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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, welcome to him tonight. You're at

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Speaker 1: the volume heavy Monday, everybody. If all of you guys

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Speaker 1: had an incredible weekend, you got a jam pack show

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Speaker 1: for you guys today. We had an incredible night in

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Speaker 1: the NBA again yesterday. This has been a very entertaining

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Speaker 1: start to the NBA season, a lot of nights like

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Speaker 1: last night with a bunch of highly entertaining games. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna be breaking down three games from last night's slate,

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Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets winning an overtime epic showdown against the

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Speaker 1: Orlando Magic. After that, the Boston Celtics got a big

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Speaker 1: win against the Los Angeles Clippers that James Harden almost

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Speaker 1: stole with a late display of shot making. I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about some specific things that the Celtics cleaned up

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Speaker 1: in that game. And then the Atlanta Hawks come back

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Speaker 1: from down twenty one points in Phoenix against the Suns

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Speaker 1: to win their fifth straight games. They're going to be

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Speaker 1: breaking those games down from last night's slate, and then,

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Speaker 1: like we usually do on Mondays, we'll have our weekly

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Speaker 1: power rankings at the tail end of the show, going

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Speaker 1: quickly through the top ten teams in the NBA. You

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Speaker 1: guys are the job before we get started. To subscribe

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Speaker 1: to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels you don't miss any

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Speaker 1: more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore

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Speaker 1: JCNLT so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: about our podcast feed wheref you get your podcast under

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Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a

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Speaker 1: rating in a review on that front. Jackson's doing incredible

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Speaker 1: work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,

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Speaker 1: and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there for

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Speaker 1: content throughout the season, and last but not least, if

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Speaker 1: you want to get questions into our Friday mail bags,

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Speaker 1: make sure you drop them in our YouTube comments. Find

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Speaker 1: the full episodes on YouTube. Mail bag colon, drop your

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Speaker 1: question in there and we'll get to them on Fridays

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Speaker 1: throughout the remainder of the season and then our playback

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Speaker 1: streams this week. So I think Lebron might be coming

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Speaker 1: back tomorrow night against the Jazz. We'll see you did

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Speaker 1: a bunch of five on five work against the G

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Speaker 1: League South Bay Lakers over the course of the last week,

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Speaker 1: and then allegedly he's practicing today with the team. He's

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Speaker 1: either going to debut Tomorrow night against the Jazz or

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Speaker 1: Sunday night against the Jazz. Whichever one of those two

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Speaker 1: games Lebron is in, we're gonna do for playbacks. So

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Speaker 1: if he's tomorrow, we're gonna go tomorrow. If he sits

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Speaker 1: out Tomorrow but plays Sunday, we'll do Lebron's debut on Sunday.

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Speaker 1: The second playback stream this week is going to be

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Speaker 1: on Friday night what should be a highly entertaining showdown

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Speaker 1: between two of the teams that have clearly looked to

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Speaker 1: be in the top tier to start the season, the

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Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets and the Houston Rockets. So for sure Friday

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Speaker 1: for Nuggets Rockets on playback, watch along, and then whenever

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Speaker 1: Lebron comes back, whether that's Tuesday against the Jazz or

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Speaker 1: Sunday against the Jazz. So this has been an incredibly

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Speaker 1: entertaining start to the season. I was thinking about it

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Speaker 1: when I was watching the Rockets Magic game last night.

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Speaker 1: The one thing that this season has been missing is

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Speaker 1: just a little bit more intrigue surrounding the eventual champion.

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Speaker 1: Like we came into the season thinking like it's just

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Speaker 1: Denver and Oklahoma City right and Denver Oklahoma City have

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Speaker 1: both looked fantastic to start the year, the Thunder getting

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Speaker 1: too absolutely dominant, show stopping wins against the Lakers and

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Speaker 1: Warriors last week, Denver continuing their win streak, going on

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Speaker 1: the road to Minnesota and dominating a Wolves team that

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Speaker 1: has caused them problems over the course of the last

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Speaker 1: few years. Those two teams still look very much like

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Speaker 1: the two best teams in the league, but teams like

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Speaker 1: Houston coming in and providing that actual feeling of another

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Speaker 1: threat has been huge, and I'd argue we still need

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Speaker 1: another one or two of those teams. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if Detroit ends up being that type of team, but

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Speaker 1: us building a little bit more intrigue surrounding the eventual champion,

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Speaker 1: US genuinely believing that there's four or five teams that

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Speaker 1: have a shot to win this thing is what will

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Speaker 1: get us to really be cooking with gas. But the

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Speaker 1: actual basketball itself incredibly entertaining to start the season. If

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Speaker 1: OKC wins again, that's fine, but we need to actually

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Speaker 1: believe they can lose, otherwise it could feel kind of pointless.

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Speaker 1: So I'm glad to see some of these other teams

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Speaker 1: playing extremely high level basketball to start the year to

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Speaker 1: continue to build that intrigue around the eventual champion. All right,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna be breaking down those three games from last night.

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Speaker 1: Let's start with Houston. The Magic actually controlled this one throughout.

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Speaker 1: They played really good defense. They forced Houston into a

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Speaker 1: lot of turnovers and did some damage in transition. Desmond

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Speaker 1: Bain and Fronz Wagner were both really good throughout. But

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Speaker 1: Houston makes it a run in the fourth quarter and

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Speaker 1: we ended up with a really fun half court battle

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Speaker 1: between Franz and Desmond Bain and Kevin Durant and Alprin

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Speaker 1: Shane Goon and the Magic did some damage there. Desmond

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Speaker 1: Bain was attacking Jabari Smith and switches and was doing

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Speaker 1: some damage. They got obviously out in transition off of

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Speaker 1: some of Houston's mistakes, but Houston looked terrifying down the

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Speaker 1: stretch at that game. It got a little trickier than

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Speaker 1: it needed to be because there was this crazy possession

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Speaker 1: late in the game where it was tied, Houston had

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Speaker 1: a chance to go win it, and Kevin Durant basically

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Speaker 1: like trips and falls over himself, which leads to a

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Speaker 1: turnover run out Anthony Black two handed dunk that actually

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Speaker 1: put Orlando up by two with less than two seconds left,

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Speaker 1: So it got tougher for Houston than it needed to be,

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Speaker 1: but Imai Udoka drew up a beautiful sideline at a

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Speaker 1: bounds play that tied the game and sent it to overtime.

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Speaker 1: It got shanegun a really deep post catch versus Jonathan

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Speaker 1: Isaac where he was able to just catch and immediately

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Speaker 1: turnover his left shoulder and shoot that little patented hook

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Speaker 1: shot of his to tie the game and send it

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Speaker 1: to ot And it was a very interesting kind of

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Speaker 1: play design because essentially Jabari and Shanegun like go down

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Speaker 1: to set a screen for Kevin Durant right underneath the

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Speaker 1: basket so that Kevin Durant can come off towards the

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Speaker 1: basketball in the left corner, and on the same sequence

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Speaker 1: you see Jabari Smith run through to the right corner

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Speaker 1: after kind of fake setting a screen there, and so

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Speaker 1: basically Katie goes to the left corner, Jabari goes to

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Speaker 1: the right corner, Shaneguon sits right under the basket, and

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Speaker 1: so in that like three man action, Orlando essentially decides

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Speaker 1: to switch everything, which they should do. It's a smart

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Speaker 1: way to make sure you don't leave somebody wide open

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Speaker 1: in a situation like that. But when Jonathan Isaac switched

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Speaker 1: on to alprin Shangun, he was behind him, He was

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Speaker 1: underneath the basket. And so even though all those switches

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Speaker 1: were executed well by Orlando, alpron just basically had to

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Speaker 1: turn around and he was right there, right underneath the

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Speaker 1: basket for the easy post entry. Beautiful entry pass too

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Speaker 1: from a men Thompson not an easy pass to make

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Speaker 1: from the high sideline all the way right underneath the basket,

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Speaker 1: got it there on a line, hit him right in

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Speaker 1: the hand so he can go up and finish. So

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Speaker 1: like effectively, emay Uduka drew up the play so that

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Speaker 1: Shane Gun could basically walk down like he's set in

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Speaker 1: a screen and essentially use that screen setting as a

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Speaker 1: means with which to get deep post position and quick

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Speaker 1: finish over that left shoulder. But throughout crunch time, including

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Speaker 1: in overtime where the Rockets took control, the Rockets looked

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Speaker 1: absolutely fantastic on offense again, and once again in large

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Speaker 1: part because of how good their top two players are.

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Speaker 1: We saw it all down the stretch the Rockets were

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Speaker 1: spamming that KD Shangun two man game with Shangun screening

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Speaker 1: for KD out on the perimeter. That's become their crunch

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Speaker 1: time staple. And I don't blame them because they continue

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Speaker 1: to get great stuff every single time. There is a

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Speaker 1: possession in overtime where they both kind of lingered on

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Speaker 1: KD for a second that left Shangoon open in the

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Speaker 1: short roll, easy little short role read as a men.

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Speaker 1: Thompson's man steps up a men. Thompson cuts along the baseline,

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Speaker 1: drops it off two handed reverse dunk. That's that tic

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Speaker 1: tac toe sequence. We've seen a bunch this year that

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Speaker 1: when you're getting those kinds of sequences, even in crunch time,

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Speaker 1: that just goes to show you how difficult that action

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Speaker 1: is to guard. A lot of switching for Orlando in

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Speaker 1: the two man game, for it was KD and Shangoun,

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Speaker 1: but this is once again two of the very best

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Speaker 1: one on one players in basketball. They beat both ends

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Speaker 1: of that switch often down the stretch of this game,

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Speaker 1: like Kevin Durant gets Wendell Carter Junior on a switch

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Speaker 1: and it's boom left to right crossover, right to left crossover,

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Speaker 1: just breaks Wendell off and hits a pull up three

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Speaker 1: that ties the game. Late in regulation, Shane Goon just

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Speaker 1: with his textbook little deep post ups gets Tristan da

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Speaker 1: Silva off of KD. Now he's on Shanggoon's back and

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Speaker 1: he just backs him down, backs him down, backs him down,

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Speaker 1: little right shoulder, left handed hook. That is an easy,

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Speaker 1: easy shot for Shangoon. Right he gets bane on a

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Speaker 1: switch on one of the possessions, backs him down, it

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Speaker 1: hits a little hook shot over the top of him

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Speaker 1: and draws a foul. Like the two of those guys

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Speaker 1: were just destroying in their two man game with every

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Speaker 1: possible sequence. Two on the ball, Shangoon short roll, drop

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Speaker 1: off him and Thompson dunk switch. KD beats the big switch,

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Speaker 1: Shangoon beats the small look just unbelievable one on one

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Speaker 1: play from those two guys, and then to play that

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Speaker 1: ice the game in overtime, KD was like, We're not

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Speaker 1: messing around with this. I don't want any sort of

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Speaker 1: double team come in my way. I think I can

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Speaker 1: get a bucket on Tristan de Silva. He waves Albern

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Speaker 1: Shangun off, he waves a man Thompson off, just goes

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Speaker 1: one on one, gets to his spot in the mid range,

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Speaker 1: hits that little short jump shot and ends the game.

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Speaker 1: And by the way, both of those dudes, KD and

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Speaker 1: Shanguon were awesome on defense. In crunch time. KD had

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Speaker 1: a big ISO stop on Franz Wagner where he forced

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Speaker 1: him into a bad pull up three that he missed.

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Speaker 1: Shane Goon right at the end of regulation that huge

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Speaker 1: block on Desmond Bane that ended up where he blocked

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Speaker 1: it and went out of bounds on Bain and they

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Speaker 1: ended up having to review it, but it got overturned

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Speaker 1: on review and the ball got given back to Houston.

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Speaker 1: Those two guys were just awesome, and I left that

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Speaker 1: game with continued momentum behind an idea that I've consistently

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Speaker 1: felt when I've watched the Rockets this year, which is

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Speaker 1: that this is one of the very best duos in

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Speaker 1: the NBA. Are either of Kevin or Alburn as good

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Speaker 1: as Shay or Luca or Jannis or Jokic individually, No,

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Speaker 1: but they're both just barely below that tier. They're both

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Speaker 1: right there. And this isn't Lebron and ad in the

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Speaker 1: late stage Lakers, where they're surrounded by flawed players. These

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Speaker 1: guys are surrounded by an immense depth of talented, big

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Speaker 1: and athletic two way role players. They're also super complimentary

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Speaker 1: with each other. Like KD has always provided that go

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Speaker 1: get a bucket iso over the top type of offense,

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Speaker 1: but there's a little bit of variance with that. He's

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Speaker 1: typically struggled with pressuring the rim with physicality, right, Well,

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Speaker 1: that's what Shangoon brings to the table. They're perfect compliments

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Speaker 1: to each other. There's like an aura with them too.

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Speaker 1: I was watching both of them last night and it's like,

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Speaker 1: these are just two bad mfforts and they are gonna

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Speaker 1: be a huge pain in the ass for anybody to

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Speaker 1: deal with in a playoff series. And there's a lot

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Speaker 1: of momentum building for me as I watched them this

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Speaker 1: year on just how good Kevin Durant, Albern Shangun are

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Speaker 1: and how that represents a legitimate threat in the Western Conference.

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Speaker 1: And again, like we talked about earlier, I talked before

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Speaker 1: the season, Denver and nOkc the clear top threats Houston

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Speaker 1: I viewed in that tier until the Fred van Vliet injury.

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Speaker 1: I was curious to see how it would look this

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Speaker 1: year without those guys or without him in particular, and

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Speaker 1: they've just looked awesome. And now it's looking like Houston

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Speaker 1: is one of those teams in that top tier, and

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Speaker 1: we need one or two more of those teams to

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Speaker 1: add some real intrigue to start the season. Houston's been incredible.

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Speaker 1: Houston is now nine to one in their last ten games,

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Speaker 1: and remember their two losses to start the year, both

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Speaker 1: basically came down to one play. They could easily be

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Speaker 1: eleven and one. Right now. They're first in offense, eighth

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Speaker 1: in defense. Defensive rebounding was an issue for them early

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Speaker 1: in the season, but they've cleaned that up a bit,

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Speaker 1: their tenth in defensive rebounding percentage in that ten game span,

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Speaker 1: still grabbing a preposterous forty one percent of their own misses.

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Speaker 1: Shane gun had a rep last night in overtime where

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Speaker 1: he got his own offensive rebound like three straight times

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Speaker 1: on the left side of the basket and then finished

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Speaker 1: it off with the behind the back past the Steven

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Speaker 1: Adams for a layup. Just a ridiculous highlight and the

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Speaker 1: representation of how physically imposing this team is and they

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Speaker 1: still continue to just shoot the damp seams off the basketball,

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Speaker 1: which was a big question mark surrounding the team to

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Speaker 1: start the year. They're leading the NBA in three point

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Speaker 1: percentage at forty three percent to start the year. Lots

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Speaker 1: and lots of encouraging trends for the Houston Rockets. Today's

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Speaker 1: or Virginia Boston. It's a huge win over the Clippers

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Speaker 1: yesterday in the afternoon, a game they basically controlled throughout.

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Speaker 1: They lost control at various points because their bench units

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Speaker 1: were bad. Innfony Simons had his worst game of the season.

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Speaker 1: He put up a bagel. They were struggling to guard

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Speaker 1: with those units, and then James Harden made it closer

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Speaker 1: than it looked to or made it look closer than

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Speaker 1: it actually was at the tail end of the game

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Speaker 1: by drawing a foul on the three and then hitting

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Speaker 1: a couple of crazy pull up threes and actually a

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Speaker 1: really nice play design by Tylo on a baseline out

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Speaker 1: of bounds where they heave the ball up up the

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Speaker 1: court to the foul line and then pitch it back

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Speaker 1: to Harden, kind of trailing the play, and he actually

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Speaker 1: got a good look at three that could have tied

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Speaker 1: the game, just barely left it short. So a couple

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Speaker 1: of weird sequences with the bench unit and then obviously

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Speaker 1: with James Harden, they made it look close. But honestly,

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Speaker 1: the starting group for Boston dominated that game from start

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Speaker 1: to finish. They jumped out the gates early. Jalen Brown

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Speaker 1: was super athletic on the glass, and scrapping for loose balls.

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Speaker 1: The team was very locked in on defense. They defending

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Speaker 1: James Hardenwell, Jordan Walsh did a bunch of work on

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Speaker 1: the ball, Derek White did some work on the ball.

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Speaker 1: Peyton Pritchard had thirty in the game and came out

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Speaker 1: guns blazing. Was a huge part of how they took

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Speaker 1: control early in the game. And I need a shout

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Speaker 1: out Jalen Brown here. We talked after their lost a

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Speaker 1: Philly about how I thought he needed to be part

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Speaker 1: of the part of the solution for their defensive rebounding issues.

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Speaker 1: He's one of the best athletes on the team. He

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Speaker 1: was having one of his worst defensive rebounding seasons in

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Speaker 1: recent history for him, He's been excellent nineteen rebounds over

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Speaker 1: the course of the last two games. You grabbed thirteen

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Speaker 1: rebounds yesterday. Was clearly scrapping in a different way from

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Speaker 1: the opening tip. We talked about this in that video

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Speaker 1: the other day, but like he's one of the guys,

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Speaker 1: one of the few guys on that team that actually

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Speaker 1: has the tools necessary to address that flaw for this team,

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Speaker 1: and so him stepping up and taking personal responsibility. I

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Speaker 1: found out after the video too that Jalen Brown had

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Speaker 1: actually said in the postgame press or that he had

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Speaker 1: essentially taken responsibility for what happened on that final sequence.

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Speaker 1: He also had thirty three points yesterday. He's become one

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Speaker 1: of the best mid range players in the NBA. He's

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Speaker 1: hit forty nine pull up mid rangers this year at

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Speaker 1: fifty five percent. That's the same amount of volume forty

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Speaker 1: nine makes as Shay Gildas Alexander put on five percent

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Speaker 1: higher from the field. So some really high level a

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Speaker 1: shot making from Jalen Brown. And we talked about how

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Speaker 1: in the Philly game that third quarter run from Derek

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Speaker 1: White was a sign that he was starting to gain

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Speaker 1: some momentum and rhythm as a score. There's a lot

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Speaker 1: of talk early in the season about how, like, oh,

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Speaker 1: like this is what happens when you slide up on

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Speaker 1: the depth chart, like teams are gonna be game planning

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Speaker 1: differently for Derek White. I never bought that, just simply

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Speaker 1: because Derek White was still very much a featured ball

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Speaker 1: handler on the Celtics before before the Tatum injury. Like

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Speaker 1: I argue, he was more involved in their pet actions

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Speaker 1: alongside Jason Tatum than even Jaln Brown was so like

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Speaker 1: I never bought that. I just thought he was playing

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Speaker 1: bad basketball to start the year, not not even even

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Speaker 1: just was struggling a little bit to start the year,

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Speaker 1: which is like something that happens with basketball players sometimes.

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Speaker 1: But following up that Philly game, forty two points in

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Speaker 1: the last two games, thirteen for twenty eight from the field,

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00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:14,679
Speaker 1: seven for fourteen from three in the two wins. So

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00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:18,000
Speaker 1: a continuation of that momentum for Derek White, starting to

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Speaker 1: look like the Derek White that we've seen in the

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Speaker 1: last couple of years. And most importantly, they won a

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Speaker 1: clutch game. It was a three point game with three

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Speaker 1: minutes left and the Celtics just promptly went on a

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Speaker 1: seven to zero run to close the deal. Excellent defense

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Speaker 1: in that stretch from Nimi kDa. He had two good

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Speaker 1: drop cover reps where he forced misses at the basket.

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Speaker 1: He had a play where he was battling Zobots in

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Speaker 1: the block and he pushed him out with physicality so

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Speaker 1: that when Zoo went for that left shoulder fade, he

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00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,119
Speaker 1: lost his balance a little bit and was like falling

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Speaker 1: away from the basket and left it very short off

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Speaker 1: the front of the rim, really good defense from Cada,

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Speaker 1: and then on the other end of the floor, just

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Speaker 1: little two man game with Derek White, Nimikyda, a little

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Speaker 1: drop off for a layup for Cada, Jordan wallsh transition

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00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,520
Speaker 1: runout Derek White and hits the dagger, a little pull

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Speaker 1: up three at the top of the key as his

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00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,120
Speaker 1: man kind of sagged off just a little bit. Really

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00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,639
Speaker 1: nice clutch play from the Celtics again, a crazy shooting

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Speaker 1: display from James Harden. All good defense, did you know,

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00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,760
Speaker 1: kind of an iffy three point shot foul that could

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Speaker 1: have gone either way, and then he just hit two

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00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:20,520
Speaker 1: ridiculous step backs. So you got to tip the cap

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Speaker 1: to James Harden. But I actually just thought they played

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Speaker 1: really good crunch time basketball. Really nice response from the

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Speaker 1: Celtics in a couple of key areas where they needed

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Speaker 1: to improve their rebounding and their execution in the crunch

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Speaker 1: time situations, and they end up getting a couple of

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Speaker 1: wins out of it. Moving on to Atlanta, how about

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00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:42,120
Speaker 1: a twenty one point fourth quarter comeback for their fifth

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Speaker 1: straight win, four of which have been on the road.

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Speaker 1: They did it with the classic Atlanta Hawks defense to

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Speaker 1: transition attack. We talked about this before the season, but

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Speaker 1: it was very important for my basketball worldview for the

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Speaker 1: Hawks to be good. They had a formula that I

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Speaker 1: believed in. A bunch of super athletic dudes who can

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Speaker 1: guard multiple positions, play passing lanes, force turnovers, run their lanes,

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00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:08,760
Speaker 1: and succeed in transition, like generating dunks and threes. And

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Speaker 1: then a lot of guys that are like pretty high

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Speaker 1: i Q dribble pass shoot guys, maybe not the best

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Speaker 1: shooters in the world, but like a group of guys

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Speaker 1: that can all put the ball on the floor and

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Speaker 1: make plays for their teammates and play drive and kick.

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00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,040
Speaker 1: And then Trey Young obviously would be the piece that

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00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,600
Speaker 1: would tie together the half court offense. Now we got

387
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,479
Speaker 1: to take the Tray Young piece and set it aside

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00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,600
Speaker 1: for now because he's obviously injured. But we're seeing the

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00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,399
Speaker 1: defense to transition piece and the whole aggregate dribble shoot, pass,

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00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,760
Speaker 1: play making piece come to fruition here. Like the run

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00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:40,960
Speaker 1: against Phoenix was scary to watch. Jalen Johnson, Zachary Rissachet,

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Speaker 1: and Dyson Daniels all had steals during that run. Like

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Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson, steals a high post entry, run out the

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00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,639
Speaker 1: other way for a score. Dyson Daniels double teams the

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00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,440
Speaker 1: high post from behind and pokes the ball away, running

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00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:55,960
Speaker 1: the other way for a score. Colin Gilespie's trying to

397
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,520
Speaker 1: throw a post entry and Zachary Rissache gets his long

398
00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:00,800
Speaker 1: ass arm out there and gets a defl election. They're

399
00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:04,359
Speaker 1: running out the other way for a score. It happened fast, guys.

400
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,480
Speaker 1: It was a twenty to zero run to get them

401
00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:12,160
Speaker 1: back within one, like it was avalanche, steel run out score,

402
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,240
Speaker 1: steel run out score, steel run out score. But the

403
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,400
Speaker 1: most impressive part of it is like it slowed down

404
00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,400
Speaker 1: into a half court game. Like the Suns responded. Devin

405
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,919
Speaker 1: Booker and Dylan Brooks got a couple of buckets late

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00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,600
Speaker 1: and they actually pushed the lead back to six after

407
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,600
Speaker 1: Atlanta had gotten back to one. But the Hawks played

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00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,040
Speaker 1: really good on offense in the half court to end

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00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,680
Speaker 1: the game. Some brilliant driving kick sequences, Like guys were

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00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,160
Speaker 1: hitting gaps and making good kickout reads. They were keeping

411
00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,960
Speaker 1: the ball movement, ball moving constantly, really good relocations and cuts.

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00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,200
Speaker 1: Dyson Daniels and Nikkeile Alexander Walker really led their way

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Speaker 1: with their playmaking. During that stretch, Dyson had the two

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00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,639
Speaker 1: biggest assists of the game that actually put the game away.

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Speaker 1: A really nice drive off of the left wing. It

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Speaker 1: was already in a driving kick sequence and they were

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00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,679
Speaker 1: in their kind of flow and Nikile aley Xander Walker

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00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,480
Speaker 1: was in the right dunker spot and Dyson Daniels caught

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Speaker 1: on the left wing in a driving kick sequence. He

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00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,159
Speaker 1: rips the close out and right when he rips the

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00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,919
Speaker 1: close out Nikkeil Alexander Walker again. This is part of

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00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,919
Speaker 1: that high IQ driving kick basketball. Nikil Alexander Walker had

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00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,280
Speaker 1: been in the dunker spot where he wasn't a threat.

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00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,399
Speaker 1: He teas up, he cuts right to the front of

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Speaker 1: the rim right as Dyson is driving, finds a perfect

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00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,399
Speaker 1: little window. Dison shovels it off to him and the

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00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,200
Speaker 1: keel makes that little floater in the rain in the lane.

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00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,560
Speaker 1: That's super high level drive in kick basketball. They ran

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Speaker 1: a rep of stack, pick and roll at the end

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Speaker 1: of the game where Dyson threw a beautiful lob to

431
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,720
Speaker 1: Yekakongu who dunked it. In a bunch of really nice

432
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,280
Speaker 1: playmaking driving kick like everyone's involved in moving with and

433
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,600
Speaker 1: without the basketball type of sequences for the Hawks to

434
00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,560
Speaker 1: close that game. They remind me of Toronto a bit,

435
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,200
Speaker 1: where they don't have like the best catch and shoot

436
00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,119
Speaker 1: talent in the world, but they have a lot of

437
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,440
Speaker 1: athletes who can pressure the rim and play make out

438
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,960
Speaker 1: of it. So they're better in the half court than

439
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,120
Speaker 1: you would think based on the way their lineups look

440
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,359
Speaker 1: on paper. And then just a couple of guys shooting

441
00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:10,359
Speaker 1: the ball better. Jalen Johnson shooting the shit out of

442
00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:12,960
Speaker 1: the ball from three during this win streak and yekakong

443
00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,920
Speaker 1: Wu He's literally making forty one percent of his threes

444
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,359
Speaker 1: on six point four attempts per game over the five

445
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,280
Speaker 1: game streak. Like, just a couple of guys shooting the

446
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:24,080
Speaker 1: ball better. Two to help tie off some of those

447
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 1: sequences with makes, and they're really starting to play some

448
00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:31,560
Speaker 1: beautiful basketball in the five game streak. Sixth in offense,

449
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,639
Speaker 1: fourth in defense. They're forcing nineteen turnovers per game in

450
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 1: that span and scoring twenty eight points off of turnovers

451
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:42,680
Speaker 1: in that five game span. That twenty eight points per

452
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,600
Speaker 1: game off of turnovers ranks first in the NBA. Over

453
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 1: the last five games, they're averaging as a team thirty

454
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,000
Speaker 1: seven points per game in transition in that span. That's insane.

455
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:56,080
Speaker 1: They've had two games with over forty five transition points

456
00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,440
Speaker 1: in the span. They are built to win on the margins,

457
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,240
Speaker 1: will win a lot of regular season games in the NBA.

458
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,399
Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson in the five games straight, twenty three points,

459
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:10,120
Speaker 1: twelve rebounds, and nine assists, sixty percent from the field

460
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,280
Speaker 1: in fifty seven percent from three. Jalen has always been

461
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,720
Speaker 1: a very gifted downhill athlete that has has been very

462
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:18,439
Speaker 1: good at like kind of I was referring to him

463
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,639
Speaker 1: to the other day on playback as like Yannis reads,

464
00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 1: meaning like it's not super high level like surgical Chris

465
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:28,120
Speaker 1: Paul Lukadancic type of reads. But what he's very good

466
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:31,199
Speaker 1: at is reading cutters along the baseline and simple kickout

467
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 1: reads to the three point line. And when you pressure

468
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 1: the rim the way that he does, those raids are available.

469
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,000
Speaker 1: That's why I call him the Yiannis reeds. Like Giannis

470
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,280
Speaker 1: has just gotten really good at taking the easy reads

471
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:42,159
Speaker 1: that are available when you can pressure the rim the

472
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:44,640
Speaker 1: way that he does. That stuff has always been there

473
00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 1: for Jalen. The ceiling raiser for him has been the

474
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 1: three point shot and if he's gonna shoot the basketball

475
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,159
Speaker 1: like this. That's what allows him to enter into that

476
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,280
Speaker 1: All Star conversation when he becomes a guy that can

477
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,000
Speaker 1: average twenty three points over a large sample with nine assists,

478
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,920
Speaker 1: with real shot, with real value on the margins. Again,

479
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,040
Speaker 1: just really really high level basketball from the Hawks. One

480
00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,840
Speaker 1: last note here with them. I know the every time

481
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,720
Speaker 1: something like this happens, there's a propensity to be like, oh, well,

482
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,720
Speaker 1: this means that the guy who's injured doesn't matter anymore. Right.

483
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 1: We've seen this with the Lakers with discussions surrounding Lebron.

484
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:23,440
Speaker 1: We've seen this with the Hawks with this discussion surrounding

485
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,480
Speaker 1: Trey Young. You see this around the league, various situations

486
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,400
Speaker 1: like this guy's out and we're succeeding, and that means

487
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:30,679
Speaker 1: we don't need it. No, no, no. The idea is, you

488
00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: want to take the stuff that you've done with this

489
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,320
Speaker 1: group and you want to add Trey Young to it,

490
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,439
Speaker 1: and you want to see what you can accomplish. I

491
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:39,960
Speaker 1: watched the Hawks before Trey Young got hurt this year.

492
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,399
Speaker 1: It wasn't his fault that the defense sucked. Did you

493
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 1: play a role, sure, but there were a lot of

494
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,440
Speaker 1: guys in their core lineups, athletes, same guys who were

495
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 1: doing damage to the Suns and to other teams during

496
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,200
Speaker 1: this win streak that weren't playing very well on defense.

497
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,560
Speaker 1: You want to try to continue this dynamic with the

498
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,399
Speaker 1: advantage creation and half court kind of grease the wheels

499
00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 1: type of thing that Trey Young can do. I again,

500
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,679
Speaker 1: if Trey Young comes back and it feels like you

501
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 1: can't recapture the identity, that's one thing. But I personally

502
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,480
Speaker 1: want to see a larger sample size of Trey Young

503
00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 1: playing with this group, and I hope they don't do

504
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:18,320
Speaker 1: something like trade him before he actually recovers from his injury.

505
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,400
Speaker 1: All right, let's get into our power rankings, and again

506
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,520
Speaker 1: we're gonna be reading our championship odds with each team

507
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 1: on this list. All of our lines are presented by

508
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:33,000
Speaker 1: hard rock Bet number ten heading into this week, the

509
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 1: San Antonio Spurs. They are plus three thousand right now

510
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,160
Speaker 1: to win the title on hard rock Bet, just four

511
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,119
Speaker 1: and four after their five and oh start lost to

512
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 1: some of the better teams. Again, if you look at

513
00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:46,320
Speaker 1: their five and oh start, they played a pretty weak schedule.

514
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,000
Speaker 1: Things have gotten tougher. There's been some good wins in there.

515
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,000
Speaker 1: I want to be clear, like that win against Houston

516
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 1: was a really nice win, but dropping games to Phoenix,

517
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:56,920
Speaker 1: to the Lakers, two games to the Warriors starting to

518
00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,760
Speaker 1: see some of their flaws come to the surface. Turn

519
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,320
Speaker 1: Over issues are the big one. They're turning it over

520
00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:05,359
Speaker 1: on seventeen percent of their possessions in that eight game span,

521
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,400
Speaker 1: which is the second worst mark in the league over

522
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:11,760
Speaker 1: the course of teams over their last eight games. Back

523
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:13,760
Speaker 1: to back losses to the Warriors this week that showed

524
00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,080
Speaker 1: a bit of their struggle. They have scoring against high

525
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:20,199
Speaker 1: IQ defenses, teams that have big, physical forwards that they

526
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,680
Speaker 1: can deploy on Wemby, and also a game plan built

527
00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,400
Speaker 1: around getting the basketball out of his hands. And again,

528
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,960
Speaker 1: those issues were a continuation of the previous week with

529
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: what happened with the Lakers and the Suns. In those

530
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 1: four losses, the Spurs log just a one thirteen offensive ratings,

531
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:39,119
Speaker 1: So first little bit of adversity for this Spurs group

532
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,560
Speaker 1: to start the year. One silver lining though, after deeron

533
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,480
Speaker 1: Fox had a disastrous end to the second Warriors game

534
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 1: where he kind of co opted the offense and took

535
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,879
Speaker 1: some really bad off the dribble jump shots. He responded

536
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,280
Speaker 1: very nicely against the Kings last night with an efficient

537
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,680
Speaker 1: twenty eight and eleven to get a win in a

538
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,159
Speaker 1: game where Victor Wembin Yama sat out, so nice little

539
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 1: sign of building rhythm for Deer and Fox. Number nine.

540
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,359
Speaker 1: The Atlanta Hawks also plus three thousand to win the title.

541
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,320
Speaker 1: We hit them in a segment earlier in today's show,

542
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,600
Speaker 1: so if you're watching a breakout of our power rankings,

543
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,159
Speaker 1: make sure you go back to our full episode. We

544
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: have a segment where we covered the Hawks in more detail.

545
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:17,080
Speaker 1: But they've won five in a row, top six in

546
00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:20,520
Speaker 1: both offense and defense. They're forcing nine top six in

547
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 1: both offense and defense during that five game streak, I

548
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,200
Speaker 1: should say, forcing nineteen turnovers per game, scoring twenty eight

549
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,520
Speaker 1: points per game off of those turnovers. Jalen Johnson's averaging

550
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,080
Speaker 1: twenty three to twelve and nine in their win streak

551
00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:34,200
Speaker 1: on sixty percent from the field and fifty seven percent

552
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,720
Speaker 1: from three, and Yeka kong Wu blossoming as a spacing

553
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,280
Speaker 1: big forty one percent from three on six point four

554
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:42,600
Speaker 1: attempts per game. Again, if you want more Hawks, you

555
00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 1: can go a little bit earlier in the episode. Number

556
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:49,320
Speaker 1: eight the Golden State Warriors currently plus fourteen hundred to

557
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:51,840
Speaker 1: win the title. I'm gonna say the same thing about

558
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,840
Speaker 1: the Warriors that I said about the Lakers after their

559
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:57,320
Speaker 1: win against the Bucks on Saturday night on playback. I

560
00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:59,159
Speaker 1: had a similar kind of line of thinking with them.

561
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 1: I think it applies to Golden State as well. It's

562
00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,639
Speaker 1: certainly never a good thing to get your ass handed

563
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,160
Speaker 1: to you the way that the thunder did on Tuesday.

564
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,199
Speaker 1: It's a measuring stick and it looks like you're not

565
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 1: even close right. So I'm not gonna sit here and

566
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,639
Speaker 1: say that's a good thing. But in many ways, an

567
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:17,400
Speaker 1: ass kicking can be good for the soul. It can

568
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 1: refocus your group. It can remind them how far they

569
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:23,800
Speaker 1: are away from where their goals actually are and motivate

570
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,159
Speaker 1: them in their daily process to get there. And the

571
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,120
Speaker 1: Warriors responded to that disaster class with the best three

572
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 1: game stretch they've had all season. Two monster wins on

573
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:35,159
Speaker 1: the road in San Antonio, one resounding team effort in

574
00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:39,040
Speaker 1: the second half on Wednesday, excellent defense and contributions down

575
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,320
Speaker 1: the roster, and then honestly just a heroic backpack job

576
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: by Steph Curry and the Friday night game. They lose

577
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 1: that game by double figures if Steph even just plays

578
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,760
Speaker 1: a normal Steph game. But no, how about forty nine

579
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,520
Speaker 1: points in every big shot and play down the stretch

580
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,400
Speaker 1: to close the deal. Literally willed his team to victory.

581
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 1: There were even a bunch of layups on cuts that

582
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 1: they got down the stretch based on a ten time

583
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:04,720
Speaker 1: that Steph got running off of action. He literally willed

584
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,360
Speaker 1: his team to victory in that game on Friday Night.

585
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,960
Speaker 1: Unbelievable basketball from Steph Curry. To start the season. Steph

586
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,800
Speaker 1: went for ninety five points in the two game set

587
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,640
Speaker 1: against San Antonio. Just playing some special basketball. And I'd

588
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,680
Speaker 1: be remiss if I didn't mention Moses Moody, who carried

589
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:21,680
Speaker 1: the offense in the first half of the San Antonio

590
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 1: game on Wednesday night and then poured in a career

591
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 1: high thirty two last night in New Orleans. As some

592
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,360
Speaker 1: other Warriors had rough nights, he was able to carry

593
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 1: the load in the in the gap there to continue

594
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: the three game winning streak number seven. The Cleveland Cavaliers

595
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 1: currently plus seven point fifty to win the title on

596
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,040
Speaker 1: hard Rock Bet. It was a rough week for the Cavs.

597
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,800
Speaker 1: Dropping a couple games against the Heat, and the Raptors

598
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,440
Speaker 1: lost Darius Garland to reaggravation of his toe injury, but

599
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 1: Kenny Atkinson told reporters the other day that he's considered

600
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 1: day to day, so I think we can assume that

601
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,080
Speaker 1: means it wasn't a severe re injury of the toe,

602
00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,360
Speaker 1: but rather just a minor setback. The other guards on

603
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,120
Speaker 1: the roster have done an admirable job filling in in

604
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,479
Speaker 1: his absence. Lonzo Ball is really starting to find his

605
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,719
Speaker 1: groove after a rough shooting start to start the season.

606
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:11,440
Speaker 1: He's ten for seventeen from three over the course of

607
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 1: his last three games, and fifteen assists in those three

608
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,680
Speaker 1: games in just sixty one minutes. Craig Porter obviously was

609
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 1: great in the road win against Miami. He's been very

610
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,960
Speaker 1: good as one of their depth guards this season. Good

611
00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 1: news about Darius Garland coming back. They absolutely need him

612
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,720
Speaker 1: at his very best for them to get to where

613
00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:31,400
Speaker 1: they need to go this year. Number six the New

614
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 1: York Knicks plus thirteen hundred to win the title on

615
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:39,400
Speaker 1: hard Rock Bet right now. The Orlando Magic. The Atlanto

616
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,040
Speaker 1: Magic game was an absolute disaster for the Knicks. A

617
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 1: lot of the fears from last season came to the surface.

618
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,880
Speaker 1: Their offense looked stagnant and it looked bad. The magic

619
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 1: killed them in transition in that game, reminiscent of what

620
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,640
Speaker 1: happened in the Indiana Pacers series. And then to add

621
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 1: injuried insult, Jalen Brunson sprains his ankle when the game's

622
00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,040
Speaker 1: basically already over and he leaves in a walking boot.

623
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,440
Speaker 1: So obviously a bad night, but they had an incredible

624
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 1: response against the Miami Heat, one of their best offensive

625
00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 1: games of the season. They hung a one forty in

626
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,960
Speaker 1: that game. How about seventy five points from Karl Anthony

627
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:13,920
Speaker 1: Towns and Landr shaman I had a Knicks fan on

628
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 1: playback that was lamenting that Tom Thibodeau didn't use Landry

629
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 1: Shamitt last year. Kind of one of these smaller subplots

630
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: in the larger subplot of Tom Tabodeau not relying on

631
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,959
Speaker 1: his bench very much. He's getting an extra six minutes

632
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,400
Speaker 1: per game this year and it's paying off. He's scoring

633
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:32,880
Speaker 1: at a rate of seventeen points per thirty six minutes.

634
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,880
Speaker 1: Was instrumental in the road win against Miami. But things

635
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:37,640
Speaker 1: are gonna get tougher from here now og And and

636
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,880
Speaker 1: Obi's out as well with a hamstring strain. It's going

637
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 1: to test their depth. But this is the investment that

638
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 1: Mike Brown has made throughout this early part of the

639
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,360
Speaker 1: season that should allow them a better chance to compete

640
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:52,480
Speaker 1: over that stretch of games number five. The Los Angeles

641
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,080
Speaker 1: Lakers currently plus fifteen hundred to win the title on

642
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:58,160
Speaker 1: hard rock Bet, similar to Golden State. A really nice

643
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,720
Speaker 1: response to their humiliation at the bands of the Oklahoma

644
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:02,880
Speaker 1: City Thunder, a pair of wins against New Orleans and

645
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,000
Speaker 1: Milwaukee in a back to back, just a wire to

646
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:10,680
Speaker 1: wire absolute dominant performance against a very good Milwaukee Bucks

647
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,320
Speaker 1: team that had been really tough to beat at home

648
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,080
Speaker 1: throughout the start of the season. Luca looked completely unguardable.

649
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,240
Speaker 1: He saw a lot of Kyle Kuzma and Gary Harris

650
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,160
Speaker 1: as his primary defender in the game, torched them both,

651
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,640
Speaker 1: was drawing all sorts of double teams and blitzz that

652
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 1: the Lakers are doing a good job playing quick four

653
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,160
Speaker 1: on three basketball out of to score points, and then

654
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:32,000
Speaker 1: the defense was locked in throughout. They did a great

655
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,320
Speaker 1: job getting back in transition, basically kept Milwaukee entirely out

656
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:38,360
Speaker 1: of transition in the first half, getting back building the

657
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,600
Speaker 1: wall on Giannis throwing contests at three point shooters, one

658
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,240
Speaker 1: of their best defensive efforts of the season. And the Lakers,

659
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,480
Speaker 1: by the way, are up to fourteenth in defensive rating

660
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,320
Speaker 1: on the season. Now, that's an excellent indicator for them.

661
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,880
Speaker 1: Obviously you come up short in the measuring stick game.

662
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:54,640
Speaker 1: They have a long way to go to where they

663
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,480
Speaker 1: need to go if they want to compete with the

664
00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 1: best teams in the Western Conference. But again we talked

665
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,280
Speaker 1: about in the Warriors segment, a good ass kicking can

666
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 1: be good for the soul. It can sometimes inspire you

667
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:07,320
Speaker 1: or remind you how far you are away from where

668
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,160
Speaker 1: you need to go, and get you more engaged in

669
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,040
Speaker 1: the day to day process of getting better. Very nice

670
00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:14,920
Speaker 1: response from the Lakers. They are now ten and four,

671
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:17,600
Speaker 1: and when you look at Lebron being out for all

672
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:19,560
Speaker 1: those games, and all the games that all those important

673
00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:21,680
Speaker 1: role players have missed, like even ruy Ha Chamura being

674
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,600
Speaker 1: out for the Bucks game, that's a huge loss specifically

675
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:26,720
Speaker 1: for the Bucks matchup. And it didn't matter they have

676
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 1: regardless of who's been in the lineup, They've played good basketball,

677
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,320
Speaker 1: And if you look at their upcoming schedule, they have

678
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:35,920
Speaker 1: the Jazz on Tuesday and the Jazz on Sunday. That's

679
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:40,719
Speaker 1: it until next Tuesday. So essentially a nine game stretch

680
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,200
Speaker 1: for a nine day calendar day stretch where they only

681
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,360
Speaker 1: have two games, really nice stretch for them to get

682
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:49,840
Speaker 1: Lebron involved in practice, a couple of easier games on

683
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,320
Speaker 1: the schedule to get Lebron game reps without having to

684
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:54,960
Speaker 1: really wear him out. You can keep him in lower

685
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,280
Speaker 1: minutes and it's not a big deal in those games, right,

686
00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:02,200
Speaker 1: Like really encouraging star to the season, even if you

687
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 1: know that they're not close to their ultimate goal with

688
00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 1: the Thunder, they have a clear finish line that they're

689
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:09,920
Speaker 1: aiming for, and they look very locked in and engaged

690
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:13,160
Speaker 1: by the way. It will be covering their Lebron's debut

691
00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:15,120
Speaker 1: on playback, depending on whether or not it'll be on

692
00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 1: Tuesday or Sunday, which every one of those games is

693
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:22,280
Speaker 1: Lebron's first game, will be covering on playback Number four.

694
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:25,200
Speaker 1: The Houston Rockets currently plus one thousand to win the

695
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:27,319
Speaker 1: title on hard Rock bet. We talked about them in

696
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,239
Speaker 1: detail in the opening segment, so I'm not going to

697
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:30,840
Speaker 1: spend too much time here. Again, if you want to

698
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,000
Speaker 1: hear more Rockets talk, just go to our full episode

699
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,319
Speaker 1: on YouTube and go back to the beginning. It was

700
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,640
Speaker 1: actually our first segment in the show. They're nine to

701
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 1: one in their last ten games. First and offense, eighth,

702
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,600
Speaker 1: then defense, and like we talked about earlier in the show,

703
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:45,560
Speaker 1: the Kevin Durant Alpernshangun duo is looking at looking like

704
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: one of the very best duos in basketball right now.

705
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:50,680
Speaker 1: And then when you combine that with a very deep

706
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,160
Speaker 1: roster of big, physical, athletic two way players, it's just

707
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:57,640
Speaker 1: a great formula for winning in the modern NBA. Number

708
00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:01,359
Speaker 1: three the Detroit Pistons, currently plus three thousand to win

709
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:04,040
Speaker 1: the title on hard Rock Bet. The Pistons continued their

710
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 1: nine game winning streak with two nice wins against the

711
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,640
Speaker 1: Sixers and Bowls, both without Kate Cunningham and Jalen Duraan.

712
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,759
Speaker 1: This involved the rise of Danis Jenkins, a rise that

713
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,480
Speaker 1: started before Caid went out with a couple of huge

714
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,040
Speaker 1: clutch threes that sent the Wizards game to overtime if

715
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,320
Speaker 1: you guys remember, and then in the last two games

716
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,600
Speaker 1: he switched into a featured on ball roll against the

717
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,560
Speaker 1: Sixers in Bowls, where he ran a ton of pick

718
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,359
Speaker 1: and roll and was very efficient in doing so. Very

719
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:32,760
Speaker 1: exciting development for a team that is light on ball handling.

720
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:35,319
Speaker 1: They needed something like this. Danis in the last three

721
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,280
Speaker 1: games is averaging twenty points, five rebounds, and eight assists

722
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:42,719
Speaker 1: on high efficiency in a couple of big wins for

723
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,600
Speaker 1: the Pistons. Really nice contributions down the roster too, to

724
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,600
Speaker 1: help maintain winning when Cad and Jalen Duran have been out,

725
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,839
Speaker 1: Paul Reid has stepped in admirably into the Jalen Duran role.

726
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:56,080
Speaker 1: He's averaging nineteen points and eleven rebounds over those two games,

727
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,960
Speaker 1: ten total stocks over those two wins. And then Dunk

728
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,560
Speaker 1: Robinson and Karris Lovert both have stepped up on offense.

729
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:04,200
Speaker 1: Caros got off to a rough start the season, but

730
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,719
Speaker 1: he's been very good as of late. Duncan continuing to

731
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,759
Speaker 1: provide just more action, relief in the half court and

732
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:14,560
Speaker 1: shot making. How about the eleven and two Detroit Pistons Again,

733
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 1: I talked earlier in the show about how we need

734
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,799
Speaker 1: another couple of teams to step up and provide a

735
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:24,000
Speaker 1: real threat to the Denver and Oklahoma City top tier

736
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:27,120
Speaker 1: and Houston and Detroit are providing that for us to

737
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 1: start the season. Very very exciting. Number two the Denver Nuggets.

738
00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:34,720
Speaker 1: Seven straight wins and none better than an ass kicking

739
00:36:34,719 --> 00:36:39,040
Speaker 1: that they delivered to the Wolves in Minnesota on Saturday night. Again,

740
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 1: this is a team in Minnesota that's had their number

741
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:45,279
Speaker 1: over the last few years, and considering your down two starters,

742
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 1: that's a very discouraging type of situation to find yourself

743
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:52,759
Speaker 1: in on the road in Minnesota. But Tim Hardaway and

744
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 1: Peyton Watson have both done an admirable job stepping into

745
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,000
Speaker 1: starting roles. Tim Hardaway just continues to look like a

746
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:02,840
Speaker 1: perfect fit with this te His aggression and his ability

747
00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:05,480
Speaker 1: to knock shots down has just been a godsend for

748
00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:07,960
Speaker 1: this offense. Peyton Watson has just been to do everything

749
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,960
Speaker 1: athlete for them. Good news on the injury front two

750
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,920
Speaker 1: with Cam Johnson just a bicep strain, so like not

751
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,640
Speaker 1: the more severe injuries that were kind of floating around

752
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:20,680
Speaker 1: as possibilities for Cam, so that's good news. Bad news

753
00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:24,439
Speaker 1: is though, a pretty substantial foot injury for Christian Brown

754
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:26,400
Speaker 1: that's going to keep him out for at least six weeks.

755
00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 1: So kind of good for Cam because I think Cam

756
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,040
Speaker 1: needs to build rhythm, and I think the last thing

757
00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:33,400
Speaker 1: he needs right now is to be out of the

758
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:35,279
Speaker 1: lineup for a little bit. But this is where the

759
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 1: depth is going to be tested. This is where all

760
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,399
Speaker 1: that investment in the offseason into depth should be able

761
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,640
Speaker 1: to help this team. By the way, in that Minnesota game,

762
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:45,800
Speaker 1: yet another performance this year, we talked about how statistically

763
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:50,080
Speaker 1: the Nuggets without Yokic on the floor hadn't been that great.

764
00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:54,799
Speaker 1: Statistically better than previous years, for sure, but not that great.

765
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:56,719
Speaker 1: I think coming into the Minnesota game they were like

766
00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:00,839
Speaker 1: negative seven points per one hundred possessions with Yokich off

767
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,000
Speaker 1: the floor. That number has been like eleven to twelve

768
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,319
Speaker 1: in previous season, so certainly better. But one of the

769
00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:07,920
Speaker 1: things I talked about was the way it's manifesting is

770
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:11,600
Speaker 1: in good games. They've had multiple games this year where

771
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:13,920
Speaker 1: they were able to blow games open with their bench group,

772
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:15,879
Speaker 1: where they were able to grow the lead rather than

773
00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,480
Speaker 1: lose the lead with their bench group. Just recently with Sacramento,

774
00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:21,880
Speaker 1: right fourth quarter unit comes out there and blows the

775
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:23,759
Speaker 1: game open before Jokic even has to come out to

776
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:26,839
Speaker 1: the floor. This game, yet another example of a very

777
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 1: strong performance for the Nuggets with Jokic off the floor.

778
00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,480
Speaker 1: A lot of encouraging trends for Denver, none probably as

779
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:37,360
Speaker 1: encouraging as their defense, though they locked Minnesota up in

780
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 1: the second half on Saturday. They are number two in

781
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,360
Speaker 1: defensive rating. They were started the season up high, and

782
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,759
Speaker 1: they've maintained that. Still number two in defensive rating to

783
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,480
Speaker 1: start the season, just completely locked in and on a string,

784
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:51,520
Speaker 1: very clearly committed to their ultimate goals this season. And

785
00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:54,000
Speaker 1: then Nikolai Jokich playing like the best player in the

786
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:58,080
Speaker 1: world his last seven games thirty five points, twelve rebounds,

787
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:01,200
Speaker 1: and eleven assists, seventy one from the field in fifty

788
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 1: five percent from three two point six stocks per game

789
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:07,160
Speaker 1: as well over that span. Really encouraging start for the

790
00:39:07,239 --> 00:39:10,760
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets. Number one, as they've been through every single

791
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,360
Speaker 1: Power Rankings video we've done to start this season. The

792
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:17,640
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Thunder currently plus two hundred to win the

793
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:20,839
Speaker 1: title on hard Rock Bet hard to have a better

794
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:23,759
Speaker 1: week than Oklahoma City just did. How about taking two

795
00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 1: of the largest fan bases, two fan bases that have

796
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,880
Speaker 1: been very optimistic coming into the season for what they

797
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:33,440
Speaker 1: can accomplish, and just taking out the memories, the measuring

798
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:35,319
Speaker 1: stick and just beating the shit out of them for

799
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,399
Speaker 1: the entire world to see. In the middle of last week,

800
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:44,200
Speaker 1: just an unbelievable performance dominating two of the great NBA

801
00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:48,640
Speaker 1: franchises on back to back nights, two teams that have

802
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:51,600
Speaker 1: pretty resilient offenses too, led by two of the league's

803
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:54,960
Speaker 1: best offensive engines, and they just completely shut both of

804
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,240
Speaker 1: them down to the point where both stars looked bad

805
00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:59,960
Speaker 1: and both teams looked absolutely helpless to score the bat

806
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,920
Speaker 1: basketball as what is clearly the best defense of this

807
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:07,839
Speaker 1: era just continues adding names to the list of dominance,

808
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:10,799
Speaker 1: and the continuation of their offensive leap has been fun

809
00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:14,200
Speaker 1: to watch. Sharp transition to tacks off of missus and turnovers,

810
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,320
Speaker 1: good ball in player movement in the half court, excellent

811
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:21,920
Speaker 1: advantage creation from Shae Gills, Alexander and aj Mitchell, and

812
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:24,360
Speaker 1: then chet Holmgren's offensive leap has been a sight to behold.

813
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:28,200
Speaker 1: He's averaging nineteen points per game on seventy percent true

814
00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:32,280
Speaker 1: shooting this year, excellent three point shooting, quick little matchup

815
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:34,359
Speaker 1: hunting in the mid to short range with little bits

816
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:37,520
Speaker 1: of shot making and step throughs awesome work out of

817
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:40,319
Speaker 1: the dunker spot where he seemingly dunks everything. Just an

818
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,239
Speaker 1: awesome offensive start from Chet Holmgren. They've looked like the

819
00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:46,560
Speaker 1: best team in basketball to start the season. All right, guys,

820
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:48,600
Speaker 1: It's all I have for today is always sincerely appreciate

821
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:50,719
Speaker 1: you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We'll

822
00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:53,680
Speaker 1: be back tomorrow morning with some game reaction. I'll see

823
00:40:53,680 --> 00:41:00,320
Speaker 1: you guys then. Z