Season 2, Episode 29- The Next Generation

In this week's episode of "Diehlman at Halftime," I discuss:

Highlight: Oklahoma City Thunder
Lowlight: L.A. Lakers
Random Stat: James Harden has lost four Game 7s on four different teams
Game of the Week: Indiana Pacers @ Cleveland Cavaliers (Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game 2)

"Aurora" interlude music written by Jeff Kaale
https://uppbeat.io/t/jeff-kaale/aurora
License code: HJ6W88QKKUB00FNS

Intro/outro written by Larry Diehlman

Release date: Monday, May 5, 2025

Chapters

• 0:16 Introduction
• 0:59 Overview of the NBA this Week
• 5:26 Highlight
• 7:08 Lowlight
• 8:53 Random Stat
• 10:35 Game of the Week
• 11:55 Conclusion

Transcript

Introduction: Hello everybody, and welcome to episode #64 of “Diehlman at Halftime,” the NBA podcast that tops all others! I’m your host, Larry Diehlman. If you’re joining us for the first time, welcome abroad. And if you’ve been a loyal listener, welcome back! We have much to get to today and not a lot of time to do it. We have five sections that we’ll get into: a general overview of the NBA this week, and our usual “Highlight, Lowlight, Random Stat, and Game of the Week.”

Overview of the NBA this Week: Three things are certain in this life: death, taxes, and something happening with Giannis Antetokounmpo against the Pacers. Back in Dec. 2023, Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar, was irate when a Pacers staff member inadvertently took his game ball, and Antetokounmpo went frantically searching for it. Then you have whatever happened on Tuesday night. The Pacers eliminated the Bucks in Game 5. As the game ended, Antetokounmpo was confronted by the father of Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, John. John was waving a towel at Antetokounmpo and shouting curse words. The two were immediately pulled away by players and security. Antetokounmpo and Mr. Haliburton talked afterward and smoothed things over. Tyrese said he talked to his dad too. Antetokounmpo and Bennedict Mathurin also started trouble when the two embraced one another. Words were said, Antetokounmpo had an arm around Mathurin’s neck, and players separated them. You can’t be doing stupid stuff like this, no matter if you’re on the winning side or losing side. Hopefully, everyone takes it easy going into the Conference Semifinals.

It’s officially the end of an era. The San Antonio Spurs announced on Friday that Gregg Popovich is no longer the head coach of the team. The 76-year-old will transition into the front office as the president of basketball operations. Interim head coach Mitch Johnson is being promoted to head coach. Popovich named himself head coach in Dec. 1996 (yes, you heard that correctly) and hasn’t looked back since. During Popovich’s tenure, the Spurs have won 1,422 regular season games (which tops the NBA charts), won 170 playoff games (third all-time), made 22 consecutive playoff appearances, and won five championships. However, it was definitely time for this move. Popovich had a mild stroke back in November, and he fainted at a restaurant last month. Hopefully, he stays in good health as finishes out the remainder of his career. Gregg Popovich is arguably the biggest name in San Antonio sports history and one of the biggest in both NBA and overall sports history.

Lastly, more major award winners have been announced. San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle won Rookie of the Year, beating out Zaccharie Risacher of Atlanta and Jaylen Wells of Memphis. Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, a runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year, took Most Improved Player honors. He beat out Cade Cunningham of Detroit and Ivica Zubac of the L.A. Clippers. Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson won Coach of the Year, beating out J.B. Bickerstaff of Detroit and Ime Udoka of Houston. Castle winning Rookie of the Year keeps the award in San Antonio for another year. Victor Wembanyama claimed it last season. Castle dropped 14.7 points per game in 47 starts. Daniels had an extraordinary season. Traded to Atlanta in the offseason, he had career-highs in every major category except free-throw percentage. In 76 starts, he averaged a league-high three steals per game, the highest league-leading single-season average since Alvin Robertson in 1990-91. In Atkinson’s first season as head coach in Cleveland, he led them to 64 wins, a 16-win improvement from last year. Castle destroyed his competition with 92 first-place votes. Daniels had 44. Atkinson had 59.

We have reached the end of the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. There were eight eliminations, four in each conference.

First round Eastern Conference eliminations: Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons

First round Western Conference eliminations: Memphis Grizzlies, L.A. Lakers, L.A. Clippers, Houston Rockets

This episode is entitled "The Next Generation."

So, who’s raising eyebrows at the moment?

Highlight: Expect the unexpected…but also expect the expected. The Oklahoma City Thunder have clinched a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals following their first-round win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Not only was there no chance the Thunder would lose in the first round, but Ja Morant’s injury sealed Memphis’ fate. Oklahoma City’s “Big Three,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams, dominated in that series. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 27.8 points, five rebounds, six assists, 1.3 steals, and one block per game. Despite the Grizzlies keeping the score close without Morant in Games 3 and 4, bench players like Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe put on the finishing touches. Caruso’s defense is legit, and so is Joe’s shooting from downtown. With Memphis in the rearview mirror, the Thunder host the Denver Nuggets next. This series should be off the charts! The top two MVP candidates, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver’s Nikola Jokić, will be on display. What will make this matchup interesting is that the Thunder haven’t played since Saturday, April 26 because they swept Memphis. Denver is coming off a Game 7 blowout over the L.A. Clippers on Saturday. Nine days of rest vs. two. Nice. Game 1 of this Western Conference Semifinals series starts in Oklahoma City tonight, Monday, May 5 at 9:30 p.m.

Lowlight: I hope you didn’t bet on the Lakers-Timberwolves series (especially L.A.) because we have an upset! The #3 L.A. Lakers were the victim of a first-round gentleman’s sweep (five games) to the #6 Minnesota Timberwolves. Thus ends a crazy year where the Lakers lured JJ Redick out of the broadcast booth to become a first-time head coach…oh, and they pulled off the Luka Dončić deal. Minnesota completely dismantled L.A., and they didn’t even have home-court advantage in the series! There were a couple of issues. First, Anthony Davis being traded to Dallas eliminated the Lakers’ strengths at center. Redick was allergic to playing Jaxson Hayes, but it’s not as if Hayes is good. Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert, who was invisible in the first four games of the series, ate the Lakers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Game 5, to the tune of 27 points and 24 rebounds. Second, Dončić is a traffic cone on defense. Praise him on offense all you want, but he is a traffic cone on defense. Nico Harrison, the Mavericks’ general manager who has taken the heat for that Dončić-Davis trade, is probably laughing his ass off watching his “Defense wins championships” quote fulfilled. Redick mentioned that his roster needs to get into “championship shape.” Whether that’s about conditioning or roster construction, one thing’s clear: this season was a success in some ways, and a failure in others. See you in October, Lakers.

Random Stat: The postseason brings out the best in some players. Others, not so much. L.A. Clippers guard James Harden is in the latter, thanks to a Game 7 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Harden has now lost four Game 7s in four different uniforms: the Houston Rockets (2018), Brooklyn Nets (2021), Philadelphia 76ers (2023), and now the Clippers. The story, although with the same outcome, has happened in differing ways. The Houston loss was the infamous game when the Rockets missed 27 consecutive threes against the Kevin Durant Warriors. Harden had a hamstring injury in Brooklyn, but he returned just as the Nets had a chance to down the eventual-champion Milwaukee Bucks. That is, if Durant’s big toe wasn’t on the three-point line at the end of regulation. With a 3-2 series lead over Boston, the 76ers choked Games 6 and 7, with “The Beard” being a no-show on the road in Game 7. He had nine points on 3/11 shooting. Finally, on Saturday, Harden had 13 assists... with only seven points on 2/8 shooting. And this was after a 28-point performance two days earlier. Harden’s Game 7 numbers don’t look too bad on paper, but the context behind them, and the fact that he’s shot less than 30% in his last four Game 7s (including another Rockets Game 7, not the one with the 27 triples), tells you all you need to know.

Game of the Week: For this week’s “Game of the Week,” we’re going with Indiana Pacers @ Cleveland Cavaliers. This game is tomorrow, Tuesday, May 6 at 7 p.m., and it’s Game 2 of this Eastern Conference Semifinals series. The Pacers stole home-court advantage in Game 1 on Sunday 121-112. Both teams are here after a quick cleanup of their first-round opponents. Cleveland destroyed Miami in four games, and Indiana dominated Milwaukee in five. Cleveland-Indiana is going to be a fun series. The Cavaliers have been hot all year, and the Pacers are one of the better offensive teams in the league. But what about the storylines? The Cavaliers are looking for their first Eastern Conference Finals berth since 2018, the last season during LeBron James’ second stint. Meanwhile, the Pacers are aiming for their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearance. They’re trying to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke. Donovan Mitchell’s scoring vs. Tyrese Haliburton’s passing ability will keep us glued to our TVs. Give me Cleveland to tie the series 112-110.

Conclusion: Well, that’s all the time we have for today. If you haven’t already, make sure to follow me on social media. I have two X (or Twitter) accounts and two Instagram accounts. The podcast accounts are under @Diehlman_NBA for both X and Instagram. My personal X account is @LarryDiehlman18, and my personal Instagram is @mr_sports18. They’re also in the description on Buzzsprout, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to spread the word about “Diehlman at Halftime!” See you next time, fellow hoops fans!