Sports Poets Society

San Antonio tries to even NBA Finals 10 Jun 2026 - Texarkana Gazette BRIAN MAHONEY  AP BASKETBALL WRITER NEW YORK — The last time the New York Knicks lost a game, they didn’t do it again for another month and a half. When they fell behind against Atlanta in the first round of the NBA playoffs, desperation turned into domination. The Knicks won 13 straight games, many of them blowouts, in one of the most impressive postseason stretches in NBA history. They don’t need to do anything so dramatic now. With a 2-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, a simple 2-2 record the rest of the season would give New York its first championship since 1973. So after dropping Game 3, the Knicks don’t need an overhaul. But they do need to be better. “We have a veteran group. Nobody is quote-unquote panicking or anything like that,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said Tuesday. “Everybody is disappointed that we didn’t go out and execute and play to what we feel our standard is. That’s not taki...

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)  New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, left, and New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges,  right, pressure San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama Friday  during  the first half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series in San Antonio. Spurs aren’t conceding anything 7 Jun 2026 - Texarkana Gazette TIM REYNOLDS - AP BASKETBALL WRITER The New York Knicks are up 2-0. They say they’re unfazed. The San Antonio Spurs are down 0-2. They say they’re unfazed. Such is the state of things in the NBA Finals, where both teams were taking a travel day on Saturday. Practices resume Sunday and Game 3 of the title series is Monday night at Madison Square Garden, where President Donald Trump will be watching alongside fans who are willing to pay nearly $10,000 for seats so far from the court that 7-foot-4 Spurs center Victor Wembanyama will look tiny. The Knicks insist they’re not celebrating yet. The Spurs insist they’re not defeated yet. “Every single da...

6 Jun 2026 - Texarkana Gazette TIM REYNOLDS - AP BASKETBALL WRITER SAN ANTONIO — Go crazy, New York. Or, perhaps more accurately, crazier. The red-hot Knicks are going home, two wins away from an NBA championship that the capital of the world has been waiting to see for generations. Jalen Brunson hit a go-ahead free throw with 9.5 seconds left after a turnover by Victor Wembanyama moments earlier, then Wembanyama missed a jumper at the end of New York’s 105-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. “What a ballgame,” Knicks coach Mike Brown marveled. Karl-anthony Towns had 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Brunson and Mikal Bridges each scored 20 for the Knicks. They have won 13 straight, the second-longest streak by any team in NBA playoff history. “New York City showed up,” Towns said. “The fans showed up. The energy showed up. And we found a way to get it done.” The Knicks are now just the third team to win the first two games of a finals on...

(AP Photo/ Eric Gay) New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) steals the ball from San Antonio Spurs  forward Victor Wembanyama Wednesday during the second half of  Game 1  of the NBA Finals basketball series in San Antonio. 5 Jun 2026 - Texarkana Gazette TIM REYNOLDS - AP BASKETBALL WRITER SAN ANTONIO — The road to the NBA Finals was not exactly smooth for the San Antonio Spurs. They had — and lost — homecourt advantage in Round 1 against Portland, before recovering to win the series. In Round 2 against Minnesota, the same thing happened. In the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City, they trailed 2-1 before finding a way to oust the defending champion Thunder in seven games. And now, the finals. They had home-court advantage and lost it in Game 1 against the New York Knicks. Adversity, hello again. “We’ve been consistent in that regard,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Thursday as his team prepares for Game 2 on Friday night. “I think one thing we have learned in our...

(AP Photo/eric Gay) -  San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama shoots free  throws  during a workout prior Tuesday to the start of the NBA Finals basketball series  against the  New York Knicks in San Antonio. 3 Jun 2026 - Texarkana Gazette TIM REYNOLDS AP BASKETBALL WRITER SAN ANTONIO — For a few hours on Tuesday, the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks held practices on a floor that had the NBA Finals logo painted at midcourt. They did interviews with the logo as a backdrop. They saw finals mentions basically everywhere they looked. It might have seemed normal. It wasn’t. This stage — the NBA Finals — is new to just about everyone on the Spurs and Knicks rosters, meaning very few players on either side can have any real idea of how the moment will seem on Wednesday night when the 80th title series in league history gets underway in San Antonio. They have two big things in common : It’s going to be new, and it took them all forever to get here. “Falling i...