{"id":2293,"date":"2026-06-03T13:11:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2293"},"modified":"2026-06-03T13:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T13:11:16","slug":"the-basketball-crazed-philippines-will-have-a-champion-when-these-nba-finals-are-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2293","title":{"rendered":"The basketball-crazed Philippines will have a champion when these NBA Finals are over"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SAN ANTONIO (AP) \u2014 No matter what, the basketball-crazed Philippines will have a champion to celebrate when these NBA Finals are over.<\/p>\n

Read more Caleb Williams strikes jump-throw pose for Madden NFL 27 cover<\/a><\/p>\n

New York\u2019s Jordan Clarkson and San Antonio\u2019s Dylan Harper \u2014 who\u2019ll face off in the Finals that start Wednesday \u2014 were both born in the U.S., but both have links to the Philippines through their mothers. And Clarkson raved about Harper, whose rookie year has been nothing but impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been really good throughout the whole year,\u201d Clarkson said. \u201cI\u2019ve been watching him, keeping up with him, as well. Him being so young and having so much poise throughout this whole playoffs, it\u2019s a great sight to see a young star coming in this league and doing what he\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The significance of this isn\u2019t lost on Harper either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think me and him get to do something really special, representing our country, where we\u2019re from, represent everything on the biggest stage in basketball,\u201d Harper said. \u201cI feel like over there in the Philippines, basketball is probably the biggest thing. I think we\u2019re very excited for that and we\u2019re just very blessed and grateful to be in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not a lot of Finals history<\/h3>\n

Only six players on the Knicks and the Spurs have appeared in previous NBA Finals games.<\/p>\n

San Antonio\u2019s Harrison Barnes played in 13 for Golden State, Luke Kornet played in six for Boston and Kelly Olynyk played in five for Miami.<\/p>\n

For New York, Mikal Bridges played in six for Phoenix, Dillon Jones played in three for Oklahoma City and Jordan Clarkson played in two for Cleveland. Another member of the Knicks \u2014 OG Anunoby \u2014 was with Toronto for its run to the 2019 NBA title, but did not play in any of those six games.<\/p>\n

Combined, those six players with past Finals experience have scored 265 points in the title round.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect overtime. Or a lot of close games.<\/h3>\n

The last 44 NBA Finals games have all ended in regulation, the longest run without overtime in the title series in league history. There was a 34-game stretch without an overtime game from 1984 through 1990.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s tough to have a shot at going to overtime when games aren\u2019t close down the stretch. Out of the last 81 Finals games, 50 have been decided by double figures.<\/p>\n

The division champion stat<\/h3>\n

An annual reminder: Division championships mean nothing anymore \u2026 until the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

If San Antonio wins the NBA title, it will mark the 14th time in the last 15 seasons that a division champion has wound up winning.<\/p>\n

The only exception in that span was Golden State in 2022. Before that, the last team to not win their division but win the NBA title was Dallas in 2011.<\/p>\n

The Knicks were second in the Atlantic Division behind Boston this year, so they\u2019re trying to buck this trend.<\/p>\n

Read more Chwalinska\u2019s remarkable French Open run continues as she beats Kalinskaya to reach semifinals<\/a><\/p>\n

Welcome back, Mike Brown<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s been 19 years, but Mike Brown is back in the NBA Finals as a head coach. The New York coach took Cleveland to the title round in 2007 \u2014 getting swept by San Antonio that year.<\/p>\n

Just by getting here this year, Brown joins an exclusive club of coaches to take multiple franchises to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers, New York, Miami) and Alex Hannum (St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco) took three franchises to the Finals. Brown joins Rick Carlisle, Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, KC Jones, Bill Fitch, Gene Shue, Bill Sharman and Red Auerbach on the list of those to take two different franchises to the title round.<\/p>\n

Wemby\u2019s amazing year<\/h3>\n

San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama has had a postseason like no one in league history, and his totals are only going to get more impressive.<\/p>\n

So far in these playoffs, Wembanyama has 394 points, 183 rebounds, 100 made free throws, 60 blocked shots and 30 3-pointers.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just the playoffs. Only 19 players \u2014 him included, of course \u2014 had those totals over the entirety of this regular season. (No Spurs player has ever had a regular season with all those numbers, except Wembanyama.)<\/p>\n

And since 3-pointers came into play, nobody in NBA history has ever done all that in the same postseason, until now.<\/p>\n

If this goes 7 games \u2026 <\/h3>\n

If this NBA Finals goes the seven-game distance, Spurs players Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie might tie an NBA record.<\/p>\n

Or break it, depending on how you count.<\/p>\n

Johnson and Champagnie both enter these NBA Finals with 100 games played so far this season. That\u2019s seven shy of the NBA record for games played in a season \u2014 shared by Charles Oakley and Tayshaun Prince.<\/p>\n

They both played 107. But Johnson and Champagnie also played in the NBA Cup title game, which means they would have technically played in 108 games this season \u2014 though the league doesn\u2019t recognize the Cup final in any statistics.<\/p>\n

Money matters<\/h3>\n

The Spurs and Knicks are playing for $5,157,417 in bonus money. That\u2019s the difference between winning and losing the NBA Finals out of the league\u2019s playoff pool, which topped $35 million this season.<\/p>\n

The Spurs have already secured $6,594,508 out of that pool this season. The Knicks have clinched $6,438,024.<\/p>\n

Read more After 60 years of hurt England turns to a German coach to end World Cup title drought<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nba<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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