March 29, 2024 • 18 mins
Sarah and NBA senior writer Michael C. Wright discuss the MVP ladder, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks rising and holding on to valuable playoff positioning in the Western Conference. They also discuss the East, the impending return of Joel Embiid and the Knicks being the biggest threat to the Celtics.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome into NBA Pulster production of iHeart Rating in the NBA.
I'm Sarah Fustock, NBA analyst for the S Network. As
a Day is Friday, March twenty ninth, from our fantastic
core group of NBA journalists. We're joined now by NBA
dot Com senior writer Michael C. Wright. And Michael, you've
got a new MVP ladder that has dropped, and we
got a little bit of movement up top. You'll love
(00:25):
to see it because we have some tremendous, tremendous play
that we have been able to witness here. Nicola Yokuch
still at that number one spot, but it's Luka Doncic
who's helped Dallas to five straight wins, moving up to
number two, Shay Gildas Alexander at number three, Giannis is
at number four, and Jason Tatum still rounding out the
(00:48):
top five. Though Boston a tough loss last night, second
lost to Atlanta in the last four days one twenty three,
one two overtime loss in Atlanta. Another big game last
night was New Orleans Pelicans with a win against Milwaukee
one seven, one hundred. And with that being said, I
(01:08):
want to get into It was a big win for
the Pelicans, and I feel like everyone that we look
at every game, there's such a tremendous amount of significance
now thanks to the play and tournament, and in particular
in the Western Conference. All of these teams do it
everything they can to stay out of the play at
it and be in one of those top seeds. And
when you look at the four through eight spots, it
(01:29):
is extremely tight, separated by just three games. You got
the Clippers, the Pelicans, Dallas, Phoenix, Sacramento all battling in there.
So with that being said, Michael, when you look at
these teams, and in those four in particular, I guess
they're still an outside chance. The Lakers, they're sitting in
the ninth spot, just a game and a half back
(01:51):
of eight. But those four teams, who are you most
interested in to see how they finish here in the
remaining ten games of this regular season?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I think, Sarah, that's sort of a tie between the
Mavericks and the Suns, obviously, because the Mavericks have just
been on fire lately, talking about nine and one over
their last ten games. Luca, he's been going crazy, and
I just like, what they've done as a team. You know,
they surrounded Kyrie and Luca with all kinds of athleticism
(02:24):
with you know, with that trade deadline move with PJ.
Washington and Daniel Gafford. So the lib is a thing
in Dallas. Now it's lob city, and you know, they've
sort of changed up their attack in that, Like they
used to really rely on a lot of three pointers
from some of the supporting cast guys like nante X,
(02:46):
Tim Hardaway Junior. They lived and died by that. But
now they're not shooting as many threes, and it's it's
weird because it seems like they're not shooting as many threes,
but they have more open threes they've had before because
of the damage that they can do in the mid
range and in the paint. So that's also helped them defensively.
(03:07):
They are a team that's committed to stopping people. So
I like what I'm seeing out of Dallas, and it's
just for me. It's really cool to see a team
sort of switch its identity midstream and be successful with it.
The Suns, I'm very intrigued with them and concerned because Sarah,
they got a squad, they got some players, and you're
(03:29):
just like, what is going on here? And then the
crazy thing about it to me is that when you
talk to people in that organization, when you talk to
the players, they really don't express any concern with what's
going on right now. But you're running out of time.
We're coming into the last month of the season, and
I'm not sure that the Suns want to be sitting
right there in that seventh spot, and you have to
(03:52):
play in the play in because if they do end
up in the play in I think as of right now,
they end up with the Kings, and the Kings have
been pretty good. Monus a bonus, Look what he's doing
triple doubles? Leader, what's he got like fifty four or
fifty five straight double doubles something like that?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Wild?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, So to me, it sets up to be a
really interesting finish or sprint to the finish. And if
we're looking at the play in tournament as of right now,
we would be looking at the Lakers and the Warriors
in the nineteen game, and then the Sons and the
Kings in the seven eight. How fun would that be?
You got lebron ad and you know the Warriors, you
(04:30):
know they're I guess they're guys Steph and Draymond and Clay,
and you know it is just the end for them.
There's all kinds of storylines there, so I'm interested to
see what happens.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
There's tons of storylines. And to your point, it's interesting.
Phoenix is so fascinating to me too, because then you
look at the rest tonight we got we got some
heavy hitters. Sign I know, we are in the midst
of March madness, and there's a lot of good college
hoops games, the women's Sweet sixteen beginning here today and
the men's continuing on as well. But you've got a
(05:02):
Phoenix team that's at Oklahoma City tonight ten pm Eastern
on NBA TV, but Minnesota's at Denver, and we're looking
at this mix of teams staying out of the play in.
But I also think the fascinating part is you don't
know you might get the sixth seed and end up
playing the Denver Nuggets, or just how things are all situated.
Dallas tonight at Sacramento. Who you mentioned the Kings, but
(05:26):
the mav just smacked them on Tuesday night. But Phoenix,
to me is is the most intriguing to your point
because of who they have, the struggles they have had
in the fourth quarter, which continue to be perplexing, and
then the way that their schedule looks. So I mentioned
they're at Oklahoma City, but they got to go to
New Orleans. They'll see Cleveland, but then they got Minnesota.
(05:47):
They've got New Orleans again, they play the Quick Clippers
twice to then finish out the year at Sacramento and
at Minnesota. So they have got a very very challenging
final stretch of the season. And the play ins are
always tricky. I mean, I think you look at these
games and it's like you don't know what's going to
happen in a one game scenario, especially where teams fall.
(06:09):
So I'm very interested to see if in some ways
they continue to put things together. And love how Dallas
has been playing. And when you mentioned that too, I
think just for as much as the complimentary pieces around
around Luca and around Luca and Kyrie, I feel like
Kyrie and Luca have just figured out how to play
well awful one another together. You see them more, but
(06:31):
you could just tell, like the small nuances, the chemistry.
They're both extraordinarily intelligent basketball players with how they see
the floor. But the injuries that you dealt with or
Kyrie missing time throughout the course of the year, right now,
things since there's been a consistency, like you could just
get a good feel and to me, like closing time
and closing things out, all of that stuff is very
(06:56):
intriguing to me with what the Maps can do, not
just in how they close out this, but just in
general here as we start to inch towards the postseason.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Agreed, And I think it's only going to improve. And then,
like you know, when I was talking about defense, I
think when your two biggest stars actually buy into what
Jason Kidd and that coaching staff is trying to do,
that is just gonna spread throughout the rest of the team.
And that's why you've seen them play as well as
they have on the defensive mand lately. So, yes, the
(07:26):
MAVs are I think they're gonna get even better.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, and we're talking about the MAVs. What can happen? Obviously,
this is going to be fun to watch the play
ins to see what the matchups are like, and I
feel like every single one has a storyline. I still
until someone knocks off the Denver Nuggets. To me, they
are still at the top of the top, and they
are the team I would be most concerned with playing
or have the least amount of concerns about here as
(07:53):
you head into the postseason. But for you after the
Nuggets or unless you want to tell me you have
a different team that is your favorite here in the West,
who do you think the second best team is? Because
we've seen we've seen highs and lows, we've seen inconsistent.
What do you want to talk about the Clippers? They
look like world beaters and then they're inconsistent. Oklahoma City
obviously is just absolutely stacked and extraordinary. But where does
(08:17):
the youth factor in Karl Anthony Town's not being there?
For the Timberwolves. The list goes on. Of every team,
you can kind of look at something. Who's who's your
second second best team at this point or that you
have the most trusting going into the postseason. It could
be a play in tea, you could you could you
can make our producer Peter Conner happy in say the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I'll roll with you with NF I think right now,
And there's obviously the concern with Shae Gilges, Alexander and
that quiet contusion he's got, But that is the type
of injury that will heal up right around with it's
time to go to the playoffs. To me, just typically
what you see in those types of injuries, and so
(08:58):
you know, I don't trust minis soda just on a
night's night basis. We've talked about Anthony Edwards and why
I never have him really high on the MVP ladder
in the rankings, and it's just some nights he shows up,
some nights he doesn't, so there's inconsistency. And then Karl
Anthony Towns that's a problem. So to me, I like
Oklahoma City second, but they're like we keep talking about
(09:23):
the Mavericks. To me, they're one of the teams that
a lot of a lot of these teams don't want
to see in the playoffs. I seriously think that potential
opponents are like, okay, we got to avoid that three
Like Oklahoma City in Dallas. What a series that would be?
That would be out of man. I hope that actually
(09:44):
happens because I know I'd be covering it since most
of those teams are sort of in my geographic area.
But Oklahoma City second right now, and then like the Clippers,
like you mentioned, they are world beaters one day, and
then you know, like to be honest, Jane hard And
just has not played very well here lately. They've lost
(10:04):
what six of their last ten games. So I just
don't know what to think about the Clippers right now.
Maybe it's just a matter of them sort of coasting
a little bit. I don't know, but it just seems
like maybe they're coasting or trying to, you know, like
save their energy for when it really counts in the playoffs.
I don't know, but you can't continue to do that
(10:26):
because you're gonna fall further in the standings, and like
you mentioned, you don't want to see you know, maybe
Denver or Oklahoma City in the first first round or Dallas.
So it's going to be interesting to see how this
all fans out.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I'm extremely impressed with Dallas, and I also think just
figuring out yes, Luca and Kyrie, but to your point
about figuring out the complimentary pieces the trades that were
made that Jason Kidd figured out how to push the
right buttons in terms of lineup combinations. I have trusted
Phoenix in some ways is going to figure it out.
(10:59):
I just wonder about the rest of the supporting cast.
I'm gonna put my trust in the Oklahoma City Thunder.
They have given me no reason other than youth, other
than inexperience. They have given me no reason to think
that when the playoffs come around, the consistency of how
they've been playing, what they've been doing, cannot be translated
(11:19):
into that Shay Gilgas Alexander has been in your top
five year MVP ladder. To me, he has always played
with a maturity and a sophistication beyond his years. And
I think Mark Dagnold just exites and o's and schematically
does a tremendous job. Yeah. Right, But so for all
(11:41):
of those reasons, if you want to talk about trust
and a team you trust, I think there's highs and
lows of a lot of other teams, But to me,
I would put them right behind the Nuggets. And if
you're going to make me bank on trust, they have
given me reasons throughout the course of this entire year,
uh to trust them. And a lot of names do
we talk about Allen Williams, Just a lot of a
(12:02):
lot of names that I think people don't know a
ton about or do, but they're they're they're going to
get a better understanding of exactly just how how good
they are when they see them in the postseason. But
the Western Conference has been fun. Eastern Conference too, Michael,
We're we're going to get into what's happening over there
in the East right after the break. Welcome back to
(12:28):
NBA Pulse. Sarah who's stuck, joined by the great Michael C. Wright,
who's got his new m v P ladder out. We're
talking m v p's one name that has consistently two
names that have been consistently up around the top five
has been Honest out of Kompo Jason Tatum, though both
of those players with big games last night despite their
teams coming away with losses, and uh, when you look
(12:50):
at what's happened in the East, Boston obviously has set
themselves far and away with the best record in the NBA,
best record in the East for quite some time. But
it's kind of interesting. There's some interesting matchups you look
at in terms of being in the play in staying
in the play in what that looks like. Nick Nurse
had said that Joel Embiid will travel with the team
(13:12):
for the first time on the road trip this weekend,
and not to indicate that that changes anything in terms
of timeline or the timeline still has not been said
and in probably still unclear in some ways. But in
terms of the top, Milwaukee, the New York Knicks, Cleveland
Cavaliers or later right behind in fifth. But I think
those two three four spots are really fascinating because obviously
(13:35):
a big part of what you're trying to do is
potentially stay away from Boston as long as you can. Michael,
when you look at the way the Bucks are playing,
and again, inconsistency sometimes has been the name of the
game for a lot of these teams, and we've seen
some of that and the changes that have occurred with
Milwaukee under Doc Rivers, Nicks have been playing. But for
them it's just about getting healthy. Cleveland dealing with some injuries.
(13:57):
Donovan Mitchell expected to be back here tonight. For the halves,
who do you have your eye on and what are
you expecting how to wear things shake out here with
these two through four seeds.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
They're so far behind Boston, But that two three four
group is just it's really intriguing because, as you mentioned,
just think about the injuries like if you look at
New York, you know they've dealt with all types of injuries,
but they've won eight of their last ten games. They
are balling. Cleveland, they've had a bunch of injuries, and
(14:31):
you know they're in these dog fights against really good teams.
Now they're slumping right now. I think they've lost seven
of their last ten, So you know, I sort of
think Cleveland could end up falling some. I mean, they
got the seventy six ers tonight, which is going to
be a really good game because obviously the Cats want
to stay where they are or get up a little
higher in the Eastern Conference. In the seventy six ers,
(14:54):
they're trying to move out of that play in spot.
I mean, they are only a game and a half
behind Indiana for that six that's sixty, so you know
it's doable. So it's yes, very intriguing in anybody that
ends up against one of those teams in the first round.
They're gonna have a tough series. All of those teams
are super tough. You saw it last night. I'm watching
(15:17):
the game. It was in New Orleans, Pells Pills and
the Bucks, and I thought in that third quarter that
Giannis was simply just going to wield them back into
that game, because I want to say, the Pails were
up at least twenty points and Yanni scores twenty straight
points in the third quarter to sort of get them
(15:37):
back in it, and I'm like, okay, here we go,
here we go. And then he doesn't take another shot
until like the very end of the game, and You're like,
what's going on here? And so I don't know what
to think about the Bucks. I do because we haven't
mentioned him. Zion Williamson. He came to play last night.
I mean he I mean there were times he was
driving to the rack and they were stopping it, but
(15:58):
he kept on coming, kept on coming, and eventually he
kind of broke through. And I think he scored eleven
points in that fourth quarter, and so you know, he
ended up making the MVP Ladder as an honorable mention today.
But you know, let's keep an eye on his eye
on I'm actually going to go to New New Orleans
next week and spend a week out there just to
check it out and see if I can come back
with something good. But anyway, going back to the East, yes,
(16:23):
those three teams are going to be a problem two through.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Four, And like, to me, you're talking Giannis and willing thing,
but even look at the the the overtime loss to
the Lakers that they just had when they're up, the
huge lead that they end up blowing, and that's a
Lakers team that in granted Anthony Davis was a monster,
but playing without Lebron James, and we've seen more than
(16:49):
one of those lost leads there by the Bucks at
certain times, and those other type of things that concerned
me about that team just to continue and then sometimes
two it takes long, longer than you may anticipate, not
only getting a new player and changing so much with
Dame coming over, but also a new coach, induc Rivers
and and just all of those things factoring in. So
(17:11):
so do you trust the Interested You trust them? No?
I don't see No. I think they have a ton
of high side and I like it. But no, you
you want to talk about trust, I wouldn't put that there,
and to me, I would trust. I would trust the
Knicks before you know, we're talking about number one in Boston.
Obviously there's some parts of Boston and closing out games,
(17:31):
so you've seen this with Atlanta. But that's with every team.
We have tremendous, tremendous hoops that we get to watch
each and every night, So things like this happen in
the regular season is very different than the postseason. But
I would put the Knicks and some of the guys
that they have running what Jalen Brunson's been doing, along
with complimentary pieces Tom Thibdeau, like all of those things.
(17:54):
If you're asking if our conversation today is about trust,
my number two team, trusted team in the East is
the next after Boston.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
I'm with you. I'm with you there. And you know
what's funny, Sarah. You probably don't remember this, but like
back in November, you were telling me something is off
about the Bucks. You kept telling me that. I was
just like, okay, okay, I mean it's early in the season.
They got a new coach, they just got Dame, they'll
get it together. But you were like, it just doesn't
look right right now. And you're still there.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
We've seen we've seen moments, and I still think, you know,
I want I want the best for that you get
some extraordinary talent, but yeah, figuring all that stuff out,
so it's gonna be fun Michael has always we appreciate
you your time. I'll continue to check you out on
NBA TV and NBA dot com. So until next time,
we'll see.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
You all right, Sarah.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
NBA Post with Sarahustack is a production of the NBA
and iHeartRadio Polease, Rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome into NBA Pulster production of iHeart Rating in the NBA.
I'm Sarah Fustock, NBA analyst for the S Network. As
a Day is Friday, March twenty ninth, from our fantastic
core group of NBA journalists. We're joined now by NBA
dot Com senior writer Michael C. Wright. And Michael, you've
got a new MVP ladder that has dropped, and we
got a little bit of movement up top. You'll love
(00:25):
to see it because we have some tremendous, tremendous play
that we have been able to witness here. Nicola Yokuch
still at that number one spot, but it's Luka Doncic
who's helped Dallas to five straight wins, moving up to
number two, Shay Gildas Alexander at number three, Giannis is
at number four, and Jason Tatum still rounding out the
(00:48):
top five. Though Boston a tough loss last night, second
lost to Atlanta in the last four days one twenty three,
one two overtime loss in Atlanta. Another big game last
night was New Orleans Pelicans with a win against Milwaukee
one seven, one hundred. And with that being said, I
(01:08):
want to get into It was a big win for
the Pelicans, and I feel like everyone that we look
at every game, there's such a tremendous amount of significance
now thanks to the play and tournament, and in particular
in the Western Conference. All of these teams do it
everything they can to stay out of the play at
it and be in one of those top seeds. And
when you look at the four through eight spots, it
(01:29):
is extremely tight, separated by just three games. You got
the Clippers, the Pelicans, Dallas, Phoenix, Sacramento all battling in there.
So with that being said, Michael, when you look at
these teams, and in those four in particular, I guess
they're still an outside chance. The Lakers, they're sitting in
the ninth spot, just a game and a half back
(01:51):
of eight. But those four teams, who are you most
interested in to see how they finish here in the
remaining ten games of this regular season?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I think, Sarah, that's sort of a tie between the
Mavericks and the Suns, obviously, because the Mavericks have just
been on fire lately, talking about nine and one over
their last ten games. Luca, he's been going crazy, and
I just like, what they've done as a team. You know,
they surrounded Kyrie and Luca with all kinds of athleticism
(02:24):
with you know, with that trade deadline move with PJ.
Washington and Daniel Gafford. So the lib is a thing
in Dallas. Now it's lob city, and you know, they've
sort of changed up their attack in that, Like they
used to really rely on a lot of three pointers
from some of the supporting cast guys like nante X,
(02:46):
Tim Hardaway Junior. They lived and died by that. But
now they're not shooting as many threes, and it's it's
weird because it seems like they're not shooting as many threes,
but they have more open threes they've had before because
of the damage that they can do in the mid
range and in the paint. So that's also helped them defensively.
(03:07):
They are a team that's committed to stopping people. So
I like what I'm seeing out of Dallas, and it's
just for me. It's really cool to see a team
sort of switch its identity midstream and be successful with it.
The Suns, I'm very intrigued with them and concerned because Sarah,
they got a squad, they got some players, and you're
(03:29):
just like, what is going on here? And then the
crazy thing about it to me is that when you
talk to people in that organization, when you talk to
the players, they really don't express any concern with what's
going on right now. But you're running out of time.
We're coming into the last month of the season, and
I'm not sure that the Suns want to be sitting
right there in that seventh spot, and you have to
(03:52):
play in the play in because if they do end
up in the play in I think as of right now,
they end up with the Kings, and the Kings have
been pretty good. Monus a bonus, Look what he's doing
triple doubles? Leader, what's he got like fifty four or
fifty five straight double doubles something like that?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Wild?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, So to me, it sets up to be a
really interesting finish or sprint to the finish. And if
we're looking at the play in tournament as of right now,
we would be looking at the Lakers and the Warriors
in the nineteen game, and then the Sons and the
Kings in the seven eight. How fun would that be?
You got lebron ad and you know the Warriors, you
(04:30):
know they're I guess they're guys Steph and Draymond and Clay,
and you know it is just the end for them.
There's all kinds of storylines there, so I'm interested to
see what happens.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
There's tons of storylines. And to your point, it's interesting.
Phoenix is so fascinating to me too, because then you
look at the rest tonight we got we got some
heavy hitters. Sign I know, we are in the midst
of March madness, and there's a lot of good college
hoops games, the women's Sweet sixteen beginning here today and
the men's continuing on as well. But you've got a
(05:02):
Phoenix team that's at Oklahoma City tonight ten pm Eastern
on NBA TV, but Minnesota's at Denver, and we're looking
at this mix of teams staying out of the play in.
But I also think the fascinating part is you don't
know you might get the sixth seed and end up
playing the Denver Nuggets, or just how things are all situated.
Dallas tonight at Sacramento. Who you mentioned the Kings, but
(05:26):
the mav just smacked them on Tuesday night. But Phoenix,
to me is is the most intriguing to your point
because of who they have, the struggles they have had
in the fourth quarter, which continue to be perplexing, and
then the way that their schedule looks. So I mentioned
they're at Oklahoma City, but they got to go to
New Orleans. They'll see Cleveland, but then they got Minnesota.
(05:47):
They've got New Orleans again, they play the Quick Clippers
twice to then finish out the year at Sacramento and
at Minnesota. So they have got a very very challenging
final stretch of the season. And the play ins are
always tricky. I mean, I think you look at these
games and it's like you don't know what's going to
happen in a one game scenario, especially where teams fall.
(06:09):
So I'm very interested to see if in some ways
they continue to put things together. And love how Dallas
has been playing. And when you mentioned that too, I
think just for as much as the complimentary pieces around
around Luca and around Luca and Kyrie, I feel like
Kyrie and Luca have just figured out how to play
well awful one another together. You see them more, but
(06:31):
you could just tell, like the small nuances, the chemistry.
They're both extraordinarily intelligent basketball players with how they see
the floor. But the injuries that you dealt with or
Kyrie missing time throughout the course of the year, right now,
things since there's been a consistency, like you could just
get a good feel and to me, like closing time
and closing things out, all of that stuff is very
(06:56):
intriguing to me with what the Maps can do, not
just in how they close out this, but just in
general here as we start to inch towards the postseason.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Agreed, And I think it's only going to improve. And then,
like you know, when I was talking about defense, I
think when your two biggest stars actually buy into what
Jason Kidd and that coaching staff is trying to do,
that is just gonna spread throughout the rest of the team.
And that's why you've seen them play as well as
they have on the defensive mand lately. So, yes, the
(07:26):
MAVs are I think they're gonna get even better.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, and we're talking about the MAVs. What can happen? Obviously,
this is going to be fun to watch the play
ins to see what the matchups are like, and I
feel like every single one has a storyline. I still
until someone knocks off the Denver Nuggets. To me, they
are still at the top of the top, and they
are the team I would be most concerned with playing
or have the least amount of concerns about here as
(07:53):
you head into the postseason. But for you after the
Nuggets or unless you want to tell me you have
a different team that is your favorite here in the West,
who do you think the second best team is? Because
we've seen we've seen highs and lows, we've seen inconsistent.
What do you want to talk about the Clippers? They
look like world beaters and then they're inconsistent. Oklahoma City
obviously is just absolutely stacked and extraordinary. But where does
(08:17):
the youth factor in Karl Anthony Town's not being there?
For the Timberwolves. The list goes on. Of every team,
you can kind of look at something. Who's who's your
second second best team at this point or that you
have the most trusting going into the postseason. It could
be a play in tea, you could you could you
can make our producer Peter Conner happy in say the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I'll roll with you with NF I think right now,
And there's obviously the concern with Shae Gilges, Alexander and
that quiet contusion he's got, But that is the type
of injury that will heal up right around with it's
time to go to the playoffs. To me, just typically
what you see in those types of injuries, and so
(08:58):
you know, I don't trust minis soda just on a
night's night basis. We've talked about Anthony Edwards and why
I never have him really high on the MVP ladder
in the rankings, and it's just some nights he shows up,
some nights he doesn't, so there's inconsistency. And then Karl
Anthony Towns that's a problem. So to me, I like
Oklahoma City second, but they're like we keep talking about
(09:23):
the Mavericks. To me, they're one of the teams that
a lot of a lot of these teams don't want
to see in the playoffs. I seriously think that potential
opponents are like, okay, we got to avoid that three
Like Oklahoma City in Dallas. What a series that would be?
That would be out of man. I hope that actually
(09:44):
happens because I know I'd be covering it since most
of those teams are sort of in my geographic area.
But Oklahoma City second right now, and then like the Clippers,
like you mentioned, they are world beaters one day, and
then you know, like to be honest, Jane hard And
just has not played very well here lately. They've lost
(10:04):
what six of their last ten games. So I just
don't know what to think about the Clippers right now.
Maybe it's just a matter of them sort of coasting
a little bit. I don't know, but it just seems
like maybe they're coasting or trying to, you know, like
save their energy for when it really counts in the playoffs.
I don't know, but you can't continue to do that
(10:26):
because you're gonna fall further in the standings, and like
you mentioned, you don't want to see you know, maybe
Denver or Oklahoma City in the first first round or Dallas.
So it's going to be interesting to see how this
all fans out.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I'm extremely impressed with Dallas, and I also think just
figuring out yes, Luca and Kyrie, but to your point
about figuring out the complimentary pieces the trades that were
made that Jason Kidd figured out how to push the
right buttons in terms of lineup combinations. I have trusted
Phoenix in some ways is going to figure it out.
(10:59):
I just wonder about the rest of the supporting cast.
I'm gonna put my trust in the Oklahoma City Thunder.
They have given me no reason other than youth, other
than inexperience. They have given me no reason to think
that when the playoffs come around, the consistency of how
they've been playing, what they've been doing, cannot be translated
(11:19):
into that Shay Gilgas Alexander has been in your top
five year MVP ladder. To me, he has always played
with a maturity and a sophistication beyond his years. And
I think Mark Dagnold just exites and o's and schematically
does a tremendous job. Yeah. Right, But so for all
(11:41):
of those reasons, if you want to talk about trust
and a team you trust, I think there's highs and
lows of a lot of other teams, But to me,
I would put them right behind the Nuggets. And if
you're going to make me bank on trust, they have
given me reasons throughout the course of this entire year,
uh to trust them. And a lot of names do
we talk about Allen Williams, Just a lot of a
(12:02):
lot of names that I think people don't know a
ton about or do, but they're they're they're going to
get a better understanding of exactly just how how good
they are when they see them in the postseason. But
the Western Conference has been fun. Eastern Conference too, Michael,
We're we're going to get into what's happening over there
in the East right after the break. Welcome back to
(12:28):
NBA Pulse. Sarah who's stuck, joined by the great Michael C. Wright,
who's got his new m v P ladder out. We're
talking m v p's one name that has consistently two
names that have been consistently up around the top five
has been Honest out of Kompo Jason Tatum, though both
of those players with big games last night despite their
teams coming away with losses, and uh, when you look
(12:50):
at what's happened in the East, Boston obviously has set
themselves far and away with the best record in the NBA,
best record in the East for quite some time. But
it's kind of interesting. There's some interesting matchups you look
at in terms of being in the play in staying
in the play in what that looks like. Nick Nurse
had said that Joel Embiid will travel with the team
(13:12):
for the first time on the road trip this weekend,
and not to indicate that that changes anything in terms
of timeline or the timeline still has not been said
and in probably still unclear in some ways. But in
terms of the top, Milwaukee, the New York Knicks, Cleveland
Cavaliers or later right behind in fifth. But I think
those two three four spots are really fascinating because obviously
(13:35):
a big part of what you're trying to do is
potentially stay away from Boston as long as you can. Michael,
when you look at the way the Bucks are playing,
and again, inconsistency sometimes has been the name of the
game for a lot of these teams, and we've seen
some of that and the changes that have occurred with
Milwaukee under Doc Rivers, Nicks have been playing. But for
them it's just about getting healthy. Cleveland dealing with some injuries.
(13:57):
Donovan Mitchell expected to be back here tonight. For the halves,
who do you have your eye on and what are
you expecting how to wear things shake out here with
these two through four seeds.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
They're so far behind Boston, But that two three four
group is just it's really intriguing because, as you mentioned,
just think about the injuries like if you look at
New York, you know they've dealt with all types of injuries,
but they've won eight of their last ten games. They
are balling. Cleveland, they've had a bunch of injuries, and
(14:31):
you know they're in these dog fights against really good teams.
Now they're slumping right now. I think they've lost seven
of their last ten, So you know, I sort of
think Cleveland could end up falling some. I mean, they
got the seventy six ers tonight, which is going to
be a really good game because obviously the Cats want
to stay where they are or get up a little
higher in the Eastern Conference. In the seventy six ers,
(14:54):
they're trying to move out of that play in spot.
I mean, they are only a game and a half
behind Indiana for that six that's sixty, so you know
it's doable. So it's yes, very intriguing in anybody that
ends up against one of those teams in the first round.
They're gonna have a tough series. All of those teams
are super tough. You saw it last night. I'm watching
(15:17):
the game. It was in New Orleans, Pells Pills and
the Bucks, and I thought in that third quarter that
Giannis was simply just going to wield them back into
that game, because I want to say, the Pails were
up at least twenty points and Yanni scores twenty straight
points in the third quarter to sort of get them
(15:37):
back in it, and I'm like, okay, here we go,
here we go. And then he doesn't take another shot
until like the very end of the game, and You're like,
what's going on here? And so I don't know what
to think about the Bucks. I do because we haven't
mentioned him. Zion Williamson. He came to play last night.
I mean he I mean there were times he was
driving to the rack and they were stopping it, but
(15:58):
he kept on coming, kept on coming, and eventually he
kind of broke through. And I think he scored eleven
points in that fourth quarter, and so you know, he
ended up making the MVP Ladder as an honorable mention today.
But you know, let's keep an eye on his eye
on I'm actually going to go to New New Orleans
next week and spend a week out there just to
check it out and see if I can come back
with something good. But anyway, going back to the East, yes,
(16:23):
those three teams are going to be a problem two through.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Four, And like, to me, you're talking Giannis and willing thing,
but even look at the the the overtime loss to
the Lakers that they just had when they're up, the
huge lead that they end up blowing, and that's a
Lakers team that in granted Anthony Davis was a monster,
but playing without Lebron James, and we've seen more than
(16:49):
one of those lost leads there by the Bucks at
certain times, and those other type of things that concerned
me about that team just to continue and then sometimes
two it takes long, longer than you may anticipate, not
only getting a new player and changing so much with
Dame coming over, but also a new coach, induc Rivers
and and just all of those things factoring in. So
(17:11):
so do you trust the Interested You trust them? No?
I don't see No. I think they have a ton
of high side and I like it. But no, you
you want to talk about trust, I wouldn't put that there,
and to me, I would trust. I would trust the
Knicks before you know, we're talking about number one in Boston.
Obviously there's some parts of Boston and closing out games,
(17:31):
so you've seen this with Atlanta. But that's with every team.
We have tremendous, tremendous hoops that we get to watch
each and every night, So things like this happen in
the regular season is very different than the postseason. But
I would put the Knicks and some of the guys
that they have running what Jalen Brunson's been doing, along
with complimentary pieces Tom Thibdeau, like all of those things.
(17:54):
If you're asking if our conversation today is about trust,
my number two team, trusted team in the East is
the next after Boston.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
I'm with you. I'm with you there. And you know
what's funny, Sarah. You probably don't remember this, but like
back in November, you were telling me something is off
about the Bucks. You kept telling me that. I was
just like, okay, okay, I mean it's early in the season.
They got a new coach, they just got Dame, they'll
get it together. But you were like, it just doesn't
look right right now. And you're still there.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
We've seen we've seen moments, and I still think, you know,
I want I want the best for that you get
some extraordinary talent, but yeah, figuring all that stuff out,
so it's gonna be fun Michael has always we appreciate
you your time. I'll continue to check you out on
NBA TV and NBA dot com. So until next time,
we'll see.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
You all right, Sarah.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
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