LeBron Is Tired. The Rockets May Soon Be Too.
The crew discusses the NBA conference finals and how the NFL's new anthem policy differs from the NBA's in fewer ways than you'd think.
May 24, 2018•44 min
Hot Takedown
Hot Takedown is the weekly sports podcast from FiveThirtyEight. On it, the crew uses numbers to dissect the week in sports, taking down some silly hot takes in the process.
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Episodes
What Do All These Blowouts Mean?
Neil and Kyle discuss why all the teams in the two remaining series have been so dominant at times, and terrible at others.
May 21, 2018•35 min
Breaking Down Each Game 1
The Celtics limited LeBron James -- is that a sign of things to come? The Warriors ran away with the end of the game -- are the Rockets doomed to be in the Warriors' shadow?
May 15, 2018•42 min
Previewing The Conference Finals
Neil and Kyle preview both conference finals matchups, and say goodbye to the eliminated teams.
May 10, 2018•48 min
35: Rockets Grounded
The crew is in The Lab to break down Utah's impressive win in Houston, the continued problems for the Raptors, Curry's return and more.
May 03, 2018•22 min
34: Eight Teams Left
The playoffs continue marching on and we're back in The Lab to break down the conference semi-final matchups in the East and West.
Apr 30, 2018•46 min
33: Thunder Fight On
The playoffs keep marching on and we're back to discuss the Thunder's epic comeback against the Jazz, preview the Warriors-Pelicans second round series and more.
Apr 26, 2018•35 min
32: Best Of Three
Neil and Kyle break down the weekend playoff action and discuss the three 2-2 series in the Eastern Conference. For the Raptors, Celtics and the Cavs, who should be worried?
Apr 23, 2018•27 min
31: All Tied Up
We're back in the Lab to dive into the playoff series that are tied at 1-1 heading into Game 3. Is OKC in trouble? Can the Cavs get one back in Indiana? Should Embiid return?
Apr 19, 2018•42 min
30: Game 1s In The Books
We're in The Lab to look back on the opening weekend of the NBA playoffs. We discuss Dipo and the Pacers, wonders what the Blazers can do to stop AD, and more.
Apr 16, 2018•27 min
29: Eastern Conference Playoffs Preview
And now onto the Eastern Conference! We're back to preview all four first-round matchups in the East and offer our predictions for which teams will move on.
Apr 13, 2018•39 min
28: Western Conference Playoffs Preview
Playoffs are finally here! We're in The Lab to preview the matchups in the Western Conference and compare our predictions with those of FiveThirtyEight's CARM-Elo predictions.
Apr 12, 2018•36 min
27: We The North
This week, we're in The Lab to break down the Eastern Conference leading Toronto Raptors and their chances in this year's playoffs, Embiid's injury, Oladipo and more.
Apr 05, 2018•46 min
26: Warrior Down
This week on The Lab, the crew dives into the impact of Steph Curry's injury on the Warriors' playoff run, touch on Kyrie's knee procedure and more.
Mar 29, 2018•41 min
25: Is Utah A Small-Market Model?
This week in The Lab, we discuss the Jazz and their impressive re-build project this season, ask once again how legit the Rockets are, break down the problems in OKC and more.
Mar 21, 2018•42 min
24: Talking Cavs With David Griffin
Former Cavaliers GM David Griffin joins us in The Lab to discuss LeBron James, the Cavaliers and more.
Mar 14, 2018•58 min
23: Wild Wild West
This week in The Lab, the crew discuss the red hot Blazers, the intense playoff race happening out West and more.
Mar 08, 2018•36 min
Curling Special: Team USA Gold
Neil Paine and Nate Silver sit down with the USA curling team to talk about stats in curling and what it was like to win gold at Pyeongchang.
Mar 05, 2018•34 min
22: The Great NBA Tank-Off
The whole crew is back in The Lab to discuss Jimmy Butler's injury, AD's performance after Boogie went down and the worst teams in the NBA.
Mar 01, 2018•47 min
21: Restructuring The Playoffs With Brian Windhorst
Brian Windhorst joins us in The Lab to discuss possible new NBA playoff seedings. We also answer listener All-Star questions, discuss Toronto's surprising bench play and more.
Feb 22, 2018•38 min
20: All That Jazz
Nate Silver is back in The Lab to help us try to fix the All-Star Game. Plus, we tackle the Utah Jazz's surprising winning streak, the fit for the new Cavaliers and more.
Feb 15, 2018•48 min
19: Cleveland Rocks The NBA Trade Deadline
Nate Silver joins The Lab crew to discuss the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers and wonders which players will have the biggest impact on their new teams.
Feb 08, 2018•51 min
18: Injuries, Injuries And More Injuries
The Lab touch on the Blake Griffin trade and dive into the injuries that have plagued the league, from Kevin Love to John Wall and more.
Feb 01, 2018•49 min
17: Where Is The Love?
The Lab investigate brewing problems in San Antonio and Cleveland and dive into where the Milwaukee Bucks can go now after firing head coach Jason Kidd.
Jan 25, 2018•37 min
16: Talking Wizards with Candace Buckner
Washington Post reporter Candace Buckner joins The Lab to discuss the Washington Wizards. We also dive into Kawhi's injury, NBA fights and more.
Jan 18, 2018•49 min
15: Are The Timberwolves For Real?
We're in The Lab this week to discuss Curry's return, Ball and the Lakers and the new and improved Timberwolves.
Jan 11, 2018•45 min
14: Stat Sheet Stuffing
We're back for the new year to discuss IT's return, the strange lack of crazy stat lines this season and Andre Drummond, the point guard?
Jan 04, 2018•34 min
13: Holiday Mailbag
What's our most surprising team so far? Who's on our All-Rookie team right now? What should the Bulls do? We answer these and other questions from our listeners this week.
Dec 27, 2017•54 min
12: The Progress Of The Process
The Lab give their takes on #8 or #24, check in on what's going right or wrong in The Process and more.
Dec 21, 2017•49 min
11: When The Cat's Away, The Mice Will Play
We're in the Lab to discuss why OKC's outcasts are thriving and winning on their new teams and try to figure out how the Timberwolves are winning these close games.
Dec 12, 2017•40 min
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