They do this without Kevin Durant.

I just mentioned there 10 and one against teams with winning records.

They've put it together.

Are they clearly the team to beat in the Eastern Conference now?

Yeah, they turned into that over the last couple of weeks.

I think this West Coast trip really pointed it out to me because when you look now at the way that they're playing offensively because we saw a great shot making, but that wasn't going to get it done out of these Big Three.

You need inclusion amongst your roster.

They're getting that now.

You look at the numbers from this thing trip.

They made 81 threes in their last four games and they shot 49% from the three point line in doing it.

If they're going to now, move the basketball, make the extra pass, do things more decisively, play off the dribble a little bit less.

If they do those things and these role players, they're teaming up these open shots and now shooting them with confidence.

There is just no way to slow this team down, so that's to me.

The biggest take away with what I've seen out of the Net.

This is a team now that is understanding, flow to offense, and they're also carrying a little bit more on the other end of the floor.

They're flying to the ball a little bit better.

The effort is better.

They're not leaving guys out to dry on dribble penetration, and as a result, the activity is creating even more opportunities in the open floor.

So for me, absolutely over the last couple of weeks they have risen to the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference because I think those other teams still have some flaws.

Philly, Milwaukee, Indiana, Miami.

Whoever you throw into the mix.

This team is on a different level than them when they're playing like this offensively on.

And I just actually did.

The math is you were talking.

If you shoot 49% from three, you would have to shoot 73% from two in order for those numbers to match up.

So what they're doing from an efficiency standpoint is ridiculous.

On the other side, the Lakers get news last night that a D is reevaluated.

He's out at least another four weeks.

So how should they look at the rest of their season legs if they still want to win the championship this year?

Yeah, Look, I think they're very concerned because he had an injury.

He sat out.

He rested it.

He came back, said he felt great, played 14 minutes, and now it's worse than it was before.

So now they're saying, Okay, list.

All that matters with this team is winning a championship being healthy when the playoffs start?

Whether it's four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, however long you want to sit A D, it doesn't matter to the Lakers there, the deepest team in the N B A.

They've got a ton of guys that can play that position specifically.

So they've got plenty of help while he's out, making sure that when he comes back, he stays back.

And if he does that, the Lakers don't really care if they finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th in the Western Conference.

It's irrelevant to them because if they're healthy, that's the best team in the West.

I think that they know that and that's why you go out.

You get Mantra is Harold Dennis, shooter?

It's for situations like this to be able to ride the storm if one of their star players has to take an extended rest or get load management, whatever it may be, I'm not too concerned about the Lakers.

I still think ultimately, if eighties healthy at the right time of the year, this team is gonna be back in the finals.

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