The Knicks are now on a 7-game winning streak in the playoffs. The series with the Sixers was a walk in the park except for game 2 which is where, interestingly, Embid did not play. It was clear to SU that Maxey is way too deferential to Embid on offense when he is in the lineup. For Philadelphia to compete, Maxey needs to be the focal point of the offense as he is almost unguardable with his quickness, long range shooting and creativity. Paul George had a couple of decent games but he is 36 now and no longer a consistent threat on offense.
For the Knicks, they will now rest at least a week which for SU, is typically not a good thing. Yes, players with injuries like OG Anunoby get to heal but the shooters who sit that long always have a hard time adjusting in game 1 of the next series. If the Knicks play Detroit, that may actually be OK as they will be on the road for that one and better to get your cold shooting out of the way on the road and not lose home court advantage.
Assuming Detroit advances to the next round, that would be an entirely different series from the Sixers. Detroit grabs and holds – Pat Riley in the 1990s would love this team. They dare you to call fouls on every possession. And once they get away with it in the first few minutes, the games become rock fights. Borderline unwatchable unless you like the wrestling matches. Brunson will get bumped all over the court. For NBA fans, they like the free flowing games and higher scoring. But we won’t see that in this series. Playing Cleveland would be a more open affair.
SU watched an WNBA game on Saturday – Fever vs. the Wings. Looks like the WNBA has changed its foul calling rules this year to eliminate the grabbing and holding from last season and allow talents like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers to move a bit more freely. Bravo. Basketball is a game meant to see players cut, move, run and pass. When players cannot even run without being grabbed and held, well, that is unwatchable.
The Yankees got swept in Milwaukee over the weekend and you can see the flaws in this year’s team. SU is not complaining about the record of course but they are not beating anyone over .500. The American League is really bad. The bullpen is still lacking, and other than Bednar, hard to trust anyone. It’s a long season and SU will not worry for now. Surely Cashman will restock the bullpen (which, of course, he should have done in the off season). Anything short of getting to the World Series this year is a failure given how bad the AL is in 2026.
The Mets are a quarter way through the season now and firmly in last place at 15 – 25. SU says it is still early but to be honest, their roster is unimpressive. That does not mean that they can’t get hot but unfortunately, the National League features most of the decent teams this year so it may take a while – or not at all and they become sellers in July. Wonder if Juan Soto ever has 2nd thoughts about playing for a winning team? But as long as his family is happy in their luxury suite for home games, guess all is good in Soto-land.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
So this is how we’ll stay in touch, Howard! As for the Knicks, they certainly dominated the Sixers. The big issue that they got away with without much damage but will continue to be a risk is KAT’s early foul trouble. Had it not been for amazing production from the other starters and the bench, including fan favorite Mitchell Robinson, KAT’s extended time on the bench could have given the Sixers the advantage they needed. Whether its the Pistons or the Cavs, you can be sure they will look to draw fouls from KAT.
Now about the Yanks. What a lackluster series with the Brewers. Brewers pitching tamed the Bombers’ bats. Losing two games in last licks always hurts. In Game 3, had Judge not attempted a steal in the top of the 6th, he would have scored (with Bellinger) on Jazz’s double. Maybe with a one run advantage going into the bottom of the 9th, things would have turned out differently. It was a weird time for Judge to attempt a steal.
Watching the O’s – Yanks now and it seems like the Yanks are struggling to get something going. Perhaps a post-Brewer hangover. Got to see more from Grisham and Jazz. Hopefully Rice will get back on the pre-injury track and the Rice-Judge (modern day Gehrig-Ruth) power play will dominate again. And Rice just hit a 2 run homer! He’s back!!! Cheers!
Mike, love the comment! Be sure to keep that going. On the Knicks, 100% agree with you about KAT. And many of his fouls are of the stupid variety, e.g., illegal screens way out high. Easily avoided. He was incredibly efficient in his limited minutes but he needs to be on the court as much as possible – and especially when OG went down. Regarding the Yankees, they have lost 3 1-run games in a row late, and their record this year in 1-run games is something like 3-8 I believe. And their record vs. +.500 teams is really pitiful. I think it’s a small sample but they have not been a clutch hitting team ever since they got Stanton and decided to just play for home runs. Not a great approach in late close games or certainly in the post-season. The lineup last night showed nothing after the Rice-Judge-Bellinger slots. They miss Stanton and I suppose Dominguez as well. Spencer Jones appears to be a newer version of Joey Gallo. 20 home runs and 200 strikeouts. He is such a hard swinger with an upper cut. Hard to see how that will translate at the Major League level with 100-mph throwers. The Yankees need to make sure they don’t go into another mid-season 80-game malaise like last season. Now that I am retired, I need the entertainment!
Quick observation about Spencer Jones. What’s with the batting stance crouch? I know he’s 6’7″ and built to blast the ball, but I can’t imagine that stance is helping him get the bat around quick enough. Girardi made a comment during his at-bat about holding that stance for up to the 15 second pitch clock.
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Agree on Spencer Jones batting stance. So much movement. There is a left-hander starting tonight for Baltimore. Let’s see if Boone puts him in the starting lineup. The Yankees are so left-handed right now. If I am playing them, I just roll out any left-handed pitcher. Wells, Jazz, Grisham, McMahon, etc. I am trying not to sound like an entitled Yankee fan (especially with many Met fans on this distribution) but we have higher standards to uphold in the Bronx.