The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - NBA Weekend Reaction: Celtics big win vs. Suns, Lakers momentum, NBA Power Rankings

Episode Date: March 12, 2024

Jason Timpf reacts to the best games from around the NBA this weekend. Jason recaps Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics big win over Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns and how the Celtics have gotten back on track as they look to close out the regular season before a championship push. Jason then discusses the Lakers playoff chances as they currently sit in the 9th seed, while only being two games out of the 6th seed in the western conference. Jason then gives his weekly NBA Power Rankings where Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets jumped the Boston Celtics for Jason’s top spot.  Timeline (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements): 04:00 - Introduction 07:00 - Celtics big win vs. Suns 20:45 - Lakers getting hot 41:20 - NBA Power Rankings #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

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We have a jam-pack show for you today, our classic Monday, so we will have power rankings at the tail end of the show. Off the top, we're going to be talking about a showdown between the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night. And then after that, the Los Angeles. Lakers, after a really disappointing, kind of somewhat foreseen loss against the Sacramento Kings, get back-to-back huge wins against the Milwaukee Bucks without LeBron James and then against the Minnesota Timberwolves as well. So we're going to talk a little bit about just how good the

Lakers have been as of late. What is fueling that success as well as what is standing in the way of them having any sort of legitimate chance to make a deep playoff run. So we're going to talk some Lakers there in the middle portion of the show. And like I said, at the end, we're going to get into our Ranking. You guys know the Joe before we get started, subscribe to the volumes, brand new YouTube channel. So you guys don't, or excuse me, to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel. So you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow the Hoops Tonight podcast feed, wherever you get your podcast. Remember, it's also helpful if you guys leave a rating and a review on that front. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT. So you guys don't miss show announcements as well

as the film threads that I do from time to time. And then last but not least, keep dropping mailback questions in the YouTube comments. Lots of mailbags this week. We're going to be doing one in tomorrow's show as well. So make sure you get some mailbag questions. in there. And the last and at least, before we get started, the NCAA tournament was right around the corner. I don't know about you guys if you've ever been to an NCAA tournament game, but they're like one of the coolest basketball experiences that I've personally had as a fan. I was at, I want to say it was 2014 and it was in a lead eight game between Wisconsin and my favorite team, our hometown Arizona Wildcats. And like, I just remember the crazy vibe of like the

two home crowd kind of thing where like it's almost like this warring group of fan bases with every single momentum play and there's just everyone's excited after every single type of play. It's a totally different type of basketball experience. And you guys need to get out to an arena and actually see one of these games during the tournament this year. The best way to do that is through game time. You're not going to deal with any sort of convoluted pricing. You're going to get all in pricing up front with game time. You're not going to have any sort of question about what kind of seat you're going to get. You're going to know exactly what seat you're going to get. You're going to see a picture of the view from your seat through the game time app. And then it's easy.

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Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code hoops for $20 off. your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code hoops that's h oops for 20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed all right let's talk some basketball so really fun game between the celtics and the suns just as a basketball fan a really fun game to watch because sons were obviously you know without devon booker it's just really hard for them to go into a matchup against a really staunch perimeter defense type of team like boston And they found their advantages. Like obviously Christopps Porzingis didn't play.

And so they were trying to pick on Al Horford as much as they could. The Celtics were running a deeper drop coverage with Horford and trying to avoid switching him at all costs. Although Katie got him onto some switches when he could. And obviously the sons have guys who can punish the deep drop in a lot of ways, right? Like we saw some Bradley Beal mid-range pull-up jump shots. Kevin Durant was amazing again. Kevin Durant's riding a streak of three consecutive 35 plus point nights.

He's been averaging 38 over that span. Katie's just been insane. hit those shots against Denver and it's just been riding that wave and all that confidence from that game into a pretty absurd stretch. But the Celtics weathered at all and really was impressed with them on the defensive end of the floor, held this high-powered Sun's offense to a 110 offensive raining, forced a ton of turnovers, forced 15 of them, got out in transition off of those turnovers, scored 16 points on those 15 turnovers. I really like that they didn't overreact to the shots that Bradley Beale and Kevin Durant were hitting.

For the most part, they stayed in single coverage. For the most part, they trusted their defense off the ball, which is, by the way, a big part of how they forced turnovers. Again, this is a son's team that can get a little sloppy making swing passes and skip passes and post-entry passes and short-roll passes and things along those lines, and you can capitalize on it. Then on the other end of the floor, the sons had their own success or their own issue in pick-and-roll defense with Drew Eubanks.

Specifically, they were just picking him to absolute truce. shreds. The Celtics were having a, I think Eubanks was like a minus 20 in this game. Jalen Brown was picking on Bradley Beal in the post was once again being really aggressive. This has been a trend. I've noticed with Jalen Brown. This is a guy who takes a lot of mid-range kind of fadeaway jump shots out of the post and he's very good at them. But as I say, all the time on the show, like the best mid-range pull-up shooter is going to shoot in the mid-50s, you know, high 50s on those shots. And that's, that's just not nearly as efficient as a hook shot or something that's really close. to the basket. And, you know, Jalen Brown like bullied Bradley Beal on the left block and did a

spin move towards the baseline. But instead of fading into a tough right shoulder fade, he spun aggressively, created space with that right shoulder and took a short little bank shot that he's going to make 70, 75% of the time, right? He had a right-handed hook over his left shoulder where he body Beal into the lane and went straight up and down instead of fading. Like, he's going to make that shot 80, 85% of the time. That's like another level of efficiency. above those fadeaways. And you want to have them again. Like I said, it's an important counter to have. It's an important shot to have in the bag, especially against the best defensive players in the league when you need to create shots. But I've just, I've been so incredibly impressed by

Jalen Brown in this game. He only had three assists. He only had three assists in this game, but he had some really nice reads. There was a lob pass of Luke Cornette as he slipped out of a double ball screen, like a double drag where he patiently kind of waited for the play to develop, waited for all the defensive players to make their kind of like baked in reads. And then Luke Cornette broke open and he just hit him with a perfect lob pass. He brought physical ball pressure on Bradley Beal. Just in general, Jalen Brown continues this stretch of just awesome basketball that he's playing. They killed the sons on the offensive glass.

They had 13 offensive rebounds. Again, that's a big one for me that has been kind of a recent trend for the Celtics. And just another great paint scoring game. They have 60 points in the paint in this matchup. They're averaging 57 points in the paint over their last seven games. ranks third in the NBA. So we're now on like a hefty like half of a month here where the Celtics are suddenly like a dominant paint scoring offense. And this is a team that for the entire first chunk of the season was, you know, like I guess we're at, what, like two thirds of the,

or about three, fourths of the way through the season at this point. Getting close there. This is a 10% chunk of the season here where they've gone from being before that one of the worst paint scoring teams in the league to a team that's consistently scoring in the paint. So it's very clear from the top down that there is an effort being made to get these guys to play with more physical aggression, to bring that more diversity to their offensive approach instead of just relying on whether or not their jump shots are going to go in. And that to me is just going to give them more margin for error when they get later into the playoffs. And then Jason Tatum closed the deal in the fourth quarter, monster fourth quarter, hit a three on the right

wing where the sons just didn't even match up with him in transition. He had a pull-up three on a soft switch between Royce O'Neill and Bull Bull. We've talked to a lot about the difference between aggressive switching and soft switching. Again, aggressive switch is you come off the screen and the dude almost like hedges at first and then squares up so that you can essentially force the guy to almost like face ball pressure immediately when he comes off the screen versus a soft switch when you hang back. And on this particular play where Tatum hit the pull up three, Royce Neels on

him. Here comes the ball screen as he comes off the ball screen. Bull, bowl is the guy that's supposed to be switching on to him, but he just, Royce O'Neill kind of ducks under and takes the screener, and then Bull Bull, hangs back in a soft switch, and Tatum found a gap in there to rise up and knock down a jumper. Bull, Bull, got a late contest, but it wasn't enough. Tatum knocked it down. By the way, Tatum's been shooting the pull-up jump shot. Significantly better since January 1st. This is something we've been talking about on the show. 282 points on 263 pull-up jump shot attempts since January 1st. It's 1.07 points per shot. So here's the deal. Still, should he take as many as he takes?

Probably not. Should he be more physically aggressive? Absolutely. But he was also a bad pull-up shooter for basically three years before this stretch. And now we have an extended two-month-in-change stretch where he's gone from being bad at it to above-average at. It's still not as good as you want. Like the best pull-up jump shooters in the league are closer to like 1.15 points per possession. The guys that should be hunting that shot.

as like a huge part of their shot diet are in another tier, but he's at the very least now an effective pull-up jump shooter over a substantial sample size, which I think is encouraging. Because again, for all to talk about physical bullying and playing in the paint and bringing offensive versatility, they're going to need Tatum to hit pull-up jump shots to win in the playoffs. They're going to need Jalen Brown to hit pull-up jump shots to win in the playoffs. It's never what it was about.

It was always about balance. And I thought that was a really good bounce-back game for Boston going into Phoenix against a Phoenix team that really wants to continue their momentum after the win against Denver against the red hot Kevin Durant, right? And you go in there and you and you control the game. And every single time boss or every single time Phoenix makes a run like Phoenix made a run there in the middle third quarter. Kevin Durant hit like a crossover three against in transition against Drew Holiday to get it back to three. And then if I remember correctly right after that, Drew Holiday made a couple of plays himself and they just bounced it right back up to nine points like that.

Like they just, they never let it linger in, in, in range for Phoenix to make any real sort of push. And they just stiff-armed them and they got the win. On the sun's front, random role player minutes continue to hurt them. I thought, again, Drew Eubanks was awful in pick and roll defense. Savingly at a rough stretch in the first half. He was minus four and four minutes wasn't getting guarded. They went with David Roddy in the second half and they started ignoring him on the right wing. He got two just completely unguarded right-wing threes and both of them were like bad misses. he was minus six and six minutes. So just not having Devin Booker out there has caused them to have to dip into the parts of their roster

where they can have some guys that can really help off of. And that's where it causes some issues. But again, big bright side, Devin Booker's coming back. And Kevin Durant is hooping his ass off. 35 plus and three straight games. He's averaging 38.7 rebounds and four assists in that span. 54% from the field and 45% from three. Just one last note on the sun side of thing.

on the KD side of things, just for the young basketball players out there, something that I thought was really interesting and something I think that a lot of kids could kind of pick up some little tips and tricks of the game from KD in this case. One of the things he was beaten Drew Holiday with in this particular game was like quick, aggressive writ moves on the catch. And so just imagine a situation where like KD's coming off of a dribble handoff

and he would like step up into where the ball is. And as soon as he catches it, instead of like putting the ball on the floor and like trying to mix up off the dribble, he'd make his first aggressive change of direction move without having to put the ball on the floor right away with a rip through. So essentially he would like catch the ball squared up this way and then he'd kind of lean back to create some space and he'd aggressively rip through to the right so that when he's putting the ball down, when he's putting the ball down, it's way on his right side after he caught kind of facing towards the left. And he'll do the same thing going to the left or he'll catch it moving to the right and then it'll rip through to the left. Dwayne Wade used to do this move all the time.

I don't know if you, Miami Heat fans might remember back when Dwayne Wade was younger where he'd come out of like the corner and he'd come off like he's going to go on a dribble handoff. And then as soon as he'd catch it, he'd kind of like do a high hesitation. And then he just rip back to the left and extend out and do that push dribble to kind of cover some ground. And you know, it's funny with Kevin Durant, we think of him as one of the most skilled skilled players in the NBA and all this tough shot making.

Don't get me wrong. There's a lot of that. The KD is incredibly fundamentally sound. Like little things like that. Those rip-through moves are just really efficient. Like a lot of times, so many young players over dribble these days. And like a quick rip-through move is a move that covers a ton of ground that is easy to control. It protects the basketball because as you're doing the rip, you have two hands on the ball.

So even if Drew Holliday gets in their reaches and attacks the basketball, if you're holding it strong and do a strong rip-through move, you can get through that first reach and cover ground with that first dribble. Another big one that KD's great at is setting his man up for screens. Like he won't just run off the screen. he's great at like getting up into the defender's body, pushing him down to where like the block is and then giving him like a little shove before he cuts off the screen and cut shoulder to shoulder with the player

and curls immediately to try to create a better screening angle. Like Kevin Durant is incredibly fundamentally sound. And again, like when you get to the higher levels of basketball, it's not just them learning how to do more advanced shit. It's them being incredibly fundamentally sound. And then the advanced shit is what kind of pushes them over the top into like specific things like rescue possessions. Oh, three, two, one on the shot clock.

I need to make a play. Or like, you know, I'm in a heat check here and I'm already in rhythm and now I'm going to more of my advanced stuff. Like, again, the game of basketball is best played when it's made easy. And it's the best basketball players in the world aren't the guys that can do all the hard shit. They're the guys that relentlessly target and get all the low hanging fruit in basketball. Right.

I mean, we talk about it a lot with Yokic, right? But like even KD as a top shot maker, he's a guy that has incredibly sound fundamentals. And that's something that carries him to a lot of his offensive success. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast,

it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far far away,

such as the biology of ton-tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Moving on to the Los Angeles Lakers. It's a really interesting stretch here to start the month of March because they played a bunch of good teams in a row all at home. And I was somewhat kind of optimistic going at,

they ended up going three and two, which was somewhat disappointing, but giving the competition was really good. I was hoping as a fan of the team, something closer to four and one, mainly because the Lakers were a really good home team. Coming into this stretch, they were 21 and 9 at home. And now they're 24 and 11, which is one of the better home records in the league. This is a team that has always been good at home. And so I was kind of hoping for something a little better, but they bounce back, right? You lose to the Denver team. That's obviously a really tough matchup for them. We're going to talk more about the matchups in a minute. Get a huge win over

the thunder. Then you have that really disappointing ass kicking at the hand of the Kings, but you bounce back by beating the Bucks without LeBron and then beating the Minnesota Timberwolves, albeit shorthanded on Sunday. So like a couple of big wins and all of a sudden it's three and two with wins against the wolves, the thunder, and the Bucks. All really, really impressive. So starting with the Bucks game,

AD bounced back from the King's disaster by putting up 22 and 13 with two blocks. Austin Reeves, 18, 5, and 7, another well round and performance from him. Rui Hachamur and Spencer Dinwood, he both make two massive defensive plays at the end of the game. Rui Hachamura on the play before the final play, there is a possession where they run a Dame Yonis pick and roll. He tags the roller on Yonis, then gets out of the lane back to his man in the corner, but he switches with Cam Reddish and has Cam Reddish guard the corner man and he guards Yonis as the low man so that he can help on the drive. So they had been,

so AD switches, like he does a lot at the end. A lot of times of the Lakers, they'll switch with AD at the very end of the game. So it's like last few possessions, you don't want to do this for the whole game. Let's just throw AD on the ball for these last, like famously game four against the Warriors last year. They were running all these coverages in pick and roll. These like high drop coverages where 80's coming up to the level and then dropping back.

But then final two possessions, AD just switches on to Steph and get stopped. So same type of thing, switches on to Dame. And AD does a good job taking away the pull jumper. Ad like Dame kind of beats him to the left hand side off the drive. dribble, but he's a little off balance. He's going to have to throw up a really difficult scoop shot. But instead of Cam Redis should help, because Rui Hachamura saw that play developing and understood like, okay, now that the shooter's in the corner and Janus is in the dunker spot, it's actually because of the switch, because Cam Redis switched off of Dame and switched onto

Janus on the ball screen, now it's more important to get him off into the corner and have Rui take Janus so that he can be the guy that steps up to help, right? That first defender, that low man, the guy guarding the guy in the dunker spot is the first line of defense after the ball handler gets beat. And so Rui's just a bigger, better athlete than Cam. He makes that smart switch. All of a sudden, he jumps up and gets a great contest on Dame's shot. Dame ends up missing it. And then to Darwin Ham's credit, again, like, Darwin Ham has not been, in my opinion, one of the best coaches in the league this year. But he's had his moments. Again, like, I'm a big believer in this show. Like, we don't just shine the light on the negative. We want to call it the negative

and the positive, we want to try to give as well-rounded the coverage as we can. And one of the things with Darwin is, on this late possession, he brought Jackson Hayes into the game. Just for a defensive sub. They weren't using him outside of that. They brought him in for the big possession of the game. He had two timeouts left at this point.

The Lakers were down by one. All you got to do is get a stop and you use a timeout, you go down and you get a bucket, then you just have to get one more stop. And if you go down and you don't get a bucket, you have an extra timeout if you should need it, right? So, Darvin Ham takes a timeout, gets Jackson Hayes on the floor, Jackson Hayes is weak side, and when Rui goes up for the

block, AD is trailing the play and Rui's going in for the block. So both of them are basically effectively occupied by Dane. So Yannis is under the basket by himself basically to clean up the offensive glass, but Jackson Hayes comes crashing in from the wing and he tips it and it ends up in Anthony Davis's hand. So huge defensive play from Rui. Obviously big adjustment from Darvin Ham to bring Jackson Hayes in as a defensive sub. He also brought Cam Reddish in on that specific possession. They call time out. They go down to the other end. DeAngelo Russell, who is the hero of the game, scores 21 points in the fourth quarter, hit several huge threes off the dribble and off the catch. But it's the game winner on Dame. Interesting play. Starts

the play. He's got Malik Beasley on him. Call Spencer Dinwiddie to come up and set the screen. Spencer Dinwiddie sets a good screen and drags the screen out. So he actually tried to roll in the direction Dame was, or Malik was in. It's a great way to kind of force a switch. If you don't hold that contact, then they can probably just chase over the top or get through it, right? He holds the screen, gets Malik off of him, Dame is now on, on, uh, Dilo. Dilo then brings Brooke Lopez up into the action. And Dane wants to switch, but Brooke is like, no, man, you gotta get back. So Brooke points back to Dane to get back to Dilo.

When he gets back, Dilo takes an advanced dribble while Dame is recovering, and that gets him on his backside. And now here's the thing, like, uh, Austin and Delo, we've talked about on the show. They're not particularly big, or they're not particularly fast guards, but they are decently sized. Like, Delo's what, 6'5 and has a decent amount of muscle mass to him?

So once he got Dame pinned on his backside, there's really nothing Dame can do to bother him at that point. Then Delo just kind of works his way methodically inside, finds that sweet spot where he has some room to get the floater over Brooke Lopez, takes and makes the floater, puts the Lakers up one, and then down on the other end of the floor, Spencer Dinwiddie with the biggest defensive play of the game. Times Dame Lillard step back, jump shot perfectly meets him at the summit and gets the block. So a massive win for the Lakers

without LeBron James. And then following that up, last night against the Timberwolves, LeBron came back. He was great. He's been bringing a ton of downhill rim pressure in off-ball situations, which continues to be a theme, or I should say, outside of half-court initiation situation. So pushing in transition is obviously a big one, but also close-out situation. He's been so good, cutting to the rim, catching and ripping and going to the room. Even in the Kings game, he beat a close out at the top of the key and dunked, I think on Alex Llan, if I remember correctly, in the middle of the floor. That another driving dunk attacking a closeout off of an AD double team last night. Ad, draws second defender, pass.

I think it was Austin Reeves won't pass away. Austin swings the LeBron. LeBron pump bakes, beats his man off the drivel, rises up, and dunks it. Like, he's just finding those little angles to attack in like a downhill situation. out of advantages, which there's so many of them in this offense, which we're about to get to in a few minutes. But LeBron was great. He had 29 points, eight, and nine assists.

Remember, before that, again, 29, 8, 9, before that starts to sound common for you. Only four players in the NBA this year are averaging at least 25.6 rebounds and six assists. So, Luca Donchich, Yonisantico, Nicole Yokic, and LeBron James. So, like, as crazy, like, I don't think he's had as good a regular season as the numbers would say, just simply because he's been saving a lot of energy on the defensive side of the ball throughout this year, which is totally to be expected.

But on the offensive end of the floor, he's been producing at like a top six or seven level in the league. He's still playing at that level on that end. And when he engages himself defensively, he can actually compete like one of the best playoff players in the league, which is just going to be a question of whether or not he can stay healthy enough to do that in the postseason. And then Anthony Davis, the wolf's front line was injured. Obviously, Carl Towns went down with his meniscus injury last week. But Rudy Gober was out for this one. Adi just obliterated the wolf's front line.

killed Nasri, killed Luca Garza, 10 offensive rebounds. Seemingly any time the Lakers missed a shot in the second half, AD was cleaning it up. Finished with 27 points, 27 rebounds, 5 assists, seven steals and three blocks. First player ever in NBA history to record those numbers in a game. The 14th 10 steals plus blocks game of AD's career, which Draymond is second among active players with four.

When Mianam is also tied for second. He already has four. That'll be a record he probably break. but Anthony Davis has been basically the best blocks and steals guy among active NBA players by a mile. But the Lakers ended up winning this game with defense. We talked about AD earlier with the seven steals and three blocks. Tori and Prince made three massive, only scored six points in this game, but he made three massive defensive plays in the fourth quarter run.

I actually clipped all three of them and put him into a Twitter video so you can find that on my Twitter feed at underscore Jason LT. But there's a skip pass to the weak side where there was a wide open shooter in the corner and the wing. and Torian did a textbook passing lane close out. So this is what you teach young players to do when there's a skip pass and there's two shooters. You don't close out to the shooter, you close out to the passing lane because if you do that well, you might be able to bait the guy that's the shooter into thinking you're closing out at him. And his automatic reaction is to throw a swing pass and you might get him to throw it right to you if you close out to the passing lane.

So if the pass goes to the wing, you're closing out between the wing in the corner, opened up towards the shooter with your hand in the passing lane. And then if he shoots, you respond with the late contest. If the pass goes to the corner, it's the exact opposite. You close out to the passing lane and you split the difference. He ended up, the pass ended up going to the corner. He jumped the passing lane, got a deflection. They ran out the other end.

I think it was Austin Reeves got to lay up on this particular one. Then there was a dribble handoff action that the wolves ran that got Mike Conley going downhill out of the top out of the top of the key. And Torian Prince came over and helped, walled up Mike Connolly and got a stop. And then a couple possessions later, he blocked Jaden McDaniels at the rim in a transition possession. All three of those plays from Torian Prince led to runouts the other way that the Lakers scored on. So like just huge swings in the game for Torian Prince, only six points scored, but all three of those essentially amounted to pick sixes that helped the Lakers build their fourth quarter lead.

Again, just like I was talking about Darvin Ham, do I agree with how often Torian Prince has played this year? Yes, do I think he's been utilized in a way that doesn't accentuate his strength sometimes? Yes, but he is a good basketball player. And especially when he's in a role like this where he's playing in the mid to low 20s and minutes, he can be deeply impactful. And he was deeply impactful in that defensive run for the Lakers down the stretch against the Timberwolves. A couple of huge wins. Now the Lakers are really starting to pick up some steam.

I talked a lot about how I wanted to see if the Lakers were going to have any sort of legitimate chance to get anything done. I wanted to see like a 25 game span where they were like 18 and 7 or 17 and 8, something along those lines, right? We're not quite there, but we're heading in that direction. They are 12 and 5 since the start of February. That's a really dominant stretch, just not a long enough span. I want to see them, again, you've got some big games on the horizon. They play the Kings on Wednesday night. They play the Warriors on Saturday night. Like, those are getting a couple of wins there would put you at 14 and 5. Now we're talking about a more serious longer stretch, right? But in that 12 and 5 stretch since, or 12 and 5 stretch since the start of February,

they have the fifth best record in the NBA over that span, the second best offense in the league over that span, wins over the Celtics, the NICs, the Pelicans, the Clippers, the Thunder, the Bucks, and the Timberwolves. Eight or seven really quality wins over that span. When you extend it back to January 7, the larger sample now, This is a 30-game sample size. This is about 40% of the season.

In that span, they are 19 and 11. That is the seventh best record in the league. In addition to the wins I just mentioned, we're adding wins there against the clippers again, the Thunder again, the Mavericks and the Warriors. So like 11 quality wins in a 19-and-11 stretch. This is a good stretch of basketball that the Lakers are playing. Now, let's talk about what specifically is working for them.

Here's some metrics since January 7. So again, these are all since in their last 30 games. They're just demolishing teams in the paint, 56.5 points in the paint per 100 possessions. That's first in the NBA over that span. And when you factor in that doesn't include free throws. Like this is also the team that is number one in free throw rate. I think they're number one in free throw attempts allowed, if I'm not mistaken. But I think they're still top 10 in free throw rate during that time.

I can't remember the exact numbers. But they're getting the foul line a lot, is my point. And so to be the number one points in the paint team while also being a team that's getting to the foul line a lot, they're getting a lot of easy, replicable baskets right around the basket. That is super, super encouraging as it pertains to the postseason. They're sixth in offensive rating overall since January 7th.

So again, second since February 1st, in the smaller sample, 7th, or excuse me, 6th since January 7th. Really, is there five out offense kicking at high gear? there's sixth an assist over that span. Fifth in assist to turnover ratio over that span, everyone's involved. We've talked about it before, but every guy in this lineup can both initiate offense and finish plays. In terms of initiating, Anthony Davis can initiate through the post and through ISO.

LeBron can do it through post-ISO and pick and roll. Austin and Delo do it through pick and roll, and then Ruy can do it through ISO and through the post. But all five of those guys can also play off the ball. like Rui is shooting 45% from 3 since January 7th. That's a big part of him working off ball in their five-out system. Also, we talked about Rui initiating offense in the post. Ruiz been a great post-up player this year.

He's averaging 1.14 points per post-up possession, including passes. That ranks 9th out of 57 players to run at least 70 post-ups this year. So like in their five-out offense, when they get a mismatch for Rui, they throw it down to him on the block and he's consistently generating quality shots. he's personally shooting 54% in those situations. But he's also shooting 45% from three during this stretch since January 7th, which has been a huge part of him working both on and off the ball. Obviously, we know Dilo is a dead eye shooter,

also a guy who can cut and attack closeouts extremely well. He's a big release valve for them. Whenever double teams come, he just kind of flashes to the middle of the floor and makes plays. Austin, obviously, is an excellent offball player, great at attacking closeouts. And then LeBron has been, he's always been underrated as an offball player just because he's had some teams that he's been on where he's had to be on the ball so much. But 1.23 points for catch and shoot jump shot. He's been one of the best catch and shoot players in the league this year.

That ranks 20th out of 79 players this year to log at least 200 catch and shoot jump shot. So he's been an upper fourth catch and shoot guy among guys that reached that specific volume cutoff. He's made 82 shots this year on cuts and rolls to the rim on 67% shooting. It's a huge chunk of his offense now. And so with LeBron being so great off the ball, we also have Anthony Davis as the hub. He's one of only three players in the league this year to log at least 250 roll man possessions

and still get over 1.1 points per possession on them. It's just him, Miles Turner, and Alper and Shangoon that are the three high volume, efficient role man guys. He's personally shooting 56% on rolls to the rim and 58% on floaters, which is a big part of what's making that work. So again, like the, the defense, the offense is just absolutely humming. Everyone can score. Everyone can pass.

Rui doesn't pass super well, but he could score out of the post and he can knock down the three, so it's working, right? The offense is absolutely humming. Second best over the last 17 games and sixth best over the last 30 games. But that has come at the expense of their defense and their rebounding. They have not been a good defensive and rebounding team over the stretch. They've been bottom 10 in both categories. That is where if there's, because like that, that's the next step here, right? 1911 over 30 game span, 12 and 5 over 17 game span, tons of quality wins. But we know they can't beat Denver right now, and we might not even find out if they can't get through the postseason, if they can't get into the postseason through the playing.

And then teams like with a ton of guard speed in particular, so like they struggled a little bit against Golden State with it, but really badly against Sacramento, they're starting to expose their lack of perimeter defense. And so again, how do we connect this, what's working for the Lakers now with the gaping holes that will inevitably get them beat in the postseason involving the rebounding and perimeter defense piece? And the answer to all of that is Jared Vanderbilt. Since January 7th, so that span that I'm talking about, because I talk about the Lakers season in-thirds, right? They go, what, 15 and 9 through the in-season tournament win, counting the win in the tournament game, right? So 15 and 9, you win the in season tournament, back to back

to back, big wins against the Pelicans, the sons, and the Pacers, right? They finally, they actually slow down that Pacers team, really defensive-minded team. Then they go three and 10 in the 13 games after the in-season tournament. Completely let go with the rope, some really bad losses to bad teams. That was when Darwin was fucking around with the lineup too much, all sorts of issues there. Then we get to this recent stretch where they've been really good. So if I have a 19 and 11 and a 15 and 9 sandwiching this bad stretch, there is like some really good basketball in there from the Lakers. So how do you connect that with the blatant issues that they have with teams like Denver and Sacramento, teams that with Denver, it's a bunch of things that cause the

Lakers problem. But with Sacramento in particular speed guards, well, what if you put Jared Vanderbilt in there at the three? Now you have a defender to throw at a deer in Fox so that you kind of only have to figure out what you're doing with the Malik Monk spot, right? Which is like a little bit easier to handle than Deeran Fox, obviously. And just in general, like Denver, that's the guy you're putting on Jamal Murray. And again, one of the issues in the postseason last year, the Lakers were running a four out one in offense. A lot of high volume pick and roll and post up stuff with cleared side, you know, really brute force

type of offense. So Jared Vanderbilt was just standing in the corner just spotting up most of the time, which was a huge problem when teams would ignore him. In the five-out offense, Jared Vanderbilt would operate as a screener and roller more frequently. And the Lakers demonstrated in that late January stretch that they can succeed offensively with Jared Vanderbilt on the floor. As a matter of fact, Jared Vanderbilt was the second best net rating guy since January 7th behind Spencer Dinwiddie. They're outscoring teams by over eight points per 100 possessions with Jared Vanderbilt on the floor. And they have been very good

defensively. 108.2 defensive rating in that span. That's really good. So again, if they can connect the defensive element that they've shown, not just at the beginning of the year, but even in this January stretch with Jared Vanderbilt on the floor, with the offensive success that they're having, and Jared Vanderbilt can properly slot everybody better. And Jared Vanderbilt is a great rebounder who's vitally important to the Lakers on that side of the floor for that element of the game. That's where the pathway towards some sort of playoff success is. they need to connect the success they're having right now, especially on the offensive end of the floor,

with what Jared Vanderbilt brings to the table. If he can come back and he can get to that, you know, level that he was at before the injury as a perimeter defender and where he was fitting offensively, that's the Lakers path. If there's, again, I feel really comfortable about where I have them in my contender rankings.

I have him eighth, I believe. I feel really comfortable about that. I don't think it's too high. I don't think it's too low. The chance, though, the ability to capitalize on that and turn that into a Larry O'Brien trophy. It will depend on Jared Vanderbilt coming back,

anchoring their perimeter defense and their defensive rebounding. LeBron and AD have to play at an absolute superstar level, like bona fide top six or seven player in the world level on both ends of the floor for four rounds. And I think they need to catch some matchup luck. So it's a very, very thin window. But the window is there. And I do think it's worth mentioning and acknowledging for this Liker team. Big, big, big game on Wednesday.

against Sacramento. Anthony Davis got kind of embarrassed by DeBonna Sabona-Sabon, so that's going to be a big one for AD to potentially get some revenge in. And if they can win that game and if they can beat Golden State on Saturday, I think that will be a good hallmark for the Lakers. They can handle some perimeter speed stuff. That'll be a good hallmark for the Lakers. And if I'm not mistaken, I haven't seen the particulars, but that's some encouraging injury updates on Jared Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent today as well. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations

with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrate. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford. and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan,

so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, let's move on to our power rankings before we get out of here for the day. So two teams dropped out from last week, the Heat and the Magic. The Heat lost three straight games, the Mavs, the Thunder, and the Wizards, and then the Magic lost back-to-back games

against the Knicks and the Pacers. So they're out for right now. New Inn at number 10 is the Phoenix Suns, massively impressed by their win against the Nuggets in Denver, really showed that they can defend when they want to. Nerkich is a good big physical body to be able to show, to throw at Nicole Yokic. They have a lot of length off the ball when Kevin Duran is defending the way that he has.

They were flying around in rotation. I thought Bradley Beale digging down off KCP and playing passing lanes and playing the role man was really impactful for them defensively. And then they showed that they can get to their over-the-top shot stuff easier than some other teams can against Denver. And Kevin Durant really got going there down the stretch. again, I still picked Denver over Phoenix in the series, but I thought that was a really encouraging win. And then even in the Celtics game, like they really ran into some shortcomings personnel-wise

with Devin Booker out, but there were some really encouraging moments there. And Kevin Durant is just on an absolute heater. Three straight 35 plus points point games, averaging 38 points per game over his last three games. So Phoenix on the up and up. Number nine, New Orleans Pelicans. They had an undefeated road trip out east,

which has them riding a four-game winning streak. They have a 101 defensive rating. in that span over those four games. They actually have the best defense in the league over the last 15 games, really shutting teams down in the paint, just 45.9 points in the paint allowed per 100 possessions, which is best in the league. Zion and Brandon Ingram are both hooping right now.

They're both averaging like 21 and 7 efficiently, but every single time I believe in the Pelicans, they immediately fall apart. So hopefully this will be something that they can actually sustain. Number eight, the New York Knicks. They had another one in two week. They lost a rock fight to the 76ers throwback style game, both teams in the 70s.

But they had a big win against Red Hot Magic on Friday. And most importantly, in that game, Jalen Brunson more or less looked like himself, which was encouraging after the knee contusion that he had. Still just floating the ship while all these guys are out with injury. Number seven, the Cleveland Cavaliers, a two-and-two-week. Two really impressive wins against the Celtics and the Timberwell's big comeback against the Celtics,

fueled by Dean Wade's shooting, a clutch win, overtime win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but then two ugly losses against the Hawks and the Nets. They finally got their defense back on track, which was an issue a few weeks ago, but now they're having major issues on offense. They had just a 109 offensive rating last week. They really need to get Donovan Mitchell back to tie all of this together. Number six, the Minnesota Timberwolves, also a two-and-two week.

Big win over the Pacers, red-hot late-game shot making from Anthony Edwards made three straight pull-up jump shots at the end of the game. Mike Conley made a big one, too. So they finally made some shots late and closed out a game. But then they lost another clutch game to the Cavs, and then they lost to the Lakers last night, still experimenting with lineups since Carl Towns went out. They've tried Kyle Anderson, the first couple of games,

that came with the boatload of issues. They obviously would Go Bear out. They brought Noz Reed in at the center spot, but they ended up going smaller with Nikiel Alexander Walker against the Lakers. And that might be another option they could go with is if they don't want to start Nas next to Rudy Go just go with Nikiel Alexander Walker

against, especially against speed teams. I'm not sure if you want to do that against the Lakers necessarily, but against speedier teams, because that was obviously a big issue, but they just were so short-handed with both Gobert and Cat out. But against teams like the Lakers, I'd probably go with Gobert at Center and Nas Reid. But I don't hate the idea of using Nikiel Alexander Walker,

especially against speed teams. Again, a lot of times in situations like this, I can sympathize with this problem with the Lakers because of their issues at the three spot. Like, I want them to play Rui not because he's a natural fit at the three, but just because he's their fifth best player. And at this point, you're better off just playing your best basketball. If you don't have a clear, obvious positional fit, play your best players.

And that's the thing is like, Nas Reid to me, playing next to Rudy Gaubert might be a little bit of an issue, but he's just a really good basketball player. And so having him out there might just be a better option than some of the others. and the best player in your perimeter core that doesn't start is probably to kill Alexander Walker. And so that's why I'd go with him if you wanted to lean more towards into like a more perimeter oriented team.

Number five, the Los Angeles Clippers. Beat the Bulls in an absolute dog fight that went to overtime, but their stars had to play big minutes. So they ended up having to essentially punt against the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday. Really weird schedule game too where the tip off was like on a Sunday afternoon less than 24 hours after the last game ended. so that led to a two and two week. They also blew the first Milwaukee game

in a game that Janice was out. That was the game that they blew late. They are just seven and seven in their last 14 games. 17th in offense and 23rd in defense over that span. So the Clippers hitting a little bit of a mid-season speed bump. Number four, the Milwaukee Bucks. One and two so far on their West Coast road trip. Their defense has not traveled with them.

They have a 123 defensive rating in the three games. Big part of that is all three teams they played are teams that kind of specialize in beating drop coverage, right? Like you, even against the clippers with James Hardin, like he can just get into the lane and make plays as a passer. But they really struggled against the Laker guards, the Laker guards were just getting wherever they wanted. Again, like teams that like teams that thrive in that like kind of mid-range,

kind of shifty guard type of offense, they're going to have success against the Bucks with the deep drop coverage that they run. Big silver lining though for the Bucks. I thought in the Lakers game in particular, we saw some of the best Dame Janus pick and roll reps that I've seen this season. There's specific timing stuff that they're starting to figure out. We're like timing the role of the screen is so pivotal, right? Because you want to hold the screen long enough to get the defender to get caught up on you

so that the ball handler can get some separation, but not so much, especially when they're blitzing, that you're not available when the past comes. And so timing is so absolutely critical, but they're really starting to get their one, two, down with that. Where, like, Dame is coming off and throwing the pass right as Janus is turning and hitting him in stride. They're really starting to get high-quality roll opportunities out of that. They're starting to clear the side more.

That's, I would imagine is another thing that Doc Rivers is brought in. They're starting, again, that's just where you don't have a defender in the corner so that when Janice rolls, he sees the entire floor in front of him instead of having to account for something that's kind of behind him to his left or behind him to his right, right? So like that clear side thing, I think, just kind of simplifies that process. Janus is making some really nice roles or reads out of the role as well. There's a lot of encouraging stuff on the Dame Janus pick and roll front that I think is enough to, again, this is tough. The Western Conference is tough. I've been talking about this throughout the season.

I want to say the bucks are just 13 and 10 against the West. And the Celtics are just, if I'm not mistaken, 16 and 7. So like for as dominant as those two teams, again, been against the East, the bottom of the east is so weak, you can really rack up wins against the bottom of that conference. The Western Conference is tough. It's not easy to get wins on a West Coast trip. And it's more important, like, again, to just look in the bigger picture. You need to get your defense where it needs to get, but you also need to have the Damianus pick and roll humming at the absolute peak level. And they're getting closer to that every single day.

Number three, the Oklahoma City Thunder, really tough loss in that matchup with the Lakers, just a really bad matchup for them. LeBron and AD just eat up their front line every single time they play. But then they went into an easier stretch of their schedule. They got two easy wins against Portland and Memphis, and then Shea just went absolutely crazy in a big win against the Miami Heat. They are 10 and 2 in their last 12 games, so they've moved up to three in our power rankings. Number two, the Boston Celtics. Back-to-back losses for the first time since November.

They blew their lead against Cleveland where they couldn't make a jump shot for nine minutes and struggled to score in the paint. And then they lost to Denver, which we've broken down in excruciating detail on the show over the past week. But they did bounce back with an impressive win against the Suns on Saturday in case you missed it. We broke that game down at the top of this show. So if you're watching the breakout clip, you want to go watch the full episode. For the detailed breakdown of their win against the Sons, they've been the third best points in the paint

for 100 possessions team in the last seven games. Jalen Brown is absolutely hooping, playing the best basketball of his career. And Jason Tatum, pull-up jump shot coming around since January 1.07, excuse me, points per pull-up jumper. Number one, new number one for the first time in what seems like two months, the Denver Nuggets. Obviously, a tough loss to Phoenix. I was weirdly impressed by Denver in that game because Phoenix, like, punched them in the mouth and was really out playing them for like two and a half quarters. But Denver hit the Jets there in the middle of that third quarter and Phoenix was just holding on for dear life.

And they worked their way all the way back into the game. Then Phoenix made a short little run to get it back up to a nine point lead. And then Denver just executed like the most perfect 12-0 run I've ever seen. But KD made a huge pull-up jump shot to send it to OT. And then he made a few more in O.T. and they just kind of lost to a KD shot making performance. So like a lot of encouraging Nugget stuff out of that. And I also thought it was Nicole Yokes, just one of his worst games of the season. But he bounced back and they were magnificent against Boston.

Their half-court execution was unbelievable. I really think they have some room for improvement in that matchup to a really encouraging week for Denver. Again, I still think they're the best team in the league. And after the winning against Boston and with Boston coming off two losses, I thought they deserved the top spot for this week. All right, guys, that is all we have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for beating the show,

or for supporting the show. Tomorrow we're going to have a couple of instant reactions as well as a mailback. So make sure you guys drop some mailback questions, and I'll see you guys then. Volume. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.