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00:00which we love to reach out to the public and let them know and say,
00:02you know what?
00:03Give us your opinion on some hot topics here.
00:06The opinion today for our Fade the Public poll at SportsGrid on X was asked,
00:11who will win tonight's NBA playoff games, which we've been doing all week long?
00:15The four options here are combinations.
00:17We'd like to say Knicks and Clippers, Knicks and Nuggets, Pistons and Clippers,
00:21Pistons and Nuggets.
00:23So I'll ask you first, Joe, of those four options here,
00:26where did you go tonight on who's winning these basketball games?
00:30Oh, it's a rough one here, but I tend to believe with you on the Clippers.
00:36And I just, I think it's going, I think it's going seven with the Knicks.
00:41I always thought it was going seven.
00:43And I do think the Denver Clippers series was going seven as well.
00:47So there you got it.
00:49Let's root for seven games here in the first round with those teams.
00:52I love extending the series.
00:54Cause the one thing we do know is fans where I always say,
00:57I really enjoy the first round of the playoffs and say, well,
01:00why would you enjoy that more?
01:01Which technically not?
01:02Cause of course we want to watch the NBA finals and the Eastern conference finals
01:05and the Western conference finals.
01:07But you know, we love Joe as handicappers,
01:09people that gamble on sports and talk about it.
01:12Give me three to four games every single night.
01:13Give me the high leverage situations.
01:15Like nobody gets excited about a sweep unless you had a ticket in your back pocket.
01:19Nobody wants the gentleman sweep.
01:20Yeah, we love game sixes, but boy, when you can turn on that TV, Joe,
01:24and get a game number seven and understand the high level of energy you're going to get
01:29from both sides and the crowd and that environment where if you win, you move on.
01:33If you lose, you go home.
01:34We love that.
01:35We do.
01:36Yep.
01:37Yeah, I exactly correct.
01:38And we've already seen that some of these, especially on some of these series,
01:44were big time mismatches.
01:46But these two series that are going tonight, they were coin flips and a lot of people's
01:51mind, Donnie, I don't think Detroit got enough credit.
01:54And they're why the price of Denver and the Clippers was always a coin flip.
01:59And that's kind of still what it is.
02:01Yeah, it really is.
02:03Let's take a look at the odds market tonight for these two games here at the FanDuel Sportsbook.
02:06We're going to handicap these a little bit later in the show.
02:08But if we're looking, 7.30 p.m. tonight, Detroit Pistons home at Little Caesars Arena.
02:13This line opened up at the FanDuel Sportsbook as a favorite towards the Pistons, Joe.
02:17At two and a half, we're now seeing one and a half at the FanDuel Sportsbook and one and
02:20a half across the marketplace.
02:22Apparently, people buying into the Knicks and the line moving accordingly.
02:27The problem to me is the same problem with the Knicks that we saw the Lakers did is that
02:33the depth becomes an issue when Brunson's got to play 45 minutes and Cat's got to play
02:3845 minutes and Detroit can roll out, you know, fresher legs the entire game and being at
02:45home and the physicality here, it wears on teams here.
02:49I think Detroit's got one more in them here tonight, but they're basically telling you
02:54it's a coin flip at that price there.
02:56Donnie, who do we buy in the in the fourth quarter when it matters the most?
03:00Who's going to have the fresher legs?
03:02It's a great point you bring up, too, because we saw two closeout scenarios with teams on
03:09their home court.
03:09One was tremendous in Houston.
03:12The other one was the Lakers didn't even get to 100 and got knocked out in five games.
03:16I always like to say, when your back is against the wall like the Pistons, how do you come
03:20out strong in that first quarter?
03:21We'll have an indication of how that game is going to go.
03:24Game number two tonight, 10 p.m., maybe the most entertaining series so far of round number
03:29one in the NBA.
03:30That's the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers, as we said a little bit later tonight.
03:34That line opened up as a Clippers favorite at minus seven in Los Angeles.
03:38That line now sits at six and a half at the FanDuel Sportsbook and six and a half across
03:42the board.
03:43The total, Joe, same thing we saw typically in the playoffs, an opening number, a closeout
03:48situation.
03:48It's dropped slightly to 212 at the FanDuel Sportsbook, but as low as 211 and a half at other
03:54outlets here.
03:55How are we feeling about the side for the Clippers?
03:58Open at seven, now slightly down.
04:01Yeah, I mean, listen, this has got to be Kawhi time, right?
04:04And if we're all being completely honest here, this series should have been over here.
04:09The Nuggets have had a lot of things go their way in this series here.
04:14But I do think back against the wall at home, a place, Donnie, in which the Clippers had been
04:20very good after the All-Star break.
04:23At home, I think it's Kawhi time.
04:26I think this is where he shows up and he gets this thing back to a game seven.
04:32And then at that point, it's really, truly a coin flip.
04:35Now, if we look at both of these games, right?
04:37And again, analyzing it a little bit different than how you actually interact with, say, okay,
04:41who's going to win?
04:41Who's going to lose?
04:42Give me this question, though.
04:43Because again, we saw two performances last night.
04:46Energy in the building, unbelievable performance by the Rockets, low energy, it felt like for
04:51the Lakers.
04:51So tonight, two teams at home in closeout situations where if they don't win, they're not going
04:56to play a game number seven.
04:57Do we expect one of these teams maybe to be a little bit lackluster?
05:00Are you expecting full gas out of the Pistons and the Clippers tonight?
05:05I think it's full gas.
05:06And I think you've got a situation with Denver like Golden State where they knew they got
05:12one other game and it's going to be in their building coming up.
05:15So when push comes to shove, they'd much rather be available for that game seven at home with
05:22fresh legs than anything else.
05:23So that's what I'd worry about with Denver.
05:25But I think Detroit's going to leave it all out on the court.
05:28Yeah, by the way, Detroit should are technically for me, Joe, already have moved on in this
05:32series.
05:33Like they blew game number one.
05:34They got a foul call they should have got in the last home game they had.
05:38They won game five in the garden there.
05:39So they have two playoff road wins here.
05:42Handle your business.
05:42Get me to a game number seven, which I'd love to see at the garden.
05:45The shocker for me tonight, Joe, to be honest, would be if the Clippers don't show up tonight.
05:49And I don't mean that, oh, look at that.
05:50The Nuggets rolled by 20 points.
05:52But I am expecting not a performance like we saw for Houston because a 30 point blowout early in
05:57that game.
05:58But I expect the Clippers really to take control.
06:00And if they do, the Nuggets aren't going to play out the string.
06:03You saw exactly what Golden State did.
06:05They didn't have it early.
06:06They didn't say, let's play to get it together in the second half.
06:08They handled their business at home in game number six.
06:10We'll see how it turns out.
06:13As Ben Stevens would say to honor him today, you know what it would be?
06:16The best two words in sports.
06:18Game number six, Joe Ranieri.
06:20Because that's what we have tonight in the NBA.
06:22Two game number sixes.
06:23The New York Knicks, the Detroit Pistons, the Nuggets, and the Clippers.
06:27Let's get down to business tonight and see what happens.
06:30First game, of course, the East Coast game.
06:327.30 p.m.
06:33Start.
06:335.19, 5.9.20.
06:35Excuse me, 5.20 on the rotation.
06:36That's the Knicks and the Pistons.
06:37As we started to talk out at the top of the hour.
06:40Line opened up, Joe.
06:41Two and a half as a favor towards the Pistons.
06:43Down to one and a half.
06:44Total up slightly at the Famedle Sportsbook.
06:47From that 213 to a 214 number.
06:49The Knicks should have closed the door in game five.
06:52Couldn't do that.
06:53Momentum could be on the side of the Detroit Pistons.
06:56What are we looking at in tonight's ballgame?
06:59Listen, again, Knicks are fortunate in this spot.
07:04As it certainly feels like that poor Tim Hardaway Jr.
07:09Three-point attempt in game four.
07:11That he got absolutely mauled.
07:13And they admitted after the fact that it should have been a foul.
07:17Listen, this team has shown up and shown out when it's back against the wall.
07:21It's going to be the second straight game.
07:23I thought that was a huge effort at Madison Square Garden for a young, inexperienced team
07:29to go into the garden of all places, Donnie, and be able to pull out a win
07:33and give yourself a chance at getting back home.
07:37And a game seven, which we all know is anybody's, you know, anything can happen there.
07:43If I'm the Knicks, I want this series over tonight.
07:46This has been by far the most physical series that we have had.
07:51The problem is Detroit is younger.
07:54They have more depth.
07:55So it's not going to be nearly as hard on them as it's going to be on this Knicks team
07:59if they got to go seven games.
08:01I can't wait to see the battle with Dern and Cat because it's been a whole lot of fun to
08:08watch at this point.
08:10I still think Detroit gets it to a game seven at the garden here with a win tonight.
08:14So does the market, by the way.
08:16Oh, I would love to see it happen at this point.
08:18We'll see where that line ends up.
08:19By the way, game time.
08:20Let's just say the FanDuel Sports were great.
08:21Now you see that graphic is one and a half, Joe.
08:23Where's that game time line at tonight?
08:27Oh, I think the Knicks money will come in.
08:29I absolutely think the Knicks money will come in.
08:31It's going to be a pick on any which way it comes.
08:33Just pick the winner.
08:34Forget about the spread, whatever it may be.
08:36Just go ahead and pick the winner.
08:38And the total is going to be interesting.
08:40What do we get here tonight?
08:42Is it a defensive battle?
08:44It looks like, what, we're getting a little bit of over money in the marketplace here
08:47as well.
08:48Yeah.
08:49It should be fun to watch it play out in two.
08:51We understand that the thought process behind game sixes and sevens, elimination games.
08:55And we saw elimination game in game number five in the garden.
08:57It usually is more of a defensive effort, but the point scores always get my attention.
09:02Jalen Brunson tonight, 28 and a half.
09:04He always has the basketball in his hand.
09:05Cade Cunningham, 27 and a half.
09:08Carl Anthony Towns looking for a bounce back in his shooting performance at 23 and a half.
09:12If there was a points prop on the board or a player that you're focused on tonight, Joe,
09:16who would that player be?
09:19Well, it would be Cade Cunningham for me.
09:22I mean, he's the guy that if Detroit is going to win, he is the guy that once again has got
09:26to be the catalyst to get it done.
09:29And playing at home, I like what they've done.
09:34The whole Cunningham and Dern pick and roll has absolutely destroyed this New York Knicks team,
09:40who is being way over reliant on a very banged up Jalen Brunson.
09:45You know, how long can you do that?
09:46At what point does a Tom Thibodeau, let's let me run these guys into the ground mentality.
09:53It's Brunson or bust for the Knicks.
09:55But I think Cunningham is the guy to look at for Detroit tonight.
09:59Yeah, I feel like it as well.
10:00Like almost that correlation.
10:01Like you're trying to say, like, if my best player doesn't play well, we probably don't win the basketball game.
10:05But my best player can have a really good night and we still might not win the basketball game
10:09because we're not talking about, hey, they just got to cover, Joe, seven or eight points in this game.
10:12You're basically asking your team either direction to win this game outright.
10:16And if your best player doesn't play well, you're probably not going to win a close game, certainly outright.
10:21If we look at the FanDuel betting markets here in this game, 61% of the bets on the spread towards the New York Knicks.
10:2855% of the money right now coming in for the New York Knicks.
10:31We'll keep an eye on that as certainly the afternoon moves on to see where that does settle in.
10:35But that game, Joe, is the first game of a doubleheader and an elimination doubleheader tonight once again.
10:40The second game, as we talked about, out in Los Angeles, into a dome, 521-522 on the rotation, 10 o'clock tip time.
10:47Of course, that's the Denver Nuggets looking to close out the series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
10:52Clippers home court advantage.
10:53That line opened up as a seven-point spread at the FanDuel Sportsbook.
10:56Now reporting back at six and a half, just about with every other book as well.
11:00The total, however, Joe, 213-5 has now dipped to 212 even, and some outlets even showing as low as 211-5 now.
11:08Nuggets Clippers tonight out in Los Angeles.
11:11Yeah, the total is interesting to me, right?
11:15Because we saw a rock bottom, I think, for the Nuggets.
11:18What did they score?
11:1883 in game three.
11:20Yeah.
11:20Then they got 101 in game four.
11:23They got 131 in game five.
11:25Jamal Murray is hitting everything he seems to be throwing up right now, which is a great situation now for the Denver Nuggets.
11:35But, listen, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon have also been lighting them up from the perimeter here.
11:43If you get that kind of night from the Nuggets again, Kawhi and company have got to match them.
11:48Norm Powell, Kawhi.
11:49Hey, I could see this thing going up and over.
11:53There's no reason why we shouldn't be able to get a pretty darn good offensive display from both these teams,
11:59because they both have shown the ability to light each other up.
12:03I think this is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
12:05Now, by the way, we just talked about the Knicks series right here at the FanDuel Sportsbook.
12:09I should have said the Knicks game there.
12:10Slight favorites toward New York, both on the ticket count, about six out of every ten tickets,
12:14and also on the money, about five and a half, or 55%, excuse me, coming in on their direction.
12:19How about these numbers for this game?
12:20Because when you line it up again, it's still sitting at six and a half.
12:23It's a heavy favorite.
12:2480% of the spread bets coming in on the Denver Nuggets, Joe, with 72% of the money.
12:31A heavy public side tonight, just looking and saying, hey, the Nuggets are good.
12:36That's about a touchdown.
12:37They don't have to win, but they can cover.
12:39Is that sort of a danger zone?
12:40Because for me, I would either think that the Nuggets win this game outright, or they lose by double digits.
12:46If I'm taking the Nuggets tonight, it's probably me, Joe, on the money line.
12:51I'll tell you this, though.
12:52The last ten times that these teams have actually played one another,
12:56the Nuggets have only lost by more than seven points once.
13:02That's it.
13:03So they usually tend to play much closer games here.
13:08I think this is going to be a fun one.
13:10Listen, Denver's defense is not going to scare anybody.
13:12So if the Clippers have a good night offensively, they're going to drop some points.
13:17The question is, are the Nuggets going to remain hot, especially from the outside on the road?
13:22If they do, they're going to be a ton of points in this game.
13:26Yeah, the worst-case scenario, right, for the Denver Nuggets.
13:29Play it all the way through, maybe overtime, lose a heartbreak.
13:31I'm like, man, we just played five quarters here.
13:33Now we've got to fly back and try to win it, which, again, you do have the next game,
13:37which is game seven, in your back pocket at home.
13:39But nobody wants to go to a game seven saying, like, ooh, that's exactly where we want.
13:42Like the Golden State Warriors blow a game number five and go, okay, we've got game number six.
13:46Oh, no, we lost.
13:47It's not over for them.
13:48Okay, we still can regroup and win game number seven.
13:50So be careful what you ask for, saying, you know what?
13:52We don't want to try game number six because we have the game number seven.
13:55The points props here, Nicole Jokic, Joe, 27-1⁄2, James Harden, 20-1⁄2, Kawhi Leonard, 24-1⁄2.
14:01Who do you have your eye on?
14:02Jamal Murray went ballistic in the last game.
14:05He's posted up at a 20-1⁄2 for this game.
14:08Yeah, it's big.
14:10But, I mean, there's a couple of guys that got to get it going here.
14:13Norm Powell has got to be able to get it going here.
14:1720-1⁄2, I think, is his number there.
14:21And I also think, keeping an eye on Aaron Gordon's point prop, he was hitting it from the outside there.
14:2713-1⁄2, I think, is what his point prop is.
14:30Would not be shocked, too, if he gets up and over that number tonight.
14:35Yeah, I tend to, like, in this, because I'm worried about the blowout, which, again, is like, well, Donnie, you should just take the Clippers.
14:40I do think the Clippers win tonight.
14:41But, again, I thought in the closeout situation, I thought the Lakers would win.
14:44And how about two teams in Los Angeles getting eliminated 24 hours apart?
14:48That would be tough for the NBA, saying, man, we just lost a big market.
14:52But for me, it's like James Harden, 20-1⁄2.
14:54He's got to have a good game tonight.
14:55We need that vintage Kawhi, which we've seen in the series, 24-1⁄2, to really come out the doors.
15:00The one thing I'll be worried about, even on both sides, is let's just say the Clippers get off hot
15:05and they don't really have to play too much in the fourth quarter, which would leave you a little bit short.
15:08I'm nervous.
15:09I probably would lean towards Jokic under 27-1⁄2.
15:12But it's one of those where, if the Denver Nuggets show come out hot in this game,
15:17Jokic could do one of his 32-, 15-, and 12-type performances in a closeout situation.
15:22They're good.
15:23But I'm just looking for the Clippers to hold the whole court tonight.
15:26We get to a game number seven, which would be great to watch in great theater.
15:30Don Vecchio comes up next.
15:32We'll call four NBA.
15:33Right back at it right here on the early line.
15:35Sirius XM Channel 159.
15:37Sports Grid Network, hour number three, certainly in full effect.
15:40Big-time games tonight, and we need a big-time perspective.
15:44I'm Donnie Wrightside.
15:45He's Joe O'Neary, and we welcome in Tom Vecchio.
15:48We need some advice on props.
15:50We need to get it right tonight.
15:51We need to see extended series.
15:53That's what we love to see.
15:54Tom, how are we feeling this morning on a Thursday?
15:57I'm doing great.
15:58Thanks for having me.
15:58Yeah, we have some awesome series tonight across the NBA, the NHL.
16:02We have some day baseball that we could dive into.
16:05I'm ready to go.
16:07Let's get after it right away tonight.
16:09Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
16:11The New York Knicks taking on the Detroit Pistons.
16:13We just talked about this, both myself and Joe Ranieri.
16:16Line opened up at 2 1⁄2.
16:17Now sits 1 1⁄2.
16:18Your thoughts, Knicks, Pistons tonight, Tom?
16:22I really do think the Knicks get it done, and it's going to be a big-time under game.
16:27I really do.
16:29And just the way this series has gone, like, we've seen unders.
16:32We've seen, like, the intensity, the fouls late, which I personally love to see.
16:35But, you know, I always worry about the scoring from the Knicks.
16:39And this is something I've talked about since before the series started,
16:41is the non-Brunson minutes for the Knicks.
16:44Where does the scoring come from?
16:46And the Pistons have really given them a tough matchup.
16:49And defensively, I think I really am encouraged what the Pistons are doing.
16:53So I think the Knicks come away with the victory,
16:54and I do think we're going to see a very clear under right from the jump.
16:58And that also brings me to Carl Anthony Towns, under 23 1⁄2 points.
17:02Man, Jalen Duren and Paul Reed have done a great job at keeping him under control.
17:06Outside of that one game that he bounced back after he didn't have a field goal attempt
17:09for the final 18 minutes of the game prior, Towns has been good this series,
17:13and he's been clutch this series.
17:14He hasn't been that explosive offensive player.
17:16So I think under is the play.
17:18Listen, we were talking during the commercial break.
17:20If you want to side with the Pistons, it's not about taking them tonight.
17:23It's about just taking them on the series price, which we talked about,
17:26which is at plus 380 right now.
17:28So there are multiple ways to go about it.
17:30I do think the Knicks are the better team, and they will get it done,
17:33but it's not going to be easy tonight.
17:36And that's the problem with the Knicks.
17:37They've been the better team a lot, but they can't seem to beat better teams,
17:42teams that actually show up and don't get pushed around by them.
17:45That's why they've had such a hard time all year long.
17:49But put up a shut-up time for the Knicks tonight.
17:52And the same thing for the Clippers, Tom.
17:54I mean, the fact that they're even in a spot to be eliminated in this game six is crazy.
18:00What do you expect from them tonight?
18:02So you guys were talking in the previous segment about, and Joe, you specifically mentioned it,
18:06like, hey, we're not worried about the Nuggets defense.
18:09We know that the points will be there from the Clippers, right?
18:13So to me, I'm not worried about the Clippers offense.
18:15I'm not worried about them scoring.
18:16Tonight has to be about their defense.
18:18Tonight has to be about the other things outside of their offense.
18:20They've scored, what is it, 100 points or more in every game except the one where they only had 99.
18:24So when I'm looking at this game, it's like, okay, we know where it should be getting scoring from Kawhi.
18:27It really should be there from Harden.
18:29And, you know, I think Zubats has to do a little bit more on the boards.
18:32But when I'm looking at it from a prop perspective, I think my favorite one has to be Kawhi over 11.5 rebounds plus assists.
18:38Again, I'm not worried about their offense.
18:40Tonight has to be about everything else other than their offense.
18:43When we see this series, he's been pretty darn consistent, and he's been getting to this number simply on one stat,
18:49nine rebounds, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, whatever it might be.
18:52So the fact that he can get there on one of these stats alone combined with, I'm thinking that we're going to see an under tonight,
18:57they have to bring the defense against the Nuggets offense.
19:00Kawhi is going to be on the board tonight.
19:02He'll pick up a few assists, and I think the over is clear for Kawhi props, but the game probably still falls under.
19:08Let's take a look at both of these games tonight, too, in its totality.
19:10Like, if we ask for, like, surprises, like, what would surprise you tonight?
19:13A winner, a loser, or maybe a prop bet?
19:15Like, man, I didn't expect this out of this player.
19:17What would surprise me tonight would be, I mean, another Brunson performance.
19:24Would he shoot four of 16 the other night?
19:26Like, if he just is a no-show tonight, and he's held under 20 points, again, I think the game's going to fall under.
19:31I don't think he's going to be fine to 40 points, but him finishing with 18 would be an issue.
19:36I know he twisted his ankle at that, like, the near sideline play at the end of the game.
19:39So him not scoring tonight, I think, would be a massive surprise overall.
19:43Like, he's the engine of the offense, very clearly.
19:45Yeah, where's Harden been?
19:49Has anybody, have you seen him?
19:50Is he on the back of a milk carton?
19:51Is it, like, where is he?
19:52Are we fading him again?
19:53Because it looks like Denver's, like, Harden's not beating us here tonight.
19:57It kind of feels like, all right, so is it Powell?
20:01Who's going to win this game here tonight for the Clippers?
20:04I mean, for the Clippers, we saw a nice offensive performance from Zubats the other night.
20:08Like I said, it could be Norm Powell.
20:09I don't want to say, like, this is just par for the course when it comes to Harden in, you know, April, May,
20:14whatever it might be, the playoffs.
20:15But, again, this is the kind of thing where it's like, hey, we will let Harden shoot.
20:18You have to beat us, Harden.
20:19We'll take care of Kawhi.
20:20We'll worry about the other players.
20:22It's just like, hey, have your shots.
20:23We'll let you take them.