Best of NBA News Part 2: CALLING OUT Zion's for his DISAPPOINTING career in New Orleans, RUSTY Giannis return doesn't matter! First Round EXIT!

This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. Zion Williamson shuts down trade rumors, making it clear he wants to stay in New Orleans. New Orleans is home for me. I know people hear rumors, hear different things, but New Orleans is home for me. In the offseason, I stay in New Orleans and I just move around the city, just getting to learn more about the culture. I've made a lot of friends here. New Orleans, I know I'm saying a lot, is really home for me. I want to do what I can to help New Orleans win. If I can win a championship in New Orleans, and look at the impact Drew Brees had winning a Super Bowl, you're forever. And who doesn't want to be forever? The most difficult point was when I missed the third year with a broken foot. And there are a lot of criticism about my weight, my care for the game. And I was really low because I just wanted to play basketball. Joe? Yeah, I mean. And we hear this a lot, Joe. We hear a lot of guys. I want to be here. We heard Kyrie say that he wanted to stay in Boston. We hear Giannis, and then we hear rumors, and then we hear things. Everybody says the thing, what they think the fan base wants to hear at that particular time. Well, that's what they're going to do. Okay, Ocho, what y'all want to do? Come out and say, man, I can't wait to get out of here. Nah, he's not going to say that. He's going to always say the right things. You know what I mean? But I still love watching Zion play, man. I don't know how good the Pelicans can be. Obviously, they're a young team. They got some young pieces who they depend on a lot on. And I think they're going to really make some changes this summer. Whether Zion is a part of that change, I'm not sure. But I definitely want to see him lead those guys in the right direction, man. because, man, Uncle Ocho, when I watch him play, he can't be stopped, bro. He cannot be stopped. I don't care who you put on him, whether they three feet taller than him, two feet short, it don't matter. They can't do nothing with him. So as long as he stays focused and continues just to focus on the game, he going to be all right, man. Put all that other stuff to the side. Keep working. That's been the whole problem all along. You know, once he got to the NBA, obviously the focus, you know, focuses on the game, not just the game itself, but obviously yourself within, you know, coming into camp the right way, you know, keeping your weight down, you know, focusing on basketball so you're able to do what you need to do in season. You put a camera in front of his face, of course he's going to say all the right things. Of course he's going to say, I want to be in New Orleans. He's not going to say anything outside of that because, I mean, obviously not, and you talk about wanting to win in New Orleans. Well, you've had three years to do that so far. You've had three years to do it. No, he's back. No, Zion has been there like six years. My bad. you've had six years to be able to do that if anything it starts with you if you not being the one to be able to lead by example it's one thing you know to say it with words but the accent behind it they ain't been there there's been no consistency on your part absolutely right Joe you and I Ocho you really haven't been injured but Joe and I have been injured and it's hard to keep your damn weight down when you can't exercise because when you running up and down that court on a nightly basis or you playing football you doing stuff it's easy to keep your weight down. But now all of a sudden, you're eating the same as if you were running up and down that court. But you're not. So guess what that means, Ocho? Yeah, the LB's gonna add up. God damn! What happened? It's just natural. And the thing is, he has that kind of... He's more built like a football player than a basketball player. There you go. There you go. And if you look at his body, look at his body the way he's built. A lot of his weight is from waist down. Yeah. Yeah. Ass and thighs. Yeah. So that's easy. Oh, man, when you bottom head, Ocho, you know you can pack on some weight. Quick. Yeah. You can pack on some weight real easy. Easy. And he ain't no, when we talk about, oh, well, still, he's 6'6". Do you realize how tall 6'6 is for a man that's shaped like him? he can pack some weight on it's easy for him to get to 350 if he's not careful 350 look at them offensive look at them offensive linemen if they if they how big would offensive linemen be think about them offensive linemen don't show the ones you play with that's 325 330 so imagine you three let's just say for the sake of our but he 300 he gets injured on his foot what type of exercise now I don't know Joe you ever did you know what a UB is Joe a what a UB yeah I know what it is I don't know if y'all had them but that's if you had a lower body injury when I was in when I got with Denver you did the UB so they give you 10 minutes 15 minutes 30 minutes or 45 minutes man after like 3 days I said I gotta get back on the field I swear I said F this man I can't do this man that thing was killing me Hey, and that's what they do. If you get hurt, I know it's for sure in basketball, and you're talking about, oh, I can't practice today. They make it to where your rehabilitation, the stuff that you got to do on the side, they make it so hard that you're like, damn this. I'd rather be on this damn work. Absolutely. You 1,000%. 1,000%, Joe. Being on this treadmill. Yeah, I'm getting back on this court. So, yeah, that's what they do. They got to be like that because you used to have a tent. Oh, Joe, we used to have a tent. so they have a tarp. Man, it was like prison. You know how to like that? I swear it was like a prison because you had the metal pants. They had a green tarp over it but that's where the weight room was. Man, I got injured. Morning. I had to do first of all, I had to warm up on the UB so I had 10-15 minutes warming up on the UB. And then I had these because my lower body was hurt so I had to work out my upper body. Guess where I was in afternoon practice? Where you was at? I had my pads and helmet. I'm getting up out of this. F this. You were done with it, huh? F this. Yeah. Like Joe say, they make it so hard. They make it so hard, Ocho. I say, man, later for this, man. Yeah. Later for this. That's what they want you to do. Because, see, they know if you really want to just muster it up, like suck it up and be like, man, I'm going to play. They know you can do it. So they're like, okay. he trying to act like he don't want to go hard. We're going to put him on this bike for 45 minutes, and then we're going to make him walk on this treadmill for another 20 minutes. Then he got lift weights. Man, please. But get me back on the court, man. Yes. And two, man, we used to have the thing where, like, based on your age, you couldn't let your heart rate drop below 150. What? Yeah. And back then, that was no problem for me, Joe. I could get my heart rate up into the 190s and keep it there for hour, hour 15, hour 30. So for me, Duke was like, okay, we going, we warmed up. He's like, okay, Sharpie. So he give me these intervals. So every five minutes, I go up. I go up two levels. Like I said, I could burn through 2,200, almost 2,500 calories in an hour. Yeah. Yeah. I know you're doing some running though. No, I was on the bike. Oh, you're on the bike. He had to do it on them sprints. I ain't doing no treadmill. I don't know what it is about the treadmill. Maybe it was my gait, but every time I damn near pull my hamstring on the treadmill. Is it? So, yeah, I ain't doing it. Because I had that woodway, Joe. You know the woodway is what y'all. We have the high-end treadmill. They got the ones that you just start running and it runs with you. But I had the one that would go 18 miles an hour and it go to an incline of 25. Bounce it buoyancy with you because, you know, it gives. It ain't like the regular treadmill. like a commercial treadmill. This is a high impact for professional athletes. Yeah. I don't know what it was about the treadmill, but I hurt my hamstring all the time. And so I still got that treadmill. It's really, really nice. And I ain't been on it in 20 years. You don't use it, huh? I remember that. I remember that, Uncle Joe. That high-speed treadmill I used to use in the offseason. I remember, Uncle, I think at one time, I think I hit about 24, 25 miles an hour on there. But obviously, yeah, yeah, obviously. Where, Ash here today? Yeah, Ash, Ash, if she could find that on YouTube, where I went 25 miles by on the treadmill. 24, 25, one arm. Man, Joe. That big, that big, that big wide, that big commercial-grade treadmill that goes up to 40. 40? So you, yeah, because you got a kick to get on it. You just can't just start to get a kick. Mine was, hey, hey. Already going, you had to jump on it, yeah. It was scary. So I had to hold on, right? you use one foot use one foot and once you hit once you hit you gotta be going hey Joe boy man oh yeah I already know I done seen I done seen some of y'all cats on there I know exactly what you talking about I ain't go no I ain't go no 25 I think I went about 21 of the half 22 but boy look here but hey if you mistiming all this gonna be gone that's the first thing you ain't saving nothing yes sir you ain't saving nothing saving anything. Hey, look, I got that same. I got a World Weight 2 over here. And I get on it. I do a lot of walking, incline walking, Uncle Ocho. So I may get my incline about 8 to 10, maybe even 12 sometimes. You know, like you say, when you got these lower extremities, these injuries, man, you got to find a way to burn calories, bro. That's why I got, that's how I got into high yoga real tall. I got into high yoga 2009 because I had an Achilles strain and I couldn't, it's hard to walk, bike, run, anything. So I was like, man, I got to break a sweat. I ain't done nothing in three days. I got to break a sweat, but I'm eating good. I got to break a sweat. Hey, look, you know, like, you know, like, if they shut you down, they shut me down for a week. So, like, them first couple days, you know, I'm eating real good. I'm like, hold on. I got to slow down a little bit because in a week and by six days, they're going to try to throw me back out there on that freeway. Boy, I got to be ready to go. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's the thing with an athlete, because you eat the same, but you're not working out the same. And now when you're young, hey, I could burn calories like this. Hey, I could drop 10 pounds in practice. Yeah. In a two-hour practice, I could drop 10 pounds, Joe. Yeah. As I got older, man, now I'm like, hold on. Is this a scale right? You mean to tell me I've been fasting I eat all my food In an 8 hour time Don't eat But don't start eating Until 11 o'clock Doing an hour and a half Hour 15 cardio Four or five days a week And I ain't lost But four pounds Yeah What the hell Man I wish I wish I could I wish I could hold Some weight man Look see I'm like I ain't got no problem Gaining no weight I look at some food wrong Boy that's two Three four pounds Right there I mean, for y'all, obviously. Joe, how old you is, Joe? I'm 44. I'll be June. I'll be 45. At what point do I get to where the weight started? Do that to me, too. No, that's not your body type. It's your body type, bro. I'm not your body type. And you drinking all that coffee every day, that probably got your metabolism running through the roof. Damn. I mean, if my metabolism wasn't high, man, I'd probably be 300. it'll probably be 310 easy. 310? Your frame can't hold that much weight? The hell you say? When your boy was going through it, your boy, hey, I looked at that scale. That scale's a 282, 284. I'm like, whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I said, hey! Man, I took that scale and put it in the draw. You got up to 280? Yes! Yeah, I can get up there. I can get to the ain't down on y'all. I feel good now. But I was walking around. Man, I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like the gutty professor. Hey, I started putting bed sheets over my mirror. And I got a bunch of mirrors in my mirror. I got a big wall full of mirror. I got a big mirror when you walk in the bathroom. I got a big mirror in my window. I was like, oh no, let me cover these up. I was like, my grandma, when it's thunder and lightning when I was a kid, she used to put bed sheets over the mirrors. Because she said when it's thunder and lightning, the spirits would come out. So we had to cover the mirrors when it's thunder. of enlightening. I'm like, nah, ain't no spirits coming out. I'm just looking. I'm disgusted. I'm gross. Like Kanye said, I'm disgusted with myself. Hey, hey. Hey, and you'll get it'll make you get back in the gym working hard, too. Hell yeah. Hey, Joe, I've been in the gym working, Joe. Yeah. Yeah, man. Yeah. What you preparing for? What's up? I got a tournament coming up in May. That's it. I got a tournament, you know, so I've been, I'm training. What kind of tournament? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't carry North Carolina. Oh, yeah? You got your nice squad? Oh, yeah. I'm playing with a team from Spain called Villarreal. Oh, man, you ain't playing around. No, no, no, no. It's a real deal. So I ain't got eight. I don't have no choice. I'm training early, three months out on purpose because I can't, for one, I can't embarrass us. Let's start there. And then I can't be a liability playing with people that have been doing it all their life. I ain't playing with anybody. I'm playing with a major major it'd be equivalent to you know Barcelona right you know Real Madrid Real Madrid is in the same La Liga same league hold on so what's your training regimen because that's a lot of running that's why I just asked y'all a lot of start stopping so I'm training as if I'm going back to play football but the work that I do when it's not conditioning is strictly with a soccer ball but that's why I asked you at what point am I going to keep on weight because all that muscle I put on now the shit going away yeah because you're running like that's why well like guys like okay let's just say like a bodybuilder what you do is that you try to put on weight and then you try to hopefully it's quality weight sometimes people just put on fluff yeah um but and then when you strip it down by doing cardio. Now you like, woo, look at that. But you look at your shoulders, look at your shoulders and see how narrow your shoulders are. You're not gonna, you're never gonna be a big man. You're never gonna be a guy that's like, man, man, you see Ocho, man, Ocho don't get, that's not who you are. No. Hold on, look at me, man. What you mean, man? I know look at your shoulders point to point You see how your shoulders are point to point My shoulder aerodynamic Well unfortunately that not conducive for you wearing a lot of weight with aerodynamic shoulders. Hey, people in the chat talk about I'm lying. I mean, I'm lying. I ain't playing with Billy Royall. I mean, it's pinned at the top of my Instagrams. Hey, how can I check y'all out? It's on ESPN. You ain't going to miss it? Yeah, it's on ESPN. ESPN. TSD tournament, only ESPN every team. Pat McAfee got a team. Oh, so this is real good. I saw Pat McAfee. Pat McAfee did a bicycle kick was that last year? No, that was two years ago. Yeah, that was two years ago. Yeah, Pete McAfee did a bicycle kick. Pete McAfee, for real, though. I mean, you look at him, a kid from Pennsylvania, and you look at him, you're like, man, no, but Pete McAfee, I mean, he was I mean, he was super, he might have been one of the most athletic punters that you're going to see. P-Mac can run. Yeah, no, he's athletic, for real. I know you look at him now, you see, you know, with a tank top and you don't, no, no, no, but he was athletic. Yeah. So, I'm going to see what you, we're going to see what you're putting on. Don't disappoint us. Hey, don't talk about number one love, huh? That's one thing that, that's one thing I can actually do better than play football. And that says a lot. I don't know about that, but I know you like it. Yeah, okay, we're going to see. This is the biggest night in podcasts The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. Ocho Ant-Man and the T-Wolves moving to the fourth in the Western Conference thanks to a 117-108 victory over the Nuggets. Minnesota beat Denver for the first time in four games this season. Ant-Man had 21. Bones Highland had 15 of his 18 in the first half. And Minnesota sweeps its three-game road trip to improve to 38-23, jumping to fourth in the West. Minnesota now moves a game ahead of Denver in the Western Conference. They're just two games separating the third seed, which is the Rockets, and the sixth seed, which is the Lakers. They got an outstanding performance in the fourth quarter from Naz Reed, who looked like Kobe Bryant. He did an in and out, got an A and one. He did an out and in and threw it up with a left hand. He got that, he had a big three. So he played unbelievable. They got great contributions. Ant-Man didn't go off like he had been in the last couple of games, but it was a total team effort. It was too much for the joke to overcome joke and Murray. But they got sloppy with the ball late in the ball game. Ojo, watching this game, what did you like about what Minnesota did? I mean, Nas Reed obviously being able to insert himself towards the end of the game. I think that made the difference in it. Ant-Man not having the game that he's had the past previous games, obviously he's been on fire, he's been hot, but he was efficient enough. I think he was 9 for 19, he had 21 points, if I'm not mistaken. Outside of that, they look good. They look good. And obviously, the goddamn Nuggets didn't help themselves turning the ball over and missing some opportunities and chances to score in vital moments that could have changed the outcome of the game. Yeah, they didn't really get the contribution they needed from Cam Johnson. I think he was 0 for. Yoke is going to be Yoke. I think he was, what, 35, 14, and 9. Jamal Murray came on strong late. I agree with you. The turnover was late. Definitely didn't help their cause. But they're going to have to do a better job because they were terrible when Yoke was off the floor today. They can't give up that count. I think they were, what, minus 15, minus 16, or 17 when Yoke was on the floor. and he played a lot more minutes than I'm sure Adelman wanted him to play in this ballgame. And it seemed like every time he went out, which he only went out, what he does is that he normally plays the entire first quarter, and then they try to give him somewhere six to eight minutes in the second quarter. Yeah. And then play the entire third quarter, obviously the coming out of the half, and then try to give him a big break in the fourth. But they had to bring him back a lot sooner than they wanted to because the game started to slip away. but give the team Wolves a lot of credit because every time the Nuggets made a run, they quelled it. Somebody hit a big three. Devin Tenzo played unbelievable today, especially in the first half with those four three-pointers. Naz Reed picked it up. Naz Reed picked it up in the fourth quarter. Hit a big three. In and out. Out and in. Did some great job. They did a great job of rebounding the basketball. They just got to do a better job because I thought, you know, the start of the game, the way the Nuggets started, I'm like, damn, they might sweep this series here. And the next thing you know, here come the Nuggets. Here come Ant-Man, DiVincenzo, all those guys making contributions. And they ended up winning this game. But it's going to be, look, I think for me, the class of the Western Conference is OKC Steel. They got Shea back and he comes back. They play the Nuggets in his first game back. He drops, I think, 35. And he didn't play in overtime. He didn't play late in the ballgame because they didn't want him to overextend himself in the ballgame. They want to gradually build him back up. And thankfully, they didn't need him because I know that was really tough to watch a game of that magnitude. And now they've already given you a minutes restriction and said, well, you're not going to play over this. I don't care what the circumstance called for, even though it was a close ball game, late in the ball game, and they could have definitely used him. They guys were, oh, Caruso did a great job down the stretch. But looking at this ball game, Ocho, they're going to have to find a way. This is why they got rid of Michael Porter Jr. because they felt in situations like this. and maybe he wasn't a good fit because you look at what he's doing with the Nets. He's a guy that can legitimately be a one or two scorer. Yes. But he was never going to be anything more than the third scorer here because you got Yoke and you got Murray. So Cam Johnson is going to have to be, he's more equipped to that and his mindset is more equipped to be a third option because pretty much that's what he's always been. And in that situation, I just think he has to be better. He hadn't been good in a couple of games. In order for them to get to where they need to be, He's going to have to be that third piece. Bruce Brown does what Bruce Brown does. I like what Kristen Brown does, but it wasn't enough today. Give Minnesota credit. Minnesota played a heck of a ball game. Yeah, I mean, Minnesota played a heck of a ball game, but for me, and I think about mentality, I think about confidence, especially if it comes to any sport. Right now, the specific topic is basketball, and for Cam Johnson, I think he needs to insert himself a little bit more. I understand that there's a pecking order when it comes to shot selection and who has a green light to take as many shots as they want to. But I think players like Cam Johnson in that role of when Jokic is not doing well, when Murray's not doing well, I need to insert myself into the game. How do I do that? I already already need to be in rhythm. I need to have some type of some type of confidence about my game where I don't feel scared or I don't feel nervous or gun shy to take certain shots. And there's only one way to do that is being able to get yourself in rhythm and find ways to insert yourself into the game, even when it doesn't call for you to do so. And I think if he's able to do that late in ballgames in situations like this, then he'll be able to insert himself and feel OK about taking taking certain shots where it means much more as opposed to the first three quarters in the game where it matters between wins and losses. Well, I think the biggest thing, you mentioned confidence, is that getting into a rhythm early. It's hard to miss all those shots and then because, you know, shoot or shoot, but confidence goes a long way. And because he struggled the last couple of games, he was 0 for the day, scored zero points. And I'm looking at Yoke. Yoke was 15 of 26, 1 of 4 from 3, but he was 35, 13, and 9. You look at Jamar Murray, 25, and wasn't efficient at all. He was 9 of 22, 2 of 6. Christian Brown was 15 points. He played really well. Strother gave him only two points. So you got two of your starters, Ocho, gave you two points. Two points, and they played a combined 40 minutes. You can't have that. Valanchunas, two points. Hardaway Jr. played well. He was five or six, three or four from the three. Bruce Brown, six points in 34 minutes. but they just got to fight they got to fight they got to fight a third option because you know exactly what you're going to get from Yoke and sometimes people just going to see look we can't stop this man Yoke is going to get somewhere between 30 and 40 he's going to get somewhere between 12 and 17 rebounds and he's going to get somewhere between 8 and 12 assists we just can't let him get 40, 20, 20 that's what we got to stop so we're not going to stop him from getting those you know 28, 29, 30 points. He's going to get that. He's going to get the rebounds. We've just got to control him getting those 15, 18, 20 assists because he's getting his points and he's getting other people involved. Once he starts getting other people involved, now what do we do? Because we can't leave anybody. There is nobody that's going to be able to deal with him one-on-one. So you try to make it as difficult as you possibly can, and maybe you let him go one-on-one and say, look, I'd rather give him, well, the Clippers tried that, and then he ends up getting 56 and 13 and 17. But I can't let him get 15 assists, Ocho. I can't let him get 18, 20 assists because he's going to have somewhere between 20 and 30 points. He might even get 35, 40. So now he has 40, and he's contributed because of those 15, 20 assists, you know at least seven of them on three-pointers. Yeah. So you can't have that, but they're going to have to find a consistent third option. Cam Johnson has been in these moments before. He won a championship, if I'm not mistaken. with the, no, he's on that team that ended up losing to Milwaukee. But he's been in pressure situations before, and he's just going to have to come through because right now he's not playing well, and I don't know what happened. I think he did have an injury, Ocho, so I think he might be coming back from an injury. But look, they don't do excuses in pro sports. No. You don't. Either you do or you don't. And right now he's not doing. Go ahead, what did you want to add? Oh, I forgot. And Drew Randall played an unbelievable game. Now, he didn't have 25, 30 points, but I thought the 14, 9, and 7 that he did have came at a very opportune time. They did a great job on the glass, but I thought all the auxiliary pieces, look, and McDaniel played well. They're more than just Ant-Man. I know Ant-Man gets a lot of the pub, and rightfully so, because he's electric. He's a dynamic scorer. There's nothing he can't do. He can block a shot to save a game. He can hit a clutch three to win the game. He can play outstanding defense when he wants to sit in the chair and guard. But he's a consistent player, and we know what he is. He's a superstar. But when you get contribution from Randall and McDaniel and DiVincenzo and all those guys start to jump in, now it makes them difficult. You know, Rudy Gobert was Rudy Gobert. He gave you six, eight points, 15 rebounds. And so that's what he's going to do. But I thought overall, I thought Minnesota going on the road, the end of this road trip, going to Denver, and that's not an easy place. And plus, the Nuggets have been playing well, even though they lost a tough game the other night to OKC. OKC. But when you're dealing with Yoke and Murray, and we know what those two guys represent, they're as good as duos that we have in this league. They can put you in the pick and roll. Obviously, Yoke can hit the three. He can roll. He can hit the mid-range. Jamal Murray is sensational. You see him poke on Rudy Gobert. So he's sensational. He can hit the three. He can in and out you. But I was surprised how well Minnesota withstood everything that they had going on, especially the first quarter, to withstand that. Because I'm looking at it, and they had like a 12-point lead, and then they cut it down to like five and a half. And everything I know, the team was up seven. I'm like, well, damn, that was quick. And it didn't take a whole lot of effort. But we'll see how this thing plays out. I think they got about 20 games left, Ocho. Yeah. in the season. And when you got the kind of closeness between three and six, obviously you want to stay in the sixth spot because you don't want to go into the play-in. So you want to try to maintain where you are. Because right now the Lakers are in the sixth spot. And so you got the seven, eight, seven, eight, nine, ten are in the play-in tournament. You don't want to get into the play-in tournament. You don't want to play. You want to play as few games as possible. And playing those, you know, obviously, what is it? seven, seven plays, 10, eight plays, nine. So obviously if seven wins, they're in. Yeah. Whoever wins the 7-10 matchup is in. And then a situation like that, and then the losers play each other for the chance to finish up the eight seed. So you got OKC, that's 47 and 15. You got the Spurs are 43 and 17. They lost, got blown out today. The Rockets are 37 and 22. The Nuggets are 38 and 23. Excuse me. No, the Timberwolves are 38-23. The Nuggets are 37-24. The Lakers are 35-24. Phoenix is 34-26. Golden State's in the eighth spot. And it's reported that Steph Curry is going to be out another at least five games. And I don't know where they get offense without Steph Curry. Portland is in the ninth spot at 29-33. And the Clippers fading, obviously. They're not going anywhere. and Kawhi alluded as much. He said, I think this season is already over. They're 27 and 31. So that's where they are right now. That's the rankings. I mean, right now, with the rankings, where they are right now, where we are in basketball season with 20 games left, I mean, based on your expertise and watching the game and your knowledge of the game over time, if you were to take your picks now for coming out the East and coming out the West, planning the finals, who would you have to this point right now unless some team just comes out of nowhere and does something extraordinary, you know, the last 20 games and shocks everybody? I think OKC would really love somebody to knock off San Antonio. So they don't have to deal with that. Yeah, they don't have to deal with Wimbledon and those guys. That's the team that causes OKC the most problem. Me, personally, I think it's probably going to be San Antonio and OKC in the Western Conference Finals, but you never know because Ant-Man has been there and done that before. So he knows how to rise to the occasion. Nuggets have won a championship before. I just think the Rockets, I'm surprised the Rockets did not get a point guard. Chris Paul was there, and maybe they didn't want to deal with Chris Paul, and I don't know what that issue is. But they need a point guard, and they don't have a point guard. And I think that's the biggest thing. That's the biggest hindrance to them. Phoenix, okay, book is out. Dylan Brooks has a broken hand. How soon can those guys get back? Do I think even with those guys back, they can contend in the West? I do not. I do not think they have enough firepower to contend. The Lakers don't play good enough defense to contend. We saw last night Austin Reed get blown by Aiton. I just don know I just don know about him I just don know Really all things being equal I mean look I think there four teams seriously that could end up in the Western Conference Finals That's Denver, Minnesota, San Antonio, and OKC. Those are my teams that I think can make it to the Western Conference Final when realistically, realistically, you make me put some money, is something that matters to me. And if it's my money, it matters. Yeah. I probably, I would probably pick OKC. I'd probably pick OKC. So double back again and win a championship. Yeah. This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app, Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. Yep. game that he would return on a minutes restriction. He ended up playing 25 minutes, excuse me, not 27. Joe, you see where the Bucs are. The Bucs are, they're way back. Therefore, Charlotte's in the 10 spot, and they're four games back of Charlotte. Detroit's one, Boston's two, the Knicks are three, Cavs are four, Toronto is five, 76ers are sixth, Orlando is seventh, eighth is Miami, excuse me, Atlanta Hawks are ninth, and the Charlotte Hornets are 10, Milwaukee's way back. How did, considering that he's been out five weeks, he's missed 15 games, how did you think Giannis looked in his return? Anytime you take that much time off Arcan Ocho, you're going to be a little rusty. I mean, that's just what it is. You can tell, but I thought Boston just, you know, without JB, man, it's such a well-oiled engine that just run, plug-and-play guys, different guys step up and make plays. but I think it's going to take some time for Giannis. They got a pretty good, they got a pretty decent roster. Okay, Ocho, I don't understand why they're outside of the play-in. I feel like they're good enough to at least be in the play-in. So I expect Giannis to pick it up, you know, and have a late surge to try to get them in the play-in so they can make some noise in the playoffs. But they're first-round exit, guys. First-round exit. That's how you feel, Joe? It ain't nothing? Yeah. Ocho, they, they, they, They rely so much on Giannis putting up these gaudy numbers, bro. And, you know, he's been out. He's going to be rusty. Yeah, he'll get back to form to where he's averaging 30 and putting up, getting 15 rebounds. But, man, he's going to need some consistency from them guys around him. They're going to have to step up and make plays and play big in order for those guys to even make a run in the playoffs. So I guess we'll see what happens. This is when you know a team is really, really good and really, really deep. You look at OKC the way they play without Shea. You look at the way Boston play when they're without JB. That's when you know. You see, they don't play like, oh, man, JB's not in there. Oh, we can't win this. Giannis is coming back. Man, please. They blew him out by 27. You look at OKC and what they do when Shea is not in the lineup or when J-Dub is not in the lineup. It does not matter. We don't care who's in the lineup. All we care, we don't care who's out of the lineup. We care who's in the lineup. And it is our job. It's incumbent upon us to go out there and play rather Shea, J-Dubs in the lineup, whether JB or Quato's in the lineup, it does not matter. We're going to play our asses off. And you see, and it's very reflective of that when you look at Boston and when they play. You're like, ain't no way they got no business beating Milwaukee by 27 without an MVP candidate. There's no way OKC should still be a top without a league MVP and he's probably the frontrunner again for the MVP. But it just goes to show you the depth in which they have and how these guys take it serious. But in Boston, and again, Pritchett, doing what Pritchett does. Yeah. Doing what Pritchett does. Yeah. 25 and 9. That's off the bench. 25 and 9. Off the bench. And, you know, I was wondering why they didn't start him, but they probably wanted their spark plug to come in just in case, you know, things didn't start off right. So I'm giving Joe Mazzulla, the head coach for the Boston Celtics, Anken Ochoa, I'm I'm giving him a lot of credit. Although the players got to go out there and compete and play in between the lines. But, man, he has a mean scheme, bro, for them to be successful night in and night out. No matter who suits up, you know, Boston's always going to be in it. Now, before the season started, a lot of people, even including myself, I didn't think they would be in the position that they're in right now. Me too. Me too. But they have me to hold you. No Jason Tatum. Yeah. You trade for Zingers. Yeah. Horford leaves in free agency. You trade Holiday. And I'm supposed to think, without Tatum, who's a perennial all-NBA selection, a perennial all-star. So without that and all that, what all you moved on, because clearly you thought you weren't going to be in that position. That's why you gave those guys up. Right. Or unless they knew something that we didn't know, they knew that these are also it, Joe. But I think JB has showed everybody why he was, you know, finals MVP. Okay, Ocho. he could potentially win the MVP this year. With the numbers that he's putting up, with the success that they're having as a team, man, Boston's going to be a scary team in the postseason, fellas. Not a lot of people going to want to play them, man. They're playing great basketball right now. You know what? You think they will still be the same, obviously, when Jason Tatum does come back. Does that throw the rhythm and the camaraderie off a little bit? I think it'll take some adjusting because, you know, I think at some point those guys will to some degree kind of defer to Tatum. Yep. You know what I mean? I mean, it's just, it's a pecking order. And it could throw everybody off the rhythm. So you never know how that'll pan out. Maybe he comes back. Maybe he don't. Who knows? I'm sitting down. The last thing you, I mean, the last thing you want to do, Joe. Because sometimes, you know, you got to protect an athlete. We want to play. That's what we do. We want, we dreamed of this our entire lives. And when we get this opportunity, we ain't trying because once it's over, it's over. But the last thing you want to do is to go out there and re-injure yourself. Man. Because of why? Because you tried to prove that I could come back from a serious injury in six months, in eight months, in nine months. For me, the reward doesn't outray the risk. Right. That's just for me. Now, he might see it a whole different way. The Boston Celtics organization might see it entirely different way. But for me, like, okay, we could win a championship. Okay, you could. But what happens if you re-injure that? Absolutely. Now what? Absolutely. For me, JT got another decade in him. The last thing you want to do is have that type of injury there. So me personally, I think, and it's hard. It's easy to say from the outside sitting in because we've all sat in that athlete's chair. And we've all been deemed. and we've all like, okay, the best thing for me is to play. Because I already know I only got so many. There's only so many 16 games, Ocho, seasons I got in me. Right. And hey, once you get to five, once you hit 10, you closer to the end, the beginning. You ain't about to have, everybody think they're going to have a Tom Brady type career. Everybody think they're going to play Aaron Rodgers. They're going to play 2021 season. You're not. Be thankful. 3.3 years, that's about the average of an NFL career. Most NFL players are done at the age of 27. Yeah. You live to 75. So what? That means you got 40. That means you got 48 years left for your life. We don't look at it like that, though. You don't. You don't. You don't. Because so much of what you've done your entire life has prepared you to do what, Joe? Play basketball. Right. Or do what? Play football. And so you're kind of tied to that. And you think you're like a doctor or a lawyer. Man, I'll be doing this when I'm 60. No, you're not. you might be talking about it when you 60 but you damn sure ain't going to be playing it right right right and that's why I always tell guys maximize this make sure you never look back because the last thing you want to do is when you 40 Ocho man if I had just prepared a little how many times we heard guys man if I just did this I ain't no telling what I could have done we all got homeboys man Joe if I just did like you Joe went home and not tried to do this Ocho or just hung on the street hang on the corner. Tell them, Ocho, tell them I could have been with you. Tell them, Ocho, tell them I could have been with you, Ocho. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. We all know them cats. Yeah. So you don't want to have that regret. But Boston, Boston has surprised a lot of people, Joe, because I was one like, well, they're not doing it. And I was thinking, that's why they're selling off these pieces. I said, they're selling off these pieces because they know they ain't got no chance. So why go into that second apron? Why have to pay $100 million, $250 million with no chance. JB said, wait a damn minute. I'm still here. I'm a finals MVP. I'm an instant conference MVP. What you mean we ain't got no chance? Hold on. And the funny thing about it too, Joe, if you think about it, maybe they did see this coming. Maybe they did see it coming, which is why they let those pieces go because they understood even though Tatum is hurt, we believe there's a good chance, depending on who you ask, that JB might be our best player. even though there may be a pecking order even though the people on the outside or those that are part of the NBA culture might see it differently Jason Tatum being the best player but hell JB maybe inside the organization well hell, JB didn't show this enough we can let these pieces go and know that we're still going to be in contention yeah, I agree Ocho depending on who you ask you definitely have a pretty good argument But, you know, I think the Celtics went younger, fellas. I think they gave up a lot of those older guys and Holiday and Horford and Porzingis. And they had development of a lot of young cats who've stepped in this year and has played great throughout this whole entire season. So I commend them, man. It's fun to see those guys go out night in and night out and compete at the highest level. And JB taking the challenge every night. I know he didn't play tonight, but he's been playing awesome. I think the thing is, Prozinga stays hurt. Yeah. I mean, I'm paying $25 to $27 million for what, Joe, to get 10, 15 games a year? Hope he comes back, he missed 20 games, he comes back for five, he missed another 15. Okay, well, he's going to miss the first round of playoffs, hopefully, and then we get him two games in the second round, and then we don't see him again to the finals. It's not worth it. And as you said, Holiday was getting on up there in age. Al Horford is on up there in age. hell, Al Horford got to be damn near 40. I think Al Horford came out, what, 2006, 2007? Because if they won back-to-back titles in, what, 5 and 6? I think Al Horford's got to be like, Twitter Joe, he played with you here. Yeah, he played with me. Yeah, I got to at least be 40. I think I'm probably four or five years older than him, so I think, yeah, I think he got to at least be 40. But, yeah, man, they've done a great job, and it takes some of that salary down, too, because, you know, those guys making big money. These young cats they got, These guys ain't making the type of money that Holiday and Isle and Porzingis was making. But to your point, you know, Porzingis, since the finals run, since the year they won it, you know, he came in and played in that finals run. Ever since then, he hadn't been the same. He came here to Atlanta, and I think he has, like, some type of— I don't want to misquote it, but I think, like, some type of respiratory infection that kind of has him sick a lot. So it's hard. That's why you hadn't seen him play none for the Hawks pretty much this year. And he got traded to Golden State. I'm sure he probably won't even play for them no more. His career could potentially be over. Damn. You know what, guys? He really has never been the same since he tore that ACL. Because I was reading where they said a guy tearing his ACL. I don't know if they'd ever seen a guy that tall actually tear his ACL. So you're asking someone 7'3 1⁄2", Joe. I mean, look, he could shoot the ball. He was a great rim protector, a weak side defender. And, you know, for whatever reason, you know, when you start getting that tall, there's only a handful of people. They might not be. How many seven footers you think there are of eight billion people? There might not be a hundred of them in the world. So and when you start having those injuries, I mean, so what what is our study? You know, they got they got studies. OK, somebody this size, wait, this height and this weight. This is the recovery time. But when you don't have someone to go off of, it ain't very many seven footers. that you can go study and says, okay, he tore his ACL or he tore his Achilles or he had this and the studies say. It's hard to find those guys like that. But I think Boston, they looked at it like this, Joe and Ocho. They said, hold on. Why are we going to go into luxury tax when there's not a chance for us? Because I think if they thought they had a realistic chance, I think, you know what, we probably could stomach it. But they did sell the team. And probably the new owner was like, well, hell no. Y'all not finna strap us with that burden. Get those pieces up out of here. Absolutely. And we just spent $6.4 billion, a little over $6 billion or whatever they spent. And then you wanted to come in and take on another $150, $200 million. Oh, and we got two guys that's making $300? Oh, no, no, no, no. Y'all got to get up off some of them pieces. And so that was a part of it. But considering how well JB's played, All it does is that when they come back, when JT comes back in 26, 27, I think they move to the front of the line. No matter how the season's in for Detroit, I think with JT and JB, with the way coming off the bench is Pritchard and you got Derrick White, I think they would be the favorite, at least representing the Eastern Conference. Now, if OKC wins, OKC is going to be the favorite again. But that's my thoughts on that. The Rockets beat the Wizards 123-118. Trey Young earned his first ejection with the new teams before even making his debut with the Wizards. Trey was ejected when he walked on the court and complained to an official during a confrontation with Tari Eason and Jameer Watkins. Eason was ejected. Young made light of the incident on X saying, Don't expect me to get ejected too many more times, DC, but I'm definitely bringing that energy and competitiveness when I'm back for my brothers. Trey would make his Wizards debut Thursday at home versus Utah Damn Joe How you I mean like when they asked Smokey Toad Craig you got five of your day off How you got on street clothes? How you get ejected? Man, he, hey, I'm watching the game. He was taking up for one of his teammates, Uncle Ocho. He's sitting on the bench with the Torres Easton kid. He done pushed one of the dudes for the Wizards like deliberately, like twice. and the referee didn't even call and they just kept playing. So Trey kind of pointed it out and he got on the ref about it and they ended up kicking him out. But I feel him on that, man. You got to step up for these young dudes because they ain't giving the Wizards no type of respect. The refs, I'm talking about sitting there looking at the man. I'm talking about just literally just pushing, bro, two times. I'm talking about didn't call nothing. So Trey got on, bro, and they kicked him out the game for that. I'm taking that. I like it. It was a situation, Joe, before you go on, Joe, was it a situation, the guy, because you see this a lot, Joe. When somebody comes to the screen, you push the guy out of the way. Was it a situation like that? Because I didn't get an opportunity to see it. It was similar, but it was like he was standing right in, like the Eastern kid was standing right in front of him as he was going toward the pick. And he just had, he did his hands like this and just pushed him back like two, three feet. To the point, if that was probably one of y'all, y'all would have been fighting. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Yeah. Like it was, it was, it was, I'm like, come on, dog. What is the ref looking at? You got three refs out there, bro. Nobody calls that. Come on. That's how fights start out. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you not going to say anything? Okay, don't worry. Don't worry. I'll take care of it myself. Right. Because, look, you push the wrong person like that, his get back may not be right away, but he might catch you slipping under that goal and hit you in the back of the head, one of them elbow, one of them chicken wings, and make your vision go blurry. Now you want to kick us all out of the game. So you got to get a handle on that early, bro. I just felt the referees done a horrible job in reffing the game tonight, especially for the Wizards, man. I thought dudes should have got – I think Easton did get kicked out, but he should have – like, he shouldn't have took all that. Right. Yeah, but KD, this past three games tonight, KD was 30 points, seven rebounds, eight of 15. Last game, previous game, 32 points, eight assists, five rebounds. And then that game that he had, we had that 40-piece, 40 points, eight rebounds on 14 to 28 shooting. KD is, I mean, KD looks to me he might be better after the Achilles than when he was before the Achilles. He hadn't missed a beat. Oh, you see that little thin frame he got. He ain't carrying a lot of weight on that frame. He ain't got no weight on it. He ain't carrying a lot of weight on that frame, which I think it helps him. And, you know, he's a mobile guy. But, man, he's been so efficient helping these young guys. He don't come out and take a whole lot of shots. Uncle Ocho, he kind of, to some degree, he let these guys just play. He get his points when he need to. But for the most part, Ocho, man, he let these young cats rock out. The funny thing about it too, Uncle Joe, is he can do that. He can assert himself when he feel like it because he's so efficient wherever he's shooting from. It's so goddamn difficult to defend him. I mean, from the three mid-range, when he can, when he can put the ball on the floor, he can dribble by people as well. But hell, he ain't got to do that because he's so efficient from everywhere else on the goddamn court. Yeah. When he go up to shoot, bro, you just have to hope he missed, bro. That's it. You're not contending. Unless you win, that's about it. That's it. When you look at KD and you look at, this is why it's so easy for him to fit in any system because he doesn't have to have the ball. He's not a ball-dominant player. Absolutely. So on 15 shots, he can give you 30 points. There's not a whole lot of guys. The efficiency in which he plays with, there's not a whole lot of guys that's ever played in the history of the game. Now, bigs are a different story because they play mainly around the rim. So you look at Elijah Wan and Robinson and Shaq and guys like that, they're going to shoot in the 50s and 60%. But Kevin Durant is a mid-range specialist. He can shoot to three. So for him to be consistently in the 50 percentile, that just yet lets you know just how great he is at his craft yeah and they're not a whole lot of guys so that's why it was such an easy transition a seamless transition when he went to golden state because everything they do is predicated on ball movement absolutely but now we got a guy if we really need a shot we can double the kd down on the block and you can hit that turnaround and you ain't nothing you can do about it like joe said boy lord please let the joker miss this job because I ain't going to be able to do nothing with it. Right. That's all you got, Joe. That's all you can do. That's all you can do. And with the attention that he draws, he draws so much attention that he's going to find these other guys. They're going to make shots. Confidence goes through the roof. Now they're a tough team to beat. Singoon, he plays the point center, Ocho. Like you say, Ocho, Durant don't need the ball that much. He can go sit in the corner, and he know his man ain't helping that out. I mean, y'all go ahead and play four on four because I know my man ain't going to lead me. You know what I mean? So y'all go ahead and have your fun. And when it's time to step up and play big, I mean, he was 11 and 11 from the line tonight. So he was aggressive. He was aggressive, man. And these other dudes just plug and play, bro. I like the Thompson kid. He defends, plays both ends of the court. When it comes to the playoffs, I ain't going to lie to you. I'm a little skeptical because of the youth that they have at the guard spot. I bet they got the depth. Yeah, and those guys are so young being in that environment and that atmosphere. Not to say they can't get it done, but to have experience at that point guard position, man, that goes a long way in the postseason. And you're telling me, help off anybody but KD. Right. The help can come from anywhere else other than his guy. Absolutely. And he's a guy that he can hurt you on the outside. So your guy is going to have to come from – his guy is going to have to come from distance anyway. Yeah. It ain't like he's riding around there because, you know, sometimes you're the guy sneaking in there. Like Mike, like Mike did. Mike backtracked on Carvalone because he was trying to post up Dennis Rodman. He followed Hornacek through, and then guess what? He peeled back around. Well, KD already done way out the outside. Now, if you come way from that where KD is and get a steal, congratulations. But I tell you what, they must run and see you coming to swing that ball, and you left KD open for a wide open shot. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He ain't missing. He ain't missing. But, you know, he looks, okay, Ocho, even though he's a hell of a scorer, one of the greatest scorers of all time, when he first catches the ball, he's looking to pass first before he goes into his bag, whatever it is he has to do, whether he has to go one-on-one, ice or whatever. But for the most part, he's looking for these guys, man. He's looking for the double to come so he can make these guys around him better. And I enjoy watching him play. Because he knows a lot of times, Joe, the double's coming. and it's coming for him. So he says, you know what? Let me swing this ball because this shot right here, yeah, I could take it and go over too, but you know what? If I swing it, I might get a better chance to get a better shot. This is a good shot right here because there ain't really no bad shot for him. When you're seven foot tall and you got a damn near eight and a half foot wingspan and you shooting the ball 10, 11 feet up in the damn air, it ain't no bad shot. So he's like, you know what? I'm going to swing this ball because this is a good shot. This is an okay shot. But you know what? I can get a good shot. But you know what? This is an even better shot. As a matter of fact, let's swing it one more time, and I will get a great shot. Absolutely. And so that's what he's constantly looking for. Kevin Durant plays – I mean, Kevin Durant can play another five years. Oh, easy. Easy. Another five easy. Easy, fellas. Easy. Long as he stays healthy. I mean, the only reason – I'm not going to say the only reason he can play five years because he's not ball dominant. He can play off the ball so well. Yeah. Yeah, he really, I mean, outside, he's had some calf injuries, but outside that Achilles, KD really hadn't had a whole lot of injuries. And so that was a blessing in disguise. So he missed an entire season. And then guess what? He had that injury situation. I think they had to shut him down when he was in Phoenix. But, yeah, he can play another five years. Yeah, I think he can. And I think he's determined, fellas. He's determined to help get this Rockets team to the finals. because, you know, he can say what he want about the Warriors situation. Everybody talk about, oh, well, if you had to go to the Warriors to get a ring, he wants to win a ring without, you know, being in that Warriors uniform. Coming to Houston, I'm sure he wants to catapult that team to a championship. So he's going to do whatever he can, man. He's a gym rat. He's always in the gym, loves playing the game of basketball, and it shows when he's out there on the court. That one ring that he gets outside of Golden State would be worth more than both of those that he got in Golden State. Oh, man, especially if they get one in Houston some way, somehow. Like, that'll be huge, bro. That'll be huge. Because people look at the ring that LeBron got in Cleveland, more valuable than two that he got in Miami. Absolutely. They look at the rings that Kobe got by himself, more than the three that he got with Shaq. Yeah. So when you leave and you're not with that dominant player, they go, oh, you got that because of Steph. Steph was an MVP. Steph was an unanimous MVP. But y'all making sense like, boy, did y'all see what KD did? KD averaged 35. Yeah, he wasn't coattelling now. He wasn't coattelling. He was MVP. Like, if they didn't have him, hell, they wouldn't even have lost. Better loss. Yeah. Better loss. Because LeBron averaged 34, 12, and 10. They had nobody to offset that because they couldn't get those. Because think about it. So now you got KD and LeBron. And that's what you hope when you go. You got somebody, okay, this is a push. This is a wash. Yeah. Stealth and Kyrie, that's a wash. Now we're about to play with your third and fourth best players. Right. Which is Klay Thompson, J.R., or Kevin Love. Yeah. Now we got Iggy, we got Sean Livingston. That is our fourth and fifth best player. So we're going to get away from the two-on-two. Yeah. Because that's going to be a wash. But from three down, where are you? That's how you do it. Because your best player, you hope, okay, my best players are going to watch. If we play Jokic, whoever plays Jokic, your best player and him, they need to watch. Now, especially points. Now, you're probably not going to be able to match his points, his assist and rebounds because he handles the ball so much. Yeah. And he's going to get you double-digit rebounds. Yeah. But I got to neutralize that point production, Joe. I can't let him score 35 and then I get 15-20. Well, you're talking about Jokic? Yeah. Yes. Yeah, the thing is with Jokic though, Unc, you want to play him straight up because you don't want him to get them other guys involved, but playing him straight up, hell, he'll give you 45. Ask the Clippers about playing him straight up. He dropped 56. He dropped 56 on them playing him straight up with Zubats. Yeah, so it's like pick your poison, man. What you want? I can give you this triple-double. I can give you this 50-piece with no biscuits. You hear me? Hey, Unc, and Joe, depending on who you're playing, right if you can't wash if you can't match the point total with yokage then you just got to worry about everybody else if he do get your 50 you got to hold the other other foe accountable not to get damn near anything they're gonna score of course you you only hope to stop people but you can only contain them but you can't let them get that much that's all you got to do i mean it sound easy well you hope you're now if your two guys don't wash now i'm hoping murray you see the night now i don't know let's see what end up happening but murray had like 43 yokage had a quiet night 43 yeah so as a matter of fact Murray got 45 13-19 8-13 from the 3 you see Jokic Jokic only took 11 shots he got 20 points on 12 rebounds 5 assists so now what does that tell you now okay my next big gun has to go off and Jamal Murray goes off yesterday he was 9-22 from the floor that really hurt him because now all of a sudden he's inefficient. Jokic did what Jokic was supposed to do. Jokic gave you 35-13-9. Now I need, I really, really need Murray to do his thing. Yeah, those two in the postseason will be tough to deal with. Obviously, they need Gordon to come back. You hope in the postseason Tim Hardaway can explode and obviously win you a game or two in the postseason. But you're going to have to have these other guys step up, Arke Ocho, in order for Denver to – When Watson gets back, Joe. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was playing his ass off, Joe, before he got hurt. Yeah. He was playing his ass off before he got hurt. What did he hurt? I think he hurt his – what did he hurt? Was it a hamstring or a knee? That's the only thing. That's the thing about it. See, you know, right now we're getting down to neck cutting time, I'm arguing Ocho because, you know, everybody trying to jock the position for the postseason. And the guys that are banged up, nicked up, hurt, man, coming back, revving that thing up, playing at this high pace, you know, that's tough, man. That's tough to sustain, you know, if you got some knickknacks or you really hurt, you know what I mean? Like, so that's why I wonder how much can Gordon contribute in the postseason because we seen him last year. If he would have been there with them the whole duration last year, maybe they would have beat the Thunder. OKC in Game 7, yeah. Yeah, then maybe they would have beat OKC. But, I mean, he's been out for a significant time this season. So, you know, we'll just have to see at this point. Joe, what's wrong with AG, huh? Hamstring. Hamstring. He's had problems with hamstring. You know, them things linger, boy. That ain't nothing to play with, boy. You try to throw that thing in high gear you want to, it grabs. Once it grabs, it's a wrap. That's one of the worst feelings. Once you come back from injury, especially anything soft tissue, and you try to exert that energy or you try to explode real quick and you feel that little pinch. Yeah. You can't do what you're accustomed to doing? Yeah. Watson half-string, Joe. He's ramping up. They say the next seven to ten days he should be back. Set half-string for both he and Gordon. it's going to be tough for them, bro. This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. 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