The Most and Least Clutch NBA Players + HEAT WEEK | Slam N Jam

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Athletic NBA Daily – "The Most and Least Clutch NBA Players + HEAT WEEK | Slam N Jam"

Episode Date: March 14, 2026
Hosts: Andrew Schlecht & Mark (Alex Spears)
Special Guest: Wes Goldberg (Locked On Heat)
Main Theme: Deep dive into clutch performances, Miami Heat’s historic week (highlighted by Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game), East/West playoff races, and nuanced NBA trivia—with lots of humor and colorful banter.

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Episode Overview

This episode of Saturday Slam and Jam centers on one of the wildest NBA weeks in recent memory, with a long-awaited, unexpectedly dramatic "Heat Week." The hosts break down Bam Adebayo’s improbable 83-point game for the Miami Heat, analyze who’s really “clutch” in the league, discuss teams on the rise and fall, and bring on Heat expert Wes Goldberg for in-depth Miami insights and a lively trivia challenge.

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Key Segments & Insights

1. Top NBA Stories of the Week

— [03:03–08:26]

• Miami Heat & Bam’s Historic Night:

  • Bam Adebayo scored 83 points against the Wizards, smashing his previous career high and surpassing Kobe Bryant’s 81 for 2nd all-time.
    • “Bam Adebayo … more than doubled his previous career high of 41 and in doing so passed Kobe’s 81 for second on the all time list.” – Mark [03:17]
    • Coach Spoelstra: “I apologize to absolutely no one.” [03:25]
  • The Heat ride a 7-game winning streak; “the hottest team in the league.”

• Eastern Conference Playoff Shakeup:

  • Magic (6-game win streak) and Heat moving into strong playoff positions.
  • Raptors’ collapse: “The Raptors haven’t beaten a team in the top 10 since January 25th.” [03:28]
  • Hawks surge with league-leading 8 straight wins.

• West Playoff Chaos:

  • OKC Thunder top the West; SGA’s (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) MVP momentum grows.
  • Wembanyama (Spurs) has career-best week; Spurs pull off major comebacks and Wemby nails 8 threes in a single game.
  • Lakers suddenly jump to the 3rd seed after much skepticism.
  • “If we get to the end of the season and the Lakers are the three seed—that’s wildly impressive.” – Mark [08:36]

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2. “Good, Bad, What?” — Player & Team Highlights

— [09:01–29:24]

Good: Most Clutch NBA Players

• Shea Gilgeous-Alexander’s Clutch Run:

  • SGA has racked up a string of late-game daggers against top teams (Boston, Denver, Warriors, Knicks).
    • “These are all consecutive games … it just feels like he will not miss.” – Andrew [10:36]
    • “He actually has the most clutch points this season.” – Andrew [11:23]
  • But doesn’t lead in clutch free throws—“those go to Jokic and Jamal Murray.” [11:00]
  • Discussion on who else has recently won Clutch Player of the Year: Fox, Brunson, Steph.

• Emergence of Tristan Da Silva (Magic):

  • “One of the reasons the Magic have found their footing lately.” – Mark [12:48]
  • Massive uptick in efficiency and volume, especially from 3-point range post-All-Star.

Bad: Least Clutch Stars

• The Anti-Clutch List:
  • Bottom 5 (shooting % in clutch FGA; top 50 by attempts):
    • T5: Brandon Ingram & Con Knipple – 33%
    • 4: Michael Porter Jr. – 30%
    • 3: Paolo Banchero – 26%
    • 2: Bam Adebayo – 26% (“the guy who toppled Kobe is 26% in the clutch!” – Andrew [17:18])
    • 1: Jaren Jackson Jr. – 21% (the “anti-clutch” winner).
• Extra: Ranking “Lowest Tanking Moments”—Tank disasters from Houston’s suspension chaos to the Sixers’ forced Colangelo takeover.
  • “There’s never been a worse way to end a tank.” – Mark [23:15]

What: Wilt’s Records & the Isolation Era

• Untouchable Wilt Chamberlain Records:
  • Read out: 100-point game, averaging 50.4 PPG, 23,924 career rebounds, 48.5 MPG in a season, never fouled out.
    • “Most of it is just untouchable.” – Andrew [26:00]
• SGA’s Place in Iso Scoring History:
  • SGA’s 1.19 PPP on 7 ISO possessions/game is best since 2018 Harden (1.22 on 10 ISO/game).
    • “The efficiency combined with the volume is something we might not see again for a long time.” – Mark [28:33]
  • “Russ was the only player to score under 0.9 points per possession [on ISOs] —and he did it three different seasons.” [29:08]

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3. HEAT WEEK: Deep Dive with Wes Goldberg (Locked On Heat)

— [32:32–51:07]

Bam Adebayo’s 83-Point Game — The Most Improbable Ever?

• “I think it is the most improbable game in NBA history.” – Wes Goldberg [35:14]

• Bam’s background: From non-scorer, late lottery pick, “run and jump athlete,” to 10,000-point scorer and Heat franchise legend—“just quietly putting the work in.”

• Game details:

  • 31 points in the first quarter alone.
  • Broke Heat records (passing D. Wade and LeBron).
  • Wizards’ defense escalated from “absolutely no strategy” to triple teams but couldn’t stop him (NBA record 43 FTA):
    • “Bam was not artwork. Bam was Godzilla tearing up the town… It was brutal, it was ugly.” – Wes Goldberg [38:54]
    • “They had nothing to do, so they just started hacking him.” – Wes Goldberg [40:30]

What Changed for the Heat During the Streak?

• Winning “the margins”: rebounding, turnovers, 4-factors, defense (“not just hot 3-point shooting”).
• Development of bench/young players:
  • Pelle Larson: “He’s become like irreplaceable in the rotation... high-end rotation guy, maybe even a potential high-end starter around the right talent.” – Wes [44:15]
  • Khalil Ware: From inconsistent rookie to key contributor—“he is leaps and bounds, so much better than what he was… deserves some credit for taking that on the chin and figuring that part of it out.” – Wes [46:45]

Eastern Playoff Picture & Matchups:

• Miami’s least-favored first-round opponent: Boston (“the Tatum factor... they don’t have anyone to go toe to toe with Jalen Brown either”). [49:23]
• Most preferred: Cleveland, for “revenge” after last year’s embarrassing playoff sweep. [50:56]

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4. NBA & Heat Trivia Challenge

— [51:07–65:56]

• Fun, often tricky trivia contest between Wes and Andrew, with questions such as:
  • Naming all other Heat 40-point scorers besides Bam, LeBron, Wade, and Glenn Rice (curveball: Jimmy Butler never did it in the regular season).
  • Who’s attempted the most threes in a single NBA game? (Overlooked answers: J.R. Smith and Marcus Smart.)
  • Most blocked Heat player? (Jaime Jaquez Jr.)
  • Light moments: Goose cackling outside Andrew’s car; hosts riffing on the chaos of mascot antics and Miami’s wild franchise stories (e.g., Bernie the mascot being punched by Conor McGregor).

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5. Wheel of Fandom / Looking Ahead

— [66:00–67:55]

• Heat Week wraps: “I don’t know if you’re going to be able to beat Heat week…”
• Next up: Phoenix Suns Week, with key games against the Raptors, Celtics, Wolves, and Spurs.
• “Devin Booker’s a guy who could go off for 100… Please do it for Sun Week!” – hosts joke [67:47]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Mark on Bam’s 83:
  “The most improbable moment to be celebrated, or does everything need to be examined through the most negative lens until we die?” [03:21]

• Wes Goldberg on Bam’s night:
  "It felt like I was on another planet. It wasn’t even a basketball game." [35:14]

• Wes Goldberg on Online Backlash:
  “Of course nobody could just be happy for the guy, right? … Bam was not artwork. Bam was Godzilla tearing up the town.” [38:54]

• Andrew on SGA’s clutch stretch:
  “He just feels like he will not miss. And you pair all of that with the fact that he actually has the most clutch points this season.” [10:36]

• Mark on Wilt’s records:
  “Most of it is just untouchable. And it’s just really cool when you can mention like a record that someone is approaching of Wilt’s or if in the case of Shea, you pass it.” [26:01]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------|------------| | Top NBA Stories of the Week | 03:03–08:26| | “Good, Bad, What?” analysis | 09:01–29:24| | Heat Week & Bam’s 83 game (Wes Goldberg) | 32:32–51:07| | NBA/Heat Trivia | 51:07–65:56| | Fandom Wheel/Next Week Preview | 66:00–67:55|

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Episode Tone

Fast-paced and entertaining, filled with jokes, deep statistical dives, candid host banter and occasional chaos (aka the “goose incident”). Analysis is sharp but lighthearted, especially around Heat Week’s improbable drama and the trivia contest.

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Final Thoughts

If you want a comprehensive, irreverent, stat-rich recap of the NBA week—including the wildest scoring night in Heat history, a contextual look at clutch stats, pop quizzes, and actual insider perspective—this episode captures it all, while reflecting the fun and spontaneity of NBA fandom.

Transcript

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[Andrew]

this episode is brought to you by Bill, the intelligent finance platform that helps leaders scale with proven results in basketball Hype doesn't win championships execut the same is true for your finances. If you run a business or manage a financial back office, you don't have time for tools that promise the world but break under pressure. You need financial infrastructure that you can actually trust. That's why the big players use Bill. Bill isn't just moving money. They're simplifying financial operations for nearly half a million customers. From AI powered accounts payable to seamless syncing with your accounting software. When it comes to scale, the numbers speak for themselves. Bill has securely processed over a trillion dollars in real transactions and is trusted by over 90 of the top 100 US accounting firms. Stop the guesswork and start scaling with the proven choice. Ready to talk to an expert? Visit bill.comproven to get started and grab a $250 gift card as a thank you. That's bill.comproven terms and conditions apply. See Offer page for details. Welcome to the Saturday Slam and Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily, brought to you by Amazon Prime. On today's show, we're doing our good, bad and what and it's Heat Week. Unbelievable that it's Heat week. Listen, if you listen back to the end of last week's episode, we were disappointed for Heat week and boy were we wrong. And then we'll do some trivia. But before we get to any of that, Al, tell us what happened in the NBA this week.

[Mark]

Andrew the top story this week begins with an apology, because when the wheel of fandom landed on the Miami Heat last week, Andrew and I were audibly disappointed. And this is our formal apology to Heat Nation because the top story this week is the Miami Miami Heat and specifically Bam Adebayo, who scored 83 points in a basketball game against the Wizards this week. That's right, Bam Adebayo, not exactly known for his scoring, more than doubled his previous career high of 41 and in doing so passed Kobe's 81 for second on the all time list. Now, the game quickly became a flashpoint in the ongoing debate among NBA fans about whether any of us actually like basketball. Was BAM's 83 a fun, improbable moment to be celebrated? Or does everything need to be examined through the most negative lens possible every single day until we die? Heat coach Eric Spoelstra made his opinion very clear afterwards, saying, quote, I apologize to absolutely no one. The Heat as a team, meanwhile, are one of the hottest teams in the league, having won seven in a row, which we will talk about a little bit later. Now, the Heat aren't the only team in the east on a hot streak. With the Eastern Conference playoff picture completely changing this week, the magic, winners of six straight and the Heat 8 have moved into the five and six positions in the east, while the Raptors have fallen into the play in having lost six of their last eight. In fact, going back even further, the Raptors haven't beaten a team in the top 10 of either conference since January 25th.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Mark]

The last loss was particularly bad, a 122 to 111 loss to the Pelicans. In the final 90 seconds, Dejante Murray crossed up Jamal Shed and dropped him to the ground before hitting a three. Murray then stood over Shed, flexing, and other than Emmanuel quickly, none of the other Raptors seem to care all that much, causing a lot of distress among the Raptors fan base. The Raptors are now only a game and a half up on the Hawks, who have won a league leading eight games in a row. Now the best team Atlanta beat during that stretch was the 10 seed Trailblazers. But hey, they all count and Atlanta needs the good vibes. After the league decided to cancel Magic City Night, the planned special event celebrating the famous Wing restaurant in Atlanta, the NBA apparently took issue with the event because this Wing restaurant I guess is is so good it gets people dancing when you go there. I don't see what the big deal is back on the court. More bad news is that Atlanta's soft schedule is about to take a hard turn with two games each against Orlando. Boston and Cleveland close the season along with games against Houston, Detroit, the Knicks and Miami. Now in the west, the team with the longest winning streak is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who won a couple of marquee games against Denver and Boston at home. In the game against Denver, the Thunder were down all their bigs except J Will, but were able to pull out the win after SGA essentially hit two game winning step back 3s with a jokic four point play sandwiched in between those. The game was hotly anticipated because it was the first meeting since Lou Dort was ejected for tripping Jokic. While there weren't any more fights or crazy faces in this one, Lou Dort did manage to dislocate his arm and swing it in a way that defies physics to hit Jokic in the face late in the game, picking up another flager in the process. But the story of this game and the game against Boston was Shay Gilgis Alexander, who across the two matchups averaged 35 points, seven and a half rebounds and 12 assists while shooting 6942 92. SGA has taken firm control of the MVP race, now a minus 900 betting favorite and interestingly, Wemby has moved ahead of jokic for the second best odds at plus 1500. Speaking of WEMBY, the Spurs had a fun week as well. First in a game against the Clippers, the Spurs were down 25 points with nine minutes left in the third quarter, but came all the way back to complete the second largest comeback in spurs franchise history, winning 116 to 112. Next, in a game against the Rockets, San Antonio just blew out Houston 145 to 120. And then in a spicy game against Boston, the Spurs got another impressive win, 125 to 116, a game in which Wemby hit a career high eight three pointers. Also in that game, Jaylen Brown was ejected after arguing with the rest following a no call on a turnover where Brown felt he was pushed by Steph Castle. The spurs finished the week with a loss To Denver without Wemby. Which brings us to the final top story this week. The wild state of the current west standings behind OKC and San Antonio. These standings are changing every night and probably will until the end of the season. But as of Friday morning, your 3 seed is the Los Angeles Lakers, winners of four in a row. It felt like just a week ago, everyone was like, oh, this Lakers team sucks. They're no good. They've won four in a row. They're the three seed. Number four seed is Houston. Number five seed is now Denver, who's won two in a row. Minnesota, who I felt like they were the three seed just a second ago. They've lost three in a row. They're down to six. And they are now only a game up on the Phoenix Suns, who are in seventh. So we got. We got a lot of any matchup between these two teams. Rest of the season is going to be a huge matchup. Very exciting. And those are the top stories this week. Andrew.

[Andrew]

Yeah. I don't know what feels more Improbable, the. The 83 game or the 83 point game where the Lakers being the 3 seed. This both just feel like what I

[Mark]

know if we get to the end of the season, the Lakers are the three seed. I mean, but that's like, it's wildly impressive.

[Andrew]

It is, it is. They just kind of hung around.

[Mark]

I mean, I was. I was, you know, I was watching the OKC Boston game, and obviously there's been MVP talk about Jalen Brown this year. And I was just thinking about Luca's MVP case.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

It's like, you know, they only have two fewer wins than the Celtics. It's not like they're like some significantly worse team in the standings.

[Andrew]

Yep.

[Mark]

And Luke obviously had several great games this week. Which brings us to Good, Bad. What? Where we talk about something we like this week, something we didn't like, and something that left us confused. So, Andrew, what was your good this week?

[Andrew]

So a lot of talk about Shea. Obviously he broke this wilt record. There's a lot of MVP talk, but is there enough clutch player of the year talk for Shay? Is there not enough?

[Mark]

Is there enough in general?

[Andrew]

Andrew, is there enough? Is there enough? I haven't heard anybody buzzing about Shea for clutch player of the year, but he's making his case this week. Against the Celtics. He hit this really big shot to put the Thunder up 102 to 100. That wasn't the game winning shot, but it was a very important shot in that game. In the clutch. We Also saw him hit what was basically two buzzer beaters, like you mentioned against. Not buzzer beaters. Two game winning shots against the Nuggets. Shout out to J. Will for allowing that to happen. Extremely clutch. He had a step back three with Draymond there, where he just told Isaiah, Joe, please go away so I can hit this over Draymond. And step back three against the Warriors. These are all consecutive games, by the way. And the game before that, it was against the Knicks to put the Thunder up seven. He had a step back three over OG and an obi. He's been ridiculously clutch lately. It just feels like he will not miss. And you pair all of that with the fact that he actually has the most clutch points this season. And also, by the way, to everyone that has an online Internet account, he does not have the most clutch free throws.

[Mark]

Oh, no.

[Andrew]

This season, those actually go to both Jokic and Jamal Murray. Both have more clutch free throws than Shea at the moment. With Cade Cunningham right on the heels of Shea, he's shooting nearly 50% from the field in the clutch, which is not the best ant. Shooting 56% in the clutch. Jamal Murray's 52. Kate is actually at 50. Shea's just a shade below 50. But we're talking about, like, moments. Shay's just been racking up these clutch moments this week, and I wonder if not only is he, like, locking up the mvp, but is he sealing another award, an award that maybe no one cares about, but is he sealing a second award this week with the Clutch Player of the Year? I think so. I just don't know that anybody's been more clutch this season. Whenever you total up the points and then you look at all these moments that he's had, especially against. I mean, these have been quality opponents this whole week for the Thunder, it's been one of the more impressive weeks for okc. And the reason that they've won all of these games is because of how clutch Shay Gilders Alexander is. So for everyone gearing up for the Clutch Player of the Year award, might take a look at Shay now.

[Mark]

Andrew, you're obviously a huge fan of this award. Can you name me the three previous winners of this award?

[Andrew]

I know de' Aaron Fox has won it.

[Mark]

He won the inaugural He Did Clutch Player of the Year award. That's why it was memorable.

[Andrew]

Yes, and as a Clutch Player of the Year historian, I've really lost my bearings.

[Mark]

Last year, it makes sense. Jalen Brunson.

[Andrew]

Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember that.

[Mark]

And then Steph won in 24. I actually don't remember that one. I remember Brunson and Fox.

[Andrew]

I don't remember Steph winning it. But you know what? I'll remember this. I'll remember this one. You'll remember this one, obviously.

[Mark]

And you're going to start remembering. Yeah, Micah this week is a player I should have picked for my post All Star break leap team. Tristan Da Silva of the Orlando Magic. Da Silva has been on a tear post All Star and he's been one of the reasons the Magic have found their footing lately. Winning six in a row.

[Andrew]

Yep.

[Mark]

In 12 games post all star break, he is averaging 13 and a half points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists per game. 4 on 68% true shooting. Compare that to 54% true shooting pre Allstar. He's been getting way more minutes more starting opportunities over this recent stretch. Part of that is Anthony Black's absences, but he's really taken advantage of it this week. He had 23 and 26 points in consecutive games. The 26 was a career high in this disgusting overtime win against the Wizards. Of course, on Thursday, if you're looking to get a career high right now, the Wizards, they're open for business. Come on down. You can do it. Da Silva had 26, 7 and 2 with four steals and two blocks in the game and he was one of the main reasons this game didn't become an awful loss for the Magic, which again, this went to overtime. Yeah, I, I just remember in his draft a lot of Thunder fans wanted him and I just wasn't super high on him because he just seemed like one of those wings that theoretically does a little bit of everything but maybe doesn't do anything at an elite level. But the upside for those kinds of players is that when it does work, they can be a really valuable fourth fist starter. Kind of like a Swiss army knife type player who doesn't take anything off the court when they play. And that vision of Da Silva is starting to come into full view over this recent stretch and a big part of why it's working is that he's developing into a much more reliable shooter. So he shot under 34% from three as a rookie. He's up to 39 in his second year, up to over 42% in his last 30 games. And since All Star break, he's been one of the most efficient corner three point shooters in the league, hitting 55% of his corner threes while taking the fourth most corner threes in the league over that span. So it's not just, you know, he's, he's making a few here or there. He's take. This is a high volume for him. You know, for a team that has desperately needed shooting from their role players, it feels like De Silva is starting to look like this incredibly valuable role player for Orlando because he, he's providing that shooting while also not really taking anything away from their overall defensive identity. So Tristan Da Silva, he's my good this week and I should have picked him.

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah, I like that. He just brings them so much balance. Like they just had so many guys that kind of do the same thing and then so many guys that don't shoot and don't shoot well.

[Mark]

They had a lot of like one way players over these last couple years.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

And Tristan Da Silva, you know, I, I don't know that his ceiling is like super high or anything, but he just feels like a very solid two way role player that you can count on.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Or at least that's what he's developing into.

[Andrew]

Yeah, totally.

[Mark]

Okay, Andrew, what is your bad this week?

[Andrew]

Well, how about, how about the guys that aren't very clutch at all? I was, I was looking at clutch numbers and, and couldn't look away from some of these percentages. So these are from the top 50 players in field goal attempts in the clutch and these are the worst of the top 50. Okay. Coming in at number five. These two guys are tied for fifth for the worst clutch players of the year. Brandon Ingram and Con Canipple are both 33% in the clutch this season. Not so good.

[Mark]

Not so good. And I feel like the Brandon Ingram that's becoming more noticeable as of late.

[Andrew]

Yeah, it's, it's certainly becoming a thing. Number four, Michael Porter Jr. Is shooting 30% in the clutch.

[Mark]

I'm surprised he's had enough clutch moments.

[Andrew]

He's one of the top qualify 50 clutch clutch shooters at least in terms of field goal attempts this season. Okay, next, a guy that will come as no surprise to anybody. Paolo Banquero, 26 in the clutch. So it's been, it's been really rough. It's just a lot of, it's shot selection stuff which I do think can get cleaned up.

[Mark]

And he, he's been better as of late. I almost was going to talk about him this week and then of course he goes out and scores 14 against the Wizard Wizards in this overtime game. So I put it on pause. But he, he had, he had some like very illuminating quotes this week talking about not being selected for as being selected as an All Star and just kind of needing to like re watch film and. And get better. You know, he's saying the right things. He is definitely playing better post All Star break. But yeah, also not surprised he's on that list.

[Andrew]

Yeah, he's obviously extremely talented and some sometimes like guys if. If they can get serious about it and they will actually take an honest look at their shot selection, they can get a lot better through that, which is just something that he needs to do. Number two. And this was kind of why I wanted to do this list because it was just really funny to me. Bam Adebayo has been 26% in the clutch this season. The. The guy who, who toppled Kobe is 26% in the clutch. And then the. I don't know what this award would be like. The most anti clutch person of the year. The anti clutch winner of the year. And I don't know that anybody's touching this. And also this number's not going anywhere because this guy's not playing anymore is Jaren Jackson Jr. At 21%. Congratulations, Jaren Jackson. You, sir, are the least clutch in the NBA this season.

[Mark]

Congrats, Triple J. My bad starts with going Back to Bam's 83 point performance. The top story this week, the funniest part of that performance was watching that Wizards team slowly realize they were also about to be a part of history.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

And gradually ramping up their defensive activity to do everything they could to avoid that fate. Now, ultimately, they were not able to avoid history. Despite triple teaming Bam at times during the stretch or down the stretch. This moment will likely end up being the low point of the Wizards tank, which every tanking team I feel like eventually experiences. You know, there's that moment when the spotlight is suddenly on you and there's nothing you can do to hide the disgusting basketball product you've created. You know, it's almost a rite of passage when you're a tanking team. And so I thought it might be fun to rank the five lowest moments of recent tanking teams. Now there's only five spots. So right off the bat. Honorable mention. Apologies to Utah getting fined half a million for substitution patterns in a game they won. Very funny. It's. It's probably a low point, but it's almost more funny. I actually don't think that's too bad. I don't think their fans were too broken up about that, but just missed the cut. Okay. Now, I did these off the top of my head.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

So if I missed like something obvious, please let me know. So number five. Number five, lowest tanking moment is when the Rockets were forced to suspend Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr. After what transpired during a game against the Nuggets. So the series of events that led to the suspensions were kind of bizarre. Before the Nuggets game, then coach Steven Silas decided to bench Christian Wood to start the game because Wood didn't show up to the daily COVID testing, which caused shoot around to be delayed. Fast forward to halftime. Kevin Porter Jr. Got in a confrontation with assistant coach John Lucas and left the arena. Just went home, just drove home. Gone. Then in the second half, because he got benched in the first half, Christian Wood refused to come back in the game. When Steven Silas was trying to bring him the game, he just had to go to someone else because Christian would refuse to get up. So both were suspended by the team. All this came out in the reporting at the time, and it just painted this picture of a very dysfunctional team, which I think is deserving of the number five spot. Yep, Number four. Number four, lowest tanking moment. I'm giving it to the Wizards letting Bam out of bio. Score 83 points. It's one of the most improbable moments in league history. I still can't believe it happened. But the one part that does make sense is that the Wizards were involved. That. That part of it makes sense to me. Wildly embarrassing performance and the increased defensive activity as the game went on just made the ending that much more embarrassing. Like even when you tried, you had nothing. At least let it be someone like Luca. You know, Luca SGA. Like literally anyone. But Bam. You let Bam score 83. Lucky for the Wizards, though, people are going to think of Bam first when thinking about this game. So it doesn't rank any higher on our list. Number three, lowest tanking moment. The Thunder losing to the Memphis Grizzlies by 73 points.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Now similar to BAM scoring 83. It's one of those records that just doesn't seem real as it's happening. You need such a perfect storm for everything to go that wrong. And in this case, it was a very bad Thunder team. They were down. Sga. Josh Giddey was out. They were playing this young, deep Memphis Grizzlies team. Like Memphis wasn't trying to run up the score necessarily. They just were playing the guys on their bench and they were doing a lot better than the Thunder. The game was over so fast that Desmond Baines started this game only scored two points on 1 of 6 shooting, and they still won by 73. As a Thunder fan, I still get excited when I see a team is up by 50, hoping that maybe this is the night this terrible curse will be removed. But for now, it is our tanking burden to carry.

[Andrew]

Yeah, a lot of we had to, we had to taste our own blood quotes coming from Mark Degnalt, you know, on that one still.

[Mark]

So, yeah. The number two lowest tanking moment is the Pistons 27 game losing streak. Everything surrounding this losing streak was brutal. The hiring of Monty Williams playing Killian Hayes so much early in the season. Troy Weaver getting into into it with fans at games, watching Cade look more and more sad as the streak continued. Pistons fans deserve all the good vibes this team has given them the last two years because truly no fan base has ever had to experience a stretch like that. And you're probably saying, how is that not number one, a 27 game losing streak. But the reason why I'm putting the number one at number one is because the Pistons bounced back from that very quickly. The number one lowest tanking moment is when the league office pressured the Sixers to hire Jerry Colangelo, which led to Sam Hinkey quitting and then Brian Colangelo getting hired. There's never been a worse way to end a tank. Being so bad that the league essentially forces a regime change is wild enough. But then hiring the son of the guy the league pressured you to hire while telling fans it had nothing to do with his hiring. Like nothing's ever topping that. And then you factor in the false Tatum trade, burner gate, the Tobias Harris contract while letting Jimmy Butler go to Miami. I think the Sixers takeover is an easy number one lowest tanking moment for me.

[Andrew]

Yeah, agreed. There were. There's so many things. There's almost too many things for the, there's too many things during that time.

[Mark]

All right, so Andrew, that brings us to your. What

[Andrew]

I, I was just looking at some of these records that Wilt holds because obviously we've had the 83 point game which causes everybody to think about the 100 point game. And then you have shape passing him and consecutive 20 point games. And so you're just like, what is, what's, what happened with this Wilt Chamberlain guy? So I just thought I would read some of the records that he still holds that just seem impossible to ever pass. Obviously he has the 100 point game. He has the highest season average at 50.4 points per game because most, most total points in a season, 4,000 points in a season, and the most 50 point games in a season with 45, 50 point games in a season. He also holds the record for the most career rebounds at 23, 924. Just for like context, like when we think about like great rebounders of like the modern era, you think about guys like Dwight Howard, who only has 14,000 career rebounds. Like, that feels impossible. He averaged 22.9 rebounds per game one season, which is the most, and also had the most rebounds in a single game with 55 rebound rebounds. I don't even know if teams can miss that many shots these days.

[Mark]

I know what is, what would be the scenario where that could happen?

[Andrew]

I don't know. I don't know. I don't. I mean, that just feels impossible. He set the record for the highest minutes per game in a season, which was 48 and a half, which that is. That's not going anywhere. There's no one crazy enough to do that in the modern era and average 45.8 minutes per game for his career. And he went his entire career without fouling out, which also is crazy.

[Mark]

That is crazy.

[Andrew]

He secured the most consecutive 30, 40 and 50 point games, led the league and total assists as a center in the 67, 68 season. He won MVP and Rookie of the year in the same season. The stuff that he did was just. Most of it is just untouchable. And it's just really cool when you can mention like a record that someone is approaching of wilts or if in the case of Shea, you pass it. And what's crazy to me is that Shea is the one to pass it, you know, like he, he needs to be mentioned and thought of as like one of the great scorers ever because of his consistency. And I know a lot of people get hung up on the free throw conversation, but he's, he's one of the greatest scorers in the history of the league. And it's just really cool. You know, Mark, when Mark talks about Shay and his scoring, he talks about like his precision with his craft. Like he is like one of the most precise scorers there is as far as like getting to his spots, knowing exactly what he wants to do. And we've seen that, you know, over the course of his career, just him just get better and better at that.

[Mark]

Also shout out to Wes Unsell. Also won MVP and Rookie of the Year.

[Andrew]

True.

[Mark]

The same year.

[Andrew]

True.

[Mark]

While averaging 13.8 points per game. Isn't that wild?

[Andrew]

That is wild.

[Mark]

18, 18 rebounds per game though.

[Andrew]

Yeah. That's crazy.

[Mark]

My. What I looked at isolation scoring, I was inspired by watching SGA have what I assume was one of his best weeks of isolation basketball. Currently, SGA takes seven isolation possessions per game. He scores 1.19 points on those possessions. That's the best mark among the high volume ISO scores this year. But I wanted to see how it stacked up against recent ISO scores. So here are the top five high volume ISO scores going back to the 1516 season. Because that's as far as NBA.com goes back. And for a volume cutoff, I focused on guys who had around five or more ISO possessions per game. So at number five is 2017 Kyrie Irving, 1.12 points on 5.1 ISOs per game. At number four is 2020 Harden, 1.12 points on 14.1 possessions per game. You may have noticed the jump we just made in possessions. Number three, 2023 Dame, 1.17 points on 4.9 possessions per game.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Mark]

And number two is this year's SGA. 2026 SGA. 1.19 points on 7 ISOs per game. And the number one ISO score in. In these last 10 years, 2018 James Harden. During his MVP season, he scored 1.22 points on 10 ISOs per game. Yo. So SGA certainly having one of the best ISO seasons in recent memory. But this is also just a good reminder about how insane peak James Harden was. The efficiency combined with the volume is something we might not see again for a long time. And one of the scenes I didn't include because it just missed the cut for efficiency was 2019 Harden. He had 16.4 ISOs per game, which was the hot. Easily the highest of this, like last decade. I mean, Luca and sga, they're like the best ISO scores of this current era.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

And in their best seasons, we're talking about seven possessions per game. Seven. Seven. The other funny thing I found, which is really my. What is remembering how bad of an ISO score Russell Westbrook was among players who had at least five ISOs per game going back to the 1516 season, Russ was the only player to score under 0.9 points per possession. And he did it three different seasons. In his wizard season, which was the worst among all these seasons I looked at, he scored 0.78 points per isolation. So that made me say, what, what?

[Andrew]

What? What are you doing, Russ, man? Something else that made us say, what was the fact that we had a really good heat week and we're talking to Wes Goldberg about that, right?

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[Wes Goldberg]

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[Andrew]

all

[Mark]

right, Andrew, it's time for the Wheel of Fandom, the weekly segment where we spin a wheel. It lands on a team and we become fans of that team for the next week. Week Last week, the Wheel landed on the Miami Heat. And in one of the biggest surprises in Slam and Jam history, Heat week was possibly the best spin of the Wheel we've ever had.

[Andrew]

Unreal.

[Wes Goldberg]

Unreal.

[Mark]

First, the Heat won all their games 4 0, including two really impressive wins over the Hornets in Charlotte and the Pistons at home. But then in a game against the Washington Wizards, bam. Adebayo scored 83 points, which is a career high. If you're wondering, it's also the second most points ever scored in an NBA game. Bam had 31 in the first quarter alone. He had already broken LeBron's franchise record of 61 by the end of the third quarter. And then in the fourth, the Wizards started playing defense, triple teaming Bam at points, but could not keep him off the line, where he took an NBA record 43 free throws, including his 82nd and 83rd points to finish the night. Now, Bam didn't need to score 83 in the Heat's final game of the week, a 112 to 105 win over the Bucs. After this seven game winning streak, the Heat are now 38 and 29, sixth in the east, essentially tied with the Magic, who are fifth and who play the Heat on Saturday. Per cleaning the glass, the Heat have the 13th ranked offense and 4th ranked defense. Andrew, if the Heat are our favorite team, who is our guest?

[Andrew]

We've got Wes Goldberg of the Locked on Heat podcast. Wes, welcome to the show.

[Wes Goldberg]

Thanks for having me. What a week for you guys.

[Mark]

Wow.

[Andrew]

I mean, we just had you on the NBA Daily and like the conversation was like, is there anything interesting about the Heat?

[Wes Goldberg]

It's so interesting. That part is interesting because all of a sudden they got interesting and you know, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille o'. Neal, I don't know if you guys saw their clip that went around. They did a podcast together and D. Wade was saying how because he was in Miami recently for the 20 year anniversary of the 2006 championship, and they were talking about how they were walking around Miami and there was no buzz about the Miami Heat. There was no buzz about the Heat. And then Bam goes out and scores 83 points and unprompted. I think it was Eric Spoelstra bringing up like, you've got D. Wade out here saying that there's no buzz. Well, there's gonna be a buzz now. And it was. And it's just like this crazy thing. A team just kind of that was dormant for seemingly three or four regular seasons straight. 83 points. Man, that. That's wild.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Let's start there. One of the most improbable games in NBA history. You were in the building for this one. What was the experience like watching this game as someone who covers this team, and that's been around Bam for a while.

[Wes Goldberg]

So I'm so glad you said improbable, because that was my take right away. I think it is the most improbable game in NBA history. I mean, Bay Manabayu has averaged 16 points per game for his career. And a couple of those, you know, is because early in his career he was coming off the bench and things like that. But this is a guy who's topped 20 points per game for a season once prior to this year. To score 83 and be in the conversation with Wilton Kobe is just absolutely wild. I mean those guys are prolific, score the prolific of scorers and Bam is certainly not that. And so, you know, first of all, the experience is. Was wild. I mean you just, it was building. I had this running kind of. He scores 31 points in the first quarter and I have my running game notes of it. Just because it goes away from strategy right away because the Wizards are not a strategy based basketball team at this point anyway. And so I'm just kind of keeping this running game notes, like checklist of records that he's breaking as it's happening. And immediately unlocked on Heat after I just read that. I mean, it was like by 31 points, most in a quarter by anybody in Miami Heat history, most by a center in like the three point ERA in one quarter. Just all these kind of crazy stats. And then he breaks D. Wade's record and then he breaks LeBron's Miami Heat career high. And then obviously we start talking about 70 points and then he's at 77. And it was just these crazy things and it was just. It's surreal. It felt like I was on another planet. It was, it wasn't even a basketball game and I didn't really fully realize that part of it until I was in the building Thursday night for the Bucks game. And I was like, oh, this feels different. Like this feels like a real basketball game where things like basketball things are happening. And it kind of, it wasn't until that point where it settled in just like how out of body the entire thing really was in terms of being able to see Bam do it. I couldn't be happier for him. I mean, this is a guy who was kind of a, maybe you could argue like a sleeper pick at the end of the lottery in his draft. It was seen as a little bit of a reach there when the Heat took him at 14 and they grab him and he's this guy who didn't really play a ton at Kentucky, just a little bit kind of a run and jump athlete who said, oh yeah, he could probably be pretty versatile. We don't really know if he's a power forward or a Center and he comes in, doesn't play much his first couple of years, and there's real friction between him and the coaching staff in terms of he wants playing time and they're not giving it to him. Very similar to what's happening with Khalil Ware recently. But he kind of goes through all of that, turns himself into this dribble handoff hub. The Heat make the finals in the bubble with Bam kind of becoming this guy and this defensive anchor at that point. And then it's just this Jimmy Butler led experience with Bam as sort of the passenger in. In like riding shotgun for this whole thing. And you know, eventually he's just logging minutes and logging time, and it's almost this Udonis Haslam type effect where UD was sort of the passenger with D. Wade. But Haslam's just logging games, logging minutes, and he keeps climbing up like Miami Heat franchise record books. And suddenly like Bam is now the all time leader in Heat defensive rebounds and second the second player in Heat history to score 10,000 points. And you look up and you're like, oh my God, this guy's been here for a really long time. Just sort of quietly putting the work in and developing and improving every single year to the point where now he has a legitimate three point shot. He's averaging almost six three point attempts per game this year. Again, run and jump athlete who didn't have much of an offensive skill set has turned himself into a 10,000 point scorer just like a week before he scored 83 points in a basketball game. It is the most improbable thing I've ever seen in the NBA.

[Andrew]

Have you been surprised by like the magnitude of the discourse that's been ignited online?

[Wes Goldberg]

The honest answer is yes. And I'm ashamed because I have been online for so long. Like, of course this was gonna suck, like afterwards. Like, of course nobody could just be happy for the guy, right? I do understand the Kobe factor and I am sensitive to it, right? Like, I understand Kobe's people's hero and the way that Kobe did it when he scored 81 was so Kobe like, right? It was majestic, scoring mid range artwork. Bam was not artwork. Bam was Godzilla tearing up the town. Like, it was just, it was, it was brutal, it was ugly. And I understand why. I might not have been for everybody, but it happened. And I just, I don't if any. If Bam was ever going to score 80 points, it wasn't going to look like the way Kobe did it. So it probably looked closer to how the way Wilt did it. But we didn't. Nobody's ever seen it, so. Or, you know, it's not a record. So, you know, I, I shouldn't have been surprised, but I get it. Look, the foul, the free throw attempts is a thing across the league, right? People hate Shakel, just Alexander because of the free throw attempts. Andrew, I know you know this, and. But if you watch a Thunder, your game, like, this is different. He's getting to the free throw line. He's not grifting. He's not cheating the game. This is different. And if you watch that game that Bam played, the Wizards were fouling him because they didn't know what else to do. You know, I, I rewatched it and it's just like, yeah, this wasn't throwing your head back trying to get a call. This was just kind of the Wizards being helpless.

[Mark]

That was kind of the funniest part of it. Just watching the Wizards gradually just try to play more and more defense and they just couldn't help themselves. Like those a lot, I would say, like, the vast majority of those foul calls were completely legit and just. The Wizards had nothing.

[Wes Goldberg]

They had nothing to start hacking them. Yeah, they started hacking because they didn't know what else to do. They're like, oh, man, he can make free throws. And it was one of those deals. So the Wizards actually, I thought was interesting. They opened the game, it looked like they had zero strategy whatsoever. And to be fair, that's probably closer to the truth than what I'm about to say. But they were single, covering him. Which we have seen teams do lately, right? Where they don't, with this Heat offense, where they're going to try to spread you out and, and play up tempo and try to get you one on one. Where you really get in trouble is when you start helping on the, on those isolation attempts, whether it's Bam or Wigs or Norm Powell driving or whoever. It's going to be when you get in trouble is when you start helping because then they. They're able to start, you know, spinning the ball around and finding openings in the defense. So we've seen teams over the last couple of months start to stay home on all the Heat offensive players, even when they don't have the ball, just stay home. Don't, don't rotate, don't give them the opening. And for the most part, because the Heat don't have an elite shot creator, they don't have that kind of elite isolation player. You, at times, it can work, right? It could start to slow down. Miami's gears a little bit. So that's what the Wizards did. They were like, we're just going to stay home on Bam. We'll let Sar play him one on one. And in that first quarter, Sar actually did okay the first few minutes. And then Bam figured Sar out. And then you got into the Wizards rotation where poor Anthony Gill, I think is the new Jalen Rose right now. And so, you know, it was at that point it's like, well, you can't play them one on one. For some reason, Keefe didn't make an adjustment when it was obvious that like, okay, well, 31 in the first quarter might be a little bit of a problem. And then eventually they just started double and triple teaming them and started denying them. But by then it was too little, too late.

[Mark]

So zooming out from, from the 83 point game and just looking at this recent win streak, which is their longest of the season, what has been the difference for Miami over this stretch other than having a player score 83 points?

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah, that definitely helped. Although, you know, they probably didn't need that to beat the Wizards, I would argue. But look, they're winning the margin battles, right? I think the heat, after that hot start to the season, teams figured them out a little bit and they had to adjust and they had to figure out, okay, what's the added. What's the thing we have to add to our formula to win basketball game. It's not enough to just outrun teams, which is how they were winning games the first 20, 21 games of the season. And now they're winning the rebounding battle, they're winning the turnover battle. It's just the basic four factors, guys. I mean, that's what it is. But there's just such a much, there's. There's much more of an emphasis on it. I think the way that Khalil Ware has played recently has been a really big help for them, too. Ware was not even available for that Wizards game, but he's been available for the other ones. And his rebounding off the bench has been really important. And the fact that, you know, they got Tyler Hero back for some of this stretch, he's out again. Norm Powell hasn't played, but Hero has been able to step into that role. Then guys like Pella Larson, Jaime Hawkes, like, these guys are just like glue guys connecting pieces that are really figuring out sort of their voices on the team now as sort of hustle guys in between the lines kind of guys. So all of a sudden they're, they're winning all these four factors, margin battles. And these are the four factors for a reason. Like you win these and more often than not you're going to win these basketball games. So they're just, they're out here executing. This is not just a matter of, hey, they've won seven games in a row because all of a sudden they got hot from three point range.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Wes Goldberg]

And they couldn't miss. They're, they're taking care of business. And yep, it helps that they played the Wizards once, they played the Nets twice. They've had some cupcakes on the schedule. But they also beat the Pistons. They, they beat the red hot Hornets at the time. They started this streak with a really good win against Houston. So there's some quality wins in there too.

[Andrew]

Another player who had a nice week was Pele Larson, who scored a career high 28 points against the Bucks. Larson, in his second season, has become a key rotation player for the Heat. What do you think the next step is for him and what is like his ceiling? What kind of player can he be?

[Wes Goldberg]

It's such a great question and it's one we debate unlocked on Heat all the time. Like, what is this guy? Yeah, it's. At first he reminded me of like Josh Hart and I'm wondering if that, if that three point, like he won the game with a three point dagger. That's not normally something that Josh Hart does. Like Pella Larson. If this three ball is for real, that, that kind of raises the ceiling above maybe a Josh Hart type. I heard a couple of different comparisons for Pella, but I, I'm having a hard time. He, he's, he, he plays with a level of strength that I think surprises opponents and I think it's why Pella tends to get under opponent's skin. He gets into a lot of fights for some reason and so there's like, I think he stole like the Jimmy Butler shoulder push shot in the lane. And I've been meaning to ask him about it, but I, and I was going to ask him about it last night, but then he was sworn by media and it was kind of one of those questions I want to ask one on one, but I don't really know what his ceiling is other than this guy is going to be. To me, I, I think he's a part of the starting lineup. I don't think it's as simple as when, when Norman Hero are healthy that you just put Pella back to the bench. I don't think it's that simple. He's sort of Become, he's become like irreplaceable in the rotation again. I, I don't have a great answer for you because I've been trying to figure out like who he reminds me of, what's the sort of ceiling. But I think this is a guy who could be a high end rotation player, maybe even a potential like high end starter on a really good team around the right talent. Right. He's not going to be a guy that you're going to be able to rely on every single night for 28 points, but he's a guy that's going to be able to get you 10 to 12 probably on average and you know, five or six rebounds and even had six assists. And I think one of the underrated things about Pella is he's not just this hustle kind of wing that just fills in the gaps. This guy played on the ball in Eurobasket a lot and with, with Hero and Powell and Wiggins, both, all three of those guys out last night against Milwaukee, they needed Pella to be on the ball and he ends up dishing six assists, which is not something he typically does, but he's obviously and clearly capable of it. So we'll see if they keep feeding him more responsibility. But for now I would say just sort of like high end rotation guy, which is, you know, for the 44th pick in the draft, pretty good.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

So you mentioned Clay Ware earlier. He's been getting consistent minutes during this winning streak, averaging around 29 per game. He's had one of the more interesting seasons for a young player because he'll have these eye popping box scores followed by stretches where he barely plays. Do you feel like he's finally found his place in this Heat rotation? And how are you feeling about his future in Miami?

[Wes Goldberg]

So today on March 13, the answer is yes. I think he's found a spot in the rotation, but a couple of bad days at practice or shoot around and he could be back in the inspiration exposed doghouse. And that's just the way it's been for two years. But look, I, I do, I like to zoom out when it comes to Kalel and I look at what he was when he came into the league and where he is now and he is leaps and bounds, so much better than what he was when he came into the league. I remember the first time I, you know, the first Heat game I covered of his was at the California Classic or whatever they call it, the summer league before the Vegas Summer league in Sacramento. And he was awful. He was so bad in that first summer league game when I even did the scout work on him ahead of that draft, what I said was, he's a guy who should play like a Derek Lively, like a run to the rim kind of guy. Instead he does a bad impression of lamarcus Aldridge almost every single night. And that's what he was in that first summer league game. He was just sort of spinning around, kind of trying to face up back to the, sometimes back to the basket fade aways like lamarcus Aldridge, but just like the shots wouldn't go in unlike lamarcus Aldridge. And so I think the Heat were just like, no, we're not going to do any of that anymore. And they basically said, go from A to B. A is the screen, B is the basket. That's what you're going to do. So he became more of that sort of run and jump, straight line athlete. And then in the second year they're like, we're actually going to not run any pick and roll. How about that? All that stuff that we got you to do as a rookie, we're just not going to do any of that. So figure that part of it out. And to his credit, he did. He's dominating the dunker spot, he's flying out for rebounds out of his area. He's, he's to score points. And I just think that, that, that, that turnaround in and of itself, you just don't see that that much. That sort of this guy's seven feet tall, seven foot one maybe, and he's been able to dominate the way that he's been able to dominate his entire life. And all of a sudden he gets to the NBA and the Heater, like all that stuff that you used to do, we're not going to do that anymore. Everything that got you to this point, a first round pick in the draft, just not going to do that anymore. And then all that stuff we taught you to do in your rookie season, we're not going to do that anymore either. And so I think Khalil deserves some credit for taking that on the chin and figuring that part of it out. And yeah, I think between him and Bam, like finally those, those two man lineups are in the pod pod pod pod pod pod pod for so much of the in the year net rating and those minutes are now positive for them in an overwhelming way during this streak and I think they're really building on something there.

[Andrew]

Looking ahead to the playoffs, how would you rank the top four seeds in the East? From least confident, the Heat could win the series to most confident.

[Wes Goldberg]

Okay. So number one would be the team that they want to see the least. I would probably put Boston number one even though the Heat would never admit it. Right? Yeah. But I would put Boston number one. The Tatum factor is. Is why I think first and foremost. And yeah, they don't really have a guy that could just go to even toe to toe with Jalen Brown with the way that Brown is scoring this season. And so I think that that's a thing. So I would put boss number one. I would go. And I don't know that I sign off on this, but I would go Detroit number two. I think they're okay with the like they. They've obviously beat the Pistons. So there's proof of concept there. And they beat the Pistons by the way, by playing the Pistons game. Right. Like they out physical the Pistons in that game. The Pistons are going to be able to push a lot of teams in the Eastern Conference around. They're not going to be able to push the Miami Heat around. And I think the Heat are going to. Would. Would think of that series in that way. Although I think the Pistons are kind of weirdly underrated at this point. But yeah, that's a different thing. I would go the Knicks next. The Heat like the Bam Cat matchup quite a bit. And I think they feel like they have enough guys to throw at Jalen Brunson that they're not as worried about Brunson as maybe some other teams in the east would be. So I would go, Nick's next. And then I think they would really like to play the Cavs if they had their choice for a few different reasons. Right. I think that there's that first of all, they look at James Harden. They're like, yeah, let's, let's take our chances with that guy. If we could push the game to push that series of seven games, we feel pretty good about it. The way that, you know, Mobley is played. Jared Allen's hurt right now. Like I think they like that. But more than anything, I think it's the revenge factor.

[Andrew]

Right.

[Wes Goldberg]

The Cavs just completely embarrassed them last year in the first round of the playoffs to historic proportions. And I think if the Heat had their choice, like they could just pick their first round opponent. They would pick Cleveland just to try to get revenge.

[Mark]

Well, Wes, thank you for answering all of our Heat related questions. It is now time to play Andrew versus the Beat, our weekly trivia show where Andrew Andrew goes head to head against NBA beat writer this week. Wes Goldberg from the Locked on Heat podcast. Now, Wes, I've come up with eight questions about the Heat. You'll give me a number between 1 and 8. It'll correspond to a question. If you get it right, you'll get at least two points. If you get it wrong, Andrew will have a chance to steal for one. And we'll go back and forth until all the questions have been asked and answered. So to start us off, I just need a number between one and eight.

[Wes Goldberg]

So the last time you guys had me on, I was really bad at this and Andrew beat me, and I did start with my favorite number, and I'm gonna go ahead and do that again. I'm gonna go ahead and do that again. Despite my better judgment, I'm going to go with four.

[Mark]

Question number four. Okay, we. This is a. This is a good one. Bam. Pre. His previous high coming into this week was 41. Only 13 other players in Heat franchise history have had a 40 point game, and we're going to name them all. So how this works is, Wes, you'll give me a name, then Andrew will give me a name. We'll go back and forth. And just to give you a little heads up, there were only five guys who had had multiple 40 point games in Heat history. So that means eight of the guys on this list only had one 40 point game.

[Andrew]

Just to give you a little heads up.

[Mark]

So, Wes, start us off with a name.

[Wes Goldberg]

This is. Other than Bam.

[Mark]

Yes, other than Bam. Anyone else in Heat franchise history.

[Wes Goldberg]

D. Wade.

[Mark]

D. Wade. Number one on the list. Andrew.

[Andrew]

LeBron.

[Mark]

LeBron. Number two on the list. Back to Wes.

[Wes Goldberg]

Glenn Rice.

[Mark]

Glen Rice. Number three on the list. You guys are doing great. Andrew.

[Andrew]

Jimmy.

[Mark]

Jimmy Butler. Wait, why is he not on this list?

[Wes Goldberg]

He obviously did not in the regular season.

[Andrew]

Oh.

[Mark]

Oh, my gosh.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Mark]

That's the first time where I tricked myself because I'm looking at the list. He's not on the list. But I'm like, well, he must have done it.

[Wes Goldberg]

He was.

[Mark]

That's the.

[Wes Goldberg]

That was the problem with the Jimmy Butler era in Miami. He just sandbagged it until the playoffs.

[Mark]

Wow. And I didn't meant. But yes. This is. This was regular season. Sorry, Andrew. I'm giving those points to Wes.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Mark]

Wes. Who else would you have said?

[Wes Goldberg]

CB Chris Bosch.

[Mark]

Chris Bosch.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

He had one.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Eddie Jones.

[Mark]

No. Another miss for Andrew. Taking more points off of Andrew. Alonzo. Morning. Tyler Hero Sherman. Tim Hardaway. Shaq Oladipo. That was a fun one.

[Wes Goldberg]

That's right. Oladipo. The last Game of the season against the Magic.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Andrew]

Did Dion do it? That. That one crazy year?

[Mark]

No, Dion did not do it on that list. No. Jaime Hawkez Jr. And then Wiggins, Philly, and then. I don't know how to pronounce this player's name.

[Wes Goldberg]

Rooney, Ronnie Cycley.

[Mark]

Ronnie Cy.

[Andrew]

Oh, Ronnie Cycley.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Wes Goldberg]

That's a name that gets. By the way, AEL Larson. Comp. Ronnie Cycley. Go look at Ronnie Cycley stuff. Look at the basketball reference. That's a name that gets thrown around locally a lot with him. I don't love it, but it does get thrown around.

[Mark]

Okay. Well, Wes, good job picking your favorite number to start because you do have two points. Andrew.

[Andrew]

Wow. Number one.

[Mark]

Okay, now this question's hard. I'm going to give you hints. Okay.

[Andrew]

Uh. Oh.

[Wes Goldberg]

Bam.

[Mark]

Adebayo attempted 22 three pointers in his historic 83 point game. Only six other players in NBA history have attempted that many threes in a game. Now, four of the names are obvious. Dame, Steph, Clay, Harden. But can you name either of the other two players who have taken 22 threes in a game? Now, before you answer, I'm going to give you four hints because it's kind of challenging. First hint. Both are considered role players who can be streaky shooters. Both won one of the four major NBA awards. They won one of them. Both played one season with the Lakers. One is active, one is retired. Any guesses?

[Andrew]

Won an award?

[Mark]

Yeah, so they had to. They both won either the mvp, defense, Player of the Year, sixth Man of the Year, or Rookie of the Year. Yeah, they won one of those awards in their career. Any guesses? Andrew?

[Andrew]

The, The Lakers one is almost like hanging me up more than it is helping me. Right?

[Mark]

Oh, really? Oh, I'm sorry about that.

[Andrew]

That's.

[Mark]

That's my bad. I was just trying to help out, give you some.

[Wes Goldberg]

There's that. There was that weird like post Kobe malaise of just like random players coming in and out too, which.

[Andrew]

Right.

[Wes Goldberg]

Feels like that's probably where.

[Andrew]

I know that's like where. And it's. I think of it as like probably a time where they had like. It was like a. Maybe at the end of their career they just like popped onto the Lakers for a second. That's true.

[Wes Goldberg]

Because that does happen.

[Andrew]

That's. It seems like that's probably not.

[Wes Goldberg]

Was this a role player there? Role player or a role player at the time? Time of.

[Mark]

I would say both of these guys. Role players.

[Wes Goldberg]

Career role players.

[Andrew]

Okay. I don't even know who to Guess out.

[Mark]

Are you. Are you giving up?

[Andrew]

I don't want to give up, but I also don't want to keep this going. Okay.

[Mark]

So are you passing?

[Andrew]

Yeah, I'll pass. I just don't. I don't even think I'm any better here. I don't even know where to begin.

[Mark]

Wes, Any. Any ideas? It's tough. It's tough.

[Wes Goldberg]

Jamal Crawford.

[Mark]

That's a good guess. The two answers. J.R. smith.

[Andrew]

Oh, of course. It was six man of the year.

[Mark]

And Marcus Smart.

[Wes Goldberg]

Marcus smart has a 223 point attempt game.

[Mark]

Yeah, he does.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Wes Goldberg]

That's less surprising than it should be.

[Andrew]

All right.

[Mark]

With myself, you've controlled the board.

[Wes Goldberg]

Let's go three. Dwayne Wade.

[Mark]

Question number three. Bam's 83 point performance. I prom. I promise not all these questions are about Bam. It bumped his scoring average up to 20 points per game. Which means the Heat now have three players averaging 20 points per game. There are only two other teams who can say the same. Who are they? And you get one point per correct answer. That is correct for a point and

[Wes Goldberg]

20 points per game. Is it? If I answer incorrectly right, it goes straight to Andrew.

[Mark]

Correct. He will have a chance to steal a point.

[Wes Goldberg]

Okay, give me. This is why I'm so bad at trivia. I'm like, what are NBA teams like? I'm trying to like, remember other NBA teams. Like, my mind just gets blocked.

[Mark]

You have to go back to the basics.

[Wes Goldberg]

This is wrong. Give me the Knicks.

[Mark]

The Knicks is incorrect. Andrew, have you thought of a name?

[Andrew]

I've thought of a name. I think this is Orlando.

[Mark]

It is Orlando. It's the Orlando Magic.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Mark]

All right, Andrew, you're down three to one. But you have control of the board. Number two, question number two, per cleaning the glass. The Heat have the fourth ranked defense this season. The last time Miami did not have a top 10 ranked defense. On cleaning the glass, you have to go all the way Back to the 201415 season. Who led the 1415 Heat in total minutes played?

[Andrew]

Oh my gosh. 14 15.

[Mark]

1415 Heat.

[Andrew]

Was that.

[Mark]

Was that a memorable Heat team for you, Andrew?

[Wes Goldberg]

Memories about that team the year after LeBron left. So this first.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I think that was like. I think that was like the weird Wade Bosch. Like we're pretty good Heat team. What about Mario Chalmers?

[Mark]

Oh, Andrew, he was second and only behind by about 40 minutes. All right, Wes, do you have a guess?

[Wes Goldberg]

Luol dang.

[Andrew]

It was Lu.

[Mark]

All dang

[Andrew]

it. So close.

[Mark]

All right, Wes, you're on a roll aboard.

[Wes Goldberg]

Is yours Go four twice.

[Mark]

Eight. Four twice. Thank you.

[Andrew]

Two.

[Mark]

Four again. Run it back. Okay. Who has been blocked the most on the Heat this season?

[Wes Goldberg]

Which player has had more their Most? Jaime Hawkeyes, Jr. That is correct.

[Mark]

Two points. Wow, Wes.

[Wes Goldberg]

Makes sense.

[Mark]

Up to six points.

[Andrew]

Oh, no.

[Wes Goldberg]

I feel like I count. It might be two per game.

[Mark]

All right, Andrew, the comeback has to start now.

[Andrew]

Okay. Okay. Five.

[Wes Goldberg]

Okay.

[Mark]

Bad choice. Which of the. Which of the following stories about Bernie the Heat's mascot is not true?

[Andrew]

Oh, okay.

[Mark]

I'm gonna tell you five stories about Bernie. Four of them are true.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Mark]

One of them is not. Okay.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Mark]

So lock. Lock in. You got to focus on these stories.

[Andrew]

I'm locked in.

[Mark]

Bernie once went to the hospital after being punched by Conor McGregor during a skit. It's number one. Number two, Bernie was once sued by an elementary school teacher who alleged that Bernie forced her to do the splits during a pep rally, causing a labor tear. That's story number two. Story number three, Bernie once got in a physical altercation with Fun Ship Freddy, the Carnival Cruise Lines mascot, in the tunnel during a Heat game that led to Fun Ship Freddy being banned from future Heat games. That's story number three. Story number four, Bernie once sprayed a section of fans with water. In that section was NBA legend Dolph Shays, who punched Bernie in the face. And story five. Bernie once pulled a woman onto the court by her legs in Puerto Rico. The woman turned out to be the wife of a Puerto Rico Supreme Court judge, and Bernie was sued for aggravated assault and battery. All right, Andrew, which of those is not true?

[Wes Goldberg]

They all sound like they could be true.

[Andrew]

Oh, my gosh. The Dolph Shays one.

[Mark]

Nope, that's true. Wes, you want me to give you a quick synopsis of all them, or do you remember?

[Wes Goldberg]

No, I was paying attention.

[Mark]

I was paying attention.

[Wes Goldberg]

Give me the cruise Ship Freddy. Is that the.

[Mark]

You nailed it. Yes.

[Andrew]

Dang it, Andrew.

[Mark]

He didn't get in a fight with Funship Freddy. Come on. Actually, the story with Fun Chip Freddy is that on Bernie's birthday, he tried to do a front flip over eight mascots who were laying down on the court, and he did not make it. And landed squarely on Fun Ship Freddy. And it looks like it was really painful.

[Wes Goldberg]

Classic Bernie taking on more than he can chew.

[Andrew]

Is there a video of Dolph Shays punching him in the face?

[Mark]

I don't know about that. There is video of him jumping onto Funship Freddy, which is very funny to watch, so you can watch that.

[Andrew]

Wow.

[Mark]

Okay. Wes, commanding lead and control the board.

[Andrew]

Oh, this is bad.

[Wes Goldberg]

So give me my favorite number. Plus D. Wade. We're gonna go seven.

[Mark]

Okay. Seven. Of the top 15 most played two man lineups for the Heat. This two man lineup has the highest net rating at plus 11. Who is in the lineup? And you get one point per correct answer. And just as a general guide, all these lineups are more than 700 minutes together. So it's a top 15 most played two man lineups.

[Wes Goldberg]

Bam.

[Mark]

Wrong.

[Wes Goldberg]

Really?

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Wes Goldberg]

Wow.

[Mark]

Okay, Andrew,

[Andrew]

that's just extremely abrupt. Let me think. Davion Mitchell.

[Mark]

That is correct for one point.

[Wes Goldberg]

That's a good guess.

[Mark]

Now, Wes, do you have chickens?

[Wes Goldberg]

I do not. Where is those chick? Where's that chicken noise coming from?

[Andrew]

There is a. There is a goose outside.

[Mark]

That's a goose.

[Andrew]

Yes.

[Wes Goldberg]

Goose outside of the goose. It sounds like a chicken.

[Andrew]

It is on top of my vehicle right now, staring at me through the window.

[Wes Goldberg]

Well, you know what happens next?

[Andrew]

Taunting me as I'm losing in trivia right now.

[Wes Goldberg]

I'm not poop on your car.

[Andrew]

Oh, it has multiple times.

[Wes Goldberg]

Okay.

[Andrew]

And it is taunting me. I'm already like getting just killed and like raked over the coals in trivia. And I have this goose staring at me the whole time.

[Mark]

Oh, that's great. Yeah. You have a real goose problem. A geese problem.

[Andrew]

I suppose. Yeah. We have a pond behind our house which is just asking for a goose problem.

[Wes Goldberg]

I hear gooses. Like ponds geese. Yeah, like ponds gooses.

[Andrew]

Did I say gooses?

[Wes Goldberg]

Geese. I said gooses.

[Mark]

Oh, well, I'm sure we had some listeners who were wondering what that was the whole time. So that's. That's why I wanted to Big. Sure, I guess. I don't know what geese sound like.

[Wes Goldberg]

They sound like chickens, apparently.

[Andrew]

Never heard that before. I don't know.

[Mark]

It is Pella Larson.

[Andrew]

Ah, okay.

[Mark]

Andrew, you get the last. You get the first chance at the last question. The Heat received a second round pick this week from Charlotte. That's. You gotta be feeling great about that, Wes. Huh?

[Wes Goldberg]

Stemming from the second round.

[Mark]

That's true. Andrew, what was the most points Terry Rogier scored in a game for the Heat? You get to choose who answers first. You can make Wes answer first and then you go higher or lower. Or you can answer first and then Wes would go higher or lower.

[Andrew]

34.

[Mark]

All right, Wes, would you like to go higher or lower than 34?

[Wes Goldberg]

I'll go lower.

[Mark]

Andrew, what an incredible finish. That was the exact right answer. 34 points. You get a bonus point.

[Wes Goldberg]

Yeah.

[Mark]

So this this ends up being closer than we thought. The final score, Wes 7, Andrew 5.

[Andrew]

Wow. Wow. That is.

[Wes Goldberg]

That's what Goose gotta say now. What's that Goose gotta say?

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mark]

Don't let him know.

[Andrew]

Listen, Goose, I only lost by two. I know. You've been taunting me this whole time. Go listen to Locked on Heat. Also go listen to Real GM Radio where you can find Wes. Great podcaster. Go listen to him. Wes, thanks for coming on.

[Wes Goldberg]

This is fun, guys. Thanks.

[Mark]

All right, Andrew, that was Heat week. And to these other teams, I don't know if you're going to be able to beat Heat week. And I got to say, we have. How many teams we have left? 15. There's a lot of great teams.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

I would say the only rough ones here, Kings and Pacers.

[Andrew]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Every other team, even the Pelicans, I think would be interesting.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Mark]

And talk about.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Mark]

But let's spin that wheel, see who we get. This week's wheel of fandom team will be. The Phoenix Suns. We barely escaped the Kings.

[Andrew]

Yeah, we did. The Kings.

[Mark]

The Sun's currently only a game back of the six seat.

[Andrew]

Yeah, they have a lot of.

[Mark]

They have a lot of injuries right now. They do Williams out Brooks, but they won four in a row. Let's see who they're playing. Okay. This week the Suns are playing. Starting off at Toronto.

[Andrew]

Okay.

[Mark]

Another team that's struggling. Yeah, I don't know why I said another team. Sons, aren't they? They are playing a team that is struggling, named the Toronto Raptors. Monday at Boston.

[Andrew]

Oh, okay. I like that.

[Mark]

Tuesday at Minnesota, the game there. The team, they're only working really big one.

[Andrew]

That's a really big game. That's a really big game.

[Mark]

Thursday at the Spurs.

[Andrew]

Oh, my.

[Mark]

That's a great lineup.

[Andrew]

Yeah, we've got a. We got a big week for the Suns. That's a good one.

[Mark]

Trying to beat Heat week.

[Andrew]

They are trying. We'll see. I mean, they've got. I mean, Devin Booker is a guy that like, could. That could go off for 100. You think?

[Mark]

Absolutely. And he should do it this week. It'd be really nice of him. Yeah, it'd be great for our show.

[Andrew]

Please do it. Please do it for sun week. Hey, go leave us a five star review on Apple podcast or read it on the show. Would really appreciate that. Hope everybody's doing well. Enjoy your weekend and the basketball and we'll talk to you guys again next week.

[Mark]

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[Andrew]

Big news Boost Mobile is now sending experts nationwide to deliver and set up customers new phones at home or work.

[Mark]

Wait, we're going on tour?

[Andrew]

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[Mark]

Are you a groupie on this tour?

[Andrew]

We deliver and set up phones. It's not a tour. Oh, you're definitely a groupie. Introducing store to door Switch and get a new device with expert setup and delivery wherever you're at.

[Mark]

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