Has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander locked up the MVP repeat?

Alright, Brandon, it's been a few weeks since I have hosted the pod, so we haven't been

able to catch up on the latest in TV or movies, but you know, I was going to bring up

Paradise's back.

I think you're a Paradise watcher, is that right?

Yeah, I'm a big fan.

I remember you and I talked about it last season on this pod.

Yeah, so I read some mixed reviews that season two hasn't been as good as season one.

I'm about four episodes in the season two.

What are your thoughts so far?

Oh, I love it.

It's definitely different than season one.

Season one spent so much time in one location and it was a certain kind of show and I'm

trying not to spoil season two definitely goes in a different direction and there's been

like episodes dedicated to one specific character.

And there's a couple of new characters that we didn't see at all in season one.

So I guess that's probably thrown some people off because we're spending so much time

with people we didn't even know in season one.

But man, I like the direction they're going.

I think it's really, really good.

And I like the new characters and I like the new situations that we're seeing these

characters in.

I think it's great.

Yeah, I've enjoyed it too.

I've been intrigued by the episodes that I've seen it.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that I found it fascinating that Graceland has served

a pretty important part of the story and it's been interesting to see what they've

done with Graceland after this disaster that led to the Paradise Bunker being created.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I like the whole like Elvis Graceland.

It's a fun like backdrop and setting.

It's unexpected.

It's fun.

I love Paradise.

I love season one and I love season two so far.

And I think that where they're going and we're spending a little bit, we're getting to

know some back stories of like our main character.

And I don't know.

I think it's great.

I would say bull to all the any bad reviews I disagree.

Welcome back to the Daily Thunder podcast.

I'm John Napier, publisher of Daily Thunder and I'll be your host today.

Alongside me is Daily Thunder, Beat Rider, Brandon Rebar, Brandon, as I mentioned in the

cold open, it's been a few weeks since I've been on the pod, how you've been doing?

Been doing good.

Been enjoying some really good Thunder basketball lately.

Six game one streak including a couple of like last second wins.

It's been really entertaining fun Thunder basketball lately.

Yeah, you mentioned it's been a six game win streak.

What it surprised you and you probably know this.

I mean, this is the longest win streak that Thunder have had since they started the season

24 and one.

Yeah.

You know, I think that 24 and one start obviously like set expectations, you know, extremely

high.

All the talk about beating the bulls and warriors record 74 wins, joining the 70 win club

and all those things, obviously taking a step back now that the season has gone on.

And all these injuries that the Thunder dealt with, you know, throughout the season, the

fact that the Thunder are still the top overall record, the fact that here we are still dealing

with all these injuries.

And they're in the midst of a six game win streak with some really good wins in that streak

by the way.

I think that they're playing.

They were never going to win 74 games obviously with all these injuries, but I think the level

of play that they're at right now is starting to match that 24 and one start that we saw

earlier.

They're playing that type of basketball again.

Yeah, I agree.

And you noted there have been some pretty good wins in that six and no run, including

twice against the nuggets, once against the warriors and a nail bider against the nicks

in Madison Square Garden.

So it's not like it's been again subpar competition.

And as you know, I mean, they've been battling injuries.

The entire season long and it and are still not healthy.

I mean, in the game against the nuggets, the nuggets were pretty well healthy except not

having Peyton Watson, but the Thunder were down, Jada, they were down, Chet and still came

away with a win.

Yeah, I think that that nuggets win.

Like you said, they only were missing Peyton Watson and wasn't just Chet and Jada, they're

also still missing Isaiah Hart and Simon Alex Caruso.

So you're missing four of your top five or six players and you're missing your entire

starting front court.

You're missing the only players above six, nine on the roster going up against Yokecish

and Valentinus.

Like J. Will was the tallest player for the Thunder at six, nine.

And then the next tallest was Ken Rich Williams at six, seven against the nuggets and Yokecish.

And they come out with a win.

I thought that was one of, if not the most impressive, one of the season for the Thunder.

Given the circumstances, given the opponent, given the injuries, I think that was incredibly

impressive.

100%.

It was a really great win for the Thunder.

You mentioned Jalen Williams.

We're going to talk about him a little bit later on the pod, but let's talk about Shay

Gilgis Alexander, who I would say had his MVP defining game with his performance against

the nuggets.

Not only did he tie Wilk Chamberlain's record of 126 straight games of 20 or more points,

which as a matter of consistency is a mind boggling number.

I can't even like wrap my head around 126 straight games of meeting that threshold and

scoring.

He didn't stop at 20.

He had 35 points.

He had 15 assists.

He had a steel, a block, eight rebounds, sorry, nine rebounds total.

And he had two dagger threes in the final seconds of the game.

Go through your thoughts on Shay's performance.

Yeah, it was unbelievable.

The fact that he's going up against Yokecish, this is like an MVP battle and, you know,

Shay, the playmaking really, really stood out, the 15 assists, the nuggets sold out all

game long to try to stop Shay, like doubles all game, traps all game, doing anything they

could to slow down Shay.

So not only does he score 35 points, incredibly efficiently, he also hands out 15 assists and

zero turnovers.

That's the only in this second time in NBA history.

It's ever been done to have 35, 15 with zero turnovers, Shay and LeBron, the only two

players to ever do it.

And then, of course, not one, but two game winners, unbelievable.

Like, okay, so when it happened, I won't, you know, say any names or anything like that,

but I'm sitting like on media row and like, just like the looks on faces, just like the

unbelievable, like, yeah, somebody says, like, that's like Michael Jordan type stuff.

And it is.

So what we're witnessing with Shay right now is like Michael Jordan type stuff, like the

fact that he can control a game, take over a game and decide, I'm going to get the shot,

I'm going to make this shot.

He does it twice, especially given the circumstances of that four point play and how all that went

down and, you know, you could have just put your head down and be like, okay, let's get

this over time and try to win it.

Shay was unbelievable in that game.

I think it's one of the greatest individual performances I've ever seen.

Yeah.

And you mentioned Yokech and, you know, I think a lot of people will have, you know, thought

that the MVP race is going to be between SGA, Yokech and maybe, maybe Wimbee as well.

And Yokech had a great final minute as well, final minute and change.

He had two really big threes.

He scored eight points in the final minutes of the game, including the three that led

to the game time free throw by Jamal Murray.

So as far as an MVP battle, it was there.

But to me, I think the difference is what you noted, the way that the nuggets were defending,

they were blitzing.

They were selling out.

They were doubling SGA.

They were intent on making somebody else beat them.

And the Thunder couldn't really do that to Yokech.

They were too short handed in the front court to throw bodies at Yokech and try to take

him out of the game.

And in fact, you know, along the injuries, the Thunder did not have Yokech stopper

Alex Caruso in the lineup.

And so Yokech was going to get his points.

He was going to get his triple double.

Shay had to overcome the nuggets throwing everything they had at him and still managed to score

35, 15 and make the two game winners when they were like, we were not going to let Shay

beat us.

And what did he do?

He beat him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, you're exactly right.

Yokech's favorite given all the players that were out on the Thunder side and the fact

that the nuggets were healthy.

So you have this MVP battle.

This is by the way, three straight games this season with a head-to-head matchup against

Yokech that Shay outplays Yokech and the Thunder won all three of those games.

So the Thunder of 3-0 and Shay's outplayed him also in the playoffs.

They met last year in the semifinals.

The Thunder won that series.

Shay outplayed Yokech.

Shay's the reigning MVP.

He's the reign on finals MVP like this is a different discussion, but the whole best

player in the world title like Shay's resume in case it's hard to argue against it right

now like that he's not the best player in the world like he's got all the things that

would say and point to that he's the best player in the world like if it if it looks like

the best player in the world, if it quacks like the best player in the world, he might be

the best player in the world.

I think he is.

And my thought and I'm sure you're going to agree with this here that if Shay just plays

normal Shay the rest of this season and the Thunder, I don't even know if they have to

even get the number one seed, but if Shay just plays Shay basketball, do you think he's

locked up the MVP?

Yeah, he should.

He should have locked up like, you know, I think that he was, you know, the heavy favorite

and had it locked before this game.

I think this game stamped it, cemented it as long as he hits the 65 game minimum, he

should have it.

There will like if you look at their their cases, Shay and Yokech, obviously Yokech is

always going to have the role numbers, the point rebounds assists and all that stuff.

Shay's got an 11.5 game lead over Yokech.

He's three and O versus Yokech, he's not played him in every game and he has absurd like

all time type numbers himself.

I don't think there's any case whatsoever where he could have Yokech.

I think there's unfortunately going to be probably I'm guessing like a late push just

because they'll want to see some sort of drama to have maybe Wimbee, maybe a late Wimbee

campaign because the Spurs are hot, he's been playing really well lately and if the Spurs

were to take over the number one seed, but if you look at it, like he just doesn't have

the case, obviously has the case for defensive player of the year, given the defensive player

of the year.

But Shay has more points on better efficiency from the field, from three point line, from

the free throw line, true shooting percentage, better assists, less turnovers.

The only thing that Wimbee has Shay on statistically is rebounds and blocks.

Of course, he's going to have rebounds and blocks.

Shay has them in every other category and the Spurs have been healthy.

Shay has been doing this with an injured team.

I think it is clearly, clearly Shay.

And maybe to segue a little bit more about Shay because we could spend the entire podcast

talking about SGA, but he scored that 35 points with just four free throws, which is,

you know, Aaron Gordon had eight free throws, I think in the first quarter of that nuggets

matchup.

But I'm going to go back to the game against the Warriors and Steve Kermay some comments

post game about SGA drawing contact and getting to the free throw line and he said about

Shay.

He's incredibly clever.

He knows exactly how to draw contact.

It's all within the rules.

I don't have a problem with Shay.

I have a problem with the rules.

Comments on that.

I just think that all these teams are getting beat and it's just like you're looking for excuses

of why you get beat like I just like with Mark Daniel, they would say this after getting

beat by a player and kind of like throw it on, you know, excuse it at no, you wouldn't

see that.

I think it's silly, honestly, Shay is not leading the league and free throw attempts.

He is not second and free throw attempts.

Like why is Shay always the talking point?

I think it's because his team is all beating all these things.

Like nobody has a problem with Luca because the Lakers don't feel like a threat.

They're not beating you every night.

Then I have a problem with Dini Abia or Yannis getting all the free throws that they get

are Austin Rees because those teams aren't regular beaten teams.

It's become a talking point, a narrative, all the social media discord and unfortunately

it's like found its way into post game pressers and I think, you know, reporters are asking

about it.

Coaches and fans are talking about it.

It's silly.

I think Shay is second and the league and drives per game.

He's led the league and drives per game for like five years before this one.

No, he's getting the free throws he should be getting and teams can't stop him so they

follow him.

Yeah.

I mean, it's kind of surprising to me that this narrative persists because there isn't

any factor evidence to back up that Shay is getting to the line or drawing contact in

any particular special way, especially when you look at the Lucas or the Hardens and the

other people are getting to the line or you talk about, you know, the 83 point game from

BAM where he had 43 free throws, I think, to get to 83 points.

Yeah.

It's not a narrative that rings true in any way, but I think you're right that people,

they're just looking for ways to minimize Shay's accomplishments and this is the best

they could come up with.

Yeah.

And it's silly.

It's, you know, you should be celebrating greatness.

I think what Shay is doing right now is greatness and it should be celebrated.

And you know, yeah, it's, it's really unfortunate to try to minimize any of it.

Yeah, and that BAM stuff was, I thought that was, was crazy.

Yeah.

Well, about that.

So he had the 83 point game.

It was very obvious that the heat were dialed in to get him that record, right?

It was a thing manufacturer a little bit.

Oh, yeah.

A lot.

Because good for the game.

Bad for the game.

I, I didn't particularly like it.

You know, I get it.

It's fun.

It's like a fun talking point, especially because it's BAM.

It's not like any of like the elite scores in the league.

Like, so the fact that BAM does it, I just don't like the whole manufacturer.

Like if you're going to get the record, then get the record.

But like, they left him in like a 25 point blowout.

They were missing free throws on purpose to try to get the ball back to getting more shots.

They were fouling on the other end to try to, you know, stop the game, stop the clock

to getting more shots.

He, he shot the low league average from the field and from three and from the free line.

I don't know.

Like, I don't have any problem with BAM and it's fun to talk about.

And if anybody likes it, that's totally cool.

But like to me, like those records are special and to kind of get it in such a manufactured

way, I think is a bit silly.

Well, I'm going to turn it around and ask you this question then.

So let's be really optimistic.

The thunder playing the Celtics tomorrow night.

That's when shake and go for the scoring streak record.

Let's say they're up by 25 points in this, I guess the Celtics in the fourth quarter

and shake it at 19 points with five minutes to go.

Mark leave them in to get the record.

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

And maybe that sounds after what I just said about BAM.

Maybe that sounds a certain way.

But this has been, we're talking about 126 games before this, whereas like, you know,

that was just like a one off with what, you know, the he did with BAM and it was to get

this one specific thing.

This has been 127 games in the making with Shay.

To me, it's a different deal.

Like, if you need to manufacture one point, you know, late in the game, I think that's

a much different than manufacturing like 25 points late in the game in a one off.

So do you think the thunder should sell out to ensure that Shay gets the record?

Uh, I don't think it'll need to happen.

I think he also get it within the flow of the game, especially if they're going to beat

the Celtics, they're going to need Shay to score 20 or more.

But, you know, if it gets, if it's dicey, he's sitting at 17.

I don't think they should like sacrifice trying to win the game.

Like, let's say it's a close game.

I wouldn't prioritize the record over trying to win the game, especially like, you know,

in the middle of a number one overall, number one seed in the West battle and, and

Shay's MVP and all those things that are going on, you know, you try to win the game first.

So I've still prioritize winning the game if the game is in hand or if it's not going

to affect the outcome of the game, yeah, sell out to get it.

Like I said, I think it's much different when we're talking about 127 games and we're

just talking about like a couple of points at the end of this long, long journey.

Oh, yeah.

I totally agree.

126 games so far.

You just need one more, you know, I think everybody understands or should understand

that Shay should go for the record, right?

And if he says it at 17 in the fourth quarter, make sure he gets enough shots to hit the

record.

Yes.

One last, one last comment about Bams game who he took 43 field goals.

He took 43 free throws, 22, three pointers.

If Shay had that stat line, 43 attempts from the field, 43 free throws.

How many points do you think Shay's scoring that night?

Oh, he's probably beating willed.

Let's be honest, like his efficiency.

If he were to put up that many points or that many shots, that many free throws because

his efficiency is ridiculous, especially, and that's the other part of this.

It was against the tanking wizards team.

I think this is kind of a byproduct of the wizards tanking and not caring.

That's a part of it too.

But yeah, Shay probably gets like 105.

I like that.

I like that.

Well, from one superstar to a budding superstar, maybe, let's talk about Jalen Williams.

I'd say that against the nuggets, he had his best game ever as a member of the Thunder,

not his top scoring game because he had 30 a week prior, but 29 points, 12 rebounds.

He had the Yochitch assignment on defense, has Jalen Williams had a breakout season this

year?

Yes.

A hundred percent.

It's been pretty special what he's been able to do this season.

If you remember back, J will be drafted in the second round.

He wasn't supposed to be a shooter.

He wasn't really supposed to be much of a defender, really.

He took on the charges and that was really cool.

But what he's turned himself into through just sheer hard work and development has been

unbelievable.

He's become such an improved defender.

He really can shoot the ball.

Seven of 11 from three against the nuggets and the Thunder needed all of those.

To put up 29 points and 12 rebounds, he's improved on the board.

He's improved his physicality to go and match Yochitch play 40 minutes going up against

Yochitch defending him as the only healthy big on the team and then also scored 29 points

on the other end and shoot seven 11 from three just.

Yeah, I think it's easily his best game as a pro and I do think that he is broken out

this season.

And they needed him with all the injuries to eye hard and shed and just the injuries

up and down the roster of the season.

They've needed J will and he stepped up like, you know, whenever J will start to almost

expect like a near triple double and for him to make an impact on the game.

And this is coming from your third big and some people might have thought that he was

going to be the fourth big once the Thunder drafted Thomas Sorber.

He's been unbelievable.

He's easily to me the best third big in the league and he gets started on some teams

in the NBA.

Absolutely.

And when he does start for the Thunder, he always plays really, really well makes the winning

impact.

Well, maybe it is a question of how X or Twitter does its aggregation and it's AI interpretation

of trending topics.

But the other day on my feed, it said a trending topic was the Thunder fans discussing whether

J will's performance has rendered heart and sign dispensable.

What are your thoughts on that?

I wouldn't go that far just because we've also seen how important, you know, heart and

sign is to what the Thunder does.

And he's a different kind of center than what Chet and J will are like his physicality,

strength, like his rebounding, also his playmaking from the post, his little push shot that he

does like to have that as an outlet when the rest of the offense is breaking down.

And you don't just need two bigs.

You really need three bigs, especially with injuries and especially certain matchups

and things like that.

So no, I want to say that J will has made heart and sign, you know, dispensable.

I think, you know, like that meme or that gift, like why not both?

Like why not both?

Like, like I think you need both of them.

And on top of that, we still have the rest of the season to play out.

Heart and Stein, J will none of them are going anywhere.

And I think for the Thunder's push to repeat having a front court of Chet, heart and

sign and J will the way he's been playing gives the Thunder an edge against virtually

every other team.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I will say this if the Thunder do have to make some hard decisions on salaries and

you can't pay everybody if for some reason you were going to have to let go of heart and

sign.

You do feel better knowing what J will can bring and you do still have Thomas Sorber

you want to see him play.

But J will played good enough to wear like if he was your second big, that's not the

worst thing.

That's a really good second big.

But now J will has been he's been awesome.

Well, let's talk about another second round pick, AJ Mitchell made his long awaited return

from a 20 game absence.

Um, and it was like he'd never left.

I mean, he just came right back and played at a high level.

You couldn't tell he missed any time at all.

What a great game from from AJ.

Yeah, that was unbelievable.

That was, you know, you always expect players from the he missed 20 games.

He hadn't played since January 21st.

And when that happens, you just expect those guys to come in and kind of get their feet

wet, play a few minutes, maybe put a couple shots up, try to get their rhythm back, try

not to like interfere with, you know, things drive obviously working the thunder in the middle

of a win streak.

But nope, he just comes in and he dominated from the jump.

Like he scored double digits in the first quarter.

Um, and the thunder offense is so much different when AJ is out there because you have a

second ball handler, shot creator, playmaker next to Shay, or when Shay sits, now you're

not scrambling for scoring and points when Shay sits.

You have somebody that can run the offense.

So it just looks so much smoother out there when AJ is out there.

I could not believe he looked like he didn't miss a single game after missing 20 games.

That was, that was so impressive.

And again, just like what Jay will, uh, they needed everything from AJ.

Like if AJ doesn't play that game, if he doesn't return when he did, the thunder don't

win that game.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And I think for the NBA at large too, I mean, they kind of look at AJ is like, Oh, you

know, how did the thunder get another second round guy who's a contributor?

But AJ's not just a contributor.

He's a key part of the offense.

And as you noted, I mean, the thunder don't win that game without AJ's contributions.

And having him back, you know, is a difference maker for this team.

So the 20 games that the thunder had to survive without AJ is actually impressive in its own

right.

Um, but he's made himself, I think one of the thunder's top players.

If you were to like rank the top five thunder's best players, where do you put AJ in that

list?

Yeah.

Like I think AJ is legitimately either five or six now, like obviously Shay, uh, cheddar

dub, whichever order you want to go, cheddar dub when they're both healthy and on the

floor.

Then I think Hardenstein, then I think fifth, you could argue that AJ is fifth, maybe

Kyrusso, obviously some nights, maybe Lou, but I think he's right there in that cluster.

Uh, and if you want to put AJ fifth, I, I want to argue with you.

I would be like, yeah, that makes sense.

AJ might be the fifth best player on the thunder.

Um, I would say he's either him or Kyrusso personally.

Yeah, I, I agree.

And as I put in my right up from the nuggets game, you know, I put him at number five in my

list of top five best players and it's kind of mind boggling to think about how the

thunder's fifth best player.

I mean, this is a championship roster, right?

It is loaded with talent.

This was a team that everybody said is the deepest team in the league.

And the fifth best player is a second round pick in his second year in the NBA who hasn't

even played 80 regular season games yet.

And he wasn't in the rotation for a championship run.

So they're adding like basically a fifth best player, um, that wasn't a part of the championship run.

He played a few minutes here and there and the, and the playoffs, but not really in the rotation.

And he went from what you, you kind of thought that he was going to be a luxury.

I think now he's a necessity.

Like you need AJ Mitchell out there, um, and he is a true difference maker and X factor for this team.

So to add a guy like AJ Mitchell to the rotation after winning the championship is, it's crazy.

Yeah.

Well, thunder loaded, um, and we're starting to see more and more that that depth come back to into

play as the team gets healthier.

Hopefully we can get Jada back soon.

Um, I think you and I have talked about this multiple times, both on the pod and outside of the pod.

What would really be helpful would be for the thunder to get everybody back and have a good

10 game run so that you can get used to playing with each other.

You can get your rotations locked down and ready for the playoffs.

I don't know.

Do you think that's, that's a possibility of happening?

Are you hearing anything on, on Jada's return?

Yeah.

I think it's a possibility happening.

Uh, we haven't been given any sort of update on Jada's return.

But you know, if you look at his, his timeline of being reevaluated the two weeks has come and gone.

And you know, see, feel like he's close.

Uh, I think they're going to be extremely cautious and conservative.

Because of the type of injury that it is and they're, they're always kind of tricky and they can come back.

So especially with the way that they're winning right now, um, I think they're going to be extremely conservative.

That said, uh, when it comes back, I, I think they will have at least a 10 game ramp up to have all their guys and to get some rhythm going into the playoffs.

I'll play it together.

Well, for this, uh, next segment, and I don't want to keep harping just on the, you know, impressive win against the nuggets.

But that does take the thunder to three and oh against Denver, at least coming into the season and really up until the other day, um, you know,

Kray was in town.

He wouldn't cover the Warriors game, but he and I were talking before that game.

And I was kind of talking about potential threats to the thunder repeating in the West.

And I had mentioned Denver, um, you know, they're, I think in the sixth seed now, kind of, kind of borderline seven seed.

Um, in the West, who do you see as the thunder's true threats?

I think it's the nuggets that's first, um, I know the, the Timberwolves, you know, they're a great team and they've made too straight Western conference finals.

But the thunder handled them in five games last year and, and just dominated them and they didn't get better.

They lost to kill Alexander Walker, um, from that rotation.

The Lakers, obviously, you know, Luca LeBron, Ospreys, they have a lot of offense, but they have such issues defensively and with their depth.

Um, and at the center position, I, I just don't think that they're threats.

Um, to me, it's the nuggets and spurs like those were the two teams that I look at as, oh, in the rockets, I, you know, the rockets have issues with,

with one way players either all off into no defense, your vice versa and in the playoffs, I think that's going to hurt them in their guard play.

I think we'll hurt them in the playoffs.

So I don't look at the rockets as a threat.

I think it's the nuggets in the spurs.

I think that obviously the thunder of three know against the nuggets, but all those games have been close competitive games.

Obviously the thunder haven't been healthy for those games.

So you feel good about that and you feel good fact that you beat them in the playoffs last year and tend to, to kind of have their number right now,

but the playoffs are a different animal and they're a great playoff team and, you know, it's so yokich and Murray and Aaron Gordon and they haven't really been healthy this year.

Either they're kind of getting their themselves back to, to health right now.

And then obviously the spurs, you know, they went three and one.

I know they took went to technically form one against the thunder, but I don't count that last one.

Thunder didn't have anybody healthy.

So I say they went three and one against the thunder this season and obviously they've been playing great and they have win be.

So I think to me it's just the spurs and the nuggets as the true true threats.

And can I say that I'm not too scared of the spurs?

Like yeah, the spurs went four and one technically against the thunder, but pit the young spurs who have never been in this situation before probably making their deepest playoff run.

Any of these guys on the team have had in their careers against the defending champion thunder in a seven game series.

I just am not that worried they could pull it off.

Assuming and historically right and historically we have seen you got to take your lumps in the playoffs.

We saw with the thunder that year against the mass.

That was a great great thunder team.

I think they could have beat the mass that year.

I think they could have gone to the finals, but typically in experience and youth.

You don't usually win at your first time.

So it's hard for me to see that I agree with that.

Plus they do have some issues with their shooting.

I think in the playoffs that could to bite them, you know,

that there are a lot of their best players aren't great shooters.

So we'll see how that costs them or not in the playoffs.

But yeah, I think they're a great team.

I think the thunder or better team regardless of the three and one or four one.

And remember the one game that the thunder one that was the last game where the thunder player guys against the spurs.

And they won in a pretty big way.

They won by double digits and they were clearly the better team that night.

The last time that these two teams played when both teams played all their guys.

Let's look over at the the east because the thunder do take on the Boston Celtics tomorrow night at home.

It's a national TV game on prime video.

The thunder have recently played the nicks and one in a close one, 103, 100.

They lost to the pistons, 124, 116.

And then they also had a victory over the calves of 121, 113 when in the east,

who do you see as the biggest biggest threats for a, I guess,

are impeding the thunder's chances to repeat?

I mean, I guess the Celtics now that Tatum is back.

The fact that they're the number two seed in the east and they added Jason Tatum to the rotation.

But I still just don't see like, like, they're big.

Like who's going to deal with Chad and Hart and Stein and J will.

I have a hard time seeing it as great as they've been in his good story as that is.

I have a hard time seeing it.

I think the calves are sneaky good.

If they're healthy, adding James Hardin.

They've been really good since they made that trade and they haven't really been healthy.

If they were to get healthy, don't know the Mitchell Hardin,

Mobley and Jared Allen.

I have a hard time believing in the, in the pistons, in the playoffs because of their

offense, because of their shooting, their defense will translate.

I just don't think they have enough offense and shooting in the playoffs to,

to win a championship right now.

So to me, I guess I would say that the calves and the Celtics.

Yeah, and I'll be interested to see how the thunder match up against the Celtics.

Now that they have Tatum back.

I mean, the Celtics have been a really good story.

I'd better than people expected coming into the season.

Being without Tatum, virtually entire year.

Jalen Brown has had a really, really good year.

And the Celtics defense has been, you know, to their core, excellent.

So, you know, this will be a great measuring stick game for the thunder.

And I assume that the thunder, though, will be without J-dub.

Do you think Chet's going to play?

I think Chet will play.

You know, he missed these last couple games with the flu.

And now that we've had, it's going to be a couple of days off since then.

And he was questionable leading into that game.

I think Chet will play.

So Chet should be back.

Hopefully Kuroso is back because he was questionable leading into that nugget game as well.

So if you can just get Chet and Kuroso back, that will be a huge help.

It gets the Celtics team.

But how do you see that when playing out tomorrow night?

Uh, I think the thunder win.

I think the Celtics will be motivated coming off that loss.

This is the spurs last night, especially the way it happened with Jalen Brown getting ejected.

Probably shouldn't have been ejected.

So I think they'll be motivated and they're a tough out.

You know, Tatum isn't fully himself yet.

I don't know if Payton Pritchard is going to play.

He's been missing some time.

Butchovich is out right now.

I think the thunder will win, but the Celtics will always make it competitive.

So I think we'll have another, another good game.

Maybe we get another game winner again from Shay.

He's got like three in a row and looking ahead to the remainder of the season.

The thunder have 16 games left on the schedule.

They are two and a half games up on the spurs, um, puts you on the spot here.

I'll probably revisit the same question here in a few weeks and we have more data.

Uh, so thunder right now, I think what are sitting on 51 wins.

How many wins do you think the thunder get, especially with the gauntlet of a schedule?

They have remaining this year.

Yeah, the schedule is really, really tough.

And the thunder are still dealing with injuries and we don't know when, when jade

up is going to be back or when harnes sign is going to be back.

It is a very, very tough schedule.

I will say the thunder get, I'll say 63 wins.

All right.

So that's 12 and 4 over the final 16.

Whew.

That's tough.

Given that that's tough.

Given the injuries and given the schedule, that is tough.

I'll say 62.

Okay, 62.

I mean, 62 wins would be a great year.

But is that enough to edge out the spurs for the top seed, you think?

I don't know.

The schedule is much, much, much more favorable for the spurs and they're also healthy.

So it's going to be tough.

Uh, I know the thunder have a two and a half game lead, but they only have, you know, a one

lost cushion because the spurs have the tiebreaker.

It's going to be tough.

Um,

I, I think the thunder will end up being the one C, but it's going to be like razor

thin, razor thin, it could, it could really go either way, given the schedule and given

the health of the two teams.

Do you think the, the pistons can get to 62, 63 wins?

I mean, they do have one game against the thunder in the final few weeks as well.

Uh, no.

I mean, obviously they've been, they haven't been playing as well lately.

Um, I think that the,

the thunder will end up with a better record than the pistons.

I think the pistons probably get 60.

Obviously, you know, an easier schedule to rest away than the thunder.

Um, yeah, it's, it's, the thunder are going to be motivated.

I will say that like, you know, when the thunderstorms are off at 24 and one and everybody

was talking about 70 rains, there was all this talk like, you know, but will they

rest guys down the stretch because they'll have the number one seed wrapped up?

Well, they're not going to have the number one seed wrapped up.

So they are going to be motivated and they're going to want to get some rhythm

back like we talked about getting these guys healthy.

So they're going to be trying to win all these games.

Uh, so that does, that does give them an edge.

I think the fact that they're actually going to try to want to win every single

game down the stretch.

Well, it's going to be a fun last few weeks.

A fun final 16 games because again, the, the schedule will set up for this,

but it leads to a very difficult run for the thunder to close out the year.

And they will be fighting for that number one seed, both in the West and overall

in the NBA.

But we get to watch Shay continue to chase greatness and a repeat of an MVP.

Anything we missed on today's pod, Brandon?

Ah, I think, I think we got it all.

This is, uh, yeah, we covered a lot of topics.

Yeah, go watch Paradise.

Yeah, I'm going to keep watching it.

I got a night to watch it since there's not a thunder game.

Although I do have competing demands.

We didn't talk about this, didn't the cold open and if people start tuning out,

turning off the podcast now, they're going to miss out.

Um, I have read the book, Project Hill Mary already.

I read it several years ago when it first came out.

I am rereading it in advance of the movie.

And so I've got that to get through as well.

I've got, uh, I don't know, eight days until the movie comes out, but I am incredibly

excited about it.

Yeah, I'm pumped about it too.

Uh, I'm excited about it too.

I, uh, I've been trying to stay away from like, I'm weird.

Like I try not to watch full trailers because I don't want to be spoiled on anything.

So I'll watch like half of a trailer to just kind of get the gist or get some,

you know, just an excitement.

But then I'll turn it off because I don't want to be spoiled on anything.

So I watched half of the trailer and it looks awesome.

Wow, I've watched every single trailer multiple times.

That's how excited I am.

But again, I'm very, um, impressed with the book.

It's one of my favorite books of all time and to the point where I am reading again, um,

just so I can be ready for the movie and my, uh, oldest reddit as well.

So he and I are going to go see it the night it comes out.

Um, so hey, you know what?

I think we did a pretty good job.

I'm a little bit out of practice.

It's been a few weeks, but we had a lot of good things to talk about.

And really I could just sit and simple about,

shave for a good 30, 45 minutes easily no matter what.

So there's always something to talk about.

Yeah, he's, he's, he's been unbelievable.

And I think he's going to continue to be unbelievable, uh, down the stretch and just like

for other cement, the MVP.

Well, it's a great way to end it.

Uh, that's all the time we have for today.

Thanks for tuning in to the Daily Thunder podcast.

I'm John Napier, host the podcast and he's brand or bar daily thunder.

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