They Are The Champions

Both the NBA and the NHL wrapped up their Championship Series this weekend, and both results were quite satisfactory in our home.

The New York Knicks won their first NBA title since 1973 in five games over the San Antonio Spurs in what can only be described as astonishing fashion.  Here was their Playoff run:

• Fell behind two games to one to the Hawks in the first round then won three straight games to advance to the second round
• Swept the 76ers in the second round
• Swept the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals; in Game 1, the Cavs led by 22 points with 7:00 minutes remaining in the game, and the Knicks tied it and won it in overtime
• Defeated Spurs in five games to win The Finals

But that last bullet point doesn't even begin to describe just HOW the Knicks won those five games.  The Spurs had double digit leads in all five games, and could have, and perhaps should have, won all of the games that they lost.  After losing the first two games, the Spurs rallied to win the third game in Madison Square Garden, and appeared to have a Game Four win in their hip pockets, a win that would have tied the series.  They held a 27 point lead over the Knicks at the half, and got that lead up to 29 points in the third quarter.  No NBA teamed ever overcame a 29 point deficit in an NBA Finals game.  Until this past Wednesday.

The Knicks kept chipping into the lead, while the Spurs, with perhaps the most dominant low post "big man" in all of basketball, Victor Wembanyama, kept attempting , and missing, long range jump shots and three point attempts.  The Spurs still held a seven point lead with a minute to play, but the Knicks kept at it, and the Spurs kept missing shots, and it all came to an end when OG Anunoby tipped in a missed shot by Jaylen Brunson with 1.2 seconds remaining to give the Knicks an unbelievably improbable 107-106 win.  

OG Anunoby becomes Bobby Thomson in Game 4!

We watched that game unfold from our hotel room at Pittsburgh's William Penn Hotel (why we were there will be the subject of another post coming in the next day or two), and simply could not believe what we were seeing.  As I often say, a game like that one is why you follow sports.

The real star of the Knicks was Jalen Brunson, who was named MVP of the Series.  After the Knicks fell behind by double digits is Game 5, Brunson willed the Knicks to overcome the deficit and scored 45 points in New York's 94-90 win.  He'll never have to pick up a check in a New York City restaurant for the rest of his life.

MVP

A couple of comments on two other key figures in these Finals.

I was tremendously impressed with Knicks Head Coach Mike Brown, and after pulling off that unprecedented comeback in Game 4, how could you not be, but more than that, his calm demeanor on the sideline throughout all of these games stood in sharp contrast to his coaching counterparts on all levels of basketball.  He never whined or screamed at the refs.  When he had a beef, he would calmly address it to the official in question.  Most of the time, he stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets.

In a profession that is filled with Danny Hurleys, it's refreshing to see a guy like Mike Brown on the sidelines.

Make no mistake, the San Antonio Spurs are a very good team.  Led by their star player, 22 year old Victor Wembanyama, and other young stars like Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, the Spurs will be back on this stage again and will win NBA championships over the next five to eight years.  Wemby is a force of nature and when you see how he can dominate a basketball game at this point in his career, it boggles the mind to think of how much better he will become as he matures, and I use the word "mature" purposefully here.  I love watching him play, but it was disappointing to see some of the, shall we say, churlish behavior on his part both on the court (Is he a dirty player?)  and in post game interviews and interactions with other players.  Hell, he's only 22 years old, so let's all hope that he outgrows some of that stuff as he gets older.  He will be, if he isn't already, the Face of the NBA, and he needs to realize that there is some responsibility that comes along with that. 

*****

One night later, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Las Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 to win the  NHL's Stanley Cup in six games.

I can sum up our actions to this by restating these comments from my June 2 post:

"Our rooting interest will be with the Hurricanes, not only because of her preseason wager, but because her sons  Jeffrey and Justin and their families reside in Raleigh now and are Hurricanes fans, and because she wants to see ex-Penguin Jordan Stahl win another Cup."

So the Canes checked all the boxes for Linda and I throughout this series, and Jordan Stahl even won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Series!   Oh, and the "pre-season wager" referred to above was a five dollar bet that Linda asked me to place for her back on October 3 that yielded a $52.50 payout on FanDuel.

*****

In other sports news, the FIFA World Cup kicked off last Thursday, and on Friday the USA began play in their Group with a rousing 4-1 win over Paraguay.

It was great fun to watch, and in fact, this whole tournament has been and will continue to be fun to watch play out over the next thirty-four days.  Every day during group play there will be as many as four games matches being contested, and it has been fun to watch throughout these first five days of competition.  I won't be glued to every contest, but I will be watching certain matches with great interest, like when the USA plays, or when Argentina, led by the great Lionel Messi, plays.  Their first match is Tuesday night.   The USA takes on Australia on Friday night.