Who are the best 2nd tier teams in the NBA? | Devine Intervention

Yahoo sports NBA writer Dan Devine is joined by Rohan Nadkarni from Sports illustrated to talk about Ja Morant’s season-ending shoulder injury and to debate who the best 4th team in each conference is.

00:00 - Count me in!

04:10 - Ja Morant's season-ending injury

11:35 - Los Angeles Clippers

17:55 - New Orleans Pelicans

27:10 - New York Knicks

34:35 - Miami Heat

44:55 - Cleveland Cavaliers

50:53 - The Closing Five

On this episode of Devine Intervention, Dan Devine is joined by Rohan Nadkarni from Sports Illustrated to talk through some of the teams that aren’t at the top of the standings, but first…

News broke last night that Ja Morant would need season-ending shoulder surgery. The Memphis Grizzlies had gone 6-3 since his return from suspension and looked primed to be a dangerous lower seed team come playoff time, but now they can tank their way to a lottery pick to pair with Morant and the other players they’ll have returning from injury next season.

The theme of this podcast is “Who’s your fourth?” We all know who the three best teams are in each conference, although there may be debate over the order, but who is the best of the teams that are left?

Rohan said it’s boring, but he picked the Los Angeles Clippers and went back in time to remind us all that James Harden has always been great when he first gets to a team and is motivated to play his best basketball. Dan tacks on that Harden is exactly what the Clippers have needed, although the key is still keeping Kawhi Leonard healthy.

Dan sees a lot of promise in what the New Orleans Pelicans have done since the NBA In-Season Tournament, and he’s wondering if teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves might be afraid to play the Pelicans in the playoffs now that Zion Williamson, C.J. McCollum and Brandon Ingram have figured out how to play together.

It’s not pandering, Rohan really thinks that the fourth best team in the Eastern Conference is the New York Knicks. Julius Randle has found a better role in the offense since the addition of OG Anunoby, and they made a statement in embarrassing the Philadelphia 76ers. But are they better than the Heat? That’s who Dan has as his fourth best team from the east, although he admits that a lot of that is about who’s not there and not who is there.

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