After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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That's betterhelp.com slash positive. Hey guys, this is Kenan Thompson. I have a problem with you. Yes, you. None of y'all told me that Auto Trader has millions of new and used cars that I can shop from home. I thought we were friends. I put smiles on your face. But I'm not smiling.

No one told me that with Auto Trader a dealer can deliver cars to my home or that I could shop by price on Auto Trader. No one. Consider this friendship that you just learned we had officially over. Finally, it's easy.

Auto Trader. On this edition of the show, we have surprises. Also, I don't really know where my energy is coming from. I am not kidding about this. I'm only telling you because this is it's gotten to critical levels here. I woke up this afternoon, couldn't get back to sleep and started crying my eyes out because I was so frustrated. I was so frustrated.

It keeps happening. I wake up at, I don't know, lunchtime and I cannot get back to sleep. And if I lie there for a good five, 10 minutes and can't get back to sleep, then I start to get really nervous and I get stressed and I get anxious about the fact that I can't get back to sleep.

And today it was so bad that I started crying, which actually then led to a bunch of yawning, which maybe is the reason why I finally get back to sleep, but not until I was awake for 90 minutes and stressed out. So I have no idea where the energy is coming from because it was yet another rough sleeping day. And for those of you who want to give me suggestions, I just want you to know I have all the tricks. I know the tricks.

I use essential oils. I took melatonin today. I told you I was going to take drugs. I did, in fact, take drugs.

I still woke up and could not get back to sleep. So yeah, I think it's partly my brain. There's a lot on my brain with everything that's on the table in April and I don't really mean sports.

I don't stress over sports, but I am referring to a lot of other elements that will be added into the equation. There's a trip. There's a family vacation. Well, family visit. I shouldn't say vacation. It's their long weekend, but they're coming to visit me.

And then there's my class at Syracuse. And so it just seems like there's a lot happening. I've got friends who have needed to talk and I've had a bunch of phone calls in the last couple of weeks. It's just a lot on my mind.

And so maybe that's it. But I was so I was so upset today. I actually started crying because I couldn't go back to sleep. But as one friend said to me years ago, Amy, you cry more than anyone else I know, but you also laugh more than anyone else I know.

I don't know if that was a compliment, but that was her assessment of me. And so I'll take it. I'm an emotional girl and I'm more emotional when I don't sleep well. So anyway, the streak is has not yet ended. I feel like the Golden State Warriors with their recent eleven consecutive losses on the road. That's me. Eleven consecutive days in which I've not slept a full sesh. I can't I don't have a full sleeping sesh. Do you know the last time I slept more than seven hours?

Jay, are you ready for this? I figured it out. The last time I slept more than seven hours when I was in Houston. That's going back now.

I know it's two weeks ago. And so I just I've not made good use of my sleeping on the weekends either. I didn't have any naps last weekend, which is very rare for me. I mean, I do love my naps. I'm a master napper. It's my superpower most of the time. So I'm here and I've got tons of energy and I don't know why, but that is OK. We're going to get through this. I hope you survived your hump day. And now that we are closer to the weekend.

Oh, that might be where the energy where the jolt comes from that. And we've got surprises. Two surprises for you. Well, let's call it one and a half surprises. OK, so one of the surprises is more a big reveal, but it's not actually for you.

It's for us. Jay, did you dig into the surprise yet? No, the surprise. Don't ruin it. Oh, my gosh. You're so bad at this. No clues. Do you hear me?

No clues. The surprise has not been touched. I was a little worried there. This is what happens when you when you trust producer Jay. He accidentally gets too descriptive and all of a sudden our surprises have been blurted out on the air. Well, to be perfectly honest, I think there are times when he just tries to steal my thunder. He knows that I want to turn it into a theater bit or theater of the mind.

Instead, he blurts it out so that he ruins the bit. That's it. I need the moment. You do. You need the moment. Is that what you need?

That's it. OK, well, you know what? You've got your moment because we have yet another YouTube video that we are about to release.

We haven't done it yet. But Jay loves YouTube videos. He just loves YouTube in general.

I ask him sometimes, why did you stay up so late? Then I don't even have to wait for the answer because it's always YouTube. It's a problem.

It really is. I feel like a lot of Americans suffer from YouTube addiction than a lot of things. YouTube wormholes. I don't, but I do understand why it can be that way. I listen to different speakers sometimes.

People will send me links to different speakers or podcasts on YouTube. And the number of suggestions that are listed and not just that, but if you have autoplay turned on, it just keeps going. It just keeps going.

Endless. And it's catered to you and your likes and your wants. And you don't even know you like these things, but they do.

It's wild. Ooh, that's creepy, actually. It's a little bit like stalking. They don't even know you like these things, but they're watching you, so they know.

It's even more intense than that. The other thing I do on YouTube, and this is something that my friends and I do a lot, so maybe this sounds more like you, Jay, we send music videos back and forth. And so when I get on YouTube, and a lot of it's on my phone just because I'm sending songs to friends, but a lot of it then will pop up and sometimes it lands in Spotify, which is also a little bit creepy. My phone's spying on me, spying in Spotify. You know what I'm saying?

There's crossovers. Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you this recently. There is one particular artist that I listen to on Spotify a lot.

In fact, I actually have a playlist specifically for this particular artist. Do you know, about three weeks ago, an email pops up, and I believe it was from Spotify, but this is how they're tracking me. An email pops up addressed to me from Spotify indicating that I am eligible for tickets in a presale to that artist concert that's coming to New Jersey.

No joke. It was a presale. I haven't paid anything. No fan clubs. No, I don't belong to a fan club. I didn't even know he was in the area.

How about that? But I actually did take advantage of the presale. There was a code, so you took the code out of the email. I'm pretty sure it was Ticketmaster. You went to Ticketmaster, you used the code, and it unlocks all of these incredible discounts.

I'm sure this is something that other people are dealing with right now. I think a lot of people are protesting Ticketmaster. I got seats that are just off the floor, incredible seats in Newark for this particular concert and this artist that I'm so excited to see. The tickets were actually less than the fees.

That's how great the presale was. I was able to access really good seats for cheap, but the Ticketmaster fees were more than the tickets. If you can believe that.

I can believe that. I don't know where these fees come from half the time. The service fees, the handling fees. Especially when the tickets are on your phone.

Yeah, to eat tickets. Right. There's nothing to print out.

They don't send you anything except for another email. Yeah, no, I really don't understand. When I buy tickets, even on secondary sites and stuff, you see, oh, whatever, $43, $45. That's before. Then you click on it and then final total, $216.

It's like, well, where did that come from? Right. The tickets that I bought for this concert, and this is how I operate. I always buy two tickets and I find someone to go with me after. So the tickets were not even $40, but each ticket ended up costing over $90. Yeah, that's insane. Yeah. Where did that go? To Ticketmaster. Right, but I don't know.

I just don't see how that calculates. But isn't that interesting, though, that because of the amount of time I spent listening to this one particular artist on YouTube, Spotify sent me a code for a presale. I would never have been able to get these tickets early and half the place would have been sold out and maybe I wouldn't have been able to access these particular seats. Yeah, that is- It's one way that I was actually thankful that my phone was spying on me. Right. Yeah, that is definitely, it's a little creepy, but- But hey, it worked out. They're going to send me stuff like that.

Go ahead. I was pretty excited about that. Anyway, so we've got surprises.

We've got a YouTube video that we will share with you before the end of the show. We just have to go over the final modifications. Sounds like we're updating a muscle car. We're putting on some final modifications, but it's the latest in our Stairway to Seven series. And so we're excited to share that with you. It's really piggybacking off of our question earlier in the week about the best post-seasons in sports.

So we counted up seven steps to the number one post-season in sports. Not that Jane and I agree on all of them, but we each had a chance to take a crap- a crap. Not that. No, not that crap. Nope, not that. We had a chance to take a crack at a couple steps.

I may have cracked my head open when I fell on the steps. We're not Aaron Rodgers. What? Jay! Oh my gosh, what did I tell you about poop jokes? No, you have ruined the entire show. Well, that was me, but you then piggybacked and ruined the entire show.

I could have played it, so. No, we have a pact. Do we not have a pact? As in you get to keep your job if you never play that audio again.

We have a pact. No, that was the deal. It was played that one time, and that was it.

And then I took a vacation. That doesn't mean it's not in here. I mean, I haven't. Jay, you wouldn't dare. I haven't.

The next time Jay gets really mad at me, you're going to hear Aaron Rodgers talk about poop. I just know it. That's what's going to happen. The next time we do a Hall of Flame, though, it may have to return.

To my mortification, it may have to return. I like that idea. Do you? Yes. Well then, let's get your Hall of Flame ass together, okay? We're going to get it together. I did not mean to say crap.

I meant to say crack. Either way, neither one is something we should be talking about on here. What just happened? Did I just trip and fall into a storm drain? What just happened? No, we're good. We're good. We're good.

Oh my gosh. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. Always good to hang out with you.

I appreciate your messages, and I appreciate connecting with you always. And then our Facebook page, too. I went back and answered a bunch of your Ask Amy Anything questions.

So I did my best to get to the ones that were answered in a few words that didn't have to write a novel. So please go check it out. And as I say, brand new YouTube video before the show is over. You can subscribe to our page because Jay wants to eat broccoli. And then we've also got a big reveal. A giant box that was delivered to us earlier today, I assume. Because it wouldn't even fit in my locker or my mailbox.

It was sitting next to my locker mailbox on the floor, which was kind of cool. Alright, we're going to get to what is a fairly dramatic game between the Warriors and the Mavericks. But first, Ja Morant returns from his suspension. A round of applause here as Ja Morant checking into the game.

He has the custom-made masks. That's the fracture that he suffered. Twelve is back. I believe in the game in Houston, if I'm not mistaken. Correct?

Yeah. Last time he played. Kennard picks up the loose ball. Kennard to Bain.

Right sideline. Pump fakes a three. Three on the shot clock for Morant. At the rim, he hangs, scoops, scores, and he'll get one more. Ja Morant with a highlight reel move at the rim. Gets fouled. He'll get an and one. Morant drives left baseline into the rim. Oh, he jams with two hands and gets fouled. Morant with an explosive move.

Left baseline brings the crowd to their feet as he dunks it through contact. And he is back and better than ever. It felt good, man.

Still a little bit of mixed emotions. I was excited to be back. I love these guys. I love our fans. I love the organization. They continue support throughout this process I'm going through.

They helped me a lot. I was excited to be back. Happy we were able to get a win.

Just got to continue what I've been doing and be ready to go each and every night. Phenomenal reception as he was walking to the scorers table. Really, really excited for him. Really excited for our fans to welcome him back. I thought he was great tonight. Accepting the opportunity to come off the bench knowing how well the team was playing.

This is just part of the process to get him back with the group. I thought he was great. I thought he played with a lot of great energy. Playing with pace. We talked about being that guy that can go score but also set up your teammates. Five assists.

Obviously lower mints than normal. But I thought his defensive urgency was pretty good. I know it's a bunch of audio strung together there. But the Grizzlies radio network, then Ja himself on Bally Sports Memphis. And then also Taylor Jenkins, head coach. Wanted you to hear their reaction to Ja's return. After the fans reaction to Ja's return.

So this is inside the FedEx Forum. They're hosting the Houston. Almost said Texans. The Houston Rockets and the Roars as soon as he got off the bench. Because he did come off the bench.

He did not make his return in the starting lineup. And so as he's walking up to the scorers table, the fans see it of course. They're waiting for it.

And they take the top off of the Forum. This is several minutes into the first quarter. They didn't have to wait very long. He ends up with 17 points off the bench in 24 minutes. So they do want to be careful to work him back in without any fear of an injury. They don't want him to pull something because right now the Grizzlies are playing really well. They actually win the Southwest Division again tonight. So they clinched that for the second straight season. And they're sitting in the number two spot in the West behind the Denver Nuggets who also win on this night.

It's good to see him back. I do think the structure of being around a basketball team with their daily routine. Whether it's home. Whether it's away. You've got shoot arounds. You've got practices. As they get into the playoffs which are on the horizon, it's even more structured when it comes to meals and the travel for the team.

Because they're trying to lock it down and make sure that they're as focused as possible. So as he returns after a couple weeks away, not only because he was suspended, but also because he was going through some counseling in Florida to help him deal with stress. The more the structure around him, the better. Now is that something the Grizzlies can continue throughout his tenure in Memphis?

I would say it's unrealistic. He's going to need to be able to take care of his own business. He's going to need to make smarter decisions on his own. But for now, so close to the end of the regular season and certainly on into the playoffs. I think for him to return, I'm glad this is not happening in the offseason. For him to return into a structure where he's got people around him, where he can be held accountable, that's the best thing for John Morant. And yes, the fans were happy to see him back. Alright, coming up. It was a wild finish between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks. No Kyrie Irving, but Luka Doncic was back.

And the game is under protest. We will tell you why. Find us on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Great to connect with you, even if you make fun of me for saying the wrong words. It's totally fine. I know you love me. It's After Hours.

You're just wrong. It's After Hours on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Draymond's got a chance for a three point play. Curry on the logo. Dribbling guarded by Bullock. Here comes Draymond. Shot clock at eight, game clock at fourteen. Curry gets Cleaver on a switch.

Goes right side on him. Dribbles all the way. A screen by Draymond and Curry gets a layup. Draymond with an outstanding screen.

Sealed off the defender. And it was a clear path for Curry right to the rim. And the Warriors lead 125-122. Timeout Mavs.

Eight point five to go. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. This was one heck of a game. If you watched it or listened to it, it was dynamic. It was a back and forth between the Mavericks who were hosting and had the return of Luka Doncic, though no Kyrie Irving. My goodness, can the two get on the court at the same time, please? And then the Golden State Warriors who were seeking their second consecutive road win after eleven losses in a row away from home.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The Stars coming out late as not only did Draymond Green get a power layup, I will say. And I say that because he was strong to the hoop. He took the contact and he still finished. And that's so critical when you are the aggressor, which Dray has no problem being the aggressor. When you are the aggressor, when you get that close to the rim, you've got to finish even if the contact is coming. So there was no flopping.

He went strong. He went power move up for the layup. And then he has this incredible seal of the defender behind him as he sees Curry coming down the lane on the right side.

Dray makes sure that he's big. It's almost like he's boxing out. But it's a seal when you're creating a lane or creating space for your teammate on offense. It's not called a box out when there's no rebound in the air.

But it was similar to that. He was boxing him out kind of behind him, making sure that the defense couldn't help. And so Steph ends up with a wide open path to the lane for his own layup. Draymond is so smart. Our team's defenders, they're going to try to crowd the paint and show bodies. And especially like me, Clay, JP don't want to come off our body.

So there's a lot of help. And he got to the right position. Kind of made eye contact once I kind of turned the corner because you're trying to see the floor, see what your options are. And once he's looking at me and I can see his body language, it's like, come on, I'm going to seal it. And just a smart play. And the timing was perfect. And I got to the finish. That was about eight seconds to go. The two defensive stops by the Warriors at the end of the game were just as impressive.

The first one actually was a switch. And Luka Doncic is out top. He has 30 points in this juncture in this game. And he's up top and Clay Thompson switches on him. Now Clay gives up a few inches to Luka. But Clay is one of the best defenders in the Western Conference. And even after his injuries, he's come back and it seems as though this is the splash brother that we were missing for several years. He wasn't quite the same last year when he returned.

The Warriors were very careful with him. But he's ready now to body up on anybody. And so he will take on Luka Doncic. And he does. And it makes it very difficult for Luka to forget to see over him. But to get a quality shot without fouling. So that was really impressive. With about 29, 27 seconds to go.

Something like that. Then they go into the possession where Steph has this wide open path to the lane so that he can make the layup. But they still have one more defensive stop that they need to preserve the win. The Mavs block throwing it in. Hardy's out there.

He's been hot tonight. Doncic lines up on the weak side. Guarded by Draymond. Would you dare foul on purpose Tim?

Boy it would be tough. Ball thrown into Doncic. Backs in. Pumping.

Pumping goes up. Missed the layup. Rebound tip.

Saved by Clay to Looney. Looney gets fouled with 1.7 to go. I thought Draymond was incredible down the stretch defensively. Offensively he sealed his guy on Steph's layup with 8 seconds left.

Which was a brilliant play. Steve Kerr just highlighting a couple of the ways in which Draymond was able to impact this game late. His stat line is relatively insane.

Get this. 14 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, and 3 steals. When Draymond is healthy and locked in, that is what he's good for. He may not ever be noted as the MVP of the Warriors. And that makes sense when you consider Steph and his scoring, but everything else he does too.

Draymond has all the hustle stats. And he's really the heart and soul of the Warriors. When they play like this, they are a team that looks a lot more like the champions of old.

The champions that will have a chance to defend their title coming up in a couple of weeks. They're now in 6th place in the West. Again, back to back road wins. Everybody after the game talking about how big this was for them to get another victory away from home. Meanwhile for the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic returns to 30 points and 17 assists.

All good. I think a little better than I expected. I missed a couple shots, a couple layups. Just trying to get my legs back.

For the 10 plus days that he was out to play under 40 minutes, I thought he looked good. One of the positives, we came out of this healthy. And so now we've got to go back to work tomorrow to get ready for Charlotte. I apologize, we have no idea why there's an echo on those sound bites.

We checked multiple sources, but for whatever reason it was feeding back and there was an echo. But Jason Kidd talking about Luka looking good. It's a silver lining. Now, if the Mavericks have their way, this game will not count.

It's really complicated, but I want to make sure we set it up for you. It actually looked funny. I'm not sure if you saw this. The game was airing on ESPN. At the end of the third quarter, out of a timeout, the Golden State Warriors end up with an uncontested shot. Because the Mavericks were on the other end of the court.

Feeds it to Looney. The Warriors inbounded the ball. And the Mavs. Now Michael Smith comes over. Andy Meggie handed the ball. Dallas wasn't on defense. He handed the ball to Poole, and that's a dunk.

This is crazy. Dallas was not defending the bucket. That's not the Warriors' responsibility. That's not the referee's responsibility to tell them to play defense. Looney got a wide open dunk. Never seen that. Well, they fell asleep, didn't they?

Yeah, they did. And Looney gets the easiest bucket that maybe I've ever seen. I didn't know what was going on. I'm just glad JP passed the meter, because all of us was open. I needed that to get to my double-double, so thank you, JP.

Number one, it was my best ATO of the year. It worked brilliantly. Just the way we got organized and confused them. I had to stop, and when I saw them at the other end, I had to stop and think, wait, isn't this our basket? Because I had drawn up a play for an out-of-bounds, you know, underneath, baseline out-of-bounds. And when they were down at the other end, I had to stop and think, you know, is this right? And so I don't know what happened.

You'd have to ask their side. I thought it was pretty clear that it was our ball, and that's why I was drawing up a play, you know, out-of-bounds on the baseline. But they all lined up at the other end. I guess they assumed it was their ball.

I was down there. I was on the bench, I think, and saw the ref point our direction for the ball, and then it was a point the other way towards their bench to call a timeout. Loon actually got a little confused at first because, you know, he didn't hear the whistle for the timeout. But after that, it was pretty clear it was our ball, and nobody from their side went down to get it because it was, you know, whatever it was, and probably the easiest two points Loon's ever had and the easiest assist JP's ever had.

But it was weird, but it was clear what was going on from our standpoint. All right, so you hear the Warriors' perspective. We'll hear Jason Kidd in a second, but yes, Mark Cuban intends to protest the game because he said that the officials were not clear about whose ball it was and which possession it belonged to or whose possession it was. And so the Warriors inbound on their end of the court, and here's something significant to me. They obviously knew it was their ball because otherwise Steve Kerr is not drawing up an inbounds play in the huddle. So they knew it was their ball, but the Mavericks are saying that the officials did not indicate clearly that it was the Warriors' ball. So for that reason, they were on the other end.

Now here's the part that's kind of funky. One of the officials was on the other end with them, too. So that's where Mark Cuban is making his point.

That official's name was Michael Smith. So as Jason Kidd references a mic, that's who he's talking about. It wasn't really explained.

I think there's a lot of confusion. A lot of people were out of position. So when you look at the court was split, we're on one side and the Warriors are on another, and you have a referee on the baseline. Mike was on the baseline. So I would assume Mike thought it was our ball, too. So to explain to Mike or ask Mike if there's confusion, it's easy to just come in and blow the whistle and get us restarted because there was confusion, understanding that we thought it was our ball. The referee pointed towards our bench, but that was the signal of the timeout. But there was confusion on the play before it even started with whose ball it was because he pointed, I thought, to us first, and then he changed it and then went to a timeout and pointed to us. So I asked Mike, I said, Mike, why are you down the floor if it's not our ball? And so there was quite a few people out of position on that play.

It's easy, it's correctable, but you first have to admit there was a mistake. So Jason Kidd is saying, we heard a whistle, they pointed down our end of the floor. We thought that they were saying it was our ball, but what they were saying was, hey, get your rear ends out of the timeout because this is the second whistle. And so you have one official that's down the end of the court with them, but they're on the wrong end of the court. The basketball's inbounded on the other end with the Warriors who get the easy dunk for Kavon Looney. The only thing I would say, and I don't know what the NBA will do when it reviews, although the head official did indicate that they communicated it clearly.

That's what he said, he spoke to the pool reporter and said that we communicated that it was Warriors' ball and explained that that pointing was about the whistle, it wasn't about the inbounds or the possession. When I officiated, there were times when the two teams weren't ready. Now this was more about them getting their butts back on the court after a timeout, but still, there were times when the teams weren't ready. We were always taught when I officiated, you put the ball down on the court.

If the inbounding team is not there, you put it down on the court. It's not up to you to wait for them. It's up to them to get their rear ends back out there. And so this kind of reminds me of that where, hey, if you're not ready, you're not ready.

We're not waiting for you. Though, if there was miscommunication and the wrong information was given to the Mavericks, and to Michael Smith, too, then that's a different thing. So because it ended up being a two-point game, there was a late three, actually, after it was kind of out of hand, the Mavericks hit a late three. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a two-point game. Marco, did you see the play? It was very odd.

I did. And also, if you see it from the inbound, you know, when the ball went out of bounds on the play before, the official does point both ways twice. So I get the confusion on both sides because he points one way. The Warriors kind of, I forget who it was, he was protesting the no, it should be our ball. And it almost like you could see him like, yeah, you're right. So he pointed the other way, and then he pointed again towards the Mavericks.

And I'm not sure if that was the timeout for the bench. So you went three different ways. So I can see the confusion at that point. And again, if you've got one official on one side, two officials on the other, teams are confused. I get the idea of, hey, we've got to play the game.

We're not waiting around for you. But you can see that there's clear, both teams are a little confused, or at least one team is. Let's just get it together.

You know what I mean? That's where it's kind of like, you know, look, there's a protest. Is it ever going to mean anything?

No. There's a protest all you want. And no one's ever going to replay the game. That's not going to happen. And you're not going to say, well, let's start it over at 127 even.

That's not going to happen. But I get the Mavericks annoyance of, even if that play didn't necessarily mean the game, it's just like, what are we doing? Can we just get some clarity? But watching it, though, there are Mavericks that are seeing the ball get inbounded. Like the referee's down there.

He's about to hand it to Jordan Poole, and none of them run up. I mean, it's one thing to see that you're on the wrong end. It's another to not get up there because the ball's about to be inbounded. But also the confusion of looking at it and going, wait, I thought we were taking it out over here. What are you doing over there? And why is the ball getting in? So instead of, you know, it's not running to, oh, I can't believe we're not guarding it. It's what the hell are we doing?

Like, I think that's the that's the thought process. It looks like on everybody on the floor for the Maverick side. It's just what just happened? Explain it to me and then we can move on from there. So again, if the officials didn't point both ways. And if you again didn't have one official on the wrong side of the floor when the ball was inbounded. I would understand a little bit clearer. This obviously shows me that there was some confusion on the court. A little easier to just get it together and make it right at the moment instead of playing the game up.

Well, you should be ready. Like, true. I'm just saying that the officials generally don't have to wait for guys to get out there. But absolutely not. But usually there's not a confusion of whose ball is it and where are the inbounding? That's what I mean.

Like, there are special circumstances like this is not like coming out of a timeout out of a quarter. And it's like, well, what are you doing? Get on the floor.

You know the time has come. It's, you know, you got guys, what are you doing over there? Didn't the officials think about it?

You're just meandering over there. Bit of a circus. They weren't in the timeout. They weren't in a huddle. They weren't drawing up a play where it's like, oh, I'm trying to get an extra couple seconds. They were meandering. You could tell they were just kind of like, uh-huh. Yeah.

They weren't trying to get an advantage. They were confused. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence coming up. The return of Karl-Anthony Towns. And boy, did he have a moment at the end to mark his getting back on the basketball court. Plus, what else did we have on Wednesday? CJ Stroud talking about his pro day.

Could be the overall number one draft pick. And getting set for the start of the Sweet 16, which comes up on Thursday, finally. Getting back to college basketball. On Twitter, After Hours, CBS, if you want to see that play, actually, we shared the video of it so you can understand what we're talking about. And then our Facebook page, too.

Always good to connect with you. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Music Reeves dribbling left. Throws the ball to Anthony Davis. Outside Russell for three.

Good! Huge three by Delo. Lakers by nine. Schroeder dribbles right. Schroeder now back to Reeves. Reeves into the front court. Reeves alley-oop. Vanderbilt slam dunk. And this is in the refrigerator.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. John Ireland on Lakers radio. They definitely needed this victory. The Suns just aren't the same without the Kevin Durant piece, which is kind of funny considering they only have had him for a couple of weeks. But they traded away so much to get him that now they're short if they don't have him. And I would still say they are a much better team than the Los Angeles Lakers. Especially one that does not have LeBron James who is in street clothes on the sidelines. But to see the Suns scuffle and to recognize that they thought they put together a team that was going to be a monster for the postseason.

And the disappointment of Kevin Durant not being out there and not being able to participate. And they have no idea when he might be available again. They're going to re-evaluate what is it next week or the week after. So we're getting pretty close to the postseason before they're even allowed to kind of check him out and see if he can get back to basketball.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Did get 33 points from Devin Booker. But this is a Lakers win.

27 for AD, 26 for D'Angelo Russell and 25 for Austin Reeves who's in the starting lineup. And he says it's starting to feel a little bit like the postseason. The atmosphere is great. It's been great the whole season. But especially these last couple games, you know, we need that.

We need the energy in the building to kind of push us through some times during the game that we're struggling a little bit. So shout out Laker Nation and, you know, it's a good win. It's a tough team down the hall that's only going to get tougher when they get KD back. So it was great to get a win. Huge win to get.

And, you know, definitely a big step in the right direction. So you hear Darvin Ham and, yeah, they'll take all the victories they can get because right now they are clinging to the 10 spot. Same record as the Mavericks and then one win better than the Jazz and the Pelicans. Four teams separated by a half game and they're right at the bottom of that 7-10 split, that 7-10 tournament.

So there are going to be some teams that are left out in the cold. It could be the Mavericks. It could be the Lakers. It could be the Thunder. But LA has now won back to back games. Though the Suns who have faded backwards some as well.

They've only won 5 of their last 10. They were pretty ticked off about what Monty Williams calls the disparity in the free throw shooting in this game. Forty-six free throws.

We're doing the same. We're attacking the rim. I'm getting explanations about we're taking too many jump shots, mid-range jump shots. Like we're playing a physical game. They had 27 free throws in the first half. They end up with 46. When do you see a game with 46 free throws for one team? Like that's just not right.

I don't care how you slice it. It's happening to us too much. Other teams are reaching.

Other teams are hitting. And we're not getting the same call. And I'm tired of it.

It's old. He's definitely right about a game with 46 free throws for one team. That's gross. That should not happen. I don't know when the officials reached their quota, but it should have been long before this. So they make 36 of those 46, meaning the Lakers, while the Suns end up shooting just 20 of them.

So get that. Thirty-six made free throws. They could have had 46 points on the free throw line. Thirty-six made.

Only 15 made. Double the number, of course, by the Phoenix Suns. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Maybe you heard it echoing around the league. Welcome back, Cat. Here's Towns, a three-ball straightaway. Front rim off backboard and in. And a fist pump for Karl-Anthony Towns as he heads back down the floor.

Welcome back, Cat. Towns with it. Catch a two-three again.

Bingo. Oh, he's pumped up now. Back-to-back threes for Karl-Anthony Towns in his return. Tied at 124. Towns to put the Wolves in front. His second free throw on its way is good. Timeout Atlanta. After missing 52 games, Towns comes up with a pair of clutch free throws. 125-124. That's Alan Horton on Minnesota Timberwolves Radio.

They get a victory at home against the Hawks, but fairly dramatic for Karl-Anthony Towns who steps to the free throw line with his team trailing by a point and seven seconds to go as he returns from a couple months away with a right calf injury the fans wanted to hear from him. I'm in stone. I'm in stone. Whoa, whoa, whoa. There's been long days, longer nights, but guess what?

All I could think about was coming to Target Center and making it happen. So I appreciate y'all. Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. What did it feel like for you to get back on this court with your teammates? It looked like Cat was back. What did it feel like for you, Cat?

I mean, for sure, like you said, Cat is back. Felt great. Teammates been behind me this whole time. So, you know, it's just a long process, but when you get to this point and you get to go up there, like I said, with the game on the line, felt more than well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Welcome back to Karl-Anthony Towns. I mean, his facial expressions as he's standing on court addressing the fans.

You hear it on Valley Sports North. It's amazing. He is so full of joy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my new favorite thing. I would sound like a total idiot if I was doing that, but so good. Jay, can you try that?

Can we try it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my gosh. He's a character.

He's so much fun. I really would love to see the Timberwolves make some noise because it's been such a long time for them. Here's where they stand. They are right at 500, as in 37 and 37. The West is a log jam. And honestly, with the Suns kind of fading back to the pack, you're talking about fourth place through 12th place, separated by three games.

You guys, fourth through 12, separated by three games in the standings. Oi. I mean, we need some math.

Where's my mom, a calculus teacher, to figure this out? It's After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. Money Podcast. Learn more at goalie.com today.

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