Do LeBron James and the Lakers have the blueprint for beating the OKC Thunder? | ALL NBA Podcast

Do LeBron James and the Lakers have the blueprint for beating the OKC Thunder? | ALL NBA Podcast

[Applause] What is up everybody and welcome into the all NBA show part of the All City Podcast Network I’m your host Adam MZ and I am joined by my esteem colleague Tim legler legs a lot of good games we’re going to get to four of them from

Last night in the NBA as well as a couple good ones coming on tonight how you doing today I’m doing great man it’s just yeah you’re right on a night with or day with that many games um you wish that you could could see all of them

Start to finish because there was a lot more probably than we’re going to get to today but we did have some really good you know Powerhouse matchups and some great finishes and I can’t wait to get into it and tonight might be even better with a really good TNT double header

We’re going to preview that game as well uh as well as break down all of the games that we found interesting yesterday but first we’re presented by DraftKings fantasy sports check out what DraftKings has to offer this season with code all NBA because life’s more fun when you’re in on the action DraftKings

The crown is yours gambling problem call 1-800 Gambler age and eligibility restrictions apply avoid were prohibited see draftkings.com for details legs let’s start out with the Thunder versus the Lakers the Lakers picked up their second win in a row against Oklahoma City they’re uh they’re now two- one

Against the Thunder this game uh you know on paper you look at it and you think okay the better team is clearly the Thunder they’ve been on a roll the Lakers are reeling a lot of people are calling for them to change their starting lineup they have not but yet

They pick up the win what did you see in this game I think the first thing that jumped out just watching it from really the from start to finish was the Lakers level of intensity and the force they were playing with because we both know the regular season is not that important

To the Lakers but they still find a way to get up for the big games and I think they looked at this as a big game I mean Oklahoma City is is near the top of the Western Conference standings they’re a young upand cominging team they they

Probably you know you would think would have a little bit more bounce and fresher legs typically and I just thought the Lakers played perfectly to their personnel they played their style they played in the paint they played on the glass they played through their bigs they played through their two best

Players and then they got balance amongst The Supporting Cast like a lot of nights even when LeBron and AD have those nights where they both are playing that hard and with that much intent Adam they their Supporting Cast is like really hit or miss you might have one

Other guy have a big night and then some guys struggle they had four different guys in double figures and it was like spread out and they got contributions all over Austin Reeves hachim mura D’Angelo Russell like a bunch of different guys were contributing in addition to what they were getting out

Of LeBron and AD and I just thought that they looked into it and the Lakers don’t always look that way when they do there’s still something to be dealt with and they they just did a great job of I thought play to their style forcing Oklahoma City basically into a perimeter

Based team yep and that’s why and that last part there is why I made the headline what it was today you know asking about whether or not the Lakers have a blueprint because sometimes lesser teams just match up well with better teams this year OKC has been the better team but what happened

Last night was that the Thunder took and I would even say settled for 49 threo attempts they average 34 on the season um so to take 15 more than what you average you know that’s an outlier it makes you raise an eyebrow and watching the game they were sagging off of giddy

As a lot of teams do off of D and off of kenrich Williams in ways I hadn’t really seen other teams do not just oh we’re giving a little space run them you know hand up or whatever there were times where they were just sitting and LeBron

James in particular sitting in the paint and saying nope take that one you have to take it and so as a result they end up shooting a lot of Threes Oklahoma City is at their best when they get into the teeth of the defense into the paint

And then are kicking out uh they weren’t getting that far they were not getting around the first line of defense in large part because there was so much help just sitting in the paint and usually I think OKC could probably adjust to that but at least I thought

That the Lakers disrupted them and it was very easy I thought defensively for the Lakers to disrupt them in the ways that they did last night yeah and Lakers actually played a ton of Zone in the second half of this game and and they don’t more than they normally do and

They actually have a decent Zone there’s not a lot of zones in this league I think are that effective the Lakers can be because they’ve got they’ve got some length and size on the backline and they’ve got some athletic ability um with their wings um when they put some

Of those wings out there they can get to guys and I thought the Zone was kind of made Oklahoma City a little bit more complacent in the shots they were settling for because because you against the Zone in the NBA particularly you can get a quick three anytime you want to um

And that’s the shot that they’re trying to dare you to take and they took a lot of them and and like I said 49 overall takes 34 misses from the three point L you you you get a team to do that it shows one that you’re you know you’re

You’re at least in the area to contest and make some of those shots more than just a naked look and then you’re also preventing them from getting to the foul line which they did a great job of they’ll took 11 free throws in the game you know you got guys like Jaylen

Williams Shay gilis Alexander right these are guys that on a given night those two guys alone can usually get 15 to 20 free throws a lot of nights they shot 11 as a team and 49 that’s a terrible balance and that’s what the Lakers relied on and on the other end

They had I think 64 points in the paint to 44 for Oklahoma City and we’ve seen this for the Lakers before against certain teams Adam remember when they played Indiana uh in the in the inseason tournament and they had like 80 points in the paint and they just refused to

Settle for quick early three-point shots because that’s just not who they are their personnel is not good enough to do that and but some nights they do it they settle if they’re not in the right mind mindset last night they were intent we’re going to beat you up in the paint

We’re going to we’re bigger we’re more physical we’re stronger we’re going to we’re going to make you take perimeter shots and we’re not going to settle for those and it was a great formula for them to win and this is why I’m concerned about Oklahoma City this year

In the playoffs you know the playoffs are always going to be do you have a weakness that another team can exploit and I just look at their losses I’ve mentioned this on the show before but a lot of their losses come to bigger teams um the teams that tend to own the pain

Or own the rebounds or what have you and last night that was obviously the case being able to Sag off now guys like Isaiah Joe o of6 you know you need your Shooters to show up uh and they didn’t necessarily have that last night so maybe there’s a little luck involved

There but the other area where size really mattered LeBron was targeting all of the Wings and guards that were under siiz which is almost all of them Shay gild just Alexander doesn’t get targeted a lot LeBron was targeting him last game just knowing he wasn’t strong enough to

Handle him in the post or on drives where he could kind of put his hip or his shoulder into him and get to the rim so I thought LeBron was very comfortable last night with his size advantage and the Lakers as a whole were were comfortable and that’s why I just look

At the Thunder and say that’s where they’re vulnerable and if they match up with a bigger team in the playoffs it’s not that they can’t win but it’s that I don’t know that they’re going to be able to take away that there’s some things you can scheme for size not always one

You can scheme for yeah and I thought the size also affected the Oklahoma City in the match up with ad and Chad hren you know Chad hren is has really against anybody in the league that’s bigger he has held his own because he’s got great timing on his contests and he’s he’s wi

He strong I thought Anthony Davis just took it right to him like he he was he was effectively on any pick and dive he was rolling to the rim to try to catch something above the square and forcing Chad hongren to have to help on the pick

And then you know backpedal back and try to get a hand up and he got there late a couple of times and I just thought Anthony Davis he looked so much bigger than Chad homr and Anthony Davis doesn’t always look that way because some nights

He wants to play more as a face up 18 foot ISO player he he spent most of his time in the paint last night and and it was it was I think telling the way that he was going into the body and going at Chad hongren who by his standards that

He has set had a very pedestrian night I mean nine points eight boards didn’t really notice him a whole lot in the course of the game one of the rare nights I’ve said that about ched hungr all year and the reason is because of Anthony Davis and the way that he played

Yeah um I thought Jared vanderbelt also made some plays so not necessarily a size guy but just length a more of a length guy he made some important plays down the stretch the only other note I had from this game was that Jaylen Williams again I mean I just love this

Dude so I talk about him every time I can 25 points he was the one guy on Oklahoma City who I thought had a regular night he wasn’t off he he and maybe part of this is in a game where physicality is a big piece he’s a big

Bodied guy he wasn’t bothered by the physicality he held his own so he was I thought he played well in this game even if everybody else on the Thunder was a little bit below their averages uh very good point and I thought yeah you’re right you know he

He’s he’s been great every night Shay had decent statline he wasn’t himself I think we both agree on that he just he just did not have the the same Rhythm to his like isolation game and he wasn’t getting as much space he wasn’t getting to those spots in the middle area of

Floorida where he stops on a dime while the while the defender’s backpedaling like he didn’t have really many clean moments like that he looked frustrated at one point he hit a floater in a lane and he kind of looked exasperated like looked up to the heavens like finally it

Was kind of one of those nights for him and it wasn’t like I said wasn’t like he didn’t show up at all he was nine for 19 that’s not a terrible night for an elite scorer uh 24.6 assist but it wasn’t Shel just Alexander doing what he normally

Does which is be the best player on the floor for important stretches he just didn’t get that opportunity so I give I give I’ll give all the the credit in this one to the Lakers I just thought they showed up in a great mindset and they had great balance and a lot of

Contributions up and down their roster and their two best players set the tone so give the Lakers credit I Lakers fans I know and I just know this from being on you know social media see in the timeline I know Lakers fans calling for movement they want some

Different some changes made in the starting lineup they want to mix things up what do you make of who the Lakers are playing right now where they’re playing them do you have any notes or any thoughts about how you would like to see them try some things out they don’t

They don’t have a ton of options I mean they really don’t they play the same nine guys pretty much every night and and so okay let’s say let’s play around with this do they want to see Vanderbilt in the starting lineup and you put toon prince in the that’s that’s fine if you

Want to do that but they like Vanderbilt coming off the bench because defensively they can sort of pick their matchup when he comes in like some guy might have a hot hand the first six minutes they would like to bring vanderbild in and now you have a guy that can come in and

Maybe affect somebody gives you more versatility defensively to do that tan Prince is great if he’s making those Corner threes let you know he’s one for five had six shots five of them are threes he makes one and so people oh we got to get him out of there I think

Austin Reef should be starting and he is he should be starting for them LeBron ad D’Angelo Russell I mean you only have one spot that you’re gonna change and it would be that spot so do you want to start toon Prince do you want to start hachimura do you want to start

Vanderbilt that’s basically what it comes down to and I I just don’t see why anybody thinks that’s going to make some enormous difference because those guys whoever starts and whoever comes off the bench in that slot they’re going to play the same minutes they’re playing now for

The most part so I just don’t think it matters um who’s in that spot at all to me I I think it’s it’s overblown people tend to immediately want to grab at something for an immediate change to get better results some of it’s just Personnel driven just look at their

Roster it is what it is when they play hard and they play to their personnel the Lakers are still a team that could basically handle just just about anybody in the west or at least make it a really difficult series with any team in the west when they play that way and that’s

To me the bigger problem it’s a mindset about how they’re going to play not so much about Personnel changes in the starting lineup I don’t when a team is 20 and 21 I don’t know that there is one rotation move that changes everything and makes them a you know significantly

Better team it can make an impact to change your identity I will say that for me in today’s NBA I’ve been on this for several years I think perimeter containment point of attack defense has been so underrated and if you give me Austin Reeves and D’Angelo Russell as

Your starting back court defensively I just don’t buy it I I just look at that and I say there there’s a low ceiling defensively on what you can be in a playoff series when your point of attack defense is those two guys so that’s why I’m a little bit skeptical all right any

Other notes on this game or should we move on to the next one let’s move on we got too much to cover let’s get to the next one all right let’s get move on to the next one but first we’ll take our first break here and tell you about our

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Expire 168 hours after issuance see dk.com basketball for eligibility and deposit restrictions terms and responsible gaming resources all right back here at segment two on the lnba show throw us a like if you’re enjoying the show uh the Nets and the Heat legs we just talked yesterday

Every game every game’s 130 to 135 there’s no defense in the NBA these teams are running up the score shooting threes well we got a change of pace game last night an overtime game where neither team reached 100 points go figure this one went to overtime and it

Was just a grind out all the way through 96 95 Nets what did you see in this one well first if you if you missed it and you know you’re listening to what Adam just said keep it in mind the Miami Heat scored 31 points in the first half and

They won this game so this will this will kind of tell you how this went look and yeah some of it was these both of these teams you you know you don’t you don’t hold teams to 31 points or you know and maybe some nights you’re holding them to

It some nights that’s just their ineptitude offensively I think it’s a combination of both when it’s that bad but I did they were playing hard offense wasn’t great they combin these two teams for 20 for 86 from the three-point line for the game okay so this this this was

A a good oldfashioned Eastern Conference sort of brawl slugfest Miami 31 at the half and you’re going well how in the world are they gonna find a way when they looked like they had dead legs they just didn’t look like anybody really had any kind of Rhythm how do you get back

In the game how do you win the game really it was Tyler Hero’s third quarter Tyler herro comes out of the locker room and he has such bounce in his legs um gets a couple threes to go early and then he had some floaters and he had the

Whole bag of tricks working in the third quarter to get them into a one possession game down the stretch okay so now let’s just talk about kind of how this game is closed out one of the things that stood out to me ad I’m a lot I’ll start with the

Nets I’ve talked about Mel Bridges how much I love Mel Bridges but Mel Bridges can’t be your best offensive player and you’re a team that’s really playing for anything important he just isn’t on that level and I thought it was telling last night and I know cam Thomas is is a

Massive bucket getter right the guy could flat out score there were stretches in this game in the fourth quarter when you’re in a onep possession game either way I mean it’s tight every single trip matters and they were going to cam Thomas over and over and over

With Mel Bridges on the court and it told me a lot and it kind of backs up my point about that I wish Mel Bridges was the third best player on just about any of the top six eight teams in this league you’re you got a great chance to

Win a championship if that’s the case but cam Thomas shot them out of the game I mean and look it happens with guys some nights like that you know that’s what they’re on the floor to do they’ve never seen one they didn’t like they always think they’re hot they always

Think they’re open and I thought his shot selection and just in general the way he played offensively did not give the Nets a chance to close out this game and he was doing it while male Bridges was on the floor with him so it was kind

Of a strange thing and a strange way for them to end this game but it it really allowed Miami to to steal a game on a night in which they flat out just did not have it offensively Eric spoler the heat will take this any night of the

Week because I’m telling you right now Eric spoler at halftime is not thinking that he can win this game they just didn’t look like they had any energy and nobody was in Rhythm and you’re D digging out of a double digit deficit um on the road I don’t think SP I thought

They had a chance Tyler herro gave them life and then they were smarter and better in the big moments and big possessions down the stretch I want to go to Miami in just one second but I want to tie a bow on Brooklyn Nets real

Quick which is to say that 20 shots for cam Thomas and 23 for Mel Bridges that’s 43 shots out of 99 nearly half of the shots came from those two guys and I think when you look at it I’m I’m with you Cam Thomas man he takes some wild

Shots man that guy the the shot he had to try to win the game in regulation was just I mean he missed the rim he hit the far side of the backboard um and that was the shot he chose he kind of dribbled the air out waiting for the

Clock to wind down and then took that one but I just look at it and I go where should they be going with their offense I think maybe Spencer Den witty ball in his hands a little bit more try to give him more freedom but it just seems like

They don’t have guys that they TR maybe they’ve wrongfully segued into this team that plays through cam Thomas and Mel Bridges as much as they do because 20 shots is a lot for anybody but for both of them to get 20 shots and everybody else to be around five six that just

Tells me the shot profile is off I think that’s a great point I also agree with your point about Spencer dwit he only played 20 minutes in the game and and look Spencer deny is a guy that absolutely you know can run a team and deliver the ball and he can score on

His own if if if that’s what it calls for in a given situation they actually had cam Thomas like handling the ball a lot bringing the ball up the floor a lot to initiate it and you’re running a risk then that no one else is gonna touch it

If that’s the case because look there are kns there’s no doubt and he gets rolling he he can fill it up when he gets hot just about as well as anyone in this entire league that’s how good of a scorer he is but when you’re asking him

To to sort of Bring It Up read situations and and make the best play that’s not that’s not a winning formula offensively and I just thought that the Nets you know completely bogged down 19 points in the fourth quarter um this this this that was their own undoing and

Miami decided hey if you’re gonna let us stick around we’re gonna go ahead and get one and they did I I thought I like I said earlier I thought Tyler hero was Sensational Jimmy Butler basically controlled the game on the big moments from the foul line just repeatedly getting to the mid-range up

Fakes getting guys to jump jumping into them coming to a jump stop at the basket on a drive bump pump faking getting guys to bite and then leaning into him he’s as good as anybody in the league at that uh he goes 15 for 16 from the line so it

Was really a Twan show offensively for the most part um in Tyler hero and Jimmy Butler and and because they were playing the Nets they were able to get away with it just about any other team probably outside of the Pistons and the Wizards in the Eastern Conference if the Heat

Play the way that they did last night offens they lose the game and Brooklyn I thought GNA help them but hey sometimes you gotta win games like that Adam in in this league and and it reminds you of how tough the heat are and and why that they probably haven’t gotten enough

Attention this year as somebody that really is in the mix in the Eastern Conference I I mean I have a feeling if the season goes the way it’s been going I’m going to be picking I’m going to be pretty bold on the heat I’m not letting

Them sneak up on me like they did last year because is there a team legs in the NBA more comfortable in a 9695 game than the Miami even this one as I’m watching it because this was another one where I watched after the game was over I go

Back and and and I’m watching it so I know the outcome and it was another one of those games where you’re like okay so the heat are gonna win this thing they’re gonna pull this one out and even down to the stretch you talk about Brooklyn Miami was having a hard time

Scoring Tyler Tyler hero did hit some big time shots and key moments he came up real clutch we’ll talk about him in a second but the last play Miami Jimmy Butler gets the ball and he drives uh left he drives down the left from the wing and Dennis Smith Jr just reaches in

And fouls him and I’m sitting here thinking Miami’s not scoring don’t give them free throws make them make a jumper and if you and you got to tip your cap jimby did what he did though which is put pressure on you and and made him think twice and he fouled him but my

That’s my thought with this Miami Heat team is that they seem to know like okay we didn’t score on our end we’re definitely getting a stop now and that’s what that overtime was they’re down five and they just said they’re not scoring again whatever happens we’re just going

To hold our own and you’re gonna have to beat us by getting stops yeah as soon as um overtime starts Brooklyn comes out they get Five Points immediately to jump off three and you know he’s kind of gesturing to the crowd plays erupts and it looks like based on

The way the KN went you’re kind of like wow how’s Miami even going to get Five Points here in the rest of overtime like that’s that’s a big deficit um and yet you’re right they never they never you never feel like when you watch the Heat you never feel like they’re they’re

They’re out of it no matter how they’re playing um it’s and it’s always a testament to spoler it’s a testament to just the collectively the group I think Jimmy Butler’s leadership goes a long way with that too because he just keeps coming at you even on nights that he

Doesn’t play well offensively or shoot well he’s still a problem if the game is close because of his ability to draw fouls his ability to make mid-range shots uh and so they you know look they didn’t Panic uh and and they come back and and Tyler herro I thought you know

Was the guy really again hits a huge three down five to cut it to two with a minute and a half left you know he misses that shot and Brooklyn secures that rebound I don’t think Miami wins the game right that’s that’s the one and and you can always find those those

Shots that aren’t necessarily in the last 30 seconds of the game you’re two minutes out in in one of those games that’s a five-point game a seven-point game and some somebody delivers with a three you’re like man if that doesn’t go in it’s it’s lights out and Miami might

Even at that point be like yeah Brooklyn scores one more time the game’s over herro hits the three it’s a two-point game now they’re digging in again defensively like okay we’re right we’re right there again and they’re able to make the plays down the stretch and and

Uh and Jimmy Butler with the big free throws at the end of the game to win it so they didn’t have Tyler hero last year and they make a run to the finals how does he change their G their team for better and For Worse biggest thing he gives them is a

First of all another guy that you can trust with the ball in his hands to handle the ball in traffic on the perimeter and you trust him and he’s going to escape and get out of a dicey situation and and if that means moving it to the other side of the floor he’ll

Hold on to it long enough to do that with his dribble or he’s creative enough to come off snake dribble get in a gap and and get down into the lane and shoot a little floater a mid-range shot if that’s what it takes so to have another

Guy that’s what they really missed not having him who is going to be a threat as a ball handler because that’s that’s really if you looked at their team it wasn’t going to be Kyle Lowry I mean you know he was you know his age and injury uncertainty you never know with Kyle

Lowry at this stage of his career what you’re going to get other than effort you had Jimmy Butler beyond that you had guys that just W you know really catch and shoot three-point Shooters mainly nobody that could really take the basketball and and have a counter to

Good defense and keeping his dribble Al to get to the other side of the floor and and keep the keep the offensive flow moving on that possession that’s really what Tyler hero does for them and he’s a he’s a guy that I think for the most

Part does like the big moment He’s Not Gon he’s not going to shy away from that he likes those spots um with the ball in his hands you feel confident when Tyler herro has it in an important moment so that’s he gives them a lot of confidence

And mainly he gives him another ball handler that can that can handle the ball against good defensive players they lost some of their out offensive output you know Max stru you know they they’ve lost some of their guys Vincent but so I wonder if he makes up for just what they

Lost but I also wonder if you know you’re gonna have to play Boston in the playoffs you’re gonna have to play Milwaukee is Tyler herro gonna be a mark against those types of guys the Jason tatums and the and and those types is he gonna weigh them down from what they did

Defensively last year that’s fair I think he you know that is definitely a place that you go to Target and look Boston has three different guys on the well four if you count Derk white but really when I’m talking about just winning flat out winning a one-on-one

With Tatum Brown and then Drew holiday he’s gonna do it differently than Tatum and brown he’s not gonna you know put you to sleep with it with you know four or five Crossovers and go to a step back or blow by you he’s gonna just basically

Turn his back and muscle you into the paint so they’ve got multiple guys that can attack a guy like Tyler herro defensively but my Miami has also had a lot of success over the years playing Zone against the Boston Celtics and one of their biggest issues Boston has had

Against them they do not do a very good job of putting people in the two spots against the zone you have to which is middle of the foul line area and then short Baseline those are the two places the ball has to go against his zone

Defense most teams don’t do a very good job of it because they don’t practice zone offense enough right and and Eric spoler has taken advantage of that against Boston in particular to protect guys like Tyler herro to protect Duncan Robinson to protect them you go zone for longer stretches and it’s been effective

Against the Celtics in the past if we get that series Miami versus Boston we might get both teams going Zone which would be very interesting I don’t know if we’ve seen a series where both teams that’s their primary defensive weapon when their best lineups but we might get

It there the last note I have on Miami is that it seems like this this year they have been going to Bam atab bio more for offensive creation not just as the fulcrum I mean they’ll play through him at the elbows and run off of him but

They’ll give him ISO touches and I thought last night I mean he’s had some very big games in the last two weeks or so where they’ve gone to him in clutch situations and he’s come up big I thought last night was one where you saw that that’s a work in progress he had

Some really ugly possessions late in the fourth quarter and overtime where they went to him to create the double would come and he wouldn’t read it or the double would come late he Wast too much time and he finds himself falling away on the Baseline so I just that was my

Noce it seems like they they see that they are deficient offensively and Bam is the guy they look to to say okay can we raise his ability up a little bit so we could play through him more as a scorer yeah and that’s what what when

When bam started to sort of come into his own right and became you know an an All-Star caliber player it was really that that’s what we were noticing we always knew he played hard he he always was a really good very versatile defensive player for a bigart vers and

His energy was there but what really started to we started to notice was man it’s what a luxury to have a guy as your Center that can get it off the glass bring it up and he can actually initiate your offense he’s gonna make good decisions so you’re right but I think

It’s kind of peaked out so it it it’s not going to continue to evolve I think we kind of know what bamat is and look last night he had a miserable offensive night but but one of the reasons that the heat are who they are guy has a

Terrible offensive night he goes and gets 20 rebounds you know and had I don’t know countless number of of contests at The Rim on some of these Drives By Bridges or Cam Thomas who are trying to get there and finish and Bam is back there you know retreating from

The three-point line all the way to the rim to get a contest on guys and bothering people and altering it and also collects 18 defensive rebounds you know so that’s why you love the heat that’s why you love a guy like bam he had a bad night but he was still able to

Affect the game with his energy and his defense and his rebounding well legs that nobody scored 100 in that game so let’s go to another game where nobody scored a 100 the magic get the win in the garden 98 to 94 no overtime in this game so this game was actually a better

Scoring game than the last one uh but this one no jayen Brunson the Vagner brothers were out for Orlando so it was a little bit of a short-handed uh game my big note from this one Jaylen Brunson might be if you tiered off who’s most important to their team success jayen

Brunson might be the outlier name like you say joic you know embiid you go to the big names jayen brunson’s a great player but the Knicks have no idea what to do in the clutch when he’s not on the courter they had 16 points in the fourth

Quarter they should have won this game but only they got outscored 25 to 16 in the fourth quarter and it was kind of uglier than that down the stretch you get a lot of Julius Randall um and and just weren’t getting a shots and on the other end poo banero the magic are

Getting their guys back you got Wendell Carter was back you got Marquel folz playing Jonathan Isaac has been back for two games now they’re starting to look like the team they were earlier in the season a team that has a lot of these different guys and they just looked

Fresher but they also not a team that has been great in the clutch this year poo banero was clutch and the Knicks just couldn’t get a clean possession the last five minutes well I love your point about Brunson because it’s so true like you know and the Knicks the Knicks you

Look they’re they’re they’re legit I mean they’re they’re they’re going to be a solid playoff team they’re going to be I think give anybody fits in a seven game series when you look at all the other teams that we would describe in that way typically all of them have a

Second guy that can go be a dominant offensive force with the ball in his hands like right off the bat and go get a 35 40 point game on a given night and also have the ball most of the game not just somebody you’re throwing a ball to

And OPP post or whatever right and they don’t they don’t because the next guy talking about is Julius Randall and that’s not Julius rand’s not GNA be able to do that he he can have a big scoring night he’s not going to beat you in all

The ways you have to as a dominant offensive Force controlling the ball even if joic goes down we saw what Jamal Murray’s capable of in the bubble you know what Jamaal Murray could do on a night like that if he had to go dial it

Up and try to go get 3540 to keep you in a game and also be running the team he could do something like that Celtics have multiple guys like that Phoenix does the Lakers do like everybody’s got him the Knicks don’t and and so you see on a night even when Orlando is

Short-handed you think this might be a game you know playing at home maybe you can get by with those two guys out particularly fron AER because he he handles the ball more than anybody on that team and instead they you know end up with 94 points because they just

Don’t have a way they have no one that is that big of a threat and it was pretty obvious just looking at the box score I didn’t get to catch a lot of this game but I think that’s a very you know good way to put it the way you sum

Them up and why they’ve got problems if jayen runs not 100% going into a playoff series and Knicks are in big trouble he’s missed a couple now so we’ll see when he comes back it’s a shin I believe a shin injury so hopefully not too long

But the other the story for me for this game is the other side the Orlando Magic have been short-handed for for most of the season with different injuries of course Jonathan Isaac a guy that’s been in and out for his whole career I love that dude he is such an impressive

Defensive play I mean he’s never healthy but you watch him guard I mean Julius Randall 15 points on 18 shots last night one reason for that was that J the minutes Jonathan Isaac stuck on him and just did a great job but they have a lot of guys between their bench Isaac

Wendell Carter Carter Jr Marquel Foltz who was good in key moments in the fourth quarter Cole Anthony Joe Engles that’s five guys and I like all of them and by the way they didn’t even have Mo Vagner or fron Vagner which makes their bench even more uh deep so I think this

Magic team has fallen a little bit in the standings over the last month they’ve had some injuries they’ve had a t a condensed schedule but I look at them and I go they have a lot of guys that I just like and while they’re not a coherent team and that they cover all

Bases they do have waves to throw at you so much so that there are rumors now that Wendell Carter and Marquel folz are being shopped in the trade market so do you agree with me that they have that they run 10 11 12 deep of players that

You go oh that’s interesting and that they can afford to move on from some of their money their future money and fols and Wendell Carter definitely and they definitely can forward to move on from those guys and I actually think for some for a lot of teams Wendall Carter might

Be more interesting than Marquel folz is I I just think on this team fults becomes Expendable because you have five different guards or more that you play that are all sort of similar none of them are natural lead guards none of them are natural offg guards they’re all

Sort of this hybrid type of guy that on you know and that’s why on a given night you know probably three of those guys get double figures and but it might be a different three every night because they’re all going to play 20 plus minutes none of them are fall into

Either category and so I think when you look at fults and you look at what else they have he becomes Expendable to them and wend Carter with with with some of the bigs that they have and the minutes that are gobbled up by some of the bigs

That they have it’s very difficult for wend Carter to get consistent minutes but I think he fits in today’s NBA with his ability to step out shoot the basketball um I think wend Carter might be more attractive even on the on the marketplace than Marquel fult is going

To be but there’s no doubt they’ve got a plethora of depth at both of those things so maybe they find a piece out there that they think fits better with what they have to sort of elevate themselves rather than just being a really interesting team that’s most

Likely going to be a playin or first round loser in five games to one of those top teams find a piece that makes them more interesting because they’ve got a bunch of guys I think that are very similar in what they do and they’re they’re going to probably move on from a

Couple of them I think shooting um is a big piece for them like they need to add some spacing around you know I wonder if a guy like uh like Zack LaVine would be interesting there I I’m just thinking this off the top of my head is that a

Guy that you would be intrigued if you added him to banero Suggs Vagner core definitely but I don’t think they have anything that the Bulls will be interested in that level for a guy like Zack line I I don’t think there’s that’s that’s not what we’re talking about yeah

There’s no doubt I would love to see them get another scoring wing with more length that shoot the basketball that that’s probably what they should be targeting um and that would be interesting if you added another Elite level like a 20 point score in this league that’s on the wing and shoots

More threes at a higher rate that would be very interesting then to go with Vagner and Bono and what they already have last game we’re going to get to in depth New Orleans and Dallas Dallas gets the win these two teams played two games

In a row one of them New Orleans set you know their core guys Zion Brandon Ingram and they picked up the win over Dallas and this one they played their guys and they take a loss Dallas gets the win 125 to 120 and the story is two 40o scores

Kyrie not Luca who is still out but Tim Hardaway who goes nine of 15 from three so what stood out to you about this one uh couple things Hardway Sensational and he’s been on he’s been red hot lately so you know he him giving them that that obviously he’s not going to be

Do scoring 40 points when Luca comes back but to be a guy that is got that kind of Firepower to go alongside the two of them that’s why Dallas you know continues to be so interesting Kyrie was Sensational he reminds you that when he’s playing like this and it’s just his

Ball his show he’s got you rarely find Adam on a given night any player in this league score as many different ways as Kyrie Irving scored in this game he had catch and shoot threes he had threes off of Just ball screen coming off defender

Back pull it up he he had threes where he comes off they play it right he is able to split it Circle back around and then shoot a step back three so it’s all done off the dribble he has he had mid-range floaters of course he’s one of

The best finishing small guards this League’s ever seen so he had he had Elite level finishes switching hands at The Rim he got to the line when he needed to he’s just so electrifying and so talented offensively it’s so fun to watch him when he’s playing the way that

He was last night you know Maxi Moxy CLE is back now he didn’t play a lot last night but he he has a presence man about him he’s so smart he comes up with timely plays offensive rebounding was a big part of this game down the stretch Dallas getting themselves some Second

Chances when they had to have it um I just thought this was a game in which you saw uh the level that Kyrie Irving can still play at when he needs to play at it and it makes you think does anybody really want to play a team with

Luca donet and Kyrie Irving in a seven game series and and then just give me one other guy that can space the floor and knock down threes at a high rate and that’s what Hardaway is giving them right now they’ve got more guys to do it

Too but Hardaway is giving them that at Elite level right now this is a super entertaining game that Dallas was down in the fourth quarter made their run basically from the three-point line Kyrie and a couple other guys chipping in green hit a huge one Grant Williams

Hit a big one um and they were able to get the lead and then hold on to it late and also one one last point on this free throw shooting for New Orleans and Zion Williamson I wonder if this is gonna continue to be an issue yeah for them

Right you’re talking a God it’s like 60s and late in the game Dallas is Dallas has a two-point lead and they get the ball into Zion New Orleans gets the ball into Zion from his side out of bounds and Moxy CA runs out of fouls him right away grabs him and

Talk about inside of 30 seconds to play you’re sending a guy to the line down two who’s an All-Star that’s how much Faith Dallas had that he would miss one of those two freet thros and he did he did and he did Y and it was it was an

Interesting strategy for a star player and it’s just something that made me think like wow is this something that teams might do more often on Zion if you get into that situation the other thing I think about with this one I mean this one went the

Way you would expect with if you just looked at these two teams Dallas loves to shoot the three well they outscored the pels 54 to 21 from three the pels live in the paint they outscored the MTH 60 to 34 in the paint so there was a paint versus threes matchup that went

The way you would expect but what I I don’t think these teams will match up in a playoffs just because one of them would have to climb to the four the other to the five I don’t think that’s going to happen but the same way we talked about the Thunder and Lakers are

Interesting and that one team is clearly better but it’s just might be aad bad matchup Valen chunis minus 22 in this game and unlike Anthony Davis he’s not a big that they play through enough to Warrant him playing there and then he’s going to have to be out in the perimeter

Guarding spread pick and roll with five Shooters and that’s obviously not something he suited to do you don’t want to do Zion in that spot either I think he’s also bad so that’s one where I look at and I say the pels are a big team

That have a big front Court that’s a little bit slow but they pound you inside Dallas loves to go against that type and I just wonder if this is one of those ones where Dallas likes this matchup against their slower bigs yeah I I mean certainly when you have when you

Have a couple of guys that are this good and getting what they want when they come off a ball screen and getting any sort of switch or any sort of big that’s not in proper position or slow-footed they’re going to destroy them so yeah I think that that that probably is true

About them and I you Dallas in this game is pretty high-scoring game but I was actually really impressed also with Dallas’s scrappiness defensively when they have had to have it to dig back in this game and some of it was Kyrie Irving and look you’re never going to

Hear me L Kyrie Irving’s defense because it’s it’s sort of spotty he picks and chooses he had some really big plays in this game in the fourth quarter defensively a strip when it was a three-on-one break and he’s the only guy back and he gets a clean strip and a

Steal that leads to something going the other way he has couple really good uh possessions where he stayed in front of CJ McCollum and and timed his contest perfectly to just enough to where you can tell it affected CJ mccollum’s release on a jump shot uh kba Lively

Green these guys were battl and Grant Williams they were scrapping in the paint man to come up with loose balls when they had to have it to give themselves a chance for their offense you know to have some shot making where they could take control of this game I

Was really impressed with the way Dallas played because New Orleans has been playing great you know for for quite a stretch now and they had everybody out there and they played well offensively and it still wasn’t enough to beat Dallas without Luca I thought that was a

Big statement for Dallas last night it definitely was well that was the games last night we not going to get to Golden State they play Wednesday against Utah well I’m guessing on Thursday’s show we’ll start to talk about Draymond Green and the Warriors we’ve been waiting for

His return he returned last night but instead we’re going to turn our attention now to tonight because there are two Marquee match up there’s actually three games tonight two of them on TNT one of them on league pass and all three of them are great but we’re

Going to start with the first game which is the nuggets at the 76ers the nuggets have listed their entire starting lineup as questionable for tonight although I expect them to play but I think it’s kind of funny a little troll job perhaps um but this one to me is a big matchup

For a number of reasons one yic embiid always a big story to see how these guys go head-to-head but it’s also a big matchup now because you have a Murray Maxi piece of this Kentucky point guards you know it becomes a Duo vers Duo match up for the first time that I can

Remember kind of feeling that way and also just a measuring tick stick game against two teams that nuggets 28 and 13 76ers 25 and 13 so what are you looking for in this game and and are you as excited as I am for it yeah I I am

Excited about it and and I’m glad ID made it back in time for this and his first game back he had a pretty easy 41 yeah and he had what is it now he’s 16 straight 30 and T I mean yeah the dude the dude’s production and and we you

Know he had not just become I think the front runner for MVP when he got hurt I think he was like had a comfortable gap between himself and anybody else and and we we’ve talked about there being more guys in the mix right now maybe that

Could get a vote but embiid was firmly in control and it was gonna take either a longterm injury that Sixers for whatever reason just start not playing well and losing games right or he didn’t play well for a stret I don’t see any three of those things happening except

For maybe the injury thing because you’re worried about this knee and the swelling comes back gets one under his belt I’m glad he got that game in it looks like he’s going to play in this game so clearly that’s what you want to see is the matchup and the difference in

Styles between the two players because jic most likely is not going to match embiid’s point production and embiid has to do that for Philadelphia to win he just has to they don’t have enough other guys to generate the offense and the ball doesn’t move in that way so he’s

Probably going to get you know north of 30 probably north of 35 in this game he might even out rebound Nika yic it’ll you know maybe not be close the key is what joic does in the way he is orchestrating their offensive possessions and how important he is to

What they’re doing and the flow and moving and how he can beat you for four or five minutes without shooting the ball that’s something that that’s not really embiid strength he’s gotten better at it so I’m looking at these two guys contrast contrasting in Styles and how they dominate the game differently

And how it affects their team these are two teams that you know listen nuggets have a great shot to get to the finals or repeat there’s no doubt they’re in a very short list of teams that can win the whole thing I don’t know if you believe Philly could we talked yesterday

About teams that you’d be shocked if they won it all and and we didn’t put Philly in that category or you didn’t put Phil you didn’t put Philly in that category said I still kind of would be I I think I still would be surprised if Philly made it through Milwaukee and

Boston and got through both of those teams but and be and Maxi man they give you a chance that you know that maybe where is where it ends up so to see these two teams uh at full strength with with the two dominant bigs in this game

Going head-to-head what more can you ask for man I’m just so glad embid made it back in time for this game this will also be a matchup between two of the best fiveman lineups that you’re going to see in the NBA Denver’s which we know has been this way now for a

Couple of years with Jamal Maria and Nika yic Gordon Pope and uh Michael Porter that’s a heck of a fiveman lineup they have a plus 16.5 net rating in the most minutes of any fiveman lineup 459 so that’s a really good lineup but Philadelphia has both their starting

Lineup as well as the staggered one that features Tobias Harris Anthony Melton and Nick Batum that uh has been absolutely wrecking so I like it because like I said there’s a head-to-head matchup There’s A Duos matchup and there’s also a fiveman lineup matchup so I think that that’s that’s why I’m so

Excited for this one do you have a prediction for this game Let’s assume everybody goes and that this nugget starters being questionable is all a ruse do you uh how do you see this game going oh man it’s tough when to pick a it’s tough to pick a winner when two

Teams I think are like you know on this tier who knows I’ll go with Philly because they’re at home and I think that I think this is an important game for Philadelphia um and how they’re going to view themselves going forward and how we view them I think it’s an important game

I think Tobias Harris is my exactor for the game um I kind of feel comfortable now with what I’m getting at and beat in Maxi pretty much every night Harris is the guy that can fluctuate but at the end of the day he’s he gets maligned a

Lot when they don’t play well or they lose or he has a bad night it’s amazing the way criticism gets heaped on Tobias Harris you look up this guy’s had nine years in the league nine that he has averaged 17 or more points a game I mean

This guy’s been doing this for a long time and he shoots he shoots like around you know anywhere from 47 to 51% basically every year so he does it efficiently he is just had some moments where he did not play well in a spotlight game whether it was a regular

Season game or it was a big spot in a playoff series Series so that’s why I think the criticism goes too far the other way when he doesn’t play well or he’s just average I’m looking at Tobias Harris in this game too and and let’s

See if you know we’re not we don’t have a show tomorrow but we maybe we’ll touch on this game on Thursday because we’re not gonna get a chance to comment on it tomorrow I’m curious to see the impact that he has because when Tobias Harris is aggressive in getting touches early

In the clock and he’s like in Rhythm and confident that’s when Philly looks like a team that could legitimately make a run all the way to the finals and so I’m looking at Tobias Harris in this game and his match up with with Aaron Gordon

To a large extent yeah last year if you remember the Nuggets were comfortably in the lead I think up 15 at half 15 halfway through the third quarter they switched um PJ Tucker on to yic and used joic and used Joel embiid on Aaron Gordon and that they made a huge run in

The Final 14 minutes of that game to take over and and to get the win they don’t really have an option there you know they don’t have a guy I don’t think they’re not going to put Batum they’re not going to put UB or any Tobias Harris

Any of those guys I don’t think can handle yic the way PJ Tucker is just used to going up against bigger B so I’m curious to see if uh you know how this game unfolds similar or different from last year’s game the other game that’s oh by the way Denver plays at

Philadelphia today and then on Friday at Boston Denver has been it’s weird to say under the radar a little bit Murray was hurt for half the year or this or that you get those two games if you win both of those I think Denver gets front page

Treat again if you win both of those of the two East Coast trip um the other game on TNT tonight the Thunder are at the Clippers so the Thunder have the backtack in La matchup the Clippers I think this is a great match up these two teams are always going to be linked

Together because of that Paul George shil just Alexander trade I think we’re always gonna think of them you know connected at least during this era but I love this matchup too because this is another one that you could see being a playoff first round or second round

Matchup so what do you expect from this one yeah this is a great three- game slate man I’m interested in all three of these games so I I will be I’ll be watching all of these start to finish um you know get the DVR out because the king’s Sons Thunder Clippers are going

To overlap each other and and even nugget Sixers a little bit so because of these start times but I’m just glad on a night with only three that you don’t have a couple of Duds these all three of these should be great look the CLI for me it’s it’s it’s really about the

Clippers I I know with the Thunder are I know exactly who they are I don’t know that the Thunder are ready to make the leap this year to where you could Envision them in the Conference Finals or finals I really like their team I think they need a little bit more

Seasoning and they might even need to add a little bit of depth to their bench uh but I know what they are the the Clippers are the team that right now the way they played over the last month if they put together a super clean game against Oklahoma City and Kawai and Paul

George are dominant and their defense shows up at different times in the game you know they handle this I think that what you said said about Denver and their wins I think this is also one of those games for the Clippers man depending on how they handle Oklahoma

City and and being that there’s not a lot of other games to watch there’s gonna be a lot of eyeballs on this game um I’m really interest more interested in watching the Clippers in this game I think even in Oklahoma City because I need to see if I can really GNA get to

That point where I believe in the Clippers enough to think that wow this team might end up winning a championship this year the talent is there but you there it hasn’t been there every single night but man are they dangerous so I’m looking at that just these matchups man Shay against their guard

Play how how are they gonna guard kawi Leonard what impact does Chad have in a game like this I’m I’m fascinated in all of it I want to see Jay dub versus James Harden I’ve compared those two guys to each other so I’m kind of curious to see

The uh the remix version going up against the original and then lastly the Kings at the Suns I was just looking at the kings’ schedule they don’t have an impressive win really if you go back all the way until December 22nd when they beat the Suns and even then I’m not sure

How impressive of a win right now beating the Suns is uh maybe you have to go all the way back to December 14th where they beat Oklahoma City so they haven’t they’ve been beating up on some bad teams losing to the good ones tonight is a perfect matchup for them to

Take on the Phoenix Suns who are somewhat at this moment in between a good and bad team and you could say the same thing about the Suns this would be a good win for them to get against uh Sacramento so um is there anything have

Your eye on in this game yeah look you you said it about sack they’re 500 over the last month basically you know and and this you know this is a team that’s got on certain nights man when they get huming they look Unstoppable offensively and they’re seven and seven in their

Last 14 games so this is one of those games I think yeah again I’m I’m looking at Phoenix more so in this game than Sacramento okay Phoenix and the Clippers to me are the two teams that you just are the Absol abolute they don’t calling them wild cards atam doesn’t do it

Justice to how how much they could transform themselves into teams that you’re really looking at right as as as maybe potentially unseating Denver in the Western Conference I’m looking at Phoenix every single night they play with those three guys and I’m trying to find the Rhythm and the flow I’m looking

At their role players do they have enough guys that can knock down three-point shots consistently playing off of those three guys are they good enough defensively this is a good game to see that against the team play super uptempo high Pace pressuring you up the floor does Phoenix have what it takes

Defensively to play with a team like that because that’s I think the biggest question mark about the Sun so that’s what I’m looking for in this one and the other thing about it right now the kings are in the 5c they’ve kind of been there

All year the suns are in the eight seed they’ve been down in that playin Zone all year but only two games separate them so this is one of those ones where the Suns and I know look teams are going to rise teams are going to fall we can’t

C watch the standings every single game but I do think there’d be a psychological boost to the Suns to be out of the play in even if it’s just temporarily just to kind of get your head above water for a second say of all the things guys in and out of the lineup

You know some disappointing losses of everything if the Suns can get to a five or six seed by the weekend right around the halfway point I just think psychologically would provide you a little bit of a boost to say all right from here on out we just have to stay

Around this Zone and we’re going to be okay do you do you agree with that or do teams have these sort of psychological benefits When You See yourself rise to a benchmark in the standings definitely and I think that’s absolutely the case with with the Phoenix Suns because

Number one they know that first of all they know that there’s a lot of people rooting for that to fail right they rooting for that situation to not work out because of the way it comes together these days that they become a villain because the way they they put it

Together so quickly with this level of talent at on their roster with be and Durant joining Booker so people are looking at doubt at every turn the body language we alluded to was not good there for a while it’s been significantly better since Bradley Beal came back it’s like they have this

Belief now that like we we have more Talent than anybody else we’re going to play and so yeah I do think it’s important for a team like this to generate so momentum even if it’s the middle of the season to sort of remove themselves from the doubt and from the

Up and downs where it’s just a grind of what you’re being asked every day by the media and all the guys that are following team it gets old so you just want to go on a run where everything becomes about Forward Thinking talk the conversation is about the damage you’re

About to do and how good you look rather than constantly asking what’s wrong or who’s not playing or or whatever it’s going to be an uncertain future you want to make it look as certain as possible so that the conversation becomes nothing but positive that is important to a team

Like Phoenix I I do believe that three Fant fantastic games I can’t wait for him tonight man and that nugget 76ers one just carries a little extra narrative to it um that’s always a little bit of fun and you know not that I think yoke wants another MVP I just

Don’t think he cares about those things but outplaying and beat tonight vaults him right back into that conversation I mean maybe even to the top of the list so it’s a narrative night in the NBA it’s a should be make for some fantastic games that I can’t wait to watch him

Legs another good start to the week two shows down let’s take a little break we’ll be back Thursday got it can’t wait to watch tonight everybody thanks so much for hanging out with us for the full hour today do us a favor hit that like button as you go out and don’t

Forget to subscribe on your phone Apple podcast or Spotify leave us at Fest star rating and review we’ll see you Thursday we all sitting like the mayor sh

The LA Lakers used a new (old) starting lineup to secure a crucial win against OKC Thunder. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets lost to the Miami Heat in overtime after a challenging game, which ended 96-95. The New York Knicks lost to the Orlando Magic by 4 points, with the final score being 98-94. The Knicks’ poor performance in the last quarter, where they were outscored 25-16, cost them the game as they failed to make any significant plays.

00:00 – Intro
01:40 – Thunder-Lakers notes
14:44 – Nets-Heat notes
15:12 – Miami Heat
30:03 – Magic-Knicks
30:20 – Jalen Brunson and Knicks struggles in the 4th
33:11 – Orlando Magic
36:58 – Pelicans-Mavericks notes
43:09 – Nuggets-76ers preview
50:32 – Clippers-Thunder preview
52:49 – Kings-Suns preview

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