The Ringer NBA Show
Shai Shines in Thunder's Thriller Win. Plus, Jayson Tatum’s Return. | Real Ones
10 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
What's poppin'? Real ones.
Chapter 2: What were the highlights of the Thunder's victory over the Nuggets?
Logan Murdoch here. Roger Bell there.
Chapter 3: Who is currently leading the MVP race: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokic?
Howard Beck there. Cliff on the boards. Victoria! On the video, I've been told by Victoria that I can't be looking in and out of frame. And I agree with her because I've been looking over the last couple of episodes and I'm like over here out of frame, over here out of frame. So I'm just going to try to do my best here as we talk about Shea's MVP case. You watched the episodes?
I only watch them on Netflix because I'm trying to juice our numbers. I'm a one man numbers juicer. Okay, okay. I thought maybe you were using it to replay and go over some film about your performances. I do that too. Do you really? I do, I do.
Because I want to hear what people, because it's one thing to listen to you guys in real time, but when I'm during the pod, I'm actually like, what's the next question going to be? How am I going to set up this person, point guard, point guard, passing here? When am I going to take my one or two shots a game? And during the pod, listening back over it, Dang, I could've set up Rob better.
I could've set up Howard better. Just doing what I gotta do. Howard, do you rewatch Howard? Hell no. Okay. I don't feel bad. Okay.
Chapter 4: What impact does Jayson Tatum's return have on the Celtics' championship hopes?
Good. Good. I respect Logan's dedication to the craft, film study, look for little things here and there, kind of tighten it up, refine your game, all that. That's great. I'm not rewatching myself. I'm not re-listening to myself. A buddy of mine hit me the other day was like, oh man, that was a really cool conversation you guys had on Friday. I'm like, wait, what did we say?
And he starts describing it in this text. And I'm like, I'm sorry. I don't even remember that. I forget. The second we turned the recorder off, I'm off to the next thing, and I have no recollection of what we just potted about. Say less. I hear you.
Chapter 5: What questions from the mailbag highlight current NBA trends?
But I can appreciate that completely, Logan. I can appreciate it. I don't, but I probably should. I'll be locked in. Sometimes, like, even during a discussion, I'm out here texting timestamps to Cliff and Victoria. I'm just trying to be locked in. I'm trying to make it, you know, so everybody knows. PGs have a lot on their plate, bro. I mean, generally, PGs, QBs, you know this.
You guys have a lot going on. Speaking of PGs with a lot on their plate, Roger. Ha, see? You got segue. See? Ha, ha, ha. I'm a combo guard. You know the vibes. 35 points, 9 rebounds, 15 assists, and two big shots last night against the Nuggets. Which, honestly, I don't have the numbers in front of me. I don't have the rankings in front of me. The ranks is one of the best games of the season.
And really great playoff preview if, you know, the Nuggets can get there. We'll talk about them in a second. But it felt like one of the signature games of the season. And it felt like the Nuggets were down the stretch were going to get the upper hand on the Thunder. And then Shea said, nah, hit two bonkers threes and cool the game winner. with a few seconds left.
It was his 126th consecutive game with at least 20 points, and that tied Wilt Chamberlain for the NBA record on Monday night. Great quote here from Christian Braun. I think he busted my ass tonight, and it's kind of what it is. I played him enough, and I know I've had enough good games against him. I think that last game, I know I played him well and got a block in a big moment.
Tonight, he made the shot in a big moment. He made a couple of them, so I know I'm going to play him again. I'm going to play him in the playoffs. I'm very confident he got the better of me of this matchup.
This also seemed like we have a few games around this time of the season that we see where it is, especially when there's a two-player race for MVP, and we're going to get into that discussion as well.
But there's always the games towards the end of the season when those players play against each other, when a player takes hold of the MVP and also takes, in this particular case, takes hold of the mythical MVP Baddest dude in the game trophy. And I think Shea did both of those today. Granted, Shea has to stay healthy for the rest of the season.
He's only allowed to miss seven more games to remain in the MVP discussion. But based on what we saw, I'm going to start with Raj and I'm going to go to Howard. What did Shea prove to you last night?
um yeah this probably doesn't make for great potting but he he didn't prove anything to me last night i mean he's in in my opinion he's the best player in the nba like he um you know it's an efficient scoring output um he's got a real uncanny ability to kind of
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Chapter 6: How does Shai's performance affect his MVP candidacy?
We've had two outliers, two that really did not fit the old mold that has stood for like now 40 something years. Russ and one of Jokic's years, right? I did not vote for Russ that year and I did not vote for Jokic that year. I'm not trying to be rigid about it, but I do think that we... Because then what happens is fan bases and some of the teams complain about consistency.
Well, some years you guys say the wins matter and some years you don't. I am trying to be consistent over time in this. And my consistent stance is it is a combination of individual excellence and team success. And the team success component really matters. You can't be an MVP off of a 500 team and everybody would agree to that. So we all agree the wins matter.
We just decide where to calibrate or where to draw the line of how many wins or where in the standings. And I have a higher bar than some other people with that. It's not just that. The Nuggets record is not great right now. They've been pretty blah since Jokic came back from his knee. They're like 7-10, I think, in his 17 games back. Um, with a net rating, that's like middle of the pack.
Like they're just not that great right now. And Jokic's stat line is fucking crazy as it always is. His efficiency is off the charts. Like Shea beats him in points by a couple points a game, but Jokic has him in rebounds. Jokic has him in assists. Jokic has him in the efficiency stats, effective field goal percentage, true shooting, all of that. but Shay's got a, like just a much better overall.
That's the biggest case though. Right. Because I feel like they both dealt with similar circumstances as a team, right. You know, uh, injuries, right. They've been injured themselves. Um, and this was supposed to be the year that Denver had the depth, uh, You know, there was really no excuses going into this season. Well, yeah.
Listen, on that note, on that note, and listen, the Thunder were missing three starters last night, like Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and J-Dub all out. So the Nuggets can't play the Peyton Watson card or the Aaron Gordon just came back card. or we haven't been the same since Jokic got back card. However, like they have been really banged up, right?
First long injury stretch of Jokic's entire career, missing the 16, 17 games with the knee. Gordon has missed a massive chunk of the season, just got back two games ago, but he looked pretty damn good last night. Peyton Watson's still out and they don't have enough of that. Like the Thunder are insanely deep. And so Shea's so great that their depth plus his individual greatness is carries them.
The Thunder, I think just the margin for error is less. And I'm dismissing the 3-0 Oklahoma versus Denver record right now because of how choppy those box scores are when you look at who was available. Plus, by the way, one of those was an overtime win by the Thunder. And last night came down to a shot with 2.7 seconds left. So I still think these teams are closer than that record suggests.
But, you know, we'll see in the playoffs if everybody's finally healthy. I think the Nuggets are the biggest mystery going into the playoffs, right? Because on one hand, I wouldn't be surprised if they got out of the Western Conference, if they were fully whole and, you know, just... If they were fully whole and they were just everything, all cylinders were going at the right time, right?
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of the MVP race as the season progresses?
Draymond was there. Amazing closeout from Draymond, and Draymond was like, fuck, right? Draymond, by the way, who was coming off of one of the best defensive performances of his late-stage career against Durant.
uh playing against and really playing some good basketball against over the last few years or last few games excuse me and then to have this step back three after a crazy run and after the jay will uh mishap uh last night like in all three of those scenarios you just see that comments right you're like oh okay we're gonna be okay with shea um with the ball in his hands he's great i can't wait to see what happens i want to stay quickly on denver before we go to uh talk about tatum
what do we see happening there? Cause they're, they were so excited for the off season and rightfully so they really retooled. I think their front office did a great job, but it's just, it's still, it feels like a normal nuggets type of season, right? Where they don't really finish strong, but they're kind of laying in the weeds. Cause you can't really write them off too much.
Howard, where do you see them? And then I'll go with Howard before we get out of here. Just to note this, because you mentioned like, oh my gosh, they're only a game and a half out of the play-in, which is startling to see when you look down at the standings. They're also a game and a half out of third. Yeah. That's the Western Conference right now. That's the Western Conference.
I'm looking at the standings. We were talking about the Rockets and then we're talking about the Lakers last week. Like they were dead in the water. They're fourth and fifth right now. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm not taking you with them seriously anyway. Sorry. No, no, no. But I'm just saying this is how close the race is right now. Yeah, no, it is. It's crazy.
And the Nuggets, if it all just kind of like, all right, Gordon's back now. He's looking pretty good. His hamstrings hold up. I think that that helps a lot, right? He's a huge part of just their front court depth, but their defense, their interior presence, you saw that last night. Yeah. He's super important to them. And so I'm giving Denver some grace right now.
Let's see what happens over these last four weeks or so as they kind of get whole. I think Peyton Watson should be back sometime soon as well. and I'm not writing the Nuggets off. The one thing I'll always say about veteran teams and the Nuggets fit this category, especially as a semi-recent championship winner, I don't care where they are in the seedings, right?
They can win a road game in a best of seven series if they have to. They'll be fine. So it's not so much about the record or where they finish in the standings. I mean, again, that matters for MVP purposes, but it doesn't matter in terms of how I view them as a threat in the West.
I still think the Nuggets are right there with the Spurs as the two, and maybe Minnesota as the teams that are most likely to make a conference finals run and or have a shot at knocking out the Thunder, if anybody does. And I do think it's more just a matter of them getting whole and getting back in rhythm. The record has been kind of mad, as I say, with Jokic back, but he looks like him.
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Chapter 8: How does the Thunder's depth contribute to their success this season?
You know what I mean? So I'm with Howard. Like, I... Yeah, I will be holding my breath a little bit because I don't want anything to happen. But, like, if it works out, fucking great. Like, that's cool. That would be awesome. I mean, it already is one of the great stories of the regular season.
But if he's able to parlay this in the playoffs, it would be one of the great stories of the playoffs as well. Take a quick break, and we're going to get to Cliff for the mailbag. And we are back. Cliff, what's going on, buddy? Poppin' Real Ones was poppin', was poppin', was poppin'. Roger was poppin', man. Logan was poppin'. Howard was poppin', man. All right, let's get to this first question.
This is from, I hope I'm pronouncing this right, Kahitan Matuszewski. Hi, Bridgerton boys. I'm curious on your opinion on the latest Bridgerton season. It was different, but still good in my opinion. Anyways, should the Warriors currently punt this season and not bring back Steph Curry? Biggest what if this season with healthy Curry, Jimmy, and Porzingis?
As without all of them, they can play beautiful basketball like against the Nuggets recently. Best regards, Kahitan from Poland. I hope I'm saying that right. I got the one! from Poland. Bridgerton season was fine. It did. It barely did what it needed to do, but how many damn siblings are like, we don't have many Bridgerton siblings left. Okay. And like, there are plenty of Bridget.
What do you mean? There's at least three or four Bridgerton children left. It's fair. It's fair. It's fair. I like the Bridgerton season, man. Maybe it's because I was just thirsty for some Bridgerton action. I think that's what it was. But it was fine. It was a very fine season, right? I think if you know what it is, every season is the same, right? Like, for all intents and purposes.
Every... It's... It's, oh, who's going to get married? We got to find this person to suit her. It's the unlikely one. What I am intrigued about, and if you didn't watch Bridgerton yet, Lady Whistledown is back in a different capacity. I don't know who it is. Yeah, who's that? I think I do know who it is. I think it's the Queen's best friend who left. Lady Dandridge? I think it's her.
I think it's Lady Dandridge. That's my early... Okay, is it fair? I think it was her voice. I think it is the, what's the house, what are their family, like the housekeeper of the other family where- Oh, yeah, yeah, the mean family. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's her. But like, I'm, yeah, I like the season. I'm with you. I want to know who the new Lady Whistledown is.
Lady Dandridge has been like a staple of the show. Like she's leaving. The queen was all upset about that. I was upset about it too. It'll never be the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, like we're, I'm in, I'm in. It was a good season. Bridgerton boys were back, for sure. It's funny as hell listening to you guys talk about this. Anyway. Hey, you new here, man. You new here.
Shout out Joan, Bridgerton boys. Okay. Anyways, should the Warriors currently putt the season and not bring back Steph Curry? I don't want that to happen. I want Steph to come back. He's supposed to come back. It's very entertaining when he's in the lineup. The Warriors have been playing really hard. Guy Sanchez has been a revelation over the last few games. And then what was the other one?
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