2026 NBA Playoffs - Conf. Finals

[Ring_Wanted]

I wonder if Adam Silver is pissed about these Western Finals. The two clear best teams in the West both got great by blatant multi-year tanking. The #1 seed is dining out on all the foul/ref-baiting every play, not just SGA but many other guys on their roster. The best players on both teams are both non-US born. And both are small market teams. This is not the best for the health of the league.

The product is abysmal at this moment. But it generates a ton of buzz (OKC-SAS game 2 is reported as the most viewed WCF game ever) so I'm not sure the NBA actualy wants make real changes to this gossip machine.

[TOO]

I keep hearing and seeing that these games are being watched at a record rate, by who? All the old heads have mostly checked out, the younger generation just stares at their phone, who is watching these games?

[Mori Chu]

I mostly don't get down with conspiracy theories, but I do think that the streaming services (Peacock, Amazon Prime Video) lie about their viewership numbers and inflate them in a bunch of ways. For example, when you load up Amazon Prime Video while an NBA game is in progress, the default home screen shows video footage of that game to try to entice you to watch it. I bet they count this as a "view" of somebody watching the game, even if the person doesn't actually click through to watch the whole rest of the game. Stuff like that.

[Kryptonic]

Feels so wrong cheering for the spurs after loathing them for so many years but man they’re fun to watch.

[TOO]

Feels so wrong cheering for the spurs after loathing them for so many years but man they’re fun to watch.

It's only because they are playing against Russia.

[Kryptonic]

Feels so wrong cheering for the spurs after loathing them for so many years but man they’re fun to watch.

It's only because they are playing against Russia.

lol fair

[Superbone]

Feels so wrong cheering for the spurs after loathing them for so many years but man they’re fun to watch.

It's only because they are playing against Russia.

There's a Yakov Smirnoff joke somewhere in there. In America, they foul you and knock you down. In Russia...

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[INFORMER]

The shoot-and-fall-down phenomenon is not specific to OKC. It's a leaguewide issue. Dillon Brooks had one in the OKC series that looked like a sniper got him in the shoulder.

What I don't understand is how the refs fall for it when it is clearly a voluntary action. The defender hardly makes enough contact with enough force to cause the offensive player to fall down, and so often you can see the offensive initiate the fall to the ground.

Also, that sportsculture video includes some calls that you see made for a lot of teams. I think you can put together a video for a lot of teams getting what looks like preferential treatment from the refs just because the officiating in general can be really poor far too often.

[AmareIsGod]

The shoot-and-fall-down phenomenon is not specific to OKC. It's a leaguewide issue. Dillon Brooks had one in the OKC series that looked like a sniper got him in the shoulder.

What I don't understand is how the refs fall for it when it is clearly a voluntary action. The defender hardly makes enough contact with enough force to cause the offensive player to fall down, and so often you can see the offensive initiate the fall to the ground.

Also, that sportsculture video includes some calls that you see made for a lot of teams. I think you can put together a video for a lot of teams getting what looks like preferential treatment from the refs just because the officiating in general can be really poor far too often.

It's far more lopsided towards favoring OKC. I don't care what anyone says.

[JJ Slim]

Now that it is the Spurs that are on the receiving end people are talking about this more. There was a little when they played the Lakers and absolutely none (other than us) when it was the Suns. And when we or the Lakers fans complained we were shutdown as just poor losers or "if your team was better you would get the same treatment". I don't disagree that OKC seems to be the best team but at least let it play out straight up. I have no illusions that the Suns wouldn't have gotten beat but this OBVIOUS 5 on 8 is ridiculous. And wasn't there a flopping rule put in place a year or so ago? And how many times was it called this year? I seem to remember seeing it once and the announcer was so surprised saying that never got called.

And comments from Thunder fans carry no weight whatsoever.

[JJ Slim]

It's far more lopsided towards favoring OKC. I don't care what anyone says.

Agreed. While it is a league wide issue OKC (and the refs and league) takes it to another level.

[Kryptonic]

I’m gonna be in San Antonio next week and considering getting a wemby jersey. It’s hard to hate the kid and hope he doesn’t go the way of SGA in becoming some prima donna.

[Mori Chu]

Knicks go for the sweep tonight. It is wild to see our Mikal Bridges playing a key role for another Finals team. Even wilder to see that Landry Shamet is a legitimate positive contributor for them. I find myself rooting for them to upset OKC or the Spurs and shock the world by winning the title.

[ShelC]

I'd be surprised if the Knicks lost tonight.

I'm actually scared for midtown Manhattan if the Knicks win a title. I don't know if they can beat the Thunder, I think they can beat the Spurs. They're playing extremely well but also have had really soft opponents in the East.

[Mori Chu]

Knicks blow out the Cavs and are heading to the Finals. It feels like the Cavs are poised to do something crazy in the offseason; I think by most measures this was a great season for them, but getting swept in embarrassing fashion by the Knicks may cause them to make some moves. I still can't believe they traded for Harden. He is so much older than the rest of their core, he hogs the ball, he doesn't mesh that well with Mitchell, he doesn't play a lick of defense, he is widely known for choking in the playoffs (where they needed the most help), and he's pushing 40. What were they thinking?

I wonder if Lebron really does want to leave the Lakers and go back to Cleveland for one last run. At 42 he may not have enough left to push them over the top, but on paper he does help with a lot of the exact things they are missing. And the East looks a lot weaker than the West for the next several years.

[TOO]

Giannis for Mobley, send it in.

[O_Gardino]

Bridges outscored Harden again. That's every game in the sweep. For the series, Mikal had 74 points (2nd on the Knicks) and 11 assists while James Harden had 64 points (3rd on the Cavs) and 12 assists. It was funny to watch Harden try to turn it on a couple of times when Bridges wasn't guarding him, Like "oh, here's my chance."

Shamet also continued to shine in his role for NY. That dude is saving his misses for the offseason.