← Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective
Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective
Denver Falters, 76ers’ Turnaround, Don’t Forget About The Clippers
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Hoop Collective: Denver Falters, 76ers Turnaround, Don’t Forget About The Clippers, Golden State Gets Big Win
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- [00:00]
Brian Windhorst
If your football team had one option.
- [00:02]
Tim Bontemps
In their playbook, the results probably wouldn't be great.
- [00:05]
Brian Windhorst
The same could be said for your investments. CBOE index options like SPX and XSP can help expand your investing strategies with.
- [00:12]
Tim Bontemps
Cash settlement and potential tax advantages.
- [00:15]
Brian Windhorst
If you're ready for a more dynamic.
- [00:16]
Tim Bontemps
Game plan, head to betterwithoptions.com CBO Life.
- [00:20]
Zach Lowe
Is Better with options.
- [00:21]
Brian Windhorst
Your investments could be, too. There are risks associated with CBOE Company products. Review the disclosures and disclaimers@cboe.com USDISCLAIMERS Foreign welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast. We talk about the NBA, which we're doing on Thursday afternoon. Joining us from New York City, where he's just back from seeing the Cleveland Cavaliers win in Miami on Wednesday night, Tim Bontemps.
- [00:48]
Tim Bontemps
Hello, everyone. I have a question for the panel. Do you guys get constantly told that you're shorter than you expect on TV from people? Sure.
- [00:58]
Brian Windhorst
First off, the other the rest of the panel hasn't been introduced yet.
- [01:01]
Tim Bontemps
Well, I know that's why I asked the question, so then McMahon could answer.
- [01:04]
Brian Windhorst
Joining us from from San Francisco, California, where he was at a very interesting Thunder loss to the warriors on Wednesday night where Shagiel Alexander scored 52 and didn't get a victory, is Ban McMahon.
- [01:19]
Zach Lowe
Howdy, partners. No, as a man of great stature, I never get told that I'm shorter than people.
- [01:26]
Brian Windhorst
People tell you they think you're shorter.
- [01:29]
Tim Bontemps
I, I misspoke. The, the thing that happens to me regularly is that people say to me, man, you're a lot taller than I thought. Yesterday, a guy came up to me at the game, not for the first time, and said, man, you, when you're on tv, I think you're like five, seven. Well, and I just don't understand why.
- [01:46]
Brian Windhorst
Anybody this is a, this is a humble brick.
- [01:49]
Tim Bontemps
It's not a humble brag. It happens a lot and I think it's weird.
- [01:53]
Zach Lowe
Well, I project stature. You are very okay, you know, you're the uswb. You're a very whiny fella. And they. Okay, probably like some of those wee little rests little fella. Boy, he taught. He gave old Finchy the heave ho last night. Old Chris Finch had to watch the wolves polish off that wind from the locker room after he muttered a few apparently derogatory comments is what the pool report said.
- [02:18]
Brian Windhorst
Hey, say what you will about friend of the podcast, Tyler Ford, but Wednesday night in Indianapolis, Beef Stew got into it with Thomas Bryant. These are two giant men, Stuart, the.
- [02:31]
Tim Bontemps
Combination of Isaiah Stewart and Tyler Ford, that's yes. You're going to have conflict.
- [02:35]
Brian Windhorst
Okay, so this was a flagrant two ejection. There was, there was Lego beef in this game. Okay, you remember a couple weeks ago.
- [02:43]
Tim Bontemps
Yes, I remember. Obviously we're joking about all this.
- [02:45]
Brian Windhorst
Anyway, Isaiah Stewart said to me about it. All right, shh. Isaiah Stewart said to Mile to Miles Turner. You play with like a smack talk. You play with Legos. And I defended people who play with Legos. I mean, I don't play with them, but I build them with my 7 year old. And I don't. I'm not ashamed of it. But last night there was a rematch. Stewart was getting into it again. Shoves Thomas Bryant down. I mean hard, like put Bryant on his butt like this was no flop.
- [03:13]
Tim Bontemps
Stewart off the court is a mild mannered dude. And on the court he gets into stuff all the time, occasionally.
- [03:21]
Brian Windhorst
Guess who was getting into it. Tyler Ford comes running in, breaks up the. The potential altercation and then ejects beef Stew on this on the spot. Not say what you want, McMahon. Oh. Tyler Ford was not afraid in that moment.
- [03:35]
Zach Lowe
Tyler Ford has a six foot four Persona in a five.
- [03:38]
Brian Windhorst
What does Bon Temps have?
- [03:41]
Zach Lowe
Bon Temps has a five foot four Persona in a six foot four frame. I. I think I has a raging case of sms. Small man syndrome. That's why people think you're a little fella.
- [03:51]
Tim Bontemps
Okay.
- [03:52]
Brian Windhorst
Oh, my God.
- [03:53]
Tim Bontemps
I just. I just find it amusing. Anyone would factor in size of anything when they see my head on tv.
- [03:58]
Zach Lowe
Oh, hey, easy, cowboy.
- [04:00]
Brian Windhorst
I'm having. I'm having a private conversation with Jackson right now. Jackson. I can't believe what just happened. Bon Temps tried to come in here and do a humble brag and McMahon rejected the shot into the fourth row.
- [04:13]
Tim Bontemps
Perhaps. I knew exactly what I was doing.
- [04:15]
Zach Lowe
It's easy to reject because he comes in small and weak, you know.
- [04:18]
Brian Windhorst
Oh, my God. All right, so something interesting is happening with the Denver Nuggets right now. They were one of the hottest teams in the league and now they've lost three in a row. They're on a long east coast trip. The loss in Chicago was rough. They lost in New York on Wednesday. The Knicks were awesome offensively in that game. Jalen Brunson had another awesome game. Tied a record that was held by Richie Garon. That's a, that's a Bob Pettit era name there. McMahon for the most games in Knicks history with. With 30 points and more than 10 assists or something like that because he had another great game last night. But. And I'm not even like so focused on the, on the Nuggets losing, although they have to play the red hot Sixers. We'll talk about a second in the next game, but Michael Malone was being forced into the corner on something and he finally made up his mind. Aaron Gordon had been back off of this calf injury. They had been playing really well. When he was out. They were leaving him coming off the bench on a minute restriction and the minute restriction was lasting awfully long. Like it was okay.
- [05:18]
Zach Lowe
Yeah.
- [05:19]
Brian Windhorst
Why protect his, his calf? I get he's an important player, but like they got to make a decision and we talked about this when he came back. What would Michael Malone do? Would Michael Malone stick with Russell Westbrook, who's been excellent in the starting lineup, or would he leave Aaron Gordon on the bench, which, you know, I don't think Aaron Gordon had a problem with, but I don't think is the best usage of your roster.
- [05:38]
Zach Lowe
I don't know. I might say Gordon had a problem with it, but you know, like Aaron Gordon is clearly an NBA starter and a, you know, a championship starter.
- [05:48]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah. So what he chose to do was stick with Russell Westbrook and put Christian Brown on the bench. And a couple of interesting things happened. One, Malone went so far as to say that right now Jokic and Westbrook are the best two man duo in the league. That's interesting statement. And then Christian Brown, as you can imagine, was not thrilled because he has been playing well and he was the heir apparent. You know, when they let KCP walk, it was sort of given to him. And his quote was, obviously I took a lot of pride in having that spot, trying to win that spot and I'm going to try to work to get it back. So he did say, I'm very grateful for opportunity. He wasn't like, you know, take a shot at his coach. I want to give some context there. But like, you know, he lost a starting job, so the Nuggets were really moving in the right direction. Bon temps. And you know, the thing about the Nuggets, like they've got some issues and the organization has made some decisions that have hurt their chances and they've had some bad luck or whatever when they're, when Jokic is the top of his game, they probably still believe they can beat any of the teams in the west in a series. I still think they're dangerous. This is a, this is a situation that you could see coming. It involves a classic coaching decision. Old, vet, young player. And so this is going to be this to me, beyond all the trade Stuff and all the, you know, various dramas. This, to me is one of the most interesting things going on in the NBA right now. Malone went with Westbrook.
- [07:17]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, I mean, Michael, I mean, to me this is a very classic case. I mean, we talked about it a couple weeks ago or whenever it was and we talked about this in the first place. The Nuggets are falling into the very classic problem with a player like Russell Westbrook, which is they are placating Russell Westbrook over doing what's the right thing for the team. This includes Michael Malone saying something I thought was completely insane when he said that Russell Westbrook and Nicole Jokic are the best two man duo in the league right now in terms of a two man game. Jamal Murray, Nicole Jokic. Jamal Murray had 33 points last night. Jamal Murray's finally playing like Jamal Murray again. They won a championship with the two of them having perfect synchron, being perfectly in sync in the two man game. And now we're saying Russell Westbrook is better with this after three months than Nicole Yokin and Jamal Murray are after nine years. Like, the only reason you're saying that is to try to justify why you are taking Christian Brown out of the starting lineup and leaving Russell Westbrook in it. And look, I very well may be proven wrong. Maybe Denver goes on to win the title. Jokic is still, I think, the best player. So certainly if they're in a series against anybody in the west, you're going to feel confident. If you're Denver, you can win. But we've seen Russell Westbrook in big roles in the playoffs the last few years. It doesn't tend to go very well. And if you're now putting them in the starting lineup and making him a critical part of your team, it makes it much harder to decrease that role later. And I think that's only going to come back to bite Denver down the road.
- [08:46]
Zach Lowe
I mean, this is playing out though, in terms of the decision exactly like I told you guys it was going to when they came through Dallas and Michael Malone unprompted, telling us, hey, the record at the time, the record I think was like 11 and 3 and 12 and 3. When Russ and Joker started together, like he was pre justifying the decision that was going to be made. He bought kind of some time with the Aaron Gordon ramp up, like as very gradual ramp up. Now Gordon was coming off his second cast during the season. There was certainly reason for a cautious ramp up there. And there was a. I did wonder at one point last week, like, are you going to leave Gordon in that reserve role. But, you know, Brown was the guy who made sense all along. Gordon's been a starter for, you know, his whole time endeavor, including a championship run. You know, obviously Jamal Murray has a max contract and I'm bringing him off the bench. You need Michael Porter's shooting in that lineup. So, you know, Brown's the guy who was the obvious option. And look, I don't think this is just about placating Russell Westbrook. Best duo in the league. Okay, We're. There's some hyperbole.
- [09:50]
Tim Bontemps
They're clearly not the best duo on.
- [09:51]
Zach Lowe
There's some hyperbole there. A duo that has really worked. Like there is a lot. Like there's a lot of, you know, film and data that tells you keeping Russell Westbrook in the starting lineup does make sense from a basketball perspective for the Nuggets. Having said that, I do think that if you're asking Russ after having that much success in the starting lineup to go back to a reserve role, you are playing with some fragile dynamics there in terms of a very, very prideful, accomplished, veteran player, which is exactly the problem. Well, listen, also, I'm not going to overreact to three games where frankly, they've been atrocious defensively. These three games.
- [10:33]
Tim Bontemps
This isn't about these games. Now, we've seen the Russell Westbrook in the playoffs and Russell's flaws are going to be a problem. And this is only creating a situation where you're going to have Russell expecting to be playing 35 to 40 minutes a game in the playoffs. And if he then is asked to play 20 or 15 or something or they just don't do that, then, you know, this, this is going to be a topic.
- [10:59]
Zach Lowe
Well, it will be. And if, if, if I'm channeling Michael Malone, I say you haven't seen Russell Westbrook in the playoffs with Nikola Jokic as his teammate.
- [11:08]
Brian Windhorst
Well, that's true.
- [11:09]
Zach Lowe
It is a different thing than Russ standing in the corner last year for the Clippers and the Mavericks saying we ain't guarding him.
- [11:15]
Tim Bontemps
I still think they're going to be saying we ain't guarding him. Wherever he's at on the court, well.
- [11:19]
Zach Lowe
He'Ll cut to the basket and get a bunch of layups.
- [11:22]
Tim Bontemps
Well, sure.
- [11:23]
Brian Windhorst
It also goes to the bigger thing in Denver that has existed for a while now, which is, you know, Malone prefers the veterans and the front office has given him young players and, you know, they've traded into the drafts to get guys like Peyton Watson and Julian Strother and And obviously, they believe heavily in Christian Brown. But I think it's. It's more than just a discussion about, you know, because just. It kind of goes to the game you were at last night. McMahon. The Thunder are awesome. They. They. They've got a lot going for him. Them, they very easily, not easily, but you could see them winning the championship this year. You could certainly see them winning the west, but they are not yet proven to be an impenetrable force. Like, they have some challenges in this game. Last night, Shea scored 52 points. Jalen Williams had 26. He took 26 shots. He got to the foul line one time and missed both free throws. He, you know, we have seen occasionally. Bon Temps has been talking about this where they. They have a lack of, you know, they've got some flaws with their roster. It's not a crime. The Rockets are young, they're not a.
- [12:30]
Zach Lowe
Perfect team, and they're not a proven playoff team.
- [12:32]
Brian Windhorst
Right. And the Memphis is the same thing, you know, and they're injury prone, and Houston is super young. I don't know how we can trust what they're going to do. These are the teams that are in front of the Nuggets. And so, like, I think the Nuggets believe if they can crawl into that top four and give themselves a shot at, you know, getting into the final four in the west, they think they've got what it takes. And I don't blame them for Jokic. So these decisions are important. These are decisions could control about how the west goes. And as Bontemps talked about last week, you got Jamal Murray. I mean, Jamal Murray's level of play is arguably one of the most important things in the league.
- [13:08]
Tim Bontemps
Like, and by the way, Jamal, at 33 in this game and again is continuing to look like Jamal Murray again, which is a big deal.
- [13:14]
Zach Lowe
Well, and Joker had a dud in New York, like a 17 on 17 points on 6 of 15, 6 and 6.
- [13:21]
Brian Windhorst
A couple of the shots that he put up in this, I only watched, like, like, most of the second half. A couple, you know, Jokic throws in some slop that we can't believe. But he usually, he knows what he's doing.
- [13:31]
Zach Lowe
Jokic has the most incredible paint touch in the league. And, like, whether he's off balance getting bumped usually does not matter in this game.
- [13:38]
Brian Windhorst
It mattered because he threw up some shots in this game where you're like, I don't know what you're doing there, bud.
- [13:43]
Tim Bontemps
I was also quite amused on this topic that Draymond Green picked this game when Nicole Yokovic was very pedestrian against Carl Downs to then try to blast Carl Towns for his defense, I was like, you know what? Nicole Yokin shooting 6 for 15 and going 17. 6 and 6 seems pretty good to me. Draymond seems like a pretty good outcome for the Draymond has a lot of.
- [14:00]
Zach Lowe
Free time right now and he's not playing like Draymond is a tremendous troll.
- [14:06]
Brian Windhorst
Sure is.
- [14:06]
Zach Lowe
Obviously he's a brilliant basketball mind. That doesn't mean you have to take all his very public analysis seriously, of course.
- [14:14]
Tim Bontemps
It just was an easy moment to slip it in here.
- [14:17]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah.
- [14:18]
Zach Lowe
More Hoop Collective podcast after this.
- [14:21]
Brian Windhorst
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- [14:51]
Zach Lowe
In case you didn't know, these young men are driven, quite remarkable, magnificent and unmistakable. These are the prodigies, the savants, the ones we've been waiting for. And they are not asking for you to pass the baton. They are methodically planning the perfect moment to take it.
- [15:09]
Tim Bontemps
A new generation of Toyota drivers are here.
- [15:11]
Zach Lowe
And they want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive.
- [15:22]
Brian Windhorst
Don't miss the first Marvel movie event of the year. The country needs Captain America.
- [15:28]
Zach Lowe
You asked for me?
- [15:30]
Brian Windhorst
Here I am on February 14th.
- [15:32]
Zach Lowe
Get the suits ready. Experience a brave new world. Let's go.
- [15:37]
Brian Windhorst
That's made for imax.
- [15:39]
Zach Lowe
Standby for proof of death.
- [15:40]
Tim Bontemps
You want me? Come and get me.
- [15:43]
Brian Windhorst
Captain America.
- [15:43]
Zach Lowe
Brave new world.
- [15:44]
Brian Windhorst
See to Nightmax February 14th.
- [15:46]
Zach Lowe
Get tickets now.
- [15:47]
Brian Windhorst
Rated PG13. This film may be inappropriate for children under 13. Well, okay, so I. Let's just see how that goes with the Nuggets. So the Nuggets next game. Huntemps, are you heading down 95?
- [16:03]
Tim Bontemps
I will be in Philadelphia the night this pod runs Friday night to see the suddenly streaking Sixers who had lost seven in a row as Cavs corner came to Philly. Looked like the season was going off the rails.
- [16:15]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah, we were recalculating their chances on that top six protected pick.
- [16:20]
Tim Bontemps
Then they had a crazy win against the Cavs. Scored a million points. We'll go to Chicago the next night. And win, then come home and win a back to back set against the Lakers and the Kings, including in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, having for half the fourth quarter basically a lineup of Reggie Jackson, Kyle Lowry, Ricky Counsel, Kelly Oubre and Adam Bona playing head to head with the starters for the Kings and I think stretching the lead out. So it's certainly been a wild week.
- [16:49]
Brian Windhorst
Did you mention Paul George didn't play in that game?
- [16:51]
Tim Bontemps
Paul George didn't play in either of the Lakers or the game.
- [16:55]
Zach Lowe
You have to tell us when he does play. It's not news if he does that. That is more so with Embiid. But yeah, by the way, doing handstands at practice. What is happening?
- [17:06]
Tim Bontemps
Look, I, I don't know what's happening. We'll, we'll see. We'll see. There'll be an update on Joel's status for Friday sometime later Thursday after we record. It's early Thursday afternoon, so we'll see what happens then. But yeah, it's been a stunning turn of events in Philly given where they were a week ago.
- [17:21]
Brian Windhorst
They, they play the, the Sixers play the Nuggets on Friday and the Celtics, by the way, that. So they're in the middle of a long home stand here. Right. Bon temps. What they play like five or six in a row at home?
- [17:31]
Tim Bontemps
Well, they, yeah, this is part of the crazy 13 game stretch they had where 12 of the games were against teams winning records and 10 of the games were part of back to backs and they just ripped off four wins in a row after losing the prior seven. It's a complete whiplash.
- [17:43]
Brian Windhorst
This is one of the reasons why God bless all of you. I think it's insane to bet on individual NBA games. I just.
- [17:50]
Tim Bontemps
Well, and just really quickly, unless you.
- [17:53]
Zach Lowe
Use ESPN bet, then it's, it's great entertainment.
- [17:56]
Brian Windhorst
Well, I actually think you might be able. There might be something you can do with analyzing individual player performance. But God bless you if you can get, if you can do it right.
- [18:04]
Tim Bontemps
While we're talking about it right now. So the Sixers are now two losses back of Atlanta in ninth and they're actually a loss ahead of the Bulls in 10th. Jalen Johnson. Yeah. Jalen Johnson now out for the season for Atlanta. Just a brutal having to have shoulder surgery. He's had a great year and going back to last season, anytime he hasn't played, they have looked like a completely different team.
- [18:26]
Zach Lowe
Yeah.
- [18:27]
Tim Bontemps
And Chicago is clearly also going the other way. So like again, we're sitting here again somehow with the Sixers, they can actually get their guys on the court. Maybe they can get the plan.
- [18:37]
Brian Windhorst
I'm sorry.
- [18:38]
Tim Bontemps
That's all I was going to say.
- [18:39]
Brian Windhorst
Use your move and jump in. But as a real quick aside on. On Atlanta. Atlanta doesn't control their draft pick. Obviously. It belongs to the, the, the spurs from the Dejounte Murray trade. They have a bunch of expiring money on their books. They've been sort of content to just play with this roster for this season. Bogdan Bogdanovich, Clint Capella, Larry Nance are.
- [19:06]
Tim Bontemps
Three contracts not expire.
- [19:10]
Brian Windhorst
Who am I forgetting? They got another big expiring.
- [19:12]
Tim Bontemps
I will look it up. The other two guys are for sure. Bogdanovich goes next year.
- [19:17]
Brian Windhorst
They've got some, some. They've got some, some players that they could use in trade. They haven't been very active as far as I know, but now with Jalen Johnson out for the year and they're, they're, you know, I could see them looking at a stopgap measure because I think they'd like to make the, you know, even if it's the playoff through the play in. I think they'd like to.
- [19:38]
Zach Lowe
Yeah. I don't think that the Hawks will make a trade that's not in their, that isn't in their best interest long term just to try to save face on this pick. This picks a sunk cost.
- [19:54]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, they will not. I'd be very, very surprised if the Hawks do anything that sacrifices future assets. But to Brian's point, if they make some maneuvers on the margins to add. Add to move their roster around some that I could potentially see.
- [20:09]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah, yeah, you're right. I have it up now. They've got. Bogdanovich has another year. But, but Bogdanovich has some value, although he's been hurt a lot.
- [20:18]
Zach Lowe
But DeAndre Hunter has value, too. He's been hurt a lot.
- [20:22]
Brian Windhorst
He does have value. And I don't think they want to trade him. I put it this way. I think the, if anybody calls the Hawks, they're going to take your call. If you ask for Jalen Johnson, Zachary Richochet or Dyson Daniels, you're not going to get anywhere. And I don't think Trey Young is going anywhere. But anybody else, I think they would take your call and talk. I don't think I would just not be surprised. That's a team that a week ago I wouldn't have said I thought would be very active. Now I'm not so sure because I do think that they have interest in trying to get into the playoffs. There's no penalty to them for it. And I think they believe it only helps their team. So I agree. You're not going to be seeing them trading away future. You're not going to be seeing them. You know, they've got Corey, Cody Zeller that they can put in there. He's. He's in the P.J. tucker, just sit at home and get paid until you get traded. That was the name I was forgetting. I don't think you see them, like, you know, give away one of their prospect players, but I do think you could see them do something by next Thursday. All right, Sorry I jumped in on Philly. There's a few things happening there. Bontemps, like, they're getting some good play out of Eric Gordon. You know, like, that's not something we've seen all year. He'd been really not helping them at all. And Tyrese Maxey, who is, you know, not going to hear his name called, I don't think for tonight, for All.
- [21:35]
Tim Bontemps
Stars, he shouldn't make the All Star team. I mean, nobody.
- [21:38]
Brian Windhorst
But he's been playing like an All Star in this stretch. He's been killing.
- [21:41]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, look, I mean, there's been some progression to the mean in Philly, where they had all season where nobody could hit an open shot, and now they have guys starting to hit shots, too. But I mean, look, this is also just like we've seen a few of these teams that aren't very good rip off a bunch of wins in the last week or so. Toronto, I think, is one five in a row. I think they'd won seven or eight all season. Before that, the Bulls had lost a bunch in a row. They just beat Denver. Obviously, the Sixers have won a few in a row. You know, we've seen some weird results here in recent days, but again, it's. I really thought going into this stretch that the Sixers are going to go to an 11 or something and they're. They were going to be sunk. But the Bulls lost all these games to awful teams, sort of incredibly, because they've been pretty healthy. The Hawks now lose Jalen Johnson. The Sixers rip off a few wins that are unexpected. And now we're sitting here with the Sixers back in shouting distance again and potentially having their players available.
- [22:34]
Brian Windhorst
So, anyway, I was saying this weekend.
- [22:36]
Tim Bontemps
Pulling you back in.
- [22:37]
Brian Windhorst
They played the Nuggets on Friday and then the Celtics on Sunday. I remember when Embiid came. Who did he play? His. Oh, did he play this against the Celtics when he came back at the beginning of the season.
- [22:47]
Tim Bontemps
I can't remember who. His first game.
- [22:48]
Brian Windhorst
Anyway, he's very famous for never playing against the Nuggets. Right. Like that's.
- [22:51]
Zach Lowe
No, no, no, that's not true.
- [22:53]
Tim Bontemps
At home. At home he plays against the Nuggets.
- [22:56]
Zach Lowe
He's allergic to altitude.
- [22:58]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah. Okay. In Denver.
- [22:59]
Brian Windhorst
So do you think he would really. I gotta go look. When he played his first game, I think he was a surprising. Do you honestly think that he would.
- [23:06]
Tim Bontemps
Come back And Brian, I long ago stopped making any definitive statements about Joel Embiid playing or not playing in games. His first game this year was against the Knicks.
- [23:18]
Zach Lowe
Hey, Wendy, do you want to make a prediction on that?
- [23:20]
Brian Windhorst
Nope.
- [23:21]
Zach Lowe
Hold on. No, you. You seem to be kind of bowing up a little bit, feeling good about things. I want to. I want an official windy prediction here.
- [23:28]
Brian Windhorst
No, I do not.
- [23:29]
Tim Bontemps
I do not make any more predictions about when Joel beat may or may not.
- [23:32]
Brian Windhorst
I think I should. I think I should take Bontemp's advice on this one.
- [23:37]
Zach Lowe
Yeah.
- [23:38]
Brian Windhorst
Rare as that is.
- [23:39]
Zach Lowe
Well, because there's always a myriad of factors.
- [23:46]
Tim Bontemps
The big time word.
- [23:47]
Zach Lowe
Hey, Bon Time word synchronization out. I got myriad in there, baby.
- [23:52]
Tim Bontemps
But I'm a rare moment, rare reversal.
- [23:55]
Zach Lowe
I. You definitely get the feeling within B that it's not just about how, you know, extremities are feeling that day necessarily.
- [24:03]
Tim Bontemps
But I mean, again, they're back in the mix.
- [24:05]
Brian Windhorst
Speaking of Maxi, I have to say real quick, the Lakers have a game tonight against the Wizards. We'll see what happens. Anthony Davis is out for that one. I have to say, before we go on, I just want to take a quick moment to talk about what we saw in Philly the other night where JJ Redick, now Gabe Vincent was out for the game with a sore knee. And I don't think that they've been getting minutes from Sheikh Milton that led JJ to want to use him in the rotation.
- [24:30]
Tim Bontemps
And it was the second night of a back to back.
- [24:32]
Brian Windhorst
Second night of a back to back. So jj by his own admission, thought that Bronnie had looked good in the G League, thought that he looked good in the stay ready games, which is the games that the guys who are not in the rotation play on game days and said, I'm just going to try Bronnie in the rotation and put him. He was in the game in the first quarter, was he not?
- [24:54]
Zach Lowe
Yeah, it was early on, that's for sure.
- [24:56]
Tim Bontemps
It was his first minutes in the competitive portion of a game since opening night.
- [25:00]
Brian Windhorst
Right.
- [25:00]
Tim Bontemps
And it's the first time he's played double digit minutes all season and I think maybe the first time he played more than five. Yeah, the most he played before this was in Cavs corner. He played five minutes and a blowout loss of the cavs back on October 30. He hadn't played five minutes since then. He played 15 Garden Tyrese Maxey in this game.
- [25:17]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah. So this is a. I guess I give on one hand, I guess I give JJ credit for trying to use his roster like that's what teams are supposed to do. On the other hand, it went extremely poorly for.
- [25:32]
Zach Lowe
And, and, and it's just like it's blown up because he's Bronnie James, which.
- [25:38]
Brian Windhorst
Everybody involved knew would happen, you know.
- [25:40]
Zach Lowe
If he was, you know, Bronnie Jones, some 55th overall pick who's spending most of the season in G League, it's no big deal. But that's not the case. And that's, you know, they knew what they were getting into this whole thing. But yeah, that was a, that was a tough one. And he did. He had one big time G league performance where he had a 30 point game. Other than that, his numbers aren't anything special down there either.
- [26:02]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah, I mean, I think he had shown a. More of a stability down there. But Tyrese Maxi, they're. They're both in clutch. They've known each other for years, but there's no friends on the NBA court. Tyrese had to do what he had to do. And it's one thing throwing him out.
- [26:20]
Tim Bontemps
There in rotational minutes. It's another thing having him. I mean, Tyrese probably isn't making the all star team, but he's an all star guard and that's a, That's a tough ask.
- [26:28]
Zach Lowe
I mean, I'm just going to tell you like his last three G League games since the 30 point game, he is shooting 32% from the floor and he has 14 turnovers with 17 assists. Again.
- [26:46]
Brian Windhorst
Well, he's 1 of 16 from the field in the NBA and you know, he took I think the most shots he'd ever taken in a game here. And I'd say his confidence is probably a little shaken on that front. So. But I, you know, look, I mean you play in an NBA in the rotation, you know, you. No kid gloves. That's the definition that kid gloves.
- [27:08]
Zach Lowe
Yeah. And like. Yeah. And the spotlight is not his, you know, not his doing, but it's the reality of the situation every, you know, I mean it was the most publicized 30 point G League performance in the history of that league. And the, the, the downside, the harsh side is part of the deal too.
- [27:27]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah. Okay, so we'll see how the Lakers do they. That when I was looking at their road trip, I thought that the Philly and Washington games would be. Be games that they would get. So we'll see. Now that AD is out, it's, it's going to, it's going to be a.
- [27:40]
Tim Bontemps
They better, they better beat the Wizards.
- [27:43]
Brian Windhorst
I would assume so but you know when you, when we assume they better they better.
- [27:47]
Tim Bontemps
They better beat the Wizards. When you played last night better they better beat the Wizards playing the second night of back.
- [27:54]
Brian Windhorst
Well, I'm just saying when you assume things on this pods when you start to get in trouble. Speaking of I'm.
- [27:58]
Tim Bontemps
It's not an assumption they better beat the Wizards.
- [28:00]
Zach Lowe
Well, I, I assume that Kyle Kuzma will not be waving his mythical no trade clause again. I'll, I'll go ahead and assume that.
- [28:08]
Brian Windhorst
Still one of the most amazing things. We'll see if Kuzma's name is bubbling out there a little bit. So we'll see if he. Whether that happens again. Speaking of LA teams, I'd like to call Yalls attention to the Clippers of Inglewood because they went into San Antonio last night. It was a, you know, the other day in Paris, the second game on Saturday, there was a, you know there was a little bit of contact on the interior in that game both ways. It was a basically a basic NBA game. But there was a point where Victor thought he got fouled and didn't get a call and he reacted like really, really aggressively. Like in a way I'd not seen him before where like he sort of chirped and I know he's picked up a couple of technicals but we're like it affected the next possession where like he didn't get back and, and I was like, wow, that is not something I've seen from Victor before. And then in this game he got a tech.
- [29:03]
Tim Bontemps
Discovery is about the discovery McMahon.
- [29:06]
Brian Windhorst
I like that in this game it was their first game back from Paris. There was a transition play where Zubac, you know, it was a mild cheap shot.
- [29:15]
Zach Lowe
I mean Zubos acknowledged post game that he was taking his frustrations out with a little.
- [29:21]
Tim Bontemps
He himself was mad about a call and so he gave him a little shove.
- [29:25]
Zach Lowe
Yeah, he'd gotten stuffed and by Wimby and he felt like there were some that weren't called. And so he came back and gave Victor a hip check and sent him from about the dotted line to the baseline.
- [29:35]
Brian Windhorst
That's right. And like literally all arms and legs, like flailed out on the baseline. And would you call it a Victor charge? Would you say he charged him?
- [29:45]
Zach Lowe
Oh, yes. I mean, he did. No, he got. He got to his feet, you know, got all those giraffe legs and everything down in place and took off.
- [29:55]
Tim Bontemps
And I'm just saying when I say charge, I think of Isaiah going back to Isaiah Stewart. I think about Isaiah Stewart. When I think about charges, he's not.
- [30:03]
Zach Lowe
Able to fight through contact as well as Isaiah Stewart.
- [30:06]
Tim Bontemps
He got held up. He got held up by Mitch Johnson and some other person that was about half his size.
- [30:11]
Brian Windhorst
Well, you know what was. So it triggered a timeout. A timeout happened. So the spur. There'll be no suspensions. The spurs bench came out into the court and he was like having to go through the bench. The funny thing was he was going after Zubac obviously. And he kind of. The first guy he ran into was Harden. Harden's got his back turned. He's walking to the bench and all of a sudden Harden takes a shot from behind and turns around like, who the. There's a seven foot five guy. He's like, what? He's like, what did I do? So it was kind of a funny moment. Anyway, the point is Victor is starting to growl a little bit. And after this game he growled about the officiating, thinking he doesn't get officiated fairly, joining literally thousands ahead of him in the NBA. And we could see a fine for Mr. Wembanyama, I suspect.
- [30:58]
Zach Lowe
I don't know. I don't know. Here's the Wimby quotes. It's not even about Zubots. It's just frustration, no matter who it was. And then he was asked if he. If he thinks he gets a fair whistle from officials. And he gave the one word answer, no.
- [31:12]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah, probably not. It's borderline.
- [31:14]
Tim Bontemps
It's 100, not a fine. It'll be ridiculous.
- [31:17]
Brian Windhorst
And.
- [31:17]
Zach Lowe
And Zubots, apparently, like Wimby was holding Zubots's jersey in his lap during the press conference, which is interesting. They had made up. And Zubots, as you mentioned, he acknowledged it was a cheap shot.
- [31:30]
Brian Windhorst
I hope Zubots doesn't put that at that. If that jersey shows up on ebay like that other kids jersey.
- [31:35]
Zach Lowe
Oh, no, no. It was Zubot's jersey and Wimby's lap maybe.
- [31:37]
Brian Windhorst
Oh, I see. Well, same.
- [31:38]
Tim Bontemps
I'm sure they swapped. Yeah, sure they swapped some value, but.
- [31:41]
Zach Lowe
Zubot said I reacted a little. I thought I got fouled. On the previous play, I was mad at the refs, so then I was late. I saw it going up, Barn shot going up. I saw Wimy crashing, so I knew I had to box him out. I bumped him a little harder. I let emotions take over a little bit, but I apologized to him. That's not the way I want to be on the court and compete. So it was a blatant foul. It was a cheap shot out of frustration by Zubots who acknowledged, hey, I was in the wrong. I apologize. And it was a no call. So Whimy is within his rights to have some displeasure with the. With the lack of a whistle here.
- [32:18]
Tim Bontemps
I also thought it was refreshing. There were no technicals called and the game just moved along and it was fine. And yeah, like it would be because.
- [32:24]
Zach Lowe
The rest whistles weren't working.
- [32:26]
Tim Bontemps
Well, I. Well, that's fine. I'm just saying there's been plenty of times where it would have been fine to just have everybody move along. We start calling, you know, we got technicals going all over the place. So I was glad we didn't have that. And I mean, it would be laughable if he got fined for. I mean, that's the most benign criticism of officials ever.
- [32:41]
Zach Lowe
I don't.
- [32:41]
Tim Bontemps
I don't think I get a fair whistle. No player in the history of the NBA thinks they get a fair whistle.
- [32:45]
Zach Lowe
Well, and let's let. There's a. A meteor quote here for sure. He says it's a hard thing to fight because it feels unfair sometimes. But of course, we talk about it with the staff and there's some stuff I have to do to help myself. First of all, being Strump. Yeah.
- [32:58]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah.
- [32:59]
Zach Lowe
I don't see anything. I'm a basketball player. I'm here to play. Yeah. This is why it's frustrating. Not my job to do politics. I can't find here. There's not a single insane.
- [33:08]
Tim Bontemps
The interesting thing was seeing him get up with all the arms and legs and start chasing after Zubac and. And showing. Showing some of that, which we haven't seen yet.
- [33:16]
Zach Lowe
Well, and there's some anger there. It was also, you know, he had some ground to cover. And I would think as you're covering that ground, you realize and probably don't really want this thing to escalate into a physical confrontation with that watch is only three.
- [33:29]
Tim Bontemps
Three of me wide.
- [33:30]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah, you know, I know. And he. When he saw you, he would say, boy, I thought you were only one fourth of me. But only. I see now you're one more Hoop.
- [33:40]
Zach Lowe
Collective podcast after this.
- [33:44]
Brian Windhorst
Since you're new to H R Block, we'll look at your returns from the last three years for any money your last guy might have missed for free.
- [33:50]
Zach Lowe
I could get money back from last year.
- [33:52]
Brian Windhorst
You could. We'll find any mistakes. Could have really used that two years.
- [33:56]
Zach Lowe
Ago when I dated that mistake for five months.
- [33:58]
Brian Windhorst
Don't leave money on the table.
- [34:00]
Zach Lowe
Switch to H and R Block and get a free Second look review.
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Brian Windhorst
Second look is included at no additional.
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Zach Lowe
Cost with the purchase of tax preparation.
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Brian Windhorst
Results vary.
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Zach Lowe
All tax situations are different.
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Brian Windhorst
Fees apply if you have us file an amended return.
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Zach Lowe
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Brian Windhorst
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Zach Lowe
Pretty smart, huh? Refresh your routine and eat smart with factor.
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Brian Windhorst
Learn more@Factor Meals.com all right, let me read a, let me read a stat line for this game because I wanted to talk about the Clippers here. 11 of 19 from the field, 2 of 4 shooting, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 27 points and a block in 29 minutes. That was what number two from the LA Clippers did. Kawhi Leonard, you know, when he first came back off of this injury or recovery, whatever you want to call it, from the off season, knees surgery, they were very, very cautious with his minutes and they only recently started playing him in the fourth quarter. But let me just say that the Clippers, while no one has been watching with this win last night and the Lakers lost the other night in, in Philly, they've now, they're now in a virtual tie for the fifth seed in the Western Conference. And I know that you really, it's really not, you know, the smartest thing. They've won seven their last ten, by the way. It's not a prudent thing to count on Kawhi. Yeah, but they're in fifth and Kawhi is coming. Harden is having a good season. He's had better years. He's having a good season. Norm Powell is having a great season.
- [36:01]
Zach Lowe
This is a team that has a great season.
- [36:05]
Brian Windhorst
Yep. Derrick Jones has been a part of a, you know, of a really good team that's got, you know, it's really got good team defense. They're getting good production from skies on their bench like Nico Batum and Terence Mann and Amir Coffey listen, like I'm not saying that like watch out for the Clippers, but like with Kawhi Leonard back, like I, I think that has to be taken into some account. I don't know what's going to happen. You know they're, but they're, they were, they overachieved without him and now he's back and starting to play well again is what I'm saying. And be advised about the Clippers.
- [36:40]
Zach Lowe
Just don't forget about the Clippers, I think is what you can say. And certainly when Paul George left and we didn't know when Kawhi was coming back, what he'd look like and all that, there was a lot of reason to doubt the Clippers. But one thing we didn't anticipate was that Norman Powell would play at a star level. Like he's been a quality player. The guy is averaging 24 per game on extraordinary efficiency. I mean he's shooting at volume 44 from three point range. You know, Harden's shooting numbers aren't anything pretty but dude, the guy is, he's one of the best runner run the show point guards in the league and then they've done a nice job of putting together these pieces defensively. They're a very good defensive team and you know, they brought Kawhi back and you said they've been very, very careful with him. He's only playing 24 minutes per game so far but they are 7 and 2 when Kawhi plays. And you know, small sample size theater here, but the net rating with Kawhi on the floor right now is + 21.9. I mean they have been rolling with Kawhi on the floor.
- [37:50]
Tim Bontemps
I mean, listen, I think Zubac has been one of the more underrated players in the league for a while. He's a terrific two way center. James Harden is still the guy who could generate offense for his team by himself even if his shooting isn't where it used to be. Overall from an efficiency standpoint, Norm Powell is having a great year. They got a bunch of guys who can guard. If Kawhi can give them real minutes in the playoffs, they're going to be a really difficult team to play now. You know, I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm going to expect Kawhi to be playing all the way through the playoffs or even through the rest of the regular season. We have been down this road enough times before, but we've talked a lot about Emea Doka. We've talked a Lot about Kenny Atkinson for coach of the year. Ty Lu has done an incredible job with this team. They play extraordinarily hard every night. They've been awesome and you know, they've.
- [38:35]
Zach Lowe
Been a great addition to that coach.
- [38:37]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, Van Gunny's been, he's done a great job. Tell him in the defense. And you know, look when they traded, when they let Paul George go, they went out and signed Derrick Jones and got Chris Dunn and got a bunch of guys who can guard and now they're deep and they play hard every night and they're really, really tough to score on. And that's been a formula by when nor Powell having a career year and the Harden Zubotz pick and roll that had them afloat till Kawhi got back. And you know, like you said Brian, now they're in the top six in the west and regardless of Kawhi status, if they feel like a team that's going to be in the top six going forward.
- [39:13]
Brian Windhorst
Here's their upcoming schedule just fy. I mean not that you know we're going to freak out about where they are in January, February here. So they got two more games on this road trip which by the way, I talked to somebody from the Clippers earlier this year and they were saying that their schedule didn't really change that much when they got their own building other than they got rid of the Sunday afternoon games or the Saturday Sunday afternoon games which they hated. Like their arena is not being used for the Grammys but for some reason they're on the Grammy trip. Like they're on this big trip the same time the Lakers are. But okay, anyway the last two games they have on this road trip hold Hornets and Raptors. Raptors have been playing a little bit better but still. And by the way, do you see the Lamelo ball re injured his ankle the other day when he fell on. I can't remember whose ankle he turned.
- [39:57]
Tim Bontemps
His ankle back celebrating a three.
- [40:01]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah, he is out at least a week so he will not be playing in that game anyway. So Clippers, sorry Hornets, Raptors and they come home next week to play the Lakers at home where that game could matter in the standings. Oh good. Like dude will matter and they are. They've been really good in the Intuit Dome. They had a rough. Well, I think they started 1 in 4 and I think they're like 14 and 4 cents. 13 and 4 cents. They've been really good at home.
- [40:32]
Zach Lowe
Listen, I think we, I gotta, we gotta look at opponent free throw shooting and then we gotta look at those third quarter numbers because they play that really scary choppy water video coming out of halftime.
- [40:44]
Brian Windhorst
What does it say?
- [40:45]
Tim Bontemps
Someday be allowed to go to LA again to see the.
- [40:48]
Brian Windhorst
Stay on the. You stay on that Atlantic coast, buddy.
- [40:51]
Zach Lowe
That's right.
- [40:53]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah.
- [40:53]
Zach Lowe
You gotta be California. Cool.
- [40:55]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, I know.
- [40:56]
Brian Windhorst
Anyway, but that begins that Laker game. Begins the four. Begins a four game. Home stand where they've got a Jazz game and a Grizzlies game. So keep an eye on that one.
- [41:03]
Zach Lowe
Anyway, don't keep an eye on the Jazz game. I just saw a Jazz game. Don't keep an eye on that. Your eyes like.
- [41:10]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah, so. And Kawhi, you know, Kawhi is.
- [41:17]
Zach Lowe
I've been. I don't know if surprised is the right word. He's looked very good. He's not, you know, the first couple games he was chipping off some rust. But like, he looks like Kawhi Leonard.
- [41:30]
Brian Windhorst
And he looked really good last year, which is why they gave him the contract extension. Yeah, but it's like I'm going to take the. The Bon Temps position with Embiid.
- [41:41]
Zach Lowe
Yeah.
- [41:41]
Brian Windhorst
How can I possibly say that that's going to last?
- [41:45]
Zach Lowe
I mean, and it's been a long time since he's been able to get through the playoffs healthy even. You know, it's been a long time since been able to get the first round healthy.
- [41:55]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah. Okay. You're staying in San Francisco. Who's our next game against?
- [42:00]
Zach Lowe
They got the old. The. The sun's coming through here.
- [42:04]
Brian Windhorst
The, you know, Suns had a tough loss.
- [42:07]
Zach Lowe
The feel good Suns coming through.
- [42:08]
Brian Windhorst
The Timberwolves beat the Suns in Phoenix on Wednesday. And you know, that's a. Obviously a rematch of last year's playoffs. And you know, Ant and Durant have that sort of love, love, love, hate, you know, sort of thing where it's all love, but they, they chirp at each other because big brother.
- [42:26]
Zach Lowe
Little brother.
- [42:27]
Brian Windhorst
Exactly. Yeah.
- [42:28]
Zach Lowe
But little. But little brother. Packs of punch.
- [42:30]
Brian Windhorst
Right. You know, and like, you look at that game. That's a playing game right now. Like, that is just not acceptable for those two teams. But I talk about the Warriors.
- [42:40]
Zach Lowe
Well, it might be a playing game because the Suns, as we speak, would have to win the 910 to get to see.
- [42:45]
Brian Windhorst
You are correct, sir. You know, but you know. Yes. So Steve Kerr was, you know, it was obviously a huge win. One of their biggest wins of the season for, for the Warriors. It was also a game where Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II had like, great shooting performances. You're not Going to see that every game. Wiggins had a great game and Kerr said after the game that, you know, this is a reminder that when they started the season 12 and three or whatever, did that wasn't a fluke. I don't think they're the 12 and 3 team, nor do I think they were the team that just went three and nine or whatever. Yeah, I don't think that's quite right. But whatever they went, um, but they're a playing team. You know, they were a playing team last year.
- [43:29]
Zach Lowe
No, no, they're an 11th place team as we speak.
- [43:32]
Brian Windhorst
Right, that's what I'm saying. Like, you know, okay, maybe they're a little bit better than this, but they're a playing team. And so what I would say is interesting is a couple weeks ago, you know, Steph made that, that proclamation, it was so fascinating where he said, you know, we can't do anything desperate, et cetera. And it, it seemed like they were on the same page with the organization. I gotta tell you, over the last few days, I'm hearing chatter. I mean, there's been some reports, but even beyond what's been reported, I'm hearing chatter about the warriors wading back into that trade market again.
- [44:03]
Zach Lowe
Well, and then you get into the kind of the nuanced discussion or semantical discussion of being active and versus being desperate. Right. Being. Being aggressive versus desperation. But, you know, they've been able to put some wins together despite the fact that Draymond's been out, despite the fact that Jonathan Kaminga's been out. Those are what, probably their two of their top four guys, maybe their second and third best players at this point. So. But yeah, just because they make a deal doesn't mean it's a desperate deal. But we'll, you know, we'll see what, what they put together here.
- [44:40]
Tim Bontemps
Look, the warriors are in a similar position, even though they're. They. They're not seen that way to the Hawks. Right. We just talked about the Hawks before. I don't really see a world where Gold State is doing a deal that takes it out of opportunities to do things this summer and beyond in the trade market. However, I think we have seen going back to when Mike Dunleavy traded for Dennis Schroeder on December 15th to make sure he could be traded again by the deadline. The warriors are interested in being as competitive as they can while they have Seth Curry there. And if they can find ways to do that without sacrificing future assets to take them out of other things, then I'm sure they're going to be aggressive in trying to do it. Like they're not. You know, I think they feel an obligation to try to be as competitive as they can. And Steph is still awesome. And, you know, if they get in a playoff series, they're going to think they've got a shot if they've got him on the court and playing. So, you know, it's going to be interesting to see over the next week what shakes out because there's, there's just, I mean, I, I think we still all agree there's not a ton of stuff going on out there. And if Golden State can add a piece, then, you know, they're only a couple games out of six. For as up and down as their season has been, they have another hot streak for three weeks. They could be right back in the top six again. So that's the life in the Western Conference these days.
- [46:04]
Zach Lowe
Well, and for, for whatever reason, the warriors do tend to give the, the Thunder some trouble, as do the Dallas Mavericks. I believe five of the Thunder's nine losses are to the warriors and Mavericks, who are both potential first round playoff matchups. Now again, I'm not telling you that I think the Thunder are getting knocked out in the first round or anything. I'm just saying the two teams that have had the most success for them are right in the playing mix right now.
- [46:32]
Tim Bontemps
Well, listen, Jalen Williams, as you said, had 26 points last night. I wrote a column about who should be on the all star team this year. He was the first front court player on it. He's had a great year, but he's a guy that, you know, has had up and down moments as the, you know, the other guy to create shots, he was minus 18 and 34 minutes last night. Obviously a lot of that's coming when he's out there without Shea. And last night in this game, The Thunder are 9 for 39 from 3 and it's just one game, but they're not for 39 from 3 and Isaiah Joe, Jalen Williams and Shagos Alexander are 9 for 22. I think McMahon can do that math, as can I. The rest of the team 0 for 17 from 3. We saw that play out time and again last year in that series against Dallas when from the know, shot percentage standpoint or a, you know, expected make standpoint, the Thunder got better looks in that series but the Mavs made way more shots. And for as awesome as Shay is saying, hey, we're going to let Shay cook and we're Going to sort of dare these other guys to beat us, albeit with chat and some other guys out. Caruso didn't play or barely played.
- [47:45]
Brian Windhorst
Sprained his ankle.
- [47:46]
Tim Bontemps
Yeah, it's. That is a formula that teams are going to try to employ against these guys down the road. And, and Jalen Williams is going to have to be really good and they're going to have to hit shots. And this was an example of a game where they didn't hit shots. And despite Shay having 52, they weren't able to get a win.
- [48:01]
Zach Lowe
Well, and Jaylen Williams, Mark Dagenal kind of acknowledged that the way Shay was cooking. Shea outscored the warriors by himself in the first quarter, just like he did the Cavaliers. He's the only player in the league to outscore the opponent, don't you think.
- [48:14]
Brian Windhorst
By the way, I'm sorry to cut you off. Don't you think that there's a possibility of like a, a 70 plus point game for Shea?
- [48:22]
Zach Lowe
It's funny, he had never had 50 until last week.
- [48:25]
Brian Windhorst
I know, I know, but like the way this game is structured.
- [48:29]
Zach Lowe
Well, but the thing I was about to say is they acknowledge that you can kind of get caught up in watching Shea, like the way he was going. I mean, I mean, there was some just breathtaking, like, splits of double teams and finishes and shots and stuff in that first quarter especially. And you know, I, and you see this, like, I've seen this with the Mavericks. Luca is a guy like, you know, he, he'll have a 20 point first quarter every once in a while when he's cooking. And then it's like you get caught up in like just letting him do his thing and, and, and watching and, you know, suddenly the other guys aren't in a rhythm. I think there's a little bit of that last night and then honestly, just Jalen Williams did not have a good performance. I talked to him for a little while after shoot around and he's an interesting player because he's 23. By the time this comes out, we'll know if he was an All Star or not. But certainly the, the Thunder feel very strongly he should be. He should be an All Star, but he's very much still in the early developmental stages, especially as that number two offensive option and his efficiency has dipped this year. His numbers are up across the board except for efficiency. And a big part of that is because they've, they've challenged him to, hey, you've got to be more aggressive, to be relentlessly aggressive on both ends all the time. And Part of that is, you know, as. As he was telling me, attacking smaller gaps than he would have last year, you know, looking to get into seams where last year would have just been him moving the ball because they do need him or Chet, once Chet returns, or. Or both to be that, you know, consistent star level secondary scorer. Because obviously, teams are going to. Especially in the playoffs, like, teams are going to scheme to try to get the ball out of Shay's hands as much as possible.
- [50:20]
Tim Bontemps
To go back, to answer your original question, Brian, I don't see him scoring 70 or something like that, although he could, because A, he doesn't shoot a ton of threes, and B, he's sort of wired like Durant, where Durant obviously could score basically as many points as he wants in a game. But Che has never really been a guy to like.
- [50:35]
Brian Windhorst
I agree. I just think 60. The ability that he. When he gets going, his ability to score. He has the ability to score a lot of points without using a lot of energy.
- [50:48]
Tim Bontemps
Oh, yeah, I. He could. I think he's capable of doing it, but that's why I put him more in the Durant category.
- [50:53]
Brian Windhorst
You're right.
- [50:54]
Tim Bontemps
Who just never really has tried to do it.
- [50:57]
Brian Windhorst
Durant has never been a ball hog. And my God, if he ever was a ball hog. Yeah, it would. He could do anything.
- [51:04]
Tim Bontemps
He was. I mean, he. As. I mean, I think he's easily the greatest scorer ever created. And like, he. If he wanted to. Yeah, if he wanted to just score as much as he could every night, he basically could whenever he wanted.
- [51:16]
Brian Windhorst
I mean, he won, what, four straight scoring titles, and then he just.
- [51:18]
Zach Lowe
It was four out of five. Yeah. Four out of five scoring titles.
- [51:22]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah. And he. What, Because. Because he broke his foot that year. Right. That's why he didn't win it. He.
- [51:27]
Tim Bontemps
Right.
- [51:27]
Brian Windhorst
Yeah. All right. Well, if the warriors do get in to the playoffs, that's a possible first round matchup, by the way.
- [51:36]
Zach Lowe
Yeah.
- [51:37]
Brian Windhorst
Better scout out, get your hotel reservations now. McMahon, I know you're gonna be. You love those Thunder.
- [51:44]
Zach Lowe
Listen, I cover many, many teams.
- [51:47]
Brian Windhorst
Oh, yeah.
- [51:47]
Zach Lowe
Thunder just happened to be the best team in the Western Conference, so certainly there will be plenty of Thunder coverage to come from me.
- [51:53]
Brian Windhorst
All right. McMahon is.
- [51:55]
Zach Lowe
Don't you go. Don't, don't. Listen. I get enough stuff from my neighbors in Dallas. He put me on, like, for the Red River Rivals here.
- [52:04]
Brian Windhorst
Let me tell you what I get. I was sitting. I was eating breakfast at a restaurant in Paris. I came up to me and said, this is very common McMahon said you're not following thought.
- [52:16]
Zach Lowe
Oh, go on.
- [52:17]
Brian Windhorst
No one has ever said that. Oh, boy. A big fan of the podcast. Boy, that Bon Temps.
- [52:24]
Zach Lowe
I get that a lot.
- [52:27]
Brian Windhorst
All right. Thank you for watching Listening to the Hoop Collective. Thank you to Jackson, our producer. Thank you to MCM, MCMontemps, Pontemps, and McMahon. And we will be talking to you next week when we will be in the trade deadline zone.
- [52:40]
Zach Lowe
Adios, amigos.
- [52:54]
Brian Windhorst
I don't just stand on business. I live it 24 7. Because you don't become a young entrepreneur by staying stagnant. Whether I'm chasing deals, networking, or taking calls from behind the wheel of my Toyota Crown, I'm always in motion. You may think launching a successful startup is enough to be satisfied, but me, I'm just getting started. It's a new day at Toyota led by a new generation of drivers. And we want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive. Toyota, let's go places.