Stephen A. Smith’s NBA playoffs prediction comes back to haunt him after giving cold take live on ESPN countdown show
STEPHEN A. Smith’s Minnesota Timberwolves take from last night was as cold as they come.
The ESPN personality, 56, was asked where he keeps his brooms while discussing the Denver Nuggets.
GettyThe Denver Nuggets hit form at just the right time[/caption]
ESPN/First TakeStephen A. Smith predicted a sweep[/caption]
“The brooms are in a couple of closets and both of them are being pulled out,” Smith replied.
“I believe the Minnesota Timberwolves are gonna sweep the reigning NBA champions.
“No shade on the Denver Nuggets whatsoever but you gotta score to win basketball games.
Last game – Game 2 – they scored 35 points in the first half, they scored 15 points in the second quarter, they scored 80 points for the game.
“Do you know that the Denver Nuggets have only failed to score 100 points in a game 10 times this season, in those games they’ve never won, their record is 0-10.
“If there’s a defense which has proven to us they can shut you down, it is the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We can rave about Anthony Edwards, and we should, we can rave about Karl-Anthony Towns and the way he’s played this series.
“We can point out Nikola Jokic shooting 42% from the field, which is very uncharacteristic for him because he’s a better than 53-54% shooter.
“We know what he brings to the table He hasn’t looked like a league MVP.
“The reigning three-time league MVP is not even the best player in this series.”
The Nuggets brushed off the criticism and racked up 117 points to the Timberwolves’ 90.
Jokic, who is struggling with a knee injury, managed 24 and 14 rebounds.
“You’re always testing and finding out about human nature and what guys are made of,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said.
“Everything was sharp. Everything was fast,” added Jokic.
Timberwolves star Edwards fronted up after the loss.
Stephen A. Smith's journey through media
STEPHEN A. Smith is now the face of ESPN and an executive producer on First Take having initially started working for the company back in 2003.
Smith has held various roles with the network, including hosting radio shows, SportsCenter contributions, and appearing on NBA Countdown.
He was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1994 to 2010.
His began as an NBA writer before becoming a general sports columnist.
Before that, Smith worked as a reporter with Winston-Salem Journal, the Greensboro News, and the New York Daily News.
“I’ll take the blame for this loss,” he said.
“I came out with no energy at all. I can’t afford to do that for my team.
“I let my team down, coaches down, fans down. I’ll be ready Sunday.”
Denver’s win took the series to 2-1 ahead of Game 4 in Minnesota tomorrow.
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