Knicks’ Finals drought is (almost) over
It seems like every time I’ve talked about the Knicks on this column, I’ve said that they have no excuses to not make the NBA Finals. I’ve maintained that stance since the very beginning of the season. Remember what the landscape of the Eastern Conference looked like back then: The Pacers were without their star man Tyrese Haliburton for the whole season. The Celtics were also down their own star in Jayson Tatum and traded away quite a few key pieces from their 2024 championship-winning team. The Pistons and Cavaliers were the only realistic threats to the Knicks from taking the conference crown, but even then both teams weren’t as experienced in the postseason as New York.
Fast forward to tonight where the Knicks are up 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers, now they realllllly don’t have any excuses to break a 27-year Finals drought.
It would take a historical choke for them not to get the job done given that no team in NBA history has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit. Suffice to say, the series is virtually over. With the way the Knicks are playing, this series felt over before it even began. While New York was well-rested following a sweep of the 76ers, Cleveland entered off back-to-back series that went seven games. That being said, the Cavs looked like the more rejuvenated team for most of Game 1 as they held a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.
But then, Jalen Brunson happened on offense. And James Harden happened on defense, too. Brunson relentlessly exploited that matchup en route to 38 points to help power the Knicks to a 115-104 victory in overtime.
The following two games played out pretty similarly. The Knicks held two-possession halftime leads in both contests before pulling away in the second half to double-digit victories. It really does feel like they have multiple gears and they never seem to tire out. You might recall the latter was an issue under old head coach Tom Thibodeau where he would run the starters into the ground. That’s not been the case under Mike Brown, and his rotations are doing wonders to keep his squad fresh late in games.
Saturday’s night Game 3 victory made it 10 wins in a row in the postseason for the Knicks, a franchise record. And it’s not like they’ve been eking out victories. They’ve been utterly dominant. In fact, they have a plus-225 point differential during this winning streak, the most one-sided stretch in any 10-game span in NBA regular season or playoff history. Yes, not even the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors that went 16-1 in the playoffs—who incidentally Brown was an assistant coach on—had that big a point differential (theirs was plus-117).
A big part of this incredible run is their offense, spearheaded by the brilliance of Brunson. But it hasn’t been all Brunson in terms of scoring. In Game 2, it was Josh Hart who led the way with a playoff career-high 26 points while Brunson dished out a postseason career-best 14 assists. While Brunson re-took the leading scoring mantle in Game 3 with 30 points, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges stepped up with over 20 points each while Landry Shamet added a spark off the bench with 14 points.
Assuming the Knicks close out their series with Cleveland—whether it be tonight or later this week—they’ll have the tall task of taking down either the Spurs or Thunder in the Finals. The best thing that can happen for the Knicks is if that series goes seven games so they have another rest advantage. Even though they’re the more in-form team, they’re gonna need all the help they can get to deal with the alien Victor Wembanyama or the back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Yet more heartbreak in Buffalo
You would think that the city of Buffalo has already suffered enough when it comes to devastating defeats with their sports teams. I’m really just talking about the Bills. Wide Right. 13 Seconds. Need I go on?
With that in mind, it’s only natural that the Sabres endured their share of torment in their first postseason appearance in 15 years.
It’s already agonizing enough to lose any Game 7 no matter the sport. But there were so many aspects that made this defeat excruciatingly painful. There’s the fact that it was on home ice, where they went 2-5 throughout the postseason. There’s also the fact that the game went to overtime where the Canadiens’ Alex Newhook shattered the Sabres’ hearts with his second consecutive series-clinching goal.
To add on to the misery, Buffalo had all the momentum heading into the extra period. Not only had they rallied back from a 2-0 first-period deficit, they outshot Montreal 26-11 in the following two periods and 39-25 overall in the contest. But as this sport so often boils down to, all it can take is one long-range hammer-blow to deflate any sort of momentum, and that’s exactly what Newhook delivered.
A week later and that defeat no doubt still stings. But the Sabres should not hang their heads low one bit. The fact that they restored playoff hockey back to a city that’s so passionate about the sport was already successful enough. The fact they were able to win a playoff series (against division foes Boston, no less) made it even better. While some fans might feel it was a missed opportunity to make a run to the Stanley Cup since there’s no guarantee they’d make the postseason next year, rest assured that this team is not going anywhere. That’s especially true now that head coach Lindy Ruff signed a two-year contract extension. Now if they can also lock down pending free agent Alex Tuch? Even better.
Remembering a NASCAR legend
The world of racing is still in mourning following the death of Kyle Busch at 41 years old due to complications from severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis. I had found out about his passing as I was calling a softball game in Watkins Glen, the same exact town where I had just seen him on the track two weekends prior. Like virtually everybody, the first thing that came to my mind when I got that alert on my phone was that the news couldn’t be true. But sadly, it was all too real.
Admittedly I am not the most hardcore of NASCAR fans. But even the most casual of followers knew the name Kyle Busch. After all, he had been competing in the top tier of racing for over two decades, highlighted by Cup Series titles in 2015 and 2019. Those were two of his many accolades he garnered over the years, which also included 234 wins in 1,313 races across the Cup Series, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series.
When you’ve constantly won so much and have been at the pinnacle of your sport, you tend to make rivalries. The driver nicknamed “Rowdy” had plenty of them, namely with Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. But there was always that strong sense of respect for one of NASCAR’s all-time greats even when they didn’t get along on the track. Both Keselowski and Logano both said as much when reacting to Busch’s death. Logano also talked about the fragility of life, bringing up the fact that Busch had won a Truck Series race in Dover just six days before his passing.
As NASCAR continues to mourn one of its most iconic drivers, Busch leaves behind a one-of-a-kind legacy that will go unmatched in the sport’s long and proud history.
Other things that caught my eye:
- With all the playoff hockey and basketball going on, don’t forget that there’s still plenty of baseball that’s been played. The Yankees had a crucial stretch of games in the Bronx against the Blue Jays and Rays. The four-game set against Toronto started off strong with back-to-back one-run wins, though the bullpen tried their best to make things as uncomfortable as possible. But the bats went silent in the following two games with 2-0 and 2-1 losses despite fantastic pitching from Cam Schlittler and Carlos Rodon. That offensive dearth plagued them against Tampa Bay, losing 4-2 on Friday before winning on Sunday 2-0 thanks to an Aaron Judge walk-off home run. See? He can be clutch. Here’s hoping he has more where that came from once October rolls around.
- I had thought the Mets would use their Subway Series victory as a catalyst to get them back into playoff contention. As it turns out, it’s been more of the same struggles displayed in April. Splitting a four-game set against the Nationals isn’t the worst thing in the world, but getting swept by the Marlins? Not an encouraging look.
- It’s quite a busy time in the high school sports season with the postseason off and running. The Section IV baseball tournament is going about as expected. In fact, there’s been no notable upsets throughout all the brackets, with the only higher-seed victories being #9 Delhi over #8 Tioga in Class C and #5 Cherry Valley-Springfield/Sharon Springs over #4 Stamford/Jefferson in Class D. There are three local teams remaining with semifinal action coming up on Wednesday. #4 Lansing in Class B will head to #1 Oneonta as they aim for revenge following last year’s defeat in the sectional final. In Class C, it’s an eye-catching all-IAC showdown between #1 Trumansburg and #4 Union Springs. Speaking of eye-catching, the Wolves’ Asa Brown stole the headlines in their 4-1 quarterfinal win over #5 Bainbridge-Guilford as the senior ace struck out 17 batters out of possible 21 outs.
- As for Section IV softball, while most quarterfinal matchups are on Tuesday, #2 Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour played their contest against #7 Whitney Point on Thursday. The Storm rolled past the Golden Eagles 10-1 featuring inside-the-park home runs from Paige Ells and Izzy Bellavigna. They’ll host either #3 Thomas A. Edison or #6 Spencer-Van Etten/Candor in the semifinals, guaranteeing a division rivalry matchup. In Class C, three Cayuga County teams host their quarterfinal games: #2 Union Springs vs. #7 Delhi, #3 Southern Cayuga vs. #6 Bainbridge-Guilford, and #4 Moravia vs. #5 Tioga.
- It was also a busy time in Trumansburg as they hosted the IAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. It was a Lansing double in the Large School side of things as the Bobcats won both the boys and girls titles. As for the Small School crowns, Newfield boys won its first-ever title while Odessa-Montour girls also came out on top. Groton senior Ross Bush was named the boys track MVP after winning the 400-meter dash, the 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs and the pentathlon. Trumansburg junior Dafydd Williams earned boys field MVP honors for winning the long jump and placing second in the triple jump, also finishing first in the 100-meter dash. The girls track MVP was Dryden junior Reagan Burnham for topping the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter runs, while Lansing sophomore Ava Kobylarz was the girls field MVP for winning the long jump, triple jump and pole vault.
