NBA Gametime | Kevin Durant is back to haunt Cavs – Shaq on KD stays hot, leads Suns over Cavaliers
Thank you Durant five of 10 from the great beyond he had 37 and the Suns launched their road trip with the win fifth time this season they’ve won a game in which they’ve trailed by 15 or more their big three score five uh excuse me 88 total they’re
Now five and0 when each scores 20 or more tough shots over double so we had to be even more aggressive but you know JB has those guys playing super hard and they’re playing together so you know that’s a really good team and a good start to the road trip we spoke pregame
About your return knowing that you were itching to get back out there felt that your conditioning was good as well what did you think of your performance tonight um I missed a lot of shots I feel like I can but you know trying to do all the other little
Things offensive rebounds and you know just continue playing through it you know make or Miss just keep playing hard and now continuing to play through it Boston next another rematch against them what do you need to see from this Suns team as you look to close it out out on
The road I mean just realizing they’re a contender you know they they’ve been playing the best basketball in the NBA all year so I think it’ll be a good test for us and their home home arena where they play really well so you know we’re looking forward to the
Matchup so about five weeks to go before the postseason begins and to some extent we’re still looking at this Phoenix Suns team and trying to figure out what can they be they’ve won three or four they’re healthy again what can they be you know I think they can be extremely dangerous um
I I wouldn’t want to play them in a game in a series where the games are close because I think they have a guy like Kevin Durant that’s automatic bucking Devin Booker and then Bradley Bill is starting to get into some Rhythm offensively still waiting for him he has
Not played bad mat but just seeing how he’s gonna fit in with those guys they get Bradley Bill on the same page just because they haven’t played together they can go score but can they defend and Rebound in a slower Pace less possession game in the playoffs and
After that Matt I talked about earlier tonight small sample sign Grayson Allen goes 4 six and obviously Nur is four or five but when you’re playing with no Donovan Mitchell tonight does does Bradley bills production come down of 10 and 15 knowing he has to try to slow
Down Donovan Mitchell so that that wears down his legs on the defensive end knowing you can you got to slow down a guy can possibly go for 60 or seven a single game now I know your shooting percentage may come down because you’re going to be a little bit tired those are
The small little Nu for me before I say wait a minute three guys tonight show they can go get a bucket uh Deon Booker just said they put two on me I’m going give the ball up and guys made shots tonight that’s being unselfish but in the playoffs will those guys make those
Same shots when the lights get a little brighter yeah they’re an interesting team in a lot of ways because of the three big scorers who were so used to scoring in the mid-range they’re pretty midrangey in three happy NBA SM there’s only what two four there’s only six
Shots from the bench so the other guys have to make shots if we’re going to put pressure on nage and Bradley Bill to guard the wing or the posty down low cuz we know uh KD and book going to get theirs so when they get double team like
Book showed us tonight they’re going to get off the ball are you guys are ready to make shots those lights get brighter right and the idea is ultimately at the end of a close game you’ve got three guys you know can score who you’re going to double yes they force you to make
That decision there you go that in of itself’s not a bad formul i’ rather have that and Grayson all is going to get a lot of those shots he’s been great Seas all right Phoenix gets the win they’ve won three of their last four jayen Brown and the Celtics get set to
Go in the Great Northwest Celtics and the Trailblazers coming up next Jason Tatum and the Celtics like they’ve been warming up for a long time keep saying Tatum Brown Tatum true it’s true now professionals get going got to get going that’ll happen in like8 minutes eight minutes yeah roughly goly
Let’s go Celtics blers 10:30 start yeah but you know it’s really a 1040 NBA it’s it’s kind of a secret it’s a 10:30 start it’s really a 10 10:40 Celtics have lost two of their last three uh were’re able since that 11 game win streak one at Phoenix the other
Night despite 45 from uh Kevin Durant back on the horse tonight against the Portland trailblade if you’re Joe Missoula SMY what are the priorities here over the next almost 5 weeks between now and the end of the regular season they’re eight games up on Milwaukee and the East they’re going to
Win the East I I think for them is defensively keep getting better and better and I think the one thing they can do is find different combinations where you’re playing maybe porzingis Al Horford and then maybe a different combination with white and just maybe Tatum and then maybe going even smaller
Where you just have porzingis with a whole bunch of Smalls even though Jason Tatum and Jaylen Browns are not really small I I I think for them is trying different things um even off pick and rolls um switching porzingis and see how much he can keep guards in front of him
Front of them and I I’m still old school mat I don’t know why a lot of teams don’t double the pick and roll and just rotate and make sure you be able to contest the guy who gets that open shot Matt we talked about earlier Smitty it those nights when they’re not
Shooting the three ball well what is that second opportunity not drawing kick is there some old school cross screen action some flare action get some type of movement and now if it’s Swing Swing and get the open three obviously you’re going to take it but that’s been there
You know so-called ailles Hill this year when they not shot the ball well they’re not getting any stops they get losses but you mentioned it earlier lately they’ve been playing better defense since the allar break does that carry over when the playoffs get here you know new additions for this team Drew holiday
Changes so much defensively because of his versatility and christops porzingis as a number three effectively offensively which of those two players is going to be more important to a an extensive playoff run for Boston it’s going to sound crazy Matt but they both have to
Be on there the reason I say the reason Drew holay got traded from milwauke because he couldn’t make shots in late game situation well what does porzingis do he makes shots so if both guys are doing why they got brought to the team that’s what makes them so dangerous cuz
We all would agree starting they’re the best Star in five when healthy so if Drew holiday can concentrate on being a Defender facilitating getting those steals doing a little thing he does now porzingis can concentrate on making shots SM versus if porzingis is out and now we’re asking Drew holiday to do
Something he couldn’t do last year things don’t flow as much now you’re asking Derek white to do more yeah I I think porz the reason why is because if he’s not playing boy Al Horford you can’t have him playing that many I mean cuz if Drew Hol is not playing I can
Move Dereck white to the point sure Jaylen Brown down to the two and tat him to the three and maybe play you know Xavier Tillman and Al Horford get away with it but no porzingis that’s a little hard yeah that’s one of the reasons he’s there I mean he causes so many problems
I just think it’s spacing yeah really helps that’s it spacing all right Celtics and Trailblazers coming up in a few minutes we saw the number one rookie scorer in the NBA and Victor wanyama in game one scoot Henderson is fourth among rookies in points per game and part Denver one and the Celtics
Two uh I love Denver can they win the championship again but as as of right now I think the Boston Celtics has to be one I don’t disagree with that yeah I think we all they have a much better record well much better record been solid all season long I think we all
Would agree is you know Watson and Brun are you ready to do the things that Bruce Brown and Uncle Jeffy did to help win that Championship I think those are the things most of us have to wait and see CU they’ve been the most inconsistent all season long that that
Is a huge question mark interesting about that they have like the 26th worst bench net rating in the NBA it was 29th last year and they still won the championship so it’s it’s an easy thing to look at and you go oh man the bench I don’t know but they overcame it last
Year and that’s one sometimes the numbers do fool us sometimes because we all like to run the stat sheet but one thing never lies to us in our eyes Bruce Brown made his impact on the game and that’s the part we’re all waiting to see as the backup point guard exactly backup
Point guard forward Uncle Jeffy would come and guard the 5 four and the three then his transition getting up and down the floor those are the things that say Watson P Watson right now he’s making some of those small mistakes that Uncle Jeffy didn’t make last year right regie
Jackson he’ll get more opportunities this year too because Bruce Brown’s gone can he be more impactful than last year if those guys do that they should be back in the mix if not you understand why that power ranking changed Celtics are are are better defensively they’re better offensively than last year in
Terms of depth right now um why shouldn’t I just pencil them in to the NBA finals in a parade in Boston in the summer um I think the only reason you would is because I’m still waiting for porzingis uh when he plays they are extremely good but he’s been missing
Games it seems like every three or four games he’s out and maybe that’s you know on purpose by the Boston Celtics I need him to be consistent to see if he can play through a series and get through series one two three and the finals I’m still worried about that if he can’t
That’s a a lot of pressure on Al Horford now yeah to be able to score defend rebound and do everything for the Boston Celtics so no parade yet yet no parade yet but I I got him going there you could put it in you can put it in light
Pencil the only thing I think to add to that Smitty is when you don’t shoot the three ball well are you ready to get muddy and play that defense that you’ve shown us that Derek white kind of leads the way in the front in that defense can
You play that when the playoffs get here when you don’t knock down the three ball it is the NBA these days but they are a very three happy team for certain that is by design more coming up here including game one of our double header tonight the Warriors in San Antonio Kay
Thompson has been excellent off the dubs bench the numbers look great you’ll see what he and the dubs can do tonight in San Anton an ally has been defeated our Dragon Lane Tower is under attack our Middle Lane Tower is under attack an ally has been defeated our Slayer Lane Tower is under
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NBA Gametime | “Kevin Durant is back to haunt Cavs” – Shaq on KD stays hot, leads Suns over Cavaliers
