Hoops Tonight x Nerd Sesh - Lakers-Pacers Preview, LeBron for MVP, Haliburton’s rise to stardom

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specific responsible gambling resources, eligibility and deposit restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. Terms at sportsbook dot DraftKings dot com slash Basketball terms. All right, welcome to hoops tonight. You're at the volume. Happy Friday, everybody, hopeful if you guys had an incredible week. We have very special guests today, Carson Breber and Logan Camden from the nerd SESSH. You guys have probably seen

these guys come on the show. They went on a few times last year. Carson's been on a few more times than that. I've been on their show a few times, but I'm very very We're gonna be breaking down everything from yesterday as well as the n Season Tournament championship game, which is going to be tomorrow, and then two other questions from around the league having to do with the

Pelicans and the Warriors. But before we get started, what's up, guys, Please tell everybody about your new YouTube channel where they can find you. I want to make sure, because you guys just like what I just went through about a month ago. You guys are launching a new channel. I want to help get that off the ground as best as we can. Tell everybody where to find your stuff.

get to last night. So Lebron obviously thirty points on twelve shots, four to four from three eight assis zero turnovers, first player in NBA history to put up a thirty five and five in less than twenty three minutes, which is an absolutely insane stat. I would say that on a per minute basis, that was one of the most dominant games of his career, as he literally snatched the soul of the New Orleans Pelicans for the world to see.

For the season, now twenty five points, eight rebound, seven assists, sixty five percent true shooting, his highest true shooting percentage since twenty fourteen, the second highest of his career, two point two stocks per game. That's thirtieth in the NBA. Not nothing, Lakers are twenty one point two points per one hundred possessions better with him on the floor versus off. According to Cleaning the Glass, the jump SHOT's been dead one point one points per jump shot, one point two

to four points per catch and shoot jump shot. In particular, where he's been red hot. He's one of only two players in the NBA to have attempted at least seven shots per game in the restricted area, and he sho and shoot over seventy percent on them. It's him and Giannis. Thirty six players this year have ran at least two hundred pick and rolls, including passes. His one point zero nine points per possession ranks seventh out of those thirty

six players, despite some pretty bad off ball shooting. He's also second in total fourth quarter points scored this year and fifth in total clutch points scored this year. The Lakers have been the third best clutch team in the league by win percentage. As well. I say all that to ask this, does Lebron deserve to be in the MVP conversation?

planet pretty indisputably and the best player on a title team. Now, I would say that he has no argument for the best player in the world title anymore. He is not

that level of player. But when you consider some of the health issues that he's endured where we haven't seen him, maybe this explosively athletic, especially if you look at the playoff run last year when he was really hampered by the foot injury, when he was struggling with the jumper, when he wasn't able to impose himself offensively as consistently as we're used to from him, There's no question that

this is unimproved and a wildly impressive Lebron. So to me, it's not so much about him really pushing for that MVP. Not I think that there are guys who just night to night are putting forth such massive efforts and are so responsible for carrying their teams singularly to being elite Nicole Jokic, if it's Joel Embiid. What's so encouraging to me about this is that when he picks his spots, this Lebron looks so unbelievable. It is the most efficient Lebron we have ever seen. You read a lot of

those great stats off Jason. He is shooting his career best percentage on twos and on threes. Now you have this unbelievable combination of him having a career jump shooting season, and we saw it in this game. It was a shot making clinic. You have the stretch where he pulls the back to back logo threes, just obscene. You have not long after that, the really tough runner and won like just incredible skilled shot making combined with an ability to attack mismatches and to really pick on the easy

stuff so efficiently. And that's another thing that stood out from this game when you put up numbers like this in twenty three minutes on the floor. Yes, you have to shoot the ball really well, as he did, but hunting the easy stuff starting from his first basket of the day where he just gets that post seal and it's an easy layup. You have a smart cut from

him in this game. He's getting out in treransition repeatedly, like he is doing such a good job of maximizing his advantages without having to put excessive stress on his body. And then situationally, you see in the efficiency you mentioned the fourth quarter numbers, he's eight and a half points

per game there on fifty nine percent shooting. This is an unbelievable version of Lebron, who is just putting forth to me, by far, the most impressive demonstration of longevity, not just an NBA history, I would argue in sports history. If you try to make the cross sports comparisons, Brady plays until he's forty five, but that's a position that is so much less dependent on athleticism. Lebron is still a top tier athlete in the NBA today and we see that every night whenever he wants to show it.

That's never happened for a guy who was knocking on the door of thirty nine. When you think about the dudes who could still put up twenty plus at this age, it's Kareem who had this unbelievable size advantage and then this great skilled shot making. It's Karl Malone, who was this post machine. You've never seen a guy with this

sort of explosiveness. There's still probably fewer than a handful of guys who are better all around athletes than Lebron in the NBA today, and that is so encouraging for the Lakers ceiling because we saw in the playoff run last year they need him to carry a pretty heavy burden if this team wants to be really good. Offensively. They certainly need him to be better than he was in that run last year when he was hampered, and I think there is every sign right now that he is capable of doing that.

Lebron is dominating and it is remarkable. I've never seen anything like this from a guy from an athlete his age but eighties, twenty four, fourteen and three on sixty one percent through shooting over the last ten games. He's been good defensively, and so I think that plays against Lebron's MVP case, But like you said, I think it is why it's really encouraging about this Lakers team moving

forward towards playoff time. Ad rounding in the form Lebron, rounding in the form guys are shooting better, d Lo, Taarian Prince and Lebron all over forty percent from deep over the last ten. That's, you know, withstanding A Reeves, you know, bad shooting stretch, and this team is clicking a lot more defensively. I have loved the energy and the effort of these last couple of games. And again, you don't want to give them too much credit because

the Lakers, we know they can. It's a flip of a coin on what you're going to get that day. But I have liked their energy and effort. With Vanderbilt back, it seems like all the pieces are coming together in the biggest variable, and all this was Lebron and AD. I don't know, man, I don't know about you guys, but with this version of Lebron and this version of Anthony Davis, I mean, it does feel like we're on the cusp of a potential playoff run.

have an outside chance of getting it. Like, because let's just put it simply, you can tell that there have been about a third of the games this year where he's like, I'm gonna go after it tonight, and like in those games, he's looked like the best player in the world in those games, like at least I shouldn't

say like definitively, but he's been at that level. Like he's been he has been contributing to winning an at a high MVP level during those third of the games where he's carried And it's very clear this week he's like, I'm winning these games, you know what I mean. But there's a lot of chill mode going on. And for the record, I think that's smart. Like I think Lebron going for the MVP this year would be absolutely stupid,

like just an incredible way of resources one. Like, just from the standpoint of the voters, he's got a very small chance of actually getting it, just because of all the fatigue, the Anthony Davis element Laker anti Laker bias, Like I thought Lebron was clearly the MVP in twenty twenty and he didn't get it, and so like at the end of the day, like it's just not worth it. But that said, I think in terms of like his individual ceiling, this is the best I've seen him look

since twenty twenty. Like he just the efficiency, the jump shot, the playmaking that like, like, and even with when it comes to the scoring volume, it mostly has to do with the fact that he's attempting the fewest number of shots in his entire career and because he's on you know, half to two thirds of the night's kind of in

chill mode. Like I'm just I feel really confident now from that specific spot, the Lebron spot, that in big moments, Lebron can turn it up and hit that top tier, superstar level, providing he doesn't get hurt at some point this season, And that simply was not there last year. No, Like he just wasn't that good last year. No.

and transition. But I mean, over the totality of that playoff run, Lebron wasn't a top ten player in the league. I mean, right, he definitely had a positive defensive impact. It was great to see him dial in there, but offensively, he was overly relyant on the jumper. I mean, he was an average efficiency twenty five point per game score who wasn't dictating offense with the same level of playmaking

brilliance that were used to from him. And I think we can attribute a lot of that now that we see how he looks revitalized and healthy to that foot injury. I don't know.

be absolutely masterful there. And you combine that with the jump shooting at this level, all the efficient stuff he's able to do off ball, and in transition, I mean, this is like a terrifyingly good basketball player at almost thirty nine years old. It's unbelievable, and it is vital, vital to the Lakers ceiling this year.

makes sense to me. But like there's been like five or six games this year like that Suns game where it's been the fourth quarter and it's like every time down the floor, I'm getting a bucket or I'm setting a guy up for a wide open shot, like where it's like that like top top tier perimeter initiator, half court surgeon thing, and that just was not there last year, and I think that is it has. Again, we framed

this as MVP conversation. We're all in the same page that he's not going to win it, that he's not really all that high up on that list, but just the fact that he has been able to reach that level is more important than any trade, more important than anything else having to do with the Lakers this season. Now, on the Lakers, since they're three and five start, which again it is important to mention that their high motor athletes were all out with injuries, which was a significant

hindrance to what the team was capable of achieving. Last fifteen games eleven and four, second best record in the league over that span, second best defensive rating in the league over that span, and again, fifteen games, that's two thirds of the games we've played so far. Sixth in

defensive rebound percentage over that span. They had a rough stretch there at the beginning last night where they were really struggling to box out the Pelicans were doing a good job crashing out of the weak side corner and catching them sleeping. But for the most part, they've cleaned up that issue, which was a big problem earlier in the season. The offense is bad, but there are three

stats that I think are encouraging. One, they have a one to fifteen point three offensive rating with Lebron on the floor, that would be the eleventh best in the NBA if you actually kind of branched that out to the big picture. One hundred and eighteen offensive rating and clutch situations. They've never had issues scoring in the clutch for the most part. And then one hundred and nineteen

offensive rating this week in big, high leverage situations. I also think it's worth mentioning that they I don't think the Lakers are a good shooting team, but they're not as bad as they've shown so far this year either. I think that's important to mention. After last night, they have nine wins against five hundred or better teams, which is tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in the league. Lakers are now plus fifteen hundred to win the title, which is the six best odds in the league.

Philly and Phoenix are ahead of them. Phoenix is plus seven hundred, so Vegas is viewing Phoenix as a substantial better title favorite than the Lakers. Are the Lakers now the best value bet to win the title this year. Let's start with you, Logan, Yeah, it kind of seems like it.

I still think that could be the difference maker. But the Suns played really sloppy, and again when the Lakers were engaged in that first half, they completely shut down that offense. Again, they are without Radley Beal, but it was really sloppy. They forced a ton of turnovers, They were really active physically, and they disappear in the second half a little bit. They kind of do their Lakers things.

But I think I do prefer the Lakers more and I still think that they're I do think they're the best value bet probably to win the finals right now. Preseason I said the Lakers were my pick to win the title, And like you guys have laid out in this segment, I think that a lot of the key components of this run are coming together really slowly. You say this isn't a good shooting team, Jason, A lot of guys are up near forty percent over the last fifteen.

It's not about them being a great, reliable shooting team this entire season. It's about them being hot and creating open looks at the right time. I trust these guys to make shots come playoff time. The one outlier is probably de Lo shooting like forty six percent from deep over the last fifteen.

Dilo Ann Reeves. Reeves is a better basketball player, He's less prone to shooting you in the foot with those stretches where he's just making bad decisions offensively, etc. Etc. Until they figure those things out, I do not believe this Lakers team can win the title, just because I think the Denver Nuggets are that overwhelmingly good, presuming that

they are at health now. I do think that Anthony Davis needs to be more consistently imposing offensively than what we saw last year in the playoffs if they want to make a run that deep. But to Jason's question, I think that there's a strong case to be made. First of all, I'm just not in love with these odds in general. The Clippers are plus eighteen hundred and the Timberwls are plus twenty five hundred. I just don't know what could possibly indicate that the Clippers are a

better team, even in a playoff setting than Minnesota. I think Minnesota makes a real strong case to be my second favorite out West. They're just so dominant defensively, and I think they have a good formula offensively if Ant reaches that superstar level and Cat pulls his weight, just

a really good basketball team. But I definitely like the Lakers more than the Suns, and I think it's a brutal matchup, specifically for Phoenix, because how do you lose a game where you shoot fifty percent from the field and forty eight percent from three and the other team shoots forty percent on twos and thirty percent from three. As we just saw happen earlier this week. The Suns were the team that shot the hell out of the ball. The Lakers really struggled to make shots. It's when the

other team has overwhelming physical advantages. Now the Suns turn the ball over too much, but the Lakers also dominated. They were plus thirteen on the od offensive boards. And I think that you saw again a very dialed in Lebron there, who can basically mismatch hunt with anyone on the floor. It is just so easy. He can go at NRK so easily out of pick and roll. He can run pick and roll actions with Austin Reeves and get Grayson Allen switched on to him, and there's really

nobody one on one. Kdi is far too slight. Eric Gordon's just too short and small who can do anything, and getting back Bradley Beal does nothing to help them with that problem. I also think Ada is a problematic matchup, So I believe that the Lakers' physical advantages there and their two way ceiling are just too great when Lebron is playing at this level. And I do believe that

in big time situations they can produce good offense. Because of that for me to believe in Phoenix over them, So I still view the Lakers as a legitimately flawed team in a way that the Bucks, the Celtics, the Nuggets just are not. But after that, I do really believe in their ceiling. I do like them more than the Suns, So there's a case to be made.

The bizarre stretch where Darvin ham lea leaves Lebron and Anthony Davis both off the floor in the first half, wild Devin Booker and Kevin Durray were on the floor, which ended in a five to zero run that took about fifteen seconds before darvinham realized his mistake and called a time out. To the Lakers coming out of the halftime locker room sleepwalking and giving up a fourteen zero

run that kind of turned it into a game. Anthony Davis literally missed eleven shots in the restricted area in that game, including five in the fourth quarter, and for the most part, if you look at like if you know how those Carson, you know these graphs on Synergy where you kind of see the bar graph having to

do with the lead. It was all purple. The Lakers had to lead the entire game, basically outside of a couple of brief stretches, and so again, like I like, had the Suns won that game, they would have gotten away with murderer in my opinion, because I thought the Lakers were clearly better. I don't really see that as a matchup now. I think I disagree with the framing of what you said, Carson, from the standpoint of like, I don't think as currently constructed, they can't win the title.

I just think they're clearly a Tier two contender, meaning like meaning like things would have to go right, Like they'd need to get excellent shooting out of Cam Reddish, they'd have to get Lebron at this level for the entire playoff run. They'd have to get you know, Nikola Jokic, to have Nikola jokicch and Jamal Murray in particular to shoot, like I would say that, like the Nuggets also shot

well last year. If they shot at their norm and the Lakers shot above their norm, they might have an outside chance in a six or seven game series to steal it. But the Nuggets would be a clear favorite, in my opinion, like a substantial favorite, like you would expect them to win the series, but I'd give the Lakers a puncher's chance. I also disagree that that with the way you portray the Bucks as a team without a flaw. I think the Bucks and the Lakers are both.

They're both in that say. I think it's like nugget Celtics small gap, Lakers, Bucks, the Timberwolves small gap. Then we get to the Suns and the and the Warriors based on whatever potential trade they could make, which we'll talk about them in a little bit now. As far as the Lakers go on the trade front, that's obviously the direction they're going to go. They once again this week and the Sun's game, had to leave both Ruy Hachimura and D'Angelo Russell on the bench in closing time,

which is just a bad use of resources. So like they're going to make some sort of move to upgrade those positions. I think if they nail that trade, like if they do get a Jeremy Grant, if they do get a lower market in if they do get a Pascal Si Yakam if they do, like if they nail that trade and somehow jump in there and swoop in and steal one of those guys, I think they enter the same tier as the Denver Nuggets. But I don't think it would make them a favorite over the Nuggets either.

I just think I think it's important to recognize, like this team as currently constructed, with Lebron playing at a much higher level than he was last year and more wing depth, makes them a little bit more of a puncher's chance favorite than they were last year. But I still view them as a clear tier too. Now, Carson, you look like you want to call me an idiot, So let's get started on this now.

a different tier. It's really tough for me to envision this Lakers team as currently constructed beating the Nuggets. What I was going to ask you is like, would it require an injury to a Nugget starter or you think healthy with some shooting variants going their way, with Lebron playing his best, this Lakers scene can beat the Nuggets in a seven game series, because that's pretty hard for me to see.

Jamal Murray's best series was the Lakers series. He was incredible in that series, and so like, if some of those things break differently, I think the Lakers could end up in a Game five in Denver two to two close game, fourth quarter, Lebron gets hot, they steal it. Then they go home and play this wildly good defensive game in Game six and they win. Like I, this kind of thing does happen like some like the seven

game series. Thing does in the majority of situations lead to the best team winning, But it also does there are versions of it where it goes another way. And so again, I just I would give them a puncher's chance. But I think that's the extent of our disagreement there. I think we both agree that the Lakers will make a trade, And honestly, it's just it's just not even worth really looking at their all, their actual ceiling and

potential until we get to that point. I do want to move just because we've gone for a while now I want to I do want to move on to the Pacers. So Tyrus Alibert four hundred and ninety nine pick and rolls in ISOs this year, leading to six hundred and twenty nine points one point twenty six points per possession. That's the best self creator in the league this year. Thirty six players have run at least two hundred pick and roles. The one we talked about with

Lebron where he finished at seventh. He's first on that list, a full seven points per one hundred percent ahead of second place, which was Devin Booker. That's completely ridiculous. A Tyrese Haliburton jumper this year has been worth one point twenty nine points. A catch and shoot jumper from Tyres has been worth one point four to one points, pull ups one point twenty six. There doesn't seem to be a coverage that works against him.

just was nothing they could do with the guy. And I mean they had a one to twenty offensive rating against that Boston Celtics team, which has been the second defense, the second best defense in the league this year. I so I did a rant in my show yesterday where I said that I believe Tyrese Haliburton is on. He's the next in that group of guys that is, you know, truly has the potential to be a pantheon type of player. To me, he's Steve Nash with more athleticism, in a

little bit better size. He legitimately, in my opinion, if he stays healthy and makes the moderate improvements on the margins and on the defensive end, I think he has the potential to be an all time great. Do you guys agree with me? Let's start with Carson.

now recite. The Pacers are three point four points ahead in terms of offensive rating, of the number two offense in the NBA right now, that would be the widest margin between the number one offense in the league and the number two offense since nineteen eighty two, and Tyres is propelling that unit inarguably without another All Star level talent, which is a very rare thing to lead, first of all,

a convincing number one offense. But there's only really two other instances this century of one superstar offensive talent carrying a group without another All Star level guy to the number one offense. It's the twenty twenty MAVs Luca doing that in his second season with just a collection of good shooters and solid rim finishers, just unbelievable control of the game, lethal scoring and playmaking threat. And then it's

the two thousand and six Maps with Dirk Novitsky. Outside of that, there's some other teams that only had one All Star, but there's clearly multiple all star talents, right It's the twenty eighteen Rockets, who had Chris Paul wasn't an All Star stuff like that, So he's in rarefied air in terms of the singular impact that he is having propelling an elite team offense with out star level talent. Now,

he has very good complimentary talents, right. He has guys who are very good in transition, which is fundamental to their identity and a great strength of his. And he has awesome spot up shooters. So he's got good play finishers. But he is manufacturing so much of the offense here, really really impressive. Historically, if you look at his individual production and efficiency, nobody has ever averaged twenty five points in twelve assists per game in NBA history period point blank.

Halli is doing that right now on plus nine point eight percent true shooting versus league average. Nobody has ever averaged twelve assists per game with fewer than two and a half turnovers per game. Hollie is doing that right now. The only other player ever to shoot forty four percent from three on eight and a half attempts per game

is twenty sixteen Steph Curry. We are simultaneously seeing one of the all time great jump shooting seasons, one of the all time great playmaking seasons, and one of the all time great seasons in terms of amplifying team offense. It is unbelievable. I think he is inarguably a top two shooter in basketball right now, nobody other than Steph is able to blend this volume both on and off ball with this lethal efficiency. Shoots forty four percent on pull up threes and then I think he's at like

forty eight percent off the catch. Just disgusting. And I think that as a playmaker, you see this incredible ability to amplify his teammates to really create advantages while also

limiting mistakes. And often people will say that a sign of really low turnovers probably means that a guy isn't being creative enough as a playmaker, that he isn't taking enough risk, that he isn't trying to fit enough of those passes into tight gaps, or maybe a hit a head pass and transition and he just slightly overshoots it. You should be aggressive creating advantages and if that leads

to a couple more turnovers, that's okay. I think Hallie's in a really healthy blend where, Yeah, he's not Jokic audacious, he's not Magic Johnson audacious, he's not Luca audacious, but he is an aggressive passer who's just never stupid. He's almost never inaccurate. I mean, he's just unbelievable. His decision making is basically flawless. And Jason, You're so right about him against every coverage, pick and roll. His ability to manipulate defenders, to move them with his eyes to open

up whatever passing angle he wants incredible. He can make every pass out of those actions. When teams try to trap him, he is so composed, so effective in dissecting those actions, not just getting the ball out. I think about that game where he was just torching the Hawks, like the ultimate offensive game this season, where they both were up in the one fifties, and they start trapping him at half court and he is making the best possible pass on the floor Obie Top and is opening

the dunker spot forty feet away. He's trapped, he rises up and just fires that pass in there. It's so so rare. And when you combine that with the takeover scoring that he does have because of this unbelievable pull up shooting, because I mean, he is a big ball handler, and he is lethal from floiada range, and he's a

pretty good athlete. You see with a couple of the adjustments around the rim and the rim finishing yesterday, and then he is to me, the most aware transition playmaker in the NBA today, And that's like the final element when people make the Steve Nash comparisons and I'm like, yeah, it's really there. It is the just masterful pick and roll decision making combined with this unbelievable pull up shooting. They will always make you a more lethal score than

the raw numbers indicate. And Howie's putting up some big raw numbers right now. But I mean, his efficiency is so mind blowing because he is always going to try to amplify that attention or I should say weaponize that attention to amplify his teammates first, and then it is that pushing the pace, that awareness of all right, well, I've got a guy who's out running the defense down the floor right now. Boom hit had passed. So many guys don't see those opportunities at the level that how

he does. He gets you a couple free buckets like that every game. I mean, he is a sensational, generational sort of one man offense, and everything that he's doing right now is absolutely legit. I don't see any coverage or any player who can slow him down individually because he is such a complete offensive player and I don't see a team that can slow down this PACER's offense. Now, their defense is another issue entirely as is Hollie's, but offensively, he is a bona fide superstar.

You mentioned how efficient he's been. He's the third most efficient twenty five point per game season of all time, behind last year's Kevin Durant twenty eighteen Steph Curry. Can I say that's pretty good company?

long mid range attempts. And the only aspect I think you didn't hit on is him in big moments this season. We have now seen him in two massive games on the biggest stage of this very young season on the end season tournament against Boston, not only carve them up and dissect them the entire game playmaking and scoring on the biggest stage, on the biggest part of the game. He said, I'm gonna put up a pull up three because I'm that great of a shooter, and I'm gonna

wet it because I'm that guy. And he does, and he knocks off the Boston Celtics, and then in another big time clutch moment, knocks down another crucial pull up jumper to knock off the Bucks, who we are considering to be the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. I just think that's another aspect too. He didn't blink in a big time moment. You know, we have these issues with Jason Tatum in the clutch right with what

he does offensively. Alie doesn't have these issues, right he just said I'm gonna do it because I'm that guy. I'm gonna take that shot and I'm gonna make it. It's the totality of it, and I do. I think he's got the potential. I think we're already seeing it. I mean, he's one of the best offensive players on the planet right now and to overlook that is just wrong to him. But that's the final component to me,

is the clutch gene that we've seen from Halle. Some guys do fear the moment, some guys do shy away. Hallie's not one of those guys. And like you mentioned, whatever you throw at him, he's got a counter. If you want to shut this down, he's going to get a bucket.

If you claim to be a passer, he's going to beat you to the tune of one point two points per possession. Like it's a unique combination to your list, Carson, real quick before we move on. Yeah, you had mentioned four guys. We had this conversation last week or two weeks ago. I think it was last week two weeks ago. Who knows, I'm going to switch Aliburton an aunt. I understand all the things I said about Ant are true. This is not a bad Ant take. This is a

pro Haliburton take. I think he has all time great offensive player written all over him, and I think that to me, that makes him a better big picture prospect than and just by going over the top of him, not by Ant dropping in any way, shape or form. Luca is interesting because I would never say that that Halliburton's better than Luca, not just because their fans are

crazy and they would murder me alive. But at the same time, I do think there's something to be said in the big picture about the potential that Haliburton has to be better than Luca, And it comes down to two things. In my opinion. He's so much faster and has good length, which I think will give him the ability to be a better defender the big picture than Luca can ever be just because of his lack of foot speed. And then two, I think Tiers Haliburton plays

a way more likable brand of basketball. And I think, and I think in general like because he plays with pace like Tyrese is heliocentric, but he's helio centric with a quick trigger to get rid of the ball, not just in transition situations, but in half court situations. And

I think the methodical Luka Doncic thing. There are certain types of players who thrive in that specific types of play finishers, but there are other types of players who struggle in that environment, and we've seen that over the years and so well. I think Luca is a better player than tyress Aliburton right now, and obviously his physical imposition offensively as like a matchup attacker is an important

element to factor in there. But I think Tyrese has the potential to be a better player than Luca in the long run. I think he legitimately has that potential. And then the Wemby piece, it's like he's an alien. So I don't even know how you know it, Like, how do you even do a basketball breakdown of that? I think it's ridiculous. Right, So, the Lakers open up as a four point five point favorite over the Pacers tomorrow. Pacers have a one to ten point five defensive rating

over their last two games. I thought they played basically outside of the third quarter yesterday, an excellent defensive game. Honestly, though, I'll be honest, like Dame got red hot with his pull up three in that third quarter, and honestly, if it wasn't for Dame's red hot shooting, that probably would have been a fifteen point win for the Pacers. I

thought they outplayed him for the most part during the game. No, the Celtics have been I think that when the Lakers are this version, I think they are a better defense than the Celtics. I think you guys would probably agree with me in terms of their actual top tier when they're really locked in. That said, the Celtics are an excellent defense, and they have excellent perimeter defenders and excellent help defenders, and they hung a one to twenty offensive

rating on the Celtics this week. I want to get let's start with this. I want to have you, guys lead with your pick if who's gonna win. But then I want you to give your take for what you think is gonna happen when Indy is on offense in tomorrow's games. Start with your pick, though, Let's go with Logan. Ah. I've been going back and forth on this game.

And what I mean by that is some of the guys, some of the things you guys note about Halliburn, how quick he plays in transition, taking advantage of opportunities that he sees if they're there. If there's any lapses in Lakers defensive coverage, Hallie's going to find it if it's quick and fast. So I think the Lakers rotations need to be crisp, they need to be quick, they need to be timely. And the Lakers off I mean, excuse me.

The Pacers offense is really really good in the actions that they run too, like back doors, off pin downs and how they open up, how they move the center right. There's a huge burden on Anthony Davis, I think in this game to dominate, and he's as game breaking a defensive weapon as they come. Right, So I'm gonna run a ton of pick and roll. They run the eighth most in basketball. The Pacers do it, the second most

efficient mark in the NBA. And Ad is gonna be tasked with switching out to the perimeter on turner holding Halliburton and check in the mid range and on the interior, and he's gonna have to be disruptive getting into passing lanes. It's a it's a huge ask of this Lakers defense, who again has been playing great over these past couple

of games, to check all their boxes. It's just hard covering all of what Indiana does man the pick and pops that are open, the in between game with Halle, there's gonna be a burden on the point of attack defenders to not overplay defense versus Halliburton. It's not concede open looks. It's just gonna be tough. But I think the one advantage that I will give to the Lakers is something that you guys mentioned early, and that's physical imposition.

And I still think that the Lakers physically match up well with this team where Lebron's going to be able to dominate offensive matchups. Right, you talk about Halle and some of these other smaller defenders here, I would be setting screens for Lebron in ad all games, just trying to get a switch on Halle, Bruce Brown, you know, Nie Smith's a great defender too. But these guys should

just physically overwhelm Indiana. And so that's where I give the Lakers the edge on the glass physically on offense. And I just think on a big stage, Tyreese has stepped up his game because it's the Ncason Tournament. But there's something about like you mentioned, Carson, this is a one game format. Lebron has really cranked it up in the nd season tournament, and I think this means something

to him. I think this is a point of pride for him, and I'm not picking against Lebron in a one game scenario here, and again, I just think the Lakers have physical advantages that they can impose over Indiana. It's not going to be easy. I think this is going to be a game that comes down to the wire, as have all the ND season games. But at the end of the day, I like the Lakers physical advantages and I'm I'm just not going to pick against the King Man he's been He's been too great.

because we've seen nobody can stop that offense. And there are some specific things about this matchup that concern me. You mentioned it, Logan. This is a team that we have seen in terms of the Lakers be as inconsistent with their effort as any good team in basketball, and this is a team you have to be dialed against because they are going to play so fast, be so opportunistic in transition. They have lethal shooters everywhere, so you

have to be sharp with every rotation you do. Mention eighty is the best defensive player alive, but this is a very complete offense, and any one rim protector is not going to be at their most valuable in this matchup. I just think because of the lethal pick and pop big that is Miles Turner in because of the shooting all around. Now eight is unique because of how well he plays in space and all that. I just don't know that you can really slow down this Pacers offense.

But I still think the physical advantages Lebron playing at this level. If the Lakers have an off shooting night, which they have had plenty of this season, it's sort of tough to see a path to where they win this game. And they just had a great shooting night against the Pelicans. But if they have a solid shooting night with Lebron at this level, I do think they can win a lot of matchups against Indiana offensively to

offset how good that Pacers offense is. And I would lean towards Lebron and the Lakers with how he and they are playing right now.

lot in transition. The Lakers are a much better transition defense this year than they were last year. They've basically abandoned the offensive glass to get everybody back on defense this year, which has been kind of their counter to that, and they've been last I checked, like they were in the like in the eleven twelve area for transition defense according to Cleaning the Glass, which again that's going to be something that just in general in terms of focus,

they're gonna have to be really sharp on. I expect Darvin Ham to start with Cam Reddish on Tyrese Haliburton and basically apply a ton of ball pressure, and then I expect him to play an aggressive all screen coverage with Anthony Davis on Miles Turner to start up at the level of the screen, and then he's gonna put Lebron on Obi top and basically use him as a

roamer and try to blow up plays there. I think they're going to concede whenever he goes to it, although if they are aggressive enough, they might be able to force him to roll. But I think they're going to concede the pick and pop to Miles Turner to start the game, and if he doesn't make it, that could be a huge swing factor in this game if he misses too and starts to get a little hesitant. But

that's kind of the way I see them starting. The interesting thing that i'd like to see them do at some point during the game is put Anthony Davis on Obi Toppin and then basically put Lebron James on Miles Turner and switch the Haliburton pick and roll and then essentially tell Lebron or Rui or whoever it is that ends up in that switch to just basically press up on Tyres and make him drive into help and then they have Anthony Davis waiting and then essentially try to

rotate out of it with all your athletes, because that's one of the things the Lakers have been doing in this last fifteen game stretch that's given them a huge edges. They're basically slotting instead of playing Austin and dil together, They've basically moved another point of attack defender into the lineup. And it's been consistently like reddish entaurium prints and then it's Max Christy and Jared Vanderbilt. You know, it's like

a steady diet of athletes on the floor. And so when you have like a situation where let's say let's say it's the Let's say it's Jared Vanderbilt on ball and it's Lebron on Miles turner and they switch it on the backside, you're gonna have Anthony Davis and a Cam Reddish or a Max Christi in rotation. Austin Reeves has been a really good help defender as of late. He's blowing up plays, jumping from the weak side. He's done a really good job. So like that's kind of

the direction I see the game going. And again, I think if the Lakers are sharp, if they apply good ball pressure, if they if they you know, rotate hard, get back in transition, I think they can keep them around that like one fifteen offensive rating area. That's kind of like the way they're gonna have to play to win. And then moving over to the Lakers on offense, like it's going to be a couple of different things. The Pacers give up an offensive rebound on thirty four point

two percent of opponents misses, which is really bad. And now the Lakers have abandoned the offensive glass for the most part this season. But we saw in the Phoenix game in particular, when they know they have an advantage there, they look to be aggressive. And so I see it being one of those things where like maybe the Pacers have a lot of success offensively, but the Lakers get like fifteen to twenty more shot attempts than they do,

and that goes a long way. I think also in a weird way, like and I know, I'll just pitch it to you guys like this, do you think Lebron can have a little bit more of a mental effect on Indie than Jannis Dame or Jason Tatum? Did?

there has to be a I don't know that. I think the r around Lebron has to come into play in this game.

win the possession battle. And then again, I know some people disagree with me on this, but I think when the Lakers give their best defensive effort, they are the best defense in the league. And so, in my opinion, like this will be a great challenge. It's I'm so excited for this game tomorrow because not only is it Lebron versus Tyres Halliburton, but it's two incredibly different styles.

A team that thrives on offense and couldn't care less about defense versus a team that thrives on defense and is a bad offense. But both teams are doing better on the other end as of late, Like the Pacers have been defending better, the Lakers have been scoring better.

So like there's all these like interesting trends, and I think I think Lebron like again, like there's not a soul on that roster that can even hope to make Lebron moderately uncomfortable, like a lot of that ball pressure stuff that that Aaron Nee Smith did, Lebron's just gonna use against him and just and pick him apart. And obviously, like the big weakness of the Pacers defense is actually their help and recover, Like they're off ball eyes get lost all the time, which is going to be a

big problem with Lebron on the floor. They haven't faced a single team this week that's got that level of passer on the floor, and I think that's something to keep an eye on. Again, think the Pacers can win, think they flat out have a good chance, But I'm picking the Lakers now because of time. We're gonna move on. I want to hit two quick topics before we get out of here. Zion Williamson Lebron erased him from that game basically just daring him to shoot, beating him to

spots right outside the restricted area and fallen over. And that doesn't seem like. What bothered me in particular is Zion actually has like a pretty solid floater where like he'll like he was using it, he's used it throughout this season, where like he'll make a hard iso move and then he'll just kind of elevate from like six feet and just shoot that little pop shot over the top and he can make it. And I think again, I think Lebron alpha dogged him in a lot of

ways that affected his confidence. But so I do think last night isn't exactly the best characterization of who's I and is as a player. That said, like, rim efficiencies down this year, rim frequencies down from when he was good. He just hasn't quite been even as good as he was a year ago. And so from that standpoint, like, are we off the Zion bandwagon? From the standpoint of

him ever reaching truly great potential? Like is he now essentially damaged goods in the sense that, like, as he gets older, the weight and the injuries are just going to make him less and less mobile, which is going to make him less and less impactful. Are we more or less seeing the ceiling of Zion route right now? What do you guys think.

we have seen. He is six six, two hundred and eighty five pounds with one of the quickest first steps in the league some of the elite bounced in the league. And then this overwhelming force. He has just been such a marvel to watch. He has just walked in to twenty five twenty seven a night on sixty five percent through shooting. He's been so lethal a lot of different offensive actions. Isolating dudes can't check him one on one

in the post. He has such overwhelming physical advantages. Even ball handling out a pick and roll as a roller like Zion has been awesome. When he's been on the floor up to this season, I think it's been really disappointing what we've seen from him. I think this is the worst condition that we have seen him in, and I think that this is also probably the least confident comfortable to absolutely think that was a factor. Yesterday's game,

he seemed rattled to me. I mean, he couldn't hit his free throws, either, and he's been less aggressive this year. We actually just had this conversation with a guest on our show. Shout out to Yokis Joe Star. But Zion has normally been, I mean a crazy efficient isolation player. This year, he's been below average efficiency there and he just hasn't asserted himself offensively as much. His attempts are down, his scoring is down, his efficiency is down, his rebounding

is down. I think he continues to be really underwhelming there. It's not something that he really commits to, but an athlete of his caliber should have more of an impact there. And then defensively, I think there was optimism with him as a prospect that, right he could have enough lateral quickness and I mean he had some monster defensive stretches at Duke. He's never been able to turn into, in my opinion, even a neutral and I've been disappointed in what we've seen from him so far this year.

It's like it's like the smart kid in school, right, like the naturally gifted, really smart kid versus the dumb kid who needs to study and go get a tutor, right like Man Carson, Right, you know Carson didn't need to crack the book, but I had to read a lot.

We've seen the flashes of it. I do want to cut Zion some slack in one area. And that's the fact that I don't think New Orleans is an optimized situation for him. I think that it's really tough because you know, it's not optimized spacing wise. He plays, you know, alongside a not great shooting big you know, Valentunas can space the floor, but he's not, you know, always out spacing it.

was young. Now I took better care of my body, but like I did. Like the point is is like it's not exactly unheard of for a dude to become more disciplined and to have his shit together better and when he's older, and I just hope he can figure that out before his body fails him. That's kind of where I'm at with it now. One last thing I

want to hit before we get out of here. Last night we had a Bob Myers went on with the Inside the NBA guys and he had a funny interaction with Charles Barkley where he's like, you know, congrats on getting off of that sinking ship. And he's like, oh, I got some friends over there, and it's like, oh, they'll be with you soon. Are the Warriors is sinking ship? Let's start with U Carson.

at an unbelievable level. I was just reflecting on that with my friend yesterday, how insane it was that he was able to carry the offense for multiple games in that Denver series with Steph off the bench, with unbelievable efficiency and shot making and great playmaking, and he demonstrated maturity from a guard that young. That is so unreasonable to expect in a championship run, but he did it, and then he became the polar opposite of that within

eighteen months. So that was incredible. Wiggins playing at this level that he hasn't been able to reach before or since. That was a special run, and I think that it was natural to expect that that was a team that, given how they were aging, how they did capture lightning in a bottle with a couple of those key players, was probably going to trend downwards. However, I am not all in on the chuck like the Warriors are dead

sort of thing. I know that he's been a big advocate for that, and I think a lot of people have been. I remain cautiously optimistic about this team because I think that there's a couple areas in which they are clearly a lot better than last year, when that was a team that made the second round of the playoffs and played a competitive series against the Lakers, which

is a really good basketball team. I think this is the best bench unit of Steph's career, and I think that CP three has been a good fit to that unit when he's been out there as a commanding presence. But I just grow more and more bullish about that

group even without him. I think that the energy that you get from Pods, from Moody, from kaminga so important chars is playing at a really high level GP two Like, there's just so many quality role players there, and historically since Katie left, the Warriors have struggled so much to win the non Steph minutes. They were positive by a decent amount when Steph was on the floor last year. I think it was like plus forty six in the

playoffs with him, minus forty eight without him. So you can point at that and say, when Steph was off the floor, they couldn't put together a capable second unit, and maybe that was the single thing that sunk them this year. I do see other concerns. I think that their core starting unit and CP, especially when they try to close with CP, I just don't think that's tenable.

He's not a good offensive fit alongside Steph, and they just can be too small, too slow, not athletic enough to seriously contend, especially in this monstrously huge Western Conference. So they do need to me Moody to play big minutes. I love Moses Moody. I love what he is doing out there. That is a big time shooter who plays with great effort. He just makes winning basketball plays. Cominga came up in a big way in that Portland game. I don't think he's as consistently a positive guy, but

I think that athleticism alone can swing games. Pods is so mature offensively for his agent. He plays so hard like those guys are legitimately valuable, and I do think they may need to be more willing to mix and match combinations when you're looking at closing. There are games where Clay is just a negative. And I'm not one of those people who thinks Clay is washed because he had a terrible month. Because he had a terrible month to start last year and then he had some of

the best months of his career. He is a tough shot taker, tough shot maker, and there is going to be variants with that. I don't really like him as an offensive number two because he's so limited athletically and as a playmaker. But I don't think that Clay has fallen off a cliff just because he had a really bad shooting month, and maybe he took a few more

bad shots than he even normally would. But he's just generally a guy who takes and makes a lot of contest to jumpers, so there do need to be spots where he's not playing well. Wiggins has had so many rough games, and those guys just shouldn't play closing minutes. But I do think those guys are going to find more of their normal level. You mentioned when you came on our show how brutal the schedule has been. The

Warriors still haven't lost to a bad basketball team. The Clippers are very legitimately arguably the worst team who they've lost to. That's a talented team, that's a team that's playing better basketball of late. If Wiggins and Clay can't find their normal level, then I think you start looking at making a move, and I think they probably should anyways, if they want to have like a real puncher's chance

even to win the West. If it's a big athletic wing, a guy with two way impact like Ogianoobi, who we know they wanted to target last year, the asking price was just so crazy high. If it is a dynamic second shot creator like Zach Levine, who Yes, I have concerns about de defensively and how does he fit into a new culture, how malleable will he be? But it's just a talent injection that I think is valuable to them.

And maybe you don't have to move Clay because I think that that's going to be a tough sell maybe for Steph and Draymond that I don't know if they ever reasonably could break up that core. And even though I like CPS fit, I think that at that contract value, you can probably get a guy who is more impactful than like a good sixth man who reasonably you can't close with. And the bench is playing well without it anyways. So I think this is a team that's going to

get better. I think this is a team that has had catastrophic performance from a couple of their key players. And I think this is a team that's had a tough schedule and Draymond obviously missing time with injury and then the suspension. Everything has sort of been working against them, like unbelievable blown games late against the Kings and against the Clippers, and I think things are only going to go up from here because of that. I don't think

they're broken. I absolutely think this is a team that can win a playoff series. I just think they need retooling. But I'm encouraged so much by the young guys in the second unit as a whole, because that's a strength that this team just has not had in recent years. And Steph is still Steph. So as long as Steph is Steph with a better second unit and you know, most of the key piece is still around, you cannot write off the Warriors like some people are doing right now.

defense has to get to an above average level. And then I do think they need to make a move. What happens with the sinking ship? How do you get better? Will you throw off some weight, you know, you get rid of some of the gold, and if it is CP. If it is somebody else, you got to cut some weight and so the ship can get back up, you know, point blank. And so I think a move is required at the deadline. And Carson, you talk about giving them

a puncher's chance. I'll remind you guys, Buster Douglas once knocked out Mike Tyson.

like crap until just recently. It's been an incredibly unfortunate sequence of events for you, and you're still within striking distance. And it really comes down to this. For me, they have Jonathan Kaminga and this specific challenge for this front office is going to be difficult for them to come to terms with. But to me, Moses Moody popping the way that he has in a consistent way that fits

within their system makes it such an easy decision. You package Jonathan Minga with Chris Paul and you and you go after or like to me, I'd be going after Pascal Siakam, I'd be going after like like, there's a bunch of guys who Pascal Siakam, Jeremy grat Lori market and there's a bunch of different potential guys you could look at in the spot. Now, let me just put

it this way. With Pascal Siakam, if they were to make that deal, which by the way, if I was the Raptors, I would do that in a heart beat. If I could get Jonathan kaminga to pair with Scottie Barnes is more similar on the on the timeline, I don't know if they're going to get a better deal than that for Siakam on an expiring especially when you're gonna have to resign him. Genuinely, I don't know that

they could do better. I think the Warriors have a chance to actually enter into these bidding wars and have a chance to win one of them. But let's just say Siakam for the sake of this debate. Now, I've got a Wiganam Draymond frontline which is just absurd defensively, like outrageous defensively with switch ability. Draymond's shooting the sh get out of the ball. This year, there's that Steph is still a definitive top you know he's in that.

I would say that this season some of the external circumstances have led him to look a little rickety as an athlete. But I think he's had a lot on his plate, and I think that when they get, you know, kind of in a groove, I think he'll continue to look more or less like the Steph that we know. But I think he's definitively in that top six or seven players in the league still, right, And that's being conservative.

So like, if that's the case, and you can run out of lineup with Steph and Clay, with Andrew and let's say Siakam and Draymond, and you have Pozemski, you have Gary Payton, you have Moses Moody, you have Trace Jackson, Davis, Dario Sartz. They've got they've got depth there. And with that being the case, like I think it would just

be foolish to write them off. And so again, like like it's one thing when you're looking at a team like Phoenix and it's like, man, they really need to get a wing defender in there at some point, and it's like they really just don't have the means with

which to do it. Like I was talking with Brendan Klean yesterday, and it's like, maybe you trade you to want Nabby for some other athlete who's on a veteran minimum somewhere when a team needs shooting, and you're just like, hey, we'll take the athlete, you take the shooter, you know, like that kind of thing, But like they just don't really have the means. The Warriors have the means they've got a tradable salary that can fit a big slot

that they don't really need in Chris Paul. And they've got a young player and Jonathan Kaminga who is definitely sought after league wide, but that is a terrible fit in their system because he doesn't really fit in the motion five out offense. And so honestly, I think, like I think like writing them off as foolish. With the play in tournament, they could literally drop ten straight games and still have a chance to make the playoffs. Like it just it doesn't make any sense for me to

write them off. And I think, honestly, like what happens a lot of times in media is for the sake of the talking point, people try to jump ahead of a ship. And I kind of feel this way with like the best player in the league thing, Like it's always like everyone's like, oh, this guy's the best player in the league, and it's like can we wait for him to get the trophy first? You know, But it's

because it's a talking point. I think it's like, oh, the Warriors are falling apart, and it's like they've had a rough stretch and there's a whole lot of basketball left to play. Do you guys have anything else you want to add before we get out of here for the day.

marketing right now. That would be really tough. But I think the front court makes the most sense. And if you can add real offensive skill there too, that's a big win because they just need to be bigger and more athletic. Ultimately for this Western Conference.

he's on a good value contract. It would take a lot to get me to move him, but Indiana would be so fun.

he's not. He's not a franchise cornerstone. Yeah and so and so I just don't understand, like it's it's it's like, uh, there's to me. If you don't have that guy, the guy that's your franchise cornerstone, then every move you should be making should be geared towards getting that guy, and then once you have that guy, then you start to kind of analyze what your strengths and weaknesses are around

that and kind of could cater to it. And so like for me, if I'm the Jazz, I'm like I'd be I like, if if Sam Presty calls, I'd be like, all right, six first round picks, you know, like we'll

take We'll take Josh Giddy, We'll take you know. O case I'm Wallace, well, you know, like you pieced together something crazy and and and then you're like, you know, if you're Sam Pressy, You're sitting there and you're like, if I say yes to this, I get to I get to run out of lineup with Shaye dort zealand williams Lori Marketing and Chet Holgrin and like, holy shit, man, like you know, like it could be really good. So

I think I'll be curious to see what happens. But hey, thank you, thanks so much for giving me an hour of your time, giving our audience an hour of your time. Everybody, please go over to the nerd Sesh YouTube channel right after you watch this and hit that subscribe button for me help these guys get their channel started. I think they make amazing content, and it's always a challenge trying to when your content moves from one platform to another,

to get everybody to see where it's at. We're gonna be having the Nerd Sesh guys on about every other week from now on, just because I have so much fun talking basketball with them. Thank you, guys so much. Thank you to all the listeners. I will see all of you guys tomorrow for the nd season Tournament Championship.