Health matters quite a bit of course. I personally think the Thunder would have had a different outcome if we had a healthy squad like the Knicks. But we didn’t and we lost, and that’s how it is.

Spurs are facing a healthy squad for the first time this playoffs - and a red hot Knicks team who has been incredibly well rested and in good form. And it’s showing out in this series so far.

The spurs were able to shut down okc’s 2nd best player by putting vassell on him… if j dub is healthy the spurs lose that series

If KAT died today he’d still be finals MVP to me. Dude completely shut Wemby down in two games. I don’t even want to hear people talking shit about KAT again, this guy showed us 40 minutes of grown man ball. Pause.

It almost feels like this is a mirror of the 1995 Magic. A young team that does great in the regular season, beats their conference’s terminal bridesmaid, beats the best in the league, but run into a team that came together at the right time

It’s not matchup, the knicks are the better team. Tony brothers basically let them to whatever the hell they wanted and they still lost. In a year or two maybe the spurs are better, but right now the Knicks are the better team period.

Lmao more like the spurs got lucky okc had 2-4 best players injured after game 1 hahaha

“Obviously OKC being defending champs does indicate Spurs would be the better team going into this Finals”

Actually NY’s 2-1 record in the regular season and Cup versus SA indicated that NY would be the better team.

They are now 4-1 vs the Spurs this season.

Well, OKC was without they second best and fourth best player, so that is a factor that possible makes the outcome of the WCF different, so while Spurs deserve to be in the final, it is not a automatic that it is match up based reasons for it.

I’ve been saying for weeks that Knicks would beat Spurs if we matched up with them. Knicks are the only team with a real stretch five the Spurs have faced so far.

It’s all about whether you can slow down Wemby or not. OKC’s second best player becomes useless against the Spurs so it’ll always be an uphill battle.

Knicks also have a dude who isn’t scared to go up against wemby.

Thunder and Spurs also beat the shit out of each other for seven games. Knicks had nine days off. This is also this Spurs’ team first playoff run – they’re not used to playing 85 games, much less 100.

Spurs are also super beat up while Knicks were chilling.  There was some stat that like in the finals when one team wins conference finals in 4 and the other in 7, the team that wins in 4 is like 15-1 

Yes it’s about matchups, knicks too big for spurs, takes away our easy game we rely on when we hit slumps

Thunder and wolves should have been too big for us also but we survived. The 4 spot has been a hole for this team all year and a team finally exposes it

The Spurs/OKC series is such a good depiction of why playing in the West fucking sucks compared to the Knicks run lmfao

Spurs only won because 2 of our 4 best players were hurt and the other one is scared

The Thunder team that played the Spurs wasn’t the same as the defending champs team. JDub was far and away the second best player and he barely played, Ajay Mitchell was able to fill the Dub void pretty well all season but also barely played in the WCF

I don’t mind losing. But missing Dub most of the season was depressing :( I love watching that dude play

OKC, Spurs, Knicks is Rock, Paper, Scissors. I think Knicks caught a break with Game 7

Wemby is Chet to KATs Wemby

People really said OKC vs spurs was the REAL finals lol 😂

I think the Knicks coaching is better than OKCs was. Late in the 3rd the Knicks had their 2nd a 3rd string lineup in, and they were holding it down. Props to Mike brown for riding what’s working

This series reminds me of a Shaq’s young and talented Magic team against Olajuwon’s experienced Houston squad

I watched this game thinking about how OKC would match up better against this Knicks team. The Spurs are a really good team, but very young, I think they have a bright future. There’s also 2 more games between Knicks victory and Spurs Cancun. Spurs could absolutely go on a two game win streak on the road, but it’s unlikely.

Spurs need a bruiser PF. The guards are being pushed around for rebounds.

I saw a post before this series started implying the Knicks had an unfair advantage cuz they were beating the breaks off every team and sweeping their way to the finals so had more rest.

Then you bring up the WCF and how it went down to the wire of game 7. That series is fascinating since it highlights why closing out series is so important.

The Knicks consistently have an extra gallon in the tank in the last minute of the game. And they earned that gallon by taking care of business

Bro it don’t matter how many shots JB miss get that man the ball in the clutch and he will make it happen I always been a huge fan of his but it’s dope that on this stage we are seeing the most clutch player in the NBA.

The physicality is overwhelming for the Spurs

I heard this for weeks, whether it was against the wolves or thunder, and Spurs overcame it.

Knicks are simply a really cohesive team that execute very well on both ends, and we’re not at the moment.

Both these games were a few plays from going different, the coin just flipped the Knicks way

Everyone in the West is better than the Knicks until it’s time to be better than the Knicks.

Nice post OP! I applaud you for a non rage bait focused well thought out post.

The Spurs were able to cheat and put Vassell on Chet because Chet was really useless that series , he was a glorified role player doing nothing

Nobody on San Antonio can guard KAT and they tried Vassell on KAT but it did not work out , Wemby was getting blown by and forget about Kornett

Honestly the key for SA right now is to figure out how to nullify KAT , they’ve done amazing on Brunson

I think brunson should still be finals MVP.

Listen basketball is a team game. When the main guy is getting that much pressure and attention from the defense, everything else is so fucking easy. So brunson is actually contributing majorly just by gravity. It’s like Steph. Steph should have gotten FMVP Iggy knows that deep down inside. He may say what ever publicly but he knows for sure.

Maybe the angle for kat is the defense but I would say, for a guard his size, brunson plays at b+ or higher levels of defense. You really can’t ask him to do much more on either end.

I don’t really understand why everyone says “the knicks gameplan is to play fast and tire them out”.

They don’t even play fast. The spurs tire themselves out by humping brunson full court from the first minute of the game.

Hawks/sixers/cavs tried the same thing since it’s the scouting report on brunson but the results speak for themselves.

KAT is my lock so far for finals MVP. Hardest assignment and much better efficiency that brunson by a long shot

Bruh the Thunder were injured as hell and the refs turned the whistle off to force a game 7.

The Spurs matchup better versus OKC because they have a size and athleticism advantage. They dont have rhat same advantage against the Knicks.

What does this even mean? Wouldn’t this be completely disproven by the fact that the Spurs just beat the Thunder who have even more experience than the Knicks at this level?

I think the spur were just exhausted having to battle OKC until game 7, and would have played much better if they had the same amount of rest and preparation the Knich had

All I know the Spurs second quarter has been bad for 9 straight games.

This is why the OKC thing last year was so confusing. Experienced teams that are able to fine tune strategy quickly has long been the recipe to success. I still don’t think watching OKC that they have the basketball IQ of those warriors or Cavs teams from the 2015s. The Spurs also don’t have that team intelligence yet. If the Knicks win, the order goes back to the universe, but maybe stamina and roster construction under this CBA are making it much more possible for these young teams to win.

I guarantee Scott Foster for game 3

I’m a big fan of KAT and he has my vote so far for FMVP just based on what I’ve seen, but I just saw a post showing OG has more points on better TS% for the series and it made me wonder why he’s not getting more attention. What am I missing, because I’m also not giving him the attention it seems he deserves. Is it the fact that KAT is winning the Wemby matchup?

All great points, but I’d like to point out a few people who have called out the mismatch between the Knicks and Spurs and how the former are very well equipped to shut down SA and Wemby, particularly Coach Lee and Thinking Basketball on YT.

I think the biggest factor beside inexperience ( and frankly the stark difference in coaching) is that the Knicks are very well equipped to shut Wemby down. They have KAT, Mitch, and OG that all can get physical with Wemby, prevent him from getting out his spots, out-muscling him and forcing him into inefficient jump shots or passing, boxing him out and not allowing him to be in position for lobs or outbacks.

Especially KAT, he can guard Wemby straight up 1-on-1 and shit him down, and then go on the other end and cook him on offense. Absolutely sensational playoffs he’s having, if it weren’t for the bs fouls he got, the Knicks would have blown the Spurs out .

I vote 7.

I mean the same thing happened last year, and honestly to an even greater degree. The Pacers were massive underdogs but they matched up well with the Thunder and were play super well as a team. They probably win that series if not for the Hali injuries.