00:00But we have to start where we have to start and that's NBA Finals Game 2 because the Spurs season
00:07right now is on the line.
00:10If the Spurs lose tonight, the series is over and the New York Knicks will win the NBA championship for
00:16the first time in more than 50 years.
00:19And really the question that we have to get to right away is how will these young, young Spurs respond?
00:26And just as importantly, how does Mitch Johnson, the coach, who coached like a Mitch in Game 1, how does
00:33he make, how does he respond to this?
00:35Because I can tell you right now, the Knicks are calm, they're cool, they're collected just like their best player.
00:42And it's on the Spurs to somehow meet that almost lack of emotion.
00:47And that's the weird thing going into a game.
00:49We know that the Knicks play very hard.
00:51We've seen them all season long.
00:53And we see how they buzzsaw teams in the playoffs.
00:56But it starts with their leader who seems to, outside of getting mad one time when he got stepped on
01:01in Game 1, I don't know if he's capable of emotion.
01:05And we'll talk more about Jalen Brunson later.
01:07But this guy, Jalen Brunson, is a cool, calm assassin.
01:12Okay?
01:13If you told me that he had killed 27 people, I'd go, yeah, I believe it.
01:17I mean, sure.
01:18I mean, the guy shows no other emotion.
01:19If you also told me that he goes to orphanages and adopts 1,000 kids, I believe that, too.
01:24The guy has nothing on his face.
01:26And the young Spurs have been very, very emotional.
01:30Much more emotional on their face.
01:32I mean, they're kids.
01:33I understand it.
01:34But that's going to be key.
01:35So let's get the particulars of the game onto the screen so everybody can see it for our betting friends
01:40out there.
01:41We have, you go ahead and put it up.
01:42You see that the spread has grown.
01:45It was 4 1⁄2 two days ago.
01:47It's now up to, right after the game, up to 6 1⁄2 on the Spurs side.
01:52You see the money line in the total 214 1⁄2 points.
01:55That line is saying, okay, if you speak line, and I do, okay, the line will speak to you if
02:00you listen to it.
02:01The line is saying that the world believes, Vegas believes, if you think that matters, that the Spurs are going
02:07to counter.
02:07They are the more desperate team.
02:09They need the game more, and they will win the game tonight.
02:13That's what the Vegas line says.
02:16If you speak line, that's what it's saying.
02:18But ultimately, it's about the Spurs tonight because the Knicks have been remarkably consistent.
02:24You know what they are night to night.
02:26You know what they bring night to night.
02:28And Mike Brown, a guy who does have, who has won a lot of games in the NBA, is finally
02:34maybe getting his due because he's been the much better coach the last couple of series.
02:38I mean, Kenny Atkinson, in my opinion, should have been let go because of how Mike Brown pantsed him.
02:45And in game one, he did the same thing to Mitch Johnson.
02:48And I just want to put this to bed because there was a lot of talk about it, and it's
02:52something that's floating online, that Thibodeau somehow deserves credit for this.
02:57I don't want to be clear about this.
02:59He doesn't.
03:00Okay?
03:00You don't get credit for something you didn't do.
03:03Okay?
03:04Right now, if you're a Knicks fan, or if you're not a Knicks fan, but Ethan, our producer, is a
03:08Knicks fan, do we really believe that if Thibodeau was still the coach that the Knicks would be in the
03:15same spot?
03:15My answer is no.
03:16He would have never – you would have never had this much depth.
03:19Landry Shamit would have never saw the court under Thibs.
03:22Instead, OG goes down.
03:24That's when he inserts Landry Shamit into the rotation.
03:27OG comes back.
03:28Landry Shamit stays in the rotation.
03:31Alvarado stays in the rotation.
03:33He's played three centers at times when he's had two in a game because of foul trouble.
03:37Mike Brown has done a tremendous job, and I have to give the guy credit.
03:41When he was with LeBron, and there was a bunch of other players who really couldn't play, he took a
03:46lot of heat for the Cavs' failures.
03:48And he should have.
03:49And he should have taken heat.
03:50He took a lot of heat with the Lakers.
03:52I think going to Golden State, being around a larger group of players has made him a better coach.
03:58And if you're in the city of New York right now, and we're close to it.
04:02I mean, you can wait until the end of the season.
04:03You can wait until the championship is won because obviously nothing's done yet.
04:07But if you go up 2-0, it's time to start thanking Mike Brown and give Leon Rose a tremendous
04:12amount of credit for getting rid of Thibodeau
04:15because the Knicks would never be in this spot with Thibodeau, and it is a gigantic deal that they are
04:21in this spot.
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