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Nick Wright
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Nick Wright
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Nick Wright
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Nick Wright
welcome in what's Right with Nick Wright Episode 466 this episode of what's Right with Nick Wright is presented to you by Boost Mobile and we are fresh off the heels of of one of the greatest games in the history of the NBA. One of the greatest collapses in the history of major American sports. One of the wildest sporting events that I have ever watched. There are you could do a 12 hour podcast on this game and not adequately cover everything. We will do our best to cover it over the next hour or so here. Also a few programming notes from now through the end of the World cup our episodes will be coming out around this time in the day. We will go to a late afternoon east coast, early afternoon west coast timeline because because the TV show is on from 10am to noon every day. So that that is a programming note. The other programming note tomorrow show will be a lot of World Cup Team USA and general World cup preview along with a Game 5 preview. And if the Knicks wrap this thing up in five on Saturday, we might do an episode on that'll come out Monday rather than Tuesday. So all of that are the programming notes which is why you don't have to worry about any of that. If you do subscribe to the pod on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes or wherever you get your podcast helps out a lot. If you subscribe on itunes, Spotify or and or YouTube Damanz Good morning. How are you? You are adopted spurs fan, I guess. Good evening. Whatever different time it is. I just get a little demons a I get a little robotic on certain things doing the pod. Like I think the time I'm going to say good morning. I did it with Ty Butler last week twice. I kept calling. Yeah. I kept. Yeah. And so the. I just, you know, I get a little bit of autopiloted. You are an adopted spurs fan.
Damanze
Yes.
Nick Wright
You at least I think that's fair to say.
Damanze
Yeah. I like what they have going on as a whole. Yeah, I think it's fair.
Nick Wright
So how are you? How are you doing this afternoon?
Damanze
Oh, that was rough. That was rough.
Nick Wright
Yeah.
Damanze
Yeah. I mean that. That is a big. That's a big collapse. And yeah. Shout out to the Knicks though. I'm really happy for the Knicks. Some of their fans, I do think need to chill out a little bit around the world or in nyc the
Nick Wright
but it is a very very to me likable team the Knicks. Those players and it is such a team. And Josh Hart earnestly and honestly saying thank you to OG Anunoby for saving me from basically a lifetime of heartache and pain was very real.
Damanze
Yep.
Nick Wright
And Josh Hart was emotional after the game. Not in a we one way but in a I almost cost my team it that that to me was deeper than I almost cost my team that that would if they would have lost that game. That was the type of. I think whether he was thinking this consciously or not, it was a. I almost defined my entire basketball life. There are certain plays that just will be, you know are remembered as who you are, fair or not because they're so they stand out in history and they're so important. And so now instead of that play defining potentially his basketball life, it's something that will be forgotten by most people within days. It's really remarkable. So we'll get all into the game, every angle of it in just a moment. First, straight to voicemail. Brought to you by Boost Mobile. The Commanders have debuted a team dog. I did not know that. Speaking of dogs, folks falling for AI nonsense, Chris or Kirk. Herb street did not have his dog with him. Courtside at the game. Do not believe the picture you're seeing on the Internet. And Taylor Swift sits courtside at msg. People got mad, I guess because everybody gets mad at Taylor and Mexico.
Damanze
South Africa was just rooting for the Cavs a couple weeks ago. So it was just like, it was a little bit of a strange.
Nick Wright
Can I, can I defend Taylor Swift for a moment? Okay. It does appear she has a history of being a Knicks fan, but her soon to be husband is a die hard Cavs fan in this from there. So it is, you know, like this isn't there.
Damanze
She's not bandwagon?
Nick Wright
I don't think so. The two teams she has been seen rooting for are is a team in the Knicks that she was seen rooting for 12, 15 years ago and her husband's favorite team or soon to be. So that part I understand more than if she was all of a sudden wearing a Spurs jersey. That would have been, you know, that would have been something. And Mexico leads South Africa in the first game of the World cup at halftime. Actually live right now. All right, Damanze, the Knicks come back. Let's do it.
Damanze
Amazing game last night. Showtime. I guess it didn't start off amazing. The spurs were leading by 29 points at one point and managed to give that up. So they gave up the upset. On the other hand, the knicks were down 29 and clawed back. How do you think that you remember this as a comeback or a collapse?
Nick Wright
I am sorry to be take the, I guess glass half empty side of this, but in sports there are comebacks and in sports there are collapses 28 to 3, which is what this is being compared to in the super bowl was a comeback. Atlanta made a few mistakes, but Atlanta wasn't turning the ball over left and right. Atlanta was not making error after error. There are things they could have done well, better, but that was Tom Brady, Julian Edelman and the New England Patriots coming back once upon a time. The Chiefs were down 24 nothing in the second quarter of a playoff game and had the lead at halftime thanks to a collapse by the Texans. The Texans with the lead, fumbled a kickoff, faked a punt, kicked a terrible field goal, did everything wrong you can do. That was a collapse. The San Antonio spurs collapsed in epic, historic fashion. And there is, there are supporting actors in the collapse and then there is the main character of the collapse, supporting actor in the collapse, Mitch Johnson, who froze, who flatly didn't seem to recognize what was happening and didn't realize he was one of the only people in the building who could prevent it from happening. He watched a 29 point lead get whittled down to a 15 point lead in the third quarter, only used one timeout, then watched a 15 point lead, no, a 20 point lead, pardon me, get whittled because they were up 15 going into the fourth and then added five points. So the spurs were up 20 with nine and a half minutes left, watched a 20 point lead get whittled to a four point lead and on during that section of the game, only used one timeout and just seemed to be stunned at what was happening and did. I don't know the analogy for it, but I feel like I can describe a feeling a lot of people can relate to, which is when something disastrous is happening. But the actual it, you're just trending towards a disastrous outcome, but you might be able to avoid it. That sense of, well, maybe the faster we go, the better it'll be. Like the, it felt to me like he didn't want to acknowledge it watching it. It felt like he thought, if I call time out, I'm validating that this is happening and if I don't, then I can just. It'll pretend that I feel like everything's going to be fine and it will correct itself and it never corrected itself. So he was a supporting actor in the collapse. De' Aaron Fox, who is getting torched today for taking that layup, is a supporting actor in the collapse. Now you cannot, after you get the loose ball with 15 seconds left, shoot that layup unless you're certain you're going to make it. That is a grievous error. Okay, with that said, the idea that he was going, if he hadn't done that, he could have dribbled out the clock or something is utter nonsense. He shot the layup with 12 seconds left. The Knicks got the loose ball with 10 seconds left. I. It was he, he was, he could have burnt a little more clock and then he would have had to hit some free throws. Obviously that was a bad, bad play by him. But he is also getting torched for doubling Brunson on the very next play when I believe that was a coaching point, I don't think he freelanced there. I think that's what the play was designed to do. And by the way, it created a miss shot, but they didn't have a body on OG Obviously Dearon Fox screwed up. He had some bad turnovers, the layup was bad. Obviously he is the veteran leader, the highest paid guy on the team and should have been better. But he is a supporting actor in the collapse. The main character of the San Antonio spurs collapse is the only guy it can be. The guy who's supposed to be the best player in the world. And in the second half of that game, after trash talking and what the kids would call aura farming and letting everyone know how in his head, how in their head he was, he went 3 for 14, looked absolutely winded. And in a fourth quarter where Stefan Castle, who's younger than him went 8 for 8 from the free throw line and Dylan Harper, who's younger than him went 2 for 2 from the free throw line, he went 1 for 4. Including two misses in the final hundred seconds. Up one of a finals game.
Damanze
That doesn't circle back to Mitch at all. How like with, with Wimy being in the game and being gassed like they had that huge lead. He could have taken some rest and there were, there were, there were opportunities throughout the game for him to get rested and he didn't. And at the end like he, he ended up tired.
Nick Wright
Absolutely accurate. That's accurate. That is, it is crazy that Mitch Johnson didn't find him more than three in the first half. He played 21 of 24 minutes. They were up at halftime 27 points. That seems crazy. In the third quarter he played 11 of 12 minutes. They, they were up 29 at one point in that quarter. That seems crazy. And in the fourth quarter obviously he played the whole time even though they were up 20 with nine and a half minutes left. That also, that was a screw up by the coach. I understand that. But fatigue is not why he missed those free throws. He missed those free throws. I mean I'm sure maybe it contributed, but he got tight and that second free throw didn't even look like his form. Like he let the ball go weird and then he, he. It looked. Wilds pointed this out and he was right. It looked a lot like how he shot the potential game winning jump shot where he fell and was in game two and he's just kind of like hoping for it to go in. They were he was playing unbelievably. He had 13 points in the first quarter. He's living in the paint. And then Mitch Johnson classic one by me. Chin checks him. Dirty play. Flagrant, it should be called. And Wimby does. Wimby first taunted him on the way up the court, which is what made Mitch lose his temper. And he hits him and. And then Wimy sits up, claps points at his head and from that moment forward was bad that. Go ahead, Deont. Look like you want to say something.
Damanze
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Mitch Mitchell Robinson. But yeah, you. That's when you think they can.
Nick Wright
Oh, did I say Mitch Johnson? Yeah, Mitch Johnson's his coach. Mitch Johnson didn't elbow him. Mitch Ro. Thank you. Mitchell Robinson. I so that was a massive moment in the game. The other one was. The moment. And this was unlike a lot of the Wimy stuff these playoffs. This was unlucky. This was unintentional. This was just basketball. But it happens. The flagrant he committed was the start of the Knicks comeback. When he committed that flagrant foul, the spurs had just gotten their biggest lead of the game, up 29. It was 81:52 with 21 1/2 minutes left in the game. So it's 81:52 when Wimby commits that flagrant the rest of the game. The Knicks outscore San antonio. That's unbelievable. 55 to 25. Now, was it because of the Wimby flagrant? No, I don't think so. Do I think Wimby played a little more hesitantly after that? I do. Do I think it was in his head a little bit? Yeah, because he knew that if I get another flagrant this game, I'm ejected and I'll be suspended. But probably the league would just rescind one of them. But regardless. But you can't. My opinion this. That game vacates best player in the LI Alive title. I'm sorry, you can't you he right now because let's talk about the. Well, Mitch Johnson should have known better than to play him 44 minutes. Okay, but that makes it then harder for you to be the best player alive if you're not able to at 22 years old, give me more than 15 awesome minutes in that game. Because that's what he gave you. He gave you 15 awesome minutes and then was laboring the rest of the way. And this series has shined a again. He is a one of the best players in the league. Going to be one of the greatest players ever. But this series has Shined a spotlight to Monze on three pretty obvious flaws in his game. He needs to work on one. And this my guy. LeBron, the 07 finals. Shined a spotlight on. Doesn't trust his jump shot. If you dare him to beat you with a jump shot, he just can't do it. At this point in his career, he was 22 and it took him a while, by the way, to develop a jump shot. He won multiple league MVPs before he developed a reliable jump shot. Wimpy to me, to Monze. Tell me if you think this is fair. Has three very apparent holes in his game. One, conditioning, conditioning. He needs, he needs to. And I blame the spurs more than him. They need to ramp him up over the course of the season. Two, physical strength.
Damanze
Yes.
Nick Wright
He. He just can't. He just gets pushed around. And three, and this is the biggest reason I'm saying he vacated best player alive. A goat. One. Just one. Go to offensive move. Because what I am very comfortable in saying is if Nicola Jokic or Shay or Luca or Giannis or, hell, Jalen Brunson or a lot of these guys, forget the guys eligible to be best player in the world, just literally any other consensus top 10 player, if their team was in the midst of a 30 point collapse and a 30 point half themselves of scoring, you know what their coach would be able to do? Call timeout and draw up a play to get a bucket. Go do that one thing. Yeah, go. Go get us a bucket. Go stop the bleeding. And the only play I feel like Mitch Johnson feels like he can draw up for Wimy to guarantee a bucket is an alley oop, a lob to the rim. So, and here's the last thing, and then we'll get more into the nitty gritty of the game. And I do want to talk about the Knicks brilliance of it. Three finals losses for Wimy so far and the spurs three really rough. And they've been escalating, in my opinion, in ah, I'm going to remember that gravity. Game one, the least egregious. Down for 55 seconds left. Dribbles it off his foot. Knicks pick it up, take it out. Brunson hits the dagger. It happens. It, you know, just. But he did just dribble it off its foot. Game one, Game two, really bad. If the first one was a, you know, class E misdemeanor, this is like a class B felony. Throws it off Castle's back again. As much as we're killing Fox for time score situation, Wimby add the ball with 12 seconds, same as Fox. Tie game. No need to rush. You have overtime in your pocket if you want it. Throws it off Castle's back, then fouls Brunson. And then last night, the thing that folks have spoke into existence begging would happen one time throughout LeBron's career, but literally never has. Huge spot in the playoffs, goes to the free throw line, misses both and the team loses because of it. Those. I can't remember the last time a finals game turned on missed free throws by a star since the Ray Allen game when Manu went 1 of 2 and Kawhi, who wasn't a star yet, went 1 of 2, which allowed the Cavs to come back from six down. I'm sorry, the Heat in the final 30 seconds. So you add to all of that the. All the. Were built for this ethical basketball sophisticated. The Knicks don't play a sophisticated style of game. All of this stuff that we've been hearing, I.
Damanze
They've been right there. Those is the killer. Like I do think that they have been built for. It does get to a point. Yeah. I mean, you hit free throws. I mean, you miss free throws at the end. Are you built for it? I guess. But at the same time, I think this is. They've been defeating themselves.
Nick Wright
Kind of makes it worse. It's not. It. It's not. Oh, we had no shot. They've had a lead in the final two minutes of all four games and they have not executed. And. And this one was. There have been. How about this? Here's a fun stat. Prior to last night, there were 22 finals games where a team was up 20 at halftime 20 or more. Those teams were 22. And oh. With an average margin of victory of 21. And the smallest margin of victory was 11. Every single team in the history of the finals who was up 20 at halftime, not only one blew their opponent out. Here's. Here's another one. And. Well, this other one's more of a Nick stat, so I'll save it for them. I. Young team, Young team.
Damanze
That's young stuff.
Nick Wright
A hundred percent. But it's also. You can't be. Here's what I. Here's all I'm going to. What I'm saying. It can't be. This team might be a dynasty. This guy might end up being the greatest player of all time. And he's already the best player in the league when he plays great. And when you go 3 for 14 after telling the other team you're in their head to fall down 31 and blow a 29 point lead be as young that and the and the coach screwed up. That to me is I won't personally abide. There was a team on the other side of it though. That team was the Knicks. We'll get to them in just a second. But first, today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, Florida's sportsbook. The Finals are here, the lights are brighter, the pressure's higher, and every possession can define a legacy. Will New York finally end a 53 year drought and bring a title to the Big Apple? Or will San Antonio's young superstar tip off the next great dynasty run? However you see it playing out, head over to Hard Rock Bet and turn your picks into a payday. Because once the final buzzer sounds, that's it for hoops until next season. So shoot your shot while you can. Same game parlays the best way to get in on the action. Big team superstars, clutch performances, so many storylines to bet on, so why not stack them all into a same game parlay for a bigger payout? If you're ever late to tip off, don't worry. Hard Rock Bet lets you live bet all game long, from the first bucket to the final buzzer. Try your first bet on Hard Rock Bet today and you can score $150 in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet and if it hits, you get not only your winnings, but also an extra $150 in bonus bets. But the welcome offer is just the beginning. Hard Rock Bet has new promos daily, so open up the app right now to see what promo you've got today. Hard Rock Bet is Florida's only legal sports book, but you don't have to be in Florida. Join the party. Hard Rock Bet is also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan, with more states on the way. Download the Hard Rock Bet app today and let's get the party started.
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Nick Wright
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Nick Wright
It's time we have a talk about prep and what it means for HIV prevention. Getting access to prep and signing up for teleprep is actually pretty easy. But even more importantly, you need a teleprep provider who is going to be there for you every day through your whole journey with Q Care. Prep is for everyone. Everybody and every day get prep and doxy pep today@qcareplus.com before we get to the Knicks Damanze, two very quick little gambling stories.
Damanze
Okay?
Nick Wright
One, a good friend of mine who will remain anonymous who is a as as as a high high roller. Like just as they're the outside of probably Macau, there really aren't many people in the world that gamble larger than he does and is a mainstay right behind Celebrity row at Knicks games and has been one of the guys traveling via private jet to all of the road games doing the whole thing. Yesterday he took his family to the game with again the best seats you can get that aren't celebrity row. So whatever a handful of those tickets cost he spent I think what he spent on the tickets he bet on the Knicks minus two. Can you imagine? Can you imagine?
Damanze
I couldn't imagine.
Nick Wright
Well, but I don't even, I'm not even saying. I mean again the guy's he's going to be he's got obviously he has plenty. He does very very well in life. But my point is I you are a die hard Knicks fan. You are bittersweet moment euphoric at the comeback and you know your family celebrating and then somewhere in your head you're like oh my God, yeah, did this game, the tickets plus the bet plus this plus that so there. There's one. There's one story. I mean, that's a tough one. That's. It's one of the reasons I am a big, big believer in if I'm attending a sporting event, I'm only betting the money line of the team. I'm pulling for you. Like, I'm. If they're the favorite, I'm paying the juice and betting the money line. And if they're the underdog, I'm getting the plus money and betting the money line because you don't want. Like, if you're rooting for a team and you're at a game and they're getting, say they're getting. Two and a half. No, three and a half. Pardon me? And they're down three with five seconds left with the ball, and you bet them, plus three and a half. You don't want to find yourself, like, somewhere in your head, like, rooting for them to miss the overtime, forcing three, like, so in the building. Yeah. You want to. All right. Yeah. So one other before we get to the Knicks gambling story, this one I will not have people remain anonymous. My dear buddy Nacho, who I talk about a lot, the poker great Nacho Barbera. He and I have been texting each other World cup bets and finals bets all week. And I, I, I text him yesterday, but he's somewhere in Europe, I think, right now. I text him yesterday because he asked me who I had, and I said, oh, I'm. I'm all over Nick's money line, which is what I had yesterday. So it was one of the greatest bad, one of the craziest wins ever. He's in Europe, so it's different time. He doesn't respond to me after I text him that. So the game, once the Knicks are down, like, 20, I text him, I'm like, hey, I'm like, I'm glad you didn't see this. And you didn't bet it, too. And at halftime, he finally reaches out and he's like, no, no. He's like, I had already bet the Knicks before you had texted. And I'm like, oh, my God. Well, we're both ruined here. Then the Knicks start. The Knicks start coming back. We're texting each other, you know, this is insane. Can't believe we're alive. Blah, blah, blah. And then the Knicks win. And I text him after the game, like the little, like, sell it, like the bottle popping emojis or the celebrate all the celebration emojis. Congrats. All of it. And he just dryly writes Back I had minus two. I'm like, oh, my God. Like, oh, boy. Oh, goodness. It's like, I didn't. Not your. Not your old buddy Nick Wright. We had to. Oh, that was a tough one. Damn. Oh, my. Yeah, it's a really.
Damanze
No emojis.
Nick Wright
Really? Yeah, really a brutal one. Really a brutal, brutal spot. I want to see. Did he send me a voice memo? He's a big voice memo guy. Hold on. Oh, no. But. So this is the. Just to give it. I just want to. Again, I want to paint the picture for the audience because all this guy does is play poker and bet sports. He attacks me prior to this, and then we'll get to the game. I just think you guys will like it. He kept telling me to go. He always says, go all in. Telling me to go all in on the. The Stanley cup, the Knights in game one. The. The Las Vegas Knights. And I don't. You guys know I don't follow hockey. I'm not into it. They won in historic fashion. And I get in the middle of the night, this text I see. Nice win today. So. I just can't believe I needled that. I needled my dear friend. I felt so bad. All right, let's talk about the Knicks.
Damanze
Would have been easy for the. For the Knicks to waiver early. Cat came out with two fouls. The spurs made the most threes and a half in finals history. But no, nobody would have blamed them for packing him. But they came back, got it done. Brunson said one word captures it all.
Nick Wright
Believe.
Damanze
And so New York has pulled off some crazy comebacks this year. But did you see this one happening at any point?
Nick Wright
So first, let me go to the Cat. Early fouls. I thought they were tough calls. The first one I hated to see. I probably was a foul, but you just hate that. 45 seconds into the game, the second, the one that the spurs challenged and got overturned, I was stunned. Was overturned and turned into a foul on Cat. I could have seen them chat like it being overturned. No foul on wimby. I was stunned. It was turned into a foul on Cat. And that obviously, for a time being looked like it was, you know, the key moment of the game. The Knicks all of a sudden are playing Jeremy Sohan and Hawk Porty and everything is thrown off. Mitch Robinson's dying out there. But more relevant was this demons. I. I felt like the Knicks. I felt like the first half of yesterday's game was one of the first times we've ever seen the Twitter algorithm maybe swing a finals game. Cause here is my, here's my theory on it and I said it after game three. Cause I thought the officiating in game two was egregious. I thought the officiating in game three was not great but wasn't the reason the Knicks lost. But Mike Brown talked about it and then it became the huge story and all. It's all Nick's fans could talk about. I think because some of that was Twitter algorithm. The building was so caught up in the officiating immediately that it felt to me like the Knicks got caught up in the officiating and weren't playing their game even though their free throw in the first half. Knicks fans are just beside themselves about the first half officiating in the first half the spurs shot six free throws and the Knicks shot 23. And Knicks fans were livid with the refs just over and listen, they did miss the goal tend but I would have missed that too because I also thought that that was a lob by Alvarado.
Damanze
Not look like a L. But yeah,
Nick Wright
no I'm saying it, it didn't look like a lob on the replay for, for me I'm just saying in real time I thought he was throwing a lob to Mitchell Robinson. No I in real time I thought it was a lob. But regardless. So the Knicks got right or wrong. The officiating stuff really distracted the Knicks in the first half and threw them off. And Cat like cat's foul trouble was a legit problem. But then I just think they got too caught up in that. So that's first thing. Second thing is, and this is such a testament to the Knicks, I'm not going to act like I thought they were in good shape down 27. But at no point did I think well this is just dead and done over. And the moment the so the spurs get up 29, Wimy commits that unlucky flagrant and then the Knicks go on the only real run they went on the whole game other than this thing I'm about to show you here. The best run the Knicks had was 8 0. They didn't go on some insane elongated run except for down 29. They went on a 13 nothing run to cut it to 16. That was the stage of the game that Barkley was just killing the spurs because the spurs shots during that 13 oh run were Kelton Johnson miss on the inside and miss tipping. Then Champagne missed three seven seconds into a shot clock. Harper missed three at the end of the shot clock dear and Fox turnover The cell missed 3:12 seconds into the shot clock. Kelton Johnson missed 3:11 seconds into the shot clock. Fox missed 3 late in the shot clock. And then Dylan Harper turnover. And that's, that's. And the Knicks all of a sudden are down 16. It was those five threes in a row. It was seven possessions of five threes and two turnovers that let the Knicks back in it. As soon as that happened to Monse, I thought they were alive. I was like, okay, like 15 is not, is nothing for this team. I really felt that way. And it is noteworthy that last night was the fifth time in the last two years the Knicks have been down 20 in a playoff game and one the rest of the league over the last two years demand, say win. Down 20 in a playoff game is four and 67. The Knicks are five and three. It's unbelievable. So that's. Then let me add to it because they were down 15 at the end of the third, but then at the start of the fourth, the spurs went on a 5, 0 run and got up 20. How about this? As of three weeks ago, since 2003, there had been two fourth quarter playoff fourth quarter 20 point comebacks in the playoffs. In the. As of three weeks ago, there had been two 20 plus point playoff fourth quarter comebacks in the last 23 years in the NBA. The Knicks have done it twice in the last month. Down 20 in the fourth quarter of a playoff game. There was there, there was one in like 2012, one in 2014, both in the first round. The Knicks were down 22 with 7 1/2 left to the Cavs and down 20 with 9 1/2 left in the finals. In the swing game of the finals. And what they did, and this is where I want to give them all the credit, here's how they came back to Monze. Down 29 and a half left, Alvarado Three Bridges Layup Towns 3. That was the Town 3 where he almost could have got called for an offensive foul. Kind of kicked his leg out and fell. So it's just a little 8, 0 run. All right, so now they're down 12. Then Castle goes to the line, hits a couple free throws. So it's 14. Then OG hits the three. Was it, let me the. I think it was the three. I'm not sure which one it was. The one where he got the bounce pass or not. OG hits a 3 and then towns and this was the moment I thought that I, I thought the Knicks are going to fucking win this game. When Towns got the ball in the corner pump faked, got Wimby up a little bit, then drove on him, got to the basket and kind of fell back and shot. They're down nine with six and a half left. And I'm like, oh, I think they're going to win. They're down nine. There's plenty of time. Then two more Castle free throws. So it's 11, then it's Brunson free throws. Brunson layup. OG3. This, the, this OG3 was the one where he got the pass. It was like kind of a soft pass that bounced to him. He had to regather it in the corner. He hits it now they're down four, and there's four and a half minutes left. Finally, mercifully, Mitch Johnson's like, you know what, talk about it, timeout time. And they come out and to his credit, Fox 3. So like, that was a, you know, that huge play. Down 7. Alvarado does the little spin move in the lane, gets the layup. Down five. Wimby comes back, hits the only jump shot he hits. I think the whole second half, that 18 footer, up seven. Okay, we're fine. Alvarado. Jose Alvarado, who they got at the deadline for two second round picks, who had played zero playoff minutes with Jalen Brunson. They had had zero minutes together. It's he and Brunson in fourth quarter. Bridges benched, Alvarado three. Next time down the court, Brunson hits the three on Wimy, which was a unbelievable play. Wimby guarding him. Now it's a one point game. Then Fox turnover. Josh Hart, miss layup. Oh, my God. How did that happen? And then OG fouls Wimby. And Wimby goes to the line, misses them both. Brunson comes down himself, has the little kind of fancy footwork in the lane, scores, and they're ahead. And then Castle, to his credit, makes the free throws. And we've talked about the end of the game. I guess we have. You know what we haven't really talked about, I guess the fucking OG tippet. Yeah. It's been 40 minutes. I, I, I mean, go ahead, you go.
Damanze
You said, you said that OG will get a statue in front of MSG for this game if they win. But do you think that he'll also get Finals MVP? He's at plus 300 right now. Brunson is at minus 160. I kind of hinted at this in the last pod and.
Nick Wright
Yeah, you, you were talking about it at 40 to 1.
Damanze
Yeah, no, I think, I mean, and do you see I'm not trying to like bag on Brunson. I know you like don't have to dim to Brighton, but.
Nick Wright
Yeah.
Damanze
Without OG Anunoby, what are they in this series? And without Jalen Brunson, where are they in the series? Is it the same thing? Are they both at the same value? I think OG at this point is the more valuable player to the team.
Nick Wright
So I disagree that he's the more valuable player because Brunson has been. I mean, even yesterday he scores five straight points to give them the lead in the final two minutes. He is the engine of their offense. Okay, you can argue OG has been better in this series, but to answer your question, what are they without either one of them, they just got swept. Yeah. Like they so the. In that regard, but that OG tip in. Yeah. What I said was I. If the Knicks win the title, I think they should invent the first ever dual statue where on one side of the statue is OG with, I think with his left hand blocking de' Aaron Fox. And then if you go to the up like it's. It's two OGs that share a back essentially. And on the other side of the statue is OG with his right hand
Damanze
in the tipping.
Nick Wright
Doing the tipping. The. It's. There aren't. It's the biggest shot in the NBA this decade. I think the single biggest shot this decade was the Kawhi game winner.
Damanze
Toronto.
Nick Wright
Like the. Yeah, Toronto Kawhi game seven game winner. I think that's the biggest shot since 2016. This is now bigger and it can go toe to toe with again, they're different. But the Kyrie shot, it doesn't. The Ray Allen shot is in a separate category only because if he misses the season. So it didn't win. It didn't win the game. But it. They were down three. It. If he misses the seat, the championship's over. You know, so like that shot was definitionally 2. If he misses it, a different team wins the title. And so this one we don't know. If OG doesn't get this, it's still 2. 2. But it is the. The execution on it, the instincts, the athleticism, the burst, the finesse, the touch. It's just as good as it gets. So if he is the go ahead.
Damanze
No, I mean he went untouched, which was a crazy part. I feel like somebody should have been on him.
Nick Wright
And so people are blaming Fox for that. But I, and I, we don't know. I. If Fox freelanced, if he wasn't supposed to double, then that's a grievous error. It looked to me like that was the play call and Brunson this is one of the reasons if you remember Damanze end of game two we were critical about the spurs for taking too long down one. Remember Fox just dribbled for a minute and then when we shot at the buzzer they the Knicks went immediately which allowed if Brunson had waited then the tip in can't happen.
Damanze
I think the Brunson where where he took the shot in dragging Wimby out to the three point line I think also helped OG Anunoby like because it honestly was not a great shot. Was not a great shot but it gave his guys a chance to go in there and make something of it.
Nick Wright
When it went up it wasn't a great shot. But I thought it was going in. I just tell you right now I thought it was going in for real. It was all fine. I thought it was going in. All right. I do want to talk about a different tip in the in a moment Carl, what car Anthony and Towns did. But first, the World cup is underway. Nothing beats seeing a game live in person. That's why I want to give a sponsor of today's video, Seatgeek, a huge shout out. Over 35 million downloads. Seatgeek, the number one rated ticketing app. More than 70,000 events listed on Seatgeek including concerts, sports festivals and more. MLB's in full swing. NBA and NHL finals are your NFL schedules out. You can also get World cup tickets on SeatGeek. And I am using SeatGeek because let me just go to it real quick. I haven't bought them yet and these ones are pricey. But Brazil, my pick is playing Morocco at the World cup just 30 minutes from my house right here on SeatGeek. You can see all the tickets available. Again, you guys know how it works. And also France, Senegal, Tuesday, the World Cup, I think we're doing that as a show. So here's the way it works. Big green dots means that's a good deal. Little red dots means that's a bad deal. Plus every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And of course I got a code for you guys. You can use code right10 for 10% off your next set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code right10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. June is black music month and on the drink champs Podcast. We're speaking with the hottest names in the culture, like Swae Lee. Do you realize how legendary you are? I appreciate that I be seeing it, but I'm like, man, I still got like, so much more to do. Like Prince, he dropped like 30 albums. We dropped like five right now. That's the rate we gotta be going. Yep, that's a good attitude. You'll also hear stories from industry legends and hip hop pioneers like Fab five Freddy. I directed one of Nas's early videos. Which one? One Love.
Damanze
Wow. Yes.
Nick Wright
I literally filmed in his apartment in Queensbridge.
Damanze
His moms were still up in that apartment.
Nick Wright
Nas was just beginning to take off.
Damanze
His pops used to live near me in Harlem.
Nick Wright
His dad introduced him to a whole lot of, you know, conscious stuff, and he made a young prodigy. No matter the era, Drink Champs brings you the biggest names and the most unfiltered conversations. Listen to Drink Champs from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
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Nick Wright
It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out.
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Nick Wright
No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success.
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Nick Wright
all right, Demanza, let's talk about after the Brunson. I'm sorry, the OG tip in the spurs final play.
Damanze
Yeah, so I forgot who was inbounding it, but it looked, when I saw it live time, it kind of seemed like it didn't go where it was supposed to go. But yeah, Cat got his hand on the ball and Castle had a Russ wrestle around with it. Couldn't get a shot up.
Nick Wright
And the thing is this, the, the, the scorekeeper screwed up because the clock since Cat started late. Yeah, it should have started right then. Luckily that didn't matter. That would have been awful. Yeah, it's an unbelievable play by Cat because Castle had broken free. Yes, because wide open the Knicks, the Knicks understandably thought they're going to go to Wimby. Either they're going to throw a lob to Wimby or what I thought they were going to do is the one thing that you would have simply been at the mercy of. Is he going to make it? If they just throw a high inbound to Wimy near the top of the key, he's going to catch and shoot. That's what I thought we were getting. I thought it was going to be the opportunity for the Wimby redemption. I
Damanze
mean with him being gas. Bless you. That probably was a smarter play. Dude was tired.
Nick Wright
But instead Wimby was the decoy. Castle broke free and I don't know what would have happened, but you're absolutely right. The pass was well short because Towns just barely got his fingertips on it.
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Nick Wright
it is a all time moment, just an all time moment. And it's the only way you can have that type of finish. The only way you can have that, that type of comeback is for every little break to go your way along the way and for everybody to do something for it. And listen, Mikhail Bridges, here's the other thing that I where I want to give the Knicks a ton of credit. Mikhail Bridges did not play very well and got benched in the fourth quarter. Towns was out of rhythm all game because the foul trouble only took five shots. And Josh Hart, you Smoked, you know, a layup to take the lead and they won anyway. And we're going to do most of our game five preview in tomorrow's episode but a lot of the conversation here is what does you know, how will the spurs recover from this? And what I don't know if people are incorporating enough into is not what that type of loss does to the spurs but what type of what that type of win does for the Knicks as far as their belief in this series. Now I do want to ask you this question demons A before we move on because Draymond alluded to this on the postgame show. Should the spurs be worried at all that this loss has a effect greater than this series? That this is a loss that rattles next year? Yeah, just carry like this is a loss that resonates for more than this season.
Damanze
I do think I do oh I think it's a fear but I think it also how you come into game five and and how they do there. I think you can kind of erase this but I kind it's a 29 point deficit. You can't erase it over one game. But I do think that they could get to start the only better about themselves that soon on Saturday.
Nick Wright
I think the only way to erase it is to win the title personally because now if you don't win the title fair or not people are just going to be like game two we add the ball, we threw it away in game four. We're up 29 points. I I just I hear the things I wonder that I am just. This is you know this is not hot take broadcasting. This is just but honest curiosity I wonder how this game affects how the spurs view Mitch Johnson. I wonder that and I think that is a fair question. I wonder how this game impacts how the young guys on the spurs view de' Aaron Fox. I wonder that and I think that's a fair question. And I wonder how the now three game ending screw ups near the end of game screw ups by Wimby affect Wimby's belief of I was built for this. Those are open ended one like it it could simply be you know all the the guys are like man Fox is our vet we wouldn't be here without him. No problem. Mitch Johnson learns from it and this is the scene in the movie you know this is Rocky one for Wimby of Rocky losing to Steel Line from Simmons you know and losing to Apollo Cree is about to come back better than ever. It's certainly on the board but this is we can't here's what I don't want to do. I don't want to overreact to this. But we can't say that is the greatest comeback in the history of the NBA playoffs, the biggest collapse in the history of the NBA Finals and not acknowledge. So that might stick to some guys. There might be a lingering longer afloat effect on it. And it is. I've just never seen anything quite like it. A few more minutes on this game. But first, you ever notice how everything keeps going up? Rent's going up, streaming services are going up. Your favorite burrito spot thinks salsa should cost extra. Both Boost Mobile, you and your phone bill don't have to play the will this go up soon Game. Why? Because Boost Mobile has unlimited talk, text and data plan at a price that'll never go up. In fact to the same price you'll pay for life. So switch now for unlimited wireless at a price that'll never go up. Only at boost mobile after 30 gigs, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers pay $20 per month as long as they remain active on the Boost unlimited plan. The only other even semi noteworthy thing is if the spurs extend this series. And again, I don't expect the league Demons A to ever actually punish WIMBY for anything. But it is noteworthy. That thing we talked about about the flagrant foul points, unless they have rescinded and I wouldn't put it past him to rescind it on him but I
Damanze
mean it was gonna be going like they. They were like we just gotta give him a flagrant.
Nick Wright
But that wasn't. But I mean it was. Yeah, technically. Yes, yes, exactly. And I understand we want there to be separate rules for some reason for Wendy, it was. It was an unlucky flagrant. But that's how that works. Sometimes we can say we would like. I would be fine with. By the way, I would be absolutely fine with Demons A them. Them having a third category of flagrant fouls and call them flagrant zeros. Yeah, because we have flagrant and those are the same. Just like flagrant one and flagrant two have the in game as whether you get a flagrant one or a flagrant two. The other team is getting two free throws and the ball. The difference is that I would be fine with them adding flagrant zero, which is still two free throws in the ball. But no, it's not Doc.
Damanze
It's not building up.
Nick Wright
Yeah, correct. And I would say landing zone flagrants and the one like Wimby got where everyone knows that was an accident. Yeah, like Those should be flagrant zeros.
Damanze
Yeah.
Nick Wright
And it, it shouldn't add your flagrant foul points. But that's not how they have the rules written. Like, I think that would be a fair adjustment. But, and, but also guess what? If, if that were the case, supposed
Damanze
to have a flag already.
Nick Wright
He was supposed to already have flagrant point. And so the. I wonder how much that's going to impact him. And I also, I just think he is. And I made this point a ton yesterday on tv. Victor, when Benyama has not had consecutive excellent games this entire postseason, his best games of the playoffs. I'm going to go through them just very quickly. And this to me is the fatigue thing. This is the. He's just not ramping up enough. First game of the playoffs, 35 points. Unbelievable. The next game is the game he got the concussion. How so? You're not going to hold that against him, obviously, as far as performance. But in that game he suffered the concussion to Monze halfway through the second quarter. Up to that point, he had made one shot. He was not having a huge game. The the next great game Victor Wimanyama had in these playoffs was game three against Minnesota. 35 and 15 or 39 and 15 with five blocks. The game after that was the game he got thrown out. But again, that was midway through the second quarter. He had made two shots. He had four points and was frustrated. The next great game he had was the first game back after he got thrown out when he had 27, 17 and five. The game right after that, the closeout game against Minnesota. 19 points. Game one of the conference finals, the game of his life, 41 and 24. He doesn't have another great game until game four. He fought with his 33 and eight. Then game five of that series was the game where he had one field goal a quarter, was four for 15 from the floor. Game six, unbelievable. 28 and 10 and didn't even have to play that much. Game seven, the team was dominant. He didn't do much at all. He had 22 and seven this series. He was spectacular in game three. Absolutely ran out of gas in game four. He's yet to in his playoff career, have consecutive great games. And the spurs are about to need him to have three in a row. I don't think that bodes well. We will do a game five and the rest of the series preview for Friday's episode. Also credit to me. One game of the World cup one exact score. Correct. Two nil. Mexico over South Africa. Classic Category one by me. World cup sharp, Nick Wright. You know what? I'm going to go ahead and add something for you here because the the late game is South Korea. Chia one one draw. I'm predicting a draw. One one draw. You're predicting a draw for the late night game? Yeah, that's what I think's going to happen. One one draw. But yeah, good job by me. I'm very happy about that. All right, we'll do a game five and a full, you know, end of finals prediction and a little World cup stuff in tomorrow's episode. Again, please subscribe to the show. Different schedule during the World cup, so that helps us out a lot. A huge thank you to Hard Rock Bet Boost Mobile and Seatgeek and to Damanze into the Volume and to Blue Duck. Talk to you guys tomorrow. What's right? This is an iHeart podcast.
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Guaranteed Human.
Episode 466 – Knicks’ Impossible Comeback, Wemby & Spurs Choke | NBA Finals (with Nick Wright & Damanze)
Date: June 12, 2026
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
This episode, hosted by Nick Wright and Damanze for "What's Wright," is a raw and passionate reaction to one of the most dramatic NBA Finals games in history: Game 4 between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. The discussion centers on the Knicks' historic 29-point comeback and the Spurs’ colossal collapse—deemed by Nick as "the biggest collapse in major American sports." The episode covers every angle: from X’s and O’s to player psychology, legacies at stake, coaching debates, and the emotional fallout for both teams.
[08:19] Nick Wright:
[08:50 – 17:00] Nick Wright:
[17:13] Nick Wright:
[20:46] Nick Wright:
[25:01] Nick Wright:
[36:34] Damanze & Nick Wright:
[39:28] Nick Wright:
[47:13 – 51:32]
[56:40]:
[60:44 – 66:16]:
This episode is essential listening (or reading!) for any NBA fan, capturing not just the wild basketball action but the ongoing narratives shaping the NBA Finals, the careers of emerging superstars, and the history of the league. The Knicks’ astonishing resilience and the Spurs’ historic collapse provide countless storylines, lessons, and debate fodder—all delivered in Nick and Damanze’s incisive, conversational style.