Esper Henny (2:49)

Brandon Miller was 7 of 10 from 3. He felt like he could make anything he wanted to. The. The rim was this size. You know, I don't know if you can listen to me, but massive like an ocean. 50% from 3. That's what the Hornets shot tonight. So yes, it is a make or miss league. Thunder are now 6 and 6 in their last 12. Which you know, we'll have some people ringing the alarm bells. I feel like this is pretty good for them though.

Dave DeFore (3:16)

Yeah, it was adversity pretty good. I don't know about that because scoring 97 points against the Hornets is bad. All right. No, I agree straight up. Even though. And we'll. We'll give them the schedule thing. Okay. Like maybe this is a schedule loss. Second night of a back to back. They had to travel back to OKC after losing at a. On a buzzer beater to Devin Booker.

Esper Henny (3:36)

You know, and look, they. It was a comeback too. Like they. They collapsed in that fourth quarter. So I like that is part of this whole situation. And I don't think anybody on the Thunder is going to give themselves any excuses either. This is a championship organization for a reason. But I think the fact that they are struggling right now is a good sign for June. Just because I mean if I had to spin it that way, maybe. Yeah, it's good to get punched in the mouth every now and then, you know.

Dave DeFore (4:04)

37% from the field night. 28 from three as the team Shay, Gilder, Salexander, 7 to 21. One of six from three, 21 points. So the 20. The 20 point game streak continues. The march toward Wilt is still on. But again they lose back to back games. They're now 30 and seven. Okay. This is not like a team that's unraveling, but we are watching them get to the harder part of their schedule. You know, we talked about how soft the schedule was to start and they hammered the soft start. Right. They got this huge head start on the rest of the field. I, I do believe that there is, there is some more juice to squeeze and it's going to come in the half court offense. And I think you got to start with Jalen Williams. Jalen Williams has not really been good. He's had a couple of good games here and there, but until he has consistent, you know, just until you can rely on him to consistently score next to Shea, it's going to be tougher on Shea. Yeah, 16 points in the game, 6 of 14 from the field. Just didn't feel him as much as, you know, we're used to feeling.

Esper Henny (5:01)

Jw, look, so much of what OKC wants in the half court is either SGA driving the basketball or Jalen Williams driving the basketball. And I don't think the drives have been there as much for J Dub, of course, because the three point shot hasn't been there for him with that wrist injury. And so you look at a team that is struggling to create advantages as much as they have, and truthfully, like, if there was one area to nitpick about this team is that in the half court other than sga, they can become a little bit predictable. And so we, when, when opposing teams are giving you their number one, hey, we are gearing up everything we have towards the defending champions. It's a little bit different compared to when you're catching teams off guard. That's why it's so hard to repeat in this league, because there the scout is out, right? Everybody knows, hey, it's going to be an SGA drive to the basket. He's going to try to get into that mid range area and then create from there. Or Jalen Williams is going to attack a closeout and try to barrel his way to the basket, create an advantage. That way they have to add another wrinkle to their game. And truthfully, to me, it's like Chet Holmgren, you know, like I think, I think that's the guy that needs to take an offensive step for him. He's looked good this season. I think he's had moments where he's showed off his off the bounce game, but they just need him to become, in my opinion, like a third shot creator for them.

Dave DeFore (6:21)

Right.

Esper Henny (6:22)

And if that doesn't happen, then you need to find diversity in your offense that I don't think the Thunder have right now.

Dave DeFore (6:28)

Yeah, the shoot, I mean the shooting is something we're going to pay attention to all year long. Okay. The Zombie Nuggets. Yep. No Jokic. He's out for at least a month. No Cam Johnson also at least a month. No. Jonas Valentunas coming off the bench. No. Aaron Gordon, No Christian Brown. They're out for rest. Injury rest. Jamal Murray just out because, hey, why not? Everybody else is. And somehow the Nuggets still win the game. S. Bruce Brown wins the game on a. A goal. Second, let's say goal 10 at the end of overtime. Look, it's a crazy game. I don't even know what you say outside of S. How dare you jinx the Sixers the way that you did on the show yesterday.

Esper Henny (7:12)

I mean, I'm so sorry.

Dave DeFore (7:13)

29 points for Jalen Pickett on seven out of 11 from three. Peyton Watson had 24. I mean, this is the sort of game, I think S when we get to March, April, and we're saying, hey, maybe the Nuggets can sneak a game arrest for Jokic or maybe they can sneak Jamal. I'm going to look at this game, I'll say, hey, they definitely can. The Nuggets, all of a sudden they have so many guys this year, man.

Esper Henny (7:36)

Yeah, can. Can we do the blessing in disguise thing for the Nuggets?

Dave DeFore (7:40)

Injuries? We can't do that. Yes, it's a blessing that.

Esper Henny (7:45)

No, Nikola Jokic is going to be out for a month. No, it's not going to be a blessing, but look like Zeke Najee had a great game tonight. He was awesome defensively. You talked about Jalen Pickett who carved up the Sixers, destroyed him. This, this was also a game where they had clutch performance from Vijay Edgecomb who hit massive shots, blocked a couple of really good opportunities in that fourth quarter. Paul George had a great block in that fourth quarter too. Tyrese Maxey had a great game. Joel Embiid had a great game. This was like the Sixers full on. They tried in this game and. And the Nuggets came in and stole it again. A very bizarre night in the NBA when you look at these box scores in the morning.

Dave DeFore (8:24)

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Wasn't weird though to see Kevin Durant hit a game winning three for the Rockets. The Suns were about to just have a. A back to back win streak with the Thunder and the Rockets and kd. What he was able to do, I think in the fourth quarter for them, I mean, they found out earlier in the day that Alfred and Shingoon is going to miss a couple weeks. And to win a game against a good sun scene on the first night that you're missing, you know, one of your better players, I think that's pretty big.

Esper Henny (8:55)

Yeah, I think, look, if there's one team that can. I mean look, you miss Sengun, you're going to miss an all star caliber player. But they have the depth in the front court to not miss him as an offensive rebounder, as a defensive rebounder, as a guy just in general who can protect the rim for them. They have Stephen Adams, they have Clint Capella behind him. So I don't think they're going going to miss his size right as much as they are going to miss his fourth quarter creation and shot making. And you saw it tonight. Kevin Durant took 21 shots and was 9 of 21. He made them when it mattered. But there's over the next couple weeks there's just going to be so much more pressure on KD to be their sole shot creator. I'm curious to see if they'll give more usage to Amend Thompson to create a little bit more off the bounce, maybe more opportunities for Reed Shepherd. But you're now in the lulls of January where like you said, injuries are going to play a factor here. How are you going to just grind out the next two weeks before you get fully healthy?

Dave DeFore (9:51)

Yeah, the weight of the schedule definitely is on top of him. Should say that Alper and Shingun, he sprained his ankle in the game the other night and they're going to reevaluate in about two weeks. We also at some point we owe some time to the Phoenix Suns. Like they've been a really good story again. Devin Booker had that game winner the other night, had another big game in this one including another clutch fourth quarter run to to get the Suns into the game. They went on a 100 run to to get the game close there at the end.

Esper Henny (10:18)

Yeah, Jordan O very good coach. He's getting the most out of his players. That's absolutely true.

Dave DeFore (10:21)

I mean sometimes these guys, they seem to get hot as a team. I I don't know if you've noticed this, but it does seem like their shooting is very contagious and it, and it can come and go but when they're hot, they're as hot as anybody.

Esper Henny (10:32)

Look, all I was going to say about the Suns is, is you get development from Colin Gillespie, you get the defensive infrastructure of Dylan Brooks. I think those are the things that they're working with over the, over the course of the season that are allowing them to punch above weight. You might look at this roster and say, hey, they might not be the most talented in the Western Conference, but the reason they're in that 6, 7 range is because they're Getting outlier development from some of their cool guys. So that. That's all I was going to say about the sunset.

Dave DeFore (11:01)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaking of hot, the Clippers almost dropped the game against the Warriors. Like it was hot.

Esper Henny (11:09)

Oh, I see what you did there.

Dave DeFore (11:11)

Yeah. 103, 102. The Clippers held on against the warriors in a game that, honestly, like the Clippers, I. I felt like they. They should have had in hand. Steph Curry hit a couple of late threes as he's, you know, and then he fouled out before he had a shot at. At taking the last. The last attempt there, which Jimmy Butler did not get a good look.

Babbel Advertiser (11:33)

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Dave DeFore (11:33)

Didn't even hit rim as time expired.

Babbel Advertiser (11:36)

Yeah.

Dave DeFore (11:36)

Steve Kerr was ejected from this game. Steph Curry, like I said, fouled out of this game. And somehow the warriors were in it. And I still haven't figured it out. I mean, the turnovers. 18 steals for the Warriors. Yeah, they took. They took 15 extra shots and they.

Esper Henny (11:54)

Lost because you know who the Clippers were missing? They were missing James Harden. And when the Clippers are missing James Harden, they have no other reliable point guard. And so a lot of it was, you know, Kawhi Leonard, who had five turnovers tonight. Basically every single player on the Clippers roster had at least one turnover tonight. And you look at that playmaking, they just, they. They're missing someone to be able to create a shot for them outside of Kawhi. They got this win, though. Kobe Sanders was great in this game. He knocked down a bunch of huge shots, especially in that third quarter. I think overall for the warriors, it's like when Steph goes down or when Steph is not available, like he was in the. Late in that fourth quarter, who is going to get a shot for you? They're, you know who they needed? They needed Norm Powell.

Dave DeFore (12:42)

They did. They need anyone, anybody to create. You and I were watching. We were watching that last possession, and during the timeout, I was trying to guess who they. Who are they.

Esper Henny (12:50)

Who are they going to play for?

Dave DeFore (12:52)

Because Jimmy Butler definitely didn't want to take the shot for sure. And I don't understand, you know, putting him in the position where his back's to the basket and he's in the corner with one of the best defenders, one on one. Like, if you just need one possession, sure. I'm. The Clippers have a lot of guys that could do that. Yeah. Run a play and maybe it should have just been someone heading toward the basket. We never even get here. S. If Zubac Isn't guarding Drayvon Green 30ft from the basket for some reason and allowing the layup. I mean, it. Again, the end of that game was silly. And. And I gotta say, one of the reasons why I was extra silly. It was Snoop Dogg on the broadcast.

Esper Henny (13:27)

Incredible.

Dave DeFore (13:28)

I love was. It was something. It was entertaining.

Esper Henny (13:33)

It was like. It was what you would expect Snoop Dogg would be on a broadcast.

Dave DeFore (13:37)

Right.

Esper Henny (13:38)

He was jumping in. He wasn't allowing the play by play guy to really cook in any sort of way. He was. He was kind of acting like the play by play guy and the color commentator at the same time.

Dave DeFore (13:47)

I wanted to hate it. I wanted to hate it.

Esper Henny (13:50)

You can't hate Snoop Dog.

Dave DeFore (13:51)

There was like an uncle vibe there that won me over a little bit. I don't want this all the time. Please, please don't give me this all the time. But it wasn't bad. I mean, it was.

Esper Henny (14:00)

You don't want Snoop Dogg in the NBA finals.

Dave DeFore (14:03)

I. Listen, I will. I will say this. He made a few good points. Number one, I. I did love how his energy. He was celebrating quite a bit, which is fun. Yeah. But he made some good points about the refereeing and the continuation and how you. It's hard when you're just watching as a fan to know what continuation is anymore. And I. I think, look, if they want to have Snoop on to talk about some of the finer points of the rules of basketball, and that's the lane he's going to be in.

Esper Henny (14:28)

Great.

Dave DeFore (14:28)

I actually, hey, I would love to get the fan perspective from Snoop.

Esper Henny (14:32)

Why not?

Dave DeFore (14:32)

But it was a lot of talking on the broadcast. I loved it.

Esper Henny (14:35)

You know what? I'm not mad at it. I would like to see more Snoop Dogg.

Dave DeFore (14:39)

I think Reggie Miller sounded like he was having a fun time. It made it. Honestly, it made it fun.

Esper Henny (14:43)

It brought a little bit of character to. To, you know, Reggie, who can sometimes be a little bit stale. Can I ask you a question?

Dave DeFore (14:49)

Yes.

Esper Henny (14:50)

Where's Trey Young going?

Dave DeFore (14:51)

Oh, good question. I'm glad you asked. Speaking of, we'll tease this for tomorrow. We got Josh Robbins coming on. You know, we're gonna talk a little Wizards, but we're definitely going to talk about Trey. I will say I was.

Esper Henny (15:01)

I was at the Raptors.

Dave DeFore (15:02)

Could January 6th be the day that Trey goes to the Capitol?

Esper Henny (15:05)

It's possible. It's possible.

Dave DeFore (15:07)

I think that the rumor mill is heating up.

Esper Henny (15:09)

Yes.

Dave DeFore (15:10)

We'll see how the day. When I was at.

Esper Henny (15:12)

When I was at the game today, there was a funny moment where the game is about to start. Trae Young walks out, the Hawks front office is there, and he just walks right by them and starts warming up. Trey Young is not supposed to play in this game, but he starts warming up for about 30 seconds and then just disappears to the back of the locker room. I don't know. That felt like saying goodbye to your teammates type of moment.

Dave DeFore (15:34)

But did you get a photo or a video of that by any chance?

Esper Henny (15:38)

Yes, you can go on NBA dailies.

Dave DeFore (15:41)

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Go and check out the NBA Daily on Instagram or YouTube. S. Put the videos up there again. We'll have Josh on tomorrow's show. So we'll dig into the trade rumors. And to be honest, that's. Look, I can see the fit if you believe in. In what the Wizards are building defensively, which it hasn't shown yet because they've been pretty awful defensively this year, down in the bottom third or bottom three of the NBA in defense. But if you believe in what the ceiling looks like. And let's not forget, this team is not going to be good right away just because they add Trey Young. But it is a little bit interesting to think about him with Sar and some of these other guys. I mean, I think Trey and Trey Johnson, that's kind of interesting. Just from an offensive perspective. They.

Esper Henny (16:24)

They really need offensive organization. You know, I've talked about how Keyshawn George has basically gotten a bunch of pick and roll reps this season, but that's for a reason. They don't have anybody that's able to organize offense for them consistently. If there's one thing Trae Young can do is be a playmaker. And so how can he facilitate the growth of some of these. Young, again, if he gets traded to Washington? It seems like that might be the case. The one thing I would say is they need a better screener. Because if there's one thing Alex Sar is not, is a good trade.

Dave DeFore (16:55)

Yeah. They don't have anybody who can run pick and roll with him. And that's actually one of the things when I think about Trey and some of the places like Toronto, for instance, when we heard that rumor, who is he going to run pick and roll with? You know, I mean. Yeah. Come on. Sure. Yeah. Elite. Elite.

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Dave DeFore (17:10)

Him and Derek White back in the day were great. That's right. But it's not. It's not 2017 or whenever that was. You know, it's been a long time for Pel? And so the fit makes sense. I actually think that this trade in particular, if it wounds up happening. You know, you look at the wizards, they've got C.J. mcCollum's expiring. He can go play, come off the bench for Atlanta. But also, you know, maybe this gives them even more assets. If they want to go out and get a guy, they can. You can't aggregate them, but they could maybe flip him and get more guys.

Esper Henny (17:39)

Look, I will say I think despite the fact that the Hawks have played better basketball without Trey, their ceiling is not what it is if Trey Young gets traded. And so I think this is a clear moment where they are picking to think about the long term. They obviously have that Pelicans pick where they can prioritize the draft a little bit more, maybe develop re sachet a little bit more, give him more opportunities. Jalen Johnson on the ball. I think if the Hawks do end up trading Trey, which seems likely at this point, it's to shift into a new direction and probably not be a playing team, which the plan is going to change in the Eastern Conference. Dave, it's going to change well, I.

Dave DeFore (18:17)

Guess this year maybe if they miss the play, if they back out, you know. Yeah. Yeah. All right, guys, stick around. I got James Edwards after the break. We talked about that. Pistons beat down on the Knicks and he was talking about Cade as MVP. We've got like 10 guys in the MVP race. Kind of awesome. Prime.

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Dave DeFore (21:17)

On yesterday's show, we did kind of a deep dive on the current conditions of the Eastern Conference playoff race. And then we got a big matchup. The James Edwards Derby between the Pistons and the Knicks. And our man James Edwards was there. The Knicks did not show up, though. It was a blowout, 121 to 90. The Pistons just absolutely dominated the Knicks in the game. Okay. What happened there was the Knicks just can't rebound. They can't defend, they couldn't score. Are the Pistons just that much better than the Knicks right now. There? I mean, 42. 42 of the 90 points were Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride. Carl Anthony Towns took four shots. OG Anunoby took three shots. That's not good. That's not good process, period. I mean, Carl Anthony Towns is your second best offensive player for sure and should be your second most important player on your team. And to take four shots, I mean, that's just. That's a disinterest. Yeah, Right. Yeah. Well, I see somebody was listening to the pod yesterday. What's the latest with Josh Hart? Like, how much longer is he expected to miss? Because again, I mean, they need everybody on this team, and he might be. He might be the second most important guy. Sam, I want to swing it to the Pistons. I'm assuming you. You feel like they're the best team in the east, right? Yeah. Right? Yeah. Did 52 points in the paint. That point differential. I keep pointing to it. I mean, you know, Right? Well, I want to talk about Cade because he had 29, 13 assists, 11 of 17 from the field. And you know, the shooting was the thing, right? Like, if that shooting was going to come around, we knew that he was going to be this level of defender. The playmaking we, we saw initially, but the shooting, I mean, I, I think you look at him putting up this sort of an efficient night. So what did you think about the MVP chance that he was getting out there? I mean, it feels like a little bit of like targeted at Jalen Brunson to a certain degree. But also, I mean, the guy is putting up the sort of season that, you know, he's at least going to be on the ballot I think at this point. Sam. Yeah, Yeah. Had a 20 point quarter on Sunday. Yeah. Sam. They also added JB Biggerstaff as coach. And this is a perfect segue. If you guys listening, if you watched the broadcast last night, they mentioned James Edwards wrote a story about Mike Brown babysitting J.B. bickerstaff as a kid, which is, number one, tells you just how long Mike Brown's been around. But, but number two, that's hilarious. How'd you find this out? Man, what a, what a funny little wrinkle. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of that. The NBA, everybody's kids are always around, Right? Right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. There's usually a reason when coaches do hang around, you know, and continue to get head coaching opportunities. You're either, I don't know, you're either good or you're really been around a long time. And, and usually those guys are pretty good. So anyway, if, if you guys, if you didn't have a chance to read it, go and read that story. It's, you know, it's one of the fun things about, about sports especially the NBA is like just all the interpersonal relationships and how they, they seem to come back a lot. So anyway. All right, guys, that's going to do it for the show. Thanks to James Edwards for hanging out with me. Thanks for esper Henny as always. I'm Dave Deford and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

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