The track starts with a direct backing of the protestors as Macklemore raps, “Yeah, the people, they won’t leave / What is threatening about divesting and wanting peace? / The problem isn’t the protests, it’s what they’re protesting / It goes against what our country is funding.”
He also goes after President Joe Biden, rapping, “The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all / And f*ck no, I’m not voting for you in the fall.”
Macklemore later nods to the ongoing Drake/Kendrick Lamar feud, saying, “What happened to the artist? What do you got to say? / If I was on a label, you could drop me today / I’d be fine with it ’cause the heart fed my page / I want a ceasefire, f*ck a response from Drake.”
This isn’t Macklemore’s first time speaking up about Palestine: At a November 2023 rally, he said, “They told me to be quiet. They told me to do my research, to go back, that it’s too complex to say something, right? To be silent in this moment. In the last three weeks, I’ve gone back, and I’ve done some research. […] I’m teachable. I don’t know enough. But I know enough that this is a genocide.”
Despite the fact that Rudy Gobert was not with the team to celebrate the birth of his first child, the Minnesota Timberwolves used Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals to grind the defending champions to dust. Minnesota took on the Denver Nuggets, which looked to tie the series up at one game each after the Wolves stunned them in Game 1. But instead, we were treated to one of the most impressive efforts that we’ve seen all season by Minnesota, and as a result, the Timberwolves took a 2-0 series lead with an emphatic, 106-80 win.
The first quarter was a duel between a pair of frontcourt players: Karl-Anthony Towns and Aaron Gordon. Gordon led all scorers with 13 points, but Towns was not far behind with 11. And unfortunately for Gordon, the rest of his teammates were just a bit off — the rest of the Nuggets shot 3-for-12 from the field in the first, while Nikola Jokic had three turnovers in the frame. As such, Minnesota took a 28-20 lead into the second quarter.
And then, in the second quarter, the Timberwolves played one of the most impressive quarters that any team has played all postseason. They outscored the defending champs by a 33-15 margin, and showed off defensive highs that no other team in the league can reach.
The lead got up to as many as 28 points, and ultimately, Minnesota was able to take a 61-35 lead into the locker room at the half. Towns’ 20 points and Edwards’ 16 points led the way, while the team tore up Denver’s defense, as they shot 22-for-44 (54.5 percent) from the field and 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) from three. As for Denver, Gordon had 15 points, making him the only player to hit double-digits. It was all ugly going up against the Wolves defense, as the Nuggets turned it over nine times, shot 14-for-43 (32.6 percent) from the field, and only connected on four of their 14 attempts from three.
Denver was able to make a small dent in the lead over the course of the third quarter, but it wasn’t much. While Minnesota extended its lead in the quarter to as many as 32 points, the Nuggets were able to end the frame on a 14-4 run to give themselves just a hint of momentum — and a slightly less insurmountable mountain to climb — as the game entered the fourth with the Wolves leading, 82-60.
While the Nuggets got the lead down to 19 early on in the final frame, they never got any closer, as the Wolves always had a quick response whenever they sensed even the tiniest bit of danger. With 3:29 left in the game and Minnesota up by 24, Michael Malone decided to empty his bench, and Micah Nori was not far behind in doing the same thing. In fact, the most notable moment of the quarter came with the reserves on the floor, when the Timberwolves faithful chanted “Wolves in 4” in the opposing team’s arena.
Towns and Edwards both went for 27 points — the former pitched in 12 rebounds, while the latter had seven assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Both Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker provided a scoring punch off the bench, with each going for 14 points. Denver was led by a 20-point outing from Gordon, while Jokic had a bad game by his lofty standards, as the presumed 2023-24 NBA MVP had 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting with 16 rebounds, eight assists, and four turnovers. As a team, the Nuggets only shot 34.9 percent from the field and 30 percent from three.
Now, the series will shift back to Minnesota, where a startling truth is staring everyone in the face: If the Timberwolves can defend their home court, they will sweep the defending champions and earn a berth in the Western Conference Finals. Game 3 will take place on Friday night, and is scheduled to tip off at 9:30 a.m. EST on ESPN.
In case you have not watched the NBA playoffs yet up to this point, Anthony Edwards is currently in the midst of establishing himself as the most fun player in the NBA. Edwards was excellent as the Minnesota Timberwolves swept the Phoenix Suns in round one, and in the first game of the Western Conference Semifinals, Edwards had his playoff career high in a win over the Nuggets in Denver.
Part of what makes Edwards so good is how much fun he can be when he’s cooking. Unfortunately, Reggie Jackson learned this lesson the hard way during Game 2 of Nuggets-Wolves, as he tried to poke the ball away from Edwards while he was dribbling. It didn’t work, because Edwards coolly switched his dribble hand while Jackson lunged towards the ball, so he ended up hitting the deck and had both knees hit the ground.
Jamal Crawford saying “that was almost a proposal” was terrific, but even better was Edwards taking a moment to point right at Jackson after this happened. Kudos to Jackson for continuing to play after this, because if this ever happened to me while I was playing basketball, I would probably make my way to the locker room and then go home immediately.
A controversial call went against the Indiana Pacers late in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the New York Knicks. With the game timed at 115 with less than a minute remaining, Jalen Brunson attempted to throw a pass that Aaron Nesmith broke up. But instead of the Pacers forcing a turnover and getting a fast break opportunity, the referees called a kicked ball on the floor. You can be the judge of this one:
I don’t know about you, but I sure did not think that this hit off of Nesmith’s foot — it was either his arm or it bounced of his, like, knee. This is not a reviewable play, so the call on the floor had to stand, and New York would go on to win, 121-117.
“On the floor we felt that would be a kicked ball violation,” Zarba said. “Post game review did show that it hit the defender’s hand, which would be legal.”
Zarba went on to confirm that this is not reviewable, telling Katz that “the three things that teams can challenge are fouls, goaltends and out of bounds.” It’s unclear why a kicked ball would not be on the list here.
Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets did not have an especially good time during the first half of Game 2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Already facing a 0-1 hole in their Western Conference Semifinal series, Denver got completely ran off of their home floor in the first half by the Rudy Gobert-less Wolves, as Minnesota took a shocking, 61-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Wolves’ defense was ferocious, while the referees were letting a lot of contact go. That’s not a recipe that works in Denver’s favor, because when Minnesota can envelop opposing teams, you get to see why they had the No. 1 defense in the NBA. And no one was more frustrated with this than Jamal Murray, who usually wears his emotions on his sleeve but was especially frustrated with how things were going. In fact, while sitting on the bench during the second quarter, the cameras caught something getting thrown onto the floor from the Nuggets’ bench area.
After further examination, it appeared that Murray — presumably because he was unhappy that Karl-Anthony Towns did not get called for a travel — took a heat pack and threw it onto the floor.
It stands to reason that Murray wasn’t actively trying to throw it, but rather, it was in his hand and it just slipped out while he was expressing his discontent towards the referees. Still, it’s not a stretch to say that he’s fortunate that the refs took this as an accident and not something malicious, because it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where he would’ve gotten kicked out for this.
The New York Knicks drew first blood in the latest chapter of their lengthy playoff rivalry with the Indiana Pacers. Thanks to a big fourth quarter by Jalen Brunson, the Knicks were able to defend their homecourt in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals en route to a 121-117 win.
The first half essentially came down to the Pacers doing all the stuff that they do better than the Knicks. While Brunson (18 points) and Josh Hart (11 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block) had their fingerprints all over the game, the Pacers took a 55-49 lead into the locker room that would have been even larger if not for Isaiah Hartenstein hitting a shot from halfcourt right before the break.
This was because the Pacers did everything they wanted to over the opening 24 minutes. While Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam only combined for 12 points — their leading scorer, T.J. McConnell, had 10 off the bench — the team had 15 assists on 23 made baskets and hit seven of their 16 attempts from three. Plus Indiana managed to keep New York’s size from imposing itself on the glass, as the Knicks only had two offensive rebounds.
Jalen Brunson has 10 early points to open the East Semis
The third quarter went back-and-forth for long stretches. After the Knicks tied things up with 8:18 to go on the heels of an 8-2 burst, the two teams generally kept things close — even as there was a 10-0 Pacers run, New York came back with a response. And after things closed with a flurry, including Obi Toppin breaking out a between-the-legs dunk in his old stomping grounds, Indiana had an 87-82 lead it took into the fourth.
The start of the final quarter featured the Knicks slowly chipping away at the Pacers lead. While Indiana was able to get its lead up to nine points, New York ripped off a 10-2 run to get within striking distance before Aaron Nesmith baptized Mitchell Robinson with one of the filthiest dunks you’ll ever see.
New York kept fighting, although every time they had a chance to tie things up or take the lead, they were just unable to make the final bucket to get them to where they wanted to go. Things finally got tied up at the free throw line, and with just over three minutes left, a steal by OG Anunoby turned into a dunk on the other end to cap off a 7-0 run that finally gave them the lead.
With 94 seconds left, Andrew Nembhard got into the paint and scored a layup to give the lead back to Indiana, but Brunson came right back down the floor and got a bucket to tie things back up at 115. And after a Nembhard miss on the next possession, a potential mistake by the referees — they called a kicked ball on Nesmith that very well might have came off his hand — beget a Donte DiVincenzo three that ignited the Garden and put the Knicks ahead with 40 seconds left.
Siakam came back down and got a layup, and in a bit of bad luck for New York, Brunson got trapped on the sideline on their next possession, tried to chuck the ball off of Haliburton, and had it ricochet and come back off of him. But next time down, DiVincenzo embellished a pick where Myles Turner moved a little and got a foul called on the Pacers’ big man. And eventually, Brunson was able to ice things at the free throw line to give New York the win.
Brunson had 43 points on the night, with 19 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Both of his ex-Villanova teammates were magnificent, with DiVincenzo going for 25 points and Hart putting up 24 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and a block. For Indiana, six players scored in double-figures, led by 23 from Turner. But the most noteworthy performance came from Haliburton, as the All-Star only had six points on 2-for-6 shooting with eight assists, four steals, and two rebounds.
Game 2 between the Knicks and the Pacers will take place on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST on TNT.
The term “gentle parenting” popped onto the scene in the past few years. Many people still view it as a new style of parenting, but it’s been around for a long time—there just didn’t used to be a pop culture name attached to it. Gentle parenting is generally when a parent considers how to speak and interact with their children, with the emphasis on them being a full person who is learning to navigate the world.
Parents who use this method attempt to hear their children out, offering options and not using harsh tones or language, focusing on age-appropriate development in their approach. Some people view this style of parenting as permissive and can’t imagine how a child will develop into a functioning member of society without punishments and rewards for behaviors.
One woman has the answer to that question, taking it to social media so others can see. Noor Elanss created a video sharing that she was gentle parented as a child, and some of her revelations may surprise a few people.
The woman starts the video explaining, “I’m an immigrant child who was gentle parented and as an adult, I’m vibing. I’m so happy to be alive. If there’s one thing that I think really distinguished my parents is that they were kind. They were so kind to me.”
Noor credits her parents’ gentle parenting style with her confidence today, “Never once have I walked into a room thinking, ‘do I deserve to be here’ cause growing up my parents always told me how proud they were of me and that I could accomplish anything that I wanted to.”
She goes on to list other examples of how she was parented showing up in her daily life, but one of the biggest takeaways from her video has to do with her self talk. Noor says that because her parents were so kind to her while shaping her inner voice that she speaks to herself kindly. Commenters were taken aback by the video writing messages of hope as well as disbelief.
“This is refreshing to see. I see a lot of people’s take on gentle parenting and they assume their children will grow up entitled. I gentle parent,” one person writes.
“Is this a skit??” I’ve never heard someone actually say this before. This is all I wish for my daughter and children in the future Mashalla [God has willed it],” another says.
“Like I technically knew this existed…but I still cannot BELIEVE that this is some people’s real life,” someone reveals.
The Knicks and Pacers rekindled one of the great rivalries in the Eastern Conference on Monday night, as they tipped off Game 1 of their second round series in Madison Square Garden. It was the first meeting in the playoffs since 2013 and only the second in the last two decades, but the two teams share a tremendous history in the postseason from the 90s.
This year’s edition features some other fascinating storylines beyond a rivalry most of the players involved don’t really remember (but fans certainly do). You have OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, former Raptors teammates, now playing key roles for the Knicks and Pacers and spending a lot of time matched up with one another in Game 1. There’s also Obi Toppin, who was traded from New York to Indiana in the offseason for a bunch of second round picks after never quite finding his footing with the Knicks, but thriving with the high-flying Pacers.
Toppin had a nice night in Game 1, scoring 12 points and pulling down six boards in the first three quarters of action, giving the Pacers a jolt of energy at the four spot. In the late third quarter, the former Dunk Contest champ got a steal and a breakaway and decided to put a little extra something on display, going between the legs for the best dunk of the postseason thus far.
It takes some real bravery to go Eastbay Funk in a playoff game — especially on a fast break where, while no one was in front of him, the trailing defender wasn’t that far behind. Toppin executed it brilliantly and had the Pacers bench going crazy and even the Garden crowd couldn’t help but offer some “oooohs” before getting back to boos.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will begin their Eastern Conference semifinals series on Tuesday night in Boston, as they will have to figure out how to handle the top-seeded Celtics coming off of a grueling 7-game series against Orlando.
However, that’s the challenge they’d prefer to have over having their offseason start early, and they’re in that position largely because of the effort of Donovan Mitchell. The star guard scored 89 points over Games 6 and 7 of the series and averaged 28.7 points across all seven games, even as he battles a lingering knee injury. While Mitchell put the team on his back in the third quarter of Game 7 to get them into the lead, he knew he’d need help to get across the finish line against a gritty Magic squad.
The 7-year veteran showed his leadership as the game got to the fourth quarter, pulling Darius Garland close amid a woeful shooting performance and trying to pump him up.
Love seeing Donovan Mitchell pumping up Darius Garland, trying to keep him engaged pic.twitter.com/nzwsEV2fh0
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) May 5, 2024
On Monday, the Cavaliers released a video from inside that scene on the bench with their two star guards, and the message from Mitchell was simple: I believe in you, believe in yourself.
Garland’s confidence was clearly a bit shaken in the game after an ice cold shooting spell, and he’s had some struggles in the second half of the year ever since returning from injury. That conversation paid off in the fourth quarter when Garland drilled the dagger three from the corner, and the first person waiting to celebrate the shot with him was Mitchell.
It’s a cool glimpse inside that moment with those two on the bench. Mitchell could tell his guy needed a pick-up, and rather than telling him “keep shooting” he made the message even simpler by making sure Garland knew his teammates hadn’t lost faith in him despite a rough shooting night. If the Cavs are going to have any chance against Boston, Garland’s going to have to be that All-Star caliber player he’s been in the past. To do that, he’ll need to get his swagger back as a shot-maker, and maybe this message from Mitchell and hitting some shots in the fourth quarter of Game 7 can get him going.
Isaiah Hartenstein has turned himself into a valuable member of the New York Knicks’ starting lineup. After bouncing around during his first few years in the league, Hartenstein has carved out quite a niche with the Knicks, as his physicality, rebounding, and deft touch around the rim have all be crucial as the team has turned into a contender in the Eastern Conference this year.
One thing Hartenstein is decidedly not known for is three-point shooting, as he’s 27-for-87 (31 percent) in his career and only went 1-for-3 from deep this year. Heading into Monday night’s Game 1 between the Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, Hartenstein had never made a triple in 19 playoff games. But in his 20th playoff game, Hartenstein finally made a three, and it was a pretty impressive one, because he pulled up from behind halfcourt at the end of the first half and drilled one from very long range.
With this three, Hartenstein is 1-for-2 from deep in his playoff career. That makes him a 50 percent shooter, and while this means absolutely nothing because Tom Thibodeau is not gonna suddenly ask him to be Karl-Anthony Towns, it’s a very nice way to get his first career postseason triple.
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Obi slam!
