NBA 2025-26 Season Thread: THE NY KNICKS ARE CHAMPIONS! BING BONG!
Lettuce NBA!
and lettuce lol @ James Harden
Ignoring NBA finals that were straight up rigged (Lakers 88, Heat 06), this is the first NBA finals I have ever witnessed where the clear better team is gonna lose. No ref riggage. Just the Spurs shooting themselves in the foot every game. Unreal man.
can we shut him down before he inevitably strokes out recording a bucks/jazz vid some november?
Ignoring NBA finals that were straight up rigged (Lakers 88, Heat 06), this is the first NBA finals I have ever witnessed where the clear better team is gonna lose. No ref riggage. Just the Spurs shooting themselves in the foot every game. Unreal man.
A big part of being the better team is how you perform down the stretch / in critical inflection points / in clutch time.
Knicks >>>> Spurs in spades this series with that stuff.
So yeah. Your move counselor.
Don’t be surprised when the Spurs trade Fox this offseason.
1. Then start Castle and Harper (who is definitely looking like a legit #1 pick in at least 50% of nba drafts).
2. He’s pretty damn expensive now since they gave him a new deal.
3. They’ll attach one of their many assets to get rid of him if necessary.
4. Some team will trade for him then.
Spurs are the more talented team but not necessarily the better team because of intangibles like cohesion, experience, composure, coaching
I know that's like something you would hear on a casual fan slop talking head show but probably a good way to look at it in this case
Wemby also should be suspended for G5.
His non-called foul on Brunson from G3 where he literally shoved the back of his head forcefully was en quote "not a basketball play", and fits the exact criteria for a Flagrant 1. Of course they "review" it postgame and decide to do nothing because Wembynomics is their new golden goose.
I know I'm biased, but the Spurs definitely got the benefit of the whistles in the first 3 games. That has to be factored in as well.
What a freaking series!!! I still think that the Spurs have a decent chance. And personally was still happy with my decision to hedge for the Knicks when the Spurs were up 29 points and thought that the series was (very likely) going San Antonio's way. But hey, I don't see SA losing game 5 
that's why they play the game
nobody can see anything. if we all could predict who would win, we'd all be trillionaires.
word on the street is Giannis to the Heat is a "done deal", and they're only waiting until the Finals is over with to announce it (as to be respectful to the league).
AND now they may be going after a NEW big 3, with trading for Kawhi as well being rumored.
Bam + Giannis + Kawhi + vet mins
Another rumor is Jaylen Brown to the Rockets in a package centered around Sengun. Could be a win-win deal for both teams if so. Ime Udoka and Jaylen Brown had a strong connection in Boston, and would be reunited with such a deal.
I've heard rumblings that the Kings may buyout Lavine (to give more minutes to their young guards), and he may imho legit wind up on a new Giannis team.
But the Heat would not be allowed to do so in the current CBA if they had traded for Kawhi also.
The play by Fox was ridiculous IMO. Pull that ball back and they have to foul you. Less time on the clock. 2 free throws. Isn't this well known end game? He should probably score if its an absolute gimme. Not this. It didn't look like an easy basket at that point at all.
That was the dumbest thing I've seen on the basketball court since the Jr Smith finals debacle.
That was the dumbest thing I've seen on the basketball court since the Jr Smith finals debacle.
iirc lebron was so mad after that game, that he hurt his hand pretty bad by punching a whiteboard.
Wow, curse of this post. I literally stopped paying attention at this point.
Knicks fans can thank me for the reverse jinxing of your team!
Spurs coach needed to call a timeout much earlier than he did in 4th Q. The team was floundering out there.
Definitely this.
Fox has been awful this series and absolutely a ****ing moron for going for a layup. Worst case is you miss a FT.
Also the lack of Wemby usage during the comeback is insane. They were in the bonus and just needed a few easy baskets. I don't know if this is coaching or just a young team always panicking in close games.
Start Harper and have Fox off the bench. Should've been done after game 3.
that's why they play the gamenobody can see anything. if we all could predict who would win, we'd all be trillionaires. word on the street is Giannis to the Heat is a "done deal", and they're only waiting until the Finals is over with to announce it (as to be respectful to the league). AND now they may be going after a NEW big 3, with trading for Kawhi as well being rumored. B
Giannis to the Heat obviously is happening. Jaylen to the Rockets isn't happening imo.
Fox has been awful this series and absolutely a ****ing moron for going for a layup. Worst case is you miss a FT. Also the lack of Wemby usage during the comeback is insane. They were in the bonus and just needed a few easy baskets. I don't know if this is coaching or just a young team always panicking in close games.Start Harper and have Fox off the bench. Should've been done
It is always harder to force feed a superstar big down late in playoff games than it is to force feed a superstar wing.
No way man. Being up 2 >>>> being up 1. Fox is a 75% shooter so that’s like a 55% they’re up 3, and a 94% chance they’re up at least 2. Plus there’s a chance Knicks panic and can’t foul fast enough. Plus the chance you miss the 2nd FT and get the board. Plus you force their last TO no matter what and can set your D, while if you miss it’s a
I know I'm on an island here, based on the thread and what I've been reading. And I clearly said, if Fox is going to do it then he better make sure to make it or get fouled.
But Fox surely isn't thinking about all of these things in the few seconds he tried to chase down the ball and get to the rim. He did what I think most players would have done based on years of playing the game, which is try to get an easy basket. Even with OG behind him, Fox had a step and just went up weak. That's on Fox.
The scramble drill did happen and the Spurs almost forced the Knicks into a backcourt violation turnover. And the Knicks did burn their final TO. And they set up a play and the Spurs forgot to box out OG. So a lot of other things went wrong that you're saying could have possibly been avoided by Fox taking the foul. The Knicks also set up a deep 3 by Brunson, which if he hits being up 2 compared to 1 doesn't matter, anyways. Obviously, being up 2 instead of 1 would have been nice given the actual result, but again, the Spurs just let OG run in free off of the inbound.
If it's really wide open, then maybe? What? Lmao. If it's really wide open, it's not even a question. The easy 2 is way more valuable then burning a few more seconds to try to hit 1 or 2 FTs.
The Knicks were very likely not panicking and missing the foul. They had 4 guys in the area and only 1 Spur. Also, another angle no one mentions who thinks Fox is a moron clearly capable of stupid decisions, is what if he turns to dribble and then decides to try to pass it to burn more time as Knicks players are coming to foul him? Then he turns it over for a real break going the other way for the Knicks. Or he dribbles the baseline and loses the ball. Or he gets trapped in the corner and turns it over. Or any other way this could have gone wrong by continuing to dribble it.
There's just so much that can happen either way, that if you have a clear path the basket with no one in front of you as an NBA player, you should almost always take the lay up chance, imo.
If Fox made the basket or got fouled, everyone would be like yeah, that was the right move. But he got blocked, so everyone is like, what a ****ing moron!
Anyways, the Spurs shouldn't have been in that position in the first place, but here we are.
Random rules question on the final 1.2s possession: After KAT tips the inbounds, let's say Castle gathers it in and hits a layup, releasing the ball with like :00.3 left. Can the Knicks challenge the call and claim the clock should have started the moment it was touched, and therefore expired before the shot? I feel like that'd be a nightmare to officiate unless there's some sort of time code embedded in the replay footage.
A big part of being the better team is how you perform down the stretch / in critical inflection points / in clutch time.
Knicks >>>> Spurs in spades this series with that stuff.
So yeah. Your move counselor.
I can't argue with that. I already feel checkmated.
A big part of being the better team is how you perform down the stretch / in critical inflection points / in clutch time.
Knicks >>>> Spurs in spades this series with that stuff.
So yeah. Your move counselor.
Spurs are the more talented team but not necessarily the better team because of intangibles like cohesion, experience, composure, coaching
I know that's like something you would hear on a casual fan slop talking head show but probably a good way to look at it in this case
The Spurs may just need one more year of learning how to maintain focus in the playoffs before they win a championship. Every player who played 10+ minutes last night for the Knicks was 28 or older. Every player who played 10+ minutes for the Spurs last night was 28 or younger.
Random rules question on the final 1.2s possession: After KAT tips the inbounds, let's say Castle gathers it in and hits a layup, releasing the ball with like :00.3 left. Can the Knicks challenge the call and claim the clock should have started the moment it was touched, and therefore expired before the shot? I feel like that'd be a nightmare to officiate unless there's some
This is a crazy scenario and I'm guessing not challengeable.
