James Edwards
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
You have more than likely have an elite creator at the very least. Like if we're including I don't know where the Pistons fall on that. But Kate has been one of the I know Dave hates to hear this. Kate has been one of the best.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
No, I'm with you. He's been one of the best pick-and-roll players this year. Trey, again, in the middle of the pack. I don't know where they are offensively. They're a middle-of-the-pack team. Trey has been one of the best pick-and-roll players, even when the Bulls had Levine. And the Bulls beat the Knicks earlier this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
There are so many good playmakers at the point of attack in basketball, and the Knicks see them often. And I think that when you have those ones that are above good – They're able to kind of take those disadvantages to the tool shed, and they're able to generate offense for the team too. So I think that's the big thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I think teams – the really, really good teams are putting Brunson and Cat in the action. Again, it's not their fault. They are – Both, they both try, they both compete. They just have limitations. And that's why I kind of had questions about the makeup of the roster after the trade, because I, I didn't think the Knicks would be worse, but I wasn't sure that they would be better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I just knew that they'd be different. And I think it's shown itself there. They were really good offense team last year. They're, way better this year, even though I think they were top five last year. Where they're at this year is even better. And defensively, they were fifth last year, and they're 17th this year. And that's a pretty big gap.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Obviously, Dallas, I think, was a top five offense last year and 18th on defense in the regular season. So it can lead to something, right? But I do think that is the biggest – That is the biggest hurdle they have to climb, having two players who have limitations defensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
No, it's not. And I think you could make the case that he is one of the 15 most important players to winning in basketball this season. I think you could make the case that he's been the Knicks' second best Definitely their most consistent player if you're counting both sides of the ball and maybe their second or third best player this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I wrote a story a few weeks ago how he has the first he's going to has a chance to be the first player under six foot eight to average. What is the numbers? I'm trying to find it here. I can't find it right now. At least 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists and a steal while shooting about 50% from the field and 35% from three. He's six foot four.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I think people forget that the only players to ever do it are Embiid, Jokic and Larry Bird. So think about a six foot four guy. Everyone's like, you just pulled, you're just, you could pick point, pick any stats and make a weird thing out of it. Well, only three guys have done it. I'm not saying, I'm not saying Josh Hart is in the same conversation, but I think it goes to tell you how I'm,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
impactful he is to winning, especially at his size. Well, he's weird.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
We've talked about it. I've mentioned it to him. Like, those are the type of guys that every championship team has. And we could just use recent memory, right? Like Contavious Caldwell Pope helped the Lakers win, helped the Nuggets win. Bruce Brown, right? Draymond Green's the ultimate example. I mean, we could go on and on on those X factors, whatever you want to call them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Glue guys, whatever you want to call them. But I think I agree with Zena. Like, those guys, those motors are unmatched, but also like, I think we don't give enough credit to how smart those players are. Right. Like it's the instincts to go get a rebound. It's the instincts to know when to cut. It's the instincts to know when to make the right pass.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And I think, too, just really quick, I think people also don't realize he is one of the best finishers I've ever seen. He's shooting above 70 percent at the rim and he's 6'4". That's not normal for people that don't know. Like that's if you look at who has the best field goal percentage in basketball, it's a bunch of six foot ten guys and higher.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And then Josh Hart, like 70 percent at the rim is insane for a guard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Yeah, like, it's not normal. And he just knows how to play the game of basketball at the end of the day. And not many guys do in this league.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Yeah, if you're listening to this on Wednesday morning, I have a story that I've been working on coming out. It's... When I started the story and I thought about it, the idea was I thought it would be a little bit more fun than it turned out. It turned out a little bit more eerie. It's about how players get harassed by fans because they lose them a bet or a parlay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And obviously that's an unintended consequence of... us as a society, us as sports fans, them as leagues from getting in bed with gambling. It's not something that I don't think people like thought about or have at the forefront of their mind when they do this. But I talked to Jalen Brunson, like he gets death threats on his month's old daughter, his family.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And this is like the Knicks could win by 20 and he could have 30. And maybe he didn't have the assist he needed and people lose their minds and the messages that they get. So it's basically just taking you into like their mindset as gambling has become so popular and how it impacts them and how they try to like, they obviously like laugh it off and stuff, but like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
There's certain situations where guys are like, this stuff is like there's some cruel shit being said. Just a different look. Yeah, I think to me, we talk a lot about gambling and nobody's really talked about that aspect because it's not something that's visible to us. Like we see tweets every now and then, but these guys get it way more than I think the general public understands or realizes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
So the league says they have things in place where like if you get harassed, you can report it. I just don't think it's possible. Like the only way it's possible is if you ask players to make their social media accounts private or don't have them. And in today's world, all these guys are brands. They're not going to do that. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I just, to me, there's just, it's like I said, an unintended consequence of the world we're in. I just don't see how you can stop it without asking guys to cut off their social media.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I need to see them lose to Boston by less than 15 before I get there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I think it's big for a few reasons. One, they just came off of a big loss to Boston the night of two nights before. And obviously, I think for a lot of fans, one, they're happy to be in the position where this team is having these type of conversations and expectations. But two, there are expectations. Right. And it's a team that is has not beaten Cleveland, Boston or Oklahoma City this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
It's a team that going into tonight, they were five and seven against the top eight teams in the East. Now they're six and seven and will likely get to seven and seven tomorrow against Atlanta, as they obviously are very depleted right now and pivoting toward the tank. So.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
It is it's going to be a situation where the Knicks need to try to rack up these wins, not just because like they need them, because I agree with you. Like, I don't think Indiana is going to catch them in the standings. Yeah. But just like to continue to build confidence, can continue to find ways against different play styles.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Indiana, obviously, is one of the fastest and most kind of free teams that there are. And I thought tonight the Knicks did a good job of just like being physical. I think they had 70 points in the paint. Towns didn't settle for threes like he took. He took a decent amount, but he was getting to the paint, had a bunch of and ones. Josh Hart was cutting them to death in the dunker spot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Offensive rebounds. Those two really carried them. Brunson had foul trouble. I think he got five, two minutes into the third, three minutes into the third. It was just a very kind of like grinded out and outlast your opponent. And the Pacers had opportunities to make it close. The Knicks played just enough good defense, I think, to keep the Pacers at arm's length.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And then just being able to kind of rack up those points in the paint and those and ones, I think, was huge. And they did so well on the glass, too. So. I think that they found a little bit of a blueprint there with just being physical against the Pacers. And I thought it warmed down at the end and allowed the Knicks to kind of extend themselves in the last four or five minutes of that game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
That's the question that they're trying to figure out. That's the question we're trying to figure out. And I think there's two things with that. As you mentioned, Towns playing the five, they obviously they know the importance of that offensively. Right. Yeah. That opens up so much for their offensive spacing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
It's it's what's made them who they are, which is one of the most high powered, the second most the second best offense in basketball. Now, defensively, where the issues come, and I noted this when they made the trade for him, it's not Cat and Jalen's fault that they have limitations defensively. They compete, they both try, but they have limitations.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
One guy is smaller than Jalen, not the quickest feet. Cat is bigger, has had injuries, not the most nimble. And you see teams, specifically Boston, just spam the pick and roll over and over and over until they get Brunson on Tatum or Brunson on Brown, and then they get past him, and then it's one move and they're past Cat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And it's pretty much just trying to put those two in the action, and it takes away. And then if OG comes to help, if Mikkel comes to help, if Josh comes to help, they got shooters everywhere. And I think the stat you mentioned was a tremendous stat. I think it was DJ Ace, who's a big Knicks fan, I think a lot of that is the middle teams and the top teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
Oh, you know, just got approved for two weeks vacation about eight hours ago. Was going to knock out one more piece.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
Was going to relax, go back to the great city of Flint, Michigan, and see family and friends. And... It's it's it's like clockwork, man. When I'm covering a team every summer, there's something there's something I can't just have a normal summer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
Yeah, I agree with you. I did not think this would happen. I was 80-20 that he would come back. And I guess when you look at it in totality, maybe the suits thought that this team should be better than 51 wins. Maybe the suits thought that this team, even though it got to the Eastern Conference Finals, once Boston and Cleveland were eliminated, that it should have been represented in the finals.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
This is a shock to me. Simply because this is an organization for two decades that was the butt of jokes, that had no culture, that had no stability. And for five years, Tom Thibodeau brought stability, he brought respect, and he brought winning back to New York. And ultimately for me, yes, there were flaws this year. This team wasn't perfect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
But the fact that this guy helped bring good PR back to this franchise and the fact that this team was put together 12 hours before training camp signaled, like, I felt like this guy should have got a year to at least get another run with this team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
I mean, that's a great question. I think part of it's social media. I think part of it is people are too online. I think people listen to fans and media way too much. It's a situation specifically in New York where this team – despite its imperfections, still made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and grew stronger as the season went on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
Yes, there were the offense, the starting group that they invested so much in wasn't good. They had a negative net rating from January 1st on. They weren't very good in the playoffs, right? But This team, Jalen Brunson missed a month at the end of the year. Mitchell Robinson was gone for most of the year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
I think the biggest knock, if you're going to talk about it with Tibbs, is he didn't really experiment with a five-out lineup. Didn't do Jalen Brunson, Deuce McBride, OG Ananobi, Mikael Bridges, and Carl Anthony Towns. That's probably the biggest knock in terms of lineup experimentation. But... give the guy another another give him a summer to to stew on it to think about it um i just i i'm
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
The thing that Denver did that I love so much, the Denver story is my favorite story in recent NBA history. They had a coach and their core players. They kept them together for seven, eight, nine years, and they finally won. They finally got over the hump. And not everything can be fixed by one name, by one addition, by one new voice.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
And that was the other thing a lot of people talking about, kind of the reports are that the team needed a new voice. Well, of the core guys, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart are the guys that have been around for a while, and they're the biggest Tibbs supporters. Everybody else that's in the core has been here for a year, a year and a half.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
So what new voice, like what more is the time for the new voice? I just think, listen, Tibbs, there was flaws this year with his team. But ultimately, this franchise has not been very good for the larger part of 25 years. And I thought he deserved another year to try to rectify any type of qualms or issues that this team had this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
Maybe that's what it came down to. And maybe. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
So if we're going to assume that they have a greener grass candidate out there, it would be a bit of a surprise, right? Like Michael Malone's a great coach. Is he any different in his approach than Tibbs? No.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
He's outspoken. I don't know if ownership will love how outspoken he is. Then you have what? James Borrego, another CAA guy. Offensive mind. His defenses have been not the greatest. Hasn't had much success as a head coach, obviously, in Charlotte. They didn't do him any favors. Sure. There's this, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
Yeah, Coach Pop Pedigree. Yes, and then you have a guy like Taylor Jenkins, another guy that was probably a scapegoat in Memphis. We don't know if we know the whole story there, but kind of similar to Tibbs. Tibbs is firing. Apparently, people didn't think he did enough. And then after that, you're getting into first-year head coaches.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
You're getting into Johnny Bryant, Sean Sweeney, somebody I really like. But you're going to say that a first-year coach potentially could take this team over the top. Like, maybe it could. Maybe that's a risk to take, right? Micah Norrie, he's another guy in Minnesota. Been with Cat. Great personality. Been up for many jobs. But again, would be a first-year head coach. So...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
You kind of look around and you're like, of the proven coaches, unless we're forgetting somebody who's out there, Jay Wright, the Villanova Connection stuff, for sure. Jay Wright was a great college coach. Does that mean he'll be a great NBA coach?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
I tend to agree. I tend to agree, and I'm not sure it works for the Knicks and their – They're wanting to keep things in-house. I don't know if that's conducive to that. Listen, I'll say this. I think over the last 10 months, more so than the previous four years, the suits in New York have taken major risks, trading for Mikael Bridges, trading for Carl Anthony Towns, firing Tibbs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
These are franchise-altering decisions, and they have to be right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
Yeah, I think the big thing is maximizing the offense. They invested so much in the five, Jalen Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns, OG Ananobi, Mikael Bridges, Josh Hart, giving up first-round picks for basically all those big contracts for all those guys. Obviously, Jalen Brunson took a pay cut, but... That group was not consistently good. That group struggled as the season went on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
So is there a way to maximize their talents? On paper, that is a very talented starting five. Obviously, they switched up the starting lineup in the Eastern Conference Finals, but I would say I think we all would agree that's their core group. And is there a way to maximize that collective better? I think defensively, there's just going to naturally be issues.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
Jalen Brunson tries his ass off on defense, but there's limitations with him and Cat at the point of attack and then at the back line. Are they learning? Did they learn throughout the postseason that what Minnesota did was correct, that they need to put a more traditional five next to Towns, and they played Mitchell Robinson.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
But with that, are you maximizing Towns because he's not playing the five on offense, right? So I think there may be, I would assume in this decision that they think that there's more to unlock there or maybe that they're going to make moves beyond this and try to tinker. I just think that
The Athletic NBA Daily
Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
for a guy in Tom Thibodeau who did so much and was basically handed such a seismic piece and Carl Anthony towns right before training camp and getting them to the Eastern conference finals, not giving them a chance to kind of like iron out things he might've learned throughout the year. I think that's a really tough blow.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Okay, well, happy holidays, my guy. Thank you, you too. I mean, look, if there's any place to be on Christmas for basketball, it's Madison Square Garden for the matinee game. That's like a staple at this point for the NBA. And it's going to be a great game between the Knicks and Spurs. I want to get into the Knicks first, though, because I think...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
For the audience, for most people, Christmas is when they really start tapping into the NBA, really start listening in. And so they have that opening night game where they get clobbered by the Celtics. They've been battling and grinding to find their identity. We had you on about a month ago in which you were telling us they're still struggling to figure out what their identity is. Now about...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Twenty five to 30 percent into the season. They're third in the East. They've played really, really good basketball. Got a couple of guys who are definitely an all star consideration. Has this team figured it out for what kind of basketball they want to play or what style they want to play?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
That's a breeze. That's it. That's easy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
It seems like and this is from just watching them a lot. They have a lot of fun on the court. And, you know, you wrote that piece about Mikhail Bridges and the amount of trash that he talks on the floor, which I wouldn't have known, you know, watching it. I was shocked. I don't think you really get it. So so what is it about this group of guys?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
I know we know the the Nova kids and whatnot and then OG and his personality. But like, what is it about this specific group that has them playing fun basketball?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah. And a lot of guys, like you mentioned the cutting, a lot of great cutters on that team between OG, Josh, McHale. Exactly. Right. And I think if you look at Kat, which you mentioned, you know, likes to please, he has been gift wrapping, talking about Christmas gift wrapping these passes for these guys as this delay action guy who can make passes from above the break.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Like all of that is really honing in on what maybe we didn't see a lot of in Minnesota. So the question I have, cause I think cat is having a career year for the Knicks, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
The efficiency is off the charts. The passing has been awesome. What has stood out to you from, from cat's perspective of like why he's have, why he's fitting in so well in New York.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's funny you mentioned the shooting percentage, because on the other side of this game, there's another big man, seven foot five guy who's shooting the lights out right now. I mentioned on the show the other day, but he he dropped two hundred threes before Steph Curry did like he got to two hundred threes faster than Steph, which is wild. Surprised me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Yeah, it is really surprising. And so Victor Wembanyama versus Cat, that's going to be the matchup, I think, of this Nick Spurs game for only East Coast, West Coast game of the night, by the way, for Christmas at all, which is wild. But I wanted to ask you for Wemby, how do you think that the matchup is for them versus the Knicks and and how they might end up trying to guard one?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Because he's been on a tear over the last, you know, two or three weeks as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Live with it, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Man, I remember like maybe not five years ago, probably closer to 10 years ago, matinee game, Milwaukee Bucks versus the New York Knicks. And it was this coming out party for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Like he just dominated. And I wonder if we get that this time with Wemby, because it does seem like he's being given this opportunity.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Usually the first game of the night or of Christmas slate is the first game that most people are tuning into because they got dinner later and whatnot. This is in a lot of ways the primetime game. Do you think we're we're in store for a Wemby breakout type of performance? Or you think or you think Tibbs is on the other side working on crazy defensive matchups to figure him out?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
All right, well, we're joined. Happy holidays, everyone. Everybody listening right now, we're joined with James Edwards III, senior writer for The Athletic, covers the New York Knicks. Is this your first Christmas game?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Oh, so they got the matinee curse. Interesting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Okay, I'll leave you off with this. We're heading into 2025. What would be your New Year's resolution for the Knicks moving into next year? Stay healthy. Good resolution.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Does Landry Shambit not solve all their problems? No.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Fox Trades, Warriors, Knicks and Celtics | Christmas Extravaganza
Knock on wood. You don't want anybody to get hurt. The holiday spirit. No injury talk here. James, appreciate you as always. Of course. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. Happy New Year if I don't see you before then. Same to you, man. As always, tap into the athletic. Tap into James Edwards writing New York Knicks. Appreciate you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Man, I can't wait for game three. I know all of you agree with this just because it's been incredible back and forth series, the tactical approach, the way both teams are guarding pick and rolls. You talked about the turnovers earlier law. It feels like that's what's dictating this whole series, the pace that both teams are trying to play at. Yeah. but also Clippers playing it into it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Playoff game, game three. How does that feel? The fact that they're going to have the wall? Dave, we've talked about the wall before. Against a bad free throw shooting team. Against a bad free throw.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. How are the vibes going to be in game three? What are you expecting adjustment-wise, all of the above? Well, shoot, adjustments.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Led to that Dennis Schroeder three. That's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
You sort of touched on the cat part of this. He didn't take a shot in the fourth, just felt felt invisible. But it also felt like the Knicks just weren't getting him any touches to get him going. What do they have to do to get him going in this series? I mean, he had a good game one, but game two was completely the opposite of that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Yeah, there it is. Hey, any time you could win a playoff game, knocking down just six threes the entire time is a win. You've got to walk away with that. You've got to be happy. James, I have to ask you. Game three in Detroit, first time Detroit gets a playoff game since 2019. First playoff win for them today. In 17 years, where were you 17 years ago when the Pistons won a playoff game?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Man, Law, I know we've talked about this a couple times, but just the minutes load and his ability to play through. He played 39 minutes tonight, but to end the season, it was 40-minute games and hustling to just grind through the end of the year. You've watched this guy go through the process of rehabilitation multiple times.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Huge game for Cade. 33 points led the way for them the entire way. I mean, obviously, you know, knowing this is the James Bowl here, watching his evolution, what did you think of game two from Cade?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
How is the feeling in the locker room and what everybody feels about these type of performances? When Kawhi is like this, knowing everything that he's sort of been through to get to this point?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And then you watch McHale. It's like, he takes the long way around.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Very weird season. I think the defense has been like something that he earned the label early. I think the last few years it's, not been to the all NBA level that I think most, if you ask most people that he, he possesses, he's, he still has the capabilities of being a really good defender. I just don't think we've seen it that much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And OG has, when you look at how OG and nobody's a great defender. Yeah. I would say if you pick a weakness and OG's defensive abilities, it's guarding smaller guards, right? So you get McHale, you think he can take those assignments. You can play OG off ball and let him do what he does, but, Mikael's just really struggled staying in front of him, getting around screens.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
It's been a big issue for the Knicks, especially when they don't have a pure rim protector down there anymore with Mitchell Robinson out and no Isaiah Hardenstein.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Yeah, you would think so. I think the one thing that they do have in common is the cutting. I think OG cuts with more frequency. I think OG is a little bit more physical and does get to the rim a little bit more. But I think the big difference between them is OG shooting a career high on threes above the break and Mikael shooting a career low higher.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
and I think that's really what's opened up OG's game. He's always had the cutting. Having Cat and that spacing just kind of accentuates it more, but the fact that he's shooting so well from everywhere on three has really bumped his numbers up and allowed him to have a few big games for the last few weeks.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
No, it is. That's a great point. A lot of grenades. I still think OG passes up a lot of threes where he has a little bit of room and he should let it fly and still hesitates, but he's making them. Listen, the offense is really, really good. I still think there's some things that are a bit concerning, like
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
The fact that they don't get to the rim much is, I think, more on personnel than it is Tom Thibodeau because we know Tom is very much analytically driven. But I think that says more about the personnel. Jalen Brunson likes to get to the mid-range. Mikkel Bridges, I didn't know this, but apparently only likes to take mid-range shots. OG has been a great post-up player, but...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
he's not like a guy that's going to break you down off the dribble and blow past you and get to the rim. Cat's usually playing out at the perimeter. Then they're also, because of that, they're not getting to the free throw line. So for as efficient as the offense has been, it could be even more efficient, I guess, which is scary because it's on pace to be like one of the best offenses ever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
But I do think that at some point it's going to come back to bite them. You just... If you're not going to defend well, you can't score that many twos and win against the really good teams. A la Boston. You look at the games that they lost, they shot tremendously on twos. The other team outshot them from three.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And that's just kind of been the weird story because they're not defending well and not always getting up the most amount of threes that they possibly can because they do struggle with things like switching.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Yeah, I'm not sure I'll have an answer for you. But what I think was was part of the logic, obviously. When the trade happened, there was a different front office in place. Troy Weaver and company were running the program. Then Trajan Langdon comes in. If people recall, Quentin barely played in Detroit, really struggled with a knee injury, which I think he had coming from New York.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
I can't remember if he, I don't even think he, but once the trade happened, I think it took him a while to play. Then he tried to play and was like two for 25 from three and then sat out. And his time in Detroit wasn't, the most efficient, even though I thought he had some good moments defensively. Sure.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And I think part of it is getting the, the big expiring of Tim, as opposed to Quinton, which allowed to consider resigning. Right. And I think, yeah, I think they were very – I don't know why they had to give up Quentin to take on Tim, right? But they could have maybe kept both.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
But maybe they looked at it as like we have a lot of guards we want to develop, and I'm not sure there's enough room there. They'd rather have the veteran leadership of Tim as opposed to taking another young guy who's only, what, Quentin's in his fourth year, fifth year, and trying to give him minutes and then –
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
uh, you're fighting with the SAR, you're fighting with Ron Holland, you're fighting with Ivy, you're fighting with Sasser. Like they had a lot of young guards, but to, to help usher in this new era, they go for the veteran and Tim Hardaway. So I don't really have a reason why they didn't keep both.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
I just know that Quinton's time in Detroit wasn't ideal given the injuries and, and things of that nature. But, um, uh, Weirdly, it's kind of worked out for both teams. I know Detroit got popped last night, but with eight and twelve. And I think Tim has had a couple of moments here and there for them. While Grimes has been really solid and talked to some Mavs people last night at the game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And they said he's really embraced the defensive end. They've really he's really embraced kind of his role. Yeah. And he seems to be in a good spot. He's a good player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
It's a fascinating thing with this team. If you look at their record, I think they're 10-8, 10-9, and half or close to half have come against teams that switch. Like you mentioned, Boston on opening night, they had no issue putting Drew on Cat. Another one that comes to mind is Houston. They had no issue putting Dylan Brooks on Cat and switching everything. And then tonight, same example.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
When they play teams that not only just switch but play with some heart like those teams do, you're hard-pressed to find a team that plays harder than Houston, hard-pressed to find a team that plays harder than Boston, and even Dallas. Dallas has been crushing defensively too this year. They just look like they don't know what to do with the ball.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
A lot of ISO, they don't really get it moving side to side. They don't play out in transition because the defense isn't that good right now. They shoot well at the rim, but they don't take a lot of shots at the rim. It's not a great ISO team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Brunson obviously has the ability to score at a high level with isolations, but he's not a guy that's breaking guys down off the dribble and getting all the way to the rim, right? He's usually getting floaters or awkward shots. Yeah. This is the second time, and this is the third time since November 10th that they've shot 32 or less threes in a game. One against Indiana, one against Philly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
I believe the Indiana, I can't remember if both of them were wins. I know the Philly one was a win. I can't remember Indiana. But I think they got to, what, 30 tonight, 29 tonight from three-point attempts. They just really struggled to get up threes against switching teams and I think a lot of it is they don't know, do I take my man? They don't really move as much.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
The cutting's not as crisp as it is against non-switching teams. They just look really disoriented.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
There's a couple things, and our colleague Fred Katz wrote a good piece last week on the weird season Mikael Bridges is having, because I agree the best way to describe it is weird. If you look at his two-point numbers, he's shooting the mid-range as good as anybody in the league, right? But above the break threes, he's in the teens.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
And I wonder if the hitch in his shot has something to do with the further distance threes. As he's shotting better, he shoots much better in the corners. And obviously, as we know, that's much shorter distance than –
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
than on the wings uh and then you he doesn't get to the hole off the dribble all his baskets and he had one last night against dallas but that was like the first in a while usually a lot of his shots at the rim come off cutting he's not a guy that's breaking guys off the dribble and getting to the rim and when he does isolate he tends to always even if he has a lane to the to the basket he usually stops and shoot a mid-range jump that little pull-up
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
He really likes that. I asked him about it a few weeks ago and he said playing with two of the greatest mid-range shooters of all time helped rub off on him a little bit. I do agree with him too. He talked about in the playoffs it's very key to be able to get any type of shot, but it's like throughout the course of the regular season, you can never make too many of those shots.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Dwayne Casey used to say, you can never make too many mid range shots to overcome the math game in today's NBA. And yeah, um, for the, in the next case, it's showing to be true. Like they shoot a lot of mid range shots. Uh, the offense is phenomenal.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Anthony Edwards says the Wolves are soft | Who is Tyrese Martin?
Uh, I want to make sure that's clear, but there are times when the offense is very efficient and it doesn't matter because teams shoot more threes than they do. Right. Um, and they make more threes. So Mikkel has had a weird season. I agree defensively as well. Um, he just doesn't really get through screens. Well, like you watch OG and Anobu who's one of the best in the league at doing it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Jabari Smith. You said shooter, and I'm like, huh?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Yeah, on that team, he is.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Not to bring up shot diet for a second time on the show, but like how often does a possession end in Fred Van Vliet, who's not that tall with a tall guy standing two feet in front of him and he's pulling up the three. And sometimes it's an air ball and sometimes it goes in.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Bojewski. You know what I mean? That guy, he thinks he can do it. Yeah, he does. He can. I don't know. All right. Well, Marcus, thank you for coming to hang out after the game. We're going to see you in Vegas. Wait, can we get a Rockets Thunder prediction? That's what I was about to say. Okay, there you go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Do you think the Rockets can ride this stolen victory that we're going to call and beat the Thunder? No.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
All right. Well guys, stick around after the break. S and I are going to issue some Mia culpas a quarter of the way through the season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
it is question time on the show question news i mean you know this is like the the straggling bits fun stuff of the podcast every day uh we put out the call the other day for questions oso manchego on blue sky asked us a pretty good question that was timely um and yeah any quarter season mea culpas worth discussing for us. We don't get a lot wrong. Well, okay, we're not going to do that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
No, I'm kidding. I will say we have done a pretty good job of framing things to make them seem like we're Very right. We sound super smart. If you go and look at the social clips, very good job. Super producer Grayson doing his job. But you know what? At the risk of being too Warriors heavy on this show, I'm going to issue a mea culpa because the Warriors offense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
I'm right about the defense, top five defense. They are a top five defense, but I do not think this team has the offense as currently constructed to make any kind of run come playoff time. I mean, the game that we just saw last night, with the Rockets. And the Rockets are a very good defense. That's more indicative of a playoff-style defense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
If you think the Mavericks can't defend at that level, if you think that Oklahoma City can't defend at that level, I mean, I don't know what to tell you. Do you think the trade would change that for you? Possibly, but I just don't know who they could get. You know, when you look around the market, obviously the Jimmy Butler stuff. Yeah, because he puts the colors in his hair.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
You know, it gives us this indication he might want to go to the Warriors. I don't think that's a good fit as much as him being able to handle the ball and, you know. play defense is great. I just think you got to have somebody who can shoot a little bit better than that and look for their own shot a little bit more. But there are guys available. I mean, Marcus brought up Dennis Schroeder.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
I think Dennis Schroeder would be a great fit there. He can play with Steph some. If you look at the way he's played in FIBA, just giving them another guy who's looking to get to the basket, looking to get his own shot, can do some things. I mean, I mentioned Cam Thomas for about eight teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Yeah, Although I don't know if you can have him play in the same role as Dennis Schroeder. I think Schroeder is a better player because you can trust him defensively just much more. So that's my mea culpa. I don't think that this offense is going to be able to get him – I mean, maybe they win a playoff series. I don't think they win once they get to the elite competition of the playoffs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Kawhi Leonard bobblehead night is coming up pretty soon. Yes. And maybe that's an indication that he's going to play. I don't know. You got to check out Law Murray over at The Athletic. Go read him because he'll let us know when that news is coming. That's going to do it for today's show, folks. The NBA Cup has been a lot of fun. I appreciate you guys riding through with us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
And we're going to be in Vegas this weekend. So expect fun stuff coming from that. For S. Baraheni, I'm Dave DeFore. And this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Yeah, at a certain point, they've got to figure out how to get stops and score at the same time, James. It seems like they can get a couple stops here and there, but the offense dries up. And then we know that this offense is super high octane at its best. So what what do they do differently? I mean, you know, is there something in their approach that you've seen?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
I mean, you know, you've been around them, you know, now for a few months. I mean, where do they go from here to improve?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Good morning, S. Good morning, James Edwards, live from MSG, where the Atlanta Hawks did the thing they're built to do. They won an NBA Cup game over the Knicks. Trey Young goes to MSG, ever the villain. James, what was it like in the building for the NBA Cup at MSG?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Yeah. Hey, look, you write about the Knicks for us, but you know the league as well as anybody. I want to talk about the Hawks. You know, they won this game. And I know it's weird, but it's the NBA Daily Curse.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
I do love this Hawks team. I mean, if you look at them, you know what they I understand the vision behind, you know, having all these this length switch ability and Trey Young. Right. And it his his playmaking talent is is on full showcase with these guys. But Jalen Johnson.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
is looks like a future all-star to me um in this game 21 points 15 rebounds seven assists a couple of steals couple of blocks but he just seemed to be involved in every single winning play that atlanta made what do you think about what what they're building in atlanta and in particular jalen johnson's matchup kind of like problem in the east like who guards him and he can kind of guard everybody
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
I wish he was a little bit more afraid. You know what I mean? Like, Hey, settled down a little bit that the, the, the John Tate trade is turning into the Dyson Daniels trade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Okay. Milwaukee.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
All right. Well, we're going to find out James, go and read James Edwards at the athletic. He is one of the best sports writers in America. Maybe the world. I don't know. I don't repeat other countries, but you're the man.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
I don't read Japanese sports writing. I'm sure it's excellent. They probably have their own James Edwards guys. Stick around after the break. We got Marcus Thompson to talk about rockets. Warriors. Well, my prediction that the Warriors were going to run through the NBA Cup and add to the Steph Curry legacy. It ended last night. The Rockets and the Warriors.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 12th, 2024. Coming up, two more teams punch their ticket to Vegas. So we got two guests to talk about it. We got James Edwards, we got Marcus Thompson postgame, and then S and I, we're going to dig into some questions. Good morning, everybody.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
You know, this must be a 2024 NBA basketball game that is like 140 to 135. And and. Guys, it turned into a 90s playoff game. Got Marcus Thompson here with me and S to talk about the game. We just watched this thing, and Marcus, I'm going to start with you. This was a rock fight. The offenses just look inept at times, but we're going to start at the end of the game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
What's up with this loose ball foul that they called on Jonathan Kuminga? Of all the times to call that loose ball foul. It's never called.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Well, look, down the stretch of this game, Steph Curry kind of blew the game for the Warriors. And I never say I never. Yeah, that's shocking where I'm saying that. That's wild. But but there were a couple of things, you know, obviously that he did. You talk about the four turnovers down the stretch that the team had, but like. Why pull that three up one?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
You know, you're going for the knockout blow, and you're taking it so early.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Well, I know, but I'm just saying, we're stringing it back. Why was Steph Curry taking three to win the game? Well, come on. I mean, it just feels like you're pushing a little bit. I have an answer for you.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Yeah, and that's a guy that definitely they ought to look at. Look, Marcus, again, not to pigeonhole you. Let's talk Rockets, man. Look, they won the game. They're the young, hungry team. You know, they got Dylan Brooks firing them up. But they're kind of missing the guy down the stretch, you know, Shingun. There's the weird substitution stuff with him.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Rockets & Warriors deliver thriller | Trae Young rolls dice in New York
Jalen Green, not quite there yet, although made a great play, diving for the basketball to kind of give him a chance to win. What do you think about the Rockets?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But a guy who's getting to the rim and creating threes really. Like Delon Wright has done a good job, but obviously it's to a lesser degree. They're just a team that's a little bit that can sometimes get so heavy when things aren't going going well. They at times hesitate to let shots fly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Like sometimes in the NBA, a good shot is when a guy's running at you as opposed to trying to get a better shot. And the shot clock goes like it just seems sometimes they've hesitated at times.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
I certainly think it's a moment, not a moment in time, but a point of growth, but the, is it a moment in time in which we see the point in growth, if that makes any sense. So I think sure. Josh Hart, Josh Hart said it best. Like OG is remember that he's a six foot eight, 245 pound demon.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
And the way I think a lot of people's knock on OG, if you always wondered like, why can't he get to this level as a score? I think most people would point to the handle, um, Yeah. And just not necessarily always being direct with his movements in the half court. I think that's what's been very promising from this. Like he is getting to the rim. It's very direct. It's very forceful.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
It's very poignant. Like you said, there's been great balance from him. And he's even added like the euro swipe gather through. Yeah. Yeah. It's been.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
it's like he's added that to his bag of tricks and it's really helped he's gotten to the line more i think over the last 11 games he's averaging about six free throws a game this is a guy that averages 2.2 for most of his career i think so or 2.8 or something like that so um pulling off a couple moves finding a move that's comfortable with him and then again just remembering how strong he is but i also think
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
One thing that's been well, he's also letting the three ball fly. He's not hesitating. He has been one of those guys that has been reluctant to let it go when he has a sliver of space and he's let it fly this year. He's shooting at about 38 percent clip. But even further than that, the way with Brunson, they've had to kind of change how they play defensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
or they've had to change how they play and kind of rely on their defense, right? Like Miles McBride is a good point of attack defender. Mitchell Robinson is back. So they're able to have a little bit more ball pressure, which allows OG, and there's back line help that they trust.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
They're able to kind of stick to their man, jump passing lanes, gamble, and I think you see OG out in the fast break a lot too. So that's been a positive. And then the last thing, What I'm curious to see what happens when Jalen gets back is obviously Jalen's going to have the ball more. And that's just I think everybody would agree like Jalen Brunson is he's the guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
He's the one that, as you said, Dave stirs the drink. But while he's been out, OG is kind of – and me and Fred talked about this. I think he's going to write something on Friday in his notebook around the league. But the geometry of where OG is now without Brunson has changed. Like he's not always in the corner. He's on the wing. He's getting – he's at the top of the key. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
That might not be the case, or they have to figure out how to maybe work that in more when Brunson comes back. So I'm curious to see how they utilize him. Maybe they change around the rotation so OG has opportunities where he can be in those spots on the floor even while Brunson is back. Yeah, like leading bench lineups type of thing. Yeah, exactly. So I'm curious to see how they do that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But I do agree that I think he has taken steps. But the question is, is it sustainable because of how – Brunson utilizes the floor and just the importance of having him back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Is he going to make it back? So he has cleared for basketball activities and the Knicks have Thursday off. Then they're going to likely practice Friday in Atlanta and then they play in Atlanta at three and he is on this trip. So it is about a five day trip, two games in there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Most guys that are injured usually travel with the team and that type of long break because the whole organization is there. It reads to me like there's a really good chance Brunson could be back Saturday against Atlanta, and I would say Sunday against Phoenix back in New York at the latest. But my hunch is there's a good chance he's back Saturday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But it seems like he will be back in enough time to get to 65 games. After this weekend, they'll have a week left, seven days. I think they'll have six games left. I'm not mistaken. I should know that. That's probably my job, but they all just kind of. I should also know that too. We're running together at this point. Six games. Six games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
He technically could miss the two games this weekend and still be fine, but I think he comes back and plays in one of the games this weekend. Cool. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Like maybe they sit them in Phoenix or Phoenix against, or maybe they, that's the thing. Cause it's the Sunday game against Phoenix is in New York. Do you want his return to be in New York for your fans? Um, or do you want it on the road? I could see both ways. Um, do you want his first matchup back to be Dyson Daniels? Uh, That's going to make you work in your first game. It's a good test.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
You've got to think about it like boxing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Yeah, it's been a weird season. I think obviously, and Tom Thibodeau likes to talk about this a lot, I think what gets missed in the discourse is kind of the circumstances surrounding games. So in their defense, two of the three games against Cleveland have been on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
This one tonight, without Jalen, without Miles McBride, without Campaign, starting DeLon Wright, who's been solid, and rookie Tyler Kolek. So they know Mitchell Robinson, who's not playing back to back yet. So of all the games, this isn't really the right one for a barometer kind of test.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But I mean, listen, everybody in the NBA plays back to backs when they lost by 36 or whatever it was a few weeks ago, a little over a month ago. Like, yes, they were on the second half of back to back, but. good teams don't get blasted like that, that like it's, it's pretty rare. So yeah, it's a team that I think is a really good team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But there is a clear kind of tiering system right now in the NBA. And the top of that tier is the, the Thunder Celtics and Cavs. And those it's pretty much those three against everybody else. And the Knicks have some good moments. They look really, really good in spurts throughout games. And then they look, kind of they look like they could lose to anybody at points in games. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
I think there's a few things and yeah, there's, there's slipping here and there. Like McHale has slipped at times and that kind of, he's the most that comes to mind. And then the way that they guard teams have been guarding the Knicks. They put a five on Josh, a wing on, on cat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
And I think they've kind of leaned into maybe Josh facilitating a little bit more, getting guys off actions and having them set up. And there was it was some success the other day. I can't remember in which game, but in the first quarter, it looked really good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
So it just seems like there's just inconsistencies from the group as a whole or even guys not doing necessarily, I think, what the staff is hoping to do. But I think to your point. I think one thing that they – they're such a slow-playing team in the half court. Pace. They don't get up a ton of threes. They don't have a guy with Jalen out right now that really – well, OG is now getting to the rim.