WEBVTT - What's Wright? - Game 1 Reactions: Lakers BLOWN OUT vs. Wolves, Warriors-Rockets, Clippers-Nuggets 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.680 Welcome in What's Right with Nick Right somewhat emergency reaction 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:09.560 Episode two, Day one of the NBA Playoffs Saturday and Sunday. 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:11.800 I guess Day one and two, But game ones across 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:17.320 the board eight games three and a half interesting ones 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.919 is to my eye. Maybe you could say three and 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:23.840 three quarters interesting ones, depending on what you think of 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.680 Pacers Bucks. We're gonna start with Warriors Rockets. We will 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:33.000 then get to the Lakers getting absolutely unraveled by the Timberwolves, 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.879 and then probably the best game of the weekend Clippers Nuggets. 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:38.159 With a few minutes on the. 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:43.640 Four other games, most notably Nicks, Pistons, Warriors, Rockets. Watched 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:48.400 it live last night, rewatched the bulk of the second 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:54.640 half this morning, and there are some things that should 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:58.560 not surprise you at all. The Rockets defense being as 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:02.320 advertised all year. That's a good thing for them. The 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:07.560 Rockets offense being as you worried about once the playoffs 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:10.640 got going, that's a bad thing for them. Both of 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.880 those showed up. This is my pick in this series 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:18.280 was Rockets in seven. And I'm not going to lie 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:21.920 to the audience that that game didn't shake my faith 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:24.520 in the fact that the Rockets can go blow for 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:25.720 blow with the Warriors. 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:27.720 It did shake my faith a bit. 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:32.520 And if this team gets to a game seven, do 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:36.200 they have anyone that is going to be able to 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:39.240 make shots now the Rockets or if you didn't watch 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:42.399 the game, the Rockets are not going to be six 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:45.840 of twenty nine from three throughout the series. And you 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:53.000 did see how the how limited the Warriors offense is 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:57.000 outside of Steph and Jimmy. But the outside of Stephan 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:01.840 Jimmy doesn't matter when the the Warriors defense, which has 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.400 been the number one defense in basketball since they got 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:08.120 Jimmy Butler, can suffocate the Rockets, holding him to eighty 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:08.840 five points. 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:10.240 And when Steph. 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.840 Curry, who the last time the Warriors played the Rockets 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:19.919 scored three scores thirty one. And so my biggest takeaways 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:24.840 from this game in no particular order, Shingoon's got to 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:30.760 be even more active, and Shingoon has to be willing, 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:32.880 and he was in this game to his credit. 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:34.639 If Draymond is going. 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:38.600 To give you those eight to fourteen footers, you just 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.920 got to take them I E. And now Shingoon made it, 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:45.720 took and made that one end of shot clock three. 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:49.360 This is a guy who on the year only you know, 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:51.720 he took just over one to three a game and 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:55.600 was twenty three percent. It's not his game. He almost 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.840 has to be willing to take one or two of 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:03.799 the game, not just end of shot clock, because they 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:07.720 are giving him so much space and maybe that can 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:11.280 open things up. Obviously for the Rockets side of things, 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:14.360 they need Van Vliet to be better. Van Vliet hit 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.000 the one shot late, and that's what was so interesting 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:22.080 about this game. Rockets found themselves down by twenty four 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:26.000 after the Warriors avalanche twenty three to twenty four steph 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:31.240 hits the insane three, and then they punched back and 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.720 they got it all the way down to four points 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:38.600 with Fred van Vliet finally hitting a three after starting 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:41.400 the game one of ten. But they weren't able to 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.600 get over the over the hump. They had used a 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:48.840 bad challenge earlier in the game or in the fourth 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:52.120 quarter on a block charge, which just unless you are 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:56.440 one hundred percent like those aren't getting overturned. And because 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.640 of that, they weren't able to use their challenge on 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.680 an out of bounds call when the ball went off 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:07.160 Draymond down four late in the fourth they can't challenge it. 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:11.440 Warriors inbound it. Steph hits a rainbow three from thirty 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:12.760 feet and all of a sudden. 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:14.120 You're down seven. And they never got closer. 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:21.760 So they had their opportunities. But Jalen Green is going to. 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.240 Have to show up. 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:27.200 And the concern for the Rockets on the Jalen Green 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:31.279 front is and I understand it's a weird spot because 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.040 they had everything locked up. He wasn't playing big minutes. 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:38.760 But Jalen Green now his last four games five point 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.760 seven points, two point seven points. That's your leading scorer 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.880 on the season, and so he's going to have to 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:50.800 get going. Amon Thompson seems shell shocked by the game. 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:55.400 That's fine, second year player, first playoff game. He's going 0:04:55.440 --> 0:05:03.000 to have to be more impactful defensively because because the Rockets, 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:08.160 despite aim In Thompson not having his typical aim In 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:13.120 Thompson esque impact on the defensive end, the Rockets will 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.080 sign up for the Warriors scoring ninety five points in 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:20.320 every single game. It was the Warriors defense combined with 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:24.640 the Rockets total inability to score that allowed the Warriors 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:27.320 to control this game. And now on the Warriors side 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:32.760 of things, credit where credit is due. Jimmy was excellent 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:37.279 on both sides of the ball again, twenty five seven, six, 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:43.600 five steals, only one foul plus minus can be misleading 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.960 in this instance, it wasn't plus fourteen in Jimmy's minutes 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:54.080 and Steph after I think starting zero for three then 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.440 at one point made eleven of his next twelve or 0:05:56.480 --> 0:06:02.040 eleven of his next thirteen, and just those backer Layton 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:07.000 shot clock, good defensive possession. The Warriors did a good job. 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.200 I'm sorry, the Rockets did a good job staying attached 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:13.240 to Steph. These weren't practice shots by any means, and 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:18.720 Steph made them pay anyway. If so, I know, I 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.120 game ones are tough because you don't want to underreact, 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:30.960 but also you're you're prone to overreact. Steph and Jimmy 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:35.480 combining for fifty six points is something the Warriors will 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.000 sign up for every game the rest of the series. 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:42.200 That's great production. The fact that they combined for fifty 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.840 six and the rest of the Warriors combined for thirty 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:49.279 nine is something the Rockets will sign up for every 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:53.160 single game the rest of the series. And I think 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:59.360 the Warriors only hitting twelve threes is not really going 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.880 to be an out liar for this series because the 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:05.960 Rockets are that good defensively. The question is can the 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:13.200 Rockets find anybody who seems comfortable taking tough and big shots. 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:17.600 And there's one other element that I haven't even discussed 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:19.400 that's one of the biggest stories of the game, which 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:22.560 is the Steven Adams minutes the only person on the 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.400 Rockets with a positive plus minus. And again I'm not 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:27.600 trying to lean too much on plus minus, but it 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.800 passed the eye test. When Adams was out there, he 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.080 not only was the biggest player on the court, but 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.720 he looked even bigger than he actually is. So we'll 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:43.840 get to Steven Adams in a minute. The player for 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:48.239 the Rockets that I would be looking at and saying, hmm, 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:53.640 could he be a guy who does more for us 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:58.080 this series is a guy who they took third in 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.680 the draft a few years ago and has kind of 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:07.920 stayed the same level player since his rookie year. He's 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:12.240 been a thirteen and seven eight guy as a rookie, 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.080 and he's a thirteen to seven and seven or eight 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:20.560 guy as a third year player. And that's Jabari Smith. 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.400 Jabari Smith is six to ten guy that can shoot. 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:28.400 When he was drafted that high, the hope was that 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:34.640 if he can develop his shot and again after being 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.040 I think a thirty percent free throw or three point 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:40.040 shooter as a rookie, he's around thirty five percent. Could 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:44.840 he be Michael Porter Junior, worst jump shot, better defense, 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:49.320 but a really tall guy who presents matchup problems who 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.000 can hit threes. Again, Michael Porter Junior is probably a 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.520 bad comp because even in those same height, Porter Junior 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.320 is a huge defensive liability and a great shooter. You 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.040 hope Jabari Smith can be a good defender and a 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:03.880 good shooter. But Jabari Smith in this game, the only 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.960 guy who's hitting all his free throws hit is three 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:11.120 shots from the field. H is won three. Can he 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.960 do a little bit more? And the other question for 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:17.920 the Rockets is Steven Adams, who is in this weird 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:23.440 place where he's in year thirteen, but he just turned 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:29.080 thirty one. I think can Steven Adams play not just 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:33.440 twenty minutes, but thirty minutes? Because the Steven Adams minutes, 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:39.000 the Warriors look tiny and Quinton Post has nothing for him. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.200 Quinton Posted out there just to shoot threes. The Warriors 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.400 don't want to play Looney. They have put Jonathan gaminga 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:50.600 totally on ice, and so can't Are the Rockets comfortable 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.760 playing a lot of minutes with the two bigs. Here's 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.960 the thing, and this is the problem with losing game one. 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.600 When you're the home team and you're the young team, 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:05.839 it's not going to matter the long series adjustments if 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:11.600 you don't respond in game two with a great shooting 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.959 performance and bounce back. Because what I do know is this, 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:17.320 even though I think the Rockets are a better team 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:19.800 than the Warriors, they lose the first two at home, 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.640 that series is over, and so they are. I would 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:28.120 they are tiny favorites in game two, two point favorites. 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.840 That is we do you know, silly must win on 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:36.000 the TV show. That is definitionally a must win for 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:38.959 the Rockets. I still think this is a seven game series. 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:45.320 My faith in the Rockets being able to get to 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.640 one hundred points in a game seven, even in their 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:55.160 building wavering a little bit after that performance. Now, speaking 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:59.920 of faith wavering, the game I was most excited for 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.800 that was a good game for about a quarter and 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:08.240 a half, and then an absolute route. Timberwolves won seventeen, 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:15.800 Lakers ninety five. Now some folks are going to say, well, 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:20.480 Timberwolves go twenty one to forty two from three nas 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:24.120 Reed and Jaden McDaniel's combined for almost fifty, you're just 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:28.960 gonna lose that game. That's not my analysis of it. 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:32.200 I wish that was my analysis of it. If a 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:38.720 team has an outlier shooting night and they barely beat you, 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.040 or it's a close game like the Warriors did to 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:46.280 the to the Lakers about three weeks ago, that one 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:48.720 I can chalk up to. Okay, one team made shots, 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:53.200 the other team did. That is not the game that 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:58.520 I saw Saturday night, because yes, the Timberwolves had an 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:01.040 outlier shooting night, but they blew the Lakers out. 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:03.080 And yeah, the Lakers. 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:08.640 Made a slight rally late like maybe are they going 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:10.760 to make a game? The answer was no, they were 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:16.920 not going to make it a game. And I said 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:21.920 on Friday that I thought Anthony Edwards was going to 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.320 average thirty to a game in this series, because I 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:29.280 thought the Lakers were simply going to take their medicine, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:34.040 that he was going to have matchup advantages. They would 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:38.720 stay home somewhat on shooters and say listen, aunt have 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.439 at it. But you're not going to beat us two 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.640 points at a time. That is not at all what 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:50.040 they did, not even close. What they did they being 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:53.560 the Lakers, was packed the paint what you expected, and 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.760 then also send help to Aunt who just sprayed the 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:01.200 ball all around the court and it led to the 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:03.960 Timbrels starting the game twenty one to forty from three 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:07.360 before the bench came in. The Lakers will lose if 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:10.200 they keep that up. I think the Lakers are a 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.360 better team. I think that there are a lot of 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:15.880 pieces on the Lakers offense side we can get to. 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:23.520 But the Lakers choosing because we don't have rim protection, 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:28.560 we're going to leave shooters rather than because we don't 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.600 have rim protection, we're just gonna take our medicine. If 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:35.000 Anthony Edwards goes crazy, I think that is the wrong 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:40.520 fork in the road to take. I think that you 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:46.720 cannot let all of these Minnesota role players feel good 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:51.080 about what's going on, be more engaged on defense because 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.280 they're seeing the ball go through the hoop and approach 0:13:54.320 --> 0:14:02.120 it that way. I also think that the Timberwolves approach 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:08.560 defensively on Luca was a smart one, which was Luca, 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:12.120 if you get forty you get forty, you are not 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:18.200 going to generate a million open threes. And that's why 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:22.360 Luca had thirty seven points and one assist. I thought, listen, 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:26.720 Luca was the one Laker who I thought played quite well. 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.800 I didn't think his defense killed him. The one assist 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.920 was because things were not available. The idea that that 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.080 Luca took other guys out of the game, I don't 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:47.360 buy that. So I and the Lakers got blown out 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.160 in the non Luca minutes. They didn't do great in 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.520 the Luca minutes, but then Luca's off the court for 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:57.200 eight minutes, they lose those. By god, I don't even know, 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:02.800 ten points in eight minutes. Like so that is Luca 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:06.960 bears the least brunt of the blame here, but. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:12.480 They the Timberwolves. 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.160 Defensive approach to the Lakers needs to be more of 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:17.720 the Lakers defensive approach to the Timberwls. Now, I understand 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.240 if people are listening and they're like, well, the Timberwlves 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:25.560 have Rudy Gobert and because of that they can stay 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:27.360 home with shooters today have a improtector. 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:27.920 I get it. 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:32.240 I understand the Timbrels are expected to be a much 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:34.200 better defense than the Lakers, and they are a better 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:37.880 defense than the Lakers. I get that, but there needs 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.040 to be more of a There needs to be an 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.800 adjustment in the Lakers defensive approach, and there also needs 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.960 to be an adjustment on if you think Jackson Hayes 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:52.680 is you know, I wouldn't necessarily change the starting lineup 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.440 in Game two of the playoffs, but if he's only 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:58.760 playing eight minutes, there's not really much of a reason 0:15:58.760 --> 0:15:59.760 to play him any minutes. 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.000 And if you just want to start really small. The 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:04.400 one thing that grim Wolves. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:08.400 Didn't do was take advantage of the lakers lack of 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:12.400 size by letting Gobert get involved on lobs or jump hooks, 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:15.400 anything like that. Gobert two shot attempts. They just wouldn't 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:19.160 pass him the ball. But Gobert was effective. He had 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:21.720 some good defense on Lebron Drives, some good defense on 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:26.320 Luca Drives, and you give him credit. Now, am I 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:29.200 panicked if I'm the Lakers? No, I'm not panicked. 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.240 And we did see and you know during the bubble, they. 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.280 Lost Game one to Portland, won the series in five, 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:36.560 lost Game one to Houston, won the series in five. 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:44.160 They this does not feel like those series felt. But 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:48.359 there are obvious adjustments. One is Lebron being more aggressive 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:53.120 from the opening tip. Now we've seen Lebron in Game ones, 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:56.920 we know that that is not really his mo and 0:16:57.720 --> 0:16:59.600 he kind of got it going a bit in the 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:04.080 second quarter. But him being more aggressive early and the 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.399 other thing, and this is no shocker, Austin Reeves has 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:12.200 to play better. Austin Reeves was the lakers worst defender 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:16.359 and probably their worst offensive player, so none of that 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:21.440 is gonna work. So everything bad that the Lakers could do, 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:23.920 they did in this game, which is why they lost 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:29.080 by twenty. What I will tell you is the Timberwolves 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.560 and they shouldn't be are not scared at all. And 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:36.439 the Timberwolves and Anthony Edwards, a team that stared down 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:40.600 Kevin Durant and Devin Buoker last year, and that stared 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:45.439 down Nikola jokicch and Jamal Murray last year and walked 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.720 them down into Game seven, are not intimidated by Luke 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.320 and Lebron. I thought it was disappointing that the Lakers 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:57.240 were not able to attack Mike Conley Moore, and I 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:07.560 thought some of the Lakers' defensive disadvantages should have been 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:12.280 muted to a degree by the fact that they shouldn't 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:15.000 have needed to guard Gobert because the Timbrels just wouldn't 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:19.399 give Gobert the ball. Now, another small silver lining for 0:18:19.440 --> 0:18:22.640 the Lakers. If you think this, you know, if you're 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:27.000 not writing them off after game one playoff. Julius Randall 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:31.439 does appear to be here, had some dumbfouls, seemed to 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.600 be in a weird machismo thing with Lebron, had a 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:40.320 half dozen turnovers, and yes, he hit his threes, but 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:45.720 not much else, And so that's something to watch for. 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:51.600 How aggressive Lebron comes out to open game two is 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:58.919 something to watch for. And do the Lakers trim down 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.240 Jackson Hayes's eight minutes to even less. 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.040 I don't know that you really can. 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:07.879 I don't know that that's their plan, but I almost 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:09.760 feel like it needs to be zero or it needs 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:13.480 to be fifteen. But eight minutes doesn't make a hell 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:17.480 of a lot of sense to me. So it's not 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:22.680 panic time for the Lakers. But you cannot chalk that 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:25.440 game up to add they were the Timberwolves were hot. 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:30.240 There were bigger issues than that, and Lebron's got to 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:34.920 be better. Austin's got to be way better. And any 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:37.680 game that Luke has one assist, Lakers are gonna lose. 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.359 And again, be clear, I don't I'm not putting the 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:43.840 blame on Luca there. But when the Timberwlves have twenty 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:48.160 nine assists and the Lakers have fifteen, that feels accurate. 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:56.199 And typically the team with more assists might also have 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.680 a bunch of turnovers because the balls popping around the court. 0:19:58.920 --> 0:19:59.800 That wasn't the case here. 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:04.520 Only had ten turnovers, and again Julius Randall had almost 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:06.880 all of them. Everyone else who was handing the wall 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:09.159 and Timbrelves did a great job. So Lakers got to 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.399 fix that quickly. And I think they have to adjust 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:17.600 what they're doing defensively as far as listen, take your 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:22.600 medicine with Anthony Edwards. Don't let those shooters have I 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.040 think of their forty two to three point attempts, I 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:29.640 think thirty five of them, maybe thirty seven of them 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:33.119 were open or wide open. All right, get to the 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:35.800 other games quickly, But let me remind you the NBA 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.560 eighty two game grind is done. Now the real fun begins. 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:41.879 NBA playoffs are here. It's time for high stakes drama, 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:44.840 clutch moments, and jaw dropping plays. If you're looking to 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.439 make the playoffs even more exciting, Draftings Sportsbook as you 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.359 covered as an official sports betting partner of the NBA 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:53.600 from the play in games all the way through to 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:56.800 the finals. 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But because that game was 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:55.639 in Denver, because you put forty plus minutes on Kawhi 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:59.320 and Harden, I know it went to overtime, but that's 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:03.760 more damaging for them than I think for other teams 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:09.680 because just as you know the schedule works out, they 0:23:10.600 --> 0:23:16.000 they are they are playing tonight, so they don't get 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:19.280 the two days off everyone, but you know, I shouldn't 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:22.600 say everyone, but half of these teams are going to 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:26.080 end up with multiple days off. Clippers Nuggets draw the 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:30.200 short straw on that one, which is more damaging because 0:23:30.240 --> 0:23:35.040 the game went to overtime and so you got the 0:23:35.080 --> 0:23:39.080 full Russell Westbrook experience. I'm not breaking news on that 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:44.520 he made the huge three. He also made some insane decisions, 0:23:44.560 --> 0:23:47.280 including not getting a shot off late and that you know, 0:23:47.400 --> 0:23:51.760 as time expired in regulation, the driving to the basket 0:23:52.359 --> 0:23:54.600 on a critical possession when he just needed to pull 0:23:54.640 --> 0:23:59.200 it out. And he also took seventeen shots. If you're 0:23:59.240 --> 0:24:02.920 the Clippers, you are thrilled that he took seventeen shots. 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:03.720 Thrilled. 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:10.520 And if you're the Clippers, I think you are preparing 0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:15.800 for a lot of Russell Westbrook out there because they 0:24:16.359 --> 0:24:19.679 put Michael Porter Junior on ice in that game. I 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:23.920 talked about the minutes minutes for the Clipper for the Nuggets, 0:24:24.600 --> 0:24:29.480 Gordon forty six, Jokis forty six, Murray forty eight, Brown 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:33.040 forty five. It was another way. The biggest winner of 0:24:33.119 --> 0:24:36.000 this weekend really was Oklahoma City, and they earned it. 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:41.119 They they played a leisurely twenty minutes, annihilate the Grizzlies 0:24:41.440 --> 0:24:45.760 in historic fashion and get real evidence. Nuggets Clippers is 0:24:45.760 --> 0:24:48.119 going to be a war. They're gonna have a week 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:53.280 off before Round two starts, and these the Nuggets just 0:24:54.000 --> 0:24:56.399 once you put Michael Porter Junior on ice because he 0:24:56.440 --> 0:24:59.360 doesn't have it. In some concerning comments from Joker after 0:24:59.359 --> 0:25:00.679 the game, I don't know he was talking about him 0:25:00.760 --> 0:25:03.160 or not where He's basically like, listen, if you're not ready, 0:25:03.160 --> 0:25:05.720 you shouldn't if you're not. I don't want to misquote him, 0:25:05.840 --> 0:25:09.680 but the jokicch quote after the game about staying locked 0:25:09.720 --> 0:25:13.280 in or something seemed odd, and it seemed like it 0:25:13.320 --> 0:25:15.720 was maybe about Michael Porter Junior. You're gonna get a 0:25:15.720 --> 0:25:18.520 lot of Russell Westbrook. Now, his rebounding was excellent, his 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:23.760 energy was excellent. He made the huge three. But you're 0:25:23.760 --> 0:25:25.840 gonna live with Russ. You're gonna die with Russ. I 0:25:25.960 --> 0:25:31.800 do like the Nuggets in this series. I said that 0:25:31.920 --> 0:25:34.959 before the series, Clippers, if they could have stolen that 0:25:35.000 --> 0:25:41.080 one could have shifted a lot. I am curious at 0:25:41.200 --> 0:25:45.440 altitude the legs of both of these teams, but notably 0:25:45.560 --> 0:25:49.280 Kawhi and Harden just forty eight hours after a forty 0:25:49.320 --> 0:25:52.840 plus minute game. Jokicch and Murray have been playing these 0:25:52.840 --> 0:25:56.280 forty plus minute playoff games forever. Gordon seems fine and 0:25:56.400 --> 0:26:00.000 Christian Brown's young. I think Russ, I'm sorry, I think 0:26:00.000 --> 0:26:03.359 think that Kawhi and Harden are the guys to watch 0:26:04.080 --> 0:26:08.119 the I would imagine. I haven't looked at the line 0:26:08.160 --> 0:26:10.720 for this. Yeah, it's basically pick them Clippers by one. 0:26:14.000 --> 0:26:19.600 I expect this to be a seven game war. Game 0:26:19.640 --> 0:26:22.679 one going to overtime only confirm that the other. Listen, 0:26:22.920 --> 0:26:25.800 three of the games are totally irrelevant. The Grizzlies don't 0:26:25.800 --> 0:26:28.040