Speaker 1: Good mornings, sweet world, and welcome to the No Dunks
Speaker 1: Podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Friday, December twenty sixth, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five. Happy Boxing Day to all the boxes out there,
Speaker 1: the moving boxes, the shoe boxes, the whole lot of you.
Speaker 1: I'm Jay Skeetz here in the yard and in the
Speaker 1: background helping me out thanks to the power of technology.
Speaker 1: It is Eshua Kid. But this guy, he's got so
Speaker 1: many kids. It's a madhouse over there, as you can imagine,
Speaker 1: as I'm sure a lot of you with kids. The
Speaker 1: day after Christmas, there's a whole lot of new toys
Speaker 1: being played with. So he's gonna lay low and push
Speaker 1: the buttons and we'll make this work because I am
Speaker 1: here to recap all five of the Christmas Day games.
Speaker 1: Not bad, some incredible games, some duds. Will actually rank
Speaker 1: all five games from most entertaining to least entertaining. But hey,
Speaker 1: because it's Solo Skeets, Santas Skeets, whatever you want to
Speaker 1: call me today, hit the like button, subscribe, comment away
Speaker 1: in the stream team on YouTube podcast listeners, five star
Speaker 1: ratings and reviews do it for me. I will note too,
Speaker 1: before we get into the games. We did have a
Speaker 1: trio of wedgies on Tuesday Night. We're gonna wait to
Speaker 1: show you those next week. We'll show you on Monday
Speaker 1: Show as long as I don't forget to put them
Speaker 1: in the dock for Monday's podcast. When task we'll be
Speaker 1: back and Esh will be there in the Classic Factory
Speaker 1: with myself. But we have thirteen hours plus of hoops
Speaker 1: on Christmas Day to talk about. I had a blast.
Speaker 1: I watched a whole lot of it. I'll admit I
Speaker 1: fell asleep somewhere in the first second quarter of the
Speaker 1: last game. Watch that classic this morning, and that'll be
Speaker 1: the one we start with. Because Yo, kicch not bad.
Speaker 1: Not a bad Christmas Day for this guy. Jokic recorded
Speaker 1: a fifty six point triple double. He set an NBA
Speaker 1: record with eighteen points in overtime. He led the Denver
Speaker 1: Nuggets to a wild one two, one thirty eight win
Speaker 1: over the Timberwolves to cap that busy Christmas Day slate.
Speaker 1: When I was coming up with how I was going
Speaker 1: to tackle today show, I was like, Okay, I'll rank
Speaker 1: them in order most entertaining the least entertaining. An incredibly
Speaker 1: original idea, and I was like, there's no way that
Speaker 1: Nicks Cavs is not going to be the number one game.
Speaker 1: That was awesome. What a way to start the day.
Speaker 1: And then obviously the Spurs having the Thunders number ones again,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, that might be, that might be
Speaker 1: one at least two. And then here comes Jokic and
Speaker 1: the Nuggets down three starters doing this because of injury,
Speaker 1: and take another victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves. So Yokic
Speaker 1: did a whole bunch of first last night, first fifty
Speaker 1: five fifteen to fifteen game NBA history. We'll get to
Speaker 1: wo boy, we have a sponsor. That was an obvious
Speaker 1: woe boy. There he broke his own record. Jokic did
Speaker 1: for the highest scoring triple double in NBA Christmas history.
Speaker 1: Only two other players Bernard King in nineteen eighty four
Speaker 1: Wilt Chamberlain in nineteen sixty one, have ever scored more
Speaker 1: points on Christmas. You might remember last week I was
Speaker 1: hoping as we were getting ready, wait, not last week,
Speaker 1: earlier this week, Oh man, I'm all out of whack. Here.
Speaker 1: We were doing our Christmas wish list and I was like,
Speaker 1: I want somebody to go for fifty. I thought it
Speaker 1: might be Brunson. In the end, it's Yokich and then Jokic.
Speaker 1: Like I said there in the intro, he broke Steph
Speaker 1: Curry's record of seventeen overtime points from twenty sixteen. This
Speaker 1: guy scored eighteen points in overtime, making that the highest
Speaker 1: by any player in a regular season game, NBA playoff game, hell,
Speaker 1: NBA Cup game, if you want so. Just incredible, just
Speaker 1: like those threes in the overtime period. Obviously got a
Speaker 1: lot of free throws. There was some intentional felling at
Speaker 1: the end, so he was racking them up at the line,
Speaker 1: but next to unstoppable, especially when Rudy Gobert is not
Speaker 1: on the floor. Good luck, And I just love and
Speaker 1: I think I saw CBS Sports sort of tackle it
Speaker 1: this way, or maybe it was the Athletics, so excuse me,
Speaker 1: but I love that the Christmas Day games like they
Speaker 1: showcased sort of the past, present and future of NBA greats.
Speaker 1: Right the past, we had the old Guard, we had
Speaker 1: Steph Curry playing, we had Lebron, we had Kevin Durant.
Speaker 1: The present. Your shake guilt is Alexander, your Anthony Edwards,
Speaker 1: You're Jalen Brunson, maybe your Luca, and then the future
Speaker 1: is like your Cooper Flags, your Webbin Yama's i'm in
Speaker 1: Thompson maybe, But from all of those guys, the past,
Speaker 1: the president, the future, Jokic remains the best is the
Speaker 1: best period. Like this is going to sound stupid, but
Speaker 1: it felt like he won MVP on Christmas yesterday, like
Speaker 1: his fourth Shay I v for Shay in the first
Speaker 1: drop hoole. This was before obviously racking up some losses
Speaker 1: to the Spurs. But come on, who am I kidding myself?
Speaker 1: I did that knowing full well. It's like, well, yo, Kich,
Speaker 1: just gonna win another one of these unbelievable game. Kudos
Speaker 1: to Anto for fighting through that early shoulder injury. He
Speaker 1: came alive in the fourth quarter. He scored thirteen points,
Speaker 1: hit the ridiculous turnaround three pointer in the corner over
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray with like one point one seconds remaining in
Speaker 1: regulation that forced overtime. Then he was on fire in overtime,
Speaker 1: got the Wolves the nine point lead. I mean, how
Speaker 1: many times do we see a team that's down nine
Speaker 1: in the extra frame come back to win. That can't
Speaker 1: have happened often, So Ant was awesome. I love that
Speaker 1: Aunt called a shot too, like I'm gonna go for
Speaker 1: thirty and maybe forty here on Christmas Day. He backed
Speaker 1: that up. But then his night ended with that second
Speaker 1: technical foul in overtime prompted the ejection. Look what he
Speaker 1: did there to warrant it, like obviously slapping or trying
Speaker 1: to slow down Yokic, who wisely knew. I think that
Speaker 1: Aunt was going to try and do that after the dunk,
Speaker 1: trying to get the ball in quick, and then he really,
Speaker 1: you know, like oh, demonstrably showed that he got hit.
Speaker 1: It's the right call, but it's just a bummer that
Speaker 1: Scott Foster had to like decide I'm the superstar here everybody.
Speaker 1: But it all added up, it was a cumulative and
Speaker 1: he was gone. There was frustration from Ant I think,
Speaker 1: especially in that overtime period. There was a couple of plays.
Speaker 1: There was that one late call, like very late whistle
Speaker 1: where Scott Foster was on the other end of the
Speaker 1: floor and it looked like they maybe had created a
Speaker 1: turnover from Yokich. The one up time it was like
Speaker 1: a round half court who's sort of fumbling and stumbling
Speaker 1: and maybe there was contact, but like again, the whistle
Speaker 1: came late, and that like sort of led or was
Speaker 1: a part of Ant's frustration. But man, what a game?
Speaker 1: What away again? Christmas Day? Slate started it with a banger,
Speaker 1: ended it with a classic. And the Nuggets again have
Speaker 1: the Wolves number like the Spurs have the Thunders number
Speaker 1: this year, at least, the Nuggets have the Wolve's number
Speaker 1: going three and zero. My only concern here with the
Speaker 1: Wolves because that was the hell of a fight. They
Speaker 1: probably should have put the game away in regulation. They
Speaker 1: should have had this victory. But another one of these
Speaker 1: games where they got very little from the bench. I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the box score. Nazri thirteen. Okay, that's a
Speaker 1: usually you can put that in pen. But everybody else
Speaker 1: he's just like Finches, like he's sort of giving up
Speaker 1: on a lot of the young guys. Doesn't have a
Speaker 1: lot of faith in them. I mean bones Hyland. Okay,
Speaker 1: he needs to learn how to miss a free throw
Speaker 1: on purpose. Did you see that, dude? You gotta hit
Speaker 1: the rim man. He wasn't even close, But you're just
Speaker 1: like you're not obviously, Rob Dillingham, he's buried. Karen Shannon
Speaker 1: Junior ten minutes he did nothing. Jaleen Clark limited minutes,
Speaker 1: Conlee or o G guy not the young guy, but
Speaker 1: he barely plays. They need a bench, they need a
Speaker 1: bench man. A little concern because you're losing to a
Speaker 1: team with the Nuggets, like I said, missing three starters,
Speaker 1: and they seem to show more depth than you did.
Speaker 1: Don't love that, but holy crap to have four guys
Speaker 1: go for thirty plus, in Ant going for forty plus,
Speaker 1: Julius Raynold going for thirty plus, Jamal Murray he was
Speaker 1: hitting out huge three in overtime and he finished with
Speaker 1: thirty five. And then Yokich with a fifty six point
Speaker 1: triple double bang. What a game. What a game? Even
Speaker 1: if I had to watch it this morning, it was
Speaker 1: still good. Even if I knew the actual result, which
Speaker 1: I did, still amazing. So that one was weird knowing
Speaker 1: the result, knowing Yokich's stat line and like seeing how
Speaker 1: many points he had, like in the fourth corner, like,
Speaker 1: what the hell, How the hell does he get to
Speaker 1: fifty six? What's going on here? It didn't. It was
Speaker 1: like the math was not mathing for me. It's like
Speaker 1: that seems impossible. Maybe it's an error by the associated
Speaker 1: press that he had fifty six point trible double. No
Speaker 1: he got there, so great game and the yo kitch,
Speaker 1: excuse me. The Nuggets, you know they're on the short
Speaker 1: for championship contenders. We had one probably add their name
Speaker 1: to the list in the San Antonio Spurs if they
Speaker 1: weren't already on your list. But the Nuggets remain there,
Speaker 1: especially with You'll kiit ching Jamal Murray at the end
Speaker 1: of game situations. Still the most unstoppable duo in the
Speaker 1: clutch in my opinion, I don't know what you do
Speaker 1: with those guys. All right, next game. The second most
Speaker 1: entertaining game of the day was what I thought was
Speaker 1: going to be the best, and that was Jalen Brunson
Speaker 1: scoring thirty four points, the Knicks bench leading the way
Speaker 1: as New York came from seventeen down in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter to beat the Cavaliers one twenty six, one four.
Speaker 1: Such a great game, so much fun. Again, that's how
Speaker 1: you start five days on Christmas is five games too many? Probably,
Speaker 1: Now that's coming from someone that's trying to watch them all.
Speaker 1: I'd love to pull the average person out there. How
Speaker 1: many minutes of NBA basketball are you actually watching? On Christmas.
Speaker 1: You know, are you watching just one game? Maybe two?
Speaker 1: Can't imagine the percentages high for sikos like us. A
Speaker 1: lot of you in the stream team trying to take
Speaker 1: down all of them, most of them. It's a lot five,
Speaker 1: maybe three, let's go to three. I wouldn't mind. Here's
Speaker 1: the thing. I wouldn't mind a gap between the games.
Speaker 1: Give me a twelve o'clock, give me a five o'clock,
Speaker 1: give me a ten thirty. I don't even want a
Speaker 1: ten thirty. But I understand for the West Coast, right,
Speaker 1: that's not late for them. So I think we do
Speaker 1: that because that'd be good. That'd be good. Maybe I'm
Speaker 1: saying that because two of these were duds. But back
Speaker 1: to the Knicks. I wrote first thing in my notes
Speaker 1: from this game. Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell are the
Speaker 1: definition of big game players. Both those guys feels like
Speaker 1: they show up in big games, you know, Christmas Day
Speaker 1: being a marquee game, and they both were fantastic. But
Speaker 1: the reserves is what won the game for the Knicks.
Speaker 1: Got the comeback. Jordan Clarkson in the custom red SHADESE
Speaker 1: there he was great, right, he had that stretch where
Speaker 1: he just splashed a bunch of three pointers. He got
Speaker 1: the Knicks sort of going Tyler Klick. He had the
Speaker 1: garden fricking rocking sixteen points, nine assists. Maybe this guy
Speaker 1: is Steve Nash. Maybe I was wrong. He had the
Speaker 1: fans channing his name. After that late block on Donovan
Speaker 1: Mitchell originally called a foul, They reviewed it and correctly
Speaker 1: overturned it. I think it was in part because maybe
Speaker 1: Mitchell was trying to put on a show in MSG.
Speaker 1: There was gonna get a little windmill action going. Could
Speaker 1: have just probably laid it up with his left hand
Speaker 1: and those are two points. But goes to put down
Speaker 1: the big dunk and Colick slapped it out perfectly. I
Speaker 1: think that was enough ball or all ball, and they
Speaker 1: got that one right on the overturn. But man Clarkson
Speaker 1: and Colick I called him a law firm. They had
Speaker 1: MSG gole win nuts. But none of it happens without
Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson, who did his thing again, hustling for offensive rebounds,
Speaker 1: keeping possessions alive. It felt like at times the Knicks
Speaker 1: offensive game plan is shoot the ball, miss the ball,
Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson offensive rebound, kick it out for a score
Speaker 1: because Mitchell Robinson's impact was unreal in this game. He
Speaker 1: entered with like seven forty three left in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: Knicks her down by thirteen, and by the four to
Speaker 1: nine mark, so three and a half minutes, let's call it.
Speaker 1: New York is down by one. And what happened basically
Speaker 1: what I just said, shoot miss Mitchell Robinson offensive rebound
Speaker 1: leading to a Knicks basket. I think he had five
Speaker 1: offensive rebounds in that little three minute window stretch to
Speaker 1: get the Knicks right back in the game. And they're
Speaker 1: not even competing in this one without him. It's amazing.
Speaker 1: This guy has just one incredible skill and it's won
Speaker 1: New York so many games, it feels like this year
Speaker 1: and the more I look at Mitchell Robinson, I'm like,
Speaker 1: is this guy can just remain healthy? Becaus always a
Speaker 1: question mark with them. They obviously use them in limited
Speaker 1: and it's now it's working perfectly. Mike Brown pressing all
Speaker 1: the right buttons there, Like, can Mitchell Robinson decide whether
Speaker 1: or not the Knicks actually win a championship? I think
Speaker 1: they're that close talent wise, and these other guys contributing that,
Speaker 1: he's like the thing that pushes them over the edge
Speaker 1: to maybe at least get there to the finals. So
Speaker 1: those guys were awesome all through. Of those guys, like
Speaker 1: I said, Clarkson Colek and Mitchell Robinson and then Jalen
Speaker 1: Brunson was special too. It wasn't the fifty I wanted,
Speaker 1: but he gave me thirty four. I love when he
Speaker 1: just goes to his little baseline spot, that little pull
Speaker 1: up baseline jumper, that's his go to move. Try and
Speaker 1: take that away. He was hitting threes and a really
Speaker 1: fun game, so fun. Evan Mobley back that was out
Speaker 1: of nowhere for me. For the Calves, he had fourteen
Speaker 1: and nine after he missed just five games with that
Speaker 1: strained left calf. We thought it was going to be
Speaker 1: much longer, I think, I said on the show, will
Speaker 1: even see this guy until twenty twenty six. No, he's
Speaker 1: back for Christmas and look okay for a guy coming
Speaker 1: back from injury. More than anything, the Kazum been playing
Speaker 1: better recently. The threes had been falling. They obviously had
Speaker 1: a solid lead in this one. They should have won
Speaker 1: this game, just like the Wolves over Denver, and they're
Speaker 1: probably feeling not too bad, you know. They want this victory.
Speaker 1: But they showed they can hang. They showed they've maybe
Speaker 1: got things going. Garland looking better. I don't love Jared
Speaker 1: Allen getting absolutely bullied by Mitchell Robson. Again, that's a
Speaker 1: recurring theme. Remember obviously the postseason matchup between these two
Speaker 1: teams a couple of years ago. He got cooked. The
Speaker 1: lights were too bright, the Christmas lights were too bright.
Speaker 1: I guess yesterday for him, he just gets thrown around
Speaker 1: by Mitchell Romson. Not great, not great. That's the one
Speaker 1: guy they should look to trade if they are making moves.
Speaker 1: But they're getting their guys in their squad back. So
Speaker 1: Kas are looking a little bit more like the Kas
Speaker 1: we anticipated coming into the season. Few other random notes
Speaker 1: from this game, and this is in general about the
Speaker 1: ESPN production yesterday. Give me some Christmas flare, Like, what
Speaker 1: the hell? Why is the score bug vanilla? Like it
Speaker 1: is so boring? Yeah, it says NBA Christmas. I guess
Speaker 1: it changes to like Seasons of Giving or whatever. Give
Speaker 1: me something, guys, A little snowflake, a little light, Christmas
Speaker 1: lights like a wreath, like colors like nothing like the
Speaker 1: only thing you would have known that it was Christmas
Speaker 1: yesterday from the production and the teams and the jerseys. Like,
Speaker 1: what the snowflake on the back of the jersey. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's cool. Let's put those in tops cards and you know,
Speaker 1: sell boxes for an insane price that even no kid
Speaker 1: could possibly buy it. Okay, that's fine. I like the snowflake.
Speaker 1: And then there's like I think on the stanchion the
Speaker 1: NBA logo, there's like Christmas lights and maybe some like
Speaker 1: light snowflakes. Like that's it. Ah, come on, I need
Speaker 1: a little bit more, a little bit more. I know
Speaker 1: you don't want to put lights on the stanchion or
Speaker 1: the backboard because you're worried they're gonna break. That's fine,
Speaker 1: But something with the production ESPN. I guess ESPN hadn't
Speaker 1: done it game in like a month. Maybe they forgot.
Speaker 1: They were like, oh crap, we're up on Christmas. We
Speaker 1: did have a Ernie Jack Kenny Chuck had them all day.
Speaker 1: I watched a little bit of it. I mean I
Speaker 1: was slick with it yesterday. I was doing a lot
Speaker 1: of like bank in time, I'm not sitting here for
Speaker 1: thirteen plus hours. I got a bank a game and
Speaker 1: then be able to fly through free throws fly through
Speaker 1: commercial breaks, fly through halftimes, but Shack did run through
Speaker 1: the big screen. That was their big bit of the
Speaker 1: day that they then replayed a million times. And okay,
Speaker 1: that was funny because they're usually doing Shack gets body
Speaker 1: checked into the Christmas tree and they set it up
Speaker 1: where you couldn't really tell it was that one part
Speaker 1: of the screen was fake. So well played is my point.
Speaker 1: But yeah, back to the production, come on, just lame,
Speaker 1: just lame. Now. It's unfortunately I can't talk to Esh here,
Speaker 1: but I watched a little bit of Dunk the Halls,
Speaker 1: the alternate casts with all the cartoon characters and the
Speaker 1: animations and all that. Apparently that had a rough go
Speaker 1: of it too. There were some technical difficulties. I saw
Speaker 1: a clip where a gingerbread ref was suddenly playing. I
Speaker 1: saw like a Calves guy scoring the Calves guy was
Speaker 1: It was off the rails at times. But the highlights
Speaker 1: are worth checking out just any time, like Mickey Mouse
Speaker 1: going down the lane throwing down a dunk, or Minie
Speaker 1: Mouse or goofy as Cat. It's pretty funny. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess even they were struggling. And then those obnoxious
Speaker 1: Marty Supreme Digital ads on the court. Oh, guys, change
Speaker 1: the color, make it blend in more with the floor.
Speaker 1: I know they're digital ads. I know there are other
Speaker 1: ones booking dot com. Okay, yeah, sure, you gotta do
Speaker 1: a better job. They look brutal. But the Marty Supreme.
Speaker 1: Maybe it is the color or whatever. Although the orange
Speaker 1: should work well in Madison Square Garden, it was too bright.
Speaker 1: It was too obnoxious what I wrote down. So those
Speaker 1: are my production notes. Moving on to our third most
Speaker 1: entertaining game of the day. That's saying something. That's how
Speaker 1: good Christmas was, You could suck it NFL. It is
Speaker 1: Darren Fox scoring twenty nine points as the Spurs defeated
Speaker 1: the Thunder one seventeen one oh two for their third
Speaker 1: win over the defending NBA champs in the past two weeks,
Speaker 1: less than two weeks. Incredible. The Spurs defeated the Thunder
Speaker 1: in the NBA Cup semifinal game on December thirteenth. I wondered,
Speaker 1: on No dunks, did the Spurs just save the regular
Speaker 1: season for everybody by beating them there, showing that the
Speaker 1: Thunder were vulnerable. Then they followed it up on Tuesday
Speaker 1: this week. Yeah, that was this week where they beat
Speaker 1: them in San Antonio, really solid win. Okay, back to
Speaker 1: back situation for Okace, but great win. And then they
Speaker 1: did it again on Christmas. And this was pretty damn impressive.
Speaker 1: And I tweeted last night I am loving how the
Speaker 1: Spurs are seemingly the Thunder's kryptonite. People are wondering, is
Speaker 1: Victor webbergnon Alex Luthor. I'll let you decide that I
Speaker 1: don't know Superman well enough to speak on that. Sure,
Speaker 1: sure we'll lask JD when he's back from Mexico. But
Speaker 1: the Spurs took a double digit lead with four and
Speaker 1: a half minutes left in the second quarter, and the
Speaker 1: Thunder never got closer than seven points the rest of
Speaker 1: the way. A team that is notorious for their little
Speaker 1: avalanche runs right where they just the turnovers lead to
Speaker 1: easy fast break points and before you know it, oh damn,
Speaker 1: that's an eight oh run because they added a three
Speaker 1: in there and maybe an an one and they turned
Speaker 1: you over and they're suddenly, you know, on that eight
Speaker 1: h nine H ten O run but never really happened.
Speaker 1: And that's impressive stuff from the Spurs here. Man. So
Speaker 1: the Thunder, after opening their season with twenty four wins,
Speaker 1: and their first twenty five games have now lost four
Speaker 1: to six, including three he defeats to the Spurs, And
Speaker 1: oh my god, am I here for it. I really
Speaker 1: believe they've saved the regular season. I truly believe that
Speaker 1: because now there's like they saved the season period, because
Speaker 1: now there is doubt of obviously OKAC just storming through
Speaker 1: the league and repeating because they're maybe gonna have to
Speaker 1: go through San Antonio, who have their number, and it
Speaker 1: just like gives it a little more intrigue. They'll play.
Speaker 1: They'll play twice more, right because they played in the
Speaker 1: NBA Cup semifinals. I don't think they play again for
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks January thirteenth. I think they meet
Speaker 1: in okay See. But they have two more on the docket,
Speaker 1: and it's like what they just did playing in short
Speaker 1: amount of time, it's sort of replicates a little bit
Speaker 1: of a playoff series with the quicker turnaround or at
Speaker 1: least seeing each other again. So that's really fun. San
Speaker 1: Antonio shot really well on Christmas fifty four percent from
Speaker 1: the field. The thunder did not thirty nine percent. The
Speaker 1: game plan is pretty simple here against Okac at least
Speaker 1: from the Spurs side of things. When Wemby is out there,
Speaker 1: let him roam, let him hold down the paint, let
Speaker 1: him get in everybody's heads. He can just cover so
Speaker 1: much court and he can just leave Alex Caruso and
Speaker 1: see if Alex Caruso can beat you. And he couldn't.
Speaker 1: On Christmas, they were generating their clean looks from the
Speaker 1: corners and nobody could hit them, specially Caruso. I think
Speaker 1: he missed his first nine. In fact, he missed his
Speaker 1: first nine. It was eight or nine. And then there
Speaker 1: was a play where maybe Shay got fouled, and if
Speaker 1: you noticed it, Caruso grabbed the ball like right away
Speaker 1: and started like doing like super quick little layups to
Speaker 1: see the ball go through the rim, to try and
Speaker 1: like sneak in a little layup practice to get going
Speaker 1: a little bit. And I made note of it because
Speaker 1: I was like, hmm, could be a short there if
Speaker 1: he hits his next one and suddenly like breaks free
Speaker 1: in this game. But he missed, he missed, so he
Speaker 1: must have been like, oh for seven, oh for eight
Speaker 1: at that point. He missed again. He had a couple
Speaker 1: as the game went on, but they just Caruso could
Speaker 1: not make the Spurs pay for leaving when min Yama
Speaker 1: awful and just roaming. It's sort of like it's really
Speaker 1: what the game came down to, and it's it's awesome
Speaker 1: because the Spurs like they're wing guys. They're not afraid
Speaker 1: of the bully Thunder. In fact, they're bigger and maybe stronger,
Speaker 1: and they're sort of they're younger and in Harper and
Speaker 1: Castle's sake, Fox was awesome. As I said as I
Speaker 1: led this, I thought he was so good those twenty
Speaker 1: one points in the first half. I love these talking
Speaker 1: a little shit to the OKC crowd, and the intensity
Speaker 1: in this game very high. It is amazing. I have
Speaker 1: this third on the list from Christmas Day because you
Speaker 1: had Wemby clapping enthusiastically when check was missing free throws.
Speaker 1: Like I said, Fox was talking junk to the crowd.
Speaker 1: He had twenty one in the first half. He had
Speaker 1: two thunderous dunks, both Keldon Johnson on the putback, he
Speaker 1: was going crazy. Dylan Harper, he keeps a lot cooler,
Speaker 1: but he had that one. He cut baseline. Wemby found
Speaker 1: him great catch and then the finish. It's so much fun.
Speaker 1: How much these teams hate each other. I love it.
Speaker 1: We need a playoff series. It has to happen, you know,
Speaker 1: perfect world, it's conference finals or but whatever, We'll take
Speaker 1: second round however it shakes out. They got to see
Speaker 1: each other. We got to get this real rivalry going.
Speaker 1: The regular season is one thing. The playoffs is a
Speaker 1: whole different beast. And when they meet again in the
Speaker 1: regular season or the playoffs, chet Holmgrin has to play better.
Speaker 1: He's been bad in all three losses to the Spurs.
Speaker 1: He shot three of eight in the NBA Cup semi
Speaker 1: final loss. I think he did hit a lot free
Speaker 1: throws that game, but that's not good. Three of eight.
Speaker 1: That's quiet Tuesday. Earlier this week he shot three to
Speaker 1: ten from the floor only at seven points, and then
Speaker 1: on Christmas five to nine, only ten points, whereas Wemby's
Speaker 1: like putting up those numbers and better in like ten
Speaker 1: minutes less because they got him come off the bench still,
Speaker 1: And that's the other scary part. It's like, holy crap,
Speaker 1: Spurs beat the Thunder three times, and Wemby's like he's
Speaker 1: playing two thirds of what he's eventually gonna play, maybe
Speaker 1: a half of what he's eventually gonna play in, you know,
Speaker 1: in a do a Die big playoff game. But the
Speaker 1: Chet part of it all, Trey's brought it up. Should
Speaker 1: they just put Chet on Wemby? I heard the Hoop
Speaker 1: collective wonder the same thing. I will say t K
Speaker 1: was first to this point, but they added to it,
Speaker 1: wondering put Ched on, put Chet Holmegrin on web Minyama
Speaker 1: because maybe Wemby, he's so invested in that rivalry with him,
Speaker 1: that that distaste for Chet and the team that he
Speaker 1: might like try and do too much. He might take
Speaker 1: the Spurs out of their rhythm because he wants to
Speaker 1: expose Chet Holmegrun. I think it's worth a try. I
Speaker 1: think they should at least do it in one of
Speaker 1: these fourth or fifth games in the regular season. And
Speaker 1: then the other thing is, just like Harrison Barnes and
Speaker 1: Keldon Johnson, they are not afraid of Chet Holmgren at all.
Speaker 1: They defend a very physical despite the size difference, and
Speaker 1: they're both comfortable attacking him off the dribble. So that's
Speaker 1: a great matchup. Jaell and Williams bad game. You know,
Speaker 1: Shaye didn't have a great game either, and that's got
Speaker 1: to go to the Spurs defensive game plan. It's awesome.
Speaker 1: These guys, like I said the first time they beat
Speaker 1: him in the NBA Cup semi final, they're like the
Speaker 1: They're like they they're the people that step back to
Speaker 1: the bullies, right the thunder of the bullies, and they
Speaker 1: don't put up with it because they're just as big
Speaker 1: and just as strong and just as athletic the Spurs are,
Speaker 1: especially on the wing. And then you got Wemby's Roman
Speaker 1: back there for the twenty five minutes that he's out there.
Speaker 1: So definitely watching Chet in the next game what they
Speaker 1: do with him, and and Jdubb too. I mean, and
Speaker 1: he's got an excuse because the injury, but like you know,
Speaker 1: I'd like to see a little bit more. I didn't
Speaker 1: think he he played all that well. But I am
Speaker 1: just falling in love with Steph Castle and Dylan Harper,
Speaker 1: both those guys. They're so good. They're just such in
Speaker 1: control and I just love their Like I don't know,
Speaker 1: the way they hold themselves out there, there's no no
Speaker 1: not ever too high, never too low. They let Wemby
Speaker 1: like Wemby's sort of the crazy one, you know, in
Speaker 1: a good way the emotional leader. And then they're just
Speaker 1: steady as a rock, and that's pretty impressive for their age.
Speaker 1: So those are the three best games. We're gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick break and when we come back, we'll get
Speaker 1: to the other two. I promise I won't do as
Speaker 1: long on the other two. But a word from our sponsor.
Speaker 1: Here Friday night, the lights are bright, the court's buzzing,
Speaker 1: the weekend's calling, and Fan Duel they're turning it up
Speaker 1: with NBA Happy Hour. Cheers to that. I got my
Speaker 1: snowman mug here for the holidays. I got nothing in
Speaker 1: it except coffee, no brandy, no eggnog or anything like that.
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Speaker 1: NBA games on tonight. The most competitive one in regards
Speaker 1: to team records is here in Atlanta, thinking about going
Speaker 1: Heat versus Hawks. Both teams desperate for a win, so
Speaker 1: I would like to imagine that both teams might actually
Speaker 1: try to compete on the defensive end. I'm imagining that.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna keep my eye here on some of
Speaker 1: the team and player unders because maybe these teams are desperate.
Speaker 1: They're a little well rested that they bring it. Then again,
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Speaker 1: partner of the NBA. Okay, let me grab this Snowman
Speaker 1: mug and take a sip because I have just talked
Speaker 1: for thirty minutes straight. So chat amongst yourself in the stream.
Speaker 1: Team Ah did that for the audio listeners. That's how
Speaker 1: good that coffee hit. Christmas coffee does hit better in
Speaker 1: general than other coffees from the year because you're not
Speaker 1: really having to work. Usually and you're just sitting there.
Speaker 1: I love that meme. I don't know if it's a meme,
Speaker 1: but like, yeah, I guess it's a meme of like
Speaker 1: mom's moms sitting there watching their Christmas kids, their kids
Speaker 1: open Christmas kiss It makes me laugh every time, like
Speaker 1: just like a smug little smile on their face, sipping
Speaker 1: their coffee. Okay, let's go to the other games here,
Speaker 1: we'll move with some pace. Our fourth best game of
Speaker 1: the day. I debated between the Rockets win and the
Speaker 1: Warriors win, but I'm gonna put this one here. Amen
Speaker 1: Thompson scoring twenty six points to lead six players in
Speaker 1: double figures as the Rockets never trailed beat the Lakers
Speaker 1: one to seventeen ninety six. I would say Amen Thompson.
Speaker 1: If we were doing winners and losers of Christmas Day,
Speaker 1: I think Amen Thompson would be a big winner for me.
Speaker 1: He has had somewhat of an up and down little
Speaker 1: sophomore season. His usage has risen, in large part because
Speaker 1: of the absence of Fred van Vliet, but his efficiency
Speaker 1: has dipped. I think his defense maybe has dipped a
Speaker 1: little bit too, just because of this new role, more
Speaker 1: difficult role. He's trying to adjust, but he was awesome
Speaker 1: on Christmas Day. He got to the rim at will
Speaker 1: as we know he can, and he had twenty six points,
Speaker 1: twelve to nineteen shootings, seven boards, five assists filled up
Speaker 1: the box score. And I saw Sam Quinn at CBS
Speaker 1: Sports note how last night perfect example of what Houston's
Speaker 1: offense is meant to look like at its best. Amen
Speaker 1: thompson athleticism blended with Kevin Durant's shooting and then a
Speaker 1: gazillion offensive rebounds from Schengon, from Steven Adams, from Compella
Speaker 1: and co. Because they dominated the glass. That's what they do.
Speaker 1: But that is the balance right there, that athleticism from
Speaker 1: some of the younger guys led by Aman Thompson, that
Speaker 1: lights out shooting from Katie and then just work on
Speaker 1: the glass. So really just professional win. Rockets had been
Speaker 1: reeling a little bit. I thought they needed this one
Speaker 1: sort of just to remind everybody, Hey, we're here still, Yeah,
Speaker 1: thunder of the defending champs. Yeah the Spurs are the
Speaker 1: next best thing. Yeah, nobody can stop Yokich, but what
Speaker 1: about us, right, Because they're either in that tier or
Speaker 1: they're the top of the next tier in the Western Conference,
Speaker 1: and they're showing to me I do have more faith
Speaker 1: in them than this Lakers team and potentially the Wolves.
Speaker 1: That one's tough between the Rockets and the Wolves, but
Speaker 1: those are the squads that are in that mix right there.
Speaker 1: As for the Lakers, this is the sort of loss
Speaker 1: we've seen a couple times this season. It's they are
Speaker 1: just outclassed against athletic groups like Houston. Time and time again.
Speaker 1: We've seen it. When they can sort of slow the
Speaker 1: game down a little bit, let their ball handlers control everything,
Speaker 1: then they're not bad. Now they're only going to win
Speaker 1: with offense too. But when they get against a team
Speaker 1: that actually is more athletic, get stops and run, man,
Speaker 1: it is tough. And this loss was so bad it
Speaker 1: had JJ Reddick calling into question for like the second
Speaker 1: time in a week his team's professionalism. He said, quote,
Speaker 1: we don't care enough right now, and that's the part
Speaker 1: that bothers you a lot. We don't care enough to
Speaker 1: do the things that are necessary. We don't care enough
Speaker 1: to be a professional. And he went on to say
Speaker 1: a whole lot more and the part that like really
Speaker 1: got people going, whoa, JJ, He said, I'm not doing
Speaker 1: another fifty three games like this. JJ Redick was over
Speaker 1: this shit. And this isn't just him reacting to one game.
Speaker 1: This is like a week or if not two week
Speaker 1: trend here from how the Lakers have played. All the Lakers' losses,
Speaker 1: they get spanked. I think all ten have been by
Speaker 1: ten or more. So there's no real like close losses.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, we could have had that one. Like
Speaker 1: when they lose, they lose. And when they lost to
Speaker 1: the Suns on Tuesday, Reddick was doing the same thing.
Speaker 1: He was questioning the team's commitment to playing the right way.
Speaker 1: He was calling out players without using their names. He
Speaker 1: sort of did that again yesterday, and it has a
Speaker 1: lot of people going like JJ Redick, man, you got
Speaker 1: to slow your role, like you're doing too much. It
Speaker 1: is December man, but he obviously sees something, and he's
Speaker 1: been in this league long enough to know that, like
Speaker 1: you got to right the ship or or you're gonna
Speaker 1: be left behind. And like, I think they are starting
Speaker 1: to get left behind here against these other elite teams.
Speaker 1: They feel like a team that's almost gonna have to
Speaker 1: make a move at the deadline. He's calling out without
Speaker 1: calling out particularly their names on the back of their
Speaker 1: jersey's like a lot of guys on this roster. So
Speaker 1: there's frustration with effort really and maybe how they're approaching
Speaker 1: the game and who is he talking about. That's what
Speaker 1: everybody's like trying to figure out. I think Ruey who
Speaker 1: was stinker from Ruey yesterday in twenty eight minutes, the
Speaker 1: guy had zero points, not loving that he should be
Speaker 1: calling out Lebron because Lebron is if you watch the
Speaker 1: defense of like intensity from him. This guy didn't. He's
Speaker 1: basically told we should have known this because he said,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be playing on Christmas. He's like,
Speaker 1: I'm done. Twenty is too many, And in his defense,
Speaker 1: it probably is go back to three games. Like I said,
Speaker 1: we can get rid of the Lakers and then maybe
Speaker 1: some of these guys off the bench. There's got to
Speaker 1: be a shake up to some extent. Austin Reeves did
Speaker 1: get hurt in this game. That's not good. He left
Speaker 1: with a brace on his left leg. He scheduled for
Speaker 1: an MRI today. Is that a guy they trade though
Speaker 1: to get in some other pieces, because he would obviously
Speaker 1: get you a decent return. Is he too important? Is
Speaker 1: he redundant. I mean, with Luca and Lebron, the Lakers
Speaker 1: are gonna do something. I don't know what, but they
Speaker 1: gotta do something if they're going to try and stay
Speaker 1: in this Tier one TIERSH two mix because you can
Speaker 1: fall in a hurry in the Western Conference. In terms
Speaker 1: of seating Luca and Lebron nine of the Lakers sixteen turnover.
Speaker 1: It's just a brutal game, Like I get redex frustration,
Speaker 1: like there's just no fight right now. And again, maybe
Speaker 1: is this like you're following your leader in Lebron, who's
Speaker 1: like coming in with a sour attitude because he's playing
Speaker 1: on Christmas to begin with. I don't know, I don't know,
Speaker 1: but they the whole team had the vibe of him
Speaker 1: not giving effort. At least. Lebron is a minus thirty three.
Speaker 1: That's the worst plus minus he's ever had as a
Speaker 1: Lakers player. That's his third worst of all time guys
Speaker 1: played in ten thousand games. So that says it all
Speaker 1: right there against a Rockets team that brought effort, monsters
Speaker 1: on the glass and got the victory. So good stuff there.
Speaker 1: Final game, We're almost there. Steph Curry scored twenty three points.
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler flirted with a triple double fourteen, nine and nine.
Speaker 1: That's definitely flirting. As the Warriors beat the Mavericks one
Speaker 1: twenty six, one sixteen. As I said, could have put
Speaker 1: this one fourth, Maybe elected to put it fifth. Just
Speaker 1: from like a narrative standpoint, there wasn't a whole lot,
Speaker 1: I guess here's the narrative. For the second straight year,
Speaker 1: the Mavericks had a star player forced to leave the
Speaker 1: Christmas Day game with a lower body injury. Last season,
Speaker 1: Luca had the left calf strain against the Wolves that
Speaker 1: ended up being his last game played with Dallas before
Speaker 1: he was traded. Yesterday, it's Anthony Davis. He exits the
Speaker 1: game early in the second quarter. The team described it
Speaker 1: as right groin spasms. Right groin spasms. That sounds like
Speaker 1: something that should be fun, but it's not. So now
Speaker 1: you gotta wonder, like, is he ever gonna play again
Speaker 1: for the Mavericks. They say they don't want to trade him.
Speaker 1: None of us believe that, so we'll see. But he
Speaker 1: came up limping when he's trying to run, like down
Speaker 1: the floor in a fast break and something He's had
Speaker 1: this injury before. I mean, he's had a lot of
Speaker 1: injuries before, so that can't be a surprise. But we'll
Speaker 1: see same thing though last year with Luca. Then they
Speaker 1: trade Luke for Ad and that guy, mister glass half
Speaker 1: half man, half a season, whatever we're calling him. He
Speaker 1: comes up limp on Christmas. Luckily for MAVs fans, at
Speaker 1: least he had Cooper Flag bawling out twenty seven points
Speaker 1: thirteen to twenty one shooting, six boards, five assists in
Speaker 1: his debut. He's going to play a lot of Christmas
Speaker 1: Day games. I would imagine if the team is competitive
Speaker 1: here moving forward, he if lou if Y'll kich one
Speaker 1: MVP on Christmas Day, maybe Cooper won Rookie of the
Speaker 1: Year on Christmas Day. Over his last twelve games, the
Speaker 1: guy's averaging twenty five plus on fifty four percent shooting.
Speaker 1: It's him and Konkoer Nipple, and that's very entertaining. Flag's
Speaker 1: going to win it, gayarond Head, but he was good.
Speaker 1: That was the one good takeaway. What else was fun?
Speaker 1: Klay Thompson got a nice little ovation when he checked
Speaker 1: in halfway through the first quarter, but he didn't really
Speaker 1: do much. As for the Warriors, Yeah, their star guys
Speaker 1: led the way Draymond Green and Steve Kerr have put
Speaker 1: to bed that little tiff they had. Everybody's happy again,
Speaker 1: those guys are just competitive freaks. Came to blow. Steve
Speaker 1: Kurr did take a lot of responsibility for that, and
Speaker 1: again when it happened, we did. Draymond did the right thing,
Speaker 1: like he walked away, cooled down in the locker room,
Speaker 1: didn't make things worse. And then you know, didn't have
Speaker 1: to check back in the game or didn't Kurt didn't
Speaker 1: put him back in. That's fine, and they seem okay. Now,
Speaker 1: It's not like Draymond played well yesterday. In fact, I
Speaker 1: think he was like bad again, was he not when
Speaker 1: he was out there? Or the team struggle when he
Speaker 1: was out there? I think after a d left it
Speaker 1: was like he was trying to guard PJ Washington and
Speaker 1: PJ Washington had scored every time on him from what
Speaker 1: I can remember, I have to actually do a deep
Speaker 1: diving into the numbers, but what was Draymond Green? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a minus nine yesterday again, two turnovers, seven points,
Speaker 1: So I guess you'll live with that. Seven shots, seven points. Anyway,
Speaker 1: they've put that to bed at least for now. And
Speaker 1: the other big takeaway, I got sidetracked there with the
Speaker 1: Steve Draymond Green of it all. Al Horford and those
Speaker 1: sexy eyes playing well on Christmas Day. This was his
Speaker 1: second game in a month. I think, you know he
Speaker 1: he's had the seatica issues in his one leg. That sucks.
Speaker 1: I've had that. And he came off the bench in
Speaker 1: the first quarter on Christmas knock down four to threes
Speaker 1: sparked the Warriors, and he finished the game of fourteen points,
Speaker 1: five to seven from the field in very limited time
Speaker 1: as you're going to get from Al Horford at this point.
Speaker 1: But that guy's that's what we hoped and thought maybe
Speaker 1: when the Warriors outed him, that's exactly what he can do.
Speaker 1: We saw it in Boston. He can give you a
Speaker 1: little defense in spurts and you can hit threes. And
Speaker 1: he has not done any of that really this season.
Speaker 1: A big part of it's because he's gotten old and
Speaker 1: he's had the seatica, and I'm sure that flares up
Speaker 1: from day to day. Felt good on Christmas, gave it
Speaker 1: a go and look good. So goodwin from the Warriors.
Speaker 1: Sixteen and fifteen now ten and four at home as
Speaker 1: they try and to write the ship a little bit
Speaker 1: after they had dipped below five hundred. So that's the
Speaker 1: five Christmas Day games. Whoops, agree or disagree with me?
Speaker 1: My name is Jay Skeiths and kiss you forgot before
Speaker 1: we go, though, we might as well hit you with
Speaker 1: a lobby of the night. And we do have a sponsor.
Speaker 1: No music here today, don't worry about the music because
Speaker 1: we're in the yard. But you might remember Chris ho
Speaker 1: and Andrew Hoe, pair of brothers, both sponsored Woe Boy before.
Speaker 1: I believe Chris Hoe started this whole sponsoring Woe Boy
Speaker 1: after I was saying it was unsullied by sponsorship and
Speaker 1: he started giving money there in the in the stream.
Speaker 1: Team Well, this is crazy, this is fun. We have
Speaker 1: a third ho oh actually, I take that back after
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you who the Hoe is. Chris's wife,
Speaker 1: Serena has paid for a third Woe Boy sponsorship. She's
Speaker 1: doing it for the both of them, for Chris and Andrew.
Speaker 1: This is a Christmas gift. So this is amazing. We
Speaker 1: literally on Christmas Week, guys have a ho Ho ho
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Speaker 1: Boy of the night and we can throw it up
Speaker 1: ash if you want there it is, yeah, never in doubt.
Speaker 1: Look at that guy in the sexy rainbow jersey. It's
Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic. Fifty six points, sixteen rebounds, fifteen assists, two blocks,
Speaker 1: and a partridge in a pear tree. My god, it
Speaker 1: looks fake. It's video game numbers from this guy. So
Speaker 1: Jokic gets your hoe Boy of the night. Chris Andrew
Speaker 1: Serena Serena, Are you Serena? Hoe? You keep your name?
Speaker 1: I bet you kept your name, didn't you. That's a
Speaker 1: smart move. Thank you, guys. I appreciate that. And we've
Speaker 1: got more sponsorships coming for whoa boy. Okay, pick them,
Speaker 1: let's do it. I need this one because I'm running
Speaker 1: out of the month of December. I'm in last place.
Speaker 1: I'm six and eleven, Trays eight and nine, so I'm
Speaker 1: two games behind them. We got tonight's game in a
Speaker 1: few games early next week as we close out December.
Speaker 1: Test is fine, he's thirteen and a four. But our
Speaker 1: game tonight, I went with that Heat Hawks game. Like
Speaker 1: I said in the live ad read Hawks are favored
Speaker 1: by four and a half at home. The Hawks should
Speaker 1: not be favored by that amount of points against anybody
Speaker 1: right now, but I know the heater bad right now too,
Speaker 1: So anyway, I'm taking the Hawks. Cocker Cock, Come on, Hawks,
Speaker 1: I need it. I needed to win by five or
Speaker 1: more to make things interesting. Otherwise I'm not even sure
Speaker 1: I can come back. So big game, big, big game.
Speaker 1: I need the Hawks to win. Trey and Tass obviously
Speaker 1: taking the heat, they got some points to play with,
Speaker 1: but come on, come on, Atlanta. I don't know is
Speaker 1: it worse or better if I go down to the
Speaker 1: Fortress tonight to cheer them on. I have no idea.
Speaker 1: I think it's I'm gonna I think I'm gonna avoid it.
Speaker 1: I've been to a lot of Hawks game recently, and
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of losses recently, so I'm not
Speaker 1: bringing them any luck, so I might have to avoid it.
Speaker 1: But go atl Okay, we'll call it there. Dear Lord,
Speaker 1: I talked for a lot. I talk very fast, so
Speaker 1: I forced you to not listen to this one on
Speaker 1: one point five speed or one point two five speed,
Speaker 1: because if you're listening to me on that speed, that's
Speaker 1: little at I mean, you're not even hearing me at
Speaker 1: that point. But even if you listen to that speed,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. Hit the button and subscribe on
Speaker 1: YouTube five star ratings and reviews for your boys here
Speaker 1: on the audio podcast platform of your choice, be it
Speaker 1: Apple or Spotify. We have twenty four games on over
Speaker 1: the next three days, so we'll be back on Monday. Myself,
Speaker 1: task and Esh to discuss as many of those games
Speaker 1: as possible. Give you our winners and losers at the
Speaker 1: NBA weekend. If you see one you think of, note
Speaker 1: then let me know, then let me let me know
Speaker 1: on YouTube, let me know on Twitter, and we'll figure
Speaker 1: it out from there. Until then, Clipper Bros. You heard
Speaker 1: it here first, have a great time, turn up. Love
Speaker 1: you guys awesome. Thank you so much for joining me,
Speaker 1: Happy Holidays, Happy Boxing Day, and we'll see you guys
Speaker 1: on Monday. Race the weekend, people,