Luka and the Lakers get physical | Are the Bucks finished?
Luka Doncic and LeBron James combined for 52 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers tie their first-round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves at one game a piece. Dave DuFour and Zena Keita react to the dominant performance from the Thunder through the first two games of the playoffs before being joined by the Athletic’s Shakeia Taylor to breakdown the aftermath of the Pacers pushing to a 2-0 series lead over the Milwaukee Bucks. Then, the Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and the crew discuss the Wolves game 2 loss and how the adjust for game 3.
Host: Dave DuFour
With: Zena Keita, Shakeia Taylor, & Jon Krawczynski
Executive Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Audio Producer: Grayson Moody
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/nba/
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32:25
Did Kawhi and the Clippers solve Jokić and the Nuggets?
Kawhi Leonard poured in 39 points on 15/19 shooting to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a game 2 win over the Denver Nuggets. Dave DuFour, Es Baraheni, and James Edwards react to the Detroit Pistons game 2 win over the Knicks, discuss what it means for the city of Detroit and what went wrong for New York. Then, Law Murray joins the show to breakdown Kawhi Leonard’s brilliant game 2 performance.
Host: Dave DuFour
With: Es Baraheni, James Edwards, & Law Murray
Executive Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Audio Producer: Grayson Moody
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/nba/
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33:37
Warriors Thrive and Lakers Panic Time? + Game 2 Adjustments
Game 1 of the the NBA Playoffs is in the books, and Dave DuFour, Zena Keita and Es Baraheni discuss the Lakers big loss to the Wolves, the Warriors thriving in Houston, Boston, OKC and Cleveland’s dominance and much more. The NBA Daily crew discuss big takeaways from each game, adjustments that need to be made, and if Game 1 changed any of the opinions on any series.
Host: Dave DuFour
With: Es Bareheni and Zena Keita
Executive Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Audio Producer: Grayson Moody
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/nba/
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34:25
Contender Draft + Playoff Preview | Slam N Jam
Andrew Schlecht and Alex Speers discuss the week of headlines in the NBA, and an update on the surprise teams and post All Star Break Leap players. Then they are joined by Dan Devine of Yahoo! Sports to discuss the NBA Playoffs, matchups they like, and then the guys do a contender draft taking the teams they think are most likely to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy at the end of the season.Then the boys play a fun edition of Andrew vs. the Beat, a trivia game where Andrew is pitted against a beat writer.
Host: Andrew Schlecht and Alex Speers
With: Dan Devine
Executive Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Audio/Video Editor: Gonzalo Torres
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1:17:14
Wolves over Lakers? + The Jokic Bump
Nikola Jokic is the best player in the NBA and we have our national writer at the Athletic Fred Katz to discuss some nuances in his approach and game. Dave DuFour and Zena Keita discuss Fred’s article on Nikola Jokic and what other players in the NBA are saying about his game. In part 2 Fred sticks around and the crew discusses their favorite Playoff matchups including Nuggets/Clippers, Wolves/Lakers and the return of Damian Lillard.
Host: Dave DuFour
With: Zena Keita and Fred Katz
Executive Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Audio Producer: Grayson Moody
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6276862/2025/04/16/nikola-jokic-christian-braun-mentorship-nba-mvp-denver-nuggets/
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Start your day with The Athletic NBA Daily – a fast, entertaining recap of the most important games and stories from the world of professional basketball with new episodes dropping Monday through Friday. Hosted by Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, and Esfandiar Baraheni with regular appearances by The Athletic’s award-winning NBA reporters. Andrew Schlecht and Alex Spears cap the week with the full-length Saturday Slam n’ Jam episode.