SI:AM | The Greatest NBA Finals Game Ever

DAN GARTLAND 

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’ll be honest, if I went into Manhattan to watch last night’s game, I would have gotten on the train home at halftime.  

In today’s SI:AM:

🤯 Historic Knicks comeback

👏 OG Anunoby’s shot for the ages

😬 Where it went wrong for the Spurs 

Another miraculous Knicks comeback

Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

I would have liked for this newsletter to arrive in your inbox a little earlier, but I’ve been sitting here for a while this morning trying to wrap my head around what I witnessed last night. The Knicks erased a 29-point deficit, capped by an outrageous flying tip-in by OG Anunoby, to beat the Spurs and take a commanding 3–1 lead in the NBA Finals. It was the biggest comeback in Finals history, and the second time this postseason that the Knicks had come back to win after trailing by at least 20 points. 

There are a million different aspects of the game that I could choose to focus on—De’Aaron Fox’s decision not to run out the clock, Karl-Anthony Towns’s deflection on the Spurs’ final inbounds play, the officiating, Jose Alvarado’s unexpectedly significant role—but the thing I keep coming back to is how exhausted Victor Wembanyama looked. 

Wemby was excellent in the first half, with 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks. More than that, he was brimming with confidence—cocky, even. Late in the first quarter, he scored over Mitchell Robinson and then taunted him on his way back down the floor, eventually baiting Robinson into committing a flagrant foul. But Wembanyama disappeared in the second half, scoring eight points on a dreadful 3-for-14 shooting. Part of the reason was that Karl-Anthony Towns, who spent much of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, returned to the floor and played good defense on Wemby, as he had in the first two games of the series. But go watch the highlights of the fourth quarter, and you’ll see that Wembanyama was completely gassed. He wasn’t moving with the same aggression and determination as he was in the first half. 

It’s easy to see why Wemby was so exhausted. He played 44 minutes, a new career high for a regulation game (regular season or playoffs). The only time in his 202 career games that he saw more playing time was in San Antonio’s double overtime win over the Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals last month. He was only on the bench for 58 seconds in the second half of last night’s game. CONTINUE DAN’S COLUMN ON SI 

 

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👀 The top five …

… angles of OG Anunoby’s game-winner: 

5. From high above the court. 

4. Former Yankees and Mets pitcher (and Manhattan native) Dellin Betances’s view. 

3. The U.S. World Cup team’s reaction. (Midfielder Tyler Adams was climbing all over the furniture in a way that made me think he was going to turn an ankle.)

2. This video, where a fan replaced the broadcast audio with a classic clip from Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex. (When Jay-Z and Kanye West’s song “Otis” debuted on Funk Flex’s show in 2011, he restarted the song 25 times and played his signature “Flex Bomb” sound effect over 60 times.)

1. Kirk Herbstreit’s view from courtside.  

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Published by RJ Hamster

I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis. I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God. I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree. Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons. I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA. While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon.. In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God. We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987). From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting. Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982. I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects. In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston. In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018. Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia. In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey. As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova. Love and God Bless, Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi

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