Speaker 1: Kay's have a chance to take the lead. Here Wings
Speaker 1: with five fouls. Mok drives on of my.
Speaker 2: Tames scars you want a basket?
Speaker 1: Mom gives the Kings the lead. Welcome into NBA Pulse,
Speaker 1: the production of iHeartRadio in the NBA. I'm Saraphostock, NBA
Speaker 1: analyst for the Yes Network, and today is Wednesday, November
Speaker 1: twenty ninth. From our extraordinary core group of NBA journalists.
Speaker 1: Were joined now by NBA dot Com Senior writer Steve
Speaker 1: Asperner and ask it is great to see you on
Speaker 1: this Wednesday morning because Tuesday night was a fun one,
Speaker 1: the final evening of group play, and it got a
Speaker 1: little wild. I don't know if you were connecting the
Speaker 1: dots for all the numbers of teams, the wins, the
Speaker 1: point differentials, you name it. But eight teams have now
Speaker 1: advanced and I want to start with you with the
Speaker 1: There's a lot of games going on, as I mentioned,
Speaker 1: but one of the ones that was most exciting was
Speaker 1: the Sacramento Kids Golden State Warriors. The Warriors seem to
Speaker 1: have commanded this one for a good portion of the game,
Speaker 1: knew that they needed to win by a certain amount
Speaker 1: in order for them to advance, and the Sacramento Kings
Speaker 1: end up pulling it out one twenty four to one
Speaker 1: twenty three. A thriller as Malik Monk hits a game winner.
Speaker 1: He finished with twenty one points. Steph Curry a chance
Speaker 1: that the buzzer didn't get it to go. Steph had
Speaker 1: twenty nine, ten and six stars. What a basket. Malik
Speaker 1: Monk gives the Kings the lead, Clop ticks, Hurry with
Speaker 1: the ball. That's it. That's it. The Kings win. Andrew
Speaker 1: Wiggins twenty nine and ten, Clay twenty and nine. A
Speaker 1: big game for de Aaron Fox with twenty nine points,
Speaker 1: nine rebounds, seven assists. But take me in to those
Speaker 1: final minutes, those final moments, what you were thinking where
Speaker 1: it felt almost like a playoff game here at the
Speaker 1: end of November.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, if you just go by
Speaker 2: sort of that particular point in that particular game, the
Speaker 2: nd season Tournament, you know, has accomplished what it set
Speaker 2: out to do. It heightened the intensity I think in
Speaker 2: the arena, on the floor, and even for those of
Speaker 2: us who were watching from afar. You know the fact
Speaker 2: that Golden State they were calculating how many points they
Speaker 2: needed to win by in order to get into the quarterfinals,
Speaker 2: and not only did they lose a twenty four point lead,
Speaker 2: they lost the game outright. So you know, the whole
Speaker 2: point differential thing is controversial as it's been. You know,
Speaker 2: added an element to that. They knew because of Minnesota
Speaker 2: against Oklahoma City that they had to win by twelve
Speaker 2: or more. And you know, you know, I hesitate to
Speaker 2: say it's sort of like covering the spread, but this
Speaker 2: is sort of this is a non wagering, sort of
Speaker 2: an honest spread. And yet they couldn't do it. I mean,
Speaker 2: Golden State had done welligan Sacramento in previous meetings of season,
Speaker 2: so you know, they added there was that element too
Speaker 2: that Sacramento wanted to get over the hump, you know,
Speaker 2: just for general eighty two game regular season purposes. But
Speaker 2: I think it added a lot. And and you know,
Speaker 2: if the quarterfinals now onward to the Vegas games, you know,
Speaker 2: can can also dial things up a little bit. You know,
Speaker 2: I think we have to give the NBA some credit.
Speaker 2: I was a skeptic on the whole thing. I thought
Speaker 2: it would be confusing at best and sort of lay
Speaker 2: there and be kind of flat in general. But I
Speaker 2: do think that because of the competition. Never mind the
Speaker 2: uniforms of the floors, you know, those were just sort
Speaker 2: of markers to remind us that, oh, yeah, this is
Speaker 2: a different kind of game. He could have just had
Speaker 2: a big ass risk on the TV screen, you know,
Speaker 2: with every telecast. But I think it did seep in
Speaker 2: and teams actively pursued a final round of eight berth
Speaker 2: in the n season tournament and that had never happened
Speaker 2: before in the NBA. And we'll see whether it builds
Speaker 2: as the years go on. I'm sure they're going to
Speaker 2: give it several years of trial run before they would
Speaker 2: ever consider pulling the plug and going back to just
Speaker 2: straight November and December games.
Speaker 1: Look, you said it all, and I'll double down as well.
Speaker 1: I'll give it credit the fact that this was the
Speaker 1: first year, and I think that there was this much enthusiasm, interest, excitement, anticipation,
Speaker 1: and even the confusion. I think that's a part of
Speaker 1: it anytime there's something new. I think, you know, the
Speaker 1: interest that fully understanding adds an element of needing to
Speaker 1: learn and having interest in people talking about it and
Speaker 1: questions about it. You mentioned, you know, the courts and
Speaker 1: the distinguishing factor that comes with that, given the fact
Speaker 1: that you're you're still looking at you know, a different
Speaker 1: lay and we're talking about competition all that there's prize
Speaker 1: money involved these teams. Now is you go further on,
Speaker 1: are eating for something? I don't care what you say.
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people say, oh, players make
Speaker 1: so much money. Anyway, money is money, money matters. I've
Speaker 1: heard guys in our locker room and players talk about
Speaker 1: what would you buy if we had that that's that's
Speaker 1: enough for this type of car. And you know, for
Speaker 1: some of the players who are on minimum contracts or
Speaker 1: rookie deals, that type of stuff matters. But I think
Speaker 1: overall it was fun to watch and I think fun
Speaker 1: to have that that type of intrigue. You know, as
Speaker 1: you had mentioned the end of November, what I do
Speaker 1: think is there was a lot of dialogue and discussion
Speaker 1: in terms of the understanding about the tiebreaker component and
Speaker 1: the point differential with that. Considering the fact that that
Speaker 1: all teams played four games, there was a lot of
Speaker 1: those three and one records, the wild card aspect of it,
Speaker 1: and who needed to be to and buy how much
Speaker 1: to advance. What did you think of ava part of
Speaker 1: it and component of it with the tiebreakerarner. Is there
Speaker 1: anything you would look forward to? You know, now year
Speaker 1: one not yet thoroughly gone, we would not get gone
Speaker 1: through the whole actual n season tournament. But with the
Speaker 1: group play, is there any tweaks or changes at this
Speaker 1: point that you would suggest to the league about making.
Speaker 2: Well In terms of suggestions, I mean, you know, you're
Speaker 2: stuck with a very limited run up to the quarterfinals,
Speaker 2: the knockout round, I mean four games, so you're going
Speaker 2: and you need a vast network of tiebreakers in essence,
Speaker 2: because once you get past head to head who won
Speaker 2: within the group, you know, it could be a three
Speaker 2: way tie where that cancels itself out within the group,
Speaker 2: it could be across the groups in the conference. I mean,
Speaker 2: I saw something on before the TNT games last night
Speaker 2: that said, if certain seven outcomes happened or something like
Speaker 2: that yesterday or certain now, you would have had a
Speaker 2: seven way tie or something, you know, for you know
Speaker 2: that we would have had to go to a point
Speaker 2: differential point differential. Yeah, you know, it's controversial because that's
Speaker 2: not how NBA teams and professional athletes are expected to play.
Speaker 2: Generally speaking, there's a professional respect where you don't run
Speaker 2: up a score when a game is already in hand.
Speaker 2: But everybody had the same situation to deal with, same rules.
Speaker 2: They knew why it was happening. It wasn't some out
Speaker 2: of control rookie, you know, looking to get an extra
Speaker 2: couple of points on the stats line. It wasn't somebody
Speaker 2: trying to you know, do something in someone else's face
Speaker 2: for a personal grudge. It was, hey, we're going to
Speaker 2: need this. I mean, you know, Phoenix needed a certain
Speaker 2: number of points. Uh, they won by by point differential
Speaker 2: over Minnesota. There were there were five teams that went
Speaker 2: three and one in the Eastern Conference. Two of them
Speaker 2: got in, three of them did not. You have to
Speaker 2: take care of business. So the whole point differential thing,
Speaker 2: you know, I get it. If it's January, February, March,
Speaker 2: when the in season tournament is over, we can go
Speaker 2: back to the professional decorum. But if point differential is
Speaker 2: going to be there, then teams are obliged, frankly and
Speaker 2: certainly motivated to you know, to go after that. And
Speaker 2: I don't blame anybody. I think people that got upset
Speaker 2: about that. I mean you could say, well, I'm a
Speaker 2: traditionalist and I don't like that. That's fine, But if
Speaker 2: anybody thought that was disrespectful, I mean let it go.
Speaker 2: An in season tournament in a sense is disrespectful to traditionalists.
Speaker 2: But times change, things change. I think the league going
Speaker 2: in had earned benefit of the doubt by how well
Speaker 2: the playing tournament seems to have gone over and has
Speaker 2: gained popularity and works well. And you know, we'll see
Speaker 2: in time. It's still early with this. This is the
Speaker 2: first run. We're not even through it, but you know
Speaker 2: that's one. Now. You talked about the money. The winners
Speaker 2: of this whole thing make a half a million dollars apiece.
Speaker 2: Tremendous incentive, obviously certain for guys down the bench and
Speaker 2: on two way deals and everything like that. Should there
Speaker 2: be something else? Should there be a guaranteed playoff berth?
Speaker 2: Should there be you know, the MVP of the nd
Speaker 2: season tournament, should he automatically be assured of an All
Speaker 2: Star selection? You know, there's things like that that they
Speaker 2: can probably consider. I'm not sure how it would work out.
Speaker 2: Most likely, anybody who's the MVP of this tournament is
Speaker 2: going to be a pretty good shape to be an
Speaker 2: All Star anyway, you'll have this as a credit along
Speaker 2: with whatever he's done through through you know, the end
Speaker 2: of January, so you know that, Yeah, you change things up.
Speaker 2: I happen to think that they could benefit from changing
Speaker 2: the floors and taking some of the paint off, but
Speaker 2: nobody listens to me, even at home, so I'm not
Speaker 2: going to expect much there.
Speaker 1: I don't know ask. I think those are all tremendous ideas.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate the thought going into that, and I
Speaker 1: do I'm with you. I think in terms of the
Speaker 1: point differential we even saw. There was a funny I
Speaker 1: found entertaining moment between Joe Missoula and Billy Donovan explaining
Speaker 1: to Billy why when the Celtics were up thirty two
Speaker 1: on the Bulls last night in the fourth quarter they
Speaker 1: were going to a hacka druma to try and extend
Speaker 1: that lead. I think, to me, it's less about the
Speaker 1: professional decorum and just the respect for the game, and
Speaker 1: especially on the last night and the final games, because
Speaker 1: I think there's a level of understanding. But I feel
Speaker 1: like it's tough throughout the course of those first three games,
Speaker 1: the early part of the season, when you don't know
Speaker 1: where things are shaking out, if you're leaving in your
Speaker 1: decisions for a coach to make, Hey, am I leaving
Speaker 1: in my starters in the beginning of November in a
Speaker 1: game where already up by fifteen? You know, I think
Speaker 1: there's some give and take to that of how that
Speaker 1: actually affects the approach and the longevity of a season,
Speaker 1: and how you're playing players, and how you're playing a
Speaker 1: lot of your key players. So that's the only aspect I.
Speaker 2: Would say, Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1: I think eventually guys will will understand that, figure that
Speaker 1: out and have a better feel for that. But that's
Speaker 1: my one one thought in terms of the point differential. Also,
Speaker 1: the final day there were eight games, so sixteen the
Speaker 1: teams were playing. But we saw that, you know, whether
Speaker 1: it was the Kings and Warriors game, whether it was
Speaker 1: the Boston game, these teams that played last night had
Speaker 1: a little bit of advantage of those that had played
Speaker 1: on Monday nights because they knew exactly what they needed
Speaker 1: to do, the point differential they needed to get to.
Speaker 1: So I would be curious if there was a way
Speaker 1: to have all the teams play, you know, can you
Speaker 1: have all the teams play on the final day.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, to build on what you said, I mean,
Speaker 2: I guess one of the fear is, of course, going
Speaker 2: forward in this tournament, is we get to game eighty three,
Speaker 2: which is an additional game never been played, never been
Speaker 2: in eighty three, and somebody suffers a horrible injury in
Speaker 2: a game that they otherwise would not have played. You know,
Speaker 2: it's one of those sliding doors things where oh they
Speaker 2: changed this and that led to that effect when the
Speaker 2: dominoes all fell. You know, you hope something like that
Speaker 2: doesn't happen. That would be regrettable and it would certainly
Speaker 2: be mentioned, you know, next year as the n season
Speaker 2: tournament revved up again.
Speaker 1: Speaking of red up, we are gonna get rebbed up
Speaker 1: for the in season tournament to actually take place, and
Speaker 1: take a look at what these matchups will look like,
Speaker 1: beginning with the quarterfinals right after the brain Welcome Back
Speaker 1: to mby Paul Sarahustak joined by the great Steve Ashburner
Speaker 1: and asked, we had a good slate here of quarterfinal
Speaker 1: games the teams that advanced in shrinking storylines. In the East,
Speaker 1: you have the number one seeded Milwaukee Bucks playing the
Speaker 1: four seed and the New York Knicks. Two and three
Speaker 1: is the Pacers and the Celtics. On the west side
Speaker 1: of things, you got Lebron James and the Lakers playing
Speaker 1: Devin book at Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns, and
Speaker 1: then the Sacramento Kings. As we talked about with that advancement,
Speaker 1: we'll take on the New Orleans Pelicans thanks to a
Speaker 1: Dallas win against Houston last night. The Pels are in
Speaker 1: so Zion, will will be playing And you look at
Speaker 1: these matchups and I'm curious which ones stand out most
Speaker 1: to you, because I think you've got a mix of
Speaker 1: some young and up and coming teams, some that have
Speaker 1: maybe surprised this season. Others you got a lot of big,
Speaker 1: big star names and legends of the game that will
Speaker 1: be playing a potential Eastern Conference finals preview of some
Speaker 1: that we may expect. And both the Bucks and the
Speaker 1: Celtics and they both advance, which matchup are you most
Speaker 1: looking for or two? Here in the quarterfinals?
Speaker 2: I would say at this point I would go with
Speaker 2: the Celtics against the Pacers. First off, you know, the
Speaker 2: Celtics are considered favorites in the Eastern Conference. Indiana is
Speaker 2: sort of a long shot playoff contender, and they only
Speaker 2: thrust that notion on us. You know, since the season began,
Speaker 2: nobody imagined that the Pacers would play and score the
Speaker 2: way that they have. I think that they both have,
Speaker 2: you know, sort of different agendas here. I mean, Boston,
Speaker 2: you know, they want no one to get hurt. I'm
Speaker 2: not sure an nd season tournament is going to mean much.
Speaker 2: They want to get back to the finals and win
Speaker 2: a championship. Indiana, this is an opportunity to make some
Speaker 2: bones and you know, sort of expose some of their
Speaker 2: players to you know a little more, a little bigger stage,
Speaker 2: a little bit of glamour that you know, if they
Speaker 2: can get to Las Vegas, that would be you know,
Speaker 2: a highlight if the season the rest of the way
Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily go their way. So I think that one's intriguing.
Speaker 2: New Orleans is sort of in the same boat as
Speaker 2: team that. Hey, you know, we're in the spotlight now
Speaker 2: and let's take this as far as we can. You know,
Speaker 2: the Lakers, Phoenix and Sacramento out west, they sort of
Speaker 2: have bigger ambitions. But I think this will take on
Speaker 2: a life of its own. Lebron has been enthused about
Speaker 2: the in season tournament and a half million dollars per
Speaker 2: man and what that can mean, you know, generally, not
Speaker 2: to him as much, but you know, to the guys
Speaker 2: farther down the bench. But I think Boston Indiana, and
Speaker 2: you know, if Boston beats the Pacers in Indiana, that'll
Speaker 2: be considered a good victory. It will bring them potentially
Speaker 2: into play in Vegas against Milwaukee. It would be a
Speaker 2: redo of the Damian Lillard Drew Holliday matchup that we
Speaker 2: saw last week in Boston that didn't go very well
Speaker 2: for Milwaukee until the final minutes. So you know, I
Speaker 2: think that's one other corp of this quarterfinals schedule, Sarah,
Speaker 2: is that all these teams are to play each other
Speaker 2: four times. Anyway, this will now be a fifth time
Speaker 2: for each of these matchups during the regular season, So
Speaker 2: it won't just be four times that Milwaukee will have
Speaker 2: played Boston by you know, playoff time, It'll be five.
Speaker 2: Same thing with Sons and Lakers and Kings and Pelicans
Speaker 2: and Nix and Bucks. So, you know, to play a
Speaker 2: team five times in one season, you know, that's something
Speaker 2: that hasn't happened since certainly the pre expansion years, and
Speaker 2: you just wonder whether that will increase rivalry by the
Speaker 2: time we get to March in April.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think all of it is, you know,
Speaker 1: as they said, these matches, but give me more of
Speaker 1: the Sons and Lakers. I'm excited to see these two
Speaker 1: teams go at it. And I had mentioned anytime we
Speaker 1: get to see you know, and hopefully they will be
Speaker 1: healthy and playing. But Kevin Durant and Lebron James facing
Speaker 1: off against one another, you know, to me, the Phoenix
Speaker 1: is they've won seventh straight. Devin Book has been absolutely
Speaker 1: just cooking opponents, and the Lakers have had a you know,
Speaker 1: up and down start to the season. They're ten and eight,
Speaker 1: they're sitting in the seventh seed. They just got whacked
Speaker 1: by forty four points at Philadelphia on Monday night, and
Speaker 1: so but they are. They were perfect four and oh
Speaker 1: in these n season tournament games, and obviously there is
Speaker 1: always the highest of upside about what they can look like.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so I'm very I'm very psyched to get
Speaker 1: another chance to watch Phoenix and La this this early
Speaker 1: point of the season, going get one another. So overall,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be interesting. As we said,
Speaker 1: the quarterfinals begin on December fourth, and then the Semis
Speaker 1: will take place December seventh, the finals December ninth. Those
Speaker 1: Semis and finals will be played in Las Vegas, and
Speaker 1: ask you'll be out there, correct, I.
Speaker 2: Will, yep, I'll be there there to to cover all
Speaker 2: these firsts's. It'll be interesting to see you know. It'll
Speaker 2: be different from our usual trips to Vegas in the
Speaker 2: summertime because a the weather and B We're not going
Speaker 2: to be at the Thomas and Mac will be at
Speaker 2: the T Mobile Arena, which is a you know, NBA
Speaker 2: worthy ready for the league to give a NOD building,
Speaker 2: and so that will change things up a little more,
Speaker 2: a little more sizzle, I think than the college campus
Speaker 2: the low key, which is appropriate for summer league games
Speaker 2: that we usually get in Vegas.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, another trophy will be raised in Vegas after
Speaker 1: the Las Vegas Aces have done it the last two
Speaker 1: w NBA seasons. But it's certain to be fun. We
Speaker 1: will be reading watching all of all of your stuff
Speaker 1: in not only next week but as always the upcoming week.
Speaker 1: So we can't wait to see you and look forward
Speaker 1: to talking with you again soon.
Speaker 2: Thank you Sarah.
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