{"id":662348,"date":"2026-05-24T13:37:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T13:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/662348\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T13:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T13:37:19","slug":"knicks-path-to-the-finals-comes-with-one-major-warning-from-shannon-sharpe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/662348\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks\u2019 path to the finals comes with one major warning from Shannon Sharpe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knicks\u2019 path to the finals comes with one major warning from Shannon Sharpe<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shannon Sharpe sees a major obstacle for the Knicks<\/a> if they reach the NBA Finals. The Knicks lead the Cavaliers<\/a> 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals after Saturday’s 121-108 Game 3 win<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Brunson scored 30 points in Game 3, moving New York within one win of the Finals. Mikal Bridges<\/a> added 22 points as the Knicks won their 10th straight game.<\/p>\n

But Sharpe and Nightcap analyst Joe Johnson<\/a> flagged Oklahoma City<\/a>‘s defensive depth as a critical concern. Both believe the Thunder<\/a> present a schematic challenge that the Cavaliers simply cannot match.<\/p>\n

The Thunder advanced to the Western Conference Finals behind the league’s most versatile perimeter defense. Cleveland<\/a>‘s structure allows Brunson<\/a> to operate without facing consistent ball pressure. Oklahoma City rotates defenders in waves to exhaust high-usage ball-handlers over a seven-game series.<\/p>\n

Johnson explained that the Thunder do not depend on a single primary defender to stop elite scoring guards. Lu Dort delivers physical on-ball defense with strength and intensity at the point of attack.<\/p>\n

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Alex Caruso<\/a> brings smart help-side instincts and disruptive hands when he enters the game. Cason Wallace<\/a> adds length and lateral quickness to contain guards off the dribble. Isaiah Joe<\/a> supplies perimeter depth to maintain defensive pressure across all four quarters.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City’s rotation ensures Brunson faces a new physical defender every few minutes. “Are they going to put Lu Dort on him?” Sharpe asked on Nightcap<\/a>. This highlighted how many defensive options the Thunder possess for a Finals assignment.<\/p>\n

The deeper concern involves New York’s limited shot-creation beyond Brunson on the roster. Josh Hart<\/a> and Mikal Bridges operate primarily as slashers, transition threats, and catch-and-shoot wings. Neither player regularly initiates the offense or creates scoring chances from isolation situations.<\/p>\n

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Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> provides interior scoring but does not solve the perimeter creation problem against Oklahoma City’s defense. If the Thunder force Brunson to give up the ball, role players must create independently.<\/p>\n

New York has not yet faced a defense with this many interchangeable perimeter stoppers during their playoff run. Sharpe’s warning about the Thunder defense looms as the Knicks’ single biggest test in the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

More NBA news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Knicks\u2019 path to the finals comes with one major warning from Shannon Sharpe originally appeared on The Sporting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[32235,47518,56260,852,62393,69879,233145,61628,36782,25169,36784,355,5489,12205,4053,99],"class_list":["post-662348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-alex-caruso","tag-brunson","tag-cason-wallace","tag-cleveland","tag-eastern-conference-finals","tag-isaiah-joe","tag-joe-johnson","tag-josh-hart","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-knicks","tag-mikal-bridges","tag-nba","tag-nba-finals","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-shannon-sharpe","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}