On this episode of the Heat Check, it's playing time. We've got two down, two to go. We're bringing in some heavy hitters to help us shake things out for the Sixers versus the Heat Game. We're joined by my guy, Spike Eskin, my former boss at WFAN in New York and currently the drivetime host on WIP in Philadelphia. I think he might be the only guy in Philadelphia who actually likes me. He also hosts the Reis to Ricky Sanchez Podcast, a very top NBA pod in the market.
He'll also give you all the tea that you want.
About the Sixers.
We also grab my also guy, Lawrence Holmes, the top rated Bernstephen Holmes Rido show on WSCR The Score in Chicago. He will help us make sense of the Hawks versus Bulls game. So much to get into. Let's not fuck around, Anthony drop that motherfucker beat should be Well, the Western Conference just got a lot more clarity after the Tuesday night games. The Lakers took down the Pelicans in the seven eight game and what was an absolute awesome battle.
Lakers ran off to a huge lead. Well first and foremost, it was very back and forth. Pelicans went up then the Lakers had a huge lead, up by thirteen fourteen points. Then Zion and the Pelicans battled back and made it tight down the stretch. We were fucking tied with under a minute ago, and then I don't know, it was like a phantom injury. Zion ends up going to the locker room, scored his fortieth point, and then all of a sudden goes to the bench and then I'm seeing
him walk to the locker room. The Lakers did not look back. It took a four point win in New Orleans. They have booked a date for the second straight year with the Nuggets Night Night sleep mask Probably Nuggets in four, not gonna lie Lebron was incredible. Anthony Davis was pretty clutch. Delo looked like the best player on the court for long stretches.
Who could have.
Thought thought was gonna happen in the nine versus ten Also magic, we saw, not like the Orlando magic, but we saw magic. We saw the Warriors take on the Kings in a door die battle. Loser goes home and licks their wounds. Lots of people were hyping this Warriors team as if they played great basketball in the last of the season, but guess what, It's not one of
those situations where it's the seven game series. Baby, Let's see how you play on a night to night basis, and let's see how you play at the Golden One Arena. Klay Thompson was fucking horrible, the worst adversity vibes I've ever seen in the NBA. Oh for ten maybe his last game in a Warrior's outfit Warriors uniform. Steph Curry was absolutely swallowed by Keon Ellison, Davion Mitchell, Keegan Murray.
Keegan Murray came to Playboy hit eight threes. Kings turn a tight game at halftime into a runaway, laughingstock twenty four point win. Oh my goodness. The Kings exercise the demons and they now face a Pelican's team that they
have not beaten all year. They're zero to five against, but they are reeling, and the chance is there is to take on the OKC Thunder, which is a team that I think the Kings can actually compete against and maybe even be if they continue to shoot like they're shooting right now.
Unreal shit, unreal shit.
This Wednesday, we see the Sixers and the Heat faced off and the Hawks and the Bulls, So I brought on Spike Eskin, who is my boss at WFAM for the past two plus years before he decided, Oh I'm coming home.
I'm coming home.
To take the two to sixth spot on WIP along with his friend Ike Rease. Spike has the highly rated rights to Ricky Sanchez pod on the Sixers. He breaks down everything about the team and their chances against the Heat. Spike joined my other show bet MGM tonight, which airs seven to eleven Eastern on the radio in most major markets and live on YouTube and switch Let's get dragging.
Into seventy six ers four and a half point favorites against the Heat total in that game two to eight and a half to talk about that and the new show afternoons over on ninety four WIPI we welcome on now Spike asking Spike, thanks so much for giving us some time tonight. How you bet man?
I'm great? How are you?
We're good man, probably uh, not as good as you. Congratulations on the new show. What are you going to miss the most about leaving or what are you gonna miss the most about New York?
New York the city?
Not much I was I've lived in New Jersey man. Like my experience in New York the city was mostly just driving through the Hollandune and then driving home. I will miss the camaraderie of the people that I've you.
Know, build a relationship with New York. And it's a boring, like sort of personal answer.
But but that's what I'll miss most.
That and whining Jet fans and whining met fans. I think probably our top.
Yeah, those are those are fun. Totrol over to the Sixers. I took back and I gave this out in February and then took it about a week ago. Sixers to win the East in right around the Super Bowl was fifteen to one. It's plus eight point fifty now I am look right.
Yes.
Third, I've been scrolling through your Twitter. The excitement level from you, as I think a chronic pessimist as about as high as I've ever seen. Like, where are you at? Why are you so stoked about this team versus the other teams that we've seen in the past.
So I think I'm getting older and I don't want.
To be pessimistic anymore. It is just like is part of it, is genuinely part of it. But I would say two things. One, when Joel has played this year, they're the best version of a Joel team that we have seen. I think numbers like numbers show that. I think they're thirty one and eight, but also they won handily,
like they look really good when he played. I think the second thing is normally when they go into the playoffs and he gets hurt, it's a lot closer to the playoffs, so when he comes back, there's this sort of like you're getting sixty percent of him, and you just sort of know how it's going to go in your mind. But this time he got hurt like two and a half three months ago, and he was out the entire amount of time. They said six to eight weeks. He was out for more than eight weeks, and he
came back and he looked good. So I think, you know, it's not optimal to be in the play in obviously, But I think the reality is is that you look at them as a forty six or forty forty seven wins, whatever it was, forty seven win team, that's not really what they are. I think if Joel plays sixty or sixty five games, they're probably a fifty to five win team or fifty four win team and they're the second
seed and a clear second seed. I think they're a clear you know, Boston's probably minus one fifty and the Sixers are probably plus two point fifty to win the East something like that. So I think that's genuinely what we're dealing with now. They've been they've been favorites going into the playoffs before, but they've always had a giant question mark aside from Joel giant question mark, Ben giant question mark Hardon. In the playoffs, there's no giant.
Question mark aside from him.
It's just him, So some sort of at peace with he'll either play well enough for them to win or he won't. But at least I won't have to worry about James Harden disappearing in a deciding game. I want to put my head throw a wall, you know, Like, what.
Version of Joel health wise do we need in order for them to make a deep run? Do you think because we saw him look a little ding the last game. He was limping, He played through it wasn't wasn't going up for rebounds, wasn't as aggressive as he normally is. So I'm a little concerned about his health.
Yeah, I think.
I think the hard thing that we can't know is whether he was being cautious in the second half because he was nervous about hurting his knee, or whether it wasn't stable, you know, and I'm playing you know, like TV doctor or whatever, but he.
Was grabbing it.
But then when he's walking to the locker room afterwards, he's walking normal, you know. So so I really and he's a bit of a drama queen. So so it's very hard to tell how much it hurts. What do they need health wise?
That's tough.
Eighty five ninety percent. I mean, you got to win the NBA title, right, I mean, and they even if they beat New York and they beat let's say Milwaukee, and they still run into Boston or something so and then Denver. So you're not doing those sorts of things with you know, Joelle at sixty or seventy percent, what do you.
Think about this matchup for MAXI Obviously it's a playing game. It's a little total in the game two oh seven and a half two o six and a half, but he's averaged just twenty one against Miami. His point prop twenty three and a half. He's going to win Most Improved Player. You really can't even bet that market right now. How do you feel about this matchup for him tomorrow night against the Heat.
Well, they have guys, there's actually it's funny. We just taped a podcast with Daryl Moray for a podcast that'll be out later tonight, and he not in a bragging way. He was just like, there's nobody that can guard Max He one on one anymore. Like he's elevated to that sort of level where he can just sort of score whenever he or get to the rim whenever he wants to. And he's definitely, I would say, different in the last month of the season than he was in the first
three months of the season. He in the fourth quarter, he has become much more reliable and he he knows he can get there. So I don't Miami is a tough defensive team and they've got they've got tough defensive players, and they're a son of a bitch to play in the playoffs.
But I'm I'm not worried about him anymore.
I think I think him in the playoffs is a twenty five point a game guy, you know.
I think he is that and I think if they go, if they have a.
Full series or two or three or whatever, you will see games where he you know, he leads them, he scores forty points or something like that. So I'm pretty optimistic about him in the playoffs.
Who's that other guy, like, other than Tobias Harris, Is it Kelly Ubray? Like that has to step up and score the basketball, not only in this game, like if they're going to make a run though, other than MAXI and Embiid.
Well, it's not Tobias Harris. Let me let me just clear everything up. I've I've lost faith. God bless him if it is. We were just saying if Tobias, if Tobias shows out in these playoffs and they win a title, he can have another Max contract, you know, like I don't care sure or whatever. So I think it might depend on the game as we've seen it from a
bunch of different players. I think if you were to be hopeful Healed playing with Embiid, Heal's not creating any offense, but Healed playing with Embiid should create a bunch.
Of open shots.
But they've I know it sounds nuts, and I was not a believer for the first three quarters of the season. But Kelly Ubray has been has been pretty awesome and he's won me over and I think sometimes mentally, like it takes a while for your brain to catch up with what you can do physically. And Kelly Ubray had been selfish in other places, played selfishly. He played selfishly
in Charlotte, they didn't like playing with him. In Golden State, he played selfishly out there, you know he but something happened and he has kind of figured it out and he goes to the rim with reckless abandon He is unafraid to shoot.
Even though he's not a great shooter.
He competes defensively, so scary enough. I would say that the third guy on the team, if they need a guy, is a minimum contract guy, Like I think it's probably Ubra, And I'm sure my guess would be he loses US a game and he wins US a game in the playoffs is probably what all happened. But the wins US a game night will be fun.
There'll be a big d Anthony Melton game too. We've seen him come up for Memphis. Is he healthy though, Like it feels like there's kind of some opacity in terms of like where he is health wise.
Yeah, I'm not optimistic. I'm not optimistic.
He's had a back thing for months now, and this is twice that they've tried to bring him back.
They brought him back once, he was.
Out again for two weeks or a week afterwards, and then when they brought him back against Orlando, we played five minutes and then didn't play the next game, and Nurse was not optimistic. So I'm not optimistic about Mountain though. I do think, you know, Kyle Lowry is not cooked. You know, I thought he was cooked. I thought that's why Miami let him go. He's not cooked at all. And I think it's not like you're going to see
him score twenty five points. But I think there's a twelve point six assist game that if you're watching it, you're like, he's the reason they won the game.
I think that could happen though.
Yeah, especially in this playing game. Kyle Lowry revenge spot obviously gets waved by the heat. It seems like that story didn't end the way that they wanted. Now, say you're playing against the Knicks. Obviously, the Knicks have been looking really, really good when they got ogn Andobi no Julius Randall for the rest of the season, but they've got Mitch Robinson back Hartenstein. Hartenstein has been much better, not just coming off the bench, but as a starter
as well. What do you think about that matchup, because I feel like you're more confident than I've heard many Sixers fans in terms of that matchup.
Well, I mean, I understand why they wouldn't be confident, right, Like, they compete very hard. They will be a tough out the Knicks, for sure, and Jalen Brunson's really good, and they beat the Sixers senseless in all but one game this season. But I guess I've just feel like I've seen this kind of team before that has a small guard, a small high usage guard who dominates during the regular season, and a team that tries harder than everybody else during
the regular season. But then when the playoffs comes hard, it comes around and everybody else is trying hard. All of a sudden, the advantage that they had during the regular season doesn't exist in the same way. And I just I think Jalen Brunson's really good, but he works hard for those points.
He's not particularly good at creating for other people.
The way that the other sort of like heliocentric players are the Hardens, you know, Luca blah blah blah, and even those guys have trouble getting a team all the way because it's hard to do that as one player. And I just see him, like who else is scoring points on that team? You know, how are they getting to one oh eight or one ten every It sounds basic, but like, how are they scoring enough points to do that? And where's the offense coming from? And I just I'm
skeptical of any team that does that. And Brunson is like a level below the Lucas and Hardens.
Of the world.
So I'm just I'm not worried. It would be a tough series, but I think the Sixers would do in it.
Sixers and seventy says, I like it. Spike, Thanks so much, man, good luck on the new show will be glad Es Brother tomorrow afternoon two pm.
Right, Yes, yes, yes, sir and them, Thank you very much.
Thank you to Spike for this. We now turn to Lawrence Holmes from the show, co host of the Dan Bernstein co host with Dan Bernstein of The Bernstein Home Show on WSCR. The Score in Chicago again. Lawrence showan bet m Jim tonight he really got into the Weeds and the Bulls and what they need to do to win tomorrow night and in the future. Let's get right into him.
Tomorrow night, the Bulls are three and a half point favorites over the Atlanta Hawks and the playing tournament to talk about that, maybe some bears as well. We welcome out now Laurence Holmes. You hear him ten to two on six seventy the score, Lawrence? What's going on? Man?
What's up? Fam? How y'all doing?
We got a playing game?
It seems like the Bulls and Billy Donovan didn't want to rest a single soul against the Knicks to simulate a playing game. They are what three and a half point favorites, four and a half point favorites, the line keys moving all around?
What you think?
I think that we need to pay real close attention to the injury report tomorrow because Io Desumu has been on the injury report and he is Trey Young's kryptonite.
When when he plays and.
Guards Trey Young, Trey Young doesn't do all the magical stuff that we're used to him doing. So's that to me, is like one of the major factors of the game, as weird as it sounds, because Io's not really a player that you talk a ton about. But if he's not available tomorrow or he's limited, that could spell a lot of trouble for the Bulls.
Yeah, how do you feel about tomorrow? Not only like player props tomorrow, because I feel like everybody's going to bet tomorrow Rosen, But I just I didn't understand and get I guess what they were doing against the Knicks, but he played forty minutes they go into overtime in that game. Any concerns about him, like, you know, I guess they've had a couple of days to rest here, but just his status going into this game after playing so many minutes.
No, No, I mean they've done this all year with Tomorrow, he's leading the league in minutes. Yeah, which is ridiculous at his age. But have you guys heard the secret weapon is going to be in the house tomorrow. Who's that Dumar's daughter?
Oh yeah, yeah, I.
Saw that on a sleeperm page. Yeah.
Yes, Dumar's daughter is going to be in the house over at the United Center. So that get ready for this all the screeching and everything else that she does to disrupt people who are shooting free throw.
So that'll be I think it'll be good. I'm looking forward to it.
Lawrence, I'm kind of a hater because I feel like fans should just boycott the UC. Like every time I go home, I spend a tremendous amount of money on tickets, and I'm just I'm sick of like the playing tournament and I want to go back to the nineties, and I'm kind of like sick of this current roster. So what happens after this season. Let's say maybe they even win the play in, they sneak in into the NBA Playoffs, they're going to get bounced in the opening round. What's next?
Because I don't know what's next for Lonzo Ball, happy that he's working out again, Zach Lavine, it seems like nobody wants to take on that contract or that trade. Like, what's the future for this team? Are they just going to keep running it back with this current roster and winning thirty seven thirty eight games every year?
Well, Ryan fel like, you're on it, man, Like this is just kind of how they roll. And it's really disappointing because you could see what the vision was when Lonzo was healthy. Yeah, you can see that that that's what they were trying for, and to a certain extent, they got it that first half of the season that they were all together.
Everything worked great. But it's been a long time.
It's been basically three seasons the Bulls haven't had a point guard and that doesn't make any sense at all. It feels like they're very content as an organization to be leading the league in attendance, which is crazy. The ninth place team in the Eastern Conference is leading the league in attendance, and look the United Center be popping like it's a fun time.
It's fun to go to a game.
All of the end game stuff there is great, their stadium ops great, all of it. It would just be nice if the basketball caught up with the entertainment value of what they do, and it's it really does feel like they're going to run all of this stuff back that they're they're going to have DeMar back there with this this group and hope that Zach's healthy and hope that Lonzo can do something for them next year. We had LeVar on our station last week and Yeah, he was out.
Here quoting the rock. I don't know if y'all saw it. He's calling the workhouse. He called the workhouse of the Bulls.
Have Rudy Pooh, Rudy Pooh workhouse crazy.
By the way, Yeah, everyone's like, damn, this guy's still around where.
Yeah.
I was a big fan of that Score producers.
Man, they'll find anybody especially you want to talk about Rudy Pooh workouts.
No, that's crazy. How do we hold this team, this organization accountable?
Obviously?
Uh, the Score being the Home of the Bulls, you're obviously in contact with a k with Mark Eversley, with the folks that are in charge. Like when you when you speak to them, knowing that you are a part of the mouthpiece of the fan, what do you say to nudge them in the direction of being held accountable and going in a different direction? Or is it even them? Is this ownership that's just content with going in this direction.
We had our show Bursting Homes or HEMI. We had Ak and Eversley in our studio for an hour.
It was amazing. It was an amazing event.
We got to find out more about them because most of us don't know a lot about those two guys, the very private dudes, So having them come in and do an hour was pretty spectacular. I think that those guys want to win, Like I don't get the sense that they're they're slacking to be slacking, you know what I mean? Like the basketball ops people to me don't seem like they're just content with being a playing team. I think they would prefer to not be a playing team.
I think it goes a little bit higher. I think that they're all they're still reeling and they don't know how to pivot, and they they kind of the Zach Lavine thing. I was one of the only people in Chicago that was against giving him a max It's weird because I think that he's a player that deserved a max contract but wasn't a max player, if that makes sense, Like he had earned it, but you knew you kind of knew what was going to happen once he got money,
and his health issues have been problematic. Damar is an incredible leader. I think that the guys really respond to him, they really respect him. But he's towards the end of his career.
I still would.
Probably what's the points prop on Damar for tomorrow.
I think and a half is where it was.
Go over.
Three and a half.
I still say go over it.
He he's going to do everything that he can do to try to push them to win, and sometimes that's the best thing for the franchise and sometimes it's not. You know, Luckily, they've seen growth this year from Kobe White. He's turned into quite a player. He'll be in the most improved player conversation at the end of the season. But damar is that dude? And is it twenty nine
and a half? Yeah, twenty nine and a half Now, I would still go over, just barely, but I would go over because he'll he's gonna get after it, and if there's any sort of problem or the Bulls are struggling, he will take it upon himself to try and fix the problem.
If if Io is not playing in this game, or he's limited in this game, would you still go under on Trey Young's points, considering that he's just coming back from a finger surgery. Twenty three and a half is his points.
If there's no Io or it's hobbled Io, I go over because the screen role game that they play with him, it's hard.
The thing about Io is that Io's athletic and.
Long, and he likes to get into an offensive players shirts. The only other player that can do that for the Bulls with Caruso. But he's going to be occupied. Like it's weird. He kind of has to play free safety for the Bulls a lot, and I'm sure that they'll switch him and they'll use a little bit of combination defense and put him on Trey Young. But what they would love to be able to do is say to Io, go out there and irritate this guy for forty eight minutes and give us an opportunity to win.
Where are you at with Billy Donovan.
I know you said you just expect them to run it back, and that's kind of where I'm at too. I thought there was a chance maybe that Kentucky would just wait interview Billy Donovan, he'd go back to the college game. You think he's a good coach, you think he's back next year most likely.
I think he's good.
I really enjoy him when he talks like I've been in a bunch of Billy press conferences pregame and I feel like that's some of the most basketball that I've learned over the last couple of seasons is sitting there listening to him talk about the game. Sometimes the problem is it feels like Billy is the color analyst for the team instead of the head coach. Yeah, like he knows some of the problems, but he doesn't realize, you know, you're the coach, you could actually do something about some
of those problems. I think that he's he's he's not great, and he's definitely not terrible. He's kind of middle of the road. If you had a better team, i'd feel better about Billy being the coach of it. But with some of the personnel problems, and he's joked about having seventy million dollars on the bench, it's a lot to overcome, and you better be a special coach if you're gonna
have to overcome all of this stuff. I thought that the flirtation with Kentucky was real, But when you really go back and listen to some of the things that Billy has said before this even came up, He's talked about the college game.
He doesn't want any part of it.
Like you can tell he he doesn't like all of the different levers that a college coach has to pull on now to be a college coach. He's got a great life, like he's making millions of dollars, he's got that NBA lifestyle, and the pressure.
Isn't a lot.
I mean, I hate to say that because it shouldn't be that way. In the third largest market in the country, the pressure should be really high for a winner, but people have just been kind of like, yeah, okay, when it comes to the Bulls, is that like.
A Midwest thing to you? Or is that like a frog that's been just like slowly boiling in water.
It's it's weird because even though Chicago is bigest A good question.
I would say that when it comes to our sports team, we are not like it's ordinary, like we're we're pretty, We're pretty hardcore, and like Minnesota polite is like a real thing, like the passive aggressiveness of someone from Minnesota. People from Wisconsin are super nice. Indiana folks are like salts of the earth. And honestly, outside of Chicago, in the state of Illinois, everyone is very chill. But the
state of Chicago is a very different place. So the pressure it's interesting because the Bulls and you go into that place, you see the Jordan statue.
You see the banners.
There's still an element of the Bulls as an organization living.
Off of that.
Yeah, and you wish that they could get over it and that they would start trying to win right now.
But I'll just.
Tell you, Trista, if you want to get a glimpse of how Chicago is not Midwest nice, talk to any white Sox fan.
That you know, especially right now, especially right now.
You will you will not hear nice from from white Sox fans right now.
Lawrence, thanks so much, man. We'll be listening tomorrow. Head up to the Bulls. I kind of want him to lose, but we'll be watching the show.
We'll best on the spot tomorrow because we got Don Staley on the show tomorrow.
Y'all o'clock CRAL. We are gonna have Don on the show.
Hell yeah, big year for.
About Angel Reese and Kamela Cardos.
Next time. Next time.
We'll do it next time, girls. Thanks man. Lawrence songes ten to two six seventy to score that MS.
You have the night.
We'll take a quick break with the fact.
That's all the time that we have for this episode. He checked many thanks to Spike and Lawrence comes back tomorrow. Come back tomorrow for an all new episode breaking down the playoff seedings, and check out the feed for past episodes and many episodes which drop unexpectedly, like the Golden Stake Warriors to the Sacramento Care Oh no, dumb.
Oh no.
Do not forget to follow the egic as we continue
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