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Speaker 1: On today's show, we discuss how good the Knicks can

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Speaker 1: be this season, the rash of recent injuries, including James

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Speaker 1: Harden's latest setback, and the passing of the ooh ah

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Speaker 1: torch from Blake Griffin to Zion Williamson. Hey, I'm Tasmelis

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Speaker 1: and this is what you need to know in the

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Speaker 1: NBA for Wednesday, April twenty first, Good morning, everybody. Thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for joining me. Let's jump right in

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Speaker 1: Injuries have been the talk of the NBA recently, stars

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Speaker 1: are going down. The great Tom Haberstrow reported how many

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Speaker 1: many players this past weekend missed games. The logic is

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Speaker 1: the schedule, conducted in a smaller window than previous seasons,

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Speaker 1: has resulted in injuries, But the latest development in James

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Speaker 1: harden situation has more wrinkles than that. James Harden suffered

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Speaker 1: a setback in rehab this week. He was working his

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Speaker 1: way back from a hamstring injury, and coach Steve Nash

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Speaker 1: said he may not be back till the playoffs, which

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Speaker 1: are four plus weeks away. Got to wonder if the

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Speaker 1: way James Harden came into Rockets camp late and overweight

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Speaker 1: finally caught up to him if you remember, Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: was doing some partying in other cities. He said, he

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Speaker 1: was rehabbing. He didn't want to be in Houston. And

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Speaker 1: this isn't just me being an Internet troll comparing him

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Speaker 1: to Rick Ross and all that. His coach said it.

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Speaker 1: Steve Nash said during the regular season, Harden can't practice

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Speaker 1: because he's not in good enough shape to play in

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Speaker 1: both games and practices. His games are his practices, and

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Speaker 1: he was a workhorse during those games he played. He

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Speaker 1: has been throughout his entire career. Every time he suits up.

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Speaker 1: He doesn't miss games. But there are a few worries

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Speaker 1: for Harden getting back healthy to help a NETS championship

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Speaker 1: run this season. First, this was actually his second hamstring setback,

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Speaker 1: and as we know, hamstring injuries don't go away. He

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Speaker 1: missed two games in early April due to the hammy.

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Speaker 1: He came back and tweaked it on an innocent looking

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Speaker 1: play when he went into the lane versus the Knicks

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Speaker 1: on April fifth, and he has missed seven straight games

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Speaker 1: since trying to get back hamstring injuries. Linger, this is

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Speaker 1: hard in talking to his hamstring Do you have to

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Speaker 1: do you have do? Do you have to do? You

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Speaker 1: have to let it linger. I won't let that linger

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Speaker 1: for you too long. And just like that in game tweak,

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Speaker 1: Nash said Hardened didn't fall or stumbled during his rehab session.

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Speaker 1: He just fell and a scan revealed the setback. Another

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Speaker 1: huge worry how long it'll take for him to get

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Speaker 1: into game shape when he comes back. Has he been

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Speaker 1: keeping in shape? Will out? It could be six weeks

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Speaker 1: total before he's back, And does it even matter? He'll

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Speaker 1: still be awesome, most likely as he was earlier this season.

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Speaker 1: That's the beauty of the Nets versus his rocket stays.

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Speaker 1: He doesn't have to do everything. He doesn't have to

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Speaker 1: play every possession, close out every possession. There's less on

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Speaker 1: him and the biggest worry though, to me, is if

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Speaker 1: Harden comes back for the start of the playoffs, he

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will head into go time

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Speaker 1: having played only seven games together. Even if they haven't

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Speaker 1: played that much together, the Nets have enough talent to

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Speaker 1: win multiple playoff series. But what happens when they face

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Speaker 1: some adversity for the first time. They haven't had hard

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Speaker 1: losses together where they find a way they persevere. They

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Speaker 1: haven't been Hardened pun intended. It happened recently where a

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Speaker 1: team didn't have the scars to fall back on and

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Speaker 1: they're bounced. Last year, after the Clippers were eliminated in

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Speaker 1: the second round, Paul George talked about how wasn't their year.

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Speaker 1: They didn't have enough time together. You get punched down

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Speaker 1: two to one in a series, fight back, then down

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Speaker 1: three to two. What if the idea seeps in, maybe

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Speaker 1: this isn't our year, Especially considering Kevin Durant's situation. He's

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Speaker 1: also out, he missed twenty three games earlier. In his

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Speaker 1: fifth game back, he got injured. Hes missed a couple

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Speaker 1: games since, so I'm sure that's wearing on them a

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Speaker 1: little bit. They're already expending some mental energy there having

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Speaker 1: state resilient. If you look around the league, the same

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Speaker 1: is happening to a bunch of teams, As Tom Haberstrow

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Speaker 1: pointed out, the Lakers, the Blazers, the Clippers, the Nuggets

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Speaker 1: are in the worst situation of all because they're definitely

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Speaker 1: not getting Jamal Murray back. Is the healthiest team going

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Speaker 1: to win this thing? Is this like the Spurs winning

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Speaker 1: the championship in the lockout season in the late nineties,

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Speaker 1: but back to the Nets. Durant should be back soon.

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Speaker 1: And by all accounts and by all the eyes, these

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Speaker 1: guys like each other and are on the same page.

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Speaker 1: Every situation is different, and they're not the Clippers of

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Speaker 1: last year. But sometimes liking each other is not enough.

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Speaker 1: On the other hand, they still have Kyrie Irving. The

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Speaker 1: Nets visited the Pelicans Tuesday, and for me, it was

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Speaker 1: cool to watch Zion Williamson fly by and around and

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Speaker 1: over Blake Griffin a couple times. Not because I'm cruel,

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Speaker 1: but because Blake Griffin gave us the most thrilling ooh

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Speaker 1: ah moments in the twenty tens, and the thrilling Moment

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Speaker 1: leader title in the twenty twenties will belong to Zion

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Speaker 1: Williamson got to come up with a her name for

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Speaker 1: that title. But in their first ever matchup a couple

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Speaker 1: weeks ago, they shared the floor for just eight minutes.

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Speaker 1: It was a blowout. It didn't really mean much, but

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Speaker 1: this one was like a passing of the torch of sorts.

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Speaker 1: As a guy who watches basketball nightly, I want these

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Speaker 1: ooha moments. Zion is going to be that guy. In

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Speaker 1: the twenty twenties, Blake was that guy. It's kind of

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Speaker 1: easy to forget already because where Blake is in his career,

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Speaker 1: but he was that guy in the twenty tents. Zion

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Speaker 1: had thirty three in this one. It was a close

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Speaker 1: game down the stretch and then it was Kyrie irving time.

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Speaker 1: He couldn't close it out in the Nets previous game

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Speaker 1: versus Miami, but woo did he ever close it out

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Speaker 1: against the Pelicans. He had two beautiful moves. Can't stop

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Speaker 1: me to go left spin shot in the lane, man

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Speaker 1: a tough shot, and then was able to just keep

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Speaker 1: that low dribble and get to the backboard. Wow. Kyrie

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Speaker 1: had thirty two. Pelicans play in tournament. Hopes are fading fast.

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Speaker 1: They have fourteen games, were mating and our four games

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Speaker 1: back of the tournament. A very interesting offseason coming in Knowlins.

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Speaker 1: But the Mets. The Nets may not even be the

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Speaker 1: best team in New York. The Mets definitely aren't the

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Speaker 1: best team in New York. I'm not sure are they good?

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Speaker 1: I haven't been following the National League. I kid, the

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Speaker 1: Nets may not be the best basketball team in New York.

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Speaker 1: The Knicks are just scorching. They are scorching. Charlotte Hornet's

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Speaker 1: visiting the New York Knicks talk about thrilling. This game

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Speaker 1: was so much fun, so much shot making sixty six

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Speaker 1: sixty at half for Charlotte. Then the Knicks showed how

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Speaker 1: they can go from bottom rung playoff team to being

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Speaker 1: a playoff problem for other teams. In the third quarter.

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Speaker 1: RJ Barrett got hot. RJ. Barrett had an eighteen point

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Speaker 1: third Q. They need the second year player to be

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Speaker 1: consistent offensively. That guy is the key. How good can

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Speaker 1: RJ Barrett be because they need someone to step up

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Speaker 1: behind Julius Randall if they're gonna be great. A couple

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Speaker 1: days ago, I had Knicks fans yelling at me on

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Speaker 1: Twitter for saying, I'm not sure what I said. I

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Speaker 1: talk a lot about basketball. Maybe I need a two

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Speaker 1: week vacation from Twitter, like Steve Kerrn James Wiseman taking

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Speaker 1: get out of that mentions tap now. I said something

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Speaker 1: about people not getting ridiculously excited for this team come

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Speaker 1: playoff time because they don't have enough consistent offense. RJ.

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Speaker 1: Barrett's the barometer, though, because you got Julius Randall, who

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Speaker 1: sawid in the lead role and hopefully he can keep

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Speaker 1: it up. In the playoffs, and Tom Thibodeau is getting

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Speaker 1: the most out of his vets playing in that eight

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Speaker 1: man rotation Nerlens, Noel Effort, Alfred Payton, TODJ. Gibson, and

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Speaker 1: Tips hasn't been tempted to start Derek Rose and overuse him.

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Speaker 1: Rose continues to come off the bench yet in eight

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Speaker 1: for twelve seventeen point night, it was fabulous against Charlotte,

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Speaker 1: and maybe the Knicks can go on a Miami Heat

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Speaker 1: Bubble like run. But Barrett will have to be great.

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Speaker 1: But the scouting report is out. Don't leave him open

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Speaker 1: in the corner, Charlotte. Geez. The Knicks blew out Charlotte

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Speaker 1: in the second half and have now won seven in

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Speaker 1: a row. Congrats to the Knicks. Short handed Clippers versus

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Speaker 1: the shorthanded Blazers. I'd say most NBA fans don't want

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Speaker 1: to give Paul George credit for being very good, but

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Speaker 1: he has been fun nominal recently, playing like a number

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Speaker 1: one guy. The ball is in his hands every possession

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Speaker 1: down the stretch, especially with Kawhi Leonard out more on

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Speaker 1: his injury. In a second Paul George put the Clippers

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Speaker 1: on his back the last minute as they came back

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Speaker 1: from down five, winning it on free throws. He had

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Speaker 1: thirty three PG, has thirty two or more in six

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Speaker 1: of his last seven. Heartbreaker for the Blazers, though, just

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Speaker 1: couldn't get a stop in that last minute, and CJ

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Speaker 1: McCollum had a great game in Damian Lillard's absence, but

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Speaker 1: his shot at the buzzer didn't go down. Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 1: will be out at least till next week while managing

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Speaker 1: right foot soreness. By the way, he missed four consecutive

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Speaker 1: games with that foot injury, came back for one, now

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Speaker 1: out again. Will be evaluated in a week. The Timberwls

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Speaker 1: beat the Kings and Trey Young's goggles defeated the Magic

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Speaker 1: the Atlanta Hawks. Sta was wearing the windows for precautionary

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Speaker 1: reasons after getting poked in the eye by his teammate

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Speaker 1: and Yeka on kong Wu in the Hawks previous game.

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Speaker 1: Traye didn't take long to get used to him he had.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how you just put those things on

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Speaker 1: and play. I would find it hard to get used

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Speaker 1: to them. Maybe that's because I don't wear glasses anymore.

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Speaker 1: Maybe that's because I had laser eye surgery, but I

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Speaker 1: gotta get some touch ups soon. Did you need to

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Speaker 1: know that. Probably not. I'll be back tomorrow to give

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Speaker 1: you everything you need to know. I will talk to

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Speaker 1: you then