Stunning first 2 games in SA: Knicks down 95-94 late, go on an 11-0 run to win it; Spurs up very late, and Wemby makes an all-time mistake, then misses the winning 18 footer. I still see Knicks in 6.
was out of town and missed what sounds like two good games (fam not into hoops, lol). i had knicks in six, and that's looking good right now. amazing that their top 6 stayed healthy this long, tbh. just shows the puncher's chance theorem is real. we're not THAT far off from being the knicks one of these years. luka's light years better than brunson. gotta build.
Spurs kids respond in MSG, lose an 11 point lead, gain the lead back, hold on. Gutsy win on the road in an absolute must-win. Really good series so far. Castle getting fouled with 6.8 left and hitting both to put them up 4 was icewater-veiny jit.
Fox is dumber than Russ and JR combined plus his contract is brutal. If Pop was still the coach, he would "miss the theam bus" 100% LOL
That's 2 games now lost due to one mistake made by one of SA's top players in the final moments, brutal. That's why experience matters in the playoffs. They will be much better next season thanks to having gone through this, must feel miserable though. No matter what, I'm happy for the Knicks and their fans.
I was enjoying the 1st half immensely; when SA went up 29 or whatever I kept thinking, "Show me a shot of Chalamet." Then: SA couldn't make 3s and they started to choke, even when the Knicks cut it to a still-large 17 point lead, it looked like they didn't know what to do on offense. What a choke, and what a comeback. Give the Knicks and OG all the credit. Their defense locked down, they didn't fold, and I don't know how any team can come back from blowing a 76-49 halftime in a game you HAD to have. Spurs are cooked. (Obviously: down 3-1: the only Q is: will they win another game?)
Feel Mitch Johnson is clueless at times. You can expect the Knicks to fire back, but the thing that you can't give up is so many wide open 3's. Their tactic of trying of trap and leave wide open players shooting is easy to exploit. You just need to trust your guys to defend without as much help. They get too fixated with having Wemby in the middle. They got into the bonus in the 4th with like 7 minutes and change. You just need to keep attacking the paint and defend the 3 point line hard. Yet, it was still winnable with Josh Hart's choking and despite Wemby choking free throws. Fox showing his true loser Sacramento Queens colors and playing for Mike Brown again at the end.
De'Aaron Fox has a reputation for clutchiness (<-----dat woid ain't in the Oxford English Dictionary...give it time...) but I think his 4th Q was one of the all-time brain-flatulent examples in NBA history. Cringey when it mattered most. The breakaway missed layup goes to the top of the list. There are high school players who would have handled that better.
7'4 player taking and missing two 3 pts shot on the same possession up 15 late in the third quarter .. This is all you need to know about the brillance of today's game
Congrats to the Knicks and all their fans. 53 years is indeed a long-azzed time to wait. Great defense played by both teams throughout the Finals. And when, in the future, you see Knicks won it in 5, you think, well, Spurs just must've been overrated: SA was ahead for most of the 240 minutes played. This is one of those "destiny"-looking teams. The Knicks, that is.
that was brunson last night, and there's just so much truth there. it's so hard to get to that spot mentally, and that dude lives there. i actually think reaves and luka both live there, too, as did kobe before them, but it's a thing people say and don't really understand. i never understood it when i played, tbh. i was worried i'd let teammates or fans or myself down sometimes. it's human, and most folks deal with it. but to overachieve, you've got to find the place where failure is expected/welcomed. and it's not believing you can't/won't fail...it's just...not being concerned with it. curious to see if wemby is this way.
There was a play from Game 5 that sticks in my mind: the Knicks best guy is 6'1" and drives into the paint; the Spurs's best guy is 7'5" and moves over to block his shot. The 6'1" dude does deke with his shoulders and gets the tall dude to commit...little dude uses his footwork to lay it in. Tall dude shakes his head.
Perkins is on meth, dude just essentially said brunson did better than magic in the finals or could even possibly imply being a better player. Rookie, 1st year finals MVP, played all 5 position after their star went down. Insane to even compare, not to mention the opponents they faced. Fox also somewhat hand fed them them a W
on another note, damn we or at least a good amount of us wanted fox. He would in theory/on paper make a good fit on our team minus westbrick. But after what we all witnessed, I dont want that man anywhere near our purple and gold.
Was glad the Knicks won, but it was also fun to watch a series where you don't hate either team and can just watch some good basketball where neither team is the devil and neither team is trying to damage the sport. It was good to see a couple former Laker kids all growed up and getting a 'ship with Hart and JC. Brunson really rose to the occasion. He has a little grift to him, but in the vein of Luka and not the b******* that SGA tries and I can respect the former because it's not all you're about and also Brunson and Luka have some of that Mamba mentality to them. SGA has Coby (Karl) mentality to him. KAT deserved it with the level of defense he played this series and at the high leverage moments of the playoffs (where was that guy in Minny?), even though he had a very disappointing close with foul trouble. OG will probably never have to buy a drink again in NYC. Spurs kids are much better than I think their front office expected them to be this soon. They're ready to move on from the vets, including the one who made some of the loudest mistakes any starter has made in the finals in a LONG TIME. SA still entered the series not knowing what they didn't know. This was a huge growing and learning moment for them. They're going to be a problem for awhile. Wemby just has to develop one move in his bag that he can trust (and stay healthy). Harper is legit, making that Fox contract look TERRIBLE. Harper has to start next year and you can't have $50m+ coming off the bench. Looking around the league, there's not a lot of lotto/play-in teams in need of a lead guard and any that are can snag one in this year's draft. Best situations I could find were the Bucks and his former team, which would be hilarious (Kings aren't that dumb...are they?). But would the Bucks be interested in Turner + Kuz for Fox. SA is getting less back from a talent perspective, but breaking that massing contract up into one bad contract in the 20s and an expiring contract in the 20s. Bucks have a known name on the roster. I'm sure both sides would want a pick back, Bucks because they're rebuilding and the size of Fox's deal and SA because they're giving up the more talented player. Not sure the middle ground there. SA has A LOT of picks, maybe they throw them a worthless one to contribute to the rebuild. My favorite part of game 4 was this going viral Which was a version of the quote from the famous rental car debacle But it went next level viral and was even mentioned by Rich Eisen when Larry David appeared on his show after that game. That was a flashback to what twitter used to be all the time before it got all Musk-y.
