Latest / Bleacher Report / KAT Opens Up About the Knicks' Magical 2026 NBA Title Run

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KAT Opens Up About the Knicks' Magical 2026 NBA Title Run · Bleacher Report

0:00
Speaker 1: This is Carl Anthony Towns, 2026 NBA champion with the
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Speaker 1: New York Knicks. He's going to take you through their
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Speaker 1: entire playoff run the way only someone who was there can.
0:12
Speaker 2: This is the run.
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Speaker 1: The 2025-26 Knicks season had its share of highs and lows.
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Speaker 1: A new head coach, an NBA Cup championship, two separate
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Speaker 1: four-game losing streaks. With a roster built around veteran stars,
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Speaker 1: the Knicks finished 53-29, earning the third seed in the
0:28
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference behind the No.
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Speaker 3: 2 seed Celtics and No.
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Speaker 2: 1 Pistons.
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Speaker 1: And hanging over it all was a number this franchise
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Speaker 1: knew all too well, 27 years since their last trip
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Speaker 1: to the NBA Finals.
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Speaker 2: I mean, we knew what it was.
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Speaker 4: We knew what the expectation was for us. We talked
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Speaker 4: about it in the preseason, too, about championship or bust.
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Speaker 4: We understood the magnitude of this opportunity. A little bit
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Speaker 4: of desperation definitely entered our minds and also just a
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Speaker 4: true belief in each other. All that learning, all those experiences,
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Speaker 4: the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows of the season.
1:01
Speaker 2: Teaches you a bunch. So I was.
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Speaker 4: I was ready for whatever my role was to be
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Speaker 4: in the playoffs, and I was calm and collected, and
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Speaker 4: I knew I'd been there before and just had a
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Speaker 4: great support system behind me, so I felt very comfortable
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Speaker 4: being in the situation.
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Speaker 1: The Knicks opened the playoffs with a dominant Game 1
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Speaker 1: win versus the Atlanta Hawks.
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Speaker 3: But from there, the series began to shift.
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Speaker 1: Game 2 came down to the final moments, and after
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Speaker 1: a 32-point masterclass from C.J. McCollum at the Garden, the
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Speaker 1: Knicks lost by a single point. And game three in
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Speaker 1: Atlanta followed the same script. Another close game, another one
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Speaker 1: point loss.
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Speaker 2: I haven't seen a lot of this stuff. I haven't
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Speaker 2: rewatched a lot. You got to the elbow, right? Right elbow? Yeah.
1:52
Speaker 2: I know that one. That plays in my mind. I
1:54
Speaker 2: was there. Now, remember this, too.
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Speaker 4: Watching those two games things they still hurt i don't
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Speaker 4: know i can't i can't think anymore i saw those
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Speaker 4: two losses they make me mad we ain't lose much
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Speaker 4: so that's funny but those hurt those hurt i remember
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Speaker 4: those moments being in uh in atlanta and being in
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Speaker 4: the hotel and it was quiet and it was pretty
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Speaker 4: quiet because everyone was very disappointed in what we've shown
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Speaker 4: as ourselves for the last two games, game two and
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Speaker 4: game three.
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Speaker 2: And, you know, coach, I thought.
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Speaker 4: He did really well, even with us for before game four, just, uh,
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Speaker 4: allowing great conversation to be had and allowing the emotions
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Speaker 4: to be said. And, you know, in the playoffs, you've
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Speaker 4: got to make some tough decisions. So for him to
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Speaker 4: hear us out, listen to us, especially down to one,
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Speaker 4: have belief in the players that we could accomplish, um,
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Speaker 4: this change in our offense and also we could react accordingly.
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Speaker 4: It was really special to see him trust us like that.
3:01
Speaker 4: We got more to me playing point forward a little bit,
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Speaker 4: more of the hub and it's a role that has
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Speaker 4: definitely come through my mind a lot during the regular
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Speaker 4: season and throughout the year and to come and see
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Speaker 4: it come to fruition here and for my teammates to
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Speaker 4: trust this new way of offense for us. It just
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Speaker 4: shows the belief they have in my ability, the work
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Speaker 4: they see me put in every single day and those
3:25
Speaker 4: Seven and a half weeks of winning. It was kind
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Speaker 4: of different ways of winning. It wasn't always the same
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Speaker 4: exact way of winning. It was kind of our team
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Speaker 4: having such different opinions every single day and then utilizing
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Speaker 4: those opinions and maximizing them that led to kind of
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Speaker 4: wins like this one.
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Speaker 1: Cat finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the
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Speaker 1: Knicks' 114-98 Game 4 victory to even the series. Back
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Speaker 1: at the Garden for Game 5, they picked up right
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Speaker 1: where they left off. Brunson erupted for 39 points as
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Speaker 1: the Knicks dominated 126-97, putting themselves one win away from
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Speaker 1: the second round.
4:02
Speaker 4: We stepped it up another level. We finally locked in.
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Speaker 4: We went to the drawing board and corrected the mistakes
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Speaker 4: we made. We found ourselves winning two great games, but
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Speaker 4: it doesn't change anything. Everything could change in a blink
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Speaker 4: of an eye. And game six came, and we knew
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Speaker 4: this is not a team to take lightly, and this
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Speaker 4: is also not an opportunity to be happy. If we
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Speaker 4: want to win a championship, let alone win round one
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Speaker 4: against the Hawks, we have to set a certain standard.
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Speaker 4: I think this kind of set the tone of the
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Speaker 4: rest of the weeks to come about how businesslike we were.
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Speaker 2: I mean, OG's one of my best friends, so.
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Speaker 4: I'm an OG and an OB stan. He's so valuable
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Speaker 4: to our team, and he's so talented. And to mix
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Speaker 4: that in with his intangibles, things that God has given him,
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Speaker 4: I feel like OG, in a way, has done it
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Speaker 4: his own way and has been able to become a
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Speaker 4: force in the NBA, one of the best players in
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Speaker 4: the NBA. OG's the funniest player on our team, without
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Speaker 4: a doubt. I would reckon he's probably one of the
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Speaker 4: funniest in the NBA. Our locker room, you know, we
5:05
Speaker 4: always talked about the camaraderie, the unity, the things, the fancy,
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Speaker 4: you know, they see how connected we are and how
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Speaker 4: much we do and truly enjoy being in each other's presence.
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Speaker 4: And that's very rare. You know, everything that comes with
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Speaker 4: when money's on the line and egos, personalities, narratives, you know,
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Speaker 4: everything's on the line to see a team like us
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Speaker 4: that kind of. resembles old-school basketball, like college players coming
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Speaker 4: to the NBA and making it work. Very family-oriented, you know,
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Speaker 4: very much together, doing it for a greater cause, your university,
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Speaker 4: your institution. And to see it work at the highest
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Speaker 4: level and the way we did it, you know, it
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Speaker 4: speaks a lot to teams winning championships.
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Speaker 3: The Knicks put the Hawks away with ease.
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Speaker 1: By halftime, they led by 47, the largest deficit in
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Speaker 1: NBA playoff history. And they never let up, winning by
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Speaker 1: 51 points to advance to the next round. They carried
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Speaker 1: that momentum into Game 1 versus the Sixers. Behind 35
6:00
Speaker 1: points from Brunson, New York beat Philly by 39.
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Speaker 3: Game 2 was a different story.
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Speaker 1: Even without Joel Embiid, Philadelphia battled until the final minutes.
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Speaker 2: After Game 1, you know, obviously the way we won was...
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Speaker 2: little embarrassing.
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Speaker 4: And as any competitor would say, you never want to
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Speaker 4: lose like that. So I expected them game two to
6:22
Speaker 4: come out like a ball on fire and just really
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Speaker 4: try to make the tempo of the game be theirs,
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Speaker 4: you know, change the flow of the game, the momentum
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Speaker 4: of the game to their side.
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Speaker 2: And they were sure doing that.
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Speaker 4: And then we were fighting as well, just trying to
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Speaker 4: do everything possible to weather the storm and still continue
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Speaker 4: to find ways to play the next basketball and impact
6:43
Speaker 4: you know it's going to be a fight you know
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Speaker 4: that philly's going to come out like rocky and they're
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Speaker 4: going to go on fight and we got to go
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Speaker 4: be ready like apollo creek what do.
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Speaker 3: You remember about that game two win against the sixers.
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Speaker 4: I'm not gonna lie not a lot i don't remember
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Speaker 4: a lot i just know we won you you just
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Speaker 4: get lost in in the process you know you really
7:02
Speaker 4: do no pun intended to joel but You get lost
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Speaker 4: in the process. You just get lost in getting ready
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Speaker 4: to go shoot those extra 500 shots tomorrow, those thousand shots,
7:13
Speaker 4: the highlights of the film. I think for us, especially
7:15
Speaker 4: in the playoffs, for us, which was just showing how
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Speaker 4: locked in we were. A lot of times, even for me,
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Speaker 4: I would come back to the bench and something great
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Speaker 4: will happen.
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Speaker 2: The fans are going crazy. Everything's good.
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Speaker 4: And I would tell, you know, you'll see us look
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Speaker 4: back sometimes at our assistant coach and say, clip that.
7:29
Speaker 2: Because we want to see that later. Because that worked.
7:32
Speaker 2: You know, I felt the series was intriguing because....
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Speaker 4: It was a series that played back from the team
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Speaker 4: before I played them, and they had these magical games.
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Speaker 4: And I remember being in Minnesota, seeing Dante DiVincenzo hit
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Speaker 4: that three from the middle, and Madison Square Garden.
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Speaker 2: The place going so wild.
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Speaker 4: And it was something that the guys recognized that were
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Speaker 4: part of that team, that, you know, this is a
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Speaker 4: series that could get very entertaining and very quick.
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Speaker 2: My old thing to them was I want to make
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Speaker 2: it as boring as possible.
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Speaker 1: Game two was pretty exciting, but the Knicks escaped with
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Speaker 1: a narrow 108-102 win. With Embiid back for Game 3
8:06
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia, the Sixers were fighting for their first win
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Speaker 1: of the series.
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Speaker 3: But despite keeping it close for three quarters, Philly was.
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Speaker 1: Never able to gain control of the game, and the
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Speaker 1: Knicks pulled away in the fourth to get a comfortable 108-94.
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Speaker 3: Win on the road.
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Speaker 1: But road games meant something different for this Knicks team.
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Speaker 1: The commute from New York to Philly is just over
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Speaker 1: an hour, and Knicks fans already had a reputation of
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Speaker 1: filling road arenas, so much so that Embiid pleaded to
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Speaker 1: Sixers fans not to sell their tickets to Knicks fans
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Speaker 1: before the series even started. But his efforts had not worked.
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Speaker 1: Heading into game four, Knicks fans were making their presence felt.
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Speaker 2: It was electric, and it was electric because.
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Speaker 4: Philly fans wanted to see their team fight and find
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Speaker 4: a way to win, and then on top of that,
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Speaker 4: Knicks fans felt they had a chance to sweep Philly
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Speaker 4: and brought an energy to help us leave that court
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Speaker 4: with the win. I mean, look at these fans. I mean,
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Speaker 4: they're going crazy. It's so different when you have those
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Speaker 4: Knicks fans behind you. You feel like anything's possible, and
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Speaker 4: I think this team, for the last two years, has
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Speaker 4: shown that. You know, with our fans behind us cheering
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Speaker 4: us on, showing us love, giving us that support, we've
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Speaker 4: come back from insurmountable odds.
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Speaker 1: The Knicks completed the sweep in Philly, advancing to their
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Speaker 1: second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals. Back in the garden for
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Speaker 1: Game 1 versus the Cavs, the Knicks were looking to
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Speaker 1: keep the win streak going.
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Speaker 3: For a while, it was neck and neck.
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Speaker 1: New York trailed by just two at halftime.
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Speaker 3: But then, the Cavs began to take over.
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Speaker 1: Two points became 10, 10 became 15, and suddenly, with
9:41
Speaker 1: just seven minutes left, the Knicks found themselves down 28.
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Speaker 4: I've never won a series losing game one.
9:49
Speaker 2: I've never won the series.
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Speaker 4: So to see us game one against the Cavs, not
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Speaker 4: playing well, sluggish, too much time off, it looked like
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Speaker 4: we were kind of fighting our groove again after being
10:01
Speaker 4: in such a groove after that game three in Atlanta.
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Speaker 4: This was the first time in a long time from
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Speaker 4: that moment on that we had some adversity. And we
10:11
Speaker 4: were a team built off adversity. Everyone on our team
10:15
Speaker 4: has faced intense criticism and adversity. We were ready for
10:20
Speaker 4: that moment. Whether it was going to be a good
10:21
Speaker 4: night or a bad night, we were going to make
10:23
Speaker 4: it our night.
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Speaker 2: And we damn sure did. It only takes a couple
10:28
Speaker 2: of shots. Brunson drives on Wade. Scoop layup. It's good.
10:31
Speaker 2: Beautiful shot from Brunson. Right here. Right here. Still trailing. Brunson.
10:37
Speaker 2: Banks at home again. He might want to time out
10:39
Speaker 2: if he scores. Brunson. Three-pointer. Clutch it in.
10:44
Speaker 4: Captain Clutch has come alive.
10:46
Speaker 2: I watched it.
10:47
Speaker 4: This highlights of him in the fourth quarter. Two days ago,
10:53
Speaker 4: I randomly watched it again.
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Speaker 2: I was like, and then I texted him. I said, man,
10:56
Speaker 2: you actually, I at basketball, man. I ain't gonna lie
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Speaker 2: to you.
10:58
Speaker 4: Brunson, JB, Cap, whatever Josh Hart wants to call him
11:02
Speaker 4: on that day. He has such an amazing array of footwork.
11:05
Speaker 4: JB's footwork is what makes him legendary. It's what makes
11:09
Speaker 4: him special. His ability to in a way, make the
11:12
Speaker 4: defenders dance without having the ball do too much of
11:15
Speaker 4: the work is a skill that not many people in
11:18
Speaker 4: the NBA have ever had.
11:19
Speaker 2: Brunson drives. Kicks it in the corner. Bridges, three-pointer. Bang!
11:26
Speaker 2: And an OB. Floats it over to Shaman. Shaman, a three-pointer.
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Speaker 4: It's good!
11:31
Speaker 2: Tie game! Good defense. Harden pulls up. Jumper!
11:37
Speaker 1: Got it!
11:38
Speaker 4: I knew when that shot went up and it hit
11:40
Speaker 4: the front of the rim, I knew.
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Speaker 2: It was going in. I was like, that's about to
11:42
Speaker 2: roll in. I already know. This one, this was just
11:45
Speaker 2: good playground basketball. This is one-on-one, mano-a-mano. We're all just
11:49
Speaker 2: there with popcorn watching. God is good at MSG. I'm exhausted.
12:03
Speaker 2: We better go get this done in the next one.
12:05
Speaker 2: We're a team that's very much about we don't.
12:07
Speaker 4: Like overtimes and stuff. We want to end the game now.
12:09
Speaker 4: So how can we win the game right now? We
12:11
Speaker 4: just don't like to stress out our.
12:12
Speaker 2: Fans too much.
12:14
Speaker 1: The Knicks finished the job in overtime, holding Cleveland to
12:17
Speaker 1: just three points in the extra period and winning by 11.
12:21
Speaker 1: They had pulled off a comeback that felt impossible. And
12:24
Speaker 1: from there, the Knicks never looked back. They won the
12:27
Speaker 1: final three games of the series by double digits, completing
12:31
Speaker 1: the sweep and punching their ticket to the NBA finals
12:34
Speaker 1: for the first time in 27 years.
12:39
Speaker 4: We were locked in. We weren't satisfied. We were so
12:43
Speaker 4: locked in, me and JV. We didn't think about this win.
12:46
Speaker 4: It didn't feel like, oh, we're going to the NBA finals.
12:48
Speaker 4: You could just see it was very business-like. Oh, thank
12:52
Speaker 4: you guys, man. Appreciate y'all. Josh is looking goofy as always.
12:55
Speaker 2: Like, I know the celebration we celebrated. I tried to
12:58
Speaker 2: tell the guys, like, look at me. That elbow held up, man.
13:02
Speaker 2: That right elbow held up.
13:03
Speaker 4: For me, my experience, because I'm a little older, was
13:07
Speaker 4: enjoy these moments. Enjoy this trophy celebration. Enjoy holding a trophy.
13:11
Speaker 4: Everyone taking the photo. It's a special moment. We don't
13:14
Speaker 4: know what the next series has for us, but we
13:15
Speaker 4: know in this moment. We've done something that hasn't been
13:18
Speaker 4: done in a long time, but we also know that
13:20
Speaker 4: our goal was to do something that hasn't been done
13:23
Speaker 4: even a longer time. We weren't satisfied with winning the
13:26
Speaker 4: Eastern Conference Finals because when we started this whole thing,
13:28
Speaker 4: I already told you, our expectation was championship or bust.
13:31
Speaker 4: You see the love for each other is what drove
13:33
Speaker 4: us to be great. We didn't want to disappoint each
13:35
Speaker 4: other because as brothers, as family, we have so much
13:38
Speaker 4: love for each other. We know that the more we win,
13:41
Speaker 4: the more Jose Alvarado's taking care of, Jeremy Soshon's taking
13:44
Speaker 4: care of, Tyler Kolek's taking care of. Ariel Hockport is
13:47
Speaker 4: taking care of.
13:47
Speaker 2: Pocome, like, all of our guys. Mo, like, these guys
13:51
Speaker 2: are really going to.
13:51
Speaker 4: Be taken care of with these bonus checks we think of,
13:54
Speaker 4: but also just helps them have all this experience and
13:57
Speaker 4: expedites their careers, you know?
13:59
Speaker 2: And they're joining us in something all of us have
14:01
Speaker 2: not done, except OG. Of course, OG.
14:03
Speaker 4: It was special to be in that moment because we
14:05
Speaker 4: were told all season that we weren't good enough. And
14:07
Speaker 4: when we got to the playoffs, we were going to
14:08
Speaker 4: lose in the first round. Then the second round came. Oh,
14:10
Speaker 4: they're for sure losing in the second round. Then the
14:12
Speaker 4: third round came. Oh, they're for sure losing. Like, there's
14:15
Speaker 4: no chance. And then now we get to the fourth
14:16
Speaker 4: round and it's like, well, they had a great season.
14:18
Speaker 4: It's been great. You know, everything's good. But we never
14:22
Speaker 4: judged ourselves by the outside noise. We always judged by
14:24
Speaker 4: the work we've put in. And we felt that the
14:26
Speaker 4: work we put in could not be competed against. There
14:28
Speaker 4: won't be another game. There will not be another series.
14:32
Speaker 2: Game one.
14:33
Speaker 4: And San Antonio starts the end of the movie. Now,
14:36
Speaker 4: how does the movie look at the end is going
14:37
Speaker 4: to be up to us.
14:38
Speaker 1: On the other side were the San Antonio Spurs, who
14:42
Speaker 1: had just knocked out the defending champions. Victor Wimpanyama led
14:46
Speaker 1: his team to the finals in his first ever playoff appearance,
14:49
Speaker 1: coming off the best season of his career.
14:52
Speaker 3: The Spurs had the higher seed, which.
14:54
Speaker 1: Meant that for the first time all postseason, the Knicks
14:57
Speaker 1: would begin a series.
14:58
Speaker 3: On the road.
15:02
Speaker 2: I was super excited for the game. I was really excited.
15:05
Speaker 4: Kind of like that youthful excitement where like, oh my God,
15:08
Speaker 4: I can't wait to be on the court and be
15:10
Speaker 4: seeing that Larry on the court and see the word
15:12
Speaker 4: finals on there and see all the new graphics you
15:14
Speaker 4: never get to see all year. You know, as soon
15:16
Speaker 4: as I got on the court, the 20 minutes before
15:18
Speaker 4: the game, for us it's 18 minutes before a national anthem.
15:22
Speaker 2: It was just so peaceful. It felt very peaceful. It
15:23
Speaker 2: felt very, it felt different.
15:25
Speaker 4: You know, I'm in the most hostile area you could
15:27
Speaker 4: be in for a basketball game. Finals on the road,
15:30
Speaker 4: game one. Everyone's revved up for the game. It was
15:32
Speaker 4: something I can't explain. I just felt so peaceful. I
15:34
Speaker 4: remember being on the court dribbling the ball and just
15:36
Speaker 4: smiling the whole time because it wasn't all the enthusiasm
15:39
Speaker 4: went away and just peace.
15:40
Speaker 2: And I felt like the game felt like a game.
15:42
Speaker 4: And when I say that, I say it in a
15:44
Speaker 4: respectful term. I didn't feel that my career and legacy
15:49
Speaker 4: was on the line. It felt more just like me
15:51
Speaker 4: playing on a Saturday and having a bunch of fun,
15:53
Speaker 4: not in school anymore, no homework to do.
15:57
Speaker 2: Just tour basketball to be played. It was special.
16:00
Speaker 4: That was probably the most special game for me in
16:04
Speaker 4: the finals. The feeling that came over me with that
16:07
Speaker 4: game was something that I cherish a lot. We knew
16:10
Speaker 4: we were going to have to be our best, and
16:12
Speaker 4: we had been executing at such a high level for
16:14
Speaker 4: so long that we couldn't have a dip in production,
16:17
Speaker 4: we couldn't have a dip in execution game one.
16:20
Speaker 2: It just couldn't happen.
16:22
Speaker 4: I thought we came out, you know, methodically playing the
16:25
Speaker 4: game out, letting it play out, not being affected by
16:27
Speaker 4: the noise, by the big shots Champagne was hitting, or
16:30
Speaker 4: the moments that the game was turning a little bit
16:33
Speaker 4: to their side.
16:34
Speaker 2: The momentum was just kind of, in a way, it
16:37
Speaker 2: was old school Spurs basketball. We're going to continue to
16:40
Speaker 2: play our way.
16:41
Speaker 4: We're going to continue to execute at a high level,
16:42
Speaker 4: and we're going to let the results be what they are,
16:44
Speaker 4: but we're going to go out there and show our
16:46
Speaker 4: best version. In doing that, we found ourselves winning game
16:49
Speaker 4: one and then game two. I feel like it was
16:51
Speaker 4: just us, again, wanting to execute at a high level
16:53
Speaker 4: but earn the respect. And I thought we did a
16:55
Speaker 4: great job of going out there and showcasing who we
16:57
Speaker 4: could be again. No matter if it's not the 50-point
17:00
Speaker 4: blowouts we've been having or the 30-point wins, it could
17:03
Speaker 4: be a one-two-four-point game and we're going to find.
17:05
Speaker 2: A way to get the job done. To explain him
17:07
Speaker 2: is to.
17:15
Speaker 4: I feel like it was kind of me when I
17:16
Speaker 4: first came into the league. We were known as the unicorns,
17:19
Speaker 4: the me, Kristaps Przingis, Joel Embiid, you know, bigs who
17:23
Speaker 4: could shoot, spread the floor, and drive to the basket.
17:26
Speaker 4: I do think he's a new generation of unicorns, someone
17:28
Speaker 4: who's abnormally tall, not the seven-footers that rolled the league
17:32
Speaker 4: that were just the big anomalies. You know, now we
17:35
Speaker 4: got a guy who's 7'5, 7'6, and he's shooting threes
17:38
Speaker 4: like us, and he's driving to the basket, and he
17:42
Speaker 4: has touch around the rim, you know, and able to
17:44
Speaker 4: finish with both hands around the basket. And, you know,
17:47
Speaker 4: he's just an expansion of the thought of who we
17:50
Speaker 4: wanted to be coming into the league. I think, you know,
17:52
Speaker 4: I've had my time being the unicorn of the NBA.
17:55
Speaker 4: I think he's stepping into being the new unicorn, a
17:58
Speaker 4: new template for showing something that seemed impossible possible. And
18:02
Speaker 4: it was an honor to get to compete against him
18:04
Speaker 4: at the highest level.
18:05
Speaker 2: Bronson on the drive, stops, falling away, it's up, it's good!
18:10
Speaker 2: Good shot by JB.
18:11
Speaker 4: I did everything I possibly could to get another big
18:13
Speaker 4: offensive rebound. DV did an amazing job boxing out, making
18:16
Speaker 4: it very difficult for me to get the ball. Wemby
18:18
Speaker 4: did a good job coming back to get the ball.
18:23
Speaker 4: I just think experience, you know. I think, you know,
18:26
Speaker 4: they had a timeout. I mean, I'm looking at it
18:28
Speaker 4: now for the first time, for real, for real, like,
18:30
Speaker 4: as a coach. In this moment, let's be honest, I
18:32
Speaker 4: was just super happy that happened. They had 11 seconds,
18:36
Speaker 4: and I feel... He was trying to push the pace
18:38
Speaker 4: to get the ball down the court to kind of
18:40
Speaker 4: give him a better chance to either, one, get a
18:43
Speaker 4: great shot right away early, or two, get set up
18:46
Speaker 4: early because the time was low and they could get
18:48
Speaker 4: a really good look for the last shot of the game.
18:52
Speaker 2: Just things happen. Things happen.
18:53
Speaker 4: Sometimes you're really good, and then sometimes you're really lucky.
18:57
Speaker 2: All right. I remember this play. What is this?
18:59
Speaker 4: The drag pick and roll, the Wemby right wing dribble.
19:04
Speaker 4: I say we call it like a fly-by screen. He
19:06
Speaker 4: got that. That's a good shot. That's a good shot.
19:11
Speaker 4: You're 7'5. You get a good pull-up right mid-range. I
19:14
Speaker 4: know he's sick.
19:15
Speaker 2: He missed it.
19:16
Speaker 4: And I know he wished he could get that shot back.
19:18
Speaker 4: But what a stop. What a great defense by Mitchell Robinson.
19:22
Speaker 4: Someone we're going to miss dearly.
19:24
Speaker 2: I called it, right? I don't know. My memory is
19:26
Speaker 2: good these days, man. I saw what I saw. And
19:29
Speaker 2: I said, oh, no. He has a good pull-up. And
19:32
Speaker 2: you know what Wemby, too, is.
19:34
Speaker 4: You're not going to Block it, so you just hope
19:36
Speaker 4: to put a good contest up for as tall as
19:38
Speaker 4: he is and as a scorer as he is. I
19:41
Speaker 4: knew I was extremely jubilant because in my mind, we
19:44
Speaker 4: got away with one. I thought he got a good shot,
19:46
Speaker 4: and it just didn't work.
19:50
Speaker 2: Game three underway. Game three was a very.
19:53
Speaker 4: Awkward day and an awkward game because that was the
19:55
Speaker 4: first time we've led a game.
19:57
Speaker 2: We were leading the game.
19:58
Speaker 4: In the first half so it was very awkward for
20:00
Speaker 4: us and everyone kept talking about how we were underdogs.
20:03
Speaker 4: I felt like we took that too serious because we
20:04
Speaker 4: really liked being in a deficit and then kind of
20:07
Speaker 4: turning it up at the end and making teams have
20:09
Speaker 4: to make some quick decisions and very um energetic things
20:13
Speaker 4: to stop the momentum and stop the bleeding and my
20:16
Speaker 4: team was really good at starting a run and keeping
20:19
Speaker 4: the run going you know we didn't let off the
20:21
Speaker 4: gas and uh we did a really good job with
20:23
Speaker 4: that and i think the spurs and our playoff run
20:25
Speaker 4: were the best team we've played in stopping the bleeding
20:28
Speaker 4: right away from us instead of letting us build those
20:31
Speaker 4: games you've seen us in this whole series we've been
20:33
Speaker 4: talking about where it was Oh, we finally got to
20:36
Speaker 4: a four-point lead.
20:37
Speaker 2: Now it's a 30-point lead.
20:38
Speaker 4: You know, the Spurs are really good at letting it
20:40
Speaker 4: get to a four-point lead, getting it to an eight-point lead,
20:43
Speaker 4: and then it'll take it right back down to a
20:44
Speaker 4: two-point lead. So we knew the game was going to
20:46
Speaker 4: kind of be a heavy prize fight.
20:48
Speaker 1: Behind 32 points from Wembinyama, San Antonio handed New York
20:52
Speaker 1: their first loss of the series, 115-111, and snapped the
20:57
Speaker 1: Knicks' 13-game win streak. Game four quickly looked like another
21:01
Speaker 1: nightmare at the Garden for Knicks fans. From the opening tip,
21:04
Speaker 1: the Spurs could not miss. They led by 17 in
21:08
Speaker 1: the first quarter, and Wembanyama's confidence was on full display
21:11
Speaker 1: versus Mitchell Robinson.
21:16
Speaker 2: They're up. I'm not going to lie, they're kicking our
21:18
Speaker 2: ass too. It's a 17-point lead. Spurs have 37 points.
21:21
Speaker 4: And an offensive foul called down this end. To be
21:25
Speaker 4: very honest with you, I didn't know this happened. Someone
21:27
Speaker 4: showed me on FaceTime and I said, I didn't even
21:29
Speaker 4: know that happened. Everyone in New York is telling you
21:31
Speaker 4: about this game and everyone's like, you know what? Our
21:35
Speaker 4: team was so locked in that we didn't realize how
21:37
Speaker 4: bad it was. You get so locked up in a game,
21:39
Speaker 4: you're not worried about every other thing. You're worried about
21:42
Speaker 4: what was the end result and how did we play.
21:45
Speaker 1: As the second half dwindled, the Knicks fought to come back.
21:49
Speaker 1: They cut it to 15 heading into the fourth, only
21:51
Speaker 1: for San Antonio to push their lead right back to 20.
21:55
Speaker 1: But an 8-0 Knicks run cut it to 12, and
21:57
Speaker 1: with just over six minutes left, they were back within
22:00
Speaker 1: single digits. And they kept clawing back until the Knicks
22:05
Speaker 1: were down by just one point.
22:12
Speaker 4: I think it's just a culmination of our whole year
22:14
Speaker 4: came out in one time in the most important game
22:16
Speaker 4: of the year, game four at home.
22:19
Speaker 2: That New York pride, too. Not wanting to have our
22:22
Speaker 2: fans see us lose. Brunson gets it, fires up a three.
22:26
Speaker 2: Shot no good. The tip, it's gone!
22:28
Speaker 1: It's gone!
22:29
Speaker 2: It's gone! First of all, I got double teamed on
22:32
Speaker 2: the inbound. Great shot.
22:36
Speaker 4: I mean, it was a good shot. If you're going
22:38
Speaker 4: to have someone take a shot And it's going to
22:40
Speaker 4: be the last one. It was first looking to go
22:42
Speaker 4: to me, then it got to JB, and I think
22:43
Speaker 4: those are pretty good odds too.
22:44
Speaker 2: But look at OG, man.
22:46
Speaker 4: Again, just someone who does so much of the dirty
22:50
Speaker 4: work and does so much for us that doesn't end
22:52
Speaker 4: up on a stat sheet.
22:56
Speaker 2: Makes the play of his life.
22:58
Speaker 4: That was his Kawhi Leonard. I know he was watching
23:00
Speaker 4: on the end when Kawhi hit that shot over Joel.
23:02
Speaker 4: He was watching on the end on a suit.
23:03
Speaker 2: He had his own moment.
23:04
Speaker 4: He won a championship with the Raptors, but he was hurt,
23:06
Speaker 4: and he didn't really get to and the energy on
23:08
Speaker 4: the court winning the game.
23:10
Speaker 2: But he got his moment and he made the most
23:12
Speaker 2: of it.
23:12
Speaker 4: And it's also a testament to kids and to anyone
23:16
Speaker 4: who watches basketball to never quit on a play. OG
23:19
Speaker 4: could have just there watched the ball go up and
23:21
Speaker 4: see what happens. And, you know, he wouldn't have been wrong.
23:24
Speaker 4: We would have been looking at him and said, you know,
23:26
Speaker 4: you're not wrong. You know, it just, it didn't work.
23:27
Speaker 2: It didn't go in. Just to keep the play alive
23:30
Speaker 2: is a feat. And I mean, the right hand of God.
23:33
Speaker 1: After a defensive stop from Cat, the largest comeback in
23:36
Speaker 1: NBA Finals history was complete.
23:39
Speaker 3: The Knicks had.
23:40
Speaker 1: Fought back from down 29 to win Game 4 and
23:43
Speaker 1: take a 3-1 series lead. Once again, inside Madison Square Garden,
23:48
Speaker 1: they had turned a game that looked completely out of
23:50
Speaker 1: reach into a win. And this time, it put them
23:53
Speaker 1: one win away from an NBA championship. For Game 5,
23:57
Speaker 1: the series returned to San Antonio. And when the Knicks
24:00
Speaker 1: fell behind by 10 at the end of the first quarter,
24:03
Speaker 1: fans watched with bated breath as this team did what
24:05
Speaker 1: it had done time and time again throughout this run.
24:08
Speaker 3: They found a way. After two clutch free throws from O.G.
24:12
Speaker 1: Brought the Knicks' lead to four with seven seconds to go,
24:15
Speaker 1: the Spurs thundered down the court with no timeouts. A
24:19
Speaker 1: Wimbanyama three attempt clanked off the rim.
24:21
Speaker 4: O.G.
24:21
Speaker 1: Snagged the rebound, throwing the ball into the air as
24:24
Speaker 1: the clock hit zero. Across New York, fans poured into
24:28
Speaker 1: the streets to celebrate. For the first time since 1973,
24:32
Speaker 1: the New York Knicks were NBA champions.
24:38
Speaker 4: I mean, four months since winning it, and now looking
24:41
Speaker 4: back at these clips again, it gets me excited to
24:43
Speaker 4: play again because it's an adrenaline high that people just
24:46
Speaker 4: don't understand unless you're actually doing it. It's great to
24:48
Speaker 4: watch this because my life has been so crazy the
24:51
Speaker 4: last four months. Even my own accomplishments had to take
24:54
Speaker 4: a back seat for true life accomplishments. And now that
24:57
Speaker 4: I get to see something that I was able to do.
25:01
Speaker 2: I'm still stunned that we won. It's a good thing.
25:05
Speaker 4: It's a good thing because I haven't got complacent. I'm
25:07
Speaker 4: not happy enough yet anymore.
25:09
Speaker 2: I want to win more. I'm shocked. I'm still shocked
25:13
Speaker 2: we were able to do it because it's always crazy.
25:16
Speaker 4: Every offseason, everyone comes in and says, oh, we could
25:19
Speaker 4: be NBA champions. We could do something special. But to
25:22
Speaker 4: actually see yourself doing that, the only thing I could
25:25
Speaker 4: think of, I'm appreciative, I'm honored. I was given this
25:27
Speaker 4: task by the man above to go complete this mission.
25:31
Speaker 4: And I knew I had all the tools and the
25:32
Speaker 4: things needed to get it done. And I just had
25:35
Speaker 4: to go out there and do it and be willing
25:37
Speaker 4: to sacrifice everything.
25:39
Speaker 2: I told myself I would, and I did.