Thunder roll Lakers + Luka injured

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – April 3, 2026

Episode Theme:
A fast-paced recap of last night’s pivotal NBA games, centering on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s blowout win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Luka Dončić’s injury scare, the Pistons’ surprising resilience, and the Hornets clinching a .500 season. The episode also features in-depth discussion about postseason award eligibility, playoff concerns for top seeds, and rising young stars.

Hosts and Guests:

• Dave DuFour (A)
• Esfandiar Baraheni (B)
• Andrew Schlecht (C, special guest for Lakers-Thunder analysis)

---

1. Thunder Demolish the Lakers: Statement Win & Injury Fallout

(Segment Starts: 09:08)

Key Points:

• Thunder defeat Lakers by 40+ points.
  “What kind of beatdown do we even say this was? Because the game was over basically in five minutes.” – Dave (A), [09:18]

• Lakers decimated by injuries:

  • Luka Dončić exits with a hamstring injury – uncertainty about availability and eligibility for postseason awards
  • Austin Reaves tweaks his back early and plays ineffectively
  • Marcus Smart already sidelined

• Thunder’s relentless offense:

  • “The Thunder got whatever they wanted. Offensively, they were picking [the Lakers] apart from the beginning.” – Andrew (C), [10:17]
  • SGA (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and Jalen Williams easily penetrated the Lakers’ defense
  • Thunder exposed Lakers’ lack of defensive “point of attack,” especially with Reaves compromised

• Impact on Lakers’ playoff aspirations:

  • Health suddenly a big question just ten days before playoffs
  • “For the Lakers, a much more important thing than seeding is getting to the playoffs healthy… What they should be afraid of is getting to the playoffs and having Luka at 60%.” – Andrew (C), [11:48]

Notable Quotes:

• “Lakers never did [close the gap]… partly because Austin Reaves tweaked his back… and the hamstring injury happens to Luka.” – Andrew (C), [09:52]
• “Their focus has to be on getting these guys healthy. We've seen Luka, you know, get to the finals being the lower seed before. They shouldn't be afraid of that.” — Andrew (C), [11:48]

---

2. The 65-Game Rule and Award Eligibility Frustration

(Segment Threaded Throughout, esp. 00:39–03:07, 17:47–21:18)

Key Points:

• Luka’s injury puts his eligibility for postseason awards in jeopardy (65-game minimum rule)

• Other top players impacted:

  • Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards, Cade Cunningham (all missing games, all facing eligibility questions)

• General Discontent with the Rule:
  “End of the regular season now is paperwork because of the 65 game rule.” – Esfandiar (B), [01:30]

  • “I'd rather let the people who are voting for the awards go through the process… let us use our brains a little bit.” – Dave (A), [21:50]

• Suggestions for Tweaks:

  • Possible amendments discussed: Go by total minutes played instead of games; allow players to make 2nd/3rd-team if they miss the threshold; provide voters with more discretion

Notable Quotes:

• “If a guy plays 50 games, his team goes 50–0, he averages a 40-point triple-double… wow, that guy's the MVP no matter what. Right?” – Dave (A), [21:50]
• “The easy tweak is if you don’t hit 65 [games] you can’t make first team, but you can make second or third team.” – Andrew (C), [21:18]

---

3. Pistons’ Upset Win & Their Newfound Depth

(Segment Starts: 01:47)

Key Points:

• Pistons defeat shorthanded Timberwolves:
  • Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels out for Minnesota; Cade Cunningham out for Detroit
  • Dennis Jenkins (“a Jalen Brunson type”), Asar Thompson, Kevin Huerter, and Ron Holland all step up
• Surprising resilience and versatility:
  • “They were so reliant on [Cade]… we may not have known this without Cade going down—what sort of resiliency they had.” – Dave (A), [02:42]
  • Having Jenkins as a second primary initiator will allow them to stagger lineups and survive without Cade on the floor

Concerns:

• Asar Thompson’s shooting and the need to optimize floor spacing
• Shorthanded rotations may not be playoff-sustainable

Notable Quotes:

• “He could potentially be like a Jalen Brunson type...he can get to his own shot, he can create shots for others, and so he can act as Cade Cunningham for certain portions of the game.” – Esfandiar (B), [03:07]

---

4. Hornets Clinch .500 Record, Pose Play-In Threat

(Segment Starts: 06:33)

Key Points:

• Hornets win 41st game, clinch .500 record with blowout over Suns

• Rookie Con Knipple breaks franchise record for threes in a season, passing Kemba Walker

• Hornets as a dangerous play-in team:

  • Shooting and rebounding match up well with any potential opponent (Pistons, Raptors, Sixers, Hawks)
  • “I’m worried about any team that’s going to play the Hornets in the play-in.” – Esfandiar (B), [08:07]

• Colin Gillespie sets Suns single-season three-point record (unexpected milestone)

Memorable Moment:

• “Both. Good.” – Andrew (C), succinctly weighing in on both Knipple’s and Gillespie’s records ([08:44])
• “If one of those teams falls out to seven and has to play the Hornets… bad news. Very, very bad news.” – Esfandiar (B), [08:23]

---

5. Thunder’s Evolution and Playoff Readiness

(Segment Starts: 12:42, 22:49–27:14)

Key Points:

• Thunder continue to grow as legitimate title contenders:

  • SGA’s stellar all-around play, improved passing, and MVP case
  • Jalen Williams (“J-Dub”) back in peak form after lull

• Breaking the zone defense:

  • Thunder, after last year’s playoff lessons, now excel against zone (third most zone faced in league; scoring more efficiently than last season)

• MVP Race Take:

  • Shay Gilgeous-Alexander is the frontrunner, with Wemby a tier below; Luka and Jokic mentioned but seen as less deserving
  • “We’re talking about the whole season… not just the last 30 days.” – Andrew (C), [18:00]
  • Winning matters most; Thunder have 61 wins and are likely top seed

Player Defense Matchups:

• “The last guy that really did that was Herb Jones… he’s quick, he’s big, he’s got really long arms…” — Andrew (C) on who best guards SGA ([15:53])

Playoff X-factors:

• Health above all for Thunder and Lakers
• OKC will likely rest main guys against tanking Jazz on Sunday
• Jalen Williams' return to form gives OKC another playoff weapon

---

6. Brief Lightning Round – Other Notes

• Timberwolves’ I.O. Dosunmu praised for energizing the lineup in McDaniels and Edwards’ absence ([05:41])
• Playoff seedings and matchups — much debate over who the Lakers should want to face
  • “They need the Rockets to be six to have any chance, in my opinion, of coming out of the first round.” – Dave (A), [13:24]
• Zone defense reliance may cost the Lakers in playoffs if hot-shooting teams get rolling ([24:40])

---

Notable Quotes & Moments (With Timestamps):

• On the Lakers’ collapse:
  “…the game was over basically in five minutes.” – Dave (A), [09:18]

• On paperwork and awards:
  “End of the regular season now is paperwork because of the 65-game rule.” – Esfandiar (B), [01:30]

• On SGA’s MVP defense:
  “We’re talking about the guy that’s likely going to be back-to-back MVP… a guy that really can’t be stopped right?” – Andrew (C), [16:38]

• On Thunder’s zone offense:
  “It's becoming a little bit like clockwork for them. And whenever the Lakers went into zone, the Thunder attacked so fast.” – Andrew (C), [24:47]

• On Hornets’ rise:
  “I’m worried about any team that’s going to play the Hornets in the play-in.” – Esfandiar (B), [08:07]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Pistons-Timberwolves Recap: 01:47–06:33
• Hornets clinch .500, Suns notes: 06:33–09:03
• Thunder-Lakers Blowout & Injury Fallout: 09:08–16:00
• Lakers Playoff Outlook & Seeding Debate: 11:33–14:03
• MVP and 65-Game Rule Debates: 17:47–21:50
• Thunder’s Playoff Readiness and Jalen Williams: 22:48–27:14

---

Episode Tone

Conversational, insightful, and occasionally irreverent—hosts and guests aren’t afraid to joke, trade hot takes, or lament NBA bureaucracy. The analysis is sharp but delivered with the insider’s warmth and camaraderie that characterizes The Athletic NBA Daily.

---

Summary Takeaway:
This episode is a whip-smart look at the NBA’s late-season drama: top teams battling injuries and procedural hurdles, unexpected contenders rising, and policy debates overshadowing on-court heroics. The Thunder’s annihilation of the Lakers, the problematic 65-game rule, and the Hornets’ shoot-first playoff threat dominate an episode balancing informed analysis and passionate NBA fandom.

Transcript

[A]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for April 3, 2026. I'm Dave DeFore here with Esperaheni. Coming up, the Pistons somehow keep winning. The Hornets clenched a 500 record and Andrew Swe's here to talk about the Thunder demolishing the Lakers. Good morning, everybody. What is up? S kind of a good game last night, man. Yeah.

[B]

Everybody was so excited to see the new look contending Los Angeles Lake go up against the Oklahoma City Thunder. And to add insult to absolute injury, it was a tough one to be a Lakers fan.

[A]

No doubt. Yeah, well, Insult being a 40 plus point loss injury meaning hurt his hamstring and had to leave the game. Obviously you know, the game was out of hand when. When he had to leave. But this now puts him at risk of not making the 65 game threshold for postseason awards. My least favorite thing to talk about it is. It is honestly sucking any of the fun out of it. Victor women. Yama didn't play last night and now I have to go and do the math to see. Okay. Has he played enough games? Okay.

[B]

How many games?

[A]

Two games early, but apparently you get a couple of those. I'm sorry, it's just not. That's not.

[B]

You know, Dave, a few months ago, I don't remember what game it was, but there was. It became a free throw battle at the end of the game. And you called it paperwork.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it feels like the end of the regular season now is paperwork because of the 65 game rule. You know, you have to focus on how many games is a guy played.

[A]

Look. Yeah. They sent Microsoft Teams to space. Right. They were having outlook issues on the Artemis 2 which.

[B]

Shout out to the Artemis.

[A]

Yeah. I'm excited to see these moon photos. Absolutely. But I think that you could just go ahead and leave that in space. I'm out on paperwork. Is sports, man. Like. Yeah, we're going to have. I'm just going to. We're going to give out the real awards when we do ours. We're not going to. Maybe we're not going to worry about the 65 game thing. And I bet it's not a real issue for us around here because, you know, we'll pick the real mvp. Anyway, look, we. We got a little bit of news from last night. The Pistons had had a big matchup against the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards was kind of a late scratch. He's now not going to qualify ineligible Y for postseason awards. You know, more. Who's Anthony Edwards anyway? He just. No one important. Yeah. So he's he was out last night. No Jaden McDaniels for, for the Timberwolves. So they were shorthanded, obviously. The Pistons shorthanded on the road. No Kate Cunningham. But man, look, they found money with Dennis Jenkins and, and between him and the way that Assad Thompson drives this team on both ends. And they have a lot of more juice than I think I, I anticipated by the time we got to now. And we may not have known this without Cade going down. You know what sort of resiliency they had. They were so reliant on him to create so much. But, man, I, I've been really impressed with them in this stretch.

[B]

Yeah, some of the. Maybe not even skepticism. Skepticism is a hard word. But some of the questions I had going into the playoffs for them have quelled since. Kade Cunningham has been hurt because I feel like I trust this team now to figure it out when Kate is not playing. And that just means the minutes when Kate is off of the floor, which to your point, includes Dennis Jenkins and it includes AAR Thompson in his defense. It's the energy of a guy like Ron Holland. I think for the most part, Kevin Herder has jumped in and kind of been what they needed in terms of another floor spacer. But when you have Dennis Jenkins and I had that hot take a couple of days ago about how this guy could potentially be like a Jalen Brunson type. But he does facilitate something similar for this Pistons team, where it's like they rely on him as a creator, they rely on him as a pick and roll initiator. He can get to his own shot, he can create shots for others, and so he can act as Cade Cunningham for certain portions of the game. And that's all important for Jalen Duran, who needs to be set up, and Asar Thompson, who needs to be set up, and Tobias Harris, who needs to get those post entry passes. And so, yeah, you saw it tonight on display against an injured Timberwolves team. But the Pistons just continue to take care of business. And it goes back to what we were saying. It's like they organizationally know what they're going to be night in, night out. And that's a great sign for not only this season, but, you know, moving forward for this team to continue being a contender.

[A]

Yeah, and the thing about Dennis playing with Cade, if he comes, if he's able to come back for the playoffs, is now you've got a guy who can run a pick and roll on the other side. He can catch and shoot, he can shoot off the dribble he can get to the basketball. And this was a guy that they had been missing in my opinion. You know, they just couldn't figure out that role. I do think though, the, the Asar Thompson stuff, he's been fantastic.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

But very specifically, you cannot play him and have another non shooter out there at the same time. I mean, Jalen Duran doesn't count because he does space the floor like just in different ways.

[B]

But there were stretches, right?

[A]

There were stretches where he was out there with Javante Green and the, the Timberwolves basically were like, okay, well Dennis Jenkins isn't touching the ball, Duncan Robinson's not going to shoot. And every single time during gets the ball, we're doubling because we're not worried about these guys on the outside. But you know, again, Cade comes back. Javante Green probably isn't in the playoff rotation. I don't really think that's a huge concern. But it was something that I did notice last night.

[B]

Can I just mention a little side note for the Timberwolves here? You know, in the time where McDaniels has been hurt and Ant has been hurt, they've let IO Dsumu just run wild and it's been awesome to watch. Like he. The way that he sets the tone pace wise for this Timberwolves team is something that I haven't seen from them ever in the Rudy Gobert, Julius Randall and Edwards era. Like they've never been forced to play this fast and I actually think that'll be good for them in the playoffs. It's just like another change up guard to jump in there. We've talked about how he replicates some of the things they needed from Nikhil Alexander Walker that they're missing. But he also adds a different element which is just speed, like breakneck speed. And he's, he's very excited. I'm very excited to see the Timberwolves in a playoff setting, truthfully, because he adds that next element that they've been missing.

[A]

Our Hornets. We're really proud of our hornets. They clinched a.500 record when their 41st game against the Suns last night.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Blew them out one by 20. They were actually down early and had a nice run heading into halftime. Took the lead. The Hornets, look, they just continue to surprise me against good teams. Like the Suns are a pretty good team, borderline playoff team. I actually think there's a good chance they're the six seed had they not lost Booker for so much and for Dylan Brooks for so long, a couple of Things happen in this game. Colin Gillespie sets the Suns single season made three pointer record which. Come on what do I. That doesn't feel right. Okay, but it just doesn't feel right. It is very impressive for this guy.

[B]

She's one of the greatest shooters of all time and he just laughed him

[A]

I think about Dan Dan Marley man. I mean you know he played there for so long. So anyway congratulations to him. As weird as that as that weird as that feels. And then for the Hornets Con Canipple as a rookie broke the the record for the the Hornets for most made threes of the season. He passed Kimball Walker. Yeah this was a fun game until the. The Hornets just were too just decided we could just shoot and this is why I think you know I worry about the Pistons if they wind up drawing the Hornets because the Hornets ability to shoot and rebound you know they're. They're up there with Detroit like they can really hit the glass very hard. Yeah I, I think that there's.

[B]

Dude, you say Detroit I'm. I'm worried about any team that's going to put play play the Hornets in the play in like I'm looking at the Raptors, I'm looking at the Sixers, I'm looking at the Hawks and if one of those teams falls out to seven and has to play the Hornets.

[A]

Bad news.

[B]

Very very bad news.

[A]

We've got live stuff breaking into the pod. Andrew, do you have any. Do you have any takes on on Con caniple Andrew Schlag joining the show and he and he takes on Colin Gillespie breaking the sun single season made three pointer record or Con Knippel doing it for the Hornets?

[C]

I would say both. Good.

[B]

I agree. I'm with you.

[C]

Definitely not prepared to join this show right now.

[A]

Perfect. Everybody hang out for a second. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with Andrew Schleg to talk about Lakers Thunder

[B]

foreign.

[A]

As you heard heading into the break our man Andrew Schleck is here. He was at Thunder Lakers last night.

[B]

A little live TV for the.

[C]

For the drubbing little television. Yeah.

[A]

What kind of beatdown do we even say this was? Because the game was over basically in five minutes.

[B]

Molly Whop.

[A]

Yeah, it was. It was worse than that maybe.

[C]

Yeah yeah. I mean after the first quarter was 44:21 and you know we've seen. We all watch a lot of NBA games. We've seen games like this and usually what happens is these teams jump out to these big leads and the other team just Chip Chip Chips away at it. And somehow we're at a nine point game. You're like, oh, okay, now we can play basketball. And the Lakers never did. Partly because Austin Reeves tweaked his back.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, in the first quarter, the hamstring injury happens to Luka, which actually

[A]

he was grabbing at that hamstring pretty early.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In the second quarter.

[C]

They checked both of them out at halftime. So they were both okay to go. Was not okay with Luca. And then Reeves, I really just don't think should have played the rest of that game. He was, he was not right.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And even though he scored a little bit, he was hurting them so much. The turnovers, the non existent defense was killer because the Thunder got whatever they wanted. Offensively, they were picking them apart from the beginning. And the fact that like you could just pick on Austin Reeves whenever you wanted, partly because he's not a great defender and then partly because he's not a great defender and injured is, is a, is a double whammy there.

[B]

It was funny because I, I saw Luka at halftime. They showed it on the broadcast of him getting his hamstring kind of like massaged outside. And then I think it was Steve Nash who mentioned who Steve Nash, by the way. Sounds exactly like Steve Kerr. Steve Nash mentioned that.

[C]

Obsessed with this.

[B]

Yeah, it's, it's incredible though. Please people, let me know if you feel the same way. Steve Nash mentioned in the broadcast that the Lakers have been enjoying a lot of health like that. The reason that they've been playing so well is because they are healthy and now they're not. You know, now they're actually dealing with obviously Luca being injured, but Austin Reeves being injured as well. LeBron is all, is like 41 years old. He's obviously going to be an injury question all season.

[A]

Marcus Smart's been out.

[B]

Marcus Smart's been out. They're 10 days away from the playoffs. Like this is very bad timing for the Lakers when it comes to injuries. What do you think of they, what they might do? Are they going to slide down the standings now?

[C]

I mean, it's certainly possible. I mean, for the Lakers, a much more important thing than seeding is getting to the playoffs healthy. Right. You know, one way or another you're going to have to play a really good team. You know, whether that be in round one or round two, like you're in the Western Conference and you are going to be competing with the team that's at a very, very high level, no matter where you end up in the standings. But truly what matters most is, like, getting these guys healthy more than getting them the three seed. And so, like, their focus has to be on getting these guys healthy. We've seen Luka, you know, get to the finals with being the lower seed before. They shouldn't be afraid of that. What they should be afraid of is getting to the playoffs and having Luka at 60% and then you're not winning a first round series anyways.

[A]

They pretty much have home court in the first round locked up. Right. Like, they don't have the three seed locked up. They have one game lead on Denver right now. But they're, they're remaining like they only have. Their only hard game that they have left is against the Suns and they've got the Jazz, the Mavericks and the Warriors. Right. So I do think they've got an easy path to stay in front of the Nuggets. The Nuggets have the spurs coming up on Saturday. Right. Like, the Nuggets actually have the hardest strength of schedule remaining, so they're going to have an uphill climb. But I actually personally think that they. Not only do the Lakers need to be the three seed just to avoid, you know, OKC in the first round for reasons we saw last night.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But they also, they need the Rockets to be six to have any chance, in my opinion, of coming out of the first round. I agree with that because I think Minnesota dices them up too. Right. Like, and the reason is they do not have anything to stop those fast guards. And that ball pressure just completely takes them out of what they want to do offensively. Luca wants to take his time and he wants to kind of prod you a little bit and you just cannot do that against the spurs or the Thunder or. Or the Timberwolves.

[C]

Yeah, I think that, like, point of attack defense is just a problem for the Lakers on both sides of the basketball.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And when you have a guy like Shai, Jake Baravia has done a good job with what he's been asked to do with the skill level that he's at, but he had nothing for Shay tonight. And I'm not even sure that Marcus Smart would have anything for Shay either, to, you know, to be clear. So I do think, like, that's going to be an issue for them. The Thunder were able to get into the paint whenever they wanted. They could get a paint touch with J Dub, they get a paint touch. Shay, they get a paint touch with even Jared McCain and AJ Mitchell. Like, all those guys were getting wherever they wanted, you know, all night. And that's, that's a huge problem. And then like Ayton too, like both these guys, like Smart and Aiden are kind of, they're supposed to be like the fulcrum to the defense. It's just really hard to rely on like those two guys, they weren't supposed to be that and now they're kind of being counted on to do that. And then when you're playing like these super elite teams, it's hard to level, it's really, really hard to level up. So yeah, it's, it's going to be an uphill battle for the Lakers. They're just going to have to be absolutely surgical with Luca Lebron and Austin Reeves offensively and like those guys outscoring everybody else is going to, I mean that's how they're going to win games. And they, they did that throughout the entire month of March. So like we have evidence that they can do it now. It's like, can they do it in the playoffs and can they do it consistently against great teams? Is, is something that they need to answer.

[B]

Andrew, indulge me for a second because you just mentioned that there was no one on the Lakers that could guard sga. Who have you seen in the entire NBA that has been the best at

[C]

guarding sga, the best at guarding Shay?

[B]

Like the guy where you're like, wow, he is really causing some problems for Shay tonight, you know.

[C]

You know like the last guy that I really felt that did that was her, Herb Jones.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

Like, Herb is really good. He's got like everything that you would want in a defender. Like, he's quick, he's big, he's got really long arms. He's super smart. I think like he, to me like Herb Jones is probably like the ideal kind of defender. He's really strong too. He's like deceptively strong. So like those are the kinds of guys that give him the most trouble. But I mean we're talking about the guy that is likely going to be back to back mvp. The guy who passed Will Chamberlain and the most consecutive 20 point, you know, games. I mean we're, we're talking about a guy that really can't be stopped, right?

[B]

That's the most part.

[A]

Yeah, I will say that it's a team effort, right? Like it's. You got to have a couple of guys who can do it one on one. Like Minnesota, you've got Ant, you got Jade McDaniels and then you've got Rudy Gobert. Right? Like so it's entire scheme, like you can't just guard him.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Nobody's shutting him down.

[C]

Those guys don't bother him. McDaniels doesn't bother Shay.

[B]

It's funny because, like, McDaniels and Herb Jones, they're not similar defenders.

[A]

They're not dissimilar.

[B]

Yeah, they're not dissimilar. Yeah.

[C]

I think herbs. Physicality is probably the biggest difference.

[B]

Is better. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Do you. Okay, let's talk MVP for just a second, because this is kind of been irking me. I think that being in pole position is actually important. And they just won their 61st game. Right. They're the one seed. They've been the one seed all year. Yeah. No one has passed Shay to me in the MVP rankings. I assume that you agree with me here, but do. Do you feel like it has. It has actually gotten much closer, like, for you, when you're looking at the race? Is it. Is it now Shea Wemby, Luka Jokic, like, where are you in the MVP rankings?

[C]

Yeah. It is a good time to mention that Shay played six. His 65th game tonight, so he, like, officially qualified.

[A]

Running theme.

[B]

That paperwork has officially been lost.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Rubber stamp it. Yeah. I think. I think it's. I think if you were going tears, I think it's like, Shay is certainly in the top tier, and then, like, slightly below him is Wemby, and then I think there's, like, another gap, because I think what a lot of people forget is, like, we're talking about the whole season. We're talking about the whole thing. We're not just talking about the last 30 days, because a lot of people will just take the last 30 days. And it is somehow gets, like, an outsized chunk of. Of how we talk about the MVP race. Well, that.

[A]

Well, if you take this one third here and this one third here, you've got two thirds. I mean, you know, it's just math.

[C]

Yeah. Listen, I. I do think that what the spurs have done and what Wemby has done has been super impressive.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And what. What he can do as a defender and, like, an offensive player that, like, needs to be paid attention to at the level that he does because he's freaking 7 foot 5.

[A]

Yeah, he is. He has amazing gravity.

[C]

It's. It's really something. And you can't. To me, like, the winning is the biggest thing. That's the biggest thing. Yeah. And so, like, I don't know that. I think Lucas had a great season. I think he needs to be talked about in the MVP debate. I don't, I don't think he should be getting anybody's, like, number one vote. I don't think that Jokic should either, based on, you know, some of these bigger chunks that he's had where just, he's a zero defensively.

[B]

Yeah, man. All NBA is gonna be first team. All NBA is going to be fascinating now because there won't be Luca assuming Lucas, maybe.

[A]

Yeah, we'll see.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, we'll see. There won't be Anthony Edwards. It won't be Cade cutting him. Okay, so it's like, you know, Cade is the one.

[C]

When we're talking mvp, that's, that's the saddest one to me, because when you think about, like, what he accomplished and when I, when I think about guys, when I think about players, I'm, I think about his entire career and how he was on this, this putrid Pistons team for so long. And I think the leadership wins two years ago.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yes. When you think about the leadership that he and JV have had to pull this team up from out of the mud to the first seed in the Eastern Conference is a massive accomplishment that took a long time to get here. And I do think, like, I wish there was some way to recognize that because it is huge what he's been able to accomplish. All those losers out there that are like, well, tanking not only is bad for the NBA, but it's going to ruin players careers. Look at Kate Cunningham, guys. Kate Cunningham is one of the best, like five or six players in the league now.

[B]

That's right, Dave.

[A]

And so, okay, pump the brakes on that. I don't know about top five or six. He's a top 10 player.

[B]

He would have been first team.

[C]

He would have been first in all NBA. I'm just talking about that for this season. He's been unbelievable.

[A]

Yeah, he has been. Yeah. And I, I, I agree with you there. I, I do think that this is where the 65 game rule really irks me because telling the story of the season at a glance.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Would be. It's impossible.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. They've got to tweak it. Like, the easy tweak is if you don't hit 65, you can't make first team, but you can make second team or third team.

[B]

No, that's easy tweak. Guys. I have total minutes instead of games played, just make it total minutes.

[A]

Both.

[B]

Cade Ant. Who else? Luca? They're all top 50 in minutes played this season. Okay. They, they've played enough games to be in all NBA. They just, they haven't reached the game requisite. It's arbitrary minutes. Makes more sense.

[A]

Let the people who are voting for the awards go through the process and vote the awards. Because what if a guy plays 50 games, his team goes 50 and O, he averages a 40 point triple double. And I'm like, wow, that guy's the MVP no matter what. Right? Like, I mean, you know, let us use our brains a little bit. It, it, it, you know, it's the reason that the media has the vote. Andrew, do you have, do you have an awards vote? You have a postseason ballot? Not yet. Do you want.

[C]

Not yet. Yeah, I do.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Of course I do.

[A]

I know you guys listen to the show at the NBA.

[C]

Hit me up.

[A]

Come on. He's a guy.

[B]

I would like to vote too, actually. Now that we're here,

[A]

I do not want to vote. I just want to talk mess about it. I just want to make sure. Make fun of everybody else's vote. Andrew, is there any, Is there anything like what boxes need to be checked aside from. Actually. Oh, let me. I got ahead of myself here. J Dub.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Jalen Williams. I, I think that it's safe to say he's back. Like, he just looks just like himself. The, the, the confidence shooting looks better. Confidence finishing at the rim was excellent against the Lakers. Like now maybe that's just. You see deandre Ayton inside and it's like, oh, buddy, I'm hungry. But he, I thought he looked really good.

[C]

Yeah, the burst of speed was impressive There, There was a couple times that it just felt like he kind of came out of nowhere to like, get a steal. And so like. Yeah, I mean, that's all back. He, he looks back. He, he was complaining that he didn't get his 10th rebound. Whenever he actually did record his 10th rebound like that. That's where we're at right now, which means we're in a pretty good place.

[A]

He's locked in. Yeah.

[C]

With dub right now. And so, yeah, that's, that's a huge game changer, especially playing teams like, like this. I wish we got a more competitive game now. The Thunder do play the Lakers next week, and hopefully the Lakers will show a little bit of pride when competing against the Thunder next week. Somebody's trying to pull a cord right beneath me right now. And so just feed it on through. Feed the cord on through.

[A]

We're leaving this in the pod.

[C]

Yeah, you'll leave it in.

[B]

I don't know how much pride is going to help Jake Laria and Luke Canard. Man, I. I'm not necessarily sure.

[C]

It better help. Yeah, that better help. You got to be better than this. You got to be better than 139 to 96.

[A]

This looked like a loss that they would have had in the first two months of the season. I agree. They just like. And I won't even say that they let go of the rope because this, maybe this isn't like that. The Thunder just really shot the ball so well in the first quarter that they delivered a knockout blow. But this is where I think the Lakers just to swing back to the Lakers like we have to do before we close. This is where I do worry about the over reliance on the zone defense.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

They have to play zone because of their personnel. And if a team gets hot, it's a good night.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[C]

Yeah. Well, and thank the Denver Nuggets for making the Thunder solve zone because last year in the playoffs, the Thunder were put in zone that entire series and it took them a while to figure out things that work. One thing that works is having A.J. mitchell and Jared McCain on your team. Like, that makes it work a little bit easier now. But like, they know a lot of ways to attack it. They know how like to attack. I mean, really, it was. It was way too easy for them to attack off drives into that zone. Yeah. But also like, they've done a good job of just like entering the ball into the middle of the zone and passing out or turning and shooting like that. It's. It's becoming like a little bit like clockwork for them. And whenever the Lakers went into zone, the Thunder attacked so fast.

[B]

It's pretty crazy. I just looked this up really quickly, but the Thunder faced the third most amount of zone this season.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And so it takes a while for

[A]

all these teams to catch up.

[B]

Yeah. They still face a lot, but they actually, they score more efficiently than they did last year. So to your point, Andrew, it's like they have figured it out to a certain level when it comes to breaking down that zone. Yeah.

[C]

Some of it is personnel based too. And one of the things I think, and this like, should go on Shay's like, MVP resume is like, he is a much better passer and is making his teammates much better this season. Like, part of the reason for the Thunder success is like Shay's ability to see the court a little bit better. And so like, that is also helping them out when they're attacking the zone.

[A]

Any boxes left to check for this team in the regular season? Anything you, you know, you want to see them do.

[C]

I mean, really health is the biggest one because we haven't seen them go a long stretch of having all their guys. And so if they can get from here to the playoffs healthy and stay healthy throughout the playoffs, I think that's what you want to see the most. Like, like, I wonder on Sunday they play the Jazz. It's like, really their last game, they play against a tanking team. Like, do we see Shay in that game? Like, do we see J Dub in that game? Like, I do wonder about that because, like I talked about the Lakers earlier. Like, the priority needs to be health. You know, like, it'd be great to get the number one seed. It'd be great to have the spurs not catch the Thunder. But really the thing that will matter more than them getting the number one overall seed is them getting to the playoffs healthy. And so, like, to me, it's like that is like the biggest box to check for them and for really, for every team going into the playoffs.

[A]

Feels like the Thunder could probably just call up the Oklahoma City Blue to play against the Jazz and it would be a competitive game on Sunday. So, yeah, I'm not. I don't think they're too worried about. All right, that's going to do it for the show. Thank you to Andrew Schlecht for hanging out with us. Thanks to Esper Henny, as always, and I'm Dave defore. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us. Thanks for listening. Make sure you hit the subscribe or follow button so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed it, drop a. Like, leave a rating or let us know in the comments. Thank you guys for waking up with us.