Why are Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers falling apart? | ALL NBA Podcast

Why are Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers falling apart? | ALL NBA Podcast

[Applause] Ah what is up everybody and welcome to the all MBA show part of the All City Podcast Network I’m your host Adam mes and I’m joined by my esteem colleague Tim legler legs we had some fraudulent performances in the NBA last night I don’t know if I’d call them good games I

Don’t know what I would call them but some fraudulent performances in the association last night one of the weirdest nights we’ve had all year and I can’t wait to dive into some of these games because they’re there some of it just makes no sense whatsoever when you first understand like just getting the

Score you’re kind of like wow really and then you go and actually watch the game and you can’t believe what you’re watching in some of these cases so let’s dive in let’s definitely dive in we’re gonna talk about this Pacers Clippers game up front because it provides conversation on both teams very

Fascinating from both ends including tyres halberton who’s in a little bit of a slump but got the win last night the Clippers who are in a major slump and look lifeless we’re going to talk about the Suns the nonchalant Suns falling to the WIA Spurs and we’re going to talk

About the Celtics with another fourth quarter collapse and what it means for them if anything or maybe it doesn’t mean anything we’ll talk about that as well at the end jonte Porter our first NBA gambling uh uh I guess controversy uh so to speak we’re going to get into

All that but first we are presented by draft keing all NBA is sponsored by DraftKings stay tuned because you’ll hear more about DraftKings all they have to offer throughout the show DraftKings the crown is yours all right legs let’s get into it Pacers get the win 133 to 116 in Los

Angeles last night against the Clippers the Clippers have looked this way for a while we kept we keep expecting them to snap out of it to play with more urgency connectiveness excitement enthusiasm they were none of those things last night they were lifeless in what turned

Out to be a blowout loss that might have even been worse than what the score said so what stood out to you about this game well they were okay offensively nothing great but that’s not certainly you know you look at the way some of their best players played and and just their

Efficiency overall as a team that you that’s not really the reason you lose the game shoot 54% from the three now they were anemic from the three-point line but they have kns like that they’re not a super high volue three-point shooting team only made six threes but

You know Paul George Ka Leonard pretty efficient nights 23 for 36 between them so you’re looking at this and say well how does Norman Powell has a good night eight for 13 22 points like that’s a that’s a good Norman pal Knight it was the other end of the floor and they just

Lack of regard and they played small lineups in this game quite a bit both halves that were absolutely atrocious and it’s it’s look they’ve got they’ve got you know three serviceable bigs but they went small with when I say small A Mir coffee as the fifth guy with like

Three Hall of Famers take your pick of the four and then Norman Powell like that was the lineup they were going with for some stretches and they couldn’t stop anybody and just the lack of the lack of anticipation defensively was glaring to me on simple action like give and go type stuff where

The Pacers just pass to the wing and cut down the lane and get it right back and lay it in and nobody on the weak side even thinking about being off to the ball uh just basic stuff that you go over that all good teams practice and it

Becomes part of like your identity when you’re playing really well defensively what it looks like guys on a string right and that’s that’s what you look at when you see good defensive teams and there’s no reason for the Clippers to look like this because from a Personnel standpoint they’ve got more than enough

Paul George kawii Leonard they are both guys that are capable of being lock down type Defenders Norman Powell is a good Defender Terence man is a really good Defender James Harden is not zubach is not I get it but I just listed four guys that are Westbrook even is not a great

Defender but man the guy gives you constant energy so for them to be this bad defensively in a period of time by the way we’re now we’re 10 12 in 22 games Adam this isn’t small sample size man this is a month and a half of like

Looking like this and what’s really hard to figure out other than what I just alluded to the defensive effort go back and look at their numbers of like their best players because sometimes when you see a team go through a stretch for not playing well you go and look well no

Wonder like this guy’s shooting 38% over the last 10 games and he’s important player like stuff like that matters incrementally but you look at Paul George COI Leonard they’re numbers haven’t really declined and they’re doing it efficiently over this entire period of time now James Harden he’s had

A down tick there’s no question he’s not has not played as well offensively and Norman Powell is like on a slight downward slope over the course of this losing streak that we’re talking about here where they haven’t played well and so it’s hard to pinpoint other than just

Flat out effort and carrying more possession by possession and when you play a team like Indiana they’re counting on that if you want to come out there and not touch anybody not run back in transition the number of score after score opportunities that the Pacers got

When they were scored upon pwn and they got something quick at the other end of the floor which is 100% concentration and effort to get back and get in front of the ball like when you play a team like Indiana and and this is your approach this is what you get 133 points

You give up at home um and a night when your guys play pretty well the guys that you need to so they’re a mess right now there’s no other way to describe it the Clippers are a mess and I don’t know um if they’ve got enough time here the next

11 games to make us believe that they’ve got this figured out but it’s definitely something you got to keep watching if I were to romanticize this problem legs that’s going on with the Clippers and and to a lesser or maybe to the same extent actually the Phoenix Suns I would

Say that it is a proof of concept that there’s more to basketball than just your ability to get Buckets you know there’s more to that there’s there’s the connectedness between the the teammates there’s what’s the emphasis what is your identity do you have multiple identities you can fall back on given the

Circumstance and the Clippers don’t seem to have that right now any of those things other than the bucket getting part because to your point they are accomplishing the part of the game that they are valuing their ability to score their ability to okay give me the ball

In the elbow their guys are still doing a good job of that but transition defense secondary break def not even fast break defense but just like you said after a make did we get back and match up those types of things are habits those are culture and identity

That you build throughout the course the season or you’re supposed to and the Clippers made a nice run the middle of the year but sometimes if you’re making a nice run but there isn’t that Foundation of okay here’s how we handle these situations then it then you can

You’re susceptible to falling into these long slumps and that when I look at the contenders around the league I think one of the ways you should analyze them and the questions you should ask is can they win multiple ways the Clippers can they win in a shootout okay yeah they have

The talent for it can they win if it has to get ugly and what you’re required on is just effort can they win an effort game where both teams are off everything’s ugly no fouls are being called can they win an effort game the Clippers can’t do that can they win an

Execution game I don’t think they’ve proven to be able to do that so now you’re looking at it and saying okay they can dominate certain types of games when the texture of the game takes a certain personality but at this very moment they do not seem even interested

In trying to learn or grow into a team that can win an execution battle or a hustle battle well I’m going to repeat something I said this morning on TV and I see one of our guests here in the chat it must have heard it because they

They’re saying it what I said about um lack of identity to me that’s a phrase that’s a cop out it’s a euphemism for lack of playing hard that’s what it is if you think about teams that we talk about having an identity what we’re really saying is they compete they

Battle that is their identity unless you are one of these teams that like you know you know you only are going to do it one way in terms of like putting up big numbers right and then that’s your identity okay this is how we’re going to

Win we’re going to put 130 points game playing the fastest Pace in the league okay that’s one thing for the most part there very few teams fall into that category for the most part what we’re talking about when we talk about teams having identity and like heat culture

What you’re really saying is man they compete every night they show up they battle that’s all you’re really describing and it’s the same thing with this with this identity stuff and and you know Harden saying they don’t have it and actually ter Teran L is the one

That hit it on the head he he didn’t say identity you know the word he soft he used the word soft there’s no better description than what the Clippers are doing right now on the defensive end of the floor and I guess they think that there will be an

Adrenaline gear that will kick in for them when they get into because look they if you just look at what they have and start checking things that you need they’ve got a lot of those things they really do man they’ve got depth they’ve got versatile players they’ve got certainly more than enough Firepower

They’ve got a championship coach they’ve got a lot of what you need it comes down to like how bad do you want this to happen and right now it doesn’t look like that’s something that they’re questioning themselves about very much and so we’re just going to wait and see

Do they have the adrenaline gear for a veteran team to get into a series and then it kicks in where they’re really going to compete possession by possession action by action be there communicate connect with each other have a scheme and then most importantly have the effort to to give you multiple

Defensive um effort on the same play that’s what we’re not seeing out of them and that to me is what we’re talking about lack of identity just means play harder that’s all that means and that’s what teron LO ton L alluding to I I mean

I agree with you that I think it means that I think it means a lot of those things that are you know quote unquote intangible that’s when we say identity it’s those things like playing hard and and connectedness but let me go to the word Tyron L used because it’s so

Important soft I think soft is one of if not the worst thing a coach can say about his team and I don’t mean that as in like he shouldn’t have said it he said it because it’s real like you have to be sure of your team to say that you

Know you can’t just throw that one from the hip I think with how the Clippers are playing it’s like I have to say it because it’s the truth but to me soft I think players would rather be called Selfish or dumb or any other of these negative traits soft might be the

Single word one yeah there’s only one word worse only one word in team sports quit that’s the only that’s the only word and every now and then you’ll hear a coach use that right that’s like man this is Rock Bottom if a Coach says that soft is one step above quit they’re very

Close but you’re right those they would absolutely rather be called Selfish or dumb or whatever use any any word you want to use to describe them in a negative way but you start calling teams soft you’re really challenging guys competitiveness and these all these people should be Alphas you make it to

This level as an athlete you should and they look they are and they’ve shown that they can be right now they’re not it’s that simple and teams are showing up to play them knowing they can get into a rhythm against them because they’re not going to be impeded in any

Way if they just show up and play harder than the Clippers you got a great chance and right now that’s not that hard to pull off because of what they looked like over this period of time it’s amazing the turn that it took because we we were wondering when they got Harden

They L they were like whatever one and five or whatever was in the beginning you’re like they gon figure this out then they got red hot red hot and I’m going wow like you know Harden looks great they look great they can do it on both ends of the floor you know it

Looked like the Clippers might be that team these because everybody else had question marks besides Denver everybody question marks in the west hey Clippers are the team that’s going to grab this open space like who’s going to challenge the Nuggets it look like the Clippers that was six weeks ago when we were

Thinking that and now it’s been a 10 and 12 stretch and some of these are just so ugly to watch and how easy it is for other teams it’s it’s glaring it really is it really is glaring is there a person I mean one of the things when we

Talk throughout the year about leadership and these intangible things I know a lot of fans can get turned off by that talk because it’s hard there’s a lot of projection when you’re talking about the leader behind closed doors but at the same time it’s pretty clear when

A team is lacking leadership or has flimsy leadership who is the clippers’ guy to kind of get the because if I I point out two guys that stood out to me Kawhi Leonard one who can have this like you know up and down sort of energy and

Effort level he can float in games but I think James Harden is the bigger one who when you talk about defense I mean he’s one of the guys you’re talking about transition defense how committed was he to it last night not very committed those two guys but here’s the thing

Who’s the leader of this team that gets those guys back that goes into the locker room now or goes into the rest of the season says we got 10 games guys here’s what we got to do who is that guy who does it need to be and who should it

Be great question and I think the fact that you’re asking it is a problem and let’s just look at these guys from a personality standpoint you think it’s Kawai Kawai his his MO is similar to a guy like Kevin Durant I think show up I show up every night I’m ready this and

Especially he’s healthy when he’s not healthy you know he kind of just disappears because he’s not saying a whole lot and he’s not playing at least when he’s playing even though he’s not a a real talkative guy um he’s not gonna command huddles he’s not gonna say a

Whole lot during halftime or whatever it may be he’s not gonna hold a team meeting it’s not what he’s gonna do he’s gonna show up every night be prepared to play be excellent be efficient play hard compete defensively that’s his way to lead sometimes it takes more than that

You know it’s not Paul George man I think he’s cool and smooth and all those things that’s not hiso that’s not his personality you know Russell Westbrook I think is a guy that could be but I don’t think necessarily at this stage of his career that’s something that that that

He wants to do either because he still wants to be a guy that wants to be out there for 35 minutes just doing his thing and James Harden I don’t think that’s ever been his specialty James Harden is very much living in a bubble about like how he’s going to play and

And getting his mind right and whatnot so I think it’s a great question you know PJ Tucker could be a guy that could help in that regard but he’s been completely out of the rotation and now he’s playing a little bit more now but he was literally sitting over there

Collecting dust for a long period of time very hard when you don’t have an impact on the court to have a voice in the locker room that resonates so I think it’s a fair question man how do they get out of this Adam that’s the question how do they turn this around

With 11 games to go and let me see real quick I didn’t look where they’re at now relative to this standing so they are the Clippers are now fifth place they are two games up at Dallas for seven oh man can you imagine them falling that

Far would be wild I mean it is possible well Dallas is red hot the kings are play have played pretty well over a stretch I haven’t looked at the Clipper schedule the rest of the way and that’s has a lot to do with this they got a

Four game Road Trip coming up Philly Orlando Charlotte Sacramento right that’s that’s you know that’s a that’s a semi Hard Road Trip nothing crazy come home Denver youah Cleveland couple of those could be very very difficult games and then you go to Phoenix that back to back with the Suns Utah Houston to

Finish and Houston’s red hot who knows maybe Houston needs that last game of the year that’s not an easy stretch I wouldn’t say it’s like the hardest but that’s that’s a fairly difficult stretch of games the way that you’re playing defensively they could fall out of the

Of the five or six spot and end up in the playin I just don’t know what is it going to take who’s going to be the initi initiator and what is going to change because it’s not offensive production they’ve they’re they’ve played pretty well offensively this is defense and mentality and approach and

Effort and all of those things and laying it on the line for the guy next to you that’s what they’re lacking right now and by the way this is a team that set home bones Highland and PJ Tucker right around the All-Star break like this is a team that even when things

Were before the collapse when things were going well still had weird things around the periphery so keep an eye on them I think that’s can I give you real quick before we get off for them one more number on them this is really important man so of the 12 losses that

They’ve had during the stretch that I just mentioned they are one and nine against teams that are sixth or above in either conference nine out of 10 games they’ve lost to those teams which we would consider right now like the quality teams in the league to this

Point and of the 10 wins five of them are against the absolute Bottom Feeders of the NBA so it’s it’s it’s more than just 10 and 12 when you dive into it and how this is playing out this is a really bad sign man it’s a death now for them

Right now and shocking them and the Suns kind of in the same boat right now and how we view them let’s move on to the Pacers because they are interesting as well I mean we’ll watch this Clipper story and see how it unfolds but I I

Think it’s hard to have any faith in them the Pacers are another team that have been up and down lately uh just lost to the Lakers uh in La they had the LA two game sort of uh trip here they get the uh this win though the obviously

At the 133 points and you get a nice bounceback game from Tyrese Halton who goes six of nine from the three-point line nine assists still below his averages 21 and N still a little bit below he’s been down for the last month or so um what did you see from them in

This game and I know you’ve been wanting to talk about them for a while now so what is it about the Pacers that you find so fascinating I just think that they’re going to be really difficult out for anybody that gets them in in the playoffs um I one thing I’ve liked about

Them and they they’ve had some you know right now they without mathine which is a big loss for them um and halberton hasn’t been as good you it’s he’s an interesting story to me because man you think about the meteoric rise of Tyrese halberton at the beginning of this

Season like I mean seriously like that’s this is all we were talking about at one point was tyres halberton and what the Pacers have found and this guy what he’s gonna end up being and you know talking about like these mock drafts take anybody in the league and Halle Burton’s

Name’s coming up as a guy you take like off the bat and you’re and I’m not saying he’s not those things but he definitely has been more normal since he really has I he’s been and he’s had nights where he’s been great but he’s had a good share of nights where he’s

Been below average and is scoring averages dropped off precipitously since that run he had earlier in the year and you know so now he doesn’t appear to be like this this Unstoppable Force that’s like beating you with scoring and playmaking like nobody else in the league he’s kind of come back to ear

Earth so he’s he’s been okay and then they’re missing mathine and yet they’re still I think there’s something like 12 seven last 19 like they’re still a team that’s finding ways to like two steps forward one step back they haven’t hit like a six or seven game losing streak

They haven’t hit a stretch where we’re talking about them the way we are the Suns and the Clippers they haven’t done that they just keep coming and that’s why they’re an interesting team to me because you look up they haven’t gone away and there’s a good chance I think

That this team ends up out of the playin and so they don’t have to sweat that and they end up playing probably well could be the Cavs or Knicks honestly could be either one of those teams in a first round series and I think that would be a super entertaining long series and

That’s why I like talking about them right now because no one is and yet here they are and I think they’ve got a chance to really put a scare into the Knicks or the Cavs if they got them in the first round Series yeah let’s talk about tyres halberton because that was

One of the most interesting things to me you know there was a lot there but that that’s one of the interesting ones halberton is a rare example of a player that got the full Superstar Spectrum the meteoric rise as you’re talking about so he went from you know if you think about

The first two months of this year Halbert and star is shining the brightest we had a conversation about him or Shay gild just Alexander top point guard all of these different things and it’s all great you have the All-Star game that’s in your city you’re doing you know you get to play host

You’re the center of attention then he hits a slump you know he hits a slump he shooting 27% from three in the month of March after shooting 40% for most of the year he had the interview earlier in the year where he talked about how the online discourse has affected him and

How fans you know he sees all the comments and it’s really hard to disengage from those different types of things usually we get a couple years this the the rise and then it’s like okay nothing to lose and the Pacers should be by the way in that that zone

The Pacer should this should be a nothing to lose year for the Pacers that you build off of and the pressure comes in years to come and yet through this slump it almost feels like he’s going through the entire spectrum and now here he is at where where we’re kind of

Picking things apart with him he is slumping but it does make me wonder about players and how how quickly some of these arcs can develop for some not all but for some players they fall into this the circle it’s incredible look I’m going to give everybody a little

Refresher course on what we’re talking about here the month of November tyres halberton averaged 29 Points almost 12 assists 29 and 12 while shooting 53 from the field 46 from the three and like 90 from the line that was his November and by the way they won a ton of games in

The month of November fast forward month of December still pretty awesome numbers 21 points uh 14 assists that’s what he averaged in the month of December so still like off the charts even though his scoring came back to Earth a little bit his shooting percentages came back

To Earth particularly from the three so that’s why his scoring average dropped a little bit but his playmaking went up so okay the guys’s a little bit shooting SL look at the way he’s impacting the game anyway and since then you know month of January 17 and 11 really good for a

Starting point guard but that’s not what Tyrese Halton was doing so everything now is The Benchmark is what we saw of Tyrese halberton at his best and that is what we’re constantly going to be comparing him to and so even when he’s playing really well by NBA starting

Point guard standards that’s not what we’re talking about we’re talking about a dude that was destroying people and was completely taking over game and deciding games and everything else and he hasn’t really been that and yet the Pacers have still continued to find ways to win enough games to keep

Themselves where they’re at I just think that’s an impressive thing to do because who knows maybe he has another stretch like that Adam where where they need him to be in a playoff series you what if he goes for 25 and 13 in a playoff series

All of a sudden he’s right back where he was I think it’s in there I don’t know if it’ll happen again this year but maybe it does the fact that they’re winning when he hasn’t been that um you know to a certain extent anyway that is very impressive to me about what this

Group is made of does it I that I’m going to push back in one way does the fact that he slumped with the extra attention at all make you concerned about look this is going to be pressure on him in the playoffs now and that’s one of the things we we’re wondering

About so does that make you at least wonder about okay and again this isn’t damning about a guy’s character or this or that it’s just this is the first time you’re going to be in this spot completely you know so does that does that make you look at Ty halberton and

This team and say they might be in for a rude awakening about how much pressure comes and how you have to handle it well what you you you hit the key for me see I’m not saying that he definitely will revert back to that early season halber

I’m saying he could and I’m gonna give the benefit of the doubt because he hasn’t been in this situation where in a playoff series particularly against the two teams I mentioned are two of the best defensive teams in the league they’re gonna have great game plan against him they’re gonna have all kinds

Of Personnel to throw at him the Knicks and the Cavs they’re going to absolutely battle him fight over screens pick him up in transition like all of the stuff that wears you out over the course of a series we’re gonna learn a lot more about tyres halberton if he ends up in a

Seven game series with the two one of the two teams I just mentioned that’s when you’re gonna know a lot more but for now I can’t say he can’t do what he did earli I don’t know let’s see I think the possibility is out there um but

You’re right we haven’t seen him on that stage that’s not an inseason tournament that really meant nothing in the big picture the playoffs are a different animal let’s see him when he needs to be great can he be can he raise his level to what his team requires that’s what

We’re dying to see about tar halberton another note I have on the Pacers that I find interesting what every time I watch them the team in the second unit in particular has so much faith in TJ McConnell amazing and I that I I say that as like not all backup

Point guards have the faith of their team it’s like okay this is a group effort now this he organizes that group or whenever he’s on the court sometimes it’s staggered or what have you he organizes it but organizes it in a way that everyone listens to him and that

Just stands out when I watch them he’s had an incredible career about maximizing your talent your size everything it took to get to this level T.J McConnell’s done it I saw it for years in Philadelphia you know live when I’d be in that Arena going to games and

Impact he had and and even just getting up to like run to the scorers table the reaction that he would get because everybody was so excited to watch this guy and you know a city like Philly like Blue Collar city man they relate to that so much you they relate to guys like

That even if you’re not putting up big numbers doesn’t matter they know for a fact the fans you can’t fool them you’re giving us every single thing you have every time you step on the court instantly become the fan favorite and on top of that you’re you’re also having

Significant moments in big games man here you go now you got like legendary status which is really what he achieved in Philadelphia I watched it right um and and now I don’t know that he’s necessar legendary status in Indiana but he’s a very popular player and there’s

No doubt his teammates connect to him he went a little run last night in the second half or he had a couple of buckets hit a three completely unguarded they were daring him to shoot it he’s got a kind of awkward looking delivery from out there and he towed it up and he

Made it and like the reaction of the guys on the bench told you all you need to know how much they like they pull for him and they have confidence playing with him it’s a good point on your part what else stands out to you about this

Team I just want to give them their due so maybe from this game or just because I know you’ve been watching them lately I think uh I still think that you know there’s still more there to figure out with Hal Burton and cakam seak was fantastic last night man 31 points he

Was and his energy and his relentlessness and he just keeps coming at you all night long is a quality that they needed they needed his talent length on the wing I still don’t necessar know that Halbert and seak have like figured out completely how to be a

Nasty tandem that’s a work in progress and I think there’s more there for them that’s that’s that’s another reason I like I continue to watch them to see growth in that area well it’s gonna be fascinating for both of these teams kind of going in different directions with

The Pacers right now holding on to that six seed I’ll be it by one game over Miami and Philadelphia and then the Clippers just falling plummeting they’ve been the four SE a top four seed for most of the year and here they are last night falling to the five seed with the

Pel overtaking them even just that just if you get the 4 five swap that’s huge for the Clippers to not get homec court advantage and then to go face a very hungry and RedHot New Orleans Pelicans Team all right let’s take a break on the other side there’s more teams to talk

About and if you thought we were hard on the Clippers we’re going to talk about the Phoenix Suns losing to one of the worst teams in the NBA the Spurs without W Bama we’ll get to that one and also Boston Celtics collapse does it mean something or does it not mean anything

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Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance see dk. c/ bball for eligibility and deposit restrictions terms and responsible gaming resources back here segment two of the all-nba show we appreciate you watching live throw us a like button if you have not already you can hop in the chat send

Questions send super chats whatever you want leg will answer them live on the air we are going to be live Wednesday and Thursday this week not Friday so a little bit of a different schedule so uh you’ll be joining us tomorrow as well legs I was just thinking last night when

I was seeing the Slate about how in March there seems to be a disproportionately high number of games between one contending team and one tanking team and they make for really bad games where it’s really lopsided because two teams have different goals and yet last night the tanking Spurs go

On with the air quote contending Phoenix Suns and get the win and my note and I know you went really hard on them a week and a half ago uh the Suns that is you went really hard on them but in a week and a half they’ve somehow gotten worse

Not better this was the most nonchalant performance I’ve ever seen from the Phoenix Suns and down the stretch of this game they looked like the win was just gonna come to him it was gonna fall in their lap they were gonna get a win and that was that and it did not happen

Because Jeremy Sohan drains a three-pointer in the clutch to put them up and the Phoenix Suns were unable to convert on their looks in the final possession all right what stood out to you about this one now I’m actually angry at myself for unloading on them

The way that I did uh on that particular episode you’re talking about because I wish I had saved it for today because because then I could have double I could go ad him with double barrel because what I watched last night was an Abomination I’m going to give you an

Analogy this is a true story I was coaching AA circuit one time we were at a tournament and I was in a restroom in this gym and it was like a large restroom and I so I couldn’t see the entire room and I heard a coach who I

Knew the voice to be a coach who I had coached against before so we were getting ready to play this team and I heard him introducing himself to players and giving them a jersey so hey coach whatever you know nice to meet you and they’re about to go play a game this is

Kind of what was going on in AU and it still goes on at some circle in AU the reason I bring that up Adam that’s what the Suns look like last night five guys that just met each other they literally look like that nothing they did offensively not one thing was difficult

For their opponent to guard or to deal with the irony behind this game is this isn’t like the Boston Atlanta game where Boston was up 30 got careless got distracted took their foot off the gas all of those things and then the Hawks just shot lights out and they were

Unbelievable they they outscored by 24 points in a FIV minute stretch to get back into that game it’s not what we’re talking about the Spurs weren’t very good offensively at any point in this game they still made a couple important buckets like V vasel had a nice little

Run how did Johnson had a little stretch where he hit a few and then Sohan got to the line and hit the big three but they wasn’t like were scoring every time they only scored 104 points everybody for Phoenix was playing all of their guys were playing and they did nothing to to

Force a reaction defensively where they would have to communicate where they would have to do anything complicated or in terms of effort to figure out how to guard them it was you know we talk about your turn my turn basketball this was the epitome of it they barely made more than one or

Two passes on any possession in the second half of this game and when they did it usually got deflected or stolen this was simply a case of their offense being labeled make shots like that’s not a great set to run but that’s what they did and you alluded to it earlier um in

This clip about the Clippers Phoenix Suns epitomized that last night it was disgusting the way that they played offensively and just their overall morale and their like joy for doing what they’re doing it was very bizarre to me Adam this team just continues the more I watch them the more I realize it’s

Embarrassing to call them a threat um it just is because they don’t look like they care enough why should I as an analyst care about them when they don’t seem like they care very much uh and this is look I like Frank vogle a lot I

Really do I like him personally this is something he’s gonna have to get control of man he’s gonna have to put more of his imprint on what because I know he’s smarter than that put your imprint on how you want them to play offensively and mandate it don’t just sit there and

Watch a good show and when these guys come down and want to play This Way offensively because they have no shot to beat any of the good teams in the Western Conference if this is how they’re going to play it was awful last night I the clip the Bucks game was all

About effort it was a joke how bad they were in that game to give up 140 points without Giannis on the floor this was not all about effort this was mostly about complete lack of understanding of what good offense looks like that’s what it was to me and allowing a team at San

Antonio who didn’t even want to win the game probably going into the game right and they end up winning it by accident because you’re that bad offensively so I think I’ve referenced this on the show before but it’s something I always come back to and that

Is a quote when KD it was either in his last year with the Warriors or his first year in Brooklyn but he had this quote about the team basketball that the Warriors played and he said that stuff is all good and cute in the first two

Rounds of the playoffs but when you get to the Conference Finals and finals you need ISO ball and I remember like there’s a konel of Truth in what he’s saying basketball is a team game and an individual game in this really interesting mix and you need both but

The phrasing of it especially coming off of the heels and what the Warriors represented with team basketball and how they work together and coming off the hills of those finals I just remember thinking he doesn’t get it and that is wrong he learned the wrong lessons from

His time there and everything he has done since individually in my opinion has been an expression of that philosophy and so when you look at the Suns and you said where are they going in the clutch what are they doing they’re doing exactly what he told us

Five years ago was important just get the ball to your players and let them do their thing that’s not basketball that’s a portion of basketball that’s some of basketball it’s very important I don’t know if there are championship teams many championship teams that could win without having one or two guys you can

Just give the ball to and get a bucket it’s really important but it’s not the only thing and this Suns team to me feels like an expression of a philosophy that it is the only thing and it’s being proven to be a wrong philosophy you know I it makes me wonder sometimes about

Certain guys that you coach I mean Devin Booker doesn’t seem to fall into this category because I think he’s willing to move without the basketball I think Bradley Beal moved without the basketball a lot in Washington Kevin Durant never really moved a ton without the ball um he’s very decisive and

Efficient and what he does he’s you know he he makes really quick decisions and he attacks you and getting into his moves he’s not gonna pound it but he’s not gonna do things that involve movement that’s simply for the betterment of that possession even if he’s not the guy involved that’s not

Really who Kevin Durant has been I think the other guys kind of played more like that throughout their careers but I saw none of it last night absolutely nothing they did and and here’s what I’m talking about the beauty of basketball and the hardest thing to accomplish as a coach

Because you you hit it you have to strike a balance between individual and team it’s a very hard thing to do that’s why I think it’s such a hard sport to coach but the beauty comes when you can get guys to understand that something you’re asking them to do has no

Correlation with them getting a shot on that possession but it’s important this cut this screen this angle these things are important for us because it’s gonna lead to something good for someone else potentially on this possession when you get guys to buy into that and they do it

Of their Free Will and look winning helps that if you can get them to do it early and you’re winning games they’re more likely to continue to buy into that that is when you’ve captured it and that is the exact opposite of what I was watching last night 100% and this really

Manifests itself in the clutch so one of the things about KD that I’ve often talked about is he is susceptible to really aggressive traps up the floor and in the last possession of the game he gets the ball and he starts playing with it the clock’s going down I think

They’re down two points and he starts playing with it and they just send a double to him 40 feet from the ball and you could tell it bothered him almost like like he was like H they’re doubling and I have to get rid of it and he

Passes it over to Beal and nothing comes of The Possession because there wasn’t a setup there wasn’t a two-man game there wasn’t this or that that’s going to punish you for sending the Trap instead they trapped they got there early he had to get rid of the ball now it’s a

Scrambled possession and I just look at it and when we talk about what teams the Celtics are way better team but they fall into this category sometimes in the clutch of well if you’re just trying to ISO what’s fireal what’s option two off of that and are you sure you can always

Get to it last night was a perfect example of KD playing with the ball for 15 seconds they send a trap and by the time he gets rid of it there’s no time to run anything else off and nobody is in situation to take advantage of it

Completely agree with that um man you know and I look at Bradley Beal let’s let’s not leave him out of this I look at Bradley Beal and you know you look at this was a guy that got beat up uh repeatedly because of of seemingly his

Desire to want to stay in Washington in a mediocre situation because his name always came up was he going to bounce did he W out was he going to demand out he never did people beat him up weren’t sure if he a winner so now he makes this

Decision he’s going to go to Phoenix and he’s going to pair up with these two guys and then I look at like you know the way he’s used Bradley Beal has 37 points in his last four games I mean he’s been outscored by Grayson Allen practically bu in that stretch this is

Bradley Beal so so like you look at you look at a guy like that you say man how is he is he enjoying this is this fun right like would it here’s and here’s the thing by the way would it even be fun if he scored 37 points in four games

And they won all four of those games right and they’re smoking teams I’m not sure because that’s a massive sacrifice and that is why you look at guys that have done it over the years and like gotten into a certain Lane like I’ll give you examples Chris Bosch in Miami

This dude was averaging 24 points a game in Toronto as the go-to guy he went down there and completely had to transform his game to fit because he wanted to win and he played hard defensively Kevin Love look what he was doing in Minnesota they weren’t winning goes to Cleveland

Story different Lane not going to be utilized that way you’re gonna have some moments but not for the most part and and you buy in like Bradley Beal like I’m sure he’s trying to buy into this is this fun for Bradley Beal being on a team that feels listless that doesn’t

Really feel like they’ve got competitive desire like you’re gonna win anything this year and you gave up that much of who you are in your Independence as a player I just think that’s that’s an interesting you know I’d like to get into the psychology of what Bradley Beal

Is thinking and feeling every day when he leaves the arena and goes home and he’s with his own thoughts like what is this something that you really thought you needed to sign up for no it’s it’s look they’re a mess man there’s no other way to describe it it’s hard to forget

What we’re watching right now it’s just hard to get it out of your head when you start talking about and ranking these teams in the west and trying to figure out who’s who Phoenix Suns are kind of telling us who they are and it’s not

Going to be good enough 42 and 30 now and you know they’re at Denver at Oklahoma City at New Orleans Cleveland Minnesota New Orleans Clippers Clippers Sacramento Minnesota none of those games are easy you might catch the end game at Minnesota at Sacramento maybe those teams are locked in and you get lucky

That you get a gimme or two but every single game I just mentioned there is a playoff team many of them on the road and that’s how they have to finish the year and by the way they are currently sitting did they fall last night into the playin they yeah they’re they’re the

Eight seed so they are currently 42 and 30 in the eight seed a road first round playin game at the moment with just a brutal schedule I mean look it’s it’s Sinker swim time for them to either coales and really get through this adversity and come out

Stronger but go ahead yeah and here’s the thing I don’t people realize this they just played they played them back toback yeah that’s always hard in the same place so they played him on Saturday and they beat scored 131 points they beat him by 25 and then they had a

Day off on Tuesday look I know look riverwalk’s fun it’s not Vegas okay this isn’t this isn’t this is Miami NTI on the Riverwalk I I went to the Riverwalk every year for two weeks during the NBA Finals when the Spurs were there like every year I was there covering it and I

Was at the Riverwalk yeah they got some got some good spots the Riverwalk this isn’t you know come on man this isn’t Paris so what are you doing man that you’re not that you come back you know two days later and you play the way you played last night man they’re just man

They’re mystery they’re a real mystery the Clippers are a mystery and they’re they’re you know who knows maybe they come back and make Liars out out of out of me out of anybody that’s doubting them right now but there’s just other teams in the west I like more because

They’re more consistent with what they’re bringing the last game we’re going to talk about today the Hawks beat the Celtics 120 to18 and something of a familiar script here 44 to 22 after the first quarter for the Celtics they get up big they lose the next three quarters

And in the second half they get out scored 64 to 44 including 30 to 22 in the fourth quarter we’ve talked about this before legs but the Celtics can freeze up a little bit when they’re holding on to a league late they try to waste the clock they run some ISO it

Gets a little bit ugly so I don’t know if this is more about that okay this is more the Celtics in the clutch the one issue that maybe is plaguing them because they’ve been so great and so dominant all year but there’s one box that just doesn’t feel checked or the

Celtics have locked up the number one overall seed more or less locked it up and it’s hard to maintain Focus we saw this from Denver last year who oh by the way went on to win the championship but down the stretch when they had secured the number one seed the focus wasn’t

There they didn’t play their best basketball but it turned out it was much to do about nothing so which one is this man I I I’m not too worried about it I the one thing that I think you can glean from this is the when the Celtics go

Through a stretch where maybe you can cut into a lead against them or you can build a lead against them is when they go ice cold from the three-point line that’s not you know that’s not out on the limb that’s a lot of teams in this league but they’re more dependent on the

Shot than anybody else right and so that’s why when you and they had there was a number I was given this morning they were 0 for 16 in the last three quarters inside of 10 seconds on the shot clock from three so so they’re you they weren’t capping off possessions

Where they had to work a little bit and you got down into single digits on the shot clock you ended up with a quality three that you were knocking down they do that a lot and they they they really bury teams that way because it’s demoralizing when you have a good

Defensive possession and somebody hits a three at the end of it they did none of that over the last three quarters this is an interesting game because you the headlines the 30-point lead got away and and then you’re talking about the end of the game you’re right because then it

Became a one possession game at the end back and forth and that’s when they super slow down everything and that’s another problem for them at times this game got this game turned in the last four minutes of the second quarter yeah they’re down 30 they go into the locker

Room down 18 yeah that’s a huge difference man and even Tatum who missed the shot at the buzzer at the half kind of like looked the Beed going into the locker they just scored 74 points and they’re up 18 but he knew where they were and now it’s okay it’s not

Comfortable certainly for the Hawks but we gota now we got to come out and do a little more work and put these guys away then they come out the second half and just like that they get it to three they outc scored by 24 points in less than

Six minutes yeah end of second out of the locker room to start the third I think for me that points more to distraction complacency lack of lack of of of Killer Instinct against a team that you think that in a million years is not going to come back in this game

That’s what I think it is um if you want to get technical and say hey man there’s something there about the way the Celtics play late and the number of Threes they take yeah I guess that’s that’s something if you want to look at them and and what they could be

Susceptible to I agree with that I I think it’s human nature that when you you all these guys are hyper competitors but you still have to have the games mean something and the truth is that these games don’t really mean anything for Boston and no matter and focused can be it

Still is a scale in your mind just knowing okay this game isn’t for anything and I agree with you that run at the end of the second quarter that is such a mark of a team that is having a hard time close out closing out quarters that’s like you focus that’s you know

Winning teams they always close out quarters that’s a team that’s a little bit unfocused and I can’t blame him so I’m with you as much as they lost in a very interesting way to me personally you know that the end of that game getting them clamming up so to at the

End of the game that’s very interesting I’m going to disregard it and I’m going to probably disregard the next 10 games for the Celtics because I watched Denver last year and they came back from it I agree by the way I don’t know if you saw

This or you saw this anywhere it was given to me by research at ESPN so prior to last night teams that got up 30 in a game this year 152 and0 wow that was the first time first time 30 you know we we’ve seen 20o leads disappear a lot and

They it’s more prevalent than ever because of the dependence on the three-point shot both ways by the way you get up 20 and you hit a cold stretch you’re takeing too many threes and the other team gets hot at the same time boom 20 point leads are gone happens all

The time in this league almost on it feels like on a nightly basis somebody does that 30 you can see by those numbers it’s different animal you have 30 you’re not losing except for last night but Boston Celtics ironically the best team in the NBA had it happened to

Them by a mediocre team that’s that’s kind of crazy our last story here legs is kind is an ugly one we kind of knew it was inevitable that it would happen with the integration of sports gambling the legalization of sports gambling across the country and the integration

With the league and how popularized it was becoming that it was inevitable it seems that at some point a player at the college or Pro level would in some sport would get caught up in a scandal well it came to the NBA and it came with jonte

Porter a very interesting player to be caught with this because one he’s a g-league player on a g-league contract you know it’s almost a perfect storm he’s well known because of his brother being Michael Porter and here we have the situation where he is under investigation from the NBA because on

Two separate days the largest bet to come in or the largest winning to come in from draftking sports book our presenting sponsor the largest bet came in on jonte Porter unders it’s very strange not common for the a big bets to come in on bit players low players in

Fact I think the line was 0.5 threes came in the under and in a game where he came out for an illness so I think there’s a lot of smoke there’s no fire yet we’ll wait for to find out the final verdict but there’s a lot of smoke here

That jonte Porter either was gambling himself or was giving Intel to somebody that was gambling on his behalf uh that knocked him out this is a huge story you knew it was going to happen and I expect one jonte if he’s proven to be guilty to get the lifetime banned I think they’re

GNA make an example of him and two I feel like this might be a little bit of a watershed moment for the NBA and for all of these Sports leag to have to look and say we knew this was a risk now we know it’s happening or at least has

Happened once what do we do about it completely agree man you can’t overstate how big a deal this is this this is because here’s here’s the thing when you’re anytime you’re watching a sporting event and we know gambling is very prevalent now right it’s everywhere but when you’re watching a sporting

Event if there’s anything that gives an indication of predetermination even something this minor a role player a two-way player who’s just a bit player going to you know maybe 10 minutes if that in a game right not going to have a major and by

The way this what he did if it turns out to be true and he’s connected to this where he basically you know and it doesn’t seem like maybe he bet but information was given to people who did place bets that he was going to not play very many very many minutes in these

Games to make sure to guarantee that the under on the prop bets for his stats were going to hit and there’s no better way to do that than to take yourself out of the the game so we need more information on that why did he come out

Of the game was it his call did he of course nowadays you just go to a trainer and say hey I got poked in the eye they’re gonna like shut you down for two weeks the way the league is now so you don’t even have to make the call it’s

Taken out of your hands in one game he played three minutes in one game he played two minutes and and and in both cases the under on his stats spiked the betting right before those games like to where it raised alarms and red flags like whoa that’s way too much action on

A prop bet particularly for a role player that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever so we’re going to find out more information Adam like was he involved to what extent who are these people that bet this money where did they get that information and here’s where it gets dicey because if you start

To think okay great hey they caught him it’s great they caught him but then you know what happens when something like this breaks Adam people start thinking well were there other instances that weren’t caught like what is going on and also there was a good point made

Windhorse my colleague at ESPN made a good point these are the kinds of guys by the way more susceptible to it guys own a two-way contract I think he’s making 400 Grand this year the risk reward for a guy like that it’s higher to do something like that if he’s

Involved in it than a dude making 10 12 15 18 35 $40 million okay number one it’s it’s just gonna be harder to pull off because there’s too much attention on those guys and and the risk reward is not there financially because there are limits to what you can even place on

Prop bets you’re not going to get filthy rich off the prop bets in one night so these are the kind of guys if he’s connected to it and someone was placing bet bets maybe on his behalf where you can’t maybe have a paper trail to him

But there was an agreement where he was going to get money and we don’t know any of this by the way this is all speculation what I’m saying right now but clearly this is not coincidental that this happened twice within a period of two months where he barely played in

Games where he was expected to play more and there was all kinds of action on his on on his statistics across the board which by the way we low numbers anyway like attempt a three-point shot was one of the crazy man well how do you guarantee to do that don’t play because

If you’re out there and you’re open and you’re naked you’re gonna have to shoot that ball so yeah by the way real quick and I just to inject a little humor in this I told somebody if this existed when I played I would have I would have

Taken the prop bet bet everything I had on the over for my three-point attempt I jacked it I would have jacked the shot every time I touched it because then it’s a win-win situation Adam it’s a win-win situation for everybody right this is part of why this is so egregious

Is you not only think about how corrupt it can make things you start to get the audience questioning well just what you said how many people are doing it so that it’s really damning but then there’s this other layer of if you’re a teammate of jonay Porter and this comes

Out true you’re going dude you’re ruining the game for us like we’re out there competing and giving our all and you’re out here purposefully not taking shots you were supposed to take or getting checking out of games you could have played in to ensure you’re

Under by the way this is also Adams you think about what’s going on these different story lines not only the show Otani story which we still don’t know all be way bigger way bigger than that we’re like I think there is more shoes to drop there but remember the the

Scandal with the Temple basketball team that was questioned about some of the weird wagering that took place right before their games and and there was all kinds of stories and rumors swirling around about that I haven’t heard anything more about that but that was a story for a couple of days and because

These leagues NCAA included like they’re all embedded with these betting and gambling platforms this is now something that we’re kind of we’re GNA be living with forever now and so this is so important that the league get this right and you’re 100% right by the way if they

Find there’s any connection that he did this purposefully and there’s people that were making money off of this and obviously some of that money’s flowing back to him at some point it’s a lifetime ban he’ll never play in the NBA again yeah they’ll have to make an

Example of him and he’s a guy you can make an example of because again not I’m not trying to dispar jont Porter I actually like jont Porter’s game a lot I think he could have had a NBA career here but because he’s not that important to this health and survival of the

League that he’s a perfect guy for you to say if there is fire here if there not just smoke but there’s actual fire a perfect guy to make an example of and to go as hard as you possibly can in the consequences of this and hopefully send

A message to everyone else not to do this I by the way real quick I just want to ask you because you’re in that market has there any been any anything about has Michael Porter Jr had a comment on this or obviously that’s going to be a

Bunch of microphones in his face talking about this this is his brother has there been anything in Denver related to this and and Michael Porter Jr as he said anything so he so the the story dropped last night before the game and Michael Porter declined to speak to Media last

Night so I’m I’m guessing because of how quickly things happen and first of all I understand Michael Porter I think athletes need to speak to the media they have an o a but I do think with something like this when the news just dropped you haven’t even he probably had

Even talked to his brother by the time that game was being played last night so I I do think that there is a grace period where you say okay let a guy kind of speak to everyone and get on the same page before forcing him to go out there

And talk about such a big story but I do think those questions are coming for Mike and and they’ll probably happen I’m guessing at this next game um so a distraction for him nonetheless I will say look Sports gambling and we have obviously DraftKings as our presenting sponsor here Sports gambling is um

There’s a lot of layers to it I will say that this idea that because there is sports gambling and people talk about it on say a pregame or a postgame show that doesn’t mean that it is okay for players or that the league is guilty now of a

Player get betting on it when you welcome that in you invite the risk but I don’t see the correlation to saying oh because of this then players should be allowed or or what do you expect this or that it’s something the NBA is going to have to deal with and maybe there are

Things that the NBA and their television part Partners have to decide okay is this sending the wrong messages doing the wrong thing they might have to look in the mirror and see that but I don’t see the fans saying what do you expect because you have this as a partner

You’re going to get it I I I don’t love that correlation the G the league has lots of Vice Partners including alcohol and food and everything else and I think we all understand there’s a separation there between absolutely yeah I agree I agree it’s grown-ups in the room I agree

I completely agree completely agree with that the problem in this story again is is people start to wonder is what I’m watching not a Ser a random series of events in which none of us know the outcome and I’m not saying he fixed the game just had no bearing on the outcome

Of the game most likely but right still the fact that any aspect of the game is not genuine that’s where you have a real problem when it comes to you know legalized gambling and that’s what that’s what the league is obviously going to try to nip in the butt um we

Have four games tonight and they’re all great ones Warriors at heat uh the Warriors desperately need a wi the heat desperately need a win both of these teams kind of in the same boat you’ve got Lakers Bucks no LeBron I’m so disappointed LeBron’s not playing tonight in this one you’ve got Thunder

Pelicans which I think is going to be incredible and then you have mavericks Kings which is a great game so we have four great games tonight tomorrow’s show should be absolutely fire legs this I didn’t even look at the schedule tonight until you just mentioned it man that is

An awesome night and I’m where I’m I got I got wall to- wall work tomorrow at TV then then you and I hooking up back up again tomorrow I can’t ask for a better slate than this man I will be dialed in I wish LeBron was playing you’re right

Um I think of the four Mavericks Kings is the one I’m going to be most locked in on why because of how well the Mavericks are playing and the kings are one of those teams that have not gotten much attention they’re still a very good team

They have identical records Y and and so let’s see let’s see like if if the Mavericks go in there and beat a team that a good team that’s also a high power team and the Mavericks go in there man they control that game you know they

Win that game and they take care of business and I’m talking about like handly win that game control the game that’s gonna be a State win again for the Mavericks who I continue obviously to talk about a lot because I’m I’m kind of riding this right now because I

Really do feel that the Mavericks can have a chance to be that team that’s that’s the last one to take on joic and the Nuggets probably lots of Mavs talks on tomorrow’s show we got five Super chats I think that’s a new record let’s hit them all

Cedric Exquisite says no Adam I don’t hate you I just love to poke yeah he’s always talking trash in the comments that’s why he’s that’s why he references that but all jokes aside guys do the Nuggets have a chance to beat the 2013 record of 57 wins let me know so I don’t

Know if you know this but the franchise record legs for wins in a season for the Denver Nugget is 57 they have 51 right now with 10 games to go they’d have to go six and three seven and seven and four seven and four breaks it right I

Think seven and three at this point but either way yeah it’s going to be really close they’re going to have to be P I think they are going to be pushed to go for it because they’re going to need that many wins probably to secure the

Two seed or maybe even the one seed so I think they’re going to push for it and I think they’re going to get it they’re playing incredible basketball right now I don’t know if you saw this legs but Jamal Murray and Nika yic both rested on Saturday night at Portland and the

Nuggets got the win Jamaal Murray and Aaron Gordon rested last night against Memphis and Denver got the win so they’ve kind of sneaky been able to rest guys over the last week and now they play a very tough five-game stretch here where they got the Suns they got

Minnesota they got the Cavs but Denver should be somewhat rested going into that stretch and they’ve been playing great and each seven wins I’m looking at their schedule so here’s what here’s the guarantees I see I see guarantees San Antonio guarantee Atlanta guarantee Utah guarantee San Antonio guarantee Memphis

That’s five right there teams that really aren’t even trying to win right now where’s the other where are the two other guarantees coming from well one of them’s going to be Wednesday night against Phoenix the way they look that’s six then you just need to find one more

The the key is going to be and I think you’re right because they’re so bunched together there won’t be separation enough to have your spot locked in until you’re probably down to the last one or two games of the season so they gotta keep playing man and they’re going to

Keep that momentum going so I think there’s a good chance they break that club record let me ask you this if you get to the final game of the season and it’s for the record but it doesn’t mean anything is that like do you go for it

Is that important not not not that record not not a club record no no no chance if that was you know they got a chance to win their 74th game of the year yeah you probably go ahead and try to get that um because that is like alltime historic but not especially when

Look if it was 59 was the record and that’s your chance for your 60th win because 60 is kind of a magic number in the NBA man you wi 60 like you had a absolute you know Dynamite year right that’s the no 57 to 58 I don’t think

That would matter if you go into the last game and you can’t move in the standings legs would matter to me life never nuggets F I guess you better if that then I guess you better see if Mike Malone will suit you up and you can go

Out there and do what you got to do and by the way I don’t know what your numbers would be but I’d be looking at those prop bets I’d be looking at those prop bets I’ll tell you right now I tell you right now and I’m not saying i’ take

The under I’m just saying I would those prop bets on you for sure I’ll tell you what the prop bets would be 0.5 points you know 10 10 or more turnovers that would be the line uh all right what ones we got here EBA Cedric Exquisite again

He says fear the blue and gold not the Warriors LOL there you go nuggets fan what else we got uh psycho blue says the Suns and Clippers are having a contest to see who can let down their fan base harder it’s a tight race Dead Heat I I

I’ll answer that I’ll answer that it it would be if these two teams flame out and they either get eliminated in The playin or they get eliminated in the first round like you know light work it’s the Clippers I think it’s the Clippers man I I don’t know and the the

Phoenix fan base I don’t know that like are they are they and I’ve even talked to people in Phoenix about this like are they on that level man of diard passionate fans and I don’t necessarily think the Clippers fans were either but they were when they put this this super

Team together it did change the the dynamic so I think the Clippers fan base actually would probably be more outraged man that’s wild I don’t know I don’t know I might go the other way on it I think the Suns fans they’ve just it it would feel like the end I guess for

Both both teams it would feel like the end of an era but maybe for the Suns even more it would just feel like oh my God we went all in for this um all right what else we got let’s run through these Frank says will we see any dramatic

Rosters shake up with these light built super teams if they’re sent home early in the playoffs I Clippers and Suns we kind of just referenced this I think for Suns you go all in and if you have a first round exit man that’s so tough do they have

The flexibility even to make a move that one’s tough I think with the Clippers you almost have to with the season they had where they had a hot streak and then come down those guys just signed extensions I think you’d have to I’m gonna answer that question I felt like

The tone of the question was do you think in general like I is there going to be a change in mentality how to build teams if teams like this clame out and they collapse at the end of the year and they’re total disappointment is and and

My answer to that is no because the mentality of the players isn’t going to change they are going to still want all this freedom of movement right the grass has been is greener to a higher extent on the other than it’s ever been with players they’re constantly looking

Around and it’s too tantalizing for front offices to turn down if they think they have a chance to get one of these guys so I don’t think that is going anywhere now maybe teams like that winning might be because I wouldn’t certainly I wouldn’t describe necessarily Boston as a super team would

You even though they added Drew holiday and porzingis their two best players have been there for a long time yeah so it’s different adding pieces when your two best players have been there that long I certainly don’t wouldn’t describe Denver as a super team with joic and Murray and playing together this whole

Time but some of these other teams yeah they kind it’s kind of how they came together for a very short period of time from different places and collected in one city and if they keep coming up empty you know they’re going to continue to lose but I don’t know that the the me

Methodology will change because I think the players want to continue to move around I think it’s very hard to build a team with Harmony and connectedness and very easy to build a super team and super teams get you really close to there but they don’t get you all the way

And I think that’s why it won’t end because there’ll be a lot of teams that say hey we’ll find the harmony we’ll build the culture we’ll do that after we get these guys and then they find out they were wrong all right what else we

Got a couple more we got to run through legs Gotta Go pycho Blue says the NBA has already had problems with referees affecting games with betting now refs have sponsors is this Porter situation really that shocking the Suns Kings beg to differ referencing some old school

Ball here um it’s shocking again I don’t know that it’s so shocking but I hope not shocked at all but it’s not shocking but I do hope the NBA and really NFL all these leagues are gonna have this problem I hope they all really look at

This and I don’t know if it’s just a really big penalty that creates deterrence I don’t know what you have to do but you have to scare players into never even thinking about testing this right now and unfortunately jonte Porter is gonna be the example brought it on

Himself it’s so I’m not shocked at all because this is such a huge part of our society now I’m not shocked by it but I can’t overstate how important this is this is a big big deal that the league has to get a grip on right now and if it

Turns out it’s it’s just a two-way player like jeon Porter that’s the that’s the best case scenario for the league imagine if this was a star player that this happened to now you’d have a whole different scenario on your hands so I think the league is going to do

Everything they can to get as much information as they can find out what was going on here and if it turns out it’s as nefarious as it sounds like uh they’re going to make an example out of Jon Porter that’s going to resonate throughout the league y all right what

Else Emma Victor says which lower seated team do you expect to make it the farthest what team might surprise you this is a longer discussion but if we just give a quick name you just throw out one team that’s a lower seed that you expect to go the farthest what do

You want to find lower seated what does that mean below top four I’m guessing Okay so you’re saying plays on the road right off the okay then I would say my my my prediction would be the Dallas Mavericks yeah yeah I think that’s I think that’s right I think it’s Dallas except Dallas

Is right there where they might match up with Denver in the first round which if that’s the case I think that’d be really tough they could beat him but I’m just saying that’d be a really tough tough round they got to they got to avoid that

At all cost whatever it takes and don’t count out the Miami Heat man looking forward to them all right I think that do it Emma is there anything else is that it nope all all right there we go all right great show today legs lots of conversation and I’m excited for

Tomorrow because these games are going to be absolutely great ones any final thoughts That’s it man no Enjoy tomorrow everybody come back right here a rare Wednesday appearance for Adam and I that’s right for to talking to you after great night of games everybody hit that

Like button for us on the way out we’ll see you Tomorrow we all sitting like the May

Is there a meltdown happening for the Los Angeles Clippers? The Suns, who were seeming nonchalant, lost to the Spurs without Wemby. What is the key to success for the Indiana Pacers? Finally, let’s take a deep dive into another fourth-quarter collapse by the Celtics.

Join Tim Legler and Adam Mares for today’s ALL NBA Podcast.

00:00 – Intro
02:26 – Clippers-Pacers notes
06:11 – “Identity” issues in LA for the Clippers
17:47 – Indiana Pacers notes
20:27 – Tyrese Haliburton full superstar spectrum
31:44 – The nonchalant Phoenix Suns
43:40 – Hawks-Celtics notes
48:28 – NBA investigation into prop betting irregularities around the Raptors’ Jontay Porter
58:00 – Game slate

An ALLCITY Network Production

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