The Knicks trailed by 13 points, 63-50 with 8:02 to go in the third quarter after San Antonio's Stephen Castle connected on a tip shot. At that point the Spurs had a 90.6 percent chance to win Game 1 of these NBA Finals, while sending a huge message to the Knicks and the rest of the league that these Spurs have arrived. Then, the Knicks woke up. Maybe it was because the Spurs opted to give their big man Victor Wembanyama a few minutes off, but once the 7-foot-4 giant who tortured the Knicks on the boards, even if he wasn't shooting well on the night, was out of the way New York settled down. Mikal Bridges 11-foot jumper got it started, cutting the deficit to 12. That bucket was the first of an 11-0 run by the Knicks as they sliced the deficit down to six points 67-61. Then Landry Shamet, who struggled all night long, finally connected on a big three-pointer to cut the Spurs lead to five. Then Karl Anthony Towns did his thing over the next handful of possess...
As if the NBA Finals didn't have enough juice going into it, this angel certainly helps. Becky Hammon, a former WNBA star, and current head coach of the Las Vegas Aces once questioned the Knicks chances of winning an NBA title with Jalen Brunson as its main star because of his height. " “If your best player is small, you're not winning" Hammon said on ESPN back in 2023. Adding New York doesn't have that gigantic 1A player to help out. When pressed about those remarks recently, Hammon doubled-down . "Allen Iverson got MVP, and he lost in the Finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I'm up for being proven wrong. "That's the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson's a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I'm speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don't know why everybody's so stuck on that. I said it two years ago. I stand by it." Of course the Knicks did add Karl Anthony Towns tw...