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Speaker 1: Twitter is not real life. Twitter is not real life.

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Speaker 1: Lakers fans are worried about their championship team that's lost

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Speaker 1: two in a row. The Rockets have to use their

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Speaker 1: best player, Christian woodmore and will the Heat recover from

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Speaker 1: this poor start. I'm tas Mellus and this is what

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Speaker 1: you need to know in the NBA for Friday, January

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Speaker 1: twenty ninth. Let's start with the Blazers and the Rockets

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Speaker 1: the first game of the TNT doubleheader on Thursday. Houston

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Speaker 1: is a team I find it hard not to cheer for.

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Speaker 1: I'm in the corner of John Waldemarcus Cousins, and Victor Oladipo,

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Speaker 1: maybe because they've suffered huge injuries in the past, major surgeries,

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Speaker 1: and I'm an empathy guy. I want to see them recover.

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Speaker 1: I want to see them fight and battle on and

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Speaker 1: get back to their old cells. Like John Wall said

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Speaker 1: after the game, everybody on this roster has something to prove.

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Speaker 1: Those three guys have been cast off by their old teams.

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Speaker 1: It's a good story. But at the same time, they

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Speaker 1: have suffered major injuries, and they've got a guy on

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Speaker 1: their roster who's young, in spry and should be dominating

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Speaker 1: the league at the center spot. Christian Wood is playing

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Speaker 1: well this year, but I think he should be featured

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Speaker 1: a little bit more. He only had twelve shots against

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Speaker 1: the Portland Trail Blazers. That usage rate should be higher.

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Speaker 1: He is that good now. The Rockets won this game.

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Speaker 1: They're down twenty early to the Blazers. They came back

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Speaker 1: and the Blazers shooting because they love to shoot. Their

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Speaker 1: last in the league in points in the paint. Their

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Speaker 1: shooting almost overcame their defensive problems. They just allow too

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Speaker 1: many buckets. The Rockets have full strength, though, should have

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Speaker 1: beat this Blazers team up bat CJ. McCollum still out.

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Speaker 1: He's out for at least a couple more weeks. Use

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Speaker 1: Off Nurkic also out for the Blazers, and this game

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Speaker 1: shouldn't have gone down to the wire. I'm sure TNT

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Speaker 1: would beg to differ with that. They had a game

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Speaker 1: go down to the wire. It was exciting, but this

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Speaker 1: Rockets team needs to find the right hierarchy. It's an

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Speaker 1: interesting balanced Victor Oladipo going into a contract year, I

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Speaker 1: think should be operating a little bit more within the system,

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Speaker 1: and Christian Woods should be the guy scoring a ton.

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Speaker 1: The Blazers continue to fire away from deep like they

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Speaker 1: always do, and they got some performances. Dame Lillard, of course,

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Speaker 1: he had five threes thirty points overall. Gary Trent Junior

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Speaker 1: was the surprise seven threes twenty three points overall, and

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Speaker 1: three of those threes were consecutive in the fourth quarter.

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Speaker 1: That was a blast to watch. And Anfredy Simons had

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Speaker 1: four threes off the bench. Moving out to the Lakers

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Speaker 1: and the Pistons, I know I shouldn't listen to the twitters,

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Speaker 1: but they sucked me in because they got worried when

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Speaker 1: they saw their team lose their second game in a

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Speaker 1: row here on the road. It was a back to back.

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Speaker 1: They lost to the Sixers on Wednesday, then they lost

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Speaker 1: to the Pistons when their team fell apart in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter. They missed twelve straight shots. They had a

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Speaker 1: fourteen point fourth quarter. The Pistons went on a sixteen

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Speaker 1: to er run. Whooped friggin do. The Lakers started this

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Speaker 1: season winning ten straight road games. It's expected that they're

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Speaker 1: gonna have a bit of a drop off, a bit

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Speaker 1: of a falloff. I thought that this would happen far

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Speaker 1: more often this season. But the Lakers have been very impressive.

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Speaker 1: So they're three and two on a seven game trip.

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Speaker 1: That's respectable. There's nothing wrong with this team. Even though

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Speaker 1: Lebron had only two points in the second half, it

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Speaker 1: was on Lebron like in this game, no Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: right quad contusion. But big picture, this team is performing

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Speaker 1: oh so well. I am shocked that they have the

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Speaker 1: best defense in the league. I know they had it

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Speaker 1: last year, but I thought with the changes they drop

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Speaker 1: off a bit. Lebron's team in Cleveland when they won

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Speaker 1: a championship, their defense dropped off. You want to go

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Speaker 1: early century Lakers here when they went back to back

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Speaker 1: to back, their team would be just sort of lacks

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Speaker 1: a daisical night in and night out, maybe not show up.

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Speaker 1: But this team has shown up, and I expect them

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Speaker 1: to show up in Boston and Atlanta as they app

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Speaker 1: up their road trip. In this game, Blake Griffin, he

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Speaker 1: had his best game in a while, twenty three points

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Speaker 1: for him, five threes. He sees a Lakers jersey in

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Speaker 1: front of him, he just has to perform, and he's

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Speaker 1: loving life. He's had a little laugh at Lebron who

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Speaker 1: was complaining about a flop. Five threes for Blake Man.

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Speaker 1: How many threes is Blake hitting a game? I'm just

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Speaker 1: getting this from my producer. Eight earlier this year. Wow, shocking,

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Speaker 1: and nine last season. Wow. Great work, JD. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: chiming in there. Really appreciate that. Veteran sharpshooter Wayne Ellington

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Speaker 1: stays hot from deep for the Piston, six of nine

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Speaker 1: from three in this one. He's forty of sixty seven

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Speaker 1: in his last eight games, only the eighth player in

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Speaker 1: NBA history to have at least seven straight games with

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Speaker 1: four or more threes. Only eight players have had seven

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Speaker 1: straight games with four or more threes. That's why earlier

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Speaker 1: this week when the No Dunk's Crew said a guy

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Speaker 1: will make five hundred or six hundred threes in an

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Speaker 1: NBA season, that is poppy. That's six or seven a

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Speaker 1: game for eighty two games. I know that's a lot

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Speaker 1: of numbers. Okay, one more. Wayne Ellington leads the NBA

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Speaker 1: with a fifty three percent three point percentage, and someone's

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Speaker 1: trading for that guy at the trade deadline. Somebody's taken

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Speaker 1: away run the thirty three year old who can fire

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Speaker 1: away Troy Weaver in the Pistons front office will be

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Speaker 1: weaving some magic trading away Wayne Ellington. That's a prediction.

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Speaker 1: Clippers and Heat, it looked like Tyler Hero and his

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Speaker 1: neck tape were gonna be enough for Miami to snap

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Speaker 1: their four game losing streak. Hero came back after missing

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Speaker 1: seven games with neck spasms. He scored nineteen to lead Miami.

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Speaker 1: They're up eighteen points early on a Clippers team that

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Speaker 1: didn't have Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. But the Clippers

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Speaker 1: win on or run. These aren't share older brothers, Clippers.

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Speaker 1: These aren't your friends, Clippers. These aren't your bubble Clippers.

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Speaker 1: Twenty to two run in that third quarter. Nicolobutoom had

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Speaker 1: eighteen points overall. He's a great story this year. Lou

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Speaker 1: Williams had seventeen overall. The Heat levtost five in a row.

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Speaker 1: They didn't have seven guys in this game. Let's make

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Speaker 1: that clear. Jimmy Butler has been out for a while.

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Speaker 1: He's questionable, should be back soon. Avery Bradley Goring, Dragish,

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Speaker 1: Andre Udala, others are injured. But the Heater are six

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Speaker 1: and twelve. They're a quarter of their way through their season.

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Speaker 1: And I still believe somehow that they're going to fight

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Speaker 1: their way back and at least be in the mix

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Speaker 1: for a top four seed and have championship aspirations. Maybe

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Speaker 1: it's because I turn on that TV and I see

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Speaker 1: the Heats Arena, the American Airlines Arena, American Airlines Center.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure which one it is, but I always

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Speaker 1: get them confused. Either way, their heat culture permeates through

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Speaker 1: that television. At me, I still believe that they will

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Speaker 1: fight back when they do get healthy. I check their

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Speaker 1: championship odds now. Don't gamble, but on MGM bet they're

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Speaker 1: plus twenty two hundred to win the championship. Those are

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Speaker 1: good odds now. They are a long shot, no doubt.

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Speaker 1: But in the Eastern Conference, anybody can make it through.

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Speaker 1: And if the Brooklyn Nets, who are the absolute favorite

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Speaker 1: right now in the Eastern Conference, which is a little

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Speaker 1: bit crazy with their defense, you never know if a

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Speaker 1: Heat defense goes up against that Brooklyn Nets offense. Moving

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Speaker 1: on to the last game of Thursday, Warriors and Sons.

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Speaker 1: Kelly Ubray of Golden State Warriors has been an interesting

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Speaker 1: story this week. Now, he was once upon a time

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Speaker 1: a Phoenix Sun. He's been traded three times, and it's

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Speaker 1: interesting this week that he was in some more trade rumors.

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Speaker 1: Steve Kerr said earlier this week, it's unfortunate. We got

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Speaker 1: a call and someone asked about Kelly, didn't even make

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Speaker 1: an offer, and then it was online. So then Steve

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Speaker 1: Kerr went to Kelly Ubray decided, Hey, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: address this with him directly. Then Kelly Ubray went and

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Speaker 1: had a great game after Kerk talked to him. Twenty

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Speaker 1: points and nine rebounds, looking like his old self because

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Speaker 1: he's had a bad season, but on Thursday didn't have

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Speaker 1: a very good night. He was one of eleven four

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Speaker 1: points as the Suns. They got a dub They had

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Speaker 1: lost three in a row. No shame in those losses.

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Speaker 1: Two OT games to Denver where they lost Devin Booker

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Speaker 1: after the first one. Then they lost to the ok

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Speaker 1: See Thunder. Then they got back on track verst the Warriors.

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Speaker 1: It was mainly the role guys doing the job. Abdul

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Speaker 1: Nader making Egypt proud had sixteen points. Frank Keminski making

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Speaker 1: somewhere in America proud. He's from Illinois twelve points, thirteen

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Speaker 1: rebounds and eight assists. Some of those two Abdul Nators

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Speaker 1: setting him up. The Warriors just don't get enough offense

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Speaker 1: outside of Steph Curry. He had twenty seven in this one,

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Speaker 1: but Andrew Wiggans adding sixteen and Kelly Rubery adding four

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Speaker 1: points was not enough to beat the Phoenix Suns. Speaking

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Speaker 1: of Kelly Ubray, are those trade rumors real? I find

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Speaker 1: it hard to believe that they would trade him away

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Speaker 1: this season after a season of upheaval last year where

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Speaker 1: they traded for Dangel Russell in the offseason, then they

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Speaker 1: traded him mid season. I think they're gonna go forward

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Speaker 1: as payment to Steph, as payment to Jerymond Green, as

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Speaker 1: payment to this organization with what they got and try

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Speaker 1: and be good. I mean, they exclaimed in the offseason

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Speaker 1: that hey, we're going for it when they traded for

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Speaker 1: Kelly Ubra. They're paying fourteen million dollars in salary for

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Speaker 1: Ubre plus sixty eight million dollars in luxury tax fees

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Speaker 1: for Kelly Ubra, and there I guess there is a

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Speaker 1: world where they blow it up. Considering they don't have

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Speaker 1: Klay Thompson, and it would be difficult to see them

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Speaker 1: in the NBA Finals with their current roster. But I

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Speaker 1: do not. I see them going forward with this team

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Speaker 1: and seeing what they can get out of Ubre, trying

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Speaker 1: to get him back to what he did on Wednesday

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Speaker 1: twenty points and nine rebounds. I think it's a respectable

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Speaker 1: start to the season for them at ten and nine.

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Speaker 1: Same for the Suns, who have climbed back over five

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Speaker 1: hundred at nine to eight. Couple quick notes. Great Popovich,

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Speaker 1: Spurs head coach, got his first dosage of the COVID

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Speaker 1: nineteen vaccine. He is seventy two years old. And you

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Speaker 1: can vote for your NBA All Stars now at NBA

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Speaker 1: dot com. And it's my one year olds first birthday,

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Speaker 1: Noah's birthday today, so I gotta go give some hugs.

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Speaker 1: That's why you may be getting this video slash audio

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Speaker 1: a little bit earlier today because we like our early

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Speaker 1: hugs here in my household Gataran. I will be back

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Speaker 1: on Monday to give you the news as fast as

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Speaker 1: I possibly can. Make sure you check out Friday's The

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Speaker 1: Drop episode wherever you get no ducks see them Monday