what's going on as the NBA quarters are now set take a look the Mavericks they clench a wild card spot in the west with a 121 116 win over the Grizzlies Luca donic led the way with 37 points 12 boards as Dallas trailed by as much as 15 in the fourth quarter now the Thunder they clinched the West Group B with a 133 106 win over the Jazz and the Spurs lost to the Suns Shay gildas Alexander 26 points 11 straight game with 25 or more points tired of the second's longest streak in his career
the Bucks they clinched East Group B with a 128 107 win over the Pistons Milwaukee made a season High 233s you had Giannis and Dame Lillard combining for 55 and the Knicks clinch group a with a 121 106 win over the magic Carl Anthony towns 23 points 15 boards but the magic also clenched the East wild card spot with the loss now check this out and who don't you see League's top two teams Cav Celtics heck the last two NBA champs Celtics nuggets all out in the west Thunder taking on the Mavs Warriors taking on
the rockets in the East quarters you got the Bucks taking on the magic Hawks taking on the Knicks taking on the Hawks quarters are going to be played next Tuesday and Wednesday with the NBA Cup final Tuesday December 17th on ABC and ESPN plus meanwhile you also see the Lakers there defending Cup champs they're out and LeBron's been looking out of sorts lately missed 19 straight threes had only 10 points on four of 16 shooting as la scored only 80 in their lost Monday to the t- Wolves moreover LeBron has shot under 45% from the
field six straight games second longest streak in his career and his longest since his rookie season and that had Stephen A Smith wondering yesterday with LA maybe seeming out of contention what's LeBron playing for but when we talk about slippage I got to look at the totality of his game I'm seeing him get burnt on defense a lot I'm seeing him not getting back on defense line not knocking that he's go he's approaching 40 years of age he shouldn't have to should have more help okay and so ultimately we have to get to a point
where at this stage and point in your career we do have to legitimately ask LeBron James what you playing for because guess what Lakers ain't going nowhere all right let's talk about that great to be joined by ants Scapes David Dennis Jr all right so David we know LeBron James said he wants to play all 82 games it's a little fluid he kind of mentioned the other night but to Stephen A's Point what does he have to play for if the Lakers aren't title contenders well I I would challenge Stephen on on the idea that
LeBron James does not believe that they're title contenders like to be that great you have to have a little bit of aspirational delusion and that's what LeBron has a couple years ago they were dead in the water and they made the conference Championship so I think he still believed that they have a a shot to win a championship but beyond that he is accumulating some things that some milestones in his career that add to his greatness just a month ago he played basketball on the same court with his son which had never been done before
just a couple of days ago he reached the 15,000 field goal uh Landmark which is something that only him and Kareem Abdul Jabar have done he could break that record sometime next season so LeBron James is still capable of these great moments on the court that build to his legacy and if you ask LeBron James in his moment of honesty he says yes we can win a championship as long as I'm on the court okay so believes in it because he believes in himself so much so how did the Lakers get LeBron back to being
LeBron r s the guy needs to sit I know I'm I'm approaching 40 I know tired when I see and the guy looks tired he hasn't made a three since before Thanksgiving when I was about 5 lounds lighter and is also you know turning the ball over at an incredible Mark he's at more than 50 turnovers in the last 10 games that's five turnovers plus per game he's looking bad on defense he needs to rest and that responsibility is not just on LeBron it's on the Lakers organization he has to believe that they can win
games without him ad needs to continue being one of the best players on the on in the league and they have to believe that they can win games if LeBron James is not on the court yeah it's tough he's an Iron Man he always wants to play We love that about him but maybe rest [Music]
