Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. look ahead to Thursday’s meeting between the two superstars – their first showdown on the holiday since 2018. Check out the full conversation on “The Dunker Spot and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
We got LeBron James, we got Kevin Durant.
It’s always cool when those two guys on Opposite ends, and it’s even cooler when they guard each other.
So I wonder how often we actually see KD guarding Bron, And Bron guarding KD.
One, I hope everyone plays.
Luka Doni dealing with a calf contusion.
Hopefully, he’s good to go on Thursday.
So, assuming health, this is an interesting matchup, and I kind of want to see what these Half-court defenses look like in this game.
The Rockets, They have better defensive personnel, but if this is a healthy Lakers group, This is Luka Doni, this is Austin Reaves, this is LeBron James.
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Do they ramp up the pressure at all?
Is this going to be a drop game for them?
How much zone do we see from them?
Like, II am intrigued to see what these teams Try to do against each other, and what their half-court offenses look like because of it.
Uh, understood.
I mean, I think the thing is, they both have a Method of being methodical because of the players that they have.
So, Houston can get slow in the half-court, but you also have Kevin Durant.
You have Alperen Engum playing at this level.
The Lakers have pressure points with LeBron and Luka and Austin Reaves.
So it’s one of those deals where, Okay, who’s going to get the type of shots that they want?
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And so, like, if you’re the Lakers, okay, how many switches do we want to hit?
How many people do you want to switch on Alperen Engum?
Because the Rockets will not hesitate to let them get him the ball.
Does that open up Kevin Durant pull-ups?
What’s the yin-yang there?
And then for Houston, I think they’re just a physical, active defense.
And so can you just kind of bug and bother the Lakers and get them out of some of their Attempts at movement, and get them out of their some of their flow?
So who can get who out of rhythm is interesting to me.
But, I mean, this is a treat, Nikias.
It’s Kevin Durant and LeBron James playing Against each other on December 25th for the first time since 2018.
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And, uh, this is Luka’s potential first game, Christmas game as a Laker.
We got a whole lot of Rockets making debuts.
And, uh, The Lakers, fun fact, have scored 115 points in each of their last four Christmas Day games.
Quickly to the clutch point, the Rockets, as of recorded, are six and eight in clutch games.
The Los Angeles Lakers are 10 and 0 right now.
So, yeah, That firmly answers that about who you should feel better about heading into this one.