Speaker 1: Stanchic going for fifty and he's got it. Welcome into
Speaker 1: NBA Pulse production of iHeartRadio in the NBA. I'm Sarahcustak,
Speaker 1: NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and today is Tuesday,
Speaker 1: December twenty sixth and from our incredible core group of
Speaker 1: NBA journalists, we're joined now by NBA dot Com senior
Speaker 1: writer John Schumann. We made it through Christmas. We are
Speaker 1: headed into the new year, and we've got a fresh
Speaker 1: set of power rankings with the Boston Celtics staying in
Speaker 1: that number one spots, Minnesota Timberwolf still at number two,
Speaker 1: The Denver Nuggets, who won five straight, jump up from
Speaker 1: number five to the three spot. Oklahoma City is in
Speaker 1: number four. In Philadelphia rounds out the top five after
Speaker 1: being in the three spot last week, and Shoe I
Speaker 1: want to get into those first. The Memphis Grizzlies. They
Speaker 1: are three to oh now with John Morant having returned,
Speaker 1: they're currently sitting in thirteen. Than the West they're eight
Speaker 1: and nineteen, and I think there's just a lot of
Speaker 1: questions of how much time has passed where they're sitting
Speaker 1: in the Western Conference, how much runway do they have
Speaker 1: left to potentially put themselves in playoff positioning or at
Speaker 1: least that seven through ten spot. But they've got four
Speaker 1: big games coming up this week, a lot of big tests.
Speaker 1: What have you seen out of this Grizzlies group now
Speaker 1: that Morant is back?
Speaker 2: Well? I mean, the three games with John Moran have
Speaker 2: been their best three game stretch of offense by a
Speaker 2: healthy margin this season, and they're went in Atlanta on
Speaker 2: Saturday was their most efficient offensive performance of the season,
Speaker 2: with the Morant and Desmond Bain combining for sixty seven
Speaker 2: points and seventeen assists between the two of them. Can
Speaker 2: we talk about that game winner against in New Orleans
Speaker 2: for a second half? Yeah, yeah, let's go I know,
Speaker 2: let's go hot. You did a podcast I think after.
Speaker 1: That, but we did. We did so.
Speaker 2: You know how like when most guys do a spin
Speaker 2: move when they leave their feet, they continue in the
Speaker 2: sort of the same direction that they spun right like,
Speaker 2: so he drove to his left, you know, drove with
Speaker 2: his left hand and then did a spin move on
Speaker 2: around his left shoulder back to his right. So you
Speaker 2: think that he's doing a spin move, and his momentum
Speaker 2: would take him and he continued toward his right and
Speaker 2: like do like a maybe a scoop shot or something
Speaker 2: around Herb Jones that who is his defender.
Speaker 3: Right, that's gonna get ahead of Steve got a chance
Speaker 3: to win him in his return. Here Goes.
Speaker 2: Expires count the basket and jummuets who is it for
Speaker 2: the Grizzlies. But as he he jumped and he jumped
Speaker 2: back to his left right like he didn't he did
Speaker 2: this quick spin move, but he didn't continue in that
Speaker 2: same direction. He left the floor and came back to
Speaker 2: his left, which is I don't know if I've ever
Speaker 2: seen anything like that before. It's it's kind of amazing,
Speaker 2: like instinct, I think, and also athleticism because like how
Speaker 2: do you do that? And you see Herb Jones reach
Speaker 2: for the ball where it would be if John Morant
Speaker 2: was like continuing to his right, but instead Hees traveled
Speaker 2: back to his left in air and so Herb Jones
Speaker 2: basically swiped at air. And I think it was there's
Speaker 2: somebody behind him too, maybe Dyson Daniels who maybe had
Speaker 2: a chance to block the shot from behind, but I
Speaker 2: think he wasn't expecting Morant to come back. It was
Speaker 2: just amazing and amazing play just because of like, I've
Speaker 2: never seen anybody do that with a spin move and
Speaker 2: then sort of come back the other way. I don't
Speaker 2: know if you.
Speaker 1: Have no And I think just as body control everything
Speaker 1: about it, everything about it has impacted the game, and
Speaker 1: I think continues to show what an extraordinary, extraordinary athlete
Speaker 1: he is, first and foremost, but the impact that he
Speaker 1: has on winning and on his team and shoot. With
Speaker 1: that being said, in the Grizzlies too, have dealt with
Speaker 1: a ton of injuries, a lot of factors going into
Speaker 1: this one. But they're going to face a Denver Nuggets team.
Speaker 1: I mentioned they've won five straight, the defending champs, but
Speaker 1: it feels like they are just clicking hidden all the
Speaker 1: right buttons. Obviously, a big part has been over week
Speaker 1: getting Jamal Murray back in the rotation, but they've had
Speaker 1: some key pieces, some young players continue to step up
Speaker 1: and really earn the trust of Michael Malone. What are
Speaker 1: you anticipating and looking for out of this matchup?
Speaker 2: Oh, I think it's I think you got to start
Speaker 2: in the paint. I mean that's when when the Grizzlies
Speaker 2: are good, they're they're dominating the pain. In fact, Jah
Speaker 2: Moran and his three games is two for sixteen from
Speaker 2: outside the paint. Right, but he's average twenty points twenty
Speaker 2: point seven points per game in the paint, which would
Speaker 2: lead the league if you know, if he only if
Speaker 2: he played more than three games. And that's you know,
Speaker 2: I think that's where Denver strength is as well, especially defensively.
Speaker 2: You know, they're gonna, you know, with their size, they're
Speaker 2: gonna protect the paint. You know, you saw it when
Speaker 2: they were in Brooklyn the other day. You know, Aaron
Speaker 2: Gordon with his size, the guy just like loves to
Speaker 2: bully guys under the basket, ducking in and ceiling against
Speaker 2: the you know, rotating defenders and stuff. So I think
Speaker 2: it's in the paint. It's it's it's Jokis versus Jaron Jackson,
Speaker 2: which is a great, great matchup in itself, and there's
Speaker 2: Moran versus Jamal Murray. You know, the Nuggets have won
Speaker 2: five straight, as we said, you know, there was one
Speaker 2: blowout win, but the other four have all been close games,
Speaker 2: including that one in Brooklyn. But over that stretch, Jokic
Speaker 2: and Jamal ma are a combined ten for twelve in
Speaker 2: the clutch, which is pretty amazing. So yeah, I think
Speaker 2: that should be a fun, fun game to watch, one
Speaker 2: of four really good matchups that the Grizzlies have this week.
Speaker 2: They start in New Orleans where they just won last week,
Speaker 2: and they're in Denver and they're in LA to play
Speaker 2: play the Clippers, hopefully Kawhi Leonard is back. You know,
Speaker 2: the Clips have lost too straight without Kawhi Leonard, but
Speaker 2: you know had won nine straight part of that. And
Speaker 2: then they're back home to play the Kings, who another great,
Speaker 2: you know, really good Western Conference team. You know, they
Speaker 2: obviously there's a lot of season left, and we saw
Speaker 2: last year how the Lakers came back from a deep hole,
Speaker 2: you know, to come back and eventually reached the conference finals.
Speaker 2: So I think there's time for Memphis. You know, you
Speaker 2: never know what's going to happen over the next couple months.
Speaker 2: So but this is a this is a great week
Speaker 2: for them. You know it's coming three and oh and
Speaker 2: then to come and have these four specific opponents is
Speaker 2: a great test.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. And they're still I mean they're playing
Speaker 1: this season without Steve and Adam Adams. Brandon Clark, I
Speaker 1: think isn't expected to come back from his Achilles injury
Speaker 1: till somewhere around the All Star break.
Speaker 2: I think we could see Marcus Smart this week though
Speaker 2: for nice.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Marcus Smart interesting to watch. Speaking of a team,
Speaker 1: speaking of Marcus Smart, his former team that has been
Speaker 1: clicking and just putting up some crazy numbers on the
Speaker 1: offensive side, not only in terms of the production, but
Speaker 1: also the efficiency with it. Your number one team in
Speaker 1: the Power rankings of Boston Celtics, who had a one
Speaker 1: to twenty six one fifteen victory over the Lakers on
Speaker 1: their Christmas Day game yesterday. Their starters continue that starting
Speaker 1: five continues to just be off the charts. You look
Speaker 1: at what they did in particular last night. No starter
Speaker 1: with less than eighteen points.
Speaker 3: Holiday Porzingi slamp is good. Right now, Celtics are bawling
Speaker 3: the Lakers.
Speaker 1: But how they've been playing together, shoo, give us some
Speaker 1: of the numbers that you've seen out of the Celtics
Speaker 1: team and why they continued to wow you in particular
Speaker 1: on that end of the floor.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and this was just a ridiculous road trip. I mean,
Speaker 2: they lost in Golden State, blowing an eleven point fourth
Speaker 2: quarter lead, and they struggled in overtime in that game,
Speaker 2: two of the four games on their road trip, or
Speaker 2: two of the four most efficient games for any team
Speaker 2: this season. And in Sacramento they scored one hundred and
Speaker 2: forty four points on only ninety five possessions, which is
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty two per one hundred. Basically, it
Speaker 2: was the sixth most efficient game for any team in
Speaker 2: the twenty eight seasons for which we have play by
Speaker 2: play data. So it was a historically good game. And
Speaker 2: they followed that up with another incredible game against the Clippers.
Speaker 2: So and then you know, they go and play the
Speaker 2: Lakers and they're what are they up twelve zero in
Speaker 2: the first few minutes, So White, your.
Speaker 1: Drive the floaters up. Porszingis throws down.
Speaker 3: The follow twenty six points for Porzingis. It's a fourteenth
Speaker 3: points Celtic lad.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they are an offensive machine, and it's not just
Speaker 2: about hot shooting. We know they shoot a lot of
Speaker 2: threes and they can get really hot. But you know,
Speaker 2: they committed just thirty five turnovers over those four games,
Speaker 2: eight point eight per one hundred possessions, which is like
Speaker 2: a microscopic rate. And they also grabbed a ton of
Speaker 2: offensive rebounds in three of those four games. So it's
Speaker 2: not just about shooting. They're they're they're taking care of
Speaker 2: the ball. We know that in the past turnovers have
Speaker 2: been a problem for this team, and for them to
Speaker 2: be taking care of the ball as well as they are,
Speaker 2: that's great because one, it just gives them more opportunities
Speaker 2: to shoot. And we know they're a great shooting team
Speaker 2: with five guys who can space the floor, dribble and
Speaker 2: drive and kick out and you know, space the floor
Speaker 2: really well. And they you know, they're a machine as
Speaker 2: long as they're taking care of the ball. And that's
Speaker 2: what they've been doing.
Speaker 1: On the other side of that, though, the Lakers, they
Speaker 1: have been struggling. How concerned are you with where the
Speaker 1: Lakers are at the trajectory of where they have been going,
Speaker 1: how they've been playing, and just how much Lebron James
Speaker 1: quite frankly, has been relied upon needed this early and
Speaker 1: this much in the season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he had another injury scare in that game on Christmas.
Speaker 2: Kate went down, No grabbed his knee and it's like, oh,
Speaker 2: because we know as good as they've been at times,
Speaker 2: it you know, it all falls apart if Lebron James
Speaker 2: and Anthony Davis aren't healthy. I mean, he could say
Speaker 2: the same thing for every team. But you know, we
Speaker 2: know that, you know, Lebron is about to turn thirty nine,
Speaker 2: I believe, and Anthony Davis has obviously had injury issues.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe it's just a post in season tournament slump.
Speaker 2: You know, you know, we know that they got the
Speaker 2: ability to be a great defensive team. The offense just
Speaker 2: continues to struggle, you know. They you know, they switched
Speaker 2: out their starting lineup, put Jared Vanderbilt in in D'angela
Speaker 2: Russell's place, and that lineup just I mean it's tough,
Speaker 2: you know, Vanderbilt, Anthony Davis. You know, you're not going
Speaker 2: to get great spacing, great shooting. You know, Vanderbilt is
Speaker 2: zerover nine for three point range so far this season,
Speaker 2: so you need shooting. Anthony Davis is starting to make
Speaker 2: some threes, but you still need a little bit of
Speaker 2: shooting to compliment their size. So I still think they're
Speaker 2: searching for answers in consistency. I think they still can
Speaker 2: be very very good. I just don't think they're at
Speaker 2: the top of the West or near the top of
Speaker 2: the West given their offensive struggles.
Speaker 1: You talk about just the longevity of Lebron James, or
Speaker 1: I should say sustainability health all at him, Anthony Davis,
Speaker 1: both those guys averaging around thirty four, thirty five, thirty
Speaker 1: six minutes per game played. More than that. I know
Speaker 1: there was the thought of a some minutes restriction heading
Speaker 1: into the season. That certainly has not taken place, But
Speaker 1: we will see what happens with that Lakers team. How
Speaker 1: the roster continues to look as the season passes. We
Speaker 1: head towards the trade deadline, but we're gonna take a
Speaker 1: quick break because we had some Luca magic. Why not
Speaker 1: Shoe on Christmas Day a fifty piece four Doncic. We'll
Speaker 1: get to that after this. Welcome back to Emmie, Paul
Speaker 1: Sarakustak joined, bye the great John Schumann and Shoe. We
Speaker 1: had a good one Dallas Phoenix one twenty eight one
Speaker 1: fourteen win for the Mavericks. And not only did Luca
Speaker 1: have fifty points, which is always impressive, but a tremendous
Speaker 1: amount of efficiency fifteen to twenty five from the field,
Speaker 1: eight to sixteen from the three point line. He was
Speaker 1: perfect on twelve free throw attempts. And why don't you
Speaker 1: add in uh fifteen of this four steals, three blocks.
Speaker 1: He also had six rebounds. A tremendous game by Luca.
Speaker 1: Go to a driving on Luca block by Luca, doc
Speaker 1: to a push smaller defender und Up steps back.
Speaker 3: And that's it.
Speaker 1: I know you were just talking before watching some of
Speaker 1: the highlights here before we got started. What impressed you
Speaker 1: most about a performance? Like we've seen so many amazing
Speaker 1: games and performances by Doncic, but doing so on that
Speaker 1: stage against this Phoenix team on Christmas.
Speaker 2: He just gets where he needs to go or wants
Speaker 2: to go, like he's He's not the fastest guy in
Speaker 2: the league, for sure, but he just, you know, has
Speaker 2: an innate ability to get into the paint and get
Speaker 2: to get to good spots. You know. One of my
Speaker 2: favorite things about him, and you see it also with
Speaker 2: some other guys like Jalen Brunson. It's not just like
Speaker 2: how they get into the paint, but it's like what
Speaker 2: they do after they get there, with their footwork and
Speaker 2: their sort of pump fakes, subtle pump fakes just to
Speaker 2: get guys up in the air draw fouls. That's one
Speaker 2: of my favorite thing about Donjons and obviously, you know,
Speaker 2: when he gets to the paint, he can also spray
Speaker 2: out to shooters, and you know, if the MAVs shooters
Speaker 2: are making shots, then obviously they're a lethal offensive team.
Speaker 2: I think the bigger story, I mean, as incredible as
Speaker 2: fifty points on Christmas Day is, you know, the fourth
Speaker 2: ever fifty point game on Christmas Day is I think
Speaker 2: the bigger story out of that game is obviously the Suns,
Speaker 2: who've lost nine of their last twelve games. They ranked
Speaker 2: twenty fifth offensively over that stretch, thirtieth in effective field
Speaker 2: goal percentage over that stretch. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker
Speaker 2: have been healthy for most of those games. Even if
Speaker 2: you look at they're minutes on the floor. Over that stretch,
Speaker 2: the Sons have only scored one hundred and fourteen points
Speaker 2: per one hundred possessions, which is below the league average.
Speaker 2: And that's down from one hundred and twenty eight or
Speaker 2: one hundred twenty nine per one hundred prior to that.
Speaker 2: With those two guys on the floor. There were six
Speaker 2: and one in their first seven games with those guys together,
Speaker 2: and now you know they're just sort of average. You know,
Speaker 2: when those guys are available, and that's that's not good enough. Obviously,
Speaker 2: Like this was supposed to be the other contender in
Speaker 2: the Western Conference and they're now below five hundred. And
Speaker 2: obviously they haven't had Bradley Beal. But the thing about
Speaker 2: having three stars is that you should still be pretty
Speaker 2: good when one of them is out right, Like, you know,
Speaker 2: you should still be pretty good when you have two
Speaker 2: of them, and they just haven't been. Durant has shot
Speaker 2: pretty well over this stretch, but other guys have not,
Speaker 2: including Devin Booker.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think to your point about that of
Speaker 1: you know, if you have three stars, at least if
Speaker 1: two are playing, I think two. You look at the
Speaker 1: compilation of these three stars, all three have missed time,
Speaker 1: significant time. It stretches throughout the course of their career
Speaker 1: from injury. And also I just think that the chemistry.
Speaker 1: You know, Eric Gordon back in the starting lineup, he
Speaker 1: missed some time, had some comments about touches the other day.
Speaker 1: But it really is such a top heavy team, so
Speaker 1: their ability to not only rely on the stars but
Speaker 1: figure out who else is going to give them points
Speaker 1: at different you know, junctures. And I also the last thing,
Speaker 1: it was so evident having just seen this team. They're
Speaker 1: such a mid range heavy team with Booker and add
Speaker 1: and Bale I saw Bale you know obviously he's been out,
Speaker 1: but Kevin Durant sometimes too, even offensively, even if they're
Speaker 1: having an a fishing game, a lot of those shots
Speaker 1: are two point field goals are coming from the mid range.
Speaker 1: And sometimes even if those two players have a huge game,
Speaker 1: there's just not an not enough firepower.
Speaker 2: They're fighting. They're fighting the mass a little bit right
Speaker 2: with with not shooting as many threes as their opponent.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and the West is tough, well shoe. As always,
Speaker 1: we appreciate your time. We'll look forward. Your power rankings
Speaker 1: are the best. They've got so much interesting interesting nuggets
Speaker 1: and facts and things about all these teams. So we
Speaker 1: will continue to read all your stuff and have a
Speaker 1: excellent rest of twenty twenty three, and we will see
Speaker 1: you again in the new year.
Speaker 2: All right, Sarah. Thanks.
Speaker 1: NBA Pause with Sarahcusetacks, production of the NBA and iHeart Radio.
Speaker 1: Please rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeart Radio app
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.