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Speaker 1: The Bulls. Zach Lavine's got to be an All Star

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Speaker 1: because he'll have some additional duties to perform. No repeat

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Speaker 1: of what happened in Chicago last year. Hawks Tree Young

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Speaker 1: while he is going to be an All Star, it's

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Speaker 1: in Atlanta. No repeat of what happened in Chicago last year.

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Speaker 1: And Damian Lillard, well he'll be an All Star. Repeat

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Speaker 1: of what happened in Chicago last year. He's there every season.

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Speaker 1: I'm tas Mellis and this is what you need to

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Speaker 1: know in the NBA For Thursday, February eighteen, let me

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Speaker 1: take you back to last year's All Star weekend in Chicago.

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Speaker 1: The bull zach Lavine's stock was rising. It looked like

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Speaker 1: he could be picked for his first All Star Game

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Speaker 1: in his team's town. What's more perfect than that, Well,

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Speaker 1: what's more perfect than that was that he said he

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Speaker 1: was also going to be back in the Dunk Contest

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Speaker 1: and the Three Point Contest. He was going to try

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Speaker 1: and win those two things as the first player ever

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Speaker 1: to do it. But he said, I'm not coming back

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Speaker 1: to the dunk Contest. I know I brought the Dunk

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Speaker 1: Contest back in twenty fifteen and twenty sixteen. Those were phenomenal,

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Speaker 1: but I'm not coming back unless I'm an All Star.

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Speaker 1: And then he wasn't selected in an All Star so

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Speaker 1: he had to be a man of his word. Said nope,

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Speaker 1: not gonna be the Dunk Contest, but he participated in

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Speaker 1: the Three Point Contest. Let's rectify that. I know this

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Speaker 1: is one strange season. We shouldn't be having an All

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Speaker 1: Star Weekend at all, but one thing could make it

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Speaker 1: must watch is if Zach Levine is back in the

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Speaker 1: Dunk Contest, he might say, oh, maybe he's done. He

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Speaker 1: won't participate. Listen before All Star Weekend last year, after

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Speaker 1: he said he wasn't gonna be in it and they

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Speaker 1: picked the other dunkers, he put out these videos showing

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Speaker 1: a three to sixty from the free throw line. What

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Speaker 1: he was teasing us, this is what you're missing. Well,

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Speaker 1: put him in the All Star Game and he'll be

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Speaker 1: in the Dunk Contest. You can be in the three

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Speaker 1: point Contest if you want Zach Levine, it doesn't matter.

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Speaker 1: The point is we want you back in the Dunk Contest,

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Speaker 1: and with the way he's playing, he's got to be

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Speaker 1: an All Star. Continued on Wednesday, it was a strange

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Speaker 1: one because the Bulls were scheduled to play the Hornets,

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Speaker 1: but they couldn't play because of COVID tracing. The Pistons

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Speaker 1: were scheduled to visit Dallas, but the Mavericks couldn't play

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Speaker 1: because of the snowstorm which is ravaged Texas. So the

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Speaker 1: Bulls and Pistons decide to play each other in a

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Speaker 1: rescheduled game. Jeremy Grant a career high forty three for

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Speaker 1: the Pistons and the Bulls were down twenty five in

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Speaker 1: the first half at Zach Levine, like he's doing all season,

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Speaker 1: brought the Bulls back. They won with thirty seven points. Similarly,

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Speaker 1: Damian Lillard is reported to want in the three point Contest.

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Speaker 1: That report via Yeah, Who's Sports? Dame is sure to

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Speaker 1: be an All Star and this year in the three

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Speaker 1: point Contest, dun Contest and All Star Game on the

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Speaker 1: same night. Oh, why the heck nut? Just jump in

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Speaker 1: the three point content It's the same night, You're there already,

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Speaker 1: But jumping the dunk contest? Why the heck not? No

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Speaker 1: man has ever won the three point Contest and the

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Speaker 1: Dunk Contest be the first Dame. What's strange is that

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Speaker 1: Damian Lillard was in the Dunk Contest in twenty fourteen.

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Speaker 1: It was that freewheel and skateboarding style that they had.

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Speaker 1: Was just the clock was on, guys were just going

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Speaker 1: back and forth. John Wall jumped over g Whiz, a mascot. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: Dame's not going to be the Dunk Contest, but he

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Speaker 1: will be an All Star. Against the Pelicans on Wednesday,

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Speaker 1: it was Dame time once again, but it was slightly different.

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Speaker 1: He had the go ahead and one play with sixteen

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Speaker 1: seconds remaining. Yeah, it was a three point play, but

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Speaker 1: it was an old school three point play. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: a Dame new school three point play. He got eleven

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter points part of his forty three overall. It

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Speaker 1: is phenomenal that the Blazers are eighteen and ten. They've

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Speaker 1: had a bad defense all season long, and then when CJ.

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Speaker 1: McCollum was injured a month ago, I thought, how are

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Speaker 1: they going to carry this offense enough to make up

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Speaker 1: for number one a bad defense and number two SAGY

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Speaker 1: McCollums injury. Well respect to Damian Lillard, because he has

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Speaker 1: done both players are sitting at eighteen to ten. Phenomenal,

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Speaker 1: A guy who should be a rep for the Eastern

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Speaker 1: Conference All Stars. Trey Young had a great game against

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Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics, hitting seventy percent of his shots, one

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Speaker 1: of his most efficient games of the season. And the

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Speaker 1: Hawks had a great fourth quarter. They only lost it

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Speaker 1: by one. They're so bad in the fourth losing by

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Speaker 1: one is a huge win. And the Celtics were so

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Speaker 1: desperate in the fourth they resorted to hack a Clint

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Speaker 1: Cappella midway through the quarter because they couldn't get a stop.

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Speaker 1: They just sent them to the free throw line. There's

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Speaker 1: no other way for us to get stops against this

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Speaker 1: Hawks team. No, Marcus Smart is really really hurting their defense.

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Speaker 1: It's an excuse, but it's true. No Kemba Walker in

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Speaker 1: this one either. He's not playing in back to backs.

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Speaker 1: This jekylin hide Celtics squad. What do you get from

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Speaker 1: them on a night to night basis? Who the heck

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Speaker 1: knows snapped a four game losing streak. Let's go to Philadelphia,

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Speaker 1: they were hosting the Rockets. Hey I didn't mention Ben

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Speaker 1: Simmons as an Eastern Conference All Star guard. He just

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Speaker 1: had a forty two point night the other night. Starting

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Speaker 1: to get a little crowded amongst the guards in the East.

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Speaker 1: He was out of this game though he had the flu.

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Speaker 1: No Christian would. No. Victor Ladipo on the other side

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Speaker 1: kind of evened it out. Joel embiid well, he took over.

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Speaker 1: He wore a headband for the first time since February first,

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty, and had thirty one and eleven while wearing it,

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Speaker 1: although he did lose it at some point. He did

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Speaker 1: take it off. I'm not sure when he did. I've

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Speaker 1: failed you. I apologize. The Sixers remained in first in

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Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference, albeit barely one and a half games

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Speaker 1: up on the Nets. Who play the Lakers tonight? Hello, Sure,

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Speaker 1: no Anthony Davis, no Kevin Durant, but we still got

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Speaker 1: Lebron Harden and Kyrie looking forward to that one. Speaking

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Speaker 1: of teams atop the West and the Lakers, well the Jazz.

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Speaker 1: They continue their hot play in a win over the

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Speaker 1: Kowhilas and Paul Paul George List's Clippers. That's hard to say.

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Speaker 1: They have won nine in a row and twenty of

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Speaker 1: their last twenty one. Is it time for the world

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Speaker 1: to respect them as a championship contender? Well, gotta say this.

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Speaker 1: The Jazz are playing in a way that does not

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Speaker 1: make them a lock for the NBA Finals. What they're

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Speaker 1: doing is unprecedented. Nearly half of their points are from

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Speaker 1: the three point line forty three percent. I'm rounding up,

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Speaker 1: but that's higher than any Warriors team. That's essentially higher

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Speaker 1: than any team in NBA history. It's higher than the

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Speaker 1: Morey Rockets shooting three ball after three ball after three ball.

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Speaker 1: Thanks to the score for that information. The Warriors did

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Speaker 1: a lot more assisting actually than the Jazz due they

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Speaker 1: had a lot more catch and shoot situations. While Jazz

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Speaker 1: players are creating on their own a lot more than

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Speaker 1: those Warriors team that did it with passing, like Donovan

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Speaker 1: Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson are doing it without assist and

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Speaker 1: they keep this up with the way they're hitting the

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Speaker 1: three balls. Stranger things have happened, like the Wizards winning

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Speaker 1: three three in a row. They beat the Nuggets in

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Speaker 1: a crazy game because Denver can't string together good defensive quarters.

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Speaker 1: Davas Burton's had a career high nine threes and a

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Speaker 1: career high thirty five points for the Whiz. That's why

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Speaker 1: they gave them all that money. At nine to seventeen,

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Speaker 1: Washington's playoff hopes are still alive. I am not kidding.

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Speaker 1: Not sure what's up with the Miami Heat. They have

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Speaker 1: lost three in a row after losing to Golden State

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Speaker 1: and are only a game up on those Wizards. Steph

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Speaker 1: Curry was five of twenty from three point land and

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Speaker 1: the Dubs still got the Dub in overtime. In another

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Speaker 1: bad shooting performance, the Knicks, Emmanuel Quickly and Derrick Rose

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Speaker 1: shot a combined two for twenty two off the bench,

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Speaker 1: while the human Torch Terrence Ross dropped thirty off the

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Speaker 1: Magic's bench to beat the Knicks. The Lakers and other

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Speaker 1: teams are reportedly interested in Orlando's backup big man Mobamba.

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Speaker 1: Keep an eye out for Mobamba being traded before the

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Speaker 1: trade deadline. Anthony Edwards barely missed a game winner for

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Speaker 1: the Wolves at the Buzzer, and the Pacers beat Minnesota

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Speaker 1: in overtime. The Grizzlies beat Okac because all five of

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Speaker 1: their starters had at least fifteen points. That's how you

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Speaker 1: do it, teamwork. You'll get some teamwork from No Dunks

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Speaker 1: on Thursday night. Check out Happy Hour during halftime of

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Speaker 1: the TNT game. We'll be going till the end of

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Speaker 1: the game. And speaking of TNT, they'll be announcing the

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Speaker 1: All Star starters on Thursday night. Keep an eye out

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Speaker 1: for that. I'll be back to give you the news

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Speaker 1: as fast as I possibly can tomorrow on Friday, I'll

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Speaker 1: see that