Yeah, he had that 45-second break, and at that point the Spurs clearly needed him to play the rest of the way. And that was a victory for NY, because he was, as you say, flagging at the end.
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Last I looked, Kornet only played something like 3.5 minutes in the 2nd half and he ended up with 21 FGA and 13 FTA so he carried a heavy offensive load. I generally donāt think fatigue is a major problem for him, but when heās asked to carry the offense late like he was tonight then itās pretty noticeable. Heāll have these games sometimes where he clearly doesnāt have it on offense, this felt like one of those games. Iām not sure if thatās a feeling out process of game 1, just a poor shooting night or what but the Knicks definitely played a hand in it
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Wemby is obviously a good offensive player but not yet a GREAT one. Sometimes heās good getting fed in the paint, sometimes not. Sometimes he can dine off his jumper, sometimes not. But I really think if you can keep him off the offensive glass and turn the water off on his lobs (he had one?) heās going to produce his share of tough games (obviously not always)
Towns isnāt a perfect defensive player by any stretch, but he had very good effort tonight and I think he and Robinson did well pushing Wemby out of lob position and and boxing out
Also, this is the first time this post season Vic has had to truly guard his man, Iām sure that played into fatigue
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KAT and Robinson not easy to go against all night. Glad Mitch looks ok with the hand.
I also noticed the Knicks working hard at times to keep him from the paint when he didnāt have the ball, presumably in part to keep him from using his offensive rebounding superpower.
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KAT played a great game. Very impressed with how he was able to drive by Wemby several times and the way he attacked the offensive glass. Brunson is a an awesome closer. Hart is such a winning player. Scored 3 pts but heās everywhere.
Fox was bad tonight. The Spurs need more from him or he needs to play less and give even more minutes to Harper.
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People better get their licks in now because Harper is an all star next year.
I wouldnāt be shocked if he finishes these playoffs with close to as many minutes as he played in all of his college season
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Hawks were the only team to come close to putting a scare into the best team of all time
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This answer was legitimately sweet. Kats a genuine guy
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Bing Bong @therealmirman
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Really special thing to say. Touching. Fills my heart
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From todayās Marc Stein substack.
It remains to be seen whether Dukeās Jon Scheyer or Michiganās Dusty May reach full-fledged candidate status with Dallas since both are so entrenched with their universities, but league sources tell The Stein Line that there has been exploratory conversation with both college titans to try to determine if there is any interest. May, of course, just won a national championship with the Wolverines, while Scheyer coached Flagg as a Blue Devils freshman in 2024-25.
Re: the transformation of the Knicks in the playoffs, hereās KATās AST% last 4 years:
| Year | Team | Regular | Playoffs | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Wolves | 22% | 9% | -13% |
| 2024 | Wolves | 15% | 13% | -2% |
| 2025 | Knicks | 14% | 6% | -8% |
| 2026 | Knicks | 15% | 27% | +12% |
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Spurs D overall was obviously good enough to win the game.
To me this is the story. 1st half:
2nd Half:
The other amusing thing is that the āluck adjusted scoreā (paging Kenny Atkinson) had the precise same margin as the final, with each team scoring 10 more points.
I really do think that teams that can play in transition effectively have a major edge in the playoffs simply because these halfcourt offense numbers across the board are just cratering in the playoffs.
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16 points running off makes or steals in the first half, 0 in the second.
Also the second chance points by half is really underselling the difference in their half court offense. Spurs were generating looks in the 1H they just couldnāt get in the 2H.
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Lifetime ban for 2 fans that ran on the court
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Good. The days of the Kissing Bandit, streakers, and random other knuckleheads canāt come back in todayās culture. Itās just too scary for any player or ref to have to deal with because these days you donāt know if theyāre armed or not.
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Yeah, like the dude last night was obviously a goof but you also at the end got the dark underbelly of fan behavior when Brunson - who I assume like most high profile players is accustomed to getting heckled on the road - was clearly a extremely upset by something that fan behind the scorers table said. A lot of weird and nasty folks out there.
Hat tip @telekinetic for pointing out he wasnāt yelling at Foster, Foster is there clearly trying to stop the ugliness
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Itās a shame, because that stuff was a fun part of sports. But yeah, after Monica Seles and numerous other terrible events, we just canāt have it. Goodbye, sweet Kissing Bandit.