This will be the first center/front line matchup for SAS that Wemby won’t be able to completely dominate in a lopsided way. Clingan disappeared by Game 3 in the first series. Rudy was a gamer but he isn’t able to produce offensively to match Wemby. Chet went into a missing persons program.

KAT/Robinson/OG are going to compete and get theirs. Can SAS win a series if the NYK front line is able to compete from an overall production standpoint with Wemby and co? The remainder of the Knicks rotation can play with SAS. They have more experience as this is their 4th run and their legs are well rested so they are likely to shoot better (as has been the case in the last 2 rounds).

I also think that Brunson has a bit wider shooting range and a better mid range bag than SGA with better outlets. Brunson has also spent a good amount of time in the last 3 series playing off the ball, which is not something SGA was able to do as much with J-Dub and Mitchell not on the floor.

I just think it’s going to be a very different series than what we just saw. SAS has logged a lot more miles and will be playing a healthier team than the ones they’ve faced in the prior 3 rounds. A lot of things can happen, of course, but I generally think the Knicks have some credible answers for what the Spurs do well, and they are playing at a high level.

Chet was so bad in this series that I don’t see how OKC can afford to pay him 41M to be their 4th best player. He might even be a Clipper or Buck by next month.

To the best of my knowledge this has never happened before—at least since Kareem (1), Magic (1), and Worthy (1). But by the time Worthy got there Kareem was just really good not in his alien prime.

We knew from the regular season results that the Spurs had OKC’s number so this result isn’t a surprise. I believe that if these Spurs stay healthy it will be difficult to imagine many teams in history that could beat them. My hunch is that they will end the Knicks Cinderella run which will put the Thunder’s effort in a different light. Hope I’m wrong because I want to see a great finals. But that was a pretty well-oiled machine the Spurs just took down with relative ease.

What’s been increasingly on my mind since these developments is just how devastating that ACL tear for Kawhi is turning out to be. There was a helluva good chance we win the chip in 2021 and I can’t imagine that Warriors team in 2022 being better than we were either. Could have been two chips to the Thunder’s one. Ugh!

The real reason they lost is because Shai choked for 6 out of 7 games and Chet got thoroughly and embarrassingly exposed, not because of injuries to their supporting cast. And, to be honest, because the best players on the court were Wemby and Harper. The only reason anyone ever thought otherwise is because they were giving OKC the benefit of the doubt as the defending champions.

Jalen Duren should be sending Chet a thank you card for making everyone forget about his meltdown. Chet’s stock has dropped even lower than his did.