Knicks Not Contenders? Boston Turns It On & Luka Is Back

Summary

Podcast Summary: Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective Episode: Knicks Not Contenders? Boston Turns It On & Luka Is Back Release Date: February 24, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective, hosts Wendy, Tim McMahon, and Tim Bontemps delve deep into the current state of the NBA, focusing on the New York Knicks' struggles, the Boston Celtics' resurgence, and Luka Doncic's impactful return. The discussion is rich with statistics, player performances, and strategic analyses, providing listeners with comprehensive insights into these teams' dynamics.

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Knicks' Defensive Woes and Offensive Potential

The conversation kicks off with an in-depth analysis of the New York Knicks, highlighting their paradoxical position as an elite offensive team struggling defensively.

• Wendy emphasizes, "They are an elite offensive team, but when they have played elite offensive teams, they have been truly horrendous on defense and it's the reason why they are not a championship contending team." [05:17]

• Tim Bontemps echoes this sentiment, noting the Knicks' poor defensive efficiency, especially against top-tier offenses. "The Knicks defensive rating is 127. The worst defensive rating in the league is 118." [06:12]

• Wendy presents critical statistics, stating that "Players are shooting 52% against Carl Towns as the contesting defender, which is the worst rating of the 109 players who contested at least 500 shots this season." [08:47]

The hosts discuss Carl Towns' offensive prowess and his limitations on the defensive end, concluding that without significant defensive improvements, the Knicks remain non-contenders.

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Boston Celtics' Dominance

Shifting focus to the Boston Celtics, the hosts celebrate the team's impressive performance streak and strategic gameplay.

• Wendy remarks, "The Celtics have been on cruise control, right? The cruise control has come off." [18:33]

• Tim McMahon adds, "They've been blowing teams off the court in these games." [18:45]

The Celtics' ability to dominate games against formidable opponents like the Knicks and Cavs is highlighted, showcasing their balanced offense and defense.

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Luka Doncic's Impact and Mavericks' Strategy

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Luka Doncic's return to the Dallas Mavericks and his influence on the team's performance.

• Wendy states, "Luka Doncic is one of the three or four best players on the planet at this point. He's a significantly better player than LeBron." [47:44]

• Tim McMahon praises Luka's playmaking abilities, noting, "He's the best look-ahead passer in the league." [49:25]

The Mavericks' recent performance surge, winning five out of six games, is attributed to Luka's revitalized gameplay. However, concerns about his consistency and the team's reliance on him are also discussed.

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Lakers' Defensive Improvements

The Los Angeles Lakers' defensive strategies and recent performances are analyzed, pointing out both improvements and lingering issues.

• Tim Bontemps observes, "The Lakers are now one game back in the loss column for the two seat." [40:56]

• Wendy acknowledges their defensive prowess when fully healthy, "The Lakers are the number one defense in the league. 18 games is nothing to sneeze at here." [41:12]

Despite occasional defensive lapses, the Lakers' overall defensive standing remains strong, positioning them as formidable opponents moving forward.

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Player Spotlights and Team Dynamics

The episode also highlights individual player performances and their impact on team dynamics.

• Wendy discusses Mitchell Robinson's role for the Knicks, asserting, "Mitchell Robinson... is not going to save the day." [09:58]

• Tim Bontemps commends DeAndre Hunter's contributions to the Cavs, stating, "DeAndre Hunter is making a nice impact." [23:09]

• Wendy and Tim McMahon debate the Defensive Player of the Year candidates, emphasizing the critical role of centers in defensive structures.

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Upcoming Games and Future Outlook

Looking ahead, the hosts preview upcoming matchups and their potential implications for the teams involved.

• Wendy anticipates the Mavericks vs. Thunder game as a pivotal moment, saying, "It's going to be the game of the rest of this regular season schedule for me." [20:47]

• Tim McMahon expresses excitement about future analyses post-games, "We'll see, amigos." [58:13]

The episode concludes with anticipations of how teams like the Celtics, Mavericks, and Lakers will perform in their forthcoming games, setting the stage for continued discussions in future episodes.

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Notable Quotes

• Wendy: "They can't win this matchup and it's because the Knicks don't have a way to guard the Celtics." [10:54]

• Tim McMahon: "Luka is going to try to do that to the Mavericks and if Nico's in the stands like that will be very interesting." [51:24]

• Tim Bontemps: "The Mavericks are going to have to qualify for the playoffs via the play-ins and that's a successful rest of the regular season would be the Mavericks getting two cracks at a play-in win and not just one." [34:48]

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Conclusion

This episode of The Hoop Collective provides a thorough examination of the Knicks' defensive shortcomings, the Celtics' strategic excellence, and Luka Doncic's revitalizing presence with the Mavericks. Through detailed statistics, player analyses, and strategic insights, Wendy, Tim McMahon, and Tim Bontemps offer listeners a nuanced understanding of the current NBA landscape, setting the stage for future discussions on team performances and player developments.

Transcript

[Wendy]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities.

[Tim McMahon]

So do like I did and have.

[Wendy]

One of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Tim Bontemps]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms at Mintmobile. Do foreign welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast. We talk about the NBA, which we're doing just after midnight on Monday morning. Joining us from New York City, but he's made the trip down from Boston where he watched the Celtics dismantle the New York Knicks. Actually, I don't know. Tim Bontem, 13 points. That's, that's the closest game the Celtics have played in like about 10 or 15 days. So I guess I'll give the Knicks that.

[Wendy]

It's Tim Bontemps was a game that flattered the Knicks with that scoreline as we'll get into.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right. Joining us from San Francisco, California, where he watched the Golden State warriors move to 5 and 1 in the Jimmy Butler III era. Oh, I, you know, Jimmy's father passed away a year ago. I feel for him on that. It's, I lost my father 10 years ago, but it's, it is interesting that he is Jimmy Butler III now all of a sudden. So. But it's Ben McMahon.

[Tim McMahon]

Howdy partners. They have at least gotten the nameplate centered because his first game with the warriors, it was Jimmy, you know, it was Butler and then the third was over here. So I feel like that was a late addition. They've gotten everything centered. I have witnessed now the lone boss of the Jimmy Butler era with the warriors and a little bit of payback today because they whooped the Mav's butts up and down the floor and then put old number nine Iguodala in the rafters. Clay went out there just long enough for a little photo op and then got the hell out because I still don't think there's a lot of.

[Tim Bontemps]

Did they do that post game?

[Tim McMahon]

They did a post game.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay. Was that because it was an afternoon game? Because it's usually something you would do either pre game or halftime.

[Tim McMahon]

They took their sweet time. So I think they wanted like the full post game experience. Plus that way Clay could come out and I didn't watch any of it. Clay watched a little bit more than I did. And then he got out of there again. The warm fuzzies with the warriors and Clay. At least Clay's side of things. Not there.

[Tim Bontemps]

Not there. I mean, I wasn't actually there, so I'm taking it off of what I watched on TV. But when he came in and the 400 employees were all clapping for him with the boat hats, the last time, he was. I mean, like, he appreciated it. Oh. Because NBA Cup.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay. Wait, they've been there three times this year.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah, because they had the little extra game. That was the game that.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay. I was like, okay. You know, that's the second time someone said that to me today. And the first time, I was like, that's just a mistake. I'm going to move on. But now that you've said it, I. I trust it is real. All right, so, Bontemps, coming into this game today, there was this number that kept floating around that The Knicks were owing.04 against the05 against the Cavs, Celtics, and Thunder, and there was 100, and it was.

[Wendy]

They were.06. They're owing four against the two east teams. They're owing six against the three teams, and now they're 0 and 5 and 0 and 7.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, but they had some number that they had been outscored by. But I threw it away because, you know, they played the Celtics on opening night, and then they played the Cavs, like, opening weekend. So two of those games happened when Carl Towns had been there for, like, five minutes. So I was going to give them a pass on that. But the last two of the last five games, they got beaten by the Cavs by 37 and beaten by the Celtics by 27. So coming into this game, I thought, okay, I'm not expecting him to win, but let's just play a game that gets into the fourth quarter and demonstrates that they have an opportunity to compete against them. And it was 27 in the first half or something like that.

[Wendy]

It was 38, 19 after one. That's all you need to know.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah. And so I was watching. Wendy, I was watching you on Countdown, and you made that point. I said, that's a good point. Then I jumped in the shower, and then I got out, and it was like they were down, like, 19. And then I didn't watch a whole lot else because I realized I didn't pack any underwear. So I had to, like, hightail it to Target.

[Tim Bontemps]

I wasn't going to tell that story.

[Tim McMahon]

No, I had to Get. I had to get some draws.

[Tim Bontemps]

If you saw McMahon walking along the road in San Francisco this morning, just know as Jerry Seinfeld said, the only thing between you and him was a thin layer of gabardine.

[Tim McMahon]

I put on basketball shorts, like hoop shorts under jeans with, you know, then they get all bunched up. So I wasn't technically free balling, but.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, all right.

[Tim McMahon]

I had to add. But anyways, so I didn't watch a whole lot, but by the time I got out of the shower, it was over. That tells you all you need to know about Knicks and Celtics.

[Wendy]

That's correct. That's correct. Another game where the Knicks played an elite offensive team and got absolutely obliterated.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, they're supposed to be an elite offensive team though.

[Wendy]

Well, they are an elite offensive team, but they, when they have played elite offensive teams, they have been truly horrendous on defense and it's the reason why they are not a championship contending team. I'm going to read off some stats courtesy of our guy, Stats Williams, who I was communicating with during the game.

[Tim Bontemps]

Stats Williams, you know, he works on the broadcast team. We had four games today to broadcast on ABC and ESPN and at one point during this Oklahoma City Timberwolves game, which was the last game of the day, he comes into my ear because he's not in L. A, he's on the east coast. He comes in, he comes into my ear and he goes, what time are you guys recording the pod? And I go, probably about 45 minutes. He goes, okay, I got to get these numbers for Bontev. So that's right. These numbers come, come courtesy of Stats Williams on your back. They are freshly updated four games today.

[Wendy]

That's right. They are freshly updated because our guy is the best once we, we love them. So the Knicks this season are the fourth rank offense, which not surprising. We've talked all season. Carl Towns has juiced the offense, exactly what you'd expect with him at center. They are the 20th ranked defense overall. For a top dividend to be ranked 20th in defense, particularly when they've got three very good wing defenders and Josh Hardoganinobi, Mikhail Bridges, who played a ton of games, is a problem right now. Let's get into the heart of the problem. When the Knicks, if we isolate games against playing against the top 10 offenses in the league. Right. So all the teams, you play a top 10 offense in the league, how do you fare? Knicks ranked 29th in defensive efficiency. The only team that's worse are the Toronto Raptors who have basically not had their team at any point this entire season.

[Tim Bontemps]

Raptors got a win today over the Suns, I'll have you know.

[Tim McMahon]

No, no, no. It was a two point game in the fourth quarter and then it was an 18 point game at the end. Wow.

[Wendy]

Listen, the, the Suns are another mess. We're going to talk about some messes today. The Suns are also one.

[Tim McMahon]

I'll be in, I'll be in Phoenix not, not next week, but the week after. We can chat about them then.

[Wendy]

When Carl Towns is on the court against any of the top 10 offenses in the league this season, the Knicks defensive rating is 127. The worst defensive rating in the league is 118. So to say that is bad is an understatement. Against the Celtics, the Knicks have run a drop coverage which means the center is back at the basket 48% of the time. That is the highest percentage of any team in the league. Against Boston this season, the Celtics have scored 1.3 points per possession. Oh or per direct pick against that, which means every time they do that, their offensive rating figure spread out to 100, 100 possessions is 134 points per 100 possessions. That is their best rate against drop coverage against any team this season.

[Tim Bontemps]

And let me tell you something. On Friday night when they, when the Cavs whip 143 on them, the Donovan Mitchell's eyes when they would get into a pick and roll with Karl Towns and he saw Carl start to back up into a drop like it was almost like he was in the gym alone. He was so comfortable moving into those shots that it was almost like Carl Towns was on his team, like aiding him, like almost like he was a lead blocker.

[Wendy]

Jason Tatum did the same thing today. We got three other stats quickly just to sum up Carl Town specifically.

[Tim McMahon]

Oh wow, this is harsh.

[Tim Bontemps]

And we like Carl. Just so you know, I like I'm.

[Wendy]

Gonna get to this at the end. I'm gonna get to this at the end. It's not about Players this season are shooting 52% against Carl Towns as the contesting defender, which is the worst rating of the 109 players who contested at least 500 shots this season. He's allowing 60% shooting on layups and dunks as the contesting defender, which is last in the NBA among 32 players to defend at least 300 shots as a contesting defender against teams ranked in the top 10. To go back to that stat, he's giving up 61 shooting, which is the worst of 346 players to contest at least 50 shots against those teams. Carl Towns has had a great season. Carl Towns deserved to be a starter in the All Star Game. Carl Towns has done exactly what the Knicks wanted at the offensive end of the court. Juicing their offense, partnering with Jalen Brunson, leading them to be an elite offensive team. The problem is Carl Towns at the defensive end of the court has not been good enough throughout his career to be the anchor of a championship caliber team. This is why the Minnesota Timberwolves traded a thousand picks and all the stuff to get Rudy Gobert. It's why the Knicks fans and people with the Knicks all season have kept saying we got to get Mitchell Robinson back. He's going to save the day. Mitchell Robinson, who's barely played for two years and is not Rudy Gobert in any way, shape or form is not going to save the day. And if you've watched these three games against the Celtics this year, which by the way Chris Dasporzingis didn't play in the first two played today, dominated the game again out there today. The Knicks cannot beat the Celtics and they cannot beat the Celtics because they have no way to guard them. And they have no way to guard them because Carl Towns has nowhere to go on the floor. It's just the facts of the matter. It's not picking on them, it's not saying he hasn't been great for them. But they can't win this matchup and it's because the Nick that the Celtics have taken him apart just like the Cavs did on Friday. And if the Knicks are going to find any way to try to be a championship level team, they have to fight try to find a way to change that. And right now sitting here looking at it, I just do not see how that's going to happen with what they've.

[Tim McMahon]

Got during our critically acclaimed debut as a hoop collective takeover on get up I know it's Wendy's a regular but they let bomb Tim sign on the other day I proclaimed that the Knicks were a fringe contender. I would like to strike that statement from the record.

[Wendy]

That was before they lost by 3070 most the top divideau Knicks team has lost by on Friday to Cavs corner and then this game today where they lost by 13 had a 23 to 5 run in the third quarter to erase a 27 point deficit and look like they might be in the game. And then three minutes into the fourth quarter we're back down by 20 again.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah I like they you nailed it like against good defenses Especially elite defenses. They've got no hope.

[Wendy]

Offenses.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah, that's what I mean. Offense, they got no hope. Yes, that's a problem. What, what are the numbers with OG and Anobi on the floor? Do you have those at all?

[Wendy]

I mean, I'd, I'd have to go. Look, I mean he's play, he played the first 45 games of the season. So I mean the vast majority of those numbers are with him on the court against those teams.

[Tim McMahon]

And, and, and that's like the problem is he cannot guard three guys at once, which is kind of what they need him to do.

[Wendy]

Well, I mean, look, the problem for me, for the Knicks is they've got Josh Hart, they've got Mikhail Bridges, they've got OG Anunoby, they have all of them already available. They've all played most of the season. It's not like they've had a ton of injuries. Oh geez. Missed some time recently. Josh Hart missed a game or two. But like those guys have basically been healthy, they've had their starting lineup and we're still sitting here talking about the Knicks not being able to guard the elite teams like that. It's not like you could say, well, they've had, you know, Mitchell again. I'll just go back to Mitchell Robinson. Mitchell Robinson is not the solution. He's not.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, especially since, you know, you're talking about the Carl towns defense. They're 30th in three point percentage defense. 30th. Well, and listen, that's not Carl's problem.

[Wendy]

I mean it's, it's somewhat Carl's problem.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, not if they're. Yeah, that's true. If you're playing in drop and the, the other team stops at the three point line, which is what, you know, the Cavs and Celtics do they, they come off of a high screen, they stop at the three point line.

[Wendy]

Well, and for example, today, this, the Knicks, the Knicks and Celtics start out the game right. The Celtics have Jason Tatum guarding Carl Towns at one end, Carl Town just guarding Christ Porzingis at the other end. I'm sorry, Tom Thibodeau, you're a great coach. I don't know more about basketball than you. That's not going to work. He cannot guard Chris Esporzingis. Put him, try him on Drew Holiday, try him on Jalen Brown. Try him somewhere else because like Chris Esportsing is going to stand 30ft from the basket and just bomb away, which is what he did.

[Tim McMahon]

And here's the other problem. Not only do they have to try to hide Carl Anthony Towns. They're going to try to h jade than Brunson, who. Brunson is a solid like team defender and he takes charges. But he can't guard me or you.

[Wendy]

But you know what?

[Tim McMahon]

You can't guard anybody.

[Wendy]

But you can hide a guard. You can't hide a center. That's the problem.

[Tim McMahon]

True.

[Wendy]

Like you can, you can. Jaylen can guard in the post and draw some charges and like you can, you can move him around and figure stuff out there. There's a reason we talked about Jokic all the way through is like, could he get to a point where he is good enough to win? Because that's the only time in the history of the league that a team has won with a center that's subpar or you know, somewhere below.

[Tim McMahon]

Oh, oh. Do you know who leads the league in defensive blocks? Box plus minus.

[Wendy]

I would assume it's Nicole Jokic who leads the league in every stat. Again, my point is simply that it's.

[Tim McMahon]

Calculated, but it's true.

[Wendy]

Nicole Jokic is not a traditionally strong defender, but he's not a protector at all. But he makes up for it with an incredible basketball IQ and quick hands and a lot of other stuff. Carl Towns has not come up well.

[Tim Bontemps]

The Nuggets won the title two years ago by being a uber elite offensive team, especially in the playoffs and being a average defensive.

[Wendy]

They were above. They were. They were slightly above average defensively. They were good enough.

[Tim McMahon]

Right? And, and like Aaron Gordon's the perfect compliment to him because he is just a phenomenal defensive player who gives you some rim protection and all that sort of thing. KCP at that point was a, you know, great wing defender.

[Wendy]

Well, look, they did it. They did it with Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. And Nikola Yokich on the court. Those three guys are not, are not anywhere near elite defensive players. But they found a way to make that work. The theory of the case for the Knicks was to do that, have an elite offense and a good enough defense. This defense this year has just simply not been anywhere near good enough. And these games against the Cavs and the Celtics have been just giant screaming signs that this team as constructed is just not good enough right now to do what it wants to do.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, let's talk about the Celtics. Sorry, no.

[Tim McMahon]

One thing like the. The shock of all this is having this much of a defensive catastrophe on his hands. The six strands of hair on the top of Thibodeau's head are still hanging on. It's a miracle. It is a miracle but they're slick down. I think they're like glued on of his more hoop collective podcast after this.

[Tim Bontemps]

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[Tim McMahon]

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[Wendy]

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[Tim McMahon]

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[Wendy]

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[Tim Bontemps]

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[Wendy]

I think 10 of either 9 of 10 or 10 or 11. I'll check it.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, okay.

[Wendy]

They won a ton in a row.

[Tim Bontemps]

And they've been blowing teams off the court in these games.

[Wendy]

And it's 9 of 10 and 10 of it's 9 of 10, 10 of 12 and 12 of 15.

[Tim McMahon]

Pretty good.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. They're just like, you know, in this particular game, Tatum had a excellent first half and a sort of a mediocre second half. Jaylen Brown had a mediocre first half and an excellent second half. Derrick White had like just a ho hum 19, 7 and 5 game. Porzingis. Porzingis is quietly having a brilliant season. I think he's having the best shooting season of his career. God, like, you watch him play and you're like, how are you? I mean, when they're at full strength, I mean, granted they're somewhat fragile, but how you beating them four out of seven?

[Wendy]

I mean, they're not that. They're not that fragile. And by the way, I've been saying for a couple months, the Celtics have been on cruise control, right? The cruise control has come off. You want to know how I knew the cruise control has come off. Two plays in the second half of this game. 1. Drew Holiday comes flying back and rips the ball out of Jalen Brunson's hands at mid court as Jalen bringing the ball up the second time. When Drew Holiday in the fourth quarter, where I believe the Celtics were up by somewhere close to 20 points, picked up Jalen Brunson 80ft from the basketball and was trying to take the ball off him. Like this was, to me, a clear statement of intent. Game from the Celtics, where they came out. They absolutely dominated the game from the jump. Yes. They had a period in the third quarter where, you know, Jalen was doing some wild stuff. They messed around with their food a little bit. Let. Let the Knicks back in the game. They instantly blow the game back open again. And like I said, every single person walked out of the building today saying the gap between these teams is the size of the Grand Canyon. Like, that was the message they wanted to say.

[Tim Bontemps]

What's the gap between them and Cleveland?

[Wendy]

Because we're going to find out on Friday for. Because that's a game of the rubber match. Next Friday they have Cavs at home. Next Sunday they have the Nuggets at home. And in 18 days, they have the Oklahoma City Thunder in Boston on March 12, which is going to be the game of the rest of this regular season schedule for me.

[Tim McMahon]

Are you going to be there?

[Wendy]

I am going to be there.

[Tim McMahon]

All right, good.

[Tim Bontemps]

So the Cavs, I believe, have won 10 of 11, I think. I know they've won seven in a row. And that's the longest winning streak in the league now. And they beat the Grizzlies on Sunday. The one loss McMahon. You were there. It was in Cleveland. What was the. What was the. It wasn't close. What was the final.

[Wendy]

I believe it was like today's game. I think it was 112, 105, but wasn't that close.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah. I don't. I don't have a laptop, so I'm no longer capable of, like, doing any kind of research.

[Tim Bontemps]

He doesn't have a laptop or underwear. He came on a West coast trip.

[Tim McMahon]

Here's the thing. It took me 10 minutes to get underwear. It's taken 12 days to get a laptop. So hopefully we can get that figured out tomorrow when I go to la. But no, and after that game, like, Kenny Atkinson, before the game was very.

[Tim Bontemps]

Like, it was against the Celtics, in case I didn't mention that. Celtics.

[Tim McMahon]

Right. And this was February 4th, I believe it was February.

[Wendy]

Yeah, it was February 4th. Two days before the trade deadline. They lost the game. And then what did they do?

[Tim McMahon]

Well, yeah, I think that was very much like, hey, we have to upgrade. Kenny Atkinson going into that game and pregame mentioned, like, hey, against the elite teams, you know, our record has not been great. Remember, they got spanked in Oklahoma City. They split with the Thunder. But the second one was an absolute pull your pants down butt whooping. And, you know, the, the. The Celtics. And I forgot the other teams in the mix, but Atkinson pointed out, like, you know, we have not fared that great against the elite teams. And then they, you know, it was a game. I don't remember the final score, but it was never really in doubt. Like, the Celtics controlled the entire game. And, And Kenny said, hey, we've really got to study this and figure things out, like, how can we close the gap? So we're in a position to compete against these teams that obviously they're gonna have to go through if they want to get where they want to get. And, you know, I'm sure there the conversations were. Had started for the. The deal they made for DeAndre Hunter. Well, before they had.

[Tim Bontemps]

We talked about that. They actually, actually, I think started on the two days before, on that Sunday.

[Tim McMahon]

Right. But certainly the urgency, I think, was intensified after that game.

[Wendy]

Yep.

[Tim Bontemps]

So let me. By the way, speaking of that trade, let me tell you the stats for DeAndre Hunter for the Cavs so far. First game had 12 points, one rebound, but hit three threes. Second game, 18 points, five rebounds. Hit four threes. Third game, nine points. Hit two threes against the Knicks on Friday, 16 points, just one. Actually had no rebounds. I was, you know, he's not known as a rebounder, by the way, but his six to seven shots had 4, 4, 3, 16 points today against the Grizzlies in a game where the Cavs needed some some juice because Darius Garland was out. DeAndre Hunter, 12 points, 8 rebounds, which was much appreciated by the Cavs, 12.8 rebounds. He is making a nice input, but why Caris LeVert, who was the centerpiece of the trade that went back to atl, he's been playing well too.

[Wendy]

And George Diang, the minivan, the G Wagon, as he's also called, has also been balling. George yang had hit seven threes, had 27 points today. The two of them have both been quite good for the Hawks so far. Think it's a trade that's going to work out for both teams.

[Tim Bontemps]

The Cavs have yet to lose with DeAndre Hunter in the lineup and in this game against the Grizzlies tonight, which by the way, Grizzlies medical update was blank. The Grizzlies had a clean injury report. Dang, it was amazing.

[Wendy]

Cast corner pom poms are out right now. McMahon. They are out.

[Tim Bontemps]

I'm just saying. No, it was great in Cavs corner to see the Grizzlies with a totally.

[Wendy]

It wasn't great to see the Grizzlies. We know what this is about. This is, this is pumping up.

[Tim Bontemps]

What are you talking about?

[Wendy]

Just further credence for a dominant Cavs victory.

[Tim Bontemps]

It wasn't a dominant victory. They won by six points.

[Wendy]

I'm just saying.

[Tim McMahon]

It's just.

[Wendy]

We're just lifting up the, we're lifting up the win. Lifting it up.

[Tim Bontemps]

Evan Mobley with 25:13 and eight assists and three blocks. I'm starting to, I'm starting to question about that supermax because, oh, he's.

[Wendy]

I mean, listen, we, I got a piece running Monday that on a bunch of the questions looking ahead to the second half of the season, stretch onto the season. One of them is power. The injuries going to impact the awards race and I mean Evan Mobley's either going to win defensive player of the year or he's going to make all NBA and he's gonna get like. Well, he might get both. But I, I think I would say Jaren is probably ahead of him in defensive player of the year, but I think regardless he's gonna be one of the 15 all BA players and certainly the way he's playing, I think he's got a real shot at being on one of the first or second teams which get him the whole 30% max.

[Tim McMahon]

I'm getting call 405 area code. What? Lou Dort. Oh, oh, wait. Lou Dort should be defense player there. Oh, okay, hold on.

[Tim Bontemps]

Listen, you guys know how I feel about the great barrier thief, Dyson Daniels. How is this guy not getting any love? He's got like.

[Wendy]

I mean, Dyson Daniels is going to be an all defensive team selection for sure. I just, I mean I, I wrote a story that argued why Marcus Smart and Mikhail Bridges should be considered for defensive player of the year as perimeter players a couple of years ago. But in retrospect I, I mean in looking at it a lot since then, I. It's hard for me not to pick a big as the best defensive player in the league for all the reasons we talked about Carl Towns earlier.

[Tim McMahon]

So what happened was Bon Tims was kissing Marcus Smuts Smart's butt while he was in Boston.

[Wendy]

Well then he got shipped out.

[Tim McMahon]

Now he regrets.

[Wendy]

The irony of that story was I, I got called by the Phoenix Suns asking me if I would write about Mikhail Bridges as a contender for defense player of the year. So I wrote about both of them and Smart ended up winning. But, and I like an argument for.

[Tim McMahon]

Hey, you're not going to get any calls from the Suns about defense player.

[Wendy]

No, that is true. And like look, you can, you can make like Dyson's had an unbelievable year, Lou Dort's had a great year. Like you can make arguments for those guys, but for the same reason we talked about with how damaging Carl Towns is to the Knicks. The, the big position is just so much more critical to everything a team is doing defensively that it's hard for me not to pick one.

[Tim Bontemps]

Speaking of supermaxes, ty Jerome with 26 points on 9 of 16, shooting five rebounds.

[Wendy]

We're just reading box scores. That's where cast corners.

[Tim McMahon]

Not eligible. There are some like two way contracts mixed in there, like seven different teams.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, the Cavs actually have a problem there because they have limited rights on him and the guy is playing unbelievably.

[Tim McMahon]

Hey, Super Max Christie had his first bad game for the Mavericks today. Regular Max Luca had his first really good game for the Lakers on what, Saturday night?

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. So. All right. So Cavs have a weekend where they beat the Knicks and. And Grizzlies at home. Quality weekend for them. The Celtics have a great.

[Wendy]

We'll be talking plenty more about Cav Celtics on Friday spot.

[Tim Bontemps]

Absolutely. Okay. Heading out here on the west coast. I didn't realize that the, that the. Coming into today, McMahon, that the Mavs had been they won five out of six.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah, it was. I, like, I don't know how much it was like they were just playing hard going in the all Star break. Certainly they, you know, there was.

[Tim Bontemps]

Listen, we keep talking about the Celtics have won 10 out of 11. I believe Mr. Bontemps was at that game where the. The. The Mavericks went into Boston.

[Tim McMahon]

Well, and. And that was eight. The thing is, 80 is played in 31 minutes. And it was 31 minutes against the Rockets game that they won. But they beat Boston. In Boston. They. But, you know, like they beat the Heat and then the game going in the break where neither team played anybody. They did. They handed the Warriors. The warriors one loss since the Jimmy Butler arrival.

[Wendy]

Yeah.

[Tim McMahon]

You know, when the warriors can't say they were full strength, they're rel. Like, obviously didn't have Kaminga, but they were pretty healthy. Kyrie had been playing great. Kyrie didn't have a good game today. No. I mean, nobody with the Mavericks had a good game today, but yeah, they had won five out of six, now five out of seven. You know, not since the trade. Because the day after the trade, they got beat by about 1 million 700 points.

[Tim Bontemps]

That was in Cleveland. Yeah.

[Tim McMahon]

Remember, I walked out because I was writing off the Nico Harrison press conference. I remember walking out on like 90 minutes of sleep writing that story, looking up and it was like 46 to 12 or something. I'm like, Jesus.

[Tim Bontemps]

By the way, our guy, Olm Young Masuk had a video today. I don't know if he was the only one. His where I saw the video, but yeah. Of Nico Harrison and Rob Pelinka embracing courtside. I don't even want to go on Mav's Twitter to see.

[Tim McMahon]

Dude.

[Tim Bontemps]

The reason Rob Polinka was there was because he was Andre Wadala's agent for a lot of his career. And so he was being honored today.

[Tim McMahon]

And Nico was like, Iggy was a Nike guy. Nico is obviously a Nike executive.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, his team was playing. I mean.

[Tim McMahon]

But that's not why he stuck around for the. I'm saying he stuck around for the ceremony at posting ceremony because of the tidy.

[Tim Bontemps]

Right. But I just can't imagine what the Mavs.

[Tim McMahon]

No. Can I tell you how hard I tried to get the sitting arrangement redone. I was trying really hard to get them to put Pelinka and Nico just side by side for the entire ceremony. I was unsuccessful. My lobbying efforts. But let me tell you, I tried.

[Tim Bontemps]

I tried hard for the culture. You. You were trying to.

[Tim McMahon]

Absolutely. Wow.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah, I. I I. I can't bring myself to look at the comments on those posts.

[Wendy]

Look, the best thing the maps have going for him with all the injuries they have, is that the Suns are a train wreck, so.

[Tim McMahon]

Well, yeah. That nobody's gonna catch them. The Suns are a mess. Obviously, the spurs aren't gonna catch anybody now, so they'll at least be a playing team.

[Wendy]

Unless it goes really off the rails.

[Tim McMahon]

They'Ll be playing team. Most of those comments, Wendy, I can assure you I have muted. So that's a good thing.

[Tim Bontemps]

You've gone across those folks before I.

[Tim McMahon]

Get a fast mute. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Nothing like when you open up a post and it's just like. Just straight mutes. I'm like, okay, there's some good decisions made here by me. So. Now, speaking of seeing arrangements, Nico, for the first time, maybe not first time since, Nico has not been in his seat at the AAC since the trade. And I don't know if he will be for the rest of the season. You know, obviously Mass fans are giving. They're on. They're on his neck. He was in the stands today. Will he be in the stands Tuesday at the building formerly known as the Staples Center? Oh, if he is, I know somebody who's going to find him early and often, repeatedly speaking, some slow median to him, looking right at him after every show.

[Wendy]

Be pretty. It'd be pretty weak if he's not at that game. No, I was going to say that.

[Tim McMahon]

He'Ll be at the game. Will he be in the stands?

[Wendy]

I. It's going to be pretty weak if he's not in the stands for the game.

[Tim McMahon]

Oh, now you know who will not be. Who originally planned to be unless he changes his plans again. Patrick Dumont, the man who likes the police. Vacation time.

[Wendy]

Well, listen, the owner of the team not being in a road game is fine. Nico Harrison should be at that game.

[Tim McMahon]

I just don't know if we'll be in the same.

[Wendy]

I. You know what I. My point is, he should be sitting in the stands.

[Tim McMahon]

What if he has a nice luxury suite?

[Wendy]

I mean, the road executive.

[Tim Bontemps]

You think if. Yeah.

[Wendy]

He gets in with Polinka and his luxury in his suite. Yeah, that'll go over well. He was sitting in the stands today. He should be sitting in the stands on Tuesday, and I suspect he will be.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, let me just say, the Mavs had a clunker today. I don't even know what to take away from it.

[Wendy]

Well, here's what I mean. What I would take away from it. Is that the, the warriors, we haven't really talked about them with Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry. The warriors are going to struggle against size. A healthy Mavs team I think could give them a lot of trouble with the size they have. This is obviously not a healthy Mavs team and so they trucked them today. But Steph and Jimmy, healthy together with some shooting around them and playing small and fast is going to be a successful team. Now the size limitations will be a problem, but they are going to win a lot of games and I think they are going to be very good. And this Mavs team, I mean look, I agree with you McMahon. I think that as bad as Phoenix looks, I don't think it's going to be a problem. But that said, they are one Kyrie Irving injury away from being in huge trouble.

[Tim McMahon]

Well, and listen, like they announced last week, a few days ago, whatever, AD will be reevaluated in two weeks. AD is not coming back in two weeks.

[Wendy]

Right?

[Tim McMahon]

Derek Liver II is not coming back in two weeks. Daniel Gafford is not coming back in two weeks and might not be coming back during the regular season. So the Mavericks are going to have to play this gimmicky small ball like dude they're starting 6 foot 7, two way player Kessler Edwards at center. The fact they've won 5 to 6 is, you know, I don't know, it's. It's pretty impressive. Probably a little fluky.

[Wendy]

Well, and that's where there, I think there has to be some concern because you look at Golden State, assuming Golden State doesn't have any injuries to either of us two guys, they're, they're going to finish ahead of the Mavs with these injuries. Dallas has probably. Sacramento is healthy. Sacramento's probably going to finish ahead of the Mavs just because they have their full roster. Not saying Sacramento's great, but the ma. I don't, I'm not trusting the Mavs to continue the recent stretch they've had. I'd say they've been playing well above their heads given the amount of injuries they have.

[Tim McMahon]

So I think we, we can say the Mavericks are going to have to be. They're gonna have to qualify for the playoffs via the play in and that a successful rest of the regular season would be the Mavericks getting two cracks at a play in win and not just one.

[Wendy]

Yeah, I mean my point is I think the most likely landing spot for them as of today is 10th and there's enough wiggle room there where like if Phoenix can at any point Figure things out or if Kyrie has any injury, the. All of a sudden this team is in huge trouble. Like, the margin for error is down to this. Now, that's.

[Tim McMahon]

I'll just point out Sacramento's got its own set of issues and Phoenix has won two of their last nine games.

[Wendy]

Listen, I think Phoenix is going to be bad enough that it's not going to matter, but the point is, if the, if the. The Mavericks had even one of their bigs, but especially if they had two of them, say, hey, you've got a. You've got a formula to lean on, but they're probably going to win a ton of regular season games and we'll see what happens when they get to the playoffs. But because of the very unfortunate overall set of circumstances with all the bigs getting hurt and now you're sitting here with one reliable ball handler and Kyrie, who's got a bulge disc in his back and like, that could flare up at some point. It's like, you know, it wouldn't be shocking if they lose a few games in a row and they're only a couple of games ahead of Phoenix. It's like there's just not. It's at least worth pointing out the situation, and at least Sacramento has all their bodies and I think is going to just be able to, you know, survive the next few weeks better.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, speaking of the warriors, it got a little bit wonky in the late game because it turned into garbage time. But today, when Curry was off the court and Jimmy Butler was on the court, The warriors were plus 14. Okay. Friday, when they got a close, when I think they only. I think they won by one in Sacramento, when Jimmy was on the court and Steph was off the court, they were plus 19. Last week in the last game against. I can't remember who they played their last game before. Yeah, it was Houston. I think they were plus three with Steph off the court and Jimmy on the court. So it's still small sample size, but they're routinely.

[Wendy]

Jimmy Butler's awesome.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. And not only that, you know, so we talked about his free throws again, eight more free throws today. He's averaging nine free throws a game. And he awesome fit with Steph.

[Wendy]

It's a really awesome fit, stylistically, like it should be. They should be together really, really, really good. I mean, in a lot of ways, he's a. He's a. I mean, he's Andre Iguodala, the guy they honored today, just with a lot more offensive juice. And like, that's a obviously a, you know, hall of Fame caliber player. That's why Jimmy's had such a great run and he and Steph like the styles they play. I think they do really fit perfectly and you know, he could basically run the point whenever Steph's not on the court. Like it. It makes a lot of sense and they should be a really good team down the stretch. Assuming those two guys are healthy, if they can keep Draymond on the court too, like they are going to be undersized, they are going to have to worry about the rebounding, they're going to have to deal with playing bigger teams. But a lot of nights they're just going to be able to overwhelm teams with those two guys if they're out there playing the way they have been. And you know, today was a good example of that.

[Tim McMahon]

More Hoop Collective podcast after this get in the Zone autozone oh, got a.

[Wendy]

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[Tim Bontemps]

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[Wendy]

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[Tim McMahon]

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[Tim Bontemps]

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[Tim Bontemps]

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[Wendy]

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[Tim Bontemps]

Visit McAfee.com, cancel anytime terms apply. All right, now let's discuss the Lakers of Los Angeles.

[Wendy]

Get the banners ready baby. Banners.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, first off, the Lakers after beating Denver, now they're a few games behind in the win column because they're still, they're still down some games because they're making up, they have to make up these games from the fires, unfortunately. But in the loss column with the Grizzlies and with them, with the Lakers beating the, the Grizzlies, by the way, have lost three of four. Their defense, while they are at full strength, their defense which has been in the top 10 is really receded. They're in a, they're in a defensive issue. They're, they're on a five game road trip. They're going to get some wins now going back home. But with the Nuggets finally losing, they lost. They'd won nine in a row. And with the, with the Grizzlies losing three out of four, the Lakers are now one game back in the loss column for the two seat. Okay. And we saw that display from Saturday night where it was incredibly cathartic. You know, granted it was not in the playoffs, which is where it matters. And that's where the Nuggets have owned the Lakers in the last few years. But they have, they have been getting.

[Wendy]

First Laker win there in three years. Right.

[Tim Bontemps]

And they've played a lot of games there. So I'm just going to say arguably to me, the most impressive number of the weekend is that the Lakers held Nikola Jokic to seven shot attempts.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah.

[Tim Bontemps]

And I just have to say over the last 18 games now, of which I believe the Lakers are 14, four or 13 and five or 14 and four. And by the way, AD didn't play in 11 of those games. There's been five games, five or five games since the trade. I think five or six games since the trade. Plus AD had the injury right before the deal. AD only played in seven of those 18 games. So you can't just put it on him. But in those 18 games, the Lakers are the number one defense in the league. 18 games is no, nothing to sneeze at here. And the, the, as I'm watching the game plan. Go ahead.

[Tim McMahon]

No, I mean 18 games, but like their teams totally changed that time. But go on.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay, fine. But I'm saying at some point you have to acknowledge that the, I mean earlier in the season when the Lakers would do something good, I would be like, I don't care because they can't defend. I can't say that now how many.

[Wendy]

Games they also, they also just lost to the Jazz in the Hornets.

[Tim Bontemps]

I understand.

[Wendy]

What I would say is, what I would say is this, this win Saturday was an awesome win and an awesome Performance and a desperately needed one. Right.

[Tim McMahon]

And an awesome game plan and awesome execution.

[Wendy]

Yes. They did a great job Saturday. Let's see going forward with this team as they start playing these good opponents going forward because the schedule gets tougher now. I'm looking at it from now forward because look, this stretch before the All Star break, there was a lot of weird stuff happening in the league. There were all these weird trade. Obviously there's some chaotic trades. You saw teams like the Portland trailblazers won like nine out of 10 and were smoking teams. There's been a lot of weird. There was just a lot of weird noise. Right.

[Tim McMahon]

Well, I mean after the Trade Deadline 3.

[Wendy]

Well, you're right. We're after the All Star break. We're after the trade deadline. Teams are set now. This new Laker team is set. We have Luca playing. He's getting back in rhythm. I'm looking at it from now forward.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah.

[Wendy]

And that was a great start. Like they obviously have the terrible game against Charlotte. They wheeze through this game against Portland on the second night of the back to back to barely win that game with no Luca. They win the game. Then they go to play Denver and they play a great game and they win. Like now let's move it forward and see how they look against these other teams. I, I Because like you're right. Yes, over 18 games they've had the number one defense. But like the there so much has changed from the vast majority of that. I don't really care.

[Tim McMahon]

If you're looking at from a Lakers perspective, you can say, hey Dorian, Finney Smith was brought in to really help the defense. He's done that. Jared Vanderbilt coming back, you know, however many games in the season was a big boost to the defense. Those two guys were huge on, on Joker the other night. Now there's two guys in the store.

[Wendy]

I'm just going to say. Hold on. I just want to say one thing. Just because we've talked a lot about Jared Vanderbilt on this podcast. Jared Vanderbilt played six minutes and he had five fouls. So I'm going to say I'm talking about the eight.

[Tim Bontemps]

The defense that they've played. I'm not talking about this individual game. I'm talking about the defense they've been playing. I, I can't, I can't disregard playing excellent defense over that kind of stretch.

[Wendy]

Of games like when the team is entirely different.

[Tim McMahon]

Now that's good.

[Tim Bontemps]

But, and, and they look pretty good on Saturday night. Defense.

[Wendy]

Yeah, they look great on Saturday and.

[Tim McMahon]

JJ's you know come he's on this thing of like, hey, you know, playing hard is the superpower or whatever. Okay. And. And that's good. Guys seem to have be buying into it. Great. There are two guys in their starting lineup who are both. One is a very good offense player. One is a, you know, all time great offense player. Those two guys are Bullseyes on defense, Austin Reeves, Luka Doncic.

[Tim Bontemps]

And yet they're still number one over 18 games of which Austin Reeves played. A bunch of.

[Tim McMahon]

Lucas played for them.

[Tim Bontemps]

No, but Austin Reese played in all of them.

[Wendy]

So again, stop talking about the 18 games. The 18 games are irrelevant. Here are the games that are relevant. Dallas, Minnesota, Clippers, Clippers, Pelicans, game, whatever, Knicks.

[Tim Bontemps]

All of which are home, by the way. All of which you just said are home.

[Wendy]

I know where they're good. And well then they play at Boston, at Brooklyn, whatever, at Milwaukee, at Denver, Phoenix, San Antonio, Denver, Milwaukee.

[Tim Bontemps]

I don't have them penciled in the finals. I'm just acknowledging.

[Wendy]

I'm not saying that, I'm saying that when, when we do this podcast on Friday, March 21, after that bucks game, we're going to have a really good sense of what this Laker team can be. Assuming they don't like have some crazy injury situation between now and then. Because they're going to play a bunch of really good teams, they're going to get tested a bunch and we're going to see what they can look like in that situation over and over again. Because Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves were not playing together for any of those games. And again, I will just say they just lost to Utah and Charlotte in back to back games of Luca playing before this. So let's see during this stretch how it looks. And if they go 12, whatever, there's 15 games, they go 10 and five and they're fifth in defense over that stretch or first in defense still, then. Yeah, like that's. There's some real stuff to take away from it. I just, I think the schedule started on Saturday.

[Tim Bontemps]

Okay, that's fair. I will say this. Teams are going to scout them and scout what they are doing. And you know, like if this was a playoff series and the Lakers won Game 1 against Denver, Denver would be changing the way they position. Nikola Jokic.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah, they'd come up with some counters for sure.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah. So I'm. But I just, I just want to say, you know, I have to acknowledge that. The second thing I'll say is I felt that the decision or not the decision, but the process of making Luca Mavericks Luca, like give him the ball and let him operate. I figured that was going to come at some point. It sounds like JJ Redick has made the edict now and Luca listened to it. Now whether or not it takes or whatever, but.

[Tim McMahon]

Well, and, and when Luca hits a three early on, a couple threes early on, suddenly he feels in rhythm. And I'm not saying Lucas ever struggled with confidence, but you know, he's like, okay, this is me.

[Wendy]

Like I'm.

[Tim Bontemps]

He looked, he looked bad. He looked bad against the Hornets just from a conditioning and sure, but he.

[Wendy]

He hasn't looked good. He also is one of his temper. He's one of the three or four best players on the planet at this point. He's a significantly better player than LeBron. No offense to LeBron who's a fantastic player. He's not as good as Luca.

[Tim Bontemps]

He's a significant better than offensive player.

[Wendy]

That's, I mean LeBron is not that good on defense at this point. But I'm talking about, sure, I'm talking about giving the ball to Luca. There's, there's no debate about who should have the ball. Luka Dodge by himself is, is an elite all time great offense.

[Tim Bontemps]

I agree. But the first, the first four games with them, they weren't. He was sharing it a little bit too clearly.

[Wendy]

It looked like there was a lot of that stuff. And if JJ did say, hey, this, it's time to make sure this guy's cooking, that's the way this team's going to have a chance is if Luka Doncic is cooking and there's going to.

[Tim McMahon]

Be like LeBron's going to have the ball plus going have the ball playing. And the other thing that Luka is going to do is nobody gets doubled or blitzed more than Luca and then you're playing advantage basketball. And then okay, those guys aren't the primary facilitators, but they're catching it with an advantage. And Austin Reeves against Nuggets, how many times did he catch it? You see the boom. Catch or shoot or catch and attack a closeout dude, you, you put upon.

[Wendy]

How about, how about, how are you stopping that picking up, you know, and.

[Tim McMahon]

You know what the best play they have is, is Luke grabs the rebound, turns. LeBron still usually the fastest guy on the floor. And as LeBron said, I'm a natural born wide receiver. Luke is a natural born quarterback. Lucan does the whole. There's a 65 foot dime. Luca had more. He had 53. I wrote about this during the playoffs. Last year. He had 5340 plus foot assists last year.

[Tim Bontemps]

Amazing.

[Tim McMahon]

He's the best look ahead passer in the league. And LeBron is still. I mean, I don't know what the list is, but very, very, very high in the list of the best. Well, leak out transition.

[Tim Bontemps]

One of the fastest ways to LeBron's heart is to get him easy baskets. Because the man has a lot. Because the man has spent 20 years working to get hard baskets.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah. And those, those, those transition buckets. And you know, you saw against Nuggets when Luke is running pick and roll. LeBron cutting from the corner late. Yes. You're going to see that kind of stuff. He will get there. Will there will be some Luka lebron highlight feeds for. There have already been several. Yeah, those will be a regular.

[Tim Bontemps]

McMahon. What do you. What do you think we're going to be in for? You and I will be at the game on Tuesday. What do you think we're going to be in.

[Tim McMahon]

Oh, my God. Like, you know what's coming from.

[Tim Bontemps]

This is. This is the inverse of a return game. Like, this is. This is.

[Tim McMahon]

Okay. It won't be as insane as april 9th when he's coming back to Dallas and you're going to have an entire road arena rooting for this guy. That's going to be nuts. That's going to be one of the most surreal scenes that we've ever.

[Tim Bontemps]

But at that point, that game very likely is going to be very meaningful for the Mavericks.

[Tim McMahon]

And I still think the entire arena will be wanting to see Lucas score 80 points. I think there's going to be the qu. The question is, will there be more Luca Lakers jerseys or Mavericks jerseys? And there will be some Slovenian ones mixed in. I think there's going to be. Apparently they're trying to get these Nico Clown T shirts. Like they're trying to sell like 10,000 lows too. But I still. I don't know. It's going to be nuts. But dude, you're going to see full. Like, when is Luke at his best? When he's pissed off and he's sneering at an opponent or he's find somebody in the stands.

[Tim Bontemps]

That happened. That happened against. He got into some. With some courtside fans on Saturday.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah. And I said no. One Nuggets guy was just like, good play, dude. Like, I'm not the enemy here. Like, good, good job. Like, I'm not real.

[Tim Bontemps]

He was hunting. He was hunting. Disrespect, buddy.

[Tim McMahon]

He was like, don't come at me.

[Wendy]

Like, we're okay, well by the way, that's. That's the Luka Doncic that is is the killer that. You know, I liked what JJ Redick said where he was like I just want this guy to black out and scream at some point in this game.

[Tim McMahon]

Like that for no good reason because that's when he's at his best.

[Wendy]

That's when he's killing. And like again, if the Lakers, like we've talked about it, this Lakers roster is flawed. I don't think they're winning the title this season but that their best chance is for Luka Doncic to be unleashed and to be the guy we saw in the playoffs last year. And the combination of him and LeBron and Austin Reeves might just be good enough on offense to overwhelm enough teams to be interesting.

[Tim McMahon]

So honestly, you really only saw that a little bit in the first two rounds. Not consistently. It was the Western Conference finals. Just absolutely ripped the hearts out of the entire state of Minnesota. Yeah, he bring his ass to Minnesota seeing those.

[Tim Bontemps]

I was watching some of the highlights after the trade I'd for we were there McMahon but I forgot some of them.

[Tim McMahon]

Game five.

[Tim Bontemps]

Yeah.

[Tim McMahon]

Unbelievable quarter of game five when it was just like okay, you got one. You extended the series. It's over. And Luca, he had a fan from the first two games of the series that he went right out from the get go. And again he just. That was a situation where Luca was so dominant that he just sucked the life out of an entire arena. By the end of the first quarter it was over. And he's going to try to do that to the Mavericks and if Nico's in the stands like that will be very interesting.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well plus he's coming off of this game where he got his mojo back.

[Tim McMahon]

In Denver for sure got us got.

[Tim Bontemps]

A Tech you didn't have to.

[Tim McMahon]

No, no. Not only a Tech, the going into halftime Tech. It's a Luca special. Not the Lucas special the Devin Booker once referenced. But this is, you know like Luca is great at picking up the Tech going into halftime. He's been bitching the whole first half and he's going to, you know just. He's getting this closing argument going in halftime.

[Tim Bontemps]

By the way. Closing by the way. Speaking of that, on Sunday night the. The Timberwolves lost to the Thunder. The Thunder had lost in Minnesota right before the break and they look, they were missing three key players. No Gobert, no Julius Randall, no go, no Dante DiVincenzo. It's hard situation. I didn't understand that. And Edwards, he Got teed up in that game. That was his 14th technical.

[Tim McMahon]

Oh, yeah, math. That's only. That's only two left. Now.

[Tim Bontemps]

I know you always know the number.

[Tim McMahon]

Now, I was going to tell you. With a superstar player. Oh, the league office.

[Wendy]

Nobody does more. Nobody does poor reports. More. More poor reports about technical thousand. Tim McMahon. Which is now over. He ain't gonna do that anymore.

[Tim McMahon]

No, no, no. Cuban has no juice, and Luke is gone. I'm.

[Wendy]

That's what I mean. It's all over. Every time there'd be a Luca Tech be like, oh, I gotta do a pool report.

[Tim McMahon]

No, not a Luca Tech. But when you get to the teens, those things. Yeah, you gotta. You gotta start doing them also. You know, Cuban used to have a little way of trying to get them done. But no, no, no, no more. But no. Like, Ant is too shy. Now, those 16 teas for the superstars, well, the league tends to be pretty lenient on the reviews of those things. I'm just going to tell you from experience, Luca.

[Tim Bontemps]

I do not believe this won't be rescinded.

[Tim McMahon]

No, but I'll tell you that 16, he's gonna have to. I'm just gonna tell. He's gonna have to do some things.

[Tim Bontemps]

You've seen it. You've seen it. You. You have experience.

[Tim McMahon]

Sixteen's got a way of getting overruled.

[Tim Bontemps]

Well, I'm just gonna say that the. The Timberwolves are taken some losses here just because they're so banged up, like, they can't be affording.

[Wendy]

Well, by the way, they're also tied with. They're also tied with the Mavs and the. The warriors right now. I mean, they've raced the. The playing mix in the west is going to be something.

[Tim Bontemps]

Ants approaching $300,000 in fines. You know, you get suspended for a game.

[Tim McMahon]

Hey, Ants already blown through the. I'm not going to scope his soda endorsement. Which ones? He got Sprite, I think.

[Tim Bontemps]

Thanks. I. I think it's Sprite.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah. The Anti Claus money's gone. Okay. The Adidas money's still intact, and he ain't touched his Timberwolves money yet. He'll be all right.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right. Well, a lot went on today.

[Tim McMahon]

Sure did.

[Tim Bontemps]

Another. Another big week of the NBA coming up. Who's paying for dinner tomorrow night? McMahon Home. Oh, that's right. Our buddy Om is going.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah, well, a celebrity Omi.

[Tim Bontemps]

Oh, yeah, that's right.

[Tim McMahon]

He has a celeb.

[Wendy]

You fellas have fun. I'll be at Bull Sixers.

[Tim Bontemps]

Oh, we haven't even talked about the Sixers. Oh, my God.

[Wendy]

Well, we've. We've talked about the Sixers enough. That's all we got to say.

[Tim Bontemps]

All I'm gonna tell you is.

[Wendy]

I'm gonna tell you the infinite pit of sadness, the Wells Fargo center, the.

[Tim Bontemps]

I can't believe you're going to that game, by the way.

[Wendy]

Why do you think I'm going to the game? I gotta see what's happening with certain people.

[Tim McMahon]

Yeah, Wendy, correct me if I'm wrong. Shams is a rookie, right?

[Tim Bontemps]

Yes.

[Tim McMahon]

He's an ESPN rookie.

[Tim Bontemps]

He couldn't be more of a rookie than he is. He's the definition of an ESPN rookie.

[Tim McMahon]

Seems to me like time for a rookie dinner.

[Tim Bontemps]

The Cowboys.

[Tim McMahon]

Bryant. Cowboys got des Bryant for 54 grand.

[Tim Bontemps]

How much damage could you do on. On Shams on a Monday night in la?

[Tim McMahon]

Thing is, I drink beer so it doesn't get too high, then get. You got to get like a lot of beers, though.

[Wendy]

I've seen it. You gotta get in the pile.

[Tim Bontemps]

When I had to buy dinner for you two guys, you. There was some damage that was done, so I'm. I. I know that you can do it.

[Wendy]

Relax. No, it wasn't.

[Tim McMahon]

It wasn't even. It was low. Low triple digits, wasn't. It was.

[Wendy]

It was. It was not even a fender bender.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, Willem McMahon. Travel safe to LA. I'll see you tomorrow. Bon Temps. Travel safe to Philadelphia. Yeah, I won't see at that game.

[Wendy]

You will not see me there. No, you won't.

[Tim Bontemps]

All right, thank you to Jackson, our producer. Thank you for watching and listening to the Hoop Collective podcast. We'll be talking to you Tuesday. Maybe after Luca and the Mavs. I don't know. I'm not promising.

[Tim McMahon]

We'll see, amigos.

[Tim Bontemps]

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