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Entering Sunday’s final day of the regular season, there was no drama to be had in the Eastern Conference, with playoff and play-in matchups all set in stone already, and that was reflected in the 1 p.m. ET window, when teams rested just about everyone and just tried to get across the finish line of the regular season.

However, in the West there was plenty of seeding drama to unfold from 5-9, and the 3:30 p.m. ET window delivered on some late drama. The first outcome to go final was the Warriors blasting the Blazers to ensure their place in the top-6 and a guaranteed playoff berth. Then, the Lakers beat the Utah Jazz to secure the 7-seed as the Clippers beat the Suns to secure the 5-seed and set up a blockbuster playoff series with that very same Phoenix team.

The real drama was reserved for the Pelicans-Timberwolves game in Minnesota, where the Wolves overcame a double-digit deficit, Rudy Gobert getting sent home for punching a teammate, and Jaden McDaniels hurting his hand punching a wall to beat the Pelicans thanks to heroics from Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, jumping New Orleans in the standings to the 8-seed and forcing the Pelicans to once again win two play-in games to reach the postseason.

With that complete, we now have the complete playoff and play-in picture, with the play-in tournament starting on Tuesday, April 11 with the 7/8 games, followed by the 9/10 games on Wednesday, April 12, and the loser of the first game hosting the winner of the second game on Friday, April 14.

PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT

8. Atlanta Hawks at 7. Miami Heat
8. Minnesota Timberwolves at 7. Los Angeles Lakers

10. Chicago Bulls at 9. Toronto Raptors
10. Oklahoma City Thunder at 9. New Orleans Pelicans

The TV schedule for the Play-In is also now set:

PLAYOFFS

EAST
1. Milwaukee Bucks vs. 8. TBD
2. Boston Celtics vs. 7. Winner of Hawks-Heat
3. Philadelphia 76ers vs. 6. Brooklyn Nets
4. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 5. New York Knicks

WEST
1. Denver Nuggets vs. 8. TBD
2. Memphis Grizzlies vs. 7. Winner of Timberwolves-Lakers
3. Sacramento Kings vs. 6. Golden State Warriors
4. Phoenix Suns vs. 5. Los Angeles Clippers

The league also announced the first portion of the TV schedule for Game 1s, with Nets-Sixers, Hawks/Heat-Celtics, Knicks-Cavs, and Warriors-Kings all playing Saturday on ESPN and ABC.

Melle Mel might think Eminem is only ranked amongst the greatest emcees list because of his race, but 50 Cent and Rae Sremmurd’s Slim Jxmmi beg to differ. During the duo’s interview on The Bootleg Kev Podcast the duo talked about Eminem’s impact.

On their new album Sremm4Life, the pair was able to clear their sample of the rapper’s 2000 song “Stan.” The track featured on Em’s album The Marshall Mathers LP, has been emmortilized in pop culture and the English language for shining a light on some fans’ unhealthy obsession with public figures. The song in question, “Not So Bad (Leans Gone Cold),” which caused a short-lived clash with rapper Millyz who also recently sampled the track.

When discussing Em’s impact on them personally, Slim Jxmmi confessed, that growing up he ‘used to want to rap like [Eminem].’ Despite Em proudly hailing from Detroit, Michigan and Jxmmi from Tupelo, Mississippi, the geographical distance and regional cultural differences didn’t stop him from being inspired by him.

“That was definitely my favorite rapper [growing up. Man what, I used to do all that ‘Hi, my name is’ [stuff]. I used to like the way he rapped. I [even] used to try and rap like him at one point in time in my life,” proclaimed Jxmmi.

It seems like Eminem’s self-appointed nickname of “Rap God,” was appriorately designated.

Watch the full clip above.

The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Sunday with a chance to leap into the 7-8 play-in game in the West with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans, who held a one-game lead on them coming into the day, and some help elsewhere.

However, after falling behind early things began unraveling for the Wolves, as an altercation on the bench saw Rudy Gobert swing on Kyle Anderson, leading to Taurean Prince leaping up to shove Gobert and the star center being escorted to the locker room and ultimately sent home for the remainder of the game. While everyone was talking about Gobert’s punch on a teammate, there was another key Timberwolves player who had his day ended for punch-related reasons, as Jaden McDaniels punched a wall so hard on his way into the tunnel that he injured his right hand and was not able to return to the game.

I feel like the Wolves might need to have some conversations with their guys about controlling their emotions because losing two players in a pivotal game because they couldn’t stop themselves from punching a teammate/inanimate object seems bad. What is maybe more amazing is, in spite of two of their best defenders being absent, Minnesota still managed to reel in the Pelicans and make it a one possession game late in the third quarter, thanks to some heroics from Anthony Edwards, and their hopes of improving their seeding stayed alive even with the best efforts of Gobert and McDaniels to derail things.

Donald Trump may be at war with his chief 2024 rival Ron DeSantis, but the Florida governor is already busy being at war with another cultural behemoth: The Walt Disney Company. DeSantis has had out for the company ever since they torched his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, even adding a hilarious clause that would thwart him into the far-flung future. But last week he was made a fool of when the company cleverly circumvented his attempt to rob them of jurisdiction over their land. It was a neat trick and SNL found a way to rub it in even further.

On the most recent Weekend Update, Bowen Yang swung by as Jafar, the nefarious, oddly facial haired baddie from one of Disney’s biggest animated hits, Aladdin. Jafar was unimpressed with DeSantis’ attempts to be evil, calling him an easily one-upped “amateur.”

“He has no rizz, no spark, no drip ― the look is giving baby mayor,” Yang’s Jafar declared. He then brought up one of his more humiliating moments: “He did wear those white cowboy boots, but let’s be honest: They wore him.”

He then took aim on his attempts to purge Florida of anything LGBTQIA+. “There’s already a Disney World where nothing gay happens: It’s called Six Flags,” he cracked before directly addressing the “sewer rat” as the lighting turned to crimson.

“Bravo for attempting to sieze our precious land only to be twarted once again by the House of Mouse,” Yang’s Jafar told the governor. “Don’t say gay? Well if there is no gay, there is no Disney. And everyone loves Disney including you ’cause your dumbass got married there.”

It’s true: Tough guy Ron DeSantis got married at Disney World.

You can watch the segment in the video above.

Former President Donald Trump may not have the stamp of approval from Tupac’s family, but he did earn one from Rae Sremmurd’s Swae Lee. During an interview on the Bootleg Kev Podcast about Slim Jxmmi’s move to Miami, Florida, the conversation took a turn into the political.

Lee said the main reason he moved to Miami and eventually convinced Jxmmi to follow him was the tax benefits. “It’s tax-free, so, you’re making a lot of money, but you’re giving half of your money to Uncle Sam,” said Lee before diving into his disdain for Biden’s allocation of American tax dollars.

“You’re giving half of your money away to Joe Biden for him to send that sh*t over to another country,” declared Lee, referring to American financial aid to Ukraine. “He got [Ukraine straight before he got his own country straight. I don’t really agree with that.”

When the host asks if he would vote for Trump in 2024, Lee answered, “If I had to choose between the A and the B, I’d definitely go with Trump over Biden for sure.”

As the camera panned to Slim Jxmmi to document his answer, he said, “I choose not to speak on politics.”

To which the host responds, “You’re a smart man.”

Lee went on to add that taxes weren’t the only thing that played a part in his decision. “He freed Kodak [Black]. He freed Wayne. He tapped in.” Lee’s comments referred to Trump’s providing rappers Kodak Black and Lil Wayne with presidential pardons near the end of his term.

Black took to Twitter to after his release, writing, “I want to thank President Donald Trump for his commitment to justice reform and shortening my sentence.”

Watch the full clip above.

Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Sunday’s game with the Pelicans guaranteed a play-in spot, but trailing New Orleans and the Lakers by just a game, it was possible to move into the 7-8 game that gives you two cracks at a playoff spot.

As such, it was a big game and, if nothing else, a tune-up for the play-in tournament this week against a potential foe, and tensions were high in Minnesota, as evidenced by a second quarter altercation on the Minnesota bench. Kyle Anderson and Rudy Gobert were going at each other with the Wolves trailing, with both yelling and gesturing at each other but things escalated when Gobert stepped forward and tossed a punch at Anderson’s chest, leading to some chaos as the rest of the team tried to separate the two, with Gobert being escorted back to the locker room.

We won’t know the details of what they were arguing about until after the game, but there’s not really anything that could justify Gobert being so mad that he punches a teammate during a game. While it’s not the first teammate punch of the year — nor the worst, as Draymond Green lays claim to that in his preseason altercation with Jordan Poole — it’s about as shocking because it happened during the last game of the regular season on the bench for a playoff contender.

UPDATE: Not long after, Gobert was sent home by the team and would not return to the pivotal game for play-in seeding.

It is truly stunning given the circumstances that Gobert would lose his cool in that manner, and now the Wolves will have to navigate a deficit without their star big man if they want a shot at the 7-8 game.

SZA might want to put a hit out on her ex, but there’s one relationship the singer still cherishes: the one with her fans. After five long years since the release of her debut studio album, the singer poured her all into her follow-up, SOS. The “Ghost In The Machine” singer’s creative efforts paid off handsomely both on the charts and via ticket sales.

According to Billboard, SZA’s 18-date SOS North American tour grossed $34.5 million, which equated to approximately 238,000 tickets sold. The tour — which featured a special guest, “3 Boys” singer Omar Apollo — kicked off in February and ran until late March. The tour also featured surprise appearances by Cardi B, Summer Walker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lizzo.

The report outlines the tour brought out in around $1.9 million and 12,812 tickets each show. As for the specifics on each arena, Billboard revealed that despite having the second-highest ticket price at $174.69, the SoCal arena sold 8,700 tickets. For contrast, SZA’s shows in New York at Madison Square Garden and Inglewood, California’s Kia Forum were the two highest grossing as well as highest attended.

The tour’s two shows at MSG on March 4 and 5 grossed $4.7 million, with 27,000 tickets sold. Meanwhile, SZA’s March 22 and 23 shows at the Kia Forum, racked in $3.9 million for 25,000 tickets sold.

As for the the other high-attendance shows, Atlanta came in at about 11,069 tickets sold and Toronto came in around 14,383 tickets sold.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Detroit Pistons wrapped up a 17-65 season on Sunday with a 103-81 loss to Chicago, as they finally get to officially turn the page to the 2023-24 season where optimism will, hopefully, abound. After finishing with the league’s worst record, the Pistons will take a different shape next year both in terms of roster makeup, as they hope to have lottery luck to reshape their lineup, and on the bench, as Dwane Casey announced after the game that he’d be stepping down as head coach to move into a front office role in Detroit.

Casey reiterated it was his decision to make the move from the bench to the front office, but it’s not a surprise as the young Pistons look to move into a new phase of their rebuild. The Pistons will, of course, hope they end up with the top spot in the 2023 NBA Draft and can add Victor Wembanyama to their young backcourt of Cade Cunningham (as he returns from injury) and Jaden Ivey to create a formidable young core group. The timing of when they make a hire, along with the Houston Rockets, will be fascinating to watch as it would make sense for top candidates to potentially look to wait out the Draft Lottery and see if one of those two lands the top pick — or if one falls out of the top-3 completely.

As for candidates, Detroit’s list will likely look like that of a number of other teams looking for a new coach this year, with Ime Udoka, Charles Lee, and Adrian Griffin headlining their wishlist, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Three years ago, Stephen Silas left his position as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks to take over the Houston Rockets head coaching job after Mike D’Antoni left the organization after his contract ran up after the bubble.

When he arrived, he expected to be taking over a contender led by James Harden, however, shortly after his arrival, Harden issued a trade request and was eventually dealt to Brooklyn for a package that netted the Rockets a number of draft picks and almost nothing in terms of useful on-court talent, as they opted to bring in Victor Oladipo over the various Nets youngsters, who never was able to regain his pre-injury form.

In the three years since, Silas and the Rockets have floundered in the Western Conference basement, going 59-177 and twice finishing with the worst record in the league. Their young talent has shown flashes but has never taken much in the way of a noticeable leap forward, and that stagnation after three years has led to Silas’ ouster, as reports emerged as the final whistle blew in a season-ending win in Washington that the team would not pick up the fourth-year option on Silas’ contract.

It is not a surprise to see Silas replaced as head coach, but it’s extremely hard to parse what level of responsibility he truly holds for the Rockets’ failures. He was hired to lead a playoff contender and was handed the keys to a tank, asked to develop a group of young talent without much of any veteran leadership on the roster. The lack of improvement and noticeable strides in terms of cohesion and competitiveness was jarring, particularly when considering the steps forward seen by teams in similar situations in Oklahoma City and Orlando. That certainly played a role in Silas being let go, but there was a talent deficit in Houston, particularly in terms of veterans who could help guide the ship on the floor.

The next head coach in Houston will have quite the task on their hands, but depending on how the lottery balls fall in their favor, they could end up stepping into a situation with some intriguing young pieces and a generational talent. The Rockets front office will need to figure out what members of this current team constitute a real core and who should be moved for veteran help in the coming years, as any steps forward will require better roster balance.

Jon Stewart left The Daily Show almost eight years ago, but though he laid low for several years, lately he’s come roaring back. His new show, The Problem with Jon Stewart, finds him telling fewer jokes and being more serious. In turn, he’s garnered lots of attention for mercilessly grilling powerful people on serious issues. His latest viral moment involves him calling out the “corruption” of a bloated defense budget that hasn’t helped cash-strapped soldiers.

On Thursday, Stewart appeared at the War Horse Symposium in Chicago, where he took part in a discussion with Department of Defense (DOD) deputy secretary Kathleen Hicks. During a particular heated part of the chat, Stewart called for an audit of the Pentagon for what he called “waste, fraud, and abuse” in her department, especially considering the DOD has a proposed 2024 budget of nearly $850 million.

Hicks split hairs, saying, “‘Audit’ and ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ are not the same thing.” She claimed that if the Pentagon does not pass an audit, that only means “we don’t have an accurate inventory that we can pull up of what we have where.”

“So, in my world, that’s waste,” Stewart replied. “If I give you a billion dollars and you can’t tell me what happened to it, that to me is wasteful. That means you are not responsible. But if you can’t tell me where it went, then what am I supposed to think?”

Stewart elaborated, saying “it’s a tough argument to make that an $850 billion budget to an organization that can’t pass an audit and tell you where that money went — like, I think most people would consider that somewhere in the realm of waste, fraud, or abuse because they would wonder why that money isn’t well accounted for.”

He pointed out that there is food insecurity on military bases:

When I see a State Department get a certain amount of money and a military budget be ten times that, and I see a struggle within government to get people like, more basic services, and then that department that got that–I mean, we got out of 20 years of war and the Pentagon got a $50 billion raise. Like, that’s shocking to me.

Now, I may not understand exactly the ins and outs, and the incredible magic of an audit. But I’m a human being who lives on the Earth and can’t figure out how $850 billion to a department means that the rank and file still have to be on food stamps. Like, to me, that’s fucking corruption. I’m sorry. And, if like, that blows your mind and you think that’s like a crazy agenda for me to have, I really think that that’s institutional thinking, and that it’s not looking at the day-to-day reality of the people that you call the greatest dighting force in the world.

So, again, I get back to this idea of like, I’m not looking to pick a fight with you. But I am surprised at the reaction to these questions are, “You don’t know what an audit is, bucko.” Like, that’s just weird to me.

Hicks replied by claiming that food insecurity among soldiers is a “major priority” for the administration, adding that “a lot of funds are going toward that.”

You can watch the exchange in the tweet embedded above.

(Via Mediaite)