Warriors defeat LeBron, Lakers & Giannis suffers injury in win vs Celtics | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

wow you are back in a big way back baby

oh my goodness live from New York it's

the show that's still recovering from

eating several cookies yesterday brw how

are you feeling I I did have a Sugar

Rush After the Show I had a headache for

a good hour or two after the show it's

first things first today return to the

court is TBD your reaction well well

first of all I think an apology is in

order not for me well this is not I know

it's not about you but it's just fake

cuz you said you March 4th when Giannis

went down in

warm-ups you said he was writhing in

pain and that it was something to be

concerned about and Nick mocked you no

you Nick destroyed I just said it's not

writhing I said it's wincing and you

then conceded that you used the wrong

it's wincing but this is the same Cal

non- contct injury and unfortunately I I

take no pleasure out of this it's like a

character in a movie who can see the

future like I don't want to look I don't

want to be right about this yeah but

this is terrifying it's going to be at

least 14 days out and even then he's got

to be minutes restriction I think you've

got to be P the playoffs start yeah cuz

D Damien Lillard had the same injury

last year now there's degrees obviously

but he missed he was out for seven games

about two weeks and Luka if you remember

had this injury in game

82 two years ago and just and missed the

first three playoff games so he had

injur Jun right the jayen the year they

made the Conference Finals and so now

Durant had this same injury was out much

longer and then when he came back

towards Achilles so that's yeah his

obviously was probably a different right

but that's my point is I don't know we

know what grade so I think anywhere from

and I'll let you finish but I think

anywhere from him being out the next 10

days and him being out the next three

plus weeks is on is on the board and I

don't think there's any way to know it

right now well the playoffs start April

20th and 21st yep so that's two weeks

away not three weeks away yeah just this

is obviously a problem and unfortun look

I hate to say this but doc has kind of

been looking for an excuse he has a real

one now unfortun oh my goodness I can't

believe that unfortunately he like now

and who else has a real a real parachute

shoot also oh just tell you I don't even

need olive branch your star player goes

down you're a pi free agent that happens

but go ahead

but at hopefully this is not the case I

mean thankfully it's not an Achilles

tear but is the best case scenario or I

should say the more realistic scenario

that is similar to last year's playoffs

when he had to miss two games in the

first round against Miami right and they

they went one in one of those games but

they obviously lost the series four to

one and he didn't look like himself came

back so so even if he's able to play in

the first round if he's not himself they

could be in trouble and look if they get

Philly at especially now they're the

underdog if they get Miami they might be

the underdog just because no well with

Giannis kind of we don't know what he's

going to look like well if if they they

C wouldn't be a Vegas Underdog

unless

Yannis and if Giannis were ruled out for

the series they might be the Vegas if

he's if he's out for the series they're

going down but if he misses even a

couple of games Miami has a great chance

and then look and you talked about this

Indiana and I get it that the regular

season doesn't always you know happen in

the postseason but Indiana's beaten him

four out of five games this season and

that's when Milwaukee was playing better

basketball so it's unfortun it but all

right let me let me paint one optimistic

picture in regards to Giannis not in

regards to how the Bucks play anything

like that I watched this

player I'm

certain blow every ligament in his knee

and play the next game I watched it

happen and I know that sounds ridiculous

I'm telling you guys when I saw that

happen I'm like oh no Giannis is out a

year and he was slightly hampered game

one of the finals and then the next five

games averaged 37 a night and was the

most dominant player on both ends so

there is a level of where and I I

understand that LeBron LeBron never

really dealt with calf issues uh but we

saw LeBron in his prime it's like oh

he's out a month with an ankle sprain

and not miss a playoff game and so I say

that to say this level of freak athlete

which I actually don't consider consider

Kevin Durant in that regard because

Durant's body is not the way giannis's

is and it's not the where you know the I

don't look at it the same way I I'm not

going to say it's off the table that he

recovers from this differently than Luca

donic who's not the same athlete then

Damen Lillard that all of it so that is

the hopefully you're right right and I'm

not predicting it I'm just saying it's

all the there is a full menu of options

here that's the optimistic side the

pessimistic side is this is last stroke

in a season from Hell correct I was

about to say that where you where you

you fire your coach who you won a

championships quits right no but no I'm

saying you fire hter you fire bud before

the year even gets going Terry stots who

was kind of the experienced voice that

you were going to have along with a

rookie head coach he doesn't make it to

game one because of a conflict with

Adrien Griffin you then give Adrien

Griffin the David blat treatment which

is don't care that you're in line to

coach the All-Star game we don't think

you're the right coach you bring in Doc

your disaster since then the weird stuff

you've talked about dating back to the

Pacers game ball and all of it Dame's

sadness and now right before the playoff

start you the dreaded non- contct ah

what just happen happened and so I can I

add one other thing before we move on

and this is just the way my brain works

where I always like I play a lot of what

if games with sports but this is why you

missed

opportunities you don't always realize

in the moment how significant they are

but the 2022 postseason when the Bucks

are the defending champs and the Bucks

are up 3-2 on Boston and the Bucks we

now know on the western side of that

bracket the warriors were going to get

through and I to this day I do not I

will go to my grave believing the

Warriors would not have been able to

deal with Giannis in that series ever

and Jason Tatum has the game of his life

in game six and Grant Williams and

Company hit a million threes in game

seven and the title defense is over and

it's like oh man well you know what it's

hard to win back to back then the next

year Giannis Herz is back and you're out

in round one then the next year all this

weird stuff happens and you make a trade

you fire your coach and it's like wait

what could have been giannis's run is

I'm not saying see I don't view it as a

missed opportunity I blew it as they

weren't good enough I mean Boston beat

them like it wasn't oh the Bucks g you

know they didn't play well they gave it

up to the Boston beat him and we've seen

this Milwaukee team struggle in the

postseason and lose series to Miami that

you figured and they would Miami next

round right and so I just I I hear you

no I agree with you but in this one I'm

not saying they got thought they would

have been maybe I'm not saying they got

unlucky you're right Boston was better

Boston was down 3-2 their best player

had the game of his life up to that

point that's what sports is about but in

the moment if we have said hey Milwaukee

is not even going to be back in round

two for another 3 years we just said

You' just said impossible but now it

feels very possible pending his injury

steps next thing you know he's playing

at Madison Square Garden well who knows

meanwhile in La the Warriors or the bay

shot the lights out and rolled an ad Le

Lakers Squad LeBron had 33 three but it

wasn't enough traffic jam in the par in

the playin Phoenix Sacramento LA and

Golden State all within two games of

each other and I tried to figure out the

tiebreakers and I read an article and I

was going to explain it here and my

brain short circuited uh Nick perhaps

you can do a better job how devastating

was this for the Lakers it's the biggest

game of the

year and now they had they won last

night they would essentially control

their own destiny to the 78 line because

of the loss last night they now have to

hope against hope they don't end up the

10 seat you know what I mean cuz they

don't don't even control their own

destiny as far as not being the 10 right

uh and here's the thing this loss though

the the ramifications were going to be

super significant but it should be

theoretically easy to understand well

Anthony Davis wasn't there and the

Warriors had literally the best shooting

night in the history of the NBA yeah the

no team has ever shot 40 or more threes

at a better percentage it's never

happened Draymond Stephen Clay all hit 5

threes in a game that hasn't happened

since the 73- win season you should be

able to chalk it up to that but the

reason I can't and the reason I was

angry tweeting which I promised America

I was going to try to do less of the

reason is because despite all of it the

Lakers had a chance in this game and

then Darvin ham rolled out for the first

time brw I knew you hold on this is

going to make me mad well well hold on

wait I here's the thing on this let me

show you the lineup and then let me ask

you whose fault it is because let me

show you the lineup that he rolled out

there these five guys who had played

going into the end of the third quarter

last night let me check watch zero

minutes together and you know why

because that's an absurd it's it's it's

it's DLo a worst version of DLo and den

witty a worst version of den den witty

and Gabe Vincent and then torian Prince

and Jackson Hayes that that lineup and

they let go with the rope and the game's

over the game was over in three minutes

and I know you think I'm too hard on

Darin ham but here's my question to you

brew ad's been excellent and healthy

LeBron's been excellent and healthy you

like the roster I don't but you do okay

so why aren't they better other than the

coach playing as well as his numbers

suggest he doesn't impact the game he

was great last night yeah he couldn't

impact the game we saw it against Denver

great couldn't impact the game M so you

do so you agree with wilds then that no

I'm not saying he's the problem I mean

wild says he's the problem I'm I'm just

saying the numbers are giving you the

impression cuz if you got a guy put up

the the numbers say he's as good as ever

no I know he's not that nobody's saying

that but do you think and he doesn't

dominate games anymore not not regularly

I get that which is why they're not a

champion Contender but that's not the

problem here my question is this the

Lakers have is Anthony I'm just saying

with LeBron and you know how much I love

LeBron but I'm tired of every time his

team doesn't win a championship or get

close it's somebody else's fault but

hold on a second it's always the coach's

fault or the teammates fault it's not

but right so I he's not to blame but I'm

just saying they're not as good as as

people think hold on but wait but so

this is wa this is the the the

discrepancy here I agree with you that

LeBron is not able to carry a team

obviously to Championship contention by

himself nobody he ain't even being asked

to do it by himself he's got Anthony

Davis okay so but here's my question

if we will just go as conservative as

possible Anthony Davis is one of the 15

best players in the league and LeBron's

one of the 20 best players in the league

okay be as conservative as possible

meaning cons very conservative right so

why e so if I just say LeBron's the 18th

best player in the league I think he's

probably closer to eth call him 18th why

is the team not better if you have it's

on the players man I'm I mean again and

I'm not trying to defend Darin ham I'm

just saying if it's not inam it's Luke

Walton it's Frank vogle who has a

championship by the way play the game

all right just go out there and I mean

we can look at any coach Steve Kerr was

it his fault was he all of a sudden a

bad coach when the warriors were

struggling some people were throwing out

Steve CT like oh he ain't doing a good

job no it's I'm just saying no but Steve

CT is a resume of a good job what I

guess here's my thing what evidence do

we have dervingham well last year they

got to the Western Conference Finals

above and nobody expected him to you

thought how about that so you think so

I'm not saying he was working magic but

I think he did a fine job okay so I so

if the the the the issue I have is if we

all think Anthony Davis is playing great

which I think he's playing great playing

excellent and it's a after playing 98 of

100 games it's B it's unfortunate he

gets elow in the face and misses the

game LeBron is I I had Josh the same

thing you did Wilds cuz I I'm on to all

your Wilds dirty tricks Wilds tried the

other day to have I we had Josh do the

same exp uh research but for different

ends which was is there any number we

can point to that says actually LeBron's

hurting the Lakers and the answer the

answer is no nobody is somebody saying

he's hurting the Lakers are you saying

he's hurting the Lakers I'm not saying

he's hurting the Lakers but trying to

find the culprit on why this team which

is excellent and has two Allstars into

two top 20 guys

conservatively top 13 guys guys you know

optimistically is sitting at the 10 and

fighting for their lives right here's

what I'll say LeBron is skilled enough

especially with adding a three-point

shot and smart enough in an NBA where

it's darn near impossible to really

defend with the floor so spread he knows

how to get his numbers he's smart enough

to do that but he's not impacting the

game even close to the way he used to

because part in part because he used to

be a terrific Defender and now he

doesn't do much at all on that end of

the floor occasionally here or there but

that's that's a I'm saying that it looks

like LeBron like I saying he's not as

playing as well as his numbers suggest

that two 25 Point scores and one of them

is a great defender you think they'd be

better no so I agree with you that if

you can't just pull up LeBron's stats

this year and compare him to LeBron

stats in 2012 and be like look same guy

I to even though he's a better

three-point shooter now than I totally

agree with that but that but the drop

shouldn't in th those years of LeBron

the team's the one or the two we're now

talking about them being the but they

also were in the weaker Eastern sure but

the number of wins it's a massive drop

Anthony Davis has been excellent Y and

there and I know you think that I'm

being too hard on Darin ham I know this

that everyone was shocked that torian

Prince and not ruy was in the starting

line of start the year I know that the

people who cover the team the the

whether the local media the local

bloggers were beside themselves about it

there was even an article written about

how Darin took from his time in

Milwaukee like the blueprint and looks

at Toran as his Chris Middleton and this

team started tan Prince for 49 games

with 24 and 25 they then finally went to

the lineup that took them to the Western

Conference finals and they're 21- 10

since then I know that last night you

have a lineup in the biggest game of the

year in the second half in a seven-point

game

why would you ever say hey a lineup that

literally has never played together

let's try it out now that's coaching

that's fair that's coaching and so but

it's still a seven-point game and Golden

State still shot the lights out right

but they had already done so we can't

say they would have won that game had he

not put that line no what I what I am

saying is is that you had got despite

Draymond had hit five threes in the

first half that you had gotten through

the real mck mck's the wrong word the

assault you weathered the storm and you

were there in the biggest moment of the

season and it is just to me objectively

true that in that moment is not the time

do you agree with this not the time to

try a lineup that's never I agree with

that my my point is just that every time

they lose it's the coach's fault but

when they're rolling you've been

spouting about how they've been one of

the best teams in the league for the

last three months all right well was dar

terrible then well no I think overall

for this season I think Darin ham has

caused more harm than good I think the

obsession with Toran prince who I like

as a person but at this point is one of

the by any advanced metric one of the

most minutes had dropped took 50 games

it took it took most people five like

what torian prin like in 2018 it wasn't

a great idea and so I it's just

frustrating just frustrating it's a

devastating move on to the Warriors I

knew it they're going to draw you back

in

a little I knew it like there's Denver

and we've said it then there's a group

after that right% right they're in that

group I'm putting them in that group

Minnesota the Lakers are still in that

group they're in that group because and

this is I didn't get to say this when we

talking about the Lakers this is one

reason why it's so devastating if they

play The Warriors in the n910 it's going

to be in Golden State most likely right

and in a one and done I'm not saying the

Lakers wouldn't beat him in a series but

in a one and done and if they get hot

like that again so there's that um but I

think they're now in that group right

below Denver where they got a shot I'm

going to raise their ceiling assuming a

healthy Denver from the second round to

the Conference Finals not saying I'm

picking them for that but I'm raising

their I think their ceiling now is

Denver in the Conference Finals and

here's the thing Nick since January 28th

I I mentioned it yesterday but here's

the graphic they have the fourth best

record the league not just the west 25

and 11 that's a good 2 and 1 half month

stretch that is a 57 win Pace right so

over 82 games so they are playing and

the great thing is and you brought it up

that Steph is not like he's been

carrying him he's averaging like 23

points over the last and not shooting

well over the last month and a half I

love what the other guy Kay is starting

to find he's found himself he's kind of

back I want to say back to the old clay

but he's playing well and role the young

role players are playing well and Trace

Jackson Davis has given them a little

size you guys know that I I've always

wanted him to get bigger but they are

the second believe it or not the second

best rebounding team in the league

that's hard and the third best offensive

rebounding so when you shoot it the as

well as they do you're going to get

extra possessions they're dangerous I'm

not they're not certainly not picking

them to win the west but they're

dangerous I know I'm not allowed to

blame darham or Rob pinka for anything

because Rob pinka won a championship a

few years ago but that Trace Jackson

Davis pick that would have been one of

those nice things you know a guy the

Lakers could use in the rotation but of

course I think their guys in the g-

league from the draft picked out Spencer

the who is terrible well sper dwit he is

you

keep I mean that's the thing Angel Russ

is not terrible Aus re not terrible

Jackson haes is terrible R not terrible

Austin Reeves ruy Hur and who's the F

DLo have all played really well and I

like that fiveman unit you're at this

that side of the table's love for league

minimum Jackson Hayes who his team gave

up what he is he's an athletic bouncy

guy

off Warriors that's fine I didn't say

anything about Jackson AES I said

something about the guy that Lakers

drafted at 17 when they could have this

guy who's been in the G League all year

that's what I said then he brought up

Spencer DWI you watch with the Nets a

few years ago and when he a moment he's

not as good as he thinks he is the

Warriors all right you agree with me

right on the absolutely not you guys

can't quit this Warriors narcotic the

fact of the matter is this you know what

they proved last night the nights they

look like the 2016 Warriors they look

awesome cuz that team was awesome yeah

and they had the best shooting night not

as a team in league history but Steph

Claymont and D Claymont Steph clay and

Draymond all hitting five threes has not

happened in a game since 2016 the this

war the so before this game my ceiling

for the Warriors was bounced in round

one after this game I'm going to check

yeah bounced in round no I'm not going

to I wild what do they call me Mr

consist am I going to would it make

sense to drastically change my opinion

on a team based on one game one game you

didn't know that graphic I didn't know

you showed me yesterday yeah but

yesterday you were

be I know the graphic I go Ahad 2 and

half months thanks for watching

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