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Knicks Bulletin: ‘Habits translate’ – Posting & Toasting
Some impressive stats from an incredible ECF Game 1 – Posting & Toasting
Timothee Chalamet Celebrates With Marbury, More Knicks Legends in Video After Historic Comeback Win – BleacherReport
Knicks Notes: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart on needing to start stronger; making adjustments for Game 2 vs. Cavaliers – SNY
What Jalen Brunson told Knicks teammates during impassioned timeout speech in Game 1 win – SNY
1% win probabilities, late-game NBA magic and why the Knicks might be Houdini – The New York Times
A Knicks miracle in Game 1 is more reason to believe they could win it all – The New York Times
The Run.down Knicks vs Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 Postgame Show – The Strickland
Home Court Protected in Game 2 | Rapid Reaction – Knicks Fan TV
Knicks vs Cavaliers (ECF, Game 2) – Recap & Reaction | POSTGAME SHOW | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
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102 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.05.22)”
I’m not a gambler, but if I was, I would have bet a LOT of money on Hart having a big night in game 2. He can sometimes go into multiple-game funks. But more often he responds to bad games with great ones.
Lady Z-man, who happens to be a ‘Nova alum, has a message for the KB Board: “Don’t be talkin’ SHIT about my best friend JOSH HART!”
She’s also Sicilian so unless you wanna sleep with the fishes, watch it!
(except cyber…she sez hi!)
Gonna be a fun final.
I mean, I finally decided on a Hart jersey after much debate between him and Mitch, so I’m a fan – but he was killing us for most of the first half last night. I’m delighted he got it together and had a great game; it speaks to his mental toughness and perseverance. But 5 out is still a good strategy – and so is starting Mitch, especially because we were getting killed on the boards early on, and it avoids Hack-a-Mitch.
Needing to pull Hart from the starting lineup for a shooter was predicated on Hart being hesitant or just missing. If he does what he did last night (he doesn’t need to hit 45% of his 3s even, high 30s is good), the offense is unstoppable.
The Cavs did a great job limiting KAT and Brunson, so Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges combined for 45 pts & 10 assists.
Nuts.
Every day I’m just happier and happier. This is amazing.
Thank god I was super productive during Lent because I’ve done nothing but post on KB and consume basketball content for the last 5 weeks. I’m like a junkie on Spotify searching for new podcasts.
I can’t believe how good Mikal has been in this playoffs. Arguably the best defender on the team, and he’s automatic on offense.
Hahahahah Hubie…
These games are on so late, could barely keep my eyes open. This pattern of close first halves and second half blowouts is a little more nervewracking than necessary but kept me awake.
That Josh Hart quote is hilarious, and the repartee with KAT afterwards. He can say whatever he likes if he plays like that.
Don’t know what the hell happened to this team in the last six weeks but I am in dreamland
Both benches were futile last night.
-Schroder, Merrill, Strus, and Tyson were a combined 5-24, including 1-15 from 3
-Mitch, Deuce, Landry, Clarkson, and Jose were a combined 6-15, including 1-7 from 3.
Hubie, in a few weeks after the Knicks win the chip, we can go back to ignoring sports until the fall, and avoid the inevitable Yankees Boone swoon that has already started.
Oh, I forgot about the World Cup. My productivity is ruined.
I want to know more about this person eating spaghetti on a ceramic plate and silverware behind Mike Breen.
https://x.com/joinoffside/status/2057638079272276020
Hubert, if you need a breather from Knicks podcasts, there’s always https://shows.acast.com/tv-is-good
Brown on Josh:
Brown needs to juggle Mitch’s minutes better. The hack-a-Mitch thing is a real downer.
Bill Simmons started his podcast by asking Rob Mahoney: “9 straight playoff wins for the Knicks… is it fair to start thinking about the title if you’re a Knicks fan at this point?”
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Bill.
Oh, Bill.
Bless your heart.
I’m not a gambler, but if I was, I would have bet a LOT of money on Hart having a big night in game 2.
it’s not well known but in 39 states you are legally deemed an honorary gambler without ever placing a bet the moment you verbally wave a winning retrodiction ticket or complain about the price of any buffet.
Brown needs to juggle Mitch’s minutes better. The hack-a-Mitch thing is a real downer.
this has been a clear weakness, if only because it’s pretty easy to improve, at least a bit. and it really doesn’t seem like we are conflicted between careful matchup hunting and the hack liability. 14 minutes a game is pretty anemic, even if he did look a bit out of sorts at times last night.
deuce’s postseason so far reminds of deshawn stevenson on the championship mavs. stevenson shot 40% from 3 but went 2-15 on 2pa for the playoffs. deuce is 3-18.
“this has been a clear weakness, if only because it’s pretty easy to improve, at least a bit. and it really doesn’t seem like we are conflicted between careful matchup hunting and the hack liability. 14 minutes a game is pretty anemic, even if he did look a bit out of sorts at times last night.”
I can’t help but wonder if Mitch is costing himself millions of dollars with the national exposure of his FT woes. Maybe that works in our favor in re-signing him? Wishful thinking?
I can’t help but wonder if Mitch is costing himself millions of dollars with the national exposure of his FT woes. Maybe that works in our favor in re-signing him? Wishful thinking?
it surely will weigh heavily on his offer price for most teams. it’s always possible for one or two optimists to come in hot, just the nature of the winner’s curse. but not so easy to sell yourself on a ~50% regular season quota AND an even stricter postseason ceiling.
Hart kinda stole the spotlight last night, and Mikal also jumped off the screen with his shotmaking, but the best development of all for me was the play of OG. 32 minutes, 14 points on 8 shots, 4 stocks, team high +22. His impact on winning was enormous.
“it surely will weigh heavily on his offer price for most teams. it’s always possible for one or two optimists to come in hot, just the nature of the winner’s curse. but not so easy to sell yourself on a ~50% regular season quota AND an even stricter postseason ceiling.”
It’s dicey because of our apron status. Obviously if we win a championship, who cares? But if we fall short and the need to improve the roster is all the more urgent, Leon might have to risk letting him dangle out there while negotiating other deals. Maybe I’m still a bit traumatized by the X-Man situation where the Knicks were pursuing Charles Smith and assumed that McDaniel would be good with waiting, and then suddenly he signed with Boston.
I think we should work on a crisis management plan for Owen and TNFH just in case.
Yesterday, two of my coworkers were trying to convince me that betting on the Cavs to win Game 2 was a sound strategy. They were giving the dumbest reasons, KAT was inconsistent, the Knicks were lucky last game, no way Cleveland goes down 2-0, Brunson can’t hero-ball every game, etc. I’m here today with my door open waiting for them to walk down the hall and pass it. I have a feeling they’re going to take the long way around the other side of the building to their room today.
There are links to it right below the comments and in the top hamburger menu. 😀
Wow, Mike! I hadn’t realized. Thank you!
My favorite moment in the game, even though it ended in a foul on Shamet, was (I think midway through the 3rd) when the Knicks were making a run and Shamet was aggressively defending Mitchell and frustrating the hell out of him. Or maybe it was early 4th. Last night was a blur. This teams just feels ready when there were serious questions about this team during the regular season. I believe this is the definition of peaking at the right time
Side note: I hope the treatment on Josh’s ankle helps him today. Ankles usually stiffen up bad the next day.
“I think we should work on a crisis management plan for Owen and TNFH just in case.”
And me. I love love love me some Mitch, not just his “homegrown-ness,” but pretty much every aspect of who he is. Having said that, I can acknowledge his horrific free-throw shooting, and state that I cannot imagine that it wouldn’t have gotten better by now. It *seems* like it’s a “in front of the crowd instead of in the practice gym” kind of thing, but even that doesn’t make sense, as he doesn’t seem to shrink away from anything else he does on the court. He really has improved his incessant fouling from when he was a younger player, and I wish he could fix this, as well.
But I think overall that he is a net+ player for us, and I would definitely be sad to see him go, championship or no championship. (I feel the same way about Josh, and of course Jalen.)
It seems to me that Mitch is a bit out of sorts, possibly due to the embarrassment of going 2-12 from the line and the associated loss of playing time. Mike Brown has to find a way to get him up over 20 mpg vs. this team.
I don’t think messing with the starting lineup is gonna happen, nor should it at this point. Seems to me that subbing him in earlier in the first Q, say after 5 minutes, for either Hart or OG, then if CLE gets close to the penalty, sub him out and bring him in again closer to the 2-minute mark, then start him in the 2nd Q and play him as KAT rests until the 5-7 minute mark.
I’m particularly in love with Mitch’s homegrowness. If he resigns, he might legitimately become the longest tenured Knick EVER.
And yeah, if they win a title this year, I’ve said it before, extend them all! I’ll gladly root for an out of shape Karl-Anthony Town to halfass his way through games in 2033 if he wins the Knicks a title this year.
Yes Z-Man, I’m a little shocked and embarrassed that this isn’t a plan written largely in stone by now for Mitch — it’s incredibly obvious. He’s massively impactful but has horrible deficiencies, but those deficiencies can be easily dealt with using a bit of planning and timing. To not do so seems almost criminal. It’s literally Coaching 101.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NYKnicks/comments/1tkj4x7/brunson_made_that_with_his_legs_crossed/
Brunson is insane.
If Mitch hit a free throw last night there would have been spontaneous combustions throughout the arena. He is loved through and through. He loves his truck. He changes the math. Brown needs to figure out the Mitch thing post haste. I love him.
In the first game, Mitch entered the game in the 1st and 3rd quarters after around 7 minutes. In game 2, it was after 8.5 minutes in the first and 10.5 minutes in the third.
I mean, KAT was playing extremely well in game 2, so it is certainly easy to justify the 36-12 minutes split. But Mitch has to help himself by making the most of his minutes. 2-12 from the FT line isn’t gonna help his cause.
Multiple teams have won nine or more consecutive games in a single NBA postseason. In fact, it has happened 17 times in NBA history.A few notable examples and historical stats:2026 New York Knicks: The Knicks hit a 9-game playoff winning streak during the Eastern Conference Semifinals/Finals.2024 Boston Celtics: Won 10 consecutive games during their championship run.Historical Success: Of the first 12 teams in NBA history to win 9 consecutive playoff games, 11 advanced to the NBA Finals, and 7 went on to win the championship.
I don’t know if it’s realistic to think we’ll win both in Cleveland, but we can almost certainly get one of the two (if not both). The strategy is pretty simple since Atkinson seems to have no counter to what we can put together on offense: If they keep everyone posted under the basket and leave Josh open, let him keep shooting (he seems to get better as the game goes on, in general). If they come out to play him, send KAT in there to get the dirty work done under the basket.
I was doing a quick perusal of draft big man prospects that might be available to us at 24 and the guy who stood out is Luigi Suigo. Unfortunately, he is likely to go to Villanova for a year to improve his draft stock, which would be smart considering that he is projected to go late in the first if he stays in this draft and would be a likely lottery pick in next year’s weaker draft.
Also, who’s the magician from the links below. Love magic. Gonna hit the park slope show up.
Bad free throw shooters are hardly a new or novel phenomenon in the NBA. What makes Mitch’s situation so weird to me is that he got substantially worse as his career progressed, despite getting better in plenty of other ways.
Bobby Marks says he’d offer 3/$39M, and I’m having a hard time figuring out how I feel about that because Mitch is such an oddball in ways both positive and negative.
When he’s healthy and at his best, his value is way, way higher than $13M AAV and is closer to Rudy Gobert money. What he does for our defense is obvious, but the extent to which his completely bonkers offensive rebounding benefits our offense is underrated–across both seasons he’s played with KAT, our offense is basically identical with KAT on and Mitch off as it is with Mitch on with KAT off. That’s…pretty insane, when you think about their respective reputations.
But he is of course a very dicey proposition health wise, and the free throw issues can render him a minor player in high stakes games. The offensive rebounding is obviously huge for us, but his limitations limit our lineup flexibility to some extent too.
In any event, it’s hard for me to imagine him being signed to a contract I don’t like. Even if it’s closer to $20M AAV, he simply raises our ceiling too much for me to care about a theoretical overpayment.
Also, he’s hilarious and I like the guy.
I’m more interested in the teams that won nine straight playoff game and yet somehow missed the Finals!!
I’m more interested in the teams that won nine straight playoff game and yet somehow missed the Finals!!
From Zach Harper : “The 2021 Suns (nine), 2003 Nets (10), 2012 Spurs (10), 2017 Cavs (10) and 1989 Lakers (11) all won nine straight only to come up short of the championship. All but the 2012 Spurs made the finals, though. That 1989 Lakers team swept the first three rounds before getting swept in the finals. “
As a final piece Mikal is putting a lasting impression on winning and losing.
A couple of Mitch’s problems at the FT line are obvious.
1. Not enough arc on the shot. His line drive shot is a shorter path to the basket, but it’s a smaller target. Whatever the correct balance, he’s way past it. That can be fixed.
2. He’s very nervous even if he’s not showing it outwardly. In sports/games involving a “pressure shot”, if you are very nervous your brain wants to get it over with as soon as possible to end the stress . So rather than a slow steady smooth release when you are mentally and physically ready, you get a quick jerky totally unprepared motion and shot. I don’t know how to fix that, but pool players deal with that all the time. The best thing to do is probably walk away for a few seconds and start over if you can.
Did you see the mic’d up clip where he said to Jarrett Allen “your heart racing gang…about to beat out your chest”
Priceless…
In hindsight it is now easy to see what Mike Brown was thinking with Hart in game 2.
The strategy was clearly for Hart— who did shoot the 3pt shot at above .400 for the season— to make Cleveland pay for the sagging by firing up treys with agency and confidence. The first few didn’t go in, I think he started 0 for 4. But Brown stuck with him, and the shot started falling.
We’re better off with Hart making those shots than Landry Shamet making them, because of the other facets of Hart’s game— his defense, his rebounding, his ability to run the floor, his hustle, etc.
So if you get Hart cooking from 3pt, you’re REALLY tough to beat. It was a bit of a gamble but it paid off hugely. Many of us myself included wanted him out of the game, and I even made a joke about Brown’s galaxy brain. But he’s pretty good, this Mike Brown guy.
JK47, I still don’t know if it’s a good idea to play the game that the Cavs want you to play/taking the shots the Cavs want you to take.
I don’t know that it’s a great idea for Hart to lead the Knicks in FGAs when you have guys like KAT and Brunson on the team. And the only reason why it’s hard for KAT and Brunson to score is because of what they are doing to Hart.
Ultimately, the Cavs know that they cannot contain Brunson/Hart (and OG/Mikal). The Knicks can still win in this manner, I have no doubts, but I almost think that they cannot lose if they play their game instead of what the Cavs want them to play.
Ultimately, this is a bet that Merrill/Strus will outshoot Hart. It didn’t happen yesterday, I fear that it might work more often than not given the track records.
“That 1989 Lakers team swept the first three rounds before getting swept in the finals. “
Magic tore his hamstring in game 2 of the Finals that year so as much as I kneel at the altar of Mike Brown and this team, I pray to the injury Gods even more..
“When he’s healthy and at his best, his value is way, way higher than $13M AAV and is closer to Rudy Gobert money.”
This is not true. Never was. Never will be.
“What he does for our defense is obvious, but the extent to which his completely bonkers offensive rebounding benefits our offense is underrated–across both seasons he’s played with KAT, our offense is basically identical with KAT on and Mitch off as it is with Mitch on with KAT off. That’s…pretty insane, when you think about their respective reputations.”
Mitch is a career backup C on what is more likely than not to be a permanent minutes restriction. He is a historically bad FT shooter. He can’t make a shot outside of 3 feet. He is a poor dribbler and passer. He not only doesn’t stretch the floor, he shrinks it.
We are seeing with our own eyes in this series how Mitch is an extremely limited player in high-leverage situations against the best teams in the NBA that have legit bigs. He is healthier now than he has been in a long time. Yet thus far in these playoffs he is averaging 14 mpg, in part because he is getting played off the floor. Can you imagine where we’d be if we were depending on him to play 25+ mpg because KAT was on a minutes restriction?
Considering our cap situation, if he was locked in for 3 years at $20+M AAV, that would be one of the stupidest moves in Leon’s tenure. He needs to be paid like a very good 20 mpg backup C, because that’s what he is, that’s all he is, and that’s all he will ever be.
Bobby Marks is no dummy, nor does he have an emotional attachment to Mitch. $13M AAV is just about right. Maybe go to $15M out of loyalty/longevity. Anything above that is lighting money on fire.
Would a win to go up 3-0 in Cleveland tomorrow night be, like, the Knicks’ biggest win in almost (if not actually) forever?
https://www.netsdaily.com/2023/6/28/23776677/on-10th-anniversary-of-boston-trade-a-look-back-at-how-it-happened-lessons-learned
I dunno. You can’t sag off him THAT far for that long. It was like he was shooting in an empty gym. It’s not a bad strategy in theory, but the execution of it was pretty extreme. Hart shot .413 from 3pt this year!
If the game’s getting out of hand and you’re starting to fall behind, sure, yank him, preferably before you fall behind by 22 like in game one. But if Cleveland is going to leave him THAT open, he can make those shots.
I don’t see them (Merril in particular) laying bricks from 3 tomorrow night…we need to tighten up the perimeter D …seemed like they had a bunch of open looks…
Yeah, I agree with this. If Brown had gone to a different lineup halfway through the third quarter in Game 1 rather than when the game was entirely out of hand (I mean, it was a miraculous recovery), I think I would have had fewer issues with it.
The play where Hart made a shot from the top of the key while Allen was literally under the basket, in an out of bounds play, was crazy for me.
What’s weird about Hart’s is that he goes from firing up total bricks to making shot after shot. There’s no in between, no in and outs.
But credit to Brown for sticking with him, for a while it looked like Atkinson’s strategy was working.
Nothing can ever surpass games 5 and 7 of the first championship run.
In game 5, Willis went down 6’6″ Dave D and 6’7 Dave Stallworth put Wilt to sleep in an incredible win that I listened to over the radio.
Game 6 Wilt awoke from his slumber and put up 45 on the Lilliputians.
Back at home Game 7 will never be matched by an up 2-0 game in Cleveland.
However… the Knick better be on the ball tomorrow night. Cleveland won 52 games this year and isn’t likely to miss as many open 3s and free throws again at home. Buckle up.
Yeah, pepper, that’s fair. Still think he’s been pretty spot on as a player valuation vs. cap analyst, as they go.
I think sticking with Hart was good. I don’t think it was playing into the Cavs hands so much as blowing up their strategy. After his display they had to guard him down the stretch and hopefully won’t try to guard off of him too often in the future.
The goal moving forward isn’t to have him shot 10+ 3s or have him shoot more shots than Brunson or Towns but to just force Cleveland to defend him and I think Brown might have succeeded in that. It’s not like it was some fluky display from a non shooter like Daniels or Thompson. Hart is a career 35% shooter from 3 and shot over 40% this year. This was proof of concept that playing Hart is in fact the Knicks going 5 out and there is no one on the Knicks you can safely ignore.
Absolutely no offense to the awesomeness of 10 in a row, but I think at this point, it isn’t any more important than any big ECF win that puts them in position to make it to the Finals, so I’d lump it in with the wins last season and 1999.
Now, if they win the Finals, then that, of course, will be their biggest win in over 50 years!
For anyone like Bob and myself who was old enough to be 100% engaged in the 1970 championship run, no playoff game will ever top that game 7. But to anyone who was not, any championship-clinching game will surpass it. The release will be so enormous after such a long drought that it won’t matter if they win by 1 on triple OT or by 50.
I don’t care if he wins finals MVP. You simply cannot extend a 30 year old big when he has two years left on his deal. It can’t even be on the table after Morey did it with Embiid and it’s turned out to be one of the worst moves in league history.
Mitch is a different story bc he’s actually a free agent. He & Landry should get paid whether we win the title or not. We need them both and value is irrelevant at this point.
The Lakers are the lesson with Landry & Mitch. They got cute with Alex Caruso, thought he wasn’t good value, thought Talen Horten-Tucker could give them 80% as much at 20% of the cost. Don’t get cute like the Lakers. Pay the guys you can’t replace.
I would just as soon try to find the next Neemias Queta or Luke Kornet than sign Mitch to a $20M AAV deal, unless it’s for one year with a team option/non-guarantee in the second.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind a deal something like the one that is expiring…4 years descending starting at $17 and going down to $13.
Speaking strictly for myself, I am 100% of the mindset that this is an all-or-nothing year. If we win it all, I couldn’t care less what they did with Mitch, Deuce, Shamet, etc.
But if we fall short of that, even a close 7-game loss, All bets are off for me. It will certainly not be any easier next year at best, and is highly likely to be much harder, to get to where we are right now.
So if we fall short, whether or not we lose Mitch would be much closer to the bottom of my priority list than the top. I literally could not be more ambivalent. I respect that folks feel otherwise, but that’s where I am.
I’m super impressed with how dramatically we’re winning. It seems that every win comes with another “Nobody has ever done this before” (latest being Mikal’s splits…). It’s impossible to keep track of them all.
“If we lose in game 7 of the finals we should make the team worse to save money” is certainly a take.
Mitch just had two bad games. Let’s chill.
“Bad free throw shooters are hardly a new or novel phenomenon in the NBA.”
True, but Mitch’s level of incompetence is an extreme outlier for rotation players on contenders. For some context on how extreme Mitch’s FT shooting issues are in today’s NBA, I looked back on the last 10 years of NBA finals teams. The only team out of the 20 in the finals that had a rotation player (1000+ regular season minutes) shooting less than 50% was the 2016 and 2017 Cavs with Tristan Thompson at 49%. Yet he was a career 59% FT shooter and improved in the playoffs to well over 50% in both of those years.
Fouling Mitch virtually guarantees a less than 0.4 PPP, making it equivalent to forcing a .125 3PT% shooter end a possession with a 3…even worse, since the chance of an offensive rebound are much lower on a FTA than a 3PA.
It is coaching malpractice to not put Mitch on the line at every opportunity short of getting your team into the penalty prematurely or getting key players into foul trouble. Why any coach would choose not to do that, whether during the regular season or the playoffs, is beyond me.
“If we lose in game 7 of the finals we should make the team worse to save money” is certainly a take.”
If we lose in game 7 of the finals, we should offer Mitch anything up to a supermax contract to not make the team worse” is certainly a take as well. You did say “…and value is irrelevant at this point…” didn’t you?
Instead of being smug, go on record with the most you would pay him. That should be interesting, given your takes about Leon should have called OG’s bluff and risked losing him for nothing.
I think you’re being too narrow, Raven. While this may be the best way to minimize Mitch’s deficiencies, it’s not necessarily the best way to win the game.
Look at what Mike Brown did instead. Those 6 mins to start the quarter were KAT’s most effective stretch of the game. He really cooked the Cavs.
In fact I’d say you’re right… playing Mitch to start the 2nd quarter would have been coaching 101. What he actually did was coaching 201 — he read the game.
Jarrett Allen was off the court. Evan Mobley was at the 5. Do you really want to play Mitch when Mobley can pull him away from the basket just to minimize hack-a-Mitch? Bc it would also minimize his defensive impact.
Instead Brown went to KAT, and KAT delivered. I’d say maximizing KAT was a decidedly better button to push at that moment than minimizing hack-a-Mitch.
It was a good move by Brown, who is increasingly giving me 1996 Joe Torre vibes.
I agree with you directionally but this is shitty math. For Mitch to be under 0.4 ppp he would have to be shooting 20% from the foul line. He shot 41% this year so it’s closer to 0.8 ppp.
That’s still bad but not nearly as bad as you said. It’s roughly equivalent to a 27% shooter from 3 or a 40% midrange shot, which isn’t even horrible as midrange percentages go.
I agree though that Mitch is best played at the start if quarters so that the hack strategy is more costly for opponents.
When is your Da Vinci going up for auction?
Oooh, she’s lovely! And now i know she has exactly my style… if there’s a dispute between one of my friends or family with others, i’m taking the side of friends and family no matter what, just like the italians! LOL
Tell her i said hi back, and that i miss you guys. 😉
Thanks Pags, my bad for not thinking that through. I should have just said a TS% of less than .400. Whether from 2, 3, or the FT line, it’s really bad.
It also suggests that the probability of a string empty possessions is higher.
thanks donnie…
had this post in my head ready to scribe – and then read your words…
starting to feel like maybe you’re even weirder than me, doogie, and pags all put together…what the fuck donnie…
stop being so distracting please…paint within the lines already…
Edit: oh yeah, you can through milo in there too…good luck getting any of those words the first, second, maybe even third time through…
The argument is mostly about valuation. We were having a similar argument about KAT…some (like me) wondered whether he should ever be on the floor in late game situations where defense was critical. Having that level of risk is unacceptable for a player on a max deal, but fine for a specialist making under $20M. Now that KAT’s defense and decision-making have improved somewhat (that foul off the ball in game 1 was inexcusable) he’s playing more to his salary. That’s an important development because Mitch isn’t a great choice to close out games either.
Brunson has defensive issues as well, but he isn’t on a supermax deal, and he’s so freaking great on offense that you can live with it. And you have defensive options behind him that can be safely subbed in.
it was neat to see…early on in the game it looked like KAT was focused on defense and getting loose balls…
he was really active going after any ball he could get his hands on…
i think for the remainder of this season, i’m gonna try as best as possible to live in this moment…easier said than done, so we shall see…
just my opinion – i am loving this variation of NBAtv’s studio show…thank god they got rid of the two grumpy old men formula…
robin lopez is growing in to it…fiz is like a walking cheese factory…marjorie acosta (super attractive and graceful dominican, she’s a KAT fan too), is all the way live…
barkely got mikal to laugh good after the game…last question of the interview:
chuck: seeing what great players you. jalen and josh are – do you think jay wright is overrated as a coach…
mikal lept losing it til the interview was down…
Like I said last week, Knicks biggest problem is going to be having another 9 days rest after sweeping the Cavs. Josh Hart is gonna be pissed.
A glass of cab on the cocktail deck at 4 pm on a lovely sunny afternoon isn’t a crime, is it?
Speaking of such, am I the only one lately wasting time on the world wide web and finding endless reams of SGA falling down after every shot without being touched? Admittedly anyone can be made to look bad with enough tape and some careful editing, but jeez, he’s making Harden look like a model citizen…
I’m fucking over time continuity. Let’s get to game three already. Fuck this shit.
This is fun to juxtapose with the videos of iHart pulling WWE moves on Wemby all night on Wednesday and getting away with it.
Then you go ahead and juxtapose that with videos of iHart guarding Joel Embiid in the 2024 first round, where apparently the rules of basketball were very very different.
OG only gets 2nd team All-Defense.
I hope OG takes this snub and channels it into (further) greatness
OG deserved First Team, at least over Derrick White
Wow. The Spurs putting it to OkC to start
And what is it with western teams and the color coordinated T-shirts???
Punch them in the mouth much
ESPN mock draft has the Knicks selecting three power forwards with their three draft picks. Somehow, I doubt that.
https://global.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48790115/2026-nba-mock-draft-projecting-60-picks-post-combine-peterson-dybantsa-boozer
I noticed that too and it’s not even team colors this time
These guys are pretty hard on I-Hart for not preventing a Wemby thirty footer
OKC just used an advanced challenge 😂
Wow this game just swung big time
Great work by the replay coach holy shit
Well, I am impressed by the Thunder
OKC is just so fucking unbeatable
I’m going with the Rockets 84 Knicks 91 to give us a 3-2 lead in the 1994 NBA Finals, we had split the first 2 games in Houston, i really thought we’d be NBA Champions.
I could almost taste it… 😛
Now, let’s do it for real !! 🧡💙
100% !!!
How the hell did Indiana win 3 games vs OKC last year.
Isn’t it great how on top of the best asset position in NBA history and their own custom rulebook, OKC also has consistently fantastic shooting luck?
Has IHart always had that delt tattoo?
These fouls on SGA are garbage. Reminds me of vintage Harden
They stopped calling those on Harden in the playoffs
Anyone still think a hobbled Dylan Harper is a lucky break for the Knicks?
Thunder bench outscored Spurs 66-18.
4 boards for Wemby is unacceptable.
Magical realism.