Speaker 1: So Greg Moore from the Phoenix Arizona Republic says the
Speaker 1: Suns are now worried that Kevin Durant's injury is a
Speaker 1: Grade two ankle sprain. Grade two ankle sprains are six
Speaker 1: weeks for full recovery. Reports suggests that the Sons will
Speaker 1: reassess him in three weeks, which would only give him
Speaker 1: about three games to get the rust off if he plays.
Speaker 1: But I think at this point Kd's done for the season.
Speaker 1: He'll be back for the playoffs. Maybe he'll sit out
Speaker 1: the first part of the playoffs like Luka Doncis did
Speaker 1: in the series against the Utah Jazz. Or they thought
Speaker 1: maybe Steph Curry would last year in the first round
Speaker 1: with his ankle injury. Bad stuff, though, I want to
Speaker 1: give you fair warning that you might not see KD
Speaker 1: for the rest of the season in Dallas. It's also
Speaker 1: bad MAVs are worried about lucas Thai. Looks like Luca
Speaker 1: and Kyrie are both dealing with nagging issues. We should
Speaker 1: worried mostly about Luca because he said that the thigh
Speaker 1: injury that has been bugging him for a week or
Speaker 1: so is not good. There's an MRI happening. We should
Speaker 1: know more moving forward. Bad news though for a MAVs
Speaker 1: team that has fallen to eighth and is only one
Speaker 1: game in front of four teams right now to be
Speaker 1: in the play in tournament or maybe out of the
Speaker 1: play in They are three and seven in their last ten.
Speaker 1: They are in desperate need of Luka Doncic back over
Speaker 1: in the Bay. We move over there to our dubs.
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr now gives an update on Andrew Wiggins. Kerr
Speaker 1: told the local reporter, I think there's hope that Wiggins
Speaker 1: might return this season, but it is not a foregone conclusion.
Speaker 1: Wiggins has now missed eleven straight games with a quote
Speaker 1: family matter that is not good. Missing eleven games for
Speaker 1: personal reasons not good. Apparently this is way bigger than basketball.
Speaker 1: According to Kerr, not going to get into the rumors
Speaker 1: that I've heard about what those family matters might be,
Speaker 1: but one thing is dead certain. I do not know
Speaker 1: how this team wins without him on the court in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Before his injury on December tewod he was
Speaker 1: averaging nineteen five and two with a steal in half
Speaker 1: of a block per game. Defensively, he was plus ten
Speaker 1: point three in his last ten games. That's why they
Speaker 1: need him right. That's why our Dubs need to figure
Speaker 1: out a way for Andrew Wiggins to get back onto
Speaker 1: the court. Quick update in New Orleans on Zion Williamson.
Speaker 1: Pelicans are holding out hope that he can still play
Speaker 1: this year. Of course, very dependent on whether the Pelicans
Speaker 1: have a play in spot or not. That is now
Speaker 1: very much in doubt. New Orleans is currently in the
Speaker 1: ninth spot with five other teams logjam city. Zion is
Speaker 1: reevaluated in two weeks. Hopefully he can be healthy because
Speaker 1: this Pelicans team is trash without him. Yeah, things are
Speaker 1: so messy in New Orleans. They needed forty points from
Speaker 1: Trey Murphy last night to beat a Portland Trailblazers team
Speaker 1: that was without Dame. He's played two twenty nine games
Speaker 1: this year, as Zion has only one hundred and fourteen
Speaker 1: in four years. Sad stuff. Probably weren't going to see
Speaker 1: him the rest of the way. Probably not going to
Speaker 1: see him in the playoffs. It's probably shutdown city time out.
Speaker 1: In Philly, Joel Embiid, one of the greatest quotes in
Speaker 1: the league, put the entire NBA on blast by saying
Speaker 1: he thinks he's unguardable. It's all about using that and
Speaker 1: trying to make my teammates better with that comes to
Speaker 1: a lot of doubles and triple teams every single game.
Speaker 1: So it's about how to may make my teammates better
Speaker 1: every game, which is one of the most savagely confident
Speaker 1: comments I've heard an NBA player say in a long time.
Speaker 1: But I don't think he's wrong. I think Embiid is
Speaker 1: truly unguardable in the post, especially on the perimeter when
Speaker 1: he's cooking as well, which begs the question to me.
Speaker 1: I was thinking about it. Who are the most unguardable
Speaker 1: players in the NBA? Went on one. I think number
Speaker 1: one it's probably Yannest just because he's so big, so strong.
Speaker 1: He can put the ball in his hands, pick it up,
Speaker 1: pick up his dribble, and be at the rim in
Speaker 1: two dribbles, no matter if he's at half court. So
Speaker 1: impossible to stop someone that strong, that fast. Devin Booker
Speaker 1: is is up there. I don't know if he's two,
Speaker 1: but he's up there. He's on my list. He has
Speaker 1: incredible footwork, great handles, he can shoot from everywhere. He's
Speaker 1: a three level scorer English around the rim. His package
Speaker 1: is ridiculous. Pause Dame Dame shoots from forty. Dame's got
Speaker 1: right to left, step hop, left to right, step hop.
Speaker 1: He can shoot from half court. You're in basically have
Speaker 1: to drape all over him in order for him not
Speaker 1: to shoot from forty. So you give him any bit
Speaker 1: of separation, he's gonna shoot you. Don't give him any separation,
Speaker 1: he's gonna blow by you. Pretty much. The same goes
Speaker 1: for Steph Curry all the exact reasons. Just can shoot faster,
Speaker 1: quicker release. Probably Jason Tatum as well. His footwork is insane.
Speaker 1: He can raise up and elevate above you, just like
Speaker 1: KD can, which is why Kd's on the list as well.
Speaker 1: And then because he's so big, so strong and can
Speaker 1: shoot Luca. Those are my seven outside of embat But
Speaker 1: speaking of Embid, Zach los Low posted this on ESPN
Speaker 1: and I thought it was worth mentioning as well. No
Speaker 1: one has had more pressure on him to win this
Speaker 1: year than Jokic, right everybody's talking about it. Well, if
Speaker 1: Yokis doesn't win, doesn't go to the Western Conference finals,
Speaker 1: doesn't go to the finals, doesn't win a title this year.
Speaker 1: It's a failure. Three straight MVPs and no postseason success, whack.
Speaker 1: His legacy is gonna be in jeopardy. But as Low
Speaker 1: points out, which is totally true and totally fair, Jokis
Speaker 1: has actually have more playoff success than Joel Embiid. Actually,
Speaker 1: nobody is saying Joel Embiid needs to do anything more
Speaker 1: in the postseason for his legacy. Nobody is saying Joel
Speaker 1: Embiid has pressure on him this year. I get that
Speaker 1: Jokich has two MVPs is about to get a third one.
Speaker 1: But Jokich has reached one conference finals and Joel Embiid
Speaker 1: has never been that far. So what are we talking about?
Speaker 1: And then if you look at individual postseason numbers, they
Speaker 1: are better as well. So I look that up and
Speaker 1: Jokich averages twenty six point four eleven point five rebounds
Speaker 1: and six point four assists in forty eight games and
Speaker 1: Bid twenty four points eleven rebounds and two point eight
Speaker 1: assists in four less games. So yeah, I al would
Speaker 1: say Zach Lowe is onto something here. If you're gonna
Speaker 1: hate on Yolkic in terms of his playoff success, you
Speaker 1: need to hold Embiid to that same standard. You need
Speaker 1: to let him know, hey, you are not winning enough.
Speaker 1: And finally, did you see this, Our Sacramento Kings are
Speaker 1: now tied for seconds in the West. I remember it
Speaker 1: clear as day. I was sitting right here in this chair,
Speaker 1: and I said, am I crazy to think that this
Speaker 1: team could be an easy playin team to be in
Speaker 1: the eight seed? Coming out? People were saying I was crazy.
Speaker 1: This is a team that won twenty something games. They
Speaker 1: might win fifty games this year. We've been on em
Speaker 1: all year, as you know. But just let you know.
Speaker 1: They are not only holding off their arrivals in the
Speaker 1: toughest division in basketball. They are eight and two in
Speaker 1: their last ten. They are nine and two in this
Speaker 1: last month against really good teams. Here is the reason
Speaker 1: why their top eight players by minutes have played in
Speaker 1: at least fifty nine of their sixty six games so
Speaker 1: far this year. So no load management, no significant injuries.
Speaker 1: In fact, their top eight players have only lost a
Speaker 1: total of twenty four games this year combined. Lebron just
Speaker 1: for comparison, has missed twenty one games by himself this year.
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis has also lost over twenty games this year.
Speaker 1: This team is healthy and that is gonna be so
Speaker 1: huge for them this time in the playoffs. Healthy teams
Speaker 1: win championships. Folks, just saying, that's all the time that
Speaker 1: we have for the episode of the Heat Check. Check
Speaker 1: back Friday for an all new episode. Do you not
Speaker 1: forget to watch the feed? Maybe more interviews will be
Speaker 1: coming depending on what pops so far this week. Please
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Speaker 1: and follow us because the heat Check never sleeps, not
Speaker 1: even when I've lost my voice. We'll see you next time.