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Chapter 1: What key events led to the Knicks taking a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals?
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Fox gets it. Bridges on him. Four seconds. Fox to Wendignano. Pulls up. Jumper. Won't go. Rebound taken by Vassell. It's over. It's over. The Knicks survive. This magic carpet ride continues. 13 straight victories and they lead 2-0 here in these NBA Finals. It is amazing.
13 straight playoff victories and to start the NBA Finals, which is the grand final, best of seven, the Knicks win their first two away to San Antonio. It really sets things up. They were the outsiders going into this final series, but they've now got three consecutive games at home at Madison Square Gardens with a 2-0 lead. Now, We need to go to an expert, not me.
We need to go to an expert to explain exactly what's going on. So we thought we'd catch up with Benyam Kadhani, who is the senior editor of NBA Australia, and he joins us now. Welcome to SEN. Good to be with you, mate. Well, New York, they've got two in the bank already, and now they go to Madison Square Gardens.
This dream run, they're not far away from winning their first title in a very long time.
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, you're very happy if you come back from a road trip, you know, one-on-one, but now going home up to a great spot for the Knicks to be in, and San Antonio's got some work to do.
Absolutely. So as I mentioned, it's a long time, 53 years since they've won the title. And for a long time, particularly in recent times, they've just been a very bad team. And it's been slowly building. The pressure now that the Knicks are under, how significant is that?
Because it's one thing to be 2-0 up, but it's now another thing to get in front of your home crowds that just expect it's just going to happen now, I guess.
Yeah, it's a tough one because you don't want to get too high on the high. of being up 2-0 and coming home, because as I've seen through this postseason, anything can happen. But history is on their side. No team's ever come back from 2-0 down after losing the first two at home in San Antonio. So the logic is that the Knicks should get this done.
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Chapter 2: How does the Knicks' playoff performance compare to their past seasons?
What's impressed you the most about what the Knicks have done? Because it hasn't just been in these last two matches. It's pretty much what they've done in the last maybe even 10 finals matches that they've played, playoff matches that they've played.
Yeah, no doubt. I think it's two things for me. I think Karl-Anthony Towns has probably been the star of this postseason. Obviously, Jalen Brunson is the guy with the ball in his hands. He's scoring the points. But Towns is the one that's making things tick. It's his playmaking skills.
The matchup against Wemba Nyama, we've seen how Wemba's kind of been treating the rest of the NBA bigs this season. Towns has kind of taken it to him in these first two games. I thought he was really the difference, especially in game two. And then their depth.
When they're double-teaming Jalen Brunson and trying to get him out of the action, Landry Shammott's coming in hitting threes, Mikel Bridges, Ojean Inobi. Anytime there's a problem the Spurs bring, The Knicks just have another guy stepping up. And I think, you know, when you are trying to win an NBA title, it's not just your top one or two guys.
You need, you know, four or five, pretty much, you know, six, seven guys on the bench to come in and make a difference. And so far, the Knicks guys are doing that.
You mentioned Wimbunyama. He had the opportunity to win it for the Spurs later. It was a one-point loss for the Spurs the other day. How much could that potentially affect him and his confidence, not just the team, but for him particularly, considering how good he is, that he couldn't get it done when he had the opportunity?
Yeah, look, it's a tough one because, you know, the guy's only 22 years old. It's his first playoffs, let alone first NBA finals.
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Chapter 3: What insights does Benyam Kidane provide about the Knicks' roster and chemistry?
So, you know, the bright lights can kind of do that and I think for him, he seems like he's got his head screwed on and has a pretty short memory. Every time we've seen him have maybe a subpar performance in the postseason, that very next game, he bounces back and kind of writes the ship. So I think for him, this is a learning experience.
I'm expecting him to come out and have a big Game 3, especially, as you said, after the way that Game 2 ended with not only the miss but the turnover and just a couple of small mistakes at this level. That's what hurts you, and you have to execute, especially late in games. He's been phenomenal for the Spurs. He's the reason they're kind of in this position, but I think he'll be all right.
Yeah, and he definitely took responsibility. He didn't shy away from it after the game. It wasn't as though he was hiding or trying to deflect. He kind of said, yeah, I had the chance, and I didn't get it done.
Yeah, there's a maturity with Wayne Benyama that you don't often see with guys who are only in their third season, leave alone in this position to potentially win an NBA title. So I think for him, this has been a very impressive run. Not saying that it's over, but he has a chance to do something special in Madison Square Garden.
I think the Spurs may take one of these games, but the mountain he's left to climb here is pretty tough. I think the Spurs despite how impressive they've been. They are a very young team, and this is maybe asking a lot.
Benjamin Cadane joins us, Senior Editor of NBA Australia on SCN this morning. So, New York, I was interested in some of the comments from some of the big-time commentators after the second game, just trying to work out how good this Knicks team is. And the feeling is, from a talent point of view, there's been better teams that have gone on and won NBA titles in the past.
But there's something special, something a bit intangible about this particular Knicks team that's getting the job done at this point in time.
Yeah, it's chemistry. I think that's the big one that I think maybe flies under the radar. We saw how this Knicks team was built, obviously making a lot of trades and giving up a lot of assets to get these guys in, but now you have guys like Mikel Bridges. They went out and sent five first-round picks to get him.
Jalen Brunson obviously turned into a player that I don't even know if the Knicks were expecting to turn into. Josh Hart, these guys obviously all went to college together and then You know, went to the conference finals last year. They went through that, you know, sort of rollercoaster last season and now, you know, went one further to go to the NBA finals.
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Chapter 4: What challenges do the Knicks face as they return home for Game 3?
It absolutely was when you look at what they've done.
All right. So, Bennion, what happens from here? You're thinking that maybe the Spurs take at least one of these next three games in New York, but that's as much as they can get?
Yeah. I picked the Knicks before the series started, so I'm going to stay with that. I think the Spurs do have some fight left in them. But I think the Knicks, you know, with this opportunity they have now only to win two more games, I think they've got to put the nail in the coffin.
All right. So the next game is in New York and it's tomorrow morning, our time here on the Eastern Seaboard of Australia. Benyam, thanks so much for your time and good luck reporting it over the next few days. Appreciate it, mate. Thanks for having me. No problems at all. Imagine being in New York at the moment. Very jealous. Would love to be there.
Just to be part of the whole city, the atmosphere. I'm not sure whether you've seen the vision of the city skyline, all sort of all glowing in blue and orange at the moment. It's what a place to be with the New York Knicks. I said 1999, the last time they've been to the finals, but 53 years since they've been champions.
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