Hour 3: NBA Finals Game 1 & The List

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg Podcast
Hour 3: NBA Finals Game 1 & The List
Date: June 3, 2026
Hosts: Alan Hahn, Ian Eagle (filling), Don La Greca (not present), Peter Rosenberg (not present)
Location: Live from Stout, 35th St, NYC

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Overview

This episode sets the stage for Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. Alan Hahn and Ian Eagle (guesting) analyze the improbable playoff runs, odds, and emotional journey for both teams. The episode captures the anticipation in New York City, discusses ticket market insanity, digs into memorable New York sports crossovers in "The List," and takes listener calls that reflect the city's energy and anxiety leading into the Finals. The hour bubbles with big-game energy, historical perspective, and classic New York skepticism and hope.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NBA Finals Game 1 Preview: Knicks vs. Spurs

• Playoff Runs & Expectations
  • The Knicks enter the Finals after a dominant playoff run (winning by 19.4 PPG).
  • Spurs were 65:1 preseason odds, seen as "a year early" but made the Finals after a 62-win season; Knicks were 10:1 and Eastern Conference favorites.
• Historical Context
  • Spurs would be the biggest underdog to win a title in 40 years (since at least 1986) ([04:13]).
  • Comparison to the '96 Bulls: Last team Knicks faced in playoffs with such a strong record ([01:52]).
  • This run is contrasted with the 1999 Knicks' "miracle" Finals appearance; this time, the team is reaching expected heights.
• Trust, Doubt, and Playoff Narratives
  • Regular season doubts surrounded the Knicks: “There were times where it was right there... and now it’s just all glorious. 11 games have changed everything.” — Alan Hahn ([06:27]).
  • Both hosts debate whether another “moment of doubt” will come during the Finals ([09:43]).
  • The hosts agree that adversity is crucial for an “epic” Finals and expect intense, competitive basketball ([13:37]).

2. Ticket Prices and New York’s Energy

• Ticket Market Insanity

  • Caller: “Face value today, $18,000 for third row tickets in San Antonio on the baseline. Who's going to pay that in San Antonio?” ([18:01])
  • Alan: “Oilmen, too. You’re talking about Texas. There are people, Allen... that have money in Texas.” ([18:43])
  • Ian Eagle explains secondary vs. face-value market and advises fans not to panic-buy; day-of prices often drop ([18:54]).

• New York Hype

  • The hosts are live in a packed bar near MSG ahead of Game 1: “It is jam packed. Everybody’s having a great time getting ready for the game tonight.” — Ian Eagle ([39:18]).
  • “People are pregaming and... the watch party’s back on... Inside and outside the Garden.” — Alan Hahn ([38:55]).

3. Injury Concerns

• Ongoing uncertainty regarding Yankees’ Aaron Judge’s injury: “According to Aaron Boone, who said the doctor is still reviewing images.” ([15:50])
• Knicks center Mitchell Robinson has a broken right metacarpal but is on track to play Game 1 ([35:04]).

4. The List: Crossover New York Sports Moments

Alan Hahn brings a “Top 5” list of New York sports moments where big events happened simultaneously:

• Nets-Spurs NBA Finals & Yankees No-Hit by Astros (2003)
• Rangers Win Stanley Cup, Giants Cut Phil Simms
  • “That day, Phil Simms was cut by the Giants, and it was unceremonious. He thought he was coming in to sign autographs. Dan Reeves cuts him.” — Alan Hahn ([29:16])
• Jets Miss Playoffs & Patrick Ewing’s Knicks Season Ends (1997)
• Mets Collapse & Close Shea Stadium, while Jets (Favre) Score 56 ([31:43])
  • “Mets collapse again... after the game, big ceremony to close Shea Stadium... on that day, Jets beat the Cardinals 56-35. Brett Favre threw six touchdown passes.”
• Mets Win 1986 World Series Game 7 & Giants Host Redskins
  • “Giants Stadium erupting during football when Ray Knight hits the home run... crossover.” ([33:09])

Other mentions: 1994 Rangers parade & Knicks Game 5 (Mark Messier brings Cup to MSG).

5. Listener Calls and Fan Mindset

• Handling Adversity

  • Lou in Manalapan: “When you’re on a winning streak like this... they only lost by a combined two points back to back... Do they lose by 15 [now]? What happens if we go down?” — Lou ([21:58])
  • Ian Eagle: “This team has not lost that often by a big deficit. They fight all the way to the end... I think every one of these games is going to be a nail biter.” ([22:13])

• Celebration vs. Businesslike Approach

  • Alex in Lynbrook notes the Knicks’ reserved reaction after winning the Conference: “More businesslike, more stoic, more reserved. You could see in their eyes... we’re not finished here.” ([40:58])
  • Alan and Ian discuss playoff emotional carryover and how a team handles success: “Last year, I’m not going to fault Wemby crying...[but] the Knicks, they knew they were winning the series — it’s a fait accompli.” — Alan Hahn ([41:26])

• Knicks Defensive Strategy Against Wembanyama

  • Lang in Connecticut suggests using Jose Alvarado’s ball-stealing skills in short spurts to disrupt Wemby ([44:14]).
  • Ian Eagle: “Let’s not get caught up in how do you stop Wembanyama... don’t let other guys beat you. That’s what this matchup’s going to be about.” ([45:36])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ian Eagle on the Knicks’ Transformation:
  “You go 43 days without losing a game... you didn’t just beat your opponent. You beat the hell out of them... How do you not build trust that way?” ([12:36])
• Alan Hahn on Knicks’ Expectations:
  “People that haven’t followed the Knicks all year think we’re talking about them being in the Finals. We’re not. Because this was expected... It’s the journey we didn’t expect.” ([08:10])
• Ian Eagle on the Series:
  “If you just love watching really competitive high-level sports or basketball, this series is for you because it’s going to be great.” ([13:36])
• Alan Hahn on Crossover Moments:
  “Nobody was watching the basketball game. They’re all watching the ninth inning of the Yankees’ no-hitter.” ([28:53])
• Ian Eagle on Adversity & Epic Series:
  “You can’t have an epic series without there being moments of adversity.” ([13:37])

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Timestamps of Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:50 | Setting the sports scene: Mets, Yankees updates | | 01:48 | Knicks-Spurs playoff stats, historical context | | 03:25 | Spurs’ preseason odds; Knicks’ odds | | 06:27 | Discussing the Knicks’ regular season doubt and playoff run | | 09:43 | “Moment of doubt” discussion | | 12:36 | Knicks’ transformation to a trusted team | | 15:50 | Breaking Yankees/Aaron Judge injury update | | 18:00 | Caller on NBA Finals ticket prices; ticket market discussion | | 22:13 | How Knicks handle losses; fight in games | | 27:40 | THE LIST: Top 5 NY sports crossover moments | | 35:04 | Mitchell Robinson injury update; importance to Knicks | | 38:46 | Pre-game energy, Stout bar atmosphere | | 40:58 | Caller: Knicks’ mentality vs. Spurs celebration | | 44:14 | Caller: Defensive ideas for guarding Wembanyama | | 47:19 | Transition to ENN & wrap-up |

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Tone, Style, & Energy

• Conversational, slightly bantering with a dose of historical trivia
• Emphasizes classic New York skepticism and emotion, with humor (“You just made the list, buddy”)
• Engaged with the crowd—reflecting the city’s anticipation for the Finals

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Summary for the Uninitiated

This hour is a perfect primer for Knicks fans (and NBA fans) awaiting the Finals, blending analytical breakdown with historical color, big-game nerves, and the buzz of a city. If you missed it, you missed the surrounding emotion, nervous confidence, and a detailed, fun run through what makes this Finals and this moment unique for New York sports.

Transcript

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[Don Hahn]

the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast that

[Alan Hahn]

sounds like heaven to me.

[Don Hahn]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.

[Alan Hahn]

Game Time is brought to you by Tellamore. Do Irish Whiskey because when it's game

[Ian Eagle]

time guys, it's Tully time.

[Alan Hahn]

Mets Mariners on 1050. Right now they're in the top of the fourth inning. Mets with a 5 to 1 lead. Boba Shet with a couple of RBIs. Boba Shet. Mets trying to at least salvage one of the three game series out in Seattle. And then of course the Yankees, they're going to be taking on the Guardians at 7:05. But the big story is right after us at 7:00', clock, the extended pregame show with Pat O'. Keefe. Knicks spurs game one and tip off is set for 8:30 and the Liberty will play host to the Tempo there in Toronto. We found that out earlier at 7:30. Tullamore Dew. The original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cast matured Iris Whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore Dew or try the new Tullamore Dew. Honey during today's action. Glasses up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly. Want to hear from you at 1-800-919-3776. We'll do the list at 5:30 enn with Anthony Pusick at 6. But a couple of things I wanted to throw at you that the Knicks have beaten their opponents by 19.4 points.

[Ian Eagle]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

Here in the playoffs, spurs not bad. 10.3. It's not as good as the Knicks,

[Ian Eagle]

but it's still double figures.

[Alan Hahn]

Double figures. Found this interesting too. Spurs had a.756 winning percentage after going 62 and 20. The last time the Knicks faced a team with that good of a record in the playoffs was 1996, 30 years ago when they took on the 72 and 10 Bulls and lost in five.

[Ian Eagle]

They were the only team to get a win against that Bulls team up

[Alan Hahn]

until they got to the finals and that was 96. So I'm trying To remember the runs for the Bulls and who they played in 96. They played the. Hmm. I think about this now. 96. I know they played the Sonics. And they're up. Were they up 30 on the sonics and the Sonics stole a couple of games. But that wasn't in 96. Right. Was or was it was. It was. I was. Right. Okay. Right. Was I right there up three. Oh, and then the Seattle took a couple of games.

[Ian Eagle]

Sounds right.

[Alan Hahn]

I remember because didn't like. I know Jordan Pippen or somebody else like did a. Did a commercial saying, you know, be when we win. Don't. Don't riot for Chicago. For Chicago. And then they end up losing the next two games. They said they jinxed it.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Sonics almost came back. That was a fun Sonics team with Kemp and Peyton.

[Ian Eagle]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

Was shrubs there or was he already in Indiana?

[Ian Eagle]

I remember 30 years ago.

[Alan Hahn]

I know. That's why I was asking Blends that,

[Ian Eagle]

that, that era blends so much for me year to year and stuff. It just.

[Alan Hahn]

But. But here's what's craz of how things change. All right. The spurs came into this season a 65 to 1 shot to win the title.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah. Because they were so young.

[Alan Hahn]

They were young and made the playoffs yet again. That's why everybody's saying they're a year early.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

The knicks, according to DraftKings were a 10 to 1 shot right now. The reason for that is they were the favorites to come out of the East.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

So those were really good.

[Ian Eagle]

They didn't have the third highest. Right. Third best odds.

[Alan Hahn]

Don't know. But it had to be third. Right. Because obviously it would be Thunder.

[Ian Eagle]

Thunder was one and was Denver two.

[Alan Hahn]

The Knicks had the best in the East.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah. I thought, I thought them in Cleveland were tied.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. That was probably. Yeah, I think you're right. I think they were tied with Cleveland. We're all like really? Why is that?

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

All right. So if the spurs were to win the title, according to sports odds history, it would be the first time that somebody with that long of odds had won a championship in 40 years.

[Ian Eagle]

40.

[Alan Hahn]

So that's 86. Right. So that's. That's the Celtics.

[Ian Eagle]

Why would Boston go into that year as a. As a 25 to 1 or worse odds? Right. Why would that. That doesn't make sense.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, yeah, it's like they're 65 in 40 years and it can't be going into that says this is what that said San Antonio would be the biggest underdog to win the title in the last 40 years, according to sports odds history.

[Ian Eagle]

I can't imagine that 86 Celtics team was that that far off when you think about it.

[Alan Hahn]

So I'm just trying to think it was because with the start of the season, it was at 85. So who won in 85? I'm trying to remember. Lakers. Lakers wouldn't have had long odds either.

[Ian Eagle]

You wouldn't think. No, it was always. It was every year was either the Celtics or the Lakers winning championships then and then that's all you had until you got to 89.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, that's what I'm reading. So we'll probably check that out.

[Ian Eagle]

They took turns every other year. It was only the six, I think, with the one team that, that, that interrupted it.

[Alan Hahn]

So it's crazy. So it's crazy. And so Even with the 62 wins the spurs still had, the Thunder were better.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, markedly better. And the Knicks ended up were disappointment in the regular season when you look at it. I mean, they had 10 to 1 odds, best odds tied with Cleveland to win the conference and they finished third.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah, but it's always like, nobody asks you how you got.

[Alan Hahn]

But. But it just shows you the journey, right?

[Ian Eagle]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

Like everybody lives in the now.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Look at the Knicks. You feel great about them, but there were times he didn't feel great about them in the regular season. Like, what's going on with this team? Look at Detroit. I was Detroit that good. All of a sudden, Tatum comes back and he's healthy and they take the two seat. We were having conversations, if you remember, serious, legit conversations about the Knicks better make sure they don't drop the five and lose home court. Right. There were. There were those. Because there were times where it was right there. Like, there's only a couple. They were scuffling, you know, whoa, Atlanta might finish fourth and they dropped the five or could drop the six.

[Ian Eagle]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Toronto, like there was a lot of. But now it's just all glorious. 11 games have changed everything.

[Ian Eagle]

Well, that's what makes a run though, doesn't it? That's what, that's what, that's what makes this so remarkable is that first and foremost, all along, them getting to the finals was something we all said they could do, right? Nobody, nobody said, oh, there's no chance. We've all said the potential is there. The expectation was there going into the season, but there was a lot of questions of whether or not it could happen because of various things we saw along the way. But they kind of are where we, we all going into the season said, we expect this to happen, right? Like, this isn't. This isn't a shocker. This isn't out of the blue. This isn't 99. 99 was not that. 99 was a shortened season. Right?

[Alan Hahn]

There were.

[Ian Eagle]

They made a late trade to get Latrell Sprewell, and then they had to, like, throw a season together with. With Patrick Ewing was barely on the court. Like, that was a miracle run. They barely got into the playoffs that year. That was one of those miracle runs where it all came together at the right time. They get to the finals, but they were so banged up by the time they got there, they had no chance of winning. This is. We've never seen anything like this. But that just clicked in the playoffs. They had a meeting. They all looked at each other and said, are we doing this or not? Like, are we all in or we not? And everybody just decided, all right, we're all in. Let's do this. And this has now become. They have hit their peak. They have reached their potential. They have realized what they can be. And now all we need to sit back and watch and see is can they now finish the job?

[Alan Hahn]

It's.

[Ian Eagle]

It's in them to do it, though, Don. There's no doubt they can win this, right? There's no doubt they can. No doubt it's now watching. Can they get it done? Can they do as we.

[Alan Hahn]

You don't. The reason I'm bringing all this up is you never know what's gonna happen. That's why sports is so amazing. When we say nobody expected this, The. The people that haven't followed the Knicks all year think we're talking about them being in the finals. We're not. Because this was expected.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

It's expected by the team, by Vegas. And the expectation was that you got rid of Tibbs because you wanted to win the conference.

[Ian Eagle]

So because you felt like last year you should have been in the finals and you didn't, and you blame the coach for that.

[Alan Hahn]

So this is not a surprise.

[Ian Eagle]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

However, it wasn't the journey we expected. We figured they'd be the one seed. They cruise. They'd win 55, 56 games, maybe 60, and they'd go into the finals. And then we'll see what they do against the Thunder or the Nuggets or whoever. I don't think anybody was talking about the spurs Based on the 651 odds of winning the whole thing. Right. And so nobody expected that kind of adversity that they would face. And then you get to the playoffs and now they became the team that you thought they were going to be, dominant, beating up on teams, 11 straight wins. However, the one caveat is they're down 2:1 to Atlanta before it all starts and now they got us doubting again. So they had us doubting in the regular season at times they had us, I'll be honest, especially me down two one doubting in the first round, like, all right, they might be get out of this series, but this doesn't look like a championship team. So will there be another doubt moment? The good news is the last time they've had doubts, the two times they've had doubts, they've overcome it. So will there be a moment in the series, Al? I'm going to truth. Yeah, will there we will. We'll start to look and go, I'm not sure now. I'm not sure it's going to happen. Maybe you're down to one in the series or maybe it's just losing tonight, something as simple as that. But do you think there will be a moment where you'll look at the team and go, I'm not really sure now.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah, I thought there was going to be one in the Cav series and it didn't happen.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, it did happen midway through the third.

[Caller]

Right?

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah. But game one, fourth, excuse me. To me, game one should never put doubt in your mind, not a game one, because a game one is too arbitrary. Like anything can happen in a game one that you can always adjust to. Maybe you didn't see it coming, didn't expect it, or somebody just had a bad game.

[Alan Hahn]

Right, Right.

[Ian Eagle]

So game ones I don't feel ever comes a moment of truth. Game two could, if you lose game one, we could have a moment of truth in game two or a game three when it's 11 because you're home. So you can have that moment of truth there as well. So I think that first one will come early in the series. I don't think it's game one, though.

[Alan Hahn]

But even with their history of never winning a series, when losing the first game at home, you don't think that would have placed out and somebody's mind about whether they'd be able to beat the Cavs.

[Ian Eagle]

Maybe, maybe. Maybe because because of that, that whole history. You're talking about the Eastern Conference finals.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, right.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's, that's going to be there. But I like, here's your other. See, to me, that kind of history I kind of, I have fun with because when you say, you know, they've never won a series at. When they lose game one at home. And I'm like, but this team, like, their history in this was one game, one series. I also look at like, all right, so here's the other thing that something's got to give. You know, the spurs have never lost game one at home in the NBA Finals. They're 6 0. They've never lost one. And you're like, wait a second, none of these guys played on that team. That's not their history. No, that's just a. That's his.

[Alan Hahn]

At least the other six had pop. I mean, they don't even have pop.

[Ian Eagle]

I mean, it's a historical anomaly. It's. It's just one of these things that eventually, at some point, that's going to stop.

[Alan Hahn]

But to defend stats, we do throw them out. I mean, it doesn't really mean anything.

[Ian Eagle]

No, it's a lamp post.

[Alan Hahn]

And really, was there ever a time where the spurs were a dog in the finals?

[Ian Eagle]

I don't believe so.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, so it kind of makes sense. Right? They probably had home court in all of them, right?

[Ian Eagle]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

And so they had to have. Yeah, right. So even, even that stat, it's not the same.

[Ian Eagle]

Well, they've only lost one, Right? They have five rings. They will lost one. They lost that one to Ray Allen, shot the. The Heat. Yeah, that's the only one that they lost. But they won that game one.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. So they.

[Ian Eagle]

And so they've never lost a game.

[Alan Hahn]

One of the. One of the 30% that. That Heat team that lost game one and still found a way to win the series. It is crazy, too. The other thing that just baffles me is this was a team you didn't trust, and now it seems like everybody's completely 180. Well, they went from not trusting them to complete trust.

[Ian Eagle]

You go 43 days without losing a game, and every. And the majority of the games you play, the 11 games you played over those days, you didn't just beat your opponent. You. You beat the hell out of them. Think about that like that. How. How do you not build trust that way? Which is again, why I think the trust is built up enough to a point where as you're watching tonight, you're gonna see it's a new series with new adjustments. But they are two teams that have played each other not just twice. They played each other three times. They played each other with something on the line. There is sort of a familiarity between them. I don't think it's that much of a difference. And I do think that's going to make this, which is what I said the other day. People got to understand something. This is going to be an epic series. This is going to be a very. Like, if you don't have a dog in the fight, this is a fantastic series for you. If you just love watching like really competitive high level sports or basketball, this series is for you because it's going to be great.

[Alan Hahn]

And you can't have an epic series without there being moments of adversity.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Like if it goes the way that I think it's going to go where it's going to be every other night.

[Ian Eagle]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Next win, game one, spurs, even it.

[Ian Eagle]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Then that means the Knicks would lose a game six at home and have to win a game seven on the road. You don't doubt there were people like ready because it would be. Because I remember in 94 there was a, it was a huge party outside the Garden.

[Ian Eagle]

Game 5.

[Alan Hahn]

The Rangers were up 3 1. They're going to win. They're going to win the cup.

[Ian Eagle]

Oh, that. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And then the cup. The, the ra.

[Ian Eagle]

The Rangers, they came home and they weren't ready.

[Alan Hahn]

They weren't ready. And then they all were going to win in Vancouver. Oh, big. It was a Saturday night, I remember. And they, they got their doors blown off there. And all of a sudden you're facing a game seven. Like what's going on?

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And the final score was 2 to 1. You know, that's the other team. They're in the same position. The Rangers went 54 years. The Knicks haven't won a 53. You know, there weren't chance of 1973. That never became a thing.

[Ian Eagle]

It doesn't have a good. It doesn't have the rhyme.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. It doesn't work.

[Ian Eagle]

Right. It doesn't really work. 1940 just has like a 40 to it. 1973 is too awkward.

[Alan Hahn]

I always wondered. I, I never. Maybe I can ask somebody because I, I'm doing the Devil Games now.

[Ian Eagle]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

You remember where the attendance was at the metal?

[Ian Eagle]

Yes. It was 19,040.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Caller]

That.

[Alan Hahn]

That can't just be a coincidence.

[Ian Eagle]

No way. Even if it was like maybe it was 19,047. Somebody's like, take those seven seats out. Right?

[Alan Hahn]

Exactly. Yeah. Let's just put something. Just a barrier like that. That's too high a number for it to be a coincidence, right?

[Ian Eagle]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

If it's 140. All right, well, it was a 1 in 141 9040. There's a 1 19,040 shots that it

[Ian Eagle]

would be that number that was Chef's kiss. That was just perfect. It really was.

[Alan Hahn]

1-800-919-3776. Want to get some calls here. Coming up at 5:30. We'll do the list. It was bumped unceremoniously by Monica McNutt.

[Ian Eagle]

It was pushed up.

[Alan Hahn]

But I'm a. I'm a. I'm a stickler situation.

[Ian Eagle]

Listen, I let her know ahead of

[Alan Hahn]

time that you were punctuality. I should say punctuation. I don't see my text. I don't spell anything.

[Ian Eagle]

I noticed that.

[Alan Hahn]

But punctuality is something that I, I care about. I want to throw. It's off the beaten path, but it just came down.

[Ian Eagle]

What happened?

[Alan Hahn]

Brian Hulk just tweeted no update on Aaron Judge. According to Aaron Boone, who said the doctor is still reviewing images.

[Ian Eagle]

I don't like that.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't like it either. No, I was going to ask you.

[Ian Eagle]

Still reviewing images. Like, what are you doing? All right, so you go like this.

[Alan Hahn]

You had them for 24 hours.

[Ian Eagle]

You hold it up, you look at it. You're like, all right, yeah, there's something going on there. I'm not ready to decide what it is, though. I need you to look at it. Hey, Dr. Lagreca, can you look at this now? Because I know. I don't know what I'm seeing here. No, normally when you look at the image, you know exactly what's going on. The fact that there's no. They're still reviewing because I don't love that.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, the way it looks is. Is that they need. They need something more definitive. They don't like what they see. Or another opinion is coming. This. They're getting another set of eyeballs to take a look at. It can't be good, right? No, it's not like, oh, I'm sorry, the doctor's at the golf course. He's going to check it later. No, they've been sitting there staring at it for 24 hours and they've got no update. Or are you not ready to announce the information? Is that it?

[Ian Eagle]

It kind of feels like that, doesn't it? It kind of feels like they think they know what it is and they want to see. How do we want to. How do we want to say this? Because it is strange. It's a rib thing that's affecting his shoulder and it's probably now the reason why he's gone a stretch of 20 games not being himself, not looking himself at the plate.

[Alan Hahn]

Right, right.

[Ian Eagle]

And if that's the case, you got to get whatever it is fixed. Does that mean he's going to miss a lot of time?

[Alan Hahn]

I don't. I. And we'll keep an eye on that.

[Ian Eagle]

It's not great. Not great.

[Alan Hahn]

I know we're all wrapped up in the Knicks, but, you know, at some point when this runs over, all of a sudden you want to pivot to the bas games of the Mets. You know, they're winning today, but trying to avoid getting swept in Seattle. And you know, the Yankees didn't exactly respond. Cam pitched his probably worst outing maybe of his career.

[Ian Eagle]

He did all right. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Just kind of crazy in that loss to the guardians. Let's get to your phones at 1-800-919-3776. Let's talk to Allen in Staten Island. You're on ESPN New York.

[Caller]

How you doing, guys?

[Alan Hahn]

Good. What's up?

[Caller]

Calling about the ticket market.

I am always studied and look at the prices of everything. I've always been big on numbers and

[Alan Hahn]

just

[Caller]

everything like that. I own a small accounting firm.

[Ian Eagle]

Okay.

[Caller]

So I've always been someone who's just always studying the numbers of everything and averages and, you know, different markets. And this NBA Finals is just absolutely crazy. I think prices face value today, $18,000 for third row tickets in San Antonio in the baseline. Who's going to pay that in San Antonio?

[Ian Eagle]

New Yorkers who are trying to get in the building.

[Alan Hahn]

Oilmen, too. I mean, you're talking about Texas. There are people, Allen, and thank you for the phone call that have money in Texas.

[Ian Eagle]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

So there are billionaires in Texas.

[Ian Eagle]

This is secondary market, too.

[Caller]

Right.

[Ian Eagle]

But what's happening is, is you're. You're trying to create competition for a ticket you already purchased. So let's not look at it. See, the secondary market thing bothers me because a lot of people think that's the face value price of the ticket, and they blame the teams and the league. You get a lot of criticism where it's like Adam Silver, he's allowing his teams to charge too much. No face value. Now, the face value of an NBA Finals ticket is still going to be high because it's a premium event, but it's nowhere near what the secondary is. You buy them up and then people put them on the secondary market and they create the competition to see how high. Let me put it up to this. Let's see if somebody will buy it. Yeah. You know, right before the game, an hour before the game, some of those tickets are going to go way Down. People will wait to the last minute to get in the building. Same thing will happen with game three. Everybody that's freaking out about getting into the building in game three, don't pay attention to the secondary market. If you're trying to buy those tickets now, you might. You're gonna buy a pre. You're gonna pay a premium now. You're doing it because you don't want it to dry up. But there's this feeling that they'll probably be a get in price for you at some point, day of game. That might be doable.

[Alan Hahn]

I mean, you might, it might be. Let's see if I can sucker somebody from New York to fly in and get it. But you know what? If you have it out there now, you're probably not gonna get it.

[Ian Eagle]

So I know somebody that drove, they flew to Austin because they can't get into San Antonio. Right. All the flights are booked. Flew into Austin, is renting a car, driving from Austin to San Antonio has tickets to the game. That's how they're doing. I gotta be there is what it.

[Alan Hahn]

Fans will get in. It won't be like it was in Philadelphia.

[Ian Eagle]

No, but you'll have Nick fans. But it won't be. Yeah, it won't be like that.

[Alan Hahn]

Lou and Manalapan, you're on. Don on a Rosenberg.

[Caller]

Hey, how's it going guys? Let's go. Nick. Super excited for this game. Super excited for and, and happy for the Ms. MSG crew, Alan and, and all the people that work over there. Because this is awesome. It's part of, you know, it' community with the Knicks and you guys were just bringing up the fans. I do find it funny watching Instagram and seeing the San Antonio fans say we want Brunson when it's like 30 guys in their Tim Duncan jerseys. And you know, it's, it's just funny. It's cute compared to what we do over here. But, but my thought, my thought about the, the Finals and, and just the way the Knicks have been playing. It could have been the regular season. When you're on a winning streak like this, I really feel like it's not about how they're going to win. It's it' they show in their next loss. You know, like, we haven't seen them lose. And, and when we did see them lose, while we were all panicking because the, the product wasn't good, they only lost by, by a combined two points back to back. Do they lose by 15 to the Spurs? Like, do we see like what happened? Like what Happens if we go down, you know, 15 of the spurs team, you know, an exciting offensive team, and, and you know, do we get back? How do we get back? Do we win? You know, these are the, this is why, you know, I imagined we would be in the finals because I'm a Mets, Jets, Knicks, Ranger fan, St. John's College basketball fan. So it's like we don't, you know, this is the fifth time in my lifetime a team that I root for made the finals and this is by far the best team in any sport I've watched get to the finals. So I'm really excited about it.

Let's go.

[Alan Hahn]

Nick, I, I'm curious too, because I think that's a great point.

[Ian Eagle]

One thing I want to point out.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes.

[Ian Eagle]

This team has not lost that often by a big deficit. No, it's not what they like they will they fight all the way to the end like they really have not been a team that gets smoked. Yeah, they'll lose. They'll blow a lead late or, or they'll, they'll be close and they just can't catch up. They'll. Maybe they'll go down by 18 some point of the game. They'll lose by seven. Like they, they do have that in them. So we've really never, I think that's probably what, what Lou's kind of saying. We really haven't seen them get overmatched, overwhelmed that often. And I don't expect it in this series. I think every one of these games is going to be a nail bite. It's going to be tough. It's going to be, you know, the, the Thunder series with the spurs was a knockdown drag out, man.

[Alan Hahn]

Hey, listen, you do to lose the perfect scenario, you know, gentlemen. Sweep, lose game four when you're up three zero. You know, if you got to get

[Ian Eagle]

it out of the way, if you got to lose one, that's the one. Although not in this series now.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, well, no, no, no.

[Ian Eagle]

You don't want to lose game four, not in this series.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, you're in your building, right? Exactly.

[Ian Eagle]

If you're up three.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, you're right.

[Ian Eagle]

It's party time.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. You don't want to have what I just explained happen to the 94 Rangers, although they made up for, for Game 7. But you want to. Yeah, no, no, no. You don't want to be up 30 and all of a sudden you're playing, you know, a game six or seven. You don't want to have to do that. Coming up the list.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah, let's go six o'.

[Alan Hahn]

Clock. Anthony Busick's going to be handling up until seven o' clock and then it's Pat O' Keefe with the coverage a game one Nick spurs don Ana Roseberg live from Stout on 35th between 7th and 8th.

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[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Alan Hahn]

You just made the list, buddy.

[Don Hahn]

This is the list with Don Hun and Rosenberg brought to you by the Amor group.

[Alan Hahn]

That's right. It's now time for the list and as you heard, brought to you by the Allure Group, Don Han and Rosenberg hanging out with you until seven o'clock here from stout. You want to swing by? You're on your way to the watch party of Madison Square garden. We're on 35th between 7th and 8th Avenue here till 7 o' clock and then Paddock will take over with a pregame for Nick Spurs Game one. So I wanted to come up with a list that kind of has something to do with big sporting events as we got one happening here. So, so I'm not going to put them in any order, but I've got the five major New York moments that collided with each other, meaning that there was a big moment in New York sports, but something else was happening in New York. Like what's happening with the Knicks.

[Ian Eagle]

New York sports moments, right, that kind of happened at the same time that were significant moments could happen here.

[Alan Hahn]

Could happen with the Knicks, right? Because the World cup being here in New York and there's going to be some, some conflicting things. The US Open from a golf perspective. So here are some of the ones that come up with.

[Ian Eagle]

Tell me we, who knows, whatever the Aaron Judge thing might be. Just saying.

[Alan Hahn]

Just saying. But all right, here's what we came up with. Again, no particular order, but it was a big deal for me because I was there and everybody was gathering to watch the other event in the press room while this was going on and it was game four of Net spurs in 2003 was June 11, 2003. Metal Lands, spurs, nets. During that game, the Yankees were getting no hit. And it happens regularly now, but there were no hit by six different Astro

[Ian Eagle]

pitchers, which never used to. That was not a thing.

[Alan Hahn]

And again, this is the 2003 Yankees. They would go on to the World Series, lose to the Marlins. This is a good Yankees team with some really good players. And they were getting no hit by six different Astros while Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Nets and the spurs were going on. And it was kind of a surreal match moment, like nobody was watching the basketball game. They're all watching the ninth inning of

[Ian Eagle]

the Yankees, wanted to see if it would happen. Right.

[Alan Hahn]

The other one is when the Rangers won the Stanley cup. That day, Phil Sims was cut by the Giants, and it was unceremonious. He thought he was coming in to sign autographs. Dan Reeves cuts him. So the next day, the back of the Daily News when it was a big deal with the newspapers and what's on the back page. Yeah, Phil Simms getting cut to banner because they have to put the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup.

[Ian Eagle]

Otherwise,

[Alan Hahn]

you didn't know it was happening at the time. You were watching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. But that day, Phil Simms gets cut from the New York Giants. This one's close to your heart. On December 21, 1997, the jets are playing the Lions. Last game of the season. Bill Parcell's first year as coach of the Jets. Barry Sanders goes off. Leon Washington with an option, gets picked off in the end zone. Jets miss the playoffs, losing on the last day of the season. The day before, Patrick Ewing gets hurt. But during that Jets Lions game, it's announced that Patrick Ewing is done for the season and pretty much done as a Knick.

[Ian Eagle]

Just think about that, Don. For that was the end of two seasons. My two favorite. Two of my favorite teams.

[Alan Hahn]

Right. In one day.

[Ian Eagle]

In one day, done.

[Alan Hahn]

Now, what did I have to root

[Ian Eagle]

for at that point? Right, right. Like the. The Yankees had lost already. Right? They had lost in the alcs.

[Caller]

Mm.

[Ian Eagle]

The Knick season was supposed to be like the follow up to what happened last spring when everybody went off the court. They had that fight and. And you know, you're like, all right, well, they're going to come back this year and they're going to be. And so you're. What are you, 25, 35 games into the season, and now Ewing's gone for the year. The jets season, which started out like, hey, they got a chance to win 10 games. Bill parcels is the coach. They lose no playoffs. They're done. And I mean, the Islanders stunk back then. So, like, what was I watching it? I had my sports like that crushed me because for the rest of. Yeah, like the next two months, I'm like, what do I. I'm not. Nothing to watch now. Killed me.

[Alan Hahn]

Now there's another one that was a positive and a negative. A lot of Jet Met fans, right? Well, on September 28, 2008, the Mets collapse again after blowing that lead against Philadelphia in 07, they blow not as big a lead, but still a lead. Again in 08, they lose to the Marlins 4 2, ending their season on the last day of the season. Oh, by the way, after the game, big ceremony to Cloche Stadium with Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza walking off into the sunset center field after another miserable loss. Well, on that day, while that game was going on, the jets beat the Cardinals 56 to 35. Brett Favre threw six touchdown passes. Do you remember that?

[Ian Eagle]

Yes, of course I remember the Favre part of it. The Met thing, though, closing. Shame. My mother cried. My mother cried.

[Alan Hahn]

That's a pretty big devil. Well, yeah, Chase Stadium was.

[Ian Eagle]

That meant everything to her. And obviously seeing Seaver, but. But that. Yeah. And then far like he has a Jets fan, you were like, oh, my God, like, people forget how good that offense was.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, until he got hurt. Yeah.

[Ian Eagle]

No, they forget how that. That offense was insane. The jets have never had an offense

[Alan Hahn]

like they finished 8 and 8 and firing Mangini after the season and all that. All right. And the other one, for me, it's close to my heart and I think if I put it in order, it would be number one for me.

[Ian Eagle]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

The Mets, October 27, 1986, they win game seven of the World Series on a Monday night because on Sunday they got rained out. You never see a World Series game on a Monday, but you did in 86 because of the rain out oil. Cambodia was supposed to pitch game seven, but. But Hearst was able to come back and pitch because of the extra day. And he was almost as bad as Mike Scott was, but the Mets were able to beat him. And on that day, Giants, Redskins over at Giants Stadium. And how surreal it was to hear, like during stoppages of play, Giants Stadium erupting when, you know, Ray Knight hits the home run and all that. So talk about crossover. I know it was a regular season game, but it was still a Monday night game. Redskins.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, late enough in October where you're getting you know, in the middle of the season. And remember that being a big game at the time. And I told you I still to watch the Mets on the black and white TV because my father wanted the football on the color tv. So those are the events.

[Ian Eagle]

That's good. I like that. I mean you also have the 94 thing also involved the Rangers parade and game five. The Knicks won at the Garden that night. I believe Messier brought the cup to the Garden. Yeah, right. And had the cup courtside at the Garden. Everybody, he held it up. And the Garden crowds going crazy. Knicks win the game. And everybody's thinking, Nick's gonna win this thing too. We're gonna have another parade. Yeah, like that. Those two moments happening at the same time was also significant. But it is amazing though, knowing the business like we do. Phil Sims being cut, that's not nothing. The fact that it was completely overshadowed by a championship. It had to be. And otherwise it would have been a back page, a major back.

[Alan Hahn]

And I had it as an all as a. In that the 94 with the parade and the Knicks game five as an honorable mention because one was early in the afternoon. So they didn't really like it didn't

[Ian Eagle]

happen at the same time. Right.

[Alan Hahn]

And of course the big thing was the OJ for game five.

[Ian Eagle]

That was also Messi having the cup in the building. You know, like that whole thing was kind of cool. But yeah, I'll. To me, when you're, when you have two seasons, you know, end pretty. I mean, the season obviously didn't end Ewing.

[Alan Hahn]

The.

[Ian Eagle]

The knicks were like 15 and 10 after that Ewing injury. So there's plenty of season left. But you just kind of like without him, everything was gone. And that just to have that gut punch and Barry Sanders, you know, run at the end. The only touchdown they gave up was Barry Sanders. That was it. They were winning that game ten to six. So to see two. Two seasons in like that right after the Yankees lose in the alcs, which I told you, remember what I told you after that they lost that game, I was gone for a good two hours. So I didn't come home till 2am

[Alan Hahn]

so we had lunch earlier today here at Stout and everybody contributed. Anthony John Winthrop. You did. So I mean, obviously it's all in the eye of the beholder, but I thought it'd be kind of fun to kind of relive some of those crossover moments. We might have it with the World Cup. What Game six is going to be played. There's going to be a game over at Metlife and the Knicks playing at the Garden. So we might have one of those moments again. Ian Begley just tweeted. Center Mitchell Robinson looked solid in yesterday's practice with the Knicks and he was with the team during its walk through earlier today, per SNY sources. So he remains on track to play in game one of the NBA Finals tonight. Only something unforeseen would prevent Robinson from playing, from playing, not playing at this point. He is officially listed as questionable for Game one with a broken right metacarpal. ESPN reported earlier Wednesday morning that Robinson was expected to be available for Game one. So just kind of a refresher on what we all thought, catching everybody.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah, the expectation is he will play, which, which means again, they have their full roster available. And that's, that's critical when you're trying to win a championship. Health is a big part of it. This injury, let this be the worst thing that they had to deal with that in the OG hamstring that they were able to get through early because they finished that a series. They won two games without him. And you know this. Mitchell Robinson again plays 15, 18. He doesn't play a ton, but he has impactful minutes when he's, when he's playing well defensively and on the boards. And those are going to be two major factors in this series. So you need him, even if it's only for 15 minutes a game.

[Alan Hahn]

And that was the list brought to you by a war group, the Allure Group, where care meets compassion. Coming up, calls 1-800-919-3776. How you feeling?

[Ian Eagle]

How you feeling?

[Alan Hahn]

We're less than three hours away from Tip Off. How you feeling about game one? ENN with Anthony Pusick at six. Take it to seven o' clock and then it's Pat O' Keefe with coverage of game one. We're live here. Stout, 4030 Fifth street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue. It's Don Allen Rosenberg on ESPN New York. From first call to final invoice, Servicetitan is the only integrated intelligence that automates your entire workflow. Built for visionaries ready to stop operating and start automating their success.

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[Don Hahn]

thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Alan Hahn]

So the Knicks taking center stage for what could be the next two weeks, the start of what should be a fun few days here.

[Ian Eagle]

Is everybody New York, is everybody here getting ready for this game tonight? Like, are we, are we, how are we feeling? What is the vibes tonight right now for Game 1 of the NBA Finals? What do we feel?

[Alan Hahn]

Of course they're fired up, man. Why not, why not be fired up? This comes along, you know, every quarter century.

[Ian Eagle]

Like you said, it's a little under three hours.

[Alan Hahn]

Like people are pregaming and, and they're coming out here because the watch party's back on. You know, we, when we booked this, it looked like the watch parties were all going to be dead. They're back. Both outside the Garden, inside the Garden. So some people are stopping by here and we encourage you to stop by here. You'll still have time to get over to the Garden, plenty of time to be able to watch tip off. So come party with us. We're going to be here. We're going to be here on Friday as well, getting ready for game two.

[Ian Eagle]

And this is a great spot. Let's shout out stout one more time, too. We've talked about it. It's a new spot that normally people remember. Stout traditionally was over on, it was 33rd street, but they've moved to this location, 35th street, where all the other bars are as well. And it's a, it's the location, by the way, for me, when you talk about walking inside, you have a, a main level which you'll walk in, you'll see the bar, you see everybody there. Then there's where we are. We're upstairs. There's a staircase that you can ask the hostess about. You go up here and it's like your own private bar. And it is like, it's a beautiful bar. It's a huge setup, a wide open space right now. It is jam packed. Everybody's having a great time getting ready for the game tonight, it's the new stout location. It's 35th Street. It's in between 7th and 8th Avenue, which one block away from the Garden. Very easy to find, very easy to get to. And always a good time here with everybody at Stout.

[Alan Hahn]

All right, let's hear from you. 1-800-919-3776. Alex in Lynbrook. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, man?

[Caller]

Oh, hi, guys. Just my two cents, John. Donnie, you know how, like, the hockey players don't want to touch the Eastern Conference trophy. They want to jinx it. So I am very proud of the Knicks. I mean, the spurs, you know, they're young guys and they would jump around, running around, helping everybody, but they were acting like it wasn't acting like they were there before. The Knicks was more business, like more stoic, more reserved. Like, you could see in their eyes that, you know, we're not finished here. We're going forward. They didn't make a big deal about it. And I think the mindset wise that that's a big deal.

I really feel comfortable.

I, I wasn't feeling confident before that, but once I saw how the Knicks carry themselves, mature with experience, that to me, that goes a long way. What do you think?

[Ian Eagle]

True, to be fair, it shows you what they. That, that, yeah, it does show you. I didn't mean to cut you off, Don, but I don't. And you might even say this beating the Thunders, the beating of defending champions

[Alan Hahn]

in a game seven on the road,

[Ian Eagle]

that's a pretty, pretty significant thing to do for a young team.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

And especially the Knicks, they knew they were winning the series. They're up 3, 0.

[Ian Eagle]

Yeah, exactly.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, so it's a fait accomplice. So I don't think it's really a fair comparison. You know, did the, did the Knicks celebrating, you know, winning and beating the Boston Celtics, the defending champions, have anything to do with why they lost to the Pacers the next series? I don't know.

[Ian Eagle]

Maybe they all said it did. They all said it did. They said they hated their approach to

[Alan Hahn]

game one, but, but the same time last year, I'm not gonna fault Wemby crying, he beat the Thunder. There were 65 to 1 chance of being able to win a championship. They had to come back from 3, 2 down to win the series, like so. Yeah, I'm not gonna begrudge them getting emotional, but there is that whole, it came up last week, the Bart Scott theory. Did the jets win their super bowl, beating The Patriots in New England and Bart Scott saying, can't wait. And that's why they fell behind early against the Steelers. Or maybe the Steelers was just a better team, I don't know. You know, we always come up with these reasons, but I wouldn't read too much into it. But the spurs did address it. Wemby addressed it yesterday, that these three days off have helped them all right. They're done now. They can refocus and all that. So I think it might be a nick positive if they had the short turnaround like Cleveland did. If they had one day off and then had the play. They had a nice, it was Saturday. Now they're playing on Wednesday. They all they had to do was travel back from Oklahoma City to San Antonio and not, not have to travel any kind of great distance. They have to come here to New York or anything. So I, I don't think it applies. But it would be a theme, right. I guess in San Antonio if they were to lose tonight.

[Ian Eagle]

It's going to be. And, and that's again, it's, it's even when we said it like the, which you, it's another reason why you really like this guy, because he's honest. Like he's at the podium and he's really telling you what he feels. And he said it's really hard to come down from that. Like, they felt really good and it was really. But they have to, he knows they have to be able to come back down now and get ready for a new series. I think the advantage to the Knicks is they've already had an eight game layoff. They know how to handle it. They know what went right, what went wrong. But the other part of it is it allowed them to come down, you know, like it allowed them to go two, three days and then just get back in the gym and be like, all right, well, back to work. All right, and. And it starts to fade. Winning that game in Cleveland, that's faded now, that's so long ago. It's not fresh in your mind. It's not still making you feel you're not basking in it anymore because you've had a couple of days of hard practice where your head now is about what's coming next. So I think it does benefit the Knicks having all that time off because not only did they come down, they've kind of now ramped back up into getting ready to play another series because they've got to be sick and tired of sitting around. Come on.

[Alan Hahn]

No, they want to get games absolutely Lang In Connecticut. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, man?

[Caller]

Hey, guys. I am super pumped up. I mean, it's been an emotional day. I can't believe it's finally here. A few hours, not even. I've been agonizing over the strategy piece defensively against a unconventional player. And I'm saying that loosely, lightly, in Wemby. And I think you gotta balance, you gotta attack him in unconventional ways. So, you know, Alan, you may not be at liberty to speak on this. If you are privy to any kind of strategy, I understand that, but I wanted to ask you to indulge me and just get, you know, this is maybe far fetched, but I just want to kind of get your take. What about the idea of putting in a guy like Jose Alvarado who has that sixth sense of stealing the ball. He kind of, you know, stands up to Wemby's waistline, having him sag off his defender, assuming it's not a three point shooter, and try to get into his dribble. Because the distance from the 4 to Wemby's dribble is pretty high.

And if you can make him into

a job jump shooter, I think that will be pretty effective. Now you can say he can, you know, take one dribble and get, you know, to the, to the rim from the three point line. I understand that's going to be an issue, but I'd love to get your take on that strategy of getting Jose use his sixth sense, get into his dribble, have him stag off his defender. What do you think about that?

[Ian Eagle]

Well, I don't think you're going to have overall regard him. And I think when Alvarado comes in the game, I'm sure he's going to, he's going to be looking for the high dribble. When he gets the opportunity to go after it, he'll try to do that. He's so good at that kind of sneaky backdoor steal that he's well known for because he's so fast and he's so crafty. So, you know, I mean, I think that's just. I don't think that's a strategy. I think that's just something he does. But you gotta, you know, I said this at the beginning of the show. Let's not get caught up in how do you stop Wembanyama. It's not that you want to make it difficult for him. You want to make him work, work. You want to get him frustrated, but you also want to make him feel like he has to carry the team and that means others can't be getting it done. The reason why a player like him, who is a star, who understands this pressure on him to perform, he will start to feel pressure even more. If no one else is doing anything and all the media, everybody else is going, you got to shoot more, you got to do more. They need more. That's what you got to do. Don't let other guys beat you. Don't be so focused on trying to stop him and shut him down. You're not doing it. He's seven foot five. He can run, he can shoot, he's really good. But he's not going to score 115 points a game. You have to beat the Knicks. You got to beat him by scoring 110, 115 points a game. So if even if he gets 100, he still, it's not enough. Don't let other guys beat you. That's what this matchup's going to be about, in my opinion. Because why did the Thunder lose? Because they couldn't. They let guys like champagne get off from three. They let other guys get off against them, and that can't happen.

[Alan Hahn]

Anthony Pusick with ENN coming up next, Don Hahn and Rosenberg Till 7. The Knicks coverage right here on ESPN New York.

[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Ian Eagle]

I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know it's good.

[Don Hahn]

Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.

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[Ian Eagle]

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