2026 NBA Finals: The best stats and facts

Summary

THE ATHLETIC NBA DAILY — June 3, 2026
Episode: 2026 NBA Finals – The Best Stats and Facts
Host: Dave DuFour
Guests: Esfandiar “Es” Baraheni, Kirthika Utheya Kumar
Theme: Deep dive into historic and current stats, storylines, and fun facts about the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks.

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Episode Overview

This episode is a lively breakdown of the most interesting and surprising numbers and facts heading into the 2026 NBA Finals, focusing on the Spurs and Knicks. Host Dave DuFour, joined by Es Baraheni and NBA stats researcher Kirthika Utheya Kumar, delivers a rapid-fire session packed with context, historical comparisons, and predictions, using real data and behind-the-scenes stories.

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Meet the Guest: Kirthika Utheya Kumar

[03:32 – 05:42]

• Kirthika shares her journey into NBA stats, noting her unique path as a woman in the field and how she went from a background in TV storytelling to becoming the go-to stats resource for broadcasters and analysts.

  • "I went to school for TV ... but the most effective way sometimes is through stats. Did a lot of stuff for TSN ... and then two years ago just decided to do my own thing." — Kirthika [04:06]

• She mentions teaching herself coding to tap into the NBA database and craft custom queries, which became her niche.

  • “I learned to code and I have the entire NBA database on my laptop ... sometimes it’s a multi-window SQL query.” — Kirthika [05:21]

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Key Discussion Points & Stats

Knicks' and Spurs’ Youth, Experience, and Historical Context

[06:21 – 11:42]

• Knicks Finals Return & Spurs Youth

  • “The Knicks are back in the finals for the first time since 1999. Ten of 18 players on the Spurs current roster weren’t alive for the 1999 NBA Finals.” — Kirthika [06:21]
  • Victor Wembanyama was born 4.5 years after the ’99 finals. Only one Spurs starter (out of the usual lineup) was alive at that time.
  • The Spurs’ top-8 rotation began the postseason with only 50 total playoff games — the fewest since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers (shot clock era record, by minutes played).

• Wembanyama’s Historic Feats

  • “Wemby is the youngest player to lead a Finals team in scoring. The first to do so in his first four years since LeBron in 2007.” — Kirthika [10:29]
  • The group discusses the precedent of rookie/young teams winning titles, mentioning Bill Russell and Magic Johnson, but noting that both had more veteran support than this Spurs squad.
  • Dave emphasizes the unprecedented nature: "I think that everyone has kind of come to grips with the fact Victor Wembanyama is going to be the best player to ever play in the NBA ... any doubt that he's the best player in the NBA right now go out the window." [11:19]

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Wembanyama’s Dominant Defense

[12:03 – 13:55]

• “When Wemby was on the floor against the Thunder, they had a 48.5% effective field goal percentage. That would be 30th in the NBA—worse than the Brooklyn Nets regular season.” — Es [12:03]
• The Thunder’s rim attacks collapsed with Wemby on the floor; three games in the series saw more OKC rim makes with him off-court than on, despite his limited rest.
  • “That’s how bad he made the Thunder shoot the basketball.” — Es [12:30]
• Dave recounts a viral defensive play: “[Wemby] had to play 40 minutes and was running out of gas ... the pass is made to Jared McCain in the corner when Wimby is at half court, and he still manages to get a hand up.” [13:16]

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The Thunder-Spurs Rivalry: The Next Lakers-Celtics?

[14:08 – 17:40]

• Panel explores whether this rising Spurs-Thunder matchup has the makings of an era-defining rivalry, likening it to Bulls-Pistons or even Lakers-Celtics.
  • “Not only are they good, they’re going to be the best teams in the West. Yeah, they all care so much.” — Dave [14:16]
• The Wemby–Chet Holmgren narrative is noted as genuine, unlike some manufactured NBA beefs.
  • “Twitter has gotten a rivalry right ... now I’m like, no, this is 1000% real.” — Kirthika [17:30]

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Knicks’ Finals Run: Dominance by the Numbers

[20:32 – 26:33]

• The Knicks haven’t lost a game since April 23rd, entering the Finals with an 11-game win streak.

  • “They have a plus 19.4 average point differential this season, which is the largest by a team entering the finals in NBA history.” — Kirthika [21:06]
  • During this streak: “23.8 average point differential ... only trailed in the fourth in four games all playoffs.” — Kirthika [21:46]
  • This is tied for the third longest single-season playoff win streak ever.

• Bench improvement: Knicks’ bench has outscored opponents in 8 playoff games this year; they did so zero times last postseason.

  • “They went out and solved their problems in the off season. ... His offensive stuff has finally clicked for this team.” — Dave [25:07]

• Dave and Es wrestle with their Spurs-in-6 predictions, questioning if they’ve underrated the Knicks’ legitimacy and depth.

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Tactical Matchups & Key X-Factors

[26:34 – 31:16]

• Knicks shooters and ball movers present new problems for the Spurs compared to OKC.
  • “Wemby can’t be in all five places at once. That’s the issue there.” — Es [27:09]
• Both teams rate at the top in first quarter net rating; Spurs starting lineup in particular is +25.5 per 100 with De’Aaron Fox (not Harper).
• Much rides on the stamina and impact of bench players like Luke Kornet (Spurs) and Mitchell Robinson (Knicks).
  • “What do you guys think—can Luke Kornet buy them 10 minutes a game?” — Dave [29:30]
• Knicks’ offensive rebounding and three-point shooting (especially off Mitch's boards) described as a hidden weapon.

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More Fun Stats & Individual Achievements

[31:37 – 34:46]

• Dylan Harper:
  • “Dylan Harper is the third rookie to lead the NBA in bench scoring in the playoffs since they started tracking. The other two were Sam Cassell and Tyler Herro.” — Kirthika [31:45]
  • Harper’s impact described as both a scorer and rebounder, plus a creator and versatile defender.
  • “Sky is the limit. He’s an MVP level guy, maybe. I don’t know, I’ve never seen a rookie like this in this sort of role where it looks like the team has been holding him back.” — Dave [33:52]
  • Magic Johnson and Bill Russell rookie comp discussed.

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Final Predictions & Takeaways

[34:47 – 36:01]

• Dave and Es picked Spurs in 6; guest Xena took Spurs in 7.
• Kirthika confidently says: “I’m gonna say Knicks in seven ... my swing is still the bench minutes and the transitional minutes and how out of gas ...” [35:03]
• Noted: The Knicks are the first team in NBA history to play three playoff series against teams coming off a Game 7. Discussion of rest vs. rust as a factor.
• “This is the time for the Knicks to steal a couple and really make this a long series.” — Es [35:37]

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Notable Quotes

(with timestamps)

• On Wemby's Greatness:
  • "Victor Wembanyama is going to be the best player to ever play in the NBA." — Dave [11:19]
• On Knicks’ Historic Run:
  • "They have a plus 19.4 average point differential this season, the largest by a team entering the finals in NBA history." — Kirthika [21:06]
• On Thunder's struggles vs. Wemby:
  • "When Wemby was on the floor against the Thunder, they had a 48.5% effective field goal percentage. That would be 30th in the NBA." — Es [12:03]
• On the Stakes:
  • "Brunson versus Wemby thing is going to be fascinating to watch because, well, it's got a score against him." — Dave [26:33]
• On Rivalry Realness:
  • "I thought it was made up at the beginning ... but now I'm like, no, this is 1,000% real." — Kirthika [17:30]
• On Making Picks:
  • "I'm gonna say Knicks in seven, and not because my swing is still the bench minutes and the transitional minutes and how out of gas ... " — Kirthika [35:03]

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Timestamps: Important Segments

• 03:32 — Kirthika’s journey into NBA stats
• 06:21 — First standout Finals stats and historical contexts
• 09:08 — Spurs’ youth & historical comparisons
• 10:29 — Wemby’s record-breaking achievements
• 12:03 — Wemby’s impact on opponent shooting
• 14:08 — Spurs-Thunder rivalry and parallels to Lakers-Celtics
• 20:44 — Knicks’ win streak and playoff dominance
• 25:00 — Knicks bench turnaround compared to 2025
• 26:33 — Matchup analysis; Brunson vs. Wemby
• 31:45 — Dylan Harper’s historic rookie playoff scoring
• 34:47 — Final predictions and X-factors

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Flow, Tone & Style

The hosts balance statistical breakdowns with lively banter, keeping the episode accessible but data-rich. Kirthika’s stats are the show’s backbone, delivered with humor and immediacy (including off-the-cuff SQL references). Es and Dave provide context, challenge each other’s takes, and reflect on narratives, player impacts, and wider cultural meaning—giving listeners both hard numbers and human stories heading into the Finals.

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This episode is a must-hear for NBA fans wanting the best context and coolest facts ahead of the 2026 Finals—a high-energy, stat-forward recap with expert insights and plenty of memorable soundbites.

Transcript

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[Dave Dufour]

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[Dave Dufour]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for June 3, 2026. I'm Dave Dufour here with EsperaHenny. Coming up NBA Final Channels, fun stats and facts with Kirthka Utheya Kumar coming up next. Good morning everybody. What is up guys? Hello Kirika. Welcome to the show.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Hello, hello. Thanks for having me.

[Dave Dufour]

How's it going Raptors fan? This is so awesome. Extraordinaire this is great for me.

[Espera Henny]

This is awesome.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

S gets to see the inner working sometimes. And now he's. I do.

[Dave Dufour]

If you're not watching on YouTube, you don't know that S is for some reason, holding a baseball bat.

[Espera Henny]

I've. I've started into a softball league, so I'm now practicing as. As we do this podcast.

[Dave Dufour]

Yes. What position? What position?

[Espera Henny]

What position you give? It's softball. You just, you know, co. Ed you whatever position you want to play. Yeah, I'm just outfield, usually third base sometimes if they need me to. Little mookie bets. You know what I mean? No problem.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

We'll gauge how good some of these fun facts are based off of how hard as swings the bat.

[Dave Dufour]

That's.

[Espera Henny]

That's right. That's actually the. The practice of this thing right now.

[Dave Dufour]

Okay, K, before we get started, just tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into doing NBA stats. I mean, this is number one. Not a lot of women doing it. Right. It's not exactly, you know, most of the people that you know of when you think of NBA stats is dudes. So you're. You're a little bit of a trailblazer there, but also, you are prolific. I. Every single night after a game, you're the first page I go to. I want to see all of. Okay, what's the craziest stat that Kirtha is?

[Espera Henny]

Throw out.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah. So how'd you get into this?

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Honestly, if you told me I'd be doing this two years ago, I wouldn't have believed you because I kind of made it up as I went. I went to school for tv, did TV my whole life, and was looking for a way to tell stories when I first started, like, in school, even, like, looking for ways to tell stories on shows during games. And the most effective way sometimes is through stats. So started doing that, did a lot of stuff for TSN up here and for other networks up here. And then two years ago, just decided to do my own thing. And now I take on NBA broadcast clients just doing, like, research. They're helping with prep, basically helping them tell stories with stats.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah. Yes. I'm trying to get you worked into the budget for the NBA Daily.

[Espera Henny]

Well, don't worry.

[Dave Dufour]

She's already worked.

[Espera Henny]

She does pro bono work for me

[Dave Dufour]

when I sit beside her.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Activity. I do indeed.

[Dave Dufour]

You can't let your secrets out there. Come on. Someone thinks that you're the one on Stat Head.

[Espera Henny]

It's okay. I shout her out every. You know, it'll be like midway through

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

a raptor's game there.

[Espera Henny]

What? How many pain points do they average? And 5 seconds guys. And she has that number.

[Dave Dufour]

So. And do you, do you do a combination of just of research but also you have your own stats too?

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

I, I had to learn to code when I started this. So I learned to code and I

[Dave Dufour]

learned join the club.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Learned a lot of code stuff that more than I ever thought I would know and then basically have the entire NBA database on my laptop so can look things up. Sometimes I get wild and try to be like how can I contextualize this? And then it's like a multi window SQL query which is very niche and specific.

[Dave Dufour]

But yeah.

[Espera Henny]

Well, while we are here, it is cool as heck to see what you have been able to do. Thanks to my friend. It's been very, very cool. But yeah, anyway.

[Dave Dufour]

Wow. This is like the nicest podcast maybe

[Espera Henny]

I've ever been on

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

into existence. Like I remember years ago like as was speaking these things into existence and I'm like, wow. S, you're so sure. And then he was right to be sure because look where he is now.

[Dave Dufour]

He's a home run hitter. As we said. This isn't about me.

[Espera Henny]

How did we flip this?

[Dave Dufour]

Okay, let's get to the fun facts and stats. Enough talking about ass. Okay, Kirthika, hit us with the first one.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

All right, so we know the Knicks are back in the finals for the first time since 1999. Ten of 18 players on the spurs current roster weren't alive for the 1999 NBA Finals. 10.

[Espera Henny]

That's awesome. I love it.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Victor Weyama was born four and a half years after that series.

[Espera Henny]

Dave, how does that make you feel?

[Dave Dufour]

Okay. I may or may not have graduated from high school in 1999. So, you know, I mean, appropriate age.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

The current best player in the world was born four and a half years after you graduated high school. So there you go.

[Espera Henny]

I saw, I saw something that all of the starting lineup for the spurs was not alive for the 1999.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Except for Darren Fox Harper. That one game, that entire starting lineup was not alive.

[Espera Henny]

Wow.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

When that finals happened, which is, I

[Dave Dufour]

remember like vaguely that finals, you know, I haven't gone back and rewatched it because it's just not really relevant. But it was like it was an odd year because it was a lockout year. And I remember not really caring that much by the time you got to the finals, you know, because we had just had a baseball lockout not, not long before that, like in 94 and

[Espera Henny]

any of My time.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, well, exactly.

[Espera Henny]

I was watching Power Rangers.

[Dave Dufour]

Yes. Yeah. Like, and baseball was, honestly, from, you know, starting like 96, baseball was on this run. I really had more of my attention than the NBA did.

[Espera Henny]

Barry Bonds.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Espera Henny]

The Juiced era.

[Dave Dufour]

Right, Right. Absolutely.

[Espera Henny]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

I. I'm sure that there's a more fun stat than reminding everybody who's listening to this show with their kids in the car how old they are.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

There. There are a few. I have a couple. A quick little one here. I know we all talked about Rick Brunson and Jill and Brunson being in the finals of the first father son duo to play in the NBA Finals for the same team. Rick Brunson played all of 10 seconds in that NBA final series.

[Taylor from Total Soccer Show]

Wow.

[Dave Dufour]

Wow.

[Espera Henny]

10 seconds change the course of history.

[Dave Dufour]

When, like, does you have any context? Like, did he play 10 seconds at the end of a blowout?

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Down. Which game? But it was one of the blowouts. I remember pulling this for one in the NBA cup games. I was like, brunson, let's go. Look up, look this up. And I'm like, oh, it's. It's not even like 10 seconds.

[Dave Dufour]

See Rick Brunson catching strays again, like these. These are armed stats. I. I watched the way that James Harden.

[Espera Henny]

That's a fun fact, right, that you got after him.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, it is a fun fact.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Okay, the next one is along these lines of youth and experience. We're going to continue a little bit. So The spurs top eight rotation entered this postseason with 50 total games of playoff experience, which is the fewest by a like 5 minutes played by. Fewest by any team since 77 the Blazers.

[Dave Dufour]

Wow.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

This is also the second youngest finals team in the shot clock era. Also 5 minutes played, which. Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Wow.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Which is like. Wemby talked so much about how he didn't care about experience. And I didn't believe him. Didn't believe in the first time, I didn't believe in the second time. I didn't believe him the third time.

[Espera Henny]

And so I was. I was thinking about this today because I was. I was trying to look at how unprecedented the spurs are with Wemby and just this group in general. Obviously, in terms of like youth and everything, you could point to OKC last year as being a version of this, but in terms of doing it on your first try and then winning a championship in their first try, the only, the only, like real legends that I can think of that did that successfully. Bill Russell, as his rookie in his rookie year, won a championship with the Celtics. They Obviously went on to win 11 in a row or something like that. And then Magic Johnson as a rookie. But those guys had other guys that had done it with them, like Bob

[Dave Dufour]

Cousy obviously for Bob Cousin didn't win without Bill Russell.

[Espera Henny]

He didn't win, but he. They had played in the playoffs. Right. Kareem Abdul jab bar. Again, part of the LA situation.

[Dave Dufour]

That was where he was in a great. Dylan Harper is Magic Johnson maybe in this. Exactly in this scenario on a younger team.

[Espera Henny]

So it's just, it's still. Even despite what you're saying about the Blazers, it's still. It still feels really unprecedented.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Like it's unprecedented. Well, one is the youngest player to lead a Finals team in scoring. Obviously that's not going to change with power. The Finals play out. He's the first to like make the Finals or to start to lead a Finals team in scoring in the first four years of his career since LeBron.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

In 07.

[Espera Henny]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Even, like, even getting there at a team with a team this young, to be the guy on a team this young and to do it to lead your team in the Finals, it's like unheard of.

[Dave Dufour]

How many games did the, did the Cavs win that year? I can't remember off the top of my head. Like, were they, were they a one seed? They were.

[Espera Henny]

I think they were four seed from

[Dave Dufour]

what I remember that year.

[Espera Henny]

Or they were the two. They were the two seed in that year. They won 50 games.

[Dave Dufour]

But you think about WEMBY year three 62 win season.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Leading scorer takes them to the Finals. I mean, this. Listen, we, I, I think that everyone has kind of come to grips with the fact Victor Wimanyama is going to be the best player to ever play in the NBA. Like, we are all there and I think what we watched over the course of this playoffs was any doubt that he's the best player in the NBA right now go out the window.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Long gone. Just even. Honestly, sometimes I feel like he's becoming a little bit underrated because we're so used to how good he's been all year, especially in the second half of the year. Yeah, sometimes I like forget to look up certain stats that I would for any other guy who was doing the kind of things that he was doing because Wemby's been doing it all year long.

[Espera Henny]

I actually, I think, I think where he goes underrated as crazy as it is, because he's the unanimous defensive player 100%. I was looking this up, but when wemby was on the floor against the Thunder. They had a 48.5% effective field goal percentage. That would be 30th in the NBA and it would be worse than the Brooklyn Nets, who are like 52 and a half in the regular season.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Like, that's, that's crazy.

[Espera Henny]

That's how bad he made the Thunder shoot the basketball.

[Dave Dufour]

One of the, it's.

[Espera Henny]

It's crazy.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

One of the stats that I ended up pulling was the Thunder had six games, sorry, three games in the seven game series where they made more shots at the rim in the minutes that Wemby was off the floor than they did with him on.

[Espera Henny]

Wow, that's insane.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Which was insane. Like they, like, they obviously ran there the second he was off the floor. Yeah, the numbers were wild. There was like a game with like six. Six with him off and two with him on. And it's not like he's off the floor enough for that to be a volume thing. Right. He's off the floor for like six, seven minutes in a game.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Espera Henny]

Probably a total of like 50 throughout the series. That's how.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, that was actually. Honestly, the thing about it is, you know, we watched him. He had to play 40 minutes and he was running out of gas. And I brought up that Jared McCain contest that he had where the pass is made to Jared McCain in the corner when Wimby is at half court and he still manages to get a hand up and you can wear him out, but he never quits. And I think that's why he's he. It. The thing that separates him from other guys, you know, that maybe are close is that he has these guts that he plays with, you know, and he's. I don't know, he's willing to. Literally willing to leave it all on the floor.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Crying in basketball means something, guys. I think it is very important. Caring. I'm so glad caring is back. To watch the Cavs and then to watch the spurs is two totally different

[Dave Dufour]

experiences, by the way. But you can't get good sports hate if you don't care. And this is why the Thunder and Spurs are going to be.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yes.

[Dave Dufour]

Basketball rivalry for the next few years. Not only are they good, they're going to be the best teams in the West. Yeah, they all care so much. I mean, you know, I know that the Thunder, they were derided quite a bit like treated as the bad guys in the series. You know, the discourse around them, I think went sour because that's what happens to every team once they've been beating Everyone for three years. But they care a lot. And I think that that's what we got to see out of that series was great.

[Espera Henny]

Dave, I'll ask you this. Does San Antonio OKC give you peak Lakers Celtics rivalry vibes?

[Dave Dufour]

I mean because you're our resident.

[Espera Henny]

You're resident expert.

[Dave Dufour]

Okay. I would say this so I wasn't really around for like the 80s, you know. But I remember distinctly I grew up with Bulls fan because WGN was the. The station that was on and had Bulls games and Michael Jordan's there. So I followed the Bulls very closely. I remember getting beat them getting beat by the Pistons, you know, a couple years in a row. Right. The disappointment if. If the spurs would have lost to the Thunder. That's where I may maybe would compare

[Espera Henny]

like the Jordan rules. We.

[Dave Dufour]

This could very much. I mean again we come back to the same series next year and you're. I don't think anybody should write the Thunder off. Right. They're. They were two of their starters down and took. Took this team to a game seven. So I. I just think. I don't know. It's something else. It maybe is Lakers Celtics. We. We gonna have to find someone who. I'll talk to Marcus Thompson. I'll talk to like David Aldre. Somebody's got a little bit more get someone of the history of the game. Marcus and I are like basement though. I just like to throw shots at him. But you know. Yeah, I mean I think that probably Celtics Lakers is what it feels like. But it's a shame that we could never get it as the finals, you know.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah.

[Espera Henny]

My. My pitch for Celtics Lakers is much like Bird and Magic. Chet and Wemby had this sort of game when they were kids that. That obviously and they are not no longer comparable. Right. They're no longer incom categories. Bird and Magic were much more comparable. But then you add the like Shay took Wemby's MVP narrative. You take the fact that these two

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

teams will he watching MVP on the court before game one like absolutely.

[Dave Dufour]

And someone made a great. A great supercut S if you haven't seen it of the post game reaction of Wemby losing the gold medal game to. To chat.

[Espera Henny]

Oh that's awesome.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Wow.

[Dave Dufour]

And.

[Espera Henny]

And cutting away to the MVP the

[Dave Dufour]

game seven of this Western Conference finals. You know, I'm sure it's all over social media if you guys are listening but it is. I remember that distinctly. The. The. This guy after losing that. That game to chat. I mean he just dejected angry even. I mean it was. Yeah, a lot of fire in him.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

I when the whole chat when we Twitter one of the first times Twitter has gotten a rivalry, right? Or like a perceived rivalry between two players. Correct. In my opinion. Normally it's just like made up.

[Espera Henny]

Yeah, I agree.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

This one, I thought it was made up at the beginning around NBA cup time I thought it was made up. But now I'm like, no, this is 1,000% real. It's going to continue for years.

[Espera Henny]

It's also very one sided. Can I just say this because yes. You know, like Chad is like, what am I supposed to do against this guy? I have no answer.

[Dave Dufour]

Same as anybody else. You're just gonna get beat up. Guys, stick around. We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be more back with more with KA on fun NBA Final Stats

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[Dave Dufour]

to a $250 cash advance. Terms and conditions apply. All right, we're back. Okay, hit us with the next one. This. That was a. That was a good one. Anything that sets the context of how great Victor women Yama is as a player this young. I mean it just I. I feel like by this time next year this. Because it really. That four year sample is what you want. We're gonna have some true. Like some real data to compare to hall of Famers and where he stands.

[Espera Henny]

Well, I. Look, I will say I love the spurs. The, you know, your Ghostburs. Go flag behind you, Dave. But for. For my Knicks people in the back. What kind of stats do you have for my Knicks folks?

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

All right. Okay. We're going to start with this very easy one. Guess the date. Watch. And I mean guess you already know the date. The Knicks haven't lost a basketball game since April 23rd.

[Taylor from Total Soccer Show]

Right.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Right. So they haven't. Which like yes, they swept back to back series and it feels like it wasn't that long ago. But that's over a month ago.

[Dave Dufour]

That's over.

[Espera Henny]

Yeah, it's six weeks ago.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah, six weeks ago. Yeah. So they have a plus 19.4 average point differential this season, which is the largest by a team entering the finals in NBA history.

[Espera Henny]

Wow.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Like average point differential.

[Espera Henny]

And I would bet that the teams around them have all won the championship. Right. In that point differential category.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Didn't go grab the full context, but yes, there are definitely championship winning teams in that list. So. So they've won 11 straight. What do you think their point differential is over this 11 game?

[Dave Dufour]

Oh, it's. I think. Listen, is it plus 262 the total?

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yes.

[Espera Henny]

Yeah, that by 11. What is that?

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

There you go. Math. So 23.8. So if we thought like 19.4 was impressive. 23.8 is a whole different level. Like they've only over this like 11 game stretch. They've only trailed in the fourth in four of those. Sorry. In this playoff run, they've only trailed in the fourth four times in four games.

[Espera Henny]

Wow. That's insane. I mean look, that six or series,

[Dave Dufour]

I think you throw away. We got to throw those numbers.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

I mean you. You throw both. I think you gotta throw all of it away if you're do that.

[Dave Dufour]

The Cavs though. Listen, the Cavs. I think that, that those are numbers that you can look at and you Say that's a real basketball team. You know the, the Sixers best player was hurt and it was a different team than, than what the Celtics wound up playing for the last few games of their series they were dead. And I just think that the Cavs to me are a measuring stick. They have at least a competent offense or competent offensive players and at least the idea of an interior defense. And even though we didn't see those things, I just think the Knicks were, they were so much better than the Cavs. I think a. You know, the Numbers aside that 20, the 22 point comeback in game one and then just absolutely not letting the Cavs sniff a chance. That means so much more to me than like some of the numbers 6 or series which you know it's like. I'm not saying they were the Washington Generals, but they didn't really stand much of a chance winning.

[Espera Henny]

Winning 11 in a row in the playoffs. Yeah, that's very hard.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Tied for the third longest single like single season win streak in NBA playoff history. Like that.

[Espera Henny]

I don't know how you feel, Keeks, but like there's. We did our predictions yesterday, us two and Xena and we all said spurs and six and I immediately almost like regretted it because it's discounting how good this Knicks team is.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yes.

[Dave Dufour]

Is it how, how legitimate they have

[Espera Henny]

a legitimate chance of winning the series. Yeah.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

The east obviously is an interesting to be.

[Espera Henny]

Yes.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Especially this year. And that I feel played a part. Did that play a part in your. In your pick there, Dave?

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, 100%. But also Victor Wyama is the most impactful player in the NBA and it's a sport where one guy can win a series. And I think like Victor and this team around him, I just, I just think that they've got more guys that. That you can count on. I think Dylan Harper is a star and the Knicks have been really good. I just. We haven't seen anybody solve that Wimby defensive problem yet. You know, not for, not over the course of a seven game series yet.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

No. It to me it's going to come down to any similar to kind of what the everybody did to Shay. Anybody but Wemby.

[Dave Dufour]

Right, right.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

And. And I don't think like my only concerns would be how much Juice does as far as bench have.

[Dave Dufour]

Right.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Because the Knicks bench has been much better than it advertised. Especially at the start of the run. Especially at the start of the year.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Right. One of the stats I pulled so they've outscored the opposing bench in eight games this Postseason. How many times do you think they did that last year?

[Dave Dufour]

Oh, man.

[Espera Henny]

In the playoffs or they do it

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

more than once in the playoffs? The answer was zero times.

[Dave Dufour]

That's. That's what I thought. Yeah.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Like, they went out.

[Dave Dufour]

They went out and solved their problems in the off season. I think we're seeing all that come to fruition, including, you know, I'll take a mea culpa on this, because when we were at the end of the regular season, I said, hey, maybe they should have just stuck with Tom Thibodeau and Mike Brown. You know, his offensive stuff has finally clicked for this team. Yep. And he's been very good at adjusting in the playoffs. This is something that. Because of these numbers, you may. They may go. It may go a little unseen, but they really. They made a huge adjustment in that game one against the Cavs that brought them back, and they just have not stopped rolling. They're playing with synergy, and they can really shoot. And I think that's the thing, especially s. When we're talking about this. They're shooting is what can win the series for them. I can't write them off. Me saying spurs in six doesn't mean that the Knicks can't win. Knicks could win in five. I mean, let's. Let's be honest. As much as Victor women Yama says experience doesn't matter. I think it does.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

It does.

[Dave Dufour]

And I think the Knicks have the right kind of experience, the veteranship. They just know how to work the game. You know, Jalen Brunson, we. We talked about him quite a bit like his last five minutes of a basketball game. He just ascends to a different plane of existence than everyone else. And I don't know if anyone can stop that. I mean, it's. It's real. David versus Goliath, actually. Yeah. Brunson versus Wemby thing is going to be fascinating to watch because, well, it's got a score against him.

[Espera Henny]

It's the biggest star in the NBA versus the smallest star in the NBA. Like that. To your point, it really literally is David versus Goliath in terms of, like, the star power, the physical. The physical star power. I will also say to the point about the Knicks and the shooting, that's why they're a little bit trickier of a matchup for the spurs than the Thunder, because with the Thunder, you can play a pseudo box and one, you can basically gear everything towards sga, Especially without AJ Mitchell and Jalen Williams.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

You.

[Espera Henny]

You can't do that against this Knicks team.

[Dave Dufour]

That swing. Swing, swish.

[Espera Henny]

Yes, exactly. Too many shot makers, too many decision makers. Wemby can't be in all five places at once. That's the issue there.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

You know, we've seen the spurs start the game at the big lead, run out of gas and blow the lead in the same quarter multiple times. This playoff run. Right. Like that's going to be a factor to me, especially those transitional, like second, first to second minutes, third to fourth minutes. That's going to swing right a lot of the series.

[Dave Dufour]

They like to sub Wimby out at about seven and a half minutes left in the first quarter. And then I don't know if you notice it. I mean, of course you notice it. Kirk, he comes in at four minutes left in game seven instead of three minutes left. So they get him an extra minute of burn and they get Luke Cornette out of there.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah, Cornet had the most impactful. What was it like a minute and something.

[Espera Henny]

The one in the little.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Like the most impactful shift you could have.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, yeah. It's all we'll remember him for from that series and a half that he bought Wemby enough time to breathe so he didn't foul out and then he gets that amazing block.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

We won't think about Magic City at all.

[Espera Henny]

I'll think about it a little bit.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Oh, yeah. I'll have some memes in, in my notes next year. You know, it's. It's a thing. It's a thing. So I'm going to continue with those, like, starting games. Yeah, transitional. But the Knicks obviously have not obviously. But they're the best first quarter team in the playoffs again, juiced by just their sheer numbers overall in the playoffs. Yeah, spurs were the second best. The Knicks starting lineup, which we have all talked lots and lots and lots and lots about throughout the year, more than we probably should have. I have, I have written in my notes in brackets. When will he change the starting lineup? How many minutes is too many minutes? Like this is like a notes to talent.

[Dave Dufour]

Like Mike Brown said, take that, nerds.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah, 100 to take that, nerds. So they have a 9.9 net rating this year, up from minus 6.2 last year. Like my preseason notes for the Knicks was the starting lineup needs to change. And then it did, obviously to start and then it was back. But the spurs starting lineup with Fox, not with Harper, with Fox at 25.5 net rating, which means again, the minutes that they're losing, they're losing with the bench.

[Dave Dufour]

Right. What do you guys think? Like Can Luke cornet buy them 10 minutes a game? Because it's really what it comes down to. It's. Can he just survive 10 minutes a game? You know, can. Can he. He's big, and I, I think that, you know, that maybe gets lost a little bit. How huge he is. Like Mitchell Robinson, I think, is a little bit smaller than him.

[Espera Henny]

Carl Anthony, I do think, does depend on Mitchell Robinson. Yeah, his, his, his.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah, yeah.

[Espera Henny]

His availability is huge. The fact that he. I mean, obviously, like, if you remember that NBA cup game, he swung that with his offensive rebounding, that can be so massive for the Knicks.

[Dave Dufour]

And we saw the. The Thunder in Game seven. I mean, they really were working the offensive glass.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah, Yeah. I didn't get a chance to pull this, but one of the things from that NBA cup game was how many of Mitch Robinson's offensive rebounds led to threes.

[Dave Dufour]

Right. I mean, he's such a good passer, and, you know, his size. I mean, he really does a good job of protecting the ball and taking a beat and finding a guy. It's one of the things Fred Katz is written extensively about, Mitchell Robinson's art of offensive rebounding, and that was one of the big ones. It creates such good secondary offense for the Knicks that that's. It's a huge advantage to play them, which is why, you know, you see them get hacked. I don't. I don't know if the Spurs. I wonder if they'll go to that, you know, the ethical basketball team. Is it ethical to hack a Mitch and put him on the free throw line?

[Espera Henny]

It's a rite of passage. You know, they have to.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

I don't know if Mitch Johnson believes in ethical basketball the same way when we did.

[Dave Dufour]

You know, biggest thing is, like, do you have fouls to burn? You know, do you guys remember these guys play def.

[Espera Henny]

When they fouled up three, the spurs did. And everybody, you know, they talked about how they didn't want to do that so badly because they believed in the ethical way of winning that game.

[Dave Dufour]

I mean, I believe in that. As a. As a viewer at home, I would much rather. Please don't foul up three. Give me. Let me get a shot. All right, give us. Give us one more and. And then we'll get out of here because the finals are tonight. Guys, we're finally here.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Wow. We've already. Okay, I can't let a Dylan Harper stat not go used here.

[Espera Henny]

Yes, go for it.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Dylan Harper is the third rookie to lead the NBA in bench scoring in the playoffs since they started tracking.

[Espera Henny]

Wow. Who were the other.

[Dave Dufour]

Don't even know who the other two comparable.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

So Sam Cassell and Tyler Herro.

[Espera Henny]

Okay.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

As rookies. Yeah. It's more about the fact that there's only been three since they started tracking.

[Espera Henny]

Right.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Three rookies to lead the playoffs in bench scoring.

[Dave Dufour]

That's pretty impressive because just from what I remember, Rockets team. I mean he was just getting shots up.

[Espera Henny]

Cause that was great. If you guys remember, Tyler Herro in the bubble was incredible.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yes.

[Espera Henny]

He was on fire. He was a big reason why they made it to the NBA Finals. Like bar none. It was him, it was Jimmy, it was bam. Those are the three guys. That was his rookie year, right? I'm pretty sure that was his rookie year.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yeah.

[Espera Henny]

Wow.

[Dave Dufour]

That's.

[Espera Henny]

That, that's not bad. That's not a bad category to be in. I would wager that Dylan Harper would be.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

It's not about the trajectory for me. It's the, the fact that it's. He's one of three. That only three guys have done it. The number, the record. I think when he even scored like 10 points was like they were like 45 and 11, I think regular speed in playoffs.

[Dave Dufour]

Wow.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

When Harper had 10 points in a game like not even a crazy scoring game.

[Dave Dufour]

The big difference, the reason that the spurs just beat the Thunder is because Dylan Harper looked healthy in game six and seven.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Yes.

[Dave Dufour]

He's a game changer. Not. And it's not just that he can score and he hit more shots when he, you know, when he looked better in Game 6 and 7. His defense is good, but it's his rebounding to get that high level of rebounding out of that position for a guy who also creates. And then obviously Steph Castle is good at that. All these guys. But, but Dylan Harper, his ability to get to the glass and he's, he just plays so big. I mean he had this, that scoop layup where he's kind of like using his body to get position. I mean he, he plays like. I mean he plays like an old guy. Guy in a young guy's body. I think that's the next thing for him like this summer if he gets into like elite shape. I mean just, you know, we're going to put him on muscle watch this summer and becomes one of these next level athlete guys. Man. He, he, his trajectory is. I don't know.

[Espera Henny]

Sky is the limit.

[Dave Dufour]

He's an MVP level guy. Maybe. I don't, I don't know. I've never seen a, a rookie like this in this sort of role where it looks like the team has been holding him back.

[Espera Henny]

Well, yeah, you just brought up the Magic Johnson comp. And I actually don't hate that because I was looking it up in terms of like rookies that, you know, have done been this productive in their first playoff run and it. Yeah, Magic is the first one that pops up. Magic was a triple double in his first rookie making it to the Finals. Winning finals a little bit different playing. Yeah. Playing center. But Dylan Harper is very, very much so in that conversation of this guy could be a first team all NBA player there eventually.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Extremely unfair that they were able to do this. I mean not unfair. It was very fair. And I just jealous. You know,

[Espera Henny]

lottery reform. You know, just in time for everything to change.

[Dave Dufour]

Lots of luck and preparation.

[Espera Henny]

Yeah.

[Dave Dufour]

Do you want to make a pick on the finals? We'll put you on the spot because we made our picks the other day. We both went spurs in six. So you know, you can't make. Make Knicks fans any more mad than we have.

[Espera Henny]

For what it's worth, Xena said Spurs and seven. Yeah.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Okay. I'm gonna say Knicks and seven and not because my swing is still the bench minutes and the transitional minutes and how out of gas. One of the. I didn't use this one today but the Knicks are the first team in NBA history to play three playoff series against a team coming off of game seven like it.

[Espera Henny]

That's actually a big factor.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

Rust versus Rust versus Russ is a. It's not. They're the Spurs. They run around a lot. They're super young. So it probably won't play as much of an impact. But in games I feel like we'll see.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, yeah, sure.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

When they run out of gas, when they blow a 10 point lead and the Knicks are all of a sudden

[Espera Henny]

like especially at the start of a series, you know, you know, Wednesday, obviously today, the way that they're going to play in game one, that will be a big indicator Friday, it's only two a day rest. That this is the time for the Knicks to steal a couple and really make this a long series. I agree with that.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

That.

[Dave Dufour]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay. Ka. Where can people find you so that they know where these stats are?

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

A lot of them unfortunately don't live on the Internet. But I will try to put as much out for the finals as I can. But Twitter, I'm not calling it X Twitter.

[Dave Dufour]

That's right.

[Kirthika Utheya Kumar]

And blue sky.

[Dave Dufour]

Okay. So. And then we'll, you know, we'll try to tag her in the, in the show description. So you guys can follow along and get access to the same information that S and I are stealing on a nightly basis. Okay, for here the go. Utheo Kumar For Esperahenny, I'm Dave Dufour and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us. Thanks for listening. Make sure you hit the subscribe or follow button so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed it, drop a like leave a rating or let us know in the comments. Thank you guys for waking up with us. What if a marginal gain unlocked greater performance? What if an insight in data could change everything? At Aramco, our focus on detail helps us deliver reliable energy to millions across the world. Because margins aren't marginalized marginal they're where we can truly push the limits of what's possible. Aramco, an integrated energy and chemicals company. Learn [e-mail] when you're a maintenance engineer

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