Are the Boston Celtics Better Than We Thought? | ALL NBA PODCAST

Are the Boston Celtics Better Than We Thought? | ALL NBA PODCAST

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey, [Music] I got you. What is up everybody and welcome to the AllNBA Show powered by FanDuel, America’s number one sports book. Get started with 150 in bonus bets when you win your first $5 bet at fandal.comallmbba. I’m your host, Adam Mes, and I’m joined by my esteemed colleague, Tim Leggler, the best in the biz. But I was very I was dreading hopping on the show today, last night at about 10:00 Mountain time when the Broncos and the Commanders, who are trying to lose, were going to overtime, but legs, I think it worked out best for both of us. My team got the win. Your team preserved their draft status. I think it’s a win-win. Did I lose you legs? Yeah, there we go. Everything was frozen there for a second, but I think I I didn’t even hear your question, but I know you were talking about the football game last night. I got news for you, though. I got news for you. I got news for you. This is good news for everybody that that that listens to this podcast because I’ve got so much more time on Sunday now to pay attention to the NBA because I am my team my team has been put on emotional layaway for a year. I’m suspending my emotional investment in my team for a year because I felt like they quit playing football for about four weeks in a row. They played hard last night and whatever. They they come up short. Better off to lose every game now to be honest with you. Get a higher pick. It’s the way the NFL works. So, no, I wasn’t like hanging on the edge of my seat last night, man. It’s sad. It’s sad. And no, I got actually I’ll give a bigger take, Adam. I was completely completely free yesterday and I’m in New Jersey. So, that game was about a three-hour drive for me. I don’t miss I don’t miss the games when I’m in New Jersey when I can drive when I’m available with nothing else going on. And I never crossed my mind to go to the game. That didn’t even cross your mind. No, didn’t even cross my mind. Well, I I’m glad it worked out for both of our teams. I was on the edge of my seat for all of I’m sure you were. It was a great game. It was a great game. It was a you I mean that’s one of the most entertaining uh like Sunday night or prime time games I’ve seen all year. That was a wild finish. It had pretty much everything in it and an incredibly exciting ending. Well, unlike you, it did mean that I had to stay up extra late to catch up on all these games from the NBA last night because I couldn’t start watching these games till I got done with the Bronco game. So, I had a late one. But, we were rewarded. We had some good games and we’re going to break down a handful of them here. We’re going to talk about the Spurs Wolves. The Spurs have really been impressive over this last little bit. They appear to be for real, but they did fall to the Wolves last night. We’re going to talk about that. The Hawk Sixers game was just bonkers. Both teams tried to lose it at certain points. We’re going to break down what happened. Zack Edy back with Memphis and making an enormous impact so far. Had a career night last night and I want to talk about him. And then player of the month should be announced sometime today. and we’re going to talk about the candidates and who Legs and I would both vote for if we had a player of the month award to hand out for the months of October and November. But let’s start with our FanDuel game breakdown of the day. This is presented by FanDuel. Remember, you get 150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. FanDuel.com/allnba. And we’re going to talk about the Boston Celtics beating the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 12-9 Cleveland Cavaliers. By the way, both teams short-handed in this one. No Derek White. a whole bunch of players not available for the Cleveland Cavaliers. But I walked away, as I have been for the last couple of weeks, impressed with the Boston Celtics and their ability to get some of these wins uh with defense and with some guys stepping into bigger roles. Last night it was Payton Pritchard 42 points, Jaylen Brown triple double. What stood out to you about this game that helped the Boston Celtics get the win over the Cavs? Well, it had to be Pritchard’s performance and actually I was thinking about something. Um, and I came off the bench as an NBA player like all those years, but obviously, you know, I I was a starter, you know, in college and had the green the greenest of green lights. I played in Europe. I played in the G-League when I could do whatever I wanted to do. And the reason I bring it up, I don’t recall ever in my entire life starting a game from the opening jump ball and and knocking down a three within 5 seconds. Yeah, it was it was 7 seconds. I checked it, but it it was No, it was 7 seconds when it went in, but it was 5 seconds when it came off his fingertips because because that’s what I was that’s what I was looking at. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. There’s a tip. Celtics get the tip. It goes into the front court and the very first pass goes to Payton Pritchard at the top. He’s about 27 28 feet and he had he I mean you talk about no hesitation. It was it almost it just caught me off guard like for any player you don’t see any player in the NBA take a three that quickly and of course it hit nothing but net and it set up his night obviously because the guy was incredible. 42 points uh careerhigh 15 or 22 from the field and you know he he shot great from the three six for 11 but he he had a lot of mid-rangers he had drives he did it all but it to me it was all set up right there you’re five six seven seconds into the game and you’ve already got a three on the board uh I think for any shooter you kind of know at that point like it’s going to be a great night when you get one that early and it feels that good and pure and you were that confident to take it. He obviously felt great coming out of warm-ups to take that shot and he na nails it and pretty much set up his entire night. So, he was the story of the game. Jaylen Brown was great too in an all with an all-around game. But, you know, where are you going to get the offense on a nightly basis for the Celtics? It’s it’s got to come from somewhere besides Jaylen Brown. And it’s not always the same guy. And this one, it was Peyton Pritchard. He was the best offensive player on the floor. He took over the game. He dominated the entire way. And the C and the Celtics get a great win. So it that first shot it meant something because you’re right that first of all Cleveland didn’t get matched up. It was a tip. Ball goes to him. He kind of walks into the front court and no and it wasn’t like he was trying to get off to a quick start. It wasn’t like that was in his mind. He just kind of dribbles up to the three-point line. Nobody steps up to him and he drains the three. He gets another one one minute later, almost exactly one minute later that one goes. And then one minute after that, he gets another one and drains that one. And I think it was 11 to2 or 10 something like 11 to2 to start the game and you’re sitting there thinking the Cavs are at that point 11 uh 12 and 8. They’re not having the best year. You’re up against an opponent that’s important to you in the standings race and you come out with that sort of uh readiness to play and I think it kind of set the tone for how that was going to go early on. Now, they did claw back later on, but yes, Pton Pritchard getting three decent looks at three right off the bat really set the tone for the night. Jaylen Brown really impressed me in this game, too. And what impressed me, and actually after the game, uh Joe Misoula actually commented on this, Peyton Pritchard had it going. He was great in the beginning and he was great in the fourth quarter. He was good in the middle, but he was really great at the beginning and the end of this game. And at the end, he starts to catch a rhythm in the fourth quarter when the game is is in the balance. And Jaylen Brown sort of sees it coming and says, “Okay, I’m gonna be the screener in all of his actions. I’m gonna do all the other stuff. I’m gonna play some defense. I’m gonna get him some shots.” And I just thought it was such an impressive understanding of, “Hey, this guy has the matchup going. His shot is falling and I’m not going to press and try to be the hero just because that’s what I’m supposed to be.” And Joe Misoula after the game commented on it and said, “Hey, I think two years ago he wouldn’t have been able to do this, but now he understands just he wants to win no matter what.” takes the same pride out of being the screener in those actions and him scoring as he would if he was the scorer. And I was sitting there thinking as I was watching those quotes and saying that’s exactly what I saw. Jaylen Brown who’s just what do I need to do to win? I’m going to do that. And he executed. Yeah. And he actually did it in another way too. I I thought his defensive rebounding in this game, particularly in the first half, was huge because, you know, you’re you’re now Cleveland didn’t have their typical Twin Tower, you know, lineup with the two sevenfooters out there, but still with if you’re Boston and they’re playing a smaller lineup themselves. One of your forwards is going to have to come down and clean up the defensive glass. Jaylen Brown wasn’t just getting, you know, your garden variety defensive rebounds that like kicking out and a guard runs them down like you see in the league. And some guys can get seven, eight rebounds in a game that way just by hustling after the long ones. He was getting the ones that were coming off in the lane after hitting the rim and going up in the air where he had to jump with two other guys to come down with that rebound and secure and finish off a defensive possession. His all-around game was just sensational. He always plays great defense. Um, but in this one, you mentioned his screening. I’m talking about his defensive rebounding. His playmaking was there. Not too often Jaylen Brown plays a game without Jason Tatum where he takes the third most field goal attempts on his own team. That doesn’t happen very often. It did in this game. Pritchard clearly was on fire right from the get-go. Everybody sort of recognized that. But Anthony Simons also came off the bench and took more shots than Jaylen Brown did. So it was one of those nights. Look, then look, you mentioned Cleveland being short-handed. I don’t want to give them too much of an out though because they still have significantly more talent in their starting lineup than Boston. You still have DeAndre Hunter, Evan Mobley, Mitchell, and Garland, and they lose the game. And I’m starting to listen, they they’ve had guys in and out all year. They didn’t have Garland at the start of the year. I understand all that, man. But still, they’re 12 and nine, and it’s at the point where I’m starting to go, I just don’t think I’m going to believe in this team. Like, I said New York Cleveland going into the year, one of those two teams has to get to the finals. And if not, who’s it going to be? Well, now obviously the Pistons are even better than we thought, right? Other teams are kind of surprising. Toronto, Miami, like those teams have been a little bit surprising to me. Uh New York’s still right there in the mix. I don’t know that I feel the same way about Cleveland as I did at the start of the year. I I don’t I I just And I’m not saying I was in love with them anyway. I was saying by default because of what’s going on with Boston and Indiana and just the rest of the East. It looked like the path is there for a team that won 64 games last year to get there this year. Like if not now, when is what I kept saying. I’m not sure, Adam, that I even have that much faith in them to think that they maybe are even going to be a team that makes it to the conference finals. Well, they just based on the standings and based on, you know, Max Streus is still out, I believe, quite a while. So, it’s going to it’s not even like he’s on the doorstep here. And I think he’s a huge part of what made them so successful last year. He gives you that shooting, but he’s also part of what helped get the ball popping. And yes, just the injury bug hitting him as much as it has. I I do think that they’re going to be a team that has to punch up, but I I was thinking about it last night as I was watching. I don’t know that I can analyze this team. I think they’re gonna have a rough regular season, but I still sort of buy their upside when all the pieces are there. We’re just not going to see it till January or February. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a team that makes like a March, April push and gets hot going into it. But we’re almost at that point where I don’t I’m with you that I don’t have faith in them over the next six weeks, seven, eight weeks. I think they’re going to be a team that’s pretty inconsistent and their record is more or less the caliber of team I think that they that they are right now. But you said the thing that I think is you started with the thing that I think is most interesting. The Boston Celtics like the Oklahoma City Thunder this season have really figured out that you can throw somebody like Xavier Tilman into the starting lineup, not even in the rotation, not playing a whole bunch. You throw him in there and he’s going to execute the team’s game plan and play well. You got Jordan Walsh, who I want to talk a lot about, a guy who hasn’t had a lot of run in the league so far since he came into it. You can throw him in there. Eight straight starts for him and he makes a huge impact. And this is why I’m buying the Celtics. Teams that are able to plug guys in who are end of bench guys. It’s one of the most important things about having a good regular season is can we put our 12th, 13th, 14th guys into a game in a pinch and expect them to be productive. And Boston’s getting that from a bunch of different guys, but none more than Tilman and Jordan Walsh last night. Walsh was great in this game. And I mean, Tilman like did his Tilman like did his thing. He stays within himself. He plays hard. He’s a great screener. He he does but but Walsh actually made plays. Like Walsh went and did some things. He you know what he did on the glass was really impressive. The guy plays really really hard. He’s got a great reach defensively. So, he’s a factor defensively and with his energy. I I’m with you, man. Like, I you you said if Tatum comes back, you could see them being like one of these sneaky contenders. And I agree with you. As long as nobody has completely separated themselves. I know the Pistons have had a great start, but I we also are are still going, okay, but like they they got beat in the first round a year ago. You know, do you make that leap in one year to the finals? Maybe this could be a year because of the way the East looks like. But look, I don’t think that anybody’s going, “Oh, it’s foregone conclusion Detroit’s the team.” Right. So, that’s I think your point. And as long as that’s the case, Boston still has this thing looming. Will we see Jason Tatum at some point? Now, the one thing I will say about that, Adam, is this. The one thing I’ll say is this, right? He went down in the playoffs like, and right away everybody’s thinking like, “Okay, well, that’s all of next year, right?” And now they’re talking about him coming back and there’s videos and you look like man this guy’s it’s incredible how this guy looks right now for having an Achilles injury like that this soon. The only thing I’ll say is this Jason Tatum let’s say I don’t know let’s say you want to give him March March 1st or March 15th like how early would he have to come back for you? How many games think he would need? He would need a lot more than he’s going to be able to play. I mean it’s unrealistic that he would come back and be Jason Tatum. But could he come back and be a floor spacing shooter and a guy that has a moment every here and there? I mean, that’s that’s what you’re hoping for. And that’s my point. That’s why I asked that because I don’t know that Jason Tatum can play that way. If he’s on the floor, it feels like it’s all going to go through him still. Like he’s still gonna be the guy that’s like driving it. And and I my point is after all of that time off, I don’t care how great he feels or looks physically, his timing and rhythm are going to be off. So he’s not going to be a very efficient player. Guys don’t come back from an injury like this at some point the following season and have rhythm and efficiency. And that’s my point. So it’s an interesting thing. It’s going to be hanging out there. he looks better and certainly ahead of schedule for that type of injury. So, I think there’s a good chance maybe we do see him at some point. It would make it really, really interesting depending on kind of what else takes place between now and then with these other teams we’re talking about in the East. Can anybody else really get on solid footing and look like, okay, this is the team along with Detroit and now could Boston get into that mix? It’s going to be interesting as long as Jason Tatum’s emergence is hovering out there. Well, it might just be interesting because as you mentioned, there’s not really juggernauts. With all respect to the Detroit Pistons, they’re the juggernaut right now, but they’re new in the role of juggernaut. All the other teams are struggling a bit. And here’s Boston won seven of their last 10 games. They’re looking really good. Defensively, they do they put guys in, and this is why Jordan Walsh’s game last night was so impressive is some guys that haven’t been playing a lot, you put them in, and they’re going to be mistakrone, but they’re going to have strengths and weaknesses. Jordan Walsh doesn’t have that many offensive strengths, but he gets to the corner every single time because that’s his role. You’re a floor spacer, get there, and if you’re open, shoot it. He didn’t necessarily make it, but he’s going to get to his spots quickly. He’s going to be in the right spots every single time. Defensively, he’s got this great length. He can guard a bunch of different types of people. He rotates. He finishes the play. This is a big thing about guys that are 11th, 12th, 13th men. You can play great for 20 seconds and then the last four seconds you fall apart just because it’s human nature. He finishes every play, every box out he on defense, he holds it till the ball’s secured and then he gets going. And then offensively, what do you do when you don’t have a ton of talent? Find some way to contribute. Six offensive rebounds. And I think it was more than that because he had six that he grabbed, but there were more that he kept alive that somebody else grabbed or the ball went out of bounds or whatever. And he just made himself an impactful offensive player despite not really having that much offensive talent. And to me, I’m like, those are some teams get that out of Jordan Walsh. Other teams don’t. And I don’t know if you would have gone to another team if you would have had games like this. Totally agree with you. And I it’s it’s like it’s part of I think the culture of what they’ve created. I give Joe Mazula a lot of credit. I think I think Joe Mulla’s answered a lot of questions. People had questions about him, you know, several years ago. Um had some playoff situations that looked a little bit like overwhelming for him at the time. took a lot of criticism for it particularly in the series with Philly like some of the late game stuff they ran that year and then they come back obviously they win a championship and now you got this situation going on and they’re still finding a way to do this. I want to point out something because this is really important. Their next eight games I I mean this is really to me would be really impressive if they even go 500 during this stretch or better. That’s impressive. New York at home tough game. And then they go to Washington. That’s the only gimme probably on these eight games. Then they go Lakers at Toronto at Milwaukee, Detroit, Miami, Toronto. So you got you got right now a bunch of these teams that are that are good Eastern Conference teams. Um Lakers thrown in there, a hot Raptor team a couple of times. Miami has been a great This is a great test because after that they got a fivegame road trip. That is mostly the weaker teams that you can play out west. like by all it’s like a fivegame Western uh West Coast trip or Western Conference trip. It’s about as easy as you’ll ever get right now that trip. So, if they can somehow go 500 and then go on that road trip and maybe go three and two, they’re setting themselves up to like really gain a lot of confidence just because of how smart they are, the championship pedigree, how hard they play, and again potentially getting Jason Tatum back at some point. So, this is a key next month for the Boston Celtics. I’m curious to see what they do because the East is wide open. I mean, you look at how many teams are separated by just two games. The Toronto Raptors at 14 and seven. You go all the way down to the 76ers at 10 and nine. That’s a twoame separation between number two and number 10. And then, by the way, Milwaukee is right there who didn’t have Giannis for a while. They’re probably going to climb as well. So, wide open for some team to make a maneuver here in these next 20 games. It’ll be fun to watch. But there was a play last night that made me laugh a little bit. The Celtics are off to this great start that, you know, Pton Pritchard’s hitting all these shots and uh they give up a little like 40 run. You know, the Cavs get like a 40 run and there were some mistakes and Joe Missoula calls a timeout like really really quick. They’re still up 10 points or 11 points like or something like that. And I just thought to myself, I kind of love it because he knows they’re not good enough to just kind of oh, let’s go on a run, they go on a run, we go on a run. He knows that. Nope. Two plays in a row we screwed up. Timeout, let’s stop it. And over the weekend, I saw this quote from Rick Carile that I want to play about the intensity that is required in coaching defense. Let’s play this real quick. I want to get your reaction. Defense in today’s NBA um has to be has to be coached hard. Um has to be coached hard by the head coach, by the defensive coordinator, the defensive coaches. Um and and really it has to be coached hard by the players to themselves. you know, they they have to understand its importance. Um, and they have to believe in in its importance. And look, if if they don’t believe it’s important, they’re not going to play. The guys on our roster that came in this league thinking that this was going to be about aesthetics and skill and, you know, a rhythm and all that stuff ain’t going to be playing on this team. They’re just not. I I absolutely love this quote and I think it’s underrated. Like the people watching this, the people that consume a lot of NBA. I think this concept is is hard for people to understand that there are great players in this league that have a lot of skill. I love that he said it the aesthetics. You think you come into this league and oh, I have this great jump shot and this good footwork. I’m going to play. And Rick Carile saying something I think Joe Missoula would agree with and demonstrated last night, which is the defensive end is a 247 coaching job. every second you have to be screaming at your guys, “This is important. This is important.” And some teams get it. Oklahoma City gets it. Indiana gets it. The Boston Celtics get it. But not every coach is capable of doing this, of staying on their key players. And then I like that he said the players also, like I get to say all this, but it only works when the players hold each other accountable. And I just watching the Boston Celtics, I saw that quote before the Celtics game, and then I I saw the Celtics game and I thought, “This is exactly what he’s talking about.” And I think it’s spot on. I agree with that. I I like this a lot. I think I think part of the, you know, part of what he’s addressing is the fact that when he says in today’s NBA and you have to coach these guys hard, the reason is because of the amount of skill, amount of shot making that’s on the floor at any given time, the the, you know, the volume of three-point shooting. If you’re not dialed into effort, covering ground, the rotations, all that stuff’s concentration and effort, and that’s what he’s talking about. And if you’re not willing to do those things, you’re going to give up 40point quarters regularly. And that that’s what he means. And that’s why you’ve got to stay on people and coach them up and coach them hard. Now, I also say this. Let’s be honest about this. He has a group that allows to be coached that way. If you look at their roster and just in being around that team and spending time around them, particularly last year during the finals and just getting a ve feel and a vibe, there are guys on that team that want to and allow themselves to be coached in that manner. And in some rosters, it’s harder. And in some rosters, and maybe if he had a different roster, you might have to play some dudes that are about the aesthetic and the skill and the rhythm and aren’t as much about that stuff because you don’t have enough and because those guys are important offensive players, so you have to play them. He’s fortunate in that I think he’s got a group that allows themselves to be coached that way by Rick Carile. and and it’s a luxury in this league because not every guy that coaches in this league has that makeup. Now, I’ll say this. If you win early or your messaging is proving to be right early, you have a tendency then to be able to coach a little bit harder because players can sniff out that early on. This guy is not quite too sure of himself or like what he’s saying is suggesting is not really paying off. It’s not leading to wins. It’s not working. It’s then it’s harder to coach guys like that. So, so this is a guy that’s had success throughout his career. They went to the finals. So, it’s like, yeah, okay, he’s got to get some some cache and some liberty as a veteran coach, so he can do it. His message is 100% on point. I think he’s got a situation that’s conducive to allow him to coach that way. I think him being a veteran coach also helps with this because while they’re four and 16, he did lead the team to the finals. He’s got a gazillion wins under his belt. He has the cache, but I do think you look at a team like Memphis and a rookie head coach in Iselo, that’s a harder job because there is the politics of what are your star players want and all these different things. But what I like about what Rick Carile said is it’s like it doesn’t matter. You might get fired, but you will never win in this league unless you are coach everybody. And I love that he said head coach, defensive coordinator, assistants. It’s like it’s not one guy. Everybody has to be saying defense every second of every practice of every game because that’s how hard it is to defend in this league and that’s how hard it is to get players to be to ne never lose focus. And I I I just think it’s an underrated aspect of of the NBA right now. If you look at the good teams, a lot of them have that defensive consistency. Oklahoma City for sure, Detroit for sure, Toronto has been uh you know locked into their assignments defensively. They’re having a great year. And it’s just the thing that it’s a head coach’s job is, you know, make sure the offense makes sense. Okay, we’re going to do this and then just remind players every second that defense is what matters. And uh it’s just if you look at the game that way, it makes sense who’s winning and who’s not. Any any final thoughts about this game or about the Celtics or Cavs that you want to mention? No, I because I already kind of hit on it with the Cavs. You know, they they I don’t know. I don’t know what it is about them this year um where it just and I think Darius Garland is another guy. He’s not he’s not like fully back. He’s not he’s not quite the same. So, I’m just looking at their team and I’m going to obviously you don’t you know you don’t close the the book on them or anything like that. Not this year, not in the East. Who knows? There’s a lot that could happen. But they’ve got a long way to go. They got to get healthy, but they’ve also got a long way to go to get back to this impossible to guard team that we saw last year offensively because they’re not that right now. Um, and as a result, look, they’re 12 and nine. You know, they lost 18 games the entire season last year. They’re halfway to that total and we’re and we’re just starting December. To your point, the half court offense last year, first in the league. Half court offense this season, 18th in the league. So just completely different in their effectiveness in the half court. And like I said, they’re missing guys and continuity just night to night. That’s a different lineup that I think is partially to blame. That’s why I’m putting it on hold. But some of the guys aren’t coming back for a while. So you have to figure out how to get wins with the roster that you’ve got. All right, let’s take a break. On the other side, a couple other good games from over the weekend. Spurs, Wolves, Hawk, Sixers. 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It tests your knowledge and it’s just a good way to stay uh engaged in the action. Download the app today and use promo code AllNBA to score $100 in bonus entries when you play your first $5. That’s promo code AllNBA. Underdog. Make picks. Win money. Must be 18 plus. 19 plus in Alabama and Nebraska. 19 plus in Colorado for some games, 21 plus in Arizona, Massachusetts, or Virginia, and present in a state where Underdog Fantasy operates. Terms apply. See assets.underdogfantasy.com/web/playand getter terms_dfs_.html for details. Offer not valid in Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Concerned with your play? Call 1800 gambler or visit ncpgambling.org. in New York, call the 247 hope line, 18778 hope and y or text hope and y. All right, back here segment two of the all NBA show. Make sure you’re subscribed. Me and Tim Leggler are doing this two times a week. We’ve also got a show with Mark Stein as well as Jason Tim later on in the show or later on in the week. Let’s go to the next game here. The SP Spurs and the Wolves. The Wolves won this game. It was actually a really good game for three quarters, but in the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves made a couple adjustments. One of them was going without Rudy Gobear defensively and the other one was making all of their shots. It was a really impressive fourth quarter and the defense this looked like every now and then legs. What I like about this time of year is some teams are their best self for large stretches every single game and some teams you only see glimpses of it where you go, “Okay, I get it. That’s the team that they can be.” I thought that fourth quarter was an example of what the Timberwolves can be. Suffocating defense and really good ball movement on the other side. Not like dynamic offense, but isolation, get into the paint and make the swing swing pass to find the open guy and they just found a rhythm that was a haymaker punch. Yeah, they did. They I thought offensively they made every every right decision. But listen, you have to finish those off by making the shot. That’s a that’s a big pendulum for them because some nights they’ll miss five or six of those same looks in a row and and allow you teams to stick around or maybe it cost them a game. in this one like the defensive effort and pressure and energy were there. They moved the ball really well during the stretch you’re talking about and then they capped it off by making shots. Devenzo got hot. Nas Reed hit one. Mike Connley, the game was tied with 11 minutes to go and they made six threes the rest of the way. That’s really where they got the separation was at the three-point line. Uh and it it was started with some initial action. They forced a reaction from a very good San Antonio Spurs defensive team and then they moved the ball that extra pass typically to find somebody in the deep wing or corner for an open three and that’s where they blew this game open. And when they shoot the ball that way and they can string together open looks now they look like a team that go okay that’s right I forgot they went to two straight Western Conference finals and they don’t get talked about at all this year uh as being on that list of teams that can get to the finals. We talk about OKC Denver and Houston all the time. Minnesota went there the last two years uh couldn’t break through. When they shoot the ball like that, they remind you that they’re absolutely going to be in that category and in that mix, most likely taking on one of those two teams in in the second round. I think it’s interesting that Goar got benched essentially in the last, I don’t know, 16 minutes of this game. But I just watched San Antonio play Denver on Friday in a game that was going to determine which team goes to the NBA Cup elimination round. It was San Antonio or Denver in Denver. And San Antonio got that win in large part because of their style of play and their ability to make shots. They spread you out. They basically play five out basketball and they have a lot of guys who can break you down off the dribble. And when you have Goar out there, he’s a great rim protector. He does all these things well, but I just wonder if this matchup in particular is like, hey, I don’t know how many centers are going to be, especially the the like rim protecting type center are going to be effective against San Antonio because of how many guys can take you that big out on the perimeter and break you down and then find the open guy and they get hot from three. So, the the Timberwolves made the right choice. They said, “Hey, not tonight. We’re going to go small. We’re going to match up. We’re going to switch.” And it worked out for them. But that’s the Spurs’ superpower right now without Wem. a lot of guys that can shoot the three off the bounce and can break guys down one-on-one. And I think what you were reminded of in this game was the fact that let’s go back to the pre-WBY days. You know, they have uh Devin Vel and Kell Johnson. They were the two best offensive players they had. These were the two guys that every night were like right. They they had high volume shots, high usage rates. They they took the shots that they wanted to. Typically, they were their leading scorers. So they have that experience of having to play that way. Yeah. You know, you put Wembley out there, you put Stefan Castle out there along with Fox. Now they’re going to take more of a back seat. It’s going to be more like secondary and supplemental offense. Well, in this game, you know, you don’t have Castle, you don’t have WBY. Fox is out there, but like those two guys looked extremely comfortable acting like alphas because they’ve done it before, even though they were bad Spurs teams. Like they’ve done it and you saw that again. So, I’m looking at this team and I’m going, man, when they’re when they have everybody, they have a lot of depth. Yep. I mean, especially like I’m watching Dylan Harper last night. I’m going, this dude is going to be a problem for this league. Dylan Harper is going to be a a star in this league. There’s no doubt. When, I don’t know. A lot of it’s going to depend on how fast it gets there in San Antonio, but maybe it’s somewhere else down the road. He scores so easy and gets to the rim so effortlessly with his size and strength. It’s kind of eye opening. They have so much depth, but in this game, they didn’t have quite enough to be able to stop this onslaught of shooting by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Um, and that’s really what what separated the two teams and and where the game got away from San Antonio. But they’re still have some very impressive guys even when their star isn’t playing. The haymaker by Minnesota. It came so fast and it was it was such a big run that I thought the Spurs almost got demoralized. There was a couple plays, there was like eight minutes left and they’re down 11 or so, something like that. And you saw a couple guys like hang their head, you know, giving up points and it’s like, hey man, that’s part of the game, but they’ve been playing so well. And I know guys, some people get mad at me sometimes in the in the comment section legs. You’d never guess it, but sometimes people get mad at me and they’ll say, “Hey, you’re so low on this team. Have you seen what they’re doing?” Sometimes when there’s a surprise team, you have to let it breathe a little bit. I am ready to say at 13 and six, I think this first team is very good and I’m very excited to see what they look like fully healthy, but they were one of these teams I wanted to kind of see a little bit more, kind of see them go up against the good teams, but they have impressed me a lot even since Wimy’s been down. They have an identity and they’re playing well and I think the Spurs, you know, the West is so tough. I don’t want to predict they’re just pencil them in for a top six seed because there’s so many teams punching up. But I’ll tell you this, they’re going to be in tension in contention for that and even beyond. They’re going to be in contention for a top five, four seed just because I think they have enough ways to beat you. Uh like the best teams in the west, they have a lot of different guys that can beat you on any given night. You’ve got when you’ve got De’Arren Fox, Stefon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vel, and Kell Johnson. When you’ve got those five guys like on the perimeter on any given night, two or three of those guys are going to play well and most teams don’t have that many guys that can sort of get their own and and and and by the way and on nights that they don’t, you know, guys like Stefan Castle, he could have a really rough shoot tonight and still be dominant because of his defense. So, and that’s not even taking into account what Webby does, but that many guys that could put it on the floor that could beat you that on any given night, you don’t need all of them to play well. You just need two or three of the five or six to play well on a given night, you got a great chance. So, they’re they’re listen, they’re ahead of the curve in my book. I love what you just said about like letting it breathe and taking a little time because I agree with you. I mean, I don’t think you make any big big big conclusions till you’re 20 25 games into the season. I mean, you start to get a better idea of the totality of what this team is. Um, they’re ahead of the curve in my book. I still thought some of these younger guys were going to take a little bit longer, but when they get fully healthy, the depth that they have and the way that they play defense and and what they have is just this this eraser of mistakes in Wemby and what he can do defensively alone, this is a super interesting and intriguing team. I want to real quick though circle back to one thing you said about Goar and I loved the fact that Chris Finch was asked about after the game and it it made me think like media’s some media people man like they’re still like they’re like trolling guys man you know it’s like it’s like they they win the game they play great to close the game sits and like that media person that is asking the question about go Bear sitting they’re not asking the question because oh they really want to know like what went into your thinking is no it’s like Oh, can we stir something up? Is Rudy go bear unhappy? Like, what’s going on there? How do you handle that? I love Finch’s answer. He basically goes, “Relax. Rudy’s played a lot of basketball in his life.” 90% of the time, he’s a guy that we need him out there in those situations. But I’ve said all along, we’re going to play the groups that give us the best chance to win on a given night. He’s fine. He was really happy we won the game. Everything’s good. And it just made me think like, man, it’s just the way we the world we live in just got they won the game, man. If you lose that game by eight, that’s more of a topical question. Well, you didn’t have Rudy out there and you lost. What happened? This is like you won the game. Won the game going away. It shouldn’t even be a question. It really should be. Here I I as as much as I agree with you, I’m going to go and defend the media side of this as somebody that is in those scrums that has to ask it. Yeah. Here goes one of those guys cuz you’re a you’re a you’re a potter. You’d be the guy in that room asking that exact question. You know you would. Come on. Here here’s the thing. A guy who’s a starter and a defensive player of the year candidate doesn’t play the game because you need to get stops. It I think there’s a question that is what went into that decision. Not as in as are we questioning it, is this guy happy or whatever, but it’s just you have to write an article and you’re wanting the coach to tell you something about we like the versatility of this or we decided to go like this. Not an attack on Rudy, but just on a coach tell us why. Give us the reason for your decision- making, but yes, it’s a very thin line between that just hey, tell us the basketball versus stirring the pot. It is a thin line. I I took that as, oh, what’s going on with Rudy? Like that’s how I took it, man. And and honestly, I didn’t I didn’t hear the question. I did see the response, but I didn’t hear the question, so I don’t know how Listen, and to be fair, whoever I didn’t hear the question either. I didn’t know the question either. But it was like, you know, they go around the room and it’s like like that’s that’s the big focus that to me is like, where’s your mind right now? What are you trying to stir up? I like his answer. I liked his answer. Like, hey, we’re all good, man. We won the game. He’s happy. He’s a good teammate. He’s happy he won the game. Most of the time he’s he’s part of that group, but he’s not in this case. And to your point, I think there are going to be nights, and I I’ve I mean, there’s no secret there going to be nights when they can play a lineup with Nas Reed as your big and it gives you more versatility defensively because of foot speed on the perimeter if that’s what you need to do on a given night. And floor spacing on the other end of the floor as well. Yeah. And I think and look even against team like San Antonio when Wemby’s is playing and roaming that paint and he’s running to the rim on these pick dives. Well, that’s a perfect situation when you have a pick pop guy like Nas Reed that that’s going to draw him out away from the rim. So, um anyway, listen, both these teams are super interesting. We haven’t talked a lot about Minnesota at all this year because they’re sexier stories we want to talk about in the West, but that was that was an impressive way that they closed that game whether Webby was out there or not. The way Minnesota played during the last 10, 11 minutes of the game was was was just really high quality basketball. Well, the best game of the night was also the worst game of the night and that was the double overt game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers. And I say it was the best and worst because it was compelling. It goes to double overtime. It it was it was neck andneck, but it was the worst because both teams tried their hardest to blow this game legs. The uh Atlanta Hawks were up. I’m trying to find the score here. What was it? 113 105 with 50 seconds to play. That is a 99.9% of the time you’re going to close that game out and win. But they missed free throws. Dyson Daniels missed one. Jaylen Johnson missed one uh in the clutch. They the 76ers hit some big time three-pointers. They had a turnover. They had a bunch of stuff go wrong for them. So, this game went into overtime. And then when you get into overtime, the 76ers blew it. Uh Mi Maxi misses two free throws, up two. He could have iced the game. He misses both of them. And then uh Jaylen Johnson drew a foul at the end. So both of these teams had an opportunity to close out what looked like a lock to win the game. Both of them blew it. And in double overtime, Jaylen Johnson sealed the deal with a big three-pointer. He was great in the fourth quarter and overtime. I I kind of laughed as I was watching this game because it was so poorly executed in the clutch. And that was my big takeaway. What about you? Well, let me talk about then I want to start with something and talking about the end of uh regulation and how Philadelphia is able to tie this game and and and leads me to something that has always kind of made me scratch my head um when it comes to like what we’re looking at and officiating. So Barlo goes to the line um for Philadelphia. I guess eight nine seconds to go. Um actually a little bit more than that. 12 seconds to go. Down three. Yep. Three point. Three point. The second one he misses it to keep them down three. Look at the play again. And look at what Paul George does. And I don’t remember who the player was on the inside rebounding position to block him out. It might have been Jaylen Johnson. Paul George literally just takes two arms and he shoves him with all of his might to push him all the way where he’s now behind the backboard which allows when the ball because the ball didn’t kick off long. The ball came off right in a spot where typically the inside rebounding guy just jumps up and grabs it. It was right there. The problem is the the the the guy tried or the defense trying to get the ball was pushed behind the backboard without it wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t like Paul George just leaned into him like when you used to have to block out Shaq and he would just lean into you and he was 320 pounds and without even moving his arms he you were moving because he was moving his lower body. That’s not what this was. This was a full-fledged like practically a full Nelson that he put him into and and it’s just like we just let that go. I mean, we let that go all the time in that situation. And and any other time of the game, that’s going to be called, but at the end of the game when a team is desperately trying to secure that rebound, like they let that guy in the second slot on offense do whatever he wants to to that guy trying to block him out. And that’s exactly what Paul George did. So, he tips the ball to himself, kicks it out, and Maxi makes an incredible shot. I mean, he he really didn’t have any time to really let that thing fly. Maxi makes the shot. crazy um to tie the game. But I just it stood out to me. Have you ever noticed that before? Like the the the the flat out like street fight that takes place on those rebounds. Like during the course of the game, they’re calling that. I’m telling you right now. But at the end of the game, they allow so much more from that guy trying to get the offensive rebound than they do at any other time in the game. And it’s always kind of made me scratch my head. Why are they making it so much harder for the team that’s trying to secure the lead when they’ve outplayed that team to that point? Refs try to swallow their whistle, but then to your point, I mean, the ultimate example of this in NBA history is the Reggie Miller shove on Michael Jordan. You know the play I’m talking about. Oh, yeah. And Reggie Miller even talks about he goes, “I knew they weren’t going to blow a whistle on that play, so I just come out, shove him out the way, and get open.” And look, man, I guess it’s just the rule that goes back as as far as time. Uh, real quickly though, this is the first game that we got with Tyrese Maxi, Paul George, and Joel Embiid. And one of my notes from watching, we only watched the fourth quarter in overtime of this one, so I can’t really speak to the entirety of this game. But I thought that Embiid did a very good job of the thing I keep calling for him to do, which is not try to dominate every possession, but use his other talents. His screening for Maxi, his getting the ball to Maxi. He made some great plays. You know, it didn’t work out for them. They missed some shots down the stretch. Paul George still looks like he has all of his talents. I mean, he had he didn’t make all of his shots, but he still his movements look fluid and everything else. Even though they lost this one against a good Hawks team, I thought the game the process in the fourth quarter at least was in the right direction as opposed to earlier in the year where we saw Embiid really swallow up every possession in the clutch. Oh, yeah. Listen, I and I think you’re trying to be um you’re trying to see the silver lining in all this for Philadelphia because it’s been such a mess. I say that’s nice. you’re being a nice guy right now. Uh look, and Paul George, Paul George is a is a very versatile player. He can he can guard, playmake, handle, he can shoot the three off catch and shoot, so he can play off of people. He’s a very good player. Um it’s just, you know, the reliability factor not only of being available, but like playing well when you have to play well in a playoff series, in a pivotal moment, like that stuff’s going to just always be in the air with him. man be to me it’s just like the way that he’s moving is is kind of alarming to me that oh man that’s horrible. I mean he had a play there was and I watched it’s funny because I watched the Sixers bench on this play. Um it was in overtime I believe he’s right under the rim defensively. There’s a missed shot. Oh I love I had this exact play. Yep. He’s standing there basically on the left block, but he’s seven feet tall. It’s It’s coming right to him. But he didn’t react to the ball at all. And I don’t remember who it was. It might have been Dyson Daniels comes sliding in there. A guard grabs the ball and lays it in before Joel Embiid even moved. And I looked over because one of one of like an assistant coach on the bench like got up and he like turned like to walk down the bench because I was like they couldn’t believe it because it was like right there for the taking. And I think they were up too at the time. Like it’s right there. secure the defensive rebound, a big play. He just he just doesn’t have any explosive ability anymore. And he’s still going to have good stat lines because he’s so skilled and he’s got great touch and he still can draw fouls just because he’s so big and he’s a great shooter. Uh but his overall impact of the days we used to watch Joel Embiid and it was just like the guy was absolutely destroying teams on both ends of the floor. I think those days are gone, man. I I don’t know that we’re going to see that again out of Joel Embiid. So it’s like what’s it going to be for him? A lot of 25 point nights where he gives you 16 18. Some nights efficient, some nights not, but it he’s not close to the same player. I I it’s sad to me, but I think that’s what we’re looking at because I lost all some plays last night, Adam, where like his lack of mobility and like anticipation toward the ball were so different than what he was three, four years ago. Well, it’s funny you mentioned that play and the coach’s reaction. I didn’t see the coach’s reaction, but that play stood out to me and I made a note for it to bring up here because what you’re talking about is second jump because he did a good job of walling off. like he gets big and he walls off and somebody shoots at the rim and misses and he forced the miss and he was right by the basket to where if he was fully healthy you force that and then you grab the ball or you block whatever it is and he just he couldn’t move. It’s like he made the first play and there was not even a thought of trying to make the second way and it wasn’t out of laziness. It looked more out of inability and it it really stood out. The other way his body is standing out right now, he has such good footwork that I think his first step is still good. like he uses good footwork to get by you, but it doesn’t matter. They the defense just catches up to him by the time he get if he’s at the elbow and he makes a pump fake one dribble move. He beats you for a half second and you recover a half second later. And there just was a lot of those plays where you’re thinking, man, he has no ability to finish those plays now. And so you can pressure him. You can get into his jump shot space and take that away a little bit more because he’s not going to go around you to the rim and finish. And it’s tough to watch, man. We’ll see if he gets healthier. Uh any thoughts on Atlanta in this one? My my big note here is Nquil Alexander Walker, man. He came he is he’s a heck of a player and like it was like really Jaylen Johnson and Nikquil Alexander Walker last night. It looked like if you didn’t know better that was your number one and your number two. Well, first of all, you know, Nquil Alexander Walker like this has got to be he’s got to be absolutely loving life right now. He didn’t get this opportunities in Minnesota where he could be like this this aggressive offensively. you look at like the month he’s put together now he’s averaging over 21 points a game in the month of in the month of November um and shooting 47% 40 from the three I mean and most nights he’s taken you know anywhere from like 13 to 18 shots he’s had over 20 shots a lot of nights took over 20 shots in this game his freedom now offensively is to me opened up my eyes to like how good he actually is offensively because it was so limited the amount of time he was able to do that four now. He’s like a guy that like he’s coming out there looking to do damage and do work. So, very impressive. Jaylen Johnson in this game, by the way, and he’s been putting up some numbers lately. He had 20 points in this game with like nine minutes left and he ended up with 41 um because the game went to double overtime and a lot of that was done at the line, but he continues to just, you know, every every game you watch him, he just continues to grow. uh he’s strong and they got they got some really nice young talent there on the wing in Atlanta. You my favorite play from Jaylen Johnson last night. It was in one of the overtimes where he’s driving on the left side and he kind of like euro steps to the the top and he throws a pass just like in rhythm where it wasn’t like he jump stop makes, you know, head fer whatever. He just right pass right to the rim for a layup. And it’s one of those things where I that’s a weird skill, but being able to pass within your natural movements before the defense realizes you’re passing is such a valuable skill. and he’s so good at it. I love his game. He’s one of my favorite players to watch. Uh, another player that has caught my attention, legs, the Giant, the Mongolian Giant, Zack Edy. This guy has been incredible since he has come back from injury and he had a career night uh last night. Let me pull up the numbers here because I don’t have him actually written down in front of me. 32 points, 17 rebounds, five block shots. Just a monster stat line. And he’s been really good since coming back. Memphis is 35 and a half points better per 100 possessions when he’s on the court. I know it’s a small sample size, but he is grabbing enormous amount of boards, protecting the rim, and he’s a great scoring threat. He’s so big that he kind of dictates when he’s on the court, he dictates how the other team has to make the rotation and and how they defend. And and I had the thought last night, it’s too early to say this, could Zack Edy save Memphis’s season? Is he that good that actually this is now a different team and they’re only nine and 12. It’s not like they’re completely out of the race. Yeah, I mean you look he’s he’s kind of changing the narrative I think on what you thought he could be with his upside. I didn’t question where he was picked. I did have some questions when he was drafted about his ability to change ends of the floor in this league. The way the league looks and how was that going to play him off the court a lot of times. Give him credit. He leaned up. uh he got with their player performance guys in Memphis to worked on his running stride and all of those things that so he could change ends of the floor and make him a guy that didn’t stand out as trailing the play all the time. He doesn’t do that. He gets up and down the floor. He’s an absolute monster on the glass like because he’s got great hands. If he gets his fingertips on a ball, it’s his. And he’s willing to run and to get himself in position and move. You know, a lot of guys his size, if they’re on the wing are headed up toward the elbow area offensively and a shot is taken, a lot of the guys his size historically in this league just start running back on defense because the thought process is if I run in there now and don’t get it, I I’m never getting back. And that’s another 30 feet of running by the time I run from the foul line down to the basket and and then back to the foul line area before I change ends. And he he goes anyway. He goes and then when you see that ball come off and he didn’t get it, he turns. His head is down. His first three strides are full speed trying to get back. The effort is off the charts. He’s got, I think, 51 rebounds in his last 96 minutes, which is absolutely insane rebounding numbers. Um, and the other thing that’s interesting about him, Adam, he’s got he’s got great touch with his little jump poke, his drop step. Oh, great touch. But he never gets fouled. Like so so like the the work he’s doing 32 points in a night, one free throw. He had 21 points two games ago, one free throw. He’s taken a total of four free throws in his last 102 minutes. You’re right. So So he’s not Yeah, he’s not getting hit. He doesn’t get fouled much and he’s still converting at such a high high rate, right? So and I think maybe it’s going to change a little bit. Maybe teams are going to start fouling him more if he’s this productive and this efficient in finishing the extent he is 67% on the season from the field. Um I I’m glad you brought brought him out because he’s his stats increase over a year ago is dramatic and significant with just a few more minutes per game. His scoring and rebounding numbers are significantly better. He’s a force in this league, man. I give him a lot of credit because I didn’t know if he would be when he came out. They’ve it hasn’t been great competition, but basically since he came back, he comes back and they lose their first two games at Cleveland, at San Antonio, but since then they have won everything. The only game they lost since he’s returned after those first two was uh against Denver, but he only plays five and a half minutes. He comes out of the game early and doesn’t return. But they have every other game they’ve won. And I’m just looking at this going like Memphis is this weird team that’s in this like liinal space between what they appeared to be building the John Morant team version of them and a whole bunch of good young talent that has come through the door. And Zach Edy is just one of these guys that might be better than we thought. A double double machine uh and and a guy that gets two blocks like effortlessly. It’s not like he’s oh my god spectacular blocks. Two blocks he just gets naturally because of his height and his defensive instincts. And I don’t know, there’s a lot of players on that team that I’m interested in. And uh I do Do you see what I see that I’m not predicting they’re going to win playoff series or this or that, but that they might have a nice foundation on their roster already despite this the distractions that might just lead them to like a seven seed, an eight seed, something like that. I think they found here’s what they have found that they have now this this sort of unique type of player and weapon that gives them the option of playing a different way sometimes. Look, John Morance’s been out for 16 days. So, you’re talking about this team winning five out of six, putting up these monster numbers. John Morance’s been out for 16 days. He hasn’t been playing. And look, it’s not necessarily all about John’s game or talent, but there’s clearly an issue there between he and the coach. It’s it’s probably a tense environment. Um, and and that creates a lot of distraction. he goes down, they have to play a different way and a different style to give Zack Edy, who’s coming back right at that time, an opportunity to be much more involved offensively. And it’s a different way to play and it’s a more efficient way for their offense to operate. That’s what’s happening. Now, the question is, what does that all look like with John Morant returns? And how can you keep still keep Zack Edy this involved? Well, their schedule coming up might determine it. They’re at San Antonio. They play the Clippers twice. They host Portland and they are at Minnesota. If you look at the standings, those are all the teams that are right surrounding them in the conference. So, you get wins against those teams and all of a sudden the season gets a reset and there you are right in the thick of it with all those second and third tier Western Conference teams, which would be a huge win for them. The last thing we’re going to do here, legs, player of the month should be coming out sometime here soon. It’s the first player of the month award. They combine October and November, and there’s some real candidates this year for player or this month for player of the month. James, you put together we have a list here of the candidates. Let’s start with the Eastern Conference. I think it’s the easier one. If you look up here, legs, you have Kate Cunningham. He’s played 17 games, obviously number one in the uh Eastern Conference, which I think should factor into this award. You have Giannis, who’s going to dominate every statistical category, but he’s played 15 games. He’s missed a handful here. And then you have Donovan Mitchell, who’s obviously putting up some great numbers as well. I think you you told me you thought this was an easy call. I think so, too. But I’m wondering if you’re gonna get throw me a curveball here. Well, the easier one for me was was uh actually the Western Conference. But interesting. I think I think I think this one for me, I wouldn’t hesitate to give it to Kate Cunningham. I just think you have to reward the numbers are there. You have to reward that level of winning out of the gate. The Milwaukee Bucks are a sub 500 team. Cleveland Cavaliers have not been close to what they were a year ago despite Mitchell’s, you know, gaudy numbers. The only thing Kate Cunningham has not done well is shoot the three. And if if he ever gets that up to to like 37 38% or above 40%, you got a real problem um to try to figure out what you’re supposed to do with him because that still right now is the shot you hope he takes. But he does everything else. He playmakes. He takes all the big shots for them and he controls the game and they they’ve gotten out of the gate the way they have. To me, that should be Kate Cunningham. I think Giannis, if he played just a little bit more and it’s weird trying to factor in like with a player of the month award, you only have to miss a handful of games for it to really matter here. Giannis has missed what, six games. So, it’s kind of a lot, but I could see if you were voting for him because his numbers have been fantastic. His game has been fantastic. He got off to an incredible start. But I am with you. Even though it’s only two more games, it feels substantial for a one-month ward. And Kade has just been incredible. I mean, he’s doing everything. Basically, a double double. 9.4 assists per game to go with 29 points, six rebounds. I would give it to him as well. If we go to the Western and I expect him to win, by the way. I would predict he’s the one that wins it. You said the West was easier. I thought this one was impossible. And you have three guys that are playing incredible. Shay 21 games played in every game and they have the best record in the NBA. He’s putting up even more efficient numbers than before. Joic is putting up even more efficient numbers than ever before while averaging a monster triple double. Not a baby one, a monster one. And then look at Luca just leading the league in scoring. He has missed a handful of games, but he’s leading the league in scoring while just coming up shy of a triple double. I thought this one was actually super hard. You thought it was easy. I did because not only has is is it Nola Joic had I think the best month of any player. I think he’s he had one of the best months of any player I’ve seen since I’ve been covering the league since I worked at ESPN. Adam, no player in the history of this league has has ever shot 60 from the field, 40 from the three, and 80 from the line in a season. No player’s ever done that. We have the, you know, you’ve got the 50 40 90 club and all that. You know, I I was I was in a 5050 80 club, which I was pretty proud of, which is pretty exclusive as well. Um, but you got work on those free throws legs back in the gym, man. The line. What an of all the things. What an idiot. I know. But so nobody’s ever shot 60, 40, 80 for a season. How about for a month? He’s he’s 60, 50, and damn near 90. Yeah. While averaging, dominating you with playmaking, rebounding, obviously the big scoring nights. The efficiency to me puts it over the top for him. That’s what puts it over the top. What this guy has done from a shooting perspective from from two twos and from deep in addition to hurting you at the line. When you combine that with with just the raw numbers every night, score every amount assist which is great and the triple doubles and all that great. How about doing it at that level of efficiency? It’s unprecedented in the league to me. It and and they’ve had great team success. I I know. Look, Shay’s got a great chance to win it. He’s the reigning MVP and they’ve lost one game and in that game they blew a 20point lead or they’re undefeated right now. Think about that. They they lost a 20point lead at Portland or they’re what 20 and0? Are they 20 and one or 19 and one? They’re they’re undefeated if they don’t blow a 20point lead. Yeah, it’s incredible. And I think that Shay’s got a great chance to win it. Luca’s been sensational, too. But I’m just looking at Joic’s efficiency numbers, Adam. To me, when you’re talking about finishing plays the way that he is at that rate, it’s never been done in the history of this league. I would go to Joic. I think Joic had this one in the bag 10 days ago, right before Aaron Gordon and Christian Brown got hurt. They get the win over the Houston Rockets. It was a big win. But I think since those two guys have gone down, Joic’s defense has fallen off a cliff. And I think it’s understandable why. You take a couple guys out of the starting lineup and all of a sudden Joic is back to playing like he did last year where he kind of has to do everything on the offensive ends. A lot of energy and it seems to me like he is sacrificing his defensive effort which I thought was very good to start the year but his defense has fallen off a cliff here a little bit and so I’m in the weird role reversal here where I think him or Sheay both have a very compelling case. 32 and a half points per game and like Jokic the efficiency is off is is just off the charts. It’s not quite Joic’s level, but he’s a guard. Uh 54% from the field, 41% from three, and he just makes everything in front of him. The only guy I would eliminate from this list is Luca. And I know Luca fans are going to get mad. Lakers fans who are very numerous are going to get mad. He’s clearly been the third best. Uh but I think that, you know, the 35 point per game scoring is impressive. The efficiency numbers are just nowhere close to those other two guys. and and when you watch him, you know, that that that game in any given night, it’s Austin Reeves, it’s LeBron James, uh, which is a luxury that’s not necessarily afforded to those other two guys. So, I think it would be Shay Jokic, take your pick. They both have been fantastic. Well, and I want to just address KC Supersonic one, who called me an idiot and said it is SGA and it’s not even close. SGA most likely will win this. I already said that. He’s probably going to win it. It’s it’s a very subjective thing to say that it’s not even close when a guy just had the month that Joic had. That’s that’s an idiotic thing to say. Yeah. And here’s the other thing that look this isn’t necessarily going to hurt Shay because he’s large part responsible for a lot of it. But the truth is like their team is so good. Their their team defense is so good that they’re they’re not even in games. like their margin their margin of victory and what their average margin of of uh their lead is going into the fourth quarter is unprecedented. So they’re like they’re like their their c the totality of their team is so good and so dominant that I also think that like you look at a guy like Jokic and you go man that team’s not as good as OKC and yet he’s got to do what he has to do every single night to make sure it happen. Look Jamal Murray’s played very well. Aaron Gordon’s played well. I’m not saying they haven’t, but you know what does that look like every night without Joic doing what he’s doing? Any one of those three guys could win it. I got no problem with any of them winning it. I think SGA probably will win it. My opinion is just that I’m looking at what Joic is doing right now u with his efficiency and his shooting numbers. To me, it’s incredible. Those three guys though have been pretty spectacular to start the year. Uh, and wherever you fall on it, you know, let us know in the comments who you would vote for uh, for player of the month, but wherever you land on it, those three guys have been fantastic. And it’s been a good month, a good first month for individual performances in the NBA. And it’s been a good month for team performances. You look around, man, Detroit, Toronto, Miami, even Atlanta, uh, over the last 15 games or so. Orlando’s getting it together. Oklahoma City plays incredibly connected. Uh, the Spurs play connected. There’s just so many teams. the Phoenix Suns who have been a surprise team this year. They play connected. There’s so many teams that have played with discipline and connected connection out of the first month that I’m pretty impressed and and have enjoyed more nights in the NBA than not, which is not something I always say in October and November. Uh, all right, let’s get we have one super chat. James, uh, JMK says, “Lags, please clarify who determines players of the week and month awards relevance. Why do these players need more money and glazing? Some people can’t. I swear. Here’s my take. I’ll answer before you get to this. Player of the month’s interesting. We’re just analyzing who had a good month. I think it’s fun topics. I don’t understand when people can get upset over fun conversation. Well, what what listen I think you’re kind of talking about what I just addressed. It’s like what I what blows my mind is when obviously there are debatable topics that are obviously debatable, right? To act like it’s an absolute no-brainer. One opinion is right. It h it’s just it’s just nonsense, man. The whole thing is everybody has their own opinions. Just come with a fact that makes it, you know, that makes it worthy of the debate. Just have stuff to back it up. It’s Julie what it’s about. I’m going to be honest with I’m not sure who votes for NBA player of the month because I vote for the postseason awards. Vote for all that stuff, but I’m not voting for like players of the month. So, is that the media? I don’t know who does it to be honest. Yeah. I’m not I’m not sure. It just comes down from the NBA. It is. I just I just looked it up. A panel of sports writers and broadcasters, which is interesting because like I said, I do vote for I vote for the postseason awards, but maybe I’ll shoot a text out and find out because then I can get my vote in. Okay. Even though it’s idiotic, I can get my vote. What? Yeah. One thing that’s funny though about it, you can cue that outro music there, James. There have been five player of the week awards. One of them went to Victor Wimbeyama in the first week of the season. Two of them went to Jokic, two of them went to Shay. None of them have gone to Luca yet, although he has been great in every single week. Uh, but just if that’s any food for thought about how this will go. My camera says it’s time to get out of here leg. So, I guess it’s time to get out of here. Uh, everybody, we appreciate you uh following along. This was a really good show with a lot of great topics. We’re back Wednesday. Are you on the road? Uh, no, no, no. Actually, we we uh we gave up so many games to Amazon and NBC during the month of December that I I’m not on another game until Christmas Day. Oh, wow. That’s crazy. All right. Well, we are back Wednesday. We will be, I believe, 1:00 Eastern time. So, make sure you hit notifications, you’re subscribed, and throw us a like on your way out. [Music] [Applause] We all sitting like the mayor.

Adam Mares and Tim Legler break down a packed night around the NBA, starting with Payton Pritchard and the Boston Celtics continuing their surprising run with a big win over the Cavaliers. They discuss whether Cleveland is still a favorite to reach the Eastern Conference Finals and highlight the strong play of Xavier Tillman and Jordan Walsh, plus what it could mean if Jayson Tatum returns earlier than expected. The guys also react to Rick Carlisle’s comments on NBA defense before shifting to Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves closing out the Spurs behind a huge fourth quarter. They dive into Rudy Gobert’s benching, the Hawks’ double-OT win over the Sixers, and early impressions of the Maxey–Paul George–Joel Embiid trio in Philly. Later, they examine Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s impact in Atlanta, Zach Edey’s surge in Memphis, and wrap up with predictions for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month, including stars like Giannis, Cade Cunningham, Donovan Mitchell, Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic.

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00:00 – Intro
03:50 – Payton Pritchard and the Celtics beat the Cavs and continue their surprising season
10:36 – Are the Cavaliers still favorites to make the conference finals?
11:56 – Xavier Tillman and Jordan Walsh have been excellent for the Celtics
17:22 – What happens if the Celtics get Jayson Tatum back earlier than expected?
19:04 – Reactions to Rick Carlisle’s quote about NBA defense
30:44 – Anthony Edwards & the Timberwolves came through in the 4th quarter to beat the Spurs
38:04 – Reaction to Rudy Gobert getting benched
42:01 – The Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia Sixers in an ugly double overtime game
46:17 – Reaction to the first game w/ Maxey, Paul George AND Joel Embiid
50:45 – Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been playing GREAT in Atlanta
52:39 – Zach Eddy has been on fire since returning from injury. Could he SAVE Memphis’ season?
58:23 – Predicting Eastern Conference player of the month: Cade Cunningham, Giannis, or Donovan Mitchell
1:00:40 – Predicting the Western Conference player of the month: Jokic, SGA, or Luka Doncic

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