Hoops Tonight - LeBron James & Lakers beat Grizzlies, Russell Westbrook hero in Clippers-Suns

Heat Bucks and Clippers Sons. For those of you guys looking for Wolves Nuggets, we're gonna be hitting that tomorrow morning, as well as a little film session going over some of the things I learned from rewatching this weekend's games. You guys know the trip before we get started. Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channels you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at Underscore Jason

LT so you guys don't miss any show announcements. And if for whatever reason, you guys miss one of these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish, don't forget. You can find them wherever you get your podcasts. Under Hoops Tonight, all right, let's talk some basketball. So we're gonna start with Lakers Grizzlies. There is a formula that we are seeing kind of take shape with this Lakers team that really works, and this Lebron James and

Anthony Davis surrounded by a ton of offensive skill. This is where the value of rim pressure comes in. When you have guys that just relentlessly, through size and strength and athleticism and skill, push the ball closer and closer to the rim, it collapses things around them, requires multiple bodies to take care of them, which leads all sorts, leads to all sorts of advantage opportunities off the ball.

And you saw that tonight specifically with a core of three players around Lebron and ad Austin Reeves, D'Angelo Russell, and Ruey Hotchimura, and they all kind of did it in their own way. I thought D'Angelo Russell had a nice bounce back game from his rough play in performance. It was a little rough early on in that game, kind of forcing things a little bit, but he did eventually find his rhythm and he had a bunch of

monumentally important spot up jump shot. Austin Reeves again, like, how much of a luxury is it that you can with Lebron James and Anthony Davis on your team, run your late game offense through Austin Reeves, and this is where having multiple offensive threats can gift you with better

matchup opportunities. Right, Because Dylan Brooks, as he was expected to do, especially in a game one of a series when Lebron's a little out of shape, still kind of feeling things out, he had some success guarding Lebron, giving him some trouble getting to his spots and feeling comfortable. Right, Jared Jackson Junior, He's gonna have success guarding Anthony Davis, at least compared to some of the other players around the league. That doesn't mean if you have to go

to Lebron and Idi it's a bad option. It just means that you might have better options elsewhere. And down the stretch of that game, Austin Reeves got a steady diet of Tias Jones. They tried Desmond Baine, but then they would just run some off ball guard guard screen to try to get Tias back onto him, and Austin was able to get Tias Jones trapped behind him on those screens, which gave him the opportunity to get downhill and make plays with the basketball. Austin is a real

basketball player, a very very good player. Is going to make a lot of money this summer. There's a lot of talk about him being kind of dependent on his ability to get to the foul line. That's simply not the case. All you got to do is look at the numbers and look at how good he's been at every spot on the floor converting actual basketball shots into points beyond the free throw line to know that he is capable of being a primary ball handler on a

good team. And then Ruey hot Schimura. This is where the advantage of position battles come in again. Like when Rui was originally traded for, it was kind of expected that he'd be that starting small forward, right, But then you trade for Jared Vanderbilt, and Darvin Ham makes a

tough call. He ends up moving Ruey to the bench, specifically because he thinks that that bench lineup needs more offensive skill, and Jared Vanderbilt alongside all of that offensive skill, it's more important to have somebody who's a better defensive player, right, So you slide Jared Vanderbilt into that position, and ever since then, it's been a battle based on who's playing better on any given night to see who's going to be the guy that ends up getting the minutes when

it matters, right, and that actually that position battle actually drives success on both fronts. If Rui's the only forward and he knows that if he misses that box out, or if he doesn't sprint back in transition that one time, or if he's not you know, making the right reads offensively, that he just gets to stay in the game because there's no better option that doesn't serve as nearly as

good of a purpose. Right, when you have real competition, real threat to your own playing time, it actually incentivizes you to to do the little things really really well on every single possession. And Rui is playing some of the best basketball. I'll just go out and say he's playing by far, the best basketball of his career over the course the last couple of weeks, in large part because he's not just embracing the offensive skill stuff that

made him tantalizing coming out of college. He's also embracing all of the little things, grabbing contested rebounds, defending at a high level, sprinting up and down the floor in transition, making the right reads offensively being part of a team unit on both ends of the floor instead of just focusing on the offensive end of the floor. Anthony Davis was unbelievable in this game. Obviously notwithstating a scare we had in the first half of a little stinger that

he had with his right shoulder. Obviously a freaky moment when AD's saying he can't move his arm. I wasn't too worried about it right away, just because on replay it didn't look like too much contact, didn't look like the kind of thing that would cause a dislocated shoulder, So I'm glad it ended up being something that he was able to play through. He was a monster in this game. Seven blocks. That's outrageous what he was playing doing in the passing lanes, bothering shots around the rim,

scoring in the short role, scoring in isolation. He knocked down a couple of important jump shots. When Anthony Davis is playing at this level, this is damn near best player in the world type of basketball. That guy can carry this Lakers team to the championship. They don't even

need Lebron to be that good. If Ad is going to be that good, Obviously you'd prefer to have Lebron play up to that level, but Anthony Davis is buying the Lakers margin for error, and it's making it so that a lot of guys have less pressure on them to and which allows them to kind of play loose

and free. Lebron's a great example of this, all of the talent on this roster, with how well Austin Reeves played tonight, with how well Ruy Hotchenmura played tonight, with how well Anthony Davis played tonight, he didn't have to have a great game, and Lebron had a pretty good game. I mean, if you look at the shooting numbers and you look at the timely shots he hit hit a massive three on the right wing in transition down the stretch of this game. I thought Lebron had a much

much better defensive game in this game. I was very critical of him in the playing game for him losing track of shooters and not making extra efforts. All of that stuff was there tonight. And even though he didn't have the best offensive game in the world, he had five turnovers, was a little sloppy from time to time, he had a big winning impact because he didn't need to be the offensive engine throughout the game thanks to the additional margin for error purchased bought for the Lakers

by all of that extra talent on the floor. I thought the Lakers defended John Morant very well. He got out in transition a few times early in the game, hit a couple of three's there in that third quarter when the Griz were playing well. But other than that, the Lakers defended him really well. They held him to zero point sixty seven points per pick and roll. That's the most important metric for projecting forward in the series. You know, for three point shooting, you kind of take

it or leave it. He's gonna make him or he's going to miss him. Those transition opportunities. You can deal with that just by focusing on sprinting back and communicating. But in the half court, that's where it becomes about personnel. How can your personnel make things difficult on John Rant? And I thought they did a really nice job. I thought Jared Vanderbilt, whenever he was in the game, did a really nice job. Dennis Schroeder did a really nice job.

They battled, and they made John Morant play in a crowd in the half court. They forced him into a bunch of turnovers, he missed some shots. It was a great defensive effort. I thought that guarded has been baying really well. He was six for eighteen from the field. Austin Reeves applying back pressure all night long, just fighting over those screens and contesting and making those shots more difficult. And then at the end of the game he just

actually on the left wing. I think it was like middle fourth quarter he actually Chase Desn't being over the top of the screen and got a block day rearview contest, which is extremely impressive. All around, the matchups favored the Lakers,

And that's concerning Game one. That again, you want to look at separating process from results, right, you know, if you're a if you're a Suns fan, for instance, after tonight, we're gonna talk about this in a little bit, you're thinking, hey, like, we miss a lot of shots that we normally make. Kd's normally a lot more efficient. You could separate some process from results there and feel a little bit better

about the way things went. But when the process also kind of mirrors the result, that's when it gets concerned. The Lakers got better shots in this game, they generated more rim pressure and generated higher quality opportunities for more skilled offensive players. It's going to be really hard to flip that script. Lebron didn't play very well offensively over the course of the series. He's the chess master kind

of guy. He's going to figure out things and solve things over the course of the series and get better and better and better. And then here's the thing as far as dealing with Austin Reeves and D'Angelo Russell. If you throw more attention to those guys, if you bring the screen defender up higher to deal with an Austin Reeves pull up, that opens up Anthony Davis rolling to

the basket. If you stay close to your spot up shooters off the ball, If you're close to D'Angelo Russell and close to Austin Reeves off the ball, that leaves more room for Lebron, James and Anthony Davis to get going in the paint. So there's a lot of trade offs there that don't bode well for Memphis. And then playing and simple this John Moran injury, it's so important for him, especially with how much he struggled to score

and pick and roll. It's gonna be very important for him to have his touch, and if his right hand is bothering him that much, that could be an issue. The one big silver lining I should say for the Grizzly is something that should make them feel optimistic about their chances to make a run here towards the end of the series. It's the simple fact that nobody on the Lakers could guard Jaron Jackson not named Lebron James.

That's a very very encouraging trend in the series, Like like he was just going right at Lebron and getting high quality shots, like he's really good at going to turn like he's going to go to his left handed hook and waiting for the defender to get out of position to try to contest, and then continue to pivot in through the basket to get higher quality attempts at the basket as opposed to just going to his hook shot. But then he can still make the hook shot when

he needs it. So great start for the Lakers. The John Moran injury is very concerning. Again, I do expect this to be a longer series. The Lakers are famous for letting the foot off their foot off the gas when they tend to feel comfortable in any sort of situation. They played with a desperation today that got them to win. I would not be the least bit surprised if we got a lack of daisical defensive effort from the Lakers in Game two and the Grizzlies tie the series. But

very very good start for the Lakers. All right, let's move on to Clippers Suns. So you know, specifically with the Suns, there's a lot to like when you're looking at their roster, right, tons of offensive skill, three dudes who can run, pick and roll at an extremely high level, all of which can succeed off the ball, and excellent screen and roll big and DeAndre Ayton a lots to like. But one of the things that concerns me is none of those core four players actually likes to or is

good at doing the dirty work. There are all guys that kind of primarily focus on what they do on the offensive end of the floor. They'll make defensive plays, right. You'll see Kevin Durant, excuse me, you get a big block around the rim, or a big block contesting a three point shot. You'll see Devin Booker slide his feet and take a charge You'll see Chris Paul do something grifty to save a possession here or there. They all do little things here or there, but it's not a

part of their basketball identity. It's kind of supplemental stuff to them as opposed to a core part of their identity. And say what you want about Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook. Like Kawhi Leonard, a core part of his identity is the way he competes on the defensive end of the floor, and he did a masterful job on Kevin Durant in

this game, particularly down the stretch. Say what you want about Russell Westbrook, and he's got a lot of limitations, but he played his ass off tonight and devoted all of his energy to the little things, and despite a nightmare offensive game, I think he was three for nineteen or three for eighteen from the field. Despite that, he was able to have a massive winning impact simply because he devoted his effort and energy towards something he knew he could accomplish, which is what he did on the

defensive end of the floor. If he did that for his entire career, he might even be another echelon above the way we regard him right now. It's an interesting decision from ty lu to closed with him because the Clippers actually went on a big run late third quarter, and this is something that I think they might have to go to in the long run, especially if for

us as impact kind of tails off. But they had a lot of success with that lineup with Bones Highland, Terrence Mayn, with Norman Powell, Kawhi Leonard and Mason Plumley. Right with that group, they just had a ton of offensive skill around Kawhi, and Kawhi was able to play

a little bit more off ball. You guys might remember a Kawhi Leonard three in the left corner is one that got it back to one I think towards the end of the third where Norman Powell is creating that dribble penetration, drawing the help and then kicking to Kawhi. That's another look that they can go to. But then they can also go with team that group they went at with at the end, where it's like Eric Gore in Kawhi Russell Westbrook, They're switching a lot of stuff

and just locking in defensively. Bald Denial was a huge roll down the stretch of this game, just Russ and Kawhi just playing really physical denial defense on Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, which really got them out of their sets, and if they struggled to even get clean looks down the end of the game. And then there at the end,

Russ one on one with Devin Booker. Devin Booker tries to take him to the basket, and Russ played a good physical brand of defense, something you can get away with in the playoffs, and he got a key bluck at the end of the game. Most importantly for the Suns, they're going to have to compete more physically in this game.

I know it's in this series. I know it's not a core tenant kind of their basketball identity, in their basketball character, but in order to win, they're going to have to They've got advantages everywhere else, they're gonna have to compete with the Clippers physically. They got out rebounded on the offensive class fifteen to six in this game, including that stretch at the end where the Suns got like three stops in a row but just could not

sure a defensive rebound. That Again, this was my first major thing that I've been wrong about in this postseason. It won't be the last. I'm sure there will be people in the comments having their fun, and look, I can live with it. I'm gonna make predictions. I'm gonna be right. Sometimes I'm gonna be wrong. Sometimes I thought

the Suns would sweep the series. It's certainly not over one thing I'll say kind of in the Suns defense is they played a really rough, easy schedule to end the season, and so kind of like the Lakers heading into the playing game, They're just not accustomed to this intense level of basketball. So I wouldn't write the Suns off. I wouldn't take a victory lap or anything like that.

But this is gonna be a little bit more of a battle than they were expecting, particularly because the Clippers have some matchups to make Devin Booker and KD work, and the Clippers seem very very focused on embracing the dirty work, which means the Suns are gonna have to match them at some point. All Right, before we get out here is talk a little bit about heat Bucks not gonna spend a ton of time on it, simply

because the injuries kind of changed the learning. The lessons we can learn from the game right, like Giannis doesn't play. I mean, what are we even gonna get into here. I picked the Bucks to win the title. They're not winning the title without Giannis. Like Tyler Harrow, big win for the Heat, But if Tyler Harrow broke his hand and he can't play again, like, that's a huge problem for a team that already kind of lacks offensive initiation,

which can be a problem. But there were a couple of specific things that the Heat did really well that I think are indicators of why the Heat have given

Bucks the Bucks issues over the years. First of all, they do a lot of switching, so that stagnates their high pick and roll attack and forces them to create in isolation to create advantages in isolation, and with bam Adebayo being a pretty solid defender to throw at Giannis and Spolster being really good at digging down into driving lanes to capitalize on some hesitant shooting on the perimeter, they can get stagnant offensively, and then from there the Heat, no,

they're going to struggle to score in the half court against the Bucks defense, So they were just pushing out in transition and getting all sorts of good looks there getting the ball to the right shooters and their drive kick attack. Max Strus is locked in right now, Gabe Vincent is locked in. Kevin Love hit a big three. They ended up shooting sixty percent from three as a team. So that's why the Heat give the Bucks issues. They know how to stagnate them. They know how to get

out and transition to avoid their half court sets. It won't be enough without Tyler Harrow. But you know that's why I rooted for I told you guys in the playing game, I was rooting for Miami to win because I knew they'd give the Bucks a little bit better of a battle on the Bucks front if they should have to play a little bit of time without Giannis. The most encouraging thing is their advantage in perimeter size.

Like the Heat just have a lot of smaller like like undrafted type guys that are playing on the wing right, and when you have big guys that can play perimeter style basketball, guys like Bobby Portis and Chris Middleton, you don't even have to run any sort of sophisticated offense. Just dump the ball down to one of your big forwards that's gonna bully his way into the lane against a smaller Heat player, either get a great shot or start things into rotation where they can get open shots

on the back end. Chris Middleton and Bobby poor Is combined for fifty four points in this game, so good start for the Heat, But I don't know how they're gonna be able to sustain this without Tyler Harrow, especially

with their lack of offensive creation. It's easy to see how they give the Bucks some issues, but I think they've got some advantages they can ride out, and quite frankly, if Giannis comes back, that changes the fundamentally what we watched and just their approach in the second half of that game. All right, guys, that's all I have for tonight. Like I said, we're gonna be hitting Nuggets, Wolves, as well as our kind of film rewatch stuff in tomorrow

morning's show. As always, I appreciate you, guys, and I'll see you tomorrow morning. The volume