Hoops Tonight -Why Steph Curry & Warriors must go all-in, Luka outduels Durant, Celtics hold on

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Happy Election Day. Although there's no NBA games tonight, we had so many games last night that we have plenty more to get into today. Like I promised yesterday, we were going to focus on the early slate, today we're gonna focus on the later slate. Warriors, Kings, Celtics, Grizzlies, Blazer's heat Nets, MAVs and Calves Clippers. So ten more

teams to get into today really quickly. Before we get started, remember to follow me on Twitter at Underscore Jason lt so that you guys don't miss any show announcements, so you can find out when we're going live when stuff is coming out, I always tweet the links out too. That's also where I put video content since I have some limitations in what I can use on YouTube. Also for those of you gus who are watching on YouTube or on the podcast feeds, remember that the first place

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net suite dot com slash Jason. All right, let's talk some basketball. So the Warriors get a vintage magnificent steph performance really carried Golden State home down the stretch of this game. Um, Sacramento botched some coverages on Draymond split cuts that led to wide open Andrew Wiggins threes on the backside that he made, uh down the stretchy, But other than that, it was a whole lot of just high level shot making from staff. Although special shout out

to Andrew Wiggins. He was amazing down the stretch of this game. I think he went five for five in the fourth quarter. Seemingly made every big play. But outside of that little classic you know, Warriors basketball that got those wide open threes for Wiggins, it was it was a lot of just wild, classic, vintage, unanimous m v P. Steph Curry. There was like a little bank shot from step where he drove left and pump faked and his man flew by, and here comes Sabonus out of nowhere

over jumping to try to block. Steph comes this close to blocking him, but he banks it in. And then the last few possessions he was really picking on Kevin Herder on switches. He hit a tough step back three that Kevin nearly blocked, and then he had like a little turnaround fadeaway off of a drive that once again Kevin almost blocked, and he made. But that's the advantage of having, you know, in my opinion, the fifth best perimeter player in the history of basketball in Steph Curry.

So like that, he just he just brought you home in a game that that you very well could have lost if a few things went a different way. Draymond Green also after that kind of heater that Steph Curry caught, weaponized the attention sent towards step with the classic vintage fake handoff to go up and get a big, big dunk, and Draymond was fantastic on the defensive end at the

end of this game as well. Um, But all of that's great, and we're gonna talk more about Steff here in a minute, because I think what you saw from Steph last night is such a big indicator of why it's so important to feel urgency surrounding this situation, and we are going to get back to that. But make no mistake, defense is what won this game for the Warriors. As I pointed out in our last few shows, in the previous five games, the Warriors were dead last in defense,

and it wasn't just the bench. The starters were giving up about a hundred and eleven points per one Hunter possessions during that span, specifically the Steph, Clay Wiggins, Draymond Looney group. So no matter how you slice it, no matter what was going on with the bench, no matter how you feel about James Wiseman or any of those things, clearly you're not. They weren't playing well enough. So they

needed to play better, and they did tonight. And one of the things that I thought was really interesting in that second half, was Steve Kerr finally just started staggering the starters with the bench, something that I personally have been pleading for for a while. Um So obviously they start uh Jordan Pool instead of Covon Looney to start the second quarter or the second half, right, But then you could see the staggering over the course of that

third quarter. So Draymond Green, Jordan Pool, Clay Thompson go to the bench. Right, incomes Moses Moody and Tied Jerome, but also incomes KEVN. Looney, one of your starters, right, and now you're running a lineup that has Steph a great defensive player, Andrew Wiggins one of the best perimeter defensive players in the league, and Kevin Looney a great defensive player. So now your first bench lineup has lots of defensive talent on it, which allowed it to be

more functional. Then in the end of the Steph Curry checks out, come On Luney checks out, Andrew Wiggins checks out, but incomes Clay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Jordan's Pool. You know, so now even though you're you're losing those three defensive players, you're bringing back in Clay Thompson and Draymond Green. Draymond is one of the best defensive players in the league,

and clay'son outstanding defensive players. So every lineup just had a better chance of success because they had better defensive personnel. And it was it was kind of bad process from the Warriors over the course of this five game losing streak too often just going to these complete in total bench lineups where they just didn't have the defensive personnel to hang with these teams. And as a result, in the second half last night, the Warriors notched a ninety

point to defensive rating, which is outstanding. They only allowed forty six points. That is what allowed them to get enough stops so that Steph could carry them home with his shot making at the end of the game. But here's the reality of the step thing, and this is something that I think the Warriors brass needs to take

a closer look at. You only win a title when you have a top tier superstar last year, Steph Curry previous year, Jason Tenna Coompo previous year, Lebron James previous year, Kawhi Leonard previous year, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry previous year and Kevin Durant Kevin Durant and Steph Curry previous year, Lebron James previous year, Steph Curry. You get the point. You're not winning a title in the NBA unless you have one of the very best guys in the league.

There's there's no debate about that. The times where it ends up being more of a team effort are the exceptions to the rule, and they are extremely rare. And we can go back to say the two thousand fourteen Spurs, but it's like, oh, wait, they had Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard on the rise and Tony Parker and Managen Nobili. That was that was an unusually talented team to make up for that mistake. Or you know, two thousand eleven, I'm getting dark Nowitzki Novitsky and just an unbelievable defense.

Right So, like in the situation sans, you're not winning unless you've got the guy, not a guy, the guy you need, one of the very best guys in the league, and the Warriors have that right now is Steph Curry. I think he's the very best, uh, the very best version of himself. He's never been any better than he is right now. He is no lower than the second best player in the league, or maybe the best, depending on who you ask. I still think it's honest, but

it's certainly it's Steph. Certainly in that conversation, your two timelines plan that you've been going with Joe lake Of and Bob Meyers does not account for the fact that you have a superstar now, and the chances statistically of one of these young players turning into a superstar is extremely low. Your young guys are good. James Wiseman might be a really good two way center in this league

one day. He's got the potential to be a better version of DeAndre Ayton, you know, Moses Moody as potential to be a you know, a good scoring wing in this league that also can defend Jonathan Cominga. Sky's the limit, obviously, but he's got so far to go. But statistically speaking, the chances that one of those guys is going to be a Kauai Leonard or a Lebron James or a Jana Santana Compo or a Steph Curry are extremely low. And you're not winning unless you have one of those guys.

So while I appreciate and I respect the two timelines idea, This idea that you're going to you know, uh like, continue to stay relevant into the future as Steph ages out. I respect that. But here's the reality of the situation right now. Right now, your bench isn't good enough and it might get you beat. Right now, you're starting lineup is outstanding, and you have the second best player in the world playing at the peak of his powers. This is the group that needs to be in rested in.

If you make a trade that sends out one or two of your younger players and brings back a veteran wing or two to bolster your bench, you significantly increase your chances of winning the title this season. If you

keep all those guys. Right now, you've got the best starting lineup in the league, but you've got a terrible bench that is costing you games night in and night out, very little realistic chance that they're gonna suddenly figure it out over the course of the season, and in the future you might just have three or four interesting players, none of which are top five players in the league.

That's the risk here. I would totally understand if a guy like Jonathan cominga was struggling on the bench now, but was like a Scottie Barnes type of prospect or a Zion Williamson type of prospect, where you're sitting there and you're like, look, we gotta keep him because he's a generational prospect, could be the best player in the world one day. I get it, like Toronto being like, hey, you know, we're not gonna trade Scotty because we think

he's a generational prospect. I get that. I respect the ideology, but hanging on to these young players that are good, young players that are not superstars while sacrificing the Steph Curry window is a strategy that I personally would disagree with. If we had seen more out of the bench and it became more clear that they were potentially going to be ready in time for the postseason, then I would understand.

But you lost Gary Payton the second you lost Auto Porter Jr. You won the title largely not using the young players betting on and you let all those guys go betting on the young players being ready and they are clearly not ready. And it's not just Wiseman, it's not just Commina, it's not just Moody it's the totality of that bench line up in their inability to defend. And I this is your window. Look at how good stuff is. Another forty eight last night, A gorgeous, fun

to watch forty eight. That one a basketball game that you probably should have lost. That's the guy to put your resources behind. Don't don't waste that opportunity. So I will. We'll see, we'll see what they end up doing. But I think they need to feel a little bit more urgency around the stuff window. Alright, Celtics Grizzlies. The Celtics continue to be a frustrating defensive watch this year, really

inconsistent with their effort. You can tell they're kind of like taking out a little bit of an arrogance because they know that they can lock in for four or five minutes and the other team is just gonna suffocate to death and they'll win a game. Um. The tricky part with that as it can get you beat UH in a in a playoff series that's defined by tiny

margins if you have too many lazy stretches. And then obviously, when you have lazy stretches of basketball, you form bad habits, and it's really difficult to turn bad habits into good habits when you're in a situation of desperation. But make no mistake, they still have stretches where they really lock in defensively and they look great. And this was a great example of that against the Grizzlies. It was a

back and forth game. The Grizzlies controlled early, the Celtics controlled the middle portion of the game, but it was tied at eighty eight with nine minutes left and the Celtics just completely locked in defensively went on a seventeen to six run and won the game. They kind of had like a little bit of a classic Celtics uh, you know, blew the lead at the end, but they weren't really truly threatened. Um. But the the seventeen six run, the shot quality, the difference in the shot quality between

the two teams was was readily apparent. Jaw Moran couldn't get any drivel penetration against Boston's wings and guards. Specifically, Tatum did a really nice job on switches against Jaw and that just goes to show you what his value is as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. I still think he's the best perimeter defender in the league. Um the kinds of shots that they were getting, Like Desmond Baine took an impossible step back three in the

left corner. John Moran took another really tough step back in isolation. He ended up settling for a pull up three against Jason Tatum at the top of the key. That kind of led to the dagger run out dunk. But they weren't getting good shots when Boston locked in. And then on the other end of the floor, Boston was playing their classic driving kick basketball. Uh Tatum knocked down a three is spot up three off of a driving kick. Jaylen Brown drove and scored right at the rim.

Marcus Smart got an and one, driving to the rim and finishing with his left hand. Tatum I got a switch on to Santi al Dama and and did like a really nice like kind of pull over his head dribble and make the float, made a floater, and then on the miss John Ramp pull up, Tatum got a dunk in transition that essentially iced the game. But that's that different. You know, shot quality is going to carry you home at the end of the day. It isn't

make or misleague. But if you're just getting better shots. It's far more likely that your shots are going to get in. At the end of that game eight eight eight tied, Celtics locked in defensively and the Grizzlies could not get dribble penetration. And then the on the other end, the Celtics consistently got dual penetration. And when they lock in there just so difficult to deal with on both ends that they're gonna win a whole lot of games. Don't look now, but the Celtics are number one in

offense in the league right now. Everyone focused on the defense last year and I can't remember the exact number, but it was like from January eight to the end of the year, they were number one in defense by a mile, and that was the story of the of the Celtics last year. But they were also number one in offense over that stretch. Now, their defense still has a long way to go, like we just talked about, but their offense is coming around and they are looking really,

really good. Um Eastern Conference is so stacked, and uh, it's easy to be like, oh the Bucks, they're going to run away with it. But the Celtics are really damn good and they're and they're gonna be tough to to beat. Four times out of seven Blazers seat the heat really blew this game. They were up by nine with less than five minutes left. The Blazers end up going small, which we're gonna talk a little bit more about in a minute, um, But basically, Justice Winslow came

in for use of Nur kitchen. They played no centers at the end of the game. They went with Damian Lillard, Anthony Simon's, Josh Hart, Uh, Jeremy Grant in Justice Winslow. And a huge part of it is like Justice Winslow is so big and strong that they were able to put him on bam at a bio. And you know what's funny is like UM actually played Uh. This was one of the more wild basketball games that I played in.

But I used to get invited to these like private runs at the University of Arizona, and I was at this run one day where Justice Winslow was getting recruited

and he was choosing between Arizona and Duke. And I played in this like ridiculous series of pickup games where it was like t J McConnell, Nick Johnson, Aaron Gordon, Caleb Tarzowski, and then Justice Winslow was there on a visit, and then there were some former players in the gym as well, uh that were in town, and and and it was just this unbelievable high quality basketball, some of the most fun that I've had playing the game. But

it was funny. Is like, Uh, Justice Winslow was was like small, like he would like he he had you could tell like he had a build to him like that he would probably get big and strong, but man like, like I did not expect him to come into the league and be a guy who could guard centers. Let's

just put it that way. When I was standing next to Justice when he was eighteen years old, you were thinking something closer to like an R. J. Barrett type of build, you know, kind of like a lefty wing that was more of like a like a like a wiry, kind of lanky kind of dude. And he's built like a damn truck now, which is a huge part of what what what what? What allowed the Blazers to go small in this game because they just put him on

BAM and he did just fine. And then Josh Hart plays way bigger than he is and then Jeremy Grant is a big, long, freak athlete, and so it's kind of like a classic like small ball type of concept where the Blazers are doing a ton of switching and then everybody on the court can dribble, pass, and shoot, and it just makes them really difficult to you with on both ends of the floor, both teams really, because Miami always attends to switch. Both teams are switching everything

down the stretch of this game. But the big difference between the two attacks was the Blazers because they have more dribble creation in Miami struggles with dribble creation. They were just getting downhill to the basket. Damian Lollard drives to the basket and finishes a layup on Gabe on Gabe Vincent in isolation, you know, uh, Anthony Simon's drives on Kyle Lowry gets to the basket, makes a really

tough and one lay up. There were plenty of players where they drove and kicked and got wide open looks for Jeremy Grant who was able to knock down shots. And then on the other end of the floor, the Miami Heat were trying to run sets. So you can see the difference there both teams switching, the Blazers attacking

mismatches with their high level dribble creators. Then on the other end of the floor, it was like they were dumping it down to Jimmy Butler in the post, and then they were trying to run like split cuts and try to get wide open shots for guys office screening actions. But Portland's switching and none of that stuff is open.

And really from that four minute mark to about that two minute mark was where Miami lost this game because the Blazers were just getting better shots, and they came back and tied the game, and finally there in the last two minutes or so, Jimmy Butler figured out what he's supposed to do, which is, hey, when they're switching, you just attack and go downhill and try to get to the rim. And they finally started to make some plays. But then there at the end of the game, it

was just maker miss um. There was a player where Damian Lillard drove and kicked to Jeremy Grant in the right corner. He made it. Then they go down to the other end of the floor and Jimmy Butler misses a short little push shot in the lane. They got an offensive rebound, but then Bam committed an offensive foul, and like a chicken wing, Anthony Simmons goes down and

makes two free throws. Now they're up three. Late, Max Strus actually bailed Miami out with like an impossible three in the left corner that I don't even know how he made. But then Dame just quickly pushed the ball at the floor and drove and kicked to Josh Hart in the corner. He made the three at the buzzer to win. Kind of similar to what we were talking

about with Boston and Memphis. For the most part, down the stretch of the game, Portland got better shots because in that switching attack, they have more dribble creation, more guys that can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket and make plays. Miami really only has Jimmy Butler, and he wasn't willing to do it the first couple of minutes, and then he finally got aggressive, but it was too late. A little a little bit of a an issue starting to crop up in crunch

time for the Miami Heat. They've they've not played eight games that have registered as crunch time, meaning the score was within five with uh five minutes left, and they're three and five in those games and they can't score

or get stops. And on the Portland's side of things, you know, I think I think it's time to to to pay some respect to the rebuild here after they traded c J going after Winks and surrounding Dame Lillard and Anfony Simon's with big, athletic wings that can guard up and down position a Shans and that can pass,

dribble and shoot. This is something I've been talking about forever, and it looks hilarious juxtaposed with the Lakers who have been obsessed with going after little guards and giant centers that run slow down the floor. Right. And you know, Rob Polinka once said in a press conference, like it's a guard's league, and you know, I you know, it makes makes you if you're a Laker fan, you just want to freak out because it's like it's like, no, it's not, it's not a guards league. It's a wings league.

All the smart teams know that you need wings to win basketball games. And here we go another team that's going all in on wings and immediately seeing results from it. First of all gives you a different look because now they can go small and switch everything instead of having to play Nurkics at the center and run drop coverage.

You know, when you have that good aggregate size, like a huge strong wing in Justin Winslow and then Jeremy Grant who was really tall and lanky, and then Josh Hard who rebounds really well and plays bigger than he is, all of a sudden, the agg get size in athleticism and that group is enough to hold its own defensively, Guys, Portland's a top ten defense right now. They're at tent in defensive rating. Wings are just so incredibly valuable to the dirty work of basketball. They can cover up and

down a position, which gives you matchup flexibility. They can cover ground and transition in rotation. They're just big athletes, so their strides are longer, so running up and down the floor in transition, they move faster than everybody. Oh, you've got to cover fifteen feet in a quick rotation and contest a shooter like those guys are just better at that than a short, like small, athletically limited guard. And then another big part of it is the ability

to shoot over the top. I told you guys that Jeremy Grant made two spot up threes late in the game off of driving kicks. Neither of them were open. But when you're six eight and you have a high release point like you cannot those shots down even when you're not necessarily wide open. Whereas if you're Patrick Beverley, for instance, and you catch him on the on the wing, a good close out from a good defensive player is

going to take that shot away. Perimeter perimeter sizes is one of the most valuable things in the league right now, and all of the smart teams are going in that direction and they are seeing wins follow as a result. And you know, that is why I've been so critical of the Lakers upper management. That is why I've been critical of Genie Buss. It's because it's clear that the people that are making basketball decisions for that franchise are going in a different direction than all the smart teams

in the league. And I don't think it's a coincidence that they're struggling as a result. Shout out to Portland really turn things around in pretty quick order. Dame Lillard looks every bit as good as he used to be. Anthony Simon's looks like a great second option, and now they've got a bunch of wings, and now they can defend a really interesting team in this league, all right, quickly. On the last two games, Nets maps Um another inspired

defensive effort from the Nets without Kyrie. We talked a little bit about that last night, so I won't get into it again. A little a little bit of a late game chess match here, Kevin Durant was guarding Luca, picking him up full court. The first kind of phase of that stretch. He was chasing Luca over the top of ball screens and applying back pressure. But as a result,

one of two things was happening. Either the screen defender was helping corral Luca and now there was a double and Lucas making passes out of it to wide open shooters, or that screen defenders not helping and Lucas getting downhill with Katie trailing him, and since he's downhill, he's drawing help at the rim and kicking two shooters. And I've never really thought that was the right right way to attack Luca. Not look. Look, Luca, I think is the fourth best player in the world. I I love the

way that he plays the game. I don't think there's necessarily a proven method to stop him. However, if I was coaching, what I would do is I would switch in bait Luca into ISOs. Look, he's gonna score on you sometimes, and he might take a small defender to the basket, make a layup and tell you that you're two fffing small, and then run down the floor. He might make a tough step back three or tough step back jumper. He's gonna beat you sometimes, even on the scoreboard.

But you at least tough shots for Luca shooting over the top of the defense are better than wide open shots for good shooters. And then also fatigue plays a role. If Luca has to continue to isolate and take those tough shots, then he might fatigue and start missing. At some point, well, right around I think it was right around like two minutes left or so, Katie they made the adjustment finally, and Katie started picking up Luca full corp. But when the screen came, he just would switch, and

Lucas started missing shots and turning the ball over. And that was a big part of how Brooklyn got back into the game at the end, and Katie actually had a chance to tie it at the end of the free throw line. He just you know, left a free throw a little bit short and ended up rimming out on the other into the floor. But yeah, like during that initial stretch when Luca first, when Dallas first went on their run to I think they ended up taking

a ten point lead. During that stretch, they were Katie was chasing Luke over the top and he was just getting downhill and or drawing the double team and making passes to wide open shooters, and they were making them pay. On the other end of the floor, Dallas is making k D a pass or two. You guys probably saw all the trash talk taking place between I think it was Tony Rotten and Kevin Durant um. But I mean, that's the reality of the limitations of the Nets roster.

They can afford to just openly double team Kevin Durant anywhere on the floor because the team is not going to make them pay enough. And this has been a really inspired stretch of basketball from the Nets. Kevin Durant has been amazing. I talked about that last night, so I'm not gonna get into it again. But the reality is is this roster has serious limitations, and even though this is more of a feel good story than years past, the I still think that the best thing that could

happen here is the Nets blowing things up. It's better for Katie because he gets to go play meaningful asketball in his late thirties, and it's better for the team in the long run because they'll get assets and the capability of actually building a functional team Cow's Clippers. This was a truly impressive loss for Cleveland. They were up twelve with four and a half minutes left, and during the final four and a half minutes of the game, Carris Lavert had two wide open left corner threes off

of driving kicks. Kevin Love had a wide open kick out three that he missed, and both Darius Garland and Jared Allen missed really makeable layups at the rim. Darius Garland missed like a right handed lay up on the left side of the rim that he just shot a little long, and then Jared Allen, I thought had an opportunity to take a little hook shot. Instead, he like palmed the basketball and tried to like throw it down into the rim and he missed it. And then on

the other end of the floor. The Clippers were really opportunistic with their offense. Norman Powell made six straight free throws. He got fouled on a cut on a a Marcus Morris post up when his defender turned his head. He just cut back door, which was smart. He got fouled on a defensive rebound by Carris Lavert, so just competing on the glass earned him two ext of free throws.

And then there was a play where he drove out of the left baseline and Carris LeVert flopped to try to draw a charge, which flopping in late game situation is never a good idea. He ended up getting called for a block. So suddenly it was a six point game because Norman Powell went to the line and made

six straight free throws. Then Darius Garland through a pick six the Terrence man for a dunk, although there was a weird sequence on the dunk where Terrence Man like literally grabbed the net with his left hand and pulled himself up and then dunked it with his right hand. Calves were pissed about that, but they didn't get the call.

All of a sudden, it's four point game. Then Darius drives down again and turns it over to Reggie Jackson and then just immediately fouls Reggie Jackson in the backcourt, so two more free throws. So they literally gifted the Clippers ten consecutive points through basically a pick six, and then four silly fouls. One of them I suppose it was on a back cup, but the three of the

fouls were silly. And then on the last possession of the game, where the last possession of the run, Jared Allen missed a layup at the rim, which we're gonna come back to that play because I thought it was interesting. And then uh norm Pale Ray Now got a transition lay up to tide the game two at at one twelve. Then from there Darius Garland missed a step back three.

Were under a minute now, Darius Garland missed a step back three, and then uh Tyler drew up a really smart play where they started at Paul George on the right block and had him run off of a curl to get Isaaca Coro trailing him, and as a result,

Paul George was able to get downhill. Isaaca Coro continued to track him and ride his hip and Paul George ended up elevating through contact and making a really nice lay up um to put them up one sevent and then the twelve, and then the Clippers played the foul contest and one they ended up fouling Darius Garland. He ended up missing a free throw um, so obviously Paul Paul George hit would essentially amounted to the game winner. But I thought the biggest play of that game was

probably Paul George contesting Jared Allen on the rent. So remember it was one twelve to one ten after the Darius turnover against Reggie Jackson where he committed the foul, and Darius Garland drives to the basket, gets drivel penetration, gets downhill, and Paul George, who was guarding Jared Allen on this particular play of I think because of the

switch um, ends up corralling Darius under the basket. Darius throws a really nice hook pass that hits Jared Allen by himself basically at the charge circle, and Paul George turned instead of just conceding the dunk, which if he concedes the dunk, no one even really says anything because he was wide open. And then you're down four with a minute left and the game is probably over. But instead he turned and just jumped as high as he

possibly could, knowing he might even get dunked on. But in the process Jared Allen, instead of taking a short hook shot, ended up trying to kind of like finish downward at the basket after palming the basketball, and he missed the layout, which led to the transition opportunity where

Norman Palletie the game. So instead of conceding the layup and effectively the game, Paul George put his body on the line and make a defensive play, got a stop that led to a transition opportunity, and then he hit the game winner, so really stealing a victory from the jaws of defeat by Paul George. UM. Some bad luck from Cleveland there too, like I said, they missed all of their good looks during down that stretch. Also some bad process, some turnovers, a few bad offensive possessions, a

few bad step back three's um. And then also really good execution from the Clippers competing on defense like I said with Paul George earlier, and then getting easy points without having to score against Cleveland's half court defense by manufacturing points of the foul line and getting out in transition. A couple of notes on the Clippers Paul George. He had a weird start to the season. He was held the sixteen points are fewer and four of his first

five games. But in the last five games he's avaging thirty one, six and five on fifty percent from the field, and from three he's getting back downhill. He's up back up to three point two restricted area makes per game on eight four percent. Remember that's a huge indicator for Paul George. When he's like less than two restricted area makes per game, he's shooting too many jump shots. His game starts to fall apart. When he gets over three.

That's when he's like superstar Paul George three level score. He's also shooting in this five game stretch on eleven point four pull up jumpers per game. When you've got six eight Paul George defending like an all defense guy three level score. Hitting on eleven plus pull up jumpers per game. That dude's a superstar. And when he's playing like that, it makes the Clippers a lot more interesting, especially if they can never get Quiet Leonard back, which

is a whole other story. Clippers themselves four and one in their last five. John Wall himself is also up to four restricted area makes per game in this five game stretch. That's again, that's the key. They gotta get dribble penetration. We talked a lot about that during our most disappointing teams. The offense is a little better their twenty two during the span, which is better than them being at the bottom of the league like they had been. But they still have a long way to go to

get to where they need to be offensively. But they're trying in the right direction and they're winning, which is all that matters when you're trying to float in the standings when a star is out. All right, that is all I have for today, guys, has always, I sincerely appreciate your support. Tomorrow night, we're covering Nick's nets after

the opening the early Slate live on AMP. That'll be right around eight, right around seven thirty PST, and then um Lakers Clippers in the evening, we'll be breaking that game down live on YouTube right after the final buzzer. As always, I sincerely appreciate you, guys, and I will see you tomorrow. The volume