← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Hoops Tonight - Playoff Preview With One Regular Season Game Left
00:26:13
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- [00:00]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [00:29]
Julie Stewart-Banks
What's up everyone? Julie Swearbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [00:34]
Nate Thompson
We're doing a new podcast together.
- [00:36]
Daniel Jeremiah
Here we go.
- [00:37]
Julie Stewart-Banks
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [00:40]
Nate Thompson
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [00:45]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [00:49]
Nate Thompson
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [00:54]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:02]
Daniel Jeremiah
The championship is back in the bay for the first time in 40 years.
- [01:07]
Israel Gutierrez
On the new limited podcast series Dub Dynasty, we hear from head coach Steve Kerr on how Steph Curry almost never even joined the Warriors.
- [01:16]
Steve Kerr
In fact, I thought we had a draft a deal to end up getting.
- [01:20]
Israel Gutierrez
Him to Phoenix for the entire behind the scenes story of Golden State's incredible 10 year run list. Listen to Dub Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:34]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Are your ears bored?
- [01:36]
Greg Rosenthal
Yeah. Are you looking for a new podcast.
- [01:39]
Daniel Jeremiah
That will make you laugh, learn and say que? Yeah.
- [01:43]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Then tune in to locatora radio season 10 today.
- [01:46]
Daniel Jeremiah
Okay, now that's what I call a podcast. I'm Diosa. I'm Mala, the host of Locatora Radio, a radiophonic novella, which is just a.
- [01:56]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Very extra way of a podcast. Listen to Locatora Radio Season 10 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [02:08]
Larison Campbell
The volume.
- [02:11]
Daniel Jeremiah
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Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code HOOPS. That's H O O P S. That's code hoops for new customers to get $150 in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler in New York, call 877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny to 467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 880-878-97777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 + age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void In Ontario, bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance for additional terms and responsible gaming resources. C dkng.co B Ball all right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Saturday everybody. Hope all of you guys are having a great weekend. I'm actually recording this episode late night on Friday after the penultimate night of the NBA regular season. Basically, here's what we're going to do in today's show. I'm going to go over a few of the games from last night, a couple of the things that I noticed. Then we're going to look at both the east and the west and what we know about the playoff picture going into Sunday. We obviously have some more clarity out East. I'll talk very briefly about those first round matchups. Obviously we're not going to get into too much detail until next week. I will have comprehensive breakdowns of all eight first round series during the week. Next week. Obviously a bunch more up in the air in the Western Conference. I'll be going over scenarios for you guys. I'll talk about which matchups I prefer for all of the teams in not too much Lakers talk for you Laker fans today, but at the tail end of the show I am going to go over just a couple seeding scenarios which I think are valuable for Laker fans. But again, just going to dance around the penultimate night in the NBA regular season and talk about everything that we learned and everything that we need for Sunday. You guys know the drill before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on twitter_jason lt so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and a review on that front. We also have social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook where Jackson's doing great work this year. Make sure you guys follow us there. And last but not least, keep dropping those mailbag questions so we can get to them in our weekly mailbags throughout the rest of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball and let's start out in the Eastern Conference so the Bucks get a big win on the road in Detroit, clinch the five seed and make Sunday's rematch with the Pistons completely unnecessary. Giannis was incredible in this game. He goes for 15 assists, his fifth double digit assist game in his last seven games. And tonight it was just this surgical point forward playmaking piece, semi transition attacks, getting the defense to lean one way or another and making great cross court and skip passes or swing passes to shooters. Finding cutters on the baseline post feeds to Brook Lopez again post double team kickouts, handling blitzes and traps well, just methodical playmaking and like obviously the blood clot for Dame is very scary and you'd prefer that he was healthy and ready to play. But this opportunity that has opened up in terms of ball handling responsibility for Milwaukee has been super revealing on a bunch of levels. On the one hand, Kevin Porter Jr. To his credit has developed a decent little two man game with Giannis. They're good at screening and rescreening and doing what it takes to get one of the defenders out of position so that they can create some of those short roll opportunities for Giannis. They got one of those in the second half tonight for a little swing pass to the weak side for I believe a Gary Trent Jr. Three opportunities for Giannis in the pocket as they run that two man game. Kevin Porter's found some some scoring opportunities in there working against ice coverages along the baseline giving goes with Giannis. They have a nice little chemistry that they found there that I think they're going to end up potentially having to lean on a lot in their first round series. If Dame is unable to come back. On the other hand, that opening in in ball handling responsibility has just given the ball to Giannis a ton. And there are a ton of possessions where it's just Giannis bringing the ball up the floor in semi transition and he's just playing basketball, making a quick attack to see if the defense does something, dribbling into a post up to see if the defense does something. Just a lot of really nice methodical playmaking from Giannis. And it's not the old school Giannis like 5 years ago Bull in a china shop stuff where he's just dropping his shoulder and trying to go through everybody. He's attacking slowly at times, he's putting guys in jail, meaning trapping them on his backside and methodically waiting for plays to open up. He's manipulating help defenders with his eyes and with ball fakes. Again, it's not a coincidence. It's not easy to put up five double figure assist games in seven nights the way that he did. That's something that we usually only see from the top end playmaking talent in this league. And I just think that that's a very interesting trend for the big picture for Milwaukee in the sense that it used to be that you felt like you needed a Dame because of Giannis's half court shortcomings. You needed Chris Middleton because of Giannis's half court shortcomings. And I'm starting to think that it's worth a shot, at least in terms of team building if Milwaukee wants to try going this route this summer or if a team were to trade for Giannis. I think Giannis is at a caliber as a half court playmaker now that you can start looking more towards like 3 and D type of talent off of Giannis. Athleticism, defensive talent, trusting that Giannis is going to be able to set them up with enough quality opportunities for you to be able to score. I think that's a real growth piece in Giannis's game. That's an exciting big picture trend for the Bucks, especially as they potentially have to head into a pivot like a soft rebuild. This summer our Eastern Conference playoffs are officially set, or at least for the teams that are not going to play play in teams. We're going to get Milwaukee versus Indiana with Indiana having home court and Detroit versus New York with the Knicks having home court. Now obviously, as I mentioned, we're going to do our comprehensive series previews next week, but here are my very, very brief initial thoughts for Pacers, Bucks. This has at times been a tough matchup through Milwaukee. All the Milwaukee's fared much better this year than they did last year and obviously Dane being out makes for a ton of responsibility on Giannis and then obviously a lot of pressure on some lower level guys to knock down a lot of shots off of Giannis passes. And so my initial gut feeling is to take Indy. Indy's playing really well right now. They have more, they're obviously in a better position in terms of health. They have. Their identity is really clicking right now on both ends of the floor. But Giannis is playing so incredibly well that I'm really gonna have to think long and hard about this one and I'm gonna spend a good amount of time watching film and again I'll. I'll save my prediction for next week. I'm leaning Indiana right now, but Giannis has me seriously second guessing that New York is a better matchup for Detroit than Indiana is. Detroit really struggled with Indiana this year. They actually beat the Knicks three times in a row. Cade has looked super comfortable attacking Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns in action, but obviously the Knicks have a lot of experience and talent and I would just flat out say they have a more well equipped playoff roster than Detroit was or than Detroit has. So my initial gut feeling is to take the Knicks there. Obviously the young inexperienced team to a star that's never been in the postseason before. There's a lot of question marks there, but New York does have advantages there. Excuse me, the. The Pistons do have advantages there and I could see that series getting dragged out based on Cade being able to operate in a bunch of comfort and just him just being able to be in a groove for most of that series. But again, my initial gut feeling is Nicks and Pacers. But we will have our predictions next week with our comprehensive previews as we go through all eight first round series. Moving out to the Western Conference, the Clippers took care of business in another must win game on the road in Sacramento. Their defense was incredible all night. Kawhi basically erased DeMar DeRozan, Chris Dunn and Derek Jones Jr. Did a great job on Zach Levine. They had balanced scoring across the board. Their big four went for 84 points, got a little squirrely late. Zach Levine and DeMar DeRozan finally got hot, hit some shots and the Clipper offense stalled out a bit. They had a couple late game execution mistakes including turning the ball over on a sideline out of bounds sequence, but credit to Avika Zubots who created two extra possessions on a critical late game possessions just, just by bullying Sabonis underneath the basket and creating tap out rebounds and they ended up scoring on that possession. The Clippers were able to survive this kind of crazy late game sequence with that turnover into Mar derosen trying to split a double team for Heave and they end up getting out of there with the much needed win. So now the Clippers controlled their destiny on Sunday. If they beat the warriors, they will get the five seed and a date with Denver in the first round. After I get through these couple other things from tonight, I'm going to go in detail through the Western Conference seating situation. That's going to be at the tail end of the show. But I before we move on to the next games, I wanted to take a minute to compliment the Clippers on what I think has been a very successful season for them and what I think was a really smart gamble by Lawrence Frank in that front office. Letting Paul George walk is not an easy decision to make. He had just played in 74 games. He had a very good season. 23 points per game, 61% true shooting. That's a lot of talent to let walk out the door for nothing. But there were obvious realities with the CBA and the way that you can handcuff yourself if you end up in that second abram. And so the organization just believed in their strong basketball culture. They have a smart front office and they made a couple of moves last summer that I think should teach us all a lesson in roster building in the NBA. This was something I talked a lot about at the time. The idea of this perimeter speed, finding athletes on the perimeter to make life easier in the regular season. And it kind of fits into a concept of believed long time, which is essentially that your talent is unique to what your team actually needs from you, right? So okay, you can't get a superstar player in free agency, right? You let Paul George walk. You don't have the cap space to just sign a superstar. There wasn't really anybody available. But what if you can get players that are such seamless fits into the roles that you have available that you can get great value? For instance, Chris Dunn and Derek Jones Jr. Total at just $14.6 million per year in salary. But because you have the ball screen game with James Harden and Ivika Zubots, Zubots's development as a player in the pocket with this deadly floater hit several more super important floaters tonight. That game with those two has generated a lot of low man help, A lot of situations where guys are having to tag zoo when they tag Zoo that leaves the corner open. And so they've been able to generate these like pretty simple reads for their three and D guys out of that fifth starter. He's basically going to cut along the baseline if there's enough of a Runway. We saw a key one out of a late timeout late in this game where they ran a ball screen for James Harden going towards the left wing, knew the tag was coming because Zoo had done a bunch of damage there with floaters. And James Harden instead of throwing the pocket to Zoo, just throws a lob to Derrick Jones cutting out of that right corner and gets a nasty two handed dunk. Again. That is the type of Runway that develops because of the Harden Zoo two man game. They're going to get clean catch and shoots and clean Runway cutting opportunities out of that corner. And so as a result, you get two players for 14 million. That because they're also guarding the other team's best player and pressuring full court and doing all this stuff to make them uncomfortable. You're getting great value and maybe not an exact approximation of what Paul George does, but you're getting so much more offensively out of what Zoo is doing and out of what Norman Powell is doing through their internal development that you don't necessarily need the offensive firepower. And now Derek Jones and Chris Dunn are actually kicking ass in these smaller roles. And so it just has been a masterclass in roster building in the NBA. I've talked about this emphasis on perimeter speed and guys that can really guard the ball and how that raises your floor in the regular season. I talked before the season starts how I expected the Clippers to be. A team that hung out above the play in for the most part, and they did all the season. They just have a great basketball culture, a great front office that understands the game and how to build within the confines of what your, you know, payroll can trap you into. A head coach that I think is among the best in the league. A couple of really, really smart stars leading the way. Kawhi Leonard continues to look fantastic. He's looked so much more athletic towards the rim. He keeps trying to dunk on everybody. Now all of a sudden like it's looking really, really exciting for the Clippers. And so here we are. You hit on those two signings and I believe the Clippers are a better basketball team today than they were with Paul George. So shout out to the Clippers again. We'll talk about some more stuff with the seating when we get to the final segment of the night.
- [16:33]
Larison Campbell
There's a type of soil in Mississippi called Yazoo Clay. It's thick, burnt orange, and it's got a reputation.
- [16:41]
Julie Stewart-Banks
It's terrible, terrible dirt.
- [16:43]
Larison Campbell
Yazoo clay eats everything, so things that get buried there tend to stay buried until they're not. In 2012, construction crews at Mississippi's biggest hospital made a shocking discovery.
- [16:57]
Daniel Jeremiah
7,000 bodies out there or more, all.
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Larison Campbell
Former patients of the old state asylum, and nobody knew they were there.
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Daniel Jeremiah
It was my family's mystery.
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Larison Campbell
But in this corner of the south, it's not just the soil that keeps secrets. Nobody talks about it. Nobody has any information. When you peel back the layers of Mississippi's Yazoo clay, nothing's ever as simple as you think.
- [17:21]
Israel Gutierrez
The story is much more complicated and nuanced than that.
- [17:26]
Larison Campbell
I'm Larison Campbell. Listen to Under Yazu Clay on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [17:36]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [18:06]
Israel Gutierrez
I'm Israel Gutierrez and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty, the story of how the Golden State warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade.
- [18:15]
Daniel Jeremiah
The Golden State warriors once again are NBA champions.
- [18:20]
Israel Gutierrez
From the building of the core that included Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history of the sport.
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Steve Kerr
I just felt like the biggest thing was to earn the trust of the players and let the players know that we were here to try to help them take the next step, not tear anything down.
- [18:37]
Israel Gutierrez
Today, the warriors dynasty remains alive in large part because of a scrawny 6 foot 2 hooper who everyone seems to love for what Steph has done for the game.
- [18:46]
Daniel Jeremiah
He's certainly on that like Mount Rushmore for guys that have changed it, come.
- [18:50]
Israel Gutierrez
Revisit this magical warriors ride. This is Dub Dynasty.
- [18:54]
Daniel Jeremiah
The Dubs dynasty is still very much alive.
- [18:58]
Israel Gutierrez
Listen to Dub Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:10]
Julie Stewart-Banks
It's Julie Stewart Banks. I'm doing a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts and the National Hockey League. And I'm paired up with one of my favorite players, the always quick, quotable Nate Thompson.
- [19:19]
Nate Thompson
I wore nine NHL sweaters and I have story after story to share. And believe it or not, I have plenty to say. And not just about hockey.
- [19:27]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Believe me, he does. Energy Line with Nate and JSB is the name of the podcast and it's gonna be, well, it's gonna be quite the ride. We're officially linemates, Nate. We're the energy Line.
- [19:39]
Nate Thompson
We'll have plenty of folks join us, current players, some of my former teammates, hall of Famers. And wait till you see some of the connections that Julie has. She has quite the Rolodex.
- [19:48]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Okay, we'll lean into Nate's playing experience and tap into our interests away from hockey and try to do what energy lines are supposed to do, provide an emotional boost. How do you feel about all that, Nate?
- [20:00]
Nate Thompson
I'm vibing Julie. I'm ready to roll.
- [20:03]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [20:10]
Daniel Jeremiah
But before we get out of here, welcome to Course Correction brought to you by Microsoft. Just like star players and teams navigating performance hurdles, business decision makers today are under immense pressure to get things right. They must rise to the occasion, turning challenges into opportunities. Microsoft empowers these visionaries with AI solutions, simplified cloud and data management, and trustworthy, responsible AI. And when you're in the NBA, you have your own hurdles to face. In this segment, we explore the challenges faced by teams or star players and how they can turn things around. Whatever challenge you're facing, Microsoft empowers you with the expertise to say bring it on. Tonight we're discussing the Denver Nuggets and their late game defense against the Memphis Grizzlies in a must win game tonight. The Grizzlies controlled tonight's game for a little over three quarters. They were victimizing the weak Denver pick and roll coverage with Desmond Bain and John Morant just getting to wherever they wanted and screening actions off of, you know, off ball curls for Desmond Bain, a lot of on ball stuff for John Morant just cutting them to pieces. The Grizzlies ran 32 ball screens including passes in the first three quarters, getting 1.06 points per possession including passes. Again, just cutting them to pieces. A lot of the same usual problems for Denver, weak ball pressure. Jokic had some really bad at the level reps in that third quarter. He had a one of the most embarrassing ones I've seen from him in a while on a play where Zach Edie got a dunk where he like showed on a John Morant ball screen. John Morant just threw a swing pass and Eddie just ran behind him and Jokic just kind of started walking back and Eddie got another wide open dunk and it looked a lot like what you've seen from Denver over the course of the last several weeks. And the Grizzlies had a five point lead with less than five minutes left. And then for that final five minutes, the Nuggets transform into the same devastating clutch time team that the Nuggets have been in years past. Getting stops with strong positional defense, keeping the ball in front, some smart game plan stuff. They did some switching on job ball screens, having Jokic sit back critically switched back on one and John did it missing a three going under a couple of job ball screens to keep the ball in front. They logged one of their best reps on a Jaren Jackson post op. Jaren had been doing some damage from that right block, getting into the middle of the lane for his left handed hook. They had a great rep late where Christian Brown held his ground really well. Aaron Gordon shrunk the by digging down off of John Morant on the wing and they just barely bothered Jaren Jackson enough to get him to miss one of those hook shots. Russell Westbrook made two massive defensive plays down the stretch. He stole a pick and roll pocket pass on a play. Desmond Bain curled a screening act action. He literally just after he saw Desmond Bain going downhill, he peeled off of him and ran to the roll man instead. And Desmond Bain tried to throw some behind the back pass, ended up being stolen by Russell Westbrook just because of some great pursuit over the top of his screen. He had another play where he challenged Zach Edie at the rim on a cut. An extra effort defensive play where he was kind of out of position. He just made an effort, got up there, enforced Edie to miss a layup. Jamal Murray and Nicole Jokic, they had some really bad pick and roll reps in the third quarter. In that fourth quarter they had a very strong pick and roll rep against John Morant on the right wing where Jamal did a great job pressuring from behind and Jokic, even though he was getting sealed, jumped over his man and got a contest on John Rant forced him to rush the floater and Josh shot the floater way long off of the off of the backboard. It was just them competing on defense and then on the other end looking like the nuggets on offense running in transition. They got an early Jokic post up in a transition situation. They got another Jokic deep post catch off of an offensive rebound. Then we saw a bunch of that classic Jokic Murray two man game. A couple of Jamal Murray mid range pull ups in the two man game, a pocket pass to Yokich for the floater. The Nuggets closed that game on a 14 to 1 run. Talked about the defense. They defended 12 pick and rolls in the fourth quarter and allowed just nine points, just 0.75 points per possession just by doing better by competing on the defensive end of the floor. Just a casual reminder of what made this team true contenders over the last few years. I get kind of annoyed when I watch them now because it feels like a missed opportunity. This team is so good on offense. They don't need to be some sort of all world defensive team, they just need to be competent. They need solid game planning and solid game plan discipline. That is all they need to make a deep playoff run with the offense that they had. And here's the thing, at this point it might be too late for them to really get their habits to where they need to be to win four playoff rounds. But this Nuggets team over the last couple of games has shown just a tiny bit of life here. Just that tiny bit of hope as they head into the postseason after the Mike Malone firing. That is it for this week's course correction. Remember, Microsoft's AI solutions empower you to take bold steps and make informed decisions, sparking new ideas to help drive your business forward. With Microsoft as your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey with confidence, finding innovative solutions and reaching new possibilities. Visit Microsoft.com challengers to learn more. One last note from that Grizzlies Nuggets game switching over to Memphis. Both John Moran and Desmond Bane were really bad down the stretch of that game. Desmond Bain tried this like weird low gather move on Russ and just turned it over even against no defensive pressure. That behind the back pass turnover to Russ, that was just a really sloppy pass, a really high risk pass in that situation. John Morant twice on the two Jokic deep seal post ups was the guy who needed to be the guy double teaming and he just wasn't paying attention. Got lost off ball. He obviously couldn't get anything going offensively down the stretch in the ball screen game. And here's the thing, the Grizzlies have their issues with personnel. They're not big and physical enough on defense. They sorely miss a guy like Dylan Brooks on the wing. They don't have enough shooting. Their bigs all have flaws, whether it's Jaren Jackson's rebounding or Zach Edie's ability to defend in space, they have their weaknesses. But ultimately John Morant and Desmond Bain, their two primary shot creators, just aren't nearly as good as the other stars in the Western Conference, and that's what's ultimately holding them back. As I've said many times on the show, I truly believe John Morant is the type of superstar that has an upside with his athleticism to get to the point where he can be one of the guys that can compete in the Western Conference. But here we are. He's 25 years old and jaws basically the same player he was four years ago. You could argue he's actually regressed a little bit. So I don't really know where Memphis goes from here because it's one of those things where it feels somewhat like a turning point. This was the year where everything was supposed to go right for Memphis there. For a while it looked like it was going to, but they never could get together other than that win on the road in Boston and a handful of other nights this season. They couldn't put together the signature wins and the swagger that they had in years past. And again, it just seems like their stars are plateauing. Desmond Bain obviously has his certain limitations based on his talent. John Morant has just not been developing the way that you would expect a young player his age. It just doesn't look good for Memphis at this point as they fall to the eight seed in the Western Conference. So big picture in the west the Grizzlies clinch a play in berth with the loss in the warriors win tonight. They'll be the eighth seed no matter what from what I understand. Here's how the rest of it works. Denver and Minnesota's games on Sunday are games that they should win. Minnesota plays Utah even without ant with a suspension. They should win that game if they leverage their athleticism defensively. Denver plays Houston, who according to their last two games against the Clippers and Lakers have shut down their starters for the season. So if that holds in Houston doesn't play their starters. Minnesota and Denver should win on Sunday. If they both win, Denver locks up the four seed no matter what happens. Denver's your four. So that leaves the Clippers and the warriors in their game on Sunday as the massive swing factor heading into the postseason. That game is in Golden State. I would expect the Clippers, or excuse me, the warriors to be A slight favorite in that game. I would pick the warriors to win that game. If Golden State wins, that pushes Minnesota all the way up to five and then we're going to get our rematch. The Western Conference semifinals last year with Denver holding home court over the Timberwolves. If Golden State, if, if Golden State wins, Minnesota goes to five, Golden State goes to six. Then we get our rematch of Warriors Lakers from a couple of years ago. That's the matchup that I'm particularly worried about. We'll talk about in a minute. Clippers would drop down to seven. They would have to beat the Grizzlies to get Houston in round one if the Clippers win on Sunday. So again, Denver beats Houston, Minnesota beats Utah, Clippers beat the Warriors. Then the Clippers jump all the way up to five. They get Denver in round one, the Wolves would jump up to six, they'd get the Lakers, the Warriors would drop to seven and have to beat the Grizzlies in the play in to match up with Houston. So still a lot up in the air. I'm personally rooting for the Clippers on Sunday because I'd much rather face the Timberwolves in the first round as a Lakers fan than I would face the Warriors. The warriors scare me for one reason. I don't think they have anybody that can really make Steph uncomfortable every. He's just too fast for all of them. So even though I think the Lakers have a lot of advantages and I would probably pick the war the Lakers to win that series, the Steph wild card and just him being comfortable all series is enough of a wild card to swing that either way. And so I, I would be nervous about that particular matchup if I was a Lakers fan. I think they can match up in terms of their defensive game planning way better with Minnesota. Minnesota is a team that struggles with indecision against those types of, you know, aggressive defensive schemes. I think JJ Redick would prey on Anthony Edwards playmaking deficiencies and their team deficiencies and aggregate connective playmaking. I like that matchup for the lakers. Also, Jaden McDaniels can't guard LeBron or can't guard Luka. He's just not big and strong enough for him. I just think it's a matchup that favors the Lakers better than the warriors if they were to match up with the Lakers. So that's what I'm personally rooting for. I would imagine Denver is also rooting for the Clippers because they don't want to see the Timberwolves in Round one. So my guess is you're going to have Denver and LA rooting for the Clippers in that game. Obviously, the warriors want to win because they want to stay out of the plan, and the Clippers want to win because they want to stay out of the plan. But everything will be resolved in that 12:30 Pacific Time slate on Sunday. Here's the deal for the show. Just so you guys know, we are not going on Sunday, but I am going with Colin Cowherd. So go to the Colin Cowherd podcast feed on Sunday evening. That's where you'll see the instant reaction to everything that went down on Sunday. I will be back on Monday morning with a reaction to the weekend's games and then we're going to dive literally right into series previews all week long. So tons of content coming from here on out. And then once we get into the postseason, we literally go live every single night. So that's the journey from here. That's all I have for tonight. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show. We will be back on Sunday with Colin and then with this show on Monday. I will see you guys then. What's up guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Hoops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.
- [31:52]
Larison Campbell
The Volume.
- [31:56]
Greg Rosenthal
What'S up everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday. Keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [32:25]
Julie Stewart-Banks
What's up everyone? Julius Ripps here, along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [32:30]
Nate Thompson
We're doing a new podcast together.
- [32:32]
Daniel Jeremiah
Here we go.
- [32:33]
Julie Stewart-Banks
The Name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [32:36]
Nate Thompson
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [32:41]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [32:45]
Nate Thompson
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [32:50]
Julie Stewart-Banks
Listen to Energyline with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [32:58]
Daniel Jeremiah
The championship is back in the bay for the first time in 40 years.
- [33:04]
Israel Gutierrez
On the new limited podcast series Dub Dynasty, we hear from head coach Steve Kerr on how Steph Curry almost never even joined the Warriors.
- [33:12]
Steve Kerr
In fact, I thought we had a draft deal to end up getting him.
- [33:16]
Israel Gutierrez
To Phoenix for the entire behind the scenes story of Golden State's incredible 10 year run. Listen to Dub Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. You feelin this too is a horror anthology podcast. It brings different creators to tell 10 vile. No no no no no no no. Grotesque.
- [33:43]
Daniel Jeremiah
Oh my God.
- [33:44]
Israel Gutierrez
Horrific stories on what scares them the most. You feeling this too? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.