James Edwards
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
You have more than likely have an elite creator at the very least. Like if we're including I don't know where the Pistons fall on that. But Kate has been one of the I know Dave hates to hear this. Kate has been one of the best.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
No, I'm with you. He's been one of the best pick-and-roll players this year. Trey, again, in the middle of the pack. I don't know where they are offensively. They're a middle-of-the-pack team. Trey has been one of the best pick-and-roll players, even when the Bulls had Levine. And the Bulls beat the Knicks earlier this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
There are so many good playmakers at the point of attack in basketball, and the Knicks see them often. And I think that when you have those ones that are above good – They're able to kind of take those disadvantages to the tool shed, and they're able to generate offense for the team too. So I think that's the big thing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I think teams – the really, really good teams are putting Brunson and Cat in the action. Again, it's not their fault. They are – Both, they both try, they both compete. They just have limitations. And that's why I kind of had questions about the makeup of the roster after the trade, because I, I didn't think the Knicks would be worse, but I wasn't sure that they would be better.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I just knew that they'd be different. And I think it's shown itself there. They were really good offense team last year. They're, way better this year, even though I think they were top five last year. Where they're at this year is even better. And defensively, they were fifth last year, and they're 17th this year. And that's a pretty big gap.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Obviously, Dallas, I think, was a top five offense last year and 18th on defense in the regular season. So it can lead to something, right? But I do think that is the biggest – That is the biggest hurdle they have to climb, having two players who have limitations defensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
No, it's not. And I think you could make the case that he is one of the 15 most important players to winning in basketball this season. I think you could make the case that he's been the Knicks' second best Definitely their most consistent player if you're counting both sides of the ball and maybe their second or third best player this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I wrote a story a few weeks ago how he has the first he's going to has a chance to be the first player under six foot eight to average. What is the numbers? I'm trying to find it here. I can't find it right now. At least 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists and a steal while shooting about 50% from the field and 35% from three. He's six foot four.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I think people forget that the only players to ever do it are Embiid, Jokic and Larry Bird. So think about a six foot four guy. Everyone's like, you just pulled, you're just, you could pick point, pick any stats and make a weird thing out of it. Well, only three guys have done it. I'm not saying, I'm not saying Josh Hart is in the same conversation, but I think it goes to tell you how I'm,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
impactful he is to winning, especially at his size. Well, he's weird.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
We've talked about it. I've mentioned it to him. Like, those are the type of guys that every championship team has. And we could just use recent memory, right? Like Contavious Caldwell Pope helped the Lakers win, helped the Nuggets win. Bruce Brown, right? Draymond Green's the ultimate example. I mean, we could go on and on on those X factors, whatever you want to call them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Glue guys, whatever you want to call them. But I think I agree with Zena. Like, those guys, those motors are unmatched, but also like, I think we don't give enough credit to how smart those players are. Right. Like it's the instincts to go get a rebound. It's the instincts to know when to cut. It's the instincts to know when to make the right pass.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And I think, too, just really quick, I think people also don't realize he is one of the best finishers I've ever seen. He's shooting above 70 percent at the rim and he's 6'4". That's not normal for people that don't know. Like that's if you look at who has the best field goal percentage in basketball, it's a bunch of six foot ten guys and higher.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And then Josh Hart, like 70 percent at the rim is insane for a guard.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Yeah, like, it's not normal. And he just knows how to play the game of basketball at the end of the day. And not many guys do in this league.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Yeah, if you're listening to this on Wednesday morning, I have a story that I've been working on coming out. It's... When I started the story and I thought about it, the idea was I thought it would be a little bit more fun than it turned out. It turned out a little bit more eerie. It's about how players get harassed by fans because they lose them a bet or a parlay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And obviously that's an unintended consequence of... us as a society, us as sports fans, them as leagues from getting in bed with gambling. It's not something that I don't think people like thought about or have at the forefront of their mind when they do this. But I talked to Jalen Brunson, like he gets death threats on his month's old daughter, his family.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And this is like the Knicks could win by 20 and he could have 30. And maybe he didn't have the assist he needed and people lose their minds and the messages that they get. So it's basically just taking you into like their mindset as gambling has become so popular and how it impacts them and how they try to like, they obviously like laugh it off and stuff, but like,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
There's certain situations where guys are like, this stuff is like there's some cruel shit being said. Just a different look. Yeah, I think to me, we talk a lot about gambling and nobody's really talked about that aspect because it's not something that's visible to us. Like we see tweets every now and then, but these guys get it way more than I think the general public understands or realizes.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
So the league says they have things in place where like if you get harassed, you can report it. I just don't think it's possible. Like the only way it's possible is if you ask players to make their social media accounts private or don't have them. And in today's world, all these guys are brands. They're not going to do that. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I just, to me, there's just, it's like I said, an unintended consequence of the world we're in. I just don't see how you can stop it without asking guys to cut off their social media.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I need to see them lose to Boston by less than 15 before I get there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
I think it's big for a few reasons. One, they just came off of a big loss to Boston the night of two nights before. And obviously, I think for a lot of fans, one, they're happy to be in the position where this team is having these type of conversations and expectations. But two, there are expectations. Right. And it's a team that is has not beaten Cleveland, Boston or Oklahoma City this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
It's a team that going into tonight, they were five and seven against the top eight teams in the East. Now they're six and seven and will likely get to seven and seven tomorrow against Atlanta, as they obviously are very depleted right now and pivoting toward the tank. So.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
It is it's going to be a situation where the Knicks need to try to rack up these wins, not just because like they need them, because I agree with you. Like, I don't think Indiana is going to catch them in the standings. Yeah. But just like to continue to build confidence, can continue to find ways against different play styles.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Indiana, obviously, is one of the fastest and most kind of free teams that there are. And I thought tonight the Knicks did a good job of just like being physical. I think they had 70 points in the paint. Towns didn't settle for threes like he took. He took a decent amount, but he was getting to the paint, had a bunch of and ones. Josh Hart was cutting them to death in the dunker spot.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
Offensive rebounds. Those two really carried them. Brunson had foul trouble. I think he got five, two minutes into the third, three minutes into the third. It was just a very kind of like grinded out and outlast your opponent. And the Pacers had opportunities to make it close. The Knicks played just enough good defense, I think, to keep the Pacers at arm's length.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And then just being able to kind of rack up those points in the paint and those and ones, I think, was huge. And they did so well on the glass, too. So. I think that they found a little bit of a blueprint there with just being physical against the Pacers. And I thought it warmed down at the end and allowed the Knicks to kind of extend themselves in the last four or five minutes of that game.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
That's the question that they're trying to figure out. That's the question we're trying to figure out. And I think there's two things with that. As you mentioned, Towns playing the five, they obviously they know the importance of that offensively. Right. Yeah. That opens up so much for their offensive spacing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
It's it's what's made them who they are, which is one of the most high powered, the second most the second best offense in basketball. Now, defensively, where the issues come, and I noted this when they made the trade for him, it's not Cat and Jalen's fault that they have limitations defensively. They compete, they both try, but they have limitations.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
One guy is smaller than Jalen, not the quickest feet. Cat is bigger, has had injuries, not the most nimble. And you see teams, specifically Boston, just spam the pick and roll over and over and over until they get Brunson on Tatum or Brunson on Brown, and then they get past him, and then it's one move and they're past Cat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Kevin Durant reaches 30k career points | Sixers lose 4th straight
And it's pretty much just trying to put those two in the action, and it takes away. And then if OG comes to help, if Mikkel comes to help, if Josh comes to help, they got shooters everywhere. And I think the stat you mentioned was a tremendous stat. I think it was DJ Ace, who's a big Knicks fan, I think a lot of that is the middle teams and the top teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Man, I can't wait for game three. I know all of you agree with this just because it's been incredible back and forth series, the tactical approach, the way both teams are guarding pick and rolls. You talked about the turnovers earlier law. It feels like that's what's dictating this whole series, the pace that both teams are trying to play at. Yeah. but also Clippers playing it into it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Playoff game, game three. How does that feel? The fact that they're going to have the wall? Dave, we've talked about the wall before. Against a bad free throw shooting team. Against a bad free throw.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. How are the vibes going to be in game three? What are you expecting adjustment-wise, all of the above? Well, shoot, adjustments.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Led to that Dennis Schroeder three. That's right.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
You sort of touched on the cat part of this. He didn't take a shot in the fourth, just felt felt invisible. But it also felt like the Knicks just weren't getting him any touches to get him going. What do they have to do to get him going in this series? I mean, he had a good game one, but game two was completely the opposite of that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Yeah, there it is. Hey, any time you could win a playoff game, knocking down just six threes the entire time is a win. You've got to walk away with that. You've got to be happy. James, I have to ask you. Game three in Detroit, first time Detroit gets a playoff game since 2019. First playoff win for them today. In 17 years, where were you 17 years ago when the Pistons won a playoff game?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Man, Law, I know we've talked about this a couple times, but just the minutes load and his ability to play through. He played 39 minutes tonight, but to end the season, it was 40-minute games and hustling to just grind through the end of the year. You've watched this guy go through the process of rehabilitation multiple times.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Huge game for Cade. 33 points led the way for them the entire way. I mean, obviously, you know, knowing this is the James Bowl here, watching his evolution, what did you think of game two from Cade?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
How is the feeling in the locker room and what everybody feels about these type of performances? When Kawhi is like this, knowing everything that he's sort of been through to get to this point?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But a guy who's getting to the rim and creating threes really. Like Delon Wright has done a good job, but obviously it's to a lesser degree. They're just a team that's a little bit that can sometimes get so heavy when things aren't going going well. They at times hesitate to let shots fly.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Like sometimes in the NBA, a good shot is when a guy's running at you as opposed to trying to get a better shot. And the shot clock goes like it just seems sometimes they've hesitated at times.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
I certainly think it's a moment, not a moment in time, but a point of growth, but the, is it a moment in time in which we see the point in growth, if that makes any sense. So I think sure. Josh Hart, Josh Hart said it best. Like OG is remember that he's a six foot eight, 245 pound demon.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
And the way I think a lot of people's knock on OG, if you always wondered like, why can't he get to this level as a score? I think most people would point to the handle, um, Yeah. And just not necessarily always being direct with his movements in the half court. I think that's what's been very promising from this. Like he is getting to the rim. It's very direct. It's very forceful.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
It's very poignant. Like you said, there's been great balance from him. And he's even added like the euro swipe gather through. Yeah. Yeah. It's been.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
it's like he's added that to his bag of tricks and it's really helped he's gotten to the line more i think over the last 11 games he's averaging about six free throws a game this is a guy that averages 2.2 for most of his career i think so or 2.8 or something like that so um pulling off a couple moves finding a move that's comfortable with him and then again just remembering how strong he is but i also think
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
One thing that's been well, he's also letting the three ball fly. He's not hesitating. He has been one of those guys that has been reluctant to let it go when he has a sliver of space and he's let it fly this year. He's shooting at about 38 percent clip. But even further than that, the way with Brunson, they've had to kind of change how they play defensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
or they've had to change how they play and kind of rely on their defense, right? Like Miles McBride is a good point of attack defender. Mitchell Robinson is back. So they're able to have a little bit more ball pressure, which allows OG, and there's back line help that they trust.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
They're able to kind of stick to their man, jump passing lanes, gamble, and I think you see OG out in the fast break a lot too. So that's been a positive. And then the last thing, What I'm curious to see what happens when Jalen gets back is obviously Jalen's going to have the ball more. And that's just I think everybody would agree like Jalen Brunson is he's the guy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
He's the one that, as you said, Dave stirs the drink. But while he's been out, OG is kind of – and me and Fred talked about this. I think he's going to write something on Friday in his notebook around the league. But the geometry of where OG is now without Brunson has changed. Like he's not always in the corner. He's on the wing. He's getting – he's at the top of the key. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
That might not be the case, or they have to figure out how to maybe work that in more when Brunson comes back. So I'm curious to see how they utilize him. Maybe they change around the rotation so OG has opportunities where he can be in those spots on the floor even while Brunson is back. Yeah, like leading bench lineups type of thing. Yeah, exactly. So I'm curious to see how they do that.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But I do agree that I think he has taken steps. But the question is, is it sustainable because of how – Brunson utilizes the floor and just the importance of having him back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Is he going to make it back? So he has cleared for basketball activities and the Knicks have Thursday off. Then they're going to likely practice Friday in Atlanta and then they play in Atlanta at three and he is on this trip. So it is about a five day trip, two games in there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Most guys that are injured usually travel with the team and that type of long break because the whole organization is there. It reads to me like there's a really good chance Brunson could be back Saturday against Atlanta, and I would say Sunday against Phoenix back in New York at the latest. But my hunch is there's a good chance he's back Saturday.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But it seems like he will be back in enough time to get to 65 games. After this weekend, they'll have a week left, seven days. I think they'll have six games left. I'm not mistaken. I should know that. That's probably my job, but they all just kind of. I should also know that too. We're running together at this point. Six games. Six games.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
He technically could miss the two games this weekend and still be fine, but I think he comes back and plays in one of the games this weekend. Cool. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Like maybe they sit them in Phoenix or Phoenix against, or maybe they, that's the thing. Cause it's the Sunday game against Phoenix is in New York. Do you want his return to be in New York for your fans? Um, or do you want it on the road? I could see both ways. Um, do you want his first matchup back to be Dyson Daniels? Uh, That's going to make you work in your first game. It's a good test.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
You've got to think about it like boxing.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
Yeah, it's been a weird season. I think obviously, and Tom Thibodeau likes to talk about this a lot, I think what gets missed in the discourse is kind of the circumstances surrounding games. So in their defense, two of the three games against Cleveland have been on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
This one tonight, without Jalen, without Miles McBride, without Campaign, starting DeLon Wright, who's been solid, and rookie Tyler Kolek. So they know Mitchell Robinson, who's not playing back to back yet. So of all the games, this isn't really the right one for a barometer kind of test.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But I mean, listen, everybody in the NBA plays back to backs when they lost by 36 or whatever it was a few weeks ago, a little over a month ago. Like, yes, they were on the second half of back to back, but. good teams don't get blasted like that, that like it's, it's pretty rare. So yeah, it's a team that I think is a really good team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
But there is a clear kind of tiering system right now in the NBA. And the top of that tier is the, the Thunder Celtics and Cavs. And those it's pretty much those three against everybody else. And the Knicks have some good moments. They look really, really good in spurts throughout games. And then they look, kind of they look like they could lose to anybody at points in games. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
I think there's a few things and yeah, there's, there's slipping here and there. Like McHale has slipped at times and that kind of, he's the most that comes to mind. And then the way that they guard teams have been guarding the Knicks. They put a five on Josh, a wing on, on cat.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
And I think they've kind of leaned into maybe Josh facilitating a little bit more, getting guys off actions and having them set up. And there was it was some success the other day. I can't remember in which game, but in the first quarter, it looked really good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Can OKC get to 70 wins? + Anthony Davis’ big night
So it just seems like there's just inconsistencies from the group as a whole or even guys not doing necessarily, I think, what the staff is hoping to do. But I think to your point. I think one thing that they – they're such a slow-playing team in the half court. Pace. They don't get up a ton of threes. They don't have a guy with Jalen out right now that really – well, OG is now getting to the rim.