On this episode of the Heat Check, the second round continues, folks, we'll get you all caught up on what's popping. We also are gonna have some news from around the league. We also have a bunch of interviews, including Jovan Buha to give us the latest on what the fuck is happening with the LA Lakers, Grant Asset, who covers the Mavericks telling us what's going on with Luka Doncic, and
then Zach Bye from Denver. As you can tell, we found some people who cover the teams that are just downright puzzling and disappointing.
So much to get to time to get on at Anthony.
Let's drop that motherfucker beat should beat Rihanna?
All right? Moving on breaking news.
In a wild day in the NBA. First of all, the Sons did it. They did the unthinkable, They did the unimaginable. They did the irrational, which is Karate chopped Frank Vogel all the way out of Phoenix. That's right, Frank Vogel caught astray, caught the blame for the Suns getting swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. Also, like considering that Minnesota's up to zero on the defending champs.
Maybe the timing not so great.
Like if if this was a Minnesota Timberwolve team that was largely fraudulent, then maybe Frank Vogel could get the hiya.
But like, this team might win it all.
This this Minnesota Timberwolves team might win it all, and you're disappointed with that guy who actually is gonna be in the exact same spot as Michael Malone. I don't know what coach can fix this team. Also, they don't have a point guard, they don't have a center.
Sheesh.
Anyway, I had this random thought when I was doing some tiktoks on Frank Vogel that I thought I would point out here on the pod in case you don't follow me. Disappointing if you don't on Instagram or on TikTok. Kevin Durant has had seven bosses, seven bosses in the past five years. Yes, since twenty nineteen, he's been under seven different coaches.
And multiple regimes.
You had Steve Kerr, Kenny Atkinson fired, Steve Nash fired, Joq Vaughn fired three fucking three coaches on one team.
Mammi Williams fired Frank.
Vogel fired and then whoever the fuck comes next that he probably is going to be Mike Budenholzer. The rumor is that but already has the job. Get Rond kad get Rond not sure how Budenholzer can fix this team, considering that the salary cap has rules and they work against this Sun's team. But it's certainly gonna be different no matter what, absolutely different. And other news, the Hornets
have finally hired their head coach. They have tabbed Charles Lee, another Milwaukee Bucks disciple, an assistant for the Boston Celtics.
Now, he's been a man in great demand.
He's young, he's smart, He hopefully will be there to change the losing culture in Charlotte.
So much popping off the court, but we got to get back to these second round games.
Here's what we know.
We know that the OKC thunder are a problem.
They took the MAVs behind the woodshed a couple of nights ago one, seventeen ninety five in a game that was pretty close until Mark Dagno said no more of this, Josh Giddy, He's got to get up out of here, benched him for Aaron Wiggins, after which the Thunder out scored the MAVs by twenty five points. I think also we got a little Case and Wallace in the mix
as well. Anyway, Luca is hobbled, Kyrie is getting blitzed, Dallas is left trying to figure out how they're going to score on a very athletic, okay see team when they don't have that many healthy creators or players that you can really trust. Daniel Gafford had double digit points and double digit rebounds, and I think that's kind of like, just based on getting Rundom out east, the Celtics did what everybody expected them to do. They decided to take
the Cavaliers and pound them like a tenpenny nail. It was a twenty five point win in Game one, and honestly, it didn't feel even close to that. And I think if you're talking about how the Boston Celtics actually played probably like a six.
Out of ten of their potential, the.
Cavs, just without Jared Allen and Darius Garland, who has been booboo, have not been able to handle this Celtics offense. Even missing Porzingis has not changed this team at all. I would be shocked. I would be shocked if the Calves take even a game from Boston. I would be shocked if the Calves take a half of a game from Houstin all this to say, the second round series might be very short, and they might be very dumb
and very uninspiring and not entertaining. The Wolves take on the Nuggets Friday night, up to zero and a win there maybe a sweep. New York took game two from Indy to put them up to zero. They may be getting out the brooms. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle got ram with about ten seconds left. He gets ejected. Said in his presser that the officials have missed seventy eight calls in the first two games.
Seventy eight.
Hey, you guys suck.
Like twenty percent of the time. Twenty percent of what you decided to call out there is wrong. The series now heads back to Indy. Must win situation for the Pacers. Miles Turner needs to show up like now. Pascal situations, Pascal situation, Pascal Siakam needs to step up right now.
We need more TJ McConnell.
We need more Obi top and ain't no stop in Obi topping because the Knicks can't stop him. And also we got some injury news with ogn and Obi hurt his hamstring, Jalen Brunson hurt his foot. What's gonna happen moving forward with their health, injury and status. I don't know, but we might be looking at four sweeps in the second round.
What is that?
Unreal?
We'll get more into this on Monday, but for now, let's get into some long overdue news from around the league.
We talked last time.
About Miami Heat and they're woes and all kinds of issues and rumors about what happens next. But another team in swimming in a pool of sadness is the New Orleans Pelicans.
We talked about Griffin.
David Griffin, the executive VP of operations, and right now, after the Pelicans were swept into oblivion after four years of zion that he is no longer willing to be patient and run it back, and now we know.
What that looks like.
According to reports, New Orleans will not be offering Brandon Ingram a contract extist this offseason, which is not surprising considering that Trey Murphy is also eligible for a Rockie Scale extension around twenty five million dollars a year, and that is very clear that he is a part of their long term plans and maybe Brandon Ingram is not. Remember, by the way, this is a team that's never been in the luxury tax. Never in the history of their
team have they ever paid the luxury tax cheap. And once Trey Murphy is signed, they can then use Ingram's thirty six million dollars in salary to entice another star player Paul George, Donovan Mitchell, etc. Donovan Mitchell, there would be actually low key amazing into jumping ship. Brandon Ingram, I think could be a valuable player somewhere a place that already has a defined.
Culture aka like the Heat, But.
He never really fit with Zion, and I think that he and the Palace believe that a fresh start probably probably.
Benefits both teams, both sides.
Orlando moving on, made it to a game seven, they blew that twenty point lead, they get sent get sacked, get sent packing. That's hard to say by Donovan Mitchell. And a major reason that they're in Cancun is that Franz Wagner I don't know where he went for some reason. His jumper is broken, although he averaged nineteen a game. In the Cleveland series, he only shot forty one percent from the field and twenty seven percent from three and only five attempts per game, which is disgusting. He also
saved his worst performance for last. In Game seven, Franz Wagner went went six, six and one, shooting one for fifteen in thirty five minutes.
What a What a game seven?
Probably as bad as almost any star player has played. After the game, Paolo Bencaro, who went off for thirty eight by the way, in game seven, had this to say about Franz Wagner.
He said, Yo, we're not even here without Franz.
He holds himself to a high standard and he expects a lot out of himself as a player. I've been in that position as well, where you feel like you could have done a lot more on a losing effort, but that doesn't define him. Also, excuse me, that's not true, Paolo, You've never gone one for fifteen in a closed out game. But also do you know what that is from Paalo?
That is leadership.
We're seeing remarkable maturity from these young stars, stars that, by the way, fifteen years ago would not be saying these things. We're getting more out of our young players mentally than we've ever had before. Aunt Edwards, shake yelges Alexander Paolo this is a great example. You lift up a teammate who shit the bed instead of am Kobe bryanting him and just tossing them under the bus or the train ready to get smatted, splatted.
All over for everyone to see.
The truth is, though, that Wagner's shooting issues are just not really new at all. They're just not Over the past two months of the season, he was incredibly bad from three nineteen percent over the lef twenty seven games.
That is less than half.
Of the NBA league average, which is thirty six percent from deep and at the bottom for high volume shooters in the league.
That is crazy.
Also considering that he was awesome and feeble play, his twenty eight percent from the season is fifth worst in the NBA, which is also one of the reasons that the Magic are reportedly looking at pursuing Wooing courting Klay Thompson want to see how this goes. Fascinating fascinating stuff. Also out in Clipperland, LA is apparently for the umpteenth year, trying to run it back next year.
Don't think they have much of a choice.
But to be honest, there is one funny thing happening apparently that the Clips have been making multiple contract offers quote unquote below the max to Paul George, which he has told him that he is not accepting as he wants max money.
It's funny, like they just keep.
Going up a dollar.
They're like, they're like, yo, you won't accept this amount, but will you accept five million dollars more over the course of five years?
No, bro, I.
Want max money, max money.
It's so funny.
He's like treating PG three Steve Bomer like an eBay auction, just increasing the bid until he gets the very lowest point that he thinks that PG will sign up, while there's like a buy it now available for max money, Okay, buy now. Friends of show law Murray reported that Lawrence Frank intends to retain the core intends to which is fascinating in considering that they don't want to max OUTPG. And I think there's gonna be some other teams that
want to max OUTPG. But it doesn't mean that they want to bring out But that does mean that they do want to bring back Harden. It depends though, on how much cash they offer him. Lawrence Frank says, quote, we always want to treat players well, pay fairly. We've had good conversations so over the course of the year. Kind of glass half empty, class full situation if you're
a Clippers fan. On one hand, this team, when fully healthy, we've never seen what they look like, and they looked pretty damn good in the regular season when they.
All were pretty healthy. Look like a title favorite.
On the other hand, they've never been healthy, never for any stretch of time.
During the postseason.
Six weeks ago, this Clippers team seemed unstoppable, and now Kawhi is injured, they can't get out of the first round. But considering that they've locked Kawhi in for the foreseeable future, you may as well just continue to gamble, doubling and tripling down until oblivion, all the while with a new arena and a hopefully packed house full of fans that will inevitably.
Be disappointed because you can't stay fucking healthy.
All right, we move on.
Finally, we end in Philly, where Darryl Moury is doing his own little dissection of the season, own little dissection of the team like a dead a dead pig, just trying to figure it away. And what was his takeaway? He said, Buddy Healed sucked. Yeah, don't know why we traded for him, he said. This no fault to Buddy.
I think the fit was less good than I thought.
Most of his time was without Joel, But I thought when when Joel was back his impact and his shooting, that he'd get more open shots. He just didn't. That's on me, and it didn't work out as well as we hope. I think that Nick correctly saw based on how they were guarding us that it was hard for him to impact the game. Buddy didn't quite work out as well as we hoped. All we know what Buddy does is two things, shoot threes and shoot more threes. And if he's not doing that, well, he's a liability.
But he is very well liked in the locker room. Remember it was Healed who helped carry Haliburton off the floor when he heard himself rid of this year. And it was also Buddy who gave the pep talk that set Tyrese Maxey off in the fourth quarter of that epic Game five that I was at in the first round.
So there's always room.
For him on a roster somewhere, even if he is kind of a bad decision maker and sometimes forgets that all he's good for is shooting threes.
Probably though not going to be in Philadelphia. And now it's interview time.
All three of my guests appeared on my other show, BENHAMGM Tonight, which aired seven to eleven Eastern on the radio in most major markets on the Honesty app also on video live on Twitch and YouTube.
First up is Jovon Booja.
When you read his name, it's hard not to say the Jay Jovon Booha Lakers fame. Who's here to give us on the latest on what was a very disappointing end to the season in LA. You can find Yovan all of his work on the Athletic obviously that ended with the firing of Darbn Ham.
Great stuff. Let's get into it.
Let's talk a little Lakers right now here on VETMGM Tonight, Ryan Horbat, Trista crick and what a crazy offseason already and to do that we welcome on now. Jovann Booja joins us right now to talk a little Lakers. Thanks so much, man. Let's start with that series against Denver, a really competitive series Lakers kind of the same result as last year. Though, what do you think we see this offseason with this team? Do you think they run it back with the current roster? Do you think that
there are some changes. I keep joking that maybe they'll find a way to trade for Kevin Durant. It's not going to happen. What do you think this offseason looks like for the Lakers?
I think there are gonna be some changes. I think anytime that you lose in the same manner to the same team and back to back seasons with basically not the exact same roster, but a similar roster. You gave Benson in place of Dennis Schroeder and no Jared Vanderbilt in this series versus last year, but a lot of the same principle guys obviously Lebron and Ad but Austin Reeves,
D'Angel Russell, Rujachimura. Looking at that Core, I just don't think that Core is good enough to beat the Denver Nuggets. And speaking of the Denver Nuggets, they're now down to zero to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the conference semifinals, so you still have to worry about the Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics, to say nothing of some of these other up and coming teams around
the league. So for the Lakers, I think they need to somehow get younger while also getting more athletic and better defensively and maybe adding another shooter somewhere in there. So I think the list of things that they need to add is relatively long. Like, on the one hand, they are close. On the other hand, some of it, like Lebron's gonna be turning forty, it's gonna be year twenty two. Anthony Davis is going to be turning thirty two,
it's gonna be year thirteen. So those guys, you're gonna have to figure out a way to take off some of the load with them in terms of offense and defense. So I think, looking at it, can you flip Ruhachimora, can you flip D'Angel Russell? You're gonna have three first round picks? Maybe gave Vincent Like, there are different ways they can go about it, but I would be surprised if they end up running it back with this group.
I think got a minimum a couple of those guys will be gone on if not potentially a larger move to bring in a third star and then trying to fill in the pieces, you know, with minimum guys. But I think whether it's a like medium size move in terms of shuffling two or three guys, or a larger move where you're pretty much you're stripping down the supporting
cast and going with a third guy. Either way, like, I think that's more likely than them just running it back, because running it back is you're probably losing the first round.
Again, who do you think that that third player would be, because there's a lot of rumors that it could be Tree Young, with that does not help this team at all. He's just a smaller version of D'Angelo Russell.
Yeah, and he also just left Clutch Sports for CAA, which I don't think is a great sign for the Lakers in terms of landing him. Like, one of the things that I think potentially would have helped them land Tree Young would be his relationship with Clutch Sports and Clutch Sports also representing Lebron in ad of course. So the three names I've consistently heard over the past few months and that I've reported on are Trey Young, Kyrie
Irving and Donovan Mitchell and Kyrie Irving. There's a bit of a caveat there, just that it would have had to have been Dallas flaming out and really just giving up on the Kyrie Luca pairing. And I think, you know, they won around they beat the Clippers. Now we'll see what happens with Okay. See, I think that is very unlikely, if not just off the table entirely at this point.
So I would look at Trey Young and Donovan Mitchell as theoretically the two best players that are likely to be available this summer, but there are always names that pop up. I look at Miami and like, what's going on with Jimmy Butler in that whole situation, Now that some of the comments that pat Riley had, like could he become available or could they be you know, a third team in a trade or something, so like, there
are different ways it can go. I do think at this point a more marginal move for the Lakers is more likely than going the three star path. But they have a history of chasing stars and they had done it multiple years in a row. They ultimately landed on Russell Westbrook and then tried to pivot and turn him into Kyrie, and that didn't happen. Then they went after Kyrie again, so like, and then they went after the
jon Te Murray at this pass trade deadline. So you know, maybe he's a name that pops up and he's maybe costs a little bit less than a Trey Young. So like, I think that they have a history of chasing third stars. Now they did, you pick up some scars from that Russell Westbrook trade, which you know, ultimately I think cost them several years there in terms of losing KCP Kyle Kuzma and partly leading to them losing Alex Caruso. So it's it's kind of a path A or path B
for the Lakers this summer. I think the new coach, whoever that ends up being, will have some say in that Lebron ad. There'll be several parties who have a say in it. But in terms of names, I've heard Trey Young and Donovan Mitchell continue to be the two that pop up the most.
There is a report today Yovonne that Lebron hasn't been involved or even near coaching negotiations or coaching decisions.
For this Lakers team.
Feels a little illogical that he would just not be involved in any way. What is that coach that you think is the most likely to be the head coach of this team? Obviously there was a lot of rumors about Phil Handy he has now been let go, But now there was like rumors about tylu and he just got an extension, Jason Kidd, he just got an extension.
Who is that? In your opinion?
Yeah, so you know, if you asked me this a couple of days ago, I would have said Tyleru in terms of the Lakers preference and the guy at the top of their list. But looking at like, I have not heard yet a favorite within this coaching group. You know, Mike Budenholzer is the most accomplished coach available right now on the market. At the same time, he's the mentor of Darvin Ham, So I think it would be a
little weird to fire the protege and then hire the mentor. Like, yeah, it's probably a better coach than Darvin Ham and can do some of the positive things that Darvin did at a higher level. Just has more experience. But I don't know if that's necessarily going to be the move that, like, you know, it would be with a different team that maybe hires Bud and they don't have the same kind of baggage hanging over the situation given that they just fired his protege. I look at JJ Redick as a
really interesting candidate. To me, I see shades of Steve Kerr in him in terms of just like his temperament and on the one hand, he's like this nice guy who has a certain level of intellect and empathy, but then also you see he's got the competitive side and the fiery side, and he's not afraid. Whether it's on his podcast or if he's doing first take or something like,
you'll see that side of him come out. And that to me is kind of similar to a Steve Kerr, who for the most part is you know, a pretty genial figure, but then he'll have the times he gets ejected or has a fiery press conference or something, And like, I could see J. J. Reddick kind of developing into that type of coach, at least from a temperament standpoint. Obviously, you don't know what he's going to be like as a tactician, just because he's never been an NBA level
head coach or assistant coach. And then there's some assistant coaches around the league. Kenny Atkinson as a guy who interviewed for the coaching position that Darvin Ham ended up landing. Charles Lee is also of the Budenholzer coaching tree. He's coached with the Celtics. There's you know, mikea. Nori who's with the Minnesota Timberwolves right now. David Adelman who's with
the Denver Nuggets. So there are some high level assistant coaches across the league who I think will certainly get some consideration, but right now it's not really a great coaching pool, and I don't know. I think it will come down to how the interviews go, how the background process goes. Lakers are are going to be starting that soon, and I think that'll ultimately dictate who ends up winning this, But as of now, I don't think there's a clear favorite.
Fascinating stuff.
Man, Thanks so much for giving us some time. Man, we really appreciate it.
Thank thank you guys for having me.
You have Boha right there, senior NBA reporter covers the Lakers over with the Athletic. Also check out Booha's block his video podcast, which is really good. Follow him on Twitter x whatever you guys call that stuff, Instagram, TikTok, although.
No one more plugged in on The Lake Show.
Yeah, he's awesome. He's awesome. I wish we had like twenty more minutes. I know I wanted to get into like because I don't want to because I know you have like real questions for Yovan. I want to get into how do we get Kadie to Los Angeles?
Just to make my prediction come trips.
Next up, Grant Asset.
He is the Dallas Mavericks beat reporter for MAVs Game Day and and WNBA and NBA writer for Essentially Sports. He broke down what's happening with the MAVs and the OKC series?
Are they cooked?
Who can you trust on this team?
He gives us the team. Let's get into it.
Dallas Mavericks find themselves down one to zero in that series. They lose last night to OKC on the road. Talk about that more. Grand aft Seth joins us right now, Dallas Mavericks beat writer for mavsgame day dot com. Thank you so much for joining us. Let's actually just start with the injury report and what you heard today. Luca is obviously a little bit banged up, not really moving around that great. How healthy is he and how healthy is he gonna be for Game two with the short rest?
Oh yeah, So basically with Luca's injury, he's been playing through a right knees sprain for you know, ever since like midway through that Clippers series, and he's listed as probable for you know, tomorrow's game, you know, Game two, and it's a lot of the similar sentiment where it's like, uh, they're not really gonna tell you too much about it, but basically you can tell it's a limiting factor in his performance and it's something that's just ongoing, you know,
requiring management and definitely a big thing to watch throughout the rest of the series. His shooting has you know, really suffered since that injury. And I mean, honestly, every time I've asked him about his three point shooting throughout the whole season, when it was firing on all cylinders, he would mention, you know, it's my legs. I'm fresh to be able to you know, maximize my consistency, and now we're seeing the downside of that when that's clearly not the case.
Yeah, no doubt what did you see in terms of how okay see was not just guarding him, but guarding Kyrie. I mean, you've got Lou Door, one of the strongest, biggest dudes in the league, probably play safety or linebacker in the NFL. You got Jdubb, and you've got just a plethora of wings that they can kind of throw on both of them, just depending on who's got the hot hand.
Yeah, definitely, I think, you know, lou Dort was definitely a problem. That was something that you know, was a focus entering the series. You know, a lot of people, you know, that's a matchup that has been a thing over the last couple of seasons, where Luca even called him a top three, you know, perimeter defender, you know, I think early last season and then also before this series started as well, and he was very physical with them, not really letting him get to spots that he consistently
likes to get to. But I thought schematically, the Thunder did a lot of good stuff. They were really smart with blitzing, you know, Luca or Kyrie whenever one of them wasn't on the court, and you know, they were really just in tune on a string with their rotations too. Like usually, you know, when one of those guys gets blitzed, they're able to get into the pocket on the four
on three with the short roll and succeed. But they had someone at the top of the charte circle that low defender really well rotated, and that caused a lot of problems for guys like Daniel Gaffer Derek Lively who normally are very effective in those situations, and it made them think twice about what they wanted to do when
they made the catch. And that's something that you know, both you know, Rollman, are looking to improve next game and also was highlighted by both Luca and Kyrie as something that you know will need to be better, you know, going into that next game.
Like you said, Luca's really beat up. He's only shooting like a little bit better than thirty percent from the floor, but still that first round series he averaged over thirty. Kyrie has been really good all season long, the fifty plus games that he played. But other than those two, who else could create their own shot and get buckets If Dallas needs another scorer, especially in this series against a really good defensive team in OKC.
Yeah, I think, honestly, there really isn't anyone at this moment that's definitely one of the key boxers for this whole roster right now. It's pretty much dependent on whenever OKC gets really aggressive getting the ball out of one of those superstars hands, and then the rest of the unit is pretty much going to be dared to shoot. Like they were very aggressive shrinking the floor, making early like low defender rotations to make Josh Green, Derek Jones,
PJ Washington shoot. So I think that third score in true Dallas Mavericks fashion will have to be someone catching Luca passes and making shots or just making a basic play. And you know that wasn't really working in the you know,
first game of the series. But as we've seen in lucas you know, pretty much his entire postseason career, there are very like volatile swings where you know, they can get blown out one game because when the three is not falling and they don't play as well, but then the next game those threes are following, the other team doesn't get those long rebounds to push on the break, they're not forcing as many turnovers, and then the Mavericks are blowing you know, the other team out so it's
like definitely a very interesting team to kind of follow throughout a whole playoff series for sure.
What are your thoughts on Jason Kidd as a head coach. I had the opportunity to cover him for a year in Milwaukee, his last year in Milwaukee, and I like him as a person obviously, like they think highly of them because they just extended him, you didn't want him going anywhere. What are your thoughts on him though as.
A head coach?
Yeah, I think definitely he's someone that has like a core identity that he wants to follow with his teams and you know, whether the roster has the right personnel
at that given time. I think he still sticks with that approach, and I think, you know, this series is going to be a very interesting kind of test case to see him you know, with a very i would say, a very clear depth disadvantage and also not having Maxi Kliba has been very you know, very like you know, focused on playing small with Kliba throughout the whole you know season, especially in closing situations, and that's been kind
of their safety blanket. Like, oh, the other team, like the other team's offense is really you know, disrupting us. We need to be able to switch. We can't keep playing drop and he turns to Maxi Kliba. So just seeing without that option with him being sidelined for you know, like the timetable is going to put him out through the Western Conference semifinals, you know, that's going to be a very good test for him as a coach to you know, be able to trust you know, some things
that might not be ideal. Like you know, he he's been reluctant to trust bigs guarding in space. At times he did against the Clippers where they would let Daniel Gafford or Derek Lively, you know, really shade James harden To was right trust them to side their feet, and other times they weren't really wanting to have them garden space in the regular season. So I think seeing how you know, his creativity will be tested will be a
good gauge for this series overall. And then definitely with you know, having to account for, you know, such a talented team with a very talented coach, with the Coach of the Year, that's there's probably no better test than that. Right now.
What did you think about how Kyrie started slow? Is that just kind of an aberration or was that something that okay See was doing to make life difficult on him.
Honestly, his entire postseason has been about settling into the game, where I think if you look at the stats, I don't have them, you know, on top or on my computer right now. But when he's started games, he's averaged very few points in first quarters, and honestly for most of first halves, he's been phenomenal in second halves. I think usually the early portions of the game is kind of Luca's time to be the battering Ram where he's
really making a lot of plays. Kyrie picks his spots and he you know, makes plays off of Luca early on, and then he's kind of a closer. But you know, with Luca's injury that's still sustained. So that's where that Game one was kind of an interesting, you know situation where you know, kind of reverting back to that conversation about you know, jason Kids approach with kind of being rigid in you know, play style, even with the injury, they kind of haven't adapted to that reality where maybe
Kyrie has to get it going a little earlier. They tried in a game like I think it was one of the final games that Clipper series where they started running some the first two plays of a game for Kyrie to get him involved. He scored on one, created a lob for PJ. Wathington on another, and then he kind of also reverted back to playing within the flow.
So I think that's kind of just his typical approach as a player, where he feels the game and then later he really gets aggressive after he gets a feel and reads what the other team's trying to do.
Yeah, we saw that in that Clippers game when they went down like twenty or thirty and then Kyrie just said, f this, I need to step on the gas and take over right right now.
I saw that. I think either the Mas were up one or down one.
And when Mark Dagno decided, you know, forget all this Josh Getty sitting on an island thing. We got to bench him and put some other guys in, like Case and Wallace, And that was kind of when okay, see was off to the races. Well what did you think about that? And how do you think you know Dallas is going to be able to counter if you know, say, Josh Getty doesn't get minutes.
Yeah, I think that's where Maxi Cleeve's injury is a massive problem for the Mavericks because typically that would be the one variable that they've consistently gotten reps with that they could turn to to hand situation like that, because they haven't trusted Gafford or Lively to really like long stretches guard in space much this season, and having to do that in the postseason is a you know, major challenge.
That's an approach that they really leaned on, you know, whether it was against OKC specifically with Josh Giddy or
even other teams. It became a struggle when they played teams like the Pacers or the Celtics who have like that stretch five like a Miles Turner or Al Horford or you know, Christophe Porzingis and had the ability to space out at all five positions, and you know, with the Thunder having Chet Holmgren, he didn't really have you know, momentum swinging like threes as much as like all the
other you know, role players. So it wasn't necessarily saying the stretch five was the huge problem in that particular game, but just having the shooting threat all five positions has
been a major problem for the Mavericks defense. And you know, clearly the Thunder already had a great read on that looking at the regular season results how the Mavericks approached it, and that's going to be a major problem for them if they don't solve that with you know, schematic creativity, you know going forward.
Obviously, like every team's a lot different because sometimes you call a Game two a must win situation even though it's really not, because you could go down to oh you go back home and you have home court then, but for this team, you know him obviously a lot better than us. Do you think this is a must win game for Dallas? They're four and a half point underdogs in the game, there's still plus one eighty to win the series. Do you think they need Game two?
I think they do because I think the longer, like just my general read of how Luca has been playing through that knees sprain, the longer a series goes, I don't think that necessarily favors Dallas just from that standpoint, because he can take them very far, and they're gonna
go as far as Luca takes them. And if you're gonna have to play a lengthy series, then that's you know, I mean depending on a like barring a miraculous recovery that we don't really know about because we can't tell the future, that's pretty much where that lies.
Yeah, that's fascinating in terms of just like Jason Kidd, overall, do you feel like this team maybe was a little bit presumptuous and when they extended.
Them, I think, I think potentially because this would have been a great test to see overall, like as we talked about, where you're gonna have to solve for like talent deficits and like having to solve for real, actual, like substantial problems with how the you know, the thunders you know, talent and roster are going to put you in a challenging you know, buying or position. And I think the Clippers without Kawhi, uh, you know, they had you know, enough things going against them to where you
would expect the Mavericks to win that series. And I think giving an extension out for a team that ultimately played a series they were expected to win probably you know, in general, would be a little premature. But then again, they like the relationships that he has with you know, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Nico Harrison, and pretty much you know, a lot of members of the organization. So I think they in a way like they have been very on board with him, and I think they're kind of looking
for a reason to commit to him. And fifty wins in the first round series is I guess kind of the outcome that was enough?
Yeah, And I know that a lot of fans on Reddit, a lot of MAVs fans on Reddit, are very angry about that in terms of like what this MAVs team should be doing, because I kind of think that with Luca's injury, most likely this series is the is done. In terms of like this offseason, for you, what's most important for the MAVs to add and who would those players be that they would look to target.
I think it's going to be definitely overall a challenge to add much of a difference maker, like just looking at it now, because you're not going to move a player like a Derek Lively, and you also don't have a first round pick if you're the Mavericks front office, So you know, when you kind of look at their
you know, their holes to fill. I guess you could say probably finding another you know, front court option that has more durability to kind of fit the Maxi kleeber Mold would be a solid, you know approach to take unless PJ. Washington kind of miraculously shows us that he can really fill that five small ball five role and they trust it and it gets consistent results because they they bring that up a lot as an option that they like that they can turn to, but they don't
necessarily use it that much. Uh So, like like like Jason Kidd, you know, like in classic playoff coach approach, we might turn to Dwight Pal Marquis Morris, uh listing off everyone over six foot eight as a potential center option.
But I think in general, adding more talent, uh you know, on the wing would be you know, definitely a helpful option for them because they're going to have to really face you know, a potentially challenging for agency with Dereck Jones because he you know, he doesn't have a you know contract for the upcoming season and he's been a very substantial factor as their like key point of attack defender and he's fit well with Luca, you know, with
his athleticism to leak out in transition. He can, he's shot well, you know, sometimes there are some cold stretches since he's not naturally a great shooter, but overall he's been a very you know, strong compliment and Luca loves playing with him. And if they do not manage to retain him, then that's a glaring need that they're going to have to address. And that doesn't replacing someone like that,
you're not improving. So they're gonna have to find if they're in that spot, they have to not only either retain or replace that talent, they're going to also have to find more options on the wing, in my opinion, especially with size, to really have versatility, especially with you know, Kyrie Irving as another backcourt member.
Grant, thanks so much, man join the rest of the series. Talking again soon.
Yeah, it's great talk.
Thank you.
And finally we in the interview show with Zach Bai hosts The Drive on Denver Sports one oh four point three, the fan an ocassy station. Zach broke down what's happening with the Nuggets who are getting their asses handed to them in this Minnesota series.
Great interview, let's.
Get into that aslot, the Calves hold off the upset one eighteen ninety four of that series tied up one game apiece in the East Semi Finals, Boston thirteen and a half point favorites tonight and they lose outright. If you took the calves on the money line, it was plus six fifty. A little bit about the Nuggets and Broncos. We welcome on now, Zach By you talk.
About physicality will move over to the NBA, and it feels like the physicality of the Minnesota Timberwolves is kind of getting to the Nuggets. I don't know if it's just the way that the refs have stopped, you know, calling these fouls that happened midway through the All Star Break.
But the teams that are the most physical in.
The playoffs right now, Zach are starting to flourish and the ones that really aren't are having a hard time. On what's the mood in Denver on the NBA side after going down two at the crib?
Oh, I mean, it's terrible, it's it's actually this is the first legitimate, big picture of adversity that this team has faced in the Jokic era. Guys, for six years in a row, it's basically gotten better and better every single season. You guys talk about win totals every year, right, Nuggets have gone over their win total every single year for eight years in a row, which is insane. That
just doesn't happen. They win a championship, and then they turned around when fifty seven games, the most enfranchised history. But now you look, man, they look gassed, They looked tapped out. In Game two, Minnesota came into their home, smacked them around, went in the fridge, grabbed a beer, went and used the toilet. I mean, they disrespected the Nuggets house in a way that was egregious and I
quite haven't seen it. I mean, the Nuggets were down by over thirty points, and trist you're hitting on something. The way that the game is now being officiated. The Minnesota is the league's best defense, no matter who is putting air or not into a whistle. But if you take that out and sort of like prison ball, like no blood, no foul, they are owning these playoffs. I mean, shoot,
they haven't lost the game. They swept Phoenix, and they've come in here and they have that series and a vice script, they held the Nuggets, who's been an offensive juggernaut, to eighty points on their own floor. I mean, we are seeing, guys, this might be the NBA's best defense, going back twenty years ago to the Detroit Pistons with Ben Wallace, Rashid Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and those boys who broke the Lakers at that time. With Shaq
and Kobe. We are seeing that caliber of defense, and you're watching a player take over the entire league, the best American player, the future face of the league, and the future might be now because Anthony Edwards at twenty two years old, he's him, guys, and we throw that phrase around. We throw the phrase around Doug too much. He's him like, but Ant actually checks those boxes. He is an absolute savage and defensively he's coming for it all. He looks like he looks like twenty two year old
Kobe Bryant. So you know, from a basketball standpoint, I love what I see from Minnesota. I hate what I see from the Denver Nugget.
Yeah, and br you talk about the historic defense twenty three blocks and steals combined for the Minnesota Timberwolves. You had guys like Monty Morris with multiple stocks.
So it's just been really tough.
And then you have Jamal Murray, who, to be fair, is like my favorite postseason player maybe period, honestly, Like, I love everything that he's about. Seems to always find a way to answer the bell and answer the call, and mind you, he's obviously dinged up but also frustrated by the physicality.
What is the what is the adjustment?
Because Michael Malone's one of the best in the game in terms of like game to game, in a series and in in game, like what do you do to sort of figure out a way to right the ship to punch back?
Yeah, I think it starts right there. I think the first adjustment is to have your hands up ready for a fight. For seven consecutive postseason games, the Denver Nuggets have been down in the first quarter every game in the Lakers series. Each game here in Minnesota, Game one, they're down eighteen to four, Game two, they're down by twenty something by in the second quarter, and and Minnesota is already riding high from confidence level standpoint, The Nuggets
haven't even made them think about that confidence. It's just getting parlayed, you know, one quarter at a time. So it starts with a better compete level, and it starts with Nikola jokicch I mean goodness, gracious for in a game that Rudy Gobert didn't play in. Jokic looked like, and I'm there for each of these games and I'm watching so closely things that the cameras don't pick up. Nikola Jokicic tried to disconnect emotionally from his team, like
like he was gonna be unbothered the other night. I've never seen it in seven years of covering this guy, and he deserved the MVP. But I'll tell you what if game two was like the first game you've ever seen a Yokic and you heard how great he was, you'd walk away and said the guy. And then for Jamal Murray. Last season, guys, Jamal Murray had the greatest regular season to postseason jump in NBA history in points per game. He went from averaging twenty in the regular
season to nearly thirty in the postseason. This year, it's the opposite. He's gone from career highs and field goal percentage and three point percentage and he's in the basement. He's shooting twenty something percent in this series so far. He was mostly a disaster in the Lakers series, But what gets masked by it is he had two game winners, so it's like two things are true at the same time.
He's the first player in NBA history have multiple game winners in a series, and he's also has his production dropping off in every single category outside of two quarters within that series, so disturbing to watch. Yeah, his cat's not right, but I mean I went and saw him dunk on Lebron James in Game five and flex on
him like he's capable more than this. But you touched on something there a couple of minutes ago, and we are seeing one of the most unique intersections of an all time great defense in Minnesota with the NBA changing their rules, and no one in these playoffs has benefited from the hard right turn that the NBA made behind closed doors after the All Star Break more than the
Minnesota Timberwolves. And my guess is this is your NBA champion here over the next six weeks if games continue to be called like that, because they have dogs up and down the lineup, the real defenders from Nadre to Jayden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards, but they also have closers. They have a back line defender who's the defensive player of the year, the sixth Man of the Year, and maybe the future face of the league, all in the same year.
And I'll tell you this in closing, this team has literally been built to beat Denver.
Guys, we.
Don't see executives change sides. Okay. Tim Connelly built the Nuggets, and right on there at the one yard line to win a championship, he jumps over to Minnesota. Is highly criticized for the Rudy Gobert trade. He was being dragged for trading four unprotected first round picks, and it's actually looked like the perfect combination and recipe to beat a team like Denver.
Disgusting stuff if you're a Denver fan. Disgusting real quick.
By the way, Chris Finch their coach, the Nuggets coach used to be coaching under Michael Malone. So the executive came from Denver, the coach came from Denver. You got players sharing secret codes like Monty Morris, he came from Denver. Like the assistant head coach to Chris Finch came from Denver. I mean, it's wild to take a step back and look at some of the contrasts and where they came from and using the same recipe against them years later.
Such a great point, Zach. We got about two minutes left, so two of four and a half is the total for Game three. So they're expecting this to be a rock fight, especially the way that Minnesota's, like you said, playing defensively. My biggest bet of the playoffs is the Nuggets to at least show up and cover the four and a half. Do you think they win Game three? Do you think they at least keep it close? How do you feel about tomorrow night? Man?
This team is a prideful group, so I feel like I have to side with you given the choice. I rarely stay away because if I'm gonna watch it, I'm gonna bet it. I am actually staying away from I am actually staying away from this one. I've never seen the group broken like they were in Game two. Never seen it. And then you, guys, I think about this the last seventy two hours in Nuggets basketball, Jamal Murray
loses his composure in a way I've never seen. He's doing money signs to the referee, which Rudy Gobert got a one hundred thousand dollars fine for that. He threw a towel at the referee that didn't get any play all right. I don't even know if that made it back to you guys, but he threw a towel at the referee. The ball boy saved it from the floor. That didn't make enough commotion. So he throws the heat pack. Then you have Aaron Gordon being hell back in a timeout.
You got Michael Maloneo knows the nose with an official look like an MLB manager looking to get thrown out. Then you have text message being leaked to Gilbert Arenas who's dogging the coach and dragging the coach through the mud, saying that Jokic is done with this season and wants to go home. The Nuggets have been a mess, guys. So for me, I'm staying away from Game two.
It's that championship hangover. Zach, thanks so much man.
Hopefully I we'll talk again that Zach and maybe the Nuggets will win this series, especially because I bet it.
This stuff really good stuff.
Host of the Drive on Denver Sports Station one O four to three, the fan, awesome stuff. I think he's like one of my favorite guests because he could talk for like forty five.
Minutes, and he's just so entertaining. He knows what he's talking about.
He does games, watching.
The games at the games, and also gives you his opinion straight up, no chaser.
That's all the time, and we after this episode of The Heat Check.
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