3-6-24 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

Your fever is high and the pressure to log in at work is too. But when you finally decide to take care of you, there's Instacart. Just because that one perfect coworker of yours is attending all meetings, camera on while she's sneezing, coughing and aching, doesn't mean you have to do the same. Take it from us, trying to stay on top of things will only get you further behind. Instead, get everything from tissues and teas to cough suppressants and comforting soups delivered through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes.

If anyone needs anything, they can just redirect their questions to that one perfect coworker of yours. Old Man Winter here. If I had it my way, it would stay winter all year long. Short days, windchill, black ice and a good polar vortex.

Heaven! Wait, is it getting warm in here? Your cold snap is over, Old Man Winter. Spring has arrived.

Spring. Spring is here, which means it's the perfect time to get away in the Hyundai you've always wanted. Visit the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event, where you can get great deals on all of our award-winning Hyundai models, like the tech-filled Tucson and Kona, as well as the spacious Palisade.

Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance. But hurry in, these deals won't last. Add more joy to your journey at the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Now get 0% APR or up to 1,500 bonus cash on the Hyundai Tucson. Now during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Offers end soon. Call 562-314-4603 for details. All year long. So pick up a Baja Blast wherever you are.

In stores now. It is the hump show. You know what that means.

We've got you conditioned. Middle show of the work week. You can set your clocks by it. You can do this without me, really, but I'm glad you don't.

This is what the preparation for the hump show meant to me. This is how you know it's middle of the week. This is how I know it's middle of the week.

I managed to carve out some time to do a yoga class on Tuesday evening, but it's over Zoom, thankfully. I didn't have to leave the house. I was up in the bedroom. The puppy was laying next to me.

The cat was meowing somewhere. So it was one of those all hands on deck type of yoga classes. When we got to the part where we do the extended final pose, supposed to be relaxing and quiet and lights are out and maybe there's a candle. I didn't have a candle.

No, my light was from my cell phone. Oh, dear. I could never have gotten away with that in the class itself and in her actual yoga studio, but I had text to answer and I had people to respond to. And one of those is pertinent to the show, actually.

So I'll let you in on the exciting news coming up here in a bit. But yeah, it was one of those evenings. I don't know why I didn't just log off when she went to the final pose, because the entire time I was responding to texts, writing them and responding to them. Yeah, that's not what yoga is supposed to be about.

A safe space where you can respond to text messages. But it had to be done. I'm pretty sure I sent a couple to producer Jay during that time as well. So that's the hump show. That's the middle of the work week. There's a lot going on. All right.

It's OK. I still got the stretching in and goodness, after my long training run on Monday, I definitely needed the stretching. So thankful for that. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. It is the middle show of the work week.

We call it the hump show. Got to get over this hump before we can head downhill toward the weekend. And yeah, it's hard to believe that we're heading into the second weekend in March. We are now 10 days away from Selection Sunday.

If you're a huge College Hoops fan or even if you're not, you just love March Madness. But even before then, we have the legal tampering period in the NFL. And if you were following the news on Tuesday, you know that teams are gearing up.

They're gearing up for what's to come. And there are certainly a couple teams that are trying to get deals done before their athletes hit free agency. One of those being Mike Evans agreeing to a two year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is great.

I can't imagine him playing anywhere else. Of course, we have to get used to that every year. Guys changing teams. And there are others who received the franchise tag before the deadline on Tuesday. Like Michael Pittman of the Indianapolis Colts. You'll hear from owner Jim Irsay coming up.

They do have a plan for Pittman after a career season for him. So there's two wide receivers in the news. And then in addition, you've got teams making major cuts.

The Seahawks releasing three veteran players on Tuesday. Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs from their secondary. And then their tight end, Will Disley. But they're trying to clear cap space. Final year of the contract for Jamal Adams.

Man, remember when he was the talk of the NFL and the best safety in the league, or at least in the conversation? He had one year left on his deal. They were trying to get out from underneath the contract. And so releasing him wipes out $16.5 million. Plus the money he was going to make next season. It wasn't guaranteed, but had he been on the roster, he would have made that money. In 20... No, 25 is the final year of his contract. So they're, in essence, two years left. And the money that they would have paid him, talking about $34 million.

Still looking to try to free up space, right? That's what teams do this time of the year. Even with the $30 plus million salary cap increase. Quandre Diggs saves them $11 million under the cap. Disley, $7 million.

Right there. Think about it. They go from $34 million with Adams to an extra, then $45 million with these two safeties.

$52 million in cap money. I mean, that's a lot of possibility, a lot of potential. So they're definitely... I guess you could call it rebuild mode. They're kind of starting fresh. Wouldn't even call it a rebuild because they're not rebooting what they've done under Pete Carroll. They're going a different direction. And so this is how they do it.

Try to figure it out. Remember Adams and Diggs both came in with trades, right? So that kind of represent high price defense from the previous regime. So I do think that with Seattle, whether or not it's a successful season, we always are surprised by some teams that have success, even when they weren't expected to, or the expectations were lowered. That happened with Seattle two years ago, right? When they traded away Russell Wilson and they ended up with Geno Smith, but they made the playoffs as a wild card. So now with Pete Carroll gone and they're moving in a different direction, I can kind of understand why they're cleaning house or cleaning out the cupboard, if you will.

Not everybody. We know that they went ahead and guaranteed Geno Smith's money. And right now, I think under review is what you would say. Every single position under review, that's what they've been doing since the end of the regular season.

Looking at everything through a fresh lens and a different microscope. Now it's Mike McDonald's team. How can they be relevant again in the NFC West where you've got two playoff teams from last year, including the Niners who went to another Super Bowl. That's just one example of what teams are up to right now as we head toward, it's just a couple of days away now, we head toward that legal tampering period.

Teams want to know exactly how much money they have to play with. Plus March Madness. Plus, gosh, every night it feels like some either drama or just kind of ridiculous twist or turn or the type of rally that almost makes me feel like teams at this point. And it's not true that they don't care.

So don't take that for gospel. But it feels like there are times when, because the season stretches on so long and guys are, even after the All-Star break, they're tired. They've got these kind of extensive road trips. They're willing to sacrifice a game when they're just beat up and exhausted and worn out. And you see things like the Celtics pounding the Warriors by 52 points on Sunday in a nationally televised game. The Warriors with all kinds of travel issues on a road trip that featured back to backs and an arrival in Toronto, the game before that was 730 in the morning on their actual game day. So again, willing to sacrifice a regular season game here or there to kind of live to fight the next day. But that same Celtics team that beat the Warriors by 52 just suffered a huge collapse in the fourth quarter inside the Eastern Conference.

So that's what I mean by these kind of twists and turns and these seesaw affairs, seesaw effects. Where you've got a team coming out on the wrong end of a really bad loss, only to turn around and pound their next opponent or the opposite. And the Celtics' best team in the NBA in terms of record, an 11-game win streak, surely thought they had it in the bag in Cleveland with a 22-point lead and nine minutes to play. Up 22 with nine minutes to play.

You know I wouldn't bring it up except that it didn't end the way they expected. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. It is our hump show. If you missed my conversation about the Denver Broncos and their quarterback position because they've got decisions to make, make sure you check out the podcast and my conversation with Brandon Kristol.

It's on both Twitter, ALaw Radio, and our Facebook page. And we're going to talk about it a little bit because we're getting to that point now where teams are wrapping up their research and they're scouting. And are prepared to make pitches to potential free agent QBs and other positions, of course.

But we're always so dazzled by the QBs. Since it is the hump show, you can ask Amy anything. Producer Jay and I have made plans for a video version of Ask Amy Anything coming up before Selection Sunday so next week, this time next week, we're going to have a new Ask Amy Anything for you on video. So the latest YouTube offering was from Las Vegas behind the scenes. We had a great montage of photos and reels that producer Jay put together. So that was fun. Check that out if you haven't seen our YouTube page. And make sure you subscribe to it because, oh, it makes Jay so happy.

But yeah, after hours with Amy Lawrence on Facebook and YouTube and soon we'll have a brand new video up. Back to Cleveland we go back to the shores of Lake Erie. Where once again, just to reset, the Celtics are working on win number 12 in a row, leading 93 to 71 with nine minutes to go. Garland in the right corner, right of the lane, back out front, Wade, three ball, good! Boy, Dean Wade having a huge fourth quarter. He's got 15 points in the ball game, 12 of which have come here in the final period. Inbounds to Garland in the left corner, right in front of the Celtic bench, Garland to the foul line, Garland into the paint, Garland gave it to Allen, Garland right side, Wade, three ball up, and good!

Camps lead! Dean Wade having the fourth quarter of his life, Cavs up three, 102.99 with 2.20 to go. On the Cavaliers radio network, Dean Wade to the rescue, not D Wade, Dean Wade, five three pointers in the fourth quarter alone, 20 points. And when I tell you his career high was 23 in this game, well you know, you can do the math, he had exactly three points before he went on a tear in the fourth quarter. But it wasn't just him, the Cavaliers with a 28 to 6 run and they reel the Celtics in. As you can imagine, the arena was going crazy, including Donovan Mitchell who was in street clothes on the sidelines, wasn't available to play in this one.

Had some type of plasma or platelet injection, and so he's out for I think one more game. Went down to the wire, wasn't supposed to. The Celtics were not supposed to be feeling the tension or the drama in the late stages. Tatum pushes Garland, spins to his right, falls away at the elbow, it bounces out, capped up by Porzingis in, but what did they call? Did they call a foul against the Cavs?

Nobody could hear the whistle, everything stopped on the floor, the shot was no good. Porzingis put it back up and in but they called a foul with seven tenths of a second remaining and Jason Tatum will go to the free throw line. After review, the leg kick by the right leg of Tatum was deemed to make contact with Garland where otherwise contact would not have happened.

Therefore the ruling on the floor is overturned. It's not enough for an offensive foul on Tatum as it didn't take Garland out of the play. Will resume play with a jump ball center circle painted. So, no offensive rebound from Porzingis, jump ball.

I think it's just going to make it seven tenths of a second. Porzingis and Jared Allen on the jump ball, Porzingis wins it to Derek White. The clock immediately goes to zero, but they don't start, they made a mistake.

No, they're saying the game's over. They started the clock as soon as Porzingis touched it, so Derek White didn't even get a chance to catch it. The clock is hit, triple zeros, the game is over, the win streak is over, and what a brutal way for it to end. There'll be a lot of discussion about these final possessions and how they were adjudicated, but the reality is the Cavs came from 22 down to the fourth quarter and somehow get it done. So Jason Tatum initially has a foul that he believes will send him to the free throw line, but the Cavs challenge the call and after review, the officials determined that he's the one that initiated contact, and as you hear the explanation there with Sean Grandy and Cedric Maxwell on the Celtics radio network, that wipes out the Kristaps Porzingis put back, and even though Tatum had an opportunity there, turns out that the Celtics played fast and loose with that lead and weren't going to get bailed out late in this one by a whistle.

Wowsers. Dean Wade, career high 23, including 20 in the fourth quarter. We were at a timeout early in the fourth, we were down 13 or 16, and from that timeout we came out and hit a few shots and then I felt like the whole momentum just kind of shifted to us.

From then on I really didn't look at the score until the last three minutes of the game. We were just playing basketball flowing, it felt good, and we were hitting shots so it helps. When Dean Wade is playing with that extreme confidence, he's a hell of a basketball player. He's a multifaceted guy, he's not just a spot up shooter. We know the things he can do defensively, but he has an offensive game, and tonight he got it rolling, but the belief, the confidence, but that's who Dean Wade is at his core. Dean Wade, not Dee Wade.

I bet there are a few people out there that might get that wrong or hear it and think, wait a minute, I thought he retired. You know who was courtside? The Kelseys. It was their bobblehead night in Cleveland.

So yeah, Jason and Travis Kelsey get a dual bobblehead night. They were courtside raising a ruckus because that's what they do. And Dean Wade apparently got some encouraging words from Travis Kelsey.

He said he was looking if, you know, basketball didn't work out for me and I wanted to be a backup tight end. I got good hands, so yeah, he was just, he's like, yeah, that was just awesome. Fourth quarter, you know, blowing up like that was great.

So it was pretty cool. Largest fourth quarter comeback in Cavaliers history, and Travis Kelsey is courtside. Gives some maybe career advice to Dean Wade. But this is the point about the NBA late in the season. Even a team in the Celtics that's working on 50 wins trying to get to that point. Far and away the top seed in the East. And while they haven't yet clinched it, they're pretty darn close to it. But these games and these late stretches, these final weeks of the season, they can seem like eternity. And the Celtics beat one team by 52, only to turn around and cough up a 22 point lead in the fourth quarter.

Just a couple days later. Good for the Cavaliers. Very little chance that a team is going to catch Boston in the East, but this is a huge confidence boost. You gotta fight!

Are you right to party? Alright, so we'll get more reaction from Cleveland and look at another game that went into overtime. Gosh, sometimes I think, and you hear this too, a possible playoff preview. And then you watch the game and, oh no, not that. But it really is true that you can't, if you care about an outcome, you really can't turn off a game in the NBA. Because we've seen multiple 20 plus point comebacks in the fourth quarter alone this week. And what the defending champions nearly pulled off in Phoenix, would have been right there on the, not in Phoenix, against Phoenix, would have been right there on the list. So yeah, it's just such a roller coaster right now because guys are tired, guys are injured, they're out.

Just as, it's almost like they're hanging on for dear life until they get to the playoffs. On Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page too, have you sent your questions for Ask Amy Anything? So I've got a fun show announcement that we'll get to following the update at the bottom of the hour. You're not going to want to miss this. Our guest for tomorrow night's show. And then, in addition, we have the Hug of the Week. That's all I'm going to tell you, is the Hug of the Week.

Definitely had more eyeballs on it than any other hug. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Inbounds to Garland in the left corner, right in front of the Celtic bench, Garland to the foul line, Garland into the paint, Garland gave it to Allen, Garland right side, Wade, three ball up, and good! Cavs lead! Dean Wade having the fourth quarter of his life! Cavs up three, 102-99 with 2.20 to go.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It wasn't supposed to go down to the wire, but it absolutely did. The Cleveland Cavaliers fought back from 22 points down with nine minutes to play. Not even like it was the full fourth quarter. They actually got down 22 with nine minutes to go, and then Dean Wade caught fire. Not only did he have five triples in the fourth quarter, he also had a put-back dunk with authority.

19 seconds to go. And yes, there was a foul that was overturned, or a foul call that was overturned in the final stages for the Celtics, but honestly, if you watch the replay, Jason Tatum does kick his foot out. And in doing so, he actually causes the contact with the Cavaliers. So, was it Darius Garland?

He causes the contact, and when they look at it on replay, it's clear that it's not a foul, as much as the Boston Celtics were hoping that they would get a reprieve there. On the Cavaliers radio network is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Cavaliers, not only because of a confidence boost, and I think that's really important late in the year to be able to draw on these types of wins when you look like you're completely down and out, and yet you're able to figure it out against the best team in the NBA. In this case, this was the 40th win for the Cavaliers, and yeah, it bodes well for them as they're sitting in third place right now in the East. It's just not our guys' nature to give up, and we've obviously been through situations where we've been short-handed, we've been down, and it seems like every single time it happens, somebody else finds a way to step up and help us win. It's a great win.

There's no doubt about it. Again, how we got it to be down and to be able to come back and win it, it's a huge win for us. I think it's a confidence boost for our guys to understand what they're capable of and what they can do.

I don't really get into signature wins, but it's definitely a win that you can look back on and you can gain confidence and belief in. I think it started when we gave up the layup with seven seconds left at the end of the third. Closing those quarters, starting those quarters are important, so you give that up, you give them a little life. We've talked about game management and the end of quarters being important in that, so give them a little life going out of there.

I thought we just went cold. I thought we had some really good possessions where we didn't make the shot, and then I thought we had some tough shots, and then credit to them. I thought Wade played really well, and I thought they made plays down the stretch. First, the perspective of Cleveland coach J.C. Bickerstaff and how the guys just don't give up. Yeah, maybe not a signature win to label it that way, but certainly a confidence boost as they test and gauge where they are against a team of championship caliber. And Joe Mazzulla. And honestly, it doesn't matter for the Celtics.

I think all things being equal. If you remember last season, weirdly enough, they ended up having a bunch of these games where they were up big and then had kind of inexplicable collapses. They still were a championship team, and I don't think anybody needs to worry about them, but it's such a wild swing from 52-point win over the Warriors to a game in Cleveland where they've got a 22-point advantage in mere nine minutes to go, and this is what happens. As for Jason Tatum, he thought that there was enough contact, but honestly, that's not where the game was won and lost.

He does admit that. Just hope to bounce back from the night. There's a lot of things that we know we can clean up and didn't necessarily play like ourselves that second half.

And this year, we've done a really good job of responding, so I look forward to us responding and playing better on Thursday. It's relentless this time of the year, whether you're tired, whether you're worn out, and then the playoffs, obviously, are on the horizon. The key for a lot of these teams, not that it applies to Boston or Cleveland, but if you look at the standings, the key for so many of these teams is just to not be in that play-in tournament and have extra games that they have to go through. And so, in the East, this is weird to say, but right now, the Sixers, no shot at the Savior coming through the door with Joel Embiid. His departure and him not being part of what they're doing, they've faded to seventh right now. Same record as the Miami Heat, but seventh in the East. The Pacers, as well as they played in stretches, are eighth in the East. Actually, same number of wins as the Sixers, but two more losses. The Bulls, who make me scratch my head a bunch, they're in ninth, and the Atlanta Hawks, seven games below.500, are sitting in the 10 spot. Well, that sounds exciting. Good. Good thing we have this play-in tournament to include teams with losing records, like Chicago and Atlanta, because there's nothing more appealing than a losing team in the playoffs.

Great idea. I hate that play-in tournament and the in-season tournament. What's with all the tournaments?

You're not soccer, knock it off, but it's apparently here to stay, because that's the way the NBA can make more money on their postseason games. Now, in the Western Conference, at least all the teams are above.500, but seven to ten right now separated by just two games. The Kings, the Mavs, the Lakers, the Warriors. Lakers and Warriors, they ended up facing each other in a series last year.

What was it? Semi-finals? Western Conference semi-finals, and the Lakers actually beat them, but neither one of those teams really scares anyone.

I shouldn't say that, right? Because probably the Warriors are still a really tough out. They beat the Kings last year in a game seven. And you've got some young teams at the top there that haven't really proven much, the T-Wolves, the Thunder. As much as they're sitting there, they're in a good position.

Well, and the Nuggets are just... Well, the Nuggets are a different level. They're sitting pretty. Well, I'm just saying, they're sitting pretty right now. They're a game back, and I know they go into overtime and lose against the Suns, but you can tell they've turned it up.

They're a team now that's starting to play like they've got something to play for. That's totally different, but if you've got a T-Wolves against the Lakers or the T-Wolves against the Warriors, if you're a Minnesota fan and say, well, no, I'm not scared of those teams. Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are.

You're lying if you say you're not. Thunder fans, yeah, you're lying if you say you're not scared. Well, they're so young. That's what I mean. They haven't gone through it yet, and the T-Wolves have not had much success yet. If you're a Nuggets fan and you say, well, I'm not worried about it, you're right, because you're not worried about it.

You're that good. So it's a different level. It depends on where you are and where you sit. The West is a little funky with all the experienced teams kind of towards the bottom, as opposed to, you know, the young teams have the top couple of seats. It's a little different.

It is, and I think a lot of people are surprised that the Nuggets aren't sitting in that one spot. But yeah, they're a team that I don't want that proverbial like flipping of the switch, because I'm not sure that's their mentality. But when you when you go through the length of a regular season and then you end up winning a title, you kind of understand that here's what it takes to win. We don't have to freak out over every game. And you kind of work on what you need to work on.

But yeah, you're kind of slow and slow and steady. But I do think they'll end up with the one seed. I wouldn't be surprised.

Probably. But I do think over the years, one thing that I've noticed that's been a little bit of a different change in the game changes constantly. All sports, all games change. One thing that I've noticed in the NBA that doesn't seem to be as much of a premium as it was, I don't know what you would call 20 years ago, the one seed doesn't seem to be like, oh, no, no, no. Teams used to go all out to get that one seed 20 years ago. Now it's like, yeah, well, the one with the two.

What's the difference? As long as we're up somewhere and we got home court in the first round, we'll figure it out. As long as we're good enough and we're healthy, we'll figure it out. That wasn't the case a long time ago. It seems like teams are starting to realize what if we have to play one series where we have one less game at home.

If we're healthy, we're good enough. Teams have kind of differed on that. I've noticed over the last few years. Well, I do think that teams that have less experience are generally more susceptible on the road in a, you know, in a packed environment, packed house, loud environment. But also, if you notice the Celtics as good as they are, their road record is not that impressive. I think they're just about nine games above 500 on the road.

So it's not a, I wouldn't say they're completely unsusceptible. No, and they're running away with it in the East, so it doesn't really affect them. But I feel like there are teams that were, you know, two or three years ago, if the Warriors weren't the one seater, they were the two, and it was coming down the stretch. Did they go all out to get the one?

No. But they did 20 years ago. You know, if there was a tight race for the one seed or the two seed, no matter who it was, whether it was the Spurs who had won, it seemed like constantly, the Heat, they wanted that one seed. They wanted to be the one.

They wanted to be at home. Teams now have been like, look, we're not going to push this. I'm not playing my guys 43 minutes to get the one seed.

If we're the two, she'll be it. Especially with the new rules overload management, right, where you can't sit guys or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So now it's not so much about giving guys a complete night off. It's about lessening their minutes. And teams are smart enough to realize. Now, again, if you're the T-Wolves, you can't really do that. If you're the Thunder, you can't really do that. Especially when you've got Anthony Edwards who shows up late for a tip because he lost track of time. What else do you have to do right now?

I mean, you're the one seed in the Western Conference, and somehow you miss opening tip. Yeah, I don't know if I buy the... Oh, you don't? No. The excuse, you mean? I'm big on, I look, granted, I'm skeptic on all this stuff, but I do feel like people's natural tendencies to lie first.

I just find it hard to believe that you're in the... Now that I'm married, I hope that's not the case. It would have been like you were stretching and you lost track of time, really. So I feel like something happened there, and it could have been something as silly as... He fell asleep.

It could have been, and there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, guys take naps before games. Or, you know what?

Where's his team? Maybe he doesn't want to admit it. Maybe something he ate didn't sit with him real well.

Like, whatever. I just find it hard to believe that I was just stretching in the tunnel and I lost track of time. There was no one that saw you in the tunnel and went, yo... You didn't hear anything? We're tipping.

Come on, come on. Security guard, nothing? Again, it could have been something very simple like that, and maybe it was, and really, he was only gone for 30 seconds.

It just, it struck me as a little, eh, I don't know if I buy it. That's kind of a recurring nightmare that I have sometimes, though, is falling asleep or waking up late or getting stuck in traffic, and then trying to run to the start of my radio show. My legs won't move, I can't get there, I'm not wearing pants, whatever.

All the normal stuff that everybody has of all the... Again, I just... If you were telling me you were in the tunnel, you can hear everything, you can see everything, and you lost track of time because you were stretching, like, eh, I don't know, that to me seems a little odd. If you were in the locker room and you were preoccupied with whatever, whatever the case was, then I'm listening. But where are your teammates? Why aren't they asking where you are? Well, the teammates, I think we were on the bench and ready to play the game. I think that's where they were. But why aren't they saying, yo, somebody go get Anthony? Don't they have managers?

I would think, and... Water girls? The fact that the head coach was like, I didn't realize he wasn't here, that's a problem, too. Like, I'm sorry, you know, that's the head count. One, two, three, four, five.

Where's our fifth player? I mean, it happened somewhat quickly, but not that fast. It takes a while. You ever been to a game?

It takes a few minutes before they actually tip the thing off. So you're telling me you went through the national anthem, you missed that, too? You missed the starting, like, you missed everything? Did you, were you there for the introduction? It just, a lot of holes there in that story. So you saw the, you were there for the introduction, then you went into the tunnel to stretch, and then you missed the tip? Really?

You were there for the national anthem, but then you went into the tunnel and you missed the tip? No. Some of this doesn't make sense. And that's why, well, that's not why, but one example of a young team that hasn't won anything yet that just is, yeah, just some... And again, look, this is not going to be that big a deal.

It does make you concerned with where's your head. Anthony Edwards, yes. But, I mean, again, look, Anthony Edwards is, I mean, he's, he's ridiculously talented. He's going to be the guy, you know, everybody keeps talking about takes the mantle from whenever. He's one of the best players in the game. That part of it, I'm not going to be overly concerned about in the playoffs where I'm worried about the one game that he missed 30 seconds because he was wherever he was.

No. But those types of teams, the T-Wolves, the Thunder, those types of teams, I feel like they need to get every advantage that they can get because they're going to be up against it. Even the Kings last year, we saw that in the first round. They're better than the Warriors that were last year. I'll take that. I'll say that 100 times.

But it's an experience. They still lost the series because they just didn't know how to win those games that they needed to win. They weren't even home in game seven and couldn't figure it out on a team that couldn't win on the road, period. The Warriors are just smarter than you. They knew what it took. So crazy.

So young teams got to figure that out. You got to go through the bumps to be able to get over the top. Coming up, show announcement. We are so excited about tomorrow night's guest.

Can't wait to share that with you. Also, it's a hug that got a lot of attention on Tuesday. And no, it has nothing to do with the Kelseys. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Who let the dogs out?

I feel like I'm talking to family whenever we talk about dogs. Why have we not done this before? This should be an annual thing.

Producer James, write it down. Every year before we get into football, we don't have time for it anymore. We do the dog show, the annual dog show. It won't be like the Westminster dog show, but it could be somewhat popular, considering we now have an Iditarod racer that we've adopted. We've got people who've never called the show before.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. I'm not sure we've ever had a more popular guest than Matt the musher from Alaska, who a couple of years ago at this time, exactly, was running the Iditarod as a rookie musher. It was his first time, even though he's older, later in life, it fulfilled a dream of his. And he does hope to get back to it, though he hasn't run it since. So now he's got a daughter who's competing in the junior Iditarod, as well as other races that lead into this crazy season.

They are on the course. I think they've gone through two or three legs. And what do we hear on our last show? This is actually a major headline around the United States. My husband was talking about it. I heard our local New York affiliate talking about it, that a moose had gotten tangled up with one musher's dogs. And for that reason, the moose had to be put down. And this is, I don't want to say a common thing with the race, because I don't know how often it happens, but I do know that you'll hear about this now and then. What I didn't realize is that it's race rules that not only does the animal have to be gutted as best as the musher can, but that other mushers coming along behind are then supposed to help out with that process. I think it's great, though, because that moose can feed a lot of people, and the whole idea is to salvage as much of the meat as possible. So for that reason, I'm glad they do it.

Now, I don't know why they can't have people who are not part of the race take over that process. Maybe it's about the remote location, where they are. Maybe it's about the danger. I don't want to get in the way of the mushers.

I'm not really sure why. We'll ask Matt the musher when he joins us tomorrow night, just about this time. So 24 hours from now, Matt the musher, because I reached out to him. This is one of the text messages I was sending while I was supposed to be relaxing and in zen mode, post yoga workout. Box breathing. I texted Matt. I was not doing my box breathing.

I texted Matt and asked him if he could join us to kind of walk us through this process. And his animal encounter, which I do remember, he told that story after his I did a ride. And it's dramatic when you encounter wild animals. These are not animals at the zoo in cages.

These are wild animals. And you're trying to protect not just yourself, but a team of dogs. And you could be out there by yourself, one man and a bunch of dogs, which obviously these dogs are not off their their leads and off their off the chains. They're not off the off the I don't know what you call it. Yeah, I guess harness. But they're they're all tied up and kept tied up because they'll they'll run away.

Some of them. These are dogs that often if they get off their lead or get off their leashes, they'll take off. And that's scary because you're out again out in the middle of nowhere. So they they have animal encounters and other kinds of dangers along the way. There are people who have died. Dogs, of course, who get injured.

They do a process for making sure that injured dogs are taken care of, in some cases airlifted to veterinarians. But Matt experienced it firsthand and he's also following this year's race. I asked him that and I know he's working on Wednesday, so we'll talk with him on Wednesday night. He's an E.R.

nurse. But Wednesday night, he's going to join us. He said at that point, he'll have more information because they will have completed a 24 hour checkpoint. And he said he's on the edge of his seat. He's following it closely.

He's on the edge of his seat just waiting for information and waiting to hear the various updates through the checkpoint. So I'm excited. Many of you love Matt the musher and we'll welcome him at 11 p.m. Alaska time. That'll be midnight Pacific time and 3 a.m. Eastern time on our next show here. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Our phone number is 855-212-4227. And then also on Twitter, ALawRadio plus our Facebook page. We're looking for your questions for Ask Amy Anything. So that comes up in the third hour of the show. We tried moving Ask Amy a couple of times just to grab different sections of the audience and people tune in and tune out at different times.

But what we found was it worked far better just to leave it alone and leave it where it's been for the majority of the last 11 plus years. It's crazy that it's still going strong. So Ask Amy Anything is a part of the hump show. Coming up next, a hug that gave me a show question. And we will take your responses about a question that we posed to you on our last show, Teams in Dire Straits.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. All of our award winning Hyundai models like the tech filled Tucson and Kona, as well as the spacious Palisade. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or thirty six thousand miles of complimentary maintenance.

But hurry in. These deals won't last. Add more joy to your journey at the Hyundai getaway sales event. Now get zero percent APR or up to fifteen hundred bonus cash on the Hyundai Tucson. Now during the Hyundai getaway sales event. Offers end soon.

Call five six two three one four four six zero three for details. For the past 20 years, you've enjoyed the refreshing tropical lime flavor of Mountain Dew Baja Blast. So in celebration of this milestone, we're bringing Baja Blast in stores nationwide. And for a limited time with every purchase of Baja Blast, you can collect coins for a chance to get Baja Gear or a Taco Bell deal. Twenty twenty four is the year of Baja Blast in stores now. No purchase necessary.

Open to US residents eighteen plus subject to official rules at Baja Blast dot com and six fifteen twenty four void were prohibited. Upgrade your home now at blindstock comes anniversary sale and celebrate savings up to fifty percent off premium window treatments for years to come. Shop for your house from the comfort of home for modern Roman and woven wood shades, shutters, motorized options and more.

One hundred percent online. Blinds dot com invented the better way to shop. No salespeople in your home or inflated showroom prices. You can do the measuring and installation yourself or have blinds dot com handle it. Unlimited windows for just one low cost. Our design experts can help you select the perfect styles to fit your home and your budget totally free. We'll even send you samples fast and free at blinds dot com. You get upfront pricing with no hidden fees, free shipping, plus our one hundred percent satisfaction guarantee. So raise a toast to blinds dot com and make this an anniversary sale to remember shop. Blinds dot com's anniversary sale happening right now for up to 50 percent off. Save up to 50 percent at blinds dot com. Rules and restrictions may apply.