SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Basketball enthusiasts in the Philippines are assured of having a champion to cheer for once the current NBA Finals conclude.
Jordan Clarkson from New York and Dylan Harper from San Antonio — who will compete against each other in the Finals beginning Wednesday — were both born in America but share connections to the Philippines through their mothers. Clarkson expressed admiration for Harper, whose first season has been remarkable.
“He’s been really good throughout the whole year,” Clarkson said. “I’ve been watching him, keeping up with him, as well. Him being so young and having so much poise throughout this whole playoffs, it’s a great sight to see a young star coming in this league and doing what he’s doing.”
Harper also understands the importance of this moment.
“I think me and him get to do something really special, representing our country, where we’re from, represent everything on the biggest stage in basketball,” Harper said. “I feel like over there in the Philippines, basketball is probably the biggest thing. I think we’re very excited for that and we’re just very blessed and grateful to be in this position.”
Just six players between the Knicks and Spurs have participated in prior NBA Finals contests.
From San Antonio, Harrison Barnes competed in 13 Finals games with Golden State, Luke Kornet appeared in six with Boston, and Kelly Olynyk participated in five with Miami.
From New York’s roster, Mikal Bridges competed in six Finals games with Phoenix, Dillon Jones appeared in three with Oklahoma City, and Jordan Clarkson participated in two with Cleveland. OG Anunoby, another Knicks player, was part of Toronto’s 2019 championship run but didn’t participate in any of those six Finals contests.
Together, these six players with previous Finals experience have accumulated 265 points in championship series.
The most recent 44 NBA Finals contests have all concluded in regulation time, representing the longest streak without overtime in Finals history. Previously, there was a 34-game stretch without overtime from 1984 through 1990.
Naturally, overtime opportunities are limited when games lack close finishes. Among the past 81 Finals games, 50 have been settled by double-digit margins.
A yearly observation: Division titles hold little significance… except during the NBA Finals.
Should San Antonio capture the NBA championship, it would represent the 14th occasion in the past 15 seasons that a division winner claimed the title.
The sole exception during this period was Golden State in 2022. Prior to that, Dallas in 2011 was the last team to win the NBA championship without claiming their division.
New York finished second in the Atlantic Division behind Boston this season, attempting to break this pattern.
After 19 years, Mike Brown returns to the NBA Finals as a head coach. The New York coach previously led Cleveland to the championship series in 2007 — where San Antonio swept them.
Simply reaching this point places Brown in an exclusive group of coaches who have guided multiple franchises to NBA Finals appearances.
Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers, New York, Miami) and Alex Hannum (St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco) brought three different franchises to the Finals. Brown now joins Rick Carlisle, Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, KC Jones, Bill Fitch, Gene Shue, Bill Sharman and Red Auerbach among those who have taken two different franchises to the championship round.
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama has delivered a postseason performance unlike any in league history, with his statistics continuing to grow more remarkable.
During these playoffs, Wembanyama has recorded 394 points, 183 rebounds, 100 successful free throws, 60 blocked shots and 30 three-pointers.
These are solely playoff numbers. Only 19 players — including Wembanyama — achieved these combined totals during the entire regular season. (No Spurs player has ever recorded a regular season with all these statistics, except Wembanyama.)
Since the introduction of three-pointers, no NBA player has ever accomplished all of this in a single postseason until now.
Should this NBA Finals extend to seven games, Spurs players Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie could match an NBA record.
Or surpass it, depending on the calculation method.
Johnson and Champagnie both begin these NBA Finals having played 100 games this season. That places them seven games short of the NBA record for games played in one season — held by Charles Oakley and Tayshaun Prince.
Both played 107 games. However, Johnson and Champagnie also participated in the NBA Cup championship game, which would technically bring their total to 108 games this season — though the league doesn’t include the Cup final in official statistics.
The Spurs and Knicks are competing for $5,157,417 in bonus money. This represents the difference between winning and losing the NBA Finals from the league’s playoff pool, which exceeded $35 million this season.
San Antonio has already earned $6,594,508 from this pool this season. New York has secured $6,438,024.
