Heat Check

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ This was the situation just a month and a half ago. Miami lost the play in game against the Hawks and were trailing at the end of their final chance to reach the playoffs. The Heat’s run to the finals might just be the most miraculous one that we’ve ever seen. But they are such a confident group of guys that first Butler guaranteed even last year that they’ll be back and win it. And he kept the same attitude this season as well. Then, having Boston come back and force a game 7, what did the Heat do? They booked a flight from Boston directly to Denver. They were not going to lose this game by any means. Did you see Butler’s reaction at the end? We need to discuss that. The guy was ice cold, the entire time. No celebration, no excitement. As if he’s already focused on the finals. This is the true mamba mentality. And you see there’s zero emotion even when they give him the conference finals MVP. Which btw, this should have absolutely been Caleb Martin. He averaged 19.3 points and 6.4 rebounds, while shooting, get this: 60.2 percent from the field and 48.9 percent from downtown. This type of efficiency is unreal, and it almost makes you think there’s a typo somewhere. He capped off his incredible effort with a 26 and 10 in the deciding game 7. And while we’re giving credit where credit is due, a massive shoutout to Derrick White for his amazing performance, both offensively with an insane efficiency similar to Caleb, but combine that with the phenomenal defensive effort, literally locking down Jimmy Butler at times. Up until last night Jimmy shot a combined 12 for 31 a horrible 38% when guarded by White. But all of that is behind Butler and the Heat now as they face Denver in the finals, and they won’t be able to utilize the zone defense as much as they have against Boston. Check out this stat. The Nuggets scored 1.169 PPP against zone during the regular season. That ranked first in the NBA. And you know that anything over 1.1 is absolutely elite efficiency. Compare that to Boston who had 3 games of the conference finals shooting in the 20s from downtown. That won’t happen against Denver. Regardless of what’s going to happen I gotta admit that I’ve been secretly rooting for this finals matchup because I love both how Denver is playing, and the fact that Nikola Jokic was able to shut everyone up, all the doubters by going to the finals. If he wins, I’ll be so happy for him. On the flip side, I just idolize the dog mentality that this Miami team has, especially Jimmy Butler. We gotta be honest here- he doesn’t have anywhere near the talent that some elite level players have, but he still finds ways to consistently get wins for his team. Just think about it, in the 4 years that he’s been with the Heat, they’ve made the conference finals 3 times out of which this is going to be his 2nd trip to the finals. When literally nobody expected that to happen. Not a single season have they been among the top favorites, and yet they still go far in the playoffs year after year. You gotta admire and respect that. So I’m just going to enjoy these finals in a win-win situation, being happy with whoever wins. The Nuggets are of course the favorites but with everything I’ve seen from Miami there’s no way that I’m writing them off. Let me know in the comments who you got winning it all. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

You’ll be amazed at what you can do with GrammarlyGO. Sign up at https://grammarly.com/heatcheck05 and get 20% off Grammarly Premium. Do you remember this shot? Well the Celtics did the same thing but with the stakes being much higher. Boston comes back from 0-3 and secures a game 7 in the most insane way possible. And the final 2 minutes deserve a breakdown. Down by 7 at the end, Miami is fighting desperately here. But it was almost game over as Horford has the ball but gets it poked. And follow Jimmy here as he’s going to slip this screen for Robinson causing a split second hesitation by Smart enough for him to have enough space to fire away this shot and bring it within 4. Butler was just 3 for 19 up to this point, but when it matters the most he delivers. 4 point game and Miami defends in a zone here. The Celtics find Horford in the middle and the great cut by Tatum to get the ball, but even better read by Bam to help on the drive, a great contest and the Heat have a real chance here with a 1:40 left. In transition you know who has the ball at the end of the game. And with Adebayo screening for Duncan, Horford has to be there with him so Jimmy sees that the paint is open so he barrels inside and gets 2 free throws, now this is where the real madness begins. Butler hits the first to make it a 3 point game but misses the second however watch Martin as he’s going to reposition while the ball is sitting on the rim and actually ends up with the rebound. He finds none other than the best shooter on the floor all alone for this shot and misses it. He was on fire the entire game. How did he miss this look? Had all the time in the world right here. The drama continues. Tatum wants the ball here and he’s going to set a screen to get a switch. Butler defends for the drive but Robinson fights over the screen and stays with White. You see that Tatum is open right here and the pass goes to him, Bam tries to contest but this is an open look. And at the same time watch Brown here who’s got an uncontested rebound. And on the miss he gets the ball and misses it but gets the foul call. Jaylen makes the first but misses the second allowing a transition opportunity for Miami. And again watch how dangerous Robinson is as he’s going to set a ghost screen fooling Smart and clearing the way for Jimmy to attack right at the basket and not only that but get a bucket and the foul. Unbelievable. It’s only a 1 point game with 50 seconds to go. And things are about to escalate here. The Heat staying in the zone and Tatum has the ball again, blows past Butler but Vincent follows that and steps in right here completely disrupting the drive and it’s a loose ball but JT recovers goes up for the shot but gets it blocked by Adebayo. A real flashback from that iconic block from the bubble. But let’s get back to the present day as that defensive stop opens up another transition opportunity and you see that the Celtics are scrambling with 2 guys pointing towards Robinson but nobody near him. He has another wide open look for the lead and misses again. Absolutely unreal. This would have given Miami a 2 point advantage in the closing seconds. Now they had to foul but got a bit lucky because Smart misses 1 free throw. And in a do or die situation Spoelstra asks Jimmy if he wants to go without a timeout and he confirms. A gutsy decision by a great coach. Back to the video for the crucial possession. You know who’s gonna take the last shot. And Tatum is on him. Bam goes to screen and is able to force a switch putting a slower Horford in front. But with 5 seconds remaining Jimmy is almost at the logo. Duncan clears the side and Butler goes to the corner for a desperation shot and gets fouled! He gets fouled and on the review we see that his feet are behind the line so it’s 3 shots for the win. He’s an 80% shooter from the line this postseason and with the NBA finals on the line, calmly knocks all three shots one by one. Which brings us to the ultimate chaos at the end. You see that Struss is guarding White on the inbounds but he’s faced the other way and traps Tatum here as Miami didn’t want him to take the shot. So the pass goes to Smart and as the shot goes up, White has the presence of mind to go inside for the rebound and Struss is trying to recover back to him but he’s trailing. So on the miss Derrick puts it back in but the buzzer sounds at the same time, so everyone is confused. Complete madness and disbelief in the arena as the refs are checking this frame by frame and we see that White was able to get it off with 1 tenth of a second remaining to force a game 7 and save his team from the brink of elimination in the craziest way possible. This instantly reminded me of the legendary Ray Allen shot that completely demoralized San Antonio in game 6 who were just moments from winning the championship. And we’ve heard the stories of how that postgame dinner looked like a funeral for the Spurs. Well this was the same thing in my opinion.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ This is the first possession of the game, and Marcus Smart already sets the tone. You see him with the attention to detail watching both his man and the ball. And as soon as Adebayo commits to the drive, Smart attacks him, the swipe and the dive for the loose ball to secure it. The flame started burning for Boston in the first 20 seconds and lasted for the entire game. Watch their emotional leader snatch this ball right off of Lowry and go on a break ultimately ending with a dunk by Horford. And right here on the switch Marcus battles against the much bigger Bam under the rim. And he’s able to strip the ball once again, opening up yet another transition opportunity which this time Smart will finish off himself with the 3 as the entire arena explodes. With the momentum now completely on the Celtics side, they start believing in the impossible. And Jaylen Brown said something interesting in the postgame that kinda got me thinking. Check this out. The only one who can beat us is us. He is absolutely right about that. This team has a first team all NBA player in Tatum and a second team all NBA guy in Brown, their number 3 but also number 4 scoring option can give them 20+ points in a playoffs game, and by the way all of them are great defenders, there is no reason whatsoever to get in a 3-0 hole to a Miami Heat team that on paper is severely undermanned in this matchup. But that’s the thing, as you look at these phenomenal defensive plays from last night, you see that it’s got nothing to do with adjustments, or X’s and O’s or a special type of strategy. Boston came in aggressive and got 13 steals in this game flat out outhustling Miami. For reference, the league leader in steals this season had 9 per game. The Celtics blew that out of the water. Compare this fight to the first three games where as Brown mentioned- they literally beat themselves with a lack of effort and silly turnovers. Another thing that Boston improved, this time on offense is the decision making especially when they faced the Heat zone. Everything is snappy and quick. The ball is flying from side to side stretching out the zone and making it difficult for the Miami defender to recover. This results in open shot opportunities, and after hitting 18 threes on 40%, they now hit 16 threes on 41%. The difference compared to the first three games is night and day. Jimmy Butler guaranteed a win at home but they better get Gabe Vincent back to help them do it because Kyle Lowry as the starting point guard gave them absolutely nothing. He looks slow and lost at times, had turnovers but more importantly besides the bad stuff- doesn’t contribute with any good. 5 points and 1 assist from your lead point guard doesn’t put any pressure on the defense. Meanwhile the Heat are an elite threat offensively when Vincent has the ball in the pick and roll. 1.19 points per possession. For reference, anything over a point per possession is good for your team and over 1.1 is great. So it’s crucial that they get him back for game 6. Either way it’s going to be crazy as it’s basically a must win for both teams. The Heat don’t want to come back to Boston, and the Celtics definitely don’t wanna go fishing after all this effort to come back to this point. So buckle up. Celtic fans, are you getting excited? Can they pull off a historic comeback? Let me know. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ On this turnover, Smart is out on the side, but as Lowry starts the break he sees that Brogdon would rotate on the pass, so the middle would be open and he hustles to get there. And on the return Smart is right on time to steal this ball and open up an opportunity for his team. Watch the effort of White hustling over the screen to get back to the shooter and block it, leading to a fast break and ultimately a dunk. This is definitely not a team that gave up and booked a flight to Cancun. The Celtics showed great fight and gave their fans a glimmer of hope, but they still have one horrific problem that they need to address. Let me explain. After last game’s debacle where the Heat completely demolished them and at one point led by 33, it seemed to me like Boston completely let go of the rope and gave up. Things got even worse when in the postgame Joe Mazzula said that he felt like he lost the locker room. With all of this in mind I was convinced that this was going to be another 20 point blowout for Miami and a sweep. But what you’re seeing on these highlights couldn’t be further from that. Everyone engaged, scrambling to help and force a turnover. Even the main guys weren’t above it as Tatum right here seeing the extra pass and rotating to get the steal, to give his team momentum at the end of the third. And the great effort here by Brown who is trailing on the screen but turns on the jets and intercepts this pass ultimately resulting with a foul and free throws. They showed that they still believe they can turn things around. The passing seemingly got better as well. Brown sees the slip by Horford here, and as Struss rotates down low, this is a bullet pass all the way to the corner for the 3 by Derrick White. And even better was the one by Smart as the Heat miscommunicate defensively and Vincent must help, check out the beautiful crosscourt lob pass all the way to the opposite side to a wide open Jaylen Brown for another 3. It may be the passing but when you’re finally firing away at 40% from downtown it sure helps a lot after shooting a miserable 28% in game 2 and 26% in game 3. And with that we get to the problem for Boston. They will not come any close to making this an interesting series if Jaylen Brown continues to play the way he has so far. A second team all NBA guy this season, who’s supposed to lead this 1-2 punch for the Celtics is shooting a horrible 39% from the field and an astonishing 12% from downtown. 12%! He is 3 for 25 so far in the conference finals. They won because a lot of players stepped up and hit shots but to come back in this series and even hope to accomplish the impossible Brown must play better. And coming back home for game 5 this is a nice opportunity for him. Overall I love that the series is extended because otherwise with the big gap to the finals I would have made a video about would you rather have 5 Cody Zeller-sized Kyle Lowrys or 5 Kyle Lowry-sized Cody Zellers? So I’m thankful that I don’t have to do that. Anyways let me know in the comments if you think that the Celtics can make things interesting. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ Just look at this image. Lebron James going up against 4 defenders in a heroic attempt to save the season. James decided to take the hard way and instead of waiving the white flag, he went all out bulldozing through everyone in the paint. Right from the start look at his teammates as they clear out that entire side for him to go 1 on 1 against Gordon and blow by him for the layup inside. In fact James was living in the paint for the entire first half as he constantly put the pressure on the Nuggets defenders and got the best of them either by bullying a smaller guy, or just flying past Jokic. But this took its toll as we saw the guy who we thought was superhuman for 20 years, finally starting to break down and show us the limits of his power. And because of that we saw a completely different Lebron at the end of the game. Let me show you. Watch what happens here. James is absolutely hounding Jamal Murray all over the court. The Nuggets guard cannot even look at the basket. This phenomenal defensive sequence ends with a shot clock violation but you see the price that he pays for it. Lebron is down with hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. Even going down the floor you see that he’s not 100% for this offensive possession and as the Lakers attack he is still bent down almost not even following the play. As the ball finds him this is a good look but James quickly passes out of it as it’s clear that he needs more time to recover. Well, this in a nutshell is the definition of father time being undefeated. You’re still able to do great things on the court, but it takes a lot of time to recover and be able to do it again, so you do it less often. Not as effective. You see, Lebron still attacked in the second half, right here again blowing past Gordon. And on this possession he still exploited the mismatch with Murray right here taking him all the way down to the bucket and scoring. And using his advantage against Jokic as well on this drive zooming past Nikola. But thing is, every time he did it, it took more and more out of him. So these 4 examples were all of his made baskets in the second half. The rest of the way it was either off target, or settling for a jumper when he shouldn’t have, or straight up not even being involved in the play because he was too tired. James had 31, thirty one points in the first- the most he’s ever had in a half in a playoff game. This is incredible at any age let alone at the end of his career. But it caught up to him and followed it with only 9 when it mattered the most. The Nuggets were clearly the better team and all credit goes to them for the incredible style of play that’s unlike any team in the league. They absolutely deserve to be in the finals, and despite Lebron’s best efforts, leaving everything he had on the court, he couldn’t stop this. We’ll focus on Denver in the days to come before the finals. In this video I wanted to illustrate the dramatic moment that happens for every superstar as they get older. The game where they realize that even their best isn’t good enough anymore. For the Lakers to win a championship I believe that Lebron should be the second best player at this stage. Let me know if you agree and support me by buying this sweet T-shirt in the link below. Peace out.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ This is the NBA's worst nightmare. A potential finals matchup between Miami and Denver would absolutely destroy the TV rankings. But if you’re a true basketball fan you should be very happy. Let me explain why, and how it even got to this point. Let’s get into it. At the start of the conference finals, there was a realistic possibility that we could see a Lakers vs Celtics showdown at the end. This would have been the perfect scenario for Adam Silver. A historic marquee matchup and more importantly superstar firepower. Tatum and Brown vs Lebron and AD. But we are seeing that big names on paper mean nothing. You gotta go out and actually win the game. The Heat are the perfect example of that. Literally everyone expected them to be swept in the first round. They got a bit lucky with Giannis missing 2 games, but Miami totally deserved to be here. Jimmy Butler is playing like a man possessed, averaging 29.9 PPG , 6.7 RPG and 5.6 APG these playoffs. Thing is, it’s not just him. Even the role players like Gabe Vincent. Everyone remembers this shot from Jimmy to take it to overtime but it was Vincent who had a huge crucial three point shot to extend the game. Then in game 2 against the Celtics he calls his own number here and ices the game. 1-1 and 2-0 series is a completely different story. How about Caleb Martin who seemingly cannot miss a shot averaging 19 points per game on blistering 63% from the field in this conference finals. And we are just now finding out that he was almost out of the league if it wasn’t for his friend J.Cole using his connections and lobbying for him with the Heat. Last night Duncan Robinson also woke up and showed us that he can still play as well. Remember this is a team that didn’t have Victor Oladipo for the playoffs and also lost Tyler Herro. Miami just digs up new guys to come in and perform. How about Miami’s likely finals opponent, the team that nobody talks about. The thing that I said about Golden State last season is true for Denver right now. They play alien basketball, different from any team in the league. The execution is on a completely different level. Jokic is averaging a triple double. A 30 point triple double for the entire playoffs, that’s ridiculous. Combine that with his incredible efficiency of 54.4% from the field and 47% from downtown, he’s been unstoppable. Speaking of that, Jamal Murray is averaging 35 points per game right now against the Lakers, and last game was a frightening reminder that he always delivers on a higher level in big games in the playoffs. Seriously, there was a moment where I’m sure Jamal had an out of body experience because what he was doing in that first half was completely unreal. And same as the Heat, it seems like every game there’s a big performance from either one of Bruce Brown, KCP and Michael Porter Jr. Each of them is close to averaging 15 points per game against the Lakers. That’s a total team effort. So, with both series being 3-0, it’s apparent that this is the finals matchup. And while it doesn’t have a lot of glitz and glamor that some other teams would offer, the basketball that these 2 teams are playing is 100% pure. Execution, effort and all around teamwork. Just the way it should be. I know I’m looking ahead but from everything we’ve seen- it’s just a matter of formality. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ Watch what happens on the game sealing steal by Jimmy Butler riiight there. Did you catch it? Let’s run it back. We got Al Horford in the corner with 2 guys in front closing the driving lane. And at this moment Jimmy takes a peak and sees both Tatum and Brogdon with their hands up. So as Horford dribbles one last time, Butler knows what follows and he’s already headed out to the perimeter. A crosscourt pass right in his hands a clutch stop that ultimately led to a game 1 win for Miami on the road. This was yet another masterpiece by Playoff Jimmy. Let me break it down. What’s crazy is that he did the exact same thing the very next possession. Watch him dance back and forth ever so slightly to be in the perfect position to both help on the drive but also bait Tatum into throwing this pass, and we got another steal when it matters the most. You can see that on display one more time here as he follows the play but also glances back and sees Williams pointing for the lob. And as we let it roll, this is yet another steal for Butler. In fact he had 6 of them in game 1, in another monster playoff game with 35, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Listen maaan playoff Jimmy is a thing. Look at his effort now on the offensive end. He drops it off to Adebayo and at this moment as the shot goes up, you see that there are 3 Celtics players all around him, there’s no way that he should get this ball. Not only does he outhustle everyone but gets the bucket and the foul. Unbelievable. His aggressiveness on the drive attracts the double team, and as we stop it right here watch for 2 things. 1- a phenomenal athletic play by Jimmy to find the open Martin in the corner over this double team, but 2- the great read by Adebayo who as soon as he senses where this pass is going to go sets a screen for Smart so he cannot rotate. And of course this open shot goes in. Look, when you’re shooting 51.6% from downtown and getting crazy bounces to go in like this one at the end, you’re going to win, but the insane amount of fight, and hustle that this team has shown is undeniable. And here’s another proof of that. This postseason Miami have faced a double digit deficit in 7 games so far including last night. And they won 5 of those games, an astonishing 71% of the time. Comparing them to the rest of playoff teams the difference is crazy. Meaning that you can never write this team off, they keep fighting and keep coming at you. And the best part about it is: I don’t know if the Heat can knock down as many shots in game 2 but I know for sure that it’s going to be the same type of dog fight, and we might just get another 7 games in the conference finals from these 2 teams just like a year ago. Were you surprised by this? Who you got for game 2? Comment down below. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ The Nuggets run a Ray Allen type of action for Nikola Jokic. This is a down screen for Jokic to curl outside, gets the ball at the top of the key and knocks down this shot. In fact, Nikola has been acting like Ray Allen these playoffs since he’s shooting 55.9% from the field and get this: 51.2% from downtown. Astonishing efficiency that once again came into play last night against the Lakers. He did a lot more than that but Denver almost lost the game. So let me break down the good and the bad from game 1. Let’s get into it. I don’t know if I was more surprised at the start of the game by the aggressiveness of Jokic or the lack of effort by the Lakers. Watch this entire sequence as he gets 3 offensive rebounds on the same possession. Nikola ended the game with 21 rebounds, 16 of which came in the first half. And watch him here as he initially stays strong on the contest, but then as he gets the ball, he is literally the last guy back. But then turns into Magic Jonhson and outruns everyone on the court and finds Gordon for the easy layup. Great play by Jokic but this was all LA’s fault. Look at all of these open opportunities that the Nuggets got in transition. This lack of effort by the Lakers in a conference finals is inexcusable, and this played a big role in how Denver built out the big lead in the first half. 17 of the 19 points in transition for the home team came in that first half. Not only was he nice on the break, but of course Jokic was magnificent in the half court as well. On the post up against AD he makes a lightning quick spin move that obviously caught Davis by surprise but shocked me as well. And when the Lakers tried to double team him, check out the incredible reaction and vision by Nikola as he finds the cutting KCP for the easy layup. LA however did seem like they found an answer in the second half by putting Rui Hachimura on him. Rui really held his own, and the combination of Hachimura on Jokic and Davis in the paint as the defensive anchor caused some trouble for Denver. This brought the Lakers back from being down by 20 all the way to making it a 3 point game on the road. I liked the adjustment by the Lakers but on the contrary I didn’t like how Denver didn’t adjust their defense. Check this out. The Nuggets gave away switches way too easy. Right here Reeves is way too far to shoot this, and he’s not even looking to attack, but Denver quickly switches this into a mismatch and a big advantage for their opponent. So naturally, Austin drops it to Hachimura and now Murray has to battle against a much bigger guy and this is easy 2 points. Again, despite Lebron being way out here, you see that Gordon doesn’t even try to get in front here which tells us that this was clearly the game plan. You can see that this happened time and time again and put a lot of pressure on the smaller guys like KCP and especially Murray to have to fight, wasting a lot of their energy. Plus they both were in foul trouble ending the game with 5 each. I would much rather even go under the screens than give them easy opportunities inside like these. Despite all of that, even after making it a close one, Denver still managed to win this game in which Caldwell Pope’s 21 points were huge and proved to be the X factor in this game 1 victory. Great opening of the series. Let me know in the comments who you got for the rest of the way. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ Things have never been more complicated for Golden State. Not only was the chemistry horrific off the court, but it spilled on the court as well. When is the last time you’ve seen a player getting this mad about a bad shot from a teammate? How about a coach in disbelief watching a contested 3 pointer in the clutch. And this is how a reporter described the tension during the locker room interviews after this shot. This is the same championship team that had things going perfectly for them just a season ago. How is this possible? This is Golden State's biggest crisis of this dynasty and to make matters even worse they are considering if it’s even worth keeping this team together. And there are some new reports on that. So let’s get into it. Obviously Steph Curry isn’t going anywhere. He carried this team and is still a top 5 top 10 player in the league. But Klay Thompson’s dreadful performance in the second round, is casting some doubt. He went 5 for 14, 3 for 11, 3 for 12 and 3 for 19 in the final games of this series. This following season would be Thompson’s last year of his contract and is going to make a whopping 43 million. This was definitely not a postseason worthy of that but he did have a great regular season where he led the NBA in 3 pointers made with 301 and did it at a terrific 41%. That’s actually phenomenal. Even with that however, the Warriors have to plan what happens after this season. Do they extend a 34 year old Klay and at what price. If they don’t, then it’s very tricky because you want to get some return for him and not just lose him in free agency, but at the same time there, his contract situation makes him extremely difficult to trade and get a valuable return back. Things are equally as complicated with Draymond Green as well who has a player option but obviously would terminate it if he gets a longer term deal. He says that he wants it to be Golden State, but due to their clogged up salary cap, they may not be able to offer him as much as some other teams. And seeing how great of a defensive season Green had in which he was actually voted in the second team all defense- contenders that are 1 piece away could pull the trigger. And the Lakers connection has been obvious. Green and Lebron are often hanging out together, Rich Paul is Draymond’s agent, and he’s a huge Lebron fan. I mean he even asked the team to let him fly to LA to witness Lebron’s all time scoring record in the middle of a Golden State road trip. That is absolutely crazy. So yeah, this is another decision for the Warriors front office. There’s only 1 way to make everyone happy and pay up but at this moment that’s almost mission impossible. That is trading Jordan Poole. His contract extension kicks in and he is set to make 27 million per year. Jordan did not have a regular season worthy of that, but the playoffs is where things really went catastrophic for him and no team would ever want to trade for him. His production dropped from 20 to 10 points per game in the postseason. At 34% from the field and a miserable 25% from downtown. Add the fact that he’s a liability on defense, and I don’t know which team decides to take him at this moment. So the Warriors may be stuck with him and their only hope is for a bounceback season. But I don’t know if that’s even possible for him on this team given the entire atmosphere. “We were teammates. It's just business, honestly. And that's really all it was, it is, it has been. It's just been business. It's been basketball." Poole said it himself that the relationship between him and Draymond is strictly business, meaning that they are not even talking outside the lines and sometimes even on the court. Poole doesn’t want to even look at Green. And the front office has a difficult decision with yet another guy on this team. Jonathan Kuminga had a great stretch of about 20 games after the All Star break where he averaged 13 points per game in 24 minutes playing great all around. But as the playoffs came, Wiggins came back to the team and Gary Payton entered the rotation and Kuminga’s minutes almost vanished, dropping to just 6 minutes per game. So his agent and the team are having conversations about what’s the long term plan for him. Either they’re going to play him, or it would be better for everyone if they trade Kuminga. Overall, a lot of tension, a lot of difficult decisions and the 1 question that remains- is this the end for the Golden State Warriors dynasty? Let me know in the comments what you think happens to the team. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Is this your MVP? Struggling to go past a 37 year old Al Horford. Settling for a fadeaway and air balling it. This matchup produced the same results again, and again, as Embiid went 5 of 18 in a do or die game 7. Not to mention last game where he didn’t even attempt a shot in the final 4 minutes as the Sixers choked away their shot to go to the conference finals. Heck, he was my MVP as well and I can’t believe this epic downfall for him and for Philly overall. So let’s go deeper and expose everything. The Celtics were comfortable leaving Horford on him and just occasionally sending a second guy not even to double, but just to be in the area to take a jab. And once again he delivered with some monster plays on defense. So what did Embiid do in the postgame? Joel complained that he and Harden cannot win with this team. This is the same exact way that he threw Ben Simmons under the bus. Even tho he’s got a huge role in this loss. First of all his production dropped from 33.1 points per game during the regular season to 23.7 in the playoffs. Almost a 10 point dropoff is by far the biggest by an MVP in NBA history. For a guy that prides himself on dominating defenders, this is inexcusable. I mentioned the end of game 6 debacle where he didn’t even attempt a shot for 4 minutes. How can you blame the others for not supporting you when you didn’t even lead when it mattered the most. For contrast Jayson Tatum stayed aggressive at the end despite having a miserable game shooting the ball. Check this out. Tatum was 1 for 14 up to those final 4 minutes of the game where he took over and went 4 for 5 from downtown. This actually reminded me of a game where Kobe Bryant refused to stop shooting and after going 2 for 20, 2 for 20 from the field, with his team down in the clutch he raises up for the shot that would give them the lead and ultimately the win. So yeah, Embiid missed his opportunity last game and instead of defending himself and Harden, they are the ones that should actually take responsibility. And Harden gave us the biggest flip flop series that I’ve ever seen from a player. He was unstoppable in 2 of the games scoring 45 and 42, but at the same time in the other games he was 2/14, 3/14, 4/16 and finally a horrific 3 for 11 in the deciding game 7. These are definitely his last days as a prolific player in the league and if he decides to opt out of his contract this summer, I have no idea which team would offer him a large chunk of money. Another guy that definitely plays a big role in this loss is Doc Rivers. I mean look at the spacing right here on this possession. Nobody moves, there’s no play, nothing going on. And Embiid is clearly going nowhere with this wall in front of him, and of course this ends as a turnover. Rivers failed to adjust to Boston’s defense and once again loses a game 7 which is his 5th in a row. 5 straight games 7 losses and he’s got 10 overall. Last time Doc as well threw Ben Simmons under the bus, then in the meantime just a few weeks ago he went on ESPN and put all the blame on the Clippers players during their time together saying that they were never going to win. Basically trying to avoid responsibility for those losses. Well, after all that time, all these games and excuses, and yet another playoff failure I am not sure how Doc can avoid being fired especially after we saw that happen with much more successful coaches in recent years like Bud, Nick Nurse and Monty Williams. Another early exit for Philadelphia and something tells me that there will be more drama with this roster in the offseason. Who’s the most to blame for this? Let me know in the comments. Subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ DJ Mbenga is one of the more memorable faces from those Lakers championship teams- despite getting just around 4 minutes on the court and averaging around a point per game. He was a fan favorite and even one of Kobe’s favorite teammates. But his journey to the NBA has a dark history, in which he was in prison for 9 months and actually escaped, to ultimately become a free man, an NBA champion and a celebrity in basketball circles. Sit back as we go through his story. Let’s get into it. DJ Mbenga was born and lived in the Congo for 17 years while his father worked for the Government. When the new regime came, they hunted down everyone who worked for the previous leaders including the father of Mbenga. When the war between two of the native tribes broke out, DJ was falsely accused and was put in prison. With an execution pending, Mbenga needed to escape. In 1999, after being in prison for nine months, his brother bribed a security guard and he managed to escape. With the first plane out of the Congo Mbenga arrived in Belgium, where he was given political asylum. While staying in an asylum center with his mom he found his new love, basketball. At 19 years old, this was the first time that DJ interacted with this sport. He quickly improved however and got a spot on a Belgium basketball team. DJ then started catching the attention of NBA scouts with his size, athleticism, and shot-blocking ability and was invited to the NBA pre-draft camp in 2004. The Dallas Mavericks were intrigued by Mbenga's potential and offered him a spot on their roster. Despite not being the most talented, DJ was very popular in Dallas. He actually appeared in another finals before coming to LA. Against the Heat in 06, Mbenga got some minutes as the Mavs used him, and his 6 fouls to try and slow down Shaq. But that’s easier said than done of course. Miami wins the championship, and the following season after a brief stint in Golden State, Mbenga joins the Lakers. This is when all the fun starts. The Lakers were destroying teams so DJ sometimes saw much more playing time in blowouts. In a game against Minnesota in 09, he got 17 minutes of action and jumped on that opportunity scoring 10 points along with 5 blocks. Just watch him defending the rim as if he’s Bill Russell. And of course Kobe absolutely loved it. This was Mbenga’s best game of the season. Speaking of the mamba, in an interview Kobe raved about how great of a teammate Mbenga is, and told everyone why he calls him Congo Cash. Iiiii don’t know how great of a scorer a 1 point per game guy can be, but it’s great to see Kobe supporting and praising DJ. There is also this moment where Bryant pokes some fun at his teammate, comparing him to Sloth from the 1985 classic movie The Goonies. That year the Lakers won the title defeating Orlando in the finals. And while everyone focused on how much it meant to Kobe winning one without Shaq, this was possibly just as meaningful for Mbenga if not more. As he completed the journey from escaping prison and his country, starting a new life, and ultimately reaching the highest heights. Despite appearing in only 7 games and making only 1 field goal in the playoffs- nobody could take this from him. The following season, DJ played the game of his career against the Hornets posting up a double double of 10 PTS and 12 boards along with 4 blocks. Look at his post game on the back down, the spin, going up in traffic and putting it in. And right here DJ fires away the sweet jumper and swishes it, as the bench goes crazy and even the cheerleaders are impressed. This was his first and only double double in his career. A few months later, his career high in scoring came, with 11 PTS in a game against the Timberwolves. In the back to back title run however, Mbenga dressed up for just 3 games that postseason scoring a total of 5 points. A 2 time NBA champion by 2010, he then signed with the Hornets- in what turned out to be his last season in the league. With a similar production, DJ finished off his NBA career. Mbenga's improbable journey from Congo to the NBA is a story of triumph over adversity. Although he rarely even got a chance to play, fans- especially of the Lakers definitely remember him fondly. Let me know in the comments who’s another obscure NBA player that you’d wanna see a video about. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by buying my NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ In the heat of the playoffs, a lot of guys are stepping up and showing that they’re worth a lot more than their contracts. Some of them are about to be free agents this summer and get some serious increase in their paychecks. So let’s check out the list. Starting off with Austin Reaves who had a playoff debut of his dreams with 23 huge points, stealing game 1 from the 2nd seeded Grizzlies. That series he put up personal highs in every statistical category: 15.6 PPG / 5.3 RPG / 4.7 APG. He showed the world that he’s able to create his own shot, and get to the foul line at an impressive rate. Heck, he even waved LeBron James off a couple of times in the clutch. I mean, this guy’s confidence is just ridiculous. Reeves almost doubled his regular season stats from his rookie campaign. He is going to be a restricted free agent after the playoffs, which means that other teams can contact him with an offer sheet, but the Lakers can keep him if they’re willing to match the offer. His current 2 year contract pays him 1.2 mil $ this season, and as he said it himself in a recent article, Austin is looking forward to making as much money as possible, no matter where it is, and understands that the NBA is a business. So, if the Lakers want to keep him, Rob Pelinka better be ready to untie the bag. And I’m not some NBA financial expert, but I can easily see him making 10 times more than what he’s now, as he definitely deserves it. The Lakers will actually have to pick and choose who to pay since Denis Schroeder will definitely want more than the minimum that he’s on right now after his stellar play throughout the season and the clutch performance in the play-in. Rui Hachimura is also going to ask for more money in a couple of months from now on because he’s been a key piece for LA against Memphis, posting up 14.5 PPG & 4.7 RPG on 52.4% 3PT shooting. Depending on how he continues performing in the playoffs this postseason could be a great leverage for him in free agency. Another guy that is low key having an amazing playoffs is Gabe Vincent. If it wasn’t for him draining this long 3 and cutting the deficit to 1 point with just 8 seconds to go, Miami would’ve lost game 5 for sure. Against Milwaukee he averaged 13.0 PPG & 5.0 APG on 42.4% shooting from downtown, while filling in for Herro and becoming that important 3rd option behind Butler and Adebayo. He has a slight improvement in his regular season stats as well, being a steady back up at the point guard position behind Lowry. His 2 year contract expires this summer and Gabe is going to expect a lot more than his current 1.8 mil $. Not many guys around the league can brag about posterizing Joel Embiid. Well, Cam Johnson can! Even though Joel said that he doesn’t recall being dunked on, it happened. Cameron is another guy that’s going to get paid big time this summer. His 4-year deal expires and as a restricted free agent Johnson will surely be offered a lot more than those 5.8 mil $. In 25 games with bigger responsibility as a Brooklyn Net, Cam averaged career bests of 16.6 PPG / 4.8 RPG / 2.1 APG / 1.4 SPG. And in those 4 outings against Philly he ramped up the numbers even more, becoming Robin to the new Batman in town. His old buddy Mikal Bridges. Johnson went for 22 of his 28 points in the first half of game 2, but even that wasn’t enough to stop the 76ers. For the next season, I expect his game to grow even more, along with his paycheck. The last 3 guys on our list didn’t make the playoffs, but they sure made some headlines over the course of the regular season. Naz Reid made a name for himself these couple of seasons as a guy who comes from the bench and injects a boost of energy to the team. His rebounding on both ends, his effort on defense, as well as his efficiency from the floor at 53.7% all of that while putting up 11.5 PPG & 4.9 RPG in 18 minutes of playing time, makes him a desirable target for many teams. He went off for a career high 30 points against the Warriors in February. Including this rim rocking dunk off the pump fake between two golden state defenders. He’s only making $1.5 mil on his 4 year contract which puts him in the lower echelon of NBA salaries, but this summer all the hard work is going to pay off. And deservedly so. Next we have PJ Washington from the Charlotte Hornets. Even though he made the headlines with some non-basketball related news, the power forward played the most games (73) for the team this season, and alongside Terry Rozier, PJ has been the most reliable option. In the absence of their main stars Lamelo Ball and Miles Bridges, Washington posted personal bests of 15.7 PPG / 4.9 RPG & 2.4 APG. He also dropped a career high 43 points just before the playoffs in a win against the Thunder.

Support by checking out these awesome NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ The Celtics managed to lose a game in which they shot a blistering hot 59% from the field, had a plus 10 rebounds advantage, 5 more made free throws, and plus 24 in points in the paint. All of this was against a Philly team playing without Joel Embiid. How in the world did this happen? Well, there are reasons that go deeper than the Xs and Os. The Celtics have a serious problem that they must fix if they want to compete for a championship. Let me explain. 59% from the field is amazing, but Boston allowed almost 51% from the Sixers which is how they were in it the entire game. And this has been the case for the Celtics so far in the playoffs. A stellar defense that ranked number 2, near the top in the regular season, now dropped to the bottom of the list. As James Harden dissected them time after time, there was no adjustment to try and blitz him, double team, and take the ball out of his hands. Philly got him going with the high pick and from there Harden got deep and close to the basket for this baby jumper that goes in. And this happened multiple times, on his way to 45 points. Sure he made some tough shots as well, but that’s what happens when you allow a great player to get hot and the confidence is through the roof. And look at this. Maxey casually walks into a wide open three point look after a made basket. Inexcusable defensive breakdown caused by a lack of effort. This is also how they lost 2 games against Atlanta, a series that we all thought should be a sweep. Another reason for the Sixers win was the fact that they forced 10 more turnovers from Boston. And when you look at some of these, it’s lackadaisical effort, and sloppy mistakes that have absolutely no place happening in a second round of a playoff game. All of that of course culminating with this inexplicable pass from Brogdon in the clutch right in the hands of Maxey for his easiest points of the night and taking the lead which ultimately led to the win. When asked about the turnovers Mazzula himself took part of the blame saying that he should draw better plays and get them in actions earlier. But that’s not the real issue. The real issue is the lack of focus, discipline and attention from the players in their execution. Both on offense and defense. This is how you end up with 16 turnovers and 51% opponent field goal percentage. Without their main player. Boston does not look like a championship level team at the moment. Even tho the path to the finals literally cleared up for them with the Bucks elimination and the Joel Embiid injury- now when they should put the pedal to the metal and go all out, the Celtics are unrecognizable. 1 game is bad defense, the other it’s the turnovers, then another it’s poor shot selection. Overall the focus is not there. The focus that’s absolutely crucial to winning the championship. Against Atlanta they got away purely on the difference in raw talent, but now, after losing game 1 at home Boston will need to buckle up and get serious especially if Embiid comes back soon. Do the Celtics have what it takes to win the title? Will they even get to the finals? Let me know in the comments. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

This is one of the biggest coaching choke jobs in the final moments of a game, and Giannis had every right to be furious after the game. Let me expose the horrific late game decisions of Mike Budenholzer that led to this astonishing upset. Let’s get into it. First of all, how in the world are you letting Jimmy Butler, the most dangerous guy from Miami, get layups with your season on the line? Look, this is a simple brush screen and the entire lane is wide open for Jimmy to just flip this in. And for the third time in the clutch, the pick by Butler and on the roll there’s nobody to help out for another easy bucket. Seriously, if there’s one guy you have to stop, it's Jimmy. If you can’t do it with a single coverage by Jrue Holiday, then send a double send help or switch it. Put one of the best defenders in the league in Giannis on him. But don’t let him get easy points on you. Antetokounmpo himself said the same thing in the postgame. Bud also didn’t make adjustments offensively. A one handed flip shot from the foul line is not a great way to end your possession. And the Bucks seemed like they didn’t have a better option down the stretch. They went away from feeding Lopez rolling to the rim, and any type of ball movement completely stopped. Just look at this chaos of a possession right here. They have zero idea of what they’re doing. Thankfully they get bailed out at the end by a foul call but it just goes to show you how bad things looked at times. But worst of all is what happened in the final moments of regulation. Number 1, you don’t have your main shot blocker in the game in Brook Lopez to protect the rim. And look what happened. Jimmy gets another shot right under the basket. Phenomenal display of concentration and shot making by him btw. But then look at this. Budenholzer doesn’t call a timeout even tho he has one. This is inexcusable. After the game, you’ve all seen this clip by now. Giannis is visibly upset while trying to explain that this season wasn’t a failure. But the Bucks were the favorites to win the championship. I picked them as well. So to lose from the 8th seed which btw had 2 extra games in the play-in tournament just to get here is absolutely stunning upset. Only the 6th time in NBA history that a number 8 seed knocked out a number 1, and if you ask me this might have been the most impressive one. Who knows if Budenholzer stays on the Bucks bench next season after this colossal defeat. In the meantime, Miami goes head to head against my New York Knicks to rekindle one of the hottest rivalries in NBA history. I’m super excited and terrified at the same time. For those of you that had Milwaukee to win the championship, who you got now? Let me know in the comments. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out. It was another epic collapse for the Bucks. In the regular season, they were a league-best 51-3 when leading after the third quarter and 47-2 when they led by double-digits in the fourth. They led Game 4 on Monday by 11 points after three and by 12 with six minutes left. Entering the fourth on Wednesday, they were up 16. They lost both games, an absolutely brutal way to end a season in which they had the league’s best record overall.

Support by checking out these awesome NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ This is a KD bucket in 3 simple moves. First we got the screen up top for Booker. He’s such a threat from downtown that you gotta switch that. Then Ayton immediately sets another pick for Durant- handing Eric Gordon to him now. And with a small guy like that on him, KD is lethal. So he just raises up and banks it in. Watch how everything happens in the blink of an eye. Boom, boom, boom. Let me give you another easy one. On the inbounds, this looks like a back screen for Durant, to get Kawhi off of him and finish close to the rim. You see even he’s engaged as if he’s expecting that. But this is just a decoy, as Booker will curl around Biyombo and with the defender on his back he’s patient, bumps him and creates some extra room for the shot and the swish. So how do you stop this? Actually you can’t. You can only enjoy the breakdown of the film. So let’s get into it. Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul combined for 17/25 from mid range. A blistering 68%. And when they’re that hot on their go-to move, it’s game over. The Clippers also tried a zone here as Paul gets the ball on the wing. Gordon slides to the corner because Devin Booker is there ready to fire, and as Batum tries to cover he bites on the pump fake, and now CP3 has an open free throw shot. Russ can’t leave Durant alone to help because of obvious reasons and we got the splash. In the 3rd, Paul gets the screen by Ayton in the corner and with Zubac protecting the paint from the roller, look at all this space the point god has to operate with Batum on his hip. Yes, Westbrook and Gordon can help, but they are solely focused on Book and KD. So, CP works his way to his sweet spot and swishes another jumper. To avoid the screening actions, the Clippers also tried going with a smaller guy on Durant, and when he gets the ball sending a double with the others rotating and scrambling to recover. But you see KD is patient with 2 guys on him, sees the floor, passes out and from there it’s a swing to Booker who could shoot this, but he gets to his favorite spot on the floor and knocks it down. And once they get it going- the Suns big 3 is unstoppable, as KD just casually raises up over 2 defenders and makes this shot look easy. Meanwhile, CP3 is doing what CP3 does- with the snake dribble on the pick he does this S-motion getting over here, and as we let it go you see the defender trailing him and this is a bucket in the clutch to put the game away for Phoenix. Speaking of Paul, he finally broke the curse of 13 straight playoff losses when refereed by Scott Foster. One of the greatest David vs Goliath battles in NBA history, and Chris Paul finally gets one. He also sneaked in a little shoulder bump on Kawhi, which may be incidental, but knowing the type of instigator that CP3 is, I am confident that this was premeditated. Leonard of course didn’t even register that. With Paul George ramping up his activity pre-game things are about to get even more interesting with the series shifting to Los Angeles. So buckle up. Who you got in the next 2 games? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by checking out these awesome NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ This is how you guard Steph Curry. Davion Mitchell is laser focused on Steph, not even looking at what’s going on behind him. Fights through the screen and stays attached so as Curry gets the ball, you see that Mitchell is all up in his grill. A great switch with Sabonis on the fly, and eventually this leads to a contested floater by Klay and a miss. Again, follow De’Aaron Fox here and watch how he’s only worried about the guy in front of him. He’s absolutely glued to Steph right here as the Kings game plan was to let anyone else beat them except Curry. He chases him down throughout the entire half court and as the shot clock expires Wiggins takes a turnaround fadeaway and misses. Sacramento came out with a defensive masterclass on the best shooter in the league, and we gotta analyze it. Let’s get into it. (3ca switch na curry) Check this out as this is the best defensive possession of the game. Davion is hounding Steph right at half court, and as the high screen comes, Monk is right there ready to switch. Another quick guy who can bother him. We got another screen and Barnes goes up as high as he can to both contest the shot and guard for the potential roll by Draymond. Steph fires away from way downtown and airballs this shot. Probably affected by all that chasing and running. (Contested floater) Notice the communication on the switch as Davion signals to Monk here to take over. Malik chases him off of the three point line and we gotta stop it right here to point out the perfect split of this gap by Mitchell bothering both Steph, and being close enough for the potential pass. Curry is forced to drive and pull up for a contested weird looking floater from the elbow that doesn’t go in. To quantify how great of a defense the Kings played, they allowed 101.9 points per 100 possessions in game 2 compared to 116 that they allowed during the season as the 24th offense in the league. This number from game 2 would actually be by far the best in the NBA. That’s how crazy this was. Having multiple guys to throw at him and chase him around is key for Sacramento. Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox, but special shoutout to one of my favorite players in the league Davion Mitchell for absolutely suffocating Curry on some possessions. (Mitchell great contest) I mean look at this. He picks him up full court, chest to chest, following every step, and this is as good of a contest as you’re going to get as this shot misses again. Steph shot 3-13 3PT (23.1%) and had 5 turnovers. The Warriors committed 22 turnovers overall and shoutout to Mike Brown for this amazing game plan, and to the players for the execution. Brown however was a bit reserved in the postgame, as if they could have done an even better job. If you’re Golden State, you have hope in the fact that you played 2 tight games on the road where you’ve been horrible all season, so it’s not unrealistic to be able to win 2 at home and tie the series. But Sacramento shocked everyone with this 2-0 lead and the phenomenal play despite having a lot of doubters. Including myself. But they’ve definitely convinced me. How about you guys? Let me know in the comments. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by checking out these awesome NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ Check out this phenomenal layup attempt by Russell Westbrook hitting nothing but the backboard. He actually had a few of these ugly shots where he almost broke the backboard. Still despite a horrific 3-19 shooting night in game 1, Westbrook was the hero against Phoenix. Let me explain how the Clippers will live by Westbrook and die by Westbrook in this series. Let’s get into it. You can clearly see how relaxed Booker is while guarding Russ at the three points line. The game plan is obviously to give him these looks and the Suns were more than comfortable with him shooting. Rightfully so. And on the post ups Westbrook does not have an advantage neither against Devin Booker, nor against CP3, both of which are actually nice at guarding these situations. So the contested turnaround fadeaways looked forced and ended up missing the target. Things were not looking good for Russell in the first half and twitter was on him. But credit to Ty Lue for encouraging Brodie at halftime and telling him don’t get discouraged about missing shots because you bring way more to this team than just points. And boy did he ever. This was probably the greatest 3-19 performance ever. Westbrook was on KD for a big chunk of the game and right here he funnels him towards the help, guards for the pass but as soon as Durant commits to shooting this jumper, Westbrook is right there with a phenomenal block up top. Great defensive possession. Another one here as he chases down Kevin on the screen, stays attached and is able to poke the ball away for another turnover. And watch him follow the action the entire time here making a great decision to help in the paint and he blocks what would otherwise be easy 2 points. Russell saved 2 more points on this drive by Ayton by sacrificing his body and taking this charge. Westbrook also grabbed some monster rebounds on the offensive end securing some crucial extra possessions for the Clippers in this game. All of that of course culminating with the game saving block that he had on Booker to seal the win for LA. So by the end the narrative on him completely changed and this was viewed as a phenomenal performance. The problem remains however. The Clippers are truly going to live and die by his play. As much as Kawhi is the best player on their team, Westbrook is the most important and the outcome will depend a lot on how good or bad he plays. One thing that the Clippers have going for them tho, is their depth. They have an overwhelming advantage in firepower when it comes to the supporting cast. Even with an injured Paul George, guys like Norman Powell, Eric Gordon and Terance Mann stepped up and helped Kawhi Leonard who once again put the team on his back and came up huge with 38 points. So, they’ll take the good with the bad when it comes to Russell, but obviously this team hopes for more good from him especially when it comes to shooting the ball. Let me know in the comments if this game 1 win surprised you and how much of a chance you give them for a complete upset. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by checking out these awesome NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ In the middle of Miami’s comeback run, follow Jimmy Butler as he’ll end up with the perfect opportunity to cut the deficit to only 4 points. Look at this, he is wide open right in front of the basket . But he doesn’t want to take the shot. Instead, he dribbles around, gets stuck and forces Lowry to take a much tougher shot with the shot clock expiring. So just seconds later on the other end, Trae Young punishes them on the other end as he hits a three and the lead goes back up to 9 and Atlanta wouldn’t let go of it. Let me show you how Butler and Miami overall literally forgot how to play basketball in a crucial game against the Hawks. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Watch this fast break here as Jimmy is one on one against Murray, goes up to lay it in with no contest whatsoever and misses it. Previously Butler had another great opportunity. Sure Collins is there but doesn’t really contest the shot, this should be a bucket. And again, the same exact thing. He gets the ball right at the rim and blows a perfect scoring chance. Unbelievable. But what’s crazy is that Jimmy had 7 of these bunnies with no real contest that should be an automatic score. 7! And he missed them. That’s 14 easy points in a game that they lost by 11. That’s the win right there. Thing is, it wasn’t just him but pretty much the entire team did not show up. Right here Adebayo has deep position on the catch, and once again without a contest from the defense we got another miss from short range. Bam also had a few of these and when you add it up it’s close to 20 points total that the Heat could have had. Kevin Love was unplayable as he got burned on 2 straight possessions defensively. Once right here as he tries to trap, leaving Okongwu all alone, and again here still like a statue as Johnson easily steps around him and finishes. And on offense he hit the side of the backboard on a wide open shot. So 3 minutes was all that he got in this game. Speaking of the side of the backboard, there’s this horrific shot from Gabe Vincent as well. And I gotta call out Caleb Martin who ran around for almost 30 minutes and didn’t contribute with a single point. Zero. Miami also got outrebounded 63 to 39. And they allowed the Hawks to get 22 offensive rebounds resulting in a ton of second chance points. As much as Atlanta did their thing to win this game, it’s Miami’s own fault for how they wasted this opportunity at home against an opponent that they’ve shown that they can consistently beat. They’ll have one final shot against the winner of Chicago and Toronto but things are definitely not looking good for the Heat at the moment. Can they squeeze into the playoffs? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Support by checking out these awesome NBA T-Shirts: https://heatcheck.info/ This is Mikal Bridges in a Suns jersey late in a tight game, standing in the corner away from the action waiting for the kick-out. And this is Bridges in his 3rd game as a Brooklyn Net, one on one against Jimmy Butler, he does the shake and bake on him and hits the and-one. He scored 45 in this game which is his career high, and since joining the Nets, Mikal had 11 games with more than 30 points, compared to just 2 in 4 and a half years with the Suns. What Happened to Mikal Bridges, and how he’s transforming into a real star player for the Nets. Let’s break it down. While in Phoenix, Mikal Bridges was known for his defense, often guarding the best opposing player, putting in the hard work and giving a 100% effort every night. In the clutch, he stays with Luka through the screens and puts a hand in his face which results in a bad miss. Here, he’s posted up against PG, gets bumped by the big man but somehow was able to block the shot from behind. On offense, he would get his points by out-running his defender in transition, like in this situation where he’s in line with Josh Hart but manages to run around him before getting the pass and finishes with the dunk. He’s always on time making the right cut to the rim in the half court offense. Booker gets double-teamed so he passes to Ayton down low, and before he even catches it, Mikal is already sprinting towards the basket, the pass and the lefty dunk. He’s a great finisher inside making 68.2% of his shots in the restricted area. But he’s mostly known for his ability to get open 3 point shots out of the attention focused on CP3 and Devin Booker. Most of these are catch and shoot 3’s, however we saw flashes of him being able to create his own shot when needed, mainly in the absence of the all-stars or due to the shot clock expiring. Bridges averaged 17.2 PPG / 4.3 RPG / 3.6 APG in 56 games for the Suns this season before being traded to the Nets as a part of the package for KD. He was also considered as one of the more efficient guys in the league, shooting a decent 46.3% from the field, 38.7% from long range and 89.7% on free throws. Ever since joining the Nets, he blossomed, and got better in almost every statistical category. In his very first appearance against Philly, we saw what Mikal is capable of with the ball in his hands. Here, he gets the ball on the left wing, Claxton comes up for the screen and the handoff, Bridges gets it back and makes the running jumper over Joel Embiid. Later, they run the same play and again, Mikal gets to his comfortable mid-range spot and hits the shot over Joel. In his career night against Miami, his offensive arsenal was on full display as we see him sizing up Strus for the pull-up jay. In the 3rd, he gets the ball in the corner, freezes the defender with the shot fake, goes inside, pauses as another defender flies by before laying it in. Next we got the off ball screen by Claxton for Bridges to curl around him either for the jump shot or for the penetration to the rim. He gets the ball with Butler on his back, turns on the jets and lays in the finger roll. And finally against Robinson, dances, blows by him, stops on a dime and swishes it. Against the Magic a month later, although in a losing effort, Mikal dropped 44 points on 66.7% shooting from downtown. And, just 5 days later in Brooklyn he burned the Hawks with yet another 40+ points masterpiece. Look at his confidence, he stares down his opponent, dribbles past him, stops, turns and drains the fadeaway. The main role in Brooklyn after Durant and Irving’s departures was open for grabs, and Mikal emerged as the leader. Heis usage rate skyrocketed to 29% compared to the 19% of the time he had the ball in Phoenix. His production increased while keeping and improving his efficiency. Having the ball in his hands a lot more, he’s fully embracing it and he is posting a phenomenal 27.1 PPG / 4.7 RPG / 2.7 APG on 47.5% FG / 37.6% 3PT/ 89.4% FT shooting splits. That’s impressive. Bridges is averaging more points than KD and Kyrie ever since the trades, are you kidding me!? Ok, Durant appeared in only 8 games, but c’mon, we gotta give this man his credit. I dedicated a whole video about his playing style on both ends of the floor about a year and a half ago in which I ask the question, does Mikal Bridges have another gear to unlock. And boy, his blistering hot performances in the Nets uniform for sure has answered my doubts. He’s getting more spotlight from the media as well, as he was announced the Eastern Player of the week and flew in the conversation for the Most Improved Player of the year. Given the keys to the franchise, Bridges kept the Nets above the play-in zone. With the 6th seed they’ve set themselves a date with the 76ers.

This is the MVP this season. We already know it because these were the results of an ESPN poll asking voters who they would vote for just a week ago. Yes it’s a tight race with Embiid being just 2 points ahead of Jokic, but since then, Jokic didn’t play a few games and Embiid had possibly the best game of his season. A 52 point explosion in a statement win over the Boston Celtics. In this unstoppable performance Joel even swayed me and my opinion. I gave the slight edge to Giannis, but this was so strong that I was convinced he is the MVP deservedly so. Sit back and let’s go through the rest of the categories and pick a winner. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. The race for most improved is really interesting and you could go a lot of ways with your vote. You could say that although we saw how good Shai Gilgeous Alexander could be last season, nobody expected him to catapult himself into a top 5 scorer in the league. A 7 point jump is a lot, especially when you are going from a good player, to an unstoppable offensive force scoring 31 and a half points on a nightly basis. Then, you could also say that the Knicks completely transformed into a playoff team just by adding Jalen Brunson. He also took a step forward from a role player to the leader of this team. His scoring improved a lot as well going from 16 to 24 points per game along with 6 assists. And even tho as a Knicks fan I love all of this and want him to win it, I feel like the most deserving guy to win the most improved award is Lauri Markannen. He also got a way bigger role in a new team, and responded phenomenally. Almost an 11 point jump going from 14.8 to 25.6. And not only that but even with an increased workload of taking more shots every game and the focus being on him as the main guy- Markkanen improved both his field goal percentage and his three point accuracy by quite a lot. Both him and the Utah Jazz have been a great story this season and I think that Lauri is extremely deserving of this award and will win it. Another guy on this Jazz team who is going to get some recognition is Walker Kessler in the rookie of the year race. I personally love how great of a worker he is. A great defensive presence for Utah with almost 2 and a half blocks per game. And because of his size- the 9 points per game come at a 72% from the field. A lot of dunks and putbacks. But in this category we have a clear winner and that is of course Paolo Banchero. The Magic got a beast in him producing 20 points and 7 rebounds on average. A terrific start to his NBA journey and the future is bright for the Magic who are a team on the rise, and we could see that even this season. They will definitely be in the play-in mix next year. Another category with a clear winner is coach of the year. And without a doubt that goes to Mike Brown who inserted a winning culture and shocked the entire league by taking this team to the top of the west when literally nobody expected that to happen. Not even the Kings diehard fans. With 121 points per game they have the absolute highest scoring offense in the league and teams cannot keep up with them especially in the Golden 1 Center where they light the beam. Mike Daigneault also deserves a lot of credit for getting the Thunder in the play in range, but the award goes to Mike Brown.a The 6th man of the year award is a 2 player race. Malcom Brogdon has been stellar for the Celtics all season giving them 15 points off the bench. But Immanuel Quickley exploded post all star and since then he’s averaging 20 a game. He has really stepped up to a new level and that has helped the Knicks a lot in the playoff battle. So because of that, and sprinkle in some bias towards my team- I give this award to Quickley. Homerism aside tho I do think that he’ll end up winning it in the end. When talking about the defensive player of the year award, I gotta say that I love Brook Lopez and everything that he does for the Bucks. His presence in the paint, his contests, the blocks…Brook is a huge piece of Milwaukee’s defensive strategy and their championship aspirations. The fact that this team has 2 guys in this race along with Giannis is frightening and in my opinion makes them the championship favorites. Having said all of that- from everything that I’ve seen and heard around the NBA, it does seem like Jarren Jackson Jr will win it, and it’s not a bad pick either, leading the league with 3 blocks per game. What are your picks for the awards? Let me know in the comments. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Join my private Sorare league to compete against me and have the chance at prizes in future Game Weeks, you'll also get 20 free Common Cards if you use the link to sign up: http://sorare.pxf.io/oejROb Winning the championship last season and seeing some of the young guys making significant plays for them in the process, meant that the Golden State Warriors had high hopes for this year. And with an aging core of Curry, Thompson and Green, everyone had their eyes on Poole, Kuminga, Moody and Wiseman to step up and keep this championship window open for dub nation. But this plan failed in a catastrophic way, and right now the Warriors are hanging on for dear life just to avoid the play- in. So what happened? Let’s get into it. Taking a look at Jordan Poole’s stats you can see that he’s having a slight bump with 1 and a half points per game more. But that’s simply because of his increased shot attempts and comes with a cost. His field goal percentage is down and especially his 3 point efficiency went from 36 and a half to 32.8. A significant step back. Not to mention the fact that the opponents target him constantly as the weakest link defensively. Kuminga and Moody both have seen a slight bump in minutes but their production has stayed exactly the same as last season. So in a situation where Klay had a rough start, and Wiggins is not playing in like half the games, you need other players to step up and they haven’t. Not to mention Wiseman who never really found his spot on this team and struggled so much that Golden State eventually traded him. The Warriors are just 1 game away from the play-in at the moment and it’s going to be a battle for the defending champs to even make the postseason, let alone win it. At number 2, we got a player who had a terrific rookie campaign. So much so, that he actually won the rookie of the year award. Scottie Barnes brought a lot of promise to the Toronto Raptors and their lineup entirely built by 6-8 wings was a pleasant surprise last year finishing as the 5th seed. So building off of that success both individually for Barnes and collectively for Toronto there were some hopes and expectations for this team. And we can see this as a letdown in both regards. Barnes hasn’t taken a leap forward. He’s still at the plateau of 15 points per game, but to achieve that he now needs to shoot more. So his field goal percentage dropped from 49% all the way to 45. Every other category has a negligible change. This transferred at team level as well. The Raptors are in the play- in zone at the moment and don’t have the same juice as last year. That’s why it was particularly surprising that they didn’t make a trade to solidify their position either as contenders- by acquiring a piece, or as a rebuilding young roster by trading away Siakam. A player that a lot of teams wanted. This way, Toronto is stuck in no man’s land and this season is a wash both for them and their young star Scottie Barnes. Number 3 is a bit controversial, so let me know what you think about it. But first… Moving on, I said that the Pelicans pick for the biggest disappointment might be a bit controversial because a big reason for this team underperforming this season have been injuries. Out of the 73 games so far, Zion appeared in only 29 of them, and Ingram in just 36. Even if Brandon plays out the majority of the games left, that’s still going to be half of the season that he missed. That’s a lot of time to be fighting without your 2 franchise superstars. But for some reason I still feel like the Pelicans underperformed. Maybe because I was so hyped for them, maybe because of the fact that they confirmed that the hype is real by being at the top of the west in the middle of December. But to go from 18-8 all the way to 36-37 and have a 10 game losing streak, I just feel like this roster overall is better than that. You still have C.J. you still have a nice bench, a great defender in Herb Jones, and a sniper in Trey Murphy. I may be overrating this team, or I may be too harsh on them and give them a pass for all the injuries, you can let me know in the comments. Next up is Ben Simmons. I know that right now he’s reportedly injured, but him missing the last 10 games or so has nothing to do with it. This goes back to when KD and Kyrie were still there, and expected Simmons to help them out. Simmons failed to reach 10 points in 29 out of the 42 games he played so far. Just think about that. Single digit points in 70% of his games. That’s in no way a star player. I don’t care what else he can do on the floor. There were times when he literally missed layups. And even moments when he would refuse to shoot the ball. To think that the Nets gave away James Harden and expected this guy to fill in the void is absolutely laughable looking back. There are people in NBA circles saying that from this point on he would only get a contract as big as the veteran’s minimum. And I fully agree with that.

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Join my private Sorare league to compete against me and have the chance at prizes in future Game Weeks, you'll also get 20 free Common Cards if you use the link to sign up: http://sorare.pxf.io/oejROb

Full podcast: https://youtu.be/qj_2bycZim8 Subscribe to Gil's Arena: @GilsArena