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The Los Angeles Clippers responded after getting shellshocked in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks. L.A. came out like a team with a purpose in Game 5 on Tuesday night, setting the tone early and cruising to the most emphatic win any team has had in the postseason thus far. By the time the dust is settled, Los Angeles found itself with a 154-111 win that somehow felt more lopsided than the final score appeared. Now, Doc Rivers and co. find themselves 3-2 up in the series.

The Clippers shot a scintillating 63.1 percent from the field, connected on a ridiculous 62.9 percent of their attempts from deep, and slowed down the vaunted Maverick offense. Before Game 6 takes place on Thursday, we lamented on a trio of takeaways from this one-sided affair.

The Clippers looked like champions

Los Angeles looked completely stunned during Game 4. They got out to a 21-point lead, blew that, and then just got absolutely obliterated by Luka Doncic, who could not do anything wrong. While the Clippers did have a few answers as the game went on, it just felt like Doncic was going to do something magical and lead Dallas to win, which ended up happening.

Far more concerning, though, was how Los Angeles seemed like it was a little bit off once Dallas made it a game. In Game 5, they had zero intention of letting that happen again. The Mavericks got out to a 16-9 lead, at which point the Clippers ripped off a torrid 32-6 run to end the first quarter. By halftime, the lead was 24. By the end of the third, it was 25, and the fourth quarter was a mere formality.

This is the L.A. team that a bunch of folks picked to win a championship. They were crisp on offense — their 154 points was a franchise playoff record, as was their 22(!) made threes — and ruthless on defense. While 111 points is a lot, it’s a relatively good night at the office against this historically great Dallas offense. They seemed to really enjoy going right at Doncic (more on this in a bit!) and embraced being a team of pests, even without Patrick Beverley. It was a stark reminder that when the Clippers are really locked in, they are going to be really, really difficult to beat, especially went Takeaway No. 2 happens.

Playoff P

The “Playoff P” thing has led to people getting a whole lot of jokes off at Paul George’s expense during the playoffs thus far. George is a very good player, but against Dallas, he’s really, really struggled, something that is applicable to his play on both ends of the floor. His offensive game has been off, while his defense, which can be stifling at times, has been just a hair worse than usual. Considering his offensive struggles, he’s needed to step it up on the defense of end of floor, and he hasn’t done that.

George admitted after Game 5 that he was “in a dark place,” but in his 25 minutes on the floor, he broke out of his slump in an emphatic way. He was magnificent, going for 35 points on 12-for-18 shooting and hitting four of his eight attempts from three. He was also engaged on the defensive end and was one of the players tasked with making Doncic’s life miserable.

A lot has been made of Playoff P, especially because the Clippers acquired him to pair with Leonard and win a title this year. That guy didn’t show up for the first four games. The hope in L.A. is that Game 5 was his arrival, and the best version of George is here to stay for the remainder of the postseason.

The Mavs got frustrated early

It was evident early on that this wasn’t going to be the Mavericks’ night. Once the Clippers started to pour it on in the first quarter, everyone on Dallas seemed a little off. Rick Carlisle and Luka Doncic both rode the refs a ton — the former got tossed, the latter picked up a technical foul that was so easy to see coming that Chris Webber was predicting it on TNT’s broadcast for a few minutes. Doncic still had a decent night (22 points, eight rebounds, four assists), but it wasn’t nearly up to the standard he’s capable of producing and his injured ankle seemed to really be bugging him.

Now, Dallas’ postseason comes down to one game. If they lose, their run is over, and if they win, they’ll force a decisive Game 7. They cannot have the attitude that they had on Tuesday night if they want to get there. Doncic has to be on his game, Kristaps Porzingis playing would be huge, and the various pieces around them have to hit shots. If they can do this, Dallas can win this series, even if there is an uphill climb ahead of them.

This past Friday, Nas shared his 13th album King’s Disease and so far it’s been received well by fans. Supported by features from some of today’s favorites like Don Toliver, Big Sean, and Fivio Foreign as well as some names from the past including Charlie Wilson, AZ, and Foxy Brown, it appears as if Nas has worked his way into the good graces of fans. Stopping by The Breakfast Club to speak on the album, the hosts decided to ask Nas about his thoughts on having to share a release date with Jay-Z over the last two dates.

When asked about it, Nas saw it as no more than a coincidence. “I think maybe there’s an energy that we both have where we maybe we feel like we work around the same time,” he said in response. The question was rooted in Jay-Z and Pharrell’s single, “Entrepreneur,” which arrived on the same day as King’s Disease. The occurrence adds to a fairly long list of identical release dates which includes Nas’ Stillmatic and Jay-Z’s MTV Unplugged album with The Roots (December 18, 2001), Nas’ Street’s Disciple and Jay-Z’s Collison Course joint album with Linkin Park (November 30th, 2004), and on a more recent note, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s Everything Is Love album which arrived just a day after Nas’ Nasir release back in July 2018.

After DJ Envy from the The Breakfast Club relayed the multiple occasions where they both shared a release date, the list seemed to take Nas by surprise, but he still labeled it as nothing more than a coincidence. “Yo, bro that’s a hell of coincidence; that’s some confidence for you!” he said. “I think things just happen; just synergy, you know? Jay would know better than me.”

Watch Nas’ interview on The Breakfast Club above and move up to the 32-minute mark to hear him discuss the release date issue.

King’s Disease is out now via Mass Appeal. Get it here.

After finding success in 2019 with his debut album, Love Live Mexico, Lil Keed quickly returned to the booth to record his sophomore album, Trapped on Cleveland 3. Now the YSL signee returns with a new video for the song “Tighten Up.” It finds Keed playing a used car salesman, a job he navigates with ease, closing multiple car deals all while rattling off the song’s lyrics.

The “Tighten Up” video arrives nearly a month after the new album’s release. Over 19 songs, Lil Keed works alongside such guests as Gunna, Young Thug, Future, Travis Scott, and more. In addition to the new album, the YSL act also landed a spot in this year’s XXL Freshman class, alongside other notable newcomers like Chika, Jack Harlow, Polo G, and Rod Wave. The video for “Tighten Up” is also the rapper’s second video since the release of Trapped on Cleveland 3, which follows the one for “Here” — a video that found the young rapper tapping into his inner rockstar persona.

You can watch the “Tighten Up” video above.

Trapped On Cleveland 3 is out now via YSL/300 Entertainment. Get it here.

Lil Keed is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Early in the third quarter of Game 5 on Tuesday evening, the Denver Nuggets looked to be in severe trouble against the Utah Jazz. Donovan Mitchell and company led by as many as 15 points after halftime but, with a strong push at the end of the third quarter and an offensive blitz led by Jamal Murray in the fourth, the Nuggets avoided elimination and forced a Game 6 in style.

With that in mind, here are three takeaways from Game 5 to inform the proceedings on both sides.

Jamal Murray is on the heater of a lifetime

Jamal Murray is very good. This was well known before he even arrived in the NBA’s bubble, but the Nuggets guard took things to another level during Game 4 and followed it up by raising the stakes yet again in Game 5. Murray produced 50 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists (without a turnover) in a losing effort on Sunday but, this time around, he was the impetus in a victory.

On the night, Murray scored 42 points (on 17-for-26 shooting), grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists, which is impressive enough on its own. In the second half, though, Murray was completely out of his mind, playing all 24 minutes and scoring 33 points on only 19 shooting possessions.

Along the way, Murray flashed the entire package, starting with a circus layup.

Then, he unleashed a shooting exhibition.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1298426969252483072

Finally, Murray iced the game by using his hot hand to draw the defense and find Nikola Jokic for the dagger.

It is fair to point out that Utah’s defense hasn’t been fantastic on Murray (more on that below), but the 23-year-old is thoroughly enjoying himself right now, and it is a lot of fun to watch.

The Nuggets still have defensive problems, headlined by Michael Porter Jr., but things were better in the second half

In the first quarter of Game 5, the Nuggets shot 52 percent and 7-for-11 from three-point range, with 21 points on 8-for-8 shooting from Jokic. It was a highly impressive offensive display but, unfortunately for Denver, it yielded only a one-point lead and that required a buzzer-beater from Jokic.

Denver’s defensive issues continued in the second quarter and, after the first four games, that wasn’t an overwhelming surprise. The Nuggets allowed 131.1 points per 100 possessions in falling into a 3-1 series hole and, without Gary Harris and Will Barton, Denver’s perimeter defense has been virtually nonexistent. Those issues aren’t solved after a stronger second half but, to their credit, the Nuggets executed at a much higher level, holding the Jazz to 43 percent shooting, forcing eight turnovers and providing legitimate resistance around the rim.

Mike Malone’s task will be inspiring that kind of effort again in Game 6 and (if needed) Game 7, but youngster Michael Porter Jr. is having his own set of problems. By now, it is widely recognized that Porter is a high-end offensive talent, with a sweet shooting stroke and the size and craft to allow him to create his own shot with ease. Defensively, though, it is a mess, which is part of the reason his deployment was limited during the regular season.

On the bright side, Porter was on the floor for most of Denver’s uptick in the second half, playing 18 minutes as the Nuggets made their push. It is even arguable that Porter provided a bit of additional spacing for Murray to work, with the defense having to respect him in a major way. However, it was evident throughout the second half and, especially, in crunch time that Porter’s defensive is a work in progress, to put it kindly. Malone will continue to juggle the need for Porter’s offense with the clear recognition that his lack of defensive awareness and execution can be brutal in big moments.

The Jazz are still in control of this series

Murray has been fantastic, Jokic is a proven star and Porter gives Denver an element of offensive upside they didn’t have before he arrived in the rotation. In the same breath, the Jazz hold a 3-2 lead and, with the second half of Game 5 not withstanding, Denver hasn’t shown it has consistent answers to stop Utah’s offense.

In the wake of his second half explosion, Murray will (rightly) garner the headlines, but Mitchell tossed up yet another 30-point effort and generally took advantage of Denver’s perimeter defenders.

From a standpoint of simple math, the Jazz needing to pick up only win, while Denver needs two, puts Utah in a fantastic spot. If anything, they’ve been the better team to this point in the series and, while defense has been a struggle on both sides, the Jazz have a longer track record of success on that end of the floor.

It is entirely possible that the Nuggets found something defensively after halftime and, if that holds, this series will continue to be must-see television over the next 48 or 96 minutes. It is also possible, however, that the Jazz will resume the form that netted them a 3-1 lead and a 15-point second half lead in Game 5.

In just a little over a week, Big Sean will share his fifth album, Detroit 2. Sean has kept fans waiting for it since he confirmed its title on his single “Overtime” last year. On Monday night, the Detroit native decided to surprise fans with a treat ahead of its release, releasing a single, “Deep Reverence,” which featured a guest appearance from the late Nipsey Hussle. Less than 24 hours after its release, Sean took to Twitter to reveal that the timing of the single’s release wasn’t fully backed by his label.

“My label (a few people there, not the whole label) thought it wasn’t smart to put this song out ahead of my album,” he said in the first of three tweets. “They told my team I should hold on to it.” Despite this, Sean quickly shut down the possibility that he’s having issues with his label, writing, “they still supported my decision in the end tho.”

In the next pair of tweets, Sean would go on to thank fans for their support and pushing him to release the single. “My heart and my gut was saying not only do people deserve that song right now,” he wrote. “I felt like hearing nips voice, his presence and the energy of the song itself was needed and deserved it’s own moment! Ever since that Verses w/ Hit Boy n Boi 1da I wanted to drop it since then.” Finally, Sean thanked fans for their support, saying they “gave me confirmation once again to always follow my heart n gut.”

Detroit 2 is out 9/4 via GOOD Music/Def Jam. Pre-order it here.

Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In a statement posted to their Twitter page, Power Trip has announced that the band’s lead singer, Riley Gale, has passed away. In the announcement, the band honored Gale as “a friend, a brother, a son” and a “larger than life rock star and humble and giving friend.” The group went on to remind fans how much they meant to him and how special they were in his eyes, before requesting that they share any memory they have of Gale as he is remembered. A cause of death for the singer has not yet been revealed.

Formed in Dallas in 2008, Power Trip received its big break in 2013 when they signed to Southern Lord Records in 2013, and they released their debut album Manifest Decimation that same year. Nearly four years later, the band returned with their sophomore effort, Nightmare Logic, an album that was met with critical acclaim from both fans and critics, landing on a number of year-end lists. Last summer the group revealed on Twitter that they were hard at work on their upcoming third album.

In their statement, Power Trip has asked fans to “respect our wishes for privacy during this time” and to send donations to Dallas Hope Charities, which can be done through this website.

So far, Kanye West‘s political aspirations haven’t panned out as well as he would have liked. Now has another problem, this time with Yeezy Apparel, which is now facng a lawsuit from a tech company for breach of contract. According to TMZ and Pitchfork, MyChannel is seeking more than $20 million dollars in damages after the company claims West copied their video commerce technology after walking away from a promised $10 million investment. The lawsuit also says that, due to West’s financial promise, MyChannel moved its headquarters from Pennsylvania to California, then again to Illinois.

West is also accused of failing to pay MyChannel $7 million for their contributions to Yeezy Apparel. On top of that, the lawsuit says West rebranded the company as YZY Tech and presented “ideas such as those of [MyChannel] as his own” in business meetings with brands like Adidas and more. MyChannel claims that once talks fell through with West, the company saw him using a copy of their technology to sell merch in his Sunday Service videos. Additional accusation include “breaching an oral partnership agreement, preventing MyChannel from earning millions, encouraging the company to invest millions, withholding a promised $10 million investment, and violating MyChannel’s non-disclosure agreement by copying their video e-commerce technology.”

The lawsuit arrives soon after West was banned from Wisconsin presidential ballots and reportedly missed an important financial deadline for his presidential campaign.

(via Pitchfork and TMZ)

Thijme Termaat decided once that he shouldn’t drive a car because his mind wandered too much. He wanted to be an artist, but dropped out of design school after two months when he realized it wasn’t going to lead him to the freedom he longed for. Living at home in a small, rural town in the Netherlands, Termaat taught himself to paint—not with books or tutorials, but by “trying and experimenting.”

Then he made this incredible video. At first it appears to just be a stop-motion video of him making one painting (which would be impressive to anyone who has ever tried making a stop motion video—it’s a tedious, time-consuming process). But just past the minute-and-a-half mark it shifts to a whole other level and we see why Termaat might be distracted by his own mind while driving.

I Paint Official Thijme Termaat video

www.youtube.com

In an interview with Jonathan Zap on Reality Sandwich, Termaat described why and how he made the video.

“The inspiration to make the video directly relates back to my fascination for truth and its connection with the psyche. The whole movie is filled with illusion, imagination and manifestation. Time speeds up and slows down, paintings seem to be 3D all of a sudden and at the moment when you think you see through the illusion another layer of illusion unfolds. It is like a rollercoaster-ride through my mind. The video mimics this, blurring between psyche and 5-sense impressions.

It took me roughly three years to complete I Paint. I made it entirely alone, without any help and without a script. It is a combination of time-lapse and stop-motion, just still pictures with no digital effects. In fact, one could have made such a movie a hundred years ago. With the intention to make an inspiring video animating this blurred reality-experience, I just started working slowly towards the end of the film, frame-by-frame. Some frames took me whole days to create. If you look closely you can see my hair growing about six inches before I put it in a knot in the middle of the film.”

Impressive. You can check out more of Termaat’s surreal paintings on his website and on Instagram.

If you haven’t heard of QAnon by now, consider yourself fortunate. If you’ve heard of it, but are confused about what it is and how it came about, it’s probably time to learn. Any hopes that the rational among us had for it to die out on the fringes of the internet appears to be gone as the cult-like conspiracy theory has seeped into the mainstream, which means we can’t ignore it like we wish we could.

We also can’t just laugh it off like we wish we could, no matter how absurd and insane it is. It truly would be laughable if it hadn’t resulted in real people being harmed and the FBI calling it a domestic terrorism threat. And I don’t know anyone who can approach a laughable-yet-deadly-serious subject like Trevor Noah. In a new video, Noah gives QAnon the comedic treatment that it deserves while also managing to convey the rather terrifying reality of its existence and influence.

Noah describes QAnon as a “political cult built around a conspiracy theory and then crossed with a big book of word search puzzles.” That pretty much nails it. And now we have a bunch of these folks running for government office, and some of them even winning. If that’s not enough to scare people into reality, I don’t know what will be.

I know we’re all having to jump through some mental hoops to try to makes sense of the world we’re currently living in, but this is ridiculous. I could rationally explain why QAnon is not legit, but it would be like explaining to someone that the moon isn’t made of cheese. The claim itself is so beyond absurd, it’s not even worth entertaining. And it wouldn’t do any good anyway. As Noah said, “Don’t be looking for logic here. That’s not how cults work. Cults don’t follow logic.” Maddening, but true. I’ve tried, only to be accused of covering for pedophiles or being part of the cabal myself. Good times.

What else have you got up your sleeve, 2020? You know what, nevermind. I truly don’t want to know.

On Tuesday, the internet celebrity known as Pangzai released a tearful video on Twitter (since-deleted) saying goodbye to his followers and making cryptic references to his own depression and possibly going to jail.

If you’re aware of “Pangzai” or “Hebei Pangzai” at all, it’s probably as the guy with the incredible speed beer-chugging skills utilizing a “tornado” style. The video below, of him chugging a giant jar containing beer, some type of flaming liquor, and an egg, all while smoking a cigarette, went viral some time last year, for obvious reasons.

Pangzai — which apparently translates as “Chubby Dude,” or is “a kind of cute pun on “Pangzi,” or “fatty” — is a farmer in his early 30s named Liu Shichao who hails from Xingtai in the Hebei province. The videos were originally posted on the Chinese video app Kuaishou and Pangzai had no idea he’d gone viral on Twitter.

Pangzai gave an interview to Deadspin’s Lauren Teixeira last November, who wrote:

Kuaishou videos tend toward the rural and the outrageous: a typical viral Kuaishou video might feature a guy playing two trumpets through his nostrils, or a man jumping into a frozen pond in his underwear. In this sense, Liu’s videos might be considered the apotheosis of Kuaishou content. They are full of eye-popping stunts, depict acts harmful to the user’s personal safety, and are without exception set to loud Chinese pop music.

A New Zealand comedian claims it was actually he who invented the “tornado chugging style” and not Pangzai, but that’s really neither here nor there and Pangzai is one of the internet’s foremost kings regardless.

I’ve been following Pangzai since he learned to use a VPN to run the Twitter account @HebeiPangzai, a mix of Herculean chugging stunts, chopping bricks in half with his bare hands, and pleasant slices of Liu’s pastoral life. A straight shooter whose updates are consistently uplifting and good-natured, Pangzai has been a consistent source of delight in a sea of shit. His web presence is a brief fulfillment of the internet’s early promise to connect distant cultures and promote empathy. Plus he’s really good at chugging booze.

Today, I just happened to be scrolling through my timeline when I saw that HebeiPangzai had begun a live video. I jumped on as quickly as I could and it wasn’t the usual Pangzai, even if he did chug a beer in it.

In the video, a clearly sad and apparently crying Pangzai offered a farewell to his followers (through a translating app) and some have speculated that this was part of a Chinese government crackdown (all of which is speculation, it could be a publicity stunt, a platform switch, or just a guy dealing with a hangover).

The snippets of Pangzai’s monologue I managed to write down (I was trying to watch it live) included:

“I’m talking to you now maybe the next day I will be in jail.”

“There’s no one in my family who likes me.”

“You can’t help me, you can’t help me, I’m talking to you and I’m already committing a crime.”

“I hope I can take care of my fish picture.”

I assume “fish picture” was a mistranslation of “fish tank” or “aquarium,” as Pangzai occasionally films himself tending to some fish on his farm.

In any case, Pangzai seemed very depressed and for a while I was worried we might be watching his live suicide note. Luckily it didn’t end in self-harm or cops breaking down the door. For what it’s worth, he simply signed off and directed followers to his YouTube account.

It’s hard to know whether Pangzai’s notoriety in the US endangers him in China, increasing the likelihood that he’ll be used as a political pawn in a feud with a country that Donald Trump was demonizing even before he started trying to blame them for COVID. (Is it bad to write about him, or does his fame protect him?)

Again, it’s all speculation at this point, we don’t know if Liu is really in danger of going to jail or just having a depressive episode. I hope it’s the latter, and that fans like me can bid him a hearty “chug on, chubby king” for many years to come.