Luka Doncic scored 29 points while LeBron James poured in 17 to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their second win over the Clippers in three days. Dave DuFour, Zena Keita and Es Baraheni discuss the Lakers recent play, Jalen Brunson’s clutch credentials, and the Cleveland Cavaliers 50th win of the season. Then, the gang marks the three-quarter point of the season with NBA Awards.Host: Dave DuFourWith: Es Baraheni & Zena KeitaExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Grayson Moody Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened in the NBA this weekend?
Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the NBA Daily. Coming up, the Cavs are the first team to 50 wins. The Lakers are the two seeds. And since it's award season, we're giving out the dailies. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, guys. Obviously, we're all dressed up around here. Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. Conan O'Brien, by the way, crushed hosting the Oscars for, you know, I mean, you know, since we talk sports here and that is apparently a sport. That was a lot of fun. Before we get to the big games for the weekend, guys, let's a little bit of news from Friday night. We had a late Friday night news dump. Joel Embiid, done for the year. So the Sixers have... made the decision to shut it down.
And, and guys, I think the biggest thing that we, you know, we expected this, we kind of thought it was trending this way. And now we all focus on whether or not they're going to keep that pick.
Yeah, they do. Yeah, I think that's the goal moving forward. I mean, Quentin Grimes got them their first win in a while, which was a whole ordeal. It was like the first time since the Eagles had won, which is crazy to consider. Anyways, Quentin Grimes got that win. But to the Joel Embiid point, it's just I hope this isn't anything that's going to ruin the end of his career.
I hope he'll be able to bounce back from this. I hope the Sixers can get a great season out of him moving forward. Because it just this would be a deflating way for an all time greats career to end. That's the way I'm approaching this Embiid situation.
It was nice to see him in good spirits with Quentin Grimes, his 42 point game after the game, like hyping him up and such. So he's still going to obviously be a figure around the team. But yes, it's the off court stuff that you just want to make sure that not only is he getting better in a physical way, but mentally in a good place as well.
Well, let's talk about the Cavs, guys. They had a couple big wins over the weekend. The biggest one was obviously that Friday night, the comeback win over the Boston Celtics. They were 1-2 in the East. And this Cavs team continues to clear hurdles and bars for progress, and they become the first team to win 50 games. They're 50-10. So, Esk, you told us about the 40-20 club.
The 50-10 club, they all make the finals. And I think the only team that didn't win Was the Golden State Warriors that won 73 games. So, you know, they are just, they are looking like a juggernaut. We love the Portland Trailblazers. They gave them a run for their money on Sunday, pushing them to overtime. But guys, the Cavs, look, I think they're coming out of the East.
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Chapter 2: How did the Cavs achieve their 50th win?
But the way they answered back, there was actually this sound up with Kenny Atkinson saying, hey, like play the way you guys have been playing all season. Get your head back in this. And they answered in a major way. I thought Ty Jerome and DeAndre Hunter were massive off the bench for those guys. And then the way that Donovan Mitchell carried them in the second half.
I mean, that's what a superstar is going to do. He is such a big playoff riser. He's done it in Utah, has done it in Cleveland. And I think he'll be able to do it for this Cavs this year. So I agree. I do think that the Cavs will come out of the East. That is the hunch that I have. I mean, being 50-10 is just tough to do, you know?
So I think this Boston-Cleveland game told us a lot about both teams. Of course, Cleveland continues their run, 50-10. It's awesome. But on the Boston side, I'm looking at their ability to actually crush teams, you know, especially when you're talking about the playoffs. If you look at the three teams that we're thinking are poised to come out to the NBA finals, OKC, Cleveland, Boston.
Of those three, Boston has blown eight more leads this season than the other two with a total of 18. The other two have 10. They've also lost eight games where they've had a lead of 10 or more points in the game. Cleveland has only lost two. OKC has only lost four. So OKC. That tells me a lot about their ability to be resilient and to be kind of true killers out in the playoff era or the space.
Now, don't get me wrong. We haven't seen Cleveland or OKC get to that spot that they've been in.
But still makes me think a little bit. But maybe that comes back to the conversation you guys were having about them just being bored. They're not locked in.
I mean, I think I think there's a difference between not being locked in and being bored. But on the Cleveland side, like we keep talking about Cleveland from a larger perspective in the league. Fifty and ten is huge. But I also want to give credit to this organization. This is the second 50 season win since LeBron left.
Like that's a really big deal that they've now kind of turned the corner from the LeBron era and have gotten behind Donovan Mitchell and really been able to find a lot of success behind the surrounding pieces. Not only Donovan Mitchell, but of course, their presence inside their six men off the bench. DeAndre Hunter adding into that group like it's been a lot of growth for Cleveland overall.
And kudos to Kenny Atkinson and the group for putting all that together.
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Chapter 3: What makes Jalen Brunson a clutch player?
Yeah, guys, the NBA is really going to love this show because we're only talking about their favorite teams in the biggest markets. It's time for the Lakers. The Lakers are the two seed somehow. They have had a crazy couple of months. LeBron James turned 40 years old. And look, I've got a birthday coming up soon.
And I'll just tell you guys, you know, when you get to be a certain age, you start to want to prove things to yourself at all these birthdays. And I think LeBron turned 40. He said, you know what? I'm still top five and he's played like it. He's playing like it on both ends.
I mean, the Lakers survived a comeback from the Clippers and it got a little sketchy for him, but they pick up two wins over the rival Clippers that are across the street. These teams are going in opposite directions, but the Lakers are like to the moon right now. They just, they are the two seed.
Obviously the addition of Luka Doncic has just been night. I don't want to call it night and day. It's like they were already like at dusk and now they're at night officially, but they were rolling already and just been adding. It was crazy to watch Luka Doncic consistently get into pick and roll situations where Zubats ended up on him.
against the Clippers I'm like Ty Lue Jeff Van Gundy all season we've been talking about this defense from the Clippers what is going on but no Luka Doncic being able to take advantage of those situations and also becoming the creator that LeBron was earlier before he could you know join the team it's been really cool to see LeBron gel into this role where he doesn't have to do as much and Luka Doncic has really been the orchestrator and the producer out on the floor for the Lakers
Yeah, LeBron has been able to be a play finisher so much with Luka out there. He's leaking out all the time. I mean, you know, it reminds me as of the Miami years where he had some of those crazy efficient seasons because he was cutting to the basket. He was shooting a lot of layups. And here's the thing, and this is the craziest part, is that LeBron added that last piece to his game.
He became a knockdown three-point shooter. He's shooting like 43% on the season. Yeah. Statistically, his last two months are better than that MVP season in Miami. That's incredible.
This blows my mind. It's crazy to say that.
He's scoring about the same amount of points. He's shooting the ball better. And, I mean, the defense, look, it's not the same level as that. Of course. Man, it's ridiculous.
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Chapter 4: How are the Lakers performing this season?
But at the same time, LeBron, I mean, the way that he's doing it and the team is winning. The other thing is, like, how real is this defense? God. We now have like a two month sample. And I'll admittedly, a lot of that has to include Anthony Davis in this, but there is now like a 15 game sample of no Anthony Davis. And then now Luca. So how, how real is this Lakers?
I think we're going to find out over the course of the next few weeks. Also perfect segue talking about guys getting all NBA or all defense. Cause coming up after the break guys, it's the dailies. Oh yeah. Okay, so we've arrived at the three-quarter mark of the season. And with the Oscars, we thought it'd be pretty fun to hand out some awards to this point.
And, you know, we decided to call them the dailies because that's what you do. You know, naming conventions being what they are. Yeah. You know, it's an excuse to talk about some guys is really what it is. We can mention some names and have some conversations. And we got to start with the best offensive player. And there's really only two names here. And I'm just going to make you guys choose one.
Is it Shea, Gilgis Alexander, or is it Nikola Jokic? It's...
Nobody else counts. This is tough. This is so... I don't even want to go first. I can go first. I can go first.
And this is what my breakdown was. So I looked at the top five scores in the league right now, just based off points per game. It was simple. But then I went... to be ball reference. And I started looking at some stats between all of them. Now, if you look at Shea, you look at Nikola in this group, Nikola. I don't know why I said Nikola. If you look at Shea, you look at Nikola.
Shea is statistically the best scorer, one-on-one. among these top five scores. He's also the best overall with his shooting ability and he has utilized the most in his team's offense. He's also heavily utilized and the most utilized on defense, which I actually think makes his offensive ability even more impressive. However,
Nikola Jokic also plays a ton defense and he is the best playmaker in that group by and large. Okay. So he has his office and he also creates for his other teammates. He also has the best shot quality in that group outside of Giannis, but that's biased because Giannis is mostly finishing under the basket. His shot, you know, diet is very limited. So with that,
Putting the fact that Nikola is playing defense as well as putting up high offensive numbers and is the best playmaker and offensive rebounder, I'm going with Nikola.
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Chapter 5: What are the highlights of LeBron James' recent play?
So for his position, you could argue that he is the best offensive player. Now, most offensive player, best offensive player in the league, comparing him between Jokic. I actually think the defensive side of the ball is probably part of this conversation because Shea has been so integral to what OKC does on the defensive side that he generates tons of turnovers, gets the thunder out in transition.
And they're an incredible transition team. Shea is an incredible transition player and score. He's been a great three-point shooter. He leads the league in points per game. So I'm going to say Shea. But I can take that Shea point and I can make it for Jokic too.
Because Jokic gets a lot of steals. Jokic obviously rebounding. Jokic is constantly looking ahead. We're splitting hairs that are like, you know. It's like incremental.
But it's Jokic.
I think Jokic, he's the best offensive player By the way, this is not MVP. Almost maybe ever. Like, I mean, it's debatable.
We should separate this from what MVP is. Because MVP will be a different conversation. And ultimately, I think record and winning and all that type of stuff will be baked into the MVP conversation. That's a good point. This is just the best offensive player.
I like that. Yeah, see, here at the Daily Sweet, we're – Adding context to these conversations. It's not a complete unknown. Speaking of, something we've talked about is the Defensive Player of the Year Award and how it's a little bit biased towards, and Zena, apologies. It's biased towards bigs.
I get it.
So guys, through three quarters of the season, here are nominees for Best Perimeter Defensive Player. This is where we would get the musical number. Dyson Daniels, Tumani Kamara. The Thompson twins, a man and a czar, they're just constantly grouped together. Chris Dunn, which is a great call, and Alex Caruso. So, guys, tell me, who's your best perimeter defensive player of the year?
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Chapter 6: Who are the contenders for the NBA Awards?
Yeah, I agree. I don't think there's any other game that's really in consideration. You could talk about Luka's debut or the Mavericks-Lakers game. No, this had it all. Yeah, this was like a head above the rest, yeah.
The win streaks, like there was so much on the line this early in the season. And when you think about the narrative that's been around the NBA about not having these type of big- Big regular season game, yeah. Yeah, I was gonna say pregnant in that sense, but like these pregnant moments, right? Like these big pregnant moments where there's so much anticipation, et cetera.
That was really dope to be able to see something like that midseason before All-Star break, before the playoff push. So really fun for all of us to see two teams really bought in. And then it's been continued. This level of excellence has continued.
Yeah, the game was good. The game was good. We got the narrative payoff. It was it was excellent. It was it was a great game. OK, and now this is going to be controversial. Best player in a supporting role. And here are our nominees. It's Malik Beasley, who we have been talking about quite a bit here and what he's doing for the Pistons, shooting the lights out.
Ty Jerome, who in my opinion should be the front runner for most improved player if we're doing the award the right way. Love it. And maybe he's too good to be considered supporting because of all the roles that he can fill at the high level. But Josh Hart. So there, what do you guys say?
man this is so hard especially considering how you define supporting because are we talking stars and starters and who aren't in that group right are we talking about people that are coming off the bench yep uh reserves and you know that's kind of how i looked at it if like someone that's not starting but they're coming in and keeping pace they're coming in and keeping the status quo for their team and it's leading to wins and then they're also coming in and being a game changer
and doing something and elevating the play of their team. And Ty Jerome has been doing that all season long, including in this recent win over the Portland Trailblazers. I don't know anyone that feels as fearless as the person they're coming in for. Which Ty Jerome comes in for Darius Garland and
Having seen Ty Jerome up close and personal from the Warriors perspective and coming in behind Stephen Curry, I think that season was so discombobulated that a lot of people discounted just how poised of a guard and also a straight assassin that Ty Jerome can be and is. And so now we're starting to see that competitive juice come out in Cleveland.
And he's really elevated that reserve play, but also just being able to close out games too for Cleveland.
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