The Ringer NBA Show - Spurs Win Game 3 at MSG | Real Ones

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

Logan Murdock, Raja Bell, and Howard Beck discuss Game 3 of the NBA Finals, where the San Antonio Spurs defeated the New York Knicks 115–111. What did it take for the Spurs to earn their first win of the series on the road in the hostile environment of Madison Square Garden? Was Game 3 too physical? One host thinks so. Howard Beck, who was in attendance, also shares his firsthand perspective on an epic night at MSG. Plus, the mailbag! Hit the mailbag: [e-mail] Hosts: Logan Murdock, Raja Bell, and Howard BeckProducers: Victoria Valencia, Clifford Augustin, and Jeff ShearinProduction Supervision: Ben Cruz and Conor NevinsAdditional Production Support: John Richter and Chris Wohlers The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines Buy any two Ferrero Brands and you could win $1 million. Visit GoAllInAndWin.com to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's popping. Real ones. Real ones after dark. To be exact, we are reacting on game three of the NBA finals between the Spurs and the Knicks where the Spurs win 115, 11. Are the Spurs back getting this? Are the Spurs going to win the series? Are they going to mess around with the mess around with the get down on the,

you feel me, with the rebound? We get into all of that and we get into your mailbag questions. We got Howard Beck alive from MSG giving us a scene of what happened from the Rootia to the Tudah. and then we get expert analysis from Raja Bell. Then we get into your mailback questions. And then we have a really, really fun into the pod where I just purse out everyone.

It was awesome. This episode of the Ringer NBA show is presented by Ferreiro. The world is watching. Go all in for your team this summer with Ferreiro. Enter for the chance to win a range of prizes just by purchasing your favorite treats. Like Kinderbueno with an irresistible chocolate wafer and creamy hazelnut filling.

or Keebler Chips Deluxe cookies with indulgent and rich chocolatey chunks, or Ferreiro Roche squares, with crunchy hazelnuts and milk chocolate wrapped in iconic gold. Go All In. Buy any two Ferreiro brands, and you could win $1 million. Official rules apply. Learn more at go all in and win.com. It's popping. Real ones. Logan Murdoch here, Roger Bell, there.

Howard Mother fucking Beck in the very, very, very, very top of Madison Square. We are talking to you guys after the Knicks lose to the San Antonio Spurs in game three of the NBA finals, 115 to 111. Victor Womeniama, 32 points, 8 rebound, 6 assist. Probably his best game, most complete game of the finals. It's been a long time since we've talked, guys. It's great to see you guys. It's great to do this. I'm going to start with Raja.

What did you like about Wembe tonight? And what was your overall takeaway from the game? liked that, you know, they came out and it looked like they were making a real effort to try to get him some baskets that were easy. There was a lot of double drag just putting them and putting the Knicks in a tough spot when Wemby's rolling to the basket, just trying to figure out how you were going to tag from the weak side or if you were going to give him the lob. So I thought they got, they got him going in a way that forced him to kind of score from inside and then work his play out a little bit.

Like, he's great at his size being out there on the perimeter, but I've said before on the pot, I know a lot of other people have said. I like when he gets going from closer proximity to the rim, and then he can kind of expand his game and kind of, and go out from there. In terms of the game, like, look, like that, you know what? You know what I would say about this series and other stuff? I do not like the way this series is being officiated. I don't like it at all.

I just, I don't like it. I think it's, you know, they change the tenor of the game, mid-game. This isn't one way or the other for Spurs or for the Knicks, but like they're really letting them wrestle out there, which fine if that's what you're going to let go the entire game, but then there are segments of the game, these little chunks of the game where they stop doing that and now they're blowing the whistle like for things

that have been allowed to happen for the entire game. And that's confusion for players. And it's confusing for me as a fan watching the game. Like, I don't know that anyone else sees it like I do, but I'm not enjoying the way this series is being refed at all. Either let them go or, you know, call it like you do in the regular season. And either one I'm fine for. But switching midstream, the way they have in this series from time to time has kind of thrown me a little bit. Love the way Wembe played.

Loved how aggressive Stefan Castle was tonight. You know, they've given Brunson some problems. I know we got 32 tonight, but it's not a pretty 32. It's not an easy 32. Like he's working for that. But generally speaking, I just don't. I leave these games not loving the way they're being wrecked. I'm sorry.

You said that at the end of when we were all, when me and Howard were in Mosh pits in Sweden. You were talking about how. And we were talking about, you were talking about how Roger was talking about texting us, just talking about how, I believe it was game two, when the officiating wasn't up to par

in your mind and in fact it made the game closer than ever. Can you talk about the evolution from each game of how you been annoyed about the officiating because it's been different parts of it, right? Like it's been, you said the general part of this physicality, but it has been an inconsistency. Can you take us about through your annoyance of the officiating through three games? Hey y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up?

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Okay. In a way that would be entertaining for the listener. I don't know. I would, you know, I would just say, like, look, you're watching a game. And if you see the manhandling of cat by Wembe or the manhandling of Wembe by cat on any given possession before they're even near the ball, Like those two are in a wrestling match the entire game.

And if you're going to allow that, I'm okay with that. But there seems to be, for me, stretches of the game whenever, that the whistle starts blowing more frequently than in other parts of the game. I'm not saying there's any conspiracy or anything like that. It could just be, you know, like we've got to get control of this now before it boils over. And so it manifests itself and, hey, we got to make these calls to kind of rein this game back. in. So I'm not saying anything nefarious is going on, but what I'm saying is, like, I don't think it's consistent. And as a player, all we wanted was consistency. We wanted to know coming out of the

gates, hey, bro, this was going to go all night long. This is how you were going to allow me to play this, you know, this scenario. And if you changed that on this midstream, that was difficult. Now, I don't think it's deciding necessarily the outcome of these games, but just watching it, as a former player, it's kind of frustrating for me. What have you thought of the physicality overall, though, Rajah? I mean, especially this game. It felt like I felt like Wimby was this on a mission

just fuck up, Brunson, and then it just went snowballed from there. Yeah, like, look, I mean, I don't have a dog in this fight, right? But, you know, I, again, I think it's kind of crazy that, you know, it should have been a flagrant on Wemby early in the game when he,

when he much Jalen Brunson, right? And then a few plays later, I do not think that that was any kind of like flagrant activity by what's Bigfellas named the backup center for the Spurs. Cornett, I don't. I think he ran into Josh Hart after the bucket. And then Josh Hart should have gotten attacked. He kicked him.

You could have kicked him out of the game. I was suspended for less than that. So like, you know, no, I'm being honest. Like, I was suspended for less than that. But, you know, again, I think those are, those happen within two minutes of each other. And I think it's just an illustration of like, look, you're, you're. you have to have some level of consistency. And then they let it become like the street brawl,

which I'm for if that's what we're going to do. Like I love that. But then when you put a team in the bonus in the first like three minutes of a quarter coming out, like that's not what we were just doing. Yeah. And that's hard to make that adjustment like on the fly like that. I think, you know, look,

Jalen Brunson has a lot of gamesmanship with his like flopping and like his. is, you know, Manu Genoblee-esque, kind of like, you know, head, he's great at it. But they're beating the living shit out of him bringing the ball up to court. Like, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're going to the castle's giving him an oom. And then Dylan Harper's giving him an oom. And then he's going into lane.

He's getting fucked up. Yeah, like, they're beating him up. And so, again, I'm good with it. But then we can't be putting people in the bonus on, like, Rick, you know, just tiki-tag stuff with, you know, three minutes into a, into a, like, crazy. crazy quarter that could have decided the NBA season. I just don't think, I don't think that's right. Howard, you are our intrepid reporter live from Madison Square Garden at the moment. We just finished a Billy Joel concert that I'm sure you and your generation love. I feel like that was

just catnip for your generation. Can you speak to overall environment and maybe how that may be affected the Knicks tonight, if at all? Just to clarify. So they have always played New York State of Mind by Billy Joel at the end of every Knicks game. So this song plays in my head almost on a loop. Like this being here just like triggers it because I've covered like I don't know how many hundreds of games here over the last 20 years. We did have to wait for copyright purposes for Billy Joel to stop playing before we could start this podcast.

Much to Roz's chagrin. You already know. Listen, like I just atmosphere wise. So first of all, obviously atmosphere, um, airs out of the building. by the end, of course, because this is the first Knicks loss since April 23rd, fellas, and their first loss at the garden since April 20th, and those were the back-to-back

losses to the Hawks, the last team to beat them in the postseason. So a sobering moment, I think, for the fans here, obviously for the Knicks themselves. I think everybody kind of thought this was coming. The Spurs were so good, the first two games, building double-digit leads, blowing double-digit leads, but building them in the first place.

like they showed they can hang with them. And they showed clearly the physicality that, that Raja has noted and that is sometimes being called and sometimes not, was something that was, I think, working to the Spurs advantage. And it was just a matter, I think, of leveraging that and then just staying cool in some moments. I felt like they were a little bit more mistake-free, not mistake-free, if you were just fewer mistakes tonight, fewer rushed shots, fewer just dumb looping passes that were going to get picked off, right? Like, just fewer mistakes tonight overall for the spurs. They showed their composure.

We've talked plenty about this, but like for this team to be this young and obviously already in the finals, to come into this building to try to save their season, to not go down 3-0, which we know is the death knell. Of all the impressive things that we've seen from Wemby and Castle and Harper and this crew, this ranks right up there. And not for nothing on a night when the energy in this building was profoundly bizarre to say the least because of all of the things. And we were talking about this several of us pregame, just the fact that like the finals have a different energy than any other part of the NBA than any other part of the schedule.

The finals have just have a strange energy. It's an intensity, but it's also just strange. It's like just a tension in the air. So you take that. Then you take the fact that it's a finals game at the Garden for the first time since 1999. Layer that on top of it. And the Knicks fans, New York, just ready to explode at the possibility of a championship, and they're already anticipating a sweep.

Now, on top of that, throw in the fact that a certain somebody decided to make his presence felt tonight. And it was just a really, and you didn't know where it was going to go. Does that seep into the players? I don't know. Like, maybe they're being asked that right now as part of the postgame pressers that we are not watching because we're potting. but it was definitely a strange energy in the building. I would guess that that had very little effect on how the game actually unfolded itself once we're past all of the hoopla and the weirdness of it all.

But it was, I've covered a gazillion. This was my 24th finals. I don't think I've ever been to a finals game quite like this. I would agree, though, like on television. I mean, they showed Trump, the man you were referring to. They showed Donald Trump, I think twice on television, once during the national. National Anthem and then another time

just during the game I think it was after a quarter break or something but other than that it felt like a normal NBA finals game that was great but can you can you talk to us about

like people that weren't in New York like what New York was like around the garden right because they can't have the watch party it seems like it's like there's gates everywhere you had to get there very very early

can you give us a step by step on just what it was like going into the game and just like a weirdness right because finals finals games always have a, it's always different than any other game, including playoffs. But then you put this other dynamic that is, that is just unforeseen. And then we have to deal with it. Can you just give us a

step by step of like, you know, you're walking into the building. And then from there on, give us a play by play. Yeah. I mean, listen, I've got the good fortune of being able to get to a subway line pretty easily that pops me up right into Penn Station, right? So I'm taking the A train into Penn Station. So all I have to do is walk up some stairs and make a U-turn at street level, and I can walk in, except that when I got there at like 430, which is the earliest we could get in the building, 830 tip, 430 was the earliest the media could get in the building. There's already massive lines, fans over here, you know, garden employees over here, media over here, and then a lot of people not knowing where to be, there are barriers, the size of which I have never

seen in my life just for event control, right? Like there's these, I think people probably saw on social media, these really tall gates that they had put up lining like 33rd Street and other areas, trying to just wall people off from the entire sector. And that's why they pushed the watch parties away. I'm curious to know if there were watch parties like, I don't know, five more blocks down. Did they find somewhere else to just commandeer the street? I got a think New Yorkers did. There was Bryant Park had a had a watch party. I think that's where it went down to. There we go. But like I've never seen security like that, obviously, because I've never been to in 24 finals that I've covered. I've never been to one where the president showed up with Secret Service and everything else that went with it.

There was confusion. I saw reports online confusion by fans who were trying to get into the arena, who had tickets, who weren't sure where to go. The cops weren't sure where to go. There was just a lot of confusion. So it's just, it's this combination. To thank God it was only 70, 72 degrees today and not like the 90 that it was a couple days ago. Because we would have just been, us and the fans, been baking out there. But it's just, it was, it was tense.

It was confusing. Obviously, all completely unnecessary, too, right? Like, if a certain somebody just decided not to come, this would have been. You can say it. You fucking jakes them, bro. He did. He did. What are you doing?

I mean, not for nothing. There was a hell of a lot of talk about karma and bad vibes and bad juju and everything else the second that that was the certainty that he was. coming and people feeling like this is what's going to turn the series and root it for the Knicks. It certainly made it incredibly inconvenient for Knicks fans who were coming to the game, not to mention all the Knicks fans who can't afford to come to the game, who have been enjoying themselves in these watch parties on the streets and couldn't do that even. So all of that was a bummer and cast like a, I was like a call over it.

It's still fucking NBA finals. It's still great. It was a fantastic game. But it made just for a very strange. start to the night. For the rest of it, so for the media, we come in, you know, we had more security than normal. Instead of me just having my bag go through a conveyor belt, like they hand searched it. I was bracing myself for the full strip search.

Fortunately, that did not happen. Thank God for humanity. Jesus Christ. I made sure to shower just in case, you know. But they did not go that far. That part of it all went fairly smoothly. We all got in. and then we just had a lot of time to kill.

Did catch up with Friend of the Pod. Ben Stiller for a little bit pregame. Did see Spike pregame on the court. Tracy Morgan. I mean, you guys, I'm sure saw. Look at Howard just flexed, man. Look at the New York legend. I'm not saying I was like hanging with all them.

I'm saying they're all here. Okay. All right, all right. You were hanging with Ben, bro. We're kind of jealous. You know what I mean? He is a friend of the pod. He is.

Let's get back to basketball. It seems that that was enough. Roszo, like, we haven't talked to you in a second. Like, what have you thought about the gameplay between both teams in the first two games? Like, what have you thought about this series so far? Yeah. I mean, look, the theme of this series for me is

it's just physicality. Like, this has been a really, really physical series. And I think both teams at times have thrived in the physicality. Howard, you know, you made a good point tonight about San Antonio kind of cutting down on the mistakes. I thought with that, they also came out in the second half and just raised their level defensively. I thought they had some possessions late in that fourth quarter where they were running people off multiple shots. I mean, they were on a string.

They were flying around. And so, you know, I talked about the rest at times, but like that's not to try to take anything away or diminish. like what San Antonio was able to do, you know, defensively at times. So I think it's been a pretty cool watch. Is there been a final series where the home team has lost the first three games of the series? Like I don't. I'm going to look right now because somebody I think noted this. But yeah, I think this may be a first.

Yeah. Kyrthika, what's going on? Like, do we have a stat Kyrthika? What's going on? Kierthika, okay. All right. She typically has all the stats. She typically, whenever we have a question, it's how we're going to blue sky and talking about it.

Okay. I'm pretty sure she hit this already. So I'm looking. The road team has won three straight games to start the NBA finals for the first time since 1993 and the second time ever, according to Kierthaca. Thank you, Kierthaca. You knew she was on it. You knew she was on it. 93 would have been, who would have been?

That's the Bulls? The third of the third. Trailblazers? No, Bulls, sons. A third of their. sons. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, I don't know. Like, there have been three games, man. It's late. I don't have a great, like a great breakdown of the three games. But look, if San Antonio is going to make Jalen Brunson's life as difficult as they made it, right? You know, there was, there was, he had 32 tonight.

They had, they had 18 assists. I think at San Antonio had 28. they have to find a way to get into what they're doing quicker, in my opinion. There's way too much of him fighting to get it across half court and then fighting just to get it across the hash, if you will. And he's starting offense at half court. They're at 15, 14 seconds on the shot clock in their way out there. It doesn't give you a lot of time to find the answer to the problem.

to the problem that San Antonio on any given possession is trying to throw at you as a defense. I just think they got to play a little quicker and I think, you know, maybe, again, I said it was Shea when they played Shea and they always have him at the top

with the ball in his hands. It's a lot easier for a defense to have their five defenders in all sets of eyes kind of loaded. They'll trap you if you're coming off a pick and roll. They got multiple big bodies, they can throw you defensively so you can't always beat him off the bounce. You need the pick, but that's bringing the second defender kind of organically into the play.

Shea struggled at times. I don't imagine you're going to see Brunson just going bananas in this series at any given time offensively. He's going to have moments, but they're making it really, really, really difficult on him. And so I just like, you have to have games from from bridges and cat has they have to have games. If that's what they're going to do to Brunton, they have to have games. Yeah, I mean, this has been the story of the series, man. In my opinion, it's basically been Spurs of the Better Team that can't close. I think that's been the story of the entire NBA finals, right, where, I mean, we were watching Game One up in Stockholm.

And it was like, okay, the San Antonio Spurs are taking control of this game until the third quarter and they just can't finish, right? Same goes for game two where, you know, they do get a, they do drop a lead, but they can't finish because Wimbanyama is messed up down the stretch. They don't really have anyone that can necessarily organize. And you can see that even in the last stretch of this game, right, where, you know, before that that castle bailout three that sealed the game, they were having some trouble, right? There were just costly turnovers from Fox, right? And I know we talked about, we talked about Fox throughout this series. And I know Roger you have pointed out, like they need Howard. Like, they need Fox.

They need him to be right. But he isn't that floor general that you need, right? Like, they need guys that can kind of organize this offense. And we've seen this throughout the season with San Antonio where, you know, they play great defense. There was a sequence with four minutes left in the game where I think they caught Carl Anthony Towns behind a three-point line. He threw it to sham it and then they got it into the lane. and then Wemby just blocks it, right? Just an incredible defensive performance from them.

They have the defensive vacuum, but they just can't close down the stretch. And that's the thing that's really just been frustrating to watch. It's like, whenever I watch the Spurs, Howard, I feel like, damn, I can't wait to see what they are in a few years, right? When Dylan Harper is just not only looking for his own shot, but he can get other people involved in this is a little bit more comfortable and they're just older, right? And I'm like, when I see so many plays and I'm like, when they're two years older together, they're going to be a lot better than they are right now. And they're just playing on raw ability. That's great, but they can't finish.

I don't know what you can do with that in this series. They're down only two one now, but they're trying to figure themselves out in a way. They're trying to get where the Knicks are in terms of chemistry and knowing each other of NIST. But they're just not there yet. But they have more talent than the Knicks. And I feel like that's the conundrum and the two things kind of coming. When you're a mid-sized business, you need every competitive advantage you can get. Like an AI solution that works for you, not against you.

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and 54% of leading positions held by women, diversity is a strength that helps L'Oreal Group create the best beauty products for all people. Visit laurel.com to learn more. And at each other during this series. I think there's something to that, and I really think that, because you see these moments from Dylan Harper where it's just like, holy crap, I cannot even believe this fucking kid. He's amazing. But it is definitely those amazing moments are, I'm going to go get mine and then he gets it. And occasionally it's I'm going to go get mine and he gets there and then can't quite complete it. But it's never like, I'm going to go get it. And ooh, everybody just collapsed on me and I'm going to hit Vassel in the corner or I'm going to hit, you know, here at Fox at the top of the key or stuff. He doesn't have that vision yet. He's a little bit tunnel vision, which is not a knock. It's totally typical of rookies in this league and of young guys in this league who have an incredible amount of individual talent. And I think, Logan,

you absolutely nailed it. There are so many times you're watching this team. And we're watching them in the NBA finals. So this is the time to be thinking about the present and not the future. But it is hard not to think like, oh, man, in another year or two, he's going to see that play. He's going to see that rotation. He's going to see that opportunity. And he will. Like, Dylan Harper seems to be like a very intuitive and smart basketball player. And same with Steph Castle.

And Wembe's got other places to evolve too. And I thought tonight, you know, Rajah hit this earlier. Like, you could see like the clear intent to get him shots closer to the basket tonight right off the top. And he got him on a roll. They had a hard time getting back to that later. I'm sure, you know, the Knicks had something to do with that defensively. But there are still those moments with Wemby in particular where you can see like, especially when he's out at the arc, it's like I can knock down this shot.

But like if he's missed a couple of them, now he's hesitating a little bit. But he's not sure exactly. He's hesitated too long to turn that into like, oh, they're closing out of me. Now I'm going to make a move and blow past them, right? Like he's just a half a second too long in his decision making. And that'll all speed up. eventually. And when that happens, these guys are going to be impossible.

They remind me a lot of the 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder, right, where they have all of the talent. And I'm not sure they were better necessarily than the Miami Heat. You can make the argument, I think, that they were going on in the series. I don't know. But when you look, when you looked at them going into that series, they had a whole bunch of dudes, right? They had Westbrook.

They had Hardin. They had Kevin Durant. but they all didn't know how to play with each other as well as the Miami Heat simply because the Miami Heat year before went through the fire right and this this Knicks team has gone through the fire in a lot of ways and Roger we've always talked about like throughout this season like when is San Antonio going to get tested like who was going to make them work right and go to their third or fourth option and I remember seeing in like game one in particular you see San Antonio get out to this big lead but then you see New York.

who knows each other and knows everything about how to play together when the chips are down. Also, they're a team that tends to rally. And you could see that, like, how, what's going to give throughout this series in your mind, right? You've been pretty spot on throughout this postseason. Is it going to be San Antonio's youthful energy that is just, they don't know what the hell they're doing? They're just more talented than you? Or do you think the Knicks still have the edge in terms of because they know each other?

Do you think they still have the edge in the series going into the next game? Yeah, it's interesting because, well, first of all, let me just, like, what San Antonio needs for me, like, I mean, they'll, they'll obviously get better as they, as they all mature and get older. But, like, right now, one of them, they, they lack closing, right? Like, they lack just, just overall closing. So that could be from an organizational standpoint with someone setting up your offensive. to get it going, but also, you know, from like a bona fide closure with the ball in his hands. Like, who is that going to be? Right.

Like, and so if these games are going to come down to the wire over and over again, I'm taking New York because they, they close. Like, they have a closer. They have a guy that you know, even if you make it difficult for him through seven, eighths of the game. Like, he can close and he'll make big shots at the end. Not that San Antonio has guys that can't ever close, but they don't have that consistent closer, like Wemby. He'll never be like a true post player, but like that's a part of his game.

Like you've got to develop that. You've got to get to where we can give it to you down there and you can get buckets or get baddest. Like it's critical for you to be seven, whatever you are. And for us to close games, that's where we have to get you the ball. You know what I mean? Like they have to have that.

I think that emotion, additionally, there's going to be, I think, a rebound from the Knicks in game four. Not that there was a letdown from them in game three, but I think you feel that series slipping away from you in a way that game four becomes a must win for you if you're the Knicks. And so they're going to throw everything they have at that. They're going to come out with like a, they're going to come out and punch first. Now, I don't know if that manifests itself and then being up early in a way that

haven't in this series, but like I imagine they're going to be like razor shark coming out in game four. That's just my gut. I would lean towards them slightly, but I'm afraid for them because the spurs got a taste tonight. And that's what you did not want for a team that probably is mono-imano, like, you know, man-to-man, like just better than you across the board. and that taste can be intoxicated.

I think, you know, they were loose coming into it. I saw a lot of the press that they were doing and a lot of the behind the scenes that concerned me. You know, I know the Knicks fans were all like, these dudes are locked in, man. These dudes are business. Cool. But I did not like, if I was a Knicks fan,

I did not like that the Spurs look loosey goosey like that. I did not. That was not making me feel good as someone who would have been cheering for the Knicks. So that would be my concern. I think the Knicks win game four, but I'm worried for them. They had a real opportunity tonight, and the Spurs, you don't. When you have young players that are inexperienced, you've got to get rid of them. Yeah.

You've got to fucking get rid of them. You can't, you've got to get rid of them, bro. Like, you just got to use whatever advantages you have, maximize those and get them to fuck out of there. Is that what you used to do like six years ago against your sons? Is that how you had to have to, had to, stave them off just like, hey, I got to fucking kill you real quick. Is that what you used to do? No, I just used to mush them little muffles. But like, you got you got to get them up out of there and

they didn't do that tonight. And so yeah, it could be interesting. I like the next though. And I think, again, I would just say this, sorry, if we're going to play in these, if we're going to play in these three minute games down the stretch where someone is up two or three points and every game is going to live in that area, I'm probably taking the Knicks in a series. The ringer NBA show was brought to you by Fandul. It's all come down to this. Who do you think we'll be wearing the ring at the end of the NBA finals? Make your call with Fanduil.

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And I'm going to take the over on points and rebounds and assist for Victor Wimbunyama. And I'm going to take the over on Dylan Harper points. And I'm going to take the under on cap points and rebounds. That's how I feel right now. Just visit banduel.com slash ringer MBA to get started. Let's be 21 and older and select states. 18 and older in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. First online real money wager only, minimum $5 required for seven consecutive days.

bonus issues is non-witzrable bonus bets, which expires seven days after receipt. Gamble problem? Call 1-800 gambler. Call 1-8-88-7-8-7-7 or visit ccpg.org. Backslash chat in Connecticut. There's a couple of things here. One, let's start with this. I always say that you get clues for the rest of the series and the final two minutes of each game, right?

Or I would say maybe final four minutes of each game. And how that relates to what you just said about the Spurs, right? You see the big three from Castle, right? It was a bullshit possession. He gets the ball shoots the three. You see the stepback three from Dylan Harper. Then you see the Fox turnaround after he had that, after he had that terrible turnover down the stretch, right?

What I'm saying is these young guys are building confidence, right? They're growing. They do this every series. They seem to be growing in front of our eyes. That would scare the shit out of me, right? Where, like, these guys are starting to make shots. they're starting to just kind of find themselves. There's also like a comfort in being on the road, right?

I think you saw that from both teams because both teams had different set of circumstances that gets them overly amped, right? Like you saw it in San Antonio where it's like, oh shit, this is the first finals we've had of this new era. Like, it's crazy. And it came out swinging, but then I'll say also got a little lemon booty down the stretch. And then, like, you saw the same thing with the Knicks, right? Man, it's our first finals since 1990.

Since 1999. It's the lockout year. man we got to really put on for the city wow there's so much going on fat joe and jadekiss are at our presser bin stillers at our presser what the fuck this is crazy right and that that tends to go into your mind it's hard to like um you know insulate yourself and the first and i think like the thing that would scare me if i'm the nix right now is like damn like you said roger these young guys

they're starting to wake up like they're starting to be like oh okay all that noise is over with we're actually a fucking better team than you like imagine We're actually better than you. We're younger than you. We got Wimbanyama. All we got to do is funnel him funnel you guys into lane. He's going to block everything. And then Wimben Yama's like, oh, shit, I can actually go to the cup.

Like he wasn't going to the cup the last fucking two games. I have Carl Towns on me. I can go to the cup. They're starting to really just kind of wake up now. And I would be scared. Howard, do you share these fears? You guys hit it earlier. The Knicks have the best closer in this series,

He's one of the best closest in the NBA period of the last several years in Jalen Brunson. Dearen Fox did hit, by the way, that fucking huge free throw line jumper late. Kat was tying up Wemby. Like, Wemby was trying to get loose, and Kat just, like, was, like, wrestling him. And I think Fox just, like, saw, like, I've got an opportunity just kind of, like, skirt him behind them. Huge, huge shot by Dier and Fox. And, like, that's why you got him in the first place, right? And, like, I'm the moron who, was it earlier this season?

last summer. I'm like, okay, Deard Fox is now expendable. They've got Castle and Harper and they've got this young career. They got Baccel. Like they don't, you know, what do you need? You're on a trade machine. Why we need a max point guard? Deren Fox just showed his worth. And obviously he's been hugely critical to them as just kind of a steadying hand of veteran influence. We saw what his absence meant to them in that Thunder series when he was still ailing a little bit. He seems fine now. But I think I'd be concerned to answer Logan's question. I think I'd be concerned with the fact that like Jalen Brunson despite the number of like clutch shots he's hit first to get them up to O in the first place and then even you know some of some of what he did late

tonight he's what 11 for 25 tonight has not shot well in the series the NBA uh stat side is not updated yet so I haven't been able to like look at his composite for the series but like he's he's got you I got you right here he is shooting 37% from the field 31.8 from three point line but he's averaging 27, but that's been a tough 27. Yeah, 12 for 30. He shot 31 shots in the first half. 12 for 31. In the first game.

Yeah, 12 for 31 in the first game. I'm just now able to pull it up. Like, it's been a struggle the whole time. And this is what, this was the one thing I said. Like, you know, I'm one of the people who thought the Spurs would win this series. I think I said Spurs and Six in our, in our preview for the Ringer. It was in part because I thought the Spurs are just so uniquely built. with all these big physical guards and then Wemby backing them all up,

that Brunson was going to have a hard time finding space to operate. Now, the guy is one of the best tough shot makers and just finding little seams that there is in the league. And he does that. And we've seen it over and over in the series. But still, the efficiency is way down for him. And if that's going to be the case, then it's got to be okay. How much, you know, what are we getting from Kat?

And they didn't get much tonight from Kat. Where are we getting from Mikhail Bridges? Ananoi at least, you know, was shooting well tonight for them. But it does put a lot of pressure on everybody else who they can all have those breakout games, but you're not going night in, night out to any of them. That's not the history of these guys. So, I don't know, Rajah, like, is there, what's the counter when your best player is being bottled up to this extent? Yeah, this was my fear for them coming in. I don't know if you guys remember me saying how similar I saw Jalen Brunson and

Shea as players, as scorers, as shot profile, like where they want to get to, how they want to score. And San Antonio is, you, like,

you know, they're not unique in that, like, there are other teams that don't defend, but with that shadow of Wembe behind, they are kind of unique, right? Because if you don't have

a true number two that is going to just pick up any slack. Like true number two is when number ones can't eat, they're just waiting to eat. So like, once you throw it over to them, they're like, fuck it, I got it. I've been waiting for this. Like, Oklahoma City didn't have it. And the Knicks are looking for it. You would hope that Carl Anthony Towns would do that. But so far, you know, like when Carl's, I mean, Carl Towns for first two games, he seemed like a, go ahead, my bad, my bad, my bad. Yeah, but he's in and out. He's in and out. And so, like, if he's going to be good, they're going to win.

Because what the spurs are doing to that driving force of your offense, Shay or Jay-Lut Brunson is just making their life miserable. Game plan, stacked floor, Wembe's shadowing. So you have to have cat or Chet or it would have been J. Dubb or somebody on that weak side when that ball comes out has to make them pay over and over and over again. And only then would they have to, like, say, okay, we can't employ this strategy anymore. Let's play Shay or Jalen Brunson straight up.

But I think even as Katz been great, like you talked to the beginning of the pod about like, you can make a case the Spurs. We're like, you know, we fumbled the bag a few times, even though Cat played great. So like, I don't see them switching it up, you know? Like they're going to let Cat, hey, beat us. And it's, it's, I don't see any real hope for Jaylin

shaking free in this series. Again, he's, he's going to have moments, dog. Don't get me wrong, he's a bad mofo. Like, he's going to have moments. But, like, it's just really difficult to shake free of what that entire team is doing to you on a nightly basis. It's their only focus, defense. Cat was four of 10 tonight, 11 points. Can't have that, you know, especially after 18 and 12, game 1, 21 and 3.

13 game two just was a monster right i was even i was joking i think with howard is somebody uh when in in stockholm just talking about like damn like chet is looking at chad hungrin is looking at this film like god damn and i just missed a golden opportunity to get my team to the finals right like it seemed like the the blueprint was right there um mckell bridges also has to step up right but the problem is rouser when i look at this nix team i'm like aside from brunson i really don't know who is to be a consistent player outside of Brunson. I don't know who's going to be there on a night in and night out who can do that, right?

Like, I'm not talking about Landry Schamett. Like, he's going to ball out, but he's not that guy, right? Like, OG is, he might get you some, he might get you 20 on a given night, but are you going to, can you bank and stamp 20 points from OG? I don't know. Can you bank and stamp McKell Bridges 20? In theory, you should be able to, but I don't know.

Yeah, I wouldn't, I, oh, G, in a series like this, I would stamp close to, like, I don't know, he's averaging, but I'd have him high, high teens, like, to 20. Like, I think you could count on that. But it's not winning you games. Right. That makes sense, right? Like, it's not going to win the game for you.

You need to give the ball to Carl Anthony Towns more. I'm just telling you. What if you thought of his defense, by the way? What if you thought of his defense? I think he's been great. Yeah, I think he's been pretty good. Like, you can't, look, Wembe, Wembe got a bunch of shit behind him tonight.

Carlythie Towns had him bottled up on the perimeter. Like, you know, Wemby was looking to get that step back, Cat knocked it away a few times, even that last possession were, or not the last possession, but when he hit Stefan Castle, I think it was like a, he wanted to hit that as he pull, and Cat was all over that, and he made him get off of it. I think Cat's been really good.

I think he's been physical, but you got to give him the ball more. You got to get that ball out of Jaylen Brunce's hands, if that's what they're going to do to him, not saying that he's got to take a back seat, but get the ball moving in a way where Kat can get it with a little bit of time to figure out what's going on, and then he can either score

or he's very capable, like, playmaker. So then let him make the play to get shamit the easier shots. Like, if you watch the Knicks tonight, there's a huge difference between the ball moving crisply and me catching it and allowing myself, whatever that beat is on my natural shot, like, you know, whatever time it takes for me to get that shot up, the Knicks look sped up in the second half

in terms of catching trying to get it up. real quick. Like, Katz and trying to get up real quick. Like, they were, they were sped up in that way. And so you have to get off the ball earlier. Let, let Kat, because he's the only person on your team, they can do that, dog. Like, he's the only person outside of Jaylen Brunson that can be tasked with doing that. Like, it's just, it's what it is. So he's got, you've got to see if he can do it.

And if he does, maybe, you know, well, you've won two games with him fucking doing it. But, like, if they adjust to that, now it frees Jalen up to do what you ultimately want to be able to do anyway. Yeah. No pun intended. I've been catting off. O.G. is averaging 20 points per game. But to your point, Roger, it's not going to win you games. That's not what I'm talking about. Right. You need a bona fide just like, dude to be able to win you games in that way. Damn, it's kind of distracting. It's popping over there in MSG Howard. What's going on

right now? It's popping. I'm over here hearing voices that I don't even know. And I'm like, what the fuck is going on? I think people kind of clean it up doing their thing. Just like, you know. Breaking down, baby. Break it down. I don't know if there's something here on the off night between games or not either. So, you know, there's work to do.

I do have from this perch, I can see, you know, Ernie, Chuck, Kenny, Shaq, all doing their thing down on the court down there. So they're still working hard. I can tell you that. Are you sure they're working hard? I think one person is working on. I can guarantee that one person on that panel is working on. Maybe Draymond was here really

I saw Draybom pregame I don't see him out there now with them So I don't know if he's just like roaming Is he just like is he like the He had a wild like I don't know man I'm not the best dress in the world But he had like a wild like pink and brown Ensemble going on It was it was a lot

It was a lot going on It's if Saginaw Michigan was an outfit That would do what that was Um Okay let's get it to let's get in the Quib mailback real quick before we get out of here. Let's get to an hour.

Cliff, what's happening? Cliff, are you there? Cliff is falling asleep. I did not fall asleep. Wake up, Cliff? Are you still jetlight from Stockholm? No, I was in Riverside Jail real quick.

That's what happens when you're in the back. So when you're in the inside jail, I can't unfree myself. So I needed Ben to free me from Riverside Jail. Did you have those big barriers that Trump had in your jail? Was it like a big glass awning in the storero room? I was in solitary. I was in solitary, Logan. I only saw it because I'm here.

I only saw it popped on social media. Did they show on TV where he was basically like Trump was basically like a sleep in the Yeah, they did. And it was hard to tell if Dolan was even awake next to him. Yeah. I'm like, wow. Yeah, that's old and wild. Bro, because that just happens, man.

That's just literally of all the people around their age that just happened. This was an exciting game. Wake that ass up. It was a exciting. This is a really. Roger, wake your ass up. old ass. I'm about to say,

I'm about to fall asleep as we speak. Yo, just keep a cam on Roger, because he's going to fall asleep right now. Almost there, Roger. Almost there. All right,

this is a random question here, so bear with me. This is, hello, real ones. I have what I believe is an interesting question for you today. Would the current day 2017 Warriors be a contender right now?

I don't mean import the 2017 Warriors. I mean, we take the current version of the 2017 Warriors roster. Let me make the kids. case. You still have two top 10 players and the goat level scores in Stefan KD, a high IQ, all defensive caliber defender and Drayman, and a 38% plus three point veteran sharpshooter and clay. You could also add in Harrison Barnes, a vet contributing to a finals team right now.

Let's also say they start in round one of the playoffs and don't play a regular season. So what do you think? Thanks for answering. Andrew. This is from Andrew Fan. Very random. But Logan, it seems like you covered that team. You got some mystery behind that. I think you'd be perfect to answer that question. right now like this current this current team right now can they stay on the floor for for for three months straight can they do that i don't know i don't know if they could do that i'm sorry this current group no i don't think that you're you're basically subbing in by going back to the 2017 russia you're basically subbing katie back in for july butler but everybody is like nine years older yeah exactly uh no sorry are they going to go against jdub and shay are they

going to go up with what is this current we've seen what the current kd is doing against current women yama bro like it's not that's not happening i tend to be the biggest warrior optimist on this pod and like no i'm just i can't we're not there it's not happening you want to you want to stick up for the ages uh for the old people rosser no stick up for them no i don't i don't think i don't i don't think people understand the difference between like what a what a what a really good 21 year old 22 23 year old um um physically has in terms of advantages over even a really good 35, 36-year-old. I mean, no disrespect to, like, those are some of the best players on the planet.

But, you know, they're going to have advantages in terms of, like, experience and understanding and probably tricks of the trade. But you line up a 22, 23-year-old fresh legs against a bunch of 35. That's not even a, not a chance. Yeah, man. Like, I would say even, like, if the 22, the 22 lawyers and they had all of those people, that would be, like, the last, like, gasp in terms of, like, the team that would win a title. If you put that current version of the roster together.

If you could get Andrew Wiggins to also replicate what he did that season for them, because he was the one young guy who could actually do something, right? And it gave them a little bit of that athleticism. Hey, man, Jordan Poole won some games, too. He went around. He went around, okay? Just, Jesus Christ. I'm not going to have the erasure.

Okay, what's the next question? This next question is like a week old, so just bear with me because it's still kind of relevant and interesting. Okay. This is Cartharsis from Uruguay. Can we stop with the next dynasty talk? Matias Pristini, Mattias Pristini. I hope I'm saying that correctly. Hey, real ones.

What's up, Logan and Raja? This is Mattias rocking with the show for a long time now, all the way from Uruguay. I'm writing to you guys today because I need to vent a little bit. And I know you two are going to feel me. Now that the Spurs beat OKC and I'm already exhausted by this. the media narrative that's being shoved down our throats. Everyone is acting like San Antonio is a lock for the next dynasty and that nobody else stands a chance for the next four years against Wembe and Co.

It feels like we never learned our lesson. We had this exact same conversation when Yokic won his first ring. He hasn't won one since. We had the same talk when Yonis won his first ring. He hasn't been back since. We said it about the Celtics after they won. No repeat. He spent the whole year hearing about OKC Dynasty and this year, once again, it didn't happen.

We've now had eight different champions in the last eight years. How long is it going to take for people to realize that the game is completely? completely change. Is it harder than ever in NBA history to repeat, let alone build a dynasty. Parity is real. Andrews happened. Traits happen. NBA is a butterfly effect, bucle. Nice word. Every year is different and it's amazing. I'd love to hear your take on this. Keep on keeping it real. Much love. Matias, Mattias from Uruguay. I was just going to say, I mean, I get the comparisons to Yokic and Yannis, but Janus and Yonis were not Wembe's age when they were on the verge of winning their first title, bro.

That's the key difference here. And all those guys weren't as young as the Spurs team is right now on the brink of a title. It's just, that's the key difference here. I get what you saying, well, OKC and all that stuff. But San Antonio has the reason why we're now anointing Spurs prematurely is because they beat OKC pretty handily and seem to have their number. That's all I really have. I don't have any, like, sweeping things. I just wanted to point out the key differences.

And I'm sure Howard's going to say something way more smarter than I am. Let me go before you go, Howard. Let me just go. Like, I agree with you, Logan. And not only is Wembe a younger player with more probably upside at this point than some of them had. But I think his supporting cast is also, when you look at them, I think you see multiple people that in the next few years you could make a case for being all something in the NBA. Right? Like you got some real dudes. Dylan Harper about to be crazy next year.

No, so it's not just him. Having said that, I'm with you, Matthias. I'm with you. Did you just play both sides, Roger? No, not. Nope. I'm not playing because I'm telling you where I'm standing. I'm standing with Matthias.

Like, I could say all of that and say, like, I see that for the Spurs. But recent histories suggest to me that he's right. Like, it is super. hard to find yourself, no matter what the circumstances are or what your team looks like or what we feel about it, to find yourself back there again. And Dynasty, I think, is, while if anyone could do it or looks like they should do it, it would be the Spurs. I think I'm taking Mataisa's side of this room. I would just say this. Do you agree that the NBA is a butterfly effect bucle? I love that. I would just say this. What is that we all tend to do this thing where

If there's even a couple of people maybe on social media or one podcast or one loud voice somewhere who's saying, oh, this is the thing. This team is going to be the next dynasty. Then we react to it. It's not like that was some consensus thing. Like, oh, we need to all stop doing this. Some people maybe did at various points, maybe with the bucks, maybe with the nuggets, maybe with the Celtics when they won there's two. I did not feel that for any of them. But I, and I will just say, is the person who wrote a couple weeks ago that the whole league is trying to figure out what to do about the thunder and spurs.

because these two teams are both very young, very loaded, and very flexible with all the cap room and draft picks that they have to use in the coming years. The reason I wrote that is partially because that's the way the league is talking about them, but not to say that either of them or a dynasty. It was not anointing either of them, just saying that like when you are that young with that collection of talent and the ability to keep adding, as the Thunder and Spurs both do, it does put you in a position to be a power for a long time. being a power for a long time, being a contender for a long stretch of time, is not the same thing as saying it's a dynasty.

So in my own pseudo-defense, he wasn't coming after me. But since I wrote that story, I will just say, like, it's about the idea these teams are going to have to be reckoned with at a high level for many, many years to come. But it is true. Also, I will agree with him. Like, eight champions in eight years tells us something about the state of the NBA right now. And it was engineered this way. This is what the league wanted. This is what Adam Silver wanted. It is tough to repeat. It is tough to even get back, as we just saw once again. There's a war of attrition you're fighting. We keep talking about or we have discussed like, oh, what if J. Dub and A.J. Mitchell had been available. Do the Thunder win that series? Are they now in a position to repeat the Thunder? And they're playing the Knicks instead of the Spurs. But there's a war of attrition.

They lost those guys because it's hard season after season, especially when you've gone deep. And so, yeah, I agree. We all should take a beat before anointing anybody as dynasties. I do think the spurs and the Thunder, no disrespect to the Knicks at all, who are still up in this series and may yet win this championship, but that the Spurs and the Thunder, because of their combination of age, array of talent and picks and flexibility for years to come are going to be very, very difficult to deal with.

All that said, there's a second apron in this league. There's all these other mechanisms to force you to part with talent. And yeah, that's what's made the league so fascinating and volatile in recent seasons. And on some levels, has made it very exciting. for sure let's do one more just so we can make time because I'm also about to fall asleep sorry ros it's 51 minutes dog one more dude we gotta make time dog come on Jesus you can go to sleep you know you just go to sleep

me and Howard got this one just go take it take a nap take it on we got to hit it we got a rap because I got to get down from here all right thank you fucking Howard wait oh are we done wait one more can you got one time for one more or no there's not a good yeah you must just you must just go see man I got all that here keep all that shit into this, motherfucker. We're good.

We're just, hold on. We were just, hold on. Hold on. I got a question. I got a question for you. I got a question. You want a question? I want a question, yes.

How are you signing off tonight, motherfucker? There you go. There's your question. You know what? I'm going to just say this, man. You know what? Cliffs said there ain't no good questions. I got the, uh, I got the real ones fucking mailbag login right here.

And he, and I hate this erasure. And I'm not even going, I'm going to just say, Musa, you had a great question, what's good in the bay? You ain't shit. Cliff Howard, I know you gotta leave. Fuck you, Roger. And that's another edition of real ones, okay? Hey, what you?

Side, side pod for, was that good? Could be the best sign off of all time right there. Yeah, you know, yeah, fuck all, fuck everyone. This is Musa saying that he went to, that he saw Roger play his first NBA game and Roger went five of 17, one of 10 from three, and the sun still won 105. one-on-one, Roger, you're a real one, and I hope to see Ty in the NBA someday, someday. But you know what? Fuck all that.

Fuck, Roger. Fuck, God. We will see you guys next time. Next pod. This has been another edition of Realwoods. Make sure if you want to like, you know, we love our fans contrary to what Roger and Howard and Cliff are doing. But make sure you tap in Real Onesmailbag at gmail.com.

Real onesmail bag at Gmail.com. Real onesmail back at Gmail.com. We're kicking fucking Howard out of MSG. Roger, you take your ass asleep. Cliff. The marathon continues. Ah, all this shit. Bye.

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