I thought Phoenix was gonna get sweet swept, didn't you. I did, I really did. I thought it was over. They were getting their asses beat multiple games. The ghost of Chris Paul just pulled his groin and then the series flipped on its head.
Truthfully, everything changed.
Phoenix now ties the series with the number one seed, nuggets behind the usual suspects. Of course, we wanted big performances from Devin Booker.
We got thirty six from him.
Of course, you get thirty six from Kevin Durant and then.
Nineteen from Check's notes.
Landry Shammitt's Landry Shammitt four four threes in the final quarter.
Of action, just nail in the coffin. After nailing the coffin.
Forced the Denvers himself two big threes, two separate timeouts called by Denver like, oh shit, we cannot be letting Landry Shammitt's the last be sending us home, and he did. Shammitt was just in absolute sniper mode. Every time Denver got close. Landry Shammitt pulled up from deep and it was wet. I don't understand it, and the bench showed up for the first time. Pretty much all series scored forty the bench scored forty. They were getting like four
points off the bench before Chris Paul got injured. All of the bench was in plus numbers. All of this Sun's starting lineup was negative. Wild that the series was saved by its shallow bench, but props to Jock Landell, TJ. Warren, Terrence Ross, and of course Landry Shammitt. Landale was an impressive plus sixteen for the game. He was ballin', which brings up of an interesting point to know. Is this Phoenix Suns team better without Chris Paul. I don't mean it in a Stephen A.
Smith way. I actually mean this.
I actually think this team is better for whatever reason, MANI would not go to Terrence Ross, he would not play them, He would not play Landry, he would not play campaign. He was running out six deep getting no production. I think Landry had like two minutes in game one. I think Terrence Ross got a DNPCD. I think our man TJ. Warren DNPCD. And then all of Monnie's plans went to hell in a hand basket. And now he had to make adjustments and find some guys on the
bench who he knew could score buckets. And now it's tied to two. It might have saved Monny's job. Chris Paul's injury might have saved Monny's job. And I think it's this is why Chris Paul is a turtle. He is slow, let's be honest. His playoff pedigree is built off of slow, playing it up the floor, putting his button into someone's chest when he's backing him down, even ninety four feet away from your rim, and just setting up this offense slow, methodical point god shit. But maybe,
just maybe that makes the Phoenix Suns worse. Maybe just maybe they need to be playing faster, They need to be getting easier buckets in transition. Maybe DeAndre Eton thrives in a faster, up tempo offense. Same thing with Devin Booker, same thing with Kevin Durant. Maybe half court offense is hard because the defense is set. They have had all this time to settle their defense down and figure out what you want to do. But the big story, though, really revolves around Yokic and this controversy.
Have you heard about it? Uh?
He put up fifty three, he was incredible, twenty of thirty from shooting, but he also managed to get himself squarely involved in some conflict that could possibly affect the entire series. With two and a half minutes left in the first half.
Is what happened. Jokic was scrambling out of balance for the ball.
Jokic tried to get the ball, which happened to fall into a fan's hand. The fan refused to give up the ball, literally was holding onto it with like it was his baby. Jokic grabbed it, pulled it away from him, shoved the fan down, tried to get the ball thrown to him, squirted it into another fan, tried to get the ball. Then that first fan got into his face and Yokic seemed to put his shoulder into him and the fan flew to the ground.
Was a flop. It was an egregious flop. In other words, the video showed that he maybe sort of kind of went into the stands and malice in the palace him.
You know what I mean, just a little shove in the stands, put his shoving into the guy who was this fan that Jokic shoved This guy.
A matthew Ishia.
Turns out matthew Ishbia is the new billionaire owner of the Phoenix Suns. So Jokic shoves an NBA owner court side for refusing to give the ball up and get out of the way, and that owner, Matt Ishbia, flopped like a La Liga forward dating one of those supermodels that never smile.
It was a very soft move.
I respect the hell out of matt Ishbia, former spartan for pulling that. That's something that only Tom Izzo can teach. Matt Ishbia, Draymond Green, same guy, same guy. The big problem though, is that the leagues kind of fucked because they're not gonna want to suspend Jolkic for that bullshit.
But it was against the rules.
It was The rules are very clear. You can one not go into the stands period. You cannot put your hands on a fan for any reason. There's a tiny bit of wiggle room because they say that Jokic wasn't really in the stands, he was court side, he was on the sidelines. Very thin argument. He did kind of sort of push a fan. Even Eshbo was like, Hey, I'm not trying to.
Get I want us to win with Yokic.
We don't want him to get suspended, but I am not sure what the league is going to do.
It is a conundrum.
The question is what would have happened if it was Draymond and not Jokic. Booker said after the game, when asked about it, he got us a point. He did his job, he did. It was a technical foul and they got a point out of it in a series that could be swayed very easily by a suspension by a star player. But listen, those Yokish, non Yokic minutes
are rough. A non Yokis game is pretty much a win for the Phoenix Suns, and we got some drama on our hands and it's not been on the court, and that is a shame because after two ugly gross first two games, this series has gotten very fun, very fast. So no one wants to see the Joker suspended. But it is all in Adam Silver's hands now and we will see.
What he does.
The other two games are on Monday night, which is when I am recording right now. The games have not gone underway yet and I am not sure what is going to happen, so I'm going to keep my comments very general until we get back into the studio. Nick's heat, I think the Knicks are very much in trouble. I think that this team cannot shoot. If they come out in Game five and shoot like the snipers that they want to be, then maybe that changes, but I don't think so. A lot of this has to do, though,
with Julius Randall. He didn't single handedly lose the game on Saturday for the Knicks, but he.
Was not great. He was not who they need him to be if they want to win and move on. He's injured.
I know that he's injured, but you can't shoot thirty five percent from the field from the field from the field in the playoffs. That is eleven percentage points lower than his regular season numbers, and when he was asked about it, he said, well, some of the looks are different, the defense is a bit tighter, so I've got to do a better job of finding ways to execute off of that.
But I'll be fine. Will he be fine?
Though, Like, I don't know if he will be I don't know about that chief, Like I know everyone says I'll be fine, I'll be fine, but in this moment against the heat against Jimmy Butler, I'm not sure on a bum wheel if you're gonna be All I know is that the Knicks cannot afford another negative thirty four performance from our man r Jay Barrett Ronan, We're gonna need more from you, sir. That is a season killing number right there. And if the Knicks can't hit threes,
they are dead. Miami's going to pack the paint. They're gonna make it very difficult for Mitchell Robinson and all them young boys underneath the basket to get rebounds and to score. And they're gonna let all these chuckers who are bricking consistently shoot from three. Randall oh for five from three last game, Brunson oh for five from three Toppin' and Grimes combined.
One for eight. That is one for eighteen right there. That is no bueno.
Bam Adebayo was absolutely dominant in Game three. Eric Spolstra had some big time flowers to give to bam Adebayo.
Then I thought bam was a major part of that. He was all over the place both ends of the court. Uh, And the stat line probably doesn't do it any justice of the impact.
UH.
You know, to be able to take a challenge on a on a great player like Randall with limited help, and then Randall's so clever, he knows how to draw fouls as well, so he can't be overly physical. Uh. And then we're also asking him, you know, to play pick and roles, uh, and then rebound and finish our defense. He's our best rebounder and we need him to do
that as well. And he did all of that. And then offensively, he was just so active on the offensive glass, the random stuff in the paint, and some of these didn't lead to his his scores, but they set the table. Just that aggressiveness, uh, you know, for our team. And and that's why he is who he is. He's just a winning player.
Yeah.
I mean, bam Adabayo is doing everything for this team. For a small ball.
Five who's probably really more of a four, he has been incredible.
My question is, really is this the ugliest series in the playoffs, because it feels like it is both team's last game shot under forty percent from the field thirty six percent from the field for a team and the other team also below forty percent. All I know is the Knicks need to win to night or they are dead, dead in the water. How is Anthony Davis the best player in the NBA and also the most disappointing player in the NBA. At the same time, I don't understand it.
I really really don't. The Lakers blew out the Warriors by thirty and they took a two to one lead. But the question is, do you think that Steph Curry, the Steph God, the babyface Assassin, is worried at all?
I mean, they made an adjustment in terms of their match ups to try to take away a pick and roll in the pocket pass and at four on three advantage we have in the backside and Draymond being in a sweet spot like they obviously understand that's when we're at our best. So we'll make adjustments.
Will make adjustments with a wink and a head nod.
I know what I'm gonna do. I'll figure it out.
I wish I could show you this arrogant smirk that's on Steph Curry's face that you if you are playing against him, you always want to smack. I love Steph Curry. Also, you know, really quickly, is are these the most annoying? Is this the battle royale of most annoying fan bases complaining about the same thing to one another into the void every single game. Whoever wins, the losing team is always complaining about how the other team is babied and
protected by the referees in the league. Like it's like the Lakers win and the Warriors fans like, do you see this is the Lakers purple and gold Lebron James.
They're always getting every single call this bullshit?
Ah, And then the Warriors win is the Lakers like it's Steph.
Steph is getting every call. It's so annoying the dub nation.
They're just the champions, They've got championship pedigree and they get every call.
Do you see this? This is bullshit?
It's literally like a ping pong of rage between the two fan bases. I can't fucking stand either one. I wish they could both lose. I really wish they could both just be done at home. Can cooning mock drafting their way into oblivion right now? Because watching those two fan bases square off in the Twitter verse is like, on one hand, hilarious because it's like, yeah, every other team feels like this about both of you guys, Like that's what, Yes, you're right, and you're right.
Yes.
The last eight times though that the Warriors got beat by fifteen in the playoffs, they came back and won the next game. Our Dubs always make adjustments.
You've been warned