Celtics embarrass Warriors, Thunder beat Suns, Clippers-Wolves + NBA Power Rankings | Hoops Tonight

Celtics embarrass Warriors, Thunder beat Suns, Clippers-Wolves + NBA Power Rankings | Hoops Tonight

All right welcome to Hoops tonight here at the volume happy Monday everybody hope all of you guys had a great weekend we have a jam-packed show for you today we’re going to be doing instant reactions to three games from over the weekend the Golden State Warriors Got just absolutely demolished by the Boston

Celtics tried an interesting strategy off the opening tip that we’ll talk about then I’m going to be breaking down the Oklahoma City Thunder going into Phoenix last night and really just dealing a a physical pain in the ass win to Phoenix exposing some specific issues that they’ve been dealing with most of

The year after that the Los Angeles Clippers got revenge on the Minnesota Timberwolves by doing to them what they did to them the first time so we’re gonna be breaking down those three games then after that like we always do on Mondays we’ll have our latest edition of

The power rankings you guys know the drill before we get started subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel mean a lot to me if you guys take a second to scroll down and hit that subscribe button don’t forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under

Hoops tonight follow me on Twitter at _ Json LT that’s where I put film threads as well as show announcements and then last but not least keep dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube comments I think we’re going to have two shorter mailbags on Wednesday and Thursday this

Week to give you an idea of the schedule really quick uh obviously today those three game breakdowns and Power Rankings Tuesday we’re going with Yovan bhha Deep dive on the Lakers they play the thunder tonight and they also just had their game against the Nuggets so we’re going

To just kind of talk basketball with Yovan get some injury updates uh since he’s obviously much closer to the team than I am Wednesday and Thursday we’re actually going live at Night on YouTube after the nationally televised games but during the day we’ll be doing um uh like

Single instant reaction games and some mailbag stuff so that’s our schedule for the next few days all right let’s talk some basketball so starting with Warriors Celtics so the the kind of the story out of the opening tip of this game was the Warriors putting Draymond

Green on Jaylen Brown now there’s a lot of criticism there because of the result but I do understand the general thought process behind it so just put yourself in the coach’s shoes as they’re trying to scout through this type of matchup right they’re looking at it like this

Team has a ton of offensive skill and we’re gonna have a lot of issues all over the floor we’ve got to come up with something to try to slow them down and I think the general idea was well if we have Draymond Green roaming in the paint

That gives us a much better chance to guard the other four guys because those guys don’t have to be as worried about getting blown by because draymond’s on the backline it gives them the ability to be more aggressive at the point of attack and specifically with Jaylen

Brown he’s had a tendency over the course of his career specifically in big games and and in big moments where sometimes like he just like he misses a couple shots and then he gets a little bit in his head he loses his confidence and then he can kind of withdraw from

The game to a certain extent and so the idea there is is like well let’s try to get in Jaylen Brown’s head by leaving him wide open and it’ll give us a much better chance to guard Elsewhere on the floor here’s the problem Jaylen Brown’s playing some of the best basketball of

His career right now and when you take that type of strategy which by the way that type of strategy happens all over the NBA with about every with just about every NBA team you find a a really good help Defender that you put on a guy offensively that you’re not particularly

Worried about and he roams around that’s not unheard of the difference is is Boston doesn’t really have good option to do that against that’s really the only difference like their lineup is somewhat foolproof in the sense that there’s not really an option for you to just straight up ignore everybody has to at

The very least get a hard close out right and so here’s the problem when you take that type of risk with a player of Jaylen Brown’s caliber you have the potential to get burned and boy did they get burned Jaylen Brown got RedHot as he blew the game open there in the middle

Of the first first quarter um but I want to I want to obviously Jaylen Brown deserves a ton of credit for blowing the game open with his shooting like that but I really want to draw attention to the defensive end of the floor because that’s where I thought the Celtics won

This particular game and once again it started with Jaylen Brown on the ball on Steph Curry physical ball pressure I I talked about this in our Celtics video like two or three days ago but Jaylen Brown has just been on an absolute tear on the defensive end of the floor he is

Targeting the other team’s best player and and just putting all of his effort and energy into trying to slow that guy down and he’s had a ton of success on that end of the floor but I want to drw past Jaylen Brown to the rest of the

Team because this is an important part of guarding a team like Golden State because of their screening actions really physical switching handson uh when the switch comes you get right back into the into the uh offensive player’s body right away to to make sure that constantly is feeling that contact and

That fatigue making everything difficult another guy I wanted to shout out on this front was pton Pritchard who I thought from the minute he came into the game there in the middle of the first quarter he had a really nice two-way game he had 19 points in this game but

He was another guy that was bringing great ball pressure and just getting up underneath Golden State’s guards all game long from there off of stops and turnovers getting out in transition this was a big- time transition game for Boston they scored 42 points in transition in this game and you know one

Of the things that I’ve talked a ton about on this on this show as of late I’ve been harping on Boston as a team that needs to bully their way into the paint more for the record it’s been working they’ve in their last four games are averaging four UH 60 points in the

Paint per game and that ranks third in the NBA over that span that’s been a really nice Trend possibly the most encouraging trend of the Season that I’ve seen so far from Boston but make no mistake like I never ever intended or or or wanted people to think that I don’t

Want Boston shooting jump shots they’re a very good jump shooting team it’s more about balance and having a counter when the jump shots aren’t falling but they are a team that can straight up beat you making jump shots in games when there’s really good Rhythm and flow the ball’s

Popping around and everybody feels good in and involved in the offense right they took 58 jump shots in this game against golden state was a heavy jump shooting game but they got 84 points on those 58 jump shots that’s 1. four five points per shot and in these last two

Massive blowout wins they’ve been able to do both they’ve been able to dominate the paint not so much against Golden State but they’ve been able to dominate the paint as of late while also knocking down a bunch of jump shots efficiently and those two things kind of tie into

Each other as well when you’re doing one it makes the other easier and vice versa and that and like I I put in my notes it’s great to be able to do both that that really is the key there that’s what makes Boston such an intriguing playoff

Threat is the simple fact that like they can win from the perimeter but they are starting to demonstrate that they can win on the interior and like it’s just going to be about whether or not they can maintain that and that isn’t just some three to four game Trend here in

The middle of the season but just an unbelievably impressive and dominant win for the Boston Celtics over the Golden State Warriors I’m sure it felt good for them too to get some Revenge after they lost in Golden State earlier this year on the Warriors front I said this after

The Denver win and I I mean this sincerely Boston and Denver are problems for another day you’re not ready to beat Boston you’re not ready to beat Denver that’s there’s no question on that front however like there’s no guarantee that you’re even going to run into Boston

Unless you get to the finals obviously right and you’re like getting to Denver there are steps you got to get through before you get to that point like this is you got to start with the goal that’s right in front of you right now and this

Is where I agree with some of the the attitude coming out of the uh the locker room like Steph Curry just saying like yeah you know they kicked our butts but obviously like we like Steph had a really bad shooting night that obviously plays a role into that sort of thing

Like long misses transition opportunities right but also draymond’s like a loss is a loss is a loss we got to move on and he is right in the sense that like right now I think what I think the Warriors are still at the 10 seed

You’re the 10 seed like you you just got to worry about first you gotta worry up about getting up to number eight because if you get up to number eight that’s your capability to have two opportunities in the playin tournament that way if you lose the 78 game you

Have another chance if you can win against the winner of the 910 matchup right so goal number one is you got to climb out of that 10 spot and when you look at the schedule and you look at where they are where they’re at healthwise right now and when you look

At what Moses Moody has been able to do stepping into the Andrew Wiggins role like you’re in position to do that and you just need to keep getting better and better and better now it’s March 4th let’s say for instance that Minnesota and Oklahoma City maintain their

Strangle hold on the onew seed which we’ll see Denver is 6-0 right now out of the break but they were 5- one out of the break last year and then they immediately dropped five of their next six games so who knows if if this is

Denver uh like going to lock in down the stretch or if maybe they keep slipping but if it’s Oklahoma City and Minnesota in that onew range I think both of those teams are beatable I think everybody is beatable with the exception of the top tier teams right and I don’t include

Minnesota and Oklahoma City that tier so like chances are if you do end up facing a team like Denver there’s a good chance that it may not be until May so you got two months to sort all of this out you’ve got two months to build your defensive habits up to another level

You’ got two months to kind of establish a way to generate offense outside of what Steph Curry can bring to the table those are bigger picture goals right now you got to take it game by game win by win and you’ve got to climb out of that

910 spot those are that that would be my way of trying to kind of like keeping your keep your eye on the prize in light of a really upsetting you know destructive loss on the road in Boston get in on the action with draftking Sportsbook an official sports betting

Partner of the NBA new customers who deposit $5 or more can get a no sweat bet up to $1,000 back in a bonus bet I was looking at NBA Futures this morning the Golden State Warriors are plus 5500 right now on DraftKings to win the title so if you

Believe in them that’s a big number and Denver I have Denver as my Championship favorite and they’re still the second best odds on DraftKings right now at plus 450 so lots of good NBA bets to look at over the course of the end of the season download the DraftKings

Sportsbook app now and use code Hoops new customers can get a no sweat bet up to $1,000 if your first bet loses only on DraftKings Sportsbook with code Hoops that’s ho o o PS the crown is yours all right moving on to thunder Suns I watched this game last night super super

Fun game to watch Oklahoma City is just a royal pain in the ass to play against they play so incredibly hard I felt bad I I shouldn’t say felt bad I I know that KD and Bradley Beal were just like oh man these dudes are literally picking up

Full court they’re double teaming the second we cross half Court like they weren’t it it was it was one of the most aggressive like start to finish defensive schemes that you’ll see in the regular season and it’s because Oklahoma city has the combination of a coach that

Can keep them organized enough to run these sorts of things properly and two the young athletes that have both the physical tools and the motor and energy level to maintain that over the course of a long basketball game most of the time like Phoenix doesn’t even run into these types of super aggressive

Coverages until the fourth quarter when teams are just trying to get the ball out of Kevin Kevin Durant’s hands or get the ball out of Devin Booker’s hands this was a start to finish we are we are pressuring the ball we are bringing double teams as soon as you cross half

Court we are playing passing Lanes even just like you know here’s the thing I’ve been I critical is the wrong word I’ve talked a lot about how I don’t necessarily believe in Oklahoma City as like a championship Contender because they’re small and because they’re young

But I still feel that way you did see again last night like Yousef nurkic like what he have 31 rebounds just like just absolutely demolished them on the glass and there are teams around the league that bring a combination of what Phoenix brings to the table in terms of

Perimeter talent and interior presence teams like Denver even the Clippers like you’re going to get Kawaii and Aika zubats on the interior while also having all the perimeter type of talent that a team like Phoenix brings to the table those are the teams that I worry about for a team like Oklahoma

City but even though they are perhaps maybe a touch too small and inexperienced to win the title that doesn’t mean that they aren’t a physical and Scrappy team they are a super physical and Scrappy team it’s one of the big reasons why in the long run I’m

Such a big believer in what this team can accomplish because if they do bring in a legitimate forward to the table that raises their physical profile when they do go into this playoff run and get you know let’s say they win a first round series and then end up losing a

Really tough second round series or losing in the Conference Finals those are Battle Scars that build this team up to where in the future they can be a bigger and more experienced version of this crazy talented crazy physical crazy competitive Oklahoma City Thunder team and that’s what’s going to take them to

The promised land of hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy but there were a bunch of specific things that I wanted to dive into and to demonstrate just how physical and Scrappy they are first of all physical switching so this is you know just imagine like Phoenix runs a

Lot of like off ball screening actions to try to get Kevin Durant into Advantage situations around like the elbow and post area right like that that’s what makes Kevin Durant different from so many of these other stars around the league in the sense that like so many of the modern-day stars are just

Operating out of dribble hand offs and ball screens and Kevin Durant can do that too that’s obviously a big part of his game but Kevin Durant will also like come off of a some sort of like wide pin down or like uh or like flare screen or

Something to try to get him into a position where he can catch with a triple threat you know 15 to 18t from the basket and then turn to face and try to go to work from there right one of the things the Thunder were doing in

This game is like Lou dart’s on him and he’s just hugging on him like literally like holding him while he’s like standing on the Block waiting for that screen and so then down comes the screen and there’s a difference between passive switching and physical switching passive switching is like what the Clippers did

To LeBron James in his crazy comeback run the other night here comes the screen you know Daniel Ty switches but he just like starts guarding LeBron from you know three four feet away and kawhai will just go away with the other guy right and so no one’s there making

LeBron feel uncomfortable he’s just mixing up off the dribble and getting to his spot and making something happen physical switching is like I’m holding on to KD I’m L Dort here comes the screen Jaylen Williams just like Lou Dort literally passes him over to Jaylen Williams like Well Physical handoff and

Jaylen Williams is grabbing him as he’s coming off the other side of the in denying the catch and so as a result they were creating these really tight passing Windows because they’re three4 front and denying KD all of his in all of his spots he already had to work

Super hard to fight Lou Dort up to the screen to where now he’s fighting to try to create a passing angle and then from there off the ball they’re constantly digging down and jumping into passing Lanes like whenever a team has a bunch of turnovers we’re so quick to focus on

The team turning the ball over and being like they being sloppy and don’t get me wrong they were we’re going to talk about that in a minute but like give some credit to the defense like Oklahoma City forced Phoenix to lose their minds and create a bunch of really sloppy

Turnovers right the other thing on the ball there was a possession I clipped you can find it on my Twitter feed of shake ELD Alexander guarding KD and on this possession you can literally see like there’s two different ways to reach in and and like you know there’s like a

Lunging reach in right where I like really get out of position to try to get down get to the basketball but I can also reach in while staying balanced and Shay is uniquely equipped with these like crazy long arms to where he can defensive slide with a guy and not have

To really lunge or get out of position but he can still swipe down at the basketball and there’s this possession it’s a KD turnover Shay’s on the ball on KD KD gets driving down to his left hand Shay literally swipes down at the basketball like six or seven times just

From 25 ft to the from the basket down to 5T from the basket just swiping and swiping and reaching and swiping and then as soon as he gets downhill there’s a guy digging down from the corner and a guy coming up from the post and they’re all digging down at the basketball and

So it ends up leading to a Kevin Durant turnover but the point is is like it’s hard it’s hard to take care of the basketball when a bunch of athletes with really long Wings spans who have been by the way picking you up full court all damn night double teaming you all night

Long fighting you off of every single spot and you get a a a a driving lane like this and they’re reaching in like crazy and it’s just really difficult to navigate that I just wanted to give them some credit for that because I I didn’t think I didn’t think these were just

Sloppy turnovers Oklahoma City sped Phoenix up and caused them to make a lot of these mistakes and then from their jumping passing Lanes like they just have so much straight line speed that like when a lane looks like it’s open you you know you’ll see a a hard double

Team come and there’ll be on the weak side like a shooter in the corner and a shooter on the wing and it’ll be like kissan Wallace or something playing in in between the two players and what he’ll do is he’ll kind of play back and like kind of bait KD into thinking the

Wing is open and he’s standing there and here’s the thing if he throws the skip pass to the corner even if he is lunging up he can still recover to that because there’s so much time but if he throws the skip pass to the wing he just shoots

Into that Gap and takes the basketball away it’s just it is a layered attack of ball pressure physical on the ball physical on screening actions physical in passing Lanes off the ball and they were just they caused caused all sorts of problems for Phoenix which we’ll get

Into a little bit deeper here in just a minute uh sh shild Alexander’s ball control was the next thing I wanted to hit on there you know this was a classic example of you know and this is something that Shay has been doing forever so I don’t want to act like this

Is new but this I just wanted to dive specifically into sheay Guild Shay’s ball uh ball handling because you know we think of Shay as like a slow methodical player and don’t get me wrong he is he’s a very like change of pace and methodical type of on ball player

But this is a guy that is really whipping the basketball around in a really controlled way with Advanced dribble combinations in traffic like he’ll get into his high hesitation and he’ll hit that hesitation move it almost looks like he freezes in space for a second but then he’ll hit that forward

Dribble and he’ll get into your body now there’s contact right he’s got his shoulder into you and the the defender’s like right up on him from there he’ll hit like a pullback dribble and then from there instead of just like making a simple move he’ll hit like in andout

Cross between the legs back to the right or he’ll like double between the legs and back to the left or these super Advanced dribble combinations in traffic while there’s contact going on and so that to me is a big element of what allows him to maintain control of the

Basketball while he’s making these complex counter moves it’s a ball handling thing we think so much about change of pace we think so much about his strength we think so much about his mid range jump shooting and some of his footwork stuff that he has but a big

Part of it that goes under under the radar in a lot of these cases is his ball handling you know there are a lot of players that can dribble when things are free and clear but then as soon as they get into contact they lose control of the basketball and Shay just has

Incredible control of the basketball in a physical environment then lastly down the roster shot making everybody on this team can make plays off the bounce there a first half play Chad hren bringing the ball up the floor it’s a transition Cross Match he’s got Roy O’Neal on him

They just space the floor and chett just like hits a dribble combination gets downhill bodies Roy oal and then pivots over his left shoulder and goes up and finish and screams and one in his face and you’re just like like it’s like okay this is the third guy that you have to

Deal with and he’s just confidently attacking one of your best perimeter Defenders I just punched my mic because I got too excited about it but uh uh or or you’ll see like we know what Shay gild Alexander and Jaylen Williams can do but then like I see Lou Dort in the

Right corner in the second half um uh end up hitting Grayson Allen with a dribble combination it’s like between the legs crossover and then he just whips like a crazy left to right crossover and literally like Grayson Allen almost Falls over going to his right hand side and then Dort goes along

The Baseline now Grayson made a really nice defensive recovery on this play got back into the playe blocked L Dort from behind as he missed a dunk but I’m sitting there thinking like this is your defensive minded Wing this is your three and D guy and he legit has the ability

To make plays off the bounds he hit off the dribble jump shots in this game like that that’s just another layer of the shot making Josh giddy he can attack smaller Defenders he can work in pick and roll even bench guys there was a play that the the Suns defended

Perfectly and it led to a skip pass across the court to K Wallace in that right corner and it was a really good close out I think from Aaron Gordon if I remember correctly it might have been Grayson Allen but he catches in the right corner great close out and he ends

Up hitting an In-N-Out s side step jump shot in the right corner from three like a highlevel step back three attacking a closeout in the right wing from your bench player who happens to be the guy that you view as your three and D guy

Off the bench he like it it’s just it’s layer after layer of insane amounts of offensive skill and all of them can guard all of them can guard it it it was a really impressive win but like this is where it gets really scary for the long

Run like I said give these guys some Battle Scars in uh in a couple of long playoff runs give these guys a legitimate forward that can bang inside that can help them deal with some of their physical limitations they’re going to be a gigantic pain in the ass for a

Very long time in this league on the Suns front big thing that stands out to me and this has been a theme throughout the season when it comes down to the aggressive double teams of their stars when they have all three of their stars out there it’s usually them with Grayson

Allen and Yousef nerkish right from there there’s so much offensive skill on the floor that they can operate pretty well in the four on threes out of it right they’re like brief four on- threes because none of their stars are great passers like they all like if you catch

KD on the right night he can handle a double team really really well like I thought against s the the Sacramento Kings like a week and a half ago you had a really good game handling double teams right but then you watch him in other games and he really struggles with it

That’s the thing like you know when you’re talking about the best players in the league that are Playmakers guys like Luca joic LeBron right the guys in that tier like you want to make them a score right like your best bet is to like leave them on an island and hope they

Wear themselves out trying to score one-on-one and and by the way they’re still really good and they’re going to do that really well but that’s probably your best strategy for those guys when it comes to the best scorers in the league you want to test their playmaking

Ability you want to make them have to consistently make the best reads right and that’s the thing like this is the best way to guard the KDs and the Devon Bookers and the Bradley Beal type of guys in the world you want to give them uh their biggest weakness which is if

You let them go one-on-one they are professional oneon-one players they are going to beat you if you let them go two on two in ball screens they are professional two on two scorers in ball screens they will beat you but if you put them in situations which targets

Their specific weaknesses you can get inconsistent play out of them which which is what teams have figured out to do with Phoenix now when one of their stars is out it dips below that mandatory amount of that minimum amount of offensive Talent like there was a

Long Sabin Lee shift in the second half of this game and Oklahoma City’s just not guarding him and so if I can double team the ball and there’s a guy on the floor I don’t have to guard I’m only giving up a three on three on the weak side that’s not an

Advantage and so like it really like I was on a a radio station in Phoenix this morning for a radio hit and and they they were asking me specifically what I like whether or not it was like a coaching issue or what what was going on last night and I’m like sometimes this

Is like this is just what happens when you when you when you start to run out of players right and then at the same time you need guys on the other floor that other end of the floor that can guard an Oklahoma City team that brings

A ton of ball handling and scoring to the table right and and and it just it was just one of those things where where I don’t know I don’t know the turnovers they have to be sharper right Kevin Durant Bradley Beal Yousef nurkic there was a lot of like bad entry passes not

Protecting the basketball sloppy skip passes there was a lot of that that they just have to be better right but it’s also not an easy job unless you have four guys on the floor that can capitalize on four on three situations quickly and efficiently and as soon as

One of their Stars drops out of the lineup it ends up being an issue now we did find out uh from sham Sania this morning that looks like Brad Uh Kevin D excuse me Devin Booker is not going to be out more than maybe a week week and a

Half uh one thing one of the one last note on the Suns when they went on their big run in the second half of the game to get back into it they got back into it with their defense they were double teaming Shay gilders Alexander testing his playmaking ability and they were

Getting out and transition off of it and then they started making some threes it reinvigorated their defense they continued to pressure Shay with double teams and rotate out of it and they got back into the game with it and so that you know and this is what I said on the

Radio this morning they have to be like OKC they can’t just be offensive skill guys because if they’re just offensive skill guys they’re going to lose to offensive skill guys who also are Scrappy they need to be offensive skill guys who are Scrappy they need to be

Scrappy they need to fight they need to be a team that defends and is physical flies around in rotation they have to do what the Thunder do at a higher level right because that’s the case the case for a team like Phoenix is like you know the Thunder just play harder than

Everybody in the regular season we get into the playoffs we start playing hard we are a scrappy team that fights on the perimeter and we have Kevin Durant Devin Booker and Bradley Beal which is a better set of shot creators than Jaylen Williams and Shay G Alexander and Chad

Holgren or how however you want to sort that out with the Thunder now that that remains to be seen if that will play out like that in the postseason but that’s the case for Phoenix that’s the path for Phoenix they have to be the scrappy team

They have to be the team that fought back into the game against the Thunder the way that they did all right moving on to wolves Clippers so the Wolves jump them early in the game they went up like 23 to7 and then Norman pal just got RedHot and like almost single-handedly

Brought them back into the game and he’s been like one of the best heat check guys in the League this year especially from the three-point line and he hit some Preposterous threes in this game like a like a pivot over his left shoulder in a late clock situation where

He picked up his dribble and he just Rose and fired that one of the heat check shots where he came came off of a screen had very little space and Rosen fired like he just can get insanely hot in in in a short period of time put a

Bunch of points on the board so they end up getting it back close again and then from there it was just an absolute knockdown drag out fist fight the rest of the game I don’t think either team took more than like a fivepoint lead the

Rest of the way it was back and forth it was physical the refs have been doing a great job really around the league lately of just letting teams play and letting the games get more physical and down the stretch the Clippers just played better Rock fight offense Paul

George to his credit missed a lot of shots in this game but he made some big ones rescue shots he hit a big three in the left corner I think it was over Rudy gber he had a big pull-up jump shot around the right elbow down the fourth

Quarter stretch both of those one of them tied the game the other one um gave them a two-point lead if I remember correctly like they were just monumentally important important shots those rescue possessions are usually difference makers when you get into uh Rock fights like this and then James

Harden he missed everything but just made a bunch of timely and key passes there was a big possession late in the game where uh James Harden was operating the offense at the at the uh kind of like top of the key extended off the right elbow and Paul George and Kawai

End up running this like kind of three-man screening action with Daniel Ty where Paul George comes off of like a a little screen and then turns around and sets a back screen for kawhai and James Harden just threw an absolutely perfect pass and I think originally the play was

Designed to probably get kawhai a post touch with an advantage and on Jaden McDaniels as Jaden McDaniel would be in trailing position but there was just a little Gap there when Jaya uh when Jaden got caught for a second and Cat wasn’t there in help and James just hit him in

Stride right underneath the basket for a layup and getting like layups like easy layups in a knockdown drag out fist fight that’s like finding money on the ground it was it was it was a a massive um help it down the stretch in this game and then Kawhi Leonard just he brings

The physical inos to that specific environment which he can ride to easy shots around the rim now what one of the things that ENC that encouraged me the most about this particular game if you guys remember when Minnesota came in and beat the Clippers and demolished them in

Los Angeles what did I say after the game I was like look Minnesota can do this Jaden McDaniels Anthony Edwards Rudy gobar they can strangle the life out of your offense but what is their weakness their weakness is they can fall apart offensively in the half court the Clippers have excellent defensive

Personnel and so what I said after that game was you got to drag them down into the mud with you and if you drag them down into the mud with you you’ll be better at it than they are because you have Kawhi Leonard and you have Paul

George and you have Terence man and you have all these guys that can guard you just need to drag them down into the mud with you and that’s what they were able to do into this game and um essentially the you know the Wolves can have similar

Issues to a lot of teams around the league when they face switching defenses when You Face switching defenses the baked in coverages that give you driving Lanes kind of cease to exist and in this game in particular they were never worried about goar catching on the roll

And so even when they were running drop coverage against goar they weren’t getting a ton of really really great uh um uh the Wolves weren’t getting very very great looks they weren’t getting good looks out of it um but in that halfcourt setting when you start switching it challenges your

Decision-making process of your ball handlers right so Anthony Edwards comes off of a ball screen he ends up getting Norman Powell on a switch he’s got Mike connley in the corner there’s 15 seconds on the shot clock it’s clutch time and Anthony Edwards has a tendency

Kind of like Jason Tatum to settle for really difficult pull-up jump shots instead of inflicting his physicality on the game trying to get down and trying to make something happen and there’s a big possession late in this game he gets Norman pal on a switch and he just takes

A really difficult step back three with 14 seconds on the shot clock that’s how you can Bait Minnesota into their worst Tendencies switch Dig Down they’ll settle for jump they’ll settle for tough jump shots they won’t make good driving kick plays they can fall apart offensively and so the Clippers did a

Good job in this game of dragging Minnesota down into the mud and playing them into their worst Tendencies now on the Wolves front as I just said late game execution has been an issue for them all damn season as a matter of fact they are now down to 21st in clutch offense a

105 offensive rating in clutch time that is like atrociously bad and one of the things that was really bothering me about their approach down the stretch of this game they still found some baskets like there was a late a late clock possession where they shut down the

First action and then Conley ran a late a late pick and roll with gobear and he just threw a ridiculously good skip pass to uh cat in the right corner who ripped through baseline and got a dunk there was a play where Rudy goar got an offensive rebound and jadeen McDaniels

Cut out of the corner and he dropped it off to him and he got a dunk like they were able to manufacture some points just based on their incredible gifts that they have but I absolutely hated their offensive process down the stretch of this game and one of the main reasons

Why was there was an action that was working they got two easy baskets for Carl towns in actual sets there was a horn set where you had Conley at the top of the key and you had Carl towns on the um you had Carl towns on the I believe

The left elbow and Rudy gobear on the right elbow and what they did is they would just have Carl Towns come up and set a ball screen for R uh for Mike Conley and then as soon as he set the ball screen for Mike Conley coming off

To that left side he would come off a flare screen from goar now because of the flare screen for goar remember like we were talking about earlier the Clippers were switching everything but not with Daniel Ty they were running a drop with Daniel Ty and so as cat would

Come off of that flare screen Ty is dropping back and cat is able to catch and quickly rip through to the right it’s a baked in driving lane because of the coverage they’re chasing Daniel’s he is dropping Carl towns can catch off that flare screen and rip through right

And go they got two easy layups in crunch time off of this play and after they did it the second time I’m like oh shoot that’s going to work there’s three and a half minutes left here they need to run that again they did not run it again a single time the

Rest of the game they ran different set actions both to get Anthony Edwards into ball screens one of them was a double ball screen out of horns where Anthony Edwards came off and got a wide open pull-up three that he missed and then another one was a play that they were

Able to just drop back on and then he was then he had to swing the ball and that was what ended up in the Mike Conley go bear ball screen on the left wing that led to the dunk for cat out of the right corner but that same set that

Uh that ball screen into the flare screen for cat that got him the wide open layups on Daniel Ty barreling downhill and he just couldn’t stop cat coming at him they never went back to it they never went back to it and it was the one thing the only thing that they

Were actually able to run and execute easily for an easy shot at the end of the game and this goes back to what I said uh all season long will they be diligent enough just like I say with Boston will they be diligent enough to get the right shots

At the end of a game because again it’s like the Anthony Edwards pull-up three Anthony Edwards shoots 35% on pull-up threes the ball screen one double screen comes off he’s wide open he he shoots 35% on it that’s you know what one point I want to say that’s like

1.5 1.05 points per shot so that’s a 105 offensive rating that’s not bad right for a pull-up jump shot anything over a point is good right so like on the surface it looks good the problem is is the statistics the the overall value of a shot means nothing to the individual

Possession the individual possession comes entirely down to field goal percentage and in that individual possession in crunch time he’s a 35% shooter so you’re running a set action that’s going to fail two out of three times see the point like in crunch time it’s not about getting a shot it’s about getting the

Very best shot I talked about this a lot in the Denver LA game it’s like Ruby hamura pull up 15f footer off of a weak side action ball gets reversed ruy runs the ball screen I don’t I don’t hate that shot over the course of 48 minutes if he

Takes that in the middle of the second quarter you’re like that’s a good shot for us Anthony Edwards pull up three coming off of a ball screen that’s a good shot for for us in the middle of the second quarter but in crunch time it’s not the

Best shot for the Lakers in that possession I’ve talked about it was a floor spacing thing it should have been Austin Reeves on the wing it should have been an Austin Reeves ball screen which is a higher percentage play if they were more diligent about getting the best shot the ball would

Never have ended up in ru’s hands on that possession Denver on the other hand gets the very best shot that they can possibly get on that possession every every single time in crunch time that is how they win and and and that’s the thing it’s like with that Minnesota offense down

The stretch it’s like they ran some actions they ran that double screen for ant they ran this other one out of horns where it kind of led to like a double wide pin down for ant to come off into a ball screen but in those situations they’re dropping back and they’re trying

To bait an in pull up jump shots that’s not the best shot that they can get in that situation cat was the one with the advantage if they ran double screening actions with cat and gobear they could get cat going downhill against a drop coverage big which was Daniel Ty getting

Into the paint will they be diligent enough in the postseason to get the very best shot I don’t know that’s that that is my major concern with this particular offense and again it’s been they have lost countless games as of late with poor crunchtime offense and again a 105

Offensive rating for the entire season and like it’s not a big picture issue like ant Young this is really typical for teams led by a young Superstar but in the long run that’s what he has to address in the long run they like if it’s going to be led by a

Primary ball handler like ball handler like ant it’s the halfcourt execution piece that stands between where he is now and the true greatness of the top tier Superstars around the league all right moving on to our power rankings so we had two teams drop out from last week the Pacers and the Mavs

Who both had uh pretty pretty dis fous weeks we have two new teams in the list this week starting with number 10 the Orlando Magic they’ve won six of their last seven games playing some Elite defense in that stretch they’re 5-0 in that seven game span when Pao bonero

Plays he’s averaging 24 points seven rebounds and five assists on 52% from the field and 42% from three I’ll be a little bit of an easier stretch of their schedule but a nice little run from the magic number nine the Miami Heat they are 10 and three in their last 13 games

That is the second best record in the league in that span just behind Boston they have the second best defense in the league over that span and then Jimmy Butler is starting to look like playoff Jimmy again since he came back from his injury on January 15th he’s

Averaging 23 points six rebounds and five assists on check this 57% from the field and 56% from three so Jimmy Butler peing at the right time in the Heat starting to gain some steam number eight the Cleveland Cavaliers are starting to slip a little bit they’re just four and five

And their last nine games they needed a wild alltime great hot streak from Max stru hitting five consecutive threes down the stretch stretch against Dallas to win one of those games otherwise they’d be three and six it’s their defense that’s been slipping ironically over that span they’re 18th in the NBA

In defensive rating in their last nine games number seven the New York Knicks after Jaylen Brunson went down in pain coming off of that wide pin down action um against the Cavs it was like a low point for the season for Nicks fans right like you uh uh obviously Jaylen

Brunson goes down in the game you’re already down your entire front court it’s a big game an important game against the Cavs that you feel like is winnable it looks terrible right but then you end up beating the Cavs anyway just bully them on the glass just like

They did in the postseason and Dante dienzo had a big scoring night also buen banovich a guy who can scale up his offense when needed stepped in and I think he poured in 40 or 20 points if I remember correctly and then after the game you get great news Jaylen Brunson just a

Knee contusion so it sounds like he just bumped knees didn’t twist his knee that’s great news that means Brunson should be coming back and again OG anobi I believe just ramped up his basketball related activities so help is on the way we should get a better feel for the

Knicks here in the next couple of weeks number six the Minnesota Timberwolves two more clutch losses to the Kings and the Clippers this week as we mentioned earlier in our wolves breakdown a 105 offensive rating in the clutch this season which ranks 21st in the NBA that’s going to be the biggest question

For them when we get to the postseason will they ever be a ble to diligently seek out the best possible shot in the slow down half court environment at the end of games number five the LA Clippers two and one week they did lose to the Lakers in that crazy LeBron James

Comeback but again like I said after that game sometimes LeBron just does LeBron stuff and you lose but they did take a big step forward against Minnesota on the defensive end of the floor their defense has been what slipped a lot during this kind of mediocre stretch here in the last two

Three weeks that’s that game against Minnesota they got they got down into the mud and they slowed Minnesota down and they won with their defense which I thought was super encouraging number four the Oklahoma City Thunder it took a bad loss to the Spurs uh where they really struggled with Victor wh minyama

But they did bounce back with a really impressive win against the Suns last night you know I’m I I’m having a hard time with this team because like the stuff with their size and physicality and their lack of experience or their size I should say not their physicality

They’re very physical team the stuff with their size and their experience is just overarching basketball philosophies that I have and I truly believe in and it still gives me a ton of reticence but when I look at their combination of shot uh shot creation down the roster the incredible physical brand of basketball

That they play the competition and the nastiness of this group I think they’re wired right like I love their basketball character I think they’re super well coached I I’m having a really hard time with the Thunder because I’ve got this like voice in the back of my head which

Is like take them more seriously take them more seriously take them more seriously so we’ll see I reserved the right to change my mind about the thunder when we get to the beginning of the postseason but right now I just still lean back on my overarching basketball beliefs involving their lack

Of size and experience number three the Milwaukee Bucks a three and 0 week I’ll be it against an easy stretch of their schedule 15 games of Doc Rivers 109.2 defensive rating which ranks fifth in the NBA over that span offense is still struggling a little bit although

It’s been way better as of late uh but they’re at 115 offensive rating since doc took took over they can get that offensive rating back up to 120 while maintaining this level of Defense we have to move Milwaukee into uh back into that top tier of contenders because

Everything we had talked about with them was based around their defense having severe limitations and they’ve just been defending really well now for a stretch of the Season which really amounts to like what like about a fifth of the season that’s not a non-existent sample

Size but a lot of tests on the horizon Milwaukee’s next five games against the Clippers at home but then a road trip against the Warriors the Lakers the Clippers and the Kings that’s a tough stretch a lot of really high-powered offenses in that span we’re going to

Find out and guard play too Clippers obviously with James Harden the warriors with Steph Curry the Lakers with D’Angelo Russell in and Austin Reeves and then even going into Malik Monk and dear and fox like although dear and fox missed their last game uh and Malik monk

Actually carried them to a win against the Wolves but that stretch is going to put a big strain on their perimeter defense we’re going to learn a lot about the Bucks defense during that stretch number two the Denver Nuggets 6 and0 now out of the All-Star break this time last

Year this was where they let their foot off the gas they were five- one out of the break and then they promptly lost five of their next six games so I’m really curious to see if they can keep their foot on the gas at this point and maintain big matchup with Boston this

Week that will be going live for I think it’s on Thursday night so we’ll be live on YouTube after the final buzzer of that game but Denver they look like the best version of themselves that they’ve ever been as of late and and I’m really really intrigued um U because like you

Know we talked about the checking boxes for Championship contention and like one of the big ones is like ramping up as you get into the postseason it was a one that it was one that Denver missed last year and then they still dominated it just makes me all the more confident in

What Denver is capable of I still think they’re the best team in the league number one in our power rankings for regular season results the Boston Celtics another undefeated week they’re on an 11 game winning streak now and one of the big things as I’ve been harping

On All Season needed them to be more aggressive in the paint they are averaging 60 points in the paint per game in their last four games which is the third most in the NBA over that span all right guys that’s it for our power rankings that’s it for our show today as

Always I appreciate you guys we’ll be back tomorrow with yovon I will see you guys Then He

Jason Timpf reacts to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the Boston Celtics’ 140-88 blowout win over Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Jason explains how the Celtics have been so dominant to this point, and debates whether any team will be able to beat them in a seven-game series. Jason then reacts to the Los Angeles Clippers’ 89-88 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves as well as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s big win over the Phoenix Suns. Finally, Jason drops his weekly NBA Power Rankings. Can anyone knock the Celtics off the top spot?

Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction
01:45 – Celtics embarrass Warriors
11:03 – Thunder stifle Suns
27:29 – Clippers-Timberwolves rock fight
38:47 – NBA Power Rankings

Follow Jason Timpf on social:
Tweets by _JasonLT
https://www.instagram.com/jtimpf15/

Shop the hottest gear in all of sports podcasting: https://thevolume.com/shop-all-new

Follow us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thevolumesports
Tweets by TheVolumeSports
https://www.facebook.com/TheVolumeSports

@thevolumesports

Learn more about the Volume:
https://www.thevolume.com

#nba #basketball #sports #bostonceltics #goldenstatewarriors #stephcurry #jaysontatum #jaylenbrown #reaction #oklahomacitythunder #minnesotatimberwolves #losangelesclippers #phoenixsuns #kevindurant #nikolajokic #denvernuggets #shaigilgeousalexander #anthonyedwards #kawhileonard #draymondgreen