NBA Weekend Winners & Losers | Tatum's Return, An Emotional Wemby, Maxey's Pinkie Finger

Summary

No Dunks: NBA Weekend Winners & Losers | Tatum's Return, An Emotional Wemby, Maxey's Pinkie Finger

Podcast: No Dunks (iHeartPodcasts)
Date: March 9, 2026
Hosts: Jay Skeets, Tas Melis, Trey Kirby, JD
Episode Theme: A lively, insightful rundown of NBA “weekend winners and losers,” focusing on key returnees (Jayson Tatum), breakout performances (Victor Wembanyama), critical injuries, and shifting playoff races.

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Episode Overview

This episode unpacks a busy NBA weekend through the classic “winners and losers” lens. The hosts dissect Jayson Tatum’s long-awaited return and what it means for Boston, Victor Wembanyama’s emotional surge for San Antonio, rising teams in the East, headline-grabbing injuries, and the intensifying playoff picture. As always, the tone is playful, filled with basketball banter and sharp analysis, but the stakes—especially injuries and playoff seeding—are starting to feel real.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Three Wedgies in One Sunday! (06:12–08:12)

• The hosts open with a celebration of a niche phenomenon: three wedgies (when the ball gets stuck between rim and backboard) in a single night. Tre King ranks them, notably giving “block-wedgie” of Jacoby Walter special props:
  • "They're all snowflakes, but that one truly is a snowflake." (Trey Kirby, 07:42)
• Statistical note: 56 total wedgies this season, tracking for a possible all-time record.

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NBA Weekend Winners

1. Jayson Tatum’s Return: Celtics Are Back (08:21–14:12)

• After months rehabbing an Achilles tear, Jayson Tatum returns for Boston and immediately makes an impact—even if not at midseason efficiency.
• Friday vs. Dallas: Rusty, misses first six shots but settles in, crowd erupts on key plays.
• Sunday vs. Cleveland: Looks more like “classic Tatum,” hunting mismatches, posting up, scoring 20 with clutch late buckets.
  • "The fact that he was this good coming off of his Achilles tear, that's exciting for the Celtics." (Trey, 09:04)
• Celebrated for all-around impact: rebounds (12, 3), playmaking, defense, and galvanizing the lineup.
• Celtics’ depth is also in focus—Baylor Scheierman and Peyton Pritchard have crucial moments off the bench.
  • "Pairing [Scheierman] with Pritchard... that's what this guy is made for. I think if they have the NBA one-on-one tournament, he would be like a top three player for me." (Trey Kirby, 13:25)
• Celtics move to favorites in the East (+190), with hosts noting Boston's versatility and Tatum’s “good at everything” skillset.
• Injury note: Vucavic breaks a finger but bench depth (Luka Garza) steps up.

2. Victor Wembanyama: Emotional Weekend, Spurs Surge (15:25–22:05)

• Wembanyama declares the last 30 hours the "best of my career" after an emotional comeback win vs. the Clippers (from down 25).
• Wemby was visibly exhausted, nearly fainting but amassed 27/10/4 in just 21 minutes, then "destroyed" Houston with highlight blocks and athletic finishes.
  • "He was so emotional after that win... but more importantly, he was talking up his teammates." (Trey, 15:41)
  • "He's not probably going to win the MVP this year... but he's absolutely going to be the favorite going into next season." (Tas, 19:50)
• Postgame, Wemby’s teary praise of rookie Carter Bryant and attention to detail (even tips on key rebounds and little plays) highlight his leadership and maturity.
• The crew marvels at Wemby's unique on-court moments: “no-look blocks,” “Tim Duncan turnarounds,” and freakish defensive rotations.
  • "He does every little tiny thing, but also he'll suck in the casual fan... Take your eyes off. Every reverse, every no-look block…" (Trey, 20:50)
• The hosts agree Wemby’s “big plays and little plays” are already changing standards for young stars and project MVPs in his future.

3. Paolo Banchero & The Orlando Magic: Quiet Surge in the East (27:16–30:29)

• Orlando Magic sweep two games against key opponents, largely thanks to Banchero’s breakout post-All-Star stretch: 26/9/6 on strong efficiency.
• "The big rig got tuned up... it's running clean." (Skeets, 28:14)
• Hosts credit Magic’s defensive backbone and improvement from contributors like Bain, Carter Jr., and Suggs during Franz Wagner’s absence.
• Context: Magic push for the 6th seed against the Heat, as Philly slides.

4. Lakers: Winning Without LeBron, Defense Steps Up (30:30–33:31)

• Lakers handle business against Pacers and notch a significant win over Knicks, all without LeBron James.
• "If you play a game at 4 o’clock on a Sunday, I'm going to be folding clothes during it. And this was a good one to watch while folding clothes." (Tas, 30:53)
• Luka and Reeves shine; Rui Hachimura and Ayton praised for defense and energy. Defensive lineups clicking without all three of LeBron, Luka, Reeves together.
• Lakers are 9-2 in games without LeBron, but with Luka and Reeves.

5. Miami Heat: Heating Up at the Perfect Time (34:00–39:26)

• Heat win two (Hornets, Pistons), climbing to seven games above .500 with key contributions across the board and the return of Tyler Herro (33 pts, 8/10 from three).
• Heat’s bench depth emerges (Haquez, Davion Mitchell), and Bam Adebayo moves into franchise lore:
  • "He became just the second Heat player to score 10,000 plus points with the franchise, joining Dwyane Wade." (Skeets, 39:09)
• Hosts debate the emerging Eastern Conference play-in and playoff races, with the Southeast Division suddenly “weirdly hot.”

6. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: MVP Case Strengthens (40:01–45:41)

• SGA remains the odds-on favorite for MVP, leading OKC to best record and a 5-0 stretch since his return.
• "He just like hits these like game-winning, usually threes now is what he's doing… steps back, splashes a three right in Draymond's face." (Skeets, 41:13)
• With Denver’s dip, and Cade Cunningham’s Pistons slumping, SGA’s stock rises.
• Fun banter: Is "Dr. Sauce" the right nickname for SGA? (44:17)

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NBA Weekend Losers

1. Denver Nuggets: Snakebitten by Injuries (Again) (55:25–60:39)

• Nuggets blown out by Knicks (76 points in the paint allowed, 11 dunks surrendered).
• On the night Aaron Gordon returns, Jamal Murray suffers another injury (ankle/heel).
  • "This was only the 11th time this season the Nuggets had their opening night starters together… and now we'll see how long Murray ends up missing." (Tas, 56:51)
• The crew questions whether this is simply "not their year," voicing concern over defensive consistency and chemistry with Cam Johnson as a new starter.
• “They’re a team that didn’t expect to have to play hard right now.” (Tas, 63:42)

2. Milwaukee Bucks & Giannis: Playoff Streak in Jeopardy (60:43–64:29)

• Four games out of the play-in, injuries mounting (Giannis’ calf, KPJ out, multiple back-to-backs left), and with tough teams to chase.
• "I'm using a pen, not a pencil. I'm crossing out Milwaukee Bucks for the rest of this season. I don't think they have a chance of catching any of these teams." (Skeets, 63:18)
• Speculation begins: will the Bucks’ slide force a Giannis trade request this offseason?
• "It definitely feels like a play out the string kind of a team right now." (Tas, 63:42)

3. Philadelphia 76ers: Injuries Derail the Season (64:29–67:59)

• After holding 6th, Sixers drop into the play-in after a tough loss to Atlanta, compounded by a slew of injuries.
• Key details:
  • Tyrese Maxey: pinkie (“fifth finger”) sprain, out at least two games.
  • Joel Embiid: missed four straight with oblique.
  • Paul George: 16 games into 25-game suspension.
  • VJ Edgecombe: lumbar contusion.
• "Good luck replacing Maxey… The guy leads them in scoring, assists, three pointers, steals, shot attempts… He plays the most minutes in the league." (Skeets, 66:20)
• Rest debate: Maxey’s minutes have taken a toll; some relief may be good, but without him they aren’t the same.

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Other Notable Quotes & Moments

• Reggie Miller, on Wemby: "I hate to say it, this is what I do to my son in the driveway, right? …No, I don't do it. Actually, I do do it." (21:38)
• On the Magic’s surge: "Bad gas…they switched to a better octane." (28:22) (Lighthearted banter about Banchero’s engine.)
• On the Heat’s 10,000-point milestone: "I don't think he's going to catch him (Wade). But still, that's quite an accomplishment." (Skeets, 39:10)
• On picking games while doing laundry: "That’s ideal time for folding." (Skeets, 33:35)
• On SGA’s scoring streak: "Any record where you're beating Wilt Chamberlain and Jordan didn't do it… that's impressive. I don't care." (Skeets, 45:25)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Wedgie Celebration: 06:12–08:12
• Tatum’s Return/Celtics: 08:21–14:12
• Wemby Emotional Weekend: 15:25–22:05
• Magic/Banchero: 27:16–30:29
• Lakers’ Defensive Wins: 30:30–33:31
• Heat’s Hot Streak: 34:00–39:26
• SGA’s MVP Case: 40:01–45:41
• Nuggets’ Injury Troubles: 55:25–60:39
• Bucks’ Playoff Hopes Fade: 60:43–64:29
• Sixers’ Season Sinks: 64:29–67:59

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Tone and Podcast Flavor

Playful, sharp, and inclusive of listener banter, the episode blends classic No Dunks humor (laundry as basketball metaphor), deep stat dives, and emotional appreciation of NBA storylines. The hosts don’t shy from both solemn moments (injuries, tears, missed playoffs) and classic bits (ranking fingers, “Dr. Sauce” nicknames).

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In Summary

• “Winners”: Tatum and the Celtics return to form, Wemby cements superstar status, the Magic and Heat quietly climb the standings, Lakers adapt without LeBron, SGA narrows the MVP race.
• “Losers”: Nuggets’ injury plague, the Bucks’ collapse, Sixers drowning in absences.
• Notable Bites: Wedgie records, epic blocks, laundry day routines, and the “fifth finger” debate.

“He does every little tiny thing, but also he'll suck in the casual fan… Take your eyes off.” — Trey Kirby, on Wemby (20:50)

For anyone catching up on the NBA world, this episode offers an entertaining and genuinely insightful round-up of the league’s current movers, shakers, heartbreakers and heartbreaks.

Transcript

[Jay Skeets]

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[Tas Melis]

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[Jay Skeets]

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[Tas Melis]

Foreign.

[Jay Skeets]

Sweet world and welcome to the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Monday, March 9, 2026. I'm Jay Skeets here in the classic factory and alongside me as always, Tas Melis.

[Trey Kirby]

Basketball friends. This is for you.

[Jay Skeets]

Next to him it's my top shot, hot boy Trey Kirby. Hey yo. Hey yo. And over yonder, making the magic happen. Super producer JD Hello. There he is. Here we are. Hello everybody on YouTube. Hello podcast listeners. Everybody play your part. Hit the like buttons. Subscribe, Leave the boys five star ratings and reviews. Comment away. We're going to get into NBA weekend. Winners and losers. Going to jump right into it because lots to talk about but we start with three wedgies on Sunday alone. Wow. We had one wedgie all of last week and then on Sunday with a bunch of games on, we got three more and it started with Luka Doncic there taking the bump, drawing the foul. Count it. Then Caleb Martin for the Mavericks. There's a guy I haven't thought about in a while with the block wedgie on Jacoby Walters.

[Trey Kirby]

This view is incredible.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, this looks cool. How does that happen? Yeah, that did look cool.

[Trey Kirby]

He gets blocked but then he has to push it back in for a wedge.

[Jay Skeets]

That's true. And then we ended Sunday night with a tre Jones classic three point attempt. Wedgie versus the kings. So yeah, three wedgies. 54, 55 and 56.

[Tas Melis]

Wow.

[Jay Skeets]

Still on pace for 70 and I don't know, I think it was UTK that threw it out a while ago. Are we going to set the all time record for wedgies in a season before we even get to the playoffs? Didn't play.

[Tas Melis]

It's possible.

[Jay Skeets]

It's very. We're flying.

[Tas Melis]

That was a bit. That was a big Sunday. If you're going to rank those three, how would you rank them?

[Trey Kirby]

Easily. The Jacoby Walter, where he's blocked and. And then has to shove it back in. Now, the camera was fantastic on the opposite end. I think it was a handheld camera, too, to be able to find that thing and zoom in that one. They're all snowflakes, but that one truly is a Snowflake. So it's 1, 2, and 3 for me, I think.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, yeah, I would go Caleb Martin's block. And then I go Luca, because that's sort of unique one.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

The way that one happened. And then I go Trey Jones, because that's more classic, as I said, so.

[Tas Melis]

Well, you guys are right.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay. Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

I just checked the stats and that's actually the correct answer.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay, great, great. Great job. Okay, let's get into NBA weekend winners. We'll do a couple rounds of this. A little later. We'll do our NBA weekend losers. Trey, the floor is yours.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, Jason Tatum, winner of the weekend. This was a pretty easy one. He was rusty on Friday. The return against Dallas. Missed his first six shots, including front rimming a dunk Sprite commercial style. But then gets a tip dunk off of a steal, an electric slide corner three pointer. Made five straight shots after missing the first six. And the crowd was going insane, insane for Tatum. I thought he looked good, not great. Had a couple air balls, botched another dunk on an alley oop where maybe it was a bad pass, but still could have gotten there. I thought he wasn't taking a ton of contact in this game on Friday against the mavericks, but still 15 points, 12 boards, seven assists. That was winner enough for me, of course. And then he came out on Sunday and scored 12 points in the first quarter of their matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I thought he looked a lot more like classic Jayson Tatum out there. He was posting up mismatches. He was dribble drives through the paint, playing through contact a lot more, initiating contact, I thought as well, he finished with 20 points, three rebounds and a couple assists in the win against Cleveland. Had a couple of huge baskets in the fourth quarter, including switching, getting a switch on Evan Mobley, going straight to the hoop, finishing over the top of him. And then kind of the dagger three pointer off a nice kick out from Namius Keita. So, you know, not the most efficient two games for Tatum. Went 6 of 16 from the field in both of these games. I think he played 27 minutes in both of these games. So, you know, he, like I said, he was good, but not great. But the fact that he was this good coming off of his Achilles tear, that's exciting for the Celtics because he was playing like Jason Tatum for the most part, and an easy winner.

[Trey Kirby]

Easy winner his first weekend. I thought the win against the Cavs was a perfect Boston win. He didn't have to be efficient. Jason or Jalen Brown didn't have to be spectacular either. I thought their depth just came through. I thought the guys off the bench, Baylor Scheiman and Peyton Pritchard were keys. Baylor Scheiman comes through the lane with a lefty hook.

[Tas Melis]

That was pretty.

[Jay Skeets]

That was wild.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, he already looks like a descendant of the guys who played in the 50s and the 60s. Then he pulls a left handed hook. But I thought he's just a baller, period. He can defend, he can splash threes. He hit a three right in front of the Cavs bench with them in their ear. In his ear, I should say. He had one where he put one on the floor and hit a three. And then Peyton Pritchard, just awesome. In the fourth quarter, he hit two ISO plays back to back when the Cavs were making their run. You just go to Peyton Pritchard. The guy will definitely benefit coming off the bench with Jayson Tatum in the rotation. And when they needed a basket, he literally went right at Jaylon Tyson when he did that spin, pivot, back fade. And then the next possession goes was up against James Harden, cross, cross, fade on him. So those two guys benefit in a game where Jalen Brown didn't have his first basket until 30 seconds left in the first quarter. Derek White wasn't even all that good. And then Jason Tatum didn't have to be super efficient. He also didn't have to be super efficient when they won the title in that postseason run. He just needs to be Jason Tatum and draw all the attention. Then everybody else benefits. So I thought it was a great weekend for him.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, yeah, I agree with you guys. I mean, even before he hit his little scoring stride there in either of those games, you could clearly see he just injects a little oomph into the Celtics offense. And he was playing in control. He's making quick in rhythm reads like we think of this guy and like, obviously he can score and he's had monster playoff performances, like, you know, a 50 burger, for crying out loud. But he does all these other things. He's a huge dude, so he cleans up on the glass. He's a great playmaker. Obviously he can get at it. Defensively I think the biggest takeaway was you said he played 27 minutes in both games. That's not nothing. I mean, that's going to ramp up. Of course they're going to hope to, but we see guys that have like playing all season long coming back or in and out of the lineup with injury. They'll play less than that in some of these games. So there's obviously confidence obviously in his leg there and how he feels. So, yeah, a team that was already dangerous just doubled up on star power basically now with a guy in Jalen Brown who's been great all year. And yeah, not in a lights out game against the Cavs, but still a very solid 23.98. And now you got Tatum, who can do that as well. It's like, yeah, this is the reason why they won a title with these two guys. And, you know, why can't they do it again here?

[Tas Melis]

Well, they're the favorites in the Eastern Conference now. According to FanDuel, they're plus 190 right ahead of the Cavs, the Knicks and the Pistons. You know, like Taz likes to mention, the buzziest teams get moved to the top of the favorites list. But seeing Tatum come back and look pretty Tatum ish, I think, I don't know, it's impossible to say. It's literally been two games, but how can you not think they have as good a chance as anybody? So I think they are worthy favorites. And you're right, Skeets, it's like the thing about Tatum that makes him such a great player is that he's not bad at anything. Yeah, he's pretty good at everything. Like, he's a pretty good playmaker. He's not the best playmaker. Pretty good shooter. Not the best shooter, but he's not bad at literally anything on the basketball court. And having Shireman get to have that starting stint is going to be huge for him now that he's going to be coming off the bench. Came off the bench in both of these 10 boards is big. It just gave him a lot of confidence. So pairing him with Pritchard, who's literally the defending six man of the year, that's what this guy is made for. I think if they have the NBA one on one tournament, he would be like a top three player. For me. He's unstoppable. Like, he can get to his shot anytime. He's got a quick handle. He's a good shooter. He doesn't have the size, but I think they were saying on the Hoop Collective today that he's the best ISO scorer in the league right now. But on a points per possession basis, you know, maybe Luca Doncha puts him into the basket if they're playing one on one. But I also don't think Luca can stop him one on one. So Pritchard is awesome. The only bad thing that happened for the Celtics this weekend, Vuch broke a finger. He's out for three to four weeks because he had to add surgery on that finger. But they just ran Luca Garza out there and it was like the same thing. Anyway, I think they're going to be okay.

[Trey Kirby]

It was efficient. Yeah. If Peyton Pritchard is in a one on one competition, Reggie Miller's got to be on the call because he compared P. Pritchard to Caitlin Clark. But he's going to be super excited to see how Peyton Pritchard plays in a one on one competition. I mean, he's going to be super pumped because he is the guy again came through in the fourth quarter when they needed him. So fantastic stuff on the other side like the Cavs, they didn't have Jared Allen, so Evan Mobley kind of stepped up. But they couldn't score in that second quarter. And I think that's kind of bodes well for the Celtics. This is an ugly game. They won the second quarter 21:10 because the Cavs couldn't score. And they only scored five baskets in that second quarter themselves. But that's how you win. So that's great sign for the Celtics to also make up two games in one weekend against the Detroit Pistons.

[Jay Skeets]

They're only two and a half back.

[Trey Kirby]

Only two and a half back of Detroit now since they had that interesting, awful loss against the Nets. Yeah, the Nets because they no Cade Cunningham to give up a lead. And then a bad one on Sunday. We'll get to.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, I was just gonna add that about the Celtics as another reason to be a win of the weekend. Them catching or making up some ground on Detroit at the number one seed in the east. Let's keep it going though. Who you have as your winner?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, Victor Wembanyama has to be a winner. When. When a basketball God says, that was the best 30 hours of my career, basically, yeah, he's a winner. Cause they played Thursday, they beat Detroit, and then Friday they had a back to back against the Los Angeles Clippers. And he said in the first quarter he almost fainted out of exhaustion. That's how tired he was. And they were down 25 in the third quarter against the Clippers and they Came on back. You saw Victor Wembanyama defensively in the lane, able to pounce out and block a three point shot in the corner. A lot of the spurs just came through. Julian Champagne, he had 17 points in that third quarter to, you know, aid Victor Wenyama. This was more of just a team win and that's why the spurs are scary. Post game we saw Victor Wembanyama crying. I mean, he was so emotional after that win. The Twitter sphere going crazy. But I thought more importantly, he was talking up his teammates. He said about Carter Bryant, that was the loudest 5 points at 3 rebounds game I've ever seen in my career. I'm super proud of that guy. You know, to. To be able to do that at this point of his career is awesome. He only played 21 minutes in that game. 21 plus minutes, I guess because he was tired. 27 and 10, four blocks as Mitch Johnson. They play the, the rotations as he needs to. So they came through big time in that game. Kawhi had 20 points for his 40th straight game. Sorry, Kawhi, you don't get the love, man. It all goes to Victor, who then on Sunday versus the Rockets put on a show that every time you tune in for a Victor Wembanyama game, you see something new. You truly do. He had the no look block on Tar Eason where he looks away. Yeah, I'm not gonna come block this. And then Eason throws it up. Bang. He comes to block it. Okay, we did see that a little earlier in the season against Scotty Barnes, but this one another time he's just. He's so great at everything. The fast break, the euro step able to go by a guard, right, reverse dunk it. Then that play in the post where Sengun is just ripping his jersey and Wemby says, I got this turnaround banker off the top of the glass essentially. I think. Who was it? A little bit later somebody essentially copied him and they did it again. Like Stefan Castle also had Shangoon in the post and he pulls out a banker over Sengun. He's like again like, what the. I can't stop anybody.

[Jay Skeets]

Tim Duncan taught him that.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, he did a beauty. But the passing sets up the threes. And that's the scary part of this game. 38 assists against the Houston Rockets. They had 21 threes made against the Houston Rockets. Spurs are 51 over their last 16, led by Wemby. But everybody, everybody chipping in thoughts on

[Jay Skeets]

Wemby's weekend there, which was pretty good.

[Tas Melis]

I Don't think switching Reed shepherd onto him is going to work. That was pretty weird. Smallest guy you can imagine guarding the biggest guy you can imagine. But yeah, Wembley is awesome. He only needs to play 20 to 30 minutes a night to have a serious impact. Even watching the comeback against the Clippers, like, he's doing things on the offensive end, but he also. It's like a broken play. And he finds Kawhi Leonard in the corner and Kawhi can't even attack him. So they swing the ball, get the ball out of his hands. It comes back to Kawhi and there's Wemby at the top to challenge. A three pointer at the top of the key. Not anywhere close. So then he runs out, dunks, takes the lead. Then he denies this lob to Derek Jones Jr. Like the pass was there. If Batum throws it way over the top, probably works. We just saw Derek Jones Jr. A couple of plays earlier finish through Wemby. Really nice take, but he was scared to throw it because he's seen Victor probably his entire life. Being a Frenchman as well. You saw how upset Ty Lue was on that one.

[Jay Skeets]

He's like, throw the ball back.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, good luck.

[Tas Melis]

That's how scary he is.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

He was basically 20ft away from the play. And they're like, I can't even chance it. Then champagne goes to the line. A one point game bricks them both. Same exact miss both times. Wemby tips it out. They get another possession on that one and get more free throws. Castle follows it with an offensive rebound as well. He makes the big plays because he's an awesome player, but he also makes every single little play because he is a winning basketball player. He's not probably, probably not going to win the MVP this year. It could happen, I suppose, especially depending if games played factors into things.

[Trey Kirby]

But.

[Tas Melis]

But he's absolutely going to be the favorite going into next season.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

How many will he win in his career will be the question. But yeah, great point about just making the big plays. Also, like, I almost admire Tari Eason's confidence in trying to shoot around and over Wemby. It felt like he got blocked so many times. Like, dude, this is not going to work, man.

[Tas Melis]

Even his mom on Twitter was like, yeah, he looked like he was five foot one.

[Jay Skeets]

I know. It's like, again, I almost admired it. Like, dude, you keep trying, but it ain't going to work. But wow, what a game. And they just waxed the rockets there. 145 to 120 is a score in that game. That's a lot of points on a team. That's not brutal defensively, but what a weekend. Would you say they won 15 to 16 here?

[Trey Kirby]

Yep.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, not bad. Not bad run. But exhaustion setting in there. Yeah. So you were, you had no problems. Of course, the guy showing a little emotion in a regular season game here because of course people are gonna say, what the hell? Why are you crying about a game in March? That's what haters are going to hate.

[Trey Kirby]

You know, he's in touch with his feelings. So he cried. Let it out. Do it. And then. Yeah, again, he goes to the the press conference afterwards and starts talking up his rookie and Carter Bryant like this is a 22 year old guy in Victor Wembanyama. Already feels like he's 36. I mean, he's literally talking up to young guys. We needed that five points and three rebounds. You did. Carter Bryant, that alley oop. Awesome. It was really great. But Wemby, like you said, he does every little tiny thing, but also he'll suck in the casual fan that will watch a basketball game and say, whoa, I've never seen before. Take your eyes off. Yeah. Again, every reverse, every. No, look block like the one on Tar Eason was awesome. Great camera angle on that one from the baseline.

[Tas Melis]

Speaking of Reggie, he on that block. He's like, I hate to say it, this is what I do to my son in the driveway, right?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

And he's like, no, I don't do it. Actually, I do do it. He does.

[Trey Kirby]

Was on play by play. Called him out. He said, no, come on, man, you do that. Was it Eagle?

[Tas Melis]

I think it was Eagle. I don't remember.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

So your two winners of the weekend, and rightfully so. Tatum and the Celtics and then Wemby and the spurs, they play tomorrow night.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, let's go.

[Jay Skeets]

That's a big ass game. That is in San Antonio. So Boston visits San Antonio. Oh, yeah. Because they were on their huge road trip.

[Trey Kirby]

So got a live chat. Let's live chat that on Substack. I'll do it.

[Jay Skeets]

It's a big ass game.

[Trey Kirby]

Let's chat it.

[Jay Skeets]

It could be a finals preview. I feel like we've said that a couple times over the last couple weeks. Could be a finals preview between, you know, two teams, usually the Thunder or the Spurs. And then you know what, we've done it with the Knicks, I feel like maybe the Pistons for sure.

[Tas Melis]

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[Trey Kirby]

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[Jay Skeets]

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[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, we have a team on the rise for my winner of the weekend, but I'll give it specifically to Paolo Banchero who helped his team The Magic get two wins. They snapped the Wolves five game win streak on in their first game of the weekend. 25 from Bankero. Desmond Bain was awesome in that one too with 30 points and then Bankero continued his dominance here or his strong play as of late. He put up a monster game against the Bucks. 33 points on 75% shooting. So after struggling for three quarters of the season up to this point. He has been. Caro started to dominate a little bit more since the all star break, averaging 26, nine boards, about six assists per game. Shooting 51% from the floor, 60% true shooting percentage. I also think with the Magic, everything starts with their defense. He looks like he's putting in a little bit more effort on that end as well, so. Good weekend from him. The big rig got tuned up T.K. you know, it was.

[Tas Melis]

It was struggling.

[Jay Skeets]

It was sputtering there for a couple. Couple months, but I feel like it's for the springtime here. It's. It's running clean.

[Tas Melis]

Bad gas. They had bad gas.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Is that what it was? Low octane. They switched to a big one. Better octane. They went from 87 to 93, and that really made the difference. I think they even called him the Bankero exp Express at one point, which is like a little big rig adjacent to me. But Orlando is seven and three post All Star. They're ninth in offense. That's awesome for them. Third in defense. Now, some of these have been against not the greatest teams, but it doesn't matter. They need to stack up these wins here. Between Bankero and Bain, they're putting up basically 50 points per game. I think Bane has been just as good as Bankero has. He's just getting downhill all the time now. He's taking the fewest threes per game that he's taken since his rookie season. I think a lot of that is Magic. Opponents look at Desmond Bain and say, we cannot give up a three specifically to this man. So they overplay the three. But he's learned how to attack the closeouts and just get downhill from there. Him putting pressure on the rim has been big for everybody. Suggs coming back and hitting shots is good. Wendell Carter Jr. Is playing a lot better right now as well. They just did a ton of work specifically against the Bucks inside. So we'll talk about the Sixers in a little bit here. The Heat as well. The six seed is up for grabs right now, and it doesn't feel like it's going to be Philadelphia due to absences from their three star players. It's between Miami and Orlando, and I do think Orlando has played a little bit better. They have no expectations right now after a disappointing season, so they're playing loose, they're playing free, and their offense looks the best it has for the entire season.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they're on a push. They could easily catch our Raptors in honesty for fifth Desmond Bain, so fun to watch because we all know he's going right to get to the rim, but somehow he gets there and gets to a zero step and gets to that rim because if you take that away, he's going left and he's able to hit that shot. Paulo looks great. We're waiting for Franz to come back. Should be soonish. So they're playing without their best player. It's Bain, it's obviously Paolo. And Suggs has made his return, you know, somewhat recent last couple of weeks. So it's all, it's all coming together for this team.

[Jay Skeets]

Let's do another round. Back to you.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, I think a good weekend for the Lakers. They handled the Pacers on Friday. Don't really care, but they did it. And then a great win Sunday in a laundry game against the New York Knicks. If you play a game at like 4 o' clock on a Sunday, I'm going to be folding clothes during it. And this was a good one to watch while folding clothes. 35 points for Luka Doncic. He had 21 in the second half. Reeves had 25, five assists. And I thought Rui Hachimura was pretty solid in this one. Thirteen points, seven rebounds. And I saw that he has learned the placement of the tossing. So they gave him another chance and he came through for the Lakers. Most impressive though to me was the defense against the Knicks. They held New York to 97 points. That's their fourth fewest total of the season. The Lakers forced 19 turnovers, held the Knicks to 43% shooting from the field and just 8 of 34 from three. Interestingly enough, no LeBron James in either of these games. And guess what? It's a lot easier to defend when you have Rui Hachimura and Marcus Smart on the court together. And only two of Luca Reeves and LeBron. So true. That's weird. It's very weird, but they just can't defend with all three of them because none of them played defense. I thought deandre Ayton was pretty solid against the Knicks as well. Brought a lot of energy. Finished his shots, didn't take a ton of them, but was at least giving effort against Towns on the inside there. So a couple of nice wins for the Lakers. Good timing as well. With teams in the Western Conference struggling, they're able to make their way up the standings. Every win matters at this point. LeBron will be back soon. He's dealing with a foot problem that's put him in and out of the lineup. So it's going to Be interesting to see what JJ Decides to do because we've seen some of the best defense for the lakers be without LeBron. We've also seen some of the best defense for the Lakers be going small and switching. Everything feels junky to me, but it's working right now, at least.

[Jay Skeets]

I think the key stat is The Lakers are 9 and 2 in games without LeBron, but Luka and Austin Reeves playing. And I think that does speak to what you were saying. And you got three of them out there. Your defense is going to struggle. Maybe two you can pass. It's a little more passable. But they had a good weekend for sure here in the Western Conference test.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they need guys giving effort. So to see Deandre Ayton, as you mentioned, it was only 20 minutes, but those were important minutes. And he bounces back from that knee injury. Had the game before. We had to leave early. And so I thought maybe we're going to Ms. DeAndre for a while for the first time this season. That's the spectacular part about John Drayton. He hasn't missed a long stretch at all. So we've kind of all been waiting for, when does deandre Ayton fade a little bit? But those were key minutes in this rotation, and especially with their good defensive lineup in there. He can part. He. He definitely contributes and he needs to contribute or else you're seeing Jackson Hazer, you're going five out like the old days, which was last year.

[Jay Skeets]

I also guaranteed folded or paired up some socks while watching that game.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, for sure.

[Jay Skeets]

I agree with you. That Sunday, second game there, that's.

[Tas Melis]

That's ideal time for folding.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

I just let the laundry pile up on my chair in the office until it reaches the top of the back of the chair, and then it's time. Whites first, then darks. Here we go.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, also, it was a crappy day here in Atlanta yesterday. Rainy stuff like that. You were just watching basketball.

[Tas Melis]

Good folding weather.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Because then we had the Rockets game at night, too, against the Spurs.

[Trey Kirby]

Great.

[Jay Skeets]

All right, Tas, who do you have for a winner?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, the Heat are hot. The Miami Heat against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. Their first win of two wins. I thought it was a fun game. It was in Charlotte. They had that colorful City Edition court, that very colorful blue. They had the orange jerseys on, while the Miami Heat had their Miami Vice jerseys on. So extremely colorful. Both teams coming in feeling good. The Hornets had 16 straight. I thought it was a thriller. It was 128, 120 for the heat. You had Eric Collins on the broadcast saying some fun stuff as always. What basketball we're watching and even got Del Curry into it. Del Curry, you know, beside him doesn't seem like a. Pretty easy. Yeah. He jumps in with a. Are you not entertained? Just cuz.

[Jay Skeets]

Just that place was buzzing.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Pun intended.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, it was, it was. It went down to the fourth quarter and it was surprising with the Miami Heat not having Norm Powell or Andrew Wiggins who is sitting in this one. They're starting Myron Gardner who played just basically eight minutes in the first and eight minutes in the third quarter just to eat some minutes. But it was the other guys that did enough. I mean Jaime Hawkes coming off the bench. Who doesn't hit threes at four threes in this game? That's the most of any game this season. The Hornets did a good job taking away his driving lanes, but Hyman Hawkeye just splash, splash. 21 points. Davion Mitchell, you need him. In this case where you don't have Norm or you don't have Andrew Wiggins. He had three threes. They only had six turnovers in this game and Tyler Herro didn't have one of them and he just balled out. He had enough 33 points for this guy. 8 of 10 from 3. In a game where Bam couldn't hit his. Tyler Hero just stepped up and hit his 14 points in the third quarter. Then the fourth when there were seven minutes left, he took a dribble handoff. I think it was from Bam. And he had to lean back to hit a three because it was a tough angle. It was just a great shot to get him finally, you know, over the, the hump for the, the lead that they didn't give up. I don't think from that point they had a, a really great ending seven minutes of that game to snap the Hornets six game streak. Again six turnovers for that whole team. So just great offense. Period. And then game two versus the Pistons a little less exciting cause they basically ran the whole thing from the, from the get go. The Pistons got up two zip. And that was their only lead as the heat went up 13:2. The pistons, I don't know, they may have been gassed. It was a back to back. They got into Miami at 4:30am so

[Jay Skeets]

yeah, we hear sounds so much about flights getting in nowadays. Oh yeah, we never heard this like 15, 20 years ago. What's in a blue moon? You'd hear it. I feel like we hear it every four days. About said to you getting in at three or four in the morning. I'm just saying I'm not knocking the Pistons or anything. We hear it all the time now.

[Trey Kirby]

We're just so aware of the flight trackers.

[Tas Melis]

Flight aware, yeah, exactly.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. He just ran it down the Pistons throat fast. Break 22, 6. The Pistons really didn't have much shot at all. And when they get in, they'd get it out. And the Pistons weren't comfortable at guarding everywhere. So Bam had four threes, Hero had four threes. Tomahawk is 19 to seven assists. So they're getting it from everywhere. They've won five in a row. There's seven games over.500. Who would have thunk it? A lot of the time you think about the Miami Heat, you think it's a 500 team. Seven games over. 500 here. Pretty late in the season for them to be doing that. They got 17 games left, so they're in a battle.

[Jay Skeets]

They are. They're in a battle. They're right there with the. Obviously, like we said, the Raptors and the Magic in the, the fifth and sixth spots in the east actual playoffs. But the Heat leading the play in race. But I mean, look, a game separating all these teams here is gonna go any which way.

[Tas Melis]

Here could go any which way. And Tyler Hero, guess what? He's good. Easy to forget this guy is a talented scorer. He's basically 50, 40, 90 since returning, hasn't played a ton of games yet. But the Heat need his juice on offense because he's a good scorer first and foremost, a good shooter. But he's a decent enough playmaker which takes the load off of a guy like Bamboo, Davion Mitchell and I mean, we'll see how Powell fits in when he returns. I guess he'll probably come off the bench. I don't know. That's just what they do with Norm Powell. They start him for two thirds of the season that bring him off the bench for the end of it and he's going to give you a 20 to 24 per game no matter which way it's happening. I think Khalil Ware is also playing a lot more and a lot better. He's having much more of an impact. So Spoelstra is giving him longer leashes. He's not just hanging out on the perimeter, he's dunking all the time. And he's really contributing on the defensive end and rebounding as well. He's like, he's an up and down effort guy, but when he's giving it to you, he is A talented player and he really helps the team, so they're getting contributions from him. Yakachonas, like played pretty well against the Pistons, so yeah, they're looking deeper and they're still waiting for Norm to come back.

[Jay Skeets]

And BAM. Adebayo scored 24 on Sunday in that win over the Pistons and became just the second Heat player to score 10,000 plus points with the franchise, joining Dwyane Wade, of course.

[Tas Melis]

So I don't think he's going to catch him.

[Jay Skeets]

No, he's probably not going to catch him. But still, that's quite, quite an accomplishment there and he's been there for a while. So Heat man, really, truly a good weekend. Or I guess if we want to go back to the last week because of the Hornets had the win streak. Southeast Division, man, look at the magic,

[Tas Melis]

look at the Heat.

[Jay Skeets]

Look at the Hornets were the hottest team until everybody jinxed them. Till people started saying they were going to the Eastern Conference finals. Oh, what. But yeah, otherwise Southeast, baby. Don't worry about the other two teams. Trey Young is playing for the Wizards, so that's.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

And what's the other team I'm forgetting?

[Tas Melis]

Hawks.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, the Hawks are good.

[Tas Melis]

They're on fire.

[Jay Skeets]

Holy crap. I just saw them. I was down at the Fortress watching Jalen Johnson literally dunk every second possession against the Sixers.

[Trey Kirby]

Yep.

[Jay Skeets]

Holy crap. Guy was attacking with abandonment.

[Tas Melis]

Six straight for Atlanta.

[Jay Skeets]

So the Southeast Division, no good teams, but still.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, yeah, bad ones.

[Jay Skeets]

My final winner of the weekend, I'm going to give it to Shay Gilders Alexander's MVP chances though. I hear you on the Wemby factor of it all. Will he get two games played and make this a race? But let me state the case here for sga. He is the odds on favorite to win this thing. I think he's minus 400 on FanDuel as of this morning here on Monday, OkC5 and oh, since he returned from his injury, he. He did miss one of those games, but otherwise he's right back to scoring 30 points per game. So he's doing that and the league have. Excuse me. The Thunder have the league's best record. First team to win 50 games. There's 17 games remaining. So where are they going to finish? They're finishing obviously 60 plus wins. It's going to be close to that over under in the start of the season, isn't it?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Wasn't it 62 and a half could be close. But anyway, they're a dominant team. When he's in there like you saw him against the Dubs there on Sunday. I guess that game Saturday was that game. He had a rough game shooting the ball 6 of 15. A lot of free throws though, put pressure on the defense, obviously got to the line. And then what I love, it feels like he's done this a couple times even since returning. He just like hits these like game winning, usually threes now is what he's doing. He got isoed on Draymond Green. It was a two point game. And he's like, no, no, no, don't bring anything over here. I'll cook him. He steps back, splashes a three right in Draymond's face. I mean he played it as well as he could and that was push the lead to five and there was 40 seconds left. Like that's a huge shot. That's basically one of those shots that sort of ends the game. He's done that a couple times. So I just think him returning, playing well, team winning paired with the Nuggets struggling here in sort of the standing sliding a little bit. Jokic not having his best basketball we've ever seen from him. And then the Cade Cunningham. And of it all he was sort of in this conversation. He's at the MVP table, but he's not holding the menu. He doesn't get to say we're ordering an appetizer. It's like you're there. They've hit a lull here. Four games in a. In a row for them. He's exhausted. I buy you, I buy that. That you said before, Trey. It's really down to Wemby. I feel like in SGA and SGA is going to have him. I think on games played and we'll see about record. But I think he, I think my point is I think he's sort of, I think he's wrapping it up here. I, I think he's going to hit the games played 65 and I think he's going to win his second consecutive MVP. Just like Steve Nash. When Canadians win MVP in the NBA, you have to go back to back, but we'll see.

[Trey Kirby]

Thoughts? He's the favorite, that's for sure. That, yeah, that was a funny game against the Warriors. Warriors could have pulled that one out. They missed a lot of free throws. Kristaps Porzingis back for the Warriors. 3 of 6 From the free throw line. Gary Payton missed a couple free throws. They shot 11 of 18 from the free throw line. Just hit some free throws and they win that game. And the Thunder won't hit their over under if you win that game. But, yes, I feel like Shea is definitely the favorite. You know, Kaden, this Pistons got to turn things around. They gotta go on a huge run. I. I would think for him to win it. Yeah, they gotta win games.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Of course, games played is obviously going to come into play for all these guys that we're talking about. SGA still has to get there. Wemby could still get there. Jokic still could get there. You know, Luca, I don't know where you have him in this MVP conversation. Obviously, the numbers are pretty remarkable, but, you know, I think he's sort of more in the 3, 4, 5, whatever. Jalen Brown's tried to, like, sneak in there, too. I don't think he's winning it. So it's. It's sort of down to me. It's going to be sga. Yokicherwembi, and I just think he's going to win it again. And Basketball Reference disagrees with that. 63% probability for Jokic still. But you got to get to the games played. And, you know, they're sliding, too, is another part of the equation here.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, they're down into six in the Western Conference. I think the only way that Shay doesn't win MVP is if the spurs get more wins.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Okay, but right now, like, shay has played 300 more minutes than Wemby. Wemby is more impactful on the defensive end by far. But, I mean, I think if San Antonio somehow catches Oklahoma City, then Wemby would probably win because who else is it going to be from that team? But that's the only. That's the only way it happens. The other question I have is, do you think Shay Gilgeous Alexander could be Dr. Sauce? Because ever since Friday, we're talking about.

[Jay Skeets]

Keep thinking about Dr. Sauce.

[Tas Melis]

Who's Dr.

[Jay Skeets]

Sauce out there?

[Tas Melis]

He does have, like, a scientific approach to the game. He plays with angles.

[Jay Skeets]

I don't hate it.

[Tas Melis]

Right. He doesn't even have a nickname. He's got initials.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, Dr.

[Trey Kirby]

Sauce.

[Tas Melis]

Just chew on it.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Let's just sit with it for a little bit here. Is SGA Dr. Sauce here. You're going to hear a lot about Shea Gilders Alexander in the next couple of days here. Because he did extend his streak of scoring at least 20 points to 125 consecutive games. He'll tie Wilt Chamberlain, his record of 126 straight games with at least 20 points tonight. He probably gets to 20 points tonight. It's against Denver. So that is a good game, and then you're just going to see a lot of people going, like, I can't wait. I'm already, like, expecting, like, some sort of backlash to said record. And I'm not even saying this is like, oh, my God, like, this is impressive. This is very consistent. Any record where you're beating Wilt Chamberlain and Jordan didn't do it, or Kobe didn't do it, when it comes to scoring, that's impressive. I don't care. But I can just see it now, like, people going, what the hell is this? This is stupid. This is dumb. It's like, okay, yeah, sure, it is dumb, but it shows off consistency. And he just got there in the last game, and I think he'll do it tonight.

[Trey Kirby]

Dr. Sauce can do it.

[Tas Melis]

A PhD in scoring.

[Jay Skeets]

Yes. There you go. There you go.

[Trey Kirby]

He's quite good at that, that's for sure.

[Jay Skeets]

Any other minor winners that you just wanted to toss? Toss into the sauce here.

[Tas Melis]

Toss into the sauce. Kristas Porzinga says he's going to be healthy now. How does he know?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I didn't buy that.

[Tas Melis]

That was. That was an interesting quote.

[Jay Skeets]

I thought I saw that, too.

[Trey Kirby]

I watched that press conference. He didn't sell me. He didn't. I don't think he sold himself. I don't think he was too confident. Okay, again, he didn't have a good game. First game back, huh? Okay, yeah, whatever. I mean, he's played a couple games. He's obviously got this illness, this thing going on, which he doesn't know what it is exactly. It just doesn't feel like he's ready to come and give it. Unfortunately.

[Tas Melis]

Unfortunately for them, we touched on the Hawks there. Winners.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, yeah. Jalen Johnson and the Hawks winning a bunch of games here, taking care of, obviously, some lesser talent. But they beat the Sixers missing guys. We'll get into them in a second.

[Trey Kirby]

I know, I know. We don't want to give the Suns a winner because of sort of the slight little cloud of Dylan Brooks hanging over them a little bit. But they won two games this weekend without Dylan Brooks, without Mark Williams, who's out for a few weeks, and that hurts. And so for them to get both those wins. Very good. Yeah. And Dylan Brooks tried to make it up to the team. He went in there on Friday, the night after he was charged and released after a dui. Went up to them, apologized to them, actually. Colin Gillespie talked about it for a while with press, and he said, you know, no one's above anybody else. He came, he admitted he was Wrong. And I don't know if you guys saw the body cam.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Footage blew a 0.0.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Sure. Feels like it was marijuana.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, exactly.

[Trey Kirby]

It smelled like a dispensary, as the officer said, as he's the open, which

[Jay Skeets]

he says he hasn't. Doesn't smoke.

[Tas Melis]

He said.

[Jay Skeets]

Yes, so.

[Trey Kirby]

But he was reckless on the road. He was wobbly. It was wobbly as the. The officer.

[Jay Skeets]

But he talked to the team. I didn't see that.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, he did. He did. And he made it up. Made up to the team. And they go get two wins again. No Mark Williams, no Dylan Brooks. So they need everybody. And Jalen Green looked better than he ever has on Sunday. He looked a lot better for them. So things are going well.

[Tas Melis]

He's a March man.

[Trey Kirby]

He's March.

[Tas Melis]

He's been marches.

[Jay Skeets]

He has, actually.

[Trey Kirby]

Southeast Division. Jalen Green. Who else is coming through in March?

[Jay Skeets]

Giddy, always.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, he's a. He's a big March.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Jalen Green. When the Rockets had that big win streak in March. Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Got a. He was a giant contract off of it.

[Jay Skeets]

All right, let's take a break, and when we come back, we'll do some NBA weekend losers.

[Tas Melis]

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[Trey Kirby]

What's that smell? Oh, it's spring. I know it's early, but I am ready. I can smell it. I'm ready to elevate my space. It's time to go to Wayfair. I love deciding what I'm gonna change this year. It's a carpet. Getting it out of there, grabbing my leaf blower, and just blowing around all the dust in my house. I usually put a mask on so I don't inhale all of it. Wayfair does make it easy to decide what you want to refresh because it has everything your home needs. This season, while I was surfing, I was thinking maybe a nice chesterfield or an ottoman. Oh yeah, the fluffy faux fur ottoman is a nice footrest. I need one for my living room. I only have a table and my feet do get sore. Looks super soft. It's nice and white. I can yell at my kids if they get it dirty. I love it. Get organized, refreshed and back on track this new year. For way less head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair every style, every home.

[Jay Skeets]

Did y' all hear the big news? Ja' Marr Chase is officially Fabletic's first NFL ambassador. No joke. He ain't dropped passes, but Jamar just dropped his first collection with Fabletics, featuring his favorite essentials. Classic tees, oversized hoodies, and all the comfy pieces perfect for lounging or hitting the gym. And because I joined the Fabletics VIP program, I got first dibs on all the new gear. And let me tell you, this gear is good. When I signed up as a new VIP with Fabletics, I got 80% off everything. Yeah, I didn't stutter 80%. That sounds insane. That sounds like one of those too good to be true things. But no, this is real and you should see how much stuff I got. The quality honestly surprised me. Fabletics pieces feel like the kind of high end activewear you'd easily pay a couple hundred dollars for, but you get the same premium fit and durability for a fraction of the price price. At that point, the VIP membership basically pays for itself and the fit dialed in, baby. No waistbands creeping down here. Joggers that actually keep their shape, jackets that are warm without being bulky. Everything feels soft, breathable, flexible. Fabletics are perfect for workouts, travel days, or those mornings when you just need something that helps you feel put together. These clothes are quickly becoming my go to weekend fits. It's one of those brands that once you try it, you just get it. The value, the styles, the flexibility. That's the appeal of Fabletics. But here's the real selling point. And they didn't even tell me to say this part. I got some of this stuff and my wife loved them. Nora's a tough critic, but she was impressed with Fabletics. Fabletics already has incredible deals and I've got an exclusive offer just for all listeners. Get 80% off everything when you sign up as a VIP. And yes, that includes Jamar's first drop. Just head to fabletics.com no dunks. Take a quick style quiz and Be sure to select no dunks when prompted to unlock your 80% off. That's Fabletics.com no dunks.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Jay Skeets]

Right now, new FanDuel customers can get up to $300 back in bonus bets every day for 10 days if your bet loses. Yeah, here's how this works. Place a tournament bet using the token, and if it doesn't win, you'll get up to $300 back in bonus bets every single day for 10 straight days. That's 10 chances to play all tourney long from game props and money lines to spreads and totals and futures and more. You can even mix things up with same gay parlays for a shot at a bigger payout. So however you want to fill out your bracket, FanDuel makes it easy to stay in the action day after day, so visit the FanDuel Sportsbook app today. FanDuel, it's your time to dance. We'll be dancing. We'll be filling out a bracket here as we always do.

[Tas Melis]

It's your time to dance.

[Jay Skeets]

I actually read that wrong. It said, fanduel, it's time to dance. But I think it's still good. My copy's better.

[Tas Melis]

It's your time to dance.

[Trey Kirby]

Your time to dance just happened. Naturally.

[Jay Skeets]

That's great. Yeah. But our Miami, Ohio Redhawks. Perfect. Let's go 31 and let's go guaranteed in that dance.

[Tas Melis]

Excellent.

[Jay Skeets]

I mean, they gotta be. Come on. I don't care what happens in their tourney.

[Tas Melis]

Wouldn't you rather take a loss before the tournament?

[Jay Skeets]

Sure.

[Tas Melis]

Just ask Jameer Nelson.

[Jay Skeets]

Wow. What a poll. Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

They went undefeated and then lost in the tournament.

[Trey Kirby]

Damn.

[Tas Melis]

Marvin o', Connor, I think, was their other good player.

[Jay Skeets]

Don't remember him.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, Marvin. There's not a lot of black guys that have Irish last names, so that one sticks in your head.

[Trey Kirby]

Marvin o'. Connor. But somebody. I don't know who it was. I think it's a former player. I'm just I'm just assuming that it was. I feel like it was asked. Why isn't Miami Ohio guaranteed in the tournament at 30 0? Of course somebody asked.

[Jay Skeets]

Stupidest thing. They put thousands of teams in this tournament. What are we talking about? A team that hasn't lost can't be in one of these spots. Is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Yeah, somebody, apparently Bruce Pearl, started all this crap. Yeah, you know who I'm talking about? Bruce Pearl. He was the one questioning it, I guess, before they won that big.

[Tas Melis]

Come on, Bruce.

[Jay Skeets]

Look, they're. They're in. Don't worry about it. They're in. They're in. We're going to have them going all the way to the end.

[Tas Melis]

They got old guys.

[Jay Skeets]

Who's the biggest Redhawks fans alive?

[Trey Kirby]

What?

[Jay Skeets]

They better have no idea.

[Tas Melis]

That's all I care about.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, I did see. Caleb Wilson, I guess is out. Isn't he with. Is he a hand injury? Yeah, I think he. He might be out out too.

[Tas Melis]

Gotta watch those hands.

[Jay Skeets]

Gotta watch those hands. Okay, let's do. NBA weekend losers. Trey, get us started.

[Tas Melis]

Denver Nuggets, losers of the weekend. They lost in a blowout against the Knicks on Friday. Lost basically every way you can. This one, 22 to 8. Fast break points. They gave up 76 points in the paint. 11 dunks for New York, including OG Anunoby, who had one of the sexiest dunks of his career. A reverse double pump on the break. He had 34. Mitchell Robinson had 13 points. I think he. I don't know if he had five dunks or six dunks, but if the fifth, if the sixth dunk wasn't a dunk, it was a layup, I guarantee you that that's fine. You know, sometimes you lose the second night of a back to back. The Knicks have been playing pretty well though. Like we talked about, they. They lost as well this weekend, but I'm not as upset about that. The thing that makes the Nuggets a loser of the weekend to me is on the night they get Aaron Gordon back, finally they lose Jamal Murray, who tweaked his ankle, maybe like his heel hit Jokic when he was trying to slide defensively off balance. Tweaked it. They pulled him for the second half of this game. This was only the 11th time this season that the Nuggets had their opening night starters together. The first time since November. Because it's been Gordon out, it's been Cam Johnson out. Lots of guys have missed time. Their preferred starters have only played 158 minutes together. And now we'll see how long Murray ends up missing. He kind of limped his way out, you know, hanging on Jonas Valentunas and Peyton Watson willing to put his denim on the line for a sweaty body. And Jamal Murray, I love to see that teammate ship from him.

[Trey Kirby]

Apparently he's questionable tonight against okc.

[Tas Melis]

Okay, so maybe they keep him out for this game, maybe he comes back soon. But it just feels like they're a little snake bitten not being able to have everybody playing together, building the chemistry, building the cohesiveness that they need because this is a different team. Bringing in Cam Johnson, he's a different style player than Michael Porter Jr. Who they had a long tracker record of success with playing together, playing multiple playoff games together. And it would just be nice for this team to go into the playoffs knowing how they want to attack, how they want to play defense together. So I think just a bummer for the Nuggets to finally, finally get mostly healthy. Like Watson is still out, but at least they had their starters back and instantly they lose. Jamal Murray don't even have them for a half. So that was a super bummer, I thought.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. I think Zach Lowe referred to the Nuggets this season potentially as it's just not our year type of year. Just one of those years where they can't all get on the same page mainly because of injury and we'll see if that comes to fruition. But I mean, it feels like there's something there that's crazy that Gordon comes back and then Jamal gets banged up right away. It's like, come on.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they were getting destroyed in that quarter where Jamal Murray went out. As you're saying about the Knicks, I mean, after the first quarter when the Nuggets were up and that second quarter and then the third quarter, they just look bad entirely. It is more concerning on the defensive end that they just get that cohesion around. It would be nice to get Cam Johnson and his drives when the ball gets spun from Jokic or Murray to get that going because he just hasn't been able to get it going the entire season. And he's going to be in that starting role. He will be that third guy. Essentially, they need him because Christian Brown does get it going with Jokic and they're the first. I don't know if they're still ranked first offensively, but they are extremely high. But still, I think it's the defensive end and the defensive effort. It just feels like, yeah, it could be one of those years. As Zach Lowe said. But it also could just be, man, this just team needs a little bit of a change up almost even though they're super good. And that change up was Cam Johnson. He just hasn't been able to play. So here we are weeks away. I had him as the team that could upset OKC for much of the season. But yeah, they're not on the same string defensively. That's important part for me.

[Jay Skeets]

The Nuggets still do have the number one offense in the league according to basketball reference, so first overall in offensive rating, but 23rd in defensive rating. And I mean, at this point though, like, I don't think the Nuggets truly care if they finish third, fourth, fifth or sixth even like in the Western Conference. But you sure as hell don't want to fall to the play in. Not that they couldn't get out of it, but then you're playing either. You're guaranteed to be playing either OKC or San Antonio in a first round matchup. Like, yeah, they have confidence. I'm sure they can beat maybe even both those teams, but I don't know. I don't, I don't want to see them in a first round and be bounced in the first round. So they are holding on here because the Suns are not that far behind trying to get into the actual playoff race themselves. Yeah. So, yeah, tough, tough loss with Jamal. I'm with you. I don't think he plays tonight here. I can't imagine he plays. Keep him out a game or two. But you can't go super long here if you want to care about staying in the conversation there for the playoffs.

[Tas Melis]

Well, even right now if they stay six and Minnesota stays three, like Minnesota's played them well.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Right. And I do think Jokic is going to have to bring a better effort on the defensive end because right now he's just like, if you're going up for a layup, I'll let you have it.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Not.

[Jay Skeets]

He's already getting ready to inbound the ball. Yeah, he does that. Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

And look, he can be an effective defender. Like, he's not ever going to be a shot blocker, but he's pretty decent with positioning. He's got good hands for like steals and deflections. But right now he doesn't really care on that end.

[Jay Skeets]

It doesn't feel like who do you have for loser of the weekend?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, I think the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis at Akumpo specifically are gonna miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016. It's gonna be a long road to get back into the playoffs from where they are right now. And yeah, it's been a long time since the Honest missed the playoffs, but it sure feels like it's happening again because they're way back. They're four games out of the play in right now. And this weekend specifically, Yanni sat one game of his back to back, so, you know, you look at it. And the Bucks have four more back to back. So whether or not he misses a few of those games because he's taking care of that calf and making sure he doesn't get injured again, still, I mean, either way, they're just so far back. They have 19 games left. I would assumed they'd have to go something like 14 and five. If the Hornets in front of them, who they're four back of, goes like nine and eight to get in there. And the Hornets are playing well, obviously now the Hornets have some tough teams and all that, but four games back and the Hornets have more games at home. 10 games at home, seven on the road. They're five and a half back of the Hawks, who are ninth. They have 10 home games and eight road games. It just seems too far, especially the Bucks. When Giannis sits, of course they're going to be worse. But Kevin Porter Jr. Is also out. He's their second best offensive player right now. Will he come back? Maybe. But I think this is it.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Free Anis to make the playoffs again since 2016. It's been a while.

[Tas Melis]

You said that was a good thing though, right?

[Trey Kirby]

Which, which part?

[Tas Melis]

That if they, if they try hard and don't make the playoffs, it makes it easier for Giannis to request a

[Trey Kirby]

trade if they try. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's part of it. The. The effort is going to come from the front office to say, okay, we're either they're going to trade some of their draft picks and whatever they can to go get somebody good to try and convince Giannis. Or, yeah, Giannis can say, hey man, I gave it everything I had. We didn't make the playoffs. Yes. And say. And say, yeah, this is it. It's time for Janice to go. It's time to pack the bags and leave Milwaukee. It all depends again, who is going to take them. Because, you know, we hear the Golden State warriors are going to give everything they can if the Knicks don't win. That's a good. That's a good matchup for Yanis to be dealt there. Depending on what they can get back the Rockets.

[Tas Melis]

The Rockets could do a struggle Very aggressive move.

[Jay Skeets]

If they flame out early here and stuff like that could put together at least an enticing package, I think, right? Yeah, they could to Milwaukee, so.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

I'm using a pen, not a pencil. I'm crossing out Milwaukee Bucks here for the rest of this season. I don't think they have a chance of catching any of these teams. A lot of these teams playing good in the play in race in the Eastern Conferences. We just went over. We'll get to Philadelphia in a second, but that's a long way. They would have to slide and Milwaukee would also have to win. That's a part of the equation. With or without Giannis, they're losing. So. Yeah, I don't. I don't think it's happening this year.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, the Bucs have. The best thing you can say they got going for them is they have an easier schedule than all these other teams that are in the play in tournament. But they feel like a team that didn't expect to have to play hard at this point in the season. They're like, oh, wait, we're trying to make the play in now. And not the most exciting goal, it doesn't seem like, for Milwaukee, so. We've already heard rumors that Doc Rivers is going to retire after this season. It definitely feels like a play out the string kind of a team right now.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, it. The Hornets are playing too well. I thought there was a chance that they could catch the Atlanta Hawks, but now the Hawks have won six in a row. After the All Star Game. The Hawks have been seriously. They've been cooking. They're seven and one since after the All Star Game, after going into the All Star break, having lost three straight. Yeah, they look like a new team.

[Jay Skeets]

My big loser of the weekend is the Philadelphia 76ers, because there's a month left in the 2526 regular season, but it's possible their season ended on Saturday night. Philly entered this weekend holding onto a playoff spot in the sixth seed, but after one game, which was a loss to Atlanta, which we'll break down here, a bunch of teams behind them picked up wins, quality wins. And now here's Philly sitting in the eighth spot in the play in there after both those Florida teams jumped him in the east standings. But to add insult to injury, I mean, they lose to the Hawks. It was a competitive game, it was a close game, but right at the end, Tyrese Maxey collides with Adam Bona, and then Maxi is left, like, grimacing, holding his hand. He's putting it in his shorts. It's like, oh, that is not good. On Sunday they announced that he suffered a sprain of his pinky finger and will miss at least the next two games as he undergoes further testing. So again, it's a pinky. Okay, what's the big deal? Be back. But it is important whether you call it a pinky or your fifth finger.

[Trey Kirby]

Right?

[Jay Skeets]

As I saw Shams was calling it, people were getting upset.

[Tas Melis]

It's awesome actually.

[Jay Skeets]

So anyway, but then, so you got Maxi, but Joel Embiid, he's missed the past four games with the oblique injury he suffered in late February. Paul George is only 16 games into his 25 game suspension for violation of the NBA's anti drug policy. So he's not back until late March. VJ Edgecombe didn't play against the Hawks. He's got like a lumber contusion. So he's missed a couple games here now. And now maybe Maxi or at least Maxi for a couple. Not good here. I mean I remember we were talking about Sixers a couple weeks ago. We were getting excited and it's gone to shit since then. And good luck replacing Maxi. I mean you just can't. The guy leads him in scoring, assists, three pointer steals, shot attempts. He plays the most minutes in the league at like nearly 39 minutes per game. I mean Nurse relies on him a lot and he's played in an all NBA level. But this is bad. This is bad. So now they're just holding on for dear life here for a play in appearance. I think at this point with all these injuries to their main guys.

[Tas Melis]

Well, yeah, I mean they're locked into the play in at least looking at the schedule. Cavs, Grizzlies, Pistons, Nets, that's like one good team. One bad team. One good team, one bad team. Silver lining. Like you said, Maxi's played the most minutes in the league this season. He's struggled since the all star break. He's basically 33% from the field and Beat has missed so much time. Paul George isn't playing. So the impetus on all the offense is for Maxi right now. He's the only guy that can do anything out there. So actually getting to sit down for a few games is probably beneficial to him. It would help if indeed could come back, give them his 26 points in 25 minutes that he does when he comes back. The guy's automatic when he plays. So if he's able to play, I think they could at least beat the Grizzlies and the Nets. Those Kind of teams. And if Maxi doesn't sit out for too long, if he misses like a week, week and a half, at least makes him the best team in the play in. I would think assuming Paul George comes back and gets into the swing of things by the end of the season, and assuming Embiid is ready to go come playoff time. These are, of course, question marks that the Sixers are always going to have, but, yeah, definitely not good to lose Maxi. But he will benefit by sitting down. And also, I'll say, for me, the pinky is the fourth most important finger.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay. Give him a. Give a most.

[Tas Melis]

All you need to know is that the. The ring finger is the worst finger.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

You don't need. It is the least consequential finger.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Least consequential finger. Thumb, thumb. Special.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, yeah. Thumb in the index finger. Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

I would go thumb and index. Top two. And then middle finger. A clear third.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

And then the pinky. Because imagine without it.

[Trey Kirby]

Right. So fourth. Yeah, that's fair. I will say Sham's calling it the fifth finger. I mean, is the thumb categorized as. Well, it's classified as what?

[Jay Skeets]

It's a digit. You know, man.

[Trey Kirby]

Is it so. Yeah, but it's. What are you calling it? The first thing it needs a number. If you're calling that the pinky. The fifth finger.

[Tas Melis]

That's a great point.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

What is it?

[Tas Melis]

I guess it's one, but you also

[Jay Skeets]

couldn't say fourth finger. That sounds weird too, doesn't it, for the pinky. Meaning pinky. Yeah. I mean.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. You'd call it pinky.

[Jay Skeets]

You gotta go digits. Heard his fifth digit. And then I'm like, oh, yeah, that's pinky.

[Tas Melis]

That's a good point. When you're counting to five on one hand.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Tas Melis]

Do you start with the. You start with your index or do you start with your thumb?

[Jay Skeets]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

[Tas Melis]

Wow. My thumb.

[Jay Skeets]

My fifth.

[Tas Melis]

The thumb is kind of the fifth finger, if you really think about it.

[Trey Kirby]

Just invent new. New name for it.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Pinky.

[Trey Kirby]

No, just a new name for. For. Because you have five. You have five fingers. We have a thumb. And there's. It's got to be a new, New terminology.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay. Or shops could just call it the pinky.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

We haven't. Everybody knows. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should have.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, you should have. It was just funny watching again. Like I said, I was at the Fortress watching Hawk Sixers and, you know, with some more casual fans, was getting a lot of. Who the hell is that guy on the sixers? Oh, that's trending.

[Tas Melis]

Watford, obviously.

[Jay Skeets]

That's his name. Yeah, that's his name. Who the hell is that guy? It's Jabari Walker, actually. He's not too bad. He's had some pretty good games recently. Who the hell is that guy? That's Cameron Payne. Yeah, he's campaign. He's there now. Yeah, you know, he's there now. Even bona and stuff like that. Barbara Barlow. It's like there was a lot of like, who is that?

[Tas Melis]

You're saying they didn't know Dominic Barlow, Park Skyhawks legend.

[Jay Skeets]

They did not. That's crazy. They did not. But they put up a fight and, you know, they had a good game. Grimes and Kelly and like, you know, just. They just could not stop the Hawks who had got great games from Jalen Johnson and K. Alexander Walker.

[Trey Kirby]

I got. I had that feeling watching the King's highlights yesterday. They have a haze.

[Tas Melis]

Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Killian Hayes is back.

[Tas Melis]

He's back, baby.

[Trey Kirby]

Definitely didn't think it was that haze, but it was Killian Hayes. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Which haze did you think it was?

[Trey Kirby]

Some Other. Some random haze? I don't know.

[Tas Melis]

Hazel Error?

[Jay Skeets]

Pinky haze?

[Trey Kirby]

Pinky haze.

[Jay Skeets]

Sounds like a guy. Could be.

[Tas Melis]

We got a leaky black in the.

[Trey Kirby]

We got a pinky.

[Jay Skeets]

All right, those are our losers of the weekend. Tell us who we missed, both winners and losers. Let us know as you are in the stream team. Let us know in the comments. Tweet at us at no Dunks Inc. Of the Night, sponsored by Nathan Spicer, an author who is now cancer free.

[Tas Melis]

Let's go.

[Jay Skeets]

Which we love to see. Nathan has been going through cancer and 11 other chronic ailments, including Ehler Danlos syndrome, a condition he discovered when he tore his shoulder from shooting a basketball. Tore it in like three spots. While preparing for hundreds of doctor visits, he listened to no Dunk Monks and he wrote books, including. Listen to this title, the Lamest of Legends. And I'm intrigued by this. This write up. It's about the Greek gods regaining control of Earth but sucking at it because they haven't done so in like 3,000 years. So everything's going horribly wrong. Yeah. The hijinks. So I read that.

[Trey Kirby]

Like I'm intrigued by it. You're in. You're in something there.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Nathan said I can make it happen. Okay.

[Jay Skeets]

Get us copy.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Or he also mentioned there's many books that he's written.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

So I'm not sure if this was the one that he said he could give you an audio version or digital Version? I don't know, I don't remember exactly, but he's gotcha.

[Jay Skeets]

You think this is a nom de plume? Nathan Spicer is a pretty good author name to me.

[Trey Kirby]

I think it's his.

[Jay Skeets]

You think it's his real name?

[Tas Melis]

I played against the Spicer in high school.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay. I mean, yeah, sure, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Well it's also me being biased because I saw where the email came from and I don't think he was pluming on the email. But who knows why not?

[Jay Skeets]

I have jc. Yeah, you're right. Blooming on the email.

[Trey Kirby]

You never know. Never know.

[Tas Melis]

You got a favorite Greek God task?

[Trey Kirby]

I go back to the main. The main one. I always just Zeus it.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, big Zeus head. Anybody but Zeus.

[Trey Kirby]

I mean were you going goddesses too?

[Jay Skeets]

Sure, of course.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, well Aphrodite is my gal.

[Tas Melis]

I'm a Poseidon guy myself.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, really great. Love the water.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah, I love a trident. Love to emerge from the seas with a beard dripping with water like big paws.

[Jay Skeets]

Well, from Greek gods to French gods. Wembanyama got another. Woah boy guys. Yep, back to back. Woah boys. JD told me this morning. I was like what? He's like, well yeah, Wemby won it on Friday show. He did after Thursday night performance and then he wins Monday's well boy for Sunday's game. Game high 29 points. Spurs crushed the Rockets 9:13 from the field. 9:10 at the line, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 blocks in 30 turnover free minutes. So back to back. Woah boys for Wemby. Sponsored by Nathan Spicer.

[Trey Kirby]

Wow. Since you just mentioned JD and then we get a JD mention in the stream team, someone tell JD that today is Matt Barnes birthday. Hey, living the 815 TY coming through. It's Matt Barnes birthday.

[Jay Skeets]

Birthday.

[Trey Kirby]

Matt, you loved him being interviewed. Many, many, many. Oh, he's one of our. My favorite interviews for sure.

[Jay Skeets]

Let's try and get him on the show. Yeah, you know he's busy with his own podcast. I get that. But yeah, pod to pod, just come on. Sure, yeah, we'll go on all the smoke too.

[Tas Melis]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Nice. I'd like to give them some props actually. I, I love what they're doing or at least a lot of cliffs I'm fed. They get a lot of like OGs on some like, like guys that were like back in the 80s even 70s, whatever. Like classic, classic players. And what I like about is like you get all these fun ass stories and it's like, it's a good way to like, you know. Yeah. For us to remember or at least younger generations to learn. Some of these guys. I like that.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, yeah. I listened to the full episode of Cheryl Miller. That was a good one.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

This was in the summer, I think.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. You know, she told all the stories about when her and Reggie just talked trash to each other. It was really good. It was really good. Thanks to Matt. Kelly Barnes. I didn't know his middle name was Kelly. Number one. Didn't know he was a Matt. Legally. Not a Matthew.

[Tas Melis]

Not a Matthew.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Now you know Matt Kelly Barnes. Kelly Barnes didn't know that either. Interesting. All right, pick him. I am in a hole. You guys just keep picking together and I keep picking against you and it's not working. I'm one in four. You guys are four and one here. So where are we going tonight?

[Trey Kirby]

We're going to la. The Knicks visiting the Clippers because they got a back to back. First they lost to the Lakers, now they play the Clippers tonight. They're favored by two and a half. This was a tough one for me. I thought it was a coin flip. But I look back and they went on a West coast trip nearly a year to the day, and they lost both games on the march, March 6th and 7th, last year to the La's. So I decided, all right, that's my excuse for picking the Clippers. Trey. Also picking the Clippers. Why? Why are you going with the Clippers, Trey?

[Tas Melis]

Well, I just think in la, back to back is hard. They got the long travel now, 40 minutes depending on traffic between the two arenas. But the bigger issue is partying all night and then having to come play a game the next day. That's a good one. Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

And I have the Knicks. Did the graphic go up? Okay. I was. I'm having some issues with my lower thirds here. Oh, yeah, I saw that during Losers.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah. Okay.

[Tas Melis]

I like that.

[Jay Skeets]

Anyway, I got the Knicks.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay.

[Jay Skeets]

Good luck to you, Clippers. That's on the second game on the. Tonight.

[Tas Melis]

Is that coast to coast.

[Trey Kirby]

I didn't see it in the. In the slacks.

[Jay Skeets]

See what?

[Trey Kirby]

Doing the graphic. I didn't see the. The graphic.

[Jay Skeets]

Maybe I didn't send it. Yeah, that's why I asked.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay.

[Jay Skeets]

This is why we should go over things at the beginning of the show. But we don't. But we should.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. At the start. Like Darius Garland, who's also starting now. Los Angeles.

[Jay Skeets]

I literally have it done. It's right here. I'm looking at it. There's my Photoshop.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. All right.

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, because that's why you don't have it?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, I loaded up Friday. Spot accident.

[Jay Skeets]

Good. Good thing you didn't put that up, though.

[Trey Kirby]

That would have been embarrassing.

[Jay Skeets]

Oh, God. All right, I need the Knicks to win by three. Let's go. You do. Come on. Come get back in here. All right, that's it for Monday. Show Fun show. Winners and losers. Always a blast. We will be back tomorrow here from the Classic Factory. We hope you join us live. Hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners, five star day ratings and reviews. Clipper Rose, you heard it here first.

[Tas Melis]

Have a great time. Turn up.

[Jay Skeets]

Love you guys.

[Tas Melis]

Awesome.

[Trey Kirby]

Thanks for joining us. And remember the author, Nathan Spicer's real name is Nathan Spicer. I'm pretty sure I got another little hint from his email. Not gonna reveal that because we don't got to do that.

[Jay Skeets]

Cool name.

[Tas Melis]

Except, by the way, this is my real name. You gotta include that in your emails.

[Trey Kirby]

No, he just. He's got. There's something in there, Something telling in the email address. I'm not gonna reveal that, but that gives it away to me.

[Jay Skeets]

It's an at me address.

[Trey Kirby]

No, no, no, no.

[Jay Skeets]

Okay. That was my best.

[Trey Kirby]

There's a. There's a.

[Tas Melis]

There's a Nathan. Real name Spicer.

[Trey Kirby]

No, no, there's a. No, there's a middle initial in there. Would you just throw a middle initial?

[Jay Skeets]

Yeah, probably not.

[Trey Kirby]

I wouldn't think so.

[Jay Skeets]

All right, great name, Nathan Spicer. And happy that you're cancer free. Cancer. Embrace the day, people.

[Tas Melis]

An ordinary day can become a memorable one when you're with the right people. That's why Toyota believes people are the destination. The Toyota Highlander is built for everyday routines and special moments. With space, comfort, and flexibility to handle whatever the day brings. From busy mornings to memorable game days, it keeps everyone connected. Learn [e-mail] and find the vehicle that fits your people.

[Trey Kirby]

What's that smell? Oh, it's spring. I know it's early, but I am ready. I can smell it. I'm ready to elevate my space. It's time to go to Wayfair. I love deciding what I'm gonna change this year. It's a carpet. Getting it out of there, grabbing my leaf blower, and just blowing around all the dust in my house. I usually put a mask on so I don't inhale all of it. Wayfair does make it easy to decide what you want to refresh because it has everything you're home needs this season. While I was surfing, I was thinking maybe a nice Chesterfield or an ottoman. Oh, yeah, the fluffy faux fur ottoman is a nice footrest. I need one for my living room. I only have a table and my feet do get sore. Look super soft. It's nice and white. I can yell at my kids if they get it dirty. I love it. Get organized, refreshed and back on track this new year. For way less head to to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair Every style, every home.

[Jay Skeets]

Did y' all hear the big news? Jamar Chase is officially Fabletics first NFL ambassador. No joke. He ain't dropped passes, but Jamar just dropped his first collection with Fabletics, featuring his favorite essentials, classic tees or oversized hoodies. And all the comfy pieces perfect for lounging or hitting the gym. And because I joined the Fabletics VIP program, I got first dibs on all the new gear. And let me tell you, this gear is good. When I signed up as a new VIP with Fabletics, I got 80% off everything. Yeah, I didn't stutter 80%? That sounds insane. That sounds like one of those too good to be true things. But no, this is real and you should see how much stuff I got. The quality honestly surprised me. Phabletics pieces feel like the kind of high end activewear you'd easily pay a couple hundred dollars for, but you get the same premium fit and durability for a fraction of the price. At that point, the VIP membership basically pays for itself and the fit dialed in, baby. No waste. Bands creeping down here, joggers that actually keep their shape, jackets that are warm without being bulky. Everything feels soft, breathable, flexible. Fabletics are perfect for workouts, travel days, or those mornings when you just need something that helps you feel put together. These clothes are quickly becoming my go to weekend fits. It's one of those brands that once you try it, you just get it. The value, the styles, the flexibility. That's the appeal of Fabletics. But here's the real selling point. And they didn't even tell me to say this part. I got some of this stuff and my wife loved them. Nora's a tough critic, but she was impressed with Fabletics. Fabletics already has incredible deals and I've got an exclusive offer just for our listeners. Get 80% off everything when you sign up as a VIP. And yes, that includes Jamar's first drop. Just head to fabletics.com no dunks. Take a quick style quiz and be sure to select no dunks when prompted to unlock your 80% off. That's fabletics.com no dunks.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Jay Skeets]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Trey Kirby]

Guaranteed Human.