The NY Knicks Are 4 Wins Away! NBA Finals Preview vs Spurs

The New York Knicks are just four wins away from bringing an NBA Championship back to New York for the first time since 1973! On this episode of Knicks Unleashed, we break down the highly anticipated NBA Finals matchup between the Knicks and Spurs, featuring superstar point guard Jalen Brunson and rising NBA phenom Victor Wembanyama.

We'll analyze the key matchups, discuss how Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks can attack San Antonio, identify the biggest X-factors in the series, and give our official NBA Finals predictions. Can Brunson cement his legacy as a New York sports icon? Can the Knicks complete their incredible championship run and end a decades-long title drought?

Join us for the ultimate Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Finals preview as we dive into everything Knicks fans need to know before Game 1.

🏀 Knicks vs Spurs Preview
 🏀 Jalen Brunson Legacy Discussion
 🏀 Karl-Anthony Towns Impact
 🏀 Victor Wembanyama Breakdown
 🏀 NBA Finals Predictions
 🏀 New York Knicks Championship Outlook

#Knicks #NewYorkKnicks #NBAFinals #KnicksUnleashed #JalenBrunson #KarlAnthonyTowns #VictorWembanyama #Spurs #NBAPlayoffs #NBAChampionship #NYK #KnicksNation #BasketballPodcast

Transcript

Championship Preview And Mindset

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we finally got here. This is New York Knicks Unleashed Preview. The New York Knicks Spurs Championship Preview show. We're going to talk about how the Knicks can win this and how the Knicks will win this. I was going to talk about how San Antonio Spurs could potentially win, but we're not even going to get into that because you know what? We don't want to be delusional. We're going to hear from Mike Brown in reference to uh what's going on with Mitchell Robinson. We're going to hear a little bit from Josh Hart. Uh, we even may hear a little bit from Mr. Hartenstein or Stein, whatever you want to call him after. I call him Traitor after he left the New York Knicks. But of course, this Wednesday, game one in San Antonio. It seems like the Knicks have been off for a year and a fucking half. But it's time, guys. It's time to get back. It's time to get in some, it's time to get in

Mitchell Robinson Injury And Uncertainty

SPEAKER_00 1:33

some basketball. Of course, uh, Mitchell Robinson has the issue with the finger. And I'm not talking about that middle one. He's got an issue with the pinky. I guess he he broke the, I think it's called the metatarsal, they're calling it, which is the bone that connects the pinky to the wrist. And I don't know what the fuck that means, but that sounds bad. That does not sound good to me. It is an injury that has been uh prelivant in the NBA. And those that have had the surgery, and you just had surgery a couple days ago, Mitchell Robinson that is, uh, some people have come back quickly, some people have taken four to six weeks. We still have no fucking clue. We still have no fucking clue how this man did it. They're being very cagey and very coy about what he did to damage his finger. Mike Brown also mentioned a few hours ago today that uh Mitchell Robinson did some individual stuff with something on his hand at practice today. But again, there's gonna be no update to uh for game one.

Mike Brown Clip And Frustration

SPEAKER_00 2:32

But let's let's hear a little bit about Mike Brown.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

He did uh some individual stuff. Yeah. Does he have any update on whether his availability? I did not even ask. I didn't even I try not to even look at him.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

I love the fact I don't even try to look at him because he fucked up. And we don't want to say what he fucked up about.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Is he wearing what is he do you know what he's wearing on his hand? I thought something, but he could describe it better than me. I know there's something there, but I can't I can't tell you what I didn't even look.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

I love it. I don't even I I don't even want to fucking look at him. I don't even want to look at him. What sucks sucks, excuse me, what sucks for Mitchell Robinson is the fact that, of course, he's playing off that uh he's playing on a contract here. This is this is he's an unrestricted free agent. Uh, he could go anywhere, and he does this to himself right before the championship game. And I got no clue why, and I have no idea

Game Plan For Wembanyama

SPEAKER_00 3:36

what's going on. I have we have no idea what's going on, but let's talk about the matchup though. Let's talk about the what's going on here. And I I was looking at this preview, and I said this before, and I said this a couple days ago. I was more concerned in reference to playing OKC. I should rephrase that. I was more concerned about playing the Spurs than I was against it playing OKC because I thought there was a better matchup. But as I'm looking deeper, and we did a little bit more of a deeper dive in into this game and into this uh this series. Um I I think I might like the Knicks potential to win the championship just as much with playing the Spurs than playing OKC. I think this is going to be the Wemby show. This is going to be for the New York Knicks. We're gonna unleash the aggressiveness. We are going to go after the Wemby, the 2026 defensive player of the year. I love how people say he's unguardable when tacking the rim directly. Well, I got some video we posted on Twitter of OG Ananobi during the the cup championship, which we're not even gonna talk about. We're not even gonna bring him because it means fucking nothing. I've watched him, OG Ananobi, who is much smaller, shorter, we should say, not smaller, because I think he's still bigger than Wemby, who who was able to handle him well in the paint and literally frustrate him. And that's the thing we got to take a look at. Now, you're gonna say what we're gonna need to try to do, and I think what the Knicks are going to want to do is pull Wemby away from the interior and get him out on the perimeter. And that's where the Knicks are gonna have to do what they've been doing, which is run much of their offense through Carl Anthony Towns. So the key is gonna be, in my opinion, keep Wemby on the top of the paint, keep him on the top of the key. Stretch him, have him stretch out defensively. Doing that is gonna allow Jalen Brunson to basically go downhill and attack the rim. It's gonna be a lot easier for him to go down in the interior if Wemby's not there. Utilize the physicality of your wing play that's gonna be between Bridges, OG Ananobi, and Josh Hart. You you always think, listen, I gotta put this seven-footer up against this ever seven footer, but sometimes it is the physicality that you need to use with your guard position. You need to use that physicality between those three to overpower that young backcourt and even sometimes the front court that the Spurs have.

Defense Rebounding And Transition Points

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Dictate, I'm not saying Pat Riley, I'm not saying being an Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley, I'm not saying go out there and go for blood. But what I am saying is dictate the physicality of the game. Generate points off turnover and win the transition battle. And how do you do that if you're Knicks? You do that through defense. You do that through hardcore, gritty defense. The Knicks are gonna have to find a way to own the offensive glass. They're going to have to excel at finding those missed shots. They're gonna have to find a way. I'm not saying they have to dominate, but they have to show a willingness to crash the boards offensively for those second chance points, which will minimize the impact of the Spurs' half-court defense. I know this is sound, I know you're sitting there, Tim, well, this sounds fucking easy. We should win this game by we should win the sweep in and win it by 40. Well, no, of course that's not gonna happen. But the Knicks are built for the playoffs. When we put this team together a couple years ago, one of the things I've always said is this team is is, of course, built to win in the regular season, but they were built to beat the Celtics, and now they're built to beat most NBA teams throughout the league, not just the Eastern Conference. They have to have a physicality about them, and they have to go out and show that physicality, and they're gonna have to maintain bench scoring.

Bench Depth And Key Role Players

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Now, the San Antonio second unit, which is uh which is powered by uh Dylan Harper, the kid from Rutgers, the one year wonder from Rutgers, you're gonna have to go after him. You're gonna you can't let him do what he did to SGA. You're gonna have to show that you know what, our bench is just as deep, and our bench is just as solid, even without Mitchell Robinson, because I like Ariel Hockeurti. I keep telling these people do not sleep, do not sleep on Ariel. He is a little mermaid, but don't sleep on Ariel. Now, also, I want you to sleep on the fact that the Knicks won the head-to-head matchups uh this year two to one, which of course included the finals, which was the 124-113 win. And then on the uh 31st, actually, no, it was weird, I forgot. They beat them on the 31st of December, 16th of December, then on the 31st. No, that I'm sorry, the Spurs beat the Knicks 134-132. Uh, that's when, what's his name? The Julian, I can't think of his name, had that career high game. And then they beat them again to an extent on March 1st, 114 to 89. That's when Malik Bridges put up uh 25 points, I believe, and like five steals. But you're gonna need to dictate. You are going to need to go after these, these, these younger players. Now, not saying the Knicks are old, but you're gonna have to show the physicality, you're gonna have to show why this team rides deep, why this team has the ability with the likes of Clarkson, with with the likes of, of course, Landry Shem, with Miles McBride coming off the bench. You know, you're gonna have to use that bench step to a point. But if I'm, and you also, like I said, you're gonna have to keep Carl Anthony Towns out of foul trouble. You gotta keep him out of early foul trouble. That's what we're gonna have to do. And that's one of the biggest things we're gonna have to do. And I do think, like I said, you're gonna have to keep Carl Anthony Towns and or Oji Ananobi on Wemby. Beat him up a little bit, push him around a little bit, get get it, get him, you know, get him fresh. If you get Wimby fresh, Wemby, I call him Wimpy, you get him frustrated, that's what you're gonna need to do. You frustrate him, and you're gonna have to find a way to make sure that Castle and DeAndre Fox, who are gonna bear a main those responsibility for slowing Jalen Brunson down, these guys are disruptors. These guys can disrupt rhythm. And they if they start forcing the ball out of his hand, especially when the knee, you know, when it's needed for the Knicks, you could see that half-court engine for the Knicks stall. But like I said, that's where the second chance opportunities are gonna be so big. I'm not worried about Castle, I'm not worried about Fox. I'm I'm not I'm really looking at this. I I keep looking at this this team for uh for the Spurs. And I like I said, I'm not I'm not I'm not overly disturbed by the bench. At times they will go five deep on the bench, but you're talking the their biggest bench players are Johnson and Harper, and all the other guys are two three-minute guys. You know, Wemby plays Wemby's gonna play 40, he's gonna have to play 42, 46 minutes a game. He's gonna play between 42 and 46 minutes a game because this is not gonna be a moment. Now, Wemby in 64 games this season only averaged 29 minutes a game. Now, of course, he still put up 25 points and 11 and a half rebounds, but he's only played 29. So that's why you're gonna have to go after him. That's why you're gonna have to attack him, that's why you're gonna have to push him around. OKC showed that they can't, you can push this kid around. But like I said, when I start looking at the Knicks bench and I look at the Knicks depth, I'm like, okay, we we we you know we we have we have something here, and we have something that could that could be that could be special right now. Because like I said, we also you know what I keep forgetting, I still forget about uh Jose Alvarado. Jose Alvarado is is one of the he's like I said, like we've called I've called him you know on the show before the you know the angry chihuahua because he's that little chihuahua that's biting at your biting at your ankles. He could be a guy that can come for 10-15 minutes a game in well and put up some time. And like I said, once you get to that point, I mean, like I said, we're gonna have to see what Mitchell Robinson can do. But like I said, I'm I'm okay for 10 minutes as a breather with Ariel Hacaporty. And I've said it before, I've said it a million times on the show. Ariel Hacka Porti reminds me of Ken the Animal Bannister, number one from the 80s. Ken the Animal Bannister's only job was to knock your dick in the dirt. That was his job. His job was to foul you, his job was to get rebounds, his job was to be the animal. That's why Ariel Hacka Porti reminds me of that. Ariel, not much of an offensive game, but he can play defense, he can rebound, and he can hit his free throws. That's gonna be something different with Mitchell Robinson. But if you play with the fluidity of Brunson, Anobi, Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and Bridges, you have something there. You have something special right there. Right now, it may take, especially in San Antonio, it may take them a little time to get everything together. But once they do, I do continue to think they are going to be extremely special in this

Series Prediction And Final Sendoff

SPEAKER_00 13:01

playoff. This is a Knicks season for my in my mind. I see the Knicks take, I see the Knicks potentially losing game one, but taking the series four games to one. Not potentially. The Knicks are gonna take the game. The Knicks are gonna take the series four games to one. Everyone laughed at me for the last two series. I kept calling a sweep. Kept saying it's sweep. Next series, sweep. You know what? I'm calling it four-one. New York Knicks. We're gonna finally celebrate a championship, first one since 1973. We're gonna party like it's 1973. This is Tim. This is New York Knicks Unleashed, and I'm out of here.