Knicks Bully the Spurs to Go Up 2-0

All right.

Open floor NBA podcast where we talk about the league and all the big stories that are going on.

And it back from his Parisian vacation.

Back on the clock.

Former #2 overall draft pick, Naismith, College basketball Player of the Year, 10-year NBA veteran.

The great Evan Turner.

How was France, ET?

I was monitoring you on social media.

It seemed like you were having a good time.

Yeah, France is smooth, man.

It was definitely dope, uh, you know, it, it was unique traveling around with an eight year old and, you know, a 6-seven year old queen, but other than that, they took pretty good care of us.

My daughter is, uh, She kind of helped me out with the jet lag.

She only did like 3 or 4 hours of activity per day and she just slept in.

So it it was kind of cool.

And then we were able to stay safe amid the PSG celebrations.

So I was on a rooftop and they wouldn't let anybody leave the hotel past 5 p.m. but they were blowing stuff up, fireworks, all that craziness.

So It was cool, it was fun and, uh, you know, it was an experience, but I'm, I'm glad to be back because that definitely, uh, that definitely hit my pockets for sure.

Now, oh, definitely.

Now, did you go to the restaurant that's in the Eiffel Tower?

No, no, we ended up not doing that.

No, we just went and, uh, I think it was on the 2nd floor.

We ended up taking like, uh, we did something cool.

We, we did a private boat tour, uh, private dinner excursion on the Seine River.

That was pretty cool, so.

We, uh, did that.

We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but other than that, that, that was it.

Nothing too crazy.

Yeah, I, I think you made the right decision.

Years ago, I went to that restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, and I don't want to sound like the ugly American here, but it was not good.

It was overpriced and it was not good, not, not a memorable dining experience.

And granted, I don't have the most sophisticated palate.

You're talking to a guy that eats pizza like 5 days a week.

But I didn't love the choices there in uh, in the Eiffel Tower restaurant, so I, I don't think you missed out.

And I definitely, if you're there with uh, with your kid, uh, it, she didn't.

She wouldn't have liked that that selection either.

Yeah, I think she literally said it.

My daughter said it.

She's like, No, it's not that big a deal to go to dinner here because, you know, it's not like it's Italy.

And I was like, damn, you're that's pretty right.

Like she's like, I don't want more sophisticated than I am.

Yeah, she's like, I don't want any hors d'o'oeuvres or like escargot or anything like that.

I'm like, Man, you are right.

I've never came here and been like.

French cuisine, like, you know what I mean?

I love the French fries which were unsalted, but other than that, we, we made it through.

Now, Italy is where you wanna eat as much local food as possible.

I've been there too, and that was, you know, as much pasta as you could possibly eat in Italy is, is the way to go.

Gelato and everything.

Absolutely.

All right, uh, game two of the NBA Finals is in the books and Probably to the surprise of everyone, including a lot of people in New York and in the Knicks organization.

The New York Knicks have a 2-0 series lead.

105, 104 is the final score in game two.

This was a wild game from Start to finish.

You had the Spurs coming out with a predictable amount of energy.

They were aggressive in the first quarter, had a 9-point lead, 18 points in the paint in the first quarter.

You had Julian Champenni going off, De'Aaron Fox came out playing well.

Uh, and then things slowly started to unravel over the next couple of quarters.

Uh, Knicks took a 4-point lead at halftime.

It was a 9-point lead at the end of the 3rd quarter.

It was a double-digit lead midway through the 4th, and we're probably all sitting there saying, well, the Knicks are on their way to their 14th consecutive.

Uh, double-digit win.

Well, didn't go quite that way.

The Spurs, to their credit, rallied down the stretch, 14-0 run over the last five-ish minutes, uh, of this game.

Had a chance at the end with Victor Wimbayama, lined up, pick and pop, Mitchell Robinson in front of him, had a 20-foot jumper, a shot he takes.

Many times, many times in his career, and he just missed it.

Uh, Spurs lose, Knicks up 2-0.

Uh, your big takeaway from game two is what?

You know, the physicality of it, I think when it came down to like the nut breaking time, you saw the 7'5, uh, you know, phenom.

One, he shot a standstill, what, 22 footer from the corner.

Which was kind of crazy.

And then when they do the pick and roll, uh, you know, that was a terrible shot.

I know, I know what you're talking about the one from the corner.

That was hero ball.

Like he was trying to shoot the, the, the dagger shot that was unnecessary.

Yeah, yeah, and, and, and then you follow up with a game winner down 1 7'5 player pick and roll, either give it to.

You know, your, your speed DMing De'Aaron Fox or give it to your big man.

And one thing we saw from the success from the OKC series, we're like, yo, he's dominating in the paint.

Remember he, he had like what, 8 or 9, like 17 points in the paint.

He was, he was killing in the paint.

And when it comes down to it, it's just like, yo, when you're struggling, even from game one where you're going 2 for 92 for 10, how hard is it just to Just dive in the paint and just do a jump hook.

You know what I mean?

You're helping the defense every single time you're going to stay 17 ft away from the rim, 18 ft away from the rim and shoot a contested shot.

Whether it's Kobe, whether it's Paul Pierce, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, you're still going to be like, yo, that was a contested 2 point.

Shot when you could have did what?

Took him to the post, drop hook like you did versus the whole OKC Thunder team.

I feel like he, he's been letting them off the hook and then getting too sped up and, and these are winnable games.

It's just stepping up and, and, and doing what's easy.

Nobody's asking you to do hero ball.

It's just go to where your advantage is at.

Like, when you're 30 something feet away from the rim, you make yourself half the player, even though you're very, very talented.

When you're in a post, you're in a bonus.

I was, I was scared.

I was like, man, they're literally just gonna dab him in front of the rim.

And, and, and, and, you know what I mean?

Put pressure on the defense.

And there's nothing you can really do, you know what I mean?

If you're Karl-Anthony Towns and what they do, pick and roll and he jab stepped, and then I don't know who the hell he thought.

He thought he was old school mellow.

I don't know who the hell he thought he was, bro.

Like at 7, like I don't.

It's shit like that where you have to like really have conversations about what are we doing, dog?

Why are you shooting 10 3s?

It's cute, but like You didn't, you didn't touch the paint whatsoever.

It, it, it was tough.

I, I didn't like that, especially going down 2-0, especially as smart as it was.

I thought his IQ was a little bit better or he could have been put in better situations because it's, you did all that 48 minutes' worth of work to rely on two standstill jumpers.

Yeah, I think the answer to the question about why he's continuing to shoot 3s is because the legs are gone.

Um, I think the conference playoffs took a ton of energy away from him.

Now, he was only what, 2 of 6 from three-point range in this game, uh, 2 of 9 from 3 in game one, but he is being consistently forced out on the perimeter, and I think it's because he just doesn't have enough left in the gas tank.

And Look, I think some of it's probably mental because Wemy talked about this before the start of the series.

Like, he was worried and talked about being worried about having the ability to kind of flip the switch and transition from the High of winning against Oklahoma City in the conference finals to playing in the NBA Finals.

He didn't, he, he was concerned about that coming into the series.

You're, you're shake your head.

You disagree with, with, no, no, no, I, I agree with that.

I wanna cut that off and be like, Yo, Wendy, love you to death, but we're playing poker, baby.

You're sitting in a in like jump in the water with sharks that smell blood, like Jalen Brunson, like his crazy ass daddy, Mike Brown.

When they're when they're hearing a guy talking about, yeah, I hope I can switch it on , like we're asking him too many questions, like too many, like, he's being too vulnerable in a landfill with killers.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Like, why would we know that, Chris?

Like you're you're one of the best reporters ever, love you to death, but I wouldn't even tell that.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Like, you know what I mean?

And you're hearing that being like, what?

And then his teammates like, oh yeah, just run him.

Just run him.

He's mentally weak.

Why do you think he goes up to China?

Like, do you understand what I'm, am I wrong for saying that?

Would KG ever?

But I remember Elton Brandt had a broke hand back in the playoffs and he wouldn't wear a brace.

I'm like, why not?

He was like, because if they see it, they're gonna hit it every single time.

He's like, bro, you're playing with savages.

I was, I was, I was a 21 year old kid.

He's like, bro, you show any weakness you're going dead at it.

He's like, this is a big boy league.

What are, what are you talking about?

Am I wrong for saying any part of that?

No, no, you, you played the game.

That's why you should say that.

My fault for cutting it.

That's, that's no, no, no, I, I'm sorry, I, it, I, I agree with all you said there, um.

It, I, my one of my big takeaways from these first two games is this is a series played.

With men against boys, like the , the New York Knicks are a grown team.

Like everybody on that team is 30-ish years old, in the primes of their career, grown physically, grown mentally, been together for multiple years now.

They are just ready for this moment.

They're ready.

Even their kids are in elementary school, they're not toddlers.

These kids are like 6 and 7, like, do you know what I mean?

Like they're men.

Yeah, and, and their physicality shows that.

I mean, Karl-Anthony Towns is doing the kind of things that Oklahoma City needed Chet Holmgren to do in that last round.

When he sees Victor Wembayama in front of him, he's driving to the basket.

When he sees a switch off of him, he's going straight to the paint and making you pay for putting a smaller guard on him.

This is a team that has connectivity, it has skill.

Trust each other.

I thought the most consequential stretch of this game came with like 3 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter when the Spurs had, or the Spurs were down 4 with 3 minutes to go, and Katt went out with foul trouble and Brunson went out to catch a rest.

That was a prime opportunity for San Antonio to take advantage, make a run, get a lead going into the 4th quarter.

Instead, the exact opposite happened.

You had Deuce McBride make a shot.

You had McHale Bridges make a shot.

You had Landry Shambot make a shot.

A 4-point lead turned to a 9-point lead without Towns and Brunson on the floor.

Like how deflating does that have to be for San Antonio if you have the two best scorers for the Knicks sitting on the bench and their bench turns a 4-point lead into a 9-point lead.

That, look, the Spurs came back, but I thought that was a hugely consequential moment in this game because then they had to expend, spend a bunch of energy to get back into the game.

And maybe it cost Wemby on that final shot down the stretch.

Yeah, of course.

I also thought like when you looked at it, it's like, man, this is a championship caliber team.

This is championship depth.

Even when you look at Landry Shammet on the court, like how vocal he is.

Not only has he stepped up and hit tons of big time shots, even handled like ball handling responsibilities just as a combo guard.

He's been calling out every play.

They've been locked in defensively, and I just feel as though like that mentality and that switch alone, like.

The head of their snake is a 2-time NCAA champion.

Like, arguably one of the best clutch performers in the past 5 years .

Like, there's some toughness around it when you, when you say what you want about McKalale Bridges, but he was in that same gym in, in, in Lower Merion being taught from Jay Wright, you know.

I think one thing that's just really stepping up is that mentality, but then you, you give Kat that credit.

I think the difference between Kat and, and give credit to Hardente or even Chet Holmgren, he's stepping up and being like, bro, I'm a grown ass man.

Like he's literally treating Wemby like, Yo, I'm a grown, like this is cute, but I'm a grown man.

So like he's delivering hits first, he's hunting them, attacking them, and they're not sitting there being like, Oh my God, he's here.

Like, what, shout out to Jaden McDaniels or Anthony Edwards or kids around that age.

They're like, Yo, this is cute, but if this comes in the way of our championship, sign us up.

Like even when you sit there, the 6th Man of the Year don't even look as good.

You know what I mean?

Kel Kelvin, Keldon Johnson's having huge problems in this series.

I, I'm not sure what's going on with him.

And, and even just when he shot the ball, I was like, damn, bro, like my dad was like, you see that form?

And I was like, man, it looked different than like what Landry's doing, what Jose is doing, like, you know what I mean?

Like, these guys are loaded, bro, and we're not, we didn't even bring up OG.

We didn't bring up OG and Obi.

We didn't even bring up Mitchell Robinson even when Mitchell Robinson's been killing, but the mentality of just even getting at a technical, he's not moving back whatsoever.

De'Aaron Fox, who's usually chill, tried to start with Jalen Brunson.

Jalen Brunson was like, what are we talking about, bro?

How about the, can I just add on that play, like, De'Aaron Fox and Jalen Brunson, two guys I wouldn't really expect to be mixing it up.

Those are not.

The two guys high on my list to get into a fight.

That's happening.

And all of a sudden out of the corner of the screen, I see Rick Brunson come down all the way down to the other end of the floor, like, not the coach protecting his player, but the dad protecting his son in that moment.

That, that was absurd to me.

I see Tony Brothers, he's got this look on his face, the referee, and he's like, what are you doing down here, man?

Like, go, go back that way.

Like, I don't think Tony wanted to tee him up, but he's like, you cannot.

Not be in front of the Spurs bench because your son is nose to nose with De'Aaron Fox, OK?

That, that can't happen.

And it's so crazy.

I feel like Rick Brunson's kind of like, Yo, you don't, I, I raised him too well.

You ain't got the right one.

You know what I mean?

Like not saying like Jalen's like soft or anything, but he's so mature, he's so locked in and focused.

I feel like Rick was like, Hey, you want to fight a Brunson, I'll fight you.

Like, Jalen's not going to do that.

Like, you know, he's locked in, he's mature, he's going to lead the ship like Marcus Aurelius, but Man, I, I love the Brunson situation, man.

I, I love that whole little situ situation.

I know we're, we're, we're, we're pro Boston and everything, but good for, uh, good for these, because I, I didn't see this coming, man.

Like to say like they're men, I was not ready to say the New York Knicks are gonna show up like men and da da da da da and do all this and deliver the blow.

But shout out to McKale Bridges, man.

I, I believe if McKale Bridges showed up and played at a high, high level, this series would be completely different, and he's a game changer.

And uh yesterday he hit timeless timeless shots and and played like a dog, even with the steals he got as well.

He, he was elite, and I believe, uh, the under the underrated part of this of this whole success is their defense and that wing, that wing pressure.

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Let's talk about Bridges then for a second.

I wrote about him on Friday morning and, and the fact that he's persevered to get to this point is really impressive because he has been a scapegoat.

He has been, um, Kind of the, the, just the whipping boy for every Knicks fan that's been frustrated with the ups and downs of the season because not only has he struggled at times finding his shot, but every time he does struggle, we're reminded of the price the Knicks paid to get him.

The 5 first-round picks they gave up to get McHale Bridges.

Like there were a lot of times, I'm sure it would have been pretty easy for McHale Bridges to just kinda You know, go into a shell or to want to be traded somewhere else.

But how he's battled through this has been really impressive and really from game, what was it, 4 on in the first round, because the 1st 3 games against Atlanta were terrible.

The game 2 and 3, he was awful, was 0 for in, uh, game 3.

Since that game, he has been electric.

In that 11-game winning streak in the conference playoffs, he was shooting like 60-something%.

This game, 38 of 13 from the floor, 4 of 6 from three-point range, 6 rebounds, 6 assists.

Uh, he's got a steal, he's got a block, a little a steal, or 1 steal, yeah, plus 7 overall.

Did a little bit of everything out there.

Uh, just really impressive.

Like I, I It's gotta be tough, man , getting that kind of criticism in New York City, like feeling that on a regular basis.

I'm, I've been really impressed with how McHale Bridges has battled through that and become not just a big part of what this team's doing, but an indispensable part.

Like this team's probably not in the finals without McKala Bridges.

They are definitely not up to nothing without Michael McKayla.

Like this, he, he has, he has really proved his value during these playoffs.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think one thing that occurs to play devil's advocate as well, when you build such a good roster and you have a new coach and and things like that, there's only so many basketballs going around.

Even when you look at Karl-Anthony Towns, this is the least amount he's ever averaged for a career since his rookie year.

So when you sit there and you're like, Ari, Katt's supposed to be a second option.

OG automatically makes himself the 3rd, just off just off a shoe within the 1st 4 or 5 seconds.

Josh Hart, love him to death, he's naturally gonna get 12 or 13 dare shots due to the offense.

Sometimes when it comes to McKell Bridges and a casual NBA fan, they're like, Yo, we got 5 1st round picks, where's the 25 points?

You know, Especially in the system or whatever.

You can only do so much, especially when it comes down to rhythm, especially when it comes down to you being found in the right type of situation.

I think it took half the year, not in in any sense, but all the cogs of the system to really be working at, you know, Kat start stepping up and and and accepting this role later into the year, where I believe like that started helping tremendously because even when you went into the playoffs, the first round, you started finding triple-double Kat.

And I think from there, once guys started all clicking, I think McKaale Bridges also had an opportunity to find his space and, you know, find his role and start in his role, especially when it comes from an offensive standpoint, because no matter what, like what's his numbers, last night he shot how many shots?

8 of 13 last night.

And that's what I'm saying, and from there, you know.

Even if you went 6 to 13, you still got to, you know, shoot at a high, high level to even get 20 points.

So, I appreciate what he's doing, how valuable he's been at that since, and, uh, you know, it's only a matter of time of clicking, but, you know, even him being on the court, you still have to worry about him tremendously, and I think that's 10 times better than just having anybody else in.

You know, I don't think anybody in this series benefits from a championship more than Jalen Brunson because if the Knicks win a championship, you're having the discussion about Brunson being the best Knick of all time.

You're probably having a discussion about him being on the proverbial Mount Rushmore of 6'2 players and smaller, you know, the small ball or small players in NBA history.

But you mentioned Towns and He's not gonna get elevated to some kind of upper echelon of player as a result of a championship, but he's gonna benefit a lot if the Knicks can close this out because how many years did we talk about Towns as maybe being, I don't wanna say empty calories, but being a flawed player.

Like, yes, he went to the conference finals two straight years with, uh, Uh, with one year, I guess with, um, uh, Minnesota, and then last year with the Knicks, uh, but I think we looked at him as being like a good shooter, but he wasn't tough.

He wasn't a rugged interior player.

He wasn't a good defender.

He has trashed all those, all those opinions of him over, uh, over the last, uh, couple of games and during this postseason.

Like he has effectively played.

Victor Wambayama to a standstill.

Wembayama's numbers have been a little bit better, but when Towns is out there giving you like 1819 points, 1213 rebounds, and Wemby's giving you 26 and 14 or whatever it may be, 26 and 12, uh, you're living with that if you're the.

Your guy is giving you like 80% of what Victor Wimbayama, the best player in the NBA is giving you.

You are winning that matchup because you've got other matchups that you know you're gonna win.

You're gonna win the Annanobi matchup.

You're gonna win the Jalen Brunson matchup.

Like I think Towns, he, the way this series has gone, and if the Knicks can close it out, like the opinions of him are gonna change dramatically moving forward.

Absolutely.

And you know, in the NBA that's just how it goes sometimes.

It's like when, you know, it's a running joke of if somebody were to tell you about Paul Pierce's career, it would sound like a top five player because of who he took out, but it's like, nah, but perception wise, that can never happen.

And I feel like with Karl-Anthony Towns, he won't be appreciated maybe until You know, 10 years from now, not ever to compare to what Pat Ewing did because Pat Ewing's unbelievable.

When you talk about skill set, you'll be like, hey, he had, he led the NBA in double-doubles.

He, you know what I mean?

He, he, he's one of the best 3-point shooter, big men shooters of all time.

He won a 3-point this.

He was able to get triple-doubles here.

But most importantly, when it comes to legacy and what he was able to do, everybody's struggled with Wimby.

Arguably, Wimby should have been league MVP.

Everybody's struggling with him, like in 30 minutes at that.

So like what we're saying is, is you could view Buster Douglas taking out Mike Tyson, but it's just like, yo, this hit is a, it can't be ignored, even if you don't get an MVP like I'm, after this I'm putting Kat ahead of MB.

Yeah, uh, I mean, well, now you definitely have to if for no other reason than Embiid's body isn't what it used to be, but Wembayama in game 2, 29 points, 9 rebounds.

Not bad, 11 to 21 from the floor.

He wasn't bad in this game.

Uh, Carl Towns, 21 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 8 of 12 from the floor.

That's a win.

That's a win for the Knicks.

Like you won that matchup.

And look, what's, what's impressive to me about the Knicks, which we haven't even gotten to, is the fact that they win this game and Jalen Brunson was bad.

Like Jalen Brunson did not have a good game.

Jalen Brunson, 20 points.

Took him 25 shots to get those 20 points.

7 of 25 from the floor, 2 of 8 from three-point range, did have, did have 6 assists, but he missed some big shots down the stretch.

He had won 3 late in the 4th quarter when there wasn't a guy within a country mile of him, and he missed that 3.

he goes 1 for 2 from the free throw line down the street.

Stretch.

You never see Jalen Brunson miss a free throw.

Like he was giving the Spurs opportunities to get back in the game.

Brunson struggles, but they've got enough guys there that are ready to step in and to pick him up.

They've got towns good to go.

They've got bridges good to go.

You mentioned Annanobi.

He made some big shots.

He had that three-pointer that he drew the foul on, um, which was one of the few fouls that are actually called in this game.

I can't remember a game with that was football out there.

Was that, I mean, I heard RJ say it during the broadcast, but I was noticing it too.

Like they were, they weren't calling anything during this game.

What, what did you think of that?

No, it was definitely a physical game.

It was definitely a physical game.

I wasn't mad because I didn't, I didn't see one way teetering more than the other.

I was just hoping guys didn't get hurt, you know what I mean?

Like, there's so many people hitting the ground, but I think it comes down to physicality and, and I was about to, you know, comment on the fact of being like, yo, defense wins championships.

Like, when it's coming down here, like the first team to hit, the first team to, uh, you know, assert themselves are going to have, um, success.

And I believe this is the identity of both coaches , both organizations as well.

Like this is what type of game they want.

Like I said, you already know, you know, half of, uh, the Knicks players are Jay Wright players, so you know how they're getting down and Wimby.

And you know, the rest of the guys are trying to stick up and they're blue collar individuals as well.

So I, I didn't really look for the refs to be like, hey, they, they did a terrible job or they did this and the third.

I, I appreciate the game.

I appreciate the physicality of the game, and also just showing like, hey, defense wins championships and you can't keep Coming out here trying to shoot, you know, 1503s and all this and the third, it's, it's a, it's a grind out situation and it felt like old school basketball.

What do you think?

You know, well, I, I would say first, I would like to tell the NBA that the next time somebody tells me.

That the playoffs are not officiated that much differently in the regular season.

I'm just gonna send them copies of this tape because this was, this was, this was football out there is what it was like guys were wrestling in the paint.

There was that one play.

When I think, no, well, not that.

Well, Josh, yeah, Josh, Josh Hart is the king of like I didn't follow him.

Then they show the replay and it's like, yeah, you did.

You had him, get him by the arm.

Josh Hart's the king of like, oh, we ain't calling fouls today.

Like, like, you know what I mean?

It's like, oh yeah, I get, I get 10 today.

Like that's what, that's literally how he hoops.

But did you, did you see the play in the second half when De'Aaron Fox?

Got was this, was this the one you're talking about when he got caught up with Josh Hart.

He gets caught up with Josh Hart.

He picks up his dribble.

Like it's, it's a foul on somebody in that, that moment.

Fox looks at the referee.

The referee just kind of stands there.

Fox decides to dribble again, just dribbles again, doesn't, doesn't get called for the double dribble, gets in the paint, and then draws a foul.

But like that sequence right there where.

Fox and Hart were tied up.

That's a foul on somebody.

And the referee, I think it was Tyler Ford, was standing right there looking right at the play and didn't call anything.

And both Fox and Hart are like, Were you gonna call something?

It's on somebody here.

But the, but the Tyler's defense, he's kind of like, Bro, I'm trying to make sure it's a no call, and y'all wanna call so bad.

Like they both were like, Calling for me.

Call.

It was interesting hearing, look, RJ is a guy that's played in the finals.

He's made a lot of deep playoff runs, played with the Nets back in the early days, so he's used to physical basketball.

I think it was one point that he's like, this is, this is too physical.

This, this is too much.

This is not basketball anymore.

It's Greco-Roman wrestling out there and survival of the fittest, which, as I wrote this before the start of the series.

If this game was gonna be called, uh, uh, called, uh, physically, if you let guys play, benefits the Knicks greatly.

They're the grown men here.

Like they're the, the more physical team naturally and it played out that way.

I thought their ability to be physical and push the Spurs out on the perimeter was a big reason they won this game.

It's disappointing for.

San Antonio for multiple reasons, not the least of which is I thought they had a good game plan.

I thought they made good adjustments.

Like they came out and started to do to Brunson what they did to Shay in the conference finals.

They pressured him like 75 80 ft.

They were bumping him.

They were grinding him.

They were making him work.

Steph Cassel.

Him going out with foul trouble in the 3rd quarter, that was devastating for San Antonio because he had been a really effective defender on Brunson, right up in his chest, being physical with him.

Uh, losing him at that point was, was tough.

I like that part of their game plan.

I thought they made some other good adjustments.

It's just the Knicks are just bigger, stronger, they're more skilled at key positions.

They can count on more guys, especially coming off the bench, uh, just a tough loss, uh, for, for San Antonio.

And now the question ET is can they come back?

Because you know, You have played at Madison Square Garden.

You know that that building is going to be jumping.

There's gonna be no need for any fake crowd noise to be pumped in.

There's gonna be no need for the jumbotron to scream for the fans to go defense or, or whatever.

It doesn't matter.

That place is going to be off the hook.

It is going to be maybe the loudest arena.

That we've seen in decades because this fan base has been waiting for 53 years to win a championship.

I was down there for game one.

There were thousands of Knicks fans in attendance.

Game two, it looked like there were thousands of Knicks fans in attendance.

Good luck if you're a Spurs fan trying to buy a ticket to game three.

The get-in price is like $9000 right now.

Insane just to get in the building and have a crappy seat to watch game three of the NBA Finals.

This building is gonna be rocking, and I don't know, man, this young Spurs team.

I don't know how they get a game in New York.

I think it's gonna be really tough for them to win one of these next two.

Now just out of what they've done historically, I would like to think they'll get at least one, you know, I think they do have the right type of toughness, especially when you have a cheat code like 75 Victor Wimbanana.

I think if you show up the right type of way.

You keep them around the rim, keep them in the paint, you know, you have to take some type of success from being like, hey, we lost two close games, it's a, it's the playoffs, they're going into OKC, they've been battle tested on a tough road situation.

You should be confident winning a game 7 in OKC, you know what I mean?

And, and, and going from there.

I just think You know, when it comes down to playoff basketball and championship basketball, the, the margin for error is so small.

So you can't do things like, you know, get Jalen Brunson a breather, Kat gets in foul trouble, and now y'all go down 9.

Or now, or now you have to battle back deep into the 4th quarter, down 14 or whatever.

Or when you're getting your butt kicked uh Wemby and you're ending up with 30 points or 29 points, and 27 or what, how many of it?

22 come after halftime, like we need a full 4 quarters , like.

You might have to start in the first.

Yeah, you can't have that.

You, you, you can't have that.

Like, like, especially with a team scrappy, like when you go into the locker room , like, yo, he can have 35, but he just gave us enough wiggle room to not impact anything and And a guy like Wimby, when he plays, he lifts every voice when he sings.

So it's like, yo, Wimby has 10, that means the point guard got 3 assists.

That means he could have had 15 because he kicked it out to a wide open Keldon Johnson.

Like, do you understand what I'm saying?

And, and, and it doesn't matter who's really on the floor, it's clicking.

I, I feel as though them being able to hinge his progression a bit is, is doing so much for that team where they might be leaving 10 or 15 points on the table and it's not looking like It it it it would look more like what we suggested just 3 days ago, we didn't think that the Knicks had any chance in this series.

Yeah, and can I just add, if you're in Eastern Conference team, and you're looking at your roster, and you're saying, we're not as good as Oklahoma City, San Antonio.

Top teams in the Western Conference.

How this series is playing out is a proof of concept of how you win.

Now, not every team is the Knicks because the Knicks are deep, strong, mentally tough, physical, but among the reasons they're winning is because San Antonio, I think, is shop-worn from the last two rounds of the playoffs, going 6 games with Minnesota, going 7 games.

Oklahoma City.

And you know what?

That's not gonna change.

Like, the Western Conference is going to get better next year.

Utah is going to be better.

Portland is going to be better.

New Orleans is going to be better.

The only team that's not gonna be better is probably Sacramento, which might win 5 games next year.

But the, the, the Western Conference top to bottom is going to be tough and the playoffs in the Western Conference, even for the #1 seed, are going to be tough from the open.

Winning round.

And if you're an Eastern Conference team, and if you're good enough to maybe not sweep the final two rounds of the conference playoffs, but to win them 5 games, 6 games, give yourself a week-long layoff before the start of the finals, this is how you win.

You can take advantage of the fact that the West is so much tougher than the East .

So if you're New York, going into next year, Boston, maybe even Orlando, I think they're gonna have a good year.

Like you're, You gotta look at this and say like it's not hopeless.

Like I know Wemby's in the NBA now, but it's not hopeless to win an NBA championship because all you gotta do is survive and get out of the Eastern Conference and you gotta be kind of like New York and give yourself a chance to win.

That's, that's how I see the East.

No, I, I, you're, you're absolutely right in that sense.

Even just bring up Detroit, you know, they put themselves in tough situations of going, you know, to wild game sevens, even if they would have made it through.

They probably would limped through because you saw how tired Katie Cunningham was.

But even bring up Boston.

I like, uh, you know, they add one or two more.

Man, that's a lot for Wendy.

I like if they find 1 or 2 more decent bigs and Neimus Keita is one of the 3 bigs to guard Wendy, I believe that would be, you know , you can't shout out to my guy Voch.

You can't have him there.

Um, I love Luca Garza to death , but that you just can't do that either.

So no, you, you need it's like if you're Boston, you've got to go out and get another big.

It's gotta be, you've, you've got to try to make a run at Mitchell Robinson, being honest.

You've got to try to make a run if Isaiah Hartenstein is available.

Like you've got, like I said this earlier in the week, and we need you for 2 weeks, like, you know what I mean?

Like you sit out the rest of the year, we just need you for like 6 games maybe.

Like the big man is now in vogue again.

Like being a big burly Mitchell Robinson type is becoming necessary if you want to get past Victor Wambayama.

And look, they, you know, we're, we're writing the Spurs obituary right now.

It's the series isn't over.

I just, I, I think they're probably done, but they're gonna learn a lot from this going into next year.

And look, when Dylan Harper is 21, Steph Cassel is 22, Victor Wambayama is 23.

They're gonna be a lot better.

I mean, among, look, I'm watching that game, ET and look, every team commits turnovers.

The Spurs in these first two games have committed some of the most mind-numbing turnovers that I can remember.

Like they're just throwing the ball into the Knicks' hands.

They're committing live ball turnovers.

Last night it was 12 for 17 points.

Like they are just.

The kind of stuff that if you are in high school, your coach is probably pulling you from the game.

Castle's making some bad ones.

Harper made some bad ones.

Wemby, Wemby had one like crosscourt pass that went straight over the lane and like, I think all five Knicks at one point had a chance to steal it.

It was.

It was just bad.

It was just really bad.

And then that's the problem.

Wemby, 4 turnovers, Castle, 4 turnovers, Fox, 4 turnovers, Harper, 2 turnovers.

That's, that's how you lose.

And especially when they're live ball turnovers.

There were too many of them.

Uh, they're not gonna make a lot of the same.

Mistakes as they get a little bit older and as they move forward.

This is just a tough time for them to be imploding in that particular way.

Well, to give credit, man, Dylan Harper don't really make mistakes.

Like, if you break it down, like you said two turnovers, as much as he drives down, like downhill into the rim and like in a span of, he might get 30, 40 cracks at it.

Like, I'm just giving him credit where I'm like, man, even then he kind of started that.

That 14 year-old break by himself just off pushing, going 1 on 21 on 3, and get into the paint and putting pressure on the defense.

He's man, that kid is really, really good, bro.

Oh, he's a star.

He's a star and he, he's comfortable in the moment too.

Like you can see the smile on his face in the fourth quarter.

Like he's into it.

Look, I think Castle's a star too.

Like Castle is a stone cold killer who is already one of the best defensive guards.

In the NBA.

It's just the mistakes, the, the mental breakdowns, the, the lack of, and you heard Mitch Johnson talk about this after the game, like they're kind of waiting for the game to come to them.

They're not taking the game.

Like the Knicks are grabbing the game.

They're, they're, they're controlling the game.

Like they're being.

Physical.

They're, they're punching first.

The Spurs are in, like to keep the boxing analogy going, they're in two counterpuncher mode.

Like you have got to, like you did during that 14-0 stretch, take, go be aggressive.

Take, uh , take good shots, go to the rim.

Like these, you, you could tell like some of these shots, like they're just, the three-pointers, they're just like kind of like , oh my God, please go in, please go in.

Like it's, it's not.

Very few of them are in rhythm .

Like very few of them are the kind of shots where you, you feel good about them when they leave their hands.

Yeah, and, and experience is everything.

When you sit there, like you forget it's a 21, 22 year old kid going up against 10-year vets.

And I'm not saying there's a, it's so impressive what they're doing.

It's just like, you're looking at your coach who's a 2nd year, like, go do it.

And it's like, yo, I'm literally learning on the fly versus a grown man that's played over.

10 million hours on the court.

So it it it is tough, man.

It's definitely tough.

Those guys are really, really, really, really good.

I, I think Castle, uh, You know, he's just got to continue to slow down those turnovers and you know, get to his spots to find the right shot.

Sometimes I think he he he he grows a little frustrated.

He almost hurt his ankle yesterday trying to draw a foul, force it, and it's not going to be there in that sense.

He tried that little kickout move there and, and almost messed up, almost popped his JT forces.

Like you can't do that.

You know what I mean?

Like, like you just can't do that, but they're they're unbelievable, they're they're they're good young guys, but it's tough to learn on the fly, but I think they're just gonna have to keep, uh, working that system, working their offense, and and starting back of just getting stops and getting out and running.

That's where they've been most advantageous, as opposed to sometimes trying to screen, re-screen, and, and, and you know, the, the, the Knicks have been sitting down trying to uh Comprehend that offense and break it down and they've been prepared for it.

That that court looks small when you're watching TV and they they got arms wide open and almost every pass seems like a steal, almost every shot's contested, and they're not calling any fouls and now you're just wrestling for the defensive rebound.

It's it's it's a war in there.

Yeah, they're incredibly, the Knicks are incredibly well prepared.

Like their staff is ready for this game.

I look, even something as simple as the challenge call on Annobi's shot, right?

Like that had to happen quick.

That happens in a matter of seconds.

Shout out to their challenge guy behind the bench for immediately telling Mike Brown to challenge that call.

That was a game shifter right there.

That was a, it was a tie game going the other way.

All of a sudden Enanobi gets 3 free throws, makes all 3.

Spurs are back into a hole, uh, late in the game.

So we'll see.

I, I.

I do think it's gonna be tough.

I, I, I've been wrong about the series from the start, so I don't take my advice on it, but I think that, I don't think that goes back to San Antonio.

I, I, I just, I think the Knicks, their fans, that building, they smell that blood, and I think the Spurs just gotta be deflated after the way these two games have gone, just deflated.

All right, so if they go 140, what, what level championship run do you put this?

Brown and them went 16-1, uh, uh, Warriors, it comes down like I, I'm, I'm not taking anything away.

This has got, I'm, I say this, I'm not taking away from them and I'm about to do that, but like you, you play the 76ers who stunk.

You play the Cavaliers who were flawed, and then you get the Spurs who look are a great team, but young.

Shop worn after that.

Like, I don't, it's not, not on the greatest finals run.

It kind of reminds me a little bit of what the Nuggets did a couple of years ago when the Nuggets, look, you play who's in front of you, but they went through some teams that weren't quite ready.

Then they get the Miami Heat, the 8th seed in the finals.

Uh, so, you know, it is what it is, but I'm not gonna.

Anointed as one of the great playoff runs of all time.

It, it is Knicks history though.

If they get, if they, if they beat the Spurs, you're not going to, but the Knicks, the people in New York are going to be, they don't care how they win it.

They don't care how they win the series.

We beat the best player of all time.

The series could end by forfeit in game 4 and they wouldn't give a damn as long as they win the championship, 53 years.

Let me tell you something, they win that series in 4 games, I'm getting out of that city so fast, so fast.

I do not want to be there when that city just implodes with the celebration because the Knicks.

It's bigger, if people don't understand this, a Knicks championship is probably bigger than any other championship in any other American sport in anything, right?

Because the Knicks, not only are they're a big market team, they're a big market team that doesn't have split fans, right?

In baseball, it's the, the Yankees and the Mets.

In football, it's the Giants and the Jets.

Hockey, Rangers to a degree, the Islanders.

This is, there's no competition in New York.

Due respect to the Nets, they don't have a fan base yet.

The Knicks, their fans are Through and through, they are, are deep-seated Knicks fans, generational Knicks fans.

You see Ben Stiller hanging out with Timothy Chalamet, right?

Fifty-something year old Stiller and twenty-something-year-old Chalamet.

That is indicative of the, the, the, the breadth of the Knicks fans that are out there.

So it's, it's gonna be wild if they can celebrate this series this week.

That's, that's gonna be crazy.

I almost wish, honestly, for the, for the Spurs' sake, CT.

I don't even want to see him go back home 3-1 because every Knicks fan's going to San Antonio.

Like that building is going to be 70% blue.

Like I almost don't want to see that for the Spurs.

Like that's.

That's this, that would just be tough to come home down 3-1, knowing you staved off a sweep, but you're too tired to win this series, and you gotta be on your home floor and look into the crowd and see a bunch of Knicks fans.

The defense chant will be going up when you have the ball.

Like it's, no, no, not only that, but like, you can always gauge by this one person when he shoots the 3.

Like Deuce McBride, like the whole, the whole crowd screaming Deuce, and you're like, bro, how Like it dudes from San Antonio.

Like, no, like, like it's that many fans there where I know like, it don't look good on TV.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like it's, it's a Knicks takeover.

It's a Knicks takeover.

I was at game one.

They were all over the concourse.

I don't know.

You, you couldn't tell because I'm not sure if this was strategic to have it for, you know, these games, but like the multi-colored shirts kind of made the Knicks fans sort of blend in like aesthetically.

Uh, but there were thousands of them there.

They all flew down.

I know a couple of them.

I saw one of my friends that was there who is one of those lunatics.

Uh, just, I'm walking the concourse to get to my media seat and all of a sudden I hear this nasally voice of my friend from like 50 ft away, like, yeah, let's go.

Oh, let's go, Knicks.

And he's got the Brunson shirt on with no t-shirt underneath it.

Like his back hair is hanging out.

It's just, uh, it.

I'm, I'm glad San Antonio's more prepared for it because, uh, could you imagine Knicks fans in OKC for a week?

I feel like everybody would have got arrested.

Like I, I don't think somebody would have gotten shot.

Like, literally.

It's like there's no carry laws.

Yeah, there's no table service here.

There's no bottle service, like, not a lot of that in San Antonio either.

The Riverwalk's not bad, but you know, yeah, but OKC, it's like 11 motel 6, and then, you know, trying to rebuild half the city, you know.

Uh, well, I mean, yeah, well, Oklahoma City, at least, and I had this conversation with somebody on the way to the arena before game one, like Oklahoma City, at least around it, like Bricktown's not bad.

I don't hate Bricktown.

Um, there's nothing around the Frostbank Center, like nothing.

I'm not, that's not like an exaggeration.

There's literally nothing.

There's like a Coca-Cola factory across the street.

There's one bar, I don't know what kind of bar it is, but it's, it's nearby, and I was told explicitly by somebody in San Antonio, you probably don't wanna go there.

It's not, it's not a sports bar that you wanna be hanging out at, so.

It's tough in that that part of the world.

Yeah, hopefully they build that new arena and that's supposed to be unbelievable, which will be cool.

I don't know where that's supposed to go up, but they, they hopefully get nearer to the riverwalk because that's where the action is in San Antonio.

Yeah, because that parking lots of buzz.

Yeah, yeah, we will talk again, uh, maybe when this series is over at the end of the week.

Yeah, let's figure it out, man.