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TSN Basketball Analyst

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TSN Basketball Insider Jack Armstrong is back with his thoughts on Fred VanVleet's performance against the Clippers, Dwyane Wade's final game against LeBron and Greg Popovich passing Pat Riley on the all-time win's list.

1. FRED VANVLEET (Raptors): He had Career high 14 assists vs. Clippers on Tuesday night and did a fabulous job running the team on the first game of a brutally difficult road swing. VanVleet helped get Kyle Lowry going off the ball and created tons of opportunities for his teammates. Outstanding game for the 24-year-old.   

2. TOBIAS HARRIS (Clippers): Harris, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, is having an excellent season. I have always been a fan of his – a two-way player who can score in the post, shoot the ball from distance and is effective drawing fouls. He’s been a good pro and he’ll get paid by someone this summer. He’s making a strong case for himself in Los Angeles right now.    

3. DWYANE WADE (Heat): Pretty cool scene in LA with his last game against former teammate LeBron James. Wonderful career for a guy who will be a first ballot Hall of Famer. For a guy that’s retiring, there’s no doubt Wade can still play. Lots of teams in the league could use his scoring prowess.

4. DRAYMOND GREEN (Warriors): The Raptors will have lots to deal with at Golden State this evening with the return of Steph Curry. Don’t sleep on this guy either, though. Green will be talking major smack, guarding multiple people, rebounding and creating easy scores for teammates. Both he and Curry didn’t play in the Warriors’ overtime loss 13 days ago in Toronto. For the Raptors, there will be a lot different challenges this time around. This guy is a great competitor.       

5. GREG POPOVICH (Spurs): Congrats on passing Pat Riley as now the fourth winningest coach all-time. Quite an accomplishment for someone who has spent their entire career with just one franchise. His teams have always guarded, shared the ball, been prepared and super disciplined. Popovich is obviously on the back end of a legendary career in a season of transition where his team will be very fortunate to even make the playoffs. However, that doesn’t diminish one bit from the amazing impact he’s had on the sport.