NBA Cup Preview | Who are the real Warriors?
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What are the key matchups in the NBA Cup knockout round?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 10th, 2024. Coming up, we're going to preview the East and the West NBA Cup knockout round matchups with Anthony Slater and S and I are going to answer a few questions. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, S. Good morning, Anthony. We don't do this a lot, but you know, NBA Cup, it just means more, guys. So we had to get Anthony in here to help us preview because Anthony, how many teams you cover for us now? I mean, the entire Western Conference.
That's right. I am primarily around the Warriors. I try to leak off and get to the Thunder as much as possible because they're increasingly relevant. And then the Sacramento Kings are actually the closest of proximity to my house. So those three primarily. And, you know, the fact that the Warriors and Kings got eliminated so early last year, I was able to cover Thunder Mavericks series in the second round, which is relevant today. Yeah, that's right.
So Thunder and Mavs, that's the game that we've got tonight, Tuesday night. And then Wednesday, we're going to have Warriors and Rockets. So let's start with Thunder Mavs. Look, we've seen them already this season. Luka's just coming back from injury. He looks really, really good. Obviously, the Thunder have been the best team in the West all year. What are you going to be looking for early on in this NBA Cup game, thinking about the single elimination aspect of it?
Yeah, I would say who guards Shea Gildress Alexander on the Dallas Mavericks? It's a simple question, but I think that's one question that I have for the Mavericks perspective. Because, yeah, you can say Najee Marshall or P.J. Washington are the first guys that at least pop to my mind of guys who can maybe guard SGA. But I think there will be some trouble there compared to their series last year where, look, Derek Jones Jr. was the main assignment and he was sticking lateral with SGA. His length was really bothersome. And maybe you can consider Najee or PJ to be one of those guys. But I don't know, man. I think in single elimination, like you mentioned, that's going to be tough to do.
Who guards Shai and Luka in the upcoming games?
So who's going to guard SGA?
Derek Jones had a great series. against the Thunder last year. P.J. Washington did too, but that was more as kind of a supplementary score. Derek Jones got that primary Shea assignment. It's the length and just like that bouncy athleticism. This was the risk a little bit of the way that the Mavs decided to pivot this summer with You know, I think what happened in the Celtics series informed them that, hey, maybe they need some more shooting, right? Obviously, that's why they went and chased down Klay Thompson. But to face the Celtics and have that to be a concern, you still have to get through the Thunder. And you could argue maybe that this version of the Mavericks is a little bit less equipped to guard the Thunder.
We'll see. This is obviously not a full throttle Thunder team. There's no Chet Holmgren, but we also haven't seen Hardenstein in this matchup. He's been playing so well lately. Yeah. Yeah.
So, well, then who is the target if you're OKC Slater? I mean, are they going after Luca? Is that the matchup they're going to try to get out on the perimeter?
It's always a target. You know, Clay Thompson wouldn't love to hear me say this, but he's increasingly as he's gotten older, become a target now. Clay, with the quicker guards particularly, because his lateral side-to-side has decreased. But what is Dallas' closing lineup going to be? I think this is going to be a season-long, certainly a playoff question with Clay would be the question mark. Because if you have Clay, Luka, and Kyrie on the floor at the same time, there's targets to be had out there.
On the opposite side, people will talk about, okay, well, who guards Luka Doncic on the other end? Well, OKC has... Who doesn't? Who doesn't? Exactly. And by the way, one of the guys Luka constantly mentions as one of the best defenders for him, Lou Dort, on the other side. So I don't know. I guess...
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the key matchups in the NBA Cup knockout round?
0:06–2:08
2
Who guards Shai and Luka in the upcoming games?
2:08–9:00
3
Why is the NBA Cup more significant for the Rockets?
9:00–15:29
4
How has Kaminga's performance changed this season?
15:29–19:20
5
What is Steph Curry's role in the Warriors' strategy?
19:20–24:48
6
How do injuries affect team dynamics in the NBA Cup?
24:48–28:31