PMT DB
PMT DB
Brian Windhorst and Tyson Ritter on NBA Playoffs and Office Concerts
We are back from the long weekend and the NBA playoffs are officially in the blender. The Knicks managed to save their season in a game that felt like a fever dream, mostly because Tom Thibodeau was actually forced to play his bench. While Jalen Brunson dealt with foul trouble, Carl Anthony Towns finally played like the monster he's supposed to be.
Big CatCarl Anthony Towns is at his best when he remembers he is seven feet tall and can drive to the rim
You know when Carl Anthony Towns is going to that next level where he realizes, oh yeah, I'm seven feet. I could just go to the rim and score on these guys. It feels like the threes happen, he can get into that groove of threes after he reminds himself like, oh yeah, I can drive on these guys. He got like a big and one and it almost like unlocked something in his brain. He's like, I'm Carl Anthony Towns. I'm big purr.
It was a massive response from a New York team that looked dead at halftime. Memes is obviously riding high, even if he's starting to float some questionable theories about the team's best player sitting on the pine.
MemesThe Knicks have been playing better without Jalen Brunson this series
For some reason, the series, [the Knicks] are just playing better without [Jalen Brunson]. This series. They have been playing better without him when he is off the court.
While the Knicks are battling, the Western Conference feels like it's shifting toward a new dynasty. We were live for the end of Thunder-Wolves, and Oklahoma City looks inevitable. Big Cat pointed out the weird coincidence that both teams in the mix for the Finals were essentially built by one man who isn't even playing in them.
Big CatThe 2025 NBA Finals is effectively the Paul George Finals because he built both rosters.
We may be headed to a finals where both teams were built on the back of trading away Paul George. The Indiana Pacers traded Paul George to Oklahoma City for [Victor] Oladipo and [Domantas] Sabonis. Sabonis developed as a player and then they traded him for Tyrese Haliburton. The Thunder meanwhile traded Paul George for SGA and seven pick swaps, one of which turned into Jalen Williams.
PFT is ready to pack it in for Minnesota, thinking the young core in OKC is just too much to handle right now.
PFT CommenterThe Oklahoma City Thunder will win their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games.
I want this series to go on more. I think. I'm not rooting for it, but I just think the Thunder are really fucking good. I think Thunder. Yeah. You know what? I think it's gonna be Thunder in five.
Brian Windhorst on the NBA Landscape
Our good friend Brian Windhorst joined the show live from Minneapolis to break down the fallout of Game 4. He gave us the inside scoop on the "Hawkeye" camera technology LeBron was complaining about and explained why the Timberwolves might be looking at a very different roster soon.
Brian WindhorstThe Timberwolves will likely be forced to break up their core roster next season due to the salary cap.
I don't think they can keep this team together. The core, the big piece is they can, but, so Julius Randle's a free agent, Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a free agent, and Naz Reed is a free agent. He has an opt-out... I would be surprised if they were able to re-sign all three guys.
Wendy also touched on the Knicks-Pacers series, noting that while everyone wants to talk about rotations, the health of one specific Pacer might be the only thing that actually matters for the rest of the series.
Brian WindhorstAaron Nesmith's ankle injury is a more significant X-factor for the Knicks-Pacers series than any tactical adjustment.
Another thing I'm gonna say is that a big factor is Aaron Nesmith's ankle. That potentially is a huge X factor. And another reason why, if you're a Knicks fan, you think that you can do it. That to me, more than any Xs and O thing or whatever lineup you wanna play or who's ever got a hot shot, that potentially is a huge X factor.
Tyson Ritter in Studio
The lead singer of The All-American Rejects, Tyson Ritter, stopped by for an awesome interview before playing a literal concert on the office basketball court. He talked about the band's new model of doing popup house parties and bowling alley shows just for the fans, skipping the corporate nonsense of the modern touring industry.
The current music industry model of overpriced 'paper tickets' and dominant promoter dynasties is in the process of failing.
You know the system of of, you know, we're watching it fall right now. Like these paper tickets, giant dynasties going to these giant rooms and selling half the room. 800 bucks a pop... So it's like, I'm the guy who bought an $800 ticket and Joe Blow behind me didn't pay anything for the sausage I bought. How was there not like a big class action lawsuit?
He opened up about the creative process, the 13-year hiatus where they never actually broke up, and why authenticity is the only thing that actually cuts through the noise in the age of social media feeds.
Modern music fans have a high 'bullshit meter' and can easily perceive when an artist is being inauthentic.
I think authenticity right now is so permeable and perceptible. If something's bullshit, it screams bullshit. Especially on the feed, you're like, oh man, that's a real dude that, oh man, here's horses shit. You know, like, it bleeds in your hands.
Who's Back and Jordon of the Week
In a packed Who's Back, PFT noticed a strange trend with Anne Hathaway becoming the unofficial scout for the league's grittiest players. Between her courtside run-in with OG Anunoby and her historic love for Danny Woodhead, she clearly has a type.
PFT CommenterAnne Hathaway has a fixation for scouting gritty athletes like OG Anunoby and Danny Woodhead
Anne Hathaway is back. And if you look at the stats. A guy Riggs posted about this OG Anunoby ran into Anne Hathaway Courtside. He was jumping outta bounds to save a ball. Since that moment he's been, he's had 24.3 points per game. Now Anne Hathaway is leaning into it. So she's like posting pictures of OG Anunoby on her Instagram. The one other obscure ish athlete that she's developed a fixation for over her career was Danny Woodhead. She's a massive Danny Woodhead fan.
We also checked in on the MLB, where Big Cat is fed up with the scheduling gods. It’s the unofficial start of summer, and yet the league can't seem to figure out how to own the day.
Big CatMLB is failing by not having wall-to-wall nationally broadcast games on Memorial Day
I don't understand how the MLB still can't figure it out. That like, Memorial Day happens to start summer every year and you haven't figured out a way to have wall to wall baseball games. It's crazy to me. And it should be like, there should be games starting very early and it'd go all day and it should be all nationally broadcast. Like why, why wouldn't you do that?
Finally, we wrapped with Jordon of the Week. With more ring camera footage unearthed of Bill Belichick's offseason adventures, PFT has a theory that this isn't just a mid-life crisis, but a strategic recovery from the greatest breakup in NFL history.
PFT CommenterJordon Hudson was Bill Belichick's 'rebound' from his 'divorce' with Tom Brady.
When Brady and Belichick broke up, I think we spent a lot of time using the word divorce. I think Bill might have treated it and processed it like a divorce. At the time where he's like 'my main thing is gone now, time to find some new strange.' So Belichick went from one GOAT to another.
Next time you're feeling down, just remember there's a guy in Alabama who took 12 grams of mushrooms and woke up as a world-class Italian chef.
