The Hawks may be out, but one of the biggest replay challenges of the playoffs still happened in Atlanta.
Chuck ends Kenny's playoff streak after one night pic.twitter.com/yr5ZXHTOvV
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 23, 2024
Charles Barkley beat Kenny Smith in a race to the video board on the halftime show for "Inside the NBA." It's not clear if the Chuckster had to use one of his replay challenges, but the slow-motion replay revealed that Barkley was indeed the winner.
By rule, that means Barkley will retain a timeout, which could be used during postgame highlights or even "Ernie's Neat-O Stat of the Night" (sponsored by nobody).
It's not every night that someone on the TNT panel races Smith to the board, but he's generally protective of his sprint title. Barkley got a good jump, but Smith still insisted he won even after seeing the video.
No doubt we'll see similar behavior during Lakers-Nuggets later Monday night.
As much as Kenny "The Jet" Smith takes pride in his speed, he's famously lost a 100-yard dash to Chris Webber when replay evidence revealed Webber hit the tape first — and Smith celebrated prematurely.
How did the lead-footed Barkley win the race? Much like Popeye, he's fueled by spinach, which Dr. Shaquille O'Neal attempted to force-feed him for his pre-game snack.
We dropped salad on Chuck and @SHAQ tried to force him to eat it pic.twitter.com/3xQESPUROV
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 22, 2024
They say it's not officially a playoff series until someone wins a road game. By beating Smith at his own board, Barkley has ensured that the board race will remain an intense series through the conference finals.
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