0:02

Is the Crossover Sports Illustratings

0:05

NBAB show, bringing down the

0:07

latest news's, rummers and everything.

0:11

Here's your host, Chris.

0:16

This is the Crossover NBA podcast.

0:19

I'm Chris Mannix. He is Rohan,

0:21

not Grene and Rowan. We are coming off a

0:24

historic weekend in the NBA.

0:26

Lebron James already the NBA's

0:29

all time leading scorer, passing

0:32

the forty thousand point

0:34

threshold. That got me thinking about

0:37

the most unbreakable records

0:39

in sports, and

0:41

there are a whole bunch of

0:44

them. You've got Wayne Gretzky's nineteen

0:46

hundred plus career assists, uh

0:49

Cal Ripken junior twenty six

0:51

hundred plus games played, Ricky

0:54

Henderson fourteen hundred plus

0:56

career stolen bases. I personally think

0:58

the most unbreakable record is

1:00

Joe Dematt Joe's fifty six game hitting streak. I

1:02

don't think anyone is ever

1:05

going to touch that. But do you think that we

1:07

could see a player eclipse

1:10

forty thousand points catch Lebron James

1:13

on the all time scoring Listen, I say that with the caveat

1:15

that Lebron's not close to being done. He's probably gonna

1:18

average twenty plus points per game over

1:20

sixty plus games for the next

1:22

two or three years. I mean, this mark is only

1:24

going to get bigger and bigger. But do

1:26

you think even in today's NBA

1:29

that record is going

1:31

to be breakable?

1:34

Man, it's a great question. I echo you on

1:36

DiMaggio's fifty six game

1:38

hitting streak, by the way, I do think that one is

1:40

going to be tough to top, and cal Rick can two

1:43

some really good baseball plays from you, I'm impressed. But

1:46

in terms of Lebron, I'm leaning

1:48

no. I'm leaning it not happening in

1:50

my lifetime, at least even

1:52

with the three point line, even with kind

1:56

of the extended careers we see players have

1:58

now. I mean, you think about

2:00

someone like Luca for example, Luca's what close

2:03

to thirty five points a game this year, He's

2:08

still gonna have to play so much longer

2:10

to catch Lebron, And

2:13

like Lebron from the

2:16

moment he entered the league, was

2:18

playing under this can he be the next Michael Jordan

2:20

conversation that hung over Lebron from day

2:23

one to an extent that it's

2:25

pushed him to extend

2:27

his career in a way that is just wouldn't

2:30

maybe necessarily be quite as worth it, frankly for

2:32

other players. The

2:36

legacy that he's kind of been required to build

2:39

by so many people, he's

2:41

leaned into that he's chased Michael Jordan, and I

2:43

think that's extended his career,

2:45

extended what we've seen kind of his prime in

2:48

a way that it just wouldn't for other guys.

2:51

And the thing is, you can be

2:53

a great scorer like Luca, but what is

2:55

going to happen to Luca and say, like if he's

2:57

thirty eight years old and chasing Lebron's record

3:01

and he's like a shell of what he currently is. Defensively,

3:03

like the fact that Lebron can stay on the floor

3:05

and be effective that he is at his age. I know, it's like kind

3:07

of a meme. People are like, you have to appreciate

3:10

this, but it's

3:12

just beyond remarkable. The

3:14

consistency, the durability that

3:16

I think combining all

3:19

those factors again from the

3:21

motivation, the amount of money he spends

3:23

out his body, the consistency, the ability, et

3:25

cetera, I don't think we're gonna see

3:27

it for a long time.

3:28

If ever, Yeah, look, let's use

3:31

Luca as an example he's got about eleven hundred

3:33

career points. He's played six NBA seasons.

3:35

By those thousands, eleven thousand,

3:37

sorry, eleven thousand career points, Yes, eleven

3:40

hundred would be a small number. By

3:42

those calculations, he

3:44

would have to play roughly

3:46

eighteen more seasons to

3:50

be able to be in the ballpark

3:53

of passing Lebron James. Now Lucas twenty

3:55

five years old, but he have to play into

3:58

his early forties to get within

4:01

shouting distance of Lebron James. I

4:03

think you're gonna have to have someone committ to the league

4:06

just like Lebron did eighteen years old, with

4:08

a three point line, with a more polished three

4:10

point shot averaging. You know,

4:13

I'm looking at Luca's numbers. The number of total

4:15

points Luca had in the season he maxed out last

4:17

season, twenty two or twenty one hundred points.

4:20

You've got to do that and more every

4:22

single season for twenty plus years to

4:25

put yourself in that conversation. I

4:27

don't see it. You never say

4:29

never, but I think that record is going to be, you

4:32

know, forty four hundred,

4:34

maybe forty five hundred by the time forty

4:36

five thousand got stop saying that forty five thousand

4:39

before it's all

4:41

said and done. So I think that

4:43

record is is going

4:45

to hold the test of time for a

4:48

very long time, that's for sure, all

4:51

right. I want to talk about a couple of teams,

4:54

specific teams on this episode.

4:56

I was in Los Angeles

4:58

last night and I popped into

5:00

the Lakers Thunder game, kind

5:03

of hoping that we get some

5:05

kind of virtuosa performance

5:08

from the Thunder. The Thunder entered that game with

5:10

the best record in the Western Conference,

5:12

a half game up on the Denver Nuggets.

5:14

They're coming off a back to back that a good win over Phoenix

5:17

on Sunday, so

5:20

you know, it's not all that surprise.

5:22

And they didn't play well, and they didn't Their offense

5:24

didn't show up, the defense didn't show up. The Lakers

5:27

kind of tried to give the game away for stretches

5:29

there with the amount of turnovers they committed,

5:31

but the Thunder just couldn't take

5:34

advantage. Still, as we speak,

5:36

the Thunder have the third most wins of

5:39

any team in the NBA, behind Boston

5:41

and behind Minnesota. They

5:45

have a top five offense, they have

5:47

a top five defense, they have a top

5:49

five net rating. They have the number one three

5:52

point shooting offense in the NBA.

5:54

Look, Oklahoma City is one

5:56

of the youngest teams in the NBA,

5:59

say one of because they got older at the trade

6:01

deadline with Gordon Hayward add to

6:03

the mix, Bismack Byambo add to

6:05

the mix. But you

6:08

know, at some point we have to start looking

6:10

at number one or number two seeds as

6:13

a real contender. So I

6:16

guess the question is how seriously should

6:18

we take Oklahoma City going

6:20

into this postseason. Are they right

6:23

for a first round upset or are they

6:25

a team that can get to a conference finals.

6:28

I definitely lean toward the ladder. You mentioned

6:31

basically everything on paper that would indicate

6:33

this is a bona fide, legitimate title

6:36

contender. They've been in the mix for that number one seed

6:38

all year long alongside Minnesota

6:40

and now Denver is kind of making us a push

6:42

as well. They've been incredibly good.

6:45

Shake Gojess. Alexander, who's been in MIAMVP

6:48

rankings every week. I think he's number two right

6:50

now and has a great chance to be number one of the thunder

6:53

I think pull off the one seed. We

6:56

talked about his consistency last week he is

6:58

just remarkable what he does on a nightly

7:00

basis. You

7:02

add that to I think chet Holmgren right

7:04

out of the blocks has been fantastic.

7:07

That the defender everyone thought he could be, thought

7:09

he could be, uh, and then

7:11

beyond that his offensive game, ability to shoot,

7:13

stretching forwar et cetera. Jalen Williams,

7:16

I think they have a ton of depth, I

7:19

should say, I really like the pieces

7:21

around their star players and how they've been

7:23

able to make it work. I'm

7:25

personally though, of the opinion, and this

7:28

is where it becomes nebulous and people say,

7:30

oh, you're just doing a take. Like I agree on paper,

7:32

the Thunder consider contender legitimate.

7:35

I do think most teams kind

7:38

of need that playoff character building

7:40

loss before they can be true contenders. I mean very

7:42

rarely does it happen overnight. Even the Warriors,

7:46

you know, had a couple runs with Clay Dre and

7:48

Steph before they won a title. The

7:50

Nuggets lost in the playoffs for years with

7:53

the O Kitchen Murray. You know, go

7:55

up and down the list of recent champions. Those

7:58

teams have to experience some playoff heart first. The

8:01

Thunder of kind of there's been

8:03

no middle ground. They've kind of shot

8:05

into this number one seed territory

8:07

with with Chech being finally healthy this

8:09

year, you know, no SGA

8:12

extended injury absences. So do

8:14

they have kind of the playoff equity to

8:16

be a champion? Do they know what it's like to be

8:19

down three to two and have to be fighting

8:21

for your life. I think they need those experiences.

8:23

But I'd be shocked

8:25

if the team lost to the first round, and I'd much

8:28

I'd come much closer to believing them making the finals and

8:30

losing in the first round.

8:32

Well, they're gonna play a play in team in the

8:34

first round, most likely either as the number

8:36

one seed or the number two seed. And the play in

8:38

field right now is loaded

8:40

with teams that have a

8:42

lot of playoff experience. The Lakers,

8:46

Golden State, Phoenix. I

8:48

mean, those teams are in the play

8:50

and mix right now, and I think we're

8:52

gonna learn very quickly

8:55

if experience is as valuable

8:58

as it has been in the past.

9:00

To your point, I mean the eighteen

9:02

nineteen Nuggets. I think that was their first

9:04

one of their first playoff runs. They got

9:07

beat in the second round. It took

9:09

the Bucks and Giannis three years

9:11

of first round exits to get to their first conference

9:13

finals. So you know, history does

9:15

suggest that experience

9:18

matters. But for the most part,

9:20

the teams I just mentioned were

9:23

in the middle or the bottom of the

9:25

playoff bracket. Oklabmas City's gonna go into the postseason

9:27

with home court advantage in at least the first

9:30

round and probably the first two rounds.

9:32

Their biggest weakness right now is rebounding,

9:35

and that's a big weakness. I mean, you know,

9:37

Bismack Biambo's not the answer. He's

9:39

not You're not gonna play be able to play Bismack

9:41

Biyombo extended minutes in the

9:43

postseeds, so they're gonna have to address that. But their

9:45

firepower is legit. I

9:47

mean, Jalen Williams, he

9:50

could probably be, I don't

9:52

call it a franchise player, but a certainly

9:54

a cornerstone player on another team. Like he is

9:57

number one on most teams. He's

9:59

a twenty point per game score. It could easily be a

10:01

twenty five point per game score. He's shooting

10:03

forty four percent from three. I mean, he

10:05

is legit. Shae.

10:09

Not many teams you're gonna play in the postseason where Shae

10:11

is not the best player on the floor. And Shae is

10:13

not a young guy, right. He's been around since twenty

10:16

eighteen, like he is. He doesn't have a lot of

10:18

playoff experiences thirteen games, but

10:20

he is not, you know,

10:22

just some wide eye rookie or second year

10:25

player. Definitely got to be concerned about

10:27

Chet and what he's gonna be able to contribute in

10:29

the postseason when the physicality wraps

10:31

up or ratchets up. But lou

10:34

Dort is another guy that has

10:37

been around for a while. It is among the best defensive

10:39

players in the NBA. So to

10:41

me, it would be a I

10:44

don't wanna call it a catastrophe, but it would

10:46

be a huge disappoint if they lost in the first round.

10:49

It would probably even be a little disappointing. I

10:52

don't want to say that because they probably can play Denver in the second round,

10:54

and Denver's gonna clean their clock. I don't think they match up

10:56

well with Denver at all. But I

11:00

at this team, and I was watching them on TV last

11:02

few last week or so, and I watched them

11:04

play live on Monday Night.

11:07

I think they can beat everybody in the West, but Denver.

11:10

I think they've got the personnel for I just think

11:12

Denver is a big problem for them. So I

11:15

think they are a team that

11:17

should win a first round series, and depending

11:20

on the matchup, i'd give

11:22

them a shot to win a second round series two right.

11:25

Yeah, I definitely think they can win in the second round.

11:27

I'd love to see a Thunder Timberwolve series

11:29

which is in play if they finish in the two three

11:32

and Denver finishes one. And I know some people

11:34

are listening to this, like why are they talking about

11:36

the Thunder like this? They've been great all

11:38

season. Of course they'll win in the first round. I mean, that's

11:41

just kind of how crazy the West is. I mean,

11:43

you mentioned some of the teams in the play in mix. There's

11:45

a chance they say Luca in round one, Kevin

11:47

Durant and Devin Booker in round one, like those

11:50

won't be easy matchups. And beyond that, again,

11:52

we just really haven't seen this group.

11:55

It's rare to see an ascension from

11:57

a team this rapidly, with

12:00

with this much kind of just internal growth, which

12:02

makes them such an i think, an outlier from previous

12:05

contenders that we're used to. But I'm

12:07

excited, and yeah, I definitely think.

12:10

I mean, if Denver finishes in

12:12

second or third, that

12:14

they have a fantastic chance to make the conference

12:16

an echo. I think they can beat anyone in

12:18

a series. I do think Denver they already

12:21

have an issue with size. Then you add in you

12:23

know, Jokic, which no one really has an answer

12:25

for to begin with. I think

12:27

that puts them in a bit of a bind.

12:29

Uh.

12:31

You know, I have to check the roster spot availability.

12:33

It is surprising that they seemingly haven't done

12:36

much more to address their

12:39

center rotation. You mentioned Bismic Bamble, who I

12:41

like, but it is not really a long term

12:43

or even short term definitive answer

12:46

there. So that I think is going to be an issue. Well,

12:48

how many rebounds in nurkicchav the other night, Like thirty

12:50

rebounds in that game against.

12:52

His look and

12:54

look, you know, Davis beat him up on the glass

12:56

a little bit in that Laker game.

12:59

I mean, the Lakers have Matt sup well with them, and the Lakers

13:01

have that size and physicality in

13:03

their front court. I think they're up three to one on

13:05

the Thunder in their season series.

13:07

So yeah, yeah, that's

13:09

a that's a tough matchup. I just think in the playoffs

13:13

and look last night, the Lakers

13:15

arrested, the Thunder were not that

13:17

has to be taken and Lakers were at home. Thunder gonna have home

13:19

court in a series like that. I

13:22

just think it would be disappointed if they lost a first

13:24

rout series. Got the hard cell too from

13:27

Thunder officials Monday night for Shay

13:29

from MVP. You know, my take on Shay's MVP

13:32

is if Oklahoma City

13:35

finishes with the top seed in the Western

13:37

Conference. I don't know how

13:39

you don't vote for him, because,

13:43

yeah, he's he's got talent around

13:45

him, but it's really young

13:47

talent. He is the unquestioned star of

13:50

that team who has pushed

13:53

them, not single handedly, but he has

13:55

pushed them from a play

13:57

in team last year to potential

14:00

with the number one seed in the Western Conference. A

14:02

long way to go with this this MVP stuff, but

14:04

I can wrap my head around the idea

14:07

that if Shae, if

14:09

the Thunder finished first in the West, pretty

14:12

good chance Shay gets my vote. Pretty

14:14

good Yes, I have.

14:15

A hard time disagreeing with you about Shae winning

14:17

MVP if they finished number one. And I say that to someone,

14:19

I think Jokic is the best player

14:21

in the league. He's the kind of person

14:24

that you could kind of give the award to over and over

14:26

again. But to your point, it's like

14:28

Jokic also plays for a fantastic team. I

14:30

mean, Denver built the perfect starting

14:32

five around him, and I don't think,

14:35

you know, as great as chet and Jalen Williams

14:38

have been. I don't think people

14:40

expected everything that they're doing right

14:42

away. And it starts with Shae, it starts with his consistency,

14:45

it starts with how difficult he is to defend. So

14:48

I think he's also going to have a fantastic case.

14:50

And I'm with you, And if they finish one and there's even

14:53

a little bit of separation there, like he's

14:56

going to have an incredible and incredible case for the award.

14:58

Look, and you could probably make the same argument for

15:01

Jokics. I mean, Denver right now is the exact same

15:03

record as Oklahoma City. So

15:06

if if the Nuggets, who have been hot lately,

15:08

who decided, you know, second half's here time

15:10

to play. Yeah, yeah, If if

15:13

they turn it on and finish with number one

15:15

in the West and they're only a half game back of Minnesota,

15:18

for that top spot. You know, it's probably Jokich's

15:21

MVP Award to ultimately lose. So it's

15:23

gonna be it's gonna come down to the last game

15:25

of the regular season. Perhaps as we wrap

15:28

up the the MVP race,

15:30

let's talk about Milwaukee again for a

15:32

minute. Bucks beat the Clippers on

15:35

Monday night. No Giannis in that game,

15:37

No Chris Middleton in that game,

15:39

and Damian Lillan goes for forty one, Bobby

15:42

Portis goes for twenty eight. This Bucks

15:44

team has now won what six straight

15:46

games, and over the last six

15:49

games, they have the number

15:51

one defense in the NBA.

15:55

I don't know if that's

15:58

sustainable, if they can maintain

16:00

a number one defense, But they

16:03

don't have to be the number one defensive

16:06

team in the NBA. All they have

16:08

to be is like a top

16:10

ten, top twelve defensive

16:12

team in the NBA. And they are going to

16:14

be tough to beat because you watch

16:16

Lillard just hey, look, g honest

16:18

is up you take over? Did it against

16:21

a good Clippers team.

16:23

Middleton hasn't played in weeks, not since Dock

16:25

Rivers really took over. He's

16:28

gonna add something that mix offensively.

16:31

They you know, there

16:33

is life in Milwaukee, Like you

16:35

know what, a team that was once on life

16:37

support is now showing signs

16:40

that they can get back to being

16:42

the team that we thought they were going to

16:44

be in the preseason. So when you

16:46

look at the Bucks the way they played under Doc

16:48

Rivers, do you see this as

16:51

sustainable?

16:53

It's great you should ask that Chriscs. I actually wrote about

16:55

the Bucks today and look,

16:58

I don't think number one defense is sustainable that Charlotte

17:00

twice they played Chicago during

17:02

kind of the six game win streak. At the same time they have wins

17:05

against the Wolves. This Clippers win

17:07

was impressive, especially impressive. I think

17:09

the Clippers had won nine straight against Dames

17:11

specifically, so really big game

17:14

for him. Here's the thing they, like

17:16

you mentioned, they don't need to be the number one defense. I looked

17:18

this up. Since twenty ten, only two

17:20

teams with a defensive rating outside the top ten

17:24

have won a championship. One was the Warriors,

17:26

who you know, they had Steffed. The other was the Nuggets

17:28

last year they had Jokich. The Nuggets

17:31

had the lowest defensive efficiency of any title

17:33

winner since twenty ten, and that was fifteenth.

17:35

But we saw what they were able to do in the playoffs,

17:37

they went up to another level and they kind of slow played

17:40

the end of last regular season. Milwaukee

17:42

as it stands today, after their sixth straight win,

17:44

fifteenth in defensive rating, they kind

17:46

of met that threshold of the lowest

17:49

possible I'd say defensive

17:51

rating we could accept out of a champion

17:54

the number one over the last six games, top

17:56

ten now since Doc took over in

18:00

January, and they've been really good.

18:02

And I think that we touched on this a little bit

18:04

last week, but I think Adrian Griffin expected the team

18:06

to defend a certain way with certain personnel. The

18:08

Lily trade happens, things change, But I

18:11

think Doc has him playing more to their identity.

18:13

I think has shrunk the floor a little bit instead

18:16

of having players cover more ground, and I think Griffin

18:19

wanted to do players playing

18:21

a little bit closer to the rim. They've also just

18:23

kind of, I think, really changed their approach to transition

18:25

defense less crashing the offensive

18:27

glass, which has made a huge difference. I mean, all

18:30

year long, they've been in the bottom of transition

18:32

defense standings. I think that started to look a

18:34

little bit better. You know, I

18:36

don't think this current top number one

18:38

defense is sustainable. You know, it's

18:42

like weird because they win this game without Giannis and it's

18:44

very impressive, and I don't want

18:46

to take anything away from it. At the same time, you're like, how much can

18:49

I take away from this game that they win without Giannison

18:51

Middleton? But overall, they're absolutely

18:53

headed in the right direction, and I think now

18:56

is like the first time all season that I felt

18:58

comfortable saying that they can win

19:00

a title with their defense.

19:02

Yeah, I'm with you that it's not

19:04

going to be the number one defense

19:07

or number two defense, or maybe not even top

19:09

five defense by the time the season's over.

19:11

But you know, this is why

19:13

they went out and got Damian Lillard because

19:16

they were missing a dynamic

19:18

number two option opposite

19:21

of Giannis, and you'll get Lillard's numbers

19:23

of late. They're starting to pick up a little bit.

19:25

The shooting percentages in some games

19:28

are getting a little bit better. The

19:30

pick and roll game with Yannis is getting more

19:32

consistent. Like Doc, Look, Doc took

19:34

a pretty good beating early on, and a

19:37

lot of it was some

19:39

of the stuff he said, like he put he put

19:41

it on himself by you know, saying

19:43

things like it's you know, I would wish

19:45

this job on anybody when he's collecting like

19:47

forty billion dollars and he's taking over a great team

19:51

and just some of the overall criticisms

19:53

that he had for for that group,

19:56

but he's been the right fit for them.

19:58

He's simplified things on the ends

20:00

of the floor. I think he's brought

20:02

a level of gravitas to that locker room they

20:04

didn't have before. He has been

20:07

a good fit with that Milwaukee

20:09

team. Look, they've got a game against Boston coming up,

20:11

I think on the twentieth that to me is

20:14

that's a playoff game, Like that's Perrometer

20:16

right there. I mean, because by then they

20:19

probably should have Chris Middleton back. The

20:21

Celtics right now operating at close

20:23

to full strength. That's a game

20:26

that I think we'll learn a lot more about Milwaukee.

20:28

But right now they're the only

20:30

team I think is a real threat to Boston in the Eastern

20:32

Conference. Like I look around,

20:35

like, you know, even without the injuries, the

20:37

Knicks to me, are still a player away from

20:40

being able to compete against the Celtics.

20:42

The Cavaliers are what they are. I still can't trust them when

20:44

they get to the playoffs. Philadelphia.

20:47

Look, they're good, but

20:49

you know, tell me Joel Andbi is gonna be healthy?

20:51

And I don't know the answer to that just yet. Besides, even when

20:54

he is healthy, Celtics owned the seventy six ers.

20:56

Just it's a fact like they've they're beating them

20:58

up pretty good last four or five

21:00

years. So I think Milwaukee's the only

21:02

team that can threaten Boston.

21:05

And we'll see, we'll see if they have it in if

21:07

they've come as far

21:09

as they look like they've come in this game

21:11

coming up in just a couple of weeks against

21:14

the Celtics. One other thing I wanted to touch on hold

21:16

I mentioned.

21:17

Real quick, real quick, you're you're just ready

21:19

to incur the wrath of heat

21:21

Twitter not even an obligatory

21:24

mention.

21:24

Yes, my thought. Do

21:27

you want to know you're right? I do

21:29

want to make the case for the Miami Heat to be

21:32

a threat to win the Eastern Conference this year.

21:35

I do not, in fact do not, And

21:37

I will just say.

21:38

Just to your point, a huge

21:40

difference maker now, right, he

21:44

will hit.

21:45

Like six threes in a game against some poor

21:47

team that's just gonna be furious.

21:50

Hey about it all right now, eight and two in their last

21:52

ten games, So Miami's playing playing well,

21:54

and as we saw last year, it really doesn't matter what

21:56

seed they get. That's look. Look, if the playoffs

21:58

starts today and I know they've got to go through

22:01

the play in in the East, but Miami

22:03

right now sitting at seventh, Milwaukee at two, running

22:05

it back from last year, that's

22:07

probably not the matchup Milwaukee wants

22:10

in that first I think they probably prefer like Indiana,

22:14

Chicago, Atlanta, maybe even Orlando

22:16

in the first round because Orlando can't score. Yeah,

22:19

that's I can see some teams not

22:21

wanting any interest in playing Miami in the first round.

22:24

I will just say to your point about the Bucks and

22:27

about as it relates to the rest of Eastern Conference,

22:29

they are the only team with the star

22:31

level talent that can compete

22:33

with the star level talent. Yes, the Celtics

22:35

has that can they can confidently say we

22:37

have the best two guys on the floor, even

22:40

and that goes a long way in a playoff series.

22:42

I agree. I agree. Last thing, I want to look

22:44

at the bottom half of the playoff

22:46

bracket in the Western Conference. Like I said, you've

22:48

got four teams there that

22:51

have either been championship teams

22:53

in recent years or high

22:55

level playoff contender. Sacramento, which was

22:57

the three seed in the Western Conference

23:00

last year. They're sitting there at number seven, Dallas,

23:03

which has some serious star power and it's backhourd

23:05

made some good trades before the deadline.

23:07

There are at eight, the Lakers at

23:09

nine in Golden State, who was tattooed

23:12

by fifty plus against Boston.

23:14

But there's still the Warriors. They've still got some

23:16

star power. Of those

23:18

four teams, if you had to pick

23:21

one to make a deep

23:23

playoff run, which you know, I guess

23:25

in the context of this is win a first

23:27

round series, because that first round series is

23:30

going to be a matchup against Minnesota,

23:33

Oklahoma City, Denver, maybe

23:35

the Clippers. Which of those teams

23:38

do you have the most faith in to

23:41

flip a switch and become a

23:45

second round playoff.

23:46

Team,

23:49

understanding that there are really no good bets

23:51

here. If I had to go, you

23:53

know, twenty twenty two Mannix mode and just kind

23:56

of really hitch my wagon to one of

23:58

these teams, I think I'm to

24:00

pick the Warriors. You know, you mentioned the Celtics

24:02

blowout. They're missing pods,

24:05

they're missing Wiggans right now, who's dealing with a

24:08

personal matter once again? Uh

24:10

significant, can't you.

24:11

Say one thing about that Celtic game, Like there's

24:14

an incredible amount of brain power

24:16

on that Golden State bench Steve

24:19

Kerr, Kenny Atkinson, among

24:21

others. Their

24:23

strategy against the Celtics with all that brain

24:25

power was to leave an all

24:28

NBA guard who's shooting

24:30

thirty six and a half percent from three for his career

24:32

wide open, like that was the strategy

24:34

to beat the Boston Celtics, Like, if you needed

24:37

to, if you needed more evidence

24:39

to believe in Boston, the

24:42

Golden State Warriors decided the

24:44

best game plan was to leave Jalen Brown open,

24:46

Like that's

24:48

all you got. You're not gonna have much success.

24:51

To your point, I think a lot of people are like laughing,

24:53

this is a terrible strategy. What are they thinking, you

24:55

know, Jalen Brown tweeting about it after the game. To

24:57

your point, those are the kinds of problems

24:59

with Celtics present to people.

25:01

And they didn't even have Porzingis in that

25:03

game. They will playing without a twenty

25:05

point per game scoring three point threat.

25:07

Right who happens to be seven feet

25:10

tall, so you can't even switch your clothes out on them.

25:12

But to your point, I kind of like respect the

25:14

Warriors from being like, f it, we got

25:16

to try something. We know how how many threes these teams

25:18

are gonna shoot. Maybe it ended up being not the best

25:20

strategy, but those are the problems.

25:22

Maybe hitting the iceberg wasn't grateful the Titanic,

25:25

Like.

25:28

I just respect that they were

25:30

willing to, you know, give it a shot, knowing that

25:32

they were a little bit undermanned, and how the difficult

25:35

the Celtics are to slow down In the first way,

25:37

he said a lot about how difficult Boston is for

25:39

these teams to prepare for. But I

25:42

just like the way the Worries of look since Draymond came

25:44

back and was starting its center full

25:46

time. I think the fact that they've shown a willingness

25:48

now to move Klay Thompson to

25:51

the bench. He's had some nice performances

25:54

since being in that role. They've

25:57

been willing to experiment, They've been willing to kind of

25:59

push their chips in to the table a little

26:01

bit. Listen, it's gonna depend on is

26:04

this is this is Wigan's gonna miss twenty games.

26:06

Is he gonna come back in two We don't know, and that's

26:08

that's looming all over this But

26:11

if they're healthy, I mean, we

26:13

saw it last year with that with that King series.

26:15

You know, the Warriors had a terrible season, and

26:19

we saw it with the Kings last year. They were

26:21

kind of the darling of the NBA. The Warriors had a season

26:23

from hell that started with the Jordan Poole incident,

26:25

more like the Draymond Green incident, and uh,

26:28

they pushed him to seven games and the game

26:30

seven, Steph Curry puts on a legendary performance

26:32

and the Warriors win. So I

26:35

just think Steph is still at that level, still

26:37

that guy. I like the way they've looked with Draymond at

26:39

center. If I had to pick, like,

26:42

you know, which team kind of has that mistique that can

26:44

get into someone's heads in the first round, I think it's still

26:46

Golden State.

26:47

Look, we have to acknowledge that

26:49

the teams that any

26:52

of those bottom four teams are likely

26:55

to play in the first round

26:57

are not traditional dominant

27:00

won two teams. I mean, Minnesota right now

27:03

has the best record in the West, But

27:05

if you ask around the league

27:07

about the vulnerabilities

27:10

of Minnesota. You can have a fifteen minute conversation

27:12

about that, about whether or not in

27:15

a postseason series you can

27:17

play Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony Towns

27:19

together, whether or not Anthony Edwards

27:21

can be a closer in

27:24

a playoff situation.

27:26

Fourth quarter offensive issues, yes.

27:28

They have, I know. I was reading John Krasinski

27:30

wrote about that over at the Athletic recently, just

27:33

kind of the way that malfunction as of late in

27:35

the fourth quarter. We talked about

27:37

Oklahoma City really talented, not a

27:39

high level of experience.

27:42

The team that I think has the best

27:45

chance of making a run, it's the team I leaned

27:47

into last year. That's the Lakers. I'm

27:49

not gonna sit here and predict a Lakers

27:52

Conference Finals or a Lakers Finals appearing this

27:54

year. I'm not as confident in this

27:56

group. You know, they

28:00

they've stagnated in certain ways.

28:04

The injuries have obviously been a problem. But

28:07

in a postseason series, if you've

28:09

got a defense that in the past

28:12

has been good enough to keep games

28:14

close, and if you can keep these games within like

28:16

three possessions in the final five minutes, you've

28:18

got the two best players on the floor in those situations

28:21

in Lebron and Anthony Davis, like, you're

28:23

still gonna have one of the great closers

28:25

in NBA history in Lebron. You've got

28:27

one of the great defensive players right now in Anthony

28:30

Davis, and a guy that can dominate in

28:32

the paints. And look, the Lakers have had

28:34

some stumbles as of late. They lost

28:37

coming out of the All Star Break against the Warriors,

28:39

they lost to the Clippers, they lost

28:41

the Nuggets. But in between then, they've

28:44

got some wins there. You know, you've got

28:46

to win over the Clippers. Sorry, they lost the Suns.

28:48

They gotta win over the Clippers. Beat Washington,

28:51

beat Oklahoma City last night. So

28:54

they're also starting to get healthy

28:56

with some of these guys coming back. Cam Reddish came

28:59

back recently. You know, we saw

29:01

reports on Tuesday that Gabe Vincent

29:03

could be back at some point mid March, another rotation

29:06

player they can add to the mix. I just

29:08

think they're they're the kind of team that

29:10

can be good enough defensively to keep

29:13

games close and the playoffs

29:16

against inexperienced teams. If

29:18

you've got Lebron and a d you're

29:20

gonna give yourself a better than Puncher's chance to win. So

29:22

I'm gonna lean into the Lakers as being

29:25

the most likely of those four teams

29:28

at the bottom right now to win a postseason

29:30

series.

29:32

You know, it's hard to argue with that logic. It's kind

29:34

of unscary as they've been for large

29:36

stretches this season, as average as they've felt.

29:40

I'm with you, Like six minutes to go in a playoff game,

29:42

you have Lebron and a d you

29:44

know, even as like brash as the Timberwolves

29:46

have been in some of these matchups,

29:49

as confident, and I think Shane the thunder are,

29:54

It's just gonna be interesting to watch and maybe we'll,

29:56

you know, be stetactically wrong and

29:58

this is a true changing of the guard, and

30:01

these teams don't matter at all anymore. But I'm

30:04

excited to see it. I'm excited to see it because

30:06

I do think that they that's kind of like the mental

30:09

challenge of the playoffs that these young teams are gonna

30:11

have to overcome is staring into

30:14

a guy like Lebron or Steph,

30:16

knowing the experience that they've had the amount of times they

30:19

come through on a big stage. Can you

30:21

fight through whatever level of

30:23

intimidation comes with that, and

30:25

win is going to be really interesting. When

30:27

will it be time, by the way, to unveil

30:30

the official man Ex prediction

30:32

of twenty twenty four.

30:34

I don't really have I don't really have a fire one

30:36

yet. Like last year, right around this time, I

30:38

was, you know, ready to do the flames.

30:40

Yeah, with the Lakers. I don't really have one yet,

30:43

got it. I'd like to You

30:45

know, look, I love what I'm seeing from Milwaukee, but

30:47

I can't pick the Buckskins the Celtics, not now. You

30:49

know, the Celtics are as well oiled

30:51

the machine as they come. So look, we

30:54

talk We've talked about parody in the NBA, and

30:56

there is parody. But right now, the Celtics

30:59

are prohibitive favors to the East. I would make

31:01

Denver a prohibitive favor right now to win the

31:03

West. So even though

31:05

you've got a lot of teams with

31:08

close to identical records who

31:10

should make for some fun first and second round

31:12

series, right now, smart money's on Boston

31:14

and Denver. And that's not exactly

31:16

parody, Like that's the two teams that I'm playing

31:19

dominant basketball, at least in case the Boston all

31:21

season and Denver in the last few

31:23

weeks. Not

31:26

the parody I think people have been boasting

31:28

about as of late.

31:29

Can I get a quick temperature check on

31:32

Boston, like is there's just supreme confidence

31:34

that there's no roadblocks here

31:36

because I think there's like I don't

31:38

know how you argue any other team to win the East right

31:40

now, like coherently. That's not just pure

31:43

takery. But I'm curious if that's the way

31:45

people are feeling around Boston, Like is there's

31:48

a.

31:49

Good vibe, there's a good vibe.

31:51

I mean, there's perpetual concern

31:53

about Porzingis's ability to stay healthy

31:56

in the playoffs. That's

31:58

always going to be a concerned but I think the Celtics

32:01

done a nice job shutting

32:03

him down at the first sign

32:06

of potential trouble. So when

32:08

you get to the playoffs and you're playing at

32:10

best every other day, oftentimes with

32:12

two days in between, that

32:15

bodes well for his ability to play

32:17

in the postseason. And look, I've

32:19

said this recently, but like everybody

32:22

on that Celtics roster is

32:24

a little bit better, right, Like Jason Tatum,

32:26

even though he's not scoring at the level he

32:28

was last year is a little bit better

32:31

than what he was last year, more complete player than

32:33

what he was last year. Jalen Brown

32:36

can make the same argument. Numbers aren't exactly

32:38

the same as what they were in last

32:40

year, a year's past, but a more complete

32:43

player. I think this year Drew

32:45

Holliday, he's a

32:47

better player for

32:49

this team than Marcus Smart was.

32:52

Like he fits better with this group.

32:54

So at that position, they're a little bit

32:56

better. And Chris and Porseningis is

32:58

new to the mix. But Joe Miszoola, we

33:01

don't hear a lot about the Joe Mizula

33:03

gaffs anymore. We don't hear a lot about

33:05

you know, why isn't he calling this time

33:07

out? You know? Why is he doing

33:10

this with his rotation? Yeah, every six weeks

33:13

or so, the team goes like ten to fifty

33:15

from three point range, and people are like, why are you shooting so many

33:17

threes? But they shoot so many

33:19

threes because they're a top five efficiency team

33:21

and they're able to do to

33:24

go the state after just three drill

33:27

them. Like their margin of victory

33:29

over the last five games is like

33:32

thirty five points. It's

33:34

wild how they're not just beating teams,

33:36

they're bludgeting them right now. Their overall

33:39

margin of victory is like an NBA best like plus

33:41

eleven plus twelve, and that's

33:43

like three or four points ahead of anybody else

33:46

in the NBA. So I just

33:48

I don't think there's any cause for concern

33:51

right now. In Boston, they're just cruising along. And yeah,

33:54

if Milwaukee can show that they can beat them, more

33:56

power to them. But I think we're a long

33:58

way from, uh, ultimately believing that.

34:00

So I agree, and I just hope if they

34:02

do lose. You're in the press

34:05

conference asking Jason Tatum if the season

34:07

was a failure or not.

34:09

Yes, I tried to ask those black and white

34:11

questions. Was it

34:13

a failure? If do you deserve

34:16

MVP? Now that's my

34:19

line of question. All right, go ahead, We will be back

34:21

here next week. Until then, enjoy

34:23

the games,