The first half of Game 1 of the Wizards-Sixers series in Philadelphia was far more competitive than many anticipated, with Washington taking a one-point lead into the break. It was a back-and-forth affair, with the Wizards starting slowly but coming alive late in the first quarter and battling the rest of the way.
That isn’t often how the 1-8 series goes, but Washington comes into the series on a bit of a heater with Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal playing tremendous basketball of late. For many, it was a pretty riveting half of basketball, as Philly is trying to shake free of its own playoff demons against a team that is playing, truly like a squad with nothing to lose. However, for others, the 1 p.m. tipoff came a bit too quickly after last night’s action ended at 1 a.m. ET.
When the Inside the NBA crew came on for halftime, Charles Barkley started talking about the first half, particularly the defensive effort of Philly before he was cut off by Shaq, who had video evidence of the Chuckster fast asleep in the green room during the first half.
Shaq caught Chuck sleeping during the first half
pic.twitter.com/zc3Rnh1ycn
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 23, 2021
For many it was just a funny, classic Chuck moment, while others found it frustrating as another example of the biggest NBA studio show not actually paying attention to the game they’re supposed to be talking about. Shaq couldn’t help but call out Chuck for his napping transgressions and you can bet any time Barkley is offering up questionable analysis the rest of this postseason, everyone is just going to assume he was passed out in the back during the game.