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Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for October 29th, 2024.Coming up, the Cavs and Celtics move to 4-0, we get James Edwards on to talk about the Knicks, and S and I look at some of the crazy comebacks from Monday night.
Good morning, everybody.Good morning, S. We had a crazy night in the NBA on Monday night.There was a million games, and it felt like, S, every single game had something to watch.We kept talking about, oh, this crazy thing's happening.
Suggs five for five from three Palo Bancaro did what?And so I just want to jump into this stuff because these are the nights that are so hard to wrap your head around.And I think we got to start with Palo Bancaro.
He put up 37 points in the first half on the Pacers.And we were saying, Hey, he's going to go for 50.It turns out he did, but it took him the rest of the second half to get there.Cause he, he really didn't score much to, to start the second half.
Well, that's the Pacers defense tax, right?The first half was just Paolo cooking.They didn't send any doubles.They didn't send any help at all.And he finished this game, like you said, 50 points on 61% shooting.It was efficient.It was dominant.
Yes, he slowed down in the second half.
Well, they rope-a-doped him.
It was unabated to the basket, score all day.He was throwing all these punches, throwing haymakers.He was tired.
Yeah, he got tired.He gassed out.But I mean, when you have like 37 and basically a 37 point triple double in the first half, you're going to gas out.And Indiana almost came back to win it.Orlando stuck with it and won.That was that's crazy, man.
Little fake comeback. on a night full of comebacks.Yeah.Palo just missed a triple double.He had 13 rebounds, had nine assists.And again, in the same game, Jalen Suggs had five threes to, to start the first quarter of this game.
He winds up with six for the game.So the magic just scoring a ton actually to start the season for a team that, you know, we know for their defense,
Nikola Jokic put up another 40 point game and led the Nuggets on a comeback to get their first win of the season against your Raptors.Now. What did you think about the Nuggets?I mean, you watch this game extremely closely.
You know the Raptors and what they're all about.It seemed like they were really bothering Nuggets, creating like turnovers and blocking shots.Scottie Barnes had a great rear view, just block on a layup.I mean, what happened to them down the stretch?
Was it all just Jokic putting up 40 and willing them to overtime and then a win?Or was there more involved?
It definitely was a bit of that.I mean, Jokic back to back 40 point games for the first time in his career.He's clearly carrying more of a load than he's ever had to.I think Denver's bench was just really bad.
Once again, they were minuses all around.Russell Westbrook had a tough game.Peyton Watson and Dario Sarge were just negatives whenever they were on the floor.And so in those minutes, the Raptors bench.
you know, guys, rookies like Jamal Shedd and Davion Mitchell coming in and providing and guys like Ochiai Abaji stepping up like that's, that is what helped them throughout the game.
And then you had guys like Scottie Barnes and Grady Dick show up as well in the fourth quarter.I thought Scottie was great, but until he got hurt on one of the final possessions of the game, it looked like It was his face slash.
I the team officially reported it as an elbow to the eye, so we'll hopefully get more of an update in the next couple of days, but obviously that's a massive blow for a team that's just getting RJ Barrett back too, so it's just injuries for rebuilding Raptors team.
But yeah, the Denver's bench was tough.Denver's bench was really, really rough.
Denver outside of Jokic is rough.I mean, Jamal Murray in this game, six of 20, he, you know, it is nice to see him hit a big shot.He hits the layup, the reverse layup to send them to overtime, but just, you know, more of the same, I think.
And again, Jokic having to be that rising tide, the late game was very interesting.We had a rematch already.
We've seen now twice the Phoenix suns and the Lakers, uh, play each other and the Lakers go into this undefeated and the sons look, they held him off.And I'm not sure how they pulled this office because Yousef Nurkic, their starting center.
He only played 15 minutes in this game and he was minus 20.
Yeah, I actually know how they pulled it off.They stopped playing him in the fourth quarter.Mason Plumlee finished out the game.He was a plus 23 in 26 minutes despite not taking a shot. Which is impressive to do for a big man.
And look, KD and Booker both had incredible games.KD had 30, he had eight rebounds, four assists, did so efficiently on 55% shooting.Booker did the same, had 33.They were getting to what they wanted to on the offensive end.
On the other side for the Lakers, I thought they played a pretty decent game in the fourth quarter. They just struggled to contain KD and Booker.They didn't really have any answers for them.
And when those guys are going, when the shot making is flowing like that, it's tough to beat.
Well, and one of the big things that that the Lakers have have that you can point to to say this has been key to their success is that LeBron James has hit shots and he had a rough night shooting.It was 3-14.
He didn't look as good as he has in the previous game.So maybe he was a little, you know, Maybe a little tired legs.You know, it is second week of the season.They've been playing a bunch.
It's hard to be 39 in the NBA, you know?
It is really hard to be.And we got to point out when he's bad, too.This is the thing.He is great.And the reason that we have to keep pointing out when he's bad is to highlight how great he can be when he gets up there.
But this game, I mean, with Phoenix, again, I worry about their depth. We know that the high end pieces can play, but what happens if Kevin Durant misses two weeks for this team?I mean, you know, you just see him fall apart when he's not out there.
I agree with you.And I don't know where the answer is, because this is a team that is expensive, too.So there's not really any solution to going out and making a trade or adding via whatever buyout or free agency here.
There's not much that they can do to add to this team.This is what they are.
And so if you have Nurkic struggling like he has so far this season, you know, they're stretching their rotation to get like a rookie like Ryan Dunn into the game, who I think has had some good moments.It's just tough to see them.
You know, Royce O'Neal closed the game for him too.And I like Royce O'Neal as a player, but If he's closing for you, that's a different story, right?
There's going to be a whole Tyus Jones conversation that happens over the course of the season when people start digging into the tape and see how he gets picked on down the stretch.
We saw that with James Harden and that Clippers matchup that they had the other day.And we got to talk about the Bucs because we put them on the panic rankings.They dropped to one in three after losing to the Celtics.
So again, they look like a juggernaut.Peyton Pritchard, just destroyed the Bucs.He had eight threes off the bench, 28 points.Not great.This is the second time in a year, S, that the Bucs have started out one in three under Doc Rivers.
Their defense is very bad at the point of attack.You watch the game tonight and Damian Lillard, you know, who's great offensively, 33 points.He did his thing on the offensive end, just dies on screens.
You know, the Celtics were just setting high pick and rolls often and a guy like Peyton Pritchard was taking advantage tonight.
And when you, you know, when Peyton Pritchard is a guy who's going to be taking advantage of the situation offensively, then you're in a tough spot for the Bucs.
I think between Dame and Gary Trent Jr., and you know, you think of some of the platoon that they have on the perimeter and Torian Prince, they don't have enough on the perimeter to guard anybody.
And against the Celtics, that is a recipe for disaster.
And when you compare it to the Celtics, Jordan Walsh played first quarter minutes in this game.Yeah, yeah. It's just, they have just bodies, just a bunch of guys who are six, seven, six, eight that can run around and play defense and jack up threes.
It's pretty incredible to watch.
I'll just ask is Peyton Pritchard one of the best, if not the best end of quarter. shot makers in the league.He is.
I think we just have to, that debate is settled.
We, if you're known for being the guy that is seeking out the ball at the end of quarters and your teammates are looking for you, it's basically Peyton Pritchard, Steph Curry.I mean, who's more dangerous at the end of quarters.
That's what we got to figure out.Coming up after the break, we've got James Edwards on to break down the Knicks and their loss to the Cavs.
One of the best things about working at the Athletic is when I've got questions about a team or a game, I get to go to the guy that knows them best.
And we had some questions about the Knicks after their loss to the Cavs, so called up our friend James Edwards, our new Knicks beat writer at the Athletic.Wanted to ask him some questions.James, how's it going?How is covering the Knicks?
Guys, thanks for having me.It's been good.I enjoy living in New York.
I remember when I was a kid, I wrote, and I'm not making this up, I can find the paper and show you, when I was in third grade, I wanted to live in New York and be a taxi driver who had spinners on their taxi car.
And this isn't that, but it's close enough. And so it's been good covering the Knicks.
Definitely like an adjustment from like a journalistic haven't been booed, but I'm waiting for Knicks fans to turn on me and say, I'm the, I'm the reason the team's won.
And Fred cat's got a Fred cat's chant.
Yeah, he did last year.You know, I'm going back to Detroit actually on a, on Friday.So I'm expecting a video tribute.I think I might get one there.
OK, well, look, let's let's dig into this game because, again, they drop a game to the Cavs.Cavs now 4-0.We've gotten a chance to see the new look Knicks a little bit now.What are the early returns, in your opinion, on the Knicks in general?
And in particular, I want to hit on that offense because there's some problems.
Man, it's been really tough to get a read on this team because Boston, you come out season opener ring ceremony and Boston just puts up 61 threes, feels like they made 50 of them and they're just on a mission, right?
Like it's, I think people walked away like, okay, the Knicks aren't on Boston's level.I don't know if
if the gap is as big as that game but i think everybody comfortably walked away okay the next have some work to do to be in boston's level came to the play indiana and pop indy by thirty i'm not a big believer in indiana i don't think indiana's good i don't think they're good right now at least i agree on yeah they don't look like it right now they don't look good tires doesn't and i think he looked a little bit better tonight i didn't see the game but the stat book the box score look better at least uh... but he hasn't really looked himself i think that's a team in disarray and then i was really looking forward to this game against cleveland because i thought that was a good
Like, this is a team in New York's range.They're not quite Boston, but they're better than the Pacers.Like, let's see where they're at.And I mean, for the first half, they were in control.11 offensive rebounds.They were out hustling the Cavaliers.
I would say they were still a little bit fortunate to go into the half up, because I did think that the Cavs did a good job of generating good wide open corner threes with good shooters that just didn't go in.
Albeit the the the Knicks did what they were supposed to do.
They turned easy defense and easy offense and and took advantage so but the second half comes they had a Scoring kind of low at the end of the third Started the fourth that really did them in the offensive glass It went from 11 in the first half to only two offensive rebounds in the second half the Cavs kind of There's the game went on the Cavs got stronger.
I thought Darius Garland was great.So it's a team that It's still really hard to tell where they are I think it's fair to say that at least for now.
They're like I think them and Cleveland are Are to a to be in the east, but it's pretty clear that Boston's won But like you said, I think the offense is really the biggest kind of question marks we have right now and again through three games We all need something to talk about but it's certainly like there are questions about the team right now on the offense side of the ball
Yeah, I mean, they had a very bad half court offensive rating.I think it was 88 tonight.And, you know, you look at some of the three point attempts, they only took 28 threes tonight, which is a bizarre.They haven't shot the ball that much at all.
And you think of Cat, who only took six threes through the first three games, which usually he attempts six a night more than that.
So what what is it about the three point line that are they just not creating advantages that get them those open threes or what is it?
No, it's a good question, and I asked Tibbs postgame today, like, you've talked ad nauseum about wanting this team to get up more threes, and you look at the numbers, their three opponents have doubled them up from the three-point line.
I think the Celtics, Cavs, and Pacers have shot, like, 127 threes, and the Knicks have only shot 62.And I asked Tibbs, I was like, what do you think that is?Is it the way teams are defending you?Is it the spacing issue?
he said, it's all of the above.We got to, we got to find a way to generate a more.And when I look at it, like I haven't been able to like go back and yet and watch the game that I just left, but it seems like they're okay.
Like switching on smalls on the cat in terms of like, just to not just to have a body there, uh, if he pops.Um, and I, I think Cleveland did that pretty well.
Um, and then you look at game, like in Boston, where they were fine guarding cat with drew, I think they were inviting, um, the Knicks to try to punish that mismatch.
And when you do that, it leads to more twos and threes and you got to make enough of them.Uh, Indiana, they still didn't shoot a lot of threes.They were just dominant there, but I do think it's a little bit of both.
Like I do think that their teams are inviting them.Um,
To go at the mismatches like tonight Garland guarded OG and Anobi and I think that they they threw it down there a little bit more and didn't create the advantage and instead we're trying to go through those twos so It's a little bit everything he's right and I think they need to sort it out, but the spacing hasn't been great
I think naturally they're a team that relies on a lot of dribble penetration I'm not sure they've made way too much way too much and I think they haven't made great decisions when they've gotten to the paint Yeah, and Cleveland is not a team that you can be in decisive decisive against they're just too good defensively They're too fundamentally sound defensive and they have too much length in that in that front court.
So yeah.Yeah, it is a combination of a bunch of things I think
Every single Knicks half-court possession feels like it takes somewhere around 50 or 60 dribbles to get to the nail, and then they send three bodies to Jalen Brunson, and he kicks it out to somebody that doesn't want to shoot.
I think they've got some clear shooting issues.Luckily, they've got Deuce McBride, who's been just shooting every single time he touches the ball.But also, they're not doing much to get Cat moving, in my opinion, with the basketball.
You know, I was thinking back to last year, you know, they had all this offensive actions running through the high posts and the elbow with Hartenstein and with Mitch Robinson.Well, Karl-Anthony Towns is a pretty good passer.
I wonder, like, you think that we might see a little bit more of that, getting him initiating some of these actions a little bit more up at the top instead of in the post?
Yeah, I think so.And which it's weird.We saw it in the preseason.
Like I remember specifically a couple of possessions in Charlotte where he was like at the wing, but inside the three point line, the guard would toss it to him and then the guard would go around him from the backside and he would kind of curl and cat would throw it over the top.
And there was, that was a play that they were doing pretty often.And cat had showed some passing chops and obviously he's a, he's a really good passer for his size and his skillset.So you would think that they would work it in more.I agree.
I haven't really seen it yet, but I think part of that too is I'm not like he's been getting doubled, but I think, I think what I've seen is like the Knicks, they're cutting on those doubles and they're turning those into layups.Right.
Or, um, they're not, he's not always getting doubled in there.Like I said, they're fine with guarding him with drew or they're fine guarding OG with Darius and, and go ahead and make this too.If you make it cool, we'll go get a three.
And if not, uh, we'll, we'll take and go.So I do think they need to get them on the move.I think they need to just, I think they need to change up the offense a little bit.Cause I agree.
It's stagnant, but it's also like I don't know what the right words are, but it almost feels like they're trying to play too fundamentally sound. where it's like, okay, I see mismatch.I go at mismatch or I get to the rim.
Um, I'm going to try to get a foul or I'm going to try to, to finish instead of the kick out.Like, and sometimes they're over passive, like OG and Anobi.
Um, I mean, he's been phenomenal defensively, but he's a guy that catches on the three point line and pump fakes a lot.Yeah.And then takes a dribble for a mid Ranger gets to the rim.Even like you said, cat cats only taken six threes.
McHale's only taken seven. Josh Hart is actually like he shot well from three tonight, but he's at most taking two or three a game, right?
Like you said deuce McBride is out there letting a fly and he's making them So I think some of it is a personnel thing, right?
Like I think naturally we thought well look at the starting lineup They should shoot a lot of threes and I agree but you get to that bench Deuce is really the only one that you can rely on to hit threes.There's no more Dante.
Landry Shamit was the guy that was supposed to get threes up.He's hurt.The front court doesn't really have floor spacers.So it's just kind of a weird mix that's trying to figure itself out and sort itself out.
But I do think there are a lot of factors involved.I do think that they pass up. It almost feels like, and I want to ask, I meant to ask Tibbs about this, but when I went to follow up, a bunch of people jumped in.
I think it almost feels like they're always trying to find, like, turn a good shot into a great shot, which In theory, that's what you want to do.
But in the NBA, with math and possessions and fast pace, sometimes the great shot isn't always going to come.
It's just got to be good enough.
It's just got to be good enough.And you've got to try to keep pace and play the math game.I just think sometimes they're trying to turn good shots into great shots, and those great shots don't always come.
Yeah, well, it's a fake fundamental if you ask me to do that.Don't pass up on good shots.Don't pass up on reading James Edwards over at The Athletic.Go and check him out.
S and I will be back after the break where we go through some of these crazy comebacks from Monday night.
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A little bit of injury news on Monday night.We talked about Scottie Barnes taking that elbow.We're still waiting to see what it's going to be.It looks like it might be some sort of an orbital issue.
I mean, I'm assuming we're going to get some x-rays or something like that.And then sad, really sad injury to see.Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks suffered a horrific lower leg injury.We're just hoping for the best for him.
So hopefully, you know, that's something that he can come back from.It was awful. So best wishes to him.Again, we wanted to talk about all these comebacks.There were so many comebacks.No lead is safe in the NBA.We know that.
And on Monday night, that rang true.The Wizards came back from down 13 on my Hawks.Jordan Poole somehow hits a dagger.
Yeah, he was cooking tonight.And look, I thought one of the things that the Wizards are very intriguing with is the fact that, like, there's guys who can go off at any point in time.Bilal Kuluballi had a pretty good game.
I thought Corey Kispert jumped in for a little bit and did some things offensively, but Jordan Poole hit the dagger.
Yeah, the Spurs came back from down 21.Wimby cut it to two, but then Fred Van Vliet hits the dagger and close them out.You'd like to see Houston turn it around a little bit here early on.
Really good game from Jalen Green, too.36 points.He's really started to pick it up.He's had some interesting fourth quarters here and was big in this fourth quarter, too.Spurs came back.They are feisty.
I think they're going to be a team that's going to be really competitive.But yeah, that Fred Van Vliet dagger ended it.
Yeah, the Bulls came back on the Grizzlies.They were down 20 in the second half.They were down 12 with nine minutes to go.They wind up hitting 25 out of 53 threes.And the number that really stands out to me, it's 24 minutes for Jaron Jackson.
It's 25 minutes for Marcus Smart.Understanding Jaron Jackson's on a minutes restriction.31 minutes for Scottie Pippen Jr.31 minutes for Jake LaRavia.How come the good players on the Grizzlies can't get more minutes?
Look, no John Morant tonight, so this is baked into this situation.But at the same time, it is bizarre.Look, I'm a Scottie Pippen lover, Scottie Pippen Jr., I should say, lover as much as anybody else.
Same with Jake LaRavia, big fan of Jay Huff, who just got a standard contract with the Grizzlies.But you got to play your best guys.And I
I think it is bizarre that a guy like Marcus Smart only played 25 minutes, Zach Eady only played 13, and I thought he was, at times, a little timid offensively.It's just something I'm curious about.What is the situation going on here?
Maybe they thought they could get an easy one on the Bulls, but it is a question to ask.
Yeah, I think these guys are going to have to come up with some more minutes somewhere.And the Pistons tried to make a comeback, but they failed.Sorry, S. That's going to do it for today's show, folks.Thank you guys for listening.
Don't forget, send us those emails over at NBAdailyattheathletic.com.Subscribe to The Bounce.Zach Harper needs your love.For S. Farahenny, I'm Dave DuFour, and this has been the NBA Daily.Thanks for waking up with us.
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