Knicks at Nets | Opening Monologue | POSTGAME RECAP

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2:31from first half injury. So if your player goes out with an injury, fanatics keep your bet on the court. Make the switch and get more ways to win with fanatic sportsbook. Winning, it's different here. Now instead of the foul line extended, it's a mid court imbout. Seraph needs a prayer. He from half court. He missed it. And the next survive with their 14th consecutive win over the Brooklyn Nets and career win number 500 for Mike Brown, dramatic, emphatic play. Good job by Robinson, taking precious seconds off the shot clock. And in the ill and by shot, that was short by the Nets. Boy, Steve makes it really hard to drink less. I will tell you, just a little bit to get me through this one. Welcome to the Nets from school post game show presented by fanatic sportsbook. I was thinking as I was watching this one, which was a win. Let's get that out of the way.

3:36The Nets did win the basketball game. And we are thankful for that because you know what would have been worse than winning that game, losing that game. I was thinking as I was watching it, this game does not, before it was even over, this game does not deserve an actual opening monologue. So what I did, I think I did this in the middle of the second quarter. I made a shout out to David Letterman. I made a top 10 list of things that I would have rather watched than this basketball game. And I thought it would be in the spirit of the Nets. And I'm sure a lot of people decided to watch NCAA Tournament action tonight. So I'm just going to go down the list. Number 10, Robert Randolph and the family band singing Friday Night Knicks on loop for two and a half hours. Number nine, two and a half hours worth of episodes of Coco Mellon. Number eight in Inez Cantor highlight tape. My favorite player.

4:37Seven Steven A Smith on first take talking about literally anything. Number six, a one shot of Reggie Miller calling a Pacer's game, solo announcing. Number five, a one hour solo Bill Simmons by narrating Jason Tatum's heroic return. Number four, porn. Number three, C-SPAN. Number two, senior citizen dance number at an NBA game. And then number one, another Nets game. All would have been more preferable options to watching. What was the most unserious basketball game? I would argue of the season for the next. I would love to sit here and give them some modicum of credit for like holding big air court energy here, holding the Nets to 92 points. You know, it's like I try to bring parenting into these post games whenever I can.

5:41It's like when I it's like giving my my now five-year-old credit for not taking a piss in her overnight diaper. I mean, she's fucking five. At this point, like you don't get a gold star, you don't get a high five, you don't get even any commendation. It's all right. That's one night in a row. Let's see if we can make it two nights in a row tomorrow. That's about the level of credit that I want to give the nicks for again, air quotes, holding the Nets to 92 points. And that Nets team is in atrocity against humanity. Truly, just some horrend. I mean, they scored 24 points in the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder the other night. That was, you know, I don't know if they might have scored fewer points if they were playing a G League team, but whatever. So there's that. And then there's whatever that game was on offense. I will go and just read

6:47some numbers because I like numbers. Numbers are fun. Numbers make me feel safe. So Nick shot 41% from the field in this game. 28% from deep. They had, I believe the final total was 22 turnovers. I'll double check that right now. 22 turnovers. That's a season high. And they're very lucky. Again, they were playing the Nets and that's only scored 23 points off of those 22 turnovers. Oh, and because of those turnovers, the Nets actually got 10 more shots. So, you know, you want to talk about ways to lose a basketball game. Give up 37% from three to the team you're playing. Only shoot 28% from three. And then give up 10 more shots because you turned the ball over 22 times. So how did they win? Well, they won by getting through the free throw line. And they missed nine free throws, including three late that I have a feeling we'll probably mention. But they hit 23 from the line. That's only hit 10 and there's a ball game. So

7:50I don't know what to do with this one. I'm obviously annoyed. I'm not, I'm not going to like, I'm more getting it out now because I actually don't think we need to make a bigger deal out of this one than it is, which is like, it's, it's, what is it? It's March 20th. They got one more game against one more tanking team. And then they'll have 10 games left for the court on quote stretch run. And like, what am I supposed to go crazy? Because the team looked like they had never played with each other on offense tonight. Yeah, fine. We've been there. We've done that. I was at first that the start of this game, I was getting ready for this to be yet another diet tribe on the starting lineup. And what the hell is wrong with the starting lineup? And it wasn't the starting lineup. It was pretty much the whole team on offense with some notable exceptions that we'll get to. But I, I don't know where to start tonight other than with Jalen Brunson.

9:00We could, I mean, to start on a positive note in terms of going through the players, again, would feel a little disingenuous. There were actually some really nice performance. I thought much of Robinson had an outstanding game from an effort standpoint, certainly. And I thought he was the best defender on the team for most of the night, not all of it. He had some miscues, but then again, so did everybody. Jordan Clarkson, yet another game where he gave them great energy. And, and Karl Anthony Towns, you know, his night is going to be soured a little bit by those two misfree throws at the end, which gave them an answer chance. I thought it was at times a silly game from Karl Anthony Towns. It reminded me actually of the sort of cat game that we would have seen last year, where some very, very good offensive contributions, but there was some also, you know, it for turnovers. Some of those were just like why you throw in that pass and and things of that nature. But for the most part, cat, very positive force tonight, you know,

10:01and that those, that's probably the extent of the, you know, shout outs for positive reasons. Up until he hit those last two shots at the end, which granted the Knicks were down, and then Brunson, two straight shots, and then nice pick and roll with Karl Anthony Towns to get a good look at the who to put the Knicks up by five. Up until that, I thought this was the worst offensive game that I had seen Jalen Brunson play as a Knick. And I feel like that's not the first time I've said that this year, which is probably a little concerning that this is a sort of, this is a descriptor that I have used more than once for a player that we've kind of held up as like not infallible, but like, oh, it's Jalen. If he has a bad game, he's going to bounce back. And I still do feel that way. But like, in the fourth quarter, Jalen Brunson couldn't get

11:11the ball up the court. You know, he was having, like he was just having trouble causing my court in a timely fashion. And I understand that Nets were doing some things defensively that, you know, he's going to see and has seen a lot in terms of like, whether it's putting two on him or just aggressive coverage and like lots of and showing, you know, a lot in help and just like taking away the driving lanes and taking away the passing lanes. But we have seen Jalen Brunson against aggressive coverage before. This is not the first time or the second time or the 10th time or the 50th time. He has faced a defense that was, was trying, you know, different ways to stop him and being really aggressive in their coverage against him. I don't know that I've ever seen him be as ineffective against aggressive coverage as he was tonight. And like, look,

12:14he missed the game on Tuesday and everybody kind of just figured, all right, Jalen just needs a night off. It's not, you know, it's not a big deal. He, like, it's late in the year. Good job getting him a night off. He deserves it. He's been, he's been doing Yeoman's work the whole thing. But now when he goes out there tonight, I mean, and look, he wasn't on the injury report. And it makes me wonder, it makes me wonder, what's up? You know, because the guy that we watched out there, like that, I mean, just, I don't know what they're all supposed to say. That's not Jalen Brunson. You know, that's, that's not any version of the Jalen Brunson that we, and it's great. I just looked at the minute. Jalen Brunson played 41 minutes tonight, which probably tells you as much about Jose Alvarado's night as it does about Jalen Brunson's night. Alvarado took a step back after what was a very positive evening for him against the bases the other night.

13:17To the point that obviously Mike Brown felt the need to play Jalen Brunson, 41 minutes. And I'm just seeing some quotes here for a quote from Mike Brown, courtesy of Stefan Bondi, Jalen Brunson coached me. They outplayed us in a lot of areas. You could say that again. I mean, good on him for taking it on, you know, himself. But yeah, I didn't know, I didn't know who I was watching basically in that game, wearing a number 11 jersey. I need to say Jalen Brunson, if the next one I have any chance of doing anything, you can't look like that. Few things are as uplifting as the greatest moments in sports. And nothing brings us together quite like Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games from NBC Universal's iconic storytelling to the innovative technology across Xfinity and Peacock. Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America, sharing every moment with millions.

14:20When Team USA steps onto the world stage, we're not just watching. We're cheering together. This winter, we're all on the same team. Comcast, proud partner of Team USA. Right now, new FANDUAL customers can get up to $300 back in bonus bets every day for 10 days. Place a tournament bet using the token. And if it doesn't win, you'll get up to $300 back in bonus bets every single day for 10 days straight. You can even mix things up with same-game parlays for a shot at a bigger payout. FANDUAL, it's time to dance. 21 plus in present select seats. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable and expire seven days after receive. Tokens are received in increments of one per day. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandUAL.com, gambling problem called 1-800-GAMBLER. From unsolved mysteries to unexplained phenomena, from comedy goal to relationship fails, Amazon Music's got the most ad-free top podcasts, included with Prime. Because the only thing that should interrupt your listening is... Well, nothing. Download the Amazon Music app today.

15:22But, of course, a game like that doesn't just happen because of only Jalen Brunson. What made that the silliest game of the year and the most un-serious game of the year was that they managed to be very sillian, un-serious in waves. They were un-serious out of the gate. Going four of 19 from the field on the first quarter and committing nine, nine, first quarter turnovers. And again, if they had played 25 other teams in the league, they're down, you know, and they played like that. They're down 35 to, I don't know, 12. But, of course, who they were playing factors into how they came out and play. Because this team is not about playing with their food. We've seen that against Indiana. We've seen that against Utah. We've seen that against other teams recently. So, you know, so they were down by as many as 13 points. There was that silliness. There was the fact that they went up by

16:2214 in the fourth quarter after they actually put together a solid stretch spurred by who else, but Jordan Clarkson of solid basketball. Jordan Clarkson and Kat in fairness, those two. They played like whatever it was, five, six, seven minutes of competent basketball. And they were up by 14 in the snap of the finger. And then they proceeded to give up a 17-0 run. So then there was that silliness. And then the silliness at the end, having a five-point lead with whatever it was, 20 or, yeah, 20 seconds remaining or so. Why they just allowed an absolutely uncontested layup was beyond me. And then, of course, the three miss free throws. So, just silliness up and down. And, you know, a lot of the stuff that we've been talking about for this team recently is, you know, it popped up in this game. You know, McAlbridge's three of seven of like about as quiet and nine points as you could have had eight rebounds. You know, we had a couple of nice defensive plays.

17:26He took it to the rim a couple times early. It seemed like he was making a point to do that. And yet, you know, when you trade for McAlbridge's, like, I have to think part of the reason you trade for a guy like that is with games like this in mind, a game where, okay, our number one doesn't have it, cats doing what he can as your number two. I understand they got McAl before cat, but like whatever, Julius, you know, whoever your number two is. Your number two is going to be your number two, but someone else needs to step up. And McAlbridge is supposed to be the guy who's the secondary playmaker and he could put the ball on his hands to make plays and maybe run an occasional pick and roll. And you just, you know, you just, you just didn't. That's not, it's like he's ceased to become that guy that he was a year ago. You know, it was, it was only a year ago when Jalen brought someone out for a month and it kind of turned into point bridges, you know, for a lot of that time and for a lot of their best games. So I don't know where that guy went. Obviously, he wasn't there tonight.

18:32OG, you know, the one thing about OG, you never have to worry about him being bashful. He took his 13 shots, pulled from three. He's allowed to have an off night from three. It happens. I did think the one three that he did hit was a was an important one. Got, you know, and OG got into it with it. What was it? Three texts in this game. Cat got one, Mitch got one and OG got one, getting into that scuffle with Clarkson. So, you know, I guess that's nice. Just on serious game. I don't really know what more we need to say about this one other than the fact that it was completely on serious from the start. They got serious for about as long as they absolutely needed to get serious to come away with the win. And I just hope that Jalen Brunson is okay. And that whatever is I mean, at this, you know, it'll be, I'll be interested because here's the thing about Jalen. Jalen is never, if Jalen can walk, he said it, like a walk I could play. Obviously, he played 40 moments tonight and he could walk. So he played.

19:38But I wonder how much, because he hit his 65 games tonight. You know, I wonder how many games he will play down the stretch of the season. I wonder how hard they will go for wins down the stretch. You know, Boston was down for much of tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies. They ended up coming back and getting a nice win over Memphis in Memphis. So, you know, that lead remains whatever that lead is. Detroit won again. That's two straight wins. They beat the Wizards the other night. Now they beat the Warriors. I never for a second after the Cade injury and you know, prayers up to Cade, quick recovery, the whole thing, but not for one millisecond. Did I think the one seed, even after that injury was announced, did I think the one seed was in play? It just was unrealistic to think that this Detroit team was going to fold in that nature and they'll get more wins. You know, I know they have some, you know, mostly tough games coming up, but they'll get more wins.

20:40You know, and so it really just comes down to the catch Boston. Do you want to catch Boston? Is there, you know, I wonder, is there some sentiment in this, in the organization to like, you know, falling out the fourth? I know that's not how the next two things. But, you know, lots will still be determined. Whatever it is, you know, you just, you'd like ideally, ideally, do not see too many more games like this down the stretch. Again, I get it. It's March. The NBA season is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a war of attrition. And, you know, you can't, we can't sit here. And I know I've killed them a lot tonight. I get it. I've killed them a lot and I probably killed them honestly too much because if you get a win in the NBA, you know, and you're in a race and you're a team that has as many wins as the Knicks and they have a lot of wins. Like this, I think, was win 46 for them tonight. Like, look, they got their 46th win. Whatever, same

21:46patties day week. That's, that's really good. And before you're going to, you know, completely kill them for a net, for whatever it was that we saw it tonight. Like, go, you know, again, I know the rockets won tonight, but like, go talk to our rockets fan. Go talk to our nuggets fan. After they lost to Memphis the other night and are struggling right now against Toronto. Talk to a Timberwolves fan for some of the losses they've had. You could talk to a freaking Cavs fan. Some of the losses they've, you know, they have the magic loss by 8,000 points to Charlotte last night. Like, this is the sort of year or sort of time of year where you're going to get, you know, performances that are not indicative of what a team is capable of. And, and, and oh, by the way, we should probably mention. Josh Hart didn't play tonight. Throwing that out there. Nord did do some pride. We hope he is on his way back. It seems like he is. Josh, obviously, I think it is going to be fine, but glad they got the win or night that Josh

22:48Hart didn't play. And you really do, you know, I guess I'll end the monologue with that. You know, this is a sort of game where you're probably going to like to have a Josh Hart, you know, on your bench or in your starting lineup or wherever to come in and just bring that certain something that you know only he could bring. And hopefully he is fine and everything. You know, he'll, he'll, he'll get back soon. I think that's it. Speaking of the two rules, they lost the blazers tonight. So, yeah, again, I know knowing it, but at home, the Portland. So, yeah, a lot of teams going through it right now. I'll just leave it at that. Okay, let us do to do. Okay, hold on. I'm going to, I'm going to fill a buster for a sec because we got to get our best bets graphic up here. That's fine. I can talk about, what can I talk about?

23:52You know what? Perfect. Perfect opportunity. It's great, but you know what? It's too late. Now, now, now you gave me an excuse to wax poetic about the one guy that I wanted to wax poetic about tonight and that's Jordan Clarkson. I know he was a minus 10. I know he was only 205 from the field. But like, I thought the game should have turned for good. I know that that's meant when on that lower run, the game should have turned for good when they started going on that long run. It was, I think, was 11-0 run into the third quarter. And it started with a Clarkson three and a Clarkson time to OJ and a no B. Clarkson had another steal or a big steal at the top of the fourth quarter. He drew an offensive foul, fighting around the screen. I just, I would be remiss not to point out that yet again, the guy who was buried on the bench and who would have had every excuse to kind of mail in the rest of the season as far as his attitude and his willingness to continue to stay ready and be prepared is the guy who, you know, now night after night after night

24:54is just making a winning place for you. So I wanted to make sure I gave it a special shout out to Jordan Clarkson because he deserves it. On a night when again, a lot of his teammates didn't necessarily bring that same level of fire and desire to quote his head coach. Must be 21 or older, gambling problem called 1-800-Gamber, Connecticut called 888-789-7777. Massachusetts called 800-327-5-05-0. New York called 877-8-HOPE-NY. Maryland visit mdgamblinghelp.org, not available in all states, terms apply, see the

25:59Fanatic Sportsbook app. Few things are as uplifting as the greatest moments in sports, and nothing brings us together quite like Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games. From NBC Universal's iconic storytelling to the innovative technology across Exfinity and Peacock, Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America, sharing every moment with millions. When Team USA steps onto the world stage, we're not just watching, we're cheering together. This winter, we're all on the same team. Comcast, proud partner of Team USA. Right now, new fan duel customers can get up to $300 back in bonus bets every day for 10 days. Place a tournament bet using the token, and if it doesn't win, you'll get up to $300 back in bonus bets every single day for 10 days straight. You can even mix things up with same-game parlays for a shot at a bigger payout. Fan duel, it's time to dance. 21 plus in present and select seats. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable and expire seven days after receive. Tokens are received in increments of one per day, restrictions apply, see terms at sportsbook.fandal.com, gambling problem called 1-800-Gampler.

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