Category: NBA

For as unpredictable as the NBA can be, it doesn’t get many sea changes. That is, big, overhauling alterations to its topography or behavioral patterns – those things take more time. The 2025-2026 Playoffs have been mercurial, surprising, even enlightening, but it’s still not the basketball that’s brought about the most marked development.

It was clear something was different when the tenor of the NBA aggregator infographics changed. Early in the playoffs the images looked familiar, the usual contextless photos of athletes looking gassed or frustrated churned out with blunt, all-caps missives (OUT, ELIMINATED, CHOKED, BUILT DIFFERENT) from NBA media properties’ social platforms and aggregator sites alike. But then, following the first round, there was a blip. 

After the Spurs beat the Blazers in a five-game series, Victor Wembanyama answered a postgame question from L’Equipe’s Maxime Aubin about the cliché that showing emotions signals weakness. As that game ended, Wembanyama visibly choked up on the Spurs bench.

“I think it’s first and foremost a fear of judgment,” Wembanyama told Aubin. “Like, this feeling that you have to act a certain way, social codes, I guess. Personally, I refuse to carry the burden of having to hide my emotions.”

In rapid succession, the quote was aggregated, but it wasn’t blunted. At most, the “personally” was lopped off, but infographics of all shapes and sizes (or just two, whatever the optimised dimensions are for Instagram and Twitter) stated, like an awkwardly short affirmation, “I refuse to carry the burden of having to hide my emotions.” There were photos of Wembanyama looking thoughtfully into the middle distance, photos of him screaming in triumph, lots of photos of him crying, face scrunched or buried into the shoulder of a teammate.

That was early May, when the stakes for the Spurs felt light and low. The team has since advanced through two more rounds, besting the Timberwolves in six and dumbfounding the Thunder in seven games of high-flying, arduous, gorgeous basketball. Throughout those 13 contests, Wembanyama’s emotional peaks and valleys have continued to be on prominent display: there have been more tears, more tension, more frustrations and more joy. In the month backdropping those games, the appreciation, even obsession, with Wembanyama’s expressiveness has also grown. Creators outside the traditional NBA media and fan ecosystem have latched on, touting Wembanyama for normalising vulnerability and bringing back demonstratively caring about things. Even within the typically contradictory and oftentimes dour NBA media space of which I am a part, he’s been similarly lauded.

But Wembanyama isn’t the first athlete to articulate how badly he wants to win and to ugly cry when he does. Nor is he the first to grapple with the juxtaposition of that desirousness against the appearance of cold control we still require of our stars. So, what is it about this moment that’s made Wembanyama resonate so deeply, well beyond the NBA? Why do we care so much about Wembanyama caring so much?

Loathe as we are to admit it, we’re creatures of the contemporary world; frogs boiling in whatever noxious soup du jour each new news cycle dumps more ingredients into. Against the backdrop of accumulating global conflicts and the warped language used by our leaders to justify them — “deescalate” into violent escalation, “winding down” that only serves to ramp up — the plain-spoken rejection of a convoluted and long-held status quo hits like a gulp of cold water. Wembanyama handed us the proverbial glass when he rejected the need to be responsible for other people’s discomfort with his emotions, and he’s topped the glass up each time he’s doubled down on being expressive. 

There’s a two-fold distinction in Wembanyama’s direct and considered articulation. The first is that he has the perspective of an outsider, because he is one. Basketball is the common ground, a shared language as much as shorthand between him and a majority American NBA fanbase, but his clarity comes from a lifetime prior to now of looking in. The requisite distance needed to hold a place up like a prism and have it catch different streams of light. It was apparent this past winter, when he was one of just a few NBA players to speak up about ICE violently clamping down on people in Minneapolis.

“Every day I wake up and see the news and I’m horrified. It’s crazy that some people might make it sound like it’s acceptable, the murder of civilians. Every day I read the news and I’m asking very deep questions about my own life. But I’m conscious also that saying everything that’s on my mind that would have a cost that’s too great for me right now,” he told media. “I’m a foreigner, I live in this country, I am concerned.”

Asked to clarify if his hesitation to speak came from being a foreigner, Wembanyama said yes.

It was a glimpse into his thought process as a person navigating the delicate intersection he stood at as a French national and non U.S. citizen, as a high-profile athlete, arguably no longer an abstract “future face of the NBA” but the very one actively eclipsing the last generation, and as, foremost, a person who saw injustice and harm and was compelled to speak up. All athletes exist in something of a suspended state of personhood, expected to perform as their outward persona even when they’re off the court. International athletes — especially those in the U.S. in its current sociopolitical climate — exist in a much more temporal state of belonging and tend to keep below the radar.

His articulation has also been bodily. At his stature, his face is a little like a lighthouse. Whatever expression flashes there is impossible to miss. The difference between Wembanyama’s competitive expressiveness and, say, an athlete blowing up on court with vitriol, is that we’re almost more accustomed to the latter. To expressions of frustration and aggression: fights breaking out, equipment being smashed. We’re conditioned to think of these eruptions as part and parcel with the high-stakes and effort of pro sports, proof of concept. But it’s a little bit of crying that, traditionally, had the potential to send the whole system spiraling. At least it was, until a highly visible — 7’4, towering tears — athlete started doing it. 

It’s this visibility of emotion, specifically the emotions we equate with sensitivity and vulnerability, that’s so unique when paired with Wembanyama’s expression of them. It reads as oversimplified, even rude (giant man has giant feelings), but when seemingly softer emotions are expressed at billboard-size scale, it’s almost like exposure therapy. 

And it’s high-stakes exposure. Prime-time and now, entering the Finals, under the brightest lights and biggest production the NBA has to offer. There’s been a sense that, as the playoffs wore on and the Spurs gained experience, they’d mature, harden. Wembanyama as their leader perhaps most of all. There is, in some corners of fandom and analysis, even a thirst for this. For a young team like San Antonio to get the hope and all these softer expressions — aspiration, jitters, overwhelming joy — roughly knocked out of them. 

But this is it. In a world where we’re told not to care, a mindset reinforced daily by the blithe destruction and ravaging of people, their humanity, far and close to home; where a social veer to aggressive, self-serving apathy is threatening to become — if not already — the norm, a demonstrative example of a person extolling the opposite is jarring. That initial jolt can be taken as a threat, or as an opportunity to recalibrate. To be a little more willing to put your own vulnerabilities on display in return. 

My interpretation of Wembanyama being put up as face, or saviour, of the league is not that the NBA was lacking the hyper-unique, once-in-an-era skillset he has prior to this; it’s that he offers an alternative to the majority viewing experience of the world writ large right now. You can certainly watch to be entertained, but you can also watch to be infused with a wallop of emotion. The scale of those feelings is difficult to simply switch off with the game, chances are that they will flash over you in the days, months, and more to come. Against disorienting, intolerant darkness, Wembanyama is a roving light to borrow from or burn with.

Victor Wembanyama is listed as the tallest player in the NBA. The Spurs’ superstar is 7’4, according to the NBA website.

I’m here to tell you that the Spurs are lying, and Wemby is actually even taller than that.

Wembanyama is taking centerstage in the 2026 NBA Finals as his San Antonio Spurs take on the New York Knicks. The French sensation is only in his third season after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. This is the first playoff appearance of his career — partially because he was diagnosed with a season-ending blood clot in his shoulder last year — and he’s already in the NBA Finals. It’s likely that a lot of casual fans are about watch Wembanyama closely for the first time during the Finals, and many of them will be wondering how tall he actually is. Here’s what we know.

Long-time NBA Draft insider Jonathan Givony reported that Wembanyama measured at 7’4 barefoot in the summer of 2022 when he was only 18 years old. It’s the measurement I always think about before I write down Wemby’s height.

If Wembanyama measured at 7’4 barefoot when he was 18 years old, then it’s at least somewhat plausible he’s gotten even taller since then. Because basketball is played in shoes, I’d give Wemby another inch or inch-and-half. He’s at least 7’5 on the court, and probably even a little bit taller.

Why would the Spurs lie about Wembanyama’s height? Maybe they don’t have an official measurement considering Wembanyama skipped the 2023 NBA Draft combine. Maybe Wembanyama doesn’t want the truth out there. I have proof that the Spurs have incorrectly labeled the height of other players by making them shorter than barefoot measurements at the combine.

Rookie forward Carter Bryant measured at 6’6.5 barefoot at the 2025 NBA Draft combine.

Yet he’s listed at 6’6 on the Spurs’ official website.

Dylan Harper measured 6’4.5 barefoot at the combine in the same class as Bryant, and the Spurs list him at 6’5. Stephon Castle measured 6’5.5 at the combine, and the Spurs list him at 6’6. The Spurs like to list their players’ barefoot height as their official height, and it seems like they aren’t rounding up on a half inch.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Edey is the second-tallest player in the NBA according to its official website, and he’s listed at 7’3. Edey measured at 7’3.75 at the combine in the same class as Castle.

Looking at photos from Wembanyama’s matchups vs. Edey in the NBA, it sure seems like more than a quarter of an inch taller than Edey.

I always think back to this photo of Wemby standing next to Edey at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup — which is where Wembanyama’s one-sided rivalry with Chet Holmgren began. The French star looks at least an inch or two taller than Edey here, too.

The Spurs said they measured Wembanyama at his introductory press conference after they drafted him in 2023. San Antonio said Wembanyama measured at 7’3.5 barefoot, which would be a half inch shorter than the height Givony reported a year earlier. I tend to believe Givony’s number based on his reputation as the reporter and the visual evidence that Wembanyama is clearly taller than the 7’3.75 Edey.

Donovan Clingan is listed at 7’2, which is tied for the NBA’s fourth-tallest player. Wembanyama clearly looks taller than him in photos when they’ve faced off.

My best guess for Wembanyama’s height in shoes is 7’5.5. Even that might be conservative. The Knicks better have a good game plan to slow down Wemby, because he already feels like the best player in the world.

It sure helps to be 7’5, at minimum.

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New York Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson has had one hell of a run in the playoffs.

He’s scoring almost 27 points a night and has propelled New York to the NBA Finals, including back-to-back series sweeps to set up this showdown with the San Antonio Spurs.

Despite that success, Brunson isn’t buying into his own brand.

“We can’t be satisfied just because we’re here,” he told reporters ahead of tonight’s Game 1.

Big Apple basketball bettors are banking on Brunson big time. I dig into his NBA player props for my best Knicks vs. Spurs predictions and NBA picks for June 3.

Jalen Brunson prop pick for Game 1

Jalen Brunson best bet: Jalen Brunson Over 2.5 rebounds

Jalen Brunson’s contributions don’t stop at scoring (FYI: one of my favorite Game 1 bets is Over 2.5 3-pointers). 

The New York Knicks' burly point guard can also clean the glass and unlike the opening three rounds, Brunson faces a smaller San Antonio Spurs squad. 

Beyond 7-foot skyscraper Victor Wembanyama and a few backup bigs, the Spurs’ main rotation doesn’t go beyond 6-foot-7, and that gives smaller guards a fighting chance on the boards (take Wemby out and San Antonio drops to an average height of 6-foot-6.1 – fourth shortest).

Brunson was an active rebounder in three meetings with San Antonio this season, snatching four rebounds in each of those outings while averaging more than seven rebounding chances per game. 

He wrangled three or more rebounds in three of the four games against a shorter Cleveland backcourt, upping his chances to 8.0 per contest in the Eastern Conference finals. Projections for Game 1 of the NBA Finals all sit north of three boards with a ceiling at 4.1 rebounds.

My conservative number comes out to 3.4 rebounds, which lands the fair price right on this current ask of Over 2.5 -155.

However, if you lean toward his past production versus San Antonio and the high side of the game models (as well as an expected uptick in pace compared to the past two opponents), Brunson is pegged for 3.75 rebounds. That should have the Over 2.5 listed closer to -200.

Jalen Brunson same-game parlay

I like the Knicks to cover in Game 1, despite the risk of a “rust over rest” factor following an extended layoff. Ahead of tonight, Brunson specifically mentioned the team’s flat start in Game 1 of the Eastern finals following a big break, and I don’t see New York falling into that trap again.

The Knicks have various defensive options to throw at Wembanyama and pose a much bigger threat from outside than OKC, hence the Over on Brunson’s triples. Between battling a smaller Spurs lineup on the boards and burying shots from downtown, Brunson puts in a strong start to the NBA Finals.

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Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals is just hours away and the status of a key player is still up in the air.

New York Knicks backup center Mitchell Robinson, who suffered a broken right pinky finger early last week, is the lone player to appear on the injury report for both the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.

The Knicks said Robinson did not suffer the injury during a game or practice but did not provide any additional information about the origin of the injury.

Robinson, who has had several injury issues throughout his career, had been available for New York this postseason. In 13 playoff games this year, Robinson has averaged 5.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 0.6 bocks and 0.5 steals across just 14.2 minutes per game.

Robinson is the first center off the bench to spell starter Karl-Anthony Towns, but Robinson’s struggles from the free throw line — he’s shooting just 30.2% from the line this postseason — have forced Knicks coach Mike Brown to be more calculated with Robinson’s playing time. That’s magnified further because opposing teams have resorted to intentionally fouling Robinson to put him on the line.

After so many years off, I can’t believe we are getting round four of my all-time favorite series: Fraternizing with the Enemy, where I discuss happenings with a writer from the enemy other team. We’ve had three great series through the first three rounds of the playoffs, and now, not only have we reached the pinnacle known as the NBA Finals, but we’ve come full circle with a rematch with the Spurs’ first ever Finals opponent from 1999: the New York Knicks. There’s no one better to get down to brass taxes with than Russell Richardson: editor-in-chief of SB Nation’s Knicks blog, Posting and Toasting.

J.R.

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling strong 20th century vibes right now. As if I want to party like it’s 1999, or at least watch basketball like it. Twenty-seven years have passed since the Knicks and Spurs met in the playoffs and here we are in the year that the NBA Finals validates the in-season NBA Cup Tournament. 

Ever since San Antonio eliminated Minnesota in the second round, I’ve been saying that New York scared me more than OKC. But during games 1, 2 & 7 against the Thunder, I was more tense than I’ve been for any game in over twenty years, so I don’t know that stack-ranking teams by induced fear will accomplish much. Before the OKC series, people were saying how much both teams had developed since they last played, but the Knicks have undergone at least the same kind of improvement since SA and NY have met. Which makes me wonder, with all of these changes on both sides, how long a series do you expect?

R.R.

Pleased to meet you finally, J.R. I have three tickets to see Wilco this month, so when a message arrived from Wilco, I assumed Jeff Tweedy was checking on my choices for the setlist.

Funny story: My reason for picking the Knicks to win in five games is not rooted in basketball logic. A few months ago, my wife and sister-in-law asked about attending a Wilco show at Beak and Skiff (an excellent venue). With a date of June 16, a potential Knicks conflict didn’t register. Why? Because it’s been decades since the Knicks last played in June, and they weren’t exactly living up to expectations this season. I bought tickets. Child care was arranged. Now, I’m in a pickle: either the Knicks wrap this up in five, or I’ll need to fake an injury so I can watch Game Six. What’s the marital equivalent of an SGA flop?

But if you pinned me down, I’d predict: Impossible Four, Unlikely Five . . . Knicks in Six.

Your memories of the 1999 Finals must be fonder than mine. For one, I was inebriated throughout the series, watching from a Belmar barstool while my soon-to-be (and eventually ex-) wife drowned me in whiskey. Suffice it to say, my recollection is blurry. For two, look at those box scores. Yikes! The Knicks scored 77 in Game One and 67 in Game Two. It’s crazy to remember that they averaged 86 points per game that season. Sure, that was nearly the lowest in the league, but the NBA was still a far cry from the point-paloozas of today. In 25 years, teams will average 150 and play exhibition games on Mars.

The current Spurs team has no trouble running up the scoreboard. And in the playoffs, they’ve looked more cohesive than the iteration New York beat in the NBA Cup. Even then, they were no pushovers; the Knicks had to rally in the fourth, winning the quarter 35–19. When the Thunder were favored in the WCF, I was skeptical. San Antonio proved me right. They’re truly the best in the West, and, truth be told, they’re a helluva lotta fun to watch.

I can’t wait for these two teams to lock horns. I’m here for any and all of your questions, although brilliant answers are not guaranteed (many brain cells died before this blogger sobered up). I’m curious to know what you think is different between the Spurs of this moment versus the team that NY beat in the Cup game. I have assumptions (a young team coming to understand each other’s rhythms and style after playing more games together, for instance) but you’ve watched them more than I.

J.R.

The changes the Spurs have undergone since the Knicks beat them on December 16 is a fun topic because some started soon after, and some have just been completed in overcoming Oklahoma City. 

The first transition was in the team’s approach on offense. Early in the season, the offense ran through Victor, and opponents were selling out to stop him at all costs. Sometimes this would work  (the early-season games against Phoenix are great examples) and San Antonio’s offense simply cratered. Even in the games they won, the Spurs would go through extremely long offensive droughts. This continued until the all star break after which Wemby suddenly showed that he’d learned that he didn’t have to be the center of the offense for the team to win. 

Suddenly, instead of calling for the ball while 20 feet from the basket, going on-on-one, and driving into loads of help defense and turning the ball over (which he’d done a lot of last season), he would set screens and roll while the defense stretched to keep him from the rim, which opened up all kinds of opportunities for the Spurs shooters and drivers to exploit. That’s the environment in which Wemby would then attack, and defenses have a hard time defending so many threats, and that explains the run they went on from February through the end of the season. 

Then the postseason came, which taught the coaching staff and the team to deal with situational threats that are rarely seen during the regular season. The OKC series was an advanced education in developing new offensive strategies on the fly, and if they hadn’t passed that test we wouldn’t be talking right now. 

So that’s what’s changed since we met. There was the final meeting of the year in that stretch, which New York won, and it’s apparent that the Knicks are a different beast from any of the previous Spurs opponents because of how they handled SA during the 20+ game stretch in which their only loss was to the Knickerbockers. Then as if that weren’t enough, they unlocked KAT’s point center module and started tearing through teams. San Antonio made it past the defending champs largely through size and physicality, but New York has shooting AND length. They have size at the wing that can dwarf the Spurs, and they’re on a win streak longer than the Thunder’s 8-0 run to start the playoffs. 

All that to say, I haven’t seen enough of the Knicks’ recent games to have anything close to a good foundation to make an educated guess from. So I have some questions that would help me get ready for the series; some about basketball, some about the fanbase, and some about you: Has point KAT been that big a deal? In other words, was placing the ball in his hands the move that facilitated the 9-0 win streak? How much point KAT have they been using?

R.R.

Indeed, like the Spurs, New York has improved since December — and not just by dumping Guerschon Yabusele. It took a while to get cooking, though.

“Wemby suddenly showed that he’d learned he didn’t have to be the center of the offense for the team to win.”

You could say the same about Jalen Brunson.

Throughout the season, many complained that Mike Brown should play Brunson off the ball more often, for multiple reasons. It saves his legs, and it diversifies the offense. But the Knicks kept drilling the same formula repeatedly.

Through two seasons, the Towns-Brunson pairing was never as successful as it could have been. Countless games started stale and didn’t improve until the reserves came in to mix up the lineup. Usually, KAT would flourish while Jalen rested in the second quarter, and he’d get some buckets in the third, letting Jalen take center stage in the fourth.

Here’s another gripe: For whatever reason (either by his choice or the coach’s) KAT doesn’t post up. It didn’t happen under Thibs, either, so you can draw your own conclusions. We came to accept it, but it drove some of the fanbase nuts.

Anyway, the first three games of the playoffs followed the same script they tried all season. And after falling behind 1-2 to the clearly less-talented Hawks (losing each game by one point), many fans wondered if our hopes had been too high.

Then, a change. Point-KAT was unleashed; the team started playing faster, exploiting more fast-break opportunities; the scoring load was shared across all five starters (plus one sharpshooting Shamet); and their defense has bordered on criminally abusive. They unlocked an unprecedented level of beautiful basketball during their 11-game winning streak — and their historic numbers back it up.

Some specific changes we’ve seen is Mikal Bridges bringing the ball up the court more often, and Hart taking off on a sprint if he’s hauled in a rebound. That means a good defender has to chase Jalen around away from the ball, while the other four starters go to work — and each can shoot or attack the rim.

Karl is an exceptional passer. As the hub, he can thread a pass to a cutter, zip it out to a corner (and from there it swings until an open shooter is found), rise up for a high-percentage shot, or put his shoulder down and drive to the cup.

So the Knicks unlocked basketball nirvana by relying less on Brunson as the primary ball handler, rocketing defensive rebounds down the court for fast-paced buckets, and letting KAT operate as a hub. Just as the Spurs learned to rely less on Wemby, the Knicks did the same with Jalen. And, lo and behold, both players became even more valuable to their teams.

A few Q’s for you. Where do you think the Spurs will most surprise the Knicks? What vulnerabilities worry you the most? (You mentioned size, but most of your key guys are 6’5” and up — and Wemby is a friggin’ tree.)

J.R.

When the NBA Cup final was over, who could have expected that both teams would be in the Finals because their centers started initiating their offense as 7-foot point guards? Well it’s happened. I know that KAT has spent far more time in that role, but Point Wemby made a significant contribution at the beginning of Game 7 in OKC and it helped the Spurs build their first lead. So I’m wondering how much of that we’ll see in the Finals, and I’m enjoying with anticipation the media losing their minds over a series in which centers are leading their teams in assists. With how much of a copycat league this is, it would be interesting to see how far the idea can go. 

As to how the Spurs will surprise the Knicks, I think it has to be with Dylan Harper. The rookie has played well all year, but there’s nothing about his play in the playoffs that looks the slightest bit like it’s his first season in the league. Of all the changes the Spurs have made since they’ve played NY, Harper’s emergence has to be the one that I think will have the biggest effect on the Finals because he’s like no one else at his age in ages, literally. When his numbers aren’t matching Magic Johnson’s rookie playoff stats, they’re setting rookie postseason records. If he hadn’t gotten an adductor injury during the WCF, there’s no way he’d be able to surprise anyone because I believe that it would have been a shorter series, and he’d have been one of the major Spurs stories heading into the Finals. Even with the 3-4 subpar games from Dylan as he recovered his health, you can make a strong case that San Antonio doesn’t eliminate OKC without him. 

On the vulnerabilities front, it’s all about New York’s size for me. You’re right that the Spurs have big guards, but their forwards are undersized against most teams in the league. Against Anunoby and Robinson, they’re almost tiny. Also, San Antonio likes to guard opposing centers with a guard or a wing, so that Wemby can roam the paint and play Gandalf. (You shall not pass!) If they do that in the Finals then that’s another matchup the Spurs are small in, which could create rebounding problems and a bevy of other issues, crossmatching, etc. 

Ok, my questions for you: Who did you want to advance between the Thunder and the Spurs and why? And are you concerned about one of the consistent issues over the past few postseasons: rest-induced rust for the team that ended its series early?

R.R.

Cooper Flagg deserves his flowers, but Harper deserved more votes for Rookie of the Year. His skills and poise in the biggest moments have impressed us at P&T. Wemby, Castle, and Harper: three excellent drafts for you, my friend!

Upon examining the strengths and weaknesses of both Western Conference finalists, I argued that the Knicks should want to face the Spurs. Not the greatest take, in hindsight. I assumed that San Antonio’s youth and mounting fatigue after a grueling three rounds would make them less formidable than the defending champion Thunder. Furthermore, many of these young Spurs had never played so many games without a break, counting both the regular season and the postseason. After watching them lay out OKC on the road in a closeout game, I should probably surrender my sportswriting license.

Now I’m a little worried that the Knicks have had too much time off. It wouldn’t astonish me if New York loses Game One. They’ve played just eight games in the past month, and while that absolutely keeps them fresh, allows for injury recovery, etc., I wonder how they can maintain their game conditioning. Playing 40+ minutes of NBA basketball is different from 40 minutes on a stationary bike. You’ll recall that they were pretty rusty early in Game One against Cleveland after nine days’ rest. They fell behind by 22 points before their amazing, miraculous, one-for-the-ages comeback to win in overtime.

Excuse me while watch that fourth quarter and overtime again.

Phew, I’m back. Needed a shower after that. . . . Yeah, so, this break between Game Seven and the Finals might actually be the perfect length for San Antonio — long enough to get healthy and prepare for its opponent, short enough not to lose momentum — while eight days off might not be ideal for New York.

Question for you: Has there been any word on De’Aaron Fox’s high-ankle sprain? He seemed really limited in the Thunder series, but I’d imagine he’s getting better all the time (forgive the obligatory Beatles reference). How do you feel when Castle plays lead guard? I recall he had an 11-assist, 11-turnover double-double in Game One of the WCF.

J.R.

Your request for an Official Sportswriting License from the Guild of Legitimate Sportswriters was approved? Lucky! I guess I shouldn’t wonder; you live in New York state after all. Must be nice to cover the largest media market in the hemisphere. Meanwhile, we small market folk have to make do with the sportswriting licenses we find at the bottoms of a cereal boxes. But that didn’t stop me from getting mine laminated and displaying it proudly in my home office workstation right next to my typewriter, my dogeared copy of the AP Stylebook, and my horn-rimmed glasses with the old prescription that I only use to focus the sun to burn ants after the Spurs lose. 

As for the Knicks’ Game 1 comeback win, there is no shame in re-re-watching those recaps, particularly when you have so much time to wait before your team can generate new highlight reels. I’m only a couple days removed from Game 7, and I found myself going down the rabbit hole of one video after another and had to tear myself away when you messaged me to say it was my turn to write. That said, isn’t it interesting that both the Knicks and the Spurs had to endure overtime in the first game of their conference final series? Makes me wonder what other kinds of similarities there are to be uncovered over the next two and a half weeks.

In order to answer your question about any news concerning the condition of Fox’s ankle, I need to introduce you to the Spurs media landscape. This isn’t like the Big Apple where the media is strong enough to get a coach fired if they don’t get complete enough answers to their questions. In San Antonio, the tenure of the head coach doesn’t rely on anything except the good will of the owner, and that good will has essentially been granted to Gregg Popovich for life. (In case you don’t know, Popovich is still the president of basketball operations which means that he is the one in charge of hiring the general manager. In other words, Pop named his successor.) In this environment, we find out about the news concerning injuries at the same time that everyone else does: an hour and 15 minutes before tip off. So, no, there’s no additional word outside of our own speculation surrounding what kind of advanced treatment he’s receiving. (No need to apologize for Beatles references. I love the Fab Four.)

My feelings about Castle are not particularly complicated. First and second-year players aren’t known for being able to avoid turnovers, and Stephon is no exception. His exceptional qualities are so many and varied that I happily classify the turnovers as the price for entry. I remember hearing Steve Kerr, at the beginning of the Golden State dynasty, discuss the Warriors’ turnovers in terms that I’d never heard a coach use before. He said something to the effect that the team was at its best when the ball moved, and he would prefer that his players made mistakes while passing for advantage, as opposed to mistakes of passing omission. It sounded revolutionary at the time because Pop always considered turnovers an existential threat. Castle turns it over less frequently when Fox is out there to calm things down. The problem at the beginning of the Thunder series was Fox‘s absence, which hopefully won’t happen again. 

For my next queries, I have to go back to the All-Star game for the set up. Wemby and KAT played together and Victor got quite upset about more than one of Towns’ … defensive choices. Much seemed to be made about Wemby’s body language with people interpreting it as him blaming KAT for the loss. This also seemed to play into a reputation for a certain lack of focus on defense in high leverage moments. 

So my questions are: is this reputation earned, what forms do his miscues take, and are you concerned about how he’ll handle the kind of complex and fluid defensive schemes that success in the Finals requires?

R.R.

Ah, yes, I heard tales of sportswriters sharing malteds with Gregg Popovich on a bench outside the Alamodome while watching tumbleweeds roll by. Meanwhile, in the metropolis, writers interviewed players in the Champagne Room at Scores (allegedly). Alas, everyone’s too brand-conscious for such extracurricular hijinks these days, or at least they don’t invite me along for the fun.

True confession: I loved Pop as a coach. He was a gruff, fundamentals-focused skipper like Thibs, who deserves credit for laying the foundation that made this Finals appearance possible. Pop always seemed both perfectly suited to San Antonio and an odd fit. He got far more rope than he would have in New York thanks to the small market and his winning track record, yet he was also outspoken, unconcerned about offending the season-ticket-holder base. We saw one aspect of the man in front of the camera. The fact that former players like Tim Duncan are helping him recover from his stroke speaks volumes about his character (and theirs).

On the subject of injuries, the Knicks are notoriously tight-lipped as well. We may never know how Mitchell Robinson broke his finger. If Leon Rose & Co. hadn’t done such a tremendous job building the roster, they’d be pilloried for their silence. I believe Leon has sat for one interview in six years as president of basketball operations. Try getting away with that in any other city, or any other profession.

In my Game Two preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, I wrote something like, “Lord Silver must be smiling.” Early on, both conference finals looked destined to be epic when each began with an overtime thriller. Then the Cavs folded like laundry. While we were ecstatic that New York steamrolled the next three games, there wasn’t much drama to it.

The Finals should be a helluva show. I wouldn’t be surprised if both teams rip off a 15-point run every game, but a blowout either way feels unlikely–if the teams take turns, winning one, losing one, etc. My family and I live about three hours from the city, though my son in Brooklyn insists we’d be safer farther away during the Finals—maybe bunkered in an Airbnb in Buffalo. If the Knicks win, the fans might steal the Statue of Liberty. If they lose, City Hall could burn to the ground.

Regarding Castle’s turnovers: I’m too lazy to look it up, but Mike Brown recently explained why some turnovers are better than others. His logic shared the spirit of your Steve Kerr reference. Still, 11 giveaways is an Ooof. I hope Stephon will be as generous to the Knicks. You’re right, though; with Fox back, Castle will have fewer opportunities to cough up the rock.

Here’s the thing about Towns. Knicks fans have pulled out copious amounts of hair over two types of fouls: Karl’s occasional brain-fart foul and, worse, his hook-on-the-drive foul. His teammates didn’t care for them, either. You could see the blood drain from their faces when he hooked his way into another offensive infraction and then argued that he was the victim.

During this 11-game winning streak, however, Karl has played with discipline. We pray it continues. If he gets into foul trouble early against the Spurs, though, New York will be in trouble. Why? Mitch hasn’t exactly wowed us this postseason and has claimed to be dealing with mental health issues. Add a broken finger and he’s a real wildcard. Ariel Hukporti is the team’s third-string center. If you haven’t heard of him, there’s a reason for that.

Cleveland’s size neutralized Point-KAT early on in the conference finals. New York still won the battle in the paint, however, and pushed the pace to great effect. This series will be different, of course. We expect that Mitch Johnson will strategize to limit KAT, points in the paint will be hard won, and the Spurs will have springier legs than the Cavs, but we’re also sure that Mike Brown knows all this and will plan accordingly. The Knicks have so many offensive weapons, a stifled KAT just means that one of the other guys gets to eat.

I’m curious what similarities, and differences, you’ve seen between Johnson and Pop. And finally, what’s your pick for the series? Who wins, and in how many games?

J.R. 

The best description I have of Mitch Johnson is that he’s a updated version of Pop. There are so many similarities between them that it’s easier to describe the differences. Pop was famously against ever giving another team points. He lost a number of games over the years because he wouldn’t foul when up three, which allows the opponent to tie with a three and win in overtime. Johnson has ended my agony by handling end game strategy more to my liking. Also, San Antonio’s defense is far more modern than it was toward the end of Pop’s tenure. 

Before I make a prediction, I have to address the Jose Alvarado situation: SA’s coaches better have the guys trained up on his gambits so he can’t create extra possessions with his wonderful sneakiness. Also, there’s the fact that we haven’t yet discussed the player who’s guaranteed the championship ring this year, Jeremy Sochan. Just putting this here for the moment, so we remember to chop it up before the series is over. 

Now to the series: I like the Spurs in 6 (yes, even on the road at MSG), but I could see them winning in 7 or 5 depending how things break. First, they have the rust/rest early advantage. Second, I don’t think the Knicks have had to face the same quality of opponents that the Spurs have had to overcome and the adjustment to the level of play might be worth something in this series. Third, if San Antonio can keep Wemby off KAT and near the basket, then his ability to lock down the paint throws a major wrench into New York’s offense. 

So there you have it; I hate making predictions and you got one out of me. Anyway, here’s to an entertaining series opener, and I’ll see you on the other side!

If the Spurs want to win the NBA Finals, they'll have to buck this historical trend originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

In addition to having a 7-foot-4 alien who can shoot, pass, dribble and single-handedly stop elite offenses from getting to the rim, what makes the San Antonio Spurs’ run to the NBA Finals unique is they possess what most champions typically lack: youth.

When the NBA’s championship round tips off Wednesday night, the Spurs will be looking to become the youngest Finals winner in recent NBA history.

NBC News analyzed the average ages of NBA champions’ playoff rotations since 2016, and San Antonio would be the youngest team to win a title — out-young-ing last year’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs rotation’s average age is 24.4, while their opponent, the New York Knicks, are coming in at a relatively ancient 28.8.

Compared with the overall average championship age of 27.8, San Antonio is 3.4 years younger, while the Knicks are 1.0 years older.

The Spurs aren’t just a relatively young team on the whole — their best players are also on the younger side.

San Antonio’s leading scorer in the postseason is center Victor Wembanyama, who is only 22 years old and in his third year in the league. Wembanyama would be the youngest leading scorer to lead his team to a Finals victory in recent history. (If he wins Finals MVP, he would join Magic Johnson and Kawhi Leonard as the youngest players to win it.)

The Spurs’ three leading scorers — Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox — would also be tied with last year’s Thunder as the youngest top-scoring trio of the last 11 NBA Finals.

Compared with New York, San Antonio is led by neophytes. The Knicks’ leading scorer, Jalen Brunson, is 29 and in his eighth season in the NBA. New York’s top three scorers — Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby — also average 29, with none younger than 28.

The median age of leading champion scorers is 27, with Wembanyama coming in a clean five years younger.

At least through three playoff rounds, youth and inexperience haven’t been barriers for the Spurs. They’ve already beaten a team that made two straight conference finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as last year’s champion, Oklahoma City, en route to the Finals.

In fact, less playoff seasoning may even help San Antonio.

“The lack of experience is a strength of us,” Wembanyama told ESPN on Tuesday. “Because we could do impossible stuff because we don’t know it’s impossible.”

If the Spurs want to win the NBA Finals, they'll have to buck this historical trend originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

In addition to having a 7-foot-4 alien who can shoot, pass, dribble and single-handedly stop elite offenses from getting to the rim, what makes the San Antonio Spurs’ run to the NBA Finals unique is they possess what most champions typically lack: youth.

When the NBA’s championship round tips off Wednesday night, the Spurs will be looking to become the youngest Finals winner in recent NBA history.

NBC News analyzed the average ages of NBA champions’ playoff rotations since 2016, and San Antonio would be the youngest team to win a title — out-young-ing last year’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs rotation’s average age is 24.4, while their opponent, the New York Knicks, are coming in at a relatively ancient 28.8.

Compared with the overall average championship age of 27.8, San Antonio is 3.4 years younger, while the Knicks are 1.0 years older.

The Spurs aren’t just a relatively young team on the whole — their best players are also on the younger side.

San Antonio’s leading scorer in the postseason is center Victor Wembanyama, who is only 22 years old and in his third year in the league. Wembanyama would be the youngest leading scorer to lead his team to a Finals victory in recent history. (If he wins Finals MVP, he would join Magic Johnson and Kawhi Leonard as the youngest players to win it.)

The Spurs’ three leading scorers — Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox — would also be tied with last year’s Thunder as the youngest top-scoring trio of the last 11 NBA Finals.

Compared with New York, San Antonio is led by neophytes. The Knicks’ leading scorer, Jalen Brunson, is 29 and in his eighth season in the NBA. New York’s top three scorers — Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby — also average 29, with none younger than 28.

The median age of leading champion scorers is 27, with Wembanyama coming in a clean five years younger.

At least through three playoff rounds, youth and inexperience haven’t been barriers for the Spurs. They’ve already beaten a team that made two straight conference finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as last year’s champion, Oklahoma City, en route to the Finals.

In fact, less playoff seasoning may even help San Antonio.

“The lack of experience is a strength of us,” Wembanyama told ESPN on Tuesday. “Because we could do impossible stuff because we don’t know it’s impossible.”

Florida State head coach Luke Loucks wants to approach recruiting and the transfer portal a little differently than other big schools. The Seminoles aren’t a blue blood, but they can certainly outpace and outperform those schools under his watch.

Coming from the NBA coaching circles, Loucks has seen the best of the best. He did help coach Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green with the Golden State Warriors after all. 

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So what’s the pitch for Florida State basketball? They’re coming off an 18-15 campaign in his first season at his alma mater, so something’s going right!

“Yeah, so we can do things a little bit differently than most staffs in America,” Loucks said on Pardon My Take. “There’s probably two other staffs that can do what we can do and preach the message, in terms of, you come to Florida State, we are going to train you like a pro, because that’s all we know. Half of our staff came from the NBA. So, in terms of your player development, your nutrition, your weight room, all these kids say they want to get to the NBA, but then they train like college kids. 

“Now, the great ones will get there either way. It doesn’t matter, but for all those guys in the fringes, like you’re training like a college player, and I’ll tell them, I used to run draft workouts for multiple organizations. The best college players would get an NBA workout and have no idea, because everything’s different – spacing is different, the cutting is different, ball movement’s different, the terminology is different. We’re going to train you like an NBA player before you get there, so when you get there, you don’t just get there, you can stick. And I think that’s first and foremost.” 

Loucks isn’t just going after the big fish. Him and his staff know where to find the diamonds in the rough and that can make Florida State a special place.

“The second thing I’m a big believer in buying stock low,” Loucks said. “And right now, like, we haven’t been to a tournament in four or five years, but you can feel the momentum of, like, all right, we got some good things going.

“You can go to one of these top programs, and I’m not going to name them, and just be another guy on their list of, or you can come to Florida State and help us turn this into one of those programs. And to me, a lot of kids resonate with that, like I go to Florida State and, like, be one of the guys everyone remembers. Or you can go to Big Blue Blood and, like, yeah, you’re just a list of another 100 guys, no one’s gonna remember you.”

In Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight, Karl-Anthony Towns will anchor the center position for the New York Knicks against the San Antonio Spurs. It’s been a long and bumpy road for the former number one overall pick, but Towns has finally reached the summit of the NBA Playoffs.

KAT is playing the best basketball of his career. In these playoffs, he is averaging 16.9 points per game on incredible 57/49/89 shooting splits while putting up 10.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game as the Knicks have won 11 straight games en route to their first Finals appearance since 1999.

It wasn’t that long ago, though, that many would have thought all of that would be impossible for Towns, a fact Minnesota Timberwolves fans know all too well. In his first eight NBA seasons, Towns and the Wolves made the playoffs just three times as KAT drew criticism after each series.

In his first two playoff games in 2018, Towns scored a total of just 13 points as James Harden, Chris Paul, and the Houston Rockets took a 2-0 series lead. In the series-defining Game 3 of the 2022 series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Towns took just four shots as Memphis came back from 20 points down (nearly twice) to take control of the series.

Towns played better in the 2023 loss to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, but ultimately, the Wolves were 0-3 in the playoff series with huge questions looming about Towns’s ability to be an effective player in the Playoffs.

All of that changed for KAT in the 2024 Playoffs.

During the 2023-24 regular season, the Wolves won 56 games, earned the three-seed after sitting on top of the Western Conference for much of the season, and, despite being underdogs, swept Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and the Phoenix Suns for the franchise’s first playoff series win in 20 years.

Towns guarded Durant the entire series and held his own against a matchup that, on the surface, seemed primed to play KAT off the court. In the series-ending Game 4, KAT put up 28 points on 11-17 shooting from the field and 4-6 from beyond the arc.

It was the first data point that proved a team with Towns as one of its top players could win big games in the Playoffs. With Anthony Edwards ascending and Rudy Gobert sharing the frontcourt, Towns ceded the spotlight, accepted his smaller role, and flourished as the team’s secondary scorer.

It was also a gigantic moment for the Timberwolves franchise, which had only won two previous playoff series in its history. While the previous two decades had seen little success, that series victory in Phoenix signaled a new era of Timberwolves basketball.

The Timberwolves kept it rolling in the next series against the defending champion Nuggets, eliminating them in seven games to reach the Western Conference Finals.

Towns, with the help of Gobert, guarded reigning-MVP Nikola Jokić and, similar to Durant in the previous round, kept his matchup in check as much as anyone can against one of the greatest players in the history of basketball.

That entire series culminated with Game 7 in Denver when the Wolves came back from down 20 points in the second half. Towns was the Wolves’ leading scorer that night and kept the game from spiraling out of control in the first half when no one else on the Wolves could score.

KAT punctuated the win with the putback dunk with less than a minute left and the final defensive rebound as the clock hit zero. If the victory over the Suns wasn’t validation, this one against the Nuggets certainly was, as the game and series stand as possibly the best moment in the history of the Timberwolves franchise.

Following the game, Towns gave one of the best postgame quotes in the history of the Timberwolves. In classic KAT fashion, he responded, “How much more we gotta lose?” to a question about the team needing to lose before they win in the NBA Playoffs.

KAT had done plenty of losing, but that time is over now.

The winning in 2024 has continued for KAT since he was traded to New York. Last season, Towns eliminated the reigning champion for the second straight season, taking down the Boston Celtics as the Knicks made the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years.

Now, they are in the NBA Finals and sit just four wins away from NBA immortality.

In two short years, the narrative of Towns’s career has completely flipped from an overpaid liability to a fundamental piece of three straight conference finalists and a potential NBA champion. Now, starting Wednesday night in San Antonio, Towns has a chance to put an exclamation point on everything and become a New York City legend.

Some Timberwolves fans in Minnesota will be jealous of the Knicks’ success, try to re-litigate the trade that sent Towns to New York, or wallow in what they see as a validation of their Minnesota sports doomerism.

Many more will be cheering for KAT and the Knicks and will celebrate their success if they actually win the championship.

I know I will.

The New York Knicks are back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. As it turns out, of all possible opponents, the San Antonio Spurs will be waiting on the other end in a rematch of the 1999 Finals.

San Antonio will have a slight edge over New York, holding home-court advantage thanks to its better regular-season record. The Knicks, however, enter the Finals having won both the regular-season series against the Spurs and the NBA Cup final.

Truth be told, this matchup will certainly not lack sublime basketball or star power. From bona fide MVP candidates Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama to legitimate All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and De’Aaron Fox, the series is loaded with talent. Add in a host of established and rising stars such as OG Anunoby, Dylan Harper, Mikal Bridges, and Stephon Castle, and the stage is set for a compelling showdown.

As usual, the Posting & Toasting crew has gathered once again around the round(ball) table to cut through the noise and tackle the pressing questions surrounding New York’s Finals matchup with the San Antonio Spurs. Our panel of basketball geniuses took on the juiciest topics:

How many games will the Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals last, and who wins the title?

Antonio: Six. It’s all been about the West Coast this, the Spurs/Thunder that, and everybody seems to have 1) skipped the Knicks’ scorching run through the Eastern Conference bracket or 2) just decided it’s better to simply just forget about it. In any case, all those are wrong, and New York is playing the best basketball these days, whether they like it or not. The Spurs are damn weird—because of Wemby and their neophyte squad—that I refuse to believe they won’t put up a fight. It’s still NYK bringing it back home at the end of the day and in front of the Knicks faithful.

Miranda: I dunno. Every other round I had a sense, usually pretty short. I don’t expect either team will be swept, be it literally or gentleman-arily, so that only leaves choosing six or seven games, which you already know is the likeliest outcome. So I’ll say Knicks in eight.

Zeno: Oh baby. I can’t believe we’re here. It won’t truly set in until I turn on ABC on Wednesday night, but I can feel the butterflies already. Contrary to the way the Knicks have played for the last month-plus and the general feeling among NBA fans that the West is so ridiculously better than the East, this series will go at least six games. If the Knicks win, it’s going six. If the Spurs win, it’s going seven. We’re Knicks fans, and dammit, I believe. Knicks in six.

Kento: The traumatized fans in me has been at odds with the more optimistic side of that has seen this team run through the Eastern Conference in historic fashion. The Spurs will be the toughest team the Knicks have faced, and it’s more likely that it goes seven games than it is for the Knicks to sweep like they did the last two series. But I just think the Knicks are deeper, more talented, and more experienced team, matchup better than any of the Spurs’ past opponents, and it feels like that special something is in the air with this team. I’ve taken the Knicks in five or six in each of the last three series, and I won’t stop here. The Knicks capitalize on the big opportunity, and win it in six.

Polaniecki: I’m going the full seven. This one is going to be a barn burner. There’s an old saying: “A playoff series doesn’t really start until the road team wins a game.” I could see this series heading back to San Antonio for Game 7 with neither team stealing one on the road. Of course, if the Knicks win Game 7 in San Antonio, that theory would kind of contradict itself. In that case, the series would start and end at the exact same time.

Beyond Jalen Brunson, who is the most important Knick in the NBA Finals?

Antonio: Must be Towns this round, both offensively and defensively. Even if the Spurs place Wemby on Hart, it’ll be key to have Towns moving around and playing QB to have San Antonio’s heads spinning and to mess with their assignments and coverages. Not to mention Towns taking advantage of his bulkier frame to deal with Wemby inside and punish him physically as much as possible. The Alien has the height, but the cat must flex his muscles.

Miranda: Mikal Bridges. Pretty simple. If he scores 18 a game on 80/60/100 splits like he has the past month, while remaining demonically disruptive on D, then the Knick wings have a great chance to outplay the Spurs’, and thus a better chance to win the series. If Bridges morphs back into milquetoast Dr. Jekyll, there won’t be anywhere in NYC for him to Hyde.

Zeno: OG Anunoby. While I do think that Mitch’s broken pinky could be a massive factor, he wouldn’t play enough either way for him to usurp the man who has been statistically the best Wemby stopper in the league. His hamstring has gotten plenty of time to heal, having only played four games in four weeks, and he looked like he got his burst back at the end against Cleveland. If things go right, Anunoby could be a dark horse to win Finals MVP, ala Andre Iguodala.

Kento: Hart will be important too as his shooting could help nullify the Spurs’ ghost coverage, but we’ve seen that Brown has learned to keep that leash short, and lean on Shamet, and McBride when needed. But Towns’ ability to continue being an offensive hub, stretch the floor, punish cross matchups, while being a much improved defender could be the main difference. If Towns can be the third best player in the series, and do so by a wide margin, New York should have two of the three best, and most impactful players in the Finals. And given the depth they have outside of Brunson and him, they should like their chances should Towns accomplish that.

Polaniecki: Without a doubt, it’s Karl-Anthony Towns. I might even go as far as saying he’s more important to the Knicks winning this series than Jalen Brunson.

That’s not to take anything away from Stephon Castle or Dylan Harper. Both are capable of having huge moments and swinging games in San Antonio’s favor. But when you look at the Spurs, everything still revolves around Victor Wembanyama.

How Towns matches up with Wemby on both ends of the floor remains to be seen. If Towns can pull him away from the basket offensively while also holding his own defensively, it could completely change the complexion of the series.

The Spurs will go as far as Wembanyama takes them. His leadership and performance will be the driving force behind everything they do, which makes the Towns-Wembanyama matchup one of the biggest storylines of the Finals.

What must New York do to win the Finals and avenge the loss to San Antonio from 1999?

Antonio: Halt the Spurs’ pace and don’t let them click from three-point range. Keeping the defense at the level it’s been for the first three rounds of the playoffs would be optimal, but it’s obviously asking a ton to demand the team to keep putting on shows like the last 11 times we’ve watched them play. The Spurs have dethroned the reigning champs and are hellacious in both D&O while playing quick ball. The Knicks have a strong 3P% compared to the Spurs’ percentage, and if they can keep it that way and KAT does his thing all around the court, that’d be massive.

Miranda: Second question first: let 1999 go. Even if the Spurs did kill the Knicks then, think of it as a mercy killing. Those Knicks won their championship getting to the Finals, period. Ain’t no vengeance to be had. To win this time? Well, in ‘99 the Knicks nearly had the series going back to San Antonio for Game 6, before a jitterbug-quick southpaw point guard hit the critical, corner baseline jumpers that lifted the Spurs to the title. So I guess whatever the Knicks do, if it’s late and close don’t ignore De’Aaron Fox in the corner.

Zeno: Defend the perimeter. Wemby is going to get his, but the Spurs can be deadly offensively outside of him, specifically by using his gravity to their advantage. We all remember what Julian Champagnie did on New Year’s Eve, and we saw how guys like Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Dylan Harper knocked down clutch shots in Game 7. A disciplined defense is the key to a parade down the Canyon of Heroes.

Kento: Win the possession battle. If the Knicks can limit turnovers against a younger more athletic team, while forcing their inexperienced backcourt to cough up turnovers, the game could easily swing. The same can be said for the rebounding battle. The Spurs struggled to keep the Thunder off the offensive glass in game seven of the Western Conference Finals, and had troubles with the Knicks’ offensive rebounding during the regular season as well. If the Knicks can win those battles, the Spurs, and especially Wembanyama, may eventually tire out, and their elite defense may falter.

Polaniecki: Game 1 could very well decide this series, and stealing it on the road won’t be easy, especially if it comes down to the final minutes. Those kinds of losses can be deflating.

The Knicks are going to have to shake off the rust quickly. Remember how slowly they came out in Game 1 against Cleveland? They can’t afford a start like that this time around. San Antonio is too good to spot an early lead, particularly on its home floor.

What concerns you most about the Knicks entering the Finals?

Antonio: Others here have experience with past Knicks trips to the Finals. I have not. I have no damn clue how these dudes might or might not react to operating under the brighter lights. I have never followed any sort of run like this closely, far from it. It’s been 11 consecutive wins, and I live in constant fear that it just cannot realistically be happening and will end abruptly and catastrophically. Will all of the good be karma’d by an awful Finals? Will Mitchell Robinson’s pristine bill of health come down crashing at the worst possible time? Will Josh Hart forget how to shoot a rock? Will Mikal Bridges return to his Bench Mikal version? Will Shamet, Clarkson, and Deuce turn into bland bench players? Everything points toward a huge NO, at least not to all the questions above, but I won’t believe it till I see it.

Miranda: That Donald Trump will use his tanking Q rating and the buzz around the Knicks to come to MSG with the series on a knife’s edge, fake an assassination attempt and use that to attack Zohran Mamdani’s leadership and New York’s autonomy. And that his friend James Dolan will use his illegal-if-not-unethical facial recognition tech to finger the wrong people for it.

Zeno: The unknown. This is uncharted territory for an entire generation of fans, including myself. You’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop. In a basketball sense, I wonder how this team will handle two things: not having home court advantage for the first time and the expected adversity. They haven’t experienced defeat in 40 days. When it inevitably happens, how quickly can they flush it? Can they avoid going down 0-2 heading home to the Garden? There’s a multitude of things to think about.

Kento: Mitchell Robinson’s health. One of the major reasons Knicks fans preferred to face off against the Spurs, and not the Thunder, was because of the Knicks’ unique ability to make things more difficult for Wembanyma than almost any other team. Robinson was a big part of that. Towns, given the defense has played, and Anunoby will still provide some resistance, and their strength could wear the young big man down over the course of what could be a long, and physical series. But the Knicks’ chances of winning it all increase greatly if Robinson is effective.

Polaniecki: Adding another disappointment to the Knicks decades long book of disappointments.

Heading into the Finals, what gives you the most confidence about New York amid its postseason run?

Antonio: The fact that they have put together such a great postseason run for a long, sustained period of time and against three different teams, that they come into the Finals uber-rested for the second consecutive series, and that, for all the Nova Knicks jokes out there, it actually feels like the group is so close and the chemistry so pure that this team is simply going to fight through whatever they face and still come out on top. Due’s due.

Miranda: This is the best Knicks team I’ve ever seen, playing the best basketball I’ve ever seen. The most balanced, with meaningful depth and the right mix of experience and not-old-yet. Their offensive (Brunson) and defensive linchpins (OG) are as good as any in the game today. Missing out on the Thunder was a break, iff only to the extent that the Spurs aren’t quite as large and accomplished as OKC. Also, it’s been 27 seasons since the Knicks last lost in the playoffs to a Western team. I bet they can keep that streak going.

Zeno: As I said, they haven’t lost in 40 days. It’s very rare that a team has this dominant a playoff run and loses. This team is an absolute juggernaut right now and is playing with a level of swagger that we haven’t seen before, but they’ve also remained levelheaded and locked in on the ultimate prize. No matter what happens next, they’re etched into history for what they’ve done to this point, and there’s no reason to doubt them at this point. They will fight their asses off for this city.

Kento: Everything we’ve seen in the last two series. During their historic run, the Knicks have answered so many questions that we had about them entering the postseason. Brunson has flourished playing off the ball more. Towns has been playing the best two-way ball of his life. Anunoby has seemingly reached new heights on offense. Bridges has regained his confidence on offense, and is playing more physically defensively at the point-of-attack. Hart has shown more willingness to continue shooting the ball against ghost coverage, knocking down five threes in game two of the Cavaliers series. And Brown has proven that while he may be a bit slow to react accordingly, he almost always finds the right solutions. If the Knicks continue just doing what they’ve been doing, it might not matter what the Spurs do, or how they play, even if they are the best team the Knicks have played thus far.

Polaniecki: I do believe this is the best Knicks team since 1994, and maybe even since 1973. I’m not saying that just because they’ve reached the Finals either.

When you compare the level of consistency, the way they’ve sustained success, and the current run they’re on, I don’t even think the 1999 team clears them. That group was memorable, but this version feels more complete and more capable on both ends of the floor over a longer stretch. What they’ve done over this stretch feels different, not just in terms of results, but in how convincingly they’ve controlled games at times against high-level competition.

Cameron Boozer’s NBA track is pretty set: unless something very strange happens, he’ll go between the #1 and the #4 picks, and lately, a lot of people have suggested that maybe he’ll be the first pick.

Time will tell, obviously.

For his Duke teammate, Isaiah Evans, his path is less certain. He didn’t test that well athletically at the combine, and that is a negative.

However, he has a deadly perimeter shot, and a lot of teams could use that, not least of all the Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons ran out of gas in the playoffs against Cleveland when they just couldn’t get it going outside.

Given his golden arm, Evans could go a long way towards fixing that.

And it’s worth mentioning that Trajan Langdon is Detroit’s GM. If anyone knows how to spot a great shooter, it’s going to be the Alaskan Assassin.

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The Sixers were at the forefront of the sensation that was the 2025 rookie class. They immediately slotted No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe into the starting lineup on opening night and played him 35 minutes a night. Edgecombe’s production correlated with team success all season as Philadelphia made it back to the playoffs and won a round.

They certainly did not get as much instant success from their second-round pick. At No. 35 overall, the Sixers selected Johni Broome out of Auburn. The 6-foot-8 forward was an interesting prospect to say the least. He had just carried his Tigers to the National Championship, but was set to turn 23 years old just weeks after being drafted and had some really troubling measurables coming out of the combine.

It wasn’t a shock that Broome spent more of his rookie season with the Delaware Blue Coats than the main club. He played in 18 games with the Coats compared 11 for the Sixers. In only one of those 11 games did Broome see minutes in non-garbage time.

Even in blowouts with the benches emptied, Broome looked concerningly a step behind the competition on the floor. This was most notable in the game he got the most extended run, a game in which he played 17 minutes in a 41-point loss to the Orlando Magic.

His 2-of-9 performance that night is a big reason he ended his rookie season shooting 16% from the field. Despite hardly ever seeing an NBA floor the rest of the season, Broome was able to go through the proper rite of passage for a Sixers rookie. He tore his meniscus in late February, sinking chances he had at getting reps in Delaware down the stretch of the season as well.

Broome did get cleared to return for the end of the season, but only appeared again in a couple fourth quarters in the second round of the playoffs in which the New York Knicks had thoroughly smashed the Sixers. Broome’s rookie season ended with him averaging 0.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

The playing time and production are so minute it’s impossible to really evaluate, and yet at the same time it still feels bad enough to be concerning. He simultaneously didn’t get much of a chance at the NBA level yet did enough to make his detractors already write him off.

There’s already a debate over how bad of a miss it was drafting Broome at 35. On one hand, it’s only a second-round pick, but a pick as high as 35 is often viewed a little more highly.

There was only one player to go after Broome in the second round who was an obvious, that being Maxime Raynaud of the Sacramento Kings. As a center, Raynaud was an easy draft miss Broome skeptics pointed to given the uncertainty that is Joel Embiid’s health status. It didn’t help that Raynaud made Second Team All-Rookie.

No NBA career should be judged by the first 11 games alone. Broome did at least have some success in Delaware. Over eight games he averaged more than 19 points a game, including a 50-burger in February just weeks before he injured his knee. Removing his G-League production though, Broome has yet to show any real flash at the professional level.

The Spurs struggled against the Knicks in the regular season. Should New York be considered the favorite because of those matchups? 

Marilyn Dubinski: While the Spurs’ loss in New York was their lone blemish of February, if we’ve learned anything in these playoffs, it’s to disregard the regular season.  The Cup Final came with Wemby still coming off the bench (and admittedly not focused since he had lost his grandmother), and the Spurs won their home game (albeit behind a franchise record 11 threes from Julian Champagnie). All those games were outliers in their own ways, and both teams have come a long way since then.  It’s also hard to know what exactly to think of the Knicks right now because of how quickly they went from disappointing to close the regular season to flying through an easy first three rounds in part due to upsets on the other side of the East bracket.  I think it will be a very tight match-up, but homecourt advantage will be the difference for the Spurs.

Mark Barrington: No, because both teams have gotten a lot better since then. It’s hard to know how good the Knicks are right now, since they’ve been lapping the field in the kiddie pool that is the Eastern Conference playoffs. 

Can Landry Shamet continue to look like a bigger, stronger Steph Curry? [I think his shooting returns to Earth in this series, although he will continue to be a key player for them.] 

Is Jalen Brunson going to be able to create enough space with his compact structure and elite body control? [I think that Victor’s length will bother him in the paint.] 

Will KAT avoid taking 4 or 5 dumb fouls per game? [As if. KAT gotta KAT.]  

Is Josh Hart the ultimate glue guy? [Yes.] 

Will Mitch Robinson even play, and if he does, can he hit a free throw? [Jeremy Sochan is teaching him the one-handed free-throw technique as we speak.]

The deal is that the Knicks aren’t a known quantity at this point. They’ve had an incredible run so far, but they’ve hardly been tested. They’ve beaten the teams in front of them, and handily. I feel like it’s a pretty even matchup at this point. 

Devon Birdsong: The favorite? No, I don’t really think so. Cleveland may have been the team least suited to giving them trouble in the East, and the East is still pretty visibly the weaker conference to begin with. I’m honestly not sure the Knicks would even be here if the Sixers hadn’t summoned the inexplicable magic that put them over the Celtics. I see these teams as being remarkably even, and with a cleaner bill of health than previous matchups, I think you have to take this whole series as a start from scratch. Unlike the Thunder, the Knicks did get at least one real challenge in their opening series against the Hawks, but I still think the Spurs are going to benefit from having had to overcome so much in practically every series. If I were looking at this from an outside perspective, I’d be inclined to agree with Vegas, and slightly favor the Spurs, actually. 

Jeje Gomez: Regular season wins and losses don’t matter as much to me when it comes to the playoffs as how the matchup actually went. And considering that, I don’t think the Knicks should be the favorites, but they shouldn’t be underrated either. They do present significant matchup issues for Wembanyama and they have a bunch of wings who can potentially limit San Antonio’s driving game and punish overhelp with their shooting. It’s borderline impossible after the Western Conference Finals to think that there’s a better NBA team than the Spurs, but in terms of matchups, the Knicks are definitely dangerous.

What aspect of the game will determine who gets the ring?

Dubinski: I think it will be a combination of three-point shooting and how it’s defended.  The biggest key for the Spurs will be to not leave shooters open to play help defense on Brunson.  It worked fine against Minnesota because they were lacking in shooters and Ant wasn’t always looking to pass, but it almost burned them against OKC because Caruso and McCain got hot in stretches, hence why they adjusted back to “Stop everyone else and make SGA beat us”. The Knicks have SEVEN main rotation players who shot over 36% from three on three or more attempts during the regular season, so the Spurs can’t cede that shot. Trust Castle (or whoever is on Brunson), stay at home, and play man-to-man defense.  Make them beat you one-on-one.

Barrington: The Knicks are a team that shoots a lot of three-point shots, and in the playoffs, they’ve been going down at a high rate. The Spurs’ defense relies on letting Wembanyama roam to erase the other team’s interior and mid-range shots, which sometimes means they allow opponents to get looks from range. This was effective against the Thunder because they didn’t have a lot of elite shooters. Everyone on the Knicks can shoot three pointers, except Mitchell Robinson, who might not even play. So the Spurs are going to have to keep defenders on the shooters against New York, and that could open driving lanes for Brunson. If the Knicks solve the Spurs’ defense, they will win the series, because the Spurs can’t win a shooting contest against these guys. Well, maybe Julian Champagnie can.

Birdsong: Shooting feels like the easy answer, since the Knicks lead the playoff field in 3pt%, FG%, EFG%, and TS%, but I think it might really come down to two specific match-ups, and one wild card: Anunoby defending Wemby, Castle defending Brunson, and the Karl Anthony Towns factor.

As was pointed out a few weeks ago on Twitter/X, among players who have guarded the Spurs star in at least 100 half-court matchups, Anunoby allows the fewest points per matchup. He has tremendous length and strength in spite of the height disadvantage, and Mike Brown and his staff had plenty of time to see how successful the Thunder were in denying Wemby position. Thankfully, Stephon Castle has had his share of success in giving Jalen Brunson fits when defending him (in 38 possessions where Castle was the primary defender, Brunson scored just 5 points while being held to 28.7% from the field), but there’s an added wrinkle to defending Brunson now that KAT has effectively taken on some serious distribution responsibilities in the postseason. You can’t just focus on Brunson to shut down New York’s ball movement. And this is why Towns is the wild-card of the series. Because of his passing chops (6 assists per game) and his long-distance shooting, he allows the Knicks to run two legitimate big men, and that shooting (almost 50% from three in the postseason) pulls Wemby away from the hoop as the only player with the height to contest it, which leaves the interior up for grabs, and Towns has the ability to hit the open man. I think a lot of this series will hinge on how/if the Spurs are able to defend that with other players. I wonder if we’re going to end up seeing a lot of French Vanilla. 

Gomez: Since the shooting has already been mentioned, I’ll go with turnovers and pace. The Knicks play slow and don’t cough the ball up. They have Brunson, who can normally get a good shot whenever he wants in the half-court and a solid, switchy defense. If they dictate how the game is played, the Spurs could be in trouble. If San Antonio can create some turnovers and push the pace, they’ll be in great shape.

Prediction time: Who will win the championship, and how do you think the series will go? 

Dubinski: Spurs in 7.  I think this will be just as difficult as the last round, perhaps slightly more so based on the match-up.  There will be times when one team is hot and the other isn’t, but I believe in the Spurs’ grit, determination, willpower, and ability to make adjustments. (Also, I want them to win at home but don’t think it will be in Game 5.  Also, also, I have submitted to the power of the Corgi, so I must trust him.)

Barrington: Spurs in 6. Both teams hold home court until Game 6, when the Spurs take the title in MSG, breaking the hearts of the home fans. June 16, mark your calendars!

Victor Wembanyama is Finals MVP, to no one’s surprise. It’s going to be a stressful couple of weeks, folks.

Birdsong: For me, I see the Knicks as presenting all of the issues the Spurs had with the Timberwolves, but with less glaring weakness. They have the length, size, and toughness, but they also have a plethora of three-point shooters. They have a healthy lead guard who is top-notch at both scoring and distributing. And they have a power forward who can stretch the floor and make the pass in reality, as opposed to in theory.The Minnesota series went six games. Barring major injury, I can’t see this not going the full seven. And in that scenario, I think home-court advantage might be the deciding factor. Spurs in 7. 

Gomez: I went with Spurs in six. The Knicks are a horrible matchup, but we’ve seen the Silver and Black find another gear during the playoffs. I expect a close series, even if three-point variance turns a game or two into a blowout either way, but I can see San Antonio showing the killer instinct they displayed against the Thunder if they get a chance to end it on the road.

The 1998-99 season was a year of change in the NBA.

Michael Jordan had retired for a second time, and the league's owners, fed up with the league's financial structure and players' rising salaries, locked the players out after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

Once a deal was reached, the season began on Feb. 5, and the schedule was reduced to 50 games. The San Antonio Spurs tied for the league's best record and beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, and Portland Trail Blazers on the way to the Finals.

The New York Knicks, as the No. 8 seed, upset the Miami Heat in the first round, becoming the second No. 8 seed to beat a top seed. After sweeping the Atlanta Hawks, they beat the Indiana Pacers in six games to advance to the championship round.

Here are some takeaways from the last Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals matchup:

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