Category: Basketball

Okay, Grandpa, sit down. Put the remote down, this is important to the game of basketball that you love.

You know how every year some NBA teams spend the entire season losing on purpose? Not because they’re bad necessarily, but because they want to get draft lottery balls. They call it tanking, and for the last twenty years it has essentially been the league’s version of financial fraud. A franchise intentionally burns down its own house hoping the insurance payout is a 19-year-old who can dunk from the free throw line.

The NBA has apparently decided it has seen enough.

On Thursday, the league’s Board of Governors voted 29-1 to overhaul the draft lottery beginning in 2027, introducing something called the “3-2-1 Lottery” and attaching enough anti-tanking measures to make Sam Hinkie wake up in a cold sweat.

The NBA's new draft lottery odds, visualized ⬇️ https://t.co/bUdgWPReF9pic.twitter.com/IizHm5nL3M

— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) May 28, 2026

The simple explanation is that being the worst team in basketball is no longer the best business strategy.

Under the current system, teams at the bottom of the standings receive the best odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick. That’s why every spring fans find themselves watching perfectly healthy 24-year-olds develop mysterious soreness in seventeen different body parts while their teams explain that shutting them down is in everyone’s best long-term interests. Somehow every franchise doctor in America reaches the exact same diagnosis right around March.

The new system flips that incentive on its head. The three worst teams in the league will actually receive fewer lottery balls than the teams directly above them. Teams finishing fourth through tenth worst receive three balls. The bottom three teams receive only two. The NBA is essentially telling teams that there is now a meaningful difference between rebuilding and shamelessly face-planting down a flight of stairs.

There’s now a 71% chance the NBA’s No. 1 pick falls to a 6th place-12th place team. Only a 29% chance it falls to a bottom 5 team, per @ShamsCharania.

Wow, wow, wow.

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 28, 2026

Think about how insane that would have sounded ten years ago. Imagine sitting through a 67-loss season, paying for tickets, and convincing yourself this suffering is all part of some master plan. Then draft night arrives and the league informs you that after all that losing, your grand prize is the twelfth pick and a player whose college highlights are mostly him setting really good screens.

The NBA just looked tanking teams dead in the eye and said, “Have you considered trying?” For years the league has watched franchises race toward the bottom because the reward structure encouraged it. Now the reward structure is encouraging something else. The lottery is expanding to sixteen teams and play-in teams will receive lottery balls. The league is giving itself the power to reduce lottery odds, alter draft positions, and levy significant fines if it believes a team is deliberately tanking.

In other words, the NBA isn’t just changing the game. It’s announcing that if you find a loophole, they’re planning to close that too. Whether any of this actually stops tanking remains to be seen. NBA front offices employ some of the smartest people in sports. Give them a rule and they’ll spend six months looking for the side door.

But for the first time in a long time, the league has attached actual risk to being awful. And as someone who watched the Warriors spend a decade proving that there are ways to build a champion besides intentionally setting your roster on fire, I can’t say I’m mad about it.

The ping-pong balls are still bouncing. They’re just a lot less friendly to quitters now.

Mikal Bridges has actually been to a Finals before. He knows what the experience is like.

And all the extras that come along with it — extra praise, extra criticism, extra media obligations, extra questions, extra attention.

He is one of only two players on the Knicks, along with Jordan Clarkson to have played in the Finals (OG Anunoby was on the Raptors but did not play in the 2019 Finals).

Bridges’ advice for his teammates centers on handling that extra praise.

“Just worry about what we have to do to be better,” Bridges said after practice Thursday. “Not get too into the media and all the stuff. A lot of questions, a lot of talk about how great we are, how great we’ve been. That doesn’t matter, we just gotta worry about being ourselves and stay locked in. And go win.”

There is so much fanfare around the Knicks, who are in the Finals for the first time since 1999. It’s coming from ordinary fans, from celebrity fans, from neutrals, from other local athletes, from local media and from national media.

They have broken record after record during their 11-game winning streak. Chief among them: They outscored their opponents by 262 points during those 11 games, the best point differential across 11 games in NBA history, regular season or postseason.

New York City has been whipped into a frenzy. Right now, Knicks players are gods among men. Everyone wants a piece of them.

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That’s all nice and fine. But the Knicks want to ignore all of it.

Coach Mike Brown, who will be appearing in his seventh Finals as either a head coach or assistant, knows the toll all of it can take if not handled properly.

“There are a lot more distractions that you have to navigate,” Brown said Thursday. “So you have to be, I was talking to Allan Houston and he used the right word when I was talking to him about it, but you have to be real intentional about what you’re doing because you’re gonna get pulled in so many different directions. And everybody is human and it’s natural to get pulled here, get pulled a little here, get pulled a little there and think that you’re OK. But at the end of the day, after doing the media and practice, you’re getting pulled in three or four different directions because you’re gonna have your family around you, you’re gonna have friends around you, you’re gonna have people wanting tickets, you’re gonna have people wanting you to go on this show, that show.

“At the end of the day, you may not realize it, but it can be fatiguing for you to do all of that stuff while trying to focus on some of the biggest games of your life. Again, going off of what word Allan Houston used, trying to be intentional about everything that we do during this time, while keeping an edge, is gonna be huge.”

Ignoring all of that is much easier said than done. It’s hard not to get caught up in the moment.

How can it be accomplished?

“I think it’s different for everybody,” Jalen Brunson said. “I’ve been off social media. I may post one thing and then just go back to deleting it. You just gotta block out the noise. You gotta do whatever you can to make sure you’re locked in. Everyone is different. Every individual has their way of blocking out things.

“It’s important to not hear some of the things. When there’s negative things being said about you, it’s important to ignore them. When there’s positive things about you, it’s easy to read them and feel good. You can’t do one and not the other. So just block it out as best as you can.”

The Knicks are the center of attention in New York City right now. Soon, they’ll be at the center of attention across the country.

But they’re doing everything they can to keep their focus directed inward.

It’s draft night. The lights dim as the spotlight illuminates the Barclays Center stage. Colors and logos flash from the jumbo video screen as NBA commissioner Adam Silver approaches the podium. A smile nearly as luminescent as the reflection from his cranium flashes across his face as he takes a final step and leans into the microphone.

“With the first pick, in the 2026 NBA Draft,” Silver begins, the tension within the crowd materializing in the atmosphere. “The Washington Wizards select… TINGUS PINGUS!”

A stunned silence washes over the arena. Cries of “What?”, “Who?”, and “No!” pepper the stands as mystery is hastily ushered out by realization. Chaos breaks out. It’s anarchy. Replica jerseys are torn to ribbons and lit ablaze as the draft’s attendees roar in disapproval. The broadcast zooms in on BYU star AJ Dybantsa, who had instinctively arisen before his name was even called. Eyes open wide, the anticipated number-one pick stares through the fabric of reality, desperately searching for an explanation.

Somewhere, Kristaps Porzingis smiles.

But none are more surprised than Draft HQ out in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz front office desperately scrambles to gather their thoughts as every great player is still available with the second overall pick.

Utah has a decision to make, and it’s one they must make quickly, because their team is on the clock, and the game plan has been thrown out the window.

You, the reader, are present in the Delta Center’s war room. Austin and Danny Ainge elbow Ryan Smith as the trio turns their attention to you. The room is still. The phone line to Brooklyn is in your grip. With every option available at number two, the decision is yours to make: who are you picking?

We asked you, the loyal (and might I add, attractive) readers of SLC Dunk, who you would prefer Utah to take with the second overall pick, and this is how you voted.

1. Darryn Peterson, G, Kansas (53% of votes)
2. AJ Dybantsa, F, BYU (38% of votes)
3. Cameron Boozer, F, Duke (9% of votes)

Disagree with the pick? Demanding justice for Pingus? I didn’t make the list; you did. If you’ve got a qualm or two, however, that’s why these articles have comment sections, my friends.

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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.

This playoff run has been a series of firsts for the San Antonio Spurs.

Thursday, May 28 presented yet another: this is the first time this young Spurs core is facing elimination in the postseason.

The Spurs are hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals in a must-win situation, as San Antonio is looking to knot the series up a three games apiece to force a Game 7.

All eyes are on the two stars in the series, Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the two-time consecutive Most Valuable Player, of the Thunder.

Here are live takeaways from Game 6 of the Western Conference finals between the Spurs and Thunder:

This Victor Wembanyama makes the Spurs close to unbeatable

It became clear in the first few minutes of Game 6 that Wembanyama was correcting his mistakes from Game 5.

After playing too passively two nights ago, Wembanyama set the tone early, going 4-of-6 from the floor in the first quarter and 9-of-16 in the first half to take 22 points into intermission.

The rest of the Spurs are feeding off Wembanyama, whose effort on defense and rebounding have also lifted San Antonio. Through the first half, Wembanyama has also hauled in 5 rebounds — which is just one fewer than his total from Game 5.

That said, Wembanyama did launch 8 attempts from 3-point range. And while he made three of his first four, he cannot be settling too much for perimeter shots; the Spurs are at their best when Wembanyama is attacking the rim.

The Thunder need another scorer to emerge

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points in the first half, but only got to the line twice. Cason Wallace dropped 11 on a perfect 4-of-4 half (including three drained triples). The next closest Thunder scorer was Alex Caruso with 7 points.

Oklahoma City, however, needs one of its secondary stars — Chet Holmgren (6 points) or Jared McCain (5) are top of mind — to get going with more consistency.

Jalen Williams is playing, though he’s on a minutes restriction with his hamstring injury, and can’t be counted on to be a reliable scoring threat.

Dylan Harper is providing a crucial spark off the bench

The dynamic rookie has struggled over the last three games, combining to score just 18 points on 5-of-16 shooting over that span.

In the first half Thursday night, Harper was aggressive and in a rhythm, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

It couldn’t have come at a better time, as starting point guard De’Aaron Fox missed all five of his shot attempts and didn’t record a single point. Fox does have 4 rebounds and 4 assists, but San Antonio will need scoring from the point guard position, and Harper’s energy off the bench has been massive, especially because he’s not afraid to get out in transition.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thunder vs Spurs Game 6 takeaways: What we have learned

I’m back from my Memorial Day vacation and I’ve been waiting to get this one off about Cleveland’s demise. There was a point during Game 4 when the camera panned across Rocket Arena and you could see Knicks fans celebrating while Cavaliers fans sat frozen in their seats trying to process what had just happened.

And for Golden State Warriors fans who enjoyed a bitter rivalry with The Land, this was pretty amusing not just because Cleveland lost. I mean, the Warriors and Cavaliers haven’t really been rivals in years. LeBron left and the Dubs are figuring out who they are at this juncture of their dynasty. But there is still something deeply funny about watching the Cavaliers spend years trying to convince themselves they had rebuilt a contender only for the whole thing to collapse under the bright white lights of the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Analytically… we’ve won 2/3 games on the expected (score),- Cavs HC Kenny Atkinson.

The Cavs have lost all 3 games of the Knicks series. pic.twitter.com/TQNHG2lZsJ

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 24, 2026

The Knicks didn’t just beat Cleveland. They swept them with aggression, finishing it all off by walking into Rocket Arena and winning by 37 points for good measure, 130-93. They turned what should have been Cleveland’s biggest game in years into a three-hour public humiliation. By halftime the arena already sounded nervous. By the fourth quarter it sounded like Manhattan had annexed Ohio.

Going to be a really weird Cavs offseason. Mitchell’s eligible for an extension nobody is going to feel 100% great about and you have to trade him if he doesn’t sign it. Gotta either re-sign Harden or lose him for nothing. Mobley and Allen will both be in trade rumors. Probably a…

— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) May 26, 2026

And honestly? Warriors fans already knew where this was headed.

The Cavaliers spent the first two rounds of the playoffs leaking oil everywhere. Seven games against Toronto. Seven games against Detroit. Then they blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 1 against New York and spiritually never recovered from it. Even when the score stayed close later in the series, the energy didn’t. The Knicks looked like a team discovering itself. Cleveland looked like a team slowly realizing it had miscalculated something important.

“Genuinely, I do feel like we are the better team,” – James Harden after the Cavs were swept by the Knicks 🫨🫨🫨 pic.twitter.com/JtDk8A7D2F

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 26, 2026

The Cavaliers had talent all over the floor this season. Mitchell is phenomenal. Evan Mobley remains terrifying defensively. Harden can still manipulate a defense when he has space to breathe. But the deeper this series went, the more Cleveland looked like a team relying on individual rescue attempts while New York looked like five people operating the same machine. That is what real contenders look like. This was the Knicks kicking the door off the hinges and spending four games revealing how fragile Cleveland actually was.

And from a Warriors perspective, there was something nostalgic about it.

The old Cavaliers used to walk into Finals games with LeBron James carrying the emotional weight of an entire franchise on his back like a demigod. You always felt pressure radiating off those teams even when Golden State was better. This version felt different. Talented? Absolutely. But watching this series, there was never a moment where they felt inevitable. So now the Knicks head to the NBA Finals for the first time in over 25 years while Cleveland heads into an offseason full of uncomfortable questions about roster construction, identity, and whether this core is actually built for deep playoff basketball. Judging by the brooms falling from the sky all over Ohio this week, the East takeover might need to wait. I feel overall glad that former Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson got to take his team so far, but it’s sad to see him chained to Cleveland’s curse.

The lights came on and the Cavaliers blinked. And somewhere deep in the soul of Dub Nation, a lot of people probably smiled watching it happen.

If there’s one thing this postseason run has shown, it’s that the San Antonio Spurs can compete with the very best in the NBA when star phenom Victor Wembanyama is at his best.

And after Wembanyama struggled to assert himself in a Game 5 loss that put San Antonio in an elimination situation, Wembanyama came out with urgency and intent Thursday, May 28 in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

San Antonio is facing a 3-2 series deficit and must win Game 6 to avoid elimination.

Here’s a look at Victor Wembanyama’s stats Thursday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals:

Victor Wembanyama stats vs. Thunder

• Minutes: 17:23
• Shooting: 9-of-16 (56.3%)
• Free-throw shooting: 0-of-0
• 3-point shooting: 4-of-8 (50%)
• Points: 22
• Rebounds: 6
• Assists: 1
• Blocks: 1
• Steals: 2
• Fouls: 0

Victor Wembanyama first half highlights

WEMBY BACK TO BACK THREES TO START THE GAME 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/8GkL37eU7a

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) May 29, 2026

Wemby having his way inside 💪

A game-high 22 for the Spurs... San Antonio takes a 7-point lead heading into the break of Game 6! https://t.co/rNsDfj4FyHpic.twitter.com/1shRNSyuQP

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2026

Victor Wembanyama haircut and pregame fit

It became clear Victor Wembanyama was setting a business-like tone even before he set foot on the floor, with a new haircut.

New haircut and ready to roll!

Watch Wemby in a crucial Game 6 between the Thunder and Spurs on NBC and Peacock 🍿 pic.twitter.com/Fstseb39fB

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2026

Victor Wembanyama regular season stats

In 64 games this season, Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.1 blocks per game.

Entering Thursday night, he was averaging 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.7 blocks per game in the postseason.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Victor Wembanyama stats tonight, Thunder vs Spurs box score

Well, the new NBA balls have finally dropped, lottery balls for the 2027 draft, that is. The 2025-26 season did indeed prove to be the shameless display of deliberates losing for the sake of meager odds that (perhaps) broke tanking. Today the NBABOG or National Basketball Association Board of Governors (an NBA Governor is usually, but not always, a team owner) voted on a new lottery system. The new system will take effect in the 2027 draft.

The system is somewhat abstruse, but looks to severely disincentivize even the already flattened odds of garnering a top pick. The new system will expand the draft lottery to 16 teams, which includes all the non playoff teams, and the teams in the play-in games. The system works by assigning a number of lottery balls based on where a team finishes record wise.

Teams that finish outside the bottom three, but not in the play in games, will receive 3 lottery balls. The number 9 and 10 teams in the play-in games will receive two, the 7 and 8 play-in teams will receive one ball apiece. The three teams with worst regular season records will receive two lottery balls (one of their three balls being “relegated” to the nether hells of the NBA, never to sire a draft pick).

The Two Ball Three will have some protection for being so outright bad though: they will not pick lower than 12th in the lottery. The worst three teams’ odds of receiving a top pick are, of course, one third worse than teams that finish outside the bottom three, and no better than the 9th and 10th play in teams, minus the top 12 guarantee. There is a real sense of reward for a play-in team, with one or two balls in the lottery.

There are further anti-tank provisions. No team may receive two #1 picks in a row, and no team may receive a top five pick in three consecutive years.

There is also a provision against protecting picks top 12 through top 15. (I’m not entirely sure what this means, that’s the NBA’s official language.) The NBABOG will revisit the system in 2029 to determine whether to keep the lottery balls in place, adjust them, or replace them with something else.

Here are some graphics provided by the NBA and it’s fabulous BOG to explain the new system:

Here is sample draft order, again from nba.com and the astonishing BOG.

Here’s the article itself, straight from the BOG.

This is all very interesting, and I think, at first glance, that it will at least improve the quality of regular season games, especially late in the season. It’s better to get out of the top three if a team has it’s own pick. What happens if it doesn’t? I’m not sure, probably it just behaves as a Bottom Three Two Ball pick? Do some protections on picks get removed in 2027 and beyond? Again, it’s currently unclear. What happens if a team picked #1 and then gets #1 again the following season? Does that pick get moved to #2? Again, it’s unclear right now. We will have to await publication of the full language of the resolution, (which I haven’t found at this time).

What does this all mean to the Rockets? It might mean a great deal, despite some saying 2027 is a lesser draft than 2026. It might mean that certain picks for 2027 are suddenly a lot more attractive, as they have a real shot at winning the draft lottery. Next year the Rockets hold their own pick, Phoenix’s pick, and Brooklyn’s pick (there’s further language about who gets the best and worst of these picks). Let’s say, though, that the Rockets are a playoff team, well, they’d pick as normal, in a reverse standings fashion after pick 16. What about Phoenix and Brooklyn? If Phoenix is again a play in team, that’s one or two balls in the lottery. If Brooklyn is 4th worst or above, and not a play in team, that’s three balls. If it’s Bottom Three, that’s two balls, but no worse than 12th.

Those extra chances in the lottery should have a great deal of value. Let’s assume the Rockets just get the BKN and PHX picks. Brooklyn has no incentive not to finish bottom three, but they have no real incentive to be terrible, either. Phoenix might well be a 9th or 10th seed again.

If a team had a pick in this draft that was good, not great, would they swap it for some balls next year? They might well do that, as even in a lesser year, a, say, 5th pick is likely to be better than a 20th, judging by history. This might get the Rockets one of the intriguing guards in this draft. Or nothing may happen, of course.

Anyhow, there will surely be more to come on the ins and outs of these new balls in the fullness of time.

Terry Rozier accepted a $100,000 bribe in order to exit a 2023 NBA game early as part of a gambling scheme, federal prosecutors alleged in a new indictment filed against the former Hornets and Heat guard on Thursday. 

The new indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York alleges that Rozier told Deniro Laster that he would come out of the Hornets’ March 23, 2023, game against the Pelicans in the first quarter, and Lester then shared that information with bettors. 

The indictment includes additional charges of bribery in sporting contests and honest services wire fraud conspiracy. 

The indictment names the NBA and the Hornets as the victims. Rozier has denied being a part of the sports betting scheme. 

Prosecutors said Rozier used a leg injury that he was dealing with late in the 2022-23 season as the reason to pull himself out of the game and was to receive $100,000 for his troubles, while gamblers placed total wagers of more than $258,700 on the under on Rozier’s stats for that particular game. 

Rozier played a little more than nine minutes before he exited the game, finishing with five points, four rebounds and two assists.

The indictment indicated that he took a smaller bribe of $70,000 since the four rebounds he pulled down during the 2023 game caused some bets to lose, according to ESPN. 

The new indictment came on the same day that Marves Fairley pleaded guilty to charges connected to the conspiracy, and alleged that he had paid Rozier as part of the scheme. 

“I agreed to pay a player to change their game performance,” Fairley said in the Brooklyn federal courthouse on Thursday, per The Athletic. 

Rozier was one of six individuals indicted last year on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering charges in the NBA-related investigation.

Tonight, the San Antonio Spurs host the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Tip off is at 8:30 p.m. ET. Watch on NBC or WRC-TV in the DMV. If the Thunder win tonight, they go back to the NBA Finals. Enjoy!

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Tonight is the 99th game of the season for the young Spurs, more games than any of the starters have ever played in a season. We have seen the future of the NBA in this series, as Wembanyama broke into the conference finals with the most consequential game of his career in Game 1. He hasn’t been able to duplicate that effort in every game, but you have to give the Thunder some credit for defensive adjustments that have limited his efficiency, and also factor in the fatigue caused by the intense pressure of a high-stakes game every two days with travel and distractions. That fatigue was definitely a problem in Game 5, as Wemby had a pedestrian effort by his standards and The Silver and Black couldn’t overcome the offensive surge by the Thunder. The Thunder also has to deal with the same factors, but they’re the defending champs and they have the experience advantage. The Spurs will have to learn fast to catch up to the OKC juggernaut.

The Thunder have benefited greatly from their superior depth, and even when hit by injuries, their bench players have stepped up with superior efforts when they’ve had to fill in for the absence of starters. Jalen Williams (JDub) has hardly played in this series, but Ajay Mitchell (until he was injured) and Jared McCain have filled in admirably, and whoever who has come out to play when the starters rest has outplayed the Spurs reserves. Even if the Spur lose this series, the Thunder have shown the Spurs where they need to improve. The Spurs starters have played the Thunder pretty even, but the reserves have not held up, and there are several players on the Spurs bench that are not playable in non-garbage time. This series also shows how important home court is. The Spurs finished two games behind the Thunder in the regular season, and a couple more wins could have guaranteed them a Game 7 at home.

The Spurs have had an incredible journey so far this season, going from a team that hadn’t made the playoffs since 2019 to a team that’s competing in the conference finals against the defending champs. If that journey stops tonight or Saturday, it’s not the end, it’s just the beginning. The Spurs are at the stage the Thunder were in 2024, where they returned to the playoffs after an absence and gained the experience that led them to a championship in the next year, except that you can argue that the Spurs are on a bit of a faster track because they’ve gone further and been more competitive. A lot of things have to go right for a team to win a championship, but the Spurs have set a solid foundation this season. The team will need to improve and make some moves to take the next step, but I have confidence in the organization and players that they can do that.

But before we talk about all that, the Spurs have a game to play tonight. The least they can do it to make OKC hav to play another game to soften them up for the Knicks. Or maybe the Spurs can take another game in the Paycom Center. If the Spurs win Game 7, forget all of that stuff I said about being happy with the journey so far. Let’s win it all. LET’S GO SPURS!

Game Prediction:

The Thunder refuse to come out of the locker room after halftime when the referees refuse to eject the fan who awards an Oscar to SGA after every flop, and lose by forfeit.

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma Thunder, Conference Championship Round, Game 6
May 28, 2026 | 7:30 PM CT
Streaming: Peacock
TV: NBC
Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments.

The Knicks could be without Mitchell Robinson when the NBA Finals start next week.

SNY's Ian Begley reports thatRobinson has suffered a broken right pinky finger and no timetable has been set for his return.

Robinson has been a crucial part of the Knicks' playoff run. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers, Robinson provided crucial minutes, impacting the game with his signature defense and rebounding prowess. In the clinching Game 4, Robinson scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds, and was a plus-14 on the court in his 18 minutes of play. 

The Knicks will head to either San Antonio or Oklahoma City for Game 1 of the finals starting Wednesday, June 3. 

Robinson was expected to play a big role in the series, no matter who the Knicks end up squaring off against.

If the Knicks face the Spurs, Robinson could be the physical, tall center to match up with Victor Wembyanama. If the Thunder advance, Robinson could be used alongside Karl-Anthony Towns to combat OKC's massive frontcourt of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. 

Robinson, who will be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason, averaged 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks across 60 games this season. His 60 games were the most Robinson has played in a single season since he played 59 games in 2022-23.  

The New York Knicks, with the NBA Finals looming, had been playing with everyone at full health. That’s reportedly no longer the case.

Backup center Mitchell Robinson, a high-energy spark plug known for his defense and rebounding, reportedly suffered a broken right pinky finger earlier this week, according to The Athletic.

According to the report, there were no details about how Robinson suffered the broken pinky, nor was there any indication about how much time he may miss.

The NBA Finals begin Wednesday, June 3, and the Knicks will play the winner of the Western Conference finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.

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 typically 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 sparing with Robinson’s playing time. That’s magnified further because opposing teams have resorted to intentionally fouling Robinson to put him on the line.

Still, Robinson tends to have extremely impactful minutes because of his high effort and intensity. He’s also dominant on the offensive glass and is averaging 2.5 offensive rebounds in his short time on the floor.

If Robinson is forced to miss time, third-string center Ariel Hukporti becomes the next man up. Hukporti, who is in his second season, appeared in just 54 games this season — most of that coming in garbage time — and played just 9.2 minutes across those appearances.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mitchell Robinson injury update, Knicks center's status for NBA Finals

As it turns out, the Knicks aren’t fully healthy. 

Mitchell Robinson suffered a broken pinky on his right shooting hand, sources confirmed Thursday night, and there is no timetable for his return. 

It’s a tough blow for the Knicks as they practice at their facility in Tarrytown, waiting for their opponent in the NBA Finals — either the Thunder or the Spurs. 

It’s unclear when or how the Robinson suffered the injury, or whether he’s out for the NBA Finals or could possibly play with the fractured finger. 

Depending on the severity of the fracture, Robinson could play through the injury if he can deal with the pain, according to Dr. Samir Sohda, Assistant professor at Hackensack University Medical Center and chief of hand surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center. 

“It all depends on the severity of the fracture and where the fracture is in the digit,” Sohda said. “There are some fractures that may need pinning, maybe even plate and screws, depending on the severity of the fracture. If it’s a minor fracture, we call it an avulsion fracture. Still a fracture, still hurts, but technically it’s a stable fracture where you’re able to just tape the fingers, not cast, and play.” 

Sohda said it is hard to read anything into what the lack of a timetable means. 

“It can mean two things: one, they are seeking others opinions, which is more ominous, or two, if it was that obvious, he would have had surgery already,” he said. “It could mean both ways.” 

If he’s out, it’s potentially a big problem for the Knicks. The 28-year-old represents New York’s biggest player and best rebounder, especially on the offensive glass. Without him, the Knicks only have two centers — Karl-Anthony Towns — who is a fantastic offensive talent and defensive rebounder but susceptible to foul trouble — and Ariel Hukporti — a second-year player who logged sparse minutes in the regular season and playoffs. 

Robinson missed Game 2 of the 76ers series and Hukporti filled in for him, playing seven minutes in the team’s 108-102 win. He scored two points and grabbed three rebounds — but also committed four fouls.

Robinson’s presence provides the Knicks the ability to deal with either San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama or OKC’s frontcourt of Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren. 

“Mitch is unique, so no matter who we play, Mitch is extremely important to what we’re trying to do, the way he offensive rebounds, the way he’s a vertical threat in the pick-and-roll game, the way he protects the rim, his versatility guarding,” coach Mike Brown said during the playoffs. “All that stuff is extremely important for us in this series. We need him to bring it at a high level, as well as everybody else.” 

Robinson was coming off one of his better playoff performances in Monday’s closeout win over the Cavaliers, when he had 10 rebounds and eight points. 

Robinson did not speak to the media but was in good spirits, having quickly dressed and ready to leave with food before the media was allowed in the locker room. 

“I love y’all, but I’m trying to go,” he said. 

Most of Robinson’s playoffs have been a roller coaster, however, defined by poor foul shooting. 

Opposing teams have deployed Hack-A-Mitch with more regularity, keeping Robinson’s minutes down because he’s schemed off the court. 

He is shooting just 30 percent from the charity stripe in the playoffs. During the conference finals, he acknowledged struggles with mental health. 

“I’m deleting all apps for a little while until I can get back to myself,” Robinson posted to social media during the conference finals. “I had a very upsetting experience a few days ago. I’m not gonna go into detail about it, just gonna focus on the playoffs and myself. 

“I know some of you have called and texted and it popped up green. That’s because I got a new [phone] number. My mental health is not the best right now but I am fighting to get back on track while playing on the biggest stage in the world in the Eastern Conference finals.” 

Robinson will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer as the only player in New York’s top seven operating on an expiring contract. 

The Robinson news is an eerie coincidence for the Knicks, who were absent another center due to injury — in this case, a star one in Patrick Ewing — in their last NBA Finals appearance in 1999. They lost in five games to the Spurs.