I want to welcome in our insider Nick Fiddle to the jump and you're here just in time, friend for the opening bell.

Oh, the stat market.

We're gonna start with Zach Lavine, who leads the league in clutch time.

Scoring Now.

That's of course, the last five minutes of the fourth quarter, and over time, when the score is within five points, he's ahead of Dame and LeBron in.

The stats are pretty impressive.

Nick, You are a Chicago man by way of Orlando and now San Francisco.

Do you buy or sell Levin leading the league in clutch time, scoring the rest of the way here, Rachel.

I'm buying because the Bulls playing close game seemingly every night.

Zach is an unbelievably gifted offensive player.

Now, am I buying him as a Max player of a title team?

Not right now, but in this stat playing at the end of the game, I think this is made for him.

I'm gonna buy not that excited about it.

Like Nick said, This is a volume stat.

The Bulls have played a ton of minutes in clutch situations, so he's got a ton of points that doesn't mean, he's the best clutch player.

He's been quite good, but I'll buy it just because he's got a 19 point head start.

That's a lot.

The Bulls keep playing close games.

I'm buying.

He's he's a deserving all start to Yeah, absolutely.

And look, when your team has got to squeak by every night, you end up doing well.

I missed that.

All right, let's move on, though.

To Russell Westbrook, he once again is leading the league in triple doubles.

He's averaged a triple double three times in his career.

He's close to doing it again this season.

Keep in mind, only Oscar Robertson has ever averaged a triple double even once before in NBA history before Rust came along.

So, Zack, do you buy or sell 1/4 career triple double season for Russell Westbrook?

I'm buying it.

He's close now.

He's done it three times.

There's a lot of stats to get on that wizard.

Seem like Garrison Matthews ain't getting a lot of assists for you.

I think Russ is gonna pile up the numbers, and if if he smells it with five or 10 games to go, he's gonna go chase it.

I think So I'm gonna buy Go with Zach.

I'm selling.

Although I agree with you that he is gonna be chasing every number he can at the end of the year, The difference here is I think he's a little bit older.

And if this team wants to win, it might be a little tougher to fill every column every night.

But he's had a heck of a year, and if they can keep him in rhythm, they're going to be in pretty good shape in the second half.

Help such a big part of this, too, right?

Because between all the Covid stuff on and on with the Wizards, but also Russell's own health, you know, the the the issues, everything else that's happened there.

I think that's going to impact this more than anything, But we'll see right close right now.

I want to take a look at the East standings because the Knicks Yes, the New York Knicks, one game above 500 sitting at fourth in the conference.

It's their first time with a winning record through 35 games since the 2013 season, the last time they made the playoffs.

Coincidence?

I think not so Nick, do you buy or sell the Knicks finishing above 500 this season?

Because the fans who were dancing in the streets outside the Garden the other day certainly do.

Rachel.

I'm buying all the stock I can get, and I'm buying it for tips.

This guy loves nothing more than getting a team motivated to play at their best when everybody is counted him out.

He's got Julius Randle playing the role of Luol Deng that he did early in those Chicago days.

This is tailor made for Tibbs to ride in on his white horse and dominate in the second half and get the New York fans all juiced up about what may come in the next few years.

Do you think Tibbs is actually ever ridden a horse?

I would like to see Tibbs trying to ride a white horse, uh, at the at the risk of at the risk of igniting the fury of Tibbs.

I'm going to sell this.

Yes, barely.

Although what I would like to buy is, I would like to buy a nine way tie in the East at 36 36.

At the end of the year, I'll buy that look.

The Knicks are one game over 500.

They played the second easiest schedule in the league so far.

By basically any measure, their opponents are shooting 32.8% from three.

That's 2% points lower than any other.

Defense is loud in the league.

So I think they're due for some bad luck.

I think, to hover around 500.

But if you're asking me, are they gonna finish over?

I will.

Tentatively and not very happily sell the over 500 Nick's.

We'll take a look at the Eastern Conference standings here, guys, because it's not good in the East.

I know I brought this up on the show several times in the past couple of weeks, but it's just kind of shocking every time you open up the standings.

There are only four teams in the entire conference who are over 500 you joke about the nine way tie.

But it kind of feels like that's what could happen if you look at where the Knicks are.

You've got two teams only half a game behind three Sorry, three teams only half a game behind them.

You've got another team.

Just a game and a half behind that, and it goes down from there.

Zach, what is going on in the East?

Is this just a matter of the fact that there are playing 72 instead of 82 they don't get to beat up on each other?

The bad teams in the East don't get to beat up in each other as much as they would in a regular season.

Is that it?

Well, that Plus this is a weird season.

Right?

Teams or teams have tons of guys.

And now the lineup, like I think the Celtics have performed way below what we would have expected.

They would have been another team, well, about 500.

The Heat.

Same thing.

A team that made the finals last year and got ravaged by the coronavirus and the associated protocol.

Scientists think it's a weird season, but also there's a lot of mediocrity in the Eastern Conference that should really be their slogan.

Eastern Conference, where mediocrity lives.

This is just what it's been for 25 years.

Race to conferences, swimming in mediocrity.

It's completely average, which is why I'm buying tips because nobody has any team more prepared to play, in theory, meaningless basketball, sometimes in the regular season more than that guy.

That's why, in the second half, I think the Knicks can make a little push to stay above that 500 line.

I don't know if we're swimming in mediocrity is quite the marketing slogan that anybody on Madison Avenue would recommend.

I don't I don't know, our researcher Michael Schwartz found, is the closing bell.

By the way, our researcher, Michael Schwartz, found that the last time the East was this bad, basically, it's only happened twice in the last 50 years.

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