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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid.
00:02Great to have Gilbert McGregor in the house.
00:04You can follow him certainly on social media and all of his coverage for the Phoenix Suns.
00:09He covers now on a daily basis, but also, of course, talks NBA with us.
00:13So we're not going to inundate you with 15 minutes of Suns talk here on the show.
00:16That's not what we're going to do.
00:17Gilbert, a big student of the NBA, so we wish him well.
00:21And happy holidays, Gilbert, to you.
00:22Thanks for coming on.
00:24Absolutely.
00:24Happy holidays.
00:25Glad to be here.
00:26All right.
00:27So let's get started last night.
00:28I always, I don't know.
00:29For me, it's looking at Jokic's triple-double odds and wondering if the next day here on
00:35the show, I'm going to say he hit.
00:37I mean, look, they go up and down.
00:39You know, usually they're minus 120, minus 110, sometimes minus 140.
00:43Last night, another one.
00:45Although he didn't have his best triple-double ever, I guess you could say that.
00:48The Nuggets win over the Jazz 135 to 112, a rare game, Gilbert, where it was sort of
00:52over before it started in the first quarter.
00:55Jamal Murray also had 27 points as well.
00:57I mean, what can you say about Denver, Gilbert?
01:00They're going to be there in the end.
01:01You know, a lot of folks thought that when they fired Mike Malone, it was a mistake.
01:04It looks like that they made the right move because they've played very well since then.
01:09Yeah, when you talk about Jokic's triple-doubles, to see that with not plus odds, majority of
01:14the time, it's pretty wild to think that just speaks to his excellence and what we see from
01:17him on a nightly basis.
01:19But yeah, you know, this Nuggets team, I think if there are any teams that could contend with
01:23the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are obviously at the top of the charts in the Western Conference,
01:27I think it's them.
01:28And it's because of Nikola Jokic.
01:29We saw them push them to seven games last season.
01:32And he is the ultimate guy who can kind of dictate the entire pace of a game as we see
01:36a ho-hum 14 point, 13 rebound, 13 assists, triple-double, which, you know, in a game where
01:42they just made light work of Utah Jazz.
01:44So what we're seeing from him, we probably will never see again.
01:47Or if not, it will be generations from now.
01:50I think if there's one other team that obviously is out there that's a clear favorite over Denver,
01:55it would be Oklahoma City.
01:56They never lose.
01:57And that, again, didn't happen last night.
01:59Although the Grizzlies did look like they had a shot in this one for a while.
02:03OKC wins 119-103.
02:07SGA, the favorite to win the NBA's MVP, another 31 points.
02:1111 of 12 from the field, almost hit a triple-double as well.
02:15Is there anything left to say about Oklahoma City at this point?
02:18I guess since we talked last time, Gilbert, maybe they had two losses.
02:21Now they have three.
02:23Yeah.
02:23Yeah, you know, it's been fascinating.
02:25I mean, even last night, they weren't at full strength without Isaiah Hardenstein and then
02:28still end up with a double-digit win against a shorthanded Grizzlies team as well.
02:32And the Grizzlies are almost always shorthanded now.
02:35But it's always something new with the Thunder.
02:37Last night, it was 100 consecutive games with 20-plus points for Shea Gilzis-Alexander,
02:41putting himself in company with Wilt Chamberlain, which is insane for this late lottery pick
02:46from seven, eight years ago, who has kind of made the trade work between the Thunder
02:51and Clippers.
02:51And now he is on an all-time great trajectory.
02:54And he's even better than he was last year during his MVP season.
02:57And that deep, that depth that the Oklahoma City Thunder team has is what makes them so
03:01dangerous.
03:01Because when somebody else is out, they can start somebody like Brandon Carlson, who might
03:05not be a household name, but he gets the job done.
03:07And they always have the next man up, which makes them really dangerous during the regular
03:10season, but also in the playoffs.
03:12The Pacers led the Celtics last night by 20, but they still have at least one superstar going,
03:18and that is Jalen Brown.
03:18And as long as he is playing, Boston is going to be in contention.
03:22They win last night 103-95.
03:25And at this point, they have the fourth shortest odds, Gilbert.
03:27That's a big surprise to win the East, ahead of the Magic, only behind Cleveland, Detroit,
03:32and New York.
03:33And so as we get closer to Christmas Day and beyond for the second half of the NBA season,
03:38the questions are going to begin if Boston is in this dance, and they're the five seed
03:43or the four seed or the six seed in the East, would Jason Tatum potentially come back in
03:48a semifinal series or maybe even the finals?
03:51Because, yeah, I mean, the Knicks are playing great basketball.
03:54Detroit's been a surprise, but I don't see a team in the East that's a definitive favorite
03:58over Boston.
03:59They're all about even to me.
04:01Yeah, I agree.
04:02And when you talk about the Knicks and Detroit, they're just as hot as the Celtics are.
04:06The Celtics have been just as hot as them.
04:07They've won eight of their last 10 games, and they're kind of flying under the radar.
04:11Joe Mazula's done a great job with this team implementing different players.
04:14Obviously, Jalen Brown playing at an all-NBA level.
04:17Hugo Gonzalez, their first-round pick this past year, has been a revelation for them
04:21and is learning.
04:21Jordan Walsh is another guy who stepped up for them.
04:23And when you talk about the Jason Tatum injury, I mean, you know, we're coming up on,
04:27you know, I think it's been about seven, eight months since he went down in the playoffs.
04:31And when you get into February, March, if this team is still in the top three and top
04:35four, and it's safe for him to come back because I don't want him to rush back from an Achilles
04:39injury.
04:40But, you know, we've seen a lot of stuff in modern medicine these days.
04:43I wouldn't see, I don't see, you know, a problem with him coming back if it's safe for him to do so.
04:48And I could see him doing so.
04:50So, if that happens, I can see the Celtics team contending, especially if they can ease
04:53him back in.
04:54It would be a very interesting series, a situation with the Boston Celtics because they've been
04:58playing really good basketball third in the Eastern Conference right now.
05:01Oklahoma City, meanwhile, on the road tonight at San Antonio.
05:05You would expect a little bit of a challenge, I would think.
05:08But then again, I got to check back in the fourth quarter to see them up 15, which is pretty
05:12much every game.
05:12Total 234 and a half tonight.
05:15They'll tip off at 830 Eastern.
05:17Can the Spurs deliver the fourth loss of the season to the Thunder?
05:23Because as I look at the Thunder schedule after this, I mean, this is a tough stretch
05:27for them.
05:27If they get through this, I don't know.
05:29They may end up having, you know, that 70-win number that they're looking for here.
05:33I just don't see anybody formidable taking them out.
05:36Yeah, you know, we just saw the Spurs do it a little over a week ago.
05:40And I think that's why the Thunder get it done tonight because it's really hard to beat the
05:44Thunder more than one time.
05:45I think back to the Warriors when they won 73 games.
05:48They never lost to the same opponent two times.
05:51So for the fact that this Spurs team beat the Thunder last week, I think the Thunder took
05:55that personally.
05:56The Spurs had a good game against them.
05:58They made a lot of shots.
05:59They played great defense on the Thunder perimeter guys.
06:01But I do think that the Thunder will be motivated after losing to this team last time.
06:05Victor Wimanyama questionable.
06:06I expect him to play.
06:07He and Chet Holmgren have their healthy feud between those two guys.
06:11So it should be a great matchup.
06:12But also, these are two teams who are also gearing up for another big game on Thursday,
06:17Christmas Day.
06:18Seems like the Mavericks are playing at least a little bit better.
06:21You know, win, loss, win, loss, more or less after that tough start.
06:24And then the firing of the GM.
06:26The Nuggets are seven and a half point favorites tonight on the road.
06:28Total is 237 and a half.
06:32Do you think that Denver wins this one easily, Gilbert?
06:35Or does Dallas stay in this game?
06:37Yeah, the Mavericks have been playing good or better basketball to your point, Craig.
06:41But I like the Nuggets in this one.
06:42Second end of a back-to-back for both of these teams.
06:44The Mavs went a little bit more of a competitive game last night in New Orleans.
06:48Denver obviously traveling to get to Dallas as well.
06:50But we talked about it already.
06:52Denver made light work of the Jazz.
06:53So those guys got to rest.
06:54They should be well-rested.
06:55And they are also another team who have their sights set on Christmas.
06:58So I think the Nuggets are going to try to get their business handled early.
07:01And then it can cruise into their game on Thursday against the Timberwolves.
07:06It's going to be fun as throughout the NBA season.
07:08At some point, we're going to get Gilbert to pick against the Suns.
07:11I don't know when it's going to be.
07:12I don't know if it's tonight.
07:14I probably not most of the season.
07:15I get it, Gilbert.
07:16You're covering them.
07:17It's tough.
07:17But at some point, we'll make you do it.
07:20Tonight, though, they are five and a half point favorites
07:22against the Lakers with a total of 225 and a half.
07:26I'm going to guess by looking at this, not knowing like you do about the NBA,
07:29that some player is missing for the Lakers tonight,
07:32for the Suns to be five and a half point favorites.
07:34It's the only thing I can think of.
07:36Yeah.
07:37No Luka Doncic.
07:38No Rory Hachimura.
07:39No Gabe Vincent.
07:40And Austin Reeves is questionable for the Lakers tonight.
07:42So that being said, going to be a lot of weighing on 40-year-old LeBron James,
07:47who will be 41 in just a matter of days.
07:50And this is a matchup that's pretty beneficial for the Suns.
07:52They like to play fast, and the Lakers don't necessarily like to play fast.
07:55These two teams met last Sunday, and the Lakers actually got the best of the Suns.
07:59So I think that they will take that personally as well.
08:01The Lakers beat the Suns earlier this month.
08:04Devin Booker is back kind of out of the slump that he was in.
08:07He had been playing, struggling, I think, through a groin injury.
08:09Now he's back from that as well.
08:11And I think the Suns are a pretty good matchup for the Lakers,
08:14especially a shorthanded Lakers team on the road.
08:17I think they're trying to get healthy because they play on Christmas Day
08:20against the Houston Rockets.
08:21So I don't think that they're really prioritizing this game tonight in Phoenix,
08:25given the health issues they've run into.
08:27And they're just prioritizing a bigger game on Thursday,
08:29or a bigger game in their eyes on Thursday against Houston Rockets.
08:32So I like the Suns in this one.
08:33This is the Suns team that plays hard.
08:34They typically take care of business, especially when they're favored.
08:37And if you're looking at the player side of things,
08:39a big night from Devin Booker could be in story.
08:42Gilbert, do you feel like, and look, again, with the NBA,
08:45I've been covering the NBA for many, many years with the Miami Heat
08:48and all the games that they played, of course, on Christmas with LeBron
08:50and even Shaquille O'Neal.
08:52I do feel like the NFL is sort of taking over a little bit with the NBA.
08:56I'm going to be live here on Sports Grid covering it.
08:59I'm hopeful for some good matchups here from the league
09:01because it seems like folks may be moving away from this
09:04and headed over to the NFL.
09:05Yeah, it's going to be interesting this year.
09:08The NFL games obviously being on Netflix makes it not as easy for other people.
09:11I think the NBA lucked out because a lot of these NFL matchups
09:13aren't as consequential as they were last year.
09:15So it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
09:17But the NFL is always king.
09:20Denver, Kansas City, Christmas night.
09:23Check out the NBA.
09:24Gilbert, have a good weekend.
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