Stephen A. Smith was wearing championship orange and blue. Kendrick Perkins was crowning Jalen Brunson the greatest Knick of all time in waiting. Jay Williams arrived at the First Take desk on Monday morning with a different job — talk everybody back down.
"I think this is the best they've looked to win a title, so no," Williams said when asked if he believed New York could close it out. "I don't think that they could, even at a high clip, beat Oklahoma City. I still think Oklahoma City throws so many defensive tacticians at you."
That was Williams' main point and he kept returning to it. The Thunder rolled into the second weekend of the conference finals 8-0 in the playoffs, and Williams' read of them is that their defensive ecosystem makes them almost unique. "When you play against OKC, every possession feels like you're in a negotiation with the refs because they manipulate angles, because they manipulate officiating because of their ability to foul bait, get you into trouble," he said. "The amount of people they continue to throw at you between Caruso and Dort and CJ, all these players over and over and over — I still would favour them to win a championship."
Williams did not dismiss the Knicks. He was as positive on New York's style as anyone on the panel. "This is the best style of basketball I've seen the Knicks play in my time watching the Knicks for a long time," he said. He praised Tom Thibodeau's bones, then handed the credit to his replacement. "Thibs took this team to a certain point. The way their offense has unlocked with Karl-Anthony Towns, I think he has like 66 assists to 28 turnovers — has been eye-opening. The job Mike Brown has done with this team, getting Jaylen Brunson to play off the ball — their style now reminds me a little bit more of the way Golden State played with Draymond Green and Steph."
Williams sees that inverted offense as the reason Karl-Anthony Towns has been able to dismantle Philadelphia. The 76ers had no answer for Towns operating as a screener, popping for threes and reading the floor as a hub. "He had 10 assists last night," Williams said. "I think this style looks incredible against a team with Joel Embiid on the floor because they can't contend." The next bit was the warning. "But it's about to get real against Detroit. I think that's why Jalen Brunson's demeanour was like that. I don't think he was excited about beating Philly. Philly was beat up. Joel Embiid was beat up. They expected to beat Philly that way. Now the real battle's about to get."
Stephen A. Smith conceded a version of the same point even while doubling down on his Knicks pick. "Let me be very clear," Smith said. "The Sixers and the Atlanta Hawks, they ain't the Detroit Pistons. They ain't Oklahoma City. They damn sure ain't San Antonio. It would be different against those teams. Let me not rule out Minnesota. It would be different going against those teams defensively." But Smith still planted his flag: "My New York Knicks showed up. Back-to-back appearances in the conference finals. New York Knicks going to the finals. I think they can win the championship. Yes, I do."
Perkins refused to disagree, partly because he had already turned his Brunson legacy take into a championship pick of his own. Williams, though, would not move. His Knicks ceiling against Oklahoma City is a series they would have to win by making more threes than physics typically allows, and against the way the Thunder use Alex Caruso, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace to suffocate ball-handlers, he is unwilling to assume that happens.
The bracket is starting to enforce the argument. By the time the Knicks tip off against Detroit or Cleveland, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between Oklahoma City and San Antonio will already be in the books. Williams is not changing his read of the Thunder until he sees them lose. Stephen A. is willing to bet that the Knicks can be the team that does it.
