Latest / The Sports Hangover Daily / Embiid Drops 33 to Keep Philly Alive in Boston | Apr 29, 2026
Transcript
- The Sixers were down three to one to Boston. Everybody had the broom out. And Joel Embiid just walked into TD Garden and dropped thirty-three on their heads. Philly lives. Barely. But they live. Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Alright, let's get into the NFL first because this Vrabel situation is somehow still getting messier. Mike Vrabel was reportedly back at the Patriots facility on Monday after skipping the final rounds of the draft to go to counseling. His captains spoke to the media yesterday. Robert Spillane said, quote, "I love coach and I'm going to be here to support him." Hunter Henry basically dodged everything, said he's focused on football. And look — I feel for those guys. Nobody wants to be standing at a podium answering questions about their coach's personal life. But here's the reality. This thing is not going away. Photos of Vrabel and Dianna Russini in Sedona. Photos from 2020 in New York. Two married people. She resigned from The Athletic. He missed draft picks. This is a full-blown distraction, and the Patriots — a team that's supposed to be rebuilding — now have to navigate a soap opera on top of everything else. Vrabel's a good coach. I think he can survive this. But the longer this drags, the harder it gets for that locker room to just focus on football. At some point the Krafts have to make a call on whether this is manageable or whether it's becoming bigger than the team. We're not there yet. But we're closer than anyone in New England wants to admit. Staying in the NFL — the Steelers placed the UFA tender on Aaron Rodgers, which basically means they still have no idea what the guy's gonna do. He can sign with any team before July twenty-second. After that, Pittsburgh holds exclusive negotiating rights. This is their second straight offseason without knowing who their quarterback is. Mike McCarthy just got there. Drew Allar's on the roster after they drafted him in the third round. And Rodgers is just — vibing? Meditating? Nobody knows. The Steelers say it's a formality. Sure. But formalities don't usually come with this much uncertainty. In Dallas, George Pickens is gonna play under the franchise tag this year. The Cowboys halted long-term contract talks with him. That's a situation worth watching because Pickens is talented and volatile, and franchise tag years tend to bring out the worst in both of those qualities. Russell Wilson visited the Jets this week for a potential backup role behind Geno Smith. Just — sit with that for a second. Russ went from Denver to the Giants to auditioning as a clipboard holder for the Jets. That's a brutal fall. The guy started a Super Bowl. Now he's trying to convince the Jets he can hold a headset. Quick hits — the Eagles picked up Jalen Carter's fifth-year option for twenty-seven million. The Titans' president of football operations Chad Brinker stepped down. And the NFL schedule release is coming mid-May, with the big international reveal already out — Cowboys versus Ravens in Rio de Janeiro, Week Three, September twenty-seventh. That's gonna be a scene. Now to the NBA. Joel Embiid kept Philly alive last night. Sixers won one thirteen to ninety-seven in Boston to cut the series to three to two. Embiid had thirty-three and was dominant in the second half. The Celtics scored ELEVEN points in the fourth quarter. Eleven. Jayson Tatum had twenty-four and sixteen boards but shot eight of nineteen. Boston went eleven of thirty-nine from three. That's twenty-eight percent. You're not winning anything shooting like that. Quentin Grimes had a career playoff-high eighteen off the bench for Philly. Game Six is Thursday in Philadelphia, and suddenly this series has a pulse. At MSG, Jalen Brunson put on a show. Thirty-nine points, eight assists, one turnover. The Knicks crushed Atlanta one twenty-six to ninety-seven. Led by as many as thirty-two. The Hawks had five guys in double figures but it didn't matter. Brunson was in complete control from start to finish. Knicks lead three to two with Game Six Thursday in Atlanta. And the Spurs closed out Portland one fourteen to ninety-five to win the series four to one. That's San Antonio's first playoff series win since 2017. Victor Wembanyama is heading to the second round for the first time in his career. They led by twenty-eight in that game. It was never in doubt. On the ice real quick — Boston and Buffalo went to overtime in Game Five. David Pastrnak won it at nine fourteen of OT. The Bruins lead that series three to two. And the fact that Buffalo is even in a playoff series right now is wild — they hadn't been there since 2011. Fourteen years. That drought is over regardless of what happens next, but the Sabres are making it interesting. Alright, here's my Hangover Take. I wanna talk about the Spurs. Because everyone's been focused on the Wemby hype, and rightfully — I mean, obviously they should be. But the real story is that San Antonio just won a playoff series in dominant fashion, and their best player is twenty-two years old. They won by twenty-eight in the closeout game. They won four to one against a Portland team that wasn't bad. And Wemby's not even close to his ceiling. The West is stacked right now. OKC just swept Phoenix. Denver's still lurking. But two years from now? Three years from now? San Antonio might be the team nobody can stop. The Spurs have been through the rebuild. They ate their losses. And now they're on the other side of it with the most unique talent the sport has ever seen. Every other front office in the West should be looking at this and thinking — how do we keep up with THAT? That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.