Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily presented by Amazon Prime for March 27th, 2026. I'm Dave DeFore here with Fred Katz. Coming up, we go deep on the playoff races in the East and the West, and we talk about Fred's all-surprise teams. Good morning, everybody. What is up? Fred Katz in the house. How are you, man? I'm doing great.
Chapter 2: What are the most interesting potential playoff matchups?
I'm doing wonderfully.
You know, I see your name all the time. Other people talking about how good you are on podcasts. I thought you should know that.
Well, that's just proof they're not listening to me on podcast, my friend.
I don't know if that's true. You're everyone's favorite guest. I mean, you always have something interesting to talk about. You know, you watch everything.
Yeah, I do. I unfortunately watch everything. If that's your way of saying I don't really have anything better to do, then I guess that part is true. We'll consider this podcast, in that case, my flu game.
I'm fighting through it.
I'm ready to go. Ready to talk some ball.
I appreciate you, buddy. I really want to talk about the playoff race with you. You know, again, you watch as much basketball as anybody. What is your what is your favorite little micro race right now? Is it is it the West 456? Is it OKC San Antonio? I mean, what are you watching right now?
Well, I think you kind of have to define... You know what? You don't have to define favorite. I'm going to say it is 4-5-6 in the West. I'm going to leave the Lakers out of it. Yeah. Just because... if we get nuggets wolves in the first round, no matter who the four and who the five is, that's going to be the first round series.
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Chapter 3: What issues might arise in the playoff races?
In this era with teams that want to break and play fast and play above the rim, how many guys do they have who play above the rim? Aaron Gordon plays above the rim, but Aaron Gordon's also been hurt all year. His hamstring has just been on and off all year. Peyton Watson is a really good athlete. He's also been in and out of the lineup. He's played like 50 games for them.
Gordon's missed more than half the season. And then you've got these other role players who are not necessarily dudes or they're, they're guys who are like masters of pace. Like Jamal Murray has been amazing this year. I have not gone through what my all NBA ballot would be. I have to imagine that he's going to be a lock on there.
I, he has been incredible this year and he is a good athlete, but Jamal Murray's mastery, what makes him an all NBA players is, is his smarts, his kind of deviousness, his intelligence with angles, his ability. I mean, him and Jokic are unquestionably, it's not even close. I don't even know who would approach them at second. It's the best two-man game in the NBA.
And the reason why is because it works both ways.
Right.
Like, I think if you look at the list of most assisted players
most assist combinations uh i i think murray to yokich is number one in the league or maybe yokich to murray is number one yeah and then number two is the opposite right it's like they're like literally one and two or one and three or something like that like they they're a team that's built on on chemistry and not necessarily playing above the rim not necessarily attacking
to to that degree they're not like a high three point rate team uh they're a good free throw rate team but their free throws don't really come i bet you if you look into the numbers and you look at the ratio of free throws that come off of drives right i bet you they have the lowest number in the league i bet you uh the most disproportionate number of free throws of them come not off of drives come off of post-ups or whatever else
Well, that's one of the reasons why Peyton Watson is super interesting to me come playoff time, because I do think like his off the dribble stuff and getting to the basket is a nice change of pace. Like we already saw that in the couple of games that he's been back, especially with him and Jokic, their two man game. It has a little bit more lightning to it where he can drive to the basket.
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Chapter 4: How has Jalen Duren improved defensively this season?
And, you know, I think that that really erodes our trust. But to me is if you pay attention to them in big games, they're always in it. And I don't know. I mean, you think the series is it like a seven game slobber knocker? And would you be surprised if Minnesota beat Denver in round one?
Well, first of all, I would not call it a slobber knocker. Treading on Hollinger-esque innuendo with that one. That's pro wrestling. Come on, man. Okay, so this is how I feel about the Timberwolves, and it's also how I feel about the Knicks. Because they're the same. Yeah. They made a trade. They traded all-star power forwards slash big men for each other.
And then they just cursed each other into being the exact same team forever. Where they will beat anybody. They will also play too close with anybody they shouldn't. I feel the same way about the Wolves as I do about the Knicks. You can hold me to this. Come the playoffs. No matter what. No matter who the Wolves are playing. No matter who the Knicks are playing.
Whether they are playing the easiest possible opponent you think they could be going up against. And that opponent is missing its 12 best players. or if they are playing the Thunder and Shea is averaging 50 a game in the playoffs, I will pick every Wolf series and every Knicks series to go six or seven, no matter what. They're just all going to go six or seven.
Easiest opponent, they're going to slip up for two games and it'll just go six. Yeah. Shea's going for 50. OG will just be unbelievable on him or Bridges will be unbelievable on him or McDaniels will be unbelievable on him or anybody else. Ant will step up, whatever else. And they'll push OKC to seven games because that is just what these teams do.
So do I think that Denver, Minnesota would go seven when every time they play, it seems to be just as barn burner of a game or a barn burner of a series? Yes, I do. And I think that, that would be a really fun, that would be the first round series. If, if the matchups went as they are today, if nothing changed, that would be the first round series.
I would be the most excited to watch as a basketball fan.
We're setting up in the East to have Boston in the Knicks in the second round. I think the Celtics are better this year. I just think, you know, the big man rotation is much improved. They've got all these athletic wings. You know, there is going to be a certain amount of they're going to have to prove it, not turn into a pumpkin come playoff time.
But this is going to be, to me, the series in the East. I think the finalist comes out of this second round matchup between Boston and New York. How do you think Boston handles Mitchell Robinson, especially with the way he's playing right now?
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