I’ve got quite a bit working with the blog right now in that I still haven’t written enough about the Vegas Golden Knights’ electric 5-4 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes on the road in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
This was a fabulous 5-4 hockey game in which the Golden Knights came out slow, relinquished a 2-0 early lead, then just basically beat the Hurricanes to death with what I think is the most daunting, sustained, physical forecheck in the NHL.
So…I would say the Carolina Hurrincanes all the sudden find themselves in a hole which could become a canyon later tonight in Game 2 if they can’t handle this forecheck pressure and start connecting on their breakout passes on both their end and in the neutral zone.
Just like in football and basketball…if you turn the puck over and create a 3 on 1 or a 2 on 1 with speed ….your basically more than somewhat…f–ked and the puck ends up in the back of the net.
Just for the feel of a hockey game….that was a much needed F-bomb to acentuate the sheer physicality of what the Vegas Knights do shift in and shift out. I love the way they play hockey…and they do it without going to the penalty box all that much.
You not only have to be a great athlete to play ice hockey…you have to be very tough and smart as well.
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Now…to last night’s Game 1 in San Antonio. Here’s what I think…it was a good game until the 2:16 mark of the fourth period as the Spurs led 95-94.
But then something really bad happened for the Spurs…that being, the Spurs’ two All-Stars–Wemby and De’Aaron Fox were HORRIBLE, as in the exact opposite of being a KIA Clutch Player of the Game in those final two minutes.
The Knicks closed the game on a 11-0 run and that in a nutshell pretty much is what happened. I don’t want to hear excuses about the Spurs being fatgigued from their seven game series with the Thunder. The Spurs are the youngest team in the league…it’s just that the vetrean Fox let them down and the other players showed their youth in a clucth situation.
Remember…before this season began…Vegas had the Spurs’ winning 43 games in the regular season. There’s still growing pains to be felt for Mitch Johnson’s group.
Every single player on the Knicks were solid and to my train of thought I didn’t observe ONE NY Knick player who in this game shied away from Wembyanama. Not one Knick looked scared taking on Wemby in this game. In fact…I additionally write both Karl-Anthony Townes and backup center Mitchell Robinson went right at Wemby…and somewhat mocked him with disdainful stares on several exchanges during the game.
Mitchell Robinson is playing with a fractured pinky on his shooting hand, in his 14:00 minutes of playing time showed more hubris than Chet did in all seven games combined versus Wemby.
Jalen Brunson was my No. 1 Star. No. 2 was clearly Karl Anthony-Townes. No. 3 was Josh Hart for his massive, gritty, grimey, lunchpail, Die Hard…. 16 rebound game. And then No. 4 for me was probably Landry Shamet coming off the bench and competitng as if his hair was on fire.
Bridges and OG were solid as they always are…but those on my Top Four Stars of Game 1 were the four who I thought set the tone for the Knicks winning this game.
So basically…Game 2 is an absolute must for the youngish Spurs and both Wemby and De’Aaron Fox need to play much better. This won’t be 5 on 4 hoops for the Spurs in this round. Nobody on that Knicks’ team looks scared. In fact…I would think every Knick player is tired of hearing how great the Spurs and Thunder are even though the Knicks easily won the Emirates NBA Cup in December.
I would think coach Mike Brown and his very tight, veteran team are tired of all that noise about them not having a chance in this series.
If the Knicks win Game 2 on Friday night…they clearly have more than a chance of winning the NBA championship.
Enjoy the NBA and Stanley Cup Finals to the fullest.
Mike J