When it comes to sports blogging, Steve Kaycee tends to usually be a little too thematic with pages, such as Extra Sessions and The Bonus Round.
When it comes to updating blog pages, such as those two aforementioned pages, well then Steve Kaycee tends to make that process a little too slow-moving of a line.
But what if we told you that we here at Art Infliction have a page that counters both of those problems?
Yes, that’s right, we have yet another blog page (this one) that allows us to post entries, as well as help us better decide how we want to keep the blog page update line moving along.
Okay, so now that we’ve established why we launched this page, we will now establish the “how”, as in how this page will operate.
You see, Steve Kaycee is usually one to have a reaction to something, such as how he feels about the final outcome of a sporting event.
And for the first time in exactly a week, he has a reaction entry, with it being his reaction to the entire 2026 NBA Finals series between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
You can check it below.
**Note: To see Steve Kaycee’s reaction to the first Queentet entry, simply go here
“Steve Reacts: The 2026 NBA Finals”
I did say that I was going to blog about my reaction to the 2026 NBA Finals the day (Sunday) after its conclusion (Game 5) exactly a week ago, but I like to have my blog entries on their designated pages for at least a week, thus why this entry is four days late. Regardless, what an exciting series that it was between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, despite the fact that it went those five games, as the length of this series had the vibe of going six or seven games. Yes, that’s how competitive that it was.
Heading into this series, the Knicks were on a nine-game postseason winning streak, as a little over half (5) of their wins in that streak were decided by 29 points or more. The Spurs, on the other hand, went the full seven games against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, including two grueling victories in Games 1 and 7 of that series, yet had home-court advantage in the NBA Finals, by virtue of having nine more wins than Mike Brown’s bunch. And not only did they get the home-court advantage, because in addition, they were actually favored to win that series.
Of course, the combination of having nine less wins than the Spurs and what the oddsmakers were saying didn’t impact Jalen Brunson & Company at all, as they stole Game 1 via rallying from two separate double-digit deficits and using a late 11-0 run to rally from one down to win 105-95. And of course, the Knicks weren’t thinking about going back to Madison Square Garden tied at one apiece. Instead, they rallied from another double-digit deficit in the first half, along with getting some late-game heroics from both Brunson and Mitchell Robinson to win 105-104. Knicks halfway home to winning the title and possibly not returning to the Frost Bank Center.
But another early double-digit deficit for the orange and blue, some questionable officiating, a blown halftime lead and a series of momentum-killing scoring by the Spurs in the second half got the silver and black back in the series, thus this series was guaranteed to back to Texas, whether it was three games to one or tied at two games apiece. And given how both most of the first half and the early part of the second half were looking for the aforementioned orange and blue, the latter scenario was looking like a reality, only for NBA Finals history to occur.
Of course, there were two off-days in between Games 4 and 5, which seemed to bode well for the Spurs, as they won Game 3 with two off-days in between and it was going to be that way for the remainder of this series. And given that they were up by as many as 16 in the first half, as well as being up by double digits multiple times in the second half, a sixth game seemed to be in the cards. But Big Body Brunson had other ideas, as he scored 13 consecutive points in the fourth quarter, including an 11-foot floater with 1:06 remaining to give his team a 90-88 lead that they would never relinquish. And while the Knicks missed half (four) of their late-game free throws, they were able to avoid a collapse that the Spurs had 13 years earlier in a potential championship-clinching game against the Miami Heat, a game in which Ray Allen’s made three-pointer forced overtime, and on a possession in which the Spurs didn’t have Tim Duncan on the floor. But back to Game 5 of this series.
So, with the score 94-90 (in favor of the Knicks) with 7.7 seconds remaining, the Spurs’ new Duncan (Victor Wembanyama) attempted a now pointless three-pointer, as the Spurs didn’t have enough time nor a timeout to get the ball back for a wild last-second victory even it went in. And luckily, he didn’t make it nor let alone did to the Knicks what Larry Johnson (four-point play) did to the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals. As a matter of fact, Wemby’s last-second attempt didn’t even draw iron (hit the rim) nor did the ball go to any of his teammates on the miss. Instead, it ended up in the hands of Game 4 hero, OG Anunoby, thus ending a 53-year title drought. What a series.
Of course, the Knicks aren’t my number one favorite NBA team, but they’re top 5 to 10, due to my history of living in the Tri-State area, so it was totally cool to see a favorite team of mine finally capture the prize that alluded the likes of Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, the late Anthony Mason, John Starks, Derek Harper, Johnson, Allan Houston, Marcus Camby and Latrell Sprewell, most of whom were in attendance throughout the series. And while the former of those Knick greats was the only center of the top five (Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Alonzo Mourning were the others) during his era to not win a championship as a player, him witnessing it as a Knicks alum has to be a total thrill for him, nonetheless.
The New York Knicks are a flagship franchise for the NBA, so it’s awesome (from a historical standpoint) to see them win their third championship in franchise history, as well as awesome for us who either weren’t yet alive in 1973 or were too young to remember their two feats of the early 1970s . And while their drought wasn’t as talked about as the ones that both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs (my favorite MLB team) had before 2004 and 2016, respectively, it was the NBA equivalent of either of those droughts, thus us Red Sox fans and Cubs fans can relate. And while I can’t speak for either of those MLB fanbases, this Cubs fan compares the end of this NBA title drought to what Anthony Rizzo & Company achieved a decade ago, and is totally happy for a fanbase that has both waited and deserved this feeling of sports euphoria for all this time.
In summary, I got the winning team and Finals MVP correct, but was incorrect about the length of the series. But I’ll totally accept my predicted team winning the series one game early, although it would have been totally epic to see the drought end at the world’s most arena. But maybe if parity ends next NBA season at least, we could have the Knicks win the fourth and final game at home just like the Red Sox did at Fenway Park 13 years ago. Oh, and props to Mike Brown for finally winning an NBA championship as a head coach, as he is the perfect blend of adapting to today’s NBA game, while being the same affable players coach that he always been.
Until the next time, whether that’s Week 1 of the 2026-27 NFL season, Super Bowl 61 or my way too early prediction of who will win the big game in SoFi Stadium.