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We took the three-day weekend, came back and the Knicks were Eastern Conference champions. They await the winner of the Spurs-Thunder series, which is tied 2-2 in the West. The Thunder took back home court in Game 3, and then the Spurs responded by smacking them in Game 4. Game 5 is tonight in OKC at 8:30 ET on NBC/Peacock. Don’t worry. We’ll catch you up below if you missed anything.
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They’re back!
Knicks sweep Cavs, head to NBA Finals
🎶 Start spreading the brooms… The Knicks are sweeping away… 🎶
The New York Knicks are headed back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. Last night’s 130-93 drubbing of the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a sweep in which the Knicks were plus-77 for the four-game series. New York has now won 11 playoff games in a row. Only four other teams in NBA history have done that in a single postseason. The 1999 San Antonio Spurs (12 straight), 2001 Los Angeles Lakers (11), and 2017 Golden State Warriors (15) all won championships using these streaks. Only the 1989 Lakers (11 in a row) failed to win the title.
These Knicks are in rarified air for a bunch of reasons, though.
- They have 12 wins by 273 total points. They have two losses by two total points.
- They have just one single-digit win (Game 2 against the 76ers by six) in the playoffs.
- Their 19.35 playoff point differential is by far the biggest ever.
- The record for post-merger (1976-77) playoff point differential belongs to the 2017 Warriors (13.53).
Obviously, the Knicks would still have to beat the Thunder or Spurs in the finals, and even if they did, that would likely reduce their margins. But we simply don’t see this level of dominance in a postseason, even when the East has been weak in certain years.
For the second straight round, New York gave itself ample time to rest before its next game. That will be June 3 in either OKC or San Antonio, giving the Knicks eight days off. Everybody will assume that the Spurs or the Thunder will win the title, and the West winner should be the favorite in the finals.
But make no mistake. The Knicks can win the NBA championship this year. It wouldn’t take some catastrophic injury, either. New York has a good enough offense and a good enough defense to get this done. The team has discovered a new gear during this 11-game win streak.
The last time the Knicks made the finals, “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace” were the top two movies in theaters. Also, people were concerned about Y2K. Now Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and the rest of the Knicks will have the opportunity to win the franchise’s first title since 1973.
And it just might happen.
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The last 24
👽 Extraterrestrial. Victor Wembanyama is just unbelievable. The Thunder need to be careful.
📚 Read like Wemby. A San Antonio library created reading lists of Wembanyama’s favorite books. He’s big into science fiction and fantasy genres.
🏆 Award-winning? A Spurs fan was sitting courtside with a fake Academy Award. She kept offering it to SGA.
🤔 What’s happening? We have the 3-2-1 lottery reform proposal vote this week. It would change the value of picks.
🔊 “NBA Daily.” Watch and listen to a recap of last night’s game and a look at how the Knicks finally got back to the finals.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
New award SZN?
Should the playoffs count toward NBA honors?
Over the weekend, the All-NBA and All-Defense teams were announced. And there is plenty to debate.
Jaylen Brown said he was grateful for making the All-NBA Second Team, but that he’s surprised he gets any awards because he thinks outside the box and is “not the most liked.” Translation: He thinks he should have been First Team but won’t say over whom and wants to blame the media (the voters) over the NBA (which was inconsistent in how it made exceptions to the 65-game rule).
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Regardless, the All-NBA and All-Defense teams are big deals. Making them means a potential bump in max salary, as well as a celebration of your season. Let’s recap the teams (in case you missed them) and talk about whether the voting should happen after the playoffs:
- All-NBA First Team: Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Wembanyama, Luka Dončić and Cade Cunningham
- All-NBA Second Team: Brown, Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant
- All-NBA Third Team: Jalen Duren, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Johnson, Jamal Murray and Tyrese Maxey
- All-Defense First Team: Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Holmgren, Derrick White and Ausar Thompson
- All-Defense Second Team: Bam Adebayo, OG Anunoby, Dyson Daniels, Scottie Barnes and Cason Wallace
I’ve seen the idea floated that season awards should include the postseason as well. It’s an interesting idea that would also include the most important part of the season. It also might keep people from being rewarded if they have a bad playoff performance.
Look at the All-NBA Third Team selections. Duren, Johnson and Murray had miserable postseasons. Holmgren has been borderline unplayable in the conference finals when Wemby is on the floor, which is most of the time. Would these have affected the voting process for the Third Team? Maybe!
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Some people wondered if Kon Knueppel’s miserable Play-In performance affected his Rookie of the Year results, because the ballots came out after his horrendous first game that week. Wemby has been borderline transcendent during the playoff run. Would that have impacted where he finished in MVP voting? Could he have stolen votes from SGA? Would Jokić have finished second in MVP after the way Gobert handled him in the first round?
The NBA loves to cling to certain aspects of traditionalism. The league has added NBA Cups and Play-In Tournaments but has refused to change the playoffs to conference-less, 1-through-16 orders. But maybe this would add a new level to the awards and how they’re viewed?
Of course, the league would probably need to alter or abolish the 65-game rule to do this. So I guess multiple good and fun things could come from this idea.
Big summer plans?
Cleveland needs some changes
When a team gets eliminated in the postseason, I havegot a whole template to get you ready for their offseason. And we’re going to get to that in a minute. However, the Cavaliers are in a weird position. This was the first time they made it to the conference finals since 2018. That’s the last time LeBron James resided in Cleveland as a member of the team.
It took some big moves to bring them back here:
- They stole Jarrett Allen in a trade involving James Harden to another team.
- They drafted Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.
- They took a big swing on Mitchell, even though it was presumed he wanted to be in a massive market like New York.
- They traded Garland for Harden at the deadline.
There were other moves, too, but those were the biggest plays by Koby Altman. And yet … I’m not sure at any point, aside from their 64-win season last year, that the Cavs looked like they could actually compete for a title.
Kenny Atkinson made the ridiculous claim before Game 4 that they were up 2-1 in the series analytically. They weren’t. Harden said after the sweep that he believes Cleveland has the better team. Delusion is a killer in the NBA. The Cavs believe they are right there with the best in the league. They are not.
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OK, now let’s say goodbye …
Was this the expected outcome? Pretty much. Knicks in four or five was always the most likely result.
Who are the Cavs’ big free agents? Harden ($42.3m player option), Dean Wade, Keon Ellis, Larry Nance Jr., Thomas Bryant
What’s the draft situation? Cleveland’s first-round pick (23rd) goes to the Hawks. The Cavs get San Antonio’s first (29th), while their second-round pick (52nd) goes to the Clippers.
What’s the pressing need? A hard look in the mirror. This is a team that has underperformed for three of the last four years. With the state of the East this season, the Cavs should have been a top two team. They weren’t in the regular season. They ended up one by default in the playoffs.
This team can easily get fooled by its placement in the conference finals and think progress was made. I would vehemently disagree with that. With the Pacers likely to bounce back next season, I’d be shocked if the Cavs had anything close to this postseason success again. And this summer is complicated for them.
They have Mitchell’s extension situation this July. They need reliable wings. They should probably decide between Mobley and Allen, unless Mobley can find a new gear to make him a top big man in this league. Also, Harden will be looking for an extension. Woof.
Overall grade for the Cavs’ season: B (since they made the conference finals).
Our Joe Vardon has a deeper look at the decisions Cleveland faces this offseason.