can't imagine they're doing that. Gotta play the long game and hopefully it's another competitive game that doesn't end in a bunch of free throws though this time.
TK
That'd be fun. That would be fun.
Jay Skeets
Yeah. Yeah. If you guys want Nicks, I'll go Spurs just for fun. Smart move.
TK
Other things that I liked from our Saturday night Cup festival. The gold looks better this year. Last year they had a pale gold.
Jay Skeets
Yes.
TK
Looked like a well hydrated urine. This looks good. It looks like a championship gold.
Jay Skeets
Yes.
TK
Looks way, way better. I did like Ian Eagle on this Broadcast. This was during the Knicks game. He got a promo to read about something with the rapper Nas, and he called him nos. And Dwayne Wade was not having it. Yeah, you could tell Eagle was a little embarrassed.
Tas Melis
Oh, man.
Jay Skeets
It's like he PR. He probably practiced it, like, 10 times.
TK
That's what he's like. He's like, practice all these pronunciations for the players, and then they slip you a promo with Nas in it, and it just comes out Nas. Hey, man, this is not the Fast and Furious universe.
Jay Skeets
No, no.
Tas Melis
Yeah, because it's spelled N A S, and once you get a piece of paper in front of, you may say nos. He performed.
Jay Skeets
God, they kept promoting that. Yeah. And then he finally. Yeah, he finally did perform. I couldn't tell if it was live or not. I imagine it wasn't, but it was dark, so it was a little perplexing.
Tas Melis
I have no idea.
Jay Skeets
I don't know. He played some new songs. He's got a new album. Oh, yeah.
TK
I mean, I will be missing that one.
Jay Skeets
Well, I'm telling you, he does.
TK
No offense to my friend Nas also.
Tas Melis
I will listen. I will listen.
Jay Skeets
Okay, good.
Tas Melis
If it's out, I haven't, but I.
Jay Skeets
Think it just came out.
Tas Melis
I assume it probably comes out when.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
He performs. Yeah.
TK
Rapper's over 40. It's ain't not gonna happen.
Tas Melis
Oh, come on. For me, the Clips album also didn't listen to it. It was good.
Jay Skeets
It wasn't bad.
TK
Rap is a young man's game.
Tas Melis
Of course it is. Yeah.
TK
And these are old guys.
Tas Melis
Yeah, we're all hanging on.
TK
No, podcasting is an old man's game.
Tas Melis
That's true. It's. It's not rapping.
TK
Everybody who's in their prime is old in the podcasting world. Speaking of prime, the other thing. It's true. I mean, think about it. It's. Every NBA player is retired from their primary profession.
Tas Melis
Yeah, but do they have good pods?
TK
Well, they had no pods before. The figurehead of the podcasting industry is.
Tas Melis
He'S an old 50s.
TK
Yeah, you got to be old to be a podcaster is what I'm saying, man.
Tas Melis
Hey, man, we're old.
TK
We're on the younger end of podcasting here. I'm just saying it's an old man's game compared to rapping.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
You don't have to have.
TK
When you're a rapper.
Jay Skeets
Bill Simmons, 56. Yep. Had to look it up.
TK
Old. But like the other thing I was gonna say. Did you guys watch any Prime Vision?
Jay Skeets
No.
TK
The secondary broadcast that Amazon prime was doing. Basically they make it into 2K. It's a different camera angles, a lot of like the baseline overhead and then it switches as they switch half courts. It puts like little circles that spin around when the guys have the ball. When they shoot it. Sometimes it has the arc. It was awesome. Oh, it was actually great.
Jay Skeets
Good.
TK
Yeah, it was really, really good.
Jay Skeets
Those usually don't do much for me, I gotta say. When you were selling it, like it was like 2K. I was like, not interested.
TK
But I kind of actually think the 2K camera angle is better than the standard NBA broadcast angle. You can actually see where guys are on the floor and like the way they exploit space and get into different kind of cracks and the crazy finishes they do, we're just so used to seeing at the sideline angle that it throws you off. But it looks good.
Tas Melis
Okay.
Jay Skeets
Not to fire it up.
Tas Melis
I didn't.
Jay Skeets
Sure. They're doing it for the final here on Tuesday.
TK
I'm sure they would think so. Yeah.
Tas Melis
I saw a rail line camera, you know, the. The one that sort of feels like it's on a dolly. Like it's from the side but lower and kind of slides along. That was on some sort of stream. I don't know which one it was, but it was the NBA app. Here's your other sideline stream. You know, that's always cool for some time.
Jay Skeets
Oh, yeah.
Tas Melis
It feels like you're almost there. Yeah. And you can. You can see like speaking of the distances or just the space in between guys, you can see how freaking tight it is and how hard it is to. To get in between those little angles.
Jay Skeets
Especially when Wemby and Chet are out there taking up a lot more space. Those guys, those angular guys. Anything else on the Cup?
Tas Melis
Mitchell Robinson was supposed to see the Zach Brown Band.
TK
I guess.
Tas Melis
I don't know. That's it. That's really my. My point. He was that opera. He was the. Zach Brown was doing their thing at the Sphere. I think he was only there for one sphere.
TK
Interesting.
IBM Announcer
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
I mean, I guess they are a big act.
Tas Melis
Mitch is a funny clip from the.
Jay Skeets
Knicks social team asking the guys as they were coming in, there was a video where they're doing like, which artists would you want to see at the Sphere? Dead or alive? I think.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
Mikhail Bridges hit me with a Hall and oats.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
I was like, like, wow. I did not expect that. And then it was more sort of more obvious answers for a lot of the other guys.
Tas Melis
But yeah.
Jay Skeets
Guess he's a whole notes fan. Okay, let's take a break and when we come back we will get to other NBA weekend winners and then some losers as well.
Tas Melis
Every time my father in law comes over, he goes into my gym. You know, he pretends to work out and does a little thing. See, he thinks he's taking care of himself, changing his body. But come on now, doing half a dip or half a squat, it doesn't do anything for you. You Superpower helps your loved ones take control of their health so they can feel better and live longer. Superpower is a new kind of health platform that helps you finally get answers about what's really happening inside your body and what to do about it. You see, data is knowledge. Knowledge is power. That's how you get things done. Track it. One simple lab test measures 100% biomarkers, hormones, metabolism, vitamins, minerals, thyroid, heart health and more. They'll get a full health report and a personalized action plan built by clinicians including nutrition supplement and lifestyle guidance. That's what you need for just $199 every gift membership comes beautifully packaged in a free Superpower gift box ready to wrap and give. It's perfect for this time. It's a thoughtful, life changing gift for your partner, parents or even yourself this holiday. Give your loved ones the only gift that keeps on giving health. Go to superpower.com gift to get a free $49 gift box with your gifted membership. And after you sign up, let them know you heard it on no dunks.
Jay Skeets
To support the show this NBA season on FanDuel. And it's all about the boost. All about that boost. About that boost. No trouble. No trouble when you're boosting on FanDuel. Because game days mean your chance to boost your bet and make everything play payoff. That's right, all customers get a 25% profit boost on NBA parlay and SGP bets. Pace is fast. Game never stops. And with FanDuel, you got more ways to make every win even bigger. So you got to lock in your bets, boost your odds and make every night count on FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Okay, we've respected the cup a fair amount. Let's get to some other NBA weekend winners. Some other games on Friday night, games on Sunday. TK get us started. We'll do one round of winners and one round of looters.
TK
Today I got the Minnesota Timberwolves as a winner of the weekend. Anthony Edwards didn't play over the weekend. He's out with a foot injury. But two wins for the Timberwolves that beat the warriors on Friday. They beat the Kings yesterday. On Sunday. I was more interested in the warriors game, though. I partook in both. Steph Curry came back. 39 points for that guy. 27 lead changes in this game. Really exciting to watch. The Wolves went on a 27 run in the fourth quarter. They built a 12 point lead. I thought part of it was good defense from the Timberwolves, but also the warriors were just ice cold for a long stretch of the fourth quarter. And Minnesota's bench pretty much was running on every single stop. But the warriors got hot. They charged back thanks to Curry hitting some threes and DE Anthony Melton making plays all over the court. Going to time and time again. Warriors took the lead on a Curry three pointer with two minutes left. But the Timberwolves actually executed down the stretch. That is a big time question mark for them this season. But a 10 to 2 run to close the game out. And part of it was Rudy Gobert just dominating inside. No Draymond for the warriors. And Quentin Post. Just couldn't do anything with this guy. In the fourth quarter, Gobert had 12 points, six rebounds. Went 6 of 6 from the field. Jaden McDaniels was setting the table for him. Had a couple of really beautiful passes to set up Gobert. Dante DiVincenzo hit a couple of big three pointers, including a dagger with 28 seconds left. Five Timberwolves finished in double digits in this. In this game, Randle had 27, Gobert had 24, DiVincenzo 21. Nas Reed's been playing really well. He had 18 and McDaniels had 17, plus some assists. Like I said, the bench was decent. Taryn Shannon Jr. Nine points. Rob Dillingham. Most impressed I've ever been with Rob Dillingham. He had six points. Yeah, but he was big. I thought in the fourth quarter. Biggest play of the game to me though was Quentin Post. Had a wide open three pointer, minute and ten left from the right corner. He just waited. He was. This was a task. Melis 2 open shooting rhythm, man, if he catches it and shoots, it probably knocks it down. But he stopped.
Tas Melis
He looked.
TK
Looked down.
Jay Skeets
He may have even. I think he dribbled. Yeah.
TK
Forever. Yeah. Yeah, man. Shoot it.
Tas Melis
And he bricked it.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
TK
Same recipe on Sunday though, for the Timberwolves against the Kings. No ant in this one, but five players in double digits once again, 24 for Randall, 21 for McDaniels, who has a much better handle this season like he does behind the back moves he goes between his legs. He's got some craft to him now. Nas had 20, DiVincenzo had 18, and Bones Highland played great. 18 points and 5 assists. He was making extra passes, he was rebounding, he was doing winning play type of things. I was quite impressed with Bones Highland as well. Zach Levine went out with a sprained ankle in this one. Rudy Gobert had to miss the majority of the second half due to personal reasons. Haven't heard what that has to do yet. We will see. But this was a nice weekend for the Timberwolves to stack up a couple of wins. They've won seven of their last eight. They have been dominating the bad teams, but they're dominating the bad teams. That's good.
Jay Skeets
I like that. The. The Minnesota Timberwolves are the. The guy that's like, I'll catch up later. That's how it feels like in the Western Conference. Like, we got these Thunder off to the hot start. The Nuggets, the Rockets, the spurs, the Lakers. And it's like, what's wrong with Minnesota? But they're like, I'll catch up later, don't worry. And I feel like they're, like, getting there, you know what I mean? Like, they obviously are not. Not in that. That lower level tier, like, play in almost here. They're going to be fine, is my point. And that was a good, solid weekend with no Anthony Edwards.
Tas Melis
Yeah, the Western Conference standings are ridiculously tight. It feels like the Timberwolves could jump up at some point. But I agree. I've kind of lumped Anthony Edwards into that. Hey, he'll. He'll get it going later on in the season. That's part of who he is. His resume, his. Just his aura. He's like, all right, we'll take care of this at some point. But I thought Divincenzo super key against the Golden State warriors, and we talked about whether a package would include him going out for a guy like Kobe White if they need to score. A guy who would totally replace, like, a Bones Highland that they've, you know, experimented and tried to get him going. Or Taran Shannon, who also produced extremely well. Rudy Gobert was monstrous, though. I wonder if Draymond Green was at home watching and just wishing that he could go bang with him. Did he produce a podcast after that? I don't know.
Jay Skeets
I don't think so.
Tas Melis
But he definitely would have talked about how he could have banged Rudy Gobert real hard down low, but not banged in that way.
Jay Skeets
Jesus Murphy.
Tas Melis
There's banging that happens on NBA floors Every single night.
Jay Skeets
No one is naked guy wearing the number 69.
Tas Melis
But yeah, they were impressive. Yeah. And you mentioned everybody, Nas, don't call me Nos, Reed, Everybody super, super good out there for the Wolves. They needed to get it going obviously without Anthony Edwards. So it's just. They just need something game. They need a spark and that's who they are at the end, at the end of every season. So you know, it's obviously super early, but literally two through six is separated by two games. So anything can happen.
TK
Yeah, but do you think they're actually better than any of the teams ahead of them? Ahead of them is okc, Denver, Houston, Lakers, Spurs. That's pretty tough to break that top five. And against that top five, they're not very good.
Tas Melis
Yeah, I think they are better than the Lakers who they show they can outrun and outpace like they did in the playoffs. I think, I think they are of any of those teams. I know we, we just gave a ton of love to the spurs, but I think they can hang. I would like to see a Rudy vs. WEMBY run in the playoffs, but. Funny, but it would be. Yeah, these, these series are when the Timberwolves really, really show up to me in a series of any of these teams for sure. Yeah.
Jay Skeets
All right, so Timberwolves big winner. Who do you have?
Tas Melis
I'm going with Joel Embiid. He's playing basketball more because before this weekend he was required to take two days off after every single game. Friday he played awesome against the Pacers. A lot of mid range, a lot of where Wemby will operate for the next 20 years, hanging out there. He went to the free throw line 18 times. He shot. He played 32 minutes, the most of his season. And then after the game he said, but, you know, I hope the plan changes for me. I hope I can just sit for one night. And for the first time it happened on Sunday. He played against the Hawks just after one night in between. Now, he wasn't spectacular, but he was 22 and 14 and 30 minutes. He had Paul George playing those both games. I thought he had a really big basket against his old team, the Pacers. And then he had 35 against the Hawks.
Jay Skeets
He was on fire against Atlanta. He was hitting insane shots. Yeah, he couldn't miss there for a stretch.
TK
Couldn't shake Veet Kreje though, on that last position.
Jay Skeets
No, that was locked down, deep down. Veet.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah, he's not, he's not the same Paul George to be able to get by guys the same way because he was super pumped with that last minute bucket against the Pacers. Like he felt like old Paul George, but he's, you know, he's not the same guy. But they do this without Tyrese Maxey, who had an illness for both games. So that's just a big, big win and loss. They lost against the Hawks, but it is just overall to see those guys play two games of basket. It's a win. I know it ain't fun, but it is, it is a win. And they were just. They're cohesive. And I think Nick Nurse is back in those guys. He's backing this guy Tyrese Maxey, who he talked about after the game. He said, quote, I talked to him and he said he'd see me at practice Tuesday. I said, I'm not sure we're practicing Tuesday, but I'll be there. Me and you, man. I'll see you there. Nick Nurse is just funny. So they got a unit. I know you were there, Steve. On Sunday versus down at the Fortress.
Jay Skeets
That was a super entertaining game. I'll be honest. I went with the lowest of expectations for us for a Hawks Sixers game on a Sunday at 6 o'. Clock. But it was really entertaining. You know, it sucked that Maxi didn't play for sure. Crazy. No call at the end of the game though, that the Hawks got away with, I believe a backcourt violation. That's such a weird thing that to me is though. And if you didn't see it, it's like they got inbound the ball and they're in the front court and Nikhil Alexander Walker seems to get the ball in the front court and then obviously takes it it into the backcourt. And Nurse and the Sixers are like, what the hell? That's over and back. You can't do that. And when they couldn't look at it, was that the problem too? Because I don't know, it was just. It's one of these strange ones where I'm not really even sure of the rules on that, but I thought it was an over and back. But it's this whole thing of like when you have the ball. Is that what you're gonna say? Sort of.
TK
No, it's too subjective is the thing. It's because if your momentum is taking you into the back court, they don't call it that. Seems like way too much referee influence there. It should be. If you catch the ball with a foot in the front court, it's a backcourt violation. It happened in the playoffs last year. Jalen Brunson I think, was the guy. But it's very weird because he caught the ball in the front court.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
TK
But he was running towards the back court, so they're like, that counts. It shouldn't be like that.
Jay Skeets
No, that was a weird one.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
TK
Dominique Wilkins was confused. He's like, no, that's a backcourt violation. Rathbun was like, no, it's the momentum.
Jay Skeets
And then Nikhil sort of almost like, purposely, it looked like, tries to bobble it, even when he goes into the background to make it look like, well, I didn't really have it, even though he did catch it. But anyway, entertaining game. Paul George is on fire. Vijay Edgecombe, I thought, was really good. Embiid, yeah. Not his best, but these are the type of games where he doesn't even have a good game. You look up, he's got 22 and 14. They were getting pissed off with Embiid, though, throwing his elbows. Poor Kongu caught one in the face. Jalen Johnson's like, that's the second time you've done that, man. Stop throwing your elbows like crazy. I think he did get a flagrant for that in the end after they looked at it.
Tas Melis
But Embiid likes doing that. I get it. Hey, it was just good to see him on the floor, but he doesn't have the lift. We all know that. Jay Huff on Friday with the Indiana Pacers blocked him twice. He just blocked his jump shot. He's like, I know you're not going by me, man. I can block your shot. So he is not the same guy. But as you said, as long as there's a guy to catch the ball at the elbow, it just helps Tyrese Maxey because he can make shots, and he was. He splashed a couple threes, so he looked his best. Whether or not that holds on, you know, we had the debate, is Joel Embiid gonna play more games from this point on, or will LeBron James play more games from this point on? Good sign. Embiid is playing basketball and PG also playing basketball together.
TK
Yeah, I thought it was fitting. On the very same weekend that Wake Up Deadman dropped on N Netflix, both Joel Embiid and Paul George played two straight games. These dead men woke up. Zero dunks between these guys so far this season.
Tas Melis
Wow.
TK
Kind of amazing.
Jay Skeets
That's amazing.
TK
Yeah.
Tas Melis
Embiid doesn't have a dunk.
TK
He can't get by anybody. He can't really jump.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
TK
So when the jumper is on, like, that's one. That's why he had a good Game. Yeah, his jumper was on. His free throws were on.
Jay Skeets
We say jumper, by the way. He doesn't jump.
Tas Melis
No jump.
TK
Exactly. The bigger concern for Embiid is he can't move on the defensive end. So when the ball is really moving, he can kind of get lost out there. You see the same thing, I think, with Paul George playing against the Hawks. He was on fire. He banked in a three pointer at one point. He was hitting some tough shots, and when it came down to can you beat this guy off the dribble? He couldn't beat that guy off the dribble. But in a weekend where they didn't have maxi, they needed anybody to be scoring, and both these guys were able to fill it up. But it just seems to be like more of a high risk, high reward with these guys. If they're hitting, they're gonna play well because they can get to their jumpers because of the size advantage they have over whoever they're going to be playing. But the explosiveness, it ain't there. But no, you're happy to see them playing like that's the big thing. They're signed for years after this, so at least they're out on the court.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, I'll say. I was shocked by how many Tyrese Maxi jerseys I was seeing down at the fortress. Yeah, I was noticing it. I was like, wow, there's a lot of maxi jerseys here. I didn't know he was that popular in terms of people rocking the jersey. So that was cool. But they unfortunately didn't get to see him.
Tas Melis
No.
Jay Skeets
That was a bummer. My weekend winner goes to. The kids are all right. And I am not Talking about the 2010 Oscar nominated film with Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. Of course, though, a good movie, a fine movie.
Tas Melis
I agree.
Jay Skeets
I'm talking about the 2025 draft class rookies. A lot of them on Sunday had really good performances. Start with Con Canipple. He had himself a weekend man. He scored 29 points, had four boards, three assists in 44 minutes during Sunday's win over the Cavaliers. 119, 111. Great game from him. He had Lonzo Ball dropping his head and shaking his head like multiple times after he scored on me. I don't know what to do with this kid. He's getting to his spot or blowing by me. And that was Knipple second straight strong performance after he scored a season high 33 in a loss to Chicago on Friday night. So over the. Over the weekend, Knipple averaged 31 points per game and six assists. And he hasn't missed a free throw since, like, Thanksgiving. The three balls fallen. God, he's good. We've talked about him already. He's legit.
TK
I think he's their best player.
Tas Melis
I agree. I think he is.
Jay Skeets
I mean, Brandon.
TK
Brandon Miller hit a huge shot. He did against the Cavaliers, but he was like, what, 28 points on 23 shots. He goes through some real cold stretches where it looks like he can't generate a good look and just has to kind of get lucky. I mean, he said Paul George is his favorite player of all time, and he plays exactly like Paul George. But Knippo, he just does everything.
Jay Skeets
Yep, yep. So he was. He was awesome. So good. Jeremiah Fierce, another rookie I thought played great on Sunday. And this kid's 19 years old and he's playing point guard in the NBA. He was good against the Bulls. He was, you know, we know he's shifty, strong ball handling. It's tough not to see, like, some Kyrie in him with his handle. It is tight. And he was awesome. He was putting everybody on skates. Every white guy at least. Zach Collins, Kevin Herder, for sure. Bouzelis got a taste of it. He's fast. Those are bigger guys, too, so that's a tough guard for him once he got matched up onto them or they got matched up onto him. But 18 points in the fourth quarter. Excuse me. Score to assistant on 18 points in the fourth quarter for Jeremiah Fears.
TK
Homecoming game for Jeremiah and he destroyed.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, he had the family in attendance there, so it's nice.
TK
Indeed.
Jay Skeets
So he's good. And then already talked about Vijay Edgecomb. I thought he was, like, carried the Sixers for stretches in that game on Sunday versus the Hawks. He had 26 points. And then Atlanta Zone Newell, he played well for the Hawks on Sunday. Now he doesn't play as much as these other guys. I'm talking about really good energy boost for Quinn Snyder off the bench. He had nine, four and two. Again, limited minutes, but if you're watching Hawks games, he's playing here a little bit more. He's actually now getting some shifts. Over the last four or five games. He's averaging like 15 or 16 minutes per game and he's chipping in like 10 points per game. The guy's got some hops to him and he's just all energy, hitting the odd three and he's just getting a little opportunity. So just a little love for him, him, because he didn't see much from him early in the season. He Wasn't playing a lot.
Tas Melis
Yeah. He feels like the same vibes as Colin Murray Boyles can do for the, the Raptors in that same light. Yeah. Watching Derek Queen as well, just to give him love. Just he's through that alley oop to Trey Murphy for that reverse alley oop. Now it's back to back games. He finds Trey Murphy on these baseline cuts and they're pretty stuff.
Jay Skeets
So Zion Williamson coming off the bench.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
For the Pels in that game. Bench boy.
IBM Announcer
Yes.
Jay Skeets
Him and pool coming off the bench. Obviously pool has been, but yeah. Yeah.
TK
Pelicans have five wins this season. They swept the Bulls.
Jay Skeets
Yep. Two against the Bulls. One more winner to NBC. Do you guys see this? They're dropping the coast to coast format for the final NBA telecast of the month here. Okay. Because you know they were doing like the whole east coast, west coast is on Peacock or NBC and then flipped it when you got over to the West Coast. They announced Saturday that it's switching to standard double headers to start at 8:00 clock and 10:30pm Eastern because they were starting these late games at like 11 o'. Clock. 11, okay. Yeah, yeah. So that's just for the remaining of the month. We get true double headers on NBC starting a little bit earlier like I said. Now the reason, like I saw Sports Media Watch said it's unlikely they're going to switch away from this like altogether the coast to coast format because they're really only doing this because the Tonight show and Late Night are typically in reruns here at the end of the the year. So they're like, ah, who cares? Just put the, the games on the actual broadcast. But anyway, okay, it's good things starting a little bit earlier. 11 o' clock is very, very late for us.
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's too late. It is, yeah. I would love to know how many people on the east coast were watching games. I want to see the ratings and I guess that was a part of it.
Jay Skeets
They'll try it out here. They'll test it out. Yeah, maybe it'll do better.
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Tas Melis
All.
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Tas Melis
Limu Emu and Doug.
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Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual.
Tas Melis
Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.
TK
Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.
Jay Skeets
Cut the camera.
Tas Melis
They see us. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty, Liberty.
TK
Liberty.
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Jay Skeets
Excludes Massachusetts.
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Jay Skeets
All right, let's do a round of NBA weekend losers.
TK
TK Riddle me this.
Tas Melis
Okay.
TK
Which is worse? Losing to the Nets by 45.
Tas Melis
Okay.
TK
Trailing by 30 to the Nets after three quarters, giving the Nets their first 30 point lead of the season. Or scoring zero points in the last seven minutes of a basketball game.
Tas Melis
Great.
Jay Skeets
Whoa. Those are tough. Actually options. They're all bad. I go one or three. Actually, I guess I just go one to keep it simple. Just losing.
TK
Just giving 45 to the Nets The Bucks did all of these things, of course. The Brooklyn nets currently ranked 25th in offense. They had nine players in double digits yesterday against Milwaukee, 19 threes, which led to a lot of blow bys on the closeouts. It's like the Nets were hitting them. So then the Bucs finally started challenging on them, and then it was an easy Runway to the rim. 33 assists on 45 makes for Brooklyn. I think they must have back cut the bucks 100 times. So in this game, this is one of the worst losses of the season. I thought the Bucks losing to the Nets, how badly they did. Like you lost to the Wizards not too long ago. You lost by one, right?
Jay Skeets
That happens.
TK
Bad loss.
Jay Skeets
Yeah.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
TK
Losing by 45. This was just disgusting. I went back and watched the entire fourth quarter today. Saw Cole Anthony throw an alley oop that just hit glass, saw Jericho Sims try and take a guy off the dribble from the top of the key, and somehow he threw the ball between the defender's leg and the defender was standing at the free throw line. So he threw the ball like 10ft ahead of him trying to dribble on a dribble drive. Wasn't a turnover, though, because went off of a net's leg. It was really, really bad. This also comes on the heels of a Chris Haynes report that Giannis's next team, he wants, son, he wants a big market and he wants to compete for a championship. These are three things that are not happening in Milwaukee. So I thought bad weekend for the Bucks, and it looked like maybe they were going to have a little bit of a spark here because they beat the Celtics on Thursday. Looked pretty good doing it. You know, Kuzma was incredible in that game. And then in this one, it was just like, Gary Trent Jr. Can you save us? Gary can't save you. This was a. This was bad.
Jay Skeets
And how does Tas Mellas feel about the Milwaukee.
Tas Melis
Hold on, let me. I just want to know which Chris Haynes report I missed because there was another one that he said. Yanis just. He's. He's keeping it internal. Right. It feels like the. The reports changed depending on what's going on with the Bucks, literally, like when they win. The one prior to this one. Yeah, the one prior to this one. I think it was in between the Boston win and it was. He's keeping it internal now. He's got his outlook on what's going on, but. But it feels like it changes. Yeah. So.
Jay Skeets
Well, what does that report even mean?
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
Keeping it internal. What is he keeping Internal, you can't.
TK
Make a trade request.
Jay Skeets
Fine.
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah. To go from. As we were saying after the, the whole thing happened and then Doc Rivers and everybody were saying, we got four days off, we're gonna have a couple good practices, we're gonna see how it goes. Then they go beat the Boston Celtics and then they come out like this. That's why I'm, if I'm looking at Yanis's situation, I see this. If, you know, losing by 10 or 12 to Brooklyn would be despicable, but at least it'd be like, okay, we got hope once I come back. This is entirely different. This was an effort thing. This was just the bench of the, of the Brooklyn Nets coming out and destroying the Bucks really, really badly. So that's just like a up and down locker room. We ain't cutting it here. So, yeah, I think that amplifies Giannis's desire to leave at some point.
Jay Skeets
And this is the unofficial start to trade season here. December 15th. There's like 80 plus more guys that can now actually be traded. So it's, you know, basically 90% of the league at this point could be traded. And yeah, the, the, those, those trade rumors are only going to get louder here. You would think, from, from the Bucks or Giannis and all that, unless he just comes out and says, no, I am not asking for a trade this season. Don't worry, I'm going to come back and we'll make it work and then just do this all over again in the summer. But, yeah, I don't, I mean, he's not looking at this team. He can't be going if the whole thing is just to win another title. And that is priority number one. It's not going to be here. I just don't think it is. And I know they got the one pick that you say they could dangle out there. There's going to be no real difference maker in my mind that will get them up into the championship contender status with just that pick and a guy or two. It's just not there.
Tas Melis
So it sure seems like he wants the Knicks. The question is, with the Knicks, do you want to join them now, if that's possible, or in the off season after two things happen? One, you gave it one more shot with your team because you said preseason, I'm doing this. I'm loyal to this team. I'm staying here for one more year. I will not demand a request during the season. And then the second thing is, do you join a Knicks team that, that didn't win to help them be that boost? Or is that.
Jay Skeets
What if the Knicks win and he's got to join them and looks like Kevin got to join another team, that he's going to join another team. Well, that's why he's opening it up to the three things everybody wants when they get traded. That's right. A chance to win a title. What did you say? Chance to win a title.
TK
Big market.
Jay Skeets
Big market. And some sunshine. Some beautiful sunshine, Some nice weather. Yeah, me, too, man.
TK
We'll say, unfortunately, it's cold in Atlanta right now.
Jay Skeets
Can't come here. Well, I mean, you say the Knicks part of it, too. Like, let's. Let's be honest. Like, would the Knicks right now want to actually, like, trade for Giannis, like, this very minute? It obviously would be breaking up your team to be completely changing your team, because some key pieces have to go out, but they're good. And they're looking at the landscape going, we could get to the Finals. And I'm with you. It's almost like they're. They're looking at, like, no, let's just play this year, see how we do make the Finals, maybe not whatever, and then we'll try and trade for that makes the most sense.
Tas Melis
And how does Brunson and Giannis play together? I think that's an interesting thing, because just the Brunson I know, he's given up the ball more this season. He's handling it less. He's got more catch and shoots, and that's why the Knicks are up in drives and passes and catch and shoots overall. But it is a little bit more like Dame and Giannis playing together. Now, he would give that a shot, of course, and I'm sure Brunson would give that a shot. And Brunson is on a whole other level than Dame was when Giannis played with him.
TK
Yeah, but that.
Tas Melis
That cohesiveness is an interesting part of it, but I guess that's the team he wants to play for.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, yeah. It's. How much does he put his thumb on the scale here? Giannis of like, you could trade me to better teams to get you a better package back, you being the Bucks. But his. Him saying to that team that trades for him, like, I ain't going to.
TK
Be here all that long.
IBM Announcer
Long.
Jay Skeets
So be careful. If he really wants to get to Madison Square in the next.
Tas Melis
I still. I still believe in the loyalist that Giannis is to the Bucks. And he says to Horst, you gotta pick. You do that. I'm giving you one more shot. Which is. Yeah, I hear what you're saying. And that they're still going to be a level below Nick's. Even Magic, probably Pistons, potentially. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, here we are. Here we are. We got two more months to talk about it.
Jay Skeets
That's right. Who do you have for a loser of the weekend? Tas.
Tas Melis
You know, I'm a bit of a geek and I call this the Cleveland half a years here in the document because it feels like they are half of what they were last year. It does not feel like they are themselves. It's so strange. They had five days off before their game against the Washington Wizards on Friday. The Washington Wizards. And I was watching that game as the wizards got up 17 and I thought, what? Well, this game is over and. And this Cleveland Cavaliers team just literally isn't cohesive. They're just not together. Who are they? And we can say there's injuries. Yeah, yeah, whatever. They got down 17 to the Washington Wizards and they needed 24 from Donovan Mitchell in the fourth to get them to OT. Bob Carrington was fricking awesome for the Washington Wizards. So the Cavs got themselves there and they won it.
TK
It.
Tas Melis
And a win is a win. Yeti. Whatever. But they didn't feel right. They just did not feel right. Evan Mobley was literally like missing shots inside. Like he looked like he threw up an airball. It just didn't. Even though his numbers are there, he just doesn't look like who he was. And then he goes down with an injury. He's got a calf strain. He's out two to four weeks. So then they play Charlotte on Sunday. Play that tape back. Same thing happened. Down 17 again. Jared Allen back after a couple weeks off. He got outplayed by Ryan Kalkbrenner. I didn't know I would say Ryan Kalkbrenner this many times this season, but that guy is out playing Jared Allen. I thought in this game, despite Miles Bridges shooting 7 for 19 and Brandon Miller shooting 8 for 23, the Charlotte Hornets won this frickin game. After a miracle sort of play. That Lonzo ball, got it to Jalen Tyson underneath and then Brandon Miller hit a three right in the face of Darius Garland. That was a great little Garland trying to get a little push off thing. Yeah, it was a flop. You can't call that. So Brandon Miller 3. And then they scored zero points in OT against the Charlotte Hornets. So that's why they lose. So this team doesn't look like who they were. I know you said it a couple weeks ago. Seats. And now I do think injuries do play a part. I do think Max Schrouss not playing as their sort of connector has been important just to be out there to connect their, their back court in the front court. And I know Darius Garland has been out and he's hobbling around on that toe injury and Sam Merrill has a hand injury and now Mobley is out and I just don't see what happens in the near future. Again, I think Strus has to come in and just take DeAndre Hunter's job in the starting lineup. Kenny Atkinson believes in DeAndre Hunter. I don't see it. I don't get it at all. He's turning into that Hawks player pre coming off the bench for last season where he was awesome and that's why the Cavs went and got him. But yeah, there is, there is some sort of gap in who they are together. Like Donovan Mitchell's an all star.
TK
He.
Tas Melis
You could literally have some MVP votes for him, but they're just not together. And watching Darius Garland run into Jared Allen on that pick, that was like the calf season in one play. Like, yeah, we can score, we can do good things, but we can't get it done. And so this is a weird, weird time for them. If everybody comes back, sure they could change, but it's hard to see that right now.
Jay Skeets
You have thoughts on the Cavs here? T.K.
TK
Yeah, they're toast. Time to blow it up. Like I it's time to split up. Garland and Mitchell, I think first and foremost, I think their problems are pretty easy to diagnose. The injuries are definitely a concern. Garland is like hobbling around out there. People are asking him about his toe and he won't even talk about it. So you know, it's bothering him and it's clearly affecting him. Mobley now out with a calf strain, Is that right? Like you're saying no Streus yet this season. I guess he just got his walking boot off. So probably still a little time until he comes back. Jared Allen's been banged up. All of their role guys have been banged up. They've had more injuries this season than they had last season. That's hurting them. But the main problem with the Cavs is that they are soft on the defensive end. They don't bring a lot of like physicality on that side, a lot of intensity. And on the offensive side, they're a jump shooting team that can't shoot their first and three point attempts this season, third and three point rate. That's basically the same as Last year.
Tas Melis
Year.
TK
Last year they were 4th in 3 point percentage. This year they're 28th in 3 point percentage. They have no fallback. It's Donovan Mitchell. Please save us. Oh, yeah, sometimes he can, sometimes he can't. But you saw there in overtime, over 10 from the field. Cavs getting booed at home and post game, both Mitchell and Garland are like, yeah, we should be getting booed. We're not giving the fans anything to cheer for. So they gave it a good run. You know, they had the best record in the league last year in the Eastern Conference at least, but. But they've melted down in the playoffs two times, partially because of injuries, but partially because sometimes the lights are too bright, like this key light right here. Sometimes the lights are too bright. And I think that we have just seen the Cavs reach their logical end here. Kept it together, kept the consistency, kept the chemistry, the continuity, all these different C words. But it just doesn't cut it for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, a team has never needed a guy more like a Josh Hart or even a Jalen Suggs or a Caruso. Like those type of guys, everybody knows what I'm talking about. Like the guys that actually bring that energy, a little bit of an attitude can maybe hit a shot too. The Cavs need that. They need that. And that, that to me, if they make a trade here and if it's splitting up either one of their bigs or one of their guards, make sure that type of guy's coming back in the mix because, man, they could use it. I was ready to give them a loser of the weekend after the win on Friday night because it took 48 from Donovan Mitchell. And we keep talking about it. It's like he has to save them. That's not, that's not a recipe for playoff success. I mean, we've seen this time and time again with Donovan Mitchell, give him some help and yeah, it's not good. They're 15 and 12, I think now down pretty low in the Eastern Conference standings. Still a ton of time left to get back up. But I think they, right now, as we get into trade season, they, they have to be looking at a move to shake it up and just switch it up and give themselves like just new life here, I think.
TK
And I think they're a second apron team, isn't that right?
Jay Skeets
Well, yes.
TK
Makes things pretty complicated. And they traded a ton of stuff to get Donovan Mitchell in the first place. And then to bring in DeAndre Hunter, they traded in even more stuff. So a lot of it is going to have to be internal. But man, they just need like, they need a dickhead. They need somebody who's just a jerk. They're saying it here in the stream team. They need like, literally a Dylan Brooks like, character. Somebody who wants to fight somebody every single night.
Jay Skeets
I agree.
Tas Melis
Yeah. And last year they were able to do that with the. The backord of Mitchell and Garland and then Allen and Mobley in the front court with literally. It was. Max Strus was the guy who was a big part of that. Is it just the end of the Donovan Mitchell era here in Cleveland? Like, it was the end of the Donovan Mitchell era in Utah. Like, he has been there now. This is season number four for him. Is it just him not being able to lead? See, I, I don't buy that because I, I feel like he is trying to do his thing, but as far as everybody else goes, they are not there. And that's why internally it has to come in from somebody who just comes out and plays harder because they don't have the. The. The ability to trade for a lot of guys. It could be Max Schrouss again. I know he's not the incredible defender that you might think of, but he's better than DeAndre Hunter, who's literally lacking and literally can't shoot the ball. And I don't know why he's on.
Jay Skeets
A cold streak right now. Surprise, surprise.
Tas Melis
Well, he's been on a cold streak. Yeah. This whole season. Really. He's got to come off the bench. We've seen his. His recipe with the Atlanta Hawks. This is what he needs to be. He needs to come off the bench and be that primary guy. And that's why they need to. To yank him. Kenny, I can say and really believes in him and calls it upon himself to get DeAndre Hunter. Different types of looks, but I don't buy it. I just don't get it, really. And Max Schruss. Yeah, he had the offseason surgery. I don't know if he's coming back anytime soon. He's got that old Jones fracture in his left foot. It seems like it's taking a while. And also, you know, you can keep on looking, but guys like Jaylon Tyson, those guys fight harder out there. So it ain't happening right now.
Jay Skeets
I'd like to give a mini loser of the weekend to every Golden State warriors player not named Steph Curry over the weekend. Like, you already alluded to it when you were talking about the Wolves game. But Steph did return from injury over the weekend. He had 39 on Friday night. They lost. Follow it up with 48 on Sunday night in Portland. They lost. So Steph hit like 30 shots this weekend, and 18 of them were threes. And the team is going 02 over the weekend. Wasn't a lot of help on the defensive end or from other guys. Draymond Green, I thought was brutal in the second half versus the Blazers on Sunday. He had a pretty good first half, but. Oh, my God, turnover city with this guy against the Blazers. And Jimmy Butler has done one of his classic sort of December disappearing acts here. It's like he is. You sort of don't even notice that he's out there at times. And that's not good for a guy that gets paid what he gets paid. So. So just disappointing that you get two huge monster Steph performances and they both come at losses.
TK
Got to win one of those two. They're under.500 right now. And I think a big part of it is Draymond has taken a step back. Like, he still can bring it defensively, but they are accommodating him on the offensive end. And at times it feels like he's a bit of an anchor for Steph Curry. And then Jimmy just is coasting right now. I think he was like 9 for 22 over the weekend, 31 points total. Like, this is when you need Jimmy Butler, when things are going poorly for your team. You need somebody besides Steph to kind of do anything out there and take offense at the way you're playing.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, but my loser of the weekend is going to go to the Lakers Suns officiating. And I'd love to get your opinions on this. Let me just set the scene here. Phoenix was down 20 with like under eight minutes to go in the game last night, but then suddenly clawed their way back, took the lead. 114, 113. With about 12 seconds to go with Dillon Brooks hitting a three pointer over LeBron. LeBron made contact with Dillon Brooks gave him the old little love tap to the chest. Probably clipped him on the side. There are the legs, too. You won't believe this. That pissed Dillon Brooks off. And on the way back down the floor, he's drawn with LeBron. Bumps LeBron. Okay, we gotta replay review this. They look at it and they decide which took forever, by the way. Oh, my God. They decided. Okay, Brooks, that's a. That's a second tech. That's a technical foul. That's your second tech of the game because he got into it earlier and that was an ejection but nothing actually on the call of the LeBron part of it all. That's why Dylan Brooks was pretty pissed. We'll start there. Did you think it warranted a foul call on LeBron?
Tas Melis
Absolutely not. He tried. No, he tried. Dillon Brooks tried to draw a foul.
Jay Skeets
By kicking out his left foot.
Tas Melis
It's happening too much in the NBA. It is an issue with guys shooting three point shots, putting their feet down. And at the same time, I know the front office or the. The NBA is saying we need to take care of these players and not have this zone where they can't land. I get it, but it's gone too far. And so what about the tap? The tap?
Jay Skeets
It's just a tap. Okay.
Tas Melis
I was okay with it.
Jay Skeets
Give him a tap on the chest. That's what he did. You can see it from the other angle. You have to see the other camera.
TK
I thought it was a foul.
Jay Skeets
I sort of did too.
TK
Yeah, I mean, LeBron definitely tries to like duck out of the way, you know, try to avoid Dillon Brooks, but he gets him in the ribs.
Jay Skeets
More importantly, that Tech gave the Lakers a free throw attempt. LeBron takes it. LeBron is shooting like 60% of the line this year. I know it's LeBron. He scored more points than anyone in history. He misses it. Okay. Ball don't lie. I guess on the next play, LeBron gets fouled on a three point attempt by Devin Booker with about four seconds to go. Let's call it that. Now this one where he does the reach in and LeBron's going up. What do you think of this one?
Tas Melis
Absolutely not a foul. I think it's going too far. It's going too far with how they're calling and trying to protect three point shots. I think it's going to be a point of emphasis for all officials to scale it back a little bit. We saw it in the NBA cup where Shea was kicking his legs out as well. It's like he would have fell down anyways. It doesn't matter if somebody sort of touched him. It's just gone too far. The pendulum has to swing back a little bit.
TK
If it wasn't a foul on LeBron, it shouldn't have been a foul on Booker. They were too similar. I mean, I think Booker said he fouled him, but like I said, I thought LeBron fouled Brooks as well. So to see those two calls go back to back like that was a little ridiculous. The grift is in for the Lakers, but LeBron was feeling guilty. You only went two or four of the line.
Jay Skeets
Well, that's right. That's right. LeBron didn't miss his first free throw. You're like, oh, my God, here we go again. Made the final two and gave the Lakers the 115, 114 lead. And then there was a play at the end. Grayson Allen sort of tried to step through and there's contact and all that. I didn't really have a problem with that one whistle being sort of swallowed. LeBron sort of got a piece of it anyway. Weird ending. Tyler Ford, man, not my favorite official head crew chief. He, like. He's more interested in reviewing plays than he is, like, actually getting the play call. Right. Because there's a lot of going over there. And the Lakers ended up shooting 43 free throws to Phoenix's 25. And the Lakers shoot a lot of free throws. They don't average 43. That's like 20 plus more than their average. So it was a lot of free throws in this game. They don't like each other. These two teams, too.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
Part of that's the Dylan Brooks LeBron of it all. But not a great job here by the officiating crew. I thought.
TK
Well, I think LeBron could have even been ejected earlier. There was this skirmish between LeBron and Dylan Brooks where, what? It's like brooks maybe blocks. LeBron shot. The ball's floating in the air, and he just smacks it. It hits LeBron. LeBron is fired up. You don't see LeBron get that mad all that often, but he was quite angry. And Tyler Ford and whoever this other referee was, I don't even remember which guy that was, both come over and are trying to split him up. And LeBron is pushing the referee out of the way. That's an objection for every other player.
Jay Skeets
In the league, Basically, yes.
TK
But they're kind of like LeBron. A, you're LeBron B, you never really get this mad. Yeah, we're going to let it slide. And then when you let it slide, things like this happen. When it comes down to the important parts of the game.
Tas Melis
Yeah. And the referees, I'm sure, are saying, I understand it's Dylan Brooks. He's annoying. Go get him. That. Yeah. That rivalry is hilarious. The Phoenix Suns are super fun. They seem like this underdog team that can come back in the fourth quarter at all times. And they did it again. And LA was fighting, too. They had 24 offensive rebounds in this game. Just going to get extra possession. Shout out to Jared Vanderbilt. He's back in the rotation. Lebron had a chase down block. It was, it was pretty fun.
Jay Skeets
Marcus Smart took a weird shot near the end that nearly cost them the game. The Lakers did this thing, they got up big at the end like in the fourth and then they like, they went to like preventative offense way too early and it started biting them in the ass. But then the one time they should have just slowed down, held on the paw. Marcus Smart like decided to try like a like finger roll like floater on a fast break situation which basically the shot clock and the game clock was almost identical. Like he really should have held onto it, got blocked and that's, you know, allowed the Suns to even get that shot and get us into the replay reviews and all that. This was a chaotic ending, man.
TK
Marcus Smart got the start in this one and he almost completely gave it away at the end because the lakers were up 20. He had a wide open fast break dunk. He just threw the ball over his head to whoever was trailing.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, that was hilarious.
TK
What a dumb play. And like instant 120 run for the sun basically after that. And then of course the finger roll shot would literally just dribble the ball, get fouled, go shoot a free throw.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, weird little bite. Lowboy of the night. Actually today it's called Hoboy of the night.
Tas Melis
Hello.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, because we have a sponsor today, Andrew Ho2696, Andrew in the in the Stream team live on YouTube before the show went live. He's like I would love to sponsor Whoa boy. But can we please call it hoe boy for my last name there? We absolutely can. Steph Curry is your hoe of the night. Poured in a game high 48 points in a losing effort. 12 three pointers made 16, 26 from the field team high three steals in 35 minutes there. This is by way of statitudes. Curry set an NBA record for most three pointers made in a loss with 12. New record. Great. Previous mark of 11 triples in defeat had been achieved six times. Curry had four of those. Okay, so been a lot of games where Curry hits a lot of threes and they do lose but 12 health never gotten to that mark in a loss. Yeah, I didn't know that. Statitudes for that one. Pick up. Thank you, Andrew.
Tas Melis
Yeah, we get a hoboy. We should get a sandwich for that.
Jay Skeets
A po boy.
Tas Melis
Yeah. I don't know. Now I'm just rhyming things. But why not? Why not? Thank you.
Jay Skeets
You want Darius Garland, Toeboy of the night.
TK
Was that our friend Vernon the moboy of the night?
Jay Skeets
Sure, sure.
Tas Melis
That doughboy. If it's maybe a chubby guy or maybe if it's a pizza. Sponsored.
Jay Skeets
How about Crow boy of the night?
Tas Melis
Crow?
Jay Skeets
Yeah, maybe like a hawk. Like a bird is a bird player. Maybe Larry Bird got it. Yeah. Crow boy of the night. Let's go to pick him. Where are we going?
Tas Melis
I don't know why I went to the Clippers game hosting the Memphis Grizzlies. It's an odd pick because we got Houston, Denver tonight. Yeah.
Jay Skeets
Why didn't you pick that one? Yeah, I'm not sure. Celtics even?
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to go west, but I'm surprised I didn't go with Denver. Houston, Denver. Maybe it wasn't on the board when I looked at it, but yeah. The night schedule is Detroit, Boston, Toronto, Miami, Dallas, Utah, Houston, Denver and then the final one, Memphis Clippers. The line has grown. When we did it yesterday, it was three and a half. Clippers were favored by. By. It's now four and a half. Money on it.
Jay Skeets
Interesting. Does that mean James Harden is playing? I know he was questionable.
Tas Melis
I think is jaw sitting. I don't know. I don't know why the line has grown. But Trey and I feel comfortable taking the Memphis Grizzlies with those three and a half points. Skeets, you got the Clippers. You think Clippers are going to do it? Oh, oh, you're shaking your head already.
Jay Skeets
I mean, no, I don't think the Clippers are going to do it. I can't pick a game right, right now. They have lost five in a row. I was four and one to start this month. I had a great record overall on the season. I was feeling good. And here's now a five game slide and I got the fucking Clippers now. And I hate the Clippers. And they gotta win by four too. So they'll probably win by three tonight. I'm calling it now. Calling it now. Clippers win by two or three points tonight.
TK
Take the money line.
Jay Skeets
Lock that in. Take the money line. That's right.
Tas Melis
Yeah. Things are going well for the Clippers. Lawrence Frank is meeting with season ticket holders. If I'm not mistaken, today he's having a meeting. Okay, Monday, December 15th. Check in 4:15 to 5:15. Location, Court B. You can meet and talk with Lawrence Frank. I mean he's, he's, he's putting it on the table. He's not just saying, I'm not hiding. I ain't hiding from you fans. So maybe they win, but it is them coming back to Los Angeles after a Long road trip if I'm not.
Jay Skeets
That's true. They were not. They beat the Hawks. That was the only game they won on the road, I think, here in Atlanta. Otherwise, they. That was the James Harden, Magic City game we talked about.
TK
They say, chris Paul, get out of here.
Jay Skeets
Then they went one game and then they've lost. They. I mean, they played good teams, I think, but still.
Tas Melis
Okay, they. They're one and four on the trip, but this is their first game back. Yeah, they lost to Houston, Minnesota, Memphis and the Heat.
Jay Skeets
Oh, okay. Revenge game here, but Piston Celtics on Peacock and Rockets Nuggets on Peacock. Those are two really good games. Raptors, Heat, Mavs, Jazz are the other ones. In addition to Grizzlies, Clippers. We'll be here to talk about them tomorrow. But we will not be alone because this is fun. Former NBA All Star Michael Redd is joining tomorrow's no dunks. We're gonna get him on to get his thoughts on the NBA cup, thoughts on the early season. Whole bunch of stuff we're gonna get into. If you got a question for Michael Rhett, let us know. Drop it in the YouTube comment comments. Do it. I said before he's a great follow on X or on the social media. He's doing some. He's doing some YouTube work as well. Get his insight into the game. So get your questions in for Michael Redd, who will be joining us tomorrow on Tuesdays. No dunks. Should be cool.
TK
What perfect timing for him because when he played for the Bucks, they wore those Christmas jerseys.
Jay Skeets
That's right.
TK
So it matches the studio very well.
Jay Skeets
That's right.
Tas Melis
Absolutely.
Jay Skeets
And his name's Michael. Red, too. Yeah, red and green. It was the colors of Christmas, so. Looking forward to that. But. Well, that's tomorrow at 10am Eastern. Hope to see you live here on YouTube. Till then, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.
TK
Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome.
Jay Skeets
Before we go, I just remembered Andrew Ho, in his sponsorship of Whoa, Boy said, what'd you think of John. John Cena's final match?
Tas Melis
Oh. Let's end the show with our thoughts on John Cena's match. We got an extra 20 minutes there. It's up to you. You. I think you're the only one watching the next morning.
Jay Skeets
Yeah, I didn't watch a lot because I respect the cup. Well, it's funny. He. He tapped out to Gunther. So a guy's whole career built on never giving up. Literally, his. One of his slogans, never give up. Yeah, he gave up. He Tapped. And he looked like he smiled. I mean, so Gunther won. Now that, that, that in of itself isn't crazy because a lot of guys in retirement, they do. They put a guy over by going out with a loss, right?
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah.
Jay Skeets
So that part's not crazy, but it may be a little shocking that he just tapped. He was in a. He was in a sleeper hole for a long time.
Tas Melis
Yeah. It looked like he was sleeping, right?
Jay Skeets
Yeah, just go to sleep. They did the arm thing.
TK
Oh, well, that's cool.
Jay Skeets
Yeah. And the arms came up, stayed up. And then you thought he was gonna go Super Cena. Yeah. He's like, oh, here we go.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
Jay Skeets
But then he didn't come there. Put it back on. And then he just smiled. He could see like John Cena smiley. And then everybody came down to the ring. They gave him. I guess it was Cody Rhodes and CM Punk gave Cena their titles just to hold up, walk around with. Then he took off. I was gonna say wrestling boots, but they're shoes. They're like look like Asics or not even like Skechers or something. I don't know what he wears.
TK
He doesn't wear Jordans anymore?
Jay Skeets
No, I don't think so. They're like, they look like no name shoes maybe. I don't know, maybe they're from Lidl or something. And then he just leaves them in the. In the ring and salutes everybody on his way out.
TK
Was he wearing jorts?
Jay Skeets
Oh, hell yeah.
Tas Melis
Okay.
Jay Skeets
Somebody yelled. This is very funny. He takes off his shoes and you literally could hear somebody in the crowd say, leave your jorts in the ring. You can hear it perfect. The person that yelled at yelled at the perfect time or it just was silent enough. But he didn't. The jorts remained on your J. That would make. That would have been so funny.
Tas Melis
Yeah.
TK
Hey, man, Cena sucks.
Jay Skeets
Cena sucks. I hate Cena.
TK
I'm glad he's gone.
Jay Skeets
Preaching to the choir, man.
TK
Get him out of here. You know, people came back around on him as his career came to a close. But the longest time the chants were Cena sucks. And they were right.
Jay Skeets
Well, and that. But then it became Cena rocks versus Cena Sucks. That was part of the fun. So you will not have John Cena on your Mount Rushmore of all time wrestlers.
TK
I think he may be there there, quite honestly, but not anywhere close to mine. You're not even allowed in our national park.
Jay Skeets
Okay. You got macho man on yours. Who are the others?
Tas Melis
Not John Cena. Nah, he's too current. Who's my other. The Rock is on there.
Jay Skeets
Yeah. Were you a stone cold guy? You're not an attitude era guy?
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah, no, I was. There was a gap the. That. No, the wcaw.
Jay Skeets
Were you an Andre guy? Were you. I mean, were you a Hogan guy? No one wants to be a Hogan guy now, but were you a Hogan guy when you were a kid?
Tas Melis
Yeah, it was a. Respect from distance. Not really.
Jay Skeets
I'm.
Tas Melis
I'm a. I. I love him.
Jay Skeets
No, no.
Tas Melis
I did have two of his wrestlers. Wrestlers? Like his figure model wrestlers. That's. That's rare back then to have two.
Jay Skeets
Wow. Who else did you like? You're Razor Ramone guy.
Tas Melis
I mean, I'm going deep. No, I loved. I like Razor mode. I don't know who my third and fourth. I really gotta put some thought into this.
Jay Skeets
Tomorrow. Tomorrow you can tell us if it's.
Tas Melis
If it's not Ricky the Dragon Steamboat. It's one of his fingers on the Mount Rushmore. Because I lost a finger of my Ricky the Dragon Steamboat wrestler. And actually I lost Greg the Hammer Valentine's underwear or whatever you call it.
Jay Skeets
His trunks?
Tas Melis
Yeah, his trunks.
Jay Skeets
What, they got smudged off?
Tas Melis
Yeah, they're gone.
TK
From all the touching or what?
Tas Melis
For all the wrestling. Easy, easy. Anyways, I gotta put my Bobby the Brain to this one and really think about it. Oh, song's over.
Coca Cola Announcer
What a matchup we got, y'.
Jay Skeets
All.
Coca Cola Announcer
This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit chant. Echo drum beat. Everybody showing that school pride. A game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola.
Tas Melis
Ah.
Coca Cola Announcer
Crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there.
TK
Mmm.
Coca Cola Announcer
Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. And an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.
Tas Melis
And Doug.
TK
Oh, what a horrible call. Hey, ref. Open your eyes.
Tas Melis
Ref.
TK
You're really not gonna call that.
Jay Skeets
Come on.
TK
Hey, ref, why didn't you customize your car insurance with Liberty Mutual and save money?
Tas Melis
I don't think you get what we're doing.
TK
Sure I do. We're all just giving him advice. You guys on sports, me on saving money.
Coca Cola Announcer
Nope, that's not it.
TK
Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty.
IBM Announcer
Liberty.
Tas Melis
Liberty.
TK
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Jay Skeets
I knew it was the jacket he.
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Your new Sunday kickoff ritual starts here with new morning Uncrustable sandwiches packed with 12 grams of protein.
Tas Melis
Janice Torres here and I'm Austin Hankwitz.
Jay Skeets
We host the podcast Mind the Business.
Tas Melis
Small Business Success Stories produced by Ruby Studio in partnership with Intuit QuickBooks. We're back for season four to talk.
Jay Skeets
To some incredible small business owners. The big thing about working at tech.
Tas Melis
Is that it's ever evolving, ever changing. Everyone's a rookie, that's how fast the industry is changing.
TK
So what I'm really excited about is.
Jay Skeets
To be part of that change.
Tas Melis
So listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple.
Jay Skeets
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.
Tas Melis
Guaranteed Human.
Episode Title: NBA Cup Final Hype, The Wemby Effect, Other Weekend Winners & Losers
Date: December 15, 2025
Hosts: Jay Skeets, Tas Melis, Trey Kirby (TK), JD
The crew returns for their Monday staple podcast, diving into a wild NBA weekend dominated by NBA Cup semifinals action. They lead with Victor Wembanyama’s electrifying comeback, the birth of a potential Spurs-Thunder rivalry, and preview Tuesday’s NBA Cup Final between the Knicks and Spurs. The group also picks through other weekend winners and losers—including the surging Timberwolves, shaky Cavs, and the Bucks’ embarrassing loss—while dissecting key games, standout players, and some infamous officiating. The tone is high-energy, irreverent, and packed with smart basketball insights, classic No Dunks banter, and memorable quotes.
Starts ~03:24
Starts ~23:49
Starts ~38:05
Starts ~57:48
This episode of No Dunks packs insightful hoops analysis, lively banter, and trademark irreverence. Come for the NBA Cup drama (and the “Wemby Effect”); stay for the ranging takes, inside jokes, and classic quotes that blend real basketball knowledge with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor. Perfect catch-up for anyone who missed the games and wants the stories behind the box scores.
Upcoming guest:
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