Kevin Durant “unbelievable,” Suns beat Kings + Warriors biggest threat to Nuggets? | Hoops Tonight

Kevin Durant “unbelievable,” Suns beat Kings + Warriors biggest threat to Nuggets? | Hoops Tonight

All right welcome to Hoops tonight here at the volume happy Wednesday everybody hope all of you guys are having a great week really quick show this morning because we’re going to be going live again later tonight tonight we’re going live after the final buzzer of Warriors Clippers a big opportunity for the

Warriors to continue their positive momentum and now that we know Kawhi Leonard is out an an opportunity where it seems like a much more winnable game for them not obviously Less in the sense that they don’t get the challenge or really the benchmark test that we would

Hope to see from a full strength Clippers team but considering their predicament and the standings there’s no way to slice that other than as a good thing because it’s an opportunity for them to continue to gain gain ground specifically the Lakers and Warriors would both like to get out of that 9th

And 10th seed this year as they try to get into a situation where they have two opportunities to win a playin game or maybe get out of the playin game in general as we look down the stretch the Sacramento Kings are starting to lose some ground in the standings the Phoenix

Suns have a really tough schedule down the stretch of the season so a lot of room for jockeying in that position big night for the Warriors on that front later tonight but in this particular show we’re going to be talking about the Kings and the Suns who had another dog

Fight last night in the fourth quarter kind of an interesting chess match down the stretch as Frank vogle kind of towed the line between Kevin Durant at Center versus going big with USF nurkic took a little bit of a gamble that paid off at the end of the game we’re going to break

That game down from the perspective of both teams and then I have a half dozen or so mailbag questions from yesterday’s show that we’ll get to so quick show today back later tonight for Warriors Clippers and then I’ll probably add another one or two games to tonight’s instant

Reaction as well I’ll just take a look at uh uh the schedule tonight and we’ll kind of play by ear based on how the games go down all right before we get started you guys know the drill subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel mean a lot to me if you guys

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_ jlt for show announcements as well as film threads that I do from time to time in the mornings and last but not least keep dropping mailbag questions probably hit them a couple more times over the course of the allar break in the end of this week all right let’s talk some

Basketball it’s a really interesting fourth quarter between the Kings and the Suns last night so the Suns came out in a k at Center look now remember that was a look we didn’t see much at all in the beginning part of the season and it was

A Kings m match up was it like two weeks ago now three weeks ago I can’t remember how long ago it was but it was a Kings matchup a while back where the suns were down big late that kind of caused them to lean into KD at center for the first

Time saw a big positive result now it’s become something that they’ve used periotic ever since and so at the start of the fourth quarter was KD at Center look and specifically what Sacramento was doing which was causing them a lot of pro a lot of problems uh for the

King’s defense was they kept putting two on the ball specifically with Kevin Durant so whether whether it was an ISO at the top of the key or a ball screen they were double teaming KD and then from there the kings were or the suns were running really efficient four on

Threes out of it and getting really high quality shots even a couple of opportunities where the ball worked its way back to Kevin Durant got a wide open Catch and shoot three at the top of the key out of one of those double teams there was another Blitz where the ball

Got back to him on the right wing and he kind of pump faked ripped it through to the right rose up for a pullup 15f footer KD was like seven for 11 on pullup two-point shots this game he was just completely locked in had a big one

At the end of the shot clock there uh in the second half as well there was kind of a bailout possession where he got into the middle of the lane KD was just unbelievable in this particular game but he was picking them apart just by drawing a second Defender to the ball

And playing four on- three out of it and they quickly went up by 10 points pretty ugly stretch of King’s defense too which we’ll talk about here later on but the Kings do come back and take the lead they started not overreacting to the role man in the mid-range of those

Blitzing situations so again like a lot of times what’s happening is the uh uh the uh suns are looking to bring maybe someone like a uh like a uh like a Josh aoi into the ball screen right they’re trying to bring a lesser offensive player into the ball screen because of

The fact that he’s usually being guarded by the worst defensive player and so usually whoever’s got the ball is trying to pick on the worst defensive player on the floor by bringing him up into the ball screen so the kings are countering that by doubling and what’s happening is

An inferior offensive player is getting the ball right there in the middle of the floor and so when they were reacting to that that guy’s able to make a kickout pass and now the higher level offensive players are working within advantage and one of the things that kind of turn Sacramento’s fortunes there

In the middle of the fourth quarter was they finally started just not overreacting to that rle man and kind of letting him get downhill and it’s like got to take that little floater in the lane right you got to take that little mid-range jump shot or attack the basket

And actually get into the rim protector so that you can drop it off to the guy that’s in the dunker spot or whatever it may be having that sort of like uh willingness to score out of the short roll is vitally important and when that guy’s not willing to score that’s when

Things can kind of fall apart so it swings back towards Sacramento’s way they start to get some stops and on the other end of the floor sabonis comes back into the game sabonis was not in the game at the early P portion of the fourth quarter and sabona started

Bullying mismatches down low at the basket getting easy shots there sabonis was unbelievable in this game had 35 points 18 rebounds and 12 assists had nine offensive rebounds and the Kings actually won his minutes in this game by four points just an unbelievable sabonis game but at this down the stretch this

Is where the Frank vogle gamble came in so if you remember in the game that they played whatever it was three weeks ago or so when KD went to Center sabonis wasn’t as active attacking mismatches that was one of the biggest reasons why the Kings kind of lost control of that

Game well in the middle of this fourth quarter sabonis was much more active there and so Frank vogle has a decision to make he can either go back big and you know deal with some of the offensive limitations of that as well as the defensive limitations of that because

Nage can struggle as a pick and roll Defender from times from time to time but be more physically matched up with sabonis sabonis both in the post and on the glass or he can stay small and hope that the scoring kind of makes up for it

And so the call that goes with is he ends up bringing nurkic back into the game and ended up paying off in a big way because uh he made three huge defensive plays down the stretch of this game there’s a ball screen with dear and fox were uh come coming down the left

Side of the lane where Fox kind of stunted like he was going to throw a pass to sabonis and then he tried to sneak a little Lefty hook shot and nurkic knocked the ball away and when he knocked the ball away there was so little time on the shot clock that

Harrison Barnes basically had to throw up a prayer from like 35 ft on the left wing and he missed it so that basically generated a stop then there was another one where Malik monk was in the ball screen and uh coming down the right side

Of the lane line and nkuch kind of cut him off and as he was cutting off he funneled him along the Baseline Darren Fox was wide open at the top of the key and monk tried to whip this like one-arm pass to dear and Fox at the top of the

Key nkit just grabbed it just really really good defense containing the basketball and then getting the deflection on the kick out pass and then finally was a breakaway situation a fast break situation where nkuch was kind of trailing the play and he ended up making an extra effort and getting a block at

The Rim all three of those plays took place with less than four minutes left in a one possession game and it’s kind of an interesting example of defensive reputation versus reality because like what happens a lot of times is like a narrative forms around a player and

We’ve just decided that guy’s a bad defensive player when a lot of times there’s a difference between playing bad defense and being a bad defensive player and there are going to be certain matchups that nkit is really going to struggle against he struggled a lot in this game defensively and we’ve seen him

Get picked apart and pick and roll that was a specific issue that I’m sure Frank vogle had to weigh when he made that decision to put nurkic into the game but that doesn’t mean that Yousef nurkic is incapable of making defensive plays this goes across the board around the league

And this is why I always talk about how you can craft a CO defense around a player that has some limitations as long as you have defensive Personnel on the floor that can do some of the bigger more labor intensive jobs and as long as that player is willing to commit to the

Job that’s being asked of him and if you can craft for him a small achievable job and he engages himself in that job you can get positive defensive production this was a game where nurkic struggled defensively there’s a decision to make about nurkic as a defensive player and

Then he literally won the game he won the game making defensive plays it was a shootout going both ways uh Devin Booker hit I think three pull-up twos down the stretch that were massive shots Kevin Durant hit a big pull-up two one of the big things the Suns did late is they

Stopped going to pick and roll and they started like hunting ISO opportunities and then Devin Booker also took one in transition which was a good way to prevent that second Defender from coming over and there was a play where the Kings did double Devin Booker in a nice

And it left Royce O’Neal wide open on the left wing and he ended up making the big one of the biggest shots of the game there a three-point shot and that’s kind of an example like when you double one pass away in an ISO situation it’s you

Can kind of control who that guy is that’s open and ended up being a better shooter whereas when you bring a lesser offensive player into the ball screen to Target a lesser defensive player sometimes the guy that’s open ends up being a lesser offensive player so you

Got to see some more solid offensive process from Phoenix down the stretch but on the other end of to the floor like Darren Fox was cooking Malik monk had a little four-point flurry so was a lot of scoring in these three massive defensive plays from Yousef nurkin essentially ended up being the

Difference in the game so I just wanted to shout out Yousef nerkach because it’s just an example of that idea like one of the beautiful things about basketball is no matter what happens to you last time no matter what happens in the last game no matter what happens in the last

Season basketball gives you an opportunity to redeem yourself that is the be the most beautiful thing about the game D’Angelo Russell last year gets absolutely utterly humiliated by Bruce Brown for the world to see in the Western Conference Finals to the point where he’s removed from the rotation for

Uh essentially removed from the rotation at the end of the series like that that inspired him and he’s come back and now he’s playing the very best basketball of his career played so damn well that all of a sudden a bunch of Laker trade options didn’t necessarily make a ton of

Sense like that to to D’angelo Russell’s credit that’s that’s taking advantage of the beautiful opportunities that basketball presents yourself and that’s the thing like one of the biggest swing factors for the Suns this season is going to be Yousef nurkic on the defensive end will he be able to make

Enough plays will they be able to you know because like look at like what Nicole yic does for Denver just by being active with his hands and using his basketball brain to kind of perceive things as they’re unfolding in front of him he can be an impact defensive player

And I I thought that was just a really cool example of that last night one of my favorite things about the game of basketball I want to talk about Royce O’Neal real quick he I I he was big time down the stretch of this game he had a a a big

Steal on sabonis in the post ref fronted him and and and knocked the ball away had a couple other deflections in that fourth quarter stretch hit the biggest three of the game there on the left wing hit another three in the early fourth quarter during the run where the Suns

Went up by 10 where he saw herder uh uh kind of like trailing and not playing really good defense and Kevin Durant came up and set like a little brush screen and they the Kings botched the switch he just stepped into like a wide open pullup three at the top of the key

And made it he had a driving drove a close out out of the left corner and got a dunk like Roy on was just incredible in this particular game but like one of the things that I like about Roy in particular is he’s one of the best guys

In the league at defending with a lot of physicality and he does pick up more foul calls than your typical perimeter Defender but there’s an advantage with phys iic ality because like let’s say you get three or four fouls called on you in a game guys like that are

Actually committing dozens and dozens of fouls over the course of the game but it’s a gamesmanship thing in the sense that they’re good at doing it without getting called a good percentage of the time and where that becomes valuable is a lot of times especially with the uh

Suns perimeter group they can they can do some switching and Roy has the ability to guard a dear and fox guard a Malik monk he had some good ball denial possessions last night where he’s just preventing them from even getting their catches in the spots that they want that’s another area where physicality

Helps when you’re off the ball the refs allow you to use your hands more and so you can be handsy and kind of hold a player in place off the ball in a way that you can’t when you’re on the ball right but he can switch onto bigger

Stronger players because he brings so much physicality to the position and then just bringing like real high hands and ball pressure too that’s so important to disrupt those passing angles I thought he was a big time addition for the Suns and like you know it’s funny one of the big narratives

Around the deadline is like who’s a needle mover is this guy a needle mover like this guy is not a needle mover this isn’t really going to change their Championship aspirations and a lot of times when we take a look at that kind of stuff we zoom in on like just what

That specific player is good at and it’s like yeah like Royce O’Neal from a talent perspective isn’t some massive influx of talent but when you look at the Suns and what they’re good at and what they suck at he comes in bringing a specific type of player they did not

Have they did not have a guy that can contend in multiple different defensive ways whether it’s guarding guards ball denial off the ball ball pressure switching on to bigger wings and defending in the post help defense deflection situations like he can help in all these different ways while also

Being a plus offensive player while also being a player who’s not going to come with the the the lows that you get offens ly from from a Josh aogi right like that that’s that’s the difference and and what ends up happening is we so focus on this guy doesn’t have a ton of

Talent but even if you have this much talent in the big picture of the team if that much talent fits perfectly into a need that the team has it can make the entire package that much more you know Dependable on both ends of the floor and

So like I think a lot of times we we kind of underrate role players because we get so wrapped up in the talent and like to me Royce O’Neal made the Suns a lot better he’s a force multiplier playing alongside Superstars because he’s so good at the little things he

Makes the total package that much better he increases their chance to win chances to win the title end of story you have Kevin Durant in the late end of his prime you you you gotta you got to try to increase your chances they took a

Risk and it that kind of risk in my opinion like we play the results too much and so what ends up happening is like if the Suns happen to lose at some point along the way all of a sudden it becomes like oh well they wasted an

Asset or they did this or they did that and it’s like you only get one one one team out of the 30 teams wins the title it’s already a small chance and like I’m never going to to to criticize a team for pushing their chips in and trying to

Make that happen one other notes on note on the Suns Bradley Beal pulled up with a what appears to be a minor hamstring injury in the first quarter soft tissue stuff has always been an issue for both Bradley Beal and Devin Booker and one of the big things that’s allowed the Suns

To kind of get going here in the last month and a half has been Bradley Beal being consistently available and so good timing in the sense that it’s right before the All-Star break but hopefully that’s not too serious of an injury for Bradley Beal and hopefully can he can

Come back before too long so they can maintain this momentum on the Kings front lots of good in this game like I talked about earlier sabonis was an absolute wrecking ball that Phoenix couldn’t do anything with de Fox had 13 points in the fourth quarter he’s been

Going to this like left shoulder fade where he kind of turns his back to the basket and kind of backs you down and then just spins over that left shoulder into that short fade away hit a couple of those in the fourth quarter I like that kind of new addition to Daren Fox’s

Attack in the sense that like to me that’s more of like a bully ball playoff type of like Rock fight shot because you can protect the basketball easier that way he’s going to draw smaller quicker Defenders a lot of the time and he can

Get to a spot closer to the rim and like 10 12et from the rim that’s just a really high percentage shot for him so I thought that was interesting um Malik monk was great he had 22 points was really deliberate in the fourth quarter about making post feeds to demonus

Sabonis which like so many guards struggle with that where they want to run a ball screen and they want to make the kickout pass to the open three or the lob pass for the dunk and it’s like sometimes your job as the guard is to identify where your advantage is and get

The ball there and just was really deliberate about feeding sabonis in the post and it was generating offense it was just smart point guard play really during that middle of the fourth quarter stretch he also had a nice little uh scoring flurry over that stretch he had this ridiculous scoop shot over Yousef

Nkit and had a really uh uh uh sold a back door cut really well on Devin Booker just completely fooled him and got an easy shot at The Rim but every time the Kings lose it’s for the same reason they play shitty defense sloppy double teams in this game without the

Pressure that you need to disrupt the pass bad rotations bad Closeouts is the big one and this has been an issue forever for this team they allow teams to score 1.09 points per spot up possession that ranks 24th in the NBA when you look at the amount of perimeter

Speed they have that’s just that’s embarrassing for the level of athleticism they have on the perimeter they should be a better closeout team than they are they’re 25th in defending pick and roll they give up 1.03 points per possession and again they have good perimeter person out Tons of Speed

They’re the best defensive rebounding team in the league not just because of sabonis but because they have wings that like to crash which is so important with all the long rebounds that come from Miss threes they can be so much better than they are on the defensive end of the

Floor and it really breaks down in the numbers as like their main indicator of success when they give up 116 or more points they are 13 and 17 when they allow 115 or fewer they’re 17 and six when they allow 110 or fewer they are 12 and3 what happened when they beat the

Nuggets the other night they shut them down on the offensive end of the floor like like that is the primary driving force of their success they they’re actually not good enough to outscore people as we’ve seen when they get into these shootouts they typically lose and and that’s the thing like more

Often than not they’ve been mediocre this year and now for more than a month they’ve been pretty bad since January 12th the kings are s and n they are 10th uh they are the 10th uh worst record in the league over that span they’re 13th in offense 24th in

Defense some really lifeless losses in there too they got ran off the floor by the Pistons a week ago like like and again some of this is mid-season malays and I I always will cut teams a little bit more slack in that like December January February stretch of the

Season because you’re just going to have stretches where you like aren’t playing as hard as some of the other teams around the league right like that’s kind of part of the story and last year the kings were that team that were bringing that youthful exuberance to the table as

They were trying to make a playoff run but like I mean they still have a really high ceiling they just beat up the Nuggets they have like a half dozen super impressive wins this year where they just kick a good team’s ass like I I still think it’s in there but they

Really need to like I’ve talked about with a lot of these mediocre teams these last 25 games of the Season you got to put together a stretch of playoff quality basketball otherwise you’re going to run do a buzz saww when you get into the good teams for two weeks during

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Mailbag first question Jason said that the Clippers are fourth in his contenders but I remember him switching the Clippers with the bucks from four to three um you’re right I think I just misspoke yesterday I I do have the Clippers above the Bucks as of right now

Uh that said like all my Contender list is kind of in flux right now I’m going to be doing about this time next week actually sometime Monday Tuesday Wednesday I’m going to be doing a uh a video with San Vini where we dive into all the contenders and just kind of rank

Them and and go back and forth about that so whatever the contender list may or may not be at this point I plan on just like completely re-evaluating it when we get to that point and kind of putting teams into tears from there so uh look looking forward to that next

Week next question I agree with Jason that Rudy goar had a very impactful game yesterday but I have seen it far too often come playoff time tyo will make him functionally unplayable in defensive settings I think last night was just a one-off the Clippers will still beat

Minnesota in a seven game series so uh it’s hard to say like I I I do think that last night was or two nights ago I should say was a little bit like a one of those games where the scoreboard doesn’t really represent the gap between the two teams particularly it wasn’t the

Clippers best defensive effort and like the Timberwolves have a tendency to to fall apart offensively at the end of games and you know that’s one of those things where I think if the Clippers bring a different defensive level of intensity they contain the Wolves better which allows them to get out and

Transition more and avoid the set defense more and like I do think that these teams are pretty close and between the two if I had to pick one in a series I do lean slightly towards the Clippers uh that said like the Rudy goar thing is

Not the reason why like the Rudy goar narrative over the last five years is pretty unfair on him to be honest and honestly he’s directed towards the wrong side of the floor uh in Utah he was playing alongside really poor perimeter defense like Royce O’Neal was the one

Plus Defender that he was playing alongside most of the time whether it was Donovan Mitchell or Mike Conley or buan bonovich like it was a lot of and again Donovan Mitchell is having the best defensive season of his career now but he was not a very good defensive

Player in that stretch of his career and so more often than not when you’re the backline guy and the first guy is just getting toasted off the dribble you step up now the defense is in rotation and it doesn’t really matter uh if Rudy goar is

The best rim protector or one of the best Rim protectors in the league because the because he’s just not at The Rim anymore now he’s being pulled off onto some other player especially against a good driving kick team and that that more often than not was what caused them problems honestly any sort

Of legitimate criticism towards Rudy gobear as a playoff player centered on the offensive end of the floor his ability to he has a little bit of ston hands he can struggle to catch the ball and pick and roll finishing around the rim can be an adventure for him from

Time to time against a switching team he’s not the kind of guy that can go B to switch down low on the Block typically that was where a lot of his issues would arise in the past but one of the things that he did against the

Clippers in that game was like oh you switched and now kawai’s on him and he he’s he’s kind of uh there’s a Baseline Drive and he’s kind of relocating to where the charge circle is like well this time he caught it and he bodied Kawai and Rose up and dunked on it you

Know or being another big one for Rudy is just being super active on the offensive glass if you’re not catching and finishing around the rim if you’re struggling in these other ways if you can generate additional possessions or get putbacks that’s worth a ton offensively as well and like I do think

That Rudy’s made enough Improvement in those areas over the last few years that he’s at the least a a very positive player in the playoff setting I don’t see Rudy getting played off the floor that’s just not an issue that I’m concerned about for the Timberwolves next

Question what would Jason Tatum have to do to be the number one player on a championship team other than pullup three so the big one that I always talk about here is the physical imposition on the game and the example that I would use is the difference between let’s say

Joic versus embiid or like a LeBron versus a KD and I mean again KD is an amazing playoff player so I don’t want to undercut that but LeBron’s been a better playoff player than him in his career right and like and be’s an incredible player but joic has clearly

Been a better playoff player than him and like the thing is is if you really dig into it like embiid’s got more highlevel isolation crazy footwork from the mid-range and in in face up situation like that jab step jumper is nasty and he’s got all of this highle

Stuff from the perimeter and same goes for Kevin Durant but when you get into these super physical playoff environments when you’re fatigued and the defensive intensity goes up a level not just for the opponent but for you as well and now your legs are more tired

Than you used to be and now your Rhythm and timing and all your shots is different like when all that stuff changes a lot of times the more perimeter oriented stuff can kind of decrease in Effectiveness and so the guys that have the ability to actually be the person that’s better at

Absorbing those blows and so they fatigue less and they’re good at generating higher quality shots around the rim or maybe they get to the rim and generate really high quality shots from the perimeter that sort of thing just translates better especially when we get to the later rounds of the postseason

And like that to me is why you know like Nicole yic has been a more impactful playoff player embiid gets there the jump shot stops falling his Effectiveness tanks now obviously injuries have played a role there but that’s the basketball stuff that’s happening it’s the jumper that consistently fails him Nicole yic it’s

Like if the jumper going in great but he’s making all these hook shots and floaters and that’s that’s right by the basket and that just that it just has more resiliency as the level of intensity goes up and the same thing goes for LeBron like LeBron can just

Thrive in Rock fight basketball so on the Tatum front like that’s what I’m begging for from him Jason is one of the most gifted athletes that we have in the league like just go down the best players in the league like is he a more gifted athlete than LCA donic yeah

Luca’s best attribute is size and I don’t want to undercut him as an athlete but I think Tatum’s a better athlete uh if you factor in all of his tools strength length vertical athleticism all that stuff like side to side speed all that stuff right like is he a better

Athlete than Jimmy Butler yeah is he a better athlete than Paul George yeah like now that he has all this strength like he’s like he’s not as strong as kawhai and I think I’d probably take Kawai as an athlete over him overall in the playoffs but he’s pretty close to that

Level he has that capability to be deeply impactful in a physical environment I’m saying that I’d like to see him devote a ton of energy and attention towards physicality around the basket because that to me is going to be what carries him to the title one day being the biggest strongest athlete on

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Jason could you chat about the Spurs and wem’s 10 block triple double so obviously just by those of you guys who have been following the show for a while you know kind of the format and the format is we really zero in on the top

10 to 15 teams in the league and so I don’t spend a ton of time talking about the you know the the Pistons or the Wizards you know or or the Charlotte Hornets you know and the the San Antonio Spurs it’s just I devote my attention

Towards the top teams in the league and so I haven’t been following the Spurs super super closely but I’ve been following them somewhat and honestly the the biggest thing that’s changed with wemi over the course of the last like third of the season has been his efficiency just a shot selection has

Been way better and you’re starting to see him basically take a leap right before his ey before our eyes in the NBA but to put it simply like I think wem’s a few years away from being the best player in the world that’s the type of potential that he has and like we’re

Seeing stuff from him that we’ve just simply never seen before and like he’s doing all of this around the worst collection of ball handling I’ve ever seen on an NBA team I like Devon Vel he’s a good player but if you really take all of the Spurs ball handlers

Together that’s why I keep seeing these clips on Instagram of wemi being frustrated that he’s not getting the basketball it’s because he’s playing alongside a team that really struggles to kind of take advantage of what he’s great at and like they’re a sneaky team to keep an eye on for Trey young this

Summer if the the Hawks decide to rebuild and when they actually put some some some quality veterans around this guy that know how to play he’s going to be such an incredible Force multiplier for them I am so excited to cover wemi more closely in the future but obviously

Like this show is very heavy on like deep Dives on the best teams in the league we we cover every single playoff game and all the is and nose like we’re we’re dived we dive into the top of the league right and so the Spurs I I just

Think you know within the next couple years are just going to be in that mix and we’ll cover them more closely so I apologize to Spur Spurs fans that we haven’t been as intent on covering uh Wan yama’s rookie year but I promise the show is going to have a ton of wanyama

On it in the long run all right three more questions and we’re out of here with the Warriors having a shot to make the playoffs now I think that they are the team with the best chance to beat the Nuggets with joic having a hard time

Coming to the screen and how well Steph and clay shoot off screens I think it will give them open looks and open up the middle for kaminga and Wiggins to have driving Lanes so I’m really encouraged by the recent stretch of basketball from the Warriors but I don’t

Necessarily think they have a real shot to beat the Nuggets U just because the nuggets are in my opinion the best team in the league that doesn’t mean they don’t have a shot but I do want to dive into it a little bit so let’s let’s talk

About both sides of the four just for a second just kind of a loose little like initial impression of the matchup so specifically the idea of spacing Nicole yic out typically I would agree with you and ideally you need to have a team that can bring joic out to the level of the

Screen while having the amount of off ball talent to capitalize for the way that Denver likes to load up because one of the things that you’ll see the Nuggets do in a series against the Warriors is they’ll just defend pick and roll three on two they they will be like Jan kaminga

Shoot all the threes you want Andrew Wiggins shoot all the threes you want and there will be plays where they execute their you know uh one two3 on that four on three really fast and you get a back door lob for kaminga along the baseline or maybe a slot cut from

Wiggins along the wing but Jonathan kaminga you know he shot really really well during that hot streak he’s two for 10 on his last 10 threes and he’s only 32% on the season the playoff game plan for kaminga will be a short close out the playoff game plan for kaminga will

Be you can play off this guy to help elsewhere and the same goes for Andrew Wiggins and so while Steph is uniquely equipped to stretch Denver’s defense out at the point of attack they are not super well equipped on the weak side to take advantage of it and so that doesn’t

Mean they can’t do it but like they would just have to have their timing down so good on those back door cuts and Aaron Gordon’s going to be just camping under the basket basically that entire series like it’s just going to be it it’ll be a little bit of a tougher

Matchup because Denver’s defense is built to withstand teams that are very topheavy with Talent which the Warriors definitely qualify as on the other end of the floor I really like the matchup for the Warriors they have the unique ability to put a big strong wing and Andrew Wiggins on Jamal Murray while

Having one of the best options in the league to guard in Nicole yic and Draymond Green and so they have as good a chance as anybody in the league to you know with the Nuggets it’s always this delicate balance between guarding the yic Murray actions two on two versus

Sending an additional body where guys like Casey P Aon Gordon and Michael Porter Jr can kill you right and like to me you know it’s kind of like the one time we saw the Nuggets lose in the last two rounds last year was in the NBA Finals game two against the Heat what

Happened in that Series in that game it was Jimmy Butler and Bam just did an unbelievable job guarding the yic Murray Twan game and it’s like I think Wiggins and Draymond have that potential and so to kind of like to uh and then backside athleticism too just having a Jonathan

Kaminga on the weak side that can rotate around that’s real athleticism there like you know Steph and whether it’s Brandon pamy or clay at the two they have the ability from an IQ standpoint to rotate around and they can rebound like that that lineup’s been really gifted defensively so to kind of like

Put a bow on it like I would still pick the Nuggets they deserve to be the favorites in that matchup they’re the defending Champions I think they’re the best team in the league this year by a reasonable margin um but yeah of course the Warriors have a chance it would just

Come down to I think defensively they have as good a chance as anybody to slow down the Nuggets just because some of their higher end Personnel but on the other end of the floor is going to be the big one it’s will they be able to

Load up on step and will Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan kaminga in particular be able to consistently cause problems for them and and honestly matchups are a big one too because one of the things you’ll see is like who’s Aaron Gordon’s going to guard so Aaron one of the things that

The Warriors really like to do is to attack postup mismatches to begin possessions with Wiggins and kaminga in particular so let’s say uh uh you know uh Mike Malone goes we’re gonna put Aaron Gordon on Jonathan kaminga because he’s been one of the best young post players in the league this year we’re

Going to take him away well chances are you’re going to end up with a lot of possessions where Andrew Wiggins is being guarded by someone like a Michael Porter Jr right and like that’s a matchup that he can take advantage of he’s got a speed and athleticism

Advantage on him like Michael Porter Jr doesn’t move super well laterally and so maybe you can get Andrew Wiggins with some quick slot isos where he just rips through to the right and just uses his athleticism to beat Michael Porter Jr like every time we get into these playoff matchups there’s always every

Team brings different advantages to the table and you kind of lay them out and you start to look at them and and I definitely think the Warriors have some tools in their toolkit that can give Denver issues but I do think that Denver’s defense is set up in a way to

Cause Golden State some problems but same goes on the other end of the floor I just think the the nuggets are a better basketball team overall and they deserve the like kind of that initial confidence if that makes sense all right two more questions we’re out of here hi

Jason Warriors fan here Klay Thompson did an interview with Logan Murdoch on Monday where he said that he is open to taking a reduced role following a mold of how Reggie Miller and Ray Allen contributed in their later years what do you think that means for his game and

How do you think that affects lineups play style and overall strategy for Golden State enjoy the show few people break it down like you do keep up the great work thank you for the kind words I really appreciate it um I was never worried about this with Klay Thompson

The thing that I I always talk about this when I’m comparing some of the top players in the league but to me there’s a big difference between like loving basketball and hating losing and generally speaking the teams that are truly great they hate losing more than anything it’s like a

Difference it’s like there’s a Love of the Game and then there’s like overarching competitiveness and there’s a competitiveness that the Warriors group has that I think is directly responsible for a lot of their success over the years like these guys are just psychopath competitors Klay Thompson is

Definitely one of those guys this guy you can just tell by watching him emotionally after every win and loss like that everything for this guy hinges on winning basketball games and so there obviously was going to be a little bit of a transition as clay came to

Acceptance with his kind of decline over the last few years and I mean he himself has said like dude I’m 35 I think he’s 35 that’s if I got his right but he’s like dude I’m 35 post Achilles post ACL like I he like he he’s very aware of his

Own decline he understands and beyond that like I never had a doubt that he’d be the type of guy that would do whatever it takes to help the team win whether that’s in the short term you know don’t be surprised if in a big playoff moment if Brandon psky gets to

Close games over clay taking a discount in the offseason to stay on the roster uh uh for the final years of his career with um in a smaller role rather than chasing money elsewhere like like I just think klay’s the kind of guy that’ll do that for his team because all he cares

About is winning all right last question does it feel like this year is more wide open than most to win the championship even though Denver is the clear front runner they don’t feel unbeatable to me would love to know your thoughts love the show best in the business once again

Thank you for the kind words and for the support um I agree I don’t think Denver’s unbeatable I do think they’re a clearly discernable margin above everybody else but I don’t think it’s a particularly large margin to me it feels pretty similar to last year in the sense

That there’s like six or seven teams that have a real chance and then there’s another like three or four that have punchers chances but in situations like that that is where I tend to lean on some of the more experienced teams right and like like Denver to me like if they

End up in a series with a team that doesn’t really know who they are yet whether it’s like a Western Conference Finals match up with a Minnesota or an Oklahoma City for instance right like those that to me is an examp where like in a series like that just having been

There before matters a ton like being in those Wars matters a ton and like a lot of a lot of times like we gloss over the fact that like Denver won easily last year but they’ve had their struggles they lost two years in a row uh you know

With joic at the helm with guys out of the lineup you know like Aaron Gordon was still playing during those those games right like it’s not like they were um uh it’s not like it was just yic and four bums right like those guys were still getting reps going back to 2020

Trailing 3-1 in the Clipper series and coming back to win losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals like these nuggets have been in battles man they’ve been in battles like they are tested this is a group that has been together a long time

And so to me that is their their kind of differentiator but I definitely agree that this is more wide open than most years but it does remind me a lot of last year in the sense that it feels like there’s a hefty like dozen teams that have like a believable chance to do

It even if it’s somewhat small but that there’s this clear kind of like tiar at the top that feels closer than everyone else all right guys that is all I have for this portion of today’s show I will see you guys tonight after the final buzzer of Clippers Warriors

Jason Timpf reacts to the Phoenix Suns’ win over the Sacramento Kings as Kevin Durant has been playing like an MVP candidate as of late. When KD is playing at this high of a level, he is the type of talent that can carry a team throughout the NBA Playoffs. Jason also dives into the rest of the season for Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Are the Warriors the biggest threat to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference?

Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction
02:18 – Kings-Suns Reaction
05:44 – Jusuf Nurkić wins the game
11:32 – Royce O’Neale is a difference maker
16:23 – Kings defense costs them again
22:15 – Jason’s NBA contender list
23:03 – Are Clippers better than Timberwolves?
26:13 – How Tatum becomes a legit championship #1
31:14 – Wemby unstoppable
33:16 – Do Warriors have best chance to beat Nuggets?
38:33 – Klay Thompson taking reduced roll
40:34 – Are Nuggets unbeatable?

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