Great to see Ant back and to see him playing well.. if he can keep this up, Wolves are in it
NBA 2025-2026
- Thread starter charlton66
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Wemby is not a bad defender, just 12 blocks from him this game.
Saying that, I think Spurs will have difficulties in this tie. Sure, Wemby will do better offensively but it won't be easy considering that Gobert is next to him, the best defender in the NBA. And Fox will likely do better. But on the other hand, Ant will almost surely do better too.
I think it will likely go to 7 games. And whoever wins, will face a fresh OKC who will sweep or 4-1 Lakers.
Saying that, I think Spurs will have difficulties in this tie. Sure, Wemby will do better offensively but it won't be easy considering that Gobert is next to him, the best defender in the NBA. And Fox will likely do better. But on the other hand, Ant will almost surely do better too.
I think it will likely go to 7 games. And whoever wins, will face a fresh OKC who will sweep or 4-1 Lakers.
Yep, NBA playoff record. The difference in that game was (1) coaching, and (2) Fox.
They had Gobert drop in effectively for Wemby's pick and roll, but even then despite Spurs having an abysmal game, still it was only 2 points difference, and in which case, if Fox wasn't so terrible, and if Carter Bryant was available off the bench, that's a W instead of a L.
Which brings me to the other point. Mitch should have just taken Fox off and put Harper on when, yet again, it's Harper who is proving to look like the veteran in this team, and not Fox. I have no doubts that if Mitch reacted soon enough, we could have got a lead on the game and held it.
In addition Wemby hit none of his three point shots. About nine of them, but Wemby has a 35% 3 point record this season, so his off shooting from beyond the arc last night was anomalous. Logic would dictate that anomalous shooting performances likely don't carry for an entire series, which I'm factoring naturally.
Most grievous of all is that, we didn't call the timeout at the end of the game and get the ball to our best clutch 3 pointer on Champagnie in a good position to win it.
Mitch got out coached, Wemby had a generational defensive masterclass, but both him and Fox not scoring and us still almost winning the game, and relying on bench points from Harper and Co in the process is a positive sign that if we're 5% better than abysmal, we should see out a difficult Timberwolves.
Wolves themselves weren't performing at their best either. Ant was coming off the bench, on minutes restriction and Ayo was missing. If Ant played 35-40 mins instead of 25, Wolves might have won more comfortably. I think the hypothetical 'could have done better' scenario works in Wolves' favour too.
This is set up to be a very interesting game 2. Spurs absolutely cannot afford to lose so you'd imagine they'll come out fighting but Wolves are a veteran playoff team.
On the timeout thing, Champagnie got a wide open look. He just missed. It was unlucky. I don't think a timeout and having a to operate against a set Wolves defence, an excellent defence I might add, would have a generated a better look than the one Champagnie got.
Always great seeing Mike Conley in these kinds of games. Aged like a fine wine
Strange thing to say in a 18 point loss but the Lakers played relatively well. Still, this game only adds more questions about Austin Reaves and how big of a player can he be in the playoffs.
What is the timeline on Luka's comeback?
I've seen 3rd game as the earliest, although that is quite optimistic
Yeah Lakers were decent. Thunder are just much better and extremely methodical in how they play. They just inched away little by little. It was a 5pt gane after the first then an 8pt game at HT and so on.
Embiid out for game 2.
There goes any hope the sixers had.
Most accurate prediction I've seen is that he's 4,5 weeks into an injury that usually takes between 6-8 weeks. I don't know the series schedule by heart but if he's 1,5 week away from returning (and likely not at full strength), then coming back to play against OKC is not realistic for him imo.
OG got subbed out, hope he's fine. They NEED him.
This Spurs core is scary
What a shame. A fully motivated and fired up LeBron paired with Luka could've at least given OKC a proper challenge.
Meh they mugged us in the regular season as well with Luka in the lineup, I don't think this series would've gone to 6 games either way.
OKC vs Spurs (hopefully) is the big one, and the de facto Finals imo, both will wipe the floor with the team coming out of the East.
Team chemistry off court is amazing. It's like the 00's Spurs with Duncan and Co all having network PC gaming sessions whilst on the road, except with Wemby it's boardgames and stuff.
At one point last night Spurs were 47 ahead of the Wolves. 9 minutes left in the fourth and all the unused bench guys got on...... In a semi final conference game.
This has got shades of 2014 all over it.
I don't think I've ever seen this shot made in anything but anime
If you were to ask Knicks fans they d probably tell you they d wipe the floor with any team from the West. Not sure that is true, but I do think they re a well balanced team...and that's as much positive as you get out of me about them.
Me - I'm taking our Detroit games one at a time. Like the Spurs we seem to have excellent team spirit, which can go a long way in papering over possible cracks. Whether it's enough to go all the way we ll see. I think we re still another pickup away from that stage but im very optimistic about the next years with some of our core. Massive kudos to guys like Tobias for stepping up, and Duren seems to have finally showed some of his regular season zelf in the last quarter against the Cavs. Ausar and Ron Holland remain players with some additional huge untapped potential, with Ausar having had the chance to show more of it already. Unlike the Knicks though, or even a Cavs sometimes, we lack a consistent 20+ pointer to take the scoring load off Cade consistently. A superstar center or power forward would make us legitimately scary I think. Especially if Robinson is back to his decent long range shooting and we can get Huerter back into the fold to do the same.
OG hamstring strain, he's day-to-day. Thank god.
Detroit has been playing really well since that 3-1 woke them up. Surely they're winning the East if they keep playing like that. They dismantled the Knicks in the regular season and I don't see Philly standing a chance anyway.
Another James Harden playoff special. But yeah, Cade and the Pistons look great, this match up (so far) plays right into their hands. Pistons - Knicks would be a lovely East finals.
Wemby show
Yes that will be fun. Right the City is buzzing over the Knicks. Of any of the franchises in NYC when it comes to owning the town it’s them over any other team when they go on runs like this.
You guys think the Knicks are actually better this season?
Yes they're playing better and the East is much weaker
Monster game from Wemby. He is incredible.
Took a shot at Arsenal post game too
Took a shot at Arsenal post game too
They are statistically better this season under Brown, #2 in offensive efficiency, last year they were #5. They're #6 in defensive efficiency, last year they were #12.
But they lost a lot of "big" games. Especially against Detroit. They have to prove they're built for the playoffs, sweeping the Sixers would be a good start!
Yeah it's the only franchise that doesn't have the fanbase split in half. Jets-Giants, Yankees-Mets, three NHL teams or something. Nobody cares about the Nets. The Barclays Center is a graveyard. And even though they're a "new" team in NY, they could barely capitalize on the Knicks worst years where they themselves went to the playoffs a couple of years, even with KD and Kyrie. I doubt they'll ever be relevant.
Monster game from Wemby. He is incredible.
Took a shot at Arsenal post game too
Great guy
True. Even when the Nets were good they couldn’t dent the Knickerbockers hold in NY. If they get to the final the roof on the Garden will blow off. The last good final I seen them in was them choking the night O.J. was on the run with a split screen on the TV. Surreal night.
Really hoping it happens. Haven't watched them as long as you but I had to suffer through nights with the likes of Alexey Shved, Ron Baker and Cleanthony Early at 2AM so I'm enjoying every second of this current success.
Breaks the single game blocks record in playoffs, and then scores 39 points from only 18 shots in another.
Steve Kerr's back for the Dubs. In two minds about that one. Great coach, but his system seems to have gone a bit stale. Maybe could do with a change. Will just have to wait and see. Either way, if there's not a major upgrade in the roster, it doesn't matter who the coach is.
OKC vs Spurs looks to be set.
I’m not as familiar with NBA as most on here, but hasn’t he got to the stage of basically, “you can do what you want mate”, given his unprecedented success?
Genuine question
Not a lot of examples of coaches sticking around after winning a bunch of titles but then suffering from mediocrity for several more. Pop, maybe Spol but everyone says he’s tremendous, and he had prime LJ and DW.
I guess it’s pretty rare to win enough titles that no one can doubt you when you’re struggling to make the playoffs.
Phil Jackson preserved his reputation by retiring.
Vintage Harden last night. Absolute cinema end to that gane.
Yes and no. The Dubs missed the playoffs again, so neither Kerr nor the front office were happy about that. From his POV, the thought was maybe he'd call it a day because the window for winning championships had closed. From the front office POV, yes they'd like to stay loyal if he wanted to come back, but they did want to implement some changes. First of all, Kerr is very outspoken on a number of political issues, the ownership would like him to rein that in somewhat. Secondly they wanted him to make some changes to his system because they (like me) also believed it had gone a bit stale. Third they were not happy with the Kuminga situation and believed his handling of young players in general needed some work. There are others, but those are the ones that seem to stand out. On Kerr's side, did he want to go back into broadcasting because it was something he was very good at and there are (supposedly) a number of offers on the table. More importantly would he agree to the changes the front office wanted to impose. The feeling was, if both sides could get on the same page, he would be back. Initially, the thought was he'd walk away. However, it appears both sides have worked out whatever differences they had.