Shai and the Thunder Take 2-1 lead over Spurs | Slam N Jam

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Athletic NBA Daily – "Shai and the Thunder Take 2-1 lead over Spurs | Slam N Jam"

Date: May 23, 2026
Hosts: Andrew Schlecht, Alex Spears, Dave DuFour
Focus: Deep dive on Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals – Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs, with on-the-ground insights, team assessments, tactical analysis, and live “Conference Finals” trivia.

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Overview

This episode centers on a dramatic Game 3 in the Western Conference Finals, in which the Oklahoma City Thunder took a 2-1 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs. The hosts, joined by Dave DuFour reporting from San Antonio, analyze game strategies, standout performances from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jared McCain, and the implications of player injuries and roster depth. Postgame atmosphere, coaching chess matches, and projections for the rest of the series are discussed in detail, followed by a lively trivia segment about NBA playoff history.

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Postgame Vibes & Spurs’ Perspective

[02:38]

• Dave DuFour attended Game 3 in San Antonio, sharing detailed impressions straight from the Spurs’ locker room.

  • Spurs’ coach Mitch Johnson was praised for not blaming officiating, a departure from playoff norms:
    “Mitch Johnson is not making officiating excuses... he said, I bet when we go back and look at the tape it’ll be us getting a little greedy.” [03:02]
  • Dave highlighted how many fouls stemmed from over-eager defense rather than referee calls, especially on Shai, who got to the line 12 times.

• Victor Wembanyama’s self-assessment stood out:

  • “Victor Wembanyama talked about how he’s not making his teammates better… didn’t rebound well… just didn’t seem like he had the same level of aggressiveness on the glass as in the first two games.” [04:14]

• Spurs’ young roster showed both resilience and inexperience:

  • After a hot start (15-0 run), the Thunder’s depth and physicality became decisive.
    “They come out, throw this haymaker, go up 15–0, and then they lose…30-point swing in the game after the first 4 minutes.” [05:50]

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Key Game Insights

Adjustments & Coaching Chess Match

[09:35], [13:00], [13:37]

• The Thunder’s adaptability and tactical responses impressed the hosts.
  • “The Thunder did a really good job of beating them up… in a very physical basketball game without all of the grabbing and stuff that we saw in the first two games. The Thunder cleaned it up.” [06:55]
  • Key was how the Thunder adjusted to officiating and the Spurs’ defense—especially using McCain and Shai’s dribble penetration to exploit shifting defensive schemes.

The McCain Factor

[09:35]

• Jared McCain’s emergence is credited as a series-shifting development:

  • “That player just did not exist on this Thunder roster last season… him just appearing out of nowhere and becoming this important of a player...is blowing my mind.” – Alex Spears [09:35]
  • Despite shooting only 2-of-10 from three, McCain scored 24 points by attacking the rim, particularly challenging Wembanyama physically without fear.

• McCain and Shai’s synergy, using each other as decoys and pressure points, unlocked the offense:

  • “Shai would see [Julian] Champagnie shade over, pull him, hit McCain… McCain missed a couple wide open ones you can’t count on. Again, the Thunder…they’re the best team in the league.” – Dave [08:41]

Shai’s Calm Control

[20:08]

• After the Spurs’ explosive start, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander settled the Thunder:
  • “It felt like he was in control…after that 15-0 run…He controlled a lot with his passing, where he was manipulating the defense.” – Alex Spears [20:08]
  • Shai also continued his pattern of drawing fouls, getting teammates open, and using his slashing ability to offset poor shooting stretches.

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Thunder’s Depth & Spurs’ Shortcomings

[07:30], [16:09], [19:16]

• The Thunder’s “ten real rotation guys” contrasts sharply with the Spurs’ “six and a half” playable options.

  • Oklahoma City’s depth allowed higher physical demands and tactical flexibility:
    • “This was a championship type of game…they have the experience and it showed.” – Dave [09:22]

• Spurs’ depth issues:

  • Reliance on aging vets (Barnes, Biyombo, etc.) underscores their roster’s “not quite ready” state.
  • Injuries to De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper further strained the rotation: “Your two best guys at getting to the paint are unable to do it.” – Dave [17:37]

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Specific Matchups & Strategy Notes

Thunder’s Defense Against Wembanyama

[12:16], [12:31]

• Effective double-teaming, relentless physicality:

  • “They are boxing him in...two bodies every single time...from every angle.” – Dave [12:31]
  • Thunder’s scheme pushed Wemby under the backboard, neutralizing his rebounding and lob threat.

• On offense, Thunder overcame earlier hesitancy:

  • “How many possessions were there in Game 1 where a Thunder player drives, sees Wemby, turns around, passes out? In these last two games…they’ve been so much better at finding the space.” – Beat [13:00]

Spurs’ Offensive Adjustment and Fatigue

• San Antonio’s speed and offensive rhythm suffered in second half.
  • “De’ Aaron Fox said they’re not playing fast enough... I think you look at Game 4, I would expect them to come out and really try to pick up the pace, play faster.” – Dave [25:11]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On McCain’s fearlessness:
  • “He is not scared of Wemby in any way whatsoever. I think Shay is bothered more by Wemby than Jared McCain is.” – Dave [11:12]
• Comparing the two teams’ timelines:
  • “The Spurs are a couple years behind. This feels like 2024 Oklahoma City…they don’t have enough guys.” – Dave [07:36]
• On the playoff learning curve:
  • “No team has done this in the history of the NBA. Like, we’re watching why. You have to learn the playoffs. The playoffs are really, really hard.” – Alex Spears [21:08]
• Final assessment of series outlook:
  • “Spurs had a good shot at winning this game. You start a game 15–0, you’re in the driver’s seat… It does kind of stink so many of these playoff series come down to health—but that’s the sport.” – Andrew [22:12]

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Injury Updates and Implications

[15:03], [16:09]

• Dylan Harper: Foot/ankle issue, not attacking the rim with normal burst.
• De’Aaron Fox: High ankle sprain, significantly limited even while remaining in the game.
• Spurs miss a “real four-man” who could space and rebound—miscasting Champagne, searching for future upgrades.
• Spurs resorted to using Cornet and Wemby together for size, but Cornet is hobbled and ineffective.

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Closing: Playoff Trivia Segment

[29:52]–[49:53]

• A lengthy, playful trivia contest covers:

  • Historic playoff comebacks (Knicks, Warriors, Clippers, Celtics)
  • Young stars with 40-point playoff games (Mitchell, Luka, Ja Morant, J-Dub, etc.)
  • Current players’ plus-minus leaders, free-throw attempts, turnover records, and unusual box score quirks
  • Spirited banter, inside NBA references, and the importance (or irrelevance) of stats

  Memorable Exchange on stat obsession:

  • “Andrew, he’s a big stats guy. Doesn’t care about what happens on the court. He’s just there on StatHead, Basketball Reference.” – Beat [48:32]
  • “I don’t even watch games. I just…watch gamecast. I lay in bed and I just watch gamecast on my phone, the way basketball was intended to be watched.” – Alex Spears [48:36]

• The segment closes with “fall percentage” banter, highlighting basketball’s sometimes odd statistical fascinations.

  • “Everybody in the NBA is falling down way too much. I don’t care who you are, you’re all falling too much.” – Dave [44:59]

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Series Takeaways & What’s Next

• Thunder lead 2–1, now with “championship confidence and depth.”
• Spurs: Spirited but outgunned, injuries and short rotation putting them at a tactical disadvantage.
• Both teams’ youth provides not just present intrigue but a preview of future NBA playoff mainstays.

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Key Timestamps

• [02:38] – Spurs’ Postgame Vibes & Coach Johnson’s response
• [04:14] – Wembanyama self-assessment, rebounding struggles
• [06:55] – Physicality, officiating, and Thunder’s clean adjustment
• [09:35] – McCain’s value and Thunder’s depth examined
• [11:12] – McCain/Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Wemby
• [12:31] – Thunder’s double-teaming schematics on Wemby
• [13:37] – Thunder’s offensive solution to Wemby’s rim protection
• [15:03], [16:09] – Fox, Harper injury updates; Spurs’ tactical limitations
• [20:08] – Shai’s control, Dort’s defensive discipline
• [21:08] – Playoff learning curve for Spurs
• [22:12] – Impact of injuries, series could go back to being tied
• [29:52] onwards – NBA playoff trivia and banter

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Final Notes

• The episode balances Xs and Os, player psychology, and broader storylines.
• The recurring verdict: Thunder’s experience and depth give them a championship edge; Spurs’ youth and injuries limit their ceiling, but their future remains bright.
• The episode closes with encouraging fan engagement, humor, and reflection on basketball trends.

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Quotables Recap:

“This was a championship type of game… they have the experience and it showed.” – Dave [09:22]
“Mitch Johnson is not making officiating excuses.” – Dave [03:02]
“You have to learn the playoffs. The playoffs are really, really hard.” – Alex Spears [21:08]
“He is not scared of Wemby in any way whatsoever. I think Shay is bothered more by Wemby than Jared McCain is.” – Dave [11:12]

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Recommended For:
Thunder, Spurs, and NBA fans looking for tactical detail, postgame atmosphere, and a glimpse of league-wide trends—all with signature humor and deep expertise.

Transcript

[Andrew]

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[Beat]

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[Andrew]

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[Alex Spears]

AI IT Automate tedious tasks to spend more time on the future, transform the everyday with Siemens. Welcome to the Saturday Slammin Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking Thunder, spurs and we've got our friend Dave. Dave do four. You know what, he was gone for one day and you guys were like, oh my gosh, where is Dave? You know what? He's back. He's back. He's back on the show. We're going to talk about this crazy game three that Dave was there for in person and then we'll do some trivia. And with me, as always, is my good friend Alex Spears.

[Beat]

Alex, what's up? Good morning.

[Alex Spears]

Good morning. And good morning to Dave DeFore who is on the court there in San Antonio.

[Andrew]

Hey, what's up guys?

[Alex Spears]

Hey.

[Andrew]

That was so low energy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[Alex Spears]

That was.

[Andrew]

What's up guys?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, what was that?

[Andrew]

There we go.

[Beat]

There we go.

[Andrew]

You know, it's midnight central time and that's, you know, central time used to be for me, I used to think it was such a good place to watch sports until I moved to the west coast.

[Alex Spears]

It's not, not even close to the best place to watch sports.

[Andrew]

I'm thinking, guys, I need to go even further. I'm gonna maybe let's do the NBA daily studios in Hawaii. Like, you know what, watch the games. Game start at like what, two o' clock in the afternoon?

[Alex Spears]

That's a great idea. That's a great idea. Let's all move to Hawaii.

[Andrew]

Run that up the chain.

[Alex Spears]

So, so Dave, you, you were there post game. Yeah, give, give us some of the vibes post game from, from what you saw from, from either team.

[Andrew]

Well, So I, I, I stuck to the spurs side. Okay, I, I thought, I thought Mitch Johnson like the, the way that he talked about this game, he credits, it's funny in this playoffs how many coaches have criticized the officiating and in a series where so much of the zeitgeist conversation has been about physicality, officiating, falling down and all this stuff. And Mitch Johnson is not made any kind of officiating excuses. He talks about the fouls and he said, I bet when we go back and look at the tape it'll be us getting a little greedy. A lot of the fouls, I mean, you know, you think about some of the fouls that stick out. Devin Vassell, he, he's playing really good defense on Shade, pokes the ball loose, gets a little too excited, comes back, then he commits to foul. And so, so much of this, I think the, the fouling especially, you know, Shay gets up to 12 free throws. What it came from the spurs guard like they, they did a good job against him. And so when they were having success and later in the game their legs a little bit tired and Shea is just so masterful getting to a spot and taking advantage of a guy who is maybe trying to make a play. And I, I thought Mitch Johnson was, you know, he was very complimentary of the Thunder in the way they took advantage of it. Talking to some of the other guys, I mean Victor Weminyama talked about how he is not making his teammates better, which I thought was, I thought that was a pretty keen insight into what he's been looking like. He didn't rebound well and a lot of that is the way the Thunder have been approaching him underneath the basket. But some of that was, you know, he just didn't seem like he had the same level of aggressiveness on the glass as he did the first two games. And this could be fatigue. You know, he played, he's been playing big minutes. I mean he played 39 minutes tonight. But I think that we should take the second half. Maybe you can look at this like two different halves of basketball because of how long the second half took. So those 39 minutes are not real tonight. I don't think that he's going to have some kind of a hangover from game three. You know, it more like a 32 minute night. It took 45 minutes of real time to play the third quarter between crazy, the reviews and so, you know, these guys, they, they didn't really look gassed. You know, Darren Fox obviously a little hobbled after the game, but Overall, their vibe, you know, the spurs team, they're young, but I don't know, they're very thoughtful. So they didn't come out with anything that you would, you know, that there was nothing. I'm going to make a headline out of, out of that locker room. And it was very complimentary of the way that the Thunder play and the challenges that a team that is as deep as Oklahoma City presents to a team that isn't. You know, I mean, Harrison Barnes is getting minutes in the Western Conference finals. Like that's a problem for the Spurs. And so, you know, I thought that given what they, what happened where they come out and they throw this Haymaker, go up 15, 0 and then they lose, you know, was it 16? I'm sorry, I don't have the box score right in front of me.

[Alex Spears]

It was 15.

[Andrew]

Yeah. So 30 point swing in the game after the first four minutes. And yeah, I just thought that they felt pretty good about, about their performance. Performance even, Even realizing that they had a lot of problems. They feel like they're not being physical enough to match what the Thunder are doing. And I, I tend to agree. I think that the Thunder did a really good job of beating them up and in a, in a very physical basketball game without all of the grabbing and stuff that we did see in the first two games. You know, the Thunder cleaned it up. The whistle started to come a little bit in, in spots that I don't think we've seen them in in the first two games. Thunder was so fast to adjust that you really can't. It was hard to tell. They just, they shifted. And the, the physicality with Victor Wimanyama on every single play is why Jared McCain was able to get to the, to the basket, why Shea was able to get to the rim and actually create more. Like we talked about this after game two. The nine assists he had in game two follows it up with 10 in this game. And it is just. He's letting the game come to him, you know, didn't have a great shooting night and credit the spurs on that. Like they were all over him. Steph Castle like blocked that jumper right in the beginning of the game. And I thought that that set the tone for the spurs and they just weren't able to follow it up. I mean, this is a case of a team that I think in the spurs where they're inexperienced starts to show at this point in, in this series. You know, we talked yesterday, the other day, Andrew, about Alex Caruso and how he's like locked in from, from the jump.

[Alex Spears]

Yep.

[Andrew]

They don't have vets really like Caruso that are in their rotation.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, I was going to say that. That can play like major minutes for you. Yeah, they don't have those guys. Yeah, that's true.

[Andrew]

And also it's the energy that he brings. You know, Keldon Johnson, he was six man of the year. He's supposed to be the guy that kind of does that for them. This isn't his series that. This has been a real problem for the spurs, you know, especially being down, Fox and Harper not looking right. So, you know, I, I've been thinking tonight a lot about the spurs and the Thunder because they're, they're on a similar path. The spurs are a couple years behind. This feels like 20, 24 Oklahoma City, where they get to the point in the playoffs where you just. They don't have enough. They don't have enough guys. You're shortening the rotation down. And the spurs probably have six and a half guys that are, that are ready to play against this Thunder team. And on the other side of that, that coin, I thought the Thunder in this game especially, they look like the champs. They look like the team that, that we know them as. I mean, not that they haven't been. I think game one, maybe they didn't look that way, but they looked like they were ready for this game in every single aspect. And you know, they just, they have 10 guys that they can run out there at all times. Jared McCain is, is lightning in a bottle for them. And he solved all of the little cracks that they had last season. The movement, shooting the guy that can play next to Shea. And, and in this game, if you guys go back and re. Watch this game, notice the way that, that he and Shea are at, at the top on the wings. And Shea is doing his stuff. He's working. He's forcing the defender to come over and shade off of Jared McCain, who is a knockdown shooter. And sh. Julian Shampen was often like working the nail. Shea would see him, him take a step toward him, he'd make a move to pull him over, hit McCain and, and the spurs got lucky because McCain missed a couple of these wide open ones that you know, you can't count on. So again, the Thunder, they are, they are the best team in the league. They, they're the defending champs. This was a championship type of game. Like they have the experience and it showed.

[Beat]

Yeah, that. That was the most impressive thing about McCain because he's 2 of 10 from 3. He shoots 20% from 3, but he still scores 24 points. And that ability to drive, I mean, it was highlighted by that play against Wimy where he just drives right into him on the closeout and then flexes on him like that. That player just did not exist on this Thunder roster last season. Yeah. And him just appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the season and becoming this important of a player for this team is kind of blowing my mind. Because, you know, with Dub being out this entire game and then AJ Leaving the game in the middle of it, having someone like Jared McCain, I think they lose this game if they don't have Jared McCain. Because who else other than Shea can offer you that? Who has that level of confidence other than Shea?

[Andrew]

I think he. I mean, look, Shea has been doing a good job the last couple games of getting into Wimby's body and then using that as a. Almost like he's a screener himself. So he gets to make the kick out, and he's got two guys on him. And Jared McCain did the same thing on that. On that step back. He got in, gave him a little push. You know, uses small guards. This is how we're taught growing up. We're supposed to initiate the contact so that we can create the space on the big. And he did a great job. And he. One of the things is he's small, and I think he hits Wimby in a weird spot. Guys his size don't really challenge Wemby, and so, you know, like, I think he kind of hits him a little low, and he's not quite got his legs underneath him, and he's able to get that step back pretty easily. He is not scared of Wemby in any way whatsoever. I think Shay is bothered more by Wemby than Jared McCain is.

[Alex Spears]

That might be true.

[Andrew]

I think it's true. It might be true. You watch him and. But this is what the Thunder needed. Like, they. They need, you know, you need someone to let you know you can knock down the Giant.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

And they, like, Caruso's done it. Jalen Williams was just, you know, the scene from Old school where, you know, Will Ferrell's character goes into, like a fugue state and answers the. The trivia question or whatever it was, the debate. That's what Jalen Williams did tonight. Shooting. I mean, he was just. It was unconscious. He had that one where he, you know, he pumped fake steps in. I'm like, he's going to take a long two here. With all this time on the clock. It didn't matter.

[Beat]

He.

[Andrew]

He was fantastic. But, you know, you've got to. It's like, you know, Victor Wembanyama is kind of like Mike Tyson, and the Thunder get a chance to be Buster Douglas a little bit, like, knock him down. You know, you see him go down once. Okay, cool. Maybe I can knock him out. And I think the Thunder feel like they probably can knock him out at this point. Yeah, I mean, his rebounding, he was ineffective on the glass. I've never seen that from Wemby.

[Alex Spears]

That was a big deal. And a lot of it is that the Thunder are just pushing him so far away from the basketball, which he lived at the hoop in game one.

[Andrew]

Watch eight. Watch how many times he winds up just completely underneath the backboard.

[Beat]

Yeah, they are.

[Andrew]

They are boxing him in, underneath, out of bounds. I mean, they're just from every angle. It's two bodies every single time. And. And these guys are so strong, you know, like Casen Wallace, Alex Caruso. Doesn't matter. They're just two guys. We're gonna get on him, and we're gonna get him out of the play. And, you know, again, this is. This is schematic. This is not just more effort. This is something that the coaching staff came up with, and they're like, this is our game plan for it, and it has worked. It's been fantastic.

[Beat]

Well, and on the other end, you go back to game one, how many possessions were there where a Thunder player drives into the lane and does the classic, like, sees Wemby, turns around, passes it out. And in these last two games, you just have not had as much of those possessions. I mean, it felt like in game one, it was you. You would see one of those drives per possession for okc, and they've been so much better at finding the space against this spurs defense in these last couple games, which. Which I give a huge credit to the coaching staff because it really looked that after game one is like, they're screwed. Like, they look so scared against Wemby, and that is just completely flipped these last two games.

[Andrew]

They're setting up a bit of a wall. You know, they're getting. They're. They're. They're flipping sides. So they're getting Wemby over onto one side of the court. They're flipping sides and then attacking. And as soon as you get him on the other side, they've got a guy between them. It's Jalen Williams, it's Isaiah Hartenstein, and it looks like pass blocking in football. Yeah, it does. I mean, it really does working. It's been working great. And you know, this, this is the blueprint. Now here's the issue though. That's high effort too. I mean the Thunder being, and this is where their depth comes in. They've got so many guys that they can run out there and everyone's strong. I mean Alex Caruso could be your screener in some of these scenarios. So yeah, you know, again, this is, this Thunder team. Any of the holes that they had last year, Jared McCain solved them. Some of the internal development that they've had I think is solved like some, some of these problems. AJ Mitchell obviously has been, been good although you know, not didn't do much in this game. But this coaching staff and this is the reason why I've been so nerdy, nerding out about this series and why I had to come down here because I, I think these are two of the best coaching staffs in basketball and watching them game to game just make these little tweaks. Some of it's just angles. It's, we're, we're going to do this at a 30 degree angle instead of a 35 degree angle and just see what happens. And it's working out great for the Thunder.

[Alex Spears]

What, what's, what's the thoughts on, on these injuries with Fox and yeah, Dylan Harper?

[Andrew]

So I talked about, well, both of those guys were talking in the locker room after the game. Dylan Harper said that he still felt like he had his burst, but I, I, it didn't match the eye test. I thought that he wasn't looking to get downhill like we're used to and attack and if you can't put pressure on the basket, it's just, you know, basketball gets much tougher that way. He was settling, I thought for the jumpers, but also we saw a little bit of that in game too where he was settling for that little 17, 18 footer and I wonder if that wasn't to do with the injury because I think he tweaked it before he left the game. I think it was a multiple like, like I think he, he heard it and then tweaked it and then he had to leave that game. But he's clearly limited not getting 2ft in the paint and that's the only way to break down the OKC defense is to actually get into the paint. Wimby this is the other thing that they've done because of the way that they've, that they've been operating on the defensive end or on the offensive end. They've taken that onto the defensive end, too. Have you guys noticed that Wemby's not catching a bunch of lobs?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Yeah, right.

[Andrew]

Yeah, completely. And that is a powerful weapon. They are not letting Wemby get behind. Right. They're. They're not fronting, but they're not letting him get behind. So that pass over the top hasn't been there. And so I think that, again, credit to the Thunder coaching staff. They've got these guys in the right spots to blow this stuff up. And if de' Aaron Fox, you know, he was limping in the locker room pretty bad. I mean, we saw him leave this game. He's tough as hell, though, to be able to walk. The way we watched him walk off the court, I thought he was done for the night, but he never left the bench. I mean, he just. He went over to the side, started getting treatment, came back in the game. I just don't know that he's gonna be 100% in this series. I mean, you know, an ankle. An ankle sprain takes a long time. This seems to be a pretty bad one, is a high ankle sprain, and it's something that you shouldn't play through. And he's trying to. So I think you got your two. Two best guys at getting to the paint unable to do it. And Stephen Castle is like. They kind of took him off the ball a lot of this game. I. I thought that he was less effective offensively than what we've seen. The problem there is. It's, you live and die with Castle. You're going to have to live with those turnovers. I mean, you know, even though he was Good in games one and two, throwing the ball away 20 times, you just can't do that against the Thunder. So the spurs are just at a point like, this is the attrition part of the playoffs for them. And again, thinking Back to the 2024 Thunder, all I could think about as this game was winding down was, okay, so who's their Hartenstein? Who's their Caruso this summer? You know, like, who are the guys they're going to bring in to complement the roster? You know, this team is. It's too good at this age is really what it is. Like, they have. They have come along so fast that the, The. The actual roster is not caught up yet. I do think that they've got a chance this summer to go out and get whoever they want. Why wouldn't you want to come here and win?

[Alex Spears]

Who's their Gordon Hayward? Would you say that's what I want

[Andrew]

to know they don't see, you know what else they don't have that you know the fun, the funny thing about this team and I, I made this joke when they, when they put out their victory lineup against the, the Wolves in that game is like Bismack Biyombo. Kelly Olenek was Mason Plumlee. You know all the old guys are out there, right?

[Beat]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

They have the last Bobcat. The last remaining Bobcat is on this team. Bismack bio. Right. This is the stuff that they're going to have to upgrade it and it's great.

[Alex Spears]

Bobcat, right.

[Andrew]

It's great to have all these veterans but you need some guys who can play and they're just short. I mean Harrison Barnes, like I said, getting minutes in the Western Conference finals, that's probably not an ideal scenario but you got to try something. Kelvin Johnson's giving him nothing. Luke Cornett, I don't know if he's hurt but he doesn't look like he's moving. Right. You remember that, that Hartenstein little, that really nice pass that he hit. I forget who get the. Got the layup off of it, but Luke Cornett doesn't. I mean he doesn't really even challenge the pass. Like he doesn't get low enough to challenge it. So I don't know if he's dealing with some stuff, but he looks pretty rough.

[Alex Spears]

He's dealing with a foot injury.

[Andrew]

Yeah, that's it there. There you go. So I also. He's also not shooting threes and I think that if he just maybe would step out that that would help their offense a little bit. But maybe that's something for next year. Yeah, they're just, they're, they're short and you know, it was all about the high end talent for them, their top six. If they were going to win the series, it was going to be about those guys. And they lost two of them. So you know, and not lost but they're diminished. And so with that I just don't know what you can do. One guy cannot win a series in the playoffs like Victor Womenyama. This is why I keep telling like I don't want to pump the brakes because it's way more fun to think about this guy being, you know, a dominant player. But in 2026 it just isn't like that anymore anymore. And you can, you're going to be this. There's rising tide, but you still got to have some boats in that water and that's what they're short, right?

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, it does feel like that And I do give Shay a ton of credit. It felt like he was in control for really after that 15 to nothing run.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

And Alex Crusoe came into the game and helped everybody settle down a bit. It felt like Shea, like, began to control the game in a lot of ways. And he controlled a lot with his passing. He controlled it a lot with where he was manipulating the defense to be on the court. I thought he did a tremendous job. But, like, yeah, the Thunder don't get there without the confidence of Jared McCain, without the screening from. I thought Chet was much better in this one. I thought that he played great defensively. I thought offensively he was a much better play finisher for them. And then, like, you just have, like, these gritty guys that know what their job is. Like Lou Dort. No one's probably going to talk about Lou Dort all that much unless you want to talk about what happened to Fox's angle. And everybody's going to be pissed about it. But, like, his defense and his, like, really no nonsense on offense at all. Like, sometimes if you watch Dort in the regular season, he can get a

[Andrew]

little bit wild, but, like, not.

[Alex Spears]

Not in the playoffs. Like, he, like, he stayed in his lane. I thought he played a really nice role for them and really just opened things up for everybody else. The Thunder won the rebounding battle tonight for the first time in the series, which I think is big. And it wasn't because, like, Hartenstein grabbed 20 rebounds or anything. Nobody grabbed more than eight for them. And it's like, just like this Thunder team is like, learning how to, like, lock in from, like, top to bottom. And it's something that, like, the spurs, you have to learn how to do it. Like, we are. We are watching. When everybody talked about, like, can the spurs do this? No team has done this in the history of the NBA. Like, we're watching. Why? Like, you have to learn the playoffs. The playoffs are really, really hard. And the Thunder have been through it, or at least a. A large portion of them have been through it. And so, like, we're. We're seeing just the. In real time what that looks like.

[Andrew]

Yeah. I mean, and there's still a good chance we, you know, they're going back to Oklahoma City. 2. 2.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah. 100%.

[Andrew]

Spurs had a good shot at winning this game. You start a game 15, 0 run, you're in the driver's seat. And, you know, you would think that their role players maybe shoot better than they did in this game.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

But it's all about Fox And Harper. And you know, it does kind of stink that so many of these playoff series come down to health. But that's the sport. And especially now with it being so like, depth is so important because of the injuries, because of the style of play, because of the pace and the man. The Thunder just have so many horses that can run fast for 48 minutes.

[Beat]

Yeah, I was gonna, you mentioned cornet. I was gonna ask if you had any ideas for the non wemby minutes because they have been disastrous.

[Andrew]

How about Carter Bryant? Try it. Run Carter Bryant at the 5 and just say, we're gonna fly. Like we're gonna, we're gonna run. We're gonna switch everything. I mean, they, they did that some in the regular season. I, I just think that, you know, if you want to get Chet going, that's a way that could possibly happen, right? Like, oh, we're going to try to go small. Now all of a sudden Chet gets to go out there and be a high motor big. You know, I, I don't know. I don't think they have the answer on the roster. You know, they're missing a real 4 man, in my opinion, someone who can space the floor but also has some size to help on the glass. I think Julian Champagne a little bit miscast in that role. I think Carter Bryant next year, like, he may get a shot at that if they don't go find somebody this summer. But I don't know. I would try some stuff. It's. It's tricky though, because it's only two one, you know, and you don't want to waste. You can't waste two minutes in this series because in two minutes you could lose the game. That's how good the Thunder are. And so I think, you know, what we saw tonight, they played the French vanilla lineup a little bit more Cornet and Wemby. I think that's a way to get around some of the non wimy minutes, if that makes sense. So going double big against the Thunder might work because their bigs are so big. Like their two centers are bigger than everybody on the Thunder roster. And so maybe you can. Okay, we can beat them up a little bit. We can definitely own the glass during these minutes. And we've got theoretically two floor spacing bigs. Even though Luke Cornett doesn't shoot threes anymore, maybe he can space out in the next game, like, say, try it. But I don't know. I just don't think they've got. Got that guy on the roster. You know, it's tough to have 48 minutes of all star MVP level center play. I mean, yeah, I think that that's, that's pretty common knowledge at this point, but Cornett is getting run off the court. Kelton Johnson's really is, is the probably the most disappointing player for the spurs in my opinion though his bench minutes have just been pretty bad. His three ball, he hit one tonight. But none of these things look like they're going down. None of them.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, Cornette and Wimby before this game tonight had played one minute in the playoffs together.

[Andrew]

Yeah, they're searching. Right. Spurs are looking for something and I think part of that was because the second half slowed down so much. So much. Stop. You could play those guys and you could actually see like how it's going to go. But with the way that and this was something that the spurs talked about after the game. De' Aaron Fox said this they're not playing fast enough, especially offensively. Game one, you think about how fast they were coming just constantly to start this game. It was the same way. You know, Devin Fissell has been shooting the ball really well and he's going fast but the rest of the guys aren't able to keep up. And so I think you look at game four, I would expect them to go to come out and really try to pick up the pace, play faster. I don't think I've seen Victor Weminyama run in a full out sprint like we're used to seeing him do since game

[Alex Spears]

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[Beat]

Well, Dave, we thank you for brief debriefing us on what was a very fun Game three. We hope you have a lovely time in San Antonio. You're going to be there for Game four? Yeah, but we thought we'd end your night, end your Friday night with a little game, a fun little game. Something to think about when you're laying on your hotel bed. Tonight, Andrew versus the Beat Conference finals edition. I've come up with eight trivia questions all about something going on in the conference finals. So you're going to choose a number between 1 and 8. It'll correspond to a question. If you get it right, you'll get at least two points. If you get it wrong, Andrew, have a chance to steal for one. And we'll go back and forth. So all the questions have been asked and answered. So Dave, I just need a number between one and eight.

[Andrew]

One. One.

[Beat]

All right.

[Andrew]

We got sound effects.

[Alex Spears]

I don't know.

[Beat]

All right. I hope I'm pronouncing your name right. This stat comes from Kirtika. Oh, Kirika on Blue Sky. The Knicks fourth quarter comeback in game one was the fourth time in the play by play era that a team was down 20 plus in the fourth quarter and won the game. How many of the other three teams can you name? You could get one point per correct answer. So you get three points here. So just teams in the playoffs who came down or came back from 20 points and one playoff teams. You just have to tell me the franchise. You don't have to tell me the year. You don't have to tell me the opponent.

[Andrew]

Oh, perfect. How about Golden State warriors?

[Beat]

That's right. 2015. They were down 20 to the New Orleans Pelicans.

[Andrew]

They.

[Beat]

That was one point for Dave.

[Andrew]

I'm just going to pick unserious teams.

[Beat]

Okay, That's a good idea actually.

[Andrew]

Am I still going?

[Beat]

Yeah, yeah. You could get all three.

[Andrew]

The Houston Rockets.

[Beat]

Ooh, no.

[Andrew]

Good guess. Come on.

[Beat]

It was a very good guess. Very unserious. Andrew.

[Alex Spears]

The Timberwolves.

[Beat]

No, I. I didn't want to give too much of a hint because when Dave said Houston should have made you think of another team. The LA Clippers, actually. Oh yeah, the Clippers against Memphis in 2012. And then Boston down 21 to the New Jersey Nets in 2002. Didn't expect to get.

[Alex Spears]

How many were the Wolves down to? The Nuggets?

[Beat]

Don't know. Not on my sheet.

[Alex Spears]

In the fourth. Weren't they down big in the fourth quarter of game seven? Am I crazy?

[Beat]

They were down 20 at some point in that game.

[Alex Spears]

But not the fourth quarter.

[Beat]

But not the fourth quarter.

[Andrew]

Right.

[Alex Spears]

Andrew, board is yours number two.

[Beat]

Question number two. Victor Wenyama scored 41 points in game one of the Western Conference finals. There are seven active players who also had a 40 point game in the playoffs within their first three seasons of their career. So we're going to name them all. So these are guys currently active and also within their first three years, they had a 40 point game in the playoffs. So, Andrew, you'll give me a name, then Dave will give me a name. We'll go back and forth.

[Alex Spears]

Donovan Mitchell.

[Beat]

Donovan Mitchell did it.

[Andrew]

Oh, good one. Ooh, didn't Dave?

[Beat]

No, he did. He did.

[Andrew]

Oh, he did.

[Beat]

Did it.

[Andrew]

Jamal Murray.

[Beat]

Jamal Murray did not do it.

[Alex Spears]

Dave.

[Andrew]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It was Mitchell. I was like, oh, yeah.

[Alex Spears]

They are kind of like tight at the hip a little bit. Yeah.

[Beat]

I mean, he must have done it after his third year.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Any other names you guys want to throw out just for fun?

[Alex Spears]

LeBron.

[Beat]

No.

[Andrew]

No, really?

[Alex Spears]

No.

[Andrew]

That's tough.

[Alex Spears]

Even on those. Even on, like, the Eric Snow teams. Come on now.

[Beat]

Luca did it multiple times.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, that's a good one.

[Andrew]

Yeah, that's a really good one. Drag. We covered the NBA, Andrew.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Trey Young did it. John Morant did it. Anthony Edwards did it. And then two Thunder players. Andrew Russell Westbrook did it. No, J Dub in last year's finals.

[Alex Spears]

Dub. Yeah, Dub.

[Andrew]

You know, it's funny. It doesn't feel like J Dub feels like he's been around a little bit longer.

[Beat]

He does. He was a little older when he came.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, that's it.

[Beat]

Okay, Dave, board is yours.

[Andrew]

Oh, man. I'm gonna go three.

[Beat]

I have a note here to myself to recheck this, which I didn't do. So when looking at plus minus for the playoffs, six of the top eight in total plus minus are, unsurprisingly, New York Knicks because they had all those big wins.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Who are the other two players in the top eight for total plus minus in these playoffs? You can get one point per correct.

[Andrew]

Victor Womenyama.

[Beat]

That is correct. For one point. Can you get the other name,

[Andrew]

man?

[Beat]

Dear and Fox is not Dear and Fox. Andrew, you have a chance to steal for one point.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, my gosh. Total plus minus in the playoffs.

[Beat]

Total plus minus in the playoffs.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, my gosh.

[Andrew]

Harper.

[Beat]

It is AJ Mitchell. AJ Mitchell. Shout out to the Lakers.

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah. Well, hey, listen. What happens when Austin Reeves is guarding you, you know?

[Beat]

Andrew, do you want number four? Do I need to hold this up?

[Alex Spears]

You don't need to hold it up. You. You know that I literally choose the next number no matter what.

[Beat]

The top three in free throws attempted during these playoffs. Not a surprise. Cade Cunningham, James Harden, Shay Gilous Alexander. Who Is number four.

[Alex Spears]

Oh my gosh.

[Beat]

In most free throws attempted during these playoffs.

[Alex Spears]

Most free throws attempted during these playoffs. Get during the playoffs.

[Beat]

Who could it be? Who could it be?

[Alex Spears]

This concludes tonight.

[Andrew]

Sure.

[Alex Spears]

Castle.

[Beat]

Oh, maybe not. No, that's wrong. That. I mean, it's a good guess. I'll try to look it up while we're talking. Dave.

[Andrew]

Victor Womenyama.

[Beat]

No. How many did he have tonight? He had 10. Oh, geez. Okay. Well, the answer as of before the game was Jared Allen.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, wow.

[Beat]

Allen. How about that?

[Alex Spears]

That's very weird.

[Beat]

That is why I asked because I thought it was so fun.

[Andrew]

You know what though? They've played 16 games. They've played 16 games.

[Alex Spears]

That. That helps.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Yeah. Keep talking.

[Andrew]

So I trick.

[Beat]

You know the trick.

[Andrew]

The trick to career playoff numbers is just being on a mediocre team. Right. If you. If you can play six, six game seven game series.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah, that's true.

[Andrew]

Can really rack up.

[Alex Spears]

If you're into total. Yeah. Totals for your stats. Don't play for a great team.

[Andrew]

But it is weird that the NBA doesn't care about totals. Right? Like, it is weird in some ways.

[Alex Spears]

Yes, it's weird.

[Andrew]

It's a little weird. The averages is funny this year. You know, like Luca winning the average and total points.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Ethical winner for scoring champs. I don't want the. Oh, I played 50 games. I averaged 30 a game. Nah, give me

[Alex Spears]

ethics.

[Beat]

So we have a update to this. Okay, first of all, don't know where I got Jared Allen no longer on the list. Where is he? He disappeared.

[Alex Spears]

Wait, what?

[Beat]

I don't know. I'm so confused right now. He's just not on the list anymore. Anyways, Steph Castle after tonight would be fourth. So Andrew, do get those points.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Wow. Congratulations.

[Andrew]

Good call.

[Alex Spears]

Thank you, Steph for all the grifting tonight. Appreciate it.

[Beat]

Andrew, you're going to get hate mail about that. All right, question number five. Dave assuming.

[Andrew]

Yes. Yes.

[Beat]

Josh Hart had five three pointers during game two. The 11th time in his career he has hit five plus threes in a game. Which Knicks player has had the most five plus three pointer games in their entire career?

[Andrew]

Landry Shamit.

[Beat]

Good guess. No.

[Alex Spears]

Which current Nick has had the most five plus 3.5 plus three pointer games in their career? Huh? What was the first stat? I missed the first stat?

[Beat]

Oh, it's just about Josh Hart because

[Andrew]

he had Josh hard hit five and

[Beat]

he's had 11 in his career.

[Andrew]

Which right after I said this is not a Josh Hart series. He got hot.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Beat]

OG no good Guess had a lot. Actually, a lot of Knicks players had a lot. I mean, Cat Brunson, but I wouldn't answer S's question unless it was a funny answer. And it's Jordan Clarkson.

[Alex Spears]

Clarkson.

[Andrew]

Dang it. Well, I got to sham it. I'm just going down in my head and I got to sham it first.

[Beat]

Okay, Andrew, you got a lock in for this question because it's annoying. Steph Castle had 11 turnovers in game one of the Western Conference finals. There are 22 other active players who have had a double digit turnover game in their career. Eighteen of those 22 have made an All Star game. I want you to name one of the four active players. Players who have had a 10 plus turnover game but have never made an all star game. Okay, Now I'm gonna give you a hint about each of these guys. Dave, Shut up. Shut up. I see you guys. You don't like this question. It's a good question. Okay, here, here's your hints. Andrew. Okay.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Beat]

Hint about player A, he's currently in the playoffs. Hint about player B, he was traded twice in the last year. Hint about player C, he dropped out of a dunk contest. And hint about player D, he played for the Grizzlies this year. All you have to do is give me one name.

[Alex Spears]

Is in the playoffs and played for the Grizzlies this year.

[Beat]

No, no, Those are not.

[Andrew]

Four different players played for the Grizzlies this year.

[Beat]

No, no, no, no. These are four different players. Those are a hint about each player.

[Alex Spears]

You're right. This is very annoying.

[Andrew]

This is an annoying question.

[Alex Spears]

Sorry.

[Beat]

It's so funny.

[Andrew]

I need a spreadsheet. Can I have a spreadsheet for this?

[Beat]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

I'm having so much fun.

[Andrew]

Just shoot it over.

[Alex Spears]

I'm having so much fun. Played for the Grizzlies this year.

[Beat]

I'm going to be honest with you. Don't go with that one. I would ignore that hint. The other hints currently in the playoffs.

[Alex Spears]

Okay.

[Beat]

One of the guys traded twice in last year and another guy dropped out of a dunk contest.

[Alex Spears]

Traded twice in the last year. They just at some point in their career did this. This is I. My brain.

[Beat]

Oh, Dave's got it. Dave's got a guess.

[Alex Spears]

Is it like 30 different places right now?

[Andrew]

Might.

[Beat]

Oh, we'll just throw out a name. Andrew. You might get it right.

[Alex Spears]

James Harden.

[Beat]

No. Dave.

[Alex Spears]

All right.

[Andrew]

Mike Conley.

[Beat]

No. Has been an All Star.

[Andrew]

Oh.

[Alex Spears]

Oh. Has been an All Star. Dang it. I forgot about that qualifier. My brain is like so Focused on these. These last four hints that I forgot about the All Star thing.

[Andrew]

Dang.

[Beat]

It played for the Grizzlies this year. Jemima, why didn't you get.

[Alex Spears]

What?

[Beat]

Dropped out of a dunk contest.

[Andrew]

No.

[Alex Spears]

Yes. You're back.

[Beat]

Dropped out of a dunk contest. Shaden Sharp. Easy.

[Alex Spears]

You're there.

[Beat]

You're there. Dave traded twice in the last year. Colin Sexton.

[Alex Spears]

Colin Sexton.

[Beat]

And currently in the playoffs, Dennis Schroeder.

[Alex Spears]

Schroeder.

[Andrew]

Dang.

[Beat]

Dang.

[Alex Spears]

I did think about Schroeder.

[Beat]

Okay, Dave, when I was thinking about

[Alex Spears]

not All Stars, I thought about Schroeder. But then when I got locked into these hints and forgot that that was part of. Of what you were asking.

[Beat]

I should have let you try to figure out played for the Grizzlies this year.

[Alex Spears]

I would have never gotten there. I would have never, ever gotten there. I was going to say Kyle Anderson or something.

[Beat]

Okay, board is yours. You can get this one. You can get three points. You could take the lead. Devin Vassell hit six threes in game two of the Western Conference finals. There are only three players who have hit seven or more threes in this year. Year's playoffs. How many can you name? One point per correct answer. So seven plus threes.

[Andrew]

Oh, my God.

[Beat]

In a playoff game this season, you probably watched the game.

[Andrew]

Oh, oh, no, no. I've seen every playoff game. Oh, okay.

[Beat]

So you should know this.

[Andrew]

Oh, easy then. Yeah, yeah, it should be easy to just remember. Yeah. So every single player from every game over.

[Beat]

Do you remember a game where you're like, wow, he's shooting it really well? No, he's doing really well tonight.

[Andrew]

Ah, man.

[Beat]

Well, then just guess a shooter.

[Andrew]

You can just. Yeah, I'm gonna guess one. Oh, man.

[Beat]

This is. Dave is raising his eyebrows, making me think he has a good answer.

[Andrew]

No idea. Off the top of my head, for some reason.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Did.

[Andrew]

Did OG Hit seven threes? I know he had that big game.

[Beat]

Are you asking me or yourself?

[Andrew]

No, I'm talking to myself. I'm just thinking. Okay, well, you know, I'm trying. I'm trying to lean into the Andrew Schleck style of, you know, buying time.

[Beat]

Oh, yeah. People. People call Andrew a grifter. Like he's.

[Alex Spears]

He's.

[Beat]

That's the equivalent of flopping in trivia.

[Alex Spears]

That's true.

[Beat]

Going for time.

[Alex Spears]

You listen, you have to. You have to try any way you can.

[Andrew]

Yeah, you do. Luke Kennard.

[Beat]

Luke Canard. Okay, that's a good guess. I can't get that. Really good Game.

[Andrew]

Yeah, he had that big game. I just can't remember how many.

[Beat]

Yeah, he didn't do it, but he might have hit six. Who knows? I only looked up seven plus Andrew. You got any guesses?

[Alex Spears]

Alex Caruso did it. Yes.

[Beat]

He hit eight in a game.

[Andrew]

Oh, wow. Wow. Literally in the building for that.

[Alex Spears]

A game that we were at together,

[Beat]

Dave, only a few days ago. Dave, do you not even remember your time with Andrew?

[Andrew]

I've watched that game three times.

[Alex Spears]

Do you not remember your time with Andrew?

[Beat]

You don't cherish your time with Andrew?

[Andrew]

You know, I think I just don't care about stats as much.

[Beat]

Oh, really? What about. What about fall percentage?

[Alex Spears]

Do you care about fall percentage?

[Andrew]

Hey, listen, guys, I will tell you, that is one of the funniest things I've ever seen and pettiest because frankly, and I've said this on the show, everybody in the NBA is falling down way too much. I don't care who you are, you're all falling too much. And. But like, Shay with the falling, like, some of it is. I think sometimes he falls to avoid actually landing on someone's foot. He's trying to bail out. Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes he's trying to get the call.

[Alex Spears]

What do. Do we just not care? I. I feel like. I feel like the mission of the online community is to talk about anything but basketball that's happening in the game.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Beat]

I.

[Andrew]

Look, I don't want to sound like this guy, but I'm going to sound like this guy.

[Beat]

Let's go. Let's go.

[Andrew]

You don't know what you're watching. Do you know what I mean? When you don't know exactly what you're watching, you got to find the things to complain about or. Or point out that you can see. Right.

[Beat]

You know what's funny about that, though? I would say even if you don't know X's and O's.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Me, there is so much in this series, narrative wise.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Like, these two teams are so awesome, and they're both young, and this is our first. First chance to get to see them play together. And these. All these games have been incredible. Like, there's so much here for the casual fan.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Which is probably why the ratings are so high. Like, there's. There's every. There's something for everyone in this. It's a beautiful series. These teams are amazing.

[Andrew]

Part of it is like, this is the playoffs and this. And this league now is 94ft and it's on the floor because that's just how it Is. It's physical. Guys are all like, did you guys see that? All right, I don't know if the broadcast picked it up. There was a play that was over in this corner right here. And the ball gets loose and Wemby goes over and picks it up with one hand. Did you guys see that? Okay, Wemby picks the ball up with one hand and kind of flips it over his back to de' Aaron Fox. There's a loose ball. There's, you know, they're going for it. There's a scrum. Nobody's diving on the floor. Yeah, but there's bodies on the floor. Right? Like, does that make sense? Like, everyone is kind of hunched over going for the ball. They're scrapping, they're rolling around. I mean, how many, how many times have we seen three guys fighting over the basketball on the floor? It's just, that's competitive basketball. And some of this is, you know, like you fall down to save yourself from getting hurt. It is weird to me and Alex, I'm glad you. You pointed that out. Like, we're watching the best player in the world right now. Shay Gildas Alexander, two time MVP lead, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are the champions on their way to maybe a second title against the guy that we all think is going to wind up being the greatest player of all time, who was only in his third season. And oh, by the way, he's got a guy who may wind up being an MVP candidate who's a rookie. And, oh, and Stefan Castle was the. Was the rookie of the year last year. There's. There's so many individual storylines and also we've watched Both teams adjust 75 times already in three games.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah. Yep.

[Andrew]

That's so much fun. This chess match is fun to. To.

[Alex Spears]

Yep.

[Andrew]

Speaking of not caring about stats, fall percentage put that high up on the list.

[Alex Spears]

Yep. I think Desmond Bain made seven threes.

[Andrew]

I was gonna. I. I had.

[Beat]

Yes.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Beat]

Yes.

[Alex Spears]

And I think Deuce McBride.

[Beat]

Damn.

[Andrew]

Got me. Wow.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Wow.

[Beat]

That's impressive, Andrew. See, I even.

[Andrew]

I got this stuff comes in and it's just going right up.

[Beat]

Well, Andrew, he's a big stats guy. Doesn't care about what happens on the court. He's just there on Stat Head Basketball reference.

[Alex Spears]

I don't even watch game. I just. I actually just watched the box scores as they're just like trickling play by play. I don't watch games.

[Beat]

I'm just like, you watch the game cast.

[Alex Spears]

I watch gamecast. I lay in bed and I just watch gamecast.

[Beat]

On my phone, the way basketball was intended to be watched. Okay, question number eight. Andrew James Harden leads the league in total steals in the playoffs. How many steals has James Harden had? Choose who answers first. Make Dave answer first. You go higher.

[Alex Spears]

Oh, my gosh.

[Beat]

You answer first. Dave goes higher. Lower. This is one you could get. It's not like. I mean, you don't know the answer, but you could kind of think about it.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Beat]

How many steals does James had?

[Andrew]

Hard.

[Alex Spears]

How many playoffs played?

[Andrew]

16 games.

[Alex Spears]

They played 16 games. That's what I was just thinking. How many games did they play? That helps. 16 games.

[Beat]

Okay.

[Alex Spears]

He leads the playoffs and steals. That's wild. I don't know. 33.

[Beat]

Dave, would you like to go higher or lower?

[Andrew]

I'll go lower.

[Beat]

And Dave gets it. It's 29. Final score, 7 to 3.

[Andrew]

Dominant. Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Well, come on. I got like.

[Alex Spears]

I actually didn't even realize that I had won.

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah.

[Alex Spears]

The way that you announced that you

[Andrew]

had that great three point round just now.

[Alex Spears]

So. So I did.

[Beat]

With all the shoes.

[Alex Spears]

You guys gave me so much time to think about it, discussing the. The ball percentage.

[Andrew]

That's true.

[Alex Spears]

Which helped me, like, really gather myself. Dave was talking about how like, like we were tying our shoes. I gripped myself into. Into time. He. He mentioned it right before. What you guys didn't realize is that you fell right into my trap.

[Beat]

Wow.

[Alex Spears]

Think about it.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Alex Spears]

Hey, thanks to Dave. Def. I would promote what he does, but he's on this show every single day. So please give a shout out to Dave if. If you leave us a five star review, we'll read it on the podcast and if you mention Dave, we'll read it maybe twice.

[Beat]

Wow. Slow mo.

[Alex Spears]

Okay, read it slow mo.

[Andrew]

Now, see, now that's. That's a little risky because, like, you might get some. I don't want any hate mail in reviews.

[Alex Spears]

You know a good thing about.

[Andrew]

No, no, no, no.

[Alex Spears]

Good thing about Dave.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Alex Spears]

Good thing about Dave also.

[Andrew]

Hey, if you're in San Antonio and you're listening and you see me outside, come say hi. Yeah, yeah.

[Alex Spears]

He has Dave DeFore stickers.

[Andrew]

I do have some tape DeForest stickers.

[Alex Spears]

So it's true.

[Andrew]

Leftover. Leftover stock that just stay in my work bag.

[Alex Spears]

It's definitely a fact. Thanks so much for listening to this episode. We will talk to you guys again next. Next Saturday.

[Andrew]

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[Beat]

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[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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