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I can’t believe the NFL Draft broadcast Cavs-Magic on NBA TV last night and lived to talk about it.
More Knicks-Sixers friction
They can never have a normal match
Did you think we could have a Knicks-76ers first round playoff series solely on basketball? Silly! Of course we can’t. With 4:34 left in the first quarter, Joel Embiid was cautioned for a flagrant foul of 1. The referees had already ruled an offensive foul when his knee forcefully hit Isaiah Hartenstein in the panties. They considered it a common foul while the Knicks looked for a penalty 1 flagrant foul.
Then Embiid was knocked to the ground after contact with OG Anunoby. Mitchell Robinson received Anunoby’s pass and, as he made a layup, Embiid sat down, grabbed Robinson’s legs and began pulling him to the floor. Fortunately, Robinson didn’t fall too hard and Embiid didn’t pull harder. Otherwise, this game could have been extremely dangerous.
Embiid was deemed flagrant and, surprisingly, was not ejected from the game. If most other players do this – or one the player does this has Embiide – we are considering automatic ejection. Embiid absolutely received superstar treatment. During that time, he devastated the Knicks. Embiid had 50 points on 13 of 19 from the field and 19 of 21 from the free throw line. He was 5 of 7 from deep and also grabbed eight rebounds to go along with four assists. He is the third player in team history to score 50 points in the playoffs (Allen Iverson, Billy Cunningham).
The 76ers won 125-114 to cut the Knicks’ lead to 2-1. A defeat would have forced the Knicks to take out the brooms. Instead, the Sixers have new life in this series and could say they outlasted Jalen Brunson (39 points, 13 assists in Game 3) to get by. Things have gotten even uglier between Knicks and Sixers fans on social media, so it’s going to get even more tense. Game 4 will take place on Sunday.
I wonder if Daryl Morey will include Embiid’s play in future grievances filed with the league office regarding poor officiating. 🤔
Wasting time
FX trailer for Clippers drama released
Remember Donald Sterling? Former owner of the LA Clippers? The one who was banned “for life” by Adam Silver after the league could no longer ignore his problematic history as a less-than-ideal NBA figure and example of life in general? That whole saga from 2014, when he was forced to sell the Clippers to Steve Ballmer, was turned into a drama series called “Clipped” on FX. We don’t even need to get into the fact that I predicted fake Clippers show “Clipped” in 2014 and attempted to cast Tommy Lee Jones as Sterling. We’re not here to demand that FX give me dollars or producer credits.
FX Series Trailer for the premiere of the show on June 4, which fell yesterday, and I implore you to go see it RIGHT NOW. You have to. This looks crazy in a way that makes me extremely excited to watch this show. Some of them look incredible, and others show that the casting couldn’t have been more hilarious. JJ Redick even joked about Jason Kapono who was chosen to play him when he was shown a screenshot of his sweater on the show.
FX has released the official trailer for “Clipped,” the docudrama about former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. It will premiere June 4 on Hulu
Ed O’Neill plays Sterling, Doc Rivers is played by Laurence Fishburne, J. Alphonse Nicholson is Chris Paul pic.twitter.com/pA4V0hIs1k
– Philippe Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 25, 2024
Ed O’Neill will play Sterling and I think he will do a very good job. Laurence Fishburne plays Doc Rivers, but the trailer makes it look like the movie legend put zero effort to look like Doc. All the player castings are hilarious. Remember the Lakers drama series “Winning Time” that HBO MAX inexplicably canceled in Season 2? I’m not sure we’re getting a better joke than this Lakers fan saying they did a “Losing Time” show. We’re all watching June 4th and reviewing it here in the Bounce. Be ready.
You can’t pass
The Lakers are desperate against the Nuggets
During Jason Concepcion and Shea Serrano’s “Six Trophies” podcast yesterday, the hosts made a joke with a seemingly plausible truth. They joked about the Nuggets basically seeing what different ways they can beat the Lakers at this point. Denver has been so dominant during its 11-game winning streak against the Lakers that the team might be getting a little bored. So in Game 2, the two hosts joked that the Nuggets were down 20 just to come back and defeat the Lakers at the buzzer. -drummer. Would you be shocked if this turned out to be true?
Game 3 went as planned. The Nuggets dominated the Lakers despite being relatively close for much of the match. At no time did the Lakers seem to control the proceedings. In Game 3, Denver beat the Lakers 112-105 and four of its five starters scored more than 20. Nikola Jokić had 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jamal Murray scored 22 points and distributed nine assists. Aaron Gordon led Denver in scoring with a 29-point, 15-rebound effort (both playoff career highs). Denver didn’t even shoot well from deep (5 of 28, 17.9%), but that didn’t matter.
The Lakers got a 33-point, 15-rebound night from Anthony Davis. Who cares? They allowed LeBron James to collect 26 points and nine assists. Yawn. Austin Reaves had 22 points. D’Angelo Russell played 24 minutes and scored no points. The Lakers can’t beat the Nuggets any of them conceivably, unless Denver forgets there’s a game that day. In fact, I wonder if we would consider the Lakers real title contenders if This The Nuggets core did not exist and was replaced by Raef LaFrentz and Vincent Yarbrough. Alas, these Nuggets exist, so they will bring their brooms to the arena on Saturday.
We have our 👀 on:
Magic 121, Cavaliers 83: Cavs lead series 2-1
What happened? The dam was broken as the Magic scored a lot of points at home! That’s what we’ve been waiting to see: if Orlando’s offense can figure things out against Cleveland’s defense. Now this NBA TV series has life.
Who played ? Paolo Banchero (31-14-5) was a monster in 29 minutes and became the Magic’s youngest player with a 30-point playoff game. Jalen Suggs scored 24 points in a game when we feared his season was over. And Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz each made four shots off the bench, bringing their bucket total to eight total.
Who failed? Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell combined for 18 points on 26 shots. And the Cavs were overwhelmed 51-35. Yeah !
What does that mean? Was it Orlando’s home game, or did he find something with Cleveland? The Cavs must be nervous.
Bouncing passes
X and Mo: Non-shooting centers shine in the playoffs.
The Clippers need to keep Russell Westbrook in the mix.
The voters have weighed and believe Steph Curry is the clutchest.
Screenplay (all times Eastern)
- The best game: Clippers-Mavs (8 p.m. ESPN). The Clippers must regain home-field advantage.
- The pressure game: Sunwolves (10:30 p.m. ESPN). It’s not too dramatic to say that the Suns’ future is on the line here.
- Don’t forget this game: Bucks-Pacers (5:30 p.m. ESPN). The triple header begins right from the start of the game as Indiana tries to get ahead of Milwaukee. Full program here.
(Top photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images )