3-8-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Subscribe to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. It's good to be back. I tell young broadcasters, I tell young people in this business all the time, sports will never go away. They don't stop.

They literally never stop, except for during pandemics, which will likely never happen again. So, take a break. The sports will still be back, will still be there for you when you're back, and what you get is a chance to, if you do it right, unplug, recharge, and then your passion and your energy returns.

Maybe it's just because I'm old. I need the time away for my passion and my energy to be recharged, and in my case, supercharged. So, I had a wonderful time in Texas visiting mom. It was, as always, a vacation that comes with stories. Don't you worry about me. I'm fine.

So, I will, of course, share the stories, but we've got work to do, and what a night to come back. I know for many of you, it is the hump show, meaning the middle show of the work week. For me, it's dive in, no chance to dip your toe in the water, wait until your foot gets adjusted to the cold, then go up to your knees, then go in the water up to your waist. No, it's not that kind of a show. Instead, it's a show where you just got to plunge in. It may be, hmm, let's use Cape Cod as the metaphor. It may be North Shore of Cape Cod cold, but we just got to plunge right in. And yes, it was spring in Texas, but not spring when I got off the plane in New York. There was a blast of cold that brought me right back to reality, and actually it's in the teens right now at home because of the wind chill. So I'm grateful to be back.

It was nice to have a little spring respite, but you know me, I am a lover of the cold, so I'm good. If you would like to see a couple of pictures, I've got more to share. There are a few up already on Twitter, ALawRadio. Pictures being one of the funny stories that I have to tell you.

So yes, check out a couple of pictures, including one of me and mom, our springtime lunch in Texas. That's on Twitter, ALawRadio. And I've already promised you Facebookers that I will have some pictures up before the show is done. Producer Jay and I finally are working together again.

And actually, when I was here last week, producer Jay was a little off his game. Are you better now? Are you okay?

Don't even try to deny it. We both know coming back from vacation was a bumpy landing for you. Are you alright now? We're back. We're back. Back in control. We are back, as in both of us, we're good to go?

We are right here. Because I'm not worried about me. I'm a little more concerned about you.

It's fair. Did you blow up my show while I was gone? I don't think so. I think it went pretty smooth. You think so? Alright, you managed to stay awake?

Yes. You managed not to get anyone fired? So far. So far.

Alright, it's going well. I don't know if they tell us. True. They don't make a practice of that around here.

You have to find out on our press release. So anyway, the show appears to be intact. The show unit is back together again. Jay brought candy to work, so I know that he's feeling good. Because you know, he only grows through shops at the convenience store where he buys his gasoline. Not this time.

This was... Whoa! You went off the beaten path and actually went to a store? Oh, no, no.

It was a convenience store. For heaven's sakes. I had a little persuasion this time, though. Oh, okay. I did want some candy.

So yes. On this night, as I was coming back to work, I was unprepared to buy my own candy. So yes, I cajoled producer Jay into doing what's natural for him with his shopping at a convenience store and buying candy. It's not like I needed...

If I had said nothing, you still would have purchased candy. What are the chances of that? Very high.

Very high. Because he's feeling good. His team is keeping its quarterback.

So as I say, this is plunge into the cold water north shore of Cape Cod kind of a night. Because we've got so much QB news. It's coming out our ears. It's coming out our eyeballs.

It's everywhere. So we've got that to talk about. We've also got some big time NBA news and, of course, some games tonight as we march closer and closer to the end of both the regular seasons for the NBA and the NHL. And I just said to producer Jay a few minutes ago, guess what drop we get to trot out tonight? The little thunders? We do.

We have a below the belt hit, which means we get to talk about... In this case, it's the little lightning. And the little thunders? Wait, is it the little flyers?

Oh, that's actually fantastic. The little flyers or the little lightning? It's the little lightning. Anyway, for those of you who've listened to the show for a while, you know exactly what we're talking about. Hits below the belt deserve the appropriate reaction.

And as a female, I can't really give it to you. And so instead, we use drops and we use other avenues like Jay wincing behind the double-paned glass as we talk about it. So yes, we're back. Let's hope better than ever. The Lakers certainly are playing some pretty impressive basketball, even as they are missing LeBron James and don't exactly know when he will return. Also D'Angelo Russell, one of their, I would say, reacquisitions at the NBA trade deadline has been out as well. Anthony Davis gets popped in the face and is bleeding for this win.

But boy, he has had two pretty incredible performances back to back for these Lakers as they fight Scratch Claw to make the playoffs or at least the play-in tournament. That hasn't changed since I went and came back from Texas. The West is still a total mess, but it's good for us. Good chaos for us.

Even as we approach March Madness and Selection Sunday, that is coming up. All right. So once again, find me on Twitter, A Law Radio, also our show Twitter, After Hours, CBS or our Facebook page. What we're looking for is your questions for Ask Amy Anything. If you check out the posts, you'll see a common theme.

I got a text from my friend not that long ago. My sister and I, we love to read the responses to your Ask Amy posts on Facebook. OK, I'm not sure that's what we're going for is is laughter, but all right.

So we'll get to Ask Amy Anything a couple of hours from now gives you a chance to come up with creative questions. We are going to talk about these Memphis Grizzlies because they were on this night yet another fourth quarter lead away from regaining their footing. But on the road, that does not generally happen for the Grizzlies. And it played right into the hands of the Lakers who found their rhythm and played their best hoop down the stretch with three forty to go. Every possession is important.

Crowd chanting, let's go Lakers. Austin Reeves has got it. Reeves dribbles left. Reeves down the middle. Got it for Schroeder. Schroeder's 15 footer.

Good. One oh seven, one oh three. Lakers by four. Austin Reeves dribbling behind the three point line right side with five to shoot. Troy Brown for three. That's the score.

Now can they get the stop? Under 40 seconds remain. Three possession game and the Grizzlies out of time out. Schroeder drives, floats it up. No good. Davis taps at home.

One twelve, one oh three. Davis with a thirty point twenty one rebound night. Tough break. Grizzlies fought. Scratch clogged. Jones walks into a left wing three.

It's no good. Rebounded by Reeves. Lakers will dribble out the clock and that'll pretty much do it here tonight.

There's about a three second differential. Grizzlies backing away. One twelve, one oh three. Lakers. That's Eric Hasseltine on Grizzlies radio before that. John Ireland on Lakers radio.

Yes. A seventeen four fourth quarter run including eight points in a row and the Grizzlies once again fall short on the road. This has become a major problem for a team that for a while looked like they might challenge to take over that top seed in the West by catching the Denver Nuggets. But instead they've fallen back into a tie with the Sacramento the Sacramento Kings there in what is that second place spot in the West.

But they're going the wrong way. We'll get more to the Grizzlies situation coming up. You're going to hear from Taylor Jenkins. They are without Ja Morant and it's not the only problem but it is a big problem. We don't know how long Ja will be away from the team. Only that right now it is an indefinite absence for healing. That's the word that Taylor Jenkins used. By now you may have heard that police in Colorado are actually investigating Ja.

The Grizzlies were in Denver. He was at a nightclub and for some inexplicable reason decided that it was smart, admissible, wise or maybe that nobody would notice that he posted a video of himself waving a gun around on Instagram. Why? Why? Maybe alcohol has something to do with it. That part I don't know.

It just seems like it would be a no brainer. First of all the gun is an issue obviously. But to post the evidence of yourself on social media where nothing disappears, nothing ever goes away. You're a public figure. Let's say it's up for five seconds.

It's already been liked and copied and shared by thousands of people in that time. It's the Glendale Police Department. This is a small area near Denver known for its strip clubs and its shopping centers. And so the Glendale Police Department is investigating whether or not Ja broke gun laws. He doesn't play in Colorado. Did he bring the gun on the team plane? Did he purchase the gun? Borrow the gun? Was the gun someone else's at the nightclub? He was playing with it.

There's just no good that can come out of this. Colorado has its own specific gun laws to be sure, but the NBA also has rules that prohibit players from having guns while on team property or traveling on team business, which is exactly what they were doing. It's a live stream video by Ja Morant. A live stream video. It's a nightclub.

Other people around him are drinking. Don't know whether or not he was. But right now the police and the NBA have to get to the bottom of this. So the Grizzlies have not given any definitive word about his return. Coach Jenkins, Taylor Jenkins, has indicated that it's a two game absence for now. Obviously they miss him on the court.

And we'll talk about that a little bit when Eric Hasseltine joins us at the top of the hour from Los Angeles. So just finished doing the Grizzlies radio broadcast, has been with the team for a long time and is kind of seeing the arc of what's happening with this team. The Grizzlies are at least saying all the right things about supporting Ja. They love Ja. Right now it's up to Taylor Jenkins to tow that company line, that franchise line when it comes to their superstar. We're in touch with him every single day. It's staff.

It's teammates. He's still a huge part of what we do. You know, as I said the other day, we love them. We want what's best for him. We support him. So there's a level of support and then there's definitely an element of accountability that we're having discussions about.

But again, I'm not going to comment on what those bars are going to be. As you can imagine, since there's a lot of uncertainty around a police investigation but also an NBA investigation, there's really not a whole lot that the Grizzlies can say. They have to cooperate. But Ja is their guy and they need him. They need him on the court, but they need him to be mentally plugged in. They need him to be a superstar who leads not just with his stats, with his points, with his ability to elevate and explode, with his ability to attract the attention of the defense, with his ability to come up with that huge play and create a huge moment for himself and the team when they desperately need it.

All of that is so important. But he's also the face of this franchise. He's the face of the new Memphis Grizzlies. They need him to be available for all of the reasons that you need your superstar to be on the court. He sets the tone for this team emotionally. And what have we seen from Ja in a couple of recent situations? And this is not about the Colorado nightclub. How about the back and forth with Shannon Sharpe?

Who, by the way, was in LA for this game. How about some of the incidents with fans and the way that he's gotten into with opponents? So they need him to grow up. It's a process. Every human has to go through it. For him, his maturation is happening in the spotlight where there are many prying eyes and there is very little margin for error.

But he's not a child. He has to know that he is hurting himself right now. Yes, emotions get the best of humans.

They get the best of me. But to post a video of yourself with a gun not only exposes your team, it demands an investigation. There's no way that your team or the league can ignore that.

And so he put not just himself, but his team in an untenable situation where they have no choice. But to say, man, you've got to take some time. You've got to get your head right. We need you. We love you.

We want you to be here with us. But we can't ignore this. So there are other incidents where they talk, they said the right things, Ja said the right things. But in this particular case, the league and the team cannot ignore it. Just can't. So now it's up to guys like Tyus Jones, who's got some experience in the league, trying to take the lead with this team in the absence of Ja, who is their closer, so to speak. It's different, but we've got to figure it out. We can't make excuses.

That's the reality of it right now is he's not here with us. So we've got to adjust. It's just a great opportunity for us to learn and grow. A lot of guys are getting a lot of opportunities right now. I'm proud of what Tyus does when he steps into the starting lineup. Dez gets a little bit more playmaking ability, JJ as well, different guys in the second unit.

It's just an opportunity for us to keep working. So for now, Taylor Jenkins and Tyus Jones and some of the other Memphis Grizzlies, they've got to be in a position where they take the lead, whether they pass it around. We know Dylan Brooks just came back from a suspension. He's also got to be accountable.

His was about too many technical fouls. He's got to keep his emotions in check. They're without Steven Adams right now to another veteran that they're desperately missing, both emotionally as well as his physical presence in the paint. So we will talk to Eric Haseltine, top of the hour, when he joins us from Los Angeles. The Grizzlies are not traveling until tomorrow. So he is there in L.A. and has agreed to join us to talk about the Grizzlies with their three-game skid. Now, keeping in mind, he works for the team. The team is not going to say a whole lot or really anything. Eric told me when I reached out to him earlier to ask him to come on the show, that he trusts me because we're friends and I cannot put him in an awkward position.

We're going to talk about basketball and about the tone around the team. There's not a whole lot that can be said about Ja since right now the investigation, the legal portion, is ongoing. It's bad for him, but maybe this is a wake-up call. Maybe Ja now recognizes that if he makes these types of decisions and he plays fast and loose with his NBA career, he does in fact stand to lose. Not just his platform, but the one thing that is so important to him. He's worked so hard to get to this point where he has an opportunity, where he's a superstar.

He's got to understand that can all go away if he continues to make really poor decisions. Now coming up, the night belonged to Pau Gasol, also a former Grizzly, but won his two rings with the Los Angeles Lakers. An emotional night that was well attended by A-listers and celebs, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar back in the house, as was Kobe Bryant's widow, Vanessa Bryant. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. We're looking for your questions for Ask Amy Anything. Can't wait to connect with you, share some stories.

But I told you, we're diving into the freezing cold water, head first, let's go. No rest for the- I'm not weary, I can't even use that excuse. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. When he retires, he will have his number in the rafters next to mine. The reality is I don't win those championships without Pau. The City of L.A. doesn't have those two championships without Pau Gasol.

We know that, everybody knows that. And I really look forward to the day where he's there giving his speech at center court in front of all the fans who have supported him over the years. So, it's going to be an awesome night.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That is the unmistakable voice of Kobe Bryant from the Oscars in 2018. You may have heard that, you may have seen that clip over the past few hours, or even in preparation for Pau Gasol's number to be retired in Los Angeles.

On this night against his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies, but it was with the Lakers that he was able to partner with Kobe, lead the team to three consecutive NBA Finals, 2008, 2009, 2010, and ultimately win back-to-back rings, which were prominently displayed on his fingers as he saw his number hung in the rafters. Did I say rafters? In the rafters. I do that every time. It's such a good moment, too. I felt really good about setting that up for you. But there goes the perfect show. It didn't even take a half hour coming back.

You know me, some things don't change despite being away for several days. No, I'm not even going to ask producer Jay to take that out of the big podcast, because why? So, Kobe knew it was going to happen. Even though he wasn't there, his widow, Vanessa Bryant, was there. There was a video tribute to Pau, of course, and it featured special moments with his former teammate and Gasol himself getting emotional talking about what it meant to play alongside Kobe and now to see his number in the rafters alongside Kobe's.

I can't go on without talking about the person in the face that I don't see. A brother that elevated me, inspired me, challenged me to be a better player, just to be a better man overall. Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!

Kobe! I miss him. I miss him so much, like many of us do. I love him. I wish he was here with Gigi.

I really do. But I think he'll be proud, and he was looking forward to this moment. So, I love you, brother. As you can hear, the emotion in his voice. And because of his presence, there were many A-listers, many recognizable celebrities. I would say none more prominent than Kobe's widow, Vanessa, who, and I didn't realize this until I read it, was there inside the arena at Crypto.com Arena, as it's now called, for the first time since Kobe's memorial service.

And many of you should remember that emotional scene. There were many tears shed on this night, though happier tears, even as they miss Kobe, to be remembered by those who played with him, keeps that memory and keeps that spirit alive. So, Gasol talking about missing Kobe Bryant and then seeing his number next to Kobe's up top. And kind of cool, too, that his brother, Marc Gasol, was there.

So, that was neat. I mentioned Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There were others, lots of different celebrities in Lakers lore.

Man, they've had a lot of those moments this season, for sure. And for Powell, this is, it's a precursor to his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. As a kid growing up in Spain, I had a dream. I wanted to become a basketball player, play in the NBA.

I never in a million years could think that a day like this could have come. Such a huge honor being amongst those great individuals in this amazing franchise. So, this just tells you that, you know, just never set any limitations to your, what you can do, what you can achieve.

Just push, put in the work, push yourself every day. Be the best that you can be. Congratulations to Powell, and there is certainly more to come. The big man who now roams the paint for these Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis. And boy, has he stepped up in a way that is paramount for the Lakers without LeBron James. On this night, 30 points, 22 rebounds. After he got popped in the face and was bleeding, he had to have a bandage over his nose.

So, this is truly taking one for the team. And his head coach, Darvin Ham, calls him a warrior. He was awesome, man. He's – just in spite of everything we've gone through all season, he's been, like I said before, he's been a solid rock. And, you know, he proved it again tonight. He wants to be out there with his teammates.

He wants to be out there fighting. We feel like we owe the same one. You know, we let one slip away in Memphis.

Obviously, you know, John was a big part of that. But no matter who, like I said, no matter who they have on the floor, they're a threat. That's Anthony Davis on TNT following the game. So, the Lakers are surging, weirdly enough. We've got other teams, only because you wouldn't have expected it without LeBron James after they went ahead and retooled the roster.

We've got other teams that are taking steps back and are potentially leaving their six open, right? So, the Grizzlies are sliding, though they're not going to slide all the way out of the top six spots in the West, but they're now tied with Sacramento. And then you think about what the Warriors are doing. So, they had won five in a row, but they suck on the road. We're talking about the Grizzlies and how bad they are in the road and how it's unbefitting and unbecoming of a team that wants to be a two-seed or thinks it's one of the best teams in the West. So, the Grizzlies right now are 12-21 away from Memphis. The Warriors are the defending champions. We're the core of experienced guys who have been there, done that. They are now 7-25 on the road. 7-25. And on this night, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are a little more desperate maybe.

They are just outside. Actually, it's pretty crazy. They're just outside the 7-10 tournament, but they have the exact same record. 31-34 is the record for the Pelicans, the Thunder, and the Blazers. And so right now, because of tiebreakers, the Pelicans would actually be in that number 10 spot.

But again, exact same record, exact same winning percentage. They're just a tick behind the Lakers, who are in 9th. The Clippers have slipped backwards, so they are now in 8th place. They were free of that 7-10 tournament, but now they're in 8th spot. Same record as the Minnesota Timberwolves. And those two teams are nipping at the heels of the Warriors, who have Steph Curry back.

He was 10-16 from beyond the arc in this game in Oklahoma City. But ultimately, they just, it's got to be a mental block now. They don't get the all-in, everybody on board. Seems like they don't ever have all of their guys not only playing in rhythm, but operating at a high level when they're on the road. Again, I feel like it's got to be mental at this point for some of them.

They need to get one of these games. But 7-25 away from home, and they squander a 40-point performance from Steph. Always confident, that's why we show up. But they'd like to have something to show for it at some point. So we've got another opportunity on Thursday against a great team that is probably going to be a wild atmosphere, and we've got to be ready for it. But confidence never wavers.

It's just frustrating at times when you can't get it done. Again, have something that says, yeah, we know how to win on the road with this particular team. So we've got another opportunity. Funny enough, from the category of you can't make this stuff up, they're on the road in Memphis against the Grizzlies coming up on Thursday. That's the game that Steph Curry mentions. A couple of impressive performances for the Thunder.

Shea Gilges Alexander is back in the lineup. He has 33 in this one. How about this, Josh Gitti with a career-high 17 assists in a triple-double 17-17 and 11 rebounds. Guys were making shots. I mean, it's kind of that easy. I mean, I was just making the right play. And 17 assists sounds great, but you give a lot of credit to your teammates. They were in the right spot a lot of tonight. They made shots, made some tough ones as well.

So as a guard, point guard, my job is to facilitate and get other guys involved and get guys looks at the right time. And I think tonight I was just reading what the defense was giving me and guys were knocking down shots. Josh was his best form tonight. He was aggressive.

He was downhill. He was making the right basketball play. He never wavered on his aggressiveness and confidence throughout the game. And I think when he does that, he's his best version. He's his best version of himself.

That's such a Gen Z thing to say. So it sounds like something Aaron Rodgers might utter when you're a god. I missed making fun of Aaron Rodgers.

That's the one thing I missed while I was away. As a god. As a god?

I mean, seriously, isn't that something that Aaron would... He's going to use that when he announces that he is following in Brett Favre's footsteps and he has accepted this trade to the New York Jets. He's going to say, as a god, I know that I can show up in New York and completely change everything. As a god, I know that I can win another MVP at 40 years old.

As a god, I know that New York will love me. I'm not a dumb jock. So Marco Belletti, what stupid Aaron Rodgers stuff did I miss while I was gone?

Anything? No, I think you're good. I think you're all right. So you weren't with us because you had already left the office.

But on... It was Thursday morning. The last thing that I... Literally, I allowed producer Jay to play the cut about his going to the bathroom in the darkness retreat. And then I hightailed it out of here and said, I don't care what the... Go ahead chumps, you can talk about it now.

Because you know me and bathroom humor. And it wasn't even funny even. So anyway, that was the last thing I played. But producer Jay and you actually convinced me that if we were going to be on the front lines of journalism that we had to play the cut so people would know what we were talking about. So I did.

I just want you to know that. And then I left. It scarred me and I had to take three nights off. That scarred you.

Nine seconds. That scarred you. I'm a god. I also don't remember mentioning journalism when I said you should play the cut. I said you built it up to enough where the audience should hear it. You can't talk about it for 10 minutes and then say, I'm not playing it. Well, I can, but I didn't. You shouldn't. That's what I mean.

So I don't know if it was journalism. It was just, you know, kind of unfair. Well, you know, life is not fair. Well, I mean, in radio we're supposed to tease, right? But you're supposed to pay off on the tease at some point. I did. Two hours later. Well, that's what I mean.

You don't have to do it on time, but at some point you're supposed to pay off the tease. Yes. Okay. All right. Next hour story for you.

You have to be here. So before we hit your update next hour, I came home from Texas with a souvenir and also a date that normally I tell about, I tell stories about my bad dates on the radio. This one was not a bad date, but your girl, she's embarrassing.

I'm a spaz. So just wait until you hear what I did. He's probably telling his friends that it was a bad date.

All right. Well, the way you started that, I thought he was here. Like he was going to be in the other room. I came home with him. I thought he was going to be over there. No, no, no.

I didn't bring him home as a souvenir. That's what happens. Okay.

No confusion. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Fake the lob. The bounce inside.

Knocked away and stolen. Intercepted by Robinson. Stuck in front of Williams. Randall downhill in the lane. Stiff arm spin. Layup.

Got it. Randall ties the game in 1.03 with 2.08 to go. What a steal by Robinson. Rozier between the legs. To Hayward. Straight on. Tries with the left. Spins.

Though fade away in the lanes. Good. Gordon Hayward.

Some big buckets closing. Now with 23. Good shot. He's got 25 points on the night. And the Hornets have a largest lead of the game with 58 seconds left. The New York Knicks took their foot, their proverbial foot, their collective foot off the gas against the Charlotte Hornets. 37 points in the third quarter allowed to the Hornets a big night for Gordon Hayward. But yeah, they were down 16 at the half. Down nine with, I don't know, six or so minutes to go. So midway through the fourth quarter and still the Knicks end up losing and seeing their streak come to an end at nine games. So they missed out on winning 10 in a row for the first time in a decade. And this one taking place at Madison Square Garden.

You hear the calls on both the Knicks and the Hornets radio networks. We'll be right back. You see it in every night. There's big leads that dissipate very quickly. And that's why you can never let your guard down. And you certainly can never feel too good about yourself because you know there's, you know, you know what's looming around the corner. We're a believable offensive team so we're going to have to be at our best. We got to be better to take care of business. And we still got to take care of business regardless.

Initially, you know, you got to be willing to, you know, push through. And I think we try we just, we just didn't make enough plays defensively obviously down the stretch and then offensively. You know, we weren't good down the stretch as well.

That's Julius Randall and before that obviously Tom Thibodeau and they would know about big leads right because they were the ones that stunned the Celtics in double overtime. Was that Saturday? Was Saturday right double overtime. They come back from 28 points down or was it Friday?

You know I was on vacation but I was paying attention. So yeah 28 points down. They rallied to beat the Celtics so adding to the Celtics misery who I then the very next game, they end up losing an OT to the Cavaliers. So maybe just maybe there was a little bit of fatigue there from that double overtime game against the Celtics. Either way you're down for the Hornets you're down nine midway through the quarter that takes some extra effort. They had the energy.

They had the effort. The Knicks did not. But yeah good night for Gordon Hayward in case you wondered if he was still playing. Gordon Hayward with 23 points, nine rebounds, eight assists on Valley Sports. Especially on their nine game winning streak to win.

I know they were stunned. They had the big lead so it's the best feeling of basketball right there. The best feeling in basketball and I would say that it certainly applies if you are the Charlotte Hornets and you're not going to the postseason right. So these are your NBA Finals games. The Hornets are not the worst team in the league but they are certainly one of the worst teams.

They're bottom four. So the Eastern Conference has seen a change at the top. We know the Milwaukee Bucks have been on some kind of a surge and so they, even without their top two guys including Giannis, they get a victory, a handy victory over the Orlando Magic, also one of the bottom feeders in the East. So they now are up two and a half games on the Idol Celtics. But the Bucks saw this happen to them too. They saw a team rally to beat them and end their, was it 16 consecutive wins I believe? So going back over the weekend.

They know too you're susceptible if you do not keep your pedal to the metal and drive it like you stole it baby. And so the Celtics are going to get back on the court after losing three in a row. They needed a little break. This is a, it's the stretch run right? We're talking about 18, 19 games left for these teams.

In some cases not even that many. So the Bucks right now are in the driver's seat and with the Celtics backpedaling the 76ers are nipping at their heels. Maxie to Tobias, faking a three, two to shoot, back to Maxie, Maxie over Harris, three point shot, it's good, a bullseye, bang Tyrese Maxie from the left perimeter with the clock dwindling and a three point field goal makes it once again a 20 point game. Maxie now two, three, 17 points. Edwards defending Melton and now Reed against Jewell at the top. Jab step, up fake jumper, 17 footer and Bean's got it all.

He is controlling the offense for the Sixers and Bean with 38. After the first quarter, defensively, like we were really locked in. I thought the second and third quarter, our defense kind of spurred our offense. You know, we got stops, we got multiple stops and so that was, we were able to stretch the lead.

So I thought that was the difference in the game. We passed the ball to each other, like, you know, Tyrese, you know, beginning of the third, we still running an option, him going downhill and it follows through it back if he doesn't lay it in and it was effective. What a concept, passing the ball to each other.

I love how Duck Rivers breaks it down for the laymen and laywomen to understand. We passed the ball to each other. This is another one of those games that's absurd to me in the NBA these days. 147 to 143 and this is a Pacers team that is eight games below 500. 147 to 143.

Would you like me to do the math for you? That is 290 points. Although these days in the NBA All-Star festivities, you get that from one team. But still, it's hard to talk about defense or intensity or anything like that when what you're doing is just Chuck and Duck. But they do go 16 of 34 from beyond the arc in this game. No thanks to you, James Harden.

I'm teasing. I know he's coming off from a big night. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid, 38 points by the time the game was all said and done. He finishes with 42 to go along with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot and a partridge in a pear tree.

And of course, the NBA on TNT guys can't resist asking him about the other letters, PVM or PMV or fine MVP. This year, you know, I've taken a different approach. He's trying to focus on the right things. You know, win games, dominate, which I've been doing and whatever happens, happens. You know, obviously, who wouldn't love to win one?

That's the best award anyone can get. I'm just focused on making sure, you know, first of all, staying healthy, winning games and dominating. But I'm excited about the playoffs. That's where, you know, I feel like, you know, I feel good. I feel good about myself and my team.

So I just want to make sure that, you know, all of us who get there healthy and, you know, we do what we got to do. It was a fourth quarter run that helped them pull away. And even though I make fun of James Harden's basketball exploits now and then, he did have 20 assists.

So that's humongous. 20 assists for his teammate who scores 42 and the Sixers in a game that doesn't feature much D. They are able to pull within another half game of the Boston Celtics. We love you, James. What? Okay.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So that is good for the basketball realm, at least for now. But I do want to talk about the Memphis Grizzlies. This is a team that came into this season with a ton of promise. Remember going back to their series against the Warriors last year. They're not as bad as Golden State on the road, but they are sorely lacking in what has been the second half of the season when it comes to that killer instinct on the road.

And now they don't have their leader, their superstar, their emotional explosive force in Ja Morant. We don't know how long he will be out. So we will talk to Eric Hasseltine, who is the Grizzlies' longtime radio voice. He's joining us from LA since they're not traveling tonight.

That's coming up in mere moments. Also, find us on Twitter, After HoursCBS. That is our show account. Look for the bright orange box.

It says, Ask Amy anything, but all you need to know is your color. And you can send your questions there. Here, I'll retweet it. Also on our Facebook page, we've got stories of Texas souvenirs coming up next hour. So stick with us. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.