It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in all over North America. Thank you to super producer and host Ryan Hickey.
He is in New York City. Happy Friday to you. Hope you're safe. I hope you're well. I hope you're just having a good start to your weekend. I'll be hanging out with you for the next two hours.
This show gets started every weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Hey, we talked about Greg Popovich. He's no longer the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Mitch Johnson is going to take over on a full-time basis and Greg Popovich, well, he'll be upstairs. Greg Popovich is going to be president of the San Antonio Spurs.
Good for him. I hope he enjoys himself and I hope he's in good health. And speaking of the NBA, in about 20 minutes, we'll have a whole conversation about everything going on in the league with Colin Ward Henninger. This man covers basketball for CBS Sports. We'll talk about the game that's going to start in about an hour from now between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. We'll get into what we can expect between the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. I think the Celtics are going to wax the Knicks. What do we got with these Timberwolves, huh? We got the Pacers are playing on Sunday, too.
Gets the Cleveland Cavaliers. So we got a lot of basketball to get into with Colin Ward Henninger. He's coming up in 20 minutes from now. 888-710-4ISN is the number.
That's 888-710-4ISN. Of course, at the end of the show, we'll talk about a few things that took place this day in sports history. We'll talk about Panthers legend Steve Smith.
This guy's being sued for being a home wrecker, not something that you want all out in the public. We have a lot to get into. You can find me online at JR Sport Brief.
That's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Thank you for listening on the free Odyssey app, your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate, Sirius XM375, and a smart speaker if you have one. Thank you also so much to Carolina Teague for coming through to join us that she covers the San Antonio Spurs for the Spurfect blog. And she gave some personal anecdotes and stories about her time covering the Spurs with Greg Popovich.
And you know what? Let's listen to someone who also has a great relationship with Greg Popovich. And she's actually Hickey. I believe she was the first woman ever to be put on a coaching staff. That's Becky Hammond with the San Antonio Spurs. Right now she coaches the Las Vegas Aces. They won two championships with Becky Hammond. But Greg Popovich had no issue with taking Becky Hammond, who used to be a star in the WNBA, and putting her on his bench. Becky Hammond spoke because, well, the WNBA is getting ready to start in two weeks.
This is what Becky Hammond had to say about Popovich and just, you know, the fact that people thought it would have been her to take the job. This opportunity for me was like, I couldn't pass on it. I felt like I was ready three years ago.
And so, you know, I bet on myself instead of maybe waiting it out for a maybe, you know. But I've enjoyed being back on the women's side. I think you guys know I'm effusive about my love for this team and being back in the women's game. If I were to ever make that jump again, you know, it would just have to be the right fit, right time in front of the right people with the right team.
Wow. Man, Hickey, you think if she, let me not say that. I was going to say if she got offered an NBA job, she would take it regardless of what the gig is. Maybe not. You think about the money and the finances.
I mean, I find it hard to just, you say no. One day a woman is going to coach in the NBA. If she got the call, do you think that Becky Hammond would just take any job? That's a good question.
I don't know. Just because, especially being a woman and the first woman to coach the NBA, I think fair or not, you would be judged by how it goes. And I think that could impact future opportunities, fair or not. Yeah. And so they get to be judicious in the sense of if the Hornets call you tomorrow and say, hey, you want to be our coach?
Say no. Hornets, Pelicans, there are a bunch of teams where it's like, I don't think it's worth it. Yeah. Spurs are different. There's plenty of organizations there that you feel good about the future and the front office. But I think for her, she would have to be very judicious about which job she takes because I think it will set us, kind of lay the groundwork for her and other women who want to follow in her path going forward.
Yeah, it's tough. Rightfully, right or wrong, whoever becomes, whatever woman becomes the first to go out there and coach in the NBA, they're going to be judged to high hell. And we know coaches are already getting hired and fired. We got championship coaches, guys who've won titles, the booting holsters of the world, the Vogels. These dudes are just getting tossed around like, tossed out the window like they're yesterday's trash. Like, are we going to have a woman's coach come over to the NBA?
And of course, why would the expectation be any different? Like, Becky Hammond could come over and coach, I don't know, the Memphis Grizzlies, who, by the way, hired Isalo as their full time head coach. But Becky Hammond, what happens? She's there for a year and they fire her. Are people going to run around and scream, oh, they treating her like this because she's a woman? You're going to have people who have no idea about basketball, who are going to, you know, throw their hat in the ring with an opinion about it.
I don't know. From the minute that she was put on the bench, there was a full thought that she was going to succeed Greg Popovich. And like she said, she didn't want to wait. And she ultimately went to the WNBA, had a lot of success and two rings with the Aces. We don't know what else happens now that I believe Asia Wilson is going to be a free agent at the end of this year. But I think if there's any sport where we're not going, I don't think in my lifetime, you think in our lifetime we're going to see a woman coach in the NFL? I don't think so. I don't think so either.
I don't think so. We won't see a woman in Major League Baseball. We won't see that. We'll see, we'll see, we'll see a woman in basketball though.
I think, I think we will. 15 years, Hickey? 10, 15 years?
Yeah, 20. Like, yeah, I think I feel comfortable definitely within our lifetime. Ooh, lifetime. Man, that's a long time, bruh. I'm trying to think sooner.
Come on. Don't the Lakers? The Lakers have a woman on their staff.
I forgot her name. She played in the WNBA as well. The Pacers do. Like they are more women are being involved in the game. I think it, like it definitely is going to take a team that honestly has some cojones to make them, you know, it's one thing to have an assistant on the bench. It's another thing to actually make a woman a head coach.
It depends on, you know, where the team is and the situation, what they're looking for. I think, I mean, clearly I think it's basketball that we're going to be probably the only one in our lifetime. Yeah, I think so.
But I don't, you never know how the world goes. Hickey, I'm counting myself for another, I'm doing another 40 minimum, okay? Minimum. Minimum. I'm trying to go to 100. So at 30, I'm hoping for another 70. And screw you, man. Good for you.
Not me. Not a hundred? Is that too old? I don't know. Let me hold on.
And by the way, Lindsey Harding is the Lakers assistant who played in the WNBA. I'm going to Google people who are 100 years old. I'm going to assume in another 70 years they're going to look better. 100 year old person.
Let me look at what they look like. On the news locally, where my parents live on Long Island, actually the gym my mom goes to, they just honored someone who turned 100 years old. She still works out every day there. God bless. And she can do a three minute plank.
Oh, wow. Yeah, her name is Jerry. She's tough. Yeah, she's tough. Yeah, Hickey, I don't want to, these ladies I'm looking at can't do planks, okay?
Neither can these men. And shout outs to every, shout outs to the 100 year old people listening. Shout outs to everybody of all age listening to us right now. Oh damn, this lady, Hickey, this lady is 111. Oh, wow. She looks good.
She look good. 111, okay. Is that the oldest, is she still alive? I don't know.
Was that the record? I am on Google Images, okay. What? I searched a 100 year old person.
I guess for what you're looking for, which is like what they look like to judge whether you want to live 200 is very fair. Yeah, not really. I'm just dying at that, that's funny. Oh my God. Yeah, no, I just, I will live for however long I need to be here and be happy.
How about that? So the people on Google Images did not convince you to rethink and say, okay, definitely want to live 200. No, not at all.
Oh, no. And of course people are, you know, people are healthier, I think, and, and more aware of their health and their fitness. So I think people are doing better things and looking better. Yeah, I think, you know, 100 now, like, let's be real, Hickey, people weren't even living to 100 in the 1800s. Like these people are dying when what? They're like 30 and 40. I was going to say in the 1800s, I mean, like 30 years ago, I don't think people were living to 100.
Oh, come on. Yeah, they were. Yeah. In the 70s? I don't think so.
Because think about it, like the people that are, the people that would be 100 in the 70s were born in 1870. Were they in 1870 when you're a kid and you're growing up in the 1920s in the great depression, are you worried about, you know, your gut health? No. You making sure you're getting your spinach every day? Yeah.
Are they getting their A1C levels tested? I don't think so. You're right. My point is that if we go back 100 and damn, Hickey, damn, we in 2025, I got to go back further. If we go back 200 years, not that long ago, like people, grown men were dying at 40, okay?
Yeah, yes, I agree. Like you had a bad tooth, you're dead, okay? You're like a horse, you break a leg, you're dead. You got anything wrong, you are dead. This is like, oh man, we got to, you pull out a tooth, you got a bad tooth, they pull it out, you got an infection and now your whole mouth is rotten and then you die. Like it's, nowadays you just go to the dentist and just go about your day, you know?
You leave an hour late and you feel fine, you can drive right home. Yeah, not in the year, what, 1780, like uh-uh. If you had surgery then you're not, don't even bother stitching them up, they're not making it. So you get an infection from the surgery, what did they cut you open with? Trash, machete. Did they, did they disinfect it?
No, no chance. How did they put you out? How did they cut, they did surgery while you were alive? I mean, I might be showing a lot of ignorance right now, but you know, the overall is, the overall point is, uh, things are quite advanced now. I saw a robot, Hickey, you want to know what it did? I saw a robot, it stitched up a grape, okay? That's how, like, intricate the science and technology is, and I might be overstating it, it might have stitched up a pea, like, it, like, can you imagine? Like a human hand can't do that, but we can train a robot to have the tiniest incision and stitch it up with no problem, like, that's crazy. That is, you know me, I'm anti-robot, but that is encouraging for the future, if we ever need surgery, that it could go, I mean, it goes for the most part well now with humans at the, at the helm.
Right. Seems like it could be even smoother, even better, even easier 30 years from now. Well, come on, Hickey, let's be, look, think about the athletes and the surgeries that they have. Just think about Aaron Rodgers, we know he's old as dirt for a football player. This guy blew out his Achilles and came back because of a new technology. If Aaron Rodgers blew out his Achilles in, in 89, if he blew out his Achilles in 2000, is this dude coming back at 40? This career, he's getting sensitive to the glue factor, his career is over. He's done, he's done.
It's not even a thought, don't even bother. The guy's the guy's 40 years old, blows out his Achilles and comes back. Like, I'm, I'm okay. Like Damian Lillard, I get it. He's basketball play a little bit different.
It's his job to run and jump. And if you can't do that, you're cooked. And of course that, that wanes as you get older anyway, unless you're LeBron James, even LeBron is not the same type of athlete that he used to be. Let's be real.
Father Tom gets everybody, but with all this modern technology and stuff, I just, I don't know. I rebuilt my body just by doing yoga, man, yoga, calisthenics. I'm not even a full professional athlete.
Not even a partial athlete. I don't know what I, I'm just trying to stay alive. Modern medicine. And thankfully modern medicine helps us do that easier than ever. Yeah.
Live a comfortable, easy, healthy life. No medicine. He just fooled, you know, awareness, knowledge they didn't have in the 1850s or even 1930s. They had books, they had books, but, uh, they didn't have the science, I guess. Right. That's it. I don't think you're going to study it.
You know, how are you going to study it? I don't think they were eating kale and all that other stuff. Maybe they were careless. It's been around, right?
I mean, it is just pop up. Where's it been all these years? I don't know.
In the dirt, I guess. No one's been eating it. They're passing it over. That doesn't look very good. I'm going to notice. I'm not eating that. No, thanks. I need to find, I need to find that on a chart.
I'm gonna look that up in the break. Popularity of kale over time. Okay.
It's going to be like zero. Iggy, I didn't know what kale was in the year 2000. Kale? Do you know what kale was? I remember, I probably learned about it 15 years ago, I want to say. I think it became a big like vegan, like, you know. Yes.
Clear out your system. Yeah. That's what it is. It's tough.
That's tough. It's like gluten. Nobody knows such thing as gluten. I never heard of gluten until 10 years ago. Come on. Now everyone's got a gluten allergy.
Yeah. I'm allergic to gluten. Just shut up and sit down. Eat this bread. You can't eat bread.
Shut up. What do they do in the 1850s for that gluten allergy? Die. Like, you're not going to eat that bread. You're just going to starve.
Just stand over there and die. They probably grow so much bread. Like, oh man, that bread's bad. Look at them.
Look at Johnny over there. They ate bread and drank water. Come on.
And killed animals. Stop it. Now everybody has gluten or whatever. Anyway, it's the JR sport reshow here with you on the infinity sports network. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to have a conversation with Colin Ward Henniger. We're going to have a chat about all things basketball. We got the rockets and the warriors coming up. We got a game seven on Sunday.
We got the Knicks and the Celtics. We're going to have a big old time, a big old chat. Colin Ward Henniger is the JR sport reshow, the infinity sports network. You're listening to the JR sport brief. It is the JR sport reshow here with you on the infinity sports network.
Hey, I need you to think O'Reilly auto parts for all of your car care needs to get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly auto parts. Man, there's so much going on in the NBA right now. Got coaches who are getting full-time jobs.
You got coaches who are becoming presidents. We got people knocking down the series, clinching shots. We got game sevens. We got teams that are basically on vacation.
We have an injured LeBron. There's a lot going on in the league right now to talk about everything that we've seen, what we will see, what we are experiencing. We're being joined by someone who covers all things basketball for CBS sports. We're being joined by Colin Ward Henniger. Hey, Colin, how are you, man?
I'm good, man. You got, you got me pumped up with that intro. I'm like, yeah, I've never been happier to cover the NBA.
Hey, it's a, it's a busy, busy, busy day, a busy, busy time. Before we get into a lot of the action that's, that's already going on. Greg Popovich steps down. What do you think things are going to look like for the Spurs going into the future? Of course, they still have Winbanyama. We can assume his health is going to turn out all right.
What should we expect from them in the future? Yeah, I think, you know, first of all, I mean, pop just absolute legend, not just in the NBA community, but in, in American sports in general. I mean, this guy just left his mark on, on sports for the past, you know, 30 years of how to operate, how to run the team, how to be a human being to your players and to your fellow coaches.
So I've never heard a bad thing said about him, other than maybe some sideline reporters who ended up interviewing him. But other than that, in terms of the basketball, in terms of the humanity, the guy has just been tremendous. And I think one of the testaments, uh, to his, his, his, the way that he's run that organization is the way that he's left it right there in great, in a great position. They had a few down years, uh, you know, I guess you could still say that they're in a little bit of a down year, but they have Victor Winbanyama and they have, uh, the framework, uh, another disciple of his, Mitch Johnson taking over, uh, he's obviously still going to be around Popovich as, as team president.
Uh, so he will have his, his fingerprints on, on the way that this is going to be moving forward. Uh, but he set the tone, the organizational tone, how things are supposed to run, uh, the discipline, uh, he was famous for coaching his stars just as hard as he coached the 12th, 13th guy on the team, uh, Tim Duncan, he would coach him hard. So, uh, you know, I think that more than the titles and the accolades and the, the all time leader and coaching wins for the regular season, uh, is that he, he left a mark on how to run an organization and the Spurs culture was really, you know, the epitome of that and what people aspired to around the league.
Colin Ward Henning, Henninger is here with us on the JR sport re-show covers all things basketball for CBS sports. That's for the San Antonio Spurs. We got to wait and see what they do on the court. Uh, come October, we got a bunch of teams that are in action right now.
A matter of fact, there's going to be about 35, 40 minutes from now. We'll see if the golden state warriors can just get the rockets on out of here, but we've seen Steph Curry running around with that, that bum hand, that thumb looks kind of grotesque right now. Is there a realistic chance that the warriors blow this three, one lead because of Steph's injury?
Uh, it's possible. I wouldn't say it would be because of Steph's injury. I would say it'd be more because of, uh, I'm in Thompson and what he's been doing defensively, if he can continue to do what he did in game five, that's, you know, whether it's still in Brooks hitting Steph's thumb on purpose or, or, or the men Thompson chasing around the perimeter, uh, things are just going to be difficult for him. And it's not, you know, nothing different for Steph. He's, he's dealt with this his entire career. This is the playbook on him, how to stop him, particularly in a playoff setting, just be extremely physical, foul him all the time, all his off ball movement, all that bump and hit him, pull him, drag him, whatever you need to do, uh, to get him out of rhythm.
Uh, and he still continues to flourish. So, uh, there there's a chance that that could happen. I don't think that's going to happen. I think that, that the warriors, uh, you know, the way that they lost game five is exactly the same as the way they lost game five in 2022 against the Memphis Grizzlies, where Draymond was waving the towel and screaming, whoop that trick. They lost that game by a ton of points, went back home, closed out the series in game six.
I think the same thing's going to happen here. Uh, Steve Kerr has his team prepared. These are, this is a veteran group, obviously with Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, all players who have performed on the highest stage, uh, in the NBA playoffs. They are going to treat this like a game seven. I guarantee you, they will come in with that mentality. That energy is going to be there from the players.
It's going to be there in the building. And this is a young, uh, inexperience for the most part, uh, Rockets team that hasn't seen something like this from a veteran team. So I think, uh, I think they're in for a tough road tonight.
Yeah. Golden state warriors trying to avoid this game seven. Well, Colin, tomorrow night, we got the Nuggets and the Clippers. They are in a game seven. The winner of this series will go on to face the thunder.
We'll get to them in a second. This isn't seemingly an even matchup between two flawed teams. This is why they are the the four and the five seed.
What do you think we can expect tomorrow as they go back to the mile high? Yeah, this is going to be, I mean, this is obviously, I think, well, for a lot of people, their favorite series of the, of the opening round for those, you know, Jokic said it, those who love basketball will love this series because it's just such a high level being played. Even, you know, as you mentioned, they are flood teams.
They're not perfect. Uh, but when you have Nicola Jokic on one side and what Jamal Murray has been doing recently, and then you have Kawhi Leonard, uh, and, and you say what you will about James Harden, but he came through, uh, in game six and they needed him. We'll see what happens in game seven.
The track record is not great. Um, but in terms of what they're doing on the court, the execution, uh, the effort, the hustle on both sides, it's been a tremendous series. So for game seven, I mean, I, you know, you hate to say toss up, but these teams are so evenly matched. Uh, I think with Denver being at home, even though they lost the game seven last year at home, which nobody expected them to lose. Uh, I think you probably have to give them a slight edge, but again, to me, uh, this is going to come down to, uh, the guy I mentioned earlier, James Harden, if he can come through with not, not, not even just, not even just like, not even a great game, but just like an okay game, not a terrible game, right?
If he has double digit points or shoots more than six times, uh, then that'll be the difference. But again, if you were relying on James Harden in a game seven, things probably aren't looking your way, which is why I think Denver is probably going to pull this one out. Yeah.
Yeah. Things haven't gone all that swimmingly for, uh, James Harden and games that actually matter in the post season. We're being joined by Colin Ward Henninger who covers all things basketball for CBS sports.
I said the winner of this series goes on to take on or face the Oklahoma city thunder. The thunder haven't been in action since what last Saturday? What the hell have they been doing?
Just running practice? Like what is this? Yeah. I mean, the thunder knowing them, they're, they're all 20 years old.
So they're probably just playing video games and they're doing tick-tocking. I don't know what kids that age are doing these days, but, um, yeah, it's going to be weird. Uh, it's a long wait. This team is, you know, as well coached and as disciplined as I've seen a team at least throughout the regular season and the brief glimpse we got of them in the first round of the playoffs. Uh, so I think they'll be prepared. I think they'll be ready again, say, you know, mentioning their, their age.
I don't know if rest was even really that big of an issue for them. So, um, they're going to be prepared. So you know, just Alexander is just a, you know, an absolute handful to deal with. And then, uh, they just have the depth and the size and the strength. I think that's really what I'm going to look, look for in the second round. If they're facing Denver, uh, these physical defenders, they have, you know, Isaiah Hartenstein to bully Nicole Jokic. They have Chad Holmgren to protect the rim, not a big physical guy, but a guy who's, uh, as good as going vert with his verticality around the rim as anyone in the league blocking shots. And then on the wings, you've got, uh, Jay Williams, you've got Lou Dort.
You've got Alex Caruso. It's just all this strength and bulk and power. Um, so I think they could overwhelm the Denver Nuggets a little bit. Uh, you know, even if Jokic ends up getting 40 a game, they're going to concentrate on limiting those other guys. And then if they face the Clippers, I think the Clippers actually have a little bit better chances because Hawaii, uh, is a little more, uh, you know, capable of handling that kind of physicality. Uh, and they also do have to me a little bit more depth than the Denver Nuggets, which you need against OKC because OKC is just running, you know, guy after guy after guy out there at you.
Um, so I think they'll need that. Uh, and the Clippers, I would say they have a better chance against OKC, but again, I don't know if they're going to get past Denver. So, uh, either way, uh, you have the Oklahoma State Thunder has to be favored based on everything we've seen from them in the regular season. And now into the playoffs, as long as they're healthy, there's no reason to doubt that they're going to be able to advance.
Oh, well, I mean, we got the Timberwolves there, the other team that advanced in the, in the West, knocking off the Lakers using their size and their strength. And we'll see who they face between the Rockets and the Warriors. Do you think the Thunder are just going to kind of go through everybody you favor them to go to the finals? I just say that they're the favorite to go to the finals.
It may be difficult. It's so tough with the Thunder cause we really haven't seen them. We saw them last year, uh, struggle against the Dallas Mavericks. Um, this year we haven't seen them really tested in a way that, that can tell us, you know, what does this team look like when the chips are down and they're down two games to one, you know, something like that. And that's when is the age, the experience, which is really the only knock that you can have on the Oklahoma City Thunder is that, look, the guys haven't been there before. They haven't won a championship.
They're young. Um, that's really all you can go with. So if they face a team, uh, like the, the Warriors, for instance, uh, with all that championship pedigree, obviously the words have to get past the Rockets and then get past the Timberwolves before they'd face them. Uh, but that's the type of team that I could see, uh, giving them problems. A team that has, uh, multiple superstars, a team that has a guy who's capable of being the best player on the floor in any given game, uh, and a team that has a little bit more experience and pedigree.
But, you know, that's, uh, that's a lot of ifs. I think the Thunder on paper, uh, based on what we've seen has to be the favorite to come out of the West. Colin Ward Henninger is here with us from CBS Sports, uh, over on the Eastern Conference side, there's no waiting like the Thunder and the Timberwolves have to do.
We, we know the matchup status set. We have the Cavaliers and the Pacers. Game one is on Sunday. We got the Knicks and the Celtics.
They play on Monday. What are your thoughts, I guess, first on what we saw last night with Brunson and is he going to have to do that every single game against the Celtics? I find it hard pressed for them to advance. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's basically what the Knicks have become, right? It's the Dylan Brunson show. He has to do, uh, the heavy lifting on offense, but I mean, yeah, going back to that shot, uh, for what for what a star Thompson was doing to Brunson, uh, for, you know, throughout pretty much the entire series, but especially later in the series, uh, for him to come through with that just unbelievable crossover, uh, sorry, Thompson goes sliding across the court. Once that happened once, once Thompson stumbled and, and Brunson got even a sliver of daylight, I think, you know, most people who know anything about Brunson's game and have been following a Knicks at all, were like, all right, this is going in. It was only a matter of, he was going to dribble in for a two, but he pulled up for the three, knocked it down, did his little Brunson three thing over his face.
And it was exactly what you wanted. That's the clutch player of the year. And there's a reason that he's the clutch player of the year. So, um, moving forward, the next, the way they won that series, I wouldn't be too encouraged if I was a Knicks fan, this is supposed to be a team that, you know, we got Carl Hansen, the towns in the off season, we got McHale bridges. This is supposed to be this super, uh, you know, complex, versatile, uh, defensively stout basketball team.
Uh, and they just haven't really been that and towns is doing his town thing where he has, you know, one really good game. And then he has a couple stinkers and then he fouls out and he makes a dumb play. Um, so really, as you mentioned, it's going to come down to Jalen Brunson. And the problem with that is that the Celtics have so many guys who they can throw on Jalen Brunson, whether it's true holiday, if he gets healthy, Derek white, just an absolute monster of a guard.
And then you have the bigger guys in Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, uh, who can, they can throw on there too. So, uh, you know, if it's up to Jalen Brunson to do all the heavy lifting over the course of a six, seven game series, whatever it ends up being, that's going to take a serious toll on him. So for me, I think it's the Celtics, you know, in a maybe six games, I don't see it going the distance just based on what I've seen from the Knicks in the first round.
Yeah. Well, Colin, I mean, if you, you think about the, the Cavaliers and the Pacers, unless John Halliburton shows up and, uh, you know, physically gets involved, the Cavaliers are going to take on the Celtics in the East finals, right? We're going to see the Celtics go all the way.
What do you think about this? I don't know, man. I'd watch out for those Pacers. Like, like the cats have steamrolled like the same way, uh, almost as OKC, right? They had a tremendous regular season. And then the first round is that heat team, but they, they had no business being in the playoffs.
They, I think they were probably all upset that they won their play in match-ups and like, why are we here? Uh, and they ended up having the largest point differential in the history of the NBA, the playoff series. Uh, so it's hard to say the Cavs weren't exactly tested. Uh, the reason I say watch out for the Indiana Pacers is because the Cavs have this tremendous offense, right?
It has been all year long. Uh, and the Pacers are one of the few teams that have the firepower to keep up with them, right? They had, they're led by John Halbert and son Tyrese, uh, who's just absolutely orchestrating everything. And you saw his clutch ability winning that improbable game against the bucks to advance.
Uh, and then they have shooters everywhere. They have cast Pascal. Siakam has been super underrated for the last couple of seasons, especially since he joined Indiana, uh, miles Turner as a center who can knock down threes. So overall, I think they presented enough versatility and, and, and a challenge offensively or well, a challenge defensively for the Cavs to stop the Pacers offense. So I do think it'll be a little bit closer than maybe people think on paper. Uh, I, I do see the Cavs advancing, uh, and ultimately meeting the Celtics in the Easter coverage finals.
But I do think these, this Pacers team might have something to say about it. All right. Let's see.
I know Halliburton says he doesn't care about being called underrated and then he wants to scream to everybody that he's not. So, uh, take that for what it is. Hey Colin, thank you so much for the time. Tell everybody where they could find and follow you and your work with CBS sports.
Yeah, I'm all right. I write on cbssports.com always. You can check that out. And I'm also on CBS sports HQ. I'll pop on, do a couple, uh, video hits from time to time. And then depending on this, how far the warriors get, I might pop over to a warriors game, do some video stuff from there. So, uh, yeah, cbssports.com.
Hey, thank you so much to Colin Ward Henninger for joining us on the JR sport brief show, man. We're only about 20, 25 minutes away from the start of rockets and warriors. I want to see what Steph Curry does. I mean, 13 points, 17 points the game before that.
I mean, is his thumb good? It doesn't appear. So, um, Steph Curry, everybody's going to be on Steph Curry. Watch it's the JR sport reshow on the infinity sports network. 8 8 8 7 10 4 ISN that's 8 8 8 7 10 4 I S and we come back.
You know what? Let's talk about this game that we're about to see between the rockets and the warriors. You're listening to the JR sport brief. It is the JR sport reshow here with you on the infinity sports network. Thank you to Colin Ward Henninger from CBS sports to come through to talk some basketball with us. We're about 15 minutes away from the start of the Houston rockets and the golden state warriors. Golden state warriors are trying to eliminate the rockets except for Steph Curry's dealing with a bum thumb.
Thumb, the joint on his thumb is the size of a grape. Score 13 points, 17 points. That ain't no Steph Curry game. That's, that's a role player.
And Jimmy Butler had what, like eight points in the last game. He better show up. It's up to him to get to work. Hickey, it says 9 PM. Is this one, it's realistically 9 10 9 15 or are we going to be surprised here? This is ESPN, so it's going to be definitely later. My guess, official tip time, 9 13.
9 13. Okay. We'll see. We'll see if everybody's on time. Let's see if Steph Curry's thumb is okay. Let's see if Draymond is actually, you know, going to go out there and do, do some work.
Probably not. Let's listen to Jimmy Butler. He says, yeah, we sucked in the last game. We got blown out. We'll do better this time.
Sure. Our confidence isn't going to waver any. We're going to start out better. We're going to play a better overall game because we know how good of a team we are as a unit. We know how good our players are as individuals.
So we just got to starters. We got to kick us off better, which we know that we will do. We'll be fine.
Yeah, man. They can't be worse. They can't be worse than what they just did.
Of course, they're going to be better. I mean, at one point in that game, the final score was one 31 and one 16, the golden state warriors were down 31 points. You think we're going to see that tonight?
Hell no. I put money down that we won't see a discrepancy that large and Steph Curry, Mr. Bum Thumb, he says we need to be resilient. We talked about our group is trying to do this for the first time together. And I love that challenge because, you know, we have an opportunity to write our own story and how we bounce back. And we've had a pretty resilient group over the last two months.
And it has to show on Friday. Is that the word resilient? I thought he just plays with jerks. I didn't know it was resilient. Yeah, I kind of agree with that one.
I don't know. I mean, they've been tough and they have that championship mentality, which I guess you can equate resilience to that. But yeah, bunch of jerks around Steph is a bunch of jerks. It's like that one nice guy hanging out with the jerk. Why are you hanging out with those guys? Nobody likes them.
Nobody likes them. So I guess Steph Curry doesn't have a choice in the matter. It kind of does. But anyway, I think I don't know.
This is a it's the great unknown. Like if Steph Curry had, I don't know, a sore neck or something like that, I'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, he'll be fine. But it's obvious his shooting hand is screwing up his ability to score the basketball. I mean, thank God they got Jimmy Butler because who else can go out there and get a bucket? It ain't gonna be Draymond. Hickey, what do you think Draymond's career high in points is?
Just thinking about it. What do you think it is? I think he's had a 34 game per before. I'd say 31.
Never 40, right? No, no, no. Wow. Was I stretching it?
No, no, you are correct. His career high, 31 points. Wow. When was this? 2014. Yeah, man. Yeah. Wow.
It is actually a Google question. A lot of people have asked, has Draymond ever scored 30 points? Hope he kept that ball. Wow.
How about this? Whoa. When was the last time Draymond Green scored 30 points?
He had 32 points in game seven of the 2016 finals against the Cavs. I don't remember that. Wow. Yeah, I don't remember. That doesn't ring no bells to me.
Is this Google screwing up? I guess maybe the Cavs just put everyone on Steph and said, we dare them and claim we dare to shoot. Maybe you got hot one night. Yeah, go out there and get some some layups. You might recall the Cavaliers won that game with that that shot from Kyrie.
Let's see. Oh, Draymond did have 32. Wow. How many shots did he take that game?
15, 11. Yeah. Oh my God. They were threes, brah.
Wow. It's six of eight. See, nobody remembers this game because they lost. And Steph Curry only had 17 points. He was six to 19 shooting. Klay Thompson had 14 points. He was six to 17 shooting. Draymond Green was carrying the weight. He played almost the whole game, 47 minutes, six of eight from three, 15 rebounds, nine assists and 32 points. Could you imagine how he would have been viewed at this point in his career if the Golden State Warriors won that game? He would be viewed maybe the way Andre Goodell is viewed in a way.
I would think higher, man, right? He's getting his jersey. I mean, yes, German's getting his jersey retired, too. He is. But people were, do you, I didn't remember that. No. Did you remember that?
Not even a clue. If the Golden State Warriors won that championship in 2016 and Draymond was the leader in game seven with 32 points, 15 rebounds, people would look at him different. This is wow. I mean, dare I say, is that MVP? Finals MVP? Finals MVP? If he would have won out, man, I don't know.
I'm in game seven, that performance, like I know it's one game, but you have to win it, right? You got to give it to Draymond. He'd be less of a jerk. People would actually be like, oh, that guy had a, he could actually score. I'm not going to say basketball talent. He's a very smart basketball player. He's a great defender, even at his age, 35. He's just a complete pain in the ass. And he is a, his skill set, and we've said this before, his skill set wouldn't translate to a lot of teams.
That's it. He hit the jackpot playing next to Steph Curry and God bless him. He has milked it into an entire career.
There'd be no TNT show. There'd be none of this if he were on the Pelicans or the Magic or the Trailblazers. He's just hit the jackpot.
Good for Draymond. Let's see what he does. I'm sure he's getting ready to fight somebody in another 20, 25 minutes. Is he sharpening up his shiv in the back, Hickey?
Oh, I'm not. Especially if Dylan Brooks' comments after game five would not be surprised. Oh yeah. He's going to, is somebody going to hit Dylan Brooks right out there? It needs to be Draymond, right?
Oh, that's, who's option two? Well, I guess Jimmy Butler could now bring some physicality. Yeah. Jimmy Butler said he hates Dylan. He hates Dylan Brooks.
Can't stand him. Yeah. They got, they got, somebody has to take out Dylan Brooks early.
I'll be paying attention to see who does that. What a wild scene this game is about to be. This guy's like, yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to take out Steph Curry's thumb and somebody has to take him out. Is Kavon, Kavon Looney still on the team, right? Yeah. I mean, barely plays, but he's still there. He puts a jersey on.
Yeah. He got six fouls. He better use them.
They put them out. They need to start him in the game and his one job, go hit Dylan and sit down. Flagrant foul out the gate. Let's get it. It's the JR Sportbreeze Show on the Infinity Sports Network. When we come back, Hey, it's the Friday Funny. We'll keep you up to date on the basketball. Then Steve Smith, a few things in sports history. It's the JR Sportbreeze Show, the Infinity Sports Network.
