1
00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:06,160
Speaker 1: Hey, I'm Tasmelis, and this is what you need to

2
00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:14,840
Speaker 1: know in the NBA for Wednesday, January thirteen. The first

3
00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:16,920
Speaker 1: thing you need to know is that James Harden wants

4
00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,920
Speaker 1: out of Houston. Oh you already knew that. Well, now,

5
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,960
Speaker 1: James Harden really wants out of Houston. And he's not

6
00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,279
Speaker 1: just showing it with his play, which has been the

7
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,640
Speaker 1: case this season, but he's essentially saying it in postgame

8
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,040
Speaker 1: press conferences. After the second loss in a row to

9
00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,720
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Lakers consecutive losses.

10
00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,519
Speaker 2: Here where they got smashed. The Rockets did.

11
00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,680
Speaker 1: They lost by seventeen, but they were down by twenty

12
00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:40,920
Speaker 1: one in the first quarter.

13
00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:42,360
Speaker 2: It was over.

14
00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,320
Speaker 1: Usually when teams played twice, the team that lost the

15
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:46,560
Speaker 1: first game fights back.

16
00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:47,560
Speaker 2: Uh uh.

17
00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,519
Speaker 1: His play has been lackluster, but in the postgame press conference,

18
00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,280
Speaker 1: he answered two questions and then he walked right off.

19
00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,560
Speaker 1: First answer was essentially, we're not good enough. No, we're

20
00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,320
Speaker 1: not good enough. His second answer quote, I love this city.

21
00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,840
Speaker 1: I literally have done everything that I can. I mean,

22
00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,960
Speaker 1: this situation is crazy. It's something that I don't think

23
00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,080
Speaker 1: can be fixed. And he walked off, and that's essentially

24
00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,560
Speaker 1: what he's doing to the Houston Rockets. It's kind of

25
00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:13,760
Speaker 1: like the Anthony Davis situation a couple of years ago

26
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,520
Speaker 1: in New Orleans, where Anthony Davis was halfheartedly playing. It

27
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,880
Speaker 1: was very, very evident. It was very awkward to watch

28
00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:26,080
Speaker 1: it for Pelicans fans and the entire league. It became

29
00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,399
Speaker 1: an issue in the commissioner's office. Eventually Anthony Davis sat down.

30
00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,920
Speaker 1: He wore that that's all folks. Sweater at Eve, that's

31
00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:38,679
Speaker 1: all folks, that's all folks. Harden wants to be dealt now,

32
00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:40,880
Speaker 1: and it's not good for the locker room there in

33
00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,080
Speaker 1: Houston where new Rocket John Wall has to answer questions,

34
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,800
Speaker 1: and it's basically saying, yeah, that guy doesn't want to

35
00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:48,960
Speaker 1: be here, he said quote after the game. But when

36
00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:50,600
Speaker 1: you have certain guys in the mix that don't want

37
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,120
Speaker 1: to buy in, all is one, it's going to be

38
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:53,920
Speaker 1: hard to do anything special or anything good as a

39
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,080
Speaker 1: basketball team. Well, there is one really, really really good

40
00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,280
Speaker 1: player on that team, and it's James Harden, but he

41
00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,640
Speaker 1: does not want to be there anymore. It's evident. After

42
00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,560
Speaker 1: his first three games this season, it was a showcase.

43
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,120
Speaker 1: He scored thirty seven per game in those first three games.

44
00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:11,720
Speaker 1: He sat down for one game and basically said, all right,

45
00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,680
Speaker 1: I've shown that I've got the track record. He's averaged

46
00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,200
Speaker 1: seventeen over his last five. I really hope the league

47
00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,799
Speaker 1: doesn't have to intervene. But James Harden was hoping himself

48
00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,880
Speaker 1: that he was walking from that press conference onto a

49
00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,080
Speaker 1: plane and on his way to another team. That's sure

50
00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,239
Speaker 1: what it felt like watching that press conference. The guys

51
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,359
Speaker 1: talked extensively about trading James Harden in Tuesday's full length

52
00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:36,600
Speaker 1: No Dunk's episode.

53
00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,360
Speaker 2: But do I have the match for you?

54
00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:44,000
Speaker 1: Let's go to Philadelphia where it's been a week of unrest, tumult,

55
00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,440
Speaker 1: if you will. Last Thursday, they going to Brooklyn. They've

56
00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,079
Speaker 1: got the best record in the NBA. They're at seven

57
00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,440
Speaker 1: and one. Seth Curry is out with an injury. He's

58
00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:55,520
Speaker 1: sitting on the bench first quarter. Somebody comes to him

59
00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,840
Speaker 1: and says, huh, Seth, something wrong with your test? Can

60
00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:04,320
Speaker 1: you come to the back. Since then straight downhill. They

61
00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,200
Speaker 1: lose that game to a very shorthanded Brooklyn. That's their

62
00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:12,000
Speaker 1: seven and two Denver Nuggets on Saturday, they basically gave

63
00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,680
Speaker 1: that game away because they didn't have enough guys couldn't

64
00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,600
Speaker 1: win that one. Seven and three, a very uninspired loss

65
00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,120
Speaker 1: against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. Now they're at seven

66
00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,800
Speaker 1: and four, and then it sure looked like they were

67
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,240
Speaker 1: going to seven and five, losing their fourth straight game

68
00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,840
Speaker 1: against the Miami Heat, who didn't have their two all

69
00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,919
Speaker 1: stars in Jimmy Butler and bam Adebayo. But Joel embi

70
00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,480
Speaker 1: to the sixer, said, I ain't losing this game. You

71
00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:36,240
Speaker 1: could tell in the third quarter.

72
00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,680
Speaker 2: He was stonefaced. I'm winning this thing. He had twenty

73
00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,680
Speaker 2: in the third quarter. It was phenomenal to watch Joel

74
00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,920
Speaker 2: Embiid do everything. To watch this massive, massive man and

75
00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,440
Speaker 2: the footwork and the skill set that he has. Doc Rivers,

76
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,400
Speaker 2: their head coach, said after the game, we have a

77
00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:58,280
Speaker 2: play called delay that we're practicing where Mbi got the

78
00:03:58,280 --> 00:03:59,800
Speaker 2: ball in the middle of the floor and that was

79
00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:04,120
Speaker 2: our Yeah. Embiid was essentially the point guard, the shooting guard,

80
00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:05,880
Speaker 2: the small forward, the power forward in the center. He

81
00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,400
Speaker 2: was the entire team. This game did go to overtime.

82
00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:11,960
Speaker 2: Tyler hero looked like he was going to win it

83
00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,080
Speaker 2: for the Heat. He had eight points in ot thirty

84
00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,400
Speaker 2: four overall, but Embiid had eleven in the period himself

85
00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,080
Speaker 2: winning that thing for the Sixers. Couple notes for the Sixers,

86
00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:26,000
Speaker 2: Danny Green shot twenty one threes. Twenty one threes, he

87
00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,719
Speaker 2: hit twenty five shots overall ridiculous. There were shots to

88
00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,240
Speaker 2: be taken because Ben Simmons only shot twice in this game.

89
00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,880
Speaker 2: Is an uninspired game for Ben Simmons, and that brings

90
00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:40,159
Speaker 2: me to a possible trade. Coming into this season, Darryl Mory,

91
00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,840
Speaker 2: new front office Ezech coming from Houston, wanted to see

92
00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:45,839
Speaker 2: what Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid could do on the

93
00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:50,480
Speaker 2: floor together. He tried to optimize it. Seth Curry, Tobias Harris,

94
00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:56,159
Speaker 2: Danny Green, shake Milton around them as shooters. Totally makes sense.

95
00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,120
Speaker 2: Started very well, although there wasn't a marquee win in there.

96
00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,600
Speaker 2: Seven seven and one run to start this season, it

97
00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:08,760
Speaker 2: looked great. That being said, I wonder if you try

98
00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,280
Speaker 2: and pluck Harden for Ben Simmons here in this situation,

99
00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,440
Speaker 2: because Ben Simmons is playing the good soldier. He is

100
00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,839
Speaker 2: doing everything he's asked to do. He's shooting less because

101
00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:24,800
Speaker 2: he's off the ball. He's sort of become a glorified defender.

102
00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,480
Speaker 2: A plus. You know, sometimes ball handler and setting guys up.

103
00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:30,760
Speaker 2: And the numbers are there, and that's why I drafted

104
00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,000
Speaker 2: him second round in my fantasy team. But isn't the

105
00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:38,280
Speaker 2: team better if James Harden is ready to play in

106
00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,280
Speaker 2: Philadelphia and if it does resemble a bit of the

107
00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,800
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis situation going from New Orleans to Los Angeles

108
00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:49,760
Speaker 2: where he is happy and ballin', then you've got a

109
00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:55,320
Speaker 2: better combination and hardened plus Embiid. Now, Harden's way older.

110
00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,320
Speaker 1: Than Anthony Davis was, and when he was traded, Anthony

111
00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,320
Speaker 1: Davis was twenty six. Harden is thirty one. But I

112
00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,479
Speaker 1: think Harden is fine being the one A or the

113
00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,839
Speaker 1: number two the way that Anthony Davis is in Los Angeles.

114
00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,800
Speaker 1: Harden likes the pass in the postseason, although it would

115
00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:11,520
Speaker 1: be different with him and Joel Embiid. I think Joel

116
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,440
Speaker 1: Embiid in the end would be happy to have a

117
00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:15,919
Speaker 1: guy who shoots from the outside.

118
00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:21,080
Speaker 2: And I think they're just they're like minded fellas. You know.

119
00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:23,080
Speaker 2: They go hard off the floor, they go hard on

120
00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,599
Speaker 2: the floor. They like to have fun, is all I'm saying.

121
00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,039
Speaker 2: And I'm sure Ben Simmons would love to have a

122
00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,080
Speaker 2: team that's designed for him, just like Joel Embiid. He

123
00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,200
Speaker 2: needs the lane open with shooters around him. Could happen

124
00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,880
Speaker 2: in Houston, sort of like what they did for Russell Westbrook.

125
00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,200
Speaker 2: I didn't love this trade before, but I've come around

126
00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:45,719
Speaker 2: on it. Done Simmons for Harden. One more duo that

127
00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,880
Speaker 2: was supposed to take the league by storm that I

128
00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:50,400
Speaker 2: want to talk about here, the Brooklyn Nets. They took

129
00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,560
Speaker 2: on the Denver Nuggets without Kyrie Irving on Tuesday. Kyrie

130
00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:58,560
Speaker 2: has four consecutive games due to personal reasons, but drama

131
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,560
Speaker 2: video surfaced him at his sister's birthday party this week,

132
00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,239
Speaker 2: so oppose it video. Let's get that straight. The Nets

133
00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,200
Speaker 2: are investigating if he broke protocol. They're checking the video.

134
00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,400
Speaker 2: According to ESPN's Adrian Wojanerewski, if Irving has to quarantine

135
00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,840
Speaker 2: and miss games because of this party, he could be

136
00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,200
Speaker 2: forfeiting four hundred and ten thousand dollars for each game.

137
00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,320
Speaker 2: And apparently Irving is not expected the rest of the

138
00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:28,520
Speaker 2: week in Brooklyn. That's a very very confusing situation.

139
00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,320
Speaker 1: I'm not smart enough to understand it, but I am

140
00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:33,520
Speaker 1: smart enough to know that Kevin Durant is very good

141
00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,720
Speaker 1: at basketball. And he won this game against the Denver Nuggets.

142
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,960
Speaker 1: He had thirty four points. None more impressive than thirty

143
00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,680
Speaker 1: seconds left to seal it. Somebody came to set a

144
00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,040
Speaker 1: pick for him. He said, get at it. Here isolation, bang,

145
00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,880
Speaker 1: big shot, winning the game for the Brooklyn netsho are

146
00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:50,600
Speaker 1: now six and six. They had lost too in a

147
00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,240
Speaker 1: row and that's why Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash

148
00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,400
Speaker 1: said after the game, we needed this win for our soul.

149
00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:01,120
Speaker 1: The Nuggets defense continues to struggle well. They have notoriously

150
00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,720
Speaker 1: bad third quarters. They're up eighteen in this game and

151
00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,840
Speaker 1: gave it all back. They've got a bottom five defense.

152
00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:09,520
Speaker 1: They sit at five and six. A lot of teams

153
00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,080
Speaker 1: up and down this season here in the NBA. One

154
00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,280
Speaker 1: more game to talk about the seven and four Pacers. Whooh,

155
00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,240
Speaker 1: they won in Golden State. They're sitting at seven and

156
00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,080
Speaker 1: four pretty in the Eastern Conference. They took Steph Curry

157
00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,280
Speaker 1: out of the equation as much as they possibly could.

158
00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,320
Speaker 1: New Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkrin, he was on Nick

159
00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:27,960
Speaker 1: Nurse's staff when they won the championship in Toronto. It's

160
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,680
Speaker 1: exactly what they did to the Golden State Warriors. Curry

161
00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,200
Speaker 1: still got twenty, but are they a contender? Do they

162
00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:37,360
Speaker 1: have enough around Steph Curry. Well, we're going to talk

163
00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,360
Speaker 1: about that on our Beach step In podcast. It was

164
00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,439
Speaker 1: close down the stretch in this one. Miles Turner hit

165
00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,080
Speaker 1: a three with three minutes left. Miles Turner balling for

166
00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:48,640
Speaker 1: the Pacers. He had twenty two in this one with

167
00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,960
Speaker 1: five blocks. He leads the league with four point one

168
00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:56,200
Speaker 1: blocks per game. Hello, Andrew Wiggins had five blocks for

169
00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,760
Speaker 1: the Warriors himself. Wow, he's averaging one point eight per

170
00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,160
Speaker 1: game this season. They're pushing them and to play the defense,

171
00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,800
Speaker 1: that would be a career high for him. They're pushing

172
00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,920
Speaker 1: him in that role. Yeah, he's overpaid, but hey, it's

173
00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,480
Speaker 1: not his fault. Somebody paid him. Wrapping up Tuesday night

174
00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,440
Speaker 1: in the NBA, the Jazz beat the Cavs by thirty,

175
00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,840
Speaker 1: Spurs beat okay See by double digits, and the Boston

176
00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,880
Speaker 1: Celtics had their third consecutive game postponed because they didn't

177
00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,959
Speaker 1: have enough players due to contact tracing and positive COVID

178
00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,400
Speaker 1: nineteen cases. That's three in a row for the Celtics

179
00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,320
Speaker 1: and remember those games will be made up later on

180
00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:34,920
Speaker 1: in the season. It's kind of built into the calendar.

181
00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,600
Speaker 1: At least that's the plan looking forward. The Jazz Wizard's

182
00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:41,880
Speaker 1: Game was also postponed. That game was supposed to take

183
00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,440
Speaker 1: place Wednesday night tonight, but Washington, in a similar situation

184
00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,200
Speaker 1: to the Celtics, they didn't have enough players. Those two

185
00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,760
Speaker 1: games are the fifth and sixth games postponed this season.

186
00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,680
Speaker 1: In a league meeting on December thirtieth, NBA Commissioner Adam

187
00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,520
Speaker 1: Silver Warren that January would be the worst month according

188
00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,480
Speaker 1: to the like Sean Sharanya, Silver said, we are optimistic

189
00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:06,199
Speaker 1: about improvements in February after we get through the darkest days.

190
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,240
Speaker 1: And here we are in the NBA's darkest days. There's

191
00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,280
Speaker 1: been an increased number of positive COVID cases, plus the

192
00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,880
Speaker 1: spike in players forced to quarantine, and the league is

193
00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,920
Speaker 1: introducing tougher protocols because of that. Essentially, they're saying stay

194
00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,400
Speaker 1: home for two weeks as much as you possibly can.

195
00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:25,800
Speaker 1: If you're on the road, stay in your hotel room

196
00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,200
Speaker 1: for two weeks. No guests in your hotel rooms. New

197
00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:34,240
Speaker 1: bench rules are being applied, and new therapy session restrictions

198
00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,360
Speaker 1: are being applied. There's a bunch of rules that the

199
00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:41,640
Speaker 1: NBA is trying to crack down here with This is

200
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:46,160
Speaker 1: a reset for the NBA as they look forward two

201
00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,840
Speaker 1: better days ahead, hopefully, as we all are. Thank you

202
00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,520
Speaker 1: so much for joining me today. I'll be back tomorrow

203
00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,200
Speaker 1: to give you the news as fast as I possibly can.

204
00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,800
Speaker 1: Make sure you check the full length No Dunk's episode

205
00:10:58,800 --> 00:10:59,720
Speaker 1: from Wednesday as.

206
00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:02,280
Speaker 2: Well as our mail bag Beach step In pod. I'll

207
00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:02,800
Speaker 2: see tomorrow