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Dave DeFore
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for November 13, 2025. I'm Dave Defora here with Zena Keda. Coming up, Nicola Jokic had a crazy night against the Clippers. Steph Curry went off against Wemby and the spurs and the Pistons were shorthanded but still picked up a win. So we talked to Hunter Patterson about that hot start to the season. Good morning everybody. Good morning. Good morning, Zena.
Zena Keda
Morning Dave.
Dave DeFore
Kind of a A weird Wednesday night in the, in the NBA. You know, seven teams were playing the second night of a backto back. This is all influenced by the NBA Cup. The NBA trying to make sure that, that teams don't have a back to back for those, those Friday night marquee games. I, I can understand the reasoning, but Zena, it's, it's killing us on Wednesday. We're getting blowouts. We're getting. I mean, the Pistons sat seven guys.
Zena Keda
Yeah. I mean, we're getting duds on national television. I'm setting up a million screens in my house, trying to watch everything.
Unidentified NBA Analyst
It's.
Zena Keda
It's a lot. And yeah, there's only one team, it seems, that doesn't get impacted by this, and that's okc.
Dave DeFore
But the rest, yeah, OKC blowing out Golden State and the Lakers in successive nights while still shorthanded themselves. Yeah, that's. They are a problem. I might have undersold them by saying 70 wins. Zena. I'm just.
Zena Keda
I think we all did. I think we all did. Like it is. We saw that comparison. 2015, 2016, Warriors. The continuity is there, the chemistry is there. They have it all set up right now and it is scary Times.
Dave DeFore
And just. A.J. mitchell. Hey, welcome to the NBA. Come on, let's just. Yeah. Right in the mix. Okay, Bay Area, let's talk about. Let's talk about the Nuggets and the Clippers. The Nuggets pick up a win and look right out of the gate. This game just felt different from Jokic. He was gunning, it felt like, and he wasn't missing. He wounds up, winds up missing five shots en route to 55 points. He had 12 rebounds. Only six assists, though. So only an okay game. Not a great one. But, but Zena, I want to talk about the style that, that he employed to get there because it. He felt like he was being ultra aggressive. You know, the, the Clippers broadcast kept bringing up how he. His assist numbers were low. And that's the secret to beating him. Like, you make him a scorer and don't let the other guys win. It did not work. No.
Zena Keda
And that's usually the case. You. That is literally every basketball coach's like, mo. When it comes to, you're about to play a star player, you're not going to stop them. Like, you're going to try to slow them down, but get the ball out of their hands and force everyone else to beat you. That is like, it's like it's written in movies. Right. But the thing about it is, is that one, Nikola Jokic, he sets his teammates up for success just as much as sets himself up for success. And he's going to take that shot in the case that his teammates aren't able to be able to, you know, capitalize on what's being given to them by the defense. Everything that Jokic turned around and did, I mean whether it was walking into a three at the top of the key, barely jumping.
Unidentified NBA Analyst
Yeah.
Zena Keda
Barely levitating, being in the post, turning around, off one foot again, barely. It looked like little effort was exerted. Yet you saw him, especially when the ball was coming off the rim and they're going the other way. He's sprinting to get into position to get something going, whether it's for himself or his team. And I just think that he sets the bar for I'm going to get this shit done one way or another. Like it's through the roof.
Unidentified NBA Analyst
Right.
Zena Keda
And that's what we saw tonight. It makes me wonder, Dave, like, and I actually looked this up, but I'm curious, just off your eye test last year, Denver desperately needed Nicola Jokic. Like the, it was like a 61 point differential on. Off the court, it terrible differential. And it feels like even though you see him drop 55 tonight, it feels as if they're, they're doing pretty well in the non yic minutes. What do you think from just eye test?
Dave DeFore
Look, my eye test tells me it's not as bad, but part of that is just because I see competent players on the court. You know, like I'm pretty sure that, that the Clippers won the Valentunas minutes last night. And that's, that's just I test, I haven't looked at the box score for that, but I'm pretty sure they won those minutes. But it's just that you have competent. So when I'm watching it's like, oh, well, it's Jonas Valentunas. Yeah. I mean he's going to have a game like this every now and then. Yeah. Are you going to tell me that it's still all Nikola Jokic?
Zena Keda
No, actually you're right. So interestingly enough, last year the point differential was very steep. Of course that's 61% or 61 points I'm talking about. But this year and yes, it's a very small sample size. It's only 0.2. So it is factor of that second unit, particularly Jonas Valentunas being able to come in and be able to knock down some shots, protect the rim, make things a little bit easier on offense. And another Factor is Aaron Gordon as a. A new connector.
Dave DeFore
Right.
Zena Keda
They. They used to have him just in that dunker spot for the most part. Right. Tonight or last night, we saw him coming down the court and going off ball screens, going down the middle of the paint. So I'm going off flare screens, shooting threes like his game and the versatility of his game, the. The. Another level, the other level of scoring that's been unlocked is insane. That helps. Christian Brown wasn't able to play too much tonight. His hip was clearly bothering him, but he's another connecting point. So there's. There's been. The starters even from last year have stepped it up, and when they're playing those secondary minutes, they're helping fill in the gap. So shout out Jonas. But everyone else around him is getting better, too.
Dave DeFore
Yeah. And if Cam Johnson ever figures it out with these guys, you know they're going to be something else. He left the game last night a little bit early with an elbow injury or an arm injury of some sort.
Unidentified NBA Analyst
Look.
Dave DeFore
So they. They beat the Clippers. The Clippers fall to three and eight, and the bad news piling up. Bradley Beal, we found out yesterday, is going to miss the rest of the year. They desperately have needed some extra ball handling, especially with Kawhi out. But Bradley Beal not going to be back this season. Kawhi is still out. We found out thanks to Law Murray that Kawhi not only has a sprained ankle, he's also got a sprained foot. So that's an issue. Again, Kawhi having a hard time being healthy, the Clippers not healthy, their defense not holding up. Evita Zubach has had an awful start to the season. Defensively, the team around him is not exactly, you know, world beaters as far as defenders go. And they don't own their draft pick until 2030, so their options are extremely limited anyway. Fire up the trade machine is all I'm saying. The Clippers got to go out. They're going to have to make a move and they're going to have to be aggressive, I think pretty soon, because otherwise, what are you doing? There's no incentive to lose. There is no incentive to try to tank. You got to try to right the ship somehow. And I think that they're going to have to go out and figure out a way to get somebody. Maybe Anthony Davis. Maybe. Maybe Anthony Davis now.
Zena Keda
Maybe. But I just for me, with the Clippers, you can't add another uncle. And I'm not saying that Anthony Davis is quite an uncle like Kawhi and James, etc. But someone that's consistently hurt or not playing enough, it's just not going to work. They got to go out, get somebody young, somebody that's available, someone that can take the burden off of James Harden because he can't be asked to put up 30 a night playmake for his team. And on top of it, you know, be at the top of the defense and think that Vita Zubots is not going to have his back. Like he's going to have.
Dave DeFore
To be fair, James Harden's not that worried about being at the top of the defense. I mean, he's going to get.
Zena Keda
Yeah, remember, remember, though, let's not. Let's not put some shit. Last year, James Harden was like at the top of the league in deflections. Okay, so he was still active. It's just a matter of you got to give up something. And yes, defense is usually the thing that James gives up. So it doesn't help when the Vita Zubots isn't protecting the paint.
Dave DeFore
I mean, that's like one of their big problems to me. If they. They got to clean up their interior defense, it just has not been good. Okay, moving on. Let's get to the warriors and the Spurs. You know this. The warriors, they probably weren't planning to play everybody on the second night of a back to back, but they got smoked by the Thunder. So it was kind of an earlier night. And you know, I got to say, Stephen looked like he had his legs under him. He had 46 points in the game. You know, it's one of these games where, you know, you turn on the third quarter, let's say. Right?
Zena Keda
Yeah, yeah.
Dave DeFore
And it's like, oh, wow, is this the warriors from 10 years ago? Because Steph put up. I don't even know how many points he had in the third quarter. 22 points.
Zena Keda
22 points.
Dave DeFore
Yeah. He was untouchable, you know, even to the point where, you know, he missed a shot. Relocate. They got the rebound. Of course, the ball finds Steph again and he's getting defended by like Victor Women Yama on the wing. And you just know Steph is going.
Zena Keda
To hit it, chasing him down. I mean, the fact that I saw a tweet that literally had the side by side of the Golden Dagger in France and another shot from the corner on Victor women Yama in this game. And I'm like, is there. There must be some ptsd Just a little bit, I'm sure. But yeah, no, Steph was otherworldly last night. I mean, you're thinking about the company that he's in with the amount of 40 point games that he's had after since the age of 30. Michael Jordan's got 44. Steph is now at 43. And he's saying, you know, God willing, he'll be able to get another one. Trust me, knowing this season and what the warriors have been being able to put up offensively, he's got a few more this season that he can look forward to.
Dave DeFore
They better have some this year.
Zena Keda
They need it. Exactly.
Dave DeFore
Hey, speaking of, let's talk about the warriors just a little bit and we'll get back to the game because Wemby had a 30 point triple double and we should talk about that.
Hunter Patterson
Absolutely.
Dave DeFore
But the warriors made a lineup change. Xena and I want to talk to you because obviously, you know, look, you cover the warriors out there for sure. They made a lineup change. They moved Jonathan Kaminga to the bench. They move rookie Will Richard to the. To the starting lineup. What do you think? I mean, I, I will, I will lay out having that sort of shooting between Moses Moody and, and Richard. I, I like it. But it's a bit of a bold move, I would say, from Steve Kerr.
Zena Keda
I think Steve Kerr, number one. Their choice tonight was to go small ball. And that move, not only Quentin Post, not only Jonathan, but also moved Quentin Post out of the lineup. Right. And that now you're looking at who can you replace. And what they desperately needed was some spacing. That is the only way that you can get a Steph Curry going again. And if you watch that game against okc, Kacen Wallace was stuck to Steph's hip like glue, like a toddler in Disneyland. That won't leave you alone. And you're just like, okay, thank you, Kacen. We see you. We appreciate you. He did his best boxing one. And I don't even know if that was like intentional for them. But the only way that you can get loose, though is if Steph has room to be able to maneuver to lose the likes of Kacen Wallace. In this case, it was Victor Webanyama tonight at some point, right. But overall, Moses Moody being set up, they had so many sets, pin downs for him, double drag screens for him. He was coming off of screens not only ready to shoot, but also ready to attack. Being able to assess, and that was so helpful. Now, Will Richard, even though he literally attempted two shots last night and he hit a three, but for the majority of the game he had not scored. I don't think he scored in the first Half or attempted a shot even the thing that he does is move and that helps spacing too, keep somebody occupied. And I think that that is so, so crucial for what they wanted to do coming out tonight. Just switching up what their offense looked like. It, it just felt stuck a little sticky in the last few games, especially on the road, especially in the fatigue aspect of this game. And going on the second night of a back to back, you needed some young energy. And I think Will Richard, even the very first play of the game where Steph scored, all he did was cut through a clear, like just an easy cut across the lane. Allowed Steph to get a lane to get to the basket. So I think that's what Steph was, I mean Steve Kerr was looking for in terms of Will Richards energy, the movement, spacing on the nights when he's hitting though, which he absolutely can. He's a 40% three point shooter right now in the league. He is going to be tremendous for giving Steph that additional space to maneuver.
Dave DeFore
Yeah, and having two shooters and Steph allows you to have Jimmy Butler and Draymond operating in, in the spaces that they want to operate offensively without cramping your, your offense completely. Jonathan Kuminga, 12 minutes off the bench, but he only played like half the game. Had a knee issue. And I, I still think that this is something we're going to have to watch with Kaminga. I think we all kind of thought that things were going a certain way but you know, the, the great start that he, that he got off to the year with, it just, it hasn't continued. He hasn't been as consistent, especially on the defensive end. And I, I'm assuming that that's part of why they were making a change.
Zena Keda
Yeah, I mean you definitely want Will Richards length and again his lateral mobility in front of the point of attack defense. That's the number one problem that the warriors have on defense is their perimeter, particularly their point of attack. And Jonathan Kaminga has struggled against point guards and so that makes sense that they would want to see that little jolt in defense. But yeah, things have stuttered a little bit for Jonathan Kaminga, but again tonight, not benched because of that bilateral knee pain. We'll see what happens though. He definitely has to find a redemption game soon, not only for his stance within the, the, the lineup rotation, but also his confidence, I'm sure.
Dave DeFore
Yeah, and we keep talking about Wemby putting up ridiculous numbers. 31 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists. He only had one block, Xena.
Zena Keda
Oh, and those six assists terrible.
Dave DeFore
Yeah. Yeah, disappointing. Look, the Spurs, I don't know, they just, they're, they're okay team. Like, they're pretty good team. I think they're better than, than we thought they were coming into the year. But I just don't know what you can do when Steph Curry is, is hot. There's no, nobody in the league that can guard him. There's no scheme you can come up with. There's just, I mean, he's a buzzsaw.
Zena Keda
The good news is the spurs get another chance. They literally play them very soon this week. That's right. And I just don't know if they're going to allow him to get 25 shots up again. Because remember, it's, I mean, 13 of 25 from the field is probably not Steph's best night on shooting. And we just talked about Nikola jokic. There are three amazing true shooting percentages of 55 point games in the last, I don't know, 10 years. One of them was Steph last year when he had his 55 point game and he shot 90% from the field. The other person was James Harden. He had a game back in 2016 where he shot around 70 or so. And then Jokic tonight being able to shoot 90% or so from the field. Unbelievable numbers.
Dave DeFore
Insane. All right, guys, stick around after the break. Hunter Patterson's here to talk about those scrappy Pistons bench guys handing it to the Bulls.
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Zena Keda
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Dave DeFore
The Detroit Pistons got a bit of an unexpected win last night. Second night of a back to back in Xena. They rested seven guys. No Cade Cunningham, no Jalen Duran, not even Andre Drummond playing for him. But it didn't matter because they had Denise Jenkins or Dennis Jenkins. I mispronounce his name again. I will get it right because this guy is going to keep playing and they had B ball Paul. So they win the game because they stayed hot and ready. And it's fitting because they're in the Little Caesars Arena. Our man Hunter Patterson was there. You. You probably thought you were going to have an easy night tonight. Nothing to write about. And now this plucky group of bench guys go and beat the Bulls.
Hunter Patterson
One thing I'm learning about this team, y', all is just to expect the unexpected, I guess, because anytime I go into a game thinking I know what's going to happen, I have absolutely no idea. And tonight was just the latest example.
Zena Keda
It was cool to see Dennis Jenkins, like first career start tonight, gets his first career double double immediately providing this. But Hunter, you got to put us on game because I'm not going to lie. Dennis Jenkins came onto my radar last Pistons game. They've now won eight in a row. He is respons responsible, particularly in these last two, for really helping push forward the pace, the vibe of the Pistons, especially with everyone out tonight. Tell us a little bit more about Danis. What do we need to know about what he came into the Pistons with and what he's been providing as of late?
Hunter Patterson
I think he. He matches the energy of the city because he was undrafted last year. He's someone who JB pregame even mentioned he doesn't mind pulling Cade aside. He'll pull Tobias aside. And it's not a facade with him. Like, he actually is confident enough in himself to be an undrafted player only in his second year, not getting a bunch of playing time, not necessarily knowing what his role is. And he's still trying to direct traffic. I would say my first time really understanding his level of intensity and confidence in himself. Also was just a summer at summer league. He was talking a bunch of. A bunch of stuff and he was backing it up, playing against guys who may have had more experience than him. And the entire Pistons starters were sitting courtside watching him, and they seem to love it. So he's someone who has supreme confidence in himself. And I think this is just another reason why, like, he. He knows he's that dude.
Dave DeFore
Yeah, you say it's only his second year, but he is 24. Right. I mean, he's an older player, so that probably helps. But. But the truth, he plays so fast these last couple games, I. I mean, the spark plug that he was off the bench and in the fourth quarter in that win, that comeback win the other night, and then in this game, to be able to carry the load when you didn't have Cade Cunningham out there, to take 45 shots. Right. I mean, he was out there creating him and B ball Paul actually had some nice chemistry. And it just got me thinking about how this season has started out for the Pistons. They've been so great and we have focused so much on. On kind of that top seven that they actually are pretty deep in a league that now rewards you for that depth where you steal wins. Like tonight, this was a schedule loss for the Pistons. They rested everyone because they know, hey, it's probably not worth our effort. You know, like we're, we've got bigger fish to fry. We've got to think long term. And all of a sudden you win this game, now you're 10 and two. You're the best team in the east and you're in the pole position really for home court advantage in the playoffs after 12 games of the season.
Hunter Patterson
Yeah, they are actually kind of dealing with some, some early injury bad luck, if you will. Darren tweaked his ankle on that last play Monday. It was. He was trying to go set pick for Chaz Lanier to roll off. He tweaked his ankle Cade. I think everyone saw how Cam Whitmore went to block his shot. He took a hard fall. They just have bad injury luck to start the season. And to your point though, I think this is just you seeing or not even you. Just the league and the world seeing how deep this team is and also just how talented NBA players are. Like Paul Reed could. Paul Reid could potentially be more involved in a different rotation. And he spoke to it after the game just about how he consistently stays ready. Asar mentioned earlier in the year that he's one of the hardest working players he's been around in his short time in the league. And Paul Reid just really has a high IQ and processes the game at a quick, quick level. So it's a team full of dogs they like to call themselves and this is how they go about picking each other up and playing for each other.
Zena Keda
Yeah, I mean seeing Toluse Smith along with Dennis Jenkins and Paul Reed, 28 points. I mean it was, it was, it was like grit ball. And what's so crazy to me also is the fact that like Dennis was in the G League, like he was being a point guard for the Motor City Cruise.
Hunter Patterson
He's still on a two way contract too.
Zena Keda
This is on a two way contract. Exactly. So it's, it's kind of crazy to think this sort of talent. It's not crazy actually. I know this. A lot of folks don't know this, but this sort of talent is hiding in the G League, just waiting for their moment. But the difference here is we've seen several teams around the association where older players or more established players, quote, unquote, stars on the team, they go out with injury or they go out with load management, whatever you call it. And the next crop of players don't know their lanes, they don't know how they can fit in and contribute. And that was to me, the difference for Detroit, for them to come out and give, particularly Paul Reed, like Vucevic was having a tough time with his defense, tracking him on offense, like being able to give a Chicago Bulls team that's been rolling. They, you know, their offense has been rolling, et cetera. Sure they made a little bit of a comeback, small one, but weren't able to get the win over the second tier Detroit Pistons team. I think this is about also knowing your role. Like what does this say really about the way that Detroit Pistons have made up like the, the threat team in terms of anyone can step up on any given night and they know what they're supposed to do to contribute to a win.
Hunter Patterson
JB spoke directly to that post game. He talked about the quality of people that they try to bring into their locker room. Trajan has been the one spearheading it, obviously as basketball, the president of basketball ops. But they bring in people that they feel are ready to compete at all times, who know their role and who are prepared even when their number isn't called on. And that was again what we saw tonight in terms of Dennis Jenkins preparing every game like he is a starter. And then when he is in the position to be a starter, it looks like he's been there before because he's prepped as if he is the starter. And the same goes for Paul Reed. They're all guys who don't just consider themselves not as a part of the group because they're not getting menaced at the time. And they take their role seriously because they know nights like these are, are on the horizon eventually.
Dave DeFore
With a start like this and a team that has, has taken a couple of leaps, right, like Cade Cunningham feels like a different player than he was two years ago. Jalen Duran feels like a different player than he was last year. This scene feels like they're ready to start contending. I don't know about necessarily shooting for a title this year, but they're closer to that than they're not. What do you look at when you're, when you're looking at this roster and you start to think, trade season's coming up, what could they be looking for as they round out and try to make this team just a little bit better?
Hunter Patterson
I genuinely think that they think they have everything that they need. And it's tough because they still haven't really been able to gauge a healthy team just simply because Ivy was slotted to be the starting two guard. He hasn't been able to play yet. He's supposed to be reevaluated soon, but there's no telling officially yet when he'll be back. So at some point, the patience may run thin, but I think there is still a sense of patience in wanting to see, hey, we are 10 and two. We've grinded out games like this where we have seven players who aren't playing, and if we can eventually mesh the way we're supposed to with everyone healthy, then maybe there's not even a need to make any big moves or shake anything up.
Zena Keda
And that feels that kind of. It gives that Detroit vibe too of like the home crowd, the home team, like that feels. You can feel that energy throughout this team as well. Just how they showed up. And you know, watching this game at first the blowout was just like not fun. I'm not gonna lie. I was like, this is kind of boring what's going on here. But understanding that the underlying story here is that all of these players and also shout out to Duncan Robinson, Duncan Robinson showed up. Seven threes made in this game, definitely helped them, give them the extra boost. But a lot of these names are names that for the most part, if you're outside of Detroit, you don't quite know. And it was cool to see a lot of guys getting an opportunity out there and Pistons like they're bought in. It is fun. And I think, Dave, you're right. They are closer to that contention aspect than still needing to build to that, that point.
Hunter Patterson
And I think to, to both of Yalls points, really, they believe in who they have in the locker room and there's such a sense of pride where Cade's not playing tonight, but he's the first one on his feet even though he has a bad hip right now at 24 years old, which is crazy, but took a hard fall. But he's, he's the first guy on his feet when he sees Dennis get into the basket or knocking down a three, making a high level read. And they're just a team who I don't think wants to be separated or broken up or anything because they have a supreme level of confidence. In everyone who suits up.
Zena Keda
Sounds familiar. Dave.
Dave DeFore
City vibes.
Zena Keda
I was gonna say it sounds familiar.
Dave DeFore
They got some vibes. They do. I mean, hey, Jamie Biggerstaff also deserves a lot of credit. The vibes that he brings as a coach. I mean, he's now done this in multiple stops.
Capital One Bank Guy
Right?
Dave DeFore
It is not. To me, that is not a coincidence that they've turned things around. And, you know, you mentioned the fact. I. I watched in the postgame presser. He talked about the character of the guys. He talked about how everyone stays ready. I. I think JB Biggerstaff deserves a ton of credit. Probably should be the front runner for coach of the year. You know, look, we're going to get into awards, you know, whatever it is. 12%, 15%. I do think that what the job he's done. I mean, we talked about him all last year. I mean, I. I actually respect JB Biggerstaff as a coach maybe more than. Than a lot of the guys in the league. Like, I mean, I think he's a better coach than he gets credit for. And if you look at Cleveland and, yeah, you know, they got Kenny Atkinson. How much more did they achieve in that season with Kenny Atkinson than they had already done with jb? Bigger stuff. I mean, to me, I think that, you know, if he gets another year in Cleveland, maybe they get a similar leap. So, anyway, it's good to see him thriving, but also, I'm not surprised that the Pistons are. Are having such a good run here the last couple seasons. Hunter, real quick.
Hunter Patterson
Yeah, do it. Just the. The thing I think that is just such an underrated quality about JB is the way that he knows how to challenge people in different ways. And the way he challenges K might not be the same way he challenges Ron, who's still so young. And he understands people at a level that I'm not sure every coach in the league does. And he understands what buttons to push to get out of them, what he needs. And I mean, you see it time, time and time again, and he has a way of wanting. Making his players want to compete for him, and it's just a genuine bond.
Dave DeFore
We call that emotional intelligence. It's the single most important thing to being a coach of athletes. You got to keep their mind right, you got to keep their heart right. I don't know. It's a lot of fun if you're good at it, and JB really is. All right, Hunter, looking forward to reading about all these role players for the Pistons all year long. I'm sure we're going to get features. I mean, you've got like nine guys who are legitimately interesting to write about. So that's a lot of fun.
Hunter Patterson
Absolutely.
Dave DeFore
You'll be back soon because this team is too good. So everybody looking forward to that. Thank you to Hunter Patterson. Thank you to Zena keda. I'm Dave DeFore. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us guys.
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Episode Summary: Big nights for Steph Curry & Jokić + OKC Keeps Rolling
On this episode, hosts Dave DeFore and Zena Keita break down a wild Wednesday around the NBA, spotlighting incredible individual performances by Nikola Jokić (Nuggets) and Stephen Curry (Warriors), plus the surging Oklahoma City Thunder. They analyze roster moves, discuss the injury-riddled Clippers, and go deep on how the shorthanded Detroit Pistons—behind unsung heroes Dennis Jenkins and Paul Reed—pulled off an inspiring win. Hunter Patterson joins to give the inside scoop on Detroit's early-season magic.
“That is the only way you can get a Steph Curry going again...Spacing.” – Zena Keita (13:11)
Wemby’s Triple-Double:
Unexpected Shorthanded Win (21:54–34:04)
Paul Reed’s Impact
Team Depth & Culture
Roster Moves?
The episode balances sharp analysis and playful banter befitting fast-paced NBA talk. The hosts repeatedly marvel at the unpredictable, emotional nature of the league—be it Jokić’s and Steph’s historic nights, the Thunder’s rise, or how “dogs” from the Detroit bench embody underdog spirit. Throughout, the consensus is clear: depth, adaptability, and culture matter more than ever in the modern NBA.
This episode delivers an essential, insightful snapshot of the NBA’s key storylines and surprise outcomes, capturing the pulse of a league where anything can—and often does—happen.