The Basement View

  The New York Knicks have extended the Eastern Conference Finals to a Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers. Game 5 for the Knicks is the game you would’ve dreamed up beforehand if you are a Knicks fan. Jalen Brunson from the jump made the statement that it would be a Knicks night. New York’s Captain made six of his first nine shots for 14 first quarter points. With the home court record this postseason for New York (4-5) Madison Square Garden has been anything but a home court advantage, but number 11 in orange and blue made sure of it for one night pouring in a total of 32 points and answering any run Indiana went on.   Karl-Anthony Towns finally had the game Knicks fans have been wanting him to have all season long. The seven-footer did not settle for anything. He asserted his presence all night against every defender Rick Carlisle decided to put on him and played downhill. Towns shot more free throws, five, than he did three-pointers, four, and grabbed a game-high 13 reb...

  The Oklahoma City Thunder passed another test last night in Minnesota. One of the preseason favorites to win the NBA Finals is proving in real time that they are as good as the hype. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander almost had a 40-point triple-double finishing with 10 assists and nine rebounds. But the current NBA MVP was not the story for the OKC in their 128-126 win in Minnesota. That would be Jalen Williams. The Thunder guard finished with 34 points, with five assists, three steals, and three rebounds. But it’s more than that. It seemed like when the Thunder needed a bucket down the stretch, it was Williams who answered the call. As the number one overall seed in this year’s postseason, you would expect the highest seed to pass these tests. What we have forgotten in these playoffs, because OKC has made us forget, is just how young this team is. The core group up until now hasn’t had that much playoff success to lean on. Six of their playoff rotational pieces have played five seasons o...

  Dear Around the Horn, Everyone involved. From the producers to the editors, to the interns, to the talent on camera. Thank you. Thank you for giving me a north star to run toward as a young high school kid from Upstate New York. Thank you for giving me a template of what meaningful sports conversation should be in the most cluttered time period in the space. The show that you’ve put on for 22 years will always be my favorite show on television. For a half hour a day I felt like I always fit in somewhere. Ever since my dream to play professional baseball ended, my dream shifted to get on this show and become a panelist. I never got there, I’ll never get there, but I want to put out work that would be seen on Around the Horn. Because one day that call will come. Because I owe it to that kid that would come home from school every day scream back at the television, even though nobody I was arguing with could hear me, because I believe that is the true lifeblood of the show and someth...

  The biggest story in baseball takes place today. It is not the Minnesota Twins trying to win 12 straight games in Milwaukee. Or the Detroit Tigers trying to keep the best record in baseball north of the boarder. Or even Shohei Ohtani facing his former team out in Los Angeles. No, the biggest story in baseball is Juan Soto’s return to the Bronx after the biggest free agency signing since Alex Rodriguez a quarter century ago. I have to give credit to my girlfriend Morgan for the idea to even write this. Without the conversation early Thursday morning, this column doesn’t exist. So, thank you. Anyway, Soto’s return to Yankee Stadium will be one of the defining moments of the 2025 season. You can thank Yankee fans for that. They are as scorn and bitter as they’ve ever been. There have been other ugly departures from the Bronx over the years. Goose Gossage signed with San Diego. Roger Clemmons went home to Houston. Same with Andy Pettitte. And perhaps the biggest departure in recent m...

  Devin Williams hasn’t instilled confidence in the Yankee fanbase based off his handful of outings in pinstripes. In fact, he’s lost the closer roll not even a month in a half into his first season in the Bronx. The 30-year-old right hander in just 15 appearances has a 9.24 ERA, 12 walks, 16 strike outs, and has given up 13 hits in 12.2 innings. In those 15 appearances Williams has four saves and while he’s allowed nearly every team to tattoo him, he’s only blown one save. Since he’s been moved out of the closer roll—Williams has been successful two out of three times. First against Tampa Bay in the 8 th inning and second against San Diego to hold off the top of the Padres lineup in the top of the 10 th and give the opportunity to the Yankee offense to walk it off in the bottom of the inning. The outing in between, we don't need to talk about. New York is the hardest place on earth to have a good first impression. Especially if you aren’t a home-grown player. If you are brought...