Knicks Up 3-1; Talent losing to Execution!

We break down how the Knicks take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals after a shocking Game 4 comeback and why the Spurs keep losing the same way. I call out the late-game mistakes, missed free throws, and bad decisions that flip winning basketball into a one-point heartbreak. 
• Knicks vs Spurs series state and why 3-1 feels decisive 
• The Spurs’ repeatable losing pattern: turnovers and only winning two quarters 
• Game 4 as a tale of two halves and a blown massive lead 
• Victor Wembanyama’s inefficiency and the clutch free throw questions 
• De’Aaron Fox’s last-play decision and why pulling it out matters 
• Jalen Brunson’s control and why the Knicks execute better late 
• OG Anunoby’s huge shooting night and game-winning putback 
• Rotation and scheme ideas, including pairing Wembanyama with Luke Kornet 
• What has to change in Game 5 and what fans should watch for 
please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. 
let me know in the comment section below how you all felt about game four. And who do you all predict winning game five going back to San Antonio? 

Transcript

Welcome And Quick Subscribe Ask

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What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, Train as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're gonna talk about the NBA finals. But before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. I'm trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And you know, if you're wondering where you heard this before, that's because you've been listening with me Monday through Friday at 11 o'clock a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate

Knicks Lead 3-1 And Spurs Trends

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your support. Now, NBA Finals 2026. Knicks are currently up 3-1, and I gotta say this right now, ladies and gentlemen, this is a damn shame. It's a shame because the Spurs literally have been in position to win all four games. All four of them. Now, I've told you all what the Spurs need to do in order to win. You gotta win the turnover battle, but you also gotta win three out of the four quarters. Because every game that they've lost, they've only won two quarters, ladies and gentlemen. That's the trend. On top of that, they lost the turnover battle. Game three, they won the majority of the quarters. And they won the turnover battle. Every other game didn't happen.

Game 4 Collapse After Leading Big

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But game four, this is probably the most egregious one. Score was 107, 106. Knicks were down by as much as 29. Like, let me just read off the first quarter, like the quarter stats, right? You got 41 to 22 favoring the Spurs. Then you got 35 to 27, again, favoring the Spurs. Then the second half, the Spurs score 14 points to the Knicks 26 in the third quarter. And then 16 points to 32 points in the fourth quarter. That is literally a tail of two halves. But here's the crazy thing. While the Spurs have the talent to beat the Knicks, the Knicks have shown that their late game execution is immensely better. And I hate to say that because there's now a world where the Spurs lose in five. I've been thinking that the Spurs win in six coming into the season or series. Even as even as late as game four, the start of, I was like, yeah, Spurs can win this one. We can go back to the Spurs 2-1. We can go back to San Antonio, I mean tied 2-2. That didn't happen.

Wembanyama And Fox Under Fire

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And I'm looking at a couple of players to blame. Victor Wimanyama off top, right? Don't get me wrong, if we just look at the numbers, 24 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks, as not bad. No turnovers, right? You do what you're supposed to do. But 9 of 25 from the field, I'm not really liking. And keep in mind, too, hell, Carl Anthony Towns, the person who guards him the best that we've seen up to this point, got into foul trouble early. So that did tell me, well, you know, when Kat's not in the game, they are struggling just a little bit. But you also had Mitchell Robinson, who you should have gone at and attacked a lot more. You had other players on the floor who you could have attacked. You were literally the tallest person. So I don't see why you couldn't have been more efficient. Also, those late game free throws. Hey, people are gonna start asking, hey, is Victor Wiman Yama clutch? You missed one free throw late game. All right, cool, I hear it. But you missed both of them. One of them would have at minimum tied this current game. Remember, the Knicks win by one after trailing 29 points almost. I think it was 29, actually. It was in the 20s, that's for sure. That is for sure. And for a large part of the game, too. Also, Darren Fox, I've been talking about your decision making. And I was focusing on playmaking. You can score a little bit, and you did what you did score decently last game. Like a game four, I'll give that to you. 18 points, seven assists, four turnovers. I can, you know, I can I can be okay with that. The last play by De'Aaron Fox might have been the dumbest I've ever seen him make. You only have a couple of seconds left. You get a steal, you try to score the ball as opposed to what? Hitting your free throws. Because when you get the ball back, if you pulled it out, you would have taken time off the clock, and then there was like five point seconds left or something like that. Like it was not that much time left in the game. And bro, all you had to do was just hold the ball. That's it. Like, as a Duke fan, hell, that kind of got me a little rattled. Gave me my PTSD. No, he didn't try to pass the ball. Dear Fox did try to score. But OG Ananobi ended up blocking De'Aaron Fox's layup to then getting the game-winning putback. Like, I want to praise the Knicks so much. But even when they like, even when the Spurs lost that big gap, that big delta, bro, they still had a chance to win. And that's frustrating. Also, when I'm looking at someone like Stephon Castle, I need you to be more efficient, dog. I really, truly need you. Now, I'm not going at Stephon because guess what? He actually made his game, his in-game free throws. Like end-of-the-game free throws. He had two of them, knocked them down, unlike Victor Wimbenyama. So that's the reason why I can't really go at Stefan until I see Dylan Harper had a really good game. 21 points, hella efficient. Like we lost a game, and I say we, talking about the Spurs. Spurs lost a game with Dev D'Aaron Fox going four of nine from three. Stefan Castle, again, not the most efficient, but one of three, I hear you. Dylan Harper, three of six from three. That's tough. Devin Vassell, five of eight. That's crazy. Because again, ladies and gentlemen, the Spurs had it. Like they had

Brunson And Anunoby Close Like Pros

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the game. They really had the game. Like, we gotta talk about on the Knicks side, Jalen Brunson continue to be what looks to be the most important, impactful player on the floor. Shortest mug, too. I mean, I guess Jose Alvarado is shorter, is shorter than Jalen Brunson. But Jalen Brunson is is is, and I'm trying to choose my words carefully. But he might be the best player on the floor. Like that just may be, and it's not a wild statement. Again, 36 points, 12 of 25 from the field, three of seven from three, nine of 11 from the free throw line, seven assists, five rebounds, only three turnovers, but three steals. He got a plus minus of 11. That means when he was on the floor, his team was up 11 points in comparison to the Spurs. We got a shout out OG Ananobi on the Knicks as well. 233 points, 10-15 from the field, 7-9 from three. That is disgusting work. Tell you right now, he's about to go on a date with Ann Hathaway. And to be clear, she has said that that's her favorite player to watch, if I'm not mistaken. So I don't think that's too far of a league. Like the Knicks really. The Knicks really are about to win this thing, bro. Like they're about to win this thing. Because we gotta imagine the Spurs having to win three straight. Now keep in mind, there is still a world where the Spurs win three straight versus the Knicks. We've seen them win or be close to winning every game. But we've also seen the Knicks come back every game and make it a good game. And the late game execution piece is what I'm struggling with. Like again, can the Spurs blow out the Knicks for the next three games? That's a possibility. Like that is actually possible because we've seen them go up double digits every game. It's now about what do you do as a

Fixes For Game 5 And Final Thoughts

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Spurs team? I've already made this statement before. I think we need to think about this a little bit more. Why can we not play both Victim Wimbinama and Luke Cornette? Like in a game where Stefan Castle might not be hooping, De'Aaron Fox, Julian Champagne, Devin Vassell, Victor Wimbinama, Luke Cornette. Or you throw in Dylan Harper for one of them boys. Because now you keep the defensive presence, you get the one of them, you get the player who's scoring the most efficiently during game by game. He also can give you playmaking, good defense, he got good height. And here's the crazy thing: you keep the rebounding advantage. Because let's say you put Wimby now on the perimeter. You still got Luke Cornette, and Wimby has good length. Y'all can run a zone like, bro. I don't see why we can't try it out, Spurs. Just have Cornette and Wimby on the floor at the same time. I promise you. I think actually they would have won last night's game if that happens. Because remember, Victor Wimanyama is guarding who? Jalen Brunson. Where? At the top of the key. And how does OG Andanobi get his tip in for the bucket? Because Victor Wimanyama's not there in the paint. Nobody's boxing out. Cool. Imagine if Luke Cornette was there. Just off height alone, he could at minimum tip the ball away from OG. At minimum. That would have worked. Because again, Vic's on the perimeter. And I can stomach Vic being on the perimeter guarding somebody. Because you got to go past him. And imagine if he like tries to block your shot while he's behind you as well. That's very doable. And you got Luke Cornet in front of you. Like that's very doable, ladies and gentlemen. I don't see why Mitch from the Spurs, the coach, isn't doing that more often. Like Luke Cornett only getting four minutes. I don't like that person. So again, ladies and gentlemen, while I do think that there is a world where these Spurs can win three straight, the Knicks look like they're about to win it. And that's so disheartening to say, man. Like I hate the fact that New York Knicks are about to reign for the next year as champions. That is crazy to hear. Because to be clear, hell, we already saw the Knicks fan base get out of pocket when they lost one game. Imagine if they lost three straight. We may be talking about a bunch of criminals loose, ladies and gentlemen. So I mean, look, at this point in time, I almost want to almost want to root for the Knicks just for the safety of the United States. Because they may be taking some fights down to San Antonio if they lose. But on a serious note, the Knicks have to continue winning the late game execution. Which they're going up against a younger team, so they have an easier chance of doing that. Because if you can't do it now, you're not going to do it in the future. And then on the flip side, the Spurs. Y'all got to win the turnover battle again. And you got to win three out of the four quarters in the game. Like the Knicks have literally been doing what they need to do, and you guys have not been doing what y'all need to do. You have been for the majority of the game, but not when it matters, and that's a problem. Vic, we're going to be talking about your legacy a little bit, especially down 3-1, buddy. Hey, and you cost your team not once, but twice too, by the way, champ. I'm just saying, like, do we we can really talk about Victor Women Yama hurting his team pretty well? And again, it's his first finals. I hear you, heard you. Third year. Hear you, heard you. I'm just saying when people talk about legacies going forward, we're going to bring up these moments. We're going to bring up those two free throws missed. We're going to bring up that 29-point delta that you had that went away. Because, I mean, that stuff matters. So, again, these legacy-defining moments, ladies and gentlemen, I think Jalen Brunson's going to benefit. All the Knicks are going to benefit. Hell, OJ Ananobi might even get a freaking max deal the way he's been playing. Jesus, this is ridiculous. Call Anthony Towns. You didn't play overly stellar, but you did your role. Four or five from the field, 13 points, 10 rebounds. I'll take that. Honestly, that's not bad. Even Jeremy Sokan got to get some minutes against his former team. I'm sure he's ecstatic about that. Like, ladies and gentlemen, there's it's very tough to say that the Spurs are going to win. It's very tough. Like going back to for game five, going back to your home, I can see the Knicks losing. I can. And then game six, you going back to your home, the Knicks, and winning. I can see that too. Like, I could genuinely see that. If it gets to a game seven, I don't know. That may be a little tough. But game six for sure, I can see that happening. And if they win it on the Knicks' home floor, bro. If they you know how crazy dumb stupid that's about to get? Yeah, like I'm telling you right now, the guard's about to be ridiculous. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'm curious. What do you want to see from the Spurs? Because they got to turn it around. They have no choice. Next game, they out. Next game they lose, they're done. It's over. Bye-bye, NBA. See y'all next season. For the Knicks, what do y'all want them to do? Like, is there a world where they lose for you? Because at this point in time, I am starting to see a world where these boys can be champions and starting to hear conversations like, oh, they can run it back. Let's see what they do next season. Ah, that may be a bit much. But again, ladies and gentlemen, I am curious about your thoughts, so let me know. But that does conclude the end of the episode. Again, I'm disappointed in the Spurs. Just because they lost the way they did. If you lose a game, you lose a game. But damn, y'all was up by how much and y'all lost like that? That's crazy work. I'm looking and I'm kind of disappointed in De'Aaron Fox and Victor Wimbanyama, personally. But like I said, let me know let me know in the comment section below how you all felt about game four. And who do you all predict winning game five going back to San Antonio? But, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, like I said, that does conclude the end of the episode. My name is Trey. I'm the host of bucket. I hope you're all having a good one. Take care.