The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Wed, 12 Feb 2025
Kevin Durant scored 35 points to pass 30,000 all time as the Phoenix Suns lost to the Memphis Grizzlies. Dave DuFour and Zena Keita react to KD’s milestone night and discuss whether the Sixers should shut it down after an embarrassing loss. Then, the Athletic’s James Edwards joins the show to catch up on the Knicks big win in Indiana, Karl-Anthony Towns’ success, and why Josh Hart is so impactful to winning.Host: Dave DuFourWith: Zena Keita and James EdwardsExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Grayson MoodyJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Ua2qrEe7 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened during Kevin Durant's milestone night?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. Coming up, believe it or not, the Sixers are down pretty bad right now. The Grizzlies beat the Suns in spite of KD passing the 30,000 point mark. And we have James Edwards on to talk about the Knicks and their big win over the Pacers. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Zena. Before we get started, I want to tell you guys a bit of exciting news.
We launched a Discord. Now, Zena, I don't really know what Discord is, but I don't either. It's like a chat room. No, no, no, no.
you know it's like it's like a chat for the for the show uh we're gonna take questions there it's place for us to hang out during games maybe you know uh try to build a little community here i'll include that like it'll be in the show description and show notes so uh please join us and uh come talk hoops with us it'll be fun you can teach us how to use it how about that you know like they can i love that teach us how to use it um
Look, it seems so often that we've been tied up in trade minutia and trade news. It's nice to finally be back to the games.
It's only been a week, Dave. I know.
It's only been a week. No, it's been like two weeks. The Luka trade just killed me. So we're back to the games. It's been like many years. We're back to the games. The Sixers having just not a great season, but hey. Three games in a row where they have Paul George, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey out there. Finally, things looking good. Oh, wait, no. They've lost all three of those games.
They've lost four in a row, Zena. And this fourth one might be the most embarrassing one. They just look completely lifeless. And they were doing it at home in front of the Super Bowl champion Eagles who showed up. And the game ends, and I'm just going to jump straight to the end. They lose to the Raptors because the Raptors have turned into this punchy team who's doing things.
We're going to have to talk to someone up there, maybe just us. But the end of the game, Joel Embiid, it's his moment. This is the reason he has the big five-year $300 million left on his contract. Gets the ball wide open, 10 seconds left. They're down two. He has a chance to win or maybe take a step in, tie the game up, and instead, he doesn't look comfortable. He does a little drive.
He loses the ball and somehow dribbles the ball off the back of his head. I feel bad for him because he doesn't look right physically, Zena, but
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Chapter 2: Should the Sixers shut it down after recent losses?
The next two guys, actually, that have a shot at 30,000 is James Harden and Russell Westbrook. So that's a heck of a big three.
It's so crazy to think that when you watch posters of the three of them together, people are going to be like, this isn't a real poster. This is AI, right? They were really together on one team. Wow. That is actually surreal. And it is really crazy that we're getting to watch Kevin Durant and LeBron James just still be in their primes, right? And tonight, it was not just the offense.
It was the defense you mentioned, Dave. Yeah. When he hit his 26 points in that third quarter, it felt as if not only was he energized, the team was energized, the arena was more energized, and all of a sudden, they started making the Grizzlies speed up. Everything was in the favor of the Phoenix Suns. And it was like, all right, cool. Kevin can still do this.
He can still be the center point and the focal point of an offense getting going, of a defense getting going. It was cool to see the dog come out of him. He was...
handling jaron jackson jr i think that's important to note like who his assignment was towards the end of the game was tying up jaron jackson jr keeping him off of the boards and you could just see how hungry he still is even after hitting that 30 000 milestone it's it's really a lucky thing we get to watch
KD is a good enough player that we're talking about the game like the Suns won. You know what I mean? I know. He's a special enough player that we kind of did that. I will say the Grizzlies, look, they're just a better basketball team than the Suns. But the Suns might have stumbled into a starting center because Bol Bol – He put up 18 points, 14 rebounds, had a few blocks.
But most importantly for the Suns, spaced the floor. He took 10 threes. He hit three of them. So maybe Shaq was on to something. I'm just saying.
And he hit a big three at the end of the game, too, to put them in a good position. So, yeah.
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Chapter 3: What does Joel Embiid's performance signify for the Sixers?
That's right. The Bulls could have used them, especially at the start of the game. We're not going to talk about this game because the Pistons just dusted them. They could have doubled up the score.
But you have to say the stat, Dave. What was the stat to start the game for the Bulls? They started the game...
0 for 20 from 3.
In today's NBA, folks?
Unbelievable. Unacceptable. They scored 29 points in the first half. Man, the Bulls are just sad, Zena. And finally, before we go to break, Jaleel Okafor played three minutes for the Indiana Pacers. Welcome back, Jaleel. That's right. He last played the NBA in the 2020-2021 season. He played for the Pistons. But this guy, you know, Highly touted prospect. Number two pick in the draft.
Obviously, it doesn't work out for him because he's this big man, throwback guy coming up when everyone's looking for a stretch big. But we're big on bigs on this show, not just you. And this guy fought and clawed and came back, got a 10-day contract. This is a great story.
I respect anyone that finds their way back into the NBA. It is so competitive, especially when you're not a stretch big. You're a more traditional post. Jaleel Okafor, we're giving you your flowers. Good for you. Welcome back.
Insanely skilled player who's so much fun to watch. So I don't know. He's probably not going to contribute all that much, but still great story. Guys, stick around after the break. We got James Edwards late. We kept him up late.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of the Sixers' injuries this season?
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.
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.
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.
There's so much that you just listed out there that I want to kind of branch off of. but one particularly stands out. And I think it's related and it's related to Carl Anthony towns because of course he had a phenomenal game, a 40 burger, 12 rebounds, also seven assists, which is something that we have to give him credit for this year.
He has been a phenomenal distributor, but there was also plays throughout the game that you saw that if he was in transition on defense, or if he was in the pick and roll on defense, he kind of got burned quite a few times. And when you think about the New York Knicks and their, strive to be contenders, the defense is the problem.
S, you know, our teammate, if you guys listen to the show, noticed a tweet that said, Nick's defensive rating versus opponent offensive rank. If a team is in the bottom 10th, then the Knicks are eighth overall in their defensive rating over them. Handle the bottom 10 really well.
But if they're in the middle 10 or in the top 10 in terms of offense, the Knicks are 25th and 27th in defensive rating against those types of teams. They can't defend good offensive firepower type of teams. What is the answer to that if the Knicks want to contend?
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.
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.
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Chapter 5: How did the Knicks perform against the Pacers?
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.
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.
There were stretches against the Pacers where I did think Cat played some really good defense. And the thing is, you don't see it enough out of him. And there's an argument maybe he uses up so much energy on the offensive end. I don't buy that because there's plenty of people who can play both ways. But it is what it is. And maybe with that defense, look,
we know cat can play next to a big you know his floor spacing maybe mitchell robinson if he comes back it'll help shore things up i want to talk about josh josh hart a little bit because he's been overlooked a little bit absolutely 30 points 10 rebounds, first 30 and 10 for Josh Hart. You go look at his numbers and you compare him to some of these all-star guys.
You consider it like 10 rebounds a game at 6'4", you know, some of the things that he does. Man, I'm not willing to make the argument directly that he's an all-star or got snubbed, but it's not that crazy of a conversation.
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.
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Chapter 6: What challenges do the Knicks face against top teams?
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.
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,
impactful he is to winning, especially at his size. Well, he's weird.
He's a weird player, James, in a good way, right? He is this purpose-built tool, almost, designed to do only the things that he does, and he's just one of these rare guys that's happy doing it. I mean, he's a special player in my opinion.
Chapter 7: What can we expect from the Knicks moving forward?
He's got a motor to him and a relentlessness to him. I mean, when you think about one of the most... advantageous things that he does for his game, it's the O boards. And when you think about offensive rebounding in the game of basketball, it is all about having a motor. It's all about having a nose for the ball. Everyone is in position to block you out.
And somehow six, four, Josh Hart is getting tips is getting the ball in. He's getting rebounds. He's getting put backs. He's getting points for his team and opportunities for his team. And he's, it's not like this is a new thing.
aspect for him he was doing this at Villanova like this is just who he is as a player and it is it is I agree with you in that when you think about players that are impacting winning those type of plays and the types of plays that he makes absolutely do that for the Knicks
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.
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.
And I think Josh should know when to fly hard around a screen and take a bump and draw the offensive foul too. I mean, like, He just plays the game in four dimensions at all times. And it goes unnoticed too often. I mean, we get excited about Josh Hart. I mean, it's kind of like a man and a czar, right?
I was just going to say the Thompson twins give me a similar vibe to them. And I think that's why we have an appreciation for their game. And it's exciting for the Thompson twins because they're just going to continue to build that. But Josh Hart is obviously, he's operating at a championship level to me, I think. Yeah, for sure. In the way that he approaches it. It's cool.
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.
And then Josh Hart, like 70 percent at the rim is insane for a guard.
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