TikTok conspiracies sometimes make their way over to Twitter, but by then, whatever the rumor or theory was, it’s mostly debunked. But every once in a while, a quick viral video will slip through the cracks, leading everyone on Twitter to believe something ridiculous. This time, Zendaya was caught in the mix.
A new trend of TikTok is to post something fake then add Kris Jenner laughing at the end, saying ‘You’ve just been Krised!” as if it was the Rick Rolling of the 2020s. One post went off the rails, claiming that Zendaya and Spider-man co-star/ boyfriend Tom Holland were expecting a child, and Zendaya is not having it.
After noticing that she was trending on Twitter, the Euphoria actress took to her Instagram stories (via Page Six) to clear the air: “See now, this is why I stay off Twitter…Just making stuff up for no reason…weekly.” She ranted on her stories. The actress then shared a new photo of her on-set of her new tennis movie Challengers. We should all take Zendaya’s advice and stay off Twitter!
This isn’t the first time baby rumors have followed the couple: last year, Holland said he wants to be a dad and the internet exploded. Will people at least wait until the duo stops portraying high school kids before assuming they are parents!
A timeless traditions among NBA players in the offseason is when they absolutely ruin the hopes of dreams of an innocent kid trying to score on them at a basketball camp. Sometimes, they allow it to happen and the crowd explodes in excitement. Most of the time, though, the incredibly wide chasm between an aspiring youngster and a professional NBA player is hammered home.
On Tuesday, Dallas Mavericks center Boban Marjanovic emphasized that incredibly wide chasm when he hosted a 14-second block party against a bunch of different children.
Across six different occasions, the 7’4 big man absolutely erased someone’s shot, as if he barely gave it a second thought. Each instance, the ball barely leaves the shooter’s hands. One time, Marjanovic simply plucks it away from his opponent. Another rejection is so forceful that it brings a kid tumbling to the ground, upon which Marjanovic graciously helps them up.
He only jumps on one block. There is no hope for the children on any of their shots.
Many may point to the pluck as their favorite or the best, but a sneaky candidate is the second block of the montage. Someone tries to scoot one past Marjanovic before he’s ready, so he quickly elevates his arm and sends that sucker into a new stratosphere.
I empathize with these kids because I am rather confident my experiences would be disappointingly similar to theirs if I attempted any shot around him. But thankfully, I did not try anything and I’m left to cackle in the glory of those clips. What a delightful little video.
Great dark rum tends to be a lot cheaper than great bourbon or great scotch. That’s not to say there aren’t expensive rums on the shelf, it’s more that the incredibly wild whisk(e)y/spirits hype machine hasn’t quite hit the rum industry in the same way… yet. That means you can still get some very good, old, and well-built dark rums for a great price.
But do these excellent bang-for-the-buck sippers really stack up to the most outstanding bottles in the field?
To figure this out, I’m tasting four affordable-yet-refined dark rums against four that are going to cost you in the hundreds of dollars. This isn’t about the bottom shelf versus the top shelf. It’s more about the mid-range bottles that are in the $30-$70 range with big age statements and plenty of refinement against the stuff you’d likely break out for a holiday or big celebration when you want to impress your guests — bottles in the $150 to $500 price range.
I also tasted these double-blind. I have a shelf of cheaper rums and the good stuff already on two different shelves (with about 30 bottles on both). So my wife simply grabbed four at random from each, poured them, and let me dive in. I didn’t know anything else.
Our lineup ended up being as follows:
Santa Teresa 1796
Mount Gary Port Cask Finish
Bacardi 10
Equiano
Appleton Estate 30
Ron Abuelo XV Napoleon Cask
Flor de Cana 7
Diplomatico Single Vintage 2005
Let’s see if the mid-range dark rums can stand up to the big bottles.
Also Read: The Top Five UPROXX Rum Posts From The Past Six Months
What a nice nose! It’s full of fresh honey over fresh and red berries with a dusting of dark chocolate next to a hint of old molasses. The palate layers vanilla into the creamy honey as green and almost woody bananas lead to toasted coconut with a hint of wet cedar behind it all. The chocolate returns near the end and slightly bitters as a soft, tropical fruit vibe rounds things out.
This was nice. I have no idea what it is but set a nice precedent.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This has a distinct bourbon vanilla nose with a hint of buttery and rich caramel that gives way to a plum pudding meatiness and spice with a tiny echo of marzipan with rose water. The taste is a balance of bright red fruit next to moist and spicy slices of holiday cake with plenty of candied and dried fruit and a hint of walnut and black molasses. The finish has a dark chocolate-covered marzipan vibe that leads back to the candied fruits and spices of the holiday cake before an old cellar beam vibe takes over and everything slowly fades away.
This is so much more complex than the last sip. It’s clearly something bigger and bolder (and likely way more expensive). It’s also freaking delicious.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
A mild hint of dark and worn leather leads to a rush of ripe and funky tropical fruits that have been soaked in rum — “Hello, Bacardi!”
The palate confirms this assumption with a rich and buttery Bananas Foster vibe that leads to wet brown sugar, holiday spice mixes, and plenty of dried fruit with a thinness to it. The butteriness from the top of the palate turns creamy as the sip leans into old leather, dried cedar bark braids, and a hint of vanilla-cherry tobacco.
I’m guessing this is Bacardi 8 or 10. It’s really nice but a little thin.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Dark leather and dry cedar bark lead to a bruised peach swimming in dark molasses on the nose. The palate is classic with plenty of brown sugar and holiday spices with a hint of floral black tea next to toasted oak staves and a hint of dark cacao. The finish leans into the spice and tobacco sharpness with a focus on cloves and anise as the vanilla creeps into the cinnamon-laced tobacco leaves.
Not sure what this is but it’s a contender!
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Woah. Strike what I just said above. This is wild on the nose with coconut charcoal next to green plantains, creamy honey, a hint of banana leaf, and chili-chocolate tobacco stuffed into an old charred oak barrel. The palate is completely different with layers of singed pineapple skins next to black molasses dripping all over a stack of cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, and nutmeg with hints of sassafras, coconut shell, cedar bark, sweetgrass, and heavy-duty funk all making appearances. The end gets creamy smooth with plenty of spice, funky fermented tropical fruit, and leather tobacco pouches.
This is something way older and deeper.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Again, wow. This is like silk on the nose with a softly layered apple crumble with plenty of cinnamon and clove covered in butter-soaked brown sugar with a hint of vanilla oils, orange zest, and dry pine resin rounding out the nose. The palate is part rum-soaked raisins and part creamy yet floral honey with a throughline of tart apples and candied pears. The mid-palate shifts from a lush vanilla cream base toward old cedar boxes filled with milk chocolate tobacco leaves and old boot leather with a dash of dried lavender.
This is beautiful. Right now, it’s also the pour to beat.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
And we’re back. This is thin and tinny on the nose with hints of singed coconut shells next to some old dates and vanilla extract bottles. The palate has a honeyed vibe with a dash of dark chocolate that feels like additives more than flavor notes. The end is thin and has a touch of orange zest and almond next to spicy fruit.
I don’t know what this is but it’s a mixing rum at best.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Here we go. There’s a mix of sharp candied ginger next to a moist and rum-soaked Christmas cake brimming with candied nuts, dried red fruits, candied citrus, and tons of clove, allspice, nutmeg, and ground ginger with this slight whisper of funky old cellar beams. The taste amps the spiciness up but keeps the taste lush with orange oils, vanilla paste, marzipan, brandy-soaked plums, and maple syrup-soaked oak staves. The mid-palate lets all that sweetness shine before the end warms every so slightly toward those holiday spices while brandied plums attach to a chewy tobacco leaf with a hint of dirty cellar floor lurking underneath everything.
From my notes: “Well… that’s going to win. Done. Period.”
The Nicaraguan rum is a quality product at its price point. The juice — made from local cane grown in volcanic soil — is aged in fresh white oak barrels for seven years in the shadow of the San Cristóbal Volcano. The barrels are then batched and proofed down with volcanic soil-filtered spring water.
Bottom Line:
Yeah, this is definitely a mixing rum. So… I called it. Still, this was nowhere near the quality of the rest of the list.
This is Bacardi’s high-end expression that’s crazy cheap. The rum is aged for ten long years in lightly charred oak before its charcoal filtered and brought down to proof, creating an ultra-refined expression.
Bottom Line:
This had a slight bourbon vibe while feeling like a well-made rum all around. The middle was a little thin and that’s the only reason it faltered today. I think this is a pretty solid cocktail base though because you can fill in that thin-ish middle.
Global Rum Ambassador Ian Burrell masterminded this expression — combining African and Caribbean rum traditions. The bottle is created under the watchful eye of rum master Richard Seale, who blends rums from Mauritius and Barbados into a one-of-its-kind final product that feels like the future of rum in a bottle.
Bottom Line:
This, again, felt like a great cocktail rum. It’s perfectly fine as a sipper but felt like a foundation to build upon more than anything else today.
The Venezuelan rum is a blend of rums aged from four to 35 years in former Spanish sherry and brandy barrels. Those key barrels are hand-selected for their depth and then married into this masterful rum.
Bottom Line:
This was a great start but ultimately proved to be just … nice. I’d pour this over a rock or two and go about my day without thinking about it again.
This blend comes from the master of Jamaican rum, Master Blender Joy Spence. This release from 2018 blends rums that are at least 30 years old with some barrels north of 50 years old. Like all Appleton releases, the juice in the bottle is a cane-to-glass spirit with everything from the growing of the cane to the aging and blending happening in-house at Appleton.
Bottom Line:
I kind of knew this was an Appleton Estate thanks to all that funk. Still, this was a lot. I really loved the palate but you had to get past a funked-to-the-max nose to get to it.
This Panamain rum spends 14 years aging in bourbon casks. That juice is then refilled into old Napoleon Cognac casks for a final maturation before proofing and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was hard to beat. It’s damn near perfect. Look, the top three are all splitting hairs. This was really good but about 0.5 percent less rounded than the next entry. See, splitting hairs.
Master Blender Trudiann Branker hit it out of the park with this Barbados rum. The expression is a blend of rum aged for five years in Tawny Port casks that’s married to 14-year-old rums aged in ex-bourbon casks. That blend is then transferred to fresh Tawny Port casks for a final year of resting/finishing. The rum is then bottled at cask strength with no fussing whatsoever.
Bottom Line:
Again, super splitting hairs with this at two instead of one. This is just straight-up delicious. The only reason it’s not first is that the next one was what I wanted a pour of immediately after this tasting.
This well-crafted expression is a marrying of Venezuelan rums aged in ex-bourbon and ex-single malt casks for up to 12 years. The rums are then hand-selected and hand-blended to find the perfect balance of taste and texture. The blend finally spends a year in sherry casks to give it that final note of ultra-refinement.
Bottom Line:
This was perfect. Deep. Engaging. Vivacious. Lush. This was a great end to this tasting.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
Yeah, I’m not that surprised here. I know how to tell a cheaper pour from an expensive one because that’s… literally my job. My editor keeps thinking I’ll be fooled and it’s just not gonna happen when the quality spread is this noticeable. There’s a thinness to the cheaper stuff that you rarely find in the higher ends. You can feel the age, for sure. But that doesn’t mean as much in rum. What you can feel is the completeness, the silkiness, and the thought that went into the blend.
It’s just more … everything.
Still, what is interesting is that the most expensive was my “least” favorite of the spendy bottles. It came in fourth. The biggest reason was this it was too much of “more is more” without adding something deeper. It was really big funk and wood on top of a perfectly great rum. That can be nice, but it’s not as refined as the top three.
Rina Sawayama’s new single “This Hell” is about a month old now, and what a month it’s had: After releasing the song on mid-May, Sawayama performed it on The Tonight Show. Now, the song (which comes from the upcoming album Hold This Girl) gets a sleek new video today in which Sawayama gets married (seemingly in a three-way arrangement, given the post-“you-may-kiss-the-bride” lip-locking) before taking over a cowboy bar.
Sawayama says of making the video, “It was amazing to get back together with director Ali Kurr (‘XS’, ‘Bad Friend’) for the video for ‘This Hell.’ We always like to tell engaging stories through film together so this one was about love and community in the face of hatred and dissent.”
She also previously said of the song, “The past couple of years I’ve been listening to lots of female country singers and wanted to write a euphoric and tongue-in-cheek country-pop song. I’ve been dreaming of working with Paul Epworth my entire career so I knew it was meant to be when we finished this song in a day. I put in as many iconic pop culture moments as I can, but the song is more than that.”
Watch the “This Hell” video above.
Hold This Girl is out 9/2 via Dirty Hit. Pre-order it here.
La Dispute were already among the illustrious acts slated to play the punk- and emo-leaning nostalgiapalooza that is When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas this October. Now the Grand Rapids, Michigan post-hardcore quintet are wrapping an entire tour around the festival in celebration of the 10th anniversary of their album Wildlife.
The tour begins with a hometown show in Grand Rapids in September before the band takes off to the East Coast and then across the country to the West Coast. It’s a thorough slate of nearly 40 shows, including thee two-day appearance at When We Were Young Fest.
Speaking on the tour and Wildlife, singer Jordan Dryer shared some thoughts:
“I didn’t spend much time looking ahead in the first five or so years of this band, and didn’t anticipate spending much time looking back either, even as one ten year anniversary came and another one approached. But then the whole world shut down, and in its newly suspended animation we took the longest break we ever have from playing live, writing music together, even being in the same town. All we had was time to reflect on the past—on what makes this important to us. For the first time it made us look forward, to being back together in the same room, on the same stage, to the next night on tour, to celebrating milestones with the people who got us to them: each other, our extended family of friends, and you. Cheers to you for 10+ years of ‘Wildlife’, and for everything else.”
Check out the full list of tour dates below and get tickets starting on Friday, June 17th at 10 a.m. local time here.
09/15 — Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
09/16 — Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot
09/17 — Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
09/18 — Toronto, ONT @ Opera House
09/20 — Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
09/21 — New York, NY @ Warsaw
09/23 — Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall
09/24 — Washington, DC @ Union Stage
09/25 — Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts (TLA)
09/26 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
09/27 — Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
09/29 — Columbus, OH @ Skully’s
09/30 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/01 — Milwaukee, WI @ BackRoom @ Colectivo
10/02 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Café
10/03 — Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater
10/05 — Denver, CO @ The Oriental Theater
10/06 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell
10/07 — Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
10/08 — Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
10/09 — Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
10/10 — Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
10/12 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
10/13 — Berkeley, CA @ Cornerstone Berkeley
10/14 — Fresno, CA @ Strummer’s
10/15 — Ventura, CA @ Ventura Music Hall
10/16 — Los Angeles, CA @ 1720
10/18 — Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
10/19 — San Diego, CA @ SOMA
10/20 — Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater
10/21 — Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
10/22 — Las Vegas, NV @ When We Were Young Festival
10/23 — Las Vegas, NV @ When We Were Young Festival
10/25 — Dallas, TX @ Amplified Live
10/26 — Austin, TX @ Mohawk
10/27 — Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
10/28 — Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box
10/29 — Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
10/30 — Gainesville, FL @ Fest
Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.
Since the last update of this weekly R&B column, we’ve received plenty of music and news from the genre’s artists. SZA dropped the long-awaited deluxe version of her classic debut album Ctrl and 6lack covered Mos Def’s “Umi Says” as a part of Apple Music’s 2022 Freedom Songs series. Ryan Trey connected with Babyface Ray in the pursuit of love on “Only Us” while Mr Eazi proposes to his girlfriend in a video for his new “Legalize” record. Blxst also released a video for “Be Forreal.” Here are some more releases you should check out:
Capella Grey — “OT” Feat. Ty Dolla Sign
After spreading his name to the masses in 2021 behind the success of “Gyalis,” Capella Grey is ready to take things to the next level with his upcoming Vibe Responsibly, Vol. 1 project. The latest single from the project is “OT” (an abbreviation for “outta town) with Ty Dolla Sign, a jiggy and upbeat release that flexes their Rolodex of women around the country as well as their attempts to keep them far apart.
Muni Long — “Baby Boo” Feat. Saweetie
Muni Long’s resurgence in 2022 continues with the release of her latest single, “Baby Boo” with Saweetie. It’s a summer anthem that continues her trend of love-heavy records that dwell on the beauties of a well-constructed romance. “Baby Boo” also follows “Another” and “Pain” which she released earlier this year.
Shelley FKA DRAM —– “Chocolate Covered Strawberries”
It was just last year that Shelley (fka DRAM) underwent a name change and delivered his sophomore album Shelley FKA DRAM. A little over a year after that project arrived, Shelley is back with “Chocolate Covered Strawberries.” The sweet track continues the trend of tender records that were the foundation of Shelley FKA DRAM proving that Shelley’s next body of work will certainly be a great one.
Brandon Banks — Natural Progressions
Three years after he dazzled with Static, Inglewood singer Brandon Banks returns with his Natural Progressions project. It presents nine songs including the previously released “Wonderland,” “Tryin,” and “Get On.” Just like his previous projects Static and Tides, Banks’ newest body of work features excellent songwriting focused on the natural tendencies of life.
Dende — “Block Me”
Dende’s 2022 year is set to be a great one. After concluding 2021 with Pregnancy Pack, he kicked off the year with “Round Trip To Atlanta” and now he’s back with “Block Me.” On it, he’s forced to accept, despite his requests to be blocked, that a lover from a past relationship has moved on and found someone new
Drea Réal — Let Go
Colombian-born and Miami-bred singer Drea Réal has been pushing her name out to the masses for nearly a half-decade now. Her newly-released EP Let Go is her latest offering to the world and it strikes as a six-track effort that explores the art of impermanence. Throughout this soulful and stirring project, Réal details her healing process and how she broke from past relationships cycles t
Shah — Ambivalence
With loose singles that date back to 2017, many wondered when Kansas City, Missouri-born and Los Angeles-bred singer Shah would step out with their debut project. Finally, five years later, that moment has arrived with Ambivalence. Through six songs, Shah peels back the layers of their soul for a transparent and honest body of work that was initially teased with “Honest” and “Change Your Mind.”
Josh Levi — Disc Two
Two years after dropping Disc One, Josh Levi is back with Disc Two. The eight-song project also includes a guest appearance from Normani. Their remix of “Don’t They” is one of the many highlights of Disc Two, a project that Levi described as a “coming-of-age moment for myself” during a RatedRNB interview.
Imani Williams — “F*ck Alone”
Love can be a beautiful thing, especially in its earliest stages when both parties are head over heels for each other. However, as singer Imani Williams notes on her new single “F*ck Alone,” it’s this feeling that makes things more painful when it all crashes and burns. “F*ck Alone” is an emotional record directed at her former lover as she seeks their reason for interrupting her peaceful life.
Tash — “New Thing”
Singer Tash, who was born in Sydney, Australia and now resides in Los Angeles, has been treating her fans well in 2022 so far. She’s released three singles so far this year with “Complacent,” “Happens All The Time,” and “London Boy,” and now that number jumps to four with the arrival of “New Thing.” The relaxing record touches on the new things that come with love, both for the individuals and the relationship as a whole
Moonga K. — “My Mind”
Moonga K. concluded 2021 with the release of his Candid EP, a project that he said during an Apple Music interview was “about the urgency to be who I am.” There’s no telling what Moonga might have in store for us next, but the journey towards that continues with “My Mind.” He uses the record to declare his freedom from a past lover who no longer serves him well.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Beadbadoobe has carved out a distinct lane for herself in indie pop. The former Uproxx cover story star is really driving in both lanes, where her indie songwriting definitely feels forged in bedroom-born pop music. It all shimmers with bubbly psychedelic grooves and it’s why she’s been tabbed to tour with Bleachers this summer and just came off a run of shows opening for Halsey. As she gears up for the release of her next album, Beatopia,Beabadoobee has just shared the latest single from it in “10:36.”
A technicolor synthpop beat lays the backbone for cascading keys and guitar, as Bea sings, “I know you thought it was just us, I didn’t think you’d fall in love. You’re just a warm body to hold, at night when I’m feeling all alone.”
The song sees her acquiescing to a dependency on touch and she explains that the sticky riff we hear throughout was with with her for a while, as she says:
“’10:36′ was written after Fake It Flowers and just before Our Extended Play, and I had envisioned it to be on that EP, but I was just sitting on that riff for ages and then I properly made a demo during lockdown. It was called ’10:36′ because that was the time I finished writing it. It’s basically about how I have this weird dependency on human contact to sleep.”
Listen to “10:36” above.
Beatopia is out 7/15 via Dirty Hit. Pre-save it here.
For the fourth time in their two-month playoff run, the Boston Celtics sit on the brink of elimination. Dismal first and fourth quarters in Game 5 sent them back home with a 104-94 defeat, the first occurrence of this postseason in which they’ve suffered consecutive losses.
The Golden State Warriors reclaimed homecourt advantage with their Game 4 win and protected it Monday. Now, Boston must do the same to reach a Game 7 for the third straight round.
Intriguing storylines are aplenty in this series. Let’s hit on some of the most relevant ones ahead of Thursday’s crucial Game 6.
Does the All-Star version of Draymond Green persist?
Despite some dominant defensive showings in prior outings, Game 5 was quite comfortably Draymond Green’s finest of the Finals. He kept the offense spinning with daring, well-placed passing reads, took shots when necessary (eight points on 3-for-6 shooting) and crafted an all-around superb defensive performance. At one point, he identified room to drive, attacked Derrick White off the dribble and tossed in a floater.
While the four-time All-Star is still searching for his first long ball of the series, his limited scoring didn’t hamper the offense as often as it had through the initial four games. He attacked space when afforded it and occasionally pushed in transition to pressure Boston, while balancing aggressive facilitating and caretaker decision-making (six dimes, two turnovers).
The bedrock of Golden State’s championship efforts is its defense. But instances like Monday, where Green pairs his wide-ranging, historic defense with tenable offensive contributions, ensure he’s an All-Star-caliber forward worth playing as much as possible in high-leverage spots.
It is by no means a coincidence that his best nights of this series have been Games 2 and 5, the two contests the Warriors have won convincingly. At his current peak, Green remains this team’s second-best player (even if it’s been Andrew Wiggins in the postseason). One more star-adjacent act could solidify Golden State’s fourth ring in eight seasons.
What type of defensive coverage does Stephen Curry see?
In Game 5, for the first time all series, the Celtics, over a prolonged stretch, deviated from their drop coverage against Curry. That alteration played into Green’s Game 5 renaissance, as well as productive scoring games from Wiggins (26 points), Klay Thompson (21 points), Gary Payton II (15 points), and Jordan Poole (14 points).
That the Warriors won amid Curry’s 7-for-22, 0-for-9 downfall speaks to the way Boston selling out against him more often opened up chances elsewhere. Whereas they’d almost exclusively adhered to dropping and switching through four games, the Celtics trapped and doubled him much more frequently on Monday. Everyone else saw room to breathe.
In fact, Golden State’s 118.7 offensive rating with Curry on the floor was its second-highest of the series thus far, despite his individual struggles. Changing the scheme invited his passing to shine and helped others flourish in advantageous scenarios.
Boston’s drop coverage had enabled Curry to prosper, but avoided sending extra bodies and scrambling into catch-up mode. A return to normalcy from Curry against the increasingly aggressive defense could spell doom for the Celtics.
Ime Udoka and his players have proven rather adaptable all season, so there’s absolutely a chance they revert to drop and switching, while scrapping the trapping. But the type of coverage they employ is an important wrinkle to monitor. If Curry and his supporting cast cook on Thursday, that might be all she wrote for the 2021-22 NBA season.
Can Al Horford and Marcus Smart get going as playmakers?
In Boston’s three best games of this series (including Game 4’s narrow loss), Al Horford has tallied 13 assists. In its two blowout defeats, he has two. The Warriors have done well to shrink his space attacking closeouts, while also deterring threes.
He’s such a valuable connective player for the Celtics’ offense. His quiet nights are stalling their chances of success. Of course, he is not a creator on his own, so some of his struggles are tied to Boston’s overall constraints.
But when Golden State goes small and starts Otto Porter Jr. or stashes someone like Thompson on him, he and Boston have to make exploiting those decisions a priority. Fire from deep over smaller guys. Continue to leak out in transition and engender quick, deep seals, a la Game 3 — though, to Golden State’s credit, it’s bottling up the Celtics on the break.
If the Warriors are going to flood the gaps in help to barricade the paint, Horford cannot be passive, as he was in Game 5. Force them to reconsider that gambit by letting it fly beyond the arc. When Boston demands closeouts, the offense flows well. When Golden State is content to sag off, the offense stagnates.
Marcus Smart, meanwhile, is having a very good Finals. His lows have not been as prevalent or deep as Horford’s. He’s posting 16-4-4-1, featuring four games with 18 or more points, on 56.7 percent true shooting. But his Game 5, even with a 20-3-2 box score, was below his standards.
He coughed up four turnovers and amassed just two assists, his fewest of the Finals. Smart’s intrepid passing style is integral to Boston’s offense, which generated a stuck-in-the-mud 95.9 offensive rating in Game 5. Udoka’s decision to provide him more on-ball reps over the second half of the year massively factored into the Celtics’ offensive turnaround.
Game 5, though, saw his passing drift from intrepid to erratic. Boston is averaging 12 turnovers in its Finals wins and 17 in its losses. Smart’s trapeze act of confident vs. reckless passing ties into that dichotomy. He and Tatum are the team’s lone two ball-handlers who can both attack from a standstill and dependably table-set for others.
Possessions are such a premium against this vaunted defense that even dead ball giveaways (as Smart’s were) can be critically damaging. The offense is stalling as is, let alone when shots aren’t attempted.
His scoring was quite good Monday, though the passing is really what amplifies the Celtics and he fell short there. To stave off elimination, they’ll need it to be much better.
How do he Celtics unlock improved interior scoring?
Among the grandest disparities in Game 5 was two-point scoring. The Celtics went 20-for-43 (46.5 percent), while the Warriors were a sterling 32-for-48 (66.6 percent). Further, Boston scored 27 points on its 54 drives with five turnovers, compared to Golden State scoring 27 points on 35 drives with zero turnovers, per NBA.com.
The Warriors clearly won the battle at the point-of-attack, applying pressure on the catch, crowding drives with physical stunts and bottling up the Celtics’ efforts to generate downhill separation. So much of what Boston accomplished offensively felt laborious and unreliable.
Golden State is exploiting the lack of truly threatening shooting from Boston’s complementary players. Horford, Smart, Derrick White, and Grant Williams are all often granted space to fire. Some way, somehow, the Celtics have to manufacture newfound real estate for drives.
One solution: weak-side actions involving Jaylen Brown, whose shooting prowess the Warriors do offer respect. Running it for other players like Smart or White may not concern the defense to occupy it away from stunts. But Brown’s presence clearly warrants attention from Golden State.
Wonder if we see more weak-side actions like this from Boston to occupy helpers and open driving lanes moving forward: pic.twitter.com/viKG4TxuDS
Another option: second-side actions with an empty wing to minimize the chance of those pesky stunts.
This set doesn’t amount to anything because Golden State’s rotations are superb (shoot it, Tatum!), but leveraging the luxury of multiple ball-handlers could bear some fruitful results. The outline of more possessions like this is probably worth replicating.
At the very least, the Celtics’ current offensive ideals are glaringly flawed against the Warriors. It places far too much onus on the defense being nearly perfect. This team may be up to the task, yet widening the margin for error could have benefits and perhaps push this series to a do-or-die Game 7.
Jerrod Carmichael is calling out Dave Chappelle for the comedian’s well-known penchant for telling transphobic jokes. Case in point, Chappelle famously made one mere minutes after being attacked on stage in early May. Carmichael, who recently came out as gay in his HBO special, made the remarks during a new interview with GQ Hype where he also blasted comics for being too concerned with teenagers, Twitter, and “cancel culture.”
While discussing Chappelle’s last special, which ensnared both the comedian and Netflix in a wave of controversy, Carmichael couldn’t fathom why the comedian would want to tarnish his “legacy” by continuing to go so hard on trans jokes.
“Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro?” Carmichael said. “That’s the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans sh*t? It’s an odd hill to die on. And it’s like, hey, bro. Who the f*ck are you? Who do you f*ck? What do you like to do? Childish jokes aside, who the f*ck are you? It’s just kind of played. But he’s choosing to die on the hill. So, alright, let him.”
As for comics who won’t stop railing against “cancel culture,” Carmichael is sick of hearing them complain.
“What does that mean, that people are mad on Twitter? Everybody’s fine,” Carmichael said. “These grown men are fine. I think, a lot of times, people who offer nothing truthful or meaningful about themselves then complain about society at large and create this boogeyman. It’s like, listen, that’s the most urgent thing in your life? God bless you. I’m tired of hearing it.”
Getting an EGOT — meaning you’ve won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award in your career — is one of the rarest and most-respected honors in entertainment, since it takes a multi-talented and long-lasting winner to pull it off. So far, only 17 people have ever done it, with the latest addition to that group being Jennifer Hudson.
Hudson started with an Oscar in 2006 (for Best Supporting Actress in Dreamgirls), then got a Grammy in 2009 (Best R&B Album for Jennifer Hudson), a Daytime Emmy in 2021 (Outstanding Interactive Media For A Daytime Program for Baba Yaga), and just a few days ago, a Tony (Best Musical for A Strange Loop, which she produced).
Now, Hudson has shared a video of a moment shortly after she got the Tony win. In it, she says, “As I said when I won the Oscar [for Dreamgirls], ‘Look what God can do.’” With a cocky swagger, she adds before sharing a champagne toast with the other people in the room, “Well, He just did it again.”
She echoed that in the post’s caption, writing, “Wow !!! I am overwhelmed by all the outpouring of love and support that I am Still receiving and I’m still processing this whole new ground . What an honor ! Thank u all for being with me on this journey. I could not live this life without u. Like I said when I won my Oscar , look what God can do. Well He did it again !”
Hudson has also since updated her social media profiles to note she’s an “Emmy winning producer,” “Grammy winning artist,” “Oscar winning actress,” and a “Tony winning producer,” as well as an “NYT Best-Selling author,” for her 2012 book I Got This: How I Changed My Ways And Lost What Weighed Me Down.
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