WEBVTT - Western Conference Restart: Everything You Need To Know 0:00:01.360 --> 0:00:06.200 The NBA is back finally after four months off, the 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:10.000 league we all love so much is ready to restart 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:14.280 in Orlando this week. Couldn't be more excited to be 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:18.640 talking about actual basketball on this podcast. Also very excited 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:21.680 to let y'all know that The Athletic is now offering 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.000 forty percent off an annual subscription if you go to 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:29.000 the Athletic dot Com slash No Dunks. Great way to 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:31.880 support the Athletic, Great way to support No Dunks, because 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:34.919 you're gonna be getting exclusive, in depth coverage of the 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:39.880 NBA's unprecedented bubble restart. 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So go to the athletic 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.120 dot com slash no dunks for forty percent off an 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:24.240 annual subscription. 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:38.720 October twenty second, It's Opening Night and the marquee game 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:40.679 on the schedule is Ring Night. 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.840 For the defending world champion Giro Rectors. 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:48.480 The Battle for Los Angeles. The first time anyone gets 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:52.040 to see Anthony Davis alongside Lebron James and Lakers goal. 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.160 The first time Kawhi Leonard will wear a Clippers jersey, 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:59.280 the first time Lakers versus Clippers might actually be the 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.400 two best teams in the league. Squaring off, the Clippers 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.240 win one twenty two, one to twelve. Kawhi leads all 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.680 scores with thirty in his LA debut, while Anthony Davis 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.480 goes for twenty five, nine and five in the loss. 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:14.480 Paul George is still on the shelf after getting what 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.359 he calls new shoulders. But this is the kind of 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.480 victory people were expecting to see, as defense and depth 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.800 leads the Clips to a victory in their technical home opener, 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:26.960 the two teams would go their separate ways for a while. 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.160 For the first time in a decade, Lebron. James had 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:37.239 a long rest after playing in the finals from twenty 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:41.080 eleven to twenty eighteen, and injured groin halted Lebron's eighteen 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.960 nineteen season early, and for once he actually got to chill. 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:46.640 It paid off right away. 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.880 Stinging from that opening night loss to the Clippers, the 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.000 Lakers went on a tear, with Lebron looking like the 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:55.519 best player in the world again and leading the league 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.720 and assists at thirty five years old. The Lake Show 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:00.679 would go on to win twenty five four of their 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:05.120 next twenty six games. Lebron relished the challenges, like in 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.360 a Game of the Year candidate against the MAVs and 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:11.480 Luka Doncic thirty nine, twelve and sixteen for Lebron, thirty one, 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:15.440 thirteen and fifteen for Doncic, As Justin Kubatko tweeted, Luca 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.399 became the youngest player in NBA history with thirty ten 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:20.600 and fifteen of the game and Lebron became the oldest 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.880 player in the same game. That was incredible just seeing 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:26.840 them after the game, the way that Lebron was like, man, 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.360 it's awesome, how much you like me and how good 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.560 you are. Yeah, that was a special moment that was 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:34.480 cool to see how long Davis was brilliant as expected 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.800 next to Lebron, easily piling up points and rebounds while 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.920 generating dpoy buzz as La built a fearsome defense on 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:44.720 the strength of ad new edition Danny Green and a 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:48.360 resurgent Dwight Howard, tied with the Bucks at twenty four 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.560 and three for best in the league. The Lakers finally 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.600 faltered at the end of December, first the perhaps understandable 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:59.480 loss in Indiana just days before a marquee matchup with Milwaukee. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.600 Then the Bucks wouldn't fall, and Giannis kinged himself. 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.080 Giannis putting on the crown. He hits a shot, he 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:09.720 goes back the other way and puts on the per 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.200 ten crown nine minutes left in the fourth. I think 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:13.240 he's saying, it's my turn. 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:14.600 That's exactly what he's saying. 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:17.200 I wear this now, he's saying as he is putting 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:21.240 it on. Lebron sat a couple of nights later against 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.680 the Nuggets, and the Lakers lost their third straight, tallying 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:26.919 as many losses in a week as they had in 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.800 the season's first two and a half months. A Christmas 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:32.200 Day matchup with the Clippers was next on the schedule. 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:37.480 The Lakers had Lebron, but the Clippers had Kawhi except 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.680 well when they didn't have them, just like he did 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:46.480 during his sixty game championship season for the Raptors. Comer, Okay, 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:48.400 come out, We're not going to do this again, all right, 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.520 I'm just saying what happened. Kawhi Leonard played for the Raptors, 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:56.000 he sat out games for load management, and he continued 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:56.520 to do so. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.560 For the Clippers, at least until the league told them 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:01.520 to hide others Kwi Leonard. 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:04.599 He sat out that loss last night, missing the front 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:06.680 end of a back to back set as part of 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:11.920 load management. Many derided the Clipper's decision to sit Kawhi 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.760 against the Honest with the poll quote of the day, 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:17.839 it's probably coming from Doris Burke, who said, why not 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:19.839 playing to me is ridiculous. 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:21.560 The memo said quote. 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:25.120 Load management is not an injury or an appropriate description 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.120 of an injury under the injury reporting procedures. 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:29.479 Yeah. 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:33.000 Yeah, So like what the reason you're resting is? Is 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:35.599 it because of your legs? Is it because you're just 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:36.640 got it? 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:37.719 Your eyelids are heavy? 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:43.080 Injured eyelids yeah. 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:42.039 This is the thing. 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.719 It's basically saying, be good about lying or be honest. 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:45.560 I don't know which it is. 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:47.560 Be honest about lying, Yeah, sure. 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:48.600 It's important to be good at lying. 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:53.360 Since the reprimand, Kawhi has continued to rest when he 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.520 and the team decides if necessary, just like before one 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.920 game he didn't skip. However, was that return to Toronto? 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.640 What a video though, What a tribute video there from 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.440 the Raptors. I thought that was perfect. 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:12.559 Bomer, you just homered yourself. That's really weird, that's true. 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:17.520 Paul George and his brand new shoulders returned midway through November. 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.720 Ironically enough, in a game Kawhi was resting. PG immediately 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.680 returned to a high level, splashing threes and fitting perfectly 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.359 next to Kawaii when they both took the court. But 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.760 as the winds piled up, the drama continued, and this time, 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.880 rather than loads being managed, it was into family relations. 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:40.400 Doc Rivers is at mid court right now, Tony. 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:47.600 Brothers look at the sunseting call him for a tea tea. 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:49.440 Uh my dad, he's on the other team in there. 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:51.640 Its Doc's son. 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.479 Begging for his dad to get a technical. And now 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:56.360 waving for him. 0:06:58.120 --> 0:06:59.440 Past have just looked at us. 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.320 He's I get a listens to the Bulls and the 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.120 Suns confused, just as much as wins against the Celtics 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:08.640 and Rockets reassured the Clippers were obviously good. They just 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:11.640 didn't have the pedal to the medal. Christmas Day against 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:13.680 the Lakers was a chance to prove what they are. 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:19.800 December twenty fifth, the Lakers are down three, They're twenty 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:23.640 seconds left and the ball is in Lebron's hands. He's 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.320 struggling tonight, but he hit a couple threes earlier in 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.440 the fourth. And come on, it's Lebron James. Of course, 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:32.200 he has the ball in his hands. He's guarded by 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.240 Kawhi to start. Then after a screen it's Montres Harrel. 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:39.680 Then after another screen it's Patrick Beverly. Yeah, these Clippers 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.200 are deep. The ball banks to the corner. Then back 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.360 to Lebron on the right wing, with Beverly all up 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:47.160 in his shorts. Now there's eight seconds left on the clock. 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.920 Lebron jabs dribbles once steps back to his right, rising 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.280 for three over the much shorter Beverly. 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.679 Knocked out of his hands to flickt it out of bounds. 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.760 Patrick Beverlely bought a spectacular defensive. 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.440 Player strips it clean, so clean the refs go to 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.040 replay and see that not only did he block lebron 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:08.280 shot on the way up, it also hit bronze hands 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:11.920 on the way out of bounds. After an interminable amount 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:13.920 of time at the scorers table and a whole bunch 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:15.760 of that would be the Lakers ball if we were 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:19.360 playing pick up, the Clippers got the ball back. Day 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.480 won one hundred and eleven to one oh six. It's 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:25.680 two oh Clippers. They're scheduled to play again in a month. 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:32.280 Having proven themselves with their Christmas Day victory, the Clips 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:36.200 take it easy. The winds still come, but they're often uninspiring. 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:38.720 In an odd stretch, they give up one hundred and 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.480 forty and a loss to the Grizzlies, then barely beat 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:42.600 the Nixon Warriors. 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:43.640 A couple weeks later. 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.679 A surprise loss to the Lowly Hawks leads to our 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:50.720 first real drama from either of the Hollywood squads. Montres 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.400 Harral his quotes after losing to the Grizzlies. We're not good, 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:55.840 he said, We're not a great team. We're not a 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.120 great team. I think it's that we need to realize 0:08:58.160 --> 0:08:59.760 and wake up. We're a team that has to figure 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.680 things out to win night in and night out. Somebody 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.040 else ath him, what's the vibe like in the Clippers' 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.600 locker room after this Grizzlies loss? He says, I don't know. 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:10.880 That might be another problem right there. Doc Rivers says 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.920 that he doesn't think the Clippers have an identity the Clippers. 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:15.640 They like to lay an agger to the Clippers. 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:17.240 They can lose as many games as they want to 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:18.880 bad teams and nobody cares. 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:19.880 That's fine. 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:22.000 Look, you beat the Lakers twice and it's okay to 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:23.360 drop a stinker here and there. 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:24.400 We'll let it slide. 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.800 But just like after Opening Night, the loss ignites the Lakers. 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.920 They immediately peel off nine straight wins. Kyle Kuzma dies 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.280 his hair blonde, and Lebron keep playing so well that 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.959 we start wondering how he might do under different circumstances. 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:42.320 At Troy likes stuff. He tweeted in he wanted to 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:45.960 dig a little deeper into the hole. Lebron versus a 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:49.920 horse at the Olympics thing. Lebron and a horse if 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:52.559 they were competing in the Olympics. How that might shake out? 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:57.079 He hit us with a great thread, scoring who would 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:02.200 win each particular Olympic event between the two? Okay, aquatics, 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:04.640 horses per Google. 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.000 They can barely swim. What I always thought a horse 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.480 was good in water? I really did, so did everybody. 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:13.520 Horses like to have their hooves on the ground, That's 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:14.160 what they say. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:19.880 So Lebron won horse zero archery hooves, No good here, 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:24.800 Lebron two horse zero athletics. Finally we get to run 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:28.760 and run fast. Lebron two horse one. Yeah, horse wins 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:34.600 that one. Badminton hooves Lebron three horse one. Baseball slash 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.880 softball technically a team sport which cannot be played solo, 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:41.280 so both forfeit that one. Okay, basketball Lebron's day job. 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:42.600 Lebron four horse one. 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:45.000 Yeah, but horses a whole game. 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.439 Yeah, okay, we might have to think about this. Okay, boxing, 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.240 imagine a Lebron and a horse boxing. 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.200 He scores it Lebron five horse one. 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:59.120 This is gonna sound crazy. A horse could take unlimited 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.200 punches to the face from Drona and all a horse 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:07.480 needs is one rear up, boxing gloves on front hoofs 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:09.760 and one strike, Lebron is not going to be able 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:10.559 to hang with a horse. 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:19.880 On January twenty sixth, tragedy strikes. 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:20.920 Well, we have our emergency podcast. 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:25.199 It's for the worst possible reason. This late Sunday night. 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.120 We just got into the now Dunks studio here. 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:28.040 I'm sure all you know. 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:33.400 Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash today with its 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:36.160 thirteen year old daughter Gianna. Also killed nine people in 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:46.040 total in the helicopter. With the league in morning, the 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.679 January twenty eighth matchup between the Lakers and Clippers is postponed. 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:51.440 It's rescheduled for April. 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:55.800 All around the Association, teams take eight and twenty four 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.480 second violations to honor Kobe Dreon. 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.680 Number eight gonna hold it for eight seconds, and there 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.920 is an eight second violation for a turnover. The fans 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:11.320 here now chanting for Kobe and the Wizards. They're gonna 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:15.480 hold this for twenty four seconds. Number eight and number twenty. 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:23.480 Four here in Atlanta, and this has been happening all 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:29.240 around the league. Every team's first possession taking a twenty 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:36.280 four second shot clock violation as an homage to Kobe Bryant. 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:37.560 Number twenty four. 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:52.080 When the team returns to Staples Center in late January, 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.600 Lebron gives a stirring speech in tribute to the fallen legend. 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.760 Non At some point we will have a memorial forkbe 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.840 but I look at this, I'll look at this as 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:09.240 a celebration of night. This is a celebration of the 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:14.600 twenty years of the blood, the sweat, the tears, the 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:17.520 broken down body that getting up to send down to 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:21.800 everything in the countless hours, the determination to be as 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:22.840 great as. 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:23.200 He could be. 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:27.679 Tonight we celebrate the kid that came here at eighteen 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:37.280 years of age, retired at thirty age, and became probably 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.839 the past that that we've seen over the past three years. 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:48.840 Man the MEBA announces that all players will wear Kobe's 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:51.480 number twenty four or Gianna's number two in the All 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.640 Star Game. The game will feature a Kobe inspired twenty 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:58.000 four point added target score, and the All Star MVP 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:02.880 Trophy will be renamed in Mamba's honor. Later in February, 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.120 Michael Jordan speaks at the Lakers tribute. 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:10.480 Maybe it surprives people that Kobe and I were very 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:17.199 close friends, But we were very close friends. Kobe's was 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:22.480 my dear friend. He was like a little brother. Everyone 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:30.240 always wanted to talk about the comparisons between he and I. 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:37.320 I just wanted to talk about Kobe. You know, all 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:41.520 of us have brothers and sisters, little brothers, little sisters who, 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.840 for whatever reason, I always tend to get in your stuff, 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:54.880 your closet, your shoes, everything. It was a nuisance, if 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:59.000 I can say that word. But that nuisance turn into love. 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:19.520 It's not just on the court that the Lakers and 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.640 Clippers are competing. Every ring chasing vet is rumored to 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:26.080 go to the Clippers or the Lakers. Both teams tried 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:28.920 to bring Darren Colson out of retirement. Both teams make 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.680 trade offers for the same players, with the Clippers finally 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.800 landing the trade deadline's biggest fish, Mark Keith Morris. 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:39.280 No, no, no, the Lakers got Markith Morris on the 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:44.760 buyout market. The Clippers traded for Marcus Morris. Are you sure, no, 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:45.400 not at all. 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.160 Nevertheless, both teams add a Morris and keep bringing people in. 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:52.320 Reggie Jackson and Joe kim Noah for the Clips, Dion 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.960 Waiters for the Lakers. With a March eight matchup looming, 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.600 the Lakers played some of their best basketball of the season. 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.400 Lebron scores forty and each Red vines on the bench 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:04.880 during his first game versus Zion Williamson. LA smashes a 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:07.800 style of sixers squad, then avenges a loss against the 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.600 Bucks in a game between each conference's number one seed. 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.160 The Clippers head into the game riding a six game 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:14.200 win streak of their. 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:18.320 Own March eighth. Here it is. It was a playoff 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:22.160 atmosphere from the tip, and the Hollywood Stars didn't disappoint 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:26.040 in Miss Twizzler. Thirty for ad and twenty eight for Lebron, 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.120 thirty one for Paul George and twenty seven for Kawhi 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.400 sterling performances from the leading men, but it was Avery 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.520 Bradley who was cast as the hero. His twenty four 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.760 points were a season high, and so were his six threes, 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:41.720 four of which came during a massive third quarter for 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:44.840 the Purple and Gold. Lakers went one to twelve, one 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:49.400 to oh three. Just like that, the Lakers become title favorites. 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:53.280 What yep, They just beat the Bucks and Clippers in 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.680 consecutive games, doing it pretty convincingly. 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:58.520 The Bucks had the best record in the league the 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:02.120 entire year. They beat the Lakers earlier this season, Jannie 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:06.520 snatched Lebron's crown right, and the Clippers beat the Lakers twice. 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:10.200 Too true, but at least the Lakers haven't been caught 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:11.399 at Magic City. 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.320 No, they've just got an anti vaxxer on the squad. 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:16.720 Okay, so co favorites. 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:21.320 Meanwhile, in no dunks January thirty. 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:25.359 First, what's your uh, what's your favorite snack at a 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:26.080 Super Bowl party? 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:26.520 Mm? 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:29.359 I like something healthy? 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:33.199 Oh my god, I like uh uncooked carrots and uh 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.520 oh my red pep and red pepper. 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:37.360 We walk them all. 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:43.840 I've never heard someone called them uncooked parents, but not 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:44.760 baby carrots. 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:53.600 Feeling itself all sides, fel carrots, organic, uncooked. Don't use 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:57.080 it as an excuse to just gorge yourself on all 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.280 sorts of junk. Have a little bit of junk, not 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:00.200 all die with. 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:02.679 Balance it out a little bit. 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:09.359 James Harden, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook have weaved a 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:13.400 tangled web across the Western Conference. Harden and Westbrook knew 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.439 each other decades ago, then were teammates on the Thunder, 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:20.760 Then they weren't. Westbrook won an MVP with Harden finishing second. 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.240 In the vote. The next year, Harden won the MVP. 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:26.240 All three guys played on the same All Star team. 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:30.760 Four times. Harden has bounced Westbrook from the playoffs. Westbrook 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:33.760 has bounced Hardened from the playoffs. They've both bounced CP 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:37.479 three from the playoffs. And eventually he became teammates with Harden, 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.879 and then they weren't, because now Westbrook is teammates with 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:44.320 Harden again, this time in Houston, after being traded for 0:18:44.560 --> 0:19:02.760 wait for it, Chris Paul. The circle is complete is the. 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:06.400 If you've hurt a good Space Shuttle failure to launch joke. 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.600 Now is the time, Houston we have a problem. Because 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:13.200 the beginning of this season was a problem for Houston. 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:16.600 With the China controversy hanging over their heads and the 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.160 team figuring out how to swap one all start guard 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.120 for another, it was a disjointed start for the Rockets. 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.960 The early frustration was never more evident than when James 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:30.280 Harden smashed a ball into his own face. This guy 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:33.080 is a master with the basketball, and he was unaware 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.199 of simple physics that you just when you when you 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:38.320 slam a ball, it's gonna come back up. And maybe 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:40.320 I think he mistakenly put a little bit of English 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:42.280 on the ball because he kind of bounced in slightly 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:43.639 in front of him and came back and hit him 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:45.720 right in the face. But I mean, this is again 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:47.600 the guy can do everything with the ball, everything with 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:50.840 his feet, and somehow, some way he hit his face 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:53.199 with a ball. I was astonished when I saw it, 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:55.240 and so was Josh Hart, who was playing for the 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:57.080 Pelicans at the time, because he was right there and 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:59.679 saw it happen. And the great Josh Hart reaction. If 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:03.480 you have seeing that that video, that gift hilarious. Slam 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:05.240 a ball hit yourself in the face unless you're four 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.760 years old. And this is one of the best basketball 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:10.480 players in the World Cup. When Eric Gordon suffered a 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:13.040 knee injury, questions had to be asked. 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:17.440 Records very respectable for the Rockets seven to three, but 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.800 with the aeric Gordon injury, some sluggish performances. Is anyone 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:24.520 ready to hit the panic button on the Houston Rocket season, 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:28.639 especially when you consider their expectations. Anybody reaching for that 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:29.879 big old red button. 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:32.000 I'm gonna hit a mild panic button, oh a little, 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:33.040 just a little tipped up. 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:39.640 But soon after Harding caught fire, forty seven, forty four, 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:43.119 and forty nine and three straight games, a few pedestrian 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:47.720 thirty point outings, then sixty, followed by fifty a week later, 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:50.960 fifty five and fifty four in consecutive games. How do 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:52.160 you like that? Lee Ellis? 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:53.639 How do you like that? Lee Ellis? 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:57.600 Pretty quickly the question it wasn't about whether or not 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.600 to panic, It was whether or not hard and averaged 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:04.119 forty For a season, the points were accumulating so fast 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:06.439 that sometimes it was hard to keep up, not just 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:08.280 for fans but even for the rests. 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:12.680 We're inside eight minutes to go hard and the. 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.000 Steel and then. 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:23.280 That was really you know, they're couldn't miss it. The 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:24.600 ball was clearly good. 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:27.919 I mean I thought we picked up completely wrong. 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:29.200 It's two points. 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:35.080 Despite their pre existing relationship, fitting Westbrook next to Harden 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.119 still took time. The very idea of a career thirty 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:40.760 three point shooter playing off the ball in a three 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:44.320 point heavy system just didn't make sense, and when Westbrook 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:46.840 came out of the gate shooting twenty three percent from 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.119 deep during the season's first three months, the pairing seemed 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:53.920 even more suspect. But with hardened lighting, the league on 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:57.480 fire and Westbrook struggling from deep, opponents got bold with 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:00.840 their game plans, often doubling the Beard as crossed half court. 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:04.640 And that's when it clicked, as Westbrook feasted on four 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:07.359 on threes, taking advantage of the kind of open lanes 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:10.560 he'd never seen playing with the Thunder, especially when all 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:11.440 the tall guys. 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:14.480 Weren't in So what if the tall guys were never in? 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:18.680 Aha? On January thirty first, Clint Capella sat with a 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.879 heel injury, so Mike D'Antoni decided to roll with all smallies, 0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:26.560 moving Daniel House into the starting lineup and beating the 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:30.480 Mavericks while playing No. One over six foot six. The 0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:35.159 team never looked back, winning their first four games playing tiny. 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:40.240 With Westbrook unlocked, Capella became expendable and was soon shipped 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:43.320 to Atlanta in a three team deal that landed Houston 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:48.840 Robert Covington. The Rockets had officially embraced ultra small ball. 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:51.639 All they needed now was a nickname. 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:54.679 But my winner is the Houston Rockets because they are 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:58.200 all in on small, in all in on small, and 0:22:58.320 --> 0:22:59.720 they're ball and small, and they. 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:01.680 Were calling micro ball on the ding today. 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:03.359