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- [00:01]
A
Hello. Welcome to the NBA Daily for May 25, 2026. I'm Zena Cater, joined by Dave DeFore, who is in San Antonio for game four as the spurs tie it up. We're gonna hit a little bit on that game and then the New York Knicks Cav series and then just a little bit on all NBA. Good morning, Dave. How's San Antonio doing?
- [00:27]
B
It's great. I love this city. You know, I think we've talked about this on the show. I lived here for a couple of years, and it was really nice to be back for the weekend. I played basketball for the first time in five years. Yeah, I was just walking around. There were some kids in the park.
- [00:42]
A
I'm happy there were no injuries to report.
- [00:45]
B
Well, I got to admit, I'm a DNP old today. Right. I did not. I was walking around, my calves were screaming. But, yeah, I had a great time. Again, San Antonio is a jewel of America, like, a really great city. So. And this arena is a fun place to watch a basketball game. So it's been a good weekend.
- [01:04]
A
Okay. Yeah. I have not been to San Antonio, but of course, we've been seeing and feeling the vibes in the arena. And honestly, the way they came out from a fan perspective for this game, I think felt like it fueled the way that San Antonio played. It was a statement win that they were able to get over okc. I. I want you to kind of first and foremost, when you look at the game and you look at the way that OKC came off of the last win, they win 123, 108 in the last game. And then today, losing 10382. What was the flip? Why did it feel like San Antonio was more ready for this game than okc?
- [01:45]
B
Well, number one, let's start with the injuries and just to get it out of the way.
- [01:49]
A
Sure.
- [01:49]
B
No A.J. mitchell, no Jaylen Williams, no J Dub. That. That's the biggest asterisk on the game. If. If you're looking at what went wrong for the Thunder, they come out and they just don't have the ball handling that. That you need in a series like this and especially against a defense like this. And I think that that goes to the biggest adjustment. Adjustment that the spurs have made from the first three games of the series to what we saw in game four. They were guarding Shay much more straight up. And in game three, a lot of these open threes that they were giving up was because they were just shading too far. Especially like, you know, up top when. When Jerry McCain was out there. And in this game, a lot of one on one defense. I mean, tip your cap to all of the spurs defenders that were on Shea at some point. They all did a pretty good job. We're learning that they've got maybe three guys that can guard Shay credibly. I mean, obviously Stefan Castle is maybe the best defender I've ever seen at his age. The way he's able to be so physical without fouling, and I know that's going to be a controversial statement for a lot of people, but he really does it and then, you know, he brings it on both ends, obviously with the high intensity. But between him, Dylan Harper does a really good job staying in front, being physical again. He's just got that body. And Devin Vassell, Devin Vassell was incredibly impressive in this game defensively and it's the luxury that you've got with Wemby. We're so used to watching teams have to switch, right? You get caught up on a screen, it's a, it's a lazy switch, it's a soft switch. But with Wimy, you don't have to switch because he can guard two players at once. So all of the spurs guards get to go around the screens. They're constantly staying attached. And you could just see by the end of the, you know, by the middle of the third quarter, Shay's a little bit worn down. He's been chased all night, he's been pushed, he's been grabbed, he's been, you know, knocked to the ground numerous times. Playoff basketball. But they're just done a wonderful job. Somehow Devin Vassell played as physical as he did defensively in this game, did not pick up a foul and you know, it matches the eye test. I mean, he is just gotten to be such a good defender. He pokes the ball away, you know, and you can even see again the defense, the ability to stay attached coming around these Oklahoma City screens. And the Thunder are one of the best screen setting teams in the league. They're constantly making you adjust to a different angle when you're coming at them. And so this is why they are able to draw so many of these fouls on defenders on their screeners. And the spurs have just kind of taken that away. You know, they've turned the water off to a certain degree as far as putting them at the line. Shea has seven free throws in the game, but, you know, it's hard to say that that the, the spurs felt pressured in the way that, that Shea can often do to, you I mean, obviously the shot's not falling. They're making it tough. But, you know, this spurs defense, it's something else. And I think that the next big adjustment is going to be for the Thunder trying to figure out a way, how do you get Shay the ball easier? You know, we spent a lot of time talking about Wemby, those high pickup points for him, and how they're keeping him above the free throw line. Well, I think we got to see some stuff out of Shea and from this team, alleviating the burden a little bit from him. And, you know, maybe you've got to run him off a screen first. Just tough because who's going to bring the ball up and who is the defense going to worry about, you know, the second Shay gets into the paint? There's three guys in there, but they're not doing it on the perimeter like they were previously. So the open looks just not there. Alex Caruso only got one shot up in the entire game, and that's a, that's a huge difference.
- [05:15]
A
Okay, so we've touched on a lot of things in just that one answer. So I want to first back up to you talking about the injuries. I'm actually shocked that you brought up the injuries as a factor as to what made OKC look different coming out in this game. First, because I'm looking at the way that AJ Mil played, you know, in the, in the last game, he wasn't that big of a factor and they didn't have Jalen Williams in that game. Right. But what I've. I would notice is just that the inconsistency in the play that you've seen in the supporting cast around OKC. Right. You talked about Alex Caruso only putting up one shot. Ends up zero points, two rebounds, one assist in 14 minutes. Has a negative 22 plus, minus the worst on the team. When you think about the. The contributions that he has made over the course of this one series, that is a huge deficit for OKC. And then you just go from the Jared McCain 24 point game, that was just like, you know, I wouldn't even say he was shooting lights out. He hasn't been shooting well from three at all this series, but he was just capable of getting to like driving into the paint, etc. It felt as if it wasn't just the ball handling. It was just the consistency of what you can expect out of okc. San Antonio got what they needed out of multiple guys. And you're absolutely right. The defense, when I look at my notes, it's like, all San Antonio kept doing was they were trailing so well off of screens and skinnying up in those screens that they were forcing OKC guards off of their line. Right, right. Whether they wanted to turn that corner tight off of a screen, it wasn't. It was an option. They had to go wide and, and spread out. I want to ask you a little bit about the, the adjustments that San Antonio made, particularly in the non wimy minutes, because Wimy did exactly what he was supposed to do.
- [07:03]
B
Right.
- [07:04]
A
You know, in this game, he ends up with 33 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, over 31 minutes, 50% from the floor, gets to the line, to the free throw line as well. But they also play pretty well in, you know, the non Wemby minutes. And also with the, the use of Wemby, as in, just let me throw it up there, you'll go get it. Right, right. They have these very low screens, like, closer to the basket. Can you break that down for us?
- [07:31]
B
Yeah, actually, that's a, that's a huge point in this game. In game three, they got one lob to Wemby in the entire game. They had two in the first quarter. And, and part of that was they were jamming underneath the basket and, and Wemby was just. He was better. Right? Like, I mean, sometimes you just hit the play better button. And one of the things he talked about after the game, he was like, look, we know each other. This is like the eighth or ninth time that they've played this season. The adjustments are a lot. Play better. Shout out. Joel Lorenzi, who just walked behind me, had an absolutely great story that came out. If you guys haven't. That's right on Jared McCain, if you guys haven't read it, um, he's having a great weekend too. But they were just doing a really good job of. Again, they were helping Wemby, and Wemby helped them by fighting even harder. I thought he was more locked in. In this game. It just seemed like early on, like he wanted to set this tone and really go out and go after it. And, and that was a big one. But in the non Wemby minutes, one of the big changes and, and we've talked about this over the course of this season, Luke Cornett was spacing to the corner more. Now, he didn't get up at three, but he was spacing to the corner more. Especially they had to stay attached because this is a guy you have to worry about. And that's a big thing for me. Like, as I'm thinking about this team, you know, what. What are the ways where Luke Cornett can be a little bit more functional for them offensively? And they attach like de' Aaron Fox was out there with them a lot, and by having him space out to the corner, it opens up the lane, puts a little bit more pressure on the defense, and so they're scrambling. And then, you know, we saw Luke Cornett, he gets a couple lobs, he gets some putbacks on those rebounds. He's able to crash from the cornerstone very effectively. And. And realistically, look in basketball, the geometry of the court, the dunker spot in the corner, really not that far apart. And if you can shoot the three, you might as well work the corner.
- [09:16]
A
Right. As well as the dunker size. Exactly.
- [09:19]
B
Yeah. And so that's what we're seeing. You know, I. I saw that quite a bit. Now, again, he's still minus nine in the game. Without Wemby, it's just not the same. But the disparity in the benches between game three and game four, I think that that's the real story of the game. And the other adjustment they made was Kelton Johnson and Luke Cornett didn't really share the court all that much. And rightfully, neither guy's having a great series. Like, I think Kelton Johnson, you know, tonight was maybe one of his best games. Even though he didn't shoot it well, he did a lot of the other stuff that you need him to do. And. And again, like, just splitting those guys up. You know, you're trying to figure out what's going to work against okc. And game to game is it's going to be, hey, are you making shots or not? And I think that as we go into the best two of three now, the final four, you know, final three games coming up, it's going to be a lot of who's making shots and who's not. And then, can we ride this guy? Can we not? And for the spurs, like, they just was a factor.
- [10:15]
A
I really want to talk about this shooting discrepancy. Yeah, I mean, this was. We. We said it in the chat. There was one play where you're looking at Chet and he's not really getting a true lobby. I don't know if it was an offensive rebound or a lob, but has an opportunity to go up, and he comes back down, tries to gather, and by that time, the spurs defense is clobbered all over him. And I literally text. I'm like, geez, chat. Just go up. And it felt as if every single shot for okc, whether it was in the paint or outside the. The arc was contested.
- [10:49]
B
Yeah.
- [10:49]
A
Was made difficult like it was. It was hard to watch. OKC ends up six of 33 in this game. Just 18% from three. We talked a little bit about that physicality from the spurs, but from an OKC perspective, what was going wrong?
- [11:07]
B
I mean, this is a. One of those nights where they weren't getting open looks like they did in game three, and they weren't canning all those open looks in game three either, but they just couldn't hit. They couldn't hit a shot. And, and, you know, you got to give credit to the spurs defense. I thought that they looked like they. Not only were their rotations tight, they were on a string. You know, all the cliches about good defense. Those guys had a hand in the face. They, they were, they were touching everybody constantly. This is, you know, this is playoff defense. And by the way, the Thunder defense was also pretty good until the second half. I mean, the first half of basketball wasn't exactly beautiful basketball by the Spurs. They just, they shot slightly better, but I thought the Thunder defense was just as physical, just as good in that first half. But it was a. I mean, this is the worst game I've seen out of the Thunder in the playoffs. Every team's going to have a bad one. Like, you know, no one's going 16 and, oh, especially in the league now. And. But the shooting is going to be a concern, I think. You know, again, they're down AJ Mitchell, down Jalen Williams. As far as I'm concerned. I don't see how those guys can come back, you know, for game five. Maybe, you know, if you're hopeful, it's game six. But, you know, a calf strain and a hamstring strain, like, these aren't injuries that you can really play with or play through. And so the, the Thunder really got to go back to the drawing board and try to figure things out. It's tough because you only get the one day off, you know, and they're going to be traveling. I'm assuming everybody's traveling tonight or, or maybe first thing in the morning, but you just don't have a lot of time to try to figure these things out. This, the shooting is. Is more about what the spurs were doing and how they were keeping the Thunder uncomfortable. And, you know, as the series has gone on, I just feel like we're. We're watching these teams figure each other out and it's going to be hit the play better button, make your shots, and whoever's going to do that is going to wind up winning the series. But again, the Thunder, they're a little shorthanded ball handling wise. You talked about A.J. mitchell, didn't give him much in Game 3, but he does provide relief from Shai. And it's another person that you have to guard on the perimeter. And, and so if Shay gives the ball up, you still have action happening. You still have someone who can get into the paint and can create for other people. You know, Kayson Wallace finally took a shot against Wemby, you know, and like that maybe, like, maybe the lid's off for him and he'll. He'll be a little bit more aggressive. But relying on Kayson Wallace to create offense for you is just, that's not a winning formula. That's not what they did all year. And I, again, they're just, they're a little shorthanded. But credit that spurs defense. It was excellent. This was one of the best defensive performances I've seen all year.
- [13:43]
A
Kept Casen Wallace, a 2 of 8 from the floor, kept Lou Dort 1 of 2. Lou Dort didn't attempt a shot until. Lou Dort didn't attempt a shot.
- [13:52]
B
Probably a good thing, right?
- [13:53]
A
Right until like the fourth quarter, which was incredible to watch. Alex Caruso O of one from the floor, keeping Shea Gilders under Alexander to under 20 points in this game, 194 and 7 assists. You were, you're, you're there and you got a chance to be, you know, in the locker room around these guys. What were some of the notables that you heard as you're. You're listening to these guys as they go to. They tie it up.
- [14:18]
B
I'm glad you asked, because the unsung hero of this game, Harrison Barnes, oh, he didn't make a shot. He didn't make a shot in the game. And, you know, after game three, I was thinking to myself, you know, one of the, one of the things that I think that could use is more Harrison Barnes. I think we saw that. I think there's even room for more, you know, if he could give him 20 minutes instead of 16. He just doesn't lose his head. He's a little bit like their Caruso. Right. You can bring him in. You can trust him. He's ready to go. I thought he was very physical, attacking the basket when they needed it.
- [14:49]
A
Put pressure on it, for sure.
- [14:50]
B
Exactly. But also defensively, you know, he, he's, he's stocky, you know what I mean? Like, compared to the. Some of These guys. So he's not stocky, but he's jacked. Right. So he can like be physical. Defensively, he's a, in my opinion, he's a better 4 option for them right now than Julian Champagne. Like, Champagne is not making shots and doesn't really give you the same amount of aggression that, that we saw out of Harrison Barnes. I mean, he had a couple moments, but I thought Barnes gave him much better minutes in this game and he really, he settled them when they needed to be settled. And I thought that that was pretty, a pretty smart move by Mitch Johnson. And then another thing I want to call out from this game, there's a, there's a, there's a moment where Carter Bryant fouls Shay Gilda's Alexander early on, Mitch Johnson calls him over and Carter Bryant full sprints to Mitch Johnson. To get yelled at, to get ripped into. That's a culture, that's a culture that you just, you don't build that overnight. The spurs and Thunder, I mean, this is just, this is basketball at its best and two of the best organizations in the sport and to watch night to night, the way that the players respond to the coaching and especially again, being in the building and being able to watch it up close when the cameras aren't on and watching the way that both teams are fully engaged in this game. I mean, Bismack Biyombo is essentially a human victory cigar for the spurs and he's coaching every single possession. You know. Yeah, it's, it's been, it's been a fantastic series. And you know, this, I would probably say, I mean, is this the worst game out of the series? Maybe just. Yeah, because they missed many shots. But the defense that was on display by both teams was just such high level that, you know, hey, the offense didn't really stand much of a chance.
- [16:39]
A
I want to just button out that thought about the Mitch Johnson rip into because you were in the building. But we get to see it on the broadcast and, and Ben Johnson, you know, tears into Carter Bryant and you know, taps him on the butt, sends him back out and he rolls his eyes like he is like livid at whatever, you know, the mistake that was made.
- [16:57]
B
Yeah.
- [16:58]
A
And literally within seconds, Carter Bryant fouls again, by the way.
- [17:02]
B
He had that charge.
- [17:04]
A
Yeah, he had that. Yeah, but. And he is not taking out the game. And that was to me, again, that leadership, that trust, the equity that you've built over time. But also, yes, I'm going to rip into you, but I'm also going to give you that Chance and that opportunity, and that is so indicative of everything that both of these teams have basically built themselves on. You are going to be young, you are going to make mistakes, but we are going to trust you to stay in the game and figure it out, to learn by drinking from the fire hydrant. And right now, you're seeing the end result of that kind of for OKC and the beginning results of that for the Spurs. So it's kind of cool to just see those story lines, you know, build up. Okay, after this. Oh, yeah, go ahead.
- [17:45]
B
I was gonna say before the game, you know, these coaches know each other. Mark Dagnold, Mitch Johnson, they. They coach against each other in the G League. So they've known each other a long time. They were talking a little bit about the chess match here between them, and it has been fascinating to watch because it's two young coaching staffs. I mean, the Thunder, yeah, they're, they're. They won a title, but that was last year. Like, this is a pretty young staff. Same with. Same with the Spurs. And, I mean, I think we're just seeing some of the best basketball coaching that the league has. And in this series in particular, given just the injury situation and how both teams have had to scramble and try to figure things out, I mean, there's multiple guys in this series playing hurt. You know, Dylan Harper, Darren Fox, this kind of stuff. This is exactly why playoff basketball is a different sport. You know, Wemby said after the game, we got. We got six more games to win before we can rest. I thought that was. Thought that was poignant. He didn't say two. He said six.
- [18:45]
A
Very esque. Very. Yeah, yeah. No, it's. It's very true. The new guard feels. They feel like the league is in good hands.
- [18:55]
B
Yeah.
- [18:55]
A
Between the coaches, down to the players, it. It does feel really nice to see. Okay, well, on the other side of this break, we're going to talk a little bit about what's going on with New York and Cleveland. And also some of these guys might be up for some big money because of how they've played throughout the regular season. Let's talk all NBA after the break. While the Western Conference series is tied up. Eastern Conference looks very different.
- [19:25]
B
Oh, it's a rap. It's a rap in the favor of New York.
- [19:29]
A
Three up. That last game. Oh, on Saturday night was pretty tough to watch. New York wins 121 over Cleveland 108. It was just a barrage. New York just feels so dominant in this series, and it was really hard to watch. You know, after game two, Donovan Mitchell saying, we're good, we're fine, everyone's good, no one's hurt. We're good, we're going to get home. We're going to be, you know, and Kenny Atkinson is saying they just need to get their legs under them. They're going to get home. It helps to be on the home court. Whoa. The way that New York came out in that first quarter, I don't know if that is indicative of getting your legs under you. If you are Cleveland, I mean, 37, 27, you let someone almost score 40 points and in the first quarter of a playoff game when you're down 02. Dave, where's the stamina? Where is the mentality right now for Cleveland?
- [20:28]
B
Well, it's gone. I, I think that we're watching the effects of playing 17 NBA playoff games in the last, you know, month or whatever. It's been a little over a month of the playoffs and the Knicks just got a lot of time off. And also the Knicks are the superior team. I mean, the NBA has seven game series, so that usually the better team wins. That's, that's exactly why. And I, I think what we're seeing is, number one, the Knicks are just a much better team and the Cavs look like they're kind of dead and so they're not able to really compete, you know, at, at the same level. I, I do believe that the Cavs would be playing better than they are had they not just have back to back seven game series. But this is why you get home court advantage and why you got to take care of business. You know, there was no excuse for them to go seven in, in my opinion, in either series. I mean, I, I think that they were, their offense was just so superior to, to the Pistons. I feel like they should have won that they, you know, they lost the opportunity to close that one out early. And then with the Raptors, you know, the Raptors weren't supposed to be in their same class.
- [21:28]
A
Yeah.
- [21:28]
B
And yet they out competed them, they out hustled, they just worked harder and frankly, they, they were the team that we walked away more impressed with in a series that they lost. You know, I mean, you know how rare that is.
- [21:40]
A
Yeah.
- [21:40]
B
So, you know, this Cavs team, you know, say what you will about James Harden, say what you will about whoever, they're just not up to the same level as the New York Knicks and Carl Anthony Towns, the, the switch that was flipped for him.
- [21:54]
A
Yeah.
- [21:55]
B
And allowing him to facilitate and just be more of a A hub in the offense and touch the ball more. He's the most dangerous. I mean, Jalen Brunson is the most dangerous guy on the planet right now. Okay, I. We just, I mean, at his size, to be able to score that way, another 30 point game. Cavs have no one that can stay in front of him. But Carl Anthony Towns is maybe the more dangerous player considering the fact that he has that range, can get inside and score and then he can bang.
- [22:23]
A
Yes, he can.
- [22:23]
B
He can.
- [22:24]
A
There's one more thing.
- [22:24]
B
You gotta rebound so strongly. Go ahead.
- [22:26]
A
He can facilitate with a passing. Seven assistant.
- [22:29]
B
Yeah, the passing. Yes.
- [22:30]
A
Turnovers. That's huge.
- [22:31]
B
Exactly. Well, it's because of the way you have to guard Carl Anthony Towns on the perimeter. Like you have to bring your defense up a little bit higher. And frankly, when you've got Mikhail Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, these guys are excellent cutters. Their timing is really, is really perfect. And it's funny because we were talking about at the end of the regular season, it was too late. The Knicks, man, it's too late. You guys should have changed up the starting lineup and now it's too late. And now this starting lineup has been maybe the best starting lineup in basketball for the last six weeks. And that's, that's saying a lot. You got to tip the cap to Mike Brown. I mean, I don't know anything. Mike, you know, did a wonderful job, but these guys have just played better. You know, Mikhail Bridges goes from a guy we were talking about, does he need to be benched in the playoffs to indispensable Josh Hart in the series. I, I made the mistake. I opened my mouth and I said, hey, it's not a Josh Hart series. He puts up a career high. They just, they just never quit. They're just going after me personally. But I just think you, you, you look at this Knicks team and a lot of people think that they're going to be food for whoever comes out of the West. And I just want everyone to go back and watch the film because I just do not believe that. I think they match up really well with both of these teams, actually.
- [23:50]
A
Okay, so let's pause on that because I think that that's a really good point and what this could potentially look like in the finals. But for your context of Cleveland, Cleveland has played a game every other day since April 29, beginning with Game 5 of the first round. And then they go to those pairs of game sevens. That is a lot of fatigue. Like that makes a lot of sense. What I, what I struggle with is I think, I mean obviously no one is going to go into the media and be like, yeah, we're tired. Like, no, right. But it is like I fake it till you make it is real. But sir, I'm looking at Donovan Mitchell like, sir, your team is tired. You might be tired. Like, it is worth saying that there is a physical and mental gap right now between these two teams. Talking about just how dominant New York has been. 13th team in NBA history to win at least nine straight games in a single postseason. And they are statistically having the most dominant 10 game stretch in NBA history, regular season or playoffs. They have won their 10 consecutive playoff games by a combined 225 points. There has never been a stretch like that in NBA history in 10 game stretch. That's insane.
- [25:02]
B
Now granted, they're playing against the East.
- [25:05]
A
I get it, I get it. But here's the thing. There has been, there have been years where the east has been soft. The east have been, has been low. Like the fact that there has never been such a 10 game stretch in NBA history is wild. The 2017, the 20162017 warriors outscored their opponents by 171 in their stretch to the title. That's 54 points lower than what the Knicks are doing. Trust me, I understand the warriors in the west at that time, very different, but still that's, you know, these are wild numbers. But now I'm looking at those numbers. I'm looking at the dominance they're playing with. I'm looking at the rest that they are building for themselves. Because when you're beating teams for that much, that means your star players aren't having to exert as much in order to get the wins done. I'm looking at it and well, also,
- [25:52]
B
hey, it's three fewer games where someone might get injured, you know, if they, if they finish this up, if they finish this thing off tonight, hey, guess what? We've got a little over a week that we get to rest and we're going to watch the spurs and Thunder continue to just, you know, how many more guys are we going to lose from this series?
- [26:07]
A
This is my point, Dave. This is my point. You're basically sitting at home. If you're the Knicks, let them do the work for us. Beat each other up. We don't care. We, we're going to wait. We're going to be in our normatex. We're going to be chilling. We're going to be watching these games and then by the time that we Play, you guys, you're going to be exhausted. You're going to be so tired from having tried to outdo each other as if it is the finals in the west and now we're ready to go. Like how. I actually don't think that they're going to be food. Not even necessarily from a magic perspective, but from a sheer physical and mental stamina perspective. They will have the advantage.
- [26:47]
B
The one thing that I think you can, you have to be concerned with is that the intensity level of the spurs and the Thunder is nothing like what the Knicks have dealt with in the, in the East. Defensively, offensive. I mean, just. It's a different, It's a different sport out here.
- [27:02]
A
Yeah, that's true.
- [27:03]
B
And the Knicks, I do think they can turn it up some.
- [27:05]
A
We'll see what happens. But of course they match up tonight to finish. We'll see. What I was going to say to finish off the Eastern Conference finals. Who knows what will happen if the Cavs will find a way to get a squeeze one out on their home court. But that game is tonight. Let's shift our attention to all NBA because all NBA was announced on Sunday and the normal names made all NBA first team sga, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham. And of course you guys can go check out on TheAthletic.com the full list. All NBA second and third team. Some notable names that were missing because of the 65 game rule. Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, whose appeal was declined, unfortunately because actually I'm not sure why he was declined, but his appeal was declined. And so you're looking around, you know, Kawhi Leonard not able to be a part of. Excuse me.
- [28:05]
B
No, he was.
- [28:07]
A
That was one of the people that we were concerned about. Excuse me. So overall you're looking at this list. It, it makes sense from, you know, everything that was listed out. One person though, that you might be like, dang, if only the playoffs counted. Karl Anthony Towns. Not being on any of these teams is like I feel now, it feels glaring. Whereas during the regular season, the third
- [28:33]
B
team, Xena, you know, the third team, you look at some of the names on the third team and you think about how the playoffs and how the playoffs are going. Yeah. Jaylen Johnson, did he look great in the playoffs? No, he did not. But another Jay team, all NBA, Jaylen Duran.
- [28:47]
A
Did not look good.
- [28:48]
B
Yeah, did not. Did not. And Chet is right now just kind of getting worked. Now it's the playoffs. It's a different beast. And, and you Know, things happen. But I, that is notable. You know, I think Scotty Barnes, I was surprised. I looked at some of the voting. I was surprised Scotty Barnes didn't get a few more all NBA votes. You know, he, he has, he had his coming out party in the playoffs. I, I think next year. Like he's a guy we probably look at as a potential all NBA guy. Denny Abdia just missed the cut.
- [29:18]
A
That's right.
- [29:19]
B
And then, you know, the only. I probably would have had Tyrese Maxey's second team instead of Kevin Durant. I had Kevin Durant on my third team. I, I did like he had an amazing season, obviously scoring and, and I thought his defense was okay. He, you know, he had a bigger defensive role than I think anybody would have. Would have liked. But, but he was pretty solid for most of the year defensively, but nothing really controversial. I do think that there is an interesting thing to note about the first team and that's that four of the players are not American.
- [29:52]
A
Oh, interesting.
- [29:55]
B
And I think that that's going to be a major talking point. You know, look, there's a lot of people. We already get the, the world is starting to catch up and all this stuff and maybe, okay, maybe. But I think that that's, that's pretty notable. The four, four non Americans on all NBA first team is, is a sign of where the league is gone and maybe even where it's heading. Where it's just, you know, the talent pool for the NBA now literally is the entire planet.
- [30:21]
A
Yeah.
- [30:21]
B
And we just have the best of the best. So I don't really have any, any hard like, oh, this guy shouldn't have been on or this guy should have. And so much of it being coming down to that 65 game rule, it really makes it kind of hard to argue, you know, for and against people.
- [30:39]
A
No LeBron, no Giannis, no Steph. So that feels like a shifting of the times, but it, it quite literally is a shifting of the time because of the time these players have been playing and the impact on their bodies.
- [30:52]
B
LeBron was every bit all NBA level player this season.
- [30:56]
A
Absolutely.
- [30:56]
B
In my opinion.
- [30:57]
A
Absolutely. Agreed. I thought one thing that like stuck out to me of like, you know, good for you. Jamal Murray making his first all NBA team. I thought that was pretty cool.
- [31:09]
B
So we can no longer say that Jokic never played with an all star. Never played with an all NBA guy. Yeah. The excuses starting to wither away as we, as we move along.
- [31:19]
A
That's good. All right, well, I'm very curious to See how all of this is going to impact money, particularly for those who have made it all NBA team and now are eligible for supermaxes or are starting their path to become eligible for supermaxes. This will be very interesting to see how it all plays out. You know, we don't like to be impacted people's money over here, Dave.
- [31:39]
B
Right.
- [31:39]
A
But we know that these votes absolutely do. So we'll keep an eye out on how all this works out. But appreciate you, Dave, for live reporting from San Antonio. And you will be making your way to New York as well.
- [31:52]
B
Yeah, you know, I, I mean, The Knicks are up 3 0, right? Like we can call it. They're. They're not going to lose. They're not going to blow a 30 series lead.
- [32:02]
A
No one has.
- [32:02]
B
I think if you're the right, and I don't think the Cavs are built for this. Okay. Like, if anyone's coming back, it's not the Cleveland Cavaliers, not this year. And so, you know, I'm starting to. You were all starting to think ahead, right? It's going to be OKC or San Antonio. They've got a best two out of three right now coming up and they're going to go to MSG and they're going to have to play games three and four in front of that New York Knicks crowd. And that's going to be a different thing because I'll tell you right now, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, these fans, they're amazing. They are amazing. Knicks fans are a different breed. And you know, you think the flopper chant is bad here during warm I, by the way, they're giving it to Shay here two hours before the game and warm ups. He's hearing flop. I wouldn't be surprised if he was walking outside and hearing flopper. You know, that's how, that's how intense the fans have been about this rivalry, which is very cool. But man, the Knicks fans, if you're Shay or if you're Wemby, don't go outside when you go to New York.
- [33:03]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [33:03]
B
Just.
- [33:04]
A
Yeah, there's strays being caught everywhere. Trust me. I've been seeing some of the videos of, you know, clips of fans on the street. Tyrese Halliburton's getting called out. He ain't even in these. He hasn't played. What's happening right like this. There's so many different ways in which Knicks fans can disrespect their opponent, but also anyone can get it. And so I also.
- [33:24]
B
They know ball and they know ball.
- [33:26]
A
That's the tricky part.
- [33:28]
B
If they didn't know ball, maybe you couldn't take it that way. But Knicks fans, they're so knowledgeable. I mean, again, spurs fans, Thunder fans, same thing.
- [33:36]
A
Especially fans are, fans are knowledgeable in general. But I love in the west that we're starting to see this cemented a foundational hatred, a foundational like battle right now between these two fam groups. And yeah, it's been fun to watch. It's been fun to watch. And it's been fun to watch you gallivanting through the NBA playoffs and keeping us up to date and being on the reporter side of things. And so I appreciate you doing the work for us. But tonight, New York, Cleveland will face off for game four. We'll see if they can sweep or at least set up a gentleman sweep. But I feel like New York is probably going to finish it off.
- [34:10]
B
I think it's so I think it's a wrap.
- [34:12]
A
Okay. All right. We'll see what happens. But thank you all for listening for another episode of the NBA Daily. That's going to be it for us today. Make sure you are tuned in with us, tapped in with us on the discord. Make sure you're following and subscribing. Let us know what you want to hear from us as we're on the road listening and in the rooms and in the spaces that these players are talking about what they're trying to do in terms of winning a championship. So keep us posted on everything you want to hear. For Dave Dufour, I'm Zena Keda, thanking you so much for listening. And that's going to be it for us. Thanks for waking up with us on the NBA Daily.