Season 3, Episode 22- Chasing History

In this week's episode of "Diehlman at Halftime," Larry and Chris discuss:

Bam Adebayo scores 83 points for the second-most points in an NBA game
Most ethical 70+ point games in NBA history
Non-playoff/play-in teams discussion
Game of the Week: Portland Trail Blazers @ Denver Nuggets, Sunday, March 22, 2026

All music written by Larry Diehlman

Release date: Monday, March 16, 2026

Transcript

Introduction

Overview of the NBA this Week

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Hey guys, and welcome to episode number 93 of Dielman at Halftime, the NBA podcast that tops all others. I'm your host, Larry Dielman, joined by my co-host Christy Pietro. If you're joining us for the first time, it's great to have you. And if you've been a regular listener, welcome back. We have a lot to cover today and not a lot of time to do it. We'll look at a general overview of the NBA this week and then discuss some important topics across the association. Let's get to our content for the week. The biggest story in the NBA this week, Bam Autobio, scored 83 points on Tuesday against the Washington Wizards. And by surpassing Kobe Bryant's legendary 81-point game, it's now the second most points by a single player in an NBA game behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points. So the new order in the top five, we have Wilt, Bam, Kobe, Wilt again at 78, and then tied for fifth at 73. We have Luka Doncic, David Thompson, and you guessed it, Wilt two more times. With Bam's performance, he now has the NBA record for most free throws made and attempted in a single game, which was 36 of 43. Chris, Wilt's record has stood since 1962. So 64 years now. Kobe's 81 at number two stood for 20 years since 2006. This was just out of nowhere. This random Tuesday game against the Washington Wizards. I don't think anybody saw this coming, especially from somebody like Bam Atabayo. Not somebody that you would expect to just go off like this, but what an incredible performance. And now he is in the history books, probably for a long time, if not ever.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

First of all, for anybody hating, you! This was awesome! This was such an awesome moment. This was one of the greatest basketball performances of all time. He was at home, he was in front of his mom, and also his basketball legend girlfriend. You know, you can separate how you feel about the purity and the mystique of the performance from the fact that this was just awesome and stunning to watch. Now, Shaq has a tendency to say some dumb stuff, I think. A lot of stuff he says has me scratching my head, but he put this as perfectly and as simply as it has to be. He said, I'm happy for Bam. A lot of people say he chased the record. He should. To all the little kids out there, if you've got a chance to break a record, your high school record, whatever, and you have a chance to make history, go for it. End quote.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Exactly. People are saying, oh man, he should have came out of the game at 80 for Kobe, man. It's the black mama, man. Pay your spec man, it's a black mama. You chase your dreams, make history. I think Kobe would have wanted him to do it.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

I wholeheartedly believe that. So, you know, for anybody hating, is that like like you're just a sad human being. I don't know what to tell you. But but another thing, this was the most March basketball thing, maybe of all time. Bam, not a bio, drops 83 on a Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards. The end times are upon us. Repent for your sins. This is just unbelievable. He was probably the 40th player in the league. I would have expected to do this. Maybe right above Pascal Siakum, maybe right behind Denny Abdia. I just think it is so funny how Kobe dropped 81 in this legendary comeback where you know he had 55 in the second half, and Bam Atabayo jumps right up above him, shooting 43 free throws against the Washington Wizards on a random Tuesday March night. It was just an absolutely unreal, monumentous event that will go down in history. Um, as Norman Powell said in the in the post-game interview, Wilt, Bam, Kobe. That is just so crazy to say. Just legitimately unbelievable stuff. But as I alluded to earlier, the ethicality of this performance is a bit of a separate conversation that that will hit on, and we'll get into that. There are a lot of shenanigans going on at the end of the game if you are watching to get him to that 83 points, a lot of intentionally fouling. Um it it it was far, far, far from the purest 83 points you could score. It was far from the purest 70 plus point game that we've seen. Maybe the least pure of those games. We'll get into that in a moment here, but but still just just an unbelievable moment. Like, you know, you're just chilling on your Tuesday night, you're not even thinking about Miami versus Washington. And, you know, you might go on Twitter and see, oh, Bam had 30 in the first quarter. Like, all right, like that's cool. He maybe he'll finish with like 44 or something. That's what seems to happen when we see these crazy first quarter performances. You know, Luca drops 25 in the first quarter, bam drops 31 in the first quarter. It's like, all right, like like we're in for like a 46-point finish, which is like a great performance and everything, but these usually don't amount to the legendary status that we saw from Bam on that on that fateful night. Um, so it is just absolutely unreal that that this happened. It it it felt like the the world was ending and then everything was closing in around us, spam out of bios dropping 83 points in a game. Just unbelievable.

SPEAKER_03 6:02

It's just crazy, like you said, you know, on this random Tuesday night in March, like this is something that would definitely happen. And I was seeing, you know, like like you were saying, a lot of people online saying that, oh, the intentional fouling was, you know, they were just stat padding at the end. Obviously, it was a blowout, it was the Wizards, you know. And I I think some people probably would assume too, no, this is actually the most scoring in a single game. Because what's crazy to think is that Wilt's hundred-point game, there is no video footage that has ever been recovered because this is back in 1962, the game was not televised, no video footage has ever been recovered. There's only audio recordings from the fourth quarter that do exist.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

All right, conspiracy Larry. Okay. No, this is just let's get it. Let's get into it, Larry. Let's get into the conspiracy now.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

I mean, could you honestly like do you think these box scores were just created? Like, I don't think you could make something up like this, but you know, just the fact that it wasn't televised. I think a lot of people look at it that way. I, for one, think that yes, Wilt did set the record. These are not numbers that you make up. Wilt did exist, he is not a figment of our imagination. He was a real human being, and this is absolutely insanity that Bam Autobio did this. And no matter what you think of the, you know, was it ethical and were they just stat padding? Nobody expected this.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

And as it doesn't it doesn't change how momentous it was and how crazy it was watch.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

This is like the the 40th person you would have expected. This would this is something that LeBron could have done, this is something that Kevin Durant could have done, this is something that maybe even though he kind of got there himself, Luca would do.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Bro, Cam Thomas, I probably would have expected to drop 70 before Bam out of bio.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

It is just you know insanity. And the fact that they it took stat padding at the end of this game and free throws, and Bam is still 17 points short of Wilt. I don't think Wilt's records ever getting touched. Nobody's touching 90, nobody's getting like 85.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

I could see someone touching 90.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

It it depends, though, because like a hundred. Bam had like what, like seven triples. Wilt the three-point line didn't even exist.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Bam, bam missed a lot of threes.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

He did.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Like if you dude, he would have broken the record had he made five more threes. Of his 22 attempts, he only made seven of them.

SPEAKER_03 8:25

Well, Bam's not a Bam's not a shooter either.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Well, I mean, he's a he's a competent shooter. I mean, he clearly showed off like three-point shooting touch. He made seven threes. But like if he shoots above 50% from three, which is not asking a whole lot, like he would have broken the record, which is that that's something I just thought about. That is that is so crazy. Um, there were there was room for improvement in this game from Bam.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

I don't think the 100's ever getting broken in our lifetime, at least. We'll see, depending on if somebody can start hitting more threes. I mean, if Steph Curry can't do it, then you know who can? Just a monumentous moment in NBA history. And of course, it came to the chagrin of the Washington Wizards franchise. This episode is entitled Chasing History. So, who's raising eyebrows at the moment?

SPEAKER_02 9:18

All right, so piggybacking on our discussion of the all-time Bam atabio performance. You know, as we alluded to earlier, there are plenty of ethical concerns about this performance. The late game intentionally fouling, um, it's like the heat, they didn't even let the wizards possess the ball in the last two or three minutes of the game because they were immediately fouling them uh to get the wizards to the line so they could get Bam the ball. They kept Bam in at a blowout. Bam, you know, as as we mentioned earlier, set the record for most free throws attempted and made in a game and shattered those records. I was shocked to see like how much he had broken that record by. Like, at least among like when when I was comparing it to the other 70-point performances in NBA history, I mean, he was blowing out the player with the second most free throw attempts of those legendary performances, which is just unreal. So, so definitely some questions about the the ethicality of this performance. So Larry and I have decided to take all of the 70-point performances and do a little draft. Um, I'll choose three, he'll pick three, we'll we'll bounce back and forth snake style of our most ethical 70-point performances in NBA history. So, Larry, um, as the host, I would like to defer the number one overall pick to you. A hard choice here. There are some much more ethical performances than BAM's here. I actually think BAM was probably the least ethical of all of them. 47% from the field, which was the lowest of any 70-point game, 31% from three, lowest of any 70-point game, 43 free throws attempted. The next most free throws attempted of any 70-point game in NBA history was Devin Booker with 26. So Bam Atabayo attempted 17 more free throws, which is just bananas. Okay, that that is unreal. We're gonna give our take on the uh the most ethical performances here, Larry. Uh, if you would like to start us off with your your first pick.

SPEAKER_03 11:25

So if I'm doing this right, does that mean that Bam is a free throw merchant? Since Embiid and Shea always get so much crap about going to the foul line, Bam out of free throw merchant? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

That's that's not a um that's not a stretch, I don't think, Larry.

SPEAKER_03 11:39

With the first pick in the most ethical 70 plus point games in NBA history draft, kind of a top consensus pick here, but I'm gonna have to go with Kobe bean Bryant's 81 burger over the Toronto Raptors, January 22nd, 2006. So 20 years exactly from then until BAM's shocker last week.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Wow, really? That is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

The Lakers won 122-104. It was a huge comeback win. I believe the Lakers were booed at halftime, and then Kobe went nuclear for his 81 points, and Jalen Rose was on the wrong end of history that night. Poor guy. It was at Staples Center. No, it was not at Crypto, it was at Staples Center. Kobe just known for the 81. That's kind of you know his main thing besides the five rings and the shack and the three P and all that jazz. But just a legendary performance, not really too good in the first half, second half, turned it on, light switch, and etched his name in history along with Will Chamberlain, and that record stood for 20 years before Bam Autobio said, Hold my beer. So shout out the late Kobe Bean Bryant in that second place. He is now third on the list, but I will go with the easy choice for number one.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

I don't think that choice was so easy. I I'm looking, I'm looking at two other performances I like right there with Kobe's, but um Kobe was number two on my draft board. He had 55 points in that second half, which is just ridiculous. Uh in virtually all of these 70 plus point games, uh, you see the bulk of them coming in the first half. But the fact Kobe dropped a strong majority of them in the second half in a comeback win is remarkable. He also had three steals in that game. He was fifth in field goal percentage among all of those performances, and third in three-point percentage. 20 free throws attempted in in that one with Kobe, which is towards the bottom of all those performances. Uh so yeah, that that that is a that's a great first pick. Um, I I think it's a three-man discussion in this most ethical 70 plus point game performance list, and Kobe was my number two as we progress in this snake draft. I'm gonna have to have an opportunity to choose the two performances I believe are right there in that top tier. But I will start with my pick, the second overall pick, and the performance I believe pretty clearly, honestly, to be the most ethical 70 plus point game. Luka Doncic dropped 73, 10 rebounds, seven assists. He almost had a 73-point triple double. How unreal would have that been? 76% field goal percentage, which was the highest among these games, 33 field goals attempted at the lowest among these performances, 62% three-point percentage, the highest among these performances, and only 16 free throws attempted, which was the second lowest among these performances. Um, only two more than Damian Lillard, who had 14 free throws attempted in his 71 point outing. But this is just the peak efficiency right here. He he he barely missed. He he made more than three of every four shots. And you know, when when when you think of someone scoring 70 plus in a game, you would kind of expect him to be up there with that sort of field goal percentage. But a lot of these guys, you know, kind of had typical strong nights of shooting, field goal percentage-wise. It's just that they had the volume to reach those crazy highs. Um, but no, Luca was just not missing and and also had crazy volume, you know, 33 shots taken in a in a game is is pretty nuts. But it was the lowest among all of these performances. So Luca's near 73 point triple double on Unreal Shooting Splits is my first pick in this draft. And with my second pick, third overall, I'm gonna take Joel Embiid's 70, 18, 5, a steal and a block against the San Antonio Spurs, and Victor Wembenyama, for that matter. He had he had um 18 rebounds in this one on top of his 70. Nine of them were offensive, but I think the two most remarkable things about this performance were he was only one of two from three, by far the lowest amount of three-point field goals attempted in any of these performances. He made one, he did he he dropped 70 with hardly shooting any threes. And not only that, he did all of this in 36 minutes. This this was like an average night of play for him. You you look at all these minute totals from these performances, you know, you see 44, 48, 50, 47. 36 minutes for Joel Embiid. It was it was a standard night of play for him with 36 minutes. He played three quarters, dropped 70 points, shot the ball very well, and he just made it look simple and and took Victor Wimbanyama and Zach Collins, uh former Spur, to school on that on that night. So yeah, my first two picks here, I'm gonna I'm going Lucas 73 and Joel Embiids 70 in 36 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 16:52

All right. So I have my second and third pick. It's the fourth and fifth pick in this serpentine 70 point ethical draft. And my next pick, I'm probably gonna steal one from you, and I hope I do, because this man is a pure bucket, and I'm going with Devin Booker dropping 70 at the Garden, TD Garden, that is, March 24th, 2017, but in a losing effort this time. The Celtics won 130, 120 that day. This was Devin Booker's only his second season in the league. He was 20 at the time. Devin Booker was the youngest player to score 70 points in an NBA game. He had the highest scoring game in the NBA since Kobe's 81, and the previous Suns scoring record was 60 back in 1990. It was 27 years to the day, actually, that the previous Suns record was held. So Devin Booker had 70 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and 45 minutes of action. He was 21 of 40, so just over 50%. 24 of 26 from the foul line. Absolutely disgusting. But Devin Booker was just lighting up TD Garden. The Celtics fans were cheering him. That's how you know that history is being made that night is when the opposing fans are cheering for you and wanting you to get that record or at least hit a nice round number of 70. What an absolute performance. Devin Booker has always been a pure bucket since he's been in the league. And doing that when you just turn 20 years old, I I don't even know what to say. Like that's just that's incredible. You look at the other guys on this list. Kobe obviously was in the league for a hot minute, Embiid has been in the league for a hot minute, Luca, a handful of years. Devin Booker, 20 years old, absolutely filthy, lighting up Boston, which is very rare because Boston usually doesn't get lit up that much. But Devin Booker took the Celtics to school that day. So that is my second pick in my draft. And let's see, you took my Luca, you took my embied. Let's see who's left on my list. Now, here's another thing to note, folks, that Chris and I discussed before we hopped on here was that in NBA history, there are 16 70-point games or more, obviously, across league history. Six of them, six of sixteen were Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt by himself six times. Everybody else, once Wilt Chamberlain was an absolute cheat code. However, for my final pick in the draft, I'll go with a throwback. Obviously, Wilt Chamberlain dominates this list. We talked about Kobe. You know, there's a couple of new players on here, too. I'm gonna go with somebody on the Spurs, and that is the Admiral, David Robinson, dropping a 71 burger on the LA Clippers April 24th of 1994. It was a 112-97 win for the Spurs. The Admiral really made that Twin Towers lineup with Tim Duncan back in the 90s, and obviously, you know, they would go on and win some championships. The Admiral, 26 of 41 shooting, and similar to Dwell and Beat, only one of two from three-point range, and he was 18 of 25 from the foul line. So I'll give a shout-out to a throwback player in David, the Admiral Robinson dropping 71 points on the LA Clippers, and of course, just adding another stain to the LA Clippers franchise history.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

Well, Larry, you said um you were hoping to steal one of my players here. And you had two opportunities to do that, and neither of them cracked my top five most ethical 70-point games.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

So am I the Timberwolves passing on Steph Curry twice? Is that what I'm hearing?

SPEAKER_02 20:44

I think you are with this one. Um, but you're making this this choice tough on me because I thought you were gonna choose one of these guys. But with my uh final third selection, sixth overall of the ethical 70-point performance draft, I think I'm gonna go with Donovan Mitchell's 71-point game. Eight rebounds and 11 assists, which was by far the most of any of these performances. Like I said with Luca, this was almost a 70 plus point triple double, um, which has never been done before. Luca was three assists off. Donovan Mitchell only two rebounds off, which I think might be even a bit closer to the triple double than Luca was. Donovan Mitchell shot 65% from the field, which was a third among these performances. And something to note about this performance, he missed five free throws, which is unlike him. He made 20 of 25, 80 from the line. He typically shoots higher than that. So, I mean, there there were there was room to drop 76 in this one. And again, he had 11 assists. So he was dishing the ball out left and right as well. I mean, 11 assists in a game is really high. Like that's up there. That I mean, a lot if you averaged 11 assists a game, I mean, you'd probably be leading the league in assists. Um right there with the leader. That's about you know what season assist leaders end up averaging, 11 assists. And and he did that in with 71 points, which is just unreal. I I would be super fascinated to see um the statistic from Donovan Mitchell in this game. I believe there's some metric, uh I don't know if it's exactly called this, but like points created. It's it's really just points scored, and the amount of points that were scored off of your assists. So he had 71 himself and 11 assists. He probably created almost a hundred, if not over a hundred points for his team in this game, which is which is just so crazy. Um he shot really well doing it. The game went to overtime, he played a lot, but uh nonetheless, an extremely ethical 70-point performance uh just missing out on my list, and and somebody I was expecting would be taken in this one. Damian Lillard 71, 6, and 6. He shot 13 of 22 from three. Those 13 made threes were again by far the most of any of these performances. For context, Bam Ataba was seven of 22 from three, but Damian Lillard made six more than him in the same amount of attempts. Uh he was 59% from three, which was the second most of these performances, and it took the least amount of free throws of any of these performances with just 14. But I'm gonna take Mitchell with that one, my last pick to wrap up our uh draft here of the the greatest 70 plus point performances here. Glad we got to touch on a lot of these. That that was fun, and it was great to do this in the wake of seeing a 70 plus point performance, which rarely, rarely, rarely ever comes around at all. And we just saw Bam drop 13 points more than a 70 point performance, which is just unreal. So so yeah, I'm I'm I'm I'm glad we got to touch on some of these these all-time legendary performances.

SPEAKER_03 23:51

Can we just say how players are doing this now with all the load managing and the medical help and the fancy sneakers they have now? Will Chamberlain was dropping 100 points in Converse. Will was different, man. I mean, you know, Converse. I I remember back when like in like sixth grade, I had like a pair of Vans. I could never imagine playing basketball in like those kind of shoes.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Um I think I think a hundred in Converse is like a hundred and fifty in some KDs, roughly. I don't know how Kevin Durant has never even got close, or maybe Kawhi or LeBron, how they talk about earlier this season how Kawhi's career high was only like like low 40s prior to this year when he where he dropped 50.

SPEAKER_03 24:32

He's he's he's efficient. He's he doesn't go off.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

He's very efficient, yeah. I mean I that that just blows my mind though. Well, one final thing regarding our draft. So happy to see none of Wilt Chamberlain's 670 plus point performances here uh crack our draft here. I'm so happy that both of us just displayed such a level of of morality to not include that that fraud on our draft boards.

SPEAKER_03 24:58

Chris getting controversial over here.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

So you know what I'm saying? I'm I'm just I'm just happy to see true ethical performances on it here. Happy to see no frauds, no frauds on the lists. As much as the world thinks trolling bead might be. That's my baby. Chill on him. No frauds cracked our draft. I'm happy to see that. We're we're keeping it clean here on Dominant Halftime.

Non Playoff/Play-in Teams Discussion

SPEAKER_03 25:24

We're at that time of the year where teams are either looking to make the playoffs or it's time to start packing up and aiming for next season. And for all these teams, it is most likely time to pack it in, high five in the locker room, go to Cancun, and just get refreshed for next season. So Chris and I have come up with a couple of teams that we don't know what's wrong, or maybe we do know what's wrong, and we'll just wonder why they are in the position they are in. So my first team that I'm gonna start with is a team that we've already talked about in this episode, and that is the Washington Wizards. My first point being they just allowed Bam Autabayo to score 83 points in an NBA game. They are forever going to be that team that allowed Bam Autabay to score 83 points in a game. And no matter the ethical nature of the game, the fact that you're letting that kind of a player do that to you. I don't know what head coach Brian Keefe was thinking that night, but he probably didn't want to watch that film session. He probably just wanted to throw that out, pretend it never happened, and is probably embarrassed that his name is associated on the wrong end of history. The Wizards right now, 11 straight losses. They have a young core. They just got Trey Young, they got Anthony Davis. But Chris, did you know that the Washington Wizards are the only team in the league right now with at least a negative 10 point differential? They are currently at negative 11. So, folks, what that means is that they are scoring 10 fewer points than they are allowing per game. So I'm making this up. Let's say if they're scoring 100 points a game, they're giving up 110. So right now they're at negative 11, showing you how not too good their defense is, and or just their offense cannot put up the numbers that is required of them. And maybe Trey Young will help them in the future. Obviously, getting him adjusted this late in the season, you're not really gonna produce your best results. And Anthony Davis really hasn't played yet, but I'm interested to see how this works out next year. I don't think we're gonna see like an improvement right away, but I don't know what's you know, what's this gonna turn out to be. This isn't Trey and Anthony Davis from like 2019. This is Trey and Anthony Davis of 2026, which will be 26-27 next season. The Wizards need some help, and hopefully they can get that help in the upcoming draft. Is Brian Keith the long-term answer? I don't know. But Chris, the Wizards still looking for anything. I don't think they've been to a conference championship in like 50 years, so just bad times in Washington.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

They're just looking for a smile, I think. Those poor those poor bastards. But um, I think it'll be a fun team next year with with Trey and Anthony Davis, honestly. Um, if nothing else, I think it'll be fun, you know, so long as they stay healthy. They they really do have like a solid young core. I really like Alex Sarr. I really like Keyshawn George. Balal Kulabali's played really well lately. Um, I was actually considering throwing his play lately on here for our uh our little addition of a wellness check on the bottom of the league here towards the end of this episode. But um Trey Johnson is just an unreal shooter, they have plenty of nice pieces. Now, I I I think I am pro firing Brian Keefe. One because I just know absolutely nothing about the guy, and also, you know, the the Wizards have pieces and still suck. So I'm I'm pro shallow analysis here. Fire the coach because he's bad. That's where I'm at on the Wizards and Brian Keefe. But I think it'll be a fun team next year.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

Chris, do you know how bad this team? So the last time the Washington Wizards made a conference finals appearance, you ready for this one? Take it here, take a guess. Just take a guess.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

Conference finals 74.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

1979, when they lost in the NBA finals to a team that doesn't currently exist in the Seattle Supersonics. That's how bad this team is.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

That was towards the beginning of the Supersonics inception, too.

SPEAKER_03 29:23

Yeah, there are rumors that we could get expansion in the next couple of years. The Supersonics coming back, baby. They could be coming back. We could get a Vegas team, but the Wizards have not made the conference finals since being in the finals to a team that currently does not exist. That's all I need to hear about that.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Yeah, poor poor Wizards fans.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

Um, you know, Larry, I chose to keep it pretty positive regarding my wellness check. Uh, I don't know about you, but let's start in Utah with the play of Bryce Sensiball, averaging 24 points in just 25 minutes over his last five games. He's shooting 51% from three. And when you watch this fellow play, I mean, he is maybe the most pure jump shot I've seen in my life. It is just pure teach tape from Bryce Sensiball. He actually started the season shooting pretty rough from three, which is not the last thing you'd expect him to be doing rough in. He's historically been a very, very good shooter in his uh short but very promising NBA career so far. But he's been locked in lately. He's averaging 24 and 25 minutes, uh, which is those are like Joel Embiid ratios right there. Bryce Senseball is not Joel Embiid, and never will be. But shout out Ice Bryce for his play uh late in the season. Some some great March basketball from the Utah Jazz. Shout out Ice Bryce.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

Ice Bryce indeed. And what what's killing the Jazz right now is the injuries they're currently dealing with. So Jaron Jackson.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

Uh injuries, quote unquote.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

Yes, no, the injuries and quotation marks. The Jazz were recently hit with a tanking fine for resting players. But Jaron Jackson Jr. and Walker Kessler currently out for the season. That is their front court duo for the foreseeable future. And Jaron Jackson Jr. just arriving in Salt Lake City a few months ago. I think he'll be a nice piece. He's a defensive player of the year winner a couple years ago. He did wonders in Memphis at times. So uh I think he'll be a great way to kickstart their uh rebuild. What's concerning for the Jazz right now is this will be their fourth year in a row without a playoff appearance, and all since Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were traded, and all with Will Hardy leading the ship. Will Hardy four years, no playoff appearances. If this was Philadelphia, he would have been fired after a year or two.

SPEAKER_02 31:43

Will Hardy's got the greatest job in the world.

SPEAKER_03 31:45

Oh, he's got job security for days.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

So it's incredible.

SPEAKER_03 31:48

You know, he's just chilling, doesn't have to sweat the playoffs or win a casual 25 games a year, watch watch the young guys ball out and just take a check and go home.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Yeah, and rack up extensions for some reason. I I I think he is like a like a fairly promising uh young basketball mind. So so I I don't like totally disagree with uh the extension or anything, but man, he's he's he's got the greatest job in the NBA, probably.

SPEAKER_03 32:13

Going to my next point, I will point out the Indiana Pacers. 13 straight losses and just a tragic story for the Pacers in the last year or so. They went from one went away from a championship, and now they're the worst team in the league. Tyrese Halliburton has been sorely missed for the Pacers this season. Miles Turner getting traded to Milwaukee. The Pacers just looking for some reinforcements next year. Tyrese is not returning, unlike Jason Tatum. At least the Celtics, their season will continue in the postseason. The Pacers have pretty much nothing to play for at the moment. My question is, how good will Tyrese Halliburton be next season, given that he'll have an entire offseason to recover, whereas Jason Tatum is just jumping right back into the fold. Tyrese Halliburton is a special player when he's on, and last year the Pacers were on one of the best runs in NBA history. Nobody thought they'd go that far. They really just took everyone to school in the playoffs last year. The supposed devil magic that was on their side, and who could ever forget the infamous Pascal Siakum devil stare huddle thing where his eyes were in the back of his head. Absolutely hilarious if you don't know what I'm talking about. The Pacers hopefully will get one of those top draft picks. And, you know, Rick Carlisle, he's a great coach. He's been in the league for a long time. He was the orchestrator of the Dirk Novitsky 2011 magical run, one of the purest NBA rings in history, according to your hardcore fans. So the Pacers are in good hands. They they suck right now, but they'll be back. Maybe not where they were last year, but they should be back, led by Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Halliburton when Tyrese's Achilles comes back to normal.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Yeah, they're gonna be so fun next year. Um, I don't know why they would give up the opportunity to lose their first round pick in this draft class. I believe it if it's five through nine, it goes to the Clippers, which is like, uh, like uh, that's that's scary. I don't I don't know. I don't really know why they did that. But if it all pans out and they get a pick in that top four, which the top four this year is looking unreal. You are getting a a great player in the top four. And again, you run a top four pick with with Halliburton and and Zubots and Siakum and Nemhard and you know Carlisle at the helm. This this is gonna be just such a fun team next year. They're gonna be dangerous in the East.

SPEAKER_03 34:42

So and they got Zubots and they traded away Matherin, but you know, they have it, they have a nice core. Halliburton and Zubots will be a fun combo next year.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

Yeah, and if they can add even like a Caleb Wilson, who's probably towards the bottom of this top four in the draft class, I mean that would be absolutely massive. Caleb Wilson would Caleb Wilson probably would have gone number one in that Risa Shea draft class. And he he might have gone number two above Dylan Harper last year. I don't I don't think he would have gone above flag, but uh that's just you know how many guys are in this next draft class. It's crazy. So yeah, they'll they'll they'll be they'll be a force to be reckoned with next year. It'll be fun. Want to shout out Scoot Henderson, speaking of the draft, former third overall pick of the Portland Trailblazers not too long ago. Um, the world called him a bust, and the world might not be wrong, but it it's it's looking uh a bit better as of late. He's averaging 17 points per game in 24 minutes. He's shooting 52% from three. This is all in his last five games because he missed the first 50 games of the season with a torn hamstring. But as of lately, uh he's shooting the ball really well. He he's getting to his shots easily. He's he's he look he looks assertive. I've turned on a couple of Blazers games, and this might be the most confident hoops we've seen of Scoot Henderson's career, and the shot probably looks as good as it's looked in his career so far. So maybe turning a corner, maybe not, but uh just wanted to shout out Scoot Henderson, a former, former top draft pick of the Port Latrail Blazers.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

Yeah, the Blazers have just had a revival just this year with Denny Avdia, but Scoot Henderson, I think, has been a piece that they've been looking to reinsert and you know, bringing Damian Lillard back. Hopefully he's imparting some of his wisdom on these young guards and Scoot Henderson. This is a man that was drafted behind Victor Weminyama and Brandon Miller. You know, it's that's tough right there, but you know, hopefully he can get back into the fold and uh Portland can keep doing their thing. So one more team that I'll give a shout out to in our non-playoff play-in teams, the Sacramento Kings. I don't know what the hell they're doing these days. It's just been bad. The Kings season ending injuries have gone to Zach Levine, DeMonte Sabonis, and DeAndre Hunter, and Keegan Murray and Malik Monk are also dealing with injuries. That is a good chunk of their starting lineup. And honestly, nobody scares me on the Kings. I don't think anybody's afraid of the Sacramento Kings. Russell Westbrook will put up you know some numbers. DeMar DeRozan puts up you know some numbers.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

He's been open lately, but it's DeMark.

SPEAKER_03 37:10

Nobody, nobody's scared, nobody's afraid of the Sacramento Kings. This is not the team that we saw a few years ago with Mike Brown and De'Aaron Fox going to the playoffs for the first time in like a decade and a half. This is the Kings back to the basement. This is just sad basketball we are watching. Nobody wants to watch the Kings. Honestly, out of the four NBA teams in California, they are the fifth best team. But the Kings, they will not change unless they either shed some of these veterans or if they can maybe pull magic out of their butt or something with getting a top pick in this draft or swinging for the fences and just trying anything because right now whatever they're doing is not working whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

Kings fence. I know that might have been discouraging. Larry must be in a bad mood today or something. He he's he's being very mean to all of these franchises, but fret not.

SPEAKER_03 38:02

Hey, I gave the I said the Pacers. I said they're gonna be good. Uh fair enough, fair enough.

SPEAKER_02 38:06

I have actually two Kings players I wanted to highlight for playing well here. Um that that didn't quite make the cut for the players slash teams in the bottom that I wanted to really touch on here, but I will since you mentioned the Kings. Uh Precious Achua has been hooping lately, 17 points per game in his last 10, 10 rebounds, a steal, and a block. He's shooting 40% from three, and he's had some really monster games lately. He's had two games with 29 and 12, just had 25 and 13 a night ago, and um 20 and 11 last night, and two nights of a back-to-back. So shout out precious Achua. I mean, this is why we tune into March basketball, uh, to see players like Precious Achua just killing it late in the season. You do not get this in in October or November, and you do not get this in the playoffs. So this is the this is the sole reason for March basketball's existence. So we can see players like Precious Achua balling up. Another Kings player who might be a little more familiar with here, a former lattery pick and probably one of the greatest busts of of our time here, Killian Hayes, signed a two-year deal with the Kings for averaging eight points, three rebounds, four assists, and shooting 46% from three over his last five games. He earned himself a little bit of a payday with the Kings here. Um, so so shout out Killian Hayes clawing his way back to the NBA, not giving up, and playing some decent basketball, probably some of the best basketball of his career here lately with Sacramento. So it's not all it's not all hopeless Kings fans. You you got you got a future core of Killian Hayes and Precious Achewa to lean on, you know, get get those unks out of there. You know, Damar can retire, Zach Lamine can leave, Sabonis can find his way out. I mean, you guys have your current your cornerstones for the future here with Achua and Hayes. So uh so just give it a little bit of time, let those boys marinate. You guys will be uh back atop the west in no time. But but the last topic I wanted to touch on here very briefly, the Atlanta Hawks, just under a month ago, were ninth in the East after a blowout loss to the Miami Heat. And since then, over the last couple weeks, they have won nine straight games. And as of today, the Atlanta Hawks are still ninth in the East. Somehow, that's it, some way the I mean that they are doing everything humanly possible to claw their way out of this ninth seed, and they can't, but they sure as hell are a lot closer they were to the eighth seed as they were a month ago because they're they're they're the only team right now on on such a win streak. So shout out the Atlanta Hawks, they're playing really well without Trey Young here. CJ McCollum's been really solid for them. Not someone you you reckon they'll depend on long term here, but I mean I think CJ McCollum is is showing Hawks fans right now, like, okay, you traded Trey Young, and you have a lot of other pieces outside of the point guard position. And if he can just get some like good point guard play, I mean this team can can you know be pretty frisky in the East here. Because again, CJ McCollum, uh far from an ideal point guard situation, but he's been playing solid, and because the point guard position's been solid, the Hawks are playing really well. So if they can just invest more assets into the point guard moving forward, you know, someone not like Trey Young, who again, there there are questions about his fit on a contending team. You you go really solidify that point guard spot next year, maybe over the offseason, and and and the hawks have plenty of pieces here to be really good. Again, they're on a nine-game win streak. Just thought it was it was funny to note how even after this nine-game win streak, they are still ninth in the east.

SPEAKER_03 41:42

Absolutely insanity. And this is the Eastern Conference we're talking about. This is not the Western Conference where it's like, you know, you're barely making a dent in anything. It just shows you that maybe the Hawks were just born to be in the play-in tournament, and hopefully they can claw their way out of the play-in tournament as we get closer to the end of the season.

SPEAKER_02 42:04

For our game of the week here to wrap up this episode of Dealyman at halftime. We are going for a very entertaining center matchup, I believe this is going to be Donovan Klingen of the Portland Trailblazers and Nicola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. A very fun center matchup here this coming Sunday in Denver. We we have the the present of the center position, Nicola Jokic, one of the greatest centers and the greatest players in NBA history, facing off against maybe definitely not the most promising young center in the league because um there's a pretty obvious number one there with Victor Wembinama, but definitely one of the most promising young centers in the league, and Donovan Klingen, who has been playing the best basketball of his short career so far this year. Um he is a force in the in the in the paint. He is very technically refined, he is huge, he is a monster on the glass, and he has a lot more offensive game than you'd expect of a player of his archetype. He he can really get to his spots in the post. So this will this will be a fun matchup here. Uh the Trailblazers are 10th in the West. The Nuggets, they've been a bit shaky lately. They have not been playing their best basketball lately. Nikola Jokic has looked visibly frustrated in in several games over the last couple weeks. The Nuggets are not on their A game here. The Trailblazers are are really kind of just um cruising 10 seed right now. The West is pretty set right now. I thought I think the difference in games between our 10 seed Trailblazers and 11 seed Grizzlies is like almost 10 games. So it's pretty much set in stone that the Trailblazers were at le will at least make the play in tournament. But this will be a fun one, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the the the battle of the centers here in this one. It's gonna be um very entertaining to watch. Uh trying to watch Donovan Klingon handle Nikola Jokic. vice versa. Despite the Nuggets struggles lately, I I think I have to pick Denver here. You know, you know, they're they're still a significantly better team than Portland here. And although I I really do like Klingon's chances to limit what Jokic can do, as much as you can limit a player like Jokic, which is near impossible, I'm still going to take the Nuggets here. I'm going to go with the Nuggets. 109 to 100 Denver Nuggies over the Portland Trailblazers in this one, Nikola Jokic gets the better of Donovan Klingon.

SPEAKER_03 44:33

A nine-point spread for the Nuggies. And looking at Donovan Klingon, he's had back-to-back double doubles with at least 15 rebounds. He's averaging four and a half blocks in his last two games. He's really just balling out right now for the Portland Trailblazers. Portland right now 32 and 36, 10th in the West, as Chris said, Denver 41-27, tied for fifth with the Timberwolves. And like you said, yeah the Trailblazers pretty much going to lock in a play in tournament spot at the very least the other teams at the bottom of this the conference locked in for the top picks in the draft. Like they're not going to make the play-in tournament. So Portland congratulations you're most likely making the play-in tournament barring an epic collapse that we probably have never seen. Denny Avdia has been a blessing for Portland this year. Washington fans wish they had him right about now. They've had some close games recently with the Rockets and the Hornets. The Nuggets have been battling injuries this year and they are getting healthy at the right time and what is absolutely filthy from Nicole Jokic, Chris, he's had a triple double in four straight games against the Thunder, Rockets, Spurs, and Lakers and he's averaging 13 assists per game in that stretch.

SPEAKER_02 45:46

Like I said it's these are top Western conference teams. It's near impossible to limit the guy. You just gotta do what you can.

SPEAKER_03 45:53

He might not be the best defender ever but he makes he makes up for it with his ridiculous efficiency and filthy passes and just mind-boggling Nicola Jokicing if I can make that like a a verb yokiching so there you go that works. Yeah we're making up words here on the halftime but as you said yeah I have to go with the I have to go with the chicken nuggets too. Sorry Portland but Denver is a more established team at the moment and they are home in the mile high which is no I've never been to Denver but the mile high is definitely no joke with that thin air so I'm going 119 108 in favor of Denver.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

Alright so if Portland wins this one um I win by default.

Conclusion

SPEAKER_03 46:38

So well that's all the time we have for today if you haven't already make sure to follow the podcast accounts Chris and me on social media. The three podcast accounts on Instagram, TikTok and X or Twitter are under at dealman at half my personal ex and Instagram are at LarryDielman. Chris's personal ex and Instagram are at Chris Dippy. All seven handles are in the description on BuzzSprout, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember although you can find Dealman at halftime on major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts Amazon Music, iHeartRadio and YouTube, the main podcast website is on Buzz Sprout. The website URL is dealman at halftime dot buzzsprout dot com. Feel free to send a comment by using the send us a text button located in each episode's bio. With the exception of Apple Podcasts the text option is available on Buzz Sprout at all the major platforms. Your comment could end up in the fan mail section of the Buzz Sprout website. And don't forget to spread the word about Dialman at halftime. See you next time fellow hoops fans