Jason Timp

So don't be surprised if that's a close game and San Antonio's in the mix.

But...

If OKC wins, I think it kind of follows that path.

A cornet group in the late third just gets blitzed, and it pushes the lead out to something crazy like 16, 17 points.

And then the game just kind of feels over, and the Spurs relax a little bit, and then the Thunder cruise.

So I like the adjusted spread line.

So I do think Jalen Brunson is just clearly a better player.

I think that there is a, you know, certainly a talent level with Donovan when he's at his best, like when he's just in a groove that you could argue he's like maybe another level of unstoppable as a scorer.

But there's a game management piece, which I've always thought is underrated with every shotgun.

creator in the NBA, and it's been one of Donovan Mitchell's biggest weaknesses over the years, which is like understanding the flow of a game, meaning, hey, we have like 115 possessions tonight.

So how are we going to play in this game so that over 115 possessions, this works?

Not like...

I like this shot for me right now.

It's very much about viewing that bigger picture.

And Jalen's just always been much better at managing that.

The second piece of it is like, I would argue this recent stretch from Jalen Brunson where he's playing off the ball more and there's a substantial drop off that the numbers with the way that the Knicks are playing on offense are so different.

They were dead last in assist percentage last year in the postseason.

Only 50% of their made baskets were assisted.

That number is 61% this year, which is one of the top numbers in the NBA playoff field.

Last year, Carl Anthony Towns averaged one-sixth of the assists that Cat is averaging this year.