March 3, 2025 • 23 mins
Trysta Krick is back with another episode of Heat Check! She digs into how on earth the Pistons of all teams have become one of the league's best watches. Plus, the Celtics' quest for back-to-back and the upstart Blazers showing their true potential vs. CLE.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
On this episode of The Heat Check, we gotta check
in on the hottest team in basketball, the Detroit Pistons.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
They're the story of the year.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I think that the NBA story of the year. Not
enough people are talking about them. We also check in
on the Boston Celtics, who had two bell Weather games
against two contenders in Denver and Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
What do you make of those games?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Speaking of Cleveland, what a freaking game on Sunday against
Legit one of the most exciting teams that nobody is watching,
an exciting rebuilding team. I didn't even know what was possible.
The Portland Trailblazers, who also deserve some love.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So let's talk about them as well. Let's talk about it.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Drop that motherfucking beat that should be Rihanna.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
You're listening to the Hottest, the Hottest podcast out here.
I said what I said, it's the Heat Check, which.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
You might say to yourself, why are we talking about
the Detroit Pistons, And to that, I say, you're a casual.
The Detroit Pistons are the hottest team in basketball right now.
They are having won eight straight, nine and one in
their last ten games. Not getting enough attention one game
out of fourth place, and to that, I say remarkable.
(01:16):
We saw what happened with the Pistons last year. They
set an NBA record for most consecutive losses.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
In a row in an NBA season.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
They were legitimately one of the worst teams in basketball.
It was just Detroit and the Washington Wizards going back
and forth for mediocrity awards.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
So they fired their head coach.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
They fired their GM, which we knew needed to happen
because Monty Williams wanted to play Marcus Sasser over Jade
and Ivy, which was insane. Despite the fact that Monny
Williams was the highest.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Paid coach in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
They needed to clip him and they got Trajan Langdon,
a guy from New Orleans who I wondered how he
would fix a roster with multiple lottery picks on it.
And I thought to myself when they hire JB. Bickerstaff
and Trajan Langdon and made some changes to the roster,
that man, now, this could be a fun, pesky little team,
(02:11):
a shitty rebuilding team, but a pesky one. And yet
they are the hottest team in the NBA right now.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
They are nine and one in their last ten.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
They are twenty to and ten since Christmas, and obviously
Kate Conneham has been bawling.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
He's been I think.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
He's on multiple MVP boards. He's having such an incredible season.
And a major component though, goes to Trajan Langdon, the
GM who brought in veterans that I had no idea
would actually work. I honestly thought that this team was
just adding them as a way to stay away from
the salary floor. But the roster is a testament to
(02:51):
how smart financial thinking can also equal on court wins.
Rather than throwing their money at an aging superstar or
some random burnout, the Pistons went out and got some
vets who had some tread left on their tires, but
also had something to prove. Number one former Detroit Piston
(03:12):
came back. Come in home, Mom, Come in home, Tobias Harris.
Tobias Harris had one of the worst contracts in the
NBA and the worst contract in the NBA because he
signed a five year, one hundred and eighty million dollars
deal with the Philadelphia seventy six ers and twenty eighteen
and obviously haters will point this out that he's probably
the most overpaid guy to never make an All Star team.
(03:34):
But then the Pistons went out and said, Okay, we're
not going to give you that much money, but we
will give you two years and fifty two million dollars.
And everybody be rated and ridiculed Detroit for overpaying him.
But the truth is, ask Philadelphia if two years fifty
two million dollars for those that level of production is
(03:55):
an overpay.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
The truth is that's a bargain.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Thirty six millionion dollars might have seen bad for a
team like Philly, twenty five million dollars for a team
on the rise.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I think that's a bargain.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Ask ask how much they would think Paul George is
worth right now the Philadelphia seventy six ers. And what
you're seeing from Tobias Harris, which I think is really
impactful and important and humbling and deserves to be discussed,
is that he's embraced his role as a veteran on
the team.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
He's mentored young players. He's still putting up fourteen.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
To five and six, but he can still get you
twenty five on a random Tuesday. He's only averaging one
point one turnovers on thirty two minutes a game. For
Tobias Harris, that's astounding. Tobias Harris has been great. Malik
Beasley has been legendary, and that's not hyperbole. Malik Beasley
(04:50):
right now is shooting forty three percent from three on
nine and a half three point attempts per game, which
something only Steph Curry has accomplished in an NBA year.
He's averaging seventeen to three and two, hasn't missed a
single game this year, and yet continues to bring that
veteran composure to a team that needs it. Because as
(05:12):
great as Tobias Harris and Lee Beasley have been, that's
not really the identity of what the Detroit Pistons are.
They need those guys as compliments to the culture that
they have, their togetherness and their toughness. This is a
team that wants to play with aggression. This is a
team that wants to play with physicality, and it's reminding
(05:35):
people of the Bad Boys Pistons when Dennis Robmin and
Isaiah Thomas might be seen undercutting players going for rebounds
or elbowing someone coming through the paint. Remember when Isaiah
Stewart aka Beef stew got into it with Lebron James
where he was like, you will catch these hands. This
team is too young to worry about the playoffs and
(05:57):
too good not to be in the playoffs. A splash
right now, they are firmly sitting at the sixth seed
and they are just one game out of the fourth seed,
and I don't think anyone saw that coming, and I
think something needs.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
To be said. JB.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Bickerstaff needs more love for coach of the Year. Nobody
is talking about this. There's a lot of love for
Kenny Atkinson, JB. Bickerstaff's old team. Not a lot of
love for JB. Bickerstaff, who turned the team around that
was fourteen and sixty eight last year to seven games
over five hundred in counting.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
They went nine and two.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
In the month of February alone, and they're beating really
good teams.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
They had a twenty.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Point win over Boston last week, holding the Celtics to
just forty two points in the second half, despite the
fact that the Celtics hit forty three percent of their
forty nine three point attempts and they still only had
forty two points in the second half.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Malik Beasley had twenty six.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
He had six out of eleven threes, Jalen Duran at
thirteen and eleven.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
The Pistons are a menu.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
They had thirteen steals and five blocks against the Boston
Celtics team that was missing Jalen Brown. But really doesn't
get snuffed like that. They don't get turned over like that.
They had everybody else, they had Porzingis, they had Drew Holiday,
and they were just never in it.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
They were just never in it. That's a masterclass in coaching.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
And he went deep into the bench to just wear
the Celtics down. He played nine players nineteen minutes or more.
He played thirteen players overall. And I think JB. Bickerstapf
is doing the best job of his coaching career. And
remember last year when the Cavs won nineteen of twenty games.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
At one point.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
And I think what you're seeing secondly is that this
is a tough and gritty team in a way that
the Houston Rockets are out West.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
You could think maybe of them as the Houston Rockets
last year.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Osar Thompson, Beef stew, Jalen Duran, Marcus Sasser, these are
all guys the chips on their shoulders. You're not pushing
this team around. I don't think anybody really wants to.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
See the Pistons in the playoffs. And thirdly, this is a.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Team that desperately needed shooters because they keep drafting guys
that can't fucking shoot, like Kid Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
The list goes on and on.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
But they have six players right now shooting thirty four
percent or more from deep. You got Tobias Harris, Milik Beasley,
Jade and Ivy, Kate Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Junior, and Marcus Sasser,
which means at any given time there are three guys
on the floor that you have to worry about in
the corners spraying out.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
To open shooters.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
The Lakers have spent half a decade trying to surround
Lebron James with shooters, and the Pistons managed to do that.
For Kate Cunningham. With one year as a team, they're
shooting thirty six percent, which is just outside the top ten.
But they're thirty eight and a half percent is third
best in the league on the road, which is why
they have a better road record than home. So if
(08:58):
you're somebody that wants to watch a team that's on
the rise, and wants to show a little love to
a coach that definitely needs it.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
JB.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Bickerstaff got a lot of shit for how things ended
with this time in Cleveland. A lot of players didn't
love it, But I think the take home messages sometimes
it's not just about the coach, it's about the situation
that they're in and how much that is or is
not a fit. So Kenny Atkinson takes the Cavs to
a new level and JB. Bickerstaff essentially transforms a team
(09:31):
in less than one season. Who do you care more for?
That's a personal preference thing, But for me, I think JB.
Bickerstaff probably should win Coach of the Year. And if
you're a team that's gonna see the Pistons, this team
can walk into your house steal your lunch, so you
better be ready.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Moving on.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
The Pistons win over Boston, so let's talk a little
bit about Boston. It reminds me that the Celtics are
one of the most fascinating team teams in the league.
You get a lot of think pieces out there about
what this team does wrong. They're forty three and eighteen,
and yet we're still continuing to doubt them.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Last year at this time.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
They were forty seven and twelve, so not really a
fall off. This is one of the most dominant teams
in the NBA. Last year, where you were seeing that
they were going to go to the finals. I think
it was like minus two fifty at this point twelve
months ago, and this year people.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Seem to think that they're not very good.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
This falloff is nowhere near as bad as people think.
They've had issues with christas porzingis being healthy. He's played
thirty two of sixty games, and now they're going to
face most of the remainder of the year without another
key player. And Drew Holliday who broke his pinky finger
in a cash right now and is out indefinitely. There's
no plans for surgery, but as of now, there's also
(10:51):
no timetable.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
For his return, so that's very conserving.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
The average time for return for this injury is somewhere
in the neighborhood of six weeks, which would put us
oh boy, middle of April, right before the end of
the season, if it all goes well. And I have
watched I have watched three the last three Celtics games intently,
(11:18):
and we have to kind of talk about that they're
a very up and down team. They still remained the
favorite to come out of the East, and we talked
a bit about their loss to Detroit, which was basically
an entire.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Second half meltdown.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
But I think the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers is
a good example of how this team plays. A game
in which they started twenty five three up twenty five
to three to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where Tatum was screaming,
fuck out of here, and then they scored seventy four
points in the first half, and then they held a
fifteen lead halfway through the third quarter, a lade that
(11:52):
they carried till seven forty nine in the fourth, and
then they ended up getting put in the spin cycle
by the Cavs and they lose by seven, which is
the Cavalier's largest.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Comeback in over a decade. So then that's them in
a nutshell, right.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
And then the game on Sunday against Denver similar pattern,
only this time they.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Hold the lead. They win over a dangerous Western Conference team.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
But the Celtics were up by twenty in the first
half and they gave almost all of it up in
the second half.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Which is a bit of an issue.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
They still manage to hold off a comeback one ten,
one oh three, but you have to say no Christas
porzingis no Drew Holliday, and that's pretty impressive. So I
think that these games give you a little bit of
a glimpse into the Celtics at this point of the year.
They're a really good team that is gonna have lapses.
The Celtics have now lost eighteen games this year. In
(12:48):
all eighteen games, they've given up a lead. In eight
of those games, They've had leads of.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Ten points or more.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Only one team in the NBA with a winning record
has blown more ten point leads, which are the LA Clippers,
who I don't have much faith in. Only two teams
in the league with winning records, the Rockets and the Wolves,
have blown more fourth quarter leads in.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
The Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I just don't understand why they can't close out games.
But this is a team that has done this prior
to winning the CHIP. That was their achilles heel. That
was the reason that nobody believed in them. And if
you want to dig even deeper, I don't really think
that we should be shocked considering the way that this
team plays basketball. They shoot forty eight threes a game
(13:29):
on average, which is five more than the Chicago Bulls,
who are not exactly the picture or model of good basketball.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
And they shoot nearly six.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
More than Golden State, who, let's be honest, pioneered the
style of basketball.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
But they have Steph Curry, the best.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Shooter of our lifetime, best shooter maybe in the history
of the game, point blank period, from now until oblivion.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
So there's a reason that phrases.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Get trite, and that's usually because they're true and they
get used so often, which is lived by the three,
died by the three. And that's exactly what the Boston
Celtics are. Should people be worried about Boston, I don't
think so. This is the team that's I believe too
talented to make a deep run. But I think what
I would be concerned about is the addition of DeAndre Hunter,
(14:16):
the injury to Drew Holliday, and how the Cleveland Cavaliers
are one of the best teams at coming back in
the NBA to huge deficits. We've seen this now again
on Sunday against the Portland Trailblazers. They were down eighteen
points and won that game in overtime. Without Drew Holiday,
(14:37):
I don't know how this team is going to function.
Christas Porzingis also has to be healthy. But at the
end of the day, you've got Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum.
Jason Tatum is averaging twenty seven to nine and six,
And on top of that, you have to give love
to Al Horford who is in his eighteenth year in
the NBA and put up nineteen fucking points against the
Denver Nuggets, which is exactly what you need to see
(14:59):
with the team with the.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Bunch of injuries.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Is if there's guys that go down, you need to
have guys on the rotation who come up and produce big,
quality minutes.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Last year, this team had very few injuries.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
This year, Porzingis and Holiday have missed significant time, so
that's that's a reason to be concerned. But if they
can get healthy for a playoff run, I think the
Celtics should be aokay, Okay, moving on, speaking of the
Cleveland Cavaliers game, which I was just talking about, in
terms of the Portland Trailblazers, we need to talk about
(15:32):
this Portland Trailblazers team, like, right, the fuck now.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
I know I've done some social videos about.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
It, but I've never watched a team that's in twelfth
to thirteenth place in their conference be so invigorating to
watch play basketball.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
They are so exciting. I haven't been this.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Excited about watching the Blazer since probably the pandemic, and
that was a team that had Damian Lillard on it
and they were still frustrating as hell. I never felt
confident that they could do a damn thing in a
real playoff setting. And now the Baby Blazers have pushed
the Cleveland Cavaliers to the very brink.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
They lost in overtime, but I don't give a fuck.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
They were up eighteen points on the number one team
in basketball on the road, and the only player that
the Cleveland Cavaliers were missing was Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Everybody else played full minutes.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
They had a chance to win with ten seconds left
in overtime with a Denny Abdia open three that he
just missed. Denny was incredible. He had thirty twelve and
ten and he's twenty four years old. He just turned
twenty four in January. He's just a kid, but he's
got five years under his belt right now. In the
NBA and he's just starting to figure it out. And
(16:46):
if he figures it out, he's gonna be fucking scary.
And there are stars blossoming everywhere on this team. Shayden
Sharp is a bucket. He's got Kobe written all over him.
He has so many moments in the game where you're like,
hell yeah, Shaden Sharp.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
He had that back dunk the other day, which I
think is probably.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
The best dunk this NBA season. He hit his head
on the backboard dunking a year ago. He's averaging eighteen
four and three, and he's getting better month to month.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And Shadon Sharp just.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Consistently has one of the smoothest strokes pause in the NBA.
Gets to the basket in ways where you don't even
understand it, can draw contact, can make tough shots.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
He's just so fun.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And Scoot Henderson a player that everybody was out on.
They wanted to leave him for dead. How could you
give up Damian Lillard to draft this guy? He's been
incredible the last fifteen games. In fact, he's been pretty
incredible since the middle of January. His net rating in
the last fifteen games plus nine point seven, which is
one of the best in the NBA. His team went
(17:48):
ten to five in that stretch. He's keeping his turnovers down,
he's hitting shots, and he's showing the promise.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
That so many people saw in him in the draft.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And by the way, in the last fifteen games, he's
shooting thirty eight percent from three, which was the whole
reason that people didn't like him in the draft was
because of his jump shot. This is what we want
to see. This is and the game against the cast
is the perfect encapsulation of the Blazers, Brandon basketball and
why they're so fun. Guys that are long, athletic, six',
(18:19):
seven tough, defensively get in your. Body Isaiah thomas said
before the. GAME i don't think The Cleveland cavaliers are
ready for The. BLAZERS i don't think they know what's.
COMING i don't think this physicality is something coming off
of the game against The Boston celtics where they had
a heart fought win that they really want to deal,
with and they did not want to deal with The.
Blazers they were down eighteen fucking points and they had
(18:42):
to grind their dicks off.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
To get back into the.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Game you Needed DeAndre hunter to almost get you a
triple double thirty fucking points from, him thirty two and.
Seven you need to Tie jerome to come off the
bench and provide relief for. You they were Shutting Darius,
garland getting so physical into. Him he was one of
the most had one of the least efficient games this, season.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And they were not.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Ready this is a team that on any given Night
Danny abdy could get you a triple double with thirty.
Points shade And sharp will give you moments where you're,
like holy, SHIT i cannot believe he even made that.
Shot can't believe he even attempted to get that shot.
Off Scoot henderson can catch fire and give you five.
Threes Du WoT, brief the guy that most casuals don't even,
know could have a stretch of three to four minutes
(19:30):
off the bench where he's doing anything and everything to
create winning. Plays not only deflecting a, shot blocking a,
shot grabbing the rebound, outlet pass to the corner to
an open man for, three just consistently winning place.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Too Monti.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Kamar every time he's on the, floor he's doing shit
where you say, wow He's if we redraft the twenty
twenty three. Draft he's probably top five behind The Thompson,
Twins Brandon Miller, wemby and that's pretty much. It and
that's pretty much it gets into the passing way and
if he can shoot consistently from, three he's gonna be
one of the better all defensive players in the, league
(20:07):
the perennial three AND d. Guy and this is a
team that if you are locked into a playoff spot
like The Cleveland cavaliers, are and you are, tired and
you have been traveling and you're back. Home you're in
your comfortable bed with your comfortable, pillows and you want to.
Chill you see your, woman you see your baby's, mom
(20:27):
you see, whoever and you're just.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Chilling you're not.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Ready for The Portland trailblazers because they're competing for forty
eighth straight, minutes and they're tough and they keep. Coming
And Chauncey billups has like a million players off the.
Bench he will continue to run at. You and that's
the type of rebuilding team we want to. See that's what,
like that's what gives fans.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Hope you, know it doesn't get fans.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Hope The Charlotte, hornets they are who you do not
want to be giving up AN nba record in the
biggest losses ever in three straight.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Games that's.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Disgusting this a team that's been consistently rebuilding and there
is no hope for the, future and so when you
have bad teams that don't, try that's bad. Basketball but
The blazers are a team that just will not give.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Up they just will.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Not cleveland needed to give every inch of effort to
take it to overtime.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Play every single player max.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Minutes Evan mobley fouled, Out Jared allen was held largely.
Ineffective they needed twenty five five and six with six
steals For Ty. Jerome they needed thirty two and seven
from a guy they just traded for In DeAndre, hunter
who was a six man In. Atlanta so, yeah if
you're a playoff, team you don't want to see This
(21:40):
blazer team because they are going to run you into
the ground so much so that if you have to
play a real contender the next, game you're, cooked your
legs are, sore you're headed to the ice.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Bath it's fucking terrible for. You The blazers have the
fourth best defense in the last fifteen.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Games there are three teams you don't want to play right.
Now if you're a contender, team that's just a bunch of,
tryhards and they're, young and they'll just keep. Coming, Houston
detroit And. Portland they don't give a. Fuck if your
legs are, tired they're coming for. You they will not lay.
Off they're twenty seven and thirty four after they're overtime.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Loss BUT i am not sweating a damn.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Thing they will be ninth in The east right, now
and they have one of the easiest stretches in THE
nba going, forward while the teams ahead of, them The
suns and The, wolves have top five most difficult.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
SCHEDULES i can't believe they did this Against.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Cleveland With donovan And clington fowling out after eleven. Minutes
No DeAndre, ayton No Rob, williams No Jeremy. Grant this
team with Time lord And ayton And Jeremy, grant holy,
shit they would be incredibly difficult to.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Be so do me a. Favor watch yourself A blazers.
Game you're not gonna be.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Disappointed that's all the time that we after this. Episode
that hea check come back next week for an all new.
Episode check out the feed for past episodes of many
episodes which dropping expectedly like a thirty piece From DeAndre.
Hunter do not forget to follow the Heat check all season.
Long that means, download, Subscribe tell your, friends even the
ones you haven't talked to in, years and follow us
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To creek On, Twitter instagram and threads platform WHERE.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
I post every. Day we'll see you next.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Time
On this episode of The Heat Check, we gotta check
in on the hottest team in basketball, the Detroit Pistons.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
They're the story of the year.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I think that the NBA story of the year. Not
enough people are talking about them. We also check in
on the Boston Celtics, who had two bell Weather games
against two contenders in Denver and Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
What do you make of those games?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Speaking of Cleveland, what a freaking game on Sunday against
Legit one of the most exciting teams that nobody is watching,
an exciting rebuilding team. I didn't even know what was possible.
The Portland Trailblazers, who also deserve some love.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So let's talk about them as well. Let's talk about it.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Drop that motherfucking beat that should be Rihanna.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
You're listening to the Hottest, the Hottest podcast out here.
I said what I said, it's the Heat Check, which.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
You might say to yourself, why are we talking about
the Detroit Pistons, And to that, I say, you're a casual.
The Detroit Pistons are the hottest team in basketball right now.
They are having won eight straight, nine and one in
their last ten games. Not getting enough attention one game
out of fourth place, and to that, I say remarkable.
(01:16):
We saw what happened with the Pistons last year. They
set an NBA record for most consecutive losses.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
In a row in an NBA season.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
They were legitimately one of the worst teams in basketball.
It was just Detroit and the Washington Wizards going back
and forth for mediocrity awards.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
So they fired their head coach.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
They fired their GM, which we knew needed to happen
because Monty Williams wanted to play Marcus Sasser over Jade
and Ivy, which was insane. Despite the fact that Monny
Williams was the highest.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Paid coach in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
They needed to clip him and they got Trajan Langdon,
a guy from New Orleans who I wondered how he
would fix a roster with multiple lottery picks on it.
And I thought to myself when they hire JB. Bickerstaff
and Trajan Langdon and made some changes to the roster,
that man, now, this could be a fun, pesky little team,
(02:11):
a shitty rebuilding team, but a pesky one. And yet
they are the hottest team in the NBA right now.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
They are nine and one in their last ten.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
They are twenty to and ten since Christmas, and obviously
Kate Conneham has been bawling.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
He's been I think.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
He's on multiple MVP boards. He's having such an incredible season.
And a major component though, goes to Trajan Langdon, the
GM who brought in veterans that I had no idea
would actually work. I honestly thought that this team was
just adding them as a way to stay away from
the salary floor. But the roster is a testament to
(02:51):
how smart financial thinking can also equal on court wins.
Rather than throwing their money at an aging superstar or
some random burnout, the Pistons went out and got some
vets who had some tread left on their tires, but
also had something to prove. Number one former Detroit Piston
(03:12):
came back. Come in home, Mom, Come in home, Tobias Harris.
Tobias Harris had one of the worst contracts in the
NBA and the worst contract in the NBA because he
signed a five year, one hundred and eighty million dollars
deal with the Philadelphia seventy six ers and twenty eighteen
and obviously haters will point this out that he's probably
the most overpaid guy to never make an All Star team.
(03:34):
But then the Pistons went out and said, Okay, we're
not going to give you that much money, but we
will give you two years and fifty two million dollars.
And everybody be rated and ridiculed Detroit for overpaying him.
But the truth is, ask Philadelphia if two years fifty
two million dollars for those that level of production is
(03:55):
an overpay.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
The truth is that's a bargain.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Thirty six millionion dollars might have seen bad for a
team like Philly, twenty five million dollars for a team
on the rise.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I think that's a bargain.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Ask ask how much they would think Paul George is
worth right now the Philadelphia seventy six ers. And what
you're seeing from Tobias Harris, which I think is really
impactful and important and humbling and deserves to be discussed,
is that he's embraced his role as a veteran on
the team.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
He's mentored young players. He's still putting up fourteen.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
To five and six, but he can still get you
twenty five on a random Tuesday. He's only averaging one
point one turnovers on thirty two minutes a game. For
Tobias Harris, that's astounding. Tobias Harris has been great. Malik
Beasley has been legendary, and that's not hyperbole. Malik Beasley
(04:50):
right now is shooting forty three percent from three on
nine and a half three point attempts per game, which
something only Steph Curry has accomplished in an NBA year.
He's averaging seventeen to three and two, hasn't missed a
single game this year, and yet continues to bring that
veteran composure to a team that needs it. Because as
(05:12):
great as Tobias Harris and Lee Beasley have been, that's
not really the identity of what the Detroit Pistons are.
They need those guys as compliments to the culture that
they have, their togetherness and their toughness. This is a
team that wants to play with aggression. This is a
team that wants to play with physicality, and it's reminding
(05:35):
people of the Bad Boys Pistons when Dennis Robmin and
Isaiah Thomas might be seen undercutting players going for rebounds
or elbowing someone coming through the paint. Remember when Isaiah
Stewart aka Beef stew got into it with Lebron James
where he was like, you will catch these hands. This
team is too young to worry about the playoffs and
(05:57):
too good not to be in the playoffs. A splash
right now, they are firmly sitting at the sixth seed
and they are just one game out of the fourth seed,
and I don't think anyone saw that coming, and I
think something needs.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
To be said. JB.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Bickerstaff needs more love for coach of the Year. Nobody
is talking about this. There's a lot of love for
Kenny Atkinson, JB. Bickerstaff's old team. Not a lot of
love for JB. Bickerstaff, who turned the team around that
was fourteen and sixty eight last year to seven games
over five hundred in counting.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
They went nine and two.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
In the month of February alone, and they're beating really
good teams.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
They had a twenty.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Point win over Boston last week, holding the Celtics to
just forty two points in the second half, despite the
fact that the Celtics hit forty three percent of their
forty nine three point attempts and they still only had
forty two points in the second half.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Malik Beasley had twenty six.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
He had six out of eleven threes, Jalen Duran at
thirteen and eleven.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
The Pistons are a menu.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
They had thirteen steals and five blocks against the Boston
Celtics team that was missing Jalen Brown. But really doesn't
get snuffed like that. They don't get turned over like that.
They had everybody else, they had Porzingis, they had Drew Holiday,
and they were just never in it.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
They were just never in it. That's a masterclass in coaching.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
And he went deep into the bench to just wear
the Celtics down. He played nine players nineteen minutes or more.
He played thirteen players overall. And I think JB. Bickerstapf
is doing the best job of his coaching career. And
remember last year when the Cavs won nineteen of twenty games.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
At one point.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
And I think what you're seeing secondly is that this
is a tough and gritty team in a way that
the Houston Rockets are out West.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
You could think maybe of them as the Houston Rockets
last year.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Osar Thompson, Beef stew, Jalen Duran, Marcus Sasser, these are
all guys the chips on their shoulders. You're not pushing
this team around. I don't think anybody really wants to.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
See the Pistons in the playoffs. And thirdly, this is a.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Team that desperately needed shooters because they keep drafting guys
that can't fucking shoot, like Kid Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
The list goes on and on.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
But they have six players right now shooting thirty four
percent or more from deep. You got Tobias Harris, Milik Beasley,
Jade and Ivy, Kate Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Junior, and Marcus Sasser,
which means at any given time there are three guys
on the floor that you have to worry about in
the corners spraying out.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
To open shooters.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
The Lakers have spent half a decade trying to surround
Lebron James with shooters, and the Pistons managed to do that.
For Kate Cunningham. With one year as a team, they're
shooting thirty six percent, which is just outside the top ten.
But they're thirty eight and a half percent is third
best in the league on the road, which is why
they have a better road record than home. So if
(08:58):
you're somebody that wants to watch a team that's on
the rise, and wants to show a little love to
a coach that definitely needs it.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
JB.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Bickerstaff got a lot of shit for how things ended
with this time in Cleveland. A lot of players didn't
love it, But I think the take home messages sometimes
it's not just about the coach, it's about the situation
that they're in and how much that is or is
not a fit. So Kenny Atkinson takes the Cavs to
a new level and JB. Bickerstaff essentially transforms a team
(09:31):
in less than one season. Who do you care more for?
That's a personal preference thing, But for me, I think JB.
Bickerstaff probably should win Coach of the Year. And if
you're a team that's gonna see the Pistons, this team
can walk into your house steal your lunch, so you
better be ready.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Moving on.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
The Pistons win over Boston, so let's talk a little
bit about Boston. It reminds me that the Celtics are
one of the most fascinating team teams in the league.
You get a lot of think pieces out there about
what this team does wrong. They're forty three and eighteen,
and yet we're still continuing to doubt them.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Last year at this time.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
They were forty seven and twelve, so not really a
fall off. This is one of the most dominant teams
in the NBA. Last year, where you were seeing that
they were going to go to the finals. I think
it was like minus two fifty at this point twelve
months ago, and this year people.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Seem to think that they're not very good.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
This falloff is nowhere near as bad as people think.
They've had issues with christas porzingis being healthy. He's played
thirty two of sixty games, and now they're going to
face most of the remainder of the year without another
key player. And Drew Holliday who broke his pinky finger
in a cash right now and is out indefinitely. There's
no plans for surgery, but as of now, there's also
(10:51):
no timetable.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
For his return, so that's very conserving.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
The average time for return for this injury is somewhere
in the neighborhood of six weeks, which would put us
oh boy, middle of April, right before the end of
the season, if it all goes well. And I have
watched I have watched three the last three Celtics games intently,
(11:18):
and we have to kind of talk about that they're
a very up and down team. They still remained the
favorite to come out of the East, and we talked
a bit about their loss to Detroit, which was basically
an entire.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Second half meltdown.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
But I think the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers is
a good example of how this team plays. A game
in which they started twenty five three up twenty five
to three to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where Tatum was screaming,
fuck out of here, and then they scored seventy four
points in the first half, and then they held a
fifteen lead halfway through the third quarter, a lade that
(11:52):
they carried till seven forty nine in the fourth, and
then they ended up getting put in the spin cycle
by the Cavs and they lose by seven, which is
the Cavalier's largest.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Comeback in over a decade. So then that's them in
a nutshell, right.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
And then the game on Sunday against Denver similar pattern,
only this time they.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Hold the lead. They win over a dangerous Western Conference team.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
But the Celtics were up by twenty in the first
half and they gave almost all of it up in
the second half.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Which is a bit of an issue.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
They still manage to hold off a comeback one ten,
one oh three, but you have to say no Christas
porzingis no Drew Holliday, and that's pretty impressive. So I
think that these games give you a little bit of
a glimpse into the Celtics at this point of the year.
They're a really good team that is gonna have lapses.
The Celtics have now lost eighteen games this year. In
(12:48):
all eighteen games, they've given up a lead. In eight
of those games, They've had leads of.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Ten points or more.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Only one team in the NBA with a winning record
has blown more ten point leads, which are the LA Clippers,
who I don't have much faith in. Only two teams
in the league with winning records, the Rockets and the Wolves,
have blown more fourth quarter leads in.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
The Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I just don't understand why they can't close out games.
But this is a team that has done this prior
to winning the CHIP. That was their achilles heel. That
was the reason that nobody believed in them. And if
you want to dig even deeper, I don't really think
that we should be shocked considering the way that this
team plays basketball. They shoot forty eight threes a game
(13:29):
on average, which is five more than the Chicago Bulls,
who are not exactly the picture or model of good basketball.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
And they shoot nearly six.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
More than Golden State, who, let's be honest, pioneered the
style of basketball.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
But they have Steph Curry, the best.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Shooter of our lifetime, best shooter maybe in the history
of the game, point blank period, from now until oblivion.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
So there's a reason that phrases.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Get trite, and that's usually because they're true and they
get used so often, which is lived by the three,
died by the three. And that's exactly what the Boston
Celtics are. Should people be worried about Boston, I don't
think so. This is the team that's I believe too
talented to make a deep run. But I think what
I would be concerned about is the addition of DeAndre Hunter,
(14:16):
the injury to Drew Holliday, and how the Cleveland Cavaliers
are one of the best teams at coming back in
the NBA to huge deficits. We've seen this now again
on Sunday against the Portland Trailblazers. They were down eighteen
points and won that game in overtime. Without Drew Holiday,
(14:37):
I don't know how this team is going to function.
Christas Porzingis also has to be healthy. But at the
end of the day, you've got Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum.
Jason Tatum is averaging twenty seven to nine and six,
And on top of that, you have to give love
to Al Horford who is in his eighteenth year in
the NBA and put up nineteen fucking points against the
Denver Nuggets, which is exactly what you need to see
(14:59):
with the team with the.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Bunch of injuries.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Is if there's guys that go down, you need to
have guys on the rotation who come up and produce big,
quality minutes.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Last year, this team had very few injuries.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
This year, Porzingis and Holiday have missed significant time, so
that's that's a reason to be concerned. But if they
can get healthy for a playoff run, I think the
Celtics should be aokay, Okay, moving on, speaking of the
Cleveland Cavaliers game, which I was just talking about, in
terms of the Portland Trailblazers, we need to talk about
(15:32):
this Portland Trailblazers team, like, right, the fuck now.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
I know I've done some social videos about.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
It, but I've never watched a team that's in twelfth
to thirteenth place in their conference be so invigorating to
watch play basketball.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
They are so exciting. I haven't been this.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Excited about watching the Blazer since probably the pandemic, and
that was a team that had Damian Lillard on it
and they were still frustrating as hell. I never felt
confident that they could do a damn thing in a
real playoff setting. And now the Baby Blazers have pushed
the Cleveland Cavaliers to the very brink.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
They lost in overtime, but I don't give a fuck.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
They were up eighteen points on the number one team
in basketball on the road, and the only player that
the Cleveland Cavaliers were missing was Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Everybody else played full minutes.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
They had a chance to win with ten seconds left
in overtime with a Denny Abdia open three that he
just missed. Denny was incredible. He had thirty twelve and
ten and he's twenty four years old. He just turned
twenty four in January. He's just a kid, but he's
got five years under his belt right now. In the
NBA and he's just starting to figure it out. And
(16:46):
if he figures it out, he's gonna be fucking scary.
And there are stars blossoming everywhere on this team. Shayden
Sharp is a bucket. He's got Kobe written all over him.
He has so many moments in the game where you're like,
hell yeah, Shaden Sharp.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
He had that back dunk the other day, which I
think is probably.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
The best dunk this NBA season. He hit his head
on the backboard dunking a year ago. He's averaging eighteen
four and three, and he's getting better month to month.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
And Shadon Sharp just.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Consistently has one of the smoothest strokes pause in the NBA.
Gets to the basket in ways where you don't even
understand it, can draw contact, can make tough shots.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
He's just so fun.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And Scoot Henderson a player that everybody was out on.
They wanted to leave him for dead. How could you
give up Damian Lillard to draft this guy? He's been
incredible the last fifteen games. In fact, he's been pretty
incredible since the middle of January. His net rating in
the last fifteen games plus nine point seven, which is
one of the best in the NBA. His team went
(17:48):
ten to five in that stretch. He's keeping his turnovers down,
he's hitting shots, and he's showing the promise.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
That so many people saw in him in the draft.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
And by the way, in the last fifteen games, he's
shooting thirty eight percent from three, which was the whole
reason that people didn't like him in the draft was
because of his jump shot. This is what we want
to see. This is and the game against the cast
is the perfect encapsulation of the Blazers, Brandon basketball and
why they're so fun. Guys that are long, athletic, six',
(18:19):
seven tough, defensively get in your. Body Isaiah thomas said
before the. GAME i don't think The Cleveland cavaliers are
ready for The. BLAZERS i don't think they know what's.
COMING i don't think this physicality is something coming off
of the game against The Boston celtics where they had
a heart fought win that they really want to deal,
with and they did not want to deal with The.
Blazers they were down eighteen fucking points and they had
(18:42):
to grind their dicks off.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
To get back into the.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Game you Needed DeAndre hunter to almost get you a
triple double thirty fucking points from, him thirty two and.
Seven you need to Tie jerome to come off the
bench and provide relief for. You they were Shutting Darius,
garland getting so physical into. Him he was one of
the most had one of the least efficient games this, season.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And they were not.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Ready this is a team that on any given Night
Danny abdy could get you a triple double with thirty.
Points shade And sharp will give you moments where you're,
like holy, SHIT i cannot believe he even made that.
Shot can't believe he even attempted to get that shot.
Off Scoot henderson can catch fire and give you five.
Threes Du WoT, brief the guy that most casuals don't even,
know could have a stretch of three to four minutes
(19:30):
off the bench where he's doing anything and everything to
create winning. Plays not only deflecting a, shot blocking a,
shot grabbing the rebound, outlet pass to the corner to
an open man for, three just consistently winning place.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Too Monti.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Kamar every time he's on the, floor he's doing shit
where you say, wow He's if we redraft the twenty
twenty three. Draft he's probably top five behind The Thompson,
Twins Brandon Miller, wemby and that's pretty much. It and
that's pretty much it gets into the passing way and
if he can shoot consistently from, three he's gonna be
one of the better all defensive players in the, league
(20:07):
the perennial three AND d. Guy and this is a
team that if you are locked into a playoff spot
like The Cleveland cavaliers, are and you are, tired and
you have been traveling and you're back. Home you're in
your comfortable bed with your comfortable, pillows and you want to.
Chill you see your, woman you see your baby's, mom
(20:27):
you see, whoever and you're just.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Chilling you're not.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Ready for The Portland trailblazers because they're competing for forty
eighth straight, minutes and they're tough and they keep. Coming
And Chauncey billups has like a million players off the.
Bench he will continue to run at. You and that's
the type of rebuilding team we want to. See that's what,
like that's what gives fans.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Hope you, know it doesn't get fans.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Hope The Charlotte, hornets they are who you do not
want to be giving up AN nba record in the
biggest losses ever in three straight.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Games that's.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Disgusting this a team that's been consistently rebuilding and there
is no hope for the, future and so when you
have bad teams that don't, try that's bad. Basketball but
The blazers are a team that just will not give.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Up they just will.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Not cleveland needed to give every inch of effort to
take it to overtime.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Play every single player max.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Minutes Evan mobley fouled, Out Jared allen was held largely.
Ineffective they needed twenty five five and six with six
steals For Ty. Jerome they needed thirty two and seven
from a guy they just traded for In DeAndre, hunter
who was a six man In. Atlanta so, yeah if
you're a playoff, team you don't want to see This
(21:40):
blazer team because they are going to run you into
the ground so much so that if you have to
play a real contender the next, game you're, cooked your
legs are, sore you're headed to the ice.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Bath it's fucking terrible for. You The blazers have the
fourth best defense in the last fifteen.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Games there are three teams you don't want to play right.
Now if you're a contender, team that's just a bunch of,
tryhards and they're, young and they'll just keep. Coming, Houston
detroit And. Portland they don't give a. Fuck if your
legs are, tired they're coming for. You they will not lay.
Off they're twenty seven and thirty four after they're overtime.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Loss BUT i am not sweating a damn.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Thing they will be ninth in The east right, now
and they have one of the easiest stretches in THE
nba going, forward while the teams ahead of, them The
suns and The, wolves have top five most difficult.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
SCHEDULES i can't believe they did this Against.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Cleveland With donovan And clington fowling out after eleven. Minutes
No DeAndre, ayton No Rob, williams No Jeremy. Grant this
team with Time lord And ayton And Jeremy, grant holy,
shit they would be incredibly difficult to.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Be so do me a. Favor watch yourself A blazers.
Game you're not gonna be.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Disappointed that's all the time that we after this. Episode
that hea check come back next week for an all new.
Episode check out the feed for past episodes of many
episodes which dropping expectedly like a thirty piece From DeAndre.
Hunter do not forget to follow the Heat check all season.
Long that means, download, Subscribe tell your, friends even the
ones you haven't talked to in, years and follow us
on TikTok and at this Heat check and at trist
To creek On, Twitter instagram and threads platform WHERE.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
I post every. Day we'll see you next.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Time
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