 Run it up, then run it back, yeah. Run it up, then run it back, run it back, run it up. Oh, don't look now. But it's Friday, you guys, right here on Run It Back. I'm sporting my sweet ass merch. Chandler looks like a character out of a movie. And then there's Shoms, who will always be the professional one amongst us. And we've accepted that, Shoms. We appreciate you. Now I appreciate you guys. Chandler, Chandler, is that baby blue you got on today? Yeah, you know what? Haley said it makes my eyes pop, so I threw it on. I figured why not? That's that, you know what? She's officially a stylist. It brings out the bloodshot. You guys, you got Michelle, you left. It's not even cold all week. It is freezing in LA. Really? I got sunburnt two days ago. Now it's damn near snowing. It is ridiculous. Well, I did leave in time. I was wondering why that's we were delayed like hours last night. I wonder if that's why. You know what? Let's just talk for an hour about our travel plans. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm being told we have to move on. Scoops. So global warming. Let's dive into that. Global warming. What is it? Shoms, Scoops are here. Yeah, Miami with getting a player back, which could not be more perfect timing, Shoms. What's going on there? Tyler Hero's been out since February 23rd with a foot injury. He's under what PRP. He's had extensive rehab process. I'm told he is close to returning. He could be back in the lineup as soon as tonight against the Rockets in Houston. There is optimism. He could suit up tonight and play the heat on a three game road trip tonight in Houston in Indy on Sunday and then Atlanta next week. And the hope is that he will definitely play in one of these three games, possibly tonight. We know what he's capable of when he's on the floor. 21 points a night, four assists a game. He's only played 36 games though. And last year he fractured his hand in the playoffs, ends up missing the entire postseason. And so getting him back in the lineup now with a handful of games left before the start of the playoffs, the play in tournament, they want to make sure he's back in the lineup and is able to get a rhythm. Because if he's healthy, if he's ready, this is a massive boost to this rotation, to this lineup. And there is optimism he could play tonight. This is insane. And by the way, they're facing a Houston team that's licking their wounds from last night's shams, which will make it even more hilarious. But they're a half game back of the Pacers. And I bring Chandler back in because we talk about it all season long, don't count them out, don't count out. Sometimes it almost feels like we're just saying the words. But my god, they're right there, Chandler. They're about to do this again, aren't they? Yeah, and they're not just getting an average player. They're getting arguably their best score when healthy. So Tyler Hero is a proven bucket. The guy puts up 20 plus a game. He's usually rather efficient. And he does a little bit of everything. He can handle the ball and pick and roll. He can go get you a bucket and transition. End of clock, he can create his own shot. So the addition of Terry Rozier was kind of to help that with him out. But now you have both of these guys at will, can go and score, play ice ball, but also can play within the flow of the offense. They can stretch the defense and shoot. It's the perfect storm for the Miami Heat. And this is what they do. They somehow kind of just cruise through the regular season. Let the chips fall as they may. And now here we are in April, and we're looking at the standings. And they were probably gonna get the sixth seed and play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. And it's hard not to take the heat in that series. So this has been a crazy up and down inconsistent season for the Heat. But the most important time of the season is right now going into the post-season. And when can what team get everybody healthy? And that seems to be the trend right now for the Miami Heat. And when they're healthy, they are loaded. They are deep. They have offense. They have defense. They have experience. They have size. They have it all. So it's tough for these teams that had a great season all year long. You know, like these three seeds in both conferences, it's not gonna be a sweep in the first round. Like we're sometimes used to seeing. So this is interesting. And this is what the Heat do. And it looks like they're gonna do it again. I mean, now that I'm back in New York where I can use my old little app, that plus 1600 to win the East, why not? If you're Boston right now, by the way, are you just thinking, surely not. You can't do it again. Are they scared a little bit? Well, they shouldn't be scared. The Celtics should. They should be scared. The Celtics, and they should respect them. They should know the history of what they can do. They know that for whatever reason, it's not like a myth. They turn it on in the playoffs. And Jimmy Butler takes it up a notch in the playoffs. And the Heat do match up personnel-wise really, really well with the Boston Celtics, and they're a much deeper team. So it would be an interesting Eastern Conference finals. Just crazy with the playoffs happening to start yet. We really know what seed the Heat are getting. And we've talked about them possibly going to the finals now, just getting healthy. But those odds plus 1600, they're not bad. I think they honestly should be higher just because I think it's far stretched that they could beat the Celtics in a series. But again, injuries happen, and maybe they happen to someone else, and not the Heat. And they hit the momentum at the right time. So who knows? But this is a team that I think is just going to continue to get better and better and better. And other teams are kind of going to dwindle away. Oh, this is going to be so much fun. I'm excited for it. Choms, you also had some amazing, and I do mean amazing, underlined, Hall of Fame news yesterday. Share it. Sources tell me Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups have been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, class of 2024 official announcement, not until tomorrow on Saturday at the Final Four in Phoenix. But that is what I have. Obviously Vince Carter, eight-time All-Star, two All-NBA teams. Number 21 on the All-Time Scoring List, a league record 22 seasons. We know he's a gold medalist as well. Chauncey Billups, NBA champion in 2004, finals MVP. He was also a three-time All-NBA player, five-time All-Star, 17 NBA seasons, well-deserved for both of them. Another name also that we'll be enshrined into the Hall of Fame, Michael Cooper, five-time champion with the Lakers, defensive player of the year, five-time All-Defensive player as well. So those are three pretty notable names that will enter the Hall of Fame, headlined by Vince Carter. Chauncey Billups, shout out to Vince Carter, also friend of the program. Friend of the show. And also if it's not official, I've already congratulated both of them and they accepted. So I think it's pretty official now. There you go, Michelle. Michelle with a confirmation. Sorry. Vince Carter too. I mean, I love Chauncey Billups. I love Cooper. Vince Carter, this dude, growing up in Orlando, I was the biggest Vince Carter fan and he went to Daytona Beach, Mainland High School. My family, we would drive to his games just to see him play and sell out gyms. So the fact that, you know, God, that was so long ago. The fact that he now, especially from my hometown in Orlando, he's a NBA Hall of Famer. It's much deserved. I caught him at the last year of my season of my career in Atlanta. The greatest dude ever, right? Wasn't playing much, was 40 years old and still so committed, still the hardest work and do there. First one there, last to leave. So even throughout his whole career, when he was literally on the way out, he was still a professional. He was still a great leader, a great role model for the rookies. So I got nothing but love for Vince. That's huge and it's well, well deserved. And Chaunce, I mean, I worked with both of them on the TV side and Chaunce obviously for a little bit longer on NBA Countdown and I could not be happier to see both of them and I can't wait to hear the speeches. I'm wondering, do you think either one of them does like a serious sort of tear inducing speech or are we thinking, I'm thinking, are they gonna get help? Will there be jokes? What are we thinking here? I think they'll both put a little touch of humor on it but I think it's hard not to get emotional. Like this is crazy. This is what you dream of, right? You dream of making the NBA, then you just wanna fit in, then you wanna be really good but now to be considered one of the best of all time, it's probably extremely, extremely hard not to get emotional. And these guys are so talented and so good at what they did that this is all kind of a celebration and a combination of everything they've done. So I think Vince definitely cries. Ooh, we should put money on this. See, I 100% agree. I mean, Michelle, you probably know them better. You've worked with them extensively. I've seen some of these interviews that Vince Carter has done. It seems like he's staying this very emotionally every step of the way when he got the call. And then obviously he was on with us, I believe February talking about it. Chauncey Billups to me, current Portland Trail business coach, let's shout out that. He seems a little more calm, cool, collected at all times. But listen, it'll be an emotional moment. To me though, I definitely think Vince will shed it. Okay. All right, we got five on Vince for sure. Let me think about Chauncey. I'm gonna put some thought into that and get a vision. It's gonna be fun to watch. We didn't have some games. He might just supply this all and just have a tear fest. Or they don't, it's just a chuckle fest. This man is passionate when he plays golf and when he misses a putt, he's gonna be passionate making that Hall of Fame speeds. Okay, then I'll put 20 on it. Okay, you convinced me. Warriors Rockets, that was the game last night that people had their eye on. Why? Well, because the Rockets talked smack, well, Tari Easton talked smack. Warriors come out to play and the Warriors did come out and they played and it was an ass whooping. 133, 110, they now have a four game lead on Houston. So it's pretty much done there. But Curry with 29, six and six, Clay Thompson. I love when Clay Thompson just is like, you gotta fuel him and he shows up, finished with 29, three and four, Jalen Green, 13, seven and four. Warriors, I think it was the knockout punch, Draymond Green even said, we have an opportunity tonight to end their season. And the Warriors themselves have been on a tear as of late. Do we start buying stock? Where realistically should we start putting this Warriors team as we approach these playoffs? I mean, realistically they are where they are. And I don't think, I think it's gonna be a dog fight with them just to get out of the play-in. So when you look at this play-in, all three of those teams, the Kings, the Suns and the Lakers, they're probably better teams. Now are they more dangerous? Are they gonna beat them in this play-in tournament? Who knows? Oh, now it's shifted with the Pelicans. It's gonna be tough. It's gonna be really tough because that Lakers Warriors game first is gonna be a huge one obviously because they might not even get a chance to make it if they lose that game. So I'm looking at the big picture of this Western Conference, man. It's just so deep. It's so stacked. We always say don't count out Steph Curry. Don't count out the Warriors and now Clay Thompson goes and has games like this last night where he shows, he still has a lot left in the tank, but it's tough. It's tough. I'm not, I'm not, that plus 3400, it looks cool, but I wouldn't touch that just because the West is so good. And I just, they're gonna have their own problems getting out of the play-in tournament, let alone surviving once they're in. But what's crazy, I'll tell you this, they'll almost have a easier, a harder time getting out of the, getting in like making the play-in and surviving and getting that seven or eight seed or they won't get the seven seed than winning their first round series. Like I think they have a better chance of surprising and knocking off OKC in the first round or knocking off Minnesota in the first round. That could happen more likely than them, you know, in the play-in tournament. It's that, it's that deep. All of that being said though, they are still missing a pretty key piece of the equation here, Sean. So you have any news on Kaminga? Yeah, John and the Kaminga worked out on Tuesday. There was thought Steve Curry even said it the other day that they expect him to play on Thursday. He does not play. He worked out yesterday. I'm told this is a day-to-day injury. He's missed five games now. They're on a six game winning streak. That's essentially giving them reason to be cautious with Kaminga. He worked out again last night before the game. The thought is this is a day-to-day injury. This is nothing that's going to keep him out much longer. But they want to make sure he's going to, he's going to be back as close to 100% as possible, especially now that they're on this winning streak. And what's crazy is about their record, they would be, I mean, fighting for potentially home court advantage in the Eastern Conference if they were in the Eastern Conference. So the West is a bloodbath, especially teams seven to 10. I mean, Lakers, Warriors, Kings, one of those teams is going to be very, very disappointed by the end of the play internment. One of them is obviously going to get bounced and we'll see who it's going to be in New Orleans right now, also sliding down with Brandon Ingram sidelines. So the West is a bloodbath, the Warriors are on a winning streak right now. And I think that's giving them reason to be cautious. We'll see if Kaminga plays tonight. I would not be surprised if he sits and they try to play him potentially this weekend or a little bit after. The craziest thing, the best thing for them is that the Pelicans slide. I think they have a better chance of beating the Pelicans in the play-in than beating the Phoenix Suns. So that is great news for Golden State that the Phoenix Suns aren't going to be in their way at all possibly and that it couldn't be the New Orleans Pelicans, but it's crazy, they're 42 and 34. It's not a bad year. They're eight games over 500 and they're the 10th seed? Like, like, Jesus, that it's crazy that 10th seed last place play-in team is eight games over 500. It just shows you how stacked the Western Conference is. I know what a great problem to have that that's what we're talking about. The fact that it feels like, I mean, maybe Denver really does have the advantage, but it feels like anyone can make a difference here. Speaking specifically on this Warriors team, Chandler, talk a little bit about the importance of some of their young guys who've stepped up and Kaminga, of course, being one of them, Jackson Davis being one, Pajemski being one, which by the way, have you seen that person courtside that wears a Pajemski shirt? It's like a button down with 1,000 of his face on it. I don't know who that is, but shout out. That's all I wanted to say. No, I haven't, but it's been probably the biggest bright spot of their season just because as much struggles they've had, as much as the talk about this dynasty over, at least they know they have these three solid pieces also moving forward. And to me, it's Trace Jackson Davis. That guy, I mean, he had a great career in Indiana. He was an all-American in Indiana. One of the last picks in the draft, and this guy is one of their most valuable prospects moving forward, he can do it all, he can defend, he's so bouncy, it's kind of that undersized five that can play a little four, and he's extremely productive on the offensive end without taking a jump shot. So I think him, the development of Kaminga is obviously great because he's the one of those three guys with real star power and potential all-star career type player. And then Pajemski's shown that he's a starting guard in this league and he can hopefully do this for years to come. So the fact that we are talking about this dynasty ending and is Clay gonna be there? What do they do with Draymond? That is all a huge issue because we've seen greatness from this team for so long and Steph Curry has been unbelievable all year long again, which is no surprise. That's what we expect from him now. But when you have guys like Chris Paul and Clay Thompson, there's always all these questions. There's no questions with those three and you can even throw a moody there because those guys are gonna be the part of their future. And if not, they're at least gonna get good assets back for them because they have that much value. So they're not like they're fully re-tanking if they get rid of Draymond or Clay gets moved or signed somewhere else this summer. You know what I mean? They still have enough there to compete. So it's not a full rebuild. But it's extremely important that during this stretch of kind of the end of this dynasty, they have still groomed these three young kids to be potential studs with that organization. Yeah, the Warriors had a moment, I think with Jordan Poole where you felt like, okay, this is a young guy that you can put in that situation. He's young up and coming. He's a guy that we can build our franchise around. Obviously that takes a downward spiral. There was clearly a clash between Jordan Poole and the veteran players, most notably Draymond Green. But with these guys, I think it's a little bit different. John the Kaminga is a guy that's been welcoming the veteran presence and someone that Draymond Green is taking under his wing. Pazemski has also fit right in trying to be a utility player. Chris Jackson Davis comes with no baggage, no issues, just straight up production, straight up hard work, great teammate. Like you hear nothing but positive things about him. And that's a position of need for them at center. They needed a big man to kind of take over Kevan Looney's minutes and be a presence for them. So to me, it's kind of, it's definitely changing the guard. We've been talking about it here on this show since the beginning of the season, like the clash of young and this veteran side of this team, but it's, as the years gone on, it's been bumpy, but you've seen it kind of become seamless. And you look at this team's record right now, I think they're 11 and 14 without Draymond Green, 31 and 20 with him. That lets you know that this is a much better basketball team with Draymond Green. This is a team that, even if they lose in the plane, could they convince themselves that next year, healthy with a fully integrated Draymond Green for the entire season, could this be a team that contends again? I think they have somewhat of a case. Like I'm not going to count them out another year. If you bring Clay Thompson back, the question and the key is having health and making sure you keep a guy like Draymond Green on the floor. Yeah. The Clay Thompson of it all is such a intriguing piece. That's the big question. The question is, is Draymond Green going to be back? It's, will Clay Thompson be back? That's, I can't, I'm not going to picture it. All right. I'm speaking on Draymond Green, by the way, on his podcast, he was referencing the Tarry Eason trash talk that he did with the Warriors video. And then he follows up by wearing, by the way, still on the bench, he's, he's hurt. Wearing a shirt last night, Warriors come out and hi, bro. But then they got their asses handed to them. So Chandler, while I love a good smack talk and I love this case referencing a movie. And this movie is like 40 years before he was even born. But what do we think about this? Yeah. You're talking to a guy that's extremely petty myself. And I love, I love this whole situation. This was, this went just about as bad as it could go for Tarry Eason. I mean, first of all, they come out and play. Like I get it, your team got hot. Your team got extremely hot. Jaylen Green was unbelievable. It's, it's a fun message. It's just the, it's the wrong messenger. Like you've played 22 games, you're averaging behind points a game. You're, you're, you're barking up the wrong tree kid. And it's just, it's just not smart. And it, and you look like a fool. And they, the game wasn't even close last night. They sweeped you guys, I think 3-0 this year. So they kind of owned you guys. They've dominated you all season long. And this is just the one team like talk, talk shit to the, you know, Minnesota's the okay sees the teams that are on the rise. You show respect to the golden state warriors. You don't, you don't poke a bear. And that's what they did. And, and, and Dreymon say what you want about him. I guarantee you he got this team fired up. You could tell by his tone. He was, this was personal, the way he wanted this. They don't like the Rockets. Clay Thompson, they don't, he doesn't like Dylan Brooks. Now, is this Tar-Eason behavior too? Is this something stemming from this Dylan Brooks situation now? Cause now this team is turning into this, this Grizzlies of last year where they're kind of the, the villains and they talk trash and they're going to start playing dirty. Who knows, but I like Tar-Eason's game. I think he's got a really, really good future. I, I really do, but this is just, this is ignorant. And this is, this is the last team that I would do this to, given the circumstances too. And he got what he deserved. They got their ass whooped and, and he got embarrassed. And he was sitting there with that final scoreboard. With that shirt. With that shirt. I would think about maybe keeping a hoodie or something under the, under the chair to throw on over. Like a cardigan or a warm-up. Yeah. This, this didn't really age very good. And their season is 1000% over. And the Warriors had a lot to do with that with them. Three dubs they got against them. In defense, Timberwolves come out and play. No further questions. You're on them. No, you, you're not done. Cause he mentioned Clay Thompson doesn't like, I mean, first of all, what's wrong with Dylan Brooks? No, I get it. But he, he had some thoughts as well after this one. Here he is. See, like you guys heard the, that Warriors promote the play. Yeah. That's pretty lame. Especially if you're not even playing. Like it's one thing if you're playing, you're out there competing and you'll be back it up. But if you're just gonna be trolling from the sideline, like, bro, what are we doing? Like the times we talk mess, at least we're out there competing. I'm like, that's all I have to say about that. I just, I love Clay Thompson. Yeah, he's right. I mean, it's, it's a little, you know what though, if a teammate would have told him not to wear that shirt, I'm sure it would have been fine. He would have taken it off. So clearly they thought it was funny, right? Yeah, that's, that's my thing. Like, like Fred Van Vleet, like you can't like pull him aside and be like, Hey man, like bad look. Like you probably don't want to do this. And again, like when I was hurt and I was out in Memphis, I didn't have really any right or any business, like to stand on and talk shit because I wasn't contributing. I wasn't playing and yeah, I'd still be betting. I'd still throw jabs on Twitter and things like that or talk shit to a fan in the crowd, but to literally spark this whole thing yourself while you're not playing. And I understand you're maybe he's trying to rally up the troops, maybe he's trying to get his guys going. But I'm thinking like you, Michelle, I'm a vet on that team. If I'm Fred, if I'm, you know, Reggie Bullock, if I'm Jockland, I'm, hey man, bad idea. Like we're fighting to get into the play and we've had a pretty shit season. Like this could, let's not make this any more worse than it already is. And he did. Even Steph had the, the old plastic water bottles in reference to the glass bottle moment. Cause that is the dude who says it, you know? So it's just, it's awesome. They were all in on it. The fact that they're veterans and they still didn't let it bother them, but it got to them enough that they responded. Love everything about it. That was low key, creatively. Yes. Funny way, very petty. I think he's shown that over his career. I love it. Especially as he's getting his later years. Oh, I love it. I think you got to love it. It's creative. I mean, look, they are fighting for their lives as well. And then you got these young pups over here talking, and it's specifically one, but Dillon Brooks is still on the team too. So it's kind of an overall vibe, right? But they're talking smack. How do you not respond? And they did both on the scoreboard and in their actions. Emy Oduk after this one had something to say about his team's effort. Just from the start, it seemed something was off. And did you get a feel for why it was so hard to get kind of footing it into the game the normal way, the usual way? Yeah, it looked like the moment was too big for a lot of players out there. So it looked like Dillon had lights a little bit. Either it looked soft or scared. One or the other, and that's two bad things for a lot of our guys to have, and didn't rise up to the moment like I thought we were. Just from the start. Okay. So to top it off, you talk shit, you poke the bear, you say all this stuff and then your head coach comes out after you get smacked and calls you soft. Soft is bad. It wasn't smart. I hopefully he'll learn from this and realize that this is not how you handle business and this is not what you do in this industry of the NBA. I love the social media outlets now where everybody has a voice and the shit talking can continue off the court. But again, they were going to a gunfight with a pocket knife and they had no chance. They're not a better team than the Warriors. I don't care the ups and downs, whatever. They had a tall mountain to climb. So this wasn't even the right fight to pick if you're Tari Yusin, but the stamp afterwards of you know, could call them soft and scared just makes it that much worse. Full disclosure, I just need to say, we just had an earthquake here in New York City, either that or the subway underneath the ground just came out of the ground and bumped the entire, but I just want to say I'm a little bit freaked out. I didn't know you could have earthquakes in New York. So if anybody could look into that and send me some research, I'd appreciate it. Yeah. I hope you're okay Michelle, are you good? No, no, I'm fine. But I, it was during the Eme Adoka sound and I just sat there and the whole thing was going like this. And I didn't know you could do that here. I'm used to it in California. So it's a little bit weird. But the, so the rocket season all but being over, right Choms? And I think in the end what they did sort of as the season progressed is a positive note and something to build on. Do you think they're planning on making any moves, any bigger moves or are they going to stick with what they have and build? In the grand scheme of this, this is a positive outcome for the Rockets for them to be fighting for a play. And so this is a team that won, I think 22 games a season ago. Now they're at 38, already 16 win increase. You have to give Eme Adoka a lot of credit. Rafael Stone, they're a general manager. I mean, they've stockpiled a ton of young players, guys that you can build around moving forward. They've got a boatload of draft picks from the James Harden trade a couple of years ago. So this is a team that's obviously got a lot of upside. If they're definitely going to be in the market, there's a superstar player that becomes available. They'll have the necessary talent. They'll have the draft picks to do so. We've discussed it. They made a call, made an inquiry on Mikhail Bridges, discussed some concepts with the Nets about him. You know, that deal did not happen. Obviously. So when you think about going into the summer now, Jalen Green, Alper and Sengoon, both extension eligible players, both clearly are putting themselves in a position where if it's not a max contract, it might be close to a max. But the thing is, is Jalen Green's production without Alper and Sengoon, he's averaging almost 30 points a night, almost eight rebounds, five assists with Sengoon in the lineup, 18 points, five rebounds, three assists. They play faster. They play a little bit more versatile. Jabari Smith playing the five when Sengoon is out. This is a team that has a lot more speed and kind of pace to their game without Sengoon. So, you know, what route do you go? Do you go the route of deciding between the two players? Do you go the route of incorporating Sengoon back in next season and just seeing how this team does, playing a little bit more fast, playing a little bit more up tempo, the way Yudoka wants to, and having Sengoon kind of adjust. There's a lot of options. I'm curious, Chandler's perspective on how you approach this, if you're the general manager, knowing this team has had a ton of success without Sengoon in the lineup the last few weeks. Yeah, guys, when you have a season like the Rockets had in their exit meetings, they're gonna focus on that run, that stretch, that 10-11 game win streak that they succeeded in. What did they do differently when they did that? They played faster and they played through Jalen Green. So, I think as, you know, as Rafael Stone, as Yudoka moving forward, I think you realize that Sengoon is your best player, right? And you're probably paying both of these guys because they are both extremely talented and I find a way to make it work. But on the other hand, you really realize how good Jalen Green can be. So, yes, we can look at these numbers that he's this much worse with Sengoon, he's this much better without him. But when you look at these, both these guys are super young. They have a chance to be an extremely good duo in this league for many, many years to come. They just have to adjust. They have to watch a lot of film. They have to get in the gym together. They have to develop that chemistry and realize that there's gotta be a balance, right? There's gotta be a balance of putting the ball in Jalen's hands and playing faster and Sengoon running and picking and popping a little more. And then next possession, sure, when it gets slowed down. All right, let's play through the big fell like Yokic and the Nuggets do and kind of have that balance attack where we know we have this inside out duo that can do it, you know, multiple different ways. And any given night, it could be Jalen's night and then it could be Sengoon's night. And then by the way, they have young assets too, like Cam Whitmore, like Jabari Smith, like Thompson. So they're in a really good spot. They mixed in some solid vets here and they've showed flashes of brilliance this season. So I don't think that this is a deflating season. I don't think that, you know, there's a fire drill going in Houston where they're gonna unload a lot of things. I think they have the right pieces going forward. They have to figure out a way for Sengoon and Green to coexist, but they're in a pretty good spot and they've shown that they can compete. And now with a year older, a year better, adding some more pieces, I think the Rockets will be right there in the playoff hunt next season. So I think come exit meeting time, they're gonna look at this season as a success. The new coach, a lot of new roles, new opportunities. And next year, I think the expectations will be a lot higher. Yeah, I think it was a hell of a success. It's an interesting problem to have. You have two great players and now you gotta figure out how to make it work. But we're gonna take a quick break so we can all powder our noses. And when we come back with some more running back, Shams, you ain't going nowhere. We'll be back. Run it back. Run it up. All right, we're back with some Clippers and Nuggets game. This is another, by the way, I, Jeff Blue, thank you for allowing us to watch live games we're all the other, but the Clippers and Nuggets, this was a big one and I can't even find it. Here we go. Clippers holding off Yokech and it was a close one. I will say that. They split the season series two-two. It's another addition to the, what exactly is this Clippers team story that we're trying to figure out? Again, no Jamal Murray on the Denver side of things, but Paul George, 28 and four, Harden, 28 and six, 22-0. Yokech, of course, 36, 17 and a 10. You just assume that there's a triple double in there somewhere. But right now the Clippers are seven and five over their last 12. And like I just mentioned, Chandler, it's sort of one of those mysteries we can't quite figure out and put our finger on who they are. Who are they? Because we are in the final stretch. Well, if we're gonna say there's no Jamal Murray, we gotta say there's no Kawhi Leonard because he's more important to the Clippers than Jamal Murray is to the Nuggets. But listen, this is a team with high expectations once they made the big move and they got Russ back. And this is a team that is deep. This is a team that's built to win right now. And this is a team that is extremely, extremely dangerous. They've just over the last couple of weeks, months have showed us a lot of inconsistencies. And to me, it's James Harden. To me, I would love to see him be more aggressive, especially nights like this when Kawhi Leonard is out. And last night, he actually, he was, he took 23 shots. But when I see him have these low field goal attempt games, when I see him have nine to 15 points, that's not what he does. He's one of the best scorers of all time. He has the best ISO handle. He can get to any shot he wants and he can get to the foul line a lot. He's the, remember, he's the guy that changed the rules on the fouls on the pull through. He's the guy that can do that. So when you look at this team and in a guy like Kawhi, who's so valuable as team is out, I want James Harden to continue to be aggressive. I want him to take more shots. I want him to dominate games like he did in Houston. And all he needs left on his resume is a championship. And this is a team where he's got championship aspirations. So in my eyes, it's going to, he's going to be important because these guys are going to miss some times, are going to miss some games. Hopefully they're at full strength and at full strength, they are at a whole another level. But to me, I want to see James Harden get back to his ways of being aggressive, being dominant, taking over games late, getting to the foul line and doing what he does. Because Paul George, for the most part, is pretty consistent. Kawhi Leonard is very consistent when he's healthy. To me, their bench is great. Zoo Box has been solid. Mann, Powell, Westbrook, those guys are going to do what they do. They're going to throw in eight to 12 points. They're going to play defense. They're going to give energy. James Harden to me is the key. He's got to be aggressive. He has the ball in his hands a lot of the time. Be aggressive and go do what you do. Can I ask a probably silly question, but it's something I've always wondered about James Harden because, you know, he's got obviously a reputation of some of these postseason games where he just disappears. What happens when a player that is obviously great and can take over a game when he needs to also can just as easily disappear? Like what is the thing that triggers that from game to game? He's also had some really big playoff games, too. So I don't know exactly. So it's just inconsistent. I think it just goes in ways. Also, when he was especially in Houston, when he was the main guy, like when I play with them, everybody's defensive scheme, everything set up to stop him. So he's he is the head of the snake most nice because he's used to great. He has the ball. So he's seen every defense. He's seen guys trying to make him get to his right hand because everybody knows he likes to go left. He's seen double teams. He's seen Blitz's. He's seen, you know, damn near box and one. So he's seen every defense. I think it's hard sometimes on the fly to adjust like that when you're a guy as dominating as he has been the past. It's hard for him to give up the ball, too. And let up. Paul George go rock, let a Kawhi Leonard go rock. So I think this is the team that he's, you know, he's got two other monsters that can kind of, you know, offset some of that load on the offensive end. And they're benched to like Norman Powison is a score. There's going to be times where he's going to take over a game. So that's the luxury this team has. But I think James Harden is too talented to continue to struggle like this. And I think it all just comes down to him being aggressive and just finding that rhythm and that balance within this offense. If you blinked last night or maybe ran to the restroom at some point and you came back and you were like, where's Mike Malone? Well, he got ejected. He was fired up and Harden. Harden's just there. I kind of love they just being there kind of instigated. Mocking, that's the ref kicks him out. I feel like Chandler asking you this is just a set up for a dub. But have you been the annoying instigator in any of these moments? And by and I use the word annoying lovingly here because it's funny. I don't want to say no, because I feel like if I do, you're going to have like a clip of me in the background, give them the old heave ho. But maybe I don't see. I don't know. I do find it really, really funny when players do this because I feel like most of the time when when coaches and players when they do this, they're doing it on purpose. They're sending it. They're setting a fire under their team that they know you can't just go mother of ref and you can't say stop. Like you're supposed to stop. If you don't, you know, you're going to get tossed. And so I've done situations like this before where I've been on that in where like I have, you know, I knew if I said one more thing to, you know, Joey Crawford is going to team me up. So you, you know that going in and sometimes sure you can't control your emotions and you get like this and maybe it just happened. But for the most part, when coaches do this, it's to send a message. It's to get the guys going. It's the OK, this is this is the last help, Mary. I'm going to get tossed and hopefully spark this team to finish strong here. But I don't know that I've ever, I don't even want to say. I don't know the answer. You probably have. I probably have. He did it perfectly. It was well done on both parts, Malone and Hardin. We had to take a quick break right now. Shams, it's Friday night. Can I expect you to to rage? We'll be turning up. I'm flying our way. I'm going to Chandler's. Yeah, we're turning up. You're going to Chandler's. I didn't get this. Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. All right, Michael Bowling on the back side of my mind. In my mind. Earthquake. Oh, he's back just in time. Michael Bowling, be our betting just in time because I'm back in New York, Michael, so I can actually place the bets that you tell me to place today. And that makes me very, very, very happy. All right, let's go. Warriors at the Mavs. Man, these are getting good as we go on back to back with warriors winning by four this past Tuesday. That was in Dallas. The odds right now are what? Mavericks minus five and a half over under two twenty six. Where is you? I like the Mavericks tonight. I think it's like quietly as it's kept, man. You see a team with Luca, who probably should get more recognition for MVP. They won nine. They won a ton of games lately, and they're playing the best basketball right now. So I'm leaning Mavericks minus five and a half. I think the Warriors put way too much into this rocket thing. Last night, I heard you guys talking about it earlier. So they're the back to back. I think this is going to be a Mavericks win. And I would lean the under it was two twenty eight this morning, now two twenty six. So that's a good sign. So like Dallas tonight. That's a good point with the Warriors, huh? They might be with Michael. I think last night was kind of their statement game. Like knock off these dudes and now it's a back to back. Once we got that, they're cozy in that 10 spot. Now I think it's OK. How do we get fully healthy to prepare for this play and game against the Lakers? They don't care about this game tonight against the Mavs. I love the Mavs minus five and a half tonight. I can see some of the players even sitting out after like Clay Thompson, big game, like, you know, I mean, I could see the magic all over the night. Can't I can't sit out. We need to play every single game. All of them have I mentioned that all of the games matter as we head down this final stretch to this next one up. Timberwolves at Suns. This is another battle of the beast at this point. They've won eight of their last 10 Minnesota has. And we know that the Suns are on a bit of a tear as they fight to stay out of that play. And Suns minus four over under two seventeen, Michael, you agree? I'm taking the two wolves tonight. I think the Suns are playing well, but at the same time, the two wolves have won nine of their last 11. So they're playing just as good basketball. This is without cat. I think Anthony Edwards understands now he's got to put the bulk of the scoring on his back. But one guy I think you need to watch Nas read. He is an absolute freak. And obviously the Suns lack a little big inside nerkage game time decision. I'm going with the T Wolves in a close one. I'll take the four points and I'm leaning over here. This might be a track meet. So give me the T Wolves. Give me the over and I love, love Minnesota tonight. Yeah, I like the over. I like the over for sure. Neither team played last night. I think there'll be a lot of buckets in this game. The thing is to me, it's funny that we're talking about the number one ranked Minnesota Timberwolves against right now the eight Phoenix Suns and they're favored by four points. I know town's out and I know there's some injuries, but that just shows you the fear and the respect that the Phoenix Suns and that resume with Devon Booker, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant have over the non proven Minnesota Timberwolves. So I'm going the other way. I think I wish I could take money line. I guess we're not doing that here. The four points is a little steep, but I would I'm going to go Phoenix for I think they are playing for something. I think they want to continue to rise. New Orleans is right there to catch tonight to avoid this play. And so every game I think is more important for the Suns than the Timberwolves. I got I got Phoenix tonight. Obsessed with this final stretch of assess. All right, we're going to start doing the the old be our betting, run it back, same game, Parley. How could we fail, Michael? You get the first two picks. Go ahead. All right. So I'll start this thing off with Kevin Durant. I'm going to have him to make two threes tonight. He's actually hit three and five straight. So going to take it easy. We want to make sure we see one go through the hoop. And then on the other side, I'm going to take Mike Conley to have six assists. This is cashed in six straight. I think he's another X factor in this game. He really gets these guys organized. And I really do believe that if they are going to be the winners tonight, which obviously I think they're going to cover the four, he's going to have a bunch of dimes. So I'm going KD two threes, Mike Conley six assists. And I'm curious, what do you guys got? I mean, I'm scared because Chandler speaks for all of us. So here we go. No, I like, I like both of those. And I went with the two shooting guards, like Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards. I think they're both trying to prove, OK, I'm the best shooting guard in the NBA. Now I'm the best shooting guard in the NBA. So I got Devin Booker over two and a half threes. I think he's going to shoot a lot of them. I think he's going to get a lot of open looks with the way that the Suns play offense, the way people guard Kevin Durant. So I love him. And then on the other hand, I like Anthony Edwards with a statement game tonight. He's going against arguably the best shooting guard, one of the best two guards in the league. I think he is going to go over 27 and a half. I think he's going to have a big game. It's just not going to be enough to get the dub. I like this one. All right, plus five, 14. I like this one a lot. We got some. And by the way, we think we think before we even knew these picks, Michael, we both had the over in this game. So it's good that it's good that the process. We need a lot of buckets. We need a lot of buckets, a lot of threes. We got this. How could it not be? It's got to be a thing. It's got to be a lot of points. Prop party's up next. You have three good ones for us, Michael. I got three good ones. First, I'll start. If anyone remembers, the Charlotte Hornets are still playing basketball. I'm taking Miles Bridges over two and a half assists. He's cashed us an eight of his last 10. You may not think he's a big assist guy, but we only need three of them. Love this play. Hometown Bulls, DeMarja Rosen over three and a half rebounds tonight. The Knicks are lacking size. Obviously played a black back-to-back last night. This is cashed in six of 10. Gimme Debo. And then in the late game, you got to stay up late. Colin Sexton over eight and a half rebounds plus assists. He's got so much energy. The clips are probably spent after last night's game with the Nuggets. This is cashed in seven of 10. So these are my picks. Love them tonight. Parlam, got three to one. Have some fun. It's the only way to go, Chandler's to Parlay. And the future, this is, I love this part when we take some of these future ones. We got the playoffs right around the corner. It's never too early to start looking ahead to see if we can make some cash, Michael. Talk to me. All right, some big numbers here. I really like the Sixers. To win the East plus 950 right now was plus 1,000 yesterday. So the books are in agreement. They're going to avoid the Celtics. They're playing really good basketball. They've got Joel Embiid back. It looks like he hasn't even missed any time and they get 29 last night. They're a tough matchup for the Bucks. I watched this on opening night against Milwaukee. So I'll take the Sixers to win the East. And on the other side, I mentioned them earlier at the Mavericks. Plus 1,200 to win the West. They avoid the Nuggets. And I think anytime you have Luka versus like the Clippers potentially, you're going to have a shot in that series. Don't sleep on how big Kyrie can be in the playoffs. Obviously you guys know that. So Sixers win the East, Mavs win the West. That'd be a fun finals, wouldn't you think? That'd be crazy huge. I love the Mavs plus 12 and a half. I think as deep as the Western Conference is, the Celtics are going to win the East. See, I mean, so that's tough for me. If I had to pick the Celtics or the field, I'd probably have taken the Celtics. The Mavs, I think with that duo, with the way Kyrie Irving is playing with the addition of Gafford and PJ Washington, I think I love those odds plus 12 and a half, especially if they can avoid the Nuggets till the Western Conference finals. I'm all over that one. I got to be honest. I keep taking the field on the Boston thing, Michael. I think Chandler just, he keeps telling me Boston or the field he takes Boston. I'm not a big believer in the Celtics, even though their record is what it is. I guess the metrics obviously agree as well. I just think we got to see Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown be clutch. And I haven't seen it yet. Not in the playoffs. If they run into Miami, you guys mentioned it earlier. We could be, it could be a little house of horrors. So I'm not necessarily on the field yet. Yeah, I'm field. We're gonna take a quick break, Michael. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be able to put some of these bets in. And we'll take a quick break here and come right back in a minute. Run it up, run it back, run it up. You buying that time for, well, it's just you Chandler. So it's either you buy it or you don't. That's how this is gonna be played out. But in his recent podcast, Jamon does a lot of podcasts, but he did say something brilliant. He said, Victor Wembanyama turning into everybody else. Should be defensive player of the year. Are you buying that? No, I'm not. And the only reason is, by the way, he's gonna finish second and he could very well win this game with the block shots, with the rebounds, with the crazy stats and numbers that he puts up. But you can convince me, fine, rookie of the year, winning doesn't matter. But defensive player of the year, the Minnesota Timberwolves would not be the one seed right now without Rudy Gobert doing what he does on the defensive end, altering shots, playing defense, doing everything he does for that team. So fine, rookie of the year, they get drafted to a shit team, you put up great stats, win it. But defensive player of the year, that carries more weight of winning and your team succeeding and playing when it matters in June and the Timberwolves have a chance to do that. Say Antonio Spurs don't, but Wimbie will be a close second, but it's Gobert's. And he's got many, many years. As he himself said, Gobert can have it, but after today, after this year, it's open. Bogdan Bogdanovich and his coach, Quinn Snyder, got into a heated exchange on the sidelines Wednesday. But after the game, Bogdan said, that means we both care. Oh, you buying that, Chandler? Ooh, ooh. I am buying it, but there's also, listen, every player and coach has a relationship, right? Whether that's good, whether that's not so good, whether that's personal or not. Good coaches have a relationship with you where they know they can jump your ass, they can go off on you, they can rip you in film, but they know it's love and respect. And after that, you go and you get lunch and you go watch a game and it's all fine. I don't know the dynamics of these two, but like, if J.B. Bickerstaff and me did this, no problem. We would text about it later. If Lloyd Pierce did this to me, it would be personal and I wouldn't like it at all. So like, there's a different dynamic, but I do like the fire and I do like where their season is and where they are. I like that they still care, but also that could also be the other way where it's just frustration and their misery. Well, the big reveal is they dapped it up afterwards. So it seems like it's all good. If Lloyd Pierce did it to you, would you put a bunch of dog crap in a paper bag and throw it at his door? Oh, I'm just saying there's different relationships where I didn't have that relationship with him where I feel like he could go at me like that. And he probably felt the same way about me. So that's a different dynamic. J.B. could motherf me and talk shit about my mother and I wouldn't care. That's perfect. All right, that's gonna do it for us. Enjoy the weekend. Stay safe. Run it back, run it back, run it up, run it back.