The Drop | SGA Comes Up Clutch, Thunder Rally To Tie NBA Finals

Summary

No Dunks Podcast Summary: Episode "The Drop | SGA Comes Up Clutch, Thunder Rally To Tie NBA Finals"

Release Date: June 14, 2025
Hosted by Skeets, Tas, Trey, and JD

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Introduction

In this episode of "No Dunks," the hosts delve deep into the dramatic Game Four of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. The game, marked by a stunning comeback from the Thunder, has left fans buzzing, and the hosts provide comprehensive analysis, player performances, and strategic insights.

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Game Overview

Final Scores & Series Status:
The Thunder overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat the Pacers 111-104, evening the Finals series at two games apiece. Shea Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) led the Thunder with 35 points, while Jalen Williams contributed 27 points, highlighting their pivotal roles in the victory.

Key Moments:

• Fourth Quarter Surge:
  The Thunder's rally began strong in the fourth quarter, where Chest Holmgren secured crucial offensive rebounds, essential for the Thunder's momentum.

  "They grabbed four offensive rebounds. They grabbed 57% of the available offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter." [04:39] – Tas Mellis

• Shea Gilgeous-Alexander's Clutch Performance:
  SGA was instrumental in the final stretch, scoring 15 of Oklahoma City's last 16 points. His ability to maintain composure under pressure was a significant factor in securing the win.

  "He has now scored 30 points in a game 14 times in this playoff run." [16:47] – J. Skeets

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Player Analyses

Shea Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA):
SGA showcased his elite clutch abilities, particularly in the fourth quarter. Despite a rocky start where he was limited in minutes to preserve his stamina, SGA exploded late, ensuring the Thunder's victory.

"To come through in the clutch was awesome. He has now scored 30 points in a game 14 times in this playoff run." [16:47] – J. Skeets

Jalen Williams (J. Dub):
Williams was the offensive backbone for the Thunder, especially in the first three quarters, contributing significantly to the team's scoring and free-throw efficiency.

"He carried the team offensively through the first three quarters and really turned it on on the defensive end." [19:20] – Trey Kirby

Chet Holmgren:
Despite battling injuries, Holmgren's defensive prowess was evident. His ability to contest shots and secure rebounds was crucial in the Thunder's defensive strategy.

"Chet spun into Nismith... What a big his shot was." [15:12] – Tass Mellis

Alex Caruso:
Caruso's efforts on both ends of the court, including his steal and subsequent scoring, provided the Thunder with essential points to stay competitive throughout the game.

"Alex Caruso hits the shot and it was so good." [17:45] – Trey Kirby

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Strategic Insights

Defensive Adjustments:
Mark Dagnault's decision to switch to a double-big lineup in the fourth quarter paid dividends. By pairing Holmgren with Isaiah Hartenstein, the Thunder bolstered their defense, effectively stifling the Pacers' offense.

"They completely answered the call with their defense and with Shai Gil, just Alexander." [07:10] – Trey Kirby

Offensive Rebounding:
Holmgren's offensive rebounds were pivotal, granting the Thunder extra possessions that shifted the game's momentum.

"He grabbed two early ones early in the fourth quarter." [06:58] – Tas Mellis

Free Throw Efficiency:
Both teams dominated the free-throw line, with the Thunder capitalizing on their opportunities more effectively, contributing significantly to their victory.

"The Thunder went to the line 38 times, the Pacers also went to the line 33 times." [11:36] – Tass Mellis

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Controversies & Refereeing

Foul Calls:
The episode discusses questionable officiating by Scott Foster, especially in Game Four, where inconsistent calls were a point of contention. Specific instances, such as Neesmith's fouls and Holmgren's defensive plays, were highlighted as pivotal moments influenced by referees.

"Referees have done a pretty good job through Three games and then you have some bad ones." [13:02] – Tas Mellis

Impact on the Game:
Despite the refereeing issues, the Thunder's defensive adjustments and SGA's performance overshadowed any potential negatives, leading to their comeback victory.

"They won it on defense." [12:57] – J. Skeets

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Comparisons & Historical Context

Golden State Warriors Reference:
The hosts draw parallels between the Thunder's comeback and the 2015 Warriors' historic run, emphasizing the resilience and strategic prowess required to overturn series deficits in the Finals.

"They just won in the fourth quarter. It really doesn't matter." [35:58] – Tass Mellis

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Player Health & Injuries

Chet Holmgren's Ankle:
Holmgren's sprained ankle was a significant concern, but his ability to stay on the court and contribute defensively was a testament to his toughness and the team's depth.

"He spun into Nismith... He didn't even complain about that one." [14:15] – Trey Kirby

Ben Matheran's Performance:
Matheran, relatively new to the playoffs and recovering from an injury, had a standout game but faltered in critical moments, impacting the Pacers' chances of a comeback.

"This is his first playoffs period, and he's a young guy." [16:29] – Tass Mellis

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Closing Remarks

The hosts express their anticipation for the upcoming Game Five on Monday night, emphasizing the high stakes and the momentum now favoring the Thunder. They reflect on the intensity, physicality, and strategic depth showcased throughout the series, underscoring the Thunder's ability to adapt and overcome challenges.

"They have now scored 30 points in a game 14 times in this playoff run." [16:47] – J. Skeets

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "They grabbed four offensive rebounds. They grabbed 57% of the available offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter." [04:39] – Tas Mellis

• "He has now scored 30 points in a game 14 times in this playoff run." [16:47] – J. Skeets

• "He won it on defense." [12:57] – J. Skeets

• "Referees have done a pretty good job through Three games and then you have some bad ones." [13:02] – Tas Mellis

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Final Thoughts

This episode of "No Dunks" provides a thorough breakdown of a landmark game in the NBA Finals, highlighting player performances, strategic decisions, and the ever-controversial role of officiating. The hosts' chemistry and insightful commentary make it a must-listen for fans eager to understand the nuances of the Thunder-Pacers showdown.

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Note: Advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections of the transcript have been excluded from this summary to focus solely on the podcast's core discussions and analyses.

Transcript

[Tass Mellis]

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[JD]

Race the rudders.

[J. Skeets]

Race the sails. Race the sails.

[Tass Mellis]

Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over.

[JD]

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[Tass Mellis]

Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors.

[Trey Kirby]

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[J. Skeets]

We'll even give you a $100 credit.

[Trey Kirby]

On your next get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply.

[J. Skeets]

Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast, presented by Amazon Prime. It's Saturday, June 14, 2025. I'm J. Skeets here in the classic factory. And alongside me, as always, in a shirt, Tasmelis.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, I wanted to just comment on the 22 finals we're talking about here today. That's what I was going to start with. Then I was going to make a joke about the Oilers and Panthers being tied, but I'm sitting beside a man who doesn't have a shirt on.

[J. Skeets]

That's right. It's the topless one. A true hot boy today, Trey Kirby. Hey, hey, yo. And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer jd.

[JD]

Hello.

[J. Skeets]

What's up, JD Are we going to get flagged for this video?

[JD]

Oh, probably.

[J. Skeets]

The new Trey Kirby. Yeah, the reason he's topless is because at the end of our last show, you said, hey, we got a thousand likes. I'll go shirtless.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Which ended up Being topless. I thought that was a funny distinction because I thought you might have on the undershirt.

[Trey Kirby]

I could have gone Toretto mode. There's no doubt. But you're right, Skeets. The people want to see the brownies. They're tuning in for Con canipples. They want to see Obi topless. They're saying Chest Holmgren is in the chat here.

[J. Skeets]

This is good.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, we're ready to go. I said it at the end of the show because I didn't think people would stick around that long, but. No, they did, they did. They said the brownies got to come back, so. Yeah, you're welcome.

[J. Skeets]

Well over a thousand likes. I checked before we went live. Is that like 1400?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Which makes me wonder, where the hell are all you people? Wrestling time. Why does it take him saying I'll go topless on a weekend show to get a thousand likes? You're obviously all here every day. Just hit it every day. Right?

[Tass Mellis]

So, yeah, very surprised. I like the analysis that Trey was thinking, no, they'll all be gone.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah.

[J. Skeets]

No, look, people are on it. Thank you for hitting the like button. Thank you for subscribing podcast listeners. Leave your boys a five star rating and review and then come over and check out the YouTube stream if you want to see Trey Kirby's brownies.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, this has got to be a good posture show for me. Right Back on the chair. A little sticky, you know, it's great.

[J. Skeets]

Well, one of my things I got to pick up later today is pepperoni because we're making pizzas and I'll just be looking at your two pepperonis all day. Perfect reminder for me to stop at Publix on the way.

[Trey Kirby]

I hate it. But I love it. I love it.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, let's get into an unbelievable game four of the NBA Finals. The Thunder erased a 10 point second half deficit. They beat the Pacers 111, 104. Behind 35 points from MVP Shea Gildris. Alexander, 27 from J Dub. He was great too. OKC evens the series at two games apiece. Game five. That's on Monday night. But we got so much to break down from this one. Tas. I. I assume you're going to start with Shay Gilders Alexander scoring 15 of the Thunders last 16 points. But I can't assume anything with.

[Tass Mellis]

No, you can't.

[Trey Kirby]

Let's talk about Kenrich Williams at the start of the fourth quarter.

[Tass Mellis]

The start of the fourth quarter is where we'll start. But. But it's not because Of Shea specifically right then and there. It's because of Chest Homegren and those offensive rebounds he was grabbing. He was watching. And then I flash back to earlier in the game when Chet turned his ankle and Shea stood over him and said, come on, we need you. Get up, get up. They won the game there. They needed Chest Holmgren to get those offensive rebounds to start that fourth quarter because they went into the fourth down and to see Chet go after those boards over and over and over again. I mean, he grabbed two early ones early in the fourth quarter. And then we got Isaiah Hartenstein midway through the fourth quarter grabbing his. They're still down two then. And then we had a great one with both Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet getting their hands on the ball to get it to Shea, who hit his bucket there before he started his run with 438 left. So they grabbed four offensive rebounds. They grabbed 57% of the available offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. They were after it. And, yeah, Shai talking to Chet earlier in the game, getting him going, it was totally monstrous. And, yeah, that last one, it was credited. Chet probably should go to Hartenstein to start Shea's run there because that got them tied at 97. And then next possession, he actually lost it on the dribble. Then he went to the line, then he hit the three bomb, Then he hit that baseline jumper to give him their first lead of the second half with 223 left. So he had 15 of OKC's last 16 points when they went on that 167 run. He had 15 of his 35 points in the final 438 of this game. So I thought, I guess Dagnaut was making sure Shai was ready for those moments because he only played him a light 18 minutes in that first half to have him ready late in this game, which he wasn't ready in Game 3 for those late minutes. He just wasn't that same guy. But he definitely was in this one. Zero assists or whatever. It doesn't matter that he had zero assists. But you just. You start to look at. You start painting the picture, I start zooming out. They were down 2:1 to Denver in the second series. They in that game four. They were down going into the fourth quarter as well, and they did it to go on that run. And, yeah, I know it was Shea at the end, but really, those big guys were huge. They were huge. Just getting them offensive possessions because it just felt like, yeah, they're not passing the ball a lot enough. They're not passing enough. This game, but then boom, boom. You get extra possessions again, 57%. I like being a stats geek sometimes, and that one is really, really important. In the fourth quarter, what'd you think, T.K.

[Trey Kirby]

This was a gutsy win by the Thunder. A game of runs back and forth the entire night. Chet's banged up. Sprained his ankle twice. Got kicked in the leg as well. The guy weighs 180 pounds and it just looked like he was really hurting. Their season is on the line. The shots aren't falling. It felt like OKC really didn't have much confidence taking any sort of jump shot. They went like an hour without taking a shot outside of the laying down seven heading into the fourth quarter on the road. And they completely answered the call with their defense and with Shai Gil, just Alexander. You're totally right. Chet put some chest hair on last night. I had that in my notes before I remembered I wasn't wearing a shirt. But 14 points, 15 boards, the couple of injuries. He was everywhere defensively for the Thunder in the fourth quarter. In the last three minutes of the game, Indiana went 040 for 4. Sorry. Against Chet, when he was the defender, he got a contest on Neesmith at the rim to stop a layup. Maybe he got a block for that. I don't know. His arms were way up, up the square to even get a finger on the ball. If he did. He switches on to Tyrese Halliburton. He moves his feet, forces an airball on a three pointer. I think Siakam almost grabbed the offensive rebound the next time down. Switches onto Nemhardt, misses a step back. Pretty good shot for Nemhard, but a lot of length from Chet to be able to contest. And then switches on to Tyrese Halliburton again. Moves his feet, cuts off the drive twice, cuts off a step back three, turns into a Miles Turner miss. Eventually. Hasn't been a great shooting series for Chet Holmgren, but he's finding ways to contribute. And then Shea was special in the last five minutes of this game. He scored seven points in 70 seconds, starting with OKC down for about three and a half minutes left. Tas ran through it. Free throws, the step or the jumper that actually went down. Their third three made of the game. And then that stumbling, bumping push off jumper that he hit from the baseline was incredible. He scored 15 of the last 16 points for OKC. And it was smart by Mark Dagnault. He's like Jalen Williams. You bring the ball up every time. Ch and Shay will set a screen for you get Andrew Nemhard off of Shay, Gil Alexander, he's happy attacking Aaron Nesmith. Nith is a handsier defender. I think he's more frantic than Nem Hard plays. You know, he's just kind of jumping back and forth trying to get steals, whereas Nem hard usually plays arms up. Solid defense. A lot of fouls on Aaron Neesmith, which surely Pacers fans are feeling some type of way. But it was smart of the Thunder, Shay, J Dub, Mark Dagnal saying, we're doing this every time down until you stop it. And the Pacers didn't figure out a way to stop that two man game.

[J. Skeets]

That was a great, great call to just get that switch, as simple as it was. JW have it. Shea will come over. They're going to switch. You no longer have the pest in Nemhardt on you. Now. Neesmith is an incredible defender, but Shai feels comfortable at least the mind games and obviously the pump fakes, like that one where he fouled them out was pretty special. Where he drove left, he stops, you know, sort of pump fix, spins back, and then Niecemith is trying to contest and he, he got him. He got him on the arm. You can see the arm sleeve. Like he got caught in it. So that was the foul call, but that was a big one. I don't know what the biggest shot from SGA was to you down the stretch, like all these ones were going through or the ones where he even drew fouls. If you had to pick one. What was the biggest one? Where he willed this team to victory. The three.

[Tass Mellis]

Now, it wasn't the three for me, the three. The three. I know people are upset about Aaron Neesmith getting called for things. That one against Chet Holmgren early in the fourth, sure. But Aaron Neesmith left shave just for half a second for that three point shot and it was a fairly open three point shot. Niecemith had to get there a little bit more. I would say the next play where he was able to spin and get to that baseline and Niecemith kicked him, frankly, you could have called a foul then on niece Smith. His foot got Shay's.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, that's why they're stumbling and bumbling.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, yeah. There was a push off too, definitely. But there was a boot to boot of Neesmith giving it to Shay and Shea somehow maintains his balance and hits the first shot or hits the shot to give them the first lead of the second half. So that was the one right, where, you know, it's like, wow, this guy has incredible balance. So that was the One to me to be able to do that. And I know people complain about getting to the free throw line after that, but. But you could. You could go both ways. I think Neesmith got away with. With some stuff there because he is physical and he pushes it, but at the same time, yeah, it was. It was one of those games where I know Pacers fans are angry and they were doing a great job of shouting it in the arena. It was. It was really great. We often questioned the audio coming through the speakers. Oh, it's not good.

[Trey Kirby]

Is it loud?

[J. Skeets]

We.

[Tass Mellis]

We don't know, but you could hear. Refs, you suck over and over and over again. And in a game where the Thunder went to the line 38 times, the Pacers also went to the line 33 times. So it's. It definitely went both ways.

[J. Skeets]

These teams are playing so damn hard. Every single possession is a battle. It started to turn into Brian Scalabrine versus George and the Messiah playing one on one in New York City. That's what I'm reminded of every possession. I'm like, oh, my God. This is just clawing and grabbing and pushing and shoving. It's like, okay, are the whistles coming on this one? Okay, maybe not. Like you don't know. Also, Scott Foster just sucks every four minutes.

[Trey Kirby]

Every four minutes. You're like, that's a. That's a foul now. Yeah, okay, that's a foul now.

[J. Skeets]

That's all we ask from officials is consistency. Like, how are you calling this one? And a lot of the games throughout this finals and even the playoffs, the crews have done a pretty good job. They sort of pick how they're. They're going to call that game, and they generally stick with it. Scott Foster, you're right, Trey. He goes back and forth three times, four times in the same game. And it's infuriating, let alone anytime you just see Scott Foster's name as an official now, it's like, oh, God, you know, everybody's up in arms already before the game's even started. And then he obviously calls the game. And somehow even worse, like, I. I can't believe the NBA still employs this guy. Like, I. I honestly can't at this point. But anyway, yeah, well, that's not why the Thunder won this game. There was some questionable call.

[Trey Kirby]

They won it on defense.

[J. Skeets]

They won it on defense.

[Tass Mellis]

They were a good.

[J. Skeets]

And the MVP took over when their season was on the line.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, he did. To. To give you us credit, I mean, you've said that the referees have done a great job through Three games and then you have some bad ones. In Scott Foster's first game of the finals.

[J. Skeets]

I was going to say Scott Foster wasn't calling any of those previous games.

[Tass Mellis]

No, this was his first game. Sorry, Scott.

[J. Skeets]

It's a bit of a coincidence, I.

[Tass Mellis]

Think, but you could hear Doris in the broadcast saying, it's just so hard to call some of these because they are hard to call, but they've done. They've done a good job. They've done a pretty good job.

[J. Skeets]

I do get that. But yeah, you said the Thunder. I mean they're on the road in a must win game and they get a lot of free throws, a lot of pressure. And then we can get into J Dub, especially in the first half and throughout this game, really 11:11 at the line. They hit so many free throws. Like that cannot be overlooked. This is high pressure, high stakes, volatile, loud crowd, and they're just keep cashing them. It's like bucket. Like it was like a given that they were hitting them where, you know, the Pacers missed a little bit more. Right. 25 for 33, I think at the free throw line. But it is insane. OKC won this game hitting three threes and having more turnovers than assists.

[Trey Kirby]

Yep.

[J. Skeets]

How.

[Trey Kirby]

What a free throws.

[J. Skeets]

Do they win games?

[Trey Kirby]

Exactly. Right. I mean, you also flashback to game one. It's ridiculous that the Pacers won a game, turn the ball over 25 times. So now they've both got one in their pockets. I wonder if people didn't know if that was Scott Foster, if they'd be complaining about the file so much if it was literally if they would put like a Chris Foster on there.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, Tyler, that's sort of my point.

[Trey Kirby]

Right, that's my point.

[J. Skeets]

Your. You.

[Trey Kirby]

Your antennas are up immediately like, oh, I can't wait to watch these bad foul call.

[J. Skeets]

I. I agree with that. But I also think he sucks.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, but also, I mean, yes, I, I agree. But like, okay, so maybe this was. This must have been Niecemith's fifth foul. It's a. The one with the ice.

[J. Skeets]

The hand in the cookie jar.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, no, that was the hand on the shoulder jar. He had. He was just had it. He had his hand sitting on Shay's shoulder, his shooting shoulder for two seconds. And she's like, okay, yeah, exactly.

[Tass Mellis]

Shoot it.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, that's a file.

[Tass Mellis]

That's a.

[Trey Kirby]

Easily a foul. The spin move a little more questionable. No, the. The Shay like he pumped fakes and to the right side, Kobe style. I think that was Neesmith 6th. It was right. And they knocked down those ones. That one's definitely more questionable, but a lot of body. And you know, Scotty's gonna call it sometimes. He's just going to Scotty for sure.

[Tass Mellis]

I do think Chet's spinning into Nismith. I don't want to go into every single call, but Chet spinning into Neesmith. 10:15 left in the fourth quarter where Neesmith gets called for a foul because he kind of reaches, but Chet just sort of spins into his body where he's got good position and kind of goes up for it. He shouldn't have been called for that. I don't think so.

[Trey Kirby]

That was a clear foul. He hit him on both arms.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, but he kind of hit ball, too.

[Trey Kirby]

No, he hit ball. No ball.

[Tass Mellis]

Come on.

[Trey Kirby]

He didn't even complain about that one.

[Tass Mellis]

He didn't complain about that one. No. Which was weird. But. But I just felt like he kind of chat. Didn't even know that N. Smith was going to be there, I don't think. Anyway. Anyway. Refs did a good job.

[J. Skeets]

How hard these teams are playing. You could call eight fouls on every single play. Every single one. Because the guys are wisely, obviously, just fighting hard and, like, getting. Trying to hold on. Now, Matheran went one level too far.

[Trey Kirby]

Yes.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. You can't hold the guy while they're trying to inbound the ball, and then you can't, like, torpedo into the guy's back before the balls even come in. I'm talking right at the end of the game. You know, Matheren, the hero of game three, not that he lost it for them in game four, but definitely didn't help their chances get back in.

[Trey Kirby]

He made the comeback impossible, basically.

[J. Skeets]

Yes.

[Trey Kirby]

Two away from the playoffs, and he was Nick Anderson at the line. So you got to play perfectly to pull off the comebacks that we've seen the Pacers pull off, and they did not.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

And I do want to add in something about Ben Mather that we never really note. This is his first playoffs period, and he's a young guy, and because he was injured last year, this is the first time and a great game. Four, obviously. Or, excuse me, three. Incredible. And so he's had a bad one. He had a bad one to close it up.

[J. Skeets]

Back to sga. Just loved Mark Dangalt's quote after the game, talking about him and just sort of how calm he stayed throughout this game where he was having a pretty rough night. A lot of that because of Nemhardt quote. He really didn't have it going a lot of the Night he was laboring. We had a hard time shaking him free. For him to be able to flip the switch like that and get the rhythm he got just speaks to how great a player he is. And it's true. If you watched it, you saw it. Whether you thought sometimes he does get away with the chicken wing and he creates space, no doubt. But man, to come through in the clutch was awesome. He has now scored 30 points in a game 14 times in this playoff run. The only players in league history to produce more such games in a single postseason are a guy by the name of Michael Jordan who did it 16 times in 92. Hakeem Olajuwon did it 16 times in 95. And Kobe Bryant did it 15 times in 2009. And there were. You already alluded to it. There were a lot of Shea shots where you're like, whoa, that was very Kobe looking with the footwork and obviously getting to his spots and just sort of his will. He put on the game.

[Trey Kirby]

He was great. He put the onus on the officials to make calls when they needed to. And he scored tough baskets like the. I think it was often offensive rebound. It's the. Was it Chet? Was it Hartenstein one? That's his first basket right where he bumps Knee Smith or Nemhard again and finishes just an incredible take right there. And then put his head down to get to the line when he needed to. And was smart about the way he was attacking Niecemith because he just knows Niecemith's a little. A little hyperactive.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Yeah. And that. And I keep coming back to this. Like I think it's even extra special. He did not have it going. Like he had missed like six or seven straight shots. Sga. Like he was not in a good flow. They had no flow this game.

[Tass Mellis]

Like they did not.

[J. Skeets]

Like every. I mean like early in the game you're like, holy crap. The Pacers are generating way better looks than OKC and Thunder. Just sort of maintain like it didn't. Never got too far behind.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. No. The Pacers were moving it so well. Everybody touching him. Jalen Williams was. Yeah. Until the end. Until they lost that fourth quarter 31 17. Because Shea was awesome at the end and because their guys were fighting. But Jalen Williams got them there with an incredible game. Going to the free throw line 11 times. He went to the free throw line 11 times in game three. First time he's done that double digit free throws and back to back game since high school. At least check the high school box maybe.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

Law Murray Came up with that set because he hasn't done it in college or in the NBA. But Law wrote, yeah, it's the first time since at least high school because who knows, because no one's tracking that. But he was putting it on himself. He just, literally he would just take the ball from up top and just make it happen. He was awesome.

[Trey Kirby]

I thought that was smart from Diagnault to have Caruso and J Dub initiate the offense for a huge part of the night. They were trying to save Shay for the fourth. For the fourth quarter. This is the first good fourth quarter that Shea has had. He was going to have to have a good clutch performance at some time during this series for them to win. But he had a little bit more juice because J Dub was bringing the ball up for basically the first three and a half quarters of this game. He finished with 27 points. 23 of them came in the first three quarters. I love the one handed shot he does on either side with either hand where he jumps off his right leg, finishes with his right hand or left hand, left leg. It just gets off the. He gets it off so quickly. It's a little Antoine Jameson like, oh, you shot it already and suddenly it's dropping through the hoop. That was awesome. And then Caruso was great in this game as well. Scored 17 of his 20 through three quarters. At the start of the fourth quarter, he got an ISO bucket, like dragged down to the baseline and hit a little fade away. Great shot. He was great pushing the pace. He had that awesome steal where Siakam was actually trying to get involved in the fourth quarter. But Caruso knows the scouting report he sees the spin goes, ooh, brownies got him with a quick steal. That was awesome. It was just enough scoring from J Dub and from Caruso to stay attached to the Pacers, where you're like, okay, OKC is still in this game. It was just the same as in game one, where you're like, all right, the game is here to be won somehow they're still in this one. And then the defense in the fourth quarter was really great. It was basically just one big. For the stretch run, though, Hartenstein and Holmgren got some run together. Kenridge Williams was actually pretty solid at the start of the fourth quarter, but OKC was playing generally small. They switched everything, including letting Chet Holmgren switch on to Tyrese Halliburton, which is something they'd been a little nervous to do through the first three games. But he completely held up in this one because he. I think he feels like he can still challenge Halliburton, step back three, even though he's given him a ton of space. Like chud is two or three way back. If he's guarding Steph Curry, those are easy threes.

[J. Skeets]

Yes.

[Trey Kirby]

If he's guarding a lot of guys that have a quicker release and maybe even a tighter release, Chet maybe doesn't get there, but he trusts that he can give space to Halliburton and still be able to reach those long arms and get a contest. So. Nice stuff. Dagnal pushed all the right buttons in this game.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[J. Skeets]

I thought the exact same thing with. When they suddenly were like, you know what? We're going to live with Chet Holmgren out there. Like, he's moving his feet even though both his ankles are broken and because of his length, he can see sort of still challenge. And again, I think that's a good point about the way Halliburton shoots. He does. He's a bit of a chess sort of shooter and at least into his mechanics that it's like at least a little easier for him to challenge it. Despite being so far back all that to say Halliburton, he did get a look there that he just bricked.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, that.

[J. Skeets]

That step back three pretty late. And then on the next possession, Andrew Nemhard, he badly missed like a 20 footer. And then you had Miles Turner, you know, who has gone missing. He. He bad one for Miles and like that was like, you're sort of. I kept waiting all game. I'm like, miles Turner is going to hit a big three here, isn't he? He's gonna hit a huge shot at some point, but he's just gone ice cold. It's in his head. There is no doubt. He's missing far right. He's missing far left. He's trying to overcompensate, I think now. But. But anyway, all great defense from.

[Tass Mellis]

Okay, yeah, that one with 28 seconds left, which would have made it a one point game where Miles Turner missed. Yeah. Had to do the ball fake and then he put it down and then he could have passed. Nemhardt was open after the ball fake, but, you know, he's trying to take it upon himself to hit a huge shot. He didn't do that. Yeah. It is funny that, you know, we took a while to mention Oscar so that he went through trey. It was one of those moments where Alex Caruso, he had an ISO play at the beginning of the fourth quarter where we're watching the broadcast, we're watching an interview happen and Alex Caruso hits the shot and it was so good. As soon as you come back from the interview, Mike Breen says, whoa, you know, Caruso ISO play. Where did that come from? They needed those. They need that from him and Jalen Williams got them there, period. I'm not saying I'm obsessed with basketball, but my neighbors definitely know when there's a new doc on prime video because I yell at the TV like I'm coaching the team. And with Amazon Prime, I can always count on fast free delivery when ordering a mini hoop, ankle socks and three different headbands because style matters even when you're missing layups. Amazon Music that's my pump up playlist for driveway dunks and imaginary crowd cheers. Prime is my coach, my hype man, and my gear guy all in one. Whatever you're into, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime to get more out of whatever you're into. Prime One membership endless assistance I'm not.

[Trey Kirby]

Trying to brag, but I just got a daybed for my porch and I can already tell my outside space game has been changed. Sitting, snoozing. I'm doing it all and I'm doing it outside. Because when the weather turns nice, a brave man likes to feel nature on his face. Wayfair's got everything you need to level up your outdoor space. They have patio sets and lounge chairs, outdoor bars and hot tubs, fire pits, gazebos, and of course daybeds. No matter your decor style, Wayfair is an easy one stop shop where you can get a resort feel without a resort price tag. You want a gazebo? Wayfair's got it. You want some Adirondack chairs? Wayfair's got em. From pergolas to planters, Wayfair's huge selection of outdoor items makes it easy to find exactly what's right for you. Wayfair makes it easy to tackle your summer home goals with endless inspiration for every space and budget. Plus you get free and easy delivery even on the big stuff. Wayfair will literally ship you a hot tub or a trampoline for free. That's crazy. Don't wait. Make your outdoor space your dream oasis today with Wayfair and enjoy it all summer long. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop a huge outdoor selection that's W a Y F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every Home.

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[J. Skeets]

Maybe because you snuck in that little hockey reference early with the panthers. Oilers tied 2. 2 what a comeback from Edmonton in game four.

[Tass Mellis]

Four overtime games.

[J. Skeets]

Wow. But I was going to ask you, how would you do the 1, 2, 3 stars in this game? Because it sounds like you've named four pretty important Thunder players. How will you rank them? Who gets bumped out of the 1, 2, 3 stars? TK if you want to take a crack at it first because you're the man without a shirt on. Those are the.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, yeah, one sec. There's just three of the four games are overtime. It doesn't matter. I just want to reference one game was a bomber.

[Trey Kirby]

They probably had four overtime periods.

[Tass Mellis]

Oilers took out their goalie at the end of the first period while down three zip in game four and they won the game.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

Cool, man. Okay, go on. Three stars.

[Trey Kirby]

More important, whoever that game is is not getting a star first star. For me, it's got to be sga. I mean, he did close out the game kind of quiet, I suppose through the first three quarters you had Richard Jefferson calling out. I like to keep players to one point per shot and that's basically where Shea was. And then he scored 15 points on I think six shot attempts in the fourth quarter. Now obviously a lot of that was free throws. And then even at the end, you know, playing the foul game where they're trying to get up but still closing it out, I think was humongous for okc. I would probably go J Dub number two because I thought he carried the team offensively through the first three quarters and really turned it on on the defensive end in the second half against Pascal Siak. Siakam had a great game and then they took him out of it completely in the fourth quarter. I think he only took one shot. He was maybe only one for six in the second half of this game. A lot of that credit, I think, goes to J Dub and then the third star. Look, I want to give it to Caruso. I love watching this guy, an absolute gamer. But the Defense Chet was playing, I think allowed OKC to actually get back in the game in the fourth quarter. And when I was doing my rewatch, I only started at the fourth quarter because that was the most important moments of the game. So I got to give it to Chet for showing up in the fourth.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. Yeah, you seem to agree with the 1, 2, 3.

[Tass Mellis]

I can't disagree. I can't disagree with the debate between Caruso or Chet. This is what it comes down to. But that's how good they are and that's how good Chet was in that fourth quarter. I did the same rewatch. I watched that fourth quarter guy just put it upon himself, number one offensively with those boards and defensively he did it.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. In a game where he was banged up, limping around, and at a time you were probably like, is he even going to be able to play for the rest the of of this game? Are they going to have to just go Hartenstein now? What do you think of the Thunder starting the double bigs in this game? They go back to sga, Dort, J Dub, and then Chet and Isaiah Hartenstein. A lot of people were like, well, that's a little weird because your one problem has not been starting games in this finals. Up until last night, they had won every first quarter. Last night they were trailing 35, 34. But was that maybe just a play to like, then be able to switch your substitutions, get Shea some more rest and it was sort of like starting with that got them to the end.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, I guess that was definitely a part of it in the end. They just won in the fourth quarter. It really doesn't matter. It's Shay just not handling the ball, I guess, as much. But Casen Wallace just had a bad game off the bench. Even in this one, he's sort of.

[J. Skeets]

Couldn'T really come through the entire fight.

[Trey Kirby]

He's not had a good time.

[J. Skeets]

No, he is like, I don't know. Has he even. I don't think he's hit a 3 of the entire finals. I know he started last night like over four, over five. He did, I think, finally get one.

[Tass Mellis]

He hit one.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Yeah. He's had a rough offensive go.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

So, yeah, it's just surprising he was.

[Tass Mellis]

Pulled out, but yeah, it wasn't. Wasn't surprising. I guess it's just shows how confident Shea, or excuse me, Dagnot is in this team.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

Period. To be able to adapt number one to a game one change. All of a sudden they changed their lineup in game one and then they Changed it in game four. So that just shows to me how, how locked in these guys are really.

[J. Skeets]

I, I actually thought. But this whole thing with like resting Shea early in the game was going to backfire at one point because didn't start well. He went to the bench early way earlier than he normally does, especially just even leaving the floor in the first quarter. And then you had Dort bringing the ball up, he lost it. Then J Dub got his pocket picked at the three point line. Then J Dub had another one where he was like, I think he was trying to go behind his back. Too many bodies. That one was a turnover. And I was like, oh, I don't know about this, but I bring that up to like go back to credit to J Dub, like a couple of sloppy plays, but he just kept going. He just kept putting his head down and like, I'm not. They're either going to call her foul or I'm going to get there. And he just like put the onus on, like, hey, what are you going to do? I'm strong. I have that awesome layup package on both sides. It was pretty impressive, you know. Then the jumper, he found it a couple times. Key buckets. So he had an incredible game. 27 points shouldn't get overlooked for sure. What else?

[Tass Mellis]

Well, I just want to say the close of the game, which was obviously great, you know, they're tied at 91, they're tied at 95, they're tied at 97. And then Shea gave them the lead with 223 left. This was just a great freaking game. This was. Been a great Finals.

[J. Skeets]

So good.

[Tass Mellis]

And we've had three overtime games in the NHL final. Don't call me Finals. I'm not sure which one's better. I, I think they're, they're, it's, it's, it's a great debate. It's a great debate. Right now. I have no idea what's going on in the NHL.

[J. Skeets]

Well, you haven't watched every second?

[Tass Mellis]

Not every, no, no chance.

[J. Skeets]

I've watched about five minutes of hockey. So I'm going to, to side with the NBA Finals being better. But hey, people tell me it's been great. A lot of scores.

[Trey Kirby]

I watched OT Game one, I watched second period, Game four, which was, that.

[Tass Mellis]

Was a good period.

[Trey Kirby]

That was a huge period.

[J. Skeets]

Is that the one where you have more after basketball?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. So based on those, I probably watched 15 minutes, I guess, probably 20 minutes. When I think about the timing of it, definitely got to be the NBA Finals better.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I agree I mean, before we went live, you know, at this point, look, what are we at? We're at mid June. We've been watching and talking about basketball for how many months straight now? Seven, eight, whatever it is.

[Tass Mellis]

Okay, okay.

[Trey Kirby]

I was like 20 years.

[J. Skeets]

No, no, I'm saying, I'm saying, like since the start of the season. I'm not good at that. I can't tell you from October to June how many months that is.

[Trey Kirby]

That's 10 months.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, my God. It's even longer than I thought.

[Tass Mellis]

No, it's not 10 months. Months.

[J. Skeets]

I thought it was eight.

[Trey Kirby]

October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June. Nine months.

[J. Skeets]

Split the difference.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, more like eight months.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, you're saying we weren't talking about basketball during the preseason?

[Tass Mellis]

Of course we were.

[J. Skeets]

My point is, as we just proved, we've been talking and watching a lot of basketball. Right.

[Tass Mellis]

This is great.

[J. Skeets]

And at this point of the season, there have been times, even if it's the finals, where it's like, just, just end this already. Like, you're a little burned out. You're like. And maybe that's like, because we've had some sort of dud finals or it's like, you know, it's been over in five or whatever. You're coming into it. Maybe the matchup feels like sort of one sided. And not that it didn't either. You know, a lot of people thought OKC might steamroll here, but like, I don't have that feeling at all right now because I feel like the playoffs in totality and of course now the finals coming through and delivering have been so entertaining that it's like I'm. I'm hyped. If anything, I'm pissed that we have these big gaps between games.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

So I'm just saying the games have been incredible. And I'm like, I'm not burnt out. I can't speak for everyone. I mean, this guy's got no shirt on.

[Trey Kirby]

No, it was awesome. This was a. This is a great game of basketball. Indiana played awesome for three quarters and then, you know, maybe got a little tight. The OKC defense was good in the fourth quarter, but there were some makeable shots that I think Indiana has made and certainly made. And the first game of this series made them in game three as well. They probably just feeling the pressure of being like, we are 12 minutes away from being a game away from winning the championship. And OKC felt the opposite way and completely bounced back. It's been great. And like, you watch this game and OKC now has the momentum. Right. Like, they have home court advantage after stealing one in Indiana, just the same way Indiana did before. But it doesn't feel like. I feel like the series felt more over after two games than it does after four games here. Right. You're like, Indiana can win two of the next three. Definitely.

[J. Skeets]

They have proven.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

You're not convinced at this point that they're just as good as okc. I don't know what you're watching because they are maybe, like, on paper, they're not as talented, but the way they're playing right now, they are. So who knows? And that's why now it's best of three. That's fun. I actually felt at some point last night, like, late in the fourth quarter, I'm like, again, I just keep coming back to, like, the intensity and how physical these guys are playing and how much they're giving it. I started to feel, like, bad. I was like, oh, one of these teams is gonna lose. And it's, like, not gonna feel really all that fair because, like, they've given it their all. Like, it feels like they are leaving it all out. Then I'm like, oh, my God, this is gonna be a rough, rough loss for the team, the coaches, and obviously the fan base. Because it's like, it's gonna be no lack of, like, oh, they're outclassed or they weren't trying hard or whatever. They took their foot off the gas. Like, ain't none of that. It's like somebody's. There's only going to be one winner. It's like, unfortunately, one of these teams is going to lose in six or seven, and that's going to be. If that's going to be heartbreaking, especially. Especially maybe for the Pacers here, who did have 12 minutes away from going up 3:1. Like, maybe they maybe lost the title last night. We'll see.

[Tass Mellis]

This has been an incredible series in comparison to last year when we watched Dallas and Boston. This has just been so good. We're here on a Saturday and pumped to talk about a great series thus far. It's hard not to think if OKC wins this thing because they were the favorites of this series even when they were down 2:1. They're definitely the favorites now when it's all tied up. To not think about the 2015 warriors for sure, because you talked about Golden State doing what they did in 2015. They came back from 21 down in the second series in Memphis to win it. That was a big one. I always flashback to Ernie Johnson coming In to the clubhouse asking us when Golden State was down two one, who's going to win the finals? Who's going to win this series? I didn't know. But you see now OKC doing the same thing against Denver in round number two. Going to Denver and win game four. And then they did the same thing here.

[J. Skeets]

So in the finals being done to one.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, they did it again, but three.

[J. Skeets]

Games to go over till it's over.

[Tass Mellis]

I guess the odds say they're far more of a favorite even than they were after after game three, I suppose.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, yeah, that's what Pat McAfee was yelling. The sports books say the Oklahoma City Thunder are the favorites.

[J. Skeets]

The sports books say they're a six and a half point favorite.

[Trey Kirby]

I kind of forgot that he's a WWE personality, but he is cutting promos when they're putting them on. Stephen A. Smith, who he works with last night.

[Tass Mellis]

Oh, did he?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

About solitaire?

[Trey Kirby]

No, about, you know, about denigrating the Pacers, just in general.

[J. Skeets]

Did you see the. See the shot of Stephen A. Smith playing solitaire?

[Tass Mellis]

I did not.

[J. Skeets]

While in attendance for a very riveting Game four.

[Tass Mellis]

Where. Where was he doing?

[J. Skeets]

Just up in the booth looking. Playing solitary. Yeah. All the actions going on now he says he's multitasking. I think he said it was a timeout. People have basically said, no, it wasn't.

[Tass Mellis]

But anyway, phone, solitaire, computer, phone.

[J. Skeets]

Solitary, like. Well, yeah. Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

Weird. I just would never do that.

[J. Skeets]

I'll tell you what, I wouldn't do it. It'd be Game four, the NBA Finals, when I'm in the building and it's my job to also talk about it, but that's just me. Yeah, we're built differently, obviously.

[Tass Mellis]

I mean, I did it. I did it on the airplane when we were coming back from New York.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, I love a solitaire on the airplane.

[Tass Mellis]

Not bad.

[J. Skeets]

It just kills. It kills 10 minutes.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, because we had no WI fi there on the Delta flight. Yeah, that was. That was big.

[J. Skeets]

All right. Anything else, you know, game specific from this one? I know we have a lot of random notes which we can pivot to. Let's just do that. JD Hit us with the.

[Trey Kirby]

Let's do it random.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, let's start. Well, it sort of includes Stephen A. I guess in. In some weird way, the two fans dressed as dumb and dumber sitting courtside. You saw them throughout a lot of the game. We obviously got some photos taken here. This is Scott Agnes taking this one. And so, yeah, they're dressed as dumb and Dumber. They're dressed as Harry and Lloyd, but you see, like, I don't know, their necklaces, I guess, are Perk and Stephen A. Dumb. And I don't know who's Dumb and I don't know who's Dumber between the two. That's for up to you.

[Trey Kirby]

You.

[J. Skeets]

For. For you to decide. But what do you. What do you think of this power move here, T.K.

[Trey Kirby]

I love it. I think they look incredible. Anytime people wear matching Dumb and Dumber costumes, it's gonna be a win for me. But I did think it was a bad sign to see them sitting on the court, like, sitting courtside during the stretch run of this game. I was like, oh, if Dumb and Dumber don't believe, then do the Pacers? Cause, like, you can. You can see the last two minutes. They are. They're planted on their seats.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. That was sad.

[J. Skeets]

There wasn't a ton to cheer for. Yeah, yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

In courtside seats. Get up.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

You got to get excited.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

The other people in their role were. Yeah, I'm just. I'm just saying.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

If you're going to wear costumes, you better be saying clutch moments of the game.

[J. Skeets]

Do we have any backstory on these guys? Like, I mean, which company sent them to do like that? I don't know. I didn't look into it. That's. My gut says that. Or is he just, like, two rich guys that were like, oh, you know, be awesome. We dress as Dumb and Dumber, and I'll clown on Perk, and you clown on Stephen. A.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, interesting. Because remember the Pacers on the day of the Indy 500, they had a guy that was dressed as a driver who was sitting in the exact same spot. So I wonder if this is just the costume spot for the Pacers.

[J. Skeets]

Fascinating.

[Tass Mellis]

Right? Right, right.

[Trey Kirby]

Or if all Pacers fans are like, I'm sitting courtside, it's time to put on a costume, which also is a cool way to live your life.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, you say. You say most people love a good Dumb and Dumber costume. I agree with that. But I once ran a race with my buddy Jared. We ran a half marathon, and he really wanted to run in costume. I really did not. But he did love my guy Jared. So we dressed in, like, racing singlets because it was gonna be hot as hell, but we had the. The blue and orange Dumb and Dumber, like, racing singlet. And we ran the race, and we basically ran it together. The whole time, not one single thing said to us, wow. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Like, I Think he thought we were gonna get a lot of like ah, haha, dumb and dumber or you're going the wrong way or what? You know, like not a single thing was said the entire race.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, so were there, were there anybody around you also in costume that did get a shout out?

[J. Skeets]

No.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, well that's. At least. That's encouraging.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

But I would, I would expect somebody.

[J. Skeets]

To say, yeah, I thought so.

[Tass Mellis]

Racing singlet, meaning it's just orange and it's just baby blue.

[J. Skeets]

No, but it's like the suit.

[Tass Mellis]

Oh, it's like a suit.

[J. Skeets]

I mean, I have. I should have pulled the photo for JD But. Yeah, but nobody, Nothing.

[Tass Mellis]

That's surprising.

[J. Skeets]

No, it wasn't like it was like. It wasn't like running the Boston Marathon where there's like thousands of people. It was. I don't even know where we ran this thing, like Chattanooga or something.

[Trey Kirby]

But there were people dumb and dumb in there.

[J. Skeets]

Anyway.

[Trey Kirby]

Like me, myself and Irene. More.

[J. Skeets]

Speaking of people sitting courtside, Reggie Miller back in his position and back rocking throwback pacers Uni. Game one, it was Mark Jackson game. Excuse me. Game three, it was Mark Jackson. Game four, he was rocking the Dale Davis 32. So I was wondering my question for you guys, everybody in the stream team, what, you know, throwback Pacers jersey will Reggie have on for game six? Because we know he'll at least be there. I don't know if he's going to travel to Oklahoma City for game five, but do you have another player that he'll. He'll pop on? Like, do we get a. Well, go ahead. I mean, who do you think?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, obviously he's referencing his time.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Like specifically his team. So I don't think he's going to show up in like a Danny Granger or Paul George, you know, so.

[J. Skeets]

I agree.

[Trey Kirby]

Give me Travis Best.

[J. Skeets]

We've had a lot of Travis Best.

[Trey Kirby]

That guy looks happy. Like, I see him, I was like, no, he must be getting these guys together for the photos. He just seems like a good guy to be okay.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, it's an interesting one.

[J. Skeets]

Good guess. It does feel like these jerseys Reggie is wearing to the games are jerseys in his collection.

[Trey Kirby]

Could be, yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Like from former teammates. That's what I think. That's why they're so big too.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, but this one, this one is not a throwback because it's got the Motorola patch on it. This is like.

[J. Skeets]

Right, right.

[Trey Kirby]

Reintroduction.

[J. Skeets]

Good catch.

[Trey Kirby]

But it is Dale Davis, which is unusual for a guy not wearing a shirt right now.

[J. Skeets]

You've got good catch on people wearing jerseys.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm hyper focused right now on shirts and what people wearing.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

But I do like that this is his. He's like, this is my look. I'm wearing a light hoodie and I'm wearing a jersey over it. And of course I'm tucking it in.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. Nice light tuck in. It's not a full on tuck in, but just sort of one side and Gretzky sky. Yeah. No, it's a Wayne Gretzky. Yeah. Maybe he's watching the Stanley cup final. He's got his hockey in the mind, but interesting. He went Mark Jackson.

[J. Skeets]

Yep.

[Tass Mellis]

Now Dale Davis, another point guard in Travis Best. I don't know if he's just going to try and round it out like an Aaron McKee or. Yeah. Derek McKee, Smitty, Rick Smith's.

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Tass Mellis]

Who knows, man?

[J. Skeets]

Let's hear your best.

[Tass Mellis]

He's got options.

[J. Skeets]

Let's hear who Reggie's wearing to game six. When will he could wear his own. I guess.

[Trey Kirby]

You think that's what he's been saving it for?

[J. Skeets]

Maybe it'd be the biggest game.

[Trey Kirby]

That's a good point.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. All right. A couple other things. I just laugh every time a broadcast has to deal with Shay Gilgeous Alexander's name here. The starting lineup, having to try and squeeze it in there. I just think they must be so pissed because it really does make a mess of a lot of things just being that long. It's a very. When you think about it, is this the longest named starting lineup in finals history? Now Dort. Dort's only four, but we got Williams, we got Gilgis Alexander, we got Holmgren, and then Hartenstein is pretty long. Somebody would have to do the work on that.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

You know, somebody could pull that. Owen Phillips get on it.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. It was Wallace instead of Hartenstein for the first three. So they really aligned.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, that's my point.

[Tass Mellis]

But has Gilgis Alexander looked this way for the first three games? Has it looked.

[Trey Kirby]

I don't remember.

[Tass Mellis]

I didn't.

[J. Skeets]

I don't either. And that's why maybe it jumped out to me last night.

[Tass Mellis]

I mean, you can shrink the font.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, but they don't want to, do they?

[Trey Kirby]

They don't. They do.

[Tass Mellis]

Not.

[Trey Kirby]

Anything but shrinking the font.

[J. Skeets]

Speaking of Hartenstein, he gave us the Luke Cornet contest in the corner last night. Variation on it. He was a little closer to Siakam on the three point attempt, but still pretty far back. You're going to see it Here he's in the paint and he tries to get out and he just puts the old double hands up. Now the cornet would be in the paint doing it. Yeah. But Doris Burke did give it a shout out immediately.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Which was pretty funny. There it is. I mean. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. That's nice defense though.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

That was the drive by Turner and gets out there to semi contested at least.

[J. Skeets]

That was like the only three the Pacers were missing.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

In the first five or six minutes of the game. It took the Pacers a while to make a mistake in that game. Like they were playing flawless basketball through the first six minutes and then Nemhard like threw it out of bounds. But anyway, cornet contest.

[Tass Mellis]

On a note about three point shots. I'm getting back to the stats here because the Thunder only took 16 threes. The fuse and finals game it. See some are saying 16, but the box score, the NBA.com box score says 16.

[J. Skeets]

My bad.

[Tass Mellis]

Was there a toe on the line? I'm. I'm going with the NBA.com and that's.

[J. Skeets]

The same on basketball. Was it a full court? A full court heave of some sort? Oh, maybe a toe on the line. That's interesting. Okay.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. No idea. Fewest in a finals game since 2013. Since the 2013 finals. The three point shot is dead and it's cool to see. Yeah. Them just have only 20% of their shots from a three point line. People all worried there's too many threes. But they win a game in the finals not shooting that many at all.

[J. Skeets]

That's a great point. People are like, how do you win a game only hitting three threes when really you should be like how do you win a game only attempting 16.

[Trey Kirby]

Yep.

[J. Skeets]

Maybe 17. Three points, three point attempts. That's. That's very few. Yeah, for sure.

[Trey Kirby]

I think Pacers lost the three point battle in game three. Right. I think the Thunder made more threes in game three. I'm pretty sure maybe a three point point shot is dead. Of course one team will hit 23.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, it's coming at some point. Another note here. How in hell did Jdub not break his tailbone with that fall at the end of the game where he was challenging the Mathura and layup after they threw it away. And like we're trying to sort of like give the Pacers a chance for another miraculous comeback. I mean we have the screen grab here and you've seen the video, I'm sure. Like he basically, if you're looking at this photo on YouTube, he doesn't really brace his fall at all. He just lands.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Smack on his ass or his back and then sort of popped up.

[Trey Kirby]

Wasn't down there all that long on face.

[J. Skeets]

God, did that look scary. Look at his leg right there.

[Tass Mellis]

I think he didn't break it because he's got a butt pad in his shorts.

[Trey Kirby]

Yay.

[Tass Mellis]

Because he bounced right up. We've got to get more information on this. We've got to get an equipment manager here on the show to talk about the butt pads that are within these shorts. And I guess we start with chest pads and back pads because nobody's done enough research on that. Because you like. You see Shay here in the screen grab. Chet Holmgren, screen grab. They don't wear T shirts, but you can see that they've got something under their jersey.

[Trey Kirby]

Flak jacket.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, like a flak jacket. Just protecting their butts. That's. That's the important part. Everybody's wearing chest pads to protect themselves. Not everybody, but a lot of people. So I need an equipment manager, too. Let's break this down. How many chest pads we got, how many back pads we got, and then we'll get to the butt pads. We need more information on this.

[Trey Kirby]

I think you also got to give a little credit to having a nice thick build.

[J. Skeets]

He's got a bit of a Lowry.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, exactly like Chuck Holmgren had basically the same fall. And he missed months after, you know.

[Tass Mellis]

Right.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. He's a little skinnier than Jalen Williams in the booty section.

[Tass Mellis]

That's true.

[J. Skeets]

And then my final rant. Well, I got two more. At one point. Watching this game four last night, as about. We talked, talked about. We were pretty hyped. It was thundering. It was weird to be watching a game with the Thunder and it was straight up thundering here in Atlanta.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, that was sort of fun.

[J. Skeets]

Made for a great atmosphere. And then my final note, we always talk about Mike Breen. His go to is obviously the bang. And then if you're, you know, really feeling it, he drops the double bang. Right. We even keep track of those. But his other sneaky go to Mike Breen line is at the end of every quarter or half, he goes, that will end a wild first half. That will end a wild third quarter. But he switched it up at the first quarter. He said, that will end a high scoring first quarter. But I love a wild. He loves to go. That will end a wild blank. Either first, you know, a quarter or a half, you're going to notice it. He does walk in.

[Trey Kirby]

You can't unhear that kind of stuff. I'm telling you, I did. Like, there was a. A block charge call in the fourth quarter, and Breen just, like, casually offhanded mentions, he's like, yeah, that's one of those. Bang, bang call.

[J. Skeets]

No.

[Trey Kirby]

And Richard Jefferson's like, wait a second. Is that a double bang? Pretty early. I think he said it was the earliest one on record. No, it wasn't. We saw game two. Tyrese Halliburton made a jumper in the first quarter. He got a bang because Mike Breen felt bad about not giving him a bang earlier. Mike Breen's doing some work here. He's trying to rebrand Andrew Nemhard as Drew Nemhard.

[Tass Mellis]

Oh, is he?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. They talked about how he likes playoff Drew more than playoff Andrew. So he was calling him straight up Drew Nemhard in this game in the fourth quarter. I wonder if it'll stay. That's a big change.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Dropping the an.

[J. Skeets]

And he. He has seemed to have decided on Thunderbolt for the sort of, like, run that the Thunder. Generally, their defense gets them back in the game. He said it right at the end of the game again last night with a Thunderbolt, too. So he sort of. He's going with that instead of Thunderstorm or Thunderclap or Thunder Avalanche, which he has been known to throw into. But I think he likes Thunderbolt.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, he settled on it a little bit. Other notes I had my guy, Brad Miller was in attendance last night, but they didn't hook him up at all. They just gave him seats in the crowd. He wasn't courtside with all the other legends. He wasn't in the suite with Mark Jackson. So I was like, did you just buy his tickets? I don't know.

[J. Skeets]

And he wasn't in. There was a. I saw at some point or maybe. Yeah, I guess they had it on the broadcast. They took a big group photo. Right?

[Trey Kirby]

He wasn't in it.

[J. Skeets]

No, he wasn't in it.

[Trey Kirby]

Come on, Travis.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Give my guy Brad a call. Come take a photo.

[J. Skeets]

He looked great, though.

[Trey Kirby]

He looked great. Look, I follow Brad Miller on Instagram, obviously, so I'm seeing what he looks like regularly, and that was one of the freshman freshest I've seen. They look good.

[J. Skeets]

It looked pumped to be there. Any other random.

[Tass Mellis]

Well, I do want to note Alex Caruso's build, even though I don't need to comment on his body, but he looks more defined than I ever thought. The triceps were ripped. I should have grabbed a screen grab, but it almost Looks like he's got a bottle cap on his arm because it's just so defined.

[J. Skeets]

I wish we did have a screen grab, because we could do a split screen with a topless trey Kirby.

[Tass Mellis]

There it is.

[Trey Kirby]

You see that.

[J. Skeets]

Baby?

[Tass Mellis]

That's some definition.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

I can see a lot. You can see a little bit of a horseshoe.

[Tass Mellis]

Oh, yeah, there it is.

[Trey Kirby]

The creatine's working, guys.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, man. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. You can tell. Yeah, I'll do. I'll do another shirtless show at the end of the summer, and we can.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. This will be good. Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

All right. Great base to start June 14th. Check back August 14th.

[J. Skeets]

Every. Every month, you should have to do one topless show. So we got to track.

[Trey Kirby]

Let's check it. I got two more notes. Tyrese Halliburton took and made his first free throw of the finals. That happened right at the end of the second quarter. He has a drive. I think he draws a foul. It was on Dort or Caruso. Nonetheless, he goes into the stands, and he goes into the stands right with his partner and his dad right there. Yeah, we got a foul call. He goes to the free throw line, shoots it, knocks it down, celebrates like he just made a game winner. I thought that was pretty funny. Also a funny free throw moment between Lou Dort and Tyrese Halliburton when Ben Matheran is at the free throw line in the first quarter, and Dort and Halliburton are, like, jockeying for position around the three point line. Dort gets into Halliburton, and Haliburton flops and goes down. And you can see Matheran, like, turn.

[J. Skeets]

Around, like, what's going on back there?

[Trey Kirby]

And they just stopped up and knocked down the free throw.

[J. Skeets]

That was pretty much the official just looked at.

[Trey Kirby]

They're like, all right, we're not calling anything right now. Come on, guys.

[J. Skeets]

All right, just get up, guys. Let's go. Man, what a game. There's so many now. I'm looking at my notes, like, there were so many times where I. Again, I have to admit, I thought the Pacers had it right. Like, yeah, I thought they came out of the locker room smelling blood in the water there because OKC had cut it to two. And then that was when Obi Toppin had his, like, bang, back to back threes, and the place was going bonkers. And that was huge. And you had Niecemith. I think maybe it was in the first half. It was when the game was getting, like, there was all the, like, the reviews for the flagrant fouls. And it was sort of getting. It was getting mucked up and really slowing down. And I thought the crowd was almost getting flustered. But he got them going again. He drew or he had a corner three over Dort. Then he drew a. A charge or an offensive foul, I guess fighting through a screen is what it was. He got them going. Halliburton, you said, with those two pretty layups at the end of the first half, that one.

[Trey Kirby]

Nice, nice reverse.

[J. Skeets]

Little jelly, little kiss off the glass was big. And yeah, celebrate with his family. It's just. No. OKC was like, this is the series. This is. This is our chance here. If we do not win this game. I feel like they believed we're not winning three against this team. And obviously closed it out. What a game.

[Trey Kirby]

What a game. Obi Toppin, you were gonna get a third star, probably.

[J. Skeets]

I know.

[Trey Kirby]

The Pacers pulled this one out. He was incredible in this game. Running the court, dunking, had the huge tip dunk once again, back to back threes after passing one up. I thought that was a great Richard Jefferson pack on the ESPN broadcast. Like, Obi passes up a pretty good look.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

From three. Pacers don't get a good shot. So the next two possessions down, he gets the same look. Knocks it down the first time. And then Halliburton, the way he does, he finds the guy who's got the hot hand. He's like, try it again. He knocks it down again. Crowd going crazy.

[J. Skeets]

And before, they couldn't score because they didn't hit a field goal in the final 320. There was that stretch where Halliburton was, like, the hero. He was coming through with the heroics. Like, he was, like, driving. He had a couple tough. He thought he got fouled on one. I think he did. He was like, where's the N1 on that one? And it was like, oh, here we go. Halliburton. Pretty quiet game, but he's going to do it again. But obviously then they couldn't score and they, you know, things got stagnant again. Credit to OKC's defense. Switching chat, moving his feet. But it just, like, they suddenly turned like. I was like, oh, this isn't Pacers basketball. This is not how they want to play here. They've been, you know, flipped into a different team. Insane game. Really fun game five Monday night. So we got the weekend to recover here.

[Trey Kirby]

Great.

[J. Skeets]

We do it all over again on Monday night.

[Trey Kirby]

I can finish MacGruber.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

That's what I want. I was hyped after the end of this fourth quarter. I can't go to bed quite yet.

[J. Skeets]

So you fired up MacGruber?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, like, like 30 minutes of MacGruber.

[J. Skeets]

That's your come down, is it?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, it's also so short. I was like, yeah, maybe I'll stay up for this. But no, I got too tired. And we'll see if he's able to catch Von Villain.

[Unknown]

Welcome to Money Moves, brought to you by Amazon Business. The WNBA is in a facilities arms race with more than half of the league's 13 teams having either announced plans to build new practice facilities or upgraded existing facilities within the last three years. Among the recent highlights, Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever released plans this past January to construct a $78 million sports performance center. Seattle's 64 million basketball performance center opened last spring to much acclaim. And Phoenix's 100,058,000 square foot facility is already beloved among players. Maximizing player experience is now key to recruiting efforts. With increased investments, standards are being raised. Bring your vision to life with smart business buying tools and technology from Amazon Business. From fast free shipping to in depth buying insights and automated purchase approvals, we deliver everything you need to achieve your goals. It's not easy to stand out from the crowd. Simplify how you stock up to get ahead. Go to amazonbusiness.com for support.

[J. Skeets]

McCrispy strips are now at McDonald's.

[Trey Kirby]

Tender juicy and its own sauce.

[J. Skeets]

Would you look at that? Well, you can't see it, but trust me, it looks delicious.

[Trey Kirby]

New McCrispy strips now at McDonald's.

[Unknown]

Bottom of the.

[Tass Mellis]

Race.

[J. Skeets]

The rudders raise the sails.

[Tass Mellis]

Ra the sales captain.

[Trey Kirby]

An unidentified ship is approaching.

[Tass Mellis]

Over.

[JD]

Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution?

[Tass Mellis]

Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors.

[Trey Kirby]

With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more.

[J. Skeets]

We'll even give you a $100 credit.

[Trey Kirby]

On your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results. Terms and conditions apply.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, we got some NBA news here just to slip in here and then we will end with rapid fire because we're treating this as a drop and JD's got the questions. But Russell Westbrook has declined his player option for next season with the Denver Nuggets. He will become an unrestricted free agent on June 30. This is according to Mark Stein, but it seems to have been confirmed by a couple other places. Westbrook's player option was worth approximately 3.4 million tasks. But I saw our guy Hollinger say this is a no brainer move here for Westbrook because His minimum next contract would be 3.6 million. So you know, wherever that may be, that would be his minimum. So it would be more money. But any thoughts on Westbrook here testing free agency and whether he'll stay?

[Tass Mellis]

Well, it's been such a perfect fit in in Denver. He came through with big, big plays in play in the playoffs. Now you could say he also came through with Russell Westbrook, plays the other direction. But that's what you want from Russell Westbrook. That's what you can expect from Russell Westbrook. So I expect him to come back. We're playing with here with a guy that will find you on each and every possession that you have to be watching. And Nikola Jokic. So Westbrook is the perfect cutter for him. So why shouldn't he come back? It's a couple hundred grand, Josh Krunk. You should pay it. You should want him back. I would like to see him match back with with Nikola Jokic rather than go somewhere else where he may have a bigger role. He may be starting but this was such an optimal situation where he did start for a lot of the season. I would like to see him come back and give it one more shot and the Nuggets can say if OKC wins. Well, we took that the eventual champion to seven games and they won. So we had a good season.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. Yeah. For Westbrook. Average 13.3 points per game, 45% shooting in 75 Games 6 and 5. Obviously fills the rest of the box score despite limited time. Did not have great playoffs as had a great first round moment. Yeah, he did. He was good in against Clippers, that's true. But yeah, not as great as it went on.

[Trey Kirby]

No, his warts really showed in game seven, which is, you know, when the Thunder ended up beating the Nuggets. So I think it's kind of like 50, 50 on if Westbrook comes back. Maybe he's like looking at Dallas seeing they don't really have a starting point guard. Could that be what Russell Westbrook? I suppose it could because every team's going to pay him basically the same amount, whatever the $3.6 million is. Because it doesn't make sense for Denver to use their taxpayer mid level on him, which is something they could do. But then it hard caps him at the second apron. I also think Westbrook turning down this option and opening up his options kind of opens the door for Bruce Brown to come back to Denver. And I think if you're choosing between Bruce Brown and Russell Westbrook, I would go Bruce Brown because he can shoot a little bit better from the outside, but if it ends up being Westbrook back in Denver, it makes sense. He clicked with Jokic. Certainly he was good to have as an emergency starting point guard when there was injuries for the Nuggets. They just need to have more players around Jokic and Murray and maybe make a move with Michael Porter Jr. So they don't have to rely on Westbrook all that much when it comes down to game seven of the big second round series.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. So since leaving the Thunder after the 2018-19 season, Westbrook has bounced around, right? Houston, Washington, Los Angeles, where he played for both the Lakers and the Clippers, and then most recently, Denver. He was traded to Utah. Never played for them twice. Waves. Yes. Yeah, but I bring that up because he is an mvp. Former mvp. He's played for six teams. Could be a seventh team if he goes somewhere else. That's not one of those teams. Can you tell me the three other MVPs in NBA history that have played for six or more teams?

[Trey Kirby]

Shaq.

[J. Skeets]

Shaquille O' Neal. Played for six. Orlando, Louisiana. Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland, Boston. Two others, surprisingly, played for seven NBA teams. Yes, NBA teams.

[Trey Kirby]

Moses Malone.

[J. Skeets]

Yes. He played two games for Buffalo. Two games when they were an NBA team. He obviously played in the ABA before that, but then he played for Houston, Philly, Washington, Atlanta, Milwaukee and San antonio. So that's seven. Good job. One more. One more. You know, a 70s guy.

[Trey Kirby]

A 70s guy.

[J. Skeets]

Great name, if I'm being honest.

[Trey Kirby]

Bob McAdoo.

[J. Skeets]

Hell, yeah. Bob McAdoon.

[Trey Kirby]

That's a great name.

[J. Skeets]

It is a good name. He played for Buffalo, New York, York, Boston, Detroit, New Jersey, L.A. and Philly. So also seven.

[Trey Kirby]

Nice.

[J. Skeets]

So, you know, Westbrook could join a very weird list, if we're being honest. For an MVP to play on that many teams. Not often.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, definitely not. But you stick around long enough.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

You're gonna rack up the team.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

I mean, he's definitely turned into a journeyman at the end of his career.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. It's crazy. Okay, before we go, let's have some rapid fire fun. JD's got the questions. We've got some answers. This is the drop, after all.

[JD]

Jd, even though it's Saturday, it is it. Yes. Yeah. Let's do it. Why not? Guys, the smoking terrace at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Not the Gainbridge Field House. It's just. Gainbridge Field House was packed with anxious fans during game three of the finals. Here's a shot of it.

[J. Skeets]

They are. They're still smoking in Indianapolis. I love it, though.

[JD]

Yeah, we got some actual cigs going over there.

[J. Skeets]

It looks awesome. Everybody in the same shirt.

[Trey Kirby]

That's pretty cool.

[J. Skeets]

It's great.

[JD]

It looks like break time some, you know, like a warehouse.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, like a factory.

[JD]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it, guys. How do you deal with stress when the stakes are high, Skeets?

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, I got a few. Love to play basketball if I can.

[JD]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

Just go shoot some hoops, deep breathing exercises, and then finally, you know, hey, look, sometimes you just got to pour yourself a nice glass of Johnny Walker Black, kick back, turn your mind off for a bit. But, yeah, I like playing hoops or going for a run or maybe the deep breathing.

[Trey Kirby]

You just breathe.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, like, you know, actually focus on my breathing because I'm a horrible breather.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, sure. Fair enough. I don't know. It looks like you're hitting 100% every day.

[J. Skeets]

Every breath is a struggle. Struggle, yeah. The things I would have done with my life if I could just breathe.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Think about getting that automated. Outsource it.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Let me know when to breathe.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. It was yesterday. I had a similar feeling, I guess because somebody said, what's that smell? And I said I had to breathe in. I said, whoa, I should do this more often. Like, I should breathe because I. My breasts are too short.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, well, I told you I could. I run. When I do run marathons or races, I run with headphones because I want to hear music or podcasts, even if I'm doing just training. But I've once or twice run without headphones. I am the worst person to run beside, like, mile one. Like, I'm so loud that I hate it. And it's so, like, I'm like, oh, I'm not doing well, but I sound like this all the time, but I usually just drown it out. Oh, that's weird. Like, never again. I can't. I can't. I can't run and hear myself breathe. That's why they sounds like I'm dying.

[JD]

The music so loud. At these exercise classes that I take, and I'm grateful for it because I'm moaning and groaning, and I've actually, I think I have kind of the same problem as you. Like, I. I started wearing Breathe Right strips at night. It helps. It helps.

[J. Skeets]

Do you do. There's the intake. I tried intake. It's like the little magnet one. It's like. Yeah, you sort of put, like, magnets, like, taped to the outside, your nose, and then you put this thing on, and it, like, pulls your nostril.

[JD]

Yeah, That's. What.

[J. Skeets]

Same idea.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, yeah.

[J. Skeets]

If you want to give it a go.

[Trey Kirby]

What about mouth tape?

[J. Skeets]

Mouth tape? I'd just die.

[JD]

Same.

[J. Skeets]

I would literally die.

[JD]

I think.

[J. Skeets]

I'm kidding.

[Trey Kirby]

I. I wouldn't force you to step your nose.

[J. Skeets]

You can. You can never take me hostage. Cuz you'll never get anything for me. Cuz I'll be dead if you cover my complete waste of time.

[Tass Mellis]

Absolutely.

[Trey Kirby]

I can't breathe. Why'd you kidnap a horrible breather?

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, exactly.

[JD]

All right, Tassie, how do you deal with stress when the stakes are high?

[Tass Mellis]

Well, I grab a notebook and I grab a pen and I write myself a song. And when I write this song, I'm singing it as I. As I write it, obviously. For, like, for instance, I walked outside today and a solid old squirrel. I went to go high five that squirrel, but that squirrel ran away. The squirrel didn't know that. I just wanted to go hand to paw. And I'll always remember the moment I didn't touch that claw. You know, that kind of thing.

[JD]

It's not bad.

[Tass Mellis]

Just fun. Just fun writing on writing a pen and paper, isn't it? It's just. It's exhilarating.

[Trey Kirby]

Nice to write with pen and paper. I can't deny it.

[J. Skeets]

That part's not the weird part. It's that while you're writing, I like that you're singing the song.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah, this sounds good. I wish I did this. I'm gonna start doing this now after coming up with this.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[JD]

My stress is relieved just listening. Yeah, it was soothing.

[J. Skeets]

It sort of had. That's what I imagine. Slim Dusty, sounds like you went sort of country.

[Tass Mellis]

I don't know why I went country. I have no idea.

[J. Skeets]

I like it.

[JD]

I like it a lot. Trey, how do you deal with stress when the stakes are high?

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, I be snacking. I'll just eat whatever is left of any snack that is open. Last night, I went from Step up to the snack bar mix to honey barbecue trail mix to a mango Tajin popsicle.

[JD]

Whoa.

[Trey Kirby]

To 12 bulgogi dumplings.

[J. Skeets]

That's not a snack. I wouldn't even say that last one.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. Your pecs still look good. Even after eating 12.

[Trey Kirby]

I played a lot of basketball. I was like, I can. I feel free to just intake as many calories as I can. And the problem is the next morning where I'm like, oh, man, I ate a lot last night and I'm feeling it. Too many almonds. Romans.

[JD]

Oh, yeah. I think that's pretty common.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, they're good for sure.

[JD]

Okay, guys, next one. Pablo Torre somehow got his hands on Sam Presti's Jazz It's Lost Jazz rap album from the 1990s. Here's a look at the COVID Oh, that's amazing.

[Tass Mellis]

This is amazing.

[JD]

I don't hate it, if I'm being honest.

[J. Skeets]

Sort of a cool cover.

[JD]

I mean, for. For 95 screams 90s. Absolutely. Guys, pretend it's 1995. You've just dropped your debut album. What's it called? What genre is it? And what are you wearing on the COVID Actually, I'll go first.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

Just because I got one. Okay, here I am. Yeah, it's the east side Crew. Me and my friend Wayne DJing. And we're called the. We only had one gig. It was at Eastside Mario's. That's why it's called the East. We're called the east side Crew.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

So yeah, we're just a pair of DJs. You know, DJing, you know, your. Your events and whatnot.

[J. Skeets]

What you're. You're mixing and everything.

[JD]

Oh, yeah, mixing. No scratching, though. I wasn't quite there yet, but yeah, mostly mixing. Just having fun.

[J. Skeets]

You guys look cool.

[Trey Kirby]

Is that guy wearing a sweaty shirt or is that like silk?

[JD]

It's silk.

[Trey Kirby]

I was like one or the other. It's definitely the silk era.

[J. Skeets]

I was going to say I. I had a one year of silk era. I know the era well.

[Tass Mellis]

I just realized I own a shirt exactly like you, JD That I bought now. Oh, yeah, Yeah. I mean, so similar. You're wearing a. You're wearing a throwback right there.

[JD]

Yeah, well, yeah, you should have a.

[Trey Kirby]

Shirt similar to that.

[J. Skeets]

I think I know which one you're talking about. Yeah.

[Tass Mellis]

So you're. You're mixing songs. Did you not appreciate what Matt's DJ was doing at his wedding?

[JD]

No, I appreciated it very much because.

[Tass Mellis]

He was going full songs.

[J. Skeets]

Full song at times.

[JD]

Full songs. Yeah. But you know what? At the. The moment required. He was very good at reading the room. These guys want to hear the whole thing. These guys want to hear the guitar solo. These guys want to hear the bridge. You know what I'm saying?

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

[Tass Mellis]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

Well, I was like, look, mid-90s, you know, definitely. I'm in my hip hop era. I was going to go with that, but I'm swerving my genre. It's gonna be punk rock or pop punk. The album is called Dragon Boat, but the COVID is not gonna have it on it. It. But it'll be called Dragon Boat.

[Tass Mellis]

Cool.

[J. Skeets]

I Am the lead singer of my group. But here's the band cover. This is what it looks like here with Dub. My buddy Grish. Your buddy Grish. Our buddy Grish. Kieran and. And Brody. That's just. It's just one of the coolest photos I have.

[Tass Mellis]

It's pretty cool.

[Trey Kirby]

This does look like backpack wrap, though.

[JD]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Okay. Yeah. Well, yeah, Especially Dub. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

He listens to Dead Prez a lot.

[J. Skeets]

You can tell. That's true.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. It's a great.

[Trey Kirby]

That's a great photo.

[J. Skeets]

It's so good.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

And we had the reason. It's called Dragon Boat. I think I've told the story before. We were in some sort of dragon boat race, and we just kept tipping the boat on purpose, and that's why we're. I'm soaked. My shirt is soaked.

[Trey Kirby]

But, yeah, the guys on either silk.

[Tass Mellis]

No, the guys on either side with a backpack. I mean, it's just framed. Well, everyone has a cool look. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Like. And, like, the way it's spaced. And then the weird, jumpy, bouncy castle behind us. That's. You know, I did. I did slap the parental advisory sticker on there. I say these kids are swearing. Yeah, we're swearing for sure. Yeah, for sure.

[JD]

And you gotta love a bucket hat.

[Trey Kirby]

Very cool.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. Shout out to Dub. He's watching or listening.

[Tass Mellis]

All right, Tessie, so the name. I go name first, right? T Bone Steaks. Steaks. Spelled S, T, A, A, K, E, S. Because it's about the stakes. It's about, you know, it's a philosophical. It's deep. It's gonna get deep. I'm gonna bounce around the genres. I'm gonna show my range. You know, a lot of rhythm and blues, a lot of rap. Both.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay.

[Tass Mellis]

Really? What am I gonna. What's gonna cover? Gonna be?

[J. Skeets]

What are you wearing?

[Tass Mellis]

I'm wearing exactly what Macho man is wearing on my T shirt right now. I'm. You know, I was a wrestling kid. I did like. Like, Randy Boffo. What's his name? What's his. What's the macho man's name? Randy Poffo. I loved Randy Poffo. I love doing Randy Poffo impressions. Yeah. I would wear exactly what he's wearing, so.

[JD]

Hat, glasses.

[Tass Mellis]

I played baseball. Like Randy Poffo, who played minor league baseball. Yeah, I'm. I was a macho man guy.

[JD]

So tassels as well. Tassie wearing tassels.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah. That's good. Good.

[Trey Kirby]

Wow.

[JD]

I like it.

[Tass Mellis]

Okay. Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Cool.

[JD]

Awesome. Trey.

[Trey Kirby]

My genre is acid jazz.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

Ooh, good one. From the 90s.

[Tass Mellis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

I don't really know what it was, but I wanted to sound like Jira Kwai, and apparently that's what they were. They were killing it in the mid-90s with that one song and then that other song that was still pretty good.

[J. Skeets]

Acid jazz. Never really thought of that.

[Trey Kirby]

Like, acid jazz and funk. I was like, I don't know. Pop music is what it's sounds like to me. But admittedly, I'm not going into the deep cuts on T. I haven't reached all the way into that hat to see what else they're pulling out of there. But the name of the record is traveling.do.man. and I'll be dressed like a train conductor.

[J. Skeets]

I love it.

[JD]

Love it.

[Tass Mellis]

Traveling Man.

[J. Skeets]

Traveling Man. Great song. DJ Honda and Most Def. I think probably from that exact era.

[Trey Kirby]

Could be. Yeah. Buckethead era.

[J. Skeets]

Definitely had that album.

[Tass Mellis]

Yes. And from an early version of this show. I'm a traveling man Doing all that I can.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[JD]

Whatever happened to that song, I wonder. Anyways, guys, Trey said he'd go shirtless if our last video hit a thousand likes. We're at 1400 likes and counting. And here's Trey in all his glory. He. He's a man of his word. He did what he said he was gonna do. Wow, that creatine is really, really working.

[J. Skeets]

You got some good hamburger meat too.

[Trey Kirby]

Hey, thanks, man. I got a new red. I got a new red blemish here.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, let's go check that.

[Trey Kirby]

You want to zoom in here. People are. Don't do it. Please do not. Or do.

[Tass Mellis]

Or don't.

[JD]

Now we won't. But, guys, let's keep it going. If this video hits 200 likes, this video, what are you willing to do? Skates?

[J. Skeets]

What are we doing, man? I love it.

[Tass Mellis]

200 or 2000?

[JD]

What did I say? I said a 2000. 2000, right?

[J. Skeets]

We're doubling up.

[JD]

Doubling up.

[J. Skeets]

I was struggling with this, but I decided on if we hit 2000 on this podcast, maybe I was inspired by what we did in New York and had some fun doing it. I will lie down. I will record the podcast. Just lying down on our desk on my back.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, plank cast.

[J. Skeets]

Plank cast. Yes. 2,000 likes.

[Trey Kirby]

Cool.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

Face up or face down? I just want to know where to put the mic.

[Trey Kirby]

Mic.

[J. Skeets]

Well, I could hold the mic.

[JD]

That's true.

[Tass Mellis]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

I guess I was picturing it from.

[Trey Kirby]

The roof, like, right in front of.

[J. Skeets]

Your house, Buffer style. Yeah, I was picturing me on my back.

[JD]

Okay.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah. So that's right there. Right across these guys. Yeah. And then just talking like this to them, I guess. Cranking my neck to look at them.

[JD]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Cranking my neck.

[JD]

So we got a plank cast coming.

[Trey Kirby]

That's cool.

[JD]

Tassie, what are you willing to do if this video hits 2000 likes?

[Tass Mellis]

I'm willing to take a data science course. I will do that for the betterment of everyone listening and myself, really. I mean, data science. Everyone's doing it. We got data factories popping up all around us here. Everybody wants them. Got to use data responsibly and. Yeah, it's fun. It's just fun.

[JD]

I mean, not great content, I have to say, but.

[Tass Mellis]

Well, they.

[JD]

You know what?

[Tass Mellis]

I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that. They create great visuals using, you know, graphs and that kind of thing. So there's just great information out there, J.D. we gotta find it, use it.

[JD]

I love it.

[Tass Mellis]

I mean, we could be storytellers using data. I've been talking basketball stats for freaking 20 years. Yeah, I'm being selfish here. I want a dad. A science course.

[JD]

I like it.

[Tass Mellis]

I'm just desperate for one. 2000 likes. Thanks for. Thank you. You, Trey, for getting me directed that direction with your. Your chest.

[Trey Kirby]

1,000 likes times two is 2,000. Twice as much. 100 increase in likes.

[J. Skeets]

This guy already took the course.

[Trey Kirby]

And that was day one. Never went back, though.

[J. Skeets]

Wow.

[Tass Mellis]

I think I'd call it 200% growth.

[Trey Kirby]

Okay, like I said. Like I said, I'm not educated.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[JD]

I was wrong. This is great content. Okay, Trey, you've already done your part, but what are you doing? If this video hits 2000 likes, we're.

[Trey Kirby]

Running back a classic. We will dance to the entirety of Round Ball Rock.

[J. Skeets]

Oh, he said we. Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. All of us are doing it. I don't have that jacket anymore, so we'll have to find out different costumes, zooms. Maybe we'll go, like, test mode, detach mode, like they did in the Tim Robinson sketch, where they're all. They're both dressed like John Tesh with, like, the vest and, like.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah, yeah, we'll go touch.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah, just dance it like crazy.

[JD]

Wigs. Test wigs as well.

[J. Skeets]

And then there'll be a lot of, like, fake piano playing.

[Trey Kirby]

A lot of it. Yeah, yeah, that's.

[J. Skeets]

That is. Honestly. To go back to your first question. Question. How do you deal with stress when the stakes are high? Go watch us dancing to the beat inside the NBA theme song for seven and a half minutes. You're gonna walk away feeling better.

[JD]

Yep.

[J. Skeets]

I recently rewatched it and man, I laugh. I.

[Trey Kirby]

It's funny.

[J. Skeets]

It is funny. There are so many funny moments. Melis is the. The. The real star of it, though. You have the big zipper jacket part, but any shot of Melis because he's wearing these, like, incredible Weekend at Bernie type glasses.

[Tass Mellis]

That was a great two and a half minutes.

[J. Skeets]

It is gold. So. Okay.

[Tass Mellis]

I got rid of my jacket, too. Yeah, I regret it.

[J. Skeets]

I don't even think I ever took my hole.

[Tass Mellis]

Wow.

[Trey Kirby]

They were up on those shelves or racks for a long time.

[Tass Mellis]

They were hot.

[J. Skeets]

I wish we had them now. All right, that's rapid fire. Not so rapid. That's the drop. Hopefully a classic look. We had a classic game four. I think we had a classic Saturday podcast. Of course we did. It's got no shirt on.

[Trey Kirby]

Felt good.

[J. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Luckily, the temps have been up here and it looks Atlanta lately.

[J. Skeets]

So did you find yourself sweating more or less without a shirt?

[Trey Kirby]

It's hard to tell.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah.

[J. Skeets]

Because I some. You know, you get, like, sometimes you get drippy almost when you're not wearing a shirt.

[Trey Kirby]

Well, I'm dripping, but unfortunately I'm not able to compare my pit stains from today versus any other ones. But I feel like I would be getting some nice circles going.

[J. Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

But I definitely haven't leaned back. That's. That has been the key. Yeah, I feel like Sheryl Sandberg. I'm really leaning in here.

[J. Skeets]

Okay, so the whole point.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, we could talk about data science, but not professional management. Fine.

[J. Skeets]

Look, hit the like button if you want to. If you get up to 2000, this guy's taking a class. I might be lying down. There's. We might be dancing dressed as John Tash. So there's lots of options. So hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners, five star ratings and reviews. We will be back on Monday. Are we coming back on Monday? Yeah, we're coming back on Monday. Back on Monday. Get you all hyped for game five. And then of course, we're here on Tuesday from the classic Factory to break that down. Can't wait for that. Till then, though, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.

[Trey Kirby]

Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome.

[Tass Mellis]

Thanks for joining us. And remember, some words of advice. Take your shirt off, breathe a little bit, and also sit upright. You mentioned that off the top there, Trey. That your posture is going to be better. It's a great note.

[Trey Kirby]

It's a great note.

[Tass Mellis]

It's important.

[J. Skeets]

Happy Father's Day to all you gentlemen. Happy Father's Day to everybody out there. Brace the day people.

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[J. Skeets]

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