NBA Playoff Recap (Hour 3)

That's what I'm talking about. It is the Zach Yelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio, hour number three of our radio program. Let's update you on some of the biggest storylines in the world of sports with some audio. We call this segment the News Brief. Time for your daily News Brief.

We get you caught up on the rumors, reports, and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Bunch of nonsense last night as the Suns tie up the series two games apiece, 129 to 124 over the Denver Nuggets. This goes back to the second quarter when a ball did go out of bounds and it went into the hands of Suns owner Matt Ishbia and the next thing you know Nicole Yocha tries to go get the ball and then Ishbia wouldn't give him the ball and then there was a little altercation. The league came out today they said the Joker was fined $25,000.

He will not be suspended. The Suns owner this morning was tweeting out how this should be the end of it and this shouldn't even be a storyline from last night basically waving the white flag and saying maybe the league behind the scenes told me to put this out without even actually saying that or he just did that out of the goodness of his heart right in the in the state of competition which I don't really buy and he just wanted this story to be over because he probably woke up today and was like I didn't look all that great either in this little fiasco back and forth. Well Mike Malone the coach of the Nuggets says he had a big problem. Nicole Yocha's receiving a technical foul last night. I think it's crazy that Nicole got technical foul in that situation. He's going to get the ball and some some fan is holding on to the ball like he wants to be a part of the game. Just give the ball up man.

They deemed Nicole doing something that was excessive I guess and they gave him the tech but I still don't really understand it. Just think of the fans the owner of the Suns made any difference. I don't give a I really don't care. I actually think it matters when you find out that it's the owner of the Suns like if it's a fan and him and that fan are having a back and forth. I do think the league is more likely to punish or the referees are more likely to give a technical foul because everyone's fears and I don't think this was was what it was going to turn into but you never know everyone fears the malice at the palace happening again. When it's an owner hickey I feel like it makes Nicole Yocha allows him to allows him to get off the hook even though I didn't even have a problem with what he did and then also from the owner side of it's like what the heck are you doing trying to basically think that you're still playing when you're holding on to a basketball and you're refusing to give it up to a player when he goes over there and gets it. I do think it being an owner changed the equation of the entire thing where it actually does matter and Malone was just like oh it was a fan but probably in the moment Nicole Yocha and and the coaches of the Nuggets probably thought it was a fan and the referees probably even thought it was a fan as well I would have to imagine. Yeah because you're not you're not thinking oh well unless you're Mark Cuban an owner is going to be getting involved in some action right right and actually you know putting themselves and making themselves a story instead of the game. It's not like it's a recognizable face.

This is what this guy looked like until last night. Why he was holding on to the ball for dear life I don't know. Doesn't make much sense to me. Yeah I don't think anything really was that egregious in the big scheme of things and it was so avoidable. I don't think Nicole Yocha had to run over to go get the basketball and also if a player's trying to get the ball and you're an owner of a damn team like I could understand the fan holding on to the ball but when you're the owner of a damn team like you were trying to start something last night it was just it was a bunch of nonsense for being serious here. Doesn't mean that there should be suspension there's not going to be suspension thankfully but it's just stupid on both sides. You have more of a problem than I do I guess like with Yocha you guys going to get the ball in the stands but let's just say like that was a big sticking point. Worst case scenario each side is equally guilty.

Oh yeah the owners are more of the wrong than Nicole Yocha. Like at that point like at that point even just like okay Yocha is getting involved when he shouldn't maybe you can make the argument Yocha should not be in the stands and grabbing the ball and then get a little forearm shiver. Well let's also be I know it's technically in the stands but I do think it's a difference when someone is court side literally in the first row then jumping over and going like three four rows up yes you know up the stairs there's a big difference there. But worst case scenario that should have been okay like on the NFL like you know fouls on both sides. Let's move on like I think that's kind of what you're getting in the sense of no suspension but even a tee that good thing that it was not a one-point game because you're right and they won by one like 117-116. Yeah at one point would have been it also happened in the second quarter. I get it but every point counts in the playoffs right?

But if that happens in the fourth quarter it's a it's a whole different story. But I really do think this statement today by the owner basically saying that this should be the end of it was pretty much the league and I don't know if you agree with this or not. Stepping in and saying dude you didn't even look all that great last night kind of help us out here and don't have people thinking that you want and you're advocating for a suspension and just kind of nip this in the you know what.

Not an initiative guilt but basically yeah I was not clean myself. Yeah because and I said this earlier and you probably thought I'm saying it in jest if they did spend Nikola Jokic and it would be more of a win for for the Suns obviously I would not allow the the owner then in the building in Denver for game five. Like if Nikola Jokic got suspended there's no way you should allow the owner of the building either for the other team. Wouldn't you want them though if you're the Nuggets to let him in? Rile up the fans make it a real raucous atmosphere? Have them sit right next to the Jokic brothers.

Maybe even you know if you're the Nuggets have them share a little extra motivation like looking at them every time you're down as a reminder. The Jokic brothers kind of remind me in uh in happy Gilmore. You know that guy where when he drives the ball onto his foot that large man that's who the Jokic brothers kind of.

Frankenstein looking-esque. Yeah where you go yeah I don't want to mess with those guys. Like that would be Ishma being the role of shooter Mcav and I have to play it on that guy's foot and and basically just start freaking out. Let's uh keep it moving. Nikola Jokic on his interaction with the sun's owner. He told me I was elbowing the the fan so but the fan put the hand on me first so I thought the league supposed to protect us or whatever so but maybe maybe I'm wrong so we will see. Did you happen to know who the fan was? He's a fan of he's a no no no no I know who is about here he's a fan isn't he?

He's a Phoenix Suns owner. Sitting on the court and he's a fan isn't he? Yeah that doesn't mean that he's a so whoever it is and he's a fan he cannot influence the game by holding the ball. So I actually genuinely believe in the moment like while this was happening Malone and and Joker both thought that it was a fan but after the game they have to know that that's not a fan at that point like someone in PR has to say oh by the way or even at halftime that was the owner of the Phoenix Suns actually and I think they went out of their way in the post-game press conference to still call him a fan and kind of explain it that way as if our mentality is if you're sitting and watching us playing you're a fan.

Jokic is right though like sure he's the owner but it's like in that moment you're playing the role of a fan right he like he owning the team is not you cannot impact the actual game so whether you're an owner or just a paying customer you can't do anything that impacts right just get out of the way don't be the story it's not that hard. Like as I said earlier Nicole Jokic I didn't think need to run over to rip the ball out of the guy's hand but that dude was looking for something and if a player wants the basketball give it up you know like when you go to a basketball game in a football game you know if the ball goes into a stand you have to give it back that always happens the only way you get to keep a basketball or a football is if a player gives it to you but if you kick a ball and let's say the netting isn't up and it goes in the stands how many times you see someone run over to try to go get the football it's the same thing in basketball if if a ball goes into the stands you know you have to give it up so it's like what are you trying to do other than just be a jackass in that situation. All right we'll keep it moving Devin Booker on his reaction to the entire situation. I don't know if you could have seen it during the game or if you saw the video after but did you know that was Matt Isfield? Yeah I did he got us a point he did his job he did his job over there he got us a point.

Just being honest that's the best answer from from anything I've heard so far I have not heard that one yet with Booker until this moment. All righty let's go to Monty Williams he says the Suns still have a long ways to go in this series. Our mindset right now was we have a lot more to do that you had to win these two games to be in this position but we said we had to see it and believe it and now we have to see more and believe more and there's more work to be done. It's an even series now and our guys you could feel it in the locker room they were excited but they know that we have a lot of work to do and we got to go beat a good team on the road. I'm actually disappointed that Denver wasn't able to find the way to win either games game three or game four. You knew the Suns were going to get one I didn't think the Suns were going to get two and we all know Phoenix has so many high expectations with the team that they've assembled and with CP3 now being out even though we both said that could actually help them because CP3 helped them because CP3 was not playing well in the postseason so far you need Durant to be more aggressive you know Booker was going to show up. With how much I've grown to giving Denver the benefit of the doubt recently and now you getting Jamal Murray back too and healthy I was surprised that Denver wasn't able to find the way Hickey to win either games three or four. I mean you see how Devin Booker and Kevin Durant basically did not miss for two games you get why they could even with Jokic balling out and having what 50 yesterday and like they are hitting every single shot is you can't do anything.

And look it was still only 129-124 game you need Landry Shammet to be as hot as hot could be in that fourth quarter. I do think the Nuggets are still winning this series but it now seems like we're going seven where a few days ago felt like we were maybe going five or six max. All right we'll keep it moving let's go to James Harden he was great in game one phenomenal in game four he keeps the sixer season alive because this got three one the Sixers would have been done so James Harden is proud of how the Sixers never gave up.

That's what playoff basketball is about and you know we did that tonight of course we don't want to give up like we're not trying to give up a 15-point lead but it happens as a part of basketball we you know you see it a lot so you know it's like next play how it will control what you can control and and and keep fighting to you know 0-0 on the clock. He was great in game one with that Embiid he was great in game four with Embiid. I don't know what happened in games two or three it was typical postseason James Harden and this was the the atypical moments but in games two and three it's crazy he's either so great or he's so bad because in games two and three combined for five made shots from the field not in one game five the next game five five in two games and he does what he did in games one or in games one and game four it's just crazy. The Celtics are concerning me though they are concerning me because we have not seen that team show that killer instinct in the playoffs yet and even with how great the Sixers played the first three quarters and then the Celtics got back into the final seven minutes of the game the Sixers only won the game by one and did so in overtime. The Celtics are playing with fire they are I still think they're the better team I still think they're going to win this series and I still expect at one point James Harden not that he looks as bad as he did in games two and three but he's not going to be as hot as he did in game one in game four but then also like Embiid didn't do much in the fourth now that's the way that it's kind of designed not to be that bad in the fourth but you want James Harden to take the game over which he did to get the game to overtime and then to win it in overtime too. I need that third piece for the Celtics to get the Sixers to show up to join Embiid and Harden like Maxie could be that guy Tobias Harris is clearly just showing he's taking money at this point I'm still gonna go with the Celtics but I don't feel great about Boston like the Celtics probably will still get to the finals I do not feel good though about what Boston has shown me this postseason. You know who they're really missing?

Eme Ujoka. Do you see down the stretch in the regular season and the playoffs they are disorganized at times they are lackadaisical and the pressure's getting to Missoula like he was after one win in game two he's like trying to take bows and go after the media which doesn't make sense and a big market like Boston as well. Late in games the strategy the intensity has been missing severely this year compared to a year ago when the the cast is basically about the same. Yeah so Eme Ujoka basically not being able to keep it in his pants is what cost maybe the Celtics a championship is what you're saying? I think so I think it's fair to say at this point right now.

And we never really found out all the details of that and he already has a new job so we'll probably never find out about that. Which is kind of ridiculous like he was like he went to the NBA finals in year number one he was fired as we know and we have seen it time and time again teams will overlook a lot of atrocities if it means keeping a good player or coach on the field on the roster and keeping them around and will be gracious and and forgive plentifully plentifully and also just to have him fired just like that no use your brain I get it but he I think we are I would just take a guess an explanation and when and I'm just speculating here makes you think as we talked about before he slept with somebody's wife or girlfriend that you're not allowed to sleep with in the organization or a staff member and when you're a coach you can't do that that's there there's only a few options there to try to put it together why you're right if it wasn't anything if it was consensual as it was reported it was it's like then what the heck actually happened that made you get them out of town and that's pretty much the only thing I can think of but there's been so many different reports that you don't even know what to believe anymore all right finally Darwin Ham says the Lakers can't get complacent heading into game four us winning by whatever 30 doesn't represent who that team really is just like us losing the way we did in game two doesn't represent who we are this is going to be a battle to the end man it's it's you know you can't rest on your laurels that's a hell of a team it's a kill shot that's what it is right now for the Lakers tonight you have a chance with the with the Warriors on the ropes I know they come back from down through them but I wouldn't expect it to to basically throw a violent punch tonight and if you do so you'll win this series if you don't then it's two two and then anyone can go out there and then win this this best of three series it is Zach Gil show on CBS Sports Radio Eddie Johnson who played in the NBA does a great job Sirius XM NBA Radio and does the color analyst for the Suns game will join us next you're listening to the Zach Gelb show all right welcome back in Zach Gelb show CBS Sports Radio my next guest played for the Suns from 1987 to 1990 he's been a part of their broadcast team for a long time does a great job Sirius XM NBA Radio will chat a little Suns nuggets also postseason with him and that of course is Eddie Johnson Eddie I know it's been a while how you been I'm doing well yourself well I'm doing fantastic so I guess this was a good outcome today I didn't think the call Jokic was ever going to be suspended but when it did come down that he was only fined twenty five thousand dollars for the incident last night with Matt Ishbia just how did you respond to that well again I mean okay good that he didn't get suspended and I don't think that's the issue at all uh I think more so I think you know and this is coming from a guy that was you know I'm I wouldn't say I was middle class when I played in the league but I was maybe a little bit above it okay but I was never that quote-unquote star and let's face it the stars get a little bit more leeway than the other guys and I get it they've earned it they have to carry teams they have more responsibility I get it but they also have the the you know the the letter of the law right and you know I want you to just understand the mindset of a Phoenix Suns fan in 2007 when the Suns had just finished off a victory against San Antonio and the time was running out the game was pretty much at uh Robert Horry hip check Steve Nash into the scoreboard and that elicited a response and the response was for his teammates to go to the aid of obviously the MVP yeah and in doing that Boris Deisle and LaMari Stoudamire got off the bench and they walked towards Steve Nash not towards Robert Horry but they walked towards Steve Nash and the league suspended him and then the Suns had to come home game five without arguably their you know their most dynamic player offensively and Mark Stoudamire the second best passer and post-up player Boris Deisle and San Antonio beat them and it cost them a series so Sun fans don't want to hear it like you know the letter and David Stern said at the time that's the letter of the law that's what it is if you do it you get suspended again well if you go into the stands and you put your hands on a fan regardless if you think the fan was wrong got some suspension and so for me I just wanted to be consistent and it's more me protecting the the middle class of player that doesn't make the kind of money that some of these stars make and if they're going to get suspended because of stuff like that and granted that Bruce Brown had done that how do you think that would have worked out but here's the other part of this too if you're the owner of the team now I don't think Jokic had to run up and go grab the ball but if you're the owner of the team it's like why was he trying to hold on to the ball that's the part that I didn't get if you watch the video and I went through it on serious actually on my show with Justin Turnley today if you watch the video Matt Istia didn't even see Jokic walking toward him his first concern was to help Josh Okogie up and he had the ball in his arm and then the next thing you know Jokic was grabbing at the ball and that you watch Matt Istia's head turn around and see who it was he saw it's Jokic and then you know I guess his competitiveness he tried to hold on to it and then the ball escaped both of them and it went to the crowd deeper than what it was why didn't Jokic basically tell the official or tap him on his shoulder and say hey hand me the ball he went over aggressively to take the ball and so for me and people were saying well he was rushing over there to get the ball to get it out of bounds no no no no no no no because once he got the ball he would have to hand it to the official and the official would have given Josh Okogie an opportunity to get back into the playing circle so that's not true he would not have had five on four so Jokic has a history of having anger against guys and and that's okay that's okay but you can't protect guys he was wrong for doing what he did okay and good to him that he didn't get suspended but you don't go in the crowd with aggressiveness towards fans you just don't do it do you think the league told Matt Ishbia to release that tweet pretty much today to try to nip this in the bud because I would be surprised if he just did this just out of nowhere on his own no I don't think they told him to do that I think Matt is a competitor and I truly believe what he said I don't think anybody wants to beat Denver without Jokic I truly don't and some people might think oh yeah you do you want no no I just want rules to be enforced the way they're supposed to be enforced that's it you know and that's just the way of life and so I don't want to have you know any adjustment because of who the person is you know and so that's just the way I look at it but no I think Matt pretty much laid that out on his own I truly do and Matt probably gets ejected if he just was a regular fan like if we're being honest too yeah that's fine but you know what it's no interaction if Jokic does not walk over there see it and that's the problem that's the problem I'm having with people when they keep bringing that up if Jokic just stood there and told the official hey man go get the ball it would not have been an issue he went over there he wasn't even the one involved in the play he went over there and he grabbed the ball so he initiated whatever happened after that and I think that that has to be stated you know other than that you know like I said I'm glad that he's not suspended because I think it would be a travesty if he had to sit out again but again he's got to be careful with that because how many chances do you get? Eddie Johnson here with us you know something gets lost in this because everyone's talking about this incident from yesterday I know Durant and Booker were great but man what a performance Landry Shammet had yesterday Eddie Johnson. Well I mean look the son of a bitch has been maligned and look I've gone down that road before man and you know when you're counting on to come in and you're playing behind stars and you know I went through it with Houston and you know the pressure was on us and it's not easy man it truly isn't and you know those guys have been maligned lately and you know Terrence Ross and TJ Ward had not been playing it and you know for me I was glad Monty decided to play them because I know I mean when I look at those guys I look at myself like that's huge man when you when you a walking bucket and you're out there with those two they're not doubling like just my reputation alone Denver's not going to double off Terrence Ross and so because of that it's allowed Devin Booker and KD to get more one-on-one coverage and I think it's paid dividends without a doubt.

Eddie Johnson when you look at at this series the rest of the way what do you think is ultimately going to decide it what do you think is going to be the difference between these two teams? I think well obviously getting stopped I mean there's two very gifted offensive teams and you know we haven't seen many 8-0 10-0 runs so it's like you know whoever can get the get the lead and get an 8-0 10-0 run and get some comfortability then they're going to have a chance to win you know the Suns are committed to not allowing Jokic to have an impact overall on the game meaning score points and then dish out and find a fit for teammates they're telling them okay we're going to guard you mano mano and you just waste that energy and go score 50 but you know as you saw yesterday he had 50 but he only had four rebounds and and the Suns were able to win the game and I think that old school approach is the way to look at it I mean because if you allow Jokic to score and pass then he'll just eat you up and I think that's the mentality there for the Suns and dealing with him. When you look at Devin Booker we all know how great of a player he is this is not the first time this comparison has been thrown out there but when people talk and compare Devin Booker to Kobe Bryant just what goes through your mind? They're on they're on par look I've known I've seen this kid he's 19 years old in Suns uniform this is no accident this kid is maniacal man and and he's highly efficient and he's even more efficient because yeah he's got Kevin Durant on the scene he's not getting as doubled as much as he used to and yeah I think it's an advantage for him but you still got to put that orange ball in the basket and right now he's doing it at a highly efficient clip I mean you're telling me he's shooting 60 percent 51 from three and then 87 from the line I mean it's and the numbers he's putting up this is simply amazing but I'm not shocked that he's able to go on a run like this because he has that old school mentality you know to where you know if he has one good game he doubles down on a two three four five good game so I'm not shocked by it at all I think he's that special. Are you concerned about the Celtics when you look at that Celtic sixer series? Well I just I hate that everybody's trying to you know put the point the thing at Joe Mizzou you know like look the man stepped into a coaching job for a guy that took a team to the finals the year before I think he's done a tremendous job is he perfect no he's not but I don't think people should put the blame on him now you know because what I've heard is when you talk about Jason Tatum you talk about Jaylen Brown what do you hear you hear that they've been winning since they've been in the league they've had a lot of success they've won a lot of games and so now they're not kids anymore they're adults they're mature and they should be able to really make great decisions at the end of the game and I don't see a problem with them not calling their time out I mean so where's the ball isn't the ball of the guy that you're going to call a time out for and get the ball too and that's Jason Tatum so Jason has to be a better decision maker he's got to make sure that if he doesn't have the shot he's got enough time to find a teammate and so I think you know and Jason Tatum took that too you know it wasn't like he deflected blame but I just you know everybody wants to point the finger at Joe Mazzulla and I'm like this is a veteran basketball team they should be able to make it work and you know right now it's a 2-2 series so it makes it very interesting what type of Harden do you think you'll see the rest of the way in this series that's funny right I mean but I think more so I think you know I think the same I don't know to the level 40 points where I think you'll be the same I think it's always adjustment when your star player comes back and you got to sink back into the role that you were playing with him and I think Harden is finally realizing that he's got to be more aggressive and he's got to go for it and I think it takes a lot of pressure off of Joel so great opportunity for Philly I think Boston has been vulnerable at home this year they've been able to get beat on their court and uh if Joel's knee is starting to feel better because I do think he's playing on one and a half legs I do I don't think that he's 100 in but a great opportunity for Philly to go steal one in Boston just based on the criticism that these guys have dealt with really throughout throughout the playoffs not just that not just in this series but in the Atlanta series as well the heat at halftime are up on the Knicks Eddie Johnson 56 to 48 we'll see what happens the rest of the second half of Miami can take a 3-1 seriously just wondering with the east with Milwaukee down and and doubt after losing to Miami the Celtic Sixers not knowing which way this series going to go is Boston so the team you trust the most in the east or do you go with the heat maybe well they got the most experience without a doubt uh and you know and that's why I say yeah it's kind of weird that they've made some of the mistakes they've made uh but you know they know exactly what to do uh to get to a final and uh I would probably just still lean on them but I'm not counting on Philly I'm not at all I think Philly's defenders can create problems and make Boston work and I think if Philly can get out of this series against Boston you know they'll get to the finals I just happen to believe the winner of this series Boston Philly is going to the finals and uh all due respect to what the heat has done uh I'm going with Boston before we let you run big game tonight Warriors and Lakers what do you look for here as the Warriors try to go take a 3-1 series uh the Lakers try to go take a 3-1 series lead and really put a dent in into the Warriors dynasty well the one thing the Lakers have forced Steve Kerr to do is continue to make changes and uh that lets me know that Darvin Ham right now has the upper hand right uh now Gary Payton the second I think is going to start tonight and and so you know the Lakers length the size the speed and quickness uh there are multiple ball handlers uh even without Lebron handling this it's created a problem for Golden State so usually you know you remember back in the past when they used to play Lebron led team they would just concentrate on really forcing and putting pressure on Lebron because they knew he was the only facilitator but now Austin Reeves can pass D'Angelo Russell can pass uh Schroeder can pass so now they got multiple players that can make decisions and I think it's really taking advantage of the Warriors and you know in their game plan in regards to really focusing on Lebron and uh Anthony Davis comes out and he plays like he did the last game I just can't see the Warriors beating them unless they just lights out from three and to me it seems like that's what they're counting on by putting Gary Payton in the lineup they're going ultra small and it seems to me that they're going to rely on their ability to make that three and unfortunately they're facing the team in the Lakers as good as anybody in the league at defending the three Eddie Johnson how'd you react to the the boot and holes they're firing last week uh I was you know I was surprised I was shocked a little bit because I know he made his mistake but then you find out you know a sibling passed away and and so you you couldn't have had a straight and balanced mind going through what he did uh yeah he's been uh I think you know criticized in the past a few years and doing some things and doing it his way and I think it maybe just reached a point but ultimately I think the players did not push back on it are you going to tell me are they going to make a coaching change with a guy that won a title for them and the honest didn't know about it you know you're 100 right and this is something I thought about I don't know if it'll happen because he's under contract with another team but you know a trade could go down I wonder if ty lou who unfortunately injuries unfortunately have derailed the the Clippers I wonder if he tries to get a part of that box organization I wouldn't be shocked I wouldn't be shocked if he did I mean because you would like to go to a game knowing that your players are going to beat their plan I mean last few years he doesn't know even up to game time if his team would be healthy to play and that's got to be frustrated yeah well without a doubt eddie johnson great to catch up with you appreciate the time thanks so much hey always take care of yourself you're listening to the zach geld show so the chicago blackhawks have won the connor bedard sweepstakes and you know how twitter is going to take that hot take hickey it's rigged it's rigged it's rigged so they were going to commercial break and it was for the final three and I think it was kevin weeks on the nhl network if I heard his voice correctly it was like columbus has the third pick and they didn't even show the name of columbus go up on the screen he just said it as they were going to to basically fade to black to go to commercial break and it's like either anaheim or chicago will get the number one pick for connor bedard next when you saw this was going down it was like all right the final five teams after the coyotes got selected at six with the canadians the sharks the blue jackets and ducks and the blackhawks it was like you knew that either the canadians or the chicago blackhawks we're gonna find the way to get the number one overall pick now it doesn't mean that it's actually rigged that's just the fun that social media is going to have with it because if you look at it the chicago blackhawks only had 59 points on the season the ducks who were in second had 58 points so you know how twitter is going to react to that one hickey and you're already seeing it already of course chicago gets the first pick whenever original 16 gets the first pick it's always rigged I love rigged twitter that's more my favorites I love rigged let's do it let's go down the rabbit hole I was actually hoping that as this was going on down like once you saw the flyers and the codys won seven and six I was thinking to myself you knew you knew chicago was going to get it screw Anaheim give it to chicago get him back the nhl need you know what let's get gary betman on the phone ask him was it rigged and what'd you use frozen envelope weighted envelope what do you what are we using here gary well they don't even show the cyst well I guess they don't really do so in in the mba anymore no which makes you wonder what's going on behind the secret door because now they who's making the call like I wasn't locked into the entire thing but at least for the mba they have all the envelopes on the stage and and they always I think it's the associate commissioner I always forget who the guy is but you always recognize his face and he's just sitting there and and he's he's reading off the pics and then you have the reaction they had everyone I don't think they had everyone in on zoom and then right away you saw just the name of the screen pop up the name of the team pop up on the screen and then the gm or whatever the representative was pop up on the zoom so a lot of a lot of areas and opportunities for phagasiness to happen in the nhl is what I hear yeah I'm sure everyone's gonna run wild with this for about like two hours and then everyone will go back to to not caring until they eventually see connor bedard play and then he's 17 years old and if he goes on to have this great career like everyone expects him to then there will be people that will live with that thought forever that the nhl actually did ring the lottery that's what people will go I'm not saying that in terms of me thinking that's what actually happened but you know people are gonna definitely throw that one out there that there is no doubt about that if I was a ducks fan maybe I feel that way maybe finish second your blue jackets fan you know right there at the top so close but not close enough I guess so get me through I guess that's how you kind of rationalize it in the moment you try to just make sure that anything that the nhl is going to rig something just so just so you could go see a great player go to a team in a market like chicago yeah I guess at that point it doesn't make you feel any better about it but you know how these things end up working there's not a lot of logic usually used on on social media no twitter that's the most sane place trust everything I see but but you could see it like just coming from a mile away it what's what's the black hooks but you got you got into the top five it's like okay people were saying this even before that so it's not as if this is just oh it happened and then people are running wild with it there was that thought heading into this for a while all right he's at gilb show cbs sports radio the oilers by the way just took a 1-0 lead in this game three right out of the gate only three or four minutes into this up against the uh las vegas golden knights and that series is tied up at one apiece with this uh series now in edmonton after the first two being in las vegas that's the only hockey game tonight you do have two basketball games one right now the heat which the second half just got underway up by 10 against the new york knicks and warriors and lakers that comes your way at 10 p.m eastern 7 p.m pacific it's only a 10 point deficit hickey but you being a knicks fan do you give your team any shot making a little bit of a resilient comeback here in the second half and finding a way to tie up this series at two games apiece because i went in tonight i made two uh gambling plays tonight i i took money line i took heat money line and i took warriors money line and i actually got decent odds in a parlay i parlayed them together i'll get you the number in just a second i want to say it was like plus like 230 because usually that'd be pretty lame if i if i took money line for for the heat when they were expected to win the game because it was it was minus i think like 190 or something but yeah it was plus 243 so i put down 35 bucks to try to go win 120 points 120 tonight i took the heat money line and i'm going warriors money line as well what's your thoughts on the knicks hot take knicks will not win this game if they cannot make shots and they have not made a lot of shots they stink they can't hit a three to save their life there's very poor intensity i thought to start this game where they came out very lethargic with the season practically on the line it's not been very good so far and where you at with julius randall your best friend i see nick's twitter ain't happy with his effort right now it's the same thing over and over again he's made some tough shots but the intensity is out there it gives you nothing some brutal turnovers it's just it's everything right now is lackluster like they're kind of forth they're down by eight it's kind of a miracle they're down by eight well that's that's what we're looking at right now uh and that's i guess if that's uh now down by six so optimistic view could be a lot worse i'm not surprised whenever you are homer but in this case i was surprised that you actually thought the knicks were going to win this series going into it because even though miami is an eight seed and the whole playing tournament the way that played out they're not a traditional eight seed i know jimmy butler is not operating at a hundred percent but the knicks they don't they don't have an apex of going to the conference finals this year they i thought they would win that first round series but that was going to be their apex was getting through cleveland that was their mba championship this year with the way the whole donovan mitchell thing did go down where he wanted to go to the knicks but cleveland just offered this absurd package and they they went above and beyond and what the knicks were willing to offer when this goes on and don't get i love jaylen brunson that dude's a dog rj barrett is up and down julius randall is up and down the knicks just don't have the pieces to do anything further than make the playoffs and win one series even in a year like this where your second round matchup is not as tough as usually second round matchups are but that's the thing they've put they've beaten the heat three to four times in the regular season you got a gift by the number one seed going down like they absolutely should be in the conference finals like that's to me like that's it's a failure like it's an absolute disappointment and we were sitting here and they losing five or six and you could not get past the the miami's one one guy team that's it it's jimmy butler no one else yeah and that one player is better than what you have a better bench and they should win this series and it's a disappointment otherwise you were you you were drinking the next kool-aid no i think i'm being totally fair i'm not being like i think absurd or super homer that is absolutely fair and then he'd have not done anything that that are that's impressive in the regular season anyway the regular season they've been a bad team for 80 of the year and they're not the wars where you just turn it on whatever you want but the eastern conference out it was a two team conference and now philadelphia with james harden finally showing up is getting into the fold but a guy like jimmy butler is just so much better than what the nicks have and that's me being a huge and i mean a huge jaylen brunt and what is jimmy butler done this series not a lot he's also been hurt that's but that's my point it's not that's a problem he's not done a lot he's been nowhere near what he has against the bucks and they still can't win that's a problem that's a failure i wouldn't say jimmy butler's done nothing though in this series he did have 25 and 28 points in the guys average like 50 points a game but still that's not doing nothing you make it seem like he's showing up like julius randall hickey will never pick against his team to lose in the playoffs that's something i always learned zach guelph show cbs sports radio