Category: NBA

The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder packed a seven-game series worth of drama into their Western Conference finals opener. Game 1 took two overtimes to decide with Victor Wembanyama finally pulling the Spurs to a 122-115 victory in a history-making performance.

Here’s how the instant classic broke down by the numbers:

1

Games the Thunder have lost in the 2026 NBA playoffs after Monday night.

2

NBA rookies who have ever had a playoff game with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals: Magic Johnson and Dylan Harper, who totaled 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a Spurs playoff-record seven steals in Game 1.

7

Players in NBA history with a 40-20 game in the conference finals or later: Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Wembanyama, who is the youngest player ever to do it at 22 years and 134 days old. Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, was the previous youngest at 22 years and 352 days, according to ESPN research.

9

Points Wembanyama scored in double OT. The Thunder totaled seven.

-15

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s +/- during his 51 minutes on the floor.

24

Rebounds by Wembanyama, the second-most ever by a Spurs player in a playoff game. Only Tim Duncan in Game 5 of the 2002 Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers had more.

25

Age of Devin Vassell, the oldest starter in the Spurs’ Game 1 lineup. With Dylan Harper (20), Stephon Castle (21), Wembanyama (22) and Julian Champagnie (24) joining Vassell, the Spurs’ average age of 22 years, 346 days was the youngest starting lineup in NBA conference finals history.

28

Feet from the rim when Wembanyama pulled up for the game-tying 3-pointer with 27 seconds left in OT. It was the only 3-pointer he made in the game and just the second he attempted.

31

Points Alex Caruso scored in 31 minutes off the bench for the Thunder.

41

Points Wembanyama totaled, matching his most of the season. Only three players in Spurs history have ever scored more in a playoff game: George Gervin, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard.

49

Minutes Wembanyama played, the most of his career. His previous high was 43 minutes, 18 seconds in a double-OT game against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 7, 2024, during his rookie season.

1976

The last time an NBA conference finals game has gone to double OT. (Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns)

The ending of the Lakers season was certainly bittersweet.

While they were able to get a playoff victory and go out fighting against the Thunder, it all came under a sense of what could have been after late-season injuries to Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić. While the former returned, the latter didn’t, meaning his incredible March performance was the lasting legacy of his incomplete season.

On a broader scale, that March run is what makes the season feel unfinished. The Lakers legitimately looked like one of the best teams in the league in March and Luka looked like an MVP frontrunner.

After the season came to an end, Luka spoke about that run during March in his exit interview.

“It was pretty amazing,” Luka said. “I think the feeling in the locker room was very good. Every time we stepped on the court, everybody was fighting. Most importantly, everybody was having fun. I think the bond we made was pretty special. Obviously, me and AR got injured in the worst moments. That’s a little bit of bad luck.”

In the moment, it felt like a great run and it’s only looked better in hindsight. They picked up wins over New York, Minnesota, Denver, Houston, Orlando, and Cleveland, all sides that were at least playoff teams and both Eastern Conference Finals participants.

Would it have been sustainable for more than a month? Could the Lakers have carried that momentum into the playoffs? It’s questions we won’t have answers to. But at least for a moment, fans felt they could compete for a title again.

“I think this season obviously didn’t end how we wanted,” Luka said. “But I feel like the last push we made in the end of the regular season, we thought we could compete for a championship. I think we had a great team.”

The hope now is that the Lakers can capture what worked in March, shape their roster around those ideas and have an entire season of playing at or near that level. Because if they can, they could be playing deep into the playoffs once more.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

The Knicks look set to be at full strength to start the Eastern Conference finals.

OG Anunoby (hamstring) practiced in full again with the Knicks on Monday and is listed as probable for the opening game against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Though it is unclear whether the Knicks can sustain the momentum of their seven-game winning streak after a lengthy layoff, the team has already benefited from the rest and rehab of the roster’s most impactful two-way player.

Anunoby, who hasn’t played since getting injured in the final minutes of Game 2 of the second-round series against the 76ers, will be 13 days removed from his most recent game action when he steps on the court for Game 1 against Cleveland.

Two years ago, Anunoby’s hamstring injury during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals derailed the season — a 2-0 series lead for the Knicks turned into a seven-game defeat to the Pacers, with a hobbled Anunoby briefly returning for the series-ending loss — but the 28-year-old said this weekend that the current issue wasn’t as alarming.

“It wasn’t like the previous ones, for sure,” Anunoby said. “So, it was better than before. … I never think about the past. Just dealing with it in the moment. It didn’t feel as bad as it had in the past when it happened, so just knowing that, just trying to improve it day by day.”

Anunoby has arguably been the Knicks’ best all-around player in the postseason, averaging 21.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and a team-best 1.9 steals, while shooting 61.9 percent from the field, including a team-high 53.8 percent on 3-pointers.

Mike Brown has been here before.

Brown — who has won four championships as an assistant — is entering the Eastern Conference finals as a head coach for the third time in his career.

His first two trips (2007, 2009) came with Cleveland, where his son, Cameron, spent much of his childhood, then played football and coached at local Case Western Reserve University.

“I had a great time there … but my youngest son really likes Cleveland,” said Brown, whose son is now an assistant with the 49ers. “The only thing that brought back memories was he said he might come back to Cleveland for a game. He hasn’t been any place else, but he might come to Cleveland for a game.”

In Brown’s most recent trip leading a team to the conference finals, the LeBron James-led Cavaliers swept the first two rounds.

After an eight-day layoff, Cleveland faced Orlando, which upset the Cavaliers despite coming off a seven-game series against the defending champion Celtics.

“You always try to lean on stuff that you’ve done in the past,” said Brown, who enters another matchup with a similar rest disparity. “But in the same breath, this team is different. It’s a different time. You lean on your past experiences. You lean on players. You lean on the coaches around you.”

It’s still New York or nowhere for Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson. 

He may be a temporary enemy of the Empire State during the Eastern Conference finals, but Madison Square Garden will always be a special place to the native of Northport, Long Island.

“I’m a New Yorker,” Atkinson said after the Cavaliers trounced the Pistons 125-94 in Game 7 to win the second-round series. 

“Going back to the Garden, worked for the Knicks — know everybody there. My whole family’s there basically. That’s special.”

After all, the 2025 Coach of the Year’s local roots and great relationship with former Knicks assistant coach Phil Weber gave Atkinson an unforgettable spot in team lore more than a decade ago.

“Phil Weber actually lived literally around the corner from us,” Michael Atkinson, Kenny’s oldest of seven highly athletic brothers, told The Post. 

“Phil knew Kenny. Phil’s a super personable guy.” 

Atkinson played for more than a decade overseas as a point guard — he first dropped jaws at St. Anthony’s High School and later with the 1988 Richmond Spiders, who reached the Sweet 16 — and broke into the NBA as Rockets director of player development in 2007.

Michael said his brother’s work in the Lone Star State quickly impressed Weber, who knew it was time to get Atkinson back home.

“He ended up recommending Kenny to Mike D’Antoni, and Mike D’Antoni hired Kenny with the Knicks,” said Michael, a former Sachem hoops coach who Rick Pitino pulled to Kentucky.

Atkinson spent four years at MSG, from 2008 to 2012, where “he had the guys towards the end of the roster” to look after, his big bro said. 

“One of those guys happened to be Jeremy Lin, and so Kenny worked with Jeremy Lin on a daily basis,” Michael added.

“Jeremy Lin even gives Kenny a lot of credit for being ready when his number was called.”

The Atkinson clan was bleeding blue and orange long before Linsanity — or the Knicks’ 1973 title, for that matter. 

“We were Knicks fans forever,” Michael said.

The brothers were also just as intense with one another as Walt Frazier’s group was with the rest of the association.

“Everybody was competitive, everybody had their own level of confidence,” said Michael, the eldest at 71. 

There was something about Kenny, the second youngest who is now 58, that stood out well before he became the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 2020 and won an NBA Championship with the Warriors as an assistant in 2022.

Mainly, it was discipline and work ethic passed down by their Marine officer father Neil, and Pauline, a no-nonsense mom who once chased Kenny with a Wiffle ball bat when he was a 6-year-old. 

“When you have eight kids — eight boys — you better have discipline,” Michael said.

“He just took, and I think you saw it [during Game 7], that level of focus and intensity just to another level.”

It was a driving reason Kenny was the only sibling pulled from Northport public schools for St. Anthony’s, a program led at the time by the late Gus Alfieri, a local basketball legend and St. John’s Hall of Famer.

A middle-school-aged Alan Hahn, who would go on to play for the Friars and LIU before becoming a Knicks analyst with MSG Network, still remembers being starstruck when he saw Atkinson play as a helper at a Long Island basketball camp in the 1980s. 

“The first player that drew my attention and made me go, ‘Wow,’ was Kenny,” Hahn said.

“It was a counselors and coaches game at lunchtime. He’s such a competitor, dominated the scrimmages, and I was just drawn to him ever since. … He was my first basketball idol.”

Atkinson was all about paying it forward, and that passion was palpable in any instruction he gave to up-and-coming Long Islanders. 

Both Michael and Hahn said Kenny’s basketball “lectures” were anything but academic.

“The guy was dripping with sweat when he was done,” Hahn said. 

“When he was a player development guy, he was just as drenched in sweat as the player he was warming up for the game.”

Long Island is proud of the homegrown hoops guru’s success — but locals will just have a funny way of showing it in the next few days.

“Of course I will be rooting for the Knicks,” St. Anthony’s alumni affairs director Denise Creighton wrote on Facebook, “but CONGRATULATIONS to Friar Alum Kenny Atkinson and the Cavs on their defeat of the Pistons.”

The noise inside Paycom Center was deafening long before tipoff. Thunder fans arrived expecting the defending NBA champions to make another statement. Oklahoma City had spent the season looking untouchable, rolling through the Western Conference behind back-to-back MVP guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the league’s deepest roster. Across the floor stood a young San Antonio Spurs squad that many believed was simply happy to be ‘ahead of schedule’.

By the end of Monday night, the Spurs had changed the conversation entirely.

Behind a legendary performance from Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs outlasted the Thunder 122-115 in double overtime to steal Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals and home-court advantage along with it.

For nearly three hours, the game swung wildly between chaos and brilliance. Every time Oklahoma City appeared ready to seize control, the Spurs answered. And every time the crowd erupted, Wembanyama quieted it.

The 7-foot-4 superstar delivered the type of playoff performance that instantly becomes part of franchise history: 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks while playing nearly 49 exhausting minutes. He scored inside, stretched the floor from deep and protected the rim as if he were everywhere at once.

And when San Antonio needed him most, he became unstoppable. Late in the first overtime, with the Thunder threatening to finally pull away, Wembanyama buried a massive three-pointer that resembled Stephen Curry, stunning the arena into silence. It was the kind of shot championship players make: fearless, timely and crushing for the opponent on the other side.

“He has a rare desire to step into every moment that’s in front of him. He has some rare God given ability,” Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson said of his star player after the game.

But this wasn’t a one-man effort.

Without De’Aaron Fox, who missed the game with an ankle injury, the Spurs needed someone else to embrace the moment. Rookie guard Dylan Harper not only started, but he answered the call. Making his first playoff start, Harper attacked Oklahoma City’s defense without hesitation. He finished with 24 points, including a clutch layup in the second overtime that gave San Antonio control for good. Each basket seemed to chip away at the Thunder’s confidence while strengthening the Spurs’ belief that they belonged on this stage.

“I thought he was phenomenal, I thought he was even better defensively.. That young man is everything that everybody is seeing right now,” Johnson said of the rookie guard.

The Thunder refused to go quietly.

Alex Caruso had the best game of his career, finishing with 31 points. Gilgeous-Alexander controlled the pace throughout the night, weaving through pesky Spurs defenders and repeatedly creating offense when Oklahoma City desperately needed it.

Jalen Williams returned from injury and scored 26 points as the Thunder clawed back from multiple deficits and forced overtime in front of a crowd desperate to see the defending champs survive. Instead, San Antonio looked stronger as the night grew longer.

By the second overtime, Oklahoma City appeared drained. The Spurs looked fearless. Stephon Castle, despite a franchise record 11 turnovers, made key defensive plays and helped steady the offense late. Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie knocked down timely shots. Wembanyama dominated the glass and controlled the paint as San Antonio slowly suffocated the Thunder down the stretch.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Spurs walked off the floor with more than a playoff win.

They walked away with belief.

“As a team, we’re ready to go up against anybody in any environment,” Wembanyama said. “Even though we still have a lot to learn, our effort should go against anybody. Tonight we were relintless.”

This postseason was supposed to be about growth. About experience. About proving the future had finally arrived in San Antonio. Now, after taking down the defending champions on their home floor in Game 1, the Spurs suddenly look like a team capable of winning far more than respect.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

And after Monday’s unforgettable marathon, the pressure has shifted squarely onto the Thunder.

Game Notes

• De’Aaron Fox’s injury news came down before tipoff, a shock to many. While Dylan Harper had a solid night, Fox’s presence was missed. At times, the Spurs got into their stuff too late or rushed things, which resulted in a turnover. The Spurs are hoping Fox can heal up quick for Game 2.
• Stephon Castle’s 11 turnovers almost made me throw my remote into my TV.
• Solid defense from Mitch Johnson as he threw the zone and doubles at SGA, something he’s rarely seen in these playoffs.
• Carter Bryant’s impact was incredible, swarming on defense and getting the in the passing lanes. He’ll be needed for the rest of this series.

Broad stance, elbow secured, ball held high above his forehead, the silhouette of Joe Ingles’ jump shot alone should spark warm memories for those fortunate enough to witness the Aussie’s prime with the Utah Jazz.

With the recent announcement that Jinglin’ Joe would return home to Melbourne United of the Australian NBL, the NBA community solemnly understands that the world’s oldest 38-year-old athlete would ride into the sunset in his home nation. Ingles meant many things to the four teams he played for, but none hold him in higher regard than the Utah Jazz, the organization that he called home for the first eight years of his NBA life, from age 27 to age 34.

He made a name for himself as a sharpshooter, never more than a catch away from thrusting a dagger into the defense. But as a defensive pest and smiling face in the locker room, it was easy for Utah fans to fall in love with the quirky lefty from down under.

20 years ago, back in the ancient age of 2006, a baby-faced, follically sustainable Joe Ingles laced up his shoes and torched the NBL scene when he scored 29 points in his debut. Outpacing defenders, stapling his foes to the hardwood with stepback jumpers, slamming down thunderous dunks, and adding some gorgeous southpaw three-pointers, lest Ingles appear completely unrecognizable now two decades into the future.

Joe didn’t stick immediately in the NBA, bouncing off the LA Clippers in the preseason of 2014, before getting picked up on a flyer by the Utah Jazz. From there, he would play 79 games (starting 32) in Utah, averaging just 5 points, 2.3 assists, and a steal in 21 minutes of action per night.

He would go on to miss just 1 game over the next three seasons in Utah, becoming a full-time starter by his fourth NBA season, already having crossed the threshold of his lifespan’s third decade.

Many remember Ingles as the man who slayed Oklahoma City’s three-headed dragon of Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Carmelo Anthony. Through six games in the opening round of the Western Conference Playoffs, Ingles was an integral cog in the Utah game plan, shutting down the All-Star George both in-game and via psychological torment. Canning three-pointers before immediately turning to scream in his adversary’s face — eyes wide, flashing a grin of pure glee. Pestering George off the ball, Ingles gave OKC’s star zero breathing room from start to finish.

All game long, you could read Paul George’s expression: “How on Earth is this guy beating me?”

That was no mystery to the Jazz; Joe Ingles had trapped George in his domain, and now the Aussie was in his element.

Y’all mind if this white boy hablas a little Inglés?

Snapping his wrist like the crack of a whip, Ingles’ distinct load-up netted him a career three-point field goal percentage over 40%. It was in games like this 19-point outburst that Ingles’ portfolio was on full display, where he torched the opposition despite looking like he had just escaped from the neurological wing of a nearby hospital.

Headband Joe remains a legend around these parts, and legend has it that you can still hear the snap of the net when he draws near.

Ingles finished second in votes for the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2021, handing the award to his teammate Jordan Clarkson on live television with a brotherly smile that almost made you wonder if a noogie was on the way once Clarkson collected his trophy.

As a teammate and as a member of the community, Ingles left his mark in Utah. He was outspoken in his support for Autism, sharing his experience raising his son and sharing with the world that support is available, and children with autism are deserving of love and support. Joe and his wife, Renae, have been major promoters for autism awareness since their son’s diagnosis.

This year, the NBA celebrated its third year of autism acceptance month, complete with custom shoes with symbols of support worn by all 30 head coaches across the league.

As a player, as a father (hi there, Paul George), and as an advocate for his family, Joe Ingles’ legacy in Utah is much greater than 8 seasons of basketball, but he proved he was no slouch on the court, either.

Thank you for the laughs and the highlights, Joe.

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.

Game one of the NBA Western Conference finals is in the books and it was an instant classic. The San Antonio Spurs stole game one against the Oklahoma City Thunder, in double overtime, 122-115 behind a 41-point, 24-rebound performance from Victor Wembanyama.

OWembanyama’s performance will forever be talked about but what will be overlooked is the 14 critical minutes that rookie Carter Bryant played. 

To most people, the former Arizona Wildcat’s stats aren’t eye opening, but it’s the stuff that doesn’t show up on the statsheet that he gave. The constant pressure that Bryant applied on NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander forced tough shots and did not allow him to find an offensive rhythm. 

Bryant finished the game with just three points, two rebounds, and one assist but every single play came in crucial moments. That’s been his story all postseason.

When Wembanyama was unavailable for Game 3 of the first round series against the Portland Trailblazers, Bryant became the de facto backup center. He played 23 minutes and again only scored three points, but secured six rebounds with four assists and three blocks.

Bryant’s stats are not flashy but the effort and energy that he brings onto the court is what makes the difference. His career high at Arizona was 14 points on two separate occasions and his current career high with the Spurs is 17. 

For most players in the association, those career highs would not suffice. However, being with an organization like the Spurs gives him an abundant amount of time to develop where he can eventually earn a larger role in what they are trying to accomplish.

All San Antonio is asking of him right now is to make plays where he can and limit the mistakes, which again is very similar to what Tommy Lloyd asked him to do at Arizona. Up to this point he has done that.

Moving forward, Bryant will still be a key to San Antonio’s current championship hopes. His development will need to show and the experience he will gain will only help that development continue.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Victor Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds, Dylan Harper finished with 24 points and a team playoff-record seven steals, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-115 in a double-overtime classic to open the Western Conference finals Monday night.

Wembanyama sealed it with a pair of dunks in the final minute, one of them leading to a three-point play as the Spurs stole home-court advantage and beat the Thunder for the fifth time in six meetings this season.

Stephon Castle had 17 points, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson each scored 13 and Julian Champagnie added 11 for the Spurs, who were without De’Aaron Fox because of ankle stiffness.

“A great effort — from everybody,” said Wembanyama, who, at 22 years, 134 days, became the youngest player with at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was 22 years, 343 days when he had a 40/20 game in the 1970 NBA Finals.

Alex Caruso scored 31 points, the second-highest scoring game of his career, off the bench for the Thunder — whose nine-game playoff winning streak dating to Game 7 of last season’s Finals was snapped.

Jalen Williams returned from a six-game absence caused by a hamstring strain and scored 26 points for the Thunder, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — on the night he got his second straight Most Valuable Player trophy — had 24 points and 12 assists but shot 7 for 23.

It was the sixth Game 1 in NBA playoff history to go into double overtime — the first since a Spurs-Warriors game in 2013.

And as the clock ticked toward midnight, Wembanyama decided enough was enough.

Game 2 is Wednesday at Oklahoma City.

“It was a war of wills,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “The levels of mental toughness exuded by both teams … we needed every second from everybody that played.”

The Spurs were up by 10 with 9:10 left in regulation, wasted it all, then survived a frantic final stretch where the lead changed hands twice and the game was tied three times in a span of less than two minutes.

Wembanyama had an off-balance chance to win it on the last play of regulation, but Chet Holmgren swatted it away. In overtime, Wembanyama more than atoned — connecting on a tying 3-pointer from well behind the arc with 28 seconds left to tie the game and send it to a second OT.

“We have to get better from this game,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

Gilgeous-Alexander had his worst first half, shooting-wise, in nearly three years — 1 for 5 from the field, four points. It was the first time since Oct. 29, 2023, a span of 270 appearances including playoffs, that he didn’t have at least two field goals before halftime.

Meanwhile, Wembanyama was doing whatever he wanted — dunking over trios of defenders, flexing at times, finishing the half with 14 points and 10 rebounds, looking perfectly comfortable in his debut on this stage.

And the Spurs’ lead was only seven at the break, 51-44.

Gilgeous-Alexander got a couple shots to fall in the third, and the Thunder even briefly reclaimed the lead. But the Spurs were unfazed and the margin was still seven. San Antonio was ahead 80-73 going into the fourth.

NBC drew the ire of basketball fans Monday night as it aired Game 1 of the Western Conference finals with some noticeable audio issues.

The broadcast of the game between the Spurs and Thunder got off to a rocky start as the audio issues popped up rather quickly. 

The audio sounded like someone had dropped Mike Tirico’s headset in a bucket of water, as static muffled any sort of sound from Tirico and analysts Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford.

The audio issues continued to persist at times during the first half of the game, which ended up being a 122-115 Spurs win in double overtime.

NBC audio issues during Spurs-Thunder Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. #NBApic.twitter.com/Tn3FQGu75b

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 19, 2026

Fans quickly took to social media to voice their frustrations with what was happening with the broadcast. 

“This broadcast is ridiculous. You can’t even hear the loudest fans in the league. The Amazon / Peacock experiment has been a massive failure,” one person wrote on X. 

“Video and audio issues are terrible and bad angles and blurry as well,” another person wrote. 

“NBC audio needs new dilithium crystals,” a third person wrote on social media. 

“Is NBC having audio problems during the Spurs/Thunder game? Anyone else experiencing some bad audio,” another confused NBA fan wrote on social media. 

It was unclear what created the audio issue on the broadcast, but NBC/Peacock will be carrying the entirety of the Western Conference finals.

NBC returned to NBA coverage this season after going 23 years between carrying the sport. 

The network has a media rights contract that goes through the 2035-36 season. 

The NBA also has media rights deals with ABC/ESPN and Prime Video, which also began this season. 

ESPN/ABC will be carrying the Eastern Conference finals, beginning on Tuesday, between the Knicks and the Cavaliers. 

This is just the first game of the Western Conference Finals, but it’s one of the greatest playoff games in the history of the league. The Spurs, without the services of their veteran point guard De’Aaron Fox got almost 49 minutes from Victor Wembanyama, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle. Victor scored 41 points with 24 rebounds and Harper had incredible plays in the second overtime to help ice the game. Castle had a tough night with turnovers, losing 11, but had key plays on defense as the Spurs kept newly crowned MVP under control, but brought to the precipice of defeat several times with an incredible night from Alex Caruso, who almost took back the game for the Thunder with a 31 point effort and a series of spectacular defensive plays. It was a great night for the Silver and Black as they showed they belong in the finals and stole home court advantage from the defending champs.

Observations

• It was a big disappointment when I found out that De’Aaron Fox had to sit out with an ankle injury. I think that Dylan Harper is great, but the biggest strength of the Spurs (besides that one guy) is that they have three elite guards so that at least two of them can be on the floor the whole game. It could be a bigger role for Keldon Johnson if they play a little bigger, and maybe we could even see some Jordan McLaughlin and/or Lindy Waters III minutes in spot duty tonight. Hopefully, the Spurs will unleash Carter Bryant tonight.
• The Spurs jumped out to a quick 7-0 start, keeping the OKC fans standing for the first 3:15 of gametime, forcing Daigneault to bring Alex Caruso. Caruso obliged by hitting a three, allowing the OKC fans to finally take a seat.
• The Spurs were aggressive on offense to start the game, and drew early fouls on the Thunder to the dismay of the fans in the arena.
• Caruso really lifted up the team in the first quarter when nobody else was doing much. He’s not the most athletic or talented guy on the court, but nobody plays with more heart. I want to dislike him, but I can’t.
• Caruso’s energy to start the game tided the Thunder over until the other starters shook off the rust, and the Thunder took the lead briefly, with the Silver and Black fighting back late, with the score was tied at 27 each at the end of the the first period.
• There was a bit of drama late in the first quarter as Holmgren was fouled by Kornet and bounced into the stanchion. Luckily, no one was injured and it was just a common foul by Kornet.
• Carter Bryant has this amazing ability to improve from game to game. In the first two rounds, his biggest weakness was picking up quick fouls on defense. He’s adjusting on the fly, and he was able to play shutdown defense with only one foul in the first half.
• The Thunder defense was successful at disrupting the Spurs offense, forcing 8 turnovers in the first half, but he Spurs defense was also performing, and the Spurs led 51-44 at the half as they kept every Thunder player besides Caruso under control.
• The Thunder started the third with more energy and forced an eight second call on Stephon Castle, which led to Lu Dort getting a wide open look at a three point shot to put OKC up 58-57, capping off a 14-6 OKC run to retake the lead.
• Mitch Johnson had words for Harper for giving up the rebound that led to Dort’s shot, but he made up for the mistake by making key plays as the Spurs retook the lead in the third. The extra minutes that he and Castle had to play with Fox out made it hard to keep up the effort, but that’s what he was brought to the Spurs to do.
• The Spur fought back and led 80-73 with a quarter to play, despite a timely late triple from Caruso.
• Stephon Castle is an amazing player, but he one weakness is that he doesn’t have an elite handle, and he can be made to turn over the ball by aggressive double teams. It looked like Mitch made an adjustment in the second half by having Harper bring the ball up court more often.
• The Spurs threw multiple players at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the whole game, but he could not be completely stopped, and he made a key and-one with 5 minutes to bring the Thunder within 5 points. The Spurs were trying to steal the game, and the Thunder were doing everything they could to steal it back.
• Wembanyama made a head scratcher foul with two minutes left, bowling over Caruso, which caused another pointless video review. I love the guy, but he doesn’t always play smart. Caruso made a triple on the return trip to give the Thunder the lead with just under two minutes left in the game.
• Julian Champagnie and Jalen Williams exchanged buckets to tie the game up at 97, leading up to an incredible sequence from Dylan Harper where he lost the basketball twice and recovered it to draw a foul. He hit both shots to give the Spurs a 2 point lead with 34 seconds left.
• Daigneault drew up an incredible series of plays to keep the Thunder get just enough shots to counter the Spurs, and with both teams scoring 4 points in the final minute, the game went to overtime 101-101. The Silver and Black had a chance to win it in regulation, but the Thunder disrupted him just enough for Holmgren to get into position to block his shot.
• The overtime session was insane, as each team made incredible play after incredible play, and Wembanyama tied it up at 108 with 26 seconds left with a crazy 28 foot rainbow shot. SGA tried to take the lead but missed the shot with Harper getting the rebound with .7 seconds left. Caruso erased the lob attempt and the game went to an incredible second overtime session.
• Harper made the key play of the second overtime, with a drive to the basket and a free throw after getting clobbered in the face twice to give the Spurs a 4 point lead. The game was iced with a Wembanyama Alley Oop with 20 seconds left to put the Spurs up 120-114, with Devin Vassell’s block a few seconds later as the cherry on top, as the Spurs won 122-115.

Up next

The Spurs will play game 2 against the Thunder Wednesday at 7:30 PM in the Paycom Center. The game will be broadcast on NBC/Peacock again, as will all the remaining games in the Western Conference Finals, while the Eastern Conference Finals will be on ESPN/ABC.

The roles have reversed.

The Knicks enter their second straight Eastern Conference finals as favorites against the Cavaliers, looking to make their first trip to the NBA Finals since 1999.

Three years ago, the Knicks entered the postseason as underdogs in Cleveland, looking to win their first playoff series in a decade.

“Obviously that being my first playoff series with this team was special, but we’re far removed from that,” Jalen Brunson said of the Knicks’ gentleman’s sweep. “I think both teams are different.”

In that first-round matchup, the Knicks held the Cavaliers to 18 points below their season average, as Donovan Mitchell shot 28.9 percent on 3-pointers and averaged 3.8 turnovers per game.

Mitchell scored 38 points in the Game 1 loss before Josh Hart helped limit the Cavs’ star to 19.5 points for the rest of the series.

“I don’t think I learned anything about myself,” Hart said Monday. “I’m a good player. I’m a good defender. And as a competitor, you want to have tough matchups like that to compete against the best.

“He’s an extremely talented offensive player. He takes tough shots, but he has the talent and the ability to make those tough shots.”

Now, the Knicks — who didn’t have OG Anunoby or Mikal Bridges in 2023 — may be even better equipped to slow the engines of Cleveland’s attack.

Hart and Bridges have been brick walls on wheels during the Knicks’ dominant postseason run.

In the first round, Bridges helped force Nickeil Alexander-Walker — the NBA’s Most Improved Player — into 38 percent shooting from the field, while Hart smothered CJ McCollum into 11.3 points on 39.5 percent shooting with 3.3 turnovers per game.

In the sweep of the 76ers, Bridges bothered Tyrese Maxey with his length, holding the league’s fifth-leading scorer 10 points below his scoring average. Maxey shot 15.8 percent on 3-pointers and committed 3.5 turnovers per game.

Bridges, who is four inches taller than Mitchell, could also make it tough for Cleveland’s go-to scorer to develop a rhythm in his first conference finals appearance.

Mitchell has averaged 25.6 points during the postseason, shooting just 31.1 percent on 3-pointers.

But he is not alone.

Cleveland’s Feb. 7 trade for James Harden added another future Hall of Famer to the backcourt, and the Cavs responded with the third-best clutch rating in the league, the fifth-best offensive rating and a 109-94 win over the Knicks — the only meeting featuring Harden — on Feb. 24 in Cleveland.

The deal raised the ceiling of the Cavs’ season, but the red flags that haunted Harden in his previous 16 postseason appearances have followed him, too.

Harden — who trails Karl Malone by six games for the most playoff games by any player without a championship — is averaging 20.1 points and 6.2 assists through the first two rounds of this postseason, but he is shooting 41.5 percent from the field and averaging the second-most turnovers per game (4.8) in the playoffs.

Still, the Knicks are preparing for a former MVP.

“He’s able to create a lot of offense for them,” Brunson said. “It’s like a pressure release for Donovan, as well. Donovan does so much for the team and then you have James in there and you have a whole other person you have to worry about, so they have so many different weapons, so many different options and ways they can beat you. They’re really dynamic.”

With the Knicks and Cavaliers set to kick off Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, here are five key things to know about fourth-seeded Cleveland.

1. The Cavaliers have lost each of their four previous postseason matchups against the Knicks (1978, 1995, 1996, 2023), winning just two of 14 games. The Knicks won the first two meetings between the teams this season, but the Cavs won the only matchup that included James Harden, 109-94, on Feb. 24 in Cleveland.

2. Former Nets coach and Long Island native Kenny Atkinson is in his second season with Cleveland, which is making its first conference finals appearance since 2018. Atkinson, 58, was named NBA Coach of the Year last season and won an NBA title as an assistant with the Warriors in 2022, alongside current Knicks coach Mike Brown.

3. The Cavaliers have only three meaningful contributors (Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen) returning from their 2023 five-game, first-round series loss to the Knicks. Cleveland was held to 94.2 points per game in that series — 18 fewer than it averaged during the season — as Mitchell shot 28.9 percent on 3-pointers, and both Mobley and Allen scored fewer than 10 points per game. The Knicks will also see familiar postseason foes in Cavs reserve Dennis Schröder — who shot 47.6 percent on 3-pointers in last year’s first-round matchup with the Pistons — and Max Strus, who averaged nearly 15 points while helping the Heat eliminate the Knicks in 2023.

4. James Harden is the fourth player in NBA history (Karl Malone, John Stockton, Tony Parker) to make the playoffs in each of his first 17 seasons. Harden’s 185 postseason games — with six teams — are the second most by any player without a championship, eight fewer than Malone. The 36-year-old — who made his Cavaliers debut Feb. 7, following a trade from the Clippers — hasn’t been to the NBA Finals since he was the Sixth Man of the Year with Oklahoma City in 2012.

5.  Westchester native Donovan Mitchell — whose father, Donovan Sr., works for the Mets — was nearly dealt to the Knicks in the summer of 2022, shortly after the signing of Jalen Brunson. When the Knicks showed reluctance to meet Utah’s trade demands, Cleveland swooped in, landing a superstar who will soon earn his third All-NBA selection with the team. Mitchell will be making his first appearance in a conference finals.

Don’t be surprised if the Phoenix Suns are picking in the first round of the NBA Draft next month. Despite not currently owning one, according to league sources, the team will “explore,” trading into the first round, according to Yahoo Sports Insider Kevin O’Connor.

In the last two drafts, Phoenix has selected Ryan Dunn and Khaman Maluach in the first round, and could be looking to make their third-straight first round selection. With a thin, young core and a scarcity of future draft picks, it will likely take a significant offer for the team to reach the first round and make a selection on June 23rd. The class is considered strong, according to people in the NBA.

Phoenix officially gave up the rights to owning a first round pick in this year’s draft after dealing Jusuf Nurkic to the Charlotte Hornets during the 2025 trade deadline. All they have right now is the 47th pick, the 17th selection in the second round.

The Suns are starting to feel some of the consequences of sacrificing major draft capital that they needed to acquire both Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant without having any hardware to show for it, and teams that were viewed as a few years away from contention are already taking the league by storm, like the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.

While they had an unexpected playoff campaign this season, team president Brian Gregory has been tasked with building the team through free agency and player development around Devin Booker, juxtaposed with doing so mostly through the draft.

The team was able to acquire the rights to draft Khaman Maluach in the first round and Rasheer Fleming in the second of the 2025 NBA Draft when they traded Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets last offseason. However, outside of them, Oso Ighodaro and Ryan Dunn appear to be the only young players the team could be keeping long-term. If the Suns do end up trading into the first round, it’s not a guarantee that all four of them will be kept if the team wants to acquire one. The team has only one unprotected first round pick they can trade, their 2033 first, which they can’t deal until draft day.

If Phoenix does acquire a first, potentially Grayson Allen or Royce O’Neale, could also be on the move. Both experienced veterans with years of playoff experience, the two had the best years of their careers this past regular season and have both been starters on teams that were the one seed. Both have two years left on their deals.

For the Suns to acquire a first in this loaded draft, they’re likely going to have to be at peace with dealing someone who made an impact for them during their surprising year, or someone who could help them in the future as they retool around Booker.

As The Athletic continues to roll out data from its annual anonymous player poll, the Brooklyn Nets continue to make waves in it — sized somewhere between tidal and ripple.

Last week, Nets head coach Jordi Fernández and forward Michael Porter Jr. each were each top-of-mind among anonymous players voting in the survey conducted by the New York Times subsidiary. Today, it’s the fans and the city many of them call home.

The Barclays Center

Early in the survey, The Athletic asked players which arena has the most passionate and obnoxious fans. The word choice sure is interesting, as I’m sure most New York natives would describe any rambunctious Knick fan behavior as “passionate,” while someone in Beantown would prefer “obnoxious.” If you switch roles, you’ll get the same thing.

Nevertheless, the Barclays Center crowd wasn’t a top vote getter for either category, but it was mentioned to have received votes in each. The Brooklyn crowd earned 0.06% of the total votes casted for “obnoxious” and “passionate.” The TD Garden and MSG crowds were both top three in both categories.

Giannis & Trade Interest

The only question where Brooklyn polled as a top answer asked players what would be the first team on their hypothetical no-trade list. The Nets accumulated the fifth most votes (5%), trailing the Memphis Grizzlies (35.8%), Washington Wizards (11.7%), Sacramento Kings (10.8%), New Orleans Pelicans (6.7%). The Utah Jazz also earned 5% of the votes.

With those teams being six of the bottom-seven finishers this past season, it’s clear NBA players just want to be somewhere they can win and/or getter better tans or avoid taxes. There wasn’t any breakdown of reasons why.

At the same time, we can’t pretend like the poll wasn’t the greatest look for New York City. Even with the Knicks now in the Eastern Conference Finals, they were only a few pegs down from Brooklyn as a top-10 finisher, securing 3.3% of the votes.

The Nets and Knicks also received some attention when the survey asked players about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s next home. Most voters expect the Greek Freak to say in Milwaukee, which 45.7% of the votes. Miami came in second place with 23.2% of the votes, followed by New York at 16.6%. The Nets were again mentioned to have received votes, even if not a large percentage, which calculated to 0.07% this time.

The poll got responses between 120 and 161 players, around a quarter of the players on NBA rosters.

The full journey back to this stage is complete.

Last year’s moment on this stage was immediately cemented in the worst parts of Knicks lore.

Once this season began, though, it more or less moved to the back of players’ and fans’ minds.

But now, it’s impossible not to think back to the crushing collapse in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals last year to the Pacers.

Here the Knicks are, getting set for Game 1 of this year’s conference finals — against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden — with a chance to right that wrong.

Blowing a 17-point fourth-quarter lead, allowing the Pacers to reel off 23 points in the final 3:14 of regulation, the infamous Tyrese Haliburton jumper to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation and squandering another lead in overtime all taught these Knicks a valuable lesson.

One that is no longer on the back burner.

It is now front of mind.

“I think experience always is able to teach you a lot of lessons [for] this time around,” Jalen Brunson said after practice Monday. “Obviously we know what we have to do. It’s obviously not gonna be easy at all. But I think to be able to close games and close quarters is gonna be really important for us. Obviously, last year with Game 1, we didn’t do that. And Game 2, obviously losing that as well, it changed a lot. So for us, we’ve just gotta be prepared and understand what we have to do for the entire 48 minutes and just be locked in and win or lose, just have short-term memory.”

That Game 1 meltdown completely set the tone for the rest of the series.

After the Knicks entered the series as favorites, the mood around the two teams immediately changed.

It seemed the Knicks’ confidence did, too.

It took until Game 3 before they even recovered, and they already trailed 2-0 in the series by that point.

That Game 1 became the defining memory of their entire season.

“In the playoffs you never want to give away games that you should win,” Josh Hart said Monday. “You can never relax, especially the style that the NBA is played now. You see 10-, 15-, 20-point leads dwindle in four, five minutes. So it’s just that mentality of it’s never over. Play until there are zeroes on the clock. You can’t give games away.”

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It became lost as the Knicks steamrolled their way to seven straight playoff wins, but it’s something that they struggled with again early in this postseason.

After leading by 18 points late in Game 1 of the first round against the Hawks, they let Atlanta score 11 straight points to make it interesting.

Then in Game 2, they blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead and lost.

Like the choke against the Pacers, it spilled into the next game as the Knicks dropped Game 3 and all of a sudden trailed in the series.

Since then, the Knicks have shown no signs of that trait.

They’ve largely bludgeoned their opponents and haven’t let up until the other teams wave their white flag.

Perhaps it served as a reminder of that all-important lesson.

“I think it happened this year as well when we played Atlanta,” Brunson said. “We let our foot off the gas, even in Game 1 [when] we won. But also Game 2, obviously we lost. It’s something that we need to continue to get better at and I think we have, but we can’t be satisfied.”

The Knicks, like last year, are again favorites to reach the Finals.

That dynamic changed in a hurry last year, however.

Now comes another — and vital — chance to get out on the front foot and impose themselves like favorites are supposed to.

“You always wanna hit first, second, third and obviously last,” coach Mike Brown — who was not involved in last year’s team — said Monday. “So, trying to do that is gonna be big. We’ve talked about it before with the starts of our games and our guys, to their credit, have done a better job in the playoffs than what we did toward the end of the regular season.”

This stage — Game 1 of the conference finals — carries the worst of memories for Knicks fans.

Finally, it’s time to create new ones.

“I’ve thought about it, but like every journey, every year is different,” Brunson said. “You’ve got to kind of restart and reset. Yes, you learn from it. You’re very disappointed in the result. But you move forward.”

A chance to move forward further than they’ve ever been this century.