📽️ The really smart adjustment Michael Malone and the Nuggets made against Miami’s zone in Game 3: Sound ON 🔊

Awesome design by the Spurs on the final play. Everyone thought the ball would go to Wemby, so used him as a back screener with the rest of the Spurs lifted. Castle was open on the lob. But the Knicks very smartly put KAT on the ball and he deflected the inbounds.

"The post-game press conference has turned into the bully pulpit to create competitive advantage... It used to be, you get up there, you talk about your own team. Now everyone gets up there and they talk about the officials and they discredit the other team."

📽️ Why the Knicks' viral “beautiful game” play is actually a perfect encapsulation of the incredible tactics and high-level chess match that have defined the Finals Sound ON 🔊

Great breakdown of not only the Knicks offense but the equally beautiful Spurs defense to keep Wemby playing a 1 man zone

KAT defense on Wemby tonight was legitimately awesome. One of, if not the, best games I've seen him play on that end. I'm sure others have mentioned it, but I don't understand the Spurs playing Fox over Harper down the stretch.

The Thunder absolutely need to trade Chet this summer because it's impossible for a 24-year-old All-NBA player to bounce back from a bad playoff series. Nobody's ever done it before. He's doomed forever now.

I was intrigued by what the backstory was for Dusty May hiring Mody Maor, a professional coach in Japan. Turns out they’ve never even met in person. On a very outside-the-box hire that shows you how May thinks: nytimes.com/athletic/7313585…

morez johnson could become an all-defense caliber player

“Papá, por que me llamo Game 1 OKC-Spurs?”

The adjustments and counters to those adjustments revolving just around Wemby were amazing for a single game. The Spurs essentially want Wemby to play a one-man zone, staying low on the weak side to protect the paint. The Spurs would switch any other player out to the perimeter, regardless of matchup. Wemb primarily guarded Caruso when he was in. Prioritizing protecting the rim and daring Caruso to shoot led to so many of Caruso’s open 3PA’s. OKC’s adjustments late were to have Wemby *guard the action* with Caruso setting ball screens for SGA. Also, some of OKC’s late sets to get SGA in space, because of how many bodies the Spurs were sending at him, were extremely smart. Just an incredibly high-level game, chess match, and fun series ahead.

This tweet went viral - no shade to the OP - but Duncan is instructing Reed to *set the flare* after Duncan screens for Cade, not necessarily to slip it. How do I know? Because Detroit ran the exact same play a couple mins prior without the flare (and another with Duncan setting a step-up for Cade). Duncan used that experience to instruct Reed to set the flare... then *Reed* read that both Cavs defenders closed out to Duncan and slipped for two. Watch how it went down:

It is a sick joke that the Spurs have all of Wemby, Steph Castle, and Dylan Harper

Pivoting from a remembrance of those who passed away in the NBA community today to a draft kings promo is dystopian