Prime Video offers the best in entertainment. The end of the world continues with Fallout 2. A global phenomenon, inbegred by Prime. I heard you about what to do in this situation. Look at the epic end of the unwritten story of The Witches of Oz. Buy or buy? Wicked for good now. I'm taking you to see The Wizard. There's no going back. So what you also look, Prime Video. Here you look at everything. Prime is advised, especially to buy or buy. Inhoud can be advertised 18+. All the rules are used to be used. good morning and welcome to the nba daily presented by amazon prime for february 10th 2026 i'm dave defour here with zina kata coming up we had a night of comebacks bunch of guys coming back from injury we're going to hit those and we had a fight in the detroit pistons charlotte hornets game we're going to talk to hunter patterson about that one Good morning, everybody. What's up, Zena? What a day. Are you ready after the Benito Bowl? Yeah, you know, what a show. It was fun. That was a fantastic little concert in the middle of a boring football game. But don't worry, the NBA got you if you were bored with your sports on Sunday. Oh, my God. Look, guys, Monday night in the NBA has just become too much. We've got national games every night. I'm going to have to file a petition with the league. We can't have too much stuff happening on a night like this. So we're going to run through as much of it as we can before we get to the break and get to Hunter Patterson. We've got to start Cavs, Nuggets. The Cavaliers get a big win, 119-117. They beat the Nuggets at home. And look, Zeno, we talked about the Harden addition and how much he was going to help, especially in fourth quarters when Donovan Mitchell's got all that extra attention. Harden finishes the game, 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists. He made or assisted five threes in the fourth quarter. I mean, just big shot after big shot when they needed it once again. This was so fun to see at the end of the game, Donovan Mitchell go up to James Harden, the biggest smile on his face. And for me, I think that that is such an indicative feeling of how good Cleveland feels right now with James Harden in the mix. 45 points and 15 assists since he's joined this team. They get a big win over Denver. This is exactly what you need when Donovan Mitchell is doing his thing. 32 points he had last night. But guess who hit the big shot to get them over the hump until Donovan Mitchell could close it out with two free throws? It was James Harden and one. That's what he's been missing as his number two. And so I'm excited for what Cleveland's brewing here. And Denver gets swept again by a Cleveland. This is crazy. What's going on? Another, another big game from Jared Allen too. We talked about how much he was going to benefit because of what Harden does. All right, let's get to some of these comebacks starting early in the day. The Boston Celtics announced that Jason Tatum was going to be joining their G league affiliate, Maine Celtics. And he's going to apparently practice with them and the Celtics. Now look, Zena, I've been, I've been hot on this since we saw that video of Jason Tatum playing no contact one-on-one. He looks so good moving around in that video. This is another sign. Apparently he's getting close to a comeback. I don't know. Yeah, this is actually crazy. Remember that Jason Tatum tore his Achilles on May 12th, 2025. Typical recovery time is around 8 to 12 months. He's already back on the court or getting ready to get back on the court and do work. we've seen him walking around no boot on and i was looking quickly of like how did this happen what has been kind of attributed to why he's been able to get back so fast well one he underwent surgery within 24 hours of the injury which is huge we've seen a lot of pro athletes do that that typically always helps which is why the news right that we just found out that jimmy butler just now as in yesterday got his acl surgery was a little surprising for folks to hear but either way. The second thing was this thing called the speed bridge technique. And it basically, it's a minimally invasive procedure that uses bone anchors and high strength sutures to create an internal brace within where your Achilles is supposed to be. And it allows for earlier weight bearing and range of motion exercises. So shout out to the speed bridge. I wish we had a legitimate doctor to be able to break that down, but I read about that this morning and I thought that was really cool but this is this is great for boston they got boots to bitch he's rolling he's in the mix already boston's looking pretty good as they head towards uh the playoffs yeah look if they add tatum to a team that's already pretty good i you know we keep saying the east is kind of a pushover i don't know i don't know all of a sudden it might be it might be a battle and not just a bloodbath because of the fighting you know with detroit um all right jdub was back for the thunder last night They put up 23 points in a win over the Lakers. You know, this was the Thunder really needed this win. They lost two straight. You know, they've been struggling a little bit. Also found out yesterday that the NBA was opening an investigation into the Thunder for arresting all their players on the second night of a back-to-back with the national TV game last week, Zena. Do you think anything's going to come out of that? I don't think so. And not at all. I think this is a nothing burger, as they like to say. But no, this was great for Jalen Williams to come back. And Jalen Williams did not miss a beat. He was the one that kind of helped close that game out, 10 points in the fourth quarter. And poor Austin Reeves being on the short end of that stick as Jalen Williams just went ahead and closed the game out for them. But yes, you are able to beat a team like the Lakers that are trying to make a run for it right before the All-Star break. They don't have Luka, don't get me wrong. But this is a good win for OKC, especially as they reintegrate J.L. Williams back into what they're doing. Yeah, and he needs it. And there's a little bit of an opportunity here where maybe he can find his groove without Shea there. You know he doesn have to kind of fit in around Shea Rest of the guys will fit in around him Also we got to mention Nikola Topic back from his testicular cancer treatment He made his debut for the OKC Blue. 7.7 assists in 16 minutes. And all I have heard about this guy is that he is fantastic. We have not seen him really in the NBA, right? Like, we are hoping that this is the year that we get to see him. And with the way that the Thunder have been struggling with injuries, I mean, they might need him by the time we get around to the playoffs. I mean, this guy might get minutes. I mean, just to put in perspective, there's a reason why you draft this guy 12th in the NBA draft months after you find out that he tore a ligament in his knee. Right. You know, this guy is good if you are willing to make that sort of a risk. And so it is really exciting to see that after that major knee surgery and having to undergo chemotherapy, he's back on the court and immediately, you know, find some efficiency in OKC Blue. And if there's one thing we know about OKC, they know something about development. So I imagine he'll be able to get back and get back in the group very quickly. Cam Thomas made his debut for the Bucs, but it was a little bit overshadowed because Franz Wagner was back. The Magic finally getting healthy. They pick up a win. You know, it's the Bucs. They're not going to win a lot of games from here on out. Franz had 14 off the bench. Look pretty good. I mean, it was the first time in something like 427 days that Franz Wagner, Mo Wagner, Paolo Bancaro, and Jalen Suggs all played in the game. That is insane. I don't think I knew that stat until you just said that. That is, that's wild. But yes, getting Franz Wagner, we know that that, how crucial that is. We also know, though, that Franz and Paolo have been better apart this season. So we'll see now as things get picked up, as teams are trying to get towards the playoff and pick up some significant wins, just how much better they'll meld together, especially now with Jalen Suggs being the person that I like. The way you put it always, the coffee stir, the mix, the drinks, the straw that stirs. There it is. I love that. Yes. So we'll see what that all comes together. But in the meanwhile, Anthony Black, keep going off, sir. Keep going off. He's ridiculous. Yeah, he's kind of crazy. Cam Thomas had four points. Yeah. For the Bucs. So keep an eye on that one. Guys, Scoot Henderson is back. I mean, everyone came back right ahead of the All-Star break, which I guess is smart because, you know, you get extra time to rest. You see where you're at. So Scoot Henderson was back. And, man, the Blazers look really good against the Sixers. no Embiid out there for the Sixers so you know there's going to be a drop off but they get a 17 point win over the Sixers Denny Abdi is back 26 points but Scoot this is the story from the game to me puts up 12 points eight of 10 from the free throw line he just was getting to the paint at will and if you watch this game and you saw how Scoot Henderson plays and if you remember what he played like when he first started in the league and was coming straight out of G League Ignite There was always this level of poise about him. He was real comfortable, real smooth. And that's why he got drafted so high. He would get into the paint with ease in the G League. And we saw that in the early parts of his career, kind of struggle. And he started picking up steam at the very end of last year. And now he's back in the mix. He looked exactly like what we've known him to be, someone that can get within the teeth of the defense with ease. He was kicking out to Denny Abdiah, seven assists in that first game back. Like, that's huge. I know you talked about the free throws. Being able to draw fouls is huge. But I also am thinking about just like, hey, being able to be a playmaker, being able to draw fouls. This is exactly what Portland wants. It's not going to be a difference maker in the West. But again, it's the key pieces that are setting up Portland for the future. And finally, we have to talk about the Utah Jazz because they did it again, Zena. Wow. Lowry Markkinen. It's getting blatant. Jaron Jackson Jr. and Yusuf Nurkic. They all played 25 minutes in the game. They all sat the entire fourth quarter. And the Miami heat stink enough that the Utah jazz still got the win. Ace Bailey might have to get the treatment that these other guys are getting. He just kind of took over Ace Bailey and Bryce sense of all just too much for the Miami. Listen, you've, you've mentioned this the other night, like players are just too competitive. They're not going to give it up. That's right. And Kyle Felipowski, you got to throw him in there too. Like, what are you doing at eight points in the fourth quarter? Like, yeah, they they were playing too hard at the end of that game. It is. I can't say it's getting blatant. It's been blatant. But Miami, get the memo. This is a team that did not want to win that game. They were trying to give it to you and you still found a way to lose like that. Come on. Do better by air exposure at home, by the way, at home. Come on. Yeah. Shout out to Moe DeKeele, by the way, who had an epic rant that I got a chance to see recently about the Miami Heat in their front office. Man, just failure after failure. Guys, stick around after the break. We're going to do our best to break down the game between the Pistons and the Hornets in spite of the fight kind of getting in the way. Great game. Hunter Patterson was there. So stick around for him after the break. We weren't in Detroit, so we can't call it Malice at the Palace Part 2. It was more like it got a little alive at the Hives, you know. We got a big fight in the middle of the Charlotte Hornets Detroit Pistons game. Our man, Hunter Patterson, luckily, you weren't involved in the Frankis at all, right? Not at all. Not at all. I was safe up here. Okay, walk me through what happened here because, you know, this was a game that started out extremely physical. I actually think the referees did a poor job of containing the physicality. If you go and look, look, LaMelo Ball took zero free throws in the game. And that stands out to me as you know like when you go back and you looking at box score and you rewatching the tape they weren really calling a lot of contact And then the the tempers just kind of exploded Yeah it was a lack of calls for sure throughout the game. I would say both ways. And what led up to it was just kind of Musa and JD had kind of been drawing back and forth. JD was trying to get to the basket. Musa gave a hard foul. I didn't think it was anything too out of the norm of just a typical hard foul in the league. But J.D. went up to him. Yeah, I thought it was a playoff foul, nothing malicious. But Duren went to Moussa, looked like they kind of, they were like nose to nose, their heads were touching. J.D. might have kind of butted Moussa's head away from his. And Moussa took exception to it, got closer to J.D. J.D. pushed him away. Getting a little mush face. Mush face for sure. Looked like some fingers were to the face. And Moussa kind of lost it at that point. He was irate, to say the least. He swung at JD a few times. He fought through some security. And he made it back to JD. Thankfully, he tripped and didn't get as close to Dern as he could have. I don't think that would have ended well for either of them involved. And from there, Miles Bridges kind of took exception to everything after he had been held back. And he also lunged for Duren. Well, he got some cheap shots in there. Yeah. I mean, they were both kind of being held back at that point, but Bridges got free from security. He threw a jab. And, of course, Stu took exception to all of it. He was on the bench at the time. He beelined across the floor and he kind of had had his final say at the end of it all. Yeah. And had Bridges in a headlock. Punches were thrown. Kudos to Bridges for kind of weaving out of the way of Stu's first punch because that could have been terrible. But yeah, just not not really what you want to see in an NBA game, obviously. No, it killed the game for a little bit. And this was a great game. I mean, look, this could be a first round of the Eastern Conference playoff series, right? Like we might get this in the playoffs. And I thought that this game delivered that, especially once the once everyone recovered from the fight, they got right back to it. And I thought the refs did a better job down the stretch. The Pistons do win 110-104. But, man, I think the Hornets put some fear into them a little bit. We got a chance to see what the Hornets have been doing on, you know, their nine game win streak now is over. They played the best team in the East. Pretty good matchup, I think. If you're the Hornets, you're probably feeling pretty good about where you're at. If you're the Pistons, you're probably pretty happy about walking away with this win. Absolutely. Brandon Miller is a Hooper. Con Caniple, Hooper. We know Melo is a Hooper. Each of them had at least 20. Brandon Miller finished with 24, which was a team high. And it was just a good game back and forth down the stretch. This was an amazing crowd here at Spectrum Center. They were extremely into the game. There was a good portion of Pistons fans in here as well. And Cade had 14 of his 33 in the second half. He kind of got in the rhythm, as he usually does when games get close down the stretch. And they ended up pulling away, and it was a good overall game. One thing I absolutely adore about watching Charlotte games in general, particularly on league passes where you get to see and hear their announcers. And I should have gotten their names, the announcers names from Charlotte, but they love Collins and Del Curry. Shout out to the goat. Eric Collins makes the game fun, man. Thank you. I can only imagine how the broadcast was. Oh, the broadcast was legendary, legendary. But what I appreciate about the game and why I always appreciate about Eric Collins and Del Curry is that they give love to both sides. Of course, they definitely love their team and they give a lot of love for the Charlotte Hornets. but they were giving Cade Cunningham his credit when he continued to get to his spot, utilizing his physicality. He continued to crash the glass and get rebounds that you typically don't see as they continue to mention. Your point guard, your point guard, that's that point guard getting those balls. And that, to me, Cade Cunningham is the head of the snake when it comes to Detroit. Like his physicality, his presence, it is so ingrained into how he plays that I think it's why it was so hard to get the chippiness out of the game. This is just the brand of Detroit basketball. And that's how they started the game. Lomelo was getting, I mean, bumped. It was bumper cars as Lomelo was trying to bring the ball up the court in the first court. Some rag doll physics happening, yeah. It was super physical from the jump. And so what I love most about this was Charles Lee at the end of all this, he ends up getting ejected later on because Grant Williams gets a foul called on what he considered a soft foul. So soft. And I agree with that. Yeah, I think we're all on the same point there. But Charles Lee didn't take time to complain about the refereeing, which he could have because it was incredibly physical all night. He gave credit to Detroit for bringing the best out of the Charlotte Hornets. and he he was able to you know call out what happened with this team and you know the fact that they got they got into the game and they got caught up in it without denigrating Detroit which teams could easily have looked at the Detroit brand of basketball and try to say that it's a lower tier in the way that they show up in the way that they're physical he amplified them he said they bring out the best in them and that you saw and I'm not sure if you saw this 200 it threaded itself through the charlotte hornets because even brandon miller was like it was fun to be in the mix of this next question he appreciated what detroit did and i'd love to hear what you think about as you're going around and you're following detroit it seems like teams are picking up like this is just how detroit plays and there are some teams that appreciate that and then there are some teams that are like this is too much That a great point too That was something that Charles Lee he brought up pregame He mentioned they played on December 20th I want to say it was the first matchup between these two. The Hornets were blown out. Detroit was the better team from start to finish. And Charles mentioned postgame that that was some, or pregame, excuse me, was something that kind of got the wheels rolling on their run and let them know that the physicality that the Pistons brought was something that they needed to start embodying throughout the rest of their season. And so he acknowledged that before the game even started. He gave the Pistons a ton of credit for just the brand of basketball that they play and their toughness, their physicality, all of the things that kind of unfortunately spilled over into the game tonight. But he, ahead of time, was really, I would say, complimentary of just the Pistons' play style. And he's he's someone who I think is is trying to embody those things in in his team here in Charlotte. And he, like you said, was just really complimentary of everything. This con canipple guy is ridiculous. I mean, he's going to set the rookie record for most made three pointers. He's at the point now where every time he launches one, I just think it's going in that team. I mean, we've been having a lot of fun with them on this winning streak, but they look like a serious team. Like they're in the play in. I doubt they can make it out of the play in. I just don't know if they've got the time, but there's a really good chance that we wind up with Detroit and Charlotte in the first round. And, you know, we talk about the styles makes fights when you get to the playoffs. I don't know if Charlotte's going to be able to do anything with Detroit in a, you know, this might be a five game series in the playoffs, but you see what they did last night. I mean, they're, they're not going to back down. They're not going to be punked by a team that's bigger than they are. I mean, look, Jalen Duren, before he gets ejected, was crushing them in the third quarter. He just way. Right. So part of this, I think with, with Diabate, it was not just the physicality. It was also that Duren was just absolutely a monster that they had no answer for. And so you get Duren ejected, Isaiah Stewart gets ejected. And then out of nowhere, B ball, Paul, Paul Reed comes in and just as like, they don't miss a beat. This team is, has got incredible depth and togetherness. And again, back to the point that J.B. Bickerstaff being such an upgrade at coach, you know, when he came in last year, I think this year we're watching him. He's starting to really mold them into a championship contender. No, no, no doubt about it. I think this was something that I spoke to Paul postgame and he was like, this isn't the first time I've really done something like this, which is very much the case. His whole career has been like this. Absolutely. Going back to Philly, I think he's just someone who stays ready so he doesn't have to get ready. And then when he has his moment to play and perform like he did tonight, it's just kind of second nature for him because he's always at practice at shoot arounds with the stay ready group. He's practicing like he's going to be a starter every night. And that's what leads him to having 12 points in 18 minutes. so I think and doing that while not seeing any minutes before those 18 so he was a vital piece of the wind tonight obviously Cade as we mentioned beforehand he actually post game we were talking to him about the altercation and everything and he said he wanted to dedicate this game to his coach high school coach from Bowie High School in Arlington Alan Gratz he passed away last night And he said that this was something that he wanted to do for him. And he ended up having game highs in points. And he, I believe, game highs in points, rebounds, and assists tonight, as I'm looking at the stat sheet. So Cade played really well. And he doesn't really need much motivation to do these things. But tonight, I think, was extra special for him. Wow. That's special. Thank you for sharing that with us. There's also one thing that I want to call out. really for both teams, particularly for Detroit, shout out to the value of veterans. Because I don't know if y'all noticed, but the person that pulled off Musa initially was Tobias Harris. It was Tobias Harris. And then after, when everything started to simmer down and they were starting to make their decisions, the person that was holding court in the Charlotte Hornets huddle was Grant Williams. Miles Bridges was looking at him. Mamella was looking at him. they were all locked in on Grant Williams. And we've been talking about this win streak with Charlotte Hornets and how they've been able to do this with, you know, their top scores all being under the age of 28. And they don't have these, they don't have necessarily the largest veterans, veteran presence there, but you could see, I think this game got back on track because of it's Tobias Harris. It got back on track because of Grant Williams. So there is some love to be shared as well for the veterans on these teams. Absolutely. Tobias hit a big shot with, I want to say just a few seconds left. It was a two to four point game. Yeah, that's his bread and butter. He loved getting us back to the basket and shooting over smaller defenders. But that was something that he did on the floor to kind of go hand in hand with what you were talking about. And him kind of disrupting the melee of it. Yeah. Again, that fight is going to get a lot of attention. But that game was awesome. It was so much fun. It was electric. I mean, just up and down. The first quarter is one of the best first quarters of basketball that I've seen all year. And it felt like neither team could really hit a shot. It was just really what you want out of a couple of young teams like this. So it was a lot of fun. I'm glad you were there, Hunter. Glad you were here hanging out with us. Everybody go and check out Hunter Patterson over at The Athletic. Check out his work. Great writer. Good buddy. Appreciate it. Thank you, Hunter, for hanging out. Thanks to Zena Kata. I'm Dave DePorter. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for hanging out with us. Thank you.
