WEBVTT - The Lakers have become a DISASTER 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:13.480 On this episode of the Heat Check. The NBA Cup 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:16.639 opening rounds are over, and I will give you a 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:19.880 cup date that's my own little I made that up 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.680 cup date and who made the quarters? You can tell 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:25.599 I'm pleased with myself. We'll also break down what's happening 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.800 in Los Angeles with the Lakers. It's sad. It is 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:32.800 really just a too bad scenario. What's going on with 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:36.120 the uh with our Lake show. It's Friday, so it's 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.279 injury update time and we even get a little news 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.520 from around the league. Lots to get into Anthony my man, 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:58.080 drop that motherfucking beat. That should be wean all right. 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:02.280 The league is comming along, homing along nicely. Can you 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:05.120 believe it's already been already a quarter away to the season. 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:09.320 That's insane. This shit goes so fast. Anyway, we are 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:13.800 humming along nicely in early December. The League Cup is 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:17.400 through the early stages. Teams are starting to find their groove. 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:20.280 Players are showing us who are there, who they're gonna 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:22.039 be this year. By the way, Donovan Mitchell out of 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:28.240 his mind right now. The Suns fall to one and 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:35.039 seven without KD. Tibbs is playing his starters forty plus 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:39.759 minutes in a twenty four point blowout of the Hornets 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:44.399 and the Calves. They just keep winning, and they keep 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:48.120 doing it with their awful powder blue jerseys on that 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:52.160 say Land City. Well, what is this like a Taylor 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:56.040 Sheridan show. I don't know what's going on. Even the Warriors, 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.800 our dubs keep beating the Rockets, which they've now done, 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:05.160 by the way, fifteen times in a row. And like 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:12.519 death taxes and everything else, the Lakers they just keep losing. 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:16.800 Yeah they do. I know that we haven't talked about 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:21.720 the Lakers in a minute, but yeah, it's making me 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:26.760 feel really good. It's making me just's not roasting on 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:29.600 an open fire, you know what I mean. It's like that. 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.960 It's like going to the tree lighting ceremony. It's just 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:38.760 very warm, fuzzy. It's like a pumpkin spice latte. It's 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:43.920 like a cinnamon fur candle. Just oh my god. And 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:49.799 everybody was sick and tired of the brown and brawny thing. 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:55.440 And then JJ Reddick being a madman as the Lake 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.320 Show burst out of the gates like Secretariat and everyone's 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:02.840 like a the Lakers are back, purple ink goal. Baby. 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:08.959 It's showtime ad even me ad playing an MVP level 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:14.560 caliber will Lebron ever age never he is the man 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:21.200 without any ability to slow down Reddi Coach of the 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:22.040 Year candidate. 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.679 And after five games, I said, in the second week 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:28.840 of the season, this was fools cooled. I put out 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.760 a video and I said, listen, they're cooked. The Lakers' 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:35.640 front office, they just it's literally the same thing every 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:40.840 time too. The Lakers' front office hasn't done enough to 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:46.040 surround Lebron James with the guys that he needs to 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:50.280 compose a roster that's gonna compete, not enough to fix 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:54.760 the problems that plagued Darvin Ham or Frank Vogel or 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:59.320 Luke Walton, and no coach ever could make the Lakers 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:03.200 work under any circumstance, because, as Lebron James said, I 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:05.000 don't know two years ago, when I think he was 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:09.960 pressing for Kyrie Irving, we ain't got no snipers. Some 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.200 of you laughed at me and you said, Tristan, it's 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:16.640 too early for this. Guess what I think. Laker fans 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.560 are hitting the panic button now. We got Windhorse saying, hey, 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:21.560 it's ugly out here on these streets, and you know 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:25.080 how ESPN loves the whole water for the Lakers. The 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:32.400 Lakers are are in a tailspin not seen since Amelia 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:37.880 Earhart tried to cross the Pacific. They've been outscored by 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:43.680 an insane seventy points in their last two games. I 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.799 want to say that again because it's kind of hard 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:50.880 to really absorb the first time around. The Lakers have 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:56.200 have been outscored by the team they were playing against 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:03.240 by seventy points combined in their last two games. There 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.440 are now reports out there that this is the worst 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:09.760 point differential in a two game stretch in NBA history. 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.800 Trista Fax is here to report that's actually not correct. 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.720 The OKC thunder lost two games in December one and 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:22.279 December two. To remember this, I remember this. We talked 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:25.279 about this twenty twenty one in the second year of 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:29.680 the heat check. They lost their two games by combined 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:33.440 seventy seven points. I think one of them was like 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:39.200 by seventy though. Yeah, but the Lakers seven second worst. 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:44.680 They've now lost six of eight that includes four twenty 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:48.760 point or more losses. Two games ago, they got their 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:53.440 doors blown out by a struggling Timberwolves team. I think 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:59.039 they actually like you know, and in Agatha all along 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:03.480 how the witches she takes their powers, you know, and 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:05.640 they're like they're yelling at her, and they're trying to 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.919 show her, Ah, we're a witch, we've got powers. And 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.320 that just plays right into her hands and she just 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.920 soaks it all up and then she gets more powerful. 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:18.160 I think that's what the Timberwolves did to the Lakers. 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:22.120 The Timberwolves were on their dying breath, they had no 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:24.880 purple stuff left inside, and you know what they did. 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.279 They've been rolling ever since. They took belt to ass 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:30.840 to the Lakers, which we'll talk about. I'm sure sometime 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:34.960 soon they got anyway, Lakers got murdered by the Miami Heat, 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.480 who I think Tyler Hero had seven threes in a 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:43.480 row against them, one four ninety three, and like anytime 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.919 the Miami Heat scored more than one hundred, it's a 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:51.040 good day for the Miami Heat. One thirty four. They 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:55.880 put one thirty four the Miami Heat. Jimmy Butler on 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.599 his last breath of his career, and Bam had a 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:03.279 bioh and Tyler herroll. They gave you one thirty four 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:08.160 twenty nine point loss, followed by a forty one point loss. 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:14.080 In the Minnesota game, Anthony Davis had twelve points on 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:19.160 four for fourteen shooting, and then against Miami he had 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:23.920 eight points, three for fourteen shooting, and he was statistically 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.720 the worst person on the floor for the Lakers at 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:34.680 a minus twenty nine. That is concerning. This is supposed 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:40.880 to be Anthony Davis's team. You cannot lose by seventy 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:46.560 points in two games and your MVP caliber player have 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:52.600 twenty points combined scoring in those two games. It's also 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.400 not just the fact that they're losing, it's the way 0:07:55.440 --> 0:08:01.400 that they're losing. There's just you know, you know when 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.400 people get really old and they just kind of like, 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:08.400 I'm done. I've just decided I'm not gonna try anymore. 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:12.720 My grandma did that. That's Lebron James right now. He's like, 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.960 you know, I don't really feel like getting back on defense. 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.559 I'll wait until we're here on offense, and I'm gonna 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.880 walk around and stand on the court again. You've got 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:27.800 various Lakers walking back on defense getting clowned by other teams, 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.000 like the possession where the Heat had the ball out 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.360 of the basket for an open layup but instead decided no, 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.600 we won't do that. We'll do the Harlem globe trotter 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.400 thing and pass it instead to the perimeter where they 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:42.560 played in around the world. Until finding an open shooter 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:46.400 who hit a three against you guessed it no defense. 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:51.080 I think the Lakers are twenty seventh in offense and 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.480 twenty seventh in defense in the league out of thirty. 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.480 Just in case you forgot how many teams were in 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.600 the NBA. Lebron, by the way, who has been in 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.920 an epic slump, said, when you're individually fucking up and 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:07.920 you're trying to rely on everyone else to cover for you, 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.600 I think it starts with individuals. First. All of us 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:15.960 have to take accountability. Ooh when we have when we 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:21.200 have direct shots fired, it's not good. This is aimed 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.600 at Rui Hachimura, who, at one point against Miami, Lebron 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.360 literally pointed to where he was supposed to be on defense. 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.840 Ruy was like, eh, lost his man on the switch. 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:36.280 Tyler Hero hits one of his seven open threes while 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:40.040 Lebron James is just throwing up his hands in disgust. 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:44.600 I think we need to check in on JJ Reddick 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:50.280 see how he's handling this. He says, I'm embarrassed. We're 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:53.160 all embarrassed. It's not a game where we have the 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.360 right fight, the right professionalism. There has to be some ownership. 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.800 I own this, but there's gonna have to be some 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:05.800 ownership on the court. JJ. JJ. You thought you were 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:10.040 just gonna be able to grab a bottle of I 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:16.320 don't know merlow and some whiteboards, and you thought you 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:18.880 were gonna be able to x'es and o's this fucking 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.520 dumpster fire and to be in something. Let me tell you, 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.840 I've been watching the Lakers for a long time, and 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:28.960 ever since doctor Buss died, there's no exes and ohing 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:35.200 anything out of doing anything. I just I could have 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.560 told you. I could have told you don't take the job. JJ. 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:42.400 I know Purple and Gold is enticing, it's intoxicating. You 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.360 think you can be the next pat Riley. No one 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:49.040 is going to be able to fix this because it's Rob, 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:54.240 Rob Snake, Polinka fucking everything up, and Genie and Linda 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.920 Rambis and Kurt Rambus. It's the same thing every year, 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:01.960 every single year we told about the same people fucking 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:05.560 up the same things, and Lebron James just taking money 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.079 even though he knows this is never gonna work. He 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.560 just keeps extending, and keeps extending, and keeps extending, and 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:14.040 then lies and says that he's not gonna extend, and 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.840 then pretends he's going to leave, and then tries to 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.079 get somebody to come there, which is why they ended 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.480 up trading for Russell Westbrook, which is why he tried 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:27.520 to get Kyrie there. It's insane. Anyway, Renick has declared 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:31.040 he's going to meet with his coaching staff, the players 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:36.200 as a group, and then other players individually, all in 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:41.880 an effort to complete, to prevent the Lakers from completing 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.360 completely falling apart. That was just a bad sentence, Just 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.000 scratch that. All to stop the mutiny, which we know 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:53.439 is on its way right First, it's like, first comes 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:57.520 the money, next comes the power, then comes the nana fool. 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:01.960 Don't be no dummy. First comes, first comes the losing, 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:07.280 Then comes Lebron bitching, Then comes the coach bitching, and 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.760 then comes Lebron getting you fired. That's how it goes. 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:16.920 I'm sorry it was so bad. Channing Fry said, this 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:20.440 might be the worst effort I have ever seen in 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.760 the last few years. This Lakers team quit before the 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.560 game even started. In no world, my guy should my 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.400 guy Kevin Love be able to guard a D or 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.880 a D not be able to go at him every time? 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:41.760 The worst effort in recent memory, May I remind folks 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:49.440 that Luke Walton coach this team disastrously. Darvin am coached 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:55.120 the Lakers recently. So the worst effort is saying a 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:59.400 lot and there are issues? Oh yeah, there are issues. 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:01.559 Do you think I feel like I'm excited about this 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.200 segment because I am like I could go all day, 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.199 This entire show could be just this. And there are 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:14.040 issues with everyone from Ruy who's been god awful, he's 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:18.480 been Wizards, Ruey, let's be honest, Dalton Connect, who has 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:22.800 turned back into March madness, Dalton Connect at Tennessee ten 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:27.000 five and one over the last seven games to now Lebron, 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.360 which probably the first time I've ever said this in 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:35.280 my life. In the last seven games, Lebron's offensive production 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.400 dropped to nineteen seven and nine, down from twenty six, 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:43.920 ten and eleven in his previous seven. He missed twenty 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:48.640 four consecutive three pointers at one point and is shooting 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.880 twelve percent from three in his two week slump, and 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.040 by the way, Lebron James was shooting the best from 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:57.679 three in his career up until that slump. There's just 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:02.320 a lot of people now online. The mutiny comes fast 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.840 on social media, does it. They are people ready to 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:10.960 put Lebron James's head in a guillotine. What they are saying, Hey, 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.520 Lebron James is washed. Get this motherfucker out of here. 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:20.160 That's crazy. Asked whether Lebron has slowed down, Lebron just 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.560 said it was a blip. I just feel off rhythm 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:26.320 these last three four, not one, not two, not three, 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:30.680 not four, not five, not six, seven games. It's everything. 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:34.040 It's just the rhythm. I feel off rhythm these last 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:37.440 three four games. My man, it's almost ten games. It's 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.400 not three four. But when asked about maybe, hey, you 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.800 think maybe you want to take a day off or something, 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:49.240 get a massage, he said, no, I want to play 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:54.520 all eighty two. A dude in his twenty second year 0:14:54.800 --> 0:15:00.080 in the NBA saying I'm exhausted, I have no rhythm, 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:05.440 sucking win on the court, not trying, says no, I 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:09.080 want to let you guys know, I'm an iron man. Sorry, 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.600 that's just not gonna happen. JJ, Reddick has different ideas. 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:17.640 When redd occurred that Lebron said that, his response was, immediately, 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:19.920 I don't know if that's in the best interest of 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.360 him and us if he decides to do that. You 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:29.920 think you think, JJ. It's one thing to know Lebron 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:36.880 James personally. It's one thing to host a podcast with them. 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:42.840 It's another to tie your career longevity and your ability 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:47.000 to make a living at your new path with Lebron James, 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:51.080 who does whatever the fuck he wants and allows the 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:59.040 shrapnel around him to go ourd anyway. Bron will be 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:02.360 forty in a few weeks. Probably needs some time off. 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:05.880 He has maybe been distracted by the fact that Bloomberg. 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.080 Probably not, But I do want to add this in. 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:10.680 He's not been distracted by it. I just want to say, 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.520 but the fact of the matter is his media company, 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.080 spring Hill. I don't even know why I need to 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:16.520 put this in here right now, except for the fact 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:17.760 that it's in the news and I need to put 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.280 it somewhere. Spring Hill losing money twenty eight million dollar 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:23.880 loss in twenty twenty three, on top of a seventeen 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.480 million dollar loss in twenty twenty two. Could be even 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:30.560 more in twenty twenty four. In other words, Lebron's got 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.360 to take money from the Lakers because his media company's 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.080 not doing so well. His company could be looking at 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:39.040 seventy five million dollars or more in losses the last 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:43.680 three years. Back to the basketball, the bottom line is 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:50.600 the Lakers roster, which wasn't fixed in this last off season, 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:55.640 and wasn't fixed in the off season before that, and 0:16:55.840 --> 0:17:00.520 wasn't fixed in the off season before that, is doing 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:06.000 the same things that occurred in those other seasons. Dalton 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.800 connect is never going to come in and be your savior. 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.760 You lost Torrian Princewitz, I think you probably would pray 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.639 for right now, considering the fact that Torrian Prince is 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:18.080 the best three point shooter in the league right now. 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.960 Guarantee he's shooting thirty two percent for the Lakers though 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.080 right now, if he's on that team. Austin Reeves is 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:26.840 never going to turn into a twenty five point a 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:30.600 game guy. The Angela Russell is never gonna play basketball 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.919 the right way. Rui Hachimer is never gonna give you 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:40.320 consistent production. Anthony Davis is always Anthony Davis, and Lebron 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.760 James is not getting any younger. The fact that they're 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:48.719 twelve and ten, and that that's actually worse than it 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:50.879 was at this time last year under Darvinham when they 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.720 were thirteen to nine, and they probably should have should 0:17:54.720 --> 0:18:01.040 be worse, shouldn't have surprised anyone. And guess what, it 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:06.359 didn't surprise me. And I love nothing more than a 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:10.160 victory lap, and that's what this was. Unless major changes 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:13.000 are made to this roster, the Lakers are a team 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.119 that's going to like normal, spe in the seven seed, 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:21.560 scratch claw for the play in, and then get bounced 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.320 in the blink of an eye. Good luck, Lakers, it's 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:29.119 been real. At least my Portland Trailblazers aren't fucking you. 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:33.560 Let's moving on. Let's move on your NBA Cup date. 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.520 The up opening rounds of the NBA Cup are over. 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:40.640 We've moved down to the quarterfinals, set to be played 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.240 next Tuesday and Wednesday. Couldn't make it out to Vegas. 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:48.200 I'm doing some moving next year. In the first Tuesday quarterfinal, 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:50.359 we now get the matchup between the two hottest teams 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:55.320 in the East, the Orlando Magic and the Milwaukee Bucks. 0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:00.760 The Bucks have been surging as of late, they haven't 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:04.480 really played anyone anyway, winners of their last eight of 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.200 ten games. The Magic have won eight of ten, mind you, 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:13.000 without Paolo Bancaro. Franz Wagner versus Giannis, Jalen Suggs versus Dame. 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:16.280 I love this matchup. This is so much better to 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.800 me than like the Pacers versus Bucks matchup, which definitely 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.200 was rivalry. But this is gonna be really really fun. 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:27.359 Second Tuesday quarter pits the defending Western Conference champs, the 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.840 Dallas Mavericks, which I am shocked if they are here, 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:32.800 by the way, versus one of the teams they had 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:36.640 to be to get there, the OKAC Thunder. No love 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.439 lost between these two teams. Both are playing very well. 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:43.720 Luca's health will be a key point in the game. 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:49.800 Luca in Vegas, guys, come on. OKAC without Chet actually 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:51.760 has proven to be pretty beatable, even though they will 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:53.720 still lead the West by one and a half games. 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:59.680 Dallas quietly has won nine of ten, so this is 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:03.600 gonna be be a very very fun matchup. On Wednesday, 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:08.240 the surprise Atlanta Hawks will play in the third quarterfinal 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:12.480 at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. Of course, this 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:16.159 means Trey Jung returns to the place that he became 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.360 a villain, which he loves. Plus, the Hawks have won 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:21.280 five in a row, including two wins against Cleveland one 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:25.520 against Milwaukee. I don't know what Atlanta is. Are they good? 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:30.120 The Knicks are good. They are rolling behind Karl Anthony 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:33.919 Towns and Brunson and og. They just came back by 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:37.760 like twenty five points last night to the Charlotte Hornets, which, 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:39.719 by the way, proabab shouldn't be down to the Charlotte 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:42.919 Hornets either, which way, pretty impressive win. This is the 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.879 game that I'm most looking forward to seeing. Gonna be 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:49.000 very fun, bad blood between these two. And then in 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:53.320 the final quarter we have a great matchup against the 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:56.960 Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. I don't know 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:00.000 how these teams get good. The Rockets are shockingly good 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.480 right now despite not being able to hit the broadside 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:05.920 of a barn from three, and while Golden State is 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:09.560 stumbling a little bit following their very hot start. They've 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:11.719 lost five in a row before beating the same Rockets 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.399 last night. As I said, they have now beaten the 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:18.000 Rockets fifteen straight times. Anyway, that's gonna be a very 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:21.360 fun matchup too. Note that the NBA Quarters does not 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:24.119 have Cleveland and Boston in it, the two top teams 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:26.680 in the East with the two best records. You snooze, 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:29.119 you lose. You lose to Atlanta, you get bounced the 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:32.040 fuck out, which is exactly what happened. And the second 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:34.400 NBA Cup has proven to be a lot of fun 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:38.240 once again. I am looking for the final eight teams 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.359 to really get with it. Five hundred thousand to the 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.159 bench players. We know that means really a lot. So 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:47.280 look for star players to ball out in an effort 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:49.840 to get their boys paid and hammer those steel pops. 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.480 We're not supposed to say that. Hammer those steel props 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:56.880 during Cup games been super profitable two years running. Okay, 0:21:57.000 --> 0:22:01.920 moving on, it's Friday. Let's get in on these injuries. 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:04.720 We haven't had an update on Kawhi in a while. 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:07.040 What do you think he's doing. Do you think he's 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:10.560 coming back anytime soon? Uh No, he's not. According to 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:13.560 Bill Simmons, the Clippers are now expecting Kawhi to return 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:16.879 to the lineup before Christmas. I just don't believe it. 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:20.080 Reports are the East had on court activities for a 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:23.480 couple of weeks, so that's probably not gonna be surprising. 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:26.400 I don't think so, though, I really don't see it. 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:32.399 The Clippers, though very surprising fourteen and ten. They've been 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:35.440 playing really good basketball as of late, seven and three 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.199 in their last ten, so it's gonna be fascinating to 0:22:38.200 --> 0:22:40.639 see how they try to integrate Kawhi back, if he 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:43.960 ever comes back. Where Norm Powell and a mirror coffee, 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:53.040 just a small coffee, are thriving, thriving. In fact, Norm 0:22:53.200 --> 0:22:56.399 was asking why the Clippers are thriving with only Harden 0:22:56.480 --> 0:22:58.160 on the floor, and he said, I think the way 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:00.960 that we're playing with the group of guys that we 0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:05.560 have is more team oriented and less star dominant. How 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:08.240 insane is it by the way that a team with 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:14.440 James Harden on it is considered team oriented less star dominant. 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:17.720 He said, we had four superstars and Hall of Fame candidates, 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:19.800 and everybody was used to playing a certain way. It's 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:22.399 hard to get four superstars on a team. To mesh 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:26.639 oo sounds like shots fired at Kawhi Leonard. Norm Powell 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:28.960 thinks you're gonna have trouble integrating back into this lineup. 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:32.320 There are a fair number of nuance injuries to monitor. 0:23:32.920 --> 0:23:36.560 Terrence Mann, Clippers player, He's gonna undergo surgery to replair 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:41.399 a fractured middle finger on his left hand. He's had 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:44.760 an offseason production down twenty five percent over the last 0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:46.800 few seasons, so maybe this break is actually gonna be 0:23:46.840 --> 0:23:50.240 good for him. Lakers center Jackson Hayes, which no one 0:23:50.280 --> 0:23:54.000 cares about, resprained his ankle. He won't return for another 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:58.359 three weeks. Lakers injury woes continue. Remember, we can't really 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:02.440 evaluate what this Lakers team is until Jackson Hayes gets 0:24:02.480 --> 0:24:06.120 fully healthy. Kevin Durant sprained his left ankle. He will 0:24:06.119 --> 0:24:08.280 miss at least a week. They are not gonna win 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:11.479 any games without him. They just lost to the New 0:24:11.560 --> 0:24:15.480 Orleans Pelicans. And finally we'll get an update on Zion Williamson, 0:24:15.520 --> 0:24:18.280 who Michael Scotto says will be re examined in two weeks, 0:24:18.720 --> 0:24:21.480 which is to say he will not necessarily be back 0:24:21.520 --> 0:24:23.000 in two weeks. Definitely not going to be back in 0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:26.159 two weeks, but he will be looked at in a 0:24:26.200 --> 0:24:28.240 couple of weeks, which we will then have a better 0:24:28.240 --> 0:24:30.399 idea of how long he'll be gone. There's also a 0:24:30.400 --> 0:24:33.080 big list of players who are about to return. Zach 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:36.080 Edie he has ramped up his recovery he's doing on 0:24:36.200 --> 0:24:40.000 court work. Taylor Jenkins says the recovery timetable sooner than later. 0:24:40.400 --> 0:24:43.720 Jeremy's Sohn he is ahead of schedule in his rehamp 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:47.040 from a thumb injury. He should be back end of 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:50.840 the month, right around New Year's Day. Jared Vanderbilt, who 0:24:50.880 --> 0:24:53.640 seems to have missed like I don't know, three seasons. Honestly, 0:24:53.680 --> 0:24:55.520 when was the last time. The last time I saw 0:24:55.640 --> 0:24:59.119 Jared Vanderbilt was when he was buying clothes, keeping the 0:24:59.200 --> 0:25:03.520 tags on them, wearing them and then returning them anyway. 0:25:04.200 --> 0:25:07.880 He has recently experienced fluid in his knee, so he's 0:25:07.880 --> 0:25:10.000 now slated to be back in a month, which no 0:25:10.040 --> 0:25:13.000 one also cares about. Joe El Embiid, who has missed 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:16.360 a ton of time for the season for the Sixers 0:25:16.400 --> 0:25:19.359 five and fifteen. They are maybe he'll be back this weekend. 0:25:19.400 --> 0:25:23.480 They say, how well has he recovered? Unknown? And finally, 0:25:23.760 --> 0:25:27.840 speaking of guys who have been injured, Chris Middleton is 0:25:27.880 --> 0:25:31.240 slated to make his season debut and they gave him 0:25:31.240 --> 0:25:35.800 a real Cupcake Day game to come back to Boston 0:25:37.080 --> 0:25:40.280 it's been I would feel like that, maybe I'd want 0:25:40.320 --> 0:25:43.639 a little bit of a ramp up period, little Washington Wizards, 0:25:43.640 --> 0:25:46.640 a little Charlotte Hornets. Anyway, it's been a very long 0:25:46.800 --> 0:25:51.200 road back for Chris double ankle sent surgery. By the way, 0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:55.119 he'll be in his classic Middleton form, hopefully instead of 0:25:55.119 --> 0:25:57.360 what we saw in Fitz and Spurs Spurts the last 0:25:57.359 --> 0:26:02.200 two season, which was wish Middleton. Also, Jalen Suggs sprained 0:26:02.200 --> 0:26:05.440 his ankle against Philly. He stepped on the foot of 0:26:05.480 --> 0:26:08.080