Thunder-Nuggets Game 7 will be a ‘HISTORIC MOMENT’ 👀 🔥 + Celtics-Knicks Game 6 PREVIEW | Get Up

Thunder-Nuggets Game 7 will be a ‘HISTORIC MOMENT’ 👀 🔥 + Celtics-Knicks Game 6 PREVIEW | Get Up

We talk about game sevens, right? The game sixes. You remember Isaiah in 88. Zeke, if you’re watching this morning, we will never forget it. If they had won that game, it would have been higher on the list. That said, what do we have in store tonight in this game six? Not only is this a must-win game six, but this has to be a must game for the soul of the franchise. For the Knicks, for the Knicks, the soul of the franchise is Jaylen Brunson. After every loss in the playoffs, this dude is averaging 36.5 points per game after losses. And this is one of those moments in a series where at home the environment is going to be off the chart screen. And be honest with you, man, like this has to be the hit moment. This is the game seven in game six. And Jaylen Brunson, captain clutch, it is built for him to rise in this game. Is it is tonight? Does tonight Chennet? Do you believe tonight is the night for Captain Klutch? So, I was having conversations walking the streets of New York and I already said I said like if Jaylen Brunson delivers and wins game six, he’s going to be goated. And the many New Yorkers were like, “No, he’s already goated for what he’s done, which is kind of ironic, but I do think that the key here is keeping it close. They have won all three clutch games in this series. They have the clutch player of the year as long as they’re in what do they say?” Like I don’t want to say spitting distance cuz that’s not cute but like you know what I mean but like if whatever distance is close I don’t know if they keep it close they have the best distance but what what what is definitely not sniffing distance whatever whatever but no no you’re you’re right like I I look at this squad and we are in the modern NBA where players rule but also there’s a reset where teams are now restructuring valuing basketball for the future. You could not have more of a quintessential type of New York Nick type of player and squad than this current squad. They don’t care about the bright lights. They love to hoop. They love to win and they love to do it the right way. And if they win in this moment and get themselves to the Eastern Conference Finals, this will be a moment that that is truly goated. Something interesting happened the other night at the Garden in Boston. I don’t think this was on TV. This is only seen in the arena. Jaylen Brunson, as you know, fouled out in the fourth quarter. Six minutes to go. The game was in hand for the Celtics. Gino, you know, they played Gino on the scoreboard late in the game, just to jerim him, they put Jaylen Brunson on the on the jumbotron, and Brunson just smiled. He’s like, “All right, I’ll never forget that moment.” Because I think he was like, “Okay, I’ll see you on Friday.” So, he he had an off game. He gets five fouls in the third quarter. Everything about that game was unusual for him. He’s so mentally tough and you never see Jaylen Brunson smile ever. Ever. He scores 50. He doesn’t smile. Jaylen Brunson was smiling. It would have given me chills if I was the Celtics. But Granny, if you lose this game at home, all that magic, all that momentum that fades so quickly. Yeah. Very fast. Yeah, I know. Game seven. So, here’s here’s here’s what I want to get to. Nothing in this series has made sense. Wendy said it exactly right. Everything that has happened in this series has been the opposite of what I thought was going to happen. Let’s at least say hasn’t made sense. I haven’t seen it coming. I it it seems too easy for me to say, “Oh, tonight Jaylen Brunson goes for 40 in the next win.” Something else has to happen for the Knicks to win. Who Who is that someone? I mean, it’d be nice for OG to make some shots. It’d be nice for Muel Bridges. It was the Luke Cornet game, right? Game five. If the Celtics come back and win this series, then that will this series will always be remembered for the Luke Cornet game. Who will that game be tonight? I don’t want to put the cart ahead of the horse because you’re projecting NBA Finals scenarios and we have the opportunity to say where the biggest trade that we’ve seen in a long time. Not talking Luka Donage, Carl Anthony Town, Julius Randle. How did it materialize? Look, it looks like it’s winning on both sides. To me, it’s cat. It’s cat. If you look at his three-point shot, he is the self-proclaimed best shooting big man, right? But he hasn’t necessarily needed to make threes for them to be successful. If he puts it all together, that will help the Knicks. I have loved what he’s done defensively. I think he’s held his opponents to like 25% shooting defensively. We roasted Cat for drop coverage, for not wanting to go up there and challenge shooters. He is doing that this series. Check mark. He’s also getting himself in the paint. I love the mismatches that he’s hunting, you know, posting up like you’ve seen flashes of greatness in the paint. If he adds the perimeter, if he’s able to dominate on all aspects of the court, that will be the best case scenario because there’s a lot writing on Jaylen Brunson. If cat, this is the reason why you made the trade to deliver moments like this. If he can show up, that will be hugest. Listen, it would be a delight. I does. The question is, does he pick up his traditional third foul in the second quarter? That’s like a tradition unlike any other. I said it yesterday. Jim Nance should narrate it when it actually happens. Oh, there it is. There’s his third foul in the second quarter. We know. I was very surprised when it happens. Let’s put the picks up on this. Oh, no. This is terrible. What I’m talking about. This what I’m talking about. Change one of them. I don’t care which one. I volunteer tribute. Change hers. Change something. We cannot. Cindy, I can’t I cannot live in a world where that’s on the screen. That’s that that that is not going to end well. The Jets Nicks anxiety that you have for this moment is not great. It doesn’t end well. All right. Well, we’ll try and flip it at some point by the end of the day because that’s his thing. We also have very nervous. Am I being told we can do it? Yeah. Go ahead. Change everything. Magic. No, we got the football guys. Okay. We’ll see. The football squad wants to chime in on the game as well. Everyone is wrapped up in all of this. Trager is a crazy Nick fan. He’s more neurotic than anyone I know. Who wins tonight? I’m nervous, sick about this. I I I I don’t want to see any Johnny come lately. I don’t need Stefan Diggs courtside. Give me Knicks fans. Action Bronson, Matthew Modin, Jerry Ferrara, and give me the Knicks and six. Let’s go. What do you think? I’m not going to list any celebrities, but Luke Cornet’s not going to have another game like that. Nick Knicks will take care of this, Nick. Yeah, it’s definitely Knicks. Jaylen Brunson’s been incredible for the last two playoffs in a row, last two regular season in a row. He’s one of the best players in basketball and still somehow underappreciated. Brunson gets it. I don’t like saying this. I don’t like any of this. Wendy just yelled out. I don’t know if you could hear it that he just booked his train for game Saturday. You had Joic and the Nuggets looking to stay alive against SGA and the Thunder. Jamal Murray battling an illness, but he would be in the starting lineup. And early on, Wendy, it looked like SGA and the Thunder would be in control of this game. They built a beautiful two a double- digit lead in the second quarter. I thought this might be the end for Joic, but then this happens. Watch SGA reaching in there, Jay. That’s his fourth foul in the second quarter. Yeah, just just a young basketball player from a player who’s extremely experienced and has matured throughout the course of his career. And the game kind of turns right there. Here come the Nuggets. We’re late in the half. Lefty. That’s Murray getting it to go and Chennai. We had Christian Brown had a big night. Yeah, the role players were stars and you say that you know experience is the greatest teacher. That’s what the Denver Nuggets were. Brown had 23. Now we go to the third. The Thunder are down by three. SGA no. Homegr is there to say no. Oh, now we’re going to stay with the play and it’s Murray on the other end. Who said Yopus couldn’t get off the floor and jump? Nuggets a five-point lead and then we needed something from someone off the bench. Chen, how about Julian Straw? It was the joy he played with. The arena was erupting. He was huge. 15 points and dapups on the sideline. Yes. The 15. The Nuggets take an eight-point lead and now they look to extend it again. Murray who was playing with a an illness, not feeling well, scored 25. He was great. It’s a double-digit lead and Nicole Yoga just a casual lead. guard that man. 2914 and eight assists for him. It’s a C plus game. Look at this pass. Watch this pass here. Behind the head on the dime. The accuracy, man. Joic with the dime is exactly right. Look at that. And the Nuggets go on to cruise to the win. And so we will get those two magical words. Game seven with two minutes left before the half. The Thunder were up by 14. Again, right around that time is when SGA gets the fourth foul and everything kind of turns. Nuggets begin their comeback. They outscored the Thunder by 24 points over the final 26 minutes with Joic and Murray combining for 33 of those 73. Denver had 15 more points from the free throw line than OKC as well. So, here was SGA looking ahead. Steuart die. It’s what you live for. It’s what you worked your whole life for. where it’s either your dream continues or your dream ends. Um so you lay it all out there on the floor and live with the results. But um yeah, I’m excited for the opportunity for sure. Okay, he’s excited. We’re all excited. And maybe there is something else Winman brought this up earlier today that could be at stake in this game Saturday. Historical context here. I suspect going into the future we’re going to be arguing about who should have won the 25 MVP. Should it have been Shay? Should it have been Jokic? They haven’t given it out yet. Typically, they give it out early in the second round. The way the schedule fell this year, the league didn’t do it. You might as well put it at the center table because even if Shay wins this award, if Joic takes game seven in Oklahoma City from Shay, the MVP will be always sort of that little asterisk on it, fair or not. I know it’s a regular season award. Just the idea that two of them could play together in this series is fascinating. The fact that the MVP trophy hasn’t been given out and game seven is on the line makes this a historic moment. Do we know why they haven’t done it? I’ve been wondering about that all along. I did check with the league. Typically, they would never give it out in the second week of a series. They would only give it out in the first week of a series. That said, normally they give it out by the beginning of the second round. For whatever reason, this year the schedules fell. They didn’t do it. Huh. But Granny, that that’s why I don’t think it should be a regular season award. I think it should be a full body of work award because we have this monumental moment that’s happening between these two Goliaths who are playing against each other and literally it’s a winake scenario. Yeah. And well, we It’s a different conversation. Agreed. We’ve had it before. I I I don’t I don’t dislike it. I don’t like it either, which is a perfect way to play both sides. So, let’s table that for the moment. And let’s talk about who is going to win game seven and why. Extra day of rest for the Nuggets who have played so many games. It will be an extra day of rest, but I still have OKC winning this game. Because, you know, if you looked at the Denver Nuggets, you know, playing in Denver, they had that sense of urgency. They had that desperation because they knew that if they didn’t win this game, they would be going home. Now it’s applying to both sides. And I look at OKC and it’s wild. You look at the numbers. We’re talking about MVP. You look at the numbers. SJA 297 and 7. Jokic 30, 15, and 5.7. Yes, both of them have not had that signature hallmark I am that guy game. Someone will. I think it’s likely going to be SGA. Again, we’ve talked about OKC being the youngest team in basketball. You’ve looked and watched SGA try to take over and learn how to take over the course of this series. He’ll be comfortable at home. I feel like it’s OKC. I think that Denver wins the game just because I think Denver knows how to win on the road and they are experienced. It may be the time for OKC, but I still think that Jokic is the best player in basketball. And as you said, Brian, I think that 29,48 performance last night was a C plus performance from your best player. It’s an interesting night in or it’ll actually be in the afternoon 3:30 Eastern time Sunday on ABC because I remember when Phil Mickelson was standing over a putt. He had never won a major. He’s standing over a putt to win the Masters and and Jim Nance says, “Is it his time?” I feel like that’s sort of the element here with SGA. He has taken over the league, but this would really put it over the top. Is it SGA’s time? I think it is. He had a great finish to game five. He played well last night. He didn’t get much from a supporting cast. Jaylen Williams, three of 16. A big thing about this game seven though is the health of Aaron Gordon. Late last night in this game when it was already decided, he tweaked his left hamstring. It wasn’t severe. He was able to stay in the game, but he said afterwards he was going to begin treatment and recovery on it. He is vitally important to them. Now, the extra day could mean a huge when it comes to that. His health and how effective he can be on Sunday is now one of the biggest things in this series. Okay, so we have that game seven coming up. Will we have another game seven in the Eastern Conference? We’ll find out tonight. We’re just under 11 hours to tip at Madison Square Garden in a series that has been filled with drama. Knicks will look to close out the Celtics tonight, coming off a 25point loss in game five, a game in which Boston tied a franchise playoff record by making 22 threes. Now, our resident Nick superfan Stephen A. Smith is left with rising concern headed into tonight. It’s heightened. It’s heightened significantly. I’m going to tell you that right now. If on a scale of 1 to 10 you ask, it’s about an eight. It’s about an eight. It’s about an eight. You can’t lose game six. But we look at the Boston Celtics and we’re reminded they’re a talented bunch. They have depth and they have a championship pedigree. The same team they had last year. These guys have been here before. New York Knicks got to win game six. Otherwise, I you I don’t I’m not confident they could go back to Boston and win a game seven. He’s not confident they can go back. His concern level is at an eight win man. What is your message to Stephen A? I would say that first off believe in the Knicks and their mental strength. That’s their strongest. I really think their strongest attribute. The second thing is I think the Knicks were at a disadvantage in game five. They did not know how the Celtics were going to play. They were used to them with Jason Tatum and Tatum being the center of the offense. The Celtics had a very different game plan. Jaylen Brown played point forward. He had 12 assist game. They were coming in thinking they needed to keep him from trying to score 45. When they brought extra attention, he distributed the ball. They had a good three-point shooting night, which is always important for the Celtics. The Knicks will be able to come into tonight’s game with a much better game plan and have a better understanding of how the Celtics are going to go. Wendy, to your point, I went back and I watched the game late last night again. The amount of times I saw New York Knick players ball watching Jaylen Brown, which they typically did in the first several matchups because that’s what you did when the ball’s in the hands of Jaylen Brown or Jason Tatum because they were playing ISO basketball led to a lot of those poor transition moments where guys like Derek White or Peyton Pritchard knock down shots. So to your point, Wendy, about having a sense of urgency, defensive transition, getting back tagging shooters, we need to see a way better defensive performance from the Knicks this evening in game six. This is why they say championships or the aspirations of championships and titles comes down to the little things. It’s the Jaylen Brown 12 assists that you can’t have. It’s the Luke Cornet having seven blocks being an X-factor. It’s stopping Derek White in transition knocking down those threes, but most importantly, it’s keeping the game close. You know, they’ve won all three clutch time games and you know, if they’re able to hang in there, they put themselves in a fourth quarter where they believe that they have they have the edge. So, for me, it’s the Knicks. And then of course like Greeny I don’t want to get too much in your feelings but like you have Carl Anthony Towns he should be someone that is the X-actor. You’re dealing with a series in which Porzingis is not 100%. Al Horford is older. Cornet is getting more minutes than expected. He should be the dominant one. I work every day with Kendrick Perkins on NBA today. He said I voted him all NBA. Well, you’ve got to play like that in moments like this. And I know it’s hard sometimes. I think he’s what two for 13. I think I read that somewhere. Um from three from three. Like this is someone that can knock down three or four back breaking threes on top of get you buckets in the paint. If you look at the paint, they had like 26 paint points. That’s not normal for the net monster was in there defending the rim. I’m going to put a little bit of tibs though. I think you need to prioritize him early in the game and establish him on the block by saying ain’t no more of this floating around shooting threes. I know you were two or 13. Get your ass on the block. Dominate. punish people physically and set that tone and play inside out because Carl Anthony Towns gets lost. I think sometimes Jaylen Brunson does his thing, then Muel Bridges, it’s my time, OG, it’s my time. It relates to a lot of shots and you lose sight of your big man and then the only way he scores is off offensive rebounds or just being a screener. So, you got to keep him engaged mentally and and there’s another interesting dynamic. I completely agree. Look, if it would be delightful for Carl Anthony Towns to have a monster game tonight here’s the one thing that I think is interesting. Coaches have said many times over the years that I’ve been interviewing them, there comes a point in every series where you run out of m changes, you run out of adjustments, but this series is the opposite of that because the huge change happens in game four, right? I mean, all of a sudden, the best player in the series isn’t playing anymore. So, literally, the enormous adjustment comes in game five. To your point, it fooled the Knicks. The Celtics went a different direction than they expected. So, what is the adjustment back tonight? Yeah, I really do think so. So Joe Mazula has a big choice. Does he go back to Porzingis or does he go with Luke Cornette to start the game? Because Cornett basically played the Porzingis role defending the paint, stretching the floor. That is a big decision out of the gate. And also, if you’re the Knicks, how do you take advantage of the Carl Town situation? I think they have left him unused too much offensively. I think both of those are key game plan decisions tonight. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On Get Up, Jay Williams, Chiney Ogwumike and Brian Windhorst join Mike Greenberg to discuss Game 6 between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Then, they debate what’s at stake in Game 7 between the Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

0:00 Is this a must-win Game 6 for the Knicks?
3:17 Who needs to step up for the Knicks?
4:40 Celtics-Knicks Game 6 predictions
6:02 Thunder-Nuggets highlights
8:35 What’s at stake for Game 7?
10:00 Who has the edge in Game 7?
12:01 Celtics-Knicks Game 6 Preview
13:02 Should the Knicks be worried ahead of Game 6?

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