Heat Check

Watch the clock as this shot goes in at 9:06 remaining, and notice how Ja Morant literally stole 16 seconds from Minnesota's time for a comeback by acting like a guy who’s never played sports before in his life. Thing is, he did it throughout the entire 4th quarter and when you add up all of these sequences, it’s almost an entire minute that he shaved off without having to defend the lead. And this is not even his worst offense. In a wild display of this technique, after this shot by Kyrie Irving, Morant stole an entire shot clock, a whole possession away from the Nets. He is the absolute god at this and it’s not even close. I mean Just look at him slowly walking in a squat position and staring at Ben Simmons as he milks every possible second that he could at the end of this game. Actually a lot of players are doing this. Let me show you. What up everybody, my name is stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Dennis Schroeder is just as sneaky, and against Washington in a very close game, he also wasted almost an entire 24 seconds before the Wizards realized that the clock is their enemy and they can’t afford this to happen. Finally Porzingis put an end to this circus, otherwise Schroeder was ready to finish the game off like this. And after this bucket by Detroit, the Celtics shamelessly stood in the backcourt for like 10 seconds, waiting for their opponents. And it turned out to be a genius decision, as they got an advantage, and a wide open Tatum in the corner splashing the three. And before you ask, this is not an 8 second violation because that’s being counted off of the shot clock and not the game clock. As you watch Nikola Jokic also exploiting this loophole throughout the entire 4th quarter let me quickly explain that for the first 3 quarters the game clock doesn’t stop after a made basket until the last minute. And for the 4th quarter it’s the last 2 minutes of the period. And of course the shot clock will not start until a player touches it and establishes possession, so that’s how you get an opportunity for situations like this. This is nothing new, and it has been happening in the NBA in the past, and this moment of Ty Lawson milking the clock is one of the most famous examples of it. And even tho it’s technically pretty smart for the offense to do it, and it’s the other team’s fault for not pressing and allowing the clock to run, I don’t really like to see it in NBA games. In a weird way it reminds me of football players just laying on the pitch faking an injury so that the time would pass. And to me this is against the spirit of the sport. But I don’t really see a way to change this unless the NBA decides to stop the clock after a made basket from the beginning of the 4th quarter. That way players would just be focused on playing basketball instead of running down the time. Is this smart, or a bit unprofessional? Let me know in the comments. If you liked this video, support the grind and subscribe. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

When the Magic forced the turnover and layed it in, they thought that they were safe, but De'aaron Fox is a stone cold killer this season. Just look at this. Pulling up from the logo to shock the entire city of Orlando back in November. And he’s been sealing games off in the clutch ever since. So Let me break down just how he has become the most clutch player in the league this season and how that is reflected in the Kings success. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. A few weeks ago De’aaron took over the game late against the Lakers operating out of the elbow pick n’ roll with Sabonis, gets the switch and from that point on it’s shake and bake for Swipa. Two minutes later, with Westbrook defending, he just walks past him and floats this one up and in. And finally the dagger, with 35 seconds left in the game, Austin Reeves stays put and contests the shot but Fox somehow found a way to hit this tough turnaround jay that sealed the victory. The very next game against the defending champions, Fox once again went on a 7-0 run late in the 4th quarter to win the game for his team. On the kick-out with time running out he knocked down this triple to put the Kings up by 2. And again, for his signature shot, terrific defense on the pick but De’aaron still hits it over the great contest of Klay Thompson. He iced the game against the Pistons as well. Gets the switch with Duren, dances, steps back and nails the shot from nearly the same spot to put the Kings up by 6 with less than a minute to play. You see that with the game on the line Fox knows how to get to this exact spot and nail big shot after big shot. His numbers in the clutch are impressive. He is tied at number 3 for most points scored in the last 5 minutes of tight games, however De’aaron is by far the most efficient of them all. At 58.5% shooting from the field, Swipa has been unstoppable at the end of games. And if we narrow the time span to the last 2 minutes of a close game, the percentages jump even higher to a blistering 68.4% shooting. When the pressure rises, his efficiency rises as well. Amazing. In his 6th season in the NBA, De’aaron Fox is shooting the basketball at a career high 49.7% from the field, and 79.7% from the free throw line, also a career best. His 3 point shooting improved from the last couple of seasons too, from under 30% to a decent 35.3% right now. And he is taking much better care of the ball this time around, decreasing the turnovers per game and making smarter decisions, being a true leader of this uprising squad. All of this while putting up his usual numbers of 23.2 PPG, 5 RPG, 5.6 APG makes him a solid All-Star candidate. But none of this speaks more of his level of play than the team's success. For the first time in 17 years, the Kings are playing winning basketball, and under coach Mike Brown’s command they have a realistic shot at making the playoffs this year. With 17 wins and 13 loses, they are now at number 6 in the stacked western conference, and with 8 of their next 10 games playing at home, all winnable games to be said, they can climb up the standings even more.I sincerely hope that Fox and the Kings can keep up this pace and we’ll be watching playoff basketball in Sac-Town after almost two decades. If you like this video, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

How do you go from the ultimate success story and the hottest shooter in the entire NBA culminating with a 90 million dollar contract, all the way down to bench warmer in just 2 seasons. There are some clear reasons for the downfall of Duncan Robinson, but even more intriguing, there is a clear way out of this darkness for him, back up to glory. In his only third career start in 2019 Duncan Robinson shocked everyone when as an anonymous player he went 7 for 11 from downtown. The entire NBA would soon learn his name as he also had blistering hot performances of 8,9 and 10 threes on incredibly high percentages for that volume. His movement without the ball, running through screens and shooting off of dribble handoffs from Bam Adebayo bec ame a staple of the Heat offense. Robinson was such a sniper that season that he was tied for third and this is virtually second most in three pointers made. But what’s impressive is the percentage he had at that volume. You see that out of the top 10 shooters, nobody comes close to his efficiency. This is the ultimate combination that every player dreams about. Make a ton of threes at a high percentage. 44.6% is not just high, it’s astonishing. In the playoffs however it was a bit of a different story. Every round Duncan would have a few blazing hot performances, but a few stinkers as well. So in the first round against the Pacers he had a 7 of 8 and 2 of 4 games, but was also cold in 2 games shooting 2 of 8 and 1 of 7. That was the trend against the Bucks as well in that shocking upset where the 5th seeded Miami demolished Milwaukee who were the favorites to come out of the east. And against the Celtics, despite some bad games, he still exploded in a couple of them and helped Miami reach the finals against all odds and expectations. This is where Duncan got completely exposed and some of the issues slowly became apparent. And no, it’s not the efficiency. He shot 39.7% in the postseason and while that is far from the elite accuracy he had during the season, almost 40% in the playoffs is still deadly. The Lakers exposed him on the defensive end, and unlike the previous rounds, where you could also see teams occasionally hunting him, this time everyone had their focus on these 2 teams and every deficiency was obvious. Time after time, whoever was matched up with Duncan just attacked the rim, and usually either scored or got fouled. It was evident how helpless he looked defensively. This was especially the case with Lebron who would constantly look for the switch in pick and rolls to try and get Robinson on him. And from that point on, it was game over. The Lakers exploited this matchup all the way to a championship. So, coming into the next season the entire league knew 2 things about Robinson. That he could shoot lights out, and that he couldn’t defend. This was clearly written on the scouting report, which made things more difficult for him. Having in mind all of that, he still had a great regular season. Number 4 in three point makes, at almost 41% from downtown. Sure this is a big drop from the astonishing accuracy the previous year tho still in the absolute elite of NBA shooters. That following postseason however is where the problems got magnified. The Bucks had Miami completely figured out, and feasted on the Duncan Robinson matchup. This was especially the case for Khris Middleton who looked like a big brother playing against his little brother. It was brutal for the Miami sharpshooter who looked like he was hanging on for dear life on defense. So despite a phenomenal 7 for 13 shooting from downtown in game 1, Robinson became unplayable. So from 36 minutes in game 1, his playing time declined in a shocking manner to 23 and all the way to 15 in the final game of this 4-0 sweep in the first round. This is a dramatic moment in Robinson’s career as the realization that his defense is truly a big issue and makes him useless when it matters the most, mentally hit him hard it seems. Nobody could have known that however, since in the offseason Miami gave him a 90 million dollar contract, banking on the fact that they will try to improve the defense around Duncan with the addition of P.J. Tucker and Kyle Lorwy, 2 terrific defenders. But even tho he only needed to focus on the offense, astonishingly Duncan shot just 37% from outside. This is the efficiency of a slightly above average shooter, and not a 90 million dollar sniper. To make matters even worse for Robinson, his teammate Max Struss exploded out of nowhere, going from 33% to 41% from behind the arc. Ironically it was almost the same way as Duncan himself emerged a couple of years earlier. This, along with the fact that Struss could hold his own on defense, made him a much more suitable option for the team as the season progressed. Robinson’s minutes declined. And the situation escalated in the playoffs. Once again it was the same old story in game 1 against the Hawks.

Watch how crazy Nikola Jokic is. First of all, he’s acting as the point guard, way out here. And the Nuggets have Murray around this screen curling inside. As we let it roll, Jokic throws a nonchalant behind the back pass on the money to Jamal, buuut as you can see he gets fouled and the shot doesn’t count so there’s no assist for Nikola. Although Denver lost the game, you need to see the Joker doing some insane things on the court. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. The very next possession they run the same exact play with Murray curling off of the screen, but the Mavs cover that, so Brown screens for Jokic and dives inside, Jokic delivers a beautiful lob pass, another one here and the dunk. This is an inverted pick and roll with the center doing the playmaking. Unbelievable. And follow him, as they get the switch right here on the pick, Jokic goes down to the left block and you can see the huge advantage for him against Josh Green. So Luka doubles him and check out the genius of Nikola as he looks for the kick out but flips a baseline behind the back pass to the cutting Jeff Green for the layup. Incredible no look pass with 2 guys on him, this is amazing. And on another switch and mismatch that they’re able to get here, watch the patience by the Joker slowly backing down and seeing how the defense reacts. And the Mavs send a double here, and Dinwidie splits the difference keeping an eye on 2 guys. So Jokic drops another no-looker here, completely sending Dinwidie swimming out to the three point line, just look at this. And without even moving, Gordon finds himself wide open for his easiest points of the night. This is another insane display of point center as the Joker gets the rebound and takes off in transition. Look at the dexterity as goes through this double, shoots this silky smooth floater and hits nothing but the bottom of the net. Speaking of floaters, this guy destroyed the Mavs with the same exact setup and result. Watch how easy he makes this look. The high pick with Hyland, the bounce pass and Jokic flips it up and in plus the foul. Again, same play, the pick, the pass, and another floater. Watch the time here, as this is the very next possession, sticking to what’s working best, and we got another bucket. Fun fact, Nikola Jokic is leading the NBA in floaters this season, and you can definitely see why. This is unstoppable. And as you can see, the Nuggets had a lot of wide open opportunities off of these doubles on Jokic that they couldn’t convert at the end of the game. Eventually they lost a hard fought game, and all credit goes to Luka and the Mavs but I just wanted to shine some light on the Joker since he’s not really been talked about this season, but the level of play is just as incredible as ever. Let me know in the comments if you need a point center like this on your favorite team. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Devin Vassell is the most anonymous star in the NBA. And he would be one of your favorite players if you actually got to see him play more often. But stuck on a rebuilding San Antonio roster, only Spurs fans get to see him often. And boy is he fun to watch. Vassell loves to stop and pop at the foul line which makes his game so dynamic. This mid range butter in combination with his blazing hot 42% from downtown on high volume of shots- make him an offensive powerhouse. In his third season in the league Devin is making a big jump in production from 12 points per game last year to 20.6 right now, and he could be in the conversation for most improved player. Have you seen him play? Let me introduce you to a few more players. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Nick Richards is probably not the most talented player you’ve seen, but he definitely makes up for it with his energy and effort. And he needs to get more minutes. In only 20 minutes per game, Richards is posting up 9 and a half points per game on a high percentage mostly because it’s all dunks and layups, but what’s really impressive is that he is top 10 in offensive rebounds with 3 per game. And who doesn’t love extra possessions. You see him always being active, running on fast breaks, and relocating for a better position during half court offense. And I like the textbook stance right here with his hands wide open expecting the pass. Just like they teach little kids. Way to go. Admittedly even I don’t really tune in to watch the Hornets so I can’t blame you for it, so that’s why I gotta show some love for Richards. Trey Murphy is getting a bit more exposure as part of the surging Pelicans who are right now at number 3 in the west. But still I feel like he’s still relatively under the radar, although his 3 point shooting is at the top of the scouting report for opponents. 41% from downtown for Murphy, and the Pelicans love to run him off of double screens to get an open look, or for a teammate to capitalize off of that attention on him. A typical 3 and D player, Murphy is a key contributor on defense for the Pelicans who completely unexpectedly have the 4th best defense in the league. With this in mind plus the floor spacing aspect that he provides to a guy like Zion, Murphy’s 13 points hold a bigger weight. Speaking of that, Santi Aldama was really important to the Memphis Grizzlies early on while waiting for Jackson Jr to come back from injury. And Aldama absolutely delivered. With 9 points, almost 6 rebounds and a block per game, Santi is doing everything the team needs. He’s able to close out defensively, and on offense set good screens, quickly roll to the rim to finish and overall win the 50-50 battles for some extra possessions. With Ja doing the flashy stuff and Bane most of the shooting, Aldama’s expertise is the dirty work and he’s finding great success in that role. I mentioned rolling to the rim, and possibly my favorite rollman is Jarred Vanderilt from the Jazz. Once he sets the pick, Jarred is sprinting to the rim and since he is the big man quite often in smaller lineups, his defenders have a hard time keeping up with Vanderbilt. You see that he has a terrific knack for positioning and getting open. Evading the defense and ending up with an excellent scoring opportunity. This is why his 8 and a half points per game come at 59% efficiency. These are all high percentage shots. But points are just a bonus with him. He is crashing the glass like nobody’s business, grabbing 8.5 rebounds in 25 minutes of action. This, and his incredible ability to switch on multiple positions makes him incredibly versatile and a big piece of the Jazz rotation. And I know that most of you are familiar with Bruce Brown from all the big games while on the Nets, but I had to include him here just because of his great season that he’s having in Denver. We were mainly used to seeing him shoot that floater off the pass from KD or Kyrie, and mainly stay off the ball. But with the Nuggets he’s operating with the ball in his hands for the majority of the time, and he’s great at it. This is a major expansion to his offensive duties and so far this is a career year in terms of points for Brown with 11 and a half per game, along with 4 and a half rebounds and just as many assists. The Nuggets are number 2 in the west playing their usual quality basketball and Bruce has a big impact on this team. And just because I love those pitbull type of players and have to include one here, we gotta talk about Jevon Carter’s intensity. I mean look at him. Hounding players all over the court, snatching the ball right from them and disrupting the flow of the offense. At a career high 9 points per game and knocking down the three on the kickout like a sniper at 42% all of this is a welcome addition to his main weapon, and not only is he big for the Bucks right now, but more importantly he could be key for them in the playoffs.

https://theathletic.com/3749921/2022/11/01/celtics-luke-kornet-contesting-3s/z Luke Kornet’s three point contests from the paint have been an NBA spectacle this season. And The Eclipse as he calls it, seems to be working, despite looking like an inflatable tube man. So I went through every single shot he’s defended this season to find these specific ones, and to calculate the percentage. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. This bizarre defensive technique has a very interesting origin story. The Celtics under Brad Stevens had a second jump rule. Meaning that Stevens wanted his defenders to wait until a shooter was in the air before leaving their feet, to avoid biting on a pump fake. So Brown would wait until the very last second and then leap as high as he could with both hands in the air. Rather than try to reach out toward the shooter, Brown wanted to make them shoot just a little bit higher. So Kornett took note of that and also remembered the way Shane Battier defended Kobe with a hand in his face trying to distract his vision. So he combined these 2 methods to create the ultimate defensive ….. Which as he says “It can look really dumb, but it seems to be pretty effective” But is it really? I wanted to see if the stats back this up. So I watched through every single one of Luke’s defensive possessions. And although it’s a smaller sample size, the results are shocking. According to my tracking numbers, so far this season Kornet used the eclipse on 12 shots from downtown. And only 3 of those went in. As you can see, these are considered wide open shots. There’s literally nobody around. So to shoot 25%, that’s horrific, and it leads me to believe that the Celtics big man is onto something. But the validation of a youtuber is absolutely nothing- especially when compared to the reigning defensive player of the year. His teammate Marcus Smart. Explaining it he said: “I think it catches a lot of people off guard because they are open, and then they see a 7-footer just jump straight up out of nowhere. It’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ So it works and we love it” Not only does he love it, but Marcus actually adopted the Kornet contest and tried it out himself one time. And it worked for him as well so who knows the entire Celtics roster might soon begin to implement this defensive strategy. Their new head coach Joe Mizulla will allow it since he had high praises for Luke “I think that’s something he is good at and watched a lot of film. I think it’s a good way to contest without getting into a closeout. It’s a solid tactic, so it works.” There’s an entire article on the Athletic getting really in depth on Luke and his defense. So I highly recommend that you read it. The link is in the description. Let me know if this is something that you would do to help your team win. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Check out the incredible ball and player movement here by the Celtics. Brogdon fakes the pass and drives inside, attracting the help. So as he kicks it out, he immediately re-locates, pulling Wood out of the paint and all of a sudden Smart has a nice inside position. Notice how Tatum is also cutting to the rim. So as we let it roll, we got the pass to Marcus and the beautiful no look for Tatum for the reverse layup. The Celtics are playing a style of basketball that’s on a whole nother level from the rest of the league. So let me break it down and show you what makes them unstoppable. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. We see the execution right from the start on this decoy post up for Smart. You see that on the opposite side, Jaylen Brown is curling on the outside off of these 2 screens. So with Bullock trailing behind him, Powel has to leave Horford and step in and prevent an otherwise easy layup for Brown. Tatum also steps in just enough to bump the big man on the return and this is a wide open shot for big Al and he hits it. Just moments later, we have a similar play with Brown coming off of these 2 screens. Now he gets the ball, and at the same time Horford dives inside, taking his man with him and in this 2 on 1 situation Powell defends this as good as possible, but a nice strong finish by Brown. When they weren’t running around all over the court, the Celtics looked to attack Doncic defensively. Right here Brogdon blows by him, which puts the Mavs in scramble mode. We got the swing pass to Jaylen, and another powerful drive and finish by him at the rim. Again they get the switch here, and follow Houser as he’s going to cut all the way here and set a screen on Brogdon’s man, while the pass goes to Malcom in the corner. And as we let it roll, look at how it all unfolds seamlessly ending with the 3. Ok but this is beautiful: On the out of bounds play- Williams screens for Tatum who should get another one by Horford to get the ball here, with Christian Wood and Dinwiddie focused on him the paint is wide open, so the screeners are rolling inside and Grant gets the ball Bertans rotates to help so we got the pass to the left corner and Hauser is all alone for this shot and he rattles it in. Boston is moving like a well oiled machine. And we gotta talk about Jayson Tatum. I love how he’s handling the double teams, being patient and making the right read. Right here he holds it just enough to see the court and locate White all the way on the other end and lobs it to him which leads to penetration from Derrick and the bucket. In this situation however he gets rid of it quickly as he somehow puts this ball through 2 defenders, the swing and White is the beneficiary again, this time in the corner. And in the second half, again stays patient, engaging multiple defenders here surveying the floor as he finds Smart alone on the wing off of all the attention that was on him. Another great play by the leader of this team. He is really taking the next step in terms of decision making and playmaking for others. A special shout out also goes to Marcus Smart. You saw the no look pass at the start, and watch how he threads the needle here finding Brown for the dunk. But this one is even more impressive. Just look at this pass through the cracks of the defense right on target for Al Horford and he handles it eventually and finishes with the hook shot. And again at the end of the game, watch the 1 handed bullet off the bounce through 4 Mavs defenders and he doesn’t get awarded with an assist but ya boy sees everything and gives credit where credit is due. A perfect offensive display by Boston and at no point did I think that the Mavs have a chance in this game. This is why the Celtics are at the top of the NBA standings, and why the league should watch out for them. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

On the out of bounds play, check out the alignment here by the Warriors. And Klay is just gonna slide back, while Poole and Wiggins will slide sideways to close the gap, looking like elevator doors, and you already know that this is the name of the famous play that Golden State likes to run. Klay exploded for 10 for 13 from downtown, and there were some more interesting plays to get him open. So let’s go through them. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Right here, props to Curry for the playmaking, as him and Draymond will run a pick and roll, and you can see that Porter JR steps inside to potentially help on the roll, so Steph uses that split second to fire away a pass to Thompson, the defender flies by empty handed and Klay is open for this shot and knocks it down. The play gets kind of broken up here so you can see the little herky jerky movement, but right at this moment as he glances back, Klay sees that Porter is behind, following him. So with this entire side empty Thompson goes downhill as he gets a beautiful lob pass, and lays it in. And watch everything that happens on this play. We got a high pick for Steph forcing the switch by Shengun, and at the same time Draymond screens for Klay on the wing. But as Curry penetrates, Klay also relocates to a place where his point guard could see him and as he passes it away, Steph already knows that this is a splash so he just runs back. And he was right. And once Klay senses that he’s got it going he goes into heat check mode, so on this 3 on 2 break, he calls his own number and stops on a dime at the three point line and buries it. He finished the first quarter with 20 points, and in the second this is almost the exact same situation. In transition he looks for the shot, raises up from deep and another 3. In the second half Thompson continued to school Porter JR with some more offensive tricks. As we stop it, this is a double screen for Klay to curl out here, but midway through he’ll stop and cut inside with the paint wide open for him and the dunk. Let’s quickly run it back to see why Green couldn’t help him. Since he’s defending Steph, the attention is on him all the time, and once Curry goes for the curl as well, Jalen is focused on that so he almost doesn’t even notice the cut by Klay and this is what makes this shooting tandem so deadly. And this is a screen the screener action as initially Thompson sets a pick for Poole and watch coach Silas on the sideline as he did his homework and knows that Thompson himself will receive a pick this time on the wing. The Rockets got a late contest but still the flamethrower was on and this one also goes in. Despite leading by 18 in the first quarter, Golden State’s abysmal bench and defense on the road made this a tight game. Seriously look at these horrific numbers from the second best defense in the league last year. Unbelievable. So in a situation like that, Klay had to finish the game with a few more hero shots to get to 41 points and get his team their first win on the road this season. Much tougher than expected. I’m just happy that he exploded like this after I mentioned his struggles in my last video. Do you think that he could get back to his old self or was this just a one off thing? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Thanks Ridge Wallet for sponsoring this video. Check them out here: https://ridge.com/heatcheck This NBA season is so crazy and unpredictable that we are witnessing the unthinkable. 15 games into the season which is not a small sample size anymore- Russell Westbrook is outshooting Klay Thompson from the three point line. Wait what?! In a shocking turn of events, Westbrook is posting up these shooting splits, while Klay has been by far the worst in his career from downtown. One of the greatest marksmen in NBA history, a 41.5% three point shooter, is now performing like Jimmy Butler from downtown, and if you’re a sniper- you do not want to be in that company. What’s even worse is that this exact season Thompson is jacking up the most threes he’s ever had and the least amount of two pointers so as a result his overall field goal percentage looks horrific at 35%. And this number will blow your mind: Klay has more shots attempted this season than points scored. Unbelievable. Just 181 points on 185 shots. As for Russ, it’s almost as if he’s been reborn since he accepted coming off the bench. Just look at this night and day difference in the numbers. Even tho the Lakers are still not winning games- I’m happy for Westbrook for his newfound success. This comparison was insane, but sit back I’ve got a bunch more crazy stats for you. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Speaking of missing shots, take a look at some of these bricks. And why are we seeing them? Well in a span of just 12 minutes against the Rockets, Dallas missed 17 consecutive three pointers. They went 0-17 in about a quarter's length of time. Most of the damage was done by Tim Hardaway JR who went 0-5 in that span. And isn’t it interesting that it happened exactly against the Rockets who are infamously holding the record going 0-27 in game 7 against Golden State. And that’s not all that happened in this game. Houston as a team had 19 blocks which is a ton-especially for a team on the road. In fact it’s the second most blocks for a road team in the last 20 years, behind only the Rockets from 1984 who recorded 20 on the same exact date 38 years earlier. Obviously this is proof that we’re living in a simulation. Anyway moving on but first I gotta tell you that ........ Back to the video: This right here is Jericho Sims on the fast break going for the alley oop and if we stop it right here, you see that his head is at the rim. A reminiscent of the legendary Gerald Green dunk from a decade ago, we can be sure that this is not a camera angle trick and Sims is in fact at the rim because he’s been doing this for a while. This is him during practice, and look at how high he goes. We gotta see it twice and this time focus on Obi Topin who’s a dunk champion himself and he couldn’t believe what he saw. And finally- check this out as Jericho literally hits his forehead on the rim. He has to get a dunk contest invite this season after showcasing his flying abilities, and who knows the Knicks may just have another slam dunk champion since obviously they can not get an MVP on their team. Last season Ja Morant averaged the most points in the paint ever by a guard with (16.6). And while we thought that this was incredible and hard to top, this year Shai Gilgeous Alexander is living in the paint scoring 17.1 of his 32 points per game in the painted area. And while we all know that he’s having a phenomenal scoring season so far, even more shocking is that he is doing it at an all time high efficiency. 54.6% from the field, 40.0% from three and 90.6% from the foul line. Dude is currently 50-40-90 while scoring 30+ a game. This unimaginable balance of volume and efficiency has only been done once before in NBA history and that’s by none other than Steph Curry during his unanimous MVP season in 2015-2016. Obviously there’s a long way to go to sustain this pace for SGA but nonetheless he’s been absolutely electrifying so far. And here’s some numbers on 2 California teams. Golden State is 0-8 on the road this season. Last year they didn’t have 8 losses until January, almost 2 months later. The struggle is real for the Warriors. And meanwhile, Sacramento beat San Antonio last night for their fifth straight victory. The Kings haven’t had a six-game winning streak since January 2005. That’s 17 years- while every other team has had at least 1 such streak. So next game against Detroit, they have a chance to do the unthinkable. Stay tuned. Let me know in the comments what was the most surprising to you. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

This is a play that perfectly summarizes Joel Embiid’s dominance over Utah. As we freeze it right here, you see that 4 Jazz defenders are trying to stop him at all cost, and nobody is even noticing that Shake Milton is completely wide open right at the rim. That’s how big of a problem Embiid was. And this time he drops it down, as Milton gets the easiest points of the game. Last night Embiid looked like prime Shaq with a jumper, as he destroyed Utah with this insane statline that almost looks unreal. So let me break down just how that happened. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. If you’re the rookie Walker Kessler playing in your 12th game of your career, this is a scary sight. Embiid getting a full head of steam with an open lane and coming towards you like a raging bull. In this split second you have to react quickly and that’s how Kessler bites on this incredible fake by Embiid, stopping on a dime and spinning back for the layup. Seriously this is the footwork of a point guard in a big man’s body. And I don’t blame the rookie at all, because if you don’t try to close that angle, this is what happens. This is the exact same scenario against Olynyk, he just barrels through him and finishes on the left side. Later on in the second, Olynyk tries to fix his mistake by closing that driving lane, but check out the elegant eurostep by Joel. The Jazz are small and light at the center position so not only could Embiid bully them inside, but he could also raise up for a shot without much of a contest. In the third quarter against Kelly, he had three straight possessions that looked exactly the same, and you wouldn’t be wrong to think that it’s a replay. On the left side, the same spot, the fadeaway shot, and 3 straight times it’s nothing but the bottom of the net. Embiid was on fire hitting 19-28 from the field an incredible 67.9% shooting a lot of jumpers like this. And when he wasn’t scoring- watch this casual no-look pass to the corner for Tyrese Maxey who’s all alone for this shot and knocks it down. And this is even better, as Joel demonstrates the incredible court vision and awareness here off of the spin somehow knows exactly where Maxey is. The pass is on the money and Tyrese has another open shot and another swish. No wonder why Joel was bent down exhausted throughout the entire 4th quarter as there was only 1 teammate who scored in double digits and that was Maxey. Just think about that. One of his starters did not even attempt a shot, and another went 1-2 from the field. Embiid had to do everything on the court to get the win for the Sixers. And that included some exceptional defense. Right here on the high pick- with Clarkson being a threat from outside, Embiid must come out way out here to cover, which gives Jordan a chance to blow by on the drive. But Embiid stays with him that entire time and rejects this layup. On this play, he’s off the ball but follows the action and rotates down low just in time to block what would have been another layup for Utah. And finally with the game on the line, despite being tired for the entire quarter, check out the effort to track down the much quicker Sexton and reject him at the rim, a defensive possession that sealed the win for Philadelphia, and you can see him being completely gassed afterwards. 2 monster performances by Embiid the last 2 games as he first had a 42 and 10 against Atlanta. Even without Harden he’s willing this team out of their early season slump and things are seemingly getting back on track for them. Just a reminder that I post play call breakdowns every day on my second channel. So check out the action from last night right here. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

What the Utah Jazz are doing on a basketball court is similar to ballet choreography. Check this out. As Mike Conley drops it down to the big man, he will set an off ball screen for Malik Beasley to potentially fire away a 3. You see that if Brown switches this, Conley has KCP on his back and the lane is open for him to get a layup. So the Nuggets play it straight up. In this case, Pope is trailing behind a 42% shooter from downtown so Green shows up top and this is where the dance begins, as we got the bounce pass to Kessler, who doesn’t force a contested shot and immediately looks for the extra pass. Sexton could have shot it but he also passes it to Mike, who once again swings it back to Beasley for the open 3 that splashes through the net. Their synchronized movement, along with the perfect timing and precision of the passes, gives me this type of vibes. So since everyone is asking- let me finally reveal the secret to how the Utah Jazz are shocking the entire NBA world. Of course with the right music. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Utah’s bread and butter is the 3 point shot. They’re 3rd in makes in 4th in attempts so they shoot a lot and make a lot of them. But they consistently get good looks which is the most interesting. And this is how. Just like in the first play, the quickness of the movement is key, as we got the pick and the great roll by Vanderbuilt who now forces a rotation, and as soon as he gets the ball he immediately starts looking for that next guy, which in this case is Clarkson. Passes to him, and Jordan with the extra pass to the corner for the wide open Rudy Gay. You need to see it in full speed to appreciate how crucial their speed of execution is. And against Atlanta watch the 2 men game here as Conley first fakes going inside before going back to the Olynyk screen which gets Trae caught up here and now Collins has to help and eventually switch. As Kelly immediately cuts to the basket, we got the bounce pass and the layup inside. The Jazz are number 6 in assists per game, which compared to last season when they ranked 27th in the league is an unbelievable turnaround. Again, look at all the movement here as we got the handoff for Conley, then the screen for Gay and the immediate roll, as Rudy lasers the pass there, and with the defense collapsing, the pass to the corner for the open shot. Bang. But as beautiful as this ball movement and player movement looks, these are pretty basic plays right? But why they work is the same reason why their defense works. Let me explain. Utah has the second best offense in the league, and as surprising as that sounds, we saw the great looks that they get. But even more shocking is possibly the fact that they have a top 10 defense. A team that was constructed to lose, with a bunch of gunners that we all thought would just think of how they can get their own shot without worrying about defense, they are top 10 on that end. And sure we can talk about the great individual defense here by Vanderbuilt, hounding Edwards and staying disciplined to be straight up here and deny the drive. We can also talk about the nice awareness here by Walker Kessler as he’s following the play and makes the right rotation on time to go up for this block. But the core reason for all of this is effort. Will Hardy has this team bought into his philosophy of just playing incredibly hard, and executing every play with great energy. Heck, they even got Jordan Clarkson to play great defense, with the textbook form of hand in the passing lane for this steal. Or the way he reads the offense right here and already sees the next pass and where that’s going to go for another steal. And not to mention this spectacular moment which first of all nobody would even attempt to chase down Zion on a fast break. But the incredible extra effort by Clarkson right here is the perfect example of how this team plays. There is not a single guy on this team that hogs the ball or dribbles 10 or more seconds before making a decision. This is old school San Antonio type of system. Shoot, pass or drive. Make that decision in 2 seconds or less. And that is amazing to watch. Can this pace be sustained however? Who knows. But the energy and effort on offense and defense is why they are successful and why I constantly tune in specifically to watch them play. Utah is a great story early on and I really hope that they can keep this up. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

This is a regular 3 point shot by Zion. But what’s interesting about it, is that it’s his only attempt from downtown so far this season. In fact, if we look at his shooting chart, this is how it looks. He has just 2 shots outside the paint. And it’s very logical to have a guy who’s unstoppable going to the rim, just do that all the time. Heck, even Lebron couldn’t stop it. So, although in his first 2 years he attempted some shots from midrange and 3, it seems like he’s doubling down on what works best this season, and that is bulldozing through everyone all the way to the rim. Almost 10% of the season is behind us. And we got some very interesting stats from it. So let’s go through them. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Luka Doncic is leading the league in scoring at the moment while shooting a terrific 51.4% from the field. This becomes astonishing when I tell you that he maintains this percentage from the field despite shooting a miserable 23.7% from downtown. Yup you heard that right. Luka is firing away 8.4 three pointers per game and hitting 2. At the moment he’s the least efficient high volume 3 point shooter, and some other great shooters who are in this group are C.J Mccollum at 27.7% and Kyrie Irving at 28.0%. Of course this is early in the season so I feel like they will soon find their groove. A player that has found his groove however is Desmond Bane. In his third season he’s taking yet another leap, going from 9 to 18 to now 25 points per game, but Bane’s 3 point shooting early on is unbelievable. Desmond increased his attempts from 6.9 to 9.1 a game which is a lot and so far is hitting them at a whooping 46.9% up from last year’s 43.6. So more volume translates to a better percentage for him. Amazing. And Kevin Huerter’s early success is even more astonishing. Last year he shot 38.9% on 5.6 shots from outside, which is close to his career average. So you can understand the excitement of Kings fans watching Kevin hit a mind boggling 51.8% of his threes on 8 shots per game. That’s really a big increase both in volume and efficiency so we’ll see if he’s able to sustain this wild pace that he’s on. 1 team that surprised the entire NBA world is definitely the Utah Jazz. They are playing great and part of their secret is their ball movement and unselfish basketball. Last season the Jazz were 27th in assists per game and so far this year they've jumped to number 5 in the league. An insane jump of 22 places with 6 more assists per game from last season. This is by far the biggest assist improvement from last year to this one. For a team that we all thought would lose a bunch of games, right now is number 3 in the stacked western conference. A stark contrast of that are the Los Angeles Lakers who are currently 13th in the west. Obviously their shooting woes are well documented and they rank dead last number 30 in the league in offensive efficiency. However what’s interesting is that the Lakers have the second best defense so far this season. This has to be the biggest discrepancy of a team’s offense and defense and looking at these stats there’s equally as much hope as there is disappointment if you’re a Lakers fan. And I gotta mention 2 more young players who are making huge strides of improvement. First it’s Tyrese Maxey who went from 8 to 17.5 points last year to now starting off at 24.2 points per game. All of this while shooting a blistering hot 46.8 from downtown on 6.9 attempts. He is really taking on a bigger role in Philly and taking his game to the next level. Speaking of next level, that’s certainly the case with Shai Gilgeous Alexander who is having a phenomenal start to the season with 32 points per game and 6.3 assists on 54.5% from the field. An all around offensive explosion for Shai and if the Thunder don’t shut him down in their attempt to tank and lose as many games as possible he will have a monster year. Lots of these fun statistics at the start, so let me know in the comments if I missed some. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Thanks Ridge Wallet for sponsoring this video. Check them out here: https://ridge.com/heatcheck Watch the ingenuity here by Donovan Mitchell on this double screen. Obviously he’s supposed to curl here, but Mitchell is going to improvise and instead split the defense and attack along the middle. As we let it go, you see that this catches the Knicks by surprise as he penetrates and engages Brunson away from the corner. Then he makes the pass to Dean Wade who has an open look and knocks down the three. And this is literally the same thing in the second half as you see the screens, and he splits it down the middle again, going up between the 2 Knicks big men for the monster dunk. Unbelievable finish. He ended the night with And this is exactly how his season has gone so far. SCORING 30+ POINTS IN 5 OF THE FIRST 6 GAMES. A BLAZING HOT BEGINNING. So I watched every one of his possessions to break down just how he’s been dominating at the start of the season, leading the cavs to a 5-1 start. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Going through the footage, the biggest thing that jumps out is his decisiveness to attack and not settle for what the defense gives him. This is exactly what happened in the 2 clips at the beginning and you can see it here as well. In crunch time, a chance to ice the game- no settling for a stepback or an outside shot. Instead, attacks the slightly smaller defender, and a nice spin into a high percentage shot at the rim to seal the win. Just moments before that, watch the determination to get to the ball even tho he’s initially denied by the good defense. But as I said Mitchell won’t settle, gets it eventually and drives inside for another finish at the rim. And talking about attack mode this is another perfect example, as we stop it right here, you can see that although this is a 2 on 1, the big man is right at the basket. Donovan does not care however as he will launch himself chest to chest against Luke Kornet and slam it in his face. Check out the insane stats so far and notice the huge difference from last year. In fact, every single number you see here is a career high for him. Now of course this is just a 6 game sample and 32 points per game is unsustainable, especially when Garland comes back from injury, but nevertheless this is an all around phenomenal start from Mitchell. Moving on, I love when the star player moves without the ball and doesn’t just stand in 1 place stagnating the offense. Follow Mitchell right here as he will give the ball up and run an entire circle, getting 1 screen right here and the switch, and another slight bump here just enough to get him an open look which Donovan knocks down. And on this play, this looks like a double screen for Levert to attack. But midway though Spida slips it and runs outside. The Knicks jump out on Caris, and meanwhile the movement of Mitchell allows him to get a nice look, the shot and the swish. This is a play they like to run more often so here it is once again against the Celtics. The slip, the pass, shot and the bucket. But despite the monster numbers that Donovan’s has been posting up, the key to Cleveland's 5-1 start is his playmaking. Instead of 1 guy who can catch lobs off of the pick and roll, like Gobert was in Utah, now Mitchell has 2 of those guys. So there’s double the opportunity for that. And with them being more mobile, and especially Mobeley having a far better offensive game than Gobert, there are a lot more opportunities on that end of the floor. We all know that Rudy cannot do anything on offense besides catch alley oops, so this is a big upgrade for Donovan. If we even throw in Kevin Love in the mix who not only has the inside game, but can also get blistering hot from 3 you see how all of these plays from last night translate to assists for Mitchell and points for the Cavs. And he’s always had good court vision, but it seems to be on another level this season, as he’s more patient and takes his time with his dribble, finding the perfect opportunity for a pass to the open teammate. He burned the Magic with these crosscourt passes on 3 separate occasions and they all look pretty much the same starting off with a high pick on the right wing, and as the defense shrinks in the paint, he flings a laser to the corner for the open shooter. And look at this casual underhanded no look rifle pass to Osman for another three. And since he’s always had the flashy passes in his bag, here’s a behind the back to Osman once again, who decides to drive this time, and eventually is able to score inside with a nice move. The Cavs are rolling at the start, even without one of their main weapons which is Garland. And Mitchell’s phenomenal performance certainly is the main reason for that. When Darius comes back obviously Donovan’s numbers should go down, but on the flip side, Cleveland can become even more dangerous and this could be a very exciting season for them.

Watching Giannis throw airballs in the first half and go 3/10 from the field while the Nets led by 12, you would think that this is why Brooklyn brought Ben Simmons, and the early slip ups are going to be over with this statement win against the Bucks. And you would be so wrong for thinking that. Let me show you how Antetokounmpo went from Clark Kent, to Superman in the second half going 13/15 from the field to single handedly turn this game around and place himself as an early MVP favorite- at least in my eyes. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Wo, wo, time out. Espn says that Giannis was 0/5 when guarded by Simmons or Claxton, But when we actually watch some of those shots, look at this- does it seem to you that Ben Simmons had anything to do with this miss? How about here where he stares down Claxton and just raises up from the baseline. First half was more about Giannis doing things that are not his area of expertise rather than the defense having any real impact on him. That’s how you get airballs, and that’s how you get a miss on this hesitation, between the legs into a slight fade. When he decides that he’s going to dominate however you get this: Right as ESPN is crediting Simmons for his defense, Giannis casually blows by him and lays it in. And this was the story throughout the entire second half. Here you got both Claxton and Simmons, quote on quote defending Antetokounmpo. He bulldozes through them and puts it in. Next play, again we got another layup by Giannis, and this is not a replay, in fact another layup by him. Here, the Greek freak gets fancy with the dribble and Sharp bites on it, so the lane is open for yet another easy lay in. You see that whenever Antetokounmpo actually decided that he was going to score, there was no way that the Nets could stop him. And honestly it didn’t help that they gave him this much of a room for him to be able to get a running start. Once he gets a full head of steam, the help defender cannot do anything here. So this is exactly how in the first half he had a shooting chart looking like this: notice all the red X outside, meanwhile in the second half we got all of these green circles in the paint. And don’t get me wrong this is not to criticize his shooting or anything. - we know that this is not his strong suit.On the contrary I’m making this video to show you why he’s convincing me that he could be the MVP this season. This is literally scoring at will. And combine that with the fact that he does everything else, as shown by his statline of 36 points per game, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks, these are superhero numbers in the first 3 games of the season. And with the Bucks starting off hot 3-0 I see a certain type of determination with their leader to dominate this season. If he and the team keep up this pace, Giannis could easily add another MVP award to his trophy case. I know it’s early, but I also recognize when someone goes beast mode. And Giannis is doing it. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

This is how dangerous Ja Morant is and Memphis overall. As Desmond Bane screens for him, the Nets have to switch that because of Morant’s lightning quickness at getting to the basket. Every millisecond lost could put the defender behind. Thing is however, Bane only slips this pick and sprints outside. So he has a running start on Simmons. This is amplified by the screen from Adams, so Claxton has to rotate and close out on the shot. With him running full speed, it’s easy for Bane to just pump fake and get a clean look for this shot and knock it down. Morant and Bane absolutely torched the Brooklyn Nets, and at the end of the game Ja even baited Ben Simmons into a foul, as he said in the postgame to get Simmons back for a situation from 3 years ago. Wait what?! Let me explain what he meant by that. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is the 600k subscriber edition of Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Starting off with Morant, I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a player have as many hangtime shots in one game as he had last night. He changed his mind a few times here going from shot to pass and eventually released the ball. And this is just ridiculous as he clearly jumps with the ball still on the rim, gets his while going down, and still manages to put up a shot and make it. This is crazy. And once again, his 2k controller stops working in the middle of the shot, Kyrie flies by and he hits. BTW This looks eerily similar to the famous shot by MJ. And we gotta talk about the play of the day as he takes off on the fast break, launches and catches the alley oop with one hand, his left one at that. However, possibly the most frightening thing about Morant is how confident he looks shooting from downtown. A career 33.5% shooter from outside, which is below average it seems like he’s been working hard in the summer as Ja started off this season shooting 12 for 20 so far, which is 60%. Of course we expect that to go down significantly but we’ll see if this is a true improvement in his game, or just a result of the small sample size. If it’s the first, then the league is in big trouble. One guy who we definitely know is a sniper, is Desmond Bane. And last night he matched Morant point for point going for 38 himself by shooting a blistering hot 8 for 11 from downtown. That’s 72.7% on outside shots. This was the perfect way to break through a slow start in the first 3 games, and you can see as the game went on, he really had his confidence back as Desmond even raised up for a logo shot, sending the entire arena into a frenzy. This is a career 43.3% downtown shooter so you already know that this is not a fluke and the Grizzlies relied on these shots at the end of the game and Bane delivered, scoring 13 points in the 4th quarter sealing the victory for Memphis. And lastly, Ja Morant made Simmons foul out on this play, and he said that it was all planned out by him. Thanks for watching and thanks for sticking with me all this time, if 100k subscribers and that plaque from youtube was like a championship title, we now got as many as Jordan. I am humbled by how many of you guys watch the videos and all the positive comments, and trust me I never take it for granted. The play call breakdowns that a lot of you enjoy watching are back on my second channel with videos every day so click here and subscribe to help me get another championship over there as well. Thank you once again, and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Do you think that a 17 point lead with 9 minutes to go is game over? How in the world did it go to overtime? Last night was so crazy that the Cavs also had a 7 point lead with only 50 seconds left in the game, but in a shocking turn of events they went into overtime too. The Lakers also thought that they won with a 7 point lead with a 1:50 to go, but ended up losing the game in the blink of an eye. This is why you should never celebrate too early in the NBA. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Donovan Mitchell easily maneuvers through the defense and is all alone for this flip shot but misses it. OK, no big deal, still a big lead with little time. The Wizards go down the court, Porzingis steps back and knocks down the three. 4 point game. But things escalate as Beal steals the ball from Mitchell right under the basket. Goes up and gets fouled. So in just 10 seconds Washington went from down 7 to down 2. Now there’s no need to foul, just play defense. And that’s exactly what they did as Will Barton is aggressive on the switch and pokes the ball away from Donovan, which turns into a fast break for the jam. Tie game. Unbelievable. At the end of regulation, Spida does this beautiful snatchback and is wide open for the game winner buuut he misses, and just like that he looks like the one to blame for this situation. Thankfully for him and the Cavs however, they really put the foot on the gas pedal in overtime and were able to get a 10 point win in the extra period. Saving the best game of the day for last, which was New Orleans vs Utah, let’s now check out the meltdown that the Lakers had. Lebron surveys the floor and blows by Simmons for the layup and the 7 point lead. The arena explodes with joy in what they think will be their first win of the season. Damian Lillard however quickly goes downhill and gets fouled to get it back down to 5 with a pair of free throws. As if Pat Bev didn’t know that LA has been 21% from downtown this season, he jacks up a contested 3 allowing the Blazers to go in transition, and in this scramble, Lillard almost loses it and gets it to Grant who also loses it but somehow the ball finds Nurkic for the lay in and this is now a 3 point game. Still with only a minute to go, if the Lakers score here, they’re in a pretty good position. But guess what they do? Another contested 3 pointer with a stepback at that that misses badly. And on the other end, Simmons bravely takes it inside against Davis and banks it in. Only a 1 point game. What happens next is the most inexplicable moment of the game. Russell Westbrook who couldn’t hit anything since the start of the season, instead of letting some clock run down, fires away and bricks it, setting the stage for Dame Dolla, and as he says it himself end of games situations it’s Dame time. Attacks, fires away the stepback for the leeeead bang. Staples center or whatever the heck is called now is stunned, as everyone just witnessed a complete comeback in less than 2 minutes. The drama is not over yet however as the Blazers inexplicably leave Nurkic on Lebron way out, with nobody helping out inside after James blows by the big man. Tie game. And to return the favor, check out what happens out of the time out as Jeremy Grant drives past Lebron to the basket for the win. Wooow. Seriously look at this other angle, what type of defense was this by James in the closing seconds of the game? You expect a whole lot more effort with the game on the line. At the end, this fadeaway at the buzzer is short and the Lakers go 0-3 to start the season, losing a game that they definitely had it won. And finally, the Jazz who we all put them last in the west dominated the Pelicans throughout the entire game. Just check out the hustle on defense by Clarkson to go after Zion and end up with this insane block. Unbelievable. This along with hitting from anywhere on the court, put them up by 17 against New Orleans. But the home team started to come back with an avalanche of their own. Possession after possession they fought on defense and were able to knock down shots on the other end to cut into the lead little by little and you could sense the comeback building. And things escalated with a minute to go as C.J. Mccollum curls up top and fires away a 3 to give the Pelicans the lead in this dramatic finish. Which sets up the most chaotic sequence of events as the Jazz run a play for Clarkson but you can see as he raises up, this is contested so he passes out of it to and this is going out of bounds. Lauri Markannen makes a phenomenal effort to save this ball and probably the game as he finds Clarkson again and this time he launches, look at this shot from way downtown that splashes through the net for the tie. And after this turnover by C.J Mccollum in the closing seconds of the game, Utah and Clarkson even had a shot for the wiiiin, but we go into overtime.

Brook Lopez flat out frustrated Joel Embiid last night. Lopez played phenomenal defense on Embiid and even got a monster block. Brook actually also outscored Joel and kept him scoreless for the entire second half. Let’s analyze the film and see exactly what happened. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Embiid dominates almost every matchup but against Lopez even in the past it’s never been bully ball. This was the case once again last night. With Brook defending, the Bucks have the privilege of not double teaming Joel which is a huge plus. Right here, he holds his ground and forces a contested fadeaway that Embiid can make, but this is a good defense and a miss. You can clearly see here on this backdown that the Bucks big man is not going anywhere. Great defense, the contest, and another miss. And watch what happens here: Joel is matched up against Giannis and on the drive is overpowering him, but we’ll rewind it a little to show you that Brook is following and rotates down low, so as we stop it right here- we see that Embiid would have been able to go up on the left side, but having Lopez there makes him come back right which gives Antetokounmpo just enough time to recover from that bump and go up for this phenomenal block at the rim. And this is the same sequence, right after the block watch the quick glance back by Lopez and as soon as he notices that Embiid is kinda slow to get back, he hustles to the three point line, while his opponent isn’t. And he gets a completely wide open look as Joel is just now entering the frame, we got the shot and the swish. This was a tremendous effort on display on both ends of the floor. And here’s another exact same example. A great rotation and block on Tobias Harris, and in transition, Lopez gets away from Embiid, or better said Joel doesn’t follow the action, so we got another wide open three…bang! His movement and ability to stretch the floor was a problem for the Sixers big man on multiple occasions. Watch him fool the entire Philly defense by slipping the screen right here and going straight down the middle for the alley oop. Amazing. Stan Van Gundy who was doing the game took a moment to praise his incredible reinvention especially on the defensive end. STAN VAN GUNDY This was a hard fought game that went down to the last seconds, and in those games, it’s the little things that get you the win. And last night Brook Lopez did all that it takes for his team to be successful. I always enjoy showcasing lesser known effort guys so hopefully you liked this video. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

This is a grown man among boys. A monster rebound and the putback against 2 defenders. Zion is back and he is scary. And so are the Pelicans. Let me break down just how they absolutely blew out KD, Kyrie and the Nets on their home floor, and why I believe that if they stay healthy the Pelicans will be a contender in the West. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Look at how free flowing their offense is, we got the pass to Ingram, he goes middle against Durant, and as the help comes, the pass back to Zion, who drives inside and with all the attention on him right here, he just flips it to Valanciunas who’s all alone under the basket for an easy dunk. Great interior passing. Similar thing here, Ingram attacks the paint but loses the ball, and as Herb Jones recovers, he does the same thing attacking inside, and another pass underneath the basket for another easy finish. This young team really knows how to play the right way. Off the inbound, Mccollum is open and could take this shot. But he notices this open driving lane here. Attacks and with Claxton coming over to protect the rim, once again we got the extra pass to a cutting Zion and this is too easy for him. Speaking of Williamson, it seems like everything was easy for him in this game as Brooklyn did not have a single player who could match up with him. They’re really thin at the big man position as it is with only Claxton playing that role, so as you can see it was bullyball throughout the entire game. 25 points and 9 rebounds for him in his first official game back in a while. That’s a terrific start. Brandon Ingram was just as good with 28 and 7 going head to head against KD on a couple of possessions and getting the best of him. But it wasn’t all isolations, check out this great play call to get him open. Starting out on the wing, Alvarado comes over and signals for a cut to the basket. His defender expects that and stops here in order to switch it. But at the last second, Jose switches the angle of his screen, so now Ingram goes middle and there’s no help for O’Neal who is trailing and gets hit with another screen on the handoff, so Brandon is open at his favorite spot on the floor and this is a swish. Here’s another nice play design, with some fake action between Graham and Zion getting the attention of the defense, before finally Devonte getting into position for what’s going to be a double screen and a baseline cut to the other corner for Trey Murphy a phenomenal 3 point shooter gets a good look and buries it. So okay, the Pelicans have 2 stars, a veteran point guard who btw is a sniper both from midrange and downtown. They have a legitimate true big man, oh and the top 5 defensive stoppers in Herb Jones who can make freaky plays like this one on a nightly basis. Solid bench and on top of that, playing the right way. Unselfish, moving without the ball, screening, cutting, and making phenomenal extra passes like this laser right here. This is why I was hyped pre-season for them, and I’m even more hyped now. The great Bill Simmons seems to agree with me. Unfortunately for Brooklyn, I do not know how they didn’t address one of their biggest weaknesses from last season which is size. They gave up 21 offensive rebounds. 21!! If you don’t know how much that is, the league leaders in offensive rebounding last season had 14 per game. That means that the Nets made the Pelicans look like the monstars from space jam getting a third more rebounds than the league leaders last year. And you will not win a lot of games like that. I had them at number 4 in my season predictions but I’m already worried about it. Talk about overreacting after the first game of the season. As fans, that’s what we love to do tho. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Golden State exposed the root of all problems for the Lakers this season. As we stop the play right here, watch how all 5 Warriors are in the paint. They literally leave Lebron open on the wing, Austin Reeves in the corner, and Russell Westbrook is all alone up top. The pass goes to him but what is he supposed to do with a clogged up paint like this. Obviously you can’t drive inside, you simply have to take this shot. Which he does, and misses. As the Lakers lost the season opener, even Lebron admitted that this roster has a huge problem. Let me show you why it’s going to be tough for the Lakers. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Just watch what happens here as James gets the ball on the elbow, surveys the floor and sees 5 defenders in front of him. After 5 seconds of staring at a double team, with no movement from his teammates, finally there’s a cut and a reposition for an open three but that misses as well. In fact 30 out of the 40 shots from downtown that the Lakers fired away were misses as They shot a horrific 25% in the season opener. The Warriors played the percentages focusing on the paint and willingly went under on screens forcing the Lakers to make shots. It’s almost strange how Lebron still managed to get to 31 points despite facing multiple defenders for the majority of the game. On this drive as we stop it right here, he is triple teamed. And with Divincenzo and Kuminga ready to intercept a potential pass down low, James somehow flings it to Toscano Anderson out on the three point line he fires away and once again can not get it to go. Another similar situation right here, driving with 3 guys around him, James jumps and fires a pass on the money to the wide open Matt Ryan who also couldn’t knock it down. Realistically, the Lakers are not going to miss all of these every game, and some of it was definitely a bit of bad luck with such great open looks. But at the same time, as Lebron said it himself, a lot of players were open for a reason. With an obvious weakness in the roster, this interview looked like one of those classic Lebron cryptic messages- this time signaling to Rob Pelinka that he may have to pull the trigger on some trades. Do you agree or am I overreacting to just 1 game? The Lakers may need to sign me, after my 100 three shootout that I did for the season predictions. I caught fire so check it out right here. Talk to you in the next one, peace out.

Last year Mason Plumlee, a miserable 39.2% free throw shooter for the season, tried switching hands on some free throw attempts and shooting them with his left hand. And now in preseason he seems to be fully committed to it. He now joins other players like Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook, all of which were born lefties but later on switched hands. Didn’t know that Kyrie was born a lefty? Stick around to see what he said. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. In 2013-14, in his third NBA season Tristan Thompson became the first player to attempt the unthinkable and change his shooting hand for both free throws and jump shots. While he shot 55 and 60% in his first 2 seasons from the line, his field goal efficiency especially in that second year was 48.8% so this was a big risk. Fortunately for Thompson, he continued to progress, and has always been above the 50% mark, and has carved out a nice career, now playing in his 12th season in the league. The free throws however didn’t really improve, as he’s always been somewhere in the 50-60% range. His former teammate Lebron James has said it himself that he is left-handed. And you can see this any time he’s signing autographs. Another high profile player that you can see signing autographs with his left hand is Russell Westbrook. However the opposite is the case for Mike Conley and Luke Kennard. Tho they're natural right handers, these 2 players shoot with their left. And recently, Kyrie Irving revealed in an interview that he was actually forced to switch hands. And since we’re on the topic, I gotta give a shout out to this famous moment when Tracy Mcgrady got his shoulder injured so he shot a free throw only with his left hand. And of course the iconic Kobe Bryant left handed turnaround three pointer. And many of you also know that my jumper is so broken that I shoot threes with my left hand and inside shots with my right. Thanks for watching and look at how close we are to 600k subs. Hit that button if you haven’t and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

#shorts

Things are close to escalating in Phoenix and it’s not only that but there’s even more drama around the league, before the season even starts. Sit back and let me dig through this chaos. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. First of all, I should have caught this in the initial press conference, look at Ayton’s response on his max contract. And with the latest passive aggressive comment from the intro, now everyone is really sensing the tension between him and the coach, so of course Monty Williams had to respond and he tried to downplay it. The problems that these 2 had throughout last season that even impacted the contract negotiations are seemingly at their peak. To make matters even more interesting, the Suns cannot easily just press the nuclear button and trade him if it gets even worse. In that max contract Deandre also has a 1 year no trade clause, so either they find a way to make it work, or this could be a season of implosion for the Phoenix Suns. Next up is a real heartbreaking update from Lonzo Ball. Initially he was given a 6-8 week recovery for an injury that happened in January. But he never came back. And this is from yesterday: Let me remind you that at the moment of his injury on January 14th, the Bulls were number 1 in the east, and while some of that was the easier schedule at the beginning, a lot of it was also the phenomenal play and especially defense from both Lonzo and Caruso. From that point on, injuries started to pile up and the team slided down the standings. Ball is an extremely important piece to this team, and it’s scary that the team is bracing for a possible season ending recovery. Let’s hope that this won’t be the case. And this Russell Westbrook story is straight up trash, so I need to call out the reporter on his BS and for trying to stir things up. In yesterday’s video I specifically praised Russell for how he handled a tough question about the Lakers not wanting him to be there. Well, Bill Plaschke from the Los Angeles Times, completely flipped the narrative and called his answer combative. You see how he conveniently cut the quote right here so for anyone that hasn’t seen the video and heard the tone with which it was said, along with the context later on, just reading this half quote sure sounds combative. Then he created a narrative and wrote an entire piece on it. Plaschke was criticized heavily on reddit and I love the reactions. Trying to craft your own narrative and twist someone else's words to say something that is the complete opposite of what they meant, that’s total BS. The NBA has enough drama as it is, and there’s no need for creating more with fake quotes and twisting words. All of this and it’s not even the preseason. I’m just 5k away from 600 thousand subscribers, so hit that button. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

This was the strangest and most awkward media day in NBA history. Tension was so high for many teams, and we got a ton of interesting responses from players that we need to discuss. Things got wild so buckle up for this one. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Starting off with Brooklyn where instead of expectations and hopes for one of the most stacked teams in the league, the players and the coach had this bizarre backtrack to the offseason. KD then needed to explain himself why he wanted out of Brooklyn. And finally Steve Nash was asked how he felt knowing that Durant literally wanted him fired. All things seem to point in a good direction however, at least for now. Everyone says that they’ve cleared the air, so we’ll see how things go for them once the season begins. If you thought that the Nets had some tough questions to answer, how about the Boston Celtics. Now this was a really strange media day for them. All of the players were confused and caught by surprise by the Ime Udoka scandal, and they were being careful with their answers not to say anything wrong, while still trying to give their impressions of the entire situation. And no, that was not the worst atmosphere of the day. In Phoenix things were so bad, that reporters compared the press conference to a funeral. Every player had to give his take on the Robert Sarver situation which similar to the Celtics, it’s an extremely touchy topic, so the answers were cautious and bland, but on top of that, the latest news right before training camp is that Jae Crowder will not be with the team as they look for a trade for him. The Suns reportedly will give the starting lineup spot to Cam Johnson so Crowder was disappointed by that and wants out of Phoenix. Then of course, we gotta talk about the Lakers. Russell Westbrook was straight up asked how he feels knowing that the Lakers don’t even want him there. And honestly he handled that like a champ. Take a look. Another guy that handled things like a champ was Pat Bev joking about how he and Russ squashed their beef. The real answer to this question is really wholesome and it’s definitely my favorite thing out of media day. But it wasn’t all drama, and there were a lot of funny moments as is always the case with media day, so here are a few of them with no comment. Finally, things are ramping up, and there’s more NBA content. Hey btw I’m really close to 600k subs. So help ya boi out and click subscribe if you haven’t. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

#shorts

The drama surrounding the Boston Celtics and especially their head coach Ime Udoka has been the main topic these past few days. And it culminated with the team suspending Udoka for a full season. This came as a shock to some, and it sure looks like a very steep penalty. So let me explain what’s the real reason behind the suspension. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Shams Charania has new info on this topic that gives us a different perspective of the whole story. In his latest article on the Athletic, Charania writes that Some members of the Celtics organization first became aware of the relationship in July. At that time, team leadership was led to believe by both parties that the relationship was consensual. But the woman recently accused Udoka of making unwanted comments toward her — leading the team to launch a set of internal interviews. After which, the final decision was made. Now this is a new moment in this whole situation and a big one at that. This is the exact reason for why the code of conduct even exists. Remember the Dallas Mavericks debacle? There was a huge investigation done on Mavs office members that revealed sexual harassments, domestic violence, and all kinds of other detrimental behaviour. It ended ugly, and it even involved the owner Marc Cuban as a person who knew some of these issues but tried to come to settlements and confidentiality agreements. Well this is the exact scenario that the Celtics want to avoid. A case by case falloff and corrosion of the team’s culture. Even with having this code of conduct and these workplace guidelines, you see with this new info that they were still hesitant to implement when they found out about the affair. But once there was even the slightest change of tone by the woman, accusing Udoka of making certain comments, the team saw how this could be a slippery slope and how the issue might snowball into a much bigger thing. The woman could decide to sue, or go public with accusations, and her side of the story, all kinds of scenarios might develop from this. And you can see how it can become very ugly very soon. With this suspension however, I feel like Boston set the bar high. The standards to which the team members will be held, and the expectations for how they should conduct themselves are nothing short of professional. This is not some end of the bench guy, or an unknown team member, but rather the head coach we’re talking about. Possibly the greatest piece for their incredible turnaround and the road to the finals last year. It would be very tempting for a team to forgive and forget when it comes to a prominent piece of their success. But with this move, their action is loud and clear. The franchise, and the organization comes before any single member of it. It’s just unfortunate that it might be a step backwards for this team when it comes to actual basketball. This sudden coaching change for this season, along with the latest news that Robert Williams will have surgery and miss 4-6 weeks, it’s a huge blow. And suddenly the odds of them reaching the finals again have just plummeted. Let me know in the comments if you think that the Celtics can survive all of this. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.