The Miracle at Madison Square Garden | Game Over

Summary

Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul

Episode: The Miracle at Madison Square Garden

Date: June 11, 2026 | Host: The Ringer

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Episode Overview

In this electrifying episode, Max Kellerman and Rich Paul dissect one of the most dramatic games in recent NBA Finals history—the Knicks’ miraculous 29-point comeback over the Spurs in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden. The duo unpacks the emotional rollercoaster of the game, the significance for Knicks fans and the city, the tactical drama on both sides, and the lasting legacy of such a night in New York sports lore.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Emotional Toll of Rooting for the Knicks

• Max opens with the overwhelming emotional experience of the last minutes, feeling "sick", "elated", and "ready just to pass out" ([01:37]).
• Rich connects Max’s inability to stop rooting for the Knicks to deep childhood and city ties, emphasizing how decades of heartbreak and hope become personal and generational ([02:06–03:21]).
• Both discuss how being a sports fan, especially for a franchise like the Knicks, ties into family, friends, and life milestones.
  • “It’s not just the highs. It’s the times that you’ve lost someone who is close to you...the birth of your children. Half over, half a century. A lot of stuff has happened in people's lives. Right. And it’s all...That’s why the city is on fire.” — Max ([03:34])

The Citywide & Cultural Impact

• Max and Rich detail how New York has erupted in celebration—recalling spontaneous street watch parties and Spike Lee in an “impromptu parade” ([04:17]).
• The Knicks uniquely unify the city across generations, unlike other sports teams that “split the town” (Giants/Jets, Yankees/Mets).
  • “The Knicks are really running unopposed.” — Max ([10:15])
• Discussion of a potential Knicks championship parade with an estimated “5 to 7 million” people, due to a tidal wave of returning New Yorkers and local fans ([11:59]).

The Game’s Turning Points

• Critical Plays & Officiating
  • Early game foul trouble for Karl Anthony Towns on a highly questionable call, which changed momentum ([07:28]).
  • Spurs “ungodly hot” from three-point range; Knicks set to lose by 40 at one point ([08:31]).
  • Missed goaltending call on Alvarado; refereeing “wasn’t an excuse” but added to Knicks’ adversity ([08:31]).
• Unshakable Knicks Comeback
  • Spurs’ collapse: “up 29...up 20 in the third with 8 minutes to go” but unable to close ([06:12], [07:01]).
  • The Knicks’ run compared to “the 86 Mets — you never felt like they were out of it...a team of destiny” ([09:11]).

The Narrative and Legacy Stakes

• Comparisons to Classic Sports Moments
  • Max frames the game alongside all-time classics: “When I think about the biggest basketball games of all time, this is one of them...it’s likely to be seen as the pivotal game.” ([18:13])
• Signature Performers
  • Rich: “Finals MVP is OG” (OG Anunoby), with Max agreeing his impact has been “on both ends of the floor” ([14:44–15:18]).
    • OG: “Mr. Reliable” for defense, threes, and the series’ defining hustle play ([16:28]).
    • The climactic play will go “down in New York sports history” ([17:57]).

Notable Quotes:

• Max: “He (OG) crashed the boards by the soul...he bailed out the heart and soul of the team.” ([18:18])
• Rich: “What I’m telling you, just from my 24 going on 25 years of experience in this league...I've seen it all. Max, this is one of those situations where you stay overnight. It’s too late to go back home now.” ([23:22])

Tactical Breakdown: Did the Knicks Win It or Did the Spurs Lose It?

• Max and Rich examine the inevitable debate:
  • “Did the Knicks win it or did the Spurs lose this game?” ([26:41])
  • Rich: “Spurs lost this game. The Knicks didn’t win this game.” — Argues a 29-point lead is on the team that loses it ([26:43]).
  • Max: “I think the Knicks won it...the reason: OG play at the end.” ([26:48])
  • Rich concedes, “two things can be true...You're saying the Knicks won the game. I'm saying the Spurs lost." ([28:17])
• Breakdown of the final sequence—the importance of boxing out, mental errors, and OG’s decisive offensive rebound ([27:23–29:05]).

Broader NBA Context & The Knicks’ Place in History

• The possibility of a Knicks-Spurs rivalry emerging and the healthy parity in the league (“eight years straight...a different team in the finals”) ([31:26]).
• Discussion of the meaning of this run for former Knicks legends, and what it would mean to honor them—Oakley as the ultimate jersey for this moment ([35:19]).

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Memorable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “Your hair right now is orange and blue.” — Rich Paul teases Max's Knicks passion ([02:06])
• "Manhattan’s gonna sink. I don’t know what’s gonna happen." — Max on the scale of a Knicks parade ([12:02])
• “Most guys would have still been standing there with their hands in the air saying, I’m open... OG crashed the boards.” — Rich, on OG Anunoby’s hustle ([18:05])
• “This is one of the greatest sporting events I've ever seen.” — Max, overwhelmed by the drama ([41:14])
• "If the Knicks win the championship, whose jersey do you put on?" — Rich prompts a discussion of Knicks legacy and fandom ([34:28])
• "There’s somebody out there tonight...101 years old and all they want is to see the Knicks win." — Rich, on the generational dimension of Knicks fandom ([39:13])

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Important Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------------|--------------| | Opening emotional reaction | 01:27–02:34 | | NYC fan culture, family memories | 02:54–03:40 | | Game’s momentum shift and pivotal plays | 07:28–09:11 | | Knicks’ mythic status in NY | 10:15–12:02 | | OG Anunoby: Finals MVP case | 14:44–17:57 | | Comparison to all-time sports moments | 17:57–19:44 | | Wemby’s star presence | 19:50–21:33 | | Spurs’ collapse, mental side of losing | 23:22–24:44 | | Knicks win it vs. Spurs lose it debate | 26:41–29:28 | | Knicks legends & fandom traditions | 34:28–37:55 | | Lasting legacy, citywide meaning | 38:45–39:58 | | Listener tweet reflection | 40:20–41:27 |

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Tone and Style

Conversational, passionate, and deeply rooted in lived sports experience.

• Max is expressive, invoking nostalgia and raw fan emotion.
• Rich offers steadiness, insider insight, and historical perspective.

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Conclusion: Why This Game Matters

The episode captures not just the tactical milestones of an all-time great NBA Finals game, but also the pulse of a city and the emotional investment of generations. OG Anunoby’s defining play, the unpredictable swings, and the city’s eruption make this not only a basketball story, but a story about what sports mean to people—loss, hope, memory, and community. Whether you believe the Knicks won it or the Spurs lost it, this Miracle at Madison Square Garden is now part of New York lore.

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Selected Listener Insight

• "The thing that made it great was not just the epic comeback...but then the insane back and forth lead flips in the final minute. This game had it all." — Mint maker (@MintMaker22) ([40:23])

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For fans and newcomers alike, this episode is a masterclass in why sports matter—both on the court and beyond.

Transcript

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[Rich Paul]

Go

[Max Kellerman]

Rich.

[Rich Paul]

Yo.

[Max Kellerman]

I don't know who can watch sports. I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't get it. I. I think. I think it's like. It's too much. It's too much.

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I.

[Max Kellerman]

The last couple minutes of that game, I felt sick. I felt elated. I felt like. And by the end, I felt like I was ready just to pass out. Like I'm. I like. Like I had no strength left in my body.

[Rich Paul]

But is that because you.

[Max Kellerman]

And I'm watching the game.

[Rich Paul]

But that's because you're part fan, part.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah.

[Rich Paul]

Media.

[Max Kellerman]

No, it's. I think it's. No, it's not media. It's because it's all fan. It's because it's. It's. Yes, because it's so much more. And I thought I stopped rooting for them years ago, but it's.

[Rich Paul]

You can't stop rooting for the Knicks. You're 52 years old. They haven't won in 53 years. You grew up loving the Knicks, the whole thing. There's no way you can stop rooting. You get mad, you can get upset, you can stomp, you can kick, can scream, you can cry. You can do all those things, Max. But at the end of the day, with the Knicks in the finals up three one, you can't help but root for the Knicks. It's exuding out of you. Your hair right now is orange and blue. Look in the mirror. Your hair is orange and blue.

[Max Kellerman]

That's right. I Know, I. I believe it. And that's. That's the thing. Like, first of all, you can't help who you root for in the first place. Sometimes you're watching a game, if it's not your team, you. You watch, and you're like, I thought I was rooting for them, but actually it turns out I'm rooting for them. Right? Yeah. But what is your home team, you can't help it.

[Rich Paul]

As a child, means a lot different.

[Max Kellerman]

It's when it's your team that you grew up rooting for. Especially in this city right now, 52 years means it's connected to everything in your life. Your father, who probably started watching, you know, started you watching the games. Your brother, who you grew up with, your best friend, your sports enemy, who you were arguing with, whatever. Your whole childhood, your high school years,

[Rich Paul]

favorite teacher, marriage, your PE Teacher.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah, yeah. Your favorite everything.

[Rich Paul]

The custodian at your elementary school who's a big Knicks fan, who wore his Knicks hat, no question, every day, came to school for 13 years you were in school. All of that. Yes, I agree.

[Max Kellerman]

The highs, the lows. It's not just the highs. It's the times, the. That you've lost someone who is close to you.

[Rich Paul]

Yes.

[Max Kellerman]

It's like, you know, you had. It's the good and the bad. It's. It's the. It could be the birth of your children. Half over, half a century. A lot of stuff has happened in people's lives. Right. The fact that. And it's all. That's why the city is on fire. Right. The city is ready to explode. And when the Knicks, even in game two, when they were in San Antonio, watch parties around the city, it was like. It was like, you know, it was like the end of the Second World War or something. People were exploding in happiness. You could hear it all over the city. You know, you could hear it from Jersey.

[Rich Paul]

I actually thought that was pretty cool from. From a kid's perspective. If I'm a kid and I'm growing up in one of the five boroughs and the Knicks are in a position that they're in right now, and I walk outside of my apartment or my town home or wherever I live, and there's trucks lined up down the street, and there's food trucks and there's TVs on the side of vehicles that's playing a Knicks game, I mean, that has to be one of the coolest moments as a kid.

[Max Kellerman]

And Spike Lee is going by in a car, and it looks like an impromptu parade by the Way. How are you doing right now? Because the Aaron Fox, who's Mr. Clutch had, you know, made a mental error. I thought at the end of the game, you could understand why he might think, hey, let's go up three. And that way, a three doesn't beat us, it ties us. But you would think he would dribble the ball, he would take the ball out.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah, I'm fine. But you can look at it both ways. Look, Max, you know I don't make excuses. I was not on the floor. I've seen plays where that can go either way, evidently. What. From my understanding, and I haven't talked to him yet, but if he went to make that play, he thought he could beat OG to the basket. That's the only thing I could think about.

[Max Kellerman]

And then OG just made a play.

[Rich Paul]

If he thought that, then OG just made a better defensive play, but he thought that he could beat OG to the basket to go up three. So you know those. One of the situations that you live and you learn or you live and die within that situation. So there's game five. You got to come back game five and try to protect home court. That's all you can do. You cannot dwell on. On what happened in the past. The. The biggest thing about the NBA, there's no memory. Or no memory, for that matter.

[Max Kellerman]

There's. There is so much to get into here, because people speaking of memory, they're going to remember this game forever.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah.

[Max Kellerman]

Like the fact that this. That down 29 points against. Against a team that was not one

[Rich Paul]

situation in the game when you up.

[Max Kellerman]

Who couldn't stop hitting shots.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah. There's not. There's not. There's not one situation. We could probably pay the tape back and say no to that. No to that. No, no, no, no, no. In. In the event of being up 29, having that cushion, even being up 15, being up 20 in the third with. With eight minutes to go. But again, we've seen this from this Knicks team throughout this playoffs, whether it was the Cavs, whether it was down the Spurs. And the spurs just let the Cavs off the hook because the Cavs can sleep better down knowing they were down. They were up 22 and lost game one that wasn't finals. But in this case, you're up 29 and you lose game four to tie the series, going back home with all the momentum your way. And you know what?

[Max Kellerman]

And all year, you've been the best team in basketball, by the way. The best team in basketball all year.

[Rich Paul]

But you know what it happens like

[Max Kellerman]

that sometimes, or at least in the

[Rich Paul]

middle of the year, it's the first of four, not three. I've personally been a part of a situation. Down three one. You said that before. And so all you can do is keep fighting. There's nothing you can do but keep fighting. And if the Knicks win, you tip your hat to the winner and you move on. That's all you can do.

[Max Kellerman]

So there's so much to get into here. First of all, Karl Anthony Towns early is taken out of the game. He misses, basically. Yeah, he's in foul because his second foul. But the second foul is called against Wemby. The spurs challenge it. And on the replay, you see Towns locked his arm for maybe a Millet. Like just a fraction of a second, maybe locked his arm. By the way, it wasn't even like, absolutely clear that he. That Wemby. That he actually locked it, but it looked like he did for a second. And then Wemby kept his arm there, and it looked like maybe he was holding on to Towns. Like, you know, in baseball, instant replay, it has to be like incontrovertible evidence. Or the call on the field stands. Football, too. Like, if. If you're using that standard, they should not have reversed that call and called the foul on Towns and it took him out of the game. And not only is he out of the game, but. But that. And that changes things. But the. The spurs get ungodly hot after that. They're hitting threes. They're bombing every. It looks like the Knicks are getting ready to lose this game by 40 points.

[Rich Paul]

Yes.

[Max Kellerman]

Like it was. And then even as they're trying to come back and. And Alvarado hits. Look. Looks like he's clearly goaltended. And the refs don't call the goaltend. On the broadcast, they were saying they must have thought he was. Maybe.

[Rich Paul]

It looked like he was throwing a lot, but at the same time, it was in this. It was on the way down. And Cornette.

[Max Kellerman]

It was on the way down, bottom line.

[Rich Paul]

But it looked as if it was a lob. But it may not have been a lob. That's. You know, that's one of those.

[Max Kellerman]

It only looked like a. By the way, but also like, if you have a big. Who's rolling, you can still shoot it. And he's going to be there to clean it up if, you know, like, Adenobi did it at the end of the game, won the game for him.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah, so.

[Max Kellerman]

So there's all that going on. I thought the ref. The officiating it's not an excuse because the spurs were hitting everything. They got as hot as a team could get, and they're not in a particularly good shooting team, but they sure were in the first half. So. So all this is happening. The call seemed to be going against the Knicks after they lost game three at the Garden. The whole thing, it just felt. It felt like, you know, what did the Knicks do here? And. And yet if I were rooting against the Knicks, I would have thought I would still be. I would never have felt like, okay, we got this. There's something about this Knicks team. It reminds me of, like, the 86 Mets, who I rooted against. I'm a Yankees fan. I hate. You know, I always rooted against the Mets, but you never felt like they were out of it, you know, and certain teams are, like, sprinkled with pixie dust in such a way that no matter what happens, you just feel like they're a team of destiny, they're going to win.

[Rich Paul]

This seems that way.

[Max Kellerman]

And it's. It was unbelievable.

[Rich Paul]

It was.

[Max Kellerman]

It's unbelievable.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah.

[Max Kellerman]

Like, I don't. I remember when the Giants came back on the Patriots the second time, second Super bowl in 2011. Afterward, and as a fan, I felt so spent. It's like, I have to. Like, I gotta rest. I can't even. And this was like, the range of emotions late in that game were out of control and rich. When that game ended, the city erupted. You could hear it from everywhere. All over the, like, all the burrows from every direction. You heard people going crazy. Like, I've never experienced anything quite like that. Because unlike the Giants and the jets who split the town, the Yankees and the Mets who split the town, people don't care in this as much about hockey as the other. There's a three major sports. The Knicks are really running unopposed. And I know, I was the one who was saying, you know, four or five years ago when, when the Nets got KD and, and Harden and Kyrie, hey, it's going to be a Nets town now. The Knicks are no good and blah, blah, blah. Clearly that was incorrect.

[Rich Paul]

So the Nets win the championship is not the same.

[Max Kellerman]

It's. No. And I didn't think it would be right away. I thought it would take time. But I figured, hey, if the Nets are good for four or five years and they win two or three championships, little by little, you can chip away at the, at the Heritage team's foundation because you make new young fans. That did not happen. The Knicks are the one team in town that everyone roots for they play at the Garden, not in Jersey, not in the Bronx, not in Queensland, at Madison Square Garden, the middle of Manhattan and the whole play Rich. I don't know what the biggest sports parade ever was, but if the Yankees are doing 2 or 3 million and

[Rich Paul]

they only have half the season, what's

[Max Kellerman]

the Knicks parade gonna look like?

[Rich Paul]

7 million. At least 7 million.

[Max Kellerman]

Manhattan's gonna sink. I don't, I don't know what's gonna happen. It's gonna, it's gonna.

[Rich Paul]

If they were to win it, closed it, close the deal here. I think 5 to 7 million people joins the parade. I really believe that because you got all the. You have people who, who are from New York that no longer live in New York that will go back to New York just for the parade, right? So you have to count those people. That's probably another 800,000 to 1.3 million people coming back.

[Max Kellerman]

Expatriates, Expats.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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[Max Kellerman]

So right now, Finals MVP is OG OG I agree. I tweeted that out. OG Anunoby is the Finals MVP right now. Yes, and not in the way. Not in the way that, like, Iguodala or Kawhi were Finals MVPs, because really, what they were saying is LeBron's the Finals MVP, but his team didn't win. So we have to give it to the guy guarding LeBron. It would be much more like the way Draymond Green would have been The MVP in 2016 had the warriors won. It's not just the defense and the high IQ plays. It's the scoring, too.

[Rich Paul]

But he's. He's been the most reliable on the Knicks in this series. On both ends of the floor. He shot it well from three. He's guarded. He's made the hustle. Hustle plays. Getting the 50, 50 balls. And so when you look at his overall impact on the series, in the game, each game, it's been OG he's hit every timely shot, every big shot. He made a big play tonight on both ends of the floor between the block, and then the tip to put them up one with 1.2 seconds left to go in the game. And, you know, and when you think about OG Although he did not get an opportunity to play in that Finals that the Raptors won that year in 2019, he was hurt. He did play in some pretty lengthy playoff years with that Raptors team. He played against that Cavaliers team, I think, at least three out of the four years that they went to four straight Finals, there's something to be said about that. In addition to people.

[Max Kellerman]

People forget, Rich, that on that Raptors team there were two young forwards, Siakam and OG yeah. Where it was like, these guys are a version of. Although they weren't as highly touted when you look at Castle and Harper and they're young and they're already really good, but they're going to get so much better. And you can kind of imagine Siakam and OG were like, man, these two have a chance to be really good in the future. But they, OG in particular, to me, looked like a championship kind of player from a young age.

[Rich Paul]

He came in out of Indiana with the ACL injury to start. He was drafted with that already. And so, you know, they had to bring him along slow. But once he got healthy, you can see where he can impact the game and contribute right away. And then he obviously got injured again. And then come over to the Knicks where you got all this talent around him, and I thought, he's taken a step, especially with the shot on the offensive end. He's really knocking down that three ball. He's became a much better shooter. But I imagine he works on it. You know, he seems like one of those guys that just works. He doesn't have a lot of issues going on outside of. Of, you know, outside interference and things of that nature. He's gotten the money, they paid him the max contract, and so you're comfortable there. And he's been, he's just been Mr. Reliable in this series. And you have to tip your hat to a guy like that who works hard on both ends of the floor.

[Max Kellerman]

That play at the end of the game was. That's going down in New York sports history.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah.

[Max Kellerman]

But it also, you know, why it's going down.

[Rich Paul]

Most guys, Max would have still been standing there with their hands in the air saying, I'm open.

[Max Kellerman]

Right.

[Rich Paul]

Most guys, oh, gee, crashed the boards.

[Max Kellerman]

He crashed the boards by the soul. So what I was going to say is he bailed out. In a way, the heart and soul of the team, like, everyone loves Josh Hart, but he didn't know if he wanted to dunk it, if he was going to be a layup. He was worried about Castle maybe blocking it. Misses the shot on a possession where you're like, if the Knicks are going to win this game, they need to hit that shot. Yeah, obviously. And, and, and then. And Richard Jefferson pointed it out on the broadcast. He got caught ball watching when, when Castle got the rebound and it's like, oh, my God, not Josh Hart. Like you don't want them to lose the game because Josh Hart made two mental errors down the stretch because he's not that kind of player. But, but OG's. OG's play erased it. And when I think of like the biggest plays. When I think. First of all, when I think about the biggest basketball games of all time, this is one of them. Like I know it didn't happen in the final game. So LeBron in 2016 or Jordan in the second three peat. I get it. Those are deciding games. But this was I think is likely to be seen eventually as the Knicks are now likely been as the pivotal game. It's right up there.

[Rich Paul]

I don't know. I don't know. The only thing that that makes it not to that level of 2016, game seven or Jordan in 98, game six on the road against Utah was those two games were played for the championship.

[Max Kellerman]

Right.

[Rich Paul]

To win it all.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah. Yeah. To that's the deciding game.

[Rich Paul]

Outside of that is right there. It's right there.

[Max Kellerman]

You know what else it has? You know what else it has? You say like, like the other game had Jordan and the other game had LeBron. This game has Wemby. Like Wemby could be if he stays healthy could go down in history with the likes of the guys we just mentioned. He's got a long way to go, but he certainly has that potential. And no, he wouldn't be on the winning side of it. But the fact is it's like you might look at a game like tonight and say yeah, but it's missing that. That signature all time great superstar. No, it had that too. It had. And, and by the way he looked like he was finally had it.

[Rich Paul]

But it. Remember when they won game on the. On the winning side.

[Max Kellerman]

On the winning. Yes, but, but remember. But then he missed a couple free throws down the stretch. Do you remember when we said in Game 3, hey, that wasn't even great Wemby. That was kind of like typical Wemby, but it wasn't like, oh my God, Wemby dominated. Yeah, he had a decent player in the game.

[Rich Paul]

He didn't. He didn't dominate. And again when you talk about this

[Max Kellerman]

was a dominate Wendy game Wemby game.

[Rich Paul]

If you dominating in the first rewind the tape. I guarantee you when they watch film in the third and fourth quarter, when the spurs watch film, they're going to be sick to their stomach because I'm.

[Max Kellerman]

Well, you don't come back from down 29 without a little help.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah, but I'm not the type of person that's going. That's going to do what I know is going to happen on broadcast tomorrow and podcasts and all that. I'm not, I'm not focused there. It's just a tough thing when you're up that many points and for whatever reason, you don't execute every time down now, it's hard, just as easy.

[Max Kellerman]

And you take eight straight threes and miss them all. That's the thing. Like, I get a heat check, two or three threes. They shot eight in a row, but

[Rich Paul]

that's a different dynamic. But just having the willingness. And I always talk to you about this, Max, Good shot versus great shot. This is one of those scenarios to where you have to focus on great shot versus good shot. A good shot is I can walk into a transition three. I can think, I'm open, heave up a three is 17 seconds left on the shot clock. A great shot is we're grinding it down. I'm getting a swing. Swing or driving kick. If a player misses a driving kick, wide open, I can live with that. Max, I don't care if you go over 80. What I cannot live with is we're up and there's 18, 17, 16, 15 seconds left on the shot clock. Yes, I may be open, but we're trying to tie the series. If we win this game tonight, we take back home court advantage. The momentum is ours going back into San Antonio with our fans. Psychologically, the Knicks are feeling a certain way. This is where the experience comes in of being here before and understanding the moment at hand. And that's not a knock to the spurs, because again, the spurs has been one of the best teams all year. The Thunder was that Matchups matter. The Knicks. You talked about the Knicks early on and said, hey, if they were to get there, you like their chances against a team like the Spurs. Against the spurs, based upon matchups, you didn't really like it against the OKC Thunder. We understand all of that. You could talk about the Fox situation. You could talk about Wemby missing free throws. You could talk about Castle having five files. You could talk about 0 for 8 for threes. You know, put it all in a pile, put it in a blender, make a smoothie, whatever you want to do. What I'm telling you, just from my 24 going on, 25 years of experience in this league, I've seen it all. I've seen it every which way. Max, this is one of those situations where you stay overnight. It's too late to go back home now. So the plane isn't booked tonight, it's booked tomorrow. They probably leave the hotel about 10 o'. Clock. Planes probably about noon to get home. Probably about two, right? And there's two days in between. In the finals, you have to do media. You cannot run away from media. They're talking about it tonight. They're going to talk about it again. They want to ask the questions. Your back is up against the wall. You're going to go into that film session, you're going to see yourself up 20 points with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter. You're going to see that. Now, you would say, hey, the Knicks should win this in six. Most people probably would say they should win it in five due to the fact they're up three, one, et cetera. But you and I been around.

[Max Kellerman]

I think the spurs have enough character to defend you.

[Rich Paul]

And I've been around a long time. So you figure, you know what? The spurs gonna go home and protect home. All I'm saying is, in the NBA, max, there's short memory and then there's no memory. This is one of those situations where it's no memory of this. If you're the spurs, if you're the Knicks, you're coming in, you're gonna have to deal with families, you gotta deal with tickets, you got to deal with flights. Because in your mind, we're celebrating in San Antonio, right? So you got the team booking, the ballroom, you got. You got guys planning things for afterwards. All the, all these things come into play, right? This is things that all outside of the game that I've been a part of for many years. Tonight was a special night for a number of different reasons, and it's a night that'll go down in the history of our game. But ultimately, it's still a lot of time. It's still a lot of basketball to be played. And this is something that, if I'm a coach on both ends, I'm expressing, hey, if I'm the Knicks, this is not over. Let's not even focus on that. Let's finish the job. And if I'm San Antonio, one game

[Max Kellerman]

at a time, let's just meantime, everyone will say, like you. You say, you're like, I don't. Hey, you know what they're going to do in the media tomorrow and this and that. What, what they will do in the media tomorrow. And. And we are now. This. We. You are now in the media somewhat is ask the following question because in a game like this, always, it requires mistakes on the part of the team that's up 29, 29 in a finals game. And also really good play from the other side. The question that will be asked on all these shows is, did the Knicks win it or did the Spurs.

[Rich Paul]

Spurs lost his Game. The Knicks didn't win this game.

[Max Kellerman]

See, I think that. I think the Knicks won it. And the reason I think the Knicks won it.

[Rich Paul]

Well, you could say that the reason

[Max Kellerman]

I think the Knicks.

[Rich Paul]

I can see your point there, Max. I can see your point there.

[Max Kellerman]

OG Play at the end of the game. Like what it came down to is they needed to make it happen. And at the last. What? Well, the second last possession of the game. But the last mixed possession of the game, trailing in the game, the team, the leader of the team, the best player on the team.

[Rich Paul]

You can make the argument, takes an

[Max Kellerman]

open 3, misses it and OG comes in and wins.

[Rich Paul]

You can make the argument again. Those situations never post to take place. Like prime example.

[Max Kellerman]

Of course you're going to need a little help.

[Rich Paul]

But yes. Up 29. How was OG able to crash a glass like that? It's because they had two on the ball. So now once I have two on the ball. If there's two on the ball, you have to have a conscience to. When you box out a guy, you don't just turn and put your hands like this. Since the third grade, you're taught to find a man and put your body on that guy. You're not waiting because if you wait, a guy can jump over your back and get a rebound and get it put back, et cetera.

[Max Kellerman]

So you define as Castle did to Hart, by the way.

[Rich Paul]

Yes, but that was a baseline. That was a baseline rebound. It's a little bit different, right? It's a little bit different.

[Max Kellerman]

But it's, but it's still, it's still. You're caught not putting a body on someone. Yes, like you're caught doing the thing you're supposed to do in that moment.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah, but that guy's diving or cutting to the basket for the rebound coming off the baseline. OG did not do that. He was basically a little left center of the top of the key and he dove in. So now at the. Someone has to go to him, right, and box that man out. But you have two on the ball. So basically, basically you're playing three on four in that position which allow OG to get that tip. Now, that tip could have went either which way. He did a hell of a job of getting just enough on that tip to control it and, and, and, and make the shot. So you cannot take nothing away from that. And we won't. But what I'm saying is two things can be true. You're saying the Knicks won the game. I'm saying the spurs lost.

[Max Kellerman]

Well, that though that's the question that all the shows tomorrow will ask.

[Rich Paul]

They will, they will. And it's going to be because.

[Max Kellerman]

Because of course the answer is both. But if you had to say one or the other. I think the Knicks want listen depends on which lose the game or did the Patriots win the game and that's go either way.

[Rich Paul]

You can go either way.

[Max Kellerman]

You can, but you gotta choose one. And I would say the Patriots won that game and I'm saying led them

[Rich Paul]

back in this situation if you're up 29, it's very difficult to lose that game. And I know just knowing the spurs and knowing how they prepare and knowing how they think about things when they go into that film room they're going to say to themselves we lost that game, we gave that game up. They're not going to say the Knicks beat them, they had the game won, that the crowd was silenced, every celebrity on celebrity row was silenced. Nobody was talking about anything. They wasn't texting, they wasn't taking pictures, they wasn't doing anything. They were silent.

[Max Kellerman]

Even DJ Khaled somewhere wasn't on his phone. He was actually watching the game.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah, well he was on his phone all game three so he didn't have no more phone left to be on game four.

[Max Kellerman]

All the battery was gone.

[Rich Paul]

Yes, but, but, and so that's what you want, right? That's what, that's why you play the game on the road is because you want to Speaker Everyone versus you.

[Max Kellerman]

Here's the thing that the spurs just ran into, unfortunately for them because I think in any other circumstance they would kickstart their dynasty this year. But what they ran into, unfortunately for them is two things. One, the worst possible matchup for them in the NBA the Knicks beat them with with stuff on the line and the for the Emirates cup in the mid season tournament neutral ground. They beat him at the Garden, they came within a possession at San Antonio. Just a bad matchup for them. And then it just so happens that the bad matchup for them was on a heater unlike anything that it's ever been seen in the NBA. So those two things conspired, but this is how good this spurs team is. Those two things conspired to put the Knicks up 3:1 but the series could easily be 3:1 the other way. Yes, it could be like this. This spurs team is a whole lot.

[Rich Paul]

I'm not mad at a Knicks spurs rivalry. Listen, if we got the Knicks and the spurs in the finals for the next in next year too, I'm not mad at that.

[Max Kellerman]

Well Listen, listen. Halliburton's going to get healthy in Indiana. Boston's going to be healthy, get healthy.

[Rich Paul]

Who knows where Giannis goes? There's a lot. Who knows where Kawhi goes? If he moves, there's going to be a lot of different again. It's been eight years straight that there's been a different team in the finals in terms of a champion. No repeat. That is great for our league. It's not a negative thing. It's also great for our league for the Knicks to be good. The only thing that's bad for our league with the Knicks being good is the idiots that that's out there hurting people physically in the streets because they root for a different team. That's the only thing. Other than that, this has been a beautiful thing to watch for the city of New York. They should give away free pizzas. I was a big Ninja Turtles fan with April o', Neal, who I had a crush on. And. And I thought I was part of Donatello, Raphael, Michael.

[Max Kellerman]

I mean, Donatello. No, Donatello had the crush on April

[Rich Paul]

and so did I. But the point I'm trying to make is when New York is popping, everything works. Orange and blue skies. Like I said, your hair is orange and blue right now. It's all good.

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[Max Kellerman]

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[Rich Paul]

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[Rich Paul]

But Max, listen.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah.

[Rich Paul]

There's a game five. Are you going or are you going to la? Are you going to stay in New York? What are you doing? You're going to Florida. What's your plan?

[Max Kellerman]

Well, first of all, you and I have plans tomorrow night, so I gotta go back to la.

[Rich Paul]

I don't have any plan with you tomorrow night. Oh, yes, I do.

[Max Kellerman]

You sure do.

[Rich Paul]

Oh, yes, I do.

[Max Kellerman]

Yes, you do.

[Rich Paul]

Yes.

[Max Kellerman]

I do.

[Rich Paul]

I forgot.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah.

[Rich Paul]

I do have a plan with you tomorrow.

[Max Kellerman]

That's right.

[Rich Paul]

Okay, perfect.

[Max Kellerman]

Exactly. Yeah. So I'm coming back to la. Yeah.

[Rich Paul]

Okay. But that's, but the game is until Saturday. Tomorrow's Thursday.

[Max Kellerman]

That's. That's Saturday. That's right. And then Friday I have to be in LA for an event and then

[Rich Paul]

you have Zufa boxing.

[Max Kellerman]

We'll see about. No, it's something else.

[Rich Paul]

Okay. Okay.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah.

[Rich Paul]

Okay.

[Max Kellerman]

But. But then, then. Oh, yeah, I don't know.

[Rich Paul]

Well, I'll have to figure this oozing out of you. I know at some point you're going to wear. Let me ask you this question. If the Knicks were to win a championship, whose jersey do you put on? Do you put on an old school jersey from years before your favorite team? Do you. Do you honor the late, you know, What's my guy name? That. That, that played. Anthony. That played for the. Played for the Knicks. For the Knicks, yes. I can't think of his name. I'm having.

[Max Kellerman]

Anthony Mason.

[Rich Paul]

Anthony Mason, yes.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah.

[Rich Paul]

Do you honor the late, great Anthony Mason? Who. I love watching Anthony Mason.

[Max Kellerman]

It's a good idea.

[Rich Paul]

He was a dog. Do you honor Oak Ewing? You should. You know what? You should come.

[Max Kellerman]

Oak is a good idea too.

[Rich Paul]

You should come Patrick Ewing with the Ewings.

[Max Kellerman]

The, the Anthony Mason. You know what? Oak.

[Rich Paul]

Oak. That's a good one.

[Max Kellerman]

Oak would be the one if you come.

[Rich Paul]

Oak. Because you gotta come.

[Max Kellerman]

That team never won a championship, Rich. And you know something? This, the thing about this Finals. People keep saying 26 years. Forget 26 years. No one thought the 99 Knicks were going to beat the spurs that year. They were an eight seed. Patrick Ewing was not available for the Finals and he was a little older anyway. He was still great, but he was older. Everyone knew the spurs are going to win that series. This is the first time heading into the finals that you actually thought they had a chance to win since 90. Since 94.

[Rich Paul]

94, right.

[Max Kellerman]

This is the first time since 94. And before that, the last time they won a championship, period, was 73. So, like, this is such a long time coming for this Knicks franchise and for the city of New York. It's insane. But the reason I would choose Oakley is because not only the beef with Dolan and everything, I want to support Oak, but because he maybe more than anyone, represented the heart and soul of that team. The way. The way, like Josh Hart represents the heart and soul of this team. And maybe that's

[Rich Paul]

family. I know him very well, so that's That's a great jersey to wear. You have to wear your Timbs with that. Then you have to wear. You have to wear your Tim's.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah, you got to wear Tim's with an oak jersey.

[Rich Paul]

You got to wear your Tim's oak jersey. Yeah, no, I look, I think all day, you know, I think it's a joy to watch and to see the Knicks legends. Now, I'm not talking about guys that play on the Knicks for like six months or even two years for that matter. I'm talking about the Knicks legends and, and how they treat those guys. It's actually a joy to watch Clyde and Patrick. That's pretty cool. Yeah, that's pretty cool. I was able to see Marcus Camby.

[Max Kellerman]

I saw Marcus Camby. I saw Larry Johnson.

[Rich Paul]

Larry Johnson. You know, Starks and, and, and Starks

[Max Kellerman]

is all over the place.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah. All those guys, those. I'm saying from the, from the Knicks teams that actually was. Was relevant. I'm not talking about any guy that put on the Knicks jersey, but for the Knicks team that actually. And I also put Carmelo in that situation in that, in that situation there, because he did go to the Knicks seeking to win a championship and doing the best he can to win a championship. And he had some hell of five games in that garden, so he deserves to be in that. In that list as well. But, you know, we'll see. I'm looking forward to Saturday max. Game 5. The Knicks can close it out. Let's see what happens. It's going to be interesting.

[Max Kellerman]

Crazy as Reggie. If they close it out in game five. If they close it out in game five. This is what Knicks fan. Years from now, there'll be people who forgot if they, if they win the championship, that this wasn't the deciding game. Like what they will remember was tonight.

[Rich Paul]

Fair point.

[Max Kellerman]

You know, a whole generation will remember that.

[Rich Paul]

Does it matter more where if the Knicks win, does it matter more where the game where they closed out at New York versus San Antonio?

[Max Kellerman]

No, because I saw them when game two, when they won in San Antonio. New York was as loud almost as it was tonight. It was like bananas, you know? Yeah, so. So, yeah. No, it'll be. It'll be big either way. I have a feeling we're coming back to MSG game six. We shall see. Richard, it's late and I know you've had a long day.

[Rich Paul]

Not as long as you think, but yeah, it is late. It's later for you than it is me.

[Max Kellerman]

It is, but I could. I don't even know what to feel or think. Right now I'm, I'm drained. I'm confused. I'm. I'm elated. I'm. I'm like sad. Just because you get sentimental, it's. I'm just telling you stuff like this is attached to everything in your life. People you've lost, people you know, the highs and the lows. You. You think of everything.

[Rich Paul]

Those are great things.

[Max Kellerman]

Father, your brother.

[Rich Paul]

Those are great things. Those, those are things that allow you to understand why sports is so important. Those things that you're talking about because there's. There's somebody out there tonight. There's Max. There's somebody out there. 101 years old and all they want is to see the Knicks win. That's it. They've had everything they could possibly have in life. They're 100 plus years talking about LeBron.

[Max Kellerman]

No, he's 101.

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[Rich Paul]

And all they haven't seen in the last X amount of years was for the Knicks to win a championship. All they want to see.

[Max Kellerman]

I never thought I'd live to see it.

[Rich Paul]

It's the Knicks to win the championship.

[Max Kellerman]

I would live to see it.

[Rich Paul]

That's it.

[Max Kellerman]

Yeah.

[Rich Paul]

And so when you have people like that in situations like that, it's a beautiful thing. But Max, game [e-mail] game over with

[Max Kellerman]

Max Kellerman and Rich Paul.

[Rich Paul]

Do we have any emails, text messages, emails?

[Max Kellerman]

Or, or we. We could. Do you want to do some tweets? Because I sent out.

[Rich Paul]

Let's do one tweet. Do one tweet, Max.

[Max Kellerman]

One tweet. All right, let me do it. Let's find the best one. The thing that made it great was not just the epic comeback, says Mint maker at Mint Maker 22, but then the insane back and forth lead flips in the final minute. This game had it all. That's a good point.

[Rich Paul]

Yeah.

[Max Kellerman]

It's not just that the Knicks came back from 29. It's in the lead. Started flipping back and forth with as the seconds were ticking off in the fourth quarter and like it was. It felt, felt like the Knicks had momentum, but it felt kind of like they had momentum in game two. Also, sorry, game three also when they lost that game, if it was a

[Rich Paul]

boxing match, Max, it's like there's a 12 round match. You lost the first 11 rounds and then you get a knockout in the 12th to win it. That's what tonight felt like for the, for the Knicks. It had to.

[Max Kellerman]

This, this one was a throwback to the 15 round era. I mean, this was, this game had everything. It's one of the greatest sporting events I've ever seen. And, and I, like. I don't know what else to say. I'm speechless.

[Rich Paul]

The only thing, the only thing that, that would have been better than watching it was to actually be there. That's it. That's the only thing that could have topped it. Should have been there.

[Max Kellerman]

We should have been there.

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[Rich Paul]

Okay, well, we'll. We'll, we'll be at game six. If there's a game six, we'll be there.

[Max Kellerman]

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[Rich Paul]

Foreign

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[Max Kellerman]

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[Rich Paul]

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