Mike Zakarian
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Same thing because they were at home and the fans gave me a standing ovation because it was just like, this is awesome. Thank you for letting us watch some good basketball. And that's even more the case in Detroit after the four years they experienced.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yeah, it's bad. I just think the conversation is so interesting because I immediately, of course, go to the Bucs subreddit just because I want to see what fans are talking about. And I was a little surprised how universally Bucs fans are just like, no, you never... Do not trade Giannis under any... Assuming that he doesn't ask out.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Because I think it's very easy as an outsider to just take this logical brain approach. Like, this is the only way things are going to work out. We have to collect some picks. This is our only good asset. That's the only way we can move forward. But it was kind of universal from among the Bucs fans' comments I was reading. And I get it. Because... Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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If you could play that out, like I think if you ask Mavs fans about the end, especially now about the end of Dirk's career, like, yeah, it didn't work out. But now that you have Dirk as this like Mav for life, like that is a really special thing. And if Giannis did value that, in fact, there's Eric Corrine for The Athletic wrote an article kind of about that, like this decision.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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And what if they just decided like that is more important than chasing a ring? And there is value in that. So I do think it's interesting. But yeah, from like the outsider's perspective, it's like feels like now's the time. Like what what can you do?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Especially when you look at John Horse's recent draft history. There weren't great picks, but name your favorite Buffs rookie of the last half decade.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Now, a better game... is our NBA championship draft.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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We've been doing it three weeks now. This is our third week. Third time. And if you're watching on YouTube, you can see the results of the past two weeks. Pretty fun to look at it. You know, the Lakers were taken in the round two, both of the last two weeks, out of the playoffs now. Timberwolves. By me, twice in round two. By you. Kept being fooled. Fooled again. Fooled again.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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The Wolves didn't even make an appearance yesterday. Until last week, they were taken in the third round. Let's see about this one. Now, Mike, because you're our guest, this is a snake draft. You get to decide which slot you would like to draft from. So if you're like really confident, you think you know who's going to win the championship, you would take the number one pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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But maybe you want to hedge and you want to be number three because then you get three and four. So it's up to you. Yeah, I think I'm going to hedge. I'm going to go third. Third. Okay. Yeah. So looking over, it looks like, Andrew, you've never had the number one pick, which means you're going to get the number one pick this week. Who would you like to take?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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So that leaves me the option of taking Boston for the third week in a row. Yep. But... I want to honor the fact that the Cavs are making me rethink things in this past week. Oh. The way in which they dismantled Miami. And I get it. It's Miami. But... Yeah, we just talked about this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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But if you're going to be impressive beating them, that's how you would do it. That's where you just leave no questions. Sure. And... They just look so good, especially offensively. They really look like they just cannot be stopped. So in honor of that, I'm switching it up this week because it's getting closer for me. And so I'm going Cleveland with my number two pick.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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also say they've always played OKC very well. They have so many perimeter defenders to throw at Shea and Dub, and those games have always been exhausting to watch. And if it ends up as a conference finals, the Wolves and the Thunder, those are going to be some ugly games because I feel like every Wolves Thunder game has been disgusting over the last two years.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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alright so my second pick you know what I'm going to guarantee myself a conference finalist by taking the Indiana Pacers so now Andrew I'm guaranteed I get one okay all the way to the conference finals already and who would you like to take Andrew you get two picks two picks let's see I'll take I'll take Denver Now you're going to take both sides of the game seven?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Are you saying you favor Denver in game seven as the home team?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yeah, I feel similar with them as I feel about Denver, where at some point in these series, I'm just like, these teams are so thin. How is this going to work out? But then they still win.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Well, thank you, Andrew. I'll go ahead and take the Clippers, who I am now favoring in game seven. Well, thank you. Well, thank you. And Mike, you get the great choice of choosing between the Houston Rockets or the New York Knicks, who you just said could only win a game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Okay, so that's the end of the third week of the NBA championship draft. Andrew, you have OKC Denver Gold State. I have Cleveland, Indiana Clippers. And Mike has Boston, Minnesota, Houston. Now, we move on to the Western Conference. So the Clippers, they pushed their series with Denver to a game seven on Thursday night. They beat the Nuggets 111 to 105.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Which of those teams do you think has the best shot against OKC in the second round?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Well, let's talk about some of the teams that are no longer with us in the East playoffs. And starting with the team you just mentioned, the Miami Heat. So they won the fewest games they've won since 2015. It's their second straight first-round exit in the 1-8 matchup after finishing the play-in again. How bad do you think Miami's situation is right now? They're not Phoenix, all right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yeah, I feel like Denver could most easily replicate the Maverick series where it's Luca passing open to wide open shooters who you don't really trust. But all of a sudden they're hitting their threes. I could see that happening. I could see Russ hitting, you know, like three or five from three point land against the Thunder and just being super annoying. Because, yeah, I kind of agree.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Like the Clippers seem like the more obvious option. Bad matchup because they have those perimeter defenders. They have so many more. Their defense is just worlds better than the Nuggets. And they have so many more guys they could throw at Shea and Dub. But yeah, the way the Nuggets have been playing these last couple games, even tonight, I was just like, man, they're so hard to kill.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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And then all of a sudden, a quick 6-0 run. So who are you picking in game seven? Sounds like you would favor the Nuggets. Yeah, I think I'm going to take Denver.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yeah, I mean, the Julius Randall thing in particular, even though I told myself like this whole narrative about Julius Randall being terrible in the playoffs, it's based on such a small sample. And part of that sample, we knew he was injured. We knew he was injured. And yet it just became such a popular narrative that you just assumed going into the playoffs, he was going to be bad.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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But his style of bully ball was so terrifying in that series. And I'm looking ahead to future potential opponents like him playing that bully ball against the Golden State Warriors. Like, yeah, I could see that working against the Warriors. And so I am starting to drastically change my ceiling for this Wolves team because it does feel like everything is just coalescing at the perfect time.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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We don't think they're Phoenix. But do you see a clear path forward without a rebuild?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yeah, compared to the Lakers, Nuggets, Warriors, they have eight guys you trust. And none of those other teams can say that. I feel great about DiVincenzo, Naha, and Nas. That's an amazing bench for the playoffs. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I love, I love the Thompson twins so much. Like watching that game tonight. I know he got like the last shot was bad with, but the play right before that, where he just like bodied up Jalen Brunson on the perimeter, didn't use his hands like at all until he absolutely needed to. Those dudes are just so good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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So back to the Lakers. They're heading in the offseason. The focus once again is on acquiring a center after the Mark Williams trade fell through. Do you feel that this Lakers roster is one center away from being a top tier contender in the West? Or do you still have significant questions about the rest of the roster?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Just by his comments, are you talking about?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I mean, Derek Lively would be very nice. Yeah. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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And the other first that they somehow didn't get in the trade. Yeah. I could not. I just cannot do it. All right. Mike, it's time to play Andrew versus the beat. Our weekly trivia show where Andrew goes head to head with a beat writer. Now, Mike, how this works, I've come up with eight questions.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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All these questions that I've come up with this week are all about, they're all related to the first round of the playoffs in some way. So there's eight questions. You'll give me a number between one and eight. It will correspond to a question. If you get it right, you'll get at least two points.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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If you get it wrong, Andrew will have a chance to steal for one, and then we'll go back and forth until all the questions have been asked and answered. So to start us off, Mike, I just need a number between one and eight. All right, let's do three. Question number three. During game five against the Clippers, Russell Westbrook had his first playoff game scoring 20 plus points off the bench.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yeah, it's tough, especially with Bam's contract. I'm really torn. What team would that contract make sense for? Because when he's the top played player on your team, it's just not going to work. That's not going to work long term. You're talking about a Giannis trade. I feel like it would have to include Bam. And then at that point, what's left when Giannis arrives in Miami? So, yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Who holds the NBA record for most playoff games with 20 plus points off the bench?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yes, that is correct. I didn't want to get him confused with another Manu. Yeah, see, some of them are easy sometimes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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There's no way that's what it is. I will say Kevin McHale was close I think it was like 27 games to 24 games but it was Manu okay Andrew board is yours oh wait I don't know why I marked out five it's it was three do you think there will ever be another player like Manu ever that will that is that good willing to come off the bench yeah We thought James Harden was that guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Andrew, focus. Choose a number. Number one. Sorry. Question number one. In game five, the Minnesota Timberwolves shot 14.9% from three on 47 attempts. Over the last decade, which two NBA teams have shot under 20% six times each in the playoffs? And you get one point per correct answer. So last decade, they each had six games where they shot under 20% from three. Wow. Six games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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2015-16. My brain just immediately goes to Houston. But
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Andrew, that is incorrect. Mike, you have a chance to steal. All right. How about the Philadelphia 76ers? That feels right. Well, it feels wrong to me, Andrew, because it's wrong.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I will say that was the hardest question. The two. Now, Andrew, you're going to kick yourself because when you start thinking about it, Oklahoma City Thunder, those okay three years, they had some terrible playoff games. You're talking about playoff P? I'm talking about playoff P. Yeah, I am. And the other team. I was close. Just the wrong P team. I was thinking. That's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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And the other one is the Miami Heat. which like sort of makes sense because they've played a lot of playoff games. But on the other hand, part of that run from the eighth seed was because they were shooting so well. I know. All right. So still to zip. Mike, you have control. The board five is still available. I've recircled it. You know what?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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OK. In game five against the Lakers, Rudy Gobert had 27 points and 24 rebounds. The other active players who have recorded a 2020 game with rebounds in the playoffs are all Hall of Famers. or Hall of Fame blocks, let's say, except one. Okay. So it's Jokic, Giannis, AD, LeBron. All those guys have had a 2020 game in the playoffs.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Who is the active player that will not be making the Hall of Fame, but did have a 2020 game in the playoffs?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I don't really know what they do either. It feels like they have one more year where they have to get through some of these contracts with Terry Rozier, and then they can start making some decisions. But it might be another year of just... trying to make the play in as the 10 seed, getting into the 1-8 matchup again. It's hard to see it being something else.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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OK, I just checked Hall of Fame probability on basketball reference. Zero point zero percent.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Well, Mike, the way I'm going to tell you you're wrong is that Andre Drummond's Hall of Fame probability is 1.7%. That means Vooch's has to be higher. All right, Andrew, you have any guesses? I do have a guess. Okay. What about Jonas Valanciunas? Okay, so first of all, Vucevic Hall of Fame probability, 0.9%.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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The correct answer was Jonas Valanciunas. Congrats, Andrew.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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That was impressive. That was a good poll. He is a beast. Okay, Andrew, you have control of the board. I'll go to number two. Question number two. Okay, this is a fun one. James Harden has played in 172 playoff games in his career. In what percentage of those games did Harden score 15 or fewer points? Now, before you answer, you get to choose who answers first.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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So you can make Mike give a percentage and then you go higher or lower, or you could choose the percentage and make Mike go higher or lower. If you let Mike answer, though, and he gets it exactly correct, he would get a bonus point. I'm going to guess the percentage.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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The percentage of playoff games that James Harden has scored 15 or fewer points. Wow. The percentage.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Um, and if you're hard and lover, I came up with this question after game five, he had a great game game six, 28, six and eight. Congrats. That was one of the games. 27%. Okay, Mike. Wow. Andrew has set the bar at 27% of James Harden's games, playoff games, James Harden's games, that he has scored 15 or fewer points. Would you like to go higher or lower?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Andrew, you're within two percentage points. Wow. The correct answer is... Twenty five percent. Mike gets the point, man. Quarter of his games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Wow. Andrew, obviously, you're a James Harden hater. You were. Did you have to lower your number? Were you originally thinking like 40 percent?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I'll go ahead and take six. Question number six. There are two NBA franchises whose last playoff win came prior to the existence of the COVID-19 virus. Who are they? So you get one point per correct answer. So the last time these teams won, COVID-19 wasn't a thing yet. Who are those teams? Wow, it's really only two teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Won a game, is that what you said? Yeah, won a playoff game. But it's only two teams. The other 28 teams all did it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I'm going to tell you right off the bat. Oh, wrong. That is wrong. Because they did. They won one game in the 21 playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. With Russ on the team, right? They won game four. That's right. I knew Russ was on the team the last time they won one. I just could not figure out what year that was. Russ had a 19, 21, and 14 in that game on three of 19 shooting. Yo.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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What a good Russ line. Okay, Andrew, you could steal two points here. You can get this right. Hornets. Hornets is one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Andrew, that's why I chose this question, because I didn't think your brain would let you choose the Spurs. But yes, it is the San Antonio Spurs. Impressive. Which means we have a tie game with two questions left. Who's turn is it? Andrew. Wait, is it? I'll take. Yeah, I'll take four. Oh, there's three questions left. That's why I got confused. Okay. Good thing we have the sheet. Yeah, I have to.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Nikola Jokic recorded his 21st. Actually, did he tonight? Did he have a triple-double tonight? Would that be his 27th? He did not. He did not. Okay. Jokic has 21 career playoff triple doubles. Okay. He recorded number 21 during game five of the Clippers series. That puts him third all time for most playoff triple doubles. We're going to name the other nine players in the top 10.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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So how this works is Andrew will give me a name. Then Mike will give me a name and we'll go back and forth until one of you stumbles. So these are top 10 playoff triple doubles. LeBron James. He is number two on the list. Mike. Magic Johnson. He's number one on the list. Andrew. Russ. He's number. Well, actually, now he's fourth on the list.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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James Harden? Not on the list. Oh, God. Andrew, you have any other names? Jason Kidd? He was next on the list. Number five. Bird? Any other names? Keep going. Bird? Bird, next on the list. Oh my gosh. Next on the list. Andrew, you've done four in a row. Westbrook, Kid, Bird, Rondo. Can you get the final three? You won't, but it'd be cool. Wilt? Wilt is number 10. Now you just need eight and nine.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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You don't even get extra points for this. This is just showing off. Yeah, this is pretty cool. Luca? Luca, number nine. Andrew, can you get the final name?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Oh, sorry, Andrew. You got that wrong, which means I can't give you any points. It was Draymond, Jimmy. Oh, Draymond. Now that makes sense. It does make sense, but it's hard when they don't score a lot of points to think of... I would have never gotten a Draymond. Yeah, I'm thinking about point guards mostly. Okay, Mike, you're down by two, but you have control of the board. Two questions left.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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All right, let's do it. Seven. Question number seven. Gary Trent Jr. and Jamal Murray both had games with eight plus three pointers this week. Gary Trent Jr. actually two of them. That's crazy. There are five players whose teams are still in the playoffs as of Thursday night. And who have had a playoff game in their career where they hit eight plus three pointers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Now, the question is, who are they? You can get five points on this question. But I'm so confident you won't that I'm giving you the chance to get five points. So teams currently in the playoffs and they just had to have a game in their career. It doesn't have to be this year. Game of their career where they had eight plus three pointers.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yes. You have to do it for sure. In the playoffs. Sixers. And your team has to be in the playoffs right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Jamal Murray. That is incorrect, Andrew. Really? Because he was in the question. I literally read his name.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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So you guys didn't even fall in my trap. The entire reason I asked this question is because Steph hasn't done it. And I thought for sure you would say Steph first.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I would have gotten around to that one. The other names, one was this year. Jalen Green did it this year. Never got there. Fred Van Vliet, his teammate, also has done it. Dante Vincenzo, who we talked about previously, has done it. And Mike, a Boston Celtic, did it. Derek White. Derek White. Yeah, I remember that now. Wow. Okay, final question. Andrew, you get first dips.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Going back to the 2020-21 playoffs, so the last five playoffs, including this season, which player has won the most playoff games who is not a Boston Celtic? Say it one more time. I saw you were excited there for a second. I was like, got this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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say it one more time okay going back last five playoffs including this season which player has won the most playoff games who is not a Boston Celtic wow last five this is tricky
The Athletic NBA Daily
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That is incorrect. Mike, you have a chance to steal. Man, that was going to be my guess.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Also incorrect. Would you believe someone who has more playoff wins over the last five seasons than Jimmy Butler? You ready for this? Cam Payne. That's not even the answer. I'm just letting you know. Oh, wow. That's one of the people who has more than Jimmy Butler. Wow. Phoenix, yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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No, the correct answer, which if you had gotten it, I would have been so impressed because you just don't even think of this guy right now. P.J. Tucker is the answer. Come on. 34 wins. Wow. He is seventh on the list among active players, technically active players. I know he doesn't play.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I'll look at his right now. Combined. How dare you, Andrew? He had nine of those 34 double digits. OK, wow. Now, hold on now. Six of those, zero points. Wow. So Batum wasn't up there, huh? He wasn't. You know, let me control F, see if I can find him. There he is. 79th. 79th. So close. Right. Tied with Xavier Tillman Sr. Oh, hey. There you go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Also tied with Nas Reid and Karl-Anthony Towns. Karl-Anthony Towns got one more tonight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Is a different person telling me? I think it is. Okay. Can I defend myself for one second? Because Andrew, I went back. Me and Andrew have a different podcast called Down to Dunk. We do over-unders at the beginning of the season. I went back to my original Word document where we talked about the Clippers. Do you know what their over-under was at that time? 40 and a half. Oh, really?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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But it is true that if you go to Basketball Reference Now, which is what I use when I'm looking at past teams, it is 35 and a half.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Well, it feels like they're pretty locked in. I can't imagine them trading one of Paulo, Franz, or Suggs. That would be a really aggressive trade. And yet, if you're not trading those three guys and you look at what else is on the roster, you're talking about Anthony Black. Okay, might be interesting to some team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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They do have a pretty juicy pick next year, which is the worst of the Wizards and Suns pick. So that's pretty good. That's a nice juicy pick. You know, they have Wendell Carter Jr. I don't know.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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So when I start looking at like those types of assets, I'm thinking someone like more on the level of like an Anthony Simons who you might be able to get at a little bit of a discount compared to if you're trading for Trey Young or someone like that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I mean, honestly, if they'd just been healthy this season, I think they would have taken the next step. Like, I think they would have been a top six playoff team and we would have been talking about their season differently. But then they lose Suggs. They have to play Boston the first round. You kind of know it's going to be a first round exit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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But if that had been like a 6-3 matchup against the Knicks and they have Suggs, like, I think that's a lot more interesting. So it's possible that they kind of run it back and just bring in like even the lower tier guard than Anthony Simons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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He's not a good defender. Very bad. But if there was a team that could absorb that You would think it'd be Orlando, but then I think about the Boston matchup and why that matchup is so problematic for the Celtics is that the magic can switch everything. And the Celtics love to attack weak links. And so if you do have Simons on that team, how does it flip that Celtics matchup going forward?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I don't know. It's going to hunt him. They will definitely be hunting.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I love Kobe White. Contract alone. I mean, they're both expiring next year. Yeah. Kobe White makes 12.9 million. Yeah. And Anthony Simons makes like 25, somewhere around there. I don't know what those guys' extension numbers could potentially be. I mean, you're going to have to pay them a lot of money going forward, but.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yeah, I could see it because there's the Magic's roster is starting to get a little pricey. I mean, Franz is up for his extension is going to kick in. So, yeah, I don't know. They're one of the more interesting teams to me because it does feel like what we saw at the beginning of the season, like that was a really good team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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And so if you can just tweak it a little bit and stay healthy for an entire season, I feel like it's not out of the realm of possibility. That's a home court advantage team next year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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Yeah, it's really nice. The Pistons almost gave us a game seven. It was so close. But in the end, it was Jalen Brunson shaking Asar Thompson, ending Detroit season, hitting a three pointer. What are your thoughts on Cade Cunningham now? You've seen him in his first playoff series. Has your opinion changed on him at all? And, you know, how the Pistons should build around him going forward?
The Athletic NBA Daily
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I'm going to take Orlando just because I feel like the Franz-Paulo combo... We're still working out the fit, obviously, because of Franz's shooting. But having those two guys versus Cade plus whoever, whether you want to say Ivy or Asar or Jalen Duren, I just like that core of the Magic better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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It's amazing that after four years of Troy Weaver, we're coming out and you're taking the Detroit Pistons.
The Athletic NBA Daily
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It actually reminded me, they didn't really show the fans at the end of that game, but I was wondering if the fans were going to give like a standing ovation because it reminded me of that game that the Thunder had against the Lakers way back in the day when they were the eighth seed. It was their first playoffs. I think they lost in six, right? Yeah.