 Well, I wasn't on the show yesterday and the spurs broke a massive losing streak. You're welcome San Antonio. Run it back starts now. Yes, yes, yes, yes. This is a run it back. It is Wednesday morning. You guys dress coded me out of the loop again. That's fine. I will introduce the panel stadium insider Shamsherani a trailer P Eddie G. You guys name one thing you missed about me not being there yesterday. Eddie go first. The spurs losing. Really? That's it. You know, I'm not even asked the other two. You guys are the worst. Okay, fine. I won't miss again. Look, there's a lot of basketball. This is as some say, just the most fun time of the year. Isn't it? How about the box extending that winning streak to 15? Yanis 33 15 and for Middleton 18 6 healing 23 minutes off the bench. This is a team that some people just don't buy. I sometimes feel like I'm one of them. But you know what, Chandler? How much are you buying this box team? Yeah, I'm pretty much all in on this team. And I'm the team at the NBA there. They've now have the best record in the NBA. And it's always kind of been Celtics and Bucks all year long, but Celtics were the most consistent team in my eyes. And now that the Bucks have kind of taken that throne for now and they're hitting their stride at the right time. Everybody knows how important these games after all star break are. And they're huge. And with Yanis being out some and Chris Middleton getting his legs back, they're doing this all year long basically without Chris Middleton being Chris Middleton. And now he's getting his rhythm. He's finding it. He's eventually going to get thrown back in that starting lineup. And they're going to be at full strength and they're going to be extremely tough. And this has been a great time for other guys. You see any given night, they have that third, fourth guy like a Gray Snellen or a Pat Connickson or Bobby Portas Lopez. They have so many different ways to hurt you. They have the head of the snake and Drew Holiday, who is an all star this year, who defends even so even when he's not going offensively, they have, they have guys like that to play so hard and to kind of be that catalyst on the defensive end. And then they have Yanis who we know how great he is. And some of those finishes last night and transition were ridiculous. And again, this is a situation where they didn't play good in the first half yesterday. They were down at half and they just, they stayed with it. They played mature basketball. They went on a nice run in the third quarter and they handled business against a team that's also trying to win. So this is just another, you know, just another day at the office for the Bucks. And I do think right now they are the team to beat. Yeah, the Eduardo 15 game streak, 15 game win streak speaks for itself. They played 10 players, 15 minutes or more last night. They went that deep. They're getting Jay Crowder in there. They just got Bobby Portas back. They can go gigantic with Brooke Lopez, Bobby Portas and Yanis. They can go small play Yanis at center. They can, they have so much variance. They have so many things they can do. They're so battle tested. They won kind of like the toughest series we've seen in the last few years in that, in that net series. And then they won the title. That was just two years ago. They probably should have been competing for a title last year. If Chris Middleton didn't hurt his knee, if they're healthy now and they get running in March, you got to watch out. They now have the best record in the league. The Celtics have the best record all season long. Now it's the Bucks. Like we've been saying, Yanis is looking like an MVP in a season where they've all been given it away to Jokic. His numbers are incredible. The team is gelling. They have a coach they trust. This is the best team in the league right now. I think bar none and, and who knows where this streak ends? 15 and we're going to see 20 here in a couple of weeks. And then, and then we'll guess that. We'll get to that in a second because I do want to guess when it ends. Shoms, sorry. They've got all the ingredients like legitimately. And we haven't even spoken about the J Crowder edition. He's been big time for them already this year. I thought it was going to take him several weeks to get in game shape. He's already contributing. Javon Carter coming off the bench. He played well last night as well. So this team has everything. And I don't think, is there a doubt that they were going to get back to the finals last year if Chris Middleton was healthy? I know they themselves from ownership to the players to the front office. They don't doubt that factor, the fact that Chris Middleton missed that time. And now he's back. There's 17 and three with him in the lineup. As Chandler said, he's starting to find his rhythm. He's averaging 17 points, almost seven rebounds, almost five assists a game in the month of February. So he's starting to find his stride and he's eventually going to get back into the starting lineup and play a big role. But as long as this team stays healthy, Bobby Portas is back from his MCL's frame. They've got all the ingredients. And like Eddie just said as well, the Celtics have been the number one seed in the Eastern Conference all year long and the Bucks have just kind of been hanging around two, three, four at different points. Now that the number one seed and they're peaking right at the exact time that you need to to find your stride the second half of the season. Mianis looks just so chill. All right. So this is the part where we get to guess, right? Chandler, you're going to go first on this. Their next several games are Orlando, Philly, Washington, Orlando again, the Nets again. Then they play the Warriors. Like, where do you think perhaps this thing gets broken? Man, well, we are experts at guessing and predicting scoring. We are. Yes. Looking at that schedule, the only good team they're playing is Philly. So I would take and it's a back to back front and or back end. So I would think one of those two games, I can't see them losing to an Orlando team, even though Orlando does play good against Boston and other good teams. If I had to pick, I mean, I would pick Philly because maybe it's, I don't know if it's the best team, but I could. I mean, anything can happen in this league, but I would go with one of those two games on a back to back. So I can't see them losing to, you know, into a Brooklyn. That's crazy. Eddie Green, big, big showdown with Philly coming up. I think they're going to have a point to prove they got that at home. But then they go to Golden State the following Saturday. Maybe Steph Curry's back. Who knows that team is on a roll right now as well. And we've been kind of waiting for that matchup for a long, long, long time. It's the finals we did not get last year or the year before. And they've looked like the two best teams the last two years. I'm going to say the Warriors beat them and chase it. And then it ends the streak and it was fun. And, you know, hopefully we see them in the in the finals if we don't get the suns. I would like to see the suns be myself personally. So like that's the heck of it. That's going to be a great streak if they make it all the way that on the other side of the thing were the Nets. Look, they were up 10 at the half. But as we've seen, especially this week, there are some major collapses that have been going on some of these games. This one not to be outdone. 66-42 is what they were outscored by in the second half. Guys got their points. Bridges 31, Denwitte had 29, Cam Johnson with 19. Whatever it is, whatever the result was, Chandler, now that we've had some time to sort of marinate on their trade hall, is it better than some people might have expected? I think so because I think Mikhail Bridges is an absolute star. Cam Johnson, I think he is what it is. People don't realize I think he was the oldest lottery pick ever. He's already 26 years old, but he is a consistent, very good basketball player. And looking at their roster, they have a bunch of talent. They have a bunch of pieces. They just don't really have that star. But with all these assets, they can make a move this summer to kind of expand their team and kind of get that star power and pair them with these really, really, really good role players in two and three and four options. So I love the trade for them. They're young. They're deep. They have a bunch of these kind of versatile wing guys that can do a little bit of everything. So I do like it for them. But to me, to put them over the edge, they're going to have to throw some of these assets in there and be able to bring up an A-list star to kind of pair with them at Kilbridge. Because as good as he is, he's not quite a number one option yet. And he's a great two or three option, I think. But I think it's a good trade. Listen, these guys wanted to leave. They're going to leave anyways. Why not get younger, get picks? They have a lot of stuff moving forward in the trade market and free agency. So I like what they did. It's just they're kind of, I've said this before, they're in that no man's land where they're not going to compete, but they're not going to tank. So it's, they're kind of, they're kind of stuck in the middle. So they need to make a big move and try and bring someone in that really can make an impact. Last night, this team looked like exactly what we all kind of thought it would be a competitive team, a team that can stick with great teams, but not a contender, a team that is void of a star in the middle of that roster. And like Chandler said, they're set up to actually go get that star. And we can fantasy book and fantasy trade that star all day long. We could say Trey Young might be available. We could say Anthony Davis might be available. Coroneting Towns, we can pick a bunch of guys out of hat and say, yo, that would make this team a contender if you get them for picks and whatever. The thing I think you got to remember, and Chandler did mention this, Cam, Cam is 26 years old. He'll be 27 this summer. Michael Bridges will be 27 this summer. Spence and Dorian Finney Smith will be 30 this season in April and May. So it's not exactly like this young, spunky team you're building for four years down the line with all those draft picks. No, this is a now team that needs a star soon. And when they had that star, they can compete and contend depending on what they lose to get that star. But Michael Bridges looks like he's got all the goods. He scored 31 points last night. He was hanging with those guys as best they could. But at the end of the day, they just don't have enough firepower. They need that star. Now, obviously they just trade it to a way, but they put themselves in a position to acquire that star somehow. And if they get them, then watch out for the next. There'll be right back in the thick of things with this bevy of just wings and defensive guys. They're in a really good spot. So maybe they win the trade. We won't know until all those picks turn into whatever they turn into. But they came out well for sure. Remains to be seen. You know what? I am old enough to remember that there was a time when we referred to Ben Simmons as a star in this league. And yet I have not said his name in what feels like forever shams. We have any idea what the plans are where Ben Simmons is involved. Yeah, he has not played since the All-Star break. Knee, whatever it is, the knee. Obviously he dealt with the back in the offseason. You know, the track record of the last year. So mental health, knee, back. And I think you could probably have all three of those as a mixture as to why Ben Simmons we're seeing right now. I mean, a player right before our eyes. He's went from a perennial All-Star. This guy was an All-Star every year for three consecutive years. All-NBA team twice. Defensive player of the year runner-up. Like, it's all happened really before our eyes. But, you know, there's really, there's no plans for the Nets to shut him down from what I'm told. The hope is that he's back in the near future, possibly in the next week or so. But as we've known, it's been a moving target with Ben Simmons all season. You hope that he gets back on the court, finds his stride, finds that level of aggressiveness in the playing style that he had throughout his career on both ends of the floor and the aggressiveness that he played with on both ends of the floor. But I'm curious from Chandler's perspective, Chandler dealt with a lot of injuries throughout his career. Like, what do you do if you've got like Ben Simmons right now? Like, how are you trying to get back on the floor? Honestly, it's tough because it's crazy that Nets are even staying a float with this kind of detrimental contract. Like, they are getting zero and he is taking up a huge part of their cap. So it's crazy that they have all this talent and they actually have a competitive team with this huge whole of a guy making whatever he's making this year. For Ben Simmons, honestly, I don't know. I don't know how to diagnose. I don't know if it's a physical injury. I don't know if it's mental. I don't know if I don't know. So I don't know how to comment on that, but I just know he was a heck of a player and he's athletic and he's got a strong build and he's got great vision. Like he has all the tools physically to be a successful player in this league. And I've seen flashes where he'll get that rebound, he'll go coast to coast and he can finish. It's just it's a strong mental block in my opinion, where he just can't overcome it. And we almost have to we have to stop talking about it. We have to take him for what he is. I think eventually it's going to lead to a buyout and he's most likely a minimum player for the rest of his career until he until he magically kind of shows that he can play and produce at a high level again. But it's really crazy how big of a turn this is taking on a guy. And trust me, I know I know physically I stopped playing basketball because I physically couldn't do anymore and I was always hurt and it sucks. Then you throw the mental aspect of it and all the media scrutiny and like in his head he can't do anything right right now and he's just in a dark, dark place. So I wish him the best, but I just every time I watch him play, I'm like he's not a contributor right now. He came in with so much hype. It always makes me very nervous for dudes when they have to come in with that kind of hype and then just has never. It is what it is. Another game last night, the Grizzlies right now sitting pretty in the second spot in the West Jammarant 28.3rd quarter. Listening team over the Lakers. He finished with 39 sentences, 10 rebounds. He was 10 to 12 in third quarter field goal percentage. And so I got to ask you guys this Jammarant. We know Denver is a beast right now, but this Grizzlies team as much as people might have waited for them to sort of drop a little bit, they seem to be holding strong Chandler. This version of Jammarant. How far can he take them? Yeah, it's wide open. And when I look at the Western Conference, there is no box. There is no Celtics, right? The Clippers are good. They're having their own right now. The nuggets are good. Do they play defense? Can they win in a series in advance? And the Phoenix is kind of this unknown team who's adding Kevin Durant who could end up being really, really good. So as far as as far as they can lead them, they could get all the way so they could win the West. Like they are that talented. They play defense. They're fun. They're exciting. They're young. They're kind of their roster is built for long series because they do have that youth. And again, the West is wide open. They're not going to have to face a Milwaukee or a Boston or even a Philly like and I think all three of those teams are pretty much better than any team in the West. So it's wide open for them. And when you get a version like this of John Morant who's going to absolutely bananas and Desmond Baines knocking down shots, Dylan Brooks is doing his thing. Jared Jackson is kind of doing everything offensively and defensively. This is a very, very good team in a wide open conference where at their best, they're just as good as any of them. That's pretty big, Eddie. Yeah. I mean, he's right. They're they're contender. They they were went neck and neck with the Warriors last year and and end up losing at the job got hurt, but they've shown what they can do. They're one of the best defensive teams in the league and they find ways to score on offense. They have John who is just pretty much unguardable and they surround him with shooters and big fellas who can catch lives and get dunks. Jared Jackson is probably the defensive player here. That's what you need. This is how you win playoff basketball. You isolate and you score and then you defend on the other end. They've proven that they got a great home court. They have all the goods. Now it's up to them to do that. It's up to them to perform to that standard and to kind of keep their heads. You know, they they've been up and down and went through this thing where they're super competitive against Western Conference teams. And then Josh says what he says and then they lose a bunch of weird games and they've lost a cool bunch of times and they become one of those weird targets. Usually you don't have a target this big on your back until you've won the title. But since they're running around acting like they did, now you have everybody going. OK, if you're with your champs, here you go. But they have all the goods to win the championship this year and beyond. They're going to compete for a while now. They're doing this even without Steven Adams. They're doing this with guys in and out the lineup. Desmond Bain just made it back from a couple injuries. And once they're full strength and they go into the playoffs, they have home court against almost everybody they're taking the watch out for. Are they my favorite? No, but they're probably second. They're probably third behind the Warriors and the Suns. But you wouldn't be shocked. You wouldn't be shocked. You don't even have Denver in any of that. Like you just that's it. Damn. All due respect to the stat pattern, but no too late. Too late. You can't all do respect and complete shade. That's just not how that works. That's just no way. We do have a very special edition of that man has a family. Here it is. Another turnover by L.A. Jones goes for Comchar. Hi. Oh, that hurt my feelings. Jailer, how do you feel? How do you feel watching that? I got some traction in the pants, Michelle. That is nice. It's something about a left-handed dunk really gets me going, let alone a tip dunk or fully cocked back on a really good shot blocker's head where he's ducking down. Bravo, Jared Jackson. That was ducking. Like he's trying to find protection for his whole body. It was crazy too. As he came into the league, he was a rookie when I was in Memphis and his he's one of those guys where he's right-handed, obviously, right? And his left hand is better than his rights. Like Mike Conley's floater is better right hand than left hand. Jared Jackson's hook and floater and dunks are better left-handed, which is very, very rare. That is I didn't know he had this in him, though. I didn't know he had this in him. That's this is next level. And the same thing. I absolutely hated. I absolutely hated his All-Star jacket and the fact that he was on that All-Star team, but he looked like All-Star right there. That was disgusting. And like the game, but that there was nothing else to figure out. I love Josh's reaction. I thought that Anthony Davis dug out the way like this. This is like a perfect dunk. This is up there dumping here. Anthony Davis looks like just a mere mortal in that one shot. Like, ah, who are you? You would never know that that's one of the top dudes in the entire league, but on a team that is headed nowhere. Oh, this is the part where you guys get to be positive. Can't wait to hear it. Here we go. Lakers. Is there anything to hang your hat on Anthony Davis did finish the game with 28 and 19 Lonnie Walker 21. Austin Reeves with a little 19 off the bench. They are now in, well, they've been in desperation mode, I would say. But if you took anything from last night, Chandler, can you find a silver lining for this team? No, unfortunately not. There's no silver lining for this team with this limited games left. It's it's when or bust at this point. And sure, they're kind of like my Western Conference Brooklyn Nets. Like they added this talent, but no real stars other than Anthony Davis. And who knows if he's going to stay healthy if he's going to be there. But there's no silver lining for this team. If you lose, that's it. Like it's done done. Half these guys probably won't be here next year. So there's there's no real prepping for the future. This is a great loss. So we learned that, you know, Malik Beasley can do this or Austin Reeves can do this. They know their guys. They know their assets. They know who's going to be here next year and they know who's not. But at the time at this time now in the season, it's tough to find any silver lining because they are in desperation mode. They have to win damn near 80 to 90% of their games left just to get into the play. And so it's tough. But to me, it's again, they are now in that weird situation where. Unless they have LeBron James Foye Healthy and Anthony and Anthony Davis Foye Healthy, they have a bunch of role players that aren't really going to compete for a championship and and they're banged up and they're healthy and they're inconsistent. But listen, did they get better at the deadline? Yes, but it's for me. It's tough to take any positive out of a loss at this point of the season for them because they're four or five more losses away from being done. So it's it's it's hard to find something positive. Yeah, there's some hard math silver linings. I mean, they held the grizzlies to 19% from the three point line. I don't know. They turned the ball over 26 times yesterday. They had Dennis Schroeder get benched for just like giving up on a play and they making a terrible inbound pass. It's a lot going on here. LeBron's in a boot. Shams is saying at least two to three weeks. And then like what are we looking at at that point? They're not even in the play-in just yet. They're still a game to have out. They still have another team ahead of them. I don't know what the silver lining is. Last night, they looked like a team that got outclassed, had some talent, but ultimately is not just is just not going to win these games. The schedule clears up a little bit going forward, but we see what they're lacking. 26 turnovers is a lot and they were blaming Russ for that. And they did it all without them last night. So silver lining is tough. I mean, if LeBron could miraculously, I know everybody liked that word when Shams tweeted it, but miraculously recover within the next week. Yeah, that'll be a silver lining. But other than that, their season looks like it's over to be true. And that that sucks. So I don't know what's silver lining to that. You know what? I'm going to go the other way. I think there is some silver lining the fact that they had 26 turnovers. I think the grizz is at six and they were at least competitive throughout most of the game. No LeBron James, no D'Angelo Russell. D'Angelo Russell is likely going to be out tonight as well. But I think as as they go forward back at home this weekend on Friday and this and later on this weekend, I think D'Angelo Russell should be back in the lineup from that ankle injury. But Anthony Davis, 28 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks. The way he's played, I think this whole year without LeBron James is a positive. But I'm curious, Michelle, you weren't here today. We were all here digesting the LeBron James injury news. You know, he's out. You were out. Like we just want to know what was your reaction when you saw that LeBron James going to be out for an extended period of time. That's the opinion. This glow on my face shums. It's not it's not that I've just fallen in love or anything like that. There's a lot going on as a sports fan. Look, I told you guys the Lakers before last season. No playoffs. I told you all before this season. No playoffs. There's just not enough here with the idea that you lose arguably one of the greatest players of all time. The one thing that gave you any glimpse of hope that you could possibly extend your season past the last regular season date. And now he's hurt and now we don't know for how long. There's just no point. And if he does come back, what do we have five weeks left in the entire season? I can't do the math because there's so many variables still left. But like Chandler said, they have to win 80 to 90 percent of their remaining games. And that's with or without LeBron and I'm not sure who the heck you think you're going to count on to do all that if he does come back and they're out. What's the point? What is the point of any of this? So it's another wasted season. It's a wasted season for LeBron James in the sense that his window is just from father time getting smaller and smaller. And I hate to be right because I know how much it bothers people when I am. But it is what it is. It happens a lot. Was that too happy? I'm sorry. Should we do that again? Want to take that or? Go off on the show. Go off. Hey man, I'm a Spurs fan for life. I will never say anything positive about the Lakers ever. So there it is. A game last night that I really excited to talk about this one because Mavericks, baby. Yeah, Kyrie had the potential game winner. This is sort of what we're waiting on, right? See what happens in these moments. They are now one and four when Mr Irving in the lineup. Luca did have 39 and eight, six assists. It was his 24th birthday. Hard to believe he's only 24. Good Lord. He's young. I think the question is just quite simply, Chandler. Do you have a problem with the idea that Kyrie, whether kid gave it to him or not, had the last shot of this game? I don't have a problem because he is a star and he's hit big shots like this in his career. When you look at this game and kind of the flow of this game, it's a little strange. Luca at this point had, you know, what 39 points and Kyrie kind of struggled with 16 points, but he did have T.J. McConnell on him. So he did have a mismatch. And this is what Kyrie does. He's one of the greatest one on one finishing players in the history of the game. And you know, this shot goes and we're talking about a whole another story right now that he's a hero and he hit a game winner and then next game he gets the ball again. I think it's just going to be depending the flow. It's going to depend on matchups. And look, is this the start that they wanted when they would make a trade like this? No, there's definitely holes. We all know defensively they have issues. They have issues with size. Christian Wood only played like 18 minutes last night too. So his role is down. We've been talking about how they're waiting for Maxi Weber to come back and he's going to be have a big impact. He came back last night. They still lost. Maybe there was a little bit more here with Rick Carlisle coming back to Dallas wanting to win. And you see him and Luca got a little chippy there when Luca was telling him to call a timeout. But no, I have zero problem with Kyrie Irving taking the game when he shot. And I'm sure Luca doesn't. But the fact that he missed it's a topic and it's a and I'm sure they're going to watch the film. And I'm sure next game I'm sure Luca is going to get it. So I think it's going to take time for these guys to kind of go off one another and vibe. But this is definitely not the start that they wanted with what I think they're what one in four with what these guys are playing to. Yeah, that's that's not good. It's obviously there's there's still time and it's still early. But yeah, that's that's a that's a bad way to start. What do you think Eddie 16 points 16 points on 18 shots for Kyrie including the final miss. I think it was a great call by Jason Kidd to say hey let's make a statement. Let's give Kyrie a chance to win this game. If they hit the shot it's a morale booster. He misses the shot on TJ McConnell a matchup. You feel like he he's going to win and you have Luca just standing there in the corner. Now we got to squint a little bit and wonder a little bit. Look at 39 points last night and great game. Is he going to enjoy doing this every night? He's going to enjoy a one in four pace. They've fallen out of the regular playoffs and now they're in the play in as the Warriors have jumped up to five. Is he going to enjoy being in the play in? Is he going to enjoy losing in the playoffs? You have to constantly gauge that you have to constantly look at in this in this league of disgruntled stars who go yo I don't want to be here anymore. You have to constantly gauge like yo is he going to like this situation? We talked about their defense that they lack. The the Pacers shot 56% floor yesterday and 39% from three. They had open looks all night. TJ Tyrese Halliburton looked like the second best guard on the court and at moments looked like he was the first best. Miles Turner had a great game. The Pacers have been competitive all year but at the end of the day this is a 28 win team right now. This is a team you should be beating at home. And yeah one and four that's really all you need to hear doesn't look good. They got to turn this around quick or they're going to be in the wrong side of the play in and they might just be one and done. And if you're the Mavericks what are your options from there? You don't have cap space to sign somebody other than Kyrie Irvid. So you have to look at like do we sign and trade him if we don't want him here no more? Do we just let him walk? Oh gosh. Do we just sign him anyway because that's all we have. And they need this to end well because they shot for the moon with this and everybody saw the issues and now it's crumbling just a little bit early on. They need this to go right or they're going to have to figure something out this summer. Yeah I mean like Chandler said it's it's it's not the start that they wanted. I do think it is somewhat early. Those two guys they need to find the rhythm and we saw last night Kyrie Irving didn't shoot the ball well from the field. He's gone 15 of 40 in the last two games. But at the end of the day they traded two starters and a first round pick for Kyrie Irving. So they they're invested in him in keeping him into the summer time. Like Eddie said there's not there's no cap space for them. There's not really a move for them to go make if you're just going to let Kyrie if you let Kyrie Irving walk you're basically rebuilding with this roster is what you're doing because there's no other mechanism for them to get better. The goal would be you bring Kyrie Irving back and then you're going to have three four first round picks to use this summer you'll have salary to go out and potentially package those picks with and go get another body or two but it's it's clear from a roster construction standpoint. They probably need some more two-way players some more big men that can play both ends of the floor because right now this is a team that defensively there's definitely some warts in them and the only time you can really improve that right now is the summer time. Getting Max and Kleber back as big as well he played last night for the first time in months and so getting him back in line up he's such a glue piece for them. You want to see him get back his rhythm and then Christian would find some semblance of being that third star third option on this team on a nightly basis. Yeah five games doesn't seem like enough for them to figure it out but unfortunately for them the calendar is working against them on the other side Tyrese Halliburton and he talked about he's a leap day baby by the way which fascinates me celebrated his 23rd with 32 points that ain't bad. Would you say that this this Pacers team is better off as a play in or a lottery team Schaler. It's tough because a play in that they're going to get blasted by one of those top teams in the East in the lottery like who are they really going to get with the 10th 11th 12th pick so it's a sticky situation. I like the experience of them getting into the plan at least competing and playing in big games because they do have young talent with Tyrese with Miles Turner with Mather and like that's experience that they can't get back and I think that's experience that's more valuable you know then the 12th pick in the draft coming up and who knows you're going to get but anything can happen in the playoffs. These guys get hot who knows there's injuries. It's always better to me unless you're a really bottom feeder team. Compete and try and win and then make noise and again anything can happen in one of these series with injuries or with you just catching momentum playing the catching fire at the right time. So a team like this that does have talent and does have youth. Give me a shot in the plan. Yeah I think they'd rather be in the play and I think this is one of the best examples of the play and working. We saw the trade deadline get a little murky because teams felt like they were within the arms reach and the same thing for the Pacers right now. They're two games out. They have a team delete frog in the bulls but in most seasons this would be the end of their season. They would bow out as the 12th seed right now and they wouldn't be playing a meaningful basketball but now they have something to play for and I think they got a shot and if they get in I mean who's to say they can't beat the Hawks in a do or die game. The Hawks have as many flaws as we all know and if Miami climbs out and they get the nets instead of the heat in a do or die game like who knows what that is with that too. This is a talented team a well coached team and an explosive offense. I said you got to go for it. What's the worst that can happen? Oh that question has really ended badly for some people. Blazers Warriors look this league is crazy. One night we're celebrating 71 points with Dame and then we got this. Warriors come back from down 23 end up beating Portland by 18. That's a 41 point swing. That's insane. Pool finished with 29. Clay had 23. Dame did have 25 and 7 obviously not nearly enough Chandler but when you see a swing like this what do you think how how nuts is this. Yeah it's nuts and it just credit to the Warriors for not hanging their head when they were down 23 and you can tell they made a they made a point to not let Damian Lillard get going and the guy still had 25 whatever points you said but this is just experience. This is maturity. This is it's a game of runs right. That's that's why you see coaches burn a time out or make substitutions because it is all momentum does all swings and this game was just dramatically swinging back and forth and to have this kind of come back is huge for the morale of the team. It shows that you know anything is possible. We're never out of a game. When you guys got when you got guys like Jordan pool and you got guys like played Thompson and you shoot the three as well as the Warriors do. You were never dead and this is just a prime example of that and this is a bad loss for the players again the players are right there right ahead of the Lakers as much as we'd like to see the Lakers not make the play and these are games that Portland need to get in the plan and this is a huge letdown for them. But kudos to the Warriors they're kind of they're they're going to play better and this is this is another example of why we're not worried about them. This is they're not fully healthy and they're still winning games like this when they're down 23 points to basically the Warriors after that. That's impressive. That is an insane swing by the way and look that you mentioned clay. This has been the fun part is sort of seeing glimpses of clay. Here he is after the game. I promise you this when we're healthy no one wants to see us in the postseason. I guarantee that I promise you that and it's I always I mean we expect to win a championship like while we're here like it everything else is falling short and that's a special privilege position to be in not many franchise can wholeheartedly say that. I'm just really happy that his posture is actually worse than mine. Good for clay. Look they're one game out of the four seed none of us have ruled them out and it's one of the few teams I think that we've ever been all sort of in agreement with his last three games you see those numbers down there doing quite well. Is he back Eddie is killer clay back. He's back. He looks like clay and he's carrying them while Stefan Curry's out and it looks like his return is right around the corner. Steve went from the 10 seed to the 5 seed in like three days. It feels like they're messed up with the Suns like everybody would love to see that match up well except for me but everybody would love to see that match up and they're doing this without step. They don't even have step yet. The championship DNA is in there and we can cliche it up all we want but that exists and they have that confidence they have that swagger we just seen him say that nobody can beat us nobody's messing with us. Dante Divincenzo 8 of 11 yesterday 5 of 7 from 3 probably his best game as a warrior huge part of why they were able to slow down Damian the second half and of course they were like really aggressively trapping Damian as well and Jonathan Caminga who I think Choms has mentioned throughout the season. Choms had a great talk with him earlier in the season as well. He's going to be key for them going into the playoffs big athletic body they want to defend night in and night out with and with and who Wiggins but he when he can attack on offense like he did last night when he can be aggressive get big dunks get get put backs and get set up for easy shots. That's a game changer for them. This is still one of the best teams in the league. They haven't played like it all season. They've had the season from hell but if they're getting healthy now they're waiting for Andrew Wiggins they're waiting for Stephen Curry. They got a month and a half left. He's right. Nobody wants to see them in the playoffs not in the east not in the west and they're the champs. They're the champs for a reason. So that's a scary the scariest team in the league right now. Chandler I do agree like that chart the standings are weird. Right. It's leap froggy. It's just crazy because you look at their season. I wouldn't say they've had a great season right. They've been up and down they've had injuries and they're a game out of the force team. This is why teams hear them and there's just something magical when you go to that place and the way they shoot the ball and Steph Curry Clay Thompson the way you have to chase them around the screen. You can't ever let your foot off the gas against his team because there's so many ways can hurt you and they kind of change the game of how those two guys in particular shoot the three ball and I remember going to play there we could be up nine and I just remember like it felt that you're up one like it they could come back so quick the way they shoot the ball the way they get out and transition. I think Phoenix is dangerous because it's the unknown of how Katie is going to fit. But yeah the Warriors they are this good not healthy. They're this good with Steph and Andrew Wiggins not being what they were last year. They obviously had the championship DNA. Clay Thompson is back. Dremont does Dremont things and now they did add guys like Devin Chinzo who's perfect for that system. Kaminga a year better. Kevon Looney the guy plays every single night and he plays so hard he cleans up the offensive glass. They have a championship roster and Clay's not wrong. Them healthy. Man it's tough to go against them in the West. Like it really it really it's tough to bet against them and there's still 20 more games for them to keep climbing up. 20 more games and now Shams talk to me. Where do we have Steph as far as his return. He's making some good progress. I'm told Michelle he started practicing with G League players this week scrimmaging taking some contact and I think the hope is that he's going to be back sooner than later. You know he's missed a few weeks here with that. He's got some tears in his knee or his leg area. So the hope is he's back sooner than later. The goal is for the Warriors to continue to get him some more contact some more scrimmages this week next week. And at that point make a return. Steph Curry his body the way he heals his work ethic. I think it's really a credit to him. He had a labrum injury earlier in the year. He came back I think earlier than a lot of people expected and then even with these tears of the ligaments in his leg I think some people thought he might be out one and a half two months and he appears to be coming back sooner than that. So you have to give credit to Steph Curry his work ethic and the progress that he's made so far. Rot-Roe everybody in the league is like nope no thank you. We're taking a quick break here when we come back shams with the latest on Lamello and man did some people wear some outfits last night we will break that down as well when running back returns. Welcome back to run it back. Look obviously the Hornet season has been over but that does not mean you want the kind of news that they have gotten shams talk to us. Yeah Lamello ball has been ruled out for the rest of the season. He has a fractured right ankle I'm told the Hornets pretty much ruled him out yesterday and it's devastating for him. He barely played this season quite frankly. He dealt with three ankle sprains in his left ankle. He had a grade 2 ankle sprain in the preseason and it just never got better. He re-aggrated it multiple times and then on Monday night he has a non-contact injury right there and it's the right ankle that he fractures. He's looking at a pretty extensive rehab. Could be about a couple months three months of rehab time for him that will go into the off season because Charlotte's year will end with the last regular season game. They went 7 and 20 without him this season and that's just the type of year that's been for them. And so now when you look into the lottery balls of Victor Waminiyama Sweepstakes, Scoot Henderson Sweepstakes, the Thompson Twins Sweepstakes that's really what the Hornets season could be about. They do have an open roster spot. We'll see what veteran point guard they might sign. I'm curious from Chandler's perspective you were that young player at one point that was looked upon as a franchise cornerstone type of guy in Houston and just the year that they've had how do you assess Lamello ball season? I mean it's really uneven year it's hard to really gauge it but how do you assess the year and how do you go how do you move on from here? It's frustrating because all summer long you train you plan you prep for a season and he's coming off an all-star season where he's a young talent. He knew the expectations were low for the team but this is this is a this is a definitely a devastating season because as a young kid right there you want to hoop. Like I was my career was riddled by injuries but that didn't really start till my fifth and sixth year to have this happen so young is it's frustrating because you know he's he's trying to do all the right things. You know he works hard. You know he's working on his craft. He's a talented player with a really really bright future and this is just devastating because he's on a bad team. He's not winning anytime soon and now for him to not even get out to do what he loves and to hoop is definitely it's going to be an adjustment for him but hopefully he takes this time to shut him down. They lose every game possible and try and get Victor and he's got a heck of a teammate next year when he's at full strength. Yeah they're bad luck for both ball brothers on this one. Shoms thank you as always. Enjoy the rest of your week. We will we will see you Monday morning and guys when I tell you that today's fitter break is just an all star lineup of names. I'm not lying because Dylan brook don't go ahead. I knew I knew we'd be talking about this. I'll give me start with love. I love the Louis skate shoes. Good job but showing up in stone cold Steve Austin like what are we doing? Is he not freezing? Does he have no shame? Is it like a wrestling night or something in Memphis or was this just literally a random game? They're jorts. Dude don't cold as a Nikotic fashionista. I'm just going to say Chandler Chandler wins the last time you wore jean shorts in your entire life. Yes you did. And they do wear leathered vests with them. Yeah I'm from Florida so quite often growing up but it's been here. Every time I think too you know what's funny I just saw a stack and Alan Iverson they changed the dress code for like Alan Iverson not to be wearing what he used to wear. And you could wear this? Yes sir. Bring the dress code back. Yeah no no this is progress. After this bring the dress code back. I don't share a coded language it comes with. This is great. Josh Giddy who's become just sort of a staple of the fashion front right guys. I mean that's his thing now. Yes one of the best dress guys in the league. I got to say I'm giving this credit. I don't smooth. I love his game. He's a big smart passing point guard. This kid he gets it at a very young age. Shout out to my girl Vic who styles him here and there. I don't know how he's getting all this stuff out there in Oklahoma City but when you're rich I guess they'll just mail you whatever you want. This is fire. Eddie there's a thing called FedEx and UPS. It gets us stuff out here in the middle of nowhere. I can devout for both of those things. Oh Kyle yeah Kyle Kuzma. I mean he's just in every one of these. I'm not going to diss it. I'm sure it's some off the runway stuff and it's great but like never in my life would I put this on my body. Wait I'm sorry is it soft or is it like chain mail. I cannot tell. Is it. It doesn't matter Michelle it's the look. It doesn't matter. You're right. It's a vibe. It is such a vibe. It is pretty. He's playing basketball well after that. Dude I thought this was Bruce Brown because I've gotten used to Bruce Brown with the western stuff but it's Miles Turner bringing some some western. Maybe there's like theme nights that we're missing here. I don't think so dude. I used to think that with Bruce Brown and then it turned out like he was basically almost every game wearing a cowboy hat and boots. So yeah see we get stuff in San Antonio y'all. There's Jeremy. The pants are outrageous but this this isn't actually bad to me. This matches his hair which is commitment to his hair is matching right. Is that what's going on here. His hair is matching. Are these those Marnie things again Eddie. All the Marnie. Okay. I just yes I just want to get all the Marnie mo hair. I want to put it in a pile. I want to light it on fire and on a shoot to the moon. Like I'm. That's a very expensive box fire. So it's great about Marnie like those pants are the shorts are probably $2,000 for sure. Yeah. Marnie. Taxes. And Marnie has dope stuff. Marnie has dope stuff. We just got to let go of this right here. I'm over it. I just it looks comfy. I look as a person who lives in sweats these look comfy and fuzzy and fun. That's all I can say about that. He pulled it off. Of course he did. He pulled it off and dyed his hair the same three shades. He's awesome. I think it's his left over all star look. Which is I mean that dude the guy the guy's awesome. It's like my favorite spur right now. All right up next. We are going to talk look you knew it was coming. We have to talk stat padding and the only way to do that is obviously Nikola Yoke. And so we'll take a quick break when we come back right now and then we will hear the opinions of my esteemed colleagues. What? Who are we looking at here? Who is this guy? Look at that. Who are you? Who is that? Is this an NBA player? Christian Brown. Does that let it go? I don't have kids. What is this? Nikola what does 100 triple doubles mean to you? I mean when you start batting it's easy you know so. You heard that right? You heard the stat padding stuff out there. Yes of course. I mean it's true. What's your reaction to it? I am sick and tired of the Yoke-ish slander. There he is reacting to allegations that he's just nothing but a stat pattern. Seventh person to record 100 triple doubles in a career last night. Stat padding just it feels so generic it's sort of like a cheap shot Chandler. Are we taking this too sensitively? Where are we on this whole stat padding with Nikola Yoke? No it's ridiculous. And the idea of that is stupid and ignorant. And here's the thing if you are if you have 30 and 15 and 9 and you know that because every player they're lying if they say they don't. They know their stats. They know what's happening. Every arena has a huge screen inside where you can see. And yeah if I have nine rebounds I might go into the glass a little harder to get a double double for sure. So if you call that stat padding yes you've seen guys gun for 50 you've seen Tatum take the shots to get you know whatever that was 60 or 50 points you see guys kind of go and get the Ricky Davis where he gets the his own rebound for the triple double that stat. What Nikola Yoke does is not stat padding the idea of him seeing he averages 9.7 assists and then starting to pass the ball more. Maybe he is trying to average the actual triple double but it's not like he's going out of his way. He's playing his game and he's playing it brilliantly. And I'm with you Michelle enough with the slander on this guy. I love everything about him. He plays the game the right way. If I could play with one player in the NBA today it's probably that dude because he's unselfish. He does everything and we'll find three other guys to play defense because me and him aren't going to do it anyways. So he's the man. He's not great. He's got to win back to back to back MVP like get off his nuts. He's perfect. Boom. I'm sorry Eddie. I'm doing a 180. Like I'm not hating on Yoke. It's no more. I love that he hates the pageantry of the league. I love that he just is like overall the BS and I love that he's shooting at Kendrick Perkins. I like I'm not here to defend Kendrick Perkins at all. Does he does he chase stats a little bit maybe but he's not in the game jacking up extra shots when he already has 40. He's only he doesn't even take 15 shots a game. Like I love Yoke. It's I love the turtle next with the suits. I love it all. I love that he took this shot at Perk because let's be honest Perk was great in his day but you put Perk on that court even prime Perk. He's getting put in a blender by Nicola Yoke. And he's getting another triple double running up and down the court with big Perk. So respect the big Perk and all he's done in the league and in every in his championships and his great Texas career in high school. But Yoke is just putting that man in the blender. I'm sorry. And to just confirm it he was seven of 11 last night in 28 minutes. It's not like you know stayed in and try to do more. And it seems winning. What else could you possibly ask for. OK so Eddie finally we got to it. Guess who's back tonight. Kevin Durant. Yeah. We finally get to see the project that is the new Phoenix Suns making his debut out in Charlotte. Fandle has the over under for his points at 20 and a half. Eduardo you buying it. I'm going over. He's got a minute straight. So he's going to play 20 to 24 minutes. So you know don't put this on Twitter and give me in trouble but that's what I was told. But they're going to get them shots. Chris Paul is going to get them shots. Devin Booker is going to get them shots. He's going to get them shots. He's not a stat pattern. He's got a stat chaser either. Got to wish he'd shoot a lot more. But come on he's 20 points in his sleep. He's going to wake up. He's going to get 20. It just went up to 21 and a half. Does that change anything for you. Yes because knowing Kevin's disdain for parlays. He will score 21 on purpose and come out. So perfect. No longer a safe bet. Sorry guys. Take it back. We'll take everything back that we just said. No I'm excited Chandler. Like I'm excited to watch this tonight finally. I feel like it's been forever. It really hasn't been. Like that's all I have to say. And I'm going to take a break. Okay when we come back we will do our own version of some parlays. It won't include what you just saw and it may or may not include winners when run it back returns. Well let's take a look at what you all managed to do last night. Boys Evan Turner. Yeah you guys know but Eddie you're on a nice little run aren't you. I am. I don't miss. I don't miss. Let's not get carried away. All right but we get to try again. Eduardo go ahead. Sons all the points. I don't care. I'm betting on the home team. You have no idea how close I was to stealing that. Chandler. Laker this is it. If you can't beat the Thunder who are worse than you in the same boat as you you stink. Lakers plus one. Oh that's a that's a gutsy call. I'm not feeling that one at all Chandler. Sixers minus two at Miami. Just feels a little low on my end. Chandler I've been meaning to ask you one question. Will we ever see the entire artwork just I'm asking on behalf of my dad because we need to understand what's going on. They're doing I swear today they're doing the office downstairs. So give me about six months and I'll be ready. All right that sounds about right. We're back next week. Normal time 10 Eastern. See you then. Happy week.