5.9.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 4

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No waiting around or sold out nonsense. Get some rest, get a Serta. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. It is the JR Sport Brief show on CBS Sports Radio. Thank you to everybody locked in and tuned in all over North America. I'll be here with you for one more hour. I get started every single weeknight at 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific. I'm being joined by super producer and host, Dave Shepherd. More importantly, I'm being joined by you.

So whether you're on the Odyssey app, your local affiliate, Sirius XM 158, or a smart speaker, I'm glad that you're here. And we got some big updates in the NBA world. We got two teams that are now on the brink of elimination. The Denver Nuggets, not too long ago, last hour. They beat the Phoenix Suns tonight in Denver, 118 to 102. Denver now has a 3-2 series lead. Earlier this evening, the Philadelphia 76ers, they beat the Boston Celtics in Boston, 115 to 103. Philadelphia now takes a 3-2 series lead. And so the world just continues to roll on and churn in the NBA as we get closer and closer to both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals.

Not there, not quite yet. I eagerly anticipate the games tomorrow because we have two teams that might be eliminated. We know the Miami Heat are up on top of the Knicks, 3-1. And then the Los Angeles Lakers are in the same position with the Golden State Warriors, leading them 3-1. Are the New York Knicks going to bounce back at home to make it a 3-2 series? Possible.

Possible. And then we know when you have Steph Curry on your team, even if everybody else sucks, Steph Curry can wake up and say, hey, here's 50 points. I'll go ahead and keep us alive. But let's see if we get an elimination tomorrow night as we had two teams kind of pushed to the brink of elimination with their games tonight. First of all, let's look at the game that just concluded right before we went to break. That's the Denver Nuggets over the Suns. It was a close game at halftime. The Nuggets led 52 to 49.

That was at the half. And then the Denver Nuggets went into the third quarter and they basically, they just annihilated them. The Nuggets outscored the Suns 39 to 25. They ran away with it. And Nikola Jokic picked up another triple-double.

What else is new? It's Nikola Jokic. 29 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. Michael Porter Jr. gave you 19. Jamal Murray gave you 19. And Bruce Brown, former Brooklyn net, at one point in time, he and Kevin Durant got into it just a little bit.

I think it was some innocent basketball drawing, but they both drew technical fouls. Bruce Brown off the bench, 25 points. I want you to take a listen to the final call of the game from TNT's Spiro Deides. For Game 6, Thursday night, back in Phoenix. See what Denver has done as they continue to own this building.

That has been a house of horrors for the opposition. Nikola Jokic, new NBA record for playoff triple-doubles by a center. Magnificent. And the Denver Nuggets have reclaimed control of the series and will have a chance to turn out the lights on Phoenix on their home floor on Thursday night. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, they were both human tonight. Devin Booker with 28 points. Kevin Durant with 26.

Aitken decided to show up a little bit. He had 14 points. And for the Suns, if they want to advance and go on to the Western Conference Finals, the Suns need to win Game 6 at home. They then need to win Game 7 in Denver. And the Nuggets in the postseason at home have just been lighting everybody up. Just going back to the Timberwolves. And then I'll tell you about the Suns.

This is all at home by the way. They beat the Timberwolves by 29. They beat them by 9 points. They beat them by 3 in another game. Against the Suns at home in Denver. They beat them by 18. They beat them by 10. And then, if you can do some math tonight, they beat them by 16 points. The Denver Nuggets at home have just been waxing the floor with the competition, whether it be the Wolves or the Suns. There's an expectation that Chris Paul is going to try to give it a go on Thursday night.

Let's see if he is a positive or a negative. I mean, he got a busted up groin. If you ever had a pull groin, man, you just don't wake up and feel better all of a sudden. Head coach of the Phoenix Suns, Monty Williams, he was asked, hey, what the hell do you need to do to win the next game?

This is what he said. Poise. You have to have a level of mental stamina in the playoffs. You know, you lose a game, it happens. You know, you have to keep your level of poise at a productive level so that no matter what happens on the floor, you can always run your stuff or rely on your defense. I thought that they had a lot of momentum plays tonight that changed our poise or their physicality got into us a bit tonight. And we just didn't have the normal mental stamina that it takes to hang in there so you have a chance to win a game.

I hope, and we'll play this, we'll play this this hour. I hope Joe Mazzulla was paying attention because his answers and you know what, let's not even wait. Joe Mazzulla's answers in his press conference after the Celtics loss, much different.

I told you, Sixers beat him 115 to 103. And so Joe Mazzulla was pretty much asked the same question like, hey man, what do you do moving forward and why did you stink so bad tonight? And part of his answer was just like, well, we had intentions to try and win. Listen to this garbage. Our intentions were good. Our intentions were good?

No. Let's hear the whole stupid thing that this man said out of his mouth. The whole response was garbage.

Listen to Mazzulla. First game of the playoffs that we didn't play well in my opinion. And so we can't lose our perspective of we played really good basketball. And that was our first really, really bad game of the playoffs.

And so it doesn't come at necessarily the best time. But we just have to shift our perspective and get ready for the next game. Joe, you called it a really, really bad game. What do you think in particular?

How would you describe it as that? I mean, I don't mean bad. I thought our intentions were good. I thought we tried to play hard. I thought we tried to play the right way, especially on the offensive end. I thought we got a lot of good looks early that didn't fall and theirs did.

And then I think when you're in that situation, you're just trying to win it back. And so, like I said, it's the first time that we just didn't play well. And we just got to regroup and get ready for the next game.

He's talking like this is just a walk in the park, like they're not one game away from elimination. And we had a caller last hour, right before we went to break, who said, Oh, my goodness, how can the Boston Celtics have Joe Missoula as their coach? How could they not look a little bit deeper and further to bring in someone else now that Ime Udonka had to be let go or they let him go? And I'm saying, what did you want?

Like they're right at the beginning of training camp. Who did you want the Celtics to bring in at the last minute? And he goes, I don't know, had to be somebody, make some calls. And I go, who? Who?

You tell me since you know so much. And he tells me, tells me Larry Brown, 82 year old Larry Brown. Let's fire Ime Udonka and let's just call Larry Brown and just give him the job at the last minute.

No continuity, but just let's just roll with the punches. And so Joe Missoula is definitely going through some some some growing pains here as the head coach of the Boston Celtics. And I think one thing he's going to learn if he still has the job into next year, into the summertime, is, brah, you're going to have to learn how to communicate with the media. You know, sometimes the sarcasm, sometimes the matter of factness and, oh, well, we tried and oh, yeah, well, we didn't try to lose. Oh, well, yeah. Our intentions were good. That ain't going to cut it. And what, where in life does that cut it? When you fail, people want to know what you're going to do better.

They don't want to hear, well, I try that that this is a results business. He will have to do better than that. Mike Malone. This is another coach.

He's had plenty of time and opportunities to to learn. Mike Malone. He talked after the Nuggets victory.

He actually spoke a few minutes ago. This is what Mike Malone had to say about the difference in closing out tonight's game versus the prior one where Devin Booker just whooped his ass. Defense. I mean, we didn't play any defense.

The two games in Phoenix and tonight to hold on to one hundred and two on forty three from the field. We shut down the three point line tonight that hurt us in game four. And because we defended and because we rebounded, we got thirty one fast break points. And that's who we are. And when we're not running and we're not defending, we're going nowhere.

And that's what we have to do. Game six in a couple of nights. If we're going to try to close the series out. OK.

I mean, that's kind of short, sweet and to the point. Defense. I told you that both Devin Booker and Kevin Durant had some ordinary nights. Booker with twenty eight. Durant with twenty six. Jokic back home had a triple double. He spoke to TNT after the game and Shaq had asked him, hey, man, what are you going to do to go into Phoenix and close out this game? What's your mindset? Listen to this question from Shaq. Jokic, you've been having your way with the Phoenix big. So the next game, do you go in offensive minded and say, guys, follow me.

I'm going for 40, 45 points. Or do you just let the game come to you and get guys involved? Yeah, I don't play like that. I just I just let's see what the game brings me. I think today, today I open up the game really badly and then I just figure it out, relax and just let the game come to me.

And then that happens. Yeah, well, not surprising, right? When I see Jokic waking up and having 40 and 50 points, I'm saying to myself, it's not his intention. You're not taking 30 and 40 shots. This isn't what he's done all season long. People have looked at him at times and said, man, you you should probably go out there and take more shots. This is the same Nikola Jokic who was percentage points away, two tenths of a point away from averaging another triple double this year.

And so who knows? The clock may run out here on the Phoenix Suns. They got to win two games. They got to win at home in Phoenix. They have to go back to Denver and play another one.

I just told you how difficult it is. Denver has just been waxing everybody at home and it might ring true here that Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, a two man team, can't go out there and beat a full one. So let's see what can take place. And to be honest, Chris Paul, if he can suit up in that game six. What is he going to do? Just push him into half court?

How much of a difference is he going to make? He ain't zooming up and down the court in the first place. And so, hey, Phoenix Suns fans, I'm not going to call it a miracle. You have two. Well, you have three Hall of Fame talents out there, potentially if you add Chris Paul. What are the odds that they just say? Here's two more 50 spots and then they go back to Denver and do it again. The odds aren't in their favor.

Let's see if it happens. Hey, Shep, who are you favoring here now that the Nuggets have this lead? You think they'll be able to close things out in this series in either six or seven? Yes, because when you look at what Devin Booker did in game three and game four, this is well documented.

You've alluded to this multiple times. It's what he missed nine shots and it's the greatest two game stretch in the history of the postseason. And they barely escaped both times. And Jamal Murray, both games, was not great. And Michael Porter Jr. was Casper the Friendly Ghost multiple times. So to me, you had heroic efforts from both KD and Devin Booker. Kevin Durant's game four was the best I've seen him look in an entire year. And they barely got by with the skin of their teeth. And so with that being said, JR, the Nuggets just have too many pieces.

And you also mentioned this as well. Chris Paul, he's going to give it a go. Obviously, he warmed up at the beginning of this game. But he's not going to be the same.

That groin isn't going to hinder him many different facets of the game. So to me, this is not going to be close. I see the Nuggets prevailing by double digits come game six, JR. Oh, you think the Nuggets are going to go to Phoenix and just blow them out? Yeah, they should have done that in game three and game four. But again, Devin Booker, I mean, he was Kobe Bryant from the mid-range. For God's sakes, he was that dominant. Hey, look, I'll sign up for game seven.

I know my friends in Colorado don't want to hear that. And this is all I've wanted all season or all series long. From the minute the Phoenix Suns added Kevin Durant, it was real simple. Knowing how much depth that they got rid of, it was really a question of what is Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant going to do? Can three guys and a bunch of other guys here and there showing up, can three guys really go out and win you a championship with no depth?

I think the answer, I think we knew this was going to be no unless we got historical performances. And up until now, here in this series, we did. Let's see what happens in this last game or this next game in game six.

This much we know. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, they are going to go out firing. Tonight, Durant took 24 points, excuse me, 24 shots. Devin Booker took 19.

Man, go ahead and boost that up into like 30. They will be taking every single shot because in an elimination game, if you're Durant, if you're Booker and if Chris Paul is on the bench, are you passing the ball to Josh Okogie? Are you giving a ball to DeAndre Ayton? Are you telling campaign we want you to shoot?

The answer is no. Durant, Booker versus the Nuggets. Let's see what they can do. Yeah, I think the Nuggets got this. I wouldn't be shocked if Phoenix won at home. But I think Denver is ultimately going to walk away with this series. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you on CBS Sports Radio 855-2124 CBS.

That's 855-2124 CBS. What do you think about this series? Does Denver have this on lock against the Suns? Have the Suns run out of firepower? The phone lines are open.

I'm going to tell you about the 76ers and Celtics as well. We'll hear from Joel Embiid and James Harden on the other side of the break. It's the J.R. Sportbree show, CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbree on CBS Sports Radio. J.R., I'm a first-time caller, long-time listener. I love your freakin' show, man. I listen every night. I make my 14-year-old listen to your show, and he's an addict too. Keep doing what you're doing. I'm out. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS.

Yeah, the J.R. Sportbree show. It's a family affair. Force your family members to listen. It's pretty cool. We get a lot of families and husbands and wives who say they call and listen.

Grandparents and sons. Thank y'all very much. I'm here for the families. Thank you.

I appreciate y'all. Anyway, right before we went to break, we talked about these Nuggets taking on the Suns. They now have a 3-2 series lead, a 3-2 lead. Thursday night, they'll be up in Phoenix. Denver's gonna try to close them out. The Phoenix Suns are gonna try to stay alive. I would not be shocked if Phoenix ended up winning Game 6, forcing a Game 7 up in Denver. I'm actually... I'm gonna take...

I don't know. This is so close. My brain says, hey, go ahead and pick Denver, but I want to see the Suns.

I want to see them just... well, not them. I want to see Durant and Booker say, here's a million points in force of Game 7. I think Denver is gonna win this series. The Suns just... they don't have enough firepower. And so if I gotta look at the Suns to win two straight, I'm gonna lean towards Denver to kind of take care of them. I told you tonight, outside of the triple-double from Nikola Jokic, off of the bench, Bruce Brown gave you 25 points. He spoke to NBA TV, and you'll hear from 3D Dennis Scott in the background as well. Bruce Brown, he said, yeah. The bench stepped up, even though I did most of the work.

Listen to this. I wanted to be super aggressive. My teammates came to me because I was a little bit too aggressive.

I wanted to be super aggressive. My teammates came to me because I only scored, what, five points the last game. So they told me, get down in transition, see a few easy ones, go through the rim, get to the free throw line. And I'm at my best, attacking that transition and finding my teammates.

So that's what I try to do tonight. Hey, Bruce, we know Coach Michael Malone is a defensive-minded guy. What was that message coming into the game tonight, not letting the role players get extra shot like Shamid did in Game 4?

What was that message about tonight? Yeah, we kind of changed the defensive plan a little bit. We were blitzing Book and KD most of the game, and then kind of daring the other guys to make shots. But they're NBA players, so they're going to knock down wide-open shots. So we try to stay home more when the shooters are on the floor.

And then, obviously, when the non-shooters are on the floor, I try to have them beat us a little bit. Oh, well, they're going to have to do more of that down in Phoenix. 855-212-4CBS. That's 855-212-4CBS. Devin Booker just spoke. We'll hear from him momentarily. He has an answer for what went wrong tonight. Let's talk to Daniel from Fort Worth out in Texas. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

Hey, thanks for taking my call. I can't help but think just one step ahead. And everybody was upset that we get to see Steph Curry and LeBron in the semi-conference finals. And we wanted to see that at least one step further. But wouldn't it be beautiful to finally see Kevin Durant, LeBron James, have that rematch?

It should just be beautiful. I'm not counting Phoenix out yet. Because if Kevin Durant has any kind of spine, which I believe he does, I really do.

I bet they show out Game 6 and then bring it home Game 7. I mean, wouldn't that be better than anything else? Doesn't the NBA want that? Yeah, I'm sure.

Absolutely. Kevin Durant is a much larger name than Nikola Jokic. I think the general public would want to see a matchup between LeBron and Durant. I don't believe they've really stepped on a court full-time since 2018 just due to a variety of injuries. And so, yeah, it'd be great to see. But I think we've got to look at reality here. Yeah, it's Kevin Durant and Booker. But they need help, man.

That's what it boils down to and they don't have it. We don't think DeAndre Aiden can step up. Maybe just get a little bit behind.

I'm a Dallas Mavericks fan. Everybody's calling for Aiden to come over here. I'd like it, but I need to... Hold on. Hold on, Daniel. Have you seen the games this series?

I've been watching them all. OK, so you asking me questions or you're making statements. Yeah, DeAndre Aiden can do a lot of things. He can. But we got to talk about the reality of what's on the team. And I hate to tell you, outside of Durant and Booker and Aiden, everybody else is a wildcard, including Aiden.

He had his best game tonight with 14 and 9. So, I mean, let's pump the brakes. We can talk about what everybody can do, but we got to look at reality. And the reality is the Suns aren't deep enough.

And so, yes, we know this. Durant is going to have to lose his mind. Booker is going to have to lose his mind. And Chris Paul is going to have to come back. And he's going to have to be a bonus and not a detriment. We saw it with the Mavericks.

Luca lost his mind. I'm not saying it's not going to happen. It's not out of bounds.

No, it's not. But it has to happen. How likely is it? It can happen.

Like you said, it can. We just got to wait and see. I mean, we can spend the next 40 minutes talking about what can happen.

8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. I told you Devin Booker, he talked about what did happen. Devin Booker was asked, what went wrong?

You know, I think typically role players play better, you know, at home. So, you know, just trying to limit those guys. I think Bruce Brown had it going today, 25 points. Michael Porter hit some early ones.

And, you know, I think they had 20 transition points in the first quarter. So, you know, that's tough to deal with. I mean, I've been in here a couple of times now. And, you know, I love it. You know, like I said, every game has its own character. Every game has its – just every game has its own movie, its own different preparation and everything to go with it. So, you know, we're going to watch over film, see how we can be better for game six.

Oh, I like that. If I'm a role player on the Denver Nuggets, I'm going to go, oh man, Devin Booker just crapped on me. And NBA players for the most part, for the most part, unless I guess you're Jordan Poole, they understand their lot in life. They understand who they are and if they're a role player, they know if they're a star. But to hear Devin Booker go, yeah, the role players play better at home?

I'm like, well, damn, well, screw you. I just scored 25 points. If I'm Bruce Brown, you can go kick rocks.

You about to be home. And so I guess that also applies to your own bench, right? Landry Shammet, who just scored, what, 17, 18, 19 points, tonight he had six.

Whoop-de-freaking-do. And so are we really expecting to go back to Phoenix and all of a sudden your bench is going to light it up? Put Bismack-Biambo back out onto the floor.

Bismack-Biambo is the answer. Jason is calling from Cleveland. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. What's up, Jason?

Thanks, JR. I just wanted to drill down on what seems to be like the common link with all the teams that have a nice showing is the Stars got to do their thing, but it's the other guy that steps up. You talked about Bruce Brown and then Lakers. You got Lonnie Walker stepping up. I don't remember who it was for Philly, but it's this guy, brilliant lead-in, because that was my point, and that's what you're talking about is, like Booker said, the role players. But the teams that are doing all right, it's the role players that are coming up. Bruce Brown had as much as Durant and Booker.

So going back historically, looking at like Robert Horry or Derek Fisher or on and on, but I think that's the thing that makes the playoffs awesome is seeing these guys come through. There's a lot more, but I want to be quick because I know you appreciate that, so I appreciate you taking the call. No doubt about it, Jason. Thank you so much for calling from Cleveland. That was excellent. He made his point.

It was actually even courteous, not to just myself, but to everybody else that wants to talk. Tom is here from California. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Go ahead, Tom. Hey, how you doing, Jer? I love your show.

I don't always agree with you, but I do not agree with the firing of Milwaukee's coach. Boudinholzer? Huh? His name is Boudinholzer.

Boudinholzer? No. Actually, I think his team laid down on him.

That's just my opinion. You think Giannis Atteracumpo or who? No, the head coach for the Milwaukee Brewers, the Milwaukee Bucks. Okay, his name is Mike Boudinholzer, and I don't think any of his players laid down on him. I think Giannis Atteracumpo had a back injury. I think he came back. And I also think Mike Boudinholzer made dumb decisions, and I think the Miami Heat smoked him. I think that's what happened.

I don't think they quit. I respect you. I respect you, too. Thank you, Tom. I appreciate you, man. I respect you. I like your show.

Thank you. Well, I like you for listening. Thank you, Tom. That was nice. Hey, Marco, wasn't that nice? That was very, very nice.

Hey, Shep, that was nice, right? It was very nice, JR. Yeah, I like the Milwaukee Brewers. Great basketball team. And I like Tom, too.

It's the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. When we come back, I told you the Philadelphia 76ers, they beat the Boston Celtics, and so we'll hear from their MVP center, Joel Embiid. I really, really respect you, man. I don't always agree with you, but you are really, really good at your job. Smart, well-spoken guy, and I respect how you listen to people, even if they have different opinions than you, and you seem like one of the rare people in your industry who's willing to hear things and potentially change your mind. So I love that.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Kevin Durant just spoke to the media.

I want to share with you his comments, at least the ones that he did make momentarily. We just talked about how both he and Devin Booker are going to have to go off on Thursday night to keep the Suns alive, and it's like, yeah, we know this already, but I got to let you know this. The Defensive Player of the Week is sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union, who proudly serves the Armed Forces, DOD, veterans, and their families. Their members are the mission.

You can learn more at NavyFederal.org. And that individual, forget the week, I'm going to tell you about the night. His name is Joel Embiid, not only giving you 33 points on the offense, but also coming through to block four shots tonight for the Philadelphia 76ers, as they have come through to take a 3-2 series lead, and they won this game up in Boston. Joel Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP, had a chance to talk and say, look, we bounced back, we came back, we are here, we have the lead, and I don't care how I get the job done, but this is how I lead. Coming in here, game five, you got to do whatever it takes, you know. And sometimes, you know, we're all human beings, and sometimes you need to be reminded, myself included, sometimes I need, you know, people to remind me to remind me, you know, the job I got to do. For example, you know, PJ the other night, you know, so, you know, that's the way I lead by, you know, pushing my teammates, you know, positively and negatively, too.

You know, they just got to understand, like, you know, I just, you know, we just got the best interest I heard. You know, we just trying to win. Whatever it takes to win, that's what we're going to do, so I only care about winning.

One thing is winning. We got to put a good chance after winning, you know, this game, you know, in front of our fans. Got to jump on them, you know, from the, just like tonight, from the start.

Got to send a message, and got to be aggressive offensively and defensively. Hey, let's see if the Philadelphia 76ers can move on to the Eastern Conference Finals. They're going to have that chance and that opportunity against Boston at home on Thursday. The Phoenix Suns, they are going to be trying to stay alive on Thursday night, back at home after tonight's loss in Denver.

And Kevin Durant, he was asked about game six, and let's just say he was pretty brief. Listen to this. Just about going out there and playing every possession like it's your last, really. You know, we've been seeing this team for five games now, and they've seen us, and so it's all about who wants it more. Yeah, AKA me and Devin Booker are going to go out there and take every shot known to man. That's it.

That's really what it boils down to. And so before we even get to those potential closeout games on Thursday night, Wednesday night, obviously we're going to bring you a new top six list here, but we might have some eliminations tomorrow. We might actually have the closeouts and the conclusions of maybe a dynasty here.

Can we say that already? The Lakers are going to try to get the Warriors the hell up on out of here. That game will take place in San Francisco.

That is the late game. And then the early game taking place in New York City in Madison Square Garden, you're going to have the Miami Heat trying to eliminate the New York Knicks. And between Brunson and his ankle, Randall and his ankle, Emmanuel Quickley and his ankle, R.J. Barrett and some of his inconsistencies, you trust in the New York Knicks? Like if I got to think about tomorrow night's games, here's what's showing for the Knicks.

That Jalen Brunson is hurt, and only in the worst of circumstances does it pop up. That Julius Randle is not that guy. Is he an All-Star? Yeah, he's an All-Star with the numbers that he puts up in a regular season.

But Julius Randle is... Shep, I said this earlier. Third-tier star? If we got to look at stars on three tiers, he's like on the third tier, right? Well, what do you define as the first tier? How many guys in the NBA constitute J.R.'s first-tier star?

I don't know. Superstars. Hall of Fame caliber dudes. The next level is just guys who are on an All-Star team.

And then he's in the third tier underneath that. So here's some numbers. Am I going to take over and lead the winning? No. No, my numbers are nice. Well, okay, let me ask you this question.

If Julius Randle was playing with Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid, maybe Nikola Jokic because Nikola Jokic is more conscientious and a more willing passer, although Embiid has really improved passing out of the double team, could you win an NBA championship with Julius Randle being your second best player? Uh... I don't think so, no. Then he is a third-tier star in your eyes then. That's fair. Yeah, he's number three.

Okay. That's a problem then because they treat him like he's number one. No, well, that's the New York Knicks. I mean, this happens all the time. I don't care what sport it is. I don't care what league it is. When you are so used to losing and you get any little bit of a taste of success, all of a sudden, whoever it is right there in front of you is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

That's just what it is. Lions fans have reason to be optimistic heading into this season. They're going to continue to build and grow and bring in the Jameer Gibbs. But you still know deep down that you guys can certainly improve at the quarterback position. And this final roster of what you see, it's going to get better. It's the same thing with the Sacramento Kings. Are you going to be content with what you have in front of you right now?

No. You want to bring in some vets. You want to see the next evolution of what you have in Fox and also Sabonis. And so for the New York Knicks, especially their fans, anytime they win a game, a game in the postseason so far, they've been outside the garden losing their mind. Are they going to lose their minds tomorrow night if the Knicks can hold on? Or are they going to march outside of Madison Square Garden, rank and file, get on the subway, get on the train, get in their cars and go home in an orderly fashion?

Like the jig is up. Knicks ain't that good. Unfortunately, they're also hurt. And they can stand to improve the roster just like every other team competing for a championship. Look, the Golden State Warriors are going to try to stay alive tomorrow night. Steph Curry is going to have to go out there and just dumb out. But the fact is the Warriors are defending champions and you can look at their roster and go, man, they need to improve. Everybody does. Because if you ain't competing for a championship, what are you doing?

Wasting your time. And so I can't wait for the games tomorrow night. And I just I can't say this enough, though. I wish that these games were more competitive. We've had some great endings and great performances and great scoring. But on a game to game, daily basis, does everything have to be a blowout? 20 points here, 15 points there. It's because everything is all or nothing.

It's it. Shep, do you feel I'm off on that? It's just everything is all or nothing that the games are are hit and miss historical performances. But I wish I wish they were closer. I mean, look, Lakers and the Warriors. I mean, I think of those two games. Game two. Warriors absolutely blew the Lakers outside the Chase Center. Come back to game three, a Crip of that calm arena.

What are the Lakers? Do they return the favor and beat him by 30? You talk about these games on Tuesday. I mean, the Celtics losing by 20 points essentially to the, you know, the underman 76ers.

Never stood a chance. Right. You know, there's a lot of truth to that.

And you alluded to this. We are more predicated and the game is more centered than ever before around an outside shot. And so because of that, no matter how great you may be, I mean, Steph Curry, we even see it from him being the greatest shooter of all time.

He's 0 of 12 with 45 seconds remaining to either take the lead or tie it in the NBA postseason. You live by the three and you die by the three. And because of that, that's why there is such a wide margin in these games. And at the end of the day, JR, I don't think it's the best thing for the NBA.

You'd like to see them go a lot more inside than outside. Yeah, I can't disagree with that one whatsoever. I'm waiting on a player to change that. I'm waiting on a system to ultimately change that. I don't know if it's going to come down to it. Maybe Steph Curry will have to disappear from the NBA before we get a more well-rounded game. He's got a few more years, unfortunately.

He's going to be at it for a while now. You know, but I talk to coaches all the time and in multiple levels. And I don't care if it's high school or college. And people tell me that you got to yell at kids to just go to the hole. Like you got air and opportunity between you and the basket. And if you're a kid, most kids, man, you ain't Steph Curry.

You're not knocking down 40% of your threes. Go to the damn basket. And then the kids don't understand for the life of them. Why can't I stop here at the three-point line and pull up? And it's a problem.

So when you have kids already thinking that in high school and now you got to convince them in college. And then you got to break the habit in the NBA. It's just maddening.

But hey, these are some of the best athletes. I'm hoping that we get some good games tomorrow, more competitive than what we got tonight. Where we saw two teams go out on top, try to get close to the conference finals. And the other two teams a game away from elimination. The Sixers beat the Celtics, pushing them to the brink.

And the Nuggets beating the Suns, pushing them as well. Let's see what happens on Wednesday night. We'll be back with you tomorrow. 7 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Pacific.

As I do every Wednesday night, we're going to bring you a new top six list. And then we'll update you on the Heat and the Knicks. Should be concluding right kind of when we get on air. And then throughout the course of the night, let's see what the Lakers can do with the Warriors.

Trying to eliminate them in San Francisco. The JR Sport Reshow here on CBS Sports Radio. It's a wrap. I'll be back with you tomorrow. Join me everywhere at JR Sport Brief. But don't move because Amy Lawrence, she's coming up next. Thank you so much. You'll be having a good night. Be safe, be smooth, be well.

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