1
00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,560
Speaker 1: On today's show, Lebron James says he hates the play

2
00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,600
Speaker 1: in tournament, but he might be playing in it. Kevin

3
00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:15,440
Speaker 1: Durant and Yanni Stetagumpo have a glorious battle, and LaMelo

4
00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,840
Speaker 1: Ball is an incredible showman. Give him a Vegas residency.

5
00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,320
Speaker 1: He'll make it work. He's that good. Hey, I'm Tasmelus

6
00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:24,720
Speaker 1: And this is what you need to know in the

7
00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:36,000
Speaker 1: NBA for Monday, May third. Good Monday morning, everybody. Let's

8
00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,800
Speaker 1: set the scene for the defending champion Lakers. They lost

9
00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,120
Speaker 1: their two stars this season for extended stretches, but the

10
00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,280
Speaker 1: rest of the group held their own. They did enough

11
00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,559
Speaker 1: to stay in the five spot in the Western Conference standings.

12
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,000
Speaker 1: And you can win from the five spot. Check the

13
00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,360
Speaker 1: Houston Rockets from nineteen ninety five, they were the sixth seed. Anyway,

14
00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,600
Speaker 1: Since Anthony Davis and Lebron James have returned, there's a

15
00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,720
Speaker 1: hole in the bot. One in five with Anthony Davis

16
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,440
Speaker 1: and now zero to two with Lebron. After losing to

17
00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,920
Speaker 1: the Raptors at home on Sunday, the Lakers have dropped

18
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,920
Speaker 1: to sixth and are in danger of falling into the

19
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,200
Speaker 1: play in Tournament In the seventh through tenth seats. After

20
00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:17,760
Speaker 1: the loss, here's what Lebron James said about the play

21
00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:19,800
Speaker 1: in tournament part in the language, but I have to

22
00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,679
Speaker 1: give you his exact words quote. Whoever came up with

23
00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,720
Speaker 1: that shit needs to be fired. The play in tournament

24
00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,440
Speaker 1: is not going anywhere, even if Lebron doesn't like it.

25
00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,120
Speaker 1: There is a quote going around from him last year

26
00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,600
Speaker 1: when Lebron said he wanted a play in tournament during

27
00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,000
Speaker 1: the COVID shortened season, but he was talking about the

28
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:42,240
Speaker 1: teams trying to get in in a shortened year, like

29
00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,800
Speaker 1: the Blazers and the Grizzlies. It's not an apples to

30
00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,480
Speaker 1: apples comparison. That was different. He wanted those teams to

31
00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,160
Speaker 1: get a shot. He can hate one and not like

32
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,080
Speaker 1: the other, but it sure seems like teams really hate

33
00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,880
Speaker 1: it when they are in distance of making that play

34
00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,040
Speaker 1: in tournament having to play in it. But Lebron just

35
00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,080
Speaker 1: made it more popular. It also brings a lot more

36
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,080
Speaker 1: intrigue here to the final two weeks, even before the

37
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,040
Speaker 1: play inter rent. Now people are going to be watching that.

38
00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,240
Speaker 1: The NBA has long struggled to keep the regular season relevant,

39
00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,720
Speaker 1: and this does that. It's not perfect, but it does

40
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,239
Speaker 1: make plenty of sense. So why are the Lakers losing

41
00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,519
Speaker 1: since Lebron returned, Well, Lebron has no restrictions after that

42
00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,360
Speaker 1: high ankle spring, but he's clearly not healthy and it's

43
00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,959
Speaker 1: clear he's kind of just feeling his way back, as

44
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,919
Speaker 1: is Anthony Davis. Lebron played twenty seven minutes against the Raptors,

45
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,040
Speaker 1: nineteen points, five turnovers, was content just setting his guys

46
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,160
Speaker 1: up with six assists, and he sat the final six

47
00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,519
Speaker 1: minutes because it was a little bit sore. The ankle

48
00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:44,639
Speaker 1: was bothering him a little bit. But the Raptors, they

49
00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,679
Speaker 1: just smelled blood. Only two guys who were playing from

50
00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,560
Speaker 1: their championship run, and those two guys got whatever they wanted.

51
00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,200
Speaker 1: Pascal Siakam had thirty nine, Kyle Lowry had thirty seven.

52
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,080
Speaker 1: I mentioned the playoff run for the Raptors because this

53
00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,359
Speaker 1: could have been their championship knocking off the Lakers. Here

54
00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,760
Speaker 1: LA's next five games, the Nuggets, the Clippers, the Blazers,

55
00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,280
Speaker 1: the Suns, and the Knicks. That ain't easy. Eight total

56
00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,440
Speaker 1: games left, including two back to backs. But listen, I

57
00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:13,800
Speaker 1: think you can look at this positively for the Lakers.

58
00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,520
Speaker 1: It could help them get into playoff mode a little

59
00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,760
Speaker 1: bit early. They need that because they're going to be

60
00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,880
Speaker 1: playing a real good team no matter where they end

61
00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,960
Speaker 1: up in the standings. At worst they make the play

62
00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,880
Speaker 1: in tournament. Lebron is known for a feel out game

63
00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 1: in his first game of a series, just to get

64
00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,600
Speaker 1: to know his opponent, then hitting them in game two. Now,

65
00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,080
Speaker 1: there's no series here if they make the play in tournament.

66
00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:39,680
Speaker 1: But if you finish seventh or eighth, you get two

67
00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,280
Speaker 1: cracks at making the playoffs. Just have to win one game.

68
00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:44,119
Speaker 1: Maybe it's good for the Lakers. They need more games

69
00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,560
Speaker 1: over the next couple weeks, so they're ready to go

70
00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,440
Speaker 1: as soon as the real playoffs arrive because again, zero

71
00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:55,840
Speaker 1: pushovers in the Western Conference playoffs. They have the Nuggets tonight,

72
00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,720
Speaker 1: then Monday at home, Monday at home, that Nuggets game.

73
00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,280
Speaker 1: So we're all intrigued by these last couple of weeks, right,

74
00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,040
Speaker 1: I mean I'm intrigued just saying Nuggets, Lakers, and the

75
00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,480
Speaker 1: Lakers could be the first turn or team to make

76
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:14,160
Speaker 1: the play in tournament and win the championship. That's history, baby, Uh,

77
00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,560
Speaker 1: that was wild stuff. Now let's get to another intriguing game.

78
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:25,120
Speaker 1: The Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday afternoon. My goodness,

79
00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,360
Speaker 1: Yanni's versus Kevin Durant. It's the first of two games

80
00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,440
Speaker 1: between these two teams, and the Bucks won this one

81
00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,240
Speaker 1: by three. Yanni's had to go in all game long.

82
00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,120
Speaker 1: He was being guarded one on one by the Brooklyn Nets,

83
00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,640
Speaker 1: no help, nothing, mostly DeAndre Jordan. Yannis ended with forty nine,

84
00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,480
Speaker 1: and it came easy because DeAndre Jordan was just playing

85
00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,120
Speaker 1: off him. Janni's just shooting ten footer after ten footer,

86
00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,240
Speaker 1: and then when he wanted to, he would go around

87
00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:56,120
Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan. With nobody around, It's just Jannis versus whoever

88
00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:58,600
Speaker 1: is Blake Griffin a little bit later in the game,

89
00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,719
Speaker 1: but both those guys did not have the foot speed

90
00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,279
Speaker 1: to deal with him. Nets head coach Steve Nash said

91
00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:07,239
Speaker 1: he's not saving any scheme for a potential playoff series

92
00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,279
Speaker 1: between the Bucks and the Nets, and I don't know

93
00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,640
Speaker 1: if Nash is lying, but he can't play Yannis one

94
00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,760
Speaker 1: on one again, no chance. There's a reason teams build

95
00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,039
Speaker 1: a wall on Yannis in the postseason because he'll go

96
00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,240
Speaker 1: for forty nine versus single coverage any day, especially a

97
00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,160
Speaker 1: couple thirty two year olds and Jordan and Blake. Maybe

98
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,040
Speaker 1: Nash is saving young net Nick Claxton for his reps

99
00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,920
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Claxton's clear to play, but he didn't

100
00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,520
Speaker 1: play in this one. They'll probably just double soft double,

101
00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,560
Speaker 1: like most teams do in the playoffs. We'll see if

102
00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,479
Speaker 1: Nash changes it up for Tuesday's rematch, because it was

103
00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,600
Speaker 1: a special night for Yanni's and a pretty special defensive

104
00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,360
Speaker 1: play when he blocked Kevin Durant with two minutes left.

105
00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,400
Speaker 1: We always say durrant shot can't be blocked, especially by

106
00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:56,480
Speaker 1: a guy guarding him. Help block is kind of possible,

107
00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,479
Speaker 1: but Yannie's blocked Durant while guarding him straight up. Durant

108
00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,400
Speaker 1: drove a little space, but Janni says, so long he

109
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,920
Speaker 1: recovered to block Durant's jumper. Pretty stuff you don't see

110
00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,640
Speaker 1: that often or ever. Really, Durant never gets blocked. That

111
00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,159
Speaker 1: was incredible defense. Durant had forty two in the loss

112
00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,400
Speaker 1: because he is also phenomenal, and he had a chance

113
00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,839
Speaker 1: to tie it at the buzzer but missed again. Rematch Tuesday,

114
00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,400
Speaker 1: can't wait. The Bucks are now three back of the

115
00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:24,320
Speaker 1: Sixers for the one seed. And two and a half

116
00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,760
Speaker 1: back for the nets of the nets for two in

117
00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,120
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference. The seventy six ers at the top

118
00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,400
Speaker 1: hung on to win versus San Antonio on Sunday. It

119
00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,080
Speaker 1: was an under man Spurs team took Philly to overtime,

120
00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,760
Speaker 1: and when Joel Embiid missed a game winning attempt in overtime,

121
00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:42,800
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, who was only one of five shooting at

122
00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,039
Speaker 1: the time, tipped at home to give the seventy six

123
00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,400
Speaker 1: ers a win. Simmons took two big charges in overtime.

124
00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,520
Speaker 1: Doc said those were the biggest plays of the game.

125
00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,200
Speaker 1: He doesn't need to score. You see, get a coach

126
00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,159
Speaker 1: slash cheerleader that loves you as much as Doc Rivers

127
00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,159
Speaker 1: loves Ben Simmons. That guy is always in his corner.

128
00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:02,799
Speaker 1: Gotta love that. This game was the start of five

129
00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:04,839
Speaker 1: games in seven for Philly. So then let's have a

130
00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,560
Speaker 1: chance to make a move because I think Philly will

131
00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,560
Speaker 1: rest some of their stars during this stretch. The Spurs

132
00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,840
Speaker 1: are hanging on to tenth and the final play in

133
00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,600
Speaker 1: tournament seed after a tough weekend losing two o t

134
00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,440
Speaker 1: games Philly and then before that, Jason Tatum sixty point

135
00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,480
Speaker 1: night for the Celtics on Friday. The Warriors jumped the

136
00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,480
Speaker 1: Spurs and the standings this weekend. Last note, Rudy Gay

137
00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,480
Speaker 1: passed Buck Williams to enter the top one hundred scorers

138
00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,800
Speaker 1: in league history, nearly seventeen thousand points. I just want

139
00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,560
Speaker 1: to say Buck Williams and Rudy Gay two great names

140
00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,800
Speaker 1: in NBA history. I don't know how many points LaMelo

141
00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:39,720
Speaker 1: Ball is going to score in his career, but the

142
00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,640
Speaker 1: rookie is truly worth the price of admission or worth

143
00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,520
Speaker 1: your time to tune in to the Hornets if you're

144
00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,080
Speaker 1: watching from home. He's just so gifted with the ball.

145
00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:49,720
Speaker 1: He crossed the heat score on Dragon Sunday, then used

146
00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:51,840
Speaker 1: his eyes to fake out guys as he drove to

147
00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,000
Speaker 1: the rims, switched hands and laid it in. Then he

148
00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,800
Speaker 1: had like a seventy five eighty foot baseball pass to

149
00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:00,520
Speaker 1: lead a teammate just before the buzzer, at half afraid

150
00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,640
Speaker 1: to try anything as a rook It was the second

151
00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:05,720
Speaker 1: game back from injury. He had fourteen points in the

152
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,200
Speaker 1: loss to Miami. LaMelo needs Gordon Hayward back from that

153
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,040
Speaker 1: footsprain if they're gonna make some noise Hayward should be

154
00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,840
Speaker 1: back before the Hornets play in tournament run because they

155
00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,280
Speaker 1: are very likely to end up there, and that run

156
00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,400
Speaker 1: is gonna be must watch. You see, Lebron, You're gonna

157
00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,600
Speaker 1: be watching this, You must be. The Heat are making

158
00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:25,840
Speaker 1: their run, climbing to a tie for fifth in the

159
00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,280
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference standings. The Boston Celtics have dropped to seventh

160
00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:31,680
Speaker 1: in the East and into the play and Tournament with

161
00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,040
Speaker 1: Miami's win and their loss to the Blazers on Sunday.

162
00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,880
Speaker 1: It started off as a real barn barner, tied at

163
00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:40,640
Speaker 1: seventy one with the Blazers at half. Coming off that

164
00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,360
Speaker 1: sixty point game. Tatum ended with thirty three, but the

165
00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,160
Speaker 1: Blazers pulled away in the fourth quarter because they are

166
00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,160
Speaker 1: streaking at the right time. In chase of the Lakers,

167
00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:51,880
Speaker 1: they hit half their threes. McCollum had thirty three, Dame

168
00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,920
Speaker 1: had twenty six, and it ended in truly Boston Celtics

169
00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,400
Speaker 1: fashion for this season, with Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum

170
00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:02,600
Speaker 1: running into each other on a sideline inbound play. They

171
00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:06,320
Speaker 1: both left the floor. Hopefully they're both all right. The

172
00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,920
Speaker 1: Mavericks are currently just ahead of the Blazers tied with

173
00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,160
Speaker 1: the Lakers, and if they could just take care of

174
00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,400
Speaker 1: the lowly Sacramento Kings, they'd be sailing. Dallas is six

175
00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:16,440
Speaker 1: and three over its last nine games, with all three

176
00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,600
Speaker 1: losses to the Kings. After Sunday's loss to Sacramento, Luka

177
00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:24,520
Speaker 1: Doncic was hit with his fourteenth and fifteenth technical fouls

178
00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,640
Speaker 1: of the season, getting ejected in the final minute. The

179
00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,160
Speaker 1: NBA rule is if you get sixteen in a season,

180
00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:33,840
Speaker 1: you're suspended for one game. So the MAVs have eight

181
00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,480
Speaker 1: games left in a race here. That is something to

182
00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,240
Speaker 1: watch for. The MAVs will definitely be trying to rein

183
00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,160
Speaker 1: in Luca a little bit. Maybe it's a good idea

184
00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:43,720
Speaker 1: to give him a big mouth guard to play in

185
00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:45,920
Speaker 1: kind of muffle the sound or play in a mask.

186
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,440
Speaker 1: At the very least, the MAVs are gonna appeal the

187
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,960
Speaker 1: first one that he received on Sunday, though, so to

188
00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,240
Speaker 1: try and rescind one of those would bring him back

189
00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,080
Speaker 1: to fourteen. There's a chance they rescind it because it

190
00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,640
Speaker 1: was just him throwing the ball off the stanchion. Rounding

191
00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,520
Speaker 1: out the schedule. On Sunday, the Knicks started their important

192
00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:05,800
Speaker 1: six game road trip off well beating the Knicks or

193
00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,440
Speaker 1: beating the Rockets and keeping hold of the East four seed,

194
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,400
Speaker 1: and the Suns beat the thunder who were coming off

195
00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:16,560
Speaker 1: a fifty seven point loss to the Pacers. This game

196
00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:18,880
Speaker 1: was only a three point loss to the Suns. We'll

197
00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,760
Speaker 1: get into that fifty seven point loss on Monday's edition

198
00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,920
Speaker 1: of Weekend Winners and Losers on No Ducks, and I'll

199
00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:26,640
Speaker 1: be back to give you the news as fast as

200
00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,360
Speaker 1: I possibly can tomorrow. I'll talk to you then