WEBVTT - Suns Clinch, Tatum Crashes MVP Table & Random 'Ben Simmons In Philly' Bets 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:07.080 Now, Meredith, do you promise me you won't go to 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:12.800 too much trouble? Oh, pishposh, there's no such thing. I 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.200 foolishly agreed to throw the baby shower, but she's so particular. 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:18.720 I suggested we do a teaky theme, but she says 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.239 she can't drink my tie while pregnant. Now I don't 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:24.360 know about other mothers, but I simply can't drink my 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:28.440 tie while I'm pregnant. I only drink Martini's. It's better 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:35.159 for the baby. 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:40.760 Good morning, sweet and welcome to the No Dunks Podcast 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:44.479 on the Athletic Network. It's Thursday, March tenth. We're here 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.360 back in the Classic Factory on ge Skeets and alongside 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:49.880 me as always tas Mellie. What's up everybody, So Tess, 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.040 we got our top shot hot boy back in a 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:56.200 bull's hat. Trey Kirby, Hey, Okayo, the international man of 0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:02.320 Mystery taking it to the max. Leellis really last, certainly 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.000 not least making the magic happen. Super producer JD. Hello, 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:07.479 there is here. 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:07.679 We are. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:09.440 Shout out to the stream team, joining us live right 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.520 now on YouTube. Take a second like the video. Make 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.760 sure you subscribe to No Dunks on YouTube. Comment away, 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.760 both in the stream team and later in the comments section. 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:20.920 If you're watching a little bit later in the day 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.520 and share the show, that's important help us get those 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.000 subs up. Our next goal is one hundred thousand and 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:30.000 don't you think I've forgot about you singing slim Dusty 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:35.240 Dusty Slim. No. I thought we had a thing like 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.160 once we hit fifty k, you're gonna sing like a 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.600 weird I don't know Ozzy country song. 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:41.839 Yeah, we need Matt to come and play the guitar 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:46.920 next on Matts, next time, next on Matty. 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:47.440 We'll do it. 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:52.000 Okay, great, start emailing your NBA questions too, No Dunks 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:55.720 at the Athletic dot Com. Tweet out us at No Dunks, Inc. 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:56.360 That's I n C. 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:58.800 You can follow us on all the social media channels 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:02.040 there on Twitter and face Book, TikTok and Instagram. Really 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.680 appreciate that. Also, this is fun. Survivor returned last night 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:10.040 Survivor forty two, episode one, two hour premiere, so we 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.240 will be breaking it down in detail a little bit 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:17.080 later today around one one thirty pm Eastern over on 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:21.239 our No Buffs YouTube feed, and we'll have our own 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:24.120 separate podcast feed for that on Apple, Spotify, or wherever 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.920 you listen to your Survivor content. Search for No Buffs. 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.160 As we break down episode one, showing you the cast there, Lee, 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:31.880 I know, I assume you didn't watch that. 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.359 No, No, I've done my one season of Survivor. That's 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:37.680 all you need is one next pandemic. I'm backing. 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:39.840 Okay, Yeah, there's a there's a link in the stream. 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:41.800 Team right now, we want to subscribe to No Buffs. 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.200 That's what happened with my computer playing here. We had 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.880 a little bit of a frazzled start. We didn't even 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.200 remember if we adapt up each other before the show 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.079 finally got going. So you didn't give your classic cell 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.679 phone reminder. I did a cuter reminder and I got 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.919 burned here. But you know, it's for a good cause, subscriptions. 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.040 It's so funny though. Every other day I it. You know, 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.079 nobody was like, I'm already. No one listens to me 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.120 every day, No one cares. But I didn't say today, right, 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.080 And that's what happens. All right, Let's get into a 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.000 bunch of the games from last night. How many games 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.200 are on last night? There's too many? 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.000 Yeah, Survivor count. 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.680 She's yeah, to the Wednesday's schedule. There was a lot 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:20.959 of television being watched, at least in my household, and 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:23.040 I'm sure you guys as well. But let's get into 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.000 some of the key games. I got some questions from these. 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:27.160 So the first one is we had the Suns dropping 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:29.560 the Heat. They became the first team to clinch a 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:32.520 playoff spot, Devin Booker return. That was nice for Phoenix. 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:35.360 I thought this was a really dominant win here in Miami. 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.200 But Lee, my question, just with the Suns here clinching 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:40.440 throw the X up there on the end of Phoenix, 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.400 what's impressed you most about Phoenix this year? 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:45.560 Honestly, like, for a team to have not made the 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:48.000 playoffs for a decade and then be two wins away 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.720 from winning a championship last season, that almost never happened. 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:53.680 So was that almost a mirage? Coming into this season 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.080 and started off badly one and three, that's some off 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:57.800 court stuff, And I was like, you know, it was 0:03:57.880 --> 0:03:59.440 Chris Paul last year. Was he going to be able 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:01.120 to sort of get back to that level? You know, 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:03.440 where the hell are they going to basically handle expectations? 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:06.040 And they've ticked all the boxes. There's a real Spursy 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.640 like feel, like a spurry blur feeling to this team 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.640 right now because they have answered every single challenge. You know, 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:14.440 they've dealt with all that of course stuff, and then 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.080 you look at just how this team is right now. 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.120 Javal McGee, you know a guy who's bounced around, he's 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.240 picked up his championships, but he's come in and been really, 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.920 really good. They picked up this mac Biombo. He's given 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:26.640 them some really good minutes. Campaign was another guy kind 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:27.960 of out of the league. He came back in they 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:31.119 signed him to a contract. Landry Shammitt another guy who'd 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.440 been on four teams in five seasons. He's one of 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:35.240 those players like how does he keep getting traded? He 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:37.640 seems like a good player. He's got a four year 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:42.520 contract there. And so basically anyone who comes in produces 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:44.480 for them. You know, when they're deep and when they're 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:46.560 well coached. I mean, Monty Williams is from the Spurs 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:48.800 sort of system there, so he's got that maybe that 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:52.360 education there. And now with Chris Paul out, they start 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.520 off a little bit of a bumpy bumpy start there, 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:56.720 but now they go and get probably their most impressive 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.440 win in in Miami. Now, no Jimmy Butler, but in 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:02.040 that third they turned it up. They sort of did 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:03.960 to Miami what Miami did does to a lot of teams. 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:07.200 They claim, really shut them down and went down scored 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.080 the other end. Devin Booker fantastic, nearly a triple double 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:15.240 there last night. But overall, this team has basically, I mean, 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:17.520 it still seems to be there a little bit underrated, 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:19.800 and I don't know where they are in the championship 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.880 odds right now, but how they're not second favorite at 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:24.480 worst is incredible. 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:26.040 They are very well coached. 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.919 You're seeing guys like Cam Johnson and mcale Bridges having 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.440 you know, career seasons right now when they're playing, and 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.839 everything about the Suns that they do is very convincing. 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:38.479 That defensive end is great. Offensively, they've got so many 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.560 options and DeAndre Ayton, who's been you know, he's been 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:42.919 a little bit up and down. He's still got some 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.479 growth there. But they've got a legit big man out 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.800 there who can score and dominate on both ends. So 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:51.400 this is incredibly impressive what Phoenix has done. Because, as 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.240 I say, for ten years, bit of a joke, you know, 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:57.240 like a bit of a crazy franchise there. We saw 0:05:57.279 --> 0:05:58.880 them down in the bubble and they just missed out, 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:00.760 and we thought, yeah, it's the bubble who nose last 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:04.279 season shortened season. There is no asterisk on that season. 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:06.320 But you can see how people can maybe say, well, 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:08.160 let's see him do it in a real season, back 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:09.080 to real conditions. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:10.520 And they're doing it all right now. 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:14.280 Yeah, fifty three and thirteen was their most impressive win 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.679 to date last night in Miami. 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.000 I don't know. I don't know looking at their fifty 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.240 three wins, but I know that it just if it 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:25.919 feels like they're not wavering whatsoever. I think, Yes, the 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.400 consistency is amazing. The team is the most impressive part. 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.920 But I think another impressive part is just the flipping 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.840 of the narrative of Chris Paul. It wasn't that long 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.600 ago where he was anti clutch. You know, sometimes these 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:44.119 labels are ingrained in guys, and going back to his Clippers' days, 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:48.719 Now he is after this season, he is one of 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.040 the handful of players that you'd want the ball in 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:53.480 their hands in the last minute. And again he was 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.000 anti clutch, especially with the internet the way it is 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.599 for that narrative to a flipped I think is ridiculously great. 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:02.960 I mean, when people see watch the Suns, it's you 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.200 you don't want the ball in anyone else's hands in 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.320 the last minute. I think that's a bit of a stretch. 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:10.800 But the fact is he has joined a very very 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:13.480 special bunch at the top, and I don't see why 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:15.720 they should be one of the top two favorites. They 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:18.960 should be the favorite as far as the as going 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:21.640 into the playoffs five weeks from now, because they went to. 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.000 The finals last year. That's the thing. If this was like, 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:26.480 oh my god, they've been bad for a decade, it's like, wow, 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:28.760 can they really go all the way to the finals, 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.119 you know, not making the playoffs, but you're prior then sure, 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:34.280 then you're like, okay, maybe they're not a championship favorite, 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.400 but they did they would they you said it, they 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.080 were up to in the finals. They should easily be 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:40.760 the favorites here. I don't see how they couldn't be, 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.560 you know, unless suddenly we find out that Chris Paul 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.920 isn't returning at all. And I'm not even convinced then 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:48.520 that they shouldn't still be the favorites. 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:50.600 Well, spoiler alert. They're the favorites now. 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:51.120 That's good. 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:52.680 Yeah, at least took a while to get there the 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:56.840 bet MGM Arizona site. I don't know if that changes 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.320 from location to location, but they are the fa faites 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.440 now because they've got nine more wins than anybody else 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:02.960 in the league. 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:03.679 That's crazy. 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:05.600 That's the most impressive thing to me is that they're 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.040 so much better than every other team in the league, 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.040 because there's several championship contenders out there, but the Suns 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:13.560 have been the best and they've done it with basically 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:15.840 all of their stars missing a nice chunk of time 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:18.600 during the season. By the time the season's over, all 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.040 of their starters except for Michale Bridges, will have missed 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.640 at least ten games, and they've taken zero steps back. 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.080 Like lia Is saying, they get great performances from a 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.200 Byambo Kaminsky had good games when he was still playing. 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.720 Campaign has really seized his opportunity. With Chris Paul going down. 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.640 They're just super professional, and that is Chris Paul being 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.520 a professional guy and just having the attention to detail 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:40.800 each and every single night. It's been a little bit 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:43.360 rocky sometimes with Chris Paul going down. They haven't had 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:47.320 necessarily the exact same fourth quarter execution, didn't need it 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:49.720 in this one because they just completely blew out the Heat, 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.040 which is impressive. The Heat have been playing really really 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.880 well lately. So Yeah, to see what the Sons are 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:58.720 doing without the guy who they're taking all their cues from, 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:00.560 I think is really really. 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:02.480 Yeah, you've got to be beating them start going into 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.600 the fourth quarter because they're forty and oh when leading 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:10.200 after three quarters, they're an abysmal five hundred if they're 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:14.040 trailing after three quarters. But yeah, they are just so solid. 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:16.360 Chris Paul leading the way, the way he's flipped the 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:19.280 narrative on himself, you know, in his mid thirties is 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.280 pretty cool for us old guys. And I will confirm 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:26.800 across the bed MGM sites the Suns are the favorite. 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:29.679 Oh I'm in Jersey right now and they are the 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:31.920 absolute favorite, So at least in two states. I shouldn't 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:33.920 say across all states, but I will say as well, 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.960 I think the simplicity of a Twitter account adding an 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.760 X to a name, it's pretty cool. I like it. 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:42.960 I like the Suns just adding X to their name 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:48.040 because that means that they have solidified a playoff position 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.680 for the first time for the first team this season. 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.559 I think that's cool. I like this simplicity of a 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.240 Twitter account. It's still still hanging on. It's still cool. 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:58.760 Okay, good, Well, they're a dominant team, like we saw, 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.840 especially defensively. Second overall defensive rating, fourth overall offensive rating, 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:04.800 best net rating in the league. Trace said, what are 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.199 they nine games clear of the next best team in 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.320 the league. That is that's amazing. That's a hell of 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.439 a gap when we still have what fifteen games to go? 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:13.960 Yea to be that much up? 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:14.440 Yeah? 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:16.920 Well, what are they fifty three and thirteen thirteen? Yeah, 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:18.959 so they only won fifty one games last year in 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:22.160 a shortened season, so they're already up there. But yeah, 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.720 this is this is great. Now again with Chris Paul, 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.439 it's about saving his legs as well for the playoffs, 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.360 so in some ways minor blessing in disguise that he 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:32.000 gets some good rests. You probably don't want him out 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.679 for six weeks before the playoffs, but three or four 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:35.640 weeks is probably not bad. 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:35.959 Yeah. 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:37.760 Well, I mean we talked about that when he did 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.360 get injured, So do it now? Yeah, Chris Paul always 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:42.480 gets injured in the playoffs. Do it prior to the 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.920 playoffs and hopefully they can string together a couple more 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.520 or another deep postseason run here and you're helped out 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.800 when Yeah McGee's grabbing a million offensive rebounds. Mckill bridge's 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.640 awesome game, like everybody campaign. He didn't have a monster 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.440 game last night, but we talked about how he's filled 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:00.600 in admirably, just a just a juggernaut of it. Get 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:02.840 done on both ends, and they just go about their business, 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.200 and I like, I love that they do have the 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.720 sour taste still left in their mouth of losing last year. 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:09.600 I love that. 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:12.160 Yeah, well, remember Booker as he was walking off the court, 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.280 he was like, damn, he wanted to sort of have 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:17.480 one last look because yeah, two games up. I mean, 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.360 tas you probably got the stats there, eighty three percent 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:22.400 of the time the team's going to win the championship. 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:23.040 I'm sure they do. 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.160 And you know, look just how close it was. Remember 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.079 was that one play that big sort of block there 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.520 from Jiannis that could have swung the game back in 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:32.600 Phoenix away. So they were so close, but they didn't. 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:34.840 You know, they've used that as fire rather than just 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:36.040 like feeling sorry for themselves. 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:37.880 Yeah, and they used their last night. They said that 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:40.840 he'd beat them earlier in the season. So yeah, the 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:43.120 booker said, we're doing this, and yeah, I'm sure that's 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.480 going to carry over into the playoffs and hopefully they'll see, 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.520 you know, everybody's best in the Western Conference, because that 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:51.960 was the knock against the Suns last year, right, each 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.560 and every series, the Lakers had somebody injured. The Clippers 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.760 obviously had somebody injured and on down the line. But yeah, 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:03.680 they've been ridiculously so just too solid. So yeah, finally 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.439 they are number one in terms of the odds. Took 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:08.240 a long time you brought up Yannis. 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.880 Let's get to what I'm calling some MVP type shit, 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:16.320 all right, Yannis and the Bucks. They outlasted the Hawks 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:20.800 for their sixth straight victory. We had Jokic dominating the 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:24.000 Kings as the Nuggets win after they blew a big lead. 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.400 I think Ziller pointed out in his newsletter, have the 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:28.720 Nuggets and Kings played two hundred times since the All 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.520 Star breaking feels like they're playing every second night. And 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:36.400 then you know, got Yannis, you got the joker, Tatum 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:40.640 dominates as the Celtics fend off the Hornets there, and 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:42.480 he is on a tear right now, So I really 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:45.320 guess the question is here at Trey from those three games, 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:49.920 has has Tatum joined Yannis and Joker and a being 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.720 whoever else at the table? Has he pulled up a chair. 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:54.600 It's getting crowded in here. 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:58.839 It's getting real crowded because Jason Tatum absolutely gets a seat. 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.800 He's the guy who had early dinner plans already made, 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.200 but he still wants to stop by, have a drink, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.480 have a piece of coconut cream pie, and just vibe 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.600 out with his buddies. The rotating four and five spots. 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:12.000 They have been hot this season. 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:12.640 Good. Yeah. 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.240 Curry and KD were there, though honestly they were kind 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:17.720 of more on the one two side of things. DeRozan 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.760 had a chance, Jimmy Butler made an appearance, Chris Paul 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:22.199 and Devin Booker came by together. 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:23.320 Not enough room for him. 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:26.600 Jo's been there, Luca recently showed up, and now Jason Tatum, 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:28.680 he's got to take a seat because he is on 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:32.160 a heater since the All Star Break thirty twenty six, 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:36.120 twenty four, thirty three thirty seven, fifty four and forty 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:38.800 four last night on sixteen of twenty four, shooting in 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.400 a very nice six of nine from three second back 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.920 to back forty point games stretch of Tatum's career. He 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:48.560 hit fifteen field goals in that fifty four point game 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:51.640 as well, so fifteen field goals in consecutive games for 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.480 the first time in his career. He's even wowing himself 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:56.760 with some of the shots he makes. You're like, WHOA, 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:58.959 that was a six step back. I had to ice 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:01.840 the game here against the Hornets. The most important thing though, 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:04.640 Celtics are six and one in those games that Tatum's 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.720 spent on fire. It's his fifth forty point game of 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.040 the season, which is sixth in the league. So I 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.240 kind of think if you're putting Luka Doncic in the mix, 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:13.240 you gotta put Tatum in the mix as well, because 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.439 season long, their stats are pretty similar twenty eight nine 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.680 and nine for Luca, twenty seven eight and four for 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.520 Tatum on similar percentages. They're both making late runs for 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:25.600 that fourth spot. I've never been more excited to see 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.200 who comes in fourth in the MVP voting right now. 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:30.720 But you're not getting higher than fourth. 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.120 Unfortunately for any of these new jacks sitting down at 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.600 the table, the big names keep staying there. Yokitch thirty eight, 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.720 eighteen and seven, that's basically what he's averaging for the week. 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:42.760 And Giannis just went out and put up forty three 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.480 to twelve and five. Scored eighty two points in a 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.520 twenty four hour span after thirty eight in the victory 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:53.440 at Oksee earlier this week. Somehow he's third in this race, 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.320 Like he doesn't feel like he can even get up 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.680 to number one or two at this point, despite the 0:14:57.680 --> 0:14:59.440 fact you can make the case that he's the best 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.160 player in the league. Again, he's had a better season 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.640 than Joel Embiid, who's probably gonna win it at this point. 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:07.480 So what a race? More awesome stuff last night that's 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.760 just ridiculous. Like I turned on the Nuggets game after 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.040 Survivor just I'm like, I want to see what's going 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.160 on here. I want to see what Yoki's line is. 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:16.640 It was the middle of the second quarter and he 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.800 was at seventeen eight and four. I just started laughing. 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:22.040 I'm like, Okay, this is good stuff. So yeah, Tatum, 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.520 take a seat, but uh, you're not getting too. 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:25.000 Far in here. 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:28.000 Wow, Okay, So Tatum is sitting down though, so take 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.280 a seat, buddy. So if the three bigs, the International bigs, 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:35.800 they've been there basically all year long, embiid. Yeah, you're honest, Jokic, 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.840 in whatever order you want to put them, You've got 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:40.920 Tatum with the four seat. That means there's one more 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:45.560 fis So who's Luca Luca? So yeah, John not there, 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.040 DeRozan not there. It's tough. It's tough, but it's a 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:49.680 small table. 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:51.440 Chris Pole is like, I'm just gonna go out and 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:53.520 pock the cor save my seat. 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:58.200 And Tyson. Yeah, that's the thing. 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:00.480 I mean, Chris Pole was in that compass, but you 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:02.560 miss some time and you sort of fall away. It 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.360 is incredible right now, Just how many guys because Tatum 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:08.520 I agree with Trey that he's not going to get 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:12.040 into that top three, but they are only two games 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.320 back of the Milwaukee Bucks in second. It's not out 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:17.800 of the realm of possibility that the Celtics do climb 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:18.240 up there. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:20.960 It's number two. It could happen. I mean, maybe it will, 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:21.600 maybe it won't. 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:23.960 But if they get up there, then Tatum might be 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:25.800 just sort of saying on one of those guys, just like, 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:27.160 get over a little bit more. 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:27.600 I'm here. 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.440 Who knows, but the confidence he has got right now 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:32.400 you mentioned the step backs. He's blowing kisses to the 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:35.600 crowd there in Charlotte. It's awesome when a guy's just 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:37.800 in this groove like this, where you know, this is 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:39.320 not like it was on Sunday where he was just 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:40.880 sort of lining guys up and saying, I'm just going 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.040 to take you down. The Hornets aren't that good defensively, 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.480 but Tatum is just like, there's really nothing anyone could 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:48.160 do to stop me. I've got the threes, I'm getting 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.840 inside if I want it. Anyone who's a tiny bit 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.600 undersized is got virtually no chance against him. So this 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.360 is an incredible run, incredible surge here from the Celtics. 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.640 Yeah, I would say one name that wasn't included there 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.680 was Steph Curry, and I know he's overlooked because he 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:07.359 was hot to start. As Trey said, he was leader 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.679 of the clubhouse for a long time. His numbers are 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:11.680 better than Tatums. Even though Tam scores a little bit more. 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.200 Tatum had a bad start to the season. Yeah, you 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:16.280 know he's shooting thirty four percent from three in that 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.280 Luca range up, you know, below average throughout the league, 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:23.159 and Curry's numbers are still better and his record, team's 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.400 record is better. I think we're forgetting about Steph because 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.240 he was he was a part of the leader at 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.280 the beginning, and now we're just okay, we're done with that. 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:33.840 But then what the problem with Steph though, or including 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.280 him still is Draymond goes out and then they're like 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.720 a five hundred team. So you saw the importance of Draymond. 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:42.480 But they're still way better than the Celtics. Yeah, record, 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:43.520 so fair fair. 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:45.600 They started in CREDITB with her like what thirty and 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.280 nine or something like that at one point. Yeah, but 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:50.120 he's just he's not there to me. And I don't 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:52.760 even think Tatum is as crazy as that sounds, because 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:55.520 I think John Moran is still deserving with the Grizzlies 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.320 record at what it is. And then I guess then 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:00.600 you are flipping a coin between Luca to them and 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.840