 Good morning, and guess what? Adele and Rich Paul reportedly engaged. We are a show of love. We'll talk all about it when Run It Back starts now. I was kidding. We don't care about engagements, but we do care about basketball. And I want to introduce the panel, as always the black shirts right here, Shamsharani, a stadium insider. Hello, good sir. Chandler Parsons, very serious. Eddie G on the end, so close to me, but yet so far. Chandler, boxing classes this morning. How are they going? I feel like you're years too late on learning how to box. What's going on? I had this little midlife crisis. I have a daughter now. I need a big guy. No one's probably gonna mess me in the first place. I want to protect myself. So, you just see the other guy, Michelle. You have an actual back eye. That's crazy. Week two. Well, we're getting there. We're getting closer. Yeah, you're getting there. I can't wait for the finished product. All right, guys, it was fun. It was a fun weekend of basketball. It was good to have it all back. Well, we're gonna start with the story of the weekend, of course. Damian Lillard, just a casual 71 and it went over the Rockets. This is the deal. He was 22 of 38, 13 of 22 from three. Perfect from the line with 14, six rebounds, six assists. All of that he did in 39 minutes. Everybody's just glowing about Dame, rightfully so, Chailor. But as far as his legacy and you, what does it mean? What does this performance mean for him? It's a huge exclamation point. This is an unbelievable game. And again, we're kind of getting numb to these type of performances. But last night, he had some crazy shots. He did not get this easy. He was hitting it from deep. He was getting to the mid-range. He was perfect from the free throw line. This was a flawless game. And this just shows, you know, his kind of his, the way he's just carries himself and even set up to the game, like this is a Hooper's dream. When I'm in this zone, you know, he's just hooping. He can't be stopped. He's getting to the rim. He's making shots. He looked like he was just numb out there, just hitting everything. And this is a crazy game. 71 points in 39 minutes. And to be that efficient and to get the win and to be in regulation and not have to go to overtime to even get these points. Truly an all-time great performance. And listen, he's already on this 75th team. He's a first-built Hall of Famer without even getting close really to winning a championship. And it's games like this that kind of put that stamp next to his name and his resume. Eduardo. Yeah, look, this was sensational. It was the spiritual moment experience, like Kevin said about his playoff performance a few years back. So lots of God make those long shots and then get a couple of dunks. He just scored every way. This is the most exciting way basketball can be played in my mind. What I love especially is his teammates were just going and running the ball to him in the fourth quarter. They wanted to see 70 as much as everybody else. I won the C75. And he took a shot at it with one last side step three. He was exhausted. He was gassed. But yo, I love when guys go for the number like this. And like Chandler said, no overtime. And he won the game. So sorry, Demitz. Sorry, Devin Booker. This is the most explosive score in performance since Kobe's 81. And it also makes you think a little bit as I'm watching Dame go off the court, gassed doesn't have anything left in the tank. Kobe scored 10 more points. That's absurd, but incredible night for Dame Lillard. Shout out to him. Yeah, I mean, this is the second guy in the NBA this year that scores 70 points or more. And like at what point are we going to see a guy score 80 or 90? I think the scoring is only rising. And I think there is only a matter of time before a player gets that 80, 90 threshold. But when you look at Damian Lillard, he's 32 years old. He's averaging career highs and points, field goal percentage, field goals made per game, three pointers made per game. At the age of 32, to me, is very impressive. And he's a guy that I've always considered to be in the MVP candidate year in and year out. The way he's able to lead this team, he clearly needs help on a nightly basis with this roster. Youssef Nurkik has been in and out of the lineup. Jeremy Grant's played at a high level. But they just have not gotten the support, I think, for Dam that he's needed this year. Nurkik's missed time. And now Anthony Simons is out with a grade two ankle spring. He's going to be out a really long time. But I think you have to give it up to Dam. A lot gets made every year about his, quote, unquote, loyalty. But he's staying loyal. And he's putting up these major massive numbers on a nightly basis. There was a, go ahead. Just a game like this kind of shows the Portland fan base, the front office, the ownership that this guy still got it. And he's 31, 32 years old, how old he is. He can still perform at an elite level. And he can still have games like this. You got to find a way to build around him and embrace. It's almost like the LeBron and Lakers. You got to find a way to enjoy these Damian Lillard times. He showed you loyalty. He has been there. He could have left numerous times. And now he's putting up games like this. It's again, I have that feeling like, damn, I almost feel bad for this guy because I want to see him in the playoffs. I want to see him in the finals. I want to see him competing on the biggest stage because he's that good of a talent. I just wish that they could kind of build a better supporting cast around there to get him because he's done everything possible to be the fan favorite there, the best player in the history of the Portland Trail Blazers. And I just wish he had a little bit more help so he can kind of play on a bigger stage. I think it's interesting. Scott Van Pelt, when the game ended last night, Clippers Denver rolled into Scott Van Pelt. And he had like a little two minute thing that he was talking about. And he said it the best. I don't know what the words are to talk about the greatest player that doesn't get as much respect as he should. And I was like, that's exactly how I feel. Here's Dame's own quote. They'll never give me credit for what I've actually done. They better pray I don't win a championship for the Blazers. Oh, I think he's universally rooted for Eddie. But if the Blazers change the narrative that he has to leave, what if he has to leave Portland to win a ring? What does that do to all of this? In the modern NBA, I don't think it matters. If he leaves, I think a lot of people will tip their hat and appreciate it. It's kind of a running joke. Yo, maybe Dame should run from the grind a little bit. I mean, it's on the Portland Trail Blazers to put together a good enough team to truly compete in the West. And with as much parity as there is in the conference right now, you feel like they're just a step or two away. But they never had to have given him that Robin, that second superstar next to him. Yes, CJ McCullum was great. LaMarcus Aldridge had his moments. And now Jeremy Grant as well. But never quite his equal or even close. And that's really what he needs. He's 0 and 12 in the playoffs against Stephen Curry. His one trip to the conference finals was a pretty embarrassing sweep. He's got pretty bad losses. The Pelicans lost a few years back. Everybody harkens back on that. He withdrew holiday did to make life difficult for him. So I understand if you have him a tier or two below whatever your superstar thing is. But he's right. A title would absolutely change his legacy. I don't think it necessarily has to be in Portland. But we would just love to see him on that stage and what he's capable of in the playoffs. And we've seen that before. But look, Allen Iverson didn't win the title. At least he played in June. He had his great moment in June. James Harden has not won the title. There's a lot of great guys who have not won titles. And they're viewed just as highly. Damien's been sensational. He's 40 points a game this month. It was my dark horse MVP way back on our very first episode. And he's not going to get that. But he's been incredible. The scoring averages have jumped each month since November. You know, he's been reminding everybody just exactly what he is after an injury plate season last year. Every stat that they ruled last night during it was just it was incredible. I feel like I already kind of know where you guys stand on this. You threw in some hints already. But Chandler, more impressive. And the fact that I can even ask this in the same season is indicative of the year that we're having. But more impressive, 71 point performance. Dame or Donovan? Yeah, I mean, no shade against Donovan Mitchell. His was crazy. But again, I think we touched on earlier. This went to overtime. He had more minutes. He had more opportunity. This was a regular regulation game. It was a close game pretty much throughout to the end there and pretty much throughout the whole game. I got to take Dame here. The efficiency, the perfect from the stripe, the 13 or whatever, three. This was one of the most historic best games in the history of the NBA. And so was Donovan Mitchell. I got to take the one that was less minutes and regulation and the guy got the win. I just think that packs more of a punch. But again, the Dame Lillard, I think the legacy in Portland is so impressive in the loyalty that he's been doing. But I think this is almost getting to a situation where if the Trailblazers, they don't think they can build something around him to compete. I just think they're going to want him to kind of, they're almost, they've developed this relationship in this family. Like, go play somewhere else. Go get a championship, fulfill whatever it is. I think it's going to come to a point where if they know they can't compete for a championship and they're not going to bring him the cast, I don't think there'd ever be hard feelings of Dame Lillard leaving there. I think he's done it all. He showed loyalty. He's come back. At this point, I think they're almost like feel bad for the dude for how it's gone. But I got to give the credit to him last night. This was one of the craziest games ever. I mean, look, he's 32, right? So if he were to make a move like that in the window in which winning a championship is still pretty highly realistic shams, like how soon could that even happen? Let's just live in fantasy land for a second. Yeah, I mean, obviously, Dame Lillard flirted with the idea a couple of summers ago in 2021. It didn't end up happening. So I think right now he's so rooted in Portland. It would probably take a pretty severe change of direction with his mindset and also the organization. But listen, if they miss the playoffs again this year, he'll be 32 going on 33 years old. At what point does he look at it? Does Portland look at it and sit down and Portland identify that we're probably going in another direction? And as many times that we've tried to reboot this team, does it make sense for you to go elsewhere? I think a lot of it just depends on where Portland finishes up this year. They make it to the playoffs and give themselves a chance. I think Dame Lillard has every incentive and desire to continue to run it back year in and year out. I just love Dame Lillard. I just love Dame Lillard. That's all I want to say about it. There were other games. This next game felt like I was watching two teams that are going nowhere. And it's really what it felt like the whole time. Lakers, Mavs, but I will say this, Lakers were down 27 points. It was so ugly and somehow erased that deficit to beat the Mavs in Dallas. Now they've had comebacks from down by 25 twice already this season, Chandler. Let's start on the Lakers side of things. We'll obviously get to the Mavericks in a second, but a team like the Lakers where morale is meh and it's just stuck there, right? A comeback win like this does what for them? This is everything for them. Not even a comeback win. Just every win moving forward for this team is huge. And again, we know they have no reason to tank. We know they're trying to win every game. We know they just made a lot of moves at the deadline to really better their team in a big way. Jared Vanderbilt, I don't know if we're going to get there or not, but that kid has been unbelievable for them. The way he defends, the way he's active, the way he can get out on the break, it's great. But listen, as pathetic as this was for Dallas, this was huge for the Lakers. They never hung their head. Jake Kidd set off the game. The turtle won the race. They just kept chipping away. They stayed solid. They didn't turn the ball over. They kept getting possession, taking advantage of everything. And it's a classic case of Dallas, let their foot off the gas. They got really sloppy with the ball and they played very immature basketball last night. But Kudos to the Lakers. They didn't hang their head. They could have easily subbed out. They could chalk this one up. And they kept battling and they kept battling and they find a way to get a huge win for them on the road and it's a team that's ahead of them that's supposed to be a contender. So I just want this on the record. I'm contractually obligated to ask this next question. I personally think it's ridiculous, Eddie. But are you buying stock in this Lakers team right now? I really hate that we're right back into if they get in, they're scary territory. But if they get in, they're scary. I can't help it. It's just the truth. This is an incredible performance from the Lakers in the second half of this game. Not the first half. But they are dangerous and you can see why. They now have shooters around Anthony Davis and LeBron. They now appear to be, well, LeBron may not be as healthy anymore. We saw him limping out the arena yesterday. Tough, whatever that was that he said, pop. But they have a team that makes way more sense. Austin Reeves is like the scrappiest dude in the league. But he's a real baller for them. And then when you have Jared Vanderbilt like Chandler mentioned, now you have that perimeter defender who could actually turn this into a functional NBA defense around LeBron and around Anthony Davis. When you have those three, you can be a force in the playoffs on defense. And when you have Anthony Davis and LeBron, you can be a force on offense. They get the right matchup. Don't let them get the Kings. Because then we're gonna have to have the Lakers in the second round. And then we're gonna really have to hear the noise about what they could and cannot do. So yes, I am buying stock. I'm sorry. They're a game out of the playing. They're only two and a half games out of the six seed. And they beat the six seed yesterday. So I'm buying stock. I'm sorry. You know what? I've never been more disappointed. Shoms, please make it better. Yeah, I mean, listen, it helps when you have like legitimate NBA players coming off your rotation, getting Jared Vanderbilt, Malik Beesey, D'Angelo Russell, Mo Bamba at the trade deadline. You see what the Lakers path that they charted was. We're gonna be or try to be more like that 2020 team that won the championship and a little bit less like the star driven team that they had the last couple of years with Russell Westbrook. Rob Polinka goes in and in that front office. They go get all these role players. And Jared Vanderbilt was big time last night guarding Luca Donic and you can see they still need to get chemistry in Dallas between Donic and Kyrie Irving. They're not totally, I think on the same page late in games, but the way offensively, I think they have the potential to get there. But you see a Lakers team now that's starting to find its groove. And Anthony Davis, bigger than anything, the way he's played down the stretch, his jump shot looks right again. He's playing at a very, very high level and that's a good sign for the Lakers. Yeah, and you look at the roster, you look at the box score. Lonnie Walker was having a career year this season playing big minutes. Guy played six minutes last night. Mo Bamba played five minutes. Rui played 11 minutes. They have an actual team now with depth and with shooting and with defense and youth and size. Like, I just can't help but think why not have this team in the beginning of the season for whatever, but that's precisely the point. They made a move, they made a splash and they got a lot better and they have a breath of fresh air. When you bring in a whole different side like this, guys are hopeful. It's new, it's fresh and they're playing like it and they're playing, they look like they're having more fun. Anthony Davis is back to what he was for those couple of weeks before he got hurt. LeBron is obviously doing what he usually does. This is with Malik Beasley, who's their best shooter and he was, I think, two for 11 from the three point last night and they still found a way to chip back and get into this game. This is a real problem and like Eddie said, if they play the Kings first round, I don't know who I would pick. I don't want to poop on the Kings because they've had a great year but like depending on their matchup who they get, this is a very talented now deep team and if LeBron and Anthony Davis are healthy playing at a high level, here we go again. They're very, very dangerous. I hate this. Sorry myself. I hate all of this. Jason Kidd was asked after the game. He was asked a lot of things but here he is on the secretion of abs winning, moving forward. Yeah, I'm not the savior here. I'm not playing. I'm watching just like you guys and as a team, we got a mature and we got a lot of new bodies coming back and we have to grow up. If we want to win a championship, there's no young team that's ever won a championship mentally or physically. Look, they obviously made one of the biggest moves in the last few weeks with Kyrie Irving edition. Eddie, do you expect? I mean, not just Kyrie to help them but do you expect the team in general to quote unquote, grow up in time? Why would he say that? Why would he say that with Kyrie Irving on this team now? What is it? Yo, they're one in three. They're one in three with this team. You see the defensive holes. You see the issues they're having. Yes, they can light it up but they're gonna have to light it up every single night just to win. Even when they lit it up against the Timberwolves they still lost and they had an sensational fourth quarter. You see the issues. They let go of their wing depth. They're waiting on Maxi Cleaver still. They're not shooting that great. The buckets those two have to score are so draining and so tough and they have to figure out their rhythm immediately. They're not title contenders. Let's be real. They're not title contenders this year. It would a big summer with some additions. Yes, but if they end this season badly, if they end this season on one in three pace, if they end this season in the playing, maybe a one game in and out type situation. What is the incentive to then resign Kyrie Irving and double down on this pairing after that? You're gonna have to start asking those type of questions soon. There's only 20 some odd games left in the season. It has to pick up. And like Jason Kidd said, he's just watching. He's not on the court. He did not sound pleased with the situation. But again, why would he say that? I don't know. Yeah, to be honest, that's a really weird quote from a head coach to say with a new trade with a guy like Kyrie Irving who couldn't technically be the savior. It's just wrong to say and for multiple reasons. And you are the coach. You're not playing, but you are the leader. You are the head of the snake. You are orchestrating this whole situation here. And that's a lot of pressure. And that's the job that you took. So to say that, I would rather him just said, we got to be a lot better. I could clean some things up or maybe, you know, as a coach, good, bad, you have to own it. And I feel like this was honestly just like a sidestep excuse, kind of through shade at Kyrie Irving a little bit, kind of Luca telling that, I don't know what this quote was, but, you know, this is, I can tell you right now, from an office, Mark, you can't like something like this. As a coach, you have to take accountability and ownership and kind of own the mistakes that your team is doing out there. And they know what's going to take time. When you add a guy like Kyrie Irving, who's ball dominant, who is a star player, you can't just throw him in the mix and think it's going to work. It's going to be a process. It's going to take some time. You already know your holes with depth and size and defensively, but this isn't just going to, you know, snap your fingers, it's going to work. So there's going to be some trial and error here. And as a coach, I feel like you just, you can't say things like this and kind of pile on after a huge loss, a loss sucks, let alone a 27 point comeback to the Lakers. That's a whole another story. And then you add more fuel to the fire and more media attention by saying something like that. I just think that wasn't the smartest quote, but I do think this is something that they'll watch film, they'll get better from. And there's too much talent on this team to be giving up leads like this. This is a pathetic loss. I think it just adds more interest to what we already looked. For most of us that are cynical, we're waiting for the shoe to drop with Kyrie, right? Like this isn't going to be smooth forever. It is what it is. But I think Jason Kidd's a different guy than Kyrie's been used to dealing with. Like he was a hothead. He played a certain way. To me, this is just going to be so much fun to watch as it goes on. At least he's not there forever. That's the only thing. So Sun's Bucks, so much basketball, you guys, that this one's good. There was no Giannis, obviously no KD. Giannis got hurt on Friday night. But the Bucks now on a 14 game win streak channeler and they look like they're having a blast every second of the way. How impressive are they right now? Super impressive. And Drew Holliday. I didn't think he was going to be an All-Star and he is playing like it. He is taking over games, being efficient. He is getting them in their sets. They didn't miss a beat last night with Giannis out. And this is huge because they need games like this from him. They need Chris Milton. They need, Brook Lopez had 22 and 13 last night. They're just such a deep, smart defensive savvy team. They can hurt you in so many ways. Obviously we haven't seen the best version of the Suns. And I think that's coming up soon here with KD. And they're going to be a whole other animal to deal with. But this is a huge win for a team without their everything player, without their star. We don't know when he's going to come back. But this showed a lot for me at Drew Holliday. He can kind of step up and be that number one option with Chris Milton still coming off the bench and kind of finding his legs. We know how good defensively Drew has been. And Eddie said earlier how he kind of manhandled Damian Lillian in that playoffs season years ago. And now if he's getting 30 plus points dominating a game like this offensively and defensively, it's a nightmare for teams. And this is a big win for them. I don't care if KD's out or in or Yannis in or out. This is one of the best teams in the West against one of the best teams in the East. And they got the win. And they're hot right now on a 14 game playing streak. That's super impressive. Yeah, it was a great win. And with on national TV, nonetheless without your best player against a team that's doing well. They're trending upwards. They're missing their best player as well. But that's fine. We're on even footing. It was good to see Chris Middleton go at book. It's easy to forget. These two teams played in the finals just two years ago. A lot of the same guys on both rosters. A lot of tents in there. It was an intense game. It felt like a playoff game. And it was a great win for the Bucks. When they get Yannis back, they've been rolling. And we talk about it all the time. When we talked about the odds for Yannis MVP a few weeks back. But this is a scary, scary team. And the Celtics are great as well. But this looks like it's probably the best team in the league right now. And that was without their best player yesterday. So many guys stepped up on the court. And look, on the other side of the court with the Suns, you can see, they're missing that little bit of an element of a secondary score to help Devon Booker late. Drew made an incredible play on a Devon Booker drive that could have tied the game. I don't know how he had the hand-eye coordination to reach in, get the ball out of his hand with his left hand when he's driving this way. It was insane. Drew's amazing. So yeah, that's a scary team out there in Milwaukee. And we know what they are. They're a title contender. They're going to be that. And they're looking like right at the top of the league once again. Brooke Lopez looked like he was extra spicy, SJR. Here's where they are. Eddie said he thinks the Bucks are the best in the league right now. I'm just going to ask you, Chandler, if you think it's Celtics or Bucks, who are you taking today? Well, today I'm taking the Bucks. They've won 14 in a row. And the Celtics just lost to them before the break. And I think the Celtics just lost to the Suns as well. So it's again, right now, 14 in a row. It's hard to argue them. They're the best team in the NBA. And going forward all season long, I think throughout the coast of the season, it's been the Celtics. But these are two elite teams. And it's going to be fun regardless. And honestly, Philadelphia is right behind them. So they used to stack. And it's going to make for a fun playoff. But it's hard to argue against a team that's won for a month straight. There's some off the court news involving the Bucks right now, Shams. And lightness on that. Yeah, anytime there's an ownership change when the team is a perennial contender is interesting. So Mark Lazar, who owns 25% of the Bucks, he has sold his stake. Two Cleveland Browns owner, Jimmy Haslam, for a valuation of $3.5 billion. Mark Lazar and Wes Edens have owned this team in Milwaukee for the last nine years. Mark Lazar has served as the controlling governor for the last three and a half years. And the Bucks have turned into a powerhouse when you think about building a new arena, Pfizer Forum, just the business that they built around the arena in their dear district. And they've been a perennial title team every single year. They won the 2021 NBA Championship. So it's interesting. He is now on the way out. Jimmy Haslam is on the way in. And so it's an interesting time. This is the second highest team valuation of a sale only to the Suns, who just a few weeks ago sold for $4 billion to Matt Ishvia. So this is quite a good profit for Mark Lazar, who bought in at the time for around $550 million. Yeah. And this is a great buy, too, because with that 22%, it has the max debt, right? So this guy is paying only $400 or $50, $500 million. And it has full control over this team that we're talking about arguably being the best in the NBA. So it's a huge buy. And I think this team is not going anywhere. They have one of the faces of the entire NBA. And that to me is a great buy, because they didn't actually have to pay $3 billion. He paid $450, and he's running the whole team now. It's kind of crazy, because if you watch basketball, a lot of times you're looking at Yanis and that team, you're like, how do I root against this? Well, this is about the only way I could figure out for you to want to root against the Bucks, because this is the same guy, Jimmy Haslam, who gave to Sean Watson the guaranteed money and broke the entire system in the NFL. And when asked about to Sean Watson's off the field doings, really had one of the worst quotes of all time, leading me to think he's not a great judge of character. So this is a tough one, because now all of a sudden, you're like, I hate this owner, and I really like Yanis. And now what do I do? And it will be interesting to watch. But yeah, from his perspective, great buy. I would do the same if I had that kind of money. On the Phoenix side of things, the expectation is that we finally will get to see Kevin Durant in that uniform in action on Wednesday. How different, Chandler, is this team going to feel? And look, if we get that on Wednesday. Oh, it's going to be, I get hype just looking at him, walk out of the tunnel like that. Like that looks really dope. And I'm excited to see him. I don't care what else is going on Wednesday. I am dialed in to him. I want to see how he meshes with KD. I want to see how Chris Paul handles with two stars now on the wing with a really good, young, big, rolling down the lane. And Deandra Aiden, this team, listen, every team Kevin Durant's played on, he's had a lot of good players going back to Oklahoma City, to the Warriors, to the Nets. He's always had good players around him. But this is a real opportunity here where they could win now this year and maximize this trade. And I'm excited to see it. Eddie, you've been there. You've been out West. I mean, it's in Charlotte on Wednesday, but have you, does he like his new home? Give us a scoop. Well, yeah, I was out there last week. I went to the Thunder game at Phoenix. Kevin finally warmed up in front of the fans out there. And we were laughing afterwards. It's almost embarrassing how much attention they were paying to him. And he got a great ovation walking in. But yeah, definitely excited, excited for the fit, excited for the first practice they had where he scrimmaged with all five starters. And he's ready to get back on the court. He's anxious. And I think he's been healthy for some time, healthy enough to play, but obviously with the trades and all of that. And then all-star break, everything through a rinse in his timing. But he's back. I mean, Psalms broke the news. It sounds like he's going to be back Wednesday. And yeah, he's loving it out there. Real chill vibes out there in Arizona. So he's just ready to get back on the court, ready to make a run, and really excited about what this team can be with him on the floor with them. He also got traded during the Super Bowl and Waste Management in Scottsdale. How's he supposed to play, Eddie? There's so much. I think he made the right decision. I think he made the right decision. Leave it given him some time. God, I can't wait. It's weird how excited I am for a team that I don't necessarily root for at all. Clippers Nuggets late game last night. Again, just basketball, basketball, basketball. Jokic, 40 point, triple double. He now, of course, leads the team past the Clippers. He's on a list that's ridiculous, 99 triple doubles. He's five and a half games ahead in the West at the moment. But again, this Denver team is the team, and I think everyone sort of goes, huh, not sure yet. Chandler, if you had to look now at the standings, Western Conference, all of the teams involved, which one are you picking out that would give this team the hardest time? Probably the Phoenix Suns, honestly, just depending on how KD meshed with them. I have loved the Clippers, but obviously they kind of beat them last night. Honestly, I turned this game off. I thought this game was over. I thought the Clippers were dead in the water. I don't even know what happened at the end of the game there, but I saw a healthy Kawhi Leonard. I saw a healthy Paul George. And I just, I love the depth and I love the defense of the Los Angeles Clippers. And I love what they added at the deadline with the shooting, with the, you know, plumly. I think they are the most well-rounded deepest team in the West, but with the star power of Book and KD and Chris Paul and Deandre Ait and Phoenix, that is going to be a tough out for them. And I think it's also a tough mismatch for them because Denver isn't really great defensively. They're not really great physically. And those guys got a lot of ways to score the basketball in Phoenix. So this is a big win for them. Jokic did what Jokic does with 40. Usually this would lead to the show, 40, 17 and 10. And we're, it's eight, 29. And we're just now talking about it. This is ridiculous, but this is why he's going to win his third MVP and why they are a really, really good team. And Aaron Gordon wasn't supposed to play last night and he played and then, you know, he struggled a little bit. But this is, again, this is a great offensive team. They just need to find a way, we've said, all year long to dial it in defensively because no one can really guard them, but they just got to be more physical and they got to play better defense to really be a contender in my eyes. Yeah, this was a great game and it was a playoff atmosphere out there in Denver and two real heavyweights in the Western Conference. The Denver completes the series sweep, the season sweep against the Clippers, which is a little concerning. If you're one of those people who think the Clippers would give them a ton of issues, Tyloos, very interesting decisions down the stretch. A ton of Eric Gordon instead of Tarras Mann kept the Morris twin on the court instead of Nick Batum. He actually benched Russell Westbrook for the fourth and overtime and then went really small in overtime and Yolkis just put the finishing touches unbeaten the hell out of them against that small lineup. So some interesting stuff from Tyloos and he's got a couple of months here to figure out just who he wants to play, just what his rotation is, just who his guys are. Lot of Clippers fans complaining about Tarras Mann being knocked out of the starting lineup with the way he was coming along. And again, you can almost have too many guys. They got like 12 guys who could play on the floor in a playoff game. And he needs to find the eight that he really likes. But hey, I guess it's a good problem to have. That is tough, because Tarras Mann was balling. I saw this Denver team. Sorry, Tarras Mann was balling before the all-star break and now he's kind of rolling, got diminished. He's coming off the bench and he was killing there as a starter. So like Eddie said, it is tough. When you had a player like Russ, he's been great as a sixth man all year long, too. So the starting job when Tarras Mann is kind of peaking in that role, and then you bring in this guy who's been peaking off the sixth man of the year award now. Kind of a weird decision. But go ahead, Choms. I don't understand the bones, Highland thing, either. But we'll get to that. I believe, yeah. Yeah, go ahead, Choms. I was like, yeah. I know there was some beef on the wall. He didn't ask to leave. But, you know, I think there's a lot hidden under the surface. But when I look at this Denver team, I might be biased. I saw them in the bubble. I saw Jamal Murray be the closer of that team. I do think this team has championship potential, for sure. And I think a lot of that has to do with Jamal Murray's health. I think he's the closer to this team. Nikoli Okic, for sure. Those first three quarters, I don't know what you want to compare it to. Shaq dominated the first three quarters, and then Kobe took over late. For this team to, I think, be that championship contending team, Jamal Murray has to be the closer in those big game moments. And I think he's shown the potential of doing that. And now that he's 100% healthy, I'm so curious to see. Because this team will be judged by the playoffs. We've seen them go to the conference finals. We've seen them make it past the first round. Nikoli Okic, if he wins his third straight MVP award, there's going to be an amount of pressure there. You can't just lose in round one or two anymore. No, I think that's the knock, right? It's like, oh, MVP awards are cute, but you guys have done nothing as a team. Now I'm intrigued by this Bones Highland situation, which I'm going to have to Google and go down a rabbit hole after this. But the Westbrook thing, as mentioned, Terence Mann was doing well. Russell Westbrook comes to the team. Had been a sixth man, now all of a sudden he's in the starting lineup. Do we think, Eddie, that this is just as simple as? Tyloo's just sort of fidgeting and tweaking and trying to figure out what he has with these last 20 something games? Yeah, I think he's been kind of open about it. And then they're actually down in the starting center and they beat the Zubac as well. And so they got Plumlee there. And Plumlee looked solid last night. So he's just got a lot to figure out. My thing about Russ is I understand why this team wants him. I understand why they're so point guard desperate. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George absolutely hate setting up the offense. You can just watch how they play. If you remember that old video of Kawhi guiding Reggie Jackson at the top of the key so he could throw him his entry pass. And it was like the frustration on his face, a man who never shows any emotion. But they like to get their ball in spots and attack from there. They don't want to have to run the entire offense. And so, yeah, they need a point guard, bad. The Bones Highland thing is another thing. But he's a shooter. He's not necessarily a point guard. He's going up there to throw up shots. And he had a decent game last night as well against his former team. But I understand why they try Russell Westbrook. But like Chandler mentioned, Tarris Mann has been so great. He's been coming on so strong. He's a guy they drive. He's a guy they truly believe in. I think eventually he'll be back starting or at least closing games. Last night was just really weird from Tyloo. And as a coach, I really respect him. Think he's one of the best coaches in the league. I very seldom scratch my head and wonder, what the hell is he doing out there? But when I seen that small lineup in overtime and then the Nuggets pushed the lead to 11, I said, yo, what the hell is he doing out there? And then they took the L. Yeah, this is why I think like a Mike Conley, a Kyle Lowry, like an actual traditional point guard would have been great for this team. Because Tarris Mann isn't a point guard, but he was flourishing in that role right before all-star break. And Russ, again, he is a point guard. He knows how to initiate an offense. He's been doing this, but he's really the only true point guard on the roster. So it's either going to be him or Tarris Mann, I guess, maybe Bones or Norman Powell, one of these guys can kind of bring the ball up. Paul George can play point guard. But they don't have that traditional guard to kind of initiate and set up everything. They have a lot of scoring. They had a lot of wings. But Nicholas Petun, I guess, can bring the ball up. They don't have that traditional PG that can kind of set everything up, set the table, get guys in their spots. And Russ was really good off the bench and down the hallway on the Lakers. So I don't understand necessarily the move. I think they're just trying things out, trying to see what works the best. But yeah, I would have loved to see them get like a traditional point guard that can actually play not just a scoring wing. All right, so flashback to Friday night. Sitting at a blackjack table in Atlantic City. Yeah, I've had a couple of beverages, but I look up at the TV and I think to myself, what in the world is that score? 176 to 175 Sacramento Kings beating the Los Angeles Clippers. It's the second highest scoring game in NBA history. These numbers are absurd to just say out loud, Chandler. But again, just like a lot of things that have happened this season, things that were not normal once seem to be becoming that way. Will we get used to these types of numbers moving forward? I think we're already coming numb to it. This game was incredible. Malik Monk looked like one of the best players in the NBA. This was, there were so many ups and downs as the bonus fell out. I thought they were dead in the water. Then Paul George hits his minute restriction, doesn't get to play the second overtime. So this game was incredible. To see a score like that is nuts. My friend went to the game, he actually stayed all the way to the end. The energy in there was insane. Wow. Yeah, this was a crazy game. And I'm happy for the Kings because this was a real test, a real battle. And they obviously, they got the dub at the end of it. But yeah, scoring 176 to 175, that looks like a video game score. I don't even know if I scored. Well, did you all start game? Yeah. A lot of impressive numbers in that game. Yeah. A lot of impressive numbers in that game. To me, the two most impressive, both teams finished regulation shooting 60% from the floor. That's absurd and kind of embarrassing if you play defense in the league. And then Kawhi lenders 46 minutes. It's been said a lot, but Kawhi is back. Kawhi is back. He's looking like the guy he is. And if he can play 46 minutes and double overtime and he's not the guy that needs the minute restriction, he's back. He looked great last night in Denver as well. So fun game. But he likes it a little bit more defense, I guess. 153-153 regulation. Jesus. I mean, that's, look, if I paid for a ticket, I'm happy. That's just fun. I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're a traditionalist. That's just fun to watch. Yeah, Robot Kawhi is definitely back. There've been moments where I've sort of chuckled myself like, uh-oh, I'm going to take a quick break here. Shams, when we come back with the scoop. And finally, we got it. I mean, it hasn't been that long. The new coach of your Atlanta Hawks, run it back for turns. Welcome back to run it back before we get to Shams and the Hawks. Chandler, did you just turn into a hot LA girl with your Erewhon smoothie posts? I just want to make sure I know what's going on so people can follow you. I got a little smoothie. I got my shot. I'm really honest. I cannot. I'm on this help. I can't wait to get back to LA. Yeah, come on. It's just the whole combo. All right, Shams, I'm so sorry. That's, Chandler's just being ridiculous. We had some news. It happened so fast, didn't it, out in Atlanta. But things are official now. Yeah, Quinn Snyder is signing a five-year deal to become the new Hawks head coach. I'm told the deal's in the neighborhood of $40 million. So this is their guy now. He's their franchise cornerstone when you think about the coach of the future. He's their franchise piece now, the guy that they're going to rely on to bring the culture, bring the accountability for the organization. And when you look at Trey Young and Quinn Snyder, very curious to see how this superstar coach, superstar player partnership evolves. I'm told Don Ramichael had a conversation with Trey Young over the weekend and told Trey, you will love Quinn because he's going to push you and you'll want to fight for him. And so the reality is in Atlanta is that there's not any excuses anymore. Trey Young, realistically, has these next couple of months to show some buy-in with Quinn Snyder, with this new regime that's going to be coming in now with Quinn Snyder being at the helm. He has to prove that he can buy in. And if he doesn't, and if they're not able to figure out some cohesiveness between the two parties in Snyder and Young, the Hawks are going to have some very serious decisions to make with Young and the roster of this team comes summertime. But Chandler, you were there in Atlanta. You were around Trey Young and Lloyd Pierce. This is now the third coach for Trey Young there. What do you make of the hire of Quinn Snyder in that relationship and the pressure that's going to be on that relationship moving forward? Well, I love the hire. I think Quinn Snyder was one of the best coaches in the league. I don't know why he ever left Utah. They were a top team in their division, whatever. He's an offensive genius. Trey Young loves to play offense. And listen, Trey Young is not a bad guy. He's got this rep now being this coach killer. He just came to the league as a young scorer where he was a point guard. And I think he's misunderstood a little bit. He's not a bad dude. I actually spent a lot of time with Trey when I was there in Atlanta. He means well, I think I said one time, the minute he matures a little bit and kind of gets more vet players around him, he was drafted to the situation where he was the best player on day one. He never really had any real vets. Me and Evan Turner were his vets the year I was there. And we hung with him the most. And he's a funny, outgoing dude that works extremely hard. He wants to win. And he was in a real tricky situation with Lloyd Pierce because I gotta be honest with you. I get along with everybody. I'm a very personal guy. I couldn't stand that guy either. So I don't blame Trey Young on the Lloyd Pierce firing at all. The Nate McMillan thing I wasn't there, I don't know about. But Gwen Snyder, from everything I've heard, he's a cool dude. He's a brilliant mind offensively, which I think Trey obviously excels with. He's gonna know how to groom these young players like Deandre Hunter, like Dejante Murray, like John Collins. He's got a talented team here where they can win in the next few years. And I think Trey knows now too like five years, $40 million. This dude ain't going anywhere. So whether you like it or not, he's gonna have to have a relationship with them. And he's gonna at least fake it till you make it. But Trey's not that type of dude. He's not a malicious dude. He's not a jerk. He's very coachable. He just kind of has this rep now for whatever reason. But I think Gwen Snyder is the perfect guy for him. He knows how to get the best out of players. He's going to push Trey Young, but he's also gonna, I think Trey's gonna excel in his offense where he puts him on the floor. So I think it works for both. And I think it should be great. Yeah, I think it's a good pairing. Yeah, I think it's a good pairing. And something Trey Young should be excited about. I know some of the whispers coming out of Atlanta was that this wasn't his choice of coach, but it's not really his choice to make anymore either. They're clearly heavily invested into Gwen Snyder as a future of this team. And Landry Fields now as their GM, they've had a complete overhaul. And so you gotta wonder, are they sitting there saying, hey, is he tradeable? If he's not on board, do we get as many assets as we can this summer, next summer soon, whenever to try to stock up our coffers for going forward? We've stayed in kind of the hall you can get for this type of player. We watched what Donovan Mitchell got traded for. You know, the Kevin Durand deal is probably above him, but you'd imagine you're getting some draft stock back and ideally a player that we could start and hopefully make an all-star game with going forward. Now, I don't know what that trade is and if that exists out there right now, but we've watched a couple of teams pile up with draft picks, the Jazz, the Nets, the Thunder. Teams are getting ready for that next disgruntled superstar. And it might be the Hawks that jump in front of him and say, hey, you're not on board. You're the next disgruntled superstar. But I think it's a great spot for Trey Young if he locks in. All the reasons Chandler Menchie is a great offensive coach. Look at what he did with Donovan Mitchell in Utah. We've seen Trey Young go to the conference finals before as the hub of an offense. He can do it again, but they're just going to need to lock in. They're going to need to load up a little bit more on wing depth going forward with those two teams that got to deal with out there. But there's a lot to like here going forward. So if Trey Young's on board, I think he's going to be a part of their future. But if he's not, we could just as easily see the Hawks say, all right, and a cut bait now while they can. And Trey's a smart guy, right? He knows, he knows they're trading me before they fire this guy. So it's going to be a priority for him to vibe with this dude and make it work. It's like a totally different vibe. All right, Shoms, thank you as always. We shall see you tomorrow morning. We'll take a quick break here. We come back. Jaylen Brown says that 76ers fans were hella disrespectful. When we come back, Chandler will tell us about his own experiences with the root fans, although he probably deserved it. Inbound to Smart, bounce pass Tatum. Tatum puts up a three. He's to Tatum from downtown. I just loved Joel Amid. He knew it wasn't good. It was such a great shot at the end. I mean, look, Jason Tatum, I don't want to be too expert here on basketball, but he's really good at basketball. That, of course, the Philly Boston game over the weekend. 76ers fans, you have a reputation. Jaylen Brown wants to talk to you about it. Here he is. It's fun playing here. The crowd was a little bit, you know, hostile. In moments, there was no people on the side was talking crazy, et cetera. But, you know, you persevere and make some plays and you get the win. Do you enjoy that? It depends. You know, I got, I started talking to one of the fans because it got a little bit excessive where it got a little disrespectful, you know, and stuff like that. Even before the game, it was entering the arena, you know, it was people saying, I hope you tear your ACL, like, you know, and it's just, I understand people care and they love, you know, the team that they cheer for. But I don't think it gets a little excessive at times. Just chill. I just love it. All right, that is excessive, Chandler. I feel like you have heard some things. What's it like to deal with rude, rude fans? I mean, there's no place for that. And someone who has had a lot of knee surgeries, I've never heard something like that. Like I've heard, you know, soft or overpaid. The idea of saying you should tear your ACL is so just wrong and morbid and disrespectful. And at the end of the day, again, players were performing, but they're human beings. And I remember one time in Philly, I was sitting and I was talking to a fan, he was talking a lot of trash and I was like, what do you do? And he was like, he was a dentist. And I said, can you imagine trying to do your job and becoming in there and booing you is one thing. But then wishing you got hurt or calling you soft because you fell down and had a wrist on your, you know, a cast on your wrist and couldn't go to work that day. I'm like, do you understand how wrong that is? So like how, and how stupid you sound when you're like barking at these human beings for like being injured. So there's no room for this and it is, it's gross and it's disrespectful and it's just wrong. But again, this is part of the attraction of the routiness of Philly. And this is, there's cities like Philly, like Boston where the fans say crazy stuff. There's cities like, you know, Salt Lake where the fans are racist. Like there's these, there's these reputations that these things just have gotten. And those are some of the, those are some of the things that have come out in the last 10 years. So it's just things that players have to deal with. And I lost you guys there for a second. I love it. It's like Salt Lake, come for the mountains, stay for the racist fans. Well, a lot of players, they say racial things. And this is another thing Philly fans can cross the line a little bit. And there's just really no room for this. To say you should carry your ACL is just weird and gross and should never be said. It's gross. It's gross. I've heckled myself. I've never taken it out. Let's make sure Boston gets shouted out, too. Yeah, let's make sure Boston gets shouted out, too. We're doing the racist fans. That's like, sorry, I just, yeah, you know. Y'all, save it for our one hour special on racist fans that's coming up soon. We're going to take a quick break here. We've had some time off to cleanse our souls. The parlay is back, baby. Get ready to win some cash and run it back for turns. Make the rest of the NBA season a slam dog with FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get a no sweat bet of $1,000. That's up to $1,000 back in bonus bets. If your first bet doesn't win, now's the perfect time to join FanDuel. The app's easy to use. They're always great promotions. And when you win, you can get paid instantly. So jump into the action and bet the NBA. Download the app to sign up to get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Guys, it's time to get back on track. The parlay begins today. Eddie. I have a little ball gunny against the Pistons. He's been taking 10 threes a game this month. So go for it. All right. All right. I like that, Chandler. I like the Pelicans minus four. I think we'll see it the last season. Teams that are trying to lose are going to lose. All right. I've taken the Celtics minus two against the next here in New York. Bet 2,100, back tomorrow, 11 a.m. Eastern. See you then.