It is the JR Sport Brief Show on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in all over North America.
I'm being joined by super producer and host Ryan Hickey. He's in New York City. Whether you're in Atlanta with me, you're in New York with him, you're in California, Alaska, Boise, Idaho, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Frisco, Texas, Miami, Florida. You could be in Canada. Fill in the blanks. I don't know.
Maybe you're in Nova Scotia. Thank you for being here. I'll be hanging out with you for the next three hours. The show gets started every weekday, 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific.
It's amazing. We've already been here for an hour. We talked about the Miami Heat getting smoked and smacked yesterday. We talked about Jimmy Butler actually showing up for a team. I guess he got paid, so he'll show up injured for the Golden State Warriors.
George Kittle got a new contract. I guess Brock Purdy is going to be next. And I can tell you what we got next up as we continue on with the show. How about this? In about 20 minutes, we will have a conversation with a Cleveland Cavaliers legend. We're going to be joined by Austin Carr in about 20 minutes. I mean, the Cavaliers, they swept the Heat, and now they wait on the winner between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Pacers. It's looking like the Pacers. I have that chat with Austin Carr in about 20 minutes.
How about this? Next hour, we're going to talk about these 49ers. What is Brock Purdy's contract going to look like? Is Kittle's contract front-loaded? How did they do in the draft?
And how are they going to restock all these veterans? It'll be a fun chat. Larry Krueger will come through from KNBR to talk all things San Francisco 49ers. He'll be here next hour. You want to be a part of the show? You can. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. You know, I just told you that we are waiting to see what happens between the Milwaukee Bucks and also the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers have this 3-1 lead.
Damian Lillard went down with that blown out Achilles. And as it stands right now, the Bucks are not going down quietly. They are not quitting like the Miami Heat. The Bucks actually need the Pacers in the second quarter. The score is 46 to 36. So we still have some time here.
This game is going down in Indianapolis. The Pacers have a chance to close things out. It's now 46 to 39. Let's see if the Pacers go on a run. There's about a minute left to go here in the first half. The Pacers just went on a 16 to 6 run. So they're on their way to bouncing back. We have so much more to get into as the show continues on outside of our guests.
I do want to have a chat with you. Not necessarily about Chador, but we had two legendary wide receivers who put in their two cents. Both Chris Carter and Michael Irvin with differing thoughts as to why Chador Sanders fell and who ultimately was responsible. The NBA, which All-Star Games sucks. We also learned that they're looking to switch up the format. No more of these stupid mini games. The NBA is going to attempt to move into an international style tournament or international type game. Excuse me, not a tournament.
Adam Silver made it very clear. He said, we missed on that one. Brett Favre has a Netflix trailer coming out. Well, Netflix. Hickey is a documentary?
What do I call it? It's not good for him, whatever it is. No, you're right.
It is not good for him. I think documentary tell all. Yeah. Netflix is basically saying that Brett Favre is a trash human. Okay.
It's as simple as that. That's what Netflix said. Not me.
All right. That's what Netflix said. And they got a whole documentary coming out in a few weeks about Brett Favre. Hickey, what they should do is they should, and I know this is not how Netflix works.
You got to select what you want. 99.9% of stuff is all prerecorded. But after you watch Brett Favre's documentary, it should automatically send you to Aaron Rogers documentary. Under what?
Other troubled quarterbacks. You're related. You know, you, you watch this, you might like this, you know, I don't know. You might also like.
You might also like, yeah. Enigma. After about five hours, it asks you, are you still there? To which we can assume no. Yeah. What?
One hour, one hour, two hours of Brett Favre, and then another four hours of Aaron Rogers. Probably not. Probably will pull your hair. Anybody who's doing that needs a, needs an evaluation.
This let's put it that way. I'm going to watch it just because it's my job. Hickey. I'm going to watch. I'm intrigued. I did not watch Aaron Rogers.
I will not watch Aaron Rogers. I'm intrigued by this Brett Favre doc. You know what?
Matter of fact, let's, let's listen. This is the trailer. And some of these voices that you hear, obviously not Brett Favre as people talking about Brett Favre, including Jen Sturgier, who at one point in time, uh, worked for the New York Jets as one of their, one of their in entered in game entertainment hosts. And she was the woman, the young woman who Brett Favre allegedly, uh, sent the dirty photos to, uh, I let you guess who she is. Uh, I haven't spoken to actually know Jen.
I've worked with her a long time ago, but, uh, anyway, listen to the trailer. Everybody wished they could be NFL quarterback. You get all the notoriety, you know, you get paid all the money. Brett Favre was a cult-like iconic figure. People say he was a football god. There are a lot of reasons why you might question Brett Favre's inner goodness.
Allegations that he sent lewd texts and photos to a New York jet employee. Brett Favre ultimately destroyed my life. And the life of Brett Favre, not everything is what it seems. He starts to go through life thinking I can do whatever I want.
At what level does that stop? I was at a game and someone said Brett Favre wanted my phone number. And I just kept saying no. I started getting text messages.
And then I started getting voicemails when I was like, oh, I'm in serious trouble here. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that he got caught up in a federal welfare misappropriation scandal. You take money intended for the poorest.
I don't know how he sleeps at night. People don't want most of that stuff to come out. People want their heroes.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them. Uh oh. Oh man. Yeah. Oh man. Hickey is bad when they playing the voicemails that you, you, you had from like 10 plus voicemails gotta be 15 years old, Hickey. Yeah. That's I mean, he was there what, no wait, we're talking about almost 20 years. That's, that's not good.
That's not good at all. Oh, Brett Favre is sitting around getting ready to sue somebody. Get ready to film a new Copper Fit commercial, even though I haven't seen those commercials in a while now. Did they get sick of him too? I think so. Yeah. And like, oh, we can't have Brett Favre out here selling, you know, sham knee braces and he's obviously stealing from people in Mississippi.
We can't do that. Oh boy. Whatever he was doing, probably getting ready to sue somebody else. And then, uh, you know, he, this trailer dropped earlier today. Uh, Hickey, is he going to attempt to sue Netflix? Oh, would not be surprised. Would not be surprised at all. This is one of those he's going to hit us. He's going to hit, not us. He's going to hit them with one of those lawsuits where Brett Favre wakes up and his lawyer goes, we're suing you for $1 trillion.
Netflix is like, man, just, just get out our face, bro. Just go away. We got all the receipts here. Oh man. Has he still paid that money back? Is he still, has he done that? I don't think so. Right. Allegedly. I'm not aware that he did. Yeah.
Yeah. You're going to say allegedly with anything that we talk about Brett Favre. He tried to sue. I know one thing he had, he's happy about, I'm sure he's happy that Shannon Sharp is feeling pain because he tried to sue Shannon Sharp for talking crap about the money that he stole. And meanwhile, Shannon Sharp is hanging out with, uh, 19 and 20 year olds, allegedly. Hickey, this is, this is some nasty stuff out here, man. Brett Favre got caught up before social media. Like they're bringing up his, uh, voicemails.
Hey, I'd like to see you tonight. Well, what does he want to do with the young lady? He wants to take her to church the next morning. Like what, why is he asking to hang out with Jen Sturge at night?
I mean, and then he sent the photos. Oh man. Nobody learns Hickey, I guess. Right.
No. Oh, nobody learns because we keep seeing the same mistakes made over and over again. And Brett Favre in 2008, 2009, Shannon Sharp in 2025. Countless instances in between. Yeah.
I don't, I don't know what we're going to think of next, but I'm going to watch the documentary. You know, Brett Favre, a lot of people, if they remember or don't remember, he had to deal with the painkiller abuse early on in his career here in Atlanta is up in green bay, ends up taking them to the super bowl and championships and MVPs and legendary players running around like he's playing in his backyard. Never misses a game as an iron man. And then at the end of his career, goes to the New York jets, plays well, falls apart, has the scandal situation with Jen Sturger. Oh, if I was Brett Favre, I wouldn't do anything but lay low. They said lay low and Netflix. Isn't going to let you lay low. Like if you got some dirt on you, they going to get you Brett Favre. I think puff daddy got a puff.
Daddy will probably have a documentary on Netflix is if Netflix is doing something on your life, it's probably a, probably not, not good. Good luck. Well, no Hickey. Do I say good luck to Brett Favre? No. Right.
No, no, no, I wouldn't. No, no. Yeah. Not good luck to himself. Yeah.
Not good luck to him. It just, I don't know. I was going to say suffer in silence. That's not good either.
Hickey, healthy suffering. All right. What do I say?
What do I say in conclusion? That is tough. Hey, that's life.
That's life. Hey, Brett Favre. Hey, you made your bet.
Now you got to sleep in it. Perfect. Boom. Good luck to the people that may have been affected by Brett Favre being a crook, allegedly.
Okay. Anyway, speaking of that, things don't end there. Talking about older men trying to, you know, bother with young women. Last night, we talked about Brett, not Brett Favre.
This is another B, a double B. Bill Belichick reportedly people at North Carolina are concerned with the influence that his young girlfriend is having on himself and the program. I mean, come on. She actually shared an email, a public email, a private email that Bill Belichick shared with people that he was promoting the book with.
And she put this on social media and just like a full statement is coming soon. Like we had a guy call up last night. He's all what Bill Belichick does is his business.
You damn right it is. But Bill Belichick is a huge figure in the world of sports. He's leading the football program of North Carolina. He just got the boot from the New England Patriots. He sat on television and said that he didn't get the boot. Him leaving the team was mutually agreed upon.
We know that was sure as hell not the case. And so there is concern here with Bill Belichick. Like the focus forever, forever has been on football. Nothing else.
He hasn't cracked open a window or door to allow anything else in. And now all of a sudden Bill Belichick has this more than public relationship. Now all of a sudden Bill Belichick is, you know, having to not answer questions about the relationship that he made public with his young girlfriend who's putting him on Instaface and Instabook and all the things he made fun of all these years. Yeah, there's a legitimate concern with Bill Belichick.
And yeah, these are all things. And well, these are choices that he's made. But is Bill Belichick still about football? Like we got Bill Belichick emails that are being made public by his girlfriend. We have Bill Belichick's girlfriend interjecting in interviews with CBS. You know, I think maybe we have a clear reason here as to why Bill Belichick doesn't have a job in the NFL.
I don't know. Maybe some of these teams saw the writing on the wall. Maybe Robert Kraft was just like, you know what, let's get this guy the hell of one out of here. Like we're not winning anymore. We need a roster turnover. It's time for a reset. Let's just get him gone.
Hickey, I got to be honest. If this was just Bill Belichick about football and it wasn't talk about the girlfriend, I feel comfortable. Unless she is going to take a major back seat. And let's be real, nobody knows who the hell this woman is.
Nobody knew who she was before Bill Belichick. This is her shot at fame. This is her shot at notoriety.
This is probably the most power and influence that she has ever had in her 24 year old life. I don't think she's going to take no back seat. I think this is starting to become, and especially following everything on Sunday, fine with your goofy photos and all of that. I think this is going to be detrimental to Bill Belichick and his reputation in football. It's still not helping it.
That is for sure. I guess where I'm torn, because it does not look good, but I guess where I'm torn is I don't know if Bill wants this because he just wants someone to basically take care of everything he doesn't want to bother with. And from there can only have a singular focus, which is football. I don't know if that's what's going on or if this is, like you said, a little bit more nefarious where 24 year olds gets a taste of fame and power.
Now she's trying to control what used to be one of the most powerful people in all football. I don't think it's nefarious. I don't think she's doing, you know, there are people out here that want to rob people.
We got jerks and you know what's just of all ages and male, female and everything in between. I don't think that's the case. And, you know, maybe this is genuine.
And I'm operating on the fact that maybe this is genuine. Maybe she likes Bill Belichick. I don't know if she loves him or not. Man, we got we got people together who are equally 20, equally 30, equally 40, equally 50, and they don't know what the hell they want out of the relationship.
So I have no idea when it comes to the age outside of that's not necessarily my cup of tea, but at the same time, not a 70 plus year old man. I just think that just this overall, her public influence for a guy who was just the buck stopped with him. All of a sudden, a 24 year old is running things for him in a public manner. It's one thing to have it private and hey, you're having fun and she's helping you with this. But she's sharing private emails. She's now his publicist, his manager, everything. She was just in a TV commercial with him.
She is certainly enjoying the newfound fame. What does that mean for Bill Belichick? I hope this does not bite him in the backside. Hey, Bill, watch your back. It's the JR Sport Breeze Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. When we come back, we'll talk about another legend.
He's not getting into none of this crazy trouble. His name is Austin Carr. This man balled out for the Cavs, now helps cover the Cavs. We're going to talk about how hot these Cleveland Cavaliers are as they're waiting on the winner between the Bucks and the Pacers. Yeah, the Cavaliers trying to compete for a title with no LeBron.
We'll talk to Austin Carr, Cavs legend on the other side. It's the JR Sport Breeze Show on the Infinity Sports Network. You are listening to the JR Sport Breeze.
It is the JR Sport Breeze Show on the Infinity Sports Network. Hey, I got something important to tell you. It's time to tell you about the Defensive Player of the Week, sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union, who probably serves the armed forces DOD, veterans and their families. Their members are the mission.
You can learn more at NavyFederal.org. Draymond Green. This guy came to the rescue last night. He shut down Alperin Sangoon on the final possession of the game, the biggest possession of the game, ensuring that the Warriors held off the Rockets to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Draymond Green, who didn't win Defensive Player of the Year, that went to Mobley. Draymond finished. He had six points, eight rebounds, two assists, five fouls, one technical foul, one flagrant, foul.
Yeah, very Draymond Green-esque game. Golden State Warriors with a 3-1 lead over the Rockets. Meanwhile, we saw what the Cavaliers did last night. They swept the Miami Heat, wiped them out of the postseason. Cavaliers won 64 games this season, just tacked on another four, trying to get to a championship.
Next up, they got the Pacers, likely the Pacers or the Bucks. And to talk about what these Cavaliers have been able to do is someone who's known as Mr. Cavalier. Lit it up on the basketball court forum.
You can now hear him as a broadcaster on the FanDuel television network. We're being joined by, right now, excuse me, by Mr. Austin Carr. Mr. Carr, thank you for joining us. How you doing? How's it going?
Very well. I got no complaints. I know the Cavaliers and their fans have no complaints at all. What are your thoughts on this dismantling that they just handed the Heat? Yeah, it was really surprising to me because in the past, the Heat, in that situation that they were in, they usually bounced back. But I just think personnel-wise, they just don't have enough to make it happen. And where in the past, really, Mr. Butler really was huge for them because he would be the one that would balance it all. But without him, they really, I mean, they put a lot of pressure on Hiro and Adebayo to really handle the whole thing.
And that was a little bit too much for just two guys. Mr. Cavalier, Austin Carr is here with us, a basketball legend on the JR Sport Brief Show. When you take a look at the Cavaliers, we see the additions and the growth from prior years. You have the explosion of Ty Jerome.
We see the acquisition of Deontre Hunter. Is there one thing that you look at specifically that's really changed and taken the Cavs to another level from prior years where they got eliminated by the Knicks? Yeah, I think the coach has a lot to do with the resurgence.
I think basically, he empowered more than the normal guys. And by empowering everybody to get involved, we play 9, 10, 11 guys every night. And when you have 9 or 10 guys that can produce, now it's different to have 9 or 10 guys, but some of them are iffy. But most of our guys are producing and they've been going through this for a whole season now.
So they understand that they don't get upset when things don't go their way. They kind of just keep plugging away and keep playing their style. And the coach, again, he's empowered these guys to be who they are. And they have gotten into a good rhythm as far as when to back off and when to attack. And the one thing I was concerned about going into the playoffs was at the end of the season, we had kind of lost our edge as far as attacking on the defensive end of the floor. But when they picked that up in this series, and I'm anxious to see how we're going to handle because the paces are going to be a whole lot to handle and defensively is going to be the key for us against them. We got to be able to deal with their open court play. And when they get back, when they get out on the break, we got to be able to handle them and slow the ball down. If we can do that and force them to shoot over the top, as you give them a lot of driving lanes, you're in trouble against that team. Austin Carr is here with us Coast to Coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
You sit down and you call all the Cavs games. You talk about defense. We just see Evan Mobley walked away with defensive player of the year. Can you talk about his growth from what you saw as a rookie, kind of hesitant, didn't know what he was doing and what we have now, both offense and defensively? Well, I think his biggest advancement has been the fact that he has more confidence in who he is.
I mean, because he would always sit back and let the other guys go now. And what the coach has done and what Donovan and everybody has done is encouraged him to go out and be who you want to be instead of being who you think you should be. And that, to me, has really taken him to a whole other level because a guy his size and who has to guard him, the fluidity he has with the ball getting up and down the floor, shooting threes now, it really puts their defensive pick people in a lot of areas that they don't want to be in.
And that is where he's starting to really understand that. And when you see him get the ball in the wing, man, he attacked now where he wouldn't do that before because he didn't have the lower body strength. He still needs a little bit more of that, I think, but he still has enough now to where when he makes that dribble to the basket now, you bump him, he doesn't really get off pace. He can stick that, takes that next dribble. And when he takes that next dribble, he has the advantage.
He didn't have that last season, but he has it now. Mr. Carr, when you played for the Cavaliers, you were out there at the shooting guard position. We see what Donovan Mitchell has been able to bring to the team over the past couple of seasons. And there was a point in time where it was just like, can both he and Darius Garland, you know, can they coexist in the same backcourt?
What adjustments have you seen there? Because obviously Donovan Mitchell leads the quote unquote star that came and joined his team. Well, I think, you know, when we talk about the difference in last year and this year, the difference has been Donovan had to back off and had to understand how to back off, which when you look at the way the league is now, guys like him, they don't back off.
They just keep going. But Donovan backed off and his scoring has gone down. But it's efficient now. His scoring now has a direct effect on the game. And, you know, so it's not like he's run up and down the floor or trying to do his thing now. He understands that he and Garland have found how to play together because one, I mean, the Garland has become here, here, catching shoot now, whereas before Garland wouldn't catch and shoot, he would always, as soon as he catch it, put it on the floor. And now he understands when he should catch and shoot, when he should attack and all those little nuances like that. That's what really makes the game better for them now, because they know how to play off of each other as opposed to playing against each other.
And now it's to the point now where the Garland has become very effective, especially in closing the game out. I mean, because he has, he's such a good, his quickness with the ball, his putting the ball on the floor, understanding what to do with the ball when he gets in the compromising position, all that has improved because he has an understanding of what the team needs now and how to do it. And he, I guess the best way to explain it is he knows when to be a point guard and he knows when to be a shooting guard.
And that's the difference between him and Donovan playing together. They know how to play off each other now. The Cavaliers legend and broadcaster Austin Carr is here with us. And we all assume that the Pacers are going to be the next team. I think we'd be hard pressed to see the Bucks bounce on back. When it comes to the East, it's pretty much been a thought that the Cavaliers and the Celtics are going to be the last two teams standing. Do you see the possibility, a realistic one where the Cavaliers represent the East in the finals? It's going to be a battle. I look at it this way. I mean, they had a, they pushed during the season two and two.
So I look at it this way, getting past it to the patient is going to be the key because the patients have been there and they got a bit in their mouth because they didn't make it. So they're going to be ready. So it's going to be, this will probably be a great series. I don't think it's going to go, it should go at least six. It's going to go at least six.
I know that. I mean, from the way the two teams have gotten to this point, but it's going to be a battle and then no telling what's going to happen against the Celtics because again, they are the reigning champions. They have that little swagger in their step. They know what they're doing. They been there before. And that's going to be the difference in the whole series is if we get to that point, how we handle the way the Celtics, because the Celtics know what they're doing because they've done it before.
And we have to get to that point. And if we can do all that in one season, then that'll be something that you have to take your hat off to because it's tough to do it without going through it before. Well, you've seen that the Cavaliers through the ups, the downs, the highs and the lows, how has the fan base, does it feel a little bit different? It's a feel like a championship contender and know that LeBron James has nothing to do with any of this right now? That's a good point because that is what I think has got everybody all excited because getting to this point now with the way that the team we have without LeBron, it's been a big accomplishment because that always hangs over your head when you have a player like when you have a player of LeBron's ilk.
I mean, to get there without him is huge. And the fan base is going crazy. I mean, and the team is understanding now that quick starts in our arena, it puts us in a whole different area as far as the opposing team is concerned. And they're starting to understand quick starts is what gets us going. And I'm anxious to see how it's going to go. Because like I said, the pace is a game and they're going to be ready to play.
And no doubt about that. We've been joined by Austin Carr, Mr. Cavalier himself. And I guess now that the Cavaliers just took care of the heat in the first round, do you get a little bit of a break now? No more broadcasting?
What's the deal? Well, we're going to be able to do some pre and post game shows. So we're going to do those before and after the national people. So we'll get a chance to do a little bit. But that's about it now. I mean, and this is the last year anyway, for all of that, for the local teams to broadcast anything during the playoffs.
Because next year, starting next year, the national people will take over from day one, the first round all the way through now. So the only thing we're going to be able to do will be pre and post game shows. And that's what we're working on now. Hey, Mr. Cavalier, Austin Carr, I appreciate you taking the time to join us.
People can follow you online at MrCavalier34. Austin Carr, I appreciate you for coming through and lending your expertise. No better Cavalier to come through and chat with. Thank you. I appreciate that. Take care. Have a good day.
You as well. That is a legend. He's in the College Basketball Hall of Fame. He's number retired with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
You can catch him on the Cavalier broadcast, as he just explained. That's going to dwindle down now that we've gotten into the post season. Appreciate Austin Carr for coming through and dropping some knowledge on these Cleveland Cavaliers. Yeah, they're going to go up against these Indiana Pacers next. It's just a matter of if the Pacers get the Bucks out of here tonight or if they want to stretch it out for a few more games. Thank you again to Austin Carr. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
We're going to take a break. When we come back, you know, let's hear from some of the Cavaliers. I do want to talk about another similar team, had the best record in the Western Conference, not getting a lot of attention.
Still, that's the Oklahoma City Thunder. I want you to hear what Chris Carter and Michael Ervin had to say about Shadore Sanders and his draft fall. We got JJ McCarthy, who says he's ready to go as the starter. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief.
It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Thank you so much to Cavaliers legend Austin Carr for joining us in the last break. He's honest. He might be Mr. Cavalier.
His number might be retired. He might be in a college basketball hall of fame, but he's honest. Cavaliers got to get past the Indiana Pacers. The Cavaliers would then have to, assumingly, you know, get past the Boston Celtics.
It's not going to be easy. Boston Celtics have been here. Nonetheless, these Cleveland Cavaliers have certainly been, there's more than impressive, just wiping the floor, sweeping the Miami Heat, beating them by 55 points last night. Donovan Mitchell coming over from Utah, where apparently he hated his teammate. Hickey, that seems like so long ago. Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, did that seem like ages ago now?
It does to the point where I actually totally forgot about their, number one, totally forgot their teammates, and number two, right, how it ended was not exactly on the best terms. Yeah, you gave me COVID, right? You didn't take this seriously. You gave me COVID.
I don't want to be here anymore. Wild, wild, wild stuff. Donovan Mitchell last night says, man, beating up on the Heat, beating them by 55.
I love it. This is special. I was telling him, like, this is your first playoff series. This is what you're watching.
This, like, some of this isn't normal. Like, you know what I'm saying? So I appreciate the moment. I appreciate, you know, we've said it all series. This is not a 10 seed team. Like, you know what I mean? This is, this is a very talented team that we're playing against, competing against. So enjoying the moment. I think we've maybe got two days to do that. And then it's time to lock in on whoever it is. Yeah, he just, he just wants rest.
And I don't blame him. Why the hell wouldn't you want rest? You know, let the other two teams beat the living hell out of each other. And as it stands right now, this minute, this second, the Indiana Pacers at home, they're going toe to toe with the Bucks trying to eliminate them. There's about four minutes left in the game, or excuse me, four minutes left in the third quarter.
And Milwaukee leads 65 to 64. Remember, there's no Damian Lillard. We won't see this man play basketball for about a year. Damian Lillard out with a torn Achilles. He may be done with the Milwaukee Bucks as well. We also had Austin Carr show a lot of love to Kenny Atkinson as the one who has basically encouraged these guys to spread the ball around and just spread out the wealth. You guys got enough talent. It doesn't need to be the Donovan Mitchell show all the time. And Kenny Atkinson explained why getting the heat out of here in four games was important.
I also think it has to do with preparation. And guess what? Rest. Huge. I think we'll see what happens. It gives us a day or two days. This is looking big picture. Hopefully, we can extend this thing, but it gives us another advantage. We've done our work early all year, came out of the gate and played really well. And then getting this first seed. That's how you do it.
If you're going to script it, this is how you do it. Man, good for them. We don't know how many days of rest they're going to have. Maybe Indiana can get them out of here and have less rest. We'll see what happens.
That will be a good series. Indiana just likes to go up and down and up and down the court. I ultimately still think with the size that the Cavaliers have, especially up front, I think that'll mitigate some of the guys cutting to the basket and getting around with the Indiana Pacers. I would still take the Cavaliers against other Pacers.
Meanwhile, you want to talk about rest. The Oklahoma City Thunder got the Memphis Grizzlies out of here on Saturday. They have not played a game since Saturday.
It's already Tuesday. You think about their next opponent. The Oklahoma City Thunder will have a game or series, I should say, against the Nuggets or the Clippers. And that might be the best series here, ultimately, that we have in the first round. They are currently tied at two games apiece.
They get back after it in about two hours from now. This is going to go down to the wire. Definitely six to seven games minimum as it stands right now. Definitely six.
I wouldn't be surprised if it goes seven. I want to give the Nuggets the edge. Or excuse me, I want to give the Clippers the edge. I just, there's so much that has to work with Jokic and his players are up and down. Kawhi has just been on a roll.
This is going to go seven. Hickey, they're going to beat the living hell out of each other. And if I'm the Thunder, I know that Jokic is the best player in the game.
And I know that Shay Gilgus Alexander is likely to win MVP. But ultimately, if I'm the Thunder, give me the Nuggets. I feel that I'd be able to run them out of the ground.
Run them into the ground, I should say. I agree. I think you have much more of an ability to to score, to exploit their defense. I mean, look, the big question, right, is can Kawhi stay healthy and remain at this level for another round, another 10 games?
It's a giant question. But right now, yeah, I'd much rather have, I think, a weaker roster, which ironically enough is right now Denver, than a Clippers team that is tough, physical, good defensively, playing really good basketball in general and well coached. Yeah, if I am Shay Gilgus Alexander, the last person that I want to see in front of me is Kawhi Leonard. Like, I do not want to see that dude under any circumstances. Give me Michael Porter. Give me, you know, Murray. Give me Westbrook. I do not want to see Kawhi Leonard just line up in front of me in a defensive position.
Like, ain't nobody trying to see that. So at least, at least the Oklahoma City Thunder, mind you, this is a team that won more games than anybody this season. It's 68. They got a lot of rest. Whenever the series ends, they will certainly be rested. And who knows, maybe there'll be, is there such thing as too rested?
Maybe they'll be a little rusty. Shay Gilgus Alexander says, you know what? How we started the postseason sweeping the Grizzlies, I'm happy about that. I guess stay with it. In the past, I for sure would have, I guess, turned down the aggressiveness a little bit. And I think I made a jump as far as that this year. That's something that I'm definitely proud of. I try not to focus on the results and just focus on my mental development.
And I think I've taken a step forward in that. Yeah, man, I just, we got to see it first. And that falls for the Cleveland Cavaliers as well. Oklahoma City Thunder, they go out there and win 68 games.
The Cleveland Cavaliers win 64 games. And ultimately, I just kind of scratched my head and go, yeah, people aren't talking about y'all because y'all haven't won nothing. And I get it. You have different pieces, guys that are now healthy.
And I get it. Beat the Celtics in the case of the Cavaliers. And the Thunder, well, they got a better chance than anybody.
They're going to be matching up against veteran teams the rest of the way. It's one thing to take on a dysfunctional Grizzlies team that just fired its head coach as a wild child and John Morant. The Nuggets, the Nuggets have won the championship. They got the best player in the league.
Okay. Think about the Clippers. Look, and it doesn't matter how you feel about James Harden. He is one of the most experienced players and smartest players in the league. And it doesn't hurt that he's playing with Kawhi Leonard, who actually won himself a couple of championships. Lakers and the Timberwolves, who cares?
You can throw that out the window. I know Minnesota currently leads three to one. We'll see them in action tomorrow. And then the Rockets and the Warriors, the Warriors lead that series three to one. If the Warriors end up facing off against the Thunder, it would have to happen in the Western Conference Finals. And that's realistic, because the Warriors are going to move on.
Hickey, this is actually cool to think about. The Warriors actually have a clear, I don't want to say clear path, but they got a clear path towards the West Finals. They're going to get the Rockets the hell up on out of here. I think the Timberwolves, despite, you know, what they're doing to the Lakers right now, I would take the Warriors over the Timberwolves. And the Warriors would be right there in the Western Conference Finals, waiting to take on the Thunder, the Nuggets, or the Clippers. The Warriors, I think, might be in the West Finals, man.
I right now would pick the Timberwolves. I like their size. I like their variety of scoring. I think if the Rockets had a little bit more experience, I think they'd probably win this series.
I'd agree. They have younger growing talent. You got the ups and the downs of the Jalen Greens. He got benched.
He got benched last night. Like, this should be the guy out there, and this comes with experience in his youth. Like, there should be no reason that he's not being a killer out there every night, outside of lacking consistency. And that just worries me, because of how close some of these games have been to where I think, you know, they benefited from their championship experience coming through, figuring out how to win some of these close games. Minnesota's experience.
They went to the Western Conference Finals last year. You're seeing how they're just crashing the boards. They're making shots. Ant Edwards is a killer that Jalen Green is not.
And I just get nervous. Like, if it's not Steph, and it's not Jimmy, Pod's had a good game yesterday, but other than that, like, where are you getting the consistent scoring from? I don't really know. Pajemski, he started to light it up. He had a huge game last night as well. He did. I think he had 20, 26, 27. Yeah, Steph Curry, I think, only finished with about 17.
I don't know. I'm just never, ever going to be sold on the Wolves. Not this iteration of the team. I wasn't sold on them last year with Karl-Anthony, not sold on them now with Julius Randle.
Just not a fan. I think the Warriors would take it. It'd be a fun one. It's the JR Sportbree Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. When we come back, Shadore Sanders, he showed up in Cleveland. He found his new job and his keycard works. We'll talk about him, get into the 49ers and more. It's the JR Sportbree Show. Don't move.
