Full transparency from SU: in the first quarter last night, I was not a fan of Josh Hart potentially taking 25 shots in the game. They were not covering him at all on the outside, and the big men were collapsing on Brunson on every drive. Hart missed his first 4 3-pointers and it did feel like Kenny Atkinson was outcoaching Mike Brown.

Well, Brown stuck with Hart and his usual rotation and Hart found a way by driving to the basket and then taking the 3-balls and making them – especially in the 3rd quarter. It’s a smart strategy and SU thinks Cleveland will tee it up again in game 3 tomorrow night. The Knicks’ bench really struggled to the point that Brown put the starters back into the game with 10 minutes left to protect the big lead which was shrinking quickly in the 4th quarter.

Brunson became a playmaker last night and did not force the offense which was huge. SU believes KAT has another gear he will show in this series and look for him to pick up the scoring in game 3. If he can hit some 3-pointers, it will open up the lane for Brunson. Harden is a huge liability on defense.

Mikael Bridges has been huge in the last 9 games in the playoffs. He is a versatile defender and they need his offense. SU believes Cleveland will show up in game 3 and you know Strus and Merrell will shoot better at home. A long way to go and as Pat Riley says, no playoff series really begins until one team loses at home. Amazing that the Knicks are on a 9-game winning streak in the playoffs.

Have you watched SGA on Oklahoma City in the playoffs? He flops to the ground on almost every shot trying to draw the foul call. He already gets favorable treatment from the refs but this is over the top. Hopefully the refs are wise to this tactic – something to watch tonight in game 3 vs. San Antonio. Those are both great teams.

SU knows it’s early but the Yankees are actually now down 6 games in the loss column to Tampa Bay. Big series starting tonight with Gerrit Cole making his return. The starting pitching is solid but the offense is so uneven – something that is exposed when Judge goes through a dip that we are seeing now. Brian Cashman is looking to prove that you can win a championship starting 6 position players who hit .210 or lower. Guess he is just showing off. The bullpen is still missing pieces but rest assured, that will get addressed. Not sure if the offense will even with Stanton returning at some point.

You have to give credit to the Rays who are putting up amazing numbers with a roster of relative no names. Guess you can do a lot without tying up $35 million a year in players like Stanton who play 80 games each season.

SU is still waiting for the Mets to show some sustained signs of life. You have to figure they have 4 weeks or so until ownership becomes sellers in July. Wondering if Juan Soto signed up for this?