You have to tip your cap to the Spurs who won a game 7 on the road against the defending NBA champions. Now the Thunder were a bit undermanned with some injuries but they are a deep team and can slot in reserves for significant minutes more easily than most teams. But the Thunder became a bit too SGA-centric in this series. He showed up for game 7 but did not get much support.

If nothing else, it shows how hard it is to repeat in the NBA. The Spurs are incredibly young and of course, very talented. Is it too soon for them to win it all now? They have home court advantage for the finals. Are their young players ready to take the next step?

It’s an interesting contrast with the Knicks who have dominated the Eastern Conference playoffs although against one could say were inferior matchups. They avoided both Boston and Detroit but as the saying goes, you can only play who is on the schedule. SU does not like the long layoffs as it can adversely impact your shooting and rhythm. The Knicks should be glad that game 1 is on the road as there is less concern if you drop that one. The Spurs could be tired from a grueling and pressurized series against the Thunder but they get 3 full days of rest now. SU says not a factor.

SU did notice how emotional Wemby was to win this series. That tells me that he might actually be a little emotionally spent heading into this series and it’s possible he might be “glad to be there” as they say. The Knicks are much more playoff tested and have experienced the disappointment of losing to the Pacers last year. You learn from that for sure and that is a factor.

The pinky injury to Mitchell Robinson is a factor in a non-basketball event by the way. But he wants to play. SU says tape the pinky to his 4th finger and it certainly won’t hurt his foul shooting. Time to break out the underhanded foul shot? As long as he can dunk, he should be good to go. They definitely need him for this series.

The series goes 2-2-2-1-1-1 which works in the Knicks’ favor to have game 6 on their home court. SU says experience wins out in this series and predicts the Knicks in 6 games. They should have had enough time to figure out how to defend against Wemby and let the other players beat them. He is a generational talent as they say. It’s amazing how he never turns an ankle the way he flies around the court and drives to the basket. Something to watch there.

Anyone care to weigh in with their own prediction for this series?