Nerd Sesh - Game 1 Reactions: T-Wolves CRUSH Lakers, Nuggets BEST Clippers - The Volume

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. No, Oh my god, how could he do that?
Don't want what Charles Darwin. The nerves is where it's at.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome everybody back into Nerd Sesshon As always, I'm Carson Braver.
Alongside me is Logan Camden, and the NBA Playoffs are here.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Man.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
We just got a really, really fun opening day of
the postseason. Four highly anticipated series and a couple of
really good games. And I want to start Logan with
what I think has probably been the most discussed first
round matchup, largely because it features the Los Angeles Lakers.
But that was our closing game for the night, and
it was a convincing victory for the Minnesota Timberwolves. They

(00:56):
led this one wired to wire and we're comfortably ahead
for a majority of it. What did you take away
from the key Wolves really dominating game one?

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Well, I was really impressed with the Timberwolves supporting cast,
their defense, their shooting, and their rebounding. Specifically, what we
got out of Jaden McDaniels and nas Reed. You know
McDaniels has been nos Reed. Hey, we're back NBA Playoffs.
Nas Reed made his name well known last year. He's
adding to it this year. Jaden McDaniels had a career

(01:29):
year this year, and we were, you know, waiting to
see if it was going to translate into the playoffs,
and he had a huge game twenty five points, nas
reed gives you twenty three. And the Timberwolves as a
whole outshoot the Lakers, which is something that I don't
know if I expected to happen in any single game
in this series, considering the spacing issues that we've seen

(01:49):
from Minnesota. But Julius Randall shot the ball well from
behind the arc as well. He goes four of six
orn deep. Overall, they outshoot LA by eighteen points from
behind the arc tent one to LA's fifteen, and they
hold LA to ninety five points total all day. And
I was really really impressed with Anthony Edwards and how

(02:10):
he was able to play make in this game. Carson,
you know we've been talking about that's the next step
to you know, him really realizing his full potential as
an offensive player. And I think there are other things
on the margins that he can do, but that's the
really big thing for him, right And I thought he
really dealt with double teams well in this game. I
thought he played really composed and in control. He didn't

(02:31):
try to do too much. He let the game come
to him, and he you know, picked his spots pretty well.
He hit a couple of big threes, he got down
hill at some moments. I wish he would have finished
a little bit better in this game. That's the only
ripe I would have. But I thought he play made
really well. And I thought Julius Randall played okay. Seven turnovers.
I think he needs to protect the ball a little
bit better, but he shot well from deep and there

(02:52):
were moments in this game where I thought he play
made pretty well. But you know, he didn't have a
lot of his black hole tendencies today. He was playing
pretty unselfish sharing the ball. And it's a really good
team victory for Minnesota. I'm not gonna count LA out
because I don't think anybody can hold Luca in this series.
I think that Luca is gonna get his and I

(03:13):
think that is a huge advantage for LA. And I
don't expect Minnesota to shoot as well as they did
in this game, but I didn't expect LA to just
roll over this Minnesota team. I think it's gonna go
the distance, and I think this is gonna be a
battle the whole way through. I think Minnesota just was
the better team in this one.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah, And I would say, even as somebody who picked
the Lakers to win this series, I thought that we
were in for a war, and I thought that this
was gonna be a really really close battle. And I
know that because it's the Lakers and because they have
Luca and Lebron, there are some people who can be
so so confident that they're just gonna walk through anybody
who they face, right, And I think if you came

(03:53):
into this series with that view, then this was a
real wake up call. And like, there is no denying
that Minnesota can one hundred percent win this series. Now,
I think the Lakers are capable of playing much better
basketball than they did today, but they really cannot contain
dribble penetration for Anthony Edwards in this matchup. And we

(04:14):
knew this coming in. We know that they can't contain
any super athletic guard at the point of attack. They
just don't have that sort of quickness on the perimeter.
And at the same time, we know that they lack
conventional rim protection, So what do they have to do
against any really elite downhill guard like that they have
to be super aggressive with their gap help. They have
to try to basically clutter up the paint and muck

(04:37):
up drives, and that means that you are going to
be aggressive sending multiple bodies at that downhill guard. And
if he makes the right reads and if he makes
the kickout passes and the dudes around him make a
lot of open catch and shoot threes, well, then there's
really just not much you can do. Like, their entire
strategy has to be predicated upon keeping Anthony Edwards away
from the rim, because if he gets to the rim,

(04:58):
they can't stop him. They don't have that rimp protection.
But if the Wolves are gonna shoot fifty plus percent
from three and ant has nine assists to one turnover,
like he looks comfortable taking what they're giving him, the
Lakers aren't gonna win the series. If the Wolves shoot
this well. Do I think that they will shoot this
well going forward fifty percent from three? No, it was

(05:18):
a phenomenal sort of magnet ball performance. But at the
same time, they're getting a lot of really good looks,
And I think you have to give a ton of
credit to the supporting cast for Minnesota for making these
shots Nas red Man, the quickness of his release at
his size, his ability to just spray off the catch
with just a sliver of a window is so impressive.

(05:40):
He really is such a sick offensive player. And then
Jane McDaniels, as you mentioned, really came into his own
in the second half of the season as an offensive player,
and he knocked down all of his triples in this one.
But I thought what was honestly more impressive was his
ability to attack close outs to get into the lane
to make some of the those touch shots. He was

(06:01):
also really active on the offensive glass. So those guys
did their jobs taking advantage of the opportunities that Ant
is creating for them. And so even though I think
the Lakers have like obvious personnel limitations that forced them
to adhere to this one defensive scheme which is going
to allow open catch and shoot threes to some of

(06:21):
these guys, they're just gonna have to dare them to
make shots. I think they can do a better job
of flying around and closing out better, but like, those
shots are going to be there overall. But the Lakers
also just like didn't feel like they approached this game
with the necessary intensity for Game one of a really
tough playoff series. I thought their transition defense was bad.

(06:43):
Minnesota outscored them like twenty six to five or something
in terms of fast break points, and I thought their
physicality wasn't there. Again, I thought that their activity on
closeouts wasn't what it needed to be. You also saw
after the first quarter Minnesota just crush on the glass.
It was really surprising. First quarter, the Lakers have five

(07:04):
offensive rebounds, they had eleven second chance points. Given how
much size they're conceding, you did not expect that. But
then from that point forward, Minnesota really was able to
capitalize on their size advantage on the glass. And they're
just the bigger, more athletic team and that's going to
be a challenge for LA in this matchup. And that's
why when they're really knocking down their perimeter shots, they

(07:26):
can just kind of crack you in the jaw, and
LA just did not have the response needed. Minnesota came
out ready to kick ass, they made their shots, and
they cruised to a win. Accordingly that being said, I
do think LA can improve in a number of ways
from their performance in Game one. What are you expecting

(07:46):
to see from them in terms of improvement, and where
did you think that things really went wrong for them
in this one?

Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, I don't think they're far away at all. I
thought one of the worst stretches was in that second
quarter that you're talking about. We see a twenty three
to six run for Minnesota in the second quarter, and
that's the uncharacteristic part for LA, Right, you never expect
this offense to stall out. And I think it's important
that you mentioned that Minnesota's blistering hot shooting. It just
gives them every component of the game. Right. This is

(08:14):
a big team that's good on the glass, and that's
good defensively, and so if they're hitting their shots too,
they check every box and so they're a really complete
team when they've got everything clicking. In that second quarter,
they also go thirty eight to twenty, and so I
thought they were worse today in the mostly offensive minutes
from Austin Reeves. I thought Reeves was a little bit off.

(08:37):
I think he's got to play a little bit better.
I think it's a tough matchup for him because of
all the really good perimeter defenders in the athleticism and
size that he's playing against in Minnesota, so it's not
going to be an easy series for him. But I
think Reeves can play better. I think Lebron can play
a lot better. And honestly, I was disappointed in the
Lakers offensive, supporting cast as a whole Hotchi Mura DF like,

(09:01):
I'm just expecting more from everybody except Luca. Luca, I
thought it played as well as you can expect. I mean,
he had sixteen first quarter points. Like, I think he's
gonna get whatever he wants in this series, and I
don't think you can ask him for anything else. But
I think some things are gonna balance out in this series.
Like I thought Minnesota played really well. I don't expect

(09:23):
them to shoot this hot every night. I expect the
Lakers to shoot a lot better, and I expect Reeves
and Lebron to play a little bit better. So honestly,
I don't know what they can do defensively, Carson, I
don't know what they do with Minnesota because I just
don't think they have the personnel. I think the only
area that we can really expect them to change from
Game one is just they're gonna play better offensively. Defensively,

(09:47):
I think you just gotta kind of gotta throw your
hands up.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
I kind of agree. I think they can just execute
their scheme better. Defensively, I think they can be more
consistent with their effort. But I see what you're saying,
and the reality is Minnesota is going to have a
good offensive series, like especially if they shoot the ball well. Now,
there are certain guys who you're going to have to
dare to make those shots consistently. If it is Julius

(10:11):
Randall from beyond the arc, if it is Jade McDaniels
from beyond the arc. But if they are going to
make them, yeah, then the Lakers don't really have a
good answer on the defensive end. Where I do expect
to see them improve significantly is on the offensive end,
because I thought a number of players were below their
level in this one, like specifically Lebron and Austin Reeves.
Those are two guys who they just need to be better.

(10:33):
This is an offensive big three, and it was really
only Luca who was amazing offensively. Like you said, I
thought that he was phenomenal cooking Rudy off switches. I
thought he was really impressive bullying some of the smaller
perimeter defenders like a Jade McDaniels or Niki Alexander Walker
and just working his way to some of those touch
shots that he loved so much. I thought his shot

(10:55):
making was really impressive. The one thing that the Timberwolves
did keep in check with Luca was his playmaking. He
has one assist in this game, and I was surprised
by their willingness to switch Gobart and nas Reed out
onto the perimeter and just dare these dudes to beat
them one on one. It's interesting, but what I've consistently

(11:16):
said about Luca is like his greatest superpower, especially at
this point when he hasn't been as consistent as a
scorer this season, is his passing. And this is something
that we saw from Boston, right You dare Luca to
beat you one on one more often and limit his
playmaking impact. That was a successful strategy for Boston. I
think that they have the better defensive personnel for this matchup, though,

(11:38):
Like I think Luca is gonna be able to get
what he wants as a score, and I think he
will be more impactful as a playmaker. I think that
Lebron just did like his signature game. One thing. Man,
it was quintessential Game one Lebron where he's just like
feeling things out, was settling a ton, very reliant on
the jumper in this game. Didn't assert himself whatsoever in

(11:59):
the first did not have a point or an assist
in that period. So they need a lot more out
of him. They need him to be more aggressive, They
need him to leverage his physical advantages more. And Austin
Reeves like had a nice third quarter, but he was
doing nothing in the first half offensively all the while
he is getting hunted defensively like he and Luca both Man,

(12:21):
they just don't have a prayer of staying in front of.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Him, specifically specifically the Timberwols two best offensive players too,
because Ant versus Luca, there's just a quickness advantage that
he's gonna exploit every time. And if Randall gets that
switch on Reeves, it's like he can back down and
move Reeves wherever he wants, or I mean, fill in
the blank for whoever you want. If it's Nas Reed,
you know, if it's if it's Ant, like Reeves is

(12:45):
just the guy that sticks out as the weak point
significantly on that defense.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
I agree, But I think offensively he and the entirety
of this big three should be like relatively comfortable in
this matchup because I think that Jaden McDaniels is just
not big and strong enough to deal with Luca. I
would make the switch and go ant on Luca just
to have a better strength counter, but he was really

(13:11):
getting whatever he wanted as a scorer in this game.
The one thing that I thought Minnesota did really well
defensively beyond just again some subpar performances from Lebron in Reeves,
I thought they did a phenomenal job of keeping the
Lakers away from the rim. And Gobar is such a
special deterrent and they have so much size on the interior,

(13:32):
but especially he is just such an overwhelming presence there
that you can really be aggressive with your closeouts running
some of the Lakers spot up shooters off the line
because ruy dfs those guys are excellent catching shooters right
forty plus percent from deep this year, but they are
not due to want to be attacking closeouts. They're not
as comfortable handling, they're not super quick attacking those closeouts

(13:55):
off the catch, and so you saw a few possessions
where they hit you with the fake and then they
begin to drive, but then Rudy Gobert is sitting there
in the pain and like they just don't want to
deal with that. Ruy had one take at Gobert that
was just a disaster, like ball just came flying out
of his hands. So I think that that is a
strength of Minnesota's defensively in this matchup. For sure, their

(14:16):
rim defense, but obviously the Lakers counter that is going
to be spacing them out, having so much skill, having
so much shooting, and just needing their superstars to play
better manufacture shots for their supporting cast guys, and those
guys are gonna have to make more shots. It really
is the offensive end where I think LA has to
improve and is going to improve. They were never gonna

(14:38):
win this series with their defense. They just have to
be good enough on that end. The one thing I
did think LA did relatively well defensively was deal with
Julius Randall. Like I thought that Lebron was good in
that matchup, I thought they were able to counter his
strength decently well and obviously force some Minison turnovers as
you mentioned, But Minnesota was a lot better in this game,
and it felt like a lot of it. It came

(15:00):
down to shooting and fight, and I thought that Minnesota
just came out and they smacked them in the face,
and the Lakers showed a little bit of fight, but
it was like way too little, way too late. You know,
they have that ten to oh run late in the third,
but you already let the lead get to twenty seven
at that point. So the Lakers can play a lot better.
But like, do not get it twisted, man, The Timberwolves

(15:21):
can absolutely win this series. And if they shoot close
to this well from deep, they will win this series.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
I mean, I think it's really simple. If you don't
get more out of the Lakers Big three collectively, they
don't have a chance at winning this series. It's like
that's their strength, that's their superpower. It's the collective of
Luca Lebron and Austin Reeves, and if they don't get
more output from those guys, they're not gonna win this series.
So need to tighten up. And I don't know, I

(15:48):
don't think you can be surprised by the inconsistency with
la either. You know, this is a team that's been
together for a very short period of time in Minnesota.
I know that you know they acquire Julius Randall, They've
had longer to figure this thing out, and they for
the most part, looked way better in the second half
of this season. In LA's still working out the cakes
a little bit. I'm not going to count out in

(16:08):
LA just yet. Again, I think we're due for a
little bit of balance in between these things. But Minnesota
was way better to night man. But absolutely I expect
LA to adjust. I think this is why you have
JJ Reddick, They've got Lebron. Like, if there's any team
I expect to game plan and pivot and to make
some big time adjustments that make a difference, it's the Lakers.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
I don't know to what extent they can adjust defensively
just because of their personnel limitations, but again, I think
they can execute better. I think that they can play
significantly better. I want to give props Anthony Edwards though, man,
because like, this isn't going to be a crazy box
score from him. I just don't think this is going
to be a crazy scoring series from him, And I

(16:50):
said that in our preview. I just don't think the
Lakers are going to let him beat them as a score.
I think they are going to make him beat them
as a passer, but that's what he did in the
shooters around him beat the Lakers. So they're not gonna
let him just drive all the way downhill and get
a bunch of good looks at the rim. But he's
creating an advantage on so many of these possessions just
getting a step and then making the right decisions. Man.

(17:13):
So really really impressive Game one from the Timberwolves. Very
very good basketball team, and they showed it in this one.
That's a big win. I'm not gonna overreact to a
game one. I'm not gonna change my predictions for this
series or anything. But we're in for a battle. I
will tell you that right now. And speaking of battles, Logan,
we had a hell of a Game one between the

(17:33):
other LA team, the Clippers and the Denver Nuggets. Another
one of the most anticipated playoff series, at least to me.
The Nuggets come away with this one in overtime. What
did you take away from this, Logan?

Speaker 1 (17:47):
This was an absolutely crazy game peak NBA playoff basketball.
I mean, chaos ensued. I have a lot of thoughts.
I'm not super confident even though Denver wins this game
in overtime in my Denver pick in this series, just

(18:08):
because I don't know how the hell Denver is gonna
guard James Harden or Kawhi Leonard, Like, I don't know
what they do. Harden got whatever he wanted. Kawhi I
feel like is gonna be able to bully guys with
his strength. I thought that the Clippers. I'll get more
into that in a minute. I thought the Clippers gave
this game away a little bit with twenty turnovers. I

(18:30):
thought they kind of crumbled down the stretch. I didn't
like their late game execution, and I thought the Nuggets
just out hustled them, Like Russell Westbrook had some really
ugly moments down the stretch, but also earned them a
ton of extra possessions that really mattered at the end.
Hits a big corner three in this game. Like I
thought Denver was just better executing late. And I don't

(18:52):
think we can be surprised at this. They flashed this
up at the end of the broadcast. They trailed by
fifteen points in this game. Eight fifteen points were more
comeback since twenty nineteen. It's the most by any team
in the playoffs in that time span.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Like this is what Denver seven all coming against the Lakers.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
Uh probably actually damn near, But this is what Denver does, man.
I mean, they do have this special ability, especially when
Jokic and Murray are going, they can kill you. And
Yokic is that kind of guy. I mean, he dissected
this Clippers team. Yokicic was the best player in this game.

(19:32):
But I thought the Clippers kind of gave this game
away too. Man. I was really disappointed with their late
game execution. I thought they should have kept going to
the hard and zoo pick and roll. I thought we
saw some bad turnovers. I just thought, in my opinion,
I thought the Clippers lost this one a little bit
more than the Nuggets wanted. You know, I think it's
a little bit of both. But I thought the Clippers
kind of let this one slip away. Man. I thought

(19:53):
they controlled this game for the most part and the
Nuggets had to battle back. I've got more thoughts, but
that's an initially what I thought. And I'm just nervous, man.
The Denver defense did not instill any confidence in me
in this game. And I'm I'm just nervous about Harden
and Kawhi.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
Wow. I am really surprised that that's your takeaway. The
second half of this game was the most impressed I've
been with this Denver defense, as somebody who's watched almost
every one of their games this year in a long time.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
Man.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
Now, to start, I thought that they were helpless, which
is honestly basically what I was expecting coming into this
Ye James Harden.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
My thing is if they keep Jamal on. Jamal's defensive
performance was still apathetic to me in this game, Like,
I don't know, man, I think that Harden was cooking
him whenever he wanted.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
That's not apathy, man. They don't have anybody who can
stay in front of James Harden one on one, so
that's a problem. They don't have a solution for guarding
Harden in isolation. He's just too shifty. He's gonna get
a step, he's gonna.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
He's gonna get that float. He's gonna get that floater
every single time.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
But there was a dramatic, dramatic shift in Denver's defensive
intensity about halfway through the second quarter when they went
on that initial run and started forcing some turnover and
they maintained that through the rest of the game.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
I liked that they moved off of MPJA for Westbrook too.
I thought they needed his energy and his skill set
in this game.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah, he made some big plays. I thought that this
game was just like the ultimate full service Russell Westbrook experience,
all the highs and all the lows. But I was
really impressed by Denver's defensive turnaround in this one, because
I thought they were going to have major problems guarding
the Clippers, doing anything to make them uncomfortable. And I
thought that specifically James Harden just being such a prom

(21:40):
and isolation and I don't have faith in Denver's perimeter
personnel to guard him one on one. I still don't
after this game, but I was even more concerned about
them guarding hardened Zoo pick and roll, and I thought
that you saw all the reasons why at the start
of this game where they're bringing two up to the level.
But Harden is such a good playmaker. He's making the
read every time, and then Zoo is picking them apart

(22:02):
off the short rule where he's a very solid passer
and Chris Dunn is perfectly timing his cuts from the corner,
so they're just getting a bunch of easy offense when
they bring to you up to the level, and then
when they try Yokitchen more of a drop like Harden
is just getting downhill easily. The Nuggets don't have the
screen navigators to apply any sort of back pressure, and

(22:23):
Yokicic is offering no resistance at the rim. So like
for the first quarter and a half of this game, well,
I thought that Harden was incredible in the first quarter.
He was barbecuing them, and it really just felt like
the Clippers were in warm ups, like they were getting
whatever they wanted offensively. Then I thought that things really
really change for the better for Denver Defensively, I thought
that they picked up their level of physicality. I thought

(22:44):
that they picked up their level of activity using their hands,
forcing some turnovers, and they ended up having a number
of excellent moments on the defensive end in the home
stretch of this game. I don't disagree with you that
I thought the Clippers should have been hammering hard and
Zubot's pick and roll even more than they did throughout
this game and down the stretch. I just thought it

(23:05):
was their best offense, but I thought the Nuggets were
defending it so much better. In the fourth quarter and overtime,
because if you're gonna play where you put two on
the ball in pick and roll, there's a few things
you have to do. First of all, you have to
actually pressure the ball, and that's something that the Nuggets
this year have not done all that much. There's been

(23:26):
a lot of yokic sort of playing half heartedly up
at the level, and now you're kind of putting two
on the ball without even reaping the benefits of really
pressuring the ball handler. But you have to pressure the
ball handler, and then you have to swarm the big
off the catch. You have to tag the roller, get
up and be physical with him right make his catches difficult.
And you have to just fly around on the back

(23:48):
end and be ready to cover up any sort of
cuts and be ready to fly out and contest shooters.
And the Nuggets were finally doing that stuff towards the
home stretch of this game, and I thought that they
had some of their best defensive possessions of the year
putting two on the ball, and that was really encouraging
to me.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
Yeah, I mean, I thought they were better but still
late in this game, and like I thought, they had
some really big moments to some big plays for turnovers.
But there's a play late in this game where they
actually do go to harden Zoo pick and roll and
Jokic blitz blitzes it at the level Gordon gets the
goaltend right because they don't have anybody back.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, they're not gonna be perfect, but I thought that
it was mostly positive results like harden Zoo picking in
this game and down the stretch it was not.

Speaker 1 (24:35):
I think Chris Dunn was ruining a lot of advantages
for the Clippers, and I would play him a lot
less because I think he hurts.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
But are you playing Derek Jones Junior.

Speaker 1 (24:46):
No, I'm not. I'm just gonna go full offense. I
think in those late moments, I think I'm either gonna
go batoom or I think I'm gonna go Norman Powell,
or some combination of that, because I think that there
were just a lot moments in this game where I
thought that if somebody else other than Done is either
finishing the play and shooting the ball, or they're gonna

(25:08):
make something connective happen, where he would get the ball
and either hesitate or wait a minute, or he didn't
want he wasn't comfortable with shooting the ball, I think
he I think he can hurt them a little bit offensively,
and he made some defensive plays. Like he's not a
like a complete zero out there. He's a really good
defensive player. But I think I prefer having five really

(25:29):
skilled players out there in those situations more.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
I don't know. I think that Chris Dunn is an
excellent defensive player, but I understand your perspective. And like,
in the first half, like I said, he was actually
great as a cutter, and he knocked down a corner three,
and like, if he's gonna make those shots, well then
you feel really really good about having him on the floor.
But I would agree. I thought that he struggled down
the stretch offensively, and obviously he's just the one guy

(25:54):
who the Nuggets are going to be comfortable leaving, which
they're kind of gonna have to do if they're gonna
put two on the ball. But that's been their scheme
all year. They've been bad at it all year, and
they were actually quite good at it down the stretch
of this game, so I thought that was really encouraging.
I thought that their defense was huge to them winning
this game, and I thought they were rebounding. Was also
massive securing extra possessions on the offensive glass, and that's

(26:18):
where you really get the Russell Westbrook experience in this game.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
Matt I just wanted to add in the fourth quarter
in overtime, Denver out rebounded them seven to two on
the offensive glass. Aaron Gordon, Westbrook Brown, they were all hustling.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
I'll do you one better logan. In the last nine minutes,
so that's the last four minutes of regulation and then
the five minutes of overtime, they actually had nine offensive rebounds,
including two team offensive rebounds, so they were generating extra
possessions at a crazy rate. Russ was a big part
of that. Aaron Gordon was a huge part of that.
And them closing with Russ is just such a bipolar

(26:56):
experience because in the last few minutes of the fourth
he has seven points, He has a couple of smart
cuts off of Jokic doubles, he hits a wide open
three where they just completely leave him right. I think
that they put two on the ball with Murray and
then Done rotates over to deal with Yokic off the
pop and they just dare them to get the ball
to Russ and dare him to make an open corner three,

(27:18):
which he does and that's a huge bucket. But then
from that point forward and for the entirety of overtime,
like he's just not getting guarded. And there's a few
possessions where that's super damaging to the Nuggets offense. Like
you have the last possession of regulation where they just
hit Yokic with the surprise double. He finds Russ wide open,
but Russ doesn't want to take that initial jumper, and

(27:40):
then Russ kind of just dribbles out the clock and
they don't even get a shot up. There's another possession
in overtime where Chris Dunn just like totally left Russell
Westbrook to immediately blitz Yokic off the catch and he
forces a turnover. And then there are the possessions where
they get Russ the ball, he's wide open, he takes
a shit, but like that's the exact shot the defense

(28:02):
wants him to take, or.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
I mean he also hit two on one where he drives.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
Right at the rim and misses well.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
He also has one where he hits Aaron Gordon off
the short roll when they double team him. He has
a play where he knocks the ball off of Harden
that forces a turnover. Like to me, it's the perfect
yin Yang moment of Russell Westbrook, Like you couldn't get
a more perfect encapsulation of Russell Westbrook's value and impact

(28:27):
on a basketball game more than this one, because with
the good, you got the bad, and with the bad
you got the good. Like it perfectly balanced itself out
on the Westbrook scale.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
I totally agree, and I do want to give him
full credit for all the positive plays that he made
because there were a bunch of them, like so many
high effort plays. I thought that he was a clear
plus defensively. You mentioned that final play on Harden off
the inbound, but like the offensive rebounding was absolutely massive.
So you have this weird dichotomy where it's like, okay,

(28:58):
offensively in overtime, so many of our possessions are turning
into Russ shooting these open looks that we don't want
him taking as the Nuggets, and he's missing them. Russo's
five of seventeen in this game. But then he's also
winning you possessions, and that's like the difference in this
game is your ability to control the glass and your
ability to turn things around defensively, which he's a big

(29:20):
part of, because the alternative MPG like obviously change with
the dynamics offensively with his shooting, but defensively not engaged,
not gonna bring the same athleticism, not gonna bring the
same effort. So I was nervous about them closing with Russ.
It ended up working out. It ended up being that
he made just enough positive plays to offset the negatives

(29:41):
that come from his lack of shooting and defense's willingness
to try to dare him into taking some of these shots.
And props to him for making that impact going forward, though,
I think you look at MPG and you have to say, like, dude,
really you need to lock in. Yeah, man, he's Michael
Porter Junior. I mean, just the offensive game playing alongside
Yokichen Murray is I think so massive, so massive. The

(30:05):
Nuggets were having to play four on five basically in
overtime with a hell of an offensive rebounder out there.
But that's not an ideal lineup to finish games with.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
You know, I tend to agree, and I think that
the Clippers have those That's why I think that I
don't know, the Clippers could maybe kill them with those
more skilled lineups if they just have all that shooting
out there and can outshoot them by such a wide margin.
Because I think that's what you're sacrificing. If you're taking
MPG off the floor, you know you're conceding wide open looks,

(30:38):
but you're assuming they're probably going to hit them at
a lower rate because you've got a Russell Westbrook and
a Brown out there, and you're you're way more comfortable
with those guys shooting the ball.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
I just think they need a guy like Russ out there. Man,
I don't know. I I think he was a positive
at the end of the game today. Like you know,
I know that he shot like shit, Like it's so
funny to say that a guy who shot five to seventeen,
But he.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
Embodied everything that went right for them in this game.
I've really been with all the misshots, defense and activity
on the offensive glasses where they won this game. Russ
was a big part of that. I don't disagree for
this game. I don't. What I'm saying is MPG like,
you need to be active defensively, you need to be
active on the glass, Yeah, because your offensive ability is

(31:23):
just so much greater than Russ's. And I don't want
to be counting on Russ playing these big minutes having
to fill all these.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Rules either, But I just wonder neither do I. But
I just wonder if his skill set is more what
they need in this series, Like I thought they benefited
from having that secondary play making off of Jamal, like
being able to have another guy that could take, you know,
and handle the rock. And I don't know, it's strange, man,

(31:51):
MPJ helps their spacing and Russ hurts it. But you're
always gonna get wide open threes from you know, how
much value is that? Actually? You know that shot? Actually,
if they're gonna let Russ open, is that a bad shot? Carson?
Like genuinely is that a bad shot?

Speaker 2 (32:07):
I don't want the defense to be able to dictate
where I'm going with the ball offensively when I have
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic and say your offense is
going to devolve into Russ shots period, Because like, okay,
the wide open catching two threes are okay, But what
happens when you are doubling Yokic right, or you're putting

(32:27):
two on the ball with Murray, or you're ignoring Russ
in whatever way, and instead of catching it in the
corner for a wide open three, he catches it inside
of fifteen feet And now maybe he's got a two
on one, but it's not really a two on one
because they're gonna ignore him and they're either gonna dare
him to shoot a little mid range jumper or he's
gonna have sort of an out of control take, and
he's not super good finishing in those situations.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Like, well, I did think that's one thing that that's
the one thing that I really didn't like from Russ
in this game was I thought he was a little
two bit too aggressive going to the rim where I
thought maybe he should have dribbled back out or kicked it,
or he was taking a lot of contested, really hard
layups that maybe he would have made ten years ago,
you know, but this Russ just isn't making these shots.
So my final question for you on this, then, who's

(33:13):
a bigger X factor for you for the Nuggets in
this series? Is an MPJ or is it Russ?

Speaker 2 (33:19):
It's MPJ man. MPJ has to be out there, he
has to be an engaged two way player and he
has to be making shots I just think that he
is a much more sustainable, reliable contributor when he is
doing those things. But it's a frustrating performance from him.
It's not a good performance from him, and Russ deserved
to close. I mean, Russ earned that with the impact

(33:39):
that he made with the heart that he played with
in this game that MPJ had none of.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
So my follow up for you, then, are you more
confident in the Nuggets of the Clippers moving forward after
this game? Because I'm actually I'm encouraged by the Clippers
after this game, man, like with how tight it was. Again,
with how easy it looked like James Harden was walking
into Bucks and manufacturing offense. I just don't think the

(34:04):
Nuggets have the defensive personnel they need to really slow
down the Clippers. And it's like, again, I want to
be clear about this when I say this, I'm not
switching my prediction. I'm still gonna go with the Nuggets
in seven. I am basing this, and this is in
my faith in Jokic, in Murray and their ability to
generate offense. It's such an elite level that they're just

(34:24):
gonna that's how they're gonna win this series. But yeah,
I don't think the Nuggets have a prayer guarding anybody.
If that's Big Zoo, if that's Kawhi, or if that's
Hard And I think all three of those guys are
gonna get everything that they want in this series. Man,
they just made it look really easy in this game.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
This is so interesting because I picked the Clippers to
win this series. You picked the Nuggets.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
If you're just asking me, who am I more encouraged
by relative to my expectations for them by this game,
it is one hundred percent the Nuggets. I'm not changing
my pick for this series, not gonna overreact to one game,
but like, the most signif eificant thing that they could
have done to move me was win a basketball game
on the back of their defense, in their effort, when
all year they have been bit by those two categories.

(35:12):
They've been a bad defensive team, twentieth in defensive rating,
they've been a super inconsistent effort team. To see them
just lock in and defended a serious level and reach
the sort of playoff level that like early in the year,
I was like, they're gonna get there eventually. They're gonna
get there eventually, and then they didn't get there. Just
like seeing them do that was encouraging. It doesn't change
their personnel limitations that they have. But I actually thought

(35:34):
they did a good job on Kawhi. They can't guard
him in single coverage. We knew that coming in, but
I thought they did a really good job sending a
bunch of doubles at him, testing him as a passer.
He has seven turnovers in this game. James Harden is
a problem, like he's a handful. Zoo is a problem.
He's a handful, no question. But I picked the Clippers
to win this series, so that's not a surprise.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
I don't know people are tripping about. I think the
Clippers went away from was working earlier in this game.
I thought they had a bad fourth quarter in overtime
in terms of offensive execution. I thought they had some
bone headed turnovers. And I would not play Chris Dunn
in closing time. If I'm the Clippers, I'm rocking. I
think with a closing lineup of I'm gonna go Harden,

(36:16):
I'm gonna go Kawhi, I'm gonna go Big Zoo, and
I think I'm gonna go Batoum and Powell or Bogdanovich.
I don't want done out there closing. I think he
I know, he made a defensive play that ended up
getting them I think a hard and three late in
this game, but I would rather have the offensive skill.
I think he ruined some of the advantages that this
Clippers offense creates. And I think you were put on

(36:39):
Jamal Murray then down the stretch, I presume defensively. Yeah, yeah,
we saw the Clippers do that, and I thought that
that was actually a really good approach to dealing with
the Nuggets two man game, just because like Kawhi when
he needs to be man, he can still deal with
the Jamal Murray out in space and he's so big
and still so long, and then if you have to

(37:03):
switch when Jokic pops, you feel a lot better about
Kawhi's ability to switch on to Yolkic than Chris Donner
really than anybody else on the team. So I see
what you're saying. I thought that Dunn still made a
number of positive plays in this game.

Speaker 2 (37:20):
I can see the argument. I mean, but Toom also
is still making winning plays at this age, and.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
Like he doesn't, that's what I love him at. Some
of these veteran guys and that they don't fear the moment. Man.
They've played in so many big games at this point
in their career that it's just second nature to him.
But Tom's so clutch man.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
Yeah, dude, and he's ridiculous the no dip threes, Like
his release is just so high and so quick. But
the was six eleven on the broadcast. That cracked me up.
Height inflation has gone too far. We're calling Nick batoomb
down near a seven footer. That was crazy, But he's
really good still.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
That three he hit that grenade was like in one
hundred percent contested three.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
It was I do think you're talking about liking the
offense that the Clippers manufactured. Again, I thought that life
got a lot harder for them in the second half
of this game on that side of the ball. I
also would say I think the Nuggets can play better
offensively than they did in this one. Part of that
is having MPJ on the floor more. If he's engaged defensively,

(38:23):
that's just where he has to buy in. But offensively, like,
he is still a weapon as a shooter and is
capable of making some big time jumpers raining threes down
on you. Jamal I thought, didn't have his most efficient
game and was kind of off as a scorer for
most of the night. But I really really did like

(38:43):
the Murray Jokic two man game overall and the shots
that they were able to generate. I thought that most
of Jamal's good looks in this game came versus Zoo
in drop coverage, and then because Zoo is so rigidly
playing drop like, they're getting Yokic a number of good
looks off the pop. One thing that I really liked
from Jamal was he was very intentional about getting into

(39:05):
the paint versus Zoo on drop. So at that point,
because Jokicic is popping like, they'll initially leave Yokic off
the pop, but you can't just abandon him there. So
at that point you pass off the responsibility to Chris Dunn.
He's got to go out there and deal with Jokic
off the pop, and then Murray's gonna drag Zu back
out to the perimeter, so he's forcing a switch and

(39:26):
then you can get Jokic some post position, give him
the ball. He goes to work on Chris Dunn and
he got a couple of really easy buckets like that.
So I thought that Murray got some pretty solid looks.
He's just got to get into his rhythm, like and
that's the question obviously for him coming on.

Speaker 1 (39:42):
I thought in the fourth though, I mean, he had
some really nice shots like that little crad dribble to
float like. I think that.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
HiT's a big pull up three step.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
I don't worry. I never worry about Jamal in late games.
It's about can I get some more out of him
in the first three quarters. I know when the four
Jamal is gonna turn it all, but you just need
him to produce a little bit more consistently throughout the game.
But I think he's gonna get there. Man, he doesn't
look physically poor. You know, it's not like he's in
it's not an there's no injuries or like there's nothing.

(40:13):
Actually I think limiting him physically.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
No, I agree. And I thought Jokic was pretty damn
great in this game. And what I will say is
it wasn't easy for him. This is not a matchup
where the points are gonna come easy. We know that
Zoo is the best Jokic defender on the planet. He
is the exact sort of massive physical counter you want
who can deal with him better than anybody else out
of the post. I thought that Jokic won that battle

(40:38):
out of the post, but had to really get in
his bag and some really nice post footwork in craftiness,
and obviously the touch is phenomenal. So he's not gonna
have like a twenty twenty three Sun series right where
he's just getting whatever he wants with crazy efficiency. He'll
put up a thirty point triple double, probably because he's
just at that level, but he's gonna have to work

(40:58):
harder for it. The Nuggets MVP this game, man, well
it's Yolkic realistically, but it's Aaron Gordon after that, Like,
so damn good. Five offensive rebounds, twenty five points, super efficient.
I thought he did a nice job cutting off of
Jokic doubles. I thought that he did a really nice
job of attacking mismatches when he had an advantage, being
aggressive after offensive rebounds gets to the line A bunch

(41:21):
showed his defense.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Ever Monster this game that Monster Dunky had was so
nasty too into the shot clock. You need a clutch
bucket there. That was a tough you know, like again
I'm talking about veteran like that was a veteran feel
like he knew the lane was going to open up
and had dead monster jam and that was a big
momentum play too. Aaron, Aaron Gordon is so solid now,

(41:43):
man like he's.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
And he hits a big three off of a Yokic
double two. Obviously been shooting the ball way better than
ever before this year.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
MPJ and Jamal get most of the shine because of
the big time scorers and shot makers, but there's a
lot of games where Gordon's their second best play or
hundred per totality.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
One hundred percent, especially when he's playing up to his
potential defensively, which I felt like he was in this game,
and he honestly hasn't for a lot of this season.
So we are going to see the Nuggets rely heavily
on their core guys. Man, there's no surprise there. The
bench outside of Russ was basically a non factor in
this one. You get fourteen Peyton Watson minutes, you get

(42:23):
five Jalen Picket minutes. That's it. The four starters outside
of MPG all play forty five plus minutes. They are
going to play thirty eight forty plus minutes consistently and
obviously they're going to try to limit as much as
possible the minutes that Jokic is not on the floor.
I will say kind of a crazy moment to start

(42:44):
the second quarter where David Adaman decides to go with
a lineup that has neither Jokic or Murray, when those
lineups have been a complete disaster this year. They're literally
a negative twenty four net team in those minutes. Now,
after like two and a half minutes, he got Murray
back out there, but you need to have Jamal Murray
on the floor to lift those bench units offensively, the
Nuggets haven't been that bad when Murray is on the floor.

(43:05):
Without Jokic this year, they're like a negative two and
a half net team, especially when he's keeping some of
the other starter talent like Aaron Gordon and MPJ out
there with those sort of like mixed starter bench groups
when Yolkic is off the floor, do that, don't have
Jamal off at the same time as Jokic, or you're
just not gonna have enough creation. But I am extremely

(43:27):
excited for the rest of this series. This is my
favorite series. It was on paper, it was to watch.
In game one, I honestly love watching both these teams
and I hope we get seven games of it. And
shout out big zoom Man. That guy just monster on
the glass, such a good finisher. The touch is just absurd.
A lot of really good basketball players playing really good

(43:48):
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Speaker 2 (46:04):
I feel like I didn't give enough credit to James
Harden for his performance. I feel like I focused a
lot on what went right for the Nuggets, and deservedly
so they won the game. But Harden is playing the
best he has in years, man, and this is the
dream matchup for him. Even though I thought they did
a much better job of again Jokic pressuring him up
at the level and defending some of those four on

(46:24):
threes on the back end, Like, they still don't have
anybody who can guard him one on one. They still
don't have real rimp protection. And I thought he was
the most comfortable finishing that we've seen him in the
playoffs in a while in this game, Like, he played
really really well, and he's been playing really really well
for an extended stretch. So honestly, I kind of think

(46:45):
he's gonna be the Clippers' best player in this series.
Like I think the Nuggets have more potential to throw
Kawhi off by just continuing to send a bunch of
doubles at him. I think Harden is just in control.
He's locked in as a score and this is a
really good matchup for him, So I am just so
excited for the rest of that battle. Let's talk about

(47:05):
Nick Pistons logan. This was a game that the Pistons
were leading. I mean, it was back and forth, but
then they built themselves a bit of an advantage and
then all of a sudden, a twenty one to nothing
run basically clinches a Knicks win in the fourth quarter
of this game. What did you think change so dramatically

(47:27):
then to make this a Knicks win?

Speaker 1 (47:29):
You could have predicted it. I mean, I think it
is the most predictable thing that could have happened in
these game ones. And that's that the Pistons offense stalled
out in crunch time. It was a real meltdown. You
mentioned it a twenty one to nothing Knicks fourth quarter run.
It's a thirty three to fourteen Knicks run in total.
To end the game. They shoot the Knicks seventeen of

(47:50):
twenty four from the field in the fourth quarter. The
Pistons shoot just seven of twenty two, and on the
day the Pistons had nineteen to the next just nine turnovers.
It felt like the Pistons lost this one A little
bit because I thought they know won some really key
areas in this game. They shoot fifteenth, they outshoot the

(48:14):
next by fifteen points from deep, plus fifteen on three pointers.
Beasley made six, Tobias Harris made four. They out rebounded
them really well in this game. And I think, looking
forward to the rest of the series, whose spot up
shooting do I trust more? Probably Detroit's. Honestly, Who's who
do I expect to win on the glass? Probably Detroit.

(48:37):
But what was the difference to me in us previewing
this series? It was Jaylen Brunton and Karl Anthony Towns,
and I thought this was a great cat game. I
don't think they have anybody who can match up with kat.
I don't think they have anybody who can hold him.
That's a problem. I think Jaylen Brunson is as reliable
as they come. I know he had a bad start

(48:57):
to this game, but he finished super strong, got out campaign,
coming in and giving you eleven fourth quarter points in
this game. That was super surprising. But Ananobe has a
huge game. And that's the really big difference to me
with the Knicks is they've got the most reliable offensive
creation in these late game scenarios, which I don't think

(49:18):
we're done with. I think we could have another couple
of games in this series where maybe the Pistons are
in control after the half or after the third quarter.
But I trust the Knicks to get across the finish
line more but more importantly, I think the Knicks have
somebody on their team that can make the pistons best
player more uncomfortable than the Pistons can make the Knicks

(49:39):
best players, and that is og Ananoby. I think when
he's matched up with Kid Cunningham, I think he poses
the most problem for any opposing superstar in this series.
I think Kid can do all right on Jalen Brunson.
I think Durren can try against Kat, but I actually
think that Ananobe can disrupt Cad, and I would be
trying to put him on on K as much as possible.

(50:01):
I also think that we saw the Knicks double big
look look pretty successful in some of the minutes that
they tried it. I think that's another thing that we
can see the Knicks go to more often in these playoffs,
and something that's maybe untapped that opens a new dimension
of the Knicks, a better defensive ceiling. They mentioned this
on the broadcast, but with Robinson on the floor, the

(50:22):
Knicks had the number eight defense in basketball, and I
think it could be really effective against teams like the
Pistons if they're running Stu and Duran as their front court,
or against other big teams in the East. If it's
the Cavs, you know, if you're facing an Allen and Immobili,
if it's the Celtics, if you're facing a Horford and
a Porzingis. I think it's a really valuable look that

(50:43):
they can turn to more often, and one that they
need because this defense with just Kat and Brunson isn't
good enough. But yeah, Carson, I thought the difference in
this one was just the offensive execution down the stretch.
And I don't think we can be too terribly surprised. Man,
there's a really, really big burden on Cad. This is
his first playoff series of his career. But I'm not

(51:03):
ready to count the Pistons out yet. Man, they shot
really well in this game. I thought they really played
well on the glass, and I think they cannot melt
down in some other games in this series.

Speaker 2 (51:16):
Yeah, it was a meltdown for sure, and felt like
one team was getting everything easy. The other team was
just crumbling. And I do think that you felt the
Pistons lack of playoff experience from a lot of their
guys in that moment. And honestly, I thought that Caid
was really bad as a decision maker, and I thought
that Caid really struggled in this game overall. I also

(51:38):
thought though the Knicks mate some really nice plays defensively,
and specifically, I have to give props to Karl Anthony
towns Man that was typically put in that run.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
Kad was getting cookies.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
I was getting cookies, dude. He stole the inbounds, which,
to be fair, was a pretty bad pass by Cad.
He kind of forecasted that one and then floated it.
But then he also stripped Kid up at the level
and like was actually doing a decent job of just
being big at the rim and forcing a couple of
misses there. He was anchoring the glass. Like I thought,
it was a really solid defensive performance from Kat overall. Today.

(52:10):
He had some moments where he just got blown by
out on the perimeter, for sure, but he had six stocks.
I thought that he was able to play Cad pretty
well out of pick and roll showing up at the level,
Like there was one time where Kate split the pick
and roll and just got to the rim, but overall
he kind of struggled against those looks and I just
let the Knicks hands like during that run specifically, were

(52:31):
super active overall, like Og had a strip, Josh Hart
had a strip, and they didn't even necessarily result in turnovers,
but just getting their hands in. They're getting evolved, and
the Pistons were really bad taking care of the basketball,
especially Kad, and that kind of just compounded where you're
turning the ball over now the Knicks are getting transition chances.
Campaign can't miss. I mean, he was really impressive, dude.

(52:54):
I've said I don't really want Campaign playing in the playoffs.
I apologize. Cam made some big shots. You know what
I was thinking about, man during the game, from how
far away do you think you could tell it's Campaign
shooting a jump shot? Like if you're up in space,
how many miles high do you have to go before
you're like, I can't tell if that's Campaign.

Speaker 1 (53:13):
I could be on the moon.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
I think I could go somewhere pretty far out in
our solar system. Yeah, distinct looking fellow with a distinct
looking jumper. But he was balling today.

Speaker 1 (53:23):
It's ridiculous. Man, he looks like I mean, I don't
even know, no, dude, I was gonna. I can't even
describe him because I haven't watched it enough. He looks
like them little droid things in Star Wars, man, like
with the weird.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
Like an R two D two style droid, or like
a battle droid.

Speaker 1 (53:41):
Yeah, like a battle droid like how there because of
the four and the forehead.

Speaker 2 (53:46):
I was sort of like the slanted forehead.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
I wasn't even honestly, it was just a bend in
the knees. I wasn't even thinking about the forehead.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
But he's kind of droid top to bottom, I guess.
But shout out to him, man, he was locked into day.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
I've also doubted in the past. Man, he bawled, He bawled.
New York was electric, dude, that was the environment. Was
I love when when MSG gets rocking like that.

Speaker 2 (54:09):
Emmas, he was rocking. Also, shout out ball arena. They
were rocking in Denver.

Speaker 1 (54:13):
That was loud as loud.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
Yeah, bruh, Yeah, I did think that beyond just that
one run though, Like you did feel the difference between
the team's respective best players in this game as offensive engines,
because both of them came out cold. I mean they
were both struggling, right. Jalen Brunson started this game two
of thirteen, Cade was two of seven at some point.
I mean he was really inefficient until he made a

(54:36):
couple of shots in like the last couple minutes, And
I thought Dennis Shrewder was doing a really good job
on Jalen brunts and he can be such a hound
as a point of attack defender. He's so quick. I
thought that Asar was really good. I mean keeping his
hands very clean, right, not fouling, and it's just so quick. Latterly,
and then he's so long, he's so big, he's so athletic.

(54:58):
Like that's the kind of guy who I think and
smother Brunson at times as a smaller guard. So they
had good personnel to garden. They were doing a good job.
But then gets to a point where brunson shot making
gets going. He's hunting a matchup if he likes in
Tobias Harris, who he's able to blow by get past him.
And like there's just such a high floor with Brunson

(55:19):
because he's always gonna get to the line. Shoots ten
free throws in this game, and he's just gonna carve
his way into the paint so much, and it's not
necessarily getting all the way to the rim, but he's
gonna get to those short jumpers and those floaters and
eventually they're gonna fall at a good enough rate where
he's gonna be super productive. And like, this was not
a game where it was like, oh my god, Jalen Brunson.

(55:40):
It was a terrible start for him to this game.
And then you look up at the end and he's
got thirty four points on fifty four percentury shooting. Not
good efficiency, but not disastrous considering how he started, and
he's got one turnover. Like he is just more equipped
to be a consistent offensive number one than Caid, who
I thought really did struggle in this game. And props

(56:02):
to og Nanobi man because he gave kid some real trouble.
Cad we know doesn't have that sort of lightning quickness
where he's gonna blow by you a ton.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Right. Oh no, man, he's strong.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
He's strong exactly. He's six six, he's at least two twenty.
He uses his strength a lot, but against Og, he
doesn't have the strength advantage. He can't move Og right,
he can't go through him on these drives. So you
see against mckel bridges Ky just looks so much more
comfortable because he's the one dictating the physicality terms in
that matchup. He's the bigger, stronger guy. When it's Og,

(56:35):
OG's the bigger stronger guy. He's the more physical guy.
And I thought that he did a phenomenal job on
him in isolation. I thought they defended him well out
of pick and roll. So six turnovers for kid eight
of twenty one from the field, that honestly even overstates
his shooting performance on the day. It was a rough
offensive showing from him. And Detroit needs him to be
a lot better, and he has a difficult task because

(56:56):
he is burdened with basically all of the creation in
this match up, and the Knicks know that, and that's
why they're going to put their best perimeter defender on him,
and that's why they're going to put two on the
balls so consistently out of pick and roll, Like, there
is a tremendous burden on him to be really good offensively.
But he has to do that because he is this

(57:16):
team's lone real creator. The shooters around him did their
job and like shout out to those guys. Detroit is
really interesting in that there are certain lineups where they're
playing multiple non shooters like Asar and Durham together, but
the guys who are shooters are fucking shooters. Man Malik
Beasley is one of the best in the league. Tim

(57:36):
Hardaway Junior has the strap. Tobias Harris, especially in this game,
had the strap. He had twenty two points in the
first half. So the Pistons shot forty seven percent from deep.
They did their job around kid, It's just on him.
If the Pistons are gonna win this series, he has
to be really, really good. And that's a lot to ask,
but that's just the reality.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
He's got to be more packful as a scorer or
two man like Cage's just got to be like start
to finish, you know, for a while. I think he
started this game out really slow, like one to five,
one of six, and it was just tough Ledden the
whole way. So do you trust the Piston shooting more too?
Do you like their surrounding shooting more?

Speaker 2 (58:15):
Like specifically they're three point shooting compared to the Knicks.
I don't know. I think the Knicks are a really
good shooting team. They just don't shoot a lot of threes.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
That's what I'm asking because I think like skilled shooting,
like Bridges and Towns and brunts, and like, I think.

Speaker 2 (58:29):
That I trust the Knicks more because the Knicks play
a lot fewer non shooters.

Speaker 1 (58:35):
Well, I think I like the Pistons three point shooting.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Pistons outshot the Knicks
from behind the arc in this series.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
In terms of volume, for sure. In terms of volume,
for sure. But I like the Knicks spacing a lot.
And it's not necessarily all about again, their three point
shooting volume. It's about their ability to play five out,
to have a big hoo can space and cat and
then they're cutting how they crashed. I just think they
do a lot of really good stuff offensively, which can

(59:05):
weaponize their overall perimeter skill without being three point shooting necessarily.
I do want to give props to big per though
man Kat was great in this game. Talked about the
solid defensive effort, but as a driver, super aggressive, super efficient,
and you said there's nobody on Detroit who can do

(59:25):
anything with him, Like the one guy is Isaiah Stewart,
but Isaia's dude, I'm gonna play a ton. He's getting
a lot of Tobias Harris and he's going through Tobias Harris.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Kat was pulling a ton from deep too, and he
just looks more confident than ever. I don't know if
it was this regular season with this team. I don't
know if it's all the spacing that he's got, you know,
in contrast to dealing with Minnesota last season. I don't
know if it's the you know, experience and totality now,
the confidence that he's built from having such a career

(59:55):
year in New York. But Cat looks more of a
problem than he ever has before. Like he just looked
so like I hate using this cliche, but like he
looked so locked in today. He just looked like nothing
was gonna slow him down. And to me, he's the
X factor, Like he's the guy that just Detroit, like
I said, can't do anything with. I don't think they've
got anything for Kat.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
Yeah, he's a problem man, especially when those little touch
shots in the lane, those runners are going and he's
playing under control as a driver, and the spacing around
him is good. Like he is a serious, serious problem.
The double big looks I liked. I thought it was
pretty good in this game. The hold up for that
with me is Detroit is not the sort of team

(01:00:38):
that's gonna punish them for going double big.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
I think one of these quicker like like.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
What I think the bossm Celtics are the team that's
gonna punish them for having two bigs on the floor,
and they're gonna make those dudes garden space a ton
and that's just not gonna work. That's where I think
it gets exposed, and unfortunately that's what's coming next for
the Knicks. But I could see this being a really
effective look concertain matchups. I could see it being an
effective look they go to more in this matchup. And like,

(01:01:04):
Mitchell Robinson's just a good basketball player. Man, you can't
underappreciate that his defensive versatility, being capable guarding in space
but being a good rim protector. He is such a
great offensive rebounder. Like, I really liked his minutes. And
I guess it's just hard for me to be like
too optimistic about anything long term with the Knicks because
I just know what they're headed for next and it's

(01:01:25):
gonna be kind of a demolition. But I'm very confident
that they're gonna beat the Pistons. I was confident about
that coming in seeing how they perform today, seeing the
job that Og did on Cade. He was just phenomenal
defensively and then offensively, he was aggressive. He's been more
aggressive than ever offensively, like especially in the stretch where
Brunson was out towards the end of this season. He's

(01:01:47):
playing the best basketball of his career. He was attacking
the glass, he had seven stocks. They just have more
really good basketball players. Detroit, I think has a lot
of really solid guys. They have a lot of competitive dudes,
and obviously they've brought in more of those like veteran
pros with Tobias Harrison, Malik Beasley, and Tim Hardaway Junior.

(01:02:09):
But still how solid the Knicks top seven is, it's
a big advantage there are more dudes with the Pistons.
Round'm like, I just don't know if I can really
trust you in this spot, in this role. So good game,
one win for New York. Let's talk about the final matchup,
which was actually the first game played today. Logan Bucks Pacers.

(01:02:32):
This was basically route like it ends up being a
nineteen point game. The Bucks made it a little more
interesting towards the end, but this was at thirty at
some point early in the third quarter. What did you
take away from this one?

Speaker 1 (01:02:49):
I think the Pacers are the second biggest threat to
Boston in the East Man, I mean, I think they've
I think the Pacers are the real deal. I mean,
Tyrese Halliburton is one of the best offensive engines in
the NBA today. Indiana turned out a one twenty five
point one offensive rating in this game, and it may
not appear fully in the box score, but I thought

(01:03:09):
he played a phenomenal game, just what he always does,
play making, making good decisions with this offense, getting the
ball to the right guys. And it's because they have
such elite, complimentary pieces to Halliburton. Siakam is such a
good guy to have alongside him. They play and compliment
each other so well. So is Miles Turner. And you know, specifically,

(01:03:30):
I thought when they were running picking rolls against like
a Brook Lopez, like if it was Siakam and Turner
picking and popping, I thought they did a really good
job with that. But I also thought they did a
good job of being patient and waiting for Lopez to
get Drug into the action or get to Drug on
to a different space on the court, and then back
cutting behind Lopez and just good timing on there to

(01:03:53):
get easy shots. And those guys are so skilled. But
Indiana is just really skilled with every roster. I thought
Andrew Nemhard had a really good game in this one too,
and has that propensity to go off in any game
because he's such a good shot maker and ball handler
and playmaker. But specifically with Boston, I think it's the

(01:04:14):
return of Ben Mathern in aaron Ne Smith is why
I think they're so dangerous because when I look at
them against the Knicks, I think that the Knicks have
two glaring weak points on defense, where the Indiana Pacers
just don't have as many exploitable pieces. They're not a
good defense, don't get me wrong, but neither is New York,
and I think New York's a little bit more exploitable

(01:04:34):
at those positions, and I think Indiana's got a more
elite offense than New York. So I think they're my
third team in the East, and they're really scary, and
I thought this was a really good game. It's a
monster Giannis game. He's just gonna overpower everyone in this series, Turner,
Siakam Walker Like, it literally doesn't matter. I texted you

(01:04:57):
this during the game, Carson, But I think they could
utilize Jiannis even more. I legitimately mean this, like every
possession I want him dictating. Yeah, and obviously the Bucks
offense has to be better, because I think that's the
thing that they've got to figure out for the rest
of this series. They have an offensive rating of one
oh four point eight in this one. Damian Lillard can
come back. I think that helps Milwaukee obviously if they

(01:05:20):
he just plays. They've got to get something out of
Kyle Kuzma. He goes oh five from the field, oh
of two from deep. But they got to shoot way
better because right now, Carson, this offense is really really limited,
you know, because I think people would look at this
on paper and they go, oh, well, Yiannis is gonna
walk into thirty or Yannice is gonna walk into forty.
Why aren't the Bucks gonna win this series or win

(01:05:41):
this game if Yiannis is dominating like this, It's because
They're really limited. They're two dimensional. It's Janis killing you
or they're gonna hit a three. And when they shoot
this poorly, they're not gonna win. They shot nine of
thirty seven from behind the arc, and so in my opinion,
I don't know how you feel about this. I'm willing
to sacrifice some of my defensive personnel with Kuzma and

(01:06:05):
with Tari and Prince, and I'm willing to sacrifice some
of those minutes for shooting. I think I'm willing to
play aj Green big minutes. I think I'm willing to
pay play Gary Trent big minutes. I think I'm willing
to play Kevin Porter Junior a lot. I think the
Bucks desperately need their most skilled offensive players on the court,
and it may not be their best team collectively, but

(01:06:30):
specifically in this matchup against Indiana to keep up, I
think they just need their best offensive players out there,
and you need your most reliable shooters. They can also
just defend I think way better in space. It's easier
said than done against Indiana. But I also thought this
was a pretty poor defensive performance from Milwaukee too. But
it starts with them playing better offensively to get back

(01:06:51):
in this series and Dame can get out there, Kuzma
can play better. I think it starts with playing better
shooters and trying that. I think that's the best route
for Milwaukee in this series.

Speaker 2 (01:07:03):
Well, the exact dudes who you were shouting out, those
are the dudes who they went with down the stretch
when they actually were playing pretty solid basketball, like the
Jannis plus bench group him out there with AJ Green
and Gary Trent Junior and Kevin Porter Junior and Bobby Portis.
They played totally solid minutes. In fact, I think all
those bench guys actually had positive plus minuses on the day.

(01:07:24):
The problem was the Bucks starters outside of Giannis in
this game were awful. Dude, none of them could make
a shot. Kyle Kuzma was horrific in this game. He
had the Tony Snell signature. Man, he had the twenty
plus minutes, zero point, zero rebound, zero sists, OH of
five from the field though ozho of two from the line,

(01:07:46):
really decision making.

Speaker 1 (01:07:48):
I wish he kept Chris Middleton man.

Speaker 2 (01:07:50):
I do two man Now, I do think that Kus
can play better than he did. I do think that
he can be a valuable personnel piece for them in
terms of having a switch everything lineup where he can
be in your front court. But he's got to be
a lot smarter. He's got to be more engaged, he's
got to be better as a shooter. He has to

(01:08:11):
do everything better than he did in Game one because
he was really really bad out there. But probably the
most problematic Milwaukee buck is brook Lopez, who I said
coming into this series is just going to get destroyed
on the defensive end in this matchup. And lo and behold, dude,
he got to.

Speaker 1 (01:08:27):
Tell me, tell me what you think about this. I mean,
are you in this matchup? I'm kind of just willing
to go Janis at the five and figure it out.

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
Yeah. I think your front court for a majority of
your minutes should either be Yannis in Portois at the
four and five or Coups and Yannis at the four
and five because Brooke is just going to get destroyed. Man.
I found this stat. I went back and watched all
the pick and roll possessions from this game. When the
Pacers ran pick and roll involving brook Lopez, which they

(01:08:59):
did eleven times times, they generated one point six to
three points per possession. Logan. That's a one sixty three
offensive rating. On their other twenty eight pick and rolls
that didn't involve Brook Lopez, they generated zero point eight
six points possession. So the Bucks, actually, that's end crazy
pretty well, that's crazy. They just cannot have slow ass

(01:09:19):
Brooke Lopez playing drop coverage against the Tyres Halliburt and
Miles Turner pick and pop attack. I said this coming
into this series. Hollie is at his best as a
pull up shooter from three against drop. He's at his
best get into his floaters against drop, and of course
Miles Turner is one of the best and now hard too.

Speaker 1 (01:09:40):
Man and McConnell. It's like, dude, all of their guards
are engineered to like abuse that kind of coverage.

Speaker 2 (01:09:47):
Well, and the bigs are the even bigger problem, man,
if it's Turner or Siokham Poppins, especially like percent above
the break three.

Speaker 1 (01:09:53):
Especially what I was mentioned in earlier man, because Lopez
is so slow when he gets involved in that other action,
He's not quick enough to recover in block shots on
backcuts against his own man. So I mean he just, dude,
he can't be involved in the action at all. Like
he is a complete and utter liability man. Like I'm
bordering on. I can't believe I'm saying this because I

(01:10:16):
have such a respect for him, I'm bordering on like
he's unplayable in this series.

Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
I think he give him like fifteen minutes, man, But yeah,
I'm not playing him very much at all. When Miles
Turner is on the floor or when Tyrese Haliburtn is
on the floor, I just think he is such an
exploitable piece in transition. He's slow changing ends of the floor.
Like the Indiana Pacers crave having a slow footed dude

(01:10:43):
like that who they can attack because of the two
guys directly involved in the pick and pop, but then
also because they're so good overall at moving the ball.
They have so many skilled guys who can put the
ball on the floor. And as I've talked about, sometimes
what the Bucks will do is have Brook play drop,
and then they'll have somebody else rotate over from the
wing so that they can at least contest a Miles

(01:11:05):
Turner picking Pop three. But then Miles Turner's gonna move
the ball. He's gonna find somebody else who's gonna find
somebody else, And like they're just gonna consistently get wide
open threes. Great looks. So Brooke, I'm sorry you're canceled
for this series. You're done. Your role has been minimized.
What the Bucks have to do, unsurprisingly, is lean into
more switch heavy lineups. And I actually thought they were

(01:11:28):
able to make the game kind of interesting when they
did that, when they went with Bobby Portis instead of
Brook Lopez, which allowed them to switch those picking roles.
And it's not like Portis is great guarding in space,
but you stop constantly putting yourselves at a disadvantage and
just hemorrhaging the exact looks that Indiana wants. When you
at least force Hallie to beat you as a score

(01:11:51):
versus a switch right, you force him to make a
pull up three over you, and he was off as
a shooter today, it's just at least more difficult for Indiana,
and your whole defense is quicker, more active when Brooke
is off the floor. So maybe it's cous who ends
up taking a lot of those minutes instead of Portis,
because I think that Cou's not gonna be quite as

(01:12:12):
good as a rebounder, but should be the better all
around players, the more versatile defender like I'd like to
see him in those minutes. That was my vision coming
into this series is that it would be a Cou's
Yannis front court for the switch everything, switch heavy lineups.
I'm hopeful that Kus is able to earn those minutes.
I understand why he didn't get them in Game one
with how he was playing, but I also think with

(01:12:32):
that Yannis plus bench lineup that they went with, Like,
it's exactly what you said, Logan, you got the shooting
that you needed. Like aj Green and Gary Trent Junior
stepped up as actual perimeter shot makers. They made seven
of Milwaukee's eight threes in this game. I mean, the
shooting outside of them was absolutely horrible. They combined for
twenty nine points. Gary Trent Junior hit a couple of

(01:12:53):
long twos as well. Like that group gives them a
chance and hopefully instead of Portis, Kus gets his head
out of his ass and then he can be a
functional part of those switch everything lineups. With shooting that
has been better as of late. Right over his last
fifteen games, he was thirty seven percent from deep, but

(01:13:13):
that's still a big question. I just don't want to
have to play. Bobby portis a ton of playoff minutes.
But you want to maximize your shooting around him, and
you want to maximize your defensive versatility in this matchup
because you know that Giannis is going to go insane.
His last fifteen games, He's averaged thirty six, twelve and
six versus Indiana's center. Shooting. Yeah, he literally gets whatever

(01:13:35):
he wants.

Speaker 1 (01:13:36):
I think it's just important that they try to keep
up with Indiana because I don't think that they're going
to be able to get stops against them even with
this lineup. I think the lineup you're describing is going
to give them the best opportunity to slow them down. Yes,
I just think they have such glaring point of attack
personnel limitations against Halliburton and nem Harden guys like this,

(01:13:56):
that even if they're able to stop them on ball,
I think these guys are gonna be able to generate
good looks for their teammates because that's what this Indiana
offense does. So I think that's the best chance that
they have with that lineup. Defensively, but you've just got
to maximize your offensive possessions against Indiana and.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
But I basically feel like they're doing both. I mean
I just think some of their bench players are better
than their starters, especially in this matchup.

Speaker 1 (01:14:24):
Yeah, that's that's fair man. I ultimately though, I mean,
I guess what I'm getting at is I don't think
it's gonna be enough for Milwaukee. I just think they're
out match here, man. Indiana's offense is so damn good,
and honestly, they just have way more quality basketball players.
Like when I look at the top two with Milwaukee,
and again this is still hypothetical because Damian Lillard still

(01:14:46):
has not come back and been on the court yet
for Milwaukee, so they're top two. You know, you may
prefer to Halliburton and Seakham, but Halliburton and Seakam are
still one of the top what fifteen duos in basketball
if they're not top ten, Like though they're great. Miles
Turner is awesome and has, you know, a very valuable

(01:15:06):
skill set at his position. And then you look down
the roster and it's like Nie Smith and Mathurn two
athletic defensive wings who can shoot. McConnell and Demhard are
two really good guards who can get their own shots
and create shots for others. Like the Pacers are just deep, man,
They've got a lot of guys that can give them
really good performances on any given night. And it's their

(01:15:28):
depth in their identity. It's what makes this team special, man.
And it's Halliburn and Siakam at the top two. I
really like Indiana, man. I think that they're the second
biggest threat in the East to Boston, and I might
be closer. I don't know. I want to see Dame
out there before I make any big declarations. I'm slightly
moving closer to Pacers in six. Man. I really like

(01:15:50):
Indiana in this matchup.

Speaker 2 (01:15:53):
I do think that the Pacers have built a really
good basketball team. They have built a very cohesive roster
with a lot of good players. The Milwaukee Bucks have
won all time great and they have just done a
terrible disservice to him with the dudes that they've put
around him. And that is the case even when Dame

(01:16:14):
is on the floor, because Dame, with his defensive issues,
defensive fit not being what you would hope like with
Yannis at this level. It's just a shame that the
Bucks haven't put the dudes around him to make this
an elite basketball team. I still think just having a
healthy level of respect for Giannis. You think that he'll
will the Bucks to a couple of games in this series.

(01:16:34):
But I mean, he had nineteen at half in this one,
a super efficient nineteen, and the Bucks were down twenty
four points. Man, Like, one man cannot do it alone.
They have to play the right guys around him, and
those guys have to play well. I do think Giannis
is going to average thirty five a game in this series, though,
Like he's literally walking to the rim or getting fouled

(01:16:57):
all game.

Speaker 1 (01:16:57):
I was thinking about it. What's the promo called.

Speaker 2 (01:17:00):
The King of the Court DraftKings.

Speaker 1 (01:17:04):
I'm mad at myself that I didn't mention Luca because
I think.

Speaker 2 (01:17:08):
Luca's got top two candidates.

Speaker 1 (01:17:11):
I picked Jokic. I still like my pick for Jokic.

Speaker 2 (01:17:14):
Yeah, but that series could go seven.

Speaker 1 (01:17:18):
You know who to You know what a cheeky pick.
I think is Hardened. Mmm. I think hardens the chicks.

Speaker 2 (01:17:25):
That's cheeky. I think he's gonna have a really good series.
I still think it's not as consistent as Jannis literally
just getting to them. Who was your pick?

Speaker 1 (01:17:35):
Are you sticking You're sticking with it? Yeah, bro, I.

Speaker 2 (01:17:39):
Guess whatever he wants against his team, Like they're literally
having to foul him, and I'm like, that is the
right choice. Wrap him up, hack him, make him beat
free throws because even though he's a sixty percent free
throws here, that's one point two points possession. That's super
efficient offense. I'd rather have that than letting him get
all the way to the rim, which is what he's
gonna do otherwise. So, like I do think the Bucks

(01:18:01):
found something with that Giannis plus bench unit. I think
that they found the group that checks the most boxes
for them. But at the end of the day, I
am more comfortable riding with Indiana. I am more confident
in them because they just have so many good players.
And like I thought Halle was phenomenal as a decision
maker in this game. I think he's the best decision

(01:18:21):
maker in basketball. I've been saying that for a while. So,
like he is maximizing every advantage. He is picking a
part drop when he sees it. But he was off
as a shooter today he goes oh of seven from deep,
But like that's fine because Turner and Siakham were killer
as paupers. They were nails as jump shooters and scores
overall today. Siakam also some nasty little footwork, some nasty

(01:18:43):
workout of the post. He's just so damn good. So like,
the play finishing from those guys is really good. And
then Nemhard and TJ McConnell were really good. They bring
that ball handling in creation. Just a lot of dudes
who I really trust to do their jobs. And then
I look at Milwaukee and there is one dude who
I really trust to do his job. That's the difference
in this series. I also thought Indiana did a great

(01:19:04):
job pushing pace. They had double the transition points Milwaukee does.
That's something they do so well. I thought they did
a solid job on the glass, like they basically just
want to be close in that battle because they're one
of the worst rebounding teams in the league. But they
did that today. I mean, they were plus two on
the glass overall. And I thought their defensive activity was

(01:19:25):
pretty solid.

Speaker 1 (01:19:26):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:19:26):
Another thing for Brooke was he wasn't able to punish
them offensively when he had a small on him because
I thought they did a really great job of contesting
a lot of those passes, and so he just had
a rough, rough old man get him off. The court
kind of day today, which it's tough to see, but
it's not a surprise in this series. And like, unfortunately

(01:19:49):
that's just Brook Lopez at this point. Man, you know
they should have made a tough decision with him a
couple of years ago, and they didn't, and now here
they are. And final thoughts before we get out of here, Logan,
can we get a nas Reed shout out? Nas Reed,
nas red Man. I will say to add one last

(01:20:10):
little piece of analysis, I mention how you can really
close out hard and run the Lakers spot up shooters
off the three point line. Obviously, the Lakers have the
great offensive big three here, but the offensive versatility of
some of those Timberwolf supporting pieces is better. Like nas Man,

(01:20:31):
he can spray from deep, he can put the ball
on the floor as a driver. Jade McDaniels looked really
comfortable putting the ball on the floor in this one.
I could see a couple of these series going seven.
I could see both te Wolves Lakers and Nuggets Clippers
one going seven. I think if those are probably the
two closest first round series. Nas Reed, nas read, Let's

(01:20:54):
go Logan, playoff basketball is back, dude, I'm so happy.
I'm so happy. We watched whatever ten hours of it
today and it was just like I was a kid
in a candy store. Man.

Speaker 1 (01:21:04):
I'm just pumped at it again tomorrow. Man.

Speaker 2 (01:21:06):
I got my deal pickles. I got my big jar
deal pickles, and I'm just going through them one by
one all day. And I got my big picture of
Canden that reminds me what I do it all for.

Speaker 1 (01:21:14):
How many deal pickles did you eat?

Speaker 2 (01:21:16):
Bro, Yeah, just up, Probably just a normal amount, probably
just a jar or two. But thank you guys for
joining us. Hope you enjoyed. If you did, you already
know that we are going to be back tomorrow night.
We got some more games to talk about. Not as
elite a slate tomorrow, but a couple of games that
I am really excited for, especially Warriors Rockets. I think

(01:21:38):
that's gonna be really really interesting. So lock in. Hope
you guys enjoyed the basketball. If you want more of
our stuff than you can find it all on our
YouTube channel, all of our full episodes and our video
essay and video breakdown content. If you want to just
listen to the full episodes, you just want to listen
to our voices and you don't want to look at
our goofy hats that I saw you guys getting pissed
about in the chat crooked hats. Then you can just

(01:22:00):
listen across all audio platforms, and you can follow us
across social TikTok, Instagram at nerd, sess, Twitter at nerd Underscore, sesh,
just eclips from the show, graphics from the show, and
all of our short form trivia content, And if you want,
you can join our discord that is linked at the
link tree across our social media bios if you just
want to be a part of our community and chat

(01:22:21):
with the gang there. So with that, as always, I've
been Carson Braber.

Speaker 1 (01:22:25):
I've been Logan Camden

Speaker 2 (01:22:27):
And this was nerd Set

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Nerd Sesh - Game 1 Reactions: T-Wolves CRUSH Lakers, Nuggets BEST Clippers

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Nerd Sesh - Game 1 Reactions: T-Wolves CRUSH Lakers, Nuggets BEST Clippers