Transcript of The New York Knicks And The Most Epic NBA Comeback EVER | Local Hour New

An inside-the-park Grand Slam home run. That's what everyone's talking about today, right?

Oh, Dan, it was amazing.

I don't think that I have ever felt as— the combination of feelings that I had watching everything that I saw last night from the New York Knicks. I cannot wait, honestly, to tell you about the roiling conundrum that was my evening as somebody who is a loud and avowed, uh, New York Knicks hater, considering, considering what you just said, I think you and I are in the same spot. Oh, but I've got an extra layer of feelings that I don't think the— I don't think I was ready for. I'm— in fact, I know I wasn't ready for that. I'm eager to share with the audience because it was a really confusing experience for me last night as the guy who, I don't know, 5 games ago, really delighted in the way they lost to the Hawks. Like, really enjoyed a sporting event that was basically only about a team's misery and a fan base's misery.

And it was misery last night. There's a fan base that is dealing with a lot of misery.

I have to speak the unspeakable. In South Florida, everybody knows Heat fans hate the Knicks, probably, probably more than any of our other teams hate their rivals. You disagree?

For me, it's been the Celtics for a little while.

Yeah, but he's saying— but he's saying— he's saying— yeah, me and you are in the same boat on Knicks because it's an older series.

Yeah.

Zazz, Mike, and an assortment of others go Sixers— I'm sorry, go Knicks because the Knicks have— the Knicks have not been relevant. The Celtics have been.

Yes. And in my mind, the unspeakable is that the best story for the NBA is the Knicks winning it all. Okay, not the two West powers, but the team that hasn't won.

No, it's more than that. The Knicks have to be lovable underdog. That's crazy. They've never been that. They have never, ever been that. Those teams have been unlikable. Even if the Knicks fan likes the Knicks, those teams have been unlikable. This one's not. And no one thinks they have an actual chance, right?

Yeah, they're the underdog. And it's a great story for the NBA. It really is. You know, the franchise in the biggest city winning for the first time in more than half a century. It's great. Adam Silver, give him truth serum. He's got to be the biggest Knicks fan right now. He wants the Knicks to win. Pablo, and so should us all, by the way.

I'm not ready to say that.

I'm ready with that. I actually love the take, Greg. It's the only team that can save us. Well, maybe OKC if they win tonight and throughout the series, but they're the only team that can save us from intergalactic fascism of Wemby.

Oh, this—

oh, they're the only team that can do it from the East, at least.

Look, I like Wemby, I like SGA and OKC, but the better story— I'm thinking like a journalist now— the better story is the New York Knicks winning the NBA title. And I think that's pretty unequivocal outside of San Antonio and Oklahoma.

I don't agree with that at all.

Okay.

I don't—

I—

the Knicks, it continuing to be a story Every year, "Is this the year that the Knicks finally win?" is by far the best story.

I know, but that's been going on so long. Yeah. There has to be a punctuation. There can't just be a continual series of ellipses in a sentence. There has to be a punctuation eventually. And if this is the year for that—

No, no, no. Their suffering being eternal is also fun.

Yeah, it's the best.

This is the Don Levitt Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

Play it again. W-F-A-T. What are you laughing about, Dazzler? W-F-A-T.

I'm not laughing at anything. I don't want to make Chris feel bad. I'm not laughing at anything.

Because he didn't play it at the right time, right? It got clipped and the first sounds on the show didn't make any sense to at least this room. It may have— Yeah, way to say something. Something that no one heard in the audience. Yep, he was laughing at it.

I abstain from saying anything.

Overruled.

The thing that was amazing last night from Knicks-Cavs, because I really do want to celebrate the rarity of what Knicks fans got last night. 30 years of Knicks frustration in what Madison Square Garden fans always like to call the mecca of basketball, but very few lifetimes have ever experienced that being the mecca of basketball. The fans in that building who know what it is to be a laughingstock for 30 years felt the full force of 30 years of New York falling on the chest of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, and they immortals could do nothing about it. The whole city fell on their heads. And they shit themselves. That place did that to them. Their shot goes out, ping-pongs around and goes out. Their shot, Cleveland's shot at the end goes out, and that was their last chance. The Knicks got the bounces because Knicks fans feel today like the building willed it. And I think more than DiVincenzo hitting a shot in the first round, more than anything that happened last year in the Pacers series, I think that was the best feeling Madison Square Garden has had since Larry Johnson had a 4-point play against Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers when that city thought they had a champion in the New York Knicks.

I have to tell you, Dan, to start the show today, it's Hall of Fame level breathing into the mic by Greg. Hall of Fame level.

Good job, seriously. First ballot. You did it.

Right? Like, just Hall of Fame.

Blue jacket or something.

Thank you.

What a performance.

Is there a category for that? Hall of Fame? It should be a Pulitzer category. Heavy breathing.

It's your giant nostrils, right? Is the problem.

Well, here's the thing. If we're going to get serious about it, okay. First of all, they complain when I'm not close enough to the mic, and then when I'm close enough to the mic to be heard when not talking, it's because that's a problem.

It's because you only get close to the mic to breathe.

No, not really. But I happen to be congested. Not to bring you into my health issues. I happen to be congested today. That kind of thing. I don't complain about it, wouldn't even have mentioned it, but you know, I'll make an effort to go like this when breathing.

Greg, nobody else in the history of media has this problem.

I disagree with that.

No, but nobody else in the history of media has the problem of the microphone's here and I'm often when I'm speaking not near it and often too close to it when I shouldn't be heard.

I agree.

We could play the game heavy breathers in broadcasting history.

No one else. Howard Cosell was a heavy breather.

History of media, I said. I didn't say history of government and health. I have a podcast. I'm serious though, Greg. The issue that we're addressing, which is consistently your son telling you get near the microphone when speaking when you're the professional broadcaster. That's one issue I believe no media member in history has ever had. But then the secondary issue is that you are near the mic when your giant nostrils are breathing too heavily. That's another problem I've never heard in the history of media. To find both of them in the same place is, I think, fairly amazing.

Thank you.

That's why you're a Hall of Famer.

Thank you.

I mean, how does this Knicks thing still feel like a novelty? Yeah, because like it's become like kind of like Dan Le Batard show bingo. Every series we're like, that's the best they've felt since Larry Johnson's 4-point play. They've been in the conversation in the NBA about as long as OKC has been. Right? This is like the third straight year with a— what feels like a momentous Knicks run. Is that just because they've been so abysmal?

Uh, that's part of it. It's also because they're so self-important, and it's also because they're getting better and playing more meaningful games. And for four straight years they've gotten better, so the stakes have gotten higher. And then when Brunson does that to James Harden— do you have any idea how rare it is for me to feel that what's happening to a Hall of Famer on a basketball court is cruel? That they were picking on James Harden.

It was humiliating.

They— that, that I never feel that. I never feel for a Hall of Famer. They're bullying him. Brunson. Brunson is taking this game from him. He was signed for this moment, for this game. It's Game 1. He's mastered being clutch at choking. Game 7, I expect him to disappear. Game 1, I don't appear. I don't expect the Knicks to be cruel to the guy they traded for to get them over the hump. As Mobley misses all the threes, what, all the wide open threes at the end of the game.

Allen misses all the free throws.

Everybody missed everything, right? They went like 1 for 12 in the last—

that building fell on them. And you will not find a better moment since Larry Jones, since Larry Johnson's 4-point play that Madison Square Garden has felt. That's as good as the Knicks have felt in 25 bleeping years.

I, I gotta be honest, obviously Harden was awful. It was a humiliating fourth quarter and overtime for James Harden. Both ends of the floor, he was your typical horrific offensive player with the game on the line in such a huge spot. But I gotta tell you something, do the Cavaliers have a coach? Is there someone who is on the sidelines who can maybe help the players when things aren't going well?

No, no, no. I know people are going to be talking about timeouts, timeouts. That building fell on the heads of those players, Mitchell and Harden, at the end of the game. Mitchell and Harden. Who's gonna take the— who's gonna take the shot, team? We talked about this for how many years in Miami? Who's gonna take the shot at the end? Is it gonna be Wade? Is it gonna be LeBron? End of the game, Mitchell defers to Harden, and what happens? Neither one of them is shooting. Neither one of them is shooting the ball. Your stars need to take out Madison Square Garden there. Not your role player, not somebody on the side. Your stars need to be strong enough to rise up and do something to Madison Square Garden, and they both cave.

It's not even about the timeouts, which, which I did think was weird. Like, when the Knicks cut the 22-point lead to 10, I remember the, the Knicks had the ball, it was a 12-point game, and I was saying, like, I looked at the screen, all right, they have 2 timeouts left. If the Knicks score here, make it 10, it's automatic timeout Cleveland. They didn't call timeout. I thought it was weird. I'm not even talking about that. What I'm talking about is why are— why is the Knicks offense allowed to do whatever they want to the Cavs defense. Every time down the floor, they're switching Wade—Dwyane Wade—off of Brunson so that Harden comes over, and it's like the Cavs just have to eat it. Alright, this is the matchup you want, I guess we'll have to play along. Like, what? Why is that the case? Why aren't they throwing a double at Brunson, making him get rid of the ball? Why aren't they fighting through the screen? Why do we have to switch everything? Why are the Knicks dictating everything that the Cavs defense is doing.

Is there a coach? Well, they did start doubling towards the end of the game, and then all, you know, Brunson did was get it to the timeline, pass it over, and then OG was able to do whatever he wanted. Pass it to Landry in the corner, drive in and get fouled, or get a layup or something. Like, they did start doing that. The adjustment was let's blitz him at the point of attack, and then they just completely unraveled defensively after that.

All right, it's weird how we want Harden guarding him.

Okay, I guess that's okay. Okay, let's, uh, let's play the sound of Mike Brown just telling you afterward what was obvious to all. Just like We have to try to figure out different ways to guard Harden and, and Mitchell. They got to figure out different ways to guard Jalen. But we were— it was no secret we were attacking Harden. The, uh, numbers toward the end of the game, it's a Knicks 30-8 run, and I think it was like 44-11 as well as a run. And timeouts weren't going to prevent that. Now you may think some sort of strategic change would have changed that. But in the NBA, toward the end of important games, your best player against my best players. We can make it about a bunch of other things— coaches, timeouts, Mobley missing threes. Make it about whatever you want. The team that was at home got the home field advantage from 30 years of how it is those fans have been frustrated. That fell on the head of Mitchell. Don't make it fall on the head of Atkinson. It fell on the head of Harden and Mitchell. And when the Knicks were doing the historic thing with all of that building's energy behind it, they folded their hand.

Like, they— you knew as soon, as soon as the 3 rims in and out and Mike Brown is trying to get that timeout, as we make the coaches so damn important with their timeouts. You knew as soon as that came out, this game belongs to the Knicks. The Cavs are done here. They don't have any— you say, yeah, but no, once we got to overtime— yeah, but no, but you say, yeah, but great players— no, the answer is no there on great players. Shut Madison Square Garden up. The reason it gets the reputation it does is because Michael Jordan preferred to win there. Kobe preferred to make New York Quiet. They preferred that to home games.

I feel like you're focused on that end of the floor when Cleveland has the ball— Mitchell, Harden— what are you going to do to shut up the crowd here? And I'm more focused on the other side of the floor, where why are they allowing Harden to switch 9 times in the fourth quarter, which equaled 1.9 points per possession?

You're concentrating though on how'd you let them score the 44, and what I'm telling you is in this league, in the playoffs, if you have Mitchell and Harden, it's because they got to get you than the 11. Like, you, you guys now are concentrating on what's wrong with the defense because of the cruelty to Harden, but your stars need to win that game on either side of the court. Choose a side, but your stars have to be able to withstand what New York hits you in the face with there.

It's, it's a weird thing that I find about the NBA now, Greg, where, okay, we're in the middle of a huge run like that last night and Cleveland's offense is totally stalled Why don't they have, like, a go-to play? A settle-down play? You know, where, hey, we're gonna— they're on a 10-nothing run, we're gonna dump the ball down to Shaq. We're gonna dump the ball down to Duncan. We're gonna give the ball to Mourning, 'cause we know this is a bread-and-butter play where we can get a high-percentage shot. Except every time it's just, alright, we're gonna drive, we're gonna kick, and somebody's gonna shoot a 3-pointer, hopefully that ends the run.

Their play to settle everything down is, hey Donovan, hey James, can you get us a couple of free throws, please? Because you're unstoppable, because you're supposed to be what Brunson is doing in this fourth quarter. The way that played out for the Knicks, the way all of it played out— hopeless. For, for three quarters, you're seeing the difference on how is it that Cleveland's front line is able to do this when Mitchell Robinson's out of the game to Karl-Anthony Towns. How is it that Harden and Mitchell can just go to the rim with easy layups when those haven't been available all playoffs? And then the game gets tight late, and then everything gets complicated. And two players of the stature of Mitchell and Harden— like, these are not nobodies, these are both Hall of Famers— they had nothing. They— it wasn't tired, it wasn't about tired. You were so good through three quarters. And so the feelings I had last night that were complicated I am a notorious Knicks hater. I found myself rooting for the New York Knicks because of the energy in that building. Yeah, I found myself realizing that the New York Knicks are a lovable underdog.

And here's the feeling that is so surprising to me, that's totally snuck up on me. Just totally snuck up on me.

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Limited time offer. Don Libertad! I'm just here to say one thing.

Knicks are back. Stugatz, Tyrese Halliburton, 6 points, fraud. Everybody was like, yo, he's better than Jalen Brunson, he's better than—

the Knicks should have drafted him, fraud. This is the Don Levitar Show with the Stugatz.

I urge you all to find Stugatz and Company in record numbers today so that Stugatz does the show he's always been wanting to do about the New York Knicks and hasn't been able to do. Ever. He's never been able to do the show, and I found myself not just happy for Stugatz, but missing him, because what our show would have been today if Stugatz had been here would have been the very happiest and best Stugatz, and I would have really enjoyed celebrating that with him because he's been denied that experience the entirety of his Knicks fandom.

But I think Stu Gotts is probably too afraid to be too excited. And that's the reason why I love the 7-game series.

Or since last year, or since they knocked out the Celtics that Dan was saying was going to win the title the entire season. But sure.

I mean, the 7-game series is a beautiful thing because the whole narrative changes after every game, right? Like if Cleveland wins Game 2, whole different story. If San Antonio wins Game 2. The champs are back, and, and the narrative naturally changes. You know, you're speaking as if the Knicks have won this series. Nobody thinks—

oh no, no, they won the night. They won the sports night. They won the entirety of it, and they get to feel good and safe, and the feel-good of safe that the sports fan gets when they take the lead in a series and they're totally scared.

Yeah, but, but are Stugatz and other diehard Knicks fans feeling it today, or are they thinking, geez, this is just another chance to be let down?

No, I think they think they're going to win the whole thing. Yeah. Yeah.

Over Wemby. They're not.

But I think that's how they feel. All right.

Good for them. See that? If I don't have a horse in the race, if my, if my team is not in the playoffs, I root for the best story. I root for the fans who need a win more.

And that's Knicks fans. The Knicks are not just the best story. And Mike can keep making fun of this if he likes. The The feeling has been swelling in New York. They love Brunson more than they've ever loved Brunson, and they already loved him more than they've loved any other player because he's the tiny guy who's scoring all in the fourth quarter, who's being cruel to a Hall of Famer. I'm feeling bad for James Harden because he's being picked on. Their favorite player is making two Hall of Famers helpless with the strength of New York behind him. Mike, you can make fun of it all you like. What New York felt last night in that game. A not unprecedented comeback, but pretty damn close to unprecedented comeback.

It's just the latest, uh, unprecedented comeback. I'm not making fun of it, I'm making fun of us. I'm speaking for the audience because we've had this imaging for 3 years. I mean, Jalen Brunson is already an all-time Knick. If you're doing the roster, he's the point guard. It didn't happen overnight. It's been happening. And last year they had an Eastern Conference final for all time. Halliburton had all-time moments. It's— this is the new norm.

They lost. Yeah, but they were on the wrong side. They got that moment last night. Right.

But they could lose this one. They lost that 1-in-6 after beating a heavy favorite in the second round, after eliminating Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Like, this is— this is who the Knicks are.

How do you not see the difference between last year at this time? They lost on the Halliburton shot. This year at this time, they get the shot that bounces in.

They get this one, yes. And after they lost Game 1 to Indiana and that series went 6—

who had the home field, the home court in that series last year?

The, the New York Knicks.

It was the Knicks.

Yeah, because Halliburton did that there.

That's what they got, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Now compare it to this and what I'm telling you about what the Knicks allegiance is to this long-suffering fan base. And it's fair to say The love grows when they're the ones suffering. When you're— it's not just the players that have to suffer, you suffer with them. And so when that shot goes in and you get the bounce out at the end, I'm not making it up when I tell you that New York can't be happier than that when it comes to almost anything sports because of how the basketball team matters, because of how that arena matters in the center of that city, and because of how bad that team has been denying them that kind of moment. With irrelevant basketball and a terrible owner for a quarter of a century.

Right. I think I'm just like positioning myself to speak for a large part of the nation that says, what are we talking about? Lovable underdog. They're the, they're the favorite. They are a big-time favorite. This is who they are. I think that we have to stop. I think it's kind of patronizing. What are we doing? Just because Brunson is short, like, they are not. Yeah, they are not this scrappy underdog. They were favorites last year in the Eastern Conference Finals. Indiana was a scrappy underdog. They are favorites again here. They, they won an in-season tournament. They've been in the conversation for 3 years. They fired their coach and it was a huge story over the offseason. It's paid off so far. They traded 5 first-rounders for a rotational player who's, who's playing a role for them. Like, they are a top dog here.

Okay, if the Knicks get to the Finals, they are an underdog.

That's the big one. That's the point. The big one. Like, all of a sudden now Mike's saying second place is okay when the Heat have been failing. Uh, the New York Knicks are not the favorite to win the title. They simply aren't. Everyone thinks that the title is being decided out west, right? And then you're going to have Brunson trying to take shots against Wembanyama the way that Curry tried to take shots against him in the Olympics.

I'm not disagreeing. Then we can have that conversation.

No, we can have it now. All right. I think we're— I feel like what we're saying is you're acting like that just happened against the Spurs.

Like, if that happens in Game 1 against the Spurs—

It happens against a punchline in James Harden. No, but I think—

I don't think it's that. It's that this Knicks team is in a position overall, whether you want to say they're underdog against Cleveland or whatever, they are now up 1-0 in the East Finals. They're in a position that they have not been in in 27 years. That's the point. Not how—

Last year they were in the Eastern Conference Finals at 1-1. So like, in a game from now, it could just be right back to where they were last game.

But this Knicks team is better than they were last year. They are.

They are, but my point, my larger point is that whatever last night was, the magic of the Mecca, in sports, that's not necessarily transferable. It's not easily transferable. Who's gonna be surprised if Cleveland wins Game 2? Anybody?

Guys, I'm not saying that the Knicks are gonna win the title because they won last night. I'm saying holy shit, last night was amazing. Like, stop doing that!

No, I, I, I'm not doing anything other than saying that it's one game, and I don't think that they're a lovable underdog. I think last night was awesome. It was an incredible game.

There was, there was a moment last night after Brunson hit one of the shots, and, and they panned to Patrick Ewing. It's fucking Patrick Ewing, all right? They panned to Patrick Ewing, and he's, he's clapping like furiously. He's so into it. It's like, that is so— I hate 'F the Knicks.' Everybody knows it's 'F the Knicks' in the Zaslo Mansion. But like, that's so cool. Patrick Ewing is so into it and he's so happy and he's cheering so hard for this Knicks team.

This is the part though, this is the part I'm talking about when I talk about the rare few that have 30 years of this experience and see Ewing in the crowd and know— there's so many people watching last night who are seeing Ewing a generation removed from that and they're just saying, 'Oh, that's nice, royalty.' in the building. And then there's a whole nother allegiance of people who have been there suffering since he missed the finger roll. And the last time they expected to be this kind of good, and the last player they loved as much as they love Jalen Brunson. Like, I— in terms of beloved, wherever you go, Bernard King and Clyde Frazier and, like, Melo, I guess Patrick Ewing got them to where Brunson has gotten them. But he did it as the Giant, and the size does matter.

Who was the number 1 overall pick who had this expectation from day one?

The size does matter when a fan base can claim, oh, our guy's the smallest, but he's got the biggest balls. He's the one in the 4th quarter. He's, he's the best 1st quarter player in the league not named Dončić, and he's the best 4th quarter player in the league, period.

Right. I just kind of feel like I'm being yelled at for maybe saying like, oh, you know, they did what they were supposed to do. In fact, that was kind of like a concerning game. Like, I, I don't— I, I get it, it's New York, but they were favored in the Eastern Conference Finals last year too. And I, I just think it was a good game. It looks like it might be a good series. I'm not ready to count out Cleveland. I thought there was a lot of things that happened in that game that could be exploited later on in the series. We'll, we'll see what happens, but I, I'm not here for narrative building after one game when the narrative is They were supposed to win Game 1 and they almost blew that.

You say they were supposed to win Game 1 and obviously by, you know, for wagering, you know, perspective, yes.

Not just that, remember the path that they took there where they were just blowing teams out.

But we wouldn't be having this conversation if they weren't down 22 with 8 minutes left. It was like they came— it was an historic comeback. No, that's historic. It's all encompassing.

Right, but that might be more a Cleveland story than it even is a New York story.

I think the other thing we're missing too is we saw with OKC, it's a slow start. They hadn't played in a week. Yeah, like it was a slow start. The Cleveland's been playing basically almost every other day. So that first quarter was like, oh wow, the Knicks are a little bit rusty. And then the tired legs caught up. And at the end of the day, we saw what happened. But I feel like the Knicks broke the Cavs over their knee yesterday. I think this series is over.

Okay. And, and maybe, and we can get to whatever it is you guys think is going to happen. And whatever it is you guys think the narrative is going to be. And also, you can accentuate if you like, the Knicks were supposed to win that game. When I see a situation that teams entering Tuesday were 1-594, and was the record, I'm not going to simply skip past that game and say, okay, do it again in Game 2, and then do it again in Game 3. I'm gonna stop for a minute and enjoy that for one night New York got the magical feeling that Heat fans envy right now. New York got to matter in a way they haven't gotten to matter. No matter how good you think they felt the last 3 years, it's all been building to this. And I don't want to just skip past, past it by doing what a lot of people are going to do today. They're going to say that the Cavs choked. Like the conversation today is going to be about the Cavs choking. But the feeling in that building is we did that to them with 30 years of our frustration and Patrick Ewing in the building.

We made them choke. And that's the best when you're the fan base that gets to claim that. Don Lebatard. The Jets coach, sweetie.

Stugatz. I should go say hello. This is the Don Lebatard Show with the Stugatz.

I'm not sure that they did do that because yes, it was a great adjustment by Mike Brown to just say, oh right, James Harden's on the other team, so let's just isolate him and go one-on-one. If we think the Cavs are going to do that next game, there's no way that that's going to happen over and over again. And if I'm the Knicks, I'm a little concerned that my primary offense that's been working all postseason wasn't working. But to Dan's point, the history of this moment— forget New York, forget whether it's them or anybody else— teams were 0-643. That's worse than Dan when trailing by 20-plus points with 7 minutes to go. And so in this situation, when you're the Knicks and when you apply the context of, oh my God, we almost blew Game 1 as the favorite, Now you're looking at it and going, what a relief. What a moment in front of the stars. And you can take a second to appreciate the same way we did with Wemby in Game 1.

Do you think that once James Harden picked up his 5th foul, that Mike Brown told his team, make sure you don't draw a 6th, keep him in the game, make sure that he does not leave the game?

One of the things that makes an appearance from last night that you do not get very often is Uh, just like I keep saying, Larry Johnson's 4-point play from 25 years ago, Landry Shamet is now associated with something with a generation of people. That shot's forever. That shot last night, no matter what happens in the series, and I'm not kidding you, it's better if they win the series and everything else, but no matter what happens in that series, a guy's name is now attached to a certain feeling that was caused. That is a forever feeling. We've been complaining about the entire playoffs. None of these games are close. The last two have been magic. The last two basketball games have been magical.

But let me ask you this. Ten— it's 20 years ago. You're the lead columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Aren't you allowed to question how in hell do you lose a 22-point lead? In other words, from that perspective, Cleveland choked. And it's not the New York feel-good story that we're talking about. It's Cleveland. Giving that win away on the road. You would agree with that, right?

That's local though. Yes, of course the local fan base is going to be hurt. I'm saying that the national conversation today is going to be about ripping Cleveland instead of celebrating New York, and that's going to make New York feel like, oh, it's us against the world again. Nobody believes in us. It's always about somebody else failing. It's not about what we did as a success. It's not that we did something unprecedented. It's that you want to blame James Harden for collapsing when Brunson did that to him. I know.

We don't want to talk about Kenny Atkinson and not using the timeouts. You know, Phil Jackson used to let the Bulls play through it. They're not the Bulls. They don't have Michael Jordan. At some point— and we talk about the crowd and 30 years raining down upon them— at some point you gotta break up the rhythm a little bit. Like, let's call timeout. Let's, let's calm the heck down here. I think there's a little something to it.

Either way, the NBA postseason has been super refreshing, almost as refreshing as finally hearing a big-time show give New York the attention it deserves. I mean, there has been a huge golf and Knicks coverage across the entire sports landscape, and I'm happy we're there.

So I sense some of the sarcasm, and I'm going to just allege that you guys are haters who are just embedded in hating and do not and will not celebrate anything that comes out of New York.

No, no, I thoroughly enjoy watching that crowd. At Madison Square Garden. I always enjoy watching that crowd, and it's part of— I feel I'm conflicted.

I'm very conflicted. Mike Ryan, he's boycotting the whole thing. He doesn't want to be a part of any part of it because he's now recusing himself from the situation because many, many years ago the Knicks and the Heat mattered and they played brutal playoff series. And you've seen Mike Ryan feud with Paul Pierce because of how he hates the Boston Celtics. He's now recused himself from the premises because he will not be a part of celebrating what was simply a magically positive night that can also result in, yes, the Cleveland Plain Dealer is going to kill the local team.

So is a lot of the country. A lot of the country is going, Cleveland choked! Wow, did they choke! They did choke! Yeah, of course, but that's half of—

that's the legitimate other half of us adulating Yes, but what, what I'm arguing, and I don't think you guys agree with this, but this is what I'm arguing, okay? And it's hard for me to argue it. It hurts me to argue it. What that building was experiencing last night would have swallowed all but the very best players who have ever played this game. All but the players who are a great deal better than Mitchell and Harden. It swallows everyone else because the force of that particular momentum made it so that Cleveland did something you're not used to seeing. And I think it happened to them. I think that was taken from them. And I think very few champions would have had the resiliency to withstand what fell on their chest in that fourth quarter because it's Brunson And he brought hell with him, like he brought all of New York with him. And that's what I'm telling you. I think that's worth celebrating. And I'm telling you it as someone who has difficulty making that admission because it hurts me to see them feel that. Yeah, like it hurt. Oh, they get that. Like, it's hard for me to see that inside myself and be— I'm jealous.

That's— I think that's what we're pushing back on. I don't think we're— I think you might be happy about this.

Yeah, we're saying— I think you might be a secret Knicks fan the same way you look.

I fell in love with sports again last night. Wow. See, I did it two nights ago. Spurs stuff.

Oh, I'm loving that. When it's Knicks, I know you're gonna be a lot of in love again tonight.

I renewed my vows last night with sports.

I think that's part of it though, that, that Chris brings up, which is I think because in game one we watched Wembley and the Spurs just go take it, right? Oklahoma City did not choke at all. They played great too. And it was back and forth.

Yeah, wasn't great in that game.

he wasn't great, but at the end of the game, he's making big shots, and so is Victor Wembenyama, and they're champions, and they're all there. And here we're watching a combination of the two, which is Jalen Brunson and the Knicks and the, in the crowd and all of it going crazy. But also James Harden. James Harden in particular. If it was just Donovan Mitchell alongside Bam or Giannis or somebody else who doesn't have the same history of choking. But James Harden in this game, like Zazz mentioned, he's isolated 8 times in the 4th quarter, 9 times if you include overtime. They're getting 2 points per possession. Do they have a coach? They're scoring on every possession. Is there a coach? You're watching that team choke. You're watching James Harden for the 6th time this postseason have more turnovers than made shots. The guy is a historic choker, and he took double the shots in 4th quarter that Donovan Mitchell did. It's him. And it's part of the reason we can't have the proper perspective on how amazing it was just for the Knicks.

No, but we can though, because while I understand what Zazz is doing to Kenny Atkinson, I just want you guys to hear my frustration when I tell you, okay, so I'm renewing my vow with sports because of how, uh, my— I'm renewing my vows with sports because of how exciting that game is. And again, you guys are going to make it about the guy on the sideline who didn't do the thing. You gotta call timeout there. Okay, I'm not even disagreeing with that part. What I'm saying is the timeouts wouldn't have worked. Like, you, you would have had to talk about— don't renew yet, it's a long series.

No, no, renew, renew. Yeah, playoffs again, everybody's been talking about how bad they were. All of a sudden now everybody loves you.

No, it's a good thing. Experience joy. We want you to do that.

Yeah, you don't— how do you renew your vows? How does that work? Is that a private ceremony? Is Val involved? Is there like— she's reading something. Well, Val's not involved. This was Dan with Sports. I know, but she's, you know, in the other room going, do I come in now?

And she doesn't have anything to do with this. No, she doesn't have it. The way that Zaslo—

She's not cucking you in Sports? Well, it's the other way. She's getting cucked by Sports.

Hmm. Oh, you like where this ended up?

This is my fault. Yeah. Well, you're gonna blame— you're gonna look in my face and you're going to blame me for where it ended up?

Yeah, you wouldn't reveal what your vows entail.

I was interrupted by your son who decided to make a cuck joke. I was talking, I was, I was about to reveal it, but your son wanted to make— he very badly wanted to make a cuck joke, and so I wasn't allowed to reveal what I was going to reveal because he wanted to make the cuck joke. And then what happens to the court jester in the corner? Jeremy dances in with bells on his hat. Yeah, a cuck joke! And then where am I? Not answering your question.

I'm here to provide facts, Dan. He just had it wrong.

How great though, the last couple of nights between Spurs, Knicks, and Canadiens.

Yeah, mixing it up with the hockey there, Greg.

That's another team America should be rooting for, the Montreal Canadiens. Oh my God, you are— in my opinion. So the Knicks and the Canadiens. The Knicks and the Canadiens. America should be rooting for. Yes, 100%.

Why don't you raise a finger up there and say it as if you were 100% making some sort of good point when you were not making any kind of good point.

I was making a good point, and this is a self- self-righteous finger. When I raise an index finger, I mean to be heard. What do you think of that?

When you middle finger, do you couch it with side fingers? You just go straight up with the middle?

I don't bird it. I don't bird anymore. Really? Yeah, I go like this. I don't bird.

I think I'll tell you the last time I threw a bird at someone. When did you—

I don't think you throw a bird. Do you throw a bird at somebody? When did you retire your bird?

I just I think it's inflammatory. Like, I am prone to road rage, and if you are involved in a potential road rage situation, the last thing you want to do is flip a bird, because that brings the gun out from the other guy. I don't own a gun.

This is the new and unimproved Don Levitar Show with the Stugatz.

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