00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid.
00:02Always great to catch up with Gilbert McGregor from Phoenix Sports.
00:05He covers the Suns, and of course his Suns went down to Miami Heat the other night.
00:10That's a story for another day there.
00:12Not a very close game.
00:14I did see one of the Suns players yelling at the fans in Miami, too.
00:17Was it Brooks?
00:17I think it was going back.
00:19Probably so.
00:20Yeah, I saw that.
00:22Somebody sent me that, actually, on the sidelines.
00:24I'm like, I don't know anything about it.
00:25But a story for another day, because we're going to move on to some of the recaps from last night, Gilbert.
00:29And let's start off with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who certainly are not having the season thus far that they thought they would have.
00:34The playoffs will come.
00:35Maybe they will turn it up.
00:37Donovan Mitchell last night had one of his best games in a while.
00:3935 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, and also made 5 threes in their win against a very good Philadelphia team.
00:46So maybe this is the spark that the Cavs need for the second half of the season.
00:50It should be.
00:51Maybe it is.
00:51You know, I think the thing about that with the Cavs and the 76ers are two teams who have been up and down in various ways for different reasons.
00:58The Sixers, obviously, their injury issues, which is a yearly thing with them.
01:02But, you know, it's one thing for the Cavs, similar to shooters who are in a slump, right?
01:05You see one go through and things start to work out for you.
01:07Maybe the Cavs start stringing together some wins here to start off the new year or the new calendar year.
01:12And that gives them the momentum.
01:14They're fortunate.
01:15And that's something we've talked about a lot.
01:16The Eastern Conference is a conference where there isn't really a real favorite outside of Detroit Pistons right now.
01:21The Knicks are up and down.
01:22A lot of other teams in the Eastern Conference are up and down.
01:24So, the Cavs have some time.
01:25They afford themselves some time being in the Eastern Conference to figure it out.
01:29And maybe last night will be the right step toward the right direction.
01:32Meanwhile, the Knicks today are going to wait.
01:34The situation with Jalen Brunson, he was hurt yesterday.
01:36I know they play again tonight.
01:38So, I mean, the Knicks still, Gilbert probably should beat the Kings without him, but they did not last night.
01:43And so, that's going to be a tough loss.
01:44And certainly, I would not expect to see Brunson play tonight either.
01:49So, I guess I would ask you about the Knicks, this little slump that they're in.
01:53I know they got to win the other day, but it feels like we're going two, three weeks here.
01:57Knicks will get it going, though, right?
01:58You would think so, right?
01:59It's an extended slump.
02:00And obviously, it started right around Christmas time.
02:03And it's one of those things you feel like you take one step forward and you take three or four back.
02:06And that Josh Hart was back in the lineup earlier this week.
02:09And they had struggled without Josh Hart.
02:10But as soon as you get him back, Jalen Brunson leaves after playing one full game with Josh Hart.
02:15And, you know, big fan of Mikkel Bridges.
02:17I think he's a big fan favorite around here in the Valley as well.
02:20But any night where he's taking 20 shots and only making six of them, probably not going to be a good game for the team involved or a team that he's playing for.
02:27So, you know, the Knicks are probably going to have to figure some things out.
02:29Obviously, also a little bit of a revenge game for the Kings going against Mike Brown.
02:33I mean, the Kings have played a little bit better as of late.
02:35They're still a lowly Kings, but gotten a couple wins this past week over the Lakers and Rockets and now the Knicks.
02:40So, it's just a reminder that you cannot overlook any opponent in this league.
02:43No, and the East, by the way, seemingly still wide open.
02:47I understand that New York and Detroit are probably the two best teams thus far.
02:51But Boston, Cleveland, still right there.
02:54Magic, who knows, maybe they go on a roll.
02:56Philadelphia and then Miami, who started off the season a little bit in better shape, has sort of come back a little bit.
03:02Although, as I mentioned, they did beat Phoenix the other day.
03:04Okay, so now let's get to some games today.
03:07And I should say today because they're playing in Berlin, the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic.
03:13How about this one?
03:14A 2 p.m. Eastern game, Gilbert.
03:16So, you'll have something to watch this afternoon.
03:18Certainly, when you talk about Memphis at this point, all the discussion is surrounding John Morant, whether or not he will be dealt or not.
03:26The Magic are five-point favorites in this game.
03:28Total of 229.5.
03:30Gilbert, I got to tell you, seeing some of these trade proposals come in, not just from Miami and other places, seems like John Morant's going to be given away by the Memphis Grizzlies.
03:41Like, the teams are getting, I see, like, expiring contracts, no draft picks whatsoever.
03:46What in the world has happened to John Morant?
03:49Yeah, I mean, between his injuries and issues that have kind of impacted his role with the team and franchise and in the league, I think that his value has just kind of tanked a little bit.
03:59And it's a shame because of how spectacular of a player that he is when he's actually on the floor.
04:04Even this season, he's been impactful when on the floor.
04:06But it's pretty evident that things in Memphis aren't going very well.
04:10There's a lot of unrest within that team, which kind of lends itself into today.
04:14This team has been injured all year.
04:16Their injury list has just been extremely long all year.
04:19So, it does make sense that the Magic are favored the way that they are.
04:23You know, if you're thinking about some other things, you get exotic with it, maybe.
04:26And you have the ability to do player props.
04:28This game is being played in Germany.
04:30So, you know, Franz Wagner might have a big game in front of his home fans.
04:34Doesn't get very many opportunities to play in the country that he grew up in.
04:37Mo Wagner and Tristan de Silva are also the other two German players playing in this game.
04:40So, it should be interesting.
04:42It should be a fun game.
04:43But I think the Magic are a more complete team at this point.
04:46The Phoenix Suns, the team, Gilbert, you watch very closely, have been very good off a loss.
04:52At least you got that going for you tonight.
04:53They play the Pistons tonight.
04:55Detroit, minus six and a half.
04:57Total, 223 and a half.
04:58Obviously, Detroit the better team of the two.
05:01But what went wrong for the Suns the other day in Miami that they'll have to correct tonight?
05:06They didn't come out ready to play in Miami.
05:08It was their first game of a six-game road trip.
05:11And it looked like it.
05:12I don't know.
05:12South Beach might have gotten the best of them earlier this week as well.
05:15Because they were a little lethargic to start the game.
05:16And they clawed back after being trailing down by 20-plus in the second half.
05:21They came back and took the lead, but just did not have enough.
05:23But tonight's spread is pretty evident.
05:25Devin Booker, questionable.
05:26He sprained his ankle against the Heat earlier this week.
05:29So, keep an eye on his ability and status for the game.
05:32If he's able to play a guy who has roots in Michigan, I think he'll put together a nice performance.
05:36But it all depends on his availability tonight.
05:39Interesting game tonight, I think, in Houston.
05:41Because it felt like a statement needed to be made by the Thunder when they played the Spurs last time out.
05:48And they did, Gilbert.
05:49They absolutely crushed them.
05:50So, I guess the bigger question is, is a letdown tonight involved in this game against Houston?
05:59The Rockets are among the top teams in the NBA.
06:03But certainly, this is a short line for Oklahoma City.
06:05What do I mean by that?
06:06Generally speaking, Gilbert, as you know, they're almost never just four points or four-and-a-half-point favorites over anyone.
06:12What do you make of this matchup tonight?
06:14I think the road factor is definitely something that probably impacted that spread for Oklahoma City.
06:19But the Rockets are another team who have been struggling a little bit lately.
06:23They also lost to the Sacramento Kings and lost back-to-back to the Trail Blazers.
06:27They're able to get back on track once they returned home from that road trip.
06:30But, you know, I still think that the Thunder, especially making statements, I think that they've heard some outside noise about them struggling and not being necessarily as good as we crown them as being.
06:39So, I think that as they're playing against another one of the elite teams in the Western Conference, they'll be motivated to make a statement and then take advantage of the fact that the Rockets have been struggling lately.
06:47I like Oklahoma City tonight in this game just because of the factors and the trajectory of these teams recently.
06:55Gilbert, great stuff as always.
06:56Enjoy the rest of your week.
06:57And we'll catch up again next week here on Newswire and dive into some more NBA, getting closer to that All-Star break, Fast and Furious, here in February.
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