Knicks vs. Spurs: Who will lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy?
The phrase “history repeats itself” is often overused not just in the world of sports but in the lexicon of the general population. But in the case of this year’s NBA Finals matchup beginning on Wednesday, it does feel like “deja vu all over again,” in the words of Yogi Berra.
1999 was the last time the Knicks were one of the two last teams standing in the league. Guess who they faced all those years ago? The Spurs. 27 years on from that contest, there are some similarities that have carried over to a new millennium.
Like 1999, the Spurs have the early feeling of a dynasty in the making. Back then, it was star forward David Robinson teaming up with a 23-year-old Tim Duncan to create a fearsome frontcourt, while they were supported by veteran guards Avery Johnson and Mario Elie. Fast forward to today, and San Antonio has another young superstar leading the way in Victor Wembanyama. Superstar is definitely underselling the 22-year-old. He’s a mere supernatural out on the court, somebody that the NBA has never seen before and won’t likely see ever again. Surrounding him are talented youngsters in Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and Julian Champagnie, while De’Aaron Fox is the “veteran presence” on the team at the ripe old age of… 28 years old.
San Antonio’s path to the finals also closely mirrors 1999’s run. In both instances, the Spurs knocked out the Trail Blazers and the Timberwolves. But the key difference was that they had to take down the defending champions Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, and boy did they deliver an absolute classic series. Game 1 set the tone with an overtime win for San Antonio, but they soon faced elimination down 3-2 in the series. But the up-and-coming Spurs showed their might and slayed the dragon with back-to-back victories to punch their ticket to the Finals.
The Knicks don’t share as many similarities to their 1999 counterparts. Sure, they both took down the Hawks in the playoffs. But while the ‘99 Knicks were led by the seven-foot behemoth Patrick Ewing, this year’s iteration is spearheaded by a six-foot, two-inch masterful scorer in Jalen Brunson. Incidentally, Jalen’s father Rick was on the 1999 Knicks Finals team, though he barely played.
This year’s Knicks also didn’t carry the same underdog feeling as their 1999 Knicks did. While the ‘99 Knicks were the eighth seed and were without Ewing for the Finals due to an injury, this year’s squad steamrolled their way through the Eastern Conference, only losing two games and are currently riding a 10-game winning streak. They’ve also managed to keep their starters healthy. Well, apart from Mitchell Robinson with his broken finger, though it appears he’ll play through the injury.
The Knicks are underdogs in this series according to both the bookmakers’ and the general media consensus. That’s understandable given that on paper, the Spurs had a harder road to the Finals. That’s not to say the Knicks’ run was easy by any means, despite what the majority of people think. They’ve certainly made things look easy with how dominant they’ve been, but they didn’t have to face the two teams that finished higher than them in the regular season (the Pistons and Celtics) while the Spurs had to get by the aforementioned Timberwolves and Thunder.
With that being said, the Knicks can win this series. So what’s the biggest key for them to do so? The obvious answer is to contain Wembanyama. But I think it’s the exact opposite. The Knicks should focus more on shutting down everybody else. Let’s face it: There’s only so much you can do to stop the closest thing we’ve seen to an alien on the court. Karl-Anthony Towns will undoubtedly be a better matchup than what Chet Holmgren provided for Oklahoma City. But it will still be an incredibly arduous task to guard him in all areas of the court. That’s why the Knicks should lock in on the likes of Fox, Castle, and Harper on the defensive end of the floor.
On offense, New York doesn’t really need to change anything up given how lights out they’ve played so far in the playoffs. My biggest key then would be to really take advantage when Wembanyama isn’t on the floor and have that be the time when they go on one of their patented big runs. San Antonio looks like a completely different team without the Frenchman on the court, and there’s the plus-minus stats to prove it. During the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs Wembanyama on the floor, the Spurs had a plus-62 point differential. Without him? Minus-36. It sounds crazy to say, but the deciding factor in the Knicks winning their first NBA title since 1973 could very well not be about Wembanyama, but rather his supporting cast.
In fear of being a jinx, I will not issue a prediction for who will win this series. But I will say this: The series will not be a sweep, nor will it be decided in five games like it was in 1999 in the Spurs’ favor. Win or lose, the Knicks will make this a more competitive series than people think.
Ithaca lacrosse does the double at sectionals
When it comes to Section IV lacrosse, Ithaca has been a powerhouse for both the boys and girls teams. But it had been eight years since both teams won a sectional title in the same season. That all changed over the weekend in Horseheads.
The girls team was up first on Friday to battle Corning for the Class A title. The Little Red was certainly the favorites in this contest, given that it had beaten the Hawks twice during the regular season. However, both of those games were tightly-contested with Ithaca winning by scores of 7-5 and 12-8.
The Little Red established control early by scoring the first three goals of the game and held a healthy lead entering the halftime break up 10-4. Ithaca struck first in the second half to go up by seven goals, but the Hawks made things slightly interesting by going on a 3-0 run to make it an 11-7 game. The Little Red ensured that would be the closest Corning would come to them, as the Little Red kicked it into high gear which included a 4-0 run in the fourth quarter to come out on top 18-9 to win its fourth straight sectional title.
Emma Bakos stole the show, as the Ithaca College commit led the way with six goals and an assist. Ava Fontaine paced the Little Red with eight points (four goals, four assists). Skye Lee-Byrnes had a hat trick, Sage Bliss netted a pair of goals, and strikes from Natalie Wagenet, Taylor Kerber and Sophia Camacho completed the scoring. Hailey June had seven saves in goal.
The Little Red will battle the Section III champion (either Cicero-North Syracuse or West Genesee) on Thursday in sub-regionals.
It was over to the boys team on Saturday, where it too faced rivals Corning for the Class A crown. Having split the regular season meetings, this game was expectedly a more closely-contested battle as neither team led by more than three goals. In fact, the Little Red trailed for most of the game but did not let the Hawks pull away. That was in part due to the work of Thomas Howley in goal, as the senior put in another stellar performance with 11 saves.
The Hawks carried a 7-4 lead into the fourth quarter. The Little Red was hanging in there but needed a spark on the offensive end. Lee Milton provided just that as Ithaca crucially scored first in the final stanza. What unfolded next was truly extraordinary. Eight seconds later, Reed Browne found the back of the net to grab his hat trick and get the Little Red within one of Corning. 12 more seconds elapsed, and suddenly Ithaca drew level thanks to a faceoff goal from Quentin Getzin.
It was a tense following eight minutes as neither team could find the back of the net. Corning’s final chance of regulation went to waste as Tosh Burlingame intercepted a pass to win possession back for Ithaca. After a couple timeouts, the Little Red made no mistake with its final possession. Sophomore Isaac Lee-Byrnes emerged as the hero, as his third goal of the game with 12 seconds remaining won the Little Red’s first sectional title since 2018 in dramatic fashion.
Ithaca has the rare privilege of getting to play on its home turf in the New York State Tournament as it hosts West Genesee in sub-regionals on Wednesday.
Trumansburg baseball is back on top
The last two years have been reminiscent of the Greek myth of Sisyphus for Trumansburg baseball. The Blue Raiders made it all the way to the Section IV Class C championship but came up short on both occasions. In 2024, they were no-hit by current Cornell pitcher Braeden Johnson in a 4-0 defeat to Unatego/Franklin. Last year, another MAC team took them down as Deposit-Hancock prevailed 11-3.
As it turned out, the third time was indeed the charm for Trumansburg.
The top-seeded Blue Raiders faced #3 Unatego/Franklin in the championship Friday in Susquehanna Valley. Trumansburg had first say as an Aidan Clarke-Cabezas sac fly drove in Willoughby Puryear to put the Blue Raiders up 1-0 in the first inning. But the Spartan-Devils answered with a trio of runs in the second inning to take the lead. The Blue Raiders hit back in the third inning thanks to an RBI double from Anthony Muro followed by an RBI triple from Connor Sherwood (both with two outs) to tie the game up at 3-3.
The bats continued to stay hot in the fourth inning as the Blue Raiders plated three more runs (all with two outs) courtesy of a bases-clearing double from Clarke-Cabezas to go back in front 6-3. Unatego/Franklin scored twice in the fifth inning to make it 6-5. Trumansburg needed some insurance runs to ease their nerves, and they delivered in the sixth inning with three more runs. Carson Hager scored on a passed ball, an RBI walk for Sherwood and an RBI sac fly from Mikey Zifchock extended their lead to 9-5.
Muro, who relieved starting pitcher Chris Clarke-Cabezas in the third inning, took the mound tasked with getting the final three outs to clinch the title. After getting the first two batters to ground out, he allowed back-to-back singles that kept the Spartan-Devils alive. But he bounced back with a strike out to end the championship, and a dogpile ensued on the first base line.
It’s the first sectional title for Trumansburg since 2021. There was no New York State Tournament that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so you have to go all the way back to 1999 the last time the Blue Raiders were in the state tourney. They’ll be right back in Susquehanna Valley on Tuesday for sub-regionals against the Section III champion, either Beaver River or West Canada Valley. Trumansburg won’t know who they’ll face until later tonight as the Section III final takes place at 6 p.m.. You might be wondering why they play their final later than other sections. That’s because unlike Section IV, every team makes the tournament regardless of seeding unless a team chooses to opt out. In the case of Section III Class C, 18 teams took part in their tourney with their other three teams opting out.
Other things that caught my eye:
- While it was triumph for both Ithaca lacrosse teams and Trumansburg baseball over the weekend, it was heartbreak for two local softball teams in their respective championship games Saturday in Binghamton. In Class B, Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour faced defending champions Susquehanna Valley. A young and hungry Storm team jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, only for the Sabers to tie things up immediately in the bottom half of the frame and take a 3-2 advantage in the second inning. It was a lead they would not relinquish en route to a 8-3 victory to repeat as champions. That won’t be the last we see of the Storm, who ends the season with an 18-5 record and their first IAC championship as a combined program. They’ll return all but one player for next season, so don’t be surprised at all if they’re back at Greenlights Grand Slam Park vying for the Class B title come next May.
- In the Class C softball championship, Union Springs also battled a defending champion in Deposit-Hancock. They too got off to a strong start with a 2-0 lead after one inning thanks to an RBI sac fly from Gracie Chalupnicki and a solo home run from Abbi Tracy, her second straight game with a dinger. It would remain that way until the fifth inning when the Eagles capitalized off an error to get one run back and a single tied it at 2-2. Then in the seventh inning, defensive miscues plagued the Wolves once again. After a leadoff single, a throwing error put the walk-off run at third base, and a passed ball sent that runner home to win it for Deposit-Hancock. An absolute gut-punch for Union Springs, no doubt, but that doesn’t take away from another phenomenal season they enjoyed with a 17-2 record and their fourth IAC title in six years. It was the final game for the core four of seniors—Chalupnicki, Tracy, Paityn Delaney and Ella Dougherty—that were instrumental in their first-ever sectional and regional titles in 2024. It was also the final game coached by Jim Bona after 11 years leading the program and 35 years coaching overall. A tip of the cap (or helmet, if you will) to Coach Bona for helping turn the Wolves into one of the premier programs in the area.
- Lastly, congratulations to Lansing girls golf for winning a third consecutive Section IV championship. The Bobcats edged out Corning by two strokes to retain the title at Soaring Eagles Golf Course. This came after falling short at the IAC championship to Marathon by nine strokes to prevent them from winning a sixth straight title. The Bobcats will compete at states from Friday to Monday at Wild Wood Country Club in Rush.
