00:00Was this the best NBA game in the playoffs this season
00:04with the Knicks coming back to beat the Cavs
00:06in overtime yesterday?
00:08It was a really good one.
00:09I know that's some tough competition for the game
00:11the night before, though, because that double overtime game
00:13between the Spurs and Thunder is right up there.
00:16But the fact that we got this level of competition
00:18and back-to-back nights, I think I saw something
00:20first time ever, I believe, that the game one
00:23of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals
00:24both go into overtime.
00:25So as a basketball fan, I have no complaints about it.
00:29But it would either be last night's game
00:30or the game that we saw Monday night.
00:32I think that's fair.
00:33And what did you make of just the Knicks'
00:36well-rounded effort here?
00:37I know in the end, Brunson's always going to be the one
00:40that's going to carry the Knicks over the top,
00:41but it seemed like everybody was getting involved there
00:43in overtime in the fourth quarter.
00:45Definitely a team effort.
00:46When you come back from 22 down in the fourth quarter,
00:48it does require everybody, and obviously demoralizing
00:51for the Cavaliers.
00:52But talk about the Knicks, and this is something
00:54that they did last year in the playoffs
00:55against the Boston Celtics.
00:56This is a team who, it's part of their DNA.
00:58They don't quit.
00:59They don't say die.
01:00Jalen Brunson being the head of the Snake,
01:01a guy that you follow his lead,
01:03but executing defensively, doing what you want
01:05to do offensively.
01:06They made no secret that they were trying to find
01:08James Harden on that end of the floor,
01:10and they stuck with it.
01:11Things started going well for them.
01:12Things started going bad for the Cavaliers,
01:14and they end up on top.
01:16And Kenny Atkinson defending Harden after the game,
01:19saying he's going to be out there for the next game
01:21no matter what.
01:22So don't even think anything otherwise.
01:24The Knicks are now huge favorites, by the way,
01:26to win the series.
01:26Minus 390 after that win yesterday.
01:29And I guess the factor that you would think is,
01:31is this demoralizing, as you said?
01:33Like, is this going to potentially put the Cavs
01:36on ice here?
01:37But if you look at Thursday's game,
01:39the odds are telling us, basically,
01:41this could be a very similar outcome.
01:43Knicks minus 6.5, totaled 215.5.
01:46So slight change there, as you see on the total.
01:48But I think what makes it interesting, Gilbert,
01:50is that the Knicks didn't have that offensive explosion
01:53like they had in the end of the regular season
01:55and into the playoffs until the end of the game.
01:58So maybe the Cavs are just close.
02:00They just couldn't put them away, I thought, yesterday.
02:03It definitely brings up the whole argument
02:05of rest versus rust.
02:06Obviously, the Knicks sweeping 76ers,
02:09having some time to get back and get healthy
02:11with respect to OG Ananobi.
02:12But they hadn't played basketball in a while.
02:14And the Cavs had that Game 7 win on Sunday,
02:17which was a dominant game.
02:18I think they were able to ride that momentum
02:20and take that through in what they showed
02:22in the first half of last night's game,
02:24even up to the point where they built that 22-point lead
02:26in the fourth quarter.
02:26So I'm curious to see how that resets
02:29as they have a game or a day off in between games
02:32to prepare for one another.
02:33Now that the Knicks kind of find that momentum
02:35that they use to close the game,
02:37do the Cavs recognize that, hey,
02:38we can find some success against this team.
02:40We've done it already.
02:40We can do that again.
02:42I do think these teams will be somewhat evenly matched,
02:45but I just think so much of the Knicks
02:47and what they have done
02:48and the team that they've built.
02:49And they're guys on the Cavs
02:51I don't necessarily trust all the way.
02:52And we saw exactly why yesterday.
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