Thunder Clinch, Mikal Bridges' Double BANG! & Beloved Teams From The 2000s
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As we progress through the season, every fan knows that big wins are hard to come by and tough losses are even harder to accept. But you know what isn't hard to accept? Discover. Believe it or not, Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. You heard that right, 99%. So make a good call for your wallet and get Discover. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen Report, learn more at discover.com slash credit card.

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Stitch Fix, online personal styling for everyone. Free shipping and returns, no subscription required. Get started today at stitchfix.com. Have you tried the lasagna? It's my favorite. Do that. Did you catch a game last night? Mm-hmm. Is it still hot out there? Do you like hot fudge sundaes? All right. Woo!

Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the No Dunks Podcast on The Athletic Network. It's Thursday, March 13th, 2025. I'm J.E. Skeets, here in the Classic Factory, and alongside me, as always, Tass Mellis. Hey, podcast listeners, this is for you. Next to him, it's the bearded one, my top shot hot boy, Trey Kirby. Hey-o! Hey-o!

And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer JD. Uh-oh, I got the wrong box thing up, but hello. Whoa, it's Double Kirby! Hello, JD. Shout out to everybody joining us live on YouTube. You just saw a double Trey Kirby there on your screens. Hit the like button, subscribe, podcast listeners, five-star ratings and reviews. Tickets still on sale for the No Dunks Live Podcast Pizza Party with Tabasco.

Coming up on March 27th at the Seven Stages Theater in Little Five Points in Atlanta. Come out and see your boys and have a slice of pizza and share a laugh. Tickets for those, the link for those tickets is in the show notes. I heard Chipotle Tabasco is good. That's what a commenter said. It is good. It's smokier. Oh, yeah.

Can't wait to try it. We had a wedgie last night. Been a while, but we got one. Tyus Jones sticking wedgie number 35 in Houston on the three-point attempt. Oh, real deep wedgie. Look at this. Can't even get it out there. Got

Got a real stain on that ball. Really gross looking wedgie. It was funny hearing Craig Ackerman and Ryan Hollins on the call say wedgie at the same time. Yeah, jinx. You owe me a Pepsi. Jinx. So there it is. We're up to 35 wedgies. Pace remains at 48 on the season. I've seen multiple people request this, Skeets. They want us to mention that Alper and Shen Goon had a beautiful behind-the-back dish for a dunk to Tari Eason immediately preceding the wedgie. Yep. It's been mentioned. Thank you.

It was a hell of a pass. That was a beauty. Yeah, it was like a jump behind the back pass. Very cool. Out of the post. Yeah. Yeah, he's been doing that a lot lately. Yes, he has. So great play from him. Good win from the Rockets. We can touch on that in a bit. But let's start with the Thunder beating the Celtics. The Thunder beating the Celtics. Why can't I say Celtics suddenly? That's the one. The Thunder beating the Celtics. There we go. To clinch a playoff berth. What were your big takeaways from OKC's victory?

This was just a fun game. This felt like a playoff game. Yeah, baby. Where OKC said, we're going to switch up the lineup here. They didn't have Jalen Williams, and they said, you know, we're going smaller. Isaiah Hartenstein hit the bench. We're going Kaysen Wallace. Kaysen Wallace along with Aaron Wiggins. And I thought Kaysen Wallace was massive, even though he was that tiniest guy on the floor. And the Celtics were trying to take advantage of that. They saw Jalen Brown in front of him, and they tried to go at that.

Now, the three points were flying for the Celtics. The most in a half in NBA history. They took 36 in that first half. Chunky. Yeah. And it was working. The assists were working. But then they decided to play a little inside-out. You know, Kristaps Porzingis not being there maybe hurt a little bit. But I thought Gason Wallace...

just throwing Jalen Brown around a little bit, you know, pushing enough really helped out. Jalen Brown had a very, very quiet game, a quiet 10. And I thought when he tried to go at Case and Wallace, Case and Wallace was able to hold him up from the perimeter.

him. So much so that he took a hit, took another hit, and then was able to block the shot. It looked great in that third quarter when the Celtics were trying to take the lead in this game. And Deck not being very smart, throwing Kaysen Wallace to the bench right after that. Jason, Jalen Brown just couldn't

do anything against him. And then he came back in the fourth quarter. He couldn't get the ball on a post-up with Case and Wallace able to take away the passing route from the perimeter. Sam Cassell

on the Celtics bench was trying to tell him, this is how you seal them off. This is how, and he couldn't. And so I thought Kaysen Wallace was just awesome. Even when Shea went to the bench, Kaysen Wallace in that fourth quarter drove and set up Hart and Sheed, took him to the line, then defensively scrambled to get, knock away a pass from Horford down low. And then he hit an open three with 220 left to kind of steal it. And it sounds weird to say kind of seal it with a nine point lead in today's NBA, but

But if there's any team that can hold a nine-point lead, it's this freaking team. They're so good. And, yeah, it sounds nuts. But I thought Jason Wallace was really the X factor in this game. 14 points, four boards, three assists, two steals, one block in 30 minutes. And, again, holding Jalen Brown to 10 points. Even though Jalen Brown had a flow, he even had Mark Jones on the broadcast saying –

Man, he used the self-checkout line on that one when he was able to go to the hoop by himself. I thought that Case Smalls did a great job of just throwing them off enough. Even Derek White, you know, he had an open lane at one point midway through the fourth, but they just were thrown off by this defense on the inside. So an outside-in team couldn't do the inside-out thing. Jalen Brown had one of his worst games of the season. More fouls than makes. Yeah. Didn't hit a three, didn't get to the free-throw line.

He only had 10 points, like you said, but he did credit OKC's defense. He was like, after the game, he was like, yeah, they took me out of my rhythm. They play very physical. I should have matched that physicality. These guys were fighting hard. Yeah, that clip you said of Sam Cassell literally teaching Jalen Brown mid-game.

Hey, this is how you post up. Watch Jalen Brown in that clip, though. He's like, okay, I know how to post up. He's barely looking at him. But Sam Cassell. Sam Cassell, underrated post-up game for a guard. That's true. That's true. And he was. Tell him how to do the angles and use your other arm. No. A mere minutes later, they're trying to get him the ball.

They couldn't. Yeah. I thought maybe a part of it, like, yeah, Jalen Brown had like a weird energy in this game. He did seem flat. I thought, is it possibly because he's fasting for Ramadan? But it's not the first time he's done that. He's done that for a couple of years. And I remember he's done it previously and he was like on fire during that stretch. So I don't think that's the issue. I think it's more how OKC played him. And he just had a game where he couldn't hit a three as well.

Yeah, Wallace was awesome. Eight points in the fourth quarter, hit the big three, and then he had another take off the dribble as well when the Celtics were double and Shea Gildress Alexander. No Jalen Williams out there. Somebody else had to be the second guy, and it was Kaysen Wallace in the fourth quarter. Jalen just had a stinker. I think the fact that he was...

out of rhythm the entire night, couldn't really draw fouls, and no Porzingis is why you saw so many three-pointers for the Celtics. Those are two guys that score inside for them. Porzingis beating switches and Jalen Brown is just kind of a driver who is very aggressive to the lane, but he didn't have it going. So the Celtics took 36 threes in the first half. They made 15 of them. Close game. They took 27 in the second half. That's still a lot. They made five of them. That's not enough, especially against a Thunder team

that's very good and still very deep no j-dub in this one caruso didn't play either

Aaron Wiggins did not have a good game, didn't score, but they got 11 points from Isaiah Joe. He hit two threes. They got another 10 points from Kenrich Williams, who hit two threes as well. And then Chet Holmgren was really solid finishing plays. I thought his self-creation stuff, kind of at the start of the fourth quarter where they're trying to get him going, that wasn't working at all. He was completely out of sorts, but he did a great job of finishing the plays. Shea Gilgis-Alexander created for him, scrapping inside, getting offensive rebounds.

And finishing, like, he still scored 23 points, 8 of 14 from the field, even if he wasn't necessarily putting the ball on the floor and going to the rack, though he did have that one on Derek White where it was definitely a charge. Derek White was there easily. Should have got the call. White was hooping in the first quarter. But great stuff from the Thunder. Shea Goldust Alexander played a fine game.

I thought that was a B for him. He had 34 points, 7 assists, but 5 turnovers. He wasn't killing it out there, but he was good enough in the fourth quarter, plus what they got from Case and Wallace to pull it out in Boston. Impressive win. Yeah, the game definitely showcased the Thunder's lineup versatility. And like you said, how they started it, who they started, go small ball. But then they had that...

double big sort of sometimes zone action where they had those guys off the bench. And so they have a bunch of different things that Diagnostics can play and run with this team because they have such a deep roster. Ken Rich Williams, I thought was great in this game. Like he brought up the offense. He was obviously very physical defensively as well, getting up on those guys. But man, yeah, the Thunder...

They willingly give up threes, and we've talked about it before. They give up the corner three, and man, did the Celtics just let it rip last night. First quarter, they had 22 three-point attempts. Only two of their shots were from inside the arc in the first quarter. You guys have said it a couple times, 36 three-point attempts at the half. An NBA record, but the issue to that for me was they were trailing. They

They hit 15 threes, you said, in the first half, and they were down? It's like, I know some people like live betting. That would have been a smash OKC to me, man. Like, I don't think I like the Celtics' chances of hitting another 15 threes in the second half. And they went cold. But yeah, 63 total three-point attempts. Third most any team has ever taken in a game. They were getting good looks. They were. They were getting good looks for sure. I will say... They made 20 threes. Yeah, they made a ton. I thought at times, though, especially this guy, Drew Holliday...

He's turning a little into Rondo. Yes, he is. Where he turned down, I counted three or four, what I thought were like sort of layup attempts.

easy looks at least inside to kick out to a three point shooter. You know, one time it worked. I think it was maybe a Tatum three. Other times it didn't. That's like sort of a Rondo thing where like, maybe just take the layup, dude. Like, you know, you don't always have to kick it out. And then the other part of him maybe turning into Rondo is he's struggling to hit a three this year. 34% for Drew Holiday on the season.

That was big last year, 43% from deep for him in the regular season and then 40% in the playoffs. So you wonder if like teams are going to like, if you're going to leave anyone, you leave him and live with him right now. Cause he's just not on fire from deep. He is like type of guy to sort of have a poop game and then follow it up with a good game. So we shall see. But yeah, the fact that they just weren't looking inside at all for a lot of the game was the problem. Jason Tatum had to pull up through and Derek white was just hanging out down low. I mean,

A dunk is easier than a three-point shot. That was the case there. But anyway, the OKC was just responding to a bad Denver game where they just didn't play to their capability. They played awesome in this game. How deep they went, every single guy. As I said, Dagnott says, you know what, Cason Wallace, you're playing awesome, but we got other guys to play awesome too. Let's just keep switching it up. And then they go zone. It was a broadcast that even...

on the zone and the scrambling of the defense. That was a championship-type defense. Active hands, active feet, I think Doris Burke said on a couple. It's true. I mean, as many three-point shots as they were generating and a lot of them decent looks, there is still a ton of scrambling, especially as the game went on where other teams just tire and like, all right, fire away. They don't do that because they can just bring these waves of guys. And yeah, Chet Holmgren had a good game, 23 points, 15 boards. He did sort of step up there in that Jalen Williams –

absence as their sort of secondary playmaker and scorer. And what's going on with Chris Tapps-Porzingis? What is this

mysterious illness is basically how they're selling it to us a viral illness is what they call it but not contagious because he's there yeah so it's seven games that a virus has been holding yeah so he's just had low energy i assume and i don't know it's it's a little strange but they're gonna need him i think it was jay king on the daily this morning if they made a good point it's like look this is still a great team they're defending champs it still goes through boston but like

It's not going to be as easy, their run, to potentially getting back to the finals and winning another title as it was last year. A lot of that, some injury luck against who they were playing, but these just wasn't, these teams weren't up to the competition that they are this year in Cleveland.

Maybe even the Knicks and obviously OKC or whoever comes out of the West. Like it's going to be a more difficult case this year. You're saying you think they're actually going to need Porzingis to play in the playoffs this year? Yes. Yeah. They didn't need him last year. Yeah, that's exactly right. But yeah, they're going to need him. So hopefully he's just healthy enough in a month. That's really all it comes down to for the Celtics is him getting this virus cured in the next month, whatever it is.

And you're right. They're going to challenge Drew Holiday to make shots. He's had good playoff runs. He's had terrible playoff runs. If he's hot, then the Celtics are unguardable. And if he's clanking away 34% like he has been all season, there's one guy you can leave. Yeah. It was a trickle-down effect for their team as well. It just seemed like a lot of the guys were off. Tatum was definitely on. But, yeah, they were off. That's for sure. And you can see on the other side, OKC –

Last year, they were allowed to have Lou Dort and Josh Giddey open in three-point land. Now Josh is gone, but the Celtics were allowing Lou Dort to shoot, and he was willing to shoot. He's willing to shoot every single game. And he took eight of them, and he feels comfortable taking those shots. So they're in a flow. They're in a flow. All right, let's keep it moving. Anthony Edwards scored 29 points as the Wolves crushed the Nuggets.

115-95. The Wolves improved to 3-0 against Denver this season. Obviously beat them in last year's playoffs. Seemed to have their number a little bit. It's a potential matchup again in this year's playoffs, but what do you think of this win from the Wolves to make it six straight for them? Oh, hello!

Too much turnovers, I thought, for the Denver Nuggets. They only had 10 on the night, but nine of them came in the first half. Only 20 assists for Denver. But in the first half, it was 16 to 9 points off turnovers in Minnesota's favor. And I just thought that they looked bigger and athletic.

More athletic. Jamal Murray really struggles against this Minnesota Timberwolves team. I guess the athleticism and the length that they bring can kind of bother him. Jokic and Westbrook combined to score 53 points last night. 21 of 35 shooting. Everybody else who played for Denver, 42 points on 15 of 54 shooting. That is 27%. You look at the three-point line, 17 to 7 in Minnesota's favor. That's basically...

the game right there. I just didn't think Denver had a good game at all. They were completely out of sorts, and Anthony Edwards was awesome in this one, I thought. 29 points, six assists. In the third quarter, Denver comes out like gangbusters to start the half. They get it down to a five-point game, and Edwards just made the right play for like 10 straight minutes. He had 10 points, three assists in the third quarter, really getting off the ball quick when he would see a

double team if they went for a one-on-one against him he was going to the lane and finishing pretty solid if he had the three-pointer take it and and make it then to start the fourth quarter it was julius randall time he just kind of slammed the door and he was really good everything was clicking to me for minnesota except for rudy gobert and julius randall trying to pass to each other that was hilarious gobert had a turnover in the first half that richard jefferson just laughed at

when it happened. He like, I don't know. Gobert was trying to fast break move and he threw a loopy pass over his head. So then the next time down, it was like Randall had Gobert in a post up and he wanted to pass him. The ball couldn't get it to him. Gobert was obviously upset. That's how he gets. So the next time Randall tried to force it in and it was just a disaster zone, but Randall was really solid. He, uh,

slammed the door shut, like I said, to start the fourth quarter. Impressive win for Minnesota. They're looking good right now. Yeah, they are looking the best that they've looked. And though Rudy against Jokic, we looked at the playoffs last year and thought, nah, can't do it. This is Carl Anthony Towns time. Even though Rudy allowed 34 points in this game to Jokic, I thought he did play him well. He blocked him once and...

Jokic only had four assists in this game as you played him one-on-one, were able to take away those passing lanes. And the big thing is that Jamal Murray was not Jamal Murray. Nikhil Alexander-Walker felt like Nikhil Alexander-Walker played like 40 minutes out there. He played 15. But when he was out there, he was able to squash Jamal Murray, just like last year in the playoffs. That is a great matchup for them.

Jamal Murray had zero made shots at halftime and only had one point at halftime. He finished on 12 on 15 shots again. Nikhil Alexander-Walker is the guy. They just look like...

We'll be right back.

I wonder if they can move up here. It's a crazy race in the Western Conference. They are tied with the Golden State Warriors for sixth, but the Minnesota Timberwolves could take the six-game win streak and make it a double-digit win streak. They've got a soft part of the schedule coming up here, a five-game homestand. They should be able to win, honestly, the next six, I would say. That being said, you know, the Warriors have a five-game homestand themselves. So the...

Timberwolves' schedule is definitely easier than the Golden State Warriors, but this is just their best flaw with the easiest part of their schedule, so they could turn it on. They've got an easy one coming on. They do look like their best version of themselves. Do you think the Nuggets could be keeping an eye on how the Wolves are doing in the standings and potentially try and avoid them? Because it seems like a weird matchup problem for them, especially the Jamal Murray situation where they've been...

really good at shutting that guy down and all we talk about with Denver is like well is Jamal Murray playing well because you like their chances to win then if he's not I'm sorry you'll get just sort of can't do it by himself you wonder if like they're like keeping their eye on that like we'll maybe take our chances against some of these other teams hope they get the Lakers again they love playing exactly right right you never know

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As we progress through the season, every fan knows that big wins are hard to come by and tough losses are even harder to accept. But you know what isn't hard to accept? Discover. Believe it or not, Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. You heard that right, 99%. So make a good call for your wallet and get Discover. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen Report, learn more at discover.com slash credit card.

All right, let's keep it going. Mikael Bridges.

Nails a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Knicks a 114-113 overtime win over the Blazers. We got another double bang from broadcaster Mike Breen. I believe it's his 10th career double bang. His second this season. Wasn't it Curry on Christmas Day? Got the double bang call from Breen. And now another one. And probably a deserving one.

considering the insanity of this game which had 42 lead changes crazy runs to like get us to overtime and then you think the Blazers are going to win in overtime and then Bridges hits this three

That was a wild three, man. The Scoot Henderson getting them there, I think it needs to be the 30 points he had. But he just keeps that dribble going. And that's the part of him that's grown. He did circles around Mitchell Robinson at one point. That was hilarious. He was literally just loop-de-loop. He scored eight points in the final 66 seconds of regulation because he hit the three. He had a three-point play. He had a couple free throws. And that helped get the Blazers to overtime.

That was funny. Mitchell just chasing scoot. You know, you got to scoot after the scoot, and he couldn't do it. And then the spin after going into Josh Hart's body, he's just grown so much. The drive to the rim with 40 seconds left was really key, and he had four threes in this game. He's hitting 36.9% of his threes this season. Surprising that he's above average, and this is a great part of his career. I think this – P.J. Tucker, I thought. P.J. Tucker.

He's on the bench here for the New York Knicks. He signed a 10-day contract. He's the best cheerleader in the game. I think that's why they got him. I mean, he was just cheering like crazy. And then McKilbridge is...

That was a wild shot. I thought there's no chance that was going to go down. He sure was confident it was. He was like almost celebrating before it even went in. Got a good clean look at it. Yep. I mean, it was challenge. Over clinging. Yeah, it was clinging. Big monster of a dude. Yep. Maybe forced him. I always wonder when we play pickup hoops, sometimes when you got a taller guy on you or a guy that's really good at defense, it like helps your shot because you're like forced to put more arc on the shot. I shoot a lot of flat shots. So it's like I need that arc. But yeah, Bridges splashed it. 33 points for him. He was awesome. Yeah.

And, you know, they're like...

this sort of West Coast road trip here. Now two and two, one game left after the Brunson injury. This is the kind of basketball they need to play with no Jalen Brunson. It was much more by committee last night, I thought, than even when Brunson is healthy and he's like the guy soaking up most of the possessions. New York had 27 assists in this one. Josh Hart had nine. Deuce McBride had five. Carl Anthony Towns, Mikael Bridges, they both had four. OG Ananobi even had three assists. The ball was moving. Multiple players in double digits. And then,

McHale Bridges was able to throw it back to the Mickey Mouse March Brooklyn Nets, 27 points per game, living in the mid-range, pulling up over Donovan Klingin. So he got into a bit of a rhythm shooting over Klingin. So when he caught the ball there with three seconds, rise and fire, he was used to shooting over Donovan Klingin. He said, sometimes I fade to the left, but I could tell it was still straight on, even though I was drifting. Incredible celebration from this guy. Great game from McHale.

And I just thought this was a nice win for the Knicks. And I'm curious to see what kind of gift Josh Hart buys for Mikhail Bridges because Josh Hart completely threw away the end of this game in overtime, stepped on the inbounds line on the baseline to give Portland a look at it, fouls Denny Avdia for the end one before Bridges hits a shot. So, I mean, an edible bouquet, no. It's too minor. Yeah.

These guys have known each other for a long time. A watch is too nice. Like a luxury watch. It's just a regular season game. But you got to get them something because Josh Hart really botched it here in the fourth or in overtime. So I'm looking forward to seeing something on the internet. What was the call on the Josh Hart violation? Was it for stepping on the line or for moving, I thought? Because...

He wasn't allowed to do that in that situation. I don't know. I thought it was for stepping on the line. I thought it was because he took several steps before he inbounded the ball. Regardless, yeah, it was a classic, all you got to do is inbounds the ball. You're going to get fouled and you'll probably at least, at the very least, they would have to hit a miraculous three, but you're probably going to win the game. But yeah, it gave them a chance.

he got blocked on that play by Mitchell Robinson but then it sort of fell right back in his hands and then yeah Hart fouled him and hell of a play from Adia another great game from Denny as well he was a monster again like 15 boards again for this guy

Yeah, it was a wild ending. It was a highlight pack that NBA.com just went directly to the end of the fourth quarter. Forget the other 3.75 quarters. Yeah, Josh Hart was literally running up and down along that baseline. You don't see that happen very often. I mean, that was a long run that he took.

Weird stuff. But they needed that. The Knicks, it's so weird that they needed that. I guess it's a blessing in disguise when Brunson goes down that Mikkel Burgess absolutely has to stand up. A little bit. Step up. This is his time. There's no doubt. Yeah, and he was saying, we've got to rely on our starters a little bit less.

He was like calling out Tom Thibodeau saying we're playing too much. And this is a guy who never misses a game. And I mean, he still played 41 minutes in this, but they played 53. So it actually looks good percentage wise. If you're doing it, you mentioned scoot. This guy was awesome in the second half of this game, 18 points in the third quarter was good in overtime as well. He's stronger with the ball and he looks finally, I think like the athlete that he was pegged as coming into the draft. Cause he,

They're talking about this guy as a Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook type when he was coming into the draft, and that was not at all the case in his rookie year. He just looked like an ordinary dude out there. But last night, he was blown by Deuce McBride. That spin move was incredible. He should have gotten another foul call right before the Josh Hart inbounds violation thing. That was definitely a foul when he drove to the hoop with like seven seconds left. It worked out in their favor. Everything comes out in the wash eventually. But Scoot actually looks like a topcourt.

a top tier athlete once again, I think. Yeah. He's just mentally so much more comfortable when he sees a space, he goes to the rim. He doesn't do that mid range shot that he's known to do in the first part of his career in this first year, I should say. That's what he did. But he feels so much more mentally comfortable. And I don't know if I'm just saying that because I read Jason Quick's article on The Athletic about how Scoot Henderson has been

He's got this little electrical thing that he puts around his neck just to kind of clear his mind. It gives him the little electric impulses. But I think he's just smarter at space, how to use it, how to get there, and then shoot three-point shots. It's either at the rim or the three-point shot. So, yeah, he feels so much better. You're right.

Any other takeaways from Wednesday night's busy NBA schedule? Any other games you want to touch on? Well, my Jazz got fined $100,000 for tanking and now suddenly Larry Markin is playing. Played his first game since February 22nd. He was wearing a headband. Yeah, they all wore it basically, weren't they? Yeah. Except for Colin Sexton. Get on board, buddy.

Come on. It's all of us or none of us because, I mean, Walker Kessler's got one on. Yeah, I know. Larry's got one on. That's kind of weird. Anyways, Markkinen had a look at three to take the lead with 40 seconds left. Klankinen from him on the other side. John Morant had a wide open look as well. He knocks it down. Call 12. He's yelling, boom.

Memphis, that was a nice win for them, even though they did give away a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. Luke Kennard was massive, 30 points, 7 threes. He hit a big three right before Ja did, and then Ja was good as well, 28 points, 7 assists. Nice.

We've got to talk about Mason Plumlee and Stephen Adams getting ejected. Oh, yeah. That was great stuff. It was hilarious because Mason Plumlee threw up an elbow into Stephen Adams' throat area. And so Stephen Adams just kind of locked Mason Plumlee's arm. And then he put the double hooks up to Mason Plumlee's armpits. And he just wouldn't let go. He's just holding him. Try.

Holding him. And then Mason Plumlee got so mad at being held, he just literally just fell down with him. It was like a wrestling move. There was no punches thrown. I thought Steven Adams' skull might get crushed against the wood, but all good. He was able to just go. I highly doubt you can crush that guy's skull. I mean, he went. It seemed solid. But there were chest to chest for like.

I don't know, eight seconds. And because Adams had him hooked, Mason Plumlee just literally wrestled him down and landed on top of him. He was super duper mad. And then Stephen Adams just got up and laughed. Yeah, got up and laughed. Hilarious. And they both get ejected for it.

Yeah, all was good, I guess. I mean, nothing happened. Nothing happened. They both got double-texted. Were they both ejected? Yeah, I think they were. I just left that thinking Stephen Adams has gotten a little bit weaker over the years. We saw him in Memphis pick up Tony Bradley and carry him like 15 feet. That's true. Tony Bradley and Mason Plumlee are basically the same size, and Plumlee took him down.

That's right. He's lost some of that strength. Yeah. He's been out of the game for a little bit. For sure. Fred VanVleet back as well. Yes. Huge. Big Rockets win. Bad Suns loss, of course. They're still trying to get into the play-in. But when you look at the standings and the teams that are hot, we talked about, obviously, the Timberwolves, six straight. Now the Rockets have won four straight. The Grizzlies have won four straight. And so those teams there, Grizzlies and Rockets, they're in the two and fifth spot, respectively. But...

there's basically a tie between Memphis and Denver and then the Lakers are there. It's the Rockets, the Warriors, the Wolves. It's awesome is what it is. Every game between these two teams or even not sometimes so important in terms of their standings. And I can't wait till we get to that final week or two. It's like, you know, some teams like shut down guys, but like,

There might be some preference from these teams of who we'd like to play, what seating we'd want, what side of the bracket we want to be on in terms of maybe avoiding the Thunder or not. So it's going to be very exciting down the stretch. One game I wanted to touch on was the Hawks game because Trae Young made all of his 21 free throws and scored 35 points to lead the Hawks to their fourth straight victory. Hawks are getting back to 500, baby. Ever.

Everything is almost right in the world. But they beat the Hornets. If we count the playoffs, and you can bet your ass we're going to, Young became the eighth player in NBA history to make 21 or more free throws without a miss. Only four players in history have ever made more free throws without a miss in a single game. Dirk Nowitzki.

went 24 for 24 at the line in a 2001 playoff game against OKC in the Western Conference Finals. It was game one of that series. Dirk, 24 for 24. 2011? Yep. James Harden also went 24 for 24 at the Charity Stripe in a 2019 regular season game. Dominique Wilkins...

Went 23 for 23 at the line in 92 versus MJ's Bulls. Curveball. In a Hawks win. It was sort of earlier in the season. And Jimmy Butler...

This happened not that long ago, and I don't remember, but he went 23 for 23 at the line January 2023 against OKC, and he did hit that final free throw off of a three-point play that he finished. Game-winning three-point play down the stretch. So that was the four guys that have hit more. The other guys to go 21 for 21 at the line in a game, Paul Pierce did it in a playoff game once, Kevin Durant, and Darren Williams.

And now we have Trae Young. So, you know, some free throw guys right there. You were named a lot of free throw guys. I was like, oh, James Harden, that makes sense. Jimmy Butler, yeah, he goes the line a lot. Dirk Nowitzki, money. Yep, yep, for sure. Dominique was the weird one. That one surprised me. And I do remember the Dirk one. I mean, that's a little surprising too. That's a hell of a lot of free throws. But 24 for 24 in that game. But anyway, the Hawks win. And like I said, you know they're going to finish the season 500.

You know it. They have to. We'll see. They have to be 41 and 44. They have to. They have to be. Hey, man, their bench is good. They got good bench guys back during the trade deadline. 15 for Karis LeVert off the bench last night. He's been solid for them since he came over. Niang's good. Terrence Mann is good. Like, they really lost nothing giving up Hunter and Bogdanovich, who have both been solid for their teams. 30, I think, for Bogdanovich last night. A win-win trade? Sure. Potentially. Potentially. I mean, they've gone on a bit of a streak here, for sure. They're only three games under.

Well, I guess there are two games probably under 500. Yeah, I'm looking at basketball reference. They're slow this morning. Yeah, they are. They don't even have the scores from last night. Usually, they'll get the scores right away. You click in 404. Welcome to Atlanta where the players play. But not even today. We're still on Tuesday mode. Yeah, I was just there trying to look at their last game before Trae Young came back because it looks like a very different team without Trae Young. They're all touching the ball. It's just a little different. Trae has made a sacrifice.

to get the ball to other guys. But yeah, I couldn't find the box score to see where my man Zachary Rissachet was doing. He has been rolling. Yeah. He's been kicking ass. Quietly good. The least talked about number one pick of all time. Quietly good. Yes, he's been solid. All right, let's go from games last night to a little beach stepping. Okay.

Let's go!

Yeah, let's go to the beach, baby. Only place to read your emails and your tweets. A lot of these emails. Good stuff from all of you sending them in. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Got a good crap here today. First one from Bruce. Bruce! Hey, no dunkers. Y'all mentioned earlier this week about the seven seconds or less Phoenix Suns being one of the most beloved single season teams of the 2000s. So true. But

but what other teams could crack that list? Lots of love. Again, that's from Bruce. Bruce, thank you so much for writing this email. You're the man, Bruce. You're the man, Bruce! These are your top five most beloved single season teams. Top five, top five. Oh, I'm starting with the caveat button.

No champions on this list. Okay. Can't have any champions, but if I were picking one based on what the people were saying on the internet yesterday, the 0-3-0-4 Pistons. People are obsessed with this team who beat the Lakers, you know, at the top of their power. Nobody expected it to happen. The gritty defense first. Five good players.

We act like there's no awesome players, even though they have two Hall of Famers on this team. Nonetheless, 0-3, 0-4 Pistons. People love him. Cool. Okay. Except for Shaq, of course. Yeah, he doesn't love him. And continues to hate the Pistons. Anything that happened from 0-4 to 0-6, Shaq is out on.

Up until that title at 06. All right, so two teams that really got this list started are the 2001-2002 Kings, Sacramento Kings. They won 61 games, best record in the league that season. Lost in game seven against the Los Angeles Lakers. Very controversial. The last four games of that Western Conference final

came down to the final seconds of the game. Two games were decided on game-winning shots. Game seven went into overtime. Ralph Nader wrote a letter to David Stern saying,

the integrity of this playoff series. That's pretty crazy. Ralph Nader, man. You're talking about the 2000s, man. Ralph Nader name-dropping. It felt like the Nader, that's for sure. The Sacramento Kings, no doubt. Yeah, that team was sick. Unfortunately, the better version of the Kings was with Mike Bibby. I hate to say it, Skeets. Once they upgraded from Jason Williams to Mike Bibby, they got a little less cool, but they got better. Because Bibby was...

A great clutch player. He was awesome. So they make the list easily. The other team is the 2004-2005 Suns, the 7 Seconds or Less Suns. They went 62-20, best record in the league that season. We mentioned on yesterday's show that Steve Nash won the MVP that year because they won 36 more games. They went from 26 and...

The opposite of 82. 56. Yeah, come on, man. This guy needs the diff. Yeah, I need the diff. That's what you need it for. That's what you do need the diff. That's what you need the diff for. This team was awesome. It turned out they were a little early in their development. Once they got to the playoffs, they ran into the Spurs, which is...

what tended to happen to the seven seconds or less era of Suns. Obviously, Amari Stoudemire gets hurt the next year, but the Suns stayed awesome. But those two teams, easy ads. Yeah. Those are the basis of the list. Most people would have those teams on their list. All right. So should I go in chronological order? Yeah, sure. Okay.

We're adding the We Believe Warriors, 2006-2007. You had Baron Davis, Steven Jackson, Jason Richardson, Matt Barnes, and Monte Ellis were like the main dudes for that team. Even JD loves this team. Matt Barnes is his favorite player. Andres Biedrans was around as well. Baron Davis had the dunk in the second round on Kirilenko. Awesome. I remember watching them beat the Mavericks in the first round with Will Leach before going to a Chicago White Sox baseball game.

That's just a factoid right there. Oh, man, that's amazing. People watching Warriors vs. Mavericks in just a random bar in the afternoon. I just always remember from that series how they played Dirk. Oh, yeah. And they're just like all up in his shorts, like up and under him, obviously with smaller guys. Yes. And it sort of flustered him, yeah. Yeah, he had to go on a walkabout.

Yeah, right. They were the one seed. They got bounced. He had to accept his MVP trophy after being eliminated from the playoffs. That's when you got to go explore Australia. Yeah. You got to go see what kind of crazy animals they got going around there. All right. Our next chronological list, the 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder. Okay. Yeah.

A team that everybody loved way back then. It came right after the lockout season. And during that lockout was when Kevin Durant was just going around and playing in any pickup game. He scored like 66 in Rucker Park. We were in Portland for whatever thing they were doing at University of Portland. Everybody was wearing basketball don't stop shirts. Remember those? Those were so cool. I had a black one with orange on it.

Basketball never stops. I was going to say, I thought it was basketball never stops. Basketball. Yeah. I'm thinking of Ball Don't Stop, one of my favorite. Ball Don't Stop? Yeah, that's the guy on Twitter. Who's that guy? The game is about a bucket. It always has been. Hooper versus basketball player. Oh, okay. Okay.

A lot of hoopers on this Thunder team. It was KD. It was Russ. It was James Harden. It was Serge Ibaka. It was even Kendrick Perkins. You see him on the sidelines being eliminated by the Miami Heat in the finals. They had a 1-0 lead. They could have had a 2-0 lead. But guess what? It's the finals. He ain't getting that call on LeBron James on the baseline. These guys will be back in the finals for sure, right?

Yeah, they might be this year in 2025. Don't count your finals appearances before they hatch. Patrick Beverly's fault. Taking out Russell Westbrook, that's a part of it.

Getting Tyson Chandler instead of Kendrick Perkins, that could have made a difference. Who knows? A weird trade that didn't happen for OKC. There's a lot of what-ifs with that OKC team. What if they kept James Harden? That would have been a thing. That's a big one. That was a Kevin Martin-led team the next year. Didn't go quite as well. Kevin Martin? Wow. Remember him? Yeah, I forgot he was there. Yeah, it was actually funny. We were just talking about Stephen Adams versus Mason Plumlee.

Steven Adams and like Kevin Durant ran into each other when they were playing last night. I was like, oh yeah, those guys were teammates way back when. All right. Our final team, the fifth most beloved team, or cross

chronologically at least the 2012, 2013 Memphis Grizzlies. To me, the peak of the grit and grind era of the Grizzlies. They went 56 and 26 beat the lob city Clippers beat the Kevin and Kevin thunder, and then lost to the Spurs and the Western conference finals. This was an easy ad for me as well. Cause our man, Brett Usher just recently posted a video of Zach Randolph playing in the post playing in the mid range game. And everyone's like, they got to bring back this basketball game.

They got to bring back jab steps and fadeaways. It was cool to see a guy play it like that, but like Gasol and Randolph together, whooping that trick. It was fun. Oh, yeah. Good list. Yeah. Those are five I would have on my short list for sure. I'm even struggling to think of another team. Oh, you want five more? No problem. Well, when you remove the, yeah, you can't win a title part for sure, yeah. All right, so here's my next five that I would add. The 13-14 Hawks. Great team. Bounced by LeBron. Yeah. 60 wins.

All five players, one player of the month. Four went to the All-Star game. Sorry to Mari Carroll. Also, the 05-06 Wizards. The peak of the Gilbert Arenas Wizards. They also ran into LeBron James. Keeps happening to these teams for some reason. The 2000-200...

The 2000-2001 Clippers, 0001. Looks weird in my notes. But that's the Darius Miles, Lamar Odom, Elton Brand Clippers. We're knocking our heads for the Knuckleheads. They're now a famous podcast. Q Rich. A couple of...

a couple of podcasts have come out of these teams. Yeah. Jeff Teague. Yeah. Jeff Teague. The Clippers have a podcast right now. The Warriors have a podcast with Steven Jackson. Baron Davis, a.k.a. Bart Oatmeal is a rapper and a podcaster. Yeah. If you're a beloved team, 10 years down the line, you could have a successful NBA podcast that people watch the clips of.

Just remember that. Also, I'm adding the 0-1 76ers, Allen Iverson, going to the finals, taking the game off the Lakers, stepping over Tyronn Lue. And the 15-16 Warriors, who did not win the title, they won 73 games. They lost in Game 7 of the playoffs, and guess what?

Even though the next season they got Kevin Durant, everybody was a Warriors fan in 2016. They started, what, 24-0? I believe. Yeah. The best show in basketball at the time. Steph Curry, the original double bang way back when. So they made my list as well. And my secondary beloved champion, the beautiful game 13-14 Spurs. Right, right, right. Not winning that year. Good list. Very fun. Basketball's fun. Who's the most beloved team of the 2020s?

Ooh, I like that. To not win a title. To not win a title. Because I couldn't come up with one. I was like, literally, these are all 10 plus years ago. Most beloved team, man. Now we're in an era where there's just too much hate, you know? So true. So true.

Think about it. Yeah. That's tough. We are early here in the 2020s. One of these teams that we beloved now may not win it. You know, your Cleveland Cavaliers, just saying, just throwing it out there. They are going to be an awesome team that wins 65 games. Thunder, I guess, if they don't win a title. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, definitely. Hmm. Hmm. All right, let us know on the stream, Tim. Let us know on the stream, Tim. I was like, I was going to make a, no, I'm not making a guess for this. Your Miami Heat, your Miami Heat's.

The Jimmy Butler. That's interesting. Play and heat were fun to watch for sure. Bubble heat. Bubble heat. Bubble heat. Jimmy, you know, leaning over the scoreboard. Yeah. Dying. Drogich. Yeah. Okay.

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All right, next question. We love that one. Let's talk about things you hate. Hey, no, no, I can't even read this. Hey, donunks. My basketball ick is wearing a jersey of a player much younger than you. What's your basketball ick? Thanks. That's from Ethan in Atlanta. First of all, I don't got a problem with that. What? Wearing a jersey of a basketball player younger than you.

That's fine. That's fine. It's an every jersey. Yeah, for us. Yeah. I'm not going to buy a P.J. Tucker Knicks jersey because he's a little younger than me and just signed a 10-day. I'm not going to buy a LeBron jersey. You know, you got to go a little younger. But anyway, what's your basketball –

I've got three. One I've talked about before. Dudes hooping in basketball, excuse me, baseball hats. Not a fan of it. What if there's those new baseball hats that have the team name? The Tatas? You can't even buy those. Well, you can on eBay. They're like a thousand bucks.

They removed them from the store. No, no, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter any type of baseball. What about backwards hat? No, no. I just don't like it. I don't know what it is. It's the wrong sport, man. Take it off. So there's that. I got two more, though. Playing on an outdoor court without mesh nets.

I can't stand it. I'm team double rim over the no mesh on an outdoor court. I am. I'd prefer to have a mesh. I hear you. Can't stand when somebody hits a shot. Somebody swishes a shot and the ball's gone. Because it's gone through perfectly and it's like just... No, that one was in. That one was in. I know. So, hate that. And just the final one, Nick, a basketball ick. When a new guy shows up to your run...

who plays like either very selfishly, like the first time he comes to the run, or he plays absolutely zero defense. He's like one of those players. Come on, come on, man. Especially if you like brought that person. That's real bad then because now that ick's on you. So those are my three icks. What do you got? I got two icks. I don't like when your sock and your shoe brand don't match.

Okay. Yeah. So like I saw a guy wearing Adidas socks with Nike shoes on Tuesday. So we had to beat him by 40. Simply had to do it. If I was an NBA player, I've been doing the same thing. A James Harden does fold over the little Nike at the top because they're forced to write like they all wear Nike socks, but they don't all have to wear Nike shoes, but I would be folding over. And the second thing I hate is the sound a jammed finger makes on a basketball like that pop noise. Oh, whose finger was that?

I feel like launching an investigation every time I hear it. Show me your digits. Yeah. Good one. You got any others? Yeah, when you go to a gym and the balls suck. Like, if you don't bring a ball and you just dribble down a ball that's warped or flat, you

You know, you try and check on your handles, and all of a sudden the ball just goes in a different direction or it's flat, and you wonder if your handles suck. No, it's the balls. That's terrible. It's a terrible feeling. Do you have your own ball? Yeah. I mean, I was going to say, you just went to Dick's the other day. I hope you got one. I didn't buy one then. No. I've had one forever. Very good. I still have the one that's engraved with the starters that was sent to us at NBA TV. Damn. Yeah.

Actually, I shouldn't call it an engravement. They threw it on there. Stamp? Whatever. Embossing? Yeah, I guess. An embossing shirt. Yeah, the one that's called the starter. We've got one ball. One ball that said the starter's over. But it's a real good ball. It's a solid ball. Okay. I wouldn't say the best, but really good.

Just like our show. Let's go to our next one here. Hi, guys. If a witch was cursing an NBA team to have all of their losses happen in the same way, which type of repeated loss would be the most painful? Some choices. Con

constantly losing on buzzer beaters, constantly getting blown out by 30 points, constantly going up double digits, thinking this is finally the time that they're gonna hold on to the lead, only to watch them gradually crumble in the fourth quarter and lose. Or, something else, just asking this randomly, not because I think it's happening to the Miami Heat or anything. Nice question from longtime NoDunks fan, Allison. Yeah, so a witch has cursed your team, TK.

Which type of repeated loss is the most painful to you? And I think Allison clarified, you don't know that the witch has cursed your team, so you're just living, which makes it, to me...

Losing on a buzzer beater constantly would be by far the worst. Like that happened to the Grizzlies, right? Like it happened in three straight games. They lost basically on a buzzer beater or a game-winning shot in the last possession, the last five seconds or something like that. If you didn't know that that was what was happening to your team, you would be going insane if it happened 82 times. That's my answer as well. It would be painful. But I think constantly getting blown up by 30 is actually the worst. It's like...

Where are you going to wake up in the morning to get smashed by 30? At least with getting beat by a buzzer, it's painful, extremely painful. But you've got something to work for the next day. If you get blown up by 30, it's like, I'm horrible. But doesn't that make the buzzer beating worse? Because it's like, you're in the game every time. In every game, you're like, we're going to finally...

win this one and hold on but every time you were like on like a miraculous shot b2 every single time at least when you lose him by 30 you're like oh my team sucks we just suck yeah we're starting jemisin battle yeah right yeah and it's similar to what allison is saying here about these uh unfortunate miami heat getting up double digits yeah and giving up a lead i think it's the same sort of similar to buzzer beaters where you think this is the one here we go

And then it all falls apart. Both painful. A category I would add is just losing by free throws each and every time. Number one, so boring for you as a team. And second, you can argue about the fouls. It just doesn't feel right. Just lame.

Super lame. Said watch a free throw go in and say, yeah, that's it. We lost. Time expired. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's a good point. It's like a foul right at the end. Yeah, yeah. The guy just has to hit one free throw and they win. Nobody's standing at the line. Yeah. Is it a witch cursey the way LeBron owned the Eastern Conference and like every good Eastern Conference team would have their best winning percentage, their best record?

In a decade, and then they would lose to a LeBron team that sleptwalked through the regular season and swept them in the playoffs? Is that a witch curse? LeBron's a witch, man. Yeah. He's still playing. Yeah. It seems supernatural. It's true when you bring it up. Yeah, as Raptors fans, it sucked. I mean, it was infuriating. Yeah, it happened to the Bulls, happened to the Pacers, happened to the Hawks, happened to the Raptors. Wizards early on. Yeah, yeah.

But it's not the same. You're just like, you sort of always knew that you had to beat him. He was like a final boss. I mean, without being a final. You obviously had to go to the finals, but he was the final boss for a lot of Eastern Conference teams that nobody could beat. You needed the game genie to help you figure out him or have him leave the conference, which that's got the Raptors. That's right. Yeah, that's a lot of teams. The Atlanta Hawks, that 60-win team too. That must have been their best season. Oh, yeah. They got swept, didn't they? Yes.

Matthew Delvedova took out Kyle Korver. What up with that? Okay, next one here. Hi, guys. Clearly, JD enjoyed wiring up a camera, monitor, and mics in his bathroom the other week. Did I? You little sicko. You little pervert. What room is he going to wire up next? And what's his excuse this time? What a question. His excuse.

That's from Bennett W. There we go, JD. There's something there, right, JD? You loved it, but you hated it, but you loved it. I mean, it was a fun week of you sitting on a can. I'll say that. Yeah, where would I... Maybe in the yard so I could get... The pick and pay off should be you clean my yard.

And then just put a wireless mic on you and just re-rake all the leaves and clean up all the shit over here on the side of the house. That'd be great. That'd be great. That's the second chore-oriented pick-and-payoff you've suggested. The other one was off-air when you said, the guy has to wash my car. Yeah. No, no, no. I didn't say my car. I said everybody's car. Everybody's car. One car a day. Yeah, per day. Okay.

Just trying to get some things done around here, right? I just want to see some movement on camera, you know? Something happening. Yeah. Just make it. You know, the other thing was there was a loose wire on the, there is a loose wire on the classic factory side. It would be funny to have a dude just sort of try to fix it for the entire week or just hold it so it stays lit up. Yeah.

I tried for three days. I literally went blind looking at the sign. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's some good ones there. There's also the roof. Clean the gutters while you're up there. Oh, jeez. A little dangerous, but... You love cleaning gutters, don't you? Yeah, I do. I wouldn't want to do his house, though. So steep? Yeah.

It's very steep and we're on a big hill. Yeah. But I have gutters that it's the one thing that we invested in that they don't get leaves in there. Oh, you got the guard? The guard, yeah. Oh, look at you. Things are good here, man. Wow. Things are really, really good. No kitchen, but we have the guard. Factory falling apart. The factory is falling apart. But man, not a single leaf found in our eaves trough. That's right. I don't know. I think that's going to backfire. Those guards, they don't seem like they're... Things get caught in there.

I go up there every once in a while, check it out. It's fine. Blow them off. Blow them off. Just blow them off. I don't have to dig them out. Okay, next one. Hey, NoDunks crew. I went to the New York Public Library recently and I saw a sculpture that looked just like Kevin Durant. This got me thinking. Are there NBA players that resemble any historical figures? Turnips. That's from Phillip.

with one L I gotta respect that good stuff Phillip um and we have a photo he took a photo of this uh Durant-esque statue I can see it not bad yeah I I see it oh yeah the facial hair yep so the resemblance is there uh but does anyone else have a a historical figure that compares to an NBA player yeah I don't know who this historical figure is but I saw

some short video somewhere and it just said, am I tripping or is this Nikola Jokic with a bust on the outside of some building and it looks exactly like Jokic. It's really good. With some sort of wig on. But man, like the nose is identical. The eyes are identical.

That is Nikola Jokic busted up and thrown on the side of a building. That's good. That's good. I thought for sure you were going to say, so I didn't even put in my notes, but I'll add it now. Chet Holmgren looks pretty similar to Abe Lincoln. He does look like Abe Lincoln. And like, in fact, joked about it once. He said, for those who are asking, yes, I am related to Abraham Lincoln.

My grandfather. I don't even know. This could be a fake account. But anyway, he does have a striking resemblance to Abe Lincoln. Yeah. He literally changed up his beard style, I think, because he was getting frustrated that so many people were comparing him to the old rail splitter. That was an NBA Centel quote. So he didn't actually say that.

We've all been sent out. I know. I caught myself mid-sharing of that tweet. Oh, dear. Hold on. But, man, they did it so well. They put the video of him talking, but I had to listen to it. But I'm on a live podcast. I can't listen. Hold on. Is NBA sent out back? Yeah. They were banned for a while. They were banned for like 24 hours. That parody account is back, baby.

That's huge. It says blocked to me, but maybe I blocked it. Oh, this is at the NBA Centel. Is that a different one? No. Weird. Maybe you blocked it, yeah. You kept getting screwed by it. I got pocked. Yeah, the whole Luka Doncic was called by...

Nico Harrison. That got me. It got me. Because I went and I checked Luca's Instagram and maybe it wasn't there. So I did some work, but then I quit. So yeah, that's my fault. That's totally my fault. Anyway, the comparison still stands. Santel or not. Oh, yeah. Chet Holmgren looks like Abe Lincoln. He still looks like him no matter what. He'll never take it from us. Do you have any others?

No, I started going through it, but I couldn't find any connection. How were you going through it out of curiosity, looking at historical figures and going, they look like NBA players or looking at NBA players? Dependent, both ways. I thought Norman Powell looked like Martin Luther King for a second, but then I went side by side and then, no. It didn't really do it, sort of, but nah, it didn't happen. Then I thought Gordon Hayward might look like,

A blanket or George Washington. Actually, we're going way back. There's a little bit there. No, didn't happen either. All right. Next one. Last one. Last one. Hey, no dunkers. You mentioned in a recent show that Jokic has never played with an all-star. It is true. That would be an insane way for his career to continue. If Jamal Murray, MPJ and Aaron Gordon can't step up this postseason, the Nuggets should look to make some moves to not waste one of the greatest primes in history. To me,

Kevin Durant on Denver makes sense. He can play off-ball and space the floor, plus he could lead all the non-Jokic minutes. It would be scary to see Jokic with a player who can shoot and score like KD. Maybe the Nugs could get KD and Grayson Allen for MPJ, Murray, and a pick?

I don't know if anybody Sportac'd that one or Trade Machine'd that one. Anyway, the main point is, who would you guys like to see play alongside Jokic while he's in his prime? Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome. That is from Chris. It is true. He's not played with an all-star quite to this point of his career.

I don't know if he's going to go like Isaiah Thomas' route. Isaiah Thomas always says, I've never played. I never got to play with anybody from the top 50. He always says that. Because he played with an all-star, Joe Dumars, a billion times. But he always says, never part of the top 50. No one. No one. Jokic definitely has never played with anybody in the top 50 or the top 75. But here we are. Should they go get Kevin Durant?

No, no, they shouldn't trade. I would rather roll with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. and a pick than Kevin Durant and Grayson Allen. That's an easy no for me. Because of age, because of just giving up two for one, because of Kevin Durant obviously still being a talented player, but, you know. All three of those things. With everything that comes with him. Yeah, yeah. Do you have anyone else you'd love to see play with Jokic though? Well, I mean, if Steph Curry played with Nikola Jokic, it would be the most beautiful basketball that you've ever seen in your life.

It would be an unstoppable offense. It would be like, what if Jamal Murray was one of the 10 best players of all time? They play very similar styles, except for Steph Curry is awesome at it. And Jamal Murray is sometimes awesome at it. That's good. That's an easy one. For realistic guys, I think Tyrese Maxey would be an awesome fit next to Nikola Jokic. He would do a lot of the same things that he does alongside Joel Embiid in the dribble handoff game, but he brings an element of speed that Jamal Murray doesn't have, and he's just as good of an off-ball player, I think. And Tyrese Halliburton.

I think would be kind of interesting just because they're both such unselfish players who like to trigger the fast break, but can play two man games as well. Good answers. Do you have an opinion on the Katie nugs situation? I hear the idea. Um, first it can't be done because Phoenix can't aggregate salaries cause they're in the second apron. You couldn't trade a Grayson. Anyway, they don't have to be a 13. I understand somebody off the ball to help. Um,

But, you know, Jamal Murray does a lot. He dribbles a lot. So it would just be very different. It would be a very different –

of the Nikola Jokic. But I do get we want somebody. And listen, Jamal Murray can make an all-star game one day. So we won't be able to say that anymore. Let's hope so. Yeah, let's hope so. People are mentioning Jokic is playing with the top 75 player right now. Westbrook. Fair point. He's not the top of his game. Fair point, fair point, fair point. And he made him good. Like...

He has reinvigorated Russell Westbrook. People thought it was Jover, myself included. Jokic asked for Westbrook. He wanted him because he knew Westbrook moved off the ball, which Keon Durant isn't that type of player. Because Jokic can just pass to Westbrook all day long.

Anyways, the Nuggets are very, very good right now. Christian Browder's taking another step. They messed up a little bit in the last couple off-seasons, but we shall see. Yeah, like in all honesty, if the Nuggets lose in the first round here, right? Exposed, whatever. Jamal Murray, another bad playoff. Maybe nothing for Michael Porter Jr. Maybe Aaron Gordon's banged up or not. Like, whatever. It could happen because it could be a matchup problem. Maybe they run into the Wolves. Whatever.

You do, I think, as the Nuggets organization, have to be like, holy crap, maybe we do need to make a drastic change because, as this email points out, this is prime Jokic. I mean, we just have never even seen these type of numbers and what he can do, and do we owe it to him to try and reshuffle the lineup here and get either another star player in here and make a really big move to give him another chance to win one and give our franchise another chance to win one? I think that's possible. Absolutely, and I think Michael Porter Jr. would be the first one to go.

They would try any sort of Michael Porter Jr. plus picks, plus what other kind of salary they can do before they would do a Jamal Murray trade. Just because, I mean, Jamal Murray was money in the playoffs when they won the championship. Jokic loves playing alongside him. So I don't think a package deal would be the way that they change their team, but they probably would like to change their team if things go poorly in the playoffs. I've also seen Tyler Hero as a nice suggestion for a guy to play alongside Jokic.

similar to a maxi or honestly like a Jamal Murray as well, but great shooter. All right. Great questions guys. Keep them coming. No dunks at the athletic.com. Tweet them in at no dunks ink or drop them in the YouTube comments. Okay. Pick them. Uh, where are we going tonight? Tess? We're going to the Lakers visiting the bucks. I know it feels like you keep picking the Lakers to be involved here, but it is a fricking great game. The bucks are favored by five and a half at home nationally televised TV game. Uh,

Couple of us are taking the Lakers, getting those five and a half points. Trey and Esh taking the Lakers while myself and Skeets taking those bucks. Why are you taking the bucks, Skeets? How do you feel? Yeah, like last night's game where I sided with the wrong team. I did take the Celtics. I was torn. I didn't know which way to go. I feel the same way tonight with this line. A little bigger than I thought, but...

I don't know. I like that we were split is my answer. I like seeing a graphic that's got two guys go on one team, two guys go on the other. But I don't have a good read on this game or this line, so I don't feel confident and I would not be putting my hard-earned money on it.

Why do you like the Lakers, though? I like the points. There you go. Five and a half points. That's a lot. The Bucs have played three straight games that have been 1.2.1 point games. Yeah, and I took them because those 1.2.1 points have been loss, loss, loss. And they ain't right. They just got to bounce back. Hey, man, they can win by one as far as I'm concerned. They can even win by five if they want to.

Lakers got to play a lot harder than they did in their previous game. Yeah, Redick called them out. Yeah, and they didn't play hard enough. They've got to play like 100% effort being so shorthanded. Can't wait to see what Doc throws at Luka. Again, you got some Andre Jackson out there who's not really part of the rotation, but...

Yeah, some guys throwing it, Luca, that's for sure. I'm concerned with what Trey said the other day. Now that I have the Bucs, we were making fun of Luca's Karen hair. He had quite a look going on, and maybe the effort wasn't all there, and he had a bad game, and he said, oh, God, what's he going to do now? He's going to come out and have a 50-point game. It's in play. Yeah.

Yeah, be smiling in the first quarter. Watch out. All right, so we're split on Lakers-Bucks. Milwaukee's got to win by six or more for Tass and I to get that victory. We'll call it there, but hey, we're not done here in the Classic Factory. Survivor fans, new No Buffs episode coming up at 1 p.m. Eastern. No Buffs, it's on YouTube feed, it's on podcast feed. Perfect time to get in. Insane tribal council last night. It might take 45 minutes just to break it down and make sense of what the hell happened. We had...

We got a lot going on. That's all I'll say. A whole bunch of revotes. So we're going to talk about that and break down the entire episode with Nora a little bit later, 1 p.m. Eastern. So come join us. Otherwise, we're back tomorrow with the Drop podcast.

One of the things I plan on doing with you guys is looking at our Eastern Conference over-under picks from the preseason. We did that last week with the West. Some were good, some were bad. I haven't even really dug in yet, so I don't know if we're going to be better in the East or worse. I'm already excited to hear the Miami Heat takes. Pretty sure I lock their over.

Bounce back season for Jimmy Butler. So I'll be listening to that. It has been for a different team. Yeah, that's right. I'll be listening to that later today. So that'll be one thing we'll do on the drop tomorrow. Some worst of the week nominees. I'm sure rapid fire fun. Always a blast on Friday. We'll see you then. Clipper bros. You heard it here first. Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys. Awesome. Thanks for joining us. And remember, it's always fun to read the comments from the stream teamers. It's always enjoyable.

Everyone except for Leo, though. I mean... That guy. Just coming at me. Just firing the blows. Does it affect me? You betcha. I can't sleep at night. Embrace the day, people!