What We Learned From The NBA Christmas Day Games | The Dunker Spot

What We Learned From The NBA Christmas Day Games | The Dunker Spot

Hi hello and welcome to another episode of the dunker spot we are part of 342 Productions I am your host nikayas Duncan and joining me as always is my co-host Steve Jones Jr Steve how are you sir ah feeling good feeling great happy to be here excited to be here thank you

Dunkers for once again embracing your bounce a dunker Nation let’s ride shout out to everyone that is watching this on YouTube salute to the Cutters and rors this is your present from us to you uh as we grind in this holiday season hopefully everyone was able to enjoy the

Holidays I know it’s not always the best so if it was not the best I hope you’re able to find that light and that gratitude and make sure that you know that you’re loved and understood and respected and important and if you had a great time I hope you had a great time

We’re able to enjoy family friends uh whoever brings that light to your life we are going to attempt to bring that light to you today by recapping some games so Nikas and salute to NAS everyone just real quick quick give a quick nod to NAS showing us a little bit of the opulence

The scenes live from you know undisclosed location I want to put all your business out there but you see The Vibes real quick gave us the little mini fro for the new year you know what I mean yeah it’s time Yeet this man said ye all right the mini fro simply means I

Had to scramble to find a barber over the weekend and so I was like you know what just give me the line so like when I get to like one to the regular bar to get like the full cut ET oh speak this the load management cut this is the load

Management cut I can’t I can’t go to undisclosed location scraggly disclosed location by the time you see this I’ll literally be gone but uh in in Miami was at heat Sixers last night we’re going to have some fun talking about that one uh but happy holidays to everyone watching SL

Listening not going to rehash everything Steve said he said a lot better than I did but let’s talk about some basketball games let’s hoop it up oh real quick cuz we are coming off a huge Hall Hol hoop slate five massive contests lot of debate lot of debate a lot of

Conversation and I’m ready to dig into the most important things Mo bomba 18 points Off the Bench chimzi metu 23 points and 19 rebounds and 34 minutes off the bench this is what the Christmas Day slate is all about correct correct and no other podcast is here to talk

About you in Earnest about chimzi metu and mo Bamba which Mo Bamba’s a little bit everywhere in Miami game again we’ll get to it you know hitting threes crashing offens of glass BL some hey he was he was he was doing the thing it was

Cool to get the moom game in a day that Joel embiid did not participate so that was a lot of fun either way let let’s just go one through five start at the beginning of the Slate we got bucks Knicks to kick us off a 129 122 victory

For the New York Knicks Jaylen Brunson with 38 points he had 20 of those in the first half RJ Barrett with 21- six I think he had 14 in the first quarter set the tone early with his transition drives Julius Randle with 24-9 Emanuel quickley with 20 points Off the Bench

Had some crucial buckets in that fourth as Milwaukee was trying to get a run together um on the buck side 32 and 13 for Giannis also tossed in six assists a steal in a couple of blocks Damen Lillard after a very cold start and overall didn’t shoot well from three he

Did finish with 32 points and eight assists 24 for Chris middlton and 12- n off the bench for Bobby poris for our first Christmas game of the day Steve was there a major theme that popped for you theme uh my mind goes because this is like the fourth or fifth time these

Teams have played this season so this was the game I was actually excited to really dive into because there’s going to be an element of adjustments and actually they had just played Saturday and the Bucks had once again been like hey no you guys can’t beat us we’re

Going to hurt your feelings take this and run with it my mind went to the Knicks making adjustments and I go back to the start of the game where I think the bucks first possession they just go pick and roll Haren Stein’s at the level two on the ball pocket pass late

Rotation throw a lob oh we’re doing this again I just watched this on Saturday all right man that’s when you start to look at like the garbage bags or the cinnamon rolls and it’s like all right dog not the cinnamon roll whatever whatever you get down with you take a

Second look at it but I think the way that the Knicks opened up was so key and so important the Bucks had especially against New York uh shown aggression against the Knicks movement and movement is important to this Knicks offense you know we’re going to talk about Jaylen

Brunson and Julius Randall but the key for them is being able to find some Tempo find some pl Play out of the play um and Milwaukee had been physical and had the combination of okay we have this drop defense that could protect the paint uh we can mix in some activity

With Bobby poris at the level we have weak side help we can just kind of bog you down but I thought the way the Knicks opened up was really important to where okay you defended our first set we run a counter to getting elbow Flash and

Now Dante is getting a back cut that’s a denial we run stack or Spain pick and roll with Brooke in a drop just to give him a little second of hey I need to navigate this for two seconds as opposed to what we saw on Saturday where I’m

Here if you get to me I’m GNA block the shot if you drive on someone else my man’s here I’m GNA block the shot Jaylen brunson’s able to find the space hesitate and finish Julius Rand kind of pushes in transition drives hard tries to dunk the rim off the basket he

Missed yes but that set the tone and as you stated the Knicks end up scoring 72 points in the paint and I thought that the the Knicks were able to really find their way I thought Jaylen Brunson really really really set the tone like one of his big improvements has been the

Pull-up three his first three was what a minute 30 left in the second quarter and he just did a great job of working the space against Brooke in the drop making sure to get paint touches and also testing Milwaukee’s I guess I don’t want to say point of attack defense but their screen

Navigation hey okay you’re going to be physical I know I have this space you’re gonna have to fight over I may not let you get back in front if you get back in front I may shift I may hit you when you get back in front and now I’m finishing

So he was able to lead the dance that way on the other end of the floor I I thought the Knicks defense found their Rhythm to a degree it wasn’t the most perfect performance but again this is a Bucks team that had just really been shooting the ball against them every single time

And getting whatever they wanted uh you know we talked about on our last pod about the three-point shooting that the Bucks had then you mix in oh yeah Giannis can just drive oh yeah Dame is now just driving Chris Middleton is mixing in pull-ups the Bucks are kind of

Getting whatever they want in this matchup and we saw the Knicks make the adjustment of instead of putting two on the ball automatically Isaiah hardenstein who got in early foul trouble in their last matchup hey let’s mix in a switch sure Yiannis I’ll switch against you that’s fine hey Damen Lillard nice

Reject you got there I’m gonna run as fast as I can and try and contest this at the rim and I think that element helped bog the the Bucks down to a degree mhm and it’s less like hey the Bucks can’t do this and more of a oh y’all are doing this

Today and sometimes that happens in basketball where it’s not necessarily an indictment on your offense or your flow you can just get caught off guard you know especially if you just play the team and you know it’s two on the ball so okay pocket pass easy read or you

Know they’re dropping back this is an easy read you take those two dribbles you’re expecting that pass oh it’s a late switch oh no I’ve now hit my pull-up animation now you got to hope you got the bail out bad otherwise it’s just being B it’s it’s no good and so I

Thought that that’s really helped the Bucks bog down and then I think being able to rotate a little bit better close out the shooters better uh keep the ball in front a little bit better their help felt better in this one to where it just wasn’t just an

Automatic for me uh so what were some of the takeaways for you I’d say very quickly on the Isaiah hardenstein front uh going back to the game that was played on Saturday I got a good chuckle out of I was watching the pregame show we had a watch party for this one we

Watching the pregame show and I think it was Stephanie r that asked uh Dennis Scott like hey what are some keys for you that we should be paying attention to as we’re getting ready to go to tip they zooming into the game it’s like Isaiah hardenstein can you stay out of

Foul trouble and within the first two minutes of that game Isaiah hardstein had two fouls like well I guess we got the answer to that one um but I think for me and you mentioned the shooting from Milwaukee just was not there 13 or 42 from three so look very quickly at

The bot score 31% um so they did not have that aspect going for you I will say I appreciated Milwaukee trying to counter things like as you mentioned it felt like they were getting some automatics in their previous matchups like okay they don’t want D to take free

We’re going to have these pocket passes once Milwaukee recognized that it did seem more intentional for them to okay let’s clear a corner I mean let’s clear a wing here let’s make sure we have as much space to operated as possible so if we’re not getting pure two on the ball

If y’all actually want to play this two on two we’re going to make your life miserable I think it was a possession early in the first or Midway through the first quarter where Andre Jackson was in he goes to the dunker spot Pat conton shifts down to the corner you got Bobby

Porter in the other corner and it’s just a high Dame yanis pick and roll with both of those wings very clear and it’s like Ah that’s still incredibly tough to deal with and then you factor in the injuries that the Knicks are dealing with like oh you still that’s still

Putting a lot of pressure on them so I appreciate Milwaukee trying to find some counters But ultimately New York was able to do enough defensively and on the other end one jayen Brunson was incredible I already pointed out the 38 points but the way that he read and manipulated whatever Milwaukee wanted to

Do defensively was incredibly fun to watch early in the first quarter oh this is just a TR traditional drop again let me just get to these floaters let me get to these pull-ups oh the screen navigation is bad here let me snake this slow down keep you on my backside and

Now I’m going to see what Brook does false step cool I’m going the other way and watching Jaylen Brunson get into the floater bag the pull-up bag the snake and let me fully extend dra this shooting foul real quick bag and just like okay what do you do when he has

This kind of crap and this kind of comfort inside the AR you get Bobby poris in the game cool he’s at the level huh early transition possession let me fake going left let me go the other way Andre Jackson you are now over here Bobby poris you are also jumping out and

Now I’m also getting downhill and I’m finishing something ridiculous at The Rim I just had a ton of fun watching Jaylen Brunson and that’s kind of been as we’ve talked about this Nicks bucks match up you know ahead of the n Season tournament quarterfinals and just throughout the year that’s kind of been

The fun about these matchups jayen Brunson against the drop primarily but just jayen Brunson in space how well can he navigate it versus how well can Milwaukee keep him from getting comfortable out there and so it was a lot of fun watching that portion of it and then just kind of zooming out

Beyond the half court stuff it was another day and I end up tweeting this out during the game but it was another day in which teams just ran all over Milwaukee and just pulling it up uh during the game yesterday on cleaning the glass they track how what percentage

Of possessions are given up in transition versus the half court Etc Milwaukee dead last they bleed transition attempts the bit was they were bleeding transition attempts ranked 30 but in terms of points per possession allowed they were in the top 10 and on Monday they gave up a lot of

Transition opportunities and New York was able to score quite a bit it was after makes New York was playing with some Tempo but off of Misses in particular again RJ Barrett getting downhill very early had 14 of his 21 in the first quarter Julius R getting downhill you already mentioned the fail

Dunk attempt but Julius Rand just getting downhill Josh Hart getting some easy ones in transition or at the very least putting some pressure on Milwaukee’s defense Emanuel quickle shaking loose early on and it just felt like well one that’s where it felt like a lot of the points in the paint you

Mentioned 72 which is a season high for New York a lot of it came from transition in early offense where Milwaukee just could not get set and I just found myself frustrated watching how it would come out it’s Miss shot look around hey why didn’t I get that

Foul call it is now a four on2 on the other end it’s just like we are in December like we still have another half a season to go a half plus of season ago but like those little moments like just grab a body and if you get a dead ball

Say your pce to the ref if you need to but like those lapses and in addition to New York just generally playing well spacing well in transition making you know Finding open players Dante div chin also shaking loose in transition as well I just didn’t love Milwaukee’s

Transition defense in this one and so you factor in what RJ what what Julius and Jay Brunson in particular were able to do in the half court you mentioned some of the cutting they were able to get to and then they just got a whole lot of bites at the app of

Transition it didn’t feel like a good defensive effort for Milwaukee and I wasn’t a big fan of that one you know I’ll ask you this real quick do you contribute that to New York having a stronger confidence as far as hey we’re scoring a little bit

Our defense is working a little bit more let’s push a little bit more or is this more of an addition to this has kind of been a a bit for Milwaukee all season long and I’d like to see it change I think the honest answer is yes

But I think in this one in particular like it felt like it probably like 55 45 the bit with Milwaukee and New York had more room to just push because normally you think about New York you know even going back to last season the push unit was was

Really the second unit to where we get the younger guys in we get Emanuel quickly in in particular and now we’re just going and we’re just going but the half court offense it was more of a half court flow with their starters let Julius Randle bully people let Jay Le

Brunon do his thing Mitchell Robinson when he was healthy getting a bunch of offensive rebounds keep things together etc etc it just felt like everyone was playing with some Tempo with New York in the game on Monday so that’s where I just like ah Milwaukee can’t get to the point to

Where everyone feels comfortable pushing early because they feel like they get some good stuff against you like we have enough questions generally about what Milwaukee’s point of attack defense is going to be Andre Jackson needs more rep Maran Bo champ needs more reps but he’s been solid Malik Beasley has been tossed

On virtually everyone this season among the perimeter room he’s treding his best but there’s just a level of screen navigation lateral quickness that he doesn’t have to defend top tier matchups whenever jayen Brun got the Dame matchup it just felt like he got takeover so that part wasn’t particularly fun from

Milwaukee either so you got to eliminate any as much easy things as you can I feel like as a defense and I don’t know New York just it felt like they got him on their back foot for most of that game uh I I guess for me I it’s funny you

Mentioned Jaylen Brunson with takeover against just Dame I think it’s just the Bucks as a concept like this man is averaging 35 against the Bucks that’s seems pretty good every time you see him but I think it was it was an overall team mindset

And I think what stood out to me is even there’s a play second quarter Emanuel quickly gets a high pick and roll and he’s seeing the space and he’s hitting the hesitation and he’s going at Brooke in a way you didn’t see on Saturday and that’s where it’s like okay this is a

Mindset thing this is an important thing and I think that for me was probably the biggest part thinking about the Knicks in this one because I think the Knicks very quality team like I know there’s a lot of hashtag discussion discourse 1A number talk all that good stuff

I think it gets lost in everything the Knicks have gotten better offensively like everyone’s made their tibs jokes with offense and Julius Randall and Brunson and how what’s the how high can you go level-wise they’re pretty good at scoring the ball it’s not always the prettiest but they they they

Offense has felt more consistent than we’ve seen it in the past and it’s actually the defense that’s lagging a little bit behind I think this has been a really important stretch of basketball for the Knicks and I think this is one of those stretches where you understand

Or you find out who you are as a team and what you can achieve and so one of my bigger takeaways for the Knicks in this one was just the fact that oh we can make adjustments because you know what’s funny Nas what’s up they were only eight

Of 26 from three in this one which is actually worse than the nine of 29 they shot on Saturday and it’s only their second win of the season when they make 10 or less threes and so sometimes you you just have to find a way to to find a

How to win what can you do to make it work and I think in a playoff setting a team like the Knicks they may not come with the most overpowering a b and c right that’s no disrespect so Nick fans please don’t don’t do that to me what I’m saying

Is they can say okay we can do this to you specifically we know you’re in this we’re going to attack this drop or we know this is what you want to run offensively we’re going to take this away and now you are in a different fight than you would

Expected and so that’s one of those things where I’m intrigued with how they handle it because again they they’ve played Milwaukee Boston Toronto at Utah at Phoenix at La at the Lakers at Brooklyn two games this Milwaukee you still got OKC Orlando Indiana and Minnesota are your next four so if you

Can Sur survive this stretch feeling a little bit more elevated about where you’re going now you take that success belief you take off that way on the contrary or did you have any thoughts on the Nick sorry oh no no no you’re good I was just gonna quickly remark you you

Called it man Jaylen one Brunson that’s uh kind of tough but it’s okay uh continue my fault uh on the flip side with the Bucks how did you feel about this performance I is it a lingering issue for you with the Bucks because I know a

Lot of talk of hey what’s up with the defense what does the offense do is it just this my thoughts in my head went to can the Bucks find a way to elevate themselves in a night where it’s not a perfect world and it’s not particularly just

Defensively you know they’re going to be Knights where their defense isn’t very good their offense makes up for it we’ve seen them kind of prove that part of the formula what happen happens when the offense is a little bit off can you turn the volume up defensively to where okay let’s sustain

This part of it can you get your defense to a space where you can lean on it just a little bit offensively do you lean on Pace and Tempo do you kind of go into execution I feel like these are those kind of moments where you feel that okay what do

We run or we just going to I don’t want to say out talent I think if you say out Talent that means you’re not running anything or trying anything it’s more of like a quick shot thing for me with Milwaukee when they’re off it feels like

They try and swing for the fences to get their way back in it and okay let me take this pullup or let me ISO go oneon-one um let me break the set off or we’re in transition hey we have a chance to get a quick one and now you don’t now they are

Able to push on the other end so do do you have a confidence level in Milwaukee be able to okay can we just establish a higher base CU we’re very good offensively we can hit certain notes defensively we can make it really tough on you but when we

Kind of get hit can we now figure it out I hope that makes sense no I understand where you’re coming from like I think first defensively that’s where I kind of appreciate though the results haven’t really been there I think that’s fair but that’s where I do kind of appreciate

The experimentation we’ve seen from Milwaukee’s defense this year and it’s important for them to get reps in different areas like this was another game in which they went to the Zone like okay Milwaukee’s doing some I mean New York’s doing some things let’s see if we

Can just bot them down a little bit and see if we were able to counter push from there and so like I appreciate them at least attempting to find some answers there I think from a Personnel perspective like there does seem to be a ceiling at least in the perimeter room

Right now and I wonder as we get ready to enter the New Year in a few days and as we get closer and closer to the trade dead line do they swing for someone that they can just toss in and say okay we feel better about being able to switch

More now because we have this guy in tow or we feel better about the drop if it’s still going to be our base because we have this guy Now versus asking Dame to do his best Malik Beasley to do his best Andre Jackson to do his best while staying out of foul trouble

Etc and so like I think the defense is going to be more of a personel deal but they are at least trying to find answers they have been trying to find answers all year long defensively in terms of throwing different looks out there offensively I think it’s interesting

Because I think to a certain degree you made the Dame swing so you can just out talent for lack of a better way to phrase it your way out of some of these ruts and I think we’ve seen that pop up with some of Milwaukee’s clutch time numbers in particular okay we probably

Shouldn’t be in a in a dog fight with this team we do have Dame though and we can do that we do have Giannis and as the years gone on their chemistry together has flown now it’s like okay we have these two that we can put in action together y’all have fun with

This I do wonder what the next level for them is like it was interesting in this one I think 17 offensive rebounds like Pat conon just came off the bench just started flying in for extra bites at it I don’t know if that’s a formula they

Really want to commit to In terms like a team wide let’s crash the glass CU we don’t have it and let’s just try to win The Possession battle that way especially in light of what their transition defense has been like this year so I don’t even know if they can

Afford to press that button so I do think it is going to be on them to kind of establish a higher base in the half court which again that may factor into why we haven’t seen Adrian Griffin say we’re going to run 60 Dame jannis picking rolls every game like that’s

Probably part of the calculus as to why there was a spam early on because they do want to establish okay this is what we can get to this can be option b this can be option C and if all us fails we know we can just say jannis put your

Head down then put your head down or those two in action together so I guess my overarching view is like they are trying to establish these bases on both ends um again I think there may be a move that needs to be made to just beef up the defensive floor for

Them by I’m not in like red flag mode with Milwaukee yet I guess to answer your question no I mean it’s fair it’s a it’s a delicate balance as to where you’re trying to establish who you are what you’re very good at you look at the high ceiling players they have that complicates

Things a little bit comes a little bit of expectations I think it would be a disservice to the team to just Spam that action as much as people like to see it as much as it could put pressure on teams you also put yourself in a position where there’s more film on this

So if I’m sitting there and I’m an opposing coach I could pick apart a little bit of this what can I do to alter the rhythm of this what can I do to take this away and now do you have other things behind it the funny part is Milwaukee actually finished the first

Half with some great actions to where you know I think it was Brooke and Yannis setting a double drag for Damen Lillard with an empty side Giannis rolls Brook Pops to the wing the corner is empty and I was like oh you guys can tap those

Buttons and then you go to D Yiannis pick and roll and you’re starting to Fig they’re starting to figure out okay you’re very active let’s go to pass and cut and it’s like oh okay so I think I wonder if it’s just the highs that you see countered

With okay what are y’all doing that throws people off I got you like guess this is also just a departure for what Milwaukee has been during this era I guess as Giannis is turned to this MVP Cali player you just kind of expect very good offense in the regular season anyway very good

Offense defense is just best of the league are right there and then this year it’s just like well it’s just a top three offense and trending upwards with what it’s been over the last two three weeks and the defense like we we will do our best we all right when Dame and

Yannis I mean when uh Yiannis and Brook are on the floor together and once it becomes one of those guys let’s uh let’s do our best so it’s been kind of an adjustment period for me just as like a bucks Watcher like see okay I need to recalculate what the Baseline is what

Kind constitutes as good defense for Milwaukee well this version of Milwaukee versus what I’ve been used to watching so like that’s been fun as analys as well oh you about to jump in oh I was just gonna give a quick shout out to RJ Barrett and Emanuel quickly uh and you

Could just kind of see going back to the Knicks sorry brain scatter brain just went right back to them but guys understanding what their role is guys understanding what they can contribute and you can see the vision of what happens when they have a little bit more

Balance I think one of the biggest problems for the Knicks particularly in this matchup was okay we have r going we have Brunson going who’s going to join the party and no everyone kind of declined or left the message on red thums up maybe a double tap double tap no no no

No got be respectfully messy go ahead you ever seen someone get left on red and then someone comes back like two hours later and they double question mark their own text oh that’s not a good feel because either you genuinely missed it and it’s like oh snap my bad or you

Didn’t miss it and it’s like oh I actually have to this might get a this might get a little ha let me let me see if I can drum up something here let me act like this didn’t happen or just I’m sorry I was doing oh my

Bad if I get kind of ha yeah to that point uh that’s where that’s what made the first quarter kind of refreshing like I think ESPN put up the graphic like the first 20 points were scored by either jayen Brunson or RJ Barrett and it’s like ah well my mind was like okay

So is Julius gonna uh what’s going on here then he finishes with 24 and I end up tweeting through this through the stretch like hey wait a minute keep an eye on the Julius post UPS or isos against Giannis I feel like he’s the one dude that could just like move Giannis

And that’s such a weird thing like he’ll he can just get to that short jumper whenever he wants to or someone those push shots they don’t always go in like I think at the time I tweeted I made the note like he’s three of nine right now

So I’m not saying Randle is like beast and Giannis Etc but like just game within the game stuff that I enjoy like Julius Randle seems to have the Cadence down how many dribbles he can get into before get into his actual move against Giannis and then carving out of sver of

Space so that’s fun stuff any closing thoughts on Nick’s bucks uh I want to give a shout out to Taj Gibson yes professional basketball player and that sounds rude but hey man he comes in clocks in does his job and that’s about it oh I gotta stay overtime oh oh

All right fine but no you just watch him defensively it’s a pick and roll I’m not getting all the way up there man I’m cool this I’m with the roll you fight over we good or I’m all the way up here he picked up his dribble you better get back in front I’m

Out we got the nuance and pick and roll we got like back-to-back strips against Giannis from Taj Gibson in that first half a screening Master Class knowing when to flip it was a fun Taj Gibson stretch I give it to him all right let’s move to to the second game of the

Christmas slate the nuggets with a 120 to 114 victory over the Golden State Warriors yic with 26 14 and8 though I don’t think people are talking about that portion of his game a season High 18 free throw attempts he made all 18 of those uh Jamal Murray with 28 points in

This one Michael Porter Jr and Aaron Gordon with double doubles Steph Curry with 18 points just a this is a weird one we’re going to talk about Denver’s defense though cuz I was very impressed with what they were able to do uh Brandon Pinsky 13 points nine rebounds six

Assists and five steals just an incredibly fun game for him 22 points off the bench for Andrew Wiggins 13 Off the Bench for Chris Paul 14 Off the Bench for Dario Sarge overall gold to State won the bench battle 57 to 15 so that was very Stark and also I think

This was Ryan Blackburn who tweeted this out Denver’s bench with zero rebounds which is very odd and very rare apparently combined minutes with zero rebounds I think that was the highest total we had seen in NBA history or at least in the like stat newed database that was

Tweeted out so I was like H that’s odd then we got to win anyway uh major actually before we get into major themes can we just get the annoying part out of the way first what would be the annoying part well as I mentioned nicoa yic with 18 free throw attempts Denver found

Themselves in the bonus and gold to state did not have fun defending nicoa yic while Denver was in the bonus and Steve cerr after the game Steve CER just makes the comments like he hates that defense has been legislated out of the games and if I was a fan I wouldn’t have

Wanted to watch the second half of this game it was disgusting uh said it was discussing twice in his postgame comments and talking about that so are we just in the bad place with how defense is refed did you have it did anything pop for you while watching that

Game where it’s like okay this feels like a little bit much or just what were your general takeaways on like how the game was called before we dig into you know I don’t that ain’t me I I don’t I don’t give a darn about that conversation I don’t there is too much

Good basketball stuff that happens it it doesn’t bother me for me I thought it was a larger conversation that was not directed at Nicole yic this is just an opportunity for him to talk about it because Nicole yic is not the free throw guy he is not matter of fact he may

Average more scrapes and cuts on his arms than free throw attempts and we’ll never know we will never know so did did did you have any takeaways before I continue about how the game was officiated or what happened with the contact cuz for me it felt like hey we are a team that

Needs to sustain defense we are a team that has to scramble activity wise we are a team that struggles to keep the ball in front sometimes and because we struggle to keep the ball in front sometimes we end up fouling and if we foul too many times guess what happens

They keep going to the free throw line and if they know they can go to the free throw line they will now sell calls and if they are selling calls we are in double trouble because it’s just just a loop that that’s what I took away from

It not not a not another freeway exit to yic and be talk like no stop doing that do something else there we go I think that sums it up nicely for me like I think it was just a broader point that he was making and I guess going

Back to conversation we had last year as we talked in the offseason about the points of emphasis that the NBA were going to have Etc and it did feel like refs were letting more defensive contact go and so and then naturally like by the time we hit January had referred it back

To what we had saw the year before it’s like okay well this was neat that’s cool so like I do think generally there’s a middle ground to be found between how much off ball contact and even on ball when defending drives like how much can be allowed before it turns into foul

Territory but I also like going back to last week I was I was basically defending Joel embiid as he dropped his 50 against Minnesota and it’s like well no like he gets fouled because he’s good at seeking contact and he knows the rules but also he’s like and the broad

Point is he’s an insane scorer so you kind of have to play him tightly or he would just butter you or pepper you with jumpers and then get to the rim anyway like you can’t guard him it’s the issue and because he also has a firm understanding of what the rules are and

Is really good at reading bodies and things like that you also cannot guard him like that’s what makes him so difficult to deal with so I’m just like no like foul drun is a skill I’ve watched enough players try to rip throughs try to up and unders try to

Lean in after pump fakes and just flail and Miss to recognize n not everyone can do that like there is an element of some stars get calls the other guys don’t but generally stars are better at finding that stuff and getting Defenders off balance Defenders are naturally more off

Balance against better players so like I it’s another loop I guess like chicken or the egg like are they getting the calls because they’re gaming the system or are they gaming the system because they’re being defended a certain way and now they are countering how they’re being defended so like that’s really my

Contribution to it like watching the game live and clipping the game live like I didn’t notice anything like it didn’t feel egregious like there were more stoppages but it didn’t feel like holy crap what are these roughs calling at least for me on First Watch and maybe I go back through

And it’s just like okay well maybe this was a little bit soft I didn’t like this one etc etc but like I didn’t feel a overarching like this game sucks to watch so that that’s my contribution to the there’s just there’s levels to it unfortunately there’s levels to it

And if you know how to sell a car you’re going to get the benefit of doubt that’s just it’s Human air it’s going to go up and down it’s going to go back and forth I think it takes away from the game because you know it’s funny you

Mentioned it as you reeling off the stats you kind of have this very interesting Dynamic where the nuggets have that starting lineup and all five of their starters score 16 or more points and Michael Porter Jr and cavius cwell Pope and Jamaal Murray all hit three or more threes and they were all

Plus 13 or better and then their bench waves arms wildly and then you had the Warriors who did a whole bunch of good things in this game and put themselves in a position to win this game and it was just the day where oh Stephen Curry

And Klay Thompson shot 10 of 33 from the field can I quickly raise my hand what’s up I don’t even know if this CL I guess this like a tier below respectfully Messi oh no so what what’s the thing with Steph on Christmas what what

Is what’s the bit what is the bit I don’t get it what do you mean it just seems it just seems like the the averages on Christmas Day are not what you would expect from uh from someone of his caliber like the actual answer is just like who he’s facing how he’s defending

Then just shot Randomness like that’s the real bit but like I want to have some fun with okay it’s just odd that he yeah that was one of those but actually if I could quickly use that as a segue to talk about Denver’s defense because I

Had a lot of fun watching it oh okay like I I think either the BOS score the highlights you quickly point to like some of the Michael Porter junr blocks in this one which some on ball blocks he got the chase down on Clay as he was

Coming off in action that was fun he got one in the corner late in the game really appreciate his effort but overall like what they did to step like mixing in their usual Yokes at the level played them more aggressively we got some full-blown traps from yage in this one

And then they started peppering in some switches I was like wait a minute I’m glad I understand you got to try this but you just switched yic out 30 feet from the basket what’s going on here scramming yic out of there and being able to navigate and rotate behind that

K’s call with Pope was just in step’s Jersey so that was a lot of fun to watch and it continues one of the more underrated uh defensive seasons in the League this year of what kyp’s been able to do they just felt logged in for most of

That game that didn’t mean Golden State didn’t score like I was looking at the I was going I looked up some of the second special numbers yesterday I like okay this defense on Steph felt really good let me peek where they end up on like the Steph picking rolls just over 1.1

Points per possession on trips featuring a steep pick and roll and it’s like ah well makes sense because the ball did swing they were able to find some cuts and stuff from there but they did a really good job of taking Stu away or more accurately taking St out of rhythm

And I think that contributed to the off shooting from step and so naturally you just can’t take everything away like Steph didn’t shoot well Klay didn’t shoot well but like golden state was still able to find stuff and then you bring Andrew Wiggins Off the Bench and particularly late in that game it’s

Just oh cool you have Jamal Murray on Andrew Wiggins and y’all been you know sending all this attention to step and stuff how about we just skip all of that or let’s just run something early with Steph and then let’s just dump it to Andrew Wiggins you get downhill y’all

Have fun with that just like oh that’s a nice luxury to have as Andrew Wiggins continues to play pretty well since moving to the bench want to quickly note that but no I overall I think even if you zoom out with that I think Denver takes golden state is spamming Andrew

Wiggins post-ups versus holy crap Steph’s running around again oh no they’re now running they’re running pick and roll and now it’s a stagger for clay and we got to deal with that too going back to your point heading into the Christmas matchups where you ask like

Can Golden State hit the notes to where yic is at the level he drops back and now you got to get back up to the level can you take advantage of him making those multiple efforts can you create some things out of that and it felt like particularly late in that game Golden

State really couldn’t tap that button as much as they had been in the past so like I was just really impressed with what Denver was able to do defensively I’m glad you mentioned Denver’s defense and for me they’re showcasing or trying to attempt to display a little bit of

Scheme versatility to a degree or at least as much as they can provide and then that’s no disrespect there but you mentioned hey we’re going to be up and pick and roll against Steph Curry there was a possession in the first quarter like around the 325 Mark I think Steph

Curry comes off the right side is empty yic is at the level there’s two on the ball Jamal Murray is locked in with nail help right and so Steph Curry is driving towards the middle Dario sarch Dives Jamal Murray takes his nail help and just goes with

Sarage which is if you know rotations and in insane rotation but it took away the rooll while you still had two on the ball now it did open up Andrew Wiggins wi for three but I think that was very much a this is the poison we are going to take

You now have to make us take this and make us adjust you mentioned switching yoka out that’s something Denver will mix in now does it work very well all the time question mark you know there are times where okay I understand why you did it there’s other times where it’s

Like you kind of left yic on an island with no help behind them this didn’t end very well uh but the fact that they’re willing to try it is important you know and I think this is a Denver team where they are so key on their help and their

Rotations and their Closeouts it’s nice to have something in the back pocket for those nights where the rotations just aren’t quite there where they’re late with their help where they’re not quite as locked in because that does happen I mean you can literally if you’ve watched the Nuggets long enough you can tell

Where their defense is at just by the watch the backline guys watch the weak side guys watch their movements you’ll be like okay this this might be one of those nights for Denver but I think being able to mix that in is important especially in a matchup like this and

That’s one of those things that’s going to be important come playoff time moving forward I think for me I going back to the Warriors you got the production from Wiggins but I guess my question is is are they just a team that’s searching right now are they finding bits and pieces but

Then also having to a win and B sustain what they found you know do you feel stronger about their base with some of the shifts they’ve made uh with pods uh playing tjd more or is it still waiting see mode or they’re trying to find it

Mode well I guess I’ll quickly note like Golden State lost this game to Denver who’s one they’re they’re very good but two like this is that kind of ended a streak for Golden State like they had been winning as of late and so I don’t want to do the well they lost everything

They’re they’re back in disarray again so I don’t want to do that uh golden state has been playing well it does feel like they’re starting to find some stuff particularly with the rotations like you mentioned p is getting more playing time and Trace Jackson Davis getting more

Playing time I I just love watching both of those dudes Rock which is very much part of the Naya’s bid if you want to go back to like season one of the doners SP if you want to do that uh for our longtime listeners Watchers but no like

To the overall theme of like Golden State and the reads that they want those guys to be able to make like POS just fits in he’s such a good cutter he’s such a good relocator regardless of the three-point shot is pauler not like watching him fly in for offensive

Rebounds is a lot of fun like he just has a nose for the ball and where he’s supposed to be and then Trace Jackson Davis like I’m keeping an eye on some of the short roll stuff for him it seems like it’s one it feels like he’s pretty

Solid already but it does feel like the re are getting quicker as he continues to getting more playing time but just giving them that vertical threat offensively and like some of the rim protection flashes I want to see more from him defensively but he’s a rookie big man so that’s I mean that’s

Just going to come with time um but just the vertical presence that he gives golden state is so different it gives them a Lev level of pop and you factor in just what step is what he means to this offense even when shots aren’t Falling Again 18 points for

Step didn’t shoot well from three I think three or 13 from three objectively not a good step game offensively and you still look at how keyed in Denver was and making sure you may have not have made shots through the first three quarters we know you can

Score nine in 45 seconds absolutely not you speaks to his greatness so you still have that regardless if he’s making shots or not Klay Thompson who’s been on an absolute heater by the way didn’t have a great shot didn’t have a great shooting performance today or yesterday

You still think about the attention that he gets so like it feels like golden state is getting closer to we can create we get two on the ball with Stu anytime we want to Klay is back to making shots and not let teams like let Klay shoot

Anyway but now he’s had this extended run of he’s back to making shots we can’t do that either we have two guys in the offense by virtue of their movement and they’re shooting gravity wi their space to where we can open things up and now PS can make plays in the

Intermediate area Trace can make plays in the intermediate area you bring other guys jnan kaminga who’s also been playing pretty well decision making still waiting on to get a little bit better but he is a downhill Force for a team that needs guys that can get down

Hill so it does the offense at least is starting to feel a lot better to me defensively we shall see uh where it lands defensively it’s it’s about sustaining right now and obviously there’s an element that could or should or will help them but I’m not doing that

Today I think that they had some really quality possessions against Denver where it’s like hey this is good activity two on the ball weak sides in Good Help skip pass oh that closeout got beat or oh that’s a three-point shot and for me defensively it’s about can they just sustain it can

They sustain multiple efforts that’s not necessarily A Warriors thing for me though that’s kind of a league thing right now and I know it’s it’s easy to point to but no one plays defense teams are guarding I just think one they have to guard more things than they usually

Have to more options more Pace more Tempo and I think more space and more teams around the league can take that one breakdown that you have and punish you for it that used to be the the tippy top teams where oh no we make a mistake we’re cooked that can happen against

Washington if they decide to move the ball no disrespect Wizards fans I’m sorry didn’t mean to use you as an example but y’all score a lot of points no they score a lot of points so you know what I mean it’s one of those things where now oh wait our rotations

Are late oh my gosh they’re oh they’re still playing so I just think there’s there’s kind of a balance there where analysis wise my mind is like okay how do I judge these defenses am I now taking away you know usually you can watch the first effort

And the second effort and understand do I have to now see if they can sustain three or four and now okay you defended the sets and that’s the other thing it’s not like it’s a ton of sets as far as we’re going to walk the ball up call exactly this and you can

Takee this away teams are executing good things but you don’t necessarily have the beat on when it’s coming coming and why it’s coming and so it’s just different went on a little tangent there but that’s fine you know it’s very important so just keeping an eyes on

Keeping an eye on Golden State’s defense as they uh you know factor in other sources of Defense uh moving forward at some point this season question mark shrug Emoji I guess we’ll see um but like I generally feel like I’m in a better place with golden state than I

Was because it was very much just looking hazy leading into suspension and all that good stuff it’s like okay what is this team because I came into this year pretty high on Golden State and right now they’re 10 and they’re only a half game ahead of Phoenix who lost last

Night which we’ll get to that game soonish I suppose but any closing thoughts on Warriors nuggets before you oh well I I just kind of want to give a shout out to the nuggets in general like imagine we’re in a place where they have arrived at not only the Christmas Day

Game but also we we just kind of do this this is what we do and we’re going to Showcase it on display you know it’s going to be Jamal Murray making shots yic making plays confidence with our whole lineup obviously I think you could point a question at the bench but I

Think they have done a good job of making sure these guys are getting these minutes getting these reps if we have to shorten things up we have to shorten things up but everyone’s kind of aware of what the mission is and what we’re trying to accomplish and I I think it’s

Another good step for Denver um especially on the stage you know I I think when they can mix in the defense when they can mix in that lineup it it’s pretty tough I do appreciate this being the uh the yic curry showcase generally you know from the NBA View and they went

What a combined 11 of 33 from the field and I’m sure that the uh the execs were happy with that one uh let’s move to Celtics Lakers a 126 115 victory for the Boston Celtics 258 and7 for Jason Tatum 28- 11 for Chris dos porzingis 18- 11

Assists for Derek white 187 and S for Drew 19 for Jaylen Brown a 10-point surge from P Pritchard Off the Bench for Boston on the Lakers side 40 and 13 for Anthony Davis he had 13-5 in the first quarter 16 n and eight for LeBron 17 for

Tan Prince 11 points off the bench for Austin Reeves along with six boards 12 points off the bench for ruie um eight points and six assists Off the Bench as well for D’Angelo Russell what was your major theme of this what was your main takeaway from this game well I can ask

You a question in return I don’t mean to be rude did you have any Lakers lineup change thoughts that seemed to be a hashtag Hot Topic uh some some had some really strong opinions on it not working before they went and beat Oklahoma City did you have any overall thoughts there

Before we dive into this one well I guess we can knock it out early uh went to PVP stats this morning just see okay what is this starting lineup looking like what what is it going through uh they played 19 minutes together so far they’ve been outs scored by eight points

In those 19 minutes they are 10 of 33 inside the ark which is very not good four of seven from three which is like okay cool you’re four of seven also you’ve only taken seven in 19 minutes which feels like part of the which feels like part

Of the issue and I think if I can just quickly very quickly get into like my I guess Laker theme because like I had a lineup thing for them think this was the matchup that highlights all the concerns that people may have about this particular lineup

Because I could get I want to say I get behind the theory because ultimately I don’t think this would be my starting lineup if I was coaching Lakers als I’m also just a podcast so with the grain of salt but I do think the theory behind

The def the theory behind the lineup is strengthening your strength let’s get this defense even better let’s get Jared vanderbilly in here so we can just keep LeBron on the backline if we want to and keep him in a Roma role you have a whole lot of collective side

You can Hammer home the switching to a bigger degree now and for a Lakers half court offense that has struggled anyway I can get the logic behind well let’s just beef up this defense even more let’s Force some more turnovers we can maybe get a little bit more aggressive

With some of the length that we have behind guys Force some turnovers or at the very least Force some misses get out and transition more let’s get some early offense stuff and if we do miss we got Jared Vanderbilt not flying iname for offensive rebounds so we at least get

More cracks at it so like again I ultimately wouldn’t land there but I could see how daram got there but then I look at the half court offense against Boston in particular and it is kristos porzingis quote unquote guarding Jared Vanderbilt I was like oh no that’s not ideal and Boston’s just

Switching all over the place otherwise and so you look at Anthony Davis trying to set some stuff up they may run a pick and roll with LeBron he may get a smaller guy on him I think uh it was Drew holiday that got LeBron assignment

All right cool we got Drew on ad Drew is an incredible Defender but ad is bigger neat two dribbles for ad you think you’re gonna get something good he picks up the ball gathers he turns here’s christofer Zing is in his face it’s like oh not ideal not ideal at all and then

You think about who the kickouts are too if Cam R’s got a kickout it’s like all right cool shoot it brother that’s fine if jiren Bel caught it on the perimeter all right cool do something about it bud that’s that’s neat and even torian prince who has just had the most

Roller Coaster season of a shooter this year even then the ball swings him and I’m not seeing hard close outs to Tori and prince it’s like that’s a lot of pressure on LeBron James Anthony Davis to carry the offensive load anyway and then you factor in they can’t get the

Easy ones inside or at the very least through 19 minutes very small sample through 19 minutes they Haven been able to get the easy ones in the half court yet it’s it’s tough for me I do think generally 19 minutes is too small of a sample size to just completely say we’re

Never doing this again in but like Boston kind of highlighted all the issues with what they’re doing with that lineup but not everyone’s Boston that’s true we’ll throw that out there so here’s my thing you nailed a lot of what I was going to say more size more length

Get more stops run get the defense going play off LeBron and AD now here’s the thing when we want to talk about spacing and shooting and not being able to get the easy looks was any team going to allow LeBron James and Anthony Davis to get the easy looks anyways uh they were

Not yeah so no you don’t want to exacerbate the problem but it’s not like I walking on on a game plan it’s like well this is easier we can now double going to try to do that anyway um so here’s my thing it’s for me one thing that stood out was

Especially in the OKC game oh we’re gonna play through Anthony Davis a little bit more we’re going to do a little bit more delay action we’re going to do a little bit more dribble handoffs we have to generate a little bit more movement in the half court because we

Don’t have the built-in score that we had in the lineup or the built shooter that we had in the lineup and yes it’s a little reductive and going backwards but sometimes as a team if you go backwards it may take you forwards your your starting lineup your

Best lineup may not be your best five players and for me in my mind honestly when you said 19 minutes that stood out to me that’s over two games right which tells me hey this is this is this is a start but now we are going to blend into

All the other things that we want to do and if we can get a good defensive start from this lineup this unit mix it back in with another run but get everyone else going at the same time now we have a different kind of tempo and flow

That’s just where my brain goes and that might just be hey either I got hit too many times in the head or I did way too many hashtag coach things but that’s where my mind went Reeves and ruy being the first Subs is interesting R Ru get

Off to a good start is another thing back to this game and actually it ties in because I feel like the worst part of this lineup change was the two matchups that they chose uh to go ahead and employ this with OKC and Boston and as you mentioned Boston did not want to

Cooperate at all and this is the second game in a row for the Boston Celtics where they have decided to take hey this is fun what you guys do offensively how much fun are you guys going to have if we just go ahead and tilt these matchups so I go back to the

Clipper game over the weekend and the Clippers obviously had been rolling they had no kawhai but hey we’re feeling good about ourselves we’re finding our Rhythm James hard picking role play Paul we got it hey here’s Jason Tatum on on zubot here’s Al Horford on Terrence

Man hey all that Zubat it’s a switch now so hey Terence man why don’t you come up here oh y’all don’t have the same pick and roll chemistry ah oh you figured out a little bit here’s another switch good luck buddy you mentioned it you mentioned it against the Lakers hey

Here’s Jason Tatum on Anthony Davis here’s porzingis on Vanderbilt two keys here with that to add to what you said Derek white also roaming on the weak side Drew holiday on LeBron was key because of his not just ball pressure but I can navigate screens very very

Well and so even if you guys want to make the adjustment to have uh Vanderbilt screen I can do just enough to stay attached to where porzingis just has to stay back there he’ll be fine and now the vanderbild has rolled guess where Chris porzingis is in the paint in the

Paint we’re exactly where he wants to be if you want to mix in these switches or you want to say hey ruy come comeing screen you got Jaylen Brown let’s mix it up a little bit fine I’ll switch that I’m still Drew holiday and and so that’s where I think you

Know it gets interesting the other thing is that Celtic starting group is so good it’s so good I know it’s very easy to take some Boston’s late game struggles and and look at it and tie it back to it’s kind of always this and I understand that I don’t want to take

That away from anyone but we got to remember they don’t get in those scenarios sometimes because that unit is very strong very hard to defend once they get you in rotation you got a lot of things you have to operate with and you got a lot of different lineups you

Could deal with and porzingis just adds such a different Dynamic for them because whatever you felt comfortable with okay pick and roll let’s do a late switch if you’re Lakers let’s just switch it oh he popped oh he shot that oh oh that’s Drew holiday operating with the ball oh

Oh he he faked the handoff went right to a pullup oh like it’s just the timing of when they kind of hit those hey we’re pretty good yeah I just it’s a very reductive point for me anyway but like the fact that BOS can just hit you with five six

Or seven different players that just have a wave for you it’s insane like it’s 25 for Jason taton ref feel the stat sheet like it didn’t feel like a great scoring game for him and it didn’t matter because Jaylen Brown could just get downhill or sprinkl in pull-ups or

Dereck white could hit Ely threes or get downhill or Kristof can mix in pops and also post-ups in which he remains one of if not the most effective post threat in the NBA again like the Washington stuff has just carried over on a better team that is terrifying in addition to

What he brings as a spacer and as a shooter and it’s just like his very presence on the court impacts so much it helps unlock further unlock the line of I mean the scheme versatility defensively offensively just a pick and pop Chris porzingis will give you

Something good if you are in drop and you don’t pre-rotate to the pop he is comfortable taking those shots if you were in a drop and you try to pre-rotate to it look at who’s beside Christos porzingis when they run those pops and how quickly he moves the ball side

To side or if that guy just Dives to try to remove that help he’s also good at picking out Cutters and if you just turn it into a switch all right cool it’s not going to be a switch and let me give some nail help now because you don’t

Want to leave Christos porzingis alone it opens up the driving lane so it’s just like he’s been such an amplifier to everything that they want to do I’ve been very impressed with Kristof and like that pop for me um in that game as well uh very quickly you made the point

About you know Drew having a navigator Drew having to switch and stuff like that like I did appreciate I think it was midway or Midway or later in the third quarter where the Lakers go with Brian ad pick and roll it’s like all right cool is the switch it’s Drew on 80

Again then Bron’s like all right let me call up Jared Vanderbilt get Christ doson to drop and then he doesn’t really engage the pick and roll it’s just a quick dump off to ad with Drew with no help coming I like okay y’all are at least trying to

Counter what Boston is trying to do here but even that’s the point you have to run a second ball screen to open up your post up for Anthony Davis against Drew holiday and you zoom out it’s like oh this is still post heavy offense against a team that

Will shoot 83s if if you ask them to and so even in a possession that you score you had to work hard to get there it still wasn’t a mismatch mismatch because Drew has been defending up all year long he’s been really good at it and you’re in the math battle which I

Will say quickly on the Boston front cuz they they lost the plot in the second quarter it was very it was very to the to the three-point so many one or no pass possessions and a bunch of contested threes and it’s like all right I’m not going to go full Barkley

Because I don’t think you should do that but like I did have a moment in that second quarter as the Lakers stormed all the way back where I’m just like guys you have so much talent and I mentioned at the top like pton priter had that 10-point surge early in the second

Quarter the fact that you kind of had to rely on that and even then didn’t feel like it was a bunch of easy stuff being created let’s keep it rolling you’re getting good things you have matchups to pick at I’m not even worried about the tempo you’re playing with because like

Part of the problem is that you were just taking quick shots without moving the ball so it ain’t even a Tempo deal like literally leverage the talent that you have get downhill and create some easier catch and shoot opportunities at the very least versus what you’re doing

So like there’s always that element for Boston you got to keep an eye on but overall like everyone gave them something as reductive as that sounds like I did enjoy the Jason Tatum playmaking I can’t quite get to the the Magic Johnson reference on the broadcast but I did appreciate the playmaking from

Jason Tatum in this one I Boston’s really good man Boston’s really good I’ll quickly ask you uh we we recently did Allstar stuff but I’ll check back in where are you at on Derek white since that’s also been discourse Derek white as an Allstar yeah where you Derrick White has an All-Star

Case MH it’s going to be tough number-wise for Dereck white to become an Allstar okay and the only reason I say that it’s not because cam Thomas is playing very well I need to stop sorry it’s more that the East has a lot of really good guards

So I mean if you’re talking tyres Maxi you’re talking Tyrese halberton uh you’re taking Jaylen Brunson Donovan Mitchell that’s four slots just in theory also Damen Lillard exists that’s and Trey young exist that’s a fifth Trey young exists so I’m not saying that Dereck white couldn’t be

An All-Star they shouldn’t be an Allstar it it’s numbers game for him right now and so I would say there’s a higher likelihood that a porzingis sneaks in as the the second Celtics Allstar than a Derek white you where where you at with it

Well I feel you like I feel for me when we had the the allstar conversation I had dere white on my short list so I think generally I’m closer to dere White’s and Allstar than you no don’t disate anything like that I think I’m generally closer to that than you are um

I do agree though like especially since Dame is back to making shots in addition to what he’s been doing as a driver all year long and also Milwaukee’s been very good and also Dam just been slamming a bunch of doors in clutch time like it’s

Going to be tough to get to Derek white over Dame I think if if Derek white makes the All-Star team non-injury replacement Edition what’s going to happen is that voters are going to be annoyed by what’s happening in Atlanta and or just look at the record and said nah Derek White’s

Been impactful for a winner you have not been as much as I would hate that argument for like 18 different reasons I think the case is as you get into the number of games with the guards I think like Trey would just be that probably just ends up being like dere white over

Trey and that becomes an outroar that I would probably agree with because we we should stop doing this to Trey he’s very good other than that like I I don’t know like it’s interesting to talk about like Derek White’s value with Boston period because I think if you just zoom out

Very basic level who are the most important players for Boston like I would imagine it is Tatum one he’s just in pin and then you can kind of Shuffle two through four or two through five On Any Given night between white Drew christops and Jaylen Brown and then once

You factor in like what the overall load is like Derek white is probably like three or four with what those what everyone’s asked to do but then you think about cumulative impact or just the consistent floor that’s hit like you can get to Derek white at too as the second most

Impactful Boston guy like I I don’t know I guess generally I don’t really I don’t sneeze at the Derek white Allstar case like some people do that might just look at the box score numbers like nah so like it what’s up I didn’t mean to cut you off but I did a little

Research as you were speaking okay is the bit gonna be now how far can the media get him up voting wise in their portion yeah because the fans I don’t think they’re gonna get like the Boston fans will vote obviously but I don’t think enough outside Boston people will

Vote for Derek white to even get him close to starting and will the play well the players give him that and the other thing is when I looked at the fans right I looked at last year’s voting returns real quick number one was Kyrie he’s no longer in that conference number

Two is Donovan Mitchell number three was Jaylen Brown so if the bid is that Jaylen Brown sneaks in and gets voted in that’s no disrespect but I’m just saying numbers wise James Harden was fourth Trey young was fifth Demar was sixth like hey hey obviously there’ll be a

Surge with Jaylen Brunson and Tyrese halberton but I don’t know we’ll see it might get a little hazy but I figured I’d get your thoughts on that very quickly uh any closing Lakers Celtics thoughts before we move um you know I try not to overreact to

These ones I I guess if I’m the Lakers I would like to find how can we truly truly truly get Austin Reeves going what can we do to open things up for him in these type of games how can we respond to the league responding to his success to a degree

And I you know I want to ask that question without being disrespectful but at a certain point this worked because of how well he was playing I think you know obviously there’s always in betrayed Whispers I think to a degree you know you can get D’Angelo Russell to a certain space no

Matter where he comes off the bench you know what I mean so can you get Austin Reeves going what is your best closing lineup is far more important to me than who starts and so can you get to a space where that’s in a better place I I guess

It’s just can you refind your base I think it’s obvious you want to use size and length and use your defense to get out and run you’ve got Anthony Davis playing at a very very high level which feels like a very big win for the Lakers

But now can you find enough around it to where our defense is this our rotations are that this is our package this is going to be tough to deal with in the playoffs that’s feels like the formula to me so they’ve got to March towards that but it’s the Lakers so it the

Conversation is going to e and flow yeah that yeah as it does as it does but that is what you sign up for when you are the uh you are the Los Angeles leakers okay uh let’s move to the game I was blessed to be at very

Cool uh the Miami Heat defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 119 113 uh no Joel embiid no Jimmy Butler also just a lot of other injuries for Miami to the point where Caleb Martin gets hurt early in the game and we see RJ Hampton play significant minutes in this

One kind of speaks to the Ben of like no Josh richon no Haywood heith so Miami had to dig a little bit deeper in their bench than they anticipated but Sixpoint win nonetheless Jame hakz Jr with 31-10 and two steals to boot very fun basketball game for him we’ll get more

Into it obviously bam with 26 15 and five Tyler hero with 226 and5 Duncan Robinson with 16 points Off the Bench he went 5 10 from three Kevin Love uh nearly a double double Off the Bench eight points 10 boards five assists uh not a fun game for Tyrese Maxi only 12

Points and five assists went three of 12 inside the arc and one of eight outside of it also went three of six from the free throw line very in very odd at the end of that game with the Sixers getting to the line the arena just being completely I

Rate with some of the calls pH was get in the fourth quarter and they just missed free throw after free throw after free throw after free throw it was very odd to witness uh but anyway not the best n for tyres Maxi but 277 and six

For Tobias Harris 25 and seven for Kelly UB Mo bomba with 18 points and six boards Off the Bench Anthony Melton with 15 points seven boards five assists four Steals and a block though we’ll get into to the uh the defense shortly with the Anthony Melton regardless of the B score

There I I certainly have thoughts since I was in Arena but anything for you while watching well you got to this isn’t a place to pass the ball you were there you were live and in the building this a this ain’t time to swing to me I

Will bounce off you now I will want to say real quick just to be respectfully Messi and add a little jokey joke I told Nas that Joel and B was not going to play this game as soon as I saw him roll his ankle against Toronto and play the

Entire rest of the way with half an ankle and then I also told ncas hey big dog I don’t think Jimmy Butler GNA play either cuz J playing and here we go with bam out of Bio showcase although shout out to Philadelphia CU I was like hey it’s a

Lot of Paul Reed early and I was like hey this is kind of working uh but what what were your takeaways uh from the heat well actually you know what I’ll ask this question okay is it how big of a sign for Miami and how do you kind of manage the

Stretch for Miami where Miami is having a lot of success but it’s not traditionally in the Miami way like this isn’t like the hey our defense has done X Y and Z or hey the three-point shooting has gone insane it’s kind of like hey Duncan Robinson’s a lot better

And Tyler Hero’s also back and Bam’s pretty good and hame is very good and so it’s a different collection of their parts am I off there or no I don’t think you’re off I think for me uh funny funny though I was talking to about guy John Carlo novice of Miami

Heat beat uh he beat the Lum Knight right here but anyway he I was talking to him at the game yesterday huh did he pay you for that uh no he should though no I’m just kidding uh but I was talking to him about this yesterday and like

It’s such an odd feeling heat tweet uh heat year and it also brings me back to like a Cooper Morehead tweet from a while ago where he was just like okay so these guys haven’t played but these guys are playing and now they’re feeling this role but they it was a very convoluted

Tweet it’s like yeah so this uh sounds like the heat because they’re once again doing the missing mix and match thing with all the injuries that you’re dealing with and so it’s it’s like encouraging but also with Miami I guess it be the way that I frame

It because the offense does feel better and you know I’ll transition shortly into like I was very impressed with what Miami did offensively against Philadelphia last night but like the offense feels better and it’s in a way that doesn’t seem super unsustainable which I think should be

The encouraging part but now I look at the defense it’s just like well the defense just just backslid in the time that bam was out bam comes back and it’s naturally better with bam on the floor but it’s still isn’t the it’s not the usual split that you’re used to you

Think back the last two years like even if Miami would finish like eight into the eth 12 range defense of rating wise when Bam’s on the floor they’re firmly like a top three defense are better it hasn’t really been that and then you zoom out Beyond bam and we were having

This discussion at a watch party not too long ago who’s been Miami’s Best perimeter Defender this year like that’s probably the part where I’m just like I don’t know how to feel about this Heat team right now they are getting the wins and they are in a

Better place at this time this year than they were last year and so you shouldn’t just completely poo poo on that but you think about the broader context of what Miami is and what they’re trying to do like this is very much a Jimmy Butler is

Still here bam is very good these are the two that have been the two finals they want to get to another one and So within that context it’s like do I feel better about Miami in a postseason sitting right now and I don’t think my answer is

Yes because the defense has just not felt right all year long and like I I recognize that a the biggest portion of that pie is because of the injuries like very Niche like you’re not going to get the same Zone productivity without Caleb Martin or I hate with high

Smith stuff like that naturally when bam isn’t there it’s going to be different and when Jimmy isn’t there even this vers him which hasn’t been like Apex jimmmy you still worry about him on the weak side because of how well he’s able to play uh play the passing Lanes how

Good of a nail he PR generally is and stuff like that so like the health is the biggest reason but even then again Jimmy hasn’t felt the same car L’s been solid the Josh Richardson signing has just not gone the way that I thought it

Was going to go and as you know I was pretty high on them bringing him back especially at the minimum like okay this is this is solid he lose Max stru you’re not going to get that same shooting you might get the bumping defense that has

Not been the case so far did you and you go on down the line just like okay who do you trust to stop the ball right now how good is Miami at just defending drives right now hey what’s up this is fun I’m glad we did this because I feel like we’re in

A rerun CU I feel like we have had this conversation at least two of the three years that we have done this podcast when n is like hey I’m not sure about this and then oh they’re guarding oh this looks different oh look I I I think

It’s it’s it’s a different Miami Season because there’s some of the same notes but different elements like H hakz in the games without Jimmy Butler just kind of is like hey I can do some of that too you don’t really have to call it I’ll

Just do some of that like let me get the ball and like drive or post up it’s fine and it’s like oh that’s a little different y’all aren’t just stuck but but you also have the possessions where hey where is the offensive flow and ball movement and then it’s like oh y’all

Found it cool you guys can generate shots and it’s Duncan Robinson off the bounce over and over and over and over over again like that’s a different element but you also still have the same Miami Heat hey we’re up 12 oh no we’re tired oh no we’re down 10 oh yes we’re tied

And so I I understand that they’re a tough team to evaluate but I think for Miami this kind of build as backwards as it may be always ends up paying off for them because they have to put the work in there’s no other option there’s no other option but to find it offensively

There’s no other option but to work defensively and try and find it hey you may not have the same Zone we may not be able to play as much Zone but if we can take as many of these lumps in manto man that might pay off for a later cuz

We know what happens when it’s bad and we’ve had to live through that that sounds like an insane thing to say but that that just kind of feels like the Miami Heat way um how impressed were you with hamee haket like dude I was very much being a sicko

Watching the game and then also clipping the game while I was there and so there was a possession in the first half where H gets a post up against Marcus Morris Duncan Robins is w pass away Kelly UB is doing like the okay Duncan’s here let me

Dig and let me commit and then try to get back out and so he digs how accepts the Dig Duncan Robinson just Jets to the right corner Kelly loses him it’s a kick to Duncan Robinson gets a three and I CLI that play in my thread I was like I

I understand Kelly want to be like an active presence on this post up and I know kame has been you know statistically one of the best postup players in the league this year I don’t know if you need to help that aggressively when he’s posting up someone bigger than this like just kind

Of let that rock you don’t want to lose Duncan Robinson and like I want to say it was either one or two possessions later coming out of a timeout Kev love comes off a screen at the elbow toss it to him he tosses it hame flashes middle against Marcus

Morris one dribble Bop post hook and he scores and I clip I clip that play too and I was like you know what maybe you should send help on cuz that was so quick and so smooth but man it’s just just been it’s just it was just a continuation of all the good

Things that he’s been doing in a very loud like bot score package so it’s very cool for him to have that kind of platform on Christmas to where everyone can kind of see what Heat fans have been seeing all year long to where like it

Might be like a 13o game for hame but you see the post scoring you see the playmaking out of the post you see the cutting you see how quickly he moves the ball when the defense is in rotation you’ll see all those things that may just be like 13 3 and

Three on Monday it’s 31 and 10 it’s like oh these drives hit the playmaking hits the post-ups are cool it wasn’t until the fourth quarter he started missing threes like check the BX score in third quarter he’s like he’s nine of 10 from the field I was like wait a minute I

Know it’s felt like a good hame game I didn’t know it was that while watching and cliffing but he’s so he’s been so good for this team and it was just fun to watch him operate in literally all of the ways against Philadelphia again very very basic thought here but

Like it would have been cool for both of these teams to be at full strength because I would have loved to have seen what Miami does to Joel embiid as he’s on this teir do they still do the fronting how often do they double him do

They just let bam they just put bam on an island do he see any crossmatching and then bring immediate doubles like what were they going to do there and you know just to rope it back into the hame conversation if Joel embiid is in the paint instead of like Paul Reed or

Moamba how aggressive are those drives I don’t think based on what we’ve seen from hame this year he wouldn’t have been afraid to drive at Jim at Joel embiid I don’t know if that would have went well but I at least would have liked to see him get some reps okay he’s

Driving get the deep rim protector does the craft improve is it going to be a whole bunch of pump fakes and passing it out is it just that he is three of nine at The Rim game like I would have liked to have seen that but absent of Joel and

Be he was still very aggressive and he had a lot of success inside the AR and being able to toss in those touch shots as well is just a very complete effort for him let me ask you a qu a question bouncing off that and going in a quickly

Different direction okay because I don’t you know there’s no disrespect to the the game but no embiid Maxi didn’t make shots I don’t I don’t really want to put the flashlight on Philly right now they’re pretty good team with Miami the importance of duck and Robinson and Tyler

Hero is the biggest key hey the defense is isn’t that bad when they’re together MH is that the bit if they hold on to that does that change your belief in them come playoff time I think it can like I think there’s going to be a really if Miami gets any

Semblance of full strength which is the Miami Heat so the answer is probably not right that it’s just not what they do they don’t get fully healthy they just figure it out and then make runs anyway but I do think in theory there’s a really fun conversation to be had about

Who closes with this team because last night it was Kyle Lowry who played well just wasn’t a big loud bot score game for him but just did a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor they Clos with KY Lowry Duncan Robinson Tyler herro hame and Bam I would imagine

A playoff setting like Jimmy Butler is replacing one of those guys I’m curious to see like who that’s going to be though because I don’t think like I don’t think KY has played at a level in which you just take him off the floor in clutch time in addition to just the

Veteran knowhow that he has he’s also played well he’s noted down threes playmaking has been there pushes in transition when he needs to all the little plays defensively like there was a sequence in the first half where Miami eventually ends in a foul for I think Kevin Love on the drive

But Lowry pills in defensively gets a steal Miami doesn’t score he then has to defend a three-on-one fast break gets flash his hand against Daniel house at The Rim Daniel house misses Miami doesn’t score again then he flies in for an offensive rebound and it’s just like oh this is just the Cy

Lowry experience it’s very neat but like I think there’s an argument to be made if you really just prioritize the shooting if Tyler and Duncan can hold up enough defensively why couldn’t you close with Tyler Duncan hame Jimmy and Bam and you just maximize the spacing

You also just have really you have five threats that you’re probably comfortable with scoring the ball and if it’s a switch all situation hame showed you enough on the Bo on the box that okay I can just I can post up against someone is that you want me to do Jimmy Butler

Can absolutely press the mismatch hunting bag bam has gotten better even if it’s just facing up going to his jab series and him sprinkling jumpers Tyler’s comfortable taking jumpers against switches and then you think about what Duncan’s been able to do as a passer going back to like the early dribble

Handoff chemistry he had with bam if you’re just GNA switch against Duncan and Bam like he’s good enough to get you know slip those passes in get slips against switches so like I I think it’s a benefit from Mi me that you can even have this convers ation to that

Point that’s fair that’s that’s all I want to hit on okay we we’ll revisit the heat soon don’t you worry we we will we’ll be back got you run a little long on this one so we will transition to uh the MTH Suns game close I’ll just

Quickly not on Miami’s front I just really enjoyed their offensive blow on this one and I got a good kick out of them just kind of spamming all right bet it’s it’s double drag or double pick and roll depending on the pacing of it Duncan Robinson you are just slipping

Out at first screen to the wing let’s see what feel Philadelphia does with it they just could not figure it out until it was too late and even on the possession in which they switched everything and just kept the ball in front Tyler hero just drives and gets

Downhill it’s like ah so I I had a fun had a lot of fun watching that action uh so just a general kudos to Miami’s offense in this one we will have more on Miami soon let’s close this thing out with the Dallas Mavericks beating the Phoenix Suns 128 to 114 in Phoenix

Because the Mavs just can’t help themselves Luca donic I think it starts and ends there I think that’s fair to say 50 points six boards 15 assists four steals three blocks seven stocks for Luca in which he says I gotta at least be all you know all defense second team

I don’t know about that one friend however I will say once again on this podcast I have enjoyed the defensive effort from Luca dones this year I think it has certainly perked up for him I certainly can’t get to all defense but it has been better and I think the NBA

Watching community at large and especially Mavericks fans have been waiting for maybe not seven stock Luca but just consistent effort Luca with the size and smarts that he has so that’s been encouraging but second player ever with 50 points and 15 assists uh is what

I saw in a tweet uh James Hardon did so December 31st of 2016 in that 2016 2017 season uh first player since Bernard King in 1984 to drop 50 on Christmas so that was fun LCA just ripped to shreds man before I even get into any of the other box

Score stuff it was just a masterful effort for him Fenix tried the blitz did not matter Luca strung it out or just Beat It Anyway you try to switch against him he’s having fun poking picking at matchups you got to send help anywhere and he’s able to freeze the backline or

Freeze guys as he’s going downhill he’s opening up lobs like it Denny sprinklin he made eight threes in the game as well like there just was not an answer for him actually I’ll ask you a very quick question on the Luca front kind of independent of this game but this game

Kind of highlights how Unstoppable he is when he gets going what is the best coverage against there’s none that’s the point and I’m I’m glad it took a 50-point game on Christmas for y to finally listen to what I’ve been trying to tell y’all for the last few years he

Hits every scheme I’ve literally said it on this pod there’s a YouTube breakdown on this very Channel if you’re watching on YouTube where you can click and talk about it you can hear those words come in my mouth that’s what makes Luca very good it shouldn’t take 50 points on

Christmas for yall to figure it out he can poke at all all of your schemes that’s why Dallas is always in this spot Phoenix tried to cycle through everything that’s the bit hey you want to put two on the ball fantastic I can see over and I have a lob threat that I

Also Trust on the short role in Derek Lively you want to play Drop I’m just going to engage the defense and hit you with a late lob or freeze your weeks side help at any point in time and throw it to another Defender hey Phoenix it’s

Really cool you want to put Drew Eubanks on Derrick Jones Jr you also have guards that you don’t want to guard me so I’m going to go ahead and find ways to get match ups against them and put you in the same boat and now if you have to

Show help or you want to double I will find who’s open also I’ll score and I’ll score enough to make you also just want to not have let me do anything defensively like think about it there’s play I remember it distinctly Phoenix had decided hey we’re

Going to go ahead and just switch this and we’re going to go switch and double the only problem is Derek Lively is so good at slipping out that you have to go over the screen so you go to on the ball now you’re running down there to switch and now

It’s like oh yeah I’m supposed to come double and kick him out you’re running back up to double and guess who’s wide open Derek ly because luk has been looking at you the whole time like what are you doing doing bud like which which way are you trying

To go what are you trying to attack how are you trying to get going hey you want to put two on the ball that’s fine I can find the skip pass because you’re gonna have to help on this role we can play out of it and that’s the that’s the Luc

Is the starter for this Dallas team that understands where the shots are going to come from and what their roles are you know I don’t even know if we’re going to dive into it too much but the starting lineup change the production from Dante exen the production from Derrik Jones Jr

Because hey this is what you have to do space the floor knock down some shots Drive some Closeouts we have a formula for a player that works in this system next to Luca because of the pressure that he puts on teams that’s the fun of it like I don’t

Think it as you listed out like it’s not you’re not Reinventing the will like make plays against tilted defenses knock down open shots when necessary drive when you have to move the ball if you don’t have it but because Luka draws so much attention all those things hurt differently because

You’re allocating so much defensive Capital to stopping Luca slowing him down that it just it hurts when like you go back to I think the Laker game and Dante exam is just hitting threes all over the place it’s like well shoot man what we supposed to do with this or you

Try to take away Luca and here’s Tim Hardway junr bombing away from three or you put two to the ball yeah surely a rookie Center isn’t going to hurt us and now it’s Derek Lively not only dunking on you but now also making quick short roll reads it’s like

Oh not only is he doing that against us now you zoom out big picture holy crap this rookie is getting reps in the short rle and we’re G have to deal with Luca for however long he’s here we are now accelerating his favorite big man growing process if it looks like this in

December what are these short roll re’s gonna look like in March if we keep putting two to the ball on him and then you fact the Kyrie gonna eventually be back oh no we got to worry about Luca and also Kyrie doing all the scoring SL shooty things and Tim Hardway J can

Knock down shots and Dante exom can pass and cut and drive and he’s also a very willing screener so like even if you want to hide someone on him he’s very good at just feeding mismatches to Luca and he can also do short roll things because he can see the floor well Dar

Jones Jr continues to hit threes we will see but he continues to hit threes Dall just ain’t fun to deal with like conceptually and if Luca is gon to play like this it ain’t gonna be 50 every night but if he’s going to play to this degree

To where he can make every pass in the book he will post you up he can clear a side and just go to work you put two to the ball again you’re just in trouble he’s going to continue to hit threes at this cliff in efficiency and also if you foul him he’s

Also making free throws too shout out SJ what do you do with this dude like this is why it becomes so difficult to quit the Mavericks in a sense because like at the end of the day they do still have this dude I’m G raise my hand I feel like you

Watched some defensive clips and you you like all right let me back up real quick we can be honest there you’re right I understand your point but I feel like you I maybe I’ve done the Pod with you too much but I feel like in particular you’d be like man Dallas there

Let me let me see something real quick clips because they just they just need the defense to be at a certain level man that’s that’s all they need that’s the that’s the thing I wish people realized man do you want do you want to give the sons a Christmas present and not talk

About them I’m not that gracious what are they do no I would just like there is entire like lineup construction SL roster construction SL I’m not even going to touch the KD stuff because like breaking breaking at 11 great player is frustrated by team not playing

Great I don’t care about that being a point just to be frank about it I will ask though which is kind of loosely related to like the lineup roster construction bit are you at all worried about the shot profile of Deon Booker and KD like them two together because we’ve talked a lot

About like the benefits of how you can space those two alongside each other and make things make life easier for one another etc etc as the injuries have happened in like the double teams have increased it feels like that part has been hit because like all right cool it’s a Deon

Booker ISO Kevin Durant won’t pass away you double Booker you rotate the Kevin Durant and then the next pass is is nir little and it’s like oh well what does this mean exactly and then just kind of going back to really what I want to hit on the shot

Profile in particular it’s been very mid-range heavy for Devin Booker which not the worst thing in the world because he’s one of the best mid-range scorers on the planet like he hasn’t hit them at the same clip this year so it feels worse and even in this game in which

Deon Booker wasn’t a world beater offensively Kevin Durant can hit shots think they combined for three-point attempts and I’m just and that was where I was like okay wait if you’re two best players and at minimum two of your three best Shooters because Grayson Al just shot the letter

Off the ball he’s been shooting well all year long but if two of your if your two best Shooters aren’t even getting shots up from behind the arc like what does that do for your overall offense it just further increases the threshold they have to hit as mid-range scores and

Inside the arc scores to really make that work like from a math perspective and so like I was just wanted to quickly toss that to you like is that just me Galaxy brining it or is that something worth monitoring like what types of shots are being generated for them as

Opposed to them amplifying each other and helping everyone else I wouldn’t say it’s Galaxy brining it I just for me it’s like who’s going to create the shots for them yeah unless it’s Devin Booker gets two on the ball and you can get the swings to Kevin Durant that that

That’s where it gets tricky but we did see that when they played the Knicks where it was like okay we’re going to put two on the ball against Devon Booker we’re going to show help oh that’s right KD gets the last swing out from the three and KD had like a

Stretch where he hit three or four in a row so I’m not totally concerned I think my issue for me is Devin Booker shooting 42% from mid-range on six attempts T night Kevin Durant shooting 40% from midrange on 7.2 attempts that’s not normally what they

Do so now if they get back to making buckets in the mid-range does it look different does it feel different I don’t think it changes what is going to happen for Phoenix because I don’t think a defense is like yeah we’re totally fun with Devon Booker and KD shooting shots right

Now at least and I think they can make enough shots to make you feel like okay we need to change this up a little bit or we don’t believe in these guys we’re still going to send help in double I think for me for Phoenix it’s you’ve got

To get your defense to a position to where it can be functional and offensively you’ve got to be able to continue to generate good looks not just threes but hey can we get some drives can we get back to cutting can we punish these defenses who are now you know

Still putting pressure on these guys like it’s they’re always going to be guys who generate pressure from defenses but if you’re not able to take advantage of that consistently how much value does that have and now are they going to force the issue with some of these shots

I say force the issue like they’re not Kevin Durant and Devon Booker that’s not what they do wor things you know I mean are they going to hunt a couple more uh that maybe they wouldn’t have looked to get and does that impact the offense even more

Okay I got you that’s I figured I float that one out there as far as like a broader Phoenix conversation like this team isn’t healthy enough for me to I guess that’s also PR the point like that’s the downside to downside seems strong but you know what I mean like

That’s the other side of the coin of making the Bradley Bill trade because you have now pushed all of your chips in and if Bill isn’t there like you no longer have it’s whatever you have on your bench and because of what KD is making what Booker is making what bill

Is making they send all the pcks out the door etc etc like you’re a threshold like it’s not like they get this Adam mid level exception guy and so like this is kind of the downside you hope they stay healthy because otherwise you have to rely on

Everyone else like I do think there’s room for you know these guys have to step up in different roles to something that can help them in March April May but it may just look funky right now so like I think that’s important to keep in mind for like the Phoenix Suns Watchers in

Here like it may not feel great now these reps May matter as the team gets healthier and now you can just count on these guys to fill in roles uh when they’re in their more ideal roles versus what they’re being asked to do right now um but as far as like broad Phoenix’s

Done takes or KD’s eventually going to like I I’m not there and I don’t particularly have interest in having that conversation I think that’s way too far on December 26 so there’s that uh quickly add the bot score stuff since I just kind of stopped at Luca dropping 15

And 15 rightfully so um Derek Lively with 20 and 10 uh Dereck Jones Jr with 23 points went three of eight from three uh Tim Hardway Jr with 18 points Deon Booker had 20 points and 10 assists uh 5 of 10 inside the yard one of four

Outside of it Kevin Durant with 168 and seven Grayson Allen with 32 points he went eight of 17 from three and as Steve mentioned earlier in the Pod chimzi met two with 23 and 19 Off the Bench um any closing thoughts for Suns MK before we

Head out of here uh no okay gotta do it pretty fun SL I I do I’ll just say very quickly on the overall Christmas front I’m glad that we didn’t just have like a Christmas blowout at any point like I do appreciate that all five games were at least reasonably competitive we didn’t

Have the pure we I guess it’s time to open presents game or up let me get this uh this Christmas dinner prepared because someone’s up 28 early in the third quarter something like that so I’m glad we didn’t have that we did just have like five solid basketball games

And incredible performances in like all of them so I I I just appreciate that as a basketball hey give give about five seven years you’re going to appreciate them blowouts oh T tend to the Future little Nicki dunks like threshold please okay anyway we’ve gone longer than usual on

This one so I think we will save the free throws and get into some bellback stuff on the next episode reminder that that was going to be Audio Only just the first episode every week every Tuesday is on the YouTube channel so if you want

To rock with us head on over to the audio version thank you for listening to slw watching this episode of the darker spot subscribe if you haven’t already Apple Spotify Google Stitcher podbean wherever you get your podcast you can find us and naturally if you aren’t subscribed to the JJ Ready YouTube

Channel do that we are on every Tuesday but naturally this is JJ’s Channel there’s exellent basketball content throughout the channel so check all that stuff out subscribe if you haven’t already you can follow me on Twitter at Nik NBA you can follow Steve on Twitter at Steve jones2 join the dunkers spot

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No Shenanigans come have some fun with this man that that’s where the good stuff is or that’s where more of the good stuff is because I think we could talk some hoop but come have some fun with us and with that we will catch y’all later in the week my internet connection stopped Working

Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. are back with a Christmas-adjacent episode of The Dunker Spot! Thank goodness for a quality slate of games this year.

0:00 Intro
2:48 Jalen Brunson’s offensive mastery and a check-in on Milwaukee’s defense
27:58 How the Nuggets bothered Stephen Curry
46:48 Kristaps Porzingis’ amplifying effect on the Celtics + a Lakers lineup check (46:00)
1:05:45 Jaime Jaquez Jr’s official breakout game
1:21:13 Luka Doncic is scheme-proof + a vibe check with the Suns

Subscribe to The Old Man and The Three podcast w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter YouTube channel today for more NBA analysis, player interviews and highlights.