1
00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:08,520
Speaker 1: The volume NBA fans. The weight is over. Basketball is back.

2
00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:12,320
Speaker 1: In DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA,

3
00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,640
Speaker 1: is celebrating with an unbeatable offer. New customers can score

4
00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,880
Speaker 1: two hundred dollars instantly in bonus bets for throwing down

5
00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,079
Speaker 1: five dollars on the NBA. Win or lose, it doesn't matter.

6
00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,960
Speaker 1: You'll start the season with an instant dub. And with

7
00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,280
Speaker 1: DraftKings parlays, everyone's got a shot at an even bigger

8
00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,520
Speaker 1: basketball win. Strain together multiple bets from the same game,

9
00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,760
Speaker 1: or build your parlay across multiple games for a shot

10
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,760
Speaker 1: at making your payday even sweeter. Basketball is more fun

11
00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,279
Speaker 1: when you're in on the action. Download the Draftking Sportsbook

12
00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:48,519
Speaker 1: AP now and use code hoops. That's hops. New customers

13
00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,920
Speaker 1: can get two hundred dollars in bonus bets instantly for

14
00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,800
Speaker 1: betting just five dollars only on Draftking Sportsbook with code hoops.

15
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,160
Speaker 1: The crown is yours gambling problem called one eight hundred

16
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,680
Speaker 1: gambler or visit www dot one eight hundred gambler dot

17
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,240
Speaker 1: net in New York call eight seven seven eight hope

18
00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,680
Speaker 1: and why or text hope and Why to four six

19
00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,880
Speaker 1: seven three six ' nine. In Connecticut. Help is available

20
00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:15,759
Speaker 1: for problem gambling called eight eight eight seven eight nine

21
00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:20,680
Speaker 1: seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please

22
00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:24,400
Speaker 1: play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas.

23
00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,119
Speaker 1: License partner Golden Nugget, Lake Charles and Louisiana twenty one plus.

24
00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,120
Speaker 1: Age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire

25
00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:36,280
Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. See Sportsbook

26
00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:41,039
Speaker 1: dot DraftKings dot com, slash Basketball terms for eligibility and

27
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:55,440
Speaker 1: deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right, welcome

28
00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,040
Speaker 1: to Hoo's tonight. You're at the volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody.

29
00:01:58,040 --> 00:01:59,880
Speaker 1: Hope all of you guys are having a great week

30
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,040
Speaker 1: so far. Well it's November first to the year twenty

31
00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,560
Speaker 1: twenty three, and we all just watched a basketball game

32
00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,200
Speaker 1: where Lebron James was the best player on the floor

33
00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,959
Speaker 1: and Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook

34
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,000
Speaker 1: were all on the same floor. It was. It was

35
00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,000
Speaker 1: weird a few years ago. Now it's borderline absurd. As

36
00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,280
Speaker 1: Lebron's late career, you know, Star level play just continues

37
00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,040
Speaker 1: to not make any sense at all whatsoever compared to

38
00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,640
Speaker 1: anything in NBA history. The Lakers played their first extended

39
00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,120
Speaker 1: stretch of good basketball in this young season and notch

40
00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,800
Speaker 1: their most impressive win, beating the Clippers to get to

41
00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:39,320
Speaker 1: three and two. We're gonna be breaking that game down

42
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,440
Speaker 1: from the perspective of both teams. We are changing our

43
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,120
Speaker 1: kind of layout for coverage this season. I want to

44
00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,680
Speaker 1: try to hit fewer individual games and more deep dives

45
00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,000
Speaker 1: on individual teams, and so in this particular show tonight,

46
00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,519
Speaker 1: we're just breaking down Lakers Clippers for those of you

47
00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,480
Speaker 1: guys who missed it earlier today we broke down sun

48
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,320
Speaker 1: Spurs from last night. We also did deep dives on

49
00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,640
Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks and the Memphis Grizzlies on multiple games,

50
00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,680
Speaker 1: multiple trends, lineup data, big picture stuff going on with

51
00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,200
Speaker 1: both particular teams. That's gonna be kind of more like

52
00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,840
Speaker 1: what the structure looks like from now On Tomorrow morning,

53
00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,200
Speaker 1: we're gonna cover Warriors Kings, and then we're gonna do

54
00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,440
Speaker 1: deep dives on the Boston Celtics and on the Milwaukee Bucks,

55
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,360
Speaker 1: another two teams that are having very interesting starts to

56
00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:25,000
Speaker 1: their season, so that's going to be kind of like

57
00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,840
Speaker 1: the structure of the show, at least in the immediate future.

58
00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,080
Speaker 1: So in this episode, just covering Lakers, Clippers. Check out

59
00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,360
Speaker 1: our feed for Mavericks, for Grizzlies, don't forget about the

60
00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,640
Speaker 1: Sun's Spurs breakdown, and then tomorrow we're gonna hit a

61
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,040
Speaker 1: bunch of other stuff from the Wednesday Night Slate. You

62
00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,080
Speaker 1: guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to

63
00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,160
Speaker 1: our YouTube channel. This is our brand new YouTube channel.

64
00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:46,800
Speaker 1: We're trying to get it off the ground. It would

65
00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:48,120
Speaker 1: mean a lot to me if you guys would take

66
00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,800
Speaker 1: a couple seconds just scroll down and hit that subscribe button.

67
00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,320
Speaker 1: Don't forget about our social media feeds TikTok, Instagram, Twitter,

68
00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,040
Speaker 1: so I'm doing video breakdowns and show announcements. I do

69
00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,640
Speaker 1: extensive video breakdowns every morning on my Twitter feed, so

70
00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:00,840
Speaker 1: that's a good spot to be if you want to

71
00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,640
Speaker 1: see more visual representations. Don't forget about a podcast feed

72
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,040
Speaker 1: wherever it's your podcast under Hoops tonight. And then, last

73
00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,960
Speaker 1: but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube

74
00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:13,080
Speaker 1: comments so we can hit them throughout the season. All right,

75
00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,000
Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So, like I said it'd be

76
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,520
Speaker 1: at the intro of the show, this was the first

77
00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,040
Speaker 1: extended stretch of good Laker basketball this season. Even if

78
00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,120
Speaker 1: you look at their couple of wins, like, let's look

79
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,280
Speaker 1: at the individual games, they got pretty much their ass

80
00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:29,960
Speaker 1: handed to them from start to finish against the Denver Nuggets, right.

81
00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,000
Speaker 1: You look at the Sacramento Kings lost, they were kind

82
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,599
Speaker 1: of in trouble throughout that game, then they kind of

83
00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:37,920
Speaker 1: sort of got some control in the fourth quarter that

84
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,880
Speaker 1: immediately blew that and then lost in ot Right. Then

85
00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,479
Speaker 1: you look at the win against the Suns, and they

86
00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,839
Speaker 1: were down big a lot of the second half and

87
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,120
Speaker 1: just had this hilatious effort in the fourth quarter to

88
00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,480
Speaker 1: get back and win the game. Right. And then after

89
00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,799
Speaker 1: that we had the Orlando Magic game, where once again

90
00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,560
Speaker 1: they trailed big in the second half and they had

91
00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,680
Speaker 1: this hillacious effort to kind of get back into it

92
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,200
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. And even in those games, there

93
00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,760
Speaker 1: wasn't a lot of encouraging stuff to look at that

94
00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,200
Speaker 1: was like translatable moving forward. As a matter of fact,

95
00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:08,640
Speaker 1: I said for those of you guys who listened to

96
00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,160
Speaker 1: this afternoon show that I was severely worried about the

97
00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:13,320
Speaker 1: Lakers in tonight's game because they just weren't playing very

98
00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,280
Speaker 1: good basketball, and the Clippers are playing very well at

99
00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,040
Speaker 1: the start of the season. Well, you saw at the

100
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,159
Speaker 1: beginning of that game. It was kind of a continuation

101
00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,039
Speaker 1: of that trend, Clippers playing great basketball. A lot of

102
00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,360
Speaker 1: the same issues that were plaguing the Lakers early on

103
00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,000
Speaker 1: were plaguing them right, like really struggling to score in

104
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,880
Speaker 1: the half court, Austin Reeves still very much in a funk.

105
00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,360
Speaker 1: The defense just nowhere near where it was last year,

106
00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,719
Speaker 1: which was like a significant chunk of their winning identity,

107
00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,640
Speaker 1: was like playing defense right, like not just go to

108
00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,359
Speaker 1: guys that you depend on, but down the roster, just

109
00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,800
Speaker 1: commitment to those details. And a lot of those things

110
00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,520
Speaker 1: were going the wrong way for the Lakers to start

111
00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,159
Speaker 1: the season. And the only way you don't just like

112
00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,279
Speaker 1: randomly start making shots and then you start winning games,

113
00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,000
Speaker 1: you have to reverse those trends. On an individual base,

114
00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,520
Speaker 1: they really struggled with defensive rebounding down the stretch, especially

115
00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,400
Speaker 1: in a bunch of their early games this season. Much

116
00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,680
Speaker 1: better defensive rebounding effort down the stretch of this game

117
00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,160
Speaker 1: just everybody just flying to the basketball to secure contested

118
00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,599
Speaker 1: defensive rebounds, even just look at like little things like Russell.

119
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,680
Speaker 1: Westbrook bullied Austin Reeves a few times early on in

120
00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:23,120
Speaker 1: the game, at least once in the first half and

121
00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,080
Speaker 1: then again in the early second half. Right Dangelo Russell

122
00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:27,960
Speaker 1: has been bullied at the point of attack a bunch

123
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,360
Speaker 1: of times this season. Gave Vincent's done better than those

124
00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,839
Speaker 1: two guys, but has still struggled a little bit well

125
00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,800
Speaker 1: critical possession. Late in overtime, Russ tries to bully Austin

126
00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,960
Speaker 1: Reeves and he just does a better job, Like just

127
00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,760
Speaker 1: does a better job and holds his ground and forces

128
00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,680
Speaker 1: Russ into a much tougher shot that he misses. And

129
00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,400
Speaker 1: then again on the on the backside, the gang defensive

130
00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:52,800
Speaker 1: rebounding the extra efforts defensively. Christian Wood had a massive

131
00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,920
Speaker 1: block on Ivi ka Zubak down the stretch when Ad

132
00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,280
Speaker 1: went for his pump fake. And then Christian Wood talked

133
00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,679
Speaker 1: about in his postgame presser after the Magic game about

134
00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,760
Speaker 1: him being essentially a second line of defense behind Ad

135
00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,640
Speaker 1: and he's watching Ad. You can literally see on the

136
00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,679
Speaker 1: play christian Wood sees the pump fake looks at Ad,

137
00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,520
Speaker 1: sees Ad jump, stays down, waits for the second one,

138
00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,000
Speaker 1: then goes up and gets it. We talked a lot

139
00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,080
Speaker 1: in this offseason about over the top shot making. You

140
00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,720
Speaker 1: need guys to make shots at the end of basketball games,

141
00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:28,840
Speaker 1: and you got none of that out of Lebron and

142
00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,760
Speaker 1: Ad last year. What did you get out of Lebron tonight?

143
00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,880
Speaker 1: Reliable over the top shot making in the half court

144
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,000
Speaker 1: over contests, beating PJ Tucker for a pull up jump shot,

145
00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:42,720
Speaker 1: beating a Vika Zubac on a switch with a pull

146
00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,120
Speaker 1: up three. He hit two other tough kind of like

147
00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,000
Speaker 1: semi transition pull up jump shots around the foul line.

148
00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,000
Speaker 1: You can tell Lebron James feels more comfortable with his

149
00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,320
Speaker 1: pull up jump shot at this exact point in time

150
00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,720
Speaker 1: than he had probably all of last season, which is

151
00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,760
Speaker 1: crazy to say. There was no extent did stretch of

152
00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,680
Speaker 1: Lebron reliably knocking down jump shots last season, And again

153
00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,760
Speaker 1: it's one game, but in terms of the body language

154
00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,240
Speaker 1: and the timing and the level of defense for him

155
00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,800
Speaker 1: to be making those shots, that's super encouraging. That specifically

156
00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,440
Speaker 1: is a ceiling razer for this team. That was one

157
00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:18,840
Speaker 1: of the huge things that held them back last year.

158
00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,480
Speaker 1: Early in the season, Austin Reeves was giving you absolutely nothing.

159
00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,680
Speaker 1: A lot of different things going south for him. I mean,

160
00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,640
Speaker 1: he's clearly just in a slump, right, but one of

161
00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,240
Speaker 1: the worst slumps I've seen from a player like he was.

162
00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,040
Speaker 1: He was struggling to impact winning in any of the

163
00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:39,520
Speaker 1: ways that he usually does. Right, what happens in that

164
00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,320
Speaker 1: second half, starting in that third quarter, gets a little

165
00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,439
Speaker 1: bit of a heater, right, hits two or three shots

166
00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,960
Speaker 1: in a row, makes a couple of plays. Suddenly when

167
00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,520
Speaker 1: they need him in overtime to take over the offense,

168
00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,360
Speaker 1: He's confident and ready to go in that situation. Again,

169
00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,000
Speaker 1: like Austin Reeves is the third best player on this

170
00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,680
Speaker 1: Lakers team, He's arguably their best pick and roll shot creator.

171
00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,160
Speaker 1: This is not the first time they've relied on him

172
00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,199
Speaker 1: down the stretch to close out a big game. They

173
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,559
Speaker 1: did that against the Grizzlies in the first round of

174
00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,800
Speaker 1: the playoffs last year. He just is one of He's

175
00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,640
Speaker 1: the best player on the Lakers at working downhill in

176
00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,360
Speaker 1: pick and roll, in finding those little spots in the

177
00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,760
Speaker 1: mid range to generate his own shot. He can knock

178
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,800
Speaker 1: down those shots, he can get to the foul line,

179
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:22,400
Speaker 1: he can make the reads from there. He made a

180
00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:24,320
Speaker 1: huge read in pick and roll to Cam Reddish in

181
00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,200
Speaker 1: the right corner for a wide open three down the stretch. So,

182
00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,480
Speaker 1: like again, all of these trends turning is what made

183
00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,280
Speaker 1: the team play better. Lebron James late game shot making

184
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,480
Speaker 1: was an issue in the entire last season, a little

185
00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,280
Speaker 1: bit of an issue to start this season. Right then,

186
00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:43,200
Speaker 1: outside of a few clutch jump shots in the fourth quarter,

187
00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:45,240
Speaker 1: he struggle to knock down jump shots. Right then we

188
00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:47,520
Speaker 1: get into this game, the pull up jump shots going

189
00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,480
Speaker 1: in right, Austin Reeves struggling to start the season, Austin

190
00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,280
Speaker 1: Reeves gets his mojo back. Suddenly the Lakers look like

191
00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,360
Speaker 1: a more dynamic offense. Right, and then the defense. This

192
00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,080
Speaker 1: is the hugest part of it. Like when it comes

193
00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,839
Speaker 1: to the Lakers, their identity is defense. There's a lot

194
00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 1: of talk about the offense coming into the season, and

195
00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:05,880
Speaker 1: I certainly expected it to be better than it was.

196
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:07,840
Speaker 1: There's no doubt this is a team that should at

197
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,000
Speaker 1: the very least be a good offense, right, But this

198
00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,839
Speaker 1: is a team whose best trait is what they can

199
00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,000
Speaker 1: do on the defensive end of the floor, when Lebron

200
00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,800
Speaker 1: James is engaged, when Anthony Davis is engaged. This is

201
00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,240
Speaker 1: the third time in a row where when they've closed

202
00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,160
Speaker 1: with Christian Wood, they've looked excellent defensively down the stretch

203
00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,320
Speaker 1: and been able to pull out a win. And then

204
00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,440
Speaker 1: guys just competing on the point of attack at a

205
00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,880
Speaker 1: higher level than they had in the past. I thought,

206
00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:32,760
Speaker 1: I want to credit a couple of specific guys. I

207
00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,840
Speaker 1: thought both Cam Reddish and Max Christi in that third

208
00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:40,040
Speaker 1: quarter finally started to disrupt Paul George and Kawhi Leonard's

209
00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,800
Speaker 1: rhythm a little bit with good point of attack defense,

210
00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:47,559
Speaker 1: just physical ball pressure making them feel uncomfortable. Cam b

211
00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:50,000
Speaker 1: Reddish had a huge steal that led to a runout

212
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,000
Speaker 1: for the Lakers on Paul Georgie in that third quarter.

213
00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,839
Speaker 1: And then Anthony Davis and Christian Wood just this devastating

214
00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,240
Speaker 1: back line of two seven foot tall dudes that can

215
00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:05,000
Speaker 1: block shot, that can grab contested rebounds. They were the

216
00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,440
Speaker 1: ones who turned the game around. Obviously, Lebron James carries

217
00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:10,760
Speaker 1: you home in the fourth quarter, then they blow the

218
00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,200
Speaker 1: lead late, right, but then Austin Reeves carries you in ot,

219
00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:15,720
Speaker 1: but it was the defense that got you back into

220
00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:18,800
Speaker 1: the game. They allowed twenty four points in that third quarter.

221
00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,599
Speaker 1: A bunch of key possessions were even Anthony Davis and

222
00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:26,160
Speaker 1: Christian Wood switched on to Kawhi Leonard and got stops.

223
00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,560
Speaker 1: They were able to push out in transition off of

224
00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:32,360
Speaker 1: those stops. That's their formula, committed defense at all three levels.

225
00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,400
Speaker 1: Point of attack, help, backside, rebounding, right, pushing in transition

226
00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,960
Speaker 1: off of stops and turnovers. Lebron, Anthony Davis, rim pressure

227
00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,840
Speaker 1: in the half court, Austin Reeves spread pick and roll.

228
00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,280
Speaker 1: I would we're up to me, especially in those lineups

229
00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,640
Speaker 1: sod and Adar and d Lo are on the floor together.

230
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,760
Speaker 1: Let Austin run the show. Get d Lo off the ball.

231
00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,679
Speaker 1: He's just a little bit more steady of a playmaker

232
00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:01,000
Speaker 1: in that specific position. It slots everybody properly. The Lakers

233
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,000
Speaker 1: are just better when they run through Lebron, Anthony Davis

234
00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,040
Speaker 1: and Austin Reeves. But make no mistake, it's got to

235
00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:08,640
Speaker 1: start on the defensive end of the floor. A lot

236
00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,319
Speaker 1: of encouraging stuff there. I was literally thinking during the game,

237
00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,079
Speaker 1: you know, going into the game in the first quarter,

238
00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:18,640
Speaker 1: I felt like the Lakers didn't have much chance at

239
00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:19,920
Speaker 1: all to win that game. I didn't think they were

240
00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,439
Speaker 1: playing well enough. But what was funny was is I

241
00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,560
Speaker 1: felt the exact opposite going into overtime. Right, So, Paul,

242
00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:30,760
Speaker 1: Paul George is incredible. He had four impossible pull up

243
00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,600
Speaker 1: threes that he made in the fourth quarter. Every single

244
00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,120
Speaker 1: one of them was well defended by the Lakers. All

245
00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,200
Speaker 1: of them go in huge part of why they had

246
00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,040
Speaker 1: a chance to win that game. They had a driving

247
00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,280
Speaker 1: and one on Anthony Davis as well. Paul George was

248
00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,640
Speaker 1: just absolutely incredible. But I remember thinking going into the overtime,

249
00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,080
Speaker 1: Lakers got a good chance to win this game. Why

250
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,600
Speaker 1: because what is replicable about a slow down half court

251
00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:57,040
Speaker 1: environment for both teams. The Lakers were getting great shots

252
00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,920
Speaker 1: every time down the floor out of creation by Lebron

253
00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:03,000
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis or excuse me, Lebron James and

254
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,520
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves, and then Anthony Davis's ability to get a switch,

255
00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,160
Speaker 1: run down to the block, call for the basketball and

256
00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,480
Speaker 1: either get a bucket or draw fout right, So like

257
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,200
Speaker 1: they were just getting better shots down on the other

258
00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:18,440
Speaker 1: end of the floor, the Clippers were getting nothing aside

259
00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,200
Speaker 1: from Paul George making impossible pull up threes. And so

260
00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,160
Speaker 1: if I get five minutes of slow down half court possessions,

261
00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,000
Speaker 1: I feel better about the team that's getting the better

262
00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,559
Speaker 1: shots in that particular situation. Now, they still had themselves

263
00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,880
Speaker 1: a chance thanks to a step back three from Kawhi

264
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:36,840
Speaker 1: Leonard and and one in the lane where he got

265
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,280
Speaker 1: fouled by Anthony Davis. But he's Kawhi Leonard. He's gonna

266
00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,480
Speaker 1: do that sometimes, right, But I thought the Lakers kind

267
00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,360
Speaker 1: of recaptured a bunch of their specific identity win or

268
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,520
Speaker 1: lose in this game. Even if let's say Paul George

269
00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:50,439
Speaker 1: makes all three free throws that go to OT and

270
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,040
Speaker 1: the Clippers win, I would still feel a lot better

271
00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:55,959
Speaker 1: about what this Lakers team is doing right now after

272
00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,199
Speaker 1: that than I would in that first half. A bunch

273
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,200
Speaker 1: of key trends reversed that looked a lot more like

274
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,200
Speaker 1: the Lakers that we saw for the entire tail end

275
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,199
Speaker 1: of the regular season last year and the playoffs. Like

276
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,280
Speaker 1: I said at the beginning of the season, sometimes basketball

277
00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,600
Speaker 1: teams just play bad basketball, and the Lakers were playing

278
00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:18,079
Speaker 1: bad basketball to start the season. They played good basketball

279
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,400
Speaker 1: in the second half and in overtime against the Clippers.

280
00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,240
Speaker 1: If they continue to play like that, they're going to

281
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,160
Speaker 1: win a lot of games in this regular season for

282
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,240
Speaker 1: the Clippers. Paul George is putting his money where his

283
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,400
Speaker 1: mouth is. He said before the season that he was

284
00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,880
Speaker 1: going to be back on his bully shit, and I

285
00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:39,000
Speaker 1: thought he played extremely well in this game. The pull

286
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,560
Speaker 1: up shooting with Paul George, it's always like a give

287
00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,280
Speaker 1: and a take, because what drives me crazy with this

288
00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,840
Speaker 1: particular Clippers team watching them is they almost entirely rely

289
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,840
Speaker 1: on tough pull up jump shooting. And again, what do

290
00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:55,520
Speaker 1: I always say about this kind of stuff? I said

291
00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,960
Speaker 1: the same thing about the Suns. I like tough pull

292
00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,600
Speaker 1: up jump shooting because it's such a great ceiling razor.

293
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,440
Speaker 1: But if it is your bread and butter, you are

294
00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:10,600
Speaker 1: susceptible to cold stretches, right, like Kawhi Leonard Gott couple

295
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,760
Speaker 1: of pull up threes in ot as well, right, and

296
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:16,040
Speaker 1: then a wide open catch and shoot three in the

297
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,280
Speaker 1: left corner, and it's like, maybe they go in, maybe

298
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,040
Speaker 1: they don't if they go in different game, right, But

299
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:23,880
Speaker 1: juxtapose that with the type of shots the Lakers were

300
00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,840
Speaker 1: getting closer to the rim in ot, pushing down their

301
00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,400
Speaker 1: throats and transition in ot. Like the Lakers look at

302
00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:35,600
Speaker 1: Lebron James shot making as a supplementary thing to their

303
00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,160
Speaker 1: rim pressure offense. Right, they look at Austin Reeves hitting

304
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,080
Speaker 1: the occasional tough jump shot and pick and roll as

305
00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,800
Speaker 1: a supplementary thing to their rim pressure offense. Right. If

306
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,760
Speaker 1: you rely entirely on pull up jump shooting, there's just

307
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,760
Speaker 1: too much variance there. This is where I like the

308
00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,480
Speaker 1: James Harden fit because if you take what Paul George

309
00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:59,520
Speaker 1: did tonight and you couple that with quality half court offense, Say,

310
00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,280
Speaker 1: for instance, James Harden does exactly what he did with

311
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,600
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid, but with Kawhi Leonard. Okay, set him up

312
00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,400
Speaker 1: on the left wing, have Kawhi Leonard set a hard

313
00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,920
Speaker 1: ball screen, have James Harden work downhill towards the right,

314
00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,800
Speaker 1: and set Kawhi Leonard up with like catch ISOs at

315
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,120
Speaker 1: the elbow or at the top of the key in

316
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,360
Speaker 1: pick and pop situations, have a defender closing out on him,

317
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,360
Speaker 1: and just have Kawhi Leonard work with an advantage all

318
00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,480
Speaker 1: game long. Like or if you have to put some big,

319
00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,000
Speaker 1: strong defender on Kawhi and he switches on to James Harden,

320
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,000
Speaker 1: he can hit him with the dribble move get the

321
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:38,560
Speaker 1: defense into rotation that way. James Harden specializes at getting

322
00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,360
Speaker 1: the defense in rotation. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard specialized

323
00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:45,840
Speaker 1: on hitting over the top jump shots. Russell Westbrook also

324
00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,240
Speaker 1: specializes at getting the defense in rotation. But there comes

325
00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,320
Speaker 1: a lot of baggage with that, right You're two bizarre

326
00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,240
Speaker 1: a fourth quarter driving transition attempts where he turned the

327
00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,200
Speaker 1: ball over. The Lakers were ignoring him off the ball

328
00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,360
Speaker 1: all throughout the fourth quarter, which continue to kind of,

329
00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:05,760
Speaker 1: you know, mess things up for them offensively. I'm sure

330
00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,760
Speaker 1: Lakers fans it felt probably pretty cathartic to be on

331
00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:11,960
Speaker 1: the other side of those Russell Westbrook late game you

332
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,800
Speaker 1: know snafoos. But again, like that's kind of the thing here.

333
00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,240
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook gets you into rotation, but comes with all

334
00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:22,359
Speaker 1: of this downside, Right, James Harden, at least within the

335
00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,240
Speaker 1: context of the regular season, is a much more steady

336
00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,320
Speaker 1: version of what Russell Westbrook brings in the half court

337
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:29,840
Speaker 1: in terms of getting the ball, getting the ball moving

338
00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,640
Speaker 1: in the defense in rotation. It looks different with Russe

339
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,719
Speaker 1: it's more just brute force downhill. Right with James Harden,

340
00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,520
Speaker 1: it's methodical. It's about body position. It's leveraging the defender

341
00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,040
Speaker 1: to lean the wrong way in a ball screen so

342
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,359
Speaker 1: that he can get downhill. James is excellent. It's setting

343
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,440
Speaker 1: up his man for ballscreen. James is a great pull

344
00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,280
Speaker 1: up jump shooter in the regular season, consistently right around

345
00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,840
Speaker 1: fifty five percent in effective field goal percentage. Like he's

346
00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,320
Speaker 1: just a better version of that, you know. And that's

347
00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:57,720
Speaker 1: kind of the way I see the formula in the

348
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,440
Speaker 1: big picture. Like when James Harden was to be able

349
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,120
Speaker 1: to play, Terrence Man was out, they had to lean

350
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,480
Speaker 1: a lot on Norman Palell and Russell Westbrook down the

351
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,640
Speaker 1: stretch of this game. There's a different version of this

352
00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,720
Speaker 1: where it's gonna be James Harden and Terrence Man with

353
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,840
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard Paul George And if you get Zubac right,

354
00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,960
Speaker 1: that's that's gonna be a more functional two way lineup

355
00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:19,800
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor with their ability to

356
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,120
Speaker 1: set Kawhi Leonard and Paul George up with better offensive opportunities.

357
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,160
Speaker 1: And then on the just a more steady overall approach

358
00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,600
Speaker 1: from the standpoint of decision making, right, Russ is gonna

359
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,040
Speaker 1: have his opportunities in the loose portions of the game.

360
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,119
Speaker 1: Now again, it's gonna be a similar type of challenge

361
00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:37,440
Speaker 1: to what he had with the Lakers. James Harden is

362
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,040
Speaker 1: a little bit redundant with him, He's gonna have to

363
00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,119
Speaker 1: work off the ball more. He's gonna have fewer touches,

364
00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,720
Speaker 1: fewer minutes, So it's gonna be a challenge for us.

365
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:45,639
Speaker 1: But he does seem happier and he does seem to

366
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,200
Speaker 1: be a better fit with the Clippers locker room. I've

367
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,080
Speaker 1: talked to some people who have told me that, like

368
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,440
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook just in general jives better with the Clippers

369
00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:57,600
Speaker 1: in terms of his overall vibe and the vibe of

370
00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,440
Speaker 1: that locker room. So like he's it's gonna be fine,

371
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:02,360
Speaker 1: but he's gonna have to make an adjustment when James

372
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,639
Speaker 1: Harden comes into the picture. That it was one of

373
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,240
Speaker 1: those games where, like, I feel better about both teams

374
00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:09,800
Speaker 1: after watching because Paul George looks better than he has

375
00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,399
Speaker 1: in a couple of years. Kawhi Leonard looks fantastic. He

376
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:14,440
Speaker 1: definitely lost his legs a little bit in the second half.

377
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,440
Speaker 1: That's typical tail end of a back to back right

378
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,320
Speaker 1: and to pull up jump shot coming up short. In

379
00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:23,560
Speaker 1: a lot of cases, that's to be expected. But I

380
00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,240
Speaker 1: felt better about the Clippers because Paul George is incredible.

381
00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,520
Speaker 1: James Harden's gonna organize them on offense at a higher level.

382
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:31,640
Speaker 1: You know, Terrence Man is gonna be able to bring

383
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,160
Speaker 1: some of that like physical force that Russell Westbrook does

384
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:37,440
Speaker 1: in that lineup, in that off ball roll. They've got options,

385
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,719
Speaker 1: They've got depth. I maybe not as much depth as

386
00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,320
Speaker 1: they did before the trade, but I like the position

387
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,720
Speaker 1: that the Clippers are in right now. All right, guys,

388
00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:48,439
Speaker 1: that is all I have for tonight. We're gonna be

389
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,800
Speaker 1: back tomorrow with a breakdown of the Kings and the

390
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,200
Speaker 1: Warriors and Klay Thompson's game winner, and then we're gonna

391
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:55,320
Speaker 1: do deep dives on the Celtics and the Bucks. As always.

392
00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:57,560
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys for supporting the show, and I'll

393
00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:28,440
Speaker 1: see you tomorrow. The volume