Speaker 1: Edwards can't hit the second pacers haven't changed up ahead,
Speaker 1: Nieman Flock Edwards getting up.
Speaker 2: And good night.
Speaker 3: Welcome into nv Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
Speaker 3: I'm Sarahcusack, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and today
Speaker 3: is Friday, March eighth, and from our extraordinary core group
Speaker 3: of NBA journalists were joined now by NBA dot Com
Speaker 3: Senior writer Steve Ashburner and wooh wee asked, we had
Speaker 3: a good game last night, A couple of good ones.
Speaker 3: Actually a slate for the Thursday night, and we're gonna
Speaker 3: get to the showdown between the Denver Nuggets and the
Speaker 3: Boston Celtics. But let's get back to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Speaker 3: My goodness, Anthony Edwards put on a show. It was
Speaker 3: in light of the news that came out of Karl
Speaker 3: Anthony Towns having torn his meniscus. He will require surgery.
Speaker 3: He'll be reevaluated in a month. I think there is
Speaker 3: hope on certain about the timeline, but that he will inevitably,
Speaker 3: hopefully be able to return for the Minnesota Timberwolves at
Speaker 3: some point during the playoffs. Given where they're at, and
Speaker 3: assume they are still going and advancing. But Anthony Edwards man.
Speaker 3: It was extraordinary to watch as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat
Speaker 3: Indiana at Indiana one thirteen, one eleven, amongst a lot
Speaker 3: of showcasing of what he could do on the offensive
Speaker 3: side with forty four points and six rebounds. He had
Speaker 3: a nasty block ash against aaron Ne Smith, a second
Speaker 3: block of the game that looked like he his armpit
Speaker 3: was at the rim. It's hard to believe a six
Speaker 3: to four player like him could get up that high,
Speaker 3: but it was fun to watch. It was good to
Speaker 3: see thirty six points, Rapids.
Speaker 1: Pull up from deep cash lit Hessy runner off one
Speaker 1: leg got it the drop, forty three for Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 1: Edwards can't hit the second, Pacers have a chance up ahead,
Speaker 1: Niceman block Edwards getting up and good night.
Speaker 3: Just overall four Minnesota the response that they had and
Speaker 3: continue to have as they for the night took sole
Speaker 3: possession of first there in the Western Conference. What did
Speaker 3: you take away from that showing and in particular the
Speaker 3: performance of Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 2: Well, Hi, Sarah, you know the second thing I thought
Speaker 2: of was I know how much you hated it when
Speaker 2: you would hit your head on the bottom of the
Speaker 2: backboard when you would block opponent.
Speaker 3: Shots exactly exactly. It's a terrible ponytail would always be yeah,
Speaker 3: get getting caught caught in the in the nuts.
Speaker 2: The first thing I thought of, though, was I mean,
Speaker 2: that was clearly Anthony Edwards saying, get on my backfellows.
Speaker 2: Know I've got this. Karl Anthony Towns is going to
Speaker 2: be out for a while. They do not want to
Speaker 2: sink in the standings. That would be sort of old
Speaker 2: Timberwolves approach. You know, they want to maintain their their
Speaker 2: lofty perch, certainly a top seed in the West. If
Speaker 2: they can't quite hang on to number one, it's a
Speaker 2: it's a real test of this team's maturity and that
Speaker 2: that's sort of been one of the questions, even when
Speaker 2: things have been going well. It's just like, you know,
Speaker 2: are they are they able to handle the highs? You know,
Speaker 2: they've had to handle lows. One good thing is that
Speaker 2: they had to play quite a lot without Karl Anthony
Speaker 2: Towns last season, so they know how to do that.
Speaker 2: The key is doing it and maintaining your success. And
Speaker 2: and I know last year they got into a thing
Speaker 2: where they tried to play one way when they had
Speaker 2: Cat and Rudy Gobert and then they tried to play
Speaker 2: a different way when uh, you know, Cat was out.
Speaker 2: And you know, I think that the key now is
Speaker 2: to try to maintain and play their style, keep their
Speaker 2: defense up. But that's been their calling card this season.
Speaker 2: You know, you have spectacular offensive play from Cat at
Speaker 2: times and Anthony Edwards on many nights, but they want
Speaker 2: to stay good defensively. Anthony Edwards is spectacular in this game,
Speaker 2: and you know he's he's spectacular in most games in moments.
Speaker 2: Consistency is still you know, there to be had for him.
Speaker 2: And we'll see now if this is an opportunity, if
Speaker 2: he seizes this opportunity to you know, be the leader
Speaker 2: in every which way for this team. You know, he's
Speaker 2: a he's a really solid two way player. He doesn't
Speaker 2: need to lead the defense at Rudy Gobert's job. But
Speaker 2: you know, Anthony Edwards now is uh. I mean, we
Speaker 2: heard it last night, you know, when they talked about
Speaker 2: it on the on the national broadcast that he's he's
Speaker 2: worthy of MVP consideration and he's one of those new
Speaker 2: faces like you know, Shake Gilgs, Alexander and Jason Tatum
Speaker 2: that I think will get a lot of votes, even
Speaker 2: you know Brunton, depending on how the Knicks finish, and
Speaker 2: some new blood in that MVP consideration. So Anthony Edwards
Speaker 2: has the stage right now and we'll see how he finishes.
Speaker 3: Do you think he'll be a future MVP?
Speaker 2: Oh? I think he's got all the skills. I think
Speaker 2: that that team is sort of becoming I hate the term,
Speaker 2: you know, his team, but it really is. He is
Speaker 2: becoming the point guy that on that team. And as
Speaker 2: if he irons out, you know, lapses and knights where
Speaker 2: he doesn't stick to his strengths, you know, there's no
Speaker 2: reason to stop them. Look, you know I mentioned it
Speaker 2: early in early this calendar year. I went there right
Speaker 2: after Christmas and did a couple of stories on them,
Speaker 2: and other people have mentioned it too. I mean, there's
Speaker 2: a there's a look to him, there's a sort of
Speaker 2: a coiled energy to him, and certainly there's raw talent
Speaker 2: to him that is reminiscent of Michael Jordan. Now that's
Speaker 2: a heavy burden to put on anybody. Some guys have
Speaker 2: wanted it and seized it and have fallen short. Anthony
Speaker 2: Edwards doesn't seem particularly interested in it. But his size,
Speaker 2: his leaping ability, just his overall look, he packs potential
Speaker 2: to be a Jordan like player in the course of
Speaker 2: a forty eight minute game. You know, everything that Jordan accomplished,
Speaker 2: beyond that awards, commercial success, everything, you know, that's that's
Speaker 2: a whole different topic. But in terms of Anthony Edwards
Speaker 2: and the way he plays and what he can do
Speaker 2: for that team, you know, I don't want to put
Speaker 2: a ceiling on that.
Speaker 3: And nor should we. And you mentioned that in the disposition,
Speaker 3: just how genuinely himself he always shows up. But you
Speaker 3: see that competitiveness and you certainly saw it last night,
Speaker 3: as you mentioned on both ends of the and how
Speaker 3: he continues to improve his efficiency from the three point
Speaker 3: line last night, you know, being one of those three
Speaker 3: of seven. But that's become more of a consistency of
Speaker 3: his decision making of when he's attacking, using that explosiveness,
Speaker 3: when he's looking to take those perimeter shots. But yeah,
Speaker 3: but it's it's it was a again in light of
Speaker 3: the news of Karl Anthony Towns, Kylie Anderson getting the
Speaker 3: start there, they've got a veteran group, they've got a
Speaker 3: solid backup big who had been playing a lot of
Speaker 3: four but in in nas Red. It's going to be
Speaker 3: interesting to watch how they continue to play and if
Speaker 3: they can maintain whether it's that top spot in the
Speaker 3: Western Conference or maintain they've been bouncing around up there
Speaker 3: between them Oklahoma City and the Denver Nuggets, if they
Speaker 3: can stay in those places as you get set towards
Speaker 3: the postseason, it's looking like like a team that, to
Speaker 3: your point, is Anthony Edwards team speaking of MVPs, speaking
Speaker 3: of the Western Conference and those Denver Nuggets. The showdown
Speaker 3: last night was fun between the Denver Nuggets Boston Celtics.
Speaker 3: The Nuggets end up winning one fifteen, one oh nine
Speaker 3: at home, and I think there's a lot of things
Speaker 3: that you take from that game. Ash, I think, you
Speaker 3: know we're talking about MVP. We were talking about Jason Tatum,
Speaker 3: a player who thinks that he has said at this
Speaker 3: point of the season that he is the best player
Speaker 3: in the league. You should be a part of the
Speaker 3: MVP conversation. But I think there's points that there's questions
Speaker 3: in some of those biggest moments, and last last night
Speaker 3: being one of those for the Celtics. Jalen Brown was
Speaker 3: incredible forty one points, fourteen rebounds. Tatum, though, had an
Speaker 3: off NiFe five to thirteen from the field for just
Speaker 3: fifteen points, especially some opportunities down the stretch. Kristaps porsingis
Speaker 3: with twenty four points and Jokic put together another masterpiece
Speaker 3: triple double thirty two point triple double.
Speaker 1: Portnzega Sa Jokics.
Speaker 4: They clear it out, Jo kis palmag it spins, Yo
Speaker 4: kicks lasing in two point game, Yo kich up with
Speaker 4: spens Jo kisok No he leaves it forcrden.
Speaker 1: What a pass pass?
Speaker 3: When it comes to this Nuggets team, the Celtics team,
Speaker 3: and the things that's still the regular season, the things
Speaker 3: that you start to pick apart as you look at
Speaker 3: these two teams and potentially meeting in the finals. What
Speaker 3: did you take away from that game last night that
Speaker 3: either fortified some of your thoughts in the things that
Speaker 3: you would expect, or gave you more pause and questions
Speaker 3: about where these teams are out at this point of
Speaker 3: the year.
Speaker 2: No, not so much pausing questions after that game. I mean,
Speaker 2: I like the fact that both of them had lost
Speaker 2: their previous games. I think that nobody wanted to lose
Speaker 2: to in a row. That added to the tension and
Speaker 2: the motivation. Not that those teams you know, need much,
Speaker 2: but it was a different mood. I sense. There was
Speaker 2: a seriousness about that game, as there should be when
Speaker 2: you're into March and you've got the top you know,
Speaker 2: two of the top contenders, a potential finals preview. I
Speaker 2: don't have serious concerns frankly about either team. I think
Speaker 2: that they are you know, they're as good as it
Speaker 2: gets in their respective conferences. Whether they finish, you know,
Speaker 2: in the Nuggets case first or not, I don't as
Speaker 2: long as they're a top seed with some home court edge,
Speaker 2: you know, early on, I think they know how to
Speaker 2: go places and win. Obviously they would love to flex
Speaker 2: their fifty two eighty advantage more often. Jalen Brown mentioned
Speaker 2: that he missed half his free throws, possibly because of
Speaker 2: the altitude. So I mean, that's sort of the least
Speaker 2: exertion you make, right you standing and shoot a free throw.
Speaker 2: He might have been looking at that number that they
Speaker 2: have right by the line there, but no, I think
Speaker 2: I think it was a terrific game. You know, the
Speaker 2: way Denver rallies around Yokich's desire to get that number
Speaker 2: one seed, and they've been great since the All Star break.
Speaker 2: He sent a group text apparently right after coming out
Speaker 2: of the break and you know, identified that as a goal.
Speaker 2: So that's seriousness. By defending champions is very impressive. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's he's a marvel to watch because all the things that,
Speaker 2: you know, it's almost like a Steph Curry thing where
Speaker 2: Steph Curry breathed life into a lot of young basketball
Speaker 2: players dreams that hey, I don't have to be six ' ten.
Speaker 2: You know I can. I can learn to shoot this
Speaker 2: ball and handle this ball, and that could carry me
Speaker 2: a long way. Not you know, not silly, I'm only
Speaker 2: going to play in the NBA, or my life is
Speaker 2: ruined kind of stuff. But you know, it's inspirational. And
Speaker 2: I think Jokich is the same way. You know, you
Speaker 2: don't have to jump three feet in the air, or
Speaker 2: more like Anthony Edwards, you you don't have to be
Speaker 2: the quickest guy. I mean, Luca too shows you you
Speaker 2: can play slow and play great. And with Jokic his
Speaker 2: ability to pick apart defenses to come up with the
Speaker 2: ball to you know, just the finesse and the and
Speaker 2: the and the instincts and the vision that he has
Speaker 2: to make those other guys better. I mean, to me,
Speaker 2: he's leading candidate for MVP. I talked about new Blood earlier,
Speaker 2: but you know the guy that that sort of that
Speaker 2: his to win I think right now is Yokic. So
Speaker 2: I could take seven more of those games in June,
Speaker 2: that would be a delight.
Speaker 3: If you did take seven more of those games in June.
Speaker 2: Who do you have, Well, tell me where Game seven
Speaker 2: is going to be played. I mean, it looks like
Speaker 2: it would be played in Boston, so you know, I
Speaker 2: would I would think that perhaps this would be the
Speaker 2: Celtics breaking through. They seem to have everything they need.
Speaker 2: I think they're the best team in the league right now.
Speaker 2: They don't have the experience quite that Denver has. They
Speaker 2: don't have Jokic. Tatum's not a bad MVP candidate, you know,
Speaker 2: of his of his own and I think they learned
Speaker 2: things as they go. I mean, I think that that
Speaker 2: that Cleveland game was a learning experience in terms of
Speaker 2: for Tatum and for for the Celtics, for Joe Massoula,
Speaker 2: that you're gonna go quicker. If you're down, you have
Speaker 2: to go quicker and you know what they what they
Speaker 2: tried to do. They treated it like it was a
Speaker 2: tie game, and and it doesn't work that way. So,
Speaker 2: you know, I think that those type of things are
Speaker 2: picking up. I'm very impressed with Porzingis too. I mean,
Speaker 2: all of the Celtics have to sort of give a
Speaker 2: little bit in their games because of the other guys
Speaker 2: on the floor, But I mean Porzingi's just his ability
Speaker 2: to just you know, his quick release as a big man,
Speaker 2: some of the things he does at seven foot three.
Speaker 2: You know, we get all excited about Webbin Yama because
Speaker 2: he's a rookie and he's got one more inch on him,
Speaker 2: but Porzingis to me, is a gold standard. You know,
Speaker 2: when Minyama could do a lot worse than to you know,
Speaker 2: emulate or be compared to Porzingis. So I just I
Speaker 2: think they're loaded. And yeah, I would go with whichever
Speaker 2: team is home on Game seven between those two.
Speaker 3: Okay, diplomatic answer, I do. I think Boston is incredible.
Speaker 3: They've had incredible season. There's a reason why they have
Speaker 3: been the runaway favorite in the Eastern Conference, why they've
Speaker 3: had the best record in the NBA. To your point,
Speaker 3: how Kristaps Porzingis has fit in. They have been extraordinary
Speaker 3: from the three point line, leading the league, you know,
Speaker 3: again pretty much for the entire season. It takes and
Speaker 3: makes and all of those things, the depth of the group,
Speaker 3: the core pieces of Tatum playing, you know, to a
Speaker 3: rough game last night, but Tatum playing like an MVP candidates.
Speaker 3: I say all that to say, though, those are my
Speaker 3: concerns that you have a night. They didn't shoot the
Speaker 3: ball well from three, just around a twenty nine percent,
Speaker 3: but Denver did not as well. They were for twenty
Speaker 3: one from beyond the arc. But that is my concerns.
Speaker 3: You have a couple off nights, and I would still
Speaker 3: take I think sometimes it comes down to do you
Speaker 3: have the best player on the floor, And to me,
Speaker 3: there was no question that Nikola Jokic is the best
Speaker 3: player on the floor. I think Michael alone having won
Speaker 3: a championship, the experience that he has. I think Joe
Speaker 3: Missoula has made strides this year. But I still think
Speaker 3: that will be something to watch in the course of
Speaker 3: the postseason. Adjustments to be made. So yeah, I still
Speaker 3: I still would give Denver the edge, regardless of what
Speaker 3: that looks like. But but man, would that be fun
Speaker 3: and potentially will be fun. And speaking of fun, ass
Speaker 3: she wrote a story about my hometown Chicago bulls who've
Speaker 3: been who have exactly our hometown Chicago Bulls who are
Speaker 3: coming off of a win last night. We're going to
Speaker 3: talk about that right after the break. Welcome back to
Speaker 3: nd Pulser Cristak joined by the great Steve Ashburner, uh
Speaker 3: and ash As. We mentioned good old Chicago, Chicago Bulls
Speaker 3: currently sitting in that nice spot in the Eastern Conference,
Speaker 3: and you know, a lot of questions about direction of
Speaker 3: the bulls, what's going to happen, what they were going
Speaker 3: to do with the trade deadline. You can look at
Speaker 3: a variety of areas, but overall since then and what
Speaker 3: they've been doing and playing better. They beat the Golden
Speaker 3: State Warriors in San Francisco, won twenty five twenty two.
Speaker 3: Last night. You had a big game from Nikolavucevich thirty
Speaker 3: three and eleven, twenty points from Kobe White to mar
Speaker 3: De Rozen with thirty three and eight. He's been playing
Speaker 3: really well. You've got a story about the Bulls in
Speaker 3: what they've been doing in this recent stretch. Fill us in,
Speaker 3: fill us in a little bit and give some optimism
Speaker 3: to all our shy folks.
Speaker 2: Well, here's the good news, I guess for the Schicgo
Speaker 2: Bulls this season. It's going to be hard for them
Speaker 2: to miss the playing tournament. Now, it's going to be
Speaker 2: hard for them to do any better than a play
Speaker 2: in spot, because they're about as far from sixth place
Speaker 2: as they are from eleventh. So you know, it kind
Speaker 2: of is what it is. They're about five games in
Speaker 2: each direction, so a play in you know, these days
Speaker 2: of play in birth has a little more luster when
Speaker 2: you look at the teams that are clumped down there
Speaker 2: in the West. You get some powerhouse teams with Sacramento
Speaker 2: and Dallas and the Lakers and the Warriors, and then
Speaker 2: of course what Miami did out of the playing spot
Speaker 2: last season. Now anybody thinks that that's the way to
Speaker 2: go for the playoffs to make a long run, you know,
Speaker 2: they'd be sadly mistaken. But we'll see. The Bulls have
Speaker 2: been rather bullheaded in their approach to this season. They
Speaker 2: haven't made many changes, they haven't willingly shuffled the deck.
Speaker 2: They were supposed to be sellers at the trade deadline,
Speaker 2: and nothing happened, and much to a lot of people's
Speaker 2: chagrin that follow that team, But here they are. They
Speaker 2: win a little, they lose a little. Up until last night,
Speaker 2: they hadn't won or lost more than two in a row,
Speaker 2: and I think it's two months. So you know, they tease,
Speaker 2: they go back. They lose to Detroit for two times,
Speaker 2: you know, the second time a couple of weeks ago
Speaker 2: this season, two losses to the Pistons who've only won
Speaker 2: ten and yet then they come back the next night
Speaker 2: and they beat Cleveland in double overtime. So it's been
Speaker 2: that kind of a thing. They go into Golden State
Speaker 2: and win, and that three and zero on this West
Speaker 2: coast trip, which again, that's a big winning streak for
Speaker 2: the Chicago Bulls. You know, I think one key, like
Speaker 2: it or not, has been Zach Lavine's absence. You know,
Speaker 2: he he had a sore foot, I believe it was,
Speaker 2: and he eventually opted to shut things down with surgery.
Speaker 2: They were ten and five in the games he played.
Speaker 2: They're over five hundred when he's not there, So it
Speaker 2: does suggest some addition. By subtraction, it has opened up
Speaker 2: opportunity for guys like Kobe White, who I think is
Speaker 2: certainly deserves consideration for most improved player Io Dsumu, who
Speaker 2: has a bigger role now he's built himself up physically,
Speaker 2: he's more capable of playing both ends and playing longer minutes.
Speaker 2: You know, they have the core guys of Vussovic and
Speaker 2: Demarto Rosen and they've been very solid vets. I like
Speaker 2: the fact that Billy Donovan has experimented at times with
Speaker 2: the two bigs, with Vouch and Andre Drummond. So you know,
Speaker 2: there are interesting facets to this Bulls team to do
Speaker 2: it without Levigne, who's supposed to be their number one guy, right,
Speaker 2: he's paid like it. He's not around Patrick Williams. You know, management,
Speaker 2: this management are turns corn of service his draft pick
Speaker 2: at number four about four years ago, that that hasn't
Speaker 2: panned out at all, and yet here they are, and
Speaker 2: you know, I think it's it's a it's a tribute
Speaker 2: to resiliency and stubbornness and they still pack that building,
Speaker 2: which you know is almost a disincentive for them to
Speaker 2: tear up that team and try to start over.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been something that's been interesting to watch to monitor,
Speaker 3: and I do think to your point with what the
Speaker 3: building is like what United centers like the fans deal
Speaker 3: whether they are they are excited or they're a little, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, a little disappointed. In the big picture of things,
Speaker 3: this team does play hard, they're fun to watch, and
Speaker 3: I think there's something to be said for that.
Speaker 2: In the how can you not like the dunkin Donuts race.
Speaker 3: Right Dots, Benny the Bill Bull, you know, I I
Speaker 3: would put him amongst the best mascots in putting on
Speaker 3: a show in the league. So you know, it's it's
Speaker 3: gonna be interesting to watch. In your point that those
Speaker 3: playing teams those we were talking about the Boston Celtics,
Speaker 3: So I think for a lot of those that end
Speaker 3: up at that nine to ten spot to the reward
Speaker 3: of getting a chance to take a trip to Boston,
Speaker 3: maybe maybe a tough sledding, but nonetheless it's it's it's
Speaker 3: about postseason basketball, and for a lot of teams that
Speaker 3: that means something. Ash as always, you are the best.
Speaker 3: We appreciate you. We will continue to read, watch all
Speaker 3: your good stuff on NBA dot Com and NBA TV,
Speaker 3: and until next time, we'll see so