Mind the Game - Knicks vs. Spurs: Breaking Down the 2026 NBA Finals with LeBron James and Steve Nash

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

The NBA Finals are in full swing and LeBron James and Steve Nash are breaking it all down on this special episode of Mind the Game. First, Steve talks through his first full year of doing the Amazon Prime broadcast. Then the guys pay their respects to the recent string of losses to the NBA community with the passing of Rick Adelman, Jason Collins and Brandon Clarke.Finally we dive into the 2026 NBA Finals between Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks and Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. The guys get into many things including, what is making Brunson so dominant in this historic playoff run? How can the Spurs get Wemby closer to the basket? And breaking down key role players including Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Dylan Harper and more.Thanks for watching Mind the Game. Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts!New DraftKings customers turn five bucks/dollars into two hundred in total bonuses. The Crown Is Yours!Sign up using http://www.dkng.co/MIND or through my promo code MIND. #DKPartnerGAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET, 800-327-5050/visit http://www.gamblinghelplinema.org(MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 888-789-7777/visit http://www.ccpg.org, http://www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 800-981-0023 (PR).Wagering offered by DK Sportsbook: 21+. Present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/PR/WY). Void in ONT. On behalf of Boothill Casino (KS). Pass-thru of per wager tax may apply in IL. Event Trading offered by DraftKings Predictions, CFTC-registered: 18+. Trading involves risk of loss. Market availability varies. General: 1 per new DraftKings customer. $5+ deposit req. Trade $5, get $200 Prediction Dollars (1-year expiry) issued as $50 increments every 7 days upon login for 21 days; or bet $5, get $200 Bonus Bets instantly (7-day expiry and stake removed from payout). 7 days = 168hrs.Rewards are non-withdrawable. Terms: http://www.dkng.co/offer. Ends 6/28/26 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up on this episode of Mind the Game. Jalen just, he's, first of all, the number one characteristic for me is his will to win. It's almost not a floater, not a layup, not a runner, but it's just like a shot on the move with a guy tattooed to him. And you can't time it because you don't know when he's not. It's not natural. Yeah, it's not natural. Like he goes and then he just kind of tosses it up there. Boom, boom.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So now you know, yeah, exactly. I'm fascinated by this Cat Wembe matchup. Cat likes guarding Wembe. He has the strength and I think the foot speed to kind of make it difficult. So how do they now move Wembe around? Get him on the baseline, get him on the block, get him to on the move. San Antonio, they're a team that doesn't have ego.

They have their personal beliefs on what they can bring to the table. We all do. We're all competitors. But that team is eagoless. It's big time to see Josh kind of grow into the player that he's in. We always talk about Alex Caruso a lot. It's those certain guys that you can plug into any friend. any team and they're going to win because those guys just make winning plays.

You know, Isaiah, what other, you know, what other small guards of the other team to titles? It's very rare. To winning it? Yeah. To winning it? Yeah. Yeah, I'm just getting back a little family vacation. Nice.

Took the family over to Italy and France. We started in Monaco and then took the coast all the way down and finished. all the way down and finished in Capri. So, I mean, it was a great trip. Whole family, kids, wife, my mom, had a couple of kids, have some of their friends with us. So you had a crew.

Yeah, we had a crew. We had a crew. It was a good time, though. Great time. A little jet lag. But we're back, man. Mind the game. We're back.

We are back. We are back. Let's go. Question for you, man. You know, this is one year into you doing this whole broadcasting thing. You know, how was that been? Is it everything you thought it would be?

Is it, you know, kind of take us through it? Take us through it. Yeah, it's been good. I mean, thanks to you, I got a little bit of a head start doing this, feeling a little more comfortable on camera. The Amazon Prime stuff has just been amazing, though. You know, they really invested in it. Great team, great crew, all in camera, off camera.

So that part of it's been like a home run. You got some guys up there too that's like smart, know the game as well, UD, Dirk, Blake, like you guys do a great job of there. you know, Taylor, you know, those y'all are some pretty good cast. I mean, I don't, me personally, I don't watch a lot of like pre-game shows, post-game shows, because just, you know me.

You already know how I am about that shit. Because they don't speak about the game enough. There's not enough knowledge about the game, breaking down the game, you know, what it means as a fan to actually learn about the game or what we're watching, you know? And it's been a breath of fresh air having you guys up there.

You know, I think, I don't know what game that was. It was maybe after game one or two in the Houston series, I actually got on to talk to you guys after that game. And I did it because I knew who I was about to be talking to. You know, so, you know, it was a breath of fresh air to get on there and talk to you guys about the game and kind of like, you know, just really speak about the nuances of why we all fell in love with the sport and why we continue to fall in love with the game.

So big shout out to you guys for sure. Thank you. Well, we appreciate you coming on. We hope it's not the first and last. But, you know, you hit it like the, I mean, I want to give a major shout to, like, the people that support us. They do an incredible job. And then, like you said, man, like to sit there with Dirk and Blake, U.D. And Taylor's like the point guard.

Like, she really is such a, I mean, she's so talented at what she does. She keeps us on track. For our first year, she made it seamless for us. So it's been amazing. And I think thank you for saying that about the content. Like, we wanted to come in and try to add and elevate. These are best players in the world. Right, right.

We want to highlight what they're doing. We have to call them out if it's not right or they're not playing well. But the reality is they're still the best players in the world. And we want to show the fans why and what makes it so difficult to play at this level. So that was fun for us to try to maybe give fans, casual fans, even fans that are deeper into the game, like an opportunity to kind of see it from a player's perspective, coaching perspective, like what's happening out there on a slightly deeper level. So they have a little bit of like either access into the game or an understanding of why they're doing what they do

or what makes it so hard. That was fun. That was fun. Also, like the court, too. The court breakdown. It was cool. You got some breakdown plays, breakdown specific moves

that certain guys made. You know, I thought that was pretty cool, too. The court was super, like, immersive. Yeah. Like, you felt like he was in a video game. Right, for sure. You know, played by live guys, which you guys were.

So I thought that was a good piece that Amazon did a great job of capturing that, too. Yeah, and I think, like, we haven't even fully been able to, like, exploit the court. Right, right, right, right. We're still learning. And what sense?

What you mean? So, like, you can play video on the court. You can put... You can have trackers where you have the players moving. You could put graphics on the court. So being interactive. So, for example, we haven't, like, been able to do it enough, but we could theoretically use the court but draw a play on an iPad.

And then it goes right to the... Oh. But getting all the dynamics of that down to where, like, it's TV ready, you know, it just takes a little bit of time. Yeah, for sure. the functionality of that thing is incredible. So hopefully we can use it as a tool to help to enjoy it.

That's awesome. Pretty cool. Well, congrats on year one. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, still coming up on deck. Yeah, cheers to that, man. Cheers to that.

Yeah. Nice. Nice Barolo. Yeah, I'm fresh from Italy. Just keep it going. Keep it going. Right. From Barolos to Burgundy's.

Yeah, yeah, right. Right, right. So we've had some really, really sad. days here at the NBA recently losing Rick Edelman, Jason Collins, Brennan Clark. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I'd love to hear from you and all. We've both played against Rick's teams and great human being. And that elbow action offense with Pete Correll was one of the, I think, the most beautiful teams of that era.

So obviously, shout out to his family and all the incredible stuff he did in the game. Yeah, I mean, obviously at the end of the day, I mean, we all compete against one another. I mean, there's 30 teams. We all compete for one common goal. That's to win that game, win a championship, whatever the case may be, however you kind of break down the course of a season, your career. But more importantly, like, we're brotherhood. We're all a brotherhood from, you know, the staff, the training staff, to everybody that's helping the coaches, the players, everything. We're all, it's all a brotherhood, you know. And, you know, when you lose someone in a fraternity, you know, it hits home, you know. And

You know, to be in a playoff series versus Brandon Clark a couple of years back when, you know, we had a big-time playoff series versus Memphis, you know, with that team. To lose him, obviously, it's sent a lot of shockwaves. I got a lot of teammates on the Lakers that was actually teammates with him, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia. Rui was a college teammate if he is. Luke Conar was a teammate of his, so I know that kind of probably hit home even. more for them. So that was, you know, very devastating. And like you said, our condoluses goes out to not only BC, but also, you know, Jason Collins as well, losing him, competed against him as well,

you know, earlier in my career, you know, and also, you know, just playing against, obviously, like you said, Rick Adelman. I saw one of my dear friends, one of my best friends, you know, the NBA is Kevin Love. And K. Love put a post out, I think yesterday or the day before about how much he meant to him, you know, and his family as well. So, you know, it's a big fraternity. And to lose people like, you know, people who have meant something to our league and to be able to compete versus them or see them, have conversations with them is always something you kind of just, you don't take it for granted.

And like you said, you give so much more even in-depth, you know, respect and, you know, words to their families, you know, because they've all lost, you know, great, great people. Those are good words and the Brotherhood, the fraternity, you know, family extends to families, right, who have to experience it because we take them on this journey the way they support us and they have to share these players with the fans, airplanes, organizations, teammates, you know, quickly, you know, Rick Adelman obviously terrific X's and O's and great coach,

Jason Collins, first openly gay basketball player and professional athlete in North America, you know, tremendous, you know, leadership, strength, and spokesperson for our community. And Brandon, you know, just too young, all of them too young, but Brandon just everything I've ever heard about him, which he was an awesome kid, so got to meet him a little bit. A kid who was born in Vancouver,

you know, the West Coast where I'm from, Canada, grew up in Phoenix where I played, and so all these hit home for me. And yeah, thanks for those words and for the community and all the people that will miss them dearly. Yeah, absolutely. will be missed. Absolutely.

They'll be missed for sure. Yeah. Well, let's jump to these NBA finals. At the time of recording, this is Friday of game two. Yeah. But we saw game one. Did you get a chance to watch it all? I did not.

I did not get a chance to watch. It came on at 2.30 in the morning. Yeah, you don't know. And I was knocked out. But I did wake up to see, because on my way, I was on my way to the airport, actually. So I was starting to make my way to the airport, and I did see a lot of the Jalen Brunson big-time shots late. The shot-making ability that he had in that fourth quarter was, I mean, it's the reason why they're in the finals. He's the head of the snake for their team.

And his shot-making ability, tough shots, tough shots made the, you know, the left-hand lay-up over top of Castle, long arm, floated off the top, split the defense on the next one, was able to get to the hole again. you know i think after maybe an offense a rebound he had the three by the san antonio bench the corner three big three you know why san antonio was trying to make a run and then obviously the kind of a dagger the playing off to step back step through high really high on the sale that's a tough shot and you just tip you tip your hat obviously he's an all-star big-time player you know so yeah and um i think the one thing that i heard about By the San Antonio side, it was a lot of turnovers, a lot of unforced turnovers, a lot of turnovers.

Look like they played a little sloppy. Like, they was playing a little fast, is what I heard. And you can't do that versus New York. I mean, they're the hottest team that we've seen in a long time. I mean, what is it now? 11 games in a row or something like that. I think they haven't lost since what was game three of the Atlanta series. Right.

Yeah. And as much as you respect the Knicks, I don't think going into the playoffs anyone. Right. I mean, a lot of people picked them in the East, but they weren't playing great. They go down to one in the first round and then they run the tables. No one saw that coming. So for context, it's like a different New York Knicks team now.

It absolutely is. It absolutely is. And the best time to get hot is when the playoffs. I mean, and they've caught a rhythm. And they're showing it. Both officers, we talk a lot about their offense, but it's the defense, too. I mean, that is showing up even more for them. I mean, they're up 1-0 right now.

I thought that was big, the defense. I mean, clearly, you know, they made a lot of threes and made a lot of shots and found a nice rhythm. Cat being a hub offensively, but their rhythm and they're feeling defensively has been great. Kat's been a better defender. They've done a much better job of not giving into switches

with Jalen Brunson. You know, him showing and getting back, kind of showing a crowd, giving him time to get back. So their rhythm defensively has been outstanding. You know, they have the pieces. like the, you know, bridges and Ogie and hard. And with cat defends. It's playing well off the bench.

You know, Duce is playing well off the bench. Obviously, you know what you're going to get out of Mitchell, Robinson, giving them extra possessions and, you know, changing shots. So, you know, their team right now, everyone who's coming in, you know, you got the wild card and Josh Hart. He's like a wild card. You can play him whenever you. You played with him.

Yeah, I played, you know, and he's continued to get better and better. You know, I was with him when he was young. I had the Young Lake show with him and B.I. and Lonzo and Caruso and all that, you know, Zubak. I had the young guys, you know, and, you know, you just see Josh Hart, you know, continue to get better and better and better. I know. That'd be a hell of the team right now. I know. That'd be a hell of the team right now for sure. Oh, my goodness. But you just see Josh Hart just continue to get better and better and better. And he's one of those few guys in our league that makes it impact and it doesn't have to always be school. It's the Draymond Green role where, you know, he gets you eight points, but it's 12 rebounds. It's seven assists. It's diving for lose, some of the stuff that don't show up in the box scores.

You know, it's that competitive will, you know. And if you disrespect them, he can obviously make shots as well, you know, that coast to coast, you know, left or right, right hand finish. So, you know, it's big time to see Josh kind of grow into, you know, the player that he's in. and he's one of those guys, like you said, we always talked about Alice Caruso a lot. It's those certain guys that you can plug into any franchise, any team, and they're going to win because those guys just make winning plays.

Winners. Yeah, winning plays, winners. I think Josh, I mean, I think 15 rebounds, six assists, four steals. Yeah. Oh, man. I might have it wrong. 15, 16 rebounds, four steel, six assists. But what, you know, he's a winner, like we said,

two things that come to mind to me timely, timely steal, timely offensive rebounds, you know, timely assists. And that leads to him, he kind of ties the room together. You know, he understands they're going to play off me. They're going to change the matchups on me to try to take advantage that I'm not shoot first guy. He's now kind of getting to the place where he's figured out all the different looks.

When he goes into uphill DHO, when he's the screener, he's got to hold the screen, get the switch, and get out to the corner, or not allow them just to pass guys off down the line. He's so smart and adeptic kind of, finding out ways that he helps the offense, not hurts the offense. That's a skill in itself.

Absolutely. And I've played with, like I said, I played with Alice Caruso who did that. I play with a young Josh Hart who, you know, I don't think at that point he kind of knew exactly what he wanted to be,

you know, or how he was going to affect the game, but just played hard as hell, you know, but I also played with Rajan Rondo. Yeah. And competed against Ray John Rondo. And you think back to the old eight champion Celtics,

you know, you think back with Rondo, guys with teams were tried to, back up off of them, you know, so they could heavy stunt on pin downs from Ray or Paul or whatever the case may be. And Doe figured out a way to, if you're going to disrespect me here, I know that once I give the ball up, you're my heavy

stunt to the nail. I could cut back door. And once I get the ball, and now my IQ and my playmaking playing a four on three game, it's nothing you can do about it. I see KG at the rim. I see dumb down for perk. I see spray, you know, to the corner for Ray or Paul or James Posey or Eddie House or one of those guys come up the bench.

You know, so it is a, it's a tricky thing when you plan against certain guys like that. You try it with Draymond as well. We're just clog up the paint, trying to make him shoot. But what happens when you're off of him and now Steph is running around and he's D.H.O. and his Steph, now the guy that's gone,

Draymond is nowhere near to be found. Steph coming off clean. So that makes those guys so unique. I used to love that Rondo. I think he also used to stampede that. Oh, absolutely. shooter, Ray, he'd get it back on the move. On the move.

Then he's playing three-on-two. That was great. Let's go back to Brunson though for a minute. You know, Isaiah, what other, you know, what other small guards have led their team to titles? It's very rare. To winning it? Yeah. To winning it?

Yeah. I can't think of one besides Isaiah. Yeah. You know, obviously we've had guys get close. I mean, we've, you know, I think of Alamos. Iverson who got that team to the finals versus the Lakers obviously in 0-1, I believe that was. Steph? Steph is not a small guard, though.

Is he? Yeah, I mean, he is, but he's not really a point. He's kind of a combo. I guess Alan Iverson is a combo, too, right? Combo two. I would say, I mean, maybe it's because Steph is just so ridiculous. You know, he's so different. I just think he's just so different. I don't give Steph the point guard nod because he's so different.

Like, you know, with Zeke, you knew Zeke was the one, Dumars was the two. You know, you kind of knew that. You knew those, you know, he brought the ball up, he handled the rock. You know, you knew he was the point. He really wasn't allowed to let too many people,

other people bring the ball up. With Steph, he's so dynamic to the point where... He plays off the ball a lot. He can play off the ball, you know. When they was winning championships, you know, shit, Sean, you know, Liverson was bringing the ball up. You know, Iggy was bringing the ball up.

You know, Drayman was bringing the ball up. But I guess if you had to, you know, the old-school ways of saying, who's the point, who's the two, who's the three, who's the small, like then you would say Steph as well. So Zeke and Steph, but besides that, and Jalen Brunson is, it's trying to do that as well. Yeah, I mean, you have to, in some ways, have the perfect team around a small guy, you know, especially, I think nowadays the way the game is played, but they space the floor so much offensively for that small guy to be able to guard his yard is impossible.

Yeah, yeah. So you have to have these long McHale bridges. Yeah. Ananovi, Josh Hart, Kat, Robinson, guys around him. Steph in some ways had that, you know? Clay was a great, perimeter defender, Iggy. Draymond, of course. They usually had like Revolvingdorf centers and do things.

But Jalen just, he's, first of all, the number one characteristic for me is, and last year he was Clutch Player of the Year. This year, I believe, Shay, last year was Jaylin, is his will to win. His will to win. And I would say one of the things. he that I love about him, you know, beyond the shop making is he's so smart at using his body. Yeah. We know he plays off two feet.

We know he's got incredible touch on those drives. And he's able to just float the ball in the basket. It's almost not a floater, not a lap, not a runner, but it's just like a shot on the move with a guy tattooed to him. What we will say is off timing. Yeah. Or if you're guarding him, you can't time it because you don't know when he's not. It's not natural. Yeah, it's not natural.

Like, he goes and then he just kind of tosses it up there. Boom, boom, boom. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So now you know, yeah, exactly. So now you know I have to get it up. But like as a defender, he gets you sometimes. He gets you leaning. Yeah.

And then he, boom. And he makes them. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But what I love about Jalen, I try to teach this to young guards is using the body and cutting guys off. Yeah, yeah. And so, like, one of the, you know, there's variations of that. There's one using your body to get off two feet and play.

There's one where you have half an advantage, where you steer him away from the pocket of space so you can then go back to the pocket of space. And the last one is how he gets in front and just stops. Just stops. And what is important as a, you know, I can relate as a non-MBA athletic dude

is that a small guy is what happens is by getting in front of your guy, close out, pick and roll, whatever it is, by cutting him off. One, he can run you over. That's a foul. Now he's got to be more conservative. So you're setting the terms how he plays against you. But two, as you cut him off,

your big's rolling or your big's in the dunker, you're creating a big pot. You've stopped the game. Game stops. And now, if that big wants to step up, you're looking right at the lob. If that corner guy wants to come in, you're seeing that.

And you say, okay, the game's going to restart when I say so. And now we play four on three, three on two, two on one. He's so good at taking those little advantages or big advantages, stopping the game, creating a space for himself

and asking the defense, who's going to come guard this space? Because if you do, I play him behind. And also, I mean, and also add on to that, he's a lefty, you know, which also changes it too. You know, our league is so, what, 90% of our league, 95% of our leagues are righties, you know, and the lefties that's dynamic in our league is sometimes just hard to kind of get a cadence to that. The man who Genova is the James Harder and is the, you know, now to Jalen Brunson.

Like, it's a different, it's a different feel when a guy's coming at you lefty, you know. that that uh i think that plays a little bit into it i don't know if anybody's ever said that and it i could be wrong but i also could be right i think being a lefty too when you're that dynamic it just gives the defense and the defender a little bit more of a headache and it gives the defense a really absolutely on an individual basis or team basis but like how do you scheme for him because you know he's quite comfortable to shoot a hand in the face three off the dribble if you give him a little gap so that brings you all the way up So then he creates that little advantage with the body,

whether he cuts you off, whether he takes you away from the space or whether he plays off two feet. So what do you do? Like getting in the gaps is so hard because he's so efficient at getting his slight advantage and using the straight to the hoop space instead of curving one way, spinning. He's very in like his short lane.

So the gaping, it's really difficult to gap him because you have to over-commit so much. And like you said in game one, they made, you mentioned in game one, they made those threes. So that even, it puts so much pressure when they're at their best, you know, McKell Bridges is, you know, knocking down shots. O.G.'s knocking down shots. You know, Josh Hart picks, you know, knocks in a couple.

You already know what Kat's ability to do. So you're not going to be too far in on him anyways because his ability to shoot the ball. You know, and Shamlin had been shooting the ball. Like I said, Duce been shooting the ball. So J.C. George Clarkson could come in and knocks him down. So like his, like we mentioned earlier, they've done a great. job of surrounding him with the perfect pieces that allows him to be the perfect himself. And now over to our producer, Jason, for a word from one of our partners.

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You know, Wembe, I also thought, was way under his level. I mean, I'm sure they were, they had, I think, really good off numbers from Wemby defensively, but I don't think he played to his level defensively. Absolutely. And we got to think, too, they're coming off a grueling seven-game series versus defending champions, you know. And, you know, the NICs have been, you know, resting, fresh. And sometimes they can work both ways. You know, sometimes you go into a game seven, you play not too long after that, you got more

rhythm but I thought I just I felt like you know from what I've seen from the outside looking in or what I'm hearing is that they were like you said mentally that we're not you know completely there of how they've been playing sure um but I mean it it goes from one game to the next game the game is not the series is not one in one game right you know and when you got two teams even if it feels like it is right right right yeah right exactly and that that that feeling that you have after a loss you know going to go in with a better mindset, a better focus, because now you have a sense of, if you didn't have a sense of fear versus your opponent,

now you do. You know that they can beat you. You know, and I've heard a lot of quotes, you know, from their team and rightfully so, you know, we're the best team in the world. You know, I heard some of the young guys say, we're the best team in the world. That's how we feel.

And I love that bravada. I love that, that they feel really good about that. but having someone come in and kind of put you in the mouth, you know, on your home floor, now you're like, oh, now you've got, you're like, oh, now you've gained my respect. So I see, I think San Antonio is going to, it might have been one game, but they'll, they'll be the team that we all, we've seen over the course of this playoff series,

or playoff run. Yeah, I think they'll be better. I want to ask your opinion on this, though. I think the next sitting at home resting, going and playing on the road in game one, I think is beneficial because there's less pressure. Yeah. You know, you, you play at home.

home after that layoff, you can't lose at home, you know, you lose home court. So I think in some ways, do you think psychologically it helped the Knicks in a way that maybe they were rusty, but they go with a more of a free swing attitude. It makes shots a little easier. Yeah, I think they definitely went in with a more of like a free swing, you know, mentality. Like I said, I didn't get an opportunity to catch the game, but just from my knowledge of playing in the postseason, but also just watching the game, I'm knowing the game.

I also, I don't know if anybody talked about this, but I also think, think that them starting on the road, Nick's fans right now are so fucking insane and crazy right now for a finals game. That them starting on the road and just knowing that it's keeping the main thing, the main thing of the main thing is the game.

Let's just play the game. I can only imagine if game one started at Madison Square Garden. People asking for tickets, people want to be in there, the fans, all like. Cities on fire. Yeah, the city's on fire. And it's going to be on fire for game three.

We know that. But I think just them having a level of being in San Antonio, we're in San Antonio, you got to, you're not, we focus on basketball. You ain't doing shit in San Antonio. Nothing at all. Nothing. And I mean nothing. You're not getting on the river walk? Man, hell no.

You're getting on the river walk. Fuck around and fall in the water. You fuck with that. But I, it was, it was, I think it was a perfect setup for them too. Because like, even though San Antonio is. a great crowd. You could hear Knicks fans. You can hear them on the TV. So they had support, but it wasn't overwhelming. They're on the road, kind of that free swing. They got two chances to get one. They got one. A lot of pressure on San Antonio. Oh, absolutely. A lot of pressure. A lot of

pressure on San Antonio. But I think they're going to be up for it. You know, I think they, they had their guards extremely up versus OKC because they knew. They play OKC throughout the whole year. They played them four times in a regular season. You know, they know, okay, this is the defendant champions. They know we can't really afford to not be as locked in as possible.

Sometimes human nature kicks in, especially with a young team. You come off a young team beating the defendant champions. And even even though it's the finals, a little human nature might have kicked in. Like, who, we got past Santa Tum. I mean, we got past OK, see?

Shit, we're going to, we're all right. We ain't got to play as hard or we ain't got to be as focused. Feeling good about themselves. Feeling good about themselves. And I think they just got punched in the mouth. They opened the door and there was no conversation, no talking. They got straight to it. I think it's going to help them going into the rest of the series.

They get their edge back. Yeah, I think so. I'm fascinated by this Cat Wemby matchup. You know, it's a slightly different look with cat shooting. You know, Wembe, I just thought, was so prohibitive against shame. in okay C, you know, they have all these primitive defenders, and Wembe, who's looming in shade, had to just take incredibly difficult shots. So with Cat out there, though, it feels like Wembe was a little in between in game one.

Like he didn't lock down the paint. It'll be interesting to see if he adjusts, and he's like, I'll get back out, but I'm going to say, first and foremost, we're locking down the paint. So I'm interested to see how he adjusts in these next few games. And then how Cat does, because Cat likes guarding Wembe. You know, he has the strength and I think the foot speed to kind of make it difficult. Yeah. So how did they now move Wemby around?

Get him on the baseline, get him on the block, get him to on the move or on the elbows coming down. Yeah, I think so. I think they got to get back to that a little bit, you know, get back to him, being in the corners, them setting pin downs for him, getting him on the move, getting a body off of him. Cat is probably, like I said,

I didn't see game one, but I can probably guess he's probably used his body up against him, his physicality, which you can do a lot in the postseason, especially in the finals. They're not going to let the flails too much happen, or calls going to be happening. So, you know, I think, obviously, they got a great coach of staff down there in San Antonio,

but I could see them just trying to get him on the move a little bit more, using his athleticism, using his ability to, you know, either come off, catch and shoot or come off and just get downhill. Having a lot of the guards be the ones who setting those pin downs or those, you know, if he's high on the elbow, you know, having the guards set it, so, you know, there's not many switches. You don't want to do it with OG's guy. You don't really want to do it with Bridges guy.

want to kind of stay away from that, but there's other guys that may be on the floor where you can... Brunson's guy. You know, Deuce McBride's guy, you know, Shannon's guy when he comes in, just to get a body off of him so he can have a little bit of freedom. Yeah, I think that's a great point

because I think from a standstill off the catcher, off the dribble, the top, you know, that's easy to stay connected with Wembe, you know, although he's obviously prodigious in the length. Yeah. But for him to get that momentum, to win that first bump to spin, very difficult against Kat.

Because Kat's strong enough and can move his feet well enough. and they also did great job gaping his spin, staying in his lap making him, putting doubt in his mind where he's like, should I get off it or should I make a move? At some place he's like, I got to create an advantage, but he's making an advantage.

Cat doing a good job. Guys in their lap, they can still recover. So I think that's going to be a really, really interesting component is how they continue to adjust with one another. I think you will. I think he will. I mean, he's super young still, and obviously we talked a few of our episodes ago

about his development, but the best teacher of life is experienced. You know, and so we want to see how it continues to adjust as a series goes on. Yeah, for sure. I've been lucky enough to experience some incredible moments in basketball, but really excites me now is bringing fans closer to the game in ways they rarely get access to. That's exactly what Airbnb experiences makes possible. Recently, I hosted my own Airbnb original experience in L.A.

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there's an experience waiting. Check out Airbnb to see what experiences are available for your next trip or in your own neighborhood. We all love to celebrate big playoff wins when they happen, but those games are won long before the final buzzer. They're one at practice, the gym, and in film rooms. On the court and in life, preparation is everything. With the American Express Platinum card, you can game plan for the menus you've been meaning to try and be among the first to know when a table you want opens up. Plus, card members can enjoy dining benefits at over 10,000 U.S. resi restaurants.

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Like, how healthy is he, you know, he had a poor game one, but he's an all-star. You know, we know what he can do, what he brings to this team, the calmness he can bring to this team, but he's got to play to a level. Conversely, Dylan Harper was amazing in game one. I mean, he got to it, ISO situations, no defensively he makes plays, he gets timely rebounds, he scores at all three levels. It was just so aggressive. It felt like nobody could contain him on the Knicks. So how is Fox's health? How do they share those minutes?

Does it shift a little bit more to Harper? Do they ever play those guys together? They will play those two together or they'll play Castle and one else together, but they almost never play the three of them together, Castle, Fox, and Harper. Which is something he made, push that button. But I think that this is the beauty of San Antonio. They have these three guys that can go get it themselves or make plays for one another. Yeah, I mean, I think it's simple.

I mean, listen, this is the last of the Mohicans for the season. And this is not any time to feel like, okay, if I don't play this guy, we may lose them for the rest of the season. Well, this is the season. But I do think, you know, Dearen Fox is a huge piece to their puzzle. They brought him in for a reason. You know, we talked about Jalen Brunson being clutch player a year. I think Fox was maybe two years ago, you know. He was clutch player the year.

And we know what he can do in late games to hit. speed dynamic when he's healthy, his shot-making ability when he's healthy, he's able to break down defenses in 94 feet or in, you know. So I think it's a gauge on how the game is going. You know, if you see, I mean, they've been around Fox enough to know that, you know, is he close to healthy or not? Is he in a rhythm or not? And they know what they're going to get out of the rook and Dillon.

So I think it's just a feel. you know and not feeling one way towards this it's let it play out yeah let it play out who's performing well if this guy's performing well you know let him get the run I mean at the end of the day when we win we all we all we all we all win you know and it's not you know there's not no time to be you know trying to babysit or I'm you know I know that's a that's a big word but like babysitting someone's ego whatever I don't think San Antonio they're a team that doesn't have ego they have their personal you know, beliefs on what they can bring to the table.

We all do. We're all competitors. But that team is eagle-less, you know? Yeah. But I just think it's a feel. It's how the coaches feel. That's it. Especially because Fox, since the injury has had some amazing games or moments.

It's not like he's been poor. Right, right. So I think there's still an opportunity for him to play well. Even if he's neutral, you can see the benefit he brings to that team. The calm, the poise, the tempo, which allows Harper, just the freedom to go get it. It allows Castle, like, extra opportunities to just. just be super aggressive instead of feeling like I have a responsibility to control the game. So even if he just plays neutral, not below his level, he's a big part of this.

But you just got to let it play out. You got to let it play out. And like you said, the part of Dylan and Stefan being able to just go out and play free is the benefit of Fox being in the lineup. You know, we kind of saw an OKC series at times when Deerrin didn't play the level of turnovers and how their offense kind of looked a little sped up, you know, but with Deerrin, who's a natural, natural, floor general point guard who can get the guys, you know, where they need to be in a sense of calmness, it allows those two guys to just be themselves. Just go out

and attack, attack, attack, don't worry about, oh, okay, oh shit, I got to make this read. I got to make this read. No, you guys just be instinctive. Let everybody else kind of get around that. Yeah, I agree with that 100%. Thanks for watching Mind the Game. New episodes drop every other Tuesday. Remember to like, subscribe, or follow wherever you're watching.