The Athletic NBA Daily
Ja Morant and Westbrook Blunders + Nets Need Lottery Luck | Slam N Jam
Sat, 05 Apr 2025
Andrew Schlecht and Alex Speers discuss the week of NBA Basketball, the most improved player, and our players, stats and quotes of the week. Then they are joined by Mike Smeltz to discuss the Brooklyn Nets and what prospects are worth building with, coach Jordi Fernandez and his potential, which players they should target in the draft, and more. Then the boys play a fun edition of Andrew vs. the Beat, a trivia game where Andrew is pitted against a beat writer.Host: Andrew Schlecht and Alex SpeersWith: Mike SmeltzExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio/Video Editor: Jake KleinbergFILL OUT OUR SURVEY PLEASEThe athletic.com/athletic/survey25 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What are the top stories in the NBA this week?
Well, Andrew, the top story this week was the race to the finish line in the Western Conference with the fourth seed through eighth seed only separated by two games. First, it was a big week for the Wolves. The Wolves won all four of their games this week and did so loudly. In a win over the Pistons, we got a big old dust-up in only the second quarter.
This started between Nas Reed and rookie Ron Holland. Confrontation between Reed and Holland quickly grew as Dante DiVincenzo, Beef Stew got into the mix, and the mass of players and coaches went into the first row under the basket. In the end, five players and two coaches were ejected from the game.
Four players I mentioned plus Marcus Sasser were suspended a game, though Beef Stew got an extra one for his history of on-court beef. And in their very next game, the Wolves were involved in one of the more memorable games of the year, a double overtime win over the Nuggets in Denver, their sixth straight win over Denver going back to last year's playoffs.
For the Wolves, it was Anthony Edwards who scored 24 of his 34 in the fourth quarter in overtime, and Akeel Alexander-Walker scored 26, including five three-pointers and the game-winning free throws after Russell Westbrook fouled his three-point attempt as time expired in the second overtime.
Now for the Nuggets, it was already a tough loss, but it was made even tougher because Nikola Jokic had one of his best games ever, putting up 61 points, which is a career high for Jokic and the most points scored by any player this season. He also had his customary 10 rebounds, 10 assists, making it the first ever 60 point triple double.
And to add insult to injury, the Wolves game was the first night of a back-to-back for Denver. They had to play the Spurs the next night, and because Jokic had played 53 minutes, head coach Michael Malone opted to rest him, leading to a second straight loss.
The Nuggets remain third in the West, however, but just a half game up on the Lakers, while the Timberwolves have the same record as the Grizzlies, who are currently in sixth. Those two teams will meet next Thursday in a game that could decide the final guaranteed playoff spot.
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Chapter 2: How did the Wolves perform in their recent games?
Elsewhere in the West, the Golden State Warriors continued their charge up the standings, also winning all four of their games this week, including two crucial ones over the Grizzlies and the Lakers. In the win against the Grizzlies, Steph had 52-10-8, including 12 three-pointers. It was Steph's fourth career game with 12-plus three-pointers.
He and Klay are the only players in NBA history who have done that more than once. Jimmy Butler scored 27 in the game, which was his highest as a Warrior, and Draymond had a 13-10-12 triple-double. Now in the win against the Lakers, Steph was good again, 37, but it was Brandon Pajemski who was the X-Factor, scoring 28, including a career-high 8 three-pointers.
In the 20 games Brandon Pajemski has played since the Jimmy Butler trade, Pods is averaging 14-6-3 while shooting 41% from three-point land. The Warriors have moved all the way up to the fifth spot, only a game back of the Lakers and a game and a half back of Denver. And by the time you hear this, Golden State will have had a huge matchup versus Denver on Friday night.
Now at the top of the West, OKC's winning streak continued, stretching to 11 straight wins after winning all four of their games by an average margin of 21 and a half this week. The Thunder are now 64 and 12, 14 and a half games up on the second seed Rockets, who the Thunder play on Friday night. This week, we'll also see the Thunder play the Lakers twice in three days.
Two juicy matchups that could preview a future playoff matchup, but are also critically important for the Lakers' final seating. In the East, the Cavs cross the 60-win mark with back-to-back impressive wins over the Clippers and Knicks. This is the first time in franchise history the Cavs have won 60 games without LeBron James on the team.
And at 61-15, the Cavs have a chance to set the franchise record for wins at 67 if they win their final six games.
now the bucks who had their first full week without damian lillard they got two needed wins after a four game losing streak combined with the pistons losses to minnesota and okc the bucks have jumped back ahead of the pistons as of friday morning in the standings for the time being but something to look ahead to is the final two games of the season when the bucks and pistons play twice in three days
Now, at the bottom of the standings, the Sixers announced this week that Tyrese Maxey would be out for the rest of the season. Not too concerning. But more importantly, it was announced that Joel Embiid will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee that's been bothering him all season, and he'll be reevaluated in six weeks.
Finally, Andrew, it was announced this week that Carmelo Anthony will be elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Carmelo won a NCAA championship as a freshman at Syracuse. He won three consecutive gold medals as a member of the Olympics team and had a decorated NBA career, making 10 All-Star Games, six All-NBA teams and making the NBA's 75th anniversary team.
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Chapter 3: What were the highlights from the Ja Morant game?
the so again i think the only way that something big happens is if they get cooper flag if not then it's like we're gonna suck next year we're gonna continue to build a young team and then we'll do the whole like we'll trade all the next picks for a guy at some point the the discontented superstar that comes around the corner
Could bring Brooke Lopez back. Does that excite you?
God. Does that do anything? If they bring Brooke back, they need to sign Joe Johnson again and bring back Joe Johnson, you know?
Agreed. You know who could be a free agent, Mike? Kyrie Irving.
He'd have the return. Yeah. He would be welcome back with open arms. I did say, you know... my buddy Brian does not feel this way. I, I had, I have made my peace with Kyrie. Like I felt he has like gone to Dallas and like been a positive force and not like he was really bad.
I think like, obviously we all fascinate on the, the vaccines and then the antisemitic videos, but he was like actively damaging the team, you know? And so, but yeah, I don't, I don't want him back in Brooklyn. There is a segment of the fan base that would definitely be so fired up if we came back. Really?
Yeah, because there's psychos that came in, not in a derogatory way, just like the Kyrie fans became... Oh, yeah. Brian and I talked about this a lot. It was like... So when we, pre-Kyrie, pre-KD, we were like, you know, like this, like your punk rock, your favorite punk rock band before they hit it big on the charts, right? Like that was the fan base.
It was like a small, intimate, you knew everyone, everyone had the same mentality. And then Kyrie, KD come and it's like, It's like one of the punk rock band members started dating a Kardashian, and then one of them dated Taylor Swift. And then those fan bases merged on top of this tiny little fun club that we had that we didn't want the attention. And then some of them have lingered to care about
about the team on some level. And they're just, it's just like, it's still a clash of personality in the fan base. It's been, it's been a wild ride and understanding like NBA fandom to be a Nets fan over these past 10 years or so for sure.
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Chapter 4: What is the current state of the Brooklyn Nets?
He had it for like 24 hours. Right. But like, he's an awesome coach. JB Bicker staff, like, We – I think that actually is – we may be in the golden era of NBA coaches right now. Possibly. And I actually – I would rather like long-term future have a good player that maybe I can flip for something else down the road than like a really good coach because Taylor Jenkins gets fired.
God, you know, like someone's going to get Taylor Jenkins for nothing. And I think if you did this with a Grizz fan last year, people would be like, oh – There's nothing that I would part for to give up Taylor Jenkins. He's going to be available and get a big contract from Matt Ishbia. this off season.
So, wow. Mike, you're coming across as very smart and sane with your answer to this question. I was hoping I didn't even get to get to my final one, which was going to be way too quickly.
You get Jalen green. You don't know what other offers are about to be on the table, but yeah, I'll take Jalen green.
Would you rather have Geordie Fernandez or Jalen green and Taylor Jenkins? Right? Like that's I'll take that. You know what I'm saying? I'm just saying, you know, I love Geordie Fernandez. He's great. He did injure aunt Edwards last. No, no, He had an amazing response though. Did you see what he said?
He said, I really tried to get out of the way and I have to be faster because the player's health is the most important thing. And like, that is like a... that like mindset, that's my favorite thing about Jordy is that like, he has that modern mindset for a coach.
I mean, he's only however old he is, you know, he's, and he's like that, like artful way to kind of talk about a superstar and be like, I gotta, like, I gotta get out of the way. Like their player, the player's health is the most important thing. Like that's not how Lionel Hollins talked. Right. So that's, I, I do appreciate that mindset. Um,
And I do think that has a huge impact on how players feel. I will say the Nets are probably the best vibes tanking team in a very long time. They just have good vibes. Even Cam Johnson's still seemingly happy to be a Net as his name was in trade rumors for 18 months. I love Jorgie, but yeah. I'm a Jim and Joe's guys, not X's and O's.
Yeah. Just so the listeners know, I had like eight more of those to do.
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Chapter 5: Who should the Nets target in the upcoming draft?
Chapter 6: What are the implications of the Nets' draft lottery position?
Chapter 7: How does Andrew vs. the Beat trivia game work?
welcome to the saturday slam and jam here on the athletic nba daily on today's show we're talking about the most approved player our players of the week and mike smeltz joins the show to talk about the brooklyn nets uh before we get to al's top stories of the week we're going to direct you guys to our quick survey about your podcasting habits go to theathletic.com athletic survey25
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Again, if you want this to be a review for Slammin' Jam specifically, you need to leave it for the Athletic NBA Daily. So please go do that. We would very much appreciate that. With me today, my good friend Alex Spears. Alex, tell me about the top stories this week.
Well, Andrew, the top story this week was the race to the finish line in the Western Conference with the fourth seed through eighth seed only separated by two games. First, it was a big week for the Wolves. The Wolves won all four of their games this week and did so loudly. In a win over the Pistons, we got a big old dust-up in only the second quarter.
This started between Nas Reed and rookie Ron Holland. Confrontation between Reed and Holland quickly grew as Dante DiVincenzo, Beef Stew got into the mix, and the mass of players and coaches went into the first row under the basket. In the end, five players and two coaches were ejected from the game.
Four players I mentioned plus Marcus Sasser were suspended a game, though Beef Stew got an extra one for his history of on-court beef. And in their very next game, the Wolves were involved in one of the more memorable games of the year, a double overtime win over the Nuggets in Denver, their sixth straight win over Denver going back to last year's playoffs.
For the Wolves, it was Anthony Edwards who scored 24 of his 34 in the fourth quarter in overtime, and Akeel Alexander-Walker scored 26, including five three-pointers and the game-winning free throws after Russell Westbrook fouled his three-point attempt as time expired in the second overtime.
Now for the Nuggets, it was already a tough loss, but it was made even tougher because Nikola Jokic had one of his best games ever, putting up 61 points, which is a career high for Jokic and the most points scored by any player this season. He also had his customary 10 rebounds, 10 assists, making it the first ever 60 point triple double.
And to add insult to injury, the Wolves game was the first night of a back-to-back for Denver. They had to play the Spurs the next night, and because Jokic had played 53 minutes, head coach Michael Malone opted to rest him, leading to a second straight loss.
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