Hoops Tonight X Nerd Sesh - Anthony Edwards & Timberwolves BIGGEST threat to Jokic & Nuggets + Are Suns doomed?

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an incredible start to your week. We have the guys from Nerds, says Logan and Carston coming on the show today. We're gonna bounce around the first round. We're gonna hit on four different series from a different perspective. We're gonna protectives.

We're gonna talk about the rise of Anthony Edwards, whether or not the Wolves are the biggest threat to beat the Denver Nuggets, where the Phoenix Suns go from here, and we're gonna talk a little bit about Lakers Nuggets and whether or not that series has any potential to get interesting down the stretch Mats Clippers tied it to heading home for Game five for the Clippers, that's gonna

be an interesting one. And then we're gonna get into Sixers Nix, which is at three to one, but there's some optimism on both sides, so we're gonna talk about whether or not that series is over. You guys know the job before we get started. Subscribe to a brand of YouTube channel so you don't miss any more videos. Following me on Twitter at underscore jsonlt so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about a podcast feed

where we get your podcast under Hoops tonight. Keep dropping mail back questions in the YouTube comments so we can hit a couple more throughout the end of this playoff front. All right, Logan and Carson, So I go to check on last night's game. Last night, we ended up taking the evening off, spend some time with my friends. It was a very nice e to kind of relax for

a little bit. Then again on my phone and there's a video going around and it's Anthony Edwards with one of the most preposterous dunks given the stakes in the situation that I've ever seen and this morning, I sit down over my coffee and I watch the game, and I am completely blown away by what I'm seeing from Anthony Edwards because lost in the shuffle of the dunk.

at him and flexes at him. This is unbelievable, Like future of the League, all altering stuff that we're seeing

from Anthony Edwards. And to be clear, I feel like all three of us have been super high on ant and we've all known that this was his potential. But he's getting there, way, way, way faster than we thought he was going to. He's basically there right now. He's on the tier with the guys at the top of the league. That's the level we're seeing from Anthony Edwards so far in this playoff run thirty one points, eight rebounds, and six assists per game on sixty five percent true shooting,

substantial leaps over his regular season numbers. This is stuff that is special. Am I using too much hyperbole here? Or is aunt really worthy of this type of praise, Carson, once you start us off.

so he has to sustain that to be playing at this sort of ridiculous overwhelming level. But the shot making from mid range, off the bounce from beyond the arc has just been sensational. And we can focus on the special scoring because like that is the lead story here, But this man is also very clearly right now one of the ten to fifteen best perimeter defenders on the planet. And Jade McDaniels is the star of the perimeter defense

and Rudy Gobert is the star on the interior. But what Ant has done consistently applying ball pressure with this overwhelming length, I mean, some of the plays that he has made as a helper, blowing up a Devin Booker block in this game. He's had multiple plays like that, some of the high IQ plays that he's made, forcing turnovers, generating.

effectively attack. It's incredible what we're seeing from ant And the biggest test that he has had to face is can you hold up as a decision maker and can

you hold up as a pull up shot maker. That was clearly how Phoenix was going to test him from game one of this series, consistently sending doubles his way, sending hard help, and for the most part he really has I don't want to overreact just to four games, though, especially in a favorable matchup against a team that is lacking in point of attack defense and is lacking in rim protection and when Ant has been so much better as a pull up shooter than we normally expect from him,

This dude is really really great. But you still see a clunker in game two where those pull up jumpers aren't falling, and like, that's a lower floor than you see from a lot of the guys who we want to say and is playing at that level right now.

Minnesota is just a title contender, period, point blank. With this defense that is one of the best that we've seen, if not the best, in the last decade, with an offensive supporting cast that is delivering, and with him playing at that superstar level bona fide, where right now you feel like he could go toe to toe with a lot of these established superstars.

Anthony Edwards. I agree with you, Carson. I think the pull up shooting is just bound to balance itself out a little bit where he's gonna have a few more duds and I think that he's gonna go up against better defensive personnel. But I've said this all playoffs long, and I've said this coming in man Ant's mentality, he is just breadfoot of moment like and is one of the most mentally tough. I don't know if you saw

this one, Jason. I mentioned this on our show. He went on with SVP and SVP asked him about his mentality, and this is his quote, I just want to kill everything in front of me man like and is a just one of the fiercest, nastiest competitors. And I think in these high intensity moments. I know it's a cliche like this guy just steps up to the moment, but Ant gives me that, like I just I have this. He feels like a superhero almost, you know what I mean.

It's like mythical like I want to get and his cape man again, I think I think it's gonna balance out a little bit. But his POI in his control offensively over the game for how young he is, is so impressive to me. Like Carson, you touch on the playmaking. That's been one of the things I've been most impressed with in this series. Dude, realizing that there's doubles on the back end, realizing that you know, just knowing when

to pass the ball. These are things that younger Anthony Edwards a year or two ago, he would have driven into a crowded paint, you know, he would have settled for a tough jumper when there's double coming. Like he is taking what the defense gives them and making them pay every time. And you're right, dude, this level that he's at, I agree with you, dude. I think the t Wolves are a legit contender, and he's at a top ten level right now. I'm waiting for him to

come back to earth. But I don't know, man, I think Ed just might be that guy, and this might be the guy that we get the rest of the run. Dude, he's got He's special, man, He's super special. But this is way ahead of schedule. Guys.

the way, you know, I'm busting your ass right. It's very much like this is like it's very much this like hilarious, like authentic yet respectful, like trash talk confidence that he has that I that I really like. I think we've all three of us have had aunt as like a guy that we think is wired the right way and that has the potential to become the best player in the league one day. That's always been a

capability of his. It's all about the timing. And again, like you know, some of we had pessimism surrounding the Wolves primarily centered around their half court shot creation and for the record, twenty six five and five on fifty eight percent of shooting in the regular season, and so that was kind of what we were basing that on thirty one eight and six on sixty five percentra shooting in the playoffs, that's a different player that does fundamentally

alter the calculus of the team. I also thought my Conley was way better in this series, particularly with his shot making, than I was expecting. They just they just

have kind of aced that test. And you know, it's funny because like there are spots where I agree with what you were saying, Carson, in spots where I disagree in terms of like Game two, for instance, Game two to me was actually a really interesting case of ants development in the sense that his pull up jump shot wasn't falling, but there was an important stretch in a third quarter where he was beating the hedge and recover.

They were thrown at him with U Banks with the pass instead of with you know stupid, you know, forcing shots and forcing and over penetrating and stuff like that. And between that and what he did defensively in that game, I thought it was a pretty strong indicator of a high floor for Ant And like, honestly, when it comes to pull up shooting, there's really never been a pull up shooter in the history of the league that's like not capable of having two or three games in a

series where he doesn't shoot as well. That's just kind of part of the deal, I think. I think the reason why his pull up shooting has translated so well to the playoffs has a lot to do with the physicality and his athleticism. Like a couple examples like that turn around left shoulder fade Hee over Bradley Beal in the fourth quarter. He just gets such great lift and such great separation compared to the other athletes in these situations.

The dead giveaway too, is like when you get great lift, you can actually see it in the release from the shooter, where you can just tell he's got that like feathery, like the snap of the wrist at the end, whereas like when a player doesn't get enough lift he kind of has to chuck the ball a little bit and so it looks a little more janky in the release.

And like Ant raised up for like a thirty thirty two footer at the end of that game and from the top of the key, and you could just see he got such great lift because he's so athletic and he's got the stamina that a lot of these guys doesn't don't have in this situation that he's able to just kind of rise up in knock shots down and it. And but where I do agree with you, Carson, is like Ant being this good changes the calculus. It simply does.

If he's this good, it goes from you know, a Wolves team with this defense that does not have high level half court shot creation is a is a lower level contender. With Ant playing at this level and with Conley playing the way he's playing, and honestly, the whole team is feeding off the confidence that Ant's bringing.

Jokic right now. And so like that's again now, sustaining is what you have to do to maintain that spot. But through four games, the Wolves have been the second most impressive team in my opinion, and they've been an Ant has been the second most impressive player. So now the group that's in front of him the for Nuggets. They obviously are in a little bit of a situation with the Lakers where they're gonna have to win one more game and there's some stuff there that we're gonna

get into when we get into that series. But I do believe the Nuggets will win, and NBA history tells us they will win. So and we'll start with you, Logan. Do you view the Wolves as the biggest threat to the Nuggets at all in the league, let alone in the Western Conference? And that means we're including Boston in that equation.

know what I mean. The reason that Phoenix was throwing so many bodies at Ant was because nobody could hold him, like it was so easy. Whatever he did, he just exploded. And he was at the mid range, he was at the rim. It was you blank and he's there, you know. So Phoenix had to divert that kind of defensive attention. And I wonder if Denver has to do the same thing, Like I don't know who stays in front of Ant.

I think Denver has better personnel. But it's like when you move, like say you wanted to put Aaron Gordon on Anthony Edwards for example, Well, then on the backside, you're just losing size in a different matchup where you know the rules are huge, where you're putting a small guy on cat now and so I think physically along with that, they match up really well with Denver in just terms of size and bodies they could throw at Yokich, Like, I mean, I think the biggest variableys that we touched

on is Anthony Edward's gonna play at this level. Like if he's not, then you know, I don't think they have a shot at beating Denver. But the rest of the team is playing well too, dude, outside of ant because it all starts with him, right, That's when I'm talking about them throwing bodies at him too. The ball movement, I thought has been amazing for Minnesota. I think they're deeper than Denver as well too, like this bench man, having guys like Nikhil Alexander Walker able to come off

the bench, nas Reed like Kyle Anderson. They've just got a lot of guys that can give them solid minutes too, a lot of different lineup combinations. All the guys can space the floor. The Nuggets are deep, man, they can shoot, They have a rock solid defensive formula, and I don't know who can say in front of Anthony Edwards, like, yeah, I do think they're the best shot at the Nuggets and I wonder if I don't know if the winner of that series is going to go on to win

the title. I wonder if you know the winner of that series should be the favorite. I think that's my most highly anticipated matchup of this playoff field, man, more than maybe even the hypothetical of Denver Boston. We'll get there when we get there, but by far, this is the series I'm most excited for. And I do think the Timberwolves pose the biggest threat, just especially the way that they can negate like Denver's rebounding advantage too.

proportions and they consistently dominated Phoenix. They played a level of defense both on the perimeter and the interior that nobody in the league can match.

so good. They have so many competent and really high level perimeter defenders who are then also good shooters and decision makers, Like there was just no reality in which Phoenix was even going to be competitive in that series. That was incredible what we just saw for Minnesota. And the scariest thing is ans a Cent seemingly to being at this legit superstar level and what that does for the entire team offense, because that was the concern with

this team. I still had Minnesota as my number four contender overall going into the playoffs because I believed in this defense being so exceptional and I really like their physical advantages. But the concern was can they produce at the level necessary in the half court to have the

ceiling to knock off at Denver. They just posted the best offensive rating of any team in the playoffs so far in this series, and so that is a meaningful, meaningful difference, and it makes them a terrifying matchup for Denver because we already know they match up physically way better than anybody else. They guard Denver way better than anybody else. They have absolute hounds at the point of attack for Jamal Murray, who has really struggled in this

series and now has a CAF strain. Seemingly that does not bode well when you have to deal with Jade McDaniels and you have to deal with Anthony Edwards and Nikil Alexander Walker. They have consistently guarded Nikole Jokic better than anybody else. He went on this unstoppable run throughout

the playoffs last year. I think if you take his stats outside of the Timberwol series, he averaged something like thirty three points per game on sixty seven percent true shooting, and in that series he was at like twenty seven a game on fifty seven percent truth shooting. He still gave them work, but he had to work a lot harder than anybody else because they have multiple looks they can throw at him. Go Bare in single coverage will guard him as well as anybody on the planet.

and I would pick them. But it's not close between anybody else out west, Like Minnesota has very clearly climbed into the Boston Denver tier that I felt was kind of impenetrable. I felt it was those two teams and everybody else all year. And now the teams that I had alongside Minnesota Dallas, they're just not playing at nearly as convincing a level.

McDaniels on Jamal Murray. We know that Jayden is in my opinion, the best perimeter defender in the league, and he can do some real damage there. Did a really good job on Devin Booker in the series. For the most part, I think they would put Ant on Michael

Porter Junior. I think they put Conley on KCP, and I think they would just trust Aunt to be the best closeout guy to be able to sprint back to MPJ and chase him off the line with the athleticism to contest they We all knew that they had that capability defensively, but the offensive end of the floor, just Denver is a substantially bigger and better defensive squad, and so there's no doubt that that would have been a

bit that's going to be a bigger challenge. And my pessimism surrounding the Wolves going into that matchup before seeing Ant at this level would have simply been that Denver would do a better job of slowing down Minnesota's offense than Minnesota would do to Denver. That very very way, very well maybe the case, and that's probably why I'm

going to pick Denver. That I agree that gap has closed substantially just because for one, Ant looks better and Jamal looks worse, and that's just a substantial kind of like kind of gap closer, so to speak. And so do I do think the Wolves have that potential. I think there are certain match up things that will be

interesting over the course of the series. Like I believe Denver guarding Minnesota Will Cacp obviously is a guy that theoretically matches up well, but we just saw I mean, Bradley Beal is a better athlete, THANKCP, and he had no chance against Ant in the last series, and so I think there will be an athleticism and size advantage there. I wonder if we'll actually end up seeing Aaron Gordon spend any time on Ant, but then you have the Carl Towns problem, so that could be that could be

an issue. Like I think we'll see the high drop coverage kind of similar to what Frank Vogel showed to show to Ant to try to kind of test his playmaking. But he made the plays for the most part in that first round series. And so again it's gonna be a different challenge that like the half court offense stuff is crazy. So Minnesota had a scored one hundred and five points per one hundred half court plays against Phoenix. That was the third best half court offense number in

the NBA, behind Indiana and Boston. Here's a big factor that will probably shift in the Denver series. The Wolves grabbed forty percent of their own misses in the half court, So, like, that's insane. And Denver, obviously, especially with their starting five, is just a much better defensive rebounding team. So it'll be an interesting series. But yeah, like there's no doubt

that it's going from before the series. If you would before the playoff run, if you would have just told me, like, hey, Wolves in Denver are going to meet in the second round, who do you got? I would have been like, Denver comfortably. You know, you guys know I had the Wolves down at like eight in my contender list because that was how pessimistic I was about.

the finals, I'd give Boston a good chance. But I think actually Minnesota has a better chance to beat them than Boston simply because they have this like very clear identity that's forming, which is like they defend like crazy every single night, which we have seen for Boston is not part of their identity. Game two against Miami was one of the worst playoff defensive efforts I've seen from a serious team ever in my time covering the league. And in addition to that, there's like a little bit

of a funky hierarchy in Boston. They still don't really know what they like to go to in pivotal situations at the end of games. It's very clear as you see down the stretch of the Sun Series, like they run their stuff. But once it gets into the final, you know, six seven minutes of the fourth quarter, it's just a steady diet of ant and he's just going to work on all these different spots on the floor. I think I think that they are a better defensive

team with better defensive personnel there. I think I think Minnesota is playing right now at a level that is more capable of bringing the consistency you need to hang with Denver, Whereas I think Denver would capitalize on Boston's down stretches and that could be an issue. So I think both teams have a good chance to beat Denver, but I think the Wolves actually have a little bit

better of a chance. So before we move on to Lakers Nuggets, I want to talk a little bit about the Suns because they're gonna be the biggest story around the league today for obvious reasons. So you're the Suns, you make a trade where you'd send Cam Johnson and

Michale Bridges and draft compensation to the Brooklyn Nets. You get Kevin Durant, right, you lose in the second round to Denver, but you get two games off of them on the strength of some historic pull up shooting from Devin Booker, like just off the charts pull up shooting.

that one as well, if I remember correctly. So, like you, you're all in in this situation, and it seems like you're not close. And even further, you're specifically struggling in some areas that are pivotal in the playoff run. They're struggling in the physicality. They're struggling with ball pressure, they're struggling on the glass, like we talked about, they're giving up an offensive rebound on forty percent of their opponent's missus this first round series. So you seem completely and

utterly physically overmatched. So where do the Suns go from here?

have the resources to change that. And in a lot of ways, this was a nightmare matchup for Phoenix, which is funny because I think often it was framed as sort of being the inverse and just there was the concern that Phoenix is pull up shooting and offensive skill is going to be so great and things are going to get ugly for Minnesota, and can they guard in space with these two big looks. But it ended up being just as convincing a demonstration of bullyball as we

have seen. Nobody who can physically hold up with Ant, Nobody who can consistently challenge go Baar and Cat on the glass. Nobody you could guard Cat in single coverage. And I don't see how those things get better for Phoenix if they continue to build around this big three because they have nothing. They have one first round pick that is not either being traded away or where they're getting the worst end of a swap through twenty thirty.

They also have one second round pick, and that is the worst end of a swap.

But the more removed we get from that, the more I think, Gosh, I just can't imagine any circumstances in which I would want three years of Bradley Beal at this value. And I wonder like, would you have just been better off sitting through another year of CP which obviously means you can't contend, but to not have to be attached to this overwhelmingly negative asset, because when I think about how they can proceed, obviously, in a dream world you trade Bradley Beal, that's not going to happen.

Nobody is taking that on. That is probably the worst contract in the NBA today. I don't think you can

trade Devin Booker to me, just from an organizational morale perspective, that would be so devastating for like the plan to be We're gonna mortgage our future. These players who are fan base loves in mcal Bridges and Cam Johnson.

two because CP three had just regressed too far. It was clear that DeAndre Ayton was not gonna be the guy that he was in that twenty twenty one playoff run that they hoped he could ever be.

I would probably trade Kevin Durant though, because I don't think you can trade Book and to me, you just can't run it back with this same core when there are so many obvious limitations, like the level of play that you're getting from your role players is not even close to cutting it. Book and Katie played as well offensively as they could in Game four and you still lost. They combined for eighty two points. That speaks to just the inadequate so inadequacies of this roster, and you can't

build that out using all minimum contracts. They try to do it this past year, and it just ultimately doesn't work. If you trade Kevin Durant and you get multiple really high level role players, you get a really good point of attack defender.

slightness and just being so meh on the perimeter. If you just get some dogs in here with book and Beal, maybe there's a higher ceiling there. But honestly, I don't even know if that moves the needle. I think either way, the Suns are just destined to be like a solid

playoff team for the next few years. And if they would rather say, let's continue to put Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the basketball court together because we think that's best for our fans morale, then I understand that perspective. But I don't see any path here that opens up a tidal ceiling. They are just so far behind Denver, so far behind Minnesota, so far behind OKC, who is only gonna get better as two of your stars are

just gonna slowly continue to trend downwards. It's an exceptionally brutal situation that they're in.

Not only do we question the Beal trade, I think maybe you questioned the KD trade because you're thinking about the assets that you gave up. He gave up two great three and D wings that just work in a team context, and a bunch of draft picks. You know you'd rather have those assets back, I think if you were to do it over again. And the thing about Phoenix too, is it really is just a fundamental roster

construction issue. I think the Knicks and the Timberwolves have given us really good blueprints on how to consistently win in the playoffs. Like both of these teams have one clear like offensive superstar right Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson behind them. It is a bunch of guys that are

going to defend their ass off. They're gonna do their jobs, They're gonna play really physical and do their roles like those players are really valuable, and I just don't see any anything that Phoenix could do to reach that level defensively that they need to or to match up physically and on the glass. Like there's just there's no way that they can reach that level. And we were talking about this last night. So it's like, do you that that's the tough part about trading away Kevin Durant?

the risk of losing everybody. So yeah, I think you just got a retool, Like you just the Sons cannot compete with their cap tied up, they have no money to give to the rest of this team, and it's just going to handicap them for being a serious basketball team. I think the route is to trade KD. And that is such a tough, you know, bullet to bite because KD is still so good for how old he is, and you gave up so many assets to go and get him. But I just think it's the smarter decision.

I think your team is going to be better off in the long run, and you're just gonna be deeper, And I think you got to run it back with D Book and Deal and hope it works out. But yeah, like you mentioned, of course, I think the sad reality is the Suns aren't gonna be in the championship contention anyway. They've got three teams that are just concretely better than them out West, and one is just so clearly the favorite, and then two are ascending right now and the Sons

are going down. But I would go for depth over star power. Man, I don't think you're building a serious basketball team with KD, Beal and Book, especially with all the money that you got tied up in them.

kick in and everyone's involved. But for the most part, it wasn't like that, right, I thought, honestly, the report last night the complete acxing of Frank Vogel, which is one of the lamest things I've seen, considering like the players just didn't get the job done and all of them turned on the coach at the end of the year.

And there's another conversation to have about Frank Vogel because like, this is the second team in a row that you're basically going to fire him simply because they don't listen to him. Which is maybe that just as a strong indicator that Frank, because I think Frank knows his stuff. I think it more is like I think Frank needs to coach a younger, more impression team. I don't think you can put him in charge of a bunch of

older superstars. I just it's clear there's back to back teams now where even though he's doing his job, they just don't they don't respect him for whatever reason. I thought the dead giveaway was that Devin Booker quote about Frank Vogel in the film room, where like they he was asked about it, and Devin's response was like a little condescending and a little bit like yeah, Frank is proud of his film work, like and it was very

like weirdly diminishing. And when I heard that, I was like, Oh, like, you guys don't even respect this guy for the work he's putting in to try to help you with games.

But basically, the the the Sons worked about the floor and they set a ball screen for Beale out by half court and Anthony Edwards falls over and kind of like tweaks his ankle and in the sequence, Eric Gordon pops to the right wing. He's standing at the three point line wide open, and Bill misses him and instead Devin Booker's kind of standing in the short corner with Rudy Gobert on him. And one of the biggest issues with the Suns all series is they thought, oh, I've

got Rudy Gobert, this is a matchup. It's like, no, it's not. It's definitely not. And so he throws the ball to Devin Booker and you could see on the right wing, Kevin Durant's in the corner and he's pointing at Eric Gordon like he's open, and if you throw it to Eric Gordon, one of two things is going

to happen. Either no, Either Cat's not going to close out from the corner and he's gonna get a wide open catch and shoot three, or Cat's gonna close out and Eric Gordon can either make the extra pass or rack to the right and kick out to Katie who's

gonna get an open three. And instead that doesn't happen, and Booker tries to iso go Bear can't shake him because big shot gets pretty gobert, and then he ends up launching like a cross court pass that hits KD with less than four seconds on the shot clock, and he has to take this like impossible left shoulder fade over Nikaile Alexander Walker. And when I saw that, I was like, this is literally like a perfect encapsulation of what Katie is saying. And it's to me, that's not

on Vogel. To me, that's on the general manager. When you put yourself in a position where Kevin Durant is spotting up in the corner while guys are are are you know, missing reads with the ball in their hands, that to me is a strong indicator of like, Okay, I could have a Jaden McDaniels over there, because if all he's gonna do is stand in the corner, I'd rather have a specialist and in terms of a use of resources, that makes more sense right now where I so,

I thought it was a strong signal that the three star build really only works if they're perfectly complimentary, and if they're not, it's not going to work. And there is a redundancy there really with all three of them, but especially with Beale and Booker, because you're talking about two guys that can run ball screens and can make plays that they're not super high level like run the

team playmakers, right. They can't like Bradley Beal can defend on the perimeter, but that's not like what he's made his money doing in the NBA, right. Kevin Durant even as a forward, like he he there's things that he can do, and then there's things that he excels at, right, and like there's so much of that that overlaps with that group. And so what I wonder sometimes is you almost have to consider looking around the league to see if you could offload one of the stars and get returned.

The question is which you guys both say, Kay, I actually disagree and here's why.

weird year. The year after COVID, the two or three best teams in the league, like Miami and the Lakers and the Nuggets were all decimated by injuries and couldn't make it into deep playoff runs. So, like, it was kind of a weird season. And so let me just quick rapid fire bounce around to you guys. We'll start with you Logan, Like, do you actually think Devin Booker can be the best player in a championship team in this NBA with the guys at the top of the league.

and you get some role players back. I don't think you're in a demonstrably better position than you are now, right, But if you flip Devin Booker and you actually get like awesome players back, let me just give you, guys one example. I just thought of this one yesterday. I actually texted it into the Red Carson you might have seen it. But what if they called Orlando and they're like, we want Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac, and Wendell Carter Junior,

you can have Devin Booker. If I'm Orlando, I'm like, holy shit. I compare Devin Booker with Paolo and Franz, Like we'll figure out the rest. Like this could be a special star pairing. And Pallo would be the guy that you'd look at as the guy who could be a Number one in the future, right, and he had you know, he's obviously starting to kind of pop in

the playoffs, right. So Like, then, if you're the Suns, you're getting back a legitimate athlete at center, a legitimate front court defensive, two way athlete, one of the most exciting ones in the league. And Jonathan Isaac, I'll be at one with with some health concerns, and I'm getting Jalen Suggs, one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and a guy that can knock down threes. Now I'm running out of lineup with Suggs, Beal, Kadie, Isaac,

Wendell Carter Junior. Now, am I better than Denver and Minnesota and all those teams? Probably not, but I'm way closer to them in my opinion in terms of the ability to hang physically. And all I really gave up is a guy that wasn't good enough to be the

best player on a championship team to begin with. So like, whereas if you were to trade KD or you were to trade Bradley Beal, there's just no chance you get that return, Whereas with Booker at his a and at his level, you have a real chance to get really good players back. So first of all, we'll go We'll start with you. Carson will bounce back around. But if you were or who says no to that deal, Orlando or Phoenix, and does my reasoning make any sense to you?

future now for a real, real outside shop. Maybe at true contention, but I do think that that is definitely a better basketball team than what the Suns had this year. And I do agree that although all three of these stars to me are redundant as not great playmaking, not consistently rim pressuring, not even volume three point shit primarily on ballplayers, Like there's a reason that this offense, even with all these stars, was good but not great throughout

this year. All of their issues beating great perimeter defenders like who Minnesota has off the bounce, like the lack of real high end quickness.

Do you not think you can get two of those guys back for Katie, Like instead of getting sugs in Isaac and Wendell Carter, what if it's just sugs in Isaac. Because I don't think that's an unreasonable haul for Kevin Durant. And at that point, if I'm getting that sort of exchange rate, then I would rather have Devin Booker long term. Because I also don't think Kevin Duranta the best guy on the title team right now. I think they are

right in the same range. To me, they are both right outside the top ten.

Katie was playing at a higher level at that point, but they gave a ridiculous haul. You're not gonna get that, of course, but I still think you can get good enough players to where it's reasonable to say, Okay, maybe we could be slightly better giving him up and getting back quality role players for next year.

is the heart and soul of this city. Man, I don't think that. I think the fan base would riot. I don't know if they show up the games. I understand what you mean, though, Like in terms of just straight up trade value, I think you would get more for Booked than KD. But I just don't think you can do that to the fan base. But I love the hypothetical trade. I think that's mutually beneficial to both sides.

The Magic, who have just this grimy, grimy, nasty offense at points, finally gets an offensive creator who's reliable, and then Phoenix just has more quality basketball players, which is just what they desperately need. So I like the deal. I think that if they can get something like that done where they just get more quality guys in terms of a two for one, a three for one, I would do it. But I'm with Carson on this one.

I feel at this point with the play. All these guys, I don't think any of them are number ones, but I think just eliminating another guy who wants the ball in his hands is going to do wonders for this team and getting a guy who's going.

more powerful asset to get a return. You know, I was talking through some options with the Suns fan yesterday, Suns fan friend of mine, and I was just kind of, you know, just kind of putting some ideas out there in the Knicks related one I came out with because again, you're you're looking for a team that has Again, if you're trading Booker, it has to be a younger team, right because, like to your point, Carson, I don't think you can trade KD to Orlando because why the hell

would Orlando want KD? Him and Polo play the same position, and it's a fundamentally different timeline, and you're you're just more optimistic about the long term development of Suggs and Wendell, Carter Junior and Isaac. Anyway, right now, when it comes to trading KD, you're primarily looking for a team that is looking for a secondary star but is on a more urgent timeline, and the Knicks are the team that kind of make a lot of sense to me. I

was thinking teams like the Knicks or the Warriors. So the Knicks trade would be like if you call New York and you want Ogn Nanobi and Mitchell Robinson, like something like that, would you make that type of move? And I think if the Knicks traded Og Anobi for Katie, they'd be there'd be a little bit of a of a riot because of OG's contribution during this run. So that's what that one's hard to conceptualize. Okay, it's the Warriors they go after, you know, Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan

Kaminga or something like that. Like Warriors fans would not like giving up Kaminga. They especially under the tightness of the window that they'd have to contend with there. I'm not even sure if the Suns would view Andrew Wiggins as much of a of a of a you know, swing piece for them. It's really hard to conceptualize those types of deals because Kadi's value was fundamentally different when

he was traded to Phoenix than it is now. He was viewed in the Phoenix trade as a guy who could put you over the top to win a championship. I don't necessarily think teams are gonna see that with the same value nowadays. And and and again, it's gonna

be it's gonna be interesting to see again. I just pitched the Booker one because to me, it's about like self awareness and identifying that like, as good as Booker is, he needs to be the Kyrie to a Lebron or Luca, not the not the guy that you're actually building around. And so you don't have that guy. So like maybe

maybe that is the case. Maybe you look at it more in terms of draft compensation, and you flip Booker for just a shit ton of draft compensation and then you're fun and entertaining and you're a mediocre playoff team with Katie and Beale while you build through the draft. Like I don't know, but like the point is is we and we started this conversation at the top of the topic, but they're just they're just screwed. Yeah, there's

there's no real way around it. Were we are discussing a lot of we're discussing a poo poo platter of options.

and they're trying, but they're not desperate and urgent. Desperate and urgent is a whole other level, and you cannot manufacture that. You can't fake that. You either feel it or you don't. And certainly the Lakers in Game four

brought an urgency and desperation that Denver doesn't have. I think Denver will approach Game five like that, because they sure as hell don't want to come back to the Lakers home building for Game six and then find themselves in a position where they might have to play Game seven. So I think we're gonna get a must win effor from the Nuggets tonight, and I think they're going to win convincingly. That said, if I'm a Lakers fan and I'm looking for some reasons for optimism, first of all,

the Lakers have actually won the half. They're getting ninety eight points per one hundred half court plays. The Nuggets are only getting ninety six. Now the Nuggets are mitigating that on the offensive glass, although the Lakers did hold up better on the glass in Game four. In addition to that, the Lakers have led the vast majority of the series. So I do think the Lakers have a chance to go in and beat Denver tonight.

throughout this series. He's been super religant on those pull up jumpers as he often is, but they just are not falling in this one. La checked a lot of the boxes that they need to in Game four, and that you've consistently had great offensive ad throughout this series, who has given Jokic work in single coverage and has been so effective out of pick and roll. His touch shot making has just been incredible. He was also phenomenal on the glass, and I thought that was his best

defensive game. You had that hyper aggressive Lebron that we got, similar to Game four last year, when I thought he was phenomenal, where he's just not messing around, Like, yes, his jumper has been amazing this year, but he is just going to physically bully you, relentless mismatch attacking some of the guys who held up on him in Game two down the stretch off switches, Jamal Murray, Christian Brown KCP was his primary assignment down the stretch of Game two,

Like he was just bullying those dudes. It was such an efficient offensive performance, the cutting off of the eighty short role, and then you got the d Lo and Austin Reeves that you've needed all series. Those guys were awesome his pull up shooters, so like that was the vision for how this Lakers team could make this a legitimate series. But I think the moment has passed. I think it's just way too little, too late, and Denver

has not thrown anything close, anything close to their best punch. Like, yeah, what they did in terms of that comeback in Game two was remarkable, but this team is having a horrible shooting series. They're twenty seven percent from deep. They are starting every single game super slow. In that regard, Jamal cannot play worse than he has. I legitimately just don't think he can. Like this has been such a bad

version of Jamal Murray. And so then it's like with overwhelmingly the best player on the floor with a supporting cast that has consistently been a lot better that Lakers supporting cast was so bad games one through three uncharacteristically, so I would say, But also just this beautifully assembled starting five that Denver has, where everybody fills their role at such a high level, like that is so reliable. That is how you go up three to one when you are I think, a bad shooting series. So I

don't really see a path for the Lakers. I'm interested in how they approach it. I'm interested in how hard they are doubling Jokic from the jump, because I think that we saw them find some success with that down the stretch of last game, just even when he's making accurate cross court passes at least getting the ball out of his hands, forcing the Nuggets spot up shooters to beat you.

prayer for LA winning this series. Like you are facing a much better team and you're down three to one, and that team hasn't played close to their potential.

right there like lingering around. I'm sitting there waiting for Denver to just you know, It's like I'm just waiting for Denver to stop playing. Oh I'm gonna stop playing now, you know, like when you're you know, you're just joking around and pick up and it's like, all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna flip it on. We're just gonna close the door here. That's how it felt in game four. I'm just waiting for Denver to stop playing with their food like That's kind of how I felt all series long.

And I don't know if we can expect this level from Lebron every night out, you know what I mean. And we got great Anthony Davis, we got Delo and Reeves doing their thing. Can Lebron consistently do this like he controlled? He controlled this last game, And I don't know if we can anticipate this every single possession. The mismatch attacking was brilliant, The cut off ball, the just shot quality he generated was elite. And uh, yeah, I think this series is over. I think Denver is just

a better team. There are things that I think that LA can do, but yeah, I don't think Denver has played anywhere up to their expectations. And I think we can get a perfect Lakers game, and we can get a really bad Nuggets game and They're always just going to be right there. Like I think the Nuggets can play their worst brand of basketball and still just be within ten. That's not enough for me. Like Denver can close the gap. It feels like at any given moment.

And that's why I just don't think you can ever put the Nuggets to bit. And I do think they're gonna take care of business tonight. Like I there just comes a point where I expect them to shoot better. I expect them all to have a decent game. They're just a better team. And I think the Lakers have to play perfect basketball to beat Denver. There is zero margin for error for the Lakers.

but there was the one pathway for the Lakers was kind of what happened. You steal a game in Denver and then one of the Nuggets starters kind of gets banged up, slash hurt, and suddenly the kind of calculus changes, right, and had they won Game two.

of the series. They have held up in the half court, they have gotten stronger in some specific areas. They've been better at weathering Denver's runs over the course of the series. I thought they were really good in the third quarter of the last game. Specifically, they've really destroyed Denver's defense

on the back line. They've had back to back games with seventy plus points in the paint, so like they've they've figured out a lot of stuff, but beat one stretch, which was the twenty point blown lead in Game two, basically made it so they have to be perfect. And so as a result of that, it's just too much

to ask. Like it's funny, like the op the one thing that would make me think the Lakers have a small chance of coming back from three to zero would be if Jamal Murray did not play tonight and it came out that like he literally needed to take a week off because of the CAF strain. If that happened,

I give the Lakers a small chance. But even if that happened, I would still pick Denver because Joki is still the best player in the series, because they do have two of the next three games at home, because the Lakers do have a tendency to go of the rope from time to time, and it's not so much whether or not they would do it in Game five, it's just at some point before Game seven is over, they would let go of the rope for like ten ten minutes, and Yokich would blitz them by fifteen seventeen

points and it would just be too much and it'd be over. And so I'm picking Denver no matter what. But whatever little tiny crack there was, they blew it in Game two. That was the game you have to win.

Like the better team wins the best of seven the vast majority of the time, but there are occasional times when there's an upset, and it usually involves a weird game early in the series and then some sort of injury, right, and like what ended up happening is they didn't get that weird game in the beginning of the series, and now they're in a position where they're down three to one and it's just too much to ask. So yeah, I think it's over, but I did think it was

worth checking in on. And like, here's the thing, It's gonna be a fun game. Like I think tonight is gonna be a fun game. It's gonna be a Lakers team that thinks they can win and a Nuggets team that needs to win, and I think it's gonna be I think we're gonna get a really strong indicator of the gap between the two teams. And that's why I think Denver's gonna win by double digits. I think they're gonna put their foot down and I think they're gonna

get it done, all right. Moving on to MAVs Clippers. So this series is so funny because like the narrative is as has kind of shifted back and forth on these like weird concepts. So like on the MAVs front, there's all this talk about you know, Luka on defense and whether or not he can guard some of these guys, and it's like game one he just gets cooked, and then game two he like locks everybody up, and then game four he just gets cooked. And it's like it's

kind of bizarre. And then on the Clipper side, it's like something that I don't necessarily agree with, this idea that the Clippers are better without Kawhi that I don't agree with. There's no doubt that Kawhi is not at one hundred percent. I don't think Kawhi being out on the floor barely shooting is the reason why Paul George had seven points in Game three. I think that's on Paul George, so like, so I don't necessarily lean into that.

So like, the narrative has kind of swung on these two concepts, and I think it's silly because the truth of the matter is is the Clippers are the Clippers whether or not Kawhi's out there. They still have a lot of talent and identity that they play with. And then on the Mavericks front, like they really should stop leaving Luca in these damn switches to begin with, that just shouldn't even be a factor. I cannot believe that through four games they're still switching Luca onto perimeter guys

like they've shown. I've seen it in the tape. They can pre switch and they can send a guy up that's not Luca into the screening action. They are still yet to try hedging and recovering with Luca on a guy like Terrence Man or Russell Westbrook that's not a movement shooter. Like, there's still stuff on the table. There so many better options than watching James Harden drive right around Luka donci. So like the as far as I'm concerned, the series is dead even it was dead even in

half court shot creation going into game four. The game four was a shit show of like the good and bad of both teams. I've honestly been generally unimpressed by both.

on the way. James Harden's been the best player, you know, in this series, something that I didn't expect coming into this. Man. I have been so impressed with him knocking down his pull up jump shots, getting into the teeth of the defense last game, specifically, my hat off to James man getting downhill on PJ getting downhill on Luka Doncic. I do want to mention I thought that Mavericks just made a fundamental misstep by not having Gafford or Lively out

there in the fourth quarter. We got a ton of Maxi Kleeba at the five, and I thought with how Harden.

Harden had fifteen points in the fourth quarter on six of eight shooting, consistently got to that float range, and you got a guy like Klieba who's not a vertical athlete at all, there's nobody to challenge him at the rim like Cleeba was getting beat by Harden on these floors, and then he's getting beat on the back line by Mason freaking plumbley man, Like Jason, you made a trade for Daniel Gafford so you could play a great vertical athlete and rint protector forty eight minutes, twenty four and

twenty four. However, you want to stagger it like Lively gets eighteen minutes, Gafford gets eighteen minutes, and you're giving Kaliba twenty one minutes. I like the fact that Kliba can give you a different look as a floor spacer. Is a big, physical guy that maybe you want to put on George or Leonard for stretches. But him at the five, when Harden is getting downhill every possession just foolish to me. I want more Gafford, I want more Lively,

but James Harden was doing his thing. And on the verse of this, the biggest key to me, guys, is the fact that we haven't gotten star level Luka Doncic. This is ugly. This is horrid basketball that we're seeing from Luca. The counting numbers are fine, right, he's twenty nine points tens of nine as sist Yeah, yeah, they're

always gonna be with Luca. But he's thirty nine percent from the field, twenty seven percent from deep, fifty one percent for shooting with four turnovers a game like this is and he's just getting abused defensively in some of these games, man. And it's funny you talk about some of those narratives, Jason. We got game one, Luca's a bad defender, Luca's a bad defender, and then we get game two. In game three and it's people throwing parades. I told you, guys, Luca was the best defender on

planet Earth. Why didn't you listen to me? And then the pendulum swings back on Twitter. Bottom line, I said this on our show last night, but if Luka Doncic is not the best player in this series with no Kawhi Leonard, the Mavericks aren't gonna win. Like Kyrie Irving is doing a super human effort in these horrible offensive stretches from Dallas to keep them in these games, like knocking down these tough shots, consistently generating great shots, and

Luca's not pulling his weight. I'm glad he realizes it. In the postgame presser, he goes, I feel like I'm letting down Kyrie. I'm glad he recognizes it, but to me, it's about getting downhill more, not settling as much for his three point jumper. Like when Lucas hitting these shots, it's a good look to go to and when he gets Zoo on him, it's like he's gonna make that

shot every time. I just expect that jumper to go in, so maybe keep going to the step back on suit switches, but I need him to get down hill more and to get into the teeth of the defense for It's like the Jalen Brunson quotion. Like Brunton settling for a pull up jumper is a good shot, Luca's settling for a pull up jumper is a good shot, but it's not the best shot that you could generate every possession. And what you're doing when you're settling for this jumper

is you're leaving yourself susceptible to long rebounds. You're also letting the Clippers defense just keep their breath, get their energy back up, and you're putting yourself in a bad situation and transition defense where you got to go and set up your defense fast, and you're leaving your self susceptible to easy transition buckets on the other end. So I need Luca to be more engaged defensively. I need him to get downhill more and to generate better, high

quality shots for his teammates. And I need him to

lean into the physicality of this series. I do want to give a lot of credits to the Clippers. I think they've done a good job with ball pressure and activity and making life hard on Luca. But Luca is not playing anywhere close to his standards or the level that he should be at. And again, if he's not going to be the best player on the court, Dallas is not going to win this series.

In his previous two playoff meetings against the Clippers in twenty twenty and twenty one, he was averaging five and a half restricted area attempts per game. And I understand that he tweaked his knee in Game three, so maybe that's a factor. But this was a glaring problem in games one and two. And he is still capable of getting a step off of switches, and when he does,

there are good results. He gets a step on Mason Plumley, he draws a foul, he gets a step off a switch, passes cuts, gets a layup like when he hits the paint.

back three. He's capable of nuclear performances. That's what he did to the Clippers in their previous two playoff meetings. Like, yes, he was pressuring the rim a lot, but he also would not miss his step back threes. But when you have game after game after game, these shots are not falling, Like, get into the paint, man, because that is where you

are most problematic. And I have been so disappointed in him because Kyrie has had some slow starts, but he's also had these ridiculous stretches and overall he's averaging twenty nine points per game on sixty five percent true shooting. With that, Kyrie, like, you just have to be winning these games. And Luca, to me, is the primary reason that they are in the spot that they are right now. But you do have to give props to James Harden on the flip side, because he's been the best player

on the floor. The efficiency is remarkable, the control of the game, and Jason, you mentioned how they just keep on switching those actions and letting him hunt Lukadancic, and he has been getting a step so easily in this series for the most part, Games one and four, it's like unbelievably poor defense from Luca. I do want to give them props, at least for in those last two minutes or so. They did pre switch, they did trap to switch. They had PJ. Washington just fight through a

screen and stay on. They refuse to switch like at least for the final couple minutes. They didn't let James Harden hunt Luca like food, and he still made light work of Peg both.

hang defensively. They still should be able to hang in the physicality like they've just come out and gotten punched in the mouth in a couple series and the offense has gotten off to brutally slow starts, largely because of the level that Luca has been playing at. If he can turn this around, I still think Dallas should win.

If he can't, they probably won't even without Kawhi on the floor, because you're just dedicating so much volume in your offense to him no matter what, and he's not delivering the return on investment for that right now.

here's the thing. Everyone's hurt all around the league. Donovan Mitchell's playing on.

second round because you were hurt. You gotta find a way. You just have to find a way. And and so again, it's not so much about I think, because I honestly think even this version of Luca and Kyrie is enough if they can avoid the super super super ugly stretches. I just think they're a little bit more dynamic in transition. They're just a little bit more dynamic when they get going on both ends of the floor, and we've seen that in their big runs. But yeah, they just they

need to get more out of Luca. They need to avoid some of these ugly stretches. I think they're gonna win Game five and then come home and win in game six, So I'm picking the Mavericks. But yeah, definitely a strange series. And here's the last thing I'll say in the Luca front, Like Luca fans they want us to they want they think this guy's the best player in the world. That's what they think this guy is.

And and it's been they've been acting all year long like he's been disrespected and he hasn't gotten the appropriate amount of respect, and he should have won MVP, and he's playing better than Jokic and all these different things, and it's like, say what you want about that Lakers

Nuggets series. Jokic has just still been clearly the best player in the series, like by by, by far, and it's like the reality is is if you want that recognition, if you want to be included on that tier, you can't be made to look this ineffective in a playoff series.

And like again, it's just I think even the best players in the world are capable of having bad stretches and overcoming them, and I believe Luca will, and I think that we'll see the Luca. I think mid next round, after they beat the Clippers, I think we'll see Luca kind of recapture some of what makes him great. But like at the same time, it's like next round to be lou Dort waiting for you and guess what he did to brandon Ingram, you know, So, like it ain't

gonna get any easier. He's got he's got to find a way to figure this out. But to put it simply, like with Kawhi not really being a factor, you have two must win playoff games coming up. Are you taking Luca and Kyrie or are you taking Paul George and James Harden And I'm taking Luca and Kyrie. All right, before we get out of here, we're gonna talk six

Ers Nicks for a few minutes. I went into the series really really on the fence, and then I ended up picking the Sixers based on their half court shot creation. And the main idea was I just thought Embiid and MAXI would be able to generate more high quality shots and the slow down half court environment than Brunson effectively by himself. And that did bear out in the first three games of the series in the sense that the

Sixers were the substantially better half court offense. But I started on film and I'm watching the game last night or yesterday in the afternoon, and I'm like, Wow, they've gone away entirely from maxim bid two man game, because because dude McBride and og In and Obi just have it locked up, they actually went away from it entirely down the stretch. I watched every single pick and roll from that game, and I don't even think max E Embiid scored on a ball screen in that entire game

if my film session was correct. Now, I didn't look at dribble handoffs, so I'd have to go back and watch it more closely. But they kind of figured out that action, the ghost screen action with Kyle Lowry. Jalen Brunson was throwing really good hedges, and milesduce McBride was doing a great job pressuring and they were rotating out of it. That big block with precious to chew on Joel Embiid, that was clean rotations that erased that Embiid in the post. They're able to double team and rotate

out of it. Now the Sixers are doing some stupid stuff with their spacing as well, but they're they've just kind of figured out that half court offense. And then on the other end of the floor, Brunson's getting better

and better every game. And the Knicks actually won the half court battle last night ninety three to eighty five in points per one hundred half court plays, And I thought that was the death nail for the death Nael, I should say for this series, in the sense that like, if you we're gonna feel comfortable going in as the Sixers and winning Game five in Madison Square Garden, a building that is going to be on fire, it is going to be on fire. It is going to be

a very difficult game to win under any circumstances. And these are not normal circumstances, and so I think that the Knicks have kind of figured them out I thought Embiid looked gassed and bad defensively down the stretch as well. I think the Knicks are gonna go home and beat them convincingly in Game five. Where are you at, Carson?

York can manufacture. But I do think the Knicks are going to win this series, and I do think that they've been the better team, and there's several components to that. First of all, just the consistent contributions that we're seeing from these role players are remarkable. The consistent effort, the consistent dominance on the glass that they have asserted, like

just securing themselves so many extra possessions. That fourth quarter was a slog and there was an opportunity for either team to just seize the moment and at the very least knock down some shots. But if you're not gonna do that, you have to end possessions. And the Knicks got eleven team offensive rebounds, so including possessions where they like drew a foul hustling for the board, that's eleven extra possessions. You cannot allow that if you're Philly and

there's just been way too much stuff like that. But ultimately, Jalen Brunson is now playing at the level where they're not stealing games anymore. Games one and two they stole just on the back of heart in role players over delivering even though we know those guys are awesome, like

they had to be superhuman. Now you have Jay Brunson going, and that, to me is what is super encouraging, not just for this series but for the long term outlook of this Knixt team, because he's made several adjustments to me that have just made him a significantly better offensive player.

First of all, I love how much he's been looking to facilitate over these last two games, twenty three combined assists versus just thirteen combined assists over games one and two, and I think he's doing a much better job of hitting Isaiah Hartenstein with those pocket passes and dump offs, and the guy just isn't missing his touch shots. I think he's doing a better job of kicking out to shooters.

Like simply put, he took so many tough shots in games one and two, and he's still taking tough shots, but he's also getting himself some easier shots, and he's creating easier shots for his teammates. I also think they've done a really good job of getting him downhill more decisively. You mentioned the back pressure that Lucas having to deal with.

We are seeing that affect him where he's worried about those review contests, and way too often he like has a step right, he's doing his hostage rible he has defender trapped on his back as he loves, and then he steps back.

defenders in Philly. And then you just have like the special shot creation footwork, like low pickup from the three point line where he starts his gathering, he hits the and one floater, the running wrong footage shot over Joel Embiid as the shot clock expires, like that's Jalen Brunson. Man, that's the guy who he saw down the home stretch of this regular season, who was averaging thirty five a game.

And when they have that player, then they have the lone superstar who they need for these incredible role players, good spot up shooters, awesome defenders, awesome rebounders to carry you through. And on the flip side, that version of Joelle andb that you got just isn't going to cut it. So so underwhelming down the stretch, so convincingly outplayed by Brunson,

and they did a nice job on him. New York did defensively sending doubles at him once they had to match og up with him because of Isaiah Hartenstein's foul trouble, and they rotated well. As you say, like and B didn't create a lot of real advantages off of those doubles. I also think his catch point is consistently far out to the point where he's like not in the teeth of the defense. He's not stressing them as much as

he could be, and then just wasn't assertive. Like he gets a great look at ninety five ninety one, he doesn't take it, and he frankly tries to get a foul call. Instead, he drives and probably is presuming there's gonna be a whistle because there has been every single time he's entered the paint in this series.

last game I thought was his weakest game, Like he was just unconscious in games one and two and they still couldn't win. New York is the more complete basketball team, and if Brunson's gonna be the best player on the floor, then Philly may have two and three. But New York has a lot of that next range, like they just have so many positive contributors.

when he's getting these doubles. One, I want to see Embiid get the ball closer to the basket on something essions man when he's got such a physical mismatch like Og matches up with him well, and he's playing hard, like denying him the ball. I want to see him be to get closer to the basket and just start initiating trying to get himself some easy looks when he is not hitting his jumper. Two decision making out of doubles.

When they're throwing these doubles at him, sometimes the best decision is just to make the easy pass, swing it and then hope that your teammates are gonna swing it and find the open guy when the doubles coming, or make the tough pass cross court instead of settling for a jumper. You know, in this last game, New York holds Philadelphia, they don't make a basket from the field. They're all of eleven in the final five minutes of

this game. And like you said, Carson, when New York can make these games ugly, they're one of the best ugly teams in ball. Like they're gonna out hustle you. They Josh Hart, not just seventeen boards, Og, not just fourteen. And so when these ugly environments, man, New York just fights like they have the dog aspect and that's where I've really been disappointed with Philadelphia. Man, your offense is inevitably gonna go cold at some times, especially when you're

going up against such a good New York defense. I've been really disappointed by Philadelphia's effort man and on the glass. And that's why I ultimately sighed as well. If Brunson is going to be better than Embiid or close to his level, give me the team that's just gonna make the more effort plays, that's gonna make life hard on

teams and down the stretch. Man. Philly has crumbled. Philly has crumbled in the fourth quarter of these games when New York just has more competitive spirit, more edge, more fight in them. More. I hate to say the cliche they want it more, but damn it, New York does. Man. I don't see I want to see a little fight from Philadelphia. Man, I haven't seen them fighting. Man, I want to see that in Philadelphia. New York wants it. New York is going to go and get it. New

York's gonna take it, man. Philly has failed to really capture any of these late gay moments. Man. They have just fallen apart in the fourth quarter.

these double teams. Part of the reason why the rotations are so clean is Ubray and Harris keep hanging out right underneath the basket, and they're not precious to chewah Og and Andobi where when they're down there they're getting every single offensive rebound. They're just getting in the way.

There's a double team of embiide on the left block where they rotated quickly out to Maxi and Kelly Ubray was on the right wing and wide open in a position to catch a three, but instead of being ready, he just kind of ran down underneath the basket where Tobias Harris already was, and all of a sudden Josh Hart could guard both of them, advantage was gone. And so there's a lot of stuff. Honestly like to I think Thibodeau has coached circles around Nick Nurse in this series.

The offensive rebounds. The Knicks had eleven second chance points out of their twenty in the fourth quarter yesterday. A big part of that was for some reason, he still has Kyle Lowry out on the floor, and it's like, you already have Tyrese Maxey out there, and more importantly, you've got Kelly Ubra on the ball and embids showing high. So you're putting two of your biggest athletes out on the perimeter and you're asking Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey

and Kyle Lowry to clean up the defensive glass. And many of these situations, Kyle Lowry is getting matched up with og and Nanobi im precious Achua, and he's just completely He's trying to box out. I'm watching him on film. He's turning, identifying the player sprinting into him, trying to box him out. He's just physically overmatched. And I would get it if Lowry was giving you something more substantial offensively,

and look He's playmaking is a value. He can grift his way to line a few times a game like he's got value there, but not enough to justify it. Is Nick Batum a perfect player to throw out in a situation like that, No, but at least you have a better chance to contend on the glass while also having some more shooting on the floor. And then I think you in that situation put Batoum on the ball and then have oubres athleticism to kind of help you clean up on the glass. But I think Thibodeau's out

coach Nick Nurse. I think Brunson's outplayed Joel Embiid, and that has mitigated any advantage that the Sixers had in terms of personnel in this series. So I think the Knicks are going to close them out in Game five. But yeah, there's no doubt the Sixers had that punch, and if they throw it, they've got a chance. But it kind of goes back to what we were talking about with Nuggets Lakers. Do you expect the Sixers to do that three times?

also on our YouTube page. On top of those full shows, we are doing some more in depth video breakdowns, video essays, deep dives into specific subjects, interesting things that we're seeing pop up throughout these playoffs, dominant players, etc. So you can find all that and then also if you want more of our content, we are across social at nerd sessh on TikTok and Instagram and at nerd Underscore sessh on Twitter, and we do a lot of fun trivia

stuff there on top of clips from the show and whatnot.

you guys who are listening for supporting the show. We are going to be back tonight after the final buzzer of Lakers Nuggets, which Carson has assured me the Lakers have no chance of winning, So I will.