FULL NBA TODAY | Knicks FAVORITE for Bruce Brown – Dejounte Murray is suitable for Lakers or Heat?

FULL NBA TODAY | Knicks FAVORITE for Bruce Brown – Dejounte Murray is suitable for Lakers or Heat?

ESPN bet I’m Malika Andrew happy Monday everybody today it marks The Unofficial start of the second half of the NBA season can you believe it somehow the Western Conference it is even better this season than it was last year which makes the race at the top incredibly exciting so the Minnesota Timberwolves

Right they have had a hold on the one seed since before Thanksgiving but their grasp on that top spot it is dwindling after a close loss to the second seated Thunder over the weekend plus the Nuggets knocking off the Boston Celtics and what was quite possibly the game of

The year so far but at times they might be changing right the Clippers they moved from 11th back in as recently as in December they have now skyrocketed up to Fourth and now they’re just two and a half games back from that top spot that’s thanks to going a league best 19

And4 since December 1st kawaiian company they closed out yesterday’s game against the Nets on a 22 to nothing run I mean what that’s insain and now they stay even with the defending champs in the Lost column so there was a clear delineation right when you look at the

Top four and then the rest of the conference right less than four games separate those top six teams in the west which has really opened up the door for the Suns to make some serious moves up the standings and last night that push continued for Kevin Durant and Company

Against the Indiana pce there’s no Tyrese halberton in this one some injury management for him cha gum here as well as Kevin Durant goes to the cup we really saw the sun’s big three what they could do in the first half year Booker had 20 points

Uh excuse me 17 Durant had 20 Bradley Beal had 15 and then going ahead to the third quarter here CH Kevin Durant just showing off what he can do Katie put on a show I mean they were really great at attacking the paint but that’s his bread and butter right there the mid-range

Look at this behind the back dribble lose the defender silky smooth jumper that’s why they call him Easy Money Sniper they also call him 40 ball he had 40 points on 18 of 25 shooting and then look at this here 3 minutes to go in the fourth quarter a two-point game nice

Ball movement T the ball snap crackle and popped it is moving everywhere this is the difference for their offense before they were trying to figure out how to make it work they were dribbling a lot look at the ball move yep nine out of 10 players who played for the Phoenix

Suns had an assist there has been a shift in how they approach the offensive game and it’s working in their favor absolutely nice little five out there more good ball movement and then Beal just laying it in the Suns get the win 117 to 110 Booker Durant Beal they

Became the first Trio in Sun’s history to score at least 90 points in consecutive games that’s the first time that’s happened in franchise history they’ve scored exactly 91 in both of them they’re two highest scoring games as teammates and with that we’re going to say hello to a couple of our senior

Writers Ramona shelburn Brian windhorse with us as well so Brian let’s start with you here should the Suns big three now that they’re figuring things out should that start to scare the rest of the Western Conference yeah you’re definitely keeping an eye on them I think you know

I would spent some time with them at the beginning of this win streak a couple of weeks ago go and being around them I really sensed uh a group effort to really try to bring things together now that they were healthy if you go back and look they’re eight and3 since

Bradley Beal basically came into the lineup to stay coming off of that ankle injury and they’ve been so much more dynamic as an offense since then not just with the big three but you look at Grayson Allen he’s been shooting over 50% on threes in that stretch youf

Nerkish has putting up some big numbers and they have some challenges there’s some fourth quarter problems with this team they they’re defensively way down from they were a year ago because of the structural differences that they’ve made but talking to Frank vogle talking to their leadership talking to their

Players I think that there’s a real confidence within this team I don’t think it’s all or nothing this season they may not be at their actual best until next year but you got to keep an eye on them and they are surging at this point in the season know Brian I think

We were all at that game where the the Suns played the Lakers here in Los Angeles on January 11th before that game Kevin Durant went to Devin Booker and said you know what forget about all this trying to run be the point guard set everybody else up go shoot the ball be

Yourself go be free go be Devon Booker okay so since that Devon Booker is averaging 31 points a game he had that 52 points the other night and he’s taking 22 shots a game in these last five games before that he was averaging only 18 shots a game but in the nine

Games before that Laker game Devin took less than 20 shots in those nine games that’s the fewest time few most consecutive games he took less 20 shots since his rookie year okay since that Laker game he’s just shooting and it reminds me a lot of Kevin Durant and

Steph Curry when they first got together in Golden State there was a feeling out process for those two as well where Steph was being polite Kevin Durant was being polite they lost to the Cavs on Christmas and Steve cerr had a big conference with Steph Curry and he

Basically said stop stop trying to be nice stop trying to set up Kevin and they all went to work and they won a championship that year that’s what’s happened except this time it was Kevin Durant saying to Deon Booker go cook yeah you know watching this team I think

We’re all surprised at how slow they started now we know that they finally are getting games with a big three but I don’t I wouldn’t like I’m not in the camp of Wendy saying like keep an eye I definitely think I would be worried about this team I know that defense is a

Big issue for them but in this league you can play spoiler with offense and this is one of the best offensive teams we’ve seen in a short amount of you know a sample size in a while I mean KD giving you 40 and I know efficient is

Such a generic word but like for a shooter to be able to make more shots at an easier clip the way that he does it’s underrated really dbook evolving his game to pass more Bradley Beal I think he was the key piece because it’s like how do we make this work because his

Identity has been so far for such a long time in another place he didn’t really have the offseason with these guys like dbook and KD had so you finally starting to see like they were disgruntled a few weeks ago yeah they finally figured it out like less is more right move the

Ball make things easier I would be worried to play against this team because they can string together as we’re seeing in real time some wins now Championship defense has to be there but to be able to play spoiler win games and really put yourself in a good position

For the playoffs they’re fully capable of that but Bri Brian you just said that it’s not necessarily Championship or or bust for this team and I I try not to be in that camp of you have to win this year or else but you and I have both

Been in Phoenix this year we have both talked to Matt ishia it certainly sounds like the way that the the the governor the owner of the Phoenix ends the way that they are talking is kind of like they need to go and win a championship and when you look at the new restrictive

CBA when you factor in the age of Kevin Duran’s 35 Bradley Beal on the other side of 30 I I don’t know I’m not sure I agree with you on that is there any team facing more pressure than the suns in the west yeah that’s my view as somebody

Who’s been around the league for over 20 years got a little gray hair coming in um I say that I’ve seen teams like this before and it takes like a second transaction cycle Matt ispia who’s been in the league for less than a year and has been one of the most aggressive

Owners we’ve ever seen he would like to not lose another game from now until mid June right that’s how he operates and that’s how he’s driven the franchise to operate so yeah that’s my viewpoint on it that’s how they’re looking at it and certainly with three guys and even Devon

Booker has had injury issues over the last couple of years with who are potentially fragile you can’t mess around but being a pragmatist and looking at how strong the Clippers and Nuggets are I don’t favor them to win the west but I like this team’s chances

To do anything thing this year and I really like their chances when you give James Jones in his front office a chance to tweak the roster and you give Frank vogle a chance to figure out the lineups when they were in that Los Angeles two weeks ago guys like Frank vogle was

Still trying to figure out which five players he was going to put together at different points in the game when they were 40 games into the season give him a season and a half before you really judge him although it’s not going to be up to me you are right Malika listen

They’ve got a couple of years to figure this out because those guys are under contract for a couple years years I know it getss expensive I know they hit the second apron it becomes much harder to change that team around but there’s one team that has all the pressure this year

And that’s the Golden State Warriors because if they don’t do it this year the Golden State Warriors do not prove the Golden State Warriors are under the most pressure of any team in the west more than the Clippers this is a dynastic team okay Kawhi Leonard just

Signed an extension they got some time they got I mean like George hasn’t yet Paul George hasn’t yet negotiating okay to me the Golden State War War are a dynastic team that is fighting for their survival they are fighting for their right to stay together and they they are in they’re

Not even in the playin tournament at this point so the Phoenix Suns everybody’s under contract they have some time to play together but the Warriors if they don’t show something in the next couple of weeks here let’s ask the other Rose sister I know by the way

Uh Ramona and I are definitely matching today this thear of Vander this is we we both went with our Stanford Cardinal colors and then also the same patterns but we did not talk before the show but is it the Warriors I don’t think it’s the Warriors I do think that you have

Steph Curry who to me is like the most important piece and his he’s capable of playing in his prime you need to put him you know have players around him that can extend his prime they still got that precious gold right there in Gold Golden

State you see what I did right there I feel like it’s the Lakers I mean LeBron James is 39 how how much longer are you going to look at LeBron James playing in general and then also what are you going to do as a team that has those

Expectations each and every year to me it may not be the Suns with a one-year type of situation going for a championship the Warriors know that they have a window with Steph he could be the best player that wins a championship the surrounding pieces now LeBron James and

The Lakers like how do you want that story to end and I feel like that’s really predicated on this year because he has options right yeah he does Brian what about you yeah I mean look Klay Thompson is a free agent Steve Kerr is a free agent um

I don’t know how they’re going to feel about a $400 million play role at the ownership Lev after this year I agree with Ramona and look nobody’s going to sit there and worry about the Warriors they’ve got four titles they won one two years ago if they break apart that’s

Just what history will be written is where it ends but they are facing the daily pressure heavier than anybody else I think one of the things that is good for the Suns is that they are playing much more free not worried about where their seat is going to be not worried

About their situation dayto day and only worried about themselves when I talked to Deon Booker about this he said we’re not even worried about who who our opponent is we’re focused totally on ourselves right now and that’s a little bit freeing for the Suns I you guys are

Convincing me as I’m hearing you talk but I if the Clippers aren’t number one they have to be somewhere in that conversation just I know the Kawhi Leonard sign Paul George they’re all going to resign they’re all going to resign they’re going to go into the new

Arena everyone’s going to be nice and happy everyone’s just going to ride off into the sunset as long as they can stay healthy well I mean the Clippers did do just that over the weekend right they rode off into the sunset they had a comeback for the a deadline meaning

Teams have just two weeks to make decisions to upgrade their rosters in an attempt to get ready to make a champion ship push and with that we welcome in our senior NBA Insider Adrien W narowski and our front office Insider Bobby Mar as well Ryan wi horse back with us

Gentlemen this summer I mean there was an arms race in the Eastern Conference between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks and when you look at the odds to win the conference those two teams are far in away the favorites and you can see followed by the Sixers the heat the

Knicks so let’s just dive into that secondary grouping of teams in the East here W what’s the Sixers mindset as they try to surround Jo indeed with a roster that can get them to the Conference Finals for his first time ever yeah Malika darl Mo the Philadelphia

President he is always big game hunting he always wants to be involved in big trades there may not really be any of those out there for him but he does have the Assets in Philadelphia largely from the James Harden trade to the Clippers uh to be active if those kinds of

Players become available but I think I like a lot of a few of the other contenders in the East including the Knicks it may be role players shooting playmaking another backup big what Philadelphia has going for it is the chance to get into the summer and have

Maybe as much as 50 $0 million in cap space uh very likely enough for a max player so they want to get they may their best case may be getting past the trade deadline okay uh and keeping their Assets in place but I think you’ll see

Them do something around the edges so as you as we look at those players around the edges for now and potentially that that big game hunting for next summer Bobby can you see what are what are some names that Philly might be going after here yeah I mean woit right on the head

I think you have to look at players that either are on expiring contracts or have a team or non-guaranteed uh option for next year and players like miles Bridges who’s in Charlotte who’s on an expiring contract boam banovic in Detroit Bruce Brown in Toronto who can be traded once

Again they’ve got six second round picks they’ve got three first round picks I think you want to preserve those to the off season and you’ve got 12 players on expiring contract so you have a little bit of everything I think it’s important once we get to the night of the draft

Those three number ones now increase to five so you’ve got five first $55 million in cap space so trim around the edges right now preserve your flexibility and then go into the offseason okay so that is the Philadelphia 76ers next up we have the Miami Heat I’m going to start with you

On this one Brian what do you think the last three games the skid has highlighted that this team needs yeah so as you remember over the summer they were really in the point guard Market first going for Damen Lillard and then Drew holiday after that they weren’t able to get something done Eric

Spoler over the weekend moved Kyle Lowry from the starting lineup to the bench and that was an interesting move and certainly one to keep an eye on you know Kyle low has an expiring contract of over $30 million he would be a prime candidate to be moved if the heat

Decided reenter the point guard Market obviously anybody in the NBA right now who needs a guard has checked in with the Atlanta Hawks on Deonte Murray I would add another name in there that would be Terry roier of the Charlotte Hornets um the Hornets have had some

Discussions about roier um you know with where they’re at in their season he’s got a couple of years left on his contract he having a very good year possible option for not only the heat but some other teams um and so that was an interesting move with Lowry and you

Know you know the heat are going to be very mindful of that asset you know expiring at the deadline now that expiring contract will have value between now and February 8th so keep an eye on the heat as they try to you know maybe take steps around the deadline to improve their

Chances Malika we’re going to do a little bit of a math lesson here how about that okay it used to be easy it used to be easy back when the old CBA where Pat Riley can go into Mickey Aron’s office and say hey we’re going to

Go more into the luxury tax it’s going to cost us another $25 million what these new rules are doing right now and we can show where a player like Terry Rosier earns $25 million next year Miami salary is at1 15 59 that second apron is at $190 million once you exceed that you

Won’t be able to go out and aggregate contracts in case as Pat Riley says that big whale becomes available so if you’re Miami you’ve got a balance trying to win now but also kind of what the future looks like in the off season here and that’s going to be the Highwire tight

Wire act that teams are going to need to walk now that we have this new CBA coming into effect all right lastly though we cannot forget about the Knicks they already made that kind of big splashing move with the acquisition of OG an anobi but W is New York trying to

Get Jaylen Brunson even a little bit more help here yeah scoring help off this Nicks bench they made their big trade with ogan anobi it has paid off for the Knicks they want to keep themselves in position to do another big one for an Allstar all-nba level player

That very likely would be in this off season that player is not available now but certainly players like Bruce Brown uh in Toronto now Alec Burks uh Jordan Clarkson in Utah the Knicks have the assets they have the an expiring contract in Evan forier to be able uh to

Do a trade in the short term for some bench help going into the postseason without compromising themselves on going big game hunting in the off season they have a lot of picks and they have assets that they can use in trades they can do something here at the deadline and not

Take themselves out of the bigger thing that they hope comes along for them uh probably more so in this offseason or maybe into next year absolutely 17 days away from the NBA trade deadline gentlemen thank you so very much coming and starting in the nation’s capital

Nicola yoka you put on a show a season High 42 points to go along with 12 rebounds eight assists this coming after handing the Celtics their first home loss of the season on Friday night CH do people sleep on jokic’s scoring abilities absolutely he could do this

Every night he’s fourth in the NBA and assist he’s averaging nine assists a game if you drop that to six he’s averaging 3032 when he’d be in the conversation again which he already is for MVP so yeah people sleep on his scoring because his passing it’s Sensational look at that one his passing

Is so magic it’s almost like what all right let’s go from the east coast to the West Coast kawaiian company finished a game on a 22 to Z run to beat the Nets last night the 220 run it matched the largest unanswered run by any team to

End a game in the last 25 Seasons Mr windhorse do you think the Clippers are ready for a championship push oh my gosh this is impressive as the Clippers have looked in the last 5 years and I would argue Malika that the most relevant thing that’s happened in

The NBA so far this season is how good kawh Leonard looks him playing this way makes anything possible yeah I mean he’s been healthy and looking good all right from LA to htown where the Celtics took care of business Chris EPS porzingis LED all scorers with 32 but is’s going to be

Out tonight against Dallas Rona how important is he to this Boston team he is playing like the Unicorn he was named when he first came into the league by Kevin Durant 50% on all mid-range this year 69% on post-ups also hit six threes and five blocks how many players in the

League can have six threes and five blocks in the same game right and that is why they call him the Unicorn all right we’re back in La now where the Lakers they beat the Blazers last night LeBron and D’Angelo Russell combined for 62 while ad had 14 and 14 his 35th

Double double of the season but let’s pump the breakes just a little bit though because this game was Portland’s 10th 20po loss of the season the most by any team you got to take care of the teams in front of you but sometimes Portland makes it a little bit easier

Than others the Lakers they have eight games remaining though until the trade deadline you can see here the last six come as a part of a road trip that includes stops against the Warriors the Celtics and the New York Knicks let’s dive a little bit deeper into the Lakers

W is here with us what’s the mindset of La heading into this second half of the Season Ian listen they’re in a lot the same place as they were last year knowing they needed to upgrade their talent uh you know they have a pick available they have a pick swap

Available but but I think this is an LA team you know you go back to the summer and they had some confidence that they might be able to sign Bruce Brown in free agency until Indiana stepped up offered him the two years $45 million they didn’t get him he goes to Indiana

The Lakers tried to see if they could trade for Bruce Brown from the Pacers didn’t get him he goes to Toronto as part of the Pascal cakam deal and now that Lakers they’re going to continue to be on the phone with Toronto between now and the trade deadline trying to see if

There’s a way that they can get Bruce Brown uh listen he was part of a group that eliminated the Lakers for the playoffs last year you’ve seen his impact on winning teams in the playoffs I think certainly that’s a player dejonte Murray the Lakers have talked with the Hawks they’ll probably talk

Again Atlanta is really trying to live in a world where they can get back more of the package that they gave up for de Murray three first round picks um a pick swap it’s going to be very difficult for them to get that value back they don’t

Have to trade him at the trade deadline he’s under contract for a number of years I think they’re trying to find a way to do it I think for any Laker trade though if D’Angelo Russell is going to be in that trade and you’re trading for

A guard and the salaries just match up I think D’Angelo Russell having a player option on next year’s deal and the expectation that he would exercise that player option if he’s not going to be your starting point guard somewhere yeah I think in a lot of these situations

Either you’re gonna have to give I think some more draft compensation with the with D’Angelo Russell or you’re going to have to find a third team that’s going to need that to take on his salary and if he again if he’s not going to be your

Starter right uh I I think that makes it a little more difficult for the Lakers to find a match here on a trade there’s some really interesting decisions that the Lakers need to make coming up here and you mentioned them being in a similar spot now than they were last

Year which isn’t the end of the world they’re back to 500 they’re currently ninth in the Western Conference but Brian I think when you thought about retaining the team largely that went to to the Western Conference finals last year what they were able to do seeing

Where they are now it it it’s hard to not see that as a little bit of a disappointment so do you think it’s time with the trade deadline only 17 days away for the Lakers to start ramping up here or practice a little bit more patience yeah they already did ramp it

Up they’ve already kind of come to the conclusion that they need to do something with the roster if they can find something you know it was I don’t blame the Lakers for doing this because they did look so good last spring now there was a set of circumstances in the

Playoffs that assisted them um they also look great in the inseason tournament and if they watch the team play that way it’s hard for them to to look at that and say boy this doesn’t work but they are going to do what they can it has helped immensely over the

Last week and a half that D’Angelo Russell has broken out of his slump and looked very good they are a different team when he is so offensively involved the thing is is that he you it’s hard to count on him he is up and down throughout his career I think what w

Talks about with Bruce Brown and and Deonte Murray is important to realize if they can acquire a player who can play at both ends of the Court offense and defense and is multi-dimensional can play multiple different positions and doesn’t have a contract that is potentially burdensome which is like a

Guy like Zack LaVine would have a burdensome contract then I think the Lakers were going to be in it and they will try to find that that mix and match and that is what I expect Rob pinka has been spending a lot of time recently and will spend these next two weeks doing

Trying to find something that will work there last year he was successful in doing it and he had to do a full team remake he made not need to do that he may be able to just do a tweak here and really supercharge the Lakers for the

Second half of the Season well D’Angelo Russell has been playing his best basketball of his career the last five games I he’s when he plays like that you go oh that’s the number two overall pick once that’s when the Lakers that’s the offense that the Lakers have been

Missing right I mean he is shooting the ball exceptionally well he’s creating he’s engaged now is he playing like he wants to say is he playing so well that maybe there’s more interest in him now because I think before as as w mentioned you might have have to incentivize teams

To take him because of his conject for next year I think the Lakers clearly need some more speed in the back court they need some more athleticism in size there’s a lot of other teams that could use that and they are they’re not necessarily in the best position to bid

On those type of players but Rob pinka has been a very active GM since he’s taken over in that role and he’s made a move basically every trade deadline to try to at least to improve on the margins look I’m in my feelings with the

Lakers I think it’s easy to say p PA when they beat the Blazers but I was starting to panic when I watched them play the Nets just because I feel like the Lakers there’s this expectation which we all know to win a championship right but I feel like LeBron James is in

The most pressurized timeline out of anyone in sports right now he’s 39 he knows that the expectation is Championship he knows his team went to the Western Conference finals last year but what do they look like today and I looked at the numbers at this time last

Year uh there was only one team in the west with a 65 you know 650 win record right6 6 5 now there’s four the rest of the league has gotten so much better but it feels like the Lakers have remained the same or even some terms regressed

While LeBron James is averaged 25 and seven and ad0 is playing out of his mind and finally they get dow back so as much as I want to say there’s patience it feels like you’re like the expectations are have shifted and that just puts so much more pressure maybe not necessarily

On the Lakers for moves yeah but just pressure on what are we witnessing happening right now for LeBron James because we all want this perfect type of last few years we all want to see him compete at the highest levels but it doesn’t feel like that’s a reality

Anymore not to mention LeBron has a player option heading into the summer now this is standard for LeBron James contracts as you know Brian we’ve seen this him sign these time and time again I just want to check in with you on the possibility of if they don’t go to the

Western Conference Finals to the NBA finals what happens there I don’t know I think uh Lebron will just wait and see I I I think he wants to be in La I don’t have any doubt about that he wants to be a Laker but I

Think he has a player option for for a reason it’s $50 million even though LeBron’s made a lot of money in his career $50 million is nothing to sneeze at but I think he’d like to see and primarily because there’s Brony if Brony decides to declare for the draft and if

He gets drafted that could influence it so I I would be very surprised if you see LeBron make any firm plans about his future until after he sees what happens with Brony in the draft if indeed he decides to come out from USC 17 days away I think this is all

About Ronnie I think next year for the LeBron has given the Lakers every indication that he wants to be in Los Angeles for a long term this is the only time he’s given himself an out after a year and it’s because his son could potentially declare for the draft and so

It’ll be incumbent on the Lakers to make if he’s in the draft I you could see it already right I mean you can feel draft night already yeah and there’s two ways to look at that yeah trying to get him drafted by the Lakers or is there a

Situation for a young player going to a team that is more of a developmental team that develops players the Lakers are not a developmental program they’re a win now program so what’s going to be best for bronny James what he wants what they want as an organization I don’t know if

It’s as cut and dry as all of it is around the idea of whether he can play with him or not I I’m not sure that’s all that’s at stay care maybe it’s a factor but I do think for bronny James uh and what will be if he’s out this

Year the idea of what’s the best place for him too you’re so right Ro cuz I feel like that ending per se the next few years of LeBron James if he so chooses his career that’s very sentimental but I do think that the Lakers are predicated on their success

Levels right so it almost feels like those things are diametrically opposed right LeBron I think it’d be great to be able to play against or play with his son but is that what is the standard for oh my gosh all my mom stuff is going off

What’s best for your son wow that is you know but like it’s it’s interesting because those two things are like different his DNA is to win and win champion but now you’re at you’re seeing like a I don’t want to say sunet CU he can keep

Going he’s a 25 this is a wild draft this year it is really there’s not a real clear-cut consensus on much of anything and if some other team wants to draft bronny James there’s no stopping them from drafting Brony James it’s really hard to control that process

Right there is no it feels like there’s not even a consensus Lottery at this point there things are so fluid right and so see or see whether or not bronny where he ends up if he does to CL for the draft but we have a couple of months

Before we get to that we only have have days weeks until we get to the NBA trade deadline and that is what the Lakers are up against at this point w thank you so very much speaking of no exception it looks straight at a Space Jam Marvin

Bagley is almost 7et tall is that photoshop like what what are we talking about and by the way when you put that up against he also leads all rookies in points rebounds and blocks what in the entire league that that’s absolutely insane and then tonight he is another

Big test as he faces off against Joel embiid so Chan what what are you watching in this super siiz matchup oo I like that super siiz matchup the league is run by big men these days but in this matchup we’ve got the rookie and the vet Joel embiid has 70 pounds on Victor

Webing Yama but so far this season we’ve seen them both be dominant in different ways so now let’s start with the alien right Victor web Yama he has seven games this season with at least 20 points and five blocks already the most by a rookie since fellow spur Tim Duncan so I’ll

Show you how he does it on the floor that was back in 1997 98 crazy all right he’s not afraid of nobody this is the matchup Anthony Davis four time all defensive this is his 22nd career game I love this spacing which means he’s able to play one-on-one on an island he’s not

Afraid to go through what does Perk say tomato chest but watch this finish a full pette to a slam dunk okay crazy now we know he’s a two-way player as well Giannis is seven time all NBA Victor this is the game after his 23rd game he’s on defense in the paint Giannis is

Going up this game was an instant classic and this this right here cemented him as a future star to come Superstar to come that’s Victor web inyama now wemi he’s just starting to polish his game meanwhile he’s going up against Joel embiid who’s already in his

Prime I mean embiid is the reigning MVP but somehow he’s still improving he’s averaging career highs in points in mid-range points in assists per game and I’ll show you why that assist number right there that you saw is so important Joel embiid is going up here against

Rudy goar who’s six time all defensive look at how many people are ready to stop him in the paint because he can go through them instead this is probably the most unguardable play in basketball right now you can’t double from that high and he shoots right over you shoots

Right over the three time defensive player of the year now what I love the assists right here the two-man game with Tyrese Massie the double comes it’s a big double all right he kicks it back out then he repost why not this is a triple team with joic I mean what so

When you commit three players like this this is why people say Maxi could be an Allstar and most improved because they make the offense very simple through his passing that’s why Philly has has really increased their ball game but this matchup again 70 lb difference this guy

Doesn’t run from a fight but this guy right now is it’s not even a fight like he’s right there at the top of the MVP discussion yeah and not to mention Joel embiid was just named the Eastern Conference player of the week so take a look at this that could be a rivalry

Soon this is the game that jump starts Rivals week here in the NBA some of the key matchups to look forward to you can see here there’s the great traditional rivalries like the Heat and the Knicks and then you have star rivalries like EMB yic and then Geographic rivalries

Cross City rivalries like we’re talking about the Lakers and the Clippers so Brian wior now that it is Rivals Rec Rivals week say that 10 times fast what’s the best rivalry right now in your mind in the NBA it is not a mistake that the Saturday ABC games begin and we have

Joic and embiid going up against each other it’s a great job by the NBA to pair them and I want to see him actually play last year we didn’t see MB played in Denver when you look at these two guys not only because they’re big and they’re talented but because they both

Operate so much with the ball uh the their their ball skills ability is what really sets them apart not only their ability to to have finesse and power but those ball skills their teams are desperate to have them do the things that they do and so to watch them work

It is a tremendous enjoyment to watch jic work and as Chan was saying to watch who embiid has developed his game at the top of the key it’s a joy to watch them play to have them go up against each other and I’m hoping in this game

They’ll defend each other a little more than they did last week I think it’s awesome I think a finals between them would be amazing I still think last year if Philly was somehow able to get one more win against Boston we might have had it we might had a different finals

Out outcome in terms of competitiveness I would love to see these guys go up against each other more than twice a season and I’m going to fast forward maybe maybe maybe in Paris this summer we could see a high stakes International game with yic for Serbia and Joel embiid

The most prized naturalized citizen in the in the NBA right now an American the Team USA is going to need I mean it’s the Lakers and the Celtics I mean it 17 and 17 NBA title I mean this it’s the Lakers and the Celtics and that’s on

February 1st I guess it’s the tail end of this rivalry week that we’re having here but that’s that was the Marquee game on Christmas it’s the Marquee game February 1st every time these two teams play it is a completely different atmosphere it feels like a Finals game

Give me the drama that we’ve seen so far this season let’s talk about the Bucks and the I don’t think anyone pen in this match up at the start of the Season give me a stolen game ball give me an i stolen celebration where we’re talking

About Dame time but then it’s tyres tton Tyme give me the Great Performances the huge finishes the stakes and then give me what in the world is going on with the buck because the PES sort had your number so them two playing against each other this year that was the surprise

Rival which I’ll try to do it rivalry rivalry rivalry rival rivalry I get it that’s that’s in the moment but like you’re right I Ramona the tale is Old As Time Lakers and Celtics but this is the tale of our time right now see if we’re going old school versus new school I’m

Going with the new school individual matchup give me Chad Hol versus Victor wanyama Victor wanyama is one of the most competitive guys in the NBA right now and he says that the single worst basketball moment that he has ever had in his life like what came at the hands

Of Chad homr that 83 to 81 loss in 2021 in the 9s the ofen hen goes up to a Victor wanyama Mom first time visiting Brian wior details this in a story he wrote earlier this year in in Oklahoma City and he goes up to introduce himself to Victor’s

Introducing aodi to to Chad holgren and C goes oh I don’t know if you remember we’ve met before and a Lo says oh yeah I remember Family Blood I want that give me these rookies that aren’t all friendly friendly all the times the ones that want to come at each other the most

Friendly competition I don’t want that I want that this is the new school Chad hurn versus Victor wanyama and we’re GNA see that for years and years to come but perhaps no one was more competitive than Mamba Kobe Bean Bryan and before we bounce on this date in 2006 Kobe Briant

Scorched the Toronto Raptors for 81 points in one of the most memorable games in NBA History the late great Stuart Scott no one does it better here’s a look at the players who have scored the most points in a game since Kobe’s 81 three players have gone for at least 70 you see Dame Donovan Mitchell last season Devon Booker that was back in 20 17 so we’ll

See maybe we’ll see another 81 Somee foree speee spee to let me take the shot get First Blood Vista Guess who’s back an enemy has been defeated double Kill destroyed a tower you have defeated an enemy kill I always ATT spee With good Tower let me take the shot you first BL a l Vista you deated guess who’s back an enemy has been defeated kill teamy Tower an enemy has been defeated kill I always find victory Tower is under attack spe

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