Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder dominate the weekend with a pair of wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons. Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, and Es Baraheni breakdown the playoff race in the East. Can the Bucks maintain home court advantage? Are the Pistons a sleeper? Then, the gang looks at the playoffs in the West. Can the Los Angeles Lakers lock down the second seed? Do the Nuggets have enough juice?Host: Dave DuFourWith: Es Baraheni & Zena KeitaExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Grayson MoodySubscribe to No Offseason: https://www.youtube.com/@No-Offseason Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened over the weekend in NBA?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. Coming up, the Cavs' win streak is over, the West's playoffs is just a mess right now, and we're going to make some March Madness picks. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, guys. Hope you had a good weekend. Morning.
Yeah, it was great. Lots of basketball.
Did some skiing. Selection Sunday kind of took over television for a few hours. Yes, it did. Look, I was out there trying to watch the Raptors and the Blazers, and I kept getting distracted.
clear happy march no no yeah no uh guys let's let's uh talk about the weekend a little bit and we're gonna use this as an opportunity to catch up ahead of the playoffs we're actually a month out we're we're 28 days away from the the play-in on april 15th so it's good time to take a look at the playoff races um We all kind of know the East, the top three, is just locked right now.
It's going to be the Cavs, the Celtics, and the Knicks in that order. That's the order for the East at the top. And the Cavs, they did just have their 16-game winning streak snapped by the Orlando Magic. We've been talking about them a lot. Orlando's struggling quite a bit since they lost Jalen Suggs. This is a pretty big win for them. But for the Cavs, it's a little bit –
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of the Cavs' recent loss?
This is a loss that's similar to some of their other losses. Orlando was very physical, kind of got them out of their game a little bit.
Yeah, when a team can just throw a ton of bodies at them physically, especially against their guards, they have a tougher time creating. Darius Garland tried his best in that fourth quarter with a bit of a run himself, but their secondary guys couldn't create shots and couldn't hit shots.
So maybe that's the kind of question moving forward with Cleveland, but at the same time, when it's 16 wins in a row...
you can't be complaining that much you know what i mean so can't wait forever yeah well team's team's gonna get one on you it's not that big of a deal you know uh but it's a look it's a big win for orlando um they are in the the play-in race with the atlanta hawks right now and xena look they're a half game back of the hawks the hawks are the kings of the play-in and orlando you know this is supposed to be a team that was going to be home court advantage team obviously the the
The injuries have sunk their season. Yeah. What do you what do you make of their chances as a play in team? You know, if they get that seven seed, they wind up playing Boston. If they get the eight seed, they wind up playing this Cleveland team. I mean, we just they kind of match up if they can score. They match up OK with Cleveland. I think Boston is just that's a nightmare.
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Chapter 3: Can the Pistons make a playoff push?
It's, I mean, Boston's a nightmare for anyone, but I actually think that this game this weekend against Cleveland gives me hope for what Orlando can bring. Like you saw them displace tenacity in the second half. You saw them, you know, that they came into that game, the top defensive team in terms of the lowest points per game for their opponent.
And you go up against the team that scores the most points per game in Cleveland and you're able to get them to commit 13 turnovers. You limit them to 43 points in the second half. Like that's, you're seeing that Orlando has some grit. They got some resilience. They're able to keep up.
And also that they were able to match their offensive output behind that defense, because that's usually the problem is a team being incredibly great on defense and not being able to match the output on offense.
But you saw them go on a 10 or no run, close that gap against a good Cleveland team, a team that did not have Evan Mobley on the floor, but still had a very focused Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. And, They still played well. So I think they'll match up. They'll do well for a play-in team. I don't know how much further they'll go, though.
If Jalen Suggs comes back and can contribute, I think this team has a chance. We saw how good they were with him to start the year, and we still haven't really seen him healthy since Paolo got hurt early on in the season. The four to six seeds in the East are fascinating right now. You've got the Bucs, who lost on Sunday to the Thunder, but they did pick up a huge win over the Pacers.
They had a half-game lead over the Pacers for the four seed, and they got that big win. So, The Bucs right now in the four seed Pacers in five, a half game back. And then the Pistons, the surprise Pistons are only a game and a half back on the Bucs.
Not a surprise to me, Dave. I mean, what do you think about the Pistons?
OK, so we got a chance to see the Pistons against the Thunder and we got to see a chance to see the Bucs against the Thunder. What do you guys think about where those two teams are at this stage of the season?
I thought it was really fun to watch. Well, first of all, that wasn't probably the best Pistons showing just because it seemed like they got frustrated a lot with the foul and the officiating. I mean, J.B. Bickerstaff kind of represented the entire team with the way they felt through the officiating situation against OKC.
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Chapter 4: How do the Lakers and Nuggets look heading into the playoffs?
And for the amount of veteranship on this team that should be able to adjust and adapt to, you know, a team like the Pacers, like a T.J. McConnell that goes and picks things off or the Pistons. I mean, if we're going to keep this conversation going of people that can end up in passing lanes, you would think that the fundamentals would show up at some point.
or Giannis and Dame kind of taking things into their own hands. But they just keep reading, reading right into or feeding right into the defenses, switch defenses. They haven't been able to take advantage of as much as they should with the likes of a Giannis and a Dame on Anna Brooke Lopez, a pick and pop big, the pick and pop big.
So you're, it's surprising that they haven't been able to manipulate defenses more with the level and experience of offense that they have on their team.
I'll tell you, my biggest frustration is there's too many times where I'm looking at the clock and it's 12 seconds left on the shot clock and they've done nothing. It takes them so long to get into action. No one has moved. No one has made a cut. No one set a screen.
They haven't even got past half court sometimes.
And this is the sort of stuff that when it comes to playoff time, and I'm with you, this is why I do trust Indiana a little bit more. And Frankly, I like the Pistons. I do like the Pistons. I think the Pistons with that defense, that's a scary team if you're the Knicks.
I like their defense and their camaraderie. I love the camaraderie. If I'm looking at the East right now, if you looked at that game, even with Cleveland against Orlando, particularly at the end of the third quarter, DeAndre Hunter hits a three. And at the same time, they all do the three, like... Ice in my veins.
Yes.
Darius, Donovan, DeAndre. I'm like, ooh, that's scary. When teams are gelling, DeAndre just joined that team and they're gelling like this. I like the way that the Pistons look for that reason. I like the way Cleveland looks for that reason. And of course, who do we love the most for that reason? OKC. They're boys. And I think that that is a factor that's on the court that you cannot eliminate.
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Chapter 5: What are the Thunder's chances in the postseason?
I'm fully a believer. Dave, I'm so proud of you. It's true. I know that wasn't an easy thing for you to do.
You know, we just, it's not like it's Kate.
Okay.
It's not Kate Cunningham. Eventually. No, I'm happy.
I'm happy that you're on the good side here. I mean, everyone can see it. I think MVP conversation is different folks, by the way, let's put that qualifier out there, but agreed. The way that Shay impacts this team is palpable. We can see it. It's tangible.
Yeah. Okay, let's update the playoffs. Obviously, the Thunder are running away with the West. And right behind them, it's a gaggle of teams fighting for that two seed. The Rockets, the Nuggets, and the Grizzlies are all same record, 43-25. The Lakers are one game behind those three. The Lakers pick up a big win on Sunday over the Suns. The Suns have their own battle.
They're a game and a half behind the Mavericks. Oof. I only have like seven guys available, and the Suns just cannot win a basketball game.
And they have a ridiculous schedule ahead of them. They have the hardest schedule in the West remaining, and if they were to – like they play Cleveland once, they play OKC once, they play Boston two more times, the Knicks, the Warriors. It's going to be tough for Phoenix, man. That's – yeah.
It's incredible to say that – I mean – Zena, you watch, you watch the Suns. Kevin Durant, this looks like he's not really having that much fun.
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Chapter 6: Why are the Suns struggling despite their talent?
Kevin Durant's on Zillow. you know, trying to figure out where he wants to move to Minnesota. The lakes are really nice up in Minnesota. I think, you know, probably what it's going to be. Okay. So the, the two through five race right now, everyone's trying to get that to see, cause you want to avoid Oklahoma city.
You know, the, the Grizzlies and rockets have kind of been hanging out in that two, three spot. Obviously the, the Lakers, they, they went on that huge surge. They've, they really didn't fall off as much without LeBron as, as I expected. What do you guys think of making that race? And where do you see it going here in the next few weeks? We only got four weeks left.
Yeah, the Rockets playing well as of late is interesting just because they've gotten healthy again with Fred coming back. And they're just playing better defense because of it. So they look better. They're in a good position. The Lakers have such a tough schedule moving forward, too. And that's something that's going to work against them as they try to ramp LeBron back into the situation.
I'm looking at Denver, though, because it's been kind of weird. How are they 0-2 against the Wizards this year?
Jordan Poole has Jokic's number. Is that what I'm supposed to believe here?
Yeah, Alex Saar out here dominating the matchup. That's an interesting one. And then, you know, the night before that, it's the Lakers without LeBron and Luka basically almost pulling the thing off and winning. Jamal Murray ends up with the dagger. So I think it's just interesting. You know, Jokic had a quote earlier saying, you know, you can't flip a switch.
He said, I think you are who you are in the regular season. As you are in the playoffs, you can't flip a switch. And I think that's indicative of how this Nuggets team is kind of, going through the motions of things towards the end of the regular season.
I'm curious to see what you guys think about that, though, because I feel like the Nuggets have the talent, but it hasn't looked the greatest over the last couple weeks as they try to get things together.
Yeah, my concern with the Nuggets actually was brought up by Claire DeLune that's been on this show that covers the Lakers. I don't trust the Nuggets defense. They've got a bottom third defense in the NBA, and it's not their offense. Isn't the same sort of like high octane offense that Indiana has where your team is just getting tired by chasing them around. Right.
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Chapter 7: What does the playoff race look like in the West?
And then you look at a team like Minnesota and the streak that they've kind of gone on. And I would say like Anthony Edwards – this is not like some kind of a great leap into MVP category, but I do think we're seeing a little bit of a mini leap for him playmaking wise over the last couple of months.
I think that what Minnesota does where you have this guy with the ball in his hands, that's going to get, be a high volume three point shooter. He's going to attack the basket. I think that's a little bit harder to continue with. So Zena, I think that's a great point. And also I think history has proven that you cannot flip the switch because
There are not many teams that could just go into the playoffs.
It's very, very hard to.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, when LeBron James was there, the second stint, that was the one team I've ever seen that was able to do it. And that doesn't mean they can't lock in for a quarter or something like that. Certainly teams can raise their level. But when we go into the playoffs, you know, the teams I'm circling, It's going to be Oklahoma city. It's going to be Cleveland.
It's going to be Boston. You know, they also, they all have that ability to throw an avalanche on you offensively. And that's what Denver hasn't shown this year. So it's a good point.
If anything, I think the teams that end the season, the best have the best momentum moving into the post season. Right. You think of Boston a couple of years ago when they faced the Warriors in the finals, that second half surge last year, the Mavericks, they really galvanized, created a great defense. They went into the playoffs and they knew what they were doing.
I think you got to look at who is dominating at this at this moment right now. And to your point, like Cleveland is dominating. Boston is doing his thing. OKC is doing his thing. And the same team has been doing it all year.
All right. Let's let's make some predictions. We're a month out. Who's going to be the two seed?
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