Alien???
That’s Wembanyama’s nickname in San Antonio. He is also called “Area 51.”
I…was not aware of this. How in the world did this happen? Strange nicknames.
The nickname originally came from LeBron James, instead of the more common “unicorn”, which has been used to describe a tall player who can also dribble and shoot from the outside.
”We’re labeling like this unicorn thing—everybody’s been a unicorn over the last few years. But he’s more like an alien—no one has seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is on the floor.”
Basically, he’s like those other players (Kevin Durant, Kristaps Porzingis) but even better. Crazy to think the Defensive Player of the Year has all of those offensive talents as well, and only 22 years old.
The Spurs certainly weren’t expecting to be in the Finals at the start of the season. This was supposed to be a season for improving and gelling as a team, not looking at the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Hall of Fame coach Rick Adelman, who won 1,042 games as an NBA head coach, leading the Sacramento Kings to the playoffs eight times including the Western Conference Finals, died yesterday at the age of 79.
Their 34-48 record last year was largely because of Wembanyama’s season-ending blood vessel issues in his shoulder; had he been around, they might have been a 47-win play-in playoff team or No. 8 seed or something like that. Then they landed another great rookie in the last draft. So they were more poised for a breakthrough than their record suggested.
Tied at 76 after 3 quarters. Knicks were down double-digits in the quarter and came back when Wemby was on the bench nursing an injury. He’s back, and it could be an epic 4th quarter. Towns is playing great; Brunson is struggling from the field.
RIP Rick. He also took the Blazers to the Finals twice.
Despite having been bumped into (knee) and stepped on (ankle) earlier in the game, Brunson managed to slip in several key interior shots in the final minutes.
Wemby had an excellent block against Towns early in the game, but the Knicks defense kept him from scoring much, and the Spurs made some mistakes down the stretch (especially a bad one by DeAron Fox), while the Knicks had only one turnover in the second half.
Knicks win the first finals game…in San Antonio!
They don’t have any true superstars, but their starting five are all very solid, and complement each other well.
It should also be noted that journeyman Landry Shamet, playing on his 6th team in his 8th year in the league, is playing a key role off the bench. Last night he logged 33 minutes, 3rd-most on the team, and scored 13 points.
The Knicks have won 12 consecutive playoff games this season, the third NBA team to do so in a single season. The other two (Golden State, 15 in a row in 2017, San Antonio, 12 in a row in 1999) both won championships.
Yes. The Knicks bench is a little below average (among the playoff teams), other than Shamet, who often makes great shots.
(Also, backup center Mitchell Robinson can be effective, though he has a broken finger, and the worst free-throw percentage of all time).
Knicks win a close game 2.
Wemby missed the crucial mid-range shot in the last second. It was a reasonable choice; it just didn’t fall in.
So, it’s not directly comparable, but it did remind me a little of Game 5 of the 1997 Western Conference semis, when rookie Kobe Bryant “airballed 4 jump shots from the end of regulation through the end of overtime” (Wikipedia), and the Lakers lost to the Jazz. Wemby isn’t quite a rookie, and his play in the two finals games hasn’t been that sub-par, but the parallel is the pressure on a very young player touted (probably correctly) as a future top-10-of-all-time.
He also committed a turnover with the score tied and less than 10 seconds left on the clock. The ensuing foul allowed the Knicks to take the lead. He had missed a jump shot on the previous possession.
But he did lead the Spurs back from a 14-point 4th-quarter deficit and gave his team a chance to win. Even down 0-2, this series isn’t over. (Captain Obvious speaking.)
Yeah, he turned over the ball and fouled Bruson. That put them behind when they had a chance to take the lead. He is young though, those things will happen.
The cheapest tickets for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden are roughly about as much as I make in a year on Social Security Disability.
In other news, Stacey King, a backup on the Bulls’ first three-peat team who later joined their broadcast team, has passed away at 59.
Spurs hang on for a four-point win in the Garden and now trail 2-1 in the series.
Maybe if Trump would have stayed awake for the whole game things would have turned out differently.
well, since he was there, and Mike Brown complained about the refs, so maybe…?
Spurs fan right now: STOP THE STEAL!
Knicks fans: Stop playing! Stop counting the points! It’s over! It’s over now!
How is no one commenting on this? The biggest comeback in NBA Finals history! The Knicks were down by 29 points! That tip-in with less than 2 seconds remaining was incredible.