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The Athletic NBA Daily
Durant & Beal return to crush Lakers | What is wrong with the Timberwolves?
00:23:54
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- [00:00]
Dave Dufour
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- [00:27]
Xena Keda
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- [01:48]
Dave Dufour
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- [02:31]
John Krasinski
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for November 27, 2024. Coming up, Kevin Durant is back. Looks pretty good. The sun's missed him Big time. We got a tale of the Twin Cities and last night it was the wor of times. So we got John Krasinski in here and Xena and I are going to talk about whether or not the Pelicans should blow it up. Yes, yes. They need to just take. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Xena. It was good to see Kevin Durant last night, Xena. How about that?
- [03:06]
Unknown
Absolutely.
- [03:06]
He looked so good.
- [03:08]
John Krasinski
Yeah, he looked like it was two sons. Right? We love to see him. You know, like we were just woo. You know, no Giannis for the Bucks. So I was worried we were going to have a dud of a night. But KD back for the Suns and Xena, immediately everything falls into place. Him, him and Bradley Beal back on the court. They've got their full starting unit out there for only like the fourth time all year.
- [03:29]
Unknown
Yep.
- [03:30]
John Krasinski
And what do you know, they blow out the Lakers 127 to 100. The. The three guys, you know, Booker plays the most minutes. He plays 34 minutes, I think only 27 for Beal, 30 for. For KD. So just a nice easy night for everybody. Which is kind of what we want for the Suns. Right. Like this is a team that's built for the playoffs. They should be crushing teams like the Lakers that can't really score.
- [03:52]
Unknown
That's exactly what you want, is your Big Three being able to come in, handle business and then sit down in the fourth quarter and allow the young guys to cook. And that's exactly what happened. I mean, this is probably the best iteration of a Big Three living like right now. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like there's few teams that have been able to bring in a new talent, a big name talent and work it out. And the funny thing is their move actually had nothing to do with the Big Three that was already there. It was about Tyus Jones coming in and becoming the thread between the three of them and being able to have him be the floor setter with this team. And not, you know, not to put anything away from the Big Three, but there's something to be said about their rookies too. Ryan Dunn and Oso Iguidaro have been so solid of presences and they play so much older than they are, just being responsible with the ball and making the right decision. And I'm sure that that is a byproduct of being around these three superstars in Beal, Booker and Durant.
- [04:54]
John Krasinski
Well, they got big minutes out of Iguidoro, filling in when Nurkic was kind of banged up. And in foul trouble and I mean, and Ryan Dunn has just been a good story all year long. Nurkic, you know, hit a three, another three made by Yusuf Nurkic in this game. We, I think we were contractually obligated to point out every single time he makes one because it was going to be rare. But on the other hand, the Lakers, JJ Redick made history in the game or after the game, I guess you could say, becoming the first Lakers coach in their history to lose an NBA cup game.
- [05:31]
Unknown
Xena.
- [05:33]
Wow.
- [05:34]
John Krasinski
Darvin Ham, undefeated on the way to.
- [05:36]
Unknown
The NBA cup championship.
- [05:39]
John Krasinski
There you go. Lakers not eliminated yet. They still have a chance to, you know, to make it to the, to the elimination round. So it's, you know, it's still early for the Lakers, but, you know, here's the issue for the Lakers. They struggled to score. They lost this game really, like the third quarter, it got out of hand. They lose that quarter 36, 18 and Zena, you know, it's not hard to, when you look up and down the box score, even to just peep at the box score and say, well, Cam Reddish gives you 0 points, Rui gives you 7. That's in your starting lineup. And you know, Cam, you know, he's in there for defense, but you just don't have enough offense to be able to have a defensive specialist out there.
- [06:19]
Unknown
The problem that the Lakers are facing right now is there's so much give and take with so many different players. With Cam Reddish, the give is obviously good defense. You can put him on your biggest assignment and you can, you can make sure that he can handle that. However, he takes away offensive production. He does not provide you anything in terms of a boost. Now, who could you replace him with? Dalton Connect. He can give you those additional buckets. He can give you that lift. He can give you a lob play out of, out of side of line, out of bounds, play like crazy, bucket like hops. However, what does he take? Defense.
- [06:57]
John Krasinski
Well, he gives that too. He's, he's given to everyone. You know, Don Connect's just a giver, but, but look, he spaces the floor. You know, he makes things easier for Anthony Davis. And look, my, my thing is this Rui Hachimura and Cam Reddish playing the two of them together is, is a problem with Rui. I understand it. He's a big body, he's good rebounder. You know, he, he hits the mid Ranger, but you can't have two guys that will not stretch the floor. Austin Reeves has had a great season. D'Angelo Russell has been excellent outside of making shots since moving to the bench. Yeah, to me, I think I. And those shots are going to fall. This. That shoot heats up as the season goes. A move for Dalton connect into the lineup for one of Cam Reddish or Rui. I. I think you just got to choose one. I don't hate the idea of Rui coming off the bench, you know, and I don't want to compare him to Jonathan Kuminga because they're different players, but could have a similar role where he's this scoring guy off the bench. When you don't have LeBron out there and maybe buy you some time, you know, with no Anthony Davis now, I.
- [07:59]
Unknown
Don'T have the stats in front of me, but I know that Rui Hachimura coming off the bench in previous years for the Lakers has been a burst of energy. He has been a burst of defense and offense. He can hit that COR 3. Give the Lakers a lift, especially as they're, you know, in transition, wanting to get a quick bucket early in the shot clock. Now, One thing about D'Angelo Russell, he's been excellent in general against the Phoenix Suns tonight. Not good.
- [08:24]
John Krasinski
Yeah, well, okay. Okay. You know, just going to have some thinkers here or there. Let's swing it to the Bucks. Number one. The court in the. In the Miami Heat arena for the NBA cup is. It's legal pad yellow. And I just do not get it. We. We just cannot do this. That is an awful color.
- [08:45]
Unknown
There's like five.
- [08:46]
John Krasinski
Yeah, we got to get rid of the yellow. That's. That's the first note in my notes from the game. Zena. My second note. No Giannis, no Chris Middleton. He's not back yet. But we did get the news that he's playing five on five, so he's gonna hopefully be back soon. You know, we've been talking about that for a couple weeks now that it's up to him, so hopefully he's back soon. But the Bucks did get a win over the Miami Heat thanks to Damian Lillard, 37 points. And look, they. They really did. They came out like game busters and they held off the Miami Heat, who came back and, and I mean, made this a real game. But the Bucks, they showed some stuff I thought showed some toughness. I think Damian Lillard making shots helps, you know, rise a lot, a lot of tides. Right. But I think A.J. green and Andre Jackson have shown things when. When Damian Lillard was out, when, now Giannis out. Just those guys need to play more. Good stuff happens for the Bucks, when those guys are playing.
- [09:44]
Unknown
When Dame Lillard was hot early on in the game, there wasn't a lot of movement that the rest of the cast had to do. They were allowing Dame Lillard to cook, and for that reason, their energy was conserved. When you saw things slow down for Dame Lillard and the Bucks had to do more work to get themselves open, to get themselves running. Entra transition and defending as well. The Miami Heat, who got hot, especially in that third quarter, you saw them get fatigued, and who were their saving grace? It was A.J. green hitting those three pointers and Andre Jackson Jr. Just being a crazy defender and just an active body all across the court. So, yes, the youth have to play for the Bucks, especially as they get down in time.
- [10:29]
John Krasinski
Yeah, they stand out because the Bucs, they just need athletes out there, and those guys are going to make mistakes. They made mistakes in this game, but every single game, especially Andre Jackson when he's out there and like pick and roll with Damian Lillard as the role man, and they throw the double at Dame and he has to make a decision. He did a pretty good job of making the decision on the short roll, finding the shooter. So stuff to look. I mean, I think the Bucks have some promising stuff coming there. They've still got some things they got to figure out, but not too bad, considering especially no Giannis. Guys, stick around. We got John Krasinski to break down the bad with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Xena not looking good. The NBA daily curse continues. John Krasinski's on the show, so, you know, the Timberwolves must have lost last night, that one. You know, John, it was a little bit of a heartbreaker. They. They fought back to. To get into the game. They made it to overtime, but at the end of the day, Alper and Shingoon said that Rudy Gobert was too small and the Rockets get the win. But I. Look, I want to start with the positive here for the Wolves, because every time I get you on the show, it's just, hey, the vibes are bad. Ooh, what's going on with the defense? But, you know, with Mike Conley out, we've gotten a chance to see rookie Rob Dillingham. And, you know, this. This is one of probably. I think it was his best game. He was giving them energy where they just didn't have it. And I think if there's one positive takeaway from this recent stretch with the Wolves, it's got to be him, right?
- [11:59]
Unknown
Yeah, for sure, Dave. I mean, when you look at how this Season started, first of all, they trade up or into the draft to number eight overall to grab Rob Dillingham. And you're thinking, you know, hey, he's going to play, you know, after, you know, with giving Mike Conley some backup minutes there. But the real challenge for a 19 year old, you know, generally when you're drafted 8th overall, you're going to a team that's not very good and you can kind of just get thrown out there and play. But he was coming to a Western Conference finalist that feels like they can get back there or further when they get everything figured out here. And so his minutes were really limited early in the season. Like he just was not getting rotation minutes. And because Finch, Chris Finch was going more with the veterans, trying to get some cohesion with that, with this new look group. And Rob Dillon was out of the rotation. Now the last couple of games as the minutes have opened up with Connelly out, he has really come in and you can see he just brings a totally different dimension to this team. I mean, his energy, his dynamic cutting ability, his, his handle, all of that stuff is big for them. And really what it says right now is you just have to find minutes for him on the floor. Dante DiVincenzo is really struggling. Nikhil Alexander Walker is not a, not a real point guard. So even when Conley is healthy and I think he'll be back fairly soon, I still think you got to play this kid, man, because he just is electric out there.
- [13:34]
John Krasinski
Well, he had that big offensive rebound and wound up with the putback that actually put him in position to get into overtime. And it's just, you know, when everyone else was looking lazy and kind of tired out there, which has been a theme for them all year, you know, Xena, we were talking about this while we were watching the game. Like the vibes have just been off for this team all, all season and low energy for sure.
- [13:54]
Unknown
You know, it's funny, John, as you were talking about how Rob Dillingham has fit into this team, we know coming into this season we weren't thinking he was going to get a lot of minutes. And I'm seeing a parallel with Jared McCain in Philadelphia, right? Just being now having to step up and you've seen what happens with more minutes with Jerry McCain now potentially with Dillingham, you may see the same thing. But yes, the vibes are bad and Dillingham was a perfect foil to seeing how bad the vibes were. He was super excited in the end of the game and trying to get team vibes going, team play going. And yet there was a lot of ISO balls. There was a lot of disconnectedness in the huddles. Even you saw Dillingham put his, his pound up. He wanted to get a nice little huddle to close out a timeout and everybody walked right past them like, what are the vibes? You were. You've been with this team, you've seen this team before the trade. What are the evolution of the vibes on this team?
- [14:49]
Yeah, Zenith night and day. I mean, last year's team rode really overwhelming defense and really great chemistry deep into the playoffs. And you can just tell that with these new faces in here with the slow start, everyone is holding the steering wheel really tight. And, and, and there is not the trust built up. There is not the familiarity built up. And so it's very similar to when Rudy Gobert came over from Utah in their first season. They just, it took a long time. Yeah. And so they didn't trust each other then and it took a while for that to form and I think right now they're having a hard time trusting each other as well. And, and so I think the lack of vibes is also giving kind of a reason for the lack of defense. Like they are just not as intense on the perimeter as they have been in the past and that's really hurting them time and again in these games.
- [15:49]
John Krasinski
Yeah, well, look, the, the vibes are off. I mean part of it though is like they're, they're actually missing more than just Carl Anthony Towns. The Kyle, Kyle Anderson was hugely important for this team, not only vibes wise. And, and we're all going to swing back to the moment where he punches Rudy Gobert on the bench.
- [16:06]
Unknown
Right, but like Rudy punched him.
- [16:08]
John Krasinski
Excuse me. Thank you for correcting me there. But Rudy punched them. Right, but, but you need those sorts of personalities to, to keep guys going. And he was a steadying force for, for them on defense and on offense, you know, as a playmaker and a guy who could operate out of the high post. So, you know, he's kind of been the lost guy for this team. You know, in all the discourse. You know, I, I think Jaden McDaniels is getting a little bit of a pass on the bad season he's having. You know, we can talk about Randall all day, but the guy that they've been missing is really Kyle Anderson. They didn't find a guy who was going to replace him. High level defender and connector on offense.
- [16:43]
Unknown
Yeah, you're right, Dave. I mean I think one of the Silver sort of silver linings for me as I've watched this play out right now is last season and for several seasons, you know, I was kind of more of a cat guy. Like I would tell him how everyone, how important he was and everyone's like, no, no, John, like ants. The guy like you're, you're missing out there and, and that's, you know, kind of really readily apparent what they missed there. But I was also a Kyle Anderson guy. Yes, he did not shoot it well last year. He shot it really poorly, but too many people were just looking at, well, he shot 14% from three and so how could he possibly help? But what you saw from him last year was he was Chris Finch's safety blanket. He can guard multiple positions, could go out there and could guard on the perimeter, could guard bigs at times. He was also a pseudo point guard and they could really use him right now in that role as a veteran playmaker, director of traffic on offense, getting people shots, finding things and they desperately miss that. And also he's a Jersey guy. He could get a little salty in Orner when things weren't going well. And sometimes the team needs that some guy to stand in the middle of the locker room and say, knock this off like and get going. And, and that's what Kyle Anderson did sometimes. And, and so they are missing him on multiple fronts right now. Just in his all, all of the different things that he brings to the table outside of, you know, his poor three point shooting.
- [18:15]
That's one of my favorite aspects of Kyle Anderson's game that often goes unnoticed is that he was actually a point guard first and then grew. I love those type of players that have a handle all out of nowhere at a 6:9 frame. It's like, oh no. This was actually my job before I became a defensive specialist and a slow mo down the paint fundamental type of player. But you just talked about this and you wrote about this, Jon, that Anthony Edwards, speaking of being a guy that's in the locker room telling people to knock things out and like figure, like figure it out being the leader on this team. He said we aren't playing hard enough. And in the games that they have been able to kind of get out a win, it's because they were playing hard enough to cover up the mistakes. How do you get them to play hard enough and play together? Like, what is Chris Finch's task in front of him to get this team to trust each other.
- [19:06]
Yeah, it's been a, I think a real point of exasperation for him this season in something that he openly worried about before the season is that I think there was concern that with a young core, now they have Rudy Gobert and they have Mike Conley as veteran dudes, but their core is young Ant Naz Reed, Jaden McDaniels, now Rob Dillingham and that group beta the Western Conference finals last year. And I think there was concern that maybe they'd be slightly bored with the regular season. Maybe they would just assume that, hey, we're just going to get back to the playoffs, no problem. You know, everything is going to come easily and naturally for us and that hasn't happened. And I think one of the things, we all know what Anthony Edwards does and what he brings to the table, he's been terrific for them, but he has not been the defensive presence that he was last year. He has not been a tone setter at the start of games that they need from him. He is the number one guy now. Cat is gone. Julius Randle is what he is. He's a good player, but he's not, you know, a number A1B like Karl Anthony Towns was. So this is Anthony Edwards team. He's still only 23. He's still figuring things out and how to be a leader in all of those things. But, but I do think they need a little bit more consistency in intensity, but especially on the defensive end from him against good teams and bad to really just get everyone to set the tip, to follow his lead well.
- [20:36]
John Krasinski
And you said, you know, he needs to start, start quarter, start games better. He needs to close games defensively better than he has because he looks tired down the stretch. And you're, you're the number one guy. You're not allowed to be tired, right? Speaking of not tired, Grazinski not tired. Go and read him over at the Athletic. He's writing about the bad vibes today. So go and check that out. Stick around. After the break, Xena and I are going to talk about the Pelicans and whether or not they need to just blow it up. All right, time for our mailbag segment. And Xena, the Pelicans have had a rough run of it as we've talked about extensively. Zion Williamson going to be out probably a couple months. Brandon Ingram still on the team, no trade market, still no center there. But good news is Dejounte Murray coming back today, so maybe he helps turn things around. But we got a question here and it's a Pelican's question from big Grady Energy over on the website. Don't Forget we've got our posts over on the website. The link is in the description. Go and leave us your questions. Here's his question. Should the Pels pull the plug on this season? If so, how do they do it? CJ's playing and they're getting Murray soon, but now Ingram's out, Herb still hasn't been clear for contact, and who knows when Zion will be back. Do they just play this out and pull and quote, unquote, ethical tank? And that's where you, you know, you try hard, but you, you know, you don't have the guys. CJ might be untradable. And we all know about the Ingram situation. Can they even make trades to get worse? Xena, this is sort of the conundrum that they're in. They do have their draft pick, you know, in the coming draft where everyone wants Cooper, Flag or, you know, whoever the guy is that, that winds up being number one or in the top five there. So they could pull the plug, but how do they do it?
- [22:38]
Unknown
I'm. I think I'm a fan of the idea of pulling the plug, especially because they have that draft pick. I, I look at this situation, I think that, yes, a lot of people are forgetting just how impactful Dejounte Murray was with the Atlanta Hawks and what he can do in terms of floor setting for the New Orleans Pelicans, which is what they desperately need right now, especially considering they don't have all of their, their valuable pieces in place. Like Zion not in place, Herb Jones not in place. They need someone to come in and kind of calm down the noise. Dejounte Murray is capable of that, but even with him back, he still doesn't have all the pieces to cook with. So play hard, finish out the year strong, and use your pick. Now, asking the question of how do they do it? I love this question because we often don't talk about what goes into tanking and like, what, how do you do it in a way that people aren't opening their eyes too big? And Brandon Ingram, I think, is the factor in all of this. Do you trade him at the deadline? What's his market? Like, what's he worth? What do you get back, et cetera? I say let it play out. I kind of look at it like how the Clippers handled their situation with Paul George. He ended up at the end of the year walking away. Yes, the Clippers got nothing back in return. But look, Norman Powell steps up in the midst of that gap that's left open by Paul George, and maybe you'll see that in one of their young talents being able to step up and fill the gap of a Brandon Ingram. But right now, what is there isn't working. And I don't know if they're going to have a market for Brandon Ingram. Let it fester.
- [24:11]
John Krasinski
Problem there is that if Brandon Ingram is on the team, he's too good. You. You gotta move him. You got to figure out a way to move them. You got to get him off your team because he is too good. If you're going to tank, respect. I mean, like, he's just a good player and he can get a bucket, so. But he's a guy who can get a bucket. I think that the market is going to find him. I'm not sure what it is yet, but they'll figure that out. You know, they're trying to figure out a way to tank. There's. It's. There's a lot of teams out there that need to move some gu. And when you look at how close all these races are, especially in the west, like, the pals need to get out of it now. So I'm kind of on the same page there. We also got a question. Not a basketball question. It's a movie question. Xena. What is the best action movie of all time? Die hard or Terminator 2?
- [24:59]
Unknown
Ooh. I. Yeah, I don't think it's either one of those. Yeah, I've. I've actually not seen any of those. No. Shame on me.
- [25:09]
John Krasinski
But, yeah, they're old movies. I get it.
- [25:12]
Unknown
They're older movies. They are. But I wouldn't even say even if I. I've heard of them. Obviously. I know Die Hard, Bruce Willis, like, obviously amazing actors in both, but I'm a Training Day girl. That was one of the best performances by Denzel Washington. Also, like, one of the most, like, realistic action movies in terms of the relationship between Alonzo and Jake. So I'm definitely a fan of that movie.
- [25:36]
John Krasinski
For me, it's whatever the newest Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movie is, because that's the best one ever made. He always does a big stunt. I love how he sells it. And also, Die Hard, that's a Christmas movie that's gonna do it. For today's show, folks, thank you guys for tuning in for Xena Keda. I'm Dave Dufour, and this has been the NBA Daily. Thank you guys for waking up with us.
- [26:22]
Dave Dufour
As we head into the playoffs, it's safe to assume there will be a few calls made by the refs that will be hard to accept. But you know what isn't hard to accept? Discover. Believe it or not, Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. You heard that right, 99%. So make a good call for your wallet and get Discover. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report. Learn more at discover.com creditcard this podcast.
- [26:48]
Unknown
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Dave Dufour
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