 Run it up, then run it back, yeah. Run it up, then run it back, run it back, run it back. Oh, happy Wednesday morning. Wednesday's our Friday. Trust us, it makes sense. So we are very excited. Our last day in LA for a couple weeks. But we will be back. This is Run It Back. Shyam Srania, Stadium Insider, Evan Turner, our friend, our colleague, Eddie G on the end. And we do have basketball to talk about, lots of it. But breaking news right off the top. Breaking news, you know I love it. Talk to me. So Joel Embiid wins MVP last night. And then he turns to his team. They have a raucous book quick, five-minute celebration. The Sixers are trying to win a championship this year. He turns to his team last night, says, I'm back. I'm told this morning he is indeed on track to play tonight. Unless there are any setbacks, he had a positive workout yesterday. He did a full-on workout yesterday. Came out of it good. I think he's feeling good this morning. So unless there's anything that happens today, Joel Embiid, back for the Sixers. They have a chance tonight. They're up 1-0. They have a chance to go up 2-0 on the road in Boston with Joel Embiid. The newly crowned MVP potentially back tonight. Oh, the break, the spirits of the Celtics fans. If he returns tonight and they win two on the road. Good move, bad move. Would you let him sit a little longer? Talk to me, Evan. Man, I would let him sit a little longer. All you need is one win on the road. I think the same way that the Sixers play last game, they feel pretty confident. And right now, James Horne said he hasn't felt like he's been in this type of zone or type of groove in a minute. So try to ride that hot hand. Let the big fella take one more game to come back. Go to Philadelphia, let him ring the bell, MVP. Me and that type thing. But we get back to the conference. We get back to the series. I mean, he's coming back from a pretty serious LCL sprain. Like he's got pretty much a grade two, or he had a grade two LCL sprain that he was diagnosed on April 21st. Those injuries, they can take weeks, several weeks. So he's going to be coming back at around the two week mark. He's a quick healer. I mean, we've seen, he's played through a lot of stuff we talked about it the other day. So, you know, two week recovery for Joel and B, not bad. I think those guys, they're looking at the East. They smell the champagne. They see their path to the finals. They're watching that rock fight in New York last night. They're trying to go for the killer. They're trying to go beat those tonight. This is our finals right here. We beat these guys. We have a good path. I would have waited a little bit too, but if he says he's healthy, if he's working out, if he looks good, you got to put him out there, you got to play. You got a chance to go too well and go home with that. I could see that. The fact that they're looking at, I mean, it's disrespectful to both the Knicks and Heed, obviously, but I get the theory or why you might feel that way. He was named the MVP last night. An award that he's been vocal over the last several seasons of Wanting, which is very different. It was a very wholesome moment and lovely taking place in some sort of a conference room in a Boston hotel, I suppose. Did they get it right? The MVP voters. You know, we got to talk about this today. Now, I most definitely think so. When you play versus Joel, when you see him in person, you see a skill set and what he's able to do. There's dominance on the game. I mean, if it wasn't gonna happen last year, this year, next year, I feel like he would have been an old one, regardless. And it's just a dominant force, unbelievable talent, skill set. And when you first see the first videos of him back in 2011 to now and see that journey, it's amazing and I'm glad to be part of that and see him be alive during a time where he's able to win it because this is an unbelievable player. Yeah, it's not a novelty. He led the league in scoring every 33 and 10. They had a great record. He's great on defense. Like, this is what you want from your MVP. I understand that there were other worthy candidates. Sure. And it's not to shortchange them, but listening to players around the league, we've had players in the show and immediately say, yo, it's him. So I think they got it right this year and it was close, but they got it right. He's deserted and he clearly been wanting that for you. That video that they had was great. I'm happy for him. It was good. He's crying in front of all these guys. He finds his old tweet from 2014 where he said he was gonna be MVP and it's dope to see somebody get the coronation of somebody like that because he's that great. There's a backhanded compliment, if there ever was one. He did everything without leading any of those categories and Yoki's led all five. He advanced numbers on that. Man, a lot of letters and numbers. We might look back on this like 20 years from now and say Yoki's got robbed, but in a modern time. They're a triple double of all time that he averaged behind Oscar Robertson, Russell Westbrook and he did it as a center, first center to do it. So yeah, for sure, statistically there's a case and maybe this is the fatigue of we know what Yoki is like, but I mean, let's be honest, I don't think Nikola Yoki paid much attention to the MVP award show last night. I think just based on his comments over the last several weeks, he seemed like he was over it like that. He was beyond the MVP and he's thinking bigger picture. They're up 2-0 against the Suns. They're focused on this series. They're trying to win a championship. I think Joel Embiid is focused on the chip too, but the MVP means a lot more to him. I think the Sixers were way more prepped for an MVP celebration than the Bucks and the Nuggets were. And now he can maybe relax and focus on this other thing. Basketball happened yesterday. We'll start with the later game. Lakers Warriors, what is going on? Oh, Lakers beat the Warriors 117, 112. They now have a one game lead on the road. They went in, AD with 30, 23 rebounds, four blocks. LeBron finished with 22, 11, and four. But it was the last shot of the game. It was the Jordan Poole shot that I think. And by the way, I don't want to take anything away from Jordan Poole, he had a good game, but it's that last shot that everyone's talking about this morning. It was a chance to tie it. What'd you think? I mean, it was a tough swing, swing, especially considering a guy had six threes. You understand him? Sure, he was a little hot. I mean, it goes without saying, 10 seconds left, you have two of the best shooters of all time. You know, you got to wait your turn in a pool party, I guess. But you want to see 30 get the shot, of course. But this, I mean, ah, it's tough, man, it's tough. Of all time on the floor, two of the greatest shooters in the history of life. He had some space there to take a couple of drills. No, of course, take a step forward. I think their data confidence is crazy. We're going to look back on this in 10 years and laugh and be like, remember back in the day you did half of Steph Curry's game winners? I felt that, I felt that. When Jordan Poole pulled up from heaven, I felt that. It's just, if you're watching the game going, no, it's like slow-mo, no, that's not it. Would Evan Turner take that shot? That's not it. With the trailblazers fresh off, that's 70 M's. Ask Damon CJ. They'll tell you, that's the reason why they like me. I'll be like, bro, what you doing passing me the ball? I'm immediately looking for that. I'm like, wait, come right back. I'll get an ill-equal screen and get that. Yeah, come on, I'll get you a ball back. I'll get you a ball back. It was a terrible shot. Let's be honest. We can. 35 foot for the playoff win. Look, he was, he had 21 points last night. He had six threes like you mentioned. It cannot be. He had a hot streak. It's his best game in some time. Sure. And he was open. I'll give him that. But if you look at the way they swung the ball, Draymond was kind of waiting for the ball to come back. Right. Nobody moved. Nobody was expecting him to shoot that shot. They were expecting a reset, maybe a drive. One, two. No. And watch Steph's reaction and he just, look at Steph. No. Oh my goodness. His reactions are reaction. He shouted like, they're about to love me for this. The dynamics of this team are so awkward. And I think they're the title favorite. It's so awkward. You just cannot watch this team and watch Jordan pool play without going, yo, his teammate punched him on camera before the season started. In every game, I'm not saying it's okay to hit your coworker, but every game well, I could see it. I could see it. After last night, a lot of people were like, should have saved it for last night. If he would have done it last night, people would have. That looked like he wanted to run around too. It's a tough shot. It's just game one. It was his best game in some time. You got to get that ball. He went at home. You got to give that ball. You have 10 seconds. He had time to dribble. He had time to, the defender coming. He could have crossed them up. You could have done a different thing. Told him to do a bunch of stuff. It was compounded by the fact that he just got his shot blocked like by three different hands, the possession before it. Great comeback. Tough result at the end of that game. Is there anybody saying they loved his shot today? Yeah, like. I mean, he technically was open. I just, like IT says, I mean, it was just. He could have been opener. It was a little deeper than probably. Why was he standing that far? Like, you could have gone somewhere else. You have a couple more steps that you could have taken. How would y'all feel after hitting six threes? Like, would you be turned? Yeah, you're invincible. Invincible. Like, so after making six threes, I'm like, man. True. You probably think about the fallout, too. If I make this shot, I'm like, I'm not a legend, but. But Jordan Poole's different. Jumping. That's what he's doing. I'm turning up now. He hit some ridiculous shots yesterday. So I get the confidence. No. You got 10 seconds. There's a better shot. You still have a better shot on the court than that shot. You got G's. Oh, Tyree's Halliburton was the only one. So far that we know of. I'm sure somebody else out there thought it was a good shot. I've seen Tyree's air ball game winning attempts as well, so. This is the moment right here. They were doing the game last night in Taylor Brooks and everybody. So he's not mad at it. He's wide open. I would have shot that, too. Channing Fry, that's why you're here with us. Shout out to Taylor and Channing. Tyree's, you're the all star on your team. All right, do you understand what I'm saying? You can shoot that. Right, you don't have Steph Curry. There's a hierarchy on the Pacers, and then the hierarchy on the Warriors, and it's much different, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, so. But I'm telling you, it's why people fell in love with Jordan Poole. It's why he got paid so much money. There's that cockiness to him that you love or hate. But in moments like that, you just want those seconds back. Just do it over. Please, for the love of everything, do it over. But not to take anything away from the Lakers. They did walk into a very loud, very hostile environment, and AD was just stupid. Like, yeah, that's the only word I can come up with. He was dominating. LeBron even afterwards said AD's number three will be in the Rafters. Is this the AD we're gonna get for this entire series? And maybe even the rest of the playoffs if they move on. I think so. Unless they get somebody way taller, you know, that means available, but right now, he's just having his way. Shout out to Kavon Looney. Shout out to, you know, Dremyne Green by AD. It's just, he's playing like a top five player right now. His touch, his ability, his, you know, his intangibles are just too much for anybody, especially being the biggest player on the court and one of the most skilled. Unbelievable. This is the aggression you want from AD, the physicality. And maybe he looked at this matchup and said, this is a matchup that favors me. And Kavon Looney is no slouching. But that ain't the modest of bonus. That's Anthony Davis. And it's a much, much different ball game with that guy. He was on his way to a 40 ball. He had 20 at the half. His guy stepped up in the second half. D'Lo had a big third quarter. Auster Reeves eventually out of the snide. LeBron has some big buckets late and they were able to spread the wealth. But he was absolutely dominant. And I do wonder going forward, the defense is a little gimmicky. They're just saying, we're going to pack the paint. We're only worried about Steph and Clay. The Warriors will have something for that. But you can do that when Anthony Davis is that dominant in the paint. The Warriors could not drive on him at all yesterday and they pretty much abandoned it. And the attempts they did. That's a wall. He's a wall. We were talking about Steph's scoop earlier. They were trying gimmicky stuff themselves. And he was still slapping at like so. It's like a giant amongst tiny boys. And sometimes you forget like the media, I guess, plays a part in it. But I remember back when they won the championship in 2020. I remember leaving there and being like, I can't believe a team with LeBron. I thought a team with LeBron or Anthony Davis didn't have a chance to actually win it. Or like, damn, they're being shielded yesterday. You know what I mean? And when you're breaking it down like this, this is Anthony Davis. Like, send help, send a couple or else, shy town's going to put on. And I underestimated it. And I underestimated what Jared Vendor wrote was going to do on Steph and Curry. I didn't know he had the speed. I underestimated the length. And Darvin Hammett's plan is just like you and Dennis Rutter are just going to have to go over every screen. It doesn't matter. Going to have to go over them. AD is going to be down in the paint. Late in the game, they blitzed a little bit with AD. That's a lot of trust in those guys. And we had a free throw foul. We had a foul on a three, just curling up the curl. It's a lot of trust in those guys. Not to foul, to keep up, to work through those dream on screens. Last night, it worked. We'll see how it works over the course of a series. But they looked great last night. There was a huge disparity in free throws last night. We like to look at numbers here at Running Back and just what does the story tell? Well, in this one, Lakers had 29 free throw attempts. But Golden State only had six. That seems wonky. Yeah, nice little differ, but at the same time, it might have to do with the numbers. Lakers only had six threes made. And Steph Clay and Paul made six apiece. So, you know, that's 18-three. So clearly, they weren't touching the paint too much. And the physicality of everything was, you know, the fouls go to their aggressor, I believe. But, you know, six free throws are kind of wacky. Not going wild. Six in an entire game? Yeah, it's wild. That feels weird. The Warriors shot over 53s. They made over 20. This was their, look, the style of the game was the Lakers sitting in the paint and saying, we're not going to let you drive. Crazy free throw disparity. Yeah. And the Lakers pounding the paint over and over and over. This is what you get. Lakers led the league in free throw attempts. And by over 400, which is, it sounds crazier than it is, but it is five free throws a game. It is a nice, big number. To me, Stan Van Gunny, I think he mentioned it during the broadcast. This is this playing out of the styles of the two teams. The Warriors are going to shoot a ton of jump shots, really far jump shots on top of that. And on top of that, the way you have to guard them, 30 feet from the basket, that opens up the paint if they can pass through it. They're not initiating the contact in the way the Lakers are. I hear people say they're a foul. I didn't thought it was the game's referee foul. Yeah, I thought it was Shreed. Look at that. We should say that louder. We never really give them their props. Well done, referee. You know, I love history, right? Anthony Davis. No, I didn't know that. I just learned that. Two players in NBA history to have 30 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, three blocks. Can you guess the other? Oh, no, I'm not. No. World Chang, Berlin. No. What? Michelle, you should know this. Tim Duncan. Yes. Oh, there you go. See, it's just this. Did it twice during the 2003 championship run? Obviously. Yes, a t-shirt that I wear for my pajamas. Top five ever. What? Tim Duncan? No, we were not doing that. How many people do you think five is? Eight. It's five and then like an honorable man. And then five A, five B. You can go home and tell him you made add-ins. I've been turned into top five. Is the worst list in the history of lists? It's a strong eight. It's a strong eight. I like it. I think you appreciate it. It gives you flexibility. Change your mind. It's a smart way to do it. And people appreciate it more. I said, Jimmy Butler, you're waiting for KD. You know what I'm saying? I've been saying for a while, though. This Lakers team, I'm sorry to bring it back to Anthony Davis and history. But when Anthony Davis is dominant like this and LeBron James, and he doesn't shoot five for 17 from the field, because there was a game in the Memphis series. AD at 31 and 19, I think, on the road. In game five, LeBron struggled 15 points. Five to 17 shooting. If LeBron James is LeBron James, which is what we saw last night, even though you struggled from the field, if he's good, solid, controls the tempo, and Anthony Davis is dominant like this, they have a chance. They have a chance to win a championship. Yeah, because the league is rigged, and you've heard it here first. This entire thing was planned. The script was written way before we got here, people. I heard that last night, too. Don't be fooled. A lot of people feelin' rigged last night. I definitely feel like it's rigged now. We had a seven and an eight. Come on, stop. Lakers, please. Anyways, I'll continue to do my job until I'm fired, but I'm gonna be vocal about this. On the other side of things, the words, look, they blew a chance at home, probably needed this one. Curry finished with 27, 6, and 3. Clay had 25, he was 6 to 16 from 3. But they did just come off a seven game series against a pretty energetic, at least in the first six games, Sacramento team. Is there any excuse to be found in that? Are they tired? Are they a little gassed? I think everybody's a little gassed, but when you break it down with the Warriors, the last few minutes of the game, they made that 14, you know what I mean? Made that 14-0 comeback. So I think towards the end, their legs were a little bit fresher, but I think basketball's a game of runs. And when you're goin' at a battle like this, sometimes you're waitin' for the ties to turn. And at one point, when you have guys like LeBron, Anthony Davis in such a groove and impactful, they don't have their thumbs on the game until you do somethin' significant. And you saw at the end of the game, the Warriors try to make a comeback and win. Yeah, I mean, it looked like that Lakers tired out late. So I'm not sure. I did wonder that in the middle of the game as the Lakers got a bigger lead, but their shooting came through late and the Lakers were a little bit tired. They're essentially playin' six deep. And what Schroeder and Vanderbilt switchin' places depending on what they need. And you saw that late. You saw that they need another guy. Really hot to more than playin' the second half, which was just a little odd. I wonder if they're gonna go deeper into their bench as the series goes on, because they might need it the way they looked at the end of that game. What are the adjustments that the Warriors can make, given personnel and the matchups here? Like, what can we look for them to do in game two? Well, I think they need to take advantage of Anthony Davis saggin' off, whether that's coming off those screens and taking the mid-range jumper or coming off those screens ready to shoot. Maybe you're settin' the screens higher so you have more space. There's little things, and Steve Kerr will toy with it. He'll find something for those guys. I do wonder, we talked about before the game, if they're just gonna go with one big, and they'll just have Looney and Dremont swap out here and there, and maybe go with Gary Payton, maybe go with somebody else, and spread the floor even more, and make them pay for allowing that much space by saggin' off that much. But there's stuff they can do. They were right in that game last night. This is gonna be a tough series. We might see seven games of this. It's all I want. I just want seven games. By the way, it was a great moment last night. GP2 had like a moment, and then they flash over to his dad, who's just... He just just not moved. Just arms crossed, I love it so much. They should have a camera on him, the whole game. I would actually watch that. He stays still. I know, I'd pay extra for the feed. Just sayin', throwin' that out there. The earlier game yesterday, of course, was Miami and New York, and we got the news beforehand that there would be no Jimmy Butler, and that Jalen and Randall did play, and they needed to. Barely squeakin' by 111, 105, at home in the garden. A must win, if you ask me, Evan. Jalen Brunson maybe didn't look like himself, especially in the first half, but you could see he was not about to let this team lose. There's stuff about him and Josh Hart. How far? Yeah, no, unbelievable. I think Jalen stepped up, he had 30 points last night. You mentioned his buddy Hart, he had 14 himself, but I think down the stretch, Jalen hit some big shots, made some big plays, and really brought it home like the story really is. And we expected that from him, and I think it's gonna be a great series. And anytime the Knicks have three guys combining for almost 80 points is going to be a big time. I haven't taken this one without Jimmy. Yeah, they played with some desperation down late. They knew they needed this game, absolutely. And you saw that, and you saw, Josh Hart is such a difference maker. And it's a big three late, he gets a big offensive rebound, he's all over the place on the court, and then Jalen shoots 6-10 from three. When you get that from him, and you have to guard him in a way to honor that, it changes completely how they played it. 30 points last night, two more guys, like you said, I think it was 25 for RJ, 24 for Julius. Julius Randall, he just plays like such a strange random basketball. I said yesterday, he plays like he's playing my career, which is basically to say, he's playing really selfish, but when he's making shots, when he's getting his points, that's what he's there for, and I think as a second option, as a guy who's there to just to shoot, they needed him, they clearly needed him. When he's making his shots, but sometimes you're like, why are you out there and not in there? I did, but the game has expanded, you know what I mean? Eight of 18, it wasn't like he was making all his shots, but he plays the shoot, and it's entertaining. I love him because it's entertaining. It's a strange brand of basketball, but they pulled off the way they absolutely needed them. If they would have lost this one, done, done so. Without Jimmy Butler at home, there's no way. What's the ceiling for this next team? Like, how do you, why are you smiling? Nah, that's the quote, what's the ceiling after you said that one? Talk to me. Yeah, I mean, shoot, the next round, I guess. You're losing to the Celtics? Shoot! The Eastern Conference Finals is all right. We did not expect that coming. No way. Especially considering without like a real superstar, you know, but they have to worry about the heat first. You know, air exposure and the heat are super confident. Like you said, last night, they're going back to Miami prepared and well-intended for a full battle. So they're not taking their foot off the gas and they're ready for whatever happens. And they got like four nights off. They're not playing into Saturday in the night. One week in between, basically Sunday was game one but Jimmy Boulder injured his ankle. Game two is on Saturday. So that's basically six days of rest that Jimmy Boulder's going to have. And he tried to play last night. I think he definitely wanted to play. He just couldn't. So this one week of rest, you buy some time here for him. You go back, you do exactly what you accomplished. And I think Jimmy Boulder's at a point where with that ankle, he's not able to play on it like Joel Embides tonight, try to go for the kill. He needs a few more days to rest. Yeah, plus they, you know, they kind of stolen on the road. Like he had a little wiggle room there. Josh Hart, like a lot of great things happened at Trade Deadline. We just talked about the Lakers and everything that they did. But Josh Hart, one of the best deadline moves, the best deadline move, where would you put him? I think one of the best ones, you know, I didn't know what to expect coming out of there because I didn't know what type of situation would be played in or role he would be played in. But you see the camaraderie, you see, you know, how much he loves doing a blue collar work. You heard him tell Mitchell Robertson, like you get a lot of rebounds but I get the ones that break the teams back. And I think that he takes great pride in stepping up in those moments, keeping situations light like you see and, you know, winning. He's a winner. He has a pedigree. You know, those Villanova boys, they go hard. Yeah, you traded them for a guy you weren't playing. You know, essentially your coach essentially never wanted to be in with. And you get a starter out of that. You get a guy you're gonna start in the playoffs and he's gonna make big shots for you. That's huge. Like there's pretty much no greater value than that. He's been incredible for them and they've needed him every step of the way. You know, I watch when he plays, I'm like he'll be immortal in New York forever. Like they'll be able to go to pockets of New York that none of us can go to and just be the man. He's like the marketable version of a market smart. You know what I'm saying? The marketable version. People love to cheer for him. Like you know what I'm saying? He does dirty work. He always finds some type of fun in the game. You know what I mean? You watch him do certain stuff. He keeps things loose. And I think he's just a great vocal mindset. He feels like a niche. He feels like a lot of the niche. He does. Immediately he felt like it. The type of player I think of. I feel like the fans embraced him and Jalen as well but I think they embraced him as soon as he got there. I think he embraced New York even before he got there it felt like. Also their post game press conferences, he and Jalen together are perfect. It's just the perfect side straight man next to him and it's lovely. Cause Jalen doesn't smile and Josh Hart eats the whole time. So if you haven't seen those yet, please watch. The edge in this series goes to whom? I'ma go Miami. I mean they were there in that game late. And I just think Eric Sposher, he just knows what he wants to do with this team. And last night they came out a shot almost 53s. They knew that was their chance. He went with a ton of Kevin Love. He went a ton of Duncan Robinson. Gabe Vinson had a great game. I think these guys have a, they have the bodies to win this series. If Jimmy's healthy. Now an ankle turning that bad, it could linger, it could slow him down. But he's not exactly like the quickest most explosive guy out there. That's fair. I'm going to go to Miami. They got the slit they wanted. They're going home. They know that these guys might hit live. They might hit, they're going to enjoy themselves. Oh no, they're sending out the, they're sending out the secret weapon. Wait, they don't go this early, right? They definitely wouldn't leave. No, I'm not playing Miami. I'm going this early. I'm going early too. Morning game yesterday, we're out on Sunday night flight. Live on Sunday. And we got a week off. I need them to take this seriously. We celebrate. They aren't. You didn't enjoy yourself and go to work. It's fine. We're taking that early flight. Actually, maybe it is good to go early. Get it out of your system and then two nights before you shut it down. Get rid of that hangover. Okay, I actually like that. I'm back. Get your Liquid IV, get all this stuff. Takes a few days. But we don't know what version of Jimmy Butler we will get. If at all, I mean, look, there's still a chance maybe he doesn't play. Can they compete without him? They did last night for most of that game really. I wouldn't play that game for too long. No. We need you back. We need him. And bam, out of bio, I think with Jimmy on the lineup, I think it makes his life a little easier. He struggled last night, but I think he's a big key for them. When he's playing at a high level, when he's out playing Mitchell Robinson, Miami, obviously one game, one, they need him to do the same in game three. Yeah, absolutely. You also don't want to put too much pressure on others. You see Caleb Martin had a great game last night, 22 points, I think he hit four or five threes. Shrew stepped up how he did. Even you saw Duncan Robinson signing in the second quarter where he stepped up his shots. But like I said, you can do so much, but you need your stars back and to be full throttle and to really combat the momentum that their three guards, New York, Knicks have, they just can buy in for 80 points. They're going to be locked in as well and Tibbs is maniacal as well and very, you know. He really is. Just look at the way they limp to the end of that game. They needed a Jimmy Butler to help maintain that lead and finish that game off and they didn't have that. That's scary. And the Knicks had their guys and they had Jalen Brunson hit a big three. They had all their bodies on that side, so they need him to close these games out for sure. Taking a break. When we come back, Chandler Parsons checks in from Cabo and we need to find out his opinion on the Jordan pool heat check moment heard around the world. Oh wow, that's, yeah, that's about right. See you Rob. Welcome back to Run It Back. We are joined now by our close personal friend, a man of many talents. Joining us from Mexico, Chandler Parsons from his home away from home. Hola, ¿Cómo estás? Hola. Nailed it, buddy, nailed it. Bilingual. I love it so much. I knew he had it, I knew he had it. All right, we gotta start with that Lakers game last night because we've talked about them all season long and what a turn it has been on the road. The last shot taken by Jordan pool, your thoughts? I mean, I don't love it. I don't love a lot of the shots that they took down the stretch before us with you. And I know this is what they do, right? This is who they are. They can shoot the ball extremely well, but they were just hoisting bad contested threes here. And if you're down, you know, four points, three points in the last 30 seconds to two minutes, you get to the basket, get to the foul line, make them make free throws, then once you score and foul, you don't, you kind of shorten the game by just jacking up all these threes. And I felt like that's what they did. To be honest with you, Jordan pool was open. He was extremely deep. And you know, the couple of possessions before Clay jack some up, Steph jack some up. So like it's contagious when you're in that kind of offense, but get brutal offense. And those are, those are high risk, high reward shots, obviously, but they're tough to make. I don't care who you are. So I don't love the shot, but also I don't love how they played offense the last four or five minutes of the game because there was a lot of that. And it felt like they were panicking and it felt like they were just trying to hit home runs and get back in the game and tie it up and get the lead with three pointers when they can easily just get to the foul line, stop the clock, do anything other than, you know, hoist up 35 footers. Well, if you didn't love it, I'm assuming probably a lot of the coaching stuff didn't love all of that as well. So the expectations, I mean, there's a team that struggled on the road even though they seem to be getting things back together against the Sacramento Kings, but they have one left on the road at home before they go to LA. So your expectations are what for Golden State? To win game two. And I don't care what this credit is, I know I'm going to be taking the Warriors. I think they're the better team. I think the Lakers played really good last night, right? They were balanced. They took the load off LeBron. Anthony Davis looked like an absolute animal. Schroeder, Russell were great. So they got a balanced attack last night and it was an exciting fun game. And we said this yesterday it's going to be a long series. It's anybody's series. And again, this is huge pressure now on the Warriors because we do know their woes on the road. And to give up game one and kind of flip the home court is tough, especially with the experienced team like with the Lakers on an AD. Now, I definitely agree with you, Chandler. I think the Warriors comprehend how serious game two is. Nobody wants to start another series down 0-2. I think that kind of tired them out a little bit before. But at the same time, I think the further and further you get into playoffs, I think if anybody knows, the Warriors know how little room for error there is. So they have to really start off, get on the right foot, get the momentum going and stop all that energy that the Lakers had last game. Because like you said, they had Anthony Davis playing at a high level, but they have yet to even have that one or two good games from the Brownness series, which will definitely show up. It's time for some scoobish. Shams, you kind of broke the internet yesterday. It was one phrase under any circumstances was trending within like 12 seconds of you tweeting out yesterday. Do you want to take it away on the Dillon Brooks situation? Yeah, so the Grizzlies had exit interviews on Sunday in Memphis. And in those exit interviews, I'm told the Grizzlies informed Dillon Brooks that they are moving on from him under no condition. Do they view bringing him back? His tenure in Memphis is over. He turned out an extension early in the season. Talks ended after that. And clearly there's not going to be a deal for him in Memphis. It was a tumultuous end of the season, not only the back and forth of LeBron. He had just 10 points in that series against the Lakers on 13 shots, 30% from the field, 20% from three, a couple of missed defensive assignments. We know the punch that led to the ejection on LeBron. He was also suspended a couple times this year for technicals. So this is a guy who spoke at the end of the season about wanting a bigger role. And I do think there will be a level of interest among contending teams in Dillon Brooks. We'll see what his market is like. But he will not be back in Memphis. And let's not get it twisted. Wearing jorts multiple times didn't help his cause either. I saw Chandler's. You can't, yeah, you can't be doing that. Oh my God, we. I wonder if Chandler can pull that look off. But I did see Chandler. He is from Florida, probably. I did see Chandler's comment on Instagram about Dillon Brooks. Chandler, what say you right now? I got multiple takes on this, honestly. And I didn't think it'd come to me defending Dillon Brooks, but I have a real problem with the Grizzlies. First of all, saying this in late April, early May, it's not like Memphis is this huge free Asian destination. So the fact that they're saying that, and yes, was Dillon Brooks annoying? Yeah, was he obnoxious? He's turned into this person that, he wasn't like that when I was with him at Memphis. And he actually was a good dude. And he's taken on this personality that has caused him his future in Memphis. But my point is, he was a critical part to their team all season long. And this team was the two seed. They were pretty consistent all year long. John Morant had his issues. Dillon Brooks was a consistent part of the success of this team. He wasn't very good in the playoffs and he did cause a lot of distractions. So I understand what they're coming from, but let's not act like they're just gonna hit home runs in free agency and they can't possibly use Dillon Brooks next year. And so I have a problem with the team making this public kind of kicking him when he's already down and being, and yes, it's self-inflicted. Yes, he did it himself. And Dillon Brooks, I said on Instagram, he played his hand completely wrong here. But I don't like the team doing this. I don't like, I understand. Just don't resign. You don't have to make it public. You don't have to let Shams find out. Like, you don't have to publicly embarrass them. You know what I mean? So I get it because he has become this person that not a lot of people like. And I'm sure the people in the organization don't like him, but kind of tacky and a Bush League move from me to for a franchise to get this out this early before free agency even starts. Like they're just gonna hit home runs getting someone better than Dillon Brooks. I don't see that either. Well, in fairness, and far be it from me to protect the man here, but I don't know that the team released this. This felt like it was a sympathy ploy, perhaps on the Dillon Brooks side of thing because of the phrase specifically under any circumstances, which is an absurd wording to put into anything because it's like using the word never forever. It's, we could call you on this one and we might at some point. So I wanna ask you, A, have you ever heard of anything like this to say under any circumstances? It felt very weird. And it must have been because of the reaction it got immediately after you posted it. Yeah, no, I've never heard anything like this in that situation, which was kind of crazy. It made me stop when I read it. I'm like, Dan, that's aggressive in April, but at the same time too, I think what Chandler said, it's not like it's a crazy hotbed for free agencies. But at the same time, that locker room's a little different. I think what makes them so special is, how they get along together to chemistry and camaraderie. I don't think you can throw just anybody into that locker room and they all blend well together. I do think though, this is a sign that they're trying to change the locker room in Memphis and they're trying to turn the page on this year. They were disappointed, not only the John Moran incident with the flashing of the gun, but just the off the court. You saw, I mean, not for me to say, but Zach Kleinman, their GM, executive VP, their head coach, Taylor Jenkins, they came out after the season and said, we want to get away from the trash talking. And I think a level of decorum, professionalism in that organization to win. But listen, if they're going to get better this summer, it's not going to be via free agency. It's going to be, they've got a boatload of assets. They've got five first round picks that they can trade this summer. They've got three draft swaths. They offered a handful of those picks for Kevin Durant last summer. They're going to be in the market for, when you talk about top shelf players this summer, Memphis is going to be right at the top of the list in terms of trying to get a player. And if you can go get a star, and Adam with John Morant, Jared Jackson Jr., Desmond Bain, you upgrade. I do think the weird winner of all this is somehow Draymond Green. What? And I want to know what he knew about that Memphis team when he said, yo, the dynasty is going to happen. Then he's going there. But look, the wording is strong and the wording is so specific. I trust Shoms was reporting obviously that it had to have happened. It had to have been said somebody wanted it to be out there. And it's under no circumstance. That's like, yo, we are taking you out. Don't let the door hit you. You enjoy. He wasn't the problem. Are they saying this to Desmond Bain who did not have a great series? Are they saying this to Jared Jackson who struggled in his own in the series? Are they saying this to the guys who had heard who weren't there to be available? You know, there's a lot of blame to go around on that team and to make him the scapegoat. Yeah, your fourth option. Yeah, it's a lot. I don't know, you know, again, they're going to have to do some trade market and we'll see. You know, they might want company towns and they might end up with OG in a nobie and it's a much different world when you end up between those two different players. But yeah, I mean, look, you're not going to pay Dillon Brooks 20, 25 million a year let somebody else do it. That's not how you build a good team but to kick them on the way out like this is a little strange. By the way, Dillon Brooks learned a very valuable lesson kids like he was distracting. Sure, so was John Morant, but John Morant gets to stay and you figure that out. Okay, you know now. So you can't, you can't play by the same rules as the face of your team because the distraction is the same. The smack talk was still there but Jaws not going anywhere ever. That being said, Chandler, what, where's he going? Dillon Brooks, you got to pick a team today. What do you see? I like him in Dallas with Kyrie and Luca. They're a team that needs toughness and not necessarily another distraction but I do think Dillon will learn from this and he'll realize that this was more negative than positive especially in the media and all the things that come with him. And at the end of the day, Dillon Brooks is a role player and he's a good role player and he can score the ball. He can defend, he's tough, he's fearless and a lot of teams lack that. I can see, you know, Denver could use a guy like him, Phoenix, anybody that has a good offensive team that has stars that needs to be protected with a wing like this, he has value. I see all this stuff, the Shanghai Sharks or the Beijing Ducks and that's I think just like the fans talk trash because as annoying as he's become, he's still a valuable player, he's still a versatile player. He was wildly inefficient through the playoffs and I think he was forcing, trying to prove points, trying to do more than he is but he still has a future in the NBA and he's still gonna be just fine. He just needs to mature a little bit and get a little bit more professional. Got some options there, Evan. Yeah, now I definitely agree. Right now, you know, Dillon Brooks after a sixth season, he's averaging 14 points on 42, 43% shooting which is pretty good. He's been in tough games. He's been on, you know, winning teams and I think at one thing that you can't take away is his competitor and I think he intoned down his approach but his natural hurry and what he ticks with is going to compete and he's not going back down from some of the top players and I think when you put him with, you know, a championship caliber team, you need a guy that doesn't really care and not so much Reinhardt Tess Isch but you can step up and, you know, probably form mold in that sense but, you know, definitely it'll be, you know, the Grizzlies gonna have a, you know, big loss on their hand, you know, one of the biggest since Chandler Parsons left. Wow, that felt sarcastic. It's gonna take a lot more than 95 billion, Evan, Hey, I'm not mad at you. Really not. I joke about Dylan a lot but there's a place in the league for him and a guy who takes the toughest assignment on defense every night who's willing to be a physical defender in that route and he shot 39% from three this year. He's improved in that aspect. Look, I don't know if I've ever seen him take an open shot. He seems to only want to take contested shots out of rhythm. He likes to make it challenging. But there are worse players in this league and you can do worse with a defender off your bench. I actually think Boston would be an interesting place for him with the way they play and the way they let their guys play freely on offense and the defense. It'd be interesting to see if he make it his way out there. I think of fresh culture for both sides. I think Memphis and Dillon Brooks. I think Dillon Brooks would probably benefit from being in a different culture as would Memphis to turn the page. And plus he has time now to sort of reinvent himself. Like Madonna, like come back as a completely different person. Get a new stylist. Yeah. Get a new stylist. No Jorts ever. Take it a quick break here when we come back Shams with the latest scoop on Chris Paul and that groin injury. When we come back. Man. This guy. Yep, looks like it. That's Yoke it's for anybody who's used to it. Run it back, run it back, run it back. Welcome back to a run it back Shams. We've got some CP3 news. Groin strain after an MRI for Chris Paul did not look good there. You clearly pulled it and groin injuries like hamstrings, like calves. These are soft tissue injuries. They're tough and at his age, his experience level, this is an injury that's going to take him some time. He's going to be reevaluated in one week. The Suns are preparing to be without him for the next three games. Games three to games five. They play game five next Tuesday. I mean, it's a it's a brutal loss because Chris Paul, he had a tough first couple games of this series, but he did make some shots when it mattered. And their back a point. Our situation has been a question mark or your campaign has missed some time during the season. And so they don't really have even a third string point guard. Who's going to be their backup Dylan, Dylan, but Devin Brooks is going to end up playing a lot of minutes at point guard in games three to five now with no Chris Paul. But by five, by the way, saying game five feels generous. Yeah, I mean, the first two games. OK, let's get let's go. Anybody else who would have said yeah. His status for this to return to this series is very uncertain for sure. God, it's crazy if it ends like this channeler. Yeah, it feels like he's just out for the series, right? Saying three to five is weird. And that might not be enough time. This series might be over before game five. And this is what's tough. This is already a thin team, right? They don't have a lot of depth. And now they lose their most experienced player, their leader, the breath of fresh air that can take the load off of KD and book. And Shoms just said, Devin's now going to be forced to kind of play point guard of campaigns, not getting it done. So it's going to be interesting how they kind of reset their offense and what sets do they go to? And how are they going to be able to have book off the ball if he's playing point? So it's again, we've been looking for their bench all year long. And it's going to take guys like Terrence Ross and Shama and Lee. Now they really have to step up because now they're losing another key player that has still been very effective in the pick and roll. And it just seemed like this playoffs. A lot of guys are going down. A lot of star players are going down. And it's it's no good. Now, but I'm not mad at that situation right now. You're down 0-2, you're desperate. I think you do have to go, you know, a situation where you're heavy Devin and heavy KD, especially last game. You see a couple guys, you know, last game, you know, take some tough, questionable shots down a stretch. I think right now you have to go with your horses and, you know, KD and the book might have to combine for 60 or 70 points next game and really pull them out because they're down 0-2. Desperation. I wanted to see heavy KD or, you know, Devin book, even if Chris Paul was in or not, you got to get a win on the board. Eddie, true serum time. Yeah, I mean, one of the things a lot of people were wondering is the strategy of this team and Kevin had the ball enough. Does Devin Booker have the ball enough? And a lot of people are complaining about CP3 having the ball too much. And so in a weird way, this alleviates that. Look, they're going home. They're desperate. They need this game. You cannot go down 3-0. You traditionally will not win the series if you go down 3-0. I expect them to play a better game. I thought they actually played two good games and just faltered out late. And you can blame that on a bunch of different things. But I do wonder, like Psalms, the minutes when when they need a point guard on the court, when there is only one of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. But I think we'll see a lot of point book, which they call it when he's the when he's the ball handler. I think we'll see a lot of Tori Craig and Josie Cogge on the court together. And they're going to have to mix it up. And it's almost forcing Monty Wimms to play the offense that all the Sun's fans want them to play, which is Kevin Booker and KD dribbling the ball and creating for themselves. Chandler, you're our expert on predicting things here at the show. Do you expect the nuggets to sweep? I mean, sweep is tough, but I think the Sun should get one, maybe two. And if they protect home court, we're going right back to Denver with the series on tied up and it's anybody's game. So I think they've dug a hole. I think Denver, you know, smells blood in the water. And I think they know if they get this game, the series is pretty much a wrap. So I think they've been great. I think Aaron Gordon's been great. Jamal Murray, you know, they've been clearly the better team. And now you take off Chris Paul and them and kind of the middle of this series. It's it's definitely favorable for the Nuggets. But the home court's been a huge advantage here. So we'll see. But I definitely got the Nuggets, obviously winning the series. Just don't know how quickly. Yeah, I don't know if it's panic time. Obviously, you know, you have to be alert. But I have such, you know, confidence in Kevin and confidence in Devin Bucker. And I think, you know, the Andre Aydins do for a game. I think this team, they're all together. I think they're going to try to step up and make a series out of it. They can go home and take advantage of, you know, being up to games. And I think that's the most important thing. Can we just give some appreciation to every time Magic Johnson tweets? Like, I want him to tweet my death. Like, she is dead. She has no longer breathing. It's like just all matter of fact. We don't we don't want to exclaim it. Well, I'm going to die. Get over it, Shoms. We're all going to die. Good. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Shoms wants to break the news down. But then let Magic respond to it. She's not coming back under any circumstances. And we took a darker. Yeah, this is like, I'm not expecting this one. Somewhere. I didn't add that on my bingo card today. I think this is the Chandler effect. I think when Chandler comes up. Chandler. So yeah, the news was broken by Shoms earlier in the show that Embiid is expecting to play tonight. And we want to know how that's going to impact James Harden, who dropped, of course, 45 for us in Game 1. We'll talk about that when we come back. Run it up, then run it back, yeah. Run it up, then run it back, run it back. Run it up, then run it back, yeah. Run it up, then run it back. We're talking about Kentucky Derby fashion, perfect timing, because Fandal's the only sportsbook app where you can vet the Kentucky Derby. Right now, all customers can get a no sweat derby bet up to $20. That's right. You can get up to $20 back if your Derby win bet doesn't win. What are you waiting for? Better bet, because number one race on America's number one sportsbook. Head to Fandal and get your no sweat bet in for the Kentucky Derby. Beginning of the show started with a Shoms scoop on Joel Embiid telling the team after winning MVP that he is back. I'm back like MJ. Back, which, by the way, is awesome for everybody who's getting excited for that game, Chandler. But we want to know, would you rest Embiid if you were Philly? I don't think so. If he's healthy enough to play and he doesn't have an internet that's requiring surgery, I think he got to vet it out. You see guys doing that across the board here. If you can play, you got to do it, especially after him. He's had the season he's had. He's been so critical to this team. Even getting out like Fox, just playing through it. Obviously, that's different. It's just a finger. But showing your teammates that you want to be out there, that it's going to give them even more confidence, especially having a serious lead. But they don't need to change anything that they didn't game one. James Harden still needs to come out and be aggressive and be that score. Tyrese Max, he still needs to do what he's been doing. So I don't think they should change much. Obviously, they're going to get him touches, and he's going to get the ball a lot. But it's going to take a little bit of time to work in. He's not like he's been out too long. But this is huge. They already stole on their plan with house money. And now they have the MVP coming back. Their confidence should be at all time high. How do you see James Harden's performance tonight going down, if in fact, in beads on the floor? I think he's still going to play at a high level. We said once again, when a great player says that they feel like they're going to groove in his own, and you feel confident, you got to be careful. And he's able to dribble as much as he wants. He gets to that right wing, doesn't step back. At very least, he's getting 20 points, 25 points, and double digits per usual. And I think if that occurs, and Tyrese steps up, and the others do their job along with Joel's presence, I think they'll be advantageous for the sixers, and they'll go the way they want to. But it's going to be tough to get two wins in TD Garden. Is it? Oh, yeah, of course. The city of Boston is reeling right now. We said yesterday, Celtics literally threw that game away. They had it in the bag. And then it still took a miraculous stop from James Harden in a tied career high to win that game. So the Celtics are feeling good going into this game. I think they like the matchup on the wings for their two young guys. And they should get the split going home, even with Joel coming back. But if Joel's healthy, and Joel is MVP, Joel. Man. It could get dicey. This is like the next lesson. This is a must win. This is a must win for Boston Chandler. I know you've got some things to do, reading to the children and whatnot. Enjoy the rest of your time in Cabo. We will see you next week. Thank you. We got a minute left here, guys. Any great memories made in LA while we're here? Evan, go first. Nah, I, um... Nah, this is cool. I'm frozen. Nah, yeah, I'm glad these three days are cool. I'm glad, you know, to be here was pretty fun. I love that. I can't wait to see what he wears tonight. It's got to be something completely different than this. You're going to the derby, Kentucky Derby, and are you wearing something as fabulous as what James Harden gives us? Nah, I can't afford that. I'm just wearing a simple double breasted suit. Four. And just a lot of swagger. That's it. I hope he wears that in another color. Ooh, like a pink, like a hot pink. I hope he goes with the other option for that. I totally don't. You know, I'm big on suits. I can't wait to see Evan Turner's suit this week. Yeah, please post it on the gram for us. Yeah, are you going to do an outfit of the day post? I might even tic-tac it. Hey. I'll miss that. Get ready with Evan. Oh, God, the tic-tac. You're that guy. That's going to do it for us from LA. We'll be back and we'll see you guys Monday morning.