The Knicks scored 65 points in their first summer league game and have 17 at halftime of game 2. I don't think they're going to follow their NBA Cup and NBA Finals titles with a summer league championship.

Update: He ended the game with 7 made 3s, matching his entire college total

Caleb Wilson made seven 3-pointers in his entire college season last year. He already has four made 3s (and a near-fifth, with his foot on the line) in his first 20 minutes at summer league.

Sports are so cool

A bad instant replay ruling just ruined the most exciting USMNT World Cup run ever

Let out an audible "wow" at the Mitchell Robinson/Celtics news, and then a much louder "WHOA" at the Walker Kessler/Lakers trade

I love the Kawhi Leonard trade (part 2) for the Raptors and think they're a bona fide contender next season. They had the best defense for a non-elite team last year and just added a true No. 1 option. Grades and full analysis here:

I find rivals-to-friends athlete trajectories really moving, emotionally: Federer-Nadal, Evert-Navratilova, etc. They say a lot about the human spirit. LeBron and Steph teaming up after all the Cavs-Warriors Finals seems almost too remarkable to come true.

Made this chart while analyzing Austin Reaves' new max contract

Grading the Giannis-to-the-Heat blockbuster (finally):

I've taken over grading duties at ESPN, where I'm assessing all trades, free agent signings and extensions this offseason. I started out positive, with only high marks in the early going. That changed with Trae Young's new four-year, $212 million deal.

I announced the winners of a fake award that should exist: the All-Playoffs first and second teams, and overall Playoffs MVP. Find out the 10 honorees here. (Hint: There are a whole lot of Knicks.)

At long last, the Knicks' title drought is over. I wrote about Jalen Brunson's MVP-worthy finale, the unique way the Knicks built a championship roster, and what a disappointing end means for the rising Spurs.

FOUL UP THREE I wrote earlier this postseason that the NBA's worst-case scenario was the Finals being decided by a foul instead of a game-tying jump shot attempt. Well...

If the refs had called a flagrant on Wembanyama for stepping into Brunson's landing zone on that 3, he would've been suspended for Game 6 (if necessary)

The Knicks had 6 points in the paint and 0 points from their bench, yet they're down only 5 at halftime. One half away from a championship.

Two minutes into the second quarter, the Knicks have had more shots blocked by Wemby (5) than go in the hoop (4)

That half was the most fun I've ever had watching the USMNT. This is incredible.

Morning, NBA fans! Live now for ESPN, I explored the anatomy of a historic Knicks comeback and a historic Spurs collapse. (Link in next post.)

Oops, part 2

My notes on this game have descended into increasingly incoherent scribbles

Presented without any opinion, just some context: Karl-Anthony Towns led the league with 61 offensive fouls this season. No other player had more than 38. In the tracking era, KAT has three of the five seasons with the most offensive fouls. (Giannis has the other two.)

Also at ESPN today: I reviewed and graded 30 bold predictions I made in the preseason, including this absolute winner (link in next post)

Lobs! Dunks! Alley-oops! I analyzed how the Spurs got their offense going in a must-win Game 3, as part of my broader review of last night's contest:

If they end in 4 or 5 games, these Finals probably won't be remembered as a classic (except by Knicks fans). But every individual game has been extremely entertaining so far.

The Knicks' 42 points in the second quarter are the most the Spurs have allowed in any quarter in the whole postseason

I wrote about what the wild end to Game 2 means for Wemby—and everything that led up to that moment, from the Spurs' scoring struggles to the return of Brooklyn Bridges to the great shrinking of San Antonio's rotation www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

The early GeniusIQ tracking numbers say San Antonio's shot quality tonight was its worst in any game all season. New York's defense has been phenomenal through two games.

The Spurs went on a 14-0 run immediately after I finished my lede about how impressive it is that New York won two road games in a row in the Finals. My bad, Knicks fans.

I'll be breaking down the biggest plays, trends, and matchups after every Finals game for ESPN. Here's my Game 1 analysis, starring Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and the indefatigable Knicks:

The Knicks won the last quarter and a half by a 54-30 margin. They scored more points in the last 18ish minutes than in the first 30.

The two best players in the first half of the Finals were a 20-year-old rookie coming off the bench and a player who was undrafted and waived and ranks 293rd in salary this season. Basketball!

I wrote a big Finals preview and must've read a half dozen others, and each one focused on how the Spurs would use Wemby to guard Hart and avoid placing him on KAT as much as possible. So it's very funny that Wemby came out guarding Towns from the opening tip.

Knicks-Spurs Finals preview! Breaking down all the biggest trends and story lines for a compelling series, with a prediction at the end:

The Thunder absolutely need to trade Chet this summer because it's impossible for a 24-year-old All-NBA player to bounce back from a bad playoff series. Nobody's ever done it before. He's doomed forever now.

Admirable title defense for the Thunder, who won 64 games with a +11.1 net rating and made it to Game 7 of the conference finals. But now we're going to get an 8th unique champion in 8 years. Hopefully Spurs-Knicks is just as entertaining as Spurs-Thunder was.

Wild distribution of points from Thunder starters, through 3 quarters tonight

Thunder-Spurs Game 1 was an all-time classic, and the game-to-game adjustments have been fun. But Games 2-6 have been decided by an average of 17 points. We deserve a close, tense, back-and-forth thriller in Game 7.

Most top-5 picks never win a playoff series for the team that drafted them. Only 5% actually contribute to titles. With lottery reform approaching, I took a deep dive into the actual outcomes for teams that have tanked their way to top draft positions.

De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper combined to score 14 points on 5-for-20 shooting tonight. Harper hasn't reached double-digit points since Game 2. They're both hampered by injuries, but I'm not sure the Spurs can win Games 6 and 7 with their point guards at this current level.

New playoff trends! Featuring: - The playoff MVP (so far) - Alex Caruso, all-time role player - Knicks starting strong and getting lucky And much more!

How quickly it took the Knicks to build a 20-point lead in potential closeout games this spring: vs. Atlanta: 11 minutes vs. Philly: 11 minutes vs. Cleveland: 13.5 minutes

If the Cavaliers lose in 4 or 5, they'll become the 4th conference finalist this century with a losing playoff record. But the silver lining is what happened with the 3 previous teams: - '24 Pacers—made the finals in '25 - '20 Nuggets—won in '23 - '03 Pistons—won in '04

As Wembanyama started dribbling with 3 seconds left, I got a suddenly strong instinctive feeling that he'd make a half-court buzzer-beater. But when he actually proved that impulse right, I could only burst out laughing.

One cool thing about how great the Thunder and Spurs are: They both know it, and they're treating every possession with the urgency it deserves. The speed and physicality on every play is extraordinary.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's career high for playoff assists is 12. He's done it three times: - Game 7 vs. the Pacers last year - Game 1 vs. the Spurs - Game 3 vs. the Spurs

Two pieces today! First up, analysis of the Knicks' Harden-centric attack down the stretch in Game 1—why it worked and how Cleveland can fix the issue going forward

Last night, the Knicks targeted James Harden with 27 picks. That's the most picks he's ever defended in any game in his career (in the tracking era, since 2013-14). The Knicks scored 1.53 points per pick (!) that led directly to a shot, foul, or shot one pass away.

Oops

Overtime helps counting stats, but still—here is every player with 40+ points and 20+ rebounds in a conference finals game: Victor Wembanyama Charles Barkley Moses Malone Kareem Abdul-Jabbar