The Mismatch - Play-in Matchups, Plus the Impact of the Mavericks Missing Porzingis, Nets Missing Harden, and Lakers Missing Davis

Episode Date: May 7, 2021

Verno and KOC discuss the teams that are missing a vital player— the Mavericks and Kristaps Porzingis, the Nets and James Harden, and the Lakers and Anthony Davis (2:52)—then touch on their potential strategies heading into the playoffs. Later, they preview the play-in standings and discuss the East's top competitors, the 76ers and Bucks (16:45), before weighing in on the teams that are up for a challenging schedule during the tournament (27:07). Plus, updates on coaches in the hot seat and the argument for Nikola Jokic as MVP (49:05). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O'Connor Associate Producer: Erika Cervantes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen up all you New York fans. Veteran New York sports talk host, John Dostrompsky gives his unique take on all the big stories in the Big Apple and beyond, including guest conversations, gambling picks, and reactions from you, the listener. Check out New York, New York with John Dostromsky on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. Joining me as he does every Friday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K.K.E. Kevin O. O. Clymer. Kevin O. O. Kavanaugh. Kevin O. Kevin O Candyland, Kevin O'Killian, Kevin O'Porter Jr., Kevin O'Virdo. What's going on? Well, we have less than 10 games left for virtually everybody in the NBA. And just looking at the schedule this weekend, I started to get super excited because as we talked about on Tuesday, everything has been heightened because of the play-in.

Now, games that would have very little to absolutely no meaning will now possibly have tremendous meeting towards deciding the teams. And I'll just give you like one small example. When I was scrolling through, I was like, oh, the spurs play the Kings. Like when on earth would I care that the spurs are playing the kings, given their place in the standings, except for the fact that this year, that becomes insanely important to oddly both teams, given where they are in the same. So that's just a small example of how crazy this weekend is going to be.

but let's cover like kind of what happened last night. The biggest was the Mavericks and their very good win over the Nets. There has been over this course of those last week, Hardaway Jr. has been out of his mind. They've been doing this without Porzengis, have the Mavericks and, you know, a little taper off, I think, for the Nets as they are heading into the playoffs. They're five and five in their last 10. They take it some losses here.

We just saw him against Milwaukee over the weekend. And, you know, they've got the rant. They've got Kyrie, but they do not have James Hardin in the fold. And it is insanely noticeable, especially when at one point a guy was dribbling it up. And I was like, is that Chi-Os? I was like, oh, it's Mike James. How about that? Mike James.

But anyways, kind of thoughts on both of these teams. The Mavericks, I think, are, you know, starting to convince. me that, you know, as they're heading towards this and whoever they're going to face in the playoffs, I'm thinking more highly of them and they're certainly got the chance of going in hot, but I do wonder, does this stay the same when Porzingis comes back? Yeah, I mean, with Porzingis, they've really been bad defensively. You know, when you have some front courts with Dwight Powell on KP in there at the same time, that can hurt you defensively.

And they've been a lot better defensively, you know, with some of the configurations they've been able to have. KP just can't defend in space right now. But he still does raise your ceiling, you know, when you have him out there, his ability to space the floor from 35 feet. So, I mean, in some ways, Chris, the Chris has Porzingas conversation right now, today is no different than it's been for us the entire season in the sense that you can't rely on him to be there.

You just can't. He comes and he goes. That's the way it is with him. You don't know if he's going to finish games. You don't know if you're going to have him for an entire playoff series. But he does raise your ceiling when you have him. With all that said, though. But is that in theory or does he really?

Do you think they're bad? I mean, I honestly watch them. And I know that Hardaway Jr. has been crazy hot. And that may be not sustainable. But I watch them. And I mean, I've always kind of like Powell. Because he doesn't take, you know, he's going to shoot a high percentage

from the field. He doesn't take bad shots. He also doesn't stretch the floor out completely, but he's energy guy. And like, you know, there's stars and there's role players. And guys like that take a small amount of shots. They keep the ball moving. They fight for rebounds. They defend

their position. And I do think that there is in some ways, it's not always the superior player. Sometimes it's just how it fits together. and there are times when I watch them and think, man, it fits together, you know, better when he's not there.

I don't know. I know it should. I know it should be good. It's not always about the talent. Trust me, I'm watching a team that brought Jared Jackson back and can't win a game. Yeah, I mean, like, that's what I was getting at. You know, you have poor Zingis and in theory, like he does raise your ceiling, but the negatives of what he is on defense right now might outweigh any positives on offense. I mean, you spread

defenses with Luca, period. You know, he doesn't matter who he's on the court with. He is going to get his and create open shots for his teammates. So the value of having KP is that 35 foot, you know, floor spacer who opens up even more room for Luca, who is a great pick and pop partner for him, but doesn't beat mismatches on post-ups who can't make teams pay for putting a six-foot guy on him. That's one of the reasons why months ago, and I know Mark Cuban denied it, but I remember Jake Fisher, a Bleacher report reported that the Mavericks were quietly, you know, gauging the market for what, you know, a return could be for KP because it's a smart thing to do.

In the same way that we're questioning the fit, they should take that same approach to soft season. And we're jumping ahead here. but the reality is that there is those major questionable fits about him. And what we've learned about Dallas is they can still produce at a high level without him. By having other guys take on that floor spacing role, like you said, Hardaway is lighting it up. That Dorian Finney Smith and Last Night's game was great.

Like, you're not going to get that every night. But it's not like, you know, we talked about this on Bill Simmons pot earlier and like me, J. Kyle, man, were on his show. And we talked about how in passing, like some shooters, regardless of position, like Carl Anthony Towns is a great shooter period, right, regardless of position. Chris Stap's Porzingis is not a great shooter regardless of position. He's a great shooter for a seven-footer. And in today's NBA, maybe you're better off having just a great shooter there rather than a seven-footer who can shoot.

Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. And I also, the concern is, like you don't get the other benefits of a seven-footer is what I'm saying, you know? Yeah, right. If he's not going to be contesting everything. Yeah. Is that not contesting everything, not being a dominant rim protector, not being a dominant rim runner or a post-player. Like all the benefits of a seven-footer aren't there.

Right. And I wonder if, I mean, sometimes I think like, yeah, but who's going to be that second guy that you're going to need? in the playoffs, especially if they're running doubles at Luke and whatever. And that is, can it be, it's not ideal for Tim Hardaway Jr. to be your second guy. But honestly, like, what are the chances that Porzingis is more consistent? You know what I'm saying? Like, am I getting that out of him? Every night, am I getting the 20-something that I need out of a second guy?

If it's him, I'm unsure, you know? I'm unsure. And obviously, look, the more space you could give Luca to do what he wants to do. And he's going to find you and he's going to get you good shots. And, I mean, they're doing it last night. You know, they don't have Redick in the mix. But the Reddick numbers, I was checking them yesterday. They're outstanding.

I mean, like just the net rating for him. When he's been on the court, they've outscored opponents by 12 points, which is a big number, you know, for a guy that was just acquired. and they'll have him in the mix. And so it's like, okay, who plays more when Porzingis doesn't? And you've gotten these, you know, like I said, you've gotten the big performance out of Hardaway's kind of been the second shot taker in this deal without him. I don't know.

I do think that I really don't know if whoever they're going to play, whoever they're going to match up with in the playoffs. Let's say it was Denver, you know, or whoever. Let's say whoever they're going to match up with, I really don't know, honestly, if I think they'd be better off without, with him not in the lineup. So you would even. I think it's possible.

I do think it's possible. I watched him last night and I'm like, you know, I'm not so sure they need it. bag of that lineup. But you have to play him if he's healthy. Yeah, KP raises your sailing though of what you can be in theory basis. He raises the ceiling. I mean, he could also lower the floor sometimes because of the defensive limitations, the inconsistencies on that and the floor. But when KP is on, like, we've seen him have some dominant dominant stretches for Dallas to close last season before the hiatus. You know, he's had moments along the way this

season as well. Right. I mean, he, he's in theory, an incredibly important player, but the fact is, is that, you know, let's, let's say you're Dallas right now. You're in the five spot at the moment. They could hold that. They have a game up in the Lakers and Portland who were tied and we'll talk about them fighting for that six, seven spot with the playing.

Dallas still not out of that yet either, but if they do hold the five and if they get Denver in the first round, um, that's a super intriguing matchup. and for the Dallas Mavericks, suddenly, you know, you're playing this well, you're thriving without Porzingis, who on papers are second best player. And if you're plugging him back in, not a hard guy to plug in, you know, it just changes things of who you are. That makes them suddenly very, very interesting. If they were to win a first round series against Denver and then have Utah or Phoenix in the second round, I'm just saying there's a path for Dallas to make a deep run here. There really is.

This year could get super funky. It really good with the teams that we have deep going into the Western Conference playoffs. Well, especially because if you can catch Denver and I don't know, Denver would still be favored in that series. But if you're feeding into and you're going to feed into, if you can get to that four or five, you're going to feed into either Phoenix or Utah. And those are not the no chance series. right if we're saying um hey now dallas is going to go play phoenix there there would be there would be some people picking dallas oh yeah that word it might be foolishness but they're i'm saying

it's not a given that they would get wiped out by a number one seed as as would typically be the case um it has become rather evident that he says he is going to be back and healthy for the playoffs but the nets have to have Harden. They do. It's great to have. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, that is an incredible blessing. It's definitely great to have. They shouldn't be able to have the excuses that they have.

As I watched the game over the weekend against the Bucks and the Bucks went on that 18 to one run, I was thinking to myself as I was watching it. Look at how the ball is just bouncing around everywhere and they're getting each other's shots and they're cutting to the basket. And then the other team felt like it was just taking turns. Whoever's got the ball in their hands or maybe one pass to take turns.

And people started responding, yeah, well, we don't have our point guard. We don't have James Hardin. It's like, okay, like the team with two, you know, 20-time All-Stars needs another 20-time All-Star or else these games don't count. Like, it's kind of foolishness, but whatever. So these recent games, losing four games in a row for the Nets, has it all changed your perception of what they can? be in the playoffs. I just think that if, oh, they're not winner. They have to have James Hardin and they have to have a good James Hardin. That's what I would say. But has it changed your, this has it changed your perception of what they can be like upside with Hardin. I think my,

I think my, uh, no, I would not say it's, no, it is not changed by perception of what they will be with him. I am, as I said, a hundred times. Still, the favorite in the East with Hardin? Yes. Okay. Yes. Yes. but I've also told you 100 times. I'm very hopeful that justice and goodness prevails, that you can't just throw together guys that literally aren't even playing together in the regular season at all.

To me, that's not great for the NBA if you could just throw together three guys that don't even have any logged minutes as compared to their opponents. and it, you know, I know that it's a talent league, but you would like, I want to believe that team and playing as a team and that going through things together, accumulating scars together, you know, having the ups and downs together, all of those things that they matter and they fortify you as a team.

And if you can just, and it might be so, that you can just throw together three guys, and it doesn't even freaking matter if they've ever even like the amount of minute, what do they play seven games together? I mean,

that's crazy. That is crazy. If you could throw a team. 186 minutes for the big three, Kyrie, Katie and Hardin, 186 minutes. That's it.

Yeah. I mean, it's much better. It's much better for the NBA if going forward if they lose. It just is.

Because if you could just throw it together and guys can force their way out and then and then it shows that like it doesn't even matter if they play together or not. But I am well aware of how great they could be when it's crack it. I mean, how are you supposed to, how are you supposed to guard it if they've got the three guys going at the same time? So I would just say my, I guess maybe if you wanted to say my perception was they might be able to win, uh, without Hardin or they would still be. very, very difficult with that hard.

But I do not think they could get to an NBA finals unless he's back in the mix. Yeah. I mean, I'm with you that they need Hardin for a lot of different reasons. Like not having a Lamarcus Aldridge might be bigger than we might have thought. Just with having the lack of that big, sturdy big man that they got him to be, that they wanted Andre Drummond to be. Like, they need that presence against a Joel M. they need that presence against a Yanos Southern de Kumpo, right? And that's what they got him for.

And now they don't have him. Now they're relying on DeAndre Jordan, who is, I mean, unfortunately, nowhere close to the DeAndre Jordan. We saw just a couple of years ago, never mind it's prime years. So, like, it's simple to say it, but it's 100% of truth. They just have to outscore every freaking team, you know, with their offensive firepower. And they can. They could go to the finals like that. But there's no denying, Chris.

that Milwaukee and Philadelphia are the better balanced teams. I'm not sure I'd pick him in a series against Brooklyn. I want to see how Brooklyn evolves. I want to see how Brooklyn looks in a first round series, whoever their opponent is. But there is no denying that the Sixers and Bucks are better balanced. And what that means for the postseason, I still think we need to see how the Nets look with Hardin' Back,

how they look in a first round series. But the Sixers or Bugs very well might be the favorite. in a series depending on how things developed because those teams haven't quite peaked yet in my opinion i still think there's more room for them to grow as well it doesn't it does it doesn't mean a tremendous amount but i will say i thought it was extremely instructive to watch those teams play over the weekend and saw how holiday can for segments of time just take a guy out of a game like now that's the trick except for kevin porter junior Kevin Porter Jr. can destroy him.

When they've got three guys, though, when they've got three like that, if you've got a defender that can subdue one of them, right, that you can, you can just deploy him and you can say, all right, now it's more on the other two. Again, these are, these are the decisions you're having to make, which are not easy ones if they've got all their firepower. But he can guard him and he can, you know, make him inefficient, you know, and I do think that, I think there's a real possibility that Drew Holiday ends up becoming a huge story in these playoffs, that he was great. You know, it's long forgotten, but the last time we saw him in the playoffs, he was playing for the Pelicans.

And, I mean, they're going up against Lillard. They wiped them out. They wiped them out. And he was awesome. And so I do think that there's a real chance that the story becomes this. This is a different bucks. And we see PJ Tucker getting minutes for them now, but that between Holiday and between Tucker,

that those two guys can make life so much more difficult on their opponents than in years past when you were having to run out, you know, whoever. I mean, obviously Bledso has been playing, has been playing point guard form for the last couple of years. But yet, I do think the Drew Holiday thing, I'm almost more, my perception is probably changed more about them than it has the other teams, I would say. Milwaukee. You know, just seeing them in that kind of a game.

Seeing Yon to score the 49 in the one, which is, I mean, incredible. I mean, incredible. And they don't have anything for him. They just don't. They don't have, there's nobody. There's nobody. You can't look down the bench and say, all right, we're going to deploy this guy to try to make life harder on Janus. And if you double him, they do have guys that can make you pay.

But I do think the holiday thing is a, that's a whole other world with that Bucks team. And seeing him in a big game do what he did, I think is, yeah, I think my perception is probably changed about them. And for the better, right? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. in me in the postseason. I think Janice is also playing with a calmness, a steadiness and a pace to him right now in recent weeks and months. And I thought after he had that really good shooting performance, the way in which he talked about his shooting and the importance of it and the work he puts in, there was a real maturity and level-headedness about that entire challenge of doing that.

and he just seemed to be somebody that like is in a good mental state, you know, and I don't know, like it's just just watching him play, just hearing the way he speaks about his game. Yana seems like in a really good spot right now with the way he's performing on the court and the way he's speaking about it. And you look at the talent around him, that's probably a big part of it. You have Drew Holliday who can get those ball handling reps that you're talking about Chris. You have Chris Middleton who can do that as well. you have a good, strong team around you that can do some of the stuff that Yonis now doesn't have to, like bringing the ball up the court, you know, creating from the perimeter.

Because you have other guys who can handle that responsibility and it's put him in a place where he's really just leaning into his strengths and occasionally he can pop off. Well, and like one of the things I noticed from watching that game was it also plays to just having holiday, let Middleton play more to his strengths because he doesn't have to just be this creator, right? Like, I'm going to go and I'm going to, that's not, that's not what he's best at is throw him the ball, go get me a bucket. I'm going to, he's not the type of guy that, to just go get his own shot in the way.

He's pretty good at it, though. But I'm saying in the way other superstars are, right? He does it at a lower volume. Right. He does it with a superb efficiency at a lower volume. Yeah, but if you get him cutting, you get him running off screens, you let you get a point guard, a real point guard, set him up. Now he can become a, that to me is the best of him.

Well, and that, that's the good part about the balance because Drew Holiday is also a guy who doesn't consider himself a pure point guard. He considers himself a two guard, right? And so you have these two guys, or really three, Janus, Middleton, and Holiday, none of the three are necessarily run high, pick and roll, all game long, distribute the ball, get buckets. They get their buckets in different ways and play off of others, all three of them. And so there's this nice balance among the responsibilities and the ball handling duties for all of those guys. And then you mix in some other guys, Devencenzo here and there, you know,

you've got different guys. No, and they really play as a team. None of those guys, all I'm saying is, and Middleton included, none of those guys are best suited for, and you see this all the time in NBA games. The clear out now, here's my guy versus your guy. You know, we're down by one. Now we're going to clear everything out and you go score. You know, that's not, I mean, that's not there. But as a collective, and that is the difference between them and, you know,

you watch a Portland game, you're getting that clear out for Lillard. You watch some of these other, you know, there's a lot of teams of the league. That's just how they play it out at the, at the, the end of these games. And that's not the strength as much with them as just ISO go get a bucket guys. Well, I mean, like I said

earlier, they're lower volume guys, but they're still efficient. So this season, 47 players have logged at least 200 possessions according to the second spectrum. Number one on efficiency is no surprise. It's Kevin Durant. Number two is no surprise at Stefan

Curry in scoring efficiency. Three is Zach Levine. But fourth is Drew Holiday. 10th is Chris Middleton. So they have two guys in the top 10 out of 47 in points generated from their isolation. So that could be them shooting, passing the ball to a teammate. The bucks, and when we talk about their balance, I think this kind of hits on it because you don't have to have Drew Holiday do it every possession. You don't have Chris Middleton do it.

They can do it when it's the best matchup for them. So it's like a far lesser version of the, what the Nets have on offense. With the Nets, you have Katie, Kyrie and James Hardin, these ludicrous level scores who can pick and attack those matchups. With the Bucks,

these guys aren't that level, but they still can logically take the same approach at the end of the clock when it's running a picker roll or running in isolation to find the best matchup. I mean, having that level of talent alleviates the pressure off of Yonis to do that.

And instead, he can be the guy who's setting the screen or that's off the ball that defenses still need to account for because he's always such a threat on the court. So I feel much like you, Chris, stronger about the bucks and their chances in the postseason, though there's still a lot that they have to prove.

Yeah, how they move was so good. Oh, so good. Outstanding. And they've locked them up. So what are you doing? You're giving away low first round draft picks. And just, I mean, honestly, a disgusting move by the Pelicans, honestly.

Just terrible, really. I mean, do you put Drew Holiday on that Pelicans team? They're fighting for like home court maybe. I mean, that's the, that's a difference. I don't. I don't. You watch, you watch holiday over the weekend. You see what he kind of brings to the table for the bucks.

And it's like, why, why, why, why don't you, why didn't you want him in, in New Orleans? I've been, I've been working. I've been working through my all NBA teams. and you know, because awards are due on the 17th of the month. So it's a little bit of time, but I'm writing about it on Monday.

And, like, it's like Drew Holiday deserves to be all NBA. It's just there's so few spots. Oh, there's 15 spots and there's like some really tough cuts for those guys. And numbers are crazy this year. I mean,

it's, yeah. Statistics are crazy. It's not like he doesn't have the numbers. He has good offensive numbers. He's outstanding defensively. His impact is made beyond the lock score a lot of the time. And it's just like it's tough this year. Like like it's very possible.

A lot of people are going to have that's how he stays underrated, Kev. They don't give him. LeBron and Hardin like guys like that could be guards on the third team. You know, the third team could have Rudy Gober on. I could have Paul George on it. The third team might not have Devin Booker or Ben Simmons or Kyrie on it. Like that's this is a loaded year. Like, Tray Young might not make the team a lot of really good players. So, I mean, with Drew Holliday, he's like on my bubble list of in consideration for all NBA. But this year is so freaking loaded, man. There's so many good players.

Hard to find a way for him. So a lot of people do have, despite what we've been saying about the bucks, people that are holding tickets for NBA championship tickets at Vegas, the two most held are Brooklyn and, of course, the Lakers. And the Lakers are now trying to stave off having to play in a. playing game. Anthony Davis left with back spasms last night. Oh boy. In their game.

Now he says, you know, we're going to see how it feels, but basically what I gathered from listening to him last night was games too big, right? Like, I'm going to be out there. Now, who knows if that is the most prudent thing to do? But unbelievably, the Portland game is a massive game. I mean massive game because not only do they need to get on the right track not only do they need to try to keep themselves out of a play in scenario

this is I believe the tiebreaker between these two and so whoever wins this way there's a real chance that those teams could end up tied record wise and now all of a sudden this game matters greatly in terms of

who gets a higher seed and in the positions that they're in, who would be in the play in? They're one and one right now for it. Lasers versus Blazers. So this is it.

So this is it. So it doesn't matter of Anthony Davis's back is hurt or not. He's got to get out. He said he's got to get out there. And it's scary, right? You know,

I mean, the guy was coming back from leg stuff. I mean, I guess this is the downfall to have. having these insanely meaningful games. Well. Right?

It's like if the guy has to play hurt, just so he doesn't get the damn 17. Well, well, you got, we could have a Lakers Warriors playing game. Oh my God. Sefer Gurry and Dr.

Green. Particulous. For the seventh seat in the playing tournament. That's a distinct possibility, Chris. I know. It's so wild that we might actually, This drama that could unfold.

This is the downside that players have to play more games, you know, and that's a negative for the team. It's a negative for the player that some of these late season games matter more. But for the fans. Oh, yeah. It's great for fans. I mean, and ultimately, like I told you, given the small amount of games that are left, that game tonight could truly decide this.

Yeah. And this game would not matter one bit. It would not matter at all. You know, it's like we'd be talking about like, well, the sixth seed looks like it could be the clipper. I mean, the three seed looks like it could be the clippers. So the six seed matchup could be tougher. But Denver's only a half game back. We'd be talking about how teams might slide up and down the standings.

Yep. not about some great implications about a playing tournament, the importance of winning the game. Like the fact is is that this is just another example. We've talked about every show in recent weeks of why I love the playing. Why playing is going to be great and why tonight's game, Portland versus L.A. It's going to be awesome to watch.

And all three of those teams, both Dallas, Portland and the Lakers, every single game is massive now. It's all the playoff game, all of it. Because one of those is falling seven. Like there's not enough room. None of them are getting to four, right? So they're going to be five, six, and seven in some order.

And so now every, every game the rest of the way, it's like, I mean, those are three really good teams. And your reward, as you were saying, probably, I mean, you're playing curry. It's hard to imagine they're going to move anywhere. you know, they're probably not moving down. Yeah. They're not moving up. So this in San Antonio really sliding right now. Really?

The cratering. Both. Yeah. It's like, yeah, San Antonio's five in a row. Norland still got a chance game and a half back from them. Right. And so I get it could, it could move to where somebody else is nine and 10,

but the warriors are probably going to be eight. and that's going to be who you have to play. And so, I mean, how, how stressful is that? That's actually the one team that LeBron, the LeBron and the Lakers can play against that might not be 30 free throws to 10 free throws.

It might be. Curry gets, Curry gets some calls. I'll tell you what, though, Chris, any of those matchups, Steph and the Warriors versus Luca and the Mavs,

Steph and the Warriors versus Dame and the Blazers, Steph and the Warriors versus LeBron in the Lakers. Any of those matchups, would be great, great drama. So unbelievably,

and here's hoping Anthony Davis is going to be okay. I know, seriously. You never want to hear backs, basms. You know, we left the game last night

and he said it just locked up. And I was like, I mean, I'll tell you what, Chris, it's impossible not to be worried about what the Lakers can be in the postseason. Teams that aren't healthy dealing with nagging injuries. LeBron missing the last two games for reasons Frank Vogel won't state. It's all very strange, isn't it? Because they were saying next week for LeBron now, right?

Yeah. I mean, Shams Sharana reported yesterday. He's being told next week, LeBron will be back. So we'll see what happens there. He's supposed to be back in full this week. That hasn't happened. So who knows really there? The fact is, though, is that Utah and Phoenix,

these teams are clicking on all cylinders. I don't think they should be underrated as teams that could represent the West in the finals. And the Lakers, it's not only just a matter of health. It's a matter of chemistry. We have some new guys in the lineup, Andre Drummond, issues there.

Getting LeBron and AD back isn't just a cure all of a sudden when you're going to have a tough matchup right out of the gate with potential playing and then a really tough first round series right off the bat. I guess the team is rolling. And they need Shruder and hopefully healthy Shruder back too. That too. They need that badly. And you hope that he comes back and is able to be, who knows?

it's all manner of effects on guys. It's really hard, especially this late in the year. Out 10 to 14 days because the health and safety protocols. Then you're going to come back and get right back at basketball shape with days to go. Right. Before the postseason. It's just really hard to do. And you need to be outstanding.

You know what I mean? Rondo was for them a year ago. Kuzma's better this year. Yeah. So much better. Great defensively. Yeah. Than last year.

But again, you're going to have to have some. somebody. And Schroeder's been very, very good for them throughout this year. And so it would be fascinating to see how he's able to come back and how well he's able to play. A couple other things that have taken place since we last spoke. The Wizards have kept on rocking and made it, I think, too late for the Bulls. You know, the Bulls really needed the Wizards to slow down if they were going to have a

chance at this, but it's probably a bridge too far right now. just looking at the standings and no help from their Toronto brethren last night because it feels like Toronto, it was very awkward yesterday. I don't know if you saw that Nick Nurse press availability. I did not. What happened? He was asked about,

he was asked about whose decision it is that Kyle Lowry doesn't play. He's not going to play in that game. What did he say? And it just, it got very mealy mouth, you know, oh, yeah, me and Messiah and so and so. And, you know, we've got, we've had games.

Because then, of course, the follow-up question is, well, theoretically, this is a huge game with not many games left in the season, playing against the team that's right in front of you in the standings. And it just felt like a guy attempting to explain, yeah, we're punting.

That's what it is. Of course it is. That's what it is. Why would Kyle Lowry not play in a game? Now, they took the damn thing to overtime anyway. But, I mean, again, like we were just talking about with the AD thing, yeah, I left the game because my back locked up with back spasms. But I'm going to be ready to go for tomorrow because I know how big a game that is. Well, this is the flip side of that.

Yeah, it's a flip side, right? Like, if you, if you wanted to have, yeah, and it might be a snowball chance in hell to get to the playoffs. Like, you got to win that game against Wizards last night. And clearly, and just, you know, sometimes you can put coaches in bad spots, which I think Nurse was in attempting to say why. because you can't say, you know, Messiah and, you know, we all kind of got together. We just decided, you know what, to hell with it. I mean, what's the best we could do, get 10 anyway? Oh, I just found the exact quote.

I just have to read it. How it's determined, we being myself, Bobby and Messiah, talk about who we want to play and who we want to see and who we're going to evaluate. That's what it comes down to. and that's where we are at with it tonight. Great. Great translation. We're tanking out of the playing tournament because we want the seventh best

lottery odds and a chance to win the lottery and get kid cutting him. Evan Mowgli, Jalen Suggs, or Jalen Green. That's what the translation is. That's what they want. It's a million percent true. And, hey, and you know last night, hey, your old buddy, Kim Birch. Ken Birch, looking good.

Best buyout acquisition. Well, I was watching the. end of this and I thought, oh, he's a sleeper cell for Maasai because it comes out to the end of the game and Beal comes up, top of the key, steps into a three and Ken Birch fouls him on the three-pointer and it puts him to the line three times. And this is like a tie game or something. And I was like, oh, look at Ken Birch doing the bidding. You know, they're sitting there, Messiah and the other guys, they're like, what is happening? Why? are we winning this game?

Why is this game in overtime? Let, let Minnie Oscar Robertson do his thing. Will you guys calm down? And Siakum had like a career high. I think, I think it was a career high. He had 44 last night on 17 of 28.

He said he's like his shooting percentages are still down on the year. But he's had some monster performances. I mean, I bet, I bet they were nervous last night. well because really like this is like the it's not a downside of the plane you're always going to have tanks teams that would rather

tank and lose out and have better lottery odds that's going to no difference no matter what but the fact is that Toronto's making the right call here because I think this team has shown enough during their down year playing in Tampa Bay every game's been a road game for them the entire year right I think that they've shown shown enough over the course of the season with Seacom,

with getting Gary Trent Jr., still having Lowry, some of the younger guys on the squad, Malachi Flynn, Malachi Flynn, Ogee and Inobie looking better than ever on the offensive end of the floor. They have shown enough to me to suggest that if they get one of those diamonds, you know, the prizes in the 2021 draft, the Kate Cunningham and Evan Mobley,

that they will be set up for many years to come to be a highly competitive team in the Eastern Conference. And so for them, it makes sense to have those higher lottery odds, hopefully at one of those players, do a quick little retool and come right back and be ready to compete for some serious musical basketball games. When is the last time they had like a high pit, like Valantunis?

Really? When's the last time they had a high pick? I don't know. Maybe I'm forgetting, but I mean, just off the top of my head, like I can't remember it because they weren't even like part of one of those trades that would have netted them a very high pick. It might be no lie, Yonis Valentuna's. And that's what, seven years ago, something like that?

I don't know if they- Jacob Pertil, they had the ninth pick. Oh, they did. Oh, God, that stunk. They had the ninth pick for Yacquip Pertl. What year was that? 2016. Okay.

That wasn't their own draft pick, though. Yeah, that was a trade. Yeah, because, I mean, they've been good for so long. had good records for so long. Like with their own pick, Terrence Ross, 2012. What year was that?

That 2012? 2012, yeah. Well, no, Valencien's since then. He would have been after, he would have been after. Valanchudis was 2011, fifth pick.

So Terrence Ross was actually the last one. Oh, wow. 2012 Terrence Ross and 2011, Jonas Valentunis. Jeez. So since 2012 have they, like,

had their own pick. And like the Pertil pick at nine, that was, the Denver, New York pick. So it's been a while. It's been a while since their own pick has been top 10. It's a good year to have a top 10 pick. You think so?

It's a good year, yeah. You like this track? Yeah. I like, I love the top players and I like some of what comes after that. There's a lot of guys with big question marks, though. A lot of big question marks of what their upside can actually be. But the top Evan Mobley, Kate Cunningham, I love those guys.

You love both of them. I liked the, I liked those guys I saw in the G League too. The dream and green. Green and. Yeah. They got talent, man. Kaminga is raw and young, but that dude's got some serious talent. He's built for, you know, the NBA.

So the Wizards have, and of course, the Bulls just got back Levine and they had that big win last night. But it's, you know, they're so far behind the eight ball now in terms of games back that they, the Wizards have probably. it rendered that one, you know, not competitive that we're going to have, though we've got our 10 teams in the East. It is much less decided in the Western Conference. And I talked about San Antonio and to a lesser degree Memphis cratering here at the end. San Antonio, especially when I went and pulled up their schedule the rest of the way, this is wild.

This game that they have tonight is enormous. They play Sacramento tonight. San Antonio versus Sacramento. And yes, I'm saying it's enormous for the purposes of a play in. Because number one, they have, as we mentioned, been cratering.

They're going the wrong direction very quickly. And if they lose this King's game, now they have unbelievably gotten the Kings back into this thing and then you've got the Pelicans sitting there but I would just encourage anybody that might be rolling their eyes go look at San Antonio's schedule after tonight if they don't beat Sacro Bro they might not win another game unless Phoenix rests guys the last like game of the season

because they're because their seeds locked in their schedule is brutal. Like we kept hearing like, oh, they've got the hardest schedule down the stretch. But when you look at it, it's like, okay, they're not going to be favored in anything

after tonight. And, you know, it ends up making the Pelicans Sixers game huge because the Pelicans, I'll be damned they can get there now. Like, because San Antonio has fallen apart of the way they have,

they have gotten the Pelicans and the Kings who have been playing without the Air and Fox for God's sakes. They've gotten both of them like back in it to where they can't just punt like Toronto did because they like have a real chance, especially if SAC beats them tonight. And by the way, Sacramento should be going the other way, but they should follow Toronto's lead. But they're not trying to do that. They've won four in a row. You can't tell Marvin Bagley not to have 24 in the first half.

Oh, Marvin Bagley's stock. Up, up, up, up. Get it while it's hot. Get it while he's playing. But,

you know, to your point about San Antonio's schedule, they have Sacramento on Friday night, back to back with Portland on Saturday at Portland. And then on Monday, they get the bucks at home. Then they get a travel. they have two games in New York at Nets on Wednesday, at Nix on Thursday,

and then they close the season with a back-to-backer over the weekend, two home games against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday and Sunday. That is incredibly difficult. They will not be favored in any of those games. Except for maybe Friday, yeah. Well, they are favorite tonight, right? Yeah, yeah. They'll be favored against the Kings tonight, and that's it.

The rest of the way, they may win, you know, one of those games. But honestly, what's the maximum? some of them out. You could see them winning for that. Not a lot. But the thing is New Orleans does have a tough schedule too, though, because they're about to go on a five-game road trip. And they've been mediocre all year. Yeah.

At Philly, Charlotte, Memphis, Dallas, Golden State. You're traveling coast to coast for this road trip. All the way from Philly, you're ending in Golden State. And then you've got to go back home, back home from the Bay Area to New Orleans for your final game on Sunday, May 16th against, guess who? The loss

Angeles Lakers, who that might be a must-winning. It might be. It might be. So, well, like you were just saying, look, wild, man. Not only has Portland been hot recently, they got to win these games. Yeah. Which is not what you need. If you're San Antonio, you need something sprinkled in there with some teams that don't

give a, you know, they don't have to win. Or it might be, might be Phoenix, like you said at the end. It could be Phoenix. Maybe, maybe. Yeah. But imagine if the. the kings beat them tonight and we're looking up and you said the pelicans like the kings getting in would be the absolute most improbable like when I was looking at the standings the other day

I was like no way no way they're there. Not impossible. What are they if they beat them tonight they're one and a half is that right? I think they're one and a half out. They're two and a half. Right now they are two and a half out. Yeah. So one and a half.

Yep. And their games remaining, they get San Antonio tonight. Then they get two versus OKC at home. Right. Two on the road against Memphis, a back to back. And then their final home game is against Utah on Sunday, May 16th. So there's a chance the Sacramento Kings could get in there too, the way they're playing. Well, no Darren Fox.

If they could win tonight because San Antonio might not get another win and you would just have to get a few. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Breaking the playoff streak would be great. That would be nice. Well, you're not, that does not count as breaking the playoffs.

You're right. That's the play in streak. It doesn't. Which is just begun. It's the playing streak. You're correct. And by the way, it's not even really a streak that you want.

Oh, we made the playing tournament eight years in a row. Trust me. They're not going to be hanging up a banner in Memphis for making it twice. Oh, yeah, yeah, I hope not. They are going to be two years in a row if they could hold the fort. The longest,

longer streak in NBA history. Been in the play in two years in existence. Not a streak that you want. So for the Kings, I highly encourage you, Luke Walton and that entire team coaching staff in front office to miss the play in tournament and get a higher job. Well, maybe not Luke Walton,

though, because it might not be a bad, it might be bad for him if you don't make the play. man. No, especially after that Arizona job got filled. Oh, yeah, that's true. That's a good point there. Let me ask you about another coach because Shams put out this article earlier of the week about coaches on the hot seat and named different guys.

And of course, Bjorkren from Indiana was there. And then you had, when did we first touch on Bjorkman months ago? Like, this has been floating out there. for a long time. Yeah. And so you have this article come out and then that night you have this just

bizarre sequence of events that takes place on their bench where Goga Burkhani is getting screamed at by Jeff Foster. Like it just feels like a team that's in meltdown mode tensions are all

so high. You got, I mean, Jeff Foster was mad. You watched that video. That was mad, bad. It was like, like, I really felt like he had to legitimately be held back, not like a hold me back, hold me back. I'm trying to act tough. Like, he was, he had some fury in his eyes. And I was like, Jesus, what's going on here?

And I mean, I don't know how much money people probably lost betting against them last night. But that might have been the most imprified. win in the NBA this year was the Pacers turning around and winning a game last night. Because if there was ever a team that looked like, you know, this is all too much to hell with all this. We're just going to, you know, we're going to lay down. We can't stay in this guy. Whatever.

It was probably them. But not only did they win the game, you look, they're going to be involved in this. thing. They're going to be involved in the play yet with a chance to become a playoff team. And yet you have this whole Bjorkren and the players don't like him going around and the blow up on the bench. What do you make of it all? It's all very strange, man. Did you see the Jake Fisher Bleacher report report as well about some of the stuff in there with T.J. Warren not, according to Fisher not being happy. about the Bjorkan hiring and obviously he's been out the whole year some other stuff about

borkren and the way he is with other coaches and players and all that um it's been there's been stuff floating around all year long about borkan and indiana and some of the unhappiness the players have had in that situation so for them man i mean you see the way nick nick nicknickmillan is making an impact in atlanta it's hard not to wonder if they might have made him a mistake they care. Well, and you don't think might have made a mistake. And you don't think those players see. Well, I mean,

I say that it's not like McMillan was this fantastic coach with the Pacers. It's not like that they, it felt like they were maximizing what they could be. But that was a playoff thing. That was a, that was a playoff thing. It was. It may,

maybe. That was not a, they overachieved in the regular season regularly. Yeah. That was a playoff thing. Sure. Right. Which was Nate's downfall.

was not just getting beat. They got stomped in playoff series. They were winning zero and one games. They were never like they weren't like, you know, oh, I can't believe it. Like they lost in game six and they got beat at the buzzer. Like they were getting wiped out in playoff series over and over and over. Well, is that a McMillan thing or is that a talent thing?

It might be, it might be some of both. I mean, but I do think that it was not necessarily. unfair. Like, if you go look at the playoff record, it's hard to defend. They got swept by the calves in 2017. They went to a game seven against the LeBron and the calves in 2018. Then they got swept by the Celtics in 2019 and then swept by the heat in the bubble. Yeah.

So three, three sweeps in the first round. That's not good. I'm saying this. You got to mix in some wins there. I know. Even if you just go to six games, it's like, all right, we were competitive. But they got wiped out. And they had that great game seven.

They had a great game seven against LeBron of the Cavs when Oladipo had a great series. Right. They had one moment. But they've gotten wiped out in these last few. And I mean, I think twofold. Yes, they have not. I don't think that we look and say they blew it. They should have won.

They were the favorite in this spot. And they blew it. That has not been the case. But they have not been competitive. and I do think that playoffs is where coaches can really, you know, people's perceptions are based upon the biggest games. And the truth is when it has come to playoff series and a team just has one team to prepare against that preparing against the Nate McMillan team has not caused opponents

problems. You know what I mean? They've just decided, you know, like, and that's why they have not been competitive. Because even, I mean, God, man, you don't see a ton of sweeps in the playoffs. You really don't. You don't see a ton of sweeps. Usually you get a game. And certainly in those cases, you would have think you'd get two games, you know.

Might have six game series mixed in here, but just getting wiped out. Yeah. But this guy, they all hate this guy. Obviously, they made a mistake. If my choices are Nate McMillard or this guy, I'd like to go back in time. Yeah. Let me make that clear, right? Well, you hope that you got the, what they wanted was the Nick Nurse, you know, bump, right?

Like, we'd think that this can be different with Nick Nurse on the sideline. Now, we'll never know. Was it different because it was Kauai Leonard on the sideline, honestly? or is it different because it was Nick Nurse, but you hope that you can, or once upon a time, you know, Rick Carlisle was let go in Detroit. They brought in Larry Brown

and it raised their ceiling greatly. This guy did not raise their ceiling at all. And in fact, has probably actively made them a worst team. And they don't like him. And nobody knows who he is anyway. Seriously, nobody knows who that is. You know, the only thing that any NBA fan knows

about Bjorkrin is that the Pacers don't like him. That's a tough spot. That's a tough thing. That's a tough spot, right? So anyway, yeah, but they're going to be involved in it. They're going to be playing in a play in tournament. We talked about the super meaningful games. We've got Blazers, Lakers, Phoenix and Nicks ends up big.

Denver, Utah ends up big. And that's just tonight. Also, that Sixers, Pellicle. that I mentioned earlier. So we got a bunch of massive games that are coming up this weekend. But the last thing before we get out of here, your buddies with Nick Wright. You brought him on our own podcast,

the mismatch. And Nick Wright has become a voice. I mean, I know Kendrick Perkins, there's been some others that have piped up. But they're starting. And Brian Winhorst, you know, had his deal on the podcast a couple of weeks. ago. But we're now to the point in the season where, okay, Yokic has gotten too much love. Now we need to

manufacture the backlash, right, to, for Nicola Yokic. And so whether it's Chris Paul's name being thrown in there by some Joel and Beed's name being thrown in there by some, it feels like we are now towards the end of the season getting this. Okay. We got to turn this into an argument. This guy should not just be the runaway guy. And I believe Nick Wright tried to call him the worst MVP in 35 years or something. I was like, it's ridiculous.

Yeah. What do you make in the backlash? I mean, that that comment, the worst MVP in 35 years is. where the take got a little too hot, right? Got a little, little too hot. But like, I understand his points about Chris Paul,

you know, the intangible aspect, the culture that he brought to Phoenix, the fact that Chris Paul has been a great player. But with all that said, Nicola Yokic is having one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of basketball. He is a very good defensive player.

He is an elite rebounder. He is the culture in Denver. He is what has made the nuggets, what they are today. it's been manifesting for years. And now he is peaking as a player in the culture in Denver as well around him. So Yokic has all those intangible factors that he rightfully says about Chris Paul. Where he's wrong is his and his an assessment of Yokic as a player, which far heavily outweighs

Chris Paul and most anybody else in the entire league this season because of the sheer fact, he has played every single game. He has been the center of that offense and defense every single. game when so many other guys have missed games. Yokic is the MVP. It's clear. And I would say he should be, if not unanimous, pretty freaking close to it, Chris. I think it's very funny. And there is a,

there's a video that's out there, uh, where we talked about this probably, I don't know, two months ago. These discussions that people are having are discussions that we talked about two months ago. I brought up and I said, Chris Paul is going to get in this mix. people are going to I called my shot on that

because he's made them so much better and I said at the time which is what I'll say today he doesn't have the numbers like you can say well we shouldn't care about the numbers and you can talk about his impact but like if we're going to talk about

what the MVP is like you do have to have the numbers to go along with it and if you want to start doing the whole okay well this guy what you want to start doing? You want to start doing?

Okay, well, they win now. Like, this team was never in the playoffs. They were never, whatever. They might have the number one seat. Again, I'm with you. He is intensely valuable to that team. He might be the most valuable player to his particular team. But let's not act like we haven't been doing these awards for a million years.

And that, yes, you do have to line up the numbers. against what MVP's of the past have done if we are just because that to me the numbers become objective. I look at that and I say,

okay, Yokic is having one of the greatest seasons of all time. If you want to say numbers are up, these are inflated, whatever you want to say, he is having one of the greatest seasons of all times, statistically. And I see that on paper.

If you just want to say we can start looking at wins and losses to determine who is most valuable to their teams and they don't have to have the spectacular numbers to go with it, well, then we are now going to move into a different deal as we are trying to name an MVP every year. this is just a, you know, uh, an obvious contrarian, you know, I don't want. I mean, listen, I don't,

I don't think, I don't think Nick is incorrect in the fact that the intangibles matter. But he's not the only one. But I know, I know, I know. Chris, I know.

Chris, Chris, I know. Chris, I know. 100%. but I'm just saying, I'm glad that the intangibles. are being talked about because it is about more than the numbers. And that is part of, part of like to me hearing him speak about Chris Paul and the intangibles and

what he's done to that team. I hear all that and it's like, thank you for speaking about the intangibles. It should matter. And that is another one of the reasons why Yokic is the no, duh, obvious, no brainer, most valuable player for the 2020, NBA season because he has the numbers,

he has dominated on the court and he checks the box for the intangible. too because of what he is for that team in the culture that he brings to that team and how he defines what the Denver Nuggets are. So like I'm glad the intangibles are part of the conversation but like it's Yokic. Sorry Nick, it's Yokish. Well, look, you take Chris Paul off?

Yes, they're not good anymore. Right? I get it. But guess what? Take Yokich off that Nuggets team. They suck. If they take him, if he's off that, if he's not on that team, give me a break.

So it's not just like, oh, okay, this team stunk. And now they added Chris Paul and they're awesome. And so now we're like, okay, let you let Yonkich go out. You tell me how many games they win. It's not, it's not a lot. Trust me. He is, he elevates all and legitimately like makes people better just like Paul does.

And he's got the crazy-ass numbers to go with it. Yes, sir. All right. It's going to be a fun weekend. It's going to be a fun last couple of weeks leading into whatever teams we get in this play in scenario. That is going to do it for another edition of the mismatch. Thanks so much for Erica for filling in today and producing our show. And we will talk to you next week.

Have a fun weekend, everybody. Thank you.