Category: Sport

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NEW YORK – This is a dream opportunity that was far-fetched as a kid, now possible as an adult. He has a chance to lead his team to the NBA Finals, by going through this fabled building specifically, Madison Square Garden, and it will be his crowning achievement to date should it happen. 

Except this isn’t about Jalen Brunson, or anyone with the New York Knicks. This is about a player who in a perfect Gotham world would be repping the Knicks and teammates with Brunson and together serving notice from Manhattan through Oklahoma City and all the way to San Antonio. 

The basketball Gods, however, had different homecoming plans for Donovan Mitchell, born and raised in the New York City suburbs and schooled on basketball in Harlem. If he wants to reach the Finals, he’ll need to plow through the local team he once worshiped, not escort them. 

And at this point, he’ll need nothing short of big nightly performances in this Eastern Conference Finals where he and the Cleveland Cavaliers, after a 109-93 loss Thursday, are suddenly down 2-0 and searching for solutions in this best-of-seven. 

The Cavs came to New York to open the series and couldn’t find their composure in Game 1, then their shots in Game 2. And now there’s a concern that something else is just as painful — Mitchell’s ankle. 

He twisted it last series against Detroit, then had a relapse Tuesday in the fourth quarter of Game 1. At best, it’s not 100%. At worst, Mitchell, who appeared stiff, will hop-scotch through Saturday’s crucial Game 3 (8 ET, ABC) and beyond. 

His coach, Kenny Atkinson, said Mitchell was trying “to work through it.” 

Mitchell dismissed any issue and with a smirk repeated: “I’m great. I’m great. I’m great.” 

Feeling great and looking great are often opposed to each other. That’s where Mitchell and the Cavs find themselves. The Knicks went on an 18-0 third-quarter run to rip away for good from a tied Game 2. Mitchell was on the bench at the time, wrestling with three fouls and a throbbing ankle. Atkinson had to hustle him back into the game, sooner than he wanted. 

He labored through 39 minutes, scored 26 points, was the best player on his team, all in vain. 

“We had great looks,” he said, “just couldn’t make shots. We did a lot of positive things. Our process is right; sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way and you don’t make shots.” 

More than anything, Mitchell didn’t have enough Game 2 support, not like Brunson, who was one of five Knicks in double-figure scoring. The Knicks have won nine straight playoff games now. 

Once upon a time, Mitchell was targeted to be by Brunson’s side in New York, a pair of dangerous playmakers to rival Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in Boston. 

There was always chatter about the romantic idea of Mitchell coming home, much like Carmelo Anthony (Brooklyn-born, though raised in Baltimore) did over a decade ago. And that kind of talk in this championship-desperate town, which hasn’t littered Broadway with blue-and-orange confetti in over 50 years, tends to mushroom and quicken pulses. 

Each side had a chance to make this happen. 

Neither side wanted each other badly enough. That’s just the bold and cold basketball truth. 

For the Knicks, getting Mitchell meant surrendering more assets than they thought he was worth in four years ago when the Utah Jazz slapped a for-sale price on him. 

For Mitchell, who could’ve allowed his contract to run out and entered free agency once being traded to Cleveland, joining the Knicks then meant he’d have to sacrifice, what else, money, and millions of it. 

So the answer, despite all the pillow talk between the two sides, was a non-negotiable no. 

The summer of 2022, when Mitchell was on the move from Utah, was a transformational one for the Knicks. They had missed the playoffs eight times in the previous nine years. They went through a stretch of eight head coaches, including interims, in eight years. The franchise was shook and searched for a savior. Make that two. 

One was destined to be a Knick. Brunson left the Dallas Mavericks to join his father, Rick, a Knicks assistant coach in perhaps the least-surprising free-agent decision in league history. 

Then the Knicks set their sights on Mitchell, except there was another team more desperate and upped the bidding. The Cavs were adrift after LeBron James left in 2018; they missed the playoffs the next four years and needed a centerpiece. 

Utah wanted two young starters — RJ Barrett and Quentin Grimes were the names tossed around — and three first-round picks from the Knicks, who stalled. 

Utah wanted Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, three first rounders and two swaps from Cleveland. The Cavs swallowed hard and delivered. 

Strangely enough, the Knicks a few years later sent five first-round picks and a swap to Brooklyn for Mikal Bridges, a less-accomplished player. 

Anyway, the Knicks became winners quickly with Brunson, who was better than expected, a second-round pick with the body of an accountant but the cold blood of a thief. 

There was one more chance at a marriage: Mitchell could’ve allowed his contract to expire in the summer of 2025 and joined the Knicks then, but in 2024 signed a three-year, $150 million extension with the Cavs instead and that was that. 

Mitchell is now trying to reach the Finals for the first time with 36-year-old James Harden as his wingman. Meanwhile, Brunson has Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby and a batch of rotational players who fit his skills. 

Would Brunson and Mitchell be a good fit together? Neither are instinctive ball-sharers but Brunson showed his passing skills Thursday with 14 assists. When the goal is a championship, star players tend, more often than not, to make it work. 

There was a telling moment between the two almost-teammates with four minutes left in Game 2, the Knicks up 13 points. Mitchell was closely guarding Brunson and turned aggressive, evidently hoping to make a play that might trigger the same improbable rally the Knicks executed two nights earlier when they erased a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit. 

Instead, all Mitchell did was earn his fifth foul, and moments later, his second defeat in this series. 

It must be stressed that the Cavs were wobbly twice before in this postseason, when they were forced into a Game 7 against Toronto in the first round, then fell behind 2-0 to the top-seeded Pistons in the semis and needed another Game 7 win. 

“Through these moments you keep trusting what you’ve been doing,” Mitchell said. “I like everything we’re doing. I’m not sitting here scrambling and trying to figure things out. It’s 2-0. They did their job. They protected home court. That simple. This isn’t our first time facing adversity … we’re ready to go for Game 3.” 

“I’m happy because we didn’t let the Game 1 (collapse) affect our mental.” 

Truth be told, Mitchell is now dreaming like the kid from the New York suburbs all over again, the kid whose mom drove him to Harlem on weekends to seek the top competition in AAU, a strategy that paid off. 

That teenaged Donovan Mitchell wanted to one day play in the Garden, home of the Knicks. 

This adult Donovan Mitchell wants that, too — for this series to return to the Garden for a Game 5. 

“It’s really as simple as this,” said Mitchell. “We have to protect home court.” 

* * *

Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.

Editor’s Note: Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic here. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams. 

***

This past Sunday, Dominique Wilkins was enjoying a late afternoon meal at 7Pie Pizzeria & Bar in Dahlonega, Georgia, about 65 miles from Atlanta. He noticed a man walking toward him. Wilkins didn’t recognize the man, but it isn’t uncommon for him to be approached by strangers. He’s used to fans asking for an autograph or a selfie, even though his playing days have long been over as a 15-year player, a Hall of Famer with two dunk contest titles and a scoring crown.

The man had indeed been a fan — but for much longer than the 66-year-old Wilkins initially realized. The two actually crossed paths decades ago.

“I had been waiting 40-something years to tell Dominique this story,” said Steve Alexander, the man who walked up to Wilkins.

Alexander, who lived about two miles away, received a text message from a friend at 7Pie. “At 7 pie and I think Dominique just sat down across the bar.” Alexander immediately grabbed a pair of faded white and red Converse sneakers and put it in his trunk and set off for 7Pie. These were no ordinary retro sneakers; the pair had belonged to Wilkins in 1984. He signed them that year for Alexander, who was then just a 16-year-old hoop-head who dedicated a wall of his room to posters of Wilkins.

Now, four decades later, Alexander finally had the chance to reconnect with his hero and ask if there was any chance he might remember the exchange.

“Hey Dominique,” Alexander said to Wilkins and his wife, Jedidia. “Are y’all in the middle of business or do you have time for a story?”

“I love stories,” Wilkins said, smiling. “What you got?”

“Hold on a second. I’ve got props.” Alexander walked out and went to his car. Wilkins was puzzled.

“Props?” Wilkins said, wondering: What could he possibly be bringing?

In came Alexander, clutching the worn pair of sneakers. Wilkins recognized them immediately, breaking into a giant smile. Those shoes. Those courts. Those battles. It all comes flooding back. He is so moved that he doesn’t have the words. “That was a long time ago,” Wilkins said later, reflecting on the encounter. He couldn’t believe that this kind of interaction could happen at all–let alone in a remote area like Dahlonega. “He brought so many memories back to me.”

Alexander began to tell Wilkins the tale: It was March 31, 1984. “I stole Dominique’s home phone number from my girlfriend’s father’s Rolodex,” Alexander said. Her father was a photographer who took photos of NBA players. He wrote down the number on a small sticky note and dialed — because, back then, you could just … call NBA stars.

“Hello?” Wilkins said.

“Hi. This is Steve. I’m the kid in Indiana who always tries to get your shoes when you’re here.” Each time the Hawks came to Indianapolis to play the Pacers, Steve would scream for Wilkins with his arms out, hoping to catch a glimpse and a pair.

“I’m on the other line with my mom,” Wilkins said. “Let me call you back in about 15 minutes.”

He actually called back. Steve knew this was his one shot. “Do you think you can give me your shoes after the next game? I’m going to be in Atlanta for the next game.”

“All right,” Wilkins said. “Meet me in the third-floor parking garage at the Omni Arena three hours before the game.”

Alexander laughed at the absurdity of it all — how this call would never happen in today’s world. Not the call, not the meet-up. Back then, everything was so loose, so fun. Wilkins was so cool to take a teenager seriously, and make plans with him. That era of falling in love with hoops — and falling in love with Nique’s dunks, a.k.a, the Human Highlight Film, soaring across his television every night — was a special time for him.

“My mom, bless her heart, dropped me off after we drove from Indiana to Atlanta,” Alexander said. “Tree Rollins walked in. Randy Wittman walked in. Doc Rivers. Like, the whole team. And then Dominique’s car showed up.”

The two finally met face to face. “Which ones do you want?” Wilkins asked him.

“He had a pair of Nylon Converse and a pair of leather All-Stars, with his name printed on the side,” Alexander said, recalling the scene. He could have squealed; there were few players that had their own shoes back then. But he tried to play it cool: “I want the leather ones, man.”

Wilkins signed a few other pieces of memorabilia for him, and the two agreed upon a spot for the sneakers after the game: behind the basket closest to the Hawks locker room. Sure enough, Wilkins made good on his promise. Wilkins came out with the sneakers in his hands and found Alexander, clearing a path for him to get through, as if he were Somebody. Wilkins signed one shoe in red ink.

It was the coolest feeling in the world. Alexander had bragging rights for life, or at least for that night. “I had an entourage, like a hundred kids following me through the underground (tunnel),” Alexander said. “My mom and I were a little scared that they were gonna jump us and take the shoes, but we made it into the car.”

Once they were in the clear, speeding away, Alexander raised his arms up, fist-pumping. I did it! He thought to himself. I pulled off the impossible! It was a joy he’d remember for the rest of his life — enough to drive to the pizza parlor and talk about it again all these years later.

“It shows you how much more important it is than just playing a game of basketball, and how you can touch someone’s life. That lasts a lifetime,” Wilkins said, reflecting on Sunday’s moment. “It just totally blew me away that this guy happened to live up in the mountains, and he had a pair of shoes that had been held onto for 40 years.”

And he wanted to do more than share his memories. Back at 7Pie, a question gnawed at Jedidia. “Why did you bring the shoes back? What was the reason?” Jedidia asked that day. “Do you want him to sign them again?”

Alexander knows the value of a good story. Alexander went on to cover the NBA as a senior editor at Rotoworld for more than 20 years, known in his columns as “Dr. A” like Dr. J. He is currently a fantasy hoops contributor for ESPN and SportsEthos. However, he didn’t want to just tell the story to Wilkins.

“I wanted to tell him the story,” Alexander said, “but I also wanted to know if he wanted them back.” He said to Wilkins: “I don’t know if you have any of them left, and I thought this is something that you may want to hold onto.”

Wilkins took a beat, floored by the kindness of this stranger. “Man, you held onto these for all these years,” Wilkins said. “I’m not taking them back!”

Wilkins signed the other sneaker. This time he used black ink to contrast the previous red signature.

“It was heartwarming,” Jedidia said. She shared the story to Instagram, and since, the post has gone viral. Alexander wanted to clarify how old he was and when the initial meeting happened, and the year that the meeting occurred, since he said a few of the initial stories about the encounter got those details incorrect.

Both men are still thinking about the purity of the exchange, and the difference between today and that ‘80s era of hoops. How you didn’t have to be wealthy — the son of someone who has courtside seats, for example — to get shoes from an NBA star, let alone get close enough to say hello. It is a much different world, one with security and red tape.An ecosystem in which players are wary to sign something like shoes or posters because someone can easily sell them for profit.

What matters, no matter the era, Wilkins said, is what you can give to another person, even if it is something as simple as a pair of shoes. “I believe in life that you treat people like you want to be treated,” said Wilkins, a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. “I see so many people that use their status and means to look down on people. I never believe in doing that because we all do something to bring us some type of peace and love and satisfaction. At times, people put themselves above you to think that they’re better. And we’re not better.

“The thing is, it costs you nothing to be nice. It really don’t cost anything. At the end of the day, we’re supposed to be uplifting each other instead of tearing each other down, like I see so much in sports. We tend to forget the people that we idolized growing up, who gave us the reason to play.”

In a way, Alexander reminded him of the kind of legacy he wants to leave and the kind of person he wants to be.

“There’s stories like this that you hang onto,” Wilkins said, “that you remember.”

***

Mirin Fader is a senior writer for The Athletic, writing long-form features, primarily on the NBA. Mirin is also the New York Times best-selling author of GIANNIS: The Improbable Rise of an NBA Champion and DREAM: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon. She has told compelling human-interest features on some of our most complex, most dominant heroes from the NBA, NFL, WNBA and NCAA, most recently at The Ringer. Her work has been featured in the Best American Sports Writing books. She lives in Los Angeles.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — A box score doesn’t reveal everything.

But as Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault perused the box score from San Antonio’s Game 1 double-overtime victory on Monday, a number gnawed at him: Isaiah Hartenstein’s minutes played.

“It doesn’t feel good playing Hart 12 minutes,” Daigneault conceded. “It just didn’t feel good to me.”

Daigneault pulled Hartenstein aside at practice on Tuesday.

“He kind of apologized, but it was more like, ‘Hey, just be ready. Your number’s going to be called more, and we’re going to try to do something different,’ ” Hartenstein explained.

Hartenstein played 27 minutes in Game 2 on Wednesday, and his offensive and defensive contributions, especially guarding Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, were crucial to the Thunder’s 122-113 victory, tying the Western Conference Finals at 1-1.

Hartenstein had 10 points, 13 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds, three assists and spent important minutes engaged with Wembanyama, trying to make him work as hard as possible. Wembanyama still put up statistics: 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocks.

But he also had four turnovers, part of San Antonio’s 21 turnovers that led to 27 Thunder points, and Wembanyama didn’t dominate at the rim with dunks and layups the way he did in Game 1 when he scored 26 points in the paint. He had just 10 paint points in Game 2, and the 7-foot, 267-pound Hartenstein logged the most minutes defending Wembanyama, per NBA.com’s box score data.

The Thunder want to wear down Wembanyama with their size and strength by forcing him to play heavy minutes.

“He just did a good job of being physical,” Thunder reserve Alex Caruso said of Hartenstein. “Making (Wembanyama) work all game, which I think ended up being beneficial for him on the glass late in the game. He cleaned that up offensively and defensively for us – a couple of possessions in a row that were really big. Just making it kind of trench warfare and putting his will on the line to go get the job done.”

Caruso drew the bulk of that difficult assignment in Game 1, and Wembanyama had a historic performance with 41 points, 24 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. The Thunder could not allow that again, at least not in Game 2 and facing the possibility of a 2-0 deficit.

“He did what he does,” Daigneault said of Hartenstein. “I don’t think it was specific to Wembanyama. He played his game, and that’s a physical brand that you have to deal with around the basket. The offensive rebounding is a huge thing and there’s great gravity to that as well. I just thought again, great professionalism.”

That professionalism fits into the Thunder ethos.

“The guy is like an ultimate compete-together player,” Daigneault said. “He’s a big-time team guy. He’d rather give an assist than score a point. He understands the intricacies of the game, especially on defense. He brings great physicality on both ends of the floor, especially on the glass. He’s a great rebounder, great screensetter.

“If you listed all the skills you wanted for a modern center, like true center, he checks every box. That’s why I love him. And the other thing I love about him is I played him 12 minutes, and he doesn’t bat an eye and turns around (Wednesday) and plays a great game.”

Ahh, back to the minutes. Hartenstein wasn’t upset.

“Mark’s a great coach. I trust him and if you want to play in a team sport, if you want to play on a team like this, you really have to put your ego aside and do what’s best for the team,” Hartenstein said.

The admiration between player and coach is mutual.

“Mark does a great job of just communicating,” Hartenstein said. “That’s one of his biggest strengths. One of the biggest things an NBA coach has to know is how to work with the egos of the team. That’s something he does better than really any coach I’ve kind of been a part of. And so whatever Mark needs me to do, I’m ready to do. If it’s play five minutes, play 48 minutes, if it’s set a million screens or whatever he needs me to do.”

Hartenstein signed with the Thunder before the 2024-25 season and helped them with the championship last season. His role remains valuable as the Thunder chase a second consecutive title.

In 10 playoff games, Hartenstein’s per-36-minute averages are terrific: 13.4 points, 12.5 rebounds (5.5 on the offensive end), 3.7 assists and 1.3 blocks per game, all while shooting 70% overall. He uses a nifty floater/one-handed push shot and puts arc on it. He said members of the coaching staff use shot-block sticks to help simulate getting the ball over someone like the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama.

Hartenstein, 28, bounced around different teams earlier in his career — Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Clippers and New York Knicks — and it looked like he was a good fit for a few of those teams.

Hartenstein became a free agent in the summer of 2024 and explored his options. The Thunder are particular about roster-building and what kind of player they want. They liked what Hartenstein could provide.

Hartenstein is also particular and said he wanted to play for a team that fit his style and philosophy.

“The culture – that’s one thing that when (Thunder executive vice president) Sam Presti came to Eugene, Oregon, that was the first thing he said, ‘I can’t promise you minutes. I can’t promise you your role, but I can promise you a culture,’ ” Hartenstein said. “What I saw from afar is exactly how it is, and they make it so easy for you to come to work and just focus on basketball.”

* * *

Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.

Spurs guard Dylan Harper left the second half of Game 2 against the Thunder with a right leg injury, and the team announced that he will not return.

Harper, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, started in place of the injured De’Aaron Fox and scored 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting in 25 minutes.

The Spurs say Dylan Harper (right leg) is out for the remainder of tonight’s Spurs-Thunder game.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 21, 2026

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NEW YORK — When the New York Knicks lost last year’s Eastern Conference Finals in six games, one had to wonder if things would have been different if the Indiana Pacers didn’t pull off a miraculous comeback in the fourth quarter of Game 1. The Knicks led by 17 with a little more than six minutes left, but then saw Aaron Nesmith go 6-for-6 from 3-point range in the final five minutes and Tyrese Haliburton make a game-tying shot that bounced 20 feet in the air before dropping through the net.

The Knicks themselves pulled of a similarly miraculous comeback in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, coming back from 22 points down with a little less than eight minutes left and beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime. And one has to wonder if those eight minutes will be what, ultimately, determines which one of these teams go to the Finals.

The Cavs certainly hope not, and they won their last series after losing the first two games on the road. But winning four of the next six games against the Knicks, who’ve now won eight straight, will be the Cavs’ toughest task of the season.

Here are three things to watch in Game 2 on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN):

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1. Brunson vs. Harden

Game 1 turned when Jalen Brunson began attacking James Harden on almost every single Knicks possession. The Knick who Harden was guarding would set a screen for Brunson, the Cavs would give them the switch they wanted, and Brunson would go to work.

According to tracking data, Harden was the screener’s defender on 24 ball-screens for Brunson on Tuesday, with 20 of them coming in the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter plus overtime. The Knicks scored an efficient 1.39 points per chance (32/23) when that happened, including an amazing 29 on 18 (1.61 per) when the ball-screen action led directly to a shot, turnover or trip to the line.

Switching those screens can flatten out the Knicks’ offense and suppress their ball movement, while taking some time of the clock. And it’s long been Harden’s preferred coverage, as he’s not one for hedging and recovering, which is what Brunson is usually doing when he’s targeted on the other end of the floor.

But Brunson is one of the best isolation scorers in the league, and he clearly likes the matchup with Harden, even if not all of those possessions were blow-bys. There were some tough shots in that comeback …

The Cavs’ adjustment (after eight straight scores from the Knicks) was to have Brunson’s defender (Sam Merrill) “ice” the screen to keep Brunson from using it. Harden dropped back to slow Brunson’s drive and allow Merrill to get back in front of his man. But Brunson made the right play, Harden had a long distance to recover, and OG Anunoby was able to drive by him and draw a foul …

Defending one-on-one didn’t work, and putting two on the ball created open shots and driving lanes for the other four Knicks.

There is no easy answer for the Cavs. The best answer may be for Harden to do a better job of staying in front of Brunson or be quicker to recover out of a double-team situation. Neither of those options may be possible, however.

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2. Shamet vs. Hart

The Knicks’ entire comeback came with Landry Shamet on the floor instead of Josh Hart.

Hart is an important player for the Knicks, a tough defender, a terrific rebounder, and a guy that fuels their transition game. He’s also been a much improved shooter this season, but Shamet makes the Knicks harder to defend, especially with how the Cavs want to match up.

When all 10 starters were on the floor, Dean Wade defended Brunson and Evan Mobley was on Karl-Anthony Towns. That allowed the Cavs to switch the Brunson-Towns pick-and-roll, because Mobley is mobile enough to stay with Brunson, while Wade is big enough to defend Towns.

Hart was defended by Jarrett Allen, who mostly left Hart alone on the perimeter. Hart shot 41% from 3-point range in the regular season, but he is 12-for-45 (27%) in the playoffs after shooting 1-for-5 on Tuesday. The Cavs will likely leave him alone (at least) until he makes a few in a row.

They can’t leave Shamet alone. He actually shot a little worse from 3-point range than Hart did in the regular season, but he is now 13-for-26 (50%) in the playoffs after making all three of his attempts in Game 1. With Shamet on the floor instead of Hart, the Cavs’ bigs aren’t able to just hang around the paint and protect the rim, because the Knicks have five guys who must be respected on the perimeter.

In Game 1 …

• The Knicks scored just 28 points on 35 offensive possessions (0.80 per) with all five starters on the floor.

• They scored 44 points on 25 offensive possessions (1.76 per) with Shamet on the floor with the other four starters.

Those are small sample sizes and the latter number was mostly about the Brunson-Harden matchup, but we could certainly see extended minutes for Shamet in Game 2.

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3. The Knicks’ defense will bend …

The final 13 minutes were one-sided, but over the entirety of Game 1, the Cavs got better shots than the Knicks:

• Cleveland had an expected effective field-goal percentage of 54.9%, but it had an actual effective field-goal percentage of just 48.9%.

• New York had an expected effective field-goal percentage of 50.8% (their worst mark of the playoffs), but it had an actual effective field-goal percentage of 53.4%.

The Knicks had more shots in the restricted area, but after dunks and layups, the best shots on the floor are corner 3s. And the Cavs had 16 attempts from the corners, their high in these playoffs.

While Harden was the Knicks’ favorite target with ball screens for Brunson, Towns and Brunson were the Cavs’ favorite targets with ball screens for Harden and Donovan Mitchell. Unlike the Cavs, the Knicks were usually not willing to give up those switches. Instead, they temporarily put two on the ball.

That allowed the Cavs to find open 3s on the weak side of the floor …

After the game, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson lamented that his team’s offense “got a little stagnant” as the Knicks made their comeback. One issue may have been a lack of spacing. While the Cavs are willing to ignore Hart on the perimeter, the Knicks are (mostly) willing to do the same with Mobley.

Only six of Mobley’s 16 field-goal attempts in Game 1 came in the paint, and he had just two free-throw attempts. The Cavs need him to play bigger offensively, but they should continue to get good shots if the Knicks are willing to put two on the ball.

* * *

John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Bluesky.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Once again, San Antonio All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox tried to go through a pregame workout. And once again, his right ankle remained a problem.

Fox was ruled out of Game 2 of the Spurs’ Western Conference Finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, the second consecutive game he has missed because of the ankle issue. The Spurs were expected to keep Dylan Harper in the starting lineup in his place.

The Spurs held out hope until about an hour before game time Wednesday that Fox could play, and coach Mitch Johnson — just as he did Monday — indicated that Fox’s status will be a series of game-time decisions for the rest of the season.

The team has not revealed what is causing the ankle soreness.

“It’ll be pretty status quo moving forward, I believe, regardless of if he plays in games or not,” Johnson said. “This’ll be just kind of the world we live in.”

Fox was an All-Star this season for the Spurs, averaging 18.6 points per game in the regular season — second on the team behind only Victor Wembanyama’s 25 points per game.

Harper — who was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie first team earlier Wednesday — was brilliant in the Spurs’ Game 1 win, with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a team playoff record seven steals.

Harper, who turned 20 on March 2, is the second-youngest player to have appeared in this season’s playoffs, behind only Minnesota’s Joan Beringer and Phoenix’s Khaman Maluach — both still just 19.

Beringer and Maluach combined to score 24 points in this season’s playoffs, matching the total that Harper had in Game 1 against the Thunder alone.

“He didn’t just get this talented or this good,” Johnson said. “For him to buy into the role that was in front of him, for him to do what was asked and be held accountable and learn what it took and what we needed to win games and be a part of it — while probably suppressing some of his individual capabilities — is hard to do for a 19- to 20-year-old.

“For him to be able to do that and grow as a winning team player and then have his individual talent pop as well — it’s hard to do in this league at any time. Doing it as a rookie in the playoffs is ridiculous.”

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Thunder guard Jalen Williams, who missed six games earlier in these playoffs with a strained left hamstring, was ruled out for the second half of Game 2 of Oklahoma City’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night.

The reason: Another hamstring problem, which the Thunder called tightness.

Williams appeared to be getting treatment on the hamstring, then left the bench area and did not play in the second quarter.

Cason Wallace started the second half in Williams’ place.

Williams returned for Game 1 of the Spurs’ series, scoring 26 points in 37 minutes on Monday night in Oklahoma City’s 122-115 double-overtime loss. He had four points in seven first-quarter minutes Wednesday, including an alley-oop dunk with 2:12 left in the period.

There was no immediate word from the team on Williams’ status Wednesday. The Thunder led 62-51 at halftime of Game 2.

Williams missed 55 of the Thunder’s first 91 games this season entering Wednesday, including playoffs. Of those absences, 19 were for a right wrist issue and the other 36 were related to his hamstrings — the right one costing him 30 games during the regular season, the left one costing him the most recent six during the playoffs.

Enjoy the best of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google, with the NBA.com live blog, featuring all of the meaningful moments, performances, observations, news and highlights from Tuesday’s action.

Tonight, Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs are back in Oklahoma City for Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder, squaring off again after a double-overtime classic in Game 1.

What we know about Wednesday’s game:

• Teams that take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Playoffs have gone on to win their series 92.6% of the time.

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MAY 20, 2026 / 6:00 ET

San Antonio:

• PG De’Aaron Fox
  • Fox is questionable for tonight’s contest after missing Game 1. If healthy, his speed and quickness could challenge OKC’s defense, but he’ll have to hold off Dylan Harper, who starred for the Spurs in the first game of the series.
• SG Stephon Castle
  • Castle put up 17 points and 11 assists in Game 1, but also committed 11 turnovers. If he can cut down on those in Game 2, it’ll go a long way.
• SF Devin Vassell
  • Vassell, Castle and Carter Bryant provided excellent defense on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Game 1, with Vassell knocking in a few timely 3-pointers as well.
• PF Julian Champagnie
  • The St. John’s product logged 44:06 in Game 1, hanging ably against the varied Thunder attack.
• C Victor Wembanyama
  • 41 points, 24 rebounds, a Steph Curry-summoning 3-pointer. It’d be hard for The Alien to top his Game 1 performance, but I’m excited to see him try.

Oklahoma City:

• PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
  • SGA never looked comfortable in Game 1, putting up 24 points (and 12 assists) on 23 shots. The presence of Victor Wembanyama cuts off his driving lanes, and the Spurs are rangy enough to bother his stepback jumpers.
• SG Luguentz Dort
  • We’ll see who Mark Daigneault chooses in this spot. Dort, Ajay Mitchell, Cason Wallace and Jared McCain all had moments in Game 1.
• SF Jalen Williams
  • Williams returned with aggression on offense, putting up 26 points on 25 shots, but a limited ability to affect Victor Wembanyama on defense.
• PF Chet Holmgren
  • Wherefore art thou, Chet? The Thunder need more than 8 points and 8 rebounds from their unicorn big man.
• C Isaiah Hartenstein
  • I would be interested to see if Hartenstein could give Wembanyama any trouble. He lost minutes to Alex Caruso in Game 1, who was stellar, but ended up battling Luke Kornet to limited impact.

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MAY 20, 2026 / 5:45 ET

Wednesday’s injury report

De’Aaron Fox is questionable for the Spurs, while Thomas Sorber is out for the Thunder.

The NBA has announced that the 2025-26 Kia All-NBA teams will be announced on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC & Peacock ahead of Game 4 of the Thunder-Spurs Western Conference Final which tips at 8 p.m. ET on NBC & Peacock.

The media voting panel selects players to the Kia All-NBA Teams without regard to position. Players are awarded five points for each vote to the First Team, three points for each vote to the Second Team and one point for each vote to the Third Team.

The 2025-26 Kia NBA All-Rookie Team will be announced tonight at 7:30 PM ET on Peacock.

Upcoming awards schedule ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/gKODkdrZNZ

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 20, 2026