By:
Da’ Vince “Dino” Wright
The NBA Finals
Who did you pick at the beginning of the season? Did you pick the Lakers, Thunder, Heat or Warriors. At the start of every season, there are thousands of writers, fanatics and sports critics picking who they think will be champions. More than half of the critics picked the Thunder to repeat because of their dominance in the last 2 seasons with Shai Gilgeous-Alaxander being the favorite for MVP and Finals MVP from last season. Well, here we are with the Thunder being eliminated in Game 7 at home and the San Antonio Spurs facing the New York Knicks. Fans, fanatics and conspiracy theorist (yes them too) are coming out of the woodwork with crazy predictions. It’s sports and everyone is a professional at picking the winner. Remember you have a 50/50 chance of actually picking the champion because there’s only 2 teams playing …DUH! I’m going to cover the first two games of the series, give my prediction and final score. Next week I will cover the next 2 games and so on.
How did they get here?
The San Antonio Spurs played a tough series defeating last year’s champions Oklahoma City Thunder in 7 games. Throughout the series, the Spurs and Thunder traded blows by winning games on each opponent’s floor. The Spurs won game 1 and 7 in enemy territory. The New York Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers to make it to the finals. The Knicks played their last game on May 25th on the road in Cleveland, so they have had a long rest between games. This series could easily go 7 games, but I doubt that.
Injury Report
Both teams are healthy from the starting 5 to their benches. Both team has only one player listed from both organizations. New York Knicks: C Mitchell Robinson (finger) GTD. Spurs: F David Jones Garcia (ankle) OFS.
Players to watch
New York Knicks: PG Jalen Brunson, C Karl Anthony-Towns, G Josh Hart, F OG Anunoby and G Mikal Bridges. San Antonio Spurs: Victor Wembanyama (leads the team in points and rebounds), G D’Aaron Fox, G Stephon Castle, G Dylan Harper and SF Keldon Johnson (won the 6th man of the year award).
Game 1 Info
New York Knicks Vs San Antonio Spurs
Wednesday – June 3rd – 7:30PM
TV: ABC
Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, TX
The Spurs playing Game 1 is huge for these guys. After a being in a dog fight with OKC the Knicks are coming into the Alamo City like lions. This will be one of the best games 1’s we’ve seen in the last 3 seasons. Last season the Pacers and Thunder played and barely anyone cared (being honest). New York is the media center of America and San Antonio has the youngest big 3 in NBA history will square off to establish their dominance for years to come. ESPN has the Spurs with a 58% chance of winning game 1 at home. I’m taking the Spurs as well. I have San Antonio by 5 points. The time off for New York will haunt them.
Final Score:
Knicks 110
Spurs 115
