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C
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily presented by Amazon prime for January 20, 2026. Coming up, Jimmy Butler got hurt. We're going to talk about what it means for the Warriors. The Knicks got booed. We're going to talk about some potential cat trades and we got Hunter Patterson after the Detroit Pist beat the Celtics. Good morning everybody. Hey Xena, how's it going out there in the bay?
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F
It's going well, you know, but that's. That's only if you speak to me who was not at the game.
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C
Right? It's going well for you? Yeah, yeah, great for the warriors, in spite of a nice win over the Miami Heat and some better play recently. We're only going to talk about Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler left last night's game with against the Miami Heat midway through the third quarter with when he landed awkwardly on one leg and his knee kind of buckled beneath him. He had to be helped off the court by a couple of guys. Did not look good. Did not sound good on the audio. Zena. This team needs Jimmy Butler in order to win. I mean, he is, he is the number two guy on this team.
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F
Yep.
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C
It's not going to be good if he has to miss any time whatsoever. If he has to miss the rest of the season or something like that. Their season's done.
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F
Right.
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C
But what are they going to do without Jimmy Butler? Let's just think short term for now because again, we don't know anything about it yet. There's been no reporting and no medical test done as of the time of this recording. But what do you see them doing in the short term to, to make up for his absence?
- [03:25]
F
I think they're going to do what they've had to do all season long. When someone's gone out or been inconsistent with their minutes because of injury or coming back from injury and that's just going to be fill the void. I mean, the, the bench for the warriors has been their saving grace this season. They're third in points per game right now. They have been able to find gems to come in and play defense and to keep the ball moving in their high motion offense that they like to do without anyone needing to be on the ball and sticking to the ball. Funny thing is that that's what Jimmy does. Jimmy does that very well. He's a connector between the starters and the bench because he has that capability to switch from the high motion offense to the ISO offense. Now without him, that means that not only will they have to find about 20 points per game on just under 52% shooting out of this a new starting lineup, but they're going to also have to find who is going to translate the defense that Jimmy also provides. The number one thought that comes to mind is the Anthony Melton. He's been phenomenal for them. But that's the whole issue with the Warriors. The Anthony Melton is just coming off an ACL tear. He's working his way up to playing 26 minutes a game. That's going to be difficult to try and figure out. How can you ramp him up to fit the very big shoes that Jimmy is potentially leaving while also not accelerating his path to help and, you know, just trying to get better without hurting him.
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C
Right.
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F
There's another aspect of, you know, Brandon Pajemski could step up. He's been playing phenomenally as well, making the right decisions, playing well on defense, playmaking, shooting 63% from the floor like this is great. Overall, the warriors are going to have to look down the bench and I don't know, Dave, it looks like there might be somebody on the bench that could also.
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C
Guy, right.
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F
Yeah, they got someone that could probably put 20 points up in a game that has done it before and is just sitting there, not being utilized. Do you, do you have an idea?
- [05:22]
C
I listen, Jonathan and I mean, they're just. If we could go back to the start of the year, right, the start of the season and if he could come in and he can be that Jonathan Kaminga from the first three weeks of the season, you see the vision. Great. I just think that that ship has probably sailed at this point. Zena. Yeah, I mean, you know, there's a, there's a 20 point blowout against the Miami Heat. You lose Jimmy Butler and the one guy who doesn't play DNP coach's decision is Jonathan Kaminga.
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F
Right.
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C
It seems to me this could maybe speed up a trade potentially of Jonathan Kaminga. Maybe instead of waiting, you know, a few weeks for the deadline, this is something that needs to happen here in the next week. I don't know, but I, I'm just going to say, Xena, I don't see the Jonathan Kaminga. Listen, I don't think it's fair.
- [06:15]
F
I think I'm just, I'm, I'm, I'm wishful thinking that we could potentially see Jonathan, a Warriors jersey on the court once before he ends up wherever he ends up. But the thing about it is, is as Marcus Thompson, Sam Amick and Nick Furdell have reported for the Athletic, there is a possibility that Jonathan Kamiga stays on this team past the February 5th trade deadline. And at that point, once we figure out what's happening with Jimmy. But with I said Jimmy Buckets, I mean, that is his nickname. Whenever we figure out what happens with Jimmy Butler, who maybe has a change of heart, I don't know. But either way, the warriors are going to buckle in and get on their bench to be able to step up and they've been capable of doing that. That's what's led to their 73 record in their last 10. And we'll see what happens with the warriors.
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C
But yeah, right back to just Steph Curry and a lot of guys. And that's, you know, not been a winning formula here lately. Also not winning lately. The Knicks 2 and 9 now in their last 11 after losing to the Mavericks at MSG and getting booed. They didn't just lose to the Mavericks. I mean, they got, they got stomped by the Mavericks. The final score was 114.97 and it got a little closer in the second half, but the game was really over at halftime. Xena getting booed at Madison Square Garden. I would never want to experience that. It doesn't seem like a fun thing, but this team has been in a funk. Like we mentioned, 2 and 9 in their last 11. When Brunson was out. They were a mess, this team. They were, they had everyone in this game and it just didn't really matter. A lot of people focused on Carl Anthony Towns right now. There's some reporting. Steve Popper of Newsday was reporting after the game that the Knicks have been shopping Carl Anthony Towns around. I mean, when we talk about this team, Xena, we, we talk about the fact that their two best players cannot defend. And at the same time, I mean, Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns, you've got two guys who are targets for opposing defense. Their defense has been atrocious all year. I, I just don't think this is tenable. Something has to change.
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F
Something absolutely has to change. And you know, I was watching the NBC peacock, pregame, halftime, etc. And you know, Tracy McGrady, Melo, Vince Carter talking about this situation. Melo, you know, referring to the fact that, yeah, something has to give, something has to change. And I believe Tracy and Melo were on opposite sides of this. Is it the system that needs to change or does someone need to move? And Tracy was more on the, on the, the side of he doesn't like the system. He thinks there's something wrong with that. But let's talk about the system for a second, Dave, because this is where the whole Carl Anthony Towns issue is glaring. Mike Brown has come in to create this high motion offense, okay? In the last 10 games where this free fall has happened, the Knicks have been 25th in offensive rating. Okay? Last five games, 27th. They've not been great all season defensively, but they have been great offensively. They were fourth and they still are overall fourth. So for them to be this bad offensively, you start, you got to start looking at what's changed in the last five or ten games. Of course, the Jaylen Brunson injuries. So if you don't have Jalen Brunson, you got to look at, okay, who's your next best scorer? It's Karl Anthony Towns. And I'm just going to keep talking about guys that have done this. I've not been in the NBA. So I can't speak for the NBA. I've played basketball, but I'm going to just use the greats and what they've said. Reggie Miller said, and I'm paraphrasing, it doesn't matter if it's a high motion offense or you're running ISO, you're running whatever you're running offensively. If you're a true baller, you got to go out there and figure it out. And right now Karl Anthony Towns has not been figuring it out in this high motion offense. He's got a bad assist to turnover ratio. He's turning the ball over. He's. He's also being kind of parked, not utilized I think. Or not finding himself in positions to be utilized, kind of going away to the corner, passing, passing up opportunities to go one on one in the post sometimes like it is clear that he is not figuring it out in this offense and this goes back to the system or the player. I, I don't know what the answer is here, but I do.
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C
They made a coaching change. Xena. With this in mind, I can't imagine that when they were talking to Mike Brown about coming in and coaching this team that their goal wasn't to maximize the Jalen Brunson Carl Anthony Towns pairing. And to your point, this is now year two of these guys not really playing together. The coach changed, the players did not. There's a roster construction issue here also. I mean this team doesn't have the defensive center anchor that you really have to tie to Carl Anthony Towns like Rudy Gobert. I mean, you know, Mitchell Robinson's been good but largely unavailable. And I think like what you. I think where I start first is I look back at last year's team and what Tom Thibodeau was able to do with it. And he essentially was slapping a band aid over a lot of glaring problems by playing guys 40 minutes a night and really wearing them out. You look at the Knicks like they don't play as much as they did last year and that bench just isn't as good. And so that's another issue that they deal with. But the bigger one is your two best players defensively are just complete liabilities and unless you can find a play, the magical player. Can you clone Rudy Gobert and put him next to Carl Anthony Towns? I. I just don't see how, how it's going to work. So more to come on that this week I am sure because the trade deadline is coming up so fast and, and it does feel like it's starting to pick up steam, especially in the Carl Anthony Towns department. And with what's been happening with the Bucks, who barely held on after having a huge lead against the Hawks yesterday to win, I I thought they were going to blow it. Zena. If they blow. If they blew that game. I was firing up the trade machine for the Bucks.
- [12:08]
F
I texted you, Dave. The Bucks, man.
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E
The Bucks.
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F
Cuz. What? Yeah, we're not going to get into it.
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C
They got feeling like a doctor team already. Hey, there was some news yesterday we should Talk about. The AllStar starters were released and I will say not a bad job. Not a bad job. Fans, media, the the players did an okay job. Here are the starters in the East Giannis Antoko, Tyrese Maxi, Jaylen Brunson, Cade Cunningham, Jaylen Brown. You have any problems in the Eastern Conference?
- [12:42]
F
Zena I do not. I do not and I'm interested. So you. Of course we have to do east west, but it's also thinking about the world team versus the USA aspect too. But yes, I have no problems with that.
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C
I'll get to that world part in a minute. For the west, you have Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Stephen Curry, Shea Gildas, Alexander, and Victor Wembanyama, who makes the All Star starters in a tie break with Anthony Edwards because Anthony Edwards lost the fan vote to Wemby. Now, how do you feel about the Western Conference starters?
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F
I feel a little strange about the fact that Ant man ain't in there. Honestly, I don't believe that that vote should have come down to the fan vote between Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards. Mainly because when you look at the discrepancy between Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards, when it came to the player vote, it was significant. Anthony Edwards landed in the fourth spot. After him, it was Kevin Durant at number five and then Stephen Curry at number six and then Victor Weminyama at number seven. So now don't get me wrong, I know players can be haters, right? We know, we know. But in my opinion, if your own competition is giving you the credit to say you are the fourth best player in the west, that to me means you are the fourth worst player I want to see on a on any given night. Right. Like you are. I do not want to play against you. And to me that gives you credit. That gives you like validity to be a starter. And I think that it should have came down to the players being like, you know what Ant man, you got it.
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C
If I can push back though game for fans I like that the fans weighted heavier. I'm cool. I'm cool with it. And also Anthony Edwards will. Will make. He'll be an All Star starter at some point. I think the argument if you're doing the. I'm going to split hair about stats, it's Anthony Edwards making the game over Steph Curry. But that's the legend tax. Okay.
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F
Yeah.
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C
And so Steph Curry, listen, you're. He's going to. He's going to be an All Star starter. This is actually, I think something kind of being overlooked is the first time in 21 years that LeBron James is not an All Star starter.
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F
That's a crazy streak. Yeah.
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C
Yeah.
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F
But I mean his numbers, they've not been great. Like, I'm not. I'm not too surprised. He's been what I think -17.
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C
A lot of games.
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G
Yeah.
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C
I mean, listen.
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F
And the voters prioritize winning, right?
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C
That's right. Year 23 too. I mean, I think it's okay. He can take a little break. He'll come off the bench, I'm sure.
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F
Passes the torch.
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C
That's right.
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F
Luca in L. A. This is like the ceremonial moment. I think this is. They'll be fine.
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C
Let's talk about this world versus US format, which. Poor timing. But five world players make the starting lineup. Okay, so Giannis, Luca, Jokic, Shay and Wemby. Okay, I just going to go ahead and say it. The world team is going to destroy the US Team. It is not going to be close.
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F
They're loaded. This world team has seven MV MVPs combined in that group. Okay. The US team is smaller, like significantly smaller in size. Sure, they've got the IQ maybe, but I. I don't see a world in.
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C
Which they've got Steph Curry. Yeah, they've got Steph Curry. They'll have LeBron, they'll have Kevin Durant and. But they're going to split these guys up. I'm just telling you the world team is stacked. This format is going to go away. So we won't have to talk about it very long.
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F
The Americans might get embarrassed and Engle.
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C
No one thought this through anyway, guys, stick around. After the break. Hunter Patterson is here to talk about the Pistons being the best team in the East.
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I
And I think lca, it was a great environment in here. They were kind of clinging to every shot, especially Duncan Robinson each, each of his threes. Each of the attempts they they seem to be on their feet for him in particular and it was just a great atmosphere between two high level teams in the East.
- [19:34]
F
It was particularly impressive to me just how much Detroit's defense completely changed the way Boston had to Play, yes, this game was competitive, but if you didn't watch it, you saw Boston was not able to pass the ball the way they want to. Typically get about 24 assists. They had 13 assists against Detroit. They got seven less shots out on the basket. I mean, it felt like Detroit really locked in on the defensive scheme. Did they say anything about the adjustment or just the mindset going into that game? Going up against Boston, they, I think.
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I
Understood the weight of the game. They try not to put too much weight on any one game, given how long the season is. But I thought it was fitting that this was their 41st game. So they're officially at the halfway mark now. And with the exception of the third quarter where they allowed the Celtics to score 31, they held them below 30 in every other quarter and only 21 in the fourth quarter. So I think their ability just to fly around the way they do on defense, they're such a deep team. Ron Holland is coming off the bench, giving you contributions on the defensive end. Stu ended up meeting Namias K. At the summit like it seems like he does every single game at this point. So they all want to compete on the defensive end. And even Cade, who had more.
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C
Kate had a, a block dunk at the rim. Man, one of these guys is willing to go up and they're all willing to get dunked on in the name of trying to block a shot at the basket. I think that, that, that sort of mentality is what we've seen out of them all year. I mean, they're now 31 and 10. If you were just box score peeping, you might think that Cade Cunningham had a bad game because he was 4 of 17. He owned this game. In spite of what I thought was some of the best defense anybody's played on against him. Jordan Walsh looked great, especially in that, in that second half. But Cade owned this game, had 14 assists. The connection between him and Jalen Duran, just the growth that they've, that we've seen out of them from last season to this one and even over the course of this season, I thought they looked really poised down the stretch. This didn't look like a young team that's first time being in a big game. I mean, they really did look ready to play the Celtics.
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I
And I think, I mean, Cade, you mentioned that he had 14 assists. He himself had more assists than the Celtics did as a team, and he didn't turn the ball over once. So for him to have more shot attempts than points and still affect the game the way he did I think that says a lot. I mean, Speed's volume, just about the way he competes on both ends of the floor, and then how he can affect the game without scoring. I think this team just kind of rallies around the energy that he provides on both sides of the ball. And it's one of those situations where you just feel more confident when he's on the floor. And I think that's, that's something you see on a nightly basis.
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F
I want to ask a little bit about Tobias Harris because we've seen, we know that Tobias Harris has always been capable of being that role player. Doesn't need the spotlight, doesn't need the ball in hand. But of course, tonight against or last night against Boston, he was kind of like the stabilizing force. You saw him connecting with Jalen Duran and Isaiah Stewart within that front court trio of just handling things on the back line and then on top of it providing the points that he was providing. Like with Tobias, how can you expect him going like, why, why is he capable of basically going up and down, up and down in terms of his importance on this team and just consistently being consistent?
- [23:00]
I
J.B. bickerstaff mentioned it going back to last season. Even he calls Tobias his kind of security blanket when, when things are kind of going awry. Tobias is a person who he leans on and I think that just comes with the level of experience that Tobias has at this level. He's been a pretty consistent scorer. We saw it in from the start to finish tonight when you got him the ball in the post, you let him back his defender down a little bit, turning over either shoulder. He's really confident in getting the bucket. And I think there was also a four day layoff that they had a couple days ago where there just weren't games. And Tobias, when he got back from that, spoke to us about how he had a bit of an injury with the hip and even before the hip injury he wasn't 100%. So I think he's kind of starting to get healthier a bit as, as you can, as much as you can down the stretch of a season. But I think with health, just the level of experience that he has, being either like the second or third option, I would say, offensively, and then him stepping into this role where they're calling him Unk in his early 30s and he cherishes being able to be the security blanket, the Unk, the person who the rest of the team, given how young they are, being the person that they can kind of rely on.
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C
So it Wasn't that long ago that the Detroit Pistons were one of the worst teams in the league. And really a sad story that we kind of made fun of. And the Boston Celtics were winning a title. They were perennial Eastern Conference finalists. And now I'm not going to say that the shoe is quite on the other foot because the Celtics. Listen, Jason Tatum's out. They still are really good. And I think if Tatum comes back, they're going to make a push in the East. But the shoe is on the other foot for the Pistons. They're now the best team in the East. I mean, hands down, we've been not giving it to them all year. I think after this win at the halfway mark, they're 31 and 10. They're only two games in the lost column. Behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, they're the best team in the East. What is it like for you when you're covering a team that's new to this sort of territory? Like, how are you approaching it?
- [25:07]
I
I think for me, it's been cool to kind of see how they've handled success because I've only been here since last year. But none of them have gotten ahead of themselves. Each time we start to try to make ask a big picture question about how they view themselves, as opposed to a couple years ago, they are really honest in saying, we haven't done anything yet. Earlier this year, I asked Cade, when they were on that winning streak, how they've kind of changed in a sense. And he said, this is our first time not being losers in the NBA pretty consistently. Like, we all came into the NBA with high expectations. We've all been winners. We built winning habits before we got here to the league. And for us now to be in this position, we. I think they have so much of the losing streak in the back of their head that they never feel quite like they made it. It's not imposter syndrome because they know that they're worthy of being where they are, but they have those experiences of, man, we have not won a game in 28 straight games. So, like, we can't get comfortable anywhere. We are. And I think that's constantly something that the guys who were there during that losing streak are very much aware of.
- [26:18]
C
Yeah, well, guys, go and check out Hunter's story over at the Athletic. Follow along. I mean, again, he's covering the best team in the East. And thank you, Hunter, for hanging out in spite of the fact that they're converting the arena into what sounds like an Acme Dynamite Factory in real time. Hopefully our our super producer Alex can clean up that audio. But appreciate you hanging out with us us after the game. Thanks as always to Zita Keda. I'm Dave before and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for hanging out with us. Dreaming of getting the all new iPhone 17 Pro designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever.
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Oh actually they will have to get up and open the door.
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Oh right.
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Could this vintage store be any cuter?
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Right?
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I
Right.
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F
So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback I think.
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C
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