Knicks make a statement in San Antonio
Being doubted is nothing new to this year’s rendition of the New York Knicks. When they trailed 2-1 against the Hawks after back-to-back fourth quarter collapses, concerns rose if they could even get past the first round. What followed? Three straight wins.
While they were favored in the following two rounds against the 76ers and Cavaliers, very few people expected them to have such an easy time against them. Eight more wins ensued.
Entering the NBA Finals against the Spurs, surely the prognosticators would be correct this time around. After all, New York had an “easy” path to the Finals in a “weak” Eastern Conference, while San Antonio had to face more of a gauntlet in the Western Conference, which included taking down the defending champions Thunder. The general consensus from the media agreed, with 11 of the 14 experts from ESPN picking the Spurs, and all but one believed the series would be competitive and go at least six games.
Through the first two games, it seems like the Knicks are poised to prove everybody wrong yet again.
The Knicks being up 2-0 in the series is already impressive enough. But the fact that they won both games on the road puts them in pole position to finally put an end to a 53-year-long title drought.
Both victories did not come easy, as has been the case throughout this remarkable postseason run. Game 1 saw them trailing by 14 points in the third quarter and saw Jalen Brunson leave the game with a knee injury late in the first quarter and hurt his ankle in the second quarter. But the Knicks displayed their toughness and rallied for a 115-95 win. Brunson scored 13 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter, where he once again closed out a big game with some clutch buckets.
New York overcame a much earlier double-digit deficit in Game 2, only to see a double-digit lead of their own get erased in the fourth quarter. But once more, they made game-winning plays down the stretch. A key steal and free throw from Brunson gave them a 105-104 lead and Mitchell Robinson’s strong defense on Victor Wembanyama forced the Frenchman to miss the potential game-winning shot.
While Brunson undoubtedly deserves his flowers and is rightfully the favorite to win Finals MVP—not bad for someone who’s had to silence many doubters of his own for being “too small”—I believe there’s another MVP in the making in this series.
Karl-Anthony Towns is tasked with arguably the toughest matchup in the league defending the supernatural Wembanyama. While Wemby is still putting up great numbers on the surface with 26 and 29 points in the opening two games, Towns is making him look human rather than alien. In Game 1, he shot just 6-21 from the field. While he was much more efficient in Game 2 at 11-21, he’s having a much tougher time against Towns than he did against the likes of Rudy Gobert and Chet Holmgren previously in the playoffs.
Landry Shamet also deserves a share of the spotlight. He’s continued to be a valuable spark off the bench with 13 points in each game so far.
The series now heads to Madison Square Garden tonight and Wednesday. When the Mecca becomes an absolute zoo and the Knicks riding a 13-game winning streak—the second-longest in NBA history only behind the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors’ 15-game run—it feels like the series is all but over. After all, only five teams have come back from a 0-2 deficit in the Finals, none of whom lost those first two games at home.
But the Knicks will be the first to tell you that they still have the mindset that the series is still 0-0. As cliché as that sounds, that mentality has clearly worked for them all postseason long. Can it work for two more games?
How will the Yankees cope without Judge?
The term “June swoon” has been synonymous with the Yankees in the Aaron Boone era. It feels like every time this month rolls around, New York sees a dip in form after a promising first two months of the season.
In recent memory, the numbers back up that claim. In four of the last five seasons (excluding 2022), the Yankees have put up a combined 50-53 record. While it’s still very early on in the month, that moniker could very well ring true once again with Aaron Judge out for the foreseeable future.
What started out as a day-to-day injury has turned into a long stint on the injured list. Judge is expected to be out at least four to six weeks due to a stress fracture in his ribs. The last time the captain was out for an extended period of time, it was in 2023 when he hurt his big toe in the Dodger Stadium fence. New York was clearly too overreliant on his bat as they slumped their way out of the playoffs and almost finished with a losing record for the first time in decades.
This time around, I’m not nearly as worried about the Yankees. Part of my concerns being eased is because the starting pitching will more than make up for the lack of hitting. Have you seen how dominant they’ve been this season? And that’s even with their own injury problems with Max Fried out and Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon still getting back up to speed.
As for the hitting, the lineup is better constructed than it was three years ago, though it has shown some inconsistency throughout the season. Knowing that Judge is sidelined, other players know they have to step up their own game. Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger won’t have to since they’re already doing so well. But I’m looking to the likes of Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr. to pick up the pace to make up for the loss of the best hitter in baseball. For Chisholm, a home run in yesterday’s win over the Red Sox is a good start.
June has gotten off to an expectedly mixed start with a 2-3 record. But as long as they can keep pace with the Rays—who they’re currently tied with for the American League East lead—while Judge is out, I’d consider it a win.
Previewing the World Cup for the U.S. men’s national team
As the so-called “soccer expert” at ESPN Ithaca, it fills me with great joy to get to write about the biggest sporting event on the planet: the FIFA World Cup. This is the largest-ever edition of the tournament, expanding from 32 to 48 teams. With that in mind, it will take three nations to host so many teams—the United States, Canada and Mexico.
I’ll spare you a full 48-team preview as that would take up way too much of your valued time. Instead, let’s break down the U.S. men’s national team and how they will fare.
As a host nation, the U.S. did not have to play any competitive games to qualify for the World Cup. But that doesn’t mean they’re not battle-tested. Look no further than their two most recent friendlies earlier this month. Against the African champions Senegal, they came out on top 3-2, an impressive victory over a team two spots ahead of them in the FIFA world rankings. While they then lost to Germany 2-1, they more than held their own against a European powerhouse ranked 10th in the world, which included an outrageous volley from Antonee Robinson.
While the results of friendlies and the world rankings should all be taken with a grain of salt, it provides at least some confidence that this can be a successful run. When I say successful, I don’t mean going out and winning the entire competition. That’s asking for way too much. A more realistic expectation is for them to get out of their group, win a game in the knockout round (which they haven’t done since 2002) and make the Round of 16. If they get a favorable matchup in that round, then a quarterfinal appearance could very well be on the cards.
In terms of how they will line up under Mauricio Pochettino, it will most likely be a 3-4-2-1 formation. Christian Pulisic is undoubtedly the most recognizable name on the squad. He’ll be alongside Weston McKennie as an attacking midfielder while Folarin Balogun will be the striker. Also in midfield will be Tyler Adams and Malik Tillman, while the wing backs Antonee Robinson and Sergino Dest will be key both going forward and tracking back defensively.
The bigger question mark is their defense, which has been a weak point through those two recent friendlies. They were without their best defender Chris Richards for those contests due to an ankle injury, but there’s optimism he’ll be ready for the opening game. If he’s not able to go, the current center back trio is Tim Ream, Alex Freeman and Miles Robinson. In goal will either be Matt Turner or Matt Freese.
The U.S. kicks things off in Los Angeles this Friday against Paraguay. Their other two group stage games will be June 19 against Australia in Seattle and June 25 against Turkiye back in Los Angeles.
Other things that caught my eye
- Even with the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals going on, the NFL always finds a way to steal the headlines thanks to two bombshell trades. Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown getting dealt to the Patriots comes as zero surprise since they’ve been linked for many months, but the Browns’ Myles Garrett heading to the Rams certainly came out of the blue. Both moves overshadowed the real earth-shattering news of the week: Odell Beckham Jr. is a New York Giant once again. Not only that, in comes Juju Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios on minimum deals to boost the receiving room. Is the Malik Nabers’ injury that serious to bring in three veteran wideouts? Hopefully not. But OBJ catching passes from an Ole Miss quarterback will at least bring back a great deal of nostalgia for Giants fans like myself. His famous one-handed catch against the Cowboys came on a Sunday night in 2014. The Giants happen to open up this year hosting Dallas on a Sunday night. Lightning strikes twice, anyone?
- Stellar seasons came to an end for three local high school teams this week in the New York State tournament. On Tuesday, Trumansburg baseball fell to Beaver River 14-1 in Class C sub-regionals. It was an encouraging start as Willoughby Puryear hit a solo home run to center field in the first inning. But the Section III champion Beavers scored 14 unanswered runs to win the game in five innings. Both Ithaca lacrosse teams also fell in sub-regionals to West Genesee. The boys team at least got to play one more game at Moresco Stadium on Wednesday but lost 15-5. The girls team was in Chenango Valley on Thursday, where they were defeated by the Wildcats 19-9.
- During the Yankees-Red Sox game on Sunday, we got a bit of an appetizer for the 67th Cortaca Jug. Ithaca College head coach Brandon Maguire and SUNY Cortland head coach Tom Blumenauer both got to throw out the first pitch as the “biggest little game in the nation” heads back to Yankee Stadium for the first time since 2022. November 14 can’t come any sooner.
