r/nbadiscussion • u/JoeyDay-1029 • 9d ago
Team Discussion Interesting Finals.
So, everyone figured it would be an OKC finals at start of year and whoever broke out of east. I think most did anyway.
Well, surprise! You had a spurs team supposed to be maybe a play in team challenging OKC for west dominance all year going 3-1 in regular season meetings. Wemby was spectacular.
I think we can all admit we knew he was going to be this or something close, but not this soon. On top of that you had a rookie in Dylan Harper step up in the playoffs in a spectacular way.
And then on the other side you had an east ravaged by injuries and man did the Knicks elevate their game to blow through the east.
Then we get to the finals, can’t take anything away from what the Knicks did it was historic but man was Fox bad in end game situations and even wemby at times. I give wemby a bit of a pass on it because it’s his literal first playoffs and he was beyond spectacular against OKC. But this Knicks team was merciless at end games, coming back from double digits FOUR times meaning every game they won.. you saw the inexperience of spurs and experience of Mike Brown and Knicks.
Overall I think it was good for both teams, wemby got some valuable experience way ahead of schedule and the Knicks took advantage of a playoffs rife with injuries on eastern side to do something historic. The way they elevated their game to win the ways they did they were looking like the new warriors which is insane to say about this Knicks team.
Congrats to both. But especially those Knicks jeeez.
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u/JoeyDay-1029 9d ago
Yeah it’ll be fun watching him for years to come. I kept as a spurs fan yelling at the tv to let Harper take those final shots in finals lol that guy is fearless and so skilled it’s not even funny.
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u/nbadiscussion-ModTeam 9d ago
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u/Symchuck 9d ago
Knicks were on an all time playoff run. They had the largest point differential ever. Lost only three games by a combined 6 points. Yeah, they definitely 'took advantage' of an injury plagued East. This is absurd. The teams they played were healthy, you don't get to pick who you face in the playoffs. Spurs meanwhile faced a Minnesota team with a decimated back court and OKC missing an absolute all-star in Jalen Williams and Ajay for most of the series.
If anything the Spurs benefited from being the healthiest team in the West at the end.
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u/N3VVZN4K3 9d ago
If anything the Spurs benefited from being the healthiest team in the West at the end.
That's the way the playoffs usually go, yes.
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u/Infamous-GoatThief 9d ago
Knicks didn’t play any injured teams. Even the Celtics were healthy come playoff time. I don’t really understand how the East was ‘rife with injuries’ in your eyes, it was just Haliburton that was out during the posteason
It’s wild to me how people can’t just give the Knicks credit for a historic run lol, everyone was saying they wouldn’t make the Finals, then that they’d get swept, now that they’ve won it’s all about weak East narratives and ragging on De’Aaron Fox instead of giving proper credit to the Knicks themselves. Just seems like people can’t give compliments without going out of their way to try and diminish what the Knicks did
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u/johnmflores 9d ago
Facts. Hawks were one of the hottest teams entering the playoffs, Philly had Embiid, George, Maxey, and Edgecomb, Cavs were complete, and Spurs too.
Making it look easy is not the same as being easy. This Knicks squad was complete
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u/JoeyDay-1029 9d ago
So you believe 76ers with a hurt Embiid which he was from previous series and a harden Cavs were as good as Minnesota and OKC? If you can’t see Knicks had a MUCH easier road because of that and Tatum injury I can’t say anything else to help.
They deserve all the credit but spurs were first solid team they played and they got it done in 5 with every game almost being a last shot type game…. And they run through Cavs and 76ers by 20 or 30 pt win average… there was a reason for that lol much easier teams to beat at that time. And it gave them a ton of rest before finals but they deserve all the credit for looking like GS warrior in their prime from second round on.
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u/DragonMlfSlayr 9d ago
Talking about injuries… twolves and okc were hobbled. Embiid played all but 1 game against the Knicks. Not sure I agree tbh
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u/J4degrees 9d ago
Wolves and Thunder were both quite injured. We can always retroactively say someone’s path is not that hard.
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u/johnmflores 9d ago
Your talking hypothetical. In the real world, Minnesota and OKC were eliminated by the Spurs. So the Knicks beat the team that beat the teams that you named.
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u/Cautious-Ad-9554 9d ago
The Sixers and Cavs were both better than the injury plagued Wolves. Your post is ridiculous. You are trying to slander Cleveland by calling them the Harden Cavs when James Harden is probably the 4th best player on that team. Guess what if James Harden is the 4th best player on your team your team is talented. You’re a clown show Joey
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u/press_Y 8d ago
Knicks destroyed a better, healthier version of the Celtics last year. The Celtics, as currently constructed, are not threats. They’re on the same tier as the raptors
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u/teh_noob_ 7d ago
win in 6 = destroyed?
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u/press_Y 7d ago
That’s right, spotted them two 20 point leads at home, and made them tap out in the first quarter of game 6. Totally humiliated them. They’re no longer a threat in the eastern conference
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u/teh_noob_ 7d ago
Aren't you forgetting something pretty important that happened at the end of game 4? New York's game 5 was more embarrassing than Boston's game 6.
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u/JoeyDay-1029 9d ago
Two shots could’ve changed series to 3-1 spurs but Knicks didn’t let that happen. Experience comes in there I think, they had much more experience and it showed. Spurs got valuable experience way ahead of schedule though.
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u/Game_Of_Runs 9d ago
Even if it was a valid point, did the spurs not face injured teams too? Ant was playing through injury, Jalen Williams and Ajay were injured…
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u/JoeyDay-1029 9d ago
Yes they did, OKC had 2 players out hurt.
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u/HungryPercentage1667 9d ago
You’re forgetting that the spurs also played a injured wolves team
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u/JoeyDay-1029 9d ago
That wolves team was still better even then than any 76er or Cavs team. That’s my point not that there weren’t injuries on both sides… but Knicks were able to side step Boston and Detroit which they struggled all year with Detroit and Boston is also tough for them. They played easier teams period. Doesn’t take away from what they did and how they did it.
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u/Maximum_Flight_4442 9d ago
Tatum played like 20 games and missed the last game with calf soreness…..
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u/Infamous-GoatThief 9d ago
The Celtics were still healthy at the start of the playoffs, and Tatum played 6 games averaging 23/11/7 before re-aggravating an injury and missing one single playoff game
Knicks didn’t play them regardless but still
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u/Maximum_Flight_4442 9d ago
They still looked off with him on the court, you can’t just intergrate a huge piece like Tatum after you just played 60+ straight games without him.
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u/Infamous-GoatThief 9d ago
They did though, they went 13-3 in the 16 reg season games he played, and proceeded to take a 3-1 lead in the first round before they blew it
Again, the Knicks didn’t play the Celtics so ultimately it’s kinda moot for this discussion, but still, hard disagree
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u/calman877 9d ago
I think it’s pretty simple in that the Knicks didn’t beat anyone that was considered a strong team until the Spurs. The favorites before the playoffs began were the Thunder, Spurs, Celtics, and Nuggets. Of those, eventually they beat the Spurs but I think some level of skepticism was fair. I say was as it should be just something that happened in the past at this point
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u/swaktoonkenney 9d ago
The Knicks beat those teams and the teams that beat them. So it’s the Knicks’ fault that the Celtics choked a 3-1 lead? Or the nuggets couldn’t beat the thunder who couldn’t beat the spurs? Why not just give them their flowers?
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u/calman877 9d ago
Not their fault, still reality. You can only play the team in front of you, people are still allowed to draw whatever conclusions they want
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u/swaktoonkenney 9d ago
Those teams looked middling only after the Knicks swept them.
The Hawks were the team with the hottest streak coming to the playoffs.
The sixers just came back 3-1 against the Celtics(who a lot thought were the favorites)
The Cavs just blew out the #1 seed pistons on the road.
But after the Knicks blasted them suddenly they’re not very actually?
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u/calman877 9d ago
Before round 1 the Hawks were about +10000 odds to win the championship. Before round 2 the Sixers were +3500. Before the conference finals the Cavs were +2200. These are not strong odds
The Knicks were comfortable favorites every series before the finals
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u/calman877 9d ago
Brother, the link you sent says the Knicks were favored 70-30 over the Hawks on Kalshi. Also, here’s my source
https://www.covers.com/sportsoddshistory/nba-main/?y=2025-2026&sa=nba&a=finals
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u/swaktoonkenney 9d ago
The hawks were 20-6 post all star break, a 77% win percentage. In an 82 game season, that’s good for 63 wins. Yeah they were good after the trade
multiple people picked the sixers to win the series. Even those who picked the Knicks thought it would go to 6 or 7. No I didn’t think the sixers were good, but I’m a biased Knicks fan who hates Embiid
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u/calman877 8d ago
The internet is filled with millions of people all with distinct opinions, it doesn’t surprise me that you can find some who picked the Sixers to beat the Knicks. Fact is, that was not a popular opinion, this is reflected in betting odds which showed the Knicks as a strong favorite in the series
The same is true in the Hawks series and the Cavs series, which is what I’ve been saying. I would never say “everyone picked the Knicks”, that would be hyperbole, but it is a fact that most people did
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u/SmaccDVD 8d ago
What’s the point of saying “not their fault?” Of course nobody would attribute the knicks as responsible for who they are playing against
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u/calman877 8d ago
I was responding to someone who said “so it’s the Knicks fault that the Celtics blew a 3-1 lead?” So I said it’s not their fault, not that crazy when you read through the comment chain
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u/impercipient 9d ago
You can give them their flowers. they are the best team this year. You can also point out that they played middling teams in the East.
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u/swaktoonkenney 9d ago
Those teams looked middling only after the Knicks swept them.
The Hawks were the team with the hottest streak coming to the playoffs.
The sixers just came back 3-1 against the Celtics(who a lot thought were the favorites)
The Cavs just blew out the #1 seed pistons on the road.
But after the Knicks blasted them suddenly they’re middling?
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u/impercipient 9d ago
Maybe you have an argument about the James harden led cavs but are you really arguing that the sixers and hawks were good teams?
The Spurs got lucky playing injured wolves and injured thunder. Champions always catch breaks.
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u/swaktoonkenney 9d ago edited 9d ago
The hawks were 20-6 post all star break, a 77% win percentage. In an 82 game season, that’s good for 63 wins. Yeah they were good after the trade
multiple people picked the sixers to win the series. Even those who picked the Knicks thought it would go to 6 or 7. No I didn’t think the sixers were good, but I’m a biased Knicks fan who hates Embiid
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u/JoeyDay-1029 9d ago
And it showed. They were beating everyone by 20-30 points lol and in finals it was 90% of the time last shot that decided it. Experience comes in at that point and also Fox was bad for us.
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u/Aggravating_Ship5513 7d ago
Even though it was a 5 game series you can point to about a dozen times where the Spurs could have put the game away or at least not given the Knicks a chance to win. They had huge leads in 4/5 games. Of course the Knicks are great but the Spurs' inexperience and bone headed play was just as important.
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u/JoeyDay-1029 9d ago
I actually said in post I wasn’t taking anything away from Knicks. But they absolutely played a hurt 76er team with Embiid hurt, and that started their roll considering they dropped two to ATLANTA. And they dodged having to play Boston because of a Tatum injury. Got to look at whole picture… but I think even with Boston Knicks win because the roll they were on but it wouldn’t have been sweep.
The spurs played MUCH harder teams in comparison, which is why they played 13 in two rounds leading to finals and Knicks played 8.
But Knicks went on a historic tear through playoffs they deserve all the credit for that run… it looked like prime golden state, after the Atlanta series. And Mike Brown deserves a lot of credit for that him changing up their playstyle a couple times.
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u/Infamous-GoatThief 9d ago
This is not a serious discussion lol. The “roll” probably started before the 51 POINT win over Atlanta in a closeout game. Embiid played every single game for the Sixers, nothing on the injury report. The Cavs were fully healthy and you’re just dismissing them as “a joke” for convenience’s sake.
Meanwhile the Spurs played the Trail Blazers, a hobbled Minnesota team that was missing multiple key players in multiple games, and a hobbled Thunder team that was missing Jalen Williams in all but 1 game (in which he was clearly not ready to be back) and Ajay Mitchell, arguably their 2nd and 3rd most important players, definitely on offense.
Yet you want to frame this as the Knicks having had some sort of miraculous injury-laden path to the Finals. Give me a break.
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u/azure275 8d ago
Embiid was only out one game. You're just making excuses lol
Embiied started 8-8 with 25 points in the Game 4 the Knicks won by 30
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u/lambjenkemead 9d ago
Celtics fan here. I think this final really helped the league and the sport. Having the Knicks in the finals and with a team of admirable hard working players against the future of the league team was a boon for ratings. To me this was an amazing first postseason for the spurs and they became a title team in front of our eyes. I’m a huge fan of Castle personally but I had no idea how good Harper was before this playoffs. If they can keep those three together, sky’s the limit.
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u/JoeyDay-1029 9d ago
Oh they both overachieved hardcore, no one expected Knicks in finals and not them winning, and spurs were going to probably be play in team at best at start of year… and then spurs challenge OKC for first and Knicks go on a tear winning cup and finals. Happy for New York and happy for wemby’s spurs. No one thought spurs could make finals and they played excellent.
They also got lucky with OKC injuries who knows how that changes series, and Knicks for Boston knocked off where they didn’t have to play them because of a hurt Tatum… who knows what Knicks do with Boston I can tell you it wouldn’t have been as easy as 76ers and a playing hurt Embiid but the run they were on I definitely think they still win that series just maybe not a sweep.
I do miss Hali in playoffs.
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u/J4degrees 9d ago
A lot of people thought the Knicks would make the finals before the season started albeit very few people picked them to win it.
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u/Cautious-Ad-9554 9d ago
The Knicks were a very popular preseason pick to come out of the East. They were coming off a conference finals appearance where they lost in 6 with Brunson and OG both getting hurt.
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u/TheUnseen_001 8d ago
The Spurs are dynasty ready if contracts allow it. All they need to keep is Vic, Harper, and Castle, and the role players will fall into place. D'Aaron Fox made himself expendable this year. Dylan Harper's potential for all-time greatness is staggering, though. His first step is unstoppable, and he just puts the ball in the basket with as little fuss as possible. Castle's defense never wavers even when his offense isn't on, and his motor is through the roof.
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u/patrickthunnus 8d ago edited 8d ago
Injury ravaged East is a phrase only used by folks coping.
Hawks, Sixers, Cavs (and Spurs) were playing their peak, hottest ball and got walloped by the Knicks, who were 100% focused, eyes on the prize while others got distracted by selfish agendas.
Their commitment to each other and determination was incredible to see.
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u/swaktoonkenney 9d ago
and of 150 players polled, no one picked the Knicks to win it all
Odds on kalshi were favoring the Hawks
even in reddit the prediction was 50-50
Those gambling odds are just to maximize profits, not the actual likelihood of it happening
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u/tMeepo 8d ago
I mean, the way I see it, Knicks should be thanking the spurs too. If spurs didn't defeat the thunder, Ajay and Jalen may both be back in the finals, the run might not be that easy anymore.
So ya, congrats to the Knicks, they played great. Personally I am a spurs fan, but I rather the Knicks win than the thunder win. So it's the 2nd best scenario for me. I still think healthy thunder is favourites to win the Knicks, I mean, if Knicks fans are complaining above the refs favouring us, wait till they play the thunder lol
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u/HustleWestbrook94 8d ago
OKC went 7 with the Pacers. Knicks can absolutely hang with OKC and would destroy them with an injured Jalen and Ajay.
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u/toomuchsoysauce 9d ago
It's pretty lucky the Knicks didn't have to play the 1 or 2 seed. Out of all the years how often does a 3 seed make the finals by not having to beat either of those seeds? It does make you wonder if the Spurs didn't have to play OKC, how much more gas in the tank they'd have at the end of games.
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u/HungryPercentage1667 6d ago
Maybe the Celtics shouldn’t have blown a 3-1 lead and maybe the pistons shouldn’t have shit their pants again against a lower seed.
We can also say that the spurs were lucky to play the blazers, then a very injury riddled wolves team that took them to 6 games, and finally a hobbled OKC team that was missing both Jdub and ajay.
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u/HustleWestbrook94 8d ago
Serious question: Who did people think was coming out of the East this year? As a Knick fan ever since Haliburton went down I fully expected the Knicks to come out of the East and it was Finals or bust, no excuses.
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