The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - New NBA Power Rankings: Knicks BALLING, Nuggets FALLING, Celtics, Thunder & Lakers bounce back

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

Jason reacts to the last week of NBA games to give his latest power rankings including the New York Knicks rising after an impressive win over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs,  the Denver Nuggets in free fall since Nikola Jokic returned from injury, Jaylen Brown leading the Boston Celtics, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's return for the OKC Thunder, and Luka Doncic keeping the Los Angeles Lakers afloat with wins over weak opponents. All lines presented by Hard Rock Bet.  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope From a Hypocrite,

I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me.

This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano.

It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog.

You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. Welcome to Hoops Tonight here at The Volume. Happy Monday, everybody.

Hope all of you guys had an incredible weekend. As promised today, we're going to be doing a detailed power rankings. So we're going to be doing our usual power rankings like we do every Monday, but deeper dives into each of the 10 teams along the way. You guys know the joke before we can start. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Make sure you like this video and sign up for post notifications. That helps us a lot.

And last minute at least, if you want to get mailbag questions, into our Friday mailbag, drop them in the full episodes on YouTube in the YouTube comments, put mailbag, colon, write your question, we'll get to them on Fridays throughout the remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball, starting with number 10, the Los Angeles Lakers, currently plus 6,000 to win the title on Hard Rock Bad. Got back on track with a couple of wins this weekend and a back-to-back against a very short-handed Warriors team that had kind of been playing some feisty basketball. They just proved to be way too undersized on the perimeter. This Laker team, this,

this season has been so much more diligent about hunting smalls in the post than they were in the previous year that last year, the first year with Luca, it was a lot of Luca and LeBron hunting bigs and switches. Love how much the Lakers through their bigs have been hunting smaller defenders this season. They just bullied Golden State Smalls over and over and over again, really controlled the flow of the game as they continued to get fantastic shots and the Warriors just decomposed. And then the Sacramento Kings are literally the worst team in the league. So a couple of wins there. Stays in line with the Lakers season long trend of handling the lesser teams and struggling against the better teams.

The main bit of optimism, if you're a Lakers fan from these last three games, centers from their big three, their Luca, the Luka-Lebron-Austin pairing, which had struggled mightily, really for the majority of the time that they've been together. Although, like, one important piece of context there, it's been constantly derailed by injuries, whether it was LeBron's groin injury last year in the spring or LeBron missing the start. of this season, Austin's cap injuries, they haven't really had any sort of extended stretch together to kind of figure out how to play. And it hasn't looked good. The numbers have not been good. But the main bit of optimism from this recent stretch in these last three games, if you look at Phoenix, Phoenix is a team that came into the game as a top 10 defense. Golden State came into that Saturday game as a top 10 defense. You have a couple of top 10 defenses that present

certain types of issues, whether it's big physical perimeter defenders like Ryan Dunn or good backline defenders like Mark Williams and drop coverage looks, things that the Lakers have struggled against at times this season. The Laker offense looked really good. It flew under the radar because they were so bad in the D'Andre to 8 minutes in the Phoenix game. Did not respond well to that whole story that came out from Dave McMendeman last week. If you remove those DeAndre 8 minutes, though, the big three scored remarkably well in the Phoenix game,

did so again in the Golden State game, and it did so again against a terrible Sacramento Kings team. And so in those last three games, when Austin, LeBron and Luca have been on the floor together, a 128 offensive rating. So basically the best stretch of offense is a trio this season. I think a big part of it is again, been the emphasis on posting smalls rather than hunting bigs in switches. And then two, the three point shooting. 27 made threes by the big three in those three games on a combined 48%. One of the biggest things I've learned over the last several years as it pertains to star partnerships, different stars coming together to play. If you're going to get multiple stars to coexist on offense

and actually be forced multipliers for each other rather than kind of like a redundancy, you know, where they kind of take away from each other's effectiveness, the law of diminishing return, so to speak, you need to have guys that are aggressive and efficient from three. That is what allows them to play off of each other. And so one of the biggest issues that they've had in the last, you know, year or so that this partnership has been in existence

is the inconsistent three-point shooting, whether it was Austin in the Minnesota Timberwolf series last year, or it was LeBron for the majority of the regular season this year. You need your stars to be able to knock down threes to coexist with each other. They've started to do so in this last three games. And then lastly, starting to find some synergy with their horn sets and really any of their sets that involve all three of them in some way, keeping the rhythm flowing between all of their players.

I've said this for the last couple of months, but I think there's a big drop off after the top nine teams in the NBA. The other nine teams I'm hitting today, I think there's a big gap between those guys in the Lakers and the rest of the league at number 10. The Lakers are probably the best team in that group after the top nine, but I still think there's a big gap and they're not on that level. They're most likely going to play Houston, Denver, or Minnesota in round one. And as of right now, I think they get their ass beat regardless of who they play out of those three. But they have one path to at least be competitive, meaning one path to at least keep the series relatively close, not embarrass themselves to give themselves a puncher's chance. And that's if their offense can reach

an elite level. I'm not sold on a three-game stretch, especially against teams of that caliber, even though their defenses are solid, but it is progress. I would personally be stunned if the Lakers won multiple playoff series and made it to the conference finals. But I think avoiding that first round exit, at least competing, looking competitive in that first round series, or if you were to steal a first round series before losing in round two, I think that'd be a lot of moments. I think that'd be a lot of momentum, a lot of positive momentum heading into what's the most important off season they've had in a long time coming up this summer. Number nine, the Denver Nuggets, currently plus five, 50 to win the title according to Hard Rock Bet. Denver's just been in an absolute freefall since Yokic

returned. They're just five and eight in their last 13 games. Lost a couple of measuring stick games versus Oklahoma City and Minnesota over the weekend and a Friday Sunday set, although it's worth mentioning that for extended stretches in that Oklahoma City game, they looked very good. As we continued to see that dynamic of them, you know, managing to contain OKC's offense a little bit and scoring effectively and half court on the other end. We saw some extended stretches of success, but ultimately they ended up losing both of those games. I think there's a couple of different ways to look at those two losses to Minnesota and Oklahoma City. There is a lot of reality to the idea that the Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon injuries are particularly damaging in these matchups. For starters,

they're literally your two best athletes, especially when you consider size. So like in matchups against teams like Oklahoma City and Minnesota that are especially athletically imposing, those are the guys you really don't want to be without, right? You know, and I've talked about it all year, but Aaron Gordon is really their only viable vertical spacer at the four spot. As in a guy that can like just, you know, remember in the NBA 2K games that like standing dunk metric, that's like Aaron Gordon's best trade on this team is he can just post up underneath the basket in the dunker spot and easily elevate and dunk anything off of Yokic passes. that messes with their spacing quite a bit.

Also, Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon are incredibly important to their backline defense. So when they want to do things like they did in the second half yesterday, where they're like sending Yokich up to the level to try to get the ball out of Ant's hands, you're going to be smaller and less athletic on that backline rotating in those four on threes. Ant said after the game, my four is better than your three. That's true. But it's especially true when that three doesn't include someone like Peyton Watson or Aaron Gordon to help kind of clean those things mess,

clean those things up. Or like, you know, look at the Jaden McDaniels possessions where he's just going right through guards' chests and just getting right to the front of the rim. Like, those are matchups that would happen less frequently when you're healthy. So I don't want to sit here and act like these two games are deeply revealing or anything like that, but I think there are two issues in particular that are worth addressing. And they involve Yokic and Murray. One, the turnovers. The Nuggets ended up giving up over 20 points off of turnovers in both of those games. The Minnesota game in particular, Yokic and Murray were super sloppy. This is something that we've seen at many times over the years in this Minnesota

matchup. Minnesota can appear to physically overwhelm those two at times. That leads to those turnovers, that sparks the transition attack. You saw all those transition opportunities that took place in this particular game. Minnesota torched Denver in the open floor. They had a 30 to 6 fast break point advantage. We've seen Denver multiple times over the years, decompose offensively against Oklahoma City and Minnesota, whether it's like that late first quarter stretch

against Oklahoma City in game seven or game two of that series, or it's Minnesota in game, the second half of game seven of the second round series in 2024, various points during the regular season over the last couple of years. We've also seen stretches where Yokic and Murray have methodically broken down both of those defenses, taking care of the basketball, gotten great shots for themselves or for their teammates.

So it's mostly an execution thing. I'm just saying that in order for Denver to reach their goals, they're going to need to be more consistent with those two guys against the best defenses in the NBA. The margin for error just isn't big enough if they're going to have those kinds of decomposing moments. The second thing is Yoko's three-point shooting. This was more prevalent in the OKC game on Friday night, but we did see it pop up against Minnesota a little bit, most notably in game seven of the second round series back in 2004. four. What ends up happening is teams that are very athletic, they get good at swarming Yokich on the roll while also rotating well out of it. So a lot of times those two main games or both guys are going downhill. They can be a little bit harder to handle as the better athletic,

better defensive teams can can just kind of load up and rotate. So Yokich makes an adjustment. And his adjustment in those situations is to pop in pick and rolls, right? We saw this a lot in in that late game stretch against Oklahoma City, right? You just, you know, Jalen Williams is on, Jay Will is on the floor. He's running a deeper drop coverage against Jamal Murray. Yokic is popping. And it's like actually a smart adjustment in the sense that as we've talked about,

that is literally the hardest action to guard in terms of rotating is a pick and pop. If you're in a traditional drop coverage of any kind, even if it's at the level, deeper drop, whatever it might be. If you pop out of it, it's a very difficult rotation to make. Because usually the big is containing the ball handler down by like the foul line area. and now he's got to close out usually 20, 30 feet across the court to a big who's popped away from the play.

It's just very, very difficult to guard. So it's an adjustment that makes sense for Yokic, but it doesn't matter if he can't hit the shots. And as you remember in that game seven against Minnesota, just miss, miss, miss, miss, miss on picking pop threes. Down the stretch against Oklahoma City, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss on picking pop threes. And so he's shown a propensity to go into extended slumps on that front. If he goes into one like that in the postseason, it could, be a death sentence for this team because there isn't enough margin for error with how skilled the top of the league is. I've said this multiple times over the years. Forty-five percent from

three, Yokic, head and shoulders above the rest of the stars in this league. 30 percent from three Yokic, just another top-tier superstar on the same level as Shay, Luca, or Yannis. They need him to find his rhythm there. He did shoot well for most of the season up to this point, so there's no reason to think he can't figure it out. By the way, super excited. I'm going to see Lakers Nuggets on day my first time going to a Nuggets game this season. I'm very, very excited for that one. I'm super excited to tell you guys about our new partnership with Viori. Those of you guys who are familiar with Viori have noticed that I've been wearing it on the show almost every day now for several years. Today I am wearing the Ponto Performance Half-Zip, one of my favorites from them.

It's straight up the most comfortable hoodie that I've ever worn, but it's also super versatile. It's something that looks very nice that I can wear out when I'm running errands or going to get lunch with my wife, but it's also like this super stretchy, dry fit fabric that I can wear when I'm going to play basketball. Here in Colorado, it's cold as heck. And so sometimes I get up at, you know, seven o'clock in the morning to go play basketball. And when I'm doing my warm up, I want to have something on that keeps me warm, but that I can still move around in. This works wonderful for that. And that really is Viori at its core. It's super high quality clothing that you can wash a million times and it's going to hold up super well. I have items from Viori that I've literally washed like 50

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terms and conditions. Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any U.S. orders over $75 in free returns. Go to viori.com slash hoops and discover the versatility of Viori clothing. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a podcast. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a

call about what we should call it. And, oh, we were thinking, I'm a, or, a, or, Originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear. hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most

fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that Ness was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting.

They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura Podcast Network available on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got him in the kids. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball like. You go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Number eight, Cleveland Cavaliers, currently plus 1,100 on Hard Rock Bet. They've dropped three out of five, but Mitchell and Hardin played in only one of those games. Hardin's got a fracture in his thumb that he's playing through, kind of tricky, struggling to handle the ball a little bit. And then Donovan Mitchell has a little bit of a groin issue. But the Oklahoma City game we covered last week. That was the one where both stars were healthy.

They just ran into a defensive buzz saw early in the game, although they reacted pretty well to that. They damn near one in Milwaukee and in Detroit without their star guards. In Milwaukee, Kevin Porter Jr. ended up hitting a big late jump shot that sealed the game. In the Detroit game, they really should have won. There's just a lot of mistakes down the stretch. Jalen Tyson ends up fouling Dennis Jenkins on the three-pointer.

A couple of possessions where they just succumb to ball pressure and give up turnovers and runouts. just a couple, just few too many mistakes. Dennis Schroeder had a couple of bad turnovers, but for the most part, they competed really well in those two games. The Detroit game in particular, one of the best teams in the league on the road.

And it's because Dennis Schroeder absorbed usage well. Jared Allen has been hooping his ass off, put up numbers in both games. Again, they really should have won at least one of those, but it is what it is. They competed. They showed their depth. Hardin made his return in the win in Brooklyn. Jared Allen had another 20-point night.

He's averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds. on 73% shooting in his last 12 games. He's been fantastic. Fun little three game homestand coming up for the Cavs this week. Detroit, Boston, and Philly. Big key here, the health piece of it. Is James Hardin going to be able to replicate, you know, 95 to 98% of what he usually is with this broken thumb?

How serious is Donovan Mitchell's groin? Is this just a soreness thing or it's more of a management thing? Or is he dealing with something that could end up being lingering throughout the season? All eyes on the health of their two guards at this point. Number seven, the Houston Rockets, currently plus 2250 to win the title on Hard Rock bet. Very up and down a couple of weeks for the Houston Rockets. You get a nice road win in Charlotte against a Red Hot Hornets team. Then you have a devastating late game collapse against the Knicks in MSG.

You have this massive second half comeback, down 19 in Orlando. Kevin Durant and Reed Shepard go on this crazy offensive run. You come back and you win, and then you have a super disappointing loss to the heat in Miami. a little concerned about Alper and Shangoon. He's been better on defense since the humiliation of being called out by his teammate and his coach, but he scored 20 points just twice in his last 11 games. His lack of short-range touch has been a problem. Just 29% on jump shots inside his 17 feet.

Just 42% on floaters and hooks this season. Just 64% at the rim, which again for a power player at his position should be substantially higher. The Shangun only groups, the ones that started the second and fourth quarters last night, just got absolutely, or on Saturday, I should say, got absolutely thrashed in Miami. Not all his fault. Some weird lineup groupings like that second shift in the early fourth quarter, Jeff Green was in the lineup for that game. Other guys were making mistakes as well. Team shot poorly in those stretches as well. So it's not all Shangun's fault. But if Shangun could

just find the way to put the ball in the basketball more. Like this is, he has literally scored 20 points just twice in his last 11 games. If he can find a way to put the ball on the basketball more, which we know he's capable of, it could go a long way towards stabilizing things for Houston. And again, the good news is if you're a Rockets fan, after all of that mediocre basketball over the last few months, you're the three seed, which is a casual reminder that everyone in the West outside of San Antonio and Oklahoma City has been struggling in various ways at various times over the last few months. So again, you're everybody, whether it's the Lakers at the sixth seed or the Rockets at the three seed, you're two good weeks or two bad weeks away from

flipping that dynamic and you're on the opposite end of it. So all of it is about keeping your eye on the prize one game at a time, one play at a time. Keep your hands on the rope and hang on, because this could get bad for anybody or get good for anybody in a short period of time. Number six, Minnesota Timberwolves currently plus 3,000 to win the title on Hard Rock bet. They've won three in a row, six out of seven and 11 of their last 15. So it's definitely starting to ramp up a little bit for the postseason. I thought the win in Denver yesterday was one of their more impressive defensive performances of the season. Those are those games that I can't get out of my head when it comes to the Timberwolves,

when they really turn up on defense because they're just so difficult to deal with. Like, I was thinking about this when I was watching the game yesterday, like when you put two on the ball, whether it's a blitz of a ball screen or just up at the level coverage or you're doubling a post up or even if you're digging down on a driver or any sort of situation where the defense is loaded on the basketball in some way, shape or form. The reads are the same for everybody. The reads out of a postup double, the reads out of an at the level coverage, the reads out of a dig down on a drive. All those reads are the same for the offense. But when you get there faster, when you pressure the ball more,

when you're bigger and more athletic within that aggression, it's just really difficult to pass through it or to shoot over it. Like, Yokic has seen double teams that have come out of postups a million times. But when Dante DeVincenzo, who's a very good athlete, shoots that gap, it's just faster and more difficult to deal with when it's a lesser defensive player, when it's a lesser defensive lineup. There are some passing reads that Jamal Murray makes, some drop off passes, some swing passes where it's like, oh, I'm trying to make this entry pass, but that's Jaden McDaniels's long ass arm that's in the way getting that deflection. Or, oh, it's tagging the roller. I'm going to make this skip pass to the weak side, but Ant is just super athletic and can

stop on a dime, cut back, elevate and intercept your skip pass. As I'm watching the game, I'm sitting there thinking, like, it's not like Denver's necessarily making the wrong reads or that they're not compromising the defense. Like, Murray and Yokich were consistently compromising the defense and drawing the defense like to collapse on them. They were seeing the right opening. Just Minnesota is so fast and so physical that it can overwhelm them sometimes. And that honestly is what makes me so high on this Minnesota team. There's just another level of physical imposition with them. The transition attack has been super impressive. They had 34 transition points yesterday in Denver. Their bench groups with Bones Highland and Iodesimu did an

amazing job running off of misses and turnovers and getting layups in the open floor. Ant brings a little bit of that element, especially as a three point shooter, Nas Reed in that early fourth quarter stretch, those quick little, uh, little moves, that little hesitation drive to the right where he drew the foul on Cam Johnson for the end one. Just a disgusting Euro step into a lefty floater in the lane that put them up 12 in the early fourth quarter. Amazing fourth quarter run there from Nasreid hit a big pull up three in that stretch as well. Big swing like, I know we already talk nuggets, but it's funny. Cam Johnson has just been an absolute nightmare. I'm not ready to give up on him because I do think he can shoot way better than he has been shooting,

but there's no way to look at that as of right now than other than a big disappointment. But there's a huge swing in that game where they get a transition three for Cam Johnson off of the right wing. He misses it. Nas Reid goes. down. It hits a contested pull-up three in Cam Johnson's face turned what should have been a, I shouldn't say should have been, but if you hit the open three and miss the contested three, it's a four-point game. You miss the open three. You hit the contested three. It's a ten-point game. Huge swing in that game from Nas Reid. Jaden McDaniels just repeatedly bullying his way to the rim over and over again. Didn't even hit a three yesterday, but just was controlling the game as a

driver and as a bully ball player. I continue to think the wolves have a fastball when they're at their very best that is every bit as good as the top teams in the league. That's why I'm so high on them as a championship contender. They are the fourth best record in the league against teams in the top 10 in point differential, second best record or second best point differential in the league within those games against teams that are in the top 10 in point differential. Number five, the Boston Celtics, currently plus 1100 to win the title on Hard Rock Bet. They had a disappointing loss in Denver last week where their offense fell victim to the same deep drop coverage that they had been using to great effect against some of their recent opponents, but they bounced back

with wins against the Nets and the Sixers. One of Jalen Brown's best games of the season against Philly, he went for 27, 8 and 8. But the start of the game was Nemeus Keda. It went for 2717 in three blocks, just feasting on rolls and cuts. Not the best Andre Drummond game that I've seen him play. Mimi just absolutely whooped his ass. But he showed some nimble footwork on roles where he had to like work around defenders and go up and under for some tougher layups, just showed some impressive hand-eye coordination for his position. Made a couple of huge plays at the room late in the game. He kind of went to a post up and he tried to turn over his left shoulder and lost the

ball, but he scrapped it out in front of everybody and rose up and got an and one, had a huge offensive rebound, put back dunk off of this kind of bizarre sequence where the ball went carining off the backboard right into his hands. And then one of his three blocks was a huge one late in the game, six point games, two possession game, a couple minutes left where he gets Tyrese maxi on a switch in the left corner and ends up timing it perfectly rising up and blocking him on a pull-up three. Just a hell of a game for one of the great success stories of the Celtics organization over the last few years. And then one last thing I want to talk about the Celtics, Baylor Shireman.

I was fascinated. You know, Reggie Miller can drive me crazy sometimes. But he kind of had an interesting point during the game when he was talking about how like Baylor's playing through this, this finger fracture. And essentially his whole thing is like, I got my starting spot. I am not an established NBA player. If I decide to sit out and rehab this thing, someone could take my spot in the entire league could look me behind. You never know.

You literally never know. But Baylor's probably going to get another shot no matter what. But again, as a player, when you've got something that you've fought your entire life for, I respect to hell out of a player just deciding, I'm going to find a way to keep this spot as long as I can. And one of the things with Baylor Shireman is he brings a lot of aspects that the Celtics have had kind of like,

varying elements of from that swing forward spot where like they've had some bigger more athletic players but maybe they're more inconsistent on offense. Baylor Shireman brings like a more refined offensive skill but he's still a very good rebounder for his position. He's become a very good anticipatory defender meaning like he's very good at picking the angle to beat a defender offensive player to his spot and absorb that contact and as a result because he brings that combination of like shooting offensive skill making reads in the driving kick but also good size the can guard multiple positions. That's learned how to be a better anticipatory defender

and a great rebounder for his position. He grabs seven rebounds for 36 minutes this year. And he pops off the screen as a relatively big player on the wing as well. And as a result, he's turned into one of their better on-off guys this year in plus-mightus. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's Sportsbook. March is here. And that means college basketball takes center stage.

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Download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was, we had. This is how you guys remember it going down. Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a paramedipausal chin here you do.

So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with the Adamia Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her,

so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive, wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be? Getting naked at 50 with a new guy. That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try.

So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano and our podcast point game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective

on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like,

after you go through a training camp with that, I say, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the balls. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Number four, the New York Knicks, currently plus 1,500 to win the title on Hard Rock Bet.

What an incredible defensive performance by the Knicks in Madison Square Garden yesterday. They completely boxed in San Antonio's guards. Steph Castle was like legitimately struggling to get to his spots, which is something I haven't seen very often from him this season. I give OG and Adobe and Josh Hart a lot of credit for that. They did an amazing job.

Victor Women Yama scored 25 points, but the Knicks turned him over seven times by just being super physical on his base and swarming him on his drives. As a team, the Knicks forced 22 turnovers and scored 24 points off of those turnovers was one of the biggest differences in the game. Again, Steph Castle, Deer and Fox, Dylan Harper, none of their guards could get anything going. Just a really impressive defensive night from the Knicks. And Jalen Brunson was great all game. McHale Bridges was killing the spurs with a. his weak side three point shooting. In general, all game, I thought the Knicks did a great job of skipping the ball across the court when the spurs loaded up. So really impressive like early

possession passing game from the Knicks. This is something they've been way better at all season anyway compared to last year, but especially yesterday. They generated 23 unguarded catch and shoot threes yesterday. That's super impressive against one of the better defenses in the league. Mohamed DiOarro did an amazing job staying aggressive, even though he missed some of his early looks. He got 13 threes up yesterday. I saw a stat from Nate Duncan saying it was the most threes per minute ever in history of the league. Minimum, I think it was like minimum 10 minutes played or something like that. But he ended up hitting four of them. Made a couple of huge defensive plays. He blocked Steph Castle on an ISO drive. That was one thing that kind of stood out

to me in this game. Like because Steph has had so much success getting to his spots, he did struggle against some of the bigger, stronger forwards. And I thought that was such an interesting thing to keep an eye on as we head into the postseason and teams try to figure out how to game plan for Steph. But Dior was plus 18 and 15 minutes yesterday. Carl Anthony Towns didn't have a good statistical game. He had some turnovers against San Antonio

double teams, but I actually thought Kat was really good for the most part in this one. He's a bit of a matchup problem for a Spurs team that's light at the forward position. The Spurs started Steph Castle on him and they were switching pick and rolls. And the Knicks ended up getting a lot of good looks early in the game on the ensuing double teams because they'd

screen, Cat would get Deer and Fox on him, and they'd either throw it to him in the post he'd draw double or the double would come before the pass, and they'd skip it across the court. They tried all sorts of things. They tried not switching it. They tried scram switching it to get Wemby to take Kat as he'd run down to the post. And the Spurs made a lot of mistakes in those interchanges that led to good looks. We'll talk about that when we get to the Spurs here in a few minutes. But again, I thought overall Kat was a lot better than his box score looked yesterday. Even at a nice little impressive driving baseline dunk against Steph Castle in the early second half. Just a really impressive win where the Knicks gave a lot of problems to a legit

championship contender on both ends of the floor. I like the Knicks fastball this year so much better than last year. And it shows in the numbers. Last year, the Knicks were so bad against teams in the top part of the league outside of that Boston series, obviously. Last year, they were 17th in their record against teams on the top 10 in point differential. 12th in their point differential in those games. This year, they have the second best record in the NBA right now behind the Detroit Pistons at 10 and 7 against teams in the top 10 in point differential, and they have the fourth best point differential in those games. So much, much better resilience against the top teams. Why? Improvement defensively across the board and a more equal opportunity offense that's

built on driving kick early in possessions that's generating a lot more spot-up opportunities, which are some of the most efficient opportunities you'll ever generate in the half court in the NBA, just better on both ends of the floor, making them better against the best teams. And here's the thing. You match up really well with San Antonio, and you've consistently given them issues, even the one game you lost was a game that was very competitive, and then you handled them in the in-season tournament, you handled them yesterday. So like, there's a real chance San Antonio makes it out of the West. That's a pathway that could benefit New York. You can imagine if New York could somehow pull out of the East and San Antonio makes it out of that bloodbath

of a West, if you're a Knicks fan, you've got to feel really good about your chances to win the title there. Number three, the San Antonio Spurs, currently plus 800 to win the title on Rockbet. The most disappointing thing about this particular game was the offense. Like, their defense got cut up, but it was a lot of mistakes that I think they can clean up. A lot of transition defense mistakes. A guy's not getting matched up and giving up layups and dunks in transition were just like simple execution errors. We talked about all those switches involving Kat. There were a lot of like just basic execution errors. Like the scram switch with Wembe trying to take Kat, Julian Chappenny's slow on his rotation to the rim. They end up

giving up a cut for an easy basket. A lot of like bot switches on interchanges with Kat where Kat would get slipped downhill into the basket or someone else would because they just would be hesitant to switch or not knowing exactly what they want to do in those situations. I think they can execute a lot better on defense. I'm less concerned about their defensive execution when they get to the postseason. So that I don't really think too much about. What concerns me is that the offense did look a lot like what I think the Knicks will

see at times in the postseason. Teams will get physical with Wemby and force him into turnovers. Like, I expect Wemby's first playoff run to be a relatively high turnover one as he adjusts to the physicality. It's kind of what I expect, him to average more points than you think, just because of how many easy ones he can get around the rim and the flow. And then I expect him to be somewhat turnover prox. Like that, that's more or less what I expect to see in the postseason. I do think the young guards will have playoff games where they struggle to solve the puzzle of what the defense is trying to do. The trump card they have is the spurs have a veteran all-star guard who can

run, pick and roll, and raise their floor in these situations. And Deer Fox had seven points. And that was really my fear with the Spurs when I would talk about them as a playoff team. Their most reliable half-court offense will be playing through a guard who may or may not even be a top 30 player in the NBA right now. Is that a death sentence? No, of course not. I'm not about to jump off the Spurs bandwagon because of one loss. They have tons of opportunities over the next couple of weeks to prove that they still have that top-tier championship upside. They're at Philly tomorrow. Then they have this homestand where they play Detroit, the Clippers, Houston, Boston, Denver, and Charlotte. So many opportunities to make this loss a distant memory,

but that's the kind of thing that I just see in my head, like what happened in that Knicks game, that's the kind of thing that I see in my head where it's like a certain type of matchup that can provide bigger physical defenders for their guards, rim protection, that sort of thing. Like they really struggled in that Mitchell Robinson group in the late first quarter, for example, that really shut down their offense as the Knicks kind of overcame that initial run from San Antonio. Like, I'm just a little worried about it. Not a death sentence. Can't wait to see these next couple of weeks and how they respond, but I was a little disappointed in their offense yesterday. Number two, the Oklahoma City Thunder, currently

plus 140 to win the title on Hard Rock bet. One clear and defining characteristic of the last week that Shaggill's alexander is back and that he looks amazing. The Thunder actually racked up several really impressive wins without any of their top three guards. They're defense has been super impressive. We've had offensive contributions from guys like Kason Wallace and Jared McCain that have helped fill the void. But who cares about all that? Shea is back.

And he looks fantastic physically, and that's the key. Getting wherever he wants to on the floor. He looked super explosive with his first step and on his counters in that Denver game. Even at a poster dunk against the Mavs and Max Christie yesterday, in his first two games back, 33,

7 and 7 with just two turnovers per game. Looks absolutely locked in and ready for the stretch run. And then Alex Crusoe, man. Like, he straight up stole that Denver game. They probably lose that game without Alex. His defensive playmaking down the stretch, he stopped a key fast break late with a steel.

His timely spot-up shooting hit a couple of massive catch-and-shoot threes. Arguably the best role player in the league. One of the crazier stats I've seen this year is that the Thunder are only plus 8.5 per 100 possessions, according to cleaning the glass ring, remove garbage time, plus 8.5 net with Alex Caruso off the floor this year, which is obviously very good, but it's not earth-shattering.

When Alex Caruso's on the floor this year, the Thunder are beating the living shit out of everybody there, plus 21 points per 100 possessions. Number one, the Detroit Pistons, currently plus 1,500 to win the title on Hard Rock Bet. The Pistons are just a winning machine, man. We talked about their loss to San Antonio last week. They responded with three straight wins, a win over a Thunder team that had been really feisty without their star guards, as we mentioned. Cade had a really nice bounce back game after the travesty against the spurs.

They steal a game against the calves thanks to debilitating ball pressure down the stretch that caused Sam Marilyn and Dennis Schroeder to decompose with some ugly turnovers that led to transition opportunities. And then Danes Jenkins drawing a foul on a three point shot sent that game to overtime where they closed it out. And then when Cade fouled out, they needed someone to give them some buckets late. Tobias Harris was able to go to that little right shoulder fade along the left baseline. That shot that he loves so much, hit a huge one that iced the game against the calves. And then Tobias carried that momentum over in the magic game where he briefly took over the offense in the mid-fourth quarter when Cade took his rest, hit another right shoulder

fade. He loves that shot off the same spot on the left block and a nice driving layup out of a ball screen that helped put things away. How about 23 points for Tobias Harris in the win on the road in Orlando? Jalen Duren was also a monster protecting the rim down the stretch in this game. Caught a lot of like those in-between sequences where people would drive at him and someone would also be cutting and his size would just be imposing enough to kind of shut down both of those. A lot of those like two on one advantages for Orlando around the rim that did not end in baskets. Rematches with the calves and the spurs on the road this week. A couple more measuring stick games.

The calves will almost certainly have at least James Harted, maybe Donovan Mitchell as well, so different challenge there. And the San Antonio game in particular, I have my eye on because Cade was so, so bad in that first one. And as we talked about on the show, it was really his first opportunity to even attempt to solve the Victor Wemnon Yama puzzle. That's a really hard puzzle for anybody to solve. I'm just curious to see Kade's response. After a bunch of film, after having a couple of really good games after that, I'm excited to see how he responds on the road in San Antonio against that same Victor Wemanniamma problem. All right, guys, it's all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for

supporting us and supporting the show. We'll be back tomorrow with some game reaction. I'll see you guys. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover. that your dad has been living a double life.

That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast,

home from a hypocrite, I'll be changing lives. helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Psych! I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrat, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast. podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was primed. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to him, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.